clear and cold and sunny and busy...

Aaron woke up early this morning. He has an earache that hurts badly. So...called the dr., and yes, he needs to be seen. He just had surgery yesterday, so if he has some bad germs hanging around it would be good to get an antibiotic. Mirielle has a dentist appointment in the small city, but since Aaron feels rotten I might go with him. That means changing my plans which included Doing Not Much today, ha. After sitting around in the hospital all day yesterday, I really wanted to putter around here and do some stuff. And, I read a hundred pages of , "The Help", and I want to finish it.

Joseph is an interesting companion. He is twenty years old, he did cut his long curls recently, so he now looks respectable and handsome again. He went and took some allergy medicine before we left yesterday, so he slept in those hospital waiting rooms, sitting up. I couldn't manage to do that, every time I dozed, I almost fell out of the chair. So I read my book and I watched people. I saw a teenage boy who was with two workers of a group home as his guardians, he was mentally challenged I suppose...but he was just plain happy. His guardians explained that he thinks everything is just fun. I did not feel sorry for him, no, that boy has it made. The ladies with him just loved him. I also saw a young couple with a fussy two year old getting tonsils out. They were more interested in their phones than they were in him. At least yesterday. I saw a young black dad with a child named Pharaoh, and a lovely mom who thought the sun rose and set on her sweet little non-verbal, non-walking pre-teen son who did NOT want to be there - it brought tears to my eyes how doting she was. So, basically I did not get bored.

And, someone prayed for me and my drive home. It was amazing! It was short and light and my eyelids did not try to stick together at all! I was driving along, waiting for when I got too tired, and it did not happen, then I realized that I was just being blessed. It was really amazing. It did not live up to my dread.

Rosie-The-Bad dog escaped this morning when the kids were leaving for school. I was getting a bag of candy out for Sonja's class party, and the bus came, and they left the door open...blah, she chased the bus, barking and barking, ignoring me. rrr. After the bus drove down the road, she ran off to the neighbors. I went out a few minutes later, and she was guarding the end of the driveway. She likes to lie there and keep watch for danger, like UPS trucks and the mailman. The garbage man has made it clear that if she is there, he does not stop and pick up our garbage. So...I had to go get her. She got up and started to take off again, but I called her so nicely, she came to me! I praised her to the skies, brought her in and gave her treats, even though I wanted to kick her disobedient little but all the way up the deck steps.

Emily made a cake. Homemade butter cake with fluffy white frosting and almonds. And coconut. She brought it over. Nobody seems to like it. Nobody except for me. blah. I take a taste here and there...oh, it is so good. Ben had some last night, now it is almost gone. I think I will throw the rest away. It is calling me like crazy, torturing me. I am easily tortured these days, there is this lie whispering to me that says that It Is The Holidays, It Is Okay. Well, that may be well and true for most people, but I need to lose this weight! This morning I saw a beautiful number, and I don't want to go back above it! It is just a beautiful thing to get on that scale and see lower and lower numbers! I feel like I have been stuck in the mud for a while, and really want to get moving on this thing. My exercise has been...well, yesterday, none. Today I shall move it somehow.

Someone has eaten all the food again. Where oh where does it go? Bananas and apples and yogurt and milk and cheese....

I need to make a meal plan. We have decided what to have on Christmas Eve, and Christmas day, but that is about it...oh, and pizza on Friday night. Tonight is the elementary school chorus concert. Paul and Emily and Ben and Ashley and Mirielle, and Joseph and Mali, and Sam are working at the dome for a basketball game, so it is just me...and Abigail and Aaron, and Margaret and Kathryn, Evelyn, Suzanne, Charlotte Claire, and Camille going to watch Jonathan and Sonja sing. Well, I don't know if Aaron will go.

Well, time to move it.

and the bar is out!!!

And he took it home with him. After all, it was in him for over three years.

The surgery went well, it took all the live-long day, but we got home by seven this evening after getting up at four a.m. and leaving by four thirty. Long long day. Aaron was sick from the anesthesia again, so it took a while for us to be able to leave.

Mirielle made dinner, and it was all cleaned up when we walked in, yay.

Tonight we just hung out and relaxed with Ben and Ashley.

