I love and hate Pinterest

I had been planning Christmas for awhile. Presents are always bought throughout the year when I see stuff on clearance and thankfully Adam's dad was nice enough to bring them up when he came near Thanksgiving. We had planned to do crafts everyday and baking everyday-since I am split between the apartment and the hospital, this would be 12ish crafts and 12 baking/cooking events. Well, well, well, Pinterest comes along and just blew that out of the water. We still did some of the crafts I had planned but goodness gracious, the ideas posted on Pinterest are SO cute! I mean, who doesn't think they need 50 snowmen made of salt dough after you see those sweet little handprints or 6 (in our case) little reindeer made of clothespins and popsicle sticks? I will try to post picts of some of the ornaments the kids have done. They really did a great job and have been so good with the holiday craziness.

Jingle Bell Breakfast

In trying to keep our traditions the same, we had our yearly Jingle Bell Breakfast where the kids Elf of the Shelf arrives. Typically, we do this on December 1 but we had some delays in getting Shelf's wife a skirt. Shelf is what the kids named their elf a few years ago. The Elf on the Shelf is such a fun little story. Your elf arrives and everynight, he/she flies home to Santa to report on how you have acted throughout the day. Then, he/she comes back and finds a new spot in the house to sit and watch. The kids love this tradition and are very serious about making sure no one touches Shelf because he will lose his magic.

For breakfast, we did breakfast banana splits (thanks Pinterest). I made homemade blueberry and strawberry sauce. We cut bananas in half, used greek yogurt as the ice cream, topped it with the sauces, extra berries, and nuts. I had bought whipped cream and cherries to top them with too but I left those at home (oopsy).

Coordinating 6 young kids to all have breakfast at the hospital takes a lot of patience and lots of planning. Weston is on 6 IV meds that run directly into a line into his heart plus his nitric that he cannot be disconnected from for more than a few seconds. He can't just leave his room. We have to bring his nurse plus a respiratory therapist with us. This gives lots of challenges for the other kids to even get near him without getting tangled in all of the cords. Avery, especially, just LOVES Weston. She squeals with delight as soon as she sees him and wants to go running right up to him. It is so sweet. I am sure she doesn't remember him before he was connected to everything because she was just a little baby when we first came here.

Because we are in 2 different places this year, Shelf had to get a wife. Shelf wrote the kids and note to let them know that he had been in Vegas getting married. The kids named his wife Snowflake. Shelf is going to stay at the hospital and watch Weston and Snowflake is going to be here at the apartment watching the other kids.

We also did all homemade ornaments this year. This is still a work in progress because we are doing one everyday but so far, the kids have loved this. The ornaments have turned out really cute too. Now, if I can just get them to understand that we don't have to take all of the ornaments off the tree constantly to rearrange them.

We decorated Weston's room last week and I will try to post some picts. Everyone always comments on how festive his room looks. My friend, Betsy, is making Weston some things for me to string up along the windows and for his name on the door.

This is going to be the best Christmas ever or I am going to die trying to make it the best. The hospital is not going to ruin it for the kids and even though it is 10 times harder to do everything with kids in 2 places and the hospital, it is going to be GREAT!

Where did November go?

My second trimester flew right by. I managed to get lots done and felt pretty good. As long as I stuck to a fairly strict diet, I tended to feel good. The 3rd trimester has hit me in the face like a ton of bricks. More accurately, it feels like I have 30 pounds sitting on my stomach crushing my lungs and kicking my bladder-which I know is impossible since I have only gained 8lbs so far. Ellie gets a weight check in a week to see how she is growing and if all goes well, she should arrive in mid to late January-hoping more like mid January. I feel like telling Adam not to worry that I won't be obese forever because, like most pregnant women feel this far along, I feel like a normal sized person trapped in a fat suit. With all that being said, it is still amazing to be pregnant and feel Ellie move. Growing a human life is a miracle even with the aches and pains. The kids are in awe of feeling her kick and squirm around. They fight over who she will look like and who gets to hold her first.

Weston is doing well. His days are very busy with many therapies. Most recently, his OT and I had a strongly worded conversation about how he needs OT twice a week and if he wasn't in the hospital, they would expect me to take him to OT twice a week so I expect them to come see him twice a week. I feel like Adam and I have done everything imaginable to make sure Weston stays with and ahead of his peers and now, they need to do their part. I know the stronger he is going into surgery, the stronger he will be afterwards. I am kind of hateful when it comes to Weston's care. I want things done correctly and I don't like crappy answers. I feel like, in some ways, we were let down for the almost 2 years that Adam and I begged for answers about why Weston would almost fall over dead 1,2, 10 times a day. Since even these amazing doctors couldn't give us answers and we managed to keep him alive, the least they can do is take good care of him now until his transplant.

The other kids are doing good. Easton usually gets to go see Weston once a week and we try to bring all of the kids up every other week. They were sick last week so they won't get to see him until maybe the weekend. The hospital gave us free tickets to Sesame Place and it is supposed to be really nice on Friday and Saturday. We have never been and know we probably won't ever get the opportunity to have all of the kids up here so we can take them.

Other than that, we are just waiting for the call for Weston. Waiting on something we have no control over is the hardest part.

Easy Cobbler (cheaters version)

I am not a baker and I don't even like making desserts that don't require baking. I am trying to figure out everything I am going to make for Thanksgiving and I thought a cobbler would be something fast that I can transport easily to the hospital. I have made one before with canned fruit and cake mix but I hate canned fruit. It doesn't really taste like the fruit it is supposed to be. So, here is my frozen fruit version. It was SO much better and the fruit all had the best flavors.

1 big bag of frozen peaches (unsweetened)
1 big bag frozen mixed berries-mine had raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and blackberries (unsweetened)
1 white cake mix
1 stick of butter
About a cup of water

Defrost fruit in bowl. Mix defrosted fruit, juice from fruit, melted
butter, and cake mix together. Add enough water to make the cake mix all wet. Pour into greased 9X13 pan and bake at 350 until the center is no longer jiggly. I don't have a set time because my oven here is SO hot that everything bakes really quickly.

After it is done, I let it sit for about 20 minutes to cool and set. The frozen fruit makes such a huge difference. I couldn't believe it.

blogs and happenings

I was reading a post the other day on my friend Jennifer's fb page and there was a lady that had blogged about why she shouldn't have had 8 children. It was a great article about how after her 4th baby she became overwhelmed by her shortcomings. Through prayer and prioritizing, she now has 8 children. She talked about how she would never be the perfect parent but her kids were loved and that was what mattered. My friend Jennifer, coincidentally, also has her hands full (hahaha we joke about it all of the time) and is having baby number 7. I love Jennifer, she is the kind of mother I would love to be. She loves that she has a big family and doesn't care to tell the world. I admire that. I feel like we all have those kinds of days and especially moms have those kinds of feelings of not being enough. Are we doing enough? Are we making good memories? Are our kids turning into good people? The past 5 months have been a rude awakening for Adam and me. We work tirelessly to make sure Weston gets every normal experience that is possible in the hospital while trying to make sure our other 5 get to do all kinds of fun, fall activities. We are exhausted but determined to make it through this strong parents and stronger Christians. If God has showed us nothing else by all of this, he has showed me how Adam and I were really made for each other. There is no one else I would rather go through all of this with. He is my best friend (sappy, I know). We got the nicest compliment the other day though. A man said "for all you all have been through, your kids look so happy". The guy was a faily random stranger (just a guy at the hospital) but he made my week!

