By the Way......

um, wow- just noticed that this didn't post!!!!

Most of you are Facebook friends.... or family, so you know already:). Sorry that you've been left out of the loop blog only folks.

Our Snowflake is here!!!!! Yea!!!!! I am one happy unpregnant woman and blessed, and doubly blessed momma! There are pictures on Rex's Facebook profile. I'm not there yet. I still have some 6 back pages of emails to answer but right now ( i have now lost count of my backlog!), I'm snuggling the most adorable and beautiful miracle I've ever seen and doing school with the most amazing big brothers and sister a mom could ever want.  That's my limit for the day. Round One of end of year testing is coming up in 3 weeks. Then I'll get to breathe a bit before Round Two in May. Maybe I'll get caught up on all the posts that I've felt too crummy to do since November!!!!! Believe me, I do have pictures galore to share..... and some stories to tell too:).

Quick update:
-We got interviewed by the local news at National Pancake Day at IHOP! (I have a video link but no pictures.)
-We finished Upwards basketball.
-Jaja came to bail me out when Snowflake was born last week and Nana is coming this week .... she's gonna help me get ready for testing ... sigh.... bless her. She's lacing up her running shoes!
-I still have Christmas pictures.
-Our amazingly wonderful church family has blessed us abundantly with a shower (pictures coming), prayers after prayers after prayers and food fit for a king this week!!!!!!! They are celebrating our new princess as much as we are. I am so humbled by their support!
-Rex and I had a Valentine's date this year complete with pictures of me big and fat:)))) yep- i'll post. Looking at it now, I can tell just how badly I felt! WOW! I say it 10 times a day, I didn't know how badly I felt until she was born and I felt so much better?!?!? (She was sooooooooooo worth it though! Don't think I'm complaining in the least! I'm REALLY not! I'd do it all over again to get this sweet little bundle! We're smitten!)
-Rex and the kids rototilled the garden and began the "planting season" ... movie line alert:) who knows it?

Now- the news of the day:) Sunday March 6 at 8:18am Khloe Joy made her grand entrance in dramatic fashion and was delivered by a precious midwife friend from my homeschool group. She weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 in. long. She is smiley, alert, snugly, adorable, cute, and a great sleeper! She's been sleeping midnight to 6 am for several days now.... good thing since momma is not really taking a break from school... just pared down to test review and reading the Bible each day. Though we did get math and grammar done today as well. She is adored and admired by all of her siblings and Oreo is anxious for his turn at sniffing the new toy. He has not earned his gentleman wings yet so he's spending a lot of time in his "box".... I should get a picture.... it's pitiful.

I promise pictures..... one day.

If this doesn't break your heart, you're not human.

http://renslow.blogspot.com/

The Very Best Pie Crust EVER!

This post is a work in progress unless you are reading this after I've finished at which point I will remove this tag.. :D and post the pictures to go with.... if you're reading this, check back.

Dad is here..... with PEACHES! a mondo basket of sweet, juicy, yummy South Carolina peaches.... it begs to be made into pie. and cobbler. and smoothies. and eaten standing over the sink. um, yum!

I've known this friend for going on 11 years now. I treasure her and her family for many reasons. The most important one is HER PIE CRUST! :D Trust me. And her chocolate chip cookie recipe... I'll post that later.

I'm no Pioneer Woman. And the wife of a food photographer whose pictures have graced the cover and pages of Food and Wine more than once should be able to do better...... but I've got pie to eat:)

By the way, I'm posting about it because I'm continually trolling her blog looking for her post about it. She did it in 2008 so it takes me a while to find it every time. My recipe box keeps eating the card?!?!?1

New Blog add!

I just added some friends to our sidebar... check them out! They are friends made through our homeschool group eons ago.... and, they are rabid Bama fans!

Oddly, I have noticed that there are many Bama fans 'rounds these parts! Yeah, yeah, there's a hand full of those Barners up here too. :D There's enough of us around here to have a right fine tailgate party too when you toss in the obnoxious Michigan fans. ;Q

More pictures for ya'

Well, I am beginning the "mourning process" over this summer. I blinked and then looked at the calendar and we start school in 2 weeks. AGH! I am NOT ready to start at all. The school room is still a pitiful mess (though I've been working on it all summer) and I haven't finished getting everything into ready-to-go lesson plans yet. You'd think that after 10 years of homeschooling that I'd be more on top of it but the truth is.... well, not so black and white.... more later :)

Now, about those pictures..... in the days and weeks following Snowflake's arrival, testing for our homeschool group had to get done... I've posted about past years' tests HERE. This year was a major accomplishment for many reasons.

When all was said and done, Electron and Glitter took top honors and Ondepenya and Warrior had to settle for the second tier prize again BUT considering that Snowflake was only 4 weeks old, a trying last few months of pregnancy, I had been working up until she was born and she had thrush and weight loss after birth..... well, I was proud of them.

