::The Ice Princess and Her Body Guards::

Last weekend I took Jackie,Noah and our neighbor Adam ice skating.
 Little Jackie was real a speed skater, she just flew around the rink like a real pro.
Noah and Adam did their best to keep up!
Truly a fun time....great watching.
Since I did not feel like braking my hip....I chose NOT to dawn a pair of ice skates.
But I was foolish enough to put on a pair of roller skates a few days later! :)
And I did need a bandage for my thumb after bowling the Saturday before!
Those bowling balls are rough on the hands. The kids and I had an awesome time during our snowy Thanksgiving week together. I will share more pictures over the week to come!

This is Jackie....and her first time ice skating!

Look at her go!

This clip has Jackie and Noah going around the rink!

What a fun night we had!

Peace and Joy,

Georgiann

Remembering The View....

Out my bedroom window.....to the front of the house and the snowy street below!

The snow is over.....all melted away! The rains are back.......and tomorrow is Monday! sigh*
It was very enjoyable to have a week off with hubby and ALL the kiddos! The snow was a real change of pace for us!
We did many fun things.
Ice skating, roller skating,bowling and eating many comfort foods! I plan to share some pictures of our adventures over the week to come!
My cold/flu is still lingering and I feel very tired! This dark cool weather has me nappy eyed!
After I eat dinner here in a mintute, I think I will take a hot bath and sip some ginger tea!

Then I think I will head to bed early and watch a old movie...

Maybe Miracle on 34TH Street, yah that sounds good! :)

Peace and Love,
Georgiann

Giveaway Winner Announcement and More~

The winner of my giveaway is Legendswife!

Congratulations!

I had planned to announce my giveaway winner sooner but my head cold is really slowing me down!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Per the request of my daughter Jackie, I am posting one of her  

favorite story clips of stories by Beatrix Potter!

{remember to silence my play list}

When the weather is cold and rainy and you can't play outside....grab a hot cup of tea and a handmade quilt and snuggle up for a Beatrix Potter story!

This is a charming story of a pig! It starts out with real life then goes into illustrations. I hope you enjoy!


Blessings,

Sharing Stories Of Love!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

I will announce my giveaway winner later tonight!

::peaceful::

From my kitchen the smell of coffee moves through house and up the stairs.

It gently taps my nose to wake me up.

Soon it will be time for momma to start cookin' bacon and eggs.

Hubby and ALL the kiddos are gearing up to play in the snow and ride the snow mobiles!

There is NO work or school today.

Out my back window......

the scene is peaceful and serene.

A few birds have come by to get a meal of seeds we threw out in the hanging baskets.

The roads here are shut down......and more of the white stuff is predicted over the next few days!

It is 16 degrees here! BURR.

Our wonderful Thanksgiving plans have sadly had to change due to the weather!

We have already eaten our turkey and are finishing up the left overs:(

We were going to travel up north to Canada and visit my uncle and cousins.

It is even colder up north,4 degrees and the roads are icy.

Not safe driving conditions:)

 I'm not sure if we will have yet another BIG turkey for Thanksgiving!

Hummm? Maybe a ham and box of Stoufers mac and cheese?

I can use a little comport foods about now! sigh**

Peace and Joy,

Georgiann

::jaspers first snow::

Jasper (our Border Collie) was so cute jumping up trying his hardest to "catch" the snow!

Jasper looked as though he was dancing with the snow!

Today it is snowing hard here in the Pacific Northwest!

So what will that mean for a momma and her 6 kiddos?

Late start for my school kids

Loads of fun

A large kettle of real hot cocoa

A few hot bubble baths

Lots of wet floors and mittens

Kids leaving the back door open

Girls crying because of snow ball fights they did not want to play in!

Picking up hats, coats and gloves from EVERY room in the house!

It also will mean that a momma will pray all day for the safe return of her hubby!

He drives 1 1/2 hours to work each way to and from work!

 Did I tell you he works outside!

BURR!

 He works very hard and provide well for our family!

I love you honey! :)

Life with many kiddos and a dog so much FUN so worth it ALL.....I wouldn't change a thing!