Today, we had Christmas card pictures. Thankfully, my friend Sarah wanted to take on the challenge of the Super 6. The kids do look beautiful in pictures. Pictures are one of the few things that I will never regret doing. I am not sure what our nurse thought-perhaps that I was on crack. We had never had her before and here it is Ocotber and I am forcing the kids into their finest Christmas PJ's for pictures that don't look "hospitalish" for our Christmas card. Sarah did a great job and I can't wait to see the previews.

Tomorrow, the kids are coming for the Hospital Halloween Party and Trick or Treating. I can't wait to see them all dressed up. Dressing up is one of their favorite things. They would dress up 24/7 365. The boys are going to be Batman. The girls are going to be Minnie Mouse, Cinderella, and Snow White. I also got them another dress up outfit on clearance for Christmas. They haven't had many dress up outfits here so this will be a great surprise for them.

We are still figuring out the logistics of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Adam's sister and her family are planning to come for Thanksgiving. It is always good to see them and we wished they lived closer (to TN not PA). I will miss being at home during the holidays but I will not miss my sisters and their drama filled holidays.

A quick update

Well, Sept 25 came and went. If Weston had gotten a transplant by that date, we would have had a chance at going home by Christmas. Since that didn't happen, we will be spending the holidays here. We are still figuring out all of the logistics of how the kids can spend the holidays together. My next "goal" holiday is to make it home by the time Ellie is born.

Adam has been busy learning to make cheese. He has always wanted to and it turned out pretty yummy. I supervised and decided that he needs to get a strainer because I wasn't all that thrilled with standing there holding a stinky bowl of cheese curds. I think he is planning to make cheddar when we go home. He just doesn't have room for it here. For now, he can stick with making mozzarella.

I have a new list of recipes to try in the coming weeks. Pinterest has been great for some friends and I to share everything from recipes to maternity picts. I LOVE maternity picts!! They are right up there with tutus, frilly bows, and matching kids.

We got an offer on our house yesterday-yippee! Unfortunately, it is too low so Adam counter offered but I doubt they will take it. I know God will send us the right buyer at the right time. The market is just so bad right now. This selling a house thing has been terrible and I don't ever want to buy or sell or move again.

And, last but not least, we found out number 7 is a girl! YAY! I would have been happy with either but I am excited because we actually had a girls name. Ellie will make her debut in January. The girls are over the moon excited-except Avery. She is busy learning to walk, avoid talking, and get into everything in between. We are still looking for a middle name for Ellie. I can't decide on whether we should name her Ellie or Elizabeth and call her Ellie. If we name her Elizabeth, the middle name choices are endless. If we name her Ellie, the middle names that go are just minimal. And Mae is not going to be her middle name.

We are in such a weird spot in life right now. It is like somewhere between a midlife crisis and traumatic stress. It is definitely not in those cookie cutter parenting books or any sort of book on life. There is no survival guide for how to deal with the unknown of your 5 year old needing a heart lung transplant or how to deal with waiting for the phone to ring every second and wondering if it is finally time. There is no "how to" for how to entertain a 5 year old in intensive care and no guide on how to not let seeing children die around you send you into a spiral of despair. We are learning quickly about the really important things in life and how the rest is just "fluff". No one tells you that you will lose the friends that can't handle everything you are going through but along the way, you will find the real friends you have always known you had. I am blessed with tons of wonderful friends out there who not only pray for us but listen to me vent, send me texts and emails, and through their funny blogs and posts, transport me into a happier place-even if it is just for a minute. For that, I thank you all.

Good potato recipe

I made these potatoes the other night and they were very yummy. I merged 2 similar recipes and these turned out great

A few pounds of the small red or white new potatoes
Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese
Salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until cooked through. Then, spray a nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray. Take each potato and smash it with the back of a glass until it is just squished flat (thanks RR for that tip). Brush tops with Olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. About 20 minutes into it, add the cheese on top. They were a great twist on mashed potatoes and you could even add a little chopped bacon for a potato skin type smashed potato.

What's your number

Ever since Adam and I had our 4th child, people have thought we lost our minds. Somewhere, between going from 3 kids to 4 something changes. The world views you differently. Also, the only "logical" reason for us to even have a 3rd child was to try for a girl. Apparently, once we got our magical girl, our family was supposed to be complete.

I firmly believe that everyone has a number of children that works for them-whether it is 0 or 27. Personally, it isn't really my business to judge anyone's number-not only because it is rude but I don't walk a day in anyone elses shoes. I don't know what other families deal with and I don't pretend to. When I was younger, I wanted 6 kids. In college, I wanted 4-2 boys followed by 2 girls. I think a lot about what changed after we had Sutton. Suddenly, our number changed. God showed us, by giving us Abby, that he meant for us to have more children. For those who don't know, Abby came to live with us the week after Sutton was born. We went from a family with 4 kids to a family with 5 kids in a week. It was in those moments of frustration that I realized God has a bigger purpose for all of our children.

It is very clear that Easton's personality (nurturing and loving) was made by God so that he could be Weston's number 1 fan. Weston's personality suits his illness. He is a fighter and a spit fire. He doesn't lt the medical staff ever get a moments rest. Emery and Abby are quite the wild pair. It is a total love/hate relationship but, at the end of the day, they are very best friends. Sutton is just a breath of fresh air. He is such a wild guy. He reminds me of how I think Weston would be if he wasn't sick. And, Avery-well she loves Weston and Weston loves her. Other than Easton, Avery is the next requested sibling to get to visit.

When I see how all of the kids help Weston be so strong and give him so much to live for, I cannot help but question the people who are shocked we are having another baby. I think it is odd the people that come out of the woodwork to give me their 2 cents but also the TONS of people that support us. I lost what I thought was a really good friend over having a large family. I don't really know how we offend people-especially those who I haven't seen in years. It isn't like 1 day I am going to drop all of the kids off at your house and say "OK see you later".

In all of my frustration over losing a "friend" and feeling sad, I have found so many people who love large families. We have felt such support and love from most everyone. That has definitely been a blessing.

So, what is your number? I know our number isn't 7-although I keep telling Adam I am not having anymore kids. I think our number is 8. Adam would have as many kids as I am willing but 8 seems like a great number.

When life gives you lemons and limes

I am sure you have all heard be complain about the lack of sweet tea here in the north-let me rephrase-they have this bottled stuff that they call sweet tea. It is nothing like southern sweet tea. In fact, after a drink or two, it makes me want to throw up. Little Baby No Name is completely unimpressed.

The other day, we went to this produce warehouse of sorts. It is called Produce Junction and I can't really describe it. There are tons of local and imported fruits and veggies. Well, you can get bags of lemons and limes for a dollar each! That is right, 1 dollar for a giant bag. Well, we bought a bag of each and came home. I found hand squeezing all of those lemons and limes WAY too much work so we got a juicer. Just a cheap, 9.99 special from Target but it is an amazing little gadget.

I looked online for a good lemon/limeade recipe and didn't like any that I found so I came up with this. It is the perfect blend of sweet and tart-a little more on the tart side.

1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh lime juice (honestly, I ended up with about 1/4 cup more lemon/lime juice)
2 cups simple syrup (2 cups sugar, 2 cups water, and bring to a boil)
8 cups of water

Mix it all together and enjoy over ice. I might add some white peach puree next time for a peach lemonade mix or pureed strawberries for a strawberry lemonade.

