My Kids are my Hobby

2011-12-27T19:15:00.002-05:00

Had a discussion with Jonathon today about why he was feeling miserable. He has his mother's tendency to go from the top of the mountain to the bottom of a pit in less than 60 seconds on the emotional roller coaster and at this moment he was near the bottom of the pit.

We talked about how he wasn't having any fun- mostly because other people wanted to play with this things and he didn't want them to and so he was spending so much of his time hoarding, protecting, and fighting about whether things were his or not that he wasn't able to enjoy doing anything.

As usual I found that our subsequent discussion was good advice for young and old alike. In fact, it's amazing how often I get preached to in the conversations I have with my children.

Another side note is that I've been working on drawing out Biblical conclusions from him rather than lecturing them at him and that seems to be helpful in our talks. I wish I did it more often. Remembering is helpful.

Anyway, we finally landed on the possibility that he would be happier if he spent more time helping others be happy and less time hoarding and saving. We discussed wisdom- knowing that it's ok to keep a few nice things from a person that he knows will just destroy it. And we discussed generosity being something voluntary with personal property.

Most things in our house are "owned" by someone. The buck stops with them. We don't have tons of group toys. From time to time we have even assigned things to different kids even if it wasn't all theirs- like the box of generic cars or blocks. This way someone is responsible. But it also means that it's theirs and they can share or not.

I found it interesting that Jonathon honestly said he really didn't feel like sharing very often and that he was waiting until he felt like sharing to do so. That led in to a good talk on emotion versus choice- I can choose to share even if I feel differently. After our discussion I left him to think and later he came to play again.

I didn't really have any more trouble with him fighting today. That was a relief, but more importantly, tonight as he was helping Renna dress for bed and entertaining her with his Playmobil Dragon, he said, "You know Mama, you were right. I do have more fun helping others have a good time."

And that, my friends, makes even the most miserable day immediately glorious! Not that today was miserable- it wasn't, but that was a treasure.

Among other things, today I had some quality time with my brother, Frank. He's up visiting and it's nice to have a good long while to talk about all sorts of stuff. Conversations take a different turn after the first 24-48 hours. Some more casual, some more serious and a nice balance of the two.

Well, it's that time again- the moment when I get to tuck in all my precious energy balls for the night. Better go set them to recharge!

This Mother's Holiday Impressions

2011-12-26T07:52:00.003-05:00

I've been moving in slow motion lately it seems. I think I have enough time to accomplish say five items and I barely get through with one. It's not bad though because it's made me rethink what item is most important on my list. Generally spending time with the kids or something food related ends up being at the top.

I'm glad that quality time wins out over other stuff. I won't be sorry I chose that tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow reminds me of yesterday. Christmas. We don't do a huge Christmas- not tons of stuff and parties, but we did do more this year than some we've done. I'm glad it's not any bigger. It means that I get to enjoy it rather than rush through it in a crazed fashion and that is what it's all about for a mom- being able to enjoy others happiness in the moments.

It's exciting to be able to see them connect with the story of the birth of Jesus. It's fun to see them experience giving gifts and the delight and satisfaction on their faces from the chance to do something for others. And the moments when they are getting along and having a good time are precious as well. Give me those things over presents any day! So worth it!

Now on to the week of ending Hanukkah and planning for school to begin again and some more normal activities. I'll be back to balancing all the things that need to "get done" with being sweet and kind and consistent. Oh, and perhaps some exercise thrown in there, too.

Christmas Morning Thoughts.

2011-12-25T07:59:00.003-05:00

Christmas is here and I find a thousand thoughts floating through my mind. We are finished with our gift giving- did that yesterday, so no presents in our house this morning. We had planned to go out and deliver meals to others this year, but the people that did it last year didn't get the funding to do that so here we are. The concept was an attempt to help the children consider some one else other than themselves. Apparently that's not possible...haha, no- we just have to figure out something else to do. We have a couple of other ideas up our sleeve- make some cards to mail to some people, give some gifts to other people- I'm not sure that we can get in on community stuff at this late date. We'll see if there is something we can do, but it's probably going to mean doing something in January or something instead.

In the meanwhile, it's lightly snowing. The kids are munching on their breakfast, Brandon is sleeping and it seems to be the beginning of a fairly peaceful morning. That is- as long as peaceful can include snorting noises and giggling and slurping sounds.

I'm sure later today we'll break out the Christmas story and read it again. And probably the story of Hanukkah also. Perhaps the best way to spend the day is with a focus on quality time with the children.

Passover Pics

2011-05-18T19:56:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to put these on here. Sorry for people who have already seen them elsewhere.

Good Reminders

2011-05-11T07:49:00.003-05:00

Lately I've been working on a project. One that I truly love...decorating cake. I really enjoy the creative outlet and there are so few opportunities for me to pull out my artistic side when life revolves around diapers and late night feedings.

But it takes its toll. Everything must fit into a space somewhere and I'm reminded again of why I don't do hardly ANYTHING besides take care of children. There's not time for it and then someone suffers. I feel like the child who can't keep his hand out of the candy jar even though he knows that one more treat is going to make his stomach sick.

Cake decorating is relaxing to me. My insides smile. Especially when I'm learning a new technique or concept. This year's cake has been no different. I entered a completely new world to me: gumpaste. I saturated myself on YouTube tutorials, got the supplies that were relatively necessary, came up with alternatives for buying thousands of extra supplies, and sat down to figure out how people make these gorgeous creations. It's utterly fascinating! I'm hooked! And it takes HOURS! Days even.

While I knew it would take a lot of time, I generally figured on working on it after the children went to bed. Unfortunately I forgot that I have children on different schedules- namely, a baby that likes to eat on the schedule of "as soon as everything else has settled down and you think you have time to get something done." Justin is really a good little baby, but honestly, sometimes I think he conspires in his crib to get me as soon as I sit or lay down. I think he perhaps hears the sigh of relief and knows that's his cue for food.

So here I am, two weeks into flowers, loving it and while I've tried really hard not to let it affect my attention to my kids, I suppose it has. Generally when I get to this point, I think the children are too stressful and I need a break from them. More and more I realize though that as much as the cake stuff is an "outlet" for me, it's also what is causing the stress. Not the children. They are the God given responsibility. They are that which God is pouring out his grace and mercy and giving me energy for. The cake...

*Case and point...interruption to deal with misbehavior. Not handled well...sigh...Calm down, apologies, move forward.*

...the cake is the extra that I added in. I think God led me to do the cake and I think he gave me a vision for it, but perhaps I...I really don't know where the Holy Spirit's leading left off and my own enthusiasm and excitement took over. I think I do that a lot. I get excited about a vision God hands me- and then I jump in head first, with both feet following and I've got my package of ideas tucked under my arm to make it great. Then when I can't swim with my package I think either that God didn't want me to swim in the first place, or He's not helping me enough. Most of the time though, I think he just asked me to jump in- maybe with a floatie and I see the floaties and go to pick which one I want and walk out with eight, cause I get the idea that swimming with all the colors of the rainbow would be really even MORE fun!

And it's not just cake that does this to me over and over again. Really it's any outside thing that I volunteer for. I get inspired, as I should, but then I allow the desire to make it great and my vision to cloud my hearing the Holy Spirit and all the while he's probably in the back ground saying, "Wait! I only meant..." But I'm gone. Leaving dust behind to follow the exciting path that God pointed out to me.

It makes me just want to never volunteer for anything. Ever. And no one did it to me. No one over committed me. No one expected me to conquer such a huge mountain. I'm sure some of this is pride. I want it to be great! I want it to bless other people. But if it blesses other people at the expense of "unblessing" my family what good is it?

I heard someone say, "I can get the house clean or I can be nice, but I can't do both." I can relate to that statement and I strive to make it my measuring stick. Whatever God gives me to do, I should be able to be nice. If it's too much to stay nice, something is off.

So now what? Well...I can't cancel the cake. I'm committed. But I can try to use my time more wisely and keep it in the line of priorities where it should be. Yesterday I realized that I was exhausted and ignoring my kids. So I dropped all the cake stuff. I realized that it would be fine. Even if it turned out less glorious that I planned, it would still be fine. I put it aside, didn't really even clean up my mess, and went up and crawled in the toddler bed with Renna and we sang together. Joseph came over and crawled on top of me with a big grin lay down on my leg. Rachel stayed in her bed, but sang with us. It was a sweet moment of remembering that my kids come first over my other interests- even when the other interests are what seem like the "fun" thing. If it's too much to do, then the other interests have to go first- in spite of their "relaxation" or "stress release factor" or "service to others" or "ministry value". Even when I would rather just farm out the kids to a babysitter or give that responsibility away for a while instead. God called me to the children. First my husband, then my children. Cakes and other stuff, regardless of my love for them are so much further down the list.

So, while I'm desperately hoping that I will be able to pull this cake off this week. I'm reminded again where it fits in line. For the husband to be first means that I can't be calling him to bail me out of my over ambitiousness. It means his priorities must be my priorities. It means that my children can't suffer from lack of attention because I need to "get this done". They come first. And the cake will just have to be what it is. I'm sure it will be fine. But I'm done trying to tackle the world this week.

One of these days I hope I learn this lesson for the last time. This has got to be at least the 50th time we've been around this circle. And yet, I'm thankful God took me around it again, really. In fact, it's a good reminder before we enter the summer and I get all inspired about the vast amounts of things I will conquer while I'm not teaching school. I think this will motivate me to change my priorities to do whatever I can do AND experience my family at the same time.

If I'm not careful...next week I'll get excited about something and forget this whole lesson entirely in the momentum of the next great thing. God help me!

Until then, I think I'll go settle up with the kids for my misbehavior this morning, spend some time praying with them for all of our attitudes, and see how I can meet their needs best this morning. And I'll trust God to redeem the time for what I need to accomplish on that cake business.

Back in the Saddle

2011-04-29T06:44:00.000-05:00

We’ve hit a groove! I’m still have spouts of roller coaster hormones that cause me to want to ball my eyes out for no reason occasionally and unfortunately I can usually come up with some reason to make it seem necessary. For the most part though, I’m doing well.
I’ve had the opportunity to regularly attend some physical therapy sessions and have been very pleased with the progress my body is making towards physical recovery. For several weeks after the birth I had trouble even walking around. After procuring a fancy belt contraption to wear and doing some regular core strengthening exercise, I’m happy to say that I can walk without pain now and am gradually strengthening my core. Every once in a while I’ll do something new and be surprised by the soreness- like weeding in the flower bed, or pushing the full grocery cart, but overall I’m seeing progress and I’m encouraged.
The kids are doing really well in school. Jonathon and James just finished their yearly testing torture and did well. This is the first year that they have been able to read well enough to avoid becoming frustrated on the test. It gives me courage for the younger ones and their reading. We’ve postponed some studies for them- like science and art in hopes of really conquering their math and reading in a timely manner this year. It’s been tough staying on track what with all the ailments Brandon and I have had this school year, but they are doing well considering. They will complete their reading and math by the end of the year and then I’m hoping we can throw some science and art in throughout the summer. I’m realizing that having a routine in the morning is really helpful- regardless of what time of year it is. Thankfully, as a result of all the bed rest I’ve been on, they have learned how to do their work mostly independently. I can usually just check on them a couple of times and expect them to complete their work.
Jeff and Rachel have really started to soar in their schooling. Both of them are doing the My Father’s World 1st grade level. At first it was very slow going and I wasn’t sure I would be able to make it through the year, but thanks to Jane’s help in November and then again this spring, they have had the consistency they needed to really progress and get into a routine. So now even though we are behind and still have about 45 “days” to go before the end of their year, we are able to cover 5 days of work in about 2 and they are catching up fast. There is nothing like having the children know how to read well enough to move through the story at a reasonable rate.
I find bits and pieces of time to tuck in other things here and there- finding various counters again, making dinner, planning cakes for May, and going through the kids clothes. Of course, these don’t all happen on the same days,(dinner generally happens every day I suppose) but other things get done. I don’t think I ever accomplish all that I want to, but I think I do accomplish all that is realistic- so that’s nice. It’s wonderful to feel energy again and to be able to be up and about. It’s easy to take it for granted until it’s taken away. I’m glad I can work and play again.

The Waiting Game

2011-03-09T17:02:00.000-05:00

I find myself in a state of continual limbo these days.

I feel like I’m a month over due for this baby. Mostly because I had so many signs of premature labor and we worked so hard to keep the baby in. Now that he’s been given permission to arrive- for over a week now- he seems content to stay there forever. I’m so relieved that isn’t an option. In reality, the worst case scenario is that I’d have to be like this 3 more weeks or so. That would make him a week late.
My due date is the 22nd. Oh how I hope he arrives before then. If any of you are familiar with the relay game where you carry a basketball from one end of the court to the other between your knees, I would totally beat you at that right now. I’m getting very acquainted with the penguin waddle and my children are getting the “walk” down as well.
Every day I think perhaps this is THE DAY. I mean, I’ve had contractions almost every day for a good 6-8 hours and several nights I have been unable to sleep because of them. But then just as I think perhaps we will go somewhere this time, they fade away and I find myself thinking that perhaps I just made it all up and have wasted another perfectly good day squatting, waddling, and thinking that I should wipe that last bit of dust off those bathroom shades so it won’t get the baby sick.
It would be different if I had no signs of labor at all. I think I’d have a better idea that I should wait.
Then there is the baby- this baby took forever to move. I think he was my longest yet as I didn’t start feeling him wiggle until I was over 21 weeks pregnant. But he has made up for it. Completely. In fact, I think he’s going to be an aerobics instructor. It’s his calling. It must be- either that or I see “Olympic gymnast” in his future.
In the end, there isn’t much I can do but wait, and relax, and clean, and walk, and stretch, and take naps, and herbs, and a hundred other things to prepare and help the baby snuggle down…and yet…it still remains that I must wait.

Oh…and I can’t think worth beans! That boy stole every ounce of DHA I had last week. Seriously I think I felt it get sucked out of my brain and now I feel an empty space between questions and answers, between thoughts and talking, between “Eat no carbs” and avoiding chocolate chip cookies. It has grave consequences. Well…hope he enjoys his brain power! It’ll take me months to get back what he just swiped overnight.
Thankfully, my brain doesn’t have to operate to make dinner tonight- thanks to a friend who brought beef stew, cornbread, and cherry turnovers. I’ll just have to use my brain to eat!

Benefits of the Unexpected

2011-03-01T19:57:00.004-05:00

It seems easy sometimes to come up with so many reasons why things are terrible, why a thing won't work out, why it would have been better if it had gone my way. Really, this whole thing lately has been that way for me starting a year ago.

I kept my grandmother, to visit with her and earn some money. We were going to buy a second car! Finally, no more driving the big huge bus of a van EVERYWHERE watching the gas go guzzling out at an astonishing rate of 2 gas stations per mile! It was going to be awesome! The first week she was here, the van engine went and we were without any vehicle. AND, guess we got to fix that one instead of buy a second car.

Then during the early summer our family went camping. We planned an awesome trip where we went up to Bar Harbor, ME and actually camped inside Acadia National Park for a week. I was all up for it! In fact, I'm probably the most enthusiastic camper in our family! Hiking, bike riding, fishing, swimming, looking at the wildlife, and the general thrill of outdoor cooking and living in a tent. We broke a second van while ours was still in the shop. (Thankfully we did not have to pay for all the repairs) We spent a good deal of our time riding in a taxi, getting the van repaired, and just dealing with that in general. Not what I would have considered ideal.

AND...it had been a year since Renna was born...I was getting back in shape. I found my ab muscles again, I could go for a trot, and even made it through the mile run on July 4th without collapsing, all under the excuse of running with James who wanted to participate. Getting into shape is a good thing! SO when I discovered that I needed foot surgery because of a massive bunion on my left foot, we planned it for August with the idea that we would get it over with. And I paid a boat load of money in preparation for the surgery for a cool hands free crutch so I wouldn't be a complete invalid during the 3 months of NO WEIGHT BEARING that I was supposed to do. Not what I planned, but I was excited to get rid of the pain and get it over with and move on.

Oh...but not so fast...we thought we'd have a baby instead. I found out just before my preop visit that I was pregnant. That throws monkey wrenches all over the garage. What was going on? I was trying to be positive here, but goodness? It seemed like everything just kept going differently that what it was supposed to.

We actually didn't have our van back for most of the summer. Spent additional money trying to fix the AC only to find that after pouring close to $1000 into it, there was a leak in the back and in order to actually fix the thing it was going to take another $1000! So, we basically burned the first grand and never did anything with the AC.

I started off this pregnancy more discouraged than any of the others. Not because I wasn't haply to have another little one added to our family, but because I didn't feel like my body was ready to do that. And selfish me, I wanted my foot fixed and now they wouldn't do it because of all the x-rays involved.

Then things started happening to make this entire winter crazy. I had been excited about teaching school this year, instead I started the year with morning sickness and just wanted to die most days. I was thrilled about canning so much from our garden, but I found myself, once again, depending on other people to put through my grand schemes. I set up new chore systems to get the kids more involved in the house work, but I couldn't feel good and keep up with them long enough to help them learn the new system. I also had some complications that put me resting on the couch right in the first trimester.

I pulled out a little during the second trimester and though I might survive. But Brandon took a turn in the sick department and things were so busy that while I had energy, I was using every ounce of it to hold the family together while he was recovering. We made it through November and December and I was feeling good. Early January I was motivated to clean house, make freezer meals for Feb, planned to make some for April and all sorts of other things knowing that I'd want to be prepared for after the baby arrived.

By mid January I was forced to sit on the couch and watch others work around me and all those freezer meals started coming out and being used. Instead of helping be stability during Brandon's busiest time of the year, I was another part of his job that he had to take care of. I cried more about that than anything else.

February seemed almost a complete loss. I went from thinking I might get better to being required to lay on the bed in a horizontal position as much as I could possibly stand it. And stayed in that situation until just last week. Again, not the most convenient thing. I can think of many ways things could have been done differently. I mean hasn't God ever hear of efficient use of time???

Brandon took a turn at the so busy he can't see straight- and really is still there. So many deadlines, so little time. This week I can be up and he was hoping to get caught up on work. That seems reasonable. So, I got some stomach bug Sunday night that kept me in bed all Monday morning, and he had a meeting Monday night- not much work time in his office for that. I think sometimes people think that if he's just home, he can get his work done. But really, if I'm off laying about on the bed upstairs, he's getting nothing accomplished! So what that his office is in the house! Tuesday I felt better, so good day for him to work? Nope...not on your life. He had to make bank deposits, run errands, get more salt for the water softener system, etc. He was back by lunch, but then while changing a water filter one of the pipes broke and we suddenly had no water in the house. Of course we needed the right supplies to fix it and those were in town. He got the pipes repaired and the water back on just at dinner time. (Thankfully a friend made dinner for us.)

I encouraged him to do some work after dinner, but things were so messy and I'm so much like a blob of Jell-o these days after being on bed rest for 5 weeks that I move slower than a slug! I worked on cleaning up the kitchen while he got the kids to clean up toys, get them ready for bed and then did the bedtime routine thing. So, at 7:45pm he can start his day of work. He'll get a little over 2 hours before he has to go to bed in order to make it through the next day.

The point is: We've been going in circles of our expected perfect world crashing down around us for quite some time. I can't begin to explain what this has done to our finances, our communication as a married couple, and our exhaustion level. It's just been one thing after another. However, it's interesting how our reactions have changed somewhat.

I can recall being frustrated about the van breaking down, about not being able to get the car. Then as I began to yield to these things that were out of my control, it became sadness instead.

It makes me picture a child who has seen that it's a sunny day outside and is excited to go and play. He has been anxiously waiting to take his new bike out for a spin and this is the day! Helmet- check, bathroom break- check, shoes and socks- check, water- check, parental permission- check. He runs to the door, throws it open and finds a sudden dark cloud has covered the sky. He hears the sound of thunder and in 3 minutes there is rain cascading down in little rivers all over. There's nothing he can do, but turn around, close the door and I can see him with tears welling up in his eyes. Mom and Dad didn't say no, so he can't be mad at them. All his stuff was there, so he couldn't be mad at siblings for misplacing it. Nope, there's no one to blame except God. Why did God decide that it had to rain right then? He must have known that somewhere something needed rain, but not here. It just brings sadness.

That's where I got stuck- not in the angry mode, but in the sad mode. The mode of why can't I get on the same page as God here? If I had known it was going to rain, I wouldn't have bothered getting ready to go outside. I would have spent my time wisely doing something more productive. All that effort, wasted.

Gradually, I'm learning that the effort is not wasted though. I haven't been able to see the entire picture, but I see some of it. I have no idea why we needed to spend money on the van AC only to quit in the middle. I really don't know why it seemed like God prompted us to by a $300 hands free crutch that now resides in my attic hoping for the day that it gets some use. But there are other things I've seen that I wouldn't change at all.

The van breaking down caused me to slow down and really take time to visit with both of my Grandmothers in ways I wouldn't have otherwise. We would have been busy going places and seeing things- but instead I heard stories and listened to days when they were younger and got to enjoy puttering around the house with them.

Same thing on the camping trip. It slowed us way down. AND I've always loved camping for it's ability to help us learn how to deal with the unexpected. Haha! I wasn't expecting to figure out how to keep tons of van gear dry at a campsite with only one picnic table and two tarps duct taped together! But it was an experience in dealing with the unexpected!

In fact, that happened most of the summer. I had planned to take the kids swimming more, to the library more, just anywhere more. Instead, we worked in the garden together. Jonathon learned how to take care of his portion pretty independently. We were able to minister to a foreign missionary family that came and stayed for several weeks. We finished off our garage into a guest room that has already been a blessing numerous times for people coming to visit us.

When Brandon had a hard time, I learned just exactly how much I COULD keep going when I got tired. I found ways I could enjoy little moments- like walking to get the mail, or just walking in circles around in the driveway while talking on the phone to a friend.

November came and we went to GA for a month and I discovered the value of being positive when Brandon comes "in from work" as our roles were reversed for 4 weeks and he was marvelous at maintaining peace and order when I came back home. I learned what a great teacher he is and his consistency with the children is the backbone of success in our family.

Then January hit and I was on the couch. I learned just how much I could expect my children to help. I would tell Jonathon to pull the casserole out of the oven. He'd say, "It's too hot! I can't!" I'd look at him and say, "Jonathon, I'm not supposed to get up. Either you have to get it out, or it's going to burn and we won't be able to eat it for dinner." I didn't have the option of doing it for him. Guess what- the casserole came out of the oven and he survived!

That boy is a new kid now- thanks to my weeks of bed rest. Where he was very whiny, now he's usually cheerful about helping. Renna loves him as her main defender, entertainment, and helper and he takes her on like it's his responsibility. No one has to ask him to help her. Mama getting out of the way has developed initiative in him like nothing else could have. I'm too much of a control freak! The other day, he took a phone call, took the message, looked at Brandon and me, explained the request, and then said, "I'll got take care of it." He's 9! And he responded in a way that many adults wouldn't have. When he starts running out of clothes, I've seen him go put some in the washing machine! When he sees the playroom dirty, I've seen him go clean it up so that everyone can watch a movie sooner. One day, he knew everyone needed to do school, but I was still in bed and he motivated all his siblings to do all of their independent work without even waking me up. Math, reading, handwriting, Bible- all done. The younger kids could read their math word problems, so he read to them!

James has begun to notice needs and take care of them himself. He has been most observant to my water bottle- refilling it every time it gets low. I've watched him open up and discuss observations and ask questions about things that I never would have taken time for before. He takes more time to open up, and as a result of me having to sit all the time, he comes in and talks- about dreams, about life, about babies. It's wonderful!

Jeff has discovered that he can make my coffee. I wasn't there to train him, so he got Jonathon to teach him. Talk about training in delegating- I know lots of adults who can't do that! He's asserted some independence in some unexpected ways. While I've been immobile, he's discovered that he likes to fix his hair and takes pride in spiking it up at least once a day if not several!

Brandon has them on a system for unloading groceries now that never would have happened with me in the way. They all haul them in and then each child has a different section he's in charge of. Jonathon and Joseph get fridge items. James gets pantry things. Jeff takes the freezer stuff down to the chest freezer and Rachel puts away the fresh fruit. This past Sunday, I watched my children completely put away all the groceries with almost no assistance from me. One didn't know where the diapers went and another wasn't sure if the potatoes were a pantry item or a fresh fruit item. We took care of that and off they went.

As a rule they used to complain every time we cleaned up. No more. I think much of this is Brandon's consistent discipline, but I love it! I come in and say the living room is messy and it needs to be cleaned up and they all say, "Ok, Mama." and do it. Sometimes they still need help getting the dregs of the job done, but it's nothing like it used to be.

So, kids and their independence! They are becoming hard workers, with good attitudes! I'd go back on bed rest for a month to see that happen in a heart beat!

We've learned to save money as a family too. I pay them for other jobs and half goes to them and half goes in a family fun jar. Right now we are saving to build a tree house. There's team work in that- everyone is helping and everyone will benefit, but they get some individual reward out of it as well.

I've had time to read more, study more, craft more, keep up to date with people more, plan a Bible Study and lead it, and pray more for those that are on my heart. I've had time to pray for my husband more often, praise his good qualities, and see ways that he is a blessing to our family that I don't normally notice.

I've had time to concoct new visions for ways to deal with things, research other school ideas, and clean out nooks and crannies of my bedroom- in the name of decluttering.

I've had time to ponder over some of the new ways God has met me, changed me, and molded me in the last 10 years and put some of it into thoughts that might make sense to someone else.

I've had some precious quality time with Renna, who has been my bed rest cuddle bug and comes in to keep me company on a regular basis. We talk, play, or often she just sits with me while I read, type, or watch something. Sometimes we both fall asleep.

All in all, there have been benefits- big ones- to our turned upside down circumstances. There are more coming around each new corner- I just know it. I will forever make my plans, I just have to. I can't live life unprepared, but I'm gradually figuring out that when things get turned aside, or upside down, or completely swept off the table, I can live each day at a time and trust that this will be good too. Most of all, I'm finding that no matter how much excitement and adventure I plan into my ideal life, God is going to one-up me every time. I can see it as a one-up or I can look at it as a little kid that is mad because he didn't get the flavor ice cream that he wanted- even if he wanted vanilla and what he got was Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk.

My prayer going forward is that I will learn to embrace the unexpected with joy. To see it as an opportunity for God to bless me and to live life cheerfully and thriving in the adventure. I'll make my tentative plans in case God decides to take a day off and have a dull day, but after that, I hope to work on loving the stories that He writes in my life- the unbelievable, ridiculous ones.

I recently heard the quote again, "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death." Why? because they can't see that the food right in front of them, though it isn't what they requested, is the most delicious thing they could have hoped for if they would just taste it with positive expectation. I, for one, do not have any intention of starving to death at such a feast!

A Little Different Swing on that Virtuous Woman

2011-02-24T00:14:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer:I know I'm going to "catch-it" from at least one person for my illustration of this subject, but I'm betting that there is ONLY one person out there who would disagree. Thus, with a hypothetical vote of everybody to 1...the "everybodys" have it! :-) (I love you- 1!) I can't help but have this image in my mind for almost all of this passage!

I had a Bible Study on Proverbs 31 recently and we discussed ideas of how to make each verse more meaningful to us in our lives now. So I got this idea to write up a modern day application of the passage and what it means to me- and use the acrostic idea that is present in the Hebrew that you can’t appreciate in English.

10. Are there any women out there who are capable, unflappable, strong and kind? If so, she must be so amazing as to be unbelievable! Let me tell you what I think she is really like:
11. Being her husband does not bring any worry or anxiety. He trusts her completely and is confident in her decision making and knows she will be wise.
12. Continually she is kind and pleasant to him and avoids anything that is not in his best interest or would hurt him.
13. Diligently she takes pleasure in her hard work and delights in new ways to be resourceful.
14. Everything she feeds her family is selected with care to find the healthiest, most frugal, and freshest ingredients knowing that the extra time spent in getting the best will be worth it.
15. Family needs come first and she is motivated and energetic about meeting them. She is a self-starter and unselfish.
16. Gradually she makes wise long term investments knowing that her extra work now will benefit her family for years to come.
17. Her body is kept strong and in good shape. She considers it a priority to be in a healthy state so that she can keep up with the demands of her job.
18. In the night she is always available for her children’s needs- be they practical or spiritual. She’s also willing to put forth extra effort to make good quality products.
19. Just as quickly as she can, she increases her knowledge to benefit her family with her new skills. She’s willing to do repetitive work and can be depended on to take care of mundane tasks.
20. Kindness flows from her to everyone she meets. She ministers to others in need, shows hospitality and is generous.
21. Living prepared, the unexpected is not feared. She plans for emergencies, prepares for the seasons ahead of time, and maintains her household calmly rather than jumping from one disaster to another.
22. Most days she keeps her own appearance and clothing a priority as well, knowing that it is a positive influence and reflection on her family for her to appear “put together”. But she is frugal about it and can be creative with what she has in her wardrobe already.
23. Now her husband is a leader and is well respected, so she encourages him in his role and does not complain that he is gone extra hours of the day.
24. Often she is found creatively subsidizing the family income. She is organized, managerial, and can run a business with confidence and leadership.
25. Physical strength as well as emotional stability are immediately obvious in her. She stays mentally ready and spiritually in tune to things around her. Stability and cheerfulness will pay off for her in the long run.
26. Quietly she considers those she listens to and when she speaks from her vast wisdom, experience, and insight, it is without judgment and contains the utmost gentleness.
27. Reliability is her trademark and she is forever keeping watch for what to work on next. There is no place in her life for procrastination for she loves her work and has plenty of it.
28. Such an energy giver she is that her children and husband rave about her to others.
29. There are many women who have become great, but this woman is better than all the others.
30. Understand that greatness and beauty will fade with time, but a woman who loves God and shows that love unconditionally to others will be valued all her life.
31. Virtually everything she does and everyone who comes in contact with her will speak for her so clearly that she will never need to defend herself.

Light at the end of the Hallway

2011-02-22T08:22:00.005-05:00

(My faithful bed rest partener and her "gibit")
We’re on to week “I’ve-lost-count” of bed rest. I’ve been in my bedroom, on my bed for two full weeks now. I was on the couch before that for at least 3 weeks. Before that, everything is a little fuzzy in my brain. Of course when you are horizontal for that length of time I think it makes everything in life a little fuzzy, not to mention sideways.

Remarkably, I think things have gone fairly well. I’ve had plenty of support from wonderful friends, my fabulous husband has kept me fed and my needs met, the children have been supportive and understanding, and I’ve had many phone calls, visits, and cards from friends. Overall, I couldn’t ask for a better situation considering the needs.

Some of the things that have made bed rest tolerable have been the unexpected items: doing some sort of school each day with the children, preparing and leading a Women’s Bible Study on Wednesday nights in my bedroom, and taking time to write thank-you notes. These things have kept me thinking of all the love people have poured out and help me avoid selfishly complaining. I have very few moments to think about myself and feel pitiful. I did not expect encouragement to come this way, but it has been my lifeline.

Brandon has faithfully awakened me each morning at 8am with breakfast in bed. He doesn’t have high expectations of what I will do after that, but he expects me to start my day. That’s been surprisingly helpful as well. It’s hard enough to keep my days and nights straight when I’m in the bed every day, but if I have a set time to be up and start- even if I nap later- it keeps me from getting completely switched around and greatly helps with emotional stability.

Then there is the wonderful change that has taken place over the last week. If I can be bold, I will say that I’m confident the change happened this past Sunday. You see, last Monday I went into the hospital with regular contractions, three minutes apart. Hospital experiences are always a story in themselves, but I’ll cut it short and say that they managed to drug me enough to cause the contractions and sent me home with the minor wounds of four attempts at starting an IV. Wednesday night I had regular contractions again and took my medicine with successful results. We repeated the scenario Thursday night and then again Saturday night, only each time it took longer to work. By Sunday morning I was tired of being up in the night wondering if I was going to have to head to the hospital and as things seemed to keep progressing in a less than desirable way, I call my family for prayer. I know that MANY people were praying for me on Sunday- for things to change, for the baby to stay put, for a miracle to happen! And I am confident that God heard and answered that prayer!

Monday morning, I felt like things were different. I can’t really explain it. It was a gradual feeling and not really something I can put my finger on, except that the more I thought about it this week, the more I was sure that God had done something to settle things down that Sunday. Just to really test things out, I started sitting up in bed more to see if things would be ok. Tuesday I sat on the bed for most of the day instead of lying down. I actually decorated Joseph’s birthday cake that day- on the bed, but enjoyed sitting up to do a number of other things as well. I had no negative repercussions.

Wednesday, I continued with the same thing. While I didn’t decorate a cake that day, I did sit up most of the day and also did a couple of things that required puttering around my room for a few minutes. Thursday I had my hair cut by a wonderful friend and even walked to the top of the stairs and sat there during lunch. Again I had a little more activity and no contractions or spotting. Friday has been similar. I moved to the couch in my room for a while today while someone changed the sheets on the bed and enjoyed having my lunch in a completely upright position. I also rearranged some flowers, watered a couple of plants, and put away a few things that belonged other places upstairs. Then when I felt like I was pushing the limits too much I would come back and recline on the bed for a while. I’d say I’m at about 1/8 capacity for full activity right now. That may not seem like much, but it was virtually at zero! And things continue to stay stable.
I also had a good conversation with my midwife earlier this week, giving me much more information, and clearing up some questions we had about the seriousness of my condition. For one, she is 99% sure I don’t have a placental abruption! Thanks to some other things being clarified, both Brandon and I are fairly confident that this baby is going to hang on at least until 37 weeks and we can also deliver at home. The risks are fewer every day for premature labor and we are encouraged that we can perhaps go back to our original plan, which for our family is much more sensible for a number of reasons.
All in all, I see God’s hand in it- thoroughly. He’s kept me upbeat for most of the time, he’s answer prayer for my physical needs to be met, He’s sent people and the perfect time and met practical needs in perfect ways. We’ve been blessed so much by the generosity of others! He has proved himself faithful. I am encouraged that He is on the job in our home and with our family.

