::Ingles take two::

I got to take pictures of the Ingle family again.  Minus Dad but plus a Grandma.  

These two were not feeling it.  

But they got suckered into a few pictures.  

And from another angle.

Then they made it up to me with adorable poses like this...

And this...

Happy 13th birthday to Miss Bri.

Littlest Ingle got some personal photo shoot time.  

I loved how happy Asha was with her grandma.  

We were trying to get a picture of all six kids laying in a circle.  It didn't happen, but I love with one of Dylan.  

::today::

4AM - Today is the day.  

Josh's vasectomy reversal.

Arrival time is 6am and procedure time is 8am.  

I feel -

scared

anxious 

guilty

selfish 

responsible

Fingers crossed.   Will update later.


Edit from 4:27pm


It all went well.


Josh was the saddest little egg in the land when we woke up.  I think he wanted to kill me.  He was so pitiful.  I wanted to crawl in bed with him.  So I basically did.  Which made very happy.  He finds me soothing for some reason.  They nerve blocked him so it wasn't the pain - just the disorientation from being under.

When the Dr came out to talk to me he gave me pictures of Josh's new swimmers.  I almost cried to see them.  Love those little tails.  


The Dr called us at 8:30p last night to tell us he was stuck in Denver related to plane issues.  He called back at 10:30 to say he made the last standby spot and we were still on.  He called on his personal phone and was so gracious.  I wanted to hug him this morning.


When we got to register this morning the told us me owed them $3,500 in cash.  It took all my control I have been working on to calming explain that we did not and why.  We are the first people to go through using this financing program.  There was just some confusion with that.  I think if we had to leave I would have never talked Josh into it again.


Shelly.   Oh my dear Shelly.   It never occurred to me that after they took Josh back I would be all alone and freaking out.  I sent out a text telling every one it had started.  Shelly smelled my fear.  She immediately loads up her 1.5 year old and comes over.  Bringing food and Starbucks.  Just-the-way-I-like-it Starbucks.  Not even Josh knows that.  (I drink it about 5 times a year, but I love it.)  They sat with me from 9am till I went back to see Josh around 12:30.  Overall, I was at this place from 6am-1pm.  I would have gone stark raging MAD if Shelly had not shown up.  I was pacing like a caged animal just before she showed up and that was one hour alone.  I needed her more than I can express and she showed up.  I am so blessed.  It meant so very much to me.  And it taught me a good lesson.  You may not be able to drop everything all the time, but sometimes I should throw my schedule in the wind and just go be present for my friends.  Plus - it was WONDERFUL to get to send time with Baby J (Layton), who might be one of the most amazing kids alive.  I am tearing up just thinking about how lucky I am to have her.  And all of you lovies that couldn't come - I love you too.  Great support via text and email this morning.  I am so lucky.  

::harvest::

The tomato's have decided to give up on being green and have finally started to turn red.  

My carrots are starting to coming out looking like an octopus.  Which the kids think is awesome.

The broccoli is delish.

And I have 400 jalapenos.  I saw a recipe for jalapeno soup.  I might give it a shot.

  

::rooster in the pot::

Warning - four roosters were killed in the making of this blog.  

Roosters on their way to the block.  Josh's friend Larry came out to help us deal with our rooster issues.  

ps- the saying about "running around like a chicken with your head cut off" is very true. 

pss- the roosters are still living in the picture.  Who knew that if you catch a chicken and hold it upside down by the legs it just lays there?   

Feathers.  You would be stunned at how big the roosters looked with feathers and how small with out.  

Meat could not get any fresher.   

Things I learned:

I can't stand loosing my peace of mind on this farm.  Four constantly screaming and fighting roosters was not going to work.   Plus the white one tried attack me the other day and that was not ok.  Lily says it went after her too.

Growing animals for meat is not that terrible.  I like knowing that they were raised and slaughtered humanly.  

And - I still don't want to talk about my cow and his future.  

Look how happy my hens are now.  They were under a constant state of sexual harassment and they were constantly getting beat up by those mean old roosters.  

::scrap coloring::

I sold some of my bags on etsy.  I wanted to wrap up the packages so they would look cool, but I underestimated the amount of paper I would need.  So we ended up with a nice big scrap to play with.  Lily and I sat down to color.  We even let our Max join in the fun.  He had the yellow stamp paint.    

I just love the look of our crayon box.  So bright and happy.  

I drew a picture of Lily and I. but she added Max.  Doesn't he look grumpy?  Or maybe a little bit like Stitch?  I love how she drew his hair.  

Even Lizzie wanted to help.  

::Gabe 9 months::

This is sweet little miracle Gabe.  It has been an especially emotionally intense week.  If you had read before you know I take therapeutic value is just blogging it all out.  But this is work related, therefore privacy laws saw I can't talk about it.  Don't worry - it was a really heart breaking situation that ended up with a very possible happily ever after.  Again - its not like me to be cryptic but those privacy laws...  So, I was VERY much looking forward to doing my little lovies 9 month photo shoot.  I was honored to do his six month shoot, and they are my first clients to come back for more.  (Calling Emily a client is a bit of a joke since she is one of my bestest friends.)   

  

I have to say that Emily and Gabe make it easy to take their pictures.  Emily is SO pretty and Gabers is extra delish.  Link here for Em's blog.    

Notice that she always wears this great necklace that says "Gabriel" on it?

I get extra nervous to shoot Gabes pictures.  Emily has a TON of talent as a photographer .  The only thing that I can bring to the table that she can't do herself is that I can get pictures of them together.  Which I LOVE - to see them together is inspiring.  She is just so flipping in love with this kid.  (Me too)

::I give up::

I want to confess.  I don't finish everything I start.  I am not very into wreaths but I saw this one and I loved the colors and textures.  I had a vision of it hanging on the main door during every ones birthday weeks.  But six bags of balloon and three boxes of pins latter... I gave up.  