Happy, Happy Birthday to you

Yesterday was Weston's 5th birthday. This marks the 2nd year he has had his birthday in the hospital. 2/5 of his birthdays-so, with my good math skills, I believe that makes 40 percent of his birthdays being spent in the hospital. Maybe I let it get me down too much but that is just down right depressing.

This week has been rough. Who the heck am I kidding? This whole experience is rough! Last week, we saw 2 babies die plus our 4 year old neighbor also passed away plus 2 that had emergency open heart procedures right out in the open (ok not in the hallway but in their glass pod where we could see). Yeah, that puts everything into perspective. The CICU is difficult. Difficult to stay in (there is no sense of day or night) but difficult to walk through as well. You walk down a long hall past 3 pods (4 beds each) of babies. You can't help but look at them and you can see anything that goes on with them. Then, you get to the private rooms. Weston is in the first private room. The doctor wanted him as close to the main desk as possible since he is such a wild spirit. Even though there are HIPPA laws and all of that, everyone knows what is going on with most of the kids here. We know if a family is having a particularly rough time because we see them crying in the hallway. Weston and Easton are the Mayors of the CICU. They know everyone and talk to everyone.

Today is my day at home with the kids. We went to Target (another outing accomplished with just me plus 5-no one lost-success). Shopping here is a lot different than back home. There are only about a million more people here and, let's face it, more than half look like they have been featured on Unsolved Mysteries before.

Avery is getting tubes on Wednesday-YAY! For those who don't know, she passed her newborn screening but has had an ear infection monthly since birth. When we went for her 9 month checkup (on her 10 month bday), the doctor said she had an inverted eardrum. We got an apt here and saw a specialist last week. I knew she needed tubes. This isn't my first rodeo. Anyways, they did a hearing test on her and she promptly failed leading the hearing test lady (fancy name huh?) to declare Avery couldn't hear anything we were saying. I had told her that from the moment we walked in. Adam and I both knew she couldn't hear. She barely babbles and somedays can stand alone while other days, she gets "swimmy headed" and can barely sit up. I am excited to hear her start talking and walking-not that we have any shortage of kids talking to us or running away from us.

Week 2-here we go

This week, things have settled down a lot. I am still one thousand percent sure that we could never survive long term in an apt in the city, but we are making the best of it. There is a nice wildlife refuge close and we have taken the kids walking many nights. I survived taking them to Kmart alone-SUCCESS!

Homeschool officially started a bit tonight. I tested Easton's spelling level and (drum roll and trumpets please), he tested at a 5th grade 2nd month level. We knew he would test well but had no idea he would test that well. He is going to be part of an autism study (no, he isn't autistic) at CHOP. They needed non-autistic children to take part (and get paid) and part of it is an IQ test. Adam and I are really looking forward to seeing those results. Adam swears Easton is smarter than some of the adults he knows-hahahha. We have become CHOP's research family. Anytime there is a research project where they need a little child, they come find us because they know we 1) have lots of little ones and 2) will say yes. The new baby is already enrolled in a research project about how the brain develops between birth and age 3. In exchange, we get money to travel up to CHOP (which we will combine with Weston's monthly visits after transplant) and they pay for our hotel and food.

Yesterday, Adam and I took the kids to a craft festival/farmers market in a neighboring town and then to Linvilla Orchards for peach and apple picking. We are trying to find fun things in the city for the kids to enjoy before the weather gets too cold. Weston has been busy making his list of things he wants to do when he leaves the hospital. His number 1 thing is go to the beach and number 2 is go to a fair and ride a ferris wheel.

On the transplant front, I have no news to report. We don't get to find out everytime they get a call about a possible transplant match but we do know that they have had a match for a heart a few weeks ago and a set of lungs about a month ago. Weston needs the heart and lungs to come from the same donor so we will keep praying. Hearing that he got some offers made me feel better. It made me feel like we aren't just sitting around in the CICU for nothing.

1 week here

I meant to post some last week but the internet at the hospital hates most websites that are useful including blogger, facebook messenger, and a few very necessary kids clothing sites. This has been a rough week for everyone involved. The kids had never visited an apartment/townhouse/or anything of the sort before so they keep calling our apartment a hotel. They have no concept of neighbors being so close and talk to every single person that walks by our apartment. If they are inside, they stand at the window and wave. They are the 5 man welcome crew.

Weston is doing well but it hurts his feelings when all of the kids visit and then they all leave together so we are limiting group visits to twice a week. We are still figuring out an extra few days for Easton to go to the hospital. Adam and I are trading out more so that has helped tremendously. He has gotten to go on a walk around the CICU and take a real bath so those things lifted his spirits!

There is a really nice town close to our apartment called Media. I joke with Adam that it is where all of the sane people in Philadelphia live because it is a nice size town with lots of shops but nothing overwhelming-EXCEPT the 2, 2 story Targets that are just amazing. The YMCA there offers a homeschool group, dance classes for the girls, karate and swimming for the boys, and all sorts of arts and cooking. Because they work closely with CHOP, we will be able to enroll the kids in some of the activities for free. We also found Easton a Cub Scout group in Media. I hope this will help him make some friends.

Speaking of school, we will begin formal homeschool next week. We are doing things a bit differently this year because of our situation here in Philly. For Language, Phonics, and Bible, we enrolled Easton in Abeka Academy. They video stream and online teacher teaching. We are also going to use a few new multi-age texts. I am hoping to get a few years out of these books and involve the other kids more. I am going to use Spelling Power for Spelling. For Science, we will use Apologia. I really love Apologia. The books are bright and full of beautiful pictures. I got the lapbook cd to go with it so I am hoping for Easton and Weston to make more lapbooks this year. Lapbooks are 1 thing the kids really love. We are going to try Story of the World again for History. Now that we have done a year of homeschooling, I don't feel nearly as overwhelmed so I think Story of the World will be a good fit. The 2nd week, Easton will be making a mummy out of a whole chicken. I believe Adam will be helping more with that. We are using A Reason for Handwriting for printing and I believe Easton will start cursive this year with Abeka. Easton's Abeka won't arrive until later this week so I will know more then. For Math, we reluctantly bought Saxon again. Saxon is a great, hands on program but you constantly repeat what you just learned. It made Easton very frustrated but he loved the hands on elements.

We also ordered the K4 curriculum from Abeka Academy. Adam and I struggled with trying to decide whether to start Weston in true Kindergarten or have him take another year of preschool. Weston is very smart but with everything going on, I think another year of preschool will be great. There is no need to make him grow up faster than he already is. His birthday is in September so it is no big deal to do another year of preschool. I have read lots of studies saying that boys, especially, benefit from starting school a little later.

As much as I hate to admit it, there are a few things I love about Philadelphia. The very best thing about Philly is the fruit cart. Don't worry-I was scared at first too. Who eats fruit out of a tiny cart??? Well, the answer is, everyone who knows where to get good, cheap fruit! I am going to post a pic next time of how much fruit you get for 4 dollars. It is amazing. You could not buy fruit and cut it up for less than you can buy it from the fruit cart. My 2nd favorite thing is Trader Joes. LOVE LOVE LOVE this store. 19 cents a pound for bananas EVERYDAY. Great, great, great. And, last but not least, now that we have kind of settled, I have found some great homeschooling oppoortunities for Easton. This year may end up consisting of lots of unschooling because of all of the fun things we have found for him. I hope you all have a blessed Sunday!

