7 Quick Takes! A Recap of Life in the Tiny House This Week! Tears Over Ice Cream, The Couch Ate It, And The Surprise Gift Reveal!

 Hi! How was your week?

Ours was good, interesting and different. How's that for an answer?
 

1. Happy January!

 Most of us rang in the New Year sick.(Dustin and I have avoided it thus far.)

 Alex was healthy and took an invitation to stay with friends and ran for his life to get away from us. Can't say I blame him. No one wants this bug that is going around. Jokes on him though,  he came down with is a few days later.

I don't have a lot of pictures from this week. Except for this...

 
Poor Addison. She got my hair. Addison, Anna and myself included are doomed to have their hair look like this from now until March. 


2. Girls Night

I have one cousin by marriage and an ex co-worker that I am close with. LOL It sounds funny when I describe them that way.

 They are a couple of my longest friends and we have been through a lot together. Kara, Julie and I have spent a lot of years, laughter and tears together. Prayed each other through trials, help with a couple of each others weddings, held and gushed over our babies together.

 We try to get together a few times a year. It has gotten so hard to get together with life, family and literal miles. So we started doing sleep overs a few years ago. It gives us more time to truly share and chat after the kids all fall asleep.

 It is extra special when we get together this year. We have a new member to our group. Remember that little baby I asked everyone to pray for a while back. Well here he is... Kara and I fought over him, because he is the last addition to our group. We have ten kiddos between us (4 boys and 6 girls) and baby Owen seems like the perfect one to round things out. 

 



P.S. Kara, he obviously, still loves me more. ;)


 

It also snowed while we were there. It was beautiful..the drive home was not.


3. Forget the dog, the COUCH ate it!

 As much as I have loved our furniture. It was our first matching set and we paid cash for it, brand new. Plus it was made in the U.S.A. It has been through a lot in the last few years, and is slowly starting to show the affects of 4 kids.

We have a Roku and got rid of our cable a while ago. The only issue with the Roku is the remote. It is small and sleek. Something I am sure the designers found appealing. Not so much to a large family with a toddler that likes to hide things. It gets lost ALL THE TIME!

 It went missing Christmas night. I did a major organize and purge on the house the two days following Christmas. It was gone. I searched everywhere short of the trash, because it had already been picked up. We even looked into buying a replacement remote. They aren't cheap people!

 Finally, I did something I had been threatening to do for a year. I flipped the couches over and slit the bottom! I have to say, they weren't as scary inside there as I had feared. Just some napkins and random trash and toys....and this stuff!



 The cable remote that we had to order a replacement for, the TV remote that had been missing for I don't know how long, part of one of our spelling curriculums, a rather expensive flashlight that Dustin had replaced months ago, scissors, and the Roku remote.
 I now wish I had cut the bottoms out of the couches sooner. The plan is to hopefully replace the furniture in there this year. We have one small couch from Home Reserve. We love it for all it is and also what the company stands for. Seriously, go over there and check it out.


4.  Let's move!
  
  Some friends of ours moved back to the area over the weekend. This was their third move in four years and they always seem to move over Christmas week, when it is freezing and usually right after a snow storm. It was cold people...freeze the balls off a brass monkey, kind of cold. (It's a historical term, look it up!) Also known as perfect major construction weather! It is nice to have our friends within a 20 minutes drive now. Compared to an hour before.

 The cool part is the fact that they are renovating a really old house like we did here with our little old house. Her husband has been kind enough to post pictures of the progress. Dustin and I have loved watching the work progress, from the comfort of our almost finished house. I wouldn't take back all the work we put into this place, but I wouldn't want to do it again anytime soon. So we shall live vicariously through them. 

I took a peek around while I was there. They have a lot of work to do on it, but it is one amazing old house! There are fireplaces, and original built ins in all of the downstairs. I can't wait to see what they do with this house! There is something about an old house that's about to be brought back to life that makes me so excited and happy.
 
