Pioneer Girls

In the last post I mentioned that I was in the middle of 'spring cleaning', well as you can see I took a break from that and did some sewing!! It was so nice to be sewing again!

I had started on Victoria's pioneer dress a while ago and she has been enjoying the dress for a few months now. I finished her bonnet a couple weeks ago.

Yesterday I made her apron and bloomers, and started Alicia's whole outfit.

Today I finished and both girls have been playing Mary and Laura Ingalls!

I have to make an outfit for for Moriah yet, but she refuses to be Carrie, she wants to be Laura too! So the girls decided that she could be cousin Laura, like in the first book.

I made the dress in the largest size, hoping we will get lots of use for many years to come!

If anyone ever wants to borrow them let me know, I really don't mind!

We are hoping to go to a Pioneer Village sometime and the girls can't wait to wear their dresses!

Since the weather is so beautiful again we thought we would take some pictures.

By accident I doubled this one and can't figure out how to delete the extra one.

Victoria is showing off her bloomers!

I just love these dresses, they are so cute....

and so are the girls wearing them.

Hope you enjoyed our little photo shoot...

We sure enjoyed doing it!!

The Exciting Things in Life

This post will not have pictures as I don't feel like taking the time to up load any. I am in the middle (or more the begining and have a long way to go) of spring cleaning! I was so excited to start but now the task is seeming to get no where!
The reason for getting no where in the cleaning department is not that I have NOT been cleaning, but washing bedding and towels over and over again does not get the spring cleaning done! Would you believe that the flu had the nerve to walk into my home right during spring cleaning!! Ofcourse the bedding has gotten its fair share of the next 5 years of spring cleaning and all those extra towels that I never understood why I kept them laying around, are in fact very useful! For you to understand what my title has to do with this post let me start at the begining...........
Friday night at about 10 o'clock Bryan and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie, we heard little foot steps coming down the stairs from the girls room. We looked at eachother smiling, what was Moriah's excuse tonight! We laughed over a few thoughts of what her excuse might be and as the door squeaked open and around the corner came our little munchkin, we were not expecting what we saw! She was covered in vomit! We quickly rushed to her as she threw up again. I rushed her to the tub and Bryan went upstairs to clean up, up there. I quickly washed our poor little girl, dressed her, and put her in our bed with a few towels under her. I went upstairs to help Bryan and found out that she had been sleeping with Alicia. Thankfully Alicia was clean, but what was not so nice is most of the mess was on the carpet (I was reminded again to never put carpet in a kids room). We cleaned as best we could and moved Alicia into Moriah's bed. Moriah continued to throw up all night. The next day I washed all of Alicia's bedding (just to remind you I had just the day before washed all the girls bedding, for spring cleaning) and our bedding, and a bunch of towels. Anyhow, our poor Moriah was sick until Sunday late afternoon. Sunday night I braced myself for the next sick child! Sure enough 10pm Sunday night, Cassia was crying, Bryan went to check on her and called me in to help. She had thrown up, I bathed her, he cleaned up her bed. I put her back to bed and in the morning found that she had thrown up again. But the rest of the day went well, nothing happend Monday night and on Tuesday I thought we were in the clear, the flu had left our little house. We even went to our neighbors outdoor birhtday party on Tuesday morning. The kids had been cranky all day as some had colds, so we decided to put them to bed early. As we were doing family worship and all praying together Alicia threw up on Bryan's lap, herself and the floor. That put and end to family worship and got us going. Alicia had a bath and was tucked into our bed once again. I put the dirty blankets and clothes in the laundry. But this is when the exciting part happened!! Alicia continued to throw up, but she was able to do it in the container provided!! I was so thrilled when I heard her throw up and walked in the room to see she had done just what I asked!! I think it is just as exciting as when a child finally understands going to the bathroom on the toilet!! I was so relieved and happy and thought to myslef, "I can do this, this won't be nearly so bad" I got a burst of energy and started cleaning the house. I was just about done vacuming the couch when there was Victoria standing before me with vomit all over her! I quickly turned off the vaccum and she proudly and excitedly told me that she, " only threw up on her bed, not the floor" I tried to be positive, but all I could think was, "here we go again" In the tub she went Bryan watched her as I quickly finished the couch. Then as I was washing Victoria's hair, Cassia started to cry, Bryan went to get her and yes, ofcourse she had thrown up too! So as I was finishing Victoria's bath Bryan got Cassia into the kitchen sink for a bath and then I bathed Cassia while Bryan dressed Victoria. Ofcourse all I could think to myself, was "so much for this being easy" and "I wonder if Moriah will start throwing up again too"! We tucked Cassia back in her own bed and Victoria in with Alicia. The funny thing about all this is I think Victoria was very excited about everything, throwing up in the night, having a bath, sleeping in our bed. She was so excited and chipper even inthe night when she came to tell me Alicia had throw up again, she was so happy and bubbly! And again in the morning she was so bubbly and excited. I suppose it was an encouragment to me, and a reason to smile despite the mountain of laundry, to see Victoria so happy! Anyhow, we made it through the night, with Alicia and Victoria in our bed, Moriah in Alicia's bed (as it was Moriah's bed that Alicia threw up on during family worship), Bryan on Victoria's bed and me on the couch. So far today no one has thrown up! I put all the girls down for a nap and I think Victoria and Moriah are sleeping, but Alicia isn't yet. I am very much hoping that this is the end of the flu and that it does not stick around long enough for Bryan or I to get it! But if we do get it, atleast we are able to make it to the toilet!! And I am so thrilled that Alicia is growing up along with Victoria, it is much easier when children throw up in the bucket instead of all over........everything!
So there you have it the exciting life of the Marentette Home!!

