Growing up

We have had three birthdays in the past two months and my kiddos are -dare I say it?  Growing up.  I am filled with warring emotions.  I have learned this past year what it is like to worry about them when they don't grow, don't thrive.  What a horrible- soul wrenching diagnosis- "Failure to Thrive".  It makes me sad to think about those days almost exactly one year ago when we were given that diagnosis.  Now she is 17 lbs and growing. 

So I love watching them grow and thrive and thrive.

Joseph is 11 and taller then me now.  He makes dinner one night a week, helps around the house, devours books, talks and discusses things constantly, and babysits!!!  Yeah for a built in babysitter!!

We are working on getting him onto a basketball team at the Y in Independence.  He isn't a bad shot and has seemed to grow into his body better in the last year.  He is much more coordinated and I figure with his height they will be glad to teach him what he doesn't know.

He is going to have to get braces.  Arrg.  Those things are expensive, I don't know that his babysitting for us is enough payback.  (:  He is about to loose 7-8 different babyteeth.  The Ortho said that none of them have roots and they are just wedged in there.  So they will go really fast.  I don't know how the kid is going to eat!  But I guess he'll figure out a way.  The good news is that for right now he just needs a spacer and that is considered a preventative appliance and so is covered by insurance 100%.  The bad news is that Ortho work later on has a lifetime max that is less then a fourth of the total cost.   I guess we had better start saving.

He is very interested in growing things and is a primary factor in helping us to plant a garden this summer.  His enthusiasm is boundless and helps us to want to try.

Oliver DeMille of Thomas Jefferson Education talks of raising Young adults and not Teenagers.  I know he still is fairly young, but I really respect and like him.  I think that with him we have a very good chance of doing just that.  Only time will tell of course, but I am so greatful for my oldest child.  For his patience with me and his love and testimony of the truth.  He is an example to me in so many ways.  Sometimes when I frustrate him he tries so hard to be patient and says "Mom, I'm sorry for getting upset, but I just don't understand why . . ." whatever it is. Most of the time, he has a point.

We often tease him about his absent mindedness.  One of his jobs is to clear the counters and (less often now), we used to find things like the milk in the pantry.  His head is in the clouds and not on his job.  I am grateful for his friendship and love for us as his parents and for his brothers and sisters.  I am grateful for his determination to succeed and do his best.  For his youthful optimism and enthusiasm which I am all too often lacking.  I am trying to make sure to enjoy him while I have him here.  One of my favorite things to see him do is when he holds his baby sister.  He has developed this game with her.  He sings "we're on our way, we're on our way, on our way to Grandpa's Farm. . ." and bounces her gently on his knee.  At first she wasn't sure about the whole thing, but now she smiles up at him and enjoys it.

I am so happy that he has and is thriving.  That he is becoming a wonderful young man and that I get to watch.

Baking day

I love days like yesterday!  I felt like we accomplished so much.  In addition to our normal daily chores, I re-organized a kitchen cupboard, kept the baby happy, and in between pumpings and nursings baked.  We baked 5 pizza crusts, 18 large pumpkin-apple walnut muffins, 24 pita breads, 3 loaves of bread, lots of pretzels (shaped by the kids), carrot cake, and buttermilk biscuits.  I also made homemade butter and yogurt dip.  The kids got some other school done, and I even read a small amount of Plato for my class.

We have made a New Years resolution to eat more unprocessed and nutrient dense foods.  The more we look at it the more that it seems that the Lord intended for us to eat living food.  The more energy potential in it the better it is for our bodies.  The recently it was growing or able to grow the better.  This is why we grind our own wheat etc.  It is definitely not easy.  I go through the grocery store and 95% of what is there is not in line with what we want.  There are places that we could shop, but with 5 growing kids and one income the budget doesn't stretch that far.  Luckily I love to bake.  I have always loved it.  I think my children are inheriting that love (which is great, maybe when they are teenagers they'll take over baking day ).  This is something I feel confident about that I can do.

