While we are a fairly techie family, I feel proud to tell you that we have thus far resisted the temptation to add one of those newer gaming consoles to our collection of electronics. Not only do I not relish the idea of having to control one more time-consuming thing that kids want to spend all day doing, I also do not relish the idea of spending untold amounts of money on such things as xbox games every time I turn around. While I am confident they would love such a contraption, it is not happening any time soon.

Ah, but that did feel good. Thursday we had all the babies come home…for at least a little while. Lora and family are up from Topeka and Daniel and family made the short jaunt over from where they live in a neighboring town. So…for a short time we had all the offspring gathered together…laughing, loving…it was so nice.

As the fruits of our large family continue to multiply it just gets sweeter and sweeter. I can only imagine what it will be like when they all have families. We are talking SERIOUSLY big numbers here, people!

As it is for now, though, with two married and starting families and we watch the generations unfold it is a truly awesome feeling to be blessed in such a way.

I got one of those phone calls all parents enjoy so much today.

David’s band teacher called me to tell me about a scheduling change for classes today and after that he took the time to mention how great David is doing in band. It seems at Pep Band last night (basketball game), David was the lone drummer holding up the percussion section by himself for about 20 minutes. His teacher was very impressed with David’s abilities and wanted us to know how well he is doing.

On the home front, David just finished adding the final touches to his new drum set today with the addition of two base pedals. After much tweaking, screwing, rearranging and fixing (no Baldwin hardware involved), he has pronounced his drum set “perfect.” Just in time for him to turn **16** tomorrow.

Sigh…another one growing up! Happy Birthday David!

I never had any sisters, so I cannot relate. The age spread between Lora and Sarah was huge (10 years), so that was a different situation as well.

Over the last few days I have noticed an interesting dynamic brewing in the house. Ruthie (8yo) has all of a sudden latched on to Sarah (13yo) and has become her little shadow. She is trying to fix her hair like Sarah, dress like Sarah…she shadows Sarah around hanging in the background watching to see what she is doing and then scurries off to find something similar of her own. Last night Sarah snuggled down on the couch with her sketch pad to doodle and within a few minutes Ruthie appeared with her sketch pad and plopped herself down to doodle.

Ru has even decided that she is now too big for “footie” pajamas because obviously Sarah doesn’t wear them anymore.

Last night while preparing supper I had not one girl in the kitchen with me but…TWO! I’d say this could have some benefits…:)

I confess…I am a tightwad. Almost everything I buy has to be on some kind of special or sale. Want to hear my latest acquisitions?

Well…unfortunately, I sold all of my baby-wearing gear after Isaiah grew past babyhood. This means that I have been shopping the baby carriers trying to decide what I want to use with this baby.

Upon gushing recommendations from Lora (dd), I ended up buying a PeanutShell on clearance last weekend. Then…my darling daughter did me the “favor” of sending me a different link to a couple of eBay auctions for PeanutShells that were even better prices! What did I do? Yep…bought another!

Oh well…never hurts to have a spare…

Do you do the heated water bed? Electric blanket? Tons of quilts? Heated mattress pads? We have a wool quilt and an electric blanket that keep us toasty. Every year I look at heated mattress pads and wonder how nice it would be to have heat coming up from underneath you in bed too. It seems like it would be really cozy and warm. Anyone have one?

Interrupting the regularly scheduled posts on vitamins, colon cleanses and adult acne to brag on my daughter for a moment.

She has decided to donate all of her birthday money to the people in Haiti devastated by the recent earthquake. Honestly…my jaw dropped when she told me her decision…and then my old mama heart swelled with pride and admiration for this young girl.

It all started about 23 years ago when my aunt made a birth sampler for Lora when Lora was a baby. Although I knew how to cross stitch, it never occurred to me to make a birth sampler. Well…that little gesture started something that has become a tradition as our family has grown. When I was expecting Daniel, I decided that he needed a birth sampler also and on and on it has gone. Some samplers have been completed faster than others…but I’ve always managed to get the last one done before the next baby came along…not bad if I do say so myself.

All of the samplers line the hallway upstairs. I have a current 8×10 picture of each child hanging above his or her sampler. Actually…above Lora’s sampler now is a picture of Lora and Ava…I need an updated one (hint, hint!). The boys are one one side and the girls are on the other side. It’s a long hallway, but this baby is going to have to be squeezed in on the end.

So…the other day when I was shopping I bopped into Michael’s and picked up a new birth sampler. Cross stitch is not my favorite pastime anymore…but do I have a choice in this matter? I think not…

This is what I came home with:

So far, I have managed to finish one blue balloon. Little by little…it’ll get done.

Yep…that’s what I’m aiming for this pregnancy. I started a tad underweight, so hubby is actually pushing me to gain a little more than I’d like. So far I seem on track and I’ve definitely filled out already.

I can hardly wait for the end of all of this when I am faced with the wonderful prospect of losing all of the baby weight ONCE again. It always takes so long…and sometimes I am even tempted to consider safe weight loss pills…but in the end I always just end up slimming down in a healthy and natural way.

Winter skin is a tough one…Cracking hands, dry face, scaly legs…the works. I just detest what the dry and cold weather do to my skin. Thankfully it seems like my skin rejuvenates when the weather moderates. Sometimes when it really gets to me and I start looking around for some high quality skin care products, I land on the review sites and then I get so unnerved about buying anything.

Like this www.strivectinreviews.net site, for instance. If I had unwittingly spent money on something that was an inferior product with questionable ingredients, I’d be very upset.