7 Quick Takes, A Recap of This Weeks Life in the Tiny House! Accidental Zucchini Cake, How Dad Does Science and the Clown Car of Waiting Rooms

1 The Clown Car of Waiting Rooms... 

I mentioned last week that modern medicine in not designed for Large families. Another prime example, is this view of the individual patient waiting room at the chiropractor's office. The entire space is maybe 4x4 feet. We see this Dr often. Because almost all of us see him, regularly. He has commented that he looks forward to opening the waiting room door when we visit because apparently we are entertaining. I guess when you cram that many people into that small of a space, it is bound to seem entertaining. There are 5 of us crammed into this tiny space.

Warning, This is probably not wise to attempt if you are claustrophobic. 

2 The Zucchini Bread That Wasn't...



I made what was supposed to be zucchini bread for a homeschool Co-op potluck. It was a new recipe and did not turn out well at all. Total Flop! I tried to salvage the situation with some buttercream icing. Because icing makes everything better...fully planning not to claim it if anyone asked. I labeled it as Zuchini Cake.
Well, my flop went over BIG. 3 people asked for the recipe and a few more stopped to comment on it.
Apparently I invented a new recipe. Yay!
If you want to try making the Accidental Zucchini Cake....You can find it here. One particularly sweet Mom called it Sunshine Cake. ;)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

 Emma also made some desserts. Hers turned out a lot prettier than mine did. That girl is one heck of a little cook.
All of the things we brought disappeared, only 2 small pieces of cake were left.

S'mores

3 Alex's Teeth :(

  Alex is our oldest and the first to get braces. The Husband and I both had them as teenagers. In fact, The Husband had them twice! So, I take full privileged to blame the majority of the childrens' braces needs on him. If I am being honest though, these poor kids don't stand a chance in the pretty teeth pre braces department. They will all need them.
Now, back to Alex... He had a really bad situation going on with his chompers. One to the point that they were talking about pulling it. (That one hurt this Mama a little. Pulling a perfectly good tooth. Not cool).

 Well, through the use of multiple springs and much pain. They were able to keep the tooth.

This week was the day they managed to hook a wire onto it to pull it forward. He has been in so much pain..and rightly so...The pictures below show his tooth before attaching the wire and 24 hours later. This dentist doesn't mess around folks.  OUCH!
I feel bad he is in so much pain, but it will be worth it in the end. He has been a good sport about all this though. Poor kiddo!

4 How to be a Doughboy!! WWI soldier training for kids!

Since we homeschool, I'm always on the hunt for cheap educational fun things to do with the kids. So obviously I jumped at the chance for them to train to be WWI soldiers!  Especially since we are studying US history this coming school year. They signed draft papers, made dog tags, learned to march and wrap bandages, and they even got to try rations! That part was the most entertaining for me.
Toward the end they had a helicopter fly in for people to climb inside and explore.



 

 













5 Baby Owen

 See this adorable little baby boy?!?!!?! This is my long time friend, Julie's newest addition. She lives over an hour away and I am dying to get my hands on him!

However, There is a slightly funny story behind this little guy. You see... My friend tends to have an issue that causes her little ones to come a lit early. So when we found out that she was pregnant we all (there's a handful of us who are close friends) started praying and I mean we prayed hard for this little guy. We prayed for him to stay in until he was fully cooked. He was on prayer chains and prayer lists all over the country.
Well, when it came time for him to come out. He didn't want to. Her typical 2-3 hour labors turned into over 24 HOURS!
We have all collectively joked that he couldn't come out because all of the prayer that was holding him in!

 She is a trooper though. She endured and held true to her non medicated birth plan. That is 3, 100% unmedicated births, this girl is a rock star people! *Love you Julie!<3*

 Thankfully, Mr. Owen and Mommy are safe and sound at home recovering from a slightly long, but not too eventful birth. We are all so thankful and blessed to have them in our lives. My Sunday School class sent up a small cheer when I told them he was here, they had been praying since Winter. 

Oh, this bow tie and the cuteness! It gets you in all the feels!

6 Toddler logic...Why Climb in a Helicopter When You Can Pick up Rocks? 

 Oh the joys of raising a strong willed toddler. While the kids were at Doughboy training, Anna and I had A LOT of time to kill. There were many exhibits set up, so we did a lit of walking around..and talking to history enthusiasts. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy history and attending these events. However, this was a fairly small event..and we made our rounds about three times and chatted with just about everyone in about an hour.
Anna was still being a bit um...rotten....thankfully she didn't lick anything this time. I had given her crackers, even gave her chips and finally decided to take her to an open field and turn her loose.

That probably wasn't the best idea. Because every time I tried to put her back in the stroller she would kick and scream and arch her back with the strength of a gorilla and as many arms and legs as an octopus. Her screaming was so loud that even the people watching the HELICOPTER LAND were turning to watch us. *Mom of the year moment right there* I assured everyone that I was not beating her...and they went back to watching the helicopter land.

**Did I really just type that sentence?**

Once the helicopter landed I figured she would be all over going to see it. Nope, Because didn't you know that rocks are so, So. SO! Much more entertaining than getting to sit in a real live helicopter. She decided she needed to find the perfect rock.
SHE found it! Yay!
I seriously wanted to sit in that helicopter people. :/ 
The kids did get to climb in it later..that is all that matters.

This is as close as I got.

The perfect rock!

 7 This is How Daddy Does Science Experiments.

  The husband is quite smart and good with basically all things. It's annoying.
He is known for coming up with fun (A.K.A slightly dangerous looking) science experiments for the kids. They love it, but I'm pretty sure he loves doing it more than they love watching him do it. I personally, love that he is doing stuff with them, but also stand off to the side with 911 on speed dial and of course...I take pictures. Or better known as, evidence for the police and paramedics. 
To clarify though...he has never caused any bodily harm to himself or anyone else. He actually knows what he is doing. :)
This was a new one for us though. Apparently if you add butane to soapy water...and light the bubbles on fire...it makes HUGE flames..but doesn't burn you hand. 

He of course did not explain any of this to me until AFTER he did this...

The science behind this one was pretty cool...if you go to You Tube and type in Butane Bubbles Flame...it brings up a TON of videos. ..

As always... Kids....Don't try this without an adult!!!


Well, that pretty much wraps up life in the Tiny House for this week!
Now I am about to head outside to help the kids bathe our snowman...more on that next week!


Happy Friday!

~Lyndsay

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