Dirty Dishes , Chia Seeds & Missing my Mommy

Today was pretty crazy. 

Funny how when the mother is gone, life changes. 

Mom  says I tend to be an over-achiever, and sometimes I laugh at her and dismiss that thought with a wave of my hand. Today I realized that maybe it's true. Lol.

My Grandparents on my mom's side both accepted Christ, (praise the Lord!), so she left for Mississippi early this morning, before I was even awake, so she could attend their baptism. :)

So, last night I set the alarm for  zero dark thirty, (or maybe it was 7 a..m.. But they're pretty much the same if you ask me), and actually got up when it went off. :) Got up, then crawled back in bed. O_o

I was so groggy, it was like I had to go to bed for three minutes before I could get up. I guess I needed that three minutes though, 'cuz I felt fine after that. ;)

It was weird being the only one up. Weird, yet peaceful. I did a quick workout to get me all waked up, (Emily grammar. Get over it.), got dressed, and had my devotions. It was wonderful. :) 

It was kind of funny, I grabbed my bible, and wasn't sure where to read, so I asked God to give me something that would help me through my day. Ephesians 4 came to mind. I figured it was probably because my pastor had sent out an e-mail saying that's where we would be on Sunday. So I sat down in my corner on the couch, and proceeded t read from Ephesians 4.

MAN! As I was reading that, I started to squirm in my seat.  Right off the bat it was telling me to....

walk in a manner worthy of  the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Ouch.

And get this....

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

I was hoping for something more along the lines of the Proverb that says, "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly." 

But no, The Lord knew what I need to read, and it came in handy as I went about my chores.

I'd be washing dishes, and one of the kids would run up to me: "Em, Carver hit me on the head with a light saber!"..... "Em, Noah took the motorcycle away!"....."ELMY! Audrey spit her tongue out at me!", etc... and I would be silently chanting to myself, "Patience, patience, patience,patience...." :)

Unfortunately, I don't have the patience of a saint, but we're all still alive to tell the tale, so all is well. :)

Shortly after my devotions, small people began to emerge from their beds, stating that they were hungry, so breakfast was started, and soon their little tummies were filled. I remembered mom said to have the kids pick up apples outside so as to keep the wasps at bay. I sent them out and began working on that yearly task that, I have to admit, is not my favorite: Applesauce.

Armed with nothing but an apple-peeler-corer-slicer, and my determination to see this box of apples empty, I began the long and arduous task. Okay, so it wasn't that bad....just a little odd to be doing it by myself. 

Five hours later I had six lovely jars sitting on the counter top. I should get a medal..........

World's Slowest Applesauce Maker

Although, it wasn't five straight hours, so I'm not as slow as you might think. ;) Lol. Part of that was kitchen clean-up.

I had grand plans to take a nap or do something relaxing while the monsters,  *KIDS! I meant kids!*, were sleeping, but then I decide to make granola.

Now, I have never made granola in my entire life, but I'd seen my mom do it, and Pinterest is out there for a reason, so to Pinterest I went. 10 minutes later, after much deliberation I had selected "The Best Pumpkin Granola". I generally don't believe it when the recipes say they're the best, but this was the only one I had everything I needed for it. ;)

I pushed up my hoodie sleeves and got to work. 

Mistake #1 was forgetting that I was halving the recipe when I did the spices, which surely wouldn't be a big deal because I looooooooove cinnamon. :) I wasn't too sure about the salt however.....oh, well.

Mistake #2 was putting it back in the oven after stirring it at the 18 minute mark, for 10 more minutes like the recipe said, even though my gut was telling me NOT TO DO IT. 

Sure enough, I pulled out the delicious smelling pan of pumpkin granola goodness aaaaaaaaand........it was burnt. -_- Grrrrrr....   Looks can be deceiving I thought, so I popped a cluster in my mouth aaaaaaaand......yep. It was burnt. -_-

No pumpkin granola for me.