In a less spiritual, more everyday amusement sort of way, here are some things going on:
- Jonathon and Jeff are learning to style their hair- with actual hair products. Jeff has been in the bathroom to fix his hair at least 6 times today. They are perfecting the looks of “messy” and “spike” respectively. I never thought I would have a seven year old that WANTED to style his hair! Look out teenage years!

- Jeff came in with an amusing comment today. He declared that his thumb wasn’t working because every time he pushed it down on the table it went like this:

A very terrible problem, as you can see.

-The popular tune heard around our house lately, thanks to our decision to name the baby, “Justin Alexander” is “Just-in Obey. For there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to Just-in obey.” I’m sure he’s going to hate that song his whole life at this rate! Joseph is the one that sings the tune most faithfully.

- I finally finished a project I began last April. I made Rachel some coat hangers for her doll clothes. A certain expensive company sells doll clothes hangers for a whopping 3 for $10. Since I can’t choke up enough nerve to even think about spending $50 for hangers, I had Brandon pick up some heavy duty wire at the hardware store last year and with a good set of needle nose pliers, I’ve just bent some into shape. They are nearly as cute or uniform, but they do the trick and Rachel was quick to put them to good use!

All this brings me to today- Tuesday. I’m officially 36 weeks along today and I can begin getting up. It will have to be gradual as the earliest the baby can come here at home is Sunday. So, we don’t want to get things going too quickly. Today’s extra event will be sitting on the couch this afternoon to supervise the children while Jeff goes to the orthodontist. That will be enough activity I think- mostly due to the fact that I have to go up and down the stairs to get there.

Jeff’s appointment at the orthodontist is to discuss widening his upper jaw to eliminate his massive cross bite problem. This is a symptom that comes with the ear problem he’s had since birth, but we are hoping to correct the mouth issue while we can- which is apparently sometime between now and the time he turns 10-12. We took him in last year, but he didn’t have his six-year molars, which are apparently necessary anchor points for the contraptions he will have to wear in his mouth. I’m pretty sure they are present now, so we’ll see.

Ok…I suppose I have to stop talking here or this will never get published to my blog. And the longer I type the less likely people are to sit down and read it… Happy Tuesday.

The Nitty Gritty

2011-02-06T10:20:00.005-05:00

Ok, so after attempting several posts, writing, adding to, undoing, writing again, I’m finally committed to putting an update together. Here’s what’s going on- for all of you who are interested.
Ever since the 20th of January I have been on bed rest. Or couch rest to be more precise. In the morning I get up, get dressed (sort of) and meander down to the couch where I spend the majority of my day sitting or lying on my side and telling other people what to do.
I have a plethora of entertainment possibilities while I sit. I have a Bible Study I’m leading each Wednesday for the Bible School Women. So I get plenty of time to prepare. I have my daily Bible reading, some videos to watch, and some craft things I’m working on to keep my fingers busy.

There’s always the laptop to keep me distracted with things like blog posts or Facebook and most of my time is taken up with telling the children what to do. We have done some school almost every day and I am grateful for the forced focus that required down time lends to school.
Thanks to a special someone, I have money with which to bribe pay my kids and others to do extra chores. I’m not paying them to get dressed and clean their room. Nor am I paying for the regular work they are supposed to help with- cleaning up toys, emptying the dishwasher, and wiping the bathroom. But I have been paying for the times when I need one child to do an extra job or something. Jonathon has been taking advantage of this new business opportunity and has earned several dollars making dinner, cleaning up from meals, and doing the younger kids jobs when they are outside playing. James has gotten in on the action as well and Rachel just a tiny bit. It’s been nice to be able to give them some reward for the extra effort they are putting out. They really have been cheerful workers overall and I have been blessed by their diligence and initiative numerous times. One thing we have going is a deal to pay half of what they earn to them to spend and the other half to put into a jar we keep on top of the fridge for some family fun. Right now we are saving up to build some sort of tree house in the spring or summer and hope to have a little left over for something else fun like a day trip to the ocean or out for ice cream. Since it’s such a family effort to keep things going around here, I thought that everyone should benefit in some way of the team work they are exhibiting. Overall they seem to like this arrangement, especially since I have been fairly generous in the payment for certain jobs. This plan is working and I’m thrilled. So, a big thank you to my “fairy godmother” for meeting a need in a creative way!

Now for what’s actually going on. (PHYSICAL DETAILS- BEWARE) For the last four weeks I’ve been spotting- just barely bleeding. Some days it’s so barely there that I have to be in good light to see it. Other days it’s been obvious, but never bright red- just a little pink. There are a lot of things that can cause this to happen in later pregnancy, but unfortunately we’ve managed to rule out all the normal excuses. I have no detectable infections, no sores or abrasions, no kidney problems or other problems relating to elimination. Through a number of observations and testing we’ve managed to rule out all the easy answers that would make it possible to just ignore it and move on. This leaves me with the risk of placental abruption. For those of you not up on your pregnancy risk vocabulary, this is when there is a slight to large detachment of the placenta from the uterine wall, causing bleeding between the placenta and the uterine lining. With a small abruption a woman can easily go through pregnancy and labor and everything be fine, however if the abruption increases and the placenta decides it’s time to separate completely or becomes more fully separated then the baby looses oxygen and it can mean a premature delivery. We don’t know for sure if this is the problem or not, but it’s the next thing to suspect and with the minimal bleeding it seems that it is probably on the minimal side of abruption. If I make it to 37 weeks, the delivery would not be premature at that point but the risk will still exist for the baby’s stability during labor to be compromised. Bed rest helps keep things from moving around and becoming dislodged further- if that is in fact the problem. So, here I am- at least until Feb 21st, when I’m close enough to my due date that I can safely go into labor. I might end up on bed rest until March 10th however, just because that’s when our help (Jane the Wonderful) arrives. If at all possible we want to avoid having the baby and trying to supervise all the kids at the same time. So, we’ll do what we can to help things out that way and be trusting God to meet our needs both the practical ones and the timing of things.
We are also considering having this child at the hospital. It sounds crazy to most of you probably, but I’m a little nervous. I know the risk factors would be greatly reduced if we had this baby at the hospital, but I haven’t had a child outside of my own bedroom for 10 years! Jonathon has been the only hospital birth and since then we’ve been blessed to be able to have all the others naturally and at home with the help of a wonderful midwife. I’ve come to love the peacefulness of being at home, the comfort of laboring in my own house around my family, with all my own comforts. And when the baby is here, I lay down in my own bed and there are no monitors to be hooked to, no noises from a nurse’s station, no two hour checks for 24 hours after the baby is born. No one tells me I can’t let the baby sleep on my chest, no one takes him out for tests and such without my consent, noone gets paranoid and feeds him formula without asking me first. It’s just me and him and my wonderful family all around. AND I can have all the company I want as soon as I want it- which is one of the biggest things I’ll miss about a hospital delivery. After the baby is born and things are cleaned up, I’m usually ready to have everyone in the nearby vicinity come and ogle over the baby. Don’t believe me? Some of you know. Some of you have been here an hour after the birth. I eat it up- it’s one of the best things about the whole process! How many people can I get to come and see me and the baby as soon as possible? Hold him! Rejoice with me! It’s a new life! Let’s celebrate! And I don’t want to do it alone. The hospital is almost two hours away- the good one, that is. And regardless of efforts made, it just won’t be the same. I’ll miss having the entire Bible School in my room two hours after the delivery.
The safety and help from the doctors and being in a place where we will have help is worth it. I know that. I’ll trade all of the people time for the knowledge that if something goes wrong I’m in the best place I could be.
So, that’s where I am, what I’m doing and why. I’ve been tremendously blessed by supportive family and friends. I’ve got wonderful people helping keep up with laundry and child care and have loads of freezer meals- some people have brought and some I made with a friend just before I went on bed rest. Others have brought over hot meals- which are a welcome change up. I have gotten cards, videos, a Netflix subscription, money to pay the kids and others, and visitors (one of my favorites!) have come to chat and let me know they care. While, I’m still occasionally an emotional wreck, all the support has left me confident that others love me and my family and are there for us. When both my parents and Brandon’s parents live so far away, that is a treasure I don’t take for granted.
If you find yourself praying for our family, I’d appreciate all the help I can get for emotional stability and clear communication with Brandon. You can pray for the physical needs too, but also for my self control to stay put and eat correctly. I have to be even more cautious about my diet while I’m sitting around doing nothing.
God is good- all the time. He is meeting our needs and leading us each and every day. I find myself asking him for help sometimes in the silliest ways it seems, and yet I continue to find him faithful in answering my childish cries for attention and help. He hears my, “Daddy, I can’t do this” and seems to smile and say, “Yes, you can but I will help you anyway.” I’m so thankful for his mercy.

Convenience Food at it's Best

2011-01-17T21:35:00.003-05:00

Today was a wonderful exhausting day. A friend of mine told me a few weeks ago that she would come over today and help me make freezer meals. Whoot! After mega planning and a phenomenal grocery store trip by the marvelous husband yesterday we had all the ingredients necessary to put together 20 meals that serve at least 8 people each! Thankfully a couple of stores had meats on sale so I didn’t have to spend my entire life savings (which really amounts to about 24 cents in my wallet) on the food. It was a little more than regular shopping, but in the end the convenience is totally worth it!
I like to think of these meals as almost ready meals. They aren’t your regular casseroles and such. Several years ago my sister in law gave me a couple of “Mega Menu” kits from www.savingdinner.com. I tried them and absolutely love them and have purchase and made some of their other kits as well. The one I did today was a Low Carb Menu for 20 meals. Basically you put all the ingredients together for each meal, but it isn’t cooked yet. These are a good balance to killing yourself all in one day to make meals, and having something easy to prepare. I also get to eat healthier since these are main dishes that avoid things like creamed soups and incorporate more items like fresh veggies, spices, and whole grains, etc. Just in case you like this idea, they have plans for 10 meals or you can just make 5 all chicken or 5 all beef.
Anyway, we had a grand day of chopping, dicing, squeezing, measuring, pounding, and running around changing dirty diapers. We made things like Italian Chicken Skillet- with loads of zucchini, red bell pepper, onions, chicken, and tomatoes, and Mini Meatloaves- which is about half beef, half shredded zucchini, and Nutty Fish- a cod dipped in egg and then dredged in ground pecans and paprika. Of course, after the main dishes are prepared and frozen, then I just have to pull them out and cook them. There are also whole menu suggestions of side dishes and salad ideas to have with it to keep it in the “Low Carb” category. I love it!
One of my favorite discoveries recently has been mashed cauliflower. I really should stay away from that big heaping pile of buttery mashed potatoes and this menu suggested using cooked, mashed cauliflower with a little cream cheese, salt and pepper instead. Does it taste like potatoes? No. However, it makes for a yummy creamy substitute that I can enjoy and even put a little gravy on if I choose.
So, now I have preassembled meals for a month in my chest freezer. I couldn’t be happier! Our family can all eat the same thing at dinner and I can rest easy knowing that I’m being “good”. For anyone that has struggled to stay on some sort of diet while feeding your family, who is not on a diet, you know it gets old trying to figure out two meals every single day. This combines things so that if I want to add bread for them I can, but if they just eat what I’m serving for myself, then I can be confident that they are consuming something that is good for them too. And it helps me keep from slacking off as much on what I’m eating.
Bottom line: we had a good time and it’s all done and in the freezer waiting, or perhaps begging to be pulled out in a couple of days.

I’m now off duty, the children are in bed, and I’m putting my feet up. I just might go to sleep a wee bit early- smiling all the way.

Life in the Tundra

2011-01-13T14:58:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a delightful day of watching snow swirl around and blow. In fact the last couple of days have been good for that. It inspired me to clean the slime and snot off the windows so I could actually see through them and out to that gorgeous white lawn. We received about 20 inches- or first good solid dumping of the season.

Today we needed a change, and so ventured out of the house to the store, not in the tradition of the my Southern heritage, "oh I need something from the store or I'll starve cause it's snowing outside" but in the Northern heritage of, "Oh, the Bible School is out of milk and the husband volunteered for the job but doesn't have time to do it." I must say for ya'll down in warmer climates I'm sure 20 inches would have kept you in for weeks, but this morning, my driveway had been plowed for the second time and the main roads had zero snow on them. Oh...and we have car inspections, so my tires have tread and so do everyone else's. I get it.

So, I bundled up the kids- actually they mostly bundled themselves, ate breakfast, and found all the appropriate boots and coats. Then I made them all go back and change clothes because 4 out of 6 were wearing the same clothes as they were on Monday and the rest of the week. We finally got everyone properly dressed and loaded into the van where I discovered that Joseph still didn't put a jacket on. Back into the house to get a jacket in case we got stranded in our car on the side of the road buried under a pile of snow 8 feet tall (cause that's how much it would take to bury our van) and then off to town. It only took us one hour and 15 min. to get ready and most of that really was spent with me going to the bathroom and trying to reach my shoes...after all, I am pregnant. We had three goals: get milk, pick up some ingredients for a pot luck offering for the weekend, and go to the library to pick out books. Oh...and don't kill the kids.

Our first stop was the grocery store where we normally shop. Really, I'm not sure why the other three grocery stores even stay in business. There is such a difference in prices between this one and the others. I estimated one time that a list of groceries that cost me $160 at store A would have cost $200 at least at any of the other stores! Anyway, we were there. I pulled into the only proper spot for a pregnant woman with 6 kids and a large bus- the spot in between the plow's snow hill and the buggy return. Actually it was pretty sweet cause there weren't two complete spots plowed there, only about 1 1/2. So we gladly took up the entire space. Ah...if you don't use a large van on a regular basis you have no idea how glorious it is to have space on BOTH sides of the vehicle to exit AND not have to squeeze into a shape similar to a diet size slice of cucumber to get out of the car. I opened my door all the way stepped my big preggo self out onto the ground and then spaciously walked around and opened both side doors to let the ants out of the hill to mill around and scavenge for food.

We'll say this was one of the better trips to the store. People stopped and stared. They always do. And really, I think I would too, but it was mostly happy stares. I grabbed a buggy from the stall, plopped Renna in her light pink poofy coat in the baby seat and then shoved it through the slush to the door. My train followed faithfully behind. If we didn't look like a circus parade, we'd be a cute family. The older three boys each have jackets of a different bright color. That way when I want to point them out to someone I can say, "Hey! Can you swat the one in the blue? Thanks!" So red, green, blue marched forward. Then came Rachel in her purple striped shirt, light pink quilted handmade skirt (which I sewed for her back when I magically was able to create time for something like that), brown leggings, white footies, white sneakers, and a fuchsia sweater jacket. This was not one of her better coordinated days. Joseph tramped along behind her with his jacket unzipped, freezing, sucking his fingers and...THAT BOY put on the pants he wet yesterday! GREAT...I still missed one back at the dressing ordeal- oh well. So our train went into the store, up and down the isles, stopping at the few items we needed to pick up.
I really must apologize to all the other customers in the store. I know we made their shopping experience take ever so much longer due to the stare factor. I actually started looking around to see if there was a sign posted saying: Make way for the big lady with all the kids...and don't shop when she's on your isle. Cause, really every time we turned down an isle to get milk or white chocolate chips or other food item, life completely stopped all around us. Whether there were 2 or 20 other people on that isle, as soon as we got there they all froze and maintained complete silence as we walked by, got our stuff and moved on. Once I actually went back to the previous isle just to be sure the people started moving again. I mean I would hate to cause a permanent frozen state in others. Sure enough they were back to their business. It was a handy thing for us. I mean...if no one else is shopping then it's easier to get stuff and get out. The store clerks on the other hand ran the other direction. The one I tried to get to find some blueberries acted like he was deaf. And another when he saw me coming actually pulled out a newspaper and began reading while walking the other way as if he wasn't a sales clerk! They weren't mean, just careful to avoid all possible interaction with that crazy woman who brought the day care out for a field trip.
The kids were a big help though. We needed 13 gallons of milk and I didn't have to lift a single one. They didn't play bumper cars too many times, and Renna only unloaded my purse once. We even made it out without having to visit the bathroom- which is the first time I think since #3 has been potty trained that we have NOT had to use the facilities in the grocery store. Perhaps we should have cake for dinner and celebrate this small accomplishment.
Anyway, they loaded the belt at the cashier, loaded the cart with the bagged groceries, AND managed to stay together all the way back to the car. Since I was button-popping proud of their behavior I handed them all a chocolate cupcake with valentines frosting on top as a snack when we got in. That was a big hit and I'm now, for the time being on the "awesome mama" list. At least until I tell them to clean up their rooms today. That was a great distraction for the second store I went to where I left them all in the car for about 5 minutes to buy one item and come back. So glad I can trust them for a little while! It's unbelievably freeing!
Stop number three was the library- by far the most exhausting one. For starters the parking isn't nearly as divine. We ended up parallel parked on the street where the snow hadn't been cleared away completely. So, too bad I couldn't get to that parking meter to put my change in...I would have, you know. As it was, I had to step one foot into the plowed line of snow to get out of the car- only up to my knee of course. And then I hung on to the rear view mirror to get around the front without toppling over into the bank. The kids got out into the street and I discovered Renna had really enjoyed her cupcake. Jonathon appropriately warned me, "Mama, Renna looks like she's had 15 lunches and no manners at any of them." Now her coat is in the washer and I hope it comes out without plastered chocolate and red sprinkles on it. Fortunately I scrounged around and located a sad roll of paper towels and used water from my water bottle to smear around the cake mess. At least it was more like a facial glow than polka dots then. We trotted into the library with our purple book crate, 6 kids, and the cake crumbs trailing behind. It's actually good that we had to walk a ways to the door cause that way most of the crumbs were knocked off before we got to the quiet, clean, always act like adults library. In we went and up two flights of stairs to the children's section. They have an elevator, but the kids were in front and far be it from me to make them come back to ride it, so I limped up the stairs as well with Renna on my hip like some old woman that should have come in her wheelchair. We picked out books and played with the library toys- this place has AWESOME toys. In fact, the kids really never want to come for the books. They just want to play with the 4 foot dollhouse and the trains- which we have at home and they get bored of! I called a bit of the adventure there "school" because I did technically explain the numbering system to Jonathon while he was trying to find the non fiction sections relating to pirates, boats, vikings, and dragons. Totally counts!
After about 3 seconds Jeff had his required 3 books and went to play. The rest of the kids followed suit eventually, but after each child gets 3 books and Mama finds a small stack she thinks they will like that purple crate is heavy! I think we had almost 30 books picked out...so time to go.
Somewhere in there, I took one child to the bathroom and made the other wait. Why can't they want to go at the same time? I don't know...but there is a law- I'm convinced.
Down the stairs we stomped. Really, I'm not sure if there is any hope of us not distracting all the other patrons in the library- ever. While we checked out, I added another to the bathroom list, Renna tried to slam her fingers in the door and wailed, Joseph used the chair cushions in the lobby as trampolines, and Rachel attempted to read the words on the welcome sign at the top of her lungs to all who would listen. I bet the librarians had a party of silence when we finally left.
Now we are home, everything is inside and mostly put away, Renna is busy unfolding all the paper napkins, some of the kids have been outside to play, and the bathroom is available to all who want to use it. Oh, and I think Joseph did eventually change his pants. I did ask him to anyway- at least twice. Same shirt, but you know...some battles just aren't worth it.
So...from 8:30 to 12:30 our entire focus was one stop at the grocery store and a 30 minute stay at the library, with a quick grab at another place. It probably wouldn't have taken that long by myself, but it wouldn't have been nearly as interesting and I wouldn't have bothered to share it with you.

Now off to figure out dinner...mac n' cheese anyone?

Sweet Peace

2011-01-10T11:25:00.002-05:00

Today started off sort of late. Mostly because last night ended late- for everyone. Yesterday the kids and I bravely attended an evening ice skating party. I wasn't completely convinced I had energy for such things. There is all the frozenness, the skate tying and immediate untying, the trotting from house to pond, the forgotten gloves or diaper bag, and the child with big eyes begging no one but Mama to pull them on the sled around the ice- at 6 1/2 months pregnant. Of course 3 year olds don't generally factor the tummy issue into their decision matrix. But I wanted so badly to get out of the house and take the kids to do something fun that it was worth the risk of running out of steam or falling down once to try to make it work. It was an exercise in throwing out the schedule and routine to watch them smile and experience something different. We had an exhausting fabulous time.

It appears as though I'm paying for it this morning, but I'm not so sure that's the case either. Sure there are some heightened emotions, and school is a little slower- actually with several firm stand stills mixed in. But right now I have a precious baby asleep snuggled up in my arms, another child laying in bed taking some extra time with Jesus, another sitting in a rocking chair with my maternity sweater on rocking back and forth alternately reading his Bible and calmly talking to the kid on the floor building block towers about what he is reading. Rachel and Joseph are playing house kindly upstairs, happy that I finally took the two minutes this morning to tie a string to the end of the bedroom light switch cord so they can turn it on and off themselves. My tummy is wildly wiggling around as I sit here with my feet propped up and thus it appears that the one yet born is the only one capable of expressing massive amounts of energy right now.

This is a precious moment and I wouldn't miss it for all the world checked off a list.

New Comes around Again

2011-01-08T20:44:00.006-05:00

With each new year I find myself thinking about where I want to be at the end of this period of months. I seem start off with similar goals each time: eat healthier, exercise more, be kinder to my family, read my Bible more faithfully, etc. I believe if I engraved this list of aspirations on a golden plaque and mounted it on my bedroom wall I could probably only change the years from one year to the next and never really alter my goals the least bit. It's not the most inspiring way to begin and this year I found myself discouraged at the thought of just erasing the "10", replacing it with "11" and attempting another round of vague feel good ideas.

It has taken me over a week to wade through my lofty ideas and ambitions for the new year. Some are reasonable like: have the baby. Others are more on the ridiculous side: after having the baby and possibly foot surgery and 6 months of recovery reach my prepregnancy weight from before Jonathon. Maybe in Heaven...

One of the things I did accomplish last year- which was not on my goal list- was to read a book about goal setting and thus, I'm strongly considering scrapping the old mantra and replacing it with a new concept to me.

This idea I read about was creating "S.M.A.R.T. Goals".
S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym for:
Specific(details)
Measurable(capable of measuring success)
Attainable(not dependent on another person's attitudes or actions)
Realistic(small enough chunk to actually be successful with)
Time Oriented (have a deadline).

With this in mind, I scrapped the old generalities and added some S.M.A.R.T. to brighten up my dusty list.

I changed "Eat Healthier" to:
For the first three months: keep a food journal, come up with 3 healthy snacks I enjoy, replace evening snacks with water or herbal tea, and note in my journal when I am really hungry or "emotionally hungry". Reevaluate at the beginning of April.

For "Exercise more":
Set a goal to walk for 20 minutes, 3 times a week until the end of March. Reevaluate then.

Instead of "Be kinder to my family":
Develop 2 new ideas for ways to show love during discipline and practice them for 2 months to see how they work. Set aside time at least once a week for a longer one on one time with a child to talk to them, listen to them or focus on their interests. Show kindness to Brandon by picking one of his pet peeves and working to change that habit- write it down and check back each month to evaluate.

To replace "Read my Bible more faithfully":
Purpose to read the New Testament through this year along with my oldest two boys(not depending on them, just doing the same thing) using a Bible reading chart set up for this amount of reading. Use time on Saturday to catch up on any reading missed during the week.

I'm convinced an entire year is way too long for me to make a goal and not check on it between now and then. Since I have always tended towards three month phases (or so I'm told) that seems like a good amount of time to work and then check on my progress. At that point, I can make it harder or easier depending on how I'm doing in a particular area. Three months will be a good transition point anyway because I will have a new little boy to care for by the end of March and that will change a number of things in my life for a while.

The other thing that I'd like to focus on this year is to find ways to build up encouragement in my life and put away despair and discouragement. I'm going to look for inspiring thoughts to print out and put on my walls in places where I'll see them. Write notes and put them in drawers or books that I read. Change my desktop to be something that builds me up each time I look at it. And look for other ways to be encouraged and press on. My hope is that I can bounce some cheerfulness off onto my family rather than throwing grouchy at them so often. We'll see. It's all got to be written down but I'm already working on it.

And to end on a lighter note, Jeff has declared that he wants to be a Daddy when he grows up- which apparently includes checking email, cooking, cutting grass, and making fires. This is one of the best goals I can think of!

Great time to Practice

2010-04-17T20:40:00.002-05:00

Well... tonight marks a new test in my life. Brandon has been away before, but this time he's going for 8 days. I really could almost count all of last week as him being gone- he's been so busy- ok, well, he did still come to bed every night eventually :-) But this week he's headed to Indiana with the students for the whole week- including 2 Sundays. This will be a little different because he's taking all my normal helpers with him- my sisters, my friend that usually helps in church, the pastor and his wife- they are all going. And I'm staying. For several reasons this seems big to me,not the least of which is that I wanted to go too. But I've been helped by God to have a better attitude about that particular part of the plan- even if it wasn't originally what I would have picked. And, since I have been working on discouragement lately, I have a good chance to practice my new strategies this week while I'm alone. They have worked for other situations so far and I've been very encouraged at the results.

Here they are: (in no particular order)

#1. Avoid the normal reactions: avoiding the task or thing that needs to be done, escaping to a movie, book, or corner of the house, venting about my problem without seeking a solution or doing anything about it, staying in bed in the morning too late, staying up too late the night before.

#2. Apply Nehemiah 4: pray for help from God: Psalm 118:5, get back to work: Phil. 4 13, Avoid other discouragers: Neh. 6:2-4, Rest (avoid fatigue)- Neh 4:10, Remove time consumers: Eph. 5:16-17, work on removing bad habits: Rom:12:2, Don't isolate yourself: Heb. 10:24-25, Encourage someone else: Prov. 11:25, Remember how God has helped me in the past: Ps. 105:8, Remember he is faithful: Is.40:28-31.

#3. Practical helps that almost always help keep me on top of things: get up BEFORE the kids!, Go to bed early enough to get plenty of rest, have my devotions, take my vitamins, exercise, and don't eat junk food.

There! That's my plan for the week. Everything else that gets done will be gravy! Keep us in your prayers. :-)

Thinking out loud...

2010-02-09T10:48:00.003-05:00

Lately I've been wondering about blessings. Sometimes I get into a little funk of wondering why my life can be so miserable and begin thinking that God must really either just plain hate me, or be trying to fix me, or tell me something, etc. It can be especially frustrating when I get to the end of my rope and find myself taking that frustration out on my family.

Have you ever been there? Feeling like your prayers are just hitting the ceiling and bouncing back down? Or perhaps just wondering why you should bother praying any more? I've been there for a while now and I've been trying to figure out what MY problem is. There are plenty of things around me that it's easy to look at and conclude that the culmination of all those contributing factors make it so that I am miserable. What might be those things that are dragging you down? Here's some of the ones that have been plaguing me lately, just so you know I'm not making things up:
-The kids have been especially argumentative a lot this winter and I feel like a constant referee.
-Brandon and I have both been so busy we find it difficult to communicate at a time when we are not both tired and that makes for some tough conversations.
-Financially our family has been cramped far worse than we ever have been in our marriage and every way that seems to be a possibility of relieving that stress seems to be a door that shuts almost as soon as we notice it.
- I've been having more problems with my skin condition- many days it's painful to use my hands at all, partly why I haven't been blogging much- because it actually hurts to type, or wash dishes, or cut vegetables, or write. My hands bleed after folding laundry, and cleaning things in the house makes them sore for days.
- I've been having back trouble. At first it was so bad that my lower back would spasm and I would hardly be able to walk. It's gotten better. Now it only randomly spasms when I least expect it and then it is sore for only about 3 hours.
- I've had trouble nursing, and even with unscheduled or scheduled, or formula, or no formula, or pumping, or herbal remedies (please don't email me all the ways I can boost my supply, that's not what this post is about)my supply has continued to diminish and Renna is almost completely weaned.
- I've tried to get back into some form of exercise, but each time I get sick, or get back pain, or kidney stones (not recently, PTL), or other joint pain and have to stop to heal.
- I can't seem to get all the school work that needs to be done completed in any given day- mostly due to interruptions, distractions, bad attitudes, or just inability for a child to grasp a concept in less that 6 hours!
- Many areas in the home I feel like a failure- I don't do my laundry (this is not an exaggeration- I mean Brandon or the kids do it), I haven't cooked breakfast regularly for more than a couple of years now, I rarely get anything cleaned up,and the list goes on.
- I try to lose weight and can't, I try to have devotions and they get derailed, I have a hard time sleeping and a hard time waking up... So...all in all...there are some real factors to feel discouraged about.

Trouble is that when all these things are swimming around, the more I focus on them as the problems, the more I'm focused on me. The more I focus on me, the more I see that others are not jumping in to help me, then I get irritated at them for not responding to my problem. Then I conclude that because they aren't helping, they don't really care about me and my needs. They don't really love me. They would notice that I was having a hard time and do something if they were really concerned for my well being. My husband would pour on the kindness and sympathy if he realized what a hard time I was having. My children wouldn't fight and would be more helpful if they knew how difficult they were making things, my friends would call or come by, or even offer to pitch in if they really cared about me.

