Our “New” Grill – Thankful Thursday

When we moved, there were a few things that we did not bring with us that I have missed terribly. The two top things are our outdoor table and our grill. We have survived for 2.5 years without a grill. We have been waiting for money to fall into our lap. We have scoured Craigslist and finally put the word out to our friends. A neighbor told us about a free grill that we could rescue from the junkyard. So one Sunday after church, the menfolk went to retrieve it. It was in great shape on the outside, stainless steal. It is a large family sized grill, perfect for us.

I opened it up and it needed a lot of work, mostly cleaning.

Under the grates. Yes, we need to buy new, but want to make sure it is going to last before we invest money into buying new parts.

So, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work.

Abigail and Olivia

Miriam and Bethany with Caleb supervising.

No rest for the wicked.

We grilled out just about every single day since we cleaned it and got it working. Hard work.

Our first meal was burger and hot dogs. We found out only 2 of the burners worked well (we cleaned them out and the two that did not work at all, work OK now) but we made it work.

I had all sorts of help while grilling.

We did not have a cover, so we covered it with a big blue tarp. But my wonderful children bought me a grill cover for Mother’s Day.

I love my new grill. I love my children too. Nathan is taking the pictures and Elianna is inside supervising Sean.

We are so very thankful for the free grill, thank you Lord. We are so blessed. God gives us not only what we need, but also want we desire.

susan

People Picnic – Free Range Chicken Picnic – Wordless Wednesday

You Rub My Feet, I’ll Rub Your Back – Wordless Wednesday

Happy 1st Birthday Elianna – 4 May 2012

4 May 2012 – Happy First Birthday Elianna!

Today I turn 1. Wow, it was a long year. I am boot scoot boogying and cruising along furniture. I like to go to the other room and explore the hallway. I even “walk” from one spot to another, but it is not really walking, more like leaning into it and hopefully I won’t do a face plant. My sisters and brothers like to try to help me walk, they are so fun. Mommy says we have all sorts of fun things planned today. She talked about cake and ice cream and presents. But I am not sure what that all means. Well, I know what ice cream means and I am looking forward to that. I’ll let you know what happened later.

Happy First Birthday to me?

I did not cry this month are you surprised? I look so long and grown up.

Let’s get on with my day already.

What is going on today? Let me go find out.

See my beautiful hair?

Hold me Mommy.

I love to stand and I can stand by myself, but today I am being stubborn and I am not going to stand by myself for anyone.

I even got to lick my cake batter bowl.

Give me more, NOW!

I still love my fingers.

Until I see you again,

Elianna Sarah

4 April 2012

I am now 11 months old. I like to talk, a lot. I have learned that from my sisters. I have also started to scoot. I don’t really crawl, more like scoot. Mom assures me that one day I will crawl, we’ll see. It is fun to be able to get into all sorts of things now. My favorite thing is putting toys away into their containers, mainly legos and cars. I also had my first taste of pie (for Pi Day) and ice cream this month. Yummy. I am eating lots and lots of table food and I started drinking while milk. I still love my Mom the best. I am spoiled rotten and I will take advantage of it as long as I can. I get so much attention, I love it. Oh, I also transferred from my infant seat to a rear facing convertible car seat. Yes, Mommy says I’ll be rear facing for at least 6 or 7 more months unless I have a huge growth spurt. Mommy says the law is 20 pounds And 1 year, but she believes it is much safer to be rear facing as long as I can do so safely.

4 March 2012 – 10 Months

I am now 10 months old. I am still right around 17.5 pounds. I am getting more adventurous. I try to reach and grab for things. Mommy says I am beginning to crawl. I don’t know what that means, but if I want a toy and I can’t reach it, I have to move my arms and legs until I can get it. That is fun. I also like to roll around to get to where I want to go. I have gone from laying down to sitting one time, but the adults got so excited, I have been afraid to try it again. I love having older brothers and sister because they leave all sorts of treats for me on the floor. I can see each and every single one of the things they leave behind for me. I try to get them in my mouth, but too often Mommy catches me before I succeed.

4 February 2012 – 9 Months

I am now 9 months old. I weigh about 17.5 pounds. Mom calls me Lazy Butt because I don’t want to crawl or make any attempt to get around on my own. Instead, I just cry and Abigail, Bethany or Miriam come running to carry me around wherever I want to go. Why should I have to do all the work? I also started eating real food this month. I love bananas and peaches and spaghetti sauce. I don’t like mixed veggies or eggs. Mommy says now that I am eating more table food I need to start moving. I am drooling like a bubbler that has a leak, but no teeth yet.

