It's not often that you have 10 tons of topsoil delivered to supplement the horrid Virginia clay in the garden, and I really couldn't *not* suggest the kids go out and play on it, particularly since it happened to be Earth Day...

Elizabeth (3.5) insisted on wearing her hair in a single pigtail, and cared not a bit about getting her pale pink leggings dirty.

When Having Poorly-Behaved Children is Your Apostolate

They sure are cute, aren't they? The little monkeys...

Adorable, ridiculously smart, and stubborn as mules. They do so well behaving almost everywhere we go - the library, the playground, other people's houses, the grocery store...

Then Sunday rolls around. And their behavior is an entirely different story.

All the Pregnancy Things {7 Quick Takes}

I suffer from serious over-curiosity when it comes to other people's pregnancies. Why? I don't even know. It's a problem. But I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one with this problem...

So in the event that you want answers to all the pregnancy questions I've been asked so far (and some I haven't!), here are some details:

(Oh wait, did you miss the announcement? I'm pregnant! Baby #6, due around Thanksgiving!)

--1--

How are you feeling?

Not so hot? Obnoxiously, the stomach bug that was going through the family hit right after that positive pregnancy test, so I had a couple weeks of feeling awful before actual morning sickness set in. SO NOT FAIR. But my morning sickness hasn't been totally horrible since I was pregnant with John Paul, in part because my girl pregnancies have been easier and also because of better nutrition & supplements. Plus ain't nobody got time to lie on the couch all day with 5 other kids running around!

Mostly I'm just exhausted - I crash by like, 7 every night and am often asleep by 8, before the big kids... Which is made possible by the fact that Andrew and my mom do a TON. We knew that #6 would need to be postponed for quite a while longer than this if we stayed in our old house, since I was really struggling to keep up with things, but having my mom around obviously makes a HUGE difference!

15/52: Family Band

When you're a former music teacher, you end up with a lot of odds and ends from undergrad & your own personal stash... And then the kids find them.

So they made a "band" - Elizabeth hit the drum sticks together and occasionally banged on the broken drum (which still sounds just fine, so I'm not worrying about replacing the head...).

If I Title This Post "An Announcement," You Probably Know What It Means

"Everybody smile and say, 'Mom's pregnant!!!'"

"Mom's pregnaaaaaant!!!"

14/52

Elizabeth (3) doesn't nap anymore but she clearly still needs it... Every once in a while we'll look over at the couch around 4 in the afternoon and see that she's quietly fallen asleep!

Growing, Learning, Baking {PHFR}

{pretty}

Our lilacs are so close to being in full bloom! We have four huge overgrown bushes that are going to get pruned HARD once they're done blooming because they've been neglected for who knows how long... If only they weren't so haphazardly placed on the land (like all the rest of our plants, apparently...)!

Crowd-Pleasing Turkey Chili

The secret ingredient is beer.

There, did that pique your interest?

What began as a way to use up skunky beer ended up being the most delicious turkey chili - the kind my pickiest eater actually wanted a SECOND helping of! 

And since we seem to be experiencing Winter 2.0, what better way to embrace the chilly weather than to cook up a giant pot of this delicious chili? It makes enough for a large-ish family with plenty of leftovers to share! I love taking half of it to new moms or friends who could use a night off from cooking, but it also freezes well and reheats beautifully if you just want to get a little freezer cooking done!

13/52: From the Cutting Room Floor

We've been victims of the stomach bug that keeps on giving - I'm finally over round 2 and I *think* all the kids are on the upswing, but wow. That was a doozy. And as a result, there weren't a whole lot of pictures taken, so here are some from the past few months that didn't get posted:

Cecilia (5) invented an amazing game involving getting Peter to sit on a blanket while she dragged it around on the floor. He thought it was HILARIOUS, but he thought it was even more hilarious to crawl off the blanket so that she would get upset... Little instigator!