Prayer Request

For those of you prayer warriors....I have a request on behalf of my neighbors.

Please pray for Jon & Lynn Keene.  Lynn is my neighbor's sister.  Jon has colon cancer.  He's been on a ventilator since last Monday.  We are praying for:  God to be glorified; peace for Lynn, Jon, & their families; and physical healing.  Jon is in his mid-to-upper 30's, and they would love to have more time together...

Thanks!

October Snowstorm - Photos

 Our tree was bending towards the ground...having leaves during a snowstorm just gives more surface area for the snow to stick to.

 Looking out my front door, zoomed in on the trees behind the neighbors house.

 Our shed & swingset (doesn't the shed look nice painted?!  and that's the new swingset Randy built that I promised awhile ago that I'd show you.  We want to put a rope or something on the overhanging piece.)  In the background (at the little house) you can see a piece of tree sticking in the air...the rest of the tree is splintered on the ground.

 Under the cedar trees was a huge puddle....lots of rain before all the snow.

Autumn playing in the snow.

First Snow

Yes, it's been snowing all day...first ever snowstorm in October that I can remember (I'm sure my Grandpa could think of some others?!).

Because it's so wet, limbs are breaking off of trees and wires are coming down.  Thankfully we still have electricity and our trees are still hanging in there, but lots of branches down in our neighborhood...and the electric keeps flickering, so I'm not sure how much longer it'll be on.

Pictures to come sometime soon....

Friday Night

Accuweather is predicting that we will get 5" of snow tomorrow.  I'm afraid I'm rather skeptical since the ground's not frozen yet and it hasn't been that cold...5" of wet, heavy snow...by their hourly forecast, about 12 hours of rain followed by 6 of snow.  I am staying inside!  I don't think all the kids have boots and gloves yet...but I can't imagine it'll hang around long anyway.

I can't remember ever having more then flurries/snow squall here in October...although I imagine it happened before...I believe in Ecclesiastes it says "there is nothing new under the sun"....even snow in October.

Local legend has it that whatever day of the month you get your first snowstorm, that's how many storms you'll have for the year...tomorrow is the 29th.  So...29 snows?!

We'll see...

Stress - Part 3

Now that naps are going better and I'm getting a bit more then 10 minutes to myself during naps most days, I've identified (and probably already blogged a bit about this) stress generating spot #2--Mornings.

In my previous life (i.e. when Micah was still in his crib and sleeping all night), my mornings went like this:

1. 5:15 - alarm
2. 5:30 - get up, dressed, etc.
3. 5:45-6:30 - spend time in God's Word, pray, check facebook/blogs.
4. 6:30 - kids start getting up
5. 6:45-7:15 - kids get breakfast as they get up.
6. 7:00-7:30 - kids get dressed, ready for school, I pack lunches if I didn't get to it the night before.
7. 7:30-7:45 - I get the boys dressed
8. 7:30-8:00 - girls hair, wait for school bus, finish any previous items
9. 8:00 - kids to school, me to breakfast dishes and the rest of the day.

Now, however, my day looks like this:

1. during the night - someone wakes up and I crawl in with them to get them back to sleep.
2. I fall asleep, awake a couple hours later and go back to bed.
3. 5:00 or 5:30 - some little fellow wakes up.  I take him to bed to try to get him to sleep until 6:30.
4. Child is restless/dozes until 6:30 (maybe) but never falls asleep soundly enough for me to get up without him joining me.
5. Sometimes another one joins us as well, and because I'm trying to keep 1 semi-asleep, I can't take the other one back.
6. 6:30-6:45 - we get up...and I'm already behind on all the above.
7. Try to get dressed while simultaneously breaking up fights and keeping little boys out of my stuff and from fighting each other.
8. Start the day feeling irritated.

I tell myself to enjoy the "snuggle time" as it won't be to long anymore that I have little ones...but I am ready to go back to my previous schedule.  Nevertheless, I know it will come...eventually....so in the meantime I'm trying to figure it all out...so far this week the first schedule did not happen at all, but last week it happened 2 or 3 times, so I know we'll get there...

