update

we are alive. barely. trying to get house in order before mexico mission trip from june 8th to the 14th. printing and cutting out notes for sponsers to help us raise funds for the trip. getting clothing all situated for 10 people. still no car in site for hubby, and have to give back loaner in 2 days. no period for 45 days. not sure if i am pregnant. that would make sense, huh? best friend had a baby and i am her meal coordinator, plus baby shower thrower.

life.....just stop for a bit....please.

Bits of miscellany

We have been flying planes in the house, and having a blast! Who knew that paper airplanes would keep everyone so happy?? Here are a couple of shots of weird landing places for those planes. The middle picture is the nail that the plane landed on. You will truly have to ignore the dirty refridgerater handle and Ashley's room in the background. I have an excuse for the fridge...They were all playing in the dirt and left prints everywhere. Plus there have been a million stickers applied to the front, and then the sticky junk was left. No excuse for Ashley. Sorry.

No new news....

So, it seems that the illness stopped with Conner. We waited precariously for the rest of the crew to start, but nothing....so maybe it is over. Hopefully. There is nothing like a child with 104 fever and being able to do nothing but stroke their bright red faces. Conner does have a sore throat though, which is weird. Unless Nathan and Rachel just couldn't tell us about it.

Speaking of Rachel. Boy has she been grumpy....No one wants to be around her. This is so unlike her, and I really hope its due to feeling badly, and not a personality change. Woo Boy!

Tonight daddy gets to play softball. This is the 7th year he has played. Its our church league. The kids love going because they get to see friends, and if they get an out of the park foul ball, they get a free candy card.

Daddy's day off Friday....

We all walked around our huge lake today. Its 4 miles long. I guess I should say Tony and I walked, Rachel rode in a backpack carrier, Nathan strolled, and everyone else rode their bikes. It was hot but fun. Only took us an hour and a half. Then we went to Taco Bell, where I ate one beef rice burrito and had a few sips of pepsi. Ahh....heaven. But, when I got home, the taco didnt agree with me, and I promptly got sick. That was a waste, but at least it didn't affect my weight gain... Har!. Maybe I am getting sick. There has been a bug running rampent this week. First Nathan was 104 temp, then Rachel 104 temp with vomiting, then Conner 104 temp plus vomiting at 2:30 am this morning. So far that seems to be it. I think mine was the taco. Their seasoning is too rich for me....or it could have been the pepsi. Smirk...

Got the 2nd free swingset yesterday, and bought two swings to hang on it today. Now we have a huge playyard outside. Lots of swings, and slides, and hanging sticks. Both free but we had to buy the swings. Still a blessing.

Rachel fell out of her carseat today. She was at ground level and tipped out the side. She tore her little hanging piece of skin in the middle of her upper lip. Blood everywhere!!!! Her front tooth is loose though. I hope it tightens back up quickly. She was a trooper, but it was sad to see her get hurt.

progress and misc....

Nearly 2 weeks with no pop! This, my friends, is a record. Every single day I want one so bad I can taste it, but nothing is worth it. I feel better, my hair feels better, my nails are growing. Surely, it REALLY isn't related, but for me to THINK it is, is enough to keep me going. I am trying to ban high fructose corn syrup. It is in everything! We eat so unhealthy. But, tonight, we had grilled chicken salad for dinner. A little parmesan cheese, a little bacon bits, romaine lettuce, grilled chicken and a tiny bit of dressing for the picky kids, and no dressing for me. I prefer it plain.

Still no weight loss!! I am getting sick of that nonsense, but maybe it will be a cumulative thing. One day I will wake up and have lost 5 pounds overnight. That would be cool. My husband on the other hand weighs 203 down from 210. Men make me ill!!!!

The check engine light came on Austin's truck tonight. That worries me a bit. I am not a mechanic, so I have no idea what that means. We will take it to Auto Zone tomorrow and have them tell us the error code, and hopefully it will be nothing. He filled up the tank, and it cost him 72.00!! I hope this will curb his constant want to go go go everywhere. He can't afford that much more.