By the time I had the kitchen RE-cleaned, and folded the last of the laundry, I heard, "Eeeeeeeeelmy! Eeeeeeeeelmy!"  Which we all know is the 'I'm-awake-can I get up now?' cry, coming from the deepest corners of the house where the monsters, *KIDS!*, (what is wrong with my computer?!?!) sleep. I poked my head in Audrey's room to tell her she could get up, and was greeted with, "I'm wet."

"okay, just get some clean clothes, and I'll change your sheet in a minute."

I go into Noah's room and am greeted with, "I'm soaky wet." -_-

"Okay, let's get you changed real quick." 

Unfortunately, Bobble, (Noah's blankie), ended up slightly wet, so I mentally added putting that in the wash on my to-do list along with Audrey's sheets.

Then mom called. I must have been so ecstatic to hear her voice, (c'mon, she'd been gone for nine whole hours!), that the sheets, and blankie totally slipped my mind.

Good grief where does the time go?!?! I looked at the clock and realized it was time to start heating up dinner. Gourmet Chili Mac. Oh, yeah. 

Of course, I wanted to make something healthier for myself, so while that was heating I again returned to pinterest to see what yummy thing I could conjure up. And forgot briefly about the mac 'n cheese. O_o 

Don't worry mom! It only scorched a tiny bit. I really do have this under control!!! ;) So I took my computer to the kitchen and never left that pot's side until it was done, and attempted to stir, FB message my sister, look up a dessert recipe, and make my dinner at the same time. I tend to get sidetracked easily, in case you couldn't tell. Lol.

When dinner was finished I looked around at my once clean kitchen, which was now a mini disaster, (it's been worse), and let out a small groan. But this time I recruited a younger sibling to help, and it went by much faster, especially since I turned some of my music on. :) Soon it was sparkling again. :)

Then I decided to make snack.

Which, again, came off Pinterest. I really like pinterest. :) 

How can you resist something called 'deep dish chocolate fudge oatmeal bars', or some such name.

I know. You cant.

We usually have snack at 7:00, and when I started it was 6:50-ish. I figured it would probably take 30 minutes to bake, then it would have to set up, so it would be late, but I could easily have the kids in bed before 8:30. Hehe. At 7:45 I ran out of patience with this thing and stuck it in the fridge to see if  it would set up....it did. Haha! VICTORY AT LAST!!!

8:00 had us getting jammies on, and reading "The Memoirs of a Goldfish", which, by the way, is really cute. :) 

15 minutes later, with some fear and trembling I cut into this concoction of mine. Jacob requested cookie bars I had made a few nights ago, but I suggested these instead. So, of course the whole time I was making these I was afraid if I failed, he would be bitterly dissapointed, and never let me live it down that I MESSED UP HIS DESSERT! We Menne's take our food seriously. Nothing is worse than looking forward to a certain food, only to have it be a flop, or worse- someone tries something else, promising it will be just as good...and it's not.

I passed bowls out and waited for the verdict....

One by one, smiles lit their faces, and "Mmm...that's good!" came from mouths full of oatmeal and chocolate goodness. It was a hit. :)

Which is good, because there's still a very large pan sitting on the counter.

I believe it was at this point I finally remembered the luandry.

Teeth were brushed, hugs and kisses doled out, kids were tucked in their beds, and I was left standing in a very clean, quiet living room, with just Jacob. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself, since dad wasn't home, and Meg was at the station. I did a few wanna-be headstands, re-wiped the counters, made an overnight oatmeal-chia seed concoction, (I'm always making concoctions), Made dad's dinner when he got home, and blogged, (obviously), in the living room by myself.

The moral of my story?

Mothers are amazing things. After doing one day by myself, I have a lot more appreciation for my mom and everything she does! And I don't  even have to get up at night with a baby...

