While Kara was out . . .

This morning after Kara left to go to Vacation Bible School, JA and I put shoes on Lydia and Andy and we went out to harvest the corn growing in our garden. We've already been able to enjoy half a dozen ears of corn for meals, but today's harvest was to be processed for future meals.

Outside, JA and I would hand Lydia and Andy to corn we removed from the stalks and they would place the corn in either the bucket or on the table when the bucket was too full. When we came inside, JA sat down on the floor with Lydia and Andy and husked the corn while I washed off the tassle and prepared to blanch it.

Here you have Lydia on her first attempt at husking the corn

Andy was doing his best to try and help, but he kept wanting to escape to another part of the house. I guess we need to teach him to have a better work ethic :)

Lydia proudly displaying how far she has gotten on husking her ear of corn
(she completed three ears of corn)

I'm not positive, but I think Andy had a little bit of help in getting this far on his corn.

With everyone pitching in and helping to process the corn we were able to have it completely processed (from picking to in the freezer) in less than two hours. I am very thankful that JA was willing to take the time to help me with the corn, or I would have spent most of the day working on it.

Tonight while JA was out doing some work at the church, Kara decided she wanted to play super heros. She grabbed her blanket and asked me to tie it for her like a cape. Once Lydia and Andy saw what Kara was doing, they both raced upstairs to their rooms and quickly returned with their own blankets -- eager to be morphed into Super Heros themselves.

Andy had a little difficulty keeping up with his sisters -- their legs are a little longer.

Still trailing after Kara and Lydia

As Kara and Lydia pretended they were dead, Andy went to try and help them back to life (he's good at that because he likes to body slam so it doesn't take long for them to be up and running again).

Cloth Diapering Update

I want to thank Carrie, Alicia, and Tricia for their comments and recommendations for cloth diapering.

Last week after reading their comments I took Alicia's advice and checked out what e-bay had to offer. I also looked into the articles Carrie suggest about cloth diapering a newborn. The result was that I was able to purchase every thing I need for Baby and some overnight diapering supplies for Andy for under $45. Here is what I purchased.

Six small waterproof diaper covers you just slip the flat folds into and fasten like you would a regular diaper.

Twelve overnight super absorbant diaper doublers to help with overnight diapering.
Certainly more than I need, but it was a great price. I can use these w/ the Bum Genius diapers.

Twelve newborn size (6-12 pounds) vinyl pants to cover the flat folds and twelve size small (14 - 20 pounds) vinyl pants .Four Snappi's. This purchase was certainly not a necessity since I do have four diaper pins. However, I read several reviews of this product and almost all of them were positive. So, JA and I thought we would give them a try since I'm not to fond of the idea of pinning a newborn. Although we ordered the small size, they even work great on the flatfolds for Andy's size. I definitely like these better than the typical diaper pins. They are much easier to use and do a fantastic job holding the diaper closed. In fact, my husband was able to figure them out right away and has even been using the flat fold diapers more than the bum genius lately.

You may be wondering how we plan to diaper since we didn't purchase any more flat folds. About three months ago a good friend of mine gave me about 30 - 40 flatfold diapers. The diapers were in fantastic shape and hardly used.

If I would have purchased all of these supplies at retail I would have paid $114 plus shipping. Instead I paid a total of $46.85. Since I bought all of the diapering supplies from one seller (the snappies were a different seller, but shipping on them was only $1), I was able to combine shipping costs and save an extra $24 in shipping.

A Day at the Children's Museum

A Couple of weeks ago we took the kids to the Children's Museum for a fun day devoted to them. They really enjoyed the day, and all of the attention. Here are the pictures.

Andy trying to figure out the Fishing Pole
Lydia, my flower child
Kara attempting to be the Flower Child and Lydia as her favorite princess - Snow WHite
Ride 'em Cowboy
Maybe a future Firefighter?
Or a boating operator
Lydia caught a fish
Kara and Lydia driving
Daddy, I want to go camping.

Hey, does this fishing pole work like a gun also?

Do You Know Someone . . .

Do you know someone with a large family? Or are you the parent of a large family? Tired of hearing other people make negative comments about the size of your family. Though most people will never understand the joy of being the parent of a large number of children, it is possible to get a small glimpse into their lives.

Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer has a mother of 12 posting about "What I'd Like for You to Know." I want to encourage everyone to go over and read this post. Especially if you are not the parent of many children, this post may be a help to know how to respond to friends and strangers who do have many children without causing offense.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

More Great Giveaways.

Win a Bum Genius 3.0 Starter Kit from Nature's Child - Wholesome Goods for Mothers and Babies

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Pregnancy Update Week 35

Well, we are almost there. Today I went in for my Week 35 appointment. The results came back on my Group B Strep test -- Negative (no doubt for me). Currently the baby appears to be in the posterier position (head down). Baby's heart beat is once again 150. My weight stayed the same (amazing since I've been eating a chocolate bar every day), and my blood pressure is still great.

I am having some difficulty staying hydrated in this heat. So, I have resigned myself to staying inside with the air conditioning during majority of the day. Right now my doctor seems to believe this baby is going to come early. If baby follows the same pattern as the other three we will get to meet him/her on August 15 (exactly 10 days early -- just like Kara, Lydia, and Andy). However, I think the odds of having four children in five years all come exactly 10 days early is rather unlikely. Of course I thought the same thing when Andy was born.

I would love to get your opinions on when you think Baby Hall will decide to join us on the outside world. Please share with me when you think Baby Hall will come by leaving a comment in the comment box. I will tell you both JA and my dad are saying sometime next week. But we still have four weeks until Baby's due date (August 25)

Free Diapers

Are you interested in cloth diapering? Sign up for this fantastic giveaway of 12 Free Bum-Genius Diapers. These are fantastic diapers!.

