Peppermint for 3

 Baby Girl turned 3 this week.  I guess we should stop calling her Baby.  There's NEVER been a 3 year old baby in the Fish House.  Come to think of it, there's never been a 2 year old baby in the Fish House.  This is a first for us.  She was so excited about her birthday.  When Grandma asked, "Lydia, do you want a chocolate cake, a vanilla cake or a strawberry cake from Grandma?"  She said, "Hmm....let me think about it. (pause)  I want a peppermint cake."  So sweet Grandma rose to the occasion and accommodated.  Baby Girl seemed to be set on the idea of peppermint.  When we would ask her what she wanted for her birthday, her reply was always "Peppermint!"  So Peppermint it was.

 She ate her requested cereal, peanut butter balls, with one happy face.

 She quickly opened her gifts before the big Fish Sticks headed out the door to school.

 And we had our traditional Oreo Ice Cream Cookie Cake with a peppermint 3 on the top.

 Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.  You keep us laughing.  

You keep us young, and you are a blessing in our home.

May you grow to passionately love the Lord and serve Him every day of your life!

Substitutions

 Who needs a Bluetooth when you have a pipe cleaner?

The Big Seven

 My sweet Roofie Poofie turned 7 this week.  It's hard to believe that my tiniest little Fish Stick (weighing 5 lbs. 3 oz.) has already turned 7.  It seems like yesterday that she was wearing baby doll clothes.

Here she is enjoying her cinnamon rolls for breakfast on the red plate.

 She quickly opened her gifts in the a.m. before the big Fish Sticks heading off to school.

 As she was planning her special day menu, she repeated over and over how she wanted FRUIT....all kinds of fruit.  I kept telling her there had to be something other than just fruit.  Protein.  Carbs.  Dairy.  Vegetable.  Some type of balance.  I just filled in the blanks with what I knew she would like and she couldn't get enough of her fruit. (See it oozing out of her mouth?)

The boys went to Caleb's basketball game which was too far away for the whole family to go to.  We waited until they came home to have Oreo Ice Cream cake with a number 7 with M&M's on the top.  (Anyone tried the new Cherry M&M's?  Yummy!)

Happy Birthday, sweet girl.  Your giggle and carefree spirit brings our home joy.

New Blog

I might be a bit crazy, but I had this idea a while back.  The more I think about it, the more I want to do it.  I have decided to start a new blog.  It's crazy because sometimes I feel like I can't keep up with my family "history" blog so why would I try another blog.  It's just that my mind gets cranking about things sometimes.  I just feel I want to write them down and share them with someone.

I love to cook.  I love to plan menus.  Basically I love being a homemaker.  I enjoy reading other blogs about sewing, cooking, budgeting, cleaning, time-management....basically just homemaking.  All of this reading and applying has caused me to want to pass things on as well.

So today I am sending out the link to my new blog.  It's called Feeding the Fish Sticks.  It will be a little bit of everything homemaking.  I am making no promises, but my goal is to post 2-3 times a week.  It will be practical for sure.  It will be for the mom who loves reminders and good ideas about how to manage her home well, because I'm one of the ones who loves those reminders and good ideas.  It will be from one mom to another.  Nothing fancy.  Not much Martha Stewart, just practical, everyday talk about what our job as wives and mothers entails.

I still haven't gotten it to look all cute, so bare with me on that end.  I'm not the most tech-savvy mom, but I'm working on it.  Check it out and pass it on.  Let me know what you think.

10 year old + camera + too much idle time

 I was told these were taken in the loft of the lake house this summer during a cousin sleepover.

I'm clearly not utilizing my camera to it's full potential of fun!

Dysfunctional?

Sometimes I wonder if we have a bit of a dysfunctional relationship with our pets.

Filling Time With Surprises

We went to the lake house this past weekend.  It had been months since we all were there.  Going there in the dead of winter requires a bit more creativity to keep the natives from getting restless.  My Man told the Fish Sticks on Saturday that we were heading out for a surprise.  During the 30 minute trip, we were bombarded with 20 questions to reveal this special surprise.

Now when times were better, we used to enjoy eating out as a family fairly regularly.  Friday night Mexican.  After church all-you-can-eat pizza.  Chick-fila  while we're out shopping.  Well, those days are gone now and eating out is few and far between.  With a growing family, we easily drop over $30 at fast food restaurants, not to mention how much a sit down restaurant costs.  It just doesn't seem a good way to use our money.

But this past summer we happened upon an amazing place in the small TN town of McMinnville.  It's called Sentosa.  (My family is snickering now).  If you did a google search on Sentosa you would find a tourist resort island in Singapore complete with a swimming lagoon, amusement park, miniature golf, high rated hotels and don't forget the ever famous, huge Merlion statue.  The picnic areas have wild monkeys running around like squirrels.  I know so much about this place because we lived across the street from it for 2 years and went there almost weekly.  So when we happened to see a restaurant named Sentosa, we knew it was something we had to try.