I have had a head cold for the past 2 days so I will be sipping tea and making a pot of turkey soup!

I will also be digging out my cold/flu kit!

We had our Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday (this last weekend), so I have a ton of left overs to use up!

For dinner we will have a turkey and rice casserole.

When I'm feeling up to it I will post the yummy recipe for my casserole on my other blog and add a link!

What is the weather like in your neck of the woods?

This video was just taken...it is now night time here and

the snow continues to fall hard!

Some folks have lost power!

There is will be NO work or school tomorrow!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Thanksgiving Giveaway!

 I have not had a giveaway in a while, so I thought now would be a great time!

With Thanksgiving just one week away

I'm in a thankful, giving kind of mood!

 I'm very thankful for all my blog friends who come by and say hi! 

and to all my other readers!

One of my blessed readers will win the dishtowel, potholder set!

I just love thanksgiving, don't you?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.....yes even above Christmas!

So here is how to get entered!

Leave me a comment telling me what your favorite Thanksgiving food is.

{it can't be the turkey}

For a second entry

become a follower of my blog {leave a second comment letting me know}

My Thanksgiving giveaway

will close on Sunday November 21 at midnight PST

Stay open until Tuesday November 23 due to lack of entries

{open to US and Canadian residents only}

Happy Thanksgiving!

Peace,Love and Blessings,

Georgiann

{this moment} Gift From Grandma

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments over at Soule Mama's for all to find and see.

Peace and Love,
Georgiann

PS To enter my Thanksgiving dish towel giveaway go here.

{Homemade Lavender Lemonade}

Please follow Jackie to my recipe blog

The Rustic Kitchen
to get this yummy recipe!

Jackie and Olivia made some homemade lavender lemonade!

Its a great drink for the cold/flu season, full of vitamin C.

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

It holds 8 kids, 4 hound dogs and a piggy we stole from the shed.....

If you guessed my California king sized bed you'd be right!

The other morning after my morning tea, checking my favorite blogs....and then posting, it was time to go wake up Nick for school {I don't home school all my kiddos, just my youngest 3}.
Upon arriving upstairs to my room where most nights, 4 of my 6 kiddos sleep. I found our dog Jasper had gone up stairs {he is not allowed up there or on the furniture I might add!}to wait for his sheep to wake!

The 2 youngest (girls) sleep in our bed.
 You can only see Jackie, Olivia is up by the headboard!
Nick and Noah like to sleep next to the bed!
They do all have their own beds if they chose to sleep there. Its their choice!
Of course to my surprise.....there was Jasper perched on the bed!

From the looks of this picture....I need to clean under my bed!
That is yet another post....or maybe not!? lol
I'm likely to find rotten apple cores, banana peels and my long lost shoe under there! :)

Do you know whats under your bed?


Peace Love and Joy,
Georgiann

Look who lost her first tooth!

Jackie lost her tooth....then really lost her tooth!lol

Its at the bottom of Nick and Noah's room!

We don't do the tooth fairy here so she was fine with it!

We have a busy day today so I will have to post again late or possibly tomorrow

about the funny scene I found in my room yesterday.

What do you think I found in my room

when I went to wake Nick up for school and retrieve my camera yesterday morning?

Stay tuned or leave me a comment with a guess!

Peace, Love and Joy,

Georgiann

Getting Back Into The Rhythm

This is my night table in desperate need of a cleaning off!
It has the essentials: a cup of hot herbal tea, a phone, lots and lots of books
and a cute lamp to set the mood and to read by!

The rhythm of our home over the last 2 weeks has been off due to the stomach bug. This bug has slowly inched its way through every member of my family and if you are new to my blog, that is 8 people!

When Jackie (my 5yr old daughter) was sick (Halloween weekend) she was down for 2 days. My poor sweet girl wanted her momma right by her side. So I too, spent most of 2 days snuggled with my girl watching movies up in my room. We still co-sleep so her bed is my bed, but that is yet another post for a different day.

