three ring circus here....

Yeah, I knew I had to take Aaron to his pre-surgery appointment. What I didn't know was that it was in a big city two and a half hours away. We have three vehicles. Paul had to be at work in one direction, Joseph a college final in a different city, Mirielle had to be in the big city for a college final...details, details. I won't bore you with them, but off on our trip to the big city we went. Camille, and Suzanne because I let her skip school and come with us. (She seemed like she needed some time with me, and I really needed some time with her (she said she did NOT miss me when I got home from Jamaica, I think she was a little put out that we had left for so many days, I don't know... anyway...))

Aaron had a bar put in his chest three years ago to fix his depressed sternum, it was deep enough to put a cereal bowl into...so he had this corrective surgery done, in which a bar with a "U" shape in the middle was inserted all the way across the chest, then flipped, which forced the sternum out...it was extremely painful for him, but it fixed the problem, allowing him to breathe better.

Now it is time to get the bar removed. We have to go in next Monday at 7a.m. That means waking up at like four in the morning. It is planned for outpatient, but some kids have to stay overnight...so we are going to try to reserve a room in the Ronald McDonald house a few blocks from the hospital just in case.

In case I don't seem overjoyed about this, well, see, I am tired. Never mind that I just got back from vacation. I still am tired. Today WAS a good day. I spent it with Aaron...he just turned 19 the other day, and he doesn't always have too much to say to me, so it was nice to have some time together. We stopped at a different Target on the way home, and at a Chinese buffet. Camille got her money's worth, jello and chocolate pudding. I stayed away from everything but the chicken, which was bad enough. Camille explained to us how princesses have, "Royal" spoons, and "Royal" drinks, ect, ect, she also danced for us, like a princess does. She has no consciousness at all of other people in the room.

She lost the new bunny that the lady in Medical Imaging gave to her for being a good little sister. I think it is in that far-away Target. She insists we are going back to get that bunny, which she named, "Springy", tomorrow. No, we aren't.

Suzanne told Kathryn about the missing bunny, so Kathryn unloaded two boxes of her own stuffed animals to Camille...she is forgetting Springy now...

So. We got home from the far-away hospital in the far-away city...we had to stop at the store for ice cream for Abigail's birthday party, and cream cheese for the frosting Mirielle was making for the banana cake. Into the house, cooking chicken, serving up the salad and rice and singing to Abigail...too much fun...the kids got to bed too late, all hopped up on the yummy dessert, and because Emily stopped in after work to pick up Margaret's violin (it only has three strings, Emily doesn't think that will do...so for Margaret's birthday, which is on the 22nd, Em is putting new strings on it for her...)

So...now I am sitting down, finally. Today is done today was fun tomorrow is another one. Or some thing like that. Perhaps tomorrow I will have the time and the patience for vacation pictures...

Oh, and my niece is having those babies soon! I can't wait to meet them!!! Two babies! I bought them fuzzy fleecy sleepers yesterday, and some Johnson's Baby bath today...

ahh, home again...

And no pictures yet, because the camera cord took off and hid while I was gone. So I will just have to use words, for tonight anyway...

Blue. Blue skies, a few clouds floating on the breeze. Blue water. The brilliant turquoise blue water of the warm ocean. The blue water in the infinity pool, cool and refreshing. The yummy drink the nice bartender made us on our last night, we don't know what it was, but it was blue and icy and cold, and we really liked it.

We left here on Sunday morning, and by late afternoon we were in the pool there in Jamaica. Monday morning there was a quick shower, but it cleared up and no more rain all week except for during the night. We left our cares behind, and talked. We laughed our heads off, and we walked around holding hands, and we just plain liked each other. We made friends, we relaxed, we bragged about our kids.

Jerk chicken, jerk pork...yum. I ate it every single day. Veggies, fruits, chicken...we went to the steak restaurant, to the Japanese restaurant...I was sort of well behaved, but that is for a different post.

