Eww - A Memoire

Suzanne posted a very understandable "Eww" today.
It made me think of the time when we had just moved into our country house.
Not exactly a tightly sealed abode, although there was a roof over our heads.

That was the Summer of the Snakes.
I won't give you all the snake stories of that Summer, but one of the most memorable.

One day I was minding my business (literally) in the bathroom, when Zachary, then age two and a half came in to show me what he had discovered.
Wriggling between his fingers was a big red worm (or so I thought).
Upon further inspection I decided that it was TOO wriggly for a worm, and too RED to be a night crawler.

(And here's where I can relate to you Suzanne)

I didn't wanting him holding it (I had never seen a snake this little, OR red, for that matter) so I didn't know (and still don't) what kind it was.
I wanted to tell him to "drop it, drop it, drop it!" but wasn't liking the thought of a snake loose in the house!

Of course, it had already been loose in the house since that's where Zack found it...

Ugh! There was no alternative but to collect my wits!

I did too, and am proud to say that I got a container in record time and we deposited his prize for a later show-and-tell with Daddy!

That was a fun Summer! Sometime I'll tell about the Gopher snake in the eaves, or the King snake lying across the front door...

Another time:-)

EVIDENCE...

...That Susanna IS INDEED a big sister,
AND (a lesser known fact) that she is also somewhat of a ham!

Week #5

Week before last while Daddy Bug was out of town, THIS is what I accomplished!

I made this sweet little baby quilt for my cousins who are expecting their first-born (her name is Vivian Arlene - isn't that darling?! Arlene is my Grandmother's name, and I myself am partly named after her. I'm also named after my maternal grandmother Bethlene. That's where the "lene" part of my name came from. Aren't I lucky?!)

Sorry about that! Back to my original post.

Okay, anyway, I had lots of colorful scraps which I brought with me to Colorado for this very purpose, and then I found the most cute fleece to back it with. Can you see the little fish on it?

Now I know I wasn't really making MY home when I did this project, but it warmed my heart to be able to bless my cousins.
(Cousins, please don't tell me if it wasn't your thing!) ;-)

Part of keeping home, or being a "keeper of the home" is finding ways to brighten your life and others with the gifts and means that the Lord has given you!

(Now if I can just finish the quilt I started for Zachary a year-and-a-half ago!)

Thanks For the Help

Speaking of having full hands...

I had finally got through the grocery store with all five Little Bugs, when I was loading my groceries into the van and discovered that the Bagger apparently didn't know how to bag groceries.
It should have been a clue to me that there were only four bags in the cart (but they fit so nicely, I had hoped he was extra efficient).

He wasn't.

I mean, I would give the guy some credit if he had bagged all my groceries into four bags neatly, when my cart was already overflowing with children and purse!
I don't expect Baggers to have previously worked as Rocket Scientists, but I thought they might at least be trained to pack the heavy things on the bottom of the bag!!! Am I being picky?

Would you feel grateful for only four bags when ONE bag contained several pounds of meat followed by a bag of flour AND a bag of sugar?

How about Several items including a bag of bagels being tossed in on TOP of your loose leaf lettuce?

The clincher for me was not being able to find my Snickers bar (hunting for it was how I came to be aware of this mess) until I finally unpacked the final bag (of course) to find it at the bottom
of the bag containing all the raw meat! Mmmmm... YUM!
I used to think it was a hardship to do my own bagging, but I am beginning to realize the up-side.

Since I have now thoroughly complained, I will tell you that all the groceries got into the house and put away without any major crisis ocuring.
I'm thankful for the privilege of shopping for what we need (and want).

And I'm ready for a nap.

Great Feats

I am only 29 years old, and have had my own children for less than seven years. None-the-less, I am an old pro at doing things one-handed! My one-handed days started when my sister Emma was born and I was eleven. That would put me at 18 years of experience.

I can:
wash dishes
make breakfast
...lunch
...dinner
clean almost anything
play piano
type (albeit a slow process!)
write (I guess you usually use one hand for that)
take pictures
push a cart
carry groceries...
and I'm drawing a blank for the rest of this list

Some Things I Don't Have Down Yet:
getting dressed (myself or anyone else)
tying shoes, and
changing a diaper (I keep thinking this will come with practice, and believe me - I have tried more than once!)
This list should be longer too, but I don't like to dwell on the negative. I'm a glass half full kinda girl!

What can YOU do one-handed?

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Blessed Quietness makes it's debute!

The brand new blog of my dear friend and sister-in-law's sister (make sense of that if you can!)...
the amazing Faith!
Mother to five boys under the age of six.

I have high expectations for this blog, as Faith has a very interesting life, a good perspective, and delightful sense of humor:-)

Please, O' friends of mine, visit her and introduce yourselves.

But I BEG you...
Keep coming back to visit ME - I try real hard!

Momma Bug FUN? SPONTANEOUS Even?!!

I'm going to try breaking out of the mold this week.

Can I keep to a schedule, AND be spontaneous?
(I mean, I will plan, but hopefully my children will think I am being spontaneous!)

I don't know, but I am going to try.
Since I know my weakness to propose big ideas and then not follow through with them, y'all will have to wait until a later post to know the details. That way I don't lose too much face if my "big idea" crashes and burns!

You could pray for me though.
That would be very nice of you, and helpful too!