But really, my outlook is just in the wrong place. I'm looking at me and that is all self centered and self focused. That's not what God is about. Recently as I've been crying out to God for answers I feel like He's been giving me little answers to my questions in bits and pieces. So I'm just going to try and pull the bits and pieces together here to get the bigger picture.
1. Why are my prayers hitting the ceiling. Perhaps he just isn't listening to my needs...
One of my friends recently mentioned a story of a man standing on a balcony representing God and a pile of people below asking him their most precious and important questions as though they were asking God. The man heard them. Just because he was silent didn't mean that he didn't hear.
Now in this example, perhaps the man was silent because he was a man and not God and didn't have the answer, but that's not the point. The point is that just because we perceive silence doesn't mean that God didn't hear us.
2. Why isn't he answering?
Well...a few weeks ago and then again yesterday I was reminded of all the prayers I pray...Please fix this, Please fix that. Please make this go away. Why do I have to be hurting, please let me do this right. Please, please, please.... If God is all knowing, He takes what prayers he knows come from our heart and has to prioritize them I think. For instance, if I ask the doctor to fix my broken leg, no matter what it takes and then I ask the doctor not to hurt me...which does the doctor choose? I might think that he wasn't answering my request not to hurt me- which seems unreasonable taken by itself, but in light of my other request to fix my broken leg it's really his love and answer to the previous prayer that causes him to hear my pain and decline to answer the second. More and more, with the truth behind me that I must believe that he hears, I must also believe that he is answering in the best way possible. A speaker that was here at Fairwood recently, Otto Koning, mentioned in passing one day that when he prays, he asks for a thing, but then recognizes that God might have something greater than our alternative as the answer and that we should just thank him for the answer right then. Hmm...good stuff. I can thank him for the skin condition because if he isn't healing it, then he has something greater in my life to do that he knows I will benefit from by leaving the skin condition as it is. I have no idea what it is, but I can thank HIM for the condition because it's exactly what he wants if it's still there. And so on with other things.
3. How can I change in areas where I feel I am failing? Well, as much as I hated to hear it the other day when a wonderful person said this to me, "You get discouraged, but then you don't quit doing the things that make you that way or keep you discouraged." Hmph! That wasn't a very loving thing to say when I was feeling down in the dumps...or was it? He was right. When I'm discouraged I sulk, I want to just roll over in bed and sleep longer, I want to get away, take a break, avoid the problem, cry about it, procrastinate longer, really anything that keeps me from facing that monster once more. But if my discouragement is a dirty house, none of those options get it cleaner. I may not be able to clean it all up that afternoon, but it didn't get that way in one afternoon either. Now be honest, there are some messes made in one afternoon that are big, but REALLY I always add way more to the list of things that are overdue for a cleaning SUDDENLY than what was done that day. So, I can't fix it in one day. I can do SOMETHING! And laying in bed isn't going to get anything cleaned up. Perhaps it's the kids driving me crazy- well, a break to calm my nerves might be helpful for a little, but in the end- the long range picture, structure, consistency, and discipline is what is most going to help. Of course, many times the flip side of the coin is that they are just as much hating me right then and I am them. :-) Perhaps a little grace for what they are having to put up with is in order.
One speaker recently was talking about problems and said we look at things: BIG PROBLEM here! god here! But God is a bulldozer with a pebble to move. And when you are watching a bulldozer move a pebble do you focus on that pebble or on the power of the bulldozer. Maybe the bulldozer isn't moving your pebble right now, but you still don't focus on the pebble, you are just all enthralled with the bulldozer and how mighty it is and powerful and big and how many pebbles it is moving.
4. Why aren't you blessing me?
Here's another one I've been asking God. I've seen him bless me before in ways that are incredible and yet lately I haven't seen much of that at all. It feels like a struggled out existence instead. Then our homeschooling curriculum told me to read the biography of George Muller to my children and I blindly obeyed. If you haven't read it or read it recently, put it on your list again. Wow! Then when I mixed George Muller with Perspectives speakers that I've been listening to and hearing about (Brandon is taking the class), I got a double dose of WELL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH WHAT I HAVE BLESSED YOU WITH ALREADY? When we weren't struggling financially as much I was having a grand time sharing and being generous and giving away and God is great and I love blessing others and blah, blah, blah. Now things are tight and harder, and I find myself hoarding. Hmmm...George Muller prayed for every single thing and was given more not so he could have a more posh life or get better clothes, or eat nicer food, but because he was a fabulous steward of God's resources and took it and poured it back into something that would further his Kingdom. God handed him a check for thousands of dollars and he didn't worry about what was on the table to eat- he felt God calling him to build an orphanage and so he did that. God gave him food to eat too, but he could trust George with blessings because he was using it to bless others- for real. Not just blessing himself and by doing that allowing it to rub off on others, but REALLY turning it right around and putting it where God directed him. So, I got that from the book and then I got doused with a good dose of God being on a mission in this world and it's not about us and our personal existence, but about HIS MISSION and all the nations coming to know him and how can we be a part of that. Then I got hit with God getting glory and how we as believers are about to please him and serve him and by doing that, bless him. It's about him sending us blessings that we then turn and bless others with.
Some things I do a great job of blessing others with. If I haven't had people here for a while, I can play the awesome hostess and "bless" those people. But what about when I'm tired and want a nap? Um...maybe not so much. I can make an awesome meal for someone when I have the time and energy, but what about when I wanted to eat something special and don't have extras? Am I willing to give that awesome meal to someone else and make something easy and simple for us to eat instead? Not really. That's not how I want to be, but it is how I respond. Of course, we can burn out from trying to meet every need and fit in everywhere, but I'm talking about the things that God lays on my heart. He puts a little finger there and it's uncomfortable, it puts me in a place where I have to deal with unknowns and his supply and creativity and exhaustion, and oh yeah...trusting in HIM to meet my needs AGAIN...which he can and will do or... he has a greater plan for that which he is going to accomplish.
5. Why don't I have victory in so many areas?
Welp....that one was answered in an unexpected way. I was hoping for the Holy Spirit to finally just zap me out of bed in the morning and MAKE me exercise. Or give me laryngitis so it was impossible to yell at my children. OR just stop causing them to wake up in the night so I could sleep and thus be more pleasant. Instead, I got 2 things. Weapons and a check on how I spend my time.
First, I was reminded of the weapons of our warfare, again from Otto Koning. The ones that most stuck have been rejoicing and resisting. And I use them at the wrong times. I'm suppose to rejoice when the problem or frustration comes. And I am supposed to resist the Devil when struggling with temptation or distraction. Instead I tend to rejoice at the distraction, calling it a "break", and resist the problem. So I was convicted that I should be thanking God FOR THE PROBLEM on a more regular basis. I'm such a whiny prayer. God help me. I can't do this. Please fix this. Help these people...Really, if I was my mom, I would say, "Can't you be happy about anything I do?" I don't want to hear it anymore. Just come up with something you like, anything, just one thing. I would love to hear one time when you were glad I did something!" I'm glad God doesn't yell that from Heaven, but I think he did a good job of pointing it out to me anyway. Thank you...I'll try to work on that. And then, the resisting part. I don't HAVE to put up with the Devil. I think sometimes we give the Devil too much credit, but sometimes how do you know? That's what Otto asked, "How do you know if it's the Devil or just a fleshly response or desire? How do you know whether you need to resist the Devil and he will flee, or put away a fleshly desire?" When he asked everyone thought and no one spoke. Then he said, "well, why don't you just eliminate one of them." Huh! Now that's a different idea. So what if it gives the Devil credit- it's all evil! If I resist Him and he flees, then hey! That was an easy problem to fix! If it doesn't get better, then I can dig in and work on it. But I can get him out of the way first! Why don't I do that more often? Because it's awkward. It feels weird, funny, other people will think I'm crazy or feel uncomfortable. Maybe it isn't the devil and nothing will happen and I'll feel silly in front of others, or my children. WHOOPTY-DO! The bottom line is, if it does work, it was worth all that! Get over it and try it, life just might get easier then. I tried it this morning. I felt silly, but the whole house was a big pile of noisy chaos. I stood in Brandon's office feeling ridiculous and just said, "I resist the Devil in the name of Jesus." expecting that I would have to add some spankings or something to back it up, but you know what, as soon as I said Jesus' name, at the same instant, Jonathon up in the kitchen- who knew nothing of what I was doing, turned to his siblings and said, "Stop it right now!" and they all did and got quiet instantly! Now I say, it worked! If it hadn't worked, then I could have started in with my dealing with the flesh tactics, but I didn't have to!
The other temptation for me is distraction and I've been working on that. It's so easy to come up with reasons I need to relax or take a break. Sometimes are ok. Breaks can be good and refreshing, but too many can lead to times when I could be getting something done and I'm not. Hulu has been a struggle for me, just as television would be. I've found some things on there that I enjoy watching and find that it takes no effort at all for me to find a reason why I need to relax, sit down and enjoy some show, but it just causes me to detach from reality and then it's still there staring at me when I return. I'm not making a case that hulu, or TV is bad (that's not what this is about), I'm simply saying that I get sucked in little by little and go from one thing occasionally, to getting hooked on a show, to seeing another show and getting hooked on that one, and another and another until most of my evenings are full of show watching and while that's fun and relaxing, and maybe they aren't even "bad"- I'm not trying to make a case for or against that- I'm just saying that I did all kinds of things and all kinds of energy for stuff before I had the option of sitting in front of the screen. Now, I don't think that any of that has changed except for the availability to sit down and be lazy. Even if I just played a game with Brandon instead of watching something. That at least causes us to interact with each other in a way that watching something does not. Now I'm not saying that I'll never watch anything again, but I did feel a check in my spirit that I should cut back. SO I have stopped for a while, to give myself a fresh start and bend the paper the other way, so to speak. And in doing so, I've found time to research some interesting health options, make Joseph's birthday present, wash the dishes, go to bed and get real rest, connect with other people and a host of other options. And as far as being blessed so I can be a blessing to others, I don't think that is accomplished very well by sitting there night after night. If God is blessing me with that time, then how can I use it to bless others? I'm sure I can come up with a better way. Sometimes it might be sitting and watching something with someone else or seeing something so that I have a connection with a particular person. It's not the easy thing to do, and sometimes, not the most fun thing to do, but if I'm suppose to be blessing others with what I'm given in order to be a good steward, then I'm going to at least try to do it more often...and as I'm willing, he gives me plenty of ideas...

So, I'm not sure I'm completely out of my discouragement cage yet, but I think I'm headed there. I don't think it's going to all be instantly better, but I do think a lot can change by just how I look at it and how I approach my life in light of God's mission for the world. As another speaker that I enjoyed last night said, "It's not about praying, "God please bless me in my busy day today." It's about accomplishing HIS mission and "How can I best glorify Him and use the resources He provides me to share HIM and his greatness with all the nations"...or at least the people around me.

"The Huge Huge Trip" (Jeff's title)

2009-10-22T19:19:00.004-05:00

We just had a grand vacation...Brandon wrote his version about it...only including some minor fictional points. The itinerary was Wed- drive to Ohio and stop to see Niagara Falls in the middle, Thursday- see the Creation museum and then drive 14 hours straight through the night to Oklahoma where Roy and Bekah were getting married. We arrived Friday morning. Rehersal was that evening and as Rachel was part of that, we went. Went to dinner afterwards and had some yummy catfish and saw my cousin Christine- which I haven't seen in ages! Saturday we went to a park in the morning where the kids played while I cleaned out the van of all the car food, then that evening was the wedding- it was beautiful and short!:-) reception followed as usual and we relaxed and visited with people. Saturday evening we packed up and then Sunday morning we drove to Dallas to drop Jane and Amy off at the airport and meet up with Melissa Brown for a lil' visit. We chanced to be there during the Texas state fair and walked around that a bit and checked out another "free" science museum (thanks to some cool membership pass we have) Had some good smokehouse BBQ for dinner and then drove to Longview and spent the night in a small hotel room. Monday we drove all day to Alabama and the highlight of that day was the gas station that we stopped at in some small town in Mississippi that had several men standing around "shootin' the breeze" and after listening to them for a least 5 minutes or so, I realized that their Southern Accent was so heavy that I couldn't really understand a word they were saying! Sorry Dixie...I've been away too long indeed! The beach was our home from Monday evening until Saturday morning. We had a blast- the waves were perfect for our inexperienced-in-the-water kids. The pool was 3-5 ft deep and that gave the boys the courage to try all sorts of things. We also took a trip to Mobile one day on an auto ferry, saw the USS Alabama battleship, and the USS Drum submarine and a smattering of planes.
Saturday we drove to Georgia and parked at "Dani's house" as Rachel declared it. Most people would consider it "Joe and Alouette's". That week was primarily to prepare for the Georgia reception for Bekah and Roy. I had lots of fun and was pretty exhausted by the end, but Fritha and I had a blast! We had a good time visiting with plenty of friends, family, and generally trying to relax in between cooking efforts. Saturday was the reception and went really well. I think we had almost 150 people come over the course of the day. That was really exciting! Sunday we packed up AGAIN and after church and a nice "covered dish dinner" and went to South Carolina where we stopped to see our new little Aldrich neices Aeralind and Bronwyn. Cute little girls! Rachel and Joseph had a grand time with them and we enjoyed visiting with Derek and Melissa for a bit. We stayed overnight in a hotel nearby and then drove the other 16 hours home on Monday. That was a long day, but my favorite part was the very end when it was after 9pm, the kids were all sleeping in the van, Brandon was driving, there was quiet music playing and I got out of my seat, scooted over onto the cooler and we had some quiet time talking and enjoying a couple of precious hours of time- just the two of us. We got home around 12:30am and went directly to bed.

Tuesday afternoon I went to a followup for kidney stone analysis and discovered that my whole problem in the past is that I've been basically dehydrated long term and that everything in all the tests points to the fact that if I just doubled my urine volume it would be almost impossible for me to create stones. Good to know, easy fix, inexpensive, and I think I'll try it. Wednesday we got unpacked, Thursday I had my back fixed at the chiropractor from all those long hours of driving.

There you go...that's it. For the first time in our family's life we had a completely uneventful trip! No disasters, to big car problems, no sick kids...I kept waiting for the bomb to drop and it didn't! Praise the Lord! we had TONS of happy moments, plenty of fun with the kids, and lots of relaxing time. Hooray.

And now for those of you who feel like you got jipped out of a good story...here's a top ten list to pacify your addiction.

Top Ten Favorite Memories from our Vacation

10. At the beach, Renna was asleep on a T-shirt and rolled over and did a face plant in the sand getting it in her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. I rinsed her off for several minutes before I discovered that the entire time a jelly fish was bumping into my leg and I had almost rinsed her with it!

9. Trying to eat dinner at the condo- spaghetti- while watching Animal Planet- specifically a show on some giant stupid snake having eaten a crocodile and was now rupturing...I requested a channel change even though the kids (and Brandon) were completely fascinated.

8. Dani hearing Renna awake in our room and going to check on her. I found her leaned over Renna patting her back in her little bed. :-)

7. Eating the fish that the boys caught at the "Fishing Grandpa's" house and listening to fun stories which included such phrases as "that was so good I could eat it in my sleep"!

6. Having a chance to talk to Frank about his vision for work after school and being completely amazed at his goals and cool ideas and ideal job...I want a smart house! And I really LOVED seeing him.

5. Having plenty of late night talks, and early morning talks, and middle of the day talks with Fritha. And spending 30 minutes just explaining ourselves back and forth and no one was irritated about it...well no one who was involved in the conversaion. :-) My guess is that there was a bit of amused eye rolling behind our backs. :-)

4. The Andersons sleep number bed and awesome big cozy tub...ultimate comfort and relaxation.

3. James coming down in the middle of the night and the conversation went like this:
mama: James, what do you need?
James: Um...I'm...just looking...for...a bed.
Mama: Oh, well, ok. Do you need to go to the bathroom?
James: No.
mama: DO you want me to walk you back to bed?
James: No.
mama: Do you need anything else?
James: No.
mama: Ok, well, goodnight again.
James: Mmhm. (and walked back to bed)

2. Listening to the children laugh while listening to Bill Cosby, then later hearing one of the kids quote him, "But Dad! We can't go to sleep unless we've had a good beating!"

1. Watching Brandon give the kids baths by sitting in the tub in his swimsuit and play with rubber sharks with them for a while before bathing them down. Super sweet!

So there you go.

The very small nutshell of the very huge, huge trip.

Dr. Visits Galore

2009-07-18T06:07:00.002-05:00

This week was all about things medical. It began Sunday evening with Jonathon needing a trip to the Emergency Room for a technical problem - He couldn't pee. He was able to drip some out, but that was it. Since I don't like 3 of the 4 urologists at the local band aid station- I mean, hospital, I decided to take him up to Dartmouth where there is a pediatric urology team. You might think I'm just picky, and maybe I am, but of the ones I don't like, one seems gay, one is REALLY cocky, and the other has no appreciation for the patient wanting to maintain modesty during an office visit. I've never met #4, but it seemed pretty risky to go and expect to get them.

Anyway, I'm glad I drove an hour and a half to the other place so I could get in with the pediatric team anyway. They are so much more sensitive to the overall needs of the child. Both the medical side and the emotional side. They did a great job of trying to make Jonathon comfortable and happy as well as take care of the actual problem.

So, yes, I spent the hours of 10:30pm to 4:30am in the emergency department and then we were transferred to a room in the peds wing. The ER was a little frustrating because the drs there weren't very sensitive at all to the emotional side of things with Jonathon. They just wanted to jab, poke, and everybody take a look. At one point I decided that if someone else wanted to "take a peek" then they were going to have to come up with a pretty good reason why they too needed to see the problem. It's not the same as some cut on your arm- really! And I wish that people in the ER would recognize that and be a little more sensitive that it is a very private area of the body and Jonathon likes to keep it that way.

They also tried to insert a catheter at one point- which is a nightmare for a little boy on a good day, but he was stopped up, so to do that REALLY hurt and bled and kind of freaked him out. To top it off, when it wouldn't go in, they wrote on his chart that he did fine with trying to have it inserted, so later a dr. came in wanting to try again soon and wasn't willing to sedate him before doing so. I was really irritated. First off, Jonathon was obedient and did willingly try the first one. He also didn't cry until the end when it was really hurting, but the poor kid didn't know what to expect and was trusting us to be honest with him about what was going to happen. They did give him a couple of drugs to make him a little loopy, but I'm not convinced that they waited long enough for them to actually be very effective. The other thing the nurse made the mistake of doing was she told him that they wouldn't do it that way again. Then the dr. came in and said the exact opposite. I was MAD. Watch mama bear roar! Ok, I didn't roar, but I was pretty ticked and I let them know it. He's 8 for crying out loud, and you want to just go stuffing tubes up his little thing and then expect him to be ok with it- especially after someone just told him that they wouldn't do it. Hmph!

I knew he was hurting more than he let on because after the attempt failed to get the catheter in, Jonathon went to the bathroom and cried his little heart out. "Please can I just die and be in heaven right now?", he said. "I just want to be in heaven now." I almost melted in to a little puddle right there on the floor. After I finished explaining that he couldn't go to heaven right then, we went back into the room and waited for EVER to be transferred upstairs to a room. Jonathon mercifully went to sleep. I mercifully paced the hall most of the time. They had a very lovely rocking chair/glider thing in the room, but I'm convinced no one had ever bothered to sit in it before it was purchased because it's obvious why no one sits in it now. Note to self: to keep furniture looking nice, pick things that no one would want to sit on. If they would rather stand, it won't get dirty! I've never come across a straight back rocking chair, but that's what it was. Straight up and down from tailbone to the top of my head. I attempted to sit there and rock Renna- who was just along for the ride...well...and the food. I tried a number of slouchy positions and in the end determined that all my efforts were just adding to my chiropractor bill and doing nothing for me in the restful department. I was SO glad when we got moved.

Up to floor 5 they wheeled us. Jonathon in his bed asleep, Renna also on his bed asleep and I just walked along beside anticipating what wonderful chair was waiting for me in the next room. I was pleasantly surprised. When we walked into his room, he climbed into bed and I did too. There was a fold out bed already made up for me to lay down. Renna and I took that spot and we all crashed for about an hour before people came poking and prodding.

In the end, the first attempt to catheter opened things up enough for him to pee on his own and the dr. left him like that to observe if it would continue. So we stayed at the hospital for an ultra sound and couple of urine tests and watched a Sponge Bob marathon, played the Wii, ate peanut butter and fluff sandwich for lunch, and generally had some good mother son bonding time. Jonathon and I have never played the Wii before and I've decided that my coordination skills are severely flawed. Some Mario Brothers game had you using two controls at once and that was more than either of us could handle. So, he jumped and I moved around. We were a great team. In fact in 1 hour we managed to catch all three bunnies. (I think this was just one of those bonus areas in a world, but oh well...we were good!) I got home on Monday at 6pm and was ready to collapse.

Tuesday I spent on the phone making calls about all things dr. related. I also threw in some family vacation planning phone calls too since phone calls were the theme of the day. I tried to make every single phone call I could think of. Get em all out of my system in one fell swoop. Then later that day I took Joseph to his scheduled dermatologist apt. He has an excema problem on his hands and feet and has had it since birth. Recently it's been getting bad enough that it needs some more attention and I was starting to thing he might have some serious allergy or something. We did find out he's allergic to dust, but I don't really think that's why he has the trouble he does. And besides, DUST??? Do you really think I can, as a mother of 6 young dirty rascals really keep a dust free house! HAHA! Get real...and spin the wheel again. Pick a different allergy! Seriously though, the symptoms don't seem to coincide with that allergy very well. We did encase his mattress in plastic and his pillow too. He cried when we took his other pillow away and gave him a new one. The new one is too poofy. And I don't blame him, I would think it was too poofy too. So, we saw the dr. and he gave us some antifungal cream to use and some extra thick grease to moisturize with and an oral steroid. It always takes me a while to remember that oral steroids make my family VERY cranky. I remembered yesterday after Joseph had been taking it for three days and I was ready to kill (figuratively) the kid! We'll see how he goes for the next couple of weeks.

Wednesday we had no dr. appointments, but Jeff managed to add a medical thing in there anyway by bashing his head open on the tractor. Based on the story Rachel told, Jeff was either standing on the tractor and fell and hit his head on the steering wheel, or he was standing on the steering wheel and fell and hit his head on the tractor. Based on the nature of the person, I am tempted to guess the later story. Whatever it was, there was blood everywhere, and he now has a little larger than an inch slit in his head just behind his right ear- which he doesn't have. My daddy raise me well, however and I was able to pull out all my first aid knowledge and determine that I was pretty sure he didn't pass out, his eyes were the same size and not dialated, and he had a nice goose egg, so probably no concussion inside. And once I shaved the hair away from the wound, washed it, iced it and got it to stop pouring blood everywhere, I determined that I could just close it with a couple of butterfly band aids and avoid taking him to the hospital for stitches. So, that's what we did. I love those little butterfly things. They have helped us avoid stitches a number of times. Later that night we got to clean him up again because he picked at it and the blood faucet went full swing again, but thankfully the band aids were still intact. Later someone suggested to me that I could just put a knit hat on him to help him leave it alone. So, I'll tuck that one away for the next head wound I deal with.

Then Thursday I went to the chiropractor where she made me feel like a new woman. One place in my bad was so tight that for the first time, and adjustment REALLY hurt. She said it was aggravated by slouchy nursing and would I please only do 5 things while I fed the baby instead of 8. I thought that was pretty realistic advice, so I took it. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have nursed and cooked before. I have nursed, cooked and talked on the phone before. I have nursed, cooked, talked on the phone, and zipped up the toddlers pants before. And one time I remember nursing, cooking, taking someone to the bathroom, talking on the phone and answering the door bell pretty much all at once. So, bottom line, it was good advice to cut three tasks out somewhere. I also took Jonathon to his follow up visit with the urologist that day. We discovered that things were going along ok. He has a good stream right now and doesn't need immediate surgery. So we'll go back in a month and see where things stand then.

Friday was vacation day from the doctors. No visits, no ER, no head wounds. Just clean up around the house, gardening, laundry, and good times listening to cute country music songs with my husband that evening. Whew! What a week.

This next week is going to be all about school prep. We are planning to start on August 4th and the week before that it a little family vacation time, so, this is the week to prepare for the school year! Here we go again.

A Foggy Day

2009-06-22T09:22:00.002-05:00

Seems like my titles lately relate more to nature and the weather and less to real life. Perhaps that's because the weather seems to be invading my personal comfort level these days. Actually, I don't mind WEEKS of rain on a personal level, but my children are going to die soon if it doesn't stop. (Just kidding- don't go reporting me- it really is a joke!) Anyway, they are restless. We've been outside every day we can and the kids have been out on plenty of the rainy days too. They come back in sopping wet from stomping in puddles- which I don't mind really until the fourth time they change clothes in a 2 hour period- then I mind.

So, it's wet again today. The kids are desperate for fun and have more energy than I could get out of 10 cups of coffee! We did the painting thing this morning- paint with water, that is- on those preprinted paint sheets. They wanted to do all of them this morning, but I cut them off at two a piece thinking I might need some back up for the next three days when it's supposed to be raining some more. We've read, rearranged furniture, done housework, colored every Cinderella picture you can find online for free, used charcoal to draw with- that was MESSY (and I don't recommend it unless you just have a strong desire to torture yourself with the massive clean up involved), and a host of other things. We dug Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land out of the attic. The kids played that until they realized that the older kids play with "rules" and that doesn't "let" the younger kids win, so they don't want to play that way. We've pushed the baby stroller in the rain, pilfered the umbrellas- all 2 of them that actually work. (I might go snag them before we are down to 0 that function.)

So, what else do you do? Besides plop them in front of a movie? I tell ya, I even have a list of things to do with kids on rainy days (you'll find it in my new book soon) and I've gone through the list. Well, it's been 2 weeks and then list wasn't really designed to keep kids busy for that length of time.

I don't think Renna likes the rain either. She seems more fussy when it's gloomy outside. It doesn't allow for bright, shining, sun in the house. It makes things inside feel damp and cold- like wet fish. AND MY HAIR WON'T DO A THING IN THIS WEATHER!!!!!! I think I'm missing my happy feelings I get from plenty of sunlight as well.

Don't get me wrong, things are going well, but I'm stuck in a cycle of procrastination, looking out the window, checking my inbox, coming up with something for the kids to do, cleaning up the previous activity, and thinking of ways to spend money, then remembering I have none to spend, then coming up with a different idea that involves no money, but involves time and effort and that's not appealing- so I scrap it- all to come back to procrastinating and looking out the window at the rain...and sometimes the fighting children.

I think I'll sign off here and go get a cup of coffee. Then maybe the kids and I will do some more house work. After that, I may have to cave in for a movie for them for lack of another brilliant idea!

Here's to the concept, "The Sun will come out...tomorrow..."

A Pleasant Whirlwind

2009-06-16T19:10:00.002-05:00

What a day! What a week! Lately, things have been going really well. I'm so glad God gives us times of joy and relaxation to offset the hardships. Of course, not everything is perfect, but lots of things are great and I am rejoicing in his goodness.

Jonathon (8) and James (6 1/2) are really growing up. Today they worked really hard for me helping clean up the house. We started having "30-min clean up time" a while back and recently I've realized that if I'm enthusiastic about it, the kids really will work hard, with Jonathon carrying the pack. James is right there with him usually, both having a good attitude after the initial discovery that they have to work. So, in a very short time this afternoon we got the living room, dining room, kitchen, hallway, entryway, and school room cleaned up. We also got some garbage emptied, the toilets and counters washed in the bathrooms, and Rachel watched Renna. All in 30 min. The only thing I did was sweep the floor under the counter and then spent the rest of the time keeping everyone else busy. They did a great job!

Then, this evening, we went out into the garden for a little "forced family fun" (as one friend called it this evening :-) and weeding. I hoed around a bunch of the plants and Jonathon worked on his garden- pulling weeds. He has corn and okra. I sure hope that okra grows! I wanna eat some. Anyway, he worked on his plants and James weeded around the pumpkins. Then the two of them went to town on their weeding. They had little cultivators and they ran them up and down next to most of the corn rows, and cleaned out the weeds in the broccoli! Most of that time I was ignoring them. Only when they asked, "What do we do next, Mama?" did I have to pay attention. Rachel happily pulled out little grass slivers all over the place. Jeff worked on the carrots (that's "his" garden) and Joseph got by with only stepping on a few plants. We spread old grass clippings around the tomatoes and peppers and then the boys helped Brandon- when he came home from working elsewhere- with fertilizer. They were especially eager to help because we were spreading "Dried Blood" around- which is apparently a nitrogen source. They thought it was cool that we were feeding our plants "BLOOD!!!!" Anyway, by the end of about 1 hour, the entire garden had been hoed or weeded, the fertilizer was down, the grass clippings all spread, and the children good and dirty.

To top it all off, they salvaged the treasure chest from the broken fish tank and buried it in an unplanted part of the garden with grand plans to come back tomorrow dressed as pirates and dig it up! Now if that isn't fun, I don't know what is!!!

I had a good dentist appointment today- so thankful for good teeth! Much of it has nothing to do with my faithfulness to brushing and flossing- it's just genes! But I'm glad for that!

I also got my workout in this afternoon. I'm really enjoying this new workout. There's a different workout for every day of the week, so it changes up a lot! I've worked muscle groups in the last 3 days that I had forgotten I had! But it feels good. Right after the workout I feel like a blob of Jell-o wobbling around. But I've discovered that if I drink a glass of Emergen-C with electrolytes in it, the shaky stuff goes away pretty quick. I can't explain how good it feels to be sore and sweaty, but it's awesome. I'm super tired, and yet at the same time I have energy from somewhere. I think it's helping me sleep better, eat less, and be more productive overall. I forget every time how much it helps until I'm in the groove again and then I can't imagine why I let it go. So, it's pretty awesome.

Been working on a book- a list book. I've been working on it off and on for about 6 years now and I'm finally close to printing. Today I worked on some illustrations that I've had in mind for a while. The text is off for editing and I'm going to work on chapter arrangement and pricing issues while it's gone. I'm super excited to be getting it out. I hope it will help other people as well!

I love that the kids are loving Renna, by the way. She's 1 month old now and up to 8.2 lbs. I'm glad she is starting to look like she has something besides skin and bones! The last couple of nights she has been sleeping better too. She sleeps in her cradle half the night and then in our bed for the other half. We're working on getting her to go back to her cradle, but she just loves our bed. Sometimes I feel a little trapped. No matter how I position her, she always manages to squirm her way back over to me and for reasons unknown, nuzzles her head up under my arm and seems to sleep best with her face almost in my armpit! I shove her over to the middle of the bed time and time again and she just quietly wiggles back to her spot. Sometimes I've found myself almost falling off the bed in the morning! But she's happy.

Back to the kids thing- they take great care of her. All of them except Joseph can carry her without making my heart stop. Joseph has gotten her and brought her to me, but I'm not sure I like it too much. He's cute with her and so far hasn't dropped her, but she's almost as tall as he is and I think he's just a bit unstable when he's lugging her around. Rachel is just the little mama. She holds her, rocks her, sleeps next to her, carries her, walks her around while patting her on the back. She just has a brand new doll, only a live one. The older boys are great too. The best part about their help is that James LIKES changing her diaper and Jonathon can feed her a bottle unassisted! Jeff is good at getting her from her bed and bringing her to me in the living room. Ah...I LOVE having kids old enough to DO SOMETHING!!!!!!

It's just been great...
-this past week we discovered that they like baked beans for dinner!!! Bring em on- they're cheap!
-Jonathon and James have been working on their math- just to keep it fresh- and doing well.
-Jonathon is writing thank-you notes for his birthday gifts for the first time this year. He's got 2 to mail and 2 left to write. I'm so proud of him. One friend gave him a little set of notes that have a picture to color and the words, "Dear _____, Thank you for the ______. I like it a lot! Love, ________" I LOVE IT! It's perfect for him! He can write the important parts, color the picture and not be overwhelmed about doing 8 of them! What a great thing to help a little kid be successful with showing gratefulness!
- Jeff loves to cook. He's helped me make a number of things lately and one of the things he does best- better than his older brothers- is crack eggs. In fact, most of the time he can get less shell than me. He's really careful. He loves to stir things on the stove and does it so well that I can leave him stirring something and work on something else and know it won't burn. We haven't gotten into chopping yet, but he can peel vegetables. He has peeled his finger, too, but only once.

Joseph is a MESS. That's a southern "mess". He is frequently "messy", but most of the time he is just a "mess"! (You say it like "mae'-yus") Anyway, he makes us laugh all the time. He scares visitors when they come too- and we laugh cause we know better. He has a little chair to eat in that is attached to the counter and he loves to stand up in it, turn around, curl his toes around the seat cushion and lean over the back upside-down! We know he can do it. He has fallen on his head a couple of times, but apparently it's hard enough that it doesn't phase him a bit- he just keeps right on doing it. He hasn't fallen anytime recently, so we just ignore it, but it makes others' hearts stop! :-)

I wish you could have seen him the day he made mud puddles in the front of the house and then poured the muddy water all over his super blonde hair. He was grinning from ear to ear and was pleased with his dirty self. He loves to go fast on his trike. I've never seen a kid go so fast on a cheap trike that I thought didn't actually move. The plastic wheels are so tight they hardly turn, or so I thought until he made it go! He just careens down the driveway like there is no tomorrow and then down the road around the corner and down the church sidewalk. He's make it all the way past the main house, down the hill, past the garage and to the golf course if I would let him. It's down hill the whole way and a child's dream for a trike ride. Brandon was out with the tractor and trailer today and came home with no less than 5 riding toys in the trailer from various children riding down the hill. (Who wants to ride up?) I have no idea what we'll do with our kids when people come and our family has to act like the rest of civilization and avoid running over old men and pregnant women. Just beware of that little blonde headed two-year old. HE STOPS FOR NO ONE....except machinery...he always stops for that. It's WAY cooler than a trip down hill!

Brandon is just staying in his usual rut. He likes it there. Every once in a while I did him out of it for something like a movie, or going out to eat, but ruts are his vacation. He's still bookkeeping, mowing lawns, paying bills, rough housing with the kids, working in the garden, and helping me out with the laundry and dishes frequently. Did I mention that he MAKES BREAKFAST 6 days a week!!!!! I LOVE HIM!!! And, he regularly keeps up with the laundry. If I could just fold it and get it put away! He's been riding his bike more this summer. I'm glad- he really does a lot around here and gets out very little. I'm glad he's getting the exercise, the time away, and the fun...plus awesome brother Jeff gave him his old Ipod and he's been loving having something to listen to for his rides and while he works. He seems pretty happy and I like that.

Well...that's us and the kids and us lately.
Yeah...kind of gag-reflex happy, but then I'm not complaining about it!

Rambling Rose Colored Glasses

2009-06-05T08:01:00.002-05:00

It's been gorgeous outside- both yesterday and today. Plenty of sunshine, comfortably warm temperatures and not as many flies and mosquitoes as in the weeks before. I love being outside. It calls me out even when everything inside is screaming for help...well the children only scream occasionally- I really meant the housework screams. Anyway, I've been playing in the garden some this week. I never thought I could get addicted to pulling weeds, but I'm coming close to such an addiction. We've gotten our garden in- complete with corn, tomatoes- Roma and big ones (I forget the name), cucumber seeds, zucchini and summer squash (we hardly ever plant enough- the kids love it!), bell peppers, winter squash, carrots, broccoli, turnips, pumpkins, and plenty of grass. I also planted a host of Zinnias right along the road and if I win the grass war they should look beautiful in the middle of the summer. Jonathon insisted on having his own garden and he spent his own money to by his own corn and okra seeds and has his little plot as well. Right in the middle of the garden we planted some sunflower seeds to make a sunflower fort and as soon as they come up we're going to plant some morning glories around them to climb up the sunflower stalks. I think the kids will like it. We are also going to plant some green beans in a couple of weeks. We got some blue lake green beans and some Turner special variety that we are going to try this year as well. I've had a jolly good time getting dirty, pulling grass weeds, mixing in manure (who'd have thought that was fun!), and just generally relaxing in the sun. It's so enjoyable. I wish I could spend all day out there.

But then there is my homeschool stuff that just recently arrived and I am torn between the fun of being outside and the fun of being inside at my desk pouring over our new books for next year. It's ridiculous how excited I am about school stuff. This year was such a success- I have expectations that next year will be just as fun if not better. We are learning all about world geography this coming year- continents, countries, cultures, various people groups, ecosystems, animals, Oh...it's gonna be great. I went with My Father's World for our curriculum last year and LOVED it, so we decided to try it again. In short- I could sell this stuff I love it so much. I would be a great person to be up there saying, "Hey, this is the best stuff for school on the planet and you should buy it right now- even if you don't have kids, cause you might know a kid somewhere and..." yeah...it's really awesome- so much information and really good books and resources combined with a Biblically based worldview for all of it AND written for homeschoolers who need age integrated materials. If you can imagine a three year old wiggling in his seat from the excitement of merely anticipating eating his birthday cake or the last two minutes before the six year old gets to run into the water at the beach- that's me and this school stuff. Love it, love it, love it!
K...and then there's the baby...having a blast watching her study her world. She's so alert and awake much of the time. She is dainty and looks so thoughtful. She folds her hands in front of her and looks as though she's 50 and politely listening to the conversation with her ankles crossed and knees together and a little smile on her face all the while nodding to let you know you have her attention. She doesn't do all that of course, but she makes me think she would be if she only knew how to sit up. She's giving me some rough nights wanting to be awake at 2 am and such, but that's the way it is with babies and part of me secretly loves the fact that she doesn't want to be in her bed, but instead is content to lay awake snuggled in my arm which after 2 hours can't move from that position anymore because the joints and muscles just froze that way. It hurts so much, and yet I wouldn't trade it for the world, cause she's so happy. Of course, there are plenty of times I wish I could just roll over onto my stomach and sleep for a good 12 hours straight, but she's so precious and it just makes my heart melt to have her there and happy- sleep deprivation and all.
Then there is exercise...glorious exercise! I worked in the garden and felt sore later and was thrilled. I went for a walk and got my heart rate up and it felt so GOOD and energizing. I've been trying to eat better- mostly counting calories and trying to figure out how to eat the most food for the least amount of calories- which usually involves having mostly healthy choices (like who wants to waste 140 calories on 2 TBSP of mayo when you can have half a sandwich with mustard, pita, turkey, lettuce, and tomato for about the same amount???) I'm learning alot about how many calories I put in my body every day and I am shocked at how many I was consuming! I had no idea! Anyway, trying to make it a healthy amount for me and baby and the weight is gradually coming off. I know it helps to be nursing to, so I figure- use the edge while I have it. For all you worry warts out there, don't think I am "dieting". This is just an attempt and eating what I really need and stopping there- I'm not starving myself or my little girl- or coming anywhere close. I also got ChaLEAN Extreme thanks to a wonderful person who helped us afford it. I have friends who seem to love it and have had good success with it and I am looking forward to starting it when I'm all safe from baby to workout again! So, right now, just focusing on the food side and getting some form of exercise- walks, or stretching, or just working up a little sweat and can't wait to get to the next step!