*I have to say that my friend looked around while I was there the other day and I saw the same look on her face that I had a few times. It was the "What have we gotten ourselves into?!" look. Ah, yes. I know that look well!* It will all be ok though. These old houses are always worth it!
 
5. The broken cat.
 Have you ever seen the videos of the cat that freak our over the cucumbers? They are quite entertaining! While as the girls night mentioned above we were discussing these videos. Kara has a cat now. It took thirty seconds of video and two seconds of us looking around between the three of us and we sprang into action to find the cat and a cucumber. 
After about forty-five minutes(off and on) of us trying to surprise the cat with the cucumber we decided she must be a defective kitty cat, or the fact that she lives in a house with a lot of kids has desensitized her to basically everything. 
Since our cat cucumber video didn't pan out, here is a generic one from youtube..from people with cats that are not broken.

  


6. Ice cream and tears

I think we all can collectively agree that toddlers are confusing. Especially when they are sick. 
On the third day of Anna being sick, her fever spiked up(after being down for most of the day), she was lethargic, her breathing was super heavy, she hadn't been eating or drinking and I was afraid she was getting dehydrated. The doctor squeezed her in for a check.
She was not dehydrated, at least not enough to be too concerned. She tested negative for flu and strep. It was just a really nasty virus. They ended up giving her an oral dose of prednisone in the office. Then sent her home with breathing treatments and instructions to get any and all foods and fluid in here that she would take. 

She went out to play in the snow

 for five minutes.

Later that evening she asked for ice cream. We get her a scoop, present it to her and she fell into a puddle in tears. Because apparently it was all wrong. This is how all of Anna's meals went for the next few days. She would beg for a food item. I would give it to her. She would cry or throw it on the floor and stomp on it..and ask for it again. 

Where I spent most of my week.

This was all likely due to the side effects of the pred and the fact that she had a sore throat. But it still made life rather different...as I have been typing this she keeps coming to the computer, grabbing my face in her hands and asking for a pickle.

 The younger two both ended up with ear infections before the week was out. Thankfully they are both on the mend. The older two caught it a little after the younger two. Emma is holding her own and heading out the other side of it now. Alex is 12 and part fully grown man now..so I am working on his funeral arrangements as we speak. The man flu is strong with that one. 
 
7. The gift reveal!

Remember last week when I told you about the surprise gift that Dustin said was coming? Well, it got stuck in transit due to a snow storm. It finally arrived almost a week late. 
He kept giving me hints and even told me the price and weight of it. I really had no clue what it was. He even told the kids.
Then the package arrived. He told me not to get the mail that day. Well, they delivered it to the house, instead of the box and I saw the box. it was from one of my favorite stores. Christian Book Distributors.
He made me wait all day to open it. He came home, took a shower, ate dinner and then opened it. He hid in our room with it forever. 
When he finally came downstairs, he presented me with a Henry Morris study bible! He got us both matching bibles with our names printed on the fronts. He even wrote a message to me in the front. 
I cried a tiny bit. It is amazing! He might just be a keeper. <3
We have been reading through our bibles together for the last year...we like to sip coffee, read and then share what we learned together. It is one of my favorite parts of the week.
 

 Well, that pretty much sums up our week in a nutshell. I told you it was good, interesting and different. :) That tends to be how we do life around here.
Well, I need to go and make a menu, and grocery list. I found a way to order most of our household and grocery items online. (If it goes well, I will share it in a video or post for you.) I am picking up one of the orders and making a run into Aldi tonight. If I plan it right, I will be going all by myself! Yay!

Happy Friday!

  ~Lyndsay

7 Quick Takes, A Recap of Life in the Tiny House This Week! Hippie Preacher, Big Thanks, and Don't Eat The Soap!

 September has been a whirlwind of activity.  Some of it was typical and planned, the rest..not so much.