If I carry on this wreath will end up costing me...

Wreath $2.50

Balloons 18 bags X $2 = $36

U Pins 12 boxes X $2 = $24

Total = $62.50

Bummer.  It was going to be cool.  The directions don't make it sound so needy.  I wonder were I went wrong.   

::park playtime::

The shorties and I went to the park the other day.  Their babysitter takes them all the time but I feel like our house is a park, so I get lazy about taking them.  They loved it and I am going to try and take them more.  

Almost all pictures of Lily are from afar because she was running around with her "new best friend".  

Max was so happy once she slowed down long enough to talk to him. 

So he tried to tackle her.  

And he was almost successful.  Please note that they already have the same size heads.   

::a chair treasure::

Look at the treasure I brought home from my Mom's house.  A true midcentury modern chair, and it has a twin.  Don't they just make you laugh just to look at them?  I think I am in love. 

I am currently working on redoing my playroom to make it a space we use more.  These chairs are going to be perfect in there.  

::cake decorating::

Here is the master cake decorator at work.  This is Shealynn, a family friend, that I helped do cake decorating.  You ice a piece of styrofoam that you cover is the horrible icing (it is not edible) that dries to be rock hard.  After we put the first two coats on the base we took it to my Dad's wood working shop for him to sand it down flat.  Shea came up with her own design and we used YouTube to learn about how to use the tips to make the correct decorations.  We had to do certain techniques, such as writing and a shell border.  

Can you believe how amazing she did one this?  What a smart kid.  This is her first time to do this project.  

AND SHE WON GRAND CHAMPION AND HONOR GROUP AND FIRST PLACE AND SHE GOT PICKED FOR STATE FAIR!!!!  This is our biggest win in a project at fair ever.  I am so impressed with her.

::play dough sucker cookies::

This is a project that I am trying to decide if we are going to make for Lily's birthday party.  I was excited because we got to use our first farm fresh egg to make the recipe.  It was still warm out of the nest.  

The recipe originally comes from allrecipes but there is also a tutorial to how to make them on theidearoom.  I just loved all the bright colors.  

The dough really does look like play dough, but taste wonderful.  

I had two little helpers, but this one was being photogenic.  This one also ate his fair share of raw dough.   

I liked how they turned out but they are way to labor intensive for the big birthday party.  Plus if you walk around with them they are soft enough to fall right off the stick.  I think this would be perfect for a sleep over, but too much for the amount of them I will need for the party.  They did taste amazing.  Who would have thought that cream cheese would make a cookie taste awesome.  

 

::homework tools::

Earlier this month I bought some really cool tool boxes at a yard sale.  But then I had some buyers remorse.  I don't have any decent closets in this whole house.  Were did I think I was going to keep all this?  So I gave a few away, but the green one just had to stay.  


I have been thinking about back to school and what did and didn't work last year.  I realized that it didn't work well to have the kids do their homework at just one spot.


They kids need a portable homework station...


And I have a green tool box that needs a job...

I went to walmart and for $11.50 I got all the supplies I needed to put it together.  


Crayons, scissors, ruler, scratch paper book, colored pencils, mechanical pencils, regular pencils and sharpener, post-its, and calculator.  All set for first grade and seventh grade.

 

::back to school::

first day of school, waiting for the bus

I have been getting progressively cheaper over the past few years.  (Something that I actively wanted to encourage in myself.)  I was always fairly cheap about kids clothes, buying mostly on ebay, but I have kicked that up to new heights in the past few years.  I was making some of my ritual lists last week and worrying about paying the $200+ that we need to pay the PUBLIC school to register the girls - when I realized that I better start budgeting for back to school clothes.  Josh's ex-wife usually pays for most of Emma's clothes.  Which is one less worry on my brain, but what about the little Princess?  She only wears dresses, and I am still vain enough that I want her to look good.  I can't bring myself to dress her in crap.  I know - some of the snobbiness that I grew up with is still part of me.  I am a work in progress, maybe by the fifth kid I will not care at all, but right now I do care.  

So - here is the list of clothes that Lily needs for school, the estimated cost, and the plan to make them cheap.

  

Back pack - I really want to get her a Pottery Barn one that has her name on it.  She will use it all year and then it will be just about   trashed.  I may have to go to the source on this one.  Estimated cost - $50  (that makes me want to throw up)  Maybe ebay can help me out.

10 pairs of leggins - that will get us through the whole year, and I don't mind buying them at walmart.  Estimate $3-5 each pair.

10 new pairs of socks - she HATES socks, but tough.  Maybe I will let her pick them this year.  Also a walmart buy.  Estimate $18.

10 new pairs of undies - I love to buy these at Justice.  They are so cute and colorful, but really who cares?  Maybe I will buy half at justice and half at walmart.  Estimate - $15-25

One pair of daily shoes - they have to be some kind of higher sided Mary Janes.  I am think ebay for Stride Rite.  Estimate: $20

One pair of winter Ugg type boots - I can steal these off ebay.  Maybe $10-15

One pair of gym tennis shoes - EBAY for sure $15

10 dresses - I think I will buy five now and five in late fall.  Ebay and used clothing stores.  I am giving myself a budget of $100 total to get this done.  

With this all in mind I made it over to a local used clothing store.  I spent $36, and bought three dresses for Lily, two pairs of shorts for Maxo, and one pair on jammies for the Max.  Plus got a 10% off coupon to use in August.  I think I really can do this and stay on budget.  Right after school starts I will post a follow-up to make myself remain accountable to this original budget.