Franklin and The Green Knight,Mary Poppins,The Sound Of Music and Shrek were just a few movie we watched. She slept most of the time or at least tryed too. Her stomach was really hurting! :(

It seems when there are sickies in the house there is always MORE to do but less time to do it! Everything get thrown off, especially if you have a bunch of Little's.

 Its very easy to fall desperately behind,

OR what just feels as though it is!

And even more so, if YOU get struck down by the BUG too, and I don't mean the LOVE BUG!

When sickies are in our house I:

Stand as watchman and servant to my dear

sick children and hubby!

I still have to be mom and cook to the others in the family!

Then there is....

Clean the bathrooms about 3x a day or more.

(after all the messes)

Wipe down door knobs and such.

As the laundry mountain gets higher,

  I do my best to plug along with it.

I like to wash the bedding of the sick plus there are always towels,

then ALL the regular loads of clothes and such.

I keep telling hubby we need another washer/dryer

set so we could have two!

The up side of down is....that I love the smell of clean laundry and there is ALWAYS plenty of it here at my house!

I was sick on Veterans Day.....I could not even move. The only symptoms I had was a mild headache and the chills with low grade fever. My little Jackie made me toast and filled the hot water bottle up for me! She is such a sweetie!

We ALL seem to be better now and its MONDAY.....my cleaning day!

It will feel good to get back into the rhythm of our home.

So for today:

I will do my best to use my time wisely so that I may get the house back in order!

Remember to snuggle my kiddos and read them some stories and from the chapter book we are reading.

Take time to sit and be with GOD and my cup of hot tea!`

Peace, Love and Joy,

Georgiann

PS

The day before I got sick.... I lost my camera!

I thought it was gone for good!

I was going though major withdraws, in a BIG way!

I missed some really cute pictures!

Thankfully......

I FOUND my camera last night under the love seat!

Alleluia!

I did some catching up with taking some photos last night and the camera is up on my night table.

I wanted to post some of them this morning but since we co-sleep

(four of my kiddos are in my room sleeping) I don't want to risk waking them up!

So I will share them tomorrow!

{this momment} kitchen love

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments on Soule Mamas blog for all to find and see.

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Getting Ready For A Homemade Christmas!

As part of our homeschooling and our family values, I like to teach my kiddos to make gifts for family and each other.

So far the kids and I have started with beading wooden necklaces.

 I bought a large bucket of beads at the local Goodwill for only $2.00 over the summer!

 

So yesterday the kiddos and I sat around the living room rug like a bunch of hibernating chickmunks stringing beads! (nuts) 

 We listened to some Christmas songs and talked about our up coming Thanksgiving plans!

{we are all very excited about it}

I will share the plan with you AFTER the Holiday!

 

You can read here what Noah made last year for everyone!

He worked so hard for many days and everyone delighted in the gift he gave.

That reward was priceless.....he realized the true JOY of giving.

What are you all making as gifts for Christmas?

Leave me a comment!

Peace,Love and Joy,

Georgiann

{this Moment} Sisterly Love

Olivia does not use a pacifer in real life...they are just playing "baby"!

 {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments over at Amanda's for all to find and see.

Peace Love and Joy,

Georgiann



The girls soon moved on to play what we call
beauty parlor/paint the play kitchen! lol

PS there were no children hurt in the taking of these photos! lol

I have 6 kiddos I'm used to this kind of thing!



My knitting project and what I'm reading~

Ok...I am a brand new knitter!

No I mean it!

I just learned how to knit a week ago.

I only had a 15 minute lesson with a live person and watched a few YOU TUBE videos!

The library books I checked out were useless for a girl who knew not what she was doing.

I still don't know what I'm doing....I started out with medium size sticks and yarn that was pretty but hard to tell if I have all the yarn when I pulled my stitches through. So I bought JUMBO sticks and different yarn ...similar in color to my first yarn but easier to work with.

I "was" making a scarf but since I casted on so many stitches with BIG sticks and BIG yarn....it waves back and forth like a piece of knitted ribbon Christmas candy. Not to practical....who ever heard of such a thing? Maybe it gets kept in a special box of "this is the first thing I ever knitted"?

