Moving Day!

Two weeks (to the day) after baby C was born, we moved out of the Sunshine State.

FINALLY! We have told ourselves for TWO YEARS that living in Florida was merely temporary. A stopping point on our way to better things. Unfortunately, God had other plans.

We arrived in Florida under some severely tough circumstances and, although we never really felt at home there, we know we were placed there for a reason. We made some wonderful friends, grew stronger in our relationship with the Lord, and grew closer together as a family. Florida ended up being a place of healing for our hurting family. And getting the green light to move away told us that God thought we had done enough healing, and that it was time to start focusing on other things.

So, we packed up and headed north towards our new home in OHIO! My mom was with us, and she drove the kids and I to her house in TN (so we could celebrate Christmas), while Jay stayed behind and loaded the moving truck. Then, he and his dad took a different route, through South Carolina to go straight to the new house.

However, we ran into a little snag along the way... which I will write about in the next post. :o)

Playing Catch Up

WOW! I just cannot seem to find time to update my blog lately!

Let's see... my last post was about the birth of baby C. Since then, things have been pretty hectic here in the RichFam! I will try to post all of these in the order they occurred in, but there's no telling, so... I hope you like reading! :o)

When baby C was 5 days old, my friend (and fellow homeschooling mama) Mandy, of Giggles to Grace Photography, did a newborn photoshoot of baby C, for FREE as a gift! And what an amazing gift it was! She is so very talented! Here is a sampling of the pics she did for us...

She's Finally Here!!!

After months of seemingly endless waiting, we welcomed our newest daughter into the world. She was born on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 6:12PM. She weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz and was 20 inches long.

I was scheduled to have an induction on Nov 30th, but shortly after dinner on Thanksgiving Day, I began experiencing contractions. They lasted all night long and didn't go away, so I started timing them. By 10:00 on Friday morning, they were 5 minutes apart, so we made the decision to go into the hospital.

I was checked and told that I was 3 1/2 cm dilated. Then, I was told to walk around for 2 hours to see if I was progressing. Afterwards, I was 4 1/2 cm dilated, so they decided to let me stay. YAY! :o)

(Here is R, crossing her fingers, hoping this is it!) :o)

I got settled into a room and immediately asked for an epidural (after the traumatic birth I had with H, I was not about to give birth again without one)! I got the most amazing anesthesiologist, who gave me the best epidural I've ever had. I went through the entire rest of my labor without any pain at all.

(Here's the proof... I am right in the middle of a contraction... happy as can be).
Jay and I even went on Facebook and gave updates during the labor process. And, we got to watch the Auburn/Alabama game, too! All without a single bit of pain! Woo Hoo! :o)

As soon as the football game ended, my midwife told me I was ready to start pushing. I pushed one time, and out came our daughter! It was the best, easiest birth EVER!!!

(Here I am, right after the delivery... still feeling really good!) :o)

Welcome to the world, Little One. :o)

Kids and Clutter

I don't know whether it is the fact that I am at the end of my pregnancy and venturing into the "nesting" mode...

or the fact that we have been packing up the house in preparation for our move to Ohio and there are boxes all over the place.

Either way, though, it seems (to me) as though the kids have been purposely trying to make MORE clutter than ever before!

They are like little tornadoes... leaving massive amounts of MESS behind everywhere they go. It is quite honestly beginning to drive me completely bananas. Why, oh, why can't they just pick up after themselves???

I was thinking this very thing, and getting very overwhelmed and frustrated one day, when I saw a beautiful poem on a friend's blog, and knew providentially that I was meant to see it.

One of these days (and all-too-soon I'm sure), I will no longer hear the "pitter-patter" of little feet clomping through my house, wreaking havoc wherever they go. I will no longer have muddy, chubby little hands leaving dirty smudges on everything they touch. I will no longer scream out in the middle of the night because I have stepped on some small, annoying, and PAINFUL toy that was left in the middle of the floor. I will no longer have little people with big imaginations, pretending to be pirates and mermaids in the bathtub, while pouring water all over the bathroom floor. And I will no longer take my shower interrupted, with the presence of dozens of bath toys at my feet, while hearing tiny little voices gleefully telling me to draw pictures for them in the steam on the shower door.