And yes, I could let them "cry it out" until 6:30, but that would cause me more stress (I know, everyone has different stressors) as I would have to deal with 6 kids irritated in the morning...it's nice if at least a few can sleep without being woken by screaming siblings.  And it really isn't bad to snuggle, it's just I miss my "get focused for the day" time....

Now, back to the laundry since it is naptime and my one window that is relatively calm since they are actually sleeping today!  :-)

Thursday

Another gray day....but some MOPS friends came over this morning and the kids painted pumpkins and we drank coffee.  Fun!  :-)

The last tray of http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Colossal-Batch-of-Oatmeal-Cookies is in the oven right now...and yes, it makes quite a large batch (although not 13-1/2 dozen...I guess I make my cookies bigger).  This morning I baked http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Cappuccino-Muffins for us to enjoy and they were wonderful!

Naps are going better...most days.  Tuesday Micah never did sleep.  And while occasionally he just goes to sleep, usually it is still a challenge to keep him there.  I'm trying to be extremely consistent about getting him back in his bed as soon as possible after he gets out (sometimes I'm doing something and it's easier to let him go for a few minutes...but I'm trying to interrupt myself quickly).  And it's certainly better then it was a month ago overall.  Mark & Micah are both sleeping now and Zach is looking at books quietly.  Hopefully I will have about 45 minutes here before someone gets up...but sometimes Zach gets restless and has to go potty a lot or starts making noise...but hopefully he stays calm today...because Mark has speech therapy this afternoon from 3:45-4:30 so I really should make sure I have something for supper so I'm not scrambling when I get home.  My plan today at speech is to make a list of little odds and ends that I need to do around here but get missed in the general scheme of laundry and cooking and cleaning up...things like filling up the soap in the bathrooms (I only think about it when I go to use it, manage to get out just a bit for me, and then forget about it).  Tomorrow's plan is to then do those things (as many as I can) along with doing laundry.

Now I need to go fold 2 loads of laundry and finish those cookies.

Tuesday Morning

And a beautiful fall morning it is!

Yesterday Randy ended up off work because his number got called for a random drug test.  So between us we got a bunch of odds and ends done around here...so nice to get those "some day" little things taken care of.

My friend who cleans will be coming Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays now.

Last night we marshaled the troops and cleaned up the house.  So nice to wake up to a cleaned up house!  They were less then enthused when I said it really is my goal that we do so every night.  :-)

Next on my schedule this morning is meal planning and drinking a cup of tea.

Zach has OT today.  Mark's ST got rescheduled for Thursday so tomorrow I have a "free" day.  I'm hoping to make that apple pie filling with the apples Randy brought me.

Speaking of that trip, Randy brought home apples for me & a friend (5 crates total) along with a load of (shelled) field corn.  The kids and I got to go watch him unload the corn....interesting.  I had never actually watched him unload anything before with this type of trailer.  It's a "Walking-Floor" and the floor has sections that move.  As they move, it moves the load to the back of the trailer and off of it.

Well, I'd better get going...way to nice of a day to stare at a screen.  :-)

Happy Tuesday!

Friday night

the weekend is here!  The kids got out of school early today so I enjoyed having them around this afternoon...except they kept asking for supper early.  I guess getting home 2 hours early made them hungry 2 hours early.  :-)

It was a chilly, windy, beautiful day here.  I went to our friends' craft show and found some lovely Christmas gifts.  Of course, since I don't know who all reads this I won't elaborate!  I did find a lovely framed photo with a Bible verse (Isaiah 12:2 I think without looking) to hang about our fire place in the living room.  I'd been looking for something for a long time but am to frugal (cheap!) usually.  I found the items all priced very reasonably.  I also bought a pumpkin pie for us since Josiah's been begging for one and I've never, ever made one.