So, things are going well. Mom happy, children happy, Daddy back to work most of the time. Oh...and I'm loving my freezer meals. We packaged some up before the baby all on one day- 21 meals. They weren't all completely made, but they are just prepped. But none of them are high fat casseroles. They are all fairly healthy with whole grains, good cuts of meat, healthy lower fat sauces, plenty of veggies, and taste good. So I just pull out a bag at the beginning of the day and most of the work is all ready done. It's just throw it in the skillet or crock pot or whatever and add a potato or salad or veggie on the side. So easy...part of me wishes I did this all year round...I might consider it. I still make some meals, but these take the stress out of meal preparations! I know I have a healthy easy option for when I don't feel like cooking up a storm or when I just need to be focused on something else.

You know, writing this all down makes me think of David and his Psalms- partly because of what someone said to me once about my posts sounding real, but this is one of those that's just overflowing with thankfulness to God for his goodness. I've had some of those that just cry "WHY" and are pretty distressing, but this is just the opposite. I feel VERY blessed and as much time as I spend telling Jesus my problems, I want to Him to know how much I appreciate it when I feel His bountiful goodness pouring out all over me and around. And I suppose, since I'm writing this publicly, I'd like you to know too! God bless your Friday and upcoming weekend.

Help in the Mommy Department

2009-05-23T10:30:00.002-05:00

(This is REALLY long- beware!!)
Just thought I would jot down a few ideas that have worked in our home for other mothers with young children out there. Let me begin with a disclaimer, however. Many of these things work in our home because Brandon began implementing them, not me. I now have the easy part of just carrying on what he started, but he was the one that got them going. So please don’t mark these down under my list of things I do right, these points definitely belong to him or others that I have stolen ideas from. Second, these ideas work, but it doesn’t mean that I’m consistent with them always. Please don’t think that just because I mention something that we do it every day like this. I should be- it’s much more calm and orderly and happy around here, but much like eating junk food when you know you’re on a diet- it seems better sometimes to cheat or take the easy road in the short term and in reality it’s more work, more trouble, and more sanity starving. I wish I would quit that!
So now that I have a disclaimer almost the length of any legitimate legal document, I’ll proceed with ideas and helpful tips. This is just as much for a mind jogger for myself in this new phase of 6 kids as I hope it will be helpful for others.

1. The kids CAN work. I just have to break it down into small enough portions and make it regular so they remember what to do. Other children might can do more or less, but these are things my children help out with and it makes a big difference. One awesome friend of mine, a mom of 11 children said, “The youngest child that can do the job gets that job for a chore.” It’s been helpful on many occasions. I find myself depending on the older ones so much and it’s good to always be in mind of spread the work out to the most people that can do it. Ok, so here’s a list:
Jonathon (8)- hauls wood in the winter, helps put food away from meals, can empty the dishwasher completely (including breakable things and things stored high up, can clean out the sinks and toilets, takes out the trash, sweeps the floor, changes the laundry over and vacuums pretty well. He can cook simple things like spaghetti and canned sauce while I direct him from the couch and he can also do the things the younger kids can do as well.
James (6)- also hauls wood- though not as much, puts riding toys away, can put toys away in a sorted fashion, can sort and put his own clean laundry away in the right drawers, can empty trash cans, wipes off the table, can unload almost everything in the dishwasher, can rinse dishes off and load them into the dishwasher, retrieve the laundry from the dryer and put it where it can be folded, help Joseph get in his high chair, can put the school supplies away and get them out when needed, can babysit for a short period of time
Jeff (5) helps peel vegetables, mix things, stir gravy, makes his bed and can clean up his room when told to, can brush his own teeth, can swish the toilet out (with no cleanser), can clean up sections of toys in other rooms, can take the dirty dishes from the table to the sink, can dustbust the stairs, can put his clothes away in the right drawers if I sort them for him
Rachel (4) can retrieve all sorts of things for me if I give her specific enough instructions, can take things to the right room, can put a small, sorted pile of clothes away in the right drawers, or do it in sections if it’s a large pile, can pair socks and match other things like shoes and gloves and such when cleaning up, can fold up rags and dishcloths, wipes off light switches and doorknobs, flushes toilets (we have boys that NEVER do), and can put single items away.
Joseph (2) can throw trash away for me, can get his own water from the outside of the fridge, can take his (nonbreakable) plate from the table to the dishwasher, can pick up toys and put them away while I supervise, can carry in groceries from the car in small amounts, can carry his clean clothes to his room.

It’s good to remember how much they can do and make the effort to let them do it. In the long run they will get better at it and be more and more helpful.

2. Think in 30 minutes at a time. Many times when I feel overwhelmed it’s because I’m not only trying to get something done and the kids are “in the way”, but also the place is usually a disaster. So, we started having clean up times. When I first started this, we would only do 5 minutes or 10, but once they were familiar with the idea, we moved to 30 minutes. I pretty much have stayed at 30 minutes because that’s about all the time it takes. On Fridays afternoons, when we are cleaning up for the Sabbath and trying to get every place in the house at least somewhat tidy, sometimes it takes an hour, but that’s about it. During this 30 minutes, I DON’T CLEAN UP ANYTHING MYSELF! I spend the entire time telling them what to do. And it works. I tell them it’s “30 minute clean up time” and set a timer. Then we start in the living room and I very particularly tell them jobs to do- Jonathon vacuum the room, James put the books away, Jeff pick up all the cars, Rachel put the pillows back on the couch, Joseph, pick up that little toy man and put him in the toy box. Each child gets jobs according to their level to carry them out, and usually a little under their level. This is a time to get it done rather than trying to teach them lots of new things. I want them to be successful with it, not exasperated AND usually during 30 min. times I’m already flustered, so it’s not a good time to set the kid up to fail cause if they do, they’re REALLY gonna get it- and mainly because I’m stressed out and that’s not fair. As far as not cleaning up myself, my Project Manager Dad always says, “If you have 4 or more people working for you, there must be a non working foreman.” That means the person in charge only tells the others what to do. If I try to work while I’m directing the children, I usually end up irritated that I can’t get my job done and frustrated that they aren’t doing theirs too. So, it’s much better if I lower my expectations about what will get done, tell them what to do and stay on top of it, and then be happy with the results they get. Later, if there are jobs that are too difficult for them that I really want done I can do them while they are playing or have one child “help” me. Last on this point, one place this has worked great is the counter next to the phone where everything piles up and there are 50 things that all go in a different spot. I stand at the counter and the kids line up and I give them each one or two things to put away in the right spot or at least in the right room. They run put it there and come back for the next item. Sometimes things end up not quite where I wanted them, but it’s usually close and generally close enough it takes very little time for me then to put it away.
3. Make the kitchen kid friendly. Some people can’t do this, but if you can it’s a life saver! Put the dishes that regularly go through the dishwasher in the bottom cabinets and in drawers. Put the things you hand wash in the upper cabinets. This way the kids can unload the dishes and put them away for you easily. Even Joseph (2) can put plates and cups away in our house because they are on his level- and he’s still young enough to think it’s cool and fun to do it! If you need more specific ideas, put any plastic stackable cups in a drawer instead of an upper cabinet, put plates and bowls in a bottom cabinet and move the pots to an upper cabinet. Put pantry items in an upper cupboard so the lower one can be used for dishwasher safe mixing bowls, casserole dishes, or whatever. And let the kids sort and put away the silverware- just teach them they can’t lick each one before putting it in the drawer 
4. If the kids are going crazy or getting into things that they shouldn’t- they usually need more structure or more supervision, are bored, or all of the above. Many times it’s because I’m distracted- on the phone, on the computer, wanting to sleep, wanting to do a project that doesn’t involve them, etc. I have to remember that they come first and plan for them. Either plan for them to help, or plan for them to be doing something else, or plan to do my thing another time, or plan to spend less time on my “thing” so they don’t get bored.

When the children are chaotic, Brandon always stops them and makes them clean up the living room- almost everytime. The atmosphere does a lot to hype them up or calm them down. The more toys that are out, the less they play with them constructively. The messier it is, the louder and more wild it gets. I try to remember to do this also, but I forget. It does help though.

If I have to make a phone call or do something when they are crazy, I try to settle them down to something interesting first- coloring, a toy they haven’t seen in a while, sit on the couch and read books, or for a lengthy thing, I pull out the movie. If I need a nap, I use the movie and try to sleep on the couch in the same room. (If I’m really tired enough I can rest this way) If they are up earlier than I can stand in the morning, I get up, do the movie, and then try to go back to sleep on the couch. If they have seen a movie and I still need a nap, or if I am just so exhausted I’m having a hard time coping and I’ve maxed out my ideas- I pray for help, resist the devil, drink coffee, and sit down and read them a book until I can’t keep my eyelids open or we all get up and do something like take a walk together, blow bubbles, or lay in the grass outside. Bath time works well for an escape time too sometimes. They bath and I sit on the toilet and read a book or something.

If they are being destructive, they get disciplined, but I also try to figure out why they are resorting to destruction rather than normal play. Many times it’s because I’m being selfish in how I spend my time rather than making sure I’m actively involving them in my day or at least adequately keeping them busy.

5. Sometimes the kids are just plain full of energy without a good outlet to burn it off. Here’s what works for those times:
#1. Daddy rough housing and wrestling on the floor with them. Pillow fights, tickling, playful punches, throwing them on the couch. This can get intense, but it wears them out and they love it. Lots of smiling and laughing is heard and it’s one of their favorite times. Usually when the rough housing ends he calms them down by reading them a book. When I’m not in “just had a baby” mode, I can wrestle on the floor with the little ones. The bigger boys will beat me up, so I don’t get into it with them.
#2. One of those sessions of cleaning off the counter helps. They put things away, run as fast as they can back and forth, and that helps them and me and the same time. It works even better if you don’t group things up, but instead only give them one thing at time.
#3. We also incorporate running around the house. If they like this, then it can work great. If it’s hard for them, sometimes I get out there and run with them. I don’t love it, but it’s good exercise for me too and then we all come in a little better off than we started. Last summer we got to where the younger kids could do about 5 laps and the older ones did about 10. I was somewhere in the middle. That was enough to settle them down inside for a while. BTW, I don’t make this a punishment usually- it’s generally only for displays of excessive energy.
#4. Everybody does a workout video together. This is another one that I haven’t done in a while just because of being pregnant and then postpartum, but it works great. Get some workout in and let those little ones burn off some energy at the same time. They are super cute attempting jumping jacks, or just watch them try power yoga stances or something- it’s great. I don’t always get as good a workout when they are “participating”, but I figure the long term benefits are better: they are happy, they are entertained, they are learning about good exercise, I know where they are and what they are doing, we are all doing something together- which always scores points with them, and I might actually be getting some good exercise in the process. When we lift weights I give them cans from the pantry- even the little ones can use something like tomato paste cans for weights. They feel strong and big.
#5. For school times, things always go better when they all have something to do. As many subjects as can be combined for everyone I do that way. During Bible times they can color a picture of what we are reading, If Jonathon and James are doing history, I give the younger ones a history page to write on too. When we do a science experiment, I try to have enough stuff for the younger ones to be involved too. When the older ones are doing math, I pull out things for the younger ones that are their “school things”. Jeff and Rachel each have their own workbook of things to do, they’ve done mazes, they have coloring books, and then I have a host of hands on activities for them to work at (one thing at a time) like lacing cubes or lacing cards, playdough, puzzles, little boxes of things to sort like buttons or beads. We also have this cool thing called School in a Box with a variety of little items in it like different color square tiles, various pieces of money, things that are magnetic and a magnet, beads for patterning, and a pile of little animals, shapes, different texture strings, and objects for making up stories- like a snowflake, flipflop, fish, rocket, heart, etc. All of it is in a little craft box about 5” x 8” and one child can play with it very easily. I got the box from a homeschool convention, but it would be fairly easy to make a box from little things in your home probably.
#6. When the kids are out somewhere and going crazy or about to or you think they might…keep a bag in the car of little toys. It sounds silly, but I carry pigs in my purse. One time I bought these little plastic rubber pigs for 10 cents each and got 10 of them. I keep them in a little container in my purse and when we go somewhere and a child needs something to distract them I pull out the pigs. Times that they have worked great are- at a restaurant waiting for food, waiting in the car somewhere, the ER!- a LIFE SAVER!, and various other times when the kids just has to wait for a while. I also have a bag of little things (I got this idea from my mom) that I keep in the car. It has a mini etch-a-sketch, some little tops, a bag of plastic miscellaneous animals and snakes and bugs, army men, and a few other things in it. One day I went through the toys and just pulled out a bunch of things that either the kids didn’t really play with or groups of things that tend to get lost and then they don’t use. I put them in a bag and now when I need something to entertain them, I have it. Whether it’s waiting for food at a restaurant, or discovering that I am at a party with toddlers and there is NOTHING for them to do- for hours!!! I pull out the bag and it usually keeps them happy as well as any other poor child there in the same circumstance. Plus, that’s the only time those toys come out, so they are always interesting and keep the children happy. Sometimes they ask to play with those toys at home, but I say “NO” just so the toys won’t loose their interest when I need them. So, the pigs work for short times- 5-10 min. or for one kid. The bag works for when it’s long periods of time- like ½ and hour or more and multiple children need something fun. What I do have to be careful to avoid is getting out too many items. It’s better to just stick with the pigs- each child with 2 each, than to pull out 5 bags of toys, and have them dumped all over a room.
#7. Lower my expectations. I have 6 children. There is no way I can keep them all safe, clean, fed, in a tidy house, school them, dress them, wash their clothes, wash their dishes, doctored, dentisted, vaccinated, dermatologisted, churched, well disciplined, and happy all by myself. It’s not physically possible. So, I have to continually remember to lower my standards of what I get done at home, the awesome meals I want to cook, just how clean the bathroom gets, whether they have ironed clothes or not, etc. I focus on safe, tolerable hygiene, well disciplined, and happy. Everything else comes second or third or fourth in matters of priority. Some things don’t get on the list at all sometimes- and I have to be ok with that or I’ll go insane! I have to communicate my needs to Brandon- before I’m ready to blow up. I have to let others know when they can help if they’ve offered and how they can. I have to be willing to humble myself and ask for help when I need it. It’s nothing but pride that makes me think I can and should be able to do it myself and avoid asking for help from others. And try not to wait until I’m ready to fall apart before I look for a solution. And if I am ready to fall apart, first pray, then do a 30 min. clean up, then look and see if I still need to recruit help. Most of the time I’m ok then.
#8. Remember the vision- my goal is to raise Godly men and women who will have good character, people will enjoy being around and will raise Godly children themselves. They will get older. They won’t need to be potty trained in high school- even if I’m lazy about teaching them when they are 3 or 4. And the older they get, the more they can contribute to the family. Focus on the vision, believe that it will get easier, rely on Jesus daily- hourly…well by the second really sometimes, and don’t try to do it all yourself!

Ok, there’s my spouting for the day. Hope it was helpful to someone besides me.

Cute Kid Pics

2009-05-19T07:40:00.003-05:00

Here are the youngest three in all their cuteness:

Rachel (almost 4) being a good big sister and feeding her baby:

Joseph (2) looking on while Rachel feeds Renna a bottle. He tried to help, but by the time he tried she was full and didn't want anymore. He was very gentle and put forth a good effort though.

And here's a special request picture from Rachel. "Let's take a picture of my baby and your baby together in Renna's bed, Mama." Ok...so here it is. I had no idea just how similar in size they would be...shocking.

And a very happy day to you all :-)

More Cakes, More Babies

2009-05-18T14:15:00.003-05:00

So here is what I've been up to lately:

Renna Faith was born on May 14th. Here she is 4 days later in her most peaceful state:
I'll try to get some more shots soon. She's a sweet little girl. Already she turns towards my voice and gets quiet when I hold her tight and talk to her. She's eating well and getting better at sleeping at night. I'm recovering pretty good too. I am looking forward to a visit to the chiropractor to straighten out some issues in my neck and back, but other than that, postpartum is going well. The other children have been gone to their wonderful grandparents' this weekend and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of an almost empty house. Brandon did stick around and I've seen him pop in and out in between things he's had to do this weekend. A couple of evenings we've been able to spend some quality time together, but my favorite times have been eating breakfast (that he cooked) in our bedroom together. Nice conversation, laid back, relaxed, and yummy food! The peaceful bliss is about to come to a grinding halt however- the kids are due back in the next hour or so and the house will once again vibrate with the pounding little (and not so little) feet of our children. I will be happy to see them...perhaps I could find some earplugs though. :-)

ATTENTION: THIS IS ABOUT THE LABOR. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW JUST SKIP THIS SECTION AND PICK UP AT THE CAKE PICTURE.

Now back to the baby. For those who are interested in more details, this was just a different as every other baby delivery. They never seem to happen the same way twice. It actually started on the 7th (a Wed.) when I thought I was in labor for about 3 hours and called the midwife. She packed her bags and got ready to come, but after that 3 hours of regular contractions- at about 9:30 at night, things died down and I had a restless sleep that night. The next day when I woke up, they started up again. Having just felt really stupid for calling the day before, I refused to call the midwife until they got harder and as a result, I had regular mild contractions every 5 min. all day long until about 9:30pm that night again when they died away. Friday I had NOTHING. Saturday was an off and on day. We had Jonathon's party that day with the cake I put up earlier and that kept me distracted for the most part- which was good.

Sunday I awoke from another rough night of attempting to sleep to a delightful Mother's Day breakfast from the kids and Brandon, and then went to church. I tell you, I was looking for every reason in the book to avoid church that day! I just was tired and ready to avoid people for a while. Plus, all you mothers out there will probably relate to the feeling of not wanting to wear that one maternity dress or outfit- not one more time. But I went anyway. Church, then taught Sunday School (I teach the 4 yr old- 8 yr. old class which has 8 boys and 1 girl in it) and as it was Mother's Day had most of the afternoon off. So I took a walk with my friend Ellen thinking that it might possibly help my body make up its mind about this baby coming, but if not I was in desperate need of getting out for some exercise anyway. Came home, didn't have to make dinner either, and took it easy that evening.

Monday- I made some decorations for the Fairwood Graduation cake that needed to be done in advance, saw my midwife and had a generally normal day with the children. I also didn't have much in the way of labor.

Tuesday morning at 8:30 sharp I began having contractions again. I decided to catch up on laundry and cleaning up around the house and around 1pm, the midwife came to check me out and see how things were going....1cm. Ugh! You can't be in labor and be much further back than that! So we went for a walk- 2 miles- to the lake and back. Then, Brandon and I had plans to go out that night for dinner and since things were taking their jolly time- at the recommendation of the midwife, we went anyway. Off to Olive Garden, thanks to a babysitting offer from Sharon, we trucked. I got some sort of Steak Gorgonzola Alfredo stuff- yum and Brandon got the tour of Italy which had lasagna, manicotti and something else I think. At the end of the meal I was having hard enough contractions that I was ready to go home, so we got dessert in a to-go box and left. Stop at the grocery store and the movie store and then home again where I discovered that I was infact, still at 1 cm. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM!!!!!!! Actually, I know it takes me FOREVER to have babies, this just seemed longer than the others. And in fact it was! So, off to bed I slunk in discouragement to have those silly 5 min. apart contractions all night long. My midwife and her assistant stayed overnight in case things changed quickly, but at 7am the next morning, I awoke to find myself much in the same situation. Around 10 am I was out walking again in circles around the church and wishing that things would either get moving or go away. I prayed, I talked on the phone to distract myself, I finished folding laundry, I prayed, hmm....what else...oh...and some natural things that I won't mention to move things along possibly (but no castor oil). By three in the afternoon it seemed like they were coming a little harder and I discovered that I was at a whopping 3cm. But from there things finally began to pick up...and the back pain began. With every contraction, my back began to ache and just got worse and worse until, frankly, near the end of it all I was crying from the back pain and couldn't focus well on working with the contractions. At around 8:30 I was in a good deal of discomfort and really having to focus on relaxing. It seemed closer, but when I was checked, I was at a mere 5cm. Just agonizingly long. It was at this point that I started questioning just how big of a wimp was I if I was only 5cm and my water wasn't broken, and it hurt so bad! Things moved a little quicker from then on though and in spite of another 4 hours, I did progress all the way to 10 eventually. My water never broke, for which I'm thankful- I have no idea how I could have managed the pain if it had. Near the end the contractions seemed like nothing compared to all that back pain. I found myself desperately trying to get into a position that was less pressure on my back. With the others, I always felt best in a kneeling position, but that wasn't working. So inbetween contractions I tried various different things to aleviate the pain and basically ended up in the classic birth position because that happened to be the one I tried on the contraction when suddenly I was ready to push. It took three pushes to get her out and then, there she was. Beautiful, crying, healthy, and I was totally relieved that suddenly my back wasn't screaming at me anymore. Most of the kids have come out to me saying something endearing like, "Oh, I'm so happy you are here, you are beautiful! I'm your mama. Welcome to our family!" Unfortunately Renna's first comment from me was, "It took you a REALLY long time to get here!" But then I proceeded with the gushiness. Brandon said he thought the cord was really close to her head because it came out at about the same time and he wondered if it was close to being wrapped around her neck. But all was well. Oh, and my water did finally break when her head was coming out. Everything about her was ok. She was alert and quickly pink. She cried long enough to let the midwife know she could and then settled down in a contented sigh on my chest to listen to all the new sounds around her.

So at 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 19 in. long, she is a tiny little bundle of joy, but well worth the effort of getting her here.

NOW ON TO The GRADUATION CAKE:

Sarah Adams was my legs for the decorating process. I decorated it Friday- about 36 hours after the birth. I'm glad that was the only thing I had to do this weekend, but as the kids were gone while I was decorating and I had Sarah to run around for me, it ended up being a peaceful and kind of relaxing process.
Above is the top of the cake and below is some close up of some detail. Loads of fun to make.

Jonathon and Cake

2009-05-08T08:28:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday Jonathon!!! Today he is 8 years old! I can't believe I have an 8 year old.

And....here's the cake he requested for his birthday:

While extremely time consuming, it was a lot of fun to put together!

And for cake lover details- it's apricot nectar cake with a lemon buttercream frosting (entirely too torturous to work with when it gets hot, but super yummy!) The towers are made of cardboard tubes rolled in icing and then topped with cake cones stuffed with marshmallows and M&Ms, and then a sugar cone turned upside down, stuffed with marshmallows and then frosted. The giant cupcake is all cake and frosting, just sculpted from two cakes baked in bowls. Lollipops are make from Candy melts and then have frosting people put on them. The doors and windows I premade from frosting on plastic wrap and then just placed them on the cake when dry. The "grass" is tinted coconut. And the pops are standing in foam board affixed to the cardboard base with icing.

This is definately not a cake I would transport anywhere- including 2 inches away on the same table, but it sure was fun. For any die hard cake decorators out there- I discovered a love for Viva brand paper towels- made by Kleenex. Once I put the coat of frosting on the cake and let it sit for about 30-45 min, you can use those paper towels to make it SUPER smooth! You just lay the towel on the cake, rub and smooth out the bumps and wrinkles, and then pull the towel away- Wala! The towel doesn't stick and the bumps are gone. There's so much on this cake it's hard to see how smooth the yellow frosting was, but believe me it worked like a charm- hooray for tips on You Tube! By the way, if you try this and it sticks, just let the icing sit a little longer on the cake.

There you go! Jonathon was thrilled! We'll see if it lasts until his party tomorrow! At least I got pictures!

Here's the back:

On to Bigger and Better

2009-02-15T22:41:00.003-05:00

Well...things are better than they were in January. I am no longer under siege with kidney stones. The large giant thing was blasted, removed, and then the stint was removed a week later and I have recovered mostly from that. My energy level is better and I am thankful to be off of bed rest. Of course about 2 days after the stint came out I had a day that I really felt great. Then I came down with a nasty flu virus. That lasted for about a week- feeling miserable and blowing my nose and such. It's always extra hard when pregnant or nursing to deal with sinus stuff because there is really nothing much that I can take for it that is safe for the baby. Just good ole steam and plenty of warm drinks. After a couple of weeks, I was back to normal and the rest of the family was recovering as well. Everyone but Rachel and Brandon got that one and had fevers, sniffles, good solid snot, and other gross stuff that goes along with the flu. We got over that and I had a week where in we caught up on school and then on Friday I cleaned like mad trying to get the house in order after such a long episode of sickness. We scrubbed and mopped, and laundered and everything we could possibly do in one day. The kids helped and we actually got most of the house cleaned up. The Sabbath was great- so relaxing.
Then Monday came. And Brandon woke up and threw up. He had managed to catch a stomach virus and thus the rounds began again. Tuesday night, Joseph threw up. And again on Wednesday. Thursday night Rachel threw up. I think God gave us a respite Friday night. Then Joseph threw up again Saturday morning. Jonathon covered Saturday night for us. Now it's Sunday night and every time I hear someone cough I have a hard time resisting the urge to sprint to their room with a bowl or a bucket. In fact several times I have not resisted and found myself holding a plastic container of some sort, hovering over a child that wishes they could just go back to sleep since all they did was sneeze or something. We've managed to stay away from most other people so far and I don't think we've shared it...yet. In the meanwhile, I didn't really figure on spending all of January and February dealing with sickness.

Interestingly enough I've had another bout of belief struggle with this. I wrote about how it was hard to trust God and be postive when such discouragement was my life in January and lately I've been hit from a different angle. You see, everynight I pray over the children before bed. We'll either Brandon or I do. Anyway, Tuesday night for some reason I prayed over them, but Joseph was the only one that I specifically said, "Keep him healthy God." and he was the one that got sick hours later. Thursday night, the same thing happened. I prayed with the children, but without thinking about it until later, Rachel was the only one that I specifically prayed for good health for...and she was the one who threw up 2 hours later. So then I found myself struggling against the idea that if I prayed for my children's health it would, in fact, make them sick.

I know it sounds silly, but when you are sleep deprived, changing bedding 2-3 times in the night, desperately tired of sickness in general, and wondering occasionally "what am I doing wrong?" or "did I cause this?" it makes you wonder. I found myself starting to really question other prayers. For instance, if I prayed for protection on the road, would that ensure and accident? Or if I prayed for a good day in school would that guarantee a miserable day? I've really fought this quite a bit. Not only that, but in my general prayer life, I've lately found myself praying for things, over and over, that seem pretty important to me and yet feel like God isn't answering or perhaps (the scary part) he's saying "NO".

Don't worry, I'm convinced that I am not powerful enough to cause my children to get sick just by praying for their healing. I don't really believe it, but it has made me stop and think. It has also make me realize that I'm not dependant on how I pray or even that I pray. I depend on a God powerful enough to stop a thing if He chooses. No matter what I pray, I can believe that he will take care of the problem. I think I just get worried that he might choose to take care of the problem in a way that I don't really feel comfortable with. I think to some extent that's where I am right now. God's taking care of the problem, meeting the needs, and answering my prayers, but it isn't happening the way I would want it to, or on my time table, or in the "amazing way" I can imagine. Sometimes He answers in miraculous immediate interventions. Those are cool and I tend to want those everytime. This time he's choosing a slow, patient, grueling, learning path to answer and I'm not sure how long it's going to take, but I just know that it's not pleasant and I sqirm at every turn. I will continue to trust him, but ugh........

It reminds me of a kid's song that said, "I can't wait to have patience." I want God's best- even if it's the slow painful answer, but can't it come right now and get this over with???

So, we're doing ok. School is caught up- right this second, the baby is doing well- 14 weeks to go, I'm caught up on laundry- thanks to all the require washing the stomach flu has caused, and while I keep feeling like I'm going to throw up right along with the kids, so far I'm ok. Hmm...maybe now I will really be sick since I said I wasn't....

Ahhh...it's thinking like that that can kill a person or just drive them insane! God help me to believe you and not the lies in my head!

And on to the battle of tomorrow- come what may. I hope it will be a good morning of school, no vomit, a healthy dinner, and plenty of cheerfulness both on the part of my kids and myself!

Do you Ever Wish....

2009-01-18T13:07:00.002-05:00

Do you ever wish that you could be different?

- Feel better?
- Look like you are awake on a morning you want to stay in bed?
- Be able to instantly organize all those piles that seem to get bigger?
- Avoid sounding irritated when really you are just trying to get something done?
- Be successful at the job you're supposed to be doing?
- Ugh....

Well...this is one of those honest to the core posts...one of the ones that isn't really especially cheery or peppy or the THING to read to encourage you in a better day. This is that down to earth, here I am, it really stinks, and I'd like to get over it please sort of posts. Just warning ya'.

I am 22 weeks pregnant (not a bad thing) with a little baby girl inside of me that I am very much looking forward to meeting sometime near the end of May. I also am having another bout of kidney stone issues these past couple of weeks and it has left me feeling helpless, like a failure, questioning what I'm doing that's wrong, crying out to God to make it better, crying to God that he's putting too much on my husband to handle, wishing that I were the one taking casseroles to someone else for a change, or maybe cleaning their gross toilet, and desperately wishing that I felt good enough to get out of bed and do half a million things around the house so I can be that better, more organized, more effective, happier, collected, fun mom and wife that I envision is the perfect me. Somewhere in there I'll throw in frugal, in shape, healthy eating, and regularly remembering birthdays and thank you notes. I'll get my husband's mending done, keep up with the chores, train and discipline the children correctly, patiently, and with a smile. I'll never hear the phone and groan that I might not make it in time. I'll never roll over in bed and think, how can I be on bed rest and still be supermom. I'll never have to worry about getting it all done because I'll feel great and thus be able to accomplish everything I set out to do. I'll be running on all 8 cylinders (as my family says) and perhaps every once in a while I'll find a 9th one to kick in and spring for an extra "wow" blessing for someone else.

I suppose I'm no different from thousands of other mothers who want the best for their family and want to be able to have it all and do it all, and never loose their temper. Yet it seems like every time I get close to feeling like I'm on top of it all something happens to make me utterly dependant on everyone else for even some of my most basic needs.

"Will you please put my shoes on my feet because I can't reach down there without it being extremely painful?"
"Can you bring me some more water?"
"I'm not sure I can walk that far by myself."
"Um, I don't know where the kid's church clothes are...you'll just have to look...I'm sorry."
"I'm so glad you came to visit me, but actually could you spend your entire vacation waiting on me hand and foot, because I actually can't even change my own child's diaper much less play hostess to you- even though you just spent a pile of money on plane tickets?"
"I'm sorry.....(a thousand times)."

It's a tough spot to be in really. In some ways the kidney stones seem minor compared to how I feel on the inside, struggling with how to just accept that everyone else has to fend for themselves and do for me when some of them (Brandon, especially) have been doing this for a very long time it seems. It feels wrong. It feels glutinously lazy. And if feels depressing.

My family has taught me that I'm supposed to look for what God might be teaching me in each and every situation that I go through- looking for what I can get out of it, you know. Finding the positive- the silver lining, the great truth and testimony for later of how God met me. While I can do a great job of finding all sorts of positive things that can come out of this experience, nothing really changes the fact that it's just plain hard, humbling, discouraging, and a whole lot of suffering.

You don't think I can come up with positives?? You're that optimistic creature that thinks I'm just saying that and that really I could look at the bright side a little more? OK, well- here's you're positives:
-My children are taking on more responsibility as a result of mom being decommisioned.
-My husband can do every chore in the house as good as I can and makes for great tag team efforts during other crisis.
- I have gotten more sleep than I ever imagined possible for a mom of 5.
- I'm getting some really bad physical problems taken care of and hopefully will be able to prevent them in the future.
- I'm allowing others to be blessed by God in ministering to our family (not that I go looking for ways for others to help me regularly)
- I can better relate to others who are suffering with similar difficulties.
- I have plenty of time to research various topics that I want to improve on.
- This increases my opportunities to have one on one time with my children- when I can use it.

So...the list could go on. Now all of those positives are out there on the table and it sounds like a grand learning experience that I can benefit from. I can be joyful and encouraged. Anyone want to sign up for this duty now? Didn't think so.

See, no matter how much I think of to be encouraged, it's still unpleasant, hurts, and I want out.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. It's just a place of communicating that I don't think it's wrong to want out sometimes. I don't want to stay in a place where I'm going to go down in a downward spiral that ends in self absorption, depression, and suicide, but to stay on that level of "oh, I'm glad God is doing a great work in my life" seems really fake to me right now.

So right now, I feel icky. There isn't a button to push and fix it and I'm not even sure what is the most helpful for people to say when they call or come to encourage me. Sometimes, just staying completely off the subject seems best, and yet sometimes it's nice to hear someone say they care and are praying. I don't know what I want, how to get it, or when it will all be over.

I do know this: I'm ready to be done. I want out. Show me the exit from this particular "learning experience" and I'll take it!

What's Happenin?

