The Laundry Game!

We actually have fun folding laundry! Yep, you heard that right....fun! Here's how you play the "Laundry Game"....have all your kids sit in spots around the living room...turn on some fun music...and mommy stands by the "pile"....reach in, pull out a piece of wash and toss it to the person it belongs to :) They fold their own wash and put it away! It's great fun!! They LOVE to catch their wash as it flies through the air...giggles are abundant on laundry folding days! Give it a try...it's free....it's productive...teaches team work....and it's great family fun!

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes!

We are in the midst of growth spurt city around here! It seems as if ALL 7 kids have outgrown their clothes! I was putting off the dreded task of sorting out the clothes that didn't fit any longer. It seems like such a HUGE task to me...they have to try things on...we have to try to figure out if it is worth saving for the next person and so on. Last night I took the plunge! I sorted all 7 of the kids' clothes and made a detailed list of the needs that we have. As you can see in the picture I started folding the ill fitting clothing...then gave up and started to make a messy pile..LOL.. The great thing about this pile is that we didn't pay for any of those clothes! Those were all handed down from other people we know! God's provision is so amazing! We don't have a lot of extra money...living off one income (I do babysit...but don't make much at all...and sometimes I don't get paid) can be tight! I was rejoicing in the fact that God is such a loving God and provides for us in such a great way!! Not pictured is the clothes already put away waiting for others to grow into them...two other bags to give away. Some of these will be put away, given away, or used for rags. On Saturday (after we put the first coat of primer on our kitchen cupboards!!) Hubby is taking us to the thrift store to get the things on my list of needs :0)

Click-n-Pull!!

We fell out of the habit of going to Sam's Club over the holiday's...not a good thing! Since November I have been going grocery shopping weekly at Wal-Mart....and hating every moment of it! Then it dawned on me to go back to Sam's Club to get a month worth of food in one swoop :0) A few days before we were going to go, I read a lady's blog and she mentioned "Click-n-Pull"...light bulb moment!! I went on the site...and clicked on all the stuff I wanted and we simply went and picked it up! I was SO AWESOME! I spent less as well :0) When we started going to Sam's Club I would spend between $400-$500...by the time we stopped going I was spending around $800!!! WAY to salty for us! Yesterday I spent $342 at Sam's Club...then had hubby stop at Aldi for a few things...spent another $40. For a month worth of food (minus fresh produce, milk & bread) I spent $382! YEAH! Now, I just need to make it last! It doesn't get better than that....shopping at home...then driving to the store just to pick it up! Sam's Club is an hour drive from our house...so when we would all go in and shop we would be gone from home for about 4 hours or more...so we would always end up eating out. A trip to pizza hut for us is around $80 or so! This time we were so fast...only gone for 2.5 hours...we left after breakfast and were home for lunch! Saving more money :0)

Meet The "Littles"

These are the "Littles"....they are the little people in our family. Their ages are 3,4,5, and 6. They keep our house full of mischief, laughter, and fun! They do EVERYTHING together...and are often referred together as a group....hence being called the "Littles":0) I love that God blessed us with children like this, one right after the other! I pray any future pregnancies will be this way! There is always a party as far as they are concerned! There is always someone to play with, someone to talk to, someone to snuggle with! I pray that as they grow they will be best friends and understand just how special it is for them to have brothers and sister so close to their own age. In this picture the "Littles" are watching a Christmas movie together and eating popcorn :0) Another funny thing that just came to mind was this...people ask me all the time how I find time to have "one on one" time with each child...first of all, I don't really think this is a great idea...it works out that way sometimes, to have just one child, but we believe in doing things TOGETHER, anyways....if you try to do something with just one of the "Littles"...alone....they are devastated! They can't wait to get back with the "guys"! My kids actually ENJOY being TOGETHER as a FAMILY! Crazy idea...lol....

We Did It....we are ONE big, happy FAMILY!

It was an interesting time, to say the least! We were all SO excited on Friday!! We sent everyone off to be with kisses and giggles, practicing their new names :0) Then at 10:30 I got SICK!!! I mean REALLY SICK....I threw up until it was time to leave for the adoption, and that's not it...Ashley started throwing up at 2:00 am, and was sick even at the adoption (all over the hallway on the way to the restroom, poor kid!) and in the van Kyara got sick! But we weren't missing this day for the world...so we got dressed and went. What a fun day! There were 8 kids adopted that day. And it was nice, they had people speak...there was a commissioner, the Judge, and a few others. They had a man who had been adopted as a child speak. It was just a happy day! I have been to court many times to testify and fight for my two boys, so it was awesome to go and have it be such a happy day! I have never seen the judge so happy!! After all the adoptions we all went to a different room in the courthouse and they (the workers of the courthouse and the county) had a HUGE party set up for the kids with cupcakes and pizza!! The judge himself gave each adopted child a gift! What a special thing! It was unfortunate that I spent a great deal of time with my sick children in the van, outside, or in the bathroom. But, I had a lot of GREAT helpers! As you can see from the picture above with all the kids sitting in a row, we brought a lot of people with us! We had my sister's family, my husbands cousin's family, 2 sets of grandparents, and a friend and her kids! They all stepped in and helped Rob take care of all the kids when I couldn't be there to help. I pray someday the size of my own family will be the size of all those kids on the bench! We shall see what God does. Either way...I am one blessed momma!

Oh...we were all still sick yesterday....today..so far so good! We are going to head out for a trip to my SIL for Thanksgiving! God willing.

Seat Anyone??

Don't mind the mess behind the car seats...that's the mud room and it tends to get messy...Rob ditches his hunting gear in that room too!
anyway...the church used our big van to take the kids somewhere...so I had my kids clean out our van so there would be room for the kids to sit! It just made me laugh to see how many car seats we had in there! LOL....

What's Large??

It was really funny....this weekend the three big kids all had plans, so Saturday morning I just had the four littles...I was planning on having a relaxing morning with my book and a cup of coffee...needless to say, that didn't really happened he way I had planned it in my head! LOL....We decided we were going to take the four littles to lunch ! It was fun...we had a nice time. The funny thing was people were amazed that we had FOUR kids....hehehe....when we politely told them there were 3 more, they were all floored! We are used to the comments (which mostly are nice, but not always) when we have all 7 out...but come on...only four kids! It brought me to think about...what is considered large these days?? Long ago people had large families and it was the norm. What happened?? LOL :0) And yes, in this picture my son is wearing pink shoes!