We made it after all

I flew home last Monday thinking it would be a quick trip. I would clean like crazy, pack like no tomorrow, and leave out Thursday. I have never worked so hard in all of my life. This is no understatement. I worked from 6am until at least midnight every single night. The kids were so excited to see me. I couldn't possibly think about them spending the night elsewhere after they were so excited to be home. We did a bit of visiting while we were in (you try telling great grandparents that you are home for what is probably a very long time and you aren't going to visit). On Wednesday, I called Adam to tell him we weren't going to make it on Thursday. I still had way too much to do. So, Thursday, I went to take the car to Sears to get tires and the kids and I were going to get cupcakes. Adam jumped out from behind one of those bathroom model things. I was so glad to see him!

We left Friday around noon-after a stop through Pals. The kids did really great on the ride up. Avery was the only very unhappy camper but hopefully, the ride back home will be better since she won't be backwards after she turns 1. We got to the apartment around 1am and the kids were overwhelmed. They were nervous. It was probably the first apartment they had ever been in. The girls and Sutton shared a bed, Easton slept on the couch, and Avery slept on a blanket in the floor (she was NONE too pleased with her sleeping place but we had forgot her Pack N Play).

Today, we brought them to the hospital to visit Weston. He was overjoyed to see them and they were thrilled to see him. Avery was, by far, the most excited. They left right before lunch. That will be our routine for awhile with Adam and I trading off. It isn't ideal but it is SO SO SO nice to have everyone in the same city.

Did I mention how much the littles have grown? Avery is so big and about to walk anytime. She isn't talking yet but when she went for her 9 month apt (she is 10 months but we have been busy!), she has an inverted ear drum. We are supposed to see ENT here in Philly next week to see about putting in tubes. Sutton is talking up a storm! He has turned into a big kid saying sentences and singing songs. Emery is saying more too and has become very opinionated. We will be looking for a speech therapist for her up this way as well. Abby has become a young lady. She lost that baby look and looks like a big girl.

So, that is about it. We still have to figure out grocery shopping and all of that. Grocery stores here are a lot different than back home. Wegmans

Meet Us

Here is the link to my friend, Nicole's Blog She took our Easter pictures and they are just amazing. I am always amazed to see picts of the kids. They look so sweet, so clean, so amazing. Not that they aren't amazing usually, but our everyday life doesn't look quite so bright and vivid. Sometimes, it is easy to get caught up in everyday.

Yesterday, I took the 2 Little's (who are we kidding, all of the kids are littles)-I guess I mean the 2 littlest-to Walmart. Sutton got the big boy job of holding onto the buggy. I know most people don't expect their youngsters to hold onto the buggy but because we need to be able to sit Avery in the buggy seat, he will be booted to walking. I used to try to put some kids in those weird 2 seater carts where the kids are kind of across from each other. Goodness gracious-no one with 2 children designed those. You never want kids facing across from each other-there is to much temptation to pull hair, spit, bite, kick, etc. We have a few places with better buggies for multiple kids but I gave up on that long ago. Our new philosphy is you will learn to walk and hold on-no matter how old (or young) you are. I would also like to add that he held onto the buggy for over an hour! We walked down all of the aisles and even visited the pain counter 3 times. That's a long way for tiny legs! Here is a pic-he looks so big!

Raising Olives

Sometimes, I find a great blog and I love reading it and then I completely forget about it-only to uncover it when I am searching for something completely random. Raising Olives is one of those great big family, Christian oriented blogs. So, as everyone knows, I have been struggling with my problems. I really thought I was losing my mind the other day-thankfully, I prayed and God has helped me find understanding and peace to things I never thought could happen. One thing we have struggled with recently was why God brought our niece into our lives to entrust us with her care. Let me further explain, we jump through rings of fire to keep her with us and safe. This often feels like we are beating our head against a wall. We got some wonderful news tonight and if all goes well, I will have some great news to share soon. That lifted my spirits in ways I cannot even imagine.

After reading this Raising Olives article I feel even more blessed that 5 children call me mom and 1 calls me Julie-and she is just like the rest and we love her the same. I feel blessed that we have a large family in a time where large families aren't the norm. Maybe, I even kind of like how large families freak some people out so we weed through people really quickly.

I love their laughs. Tonight, at Lowes, 5 o the 6 got to ride on the flat cart with the dryer and they just laughed and laughed. I love that they love each other and take good care of one another. I love that they wake up everyday giving 1 million percent. I love it. I could just bottle it up.

The new memberzzzzzzzzz of our family

Last year, Adam became interested in getting bees. At first, I said no because I was worried the kids would get stung. Then, we moved here and there was plenty of room for the kids and the bees. The more I read about honey helping people with seasonal allergies, the more excited I am about the newest and smallest Keeton'zzzzzz. The best part is that the bees do their thing without us having to feed or water them. Adam said we might have to give them a little sugar water during the spring but they are pretty self sufficient (my fav kind of animals).

The rest of the animals are doing good. Elvis is the best dog we have ever had. He is sweet and loving and has recently moved from his kennel to his new spot to sleep, the porch. Blue still isn't crazy about us but he enjoys munching on all of the overgrowth. He is also pretty low maintenance but he needs a friend or 2 to help him eat everything. The chickens are all good and the rabbits are pretty oblivious to all of us.

Adam has decided, after much thought, not to do a huge garden this year. He said this but I don't believe him at all (noting hundreds of tomato plants that have now moved from my living room to the back porch). Gardening is his therapy and he loves it. I think he just struggles with the time factor-in reality we may not be here a lot over the summer and if he wants to do it, he wants to do it right. We do have some wonderful raspberry vines that are growing. I am excited because the kids love berries and raspberries the store are not cheap. We have wild blackberries growing down the path but plan on adding more in the fall.

There is a lot no one tells you

There is a lot no one tells you about having kids but there is absolutely nothing anyone has to say about having a critically ill child. Today, as I was having my morning meltdown because I had been up a ton of times, it dawned on me that no one talks about this part of parenting. Adam and I have been going through a few growing pains this year. No, we aren't getting a divorce but we are working through many things that most couples never have to face-the constantly stressful health of one of our children. There is just so much that no one ever tells us. Let me back track-when Weston was first diagnosed, a social worker from the hospital came to tell us that something like 90 percent of all marriages that involve an ill child fail. I thought to myself, that has to be a mistake. Who better to go down this terrible road then your partner? Well, after 4 years of this battle, I have come to realize that it is probably not so much the partner-as the stress. First, you never sleep. Whether it is because you are giving meds around the clock, dealing with episodes, talking to doctors, etc-you never sleep. You get even less sleep when your child is in the hospital. You have to sleep with one eye open because incompentent people can slip in and jab your poor baby with a needle before you can wake up fully (this has happened to Weston at 2 diff hospitals). So, now that you all know why Adam and I look so rough, we can move on. In our situation, Adam works and I stay home with the kids. I love it and he has blessed me with being able to stay home. That being said, I get frustrated when (usually kind of irrationally) I think he should take off to come be with me at a doctors visit (he comes to the really impt ones but skips little things so he can save vacation)-not vacation for a real vacation, mind you, but saving vacation so we can travel back to a hospital. This creates tension. Not because I don't think Adam loves me or whatever, but because it is stressful being the one always at the doctor appointments relaying info to him. Have you ever taken 6 children to the cardiologist for a 2 hour appointment? if not, it is a real treat. It isn't even that the kids are bad, I am just in such a zone of trying to remember every word she says about Weston. While we are at it, scratch all vacations off your list. Those don't exist-at least not a relaxing trip anyways. Even, if he did have a day left, we would just take the kids with us. Add the stress of giving medications-serious, life altering, medications around the clock. One of which is carcenogic the other of which costs 55,000 dollars. The last time we came home from Philly, I was convinced that I had left all of his meds in the RMD House. I tore the car apart in the driveway searching for his meds that I had already carefully placed into the cabinet inside of our house. Not a good mommy moment as I was hysterically crying. Oh and about that, yeah, I cry a lot. His doctors tell us that many of the parents take sleep aids and it makes me panic more that I might not wake up for something happening to him. No thanks. I worry constantly about taking him to a bad ER. Go ahead and throw those health notebooks (you know, the ones that the nurse at the hospital said to start for each of our kids in case we needed to tell people about health history) away because the doctors ask YOU (yes, mainly mom but sometimes dad) questions and YOU need to be able to answer them on the spot. There is no time to thumb through papers-you need to be prepared and they fire questions at you like no tomorrow. I need to know his weight and height at all times, meds/doses/strengths, pharmacist name, any surgeries, surgeons names, doctores names and phone numbers, health history-this really goes on and on. And you need to know it on the spot-there is no time to think.