1. The Hippie Preacher

 Once a year, we get a visit from Pastor Duke Hergatt. He calls himself the hippie preacher. He is a lot of fun to listen to. He is also a very smart and gifted preacher. He has read the Bible one hundred eleven times! He and his wife, JoEllen, travel all over the country each year.
 We did not get to go and listen this week because Addison had surgery this week. We are sticking close to home for about a week. Thankfully our church records all of the sermons so we have been able to listen in at home. Such a blessing! You can listen to them here if you would like. I know I never walk away from one of his sermons without having learned many new things.

2. Addison


 Addison's surgery was this week. Everything went smoothly. The incision is a bit bigger than the Dr had described. They were also in the operating room twice as long as they said it normally takes. The Dr said everything went fine though. Now we wait for things to heal, and for test results. Those should be in next week.
She has been a trooper through all of this. She was also rather funny to talk to post surgery. Boys are grouchy and mean after being put under, but girls are sweet and loving. She kept telling everyone how much she loved them and was so thankful for everything. On the way home she even thanked me for being such a safe driver. She's a cutie pie.
 We told her she could have any meal she wanted post surgery. She chose Arby's.
Clearly her procedure did not slow her down too much. Plus, look at the size of this curly fry!



 3. It's a good thing we homeschool!

 The last few weeks has served as a reminder as to why I am thankful we homeschool.  We

had a whole lot of craziness going on the last few weeks. Between birthdays, camping, Dr. appointments, a stomach bug that went through the house and many other things...we didn't always get a lot of school done.(Or Laundry, or cleaning. We ate out a lot more than we normally would. Hey, we do real life here on this blog.)  

You know what? That is one of the many benefits of homeschooling. You can take a break if you need it. You always catch up in the future. We actually had a scheduled week off in there somewhere, that helped. This week we are headed back in the right direction. I despise being behind, but also know that it is part of life.
So, those of you who are stressing about being behind or concern about starting to homeschool, because you are afraid things will get crazy, or you will get off track. Just do it.
 Life gets crazy, we get off track, from where we think we should be. What if you are right where you should be? It is all in God's timing. We are right where we are supposed to be.


4. All the love


 We moved into the tiny house in September 2014. Between renovating the house and having a baby, we didn't get out into the community to meet many people until 2015 or 2016. It took us a while to find our village.
I have to say that I have never been as thankful for our village, as I have been the last couple of weeks. Everyone has been so kind and helpful. Our pastor showed up at the surgery center. Friends and family sent gifts for Addison, lots of messages, calls and texts. A few people even brought food. One friend brought cookies and even helped with some school. Another friend picked up the oldest two and took them to their scheduled activities this week. Including co-op. That friend deserves a medal. Speaking of co-op. That is one heck of a group of ladies!
Between our church family, real family, friends and homeschool family/friends we have really felt the love lately.

Thank you all for all that you do! We love you!




5. Because he loves me, and wants me to be not crazy.


  Since we were sticking close to homes this week. I avoided store trips as much as possible. Since we shopped for a whole month at the beginning of September, it wasn't too big of a deal. We mainly just had to pop into the store for milk, eggs and of course we would get some produce from the farmers market.
  I asked Dustin to stop into the pharmacy for some milk and bandages for Addison. He brought the milk and bandages. He also surprised me with this. He said it made him think of me. Awe. He's a keeper.
He also added that I had had a hard week and figured I needed it. He knows me well!






6. There's a fine line between soap and dessert

 A wonderful mother at co-op, makes soap. It smells amazing, leaves your skin so soft and it is organic. She gave one to each of the mothers who had her children in a class. I grabbed a honey oatmeal. It is amazing. I was planning to message her and order some more. Then I had the thought of  'I wonder how hard it would be to make our own.' off to Pinterest I went!

 I did a lot of researching and reading. The basics don't sound too hard. I fully intend to give it a try in the near future. For now I will be placing an order with the other Mom. Clearly she has it figured out. She has at least 7 different types that she makes.

 By the time I was done researching basic soap making, I ended up back on Pinterest. It was getting pretty late into the evening. Then all of the really fancy soaps started popping up. I was having to check the actually descriptions to be sure it was soap and not a dessert.
Seriously, there is a fine line between soap and dessert. Look at these things!

