saturday morning chilliness...

Yah, we have lots of kids. But where are they all??! Okay. Some are at the Music Weekend at church. Abigail is going to the eye doctor and the mall, and taking Suzanne and Sonja with her. Samuel is at his friend's house. Only six kids are home right now. I will be taking the three youngest out and about soon...they got Happy Meal coupons from a school reading program, and I am going to be a Nice Mom and take them there today. Why? I don't know. Camille asked me early in the week if we could go there, and I answered, "Not today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day." Friday seemed far away at that point, so I suggested Friday. Well. I did NOT feel like taking them there yesterday, so I asked them if we could please go tomorrow, which is now today, so we are going to McDonalds.

I took Suri on a walk this morning, and she wasn't too bad. She likes to smell and explore, but she didn't tug much on the leash. I did not realize that there is a new grazing place for the cows, and as we were walking, I heard a noise in the woods, and was totally shocked to see those cows standing there. I think Suri could feel my shock right through the leash, because she was not happy. She was afraid of the cows. We met two different neighbors on the way home, and Suri was a bit afraid at first, even barked at one before we got close ...then she sat down to get pet. She is a people dog, but really needs to be socialized more.

It is chilly here, 49 degrees. Overcast and windy. Camille has only undies on for some reason. Charlotte Claire has a beautiful dress on. She is helping Jonathan get out all his Nerf Guns. As if we need more toys out. They have the Sit-N-Spins out, several doll carriages and strollers, and Jon's entire Hess truck collection. They always do this when the living room is really clean, to them it means, Big Place To Play.

Yesterday in the grocery store, I bought bagels. The store has a bakery, and makes these huge yummy bagels. They were on special for four-something a dozen. I know some of my kids really like them, so I decided to pick out a dozen. They were hot from the oven! Berry berry (rasberries and blueberries), cinnamon raisin, French toast, cheddar cheese, garlic, everything....oh yum. Toasted with lots of real butter...these bagels helped me get fat, and I do not eat them any more. There are only a few left out there on the counter in that brown paper bag, and they can't be gone soon enough. I know I can't even take a bite of one, isn't that terrible? Bread and toast and bagels, chips and cookies and 'tatoes. Just can't eat them anymore.

But sometimes I really just want something good. After my walk, I started to prepare my morning oatmeal. Now, I don't eat alot of oats, just half a cup, and I know I should probably cut them out and eat eggs instead...but anyway. We are out of crunchy peanutbutter, so I decided to make pumpkin oatmeal instead. Some canned pumpkin with allspice, cinnamon, ginger, a bit of sweetener and some half and half. Heated it up, added the oats, and a little more half and half, then sliced almonds. Heated it up in the microwave, then milk on top. Oh yumminess, it wasn't quite pumpkin pie, but close enough. I LOVE pumpkin muffins and want to make some, but don't dare...if no one else here eats them, I will eat them all.

Camille Anaya is sitting with me in my comfy chair, she has a book and wants to read it with me. Jon, do not shoot me with that Nerf gun...um, if you did not just shoot me, why is there a Nerf bullet on my lap?

And so goes my Saturday....

celebrating!

Aaron...me...Paul...Mirielle. Finally all graduated!!!



Mirielle 23 and Evelyn 13...they look so much alike! Evelyn didn't graduate from anything:) By the way, Cheryl, do you believe they are the same distance apart as you and I are?


This one makes me want to sing...how I love the rainy days and the happy way, I feel inside...

We stopped at the store on the way home from the graduation ceremony and got some treats. Paul broiled steak when we got home, while I cut up watermelon and grapefruit and washed strawberries and made mocha brownies.

So here we are home on a rainy afternoon, relaxing. Sonja is doing the little girls' hair, the television is off, it is relatively quiet for a house with 12 kids home. We are having corn on the cob for dinner tonight, it was six ears for a dollar.

Ah well, there is laundry to do, and dinner to start.

don't hate me....

