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

Monday, October 10, 2011

sunday a day of rest....ha

What do you call a lady who wakes up early on a Sunday morning after staying up way too late on both Friday and Saturday night?

A lady who goes on her walk then takes eight kids to the church conference center?

A lady who comes home, has lunch, and decides that after talking to a girl who is the oldest of sixteen children from a family across the country that it is a good idea to give the kids more chores, so chooses to implement some of these new ideas on Sunday afternoon?

Now, this lady usually takes a rest after doing some cleaning and vacuuming. But no, today this lady decided to exercise more, and a walk in the sunshine was just the thing. She went her usual route, but up and down the hill three times!

Ahh, home. In the chair with a small ten almonds and a small apple, feet up, computer on...aahh. Phone call! It is a friend from the church conference center, a friend who is visiting from Ohio...wondering if she could come for a visit, with her husband and five kids. Well, this lady cannot say no. It really sounds fun! So...with one hour ticking on the clock, this lady tries to get the house company ready and get the chicken on the grill and make some garlic pasta....this lady gets her daughter to make the salad, and other kids to get the table set...

Fun times. The chicken came out good. The salad was yummy, the broccoli was good, and the lady didn't try the pasta, as it is a No-No. Dessert looked yummy, thick brownies with a choice of ice creams: chocolate marshmallow, mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, or caramelicious. This lady had a bite of brownie, and licked off the ice cream scoop when the serving was done.

The company was good, too. There was a small boy Jonathan's age, which is wonderful for him since he tends to hang around with adults too much. They really hit it off, too. There was a small girl who played with Charlotte Claire and Camille...and another girl, and two more boys....the boys liked playing Wii, and the girls really liked the girls here....

And: my house just isn't clean enough. This nice lady who visited, the mom of five, was busy cleaning up the toys when they were leaving....and this nice lady who lives here could tell that visiting lady thought the house was a bit dumpy. blah. Hopefully the good spirit here was imparted to them, and they felt our genuine happiness at having them here and getting to know them better.

I am going to try to keep the house cleaner from now on. And Linda, before you comment that it wasn't that bad here, know this: I did hide the growing couch monster. I put it on my bed and covered it up with a blanket. And, Suze shoved the pile of clothes and towels from the floor in the doorway of the laundry room farther into the room and closed the door. At one point when the company was here, Margaret attempted to open the door, and her mother said to her, "Must you?"

Pride gets injured when we company comes over and we see clearly all of the sudden what it sis really like at home. But...the spirit IS good, we have fun and good food and ....oh my, my eyes are closing...I am up all alone, it is heavenly quiet in here...but I cannot stay awake to enjoy it! Did this post even make any sense? blah.

1 comment:

baristamom said...

Della! I FINALLY am getting around to catching up on reading your blogs and of course, selfishly, checked to see if you blogged about our visit. It was wonderful to visit your family and I didnt think it was dumpy at all! I loved every minute of being there. It was so surreal for me to hang out with you and your kids, when I felt like I "know" your family from the blog, but I don't really know them. And everything was just how I imagined it to be! I actually kinda wanted to meet the "clothes monster", but I understand with company, you have to have room to sit. Your home has a beautiful spirit and it's a haven for children, which is what home should be. I'm sorry if I was cleaning up too much . . .I just really didn't want to be a burden, because I understand how it is after a conference. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for letting us come! It made the trip more than worth it for all of us! Colin has Hess trucks on his Christmas list, lol!