2008-10-29T18:46:00.004-05:00

So, I thought I would just do a little update here for all those people who care- just a smattering of what's going on in life right now. Here goes:

Babies:
I'm a little over 10 weeks pregnant. This is actually my seventh pregnancy, but soon to be sixth child. I am due May21st and very glad for God's timing in it all. There were many times in the past year that having a baby would have just seemed like more than I could handle. However, God saw fit to schedule it right after we settled down from house renovations (not done, but plenty functional) and hold off just long enough so I can potentially get a full year of school in before he/she arrives. I'm very thankful for His care over my life in this area and I've found the more I trust God, the more He has proved himself trustworthy. All is going well. I had a little spotting a couple of weeks ago that gave me a bit of a scare, but the midwife assured me that it was due to "overdoing" it, and possibly a low progesterone level. The spotting went away and I'm trying to behave myself on things like "no heavy lifting". You know it's funny, I always thought something that was considered "heavy lifting" was actually something that I had to strain to pick up or almost couldn't pick up. I recently discovered that Joseph can be considered heavy lifting since he's 25 pounds! WHAT??? I carry him around all the time! And um...vacuuming with my non selfpropelled Kirby is also considered heavy lifting. Probably having the children jump on my on the couch falls in that category as well. You know, come to think of it...it's a wonder any baby of mine survives to reach the real world! That's just the beginning in our family of dangerous deathly situations- ahh...praise the Lord for angels!

But I digress...so baby, check. We're all good.

Homeschooling:
This year Jonathon is in a sort of probationary 2nd grade and James is in 1st grade. I don't mean to be down on Jonathon, that's just the way the state looks at it since he missed a lot of school last year and couldn't pass his test for 1st grade. But he's coming right along this year and if we aren't caught up by the end, we will be well on our way. James is doing well also. We are using the cirriculum "My Father's World" and I love it! What a breeze! I feel like school is very much what I always wanted it to be for my children- mostly fun, with learning happening on the sly and a good solid format to follow and know that they really are getting what they need. It's designed to be a whole family involvement sort of thing, so it works great for incorporating the little ones in much of the time and it has reasonable expectations for how much to accomplish in one day. Did I say I loved it? We've had 43 days of school so far this year. All the days we've taken as holidays I've been able to have them make up on other days and thus able to count. The kids seem to like school for the most part. They do the usual groaning every morning when I tell them it's time to stop playing with whatever is there favorite toy at that moment and come to school, but after that it's mostly pleasant. Don't get me wrong, they are kids and have their usual "I can't do it" fall apart moments and the "want to be doing what the baby it doing" times, but on the whole the days are usually characterized by happy moments. I'm so glad.

House Projects:
As I said earlier, the dust has settled somewhat over the massive activity in the house. We've managed to get most of the walls painted and the kitchen is done and the bathrooms are mostly done. Bedrooms are ok with a few little things to check of in each one of them before I can get them officially off my brain. So, the big part is ok. Brandon just replaced a temporary wall in the garage with a more permanent one and I was so proud of him. He hadn't really don't hardly any construction work before we moved here and he built that wall almost all by himself! I helped with design and measurements, which if you could see the wood on the bottom, you would know that I remeasured about 10 times before I got everything in the right place- he probably could have done it the first time. :-) Anyway, it's as water tight as anything can get there I think, so I'm anxious to see how it does with snow piled up next to it this next spring. Will we have water running in or not? Only time will tell- I am hoping for not.

As far as big outstanding parts of the house left to work on we have the school room, which has only been mudded and not painted. You wouln't notice though because I have plastered the entire thing with educational posters. (Ok, well you can see the ceiling part.) We still need to paint the laundry, laundry hall, and half bathroom. And we have countertops downstairs waiting for cabinets to go under them for those areas as well. There's a couple of wall cabinet sections that need to be built for that area too. We are of course hoping to do more with the garage to make it more functional as a room of the house and everything from the ceiling and insulation down to leveling the floor and reinstalling heat needs to be done out there. The entire outside of the house needs to be painted and soon. Then there's the endless array of little things- baseboard here, finish painting a million different pieces of trim, repairing windows, screens, replacing screen doors, oh, the litte bit of brick work on both the front and back of the house...and perhaps a toilet in our bathroom that flushes. The list is endless, and I am discovering- when you own a home- it always is. As soon as you fix something it begins to deteriorate and pretty soon you find yourself thinking, "I just did that."

We are currently getting a wood boiler installed to hopefully lower fuel costs for this house. That should help a lot. This house was built just before people started getting serious about insulating...which means the heat just goes right out through the walls and it costs a fortune to keep us warm in the winter! So now we'll be able to run on wood heat and then when that isn't practical we can supplement with oil. I must say, I'm not looking forward to the idea of giving large portions of my basement over to wood though. It'll be alright in the end I'm sure.

Work:
Brandon's keeping up his bookkeeping job and over the last few years both of us have realized that job has grown by leaps and bounds from what it was to what it is now and he finds himself busy MANY hours of the day. He does a good job with it and keeps track of things well, but it takes a long time to do it. When he's not doing that, he's still doing groundskeeping work. He just plowed up the gardens for winter today hoping to kill off some of the grass and tell the fungus to go back whereever it came from. I think he likes the variety, but as today was his only day in the next two weeks to plow, he wasn't thrilled with the idea that it snowed this morning and he had to do it in 35 degree weather- windy at that. Those days I think he wishes he could just be "cooking the books".

Lately he's had a good time talking about all things financial with lots of people since the economy is not so hot. I think he feels in his element and I love hearing him tell about his (public) converstations when he comes home.

He's also been a great support to me. As I began school, he got on a kick of throwing a load of laundry in every morning and evening, so if I had baskets of laundry they were always clean ones. What a big help that has been. He's also helped greatly with breakfasts for a while now- especially since I've been doing the morning sickness thing. I crawl out of bed, stumble downstairs and find all the children dressed, in their right minds, eatting breakfast that he made. Somedays it's oatmeal, others- like today- we have scrambled eggs, grits, and sausage. He's a good cook, don't let him fool you. If you are ever in doubt, just ask me about the time I was gone and he decided to help all the children make their own loaves of zucchini bread- at the same time, then he did the same with apple bread, and they were really good! I was amazed, not that it was good, but that he lived to tell about it. I would surely be dead!

The kids:
Jonathon (7) has been my biggest helper lately. One day this week I felt so sick I stayed on the couch and told him how to make spaghetti for dinner. And he did, all but drain the noodles and put the food on the table. He's a great help with Joseph and seems to be sensitive to when things are going hard for me and is willing to lighten the load. He's currently trying to loose his 4th tooth and thus check off all the front teeth. He's quite proud of this accomplishment.

James (6) desperately wants to loose his teeth (that haven't already been knocked out) but I think it's merely for financial gain. He's gradually learning that throwing Joseph around like a pillow or sitting on him are not proper forms of affection. He's tough, sneaky (sometimes), slick (more often) and funny (almost always). He can pull out movie quotes with the best of them and apply them in just the right situation. He and I have agreed to build a "Calvin snowman" on our front lawn sometime this winter. I think he's settled on the one of the large snow chicken holding an ax over the stump where the snowman is laying on one side and his head on the other. All you visitors beware!

Jeff (almost 5 and has been counting for 2 months with a month and a half to go) is well also. He's talking a lot more these days which I'm happy about. His speech is even pretty clear. He likes being involved in school when I can. He and Rachel are best friends and play all the time together. They do a good combo of girl and boy things and though Jeff makes a great effort at playing girly stuff, no matter how it goes, Rachel plays his boy stuff as girly as you can imagine. He tolerates it though and when he really wants rough and tumble he goes and hangs with his big brothers. He's pretty gentle and loves to cuddle and has a knock-you-over happy smile. I asked him today what he wants to be when he grows up and he said, "I want to grow up and be a Daddy so I can cook grits." A high calling indeed!

Rachel (3) is the ultimate in girly. Dress up, high heels, princess, the RIGHT outfit, wash her hands before she eats, don't get your feet dirty kind of girl. She doesn't like bugs and the boys clap for her when she touches one. Her one gross habit is that she still carries this large blanket around with her everywhere and sucks her thumb while she puts the corner of the blanket up her nose. We should wash it more than we do, but I also figure, most of the time almost everything on her is clean- what's wrong with a few boogers? Her favorites are Cinderella and well...Cinderella. She of course can name off every Disney princess there is and has glass slippers for all of them I think. She's big on who her "favorite" (person, that is) is and goes back and forth between Daddy, me, and a friend of her's, Nicole. Nicole always wins out for a long time after she has seen her. I think her biggest struggle is with her brothers tearing up her things and wrecking her room. She'd be mostly neat and tidy if they would leave her alone, but she's way to social to allow that.

Joseph (21 months) is quite the baby of the family right now. I hope he gets over it soon! He's very clingy and calls everyone Mama. I think he's a little more clingy because he's the first child of ours that hasn't been passed around to every person on campus every day since birth. When we lived in the Main House, we saw lots of people all the time and the children interacted with them whether they wanted to or not. He has lived most of his interactive infancy at our new home and while I love it, one negative aspect is that he doesn't like to make friends much. We're working on that since I just have an aversion to impoliteness under the excuse of shyness, but he's going to take a little longer I think because he doesn't have as many opportunities as the others did. He's happy though and except for an excema problem that he has regularly, he's a healthy little boy.

In other news:
I've managed to kill most of our fish. We're down from 11 to 4 now. I think I starved them to death in the process of trying to get our tank to be sparkly clean again. It's been green and now just a clear cloudy for months now and no amount of care, chemicals, etc. seems to fix the problem. I think I'm about ready to throw the baby out with the bath water on this one!

I had an awesome herb garden this year, thanks to Alouette Anderson for getting it all ready for plants last spring and I'm dreading the dying of the last herb, which I know is soon to come if it didn't happen today. I had better basil this year than I've ever grown and actually all of the plants did really well. The soil has been dormant for a while which probably helped and so I had all the parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, chives, and chocolate mint I could ever want. Ahh..it was a cooks dream!

We also had a great garden. We were able to put quite a bit in the freezer and are enjoying some squash and sweet potatoes these days. I made lots of homemade catsup which to my delight, the children LOVE! We also canned some sweet pickle relish and froze stewwed corn...mmmm... Praise the Lord for a bountiful harvest. We actually had a pretty nasty blight of some fungus over almost the whole garden, but thankfully it didn't hurt the fruit so much as the leaves, so by the time it came we were able to still get most of the produce we would have gotten.

Now the leaves are almost all on the ground. There are some oak trees out there that are being quite stubborn with their crop and just won't let go, but almost all the maples have shed. The top of the mountain was snowy today and there was about 1/2 inch on the ground this morning when we got up. It made me smile. I love the snow. It makes me think of words like bright, cozy, warm drinks ( I almost wrote worm drinks- eww), and clean. Ok, the mud coming in today on people's boots wasn't so clean, but the snow makes the whole world out there look clean and fresh and new- like taking a bath or putting fresh white sheets on the bed. It makes me think that God can fix it all again to make it a true pleasure to him.

Well, now that I've run the risk of waxing eloquent I should stop. That's all for now. Hope you've enjoyed the narrative of Life in the Aldrich Army.

A little deep thought for the day

2008-10-03T21:36:00.002-05:00

Thinking today of days gone by when one spoke to me and said, "Why Mary! You're half the woman you used to be!" And it made me happy. And I smiled.

Yet again I recall a time when I sang the low notes to put one on pitch and they snickered too much to be able to hit them themselves and yet were much more capable.

And running my fingers through thick brown locks of hair, secretly glad I was being allowed to cut it because it was such nice hair, hesitant to cut it because it was beautiful hair, and embarrassed that I had cut it because I discovered later I had "tummy bumped" him with my big belly many times through the process and he thought it was cute and funny.

A day that I was proud of myself for getting the many different pans of food on for lunch only to see one man go through and pick a hair out of every single one of them. I put all that I could into that meal.

Zeal, energy, poise, ballerina volleyball moves, and high pitched squeaks to scare me to tears. I miss him very much...all of him, especially the embarrassingly fun moments.

Here's to Andrew and God's incredible humor and fervency all rolled into one person. I look forward to more fun times with you again someday.

Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde

2008-09-13T17:23:00.003-05:00

Anyone else out there get really inspired every night to do something and then discover that I am firmly uninspired in the morning, only to find that at about 10am, when the chance it gone, I am reinspired again? Argh!

In a word...EXERCISE!!!!

I would love to exercise. I visualize myself waking up in the morning before the crack of dawn, pulling on my workout clothes, trotting to the laptop to start up my great P90 workout. I remember the feeling of awakeness it brings afterwards and the drop in appetite that comes, and the general energy that I have for the day after a good workout. I read my friend's note's about exercising and see that they are LOVING it, have lost weight, feel good, have more energy, and rave about it and WANT to join in SOOOO badly. I get excited, I get ready, I plan healthy food, I set the alarm, I find my equipment and set up my spot. I think- no more procrastinating, tomorrow morning I'm going to start.

Then the alarm goes off...and I think, "What was I thinking!!!! Go back to sleep!"

The End~

It's just that I HATE getting out of bed. It's akin to chinese water torture in my book. Ok, well, maybe not that bad, but I think that even though Brandon says "hate" is a really strong word, it applies here. I think some of it is due to the fact that I get up many times in the night for other reasons and so to voluntarily get up AGAIN before the day begins seems unreasonable.

I've tried the idea of exercising at other times of the day with very little success. In the evening, if I do, I have trouble going to sleep. Most of the morning is taken up with the kids and school. Then there is the afternoon, which gets filled with all sorts of things, but refuses to have a consistent routine and thus anything in that time period is sketchy for faithfulness.

So I'm left with the morning- that I can't seem to overcome. Most of the time I get up two-three times in the night for things like wet beds, can't find the blanket, had a bad dream, bathroom trips, etc. But isn't this just a lousy excuse? I mean, it's not like I say, "oh, I lost sleep so I'm not going to eat", or change diapers, or pick up the toys today. All those things get done, so why is it that exercise can't be the same?

Who knows, but right now it's evening again and I am on the inspired side. We'll see if it lasts until the clock strikes 6. Will the mouse run down? or will the mouse just roll over and play dead? Being in inspired mode, I'm inclined to say, "Of course I will get up! I WILL DO IT!".....we'll see....

Cool Food and Cool Moments

2008-09-11T20:27:00.004-05:00

This week we have very unexpectedly had two unusual meals for dinner. Both turned out ok, but neither one really conventional "dinner".

First was two nights ago. I was procrastinating about dinner and actually dozed off on the couch and while I was, Jonathon took his brothers to the stove with beans they had just removed from the pods and proceeded to cook them "for his dinner". These are green beans that grew in our garden that grew too big, so we left them on like seed beans and then picked them all. So we have a pile of these long white bean seeds that are just starting to dry.

Well, Jonathon had a little pot, James had a little pot, and Jeff had a little pot- all with beans and water in them on the stove cooking for dinner. Not only did they have their stuff in the works, but that left me with virtually no room to do anything else. So, I improvised. I did a little searching and came up with three bean dips that seemed slightly appetizing and told them they could each make one and then we could all try them to see what we liked best. I was happy with the results.

Jonathon chose a Cheese and Bean Pate. It included his beans, ricotta cheese, lemon juice, some herbs and seasonings and getting chilled in the freezer for a short time. We ate it with crackers. Yummy!

James got a Mint Bean Spread that had a little Middle Eastern flare to it with fresh mint (I LOVE MY HERB GARDEN!!!) tahini (sesame seed paste(yes I had this on hand...along with all the other weird ingredients I needed for these meals)), the beans, and some garlic and onions and such. It was much chunkier than Jonathon's and went well with veggies. It had a bolder flavor and while I thought it was good, it was not a fave of the kids.

Jeff got a Mexican bean dip that actually called for pinto beans, but we improvised. It had the usual tomato paste, cumin, onion, jack cheese, etc. that is in a mex. dish and was baked hot in the oven. Served with chips, this was a winner too.

Somehow with just these three dips and various dippers, we all ended up satisfied.

Oh, well, I had some unbaked cookie dough and some chopped up mini Crunch bars that I turned into a small dessert treat. And THEN everyone was happy.

Tonight, however was the kicker. I FORGOT to put my meat in the crock pot and so didn't get it in until about 3:30- (This = TOO LATE) Anyway, I was planning to have some Dijon beef with hot buttered noodles, fried eggplant crisps(from our garden) with mozzarella and oven dried cherry tomatoes (garden) and sauteed cabbage (garden) with apple pie for dessert (apples going bad in the fridge). I know this sounds really elaborate...it even sounds ridiculous to me- I didn't even have anyone coming over. But I was inspired by the eggplant -first ones we've gotten, and hadn't had cabbage in a while, and the meat and noodles were easy. Oh, and the pie, well, I cut apples while Brandon prepped lunch today, so that made that easy. (He's on vacation.) (And I use these little curvy line things a lot!) Anyway, the meat wasn't cooked and somehow I decided that since we didn't have any meat, then we didn't need noodles to put it on. So that left us with eggplant and cabbage for dinner. With apple pie to wash it down.

We consumed ALL the eggplant. Even Rachel liked them- except the tomato part, but the others even liked that. I think I had almost 50 fried slices. MMMmmmmm! in those cool Japanese bread crumbs too- Panko, it's called. With a little mozzarella and tomato on top, they were good. I added a little salt to mine, cause I knew I forgot to add it to the flour and they were perfect. The cabbage stood up well to the kids too! I cooked it in a combo of beef broth, butter, mustard, and s&p...and maybe something else...I can't remember- but it was good. Jonathon went back for seconds and just raved about how much he loved cabbage!

Then we had the pie for dessert. I had one granny smith and several gala apples, so a bit of a mix. And I forgot and only made one crust, so I did a crumb topping- but with regular sugar instead of brown because I had run out. Bottom line- it was devoured- AND I made two pies, so one is delightfully awaiting breakfast in the morning to be sided with some hot scrambled eggs and I think perhaps some grits. I have some fresh kiwi that needs to be consumed as well, so that might come out in the morning too.

After dinner, (I love my kids!) Jonathon poked out his belly and said, "Look how stuffed I am!" Jeff replied, "Yeah, now we need to do some work!" So we all spontaneously left the kitchen the disaster that it was and trooped outside to stack wood for about 10-15 minutes. We got a little chain going and stacked a bunch of wimpy wood and then the boys tried to find the biggest pieces they could. I had a couple of things land on my bare foot in the process, but even Joseph was trying to stack his little branches and all that cuteness made up for the mistakes.

Ah....it was a good time...Hooray for good food. Not necessarily what I would have planned on, or shopped for, but we ate what we had and it was fun too! Praise the Lord.

Amusing thought to leave you with:

Words Defined by James

Receipt: v. to get up and move to another chair

(Hahahaha!)

Top Things that Make me Happy

2008-09-02T19:41:00.002-05:00

10. No more kidney stones...Hooray!
9. Three night stay in Florida with my brother Jeff, wife Fritha and new baby girl Dani! compliments of my wonderful husband for my birthday. It was awesome! (All by me lonesome!!!)
8. Eatting fresh tomatoes from the garden.
7. Listening to James and his silly comments...always.
6. Happy times with friends around a campfire...AND...my children didn't set anyone aflame!
5. New juice glasses for the kitchen.
4. New clothes via great sales.
3. Knowing God hears our prayers and cares about our needs.
2. Finding friends from long ago on Facebook.
1. Two successful days of homeschooling Jonathon and James and feeling like I might can get through this after all!

Kidney Stones are not for the faint at...well...anything

2008-08-08T08:28:00.004-05:00

Caution: Some contents may be more medically detailed than the average reader would want to know. This is about my kidney stones and recent UTIs.

For those of you who have been blissfully ignorant of my status as of late, I'll let you in on a little secret. I've been in the hospital. Now normally I don't like going to such places, mostly because they poke and prod, and generally do more things to make you miserable, but desperate times call for desperate measures and this is where I found myself recently. Let me start at the beginning...

Over two months ago I got a urinary tract infection (UTI) for Memorial Day weekend. (That's the last time I accept gifts for such holidays!) It was the first time in my life I have ever had this problem! I spent a couple of weeks drinking gallons of water, cranberry juice, lots of Vitamin C, colodial silver, you know, the works, and finally gave up on home remedies and went to the doctor. I think this was about the end of the first week of June. They did a urine test and discovered I did have a UTI. E.coli, to be exact, and I also had lots of white blood cells and red blood cells (those are just from that time of the month they said) Great! I had recently been on a Candida diet to empty my gut of "bad" bacteria and load it with "good" bacteria and thus had gone to great lengths and much expense to eat lots of acidopholus ladden products and such. Now I had to be on antibiotics- death to all bacteria, good and bad! This did not make me happy, but the UTI needed to go away, so I took Cipro for 5 days. While I was on it the symptoms went away, but the day after I got off, they came back. Hmmm...back to the doctor I went and said, "This didn't work." They actually told me that I just had a new seperate UTI and that I must have gotten two in a row. "OOOOOOKAAAAAAY....(this means "I don't believe a word of it, but you are the medical professional and I am the ignorant stay at home mom with nothing better to do than take drugs all day and go to the doctor in my spare time.)" They put me on Cipro again. This time a double dose for three days. Same song, second verse. I felt better during the antibiotic, but a week after being on it, the symptoms came back. I was getting really tired of drinking gallons of water, having to go the bathroom all the time and having lots of pain also. back to the Doctor I went. Well, I didn't have anything growing from this specimen they took, but I did have red blood cells (probably just that time of the month thing, they said...uh...OOOOKAAAAY.) Next antibiotic- something called Macrobid. That I took for seven days felt better and then, guess what, a week later symptoms came back again. This time I was going to the doctor and telling them exactly what I thought.

The doctor canceled my appointment, would I like to see a nurse?

NO! I'll wait for the REAL doctor.

A week later, gallons of water, yucky feelings, I met with my doctor. Uh...this is still going on and I don't like it and I don't think it's just different UTI's. I think all this is related and I think there is something stuck in my "tube" that makes it so that urine can't come out. I can feel it like it's plugging things up. (I really said this.) I even gave a stupid word picture about a rubber ball in a funnel and how when you pour liquid in a funnel it makes the ball foat a little until the liquid gets to the bottom and then the ball gets stuck in the bottom of the funnel and kind of rubs on the sides as it gets stuck. I told them that's what I felt like. (Well the red blood cells are probably from "that time of the month"...) I told them (not as nicely as I could have) that I had not been having a cycle for the last two months straight, one of those tests at least had to have been not because of that and that maybe they could consider that the red blood cells were because something inside was being aggrivated (you know, like THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG!!!!) and not because I just bled all the time! The doctor said...well I can give you something for the pain if you want it. Why don't you go home and see if the symptoms just go away and if they don't we'll put you on a low dose antibiotic for three months! ARG!!! I was NOT happy!

Then my doctor went on vacation. On Tuesday I called the nurse to say I wanted the pain med cause my lower back around my kidneys was a little achy. That was at about 4:30pm. At 5pm I called her back to say nevermind, I was going to the ER it hurt so bad. They have a little pain scale they use, 1-10 with 1 being almost nothing and 10 being the worst you've ever had. By 6pm, the pain was about 11. I've been at 12 before and I was throwing up uncontrollably it hurt so bad, but this time I wasn't throwing up, so 11. In the ER, they gave me some pain meds after they missed my first IV stick and hit the second one. I now know what it feels like for someone to "dig" to find the vein. I made them stop. I cried.

I hate needles, I've always hated them. People say, "Well, I don't know anyone who really likes them." and this is true, but I have always had a really hard time with pokey things. I passed out when I got my ears pierced. I've passed out twice from shots. I passed out when I slammed my thumb in the car door. Ok, that wasn't getting poked, but it was equally painful. I lay down to have any blood work done, I don't donate (sorry) and I get every nurse who's ever stuck me nervous that I'm going to jerk, tense up, jump up and hide in a cabinet, or scream and startle them. I don't do all that, I just cry. Somehow they always want me to "breathe" and they always tell me over and over that they are done and I can stop crying. Ugh! They just don't understand. If they would only just stick me and leave me alone for a minute I would be fine. But no, they have to pester me and then I'm stuck and mad at them to boot. SO all that is to say, that me a needles don't get along.

At least the nurse who stuck me for the second one had a good sense of humor. He said his job was like his Anger Management Therapy. Haha. I laughed. So, pain meds. Got some. Ahhh... Then I had an x-ray, (which by the way I forgot to say I had one on Monday where they didn't see anything wrong with me.) and the doctor said I had a kidney stone in my ureter and to go home with a good dose of pain meds and drink lots of water and walk around to try and pass it.

Late that Night I went home. I slept fitfully off an on, in pain, and drugged up on a narcotic, Dilaudid. I drank water until I though my eyes would swim and noticed that as much as I was drinking, less than half was coming out, I called the nurse and they said it was probably no big deal, but to keep pushing those fluids. yuck. I was feeling so bloated. I gained 3 pounds those 2 days! I wasn't hungry much, but the water was filling me up. Finally, Wednesday night I realized that I was on my maximum dose of pain killers and the pain was still up around a 6-7 (remember that pain scale?) and seemed to be going up. So, I went back to the ER. The first night I was in extreme pain and had to wait in the waiting room for, I think, about an hour. This night I wasn't in as much pain, but I learned the trick to being seen quickly. I threw up at the triage desk. I was just so sick to my stomach from all that water and the pain meds and the car ride there. It was aweful. They actually were trying to ask me questions as I was vomitting into a bag and the first chance I could say anything I told them to let me lay down and that I could talk to them then. New vomit bag. Wheel chair. Private room. Bed. Ahhh... If you ever want to get back there quickly just throw up at their desk. I didn't do it on purpose of course.

So, more pain meds and...you need a CT scan, but you can't have one until in the morning, so rest easy- in the ER- for the whole night. They moved me to a different bed, an observation unit, where you have to be able to "take care of yourself" to be there. Why am I in the hospital????? Ok, I survived.

The next morning, before I was awake almost, I was wheeled into the CT Scan. Did you know that a CT scan is about the same as having 100 x-rays in radiation? Yuck! Scary! I had to not be pregnant for this procedure, which they confirmed, so you can all know that little detail too. It wasn't really that bad. I've never had one before, but it's just a matter of holding your breath at certain times and not at other times and being still. Later, the doctor came to talk to me.

I have not one, but two "of the largest kidney stones in the world" he says. I later heard from my husband that actually, the largest one was about the size of a man's fist. Ok, technicalities, but mine were 1 cm and 8 mm (only slightly smaller) for those of you without a metric ruler at your fingertips, think, small marble. Apparently people can only pass 5mm stones or less naturally. Anything larger must me removed differently. Ugh! Oh, and it was also completely blocking my right ureter. That's the tube that takes the urine from the kidney to the bladder. I needed surgery they said. I needed a urologist, they said. The urologist wouldn't be available until afterhours they said. How about waiting here in the ER until then, they said. OOOOOOKAAAAY. On drugs, of course.

The urologist arrived to do my surgery at 7pm. Of course, this wasn't fix it surgery, this was just put a stent in surgery. The stone needed a procedure called lithotripsy and the machine to do that only "comes to the area" every other wednesday. (This was Thursday of course, but thankfully the one just before the right Wednesday.) So, I went under general anethesia while they used the available access point to insert dye, scope, wire, a stent (flexible tube to drain the kidney to the bladder in the ureter) that was too small, then a different stent (28 in. long). The doctor later said that my kidney was so infected (huh!?!) from being completely blocked (huh!?!)that it was actually starting to abcess (huh!?!) and that was probably why I was having UTIs (HUH!?!) and that if the problem had continued for another week or two, I could have very well lost my entire kidney! (HUH!!!!) The words, "I told you so" come to mind. Oh well...

So, stent in. Go home Friday afternoon. I should feel back to my normal self soon, and just keep drinking lots of fluids until Wed. when we can blast those stones.

Friday to Wednesday, I did NOT feel like my normal self. I was miserable. I was in pain, things ached from the surgery, the stent made me bleed so I was told to "take it easy", and I found myself in bed the entire time with a few exceptions of coming downstairs to get a bite to eat or something. So, that made uh, 8 days in bed so far.

Wednesday morning I went in to the hospital in Peterborough, where the machine was and discovered to my disappointment that it wasn't a laser lithotripsy, it was just the regular lithotripsy. The difference is that the regular one is less invasive, all external and sort of "pulses" on your back in a certain location to send waves to break up the stones. It's not as effective and especially not as effective for stones in the ureter. I also have to wait for the particles to pass "naturally" which means leaving the stent in for another week at least. The laser one did involve going internally, but it has an almost 100% success rate for breaking up stones. The doctor sends a "basket"up to collect the particles and since all of them get out then, the stent comes out too. That wasn't the one I had.

I had the punch in the kidneys version, so my back is sore from the one sided boxing match I was in. The kids like for me to describe it as having my "rocks blasted to smitherinies". They find the violent description much more entertaining. Rachel is making a valiant effort at sympathy pains as she told me the other day she had a "rock" in her foot.

Now, I'm waiting to pass the "gravel". They say the things fragmented, but so far I've only had a few small particles Thursday and then nothing since. I'm still drinking gallons of water and if it wasn't going in one end and out the other I could probably float a small ship in the amount of water I've had in the last 2 months. I have an appointment for a followup xray this coming Wednesday and then they decide if I need to be blasted again the next week, or I've passed enough and can have the stent out right away. You can be praying for the latter one. Until then I'm still mostly in bed. The more I move around, the more I bleed and as they said they don't want blood clots in my kidney, I'm to try and keep the bleeding to a minimum. That means lots of in bed time, being still. Today I actually feel good. It's the second day I've been off pain killers and so I think to some extent it make the whole bed thing even more difficult. I think there's a long ways to go before this is over, but I do feel validated in a way that all my harping on things was for a good reason and not just something I made up.

It certainly has been an adventuresome two weeks. Oh, Brandon's computer got a virus at the same time and it hasn't worked since, our phone line shut down one day too. but my sisters are here helping out. The Jane and Amy versions and they are what's making our home survive right now. Brandon is almost back up with his computer and the girls are making it possible for him to get some work done, spend some time with the kids, and still have emotional energy for me, too. He seems to be doing ok also. When the girls leave we'll have to come up with something different, but God has provided for us so far and I am trusting him to do it tomorrow and the next day too.

Crazy Kid Stuff

2008-06-21T21:15:00.002-05:00

Ok, this week we had a run on crazy things.

- Rachel pronouced "bulldozer" incorrectly in the grocery store the other day.
"Mama, I want a 'budweiser'." I wish I was the only one who heard.
- James asked to be put to bed this evening, he said he was tired!!!
- We climbed the mountain today- all of us. I have pics of our feet on top together...I think.
-The boys set up a campfire and played with matches outside on Tuesday. Yikes.
- They also stole hot chocolate powder and ate it from the can.
- They also got sand from our sand box, mixed it with water and took a "mud bath". Literally. I saw them "washing" their hair. Baths all around that day.
- I told Rachel she was a "big girl". Also in the grocery store, she replied loudly, "And you a BIG MAMA!" Ugh!
- Six words I hate to hear: Mama, please clean off my hand. I'll let you figure out why.
- Two things I dislike about little boys: peeing on the toilet, and stepping on my feet all the time.
- One thing I love about Joseph: he learned to say "Bye-bye".
- Jonathon prayed for his parents to have enough money to visit the "fishing Grandpa" this summer. We'll see.
- James tried to make his bath a bubble bath and used all the shampoo in Brandon's bottle and 3/4 of mine.
- Jeff likes to unload the dishwasher. Hooray!
- James played some sort of slay the dragon scene out in slow motion in the backyard yesterday...wish I had a video of that.
-The older boys are learning to like guacamole...too bad, now I have to share.
- Latest irritating argument: "I am me. You are you."
"No, I am me. You are you."
"No, you are not me. You are you. I am me."
"NO, I AM NOT YOU! I AM ME. YOU ARE YOU!"
Ok, so this went on for a very long time. Jeff and Rachel's favorite pasttime lately.

Did you know that Blueberry Oatmeal will not stain the cabinet even if you leave it on there for a week?
Did you know that if you forget that your children's toothbrushes are in the bag from when you camped on Memorial Day weekend and thus have not brushed a single time, you will not be struck dead?
Did you know that condiment cups from the kitchen make good sand castle molds? So do Mama's ski gloves apparently. And legos make good buried treasure in the sand box, but you must bury ALL of them.
Did you know that if you should leave coathangers in the flower bed in case some pirate needs an extra hook sometime for his swashbuckling adventure?
How about that tricycles are much more fun to ride with out the handlebars attached?
Or that the only way to get into bed is to jump from the top of the chest of drawers? naturally.
And I discovered that my 7 year old knows how to make my coffee and which vitamins I take in the morning as he has dosed them out a couple of times.

Frog eggs don't hatch if you pester them too much.
Corn will grow even if you only plant 4 seeds in one place together.
Carrots will grow even if you walk across the entire row. Twice.
Joseph eats rocks.
Laundry never ends.
My lights come on by themselves in the middle of the night somehow.
My shoes seem to migrate to Rachel's room these days by themselves.
James always has stuff in his pockets, but no one sees him put stuff in there!

And the best place to be alone is the shower.

I'm loving life, my children, and the craziness of things right now, but I'm sure glad it's a season of life and not a permanent status!

Camping with the Kiddos Part 2

2008-05-31T20:49:00.001-05:00

Warning: Very long and contains some content that involves gross amounts of bodily fluids.

So yes, Saturday morning we awoke around 5:45am. The kids were excited to be in the tent and out in the woods and after 20 minutes of attempting to keep them inside and quiet, I finally gave up on one effort and let them out. Quiet was a requirement of the camp until 8am- practically torture for our family, but we managed as well as we could. Due to our hasty set up the night before we had not really prepared a spot to cook so after looking around and taking in the scene I decided on a good spot- right behind the van. Our tent was completely surrounded on all sides. On the river side we had a tent about 3 feet in front of us. On the back and tent about 1 foot away, to the left was a pop up camper about 5 feet away with a very loud sleeper in the bunk and to the right was one other tent about 8 feet away. So it didn’t really work to cook near our “spot”. Behind the van worked for that morning because it was away from all the sleeping people, it was quiet and there was a good deal of grass to lay out a kitchen of sorts and prepare things in a way that the kids could assist a little with.