They had energy to burn! Rex was very sick that night so I didn't get any pictures of the closing ceremony itself. :( But my class was as cute as any 4 yr old class could be, each of my children's classes were very well put together and I was so proud of every class on the stage! I really do love our group.

More catch up updates coming..... at some point our back-up files will get added to what we have downloaded and I'll be able to show you all of those pictures too. And we've had 2 birthdays and 1 this week so that is coming.... 

We've also had to say goodbye to Oreo........ he was really good with Snowflake but after she came he simply could not adjust. He had been getting better but he required more than what we could give so we found a wonderful home with some trainers who had border collies. He went to them wholeheartedly and is very happy in his new home. Here is a picture of the day we said goodbye:

He really did love us and we him but without a fenced in yard and his penchant for snipping at visitors.... we feel we made the right choice for all of us even though it broke everyone's heart. By the way, this is as close to a family picture as we've had!? UGH! I am hopeful that one day soon we will have a picture with everyone in it. :)

YEA!!!!

Rex downloaded our camera so I can post some pictures of the beautiful little precious that has stolen our hearts, captured our fascination, and completely wrapped us all around her adorable little fingers!  Yep, she's the center of our universe and we are all very happy about that!

They let me out of the hospital around 11:00 at night. After the obligatory stop for a beach club sub at Jimmy John's, we made it home at midnight and promptly woke Glitter to meet her sister. Sadly, due to the flu epidemic, the big children weren't allowed to come to the hospital so this was their first meeting. It was magical.

The very next morning, the big children were off to our homeschool group after racing upstairs to get their hands all over her! The squeals of pure joy and fascination are forever embedded in my memory. oooohhhs  and aaaahhhhhhs and, "How tiny!" were precious. She smiled so big when she heard their voices.... she recognized them already.

Daddy is lobbying hard to steal her heart........ I assure you, the fight is intense around here! :)

Snowflake and Ondepenya.... she STILL holds his finger with an iron grip every time he is near. It is cute. He is in love and so is she.

Warrior is sooooooooooooooooo enamored! He is so sweet with her, careful, in awe. He loves to play with her and lay on the floor with her on her play dome. (Please excuse the books. We were studying.)

She's a bit older here but rest assured that he held her day one too. He is her ultimate protector, constantly watching to make sure she is ok. He has an eagle eye out for any danger or off kilter things (like when her blanket gets over her head and scares her.... she can't yet get it off herself. They've all come to know THAT scream. )

Mommy Jr. in action. The beautiful bond between the two is priceless. She is anxiously awaiting my return to work so she can have "her baby" all to herself. hahahaha She is sooooooooo amazing with her. I couldn't ask for a better big sister. Ever. She is going to be one amazing mom when her turn comes. She reads her books and talks to her and changes diapers and snuggles. She is a quick study!

One morning I couldn't find the baby (a rather common occurrence I might add!) and lo and behold, Glitter had snatched her for some "sissy time". Snowflake was watching her first princess movie! She lights up whenever Glitter is around!

Jaja came to visit the day we came home. We've already posted the picture of him with Snowflake but I wanted to post this too. Our homeschool group had a special tribute to WW2 the Friday after Snowflake was born and Glitter had a special part in the "USO" show...... Jaja had to go with us. (Yes I really did take a 5 day old baby?!?! Hey, she's gotta learn early that she's a part of a big family!)

We had a wonderful time with Jaja. Bless his heart, he spent the whole visit quizzing kids for their upcoming test! Thanks Dad. You kept me sane. Here's Glitter on stage!

Next, Nana showed up! God bless her. She cleaned, she tested (the kids), she dealt with me (Snowflake and I had thrush?!??!  She was not gaining weight. I was a neurotic mess and poor Rex was out of town. ugh!) She rescued me BIG TIME. She and her amazing best friend Vickie Russell (LOVE YOU MRS. RUSSELL!!!!!!!!!!!) decorated Snowflake's room from Alabama and Mom put it all together when she got here. Check out how WONDERFUL it looks!!! It's my favorite room in the whole house.

And now.... all of my favorite pictures...... enjoy!

I love this one! You can tell we've spent a lot of time all piled into bed together watching movies and just plain hanging out......... Snowflake gets squished.... alot. By the way, this onesie says, "I'm kind of a big deal." Yep, she IS. :)

Yo, diggy dog, just hangin' with my peeps...... you gotta problem wit dat?

What does one do for dinner on July 8th????

Weeeeeeeeell, of course?! YOU EAT MOR CHIKIN!

baby cow included.... Daddy cow was behind the iphone..... but he was a "bull" not a cow he says:)

Happy Cow Appreciation Day, Chik-fil-A!


By the way, YES we now have our computer back BUT our camera isn't yet downloaded so Snowflake pictures will have to wait just a bit......... in the meantime:) can YOU tell which one is Snowflake and which one is Glitter??????

Adoption fundraiser for a precious little girl!

My friend AMY is having the CUTEST!!!!! fundraiser for her adoption fund for their daughter, Lilah Grace. Take a moment to go check out these great custom made hooded towels.... they are super sized!