Pygmies in Colorado?

There were Pygmies here today. Little white-skinned ones running around in their underwear!
PYGMIES? Yeah. That's what I said too. I mean, I'm the only contact these children have with the outside world, and I don't remember anything about Pygmies!

There has been an all-consuming interest in dinosaurs in our home recently, and it turns out that something Daddy Bug read to Zack last week had reference to Pygmies who have spotted living dinosaurs. I was just glad to find out that Daddy was the instigator (albeit unwittingly) of the Pygmie fascination:-)

Apparently my son would love to get to know some pygmies so he can go on a dinosaur hunt with them. Dad said he would go, but further study illuminated that some of these dinosaurs are not affected by gun shot.
We are well aware that swords worked perfectly well for the Knights of old, but Zachary is a sensibly cautious fellow, and declared that he isn't interested in getting close enough to a dinosaur to kill it with a sword. Smart man!
Daddy Bug wonders where Zack got it into his head to KILL one anyway. Wouldn't it be enough to just SEE one of the magnificent beasts?

We actually found some Youtube video of pygmies playing some interesting instruments, and yodeling. However, when Zachary asked if we could type in "Pygmie with a Dinosaur"...

It would seem that the World Wide Web has it's limitations after all!!

Where'd IT Go?!!

I have realized something about myself.
I have a depleted sense of humor when I'm in the nursing season. Isn't that sad? If I ever needed it, it would be now especially, when I am running on fumes.
I have had the easiest nursing babies - they have all nursed a couple times through the night until 9-12 months, and fall fast asleep right after nursing. It's not that I have to be awake so much of the night, it's just that my body doesn't ever make it into that deep restful sleep because that refuses to happen in three to five hour stretches!
Yea-yea, I know I'm preaching to the choir. Thanks for listening Choir.
I'm hoping the Lord will help these tensed up muscles relax, this uptight momma unwind, and maybe (just maybe) I can find a little more humor in the craziness of it all!

I feel better already!

Call it School!

We made Neiman Marcus cookies yesterday. They always turn out amazing for a chocolate chip cookie, the reason we don't make them more often is that they seem to be a bit time-consuming. These have special memories for me making them with Super Momma when we were about sixteen or so. (Have you made them since then, Super Momma?)

One of the great things about them, is that one recipe makes a lot of cookies without having to triple the batch for a big family or husband with a sweet tooth that brings home his bachelor friend!

Here's the recipe for any chocolate chip cookie loving person! I freeze the cookies that don't get ravaged on the first day (that would depend somewhat on how hungry that husband of yours is:-)).





















NEIMAN MARCUS Cookies

Cream together:
2 C. butter
2 C. white sugar
2 C. brown sugar

Add:
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix with:
4 C. flour
5 C. blended oatmeal (this is first measured, then blended in your blender. It turned out fine for me yesterday without having blended the oatmeal.)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda














Add:
24 oz chocolate chips
3 C. chopped nuts of your choosing (I like pecans, almonds, or a mixture of both)
8 oz Hershey bar grated (grating this is tricky for me, but well worth the effort!)

Roll into balls, flatten slightly and place two inches apart on cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 min at 375 degrees.
Makes about 112 cookies (I don't know for sure about this one, it was a little hard to count with how fast they were disappearing!)

And... VIOLA! The Look pretty scrumptious, don't they? (The cookies, that is!;-))

SaturdayFun!

Our Saturday was pretty nice:-)
It started off with Zachary making his recipe (last post), and the little girls going to breakfast with Daddy Bug. Susanna told me later that she had an English muffin with poison-berry jam in it!
(I'm glad she's okay!)

We all took a little drive to scope out the lay of the land. It was a lovely day, and while we decided that Colorado Springs wasn't to our taste, we did discover a quaint rural town that had a park with a playground! Here's some pictures to show the fun:-)

Initiation

Yikes! I got my first "tag!" (Thanks for inviting me to sit at the cool girl's table with you, Suzanne!)
I am going to try this out once - just for fun - and I hope I can figure out how to do it as well as Suzanne did, though my post won't be nearly as fun or interesting as hers!
After this, I'll probably be a stick-in-the-mud for these kind of games, since I can barely get to the computer to post a regular blog:-)

Here are the rules:

• 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
• 2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• 3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

All righty then...

1)I am an artist, and have loved any art medium since the beginning of time. Right now I mostly draw with pen and ink because that's all I have time for.
When I was about six, I talked my brother into letting me cut some of his hair to make paint brushes out of. I actually made them (though it was a little difficult to get the hair to stick to the sticks with rubber cement!), and while I DID get into trouble and never have lived down the episode, my mom actually saved those paint brushes for a laugh!

2) We have a beloved rooster still living at home in California. His name is Fancy Pants, and the children love him even though he has attacked every one of them! Daddy Bug loves him because he is self-maintaining, and has taught our boys how to stand up to a bully, and protect their sisters.
I guess those are okay reasons to keep him around, but who lives on an old farm with no animals except a mean ol' rooster?!

3) I like my Safeway Rocky Road ice cream best in a mug, with milk poured over it, and always eat it that way with a soup spoon.

4) When I was about fifteen I remember telling a friend "whoever marries those Love boys are going to be the luckiest girls!" Then, three years later, the cutest, smartest, most wonderful one... married ME!!!

5) I know how to milk goats. I milked many. I milked them often. I don't care to ever own one. Unless someone else milks it, that is.

6) I am the oldest of seven children. I have changed LOTS of diapers - most of them rubber pants covered, diaper pinned, cloth ones. When my first child was born, my husband poo-pooed (pun intended) the idea of using cloth diapers, declaring the cost to be a wash (another pun intended!). I never have calculated it, since I'm not interested in proving him wrong! I'm just thankful to be enjoying the luxury of disposable diapers still:-)

7)When I get to enjoy all these gals who are at their best while blogging -women who love and fear the Lord, who are fun and witty, and freely offer their real selves in friendship - It makes me really look forward to Heaven!!! Thanks Lord!