Rejoicing in the Little Things

This may seem like a insignificant blessing to many of you, but to me this blessing is HUGE! Sunday morning was a typical morning service for me. Kara sat with someone else during church, and Lydia and Andy were removed from the service about ten minutes into the preaching (because Andy LOVES to talk and fusses when I don't let him down to roam around the church).

My typical Sunday evening services involve all three kids sitting with me, and my trying to keep Andy as quiet as possible while the other two kick and squirm. Last night was an amazing difference. Kara sat quietly beside me the entire service. She even wanted me to open her Bible to Isaiah 6 (the chapter daddy was preaching out of). Since she only had a New Testament I opened it to Acts 6 (I didn't feel like the long drawn out explanation of why her Bible doesn't have Isaiah). Andy sat on the other side of me with Lydia beside him next to the end of the pew. Lydia also wanted to have her Bible opened to where Daddy was preaching from. And Andy was content for almost the entire service to look at the pictures in his story Bible. For the first time in a long time (that I can remember) I was able to pay attention to all but the last five to ten minutes of the sermon with my kids sitting beside me. I am very thankful for the tremendous blessing God gave me to hear a sermon on His Holiness and what my response is to be in light of who He is.

So now it's your turn!! First, blog about how God has been at work in your life this week - it can be a physical provision, a spiritual lesson learned, an opportunity to share with others, anything that was an evidence of God at work in you. Then head over to Jenny's blog and link your post in her mister linky.

A Night at the Fair

Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!
Stop by Grosgrain to enter into this adorable dress giveaway. I absolutely love the vintage look to this dress, and I know it would look adorable on both of my girls. However, if I don't win this dress I would love to see one of you win it for your little girls. Good luck entering.

Cloth Diapering

Last October we switched Andy from disposable diapers to cloth diapers. We had a lot of flat folds that had been used for burp cloths with the girls, and we ordered some Bum Genius All-in-ones from Cotton Babies.

Now that we are expecting a newborn in a few weeks, we want to continue using cloth diapers. Therefore, I am asking all you moms who have been cloth diapering to share your advice on what to do with a newborn. The All-in-ones that we have will probably be two large for the first two-three months (I generally have small babies who gain weight slowly). I've looked for diaper covers at Wal-Mart and can't find anything smaller than 12 months.

Please share your wisdom and advice for diapering newborns. I would also be interested to hear what you choose to do when you spend a day out with the kids.

God's grace in My mistakes

I am so thankful that God gives his grace when we are negligent.
About three weeks ago we purchased a new cell phone because the screen went out on our previous phone. Well, Saturday morning I was doing laundry and decided to have the girls help me do laundry. So, I told them to pick up all the clothes that were on the floor and throw them in the washing machine. Since I didn't handle any of the clothes, I didn't check the pockets on anything. A little later Kara helped me transfer the laundry to the dryer; and while I was folding clothes, I had Kara empty the dryer into a laundry basket.

A few moments later I hear Kara calling, "Mommy, I found the cell phone." My first thoughts "You're joking, why would you find the cell phone by the dryer." Well, I got up and sure enough she had pulled the cell phone out of the dryer. Of course after being laundered and then exposed to extreme heat, I figured there was no hope for the phone.

I then dismantled the phone, and then went on-line to find out what the warranty covered (I figured it wouldn't cover this, but it doesn't hurt to check). Sure enough, the warranty does not cover contact with liquids or with extreme heat. Okay, that's two strikes against us. I really don't want to put out the money for a new phone. I said a quick prayer just asking that the phone would work, and then put it together. Praise the Lord it came on right away.

Now it's your turn. If you have a praise of blessing about how God has worked in your life this past week. Head over to Jenny's blog to link your post to the Works of God Testimony

Pregnancy Update Week 34

I am now entering week 34 of my pregnancy. That means if this baby is like my other three, I only have four more weeks until I get to meet him/her. So far, everything is going smoothly with the pregnancy. I've gained a total of 15 pounds thus far. My goal was to not gain more than 15 pounds, so we'll see if I can keep from gaining any more. My blood pressure is good and stable at 116/64. No other problems have shown themselves, and the doctor is confident in saying that there is no evidence of a cleft in this baby.

I can already tell that Baby Sammy is going to be quiet active and strong. I am sure that if you were to turn my stomach inside out every thing would be black and blue from the strength of the kicks. Activity is slowing down a little bit; but when the baby gets moving, it can be painful. While I experienced quite a bit of heartburn early on in the pregnancy I have not had to suffer any lately. So, if the wives tales are true maybe I'll finally have a bald baby :) For those of you who don't know, Lydia was born with her hair already past her shoulders. And Kara and Andy both had a decent amount of hair when they were born also.

My next Doctor's appointment will be Wednesday. This appointment begins my weekly visits and I get to enjoy the wonderful Strep Test :P (said quiet sarcastically).

As far as preparations for the baby go, we still have a lot to do. While we have a couple of options on baby names we have not yet decided on a name. I really want the baby to have a good strong Bible name, but I don't like names that are very common (like david, daniel, mary, sarah). If you have any ideas for either a boys name or a girls name, I would love to here them.

I would also like to know whether or not you think we are having a boy or a girl. Below are a couple of pictures so you can see how I'm carrying the baby.

Prayer Request: We have Vacation Bible School in three weeks. Please pray that baby decides to wait until VBS is over before meeting the outside world.

Independence Day Fun

Our little town doesn't have a lot of celebrations, but they always have an hour of fun for the kids before the fireworks begin.

Frisbee Toss

Andy saying Cheese

Andy Playing with his frisbee
Lydia in the HoolaHoop Contest
Kara trying her hand at the hoola hoop

Andy was having a great time