Daddy Bug flew out of town again tonight.
I'm kicking off this spontaneity thing with letting one Little Bug (ahem, not just ANY bugs, but Love Bugs mind you) share my bed with me each night he's away.
I will be finding out who moves the most - I suspect they will all be good bed mates - though I do have some concerns about Olivia. If nothing else, just that she STAY ON THE BED!

I've got to do a little more tweaking on my spontaneity plan yet tonight, but I really should go check on my bed buddy SOON!

(is spontaneity planning an oxymoron?)
(what if it works for me?)

(I'll let you know what I find out!)

;-)

Week #4

This week's post is not going to have any pictures, which I am very sad about because I am very visual and like those colorful images to look at!

You all may not know this, but when my beloved and I moved the family out here to Colorado, he had taken a contract with his work committing to a stay of certain duration.
Because of this, it made sense to move in with his brother (Uncle Wyatt) who lives alone in a 5,000 square foot home.
Since we have always lived in less than 1,000 sq. ft., we are knocking around in all this space! Needless to say Uncle Wyatt is no longer "lonely" (Har - har!)
AJ says we "hardly even notice he's here", and I am quite sure that U.W. cannot say the same for US!
Since we're living in someone else's home, "home-keeping" has a unique twist.
Mostly my skills are taxed by learning how to simplify - especially since we have more space now, and it would be easy to fill it!
Besides simplifying our stuff, my goal has been to make this place homey and beautiful at little expense, and without compromising the "delicate" tastes of a bachelor! ;-)

ALSO... when we came we brought only what we could fit into our van.
So...
the children sleep in sleeping bags,
We don't have our "decor" from home,
our clothing is somewhat limited,
and we have to get a little creative with things like storage of clothes/toys etc.
and how to warmify this large empty house without buying lots of do-dads.

Today I offer my simple gift wrapping tip.
(remember, simplify)

I keep only:
*a roll of brown packing paper
*white tissue paper, and
*1-5 spools of ribbon.

I buy my ribbon at Costco (they carry it usually twice a year), and attempt to have colors that would serve me for wedding gifts, birthdays, and boys/men, as well as all the girlie presents.

Costco sells a 50 yard roll for $8.00! I don't know how you can beat that! (You'd better like the color though, because you may have it around for a while! :-)

(okay, I lied. Here's one little picture)











I only have one roll here in Co. which I bought when we arrived.
I chose blue with a pretty brown edge, figuring that in a pinch, it wouldn't scare a boy too much!

At home I also have white (which is great for Christmas, and Weddings) Purple (which I just plain like) and maybe two other colors which I have bought over the course of six years or more, and have lasted that long.

It's my own personal opinion that a real fabric ribbon adds a little more elegance to a gift, and is plenty of decoration for plain brown paper.
Of course there are millions of other simple ways to dress up such simple packaging, but this is a start which has enabled me to not have a cabinet or drawer overflowing with gift wrapping supplies.

Let me know what you think?

A Few Things...

First things first.


I have been wanting to read this book for a while now (although it's fairly new).

It turns out that Mother Hen is celebrating the grand blog opening of her "Ship Full O' Pirates" with a drawing for this book: Passionate Housewives Desperate for God.
I entered the drawing already (of course) but get an extra entry if I spread the word!
So please visit Mother Hen, read some of her fun posts, and leave a comment telling her Momma Bug sent you her way!
While you're at it, check out "Life in a Shoe" (one of my favorite blogs) because that's where I got the tip-off about Mother Hen's Ship.
Be blessed!

Next things next.

Isn't this the sweetest baby you've ever seen?!!!
(I have a feeling that it's a very small percent of my reading friends who will agree with me - most of you having your own sweetest babies!)

This is my Carolina Truth wearing the sweater that Grama gave her when she was just a brand new babe too small to fit into it :-)
















































(I LOVE it Mom! Thank you!)

Last things Last.
The last pictures here, are to prove that it really truly did snow here yesterday. Can you believe that my Little Bugs were playing Barefoot Golf ball Soccer out here two days before?!!!



















I think it's great! If we can't have the green, this is pretty fun for a change!

FLEX-I-BLE

–adjective

1.	capable of being bent, usually without breaking; easily bent: a flexible ruler.

2.	susceptible of modification or adaptation; adaptable: a flexible schedule.

3.	willing or disposed to yield; pliable: a flexible personality.

Yep. That's me!

Today I was expecting two very dear ladies and their children to join us for lunch. A pick-nick in the park. (Plans we made last week when last weeks plan fell through.)

Supposed to snow? No problem, we'll have our pick-nick in the house.

What's that Kimberly? Your baby has a cough. I'm sorry! Maybe next week?

Courtney you're still coming right?

What? Your husband took the vehicle that had all the car-seats in it? I understand - I really do.

I know! The weather looks pretty nice still, we'll pack up our lunch, meet at your house and walk to the park together!

Yay! We're DOING it!

Boy, it's colder out than it looked.

Are those fleece jackets warm enough you think?

I agree. I know we just got here but why don't we head back to the house. We can eat lunch there.

Ahhhhhhh................ Sweet fellowship at last!!

Full tummies.

Fun playing with buddies.

Mommas getting to visit.

Oops! Look at the time!

What it's SNOWING?!

Hop in the car everyone - we're not supposed to drive our hulking van in the snow.

Home. Just as everything is beginning to turn white. "turn on" the fire. Get your pillow; your book.

Quiet now. Shhhh.....

Hmmmm... What a nice day!