Introducing: Londyn Grace.

This is our precious Londyn Grace. She is 3yrs old and is a complete princess.  Londyn was born in Italy while we were stationed there.  You may wonder how she got her name. Our 8yr old daughter Rebecca (who was 6 when she came up with the name) named her. She said if the baby was a girl her name was going to be Londyn. We like it so we said ok.  I had no idea until much later that she got the name from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. We love it none the less and it fits her well.

Londyn is our 7th child.  Spoiled, spoiled spoiled!  She is our only thumb sucker and although she looks adorable doing it, we are trying so hard to break her of it.  She loves watching Dora, Team Umizoomi and The Fresh Beat Band.  Londyn enjoys riding her barbie jeep, playing with brothers and sisters and having her nails painted. 

We are so glad we were blessed with her. She is a joy and a true gift from God.

~Shannon

Sunny days are ahead...

I am feeling a little better each day. I am still nauseous but it is definatly getting better. I am 12wks prego today and I feel this pregnancy is flying by. To be honest I love being pregnant but I really can't wait to snuggle with my presous baby.  Wheather it is your first, second, fifth, or tenth child each one is special and unique. Children don't just come in two flavors: chocolate and vanilla, believe it or not there are other flavors:  strawberry, blueberry, butterscotch, butter pecan....you get the picture. Each one unique and special.

Tomorrow is to be a very nice day with Friday and Saturday to be even better. I can't wait! I may get to open my windows and air out this stale house from being all closed up during the long NNY winter.  I know the kids can't wait to get out as well.  I am praying the warm weather comes to stay put here soon!

~Shannon

11wks 4days....

Being tired has overcome me lately. Sorry for the lack in blogging. I promise to try and be better.  I am now almost 12wks pregnant with our 9th child.  I'm nauseous all day however it is subsiding a bit, and I have been extremly tired.  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going.  I got to see our beautiful baby last week and he/she has a nice strong heartbeat of 180bpm.  Which totally set my nerves at ease.  My plan is to do alot of blogging about my pregnancy to help me keep track of what is going on.

The children are excited and so far the vote is....5 want girls and not sure what the other 3 want. But all Gary and I want is a healthy baby.  We feel so privilaged that God would bless us with another child.  Each one is a wonderful gift from God and unique in their own way.

Spring is in the air.....

We have had less snow fall this year than the past 3 winters we have lived here in Upstate NY. The snow is melting nicely and the smell outdoors is that of spring. Oh how I long for the beautiful weather the spring and summer bring.

Being a large family living in limited space (military housing) can be a challenge.  Especially in the long winter months. We love being outdoors together, even if just sitting on a blanket in the front yard. I take it all in. The sights and sounds of the seasons.  I absolutly love the smell of fresh cut grass!  I bought mammoth sunflower seeds that will get to about 12ft. The girls and I will plant them indoors to get the seedlings started.  Then plant them outdoors once the chance of frost is gone and watch them grow, grow grow. 

Oh spring is definatly in the air and it can't get here soon enough for me!

Blessings, Shannon

Outside finally.............

Today, here in Upstate NY was absolutly beautiful. The sun was shining, the breeze was minimal and the temperature was about 45. I took the 3 youngest children  out to release energy that definatly needed to be released.   I love to be outdoors, and loath being inside.

Here is my perfect day.....  Waking up in the morning, getting the kids breakfast, sending them outdoors, doing my morning cleaning and then heading out with the kids for the rest of the day.  I love taking care of the outside of our home, gardening (can't do to much because not alot of space), and just enjoying playing and watching the kids play.  The warmth and sunshine make me feel so relaxed and at peace. I enjoy watching the kids ride their bikes, play hide n seek, taking long walks, going to the park...oh the list can go on and on.  I could dig in the dirt planting flowers and plants all day.  Pulling weeds and mowing actually relaxes me...weird huh???  I enjoy sitting at my table outside drinking a cold glass of sweet tea or leamonaid while chatting with a neighbor of two.

So what do you enjoy doing outdoors?  What do you do with your children outside?  Please share...I can always use more ideas.

Blessings, Shannon

Well.................

