Boys Know How to Sew Too!

Sewing has taken over the house, even boys are wanting to learn to sew on the sewing machine. Our first boy project is a camo backpack from a pair of camo pants that had 4" holes in the knees. I will post a finished pic when it is complete.

The End of the Yard Sale Season

For all practical purposes the yard sale season is over. Though I may still hit a few here and there until Christmas, most folks don't have yard sales when it is chilly or even down right cold. It has been a great season. I do a weird thing, I always take a pic of the yard sale stuff I get, that way when it a dry spell for finding anything I can look back and understand that the 'finding' of stuff ebbs and flows. Some weeks I feel like it may have been a waste of gas. But most of the time it is good. I am amazed at the way God will direct my path to finding and providing not only what I am searching for, but what others are searching for also. I get 'want lists' from folks who want the bargains but don't want to do the searching themselves.


So here is a collage of most of the yard sale finds that we have drug home for ourselves and even for others.

Summer Gardening

My GardenGirl has returned. After taking a year off from doing any 'plant' stuff, GG has planted a small garden that was full of zuchini, pumpkins, corn, beans, and some other stuff that didn't do so well. She grew everything from seeds but had a huge battle with bugs since we were trying to go 'organic.'

My fav were of course the zuchinin. Loved em broiled with a touch of olive oil and sea salt.

Next year we will be doubling the size of the garden and trying a more square foot gardening approach and we will re-evaluate the whole no pesticide rule, we lost a lot of produce to bugs.

Our Journey with Food Allergies

Some people think that with 7 kids I would have seen everything kids have to offer in the adventure of parenting. To be honest we have had our share of broken bones, surgeries, ER visits, mysterious rashes, bug bites, burns, and other assorted medical stuff. The neighbor kids even call me Dr. Mom when I have been called over to triage injuries or guess on what is causing the latest fever. But I never anticipated a food allergy with baby #7, his baby acne morphed into eczema, at least that is what the Dr's supposed initially thought. It was actually an offhand remark from the pediatrician that made me even consider a possible food allergy. He just mentioned that one of his kids would sometimes get eczema (since that does run in the family)and to just keep adding lotion. Well an elimination diet didn't get me answers but a food allergy test did. It came back and he is allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, soy, and peanuts. We also figured out he was also reacting to sunflower/safflower oil. An illicit coco puff or two dropped by a sibling confirmed just how sensitive he is currently to wheat. Not to mention that huge plate of scrambled eggs I ate the morning the results came in, to bad the Dr. didn't call earlier, I might have gotten some sleep that night. It hasn't gotten rid of all the itchies, but it is now managable.

Hand over the ballons and no one gets hurt

Ok the ballons may have been for big sis's 16th birthday, but Mr. E probably enjoyed them the most. He thought they were the bestest thing ever. Guess I know what he is getting for his birthday next month.

Camping at the Beach

There is nothing like some family time at the beach while camping in a tent. Yep, no RVs or room service for this family. It's campfires, sleeping bags, and eating off paper plates for a week of family bonding. Just mix in a lot of sand, crashing waves, a few sand dollars, and bunch of laughter and you have a great recipe for a family fun-a-thon. Of course it doesn't hurt to sweeten it with cany bars, marshmellows, and hot cocoa.

007 is walking

Munchkin is walking and he is not to be detered. He started his walking at 8 months old and now that he is the ripe old age of 9 months he is toddling around the house pretty good. Of course all his siblings had to encourage him. Most of the other kids didn't walk till 10 months.