Now back to Spring cleaning..............

The Duggars

I tired to upload a picture of the famous family of now 19 children, but could not figure it out! So here is a picture of Moriah while watching the Duggars! She was really tired, that day, I don't want you to think that we find the Duggars boring! If you have been around our family in the past few months you will know how much we love the Duggars! Lately Victoria has been walking around the house repeating their family motto "buy used save the difference" over and over! The girls love to go through the list of this kids names at the begining of every episode and their very favorite thing to play is.........Jim Bob and Michelle!! They do so almost every day and anywhere. We were in WalMart a few days ago and I heard Alicia say to Victoria, "here Jim Bob you can hold the baby now". They way they decide who is who, is very simple. Whoever is wearing a skirt is Michelle and whoever wears pants is Jim Bob. Sometimes they play Josh and Anna or some of the other children, but again whoever is wearing a skirt is a girl and whoever is wearing pants is a boy, as in the Duggar family, you probably already figured it out, girls always wear skirts! Even Bryan enjoys watching this family and has commented to me how easy raising 4 children seems compared to 19! I always feel like I need to mention to people, while I am talking about the Duggars, that we in no way hope to have 19 children. We enjoy watching this godly family but are not trying to be just like them. We have picked up a few things from them, like we now do family worship in the girls room just before bed instead of at supper. This has been such a blessing for our family as it is not rushed and we really enjoy sitting together at the end of the day singing and reading God's word and then praying. I also enjoy their money saving tips and am about to try out some homemade laundry detergent!
Something that I especially enjoy about this family is that they apply the Bible to every aspect of their life, they don't pick and chose. They have lots of children becuase they know God will take care of their needs and that children are a blessing, they have no debt becuase the Bible says owe no many anything but love. They help the poor and they reach out to those in need, even the orphans. They are such a refreshing, loving family. Another tip that I picked up on from this family is the mother, Michelle,'s, gentle and quiet spirit. I read in their book that instead of raising her voice when her children were misbehaving she lowered her voice , to almost a whisper. I have been putting this into practise along with encouraging words and what a difference it has made in me and my girls. We are all happier and more joyful. It isn't always easy, but it does make loving the girls and be patient a lot easier. Another thing that sticks out about this family is that though they teach their children to behave and have selfcontrol, they also realize that kids need to be kids. They let them run around and play, Michelle doesn't mind the noise! I probably need to work on that a bit more!! And I don't have 6 boys all one year apart running around! Ofcourse this family is not perfect, but they are encouraging in the things of the Lord.
We asked our girls were we should go for our familhy vacation this year and guess what they said!? "Lets go visit the Duggars"
So if you have never heard of this family or watched their show, I would greatly recommend it as a wonderful family show! Now that we are taking a break from the internet and won't be able to watch them on youtube we are buying the seasons, so you are welcome to borrow them anytime!
If you have watched this family, what do you think of them! You know I have only had one comment, but I would love to have more, so feel free to tell me what you think!! :-)

Cancelled

I just cancelled our internet service, so I probably won't be blogging much. I hope to still post once in a while at my mom's. Bryan and I decided to take a break from the internet world, it seems that our family has kind of been revolving around this internet lately! It is amazing what you can find on line, but it is also time consuming. We might be back again in a few months, we will wait and see!!

