belated birthday blogpost

It's been a crazy month at The Rice Ranch.

So far, we have had : my birthday, two of my nieces' birthdays,  Koa's adoption, Kenzie's birthday, Josiah's birthday, Monique's baby shower, and the last of Tyler and Jonathan's basketball games.

Still to come : Jason's birthday and my brother's birthday (same day), Sam's two brothers' birthdays, Jonathan and Caleb's birthdays, Monique's birthday, my mom's birthday, Sam's birthday, and the birth of my brother's seventh baby.

Oh, and Saint Patrick's day ! hello, green clover pancakes.

As I was saying, it's been a busy month.

I think I post this apology a little too often : but if you have emailed me recently with a blog request, question, story, etc. and I didn't respond... can you re-send it ? I have a bad habit of checking my email from my phone, and if I accidentally click on something and don't actually read it, it appears as read in my inbox. And I am a total right brain thinker. Or is it left ? Whichever side works like this - out-of-sight-out-of-mind. That's me. SO if something isn't highlighted in yellow, or typed in bold or written on a piece of paper and hung on my fridge... I'm doomed. Please forgive me ! And re-send.

Speaking of this failure of my brain to recognize anything not four inches from my face as important - I forgot about these photos from last Friday. I went into my Lightroom program to see what pictures I hadn't edited, and I found this little pile of pics from Kenzie's 22nd birthday. It was only a week ago, but still.. I meant to post these right after Koa's adoption post and forgot. So here we go.

A Belated Birthday Blogpost

We celebrated Mackenzie's 22nd birthday with the dinner of her choice : homemade wontons by Caleb and stir-fry by mom, topped off by Snicker's cake. Yum.

Kenzie went to Portland with a bunch of her friends the day after her birthday, so this dinner party was pretty low-key. Except we had all just attended Koa's adoption ceremony at the county courthouse, and we were still floating on clouds nine, ten, and 452 (why is cloud nine considered so special anyway ?? anybody know ?? anybody ... ??) so ANHYOOT... it was a pretty special night.

One of these days when we can afford it (after we buy an actual bed frame for our king sized bed, purchased a year ago) I am going to invest in a table that we can all sit at. I'm not sure what kind of table we can comfortably fit 18 people around, without ditching the living room furniture (turned around for dinner to fit some little people), but if I find one, it's happening. I thought about calling Michelle Duggar to find out where they got their nifty king-sized table, but I don't have her number.

Soooo.... for now, this one will have to do...

(insert sarcastic comments in the comment section by my brother, who will notice all the funny facial expressions in the background, rather than the little cutie pie and his big sister right up front.)

Kenzie wanted a baseball jersey for her birthday, because she is simple and sweet like that. And also- watching her favorite nephew officially become a Rice on her birthday was pretty much the best present EVUH. She got some yummy Trader Joe's snacks and a cool OSU shirt from her dad that says "Don't Do Quack" as well. #GoBeavs

We celebrated the events of the day - an adoption and a birthday-  in typical Rice fashion: lots of music, laughter, strange jokes, sarcasm, sports discussion, cell phone checking (Jason's area of expertise) and watching funny videos on youtube.

Oh yeah, and stick horse limbo... did I mention that ??

...and dancing. Always dancing.

So there you have it.

A Happy Belated-Blog-Post Birthday to our dear Mackenzie Elizabeth...  we love you, Kenz !!!


***************************

p.s. There is a FABULOUS giveaway going on over at my friend Deanna's blog. Tons of darling Etsy items up for grabs  - don't miss it !!

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New Born Baby

Koa : How Great Is Our God

Once upon a time, on a sunny day in July, a beautiful baby boy was born. There was a call made to our daughter-in-love ... this baby needed a temporary home. Coincidentally - or providentially - she was already there at the hospital, just doors down from this sweet little baby. She had just watched the birth of another beautiful boy - her nephew - just hours before. In fact, her sister wrote her a card the night before, thanking her ahead of time for being there for the birth of her son...and promising her that her "baby sent from the stars" would soon be in her arms. She knew that God would be faithful to answer the prayers of so many ...

It would be two days until our son and his wife could go pick up their new foster baby from the hospital. But because of the circumstances surrounding the birth of their son - because they loved him like a son from the first moment they held him - he would stay in the nursery with his (soon to be ) cousin. And surprisingly - or providentially - our daughter-in-love's mom was able to visit her other grandson in the nursery ... and peek over at the beautiful baby boy who was born on the very same day. Baby Brock had some blood sugar issues, which required him to stay in the nursery ... my husband (a pastor) was called in to pray for him. And wonderfully -  or providentially - he was able to peek over at the beautiful baby boy who would bear his name.