I am thinking about having a Lettkeman birthday bash...I got the idea from the Jeub family, and it sounds awesome. You have one giant party for everyone, and invite all your friends, then your set for the rest of the year. We could cook hotdogs, and have chips, etc. Fun stuff!

Well, that is all my wrists will let me type. i am out of shape in the typing dept.

Love ya!

Rachel and her vision

Rachel has been diagnosed with CVI, which is cortical visual impairment. This means her neurological condition prevents her from processing visual responses like she should. She gets excited when she sees us, and all, but when she is presented with a toy, it takes her a few seconds to process it and realize she wants it. She also has poor depth perception, because when we hold something out for her to grab, she swipes at it, and more often than not, misses it. So, in light of this, we now have a vision specialist. She suggested the vision board as a way to entice Rachel to play with shiny things etc. She loves it....We can put it in her crib, or in front of her in the bumbo chair. Speaking of Bumbo....We really need to figure out what to do now. They actually make a special needs bumbo, that is taller in the back and with bigger leg openings, but its 200.00!!!! A bumbo is only 35.00. We gave it to her therapist to have him figure out if we can order one through her insurance. Hopefully, we can avoid that steep price tag. She is outgrowing this one quickly.

Frugal Sunday

Frugal living is essential when you have a large family. If you don't have a large family, then frugal living is essential to saving money. Things that we do that qualify as frugal are these.

1.) Shop at thrift stores. We have found so many neat things there, and name brand clothing for 1 to 2 dollars? Bargain
2.)Go to garage sales. Yesterday my oldest found a phone holder that is the perfect fit for his phone. Price? 25 CENTS!
3.)Buy in bulk. In most instances, it is cheaper. You will have to compare, but it's worth checking out.
4.)Use coupons. I used to hate the thought of coupons, and didn't think you could really save money, but we got ahold of 80 coupons for baby wipes that we used anyway, and save 100.00 on them. Yes, the crunch could be hard at first, spending so much money, but in the long run is when the savings is felt
5.)Buying generic food. They are mostly just as good as name brand, without the name brand price tag.
6.)Filling the toilet a couple of times with tinkles, and then flushing. Don't laugh...its not bad at all, and when you consider the price of water, we save a considerable amount of money. Poop goes down, but pee can sit a little while.
7.) Asking for things. Get over your pride, people! The most someone can say is no. I have gotten hand me downs, and a car recently by just asking. What do you do with your leftover clothing, Sally??? Well, I usually give them away. Why? Do you want them? Why yes, I would love to take them from you. Thank you. Or, does anyone have a car we can borrow for a few weeks until we figure out what to do with our old one? Yes, we do.... Nuff said there
8.) Cooking in bulk. Freeze some, or just cook a lot of meat at once, and stick half back in the fridge. Save it for tacos, or something. Then you have half the battle the next day as the main part is already cooked. Just heat it up.

I will probably think of more things later, but seriously. In today's economy...why would you NOT want to save money? Its little things that add up to bigger amounts. Try some of them. Tell me what you think.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Austin age 16
Ashley age 14
Adam age 10
Aaron age 8

Happy Mothers Day part 2

Braydon age 6
Conner age 4
Nathan age 2
Rachel age 17 months

Progress report

Day #8 of no pop
Day #1 of no cursing. I slipped while driving yesterday. OOPS
Day #8 of no fast food. Subway does not count. Had a chicken sub yesterday. It is healthy.

Weight 249??????

What is up with that?

Best friend had her baby yesterday. Baby #6. Boy named Luke. Cute cute cute!

