Great Reading for this Holy Week.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/

Good Morning~

Well, hopefully, it will be a good morning......It looks like we have the flu....the stomach flu....how did we avoid the stomach flu all winter long to end up w/ it now.....thankfully, it seems to be a short one....Rosie woke up w/ a horrible headache yesterday morning, and was sick to her stomach....by 2 o'clock she was feeling better, though still didn't do much the rest of the day....Nat didn't feel well all day yesterday at work...came home w/ a bad headache, ended up sick to her stomach and in bed....she's still sleeping, so not sure how she's feeling now....thankfully, she doesn't have to be out the door til 10 am......now I'm wondering if Abby's headache Sunday night was the flu or not....she never did get sick to her stomach though......Jake and I have both had upset stomachs, but no headache and haven't gotten sick yet. So who knows??? 

Jake went from a temporary employee to a full-time company employee at his job last week.This morning is his orientation....please say a prayer it goes well....we had a glitch come up yesterday and he is a nervous wreck....so pray, pray, pray nothing comes of it and all goes just fine this morning.....

Last term of the year for the 3 older kids started this week.  It always seems to be the hardest one too....

Nikki is still working at the college bookstore and taking classes....She has some really long days this term....

Aaron is taking 3 classes this term and still working in the college tool crib.....He is lovin' his new schedule...it's probably the best one he's had since he started college.....he doesn't have to be anywhere early any day of the week......he has no long, long days.....and he's home on the weekends.....

Bob has an interview today too....so say a prayer that goes well....It's here in town and he's really been wanting to work in town for awhile now....but, we know it's a stretch, cuz no one here pays the money he gets...or that we need!!!  The job that he has now is fine.....he's just been keeping his eyes open....and is always looking for something closer to home--especially since the cost of gas is always going to be an issue now..

Alli and I, along w/ some help from Abby started some spring cleaning yesterday.....we took everything out of the kitchen cabinets, washed the cupboards, and put some of it back....alot of it we packed away....too much stuff make for messy cupboards and I couldn't take it anymore.....today we are finishing up in the kitchen....then movin' on.....not sure what room we will do next....

I have pictures, but they aren't uploaded to Photobucket yet, so maybe next time!

Yup, we're still here.....and I've got plenty I want to get posted, but we've been sidelined by a rotten virus that is hitting us all....and it's

taking a good long week to get to feeling better....so, hopefully I'll be back soon, posting and catching up on everyone's posts too. 

When we moved into this house

(almost a year ago already, Wow),

Bob and I went out and bought the younger

3 girls each a beanbag as sort of a welcome gift for their new room.

The bean bags are quite flat now and one even has a small

hole in it.....so, last night, Bob and the girls opened up

the bean bags and dumped the beans from 2 of them

into one of them to make for one full and poofy beanbag.

Yes, it made a mess......all over the dining room.....

However,

It will be much nicer having only 1 beanbag to trip over

instead of 3 on the few occasions that I venture

upstairs into their bedroom.  Which I don't do often.

Because all the kids bedrooms are up there.

And most always, they are messy, messy, messy.....

and I would be hollering at them to clean 'em up.....

all the time......so it's just better for me......and for them.....

if I just stay down here........and pretend that all is neat and tidy upstairs.

Which isn't as difficult as you might think.

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In an effort to eat healthier, we are cutting way back on sugar snacks and sweets.......

1 maybe 2 desserts or sweet treats a week.

So this week Alli made a cake from scratch.

Since we've been trying to eat/juice so many fresh fruits and veggies, I thought it'd be a good idea to make a grocery list and shop the local stores, buying mainly what's on sale.  This week, both Kroger and Meijer seemed to have really good sales on fruits.  I also picked up some organic carrots and a big package of spinach.  And, since we still had some veggies left in the fridge, we stocked up on the fruits more.  Bob spent the afternoon, peeling, cutting and juicing alot of it.  He made a fruit salad.  1 qt of a citrus juice, 1 qt of a bit of everything juice, and 1/2 gallon pitcher of berry juice.  Plus we still have quite a bit of apples, oranges, grapefruit and clementines for the kids to grab and go back and forth to class with.  My plan is to buy as much natural food as possible and get them to snack on/eat healthier food, rather than convenience or fast food. 

Happy Monday! 

The house is quiet except for the radio.

I've got our local Family Life radio station playing.

I've got my juice.  Yum~

The older 3 kids are off to work.  Today is also the first day of class for the new term, so kids will be coming and going all day, every day for the next 10 weeks.

Jake is still at work.  He is no longer going to school. He has a full-time, 3rd shift job. Right now he is working 12 hours, 7 days.  He works from 11:30 pm til 11:30 am. and then comes home and sleeps, wakes up and does it all over again. 

Bob's also at work.  Not sure how long he will be there though, as he seems to be battling kidney stones....He hasn't been to a dr. but, we're thinking that's what it is..

The younger 3 girls have their alarms set for 9am.....We are back to regular routine after having everyone home for the holiday break.  Chores and schoolwork for us today. 

Here are some pics from the weekend:

Fruits and Veggies for a new juice recipe.

Purple this time, not green.

Saturday breakfast =

Juice and dry toast

Rosie showing everyone that I thought maybe the

new recipe was just a bit too tart.

Abby talked Nikki into getting up a 1/2 hour early

Sunday morning to make Moody Muffins for everyone

for breakfast before Sunday School.

On Sunday, Nikki decided to make some more muffins,

including bacon/cheese muffins to eat before or take to school or work

this week.

Alli loves bacon!  Alot!  And Alli loves bacon/cheese muffins alot too.

Her she is patiently (not really) waiting for them to finish

baking so that she can have one (or two) warm from the oven.

Good thing Nikki made extra.

The weather has been so crazy here this winter.

Very mild.  The kids have been able to get their bikes out

and get some fresh air.

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The girls got several different kits for Christmas.

 Most of them being arts and crafts type.

One of them though, was a make your own volcano.

First you mold your volcano and let it dry, then you paint it.

 Finally, you erupt your little volcano.

Well, actually we had a couple birthdays. 

In early December, Aaron turned 21. 

Wow, 3 kiddos in their 20s now....

and on December 21st, Miss Rosie finally got to celebrate her 14th birthday. 

I say finally, because she had been counting it down forever and couldn't wait.

  For her Dad and I, though it seemed like it got here too quickly,

as all the birthdays with our kids seem too.

Here are Rosie's birthday pictures.

She couldn't stop smiling that day.

I loved it.