My patient Anibella!

I don't know if it's because Anibella is the youngest of 5 little girls or if she just has a super sweet & content little personality but she is so patient!  She loves to play with & be loved on by all of her big sissies & she endures so much of their "mommy-ing"!  Abby asked if she could gently brush Anibella's hair & this is what I saw when I came to check on them!  Abby was so sweet & gentle & Anibella was so happy & patient!  She was smiling & giggling & seemed to love it!  Anibella's hair is really naturally curly but Abby wanted to see how it would look straight!  It was so cute!  I love that Anibella is being so sweet & smiley!  She is such a patient & enduring baby girl! This is one of my favorite pictures!  I love how Anibella is so sweetly smiling at her big sissy Abby as if to say how much fun they were having together!  So precious! 

My Life Today.......Monday 5/31/2010

My life today........


Right now I am...cuddling my sweet, sick little baby girl! : (

Outside my window... sunny & bright with a warm-ish breeze.

I am hoping...& PRAYING that my sweet Anibella baby will be healthy again soon & that her cough won't turn into anything else!

I am thankful...that my Hubby took our 4 big girls out so Anibella & I could have some quiet to nap since we were up all night together. I'm thankful that they brought home Chinese for lunch & a peppermint mocha frappuccino for Mommy!

I am smelling...my delicious frappuccino from my amazing Hubby & our sweet girlies that I'm sipping.....right.....now.....YUM!

I just...helped my little toddler go potty & then layed her down for her afternoon nap. She is doing absolutely amazing & is completely potty trained during the day now! Yay for my Ava!

From the kitchen...I was hoping to make a special Memorial Day lunch for my family but I didn't get to the store yesterday because my sweet baby is sick! : ( I wanted to grill steaks, have corn on the cob, loaded baked potatoes, broccoli & sweet tea. If you don't know, my girls are kinda crazy about broccoli! They have been known to cry over the broccoli bowl being empty or bargaining with a sissy in order to acquire more of said desired veggie! Great "problem" to have! For dessert I wanted to make a white sheet cake with the classic strawberries for red, cool whip for white & blueberries for blue "flag" design! Instead we'll have our favorite back-up meal that we always have on hand, Scoopie! Basically it's everything you would eat in a taco with all of the yummy toppings in a bowl & scooped up with tortilla chips! We'll have our Memorial Day meal later this week.

I am wearing...a cute black t-shirt with gathers around the scoop neck line that my sister sent me from Germany & black, navy & grey striped jammie shorts. (I'm starting to notice a pattern here.......why am I always in jammies when I blog?! I'm just gonna say that I'm still in my jammies at 2 pm today because my precious little one & I were up all night! ; ) AND, I also noticed that I really love stripes & I wear them a lot!)

I am creating...a rotating menu plan that I came across on another Mom's blog. I haven't done this yet but I'm getting myself set up to try it. This is how it's supposed to work. In the front of my little recipe box I have a tab for every day of the week. I have enough recipe cards for every day of the month with new recipes & many duplicates since we like to eat the same things a lot. Even if you have duplicates, you need to have a different card for each day of the month so that you don't have to worry about shuffling them around. So, since we love to eat tacos/scoopie, I'll probably have 2 or even 4 of the same card so that we can have that every week. On each card is the recipe & ingredients for that meal or even just the name if I make it enough to know exactly what it is & what I need. There are 4 recipe cards in each day of the week so that there are enough for every week of the month. On Monday, I will use the first card & then when I'm done, I will rotate it to the back of the Monday section so that the next Monday I will make what is on the card in the front. The idea is that everyday of the month you have a recipe to make without having to go searching for what you want to make. We are trying to eat more healthily & I think having it planned out will help me with my shopping & daily meal making too! On my shopping day I can just take out my meal cards & add the ingredients that I need for the week to my list! The plan is to use this same rotation for several months in a row unless we want to add or take away certain meals. It takes the guess work out of it & lets me focus more on taking care of my family whose tummies I am trying to fill with they yummy, healthy meals! (wow, this one was long ~ SORRY!)

I am going... to make some homemade sweet tea when I'm done with this post! Sweet tea is our favorite thing to drink & I think homemade is the best! I've been told (by my sweet girls!) that our tea is better than Sonic & even.......dare I say it.......Chick-fil-A! GASP!!!!!!! It's true! : )

I am STILL reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.