Then I did laundry and clean up and such.  This afternoon I watched my sister's kids so she could go to the craft show as well.  This evening the older 3 had play practice at church so they were there and the little boys and I read books, cleaned up the living room a little, and played (and now it needs cleaned up again).

Randy should be home later tonight.  He was in upstate New York and is bringing me a crate of apples.  I'd like to make Apple Pie Filling with them.  I'm thinking about making Overnight French Toast for tomorrow's breakfast...we'll see if I do.  We're babysitting our friends' kids tomorrow evening, but otherwise have few plans this weekend.

On a separate note, I've been feeling much better now that Micah is sleeping better AND now that he is staying in bed much better.  Things really have been going well...what made the difference??  Only thing different is splitting them all into separate rooms, and having asked people to pray for me when I wasn't feeling well....Our God cares about us.  :-)  (Of course, I know that sometimes I pray and things do not resolve like this....all I know is that God is God and I am not...and there are some things I just don't understand.)  Things aren't totally back to normal (still not getting up early every day, but more often then before), but they've come a long way in the past 2 weeks.  I'm very thankful.

Stress - Part 2

The other thing I've been "stressing" about is whether to send Zach to kindergarten or not.  With all the others, there was no decision, simply...this year you go to school.  But with Zach being a boy and having a summer birthday, we actually need to decide.

After debating for a long time, I had decided to hold him.  I think he would thrive in kindergarten, but I'm concerned about 1st grade.  And the teacher recommends holding boys with summer birthdays as they tend to benefit from an extra year to mature.

However, since then, I keep 2nd guessing myself.  And I ponder that, because in general, I tend to make a decision and not worry about it.  I guess this one is harder for me because I'm afraid (there's that fear issue) that what "I" decide about school will affect "him" for the next 12 years.

If he's going to need help either way (I suspect a learning disorder), why not send him and get him started?  But if he needs help, maybe I should give him another year to mature.  Better hold him.  But maybe I should put him in whichever class is predicted to be smaller.  Of course there are no guarantees.  What if I send him and then they want him to repeat a grade?  What if I hold him and he's bored and is a troublemaker?  Should I have him tested and then decide?  And of course he's already so tall...he's going to be this huge kid in his class...  Can you see where my mind goes...crazy!

Nonetheless, I'm thinking that we should stick with my "wait until he's 6" decision.  It won't hurt him.  And I'll have an extra year to work with him before sending him to school.  And then, 1 will go each year for 3 years...that'll be interesting!  :-)  Plus, I've seen how hard the transition to 1st grade has been for Janae, and she's an "older" 1st grader as she has a November birthday.  Make the decision, and be at peace....

Random Tidbits of Life

• Not sure what happened or why, but it seems Micah is finally getting the point.  In general (with of course exceptions) naptimes and bedtimes are going much smoother.  Some days better, some worse...a huge improvement over most days worse with an occasional okay one!
• Conversation with Zach this morning:  Z:  If there's snot on your nose you need to pick it off.....and swallow it.  Me:  Oh really?!  What does it taste like?  Z:  There's no taste.  It goes down..um...into your foot.  Me:  Okay, so that's how it works!  (I love conversing with this kid...except when he's insisting something which is obviously a tall tale/lie...)
• I gave the boys haircuts tonight.  This is typically Daddy's job but we've been crazy busy so I tackled it tonight...and remembered why I usually leave it up to him!  Not to bad for 3 of them, but Mark goes ballistic at the clippers on his head so it's nice if I can help hold him while Randy trims.  There are all sorts of skippers on his head.
• Mark had his first speech therapy session this afternoon with his new therapist, Miss Susan.  She seems really nice and he did great for her.  While they were working/playing, I was going over my Christmas list...seeing what I've bought and what/who I still need to look for.
• Autumn made Chocolate Chip Cookies tonight.  They are calling my name.  :-)  Nothing like fresh choc. chip cookies with the chocolate still gooey...one of my favorite things.
• Friday (tomorrow) I'm hoping to get the laundry caught after as well as stop by a friend's craft show.  For local readers, it's on Lauschtown Road from 8-8 Friday and 8-3 Saturday (3-8 today, but to late now).
• This morning I went to MOPS.  We have a great table group again this year.  Today there was a speaker there speaking about financial planning.  I think he said 75% of women (at least) are in charge of finances at some point in their life.