For having such a good life. Because guess what? I woke up to noise this morning. Just the usual noise when the princesses have a day off from school...door slamming, that up-to-no-good giggling, the kind that just screams, "Mom, come check on us!" They weren't doing anything too bad, just decorating their entire faces with markers. Their bedroom floor was strewn with baby wipes, but no evidence on their faces of anything having been washed off. Then I walked down the hall to take Miss Puppy outside, and saw all the bad things she did during the night. The kitty litter was tipped over, the bathroom garbage was all over the living room....and I will spare you the details except for one little clue: I have eleven daughters. There. What a mess, that bad puppy! The piece of parchment that had six chocolate chip cookies on it when I went to bed was on the floor sans cookies, and I really thought I put it back far enough on the counter. The little basked that we used to call the "Nuk-y Basket", we kept pacifiers in it when we had babies, was shredded in pieces, the pennies and hair ponies and erasers and paper clips all over the living room floor. Yet she wagged her tail when she saw me. I was pretty cool towards Miss Suri as I cleaned up that mess. She seemed to know it. She just kept looking at me with those cartoon eyes....until I finally told her I forgave her and gave her lots of pets and pats and praises. Then she was beside herself with wiggling happiness.

And now...to go out shopping with Margaret and Evelyn....I am going to buy cherries, on sale at Price Chopper for $2.99 a pound....

more pictures...

Jonathan and Charlotte Claire...their concert was wonderful.


Camille and Charlotte Claire...




Camille took us to the kindergarten hall to see her picture.




Jon and his little sisters...he has 11 of them, but with five in a row directly older than him, and these two younger, he is pretty much surrounded by girls.










Waiting for their ice cream...

Yum, they chose Cotton Candy flavor...



And of course the picture of Suri and her kitty.

This evening I shall go out all dressed up in my bye-bye clothes for the third night in a row, to the graduation ceremony of the school of nursing. Mirielle and Aaron are finally finally going to be all done finished...except for the huge state exam, of course. Aaron already has a job, and Mirielle has an interview. I am excited for them, but will miss these days of having them around when they had late classes or days off. There is nothing like sitting around drinking coffee and solving the world's problems with a few of your college kids.

No school tomorrow! Four day weekend! I am planning an early morning trip to the grocery store, and then taking some girls to some places for some things they think they really need. I have been lazy about cutting coupons, but I would like to do that today so I am more prepared tomorrow. '

Blogging is interesting. I can't write about something that made me really angry yesterday, because it would embarrass the heck out of someone. Sometimes I have to be vague, or omit whole events because of that privacy stuff. My kids are used to the fact that I blog now, but they still tease me a bit about it, and are wary of what I might say about them.

I had more to say today, but I have a monster headache. I went to the pool anyway, but it got worse and I had to take more ibuprofen and an acetominophen, now it is dulling but still there.

pictures....

Me with my babies...they fell asleep on me the other night. Sweetness!

Okay, story behind the eye-rolling: Mr. Aaron and Miss Mirielle, all dressed up and ready to go to their nursing school convocation. Emily was taking pics with her phone, and I wanted to go back in and get my camera. Em said I could just use these pics. I said I didn't know how to get them from facebook.

I stole this one from Emily too...dogs in people-clothes are always cute, but Aaron is cute too.

Jonathan, his cousin Grace, Sonja K., their friend Irene...when Emily took them, "Waterfalling."

My three nurses...Emily, Aaron, and Mirielle....

Another one stolen from Emily...Miss Suzanne and her big sister Mirielle.

After convocation last night we went out to dinner to celebrate. Quaker Steak and Lube...and it was All-You-Can-Eat Chicken Wing Night. So. Need I mention I never want to go out to eat again? Too many wings for me! But I shall mention they were good...chipotle dusted bbq, hot buffalo....boneless and regular...yum.

