Miscellany Monday: April 9, 2012

WOW - I'm in the midst of setting a new personal streak for NOT blogging!

It is not that we do not have blog-worthy stuff going on around here. Au contraire - we have loads of blog-worthy stuff going on...and I just don't have time to record it all as I would like.

So, in the meantime, I'm loving these Miscellany Monday posts because they allow me to throw a bunch of stuff in there together!

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I officially hit a wall on Thursday.

The "I-Better-Step-It-Up-Or-Else" wall.

I am now the mother of 5 children, 8-years old and under.

I've given myself some slack the past 10 weeks, as Mr. Gabriel joining our family has prompted some wonderful and life-changing....well, changes...around here.

I am now the mother of 5 children, 8-years old and under!

Hello, I have 5 children.

We homeschool.

I strive to feed my family healthy, whole foods.

I would love to keep a clean house.

Oh...and I have a wonderful husband that I would really rather not neglect!

I have to be very intentional and purposeful if I want to actually accomplish those things that we feel the Lord is calling me/us to accomplish.

But why can't I just realize that I need to Step-It-Up in a calm and laidback manner? No, it never happens that way. Instead, I have an all-out tizzy. A Freak-Out, as I refer to it. All of a sudden I look around and I realize that the house, the meals, the children...it's all MINE to manage during the day! And it all hit me afresh on Thursday. It was not. pretty.

But I'm working on it. In the way that I normally handle challenges like this. I'm reading and researching. I've gotten back out my "Managers of Their Homes" book/goldmine. And I found a blog that is proving to be extremely helpful: Large Families on Purpose. I'm reading straight through this blog like a book - started with her first post last January, and I'm up to this January now. Every time I nurse Gabriel, I grab Jas' Ipad and read my new "book". (Btw, I do not agree with every stance she takes - but I think her organizational tips/helps will prove helpful for me.)

I've already begun implementing some changes in our chores and organization around here...but I'm not done yet...

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We went strawberry pickin' with my friend Sabrina and her kiddos. It was my first time ever. Strawberry pickin' weather sure is nicer than the tomato pickin' weather in June/July! I do not have any pictures of the actual pickin', as I was trying to pick as fast as possible. Mr. Gabriel didn't appreciate the whole operation...and he let us know!

I wouldn't have minded picking more, but I picked enough for us to have lots to eat fresh:

...and to eat on top of yummy Baked Oatmeal:

And Elisabeth and I made an Oh-So-Yummy-And-Not-Healthy-At-ALL Strawberry Pie:

And I froze a large cookie sheet of strawberries to throw in smoothies.

Not bad for our first time Strawberry Pickin'. And not bad for $12 worth of strawberries!

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I mentioned in last weeks' Miscellany Monday post that my friend Robbie had just gotten home with her two newest sons from China, Drew and Zeke.

Well, they all got to come over and play on Friday afternoon:

Seeing her four China cuties lined up with my four China cuties was so surreal. We talked about how back in 2004, when we each only had one China cutie, we never would have believed we'd ever see this day! Only God!

(First time Josie-Tatum and Elisabeth ever met - Aug. 2004)

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Eph 3:20)

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On Saturday, Jas and I and our five treasures headed out on a little roadtrip.

For our first professional pictures as a Family-of-Seven!

Remember when we had family pictures taken by a wonderful photographer back in November 2010?

Well, we headed to see Kelly again. Kelly participates in the national program that celebrates adoption, called - appropriately enough - "Celebrating Adoption". She took our pictures - great pictures! - totally for FREE! She just sends us a CD with the finished, wonderful images.

Well, already this morning she has sent me a "teaser", a "sneak peek" at some of the images she captured on Saturday.
I canNOT wait to see the rest, Kelly! Please don't make this mama wait too long!

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See the beautiful dresses that our girls are wearing in the above picture from our photo session on Saturday? Well, there is a story behind them...

My dear friend Vicki, has a very dear mother, Mrs. Charlotte. And Mrs. Charlotte made those dresses for my girls. The style is commonly referred to as "pillow case dresses", but Mrs. Charlotte actually didn't make them out of pillow cases. She found some white vintage cloth she had (30s or 40s)...and she made it into dresses for Elisabeth and Lily Kay! I was dumbfounded! Flabbergasted! THRILLED!

I wish the detail on the dresses came through in the picture better...they are absolutely gorgeous. And we are so thankful!

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And then on Sunday, we got to celebrate the resurrection of our precious Savior!

It was my first Easter as a Mama-to-Five.

(yes, the girls wore their beautiful new dresses again on Sunday...told you I loved them!)

And even if 4 of my treasures are certifiably crazy....

...I would still argue that I am the most blessed mama around!