afternoon at the farm

Look at the cuteness Kobi brought home from school for a long weekend!

 I am all over this kind of project for the kids.  They are so thrilled and it keeps them super busy.

 The giggles are priceless

 I have a suspicion that the Easter bunny may be bringing them their very own spring chicks... Shhhhh!

 This vet came by today to check out the horses and he had to "float" this guys teeth.  If you are scared of the sound of a dentist drill you wouldn't want to witness this process.  How cool is it that the vet let Ty "help".  He was all.over.it!!!

 Then when I wasn't paying attention the vet wrapped up the boys arms... told them they were broken and they couldn't go to school for 6 weeks.  It made their day.  What a great guy.

 Kobi is back in the saddle after her scare and concussion last week.  It took her a couple rides before her confidence was back but she is running and jumping her Grandpa's horse for now.  She loves this guy.

We have so much fun spending the afternoons at our grandparents farm.  

 This one here is going to be the biggest animal lover of them all.

 She is actually starting to like the outdoors. FINALLY!!!!!

 barefoot chubby baby toes....nothing. cuter.

Ramblings from Crazytown...

Have any of you read those blogs where the Mommy writers seem to have it all together?  You know they have a big family, beautiful home, they volunteer, make projects with their kids, take beautiful pictures, their kids are perfect and always look like gap models, they cook beautiful meals 3 times a day 7 days a week, have a job they actually get paid for doing, have amazing spouses with gads of time for date night and romance all while taking pictures and blogging about it.   This is not that blog!  Sure I have my shining moments, and some of them have been caught in pictures and posted proudly on this blog...but that is what it is...moments, the ones we will hopefully savor but small moments.  Most of the time this Mama of 6 gig is ugly and hard and exhausting and chaotic.  I have easy kids and difficult kids.  I looose my patience, way more than I would like to admit.  I question why God placed adoption on our hearts in such a big way because I am so not the kind of girl that should be responsible for so many little people.  I try to channel my inner Michelle Duggar, but I cannot seem to find her.  I have kids that struggle because of things they faced in their first years and as much as I understand I also get frustrated by it all.  But these little people also crack me up into belly laughter and make me beam from the inside out. 

We did decide to put our house on the market and holy heck has that been a roller coaster of drama.  We will see how it all turns out.  It is so up in the air right now, and honestly I am okay with whatever happens.  My worst case scenario is I get to stay in a house that I love, so I need to gain a little perspective and keep praying that God will open the door that is best for our family ( quickly please Jesus, cause I can't take the living in limbo). My house feels a little violated at the moment from all of the strangers poking and prodding it.  Gives me the creepers.  It is soooo fun to keep your house perfectly together with a bunch of little kids running around.  No stress here.  I will keep you all posted.  IF we move, we will move closer to the horses, and if we stay we will just be a few miles away and I am so fine with that too.  

Speaking of horses, we went to go see one the other day and my baby girl ended up getting bucked off and into the Emergency room with a concussion. So Scary!!!!!  She is doing better now and can ride this weekend, hopefully that dang horse didn't shake her confidence.  I'm still also hoping and praying to find the perfect(ish) pony.  

And then my photo library went missing and I think my computer is about to have a coronary.  I haven't had time to pretend I know what I'm doing enough to try to figure it out.  Hence the post with my common rambling but no photos...

Have I ever told you that when I grow up I want to be a hippie?  I vow here and now that at some point in my life I will have full on dreadlocks. If it was at all socially acceptable I would have them now.  I have the perfect hair for it,, the girl at super cuts told me so, and no I didn't ask her opinion, she just told me.  Has anyone ever told you that?  And if they did would you take it as a compliment? 

 I have also signed up for gardening classes next week and I couldn't be more excited, I am so high maintenance!  

I fantasize about having an indie hippie airstream trailer and I beg my husband to buy me one way too often, some girls want diamonds and some girls want huge run down pieces of aluminum to fix up.   

