I Love You Son.....

These are photo's of my oldest son.....he pitches for his baseball team.

He is a great player and is on two different teams.

This year I made the time to go watch most of his games and bring him specical snacks!

My oldest son Jarett has grown up faster than I expected....he will be driving soon and before I know he will be off to college! :(   
I can close my eyes and see a 5yr old boy standing before me.....now he's almost 16!
Some of my friends tell me things like you have 5 other kids that are still little....its no BIG deal!
To them I say......my kids are not a # they are my babies~
Each one special to me in their own way!
Its hard for me to let them go~



I'm not sure if any one came by earlier in the week to see this video (I posted it a few days ago)....I thought it was ssooo worth viewing I'm running it again!

As I sit here all teary eyed.....I think letting go is the hardest part of parenting!
I was a different kind of mom to the first few of my brood.....
I was still finding my way in the early days of motherhood.
In the early years of parenting,I tried to change my children....instead of finding the good in them and loving that! I'm glad I figured things out before it was to late.
I do rejoice in the fact my oldest son and I are closer than we have ever been.
But I am saddened that the clock does not rewind.....
I have grown from my past. For the last 8 years I have truly mothered my children with more love and a gentle kindness than ever before.  It has been with God's Divine help and grace that it was possible. And though I'm not perfect.....I truly am the mom I have always wanted to be!

I hope you will take the time to watch the video....you will not regret it!
*****Remember to silence my play list!

Have a great weekend!

Peace and Love,
Georgiann

Oh The Sweet Smell Of......

Yesterday, I was enjoying my morning tea and was puzzled to hear a knock at the front door.

 I could hardly contain myself when I peered out the window to see a BIG BROWN TRUCK...

it said UPS on the side! When I looked down on the porch I saw a small brown box!

 My Scentsy stuff was here.....faster than I thought!

If you have not heard of Scentsy....its a wickless candle company.

You buy a warmer (I use mine as a night lite). The warmer heats up scented wax and makes your room/house smell wonderful.

They are safer than candles... no flame....just a light bulb!

I now have 2 large warmers....one down stairs in the living room, and my new one (BORNEO) will go up in my room. There are a pile of people that sleep in our room there was a need for some added freshness! :)

 I also have a small plug in style warmer for use in the bathroom or kicthen

(I move it around were I need it).

With scents like INNER PEACE, FRENCH LAVENDER and SWEET PEA VANILLA there is something for everyone.....they even have BUBBLE GUM scent!

There are about 80 different scents!

To see the catolog or make an order you can go here to my friends web-site!

Blessings for an awesome day!

Georgiann

My Ballerina Girl and Sisterly Love~

Have an AWESOME day~

I know I will......the UPS man just delivered me a box.

Stop by tomorrow and I will share with you what was inside!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

The Gift Of Ordinary Days ~

Be sure to quiet my play list and grab the tissues! sigh*
Sorry the video is chopped off...after the video is over if you click on it it will take to to YOUTUBE to view again and see the part of the screen that has the share code....that really is all that is choped off.

I hope you enjoy the video..... Katrina Kenison a mom and author speaks of family and growing children.......encouraging us to enjoy ordinary days!


I made my teenage son and hubby watch it.....
Hubby and my 16 year old son (my oldest of 6 kids) were very moved by what this mom had to say childhood mothering and letting go to the next stage of growing up.....:(


Even my hubby almost put his sniffle on~

Love and Blessings,
Georgiann

Weekend Activities~

This weekend I had planed to sew my little Sweethearts some new dresses.....but after reading Amy's post over at Raising Arrows I decided to do a bit of cleaning.

Here at the Bluebird Cottage my cupith overflows.....especially in the laundry room.

Many folks ask for advice on how a momma of many kids keeps track of the laundry and ALL the clothes.......the truth is I don't! The truth is.....the more things you have,the harder it is to manage.

So I was in a mood to clean and purge! Thanks for the motivation Amy!

I ended up with 7 bags total.....I thought I was done for the day so I snapped the picture and hubby loaded up the car.....I ended up with about 2 1/2 more bags.

Sorry there are no photos of my messy laundry room....its not done being picked up. 

My laundry room is more like a storage unit (it was going to be a family closest)..... hubby still needs to sheet rock and finish the room. The room is 16x8. The washer and dryer are in a smaller room (7x5)as you enter. I can hide the mess by pulling a pretty curtain across the entryway to the large family closet.

I tend to wash the clothes....as many as 10 large loads a week sometimes more.....but rarely get it all put away. If I have less clothes it will be more manageable.

(we should have never moved things in the room until it was finished!)

Hubby kept the kids busy doing yard work and washing the cars!

After a long hard day......we enjoyed some BBQ'ed chicken, garden salad and berry iced tea prepared by my 4 year old Jackie!

