They're Sinking The Blog Ship

I surrender. (waving white flag)

Blogging is completely impossible in the months of September, October, November and December. Between birthdays and holidays, I'm a mess. I AM here. I'm just working on things here. Until I can catch up and justify...well...here. With only half a table tiled, holiday newsletters, Christmas presents, and more travel in our future, I might as well say it now:

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Baby Tongue Jumping Jacks

Faith had all of us in stitches tonight, and I just had to share the video clip. Normally, Faith has an aversion to being spoon fed, rarely staying still for 1/3 of a jar of food. But this evening, she mowed down an entire jar of breakfast for dinner, "Apples and Bananas Mixed with Cereal".

Her reaction to the delightful sweet taste is priceless.

Running To Catch Up

It seems almost impossible to have the stamina to blog lately. And as the days pass, I feel more and more overwhelmed with all of the content I haven't blogged about. The missed vacations, more birthdays, the new milestones. It all keeps piling up! ACK!

Over the course of the next few days, I'll try to blog backwards, placing all events in the proper order. So my suggestion to you, is to scroll down, rather than up for the most recent content getting added at a snails pace.

Three Ways to Give Thanks

What a difference a day makes. The next morning was gorgeous and warm, with not a single cloud in the sky. Faith took advantage of the weather change and decided that all human beings should arise with the morning dawn while staying at the grandparents' house.


Perfect weather could only mean three things...tractors, paintball and an awesome turkey dinner.


Grandpa A. has a reputation for babying his tractor. The tractor resides in the garage - not the family cars. Grandpa's favorite hobby? Driving a tractor. The children had a wild time taking turns riding the tractor. It was enough for Grace to sit on Grandpa's lap, (too nervous to take the wheel), while Jack was in complete driver's heaven zig zagging with enthusiastic over corrections (he might have the Adams tractor gene).


Ken was invited to an on site paintball match with Uncle Jacob and his friend. This apparently is serious stuff folks. We discovered Uncle Jacob has a past time of his own...digging giant trenches. Ken wore a fresh pair of Grandpa A.'s Marine fatigues (which wigged Mom out a little). But what a beautiful father, son shot this is (post paint war).


Grandma did an unbelievable job of putting together a jaw dropping spread during the day: juicy perfect turkey, stuffing, waldorf salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, peas, apple pie and pumpkin pie. It was a tasty ending to a happy day with family.

The Macy's Day Parade

It was a valiant effort. Despite continued winds and rain, most of the crew headed out in the morning to witness the one and only Macy's Day Parade. Faith had impeccable timing and decided that it would be a perfect morning to catch up on a good snooze indoors (Mom didn't put up a fight).

Meanwhile, the men buckled down and launched children on their shoulders for a better view, Grandma fended off rude Italian ladies armed with cameras and Jacob and Rachel blew bubbles to distract any child at ground level.


The crew returned back to the hotel in wet waves. Airing out in the hotel room and electing to watch the rest of the parade in front of a TV screen. Faith slept through the entire parade. Smart girl.

And so it was...home again, home again...good bye exciting and cold New York....hello peaceful and warm Asbury, New Jersey.

Planes, Ferries and Subways

This Thanksgiving, we hopped aboard a "New Jersey Plane" (as Jack would say) and headed out to the small quaint town of Asbury to visit Grandma and Grandpa A. But before we could enjoy quaint, the grandparents thought we'd hit something a little more grand. After an evening to recover from our flight into New Jersey, Grandpa A. and the Knucker Hatch clan headed toward the Big Apple in the mini van. The day was rainy, cold and overcast, but the children's excitement over their adventure kept things cheerful.

The first "new" mode of transporation to experience was the Staten Island Ferry. The children went out on the deck with Dad to endure a chill wind at the front of the boat, and snap a picture.

Meanwhile, Faith (donned in her super puffy fuzzy suit) and Mom stuck to indoors, preferring to keep an eye on the simmering melting pot.

As soon as our feet hit dry ground, we were off to ride the next new form of transportation...the delightful subway. The subway ride took us a short jaunt away from Radio City Music Hall. Miss Faith, was a complete champ, but exhausted. She slept sucking wind while wrapped on my back as we all trapsed through wind and the rain the last few blocks to arrive just in time to be entreated to The Rockette Christmas Show.


Grace loved the orchestra and Jack, to some poor soul's chagrin, couldn't seem to remove his chin off the back rest in front of him. After a cat nap, Faith had other plans, finding it more entertaining to crawl around the corridors and flirt with security.

