whew....and pictures.

Suzanne....painting her room....

Kathryn Grace
This is the color of the bathroom....

I just realized that I forgot to adjust the picture size on the camera, so it took forever to put these pictures up, discouraging me from putting any more.

I finished painting the bathroom today, Suzanne and Kathryn finished the bedroom. Then Kathryn and I got all cleaned up, and picked Mali up from school. Throat culture for her, x-ray for Kathryn. No broken bones, just bruised and sprained. One week off from gym. As I explained to the dr., it is most difficult to know when to take the kids to the dr. for these injuries. Once I waited too long for the broken ligiment in Ben's finger, when he ran into the wall while playing basketball, and got a dressing down from the orthopaedic surgeon. But what he didn't comprehend is that just the week before that, one of the girls jumped from the top of a very tall dresser, and then would not put weight on her foot....not until she got to the dr. office, that is....blah. And $$$.

We took a trip to Kohl's because tomorrow is Mali's 17th birthday, but didn't find anything for her. We then went in to Aldi for a few fruits and veggies, then to Wegman's for posterboard for Margaret's project, and C batteries for Jon's new Hess trucks. And ice cream for tomorrow.

Home again...the boys moved the bunkbeds from the middle of the room, and the kids started getting things in order in there....I had to be the Mean Mom and tell them to wait until tomorrow....it was getting late again, and Suze was so tired....I promised them if they get things nice tomorrow I would get them new miniblinds and put up a new curtain rod for a new valance. It is fun when they are excited about their room. I am in the Home Improvement mood, which can be dangerous ($)....and frustrating. I am ready to move all this living room furniture away from the walls, cover it with sheets and start spackling any dents and bangs....but: tomorrow is Mali's birthday, and we are having a birthday party....

Mali......she is my seventh child, and her real name is Molly Rose. She requested long ago that I don't use the real spelling of her name on here, or that I don't write about her at all...so I chose to spell her name Mali, which is what she wishes her name actually was. (All the other names are real except for Mirielle, which is really Mariel, but she requested the same thing) Anyway....A long time ago, I had Emily - 9 years old, Abigail - 7 years old, Benjamin - 5 years old, Mirielle 4 years old, Joseph 2 (almost 3) years old, and Aaron, 15 months old. Then came Mali. Our house was really really clean back then...Paul's mom paid for a cleaning lady for us that year, from January through April. She came on Fridays and cleaned for 3+ hours....so of course I thought I had to have everything picked up and tidy before she came....she washed all the floors and vacuumed and cleaned the whole house. I paid her extra. I loved it. Anyway....Mali was a sweet and easy baby. Her first summer, Paul and I took her to Norway, and she adjusted to the time change immediately. I always remind her that the first word she ever heard was "God" because the dr. said when she was born so quickly and easily, "God wants you to have babies, Della"....

So....most of the kids are in bed....Mali and Aaron are doing homework together. I am tired. Tomorrow is another day....or as Dr. Seuss said, "Today is done. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."