Birthday Dinner

Thankfully, the day after Selah's birthday, we were able to actually *celebrate* by taking her to her restaurant of choice. IHOP.

because she knew they'd give her a free ice cream sundae. That's my girl. :)


My sweet crew all ready to celebrate...

Raegan in all her flair. Selah and that smile she couldn't seem to shake. Lani and those two fingers she's always sucking. And Charis with that sweet sweet spirit that never fails to shine through. Dear God, I love them!

AT THE RESTAURANT:

Once Lani has food in front of her, she's no longer interested in anything or anyone else.


Raegan, on the other hand, is at least always ready to smile. Though if you can tell, she's distracted as well. There was coloring to do!


Charis is still just as precious, regardless of where she is.


and Selah is still the embodiment of beyond excited.


After we ordered, Jet and I knew we had to move fast if we wanted the opportunity to share the news before the food arrived.

It was ironic because just this morning, Charis made the announcement that Lani would probably be our last baby. Apparently, if I wasn't pregnant by now (with Lani being 9 months) then it would just never happen. :)

So when I told them that we were going to have another baby, they were thrilled!



Selah, watching as the wait staff sang her their birthday ditty.


though that huge smile was probably due to this enormous sundae. :)


big enough for three...

though it lasted for, maybe, 3 minutes.

And while the big girls were inhaling the ice cream, Lani looked on...


as sweet natured as can be. and looking more and more like my Dad. crazy.


Having all my little girls at one table...celebrating the birthday of one, celebrating the pending birth of another... *sigh* Does life get any better than this?

Selah's 5th Birthday

My not-so-little Selah Bug turned 5 years old!

But unfortunately, the days leading up to it, she wasn't able to do much outside of this...



She was beyond sick for days. unable to eat or drink. or move. Not quite the way someone wants to spend their special day.

But thankfully, on her birthday, she perked up enough to keep down a few bites of food. which enabled her to actually smile for the first time in DAYS.


She opened the gift from Jet and I


with some help from her very curious sisters

lovin' the Leap Pad and games!

And so did Charis :) (Charis has one as well, with different games)

Throwin' it to the Curb

I've been in a purge and clean mode. Yet again.

Only this time, it's a DEEP purging. kind of like where you have nothing left but to puke up the lining of your stomach.

*laughing* I know. I'm a sick woman. But I'm all about analogies. :)

A few months ago, the Lord told me to "Get rid of stuff like you were going to move."

Huh, okay, Lord. That's random. and a tad bit baffling, since I go through my stuff every year to yard sale or give away. And since we're not planning on moving. But whatever.

So I donated box after box of stuff to my nephew's missions yard sale in May. But for some reason, I didn't feel like I was done...at least not in the way my spirit understood it when God whispered this instruction to my heart.

But honestly, I didn't understand HOW it was physically possible to be able to find anything else to get rid of.

It's not like I shop as a hobby. or that I have a junk room. or loads of closets filled with stuff. (um yeah, for the record I live in a house built in the early 1900s. they didn't do closets back then.)

So, Lord? you wantin' to 'splain this odd instruction to me?

...And then out of the blue, something in me changed. And I can't even begin to explain it. Or pinpoint when it happened. Or why. But it's like my eyes have been opened to all the M.A.N.Y things around us that we have, but don't need. Or use. Or even want.

HOW is this possible? Because really, I don't think of myself as someone who intentionally keeps stuff just for the heck of it.

Well, except for those pants that I wore in college. The ones that made my already thin body look sooo much thinner. (Ah, the memories.)

One day. when I am no longer bearing children. or *cough cough* eating ice cream, I may just wear those pants again.

Insert Voice of Reason:
But honey-chil', when yo' butt miraculously bounces back up to the place where it once resided on your body, let me tell you somethin'! Those lovely little pants that attractively hug your ankles (gag) will so not be something that you'll be wanting to wear.

Huh. Why didn't I think of that?!

Because hello!! WHY would I want to wear them? They aren't in style. And if when I ever get back my athletic form, I'll be *celebrating* by getting something that's actually in style! Instead of reminising and wearing clothes from WAY back when.

Or so this new-found thought process has declared.

