FREEDOM!!!!!!

The boys are GONE for the weekend. Oh bliss! Oh, joy! Oh, may it last forever and ever...until they come home because I miss them, that is.

So they headed off to the grandparents just after lunch yesterday. I was able to tidy up the house, take an early start on Sabbath, and have some quality time with Rachel. Then Brandon and I headed up to Diane's house for some pizza eatting and movie viewing. We had a grand time and even though we watched two movies, we were in bed before 11pm! We had a continuous night of sleep (a rarity these days) and then when I awoke around 8 am, I was almost wide awake! What a wonder! Of course, among the wonders of the day, going to bed before 11pm and waking up at 8am means that Rachel was an angel and decided to sleep for 10 hours straight before needing to eat. Oh, it just doesn't get much better than this! The question is, what will I do with all the free time on my hands?

I often have this dilema when the kids are away. Not because I can't think of things to do, but because I could fill the time 20 times over with things to do and I don't know which thing to pick. Do I just sit and vegitate the whole weekend? Do I furiously cook, clean, and organize knowing that it will be the only time it happens between now and the next time they disappear? Do I go out with friends and socialize my time away since I have the chance to have an ADULT conversation consiting of words larger than one syllable and facial expressions that do not include tongues protruding, eyeballs crossed, or slober? Or perhaps, I should pull out one of those long lost projects that I would love to work on...like reorganizing the attic junk, or my cross stitch that I have not touched in at least two and a half months (and even then I only did about 4 stitches) or painting the patched up spot on my bedroom ceiling, or .... ok, well, let's just say that list is about forty items long.

So, as result of not being able to decide what best to fill my time doing, I am now sitting here typing away on my blog- which was none of the above, nevertheless, quite enjoyable. It's enjoyable because I get to use BOTH hands at the same time to type, I don't have to stop and help with emergency potty issues, the cord has not been yanked out of the wall the entire time, and I don't have three people sitting on me begging to look at pictures or "watch the cards jump down" (a reference to winning a solitare game). Ahhh...this is the life...and people say they need a cruise to get away...I'll take the living room recliner anyday.

Of course, if someone's just dying to give me a cruise vacation, I'd have to work hard at passing it up.

Yesterday's Quote of the Day

James was standing in his chair at the dinner table. He had a pile of food in his mouth and was grinning from ear to ear. He looked at me and with a chuckle in his voice asked, "Mama, are you my conscience?"

"Absolutely!"

We aren't sure if this is from Finding Nemo or Pinnochio, or just a random statement, all are possibilities I suppose.

Diane as....HOMESTAR!!!!!! (and an awesome cook, if I don't say so myself...many thanks to her for a great Harvest Party!) 

Kimberly and Bethany as the stupid guys on Pirates 

Andy as the climbing guru. Of course, he looks like this pretty much everyday :-) 

Adam as...well...just look at him...isn't he incredible? Oh, and his "pet kitty" is "Fluffy Face" 

Elizabeth as...Elizabeth from Pirates (sorry Liza, not the best pic) 

Sara as Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean 

Sarah as WIll Turner from Pirates of the Carribean 

Harvest Party Pictures: 

A happy Rachel picture. 

Mama and Rachel 

Rachel at 4 months. She's actually 4 1/2 now, it just took me that long to get a pic up here. Sorry. 

Children Go Where I Send Thee!

Hmmm...6 straight days of rainy weather and several more in the forecast. Anyone want some hyperactive monkeys? They can climb your walls instead of mine! While I was feeling cramped and caged, I was obliged to read an email Brandon sent me. (Yes, we do communicate by email sometimes. Sad but true.)

Periodically he stumbles across an article about a family with tons of children or a bunch under 5 or something and shares it with me so that I have my perspective enlarged. Just in case I thought I had it bad, there is always someone with more work, more kids, and more opportunities to take advantage of God’s grace since there is NO WAY they could do it on their own. So here’s the article he sent me:

Arkansas Mother Gives Birth to 16th Child
12, 1:55 PM (ET)By MELISSA NELSON

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Michelle Duggar just delivered her 16th child, and she's already thinking about doing it again.
Johannah Faith Duggar was born at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and weighed 7 pounds, 6.5 ounces.
The baby's father, Jim Bob Duggar, a former state representative, said Wednesday that mother and child were doing well.
He said Johannah's birth was especially exciting because it was the first time in eight years the family has had a girl.

Jim Bob Duggar, 40, said he and Michelle, 39, want more children.
"We both just love children and we consider each a blessing from the Lord. I have asked Michelle if she wants more and she said yes, if the Lord wants to give us some she will accept them," he said.
The Discovery Health Channel filmed Johannah's birth and plans to air a show about the family of 18 next May.
The Learning Channel is doing another show about the family's construction project, a 7,000-square foot house that should be finished before Christmas. The home, which the family has been building for two years, will have nine bathrooms, dormitory-style bedrooms for the girls and boys, a commercial kitchen, four washing machines and four dryers.
Jim Bob Duggar, who sells real estate, previously lost his bid for the U.S. Senate. He said he expects to run for the state Senate next year but isn't ready to make a formal announcement.
Michelle Duggar had her first child at age 21, four years after the couple married.
Their children include two sets of twins, and each child has a name beginning with the letter "J": Joshua, 17; John David, 15; Janna, 15; Jill, 14; Jessa, 12; Jinger, 11; Joseph, 10; Josiah, 9; Joy-Anna, 8; Jeremiah, 6; Jedidiah, 6; Jason, 5; James, 4; Justin, 2; and Jackson Levi, 1.