I am thinking... how I need to grow in so many areas that it's sometimes overwhelming! BUT.......God has a plan & is working in my heart every day! I am absolutely sure of it!

I am hearing...my sweet, sick baby girl giggle at her big sissy & oh man, that makes my Mama-heart happy! : )

Around the house...lots & lots & lots & lots & lots of artwork from my girls! I love encouraging them to be creative & to use their imaginations but then I have the dilemma (by the way, I was always taught to spell that word "dilemNa" but since I got that lovely little red line underneath, I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary & it is actually spelled "dilemMa"! Huh.......I've been spelling it wrong all these years?! : \ Oh well!) of what to do with all of their sweet, beautiful, amazing (silly & crazy!) creations! I guess I'm just TOO sentimental (not about knick knacks or furniture or the like! ONLY about my Hubby & girls!) for my own good!

Some of my favorite things...hearing my Hubby talk sweetly about me to our girls from the other room.......even when he doesn't know I'm listening! : )

Some of my plans for this week:

~ our 2nd week of *NAPTIME* potty training my sweet little 2 year old
~ working on the above mentioned menu rotation
~ getting out & moving our bodies at least a little bit every day this week!
~ putting all of our laundry away (I think I should just set this one in stone! It's pretty much an ongoing TO DO! The way I see it.......I have piles of laundry because I have 6 incredible people wearing/using all that laundry! Therefore, I love it in a crazy sort of way!) : )
~ *STILL* reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ loving my Hubby more passionately & molding my girls more gently!
~ Trusting God all....the....time! Especially when I am tempted to worry, fear & anxiety, like when my sweet little 7 month old delicious baby girl is sick!

11:05 project

My little Anibella reaches her adorable little arms up to me when she wants to be held! Then she looks at me with.......

her sweet hopeful little eyes! I mean really.......who can resist? She is just precious!

This is baby multi-tasking at it's very best! Anibella is sucking on her fingers, trying to blow raspberries, sitting up & holding her foot ALL at the SAME TIME! : ) That's quite an accomplishment for a little 6 month old!

My little Ava found a pink "hawt bead"! It was the highlight of her necklace making activity today!

My little Abby was very focused on sliding her beads onto the string!

My little Ashley was working hard & sweetly tried to not be bothered by Mommy taking pictures!
My sweet happy Anibella!
My little Amy was intently working on her necklace!
This is what happens when you tell a toddler to "look up" for a picture! I love how literal 2 year olds are! Ha!

I love my smiley boo!

This is when Ava first found her special heart bead! I love how excited she is about it!

Abby surprised Mommy with a gorgeous new bracelet! SO sweet!

Ashley made me a beautiful "gold" necklace since, "You can't afford a real one! Do you love it Mommy?"! SO sweet & OF COURSE I DO Baby! : )

Amy led the Sissy team in making jewelry for Mommy! SO sweet & such an amazing example to her little sisters!

I just can't resist these pictures of my littlest Princess!

I love Ava's joy over her little pink heart! If you look closely you can see her two bottom little eye teeth coming in! Precious!

My Abby with her sweet creation!

My Ashley with her sweet creation!

My Amy with her sweet creation!




These are my "11:05 project" pictures. A while ago I wrote a post about taking more spontaneous pictures of my girls without making sure they look "just so". I love having pictures of them playing & just being little girls! Mostly, I started this little project as a way to mortify my selfish ambition (pride) & the desire to be perceived as always having it "together" (more pride & fear of man). I obviously never have it together & it's sad to think that I really care about those things but, if I'm being completely honest, in my heart, unfortunately those things matter to me way more than they should! I need God's grace in these areas! So, as I'm "putting off" these sins of pride, selfish ambition, fear of man & many others, I thought that posting pictures of my sweet girlies would be a fun way of "putting on" humility & selflessness! Besides, I just REALLY love my 5 little girls & it makes me happy to see pictures of them! Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava were making bead necklaces (for Mommy : ) !) this morning when I took these pictures & my little Anibella was sitting up playing so sweetly & contentedly on her blankie with her toys! I am one very blessed Mama!

My life today.....Monday 5/24/2010

My life today........