And so *out* those clothes...and ALLLL the other clothes that fit into that skinny category have gone. Good Will Drop Off, here we come!

Yes, that new shipment of clothes at the local Good Will, circa 1990, is from me. You're welcome.

And then there's the clothes that do fit me, but never get worn. Don't ask me why I've been justifying my tiny closet being full of cute, but completely unworn clothes. But I'm just picky about what I wear.

You've heard the statement: "We wear 10% of our clothes 90% of the time"?

Well, that has proved true for me. Or so it USED to be. The clued-in Christin has ruthlessly gone through the remaining clothes and boxed up stuff. donating to people who may actually wear them sometime this year.

And THEN... (once I'm on a roll, there's no stopping me. Jet fears for his stuff and begins to hide it. Oh, I kid. Mostly)... there's all those magazines sitting around my house waiting for me to put them to good use.

Now you have to understand something. I do not buy magazines. I think it's a total waste of money. After all, there's the library. and the internet. and other people in my life who waste invest their money on Internet-information-in-print only to pass their week-old magazines to me. *wry grin*

And so I keep them. with total high hopes of using them for craft projects with the kids, where we cut out pictures and make some amazing collage. or something.

Or I'll read an article and find some cool idea, tear out the page, and put it somewhere "special" so I can read it later. ...when I have more time and am able to actually execute their brilliant plan.

Only I'm finding that day just n.e.v.e.r comes.

And I'm beyond tired of taking up space with boxes of magazines that just remind me of all the stuff I'm not getting done. The boxes scream "Unproductive Christin". And I actually feel guilty.

And so...out they (and my guilt) have gone. *Uh-huh. Take that mouthy magazines.*

This pile is Round Five of The Trashing of the Mags.

And thus my week has been. The house is still a mess but only because it's a DEEP cleaning. Cupboards. Attic bins. Under the bed. Places that I've cleaned before, yet...?

Have I mentioned my Stuff breeds?

I've LOVED boxing up things. racking my brain to see who would actually want the stuff. and then watching it leave my house for good.

Box after box after box. ...and I have a feeling, it's only the beginning.

And can I just tell you that I feel like I've just lost 15 pounds??

If only it were that easy. ;)

Pool party

This little beauty keeps me on my toes.

I recently took the girls swimming for the first time.. in my parents' neighbor's above ground pool. Being the frugal woman I am, I wanted to see how they liked it before we invested in a pool like it.

In a matter of minutes, both Charis and Selah were different children. Their confidence level in the water sky-rocketed. They even submersed their faces in the water!

I know this may not seem like a big deal to most people but for my two girls, it's HUGE considering neither one likes to get bath water in her eyes.

Watching the two of them paddle around (they can't officially swim yet), it took less than two minutes for me to decide that it would definitely be a great investment. We WILL be getting one.

(My parents even said they'd pitch in and make it a part of the girls' birthday presents. Yay for generous grandparents! Thanks, guys!)

But then I watched Raegan and rethought my "definitive" buy-a-pool stance.

She is a child who wants to do everything on her own. especially if she sees that her older sisters can do it. And swimming proved no different.

There she was in one of those heinous floaty bathing suits. Those suits that come with sewed in floatation devices that are supposed to help the child stay afloat when all it really does is make them turn at awkward angles.

forcing their head to hang in a way that allows them to inhale copious amounts of chlorinated water.


But regardless of Raegan's continuous face plants in the water, she insisted on doing it herself. Yelling at us if we held on to the back of her suit. "No, Mommy! It's my turn. Let me do it."

Over and over and over...and over and over and over again. She insisted that we not hold her. guide her. or touch her.

Apparently we were supposed to just watch her sink like a rock. Cheering her on all the while. God help me.

My mom thinks that she'll be swimming like a fish by the end of the summer. because of her drive and determination to get 'er done.

I sure hope so because she wore me out in ten minutes time. No joke.


But then there was this little beauty.


She hates everything to do with water. Up until a few weeks ago (she was 8 months), she would scream during bathtime. Now she just whimpers for a while.

But after 10 minutes in the pool water, she was kicking and splashing and snorting.

