LOG CABIN FEVER!

We ran out of chicken feed this morning-SO, we made the 14 mile trek INTO TOWN to get more. I ran in and got the bag while the 6 littles watched Tinkerbell. Then-dropped a box of HEALTHY CHOCOLATE off to a friend. We haven't been out of the house since SATURDAY! It has been raining since Sunday making it entirely TOO MUDDY to play outside. NO, I DO NOT LET MY KIDS PLAY IN THE MUD-my minuscule brain doesn't even like to think such things

Then to THE DREADED WALLY WORLD! They ALL begged to go in, so in we went. What was I thinking? Just picture THE DYSFUNCTIONAL BRADY BUNCH in your head. That's what people probably thought when they saw us. WHY? I broke all of my "taking my kids out in public rules." Here are the VIOLATIONS-

1. Cowboy boots with sweats (what on earth?)
2. My girls hair not put up to my standards and 1 even had her hair down(gasp)
3. No ones hair combed
4. All in not matching clothes
5. Bit Buts shirt so short his baby muffin top was out...
6. Dried up, crusty boogers on the nose
7. Frosting caked on faces from cinnamon rolls this a.m.

That's just to name a few. They were all very well behaved. I ran into 2 friends-OF COURSE-just what you hope DOESN'T happen when you take your unkempt tribe out.

We looked at the FISH for about 30 minutes and then Wy Wy spotted this...

Ever since Wy Wy and Bit But moved in their big boy room and big boy beds-we have been searching for cute, affordable bedding for their beds. WHICH IS TOUGH because it was already painted as a guest room and the bunk beds are blue. One side has animals on it and the other side is a forest-ADORABLE.

It came with comforter, acorn & animal paw print sheets, pillow case & pillow sham all for $45 a set. CHA CHING! And, it's all made out of organic cotton-BONUS! Plus it DOES have some John Deere Green on it-whoopee!! With a large family-we are ALWAYS looking for a bargain!

Of course they had to JUMP RIGHT IN and try it out.Isn't it SO CUTE???So today I thank God & Wally World for the entertainment, the bedding and THE JOHN DEERE GREEN GOGURTS!

National Infertility Awareness Week.....

SO MANY WOMEN DREAM OF SEEING ONE OF THESE....And having this photo taken with their husbands...

I'm sure many of you figure or already know that The Captain & I have had our own battle with infertility.

We are living proof that.....

1. God will "GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART" if you delight yourself in him. Psalm 37:4
2. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. PRAISE THE LORD! Psalm 113:8-9

10% of the population is affected by infertility and it hurts.. 1 in 10 people-that's a lot huh?

With Mother's Day fast approaching, please think about this and be sensitive and compassionate to those who suffer from infertility.

To learn more about "Infertility 101"-CLICK HERE to get the facts.

And for all of you ladies going through Infertility-you'll make it! With God at your side, he will guide you and never leave you! There are so many options out there. IVF, Embryo Adoption, Adoption through foster care, International adoption, Domestic adoption. I've been there. We prayed for 1 and got 7 remember????

I have done A LOT of research over the years on all of the above.

If you desire any information about any of this I would be glad to share more.

FUN Times!

We SO enjoyed having The Captain home an extra day this weekend! He was able to get some farm work done and still have time to play with the kids. Here are him and the girls on the small JD tractor-done working for the day!Couldn't resist this one of BIT BUT pouting. Why you ask? Because daddy wouldn't carry him. He sat here for a long time pouting & refusing to get up.Saturday we enjoyed Bean and T's piano recital. Both sets of grandparents came and that was a joy. T played "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Praise Him, Praise Him."Bean played "Amazing Grace" and "Red River Valley."Then our parents and our family enjoyed The Captains FAMOUS SANDWICHES. My yummy spinach salad and some easy chocolate chip bar cookies. We visited and drank coffee. I am so thankful for both sets of our parents. The Captain left for work EARLY Sunday morning.It rained ALL DAY yesterday and most of the night which for me signals one thing...SLEEP OVER PARTY in my room! We ALL love this cuddly, bonding time together.The boys.....
Us Girls... After singing songs & saying prayers, all members of THE TRIBE were fast asleep by 10pm. Life is good!

Elyssa NEEDS YOU ALL!

This is Elyssa. She needs your prayers. She has malaria. She is in a hemolytic crisis due to what doctors believe is blackwater fever, a rare complication of malaria. She has been asleep for 50 hours.

I have become BSIC (bloggy sisters in Christ) with her mom. I already treasure her moms friendship although she is in Uganda, Africa and I am in Kansas. They are a missionary family fostering 5 Ugandan children in addition to their own 2 bio kids. True Heroes if you ask me. PLEASE PRAY for HEALING FOR ELYSSA. This is a VERY SERIOUS SITUATION. But we know OUR GOD can do ANYTHING! The power of prayer cannot be BROKEN. He is the God of MIRACLES. You can visit their blog HERE for updates.