I needed to be reminded to take a breath in the midst of all the clutter. To overlook it and instead, see it as a sign that there is the presence of beautiful life inside my home, innocently playing, without the fear and worry that comes with adulthood. I need to be reminded to love the wonderful chaos inside my home... clutter and all.

Hope you enjoy the poem as much as I did...

"The Toy-Strewn Home"
by Edgar Guest

Give me the house where the toys are strewn,
Where the dolls are asleep in the chairs,
Where the building blocks and the toy balloon
And the soldiers guard the stairs.
Let me step in a house where the tiny cart
With the horses rules the floor,
And rest comes into my weary heart,
For I am at home once more.
Give me the house with the toys about,
With the battered old train of cars,
The box of paints and the books left out,
And the ship with her broken spars.
Let me step in a house at the close of day
That is littered with children’s toys,
And dwell once more in the haunts of play,
With the echoes of by-gone noise.
Give me the house where the toys are seen,
The house where the children romp,
And I’ll happier be than man has been
‘Neath the gilded dome of pomp.
Let me see the litter of bright-eyed play
Strewn over the parlor floor,
And the joys I knew in a far-off day
Will gladden my heart once more.
Whoever has lived in a toy-strewn home,
Though feeble he be and gray,
Will yearn, no matter how far he roam,
For the glorious disarray
Of the little home with its littered floor
That was his in the by-gone days;
And his heart will throb as it throbbed before,
When he rests where a baby plays.

My Little Hymn Singers

Jay and I decided several months ago that we were going to teach our children some of the old church hymns. It occurred to us that (sadly) today many churches are getting away from these beautiful songs, which are so rich in theology. So, during our Family Bible Times each night, Jay reads from the Scriptures, we say prayers, and then we sing a hymn.

We choose one hymn per month, and sing it every night. So far, the children have done really well with it! They are very fast learners, and have already mastered about 9 of the old hymns! I am just kicking myself that I only just now thought to record them singing all of these beautiful songs! :o)

Last month, we learned "A Mighty Fortress is Our God". This was a particularly difficult hymn to learn (even for us adults!!!). But, by the end of the month, all of us had learned it... including little H. :o)




This month, we chose a slightly easier hymn, "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus". It is only mid-way through the month, but all of the kids (yep, even little H), have it mastered already.




I am so proud of my Little Hymn Singers! :o)

Is this October???

What is wrong with these pictures?



I have no choice but to chalk it up to the fact that we are in Florida - the "sunshine" state. It seems so strange, though, when I hear from loved ones all across the country who are in sweaters, and coats, and drinking hot chocolate and making soup to keep themselves warm. I must admit, I am a bit jealous of them.

Nevertheless, as the saying goes, "when in Rome... er... Florida..."

Happy "Fall"!!! Ha ha. :o)

Kiki Strikes Again!

I'm telling you... I'd sure like to know where in the world all these frogs are coming from!!! I mean, in my earlier posts, I sort of joked about it being akin to an Old Testament plague. But now, I'm not so sure I'm joking anymore. This is just too weird!!!

This poor little frog didn't stand a chance under the weight of our 20 pound feline. I know it is kinda hard to tell from the pics, but this little guy was only about the size of a quarter. I tried to put another object in the picture next to it, but the only thing I could find was an old, broken cell phone that the kids use as a toy.

Eventually, though, as I was cleaning up the flat, dry carcass, I realized you would be able to see it much better against the white paper towel than the dark wooden floor. And then, I stuck my thumb in the pic, so you could see just how small this little guy was.

Poor frogs. They just don't stand a chance in this house against Kiki, the Ginormous Fat Cat. I just wish I knew where they were coming from, and why they are choosing MY house!!!

The Plague of Frogs

Okay, let me first begin this post by reminding you of our last encounter with this particular plague in our house. (click on the link to read about it).

So then, last night, as Jay and I sat in the living room watching TV... (okay, fine. we weren't really watching TV. Jay was in his chair snoring, and I was busy doing lesson plans for the kids' homeschool), I kept hearing the "thump. thump." again. I looked up in the light fixture, where the last critter had somehow trapped itself, but there was nothing there.

Eventually, I went to bed, thinking that it must be the refrigerator making some sort of dripping noise or something...

But... nay, nay!

This morning I awoke to the sight of Kiki the Cat, laying on a blanket the kids had left in the living room floor. This is not uncommon behavior for Kiki, since she is an extremely overweight, fat lazy cat. Her favorite pastime is sleeping... and eating, of course.