 

After I started craving a cup of coffee and a slice of pumpkin pie...I figured it was time to walk away from Pinterest for the night.

Then I fell into the homemade make up rabbit hole. That's a story for another day. 

7. Things we made this week.

  Since we had to stick close to home this week. It gave me the chance to get some actual cooking done. We had Chili, Sausage Stuffed Peppers, and homemade pizza.

We also had some flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and there is also a big pot of apple butter in the works.

What was in your kitchen this week?

Hope you had a great week!

Blessings,

~Lyndsay

7 Quick Takes, A Recap of Life in The Tiny House This Week! Two Birthdays, Roasted Zombie Flesh, Old Lady Shoes and Crazy Toddlers!

Hi! Did you miss me? Life has been a little crazy, and I sort of didn't get to write, or shower regularly and I forgot to eat a few times. Don't worry, I'll catch you up!

Grab a coffee (Is it pumpkin?) and take a seat. Here comes three weeks of Seven Quick Takes all rolled into one! That probably makes it more like 21 takes, but I promise to keep it brief.


1. Two birthdays, one party, and a girls only shopping trip.

Emma and Anna both have September birthdays. They also just so happen to fall two days apart. So that means this non birthday party planning Mama has to actually try a little bit. We tossed together a small joint party for the girls. Emma also requested a girls only lunch and shopping trip with her sister Addison. Emma chose Olive Garden. She didn't  realize that her free  birthday dessert would come with a group of waiters and waitresses singing,  Happy birthday. She was just slightly embarrassed.
We also crammed in some winter clothes shopping for everyone. It was a good weekend.


2.  Canning applesauce and a small kitchen fire.

It's fall. That means it's apple time! We already canned one bushel of apples with one more sitting in the kitchen. This batch will probably be part apple butter.With one more bushel on the way. That one will be apple pie filling.
I did accidentally catch a towel on fire in the process of making this batch of applesauce.
I saw the flames and started yelling 'Fire' while simultaneously putting it out. The children found this exceedingly funny. Emma sliced her finger while peeling apples. Anna put them in her stroller and scattered them all through the house. We ended up doing an apple hunt to find them all. Nothing has started to smell. I'm assuming we found them all. Alex avoided the whole process in true preteen boy fashion and Addison was around. More on her later.



The applesauce is really good. I can't seem to keep the kids out of it. We're calling it a success!


3. Camping next to the bathrooms and roasting zombie flesh over the fire.

We went camping with some friends. Four adults, 7 kids and an entire city's worth of tents. It was fun, exhausting and totally worth all the work. Google maps failed us just a bit with this trip. We went to a place neither family had camped before. Google maps claimed we would be 15-20 yards from a bathroom. Nope. It was 15 feet! It will forever go down in history as the time we camped next to the bathroom and the waste water dump. Lol



 I really wasn't kidding. There is the bathroom right behind Alex!










We fished, swam, built sandcastles, sang songs around the fire(Alex and the boys put on a small church service Sunday morning.), went out for ice cream, went star tipping, rode bikes, played cards, ate delicious food, chased the toddler and  drank lots of coffee. The playground near the campsite had a zip line. That went over well!



The parents enjoyed it as well. But we all know we only really do it for the kids.



We decided to cook bacon over the fire our last morning before loading everything up. The fire wasn't wanting to take, the griddle area wasn't cooking the bacon and everyone was hungry. So we improvised. We put the bacon, accordion style, on the marshmallow sticks and roasted it over the flames. We accomplished our task, but the bacon turned grey and black from the smoke. One of the Dad's commented that it looked like zombie flesh..and the kids just went with it.



                 Roasted zombie flesh = Good


 

4. She's got skills!

Anna is two now. It's been interesting watching her turn into the person she is going to be. She is talking so much. She thinks goldfish crackers are the only food group and her favorite things are playing Mommy, cooking with her play food (She received three new sets for her birthday!), shutting all the doors in the house and coloring...on the walls.
Here's a small recap of the life of Anna the last couple weeks.
Remember the busy boxes? Yeah, she found them when my head was turned. They will never be the same again.