Friends-well, those are few and far between. Real friends anyways. What the heck do you tell people when they ask how he is doing? We usally say "God has blessed him with another day" as I fight back tears. Then, people smile and wander off awkwardly. We understand. It is also hard for us to get together with other people. In the winter, we hibernated. Although I told people prior that I wouldn't see them until Easter, they seemed stunned that we followed through. No one else understands not wanting your sick 4 year old to be infested with whatever thing 10 people are posting about on facebook. No thank you, we will stay home. We really seem to have offended people with this, this winter and if we offended you, I am not sorry. We did everything we could to keep him healthy.

A friend told me the other day about how, now that they are done having kids, they are going to plan a big vacation without their kids to work on them. I thought to myself, we won't ever have that time to do that-both the vacation thing and the completely working on us. Weston's health is our priority 100 percent of everyday. I pray nightly for his wife because she is going to have to be a strong woman-not only to put up with my insanity but to take on having an ill husband. We took a marriage class a few months ago and it was nice-but the entire time, I was busy making notes in my marriage handbook to not forget some medication for Weston. I was a nervous wreck.

Please don't get me wrong, we love Weston and we do not fault him at all for any of this. I just needed to vent. Get all of my thoughts in one place. God has blessed us with a perfect little fellow and gave him a special heart and lungs so that he can teach the world about perservance and strength.

Honey Thyme Pork with carmelized onions

I made this for dinner last night and it was so super yummy. I doubled the recipe because I thought 1 roast looked small and I like to have food for leftovers.

1 boneless pork roast
2/3 cup of honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp of thyme
pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and let marinate overnight. Pour it all into a baking dish, cover, and bake on 400 until the meat reaches 160 degrees about 90 minutes or so. I made mine in my stoneware so it might take longer in a pyrex type dish. While it is baking, slice a few onions. I use like 6 or something crazy but the kids really like them. Place them in a pan with some olive oil and cook them on Medium for what feels like an eternity, stirring lots. About halfway through, I pour in some chicken stock-this seems to make the whole carmelizing thing go faster. It was delicious.

The kids and I have recently discovered Pampered Chef's Raspberry Habenero sauce so I served it as a dip. If you like sweet and hot-raspberry habenero is the BEST!

I will, I will, I promise

For the past 2 years, it has become abundantly clear that if I don't hire someone to keep our children for the occasional date, we will, in fact, never get to go on one. If you get to leave your kids for dates, I admire you. I even look up to you and secretly envy you-or maybe not so secretly. Adam and I have been on a handful dinner dates and 1 overnight date since Easton was born. That's right-Easton-our oldest son, who is 6. That is 6 years old not 6 months. Every year, I get depressed when I start seeing all of the fb posts about couples going on dates and blah blah blah. Every year, Adam tells me to hire someone and every year, I don't. I don't for many reasons-number 1 being I don't trust people to take care of Weston. I know, without a doubt that Easton can take care of the rest of the kids-keeping them alive and fed until we return. No problem. The only thing he doesn't know how to do is give Weston his meds which, if he can manage to learn that, we will be set. So today, I promise this time will be different. Starting Monday, I will start looking for a babysitter. I don't even need someone monthly, just every once in awhile and certainly not for overnight until we get Weston sorted out. My head hurts just thinking about it.

I am sorry, get the hell out

I know that sounds terrible. Let me explain. As if I don't already have 5 billion things to worry about, the court appointed advocate arrived at our house unannounced at 3:30pm. We had just pulled in from running to the gas station. The kids were in play clothes, the house was a total wreck, and I was crying. Well, I cried when I saw him because I thought I had locked my keys in my car. I got a ladder and climbed in my bedroom window only to find out that I had apparently already gone inside the house as soon as we got home and put my keys in their spot. The front door wasn't locked. I wasn't locked out. Enter, Weston having episodes. Dumb CASA man thinking Weston was being ornery. Right buddy, blueness and shaking are clearly signs of a crazy child. He then comes in and yapped a bit about the most random crap I have ever heard. He looked at the house. Then, the kicker, he tells me I should call Abby's father and invite him (crackhead), his girlfriend (crackhead), and her 2 kids that she doesn't have custody of over for a playdate. How freaking stupid are people? I mean, while I am at it, I should just go ahead and take the kids to the local jail and let them have overnight visits. NO THANK YOU! I rarely say anything about Abby's dad but it will be a cold day in hell before he gets her. He has never shown 1 moment of interest except to kidnap her in January.

Adam and I are not bad parents and I just don't understand why the court wants to make our lives terrible. We have jumped through hoops of fire to keep Abby. The court system is so screwed up. Truly, the best thing for Abby would be for us to move as far away from her parents as we can and not leave a forwarding address.

Oranges in my bed

Better yet, kids are eating oranges in my bed. It's been a long day/week/month/year/2 years. We are busy finishing Easton's Kindergarten Philanthropy Project (fancy huh?). There are lots of things I have loved about homeschooling and being able to do our own thing has been number 1. I started with such a plan. God laughed. Easton laughed. Hell, even Adam probably laughed. The year is now winding down. We have been done with school for a couple of weeks. I will do lots different next year but overall, homeschooling has been a blessing.

Our house is, well, coming along I guess. Maybe it is never going to be exactly how I want it. Adam doesn't seem to mind the constant state of "undone-ness". It drives me insane. I try to look at picts from a year ago and remind myself that we have come a long way. The next big project will be to cut down the big pine trees in the front yard. Their are 4 of them and they are insanely huge. They give us privacy but I can't see to back out of the driveway. Adam doesn't seem nervous about cutting them-I wish I felt the same way. The other house is for sale. We have had a few people come and look at it. We are praying that God will send the right buyer. I try to keep reminding myself that the kids and Adam (and hopefully me too one day) are so much happier here. I tell myself that over and over when I want to set the house on fire-probably too much info for you guys but it is the truth. I guess we are making progress in some areas. My friend Lindsay has planted some flowers and has been busy digging up her plants and bringing them over (she recently moved and doesn't trust her inlaws to take care of them). She also has a plan for the front of our house. Currently, the kids make it into a mud pit everyday. Maybe that is just what it is like to have 6 young kids? Oh and there are 400 tomato plants being grown in my living room-or really the room with all of the crap that we just haven't had time to sort.

