Susie is a slightly crazy, homeschooling, gardening, square dancing Momma with a houseful of babies (10 to be exact), and a whole lot of Jesus. She gave birth to seven of those babies (and she has the stretch marks and scars to prove it) and then God chose her to be Momma to three more who she refers to as her 'Unexpected Blessings'. Having a large family means she has heard just about all of the large family jokes... you know like 'You know how that happens, right', or 'Don't you have a TV?'. Many people believe that she must be related to Mother Teresa but she insists she isn't anywhere close to a Saint although she does appreciate as many prayers as she can get sent her way. Even though four of her babies have flown the coop, her life stays really busy. Most days start out early with a cup of her favorite Dandy Morning Coffee and a quick Trim Healthy Mama breakfast before the kids get up and the crazy starts. She looks at every day as an adventure where the unexpected keeps her on her toes. In the rare moment that she finds a little quiet time, you can usually find her snuggled up with a good book, browsing a thrift store, sewing a new outfit, piddling in the greenhouse or garden, or getting a little 'Pin Happy' with To-Do projects on Pinterest. She is extremely passionate about her family, cooking, being a keeper of the home, gardening, and square dancing. She is also on a mission to help others to make healthier changes in their lives, one family at a time. She strives to live by the Proverbs 31 model but she also acknowledges that she is not perfect and is just a sinner saved by grace. Pollywog’s Place Blog began as a way to share her family's journey with family and friends as they've gone through so many life changes. After getting so many questions about parenting, homeschooling, gardening, and recipe requests she realized that she could really use her blog as a way to help others out there who may be struggling with their roles as a mother, especially the single mothers who may feel like they are all alone on their journey. This blog has become a journal of sorts and a way for her to help inspire and provide encouragement to others. She enjoys looking back over old posts to see how far they have come and to motivate her when times seem tough. On Pollywog’s Place Blog, she talks about their life's journey through the adoption process, how their faith in God got them through some difficult and challenging times, as well as the many ups and downs they have faced with a large family and special needs (ADHD, ODD, and Down's Syndrome to name a few). Susie also shares the products that they use in their home as well as tips and tricks that she uses to keep her family running as smoothly and efficiently as possible with some gardening and video tours sprinkled in. Do you ever feel like your juggling so many things that you can't think straight? She has often felt the same way but has come up with some simple routines and schedules that help everyone to stay on track and I think they just might help you too! Under the 'Keeper of the Home' tab, you can find various tips, tricks, and hints to get your house up and running on autopilot. That's not been such an easy task for them since they downsized to a 600 ft square cabin but somehow they make it work and she loves sharing some of the helpful tips and tricks that they've learned along the way. One question they get a lot is about how they feed this army. It's not always an easy task and trying to eat healthily can get quite expensive so she is always looking for ways to save money and stick to their grocery budget. Under the 'Mama’s Recipe Box' section they have a ton of their favorite recipes like Daddy Can't Wait Casserole, Hoe Cakes (one of the most viewed posts on the blog), freezer cooking, and meal plans along with their family's 'Trim Healthy Mama' plan ideas and successes. If you haven't heard of the 'Trim Healthy Mama' plan you should definitely check it out today! Sometimes eating healthy does mean she spends a little extra on groceries so she finds other areas to cut expenses. One way they have found is with their cleaning supplies and health products. She has always been concerned about the chemicals (Did you know that the average household contains about 62 toxic chemicals?) and toxins that are in many household cleaners so she tries to use more natural and cost effective ways to clean. Susie has been homeschooling for several years now and although she does not consider herself to be an expert but she has found a variety of products and services that have helped to make their homeschooling journey a unique experience. You can find links to these products under the 'Homeschool' tab. Susie and her kids have had a ton of fun reading through the Little House on the Prairie series and she has posted some of the unit studies that they have put together for the different books. The family has been trying to incorporate some of the old fashioned morals and values into their everyday lives. As if juggling kids, home, and a home business weren't enough, the family also enjoys square dancing twice a week or more. Mr. Awesome and his dad happen to be the only father/son caller duo in Florida and are pretty well known in these parts. She also manages a couple of other facebook and blog pages for a couple of the local square dance clubs. The 'Kirby's Korner' tab is where they post links to their square dancing activities which is one of the things they do as a family. Susie loves to dress up in her fancy dance outfits and thinks the fluffier the petticoat the better. She also loves to take selfies of her various square dance outfits and share them with others. Did I mention that she met Mr. Awesome through square dancing? You'll have to poke around the blog to see if you can find that story somewhere. If you just want to find a list of the affiliate/referral programs that the family works with you can click on the 'Affiliate Links' tab. These links help to support their blog, their family, and their homeschooling mission at no extra cost to you. If you like to chuckle about the crazy things kids do or the crazy things they do on a daily basis then you really should follow their blog. They also have accounts on Facebook (@kirbyskabinblog and @susieschemfreezone) as well as on Instagram (@kirbyzkorner and @susieschemfreezone). They have been posting to YouTube as well so be sure to check that out. In July of 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Susie and Shane welcomed their youngest daughter, Shyanne, into the family. Shyanne has a dual diagnosis of Down Syndrome and Dandy-Walker Malformation w/hydrocephalus. She has gained many followers and supporters from around the world who have joined together to be prayer warriors for this special little girl. You can read more about her under ‘Sweet Shyanne’.
