The other day as I was driving Haven to school she asked “Mom, am I allergic to elephants?”. I love her questions, they never disapoint.

   For me, maternity clothes were hard. I never wore any maternity clothes with my first three pregnancies, really, I just didn’t fit into them. I carried my babies very long, tucked in, and not much tummy growing outward (not anymore though!), so there wasn’t as much tummy to fill out the maternity panels and the swingy tops. And the pants were never long enough anyways, the inseams were always too short for me so I ended up in floods. (Also when I was pregnant with Dylan most maternity clothes consisted of shirts with sailor collars, big polka dot bows, or the word ”baby” with an arrow pointing down, so there weren’t many appealing choices.) But when I was pregnant with my fourth baby, everything changed. All of a sudden I couldn’t bear anything touching my waist at only 6 weeks along, I was of course showing a whole lot sooner than ever before, and it wasn’t long until I finally got the round tummy growing straight out that I had never had before.

   So I finally began to try and find some wearable maternity clothes. It was hard, and I never really found very much clothing that I liked with that prenancy. Thankfully though I did a lot better when I was pregnant with Mathes since I discovered how much I liked Old Navy and Gap’s line of maternity clothes, and I also discovered ebay was a valuable resource for getting said clothes. Ever since then the majority of my maternity clothes have been almost exclusively Old Navy with some Gap here and there since they just always seem to not only have great stuff but they tend to have “size continuity” which means that I can buy any of their maternity clothing in one size and it will fit. And a lot of their non-maternity styles are also carried over to their maternity stuff so you can actually look good AND feel cute! Rare when pregnant, I know.

   I also have a hard time finding jeans and pants long enough for me, maternity or otherwise. In order for my jeans to fit lengthwise, I have to have an inseam of at least 32 inches, and Old Navy and Gap are the only ones that seem to have that as a standard on a lot of their pants. Korby, I know you share my pain on this one! (also, I am dying to try a pair of Old Navy & Gap’s newer “roll panel” jeans since I have heard you can wear them from months 0-9, so if I get a pair I will surely post all about it) And I have also been seeing those belly bands you can wear for nursing or pregnancy and they’re supposed to be great. I’m going to make myself some when I get some time, so I’ll let you know if I like them or not.

   So I’m not a “brand name” snob I’m just happy to have finally found a brand that makes some nice maternity clothes that not only are cute and comfortable, but I’m not wearing flood pants with a huge billowing tent for a shirt. For me Motherhood tends to run very short in the pants and skirts, but some of their shirts are OK, but they too sometimes run a little short in length. But I have discovered a fun little trick to remedy that whether pregnant or not. I have a bunch of maternity tanks from Old Navy that are super stretchy and extra long so I can layer them under any t-shirt of mine and it gives me the coverage I want and it’s also a fun layered look. That way I can bend over and pick up my babies, or their toys that they drop and know that I’m not giving someone behind me an eyeful of “plumber”!

   So tell me 1- Which is your favorite maternity brand and why? 2- What’s your favorite maternity panel? 3- Do you have any maternity clothing secrets? 4- What is your one “must have” maternity item? My answers are:  1- Old Navy/Gap since they have long inseams and they run true to size 2- It used to be side panel, but I really want to try the new roll panel 3- Maternity tank tops for layering. Love ‘em! 4- Black, short sleeve, v-neck, fitted maternity t-shirt.

   Since we knew it would be really hard to try and throw a surprise baby shower for Melanie, we decided to tell her we were giving her one, but we just told her it was going to be in October, and at Heidi’s house. In reality it was planned for Saturday the 23rd the whole time and we had it at Mammy’s wardhouse. Heidi, Barbara and Carrie planned it, and Bobbie, Korby and Mammy were enlisted to help carry it all out, and I must say it turned out fantastically! And of course the games were a HUGE success, as they always are, and the food was really yummy too.

   Melanie’s family and friends were all there for her and we all had a really great time, and Melanie made out like a bandit with all of the baby loot! Afterwards, when the presents were all loaded up into Melly’s car, they filled and I mean filled the entire back seat, almost to the roof. We all had a really good time watching her open all of her gifts and seeing everything for her and the baby. Holly knit the most beautiful bee blanket ever, and everyone couldn’t get over how cute and soft it was. It was like a soft fuzzy little bumblebee. It was a huge hit, which of course means that now everyone is going to be inundating Holly with bee blanket requests, it was seriously gorgeous!