Our little crew makes such a scene no matter where we go, seriously a simple dinner out and we get lots of comments and looks,,,, could you imagine me rolling in with my dreads, my Birkenstocks, and a few tattoos,,, holy geez... someday though, I've already warned my kids that I'm going to be a hippie grandma.  

So there you go...my chattering away here is proof that I don't have it all together...not even close. i'm all over the place today, but now I feel cleansed of all my crazy :)  thanks for listening :)  

OUR HOUSE TOUR and Thinking about Selling...

Ok y'all.  I think I may get ill, or need to be medicated for this one... We are contemplating selling our house.  I love our house.  I have poured my heart and soul into this place for the last couple years...but we are tossing around the idea...  I don't mind moving so much... I love change... the thought of going through the selling process makes me break out in hives...  We have sold 2 houses before and they were both nothing short of miracles.  We have never had to have a realtor or list a house or even really show our house.  If we do decide to list it, I will no doubt need pharmaceutical intervention to be able to deal with having a house "show ready" all day every day for months with strangers traipsing through my space.  Please pray for my sanity :)  I figured I would go ahead and give you a little tour of our digs...I know I'm nosy enough and would love to see all of your spaces too :)    Here is the house when there are actually leaves on the trees...oh I can't wait for warm weather.  

This is our living room, where we spend 98.9 % off all of our time

white couches...yes, you can bleach the slip covers.

the opposite angle of the living room

The kitchen... really it is the kitchen...I figured that would be a hard one to figure out..

I love my funky light...I made it and I love it.... but I think I may need to put up the old normal people chandelier if we decide to sell, thoughts???

dining room

the foyer

this is the kids TV room/ craft room

this is my Mommy only space in my bedroom... My personal favorite hide out :)

the Master bedroom.  Our "head board" is sentimental to us.  Our very first house was a Mexican hacienda type house in South Florida and these gates were in the living room.  Not very practical with little kids but now they are pretty symbolic of how far we have come together :)

Kobi's room

They extra bedroom/bonus room..  If we end up staying here the kids have begged to all move in here for the summer to make it like a 3 month summer camp out...  Why not?

Mina and Finn's room

Jack and Ty's room

The girls bathroom

This meager little space is a kid favorite :)  There is a huge space under the stairs and we made it into a "reading room".   Filled with bean bags, their favorite stuffed animals and their favorite books.  When they have quiet reading time they are always are cuddled up in here.

the back sun porch with the hanging bed...which is also the only place Kobi does her homework when it is warm outside.

and last...and least their play house :)

So there's the tour of our home sweet home.  Anyone have any positive spins on selling?  Anyone looking or know someone who's looking for a house in our area? That would be a perfect solution to my dilema :) Oh what to do.......  I'll keep you posted.

Overthinking things...

So I know we all have these private little conversations, my husband and I surely do, in fact we had it tonight.   When you have little kids you just can't help but wonder," what are the teenage years going to be like with these kids?"  I can't be the only one... In our chats we worry about which of our kids are going to give us the biggest run for our money during the teen years.  I hope we are worrying for absolutely no reason at all.  I hope and pray that all of our kids have uneventful and simple teen years.   This kid always comes up during these conversations mostly because he is such a hard nut to crack. 

 I want to write his future wife a letter now and apologize for his lack of communication skills.  My boy is NOT a talker.  It would be very easy for him to go a few days without saying a word, so you have to work hard to pry one word responses or grunts out of him. 

Then once and awhile he will blurt out a long winded story or a quick witted joke and everyone stops to listen.  Someone recently pointed out to me that most people talk too much and we need more listeners in the world.  I agree.  And apparently, so does Jack.  

 My boy and I have been at odds lately about clothing...as in.. "boy, it is 30 degrees outside, you cannot wear shorts and a t-shirt to school... you-crazy"  

 So today it was freezing outside and I told him he had to put a hat on, he wasn't thrilled, then I told him that I wanted to take his picture.  Oh he was overjoyed...yeah, right.    But he obliged,,, and then goofed out on my little photo session. 