Well, in our house it was me today but the kids are pretty good about making lunch on most days which helps out a lot.
Social media can be a tough place to hang out.
Not only is there a way too much division right now, but even just seeing other moms trying to be positive and sharing the great things their kids are doing tends to make lots of people feel less than adequate.
“Comparisonitis” isn’t good for anyone’s mental health, and today I want to challenge you to take inspiration from what others are doing instead.
Now before you read this please know that I know I’m not the first nor the last woman to have a c-section. I knew going into the latter part of the pregnancy that this was most likely the way we would deliver. I mean I even got a date for our planned c-section.
I thought I was prepared.
I did my research, asked tons of questions, and tried to prepare myself as best I could and I’m so glad I did that. In actuality though nothing can prepare you completely for something like this.
I’m not going into a lot of details right now about the events that led up to Miss Shyanne’s birth but I can say I’d do it a hundred times over if I had too!
Yesterday marked one week since we went to the hospital and delivered. They had put a covering, bio guard?, over the incision so I had not seen it… I’ve definitely felt it though.
When I took my shower last night the covering was starting to come off so I took it off… the doctors had told me it would soon. I couldn’t see the scar because there’s a bit of flabby belly still there and honestly, I was a bit afraid to look.
Hey y’all! I’m so so sorry that I kinda just dropped off the social media for a bit. The past few months have been very hard as this pregnancy took so much out of me but we are so happy to announce that the wait is over!
Just before midnight on July 8th Ms. Shyanne came screaming into this world via c-section. Although we were as ready as we thought we could be we weren’t quite expecting her to be here right then.
She weighed in at 8lbs and 1 oz and she was 19 1/2 inches long. They also determined that she was around 36 weeks when she delivered.
She is in the NICU due to some of her prenatal diagnosis. She has already breezed through one surgery and is making daily progress towards coming home although we know there will be more surgeries to come.
While the pregnancy seemed so chaotic from the beginning with all the negativity because of my age and then diagnosis after diagnosis for our little girl, (Just this last month we learned of her duodenal atresia which resulted in severe polyhydramnios and then we were ultimately admitted for preeclampsia/HELLP syndrome.), we feel so blessed to have this precious addition to our family.
I will try to finish up some of the posts related to her prenatal issues as well as a more detailed post about her birth and NICU stays but for now I’m just going to try to focus on life at home and recovering so that I can be ready to take care of our little one when she comes home.
We have been posting updates and tons of pictures on our personal FB pages if you’d like to follow us. I’ll also try to start posting on Instagram more regularly as well.
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and most of all for your prayers and please keep us in your prayers as we know the next few months will be quite crazy around here.
Well, today (May 13) has been a bit on the emotional side. I’m not even sure where to start but many of you that have followed our blog know that this pregnancy has been full of surprises:
Yes! You read that right. We have moved and last night we spent our first night in the new house! Yay!
It wasn’t like we moved very far… only about 120 steps from the little cabin and we are still on the pond… just not on stilts!
It seems like it’s taken forever to get to this point but it’s good to get here. We still have a ton of things to do and lots of organizing to get done but I’m hopeful that we will get it knocked out quickly.