I love you mom! And we all miss you already. :)

See ya

Well folks, I leave tomorrow for MO. :)

My suitcase, (which is HUGE), is almost packed, I just have to finish up a bit of laundry, then I'll be done. I told Cait I'd bring her the bowed psaltery, and I'm kinda regretting that. ;) I prefer to just have my camera bag to hold my snacks, iPod, etc., with a small carry-on, but this time we decided to ditch the carry-on in favor of a checked bag. Oh, the things I'll do for family...

Anyway,  just thought I'd say bye, and if I don't come back, it was nice knowing y'all. ;)

Just kidding. I'll be back.

I know y'all would miss me. :)

HERE I AM!

I know you all have missed me sooo much in my absence. Right? ;)

I have so much to blog about that it's quite overwhelming. But that's what bullet points are for, and I'm very fond of them. So here is a bit of what's been going on around here.

• Caitlyn left for MO in the beginning of December, which meant lots of changes around here. Namely re-doing the chore chart. ;) Cait, just so you know, because of your absence, I'm now on dishes Mondays and Wednesday.   -_- And I no longer get a night off.  :sings: Cinderelmy, Cinderelmy, night and day it's Cinderelmy...

• BUT, since Cait left, I am now a business woman! Whether or not I'm successful is debatable at this point, but it's so nice to have an income now. Goodwill here I come!!! ;)

• On Christmas Eve Meg and I decided to do something a bit out of the norm, and donate blood! Unfortunately, after answering all the questions for my pre-check, (Where they ask for your age, weight, height, and make sure you're not anemic), the gal looked at me and said: "Oh, sweet girl, you're too small."  :insert minion voice:   Whaaaa??? I've been told I'm too short and too young many times, but never that I don't weigh enough. O_o  Apparently you have to weigh 133 if you are 5'1", and under 19 years old. Grrrr.... Excuse me while I go eat enough chocolate to make me gain 13 pounds....

•  Christmas was great, but a little weird since we were down three people. :(

• I fractured my middle finger while sword fighting on Jess's Birthday. But it was worth it. :) 

• I went to the Twelfth Night Ball earlier this month and had a great time. :) Sadly, I didn't quite feel like Cinderella because I had lost my voice the day before and didn't have it all back at the time. Come to think of it, I didn't feel very Cinderella-ish at the masquerade ball either. I had an infected wisdom tooth socket which made my cheek look a little puffier than it should have been. -_-

• Chris and Katie (and Tank. Can't forget Tank), came for a visit on the sixth, and stayed  with us for a little over a week. :) We went and saw 'Frozen', (which was amazing by the way), played spoons, got Katie sucked into our favorite show, went ROCK CLIMBING! Got to go shooting, which I hadn't done in a long time, (and it kinda showed) , had stuffed pizza for the first time, (I'm seventeen years old, and I have only just had this?!?! Where has it been all my life?), and just chilled together. Oh, and we mopped the floor many times thanks to Tank. ;)

This was my first time to ever rock climb, and I'm a big fan. :) It was much harder than I thought it would be, but I always enjoy a good challenge. 

Carver was really good at it! He's like a little monkey. :)

It definitely requires a LOT of trust! When one of the guys was tying the rope on my carabiner I kept thinking,   "I am putting my entire trust in your knot. That's what is going to keep me falling to my death!" Kind of a scary thought. Not to mention when you're around thirty-ish feet off the ground and your arms literally will not work, (muscle failure!), and the person who is belaying you says, "It's okay, I got you! just hang in there until you're ready to keep going." So you're pretty much sitting on thin air being held up by some straps, a rope, and the person down below. I loved it! Connor says we're going for his Birthday, and I certainly don't have a problem with that!  

Oh, and if you were wondering, this was at the Salem Kroc Center. It was a pretty cool place. They have a pool, a gym area, rock climbing, a basketball court with half sectioned off for a area for kids 7-12 I think it was. And I thought it was neat that they played the Christian radio station. You don't hear that very often. 