I know my neck is kind of fat but don't think it would be to flattering to have a scarf that was 2 feet wide and 10 balls of yarn long. Now that just my opinion! lol {plus can you imagine the cost? It was $8.50 for one thing of yarn!

My knitting project will more than likely be a small baby doll blanket.

I still do not know how to cast off?......where is that nice lady from church when you need her?lol

You can go to Ginny's blog small things to link up and show off what you have been reading and knitting.

Happy Knitting and Reading!

Peace and Love,

Georgiann

Sick again....

My little Jackie missed our Pizza and Candy night on Oct.31.
She was quarantined upstairs in my room with there Tinkerbell Fairy Movie.
My little princess was so sad! Momma and Daddy were sad for her!

We thought our baby girl was better, but after a day full of eating soup then playing in the backyard with all the other kids, my Jackie got sick again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night when it came time for me to go pick up Noah from Cub Scouts
 {I usually stay for scouts but all the other kids were not home to watch the girls and I had dinner to make}
Jackie announced just as we are getting into the truck...."my stomach hurts, I think I will be sick" ;(
I gave her a blanket for her lap, just in case she was to get sick.
We picked up Noah{I couldn't just leave him there at Scouts} and made it home when her whole days food came flying out onto the front lawn! EEEKKKK
Well most of it.....the rest came about an hour later.
My poor baby was crying and doubled over.

Don't let Jasper out!

So the HAPPY GIRL in the above photo has gone away for now;(
We will be taking it slow today.....so stop in at my comment box and say hi!

Please keep her in your prayers if you would?

Peace and Love,
Georgiann

A Misty Autumn Morning

Warm pumpkin pancakes
on a cold autumn morning
 are a favorite here at the
 Bluebird Cottage~

I do love these fall mornings....but when the sun peaks though, I am reminded that I need to finish pulling weeds and getting the garden bed ready for spring.

There are only a few more weeks of sun here where we I live.....or so it will feel like

when the rains come none stop!

Jackie is feeling better today...thanks for all your prayers!

Peace, Love and Joy,

Georgiann

Pizza and Candy....oh my~

Just because WE do not trick-or-treat does not mean we don't hand out candy or eat a boat load!
We only had about 8 kids come around trick-or-treating.

Many of you know....we do not go trick or treating any more {its been 3yrs}
We now stay in and make homemade pizzas and eat loads of candy {I buy}.
We watch movies and spend time together as a large family of 8!
My older kiddos are also welcome to have friends over....no costumes!
My hubby also buys some dry ice for the older boys to have fun with!

Jackie had been waiting all week for our "special" night home!
She had been counting down the days on her calender.....then as we got out of the van at the store to get a few groceries.......
Jackie barfed,barfed.....then barfed some more on the ground outside the van!
At least she waited until we got out of the car!
I took her in the store and cleaned her up.....and hurried through the store to get my shopping done!
I know....bad momma! :(
(she was feeling better after she got sick)
My poor girl seemed fine for a few hours and then got sick again....and again ALL night long!
She did not get any pizza or candy last night.
She spend the evening in quarantine up in my room watching her Tinkerbell movie.

We did save her a bunch of candy!



Nick with his cup of dry ice!



What is your favorite candy?
I love Reese's and Almond Joy!

Noah making his pizza!


I pray everyone had a safe night last night!

Today {Nov.1} is All Saints day....a day to remember the Saints and those whom have died!

Well.....after a long sleepless night with my sickie, I will head over to the coffee pot for a second cup, then go check on her.
(most days I drink Chai tea with milk.....
I was using soy Silk but switched to cow milk a few weeks ago after
 reading the ill affects of SOY on fertility.)

I have my usual Monday chores....mountains of laundry, sinks full of dishes.
But its all worth it......I also get to read stories,play dollies and home school my kiddos!

Have a wonderful day~
{we have a storm brewing here...the wind is really kickin' up!}

I think we will have chile{in the crockpot} for dinner tonight!

Peace,Love and Joy,
Georgiann