So what are the odds that these "twin cousins" would be born on the same day.. at the same hospital .. to sisters who are best friends ? And what are the odds that Baby Brock would require time in the nursery, allowing for grandparents to view the other baby boy - the one who would become their grandson ?

Through the course of a year, it became obvious that Baby K would not be going home to live with his birth mother. Jason and Naomi brought him home from the hospital, and poured all the love into him they could. It wasn't difficult - in fact, they fell more in love with him as each day passed. His cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents did too ... nobody wanted to think about a time when Baby K would leave our family.

As foster care goes, there were ups and downs.. too many to count. There was talk about Baby K joining his birth mother, and for a long time his birth father began the process as well, from across the country, to regain rights to his son. Although he'd never met Baby K, he wanted to know that he would be raised by people who loved him like their own. It was impossible for him to know or believe this, living so far away.

And as each day passed, and Baby K grew older, the thought of losing him became more unbearable. Jason and Naomi did everything they could to accommodate the court's desire to unite children with their birth families... but it was breaking their hearts.

Because sometimes families are made a different way. Sometimes, the things that make a child your own are more than cells and blood and DNA... sometimes the things that make a family are the million little things that make up our days : the morning kisses and smiles over breakfast... the playtime routines, and nap time snuggles... the bedtimes rituals, and singing, and prayers, and all the firsts : cooing and rolling over and teething and sitting up and crawling and pulling to stand and standing alone and walking and playing ... and saying those first words - mama, and dada. Because they were his mama and daddy, and it was so evident to everyone who knew this little family. He was their son, and as time went by, they prayed and prayed, and prayed again, that he would always remain so.

There was talk - a plan - of a plane trip to New York. The case worker didn't think Baby K would handle that well... he was old enough to know that his whole world was changing, but not old enough to understand why. The case worker suggested Jason make the trip with Baby K, and she would join them to ensure everything went smoothly.

Can I tell you that there were more than a few midnight prayers said by all  - countless nights where sleep was impossible, imagining that plane trip, and what would lie beyond ... life without Baby K ?

Life without his beautiful little smile, his sweet little voice yelling, "Nana and Papa's house !!" whenever our children brought him over to play ? Life without his cousins, who loved him fiercely and didn't understand why anyone would want to change the way things were ?

There were midnight prayers, and daylight prayers, and 24 hour prayer chains, and corporate prayers, and church prayers, and prayers in our cars, and prayers on our knees, and prayers where sometimes all we could do was fall on our pillows and cry - cry hard out to God for a miracle for Baby K. We wanted what was best for Baby K, and we believed with all our hearts that best meant right where he was... with the only parents he had ever known. It's hard sometimes, to pray for what you want - but still trust God that He knows what is best. Because sometimes what we want is not always best, and sometimes life just doesn't bring you to the place you thought you were meant to be.

And so we prayed.  We prayed for God's will, and for His best, and we prayed that our hearts wouldn't be broken in the process. We prayed that Baby K would know -wherever he was - that he was loved, and loved fiercely.

One day, last June - just hours before I got the news that my beloved dad had stepped into eternity - a hearing was held for Baby K. Unexplainably - or providentially -  in the middle of proceedings to unite Baby K with his birth mother, she changed her mind. She told her lawyer and the court that she wanted Baby K to remain with the family who had raised him - the only family he knew. She said this would be the best thing for her son - to be raised by the ones he called Mommy and Daddy.

And the next day, coincidentally - or providentially - his birth father called from New York. Without any previous indication that he was willing to relinquish his rights as a parent, he told the courts that this was just what he wanted to do. He said he trusted that Baby K was exactly where he needed to be - that he knew he would be safe and loved by the people who had loved him from the day he was born.



Miracle of miracles of miracles.


So this little four minute video that Tyler stayed up til midnight with me putting together ... these four minutes are the finishing touches on a story created by God.

It began two and a half years ago on a sunny day in July... and although it had twists and turns, and faith-building chapters and heart wrenching plot twists, it ended in beauty and grace... on a sunny day in March.

In fact, it was March  the 7th, which is coincidentally - or providentially - the birthday of Baby K's beloved Auntie Kenzie.

And without further ado, here is Koa Benjamin Mahalen Rice's adoption day story...

How great is our God !!!





Koa: How Great Is Our God from patti rice on Vimeo.