Yes. Snorting. A lovely little trick that Daddy showed her. Something she's adopted as her very own. snorting/laughing like Sandra Bullock on Miss Congeniality.

Dainty little quality.

So if you are ever driving by a house with a newly installed above ground pool and you hear a 2 year-old shouting "I do it by myself!" along with a 9 month old snorting like a pig in heat, then pull in the driveway.

I'd love to hire you to teach my girls to swim sit and chat a while. :)

Infants, Toddlers, and Cameras. Oh my!

In a moment of insanity, I thought "Hm. I should get a picture of me with all the girls. "

It was Father's Day, after all. Exactly one month post-Mother's Day.

You know, The Day where no one thought to say "We should take this opportunity to document a Mother-Daughter moment on film."

Novel thought around these here parts.

So last night... late last night when Lani is crying because she's tired, Raegan is running around like a monkey on crack because she's over tired, and the rest of us look like we slept in our clothes because we'd officially been in them for 12 hours, I had the genius idea to finally take that long overdue mother-daughter picture.

In front of the AC window unit, random box of stuff to give away, and half throw together entertainment center no less.

What can I say, when I do genius, I do it right. *yeah yeah. zip it*

So after a round of trial and error photo-ops...of which I can't show you because Blogger just doesn't want to download my pictures...

Here is my favorite.


I have one escapee. a monkey on my back. and two older sisters who fi-na-lly gave me genuine smiles simultaneously.

But only because Thing One and Thing Two's picture antics are cracking them up.

But hey. It IS a documented *real* moment in the life of Christin, The Mother. And really, you don't get more "real" than this chaotic pic.

In with the ...old?

I've been busy. Very busy.

Life's been racing by at lightning speed. But then again, isn't that what it does when we have chlidren? Suddenly those same years that draggggeeed by when we were kids, now tirelessly race from week to week.

And my weeks have been filled with all the things that make summer great. and life worth savoring.

Strawberry picking. Charis's first weekend away (a church campout). A friend's baby shower. Get-togethers with friends.

And a whole lot of decorating.

Exhibit 1A: A section of my "new" dining room...



Did my old dining room need to be revamped? No. I actually loved it. We had my Nana's antique oak table and chairs and buffet. It was beautiful.

Okay, so it still is. Nana's old table just got the leaf yanked out of it. two captain chairs stored in the attic. and it's oak hindend moved to the corner of the kitchen....where a rather large L-shaped desk used to be...

The desk has since been moved elsewhere. displacing something else in another section of the house...

And thus has been my life. But I wouldn't trade any of the exhausting frustration for anything. Because God saw fit to bless us with this dining room set for the amount of money that ONE of the eight chairs would have cost.

Yes. I'm serious.

My mom says we have the "furniture anointing". :) Because we have gorgeous furniture throughout our entire house. Items that are ALL second-hand. Gotten as a present, hand-me-down or yardsale buy for pennies on the hundred dollars.

Love my house.

But because this ginormous table takes up the majority of our large dining room, it meant that we had to rearrange the entire house in order to accommodate our new little God-gift.

So that's what I've been doing. Redecorating. Reshuffling. Reorganizing.

Getting rid of excess. Giving people furniture that we no longer need. Generating boxes and boxes of stuff to donate to the goodwill. I love me some purge-the-crap mode. And tomorrow's trash day. Oh Glory.

Yes, I am sick sick woman because I happen to l.o.v.e ridding my house of clutter.

And yes, I'm sure there's some diagnosis for my obsessiveness . I mean, isn't that what doctors do? Sit around and come up with some biological excuse for all of our quirks and flaws? *rolling my eyes* But I digress.

Anyhoo... man, I am lovin' the way that my house is shaping up!! More pictures to follow.

APB

All Points Bulletin

Missing. One used-to-be very consistent Blogger. No traces. No clues as to her whereabouts. No idea as to why she up and disappeared.

Though an anonymous source disclosed that it could very well be because Christin's house hasn't been (wholly) cleaned in close to two months.

And being that Christin hates clutter and mess and the foul stench coming from the overflowing laundry basket, chances are good she was driven from the house screaming incoherently.

