feeling lousy

I don't get sick very often, or so it seems to me...and I just plain don't feel well. My head hurts, and I have a cough. I feel tired and listless. Just getting up this morning, after getting up with Camille several times last night (she has a cough, too), was hard. Jonathan and Sonja needed showers, Sonja had to do a math paper she (we) never got to last night. I got them brushed and cleaned up and fed and dressed and out the door, all except for Evelyn. Evelyn says she doesn't feel well. She is now watching, "The Little Mermaid" with Charlotte Claire.

Mirielle has someplace to go today, but I was thinking of waking her soon and asking her to look after these girls so I can go back to bed for a while.

So thankyou for the comments enouraging me to homeschool. Last night, I read a paper from Evelyn's teacher informing us that she would have 30 minutes of homework each night. Okay, the child gets home from school at around 4:15 each day, and starts getting ready for bed around 8:15 (ideally)....that is four hours. Four hours for dinner and play and picking up her room and reading books. And the teacher thinks it is no problem taking another half-hour of her day??! Ooh, I am getting closer to pulling them out....I mean, she is in fourth grade. The homework for her is just grunt work. Sonja is in second grade, and she has a math sheet each and every day. She is a whiz at math, and it only takes her a few minutes. Samuel is in 8th grade, and he brought me the mandatory pile of papers to fill out and sign, and apparently one got overlooked or lost in the shuffle (I wonder how that happened, I only had that ONE pile, not eight OTHER piles! ha)..anyway, he got assigned an afterschool detention for not having one of the sheets. So he is supposed to sit there staring into space because of this. Ooh, no way. I told him NOT to stay. If they call me, I will take care of it. I know, I know, they need to teach the kids responsiblility....but they go about it all wrong. Punish the good kids for every little infraction, treat the kids like prisoners, two minutes between classes, hurry don't be late OR ELSE!.....and fill those backpacks as heavy as possible, because even though the kids are there all day long, there is never time to go to the locker at the end of the day! Ooh, I am getting there....

I think I better get Mirielle up, the sun is hurting my eyes, and writing about school is making my head pound...and I didn't even get to the part where they try to make the kids sell stuff to benefit the PTO, AND the lucky company who has millions of naive schoolkids as their unpaid sales force.....

new oven!!!

Our new oven is coming on Wednesday. It will be so nice to be able to bake again. I grilled burgers tonight, and we had some corn and some salad. Summer meals are fine by me, but when the days start getting shorter and chillier, I think of baking things. Soups, stews, cookies. So, since the new part that Paul bought didn't fix the oven, we went and took the plunge. It is hard to spend money to replace old appliances. But I am very thankful we were able to do it. And Paul was very nice to me, he got the one I really wanted, even though I said it didn't matter, I would be fine with the cheaper one. So, we got a convection oven, with 5 burners on the top instead of four. The middle one is oval shaped for griddles or large pans. It makes sense for our family, but it was hard to spend the extra money. The convection feature will speed up cooking time, for those times when we need more food than can fit in the oven, and things like pizzas sit there waiting their turn. I am very excited about it.

We went to Sears first, and I really wanted this particular model, I'll call it stove #1. We then went to HomeDepot, and they didn't have much of a selection. I talked to a salesman who seemed so eager to help us....I am glad I don't have to work at HomeDepot selling appliances. Boring. Then on to Lowe's. Lowe's had a very nice one, with the five burner top, but the convection models were very pricy. So we could have gotten one for a reasonable price without that feature, or go back to Sears and get #1, which was a few hundred more, though a better value, as it was marked down quite a bit. It has the stainless steel front, which will match the 'fridge, (two appliances covered with fingerprints, yay!)....anyway, I told him I would be fine with the less expensive one, and he said that since I am the one who spends more time in the kitchen, I could decide. I feel a little bit guilty, but I went for #1. Ouch at the register, though.

When we got home Mirielle was leaving to bring the kids to soccer practice, and we had a late dinner. The kids went crazy and wild and ran all around the kitchen and living room, and I had to get clothes out for tomorrow. I was a meany and made them all sit down on the couches while I got the clothes out. Then stories and bed time. I don't mind sometimes when they have lots of energy, but ....I can't think straight when it so crazy in here. Camille is a big napper and is still up tonight. The kids here call Aaron "Kevin" for some reason, and Camille knows Kevin will get her chocolate chips. She asks PLEASE KOCLATE KIPS, KEVIN!

