Pushing along on the potty training trail

Just wanted to post a quick update on Izzie's potty training success. She is just an amazing little girl. I really thought she was going to struggle a bit more, but she has proven me wrong. She LOVES the fact that she gets a bit of candy each time she uses the potty like a big girl. We have even been brave enough to take her out of the house in her big girl underpants. As long as we bring her little pink potty, she does great.

Love,

Amy

Serving up some smiles

Cheyanne has by far been the fussiest of all 5 babies. So, her smiles are super duper priceless. She has a really sweet spell each morning for a bit and I just stop our day and spend time enjoying her cuteness. I know this will only last for a time and we are enjoying Cheyanne, fussies or no fussies. I know the picture is not the best (red eyes, and all), but her cheeks just speak for themselves.

Love,

Amy

Can I help?

I have really enjoyed working on improving my homemaking skills, including cooking during the 3 years that we have lived in our home. It has been a great adventure navigating my way through an enourmous amount recipes available online. I have found a recipe for a homemade apple pie that is AWESOME. I had never made a homemade pie before this recipe, so I was excited that it was a winner the first time around. I had purchased some cheap bulk apples from the Farmer's Market and prepared the filling a few months ago and froze them.

As soon as I start trying to put together ANYTHING in the kitchen, Elijah and Justus are at my side, "Can I help?" ,"No, I want to help." , "No, it's my turn." so on and so on. I have been trying to allow them turns at helping with different things. I would NEVER want to discourage help in the kitchen and it is such great one on one time.

Well, it was Elijah's turn to help. He was so proud at dinner when everyone thanked him for the fabulous pie.

Love,

Amy

One photo saying sooo much

Makes each fussy day worth it. Cheyanne's BEAUTIFUL smile.

Love,

A mommy with warm fuzzies inside after capturing this picture.

So what does a hillbilly look like exactly?

When asked why he proceeded to cut his own beautifully blonde, curly hair, Elijah replied,"I don't know...do I look like a hillbilly now?" I will say no more.

Love,

Amy

Little Sister Blues

There is no doubt about the fact that at only a sweet six weeks old, Cheyanne is a total mama's girl. She is just not content unless I am holding, snuggling, rocking, or carrying her. This leaves five sets of arms that are just reaching and pleading, "Can I hold Cheyanne?" This is a sure fire way to upset Cheyanne...allowing someone else to hold her. WAAAAAAAAAAAH! My children are the best mommy's helpers and Cheyanne does not agree. I am sure she will calm down a bit over the next few weeks once she settles into our crazy routine, but until the picture above is a common sight around the Ferguson home.

Love,

Amy

Big Jobs for Little People

Rich has been working with the boys at gaining more responsibility helping out around the home. Dante has been an awesome helper for quite some time now. I think it is a relief to him to see that his brothers are tackling some "bigger people" chores, too. They do a great job of encouraging one another to be better helpers. Last night Rich was training Elijah how to clean the kitchen floor after supper. Because our kitchen is pretty small, it gets really messy and sticky each day. This is one household duty that I do make an effort to keep up with. It never dawned on me that one of the children could tackle this chore. Isn't it wonderful that God has wired our husbands to offer such a unique perspective on things even as "trivial" as clean kitchen floors? So, Rich give Elijah a rag and a squirt bottle filled with cleaner and sets him on a "cleaning path." As I walk past the kitchen I make a remark to Elijah about what a super job he is doing and he says, "Mommy, I am cleaning patch by patch (tile to tile) because this is a mighty big job for a 4 year old. " After a full 30 minutes, I am absolutely sure that my kitchen floor has never looked better.

My boys are going to make such wonderful husbands some day.

Love,
Amy