 

Now on the complete opposite side of the coin...this girl has a lot to say.  a lot to say about a lot of things.  and a vivid imagination that leads me to wonder...where the stinking heck does she come up with this stuff?  She has poise and charisma to spare, and talk about social butterfly...jeepers.  She is 5 going on 13 as it is.

 Oh we have our work cut out for us...I hope and pray she continues to grow wise beyond her years before those tricky teens sneak up on us.  

This one keeps me on my toes as she is the least like me in so many ways but I can see her wheels constantly turning and questioning and I really relate to that.  We have come so far together.  More than anyone else in my world I can catch my sweet Mina's eye from across the room, we can exchange a simple smile and can connect in an instant.  

However the years unfold I know that God has a beautiful plan for my kids, regardless of the mistakes I make, regardless of the good or bad choices they make they are in his hands and I am filled with hope. 

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.   Jeremiah 29:11

The Low Down on Februray No Spend Month

My February No Spend Month starts next week. 
I'm nervous excited.  I love how when I posted about it a few weeks back everyone was asking me the "rules".  Basically, last year I was winging it and trying to save money so my man and I could go on a trip-a.l.o.n.e.-somewhere with sunshine.  

  But I really enjoyed appreciated the challenge.  We live on a rather tight budget but it was amazing to see how all the little things add up when you take them all away.   This year I want to add in a "Simply my Life" factor, which is really more like an escape from consumerism.  After reading the book "7"  which I talked about HERE, I realize that there is always room to cut out the excesses.  I really want to stay away from the vicious consumer cycle as much as I can and February is my chance to put things in perspective.  So here is what I am doing this month and a few of my lessons learned or cheat strategies I learned from last year.  

Every penny of our spendable cash for the month of February will be monitored very closely.  So we will still be paying our mortgage, electric bill and all that jazz.   I will only spend money on MUST haves like milk, fresh produce, gas and doctor visits...but those purchases will be tracked. 

  What I learned from last year is to plan for the expected.  Last year I got caught off guard by Valentine's Day.  I don't know why but I didn't even think about it and I ended up resenting having to spend $60 on trashy candy and valentines for the kids to take to their school and little gifts for my kids that day.  This year I am proclaiming myself a planner and picking those things up this week so I don't have to use my February budget money.   So think of birthdays or other times you may know of in advance and take care of them this week. 

  Also, I know I will have a few more days of down time since I will be slashing a lot of my errands... I want to paint one of my bathrooms so I bought paint yesterday and I will paint in February.  I guess you could call that cheating but I'm not using February money to do it, so I am just calling myself a planner. 

 If you want to stop here, I get it...but this year I am taking it a step further

Now for the Simply my Life (Escape from Consumerism) factor: 

 I know this will put me in a whole new league of crazy for a lot of people but I am up for the challenge.  Especially because I am an all or nothing kind of girl.  

I am going to use my time away from consumerism to PURGE!  I want/need to have less stuff to have to keep track of.  We do NOT need 1700 different clothing options in this house when there are so many people in this world who have so little.  We will be purging everything that we do not absolutely LOVE!  And to make this hit home a little better...we are all going to pick out our 7 favorite outfits and wear them once a week for 4 weeks.  I am not a clothes loving girly girl so this will probably be very easy and actually refreshing to me.  It will also cut out a lot of stress with the kids getting ready in the morning.  I doubt my husband will join in on this part of the crazy, as he actually has to look presentable everyday... I ,on the other hand do not, and it won't be a stretch for me to be wearing my favorite jeans or yoga pants nearly every day.  And maybe I will actually learn to appreciate my closet full of clothes :) 

I am also planning on making the same 7 dinners for the month... so the same 7 meals for 4 weeks.  This will REALLY simplify things around here.  I surely won't be stressing what to make for dinner every night.  And maybe, just maybe we will learn to appreciate that we have so many options and luxuries when so many do not.  Another benefit to this one is that I can go shopping now for the basic items so my February grocery bill will be much lower and I will only have to purchase the fresh necessities!  Score.  So far my menu is spaghetti, stir fry, chicken tacos, breakfast for dinner, and soup..  I still have a day or two to come up with the last two :) Any ideas on budget friendly meals is appreciated.  