With all the travel and entertainment, satiating an appetite was in order. We met up with Grandma A. and Aunt Rachel and Uncle Jacob for a feast at Bubba Gumps.



And since the night was still young (for the youth at least), we visited the giant Toys 'R Us near Times Square. Grace picked out a new "My Little Pony" and Jack landed his mits on his first GIJoe toy laser gun with about 25 different laser-y sounds. I can't recall if that was before or after he side swiped a lady with a stroller on the escalator and proceeded to wipe out, forcing the lady to exit the escalator over the top of him with the stroller. But I digress...

That night, every single one of the Knucker Hatches was in bed by 8:30pm.

9 Months In The Womb...Nine Months Out

Faith has strolled into a major milestone...nine months!! Don't tell the other two kids, but Ken and I both agree that she is so stinkin' cute she pretty much gets everything she wants. And I mean, everything! Aren't kids supposed to be less spoiled the further down the birth order they fall? This toothless wonder, bucks just about every trend in the book.

GIJOE Meets Miss Butterfly

Among the 3-5 countdowns we have in the fall, Halloween lands pleasantly between Jack's birthday and Grace's birthday. It is a tweener celebration for the two kids that they can anticipate with equal passion. And in all honesty, it is less about the costumes and all about the candy. So much so, that it wasn't until the 30th that we started seriously thinking about what each child wanted to be.

After checking out the the horrible costumes at Wal-mart, I quickly made a pact with myself that whatever we found, it would be something the kids could wear later. Inspired by rainbow butterfly wings, we searched out a cool shirt that kept with the butterfly theme for Grace. Jack has had recent interest in GIJOE, and with camo gear all over Wal-mart this was an easy and fun costume to pull together.

After dipping into Mom's old make up, and sitting in the make up chair, the kids were more than ready to hit the block.


Faith wasn't big enough to fit into Jack's two year old gorilla suit, so she decided to just be herself. Mama is as exhausted and oily as she looks:


Jack's camo was so effective that at one point, Ken and I both thought we lost him, and Ken took off running to locate the lost boy. But Jack was just across the street, in perfect disguise under the shadows.

Jack really was the hoot. How things have changed over just one year. Last year he was a mute, and his sister's shadow, but this year he would take off running and ditch his sister for the next house. When she was ready to go home, he spent another 20 minutes hitting more houses. Unbeknownst to the treat giver, Jack would secretly observe the treat giving exchange, and report back his observations such as: "Do you know what? When I said 'Thank You', he didn't even say 'You're welcome'!" or "Did you know he told me I was VERY welcome!". And houses that did not show an effort with Halloween decorating, we're bypassed for houses with lighted pumpkins.

I'm really glad that Halloween turned out as well as it did. Do you remember last year's fiasco with our brilliant idea to buy small pumpkins? Well, this year, was even worse. I decided we'd make a fun day out of our pumpkin carving on the 31st, and start out by going to a local store and selecting our pumpkins...sure we'd buy them for a steal of a price. Instead, I discovered that our town apparently had a shortage of pumpkins, and there wasn't a pumpkin to be found in the entire town. The kids and I, eyed up the squash, but I was afraid we'd have the same problem we did with the small pumpkins...so they settled for pumpkin cupcakes with purple frosting, and a CARS activity book. Will I ever get the stupid pumpkin carving right???

Falling In With Dad

Today, Ken took advantage of a beautiful breezy day, and invited the children on a hike around the lake, while Mom and Faith continued on the road to recovery at home. Ken brought back a wonderful set of pictures and videos of their hike, which was like opening up a package of fresh air. The children came home with handfuls of acorns, favorite fall leaves, and mushrooms, along with that special something that kids get after spending special time with Dad.

The Battle of Vermageddon

How did the humane trappin' of our vermin friends go? We tried...we really did. Ken set FIVE traps out in the basement. In the morning, we'd find them tripped with the peanutty cheeseballs gone from the coat hanger, and no mouse under the Pyrex.

Exhibit A
All weekend the cycle continued: trap set, trap tripped, no mouse, and tasty morsel gone with the mouse. By Sunday, the decision was made to go to the dreaded Plan B. I told Ken that I didn't want to see the carnage, and assigned him the duty of executioner. The following morning, it was finished.

It appears that our infestation has ceased. The count: One mouse released, and one mouse deceased. I'm still marveling at how it only took two stinkin' mice to wreck the place!