Breakfast was bacon, eggs, and cormeal and the kids had a grand time eating out of their own little mess kits. I spent a while trying to cook over a stove without sufficient fuel in the little tank and finally gave in and turned everything off and refilled it. Once I did that things went wonderfully quick and I was able to enjoy a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, cornmeal and a nice cup of hot coffee. Then the boys pulled out their bikes and trikes and rode around while Rachel and I washed up the dishes. She thought that was great fun because she had her own little dish pan and scrubber and did a marveous job of rinsing and drying. By the time the whole process was over it was after 9am and everyone- or most everyone was awake.

We spent most of Saturday around the camp. The boys and Rachel biked around, canoed a bit with the Reeds on the river right next to the campground, played at the playground- a marvelous spot complete with a sandbox- and generally got aquainted with our surroundings. There was also a little kid’s clothing consignment shop in the office of the campground and Ellen and I poked around in there a bit while Dan watched the kids. None drowned.

One of the more interesting events of the day was Jeff and his efforts to get comfortable with the bathroom facilities. We went early in the day to the communal bath house into the ladies room, but he was frightened by the fact that the lighting wasn’t working properly and to make matters worse, as soon as he sat down, someone in the stall next to us flushed the commode and he really freaked out. So that wound that bathroom trip up and there was nothing I could do to get him to go at that point. Later in the morning I found that when he couldn’t hold it any longer, he left it as a gift in front of our tent. Not one, but four locations for me to “take care of”, so I did. I’ll leave the details to your imagination, but it was gross and I took care of it as cleanly as possible including removing all the grass in said locations.

I later saw him fertilizing a tree, much to my horror, right next to the area where everyone gathered for the main meals and thus where the majority of the people were. Fortunately most people thought it was funny and natural and gave a good laugh or just ignored him. The last episode of this nature came late in the day (In my defense, we did regularly attempt to get more aquainted with the proper bathroom facilities during the day.) when Jonathon came up to me with a really excited, “Mama! I think there are some deer around because I think I found some deer poop!” I went with him to the van and there next to the back right wheel was his scientific proof of deer in our camp. I disappointed him by explaining that it wasn’t deer, it was just Jeff and thankfully that was the last of that. Ahh…camping brings out the best in some people.

James seemed to entertain a number of adults around the campfire with stories, shocking comments, intense expressions, and jokes that only James can come up with.

Rachel was happy just sort of flitting around like a butterfly from one thing to another just taking it all in.

Jonathon had a great time riding his bike like the “big kids” and doing manly things like hunting snails and worms and poking the fire.

Jeff…well we know what he was doing. But aside from that he had a good time too.

We had a group dinner of taco salad- all 80 something of us. Since I was a last minute person I didn’t have an assigned dish to bring so I brought homemade guacamole and much to my delight I had the only offering of the dish. Thanks to Franks help the recipe was a smashing success and I had people come up and rave about it later. It’s been a fun thing lately to make, partly because I discovered this past year sometime that I actually like the stuff when I make it instead of buy it and it’s one of the things that is ok on the wacky diet we’ve been on lately. (We won’t go into that right now.) Anyway, it was a hit and I was glad. I always hate being the one that comes to a covered dish dinner or a potluck and has nothing to contribute, so I was relieved to find I was contributing successfully.

After dinner was over I pretty much just made the kids go up to the bath house and clean up and put jammies on and go to the tent. They were so exhasusted from the late night before and the rising early that morning that by the time 8pm rolled around they were very happy to go to bed. It was also chilly that night (got into the mid 30’s) and so they were happy to climb into their sleeping bags and snuggle deep. We read a couple of books- Andy and the Lion, and Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and then off to dream land they went.

In fact, they went so deep to dream land they did all sorts of crazy things in the night. First, I snuck out to go take a shower around 10pm and while I was gone one of them- I’m pretty sure it was Jeff- got up to go to the bathroom, only he couldn’t find it in the tent (obviously) so he just stood in the middle and let loose all over the top of his sleeping bag and pillow, Jonathon’s bag and pillow (with Jonathon on it), and the edge of my sleeping bag. Then he got back into his bag and was fast asleep when I returned to find the mess. I cleaned up as best I could with some extra towels and then turned in for the night. I slept for a while before James awoke me that he had wet his bed. My first thought was, “I can’t change the sheets!” Thankfully, more towels helped with that situation and as it was more his clothes than anything, those were easily changed. Then, without going into much detail, only to say it involved child no.1, an empty bottle, poor aim, and results of a Mama’s wet sleeve, I had accident no.3 on my hands. After that was cleaned up, the restof the night was quite peaceful and the kids actually slept until after 7:30am, with James sleeping until 9am. In the morning, Jeff had wet his bag again and everything came out of the tent to air out and get some good sunshine. It stayed out all day and by the end of the day I really couldn’t smell any sketchiness when I put the bags back in the tent (thankfully).

Sunday we had a better meal operation and had rearranged the vehicles so that my van was backed up to a picnic table near the fire and another picnic table was next to it, so the Reeds and I sort of ate together. I’m not sure how it was for them, but it was a great help to me. For one, Dan washed the dishes for the rest of the trip and I had help with the kids. I know I had a few things, like spoons, that their family forgot, but I think I got the better end of the deal in the end.

Sunday morning we had oatmeal for breakfast and consumed every last bite. Then after breakfast we had a church service, which I spent mostly finding kids and taking Jeff to the bathroom. But what little I did catch was good. There were a number of topics covered after testimonies from various people, but the main point I came away with was how God uses our weaknesses instead of our strengths many times to accomplish his purposes. We had a little time of prayer and were encouraged when after praying for a family’s dog to be found, she was located about 2 miles away.

After the service, our family and the Reeds prepared for a canoe venture down the river and so Ellen and I packed lunch and got stuff ready while Dan figured out where we were going and how far to go. We went about 20 miles north and canoed for about 5 miles what was supposedly water with a bit more current than what was next to the camp, but the water level was different than normal and thus it was actually pretty flat as well. That being said, we had a good time- well, I had a great time because Ellen and I ended up in a canoe all to ourselves and talked all the world’s problems away while the kids floated down stream. No one went overboard and Jonathon, though he tried to tip Philip and Jayne over (accidentally), managed to just add water to the boat and leave them upright and a little wet.

When we got out of the river, Jayne and Dan decided to attempt canoeing all the way back to the campground, so Ellen and I drove the vans back with the kids and the trailer of canoes. All was well until we decided to stop for ice cream and found ourselves attempting to back up and turn that canoe trailer around. After several tries we finally did it, though not especially gracefully and ice cream was enjoyed by all. James and Jeff wore most of theirs on their face, but they looked happy nonetheless.

So back at camp we had hotdogs for dinner and then the kids ran around and played late into the evening. I had a great time sitting around the fire chatting with a lady named Maureen about healthy eating, exercise, and how it all fits in with the spiritual aspects of Jesus wanting first place in our lives. She was quite an inspiration- a testimony of loosing quite a bit of weight, and encouragement- of some Bible studies that might be helpful, and generally a friendly conversationist. What an encouragement towards self control, allowing Jesus to work, and renewed enthusiasm for working on weight loss.

While I talked to her, James had a chat with a man named Eric sitting next to me. His conversation was about blood, but I’m sorry to tell you there was nothing spiritual about it. James had his flashlight and was fascinated by the fact that his fingers glowed red when he placed the light under them. Eric explained that what he was seeing was the blood in his fingers and that was just too good to be true for James.
“BLOOD!!!”
So from there, James had to see how many other things he could see blood in and after examining his own (boring) body parts, he subjected Eric to the same experiment.
“Does your hand have blood in it?” and then would try it, with Eric’s consent and enthusiasm all the way. He proceeded to fingers, ear lobes, nose, chin, and then got a naughty curious look in his eye and said, “Hey! Does your belly have blood in it?”
To which Eric replied, “Well, let’s see.” And without missing a beat he whipped up his shirt for James to poke his flashlight on his tummy to see if it glowed red. Sure enough it did and Eric’s wife, sitting next to him was heard to say, “No way is he checking my tummy for blood!” So James stole the show, for by this time many of the people around were listening in on this little dialogue between the adult and 5 year old about blood.

Jonathon at this point was running around having the time of his life playing flashlight tag with the teenagers and his brand new headlight he got for his birthday. Rachel and Jeff just remained content to sit in my lamp and stare at the fire.

They went to bed after a long evening sometime after 10pm and slept until after 8am the next morning. It was glorious. The temps that night were around mid 40’s so it was perfect sleeping weather again, no rain and no nasty bed wetting scenes. Monday we lazed around, packed up and ate lunch and then headed home without much excitement other than getting in some last minute visiting with new friends and feeling success over the fact that Jeff was happy to get to the bathroom before going by the end of the weekend.

Oh we had such a grand time. We tented, we told stories, we canoed, we roasted marshmellows, we cooked we played hard, we built fires and burnt long sticks and fat logs, and sat around and laughed and smelled like smoke and listened to crickets…and snoring (hehe) and played with flashlights and saw stars and snuggled and smiled a lot. It was a grand time and even though we had some crazy moments, overall it was a WONDEFUL weekend and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

It did of course take me all week at home to recover, but it was worth it! Camping is glorious fun and you should all go out right away and try it. Of course the trick is to decide your going to like it, enjoy it, and have fun no matter what comes your way, then it’s trully grand. But then isn’t much of life like that?

Camping with the Kiddos Part 1

2008-05-30T21:17:00.000-05:00

To begin my life at the beginning of my life, I was born…crazy. Then I had parents that were crazy, too. That explains a lot of things. So when you read some of this and ask, “WHY????” I will refer you to the first line of this post.

*Ahem*…So, I heard about this shindig that the Reeds had been invited to a few weeks ago. I had very little interest in going, partly because I didn’t think they were going and partly because I was high on trying to figure out a backpacking trip to the Catskills for our family and I didn’t want to “waste” the one trip Brandon would take on a “mere” car camping trip. (I will pause here to explain that “car” camping just refers to the idea that you take all of your gear in your car directly to the site you are to camp at and stay there. It involves no hiking, backpacking or canoeing, etc. to get to your camping location. Some of our dear friends refer to this activity with scorn in their voices and call it “cramping”.) Later I found out that the Reeds were in fact going and that it sounded like it could be a lot of fun. First of all, a couple that they know were throwing this camping get together and had just invited a bunch of people they knew, so it wasn’t as though the Reeds knew everyone, but there were about 80 people planning to attend.

I think suddenly this was exciting to me because it was a chance to get to know some new people and step outside of Fairwood life for a bit. Now, I love Fairwood and love being here, but I do wish sometimes that I got out a bit more than I do. So this was my chance and being the plan ahead, organized person that I am, I decided Friday at lunch time that I would go camping for the weekend and needed to be ready to leave by 4pm. Well, I didn’t quite make it and the good news was that the Reeds weren’t ready then either so, I had some wiggle room. As far as Brandon staying, he had just traveled the weekend before, doesn’t really relax by camping with little children, and absoutely doesn’t relax by meeting new people and being in an extremely social environment for 72 hours straight. So he stayed at home with Joseph and I was more than happy to go it alone with the 4 older kids. They were so excited and I knew that if I could just get there, I would have plently of wonderful people around to help me and make the weekend pleasant for all of us.

So, I packed and planned while the kids watched a movie…or two and was ready to go when the Reeds wanted to leave. We stoped at the grocery store for a few last minute items (the dinners were a combined effort for the entire group and we needed to contribute some things) and then we were off by 7:30. We arrived in Orford, NH, aside the Conn. River around 9:30pm. Just in time to pitch our tent, say hello in the dark and head to bed. The kids immediately had to go to the bathroom and I made the first mistake of the weekend and let them go on the far side of the van because they couldn’t hold it long enough to make it to the bath house. This was a bad habit to begin for the weekend I later discovered.

Our family had one tent for the five of us and we all had plenty of sleeping space. That tent has been through some great times in our family starting with our honeymoon which was a camping trip. Anyway, the three boys had one end and Rachel and I took the other end with a little walking space in between. We all had Therm-a-Rests to sleep on, so it was as comfortable as it could get for camping. The temperature than night was in the mid 40’s and that made it perfect for sleeping. A good snuggling down temp, not to cold to stay awake, but not so hot that you don’t want to be in your sleeping bag. The kids slept like rocks and I stayed awake most of the night. (The first half I was praying because Jeff and Fritha were at the hospital with Fritha in labor expecting my new little niece, Dani. The second half I couldn’t sleep because Jeff called, said she had been born and I was too excited to sleep after that.)

The children rose at 5:45am and were actually not the first ones up! But they were raring to go, so go we did.

To be continued…

Now I’m going to sleep in hopes that I can finish this saga tomorrow.

Quick! Quick! Before it gets Away!

2008-05-29T21:35:00.002-05:00

Ok, here's the scoop. I took the kids camping last weekend. That would be me (Mary) took Jonathon, James, Jeff, and Rachel camping for three nights while Brandon stayed home with baby Joseph. We actually chose these particular roles, no one forced us. I WANTED to go and he WANTED to stay, so it worked out, but it does seem like a bit of a role reversal. Anyway, we went with the Reed family up to the little town of Orford, NH. It's on the Conn. River and is around 2 1/2 hours away. The Reeds were going because some friends of theirs were having a big camp thing (83 people) and we just sort of tagged along (with permission). Anyway, there are loads of stories from the trip and I hope to share some before I forget them all, but alas, I can't right now because I should be in bed sleeping. Sigh...maybe tomorrow. Great time was had by all though.

Oh, and lest I not remember in time, tomorrow, May 30th is my brother -in-law's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYAN! and more importantly (if I may be so bold), it is my daughter, Rachel's birthday!

Rachel is 3!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL! I love you. Even when you decide to pour an entire quart of maple syrup all over you and your room and the track it through the house and get your brothers to help like you did today, I still will say...I LOVE YOU!

Ok, Happy Friday to all.

Happy Birthday Jonathon

2008-05-08T22:01:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that I have a 7 year old, but yes. It has happened. Jonathon turned 7 today and I found myseld recounting the memories of his time as a baby amidst the groanings and laughings of the other children.

Some of the memories were:

When he had his first bath, he looked more like an alien than a person, cone head, long fingers and toes, skinny body, bug eyes...humorous.

When he was an infant he was so small that we bathed him in the bathroom sink! He was the smallest of all- at 6lbs. 12 oz.

He was my longest labor- 29 1/2 hours and that started with a 3 hour shopping trip at Sears.

When he was sad I could lay him on the bed and just turn on the vacuum cleaner to keep him quiet.

He also loved listening to the Messiah.

He is my most inquisitive, yet most tempered like me.

I love him very much! Happy Birthday to a wonderful son.

And on a different note...did you know that James can carry rocks that weigh 5 lbs. in his pocket? Just one 5 pounder. There were other things in his other pocket. It does make him have to hold his pants up when he runs or jumps on the trampoline though. It was a special "sparkly" rock though that was precious enough to become part of the "junk drawer" in his bedroom. (I can't wait for the day we clean that out!)

By Popular Demand

2008-05-03T19:47:00.004-05:00

Ok, so for all of you who have been waiting patiently (some not so patiently) for pics of the house in a more finished state, here they are in all their glory. I will give a disclaimer that yes, there is "stuff" around, I did not clean up the house for these shots and the bedroom shots were taken after dark, with the children sleeping (or not) in their beds, so they aren't the best, but they'll have to do or you'll never get any. Also, the other disclaimer is that while it looks much better, we still have a LONG ways to go to finish the bits and pieces, but I won't bore you with the details. I'm so thankful for how much has gone on and how gorgeous it has turned out. Many thanks to Joe and Alouette for slaving away here!

With out more yapping:

The Master Bedroom

The Master Bathroom

The Hall Bathroom

The Upstairs Hall

Rachel's Room (with Rachel asleep)

Jeff and Joseph's room (with Jeff not asleep)

Jonathon and James' room (with both of them asleep...and buried in covers)

The Living Room (painted this past week)

note the new bow window!

The Kitchen

complete with cabinet doors and stuff behind them!

The Dining Room

recently painted, and still in progress also

Other areas not yet disclosed due to work still going on: school room, laundry, half bathroom, garage, basement, my heart...ok you get the idea. Here they are and hope you enjoyed it. Now I'm off to plan Sunday School.

A Quick Prayer

2008-04-14T20:56:00.002-05:00

Today we discovered- after the snow had melted away- a dead animal carcass in our back yard. There are several speculations as to what it is with the highest votes cast to either dog or coyote. It's very disgusting and very skeletal in it's remains, save the intestinal fat still on it. Like I said, really gross. I'm not sure what we do with it. Bury it? Move it deeper into the woods? Call someone to get it? Anyway, we were letting the Bible School guys have a look at it this evening and Jonathon came and saw it too. He was pretty startled by it's ugliness. Later at bedtime after he was in THE bed and lights were out and prayers were said, he came downstairs.

"Mama, I am just so scared in my room. I just am so scared that there is an animal like that dead one in my room that I can't sleep. You shouldn't have let me see it."

So we had a little discussion about how the devil is the author of fear and how Jesus doesn't want us to be scared and we can pray and as Jesus to make the devil go away and we don't have to be scared any more. After talking, Jonathon prayed a long prayer, but part of it went like this:

"...and I resist the devil. You know, You're the only one who kicked Satan out of Heaven and you can just kick him out of New Hampshire too. And kick him out of our home. Please just kick him out of here...."

I thought it was a great example of how we can just count on God to do what he says and then believe He will do it.

After he prayed we talked about how if he was tempted to be scared, then he needed to think about Jesus or sing Jesus Loves Me in his head or something to help him forget about being afraid. He said ok, went back to bed, and is sleeping quite peacefully.

Hmmm...A little bit goes a long way with God!

PS. I wonder...if God really did kick him out of all of New Hampshire, what state he's in now?

Feeling at home

2008-04-04T21:41:00.001-05:00

Things are coming together...and I'm feeling more like I live in a home rather than a construction zone. Here's a little treat of what I've been staring at today:

3 Nights to Go

2008-03-08T15:10:00.009-05:00

Well, here I am, about 2 weeks late, making good on my promise to post some more pictures on my blog of the house progress. I'm not sure how many pics I can put on here, but we'll see how it goes.

The first picture is of the outside of the house. We have quite a wood pile in front. This is not as much to look like a dump as it is because there is so much snow on the ground that we can't get to the burm pile right now. Hopefully as it warms up this pile will disappear.

This is a picture of Brandon's office. Originally we planned to do very litte in here, but as we continued to think about it realized that we really should pull up the thread bare carpet now and put some more down BEFORE we put his heavy desk and several big filing cabinets on it. It was quite a process to get the carpet up. It is cement underneath and was well adhered. Thankfully, I didn't have to do it all by myself. After 2 afternoons I had gotten up half of it, but Philip Reed came along and did the other half in about 2 hours! (I bet he had the easy side!) Just kidding. Anyway, we are hoping to install the new carpet tonight.

Another place we weren't planning to do very much was the area of hallway where the laundry was. As we got up the old flooring though we noticed some mildew around the sheetrock and so pulled it out. I wasn't thrilled to take more out, but there was lots of mold and mildew that we got rid of in the process and I'm glad I won't be living with that. So, in this spot we're eventually going to clean up the wall, put in a counter top and replace the floor for a nice place to sort and fold laundry. Our new laundry shoot comes into this area as well.

Ok, I know some of these pictures are hard to understand, but I'll try. For those of you who have been in the house before, this is the new wall that we put in between the kitchen and the "school room". On the left used to be some stairs and then there was a railing on the right that went around a little eating nook in the kitchen. Now it's a wall in the kitchen with a window to see from one room to the other.This is a picture of the kitchen taken from the living room. You can see our new beam and posts and the new sheetrock on the far side. Also there used to be a door to the right of the windows in the center of the picture. We walled up the door to the backyard and opened up the wall to the living room. The overall effect is that it feels lots more spacious and it really is going to give the kitchen a great flow instead of being sort of an intersection or thoroughfare as it was. We eliminated to entry points to the kitchen in favor of having more continuous countertop, a feature that was lacking in the original design. Joe has done a marvelous job getting things built right and Allouette has been the mastermind behind making sure it looks good.This is the view from the kitchen window. I suppose it's hard to see the pretty tree in the foreground, but it has little red berries on it. The other day while we were working, we all had the pleasure of seeing an opposum in the top of the tree helping himself to some of those berries. I think it's one of the few times I have seen one in a live and rounded state. Most of the time I have seen them as flat roadkill.

I bet I can't have a post without a pic of the pink room. Megan Adams painted some butterflies on the walls for Rachel and I'm thrilled with the results. It will go very well with Rachel's bedding and it's nice to have a could of little fun details done to keep the project inspiring and fun.

Here's a never before seen room. This is Jonathon's room. We moved walls in this room to extend the bathroom and then took some of the hall for the bedroom to compensate for what the bathroom took away. Neither wall is in this picture, but you can get an idea of the colors. The walls are colored "Raw Hide" and the ceiling is blue like the other room. I saw an idea for a room this color in a Pottery Barn catalog that I really liked and most importantly, the boys like it. I'm planning to have a navy and white bedding and they have light wood furniture, so it should look very boyish when it's done.

This next picture is a preview of the hall bathroom. We extended the east wall (right side) out into the boy's room by 1 foot and extended the south wall (with the door) 2 feet. That gave us 16 square feet more space in this bathroom for 5 kids and we also were able to make the doorway wider, from 21 inches wide to 30 inches wide. The countertop for the sinks went from a 4 ft. counter with two sinks to a 6 foot counter with sinks and from 18 inches deep to about 23 inches deep. Joe has crafted the cabinets and so the drawers are big, the cabinet spacious and then a specially designed laundry chute under one sink that drops to the launry area below. Allouette just put the grout in around the tile yesterday and the toilet and sink should go in this week. The tub is already in and functional.

This is the master bathroom and another example of Allouette's excellent tile work. She's done the wall tile and the floor tile in here as well, though the grout isn't in yet. It is beautiful! We are closing in on this bathroom as well. We took out a closet behind the bathtub to make this bathroom a lot bigger also. We also raised the shower head from 62 inches to 80 inches. Brandon really appreciates that and the floor which has been soft and rotten in places for several years has been completely replaced. Here's a another pic of the master bedroom. The doorway on the left is the new doorway into the room. It used to be where the second door is now. That area was just hallway that we made into a small walk-in closet. This was especially helpful since we took the closet away for the bathroom enlargement. The third doorway is the bathroom door and is several inches wider, which once again is a great improvement to the 23 inch opening that was there. So overall things are more open, spacious feeling and comfortable. I am so thankful for God's provision to make these changes and for the opportunity to fix the broken and moldy areas.

Finally, a new fun recipe that I made recently thanks to some beef from the Reed's cows: Beef Tenderloin and vegetables on Monterey Jack Cheese Polenta with Arbol Chili Sauce. It was so delicious! Cheese polenta- alot like leftover cornmeal cereal fried, only made with chicken stock and parmesan cheese and then with melted jack cheese on top. The vegetables are yellow squash, zucchini, and red peppers cut into strips and sauted. The chili sauce was super complicated, but was absolutely delicious and I won't bother telling you all how involved it was unless someone is really interested, but I will say it involved making a special broth from scratch to use in a special sauce that is also made from scratch that is then one of many ingredients in the chili sauce. A spicy, deep flavor that went well with the mild flavor of the veggies and polenta. It was yum. And of course, you can't forget moist, marinated, grilled, beef tenderloin medallions! Hope I've managed to make your mouth water.

Ok that's all for the day. Oh and of course, the title...We'll be moving, ready or not, on Tuesday. So you can be praying for us and the children, who, I think have been catching the brunt of this stressful living lately and will be glad when things settle back into a managable routine again.

Oh the Irony of it All

2008-02-29T22:24:00.002-05:00

So here I am, Friday evening, the Sabbath. I've worked hard all week. In fact, for the last couple of weeks, I've been busier than I had ever imagined I was capable of. I know my children feel it and I feel it, but we must perservere to the end, or at least the middle. Anyway, the point is, that things have been busy. I've been making meals, tending children, trying my best to keep a clean house, school has pretty much flown out the window with hopes of appearing again later in the year, and then there is the house. That's where I've been in every inbetween time I can come up with and some not so inbetween. I have no idea how many hours I've put in up there, but it would definately be equivalent to a part time, maybe almost a full time job on top of the stay at home mom thing. I'm not complaining here, this is where we are and though it's stressful, it's what has to happen. All I'm trying to point out is that this morning when I woke up, my head didn't want to. I spent about the first 5 hours of the day trying to make my eyes feel like I was actually awake. They had that feeling like I hadn't slept for 48 hours, or the feeling you get after you've just sobbed your heart out and fallen asleep and then you wake up to swollen, puffy eyes. Well, I had slept and I did not cry all night. In fact, I don't remember crying at all, but I did spend the morning with puffy eyes and yawning every 30 seconds or so. Somewhere in there I had some coffee, but it was well before 10am and that helped. I spent a while trying to get ready for a clean all day before Sabbath day, but couldn't get thoughts of paint colors out of my head. So, up to the house I trudged to ask Allouette, my on-sight decorator consultant for help figuring out where to stop one color and start another. (I had no idea all the little decisions I needed to make, but that's another story.) I did that, then made lunch, and after lunch discovered that Joseph was sick. Some fever of some sort. I'm not sure what has been going on with him lately, but he seems to have gotten sick several times lately when no one else in the family does. Not sure what to think. Anyway, that shot my plans of vigorous activity for the afternoon and I spent most of the time doing research online for things like ceiling fans, bar stools, and countertop end cap kits and holding Joseph. My neck has also been out of line today. I'm not sure what I did to it, but it hurts. Anyway, all this gripe is to say that by the end of the day I was beat. Just plum tuckered out. Brandon and I were in bed at 8:30 with the lights out by 9pm and now here it is, 10:38, and I am not just unable to sleep, but wide awake. I couldn't sleep, can't sleep, and thus you get a post. So, since I've done all my complaining that I am entitled to for about a month, I'll bore you with house details and updates. My apologies for no pictures, but perhaps tomorrow while Brandon is plowing mounds of snow I can add some.

So, let's see, what has been done...
Rachel's room- the pink one, now has some whimsical butterflies on the walls. Megan had some work time and added her artistic touch to the room and wala, it's transformed! I'm really excited about this as her bedding and curtains and such will tie into this theme perfectly. You know it's the parts of the project like this that really keep me going. I don't have to get this detailed on much, but just one or two things here and there really keep me inspired!
The purple room- that's the master bedroom, has paint on all the walls and trim. There are some very minor areas of touch up, straighten some lines and fix a couple of drips, but other than that it's done. Oh, and something is funky about the ceiling fan and the way it is suppose to hang, but doesn't go flush up to the ceiling. By the way, while we are on the subject of ceiling fans, I must just say- watch out for light fixtures these days! The green people get you so bad that you can't put a light bulb in there bright enough to see by anymore! The vent fan for the bathroom is suppose to take a 13W bulb! Ok, that's a good...uh...NIGHTLIGHT!!! Anyway, the purple room looks great. Allouette finished the painting in there around the wall areas that we closed in and some stuff we had to remove for ease of putting things together. The new master mini walk-in closet is all enclosed, mudded, and caulked and ready for paint and then we might put in some rods for clothes! I will add here that Tim has done a masterful job at figuring out all sorts of electrical issues. I would have been at a complete loss as to what to do about that stuff, but he has conquered the upstairs completely and is now tackling the main area.
The master bathroom has the tub set in, the walls back on, the subfloor down, primer on the walls, and the ceiling painted. Next for there is vanity, tile, and toilet. The drain lines need to be completed for that as well, but Dan Reed has been doing that and can get at them from the garage below.
The hall bathroom has the tub, all the paint- it's gorgeous, and the light fixtures. Everything is ready in there for the vanity and the tile and toilet. Allouette knocked that out last weekend and I was so thrilled when I went in on Monday and saw it, I burst into tears!
Jonathon's and James' room has walls and ceiling with primer on it and is soon to be blue ceiling with "Raw Hide Laces" walls, that's sort of a orangy rust color. They are really excited about it- especially Jonathon. One of the "little" things that happened this week was that the doors and frames got on. We were able to salvage a lot of parts from the old ones and mismatch them together to get whole frames. Some did have to be purchase because the old ones were either too banged up, or became that way when we took them off, but it's all back together now and we can close people in if we want. (Maybe even ourselves...)
The hallway is mudded and almost ready for primer I think- another one of Allouette's areas of beautification. She has sanded, and skimmed, and patched and sanded on those walls to get them flat and nice looking. I think she is not far away from having it ready and it looks great even without paint! Nice, smooth, straight lines. She has really done miracles to a wall that had a couple of layers of wallpaper before.
Oh, we also have baseboards in all the rooms! Whooohooo! You have no idea how happy it is to see those. I wasn't sure if we would even do them before we moved in, but Allouette convinced me and I've discovered that nothing else really makes the room feel done like having all the trim there.
Joe and Brandon installed a pull-down stair for the attic space. That was wonderful! I was wondering how I was going to easily use the attic when I had to get an 8 foot ladder every time I need to get up there, but now, I can just pull the string and bam! stair appear for me to meander through my stuff. Later I hope it will not be as big of an issue, but when we first move in, I think we will be storing a lot of stuff so we can keep the work zones free of too much clutter.
I think Joe is planning to do some serioius cabinet work this week for the bathrooms and the kitchen and we are hoping to squeek into the house just before the feast. It still remains to be seen if it will be possible, but I've been boxing up this house with that in mind, and I may just move anyway and cook on a hot plate if needed. It will certainly simplify meals!
Now, moving to lower level of the house (I'll save the best for last) we have torn out a wall in the back room to get at the plumbing so as to move the laundry into the room rather than have it in the hallway. The old sticky tile has been taken up in favor of new sticky tile. The old stuff, half was stuck firm and half had completely lost its adhesiveness. Much was broken and cracked, so it was ready to go. The hall to that area had a partial wall removed, some old wainscoating taken off and the floor taken up. It's was all concrete under the vinyl sheet floor, so we are slaving to get the adhesive up so the next stuff will sit flat and stick well. There apparently had been some sort of leak at some point that wicked up the sheet rock and it was pretty gross back there, but no longer. Also, we have good reason to believe that there is or was a mouse that lives there that is addicted to nicotene as we found mouse droppings, nut shells, and a cigarette butt all stowed away between the studs and insulation in the wall. That made for some amusing speculations regarding rodents and their habits, but I won't take time for that here. That area still has some more ripping out to go and pipe work and electrical work needed before we can make it into a real live laundry. There is a good chance I will be washing clothes elsewhere for a while after we move in, but hopefully not too long.
The school room got a new wall where the stairs to the kitchen used to be and that's about it so far. We are planning to put a light in the center of the ceiling and perhaps over the area that will have a desk of some sort, but that is on the back burners for now.
Brandon's office is going to have the carpet pulled up, but we haven't decided what to do with the floor under it yet. And hopefully we can get some better lighting for that as well.
Now for the kitchen...well, it doesn't look like a kitchen yet, but there are wonderful things about it. First of all, the wall that is in the school room is also in the kitchen, just the other side (pretty tricky huh?). Most of that was thanks to my father-in-law, Andy, for coming over a weekend and helping out. There's a window in it to look through and tell the child with the rubber cement not to paste his brother to the door quite so liberally. Anyway, it's there and I'm really glad we did that already. I've gotten used to not using those stairs and it really doesn't seem like too much extra effort to go around, plus it gives the kitchen space a LOT more continuity that it lacked before. Joe also took out the back door and filled it in with insulation. We'll probably brick it up later when it's not a blizzard outside, but for now it's sealed from the inside well and from there, you'd never know it had been a door. The sub floor has been replaced and Tim has installed some can lights. The best parts are the wall from the kitchen to the living room is GONE and the beam that goes across the top and the posts are installed. It's beautiful! It's so open and airy and it feels so spacious! I can't wait til I can use it to have all of you over! The other marvelous thing is the heat pipes. Before, we had those baseboard heaters all the way around the dining area and the kitchen, but no more! Joe and Brandon put radiant heat underneath and now it just magically stays warm! The pipes run back and forth between the joists and once we get some styrofoam, it will send most of the heat up through the floor. It already feels different than it did. Every room is starting to look so nice it's hard to decide what my favorite is!

Ok, I do have to tell one funny story about the heat pipes- especially if you've listened to me ramble on this long. I wasn't there, but this is how I heard it. Joe and Brandon worked on those pipes yesterday afternoon and into the evening. When they completed them and turned the water on, they discovered a leak- in, of course, one very difficult spot to get to and fix. But they did have to turn off the water and drain it all back out to fix it. So, to save time Joe encouraged Brandon to hook up the air compressor to the bleeder valve upstairs and blow the water out. So he did and it worked like a charm. When it was all out and he took it off, though...he didn't know that he should do it slowly. See, the pipes were under pressure and when he just popped that thing off, all the water that was in the pipe the other way just shot up into the dining room like a geyser, hitting the ceiling and wall with hot dirty water. Joe said that Brandon just stood there and stared at his creation in sort of a dumbfoundedamazed state of "I can't believe this is happening, what do I do now?" kind of look. I did see the remnants of the fountain all over the wall and that was proof enough that it must have been a great sight to see!