Then there is produce.  No matter how I try I can't mix wheat into carrots, tomatoes, and onions.  Plus even if I could they wouldn't have the growth and life in them that we need.  So I'm going to try to have a garden.  Again.  I haven't had the best luck.  My children have been thrilled with the very small returns we have gotten and every time they can harvest anything from the garden their eyes light up.  I have been happy to get something, but I know I should be able to do so much better.  So it's back to the drawing board.  It's figuring out what absolutely has to be, like bright sunlight unshaded by trees.  And what isn't so important like watering by hand so you are close to your plants.  A book I read recommended this.  it doesn't happen in this house.   We have had really good intentions for the past 2 years and worked hard, but when the weather goes over 100 with humidity close to the same. . .the last thing Any of us want to do is go and water the garden, or weed.  So I am taking lessons from a friend of mine who has successfully gardened here for many years.  She uses soak-er hoses and Lots of mulch to keep the weeds down.  Here's to a bumper crop!

The milk and meat have been something we have gone back and forth on.  We have finally decided to go straight to the farmer where possible.  We found a source for real milk in Harrisonville for $3 per gallon and have been drinking that.  However, being that we aren't huge milk drinkers, and it takes 1 1/2 hours to get down there and back we might opt for a source that comes closer to home, but is a bit more money.  We haven't decided yet.  For meat we are currently buying from Costco and eating it sparingly, but we are planning on clearing out our deep freeze and buying 1/4- 1/2 of a grass-fed cow.  And some free range hens.  The person who brings the milk closer has free range eggs too.  Yikes.  Lots and lots to think about and do.  We have been leaning this direction for some time, but it always seemed cost prohibitive.  Finally we've decided to do the best we can prioritizing which changes are the most important to us and trying to find ways to do them.
Advice is always appreciated!  Leave a comment.  (: 

My Kids

Could you be upset at this face?  I already struggle, but when Hubby cracks a smile I'm done for.

Can you say patient uncle??

Too much Hot chocolate, and Christmas excitement.

This uncle has the magic touch.

My oldest is officially taller then me ):  Does that make me old?

Happy New Year!!

We were so excited to see family from Florida unexpectedly this last week.  Their kids had never seen snow and so being good hosts we kindly provided them with Plenty.  (:  We got together with them and the rest of our family Tuesday over at Rachel and Jared's house.  Almost the whole family was there.  David and Jamie couldn't come, but their kids were there.  It was a lot of fun hanging out together.  We ate and talked and took more pictures then even the most reckless paparazzi.  We all had a great time.

Thursday night on New Years Eve we were going to get all together for the holiday at our house.  Jose and Olivia had to go back to Florida Wednesday morning, so they couldn't come.

Then Wednesday morning we got a phone call that my niece Sarah was in the hospital.  She had gone down to 73 % O2 sat and had almost stopped breathing and they had to call the ambulance.  Thankfully she is all right now.  We are all so very thankful for the priesthood and the blessing that it is in our lives.  She came home a couple of days later and is doing well.

The week was long and crowded with activity and by the time New Years came along not many were left with the stamina to stay up.  Only Grandma and Grandpa Lopez, Aunt Elsa, and Jared and Rachel's family came for dinner and they all left before 10 pm.  Noah, Izy and Papa crashed soon thereafter.  And I wanted to.  (:  So the few of us that stayed up popped balloons and yelled for the new year.  I think perhaps next year we will have "A Cuban New Year"  That way we can celebrate at 10 pm central time when the clock changes there and then go to bed.

Our best gift in the new year happened the 2nd of January.  Isabelle weighs 16 pounds! I have to post pictures of her chubby thighs! She is now back up to where she would have been on her own little growth curve if she hadn't fallen off in July.  If we can continue this rate of growth for at least two more months then we will be on the chart for the first time since her 2 month well check up!

Now we are off to recover from our holidays!  There is nothing like close quarters, freezing weather, coughs, fevers, late nights, and too much excitement to throw a wrench in things!  Hopefully, sleep, blankets, lots of soup, honey, apple cider vinegar, echinachea tea, and calm routine can get us back up on our feet.