Anonymous Source, who has seen mess firsthand, declares she would run far far away, too.

If you happen to see Blogger, please call her family immediately. As they need someone to cook, clean, and change diapers for them miss her immensely.

Warning:
Blogger, though not armed, may be dangerous. as easily driven to insanity when faced with the overwhelming odds that her house will never again be spotless ... organized ...able to welcome guests without having to clear a path through the muck and mire.

One day, upon her return...you know, when elves magically appear at night to clean up all the Stuff Vomit that has occurred... she will again enter the wonderful world of Blogdom.

Until then, please join us in Intercessory prayer (fasting is optional) that those Elves would get their act together and show up already. Her very sanity depends upon it.

Can you help a girl out? Advice please.

Wintertime seems to bring out the Prison Warden in me...

"No, we cannot go outside. It's freezing. and icy. and a whole lot of work on my part to dress you in enough layers to prevent frostbite. Maybe next month, mkay?"

I'm nothing if not honest, eh? ;)


And there's there Springtime. where I'm suddenly inspired me to hand out the official Eviction Notice....

"I know you've been playing outside since dawn, but it's pretty today. You *will* enjoy it. Capiche?"

Okay, so not really...but when Lani is sleeping, Big Girls are outside. playing on our big playground. swinging on the tire swing. riding bikes in the driveway. climbing our front tree. and swimming in their pool.



Though it's not huge, it is big enough for them to paddle around. In fact, I don't think these pictures do its size justice.

My aunt was getting rid of it a few years back and just gave it to us. *cha-ching* Love hand-me-downs.

At this point in life, we don't invest a lot of money in various extra curricular activities for the girls. Financially, it's just not the wisest thing. But last year, I looked into swimming lessons for the two oldest girls.

Being that not drowning is fairly high on my list of priorities.

After picking my jaw up off the floor...due to shock of the amount of money it would cost to enroll our children in classes to "get comfortable in the water"...we decided to wait a year and teach them "water comfortableness" ourselves. *wry grin*

So we spent the summer encouraging them to submerse their face in the water. They were both pretty timid about water in their face. Raegan doesn't seem to share their fear. ;)

Well, this year we looked into swimming lessons again. found a much better deal. and started to talk about making it happen. But due to life circumstances right now, we just can't commit to EVERY night for months.

So we began to rethink our stance. and are now in the process of researching above ground pools.

Who knew there were that many sizes? or styles? or range of prices???

or that you needed to choose between metal-framed and soft-framed? and that some filters were more effective than others? and that if it wasn't close to perfectly level disaster could ensue?

I've been researching a bit on the computer, but still feel fairly clueless.

And so I ask you, dear reader. If you have an above ground pool OR have listened to family or friends rave about theirs (whether good or bad), please let me know! ANY advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

Lions and tigers and BEARs. Dear God.

Standing in the doorway of the family room, I heard her mumble something. quietly.

Upon further eavesdropping investigation, it became obvious that she was speaking for the Barbie dolls. puppeteering a conversation that immediately sent my head reeling.

I had to ask her twice...as nonchalantly as I could feign...to make sure I was hearing her correctly.

Ken: "And how many will you bear me?"

He asked this question casually as he paraded down a long line of Ladies in Waiting. Each one answering in turn the number they would "bear" him.

Take note of the pile of ladies in the above picture. I can only assume they were disqualified early on because of the too-low number they volunteered.

And I present to you the winner...uh, Bride.
Clearly, she promised him more children than the other women. Eight, to be exact.

It's days later, and I'm still in shock being that the only time we use the word "bear" is when referring to something furry. with large teeth. that needs to be avoided.

I promise we have neither cable nor Harlequin romance novels lying around. *Scout's honor*

You know, if I were a scout and all.

WHERE does she come up with this stuff? Do I even want to know? Should I chalk it up to a homeschooling vocab lesson? or a head's up from the Lord to start intercessing now? ...concerning her view of how to secure a husband.

Can you believe it? I'm posting a blog.

When someone goes MIA from Blogdom, you can assume one of a few things. The writer is:

A. Overwhelmed.
B. Too busy to actually form into cohesive words the goings-on of our lives.
C. Sick.

I'd be willing to wager that most bloggers could add a few of their own reasons to that rather short list. Right?