   And Aunt Susan gave her the most amazing womb sounds bear that a lot of us had heard of but thought maybe it was a gimmick. Well, let me assure it’s not! We tried it out on Gray when he was a little fussy and he instanlty slumped over alseep in Barbara’s arms, and if we moved the bear away from earshot, he began to stir until we brought it back and he went out like a light again. We all agreed it was a must-have gift, and I know I want one for sure! And the amount of clothing Melly got was enourmous, and so many adorable little outfits! You can never have too many little clothes with all of the spitting up, diaper accidents, and messes they make, they can go through 3 outfits in one sitting and not even bat an eye.

   For my gift to Melly, I gave her my favorite one to give, and one I even make up for myself when I have a baby. I gave her a cute basket filled with essentials so she can pick the basket up and carry it with her upstairs or down, wherever she might need it, and always have the baby stuff nearby for her convenience. For Melly’s basket there was hand sanitizer, granola bars (nursing moms need a little boost), sleeper, hat & booties, thermometer, nose bulb, baby nail clippers, gas drops, infant tylenol, travel wipes, carmex, hand lotion, Q-tips and I made her a cute set of burp cloths and a flannel & chenille changing pad.

   For the favors, Heidi hand made everyone a fold out mini picture album that tied closed with ribbon. They were so pretty and everyone loved them! Also in the favor bags were more candy which was abundant since the shower theme was chocolate. I posted pics in my gallery of some of the fun so take a look. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to post all of them since I had 120 pics, but I put up as many as I could so I’m sorry if anyone was left out, I know there were a lot of us there. We did have a great time, and in the end we even had to help by opening some of the presents for Mel since there were so many gifts and only one Mel!

   Afterwards the men showed up and we all visited some more, then we cleaned up and we all headed for home. And can I just say that Melanie looks amazing, and from behind you would never even know she’s pregnant! She’s so cute! (but everyone already knew that!) So now, Melly’s ready for this baby, and I’m sure the nursery is now bursting at the seams with all of the new stuff they hauled home yesterday. Congratulations Melly and Mark!

   Craig worked like a demon and finished building the fence in record time, and I have to say that I am amazed at the changes it has brought to our family. Since one part of the fence goes across half of our huge driveway, we now have a courtyard just outside our back door that is entirely paved, so the kids can ride their bikes, play basketball, or push around a dolly pram anytime they want. My children now have the freedom to go outside and play on the grass or pavement, to ride their scooters, draw pictures on the pavement with chalk, or look for roly poly bugs by the gate, and I’m at peace knowing they’re safe and secure inside the fence.

   Fencing off just the yard itself would have been great, but having the courtyard has really made all of the difference. I love it! It lets them do so much more out there, and have so much more fun. And the best part is that they can even play outside in the winter since the pavement doesn’t become a wet muddy mess like the grass does, and they can still ride all of their toys too. It’s the best thing ever! We also decided to put a lock on the gate that only opens with a key, so no one can just waltz in, and the kids can’t open it on a whim either. It took up a lot of Craig’s spare time and his not-so-spare-time to build it all, but we are so grateful he did. Thankyou sweetheart, you did a fantastic job!

   Our new frideg arrived on Wednesday and I am in love! It’s so much bigger and better with a child lock that prevents my kids from using the water on the door feature when I don’t want them to! We got an amazing price for such a huge fridge, and I’m so thankful we found this one. Thankyou once again Home Depot! I can’t believe all of the room in the fridge and freezer I have now, it’s so great! It didn’t take the delivery guys long to set it up, and I only had to wait four hours until I could put the food away in it. So we now have a wonderful working fridge at our house, and we are all very pleased about it, and enjoying it very much! Mark and Gary came on Tuesday to haul away the old one, and Gary wants to see if he can fix it.

   We had to cancel our planned get together for the last picnic of the year since just about everyone is either sick or has sick children. I know we can plan it for another day, I’m just hoping that it doesn’t get too cold too soon. We’ll just have to bundle everyone up really good if it does! And Craig returns tomorrow afternoon and we have all missed him a lot! He was able to go and visit Holly several times though while there, and he also promised to bring me back pics of Holly’s new place and roommates so I’m excited to see them.

   Happily Ebay has picked up once again so I’m slowly starting to list again. Summer is always a slow time to sell there, but the Fall and Winter always see a lot more sales. Maternity clothes seem to be my “golden ticket” to sell, so I’m always keeping an eye out for a good piece to list. The D.I. and a lot of clearnace racks have been very kind to me so now it’s just a matter of finding enough time to actually sit down and list the items. I’m hoping to put a little money aside for the two birthdays we have coming up next month and then Christmas is also right around the corner, so I had better get a jump on it now. It’s all about the planning!