Go here to check out the article and a couple of pictures:
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051012/D8D6KS7O1.html

For more family updates, James is turning into quite the shrewd character. I don’t think this is necessarily a good thing right now. Three times he has snuck out to go to Diane’s house. Twice he has succeeded in getting there. Then today, when he was playing on the couch with Jonathon, he told Jonathon, “Look I found a track (train track piece) in the couch!” Jonathon came over to look and James moved away in order to crash the pillow down on Jonathon’s head while he was underneath. Fortunately, Jonathon moved just in time, but as you may have guessed, there was no track. Just a slick little boy! Down with the deceptive qualities of sin nature!

Perfect Days or Not...

Ahh. This is one of those perfect times in my life. It’s also one of my favorite. I have long since decided that Mondays are my favorite days. Now that weekends aren’t really that much slower than the rest of the week, Mondays are great. They are often my most productive day of the week. For instance, this morning, I folded two loads of laundry, made pancakes for breakfast, went to staff meeting, cleaned up all sorts of toys, had a friend over for the boys, helped them paint with water, read 6 books to them, made macaroni and cheese for lunch and fed them. They all went down for a nap at 1pm, Rachel got up and ate (oh, the friend went home at noon), I went to a women’s work meeting, and then came home, fixed some wallpaper issues in my bathroom, puttied some nail holes, bleached the mildew and mold off the ceiling, took out the trash, and I am just sitting down to rest for a bit before I prepare dinner (which is going to be turkey and dumplings, collard greens and mock hollandaise sauce, salad, and a dessert if I can swing it. Rachel went down for a nap about 30 min. ago, so all is quiet and peaceful in the house. It’s just great….

I wish everyday was like this one…J

Don’t worry…it is rarely this perfect and I am stopping just for a moment to revel in it before it quickly disappears into the chaos of tomorrow. Tomorrow doesn’t hold anything particularly overwhelming in it, I just can’t believe that I can have two days in a row like this- or even that this one will last…we’ll see.

Hehe, the irony of it…I can’t seem to connect to the internet to post this. So far I’ve been sitting here for 45 min. trying to connect. Alas…perfection down the drain….with a smile of course.

Zip-i-dee-doo-da, Zip-i-dee-ay

My, oh, my, what a wonderful day....

Today went great! I had a bunch of help from a friend (KA) in the morning piling things into her car to donate and then she drove them to town for me. It was great to see all thata stuff that we didn't need going out the door never to return again! Makes more room for new stuff...haha.

Then this afternoon, to Bible School girls were assigned to help me for a little while and I got some vacuuming done, the kitchen floor scrubbed, the bathroom cleaned and the trash can washed (when does that ever happen!?!) So, all in all it was a good day. I also got to watch the men dig a rock out of the driveway with the back hoe. That was pretty impressive and it wasn't even a very big rock (compared to some they've dug out!).

Health wise, I'm feeling better today, though I'm not "running on all eight cylinders" yet (Ode to Dad). My nose has ceased running full blast and the mack truck got off my face, for which I am very thankful.

And now, this evening I'm looking forward to a fun time at the church activities for the evening and then getting a little bit of shut eye before the BIG day begins tomorrow... For those of you who don't know what tomorrow is, I'll tell you!

IT'S BRANDON'S BIRTHDAY!!!!!! He will be a mere 28 years old!
So, now's the time to break down an send him an email, or a card, or a small yacht letting him know just how wonderful, funny, or odd you think he is. Ok, don't go too far with the odd idea. Or, I suppose if you just want to, you can just comment here...he'll read that too.

And since he just demanded to see what I was writing, you are now officially allowed to let the "odd" comments fly!


Ok, just enough time to wash dishes before Wed. night meeting.

Oh, I remember a funny story...James came home today with a bag of cotton candy and I asked him where he got it. He said, "From the daddy on the roof." I figured out later that I was obviously supposed to know that was TJ! And he didn't steal it, it was given generously into his hand. (It's TJ's B-day tomorrow also, but you need not send positive comments to me about that! :-)

Now I'm really leaving..tata.

Today is Done, Tomorrow will Come...oh Goody!

Well, here I am, waiting for the wash to finish so I can put it in the dryer and be off to bed. My mother always taught me to pull out the clothes from the dryer as soon as they are done so you don’t have to iron them…well…sorry mom. I just need them clean and I guess they’ll have to be wrinkled…and I might just wear them wrinkled too. Alas, I have wandered from the truth!

So, the feast is over, I’m digging myself out from under the load of unpacking, crazy house, children in different size clothes, and oh…I’m sick! DayQuil is holding the symptoms at bay while I tread water in the housekeeping department, but I hope it will all pass VERY soon. Oh, it’s nothing major, just cold and flu stuff, but man- that stuff can make you feel like you just got ran over by a mack truck!

Change of subjects here: I just realized the other day that when James sucks his fingers he makes a loud slurping noise at the same time! And Jeff busted his mouth on a pipe in the ground the other day. I wish I had a picture of his big fat monkey lips, but I don’t so you’ll have to imagine. He actually knock the bottom half of one of his front teeth off and he’s been whining ever since. I think I might need to take him to a dentist…I’m starting to wonder if it’s being really sensitive or something. We’ll see.

Ok, my laundry is done, so I shall run along. Hope this is enough to keep you checking in.