And even though A-C have all been relevant for this blogger, I'm going to give more credit to the following list of sweet distractions reasons.


A. Charis (6.5 years) who loves relaxing and reading and time spent Mommy


B. Selah (almost 5) who loves being outside and running and racing and any time spent cuddling.

C. Raegan (2 years) who is constantly saying "Comb 'ere. I wanna show you sumpin."


D. And little Lani (8.5 months) who is growing faster than I can even begin to document.


Living in the Computer Age, it's so easy to get swept away with all technology has to offer:

...Facebook. MySpace. Email. IMing.

Texting. Twitter. ...and a host of other things that I don't even know well enough to call by name.

Internet group sites... For Moms of Many. For homeschoolers. For vegans who also live in tents. *wry grin* Any type of commonality that binds a group of people together, they have an Internet discussion group to represent it.

Blogs, whether reading or writing them. Researching...

Again, this list can go on and on.

And though our children don't always know what the heck we're doing on the computer (or some other electronic device)...the legitimate value that *some* of it may very well have...they DO know when we spend a lot of time sitting in front of it.

Time that could be spent sitting in front of them.

And so I've been doing that. trying to spend more focused time with them. playing outside. reading books. laughing over their silly jokes.

Because let's face it. What Facebook or Blogdom have to offer ain't got nothing when it comes to the sweetness of these little toes.

Toes that will not stay this small forever.

"Fiery" is not a four letter word

When it comes to my girls, I...like any mother...am fiercely protective, intensely in-love, and obviously completely unbiased. ;)

*picture taken this past Easter at my parents' house. Selah (4.5), Alana (7 mo), Raegan (2), Charis (6)

Having four girls, one might assume that my days are filled with All Things Pink and Frilly. and that a fly on the wall of our day-to-day might hear shrill girlie shrieks, questions about how to best accessorize, and intense conversations about what it's like to be a real princess.

And while that may be partly true (as I type this my two oldest are playing dolls) you can't always assume what life is like based on preconceived ideas. Well, I suppose you can, but you won't always be right. ;)

especially if your assumptions revolve around the little girl that possesses this perfect, chubby profile...


and this mischievous, endearing grin...



Because my two oldest are (now) very mellow when it comes to personalities and how they interact with others, people naturally assume that my 3rd daughter...the 2 year old who has a fire about her...is a "handful".

Now of course, this could be due to the fact that this little one came from the womb fully equipped with the knowledge of how to effectively throw her hands over her face, flail herself on the floor, and whine this incredibly fake whine when things didn't go exactly as hoped.

I mean, sure...she waited until her place in the family was secure before strutting her stuff... all of 12 months. But still, she knew how to...uh, shall we say emote?... from early on.

So in all fairness to those who knew this about her, this could be the reason for the "I bet she's a real handful" assumption.

But

It's just not true. She's one of the sweetest little girls I know. Honestly.

When Lani came onto the scene, Raegan immediately loved and doted over this new little baby: "Raegan's baby", as we called her. There was no jealousy. no fear on our parts that she would vendictively hurt Alana or callously ignore her.

Nope. She gladly welcomed Little Bitty immediately.

In fact, she still spends her days trying to make this little blond girl laugh. bringing her toys. and giving her drinks.


(THIS is why Lani still doesn't hold the cup by herself. Who needs to learn new skills when you have three older sisters who will do it for you!?)

Raegan, though she does have an independent, fiery streak, has become the sweetest little girl in the past 6 months or so. gentle. patient. sympathetic.

And I want to document, for memory sake, some of the sweetest that oozes out of her:

I've been sick for the past week. throwing up sick. *ech* But every time I was in the bathroom, she would come to the door and say "You okay, Mommy?"

I'd come out and she hug my neck, patting my back and saying "It's okay" over and over.

And when I'd ask her to pray for me, she immediately put her hand on my shoulder and start singing "Jesus loves me" over me. :) Too precious.

