All that and more!

Batters up!











I loved this shot. I know, I cut off his head, and its focused on the fence, but I still had to put it on. Check out his feet. He is running so fast, BOTH feet are off the ground!



My mister cool. Actuallyhats and/or sunglasses are a requirement of those with grass allergies who play baseball.






My Guys!




Eat it up!

Here is our lunch. Doesn't look like much huh? It sure is good and nutritious. #1) Raw vegetables, I happen to pick one of our less varied vegetable platters to show you, I have also been adding, raw beets and jumica (sp?). Once we even tried raw brustle sprouts. Not fabulous, but way better then I was expecting. #2) Because the ranch dressing has MSG in it. I have been making my own with plain yogurt (yogurt, celery salt and Mrs. dash). This gives protein and keeps the MSG out. #3) Almond butter, also protein. No peanuts. #4) Our new juice. 3/4 unsweetened herbal tea, 1/4 apple juice. No other sugar.

Very good.




#5) Oh, of course our bumps on our logs, raisins. Raisins have a fair amount of sugar and some other stuff that can cause hypperness, however, I don't think our logs would be the same without them.





Even the bird is joining in. :-)






For those of you concerned about this type of drastic meal, check out Daniel 1:11-16 "Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Arariah, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but Vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead."

If you keep reading they also turn out very smart and strong! I have a funny feeling all of it came out of obedience to the Lord though.


Clean it up!

That has been my life this past week. I may end up only being able to blog once a week. I hope not. I like blogging. Anyhow, This is my 'starch' cupboard. Everything in it except my 'emergency meal' (top right, two red boxes) and the rice-a-roni (which I am keeping just for the rice, not the seasonings) is 'decently good for you'.







This is my snack and extras cupboard. It is about half and half, thing we are allowed to eat and things we aren't allowed to eat. Lets see,... Cheerios are not allowed but since the baby can't eat granola I keep it around anyway. The barbecue sauce is not allowed, but I haven't found a substitute yet. The blueberry syrup is not allowed, but is a 'treat' item I keep around occasionally anyway. The nuts are suppose to have no peanuts, that was just a mistake. Jello is off limits, but I keep it around in case someone is sick and that's all they can get down. There I think the rest of it is allowed.




Ok, Here are my dishes... Tip of the week. My husband just shared this with me. I WISH he had done so about 10 years ago. Anyhow,.. Keep the right hand sink dish free. This gives you a place to deal with the pile of dishes when they do get stacked up. If you need to soak something put it in the left hand side. If you are REALLY in a hurry and the left is already full, put it on the counter, again, that leaves the right hand side open for rinsing the dishes when you do get to it.




Tada! Ok so its not done yet. But close. Here is my entertainment center. Note T.V. GONE! Yes! It has not migrated back in. I hope it never does. I got rid of most of my VHS, I kept things like sonograms, family videos and some educational stuff. I put all my CD's and DVD's in black CD holders and saved tons of room. I still need to remove the VCR and Stereo. I still have two compartments to clean, but I am almost done.





Look at what the Lord blessed us with. A second refrigerator! A much needed item in this large family! I don't have much in it yet but it is nice to be able to say "Oh, I am out of milk, will one of you go get some out of the garage." A very nice blessing in deed.





I hesitate to even show you this but this disaster is actually my biggest accomplishment this week. Sad huh? Anyhow, this doesn't look like much but this was two days work by two adults to cut it down to only this much. I think it will take us about two more days to get the car back in and two more after that to be totally done. This garage was stacked Wall to Wall (Literally), floor to ceiling (Literally). We got rid of approximately 30bags of clothing and 15 bags of toys. All donated to different organizations and ministries. However did we have that much. Well, I was keeping clothes for the younger kids to grow into and then when they were that size I forgot I had it and went out and bought more! Now I have them labeled for which kid at which size and I only kept how much that child would need. (No more then one box per size)




Ah a very humbling picture...



Pause.


Speaking of humbling. Here is a picture of our current bible study book.








For Instruction in Righteousness, by Pam Forster (Doorposts)


We are currently learning about 'Pride vs. Humbleness'. I must say it is working well. Andrew was boasting about his later bed time then the other kids and all I had to say was. "Andrew, you are being prideful." and Bam, Silence. Then this little voice. "Oh, I am sorry."

I loved it. Great book.



Licking lizards!









We found this in our back yard! Can you believe it? I have never seen anything like it. I took LOTS of pictures. I was as exited as the kids, if not more!






























Have you ever seen a lizard with blue spots on it's back? Or as rich of blue on its belly. I just thought that was SOOOO cool.



All that and more!

Have a great day ~Heather