Uh...in the children world, superlatives go to:
Most Likely to never be a successful barber: Jonathon (failed at two attempts- his and James ugh!)
Most Likely to write a children's book: James (who had a dream about a little girl who stole a train track piece and got eaten by a monster that he (James) was riding on and then she stole some donuts too)
Most Likely to get dressed incorrectly: Jeff- who has put his pants on backwards almost every day, his shirt on backwards several days and once had his pants on inside out and backwards
Most Likely to be found doing something involving clothes: Rachel- her clothes, her shoes, her dolls clothes, her little Cinderella's clothes, any clothes that can be swapped. She also figured out on the one day I tried some potty training that if she wet her underwear she got to wear all the different ones in the bag in one day! I don't really think she did it all on purpose though because she was sad when she "got Cinderella and Snow White wet".
Most Likely to be found with something in his mouth: Joseph! Oh, those people- whoever they are write books about kids that have to go to the hospital because they have a marble in their nose or throat or something. Well, one of these days he's going to be it. Do you know that he can get at least 7 Cocoa Peanut Butter sugar bomb cereal ball thingies in his mouth at once? and still smile at me!

Should be famous quotes:
"Today, I'm taking my backpack and just going some place else!" -Jonathon, on running away from home (my childhood haunts me) He was carrying only 5 story books as his possessions
"Can we please, will it be ok, may we...and don't interrupt me, can we please have just a little water fight outside today?" - Jonathon ( it was currently 3 degrees outside!...the answer was no)
"I win!"- Jeff, while playing air hockey against Vanlora at a restaurant and intentionally shooting the puck into his own goal over and over again.
"NO!" - Joseph, on being told to sit down in his seat at the table. (He doesn't say it quite on purpose yet, but it's close I think)
"I'll just take a sword and shoot it with my bow that goes with arrows and if I shoot her with a bomb canon, she will say, 'please get this off my face' and she'll take the bomb off her face...." -James, more on the girl stealing the train track story
"Poor Cinderelly, she never get her dress done." -Rachel, on being obsessed with Cinderella and her friends, the mice.

Ok, enough for tonight. Perhaps I will try sleeping again.

Happy Birthday to Joseph!

2008-02-19T11:33:00.002-05:00

...with cake.

His first birthday was on Friday. It seems to have flown by. But here he is in all his glory and his "car" cake as requested by his older brothers.

House Update

2008-02-12T18:51:00.001-05:00

Just thought some of you would love to see an update on our massive project. We have been puttering in the house and the more we putter, the more we actually tear down. Don't worry, it's all good. We just have to get to a good place to start. But I"ll add some pictures here so you have a visual of what's been going on. We've been focusing on the bedrooms and the two upstairs bathrooms and they are coming along well. The Andersons are here and it is exciting to see more done every time I go up there.

The above room is Jeff and Joseph's. It's pretty much done with the exception of a few touch up spots of paint and some baseboards. It's a great BOY room. We have repainted all the walls (green), ceiling (blue) and trim (almost white), replaced the light fixture with a new fan, and we have new oak floor. So, this one is pretty much checked off the list except for the little stuff for someone with a lot of patience. Maybe I'll pretend for that role sometime soon.

Next we have Rachel's room. It's PINK. She knows it and LOVES it! This room is at about the same place. Mostly done except for some picky paint spots. New paint, fan, and floor. The chair rail is also new, but I love how it really adds some fun to the room to be able to put both colors on the wall. For those of you who may doubt your eyes, the ceiling is actually pink also. It gives a really smooth flow to the paint from wall to ceiling and avoids the stripe look that white would give it. This is a very happy room and I never walk in here without smiling a little. Rachel already talks about "her" room and looks forward to being in it.This is a room in progress. We have put the initial round of color on the walls. A dark purple accent wall and a lighter lavender on the other walls. This is the master bedroom. Since I took this picture, the flooring has been completely finished, the doors moved (not pictured) and a closet added (using up some vacant hall space). There is still a tub in the middle of the floor as we are working on the plumbing in the floor in the master bath. Hopefully we can show some pictures of the bathroom soon.

This is our new bathtub in the hall bath. We are thrilled. Of course none of you can see all the pipe work that went on before this went in- it looks so simple in a picture. One of the highlights is that the shower head was raised from 72 inches to 80. So for all you tall people that come to visit, no hitting your head on the shower head now! And, you must come and visit- but wait a few months if you don't mind. Since this picture was taken we have all the sheet rock back on in the bathroom and a new bathroom fan. There are outlets, and light boxes in the walls at the right places for the vanity and there are pipes sticking out for the sinks to go in. Some of this may seem minor to some of you, but for us all those little details are really great to see happen. I think one of the reasons is that most of these things are things that Brandon and I are not familiar with, so others have pitched in and helped with. Then we come back and just like magic it appears.

Other things you can't see that are going on:

We got our new appliances- a stove, washer, and dryer!

A lot of demolition has gone on in the kitchen area. Walls are removed and railings as well as flooring. We have vanities and sinks, light fixture and tile for the bathrooms just waiting to go in. We've been sanding baseboards and will be priming them soon for going in the bedrooms. And there is a little of the flooring started in the last bedroom upstairs. I'm looking for some sticky tile for the laundry floor that matches a FREE counter top that one awesome friend picked up for us. The garage, basement, and workshop areas have been cleaned out, swept, and are ready for someone elses stuff to be stored in.

One of the fun things about going up there to work right now is coming home. When I remember, it's marvelous fun to take a sled with me and then when I get ready to walk back home, I can sled almost the whole way. A bit of a chance to be a kid at a time of my life when many things are entirely too serious!

So, hope you've enjoyed the update and we'll keep plugging away and try to give you another one soon.

When the going gets tough...

2008-01-30T21:46:00.000-05:00

So...my Grandmama has a saying posted on her fridge (or used to) that says, "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping." I suppose that fits me most of the time though today, the tough going shopping was out of necessity rather than desparation to get away from home- though I'd have gone for that too. Last Thursday Jonathon and Jeff had a fever. Not really anything to be too concerned about, just a fever and no other real symptoms. I thought I could handle that. But it didn't GO AWAY! It just stayed and added a runny nose and irritability and a sore throat and aches and pains and a headache and coughing to it until finally it was some sort of full blown cold/ flu thingy. Of course they had to share. So Saturday I actually had all five children sick. Monday Brandon decided he felt left out. Now they are all sick and cranky and snotty and picky about food and they smell sick. (Did you ever have the sick smell?) Maybe that last one is just a weird thing that only I deal with. If so, just disregard that last statement and you can go on blissfully thinking I'm half sane and thus not completely gone...yet.

Ok, so I'm really glad the government hasn't banned a limit on things like Tylenol, Motrin, and Triaminic cause I think I've ended up purchasing about 6 bottles this week. With 5 kids on various combinations of the syrupy stuff around the clock for a week straight, I start wondering why they don't package that stuff in gallon containers instead. I mean, if I go through it as fast as milk, why can I buy the bulk version of Children's Tylenol, grape flavor.

I don't mean to seem too discouraged here. I do thank God EVERY morning when I get up. "Thank you that I'm not sick too!" Jonathon asked me yesterday, "what if we were all sick?" and I told him that was a nightmare I'd rather not ponder. Well, I didn't say it that way, but that was the general idea.

I think after taking care of them for 7 days straight I am starting to twitch everytime someone coughs. And tonight when one of them complained about having box mac and cheese for dinner (keep in mind that menus in our house for the last several days have contained dishes such as maple pecan salmon, roasted chicken with a fond de veau lie sauce, alfredo penne with fresh tomato and basil, Thai Chicken salad with peanut dressing, Grandma's corn casserole, biscuit and gravy for dessert, and a few pb&js) I actually think my head exploded and flew off my head in a million different pieces, each one finding it's own way to a crater on the moon, and I fell down dead, and twitched. Well, seriously, I lost it. It's not fun to find yourself in the position of treating your kids in a disrespectful way that you know you have to apologize for later, but I did. Both the treat unkindly and apologize parts. I think in the end all was well. That particular child and I had a full recovery from the incident, hugs and kisses all around and hopefully I can better keep my cool and he can better keep his mouth shut the next time. :-)

The other thing about sickness is that it makes people make disgusting noises. I've never been so grossed out at someone slurping snot, snorting coughing, hacking, gargling, sneezing, and what do you even call that noise where someone is breathing out and at the same time making some monstrous noise down in the way back of their throat bottom and then up comes that green stuff. I thought that was something like "hocking a lugi" but my vision of that activity is much more pleasant than the one I'm describing here. Anyway, it's gross and when you get it in surround sound and see the remnant of said activities hanging on the remnants of their faces and then you see them attempt to notice it's there by smearing it across both cheeks, up across one eye (which instantly bonds the eyelashes together better than any super glue) and into the hair and part of the ear, it gives me the super duper squirmy heebie jeebies. Let me go vomit...oh, wait, I'm not sick. AND I DON"T WANT TO BE! So children are gross, and must be held- always and must watch movies- always, and must never eat the food in front of them but be hungry every other second of the day- always. You know, James actually has consitently begged me for food and then holds it for a good hour before I threaten to take it away unless he eats it- twice, and then he takes a nibble. Arg!

Rachel is extra sick because she not only has all the body fluid issues, she also walks around with this plastered grin on her face saying (in a hoarse raspy voice, coughing), "I have a good attitude, Mama. I being good." *smile* She says it so much I can't always be happy that she is actually being good. It's particularly disgusting when she does it in the face of Jeff throwing himself down and wailing in the kitchen floor because I won't let him pour water out of the cup repeatedly or roll the toilet paper directly from the roll into the toilet!- all of it.

So, that's life right now. I think we have passed the climax of this issue, but I'll be glad when we can close the case completely, seal the box and put it on a high shelf in some nether region of the cellar to await some poor soul given the job of spring cleaning years from now when we don't live in this house any more.....

hmmm.....bedtime is calling.

The Little Princess

2008-01-16T18:25:00.000-05:00

Rachel wins the day for cuteness. She has pulled out some great lines and funny actions. Not the least of which was this picture I caught of her eating snow. She wanted so badly to eat the snow, but alas, it makes her hands cold. So she came up with this bright idea.

Another cute thing she did today was this conversation

(Mom in the kitchen cooking. Rachel climbs up to the stove and turns towards Mama.)

Rachel : (bending low) Your maaaaaaajeeeeestyyyyyy!

mama: (laughs) You're priceless!

Rachel: (in an offended tone) I"m not Priceless. I'm Rachel.

Ahhh...yes, but she is priceless anyway.

She knows what modest means and regularly checks to see if her skirt is down. She loves to play house with her little playmobile people and her doll house. She is very particular about having all things pink. She loves to read aloud to herself even though she doesn't know how to read the real words. Quite the girly-girl, she more than makes up for her brothers boyishness.

Thoughts on today

2008-01-09T23:06:00.001-05:00

Ok, so some things I was reminded of today...

Communication is key. When you miscommunicate, communication is still the key.
Perceptions make reality and thus an accurate perception is necessary for accurate reality.
Life is hard, but God is able to grant grace to meet it and succeed.
There is time to do everything you need to get done (according to God's plan) and if it seems like something needs to happen and you can't do it, He can make a way.
Chest freezers are a pain to clean out.
I don't mind dogs in small doses. One of the guys I met with today about our house project had one and she was cute.
I can accomplish a lot when I a) Go to bed on time, b) eat right, c)exercise, d)have my devotions.
I love having a daughter. She came into the living room and said, "*Sigh* We need to clean this up." She began right away, only pausing long enough for Cinderella (her little doll) to get her work dress on.

Ok now for the go to bed part (not necessarily on time).

Oh Yeah...Happy New Year...

2008-01-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this year rolled around almost without notice for me. I actually have not acknowleged it except to change my habitual '07 date to '08 what I need to write the date. It's just that it has been a bit busy around here.

Right now I have about 62 irons in the fire and all of them need immediate attention. The children are doing well, but energetic, in need of schooling and proper discipline and supervision. Then there is the idea that I'm suppose to be "keeping house". You know, general cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc. I've also been trying to keep up with a regular exercise plan (which I'm doing ok on) and a diet (which went flying out the window when Jane donated a full grocery bag of dark chocolate to my cupboard). Actually, while I HATE the exercise, it makes me feel great the rest of the day, so if I can drag myself out of bed and do it, it works wonders. Then there is the house. We are suppose to move in about 4 weeks from now, but right now the water is turned off, I have no electricity in 2/3rds of the upstairs, the walls are missing from my son's bedroom, I have no tubs, toilets or sinks on the upper level, 2 rooms are missing parts of the floor, and I can't find the living room because it is buried under debris to go to the dumpster. Things are going along ok and I know it has to look worse before it can get better, but I REALLY hope we are almost done with the worst looking stage and things can improve from here. Some things are improving. Jeff and Joseph's room is almost finished. It needs one more coat of paint on the walls, a touch up spot on the ceiling, the fan installed and the blinds put back on and it's good to go. The floors (new oak hardwood flooring) are beautiful and the paint is looking good. His room is a green color. Rachel's room is getting there. Everything in there needs another coat of paint, and some will probably need two coats. We had to remud some areas in her room where the paint actually didn't even stick to the wall! But the floors in her room are also done. Oh, I guess both rooms need baseboards, but that seems simple. So it's moving in the right direction. I spend every spare minute up there and then some. My not spare minutes are usually used to double up on tasks like making lunch, washing dishes, and trying to organize some sort of schooling for the boys all at the same time. And hold Joseph.

(I know this isn't a great picture of the "green room" but you'll just have to take what you can get!)

Ok, so that's what's going on. Busy! If anyone gets bored and wants something to do, we will put you to work! But if that means that by working you wouldn't want to come visit us ever again because we "wore you slap out", then you are welcome to stay away and come when we can entertain instead.

Now it's bedtime. Goodnight.

2007 Dessert Banquet II

2007-12-23T22:24:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm just having blog issues, so you're going to get everything backwards and in sections. ARG! Anyway, read the other ones for today first if you want this to be in order.

So the next thing is Sesame Crusted Chicken Salad Sandwiches. These ended up being a big hit and were all gone less 2 at the end of the banquet. These are basically a chicken salad containing chicken (obviously), chopped red grapes, pecans, and some seasoning. I used some mayo to hold them together and then sprinkled sesame seeds on the outside for appearance. The regular recipe calls for more sesame seeds, but in order to get them to stick you have to slather the sandwich sides in butter and I did not want to do that.

Numero six is Baklava. This is a distinctly Middle Eastern dessert and I did enjoy some in Israel during my stay there several years ago. It is a combination of crisy buttery phyllo dough, macadamias, pecans, coconut, sugar and honey. It's crispy, sweet, nutty, and yum all in one. I have made these before and they never last. I think they are one of Brandon's favorites.

My last dish is Meringue Mushrooms. These were fun to make because they were super easy, they came out super cute, and they were super melt in your mouth yummy. They didn't go to hot at first because some people thought they were real mushrooms. Others thought they were mushrooms covered in something sweet, but those who indulged got a cotton candy feel of meringue with a hint of dark chocolate in the center. Nothing more, just a meringue cap and a little "hershey kiss" looking bottom attached with some melted chocolate. Lots of fun.

And last, but not least, here is a picture of the table and it's fare. We had more desserts this year than ever before, though until the last two days, there was a question as to whether we had enough. We also had less people due to a threat of a snow storm so there were plenty of leftovers. It went well though and I look forward to the fun next year as well.

Merry Christmas!

2007 Dessert Banquet Offerings

2007-12-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

As requested, here are pictures of the things I made for the dessert banquet. They aren't the best pics because I forgot to take pictures until they were almost ready to serve, so forgive me.

First, we have Peppermint Bark. This is the traditional white candy with crushed peppermint in it, only I used white chocolate, and finely crushed candy canes (and not as much as called for) and instead of placing it in a pan and breaking it up it went into candy molds- shapes of hearts, stars, roses, and little wheels. They were easy, cute, and yummy.

Next we have what our family has for years called, "Aunt Bertha's Apricot Nectar Cake". I use the phrase "what we call", because once I got the recipe from Aunt Bertha's cards and discovered that it originated with a friend of hers, but Aunt Bertha (who is 104 years old and still kicking) is the one that made this cake famous. It's similar to a pound cake in texture, but much more moist, has a bit of tart flavor thanks to a combo of lemon flavor and apricot nectar and is incredibly easy as it begins with a box cake mix. AAAAAAAAAH! Scandal! You say....well, don't knock it till you try it!Third is Ye Olde Bloated Cheeseball. I did a little different recipe this year and wasn't as pleased with it. It had less cream cheese than I remembered and the seasonings, while good weren't quite right. So, I'll definately be taking this one back to the kitchen for some more work. I definately prefer the extra sharp cheddar flavor of this one, but I think it will take some tweaking to get it just right in taste as well as in texture. It was a little crumbly and I prefer a smooth spread.

Fourth is Jerk Chicken Sandwiches with Mango Chutney. I think these were my favorite thing to make because of the combo of yummy flavors, nostalgia from days in Puerto Rico, and cuteness. Jerk chicken is a Jamacan dish and features chicken with a "jerk" sauce, which is by definition and sauce rubbed on the meat before grilling. It is pasty in texture and the flavor is a variety of cinnamon and nutmeg mixed with onion, jalapenos, garlic, and cilantro. Delicious! The mango chutney is also spicy and is a cooked mango sauce also containing red bell peppers, jalapenos, and some herbs and spices. I was a little disappointed with the selection of mangos, but it didn't seem to ruin the sauce even though I felt the mangos themselves were pretty much a disaster. Sometime I will enjoy making it with some properly ripe, not overipe, sweet as candy mangos and I'm sure then I will see how my earlier attempt pales in comparison.

Now for the nostalgia part. The chicken and chutney goes inbetweeen two tostones, which for the ignorant out there are fried plantains, which are similar looking to bananas, but are more starchy in taste. They are always eaten cooked and when fried in circles and smashed and fried again, taste like french fries (only better) and you would feel quite at home to dip them in ketchup if you adorn your fries in such a manner. Ok, so tostones and then they are tied with a blanched chive to hold it all together. A sensational package and best eaten right out of the pan. Someday, I will do this meal for my family on a non hors d' ouerve scale and I will relish this heaven on earth again.

Long Overdue Update in Pictures

2007-12-23T21:14:00.000-05:00

This is our costumes at the Harvest Party at the end of October. Brandon and I are a couple that live on the prarie and the children came as, well...themselves- a bunch of wild indians. Joseph had a little head dress to wear also, but he ended up in bed for the entire thing and thus was not present for the picture taking session. They had a great time with their rock and stick tomahawk and their drum. They played with the headdresses for several days afterwards. Many thanks to my mother for her unending costume collection.

Next we have Joseph at nine months (mid November) and he is now in fact ten months. He is crawling, standing up, drooling like mad and being a generally happy baby. His one fault is that he thinks he is the center of the universe and until I manage to let him know that is my spot, we will be having a few unpleasant times. He's a cute cuddly little boy and sort of feels like holding a little ball or rolly polly, though he is not fat. I love him very much! He's a lot of fun.

Here we have the monthly toilet episode. What you cannot see in that rubbermaid container is actually the entire toilet bowl from the down stairs bathroom. You see, we have had issues with it for quite some time. Actually, it wasn't the toilet's fault as much as it was the 3 yr old's fault. The seat was clogged in before the feast in September and so after begging on my knees someone replaced it, desite their busy schedule. We had been unable to keep it unclogged. So we had the feast and the new one worked beautifully during that time and the few days after. Then we went on vacation and from the time we returned from vacation, the toilet refused to flush properly. Since I have been taught by my father that I can fix anything if I want to bad enough, I decided that after plunging it and getting others to plunge it and seeing that unsuccessful and others VERY busy, I would attempt to fix the problem myself. I pulled the toilet up and worked on it for quite some time. I got a toy purse out of the toilet and then assuming that was the problem, put the thing back together again. I was quite proud of myself, but when I flushed it, I immediately felt more in the failure category as it managed to remain clogged. SO, I PULLED IT UP AGAIN!!!!! And after hours of working on it, discovered that their was a clog in the drain pipe AND something else still in the toilet. I unclogged the pipe fairly easily, but the THING in the toilet wouldn't budge. I tried everything. A "snake", a piece of hose, a coat hanger, Brandon and I even tried to bribe the kids, "If you can reach your hand in that pipe as far as it can go and pull out a toy, you can have a prize. " Alas, all children participated in the bribe and none came up successful. The closest we came was James who said he felt something like a block in their but he couldn't get it out. At this point I was ready to use a sledge hammer. Brandon saved the toilet's short life and tried another tactic. He took it up to the tub, put the toilet bowl in a rubbermaid container and filled it full of soapy hot water. After letting it soak for a while, he went up and plunged on it in the bucket. When that didn't work he resorted to plunging the toilet up and down in the water, thus, in a way, plunging the toilet backwards and up floated a little toy- the playmobile treasure chest, complete with lid. After a thorough scrubbing and a nice LONG soak in hot soapy water and and nice LONG soak in lemon juice, we returned the treasure chest to the pile of toys (so we know where our toys have been and now you do too) Wanna come play? Bwa hahahahaha!

This is the celebration of the holiday, "Pile on Mama Day". Actually we celebrate this numerous times in the year, but there are only one or two days that I find the energy to enjoy it. And as with many other things in life: why do we do this? Answer: It feels good when I stop.

And finally for this post, we have Joseph at 10 Months. Complete with food on his face.

The Bug that won't Go Away

2007-12-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to say that I am not dead....yet. The family has been sick now for almost 2 and a half weeks. Brandon started it...for the record. He came down with some sort of nasty flu and cough and such that kept him virtually in bed for a week. We drug him to Thanksgiving at his parents and there he began to recover after getting an antibiotic for a sinus infection. Jonathon is on his second round of antibiotics for two ear infections that were so bad they didn't get any better with the first round and in fact he couldn't hear hardly at all. I was practically yelling at him to hear me at all, James also had ear infections, but one round of antibiotics took care of him and he has been doing well every since. Jeff got an ear infection and it's too bad because he only has one to hear from anyway and it is not working right now. Rachel took a visit to the ER for and ear infection (I couldn't get a dr. apt.) and thus joined the crew of those on ammoxicillin. The latest was Joseph and he got his drugs today. I got sick on Tuesday, felt better Wed. and Thurs., felt miserable Friday, had a fever and felt yucky on Saturday. better on sunday and better today, though my throat feels like is was scraped with a serated knife. So, we are continuing on and I think we are over the hump, but we still have a ways to go.

And on that note, I must retire from this excitement to match socks.

A Great Duo

2007-11-08T21:25:00.000-05:00

Just a picture for your pleasure.

Here are Jeff and Joseph and their favorite fingers.

Back in the Saddle Again

2007-11-01T19:28:00.000-05:00

We are in fact home from our long relaxing trip to the South. We did have a grand time and after reflecting on it a bit, I have come to the conclusion that, in spite of all the fun we had on the way down with sick children and then ourselves being sick, I think this was one of the best vacations ever! We really did have a good time, a good balance of activity and rest, good visiting with friends and good alone time as a family, and great food and beds! Therefore, I deem thee: A SMASHING SUCCESS!

Now back to the real world we have gone and we promptly were on duty three days after we came back. It hasn't really been that bad. Probably the worst "get back into the groove thing" was pulling together a Sunday school lesson in about 36 hours, but it went well and the kids had a good time and I think they learned something. We talked about the Ten Commandments.

Ok, so duty week, the week that I look forward to and don't all at the same time. I enjoy interacting with the students and eating meals with them and planning a meeting for Thursday and stuff like that. I even enjoy the times I work with them in the afternoon, but I am amazed at how much emotional energy it takes me just to keep track of things and I haven't quite learned how to be "ok" with not doing everything "right" because there isn't enough time to do it right and pay attention to my family as I should. Like one day I wasted 1/2 an hour of 4 people's time because I didn't have the women's work planned out ahead of time. I HATE THAT! And yet I realize that if I had spent the time planning it, it would have taken time away from Jonathon's school time- that is required afterall, so somebody looses either way! I don't mean to complain, I'm not having a bad time with it, I'm just in a learning curve and I'm not quite on the home stretch of it yet.

Brandon did help at the beginning of the week with a couple of things- like he watched the kids so I could spent most of Sunday afternoon unpacked the entire world- which just happened to all fit in our bags in the back of our 12 passenger van. And then he gave me a pep talk on priorities. He listed about 4-5 that I had and said I could only concentrate on 2 per week for the rest of the year. Since homeschool was one of them and another was duty week, that took care of what I was suppose to think about this week. I confess, my brain still wanders to packing and house ideas occasionally, but I'm trying really hard not to let it get in the way.

So far school this week has gone pretty well. In fact, if we could have this good of a school week every week, I'd feel like I was a half way adequate teacher. Of course then I probably would give the credit to God as often, so quick- Praise the Lord for a great week of school! We've hit reading and math every day, some science and history and literature some days and most days we've gotten a good long Bible devotions in. So, things are going well. Well, we did do one experiment that flopped in science. The lesson was on elements and how when you put two things together they can create something new. Our examples were: oxygen and hydrogen= water (we just talked about this one), the old baking soda and vinegar thing, and leven and gluten= rising bread. I did some pastry dough with the kids and put baking powder in Jonathon's and none in James' and then baked them. Then I really played it up about how Jonathon's was going to be bigger just because of that one ingredient. WELL, they were the same size- in fact I think James' was actually a bit bigger. I think I just put too much crisco in and so the dough was too heavy to rise. Oh well.

The other exciting event of note is that Jonathon lost his first tooth today. He has been wiggling it for weeks and today it was pretty loose. So he came to me and asked if I could just get it out. Ah...note....this is NOT MY OFFSPRING! I never would have let my parents pull my tooth! I checked and recheck to be sure this was what he wanted and the short story is that a few minutes and a piece of dental floss later, it popped right out and "didn't hurt at all". So now he has it under his pillow and even though he knows its just a pretend game, the toothfairy has a job to do this evening. He does sleep in a loft bed and he did put it under the far side of his pillow, so I may have some interesting acrobatics to do when the time comes.

Ok, last tidbit...favorite school activities right now: Dot-to-dot for math, a reason for Handwriting letter writing sheets, memory matching game for number recognition, Little House on the Prarie.

Gotta go...

Ending up Back Where we Started

2007-10-25T11:07:00.000-05:00

Well, as much as I thought I would be able to write more on my blog during vacation, I have failed and thus I am left to write something on the return trip home. We stayed relaxed, then completely off the electronics and then so busy I had no time for the computer. There I have ended my lousy excuses why you have had nothing to read. I hope you haven’t been sitting around drumming your fingers for information.

We have had a wonderful time. After the nightmare/ ridiculous to hilarioius trip down with children throwing up so much and getting the entire city of McDonough Georgia sick, things started looking up. Brandon and I left the children (ah, complete bliss) to head to Florida where we took a couple of days to remember that we love each other and enjoy being together. I don’t mean to say that we don’t love each other most of the time, but rather that we just get distracted with other things in our life and have very little time for our own relationship these days. It was nice to have a little of that newly wed feeling again. After I’ve been holding kids, spit on, tugged on, and generally mauled over all day, it’s hard for me to feel especially cuddly, but the break was nice and since Brandon doesn’t usually make a habit of tugging on my skirt hard enough to risk it coming off, I don’t mind the closeness.

Ahem…ok, so it was lots of fun. The next thing we did was take the kids over to the Andersons for a week of fun with just our family. I am learning that sometimes at home it’s hard to find time to be our own family unit, but this week we made time. We stayed in their basement apartment where we were furnished with two lovely rooms for sleeping, a great room with a functional kitchen and living area and two bathrooms with toilets perfect for 3 year old clogging adventures. Actually, Jeff only clogged one toilet and we got it fixed with a top rated plunger, but he did manage to clog my parents bathrooms several times with an overabundance of TP, a large selection of paper towels, and at one point I caught him trying to flush a medium size plastic side salad disposable dish down the hole. Arg! Ok, so back to the Andersons,…

We stayed there for 4 nights with the idea that we would not see anyone, go anywhere, or have anything to to with electronic entertainment for that portion of time. It turned out to be one of my favorite times of the whole trip. Each day we did a little bit of school with the boys, and then did something fun. In the upstairs portion f the house is a room with a closet designed into a playhouse. That was the highlight of one afternoon. Another afternoon it was the treehouse in the woods. We also took a tromp in the creek and pulled out leaves, built dams, and rerouted the water in a couple of spots just for fun. The boys caught “a big pile” of lizards, saw beetles, stomped on scorpions, spiders, and centipedes, and played in the dirt. Jonathon learned how to shoot hoops and was hoping for a chance to beat his Daddy at a game, but we’ll have to save that one for another trip.

In fact, we liked it so much, we based the last week of our trip from their house. We slept really well there with the children waking up after 8am many mornings and then went to my parents and visited others during the day. Several of our favorite activities this past week were: church on Sunday with waffles being the theme for the potluck lunch. Our children LOVE waffles! We also had a great time with Dan and Pari- relatives of Brandon. Pari is Tamil (Indian) and she blessed us with some of her “mild” chicken curry which turns me into a glutton everytime. It is SO delicious I always wish I had enough room to finish off the entire pot. The children had a great time playing with their cousins Joshua and Rebekah. Another big hit was going fishing. We bought some worms and crickets from the Bait Store and the “fishing grandpa” was true to his name and took them out to wet a hook. My parents have a lake in the back yard and so it makes going fishing a relatively simple task. We had to wait for the weather to cooperate since it managed to rain for the second time in months (record breaking droughts) but it did eventually and we had a lovely sunny afternoon to stand on the dock and play with fish guts, worms, and bugs. The boys actually caught about 8 fish. We have always called them Brim, but they probably have a longer name that I don’t know. They are small fish, but taste great and even though some of the ones we caught weren’t bigger than my hand, Grandpa cleaned and fried up everyone and we had them for breakfast- something his mother used to do for him when he was younger. In all the fishing excitement, Grandpa got a bit distracted at point and left the scene and I was left to pull out my fishing techniques and bait their hooks, cast the line, and take the fish off the hook when caught. I recal the last part being my least favorite as I have been stuck more than once by fish fins in my time, but my courage prevailed and I successfully got about 4 off their hooks and into the basket without being cut to pieces or even pricked.

The last grand adventure was put on by our friends Nate and Penny who in an effort to visit with us and keep the children entertained at the same time, treated us to playtime and dinner at Kangaroo Kids. This facility is home to several large blow up jumping cages, slides, and climbing things. The children a lot of fun and got some wiggles out after a very rainy day and we had some great food delivered there from a restaurant nearby. So a winning combination: occupied children, great food, wonderful company!

The other major accomplishment during our trip was that I managed to pull my natural Southern accent back out from some dark closet in the back of a cave and use it excessively. It is quite unintentional, my accent doesn’t change at my command except to slaughter a British one or when I pull out my baby talk or duck quaking talents, More subtle ones change depending on who I am talking to and around. If you have never heard me speak so thickly Southern that you can’t hardly understand what I say, then you must come to Georgia for a visit with us sometime and I will demonstrate how my tongue simply runs along without me in its more red-neckish rambles. There are times when I do things that make me wonder how on earth Brandon put up with me long enough to get stuck permanently.

And now, my dear friends…we are headed home via I-95. We left this morning shortly after 6am and then stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel (a favorite that is quickly becoming tradition). The children had pancakes and bacon and devoured almost all of it. Brandon and I had eggs, grits, bacon, biscuits, and gravy. I added a cup of coffee and all of it was delicious!

I thought of two more things to mention- the campout, and some things I’ve learned this trip.

First, the campout was, I think, a smashing success. The food was delicious and not just because my Dad employed his secret technique of cooking (wait to eat so long that it doesn’t matter what it tastes like- and eat it in the dark). We had stew cooked over the campfire, salad, and bread. We slept out, saw lots of people and then had eggs, bacon, and grits the next morning for breakfast. I got to see Roy- who is looking really good these days I might add, several of my friends from different times in life, and meet some new people I look forward to knowing into old friends. My music director from the church I attended as a little girl was there, a friend from my teenage years came by with her 6 children, another mother of 6 I met for the first time and we hit it off great. My grandmama was there and a bunch more. I think the total was just under 70. If you missed it- it was a highlight and you should come next year, they have it every year. We did cheat a little on the sleeping part and let Joseph sleep inside the house with my mother, but the rest of us had a fun time (don’t ask Brandon if he had a “fun” time sleeping in the tent) outside.
Oh, another thing we did was we went to the Bethany Baptist Church picnic Sunday Afternoon. That was a step into the past for me. I sort of enjoy being able to see those people and be a testimony that God straightened me out from what I was before. It was so good to see people that my parents and later, I became friends with as I grew up. There were a lot of memories- good ones, that came to mind and I enjoyed seeing people who I knew as a teenager did care about me. I felt very loved and cared for and that makes them special to me.

Ok, the last thing I’ll talk about is the things I learned on our trip and I’ll try to put them in the order I learned them:
- I have decent balnce while standing backwards in the moving van, going around a curve, and catching vomit at the same time.
- Always carry several trash bags.
- I know now that I can do a lot more that I think I can when I’m sick, but I’ll never admit it unless it is absolutely necessary.
- When I have too much to do I wish I had nothing and when I have nothing to do I wish I had something, thus it takes some effort to make myself relax.
- Never underestimate God’s ability to stretch the penny.
- I don’t really mind lizards as much as I thought I did, but I do mind beetles.

For a Limited Time Only

2007-10-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, now don't get hooked. Just because I post twice in a week doesn't mean that it's going to be happening on a regular basis. Actually, we are on vacation and as I have now taken "off" from my regular duties I am free to kick back, relax, and merely wash dishes, clean, do laundry, and ....well, actually it's better than that.