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New Born Baby

gifts of grace

My heart is so full right now.

Yesterday our grandson officially became a Rice. More on that Monday- because I want to give his mommy a chance to blog about that amazing day before I do. But I will say this- besides the births of our children, I can't remember feeling so happy, so full of joy, and so aware of the grace of God, as yesterday.

It was a beautiful day.

And right now, I'm still floating on that feeling. I have so much to say about the grace of God - about His love for us, and His desire to give good gifts to us. I'll write more on Monday about it, because it is so obvious in the big things... but it's present in the small things as well.

There is a beautiful, a present, a tangible grace of God in a thousand little scenes played out every day in our lives.

Beautiful - it goes beyond the ordinary. It overrides everything in the natural and creates an extraordinary image for us of who God is ... if we pay attention.

Present - it's happening right now. The grace of God isn't something we have to wait for ... it's here, right now, waiting for us to receive it. And He so wants to give it to us.

God is pouring out His grace on us every.single.day.

It may be in big ways, like Koa's adoption ceremony. Or it may be in the tiniest details... in the gifts that He gives to us through our children. The curve of a little pinkie, the wisps of hair that frame her face, the tenderness she shows her babies... I see gifts so clearly right here, right now, gifts of grace.

Tangible- you can reach out and grab it if you want to. It's within your grasp. The grace of God- His blessing, His forgiveness, His favor - it's available for you, if you ask.

And as you go, spread this message : the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Matthew 10:7

Did you catch that ? It's at hand. It's attainable.

Today I'm thanking Jesus for the big gifts, and the little ones as well.

Lord, help me to live life with my eyes wide open, help me to see the miracles that are happening right here, right now, and to recognize your love and grace in each one.


Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 
James 1:17

“The whole of the life -- even the hard -- is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole. These are new language lessons, and I live them out. There is a way to live the big of giving thanks in all things. It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing. The moments will add up.”

~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

Happy Saturday. xo

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New Born Baby

How We Do Things at The Rice Ranch

I've had quite a few requests recently, for a blogpost on how we run our household.

I've said this before, but I always hesitate a bit before writing "how-to" posts... because I don't feel like I'm an expert on most of what I write about.

I may have some things that have worked for our family in regards to parenting, marriage, housecleaning, homeschooling etc... but that's all I'm offering. I've read some really great books on all of these subjects, and listened to some fabulous sermons on lots of these issues (except homeschooling) as well. Those are the people you should really listen to: the experts.

Also, I hope this post doesn't feel too preachy, if you know what I mean. What works for our family on a day-to-day basis might look completely different than what works for yours. We have different dynamics here than a lot of families, and things even looked a lot different years ago for us, when all of my kids were under the age of ten.

And here's another all-purpose disclaimer on posts like this: we're a work in progress. We are constantly - and I do mean constantly- upgrading our system at The Rice Ranch. Tweaking things, adding things, calling a family meeting and completely overhauling things ... we have not arrived.

And we know it.

Soooooo, with all of those disclaimers (geeze louise I make a lot of them around here), here is my handy dandy post on How We Do Things at The Rice Ranch.

Are you ready ??

Let's go.

Most mornings here start like this.

Pretty slow, sometimes with a few early risers, and always with a lot of yawns.

I try to get up before the kids do, to get my prayer and Bible reading in before the day gets past me. This does not always happen- but it is my goal. I am such a scatterbrained kind of a person, that having that little window of time to fix my thoughts on God and give Him time to speak to my heart helps me so much. I'm also a big : worrier, procrastinator, and scatterbrain (did I say that already?) and I get distracted easily...I'm terrible at prioritizing too. (Gee, and maybe I struggle with a little bit of self loathing at times ?? ) So with all these great personality/character traits at work, I really, really, REALLY need the help of the Lord to run this ship.

I'm a wreck without it.

Typically before I come downstairs, Caleb delivers my tea to me. He is usually (but not always) one of the first kids up, and he has made my tea for me for years. I am not a coffee drinker, but I do need my tea. Read : you don't want to talk to me in the morning before my tea. Jesus, then tea, in that order, is the only way I can function in the morning. Take one of those away, and there will not be many pretty pictures to post here on A Perfect Lily. Trust me on this. World without end, amen.

Caleb, teaching Hayden how to high-five. Part of our homeschooling curriculum for 9 month olds.

Last summer we changed many things about the way we eat at The Rice Ranch. We still have a long way to go, because Sam and the kids would have revolted and ordered a new wife/mom if I implemented everything I want to do over night. (I know that by .. .ahem ... trial and error.) One of the Big Changes we've made has to do with cereal.