I behaved myself during the pinning ceremony (Emily pinned Mirielle and Aaron), but it was not easy. The first speaker was thankful for this "auspicious" occasion, and it sounded like she said, "suspicious" occasion, and for some reason it was too funny. I swear, if Emily had looked at me with a smirk on her face, I would have lost it. But I wanted to behave and sit there like a regular grown-up, and not embarrass my kids. Phew. I did it.

Tonight there is an elementary school concert, which the younger kids are very excited about. Charlotte Claire has determined that she does not want to match Camille, because it embarrasses her when everyone asks her if they are twins. Dang. But I will respect that. Anyway. I am picking them up from school today, too. Not Jonathan though. He got all dressed and ready for school this morning, and then started to tear up...he is still not feeling so great, his cheek is still all chipmunk-y...and he was up too late last night. Our power went out from the wind and rain, after the younger kids were tucked into bed...so out they came as their fans turned off. Ya, we sleep with fans. We had a Power Is Out Party, complete with candles and scary stories. The living room was pretty full, and I figured that only Benjamin, Abigail, and Mali weren't here.

The power went back on around midnight, the kids were long back in bed and sleeping by then.

In addition to our elementary concert, there is activity club and choir practice at church. Some kids who are in A.C. aren't in choir, and some in choir aren't in A.C., so we have to figure out who is driving what and with whom and all that fun stuff. Logistics.

And now, to go and switch laundry...

hot and humid....

Summer has arrived! This morning I had to take Mr. Jonny to the dentist. He told me last week that his tooth hurt. Okay. I heard him. I filed it away under, "I'll think about it more later, it probably isn't too bad." Then next night he told me it really hurt. That was Thursday, and our dentist isn't open on Friday. Friday was his field trip. He kept holding his face, and saying it hurt, so I gave him ibuprofen. By Sunday his cheek was nice and swollen, and he was really hurting. I called the dentist first thing yesterday, and got him an appointment for first thing this morning. Well, not exactly FIRST thing. First, I had to get the princesses ready and on the bus. Anyway. His tooth had two small cavities which were filled, and showed no other decay, but there was a huge abscess, and it was a baby tooth (molar), with the new one already under it. So we agreed it had to come out. Poor Jon. The novocaine needle had to go right into the infected gum. He started shaking and I could see his nostrils flaring, I knew he was in pain...

Out came the tooth, and almost, down went Mom, but I managed to take a deep breath and not faint. Jon had asked me to please stay in there for the whole time, so somehow I did.

We are home now. He is lying on the couch with an ice-pack on his cheek. Poor kid. If I could hug all his pain away, I would. I would rather have it myself than to see him suffer.

I know, it's only a tooth, but it still had large roots, and it was yanked out. His face is really swollen, and he seems almost betrayed by the pain...like he is a child, and big people are supposed to take care of him, and yet...he is hurting....

He is going to take a little nap now. I am going to make myself work out, because I NEED to.

Even though it is hot and muggy.

This afternoon is the convocation ceremony, so I won't be making dinner here tonight, although most of the family will still be here. I will of course offer suggestions before I leave with Mirielle and Aaron:)

I don't like getting dressed up in Bye-bye clothes when it is so hot out. Blah. But. I honestly don't mind walking out the door sometimes. I am proud of Mirielle and Aaron, and am looking forward to seeing them get pinned. Their big sister Emily is going to pin them:)

And now I shall get Jonathan's fan for him, so he can snooze on the couch...perhaps I will switch laundry, then exercise....although I would rather crawl back in my comfy bed with my book....

monday morning and a house full of school skippers...

But instead of dwelling on who didn't go, I shall mention who DID. Samuel, Margaret, Kathryn, Evelyn, and Suzanne got on that bus this morning. Sonja K. isn't feeling well, she has this cold and feels stuffy and dizzy. Char barfed twice yesterday, which was interesting. She was all pale, she ran to the bathroom, then not long later was swirling and twirling around on the deck blowing the bubbles Emily gave her for her birthday, wearing a long dress that flared out when she spun...laughing and having a good old time. She came in the house and was still bouncing off the walls, then bam, she ran in and threw up again. hmm. Oh, and Jonathan has a tooth bothering him. I am not sure if it is one tooth trying to come in and getting impacted, or the one behind it acting up. I will let the dentist figure it out. Jon's cheek looks very chipmunk-y. So of course I didn't send him. It started bothering him on Thursday night, and the dentist is closed on Friday...so it had been a long weekend for Jon. Anyway, Camille has a cold too, plus there is no way in heck she would get on that bus without Jon and Char.