The Littlest Domestic Diva

There are three worlds Faith would love to search and destroy: the fridge, the fireplace, and the brightness beyond The Great Doors of The House. In fact, any world called "Faith, No, No, No" is a world to be conquered. One of Faith's favorite days is grocery day. It is the only day that she can spend 10 minutes basking in the light of the fridge, and feel the cool breeze on her face while she squeals with delight over all of the fruits, veggies and yogurt.

Not Your Ordinary Chatter

A conversation overheard this morning...(Jack is in the middle of a pile of blocks and cars with his sister.)

Jack: Where do you want him to be from?
Jack: Georgia?
Jack: Israel?
Grace: How about Great Britain!?
Jack: Ok. Great Britain!

This conversation is brought to you by the state of Georgia, the book of Exodus, and Our Island Story.

Decorator Tater Winner!!

Miss Grace won 1st prize for this year's "Silliest Tater" at AWANA. Constructed from red potatoes and toothpicks, "Red Rover" is a tater dog with a swiveling head. Last year, Grace was pretty broken up about not ending up in the winners circle (along with 100+ other kids) after spending two days on her tater. The competition is incredibly stiff!!!

This year, she spent 15 minutes on the idea and won. Go figure. :) The catch...she was the only one to use RED potatoes. Red Rover is a true original.

Piles & Piles Of Terracotta Tiles

I know I have promised to blog about things like what happened to my children AFTER they smeared concrete on the door, and about the final outcome of our mouse chase, or about my oh so wonderful sister-in-law...but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Yesterday, I received almost 100lbs of broken or rejected handpainted terracotta tile from Tierra Y Fuego.

The tiles are gorgeous!! The intention is to use the tiles to build a mosaic on our "oh so shot" family table top of seven years. As an artist at heart, I can't wait to do art where the pieces are already broken, and I don't need to fall victim to my perfection complex. I love a project where I can just enjoy the colors. As a mother, the thought of our entire family working on a table top together, creating our own unique design, warms my heart.


The children are just as fascinated with the tiles. Jack started hoarding his favorite whole tiles almost immediately and Grace enjoyed putting them in piles while we celebrated each new design that emerged from the three boxes.

In an effort to make clean up easier, we will be replacing our fabric covered chairs with something a little more spill forgiving...small 18 inch stools that we'll paint black. If anyone is interested in a similar project, I recommmend visiting this post I found during my planning stage which covers the what-to-dos and what-not-to-dos when creating a homemade table and mosaic top.

Is this not just so dreamy???

I Fold Pajamas Because...

As I stood this weekend folding an entire Google Plex of laundry, I caught myself contemplating how on earth I was going to do life if one more responsibility walked into this family's schedule. Where in the world was the much needed 25th hour of the day going to come from? Glancing down as I neatly folded the ninth pair of kiddie PJs, I paused.

I fold pajamas. WHY, I ask you, do I take the time to fold pajamas?

WHAT. Am I worried that someone is going to catch our entire family in our PJs one morning and actually think to themselves, "Look at that family! They look like they slept in those clothes. Who dresses them?"

God's Glory

This morning, I spent just a few minutes in prayer to the Lord. Praying the same prayer as many mothers each morning: beseeching the Lord for strength, for a second wind at 5:00pm, for my baby girl to take a nap...but if she didn't, then praying for unsurpassing patience.

I spent another minute, sharing with the Lord how much He moves me. How I can cry at the drop of a hat when I'm worshiping Him. How much I adore His majesty on this earth.

And then I spent a mere 30 seconds in prayer, asking that our family would reflect His glory today.

As I sat at my chair in our breakfast nook, I raised my eyes and turned my gaze toward the window, admiring the pink sunrise, and wondering why there was an odd vertical glow slowly appearing between the trees. I began to realize I was witnessing the birth of a rainbow despite the crisp morning sky. A rainbow...


I called the children in and we gathered outside in our jammies to watch in awe as God performed a play on my own prayerful words... sharing a beautiful reflection of His glory with us for a few minutes.

The Lord never ceases to surprise me with His sweetness.

Grow A Flower Game

While shopping for Jack's birthday presents I couldn't resist purchasing this oh-so-fitting game for our germination study. The Grow A Flower Game is intended for 5th grade and up, but Grace and Jack were able to keep up with the jist of the game. It did a wonderful job of reinforcing where the various parts of the flower are located, while providing a large amount of facts on the purpose of each flower part. The game is a bit like Monopoly in that it would take forever for someone to acquire all 13 parts of the flower to win, so we set a time limit.