A boy and his truck

Okay...this is such an answer to prayer. Austin has been saving his money forever, and we told him once he completed 6 full months of accident/ticket free driving, he could start looking for a truck. That was up in March. He has been scouring the want ads, and internet ads like crazy since. Everything was either too expensive, too far away or sold. He was getting a little frustrated, but held his attitude in check, and was finally rewarded today. This is his new baby. Its a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie. He haggled with the guy and got it for 2750.00. Absolutely nothing wrong with it except the paint is messed up in some spots due to the clear coat coming off. This is a blessing.....

Also, we are now borrowing a car from a church friend. Took back the rental and are good for 3 weeks to find something else, or fix Tony's car. This car we are borrowing isnt great, but it will do the job of getting him back and forth.

Thank you Lord for your blessings today.

Oh, and Happy 8th birthday Aaron!!! He got star wars legos, batman glasses, money, and chocolate cookies. He also gets to stay up late today. WooHoo! Where has the time gone?

progress report

Day # 5 of no pop!!
Day #3 of no curse words uttered from my mouth
Day #5 of no fast food

Why is the headache still there? Weight 248

I can do this, darn it. See....I would have said another word 3 days ago...Yeah me!!

Maybe if we dont drink soda or eat fast food ever again, we can afford another car. Ya think?

Anybody out there??????

Cars......what are they good for????

They are droppin' like flies, ladies and gents. By they, I mean the cars. We are down to just the 12 passenger van, and boy that doesn't look very proffessional to drive to jobs in. We are down 50.00 for a short term rental that runs out tomorrow, and down 100.00 for a tow and diagnostic to find out that Tony's car will need a 700.00 repair. We need prayers here. Oh, and lest you think we should spend that 700.00 to fix his car, let me give you some history. Its a 1993 Subaru Impreza with 250,000 miles on it. We bought it for 700.00, spent 700.00 to fix something or other right when we got it, spent another 700.00 2 years later, and here we are 2 more years later. It's wanting to die.............

Austin

This child....this man? What do I call him? He is so large. 6'3" tall and muscles to make a lady swoon. So very tender and funny, this one. Rachel has him so wrapped around her finger, so much so that all she has to do it twitch and he picks her up and snuggles with her. He is great to do all those "hard" things that mom finds for him, like get the box off the top shelf, or carry this very heavy box. He does it with such ease and good nature.

It shouldn't be this easy, being a parent. People always wonder why we have so many kids, and I have to think that I do because of this one. If they all turn out as great as he has, then I must be doing something right, and its so much fun. He still hugs me with great bear hugs, holds my hand, places his head on my shoulder when he gets up in the morning to say hi, and talks to me. It makes my heart hurt when I hear people saying that their teen doesn't want to do anything with them.....that their teen is embarrased to be around them. I am so close to my children, that it would physically rip my heart out if they shunned me, and blocked me out of their lives.

So, yeah. If they all grow up to be like this one, then I will keep wanting more. Nathan, I am a little worried about...but that is its own little post. Did I mention that he is two????????

whats happening on the home front??

Blogging must be a winter thing...cause who can find time once it warms up? We are outside, hanging out, learning how to ride bikes, playing with bugs, mowing the lawn, cleaning the garage, and just plain relaxing.

This has been a whirlwind week, and now, we are down 2 cars to just our very new, very large van. This is a problem. My husband takes our 2 oldest boys on their paper routes on sunday, and there is no way they are taking the van. The sheer cost of gas would be outrageous, and then you have the wear and tear, plus those dirty nasty papers...Ick! Why did both of our cars have to break down???? One, we just sent to the scrap yard, because it has a blown engine. The other one, my husbands work car, just stopped in the middle of the very busy main street, and refuses to start again.

In the midst of helping Austin get it situated in a parking lot, someone else's car died and so he ran to help them push theirs out of the road. Ever positive me thought, "oh...so thats why God let our car die.....so we would be here to help them!!! Now that we helped them, it will start again, and no worries" Oh, I was a faithful one....but nothing. Didn't start. Do I still have faith that He is using this for some purpose? Yes, I do! But, could ya pray that He provides us with a temporary fix for the next week? Thanks......