The only problem with the Kroc Center is that there is nothing for little kids, (under five), to do. But Noah and Audrey did a great job at staying close, and I think they spent most of their time watching people swim through the window.

Well, now that I've proved I'm still alive, I think I'll sign off now. I still have plenty of pictures to post, but those are for a later date.

   

Today

Went for a walk this morning with Meg at  6:50-ish, another walk with mom and the kiddos at about 10:00, then played outside for a while. :)

If You Give an Emily a Milkshake...

If you give an Emily a milkshake, she'll want a straw to go with it. She'll find her brother and ask for a straw. She'll realize there is no way she can drink all of said milkshake, so she'll ask for two straws so she can share with her brother. After all, she did interrupt his movie, so this seemed like the right thing to do.

While she's pouring the frothy drink into her brother's cup, a younger brother will come along and tell her he wants some. She'll give him a little glass.

By this time she'll notice that her glass is less than half full. She'll decide to make a little more for herself. She has already put the blender away so she'll try to put a scoop of ice cream into her glass and stir it. It doesn't work. She'll haul the blender back out. When she's finished blending, she'll need more milk, then she'll need more chocolate syrup.She'll get out the giant chocolate syrup bottle and start squeezing. She'll squeeze soooo hard, that the lid comes off. Before she knows what happened, globs and globs of chocolate syrup will have come out. She'll have to add more milk and more ice cream to cover up the overpowering chocolate taste. She'll blend it again. At this point her younger brother will see that she made more, and even though he hasn't finished his, he'll want some. She'll pour a little into his cup.
When She pours her milkshake into her glass, She'll realize she made to much. Again. She'll shrug.

She'll clean up the mess she made (which was very large). Her younger brother will start whining for her big glass, so she'll sneakily put it in the fridge and tell him, "All gone!", until he goes to bed.

When he's finally in bed, she'll sit down to relax and enjoy her milkshake, (which still tastes too chocolate syrup-y).

When she finishes, She'll notice her fingers are sticky. Feeling sticky will remind her of her favorite milkshake.
And chances are, if she makes a milkshake, she'll want a straw to go with it.

Gyp

Meet the newest addition to Goat Song Farm! 

This handsome little fella landed here a few hours ago, and I must admit, I'm quite smitten. :)

I Loooooove puppies! 

Life & Newborn photos

Hey y'all! How you doing? Life has been interesting around here with ups and downs, but I've been learning that God is always in control.

And because I just really don't want to blog, you get a bullet list with some random stuff .

• Caitlyn's cow Mattie died :'(    That was rough. I won't try to tell you what happened since I would probably get everything wrong, but you can read her posts about it HERE 

• I'M GONNA BE AN AUNT!!!! Yep. Chris and Katie are expecting :)

• Just so you know, I'm going to die next week. Thought you'd like to know. ;) I'm having a gum graft done so I can get my braces started, (which I'm very excited about), so the joke in my family is that I'm going to die. Actually, that's why I am writing this post. So you'll have something to remember me by.

• One of Cait's friend's goats, which was actually her's before it went to him, that is staying with us (you still following me?) kidded 15 days early, so now there is a little baby goat sitting in our house in a box. :) Yes. that is a very improper sentence. Let's annoy the grammar Nazi's out there, shall we? 

•  Pinterest. Is. Amazing. Period. Just had to throw that out there.

So, this is where the newborn photos come in. :) 

Baby goat? check.

Camera? check.

Black backdrop? check.

Scale? check. 

Assistant? check.

Aaaaaaand.... Voila!

Newborn pictures.

Prayer for this little gal would be appreciated. :) Apparently its not very common for goat kids who are born this early to survive, but so far she's doing great! She had a sister but Cait and I couldn't save her. :(

Hope you have a great week!

Made sugar cookies a couple weeks ago with two great little helpers. :)

Sweetness...