   I’m also trying to clean out our closets once again, and I’m in awe at the amount of clothing we have managed to pack into this house. I think a trip to Kid-to-Kid is in order very soon, then I can downsize the piles of outgrown clothing and get a little money too. How can you beat that! Korby gets the credit for that one!  I really love a good bargain, hence my love for the D.I. and sales racks, and it’s so fun when you find one. Although if you really want to hear about the world’s best bargain, talk to Granny, she got the most amazing deal on a beautiful decorative snowman. We’re talking about an item that retailed for $99, and Granny got it for $1.75. Granny wins!

   With Craig gone to D.C. again for the week I am happy that it has been going as well as it has considering 5 of my kids are currently sick. Poor M has been hit with the worst of it, but the good news is that we have only had to give him a breathing treatment once, and he hasn’t needed another one yet. Our nebulizer is such a blessing, and I loved the fact that I was able to do the whole thing in 15 minutes in our own home instead of dragging him out to the ER in the middle of the night for 2 hours. So much better and easier all around! Now I just have to get him to sleep through the night, he’s having a hard time doing that since he’s been sick so we’re still working on it. My poor little guy, as sick as he has been he’s still such a little sweetheart!

Anyways, G and C seem to be on the mend and are feeling much better, and while Noah is just starting with the fever I still think we’re going to make it through all of this without too much craziness. At least I’m hoping we will. Noah’s teacher told me that she has already had 6 students from her class out with Strep throat, so I guess this is no big surprise. The Dr. said this always seems to happen about 1-2 weeks into the new school year, but I hope we can avoid any other bugs that get passed around next time. Until then I will just keep on entertaining them with the workbooks and reading books I bought the other day for just such an occasion. It helps to keep them on track with their class and they don’t get behind in their school work too.

The Peach Days Parade and Fair were this last weekend, and the kids loved it. We didn’t go on any of the rides but we did walk around a bit and took in the sights, and by “we” I mean Craig, myself and the four little ones. D and C each went with their friends however and were gone all day and had a great time! C even ended up having a huge Silly String fight with her friends and they covered the sidewalk with the stuff.  D bought this really fun foam sword that I discovered was homemade, so now I’m hoping to enlist someone (since Craig is gone) to help me figure out what they used and where to buy the materials since these swords are seriously fun! D and his friends were running around smashing each other with them and having a blast doing it and they don’t hurt. I know Scott and Korby’s kids would LOVE it too! I know mine were fighting over the one sword D had, so we definitely need to make some more!

So all in all we’re doing pretty good, and I’m enjoying the last bits of warm weather while I can. The kids love being outside so I try and spend as much time with them as possible. If it means my house isn’t as organized or picked up as I would like, then so be it. I have found I much prefer spending time with my kids than stressing over the laundry and the dishes. Clutter is temporary, but my kids are growing up even as I type this, and it’s such a treat for me to be able to play with them and take the time to be a little bit silly too. Korby you are SO right about the mother and wife thing, I feel the same! The other day Dylan and I took turns pushing the little ones in the cozy coupe at top speed in the courtyard, all the while they were shrieking with delight as we raced them around and around. We had so much fun, and I didn’t even bat an eye at my sink full of dirty dishes. Dishes smishes, I mean come on, my kids are WAY more fun than dishes! And cuter too!

   My C has a fantastic imagination that was evident almost immediately. She had a lot to say, and it was always fascinating to hear what it was going to be, and she never disappointed. With D everything had to be “perfect and just so” but with C it was always “crazy flying monkey’s” kind of stuff, and that was how she liked it. There was never a dull moment in her world and talking to her was pure entertainment. When C was little she had a favorite doll that she just loved, she dragged it with her everywhere she went. She wasn’t really into dolls or Barbies that much, but for some reason there was something special about this doll, she was different and C really loved her. She was never without a crazy name for any of her toys, and this one was no exception as “chumich”, but it didn’t last long.

My brothers and sisters and I had all been watching a slew of Mystery Science Theater 3K recently, and one of the episodes featured a very bad movie called “The Final Sacrifice”. There was a character called “Zap Rowsdower” in it, and we had a lot of jokes about the guy’s name and the movie, but mostly the guy’s name, Rowsdower. While on a family trip to Canada, it somehow came about (it’s a longer story than I’m willing to type) that C’s doll was re-christened Rowsdower (thanks to Mark, Holly and Heidi), and the name has stuck ever since. In fact even as the jokes faded the name has never changed, and she is still Rowsdower to this day. So when C outgrew her doll and she was then passed down to Haven, so was the crazy name Rowsdower, and Haven loved her just as much as C did, dragging her all over the place as her “baby”.