Bickering and bickering. I know they love each other, but sometimes the older kids just bicker. They just got home from soccer practice since Abigail picked them up and she had a meeting, they had to wait for her. They are now eating dinner. 10:00pm dinner. And Camille is still going strong. I am looking forward to going to bed tonight. I don't feel so great, with a bit of a cough and headache, but I can still function.

"Do not grow weary of doing good, for in due time we shall reap, if we do not lose heart" (galations)......So, being a mom is doing good, right? Let us not grow weary! Doing the right thing and keeping the peace and humbling ourselves, kids or no kids, that is doing the good. Let us not lose heart! One day at a time, one situation at a time....let us not grow weary....

is it monday again already?!

The weekends go by way too quickly. Today, a few kids skipped school already. Sam is home, but he is really sick. Margaret apparently couldn't get out of bed, no matter how hard she tried. Hmm. Although I can certainly sympathize, I do think she could have tried just a little bit harder. And the message I got was that she had a sore throat, so I didn't give her any extra help to get up. Kathryn says she doesn't feel well. So far, she seems okay. Suzanne said she had a huge headache, and she started crying very convincingly as the bus approached. She got to stay home. So far, she has taken a bath with the two little girls, made bagelsfor them, ate with them, and set up and played dollies with them. I think she tricked me.

Paul is home today, and he is not faking. He has a cough and just feels awful. I am coughing now, and feel like gravity is pulling on me extra hard. I hate to be so listless when Paul is home, he probably thinks I just sit around every day. ha.

Camille has her froggy boots again. This time, with a pretty little dress. Charlotte Claire is playing with a Dora Doll that Suzanne gave to Camille, and it is not sitting well with Camille. So Kathryn is getting her some dollhouse stuff out. I picked up the living room and swept up a bit and put in a load of towels and not much else. I am hoping they don't set up too much stuff out here.

Kathryn says her head hurts, so maybe she really is sick. I wish I had a magic thermometer that would indicate whether they are faking. They have no computer priveledges today, and Margaret has to miss soccer practice tonight. I mean, if I had a kid who was really sick and homebound, it would be fine for them to go on their Facebook pages, or watch videos. But when they are possibly or probably faking, too bad. No computer.

The bad thing is, I love having them here. So it is hard to be firm. I think they know I love having them here, too. Suzanne really likes taking care of the little girls, and she actually said to me this morning, after the bus pulled away without her and she dried her tears, "But Mommy, I wanted to help you today!" That IS very nice. But......

As for me, I would really like to go back to bed for like 3 hours. Camille has a cough, and she woke up calling for me several times last night. Once I just said, "shh, shh", and she went back to sleep. Cool!, I thought. That wasn't too bad. But, the next time, she didn't stop yelling until I picked her up and patted her. Oh, what fun to have an almost two-year-old baby. I usually always have a younger one, and the child her age would be in her own room, sleeping all night long. Oh well, there is a season for everything. And I would still like to go back to bed. Rats, the sun is coming out. The way I feel today, I would like a cloudy chilly day. A day to sit around and drink hot tea.

Well, my laundry is ready to take out of the washer. So off I go, in the day that the Lord had made.

going to mcdonalds

While I was looking at the pictures from today's outing, I discovered that the kids took my camera to their activity club Native American party on Friday night. I decided to try to put up a picture of each of the kids....Of course Emily and Joseph are in Norway, Mali was sick Friday night, and I don't have one of Benjamin. So here are the other twelve, a few from the party, and then some from Mcdonalds....here is Abigail Marie.

Mirielle Joy....does she look like an Indian or what? Aaron....

Samuel James....

Margaret Cheryl, in the black shirt, with her close friend Janette (Janette has 13 brothers and sisters)....

Kathryn Grace

Evelyn Joy

Suzanne Eleanor with Charlotte Claire

Sonja Kathleen

Jonathan Robert

Charlotte Claire

And Camille was so busy, everytime I went to snap the picture she was gone...

Here are the seven youngest, the ones who went to McDonalds and the grocery store with me.

The dreary day was taken over with sunshine!