The animals are all good and alive. I think we are set as far as the animals are concerned right now. Adam did get some fancy chicks the other day. They are supposed to make good mama chickens and will sit on other chickens eggs. I think it would be a neat project for the kids to watch chickens hatch. We have about 40 Rhode Island Reds, 20 Dominickers, 10 Americana's, 15 of some kind I don't remember, 4 of the fancy silkies, 1 rooster, 1 black sexlink, 1 feather footed something, 6 ducks, 3 bunnies, 1 dog, and a pygmy goat. Did I mention animals are not really my thing?

OH-I can't believe I haven't posted this already but here is the best parenting tip ever. Seriously, write it down. It sounds crazy but it is the most GENIUS thing I have ever done. We removed the kids dressers from their bedrooms. I know, it sounds crazy but hear me out-everyday I did laundry constantly. Clothes were everywhere and I never really knew what was clean or dirty-so I just kept washing. Since moving the dressers to the basement, I only really have to do about 2 loads a day. GENIUS! I don't know how I didn't think of it sooner. Once we get a few things moved around, I am taking our dresser downstairs too.

All of the weirdos

The title really says it all. Recently I have come into contact with the craziest people. I know that people think that we are crazy for having so many kids but our craziness doesn't even hold a candle to the craziness I have encountered recently. First, you have the generalized groups of odd people-people with only 1 child who act like our kids are terrorists because they come in a bunch-I guess a "gang"-a friendly, well dressed gang, people with no children who act like kids shouldn't go out in public, and people who just don't get "it" (hence the man with a sword at walmart a few years ago). Those people speak for themselves and I can usually steer clear of them.

The second group of weird people we regularly encounter are those that are just dumbfounded that we have so many children. They act like we are solely responsible for the hole in the ozone, gas prices rising, and anything else you can possibly think of. It is our fault. Feel free to blame all of the big families out there. I will personally tell you that we have used paper plates since we got married. I don't plan to stop and I hate recycling. OK-well, I hate the recycling stuff that sits around. I don't like trash sitting around and calling it "recyclables" only puts a fancy name on trash-then factor in Sutton's love for getting into the trash and it is all over forme. Sorry, I will take credit for making the hole in the ozone a bit bigger.

I encountered the 3rd group yesterday. I am not exactly sure what to call them-Wacko Moms comes to mind. Yesterday, the kids and I spent 2 hours at a Kindergarten Graduation practice. In my head, I thought 30 minutes max teaching the kids how to walk in and out. OH NO, OH NO. The head wacko complained about everything. Things I never even thought about-things no one would ever care about. She complained about wanting only classical music played during the graduation (as her child was shoving 2 of his fingers up 1 nostril). She complained about how they should sing 5 verses of a song with sign language. I have never seen anything like it. It is Kindergarten-who the heck cares??? Who has time to sit around and think of all of those things to complain about? Then, what really killed me was at the end, each child ready a little line of a poem-nothing hard. Come to find out-she hadn't even taught him how to read. What the heck has she been doing all year? It was nothing hard and nothing that he couldn't have even memorized (we all had the script!) Thankfully, there were a few sane moms in the bunch who sat in the back and laughed when she got all worked up over whether the kids should leave to Pomp and Circumstance or Linus and Snoopy. You would have thought we were doing something sacreligious by thinking the Snoopy song would be cute.

Animals and more animals, oh my

I know I have said it before but I don't really like animals (go ahead and GASP). I would be perfectly content with zero-not even a fish. I feel like keeping 6 little people alive, fed, and well dressed is enough for me to handle. Thankfully, Adam makes sure the kids get a pet to have while growing up-or should I say a whole bunch of pets. We started with 12 chickens then 10 got eaten by the hawk. Adam was very sad. He loved his chickens and I was tired to listening to him complain so we got some chicks-like 50 chicks. Then, the rooster arrived (thanks Lindsay). The chicks have now grown into small chickens. So, along came the dog. Apparently, you need a dog if you have a bunch of chickens to scare of the foxes. So far, our dog doesn't care about the chickens really but does enjoy herding the kids. Adam then got more chicks. He wanted Domickers to go with our Rhode Island Reds. Along came 30 little dom chicks. So, take count of 82 chickens (2 from the batch that the hawk didn't eat), a rooster named Dinner, and the dog named Elvis. Then, this weekend, we went to the feed store. They had ducks and the ducks were so cute (plus I knew I wanted something for Easter picts). They were too cute to pass up so we got 6. On Sunday, Adam called and had found the perfect white goat. We have been wanting a few goats for awhile because there is lots of brush and such for them to munch on. After work on Sunday, he went to pickup out goat (his name is Blue). For those who are good at math, we went from me not wanting any pets to having 82 chickens, a rooster, 6 ducks, 1 dog, and a goat. I will try to post picts of the bunch soon.

Kindergarten Graduation!!!!!

My heart just breaks. Our baby is growing up. Not just growing a little-but a lot! He weighed 50 pounds at the doctor today. That is half of a hundred and I can't calculate how much of me but one day he will weigh more than me! While all of our kids have their own story, Easton was our first. He showed us that we could have children and opened our hearts to wanting more. He is so smart. He reads giant, encyclopedia like books. He knows lots about everything. He is the best big brother ever. He nurses Weston back to health in a way that I can't explain. He says he wants 12 kids and I pray for his future wife. Not just because of the kids, but I pray for all of the kids future wives and husbands. He loves babies and can feed, change, put clothes on, and put a baby in their carseat. Maybe that comes from having so many brothers and sisters. He says he wants more-who knows?

Did I mention how smart he is? While I like to think Adam and I are pretty smart, Easton is amazingly smart. Like in the weird way and you wonder how can he possibly know that? Yeah, he is like that. He has taught himself to read and write and add and subtract and all kinds of science stuff. He wants me to buy him a chemistry set but I am scared he will build a bomb-just for fun. He is currently on 2nd grade reading since Nana let him read all of the books for 1st grade reading while Adam and I went to lunch. It was a huge surprise for us to come back and him to tell me he was done with 1st grade. He shakes all of Weston's doctors hands and tells them to take good care of him. What a giving little guy.

I always joke that if I ever die, he will be in charge. Adam will be busy working. Easton will run the house and organize Easton's medicine. He is one of my best friends. We have this funny thing where we write notes to each other everyday. Mainly, we write about loving each other and fun things we have done. He is such a little treasure.

Rain, rain, go away

I finally updated Weston's caringbridge with the latest news from the cardiologist. For those who don't follow, it is www.caringbridge.com/visit/westonkeeton We appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers. And, not to sound overly preachy, I do not believe that it is Weston's time to go. God isn't ready for Weston yet. Nor (that is a sentence starter that I don't get to use often), do I think that time will be in the next few months or even in the next few years. I don't care what those doctors say and I don't care how many kids they have seen. We have had many, many emails and the thoughts and prayers have meant so much to us. So, where do we go from here? We aren't just sitting around waiting on something to happen to Weston-that is for sure. He has way, way, way too much left to do. Today, he is playing tball. The doctors are frowning 500 miles away but we don't care. He wants to play tball and he enjoys it. He has a base runner and really great coaches who will watch out for him. Monday, we are being referred to the Make A Wish. I talked with them some on Friday and we talked to Weston a little. He said he wants a playhouse and to go to Disney World. I would type more but we have got to get ready. It's going to be a wonderful day-as long as it doesn't rain.

thoughts of the day

The funny thing about hospitals and doctors is that they "claim" to want you to get better but there is no way to get better in a hospital where they wake up you all night long and poke and prod you all day. CHOP took great care of Weston and minus the shared room that, still to this day, makes me want to take a bath in hand sanitizer, we were happy with everyone. Also, minus the cocky nurse who told me I was "just" a mom and that they didn't like parents to spend the night in shared rooms-again, clearly this man was out of his mind. Adam and I don't leave the kids and I am certainly not going to leave our 4 year old alone in one of the most dangerous cities in America. No sir-I saw those securtiy guards. I am way scarier than any of those folks. Plus, there is no way that a little IV is going to keep Weston from hopping out of bed and leaving!

