The Reynolds Nation

I had to post some pictures of my nephew Cohen. He came by yesterday with his mom and he was just delicious! He is six months old and is so sweet. He has rolls everywhere and anywhere...he actually has a roll on his ankles...and his feet are comparable to Fred Flinstone. I think he weighs more than Judah, who is a whole year older. We loved having him come over, so I am posting some shots of him. Giggly...his mom was entertaining him! Look at those eyes. I love that Judah is peeking around the corner...not too sure about this baby! Here is Sarah with Cohen...she is such a great mommy!

I thought that I would post a sweet picture of Tink...that would be Tinkerbelle to you...from the other day. She was sleeping on the recliner and Esther covered her up and she loved it. So this is my feeling for the next two days...lazy days around the Reynolds Compound. Hanging around outside, Matt working in the shed, my little nephew Cohen coming for a visit...and lots of relaxation! I love days like this...nowhere to go and no expectations. How about your weekend ahead? Hope yours is as good as mine!

I can't believe that another Friday is here...this week went super fast! It is right after lunch right now, but Matt and I have been up since three o'clock this morning. We got up early so we could go to all the Black Friday sales. There is something exciting about standing in the dark, waiting for doors to open so you can save tons of money, lol. Matt and I have such a great time together...texting and calling each other from opposite ends of the store.."What size is this one?" or "What color did you want?" I think Matt called me 10 times because he couldn't find me. We had such a lovely time, and look forward to the alone time together. After dinner last night, Matt's parents took the kids for the night...so Matt and I went to the movies (can't remember the last time that happened) and then we went to bed without having to tuck anyone in or take anyone to the potty. Up early and we got over half of our Christmas shopping done. Our Th...

I thought that I would start with my beautiful turkey that I put in the refrigerator this morning. It is all clean and saturated with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. I prepare it 24 hours before it goes in the oven. It makes it so moist and I have never had a dry turkey! Yesterday, Danielle came over to bake with us. She is a friend from our home school group and she was such a delight. Here they are showing off their pinwheel cookies that they made. It was fun putting all the ingredients together and rolling the dough. Here are the girls making pumpkin and zucchini bread. It is a family tradition to make this bread...I remember my mom making it when I lived in New York. The bread turned out good and the kids ate almost a whole loaf the first hour! And our big excitement of the day...our shed arrived first thing in the morning. It is 12 by 16 and is replacing our garage. We decided not to redo the garage, but to instead add 500 square feet onto our house....

The Reynolds family met up at Grandma's on Saturday for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Over the years the family has expanded so much and because various family members are elsewhere on the actual holiday we meet up close to the holiday. It was perfect cool weather and the atmosphere was fun. It is sweet to see all the cousins get older now, so they actually play together. I am still enjoying this cool weather...upper 60's and low 70's. Cleaning the house today and getting ready for a busy week. Tomorrow Bryn's friend Danielle is coming over to make bread and cookies...and then we will bake pies on Wednesday. I am excited about the whole week...I think we are expecting 16 on Thursday! On the top of the page is Bryn, mixing mashed potatoes in the kitchen. It seems like yesterday she was the little one running around the house, but now she is a helper. Here is William hugging his cousin Hope. She kept on following him around and hugging him. It was so adorable. Here are Jud...

We are in the turkey mode today!!! As we come into the only holiday that is about someone else rather than ourselves (a time of giving rather than receiving)...we are so thankful for all the bountiful blessings that are in our life. We are gearing up for a big week of baking and cooking...and preparing for a huge Thanksgiving meal. Lots of family and hopefully some unexpected visitors...our house is open! So this morning, we were making Turkey Oreo Cookies. The kids were so excited...and they were fun to make. They didn't turn out exactly like the picture in the recipe, but the kids had fun making them. William ate most of his work...he kept on asking for more whoppers, until I realized he was eating them instead of placing them on as the turkey head. So I am posting a photo of our morning creations...and have a great weekend! 1. I am thankful for the approval just received this morning from our mortgage company to add onto our house rather than rebuild the garage!! 2. I am so than...

Okay, for you northerners 39 degrees doesn't sound too bad..but that's how low it went this morning. How odd for it to be this cold in November? It was a nice change from the normal 60 degree morning temps...gets me in the mood for the season. Ready to think about pumpkin pie, and zucchini bread...and Christmas shopping. AAHHHHH!

Okay, maybe not, but we can hope right? I think the average family size now is 1.7 (not sure how they come up with that number) so where ever we go we usual get a few stares. We are used to that, but we are so proud of our family. Yesterday I was at Home Depot and the check-out lady looked us over and then asked me, "are you watching these kids?" I laughed and said, "yes I watch them everyday...and the older one is with her grandparents for the night." And as I am walking out of the store, another lady said, "are those all yours?" I was laughing now. I told her proudly that they were and then we ended up sitting there talking about them and how we homeschool and love having a big family. She was a school teacher and had her own kids in private school because the schools are so horrible. Anyway, it was a funny afternoon. Yes, the days sometimes are long and tiresome...but in this house, Big Families are Back in Style!