Right now I am...fighting for joy even though I have an intense sinus headache.

Outside my window... the sky is bright blue & the Florida sun is shining strong & HOT!

I am hoping.....that I will choose to be selfless today & take my girls outside to play & have fun even though I don't feel good.

I am thankful...that God arrested my heart 20 years ago & He gave me the grace to love Him!

I am smelling...my hazelnut coffee.

I just...sat on hold with the state of Florida for 45 minutes. UGH!

From the kitchen...cinnamon struesel muffins that I made my sweet girlies for breakfast.

I am wearing...a pink tank top & striped jammie shorts.

I am creating...a mess in an attempt to get MORE organized. Um.....how does THAT happen?

I am going... to put lots of clean laundry away today.

I am STILL reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.

I am thinking... how grateful I am that my 5 sweet little girls bring their Mama so much blessing & happiness every.....single.....day!

I am hearing...my incredibly adorable 6 month old baby girl blow raspberries & make her new favorite sound, "ga ga ga ga ga"!

Around the house...5 little girls that will someday have hubby's to love & respect, babies to cuddle & adore & homes to care for of their own! Talk about a sobering thought!

Some of my favorite things...knowing that God is working in my heart every day, even when it doesn't feel like it, my sweet Hubby who loves me even though I have SO many ways I need to grow & my 5 delicious baby girls who love me just how I am cause I'm their Mama!

Some of my plans for this week:

~ *NAPTIME* potty training my sweet little 2 year old
~ menu planning & grocery shopping
~ getting out of the house & playing with my girlies
~ putting all of our laundry away
~ *STILL* reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ putting my amazing Hubby & sweet girls before myself in thought, word & deed. Endeavoring
to encourage, love, serve & ENJOY my family!
~ Trusting God to help me in everything I need to do. Relying on God for His strength & grace
to be the kind of Wife & Mommy that I desire to be.

My Life Today.......Monday 5/17/2010

My life today........

(I borrowed this from another Mommy's blog! I love it because I'm not very creative & it helps me share what's going on with my little family without me having to think too hard!) : )


Right now I am...nursing my sweet baby girl & loving feeling her soft curly hair!

Outside my window... the sky is gray & cloudy & the Florida palm trees are blowing in the rain.

I am hoping.....that this "extreme POTTY TRAINING" works & that we'll have a completely diaper-less sweet little 2 year old in a few days!

I am thankful... that my Hubby & 5 little girls are healthy, that my Hubby has a good job, selling our home in SC in SEVENTEEN DAYS! & my Hubby graduating from college this weekend!

I am smelling...my sweet baby's yummy baby smell!

I just...talked to a gal from the "Census Bureau" at my front door.

From the kitchen...roast with potatoes, carrots & spices in the crock pot for dinner tonight & then shredded beef soft tacos with the leftovers!

I am wearing...a turquoise t-shirt & my comfy jammie pants. We're all still in our jammies.....it's that kind of sleepy day!

I am creating...a closet organization system for my little girls' closets! We have LOTS OF CLOTHES! : )

I am going...to get my new Florida drivers license this week.

I am reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.

I am thinking... that I'm excited that I'm making homemade baby wipes & laundry detergent this week for the 1st time.

I am hearing...my little girls giggle in the play room! I LOVE IT! (uh.....& a *little* bit of arguing every now and again too!)

Around the house...there are sweet little infant baby girl toys on a blanket in my living room, little girls dress up clothes & play kitchen dishes.......pretty much everywhere!

Some of my favorite things...nursing my precious little 6 month old baby girlie & snuggling with my 5 sweet little girlies! I love when they come for a cuddle! (even my 6, 8 & 10 year old's but don't tell 'em I told you!) : )

Some of my plans for this week:

~ POTTY TRAINING my sweet little 2 year old
~ Swimming with all my girls
~ Driveway water painting in the afternoons
~ making homemade baby wipes & laundry detergent for the 1st time
~ Reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ Looking for ways to make my Hubby feel more loved! Showing him that he is an absolute priority in my heart & that at the end of a long day of being needed physically, mentally, emotionally, physically & spiritually by my girlies that I still have time for my love! (AGH, I need SO much of God's grace & lots of energy.....plus an afternoon nap & some...MORE coffee!)