My heart warmed toward my sweet kids today when we got into McDonalds and I started to take their orders....I had promised Sonja the HappyMeal, and when Charlotte Claire saw the prizes, she wanted one too. Jonathan of course wanted a Hotwheel, so he wanted one. Suzanne said she didn't need a HappyMeal. And the other kids were in agreement. They each told me a sandwich from the dollar menu, and I got two orders of fries for everyone to share. So 8 of us ate for $20, which is higher than normal because of those stupid H.Meals. But they liked them. We were there for a few hours, they like the indoor playground alot. I had a cup of coffee, and got some apple pies to share, which was another $5. Oh well, it was worth it. I didn't just sit there while they were playing, oh no, one of the employees asked me how Jon liked being the only boy with six sisters....I said he has a few brothers. Which lead to a few more questions. Pretty soon lots of moms were asking me questions. It's interesting, because they mostly want to know about laundry and meals. Those things are secondary. I need to get more brave, more bold. And by the grace of God, I will....because one of the moms there, who had three kids, was just awful to them. She was loudly chastising her son for kicking her, and he yelled, "Well you're kicking me!"...(he was only like 5 years old)...she took offense at that, and shouted at him, "Do you WANT me to kick you? 'Cause I will!!"...lovely, lady. Lovely. So when she was asking me questions, I sadly chickened out. Very sadly. Because here is what I wanted to say: TO hell with the laundry and the dishes and the clothes and the meals. You are the mom, you set the tone in your family, do not blame your sweet little boy for his negative behaviour when you are acting like a two-year old. Be nice, be kind, be patient, EVEN if it KILLS you!! Then things will go well. But I did not say those things. I chickened out. It seems that there are these people out there, just stumped that their kids are brats, exclaiming that "Well YOUR kids are so good..."...like I just got lucky....(and of course we all know my kids are just normal kids, but when you are respectful and kind to your kids, they are much nicer.) Anyway...then I met the most incredible woman ever...

She gets a new paragraph. She was incredible in a bad way. I was astounded at her. She was super friendly, she pulled up a chair, and we chatted for half an hour. She has 6 kids. She had the first four, and was happy and things were all going according to plan, they were paying off the house, saving for their college funds, going on fun vacations...then: she got pregnant again. She did NOT want to be pregnant. Her husband did not want another baby. She was saying this in all seriousness. She found out at seven months they were having twins. They half-heartedly put up two new cribs the week before the babies were born. She gained lots of weight, got stretch marks, it was awful! Then they were born, and it was horrible. Her older kids complained about the crying, and her husband even suggested they put the babies up for adoption. She was serious about this, mind you. I was horrified. She said they were adjusting, but the twin boys were a handful, and now they had to change the way they vacationed, and go back to doing kid-oriented stuff, and now the boys are finally in first grade and gone all day....she said her and her husband are both engineers, and she now can work again....oh, it was awful, she said. "Even when they were born and you saw them?", I asked increduously....oh, she said, it was awful. The pain, the surgery, she had to have a cesarean. Her and I were from totally different planets. She looked really lovely, long curly dark hair, she obviously worked hard and got her figure back......but she was so full of selfishness. Those poor boys. If she was telling a total stranger how unwanted they were....

Yeah, so my trip to McDonalds was enlightening. I do not think anything I said could have put a dent in the mom of six's heart, but a few of the other moms. One yelled at her boy for using the bathroom. She very loudly asked him "Did you sit down on the dirty toilet seat? Use hand sanitizer right now!" Poor kid.

Is anyone thinking I need to get out more?

But it is just surprising to me, time and time again, to see the way people are with their kids. Not exactly abusive, but abrasive. Like they are saying to everyone in hearing distance, "See , these kids are giving me a hard time..." I want to shout, fight against your own nature, and be at peace with your children! We are our own worst enemies, and people just do not see it. There are so many things and people and circumstances to blame for how awful I react to things, but that is all a lie. It is alway ME, my sin, that causes the problem. When I fight that, say NO, then it starts to go well. One thing I have noticed in myself is that I can unconsciously provoke them by picking at trivial things. It is written in Ephesians, "Parents, do not provoke your children to anger...." I can drop a matter and humble myself, and maybe later when I am not so stirred up, I can try to discuss it with the child. Oh, the cry of my heart is to be awake, and to be able to see myself, and fully partake of this way of salvation that Jesus made.

We then went to the grocery store. They always give the kids a cookie at the bakery...and the nice lady gave them two each, chocolate chip cookies. I was nice, and didn't even steal a bite. But that was NOT easy. Anyway, we got some bread and carrots and bananas and chicken and burger and frozen veggies and canned veggies and milk and cheese and eggs and tortillas.