She's not one to throw a fit. or even require a spanking. All it takes is a couple of minutes in the naughty corner and she's crying, saying "I'm sorry!" over and over again. throwing herself in our arms and hugging us hard.

She doesn't want to disappoint or disobey. (and when she does require a trip to The Corner, it's because she didn't listen when we said to come in from the pool. and really, who wants to leave the fun of water to come inside?)

When she wakes from her nap, she doesn't sit and scream. In fact, she'll stay up there for an hour if I made her...just singing songs to herself that can be heard over the baby monitor.

Twinkle Twinkle little star. Deep and Wide. Jesus loves me. Psalty songs. ...it's just too adorable for words.

There's not much to her, body-wise. She's a petite little bug...


But she's got enough energy, spunk, and joy for people three times her size.


Yes, she's got drive. Lots of it. When it comes to water, she's got more confidence than her older sisters ever have had...


and she's determined not to let them leave her behind. What they do, she will do. Or at least some version of it...

(she's yet to master the tricycle. but that doesn't stop her from "biking" when her sisters do)

And yes, she loves running and always being on the move. but she asks "Can I run?" before doing it. Where she got that from, I'll never know. But I think it's unbelievably adorable.

So yeah, my little Raegan Roo is full of fire...as she brings warmth and life to the room.

Yet. She's not one to demand her way. or throw herself on the floor, kicking and screaming (thankfully, that's out of her system). or retaliate by biting or hitting a sister when toys are not shared (thankfully, that too only lasted for a few weeks a lllooonnnggg time ago).

Honestly, I just can't even put to words how precious this little girl is. But it's very important to me that I try.

Because I want my little girls...ALL of them...growing up knowing that they are priceless to me. That their differences from their sisters don't detract from who they are, but only add to the sweet spirit that our home has. And that I will, without apology or hesitation, make sure that people don't proclaim her to be something that she is not.

I want my girls growing up knowing that they can be fiery and determined and energetic and independent without being dubbed something negative.

As parents, I happen to believe that's our job.

Parental Irony

An Irony of Parenthood:

When your first child is born, you carry around a hand-santizer. At all times.

You actually go so far as to place it in the carseat next to the newborn reminding on-lookers of their incriminating germs and your full support of their improved hygiene practices before touching your child.

Fast forward 5 years.

Gone is hand-santizer. Replaced is the plea:

"If the dog licks you in the face, just please make sure to keep your mouth closed."

Mr Sandman

Charis took this picture of herself. :)


"Mommy? Don't you think that very very soon, I'm going to be a woman?"

At 6 years old, she discusses marriage, wonders what her husband will look like, dreams about having her own children, and plans for how she'll get to spend the day with me when I'm a grandma.

I know those days will be amazing. But for now, I'm so trying to convince her that to be young is a special gift from God. designed with things for her to accomplish as a single.

to which she, all starry-eyed, replies: "But He has things for me to when I'm married too."

Oh to be able to leash Time and hold it back. At least in the mind of my "almost grown up" little girl.

They get it from their father's side.

Selah, from the time she was little bitty, was known for her adventurous spirit. It wasn't abnormal to see her with a black eye. or two.

By 6 months, my aunt declared Selah into Extreme Sports.

Always having to find the hard way to do things, she was walking up the hardwood stairs... backwards... when she could barely walk on even ground. Freaked me out.

and brought out the intercessor in me. ;)

She loves finding the physical challenge and attacking it. hence doing push-ups as a 4 year old!



That's why when she started doing backflips off the couch, we weren't surprised.

She lands on her feet as well. like a cat.

Though apparently, doing it that way became too easy. suddenly lacking in the "challenge" element.

Because she began to try it a different way...

I have no problem with this display of daring. With one exception.

My daughter Raegan appears to have the same drive running through her veins

and will try everything that she sees her big sisters do. Even the things she's never seen them do...like walking up the stairs backwards!

I'd say I have another Extreme Sports Girl on my hands. God help me.

But I guess I shouldn't be surprised, being that their Daddy did the most Extreme Sport there is.


Bull riding. And yes, that is my husband a top 2,200 lbs of untamed terror.

Maybe I should keep those home videos secret? under lock and key. away from the eyes of my girls who love a good challenge.