Stress - Part 1

At least, I think this is part 1.  :-)

But before I start, let me recommend this fabulous recipe which I made last night for supper.  I used canned, sliced peaches instead of fresh ones, but otherwise pretty much stuck to the recipe.

And also, before I start reflecting on stress, let me say that today (so far) has been a wonderful day.  It is a beautiful sunny fall day, for which I am extremely thankful as the forecast is predicting more rain/clouds for the next several weeks.  The children slept past 6:30.  Amazing!  Micah slept all night long.  Incredible!  I had several friends over who have also had children join their family through adoption, 2 of the 3 also have biological children.  We sat outside, drank coffee, ate muffins, watched the kids play, talked.  What a blessing! Today was cleaning day so my house is nice and squeaky clean.  Worth every dollar!  Now there was that minor incident of a little boy finding a gas jug with just a tad bit of oil in and managing to get the lid off and dumping it on the garage floor...but it was far outweighed by all the wonderful things this morning.  And now, to top it all off, Micah went right to sleep this afternoon.  He only got out of bed twice, and now he and Mark are fast asleep.  Quite amazing!  Especially after yesterday's debacle in which it took me 2 hours to get him to sleep.  Yeah, I'd rather not talk about that....

Okay, on to my reflections on stress.

So, since it appears that my fatigue is stress related and/or a sleep issue, I am thinking (and asking God, who promised in James 1 to give wisdom to those who ask, to bring to my mind what I need to know) of what has changed recently...say in the last 4-6 months.  After all, I've lived with, off-and-on anyway, a lack of sleep since Josiah was born nearly 12 years ago.  And everyone has varying levels of stress.  After all, no stress equals boredom.  :-)

My thoughts:

• When Micah started climbing out of his crib, we moved him to a bed since we were going to have to keep putting him back anyway, and this way Josiah could have his own room. (I think this was in May or June)
• Ever since, naptime and bedtime have been a battle, partly because Mark & Micah shared a room and fed off of each other's antics, and partly because Micah just continually crawled out of bed.
• Kids are all different.  Micah is far more persistent.  Every other one of my children, if I was persistent for (at most) one week, they got the point and stayed in bed.
• So, I was spending on most days at least 2 hours keeping Micah in bed long enough to fall asleep.
• I would read while doing so to keep myself distracted, but it was not the relaxing type of reading.
• This time was the time that before I would use to eat, fold laundry, relax....quiet time.
• Simultaneously, he started getting up during the night, so my nights were no longer unbroken.
• AND, he started waking up early, which sabotaged my early morning quiet time...the time when I would wake, dress, spend time with God, be grounded before being beset by requests/demands the rest of the day.

Seems like all that kept up for months was enough to tip my body into "you have been running on stress/adrenalin to long, something has got to change" mode.

SO, what am I doing about it?

I've finally given in and rearranged the sleeping arrangements for naptime.

• Micah stays in his bed.
• Mark moves to mine (I was resisting that because it took so long to get Zach acclimated to being there and following the rules (stay in bed, be quiet, stay out of mommy's stuff).
• Zach is out on the sofa (I was resisting that because I wasn't sure if he would do well out in "my" space, even though I'm not usually in there.

I started this on Friday.  So far, so good.  As for Micah, some days are better then others....yesterday as I mentioned was horrible!  But today was good, and Saturday was good, and Sunday was decent.  Overall it's been better.  I can't really say about the nights yet as Randy was home all of the nights so far and in general they settle quicker when he is home.  But, several of the last few nights I have slept all night long.  And it feels wonderful!  Today and Sunday I even got to have my early morning time again.