While Mommy Makes Supper

While I was busy making supper tonight the girls were quietly coloring on the floor. They were very excited about it and doing their best to stay in the lines. Our home is not always quiet and cozy, but at this moment it was so I just had to take a picture. Our small kitchen is not something I often enjoy, but tonight I did. It was nice to have the girls close, to have them at my feet busily working away, to have the babes eatting cherrios in her high chair, and to have Moriah busy playing with....well I am not sure what she was playing with! (not sure if that is good:-))

Alicia has always enjoyed coloring, but Victoria always passes over it in her school books. I don't think coloring needs to be done if she doesn't want to. Tonight was different she was happy to color and was staying in the lines better then ever before. Whenever the girls do something that I get excited about and exclaim over how well they are doing it (example: washing their hair) they ask to call Beppe (my mom) and tell her how good they did! It is a great incentive for them to do well, and I know Beppe loves to hear from them.

Here is a picture of my dear sweet baby who as of only a few days ago, does not need her mother anymore! My nursing days with her are almost over, I am happy and sad! She loves her goats milk in a sippy cups and loves to eat, her favorite are baby cookies and cheerios.

Here is Alicia calling Beppe and telling her all about her coloring and everything that happend today (even though we had just gotten back from spending the afternoon at Beppe's). I thought I would take the opportunity to show off our new cupboards!

Here is a close up of our counter top and our new 10month old!! Isn't she just the cutest baby girl ever!! We love her to bits and bits! She LOVES her sisters and gets so excited when she hers them coming. Her favorite is when they play peek a boo with her! Tonight she also loved the camera and kept smiling everytime I pointed it at her!!

Now Bryan is home so I am going to go spend sometime with him. He has been gone a lot on service calls the last few days! Even out until 2:30am Sunday! I think I will grab some Smartie Ice Cream (that we bought for the girls :-)) and head downstairs to watch the hockey game with him. I have read, in a few books now, that wives should show an interest in what their husband likes, so I better go try that bit of advice out!

A Walk on Water

This past Saturday Bryan played out door hockey and I took the girls to the lake to see the ice. Aunt Brandy came with too, we had alot of fun. It was neat to see the snow and ice, it also brought back memories of when my parents would take me and my siblings. The above picture is proof that Cassia was there too! Just so she doesn't feel left out in years to come. She slept in the storchenweige most of the time.
We mostly walked along the beach as I was not wearing boots and was a little nervous about someone falling in the water. Moriah looked so cute walking behind everyone with her hands in her pocket. Her fear of ice is not only at an area but also little patches along the beach. Aunt Brandy did manage to get her to see the fun in trying to crack the ice!

Alicia kept asking me to take her picture when ever they climbed on a mountain of snow! Moriah refused to climb up!

The girls had fun walking through puddles. They had all just bought new rubber boots with the Christmas money the week before.

I was a little jealous that I didn't have rubber boots, I would have loved to jump into some puddles!

Some more ice and water.

We did walk out a little ways at the end of our walk, so that if my feet got wet it wouldn't matter. Moriah was too afraid so Aunt Brandy carried her, but the other girls enjoyed the adventure! What a fun day we had and what beautiful weather to be outside!

Sleeping Arrangements

Sometimes I am not sure why we have a bed for each girl. They love to share and we love to peek in on them! It is so sweet to see sleeping children after such a busy, noisy day. Lately Victoria is always in Alicia's bed. Moriah only joins them once in a while. It use to be that Alicia was always in Victoria's bed. Then for awhile Moriah was always in with Victoria. They seem to like to switch it up, who is with who and in what bed! One night Victoria wet Alicia's bed, went and changed her pajamas and joined Moriah. It seems that Victoria does not like being alone!
I don't mind them sharing, but lately Victoria and Moriah have been taking turns joining Bryan and I in the very early morning. For a few nights we just tossed which ever one between us and fell back asleep, but now it is getting annoying. They are starting squirm and kick and it is just not comfortable. I am not sure what to do to get them to stop as I don't feel up to diciplining so early in the morning, so I have contemplated offereing candy to the girls who stay in their beds ALL night! I think that jsut might work! I wonder what it will be like when Cassia is bigger........