We pulled into Sentosa (of McMinnville) and all Fish Sticks started squealing with delight.  Why, you ask?  Sentosa is a buffet restaurant; no menus required.  It has about 12 buffet tables with cuisine from sushi bar, hibachi grill, chinese, salads, pizza, bbq ribs, asian pastries, country cooking to hard packed ice cream.  It has it all.  But what My Man and I really like about this place is that it is ridiculously cheap (unlike the true Sentosa Island!).  We all got water and left, having eaten WAY too much, for $31 for a family of 8.  That's crazy.  We expect Sentosa won't stay in business too long, but for now, we are their biggest fan.

And what else can Fish Sticks find to do at the lake house with limited entertainment and freezing cold temperatures?

I Have a Dream

I know it's a day late to title my post like this.  I also know that my dream is not even in the same league of the late MLK, but bare with me now as I share it.  With the economy hitting our little family hard these last few years, we have been known to dream more.  Some days when the job situation just plain stinks, My Man and I like to sit back and discuss our dreams, make more details, plan and just plain pretend.  With dreams like this, it gives us a pinch of hope for pressing on in this struggling economy.  I haven't always had this dream and if you mentioned it to me 16 years ago when I got married, I probably would have chuckled, thinking you were just teasing me.

I want to be a farmer's wife.  I want a self-sustaining farm.  The real deal.  Cows, chickens, goats, sheep, pigs, a huge garden and a big fruit orchard.  I want to spend half my year picking and preserving (well, I already do that now) and then send the Fish Sticks to our road side produce stand to sell to the locals.  I want to eat beef raised by my cows and fresh bacon from my pigs.  I want a barn cat that kills all those nasty, fat rats in my barn.  The perfect thing is My Man wants to be a farmer.  It might happen soon (with the mighty hand of God moving, for sure).  It might not be until the kids are all grown.  It might just remain a dream and that's o.k.

A few months ago when a group of moms came to a play date, I happened to mention how I sometimes fantasize about going back in time to the days of the pioneers when you wash on Mondays, clean on Tuesdays, cook on Wednesdays and everything you bought came from the work of your own hands.  I figured all women felt this way in some sense or another.  I could tell quickly that my companions had just ear marked me as a bit on the nutty side.

So this city girl who spent the majority of her life near the big cities (Atlanta, New Orleans, Memphis, Singapore, Nashville) has been smitten with country fever.  Maybe one day I will send you a Christmas card with My Man and me wearing overalls holding our pitch fork in front of our big silo.  Maybe not.  We'll see what My God has planned for me.  Until then though I'll just keep dreaming.

Summer Camp posted in January

My sweet AB just asked me to download her 215 videos and photos from her camera onto my computer.  When I did, I realized I had not seen most of these photos, including her ones from summer camp (Shame on me!).  Going through her photos made me giggle so much.  I thought I'd do a few posts of AB's photos to give you a glimpse into the life of a 10 year old.  Hold on cuz here we go....

Days at Summer Camp

Warped Humor

When I let my kids play on phone, this is the kind of stuff I find on my photos.  UGG!

Sharpening Iron

 Since moving to middle TN, I have found that it's hard to make really good friends.  Maybe people are too busy to really invest in family friendships.  Maybe others already have established friendships with no room for more.  Sometimes I feel like I'm pursuing a one-way friendship with another family.  Maybe it's me that scares folks away.  :)  Once you become a family and start having friends, I think it's important to find families with whom the moms enjoy one another, the dads enjoy one another, the kids play well together and you have the same goals:  to raise your children based on God's Word to be holy and set apart with a heart of service and mission.  That's not easy to find, at least it hasn't been for us.

We have friends like that and we go way back to junior high with them.  They finally moved close to us almost 3 years ago, and we are so glad to have them close.  The other family is newer to us, but from the first time we met, we knew we could see ourselves becoming great friends with their family although they live in another state. 

Recently the 3 families were able to spend a day together.  3 Dads, 3 Moms and 17 kids!!  We headed out to a friend's property, packed a picnic lunch and went 4-wheel riding.  We ended the fun day with chili at our house and lots of talking and playing.  Time with families like these 2 are immeasurable. 

As iron sharpens iron,

So one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 27:17

Baby Growing Up

I feel like I'm in a new stage of life right now and sometimes I don't know what to do with myself.  I only have one napper and some days she's good to skip that nap.  I'm not buying diapers anymore, although don't make the assumption that the potty situation here is good-to-go.  Not the case...I'm just determined to quit buying diapers.  My pack-n-play is in the attic, reserved for guests.  This past week I put the booster seat next to it.  My baby will be 3 in  just a couple of short weeks.  This is a first for me.

So last week when my Bender Buddy called me up and invited ALL SIX Fish Sticks over for a quick 2 hour play date after school, I literally didn't know what to say.  My "baby" had her first play day with her Bender Buddy!!  The weather was wonderful and the Fish Sticks couldn't have been happier.  I took this photo as I was driving away.  It's too far away to see my "baby" but she's there, tickled pink to get to play.

