All the Joys of Motherhood

The other day my darling husband comes
into the kitchen and this is how it went...
"Amanda, you know how women are really good
at dealing with pain, delivering babies, and
scooping poop out of the tub?"
Apparently Spencer had a problem that James
didn't feel comfortable dealing with.
I thought it was funny....you know,
after the bathroom was sanitized!

Tis a Gift to be Simple

So, I've had a really hard time deciding what to blog! One
reason, I think, is that I haven't felt very wordy (is that a word?).
I do however have quite a few good pictures. So as I was
thumbing through my pictures this morning(..thumbing
through pictures on the computer...huh) I decided I wanted to
share the Amish ones.
About an hour south of Nashville, is this pretty little Amish
settlement. James really wanted to take his parents down, being
as how they were here for a visit and don't get to see that sort of
thing very often. First of all let me just say that I love the Amish
(Even though they consider me a Babylonian). I think their lifestyle
is fascinating! I just read an article about the Amish and the thing
that impressed me the most was the fact that they're so family
oriented! Which is not all that common anymore.
I didn't take any pictures of the actual people. Somewhere in
my jumbled mind, I remember hearing that they feel it's a sin to
have their pictures taken. I'm pretty sure I'm not the devil, so I resisted
taking photographs of them. I did take a picture of one lady's
laundry and some horse drawn farm equipment.

Since I had only been there once before I had my mom meet us there.
(She's an Amish pro!) She took us to all the good houses and helped us
navigate. If you're picturing a settlement like M. Night Shyamalan's
"The Village", you'd be sadly mistaken! See, interspersed in the so called
Amish village are normal Babylonians...like me! Because of that you've got
to drive to get any where. By the time James and I got home the kids had
been in the car 11 hours! They did really well though. Perhaps that's because
they were all strapped in and figured there was no use in throwing a
fit? I don't know. They were great and I'm not going to argue the
point.

All in all it was a great day! I hope you had as much fun as we did
mom and dad!

My ABC's

A. Attached or Single: Pretty much attached...married
B. Best Friends: All the ones who read my blog :)
C. Cake or Pie: Do I have to choose?
D. Day of Choice: Fridays...James is usually off.
E. Essential item: The internet! (does that count?)
F. Favorite color: green, red, orange, pink...um.. I guess it just depends on the day!
G. Greatest accomplishment: Surviving the 4th!!
H. I claim Erda UT as my hometown but I'm loving East TN sooo much!
I. Indulgences: Chocolate chip cookies made with cadbury dairy milk bars!!
J. January or July: Niether one! I'm a spring/fall gal...I guess if I had to choose I'd say January because you can always add more layers but there's only so much you can take off before you're utterly indecent!
K. Kids: Evelyn, Caitlin, Madelin....Spencer..uh lyn
L. Life is incomplete without: hugs and kisses from my main Spencer man
M. Marriage date: December 29
N. Number of siblings: 4 little big brothers and one lil sis.
O. Oranges or apples: Honey crisp apples...try one!
P. Phobias or fears: The dark....yah, I'm afraid of the dark ok...stop laughing or so help me......
Q. Quotes: "Imperfect house work still blesses your family" The Fly Lady
R. Reason to smile: My walls are green and I love them!
S. Season: Fall is my all time favorite!
T. Tag 4 friends: Amy, Nikki, Laura, Kami
U. Unknown fact about me: Up until I was pregnant with Evelyn, I had a Maddona"beauty mark" that my OB removed by tying it off with a piece of string!
V. Very favorite store: Home Depot Yay power tools!!
W. Worst habit: Expecting my husband to read my mind and then getting angry when he doesn't!
X. X-ray or ultrasound: Ultra-sound....who would rather have an X-ray I'd like to know!
Y. Your favorite food: Home-made chicken noodle soup or roast beef
Z. Zodiac: Virgo... is that a bad thing Amber?

All our Lovely neighbors

Living in Utah most of my life made me appreciate
every squirrel, chipmunk, and rabbit. Of course there
was the occasional skunk and deer sighting but not very
often. But being here in Tennessee it's not uncommon to
see these little critters roaming the yard. This lovely
picture is of a member of the ground hog family who
lives under our deck. They mostly keep to themselves
except for when they are hungry for my poor herb garden.
In which case they help themselves

We had a new neighbor move in a few days ago. He's rather
rude though. I don't much like him...mostly beacause he digs
through our garbage can. I heard him rustling through the trash
at 4 this morning and finally got up to put an end to his mooching.
The only thing I could think of doing was to put an enormous rock
on top of the can. Our garbage can lid actually snaps shut but this
little guy figured out how to get in anyway. Racoons are very smart!
I haven't managed to get a pic of him but I did look up racoon
recipes online! Roast racoon with sweet potato dressing...yum!

Our newest friend perched himself right on the side of

the house. I looked on line to find out a little more about

this little buddy. He's called a Luna Moth. And he won't eat the

garbage or my herbs because it turns out that adult Luna Moths

don't actually have mouths! They basically live to mate. Then they

die after about a week of that. I told James about

him while I was on the phone with him. He thought it would be

a great idea if I caught the thing so that he could inspect it himself.

He's just a big kid at heart! So, I caught him and put him in a tupperware.

I accidentaly cut one of his legs off in my hurry to put the lid on.

That still kinda makes me sick when I think of it! Blah!!

Any way...that's the neighborhood. Unfortunately the best neighbor

is on his way out...then again, the others might be on their way out too!

A park full of adventure

Ah, the park. There's no better place to be on
a beautiful spring day! Of course with four small
children it's no easy task! Picture this: With the
days getting warmer and the kids getting more
creative/destructive, I decide to be brave and
venture out....alone! The park seems a harmless
destination. So I load the four children 5 and under
into the van. I'm undeturred even though the
two most vocal (Ev and Cait) are already screaming
at who knows what, I drive on. As I'm driving
I think to myself, "hey, why not park on the other side
today, it may be closer." Uh....wrong...but not to worry.
It's a lovely day for a walk and I've got my trusty double
stroller on hand. Good thinking Amanda! So we all pile
out of the van for a nice little stroll through the park.
After only a few threats the girls happily skip off the street
and onto the grass. I have the kids sit down to take a few
pictures. It turns out that it's a bit blustery so I give up
after a few vain attempts and settle for the hair in the
face shots. And we're off again. After a little while I realize
how difficult it is to push a double stroller over grassy hills
and gravel walk ways. Huffing, puffing and few threats
later we finally make it to the actual play equipment.
Yay! Or so I thought. Well, the boy is pretty quiet and even
tempered but he sure is mischieveous! Off he went and off I
went right behind him...with a baby on my hip no less. After
galavanting for a while the boy settles on the swings. Phew!!
15 long minutes later I'm ready to start back home but the
young'ns will have none of that. So we swing and swing and swing.
The babies love it. I love catching my breath...and the girls..well
they're loving running around like crazy people.

Fun day? Exahusting! But worth every minute!

This is my Ev

I love, love, love this set of pictures! These were
taken nearly 2 years ago and I still die laughing
when I look at them! This is my Ev...what more
can I say?!

The darndest things!

You know, kids really do do the darndest things.
I feel great accomplishment when I actually manage
to get good shots of all their craziness! Of course I
always send and share the "beautiful" ones...but
really these are among my very favorites! They never
fail to make me chuckle. So...here they are in all their glory!