Then home for a peaceful and relaxing evening. ha. Charlotte Claire threw a "D" battery, it hit Camille squarely in the forehead. It was one of those you-could-hear-it-hit ones, that also hits me in the gut. But she is okay. We put new batteries in Charlotte Claire's little light up aquarium singy-thing that goes on her crib. She goes to bed so nicely when that is up and running. And we put away two loads of clean clothes from the couch, hung them all up. And we got out clothes for tomorrow, had a nice healthy snack of yogurt and mini carrots.

Okay, I just proof-read this...and it seems like I think I know all the answers. My kids can be awful, don't get me wrong. They can yell back at me, they can be out- and -out rebellious and do the opposite of what I say. And these things DO have to be dealt with. But when I am keeping an eye on myself during it all, and praying for wisdom, then it goes well.

dreary sunday morning....

And I mean dreary. Cool and cloudy and breezy, and I love it. It makes it all the cozier in here. There is no church today, as many of our friends are at a wedding in another state. We probably wouldn't go anyway, Paul is sick. He is still in bed, which is unusual for him, to say the least. Sam seems better, Mali is better, Mirielle is better....maybe not completely over it, but better. It is a fever/cough/flu thing. I think because Paul just goes and goes and keeps so busy, when he gets sick, it just knocks him out.

I am thinking of taking the kids to McDonalds today to play on the germy playground. Hmm, if it doesn't rain, maybe I would be better off taking them to an outdoor playground, not so germy. I have been promising Sonja a HappyMeal for months now. She earned a coupon through school, and it expired....and not because she didn't nag me enough, either. So, they saw that the prizes are Barbies and Hotwheels, and Sonja just looked at me, with those sad pleading eyes. I said, Why do you want those, so you can throw them out when you clean your room??? Whatever.

It is busy in here this morning. Evelyn re-designed her room yesterday. Four of them sleep in there, and they don't have much room. One of the beds is a regular bunk bed, the other is sort of a loft bunk, Jon's Little Tikes Race Car bed was underneath. So Evelyn took the mattress off the loft bunk, moved Jon's bed out from under, and put the mattress there. Now the top of that bunk is like a play/storage area. They have also decorated their walls with all sorts of lovely stuff, tacked to the walls. Oh, what's the use of trying to have things "nice"...they think it is nice this way, so , oh well. Anyway, they are playing in there non stop, and lots of kids/small room, chaos.

Our oven does not work. Paul ordered a part, we waited for it to arrive, he fixed it, it broke again. It keeps blowing the fuse. I think we need to just buy a new one. Too bad he spent over $100 on the part....he might be able to return it. Anyway, buying a new stove/oven is not what we like to spend our money on, but going through fall and winter without one sounds difficult. It makes the meal planning a bit challenging. Thankfully we have a grill on the deck.

Camille has on a diaper and her froggy boots. She is always coming to me with "owies" for me to kiss. Just the way she says, "Mama".....so sweet. She makes these statements, and adds, "Kay?"

Yesterday I went to the outlet mall. What a disapointment. We hardly found any bargains. Mali wanted some clothes. She found one dress for $5.99, and that was it. Aeropostale had boys/mens shirts for $7.99, way to much. I did find the cutest jumpers at Carter's, for the two little girls for six bucks, including the long-sleeved onesie shirts underneath. But they don't really need clothes, of course I got them anyway. I found them some 99 cent skirt/skorts in the Childrens' Place. And Abigail found some new shoes for work...they were cheap because they were two different sizes...but she liked them, they were cheap, comfy, and we agreed you couldn't tell one is a seven and one is an eight. Oh, we are bad. We left without spending much, which was nice....but where are the bargains these days?

Afterwards, we were SO hungry....it was Abigail, Aaron, Mali, Sonja, Charlotte Claire, and I, so we ordered takeout from this nice little Chinese place downtown, and ate it in the minivan (I hope we didn't leave any rice in there, Paul likes to keep it spotless).....so much for starting my new better way of eating yesterday. I wanted to go walking, but I wonder if I am fighting off this sickness, I am dragging. I did drag around the mall, and it was enough.

Well, the kids seem to be done playing in the newlly remodeled bedroom, and are talking about what their teachers told them about 9/11, so I need to go and talk to them.....

