Vacation Pictures

or at least a couple of Niagra Falls. I have a ton more pictures and stories to post later.


Gorgeous, isn't it? Pictures do not give justice to this amazing site ...er... sight (spend too much time on the computer, I guess). The Falls are simply breath-taking to behold in person.

Okay one story now ... This is how it really is for a dozen shots or so when you want a family picture taken. Our vacations are not spent sight-seeing. They are spent trying to get 7 kiddos to take a decent picture to remember all those happy memories (hopefully forgetting how many trys it took to preserve those memories).

Eric's Update

My baby is 9 months old already. He had is well-baby check-up the 30th (Monday). He is healthy and such a mellow li'l dude. He does have some allergies, namely any grapes, milk lactose, pet dander. I am hoping I don't discover any new ones.

Eric weighed in at 17 lb 1 oz. (5%). He is a light-weight, but most all my kids are. He weighs what Joanna did at a year plus. He is 27.5 inches long (25%). Then we have his head circumference. That is 45.5 cm which is the 57%. Hubby says it because I tell Eric how handsome he is all the time.

Eric sits up like a pro now and can inch worm wiggle his way to what he wants but doesn't crawl. He won't stand on his legs long either. He thinks it is more fun to be bounced up and down as you try to get him to do it. My others were that way too.

Eric also has two bottom teeth barely breaking through. He doesn't like teething so his normal mellow self is a hit and miss if the teething is bothering him. He rolls all over the place and has people pegged for certain jobs. Kalynne is the best at extracting belly laughs from him.

Eric has discovered the joy of Strawberry Chex. He loves those things. I even catch the older peoples eating them. They are pretty tasty. Eric likes food in general. It is just the food that doesn't agree with him.

Fresh Berries

With the price of groceries steadily rising in time to the appetites of this plague of locusts that live here, I try to find ways to coax some pennies from our budget. Gasoline ain't very cheap around here either and is needed to go to the store. I could ride my bike, but it is 7+ miles of hills which really doesn't appeal to me. I am imagining the steep hill right before my house with bike trailer full of groceries to feed my crew for two weeks. Can you even cram that much in a bike trailer?

One way I coax pennies from our budget is to grow my own food or find a place I can pick some for free. Luckily the place loaded with fresh berries is right on our own property. We have some woods on our property that houses a few blackberry vines and a couple of mulberry trees. We have some blackberry vines we transplanted in beds next to our house too. The biggest, juiciest and most flavorful blackberries are in the woods though, right in the middle of a huge patch of poison ivy.

That is why I take my kids with me. They think it is because of bonding experiences. You see, I am highly allergic to poison ivy. I can walk near some on a windy day and catch it. And when I catch it, I catch it. It goes beyond a patch of itchy skin. I am one of the lucky ones that it goes systematic on ... joy! So not to eat up our savings in doctor and prescription costs, I have the kids pick the berries while I yell encouragement like, "You missed one" or "That snake is harmless." We have a three foot black rat snake that lives in our woods.

See? It's harmless. Remind me not to share that bit of info of where it lives with hubby though as he freaks out even more than the kids when it comes to snakes. I was just trying to show him how cool it was and he went inside (rather quickly) and tried to lock the door on me.

Snakes are not the only obstacle though. I like to make granola and have the berries on top on that. Yum! There are so many berries this year that I can even have enough to make a cobbler. I picked just shy of a pound of berries last night alone. By getting the ladder I could even pick the higher up ones. I hate being short some days. I would have enough for cobbler except for this obstacle. He loves berries too.

My what lovely children you have ...

All the better to embarrass you!

1930's Housewife

I am a very superior 1930's housewife. I do better in the fall when school is in since I make regular breakfasts then and do better at sticking to the budget. LOL! Having a baby doesn't insure early bedtimes or a pleasant attitude upon waking either. ;)

115 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

1930's Marital Quiz (one for you husbands too)

Five year-olds and Fireflies

Hubby and I were returning from a quick errand trip into town. When we drove up the driveway, we saw our two youngest girls in the front yard with big red drinking cups. They saw some of the first fireflies of the season so were outside trying to catch them.

When we asked Joanna (5) if she was catching fireflies she replied a bit down-hearted that she was. When we asked what was wrong, she informed us that she clapped her hands (showing us as she told us about it) too hard and squished her firefly. Hubby and I started laughing quietly at her poor face. Joanna told us she had caught it once but let it go. "I accidently squished it when I caught it again. Like this ... *claps hands* ."

Hopefully Joanna will have better luck next time although maybe it is the fireflies I should be wishing luck.

Why I try not to venture into teenage girls' rooms ...

Ignore the really cute kid for an instant and check out the background. UGH!

There are no pictures of the closet because those who ventured to do so were never seen from again.