Beckys Blog

The harvest season is starting to wind down, but it's not gone yet.  We happened to plant late season tomatoes, so they are finally ripening!  I am actually being overwhelmed with free produce this week.  I have a box of pears in the fridge from Marjorie waiting to ripen so they can be canned.  A couple from church brought us corn, zucchini, bell peppers, cucumbers, celery, cauliflower, and squash.  My own tomato plants are producing 200 or more ripe tomatoes a week!  And that is off of only 3 plants!  So it looks like canning and processing is in the near future for me.  I am holding off a couple more days on tomatoes until the weekend, then I will can diced tomato for use in homemade chili over the winter.  Today, during the kids nap, I washed and chopped up all the celery.  There was enough for 3 potato soups, so I added the onion and put it into 3 gallon size freezer bags.  Then I started on the bell peppers.  I have 2 quar...

   A family picture from a couple weeks ago.    Raquelle    Keziah     Titus

Awana started last night.  Both Titus and Raquelle loved it.  Titus was thrilled that he is big enough to go with this year.  Raquelle's vest from last year is missing.  I feel  bad that she is the only one at club not wearing a Cubbies vest.  I am hesitant to buy a new one, because the old one has all of last years awards on it!  Thad and I agreed that if we haven't found the old one by the time she earns her first patch this year, then we will buy her a new one.  It goes later this year then the club we went to last year, so Raquelle was an emotional mess by the time I got her to bed.  She doesn't nap anymore and getting to bed at 9 pm is just too much for her.  I think I am going to start trying to get her to nap again just on Wednesdays. Our church's choir practices on Wednesday nights during Awana!  How convenient!  I haven't done anything with music since I graduated college with my Bible /  Music degree!  I w...

I have a full house again.  After spending the summer with just my kids and 1 extra, I took on 2 teachers kids.  Now I have 6 kids during the day ranging from 6 months to 4 years old.  It is busy here during the day!  I was searching for a movie to watch this evening and came across one that said it was about a busy mom of 2.  I seriously laughed out loud.  Busy?  How is that possible with only 2 kids?  Nothing against people with 2 kids...I loved having 2 kids.  I can't imagine being busy enough with 2 kids though warrant a movie.  Needless to say, I did not rent that one. I've only had all 6 kids 3 days so far so I am still getting adjusted to it.  The baby still takes 3 naps.  The older kids take 1 nap, Raquelle doesn't nap.  We are homeschooling and Raquelle started Kindergarten this last week.  My challenge is fitting in her schooling, preschool for the younger kids, and keeping the baby happy.  We have ha...

Because I'm sure everyone is dieing to know how it is going, here is a potty update.  Kezzy is now COMPLETELY out of diapers!  She is staying dry at nap time and over night too!  However...she has yet to figure out pooping on the toilet.  I am hoping that by letting her wear her panties, she will catch on to pooping faster then if I kept her in diapers.  She stays dry most days and tells me when she needs to pee, however, she hasn't figured out the timing on poop yet.  Here is an example of one of her episodes... Kezzy - "I stinking mommy!" Me - "Go stink on the potty!"  I take her potty...she sits for a while and doesn't go. 5 minutes later Kez - "I stinking mommy!" Me - "Go stink on the potty!"  Take her potty, she sits, doesn't poop...sometimes might pee some. 5 minutes later Kez - "I stinking mommy!" Me - "Go stink on the potty!"  Taker her potty...nothing. 1 minute later Kez - "OH NO mom...

Some recent conversations with my kids. Me - "You need to obey me now because I am all out of patients!" Raquelle - "Why are you all out of patients?" Me - "Because you used it all up!" Raquelle - "Well mommy, maybe you should pray and ask God to give you some more patients!" Titus is in the stage of mispronouncing most of his words.  Sometimes we can tell what he is saying, sometimes we can't.  There are a few though that I cringe when he uses in public... "A-hole" = apple... this one is embarrassing at the grocery store as people standing near the apples think he is talking to them. "Fruck" = truck...imagine him excitedly yelling about a "big fruck" as you go through a parking lot! "Hor" = horse ...he consistently misses the "S" on the end.  He has a horse costume and will run around the house saying "I a hor!  I a hor!"  Thad and I have a hard time not laughing as I t...

Now that Titus has received his new car seat in the mail, we are back to rear facing.  Why?  Because it is safer!  Technically, it is safer for EVERYONE to ride rear facing, but that just doesn't work.  Someone has to drive!  In a forward facing seat, a child's torso is held in place while their head whips forward potentially breaking the neck of a young child.  Rear facing, the head and neck are cradled by the seat and protected in a crash.  Titus outgrew the rear facing limits on his old seat, but the new seat (Sunshine Kids Radian 65) can be used rear facing up to 45 lbs!  He thinks it is cool to ride backwards.  The AAP recommends that children remain rear facing to the limits of the seat.  The law is 20 lbs and 1 yr old before they can turn around.  Moving up in car seats is not a milestone I look forward to.  Every time they outgrow a seat (turn forward, then move into a booster, etc) they are a little less protected in a...