So far vacation has been an interesting mix of pros and cons. The first con being packing, or thinking of packing. Every time I get to the part of actually putting the family in a bag and sending us somewhere I think that I am really quite happy where I am and that perhaps we don't need a vacation after all! But the pro is that I had lots of friends to help out. People came in and helped pack (I had a VERY BAD cold and was feeling like I'd been hit by a truck and my face needed a plunger.) and get food ready, and kept the children away, and made dinner, and all sorts of things. I think one of my favorites was one of the Bible School girls ran in on Thursday and with a big grin said, "I have...(look at clock) 6 minutes. What can I do?" She did half the dishes on the counter and 5 times blessing my heart in those 6 minutes. I felt very loved. So we were sent off...hmmm....maybe they were just happy to see us leave...(just kidding).

We left Fairwood at 2 am planning for another record breaker to GA. SO far our family's record stands at 18 hours 45min. We did not break it this time. We tried, but got a little distracted by the mess that came around 5 pm.

(INSERT WARNING ABOUT GROSS THINGS MOTHERS HAVE TO DEAL WITH)

Ok, so at 5, Jonathon decides he has to throw up. The short story here is that in the space of 45 min. He had thrown up 4 times and soiled the car seat and his pants twice. The boy really felt miserable. I had one bucket in the car for him and he couldn't use it for both ends at the same time. I told him he had to pick one or the other and he did, but his body did not cooperate with his brain. SO we stopped to clean up at a McDonald's with a playground.

Jonathon sat outside and I cleaned the seats and found clean clothes for him while Brandon took the rest of the children to play. I got Jonathon cleaned up and the van as clean as I could, begged a few bags from Mickie D's and thought we were good to go. By the way, if you ever want a tip on great methods of effective vomiting receptacles for a road trip I have a plethora of ideas, the best being a small garbage bag in a large cup. Catch, tie, throw into a large bag, reline cup, repeat. Anyway, just before reloading the van, Jonathon threw up again and so we cleaned up again. After loading the small children- anyone under 4, and Jonathon, James was waiting his turn feeling rather left out, so he just exploded onto the parking lot with a ream of liquid. I have never seen a child more calm during such an event, but he just bent over, hurled several times, stood up, wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve just like all boys were taught, and said, "Please can we keep going to Georgia. I don't want to go back home yet." I said ok, as we were actually in South Carolina at the time. I might have reconsidered in Virginia.

So James got in, said, "I think I won't throw up again until we get to Georgia." and he didn't. He made it just across the state line. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We're still in the parking lot at McDonald's. Ok, so in the car went James and Brandon and I climbed in and off we go. At the light to return onto the interstate Jonathon says, "I think I have to do another stinky." Around the block we go, back to the parking lot where Brandon and Jonathon rush into the bathroom and I sit in the car and think to myself: WE ARE GOING TO BE HERE FOREVER!

We weren't. Actually, we left after that and I told Brandon that if he would just keep driving and not stop, I would be the hurl patrol. I lost count of how many rounds we went, but it was quite a few between the two of them. Our total trip time was a sad 20 hours and 15 min. But considering the circumstances, I think a pretty good effort.

Let's see the next thing we did was unload the van into my parents' house. After that things started to settle down a bit. We all headed to bed and things were ok- sort of. Rachel threw up in the night- all over herself, but Grandpa cleaned up and left Brandon and I to sleep...ahhh...and then somewhere between Saturday afternoon and Sunday night, Brandon, Mary, James- again, Grandpa, Aunt Amy, Aunt Diane, Jeff, and Joseph (just bad diapers) got sick. My poor mother became the bucket brigade while Aunt Ruth kept the well children entertained.

As of today, everyone seems on the mend- except my Mom. She has been running a fever, but nothing else. I say she gets off great if that's all. Ruth hasn't been sick either. As far as the family competitions go, Diane wins the prize for most rounds, topping out at 16. Daddy gets the prize for loudest noises. Brandon gets the honor of most likely to be lifted off his chair while throwing up. Rachel and I get the one time only prize, though I felt like all sorts of bad words while I wasn't vomiting. Jeff, Joseph, and Grandmother seem to have squeaked by with just mild symptoms and avoided the unpleasantries of buckets altogether.

Now that we have been on vacation for um....5 days, we can start having some fun!
Some of it has been fun. Like my mom is Laundry Queen and I haven't had more that a small pile of dirty clothes for the entire family the whole time we've been here and that's pretty impressive considering the sickness stuff. I've enjoyed my Dad cooking and cooking with him a little. Ruth organized the playhouse for Rachel and it's fun to see my daughter play in the house that I wanted but was built after I was "too big" to play "house"-or so I thought. Apparently, I'm still not too big cause I play house every day. But she gets to feed us sand and that's way cooler! Ok, and the children went to the playground with Brandon today and left me home to reorganize our junk. Jeff and Rachel have fun in the Little Tykes cars here and Rachel calls them "Jeff's bowling green and Rachel's bowling green". (In order for that to be funny, you have to know that the place at home where we occasionally have little kids cars is called the bowling green.)

And umm....we are relaxed, albeit in a different way than I had expected, but in some ways nice. Had we come down here completely well, I would feel obligated to be out running around seeing people that I haven't seen in at least a year and since we've been sick, we've been forced to sit back, play video games, watch movies, and play together for a while. It's been good. Though if that's what God wanted us to get, maybe he could have just sent us a little letter in the mail with an itinerary or something. I don't think the stomach bug was really all that necessary.

uh....I better go to bed. But I should have free time in the near future to continue our saga and perhaps it will continue in a positive direction, or like most of life, perhaps I could just CHOOSE to see it that way. Goodnight for now.

Happy Birthday to Brandon!

2007-10-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

I think he's pretty much the best guy in the world. A great Dad, a wonderful husband, and all around marvelous person. He is ever my leader, my friend, my counsel, my help, my love, and my laughter.

A VERY HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY to you, Brandon.
I love you.

New Furniture

2007-09-10T21:26:00.000-05:00

At the request of someone VERY special I have come out of blogging hibernation to show pics of our new furniture.

Compliments of Lancaster Bible College and their very generous donation to Fairwood Bible Institute. We received 2 bunks, 2 tall dressers, 4 small dressers, and 1 desk to use in our home.

The brand is "This End Up".

Praise the Lord!

A Big Pile of Stuff

2007-07-27T18:56:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Daddy! I must just say that I think I have a great Dad, in fact, the greatest I could possibly have! I hope he had a wonderful day! I love him very much.

James told me yesterday what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday (Aug 3rd.)
"I want a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cake with strawberries and spray whip cream on top in the shape of a soldier gun and bullets."

Later he requested scrambled eggs in a circle on top, which I declined and instead told him he could have them on the side. He has opted for scrambled eggs, bacon, and waffles for his dinner. Then today he informed me that he wanted a rope on top too. I think he was prompted to remember the rope because he was in the process of hunting to catch a moose. He said he was going to catch a big moose with antlers because Jonathon told him he wasn't allowed to catch baby "mooses". He then asked me if I would help him carry it home when he caught it because it would be too heavy for him to carry by himself. I assured him that whatever moose he caught today with his rope, I would help him carry home. I can only imagine what would have happened had he been successful.

And last but not least....we bought a van- from Ebay- in Ohio! Brandon is suppose to fly out on Monday to get it and drive it home. Check it out:

Wiggle and Splat Update

2007-07-18T19:59:00.000-05:00

For those of you who wondered what we did about the fish...

We did in fact get another Wiggle and Splat. They are not rosy barbs, but neon glofish instead, from the Danio family. They are pretty and speedy and fun to watch. We also added two harlequin tetras to the tank named Wallace and Gromit. Our last addition was an algae eater that James deamed it appropriate to call Slime Sucker. So that brings our fish count to five and we are enjoying them. It did involve more fish "stuff" as we had to get a heater and a thermometer for the tank when we got the algae eater because he is a tropical fish, but the children like them and Jonathon even remembers to feed them occasionally. Happy Fishing!

"You've got to admit, they are getting better."

2007-07-18T19:41:00.000-05:00

This is a quote from one of my all time favorite movies: Disney's "Robin Hood", the animated version. In the scene, Robin Hood is exclaiming to Little John that the Sheriff's posse is getting to be a bit better at hitting the mark with their bows and arrows. In this case, I mean that things are looking a bit better around here. Thank you for all your prayers and words of encouragement. Who knows where I'll be in the battle next week, but right now, I'm ok.

Good things going right now:

- A childhood friend of mine just moved to New Hampshire and is living less than an hour away from me!
- Jonathon, as Brandon mentioned on his blog, has been just about as wonderful as can be lately. Washing dishes, kissing and hugging regularly, helping with chores, paying attention to his little brothers and sister, and just being basically pleasant. This is especially great, since some of my family can attest that the weeks before, he was quite a royal bear! SOme of this I think was the recovery from Lyme disease, but some was just plain ornery! (sp?) Anyway, he's been great.
- Even though we are planning to move to another residence here at Fairwood soon, the move has been postponed until at least the first of the year, so I don't have to think about packing up! Whooo hooo!
- James is the one child who doesn't mind taking care of his own issues in the middle of the night. I'm glad one of them can handle it.
- Jeff is still struggling with his fettish for playing in water, but it does seem to be getting better. I actually got through two days this week without going through every dish rag in the drawer to mop up puddles.
- Rachel is getting better about her fear of bugs. Thanks to Brandon's efforts and training, she has gone from being deathly afraid of grass slivers that resembled bugs to letting a beetle crawl on her arm! She actually was caught seeking bugs out the other day!
- Joseph has learned to laugh and suck his fingers. He has chosen the two middle fingers on the left hand, just like Jeff.
- So, all in all, God continues to meet our needs. I'll just say that last week was a hard week in many ways, not the least of which involved one of our children attempting to express love to another one of our children by strangling them. No one is dead, thankfully, but I'm glad we aren't dealing with quite as many emotionally traumatizing issues right now. I think the vacation to the lake did a world of good. Many thanks to the Randall family for the use of their cabin and lake property, as well as hamburgers and hotdogs for Sunday lunch and for dinner two nights. They are some pretty awesome friends! We might could have had a better time, but I'm not sure how!
-Ok, now I'm off to prepare for company coming tomorrow. Good Evening to you all.

She is not dead, nor doth she sleep

2007-07-11T10:56:00.000-05:00

Well ok, maybe some occasional sleep. It seems as though this is one of those times in the parent/ child relationship that feels like I am one of those Israelites walking in the desert for 40 years. And I have done my fair share of complaining. There are plenty of struggles right now. Lately the children have been conspiring (it seems) to see how many times they can wake me up in the night. I have had about 5 nights of sleep since Feb. where I was not ever awakened the entire night. Thankfully 4 of the have been in the last few weeks. More often it's around 3-4 times. I think the record was 8 or 9 (I lost count that night) and I actually started one day at 1:30 am because the children timed their needs in such a way that I never went back to sleep. Jonathon is doing pretty well lately with the exception of being a bit whiny and he had Lyme disease recently. James is having trouble showing affection. He thinks the way to love the baby is to stand,sit, lay on him, kick,hit or pound him, and on several occasion I have caught him strangling the child. I'm sure is doesn't make sense to read is, but if you were here you would realize that it all comes from a feeling of "I love you so much I don't know what to do." We are, as responsible parents doing everything we can to discourage this behavior. Jeff has hit the "get into everything" stage and seems to continue hie fixation with water. He has figured out how to hold his hand to the faucet and soak the entire bathroom. He plays in the kitchen sink frequently and I find myself using most of the dish towels every day to mop up his messes. I don't really understand why he is still doing this. I think we have made it pretty clear to him that it is not ok. He and Rachel seem to frequently wander away from the play area as well. We have caught them riding their trikes in the sanctuary!, playing in the wood shop, in the attic of the dinig hall, etc. They seem to go everywhere and despite my efforts to keep track of them every 5-10 minutes, they can get away pretty fast.

So, this is what's going on - not to mention some severe excema problems on my fingers that make it painful to type and the internet being down for a while. Hence the lack of posts and it will continue for a while I'm afraid.

I'll just say that I realize this isn't a perky post and if you have a minute, a word of encouragement from others would be nice. I am having a hard time. Perhaps sometime soon I can think of all the things that are going well and jot them down here as well. Then this won't seem so unbalanced.

Wiggle and Splat

2007-05-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

Jonathon got fish last Friday from the pet store. The fish cost about $5 and the stuff was 15 time as expensive.

And the numbers are in. Wiggle and Splat- the names of said pet fish (Rosy Barbs) lasted 6 days, perhaps only depending on when they died in the night. Jeff and Rachel fed them ALL the fish food in the packet- enough for a month and then the fish became gluttons.

It killed them. Perhaps we will attempt a reincarnation of Wiggle and Splat next week and see if we can break our record. I can't spend this much money on fish apparatus and not have fish for a while! Besides, they died in less that 15 days so we get the next ones free. Hmmm...we could be at this a long time!

Tagged

2007-05-23T18:41:00.000-05:00

I've just been "tagged" to mention seven random things/ facts about myself and tag seven other people to do the same, leaving comments on their blogs to let them know they've been tagged. So here goes:

1. I just learned all there is to know about ammonia/ nitrite levels, gravel vacuums, nets, siphoning, and many other details related to fish, thanks to Jeff emptying a months worth of fish food into the tank this morning.

2. The only thing I dislike about living in New Hampshire is the biting flies.

3. It took me 16 years of practice/ spitting on myself before I learned how to whistle loudly.

4. I have a mole on the bottom of my right pinky toe.

5. I actually like children, but I keep it a secret from the ones I have more than I should.

6. My favorite sleeping position (which my children have inherited) is on my tummy with my head under my pillow and my hands tucked under my legs on the bed.

7. My favorite foods are onions- sauted or fried, super sharp cheddar cheese, salad bars, all things mexican, sweet potatoes, fried okra, shrimp, strawberries, vanilla ice cream, Kit Kat bars, and whatever someone else cooked for me.

In light of how often I check blogs lately, I'm going to refrain from tagging anyone else. Hope you enjoyed my random items though and feel free to play if you want to.

A Story in Pictures

2007-05-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

The snow is gone...as well as the puddles.

On to more glorious pursuits

And Jonathon had a birthday! 6 Years Old!

And I made the cake.

Jeff fell out of the wagon and got his mouth smacked on the pavement and a trip to the emergency room to have it checked out. Everything was ok...except "he might loose that tooth".

And I made another cake- this one for Bible School Graduation. There is only one graduate this year so I personalized it a bit and I think it came out pretty well. It's Banana Nut Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. For those of you who may not be familiar with the items on top, they are: a Bible, A Warrior Songbook, and a Red Sox baseball cap. All were made from cake and frosting and I had a blast!

The End

Flowers and Fiascos

2007-05-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

Well...time sure does fly. It seems like I just posted something yesterday and yet the date clearly says that it has been much longer than that! We have been a bit busy lately and thus I am limiting myself to 20 minutes on the computer this evening, so this will have to be short.

I did however want to write about several funny/ scary events lately:

Jonathon and James are on restriction from Calvin and Hobbes comics right now and here's why:

- Jonathon called me a "moron" the other day.
- James went up to Jonathon yesterday and said, "Oh, you have a mosquito on your back!" And whacked him and giggled with delight.
- Jonathon and James attempted riding in our large wagon down the front lawn with no one to stop it. *Yikes*
- Jeff pushed Rachel down the driveway in the little red wagon today and I only sprinted fast enough to catch her just as she was about to pass the dining hall and head down "Dead Man's Curve" (for those of you who do not know the layout here, she went down one good size hill and was headed for another)
- We occasionally hear James yelling at the sky, "SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!"
- James was playing with his cars the other day and I overheard him having one car tell the other that he had just turned him into a pterodactyl!
- Jonathon insisted that it was, in fact, a chicken!

Ok, so Calvin and Hobbes is great and all, but it's going to make my smart children smart in ways they shouldn't be and possibly kill others! So it's out for a while!

The other amusing note was our trip to the nursery today to buy some flowers. I am hoping against all hope that spring is actually here to stay and thus took all five children to the nursery to wander around and pick out some plants. This was my first mistake.

When we arrived I noticed that they had cool green wagons similar to one we own and I discerned that all five of my wiggly offspring would fit nicely in it and be easily contained. So, I ran to get said wagon, returned to the ever shrinking mini-van, and piled them all in. I turned it around and noticed that it was VERY hard to pull. Two more feet of pulling confirmed that we did, in fact, have a flat tire on our selected wagon. ARG! in the middle of the parking lot! So, I drug that stupid wagon to the curb and unloaded all five kids onto the sidewalk, instructed them to stay there and retrieved a different cart- this one was a flat bed. I loaded them all back on, got Joseph settled down again (he was riding on it in his car seat) and set off to weave in and out of endless rows of flowers. We got two feet and the wheel fell off. I mean the wheel came right off the axle! So, I unloaded them again, and proceed to play a sort of version of follow-the-leader through the plants when some guy (who was probably vowing never to have kids) came up with a fully functional cart and offered it to me. I put them all on and then had to remove three of them because the first plant we picked out had vines that spread way out and covered half the seating area. From then on it was only about standing still, not throwing or eating the rocks, not pulling the blooms off the plants, and the best one- please don't dismantle the gazebo flooring- even if it does look cool how they got that pipe to stick up through there like that and it comes apart. We finally picked out plants and escaped. Whew!

And that's my twenty minutes. Goodnight!

Ode to Spring

2007-04-19T13:12:00.000-05:00

Spring has finally sprung! Hip hip hooray!

The kids can play with bareness of feet

and stay wet outside all day.

I'm so glad that it's no longer cold

And four changes of clothes every day

Makes laundry duty grow old.

So here's to fun and melting of snow,

Popsicles, bubbles, and butterflies.

I'm glad to let winter go!

And happy 2nd Monthaversary

to Joseph!

(hopefully he will grow out of the crosseyed stage)

Good Stuff

2007-04-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

I just got home from the Women's Retreat. It seems a little odd to say, "just got home", because I never really went anywhere, but real life begins again now. First I'll say Brandon did an awesome job with the kids. They are happy, the house is clean, and the laundry is washed! So, I can start off the week a bit ahead rather than three days behind. Whooo hoooo for keeping up!

Now, before I get on to anything else, I want to jot down the nuggets I got from the retreat. This will probably be brief, but something is better than nothing. Right?

Nugget #1. The water is in the valley.

Ruth Murray talked about Jesus as our Shepherd and a book by Phillip Keller on the intricacies of the analogy between sheep and us in the 23rd Psalm. When she got to the verse about walking through the valley of the shadow of death, she pointed out that the sheep have to go there because that's where the water is. The stream runs through the valley and the sheep have to have water. I really appreciated the aspect that our thirst can be quenced IN the valley. It's not before the valley in preparation, or after the valley to build us back up, but IN the valley- the water is IN the valley. I come away with a challenge to remember that Jesus can be filling me in the tough times as well as the plesant ones.

Nugget#2. Children absorb the atmosphere in the home.

Elaine Sandford had a workshop on How to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead. It was lots of practical tidbits for everyday living that help us to keep from getting piles, overwhelmed, and generally unorganized. The above comment was one of the first things she said and it was a good reminded. If the house is a mess, the children tend towards chaos. If the house is clean, the children tend to be more calm and peaceful- or I don't have to work at it as hard. A good reminder and incentive for me to maintain order whenever possible.

Nugget #3. One of something is many times not enough, but two of something is almost always too much.

I mentioned this one to Brandon and he said, "Yeah, like spouses." Aha! Ha! Well, that wasn't really what I was thinking of, BUT... it was actually related to Decluttering. Gretchen Post had a workshop on Decluttering and I came away inspired by this phrase in regards to owning things. I also came away with it applied to spiritual matters. I may not be all that my family needs, but two of me, or a "bigger and better" me is not the answer. What they need is more of Jesus and it's what I need too.

Nugget #4. Sometimes 1 of something is too many.

In the same workshop, I was floored by the idea that I really didn't need 1 of something. Coming from a family that has always had at least one of everything, it has never really occured to me that a person would be completely satisfied without "one". I could think of a number of things in the house that this applied to and I am looking forward to getting rid of them. Don Aslett and his book, "Loose 200 pounds This Weekend." were the main inspiration for this workshop.

Nugget #5. I can trust God because He is going before me. -or- He has searched out the place.

Ellie Pass pointed out this one. She talked about how God went before the children of Israel and searched out a place for them. What I came away with was the thought that not only was he leading them one step at a time, but he had been there way before, so in a sense, he was there twice before me- which means he really knows his stuff AND I CAN trust Him!

Nugget #6- Make a list of needs and wants and watch Him provide.

Also from Ellie's testimony. I always latch on to practical ways of making the spiritual application work. I did this. I made a list of things that have been weighing on my mind and then copied out several verses about trusting God on the same page and committed the list to Him to provide for those things. It is a freeing feeling to put it all in His lap. Some of the things were tangible, like a larger vehicle, some not- like make me loose some weight, but regardless of whether I can put my hands on it or not, He can provide for the need and for the wants as well. After all, He says he gives us the desires of our heart, and I think that can include some wants as well. Praise the Lord for practical application!

Nugget #7- Give me an unconquered heart which no tribulation can wear out.

Branda Lackie had this one in her testimony about enduring and having courage in the end times. I sort of applied it to my life right now- what can sometimes seem like a tribulation. If I allow discouragement, dissapointment, or fear, or whatever to get in, then it's like allowing the Devil to raise his flag in my heart and he wins that battle. I have no intention of letting Satan raise his flag in my heart! I am encouraged that I can in some ways ignore the craziness around me and look up at Jesus and focus on Him and look to him for help and He does. Then He wins and gets the glory!

Ok, so that's the tip of the iceberg of great parts from the women's retreat. All you ladies should come next year!

Breakfast in the Bathroom

2007-04-12T08:41:00.000-05:00

I’ve heard it said: You can do anything if you want to bad enough.

Today I disagree.

I REALLY wanted to eat my breakfast. I would have been happy to eat it with only a couple of interruptions, requests for more cereal, or other needs. That was not to be. For any of you out there who think a breakfast of cereal and milk is easy, I’m decidedly against the belief and despite trying to convince myself that it is, I remain in a state of prejudice against the flaky meal.

You see, Jonathon really wanted cereal this morning and despite my better judgement ( I was going to make eggs and muffins) I said ok. Usually I say ok to this request because A) He can get it all out by himself. B) I’m usually running late for breakfast if he has time to request something and C) I try to tell myself that a quick meal will help the rest of the day go better.

So I said ok. Out came the 10 boxes of cereal- I’m all about variety. Out came the milk. And then an argument began between James and Jonathon over who was going to get out the bowls and set them around the table. I told James he could since he had begun the task and Jonathon had taken care of the cereal and milk and then Jonathon was unhappy. I put Joseph in his bouncy seat, which has an automatic vibrator and music, and thus keeps him quiet for a short while. (It’s no wonder my children feel the need to have noise and motion ever waking moment. I train them into it from birth!) We then commenced breakfast:

Pour 4 bowls of cereal.
Pour 4 bows of milk.
Pour 4 glasses of water.
Notice the husband is sitting at the table with no water and pour the husband a glass of water.
Pour my own bowl of cereal. Exactly ¾ cup of granola and a half a cup of milk because I am trying to eat responsibly and loose some weight.
Notice that the bananas are still sitting in the middle of the table untouched and offer them to everyone.
No one answers with a desire to eat bananas. This is not ok. We must consume them, after all we paid REAL money for these things, they are good for us and I refuse to just have cardboard for breakfast.
Ask each child if they want a banana. I get two takers- Jeff and Rachel and I give myself one because, I never eat enough fruit and so I should.
Jeff and Rachel can’t peel it on their own though, so I start it for them, then Jeff cries that I messed with his.
Rachel peels hers and sets it to the side of her bowl and drinks all the milk out of her Fruity Cheerios and requests more milk.
I pour her some more milk.
I sit down and eat a bite of cereal.
Jonathon needs more cereal. He had Kix and now that he’s eaten that, he wants a bowl of granola.
Pour said bowl of granola.
Sit down to eat another bite of cereal.
Rachel says she has “stinky diaper”.
She is wearing underwear- because the die hard potty training parents just won’t give up.
I take her to the bathroom to sit on the little potty as there is currently nothing in her pants. Perhaps this is a break through.
Two seconds later she declares herself all done.
Well potty training during my breakfast of soggy granola isn’t my idea of a great goal so, “Ok, all done.” Put her clothes back on. Back to the table.
She wants more milk in her Fruity cheerios again. More milk given.
Sit down to eat a bite. One bite eaten.
Rachel says she needs to go potty.
Well it did smell like she was close, so I take her again. On the way by the table I bumped Jeff’s glass and spilled his water all over him and the floor.
Humbly ask husband to please clean it up while I deal with Rachel in the bathroom.
Jeff is sad. He always knocks his water over and this time it dumped without his help and he’s afraid he’s going to get in trouble anyway. Comfort Jeff.
For some reason this time Rachel needs her panties, skirt, socks, and sandals all removed to sit down on the potty chair. She tries to convince me that her bib must come off as well. I draw the line.
She sits, I walk out to take another quick bite of cereal. Husband cleaned up the puddles, but left Jeff in his wet clothes to finish breakfast. Jeff does not like this.
I gulp down my entire banana in 5 seconds.
Rachel comes out with a new pair of “pretty panties” to wear and I indulge her because I am currently sitting in my seat and I don’t want to get up. She put nothing in the toilet.
Put pants on child and send her back to eat her food. She needs more milk. I don’t care, I just give it to her.
Jeff needs more cereal. Done.
Jeff needs to go to the potty.
OK!!!!
Take Jeff to the potty. He doesn’t want to wet because his shirt sleeve is wet.
Move the offending shirt sleeve up his arm and command him to pee in the toilet.
Success.
Put wet clothes back on boy and return him to table.
(a bit graphic) Jonathon says he thought he had to do a stinky but wanted to wait, so he said he tried to keep it up there, but it wouldn’t stay and just came out on his pants anyway.
Tell Jonathon to go to the bathroom.
Joseph is not happy with the bouncy vibrating chair any longer and is declaring his undesireable situation LOUDLY to the rest of us.
Ask husband to PLEASE take him to bed, and oh, by the way, he has a stinky diaper and the sheet in his cradle needs to be changed because it is wet.
Husband takes the baby up to change diaper and put to bed.
Jonathon goes to the bathroom.
James needs more cereal.
Jonathon hollers that his underwear is in fact, dirty.
Mama hollers at husband to throw down Jezebel- I mean – some clean underwear.
Take clean underwear to Jonathon.
Come back to the table to inhale as much cereal as possible before the next request comes.
Jeff says he’s all done.
Throw away ¼ cup of cereal he did not eat. He gets down.
Jonathon gets finished in the bathroom and goes and plays.
Remove his dish from the table.
Rachel sees that people are done and wants to join. She gets down. I throw her banana with one bite gone and the bowl of Fruity Cheerios- with no milk- in the garbage.
James gets down.
I eat the last of my granola.
Rachel wets on the living room carpet and says “Oh dear.”
I run for the computer because if I don’t write down the insanity, I might just loose my mind!

Somehow I haven’t been able to loose weight.

And just in case you think this is a crazy way to eat breakfast, I’ll point out that noone dumped their cereal out this morning. This is how it is most of the time here. I should have made eggs and muffins. I like them better, I don’t have to do refills, and you can’t make as big of a mess with them.

Hope you have a great Thursday.

OH…and we’re having a snow storm today. In the middle of April. And James is going to the dentist today to have his OTHER front tooth removed- probably. The one that Jonathon smacked with a snow shovel. James is following in Uncle Roy’s footsteps of being toothless for as long as he can.

Fun with Grandmother

2007-04-07T07:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry this is belated, but I thought this was a great shot of how much the children enjoyed Grandmother- the one who lives with "The Fishing Grandpa" while she was up here.

The sure did have fun with her, especially during a few games of "Alligator". She created this game one evening while the children were in trouble and had to stay on the couch. It involved something with pillows thrown at her and her trying to "eat" them. Sounds like only a slightly different version of "Diaper Woman" if you ask me. (Diaper Woman is a game she made up when I was little. It involved a cloth diaper on her head and running and screaming by us and I think at least one time we were chased with a broom, but it was fun!)

Which just goes to show, quality time- time invested in interaction with the child is what they remember and cherish most. Grandmother did a great job of quality time while she was with us and the children loved it!

Today's Favorites

2007-04-01T21:39:00.000-05:00

Favorite friends: A family in church whose last name rhymes with "Need" who invited us over for the afternoon.

Favorite meal: Blueberry muffins for breakfast that I made the night before- no dishes, no messy clothes, happy children.

Favorite clothes: White Land's End dress shirts for the boys to wear to church, from the grandmother that lives with "The Fishing Grandpa".

Favorite conversation: Talking with a person whose name rhymes with "sellin'" about enjoying my family and my role as a mother.

Favorite Scene: Rachel drinking from the dog bowl.

Favorite activity: Watching a girl whose name rhymes with "stain" boil maple syrup.

Favorite thing I learned today: Details about sheep shearing and cutting their tails off.

Favorite time of the day: 9:30pm- When I pulled in the driveway and knew the children would be in bed soon.

Favorite quote from James: (half asleep) No! I want to stay here and sleep. (he said this in the van and refused to get out. In fact, I almost couldn't drag him out because he was convinced that he was actually in his bed.)

Favorite quote from Rachel: "I'm a kiddo."

Favorite comment from Jeff: (actually it was best when he finally stopped asking for more food some three hours after lunch was completed)

Favorite Snapshot with imaginary camera: Jonathon trying to feed a sheep some hay.

Favorite Hymn at church: Great is thy Faithfulness, for that part, "morning by morning, new mercies I see".

Today was exhausting and wonderful all rolled together. I wouldn't change much except I might not have put James' pjs on so soon and then see him go back outside in the mud and thus have to put different pjs on before he went to bed.

Life is good.

The Tally

2007-03-31T21:01:00.000-05:00

What did you find in your washer this evening? Here's what I found:

26 nails

16 acorns

4 rocks

3 toy bullets

2 sticks

1 playmobil sword

and a handful of debris

All because I didn't check one garment's pockets...kids are worse than squirrels!

Our Resident Acrobat

2007-03-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

Here's one of Jeff's tricks:

His other new trick is going to the potty!!!! Whooooo hoooo! He's been ready for a while, but his Mama just won't get with the program! So he's been in underwear for a while and today actually stayed dry several times and made it!

Rachel is trying to go as well, though she has some sort of bitterness harbored against the toilet and though she desperately tries to keep from wetting her undies, she also loathes sitting on the little toilet. Well, girl, you can't have it both ways. Sooner or later it's bound to come out- usually on the floor and the couch, at which time she gets excited because she gets to pick a new pair of panties to put on. Hmm...the purple ones with flowers or the green ones with little bumblebees? What a girl!

And to all this, James would say, "Mama is a potty mouth!" (*chuckle*- probably the only time he would be allowed to use that phrase without his tongue meeting up with some hot sauce.

Just so Jonathon and Joseph don't get left out of this post, Jonathon is going to be a overly merciful parent if he doesn't learn some balance. He notifies me every time Joseph is crying and immediately wants to pick him up and "walk him". For some reason Joseph likes it, even though he looks a bit precarious in Jonathon's arms. (Ever seen a 5 year old carry a little baby down the stairs??? Don't watch- it's much easier to let him do it that way!) I'm glad he likes his little brother.

And for random comments:

We're having meatloaf for dinner.

I've washed 3 loads of laundry today, 4 yesterday, 5 the day before that, and I lost count of Tuesday's loads before the day was out! Muddy clothes and "accidents".

Going to a girls' party this evening! I suppose Joseph is going too.

It's really great weather outside today- in the 50's.

I've exercised most days this week and am looking forward to beating my family in "the RACE" though ever since I started working on loosing pounds I have only gained them! Arg! This is not supposed to happen.

Ok gotta go.

Catching up quickly

2007-03-28T20:24:00.000-05:00

(More attempts at a family pic.)

Here's the "Cliff's Notes" Version of life here:

-We had the Feast

-Grandmother and Ruth came for a visit

- As a result of their visit we had good times, Brandon and I got a break from laundry duty, we successfully went through all the boy clothes and most of the girl clothes, and Ruth learned how to sled.

-Grandmother did not take part in the sledding, though she did wash the clothes from the event -She also helped Jeff and Rachel work on potty training. Jeff is just about there and Rachel with some focus efforts could be there soon I think.

-I've been catching up on the house

- We have LOTS of laundry these days- spring is the worst for making dirty clothes pile up. Today 3 children changed clothes 3 times and one changed 4 times. Can you say MUD??

- I cleaned up several rooms, organized here and there, and am back to making some real meals

- We celebrated Grandmother's birthday...with our friends, the Reeds. Anybody for fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, fried okra, Breyers ice cream, and chocolate chip cookie cake?

- Joseph is sleeping much better lately, just once up in the night most of the time now.

- I'm getting up in the morning at a normal time again.

- Devotions are back to a generally regular thing. (I always have trouble, always have.)

- Things are looking up.

And here's some favorites:

Favorite scene lately: Little Rachel sitting on the big couch alone playing with the Leap Pad.

Favorite Idea: Winning an "Original Recipe Contest" and going to Provence, France for a week.

Favorite Quote: James on his way into the tub: Hey! The water will clean us and wash our sins away!"

Favorite Person: Brandon, because he gave me two spontaneous shoulder rubs today and gave four children baths this evening.

Favorite Time of Day: 10 am when I'm awake, the children are out playing and I'm not tired yet.

Ok, gotta run. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods....

Real Life

2007-03-13T21:12:00.000-05:00

Hi there...this is just a quick post to say that real life has begun to settle back in and all those blissful moments of wasting time at the computer are coming to a grinding halt. So don't expect great things from me anytime soon... but here's a picture to make up for it.

Evening rough housing with Daddy (I try to stay out of it and often even leave the room.)

And my, oh, my! High speed internet does wonders for uploading pictures. I am VERY happy about this!