Do I even KNOW seven people to tag?

Super Momma at 2homeschool

Molly at Hightowers (my sweet little sister #1!)

Diane at The Diane Story

Mommy Reg at Mommyhood Adventures

Momma K. at The Pea in My Pod (My sister-in-love, the other lucky Love wife!)

Audry at So This is Heaven on Earth!

Morgan at Momma Loves Papa

Banana Split for Breakfast!

The girls went to Breakfast with Daddy, so Zachary came to me with this recipe he had created and asked if he could make it. I thought You'd enjoy seeing it, and besides, it turned out surprisingly (only surprising to me) good - you might want to try it yourself!

This is what his recipe says:

*Sliced in half, one banana
*1 bowl for the banana split
*A little bit of granola
*Just a little bit of sliced fruit
*A Tablespoon of sugar

Here's how the recipe actually played out:

*1 Banana sliced in half
*1 Apple diced or sliced
*About half cup of granola
*Cinnamon sprinkled on
*A dollup or two of whipped cream
*Another sprinkling of granola on top as a garnish

You see before you two happy cooks, but not nearly as happy as they were digging in to this dillectable concoction!
(I will add that the cinnamon was a tasty touch - way to go Big Z!)

FRIED EGG FRIDAY!

You thought this was a new meme... It's not. Or, maybe it is?! Fried Egg Friday was coined by Clayton Praise when he asked if we could make "fried eggs for breakfast on Friday's since they both have fri in them"!
I was hooked!
Fried Egg Friday has come to signify that Fridays are a little more special than the other four school days.
On Fridays we don't eat Oatmeal for breakfast.
On Fridays we use a little creativity and learn or study whatever floats our boat on a whim.
On Fridays (as of today!!) Dad is home for a three day weekend! (I will translate this to mean "HELP!" for this 'ol mom) Yipee!!
On Friday evenings we make Pizza and have family play-time (a tradition which involves games, and maybe a movie for the mom and dad, and Uncle Love Bugs)

We're a little new at this Fried Egg day, but I like it because it feels special. We're going to try and make it so!

You want to know what we did on THIS Friday? I'm afraid today isn't one of our better examples, but I think it's about to improve...
The Daddy Bug has rescued me from the dinner chore this evening! Then... PAR-TAY!!

Good Fruit

Zachary made and served lunch today. What a big help to me! I can hardly believe that this season is close to an end - the season where I have lots of little ones and no older help.
It looks like my help is really starting to blossom!

Before lunch, Zack led the children in prayer, and this is what I overheard:


"Lord, would you please help me, and Clay, and Sue, and O' to learn to serve you and love you, so we can come up to be with you."

Training: Inside vs. Out

What is the heart condition?

I am not writing this blog for the instructing of anyone else, so much as for my own musings.

Lately I have been hashing over the "chores" subject, and how to get my Little Bugs on board with household help.
That has been a challenge (for various reasons), but that's NOTHING compared to the cultivating of a helpful spirit, or attitude!
My new friend Suzanne has offered some really practical wisdom in this area of chores: read "Scheduling Chores" and "A Spoonful of Sugar" at her blog http://thebeautyofitall-suzanne.blogspot.com/
Her thoughts and ideas get me excited that there's hope for our tribe!

Today however, I have decided to minor on the chores issue. I am battling a different enemy: one that has come against the spirit of camaraderie in our home.
Would you know what I'm speaking of if I mentioned bickering, tattling, and other antagonizing behavior? If not, please go visit someone else's site! This is a humbling post!!
So anyway, chores seem a little insignificant in sight of a greater issue - a heart condition.
Good days are good, and I always like to think that if we finally learn a lesson, it is learned.
However, unlike our math concepts and spelling words, dying to self is something that needs to be learned, taught, and modeled over and over again.
There is no room for complacency on this one!! I know we fight NOT against flesh and blood, so in solving this problem, I have decided to first face the issue as being a spiritual one. Even if the fallen flesh is blamable, O' how the Enemy of God would like to use it for our destruction!

Prayer. First and foremost prayer. Prayer for the souls of my children, prayer for wisdom for mom, prayer for a gentle spirit in training my little ones, and prayer for some creative practical application!

Game Plan:
*I'm going to give my children more projects to do together in teams.
*I'm going to keep them busy doing things for mom until they regard that as the norm rather than the exception.
*I will spend more time on drill (drill being a time of fun obedience practice. ie "come", "stop", "sit", "stand", etc.)
*Perhaps some rewards for excellent behavior are in order? I'm open for idea's on this one as long as it's not in the form of a bribe.
OKAY! I'm all excited now - ready to get to work!
Lord-willing, I will be able to tell you of a real difference sometime soon. Please pray for our family to have victory!

I will end on a positive note. Clayton offered prayer before lunch yesterday, and this is part of what he said...

"...And Lord, help us have fruit, and not be dead without fruit..."

Colossians 1:9-10
"For this cause we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Thank You Almighty God, for your faithfulness to me!

New Look for the Love Bugs!

Okay... I really need to do some other things besides playing right now, and intended to make the pink background last until the new month.

Alas, I was very tired of it weeks ago!!

So here's our new look! (for now:-))
Here's a few recent pictures of the little Bugs to tickle you pink!



LAUGH a LITTLE

Clayton says to me "They must have to kill a lot of chickens to fill a package of chicken legs, because chickens only have two feet!"

And Zachary tells me "Sue got a paper cut on a very sensible part of her finger."
(read sensitive:-))

And !OUCH! Does this look like it HURT?!!