So if you didn't think I was crazy before I surely just sealed the deal.  Is anyone still with me?  Is anyone intrigued?  Anyone? 

  All in all there are no "rules"... you can do it however you would like...or not at all.   I decided to start a F@cebook page for anyone who wants to join in and add to the conversation.  I would be so fun to commiserate, share tips, goals and the ups and downs of it all.  The FB link is up at the top of my blog for the month... come join in :)   

Oh the Drama...

Oh.my.goodness....

Even though no one would ever believe me... I really want a simple life.  A quiet life.  An easy life.  Problem is, I don't seem to know how to make any decisions that would lead my crew down a simple path.  Chaos. Absolute complete and utter chaos is always the choice we make.   I'm not exactly sure why and I would probably need a psychotherapist to help me figure it out but I don't have time for such luxuries :)   

So with the stage set of my madness...

I'm not the kind of mom that just signs her kid up for horse lessons, drops her off and picks her up an hour later. 

 I'm the kind of mom that realizes her kid likes horses, signs kid up for lessons, finds a horse farm for the in-laws to purchase (how convenient), finds someone who will give us a few horses, and then goes on a mad search for our own horse.  All in the matter of weeks....And the kicker...I'm scared of horses, like as of a few months ago you couldn't pay me to pet one... Psychotic.   (I'm also the kind of Mom that has 3 kids and decides to adopt 3 more in a 2 1/2 year time span)  Patience is not my friend.  

So, now that my dirty little secrets are out in the wide open....Let me just tell you why I have been so absent around here. 

These stinking horses are a bunch of D.R.A.M.A....but secretly I'm really starting to love them...  

This is my daughters face a few weeks ago when we told her we bought her her very own first horse.....

Keep in mind this sweet child would never ask for such a gift...she's never asked for anything...she knew we were considering...knew we were looking but never once asked or begged or pleaded (she's weird, I know)  

 So we went to see this guy and we fell in love, the story goes something like this..

 He was the most mellow, broke, child friendly horse we had found.    And his mane was the exact same color as Kobi's hair (very important when buying an animal that weighs 1000 pounds more that your little girl...sheeeesh)
and he was her same age, like as in born the same week...

and He LOVED LOVED LOVED The kids and a lot of attention (we have attention to spare around these parts :)  )

but there was a problem that we didn't realize until we brought him home... He goes bananas when he isn't with his friends (aka the other horses)  and becomes...uh....dangerous.  Major buyers remorse, wrapped up in a little girls heart.  OUCH! 

 So we had to do the right thing and let him go to live with someone who was going to use him for what he loved the most...  trail riding with his buddies....  Major lesson learned, for all of us.   It wasn't easy, but I promise you that the lesson won't go wasted.  I have already thought of how it will translate well to that first bad boyfriend break-up....something like this-

"Honey, I know you cared for him, I know he was cute, but he wasn't for you, he wasn't any good, there is someone much better out there for you that will take care of you.  yada yada ya.....Remember when you were a little girl and we bought you that beautiful Palomino horse, he was so sweet at first, but then he turned out to be not so great...then remember your favorite pony...the one who replaced him and how good he took care of you..... " Oh yeah I'm already saving that one, it was worth every tear.  Now I just have to find the perfect next horse/pony :)

 Now this is the thing that has really shocked our socks off....guess who else LOVES horses and seems to be a real natural. He could spend hours on this horse and he is doing so well.  You can just see a spark in him that hasn't been there with any other activity.  His confidence has me giddy. 

 Kobi loves to give him pointers :) In three lessons he has come soooo far. I have been leading him around for the past few month, he finally begged enough to turn  him loose and who would have known.  He is doing fabulous.   I feel so blessed. 

We are having a lot of fun figuring out this whole new world but my oh my is it time consuming.  So much for the simple life.  But I love that we are all outside together hanging and learning and squealing and working it all out.  Thank goodness we have some patient horses right now.  Hopefully we will find a new replacement for Kobi and the kids in the next few months.