One other thing that God showed me was...remember how long it took for Zach to get used to sleeping in your bed.  How upset he would be?  How he yelled and screamed?  How he would get out of bed and get into your stuff?  And how well he usually does now?

And I remembered.  And realized, that just as Zach came around, Micah most likely will too.  Maybe not on my time schedule, but he will.  And I need to stay persistent, and not give in.  I do not want to create a "powerful" child, one who our family life revolves around.

Anyway, today is a good day.  And I'm thankful.

Another rainy evening

Seriously, sometimes I wonder if we live in the Pacific North West instead of the mid-Atlantic!  More rain...  We did have some gorgeous days earlier this week though and I think the sun should return in a few days.

Right now I'm just biding my time for the kids to settle so I can go to bed.  Tonight Micah actually settled fairly quickly...only got out of bed about 5 times.  BUT, Janae is scared of bears again tonight after not having that issue for awhile.  I'm not sure if "bears" represent anything scary???  We watched the American Girl Molly movie tonight...maybe something in that triggered her fears.

I am now sick.  I'm pretty sure I developed a fever during the night and today...one time I'm hot, one time I'm cold, and then I'm fine...repeat.  I'm assuming it's because I got my DTP booster shot yesterday at the doctor.  My arm aches like crazy.  Hopefully a good night's sleep will help.  I did not sleep well last night, but I think it was because my arm hurt, I had a fever, and the room was to hot because I forgot to open the windows.

This morning the boys and I went shopping.  Mark was supposed to start speech again today but we miscommunicated about the time so we'll start that next week.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get caught after the housework.  And I plan to make Chili for supper....using this bean mix.  Last week I used their regular 15 bean mix to make ham & bean soup, and it was quite good.  I will make the chili and then put it in the crock pot to simmer until we're ready to eat it.  Delicious!

My health

Well, it's looking more and more like my health issues are simple and old-fashioned stress and/or "mommy-itis" as my doctor puts it.  The thyroid and hormone levels came back normal.  So we are doing more blood work to check my vitamin levels and blood counts and things.  If these all come back normal, then I guess I'll be trying to eat healthier, sleep more, and take my vitamins!  :-)  If not, then we'll go from there.  He said it is possibly a sleep issue...but we can't really do anything about that since I have assorted little ones who are the reasons for my waking at night.  So, we'll see....

Cool Dolls!

I found this on facebook from Secret Keeper Girls - Doll Giveaway!

A gorgeous Monday!

• Currently reading:  A Gentle Wind of God:  The Influence of the East Africa Revival.
• Currently listening to:  "Karen's Favorites" play list.
• Currently doing (in conjunction with blogging):  Laundry.  Lots of laundry.  And drinking a Pepsi.
• Plan to do:  Take photos of the projects Randy was working so hard on during the weekend.
• Time it took to get youngest boy to sleep today:  I lost track after an hour....
• New Recipes tried this morning:  Pumpkin Chip Drops, Cookie Sticks
• Saturday I finally went for bloodwork.  They are checking my thyroid, prolactin, and testosterone levels.  I have an appointment with my family doctor on Wednesday.
• I'm actually feeling a bit better, although still tire easily.  Maybe it's those people praying?!  :-)
• What I need to do next:  fold laundry.
• Appointment today:  Josiah needs to go to the dentist/orthodontist to have his "lip bumper" checked.
• Other:  Enjoying the gorgeous weather this past weekend that is continuing early this week.  Love the fall colors!

Friday

Wednesday afternoon Randy came home and said some wonderful words...."I'm taking off the rest of the week."  Wonderful!  He's doing some of the projects around the house that have needed done but we just don't have enough nice Saturdays to do them.  And this week/weekend are predicted (and so far is) to be lovely!

Projects on the schedule:

• stain the shed
• take down the old swing set and rebuild one.
• create a place to park the camper.
• assorted other outdoor odds and ends.