Now we are home. I have washed socks and towels, swept the floors and brushed girls' hair, made dinner and picked things up and walked Rosie...it was done in a good spirit though, because I am one happy mama to be back home with all these kids. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. I had a lot of time to think about things, so today I got to try out all the new goodness and patience I was bound and determined to have.

Seeing Camille again was sweetness! I missed her so much, especially because there was a little girl down there at the resort with an Ariel doll, always in her arms...

Rosie-The-Bad dog...oh, she was one happy pup to see me again. She can wag her whole body, that dog. She could not stop whining.

Yes, it is good to be home. For all the messes and loudness, it is home sweet home.

hot and sunburned....

Paul brought his computer, so we are spending six bucks to go online for a few hours, primarily to check on things at home. Uneventful, thankfully. Not our trip, things at home.

Here, things are rather uneventful too. Wonderfully and peacefully uneventful. I have relaxed, and it is enjoyable. The skies were blue and the sunshine brilliant today, and we are red. The food is so good, yes I have sampled some desserts.

Cheryl, where are you?!! I thought you would write some good stories...

just a few pictures, and goodbye

Our lovely tree...
The Christmas Train.
Camille "under arrested" Suzanne. No, we don't have a lot of boys. But they still like to play cops.
Suzanne, Camille and Charlotte Claire
Paul calls her, "Dum-Dum".

There are chicken wings in the oven, and the pizza dough is rising. My little break is almost over. The tree is up and decorated, it is warm and cozy in here. Abigail is visiting, and three cousins are here. We shall have a feast-y evening. I am almost sad to be leaving these guys, but...I will anyway!

last day home for a bit...

I know, I know, it is getting old, talking about going to Jamaica. But it is finally happening! Tomorrow morning we will be getting up in the darkness and driving to the airport, poor Mirielle has to get up and bring us. We will arrive there in the afternoon and hopefully get in a little sunshine and a swim.

Paul is getting the tree right now. I moved furniture and made a space for it. There is excitement in the air. The little girls are eating grapefruit, Kathryn is doing the dishwasher, Rosie is napping under my footrest, and I am taking a break from cleaning up this place, the never ending job.

I am going to take a quick trip to the store today to get some cheese for pizzas, and some greens for salads. And something for Charlotte Claire's class snack, which is Monday, so Mirielle doesn't have to make something for her.

My suitcase is packed. I even put my sneakers in there, since I am not going for a walk in the dark tomorrow morning. Yes, I plan to exercise when we are there, I didn't work this hard to gain ten pounds back in one week. Ha, I really hope I don't. All that jerk chicken, yum. And the frozen lime slushies, and the fresh-fried donuts with all the toppings...yes, they fry the to order, how am I going to resist? The good thing is we will eat lunch in our swimsuits at the beach buffet, it is hard to pile one's plate up when one looks like ME in a bathing suit. Overall though, I am not going to worry too much about it. We will relax and have fun and make good choices and enjoy ourselves no matter what we have to eat. I do plan to have a nice steak dinner one night, yum. Sometimes they serve steak, grilled to order, at the lunch buffet. The price of beef has risen around here, so we don't eat it much anymore. Paul will go for the lobster or seafood, which I don't like.

Perhaps I will get a chance to get on here later and put up some Christmas tree pics, but I am afraid if I unpack my camera I will forget to re-pack it.

no, I am not single

Camille took this picture of me this morning.
I took this one of her.

I am not single, but I do have a bare ring finger. My fingers have actually gotten thinner. So my ring was loose...and yesterday I went to wiggle it around, as I guess I was in the habit of doing, and nothing was there! I must have lost it when I was running with Rosie, I don't know. I am not overly sad about losing it, since it was only a $14 Walmart band. My original band was cut off years ago, and thrown away in an old purse accidentally. But that is a different story. My older kids were bugging Paul at the dinner table last night, telling him that now is the time to get Mom a nice ring. I told them I do not want a nice ring, then if I lost it I would be more sad. They said I would not lose it because it would be a nice one that fit right. I would like to go up to Walmart and buy another one, but I have no vehicle today. I just don't want to go to Jamaica with no wedding ring, I will just get hit on too much, ha. No, I have my late mother's ring on my right hand, I will just pretend I am European. Or Paul can just be my boyfriend.