I pray everyone has a great weekend~

Blessings,

Georgiann

~Dresses and Hats~

Well the week has been busy here and today is going to be the busiest of them all. My oldest son has a ortho appointment so I might stop at COSTCO.
My daughter Jackie has her mini-dance recital in the late afternoon. We will not be signing her back up to dance till next fall or maybe even next spring:( 
We have just entered BASEBALL season at our home!
3 of my 4 boys are playing ball......two of them are on 2 teams! EEEKKKK
The practice schedule is something else! Baseball here lasts most of the spring and 3/4 of the summer!
(In the fall football starts!!)
 Right after the dance recital my CUB SCOUT Noah has a field trip to the
RECYCLing plant. Jackie wants to go too.

This weekend I plan to make my 2 girls 2 dresses each with matching hats. That makes 4 dresses total.....the girls will have two matching outfits with hats. If I do well with this pattern I will make even more. I don't sew sleeves very well so I will not attempt to make the lace collar shirts. I will just use a store bought turtle neck in fall and no shirt under in the summer.

Have a great Friday!

Warmly,

Georgiann

Home Sweet Home~and Earth Day Video~

A large salmon colored California Poppy
(with 8 baby flower heads) can brighten any room.....even if that room needs a bit of decluttering!

A few weeks ago I did some rearrageing.....I took the girls play kitchen that was in my main living room and moved it to a small room that was once the office (then sadly became a storage room for the last 3 years).

I decided it was time to take back that valueble piece of realistate.

The room is 5 feet wide by 9 feet long with a large window.

I got rid of most of what was in the office/storage room....and reorganized the things I was going to keep.

I moved my moss colored table from the office to the the main living room. I put it where the play kitchen and toys once called home.

I moved all the toys into the girls new "play house" room.
 Their dolls and kitchen stuff are now in the side room...with a door! The girls were able to have more toys in the small room...freeing up space in their bedroom.
As you might notice in the top photo...my moss colored table/ new homeschool work space is still piled with things that need to find a home/get put away!
Over all things look good and the girls love their new play room~

Happy Earth Day~

Here's a video I found and wanted to share on EARTH DAY!

Blessings,

Georgiann

From My Kitchen Window.....

From my kitchen window....
I see love~
I see sisters bonding.....I see sweet childhood memories being made right before my eyes!
Children are such incredible blessings......many people out there don't take the time to notice!

If you are a mom I'm sure you've been in the other room and heard your kiddos playing and talking to one another. Older children speaking to the youngers of the brood as if they were the MOM....sounding a bit like you!???

The other afternoon I looked out my kitchen window and saw my 2 daughters playing out back. Jackie was trying to give Olivia a ride on the back of her trike.

It was funny to watch!

I grabed my camera and headed out for a few pictures!

By the time I had gotten outside Jackie (the mom) had gotten off the trike and was holding a baseball bat pointed at her "car".  She instructed Olivia to stand there quietly until she was through gassing up!

As I am standing there Jackie yells over to me in her grown up sounding voice 

"I'm gassing up the car real quick

then we're off!"

The whole thing made me laugh and smile.....I was warmed from the inside out!

I remembered as a young child "gassing" up my plastic car.

I use a stick :) The stick would rest on the back of my friends grandpa's truck.

Playing behind a truck in a driveway isn't the safest place to play or ride a bike. Especially when the guy who's truck it is can't see very well! I don't recommend that kids play around real cars in the driveway these days.... but  I did survive my childhood in 60's, 70's and 80's!

lol

Oh the unsafe things we did back then!:}
No seatbelts or carseats......the list is long and goes on and on!

Its no wonder any of us survived!

We did used our imaginations back then.
Today in our home, I create an inviorment for my kids to do the same.

Back to the story......

I then hear Jackie tell Olivia, "ok now sweetie, I need you to get in your car seat. We need to load up so we can go to the store before your dad gets home.

 Olivia figured out how to balance on the back of the trike and off they went!

Jackie announced their arrival to the store when the pavement ended.

She then went over the 3 main RULES of the store.

1. 
   
   Don't ask for anything.
2. 
   
   Hold someones hand when going through the parking lot....no running ahead.
3. 
   
   When in the store you must have one hand on the cart at all times.

After a quick rattling off of the rules both girls head for the swing set!

Do you have any cute or funny stories to share?

Well, MY sister just called and wants to come over for a visit in about 1 hour....so I'm off to tidy up and make some chicken salad......
When she gets here I will put on a kettle for some tea and we will remanise about OUR childhood memories!

Blessings for a beautiful and creative day!

Georgiann

First Holy Communion

My son Noah made his First Holy Communion this past Saturday!
He has been studying all year for this BIG day!
In the Catholic faith this day is a truely special day!
After Mass we went to dinner for a CELEBRATION.
It was a JOYOUS time for all of us!


We did not want all the kids to fill up on cake at the small reception help by the church.

But.........I let Noah sneak a quick piece while the rest of the gang headed off to the van!

SSSHHH........don't tell the others!

Peace and Blessings,

Georgiann

Happy Friday and Our Newest Additions~

I pray everyone is having a wonderful Friday!