Well, Rowsdower has once again been passed down, this time to G, and she is even crazier about dolls than her two older sisters ever were. G considers dolls to be her babies, and much like her cousin Es, she is one baby-crazy baby! She loves to kiss, hug, pet, feed, dress and undress the dolls, and brush their hair, bald or not. She is the consumate “mommy” and Rowsdower is her favorite “baby” right now. I have bought several other dolls for my girls, but none seem to get the love and attention that Rowsdower does. I’m not sure why but she has been the favorite with all of my girls, and any other dolls have been cast aside with Rowsdower always ending up as the one doll that gets loved the most, they just can’t seem to live without her. So Rowsdower is once again being passed down, and she is still the object of much love and a little bit too much affection as she is currently being dragged around by G. Now if we can just get her to say Rowsdower…..

*For any Rowsdower “fans” out there, here are two links you won’t want to miss-

http://mst3krowsdower.ytmnd.com/

http://whatisrowsdower.ytmnd.com/

Ok, so ever since I saw that movie, I have wondered if fried green tomatoes were any good. So I finally decided to take the plunge and make some. I was able to get quite a few large green tomatoes at a local fruit stand, looked up some recipes online, and after reading through several I decided on two I wanted to try. I thought they would take a lot longer to make, but they were really easy and it wasn’t long before I had a plateful. One recipe I used called for just flour seasoned with salt and pepper and the other used a mix of flour and cornmeal seasoned the same as the other, and both used an egg wash. (Now the cornmeal recipe called for the tomatoes to be cooked in bacon grease, and stated that no self respecting Southerner would use anything else to cook them in, but I was in a time crunch so I used canola oil as called for in the flour recipe to cook both of them in.)

I ate them while they were still hot, plain at first, then drizzled with a little ranch dressing and they were fantastic!!! M, G and N scarfed down some as well (Craig and D were gone to Scouts, and C hates tomatoes prompting H to say she did too), and they agreed with me that we needed to make them again. But next time I am going to make them with the bacon grease to see what kind of a difference it makes. I’m not too big on fried foods, but these would be fun to make every once in a while, and if you love tomatoes these are really delicious! They have an amazing flavor, and would also be good served with a few dashes of hot sauce too. I have since found “Fannie Flagg’s Original Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook” which was released after the movie due to the huge amount of requests for the recipes, so I am currently looking to get a copy of it for myself. If it’s any good I will definitely pass it along.

For now though you will find both recipes that I tried posted below. And if you get a chance to make these I highly recommend it, they were simply delicious!

Kentucky Style Fried Green Tomatoes

1/2 cup bacon grease

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/4 tsp each salt and ground black pepper

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1 -2 green tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices

Heat the bacon grease in a large skillet over medium heat. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. In another small bowl whisk together the egg and the milk using a fork. Dip the tomato slices in the egg mixture, then coat in the cornmeal mixture. Place the breaded tomato slices into the hot bacon grease. Cook until browned, then turn and cook the other side, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Bacon grease burns easily so adjust your heat if necessary. When browned on both sides remove to paper towel lined plate to drain. Serve them hot with hot sauce, ranch dressing or just plain, they’re fantastic any way you choose!

Fried Green Tomatoes

4 large green tomatoes, cut into 1/4 inch slices

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 eggs, beaten

2 TBSP. milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

   Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Combine flour, salt and pepper in a small bowl. In another bowl combine the eggs and milk and beat together. Dip each tomato slice in the egg wash then dredge in the seasoned flour. Fry the tomatoes in the hot oil for approximately 2 minutes, then turn to cook the other side for about another 2 minutes or until both sides are browned. Remove to paper towel lined platter to drain. Serve hot. Enjoy!

   I just found an ad for a great offer from winkflash.com and I wanted to pass it on in case anyone was interested. They’re offering 50 Free 4×6 prints on your first order and only 99 cents to ship. Here’s the details:

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Details of this coupon:

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   I signed up and it was less than 30 seconds so it’s really fast and easy. (Ta Da!) They also have lots of other categories and you can print off bigger portrait sizes, make books, announcements, cards and more so it looked like a fun place. And they also have fun photo editing tools like mosaic, vignette, glow, sepia tone, B&W, rortate, adjust contrast etc…so you can make your picture come out the way you want. So check it out at www.winkflash.com if your interested!