This time, however, Kiki did not look like her normal, comfortable, lazy self as she lay on the blanket. There was a gleam in her eye that I had not seen before. Nevertheless, I don't like her laying on the children's blankets, so I tried to make her get up.

She refused.

This is highly unusual behavior from my normally compliant kitty. But, I finally got her to get up... only to notice that something had been underneath her, and that she would not venture far from it.

Here she is, in her "conquering" pose...

I quickly realized that the "thump. thump." I had heard last night was not the refrigerator. It was another episode of The Plague of Frogs.

Yes, my sweet, docile, declawed kitty had become a predator in the night.

Here she is with her "kill"...



And here is a close-up of the carnage, all squished (yuck) - flattened under the weight of my 20 lb feline...
Definitely not something I wanted to wake up to this morning! And certainly not something I wanted to find on my daughter's blanket! Yuck!

Soon after Jay came to the rescue, and disposed of the "present" she had for us this morning, Kiki went back to doing what she does best...
I suppose I should be glad that my fat, lazy cat is finally trying to earn her keep around here. Good job, Kiki! But, no offense if I think twice before letting you lick the kids when they're loving on you! :o)

Mirror Messages

Jay and I have a little thing that we do. We write silly love messages to each other on our bathroom mirror with a bar of soap. Sometimes, it is merely a message telling the other what time we will be back home from the store. Sometimes, it is a particular Scripture passage that relates to something we are dealing with. And sometimes (like when a pregnancy causes the body to get into weird, swollen, puffy shapes), it is a sweet message from a wonderful husband telling his self-conscious wife how beautiful he still thinks she is.

We have done this for several years. In fact, it has been going on for the entire 12 year duration of our marriage. It's just one of those kooky things we do that makes our marriage so unique... and fun. However, as our children are growing older, and beginning to learn to read and write on their own, they have discovered this "secret" message writing that their daddy and I do.

The other day, R came into the master bathroom to gather towels for the laundry. She saw a note on the mirror that Jay had written to me, telling me how beautiful I was. She was so impressed by it, that she talked nonstop about it the rest of the day, even writing in her journal about how she wants to marry someone who writes notes to her on the mirror like her daddy does.

The following day, I wrote a response to Jay's note on the mirror, thanking God for the wonderful man He gave me. R saw it, and decided that she needed to add a message on the mirror to her daddy as well. Then, Jay responded back to her. Then B wanted to get in on the action, and wrote a message of his own on the mirror. Pretty soon, there wasn't a spare inch of space on my bathroom mirror!


I suppose I should be happy that we have such a creative and artistic family. Of course, it sure makes for some extra scrubbing on the mirror. I guess it's a good thing we use soap instead of lipstick or something!

I guess there was just one thing left to do... scrub the mirror and start a new message! :o)

Vacation Pics!

Wow, I am behind on my blogging!!! There are so many things I need to post on here, I am unsure where to begin... I suppose, though, for now I will simply put up some pics of our family vacation to Gatlinburg from the beginning of June (I told you I was behind!).

Because blogger gets bogged down when I try to post a bunch of pics on here, I will merely most the highlights of the trip, and the rest of the album, I will post to my Facebook. :o)

Wonderworks, a Science Museum. It was VERY fun!


Jay & R enjoying an earthquake simulator. :o)

Jay being his goofy self in the hurricane simulator. :o)

Jay being a dork again, making himself a giant cyclops on the split video screen. :o)

The kids, rock climbing. They did pretty good, considering they were wearing flip flops! :o)

Being goofy on the Gatlinburg shopping strip...

Believe it or not... this was H's first experience eating an Oreo cookie. I think she liked it! :o)

We tried to find the World's First Chick Fil 'A Restaurant (affectionately called "Dwarf House")... We ended up finding the World's SECOND Chick Fil 'A Restaurant. Oh well... It was still a fun experience! They had servers, and menus, etc. But it was so weird to order it that way! :o)


Here are some pics of the hotel room we were in... It was magnificent! :o)

The Living Room...


The Dining Room/Kitchen...


The kids in the jacuzzi... they LOVED it! (obviously) :o)...

There were 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, and even a laundry room, too! It was a very nice room... and a VERY nice vacation! We sure needed it! :o)