We are enjoying having Daddy around.  The little boys were quite worn out last night and went right to sleep without the endless "put them back to bed" that I'd been dealing with earlier in the week when Daddy was gone.

Today I need to go get more stain...I didn't estimate enough when I originally bought it.  And do assorted household things...laundry, cook, dishes, clean-up, etc.  And of course, I'll need to supervise little boys who are watching/helping Daddy.  :-)

Randy's Birthday Cake

Okay.  This is not the most spectacular cake I've ever made (pumpkins--good, flowers...well, let's just say I forgot to save some icing to make yellow...a necessary color for sunflowers).  But it tasted fine...and was much cheaper then a store-bought cake.

Photos from Camping

Okay, I know I blogged that we went camping the other week, but I only now got around to pictures.  And discovered that I hardly took any at all!  Here are some from our train ride at Jim Thorpe, PA on the Lehigh Valley Scenic Railroad.

 Zach loved the bear mascot that was walking around (the other little boys were not as thrilled).

Autumn & Mark

Daddy & Janae

On the train, the town in the distance is Jim Thorpe, where we started.

 Me, Mark, Janae

 Randy & Micah

Me, Mark, Janae, Zach, Randy & Micah

Josiah and a friend

On my health

More frequently then I'd care to admit in recent posts I have commented on being tired.  And, honestly, I've been tired off and on for nearly 12 years now...with blips of time (sometimes) between infants of more sleep then others.  But in July for the first time I had severe fatigue.  Naturally I wrote it up to having several very active preschoolers, day-to-day stress, not eating as well as I should, and not getting enough sleep.  I did buy some multi-vitamins which I now take sporadically.  Anyway, I felt a bit better in August, but then the fatigue came back.  And it seems to be worse, pretty much all the time now.  It's weird though, while I always feel tired (gradually worsening through the day), I rarely fall asleep except at night.  Even if I lay down with one of the boys at naptime, I don't conk out.  Weird.

Well, anyway, the end of August I developed some issues with how I feel and my monthly cycle.  After a few weeks of this I visted my OB/GYN office.  They would not do anything until they ruled out pregnancy (despite my certainty that this was not the issue).  So, after waiting several more weeks and doing some bloodwork, and waiting for results, pregnancy was definitely ruled out.  Now I am waiting again...for them to tell me what to do next.  I was told I would hear on Monday...so if they don't call by tomorrow I need to follow-up again.

In the meantime I made an appointment with my family doctor (kind of as a back-up in case the ob/gyn doesn't respond), but that appointment is not until next week.  If I feel worse, I can always call them back and get a "sick" appointment and then I could get an appointment the same day or the next day....and if I don't get a response from the ob/gyn tomorrow, I will probably do that.

Anyway, I flip back and forth between being frustrated about how behind I am getting in some things (like business bookwork) and being amazed I get anything done at all.  :-)  Before the severe fatigue, I would frequently use the hour or 2 after the kids went to bed (on nights Randy was gone) to catch up on bookwork and other odds and ends.  Now I just want to crash as soon as they fall asleep.

Speaking of the kids, I really need to go see if they are still in bed....

Well, all that to say, prayers appreciated as I wait, and for the doctor and/or nurse midwife to know what tests to pursue and for me to know how assertive to be (I'm really not good at being assertive with people who are "in authority".  I would particularly like my thyroid tested as I have several of the symptoms for hypothyroidism (except that one about it occurring most often in women over 50 or pregnant women).  I also have several cousins who have had issues with their thyroids.

Thanks!

***Wednesday update - talked to the nurse...I will need to schedule to get bloodwork done (checking thyroid and hormone levels) as well as get a pelvic ultrasound (fun, fun!).

Life

After a few nights of the boys going to sleep so nicely, we have now reverted to crawling out of bed as soon as mommy leaves the room behaviors again (pause here while I go put him in bed yet again).  And while this is fairly normal behavior for the 22-month-old, tonight the 3-year-old has joined him...I guess he figured out that it gets him attention?!

Anyway.

