summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Saturday, September 25, 2010

saturday!!

Today has been a good day so far. I got up and took Miss Rosie out for her little walk, mentioning that we had to go bye-bye...she knows what that means, so she stopped at the minivan on the way back and stood there wagging. (she also knows the phrase, "no, different vehicle", when I say that she goes to the next car in the driveway)....we had to take Mali to the school by eight for her cross-country meet. As soon as we dropped her off, Rosie hopped into the front seat.

It is cloudy today, and much cooler than yesterday, (it reached 90 yesterday)....while driving today I saw a large crack in the clouds, with sunbeams streaming out all the way across the sky, from those clouds right to the ground. It was magnificent.

Last night Emily and Abigail came over to watch, "Clash Of The Titans"...I looked around the living room, and was so thankful. I would have liked to snap a picture, but they wouldn't have liked it. Ten kids, sprawled and relaxed, snacking and commenting on the movie, cracking jokes and shushing each other. Emily and Abigail and Mirielle and Joseph and Aaron and Mali and Samuel and Margaret and Kathryn and Evelyn....Benjamin was here for a bit but left to be with Ashley. Anyway, looking around the room, I thought, "this is NOW. This is good....I am blessed."

Today, I shall take pictures.

Today I shall learn to put them on this different computer.

Today I would like to learn how to use the scanner and put some older pictures on here....

Today we are going to the library.

Today, Paul and Emily and Abigail and Mirielle and Joseph and Aaron are leaving for the dome to do fundraising....they will be gone from noonish to 8-ish.

Today I shall make a pot of beef stew.

Today I shall make a dent in the laundry....there is a small mountain of bedding in the doorway of the laundry room.

Today I shall think before I speak, especially when dealing with the 11, 12, and 13 year olds. And perhaps with my 15 year old, too. I think of it as learning to "Tiptoe through the Teenagers..." they are SO easily provoked....my goodness, it is like they go through this stage where they are just waiting for an excuse to get stompy and misunderstood. I am learning to speak to their hearts, and have mercy on them....is it really the end of the world if a door gets slammed and I don't go after that one and straighten them out? Isn't it better to wait until that one calms down? Usually. They don't want to be at odds with the world. Or with me.

The geese are flying south. Autumn is back. One of the small maples in the front yard is brilliantly orange and red. We are thinking of making apple pies tomorrow.

Jonathan and Charlotte Claire are up watching Saturday morning cartoons. The commercials are all for toys that seem way nicer than they are, and sneakers that make kids kids cool and fast, and yogurt that is just magical. The good thing is that there are commercials for Zhu-Zhu pets still, they must still be popular, which means I will be able to sell the stack of them I have in Mirielle's car trunk, on ebay. The bad thing is that Charlotte Claire saw them when I bought them, and when she sees the commercials, she says, "That's the one I have!"....news has spread, and they all think they are getting them for Christmas. They think I am just trying to fool them by saying I am selling them on ebay. So if I follow through and actually sell them, I will be a meany.

Last evening we had a "spa".....Evelyn - 11, Suzanne -9, Sonja - 8, Charlotte Claire -4, and Camille, almost three....(Jonathan just thought we looked "ugly"), and I....the girls went downstairs and collected things from their older sisters....the hair straightener and curling iron and hair dryer....and nail polish and make up...my girls don't wear make up, except for Mali, who wears some eye stuff. They use it just for fun sometimes, and Halloween. ....I considered taking pictures, but children with make up on, yuck. It was so much fun for them though. We had the lights low and lots of candles lit, and we laughed at each other. Jon was hilarious, he would come out and look at us and tell us sincerely how awful we looked....I told them how beautiful they are without all that stuff on, and how it is what is in their hearts that makes them so lovely.....

Lots of kids are up now, and I have things to do....

2 comments:

Tereza said...

teens ARE touchy!! I'm glad you're ahead of me and warn me:) My teens are 13 (in nov) 14 and 16. You're so right...we have to ignore so much..when they calm down they are actually nice people:):)

Darla said...

Ditto. I have one that is almost 14 and one that, although is technically a teenager, acts like one at 12. She actually acts like a pretty good one but is kinda moody at times and kinda grouchy and opinionated at times. She's pretty mellow by nature so her teenagerness is mild. Even our almost 11 y.o. acts teenagery already. Actually, she always has. My sister and I joke that maybe by the time she actually is a teenager she will have it all out of her system! :) One can only hope, right? She really is a joy though.