I posted a new "Topic of the Week". It is on recycling, something I think strongly about. So go check it out and if you all start putting it into practice let me know how it goes.  It is so easy and so beneficial to our world.  It's kinda funny, because people assume since we are a large family that we would have alot of trash on trash day but we don't.  Hmmm I wonder why......MAYBE BECAUSE WE RECYCLE.  We may have 3 bags of trash in our trash bin for the week, but the recycle bin is usually over half way full.  That is less for our dumps and less harmful chemicels from plastics in our soil.

So read it. I hope you start the recycling adventure. It is very rewarding.  And if you already recycle....BRAVO!

Blessings, Shannon

I am still alive...

Yes, I am still alive and kicking.  Sorry for not posting for a week but I have been so tired and not feeling well.  When you have a family all your energies need to just go into surviving and taking care of our daily duties, which is exactly what I have been doing.  To post would have ment to use my brain which was to tired to use.  So here is sit, still tired and not feeling the best but I wanted to let you know I am still here.

Have a blessed day  ~Shannon

Get to know Joshua Landon.

  Joshua is our 8th child.  He is 17mo old and our 3rd boy, and 100% boy he definatly is.  Joshua is a wonderful addition to our family. He brings smiles to all of his brothers and sisters faces.  Joshua's absolute favorite thing to do is play with balls. He is crazy for them. It is so cute to see him playing soccer with big brother Justin or baseball with daddy and Jacob.  Anytime there is music on in the house you can look over at Joshua and see him jammin.  He is so darn cute to watch.  Joshua is a very big cuddle bug and spends hours on our laps cuddling with us.
Now you know....Joshua Landon!

Tales of a military wife....

I am so proud of my husband for serving our country.  He has worked so hard for where he is today.  But it doesn't come without many sacrifices to the family.  There was a time that I absolutly resented Gary for coming into the Army.  Here I was sitting at home for days, months, years on end without my husband, all the while tending to the children and taking care of all the other duties that there are.  I had to also pick up on all his tasks.  I was repairing things, mowing, doing the trash, car cleaning, taking vehicles in for oil changes....the list goes on and on.  It really wasn't easy and still isn't but we get through it.

But as time has gone on I have learned to appritiate my husbands job and the roll I play.  While he is working long hours at the office or deployed for years at a time, I realize we are truely blessed.  Blessed that he has a job, blessed that we have health insurance, a home, food to eat and each other.  Soon the children and I addapted.  We still miss him very much while he is away, we just adjust our routine.  I go into supermom mode, having to be much more orginized. I have to put my thumb down quickly on bad behaviors that arise so the children don't walk all over me.  They outnumber me so I have to be on my toes extra!!!

It's not a easy life to live but it is ours to live and I wouldn't change it for anything.

Be blessed. ~Shannon

The Laundry Monster

Do you know him? Does he visit your home?  Are you scared of him?  In my house we get that ol' monster from time to time, but hey, we do have a family of 10.  That's a good excuse right.  NO!

You are probably wondering where I am going with this, right?  Well, today I am doing a load of laundry and my NEW washer is making this awful sound during the spin cycle. So I call the appliance repair place and they can't get us in till MONDAY....MONDAY people.  How can I function without washing clothes for a family of 10 till Monday.  Oh I am in dire straights. So, since we are on the laundry subject I thought I'd let you in on how laundry works in our home to keep it flowing smoothly...(well, as smooth at it possibly can...I told you the laundry monster rears his ugly head sometimes.)

I try to put in a load of laundry at night and put it in the dryer  before heading to bed.  In the morning I get up before the little ones, put in another load and fold the one in the dryer from the previous night.  When the load in the washer is done I usually put one more load in.  So that makes it roughly 3-4 loads a day that I do.  And if I'm really on task, they will get folded and put away (Diana don't you say a word!)  Doing it this way pretty much keeps up our laundry. I try to do sheets and blankets on the weekend.  Now, my oldest 3 children do their own laundry.  They are old enough and they don't mind doing it at all. Soon our 10 yr old will be doing her own.  I think it's great that they have this responsibility and it will make them more self sufficiant as they become adults.