Cowboy Up!

Jack Lands On Planet Five

For at least three months, I have heard no less than twice a day, "Mom? How many days until my birthday?". Jack has been looking forward to his birthday for hours upon hours, and today, it finally arrived. He woke up with a smile on his face, and asked me as he stood in his Curious George PJ's, "Now am I five? Right NOW?" He could barely stay in his own skin when the affirmation came. And the day, was truly his to celebrate. This was the first time Jack was having a real birthday party with friends (not just family) and a nifty cake that mom actually baked for once herself:


After cheerios, there was much excitement, as he watched a giant inflatable rocket jumper unfold and fill up with air in the backyard. A beacon of happiness for the day ahead. The inflatable kept Jack and Grace rosy cheeked for the next two hours, until the guests arrived and it was time for Pizza.


Since Jack enjoyed our family's Easter Pinata so much, I decided to do the Pinata again, but in Rocket formation (there's a theme running here)...eventually it required a good wack from Dad to finally make the pinata relent to giving up its candy center.


Jack enjoyed all of the gifts from his family and friends, which included: construction blocks, cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and cowboy shirt, a green Bigens Ball, remote control solar system light, microscope viewer, and mini parachute men. A couple of other presents are still in a brown box on a UPS truck somewhere!


So what does a newly turned five year old say soon after his fifth birthday? "I wonder when I'm gonna be six?"

Mouse Trap

It came to our attention a few weeks ago, that we just might have a new roommate in our basement. Little mouse droppings were the first sign. A clever little mouse he was...sneaking up an entire flight of stairs to raid Hatch's food dish, or the pantry, and then leaving a trail of droppings behind him (in case he forgot where the buffet was located).

Having a mouse in the house is new. So at first, it was kinda cute. We didn't want to bait him with a nasty trap, and thought in a positive light that it would be a fun challenge to try and corner him. At one point, we had him between a rock and a hard place in a back closet. After much chasing in an enclosed space, Ken and I caught him in a plastic drawer and released him into the back woods.

We were so satisfied with ourselves.

Two days later...more mouse droppings. More damage. My beautiful ottoman, which was supposed to be a lovely investment in furniture seven years ago, had been chewed directly on top of the fabric. A coffee table drawer (another investment) had been gnawed on. Computer wires sliced. And droppings EVERYWHERE. We have ourselves a complete infestation. Ken spent an hour and a half the other night with a small head lamp on trying to outwit a single mouse that could climb tall bookcases in a single bound. Only to have the little wit escape from a fitted sheet at the moment we thought we had him.

Despite the damage, I still can't do it. Standing in front of the Home Depot bag-o-tricks for Pests, I still couldn't bear to think of the snap traps. (WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?) I bought them for back up, but purchased some ridiculously feeble humane traps, knowing that they weren't going to work. They don't.

So tonight, in desperation, I turned to the Internet. I have renewed hope after reading about this homemade mouse trap and viewing the hilarious gallery of trapped mice. I'm going to try it myself. With one mouse barracaded in the back closet and another caught scurrying past me as I headed upstairs, I think I've got terrific odds. I suppose the real question is do I have enough Pyrex in the house to trap the entire family reunion going on downstairs.

One day these mice better thank me for not snapping their necks...or running the treadmill Mighty Mouse has decided to nest in...shows you just how much we've been working out lately.

Spooky Sticky Science

Last Friday, the children and I toured The Science of Gardening on the excellent Exploratorium.com. If you've never poked around the site, you are in for a treat. While we continue to scratch the surface of germination, we've had a few detours along the way (what would homeschooling be without myriads of detours). Jack has become very interested in the Venus Flytrap. Exploratorium had a very educational set of mini videos on the Venus Flytrap that would peek any boy's interest. If you are looking for spooky science...check out Peter's Savage Garden.

Has Anyone Seen September?

It has been forever and a day since I've opened up a blogger window. There is a time to blog, and September wasn't it. Everything was more important. Taking care of a sick family, spending precious time with my husband, homeschooling, preparing to lead my Women's Bible study, or trying to keep up with a just turned 8 month old who is already cruising like there is no tomorrow. It all took top priority.

Yep. She is CRUISING. When Faith is on her toes, we ALL are on our toes. Just today I caught her peeking out the window. It doesn't get any more precious than this...

In the morning she toodles around the crib from one side to the other. Every morning, it takes me by surprise. The petite little 16 pounder doesn't seem like she should be able to make such fine tuned motor coordinations. It looks surreal. But the beaming glow on her face, is very real. Pride never looked so cute.

