and then spring starts...

It's well under freezing this morning, 24 degrees. But...it's going to get up to 50, with sunshine! Happy face!
I don't know why I am so obsessed with the weather, maybe because it's just so changeable. The calendar will say that spring starts today, at 5:58 this evening, and it'll be warmer, but guess what? Tomorrow, colder...snow...


My granddaughter Lydia and me...and Lyd dancing with Anne.

Yesterday they were both here. You know how those days are, you look at the clock, and it's ten, and you're like, "how am I going to get through this day?" That sounds mean, and I don't mean it to be, it's just that small children are challenging, right? Anne has decided that she wants to sit on the potty because Lydia does, which is fine, but she stands there crying while Lyd pees, which stresses Lydia out. And so on. But they're also hilarious, and good for each other. Anne decided she wanted dinner, which is how she says she's hungry, so we had some eggs. Lydia tends to eat all of her food when she's at the table with Anne. They play together amazing well for 90% of the time. The other ten, do not even ask.


It's good for me too, dealing with small children always takes just a tiny bit more patience than I possess, sometimes TONS more than I possess, so it leaves me in a good conversation with God, asking for more, please. Anne talks a blue streak now, and always says, "please", it's so cute.

So I take it very seriously to deal righteously, gently, and lovingly with the small children, because they have come to earth directly from heaven, and they really belong to God. ..."the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these..", Jesus said.

So it's all a good work. We have to get creative to get the homeschool work done, but we have been managing.

Emily, Abigail, and Molly were all here for dinner last evening. I made quiche with onions and peppers and sausage, and three pounds of bacon. I just run out of ideas for dinner, and honestly, it's like, "What? Dinner again? I just made it last night."

So, upcoming events: In two weeks, Paul and I and our friends Hobie and Karen are going away for the weekend to an AirBnb near Lake Ontario. We plan to visit a few vineyards, explore the area have a nice dinner. We are all very excited about this. Then the first weekend in May, a wedding! A spring wedding! Grace has found her dress, and Samuel will be wearing his dress blues, his Army dress uniform. It's going to be at the Officer's Club at one of the bases down there, a very classy location, a small wedding, 40 guests all together, yes, half of them our family. I don't have a dress, and of course I want to lose like fifty pounds ha.

Some of us will be heading down to Virginia a few days early, and will have Friday to walk around Washington, D.C., which is always nice. The three homeschooled kids really like the museums, and we all really like visiting the World War II monument. (I particularly like meeting the older vets there, I met a WWII vet once who had been involved in the D-Day invasion of Normandy).

Then the cabin in the Adirondacks in July...

Also on the agenda is a HUGE trip to Norway this summer, in August! Here's who is going from our family: Paul and I, Emily, Abigail, Ben and Ashley with Anya and Elise, Margaret and Adrian and baby Wulf, Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja, Jonathan, Charlotte Claire, and Camille. We only have to pay for Sonja on down, Suze isn't actually certain if she's going, but we're buying plane tickets tonight, so...:)

It's a ten day trip, and we're very excited about it! I had a dream last night that I forgot all of my charging cords, and I kept getting lost.

Then a camping weekend in August.

After that, well, we'll just have to fill it in! I want to go out west and visit Kathryn and Aaron and Riley at some point.

And, there are things to do and off I go. I have been in a really good optimistic mood lately, but the hard part is that it doesn't always last, sometimes I get a bit down, and start seeing things in a negative way...and then I really have to pray, and work on not being selfish and dark. Oh poor me, never any time to think straight, not enough friends, can't seem to lose weight, my knee hurts, or whatever it may be...life ain't always just perfect, but God knows just what I need, and I believe that.

One of the things that is really hard for me lately is how fast time is passing. My kids are growing up, and I don't like it. Ha, it's of course very satisfying when each of them finds their own way in this world, and learns to stand on their own two feet, that's what it's all about. But when they leave the nest, one after the other, the nest gets a little lonely.

Last summer, for example, lounging on the deck on any given day might be: Kathryn, Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja, Jon, Char, Cam, and maybe Joseph would come out for a bit. Now, Kathryn is married and in Oregon, Joseph is married and living in town, Evelyn works full time and stays with Margaret and Adrian during the week, Suzanne will probably be working this summer as she is graduating from high school in June, and Sonja is hoping to be working too. So...Jon (who will probably be busy with his friends and working as much as he can too), Char, Cam...and me. I'll have Lydia too though. (Anne's mama is a teacher so I don't have her in the summer)

Anyway, times change, kids grow up, and wah. I thought about changing the name of my blog, 18 under one roof, ha. But. When it rains it pours, sometimes they all come over, and with the spouses and grand kids, it overflows here. :)