So there ya have it, my laundry memoirs.  Have a blessed evening.  Oh and by the way, I am sipping my yummy java that my wonderful husband made me (as he does every evening.)

~Shannon

When life gives you lemons......

make lemonaide.  We've all heard that phrase many times but what does it really mean?  In my opinion it means turning bad situations into good ones, being a "glass half full" person rather than a "glass half empty" one.  This  is the phrase I am pondering today.  While I sit here (sipping my 2nd cup of java) thinking about the sick kiddos, all my daily tasks I need to complete, the pile of laundry that is waiting for me, what I will make for dinner.......and so on....you know what I'm talking about.  I realize all the good things I have to be thankful for, thus "I'll make lemonaide".  I am blessed with a home to live in, food to eat, vehicles to drive, health insurance, my freedom, great kids, a wonderful husband, my husbands job....I could go on and on.
I say all this because I do not want my family to sit idle anymore. I want others to turn their lemons into lemonaid. My kids being at the top of that list. Instead of complaining about having spaghetti again for dinner, they are thankful they have dinner to eat, instead of complaining they are board with their toys, they are thankful for having toys....you get the picture.  We all need to "make lemonaide" more often.

So with saying all that, here is what my plan is for our family.  We have a place here in Watertown called, The Impossible Dream. It is a food pantry and does a food line for dinner.  I am planning on taking my children there to have them explain what they do and to see if there are any volunteering opportunities for us. My desire is for our family to see all that we DO have instead of complaining of what we DON'T have. We are truely blessed with all we have, and we give God all the glory for it all.

So don't delay, make it a priority for you and your family to "Make lemonaide".   

~Shannon

Sick, sick, and sicker.......

Well, I am officially surrounded by sick, sick and sicker....aka, Joshua (sick), Londyn (sick), and Emilee (sicker). Joshua has had a cough and runny nose, Londyn just has a dry cough that's hung around for weeks, then there is Emilee who has it coming out at all ends. I'm thinking I need to put on the tall rubber boots, goggles, and a rain slicker (the kind fishermen wear).   We are running here and there cleaning up all sorts of bodily fluids amist taking care of all of our other daily tasks. But Gary and I are experts in "Orginized Chaos".   Don't ask me how we do it, we just do. It's times like this we like to call "Survival Mode". You know those days don't you? 
So lunch is now made, sick, sick, and sicker are still SICK and we continue on with our day.....

I posted a weekly recipe as promised. It is a family favorite and feeds a large family easily.  Let me explain why I chose this recipe first. I have been promising my dear friend Diana (which by the way has her own wonderful blog: oldworldsunflower.blogspot.com)  this recipe forever. We like to swap dinner ideas, so I decided this would be a good way to get it to her.  So Diana, here ya go!  I hope your family loves it as much as ours does.
We make bruchetta bread to go along with this recipe, so I will post that at a later time. If you make this, I would love it if you would post a comment letting me know how your family liked it and if you tweaked it I want to know what you did.

With that, I will bid you a good day. Enjoy it, be blessed and keep sipping that java....it makes everything seem so much better.
~Shannon

Valentines Day 2010

Good morning all! First I'd love to wish my mom and stepdad a wonderful anniversary today. I love you guys so much and hope you have a great day today (if you are able to get out in your winter wonderland). Next, Happy Valentines Day!

Do you have your cup of Java? I've definitely got mine, and it's much needed this morning. I'm using my cute Martha Stewart Christmas mug (yes, it's still out, I love it). So I get home this morning at 6:00 am (I work part-time 3rd shift on Fri. and Sat. at Wal-Mart) to make a Valentines breakfast for my fabulous family. I put a bouquet of flowers out for them and made chocolate chip heart pancakes...Mmmmmm. I set out each of their gifts and cards and by 7:00 am was off to bed. Which brings us to the present...I'm up still sipping my java and enjoying my day with my family.

Well, here goes...

This is my first adveture into the world of blogging. My intention for creating this blog is to share my daily life experiences on raising a large family and to share my likes and dislikes with others. To share experiences, thoughts and opinions...and to just "get it all out". You know, we do need to do that sometimes to feel refreshed and renewed. So with all that said, join me with a cup of java and share in my daily musings.

~Shannon