4 January 2012 – 8 Months

Winter has come to the south. It is a brisk 35 degrees today. It would not be cold if it was not for the strong breeze that is dropping the “feels like” temperature. I received a bunch of fun toys to chew on for Christmas. They are so fun. I am starting to reach and grab for things out of my reach. I can sort of get things out of my reach if I really really try. I don’t really love to lay in one place anymore.

4 December 2011 – 7 Months

Winter is wonderful. Beautiful cook breezes flowing through the empty trees. Mommy says it is cold in Wisconsin and Iowa now. They even have snow, whatever that is. Life is good. I love reaching for toys, even if I fall down while I reach. I can usually wiggle my way a bit to get it. I am sleeping great. I still love to take naps but I don’t take them as often as I used to. I am down to three good naps a day, usually. I love to sit up, but I still get excited and fall backwards sometimes. I am a drooling queen still, no teeth yet. Mommy said one of these months I’ll get to eat table food, but I am not sure I like the idea of eating a table. My sisters still love to hold me and carry me around and play with me.

Look at how long I am getting. I am longer than the little inside part of the quilt.

4 November – 6 Months

I am now 1/2 year old. I can sit up by myself. I can roll from back to tummy and tummy to back. I love to put everything in my mouth. I like to lean forward to get toys and I try to move my body to get the toys I see. I don’t like hair in my mouth, but it is fun to pull. I think I should be able to stand but don’t know how to get to a standing position and I don’t know what to do with my feet once I am on them. I am starting to babble and make bubbles all over the place. I am becoming the Queen of Drool. I weight 15.04 pounds and am 26.5 inches long. My head is small at only 16.5 inches around.

4 October 2011 – 5 Months

What a month. We lost our camera on or around September 11th. I am sitting up better every day. When I am tired, I still fall over. I can roll from my tummy to my back. I get held a lot. I love to suck my middle two fingers, much to my Mother’s dismay. She has broken out the socks for my hands at night. I continue to grow. I love to be entertained by my brothers and sisters.

4 September 2011

I am now four months old. I can lay on my tummy and hold my head up nice and high. I can sort of sit by myself, but most often just fall down. I am 25.75 inches long and I weigh 13.14 pounds. My head continues to grow, but my hair is falling out and if you look closely you can see I will have a mullet soon. I don’t like my chupa very much anymore and prefer to suck on my fingers, my middle two fingers. Yes, the dress is a little short, but it was made by my Great Grandma for my Aunt Cathy and my Mom to wear. What a sweet thing to remind us of the people who have gone before us.

4 August 2011

I am three months old today. I love to look at people and smile. I have even started to laugh a bit, especially when goofy people talk to me in their funny voices.

4 July 2011 2 Months Old

11 pounds, 24 inches long

I am sleeping through the night most nights. I sleep from 10:30 ish to about 6 a.m. My Mommy says I am a blessing because I sleep so long at night and that means she gets to sleep for a long time at night.

4 June 2011 1 month old

I weigh about 10 pounds and I love to be held.

11 May 2011, 1 week old

I weigh about 9 pounds and I love to sleep and eat.

4 May 2011, I was Born today!

8 pounds 14 ounces

And on the other side of the Quilt

It is fun to look back and see how much she has grown and to anticipate how much she will grow and change in the next months and years.

A Year of Life – Thankful Thursday

Today is the last day of Elianna’s first year. I won’t lament over how late she was and how she should have been born in April, I won’t. This year has been a great year. I hear all the time, “How can you give attention to 8 children?” The truth is that I have to fight over my time with them because they love each other so much. Some have felt sorry for Elianna, she’ll get not attention. Bwahahaha. Oh sorry, I have to fight for her because her sisters love her and so do her brothers. They want to hold her, feed her, change her diaper, play with her, you name it. They love her. As a matter of fact, I need to admonish them from time to time to let me hold her and spend time with her. I am thankful for this last year we have had with her. New experiences, new adventures, hard times, fun times, sitting, crawling, rolling over.

Life is good. Thank you Lord for all you have given us. We look forward to the adventure ahead.