1. I am so thankful that we are all well again...that little virus kind of breezed right through! 2. I am thankful that I am going cropping tonight and my wonderful husband is laying low with the kids. 3. I am thankful for the upcoming cold weather...ready to get in the holiday spirit. 4. I am thankful that we live in God's economy and that there is no fear and we will live within abundance in the midst of famine. 5. I am thankful for my new side yard..trees down and dirt all leveled out. I am posting a picture of Esther...thought you would appreciate a little of her humor. What a great week. Hope you have a great weekend!

Who takes care of Mommy when she is sick? I asked that question this morning as my husband got ready for work. He couldn't take a day off because he was home yesterday with the same virus. The kids thought it would be a good idea to share this lovely little virus with us...so I am a little under the weather today. We were still doing our bible time this morning and I was on the couch reading...so after our prayer time Caleb pops up and says lets lay hands...and William continues with lets lay hands on Mommy and prayer for her. How sweet is that? All five of them surrounded me and put their hands on me and prayed. What sweet faith! When were done, William said, "now you are all better." I love that childlike faith...so I am up and moving and pushing ahead with my faith.

Okay, so I am being a bit dramatic tonight. But I thought that I had to talk about the "Best Friend." He was Judah's favorite companion...his love, joy, peace and all out soother. It was his pacifier. We have called it Best Friend for a long time...and he loved...I mean LOVED...his Best Friend. He went every where with it...he stashed them in various spots, different houses and cities. He had it in different colors and sizes. So, what happened to Best Friend? Two weeks ago, we couldn't find one right before bed. All of us looked for 45 minutes for one. We had so many it was insane...but we just couldn't find one. And neither of us wanted to go to Publix to buy another one, so we took the risk of putting Judah to bed without it...and you know what, he did great! We never intended for him to go this long with it...we like them to go by 12 months, but he was so attached so we decided to give him more time. So, my little baby has turned into a little man. ...

Like I said yesterday, it has been busy around here. We had trees torn down that were damaged by the fire and now we are getting ready for our new addition. The side yard looks so funny now...so much light comes through now, and it looks so big. Here is Terry's bobcat moving stuff around...I told my mom that I would like one of these for Christmas, lol. Here is a snapshot of the side yard before anything was torn down. It was so dark and wet over there. Here is a tree coming down...great shot, huh? The kids were so excited as they listened to all the sounds and noise. There is nothing like trees coming down..the big thump, though I don't like the sound in the midst of a hurricane (Hurricane Charley, 2004). Here is a pile of wood. We are cutting a lot of this up for firewood. We have turned into a green family without even knowing it, lol. No waste around here. I love this shot. Terry stacked all the logs so that he can transport them to be milled into planks...I th...

This week went by so fast...do I always say that??? I guess with the election and the busyness of the house and kids, it made it seem to go by so fast. Our property is super busy. I have trees coming down right as we speak. The tree guy came and is tearing them down. My kids are outside picking up sticks for 1 dollar...child labor laws may need to be checked, lol. We once again got a great price on the trees coming down and we are putting some shell to fix the driveway...the fire trucks slaughtered my already smashed in from Tropical storm Fay driveway. The garage is all cleaned up. It is still hard to look over there, but the Lord is washing away the pain. He is so awesome and faithful to do that. 1. I am thankful for my husband taking charge of the new building...so I don't get overloaded with more work. 2. I am thankful that we have the right to vote for our president. Yes, he may not be my choice, but my trust is in the Lord and I will stay faithful to pray for President Obama....

We were able to get a bushel of apples this year, for a cheap price...a mixture of different apples. So we got busy with our coring, slicing and peeling. Here is a snapshot of the last bit of apples that we had left. I sliced and froze enough apples to eat all week, for my pies for Thanksgiving and then about 20 cups of applesauce. Here is Judah eating up the sample of warm applesauce. The kids loved eating it right out of the pot and then I froze the rest for the months to come. Then on to our pumpkins! I only bought six small cooking pumpkins. They sat on my counter for the past week or so, but they stayed in the cool house so they were ready when I sliced them up. Here are the boiled pumpkins. Didn't take too long, and I was able to school the kids as they cooked on the stove. The hard part was letting them cool and making the kids wait. Here is William (couldn't get a better shot of his face because the sun coming in the window) spooning my pumpkin into the mea...

I hope anyone who is reading this today has or had already made plans to vote. No excuses! No excuses!!! Make the time to vote...it is our right and our privilege and our requirement! I took time this morning to vote...took my mom to the doctor for her check-up...went to vote on the way home...then came home to my dear husband schooling our kids (he just jumps in where he is needed). He headed out to vote before he went to work. So with two jobs, one sick mother, five kids, three schooling at home...we still had time to vote!!! How about you?

I must admit that I hate the time change...when you fall back. I have been up since five o'clock this morning...waiting for the night to be over. So, I came downstairs at ten to six, so why not post on the blog. Last night was Matt's cousin Laura's wedding. We have been waiting for the date for months. Bryn was chosen to be a bridesmaid, so we were excited for her. The kids had a wonderful time...we took them all. It was a family wedding, so they got to enjoy themselves. All of their cousins were there..I am posting pictures..sorry they aren't in order...I put them in wrong and I am too tired to correct it. Here are the cousins dancing. Bryn and Caleb are swinging..with Carson and Esther boogieing down... I snapped this one of Caleb...he looked so handsome! Here are the dynamic duo...William and Carson. Carson is his cousin from Texas. They were born on the same day, a half an hour from each other (William is the older and wiser one, lol). They get along so well...lau...