Joseph, who is between jobs right now, ha, will be glad to look after them while I take a swim this morning, thankfully.

Not that I so much feel like taking a swim. I am stuffy and blah, and could seriously hibernate today.

I took a long walk yesterday, then did a small afternoon workout in Margaret's room while she played the piano, which was nice except for my pounding head. Sinuses, I guess.

So when I get back from the pool, I will call the dentist and see if they can fit Jon in today. We seriously need some groceries, but I don't think he will be up for a stop at the store. We'll see. He is too big to ride in a cart, wah.

Char just said, as I coughed and choked, "Poor Mommy, I prayed for her, so she is going to get better alot faster."

Camille has on my huge polka-dotted bathrobe, and just told me that her tummy hurts really bad. Oh joy.

Now, I don't really like to encourage the kids to watch television, but I admit I just told them to turn on, "Curious George." They are fussing and fretting, those two little princesses. Char insists on lying on the couch, but Camille wants to sit next to her and won't just lie on the other end, keeps trying to move Char's feet.

Suri just sneaked down the hall and started chowing on the kitten's food. I heard her, so yelled for her to stop. She did, then came over to my chair and looked at me. I didn't pet her, just told her to lie down. She walked over to her mat bed, which she usually doesn't sleep on because she prefers couches, and just plunked down, looking at me. I was not about to call her a good dog, but I think she knows I still love her.

You know what I like almost better than chicken breast? Boneless thighs. More fat, more flavor, crispy in the oven.
We had some for dinner last night. We could live on chicken and veggies. And watermelon. Oh, watermelon season is upon us again, and maybe ours will grow in the garden this year. And, cherries are ripening! I love the summer produce.

Our garden is huge this year. 48 tomato plants, all different varieties. Melons and peppers and snap peas and lettuces. Our grapevines are surviving, and the rasberry bushes are multiplying. We still have to plant yellow squash and zucchini. And cukes. And radishes. Paul says it is therapeutic to walk in the dirt with barefeet. Suri thinks so too, she likes to walk right on the plants. I think it is more therapeutic to put my feet up and write, but to each his own. And I do like the veggies. I don't mind weeding and watering, either.

My son Joseph turned 22 the other day. I use his age to gauge how long we have lived in this house, he was a baby when we started framing it, and eleven months old when we moved in. That was a hard year because Paul went straight from work to the building site, and was here on weekends. My brothers and Paul built it while holding down full time jobs. Bob had at least 8 kids then, and Tom had five. Emily was six when Joseph was born, Abigail 4, Benjamin 2 and a half, and Mirielle fifteen months. (little did I know what was to come, my first two were the only ones to be that far apart. I lost a baby at 12 weeks between Abigail and Benjamin). Anyway. How I do go on....boring my own self. Joseph turned 22 last week, and we didn't do much for his birthday. He wanted some protein powder...I also got him a new pillow and a package of socks. Yeah, I know. He is an interesting boy. I know I am his mother, but his drawing is awesome. He can also write music and play the guitar. He is teaching himself graphic design instead of incurring so much debt in student loans. He is so respectful of me, he gets me. He has this perception, and when I really need it, he will say something so comforting. He will also help with anything around here I ask him to do.

Benjamin and his wife Ashley seem to be doing all right. They are moving from their tiny apartment to a two-bedroom house, since they are expecting a baby. Ben is taking college classes, and got an A+ on his first test. Ashley is feeling fine, and is super excited to be having a baby. I just hope he doesn't get deployed again.....