3 Reasons.....

I love spring. Planting flowers with my kids...Riding our Harley with The Captain...

Coming home to This.....I am so thankful for these 3 things.

The motorcycle rides are indescribable. It's a time to pray, reflect, smell God's earth, hang on tight to the man I love & show our children as we ride off just how important we are to each other as husband and wife.

We take the time to be alone together doing something we both enjoy as 12 little hands wave goodbye at the window.

I JUST LOVE being a HARLEY MAMA!

Lesson on Layering & Chicks

Here's WyWy...John Deere Shirt, shorts and flip flops. Looks innocent enough right? I am no longer shocked at his oddities. YES PEOPLE...He's still wearing his plastic John Deere yellow bandaid.I mean layering has been in for a while right?

LAYER 1

LAYER 2
LAYER 3My JOHN DEERE OBSESSED boy also had a "run in" with his bedroom door today-see his one sweet tear under his right eye? I was actually shocked that green blood didn't squirt out & green tears didn't fall.

I ask you one thing..
SHOULD WE SEEK COUNSELING?These are the chicks at 1 week old-they have gotten so big huh?!

The Captain is out on the tractor-all kids are clean & asleep.

The smell of clean children makes me smile!

M.I.A. A Scare...

"Where's BIT BUT?" I simply asked. We spread out the search party for BIT BUT. The big kids thought he was with The Captain outside, I thought he was with the big kids. WE PANICKED (okay that was mostly me). WE SPREAD OUT....

We have a fairly large home on 160 acres-HE COULD BE ANYWHERE? We searched and searched both inside and out. Finally I hear Bean and T laughing. This is what they found. ONE BABY BIT BUT ASLEEP under Lotty The Ladybug. Camouflaged. Probably trying to escape THE MADNESS.
I'm so thankful today-thankful mostly that my children are healthy, thankful that BIT BUT was found safe & sound-thinking for even a split second that something had happened to my baby sent my heart to my toes.

SHOW YOUR PIGGIES TODAY!

Join us in going barefoot today..A DAY WITHOUT SHOES!

• Fact #1: In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to food, clean water and to seek medical help.
• Fact #2: Cuts and sores on feet can lead to serious infection.
• Fact #3: Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
• Fact #4: In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
• Fact #5: Podoconiosis is 100% preventable by wearing shoes.

ONE FOR ONE Buy 1 pair of TOMS SHOES-they give a pair to a needy child!

Autopsy, Guests & Easter!

Friday night was such a blessing-my cousin Mark from North Carolina came to THE RANCH for a visit. It was his first time to meet the 6 littles! They really "roughed him up." He has no kids YET so he was VERY LAID BACK with them!Here we are Me, THE CAPTAIN and MARK :) On our way out to an "ADULT" dinner!Oh, what to say about Jamie! She is an angel! She goes on vacation with us-she's THE BOMB! She lives in Iowa now but when she was in college-the summer I had 4 babies (i was KOO KOO FOR COCOA PUFFS then)-she helped me out on her summer break. She still comes home to visit her family and we were BLESSED THAT SHE OFFERED to watch the kiddos & color eggs with them while we were at dinner!

This is Steve-we'd adopt him if we could-just a great guy ALL AROUND!

He came to assist Jamie with THE TRIBE-they love him!Here are our RESURRECTION COOKIES being removed from the tomb! HE'S ALIVE!Some liked them-some didn't! It was an AWESOME way to celebrate the meaning of Easter!We went to our church egg hunt Saturday-it was a beautiful day!When all eggs were hatched-we had 5 that didn't. The 2 big kids donned their gloves & did autopsies on the eggs and this is what we found inside. The chicks were alive and fully developed but just didn't have the strength to peck out. There are many reasons this could have happened which we studied. It was sad but a good life lesson. I will admit-we all teared up at the sight of this but knew it was God's plan.At just 3 days old-our 12 SURVIVOR PEEPS are already losing their fluff and getting real feathers! God is just so amazing-his creations astound me!Easter morning was fun. We missed The Captain and The Oldest. We didn't however, miss Wy Wy's KOOKY Shananigans. He had slight difficulty opening his basket with his winter gloves on. He did wear them, his bandaid, John Deere Green shorts & John Deere shirt ALL DAY.We had a YUMMY breakfast of home made cinnamon rolls (brought by Mark-made by his mom Mary) and hard boiled eggs. We celebrated THE RISEN SAVIOR at home & then we watched the animated EASTER STORY pretty much all day! We missed The Captain a lot-we are very thankful we got to visit with him on the web cam. I cooked a traditional ham dinner which we all enjoyed! It was a great weekend!