Discovery Museum

A couple of weeks ago we made a last minute trip to Chattanooga to the Discovery Museum. We had a blast!! When we lived in Alabama we had a family season pass and used it alot! We have not been since Elijah was about 9 months old, so this was a treat! Bryan and I surprised the kids and didn't tell them where we were going, but the bigger kids had it figured out by the time we got there. :) Here are a few lots of pictures of all the fun we had there!

When you first go in there is a water play area and Timothy and Joanna loved playing in the water.

 Joanna and Timothy love playing in the bathtub so I knew they would like this part!

Elijah enjoyed this pulley system. He is working really hard. :)

Mister silly man!

Big brother took baby sister for a ride!

Dad and Mom (Bryan and Cantina) stop for a picture!

Sarah and the little ones playing "Theatre".

 Timothy thought this was so neat. The air coming out of the tubes was keeping the ball in the air.

The Little Yellow House is so much fun for little ones 4 and under! Isaac and Sarah always loved this part of the museum, but now they are too old. :( Here is Joanna and Timothy playing house.

Joanna is seeing the next patient (Daddy). Bryan is so good at playing with the kids!

This is Dr. Sarah and Dr. Elijah

Dr. Timothy is working on the scales.

Mommy and Isaac. I just love this big fellow! He is growing up on me too fast!

Digging for dinosaur bones!

Timothy takes Joanna for a ride.

These two stuck together and played so well! They are such good buddies!

The kids enjoyed playing in the sand but it was so hard to get the sand off their feet and their shoes back on.

This was the highlight of the day! You built a roller coaster and could see exactly how they work! Bryan and Isaac could have stayed here all day. They worked really hard!

Sarah and Timothy making shapes with rubber bands and nails.

Elijah was working at getting these gears just right!

Having fun in the big play area!

Timothy helping Joanna up to the next level. He did so good at helping her!

Let's see what is in here....

We can't wait to go back!

He steals my heart!

I never thought I could love all 5 of my children as much as I do! They are just very precious to me and I am so thankful for each of them!!

Elijah is right in the middle of the children in birth order. He has his own personality and is a special little boy in his own unique ways! He can be so sweet and loving to me that I just want to capture every minute with him. I would love to bottle up every minute with all the kids and hold on to them forever!

I wanted to share some pictures of Elijah over the past few months.

Elijah loves to be silly and make the others laugh! He also loves playing with all of his siblings! Every day he will ask "Can Sarah and Isaac have free time?" Elijah wants all of them playing together!

Such a handsome young man! Hard to believe that one day he will be all grown up!

My little chef! He loves cooking and helping cook. If I am in the kitchen he is usually right beside me wanting to help! When we make something he will say "Don't forget to put some momma sugar in there". Melt my heart!! :)

Elijah loves pickng flowers for me. These are some he picked and we had to make them our center piece that week. He loved that he had done something for me!

Maw's Birthday!

 

This past weekend my parents came up. Mother's birthday was Saturday and she said she wanted to spend her birthday here with us! We loved it!! They came up Friday at lunch and we were so glad to get to spend all weekend with them. On Saturday my mom requested that we take her to Bell Buckle Cafe' for her birthday lunch. As always the food was so delicious!! :) The rest of their visit we just hung out here and enjoyed being together.

We had not seen them in 4 weeks! I am so thankful that my parents want to come and can come. Being 4 hours away makes it hard to see each other often and so the times we do have with our families are very special!!

This month was also Pop and Gigi's birthday! We did get to call them and sing "Happy Birthday" to both of them! Wish we could have seen them and loved on them.

Strawberry Cake!

Here I am trying to eat healthier and posting about this Strawberry Cake! LOL!! I made this cake about a month ago and it was a huge hit here at our home. We all LOVE strawberries so I thought I would give this a try. I also had a few strawberries that needed to be used, so here is what I came up with!

Strawberry Cake
1 box cake mix (butter-recipe)
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup of fresh strawberries (blended)
½ cup milk
½ cup of nuts (pecans)

Mix together and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until done. Let cool for 15 minutes

Icing
½ stick of margarine
1 cup of fresh strawberries (blended)
1 box of powdered sugar
(I added some pecans to the icing too)

Melt your butter and add blended strawberries. Mix in powdered sugar a cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. After cake has cooled 15 minutes smooth icing on top and let set for a few minutes. Serve and enjoy!!