On a daring day Faith will hang in the air before she reaches over for the next piece of furniture. She's discovered the stairs, but has only braved the first step. The little toot is a daredevil though...again a glimpse from today...


I've learned the hard way on some things. Asking the children to watch Faith for a moment so Mom can use the loo for two minutes, is NOT a safe idea. Two minutes is enough for Faith to raid the dog's kibble dish and then move on to taking a giant bath in the dog's water dish (while the kids look on in half paralyzed horror and half "let's see what she does next".) I find that I now have to pay closer attention to the older children. Grace wants to carry her everywhere, and Jack can't seem to be less than two inches away from her. In September, we went from code "Yellow" to code "Red" in two weeks.

The cuteness factor makes it so worth it...


...and so do the naps. I have NAPS now!!! Finally she is exerting enough effort to send her into two hour slumbers. And it is wonderful!

BLOG UPDATE: No sooner than after I hit the publish button, the children were sounding the code red alert. As if to put a giant exclamation point behind my entire post, I wanted to add one more visual aid. Apparently Faith considered my mention of hanging out no further than the first stair a challenge. In the time that it took me to blog this post, she decided to work a little harder...

Now you understand. This is my world folks!!!!!

Look Closely In Your Backyard

It is amazing what you can find in your own backyard. A couple of days ago, the kids and I went for a backyard nature walk. There is an untouched piece of wooded property behind our property line that we sneaked around in. This was where the real gems were...purple mushrooms, fallen logs covered in moss, every square inch swarming with little lives.


The children and I were on a hunt to specifically find things to decorate a riker mount with for a fall theme. The bright red seeds, holly berries, and red leaves set off the Golden Rod Grace spied. My favorite find - those purple mushrooms. Jack's favorite find was a real surprise - two surviving morning glory seeds the children had planted a couple of months back, with the first flower in bloom. We left the flower on the vine.

And voila, the finished project.

Eeeny---Meeny----Mighty----Cold

I think we've bought what would qualify as a Mini Mart drugstore. We are a prime example of how panic can set in when everyone in the entire family comes down with a rotten cold. All I wanted was one box. One box of Tylenol's Concentrated Cold Drops for Infants. But the little drops evaded us wherever we looked.

I'm not sure what these drug companies are thinking sometimes. When you are sick, and all of your little ones are hacking up green goo you can barely see straight. However, you find yourself blindly trying to pick the wonder drug of the year, while you read through a small font all of the symptoms on the box that the medicine claims to aid. With chagrin, I picked Dimetapp's Cold & Cough medicine for children, hoping I could sneak the larger liquid amount in Faith's pears or something. The medicine had a laundry list of relief for Nasal Congestion, Runny Nose, Itchy, Watery Eyes, Coughing, and Sneezing. In my stupor, I just assumed a fever would be covered too. Silly me.

Trip 1: My purchased loot.

Ken takes the next shift and goes back to the store, looking for those prized infant drops. He comes back with loads more drugs. But no drops.

Trip 2: Ken's purchased loot.
Three miserable nights, 2 empty Kleenex boxes, and more kiddie throw up later, Ken goes BACK to another store looking for the holy grail of infant cold drops. I swear these drugs can only be found on the black market. You literally need an ID to buy these bad boys.

JACKPOT and Alleluia!!! He finds the drops. In a store I have looked twice in before (when my mommy instinct kicked in and I thought I should be prepared for a week like this). In typical father style, he buys two boxes. And then he buys two boxes of other stuff. And then three more boxes of stuff for good measure. God love him.

Trip 3: Ken's purchased loot w/ the Holy Grail.
This will never, NEVER, happen again. Why? Because next time, we'll be ready. REALLY ready. You think?

So It's Not ALL Ugly

I love my birthday camera! For years, I have been trying to take pictures of my gardens that birthed beautiful flowers every year. Instead, I always ended up with a blurry mess. My old digital just couldn't hack the close ups, and many times I was entirely frustrated with the unobtainable.

I've found inspiration zooming in on God's creation. My new Panasonic (and the words of my daughter) have prompted me to tackle the gardens again and get my hands dirty this fall. Ken spotted me with a stack of gardening books and design plans and voiced an "Oh, Oh."

Oh yes. My resolve to stay in this house will be nursed by raiding local plant nurseries -- I"ll admit it. But who can say no to these beautiful blessings?