The reason I capitalized the B and C in those words, is because that is probably how you will hear my children refer to their lives when they are older. Before Cereal (BC) and after the Big Change.

"Oh yes, that was 2012 BC, when Captain Crunch and our family were on a first name basis."

That's what they will say, I'm sure.


So NOW  - 2014 AC -  breakfast has many components to it. And most of them involve preparation by yours truly. There may be yogurt and granola, fresh fruit, ham or bacon or sausage (organic and nitrate free when we can afford it!) ten grain pancakes, fruit and or/ vegetable smoothies, potatoes, oatmeal, or the occasional bag of bagels... but cereal is now a Treat. With a capital T.

More on the reasons why in a future post, but I said all that to say : breakfast is a big deal now, and I love it. I love spending time with my kids in the morning while I prepare things and they devour things, because it is a great opportunity for me to connect with them before our day gets too busy.

I mean, look at that adorable face right there. Who wouldn't want to spend an hour each morning conversing over the stove with a crazy little guy like that ? Better than Wheaties, I tell ya.

So after breakfast, we attack our Morning Chores. I chose to capitalize those words as well, because they are such a sacred part of our daily ritual, that they just deserves caps. We do not do anything else after breakfast before Morning Chores commence and end.

Here's just a glimpse into what Morning Chores look like :

Caleb, attacking his zone.

I realize right here that there will be those who assume I am a slave driver, as a parent.

You would be right in that assumption.

However... this is what works for us.

There are too many bodies living under one roof to let things go for a few days around here.

Take for instance, a pair of shoes left lying around. If every member of the family left a pair of shoes on the floor, instead of properly placing them on the shoe rack in the garage, there would be ELEVEN pairs of shoes scattered throughout the house. And if every person in our house left just three objects lying around - a pencil, a library book, a jacket, what have you - that would 33 items spread throughout our house on a given day. Left out over the course of a few days, we would have over one hundred items to step over, making for one giant MESS of a house.

I can't function like that.

Maybe you can, and that's your way of coping - having it all spread out in front of you, so that you actually see the jacket you need, lying carelessly on the couch, or the library book peeking out from under the chair in the corner, just waiting for you when you need it.

I'm just not like that.

A place for everything, and everything in its place. That's how we roll here at The Rice Ranch.

But lest you think this means a house that is spotless, one that is at all times free of any debris or dust or dirt, here's another disclaimer:

I just jumped up from the computer to finger-swipe the inside of Hayden's mouth, because he was choking on a leftover chocolate chip from this morning. (Hello, pancakes with chocolate chips! You are not much better than Captain Crunch for my children. BUT, at least you had some protein powder sprinkled in, to redeem you a teensy bit.)

Where was I ???

Oh yes... Morning Chores.

Here's the master plan for how things are supposed to go...

Make sure you read that correctly : the way things are supposed to go.

It is rare - RARE - that every single thing on that master plan is done. In fact, it's safe to say that hell might freeze over before we actually hit every goal we have for the day. But we have a goal. There will be looooots of deviations from that goal. Josiah might come over for an hour one morning to shoot hoops with the kids, because he works a lot, and it's one of the few times he can make it over here during the day. So we drop everything to give the kids some time with their older brother. Daddy might come home for breakfast, and we all take a bit longer to savor a rare morning with him home... or someone wakes up sick and a trip to the doctor throws the whole schedule off... or any number of things conspiring against The Master Plan...

But we do have a goal.

We aim, and lots of times we miss.

But having these guidelines hanging on a dry erase board in the laundry room for everyone to see, has helped us all to regain focus when we lose it, and at least have some general idea of what we need to get done each day.

Hayden, emptying the dishwasher. (Note: all silverware was removed from before he climbed in there. Promise.)

So here's the nitty gritty, for those of you who asked specifically for a blogpost about How We Do It.


Each child in our family has a zone that they are responsible for cleaning. We think of this as a "divide and conquer" strategy for getting our house in order. Rather than Mommy cleaning everything, which would mean zero time for teaching, cooking, showering, and breathing- we assign zones.

After breakfast, as I said above, every child attacks their zone. These were established during a family meeting, and everyone gave input as to what they felt they could reasonably handle. The younger children may need help with their zones, and most days I go check on what they've done and maybe help them finish their job completely. Or, I may give some pointers on how they can finish their zones themselves ( for example: telling Abbi to clean behind the toilet and not just in front of it, etc.) But for the most part, they each own their zone.