Eating Healthy!

Last week I took Isaac and Sarah for their yearly check-ups. Everything went well except for a couple of things that makes me realize that I need to do a better job of making healthy meals for my family!

I was not raised on healthy food, so this is all new to me. Bryan and I have never been REALLY bad eaters, but let's face it we could do alot better. Years ago I made the adjustment to turkey meat instead of hamburger meat. Our family doesn't eat out alot, but when we do the kids want to go to the golden arches or BK. Ouch!! Never stopped to realize just how unhealthy these places are.

The past couple of days I have been looking at the food in our kitchen and I am amazed at how much of this and that certain things have. An example is that eggs have 215 mg of chelesterol! Never new that! Also 2% milk has 20 mg of cholesterol. I am going to have to pay attention more and do a better job at this!

We like veggies and fruits, but not a huge selection is available in the fall and winter. I will try and do more frozen veggies and fruit than canned. All of my kids LOVE salad and I would have never eaten a salad at their age. Matter of fact I didn't eat my first salad until almost 5 years ago. I will try and make salads more of a part of our meals.

So here I go with a new goal for the fall and winter....make more healthy meals and get more exercise. I am sure as I discover new things that I will post updates as I get a chance. If you know of any healthy (and tasty) recipes or websites to where I can find some, please leave a comment and a link.

I want to teach my children to think about healthy food now instead of when they are my age. I better go, I have lots of researching to do!! :)

A project with Daddy

Bryan decided to teach the four big kids how to make sling shots. From cutting the boards, preparing the rubber bands, then making the pouch, and putting it all together. The kids love them, especially the boys. The day I took these pictures Timothy was still down for a nap. Bryan has also explained safety and rules while using these things! :) It was a fun learning moment for the kids.

Choose your stone....

Pull...

Pull...

Pull...

And let it go!! .....Where did it go? 

Timothy and Joanna

I have SOOOOO many pictures of Timothy and Joanna together that I thought I would post a few of them and then more later. I am so thankful that they have each other. They play so well together! Every time they do something Timothy wants me to take a picture of them together....so here are a few of those moments! :)

One morning before church.

Coming down the stairs together. She loves to go up and wake Timothy up by getting in his bed with him!

One night after I had already given Joanna a bath and I was getting Timothy out, Joanna decided she wanted to get back in. I had turned around to get a towel and when I turned back to get Timothy out this is what I found. She was soaked! I had to dry her off again and put new dry PJ's on her! LOL!

These two love to hang out on my bed. They like watching movies together in my room.

I love these two little faces and would love to share all the stories I have of them. I am not good with words and I don't have all that time...:) My prayer is that they will always be close and together do great and mighty things for the Lord!!

Our Big Girl

 Joanna has on her favorite PJ's and has gotten attached to this bear.

 When Sarah was little she didn't like baby dolls at all! Joanna loves them! LOL!! Here is Joanna with her baby doll "resting" on our bed!

Last night Joanna slept in the toddler bed for the first time! Then today she took her nap in it! She loves to lay with Timothy in his bed so I thought she might do well but wasn't sure. We had the hardst time getting Isaac and Sarah in a toddler bed. Timothy went right to the toddler bed with NO problem! I think Joanna will adjust very well! The blanket on her bed is made by a lady in our church. One of those precious things to treasure. The lady that made it is very special to us and I think alot of her. :)

Pajamas

Can you guess who is who? :) They are so cute in their matching PJs!!!

Three peas in a pod!

There is a story behind these pajamas. My mother brought all the kids something on one of their visits to see us. She brought Joanna a onesie (really cute) and the little boys needed some pajamas so she brought them matching sets. When Joanna saw the boys PJs she wanted to put them on. :) Then when it was time for her to take them off she threw a big fuss.

The next night after baths I put the boys new PJs on them and she was not happy, she wanted to wear them. It was really funny! So I called my mother to tell her the story and specifically said not to get Joanna any. Well.....

My Dad steps in to the story and has to buy her a set just like the boys! So now she has her own set and those are her favorite pajamas. Even when we are doing laundry and she sees us folding them she will get them and carry them around with her.