Today I made "Italian Snack Mix"....and got mixed reviews.  Some kids loved it, some did not.  Guess it depends on your taste preferences!  Super easy to make!

I took Janae for her eye exam.  She does NOT need glasses.  So I'm not sure what's going on in the classroom, but she tested fine.  And we took her to a regular eye doctor, not a discount chain or anything (although I'm sure those doctors are fine too).

Tomorrow is Mark's follow-up visit for his adenoid surgery.  Then I think my appointments for the week are over...unless some more come up.  :-)

Monday morning...

And another busy week.  Randy & Josiah had a good time at the race yesterday...they froze though!  We survived church, the fellowship meal, the birthday party and then had a lovely supper/evening at Grammy's house.  Mom had apples so I made that Caramel Apple Pizza I mentioned in the previous post for supper.  It was delicious!

This morning I'm cleaning up breakfast dishes and the kitchen and doing laundry.  Zach is playing drums with some pencils and a hamper turned upside down.  I have a dentist appointment later today.

Other things on the schedule this week:  Zach's therapy, Janae's eye doctor appointment, Mark's follow-up appointment from his adenoid surgery, MOPS, Josiah going with the Jr. Youth to a few events.

It is, once again, a cool grey day here in the east...I love the temperature, but I would dearly love to see more then a glimpse of sunshine!

And adorable little boy just walked up to me and gave me the most precious grin....I guess I'll get my sunshine inside the house today.  :-)

Have a lovely Monday!

**It is now a bit later and the sun has come out from the clouds...at least for the moment...wonderful!

Sunday morning

Friday and Saturday I was in a baking mood...the humidity disappeared, and it got cooler!  So, we (mostly me, but a bit of help from Autumn) made:

• Homemade bread
• Sticky Buns
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Pear Bundt Cake (I used a yellow cake mix instead of a white and 2 eggs instead of 1 + 2 egg whites)
• Apple Pie

Delicious

We have a fellowship meal after church today and I'm taking "Caramel Apple Pizza".  I made the crust but need to make the rest of that yet.  **Well, I was going to make it...and somehow I only have 2 apples left...I thought I had 5...anyway, I guess I'll take choc. chip cookies instead!

Did I mention I froze potatoes this year?  We had 5 gallons of potatoes from our garden and I was not using them fast enough to keep them from rotting.  The trusty internet came through for me....with instructions (can't remember the site though) on how to blanche & freeze potatoes!  So I froze 6 half-gallon bags of potatoes, diced and blanched.  I chose to let the skins on them.

Anyway, for my hot dish for lunch I put a couple of bags of the potatoes in the crock pot, along with a bit of evaporated milk and a stick of butter, chopped.  Once they thaw out enough to stir, I will add sour cream and cheese and some diced ham.  Hopefully it turns out okay.

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I also tried new recipes for supper.

Thursday's lentil soup (mentioned in a previous post) did not go over very well with the kids.  The do like lentil soup, but I think the tomato base did not please their palates, so I will stick to the one I usually make the next time.

Friday - Creamy Ham & Potatoes (Slow Cooker Meal) - excellent.  I would probably add peas or green beans if I made it again.  I doubled the recipe for us...and I didn't have any leftovers.

Saturday - Cheesy Ham Chowder.  Excellent as well.  The kids told me it was much better then the lentil soup.  :-)  And that I should keep the recipe.

Anyway, the kids are sleeping.  Micah only woke twice...once he was quite cranky and difficult to settle, but  perhaps his belly hurt?  We had soft pretzels made from an Auntie Anne's mix last night.  I'm into dough I guess...

Today Josiah & Randy went along with his brother to the Nascar race in Dover.  They will meet Randy's dad there.  So....I will navigate church alone this morning with the little ones....always an interesting prospect.  It's been a bit since I've done it though, so maybe it'll go better.  And if not, one of my friends will pitch in to help me.  :-)  Then we have the meal after church.  Janae has a birthday party this afternoon.

Happy Sunday!