Our three teenagers are responsible for cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast. They empty the dishwasher, load it, wipe down counters, put food away, sweep the floor, and empty the trash if needed.

Jackson pushes in barstools, or straightens chairs at the table. He also organizes the shoe rack in the garage, makes his bed, brushes his teeth, puts his jammies away, and gets dressed for the day. At age seven, his responsibilities as far as Morning Chores go are minimum.

Abigail is in charge of cleaning the upstairs bathroom every day. She cleans the counters, mirrors, sink and floor, and makes sure towels are hung up nicely. On Saturdays she deep cleans everything, but throughout the week she maintains. She makes her bed, straightens up her room, and vacuums her bedroom floor.

(All children must make their beds, brush their teeth, get dressed for the day and put jammies away, etc.)

Noah is in charge of the downstairs bathroom, which is only a half bath. He also takes turns with Abbi sweeping the downstairs and swiffering it (hallway, bathroom, dining room and living room...we have all wood floors downstairs.) He vacuums the bedroom that he shares with his brothers. It's a gigantic room, and we have several sets of bunk beds, in case you wondered how we fit five boys in one room!

Tyler vacuums the area rug in the family room, as well as our bedroom ... Jonathan does the stairs in the front of the house... Caleb does the stairs at the back of the house... Abigail vacuums the landing upstairs ... yes, we are neurotic about vacuuming every day. It takes each child about five minutes, and it saves tons on carpet cleaning bills. And our carpets always look nice :)

After Morning Chores we homeschool (details on that in a future post) and then we break for lunch. The older kids help me clean up, and then the little ones go down for a nap.

Again  - this does not always go according to schedule. Sometimes Hayden falls asleep before lunch and doesn't need a second nap. Sometimes Lily wakes up late, and doesn't go down for a nap til 3:30 (she's waiting for me to put her down right now!) But at some point my two youngest take naps, and this happens sometime after breakfast and before dinner :)

Throughout the day we have regular "quick pick up" sessions, if it seems things are getting out of hand. In fact, my kids are generally the ones to enforce this. If they see things are getting messy, one of them will usually ask - "Mom, can we just do a quick pick up of the house ? I can't function when things are like this."

What can I say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I always have kids helping me in the kitchen for dinner - it's usually Caleb and Abigail, but all kids do help with dinner prep in one form or another. Whether that's setting the table or getting drinks for people, or moving food to the dining room - we're all doing something to help, so that we can sit down and have a nice dinner together.

Our lives are pretty busy with church, and jobs, and sports, and a million other things, so every night is different as far as what we're doing....

Wednesday nights we go to church !

 ...but at the end of each day we always put the house back in order. The nice thing is that because of all our quick pick up's throughout the day, this doesn't take much time. Tyler is in charge of making sure the garage (a big playroom/music room/wii room) gets picked up, and everyone else helps make sure clothes go in the hamper, teeth are brushed, and bedrooms are clean. I'm usually folding laundry and putting it away while the kids get ready for bed, and Daddy always prays with everyone before we go to sleep.

So there you have it.

Zones, a master plan, Morning Chores, quick pick ups.... this is How We Do Things at The Rice Ranch.

I'd love to hear how your family does things in the comment section... and if you've blogged about it in the past, leave a link !

Happy Thursday :)

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New Born Baby

Song For An Eleventh Child

It's Monday, which means my thoughts are usually a hodgepodge, reflective of the state of our house after the weekend. It's not that everything comes completely undone- we make a huge effort to keep things flowing on both Saturday and Sunday, so that Monday doesn't smack us all upside the head ...

but still, it's Monday.


The kids are (for the most part) done with school today, which means Abigail still has to do her spelling, Tyler has to get on the computer (because he worked all morning), and Jackson probably still needs to do his math. They're all on recess right now -playing ping pong, baking cupcakes and shooting hoops - which is what I love about homeschooling. When mom needs a break, she just yells "RECESS" and kids go flying in eight different directions. No questions asked.

By the way, the pictures above were taken a few weeks ago. They just fit in with my mention of cupcake baking, so I inserted them in. The real cup cake baking going down right now is filling my home with such an amazing aroma, pictures wouldn't do it justice.

Sam is hosting a Corvallis Chamber of Commerce breakfast tomorrow - as a businessman he attends these fairly regularly. He comes home telling me about the yummy goodies that he devoured while pretending to listen to speeches about products and services and the like. Yeah, I'm onto those people - Chamber of Commerce meetings are all about the food.

