another monday...

I haven't gone for my walk yet. I woke up at 6 a.m., and decided to snooze a bit more. It was dark and chilly and I was ever so comfy. I don't use an alarm to get up, I just wake up when I am supposed to. Usually. Well. I fell back to sleep and woke at 6:45. Very refreshing, but...oops. No time for a morning walk then, if I want to be around for the older kids going out the door to school. Instead I took Suri out for ten minutes or so, then came in and cleaned up the garbage she had taken out of the can and scattered around the kitchen during the night. Then I cleaned up the pee she couldn't hold...blah.

As the three elementary kids went out the door all showered and brushed, with their lunches and backpacks, Mama Kitty was trying to get in with a nice treat for her kittens. She is an excellent mouser. Mice, however, dead or alive, are not welcome in the house. Suri was already hooked to her leash, ready for our morning routine of waiting in the driveway with the kids for their bus...Kitty ran in the door with her gift as the kids exited the door, and Suri was lunging to snack on that gift. I was holding her back with one hand, holding the door open with the other, and trying to smack the kitty back from retrieving the gift she had dropped, which was still very cute, by the way. blah, I do not like dead mice though. I had to call Jonathan to hold the door while I hit the mouse with Paul's flip-flop, right back out the door onto the deck. Jon so kindly took over and gave that mousie little shoves with the shoe until it went over the side.

Never a dull moment. And shh, don't tell Paul that I used his shoe.

We have two kittens to get give away. They are eight weeks old, and need to find new homes. The big white one with gray spots is a boy, and the littler black and white one is a girl.

I must say, cats are a pain in the neck. Broken screens, meowing to come in and out all the time. But. I don't want to speak too soon, but they do keep the mice out. That I know of, anyway. I haven't found any little mouse droppings.

Kitties are nice companions too. One of my favorite things in the whole world is when dogs and cats are friends. I know, they probably aren't really friends, but when they live together in harmony. Yesterday afternoon, Charlotte Claire fell asleep on the couch, and Camille curled up next to her and fell asleep too. Suri was on the floor next to the couch, and the boy kitten came over and curled up next to Suri. It was too cute, and I can't believe I didn't think of taking a picture.

Tereza...you asked How I Do It. Seriously, I don't! I cannot manage to keep my house clean or organized! One day you will visit and you will realize how it really is here. Not dirty, but...well, lots of things to see. The clean laundry on the couch...the couch covers all askew....the toys and books and school papers ever and ever out and about. A Zhu-Zhu pet on the floor, a few towels draped over the dollhouses, a princess crown, a mail-order catalog which we are not going to order from....unless we have just cleaned up, it is quite obvious that 14 people live in this house. Last night we had a nice dinner (lemon-pepper pork chops, applesauce, fresh cauliflower, green beans), Emily and Abigail came over too. Ashley also visited but she had already eaten dinner. We sat at the table for a while and solved all the world's problems while Paul and Sam watched football...most everything got cleaned up...most everything.

Cleaning up is continuous here. I am still trying to find my way through a happy medium of giving the kids freedom/not being too strict, and having some semblance of order. Yesterday afternoon, one of the girls really wanted tomato soup. I told her to wait until dinner time, and she could make it. So she ate canned soup while we had our yummy dinner.

This is their home. They are all individual people, not one big unit. We eat our dinner together at the table every night, which I think is really important.

Oh, I lost my train of thought. The kittens are being too cute.

I guess my point is: do not wonder How I Do It. Because, seriously, I am not a good housekeeper. Not a good meal planner. Not a good organizer. The socks need to be matched. I am hoping to get a lot accomplished here today, plus I will make a surprise Monday afternoon chore list for the kids. (but guess what? I have NO IDEA at all what to make for dinner tonight.)

I am much better at talking to the kids, taking them places, planning fun outings. I would rather play Matching Game with the girls than clean up the kitchen, any day of the week. I don't like a messy house, so I clean it up as much as I can, but I don't love cleaning it. Honestly, if we were rich, I would hire a cleaning lady or two or three. I wouldn't miss doing the housework at all.

I also love doing work at church, whether in the kitchen there, or running the candy store, or working at the Dome. It is so rewarding to be with friends. It isn't really work to me.

Also, Tereza asked how many calories I eat. Well. I used to keep track...but I don't anymore. I generally keep a list in my head of what I eat, occasionally I write it down. I just eat good things. Oats with almonds and blueberries, raw spinach with chicken and pears and green peppers, a yogurt for snack, meat and veggies for dinner....ect. I have to keep out of the chocolate chips, not snack in the evening, and I do alright. I keep away from breads/pasta/potatoes/cookies/chips. I suppose if I kept more careful track of quantities and calories, I would perhaps lose more. But for me, this is not a race to lose as much as it is a Lifestyle Change, as much as I hate that new saying. It is a Diet For The Rest Of My Life. Losing slowly is okay, although I would like to just snap my fingers sometimes. The biggest issue for me is and probably always will be - self-control. Just because there are brownies doesn't mean I can break a piece off everytime I walk by the pan. I usually don't do things like that, but there are days... popcorn is another big one for me. I love me some real stove-top buttered popcorn.

It is hard for me to concentrate on all these things when I am so encouraged by the excellent church conference we just had. It doesn't matter in the least what people think of me! (rev. 3:1)"I know your deeds, you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead." I don't want to be a whitewashed tomb, looking good, appearing to be a good mom, but filled with envy or anger or irritation. We have such a short time here on this earth to be cleansed from sin! Jesus will come back to claim the ones who have followed Him!

I am so filled with thankfulness for this way to live! Thankful that our home can be peaceful even amidst the chaos. Thankful that Paul and I can grow more and more in love with each other, even when we are so different and don't see things the same way. In the meeting on Saturday, we heard about when a wife says something to her husband which he thinks is much too harsh, so he stays quiet for a while. Sort of punishes her with the Silent Treatment. He is offended. That is NOT okay! To be offended is the cause of so much suffering! We need to be awake and when we are tempted to feel so hurt, or be so offended, say NO! I know my tendency to lash back, and I hate it! I am just thankful that we can be purified in our situations instead of getting hard and bitter and growing apart.

Anyway, there is much to work on, both the spiritual and around this house. When I don't feel like cleaning, I have to remind myself that this is my job, and I do it to make things go more smoothly for my family....I try to sing myself happy in the sweeping and cleaning up...it is an excellent chance to get victory over grumpiness and complaining!





























Anyway.