So what did I do with myself for 2 hours??  My Man and I went to the bank together and didn't get offered any lollipops.  Then we picked up my vacuum at the shop and then we browsed in our favorite antique, ironworks shop in downtown.  It smells like wonderful potpourri and is 100% filled with "don't touches."  It had been years since we strolled in there and it was refreshing.

Things are changing around here.  Next week we begin the once a month (almost) birthday celebrations of the Fish Sticks where they all hit odd numbers ending with a teenager this summer.  Where does time go?  There's a small side of me that mourns for the passing of baby days, yet I am embracing the independent stage we are entering.  My new motto to add to my kids' list of "Things My Mom Always Says":  With added responsibilities also comes added privileges."  It's a good thing.

Christmas in January

Who ever said that December was the only month to celebrate the nativity?

Word on the street was when the "shepherd" with her "sheep" on wheels wanted to bring her bright, pink, baby potty to the manger scene (which is understandable seeing as potties are big on the topic list with her these days), she was told by "Mary", "No, there are no potties here in the Old Testament."

Toddlers

 I love toddlers!  They say the funniest things.  They mispronounce things that make me giggle all the time.  They never walk, but always run.  They love, cuddle, and kiss the best.  They have the funniest quirks like wanting to take their shirt off for no good reason or singing the same 3 songs every night before bed or insisting on dressing themselves even when their pants are back wards.  They say things that make no sense to you but total sense to them, like last night when My Man and I were invited to join an Orjange (Orange) Club.  ???  They put their shoes on the wrong feet and don't mind.  They seem to be passionate about everything. 

Now I've had my fair share of terrible 2's...don't think that I haven't.  Pouty faces, throwing down fits, screaming, crying, defying authority and potty training is the worst.  I think I'd rather shovel manure out of a barn than potty train a contrary toddler.

 But when she started cutting rectangles with a slit up one part and came to me and said, "Mommy, I made you dem 2 pants.  A wittle pant and a big pant.", I just squeezed her and thought, "I love toddlers."

End of Christmas Break

For the last day of Christmas break, this Mama had 2 things on her agenda:  do BIG grocery shopping ALONE and clean house.  When our friend, Dan Klepper, emailed the night before and offered to come paint my kids' faces, I knew I might be able to rearrange the day and make it sound like lots more fun to the Fish Sticks.  I went shopping and they cleaned house with my master check list.  Their reward....face painting and eggnog milkshakes.  It was a hit!  Thanks so much, Dan, for coming to my house on YOUR birthday to paint the Fish Sticks' faces.  They loved it!  Check out Dan's web site and consider him for birthday parties or costume needs if you live in the Nashville area.

 Dan tried a new stencil on Caleb's face to make snake skin.  Pretty amazing!

 First time Dan came, Lydia wanted nothing to do with it.  The second time, we convinced her to get a flower on her hand.  This time she begged to be turned into Hello Kitty.  I think she's a pretty cute Hello Kitty, don't you?

 Dan wanted to practice on something new he's been learning....painting jewelry.  

The girls loved it and sometimes I had to do a double take on them because it looked so real.

I'd say we ended a wonderful Christmas break with a bang! 

(and I even got a stocked pantry and a clean house to go with it...yippee)

Happy 96th Mimi

Today is my Mimi's birthday.  She is turning 96.  She is miles away from us in VA and my folks drove up to celebrate with her.  I wish we were closer so I could decorate my house, host a meal and fix her favorite birthday cake.  My Mimi is a very special woman and I love her dearly.  I'm so glad that the Lord has blessed her with longevity for my children to know their great grandmother.

As a grandmother she always went above and beyond the call of duty to show love to her 4 grandkids.  She and Papa had my sister and I flown up in an airplane several times when we were young to spend a week with them in the summer before our family joined us for another week long visit.  We spent every Christmas at their house on the lake.  My mind is filled with memories of boating, skiing, ice skating on their lake and hours of playing family board games and bumper pool in their basement.  They took us to amusement parks and even rode the rides with us. 

Mimi  is always cheerful and the eternal optimist.  I guess that's where my Dad got it from.  (What a good trait to pass to your children!)  She and Papa were so bold as to take my sister and I on a week long Airstream camper trip for 3 different summers:  Lake Placid, NY; Boise, Idaho, California and the Wild West;  and Duluth, Minnesota and Canada.  Thanks to them I have been to almost every one of our 50 states!  Just imagine being in a vehicle hours on end for a week, stopping to tour as you go, with 2 energetic tweens (who I am SURE were nothing but a blessing the whole time, right Mimi?).  Mimi is a trooper!

Mimi is an avid learner.  Even within the last 10 years she has traveled all over the world (literally), has gone to cultural events like plays, museums and exhibits and has taken classes to learn new skills or refresh herself in other languages.

My life is richer because of my grandmother.  I hope she has a very special birthday today!  I love you, Mimi!