Since coming home, it feels like we are just trying to stay above water. Weston's new around the clock medicine routine has been an adjustment. He hates his oxygen so we sneak in, when he is sleeping, and put his space helmet oxygen blower thingy back on. Around 4am, he has an episode or 2. These stopped in the hospital but have come back now that we are home-VERY BAD NEWS. Then, throughout the day, Accredo calls me, not once, not twice, but 3 times. Yesterday, I spent over an hour on the phone with them and then had a nurse come visit for an hour. They have yet to tell us anything we don't already know so I am wondering what all I am really getting for the 55,000 dollars the insurance paid for him to be on the meds for the month. We are trying to keep life normal but they seem to be standing in the way. Last night, Adam got so frustrated, he said he didn't even want to do a garden. That is a huge thing for Adam and I was sad that really, it has gotten to the point where we feel like we can't live our lives because of all of these people. It's not even giving the meds that gets in the way-it's that I am constantly on the telephone. I hear you all saying "don't answer the phone". Well, my friends, they don't take the hint. They continue to call over and over and when you answer, they reprimand you for not answering earlier. It is like being on call 18 hours a day. I don't get to talk to people I like on the phone and I definitely don't want to talk to people I don't know on the phone either-especially people that aren't giving me helpful information.

Pantry cleanout

This weeks grocery theme is Pantry Cleanout. You know, the week where you eat all of the food you have hoarded away just in case you run out of all of the "good food" yet still need to make a meal. For us, this means all sorts of odds and ends. I am trying to use up the green tomatoes that I canned last summer so we will have a few meals with fried green tomatoes. FGT's are one of my fav foods and I was thrilled when I learned how to can them so we can eat them year around. I found some blueberry muffin mix-I don't even know when I bought it or why-but I added some leftover oatmeal and walnuts to the muffin mix and it is baking now. Let's hope it turns out well because there will be 6 unhappy campers if it is a flop. Oh and rice-lots of rice. I am a terrible rice cooker-I admit it. But, I like rice so I buy rice. Then, I remember that I am not a good rice cooker so I don't cook it. So, I am a rice hoarder. I have been needing to buy a rice cooker for a long time. I want one like my vegan friend, Jamie's. Her rice cooker steams veggies too (or at least I think she told me that-maybe I dreamed it). For some, it might be a waste of money but I genuinely cannot cook rice. I will also be going through the freezer to start the clean out before gardening season gets here. I know there are still lots of bags of peaches and corn (not mixed together, obviously). I used up 2 boxes of couscous last night and I promise here and now, that I will never serve 6 very small children bowls of couscous if we are eating inside. DISASTER! Zillions of couscous grains all over the floor.

Our chickens are laying eggs and more of them should start laying in the next 6 weeks. We thought one of the chickens might be broody (for non chicken people, this means when a hen wants to sit on her eggs til they hatch). I think that watching chicks hatch would be a wonderful experience for the kids.

We have lots going on in the next few months but I will post more about that later. We appreciate everyone who has prayed for Weston and our family. God is so good and we know he has a plan for Weston and our family.

You know you are number 6 when

You know you are baby number 6 when you completely skip pureed food all together and dine on sausage and peppers. Seeing as how she weighs 11 pounds at 6 months-a little more fat in her diet might get a little meat on her bones.

Before our trip, Avery wouldn't take a bottle and hated anything pureed-granted, I had only tried about 3 times a week when I remembered that she is getting older and needed to eat (bad mom, I know). So, off we started on our trip and she was sitting at the table and wanted our food. Since I don't carry a large stash of pureed food with me, we fed her table food. She has done amazing. The only thing she seems to have any trouble with is chicken and a couple of dinner roll type breads. And, yes, tonight, her dinner was sausage and peppers per the nice lady at the RMD house. She is one well fed little lady.

Maybe an animal liker

I am not an animal lover by any means. I feel completely ok without any pets-EVER. Adam, on the other hand, is an animal lover. He got the chickens and then the dog-and we have gotten along quite well. In the last few years, we have been eating more home grown/locally raised fruits, veggies, and meats. Adam wanted to get chickens to raise for eggs and meat and they live in a chicken condo. They are free range all day-until night when we put them up. They roam the field and if you come to the house, expect to be greeted by a few. On our way to Philadelphia, we decided to go to a certified organic farm. I have no idea what the heck I pictured in my mind but WHOA BABY! There were hundreds of "organic" chickens in these greenhouses with tons of rabbits in cages. I am not an animal person by ANY means but even I found this disturbing. I think they were overcrowded (in my super chicken babysitter opinion). The smell and dust was so bad, I could barely stand it. Apparently, there are lots of differences in organic, free range, and cage free birds. Let's not even talk about commercial chicken hatcheries-those are super duper yuck (checkout some Netflix documentaries). I really had no idea-I pictured a certified organic farm to be about like us-chickens runnning around, being carried like babies, pushed in baby carriages, pulled in wagons, etc-but I guess that just happens at our house. It makes me definitely feel better about having our own chickens.

Spring is coming

Well, that is what people keep telling me. I am no expert on weather but it snowed yesterday and it supposed to be 63 today-I believe Mother Nature is bipolar. We have had lots of fun stuff happening. We got 42 baby chicks (well, half were 2 weeks old, and half were 2 days old). Adam and his friend, Andrew, finished building the chicken condo and half of the baby chickens were able to move out of the basement. Half have been growing for a couple of weeks and are ready to go out any day. I was going to send them outside on Wednesday but there was a flood and then snow so we left them in for another couple of days. They should be good to go outside today though (thank goodness). Adam has had tons of seeds arrive for the garden so he is pretty excited. He is going to some kind of tree workshop in April. He is planning on planting pecan and apple trees this year-maybe peach if he can find some. We also got a puppy. Granted, I am not a huge dog fan, but Elvis stays outside so we are getting along quite well.

We are heading to Philadelphia next week for Weston to have a heart cath. We have mixed feelings about putting him through another procedure but we need answers. His episodes are scary. We are always worried about brain damage, heart failure, or even death during them. We know he is in good hands there and hopefully, we will have a plan after this.

We're here

Gosh our weeks are busy. This is the first semester of Adam going to school 2 nights a week and it has taken quite a bit of getting used to. Adam and I just aren't the kind of couple that go do their own thing a lot, so this is all new for me. I should also add that we have never spent a night apart other than for him to work or one of us to stay at the hospital with Weston. Last weekend, we went to The Art of Marriage Conference and it was great. We have known so many couples that have gotten divorced in the past few years-it almost made us paranoid. One of the big things that they talked about was making time for each other away from the kids. That is probably where we fail the biggest. Every year, I say we are going to start leaving the kids more and doing stuff together-then that year comes and goes. We did leave the kids overnight for the first time ever in December to go do something other than go to the hospital and have a baby. That is progress. The church downtown does a Parents Night Out one night a month so we might try to start doing that again. Note that I said might. I am still a little germophobic right now and everyone posting about their kids throwing up constantly, does not help at all.

I have been teaching Creative Writing at the homeschool co-op and I love it. My kids are great. I was a little afraid of them at first but they really are very sweet and hardworking. I hope to teach again next year-possibly even teaching a Health/Nutrition class (yes, I might ACTUALLY use my degree =).