SO, as tomorrow's host, he is providing 65 cupcakes and beverages to all of Corvallis's commerce people (or whatever they're called) and guess who is doing all that baking ??

You would be correct if you said Caleb and Abigail ... our resident bakers. As I type, they are whipping up 65 of these glorious beings:

* Maple Bacon Cupcakes with Maple Syrup Frosting

* Espresso Cupcakes - half with Whipped Cream Frosting and the other half with Creamy Nutella Frosting

* Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting


They came up with the menu themselves, and I am the lucky taste tester. Drool. It's a tough job but someone has to do it. We wouldn't want any Chamber People turning down Sam's business because of a less-than-scrumptious cupcake, now would we ? So here I sit, with Creamy Nutella frosting on my fingers and some carrot cake batter dripping down my chin... just savoring the fact that I have several more recipes to "test."

Life is rough.

In other news... I turned 46 yesterday.

From here on out I will be counting backwards each year, so if you send me a card for future birthdays, please remember that fact, okay ? Can't wait to be the big Four Five next year ... and when I enter my thirties again, look out- because I never did the whole midlife crisis thing when I was there the first time. I think it's worth a shot the second time around, don't you ?

No birthday pics of me, because I was having a bad hair day yesterday, but here's a cute one from a few Saturdays ago...

... oh wait, I was behind the camera on that one.  My bad.  But LOOK at that little cutie pictured above !

 Sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this isn't a dream- I had not one but TWO babies in my forties. Talk about happiness.

When I was in my twenties I always dreamed about having a baby in my forties- I saw friends who had babies later in life, and they just looked so relaxed as parents. It seemed they were so much more laid back than I was in my twenties as a new mom... if their child didn't sleep through the night or start eating solids at "the right time", who cared ? They were just enjoying their baby, and they didn't really enter into the whole parenting competition thing.

And now that I'm here, I get it. Hayden is nine and a half months old and just now wanting to sort-of-maybe-possibly try baby food. That might have freaked me out a bit with Jason and Josiah. After all, so-and-so's baby was eating three different kinds of pureed vegetables at six and a half months, and what was wrong with my child ?!?

Because these were the kinds of things that kept me up at night in the early days of my parenting.

Was I wrong to trust my instincts on letting my babies nurse when they wanted to, or was Sister Schedule right to make sure her baby ate precisely every three hours on the dot ? Would my baby turn into a co-dependent adult because I let him stay sleeping soundly in my bed with me at eleven months, rather than wearily trudging back and forth between the nursery and my bedroom ... or was Sister Sleep Through The Night going to produce the next president of the United States thanks to her diligence to be Baby Wise and more.

You want to watch a brawl break out, just ask a group of moms about their opinions on breastfeeding vs. bottle, co-sleeping vs. crying-it-out, circumcision vs.... not...  Forget Republican vs. Democrat, the real cultural divide in America is whether or not to immunize, or when.

And don't even get me started on potty training - I lost count of how many mommy wars were waged amongst my circle of 20something friends over precisely what age was too old to still be in diapers.


Today I have a whole different philosophy ... because they all eventually get potty trained, and I don't know any 17 year olds who are still slipping into bed with their parents ... so what's the rush ? I just want to enjoy this time in my baby's life when he is completely dependent on me for everything.

There will come a day when he does all those things on his own, and I'll be wondering to myself - so what was the big deal about co-sleeping, anyway ? If my toddler still wanted to crawl in bed with me at three in the morning, was it that crucial that he learned to sleep solo at age two ? And so what if a few of my kids were three and-a-gasp-half before they made it out of diapers ? Before you know it, they are living life on their own, without even a thought to what age they started solids... just blink, and the baby days are gone.

Well, recess is over, and that little charmer with the bald head and twinkle in his eye- the one who kept me up late last night and woke me up early this morning and is wanting to nurse for the 26th time today.... he's calling my name again.

I'l end with this poem, and although it's titled Song For A Fifth Child, I think it works for the eleventh as well.


Mother, oh mother, come shake out your cloth!
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby, loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.)

Oh, cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust, go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby. And babies don't keep.

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New Born Baby

do you believe in miracles??

...because a very BIG one just happened for Luke.

24 hours after the giveaway was posted, and he's fully funded.

Because Jesus is awesome like that.

THANK YOU to all who helped spread the word via twitter, blogs, FB and IG .

Happy tears here at The Rice Ranch tonight !!

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New Born Baby