I did not get a chance to sort and organize her toys after her birthday. In all honesty, I still haven't done it. Life has been a bit crazy the last few weeks. This is a prime example of why we limit the access to the toys in our tiny house. Because it looks like this. She is always so proud when she dumps it all out like this.

 










 Call me crazy but I think all two yr olds should have a baby and a stroller. My kids have always loved them. We have worn out at least four of them over the years.
This has made me laugh so many times recently. Anna despises all things with straps that can restrain her. Her car seat, stroller, high chair etc. However, we can't keep her out of this baby stroller. She buckles herself in and sits there for a while. Then she starts yelling for someone to "Buckle!" and free her from her self imposed prison. I'll never understand it, but I will forever find it entertaining.

 

5.  Remember when the kids got to be Doughoys?

We received a copy of the Historical Society's newsletter last week. We were surprised to see that the kids and their friends made the front cover!



6. A few random things.

-Business has been going good at the new shop. Dustin had a fire engine to work in two weeks ago. The shouts from the back of the van were almost deafening when I pulled onto the lot that day.

-Sometimes you have to take the entire body off of a vehicle to get to the engine. I've seen it quite  few times over the years. But people find it cool. So here you go, a little bit of awesome from the tiny house family's business. ;)

 

-While camping, our friends introduced me to this little beauty. It is  a Chemex coffee maker. It is amazing. It is my new best friend! It makes the most delicious, and strong coffee. Amazing!

 

- It is occurring to me that this guy hasn't showed up too much in the blog lately. So, you get a picture of my handsome young man. I had to take him to the Dr this week for a stomach bug. He was 5'5"! He can slow down now. He said his ultimate goal is to be taller then his Dad. I don't think it will be long. It is a good thing the boy loves basketball.

 

- I little about me... Dustin bought me some more of my favorite shirts. They have fun/encouraging sayings.  I love them. I also found some shoes with a supportive arch that I absolutely love. I realize I have crossed over into the old lady/mom shoes/fashion. I'm a lot more ok with it than I thought I would be. There has been a lot going on around here lately. Stuff that reminds me of when Emma was really sick. I have to say that I'm not a fan and so, so ready for all of this to hopefully be resolved soon and for life to be a bit more normal. I'm doing my best to keep everyone held together. They are all still here and accounted for, so that's a good thing. This Mama is wearing down fast. Im super thankful for our support system, my husband and our God. God is good. There is a plan, there is a reason much bigger than all of us.

 

- Emma is still doing cross country. Her mile is under 9 minutes now! She is so proud of herself.

- Dustin got a new toy. He got one of those outdoor cookers. He made us this amazingly delicious seafood steam pot dinner. We all enjoyed it so much.

 

7. An Addison update and a prayer request.

Do you remember when I commented about Addison having a rough summer? 

If you do not, then you can catch up on the link provided above. She has had some really odd things going on this summer. We though it was just a few little things that were just that...little things. Turns out that isn't the case. All of those little things were just symptoms of one big thing. I can't give out too many details just yet. However, I can tell you that she has went un-diagnosed for almost six months, despite us taking her to the Dr. multiple times.

We are still sorting things out and waiting for test results.She is scheduled for surgery Monday morning, to have at least one lymph node removed and biopsied in her neck. Then we will be waiting for even more test results. Then we will know what direction we will be heading after that.

We are trusting in God, praying a lot and keeping her calm. She is not ok with the idea of having stitches and a scar. She doesn't exactly know what is going on. She is six. However she is one smart cookie and understands more than we probably realize. Her main fear at the moment is the stitches and the scar. 

Please keep Addison in your prayers.

Thank to any and all who stop by and read our blog. Our lives are crazy, blessed and a bit of a mess. We will get through this and move forward. God is good all the time.

~Lyndsay