I also recently started selling Scenty Wickless Candles. I have loved them since college and wanted something to do that would make me have to socialize with other adults. Scentsy offers all kinds of really cute warmers that you plug in and then scented wax gets heated up. It never gets more than 1 degree above body temperature so there is no risk of getting burned. There is no open flame and because the wax never evaporates from the warmer, there is no risk of fire. Let me know if you would like to host a party! Basket parties seem to be super popular right now. I send you some testers, catalogs, you take the orders, and then bring everything back to me. You get tons of hostess rewards. I can even mail these and you can mail them back (prepaid of course) Here is the website if you would like more info https://juliekeeton.scentsy.us/Home

Cheeseburger Meatloaf

I made cheeseburger meatloaf a few weeks ago and since then, everyone has asked for the recipe. Weston said it is his favorite meal ever and Easton has requested it for his birthday dinner. It is so delicious. You could sub in half turkey for a much healthier meal.

3lbs of ground meat
4 eggs
1/4 cup-1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 bag of chopped onions and peppers defrosted and drained
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/4-1/2 cup of oats
about 1/2 cup bbq sauce
mix thoroughly

I put it all in my Pampered Chef baker that I love, love, love. Top with cheddar cheese and bake at 400 until done. I think I baked it for close to 45 minutes. We do not eat soggy meatloaf-yuck yuck yuck. Anyways, then slice 2 onions and melt some butter in a sauce pan-add a little salt and a little pepper and cook the onions in the butter until they are brown-this part seems to take forever but the browner they are, the yummier. Then, top the meatloaf with the onions and with more cheese (If you add more cheese, shove it under the broiler for a minute). You can top it with ketchup or bbq sauce.

Lot's of NEW

The whole month of January was sucha crazy whirlwind. Weston's episodes got worse and we were told he probably needs surgery again soon. I haven't even started thinking about that because, to be honest, I am just hoping for a miracle. I know that sounds crazy-but after the past year, I am not sure that our family can endure another surgery. I know we can do all things through Christ but we are in serious need of a break.

Then, Abby got kidnapped by her father. It's a long story but the police were able to get her back for us. He hadn't seen her in 15 months so now he claims he is going to fight us in court for custody (I know there is a fiery seat somewhere for him but I digress). Nancy decided that if he does go after custody, she will be on our side-which was a nice change of events. He showed up at court the week after but, as far as I know, hasn't filed any papers. I hope he is just all talk but if he isn't, we want to make sure we are able to have a solid legal defense.

There is also all of the everyday stuff. Adam now goes to school Tuesday and Wednesday nights leaving me alone with the kids. I know lots of spouses spend time away from each other but Adam and I realy never have. I know it sounds terrible but I get lonely.

Mondays we go to co-op. I love my class and the kids seem to be enjoying theirs. I even get an "off" hour to do whatever I want. Most of the time, I go play with Sutton in the nursery after I feed Avery. Sutton needs that mommy time the most right now. Tuesday morning is our Library/errand time (soon to be Zumba time) and Tuesday afternoon the girls have dance at the church right around the corner. Tuesday night Adam has class so the evening is spend giving baths and fixing dinner. Wednesday mornings will soon by my errand time, then Zumba, dinner, and church. I go to a Mom's group and we are reading the book "Raising Girls". The women in my class are older but seem to have lots of insight. It is a neat mix. Thursdays are our day off. We occasionally try to go to Earthfare to eat because kids eat free and I usually have the weekly free thing coupon. Adam's new work schedule has him off on Fridays. I am not sure if he is happy about that or not. I try to cram every doctors appointment in that way. Let's face it, taking 6 to the doctor is awful. There is no way to sugar coat it. It is hard. I leave sweaty and if there was a place to tie tubes right next door to my Ped office, I would have had them tied long ago. So, I think it is onyl fair that Adam now shares the task of appointments with me =) This also helps him know what is going on with the kids, especially Weston. I also go to Zumba on Saturday mornings. What is up with all of this exercise you ask? I used to love to run. I still might love it if I could find childcare and time to run long runs. So, until I find the time and childcare, Zumba is great. They have childcare, it's only an hour long, and it is a nice break from the kids. If you haven't tried it, I highly suggest it!

Bath and Body Works

This is a great deal from Groupon to get either a 20 dollar gift certificate for 10 dollars or a 30 dollar one for 15 dollars. It is a great deal!
http://www.groupon.com/asheville/?utm_campaign=UserReferral&utm_medium=affiliate_link&utm_source=uu12651262

Keeton Birthdays

When Adam and I first set out upon this wonderful journey of parenting, I was completely against combined birthdays. Of course, we only had 1 child at the time and the thought of combining my little prince's birthday with another sibling was just unacceptable. 6 children later-2 born within a day of each other in February (yes Jen, Emery and sweet Luke share a bday), 1 in June, and 3 in late August/September-the time to combine has come.



In the past couple of years, we have started the combining by having Easton and Emery's party together, and Weston and Abby also shared this past year. Sutton's birthday is in June so he didn't get to share with anyone.



Keeton birthdays are a big deal. We are blessed with tons of family and lots of friends that we love like family. We have been told multiple times "Just invite family to the birthdays". That works fine for some but it doesn't really help us. We have a huge family (I have 2 sisters, Adam has 1 sister, we have 5 nieces and nephews, 12 Aunts and Uncles, multiple cousins, grandparents, etc) that live right here and although the Harless side of the family isn't too big, Adam and I have friends that we consider right up there with family.



To make the kids actual birthday special, we always do a special birthday dinner and homemade cake with just us. Then, the weekend of their birthday, we take them to a special restaurant of their choice-it is always Red Lobster. We don't really do presents because we want the kids to appreciate their family and friends just getting together to celebrate their birthday. If we find a gift that we think they would like, it has to be something that all of the kids will enjoy or play with. Easton got a John Deere ride on one year, Weston got a train table, Sutton got a climber thing, and Emery really hasn't gotten a big gift yet. This year may be her year and she may get a dollhouse. Even though the boys won't enjoy it, Abby and Avery will love it.

So, now to pick a theme for the combined party in September. The boys want Superhero's and the girls want Princesses or Pink Kitty (which is Em and Abby speak for HELLO KITTY-the very best cartoon character of all time).

White Chicken Chili

OK it should really be called red, white, and green chili but it is super yummy.

1 chicken shredded (normally I bake 1 but tonight I got a smoked one from Food City for only 3.99)
1 onion chopped
2 tablespoons of garlic
2 cans of tomatoes (tonight I used tomatoes with jalepenos)
8 cans of white beans (or a mixture of red, white, and black-whatever you like)
1 chopped chili in adobo sauce (optional-it adds a little heat but a ton of smokey flavor)
2 boxes of chicken broth
1 packet of white chicken chili seasoning
1 pack of frozen chopped spinach

First, I defrost the spinach and wring it out. In a giant pot, I sautee and garlic and onions in a little olive oil and add the spinach. Let that cook until the onion is soft. Then, I drain 6 of the cans of beans. I add the chicken, drained cans of beans, 2 full cans of beans, chicken broth, tomatoes, chili in adobo, and the seasoning packet. Simmer on low for an hour or so. If it is too thin, I take a cup or so out and run it through the food processor to puree it and then add it back to the pot.

This freezes beautifully and I make batches and freeze for a quick lunch. I serve it with a cheese quesadilla for the kids to dip into it.