The kids went out the door to school this morning, all 8 of them. Joseph went to college, and the other college kids are going in a little while. Camille and I are going to get the living room ready for the Christmas tree. Jonathan is excited, he has his Lionel train set up, he wants to set it up so it goes around the tree. He ate his cereal on the floor with the train going around him, this morning. They all had their chocolate calendar, and cut the construction paper loop of their paper chain that Charlotte Claire brought home from kindergarten.

So I guess you could say they are getting excited about Christmas.

I got stressed out this morning, and I hate it. There weren't ten cups/mugs in the living room this morning like there were yesterday morning, but there were a few. Then someone knocked furiously at the bathroom door while the little ones were still sleeping, one girl smacked her sister for bumping into her, someone left and slammed the door, I called her back in and told her to close the door properly, which did not go over well. I was trying to be nice about things, but they still all get riled up when I put my foot down about anything in the morning. I do not like it when they all start telling me not to get after them in the morning. I simply stated that if they didn't leave such a trail, I would have nothing to get after them about. Oh, the stomping. blah, I want a re-do. I KNOW it is better not to try to discuss anything with them while they are getting ready for school, yet I did it again. blah. Dealing with one teenager can be challenging, but this was six of them. Well, Suze isn't technically a teenager yet number-wise, but she is smart and can be quite sarcastic. The thing that makes my heart ache is: they are really really good kids, and I love them. I do have to talk to them about stuff sometimes, and I hate hate hate when it gets fight-y. It is a learning process for me still, dealing with these guys and trying to keep this place afloat. It is much more important to have it good with them than it is to have everything in order. But I still try to do both.

The other day Sonja got to skip school and shop with me. As we were driving along, this terrible thought came into my head, as if I had jumped into the future, and was looking back at the day - with the thought, "I wish I had been nicer to her on that last day together." Okay, I do not think I am psychic, nor was I actually afraid that something bad was going to happen to Sonja, but still. Our days are numbered, and I don't think we really comprehend that. And for the record, I am always nice to Sonja anyway. But there is this Taking For Granted thing...I decided to just really make it a special day, talk to her and listen to her and spoil her a little.

My computer is not going to Jamaica with me. The internet costs per hour at the hotel we are going to, and I can live without it. So after tomorrow I will be On Vacation. It will rather kill me not to be able to write about things that happen, perhaps I will bring a notebook and a pen. Cheryl, perhaps you can write a few posts? Cheryl is expecting twin grandchildren this month, plus another grandchild in January. (this is very nice, because my nieces share their babies with their Aunt Della...in fact today is Gracie's birthday...nine years ago today I was with Kate when she was born, one of the very best days of my entire life)Anyway, Cheryl has been learning a thing or two about anxiety...perhaps she can write about it a little if she wants to, and encourage us a bit.

did I forget to blog today?

oops. Must've been busy. I had to package up three things I sold on ebay, take them to the post office to ship, then take Mali shopping. She needed to get her Secret Santa gift, and I got her some shoes and some rain boots. Home again to make some dinner...meatballs with sauce on the side, wheat bread and butter for the kids, broccoli...homemade meatballs are always so good...seasoned bread crumbs, onions, garlic...oh yum.

Emily Anne stopped in for dinner. She is going to Jamaica! Emily, Abigail, Mirielle, and Mali! In January. For a week. They found a real bargain, and couldn't resist. They will have so much fun, and I would love to go with them.

In the Rescue Mission store, the Thrifty Shopper, I found myself a nice skirt and a shirt, plus a few cute little ornaments to bring home for the kids.

Okay, how apparent is it that I have nothing to say...the real truth is that there are several kids here in the living room, and I am way too nosy to sit here and concentrate when they are talking...so...until tomorrow...goodnight.