I know we will be!

Tonight, Noah and I will be at his First Holy Communion rehersal.....

so for a quick fun dinner we will be having homemade pizzas!

Yesterday we got the call......our Indian Runner Ducklings had arrived at the feed store! The kids and I were so stoked! We ordered a male and female, but the gal reported her invoice indicated they were both girls. So I had her order us one more duckling...hopefully a boy next time!

Yesterday Hubby came home with a bottle of local wine and a dozen peach colored roses!

I barely had time to stuff the flowers in a vase of water before racing out the door to help out at the county food bank located at our church! I go most Thursdays for 2hrs. bringing one of my kiddos (they take turns) and I bring the 2 neighbor kids each time. Thursday nights we just stock sheves and divide things into small bags! Its very relaxing!

Needless to say the bottle of wine would have to wait for another day. And not tonight because, I have to be at a homeschool planing meeting at 7 am Saturday morning.....45 mintutes from home! That means a wake up time of about 5:30am.....to leave home around 6:15am! EEEKKKK

Have I told you I'm not an early bird?

So maybe Saturday night AFTER Noah makes his communion at the 5pm Mass we will have some wine?

We can celebrate Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel's return to the movie store!

Yep, you heard me right!

Happy return...good ridden...LOL

We have gone to bed listening to those squeaky mice sing all this week!

Our kiddos (ok just the 7 and 4 yr old) loved the movie....so much so they want us to buy it!

We share a family bed and usually watch a kids movie as we all fall asleep....this had been their choice all week!

It will be a happy Friday with out the mice!...... chipmunks...what ever!

Its going to be a really good Friday and a very blest weekend for our family!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Behind Closed Doors~

My littlest one Olivia turned 2 back in October. She is now a BIG girl.....wearing undies and going potty by her own as she would say~with the door closed!  So what really happens in the tiny room when the door is closed for 10-15 mintues with a little tot inside? We all need a bit of privacy do we not?

It looks like she was reading the funnies!
She managed to put a sticker of a skull (handed out by the Sea Fair Pirates at the parade earlier that day) on the toilet seat!
It looks like she had some trouble  fun with the TP!
She put her red boots on before the undies....so she had to take them back off and have a "do over"!


My bathroom stays fairly clean but I cringe when she grabs the toilet seat.....I have 6 kiddos...the first for are boys and they don't always lift the seat up! And if they do...well they can be messy!

We do practice good handwashing around here!

We like to use  Mrs. Meyers Clean Day soap and warm water! I keep the bottle out in the kitchen so it does not fall victim to the hands of my little ones. :(  I learned the hard way....but it only took once! {:)

Do you have any funny stories of your potty trainning days?

At our house we let our child take the lead....we just offer the potty and some good reading material:)
We use cloth diapers in our home, that really helps our littles know when they are wetting...
Sadly though...I have zero kids in diapers:(  {some folks might rejoice in that news...but not me!}
We would love a few more little blessings...if thats GOD's plan!
 Keep us in your prayers if you would be so kind?

Blessings,
Georgiann

Blog Party.... Garden Gate Style!

You can go here to join the blog party!

Hi there!
Welcome to my blog~

My name is Georgiann 

 I'm the married momma of 6 kiddos...

The 4 boys are 15,13,10 and 7 . The girls are 4 and 2!

I blog about gardening,attatchment parenting,cooking,christian dept free living,my faith and daily life as a homeschool momma with a BIG family! I love my kiddos and being a SAHM.   

We are open to as many blessings as God wants to give us!

I love to make blog friends! 
I love to leave.....and recieve comments;)

I have been bloging for about 1 1/2 years and have 3 blogs...... The Garden Gate (this one) is my main blog. I also have a recipe blog titled The Rustic Kitchen and a home decorating blog called
My Bluebird Cottage by The Garden. (I rarely post at the last two)

It is a party so......

What do you want to do while you are here?

If you want........
 I can harvest some veggies from the garden and make you a nice dinner on the backyard barbie?

I can make a chocolate cake with homemade mocha whipcream?

Save room......dinner first!

For dinner I will serve up homemade garden salsa, fresh corn,roasted chicken(on the grill) and homemade flat bread with cheese all toasted up on the grill to prefection!

My son Nick can play us a song or two on his violin if you'd like!

I do love the sweet sound of a violin.....sigh*

We could make a blanket fort... while my 4yr old daughter Jackie gathers chamomile for our after dinner tea and paints you a picture to take home!

Or if you want we could just take a stroll around the yard?......

Maybe you just want to sit on the porch, day dream and talk about the wonders of life?

You choose....you are the guest!

Thanks again for stoppin' by to party Garden Gate style!

 I hope you have enjoyed my blog and will come back soon!?

Next time you come..... we can feed the chickens,

 pick flowers and swim in the pool!

Leave me a comment if you would?

Oh, the prizes I'd love to win are 1,3,8,6,4,19,10 and 20!

Peace, Love and Blessings

Georgiann