900th post!!!

And today is Saturday. 5 of the kids have soccer practice. Abigail wants to go to the outlet mall to find some shoes. Aaron needs some sneakers exchanged in the other direction. I would like to go to the apple place, but I don't need to go today. I like days with possibilities for adventures. What I SHOULD be doing is cleaning and straightening. But, my bedding pile is down to one pillow and a few odds and ends. Which is fun and exciting, ha.

Camille just climbed up and gave me a kiss. She is so huggy and affectionate. Last night she sat on my lap with a band-aid, and kept putting it on me and asking me if I was okay. How can a child be so sweet and so bratty at the same time? 'Cause she sure is bratty. She wants a drink of water, if I take a drink first, she doesn't want it. NO WANT IT!, she will shout. Fine, I say. Don't have it. She always wants a different bib than I get out for her, and she wants to do everything herself. I try to accomodate her when I can. But sometimes I just have to put my foot down. Right now she is climbing up on a ride-on toy, and jumping off of it. Not safe, sorry sweets. Yesterday, she was singing, "nighty-night, go to sleep" to a bottle of Diet Pepsi, and rocking it in her arms... Mine, 'kay Mom?

Well, 9 of the kids are watching Saturday morning cartoons, and Camille is pushing the pink Little Tikes chair around, looking for something to get into. I am distracted, and have nothing special to say. Even though it is Saturday, I have to get moving and clean up....

afternoon at our house....

Camille was fussy today, so I got out the baby sling. She loved it, but she is a bit big for it....she calmed right down, though. Mirielle likes it, so I told her she can have it someday if she has any children. Camille is still such a baby to me. Wishful thinking?

Today was going to be a staying at home day, except for going to get some corn. I did some sweeping and some laundry and some straightening and some picking up, and some singing to the children, and some feeding and cleaning up the children....then I decided to make chocolate chip cookies, since my sweet husband fixed the oven. I started getting things out, and discovered we were out of shortening, and almost out of butter. I never got the popcorn kernals the other day, and Mali still wants headphones (and Mali is sick with fever)...add that to some things Mirielle needed to get for activity club, and a trip to Wallyworld was a necessity. Then Paul's mom called, she had made us a pan of zucchini and sausage and tomatoes, yum, and had lots of homemade sauce for us.....I told her we were going out and about, so we went to her house after Walmart. (Camille did an awful poopy diaper there, and Charlotte Claire had to go use her toilet to poop. Can't they just be little angels at Gramma's house?)

Walmart was fun because the girls were really good. Charlotte Claire makes all the grammas and grampas in there smile. She hops around so happily, holding on to the side of the cart. I think she is really enjoying all the attention her and Camille get with the older ones at school. I have always enjoyed them, but now they seem just extra sweet and shiny. I absolutely love it when the school bus pulls up, except for how Rosie barks at it. The kids are so funny with their stories. Jon described the teacher's helper as "that old lady with the glasses who helps"...yeah, I know that one. And one of the kids on the playground is "that kid with the peanut-butter cup wrapper shirt". Like I know who that is.

Mali is sick. She has a fever. I hope it isn't the dreaded swine flu, otherwise known as H1N1. Which I don't like to call it, as it looks like it says "hiny", which is a slang word for rear end....anyway, a young pregnant woman from the next county over has died of complications from this flu. She had two year old twins, a one year old, and the newborn survived. How very sad. Included in the article about her were the usual precautions, and also the hints that the government wants people immunized. What they don't say is how many people suffer from bad side-effects from the shots. I wonder how much the pharmeceutical companies influence the press.......

I need to get up and get moving, again!!! Why do I even sit down at this thing? Dinner won't cook itself. Gramma made the wonderful sauce stuff, I just have to make some pasta. And do the dishwasher and set the table and put some stuff in the dryer....but I am sure I can find some helpers....and I will try to make it as fun as possible. And I will try to ignore the tent city that Jon and Charlotte Claire are building in the almost clean living room. Comforters, sheets, a cash register, a bag of pull-ups (for a wall)....oh dear. I had these visions of gathering everyone up for a fiveminute pick up before daddy comes home, so it looks like I haven't just gone to Walmart and sat on the computer all day. ha.

(but my walmart trip was a success, I got Evelyn a beautiful skirt for $2, and Margaret some leggings for $1!)