Longer post tomorrow.

sunday break

And just so no one thinks everything here is like a magazine,... imagine my surprise and delight when I wandered into the Princesses' room yesterday after cleaning and doing laundry and finishing up wrapping things...what the heck? They decorated with toilet paper! First they dumped out lots of stuff, because they were "looking for things". blah. Evelyn saved the day and had them pick it all up, very patiently too.

Benjamin and Ashley are home! I wanted to take pictures of them hugging Paul, and of them hugging the little ones this morning, but I am not good at interrupting sincere moments with my camera. It makes me feel so invading.

We planned to have a family photo taken today...but oops, Emily is working today! We went to church this morning: 18 of us. Everyone except for Emily. The roast went in the oven before we left, and is smelling mighty good. I have to go peel some potatoes and get the carrots in the oven soon. It was 28 degrees when we got home, but sunny, so I took Rosie for our walk. (Our morning one was small and cheaty, brr!) There is snow on the ground, so it was lovely out, despite the chill.

Right now I am finishing my afternoon coffee, which I had with two of the yummiest butter cut out cookies I have ever had. I tried a new recipe this year and they are good. I should NOT eat cookies, but...it was lunch. A few almonds, an apple, and two cookies.

The world can be such an awful place sometimes that I like reading good news...mysterious strangers paying layaway bills for Kmart and Walmart customers...how nice! One lady paid several, plus handed out some $50 bills, because her husband had recently passed away, and she said she didn't need the money...she simply told the people as she paid their bills, "Remember Ben", who mus have been her husband.

Well....time to get to the dinner....

it's beginning to look alot like...

our poor tree...it looks beautiful to the little ones...but Margaret put her second grade Christmas ornament over the angel...and the tree looks like it might fall over...

Cookies... I tried to reason with Jonathan, Charlotte Claire, and Camille that the cookies look nice with less sprinkles. Jon said that was JUST AN OPINION. They insist the ones covered in them taste better and look better...

It snowed last night, so we woke up to that Christmas-y brightness. The kids were already in their snowpants by the time I got out here this morning. I joined them. We went out and romped around with Rosie, got the sleds out, they went down the swingset slide on sleds. Any semblance of order in the kitchen/dining room has been infringed on by the mitten bin and the boots...

And someone still has a suitcase from a recent trip to Jamaica, in the kitchen...um, about that...I AM going to take care of it...I WAS going to the other day, but...well, I am probably going to do it today.

When we came in this morning, Kathryn was making French Toast. How nice, the little girls just got their boots and mittens off and had a hot breakfast. They had some tea, too, and now they are playing dolls. I am having my oameal and coffee, and sitting here seeing all the things that have to be done. It is Saturday, and I would like to just do fun things, but there is always something housewife-y to do. I have already swept the kitchen, but it needs mopping again, and ect. I feel like I am the only one who cares around here and trying to get them to work with me and help is like pulling teeth. As soon as I say their names sometimes, they say, "MOM!", dragging it out to three sylables. They are mostly still sleeping, the older ones, except for Margaret and Kathryn, who went shopping with Abigail.

I plan to stay in today...except I might go see THE BABIES!!!! Yes, they were born! My sister is grandmother to twins! Their names are Sebastian Peter and Linnea Rene. Sebastian was born first, and that's all I know. They were also born naturally, which is always nice with twins. I can't wait to meet them. My sister was supposed to be there when they were born, both Thomas and Susan wanted her there. But...the hospital people only let Thomas in, said it was just in case they had to do emergency surgery. Cheryl said she would leave if that happened, but it was firm and final, she could not go in. She was not very happy about it. I felt bad for her. Her name was on the list of people who were authorized to be in for the birth, so I don't know if it was just the nurse who was on duty maybe loved rules and power, I don't know.

So I have lost my vacation weight plus an extra pound. I am telling myself that this does NOT mean I can sneak in some cookies here and there. It is just a total mind game, this weight loss thing. I know I rant about it too much, but it is my battle these days. I am fine most of the time with just eating healthy food, but sometimes, blah. By this time next year I plan to be done with all this weight, and be in maintenance mode for the rest of my life. I feel SO much better now having lost the 51 pounds. Vacation was better, the airplane seatbelts buckled easily with room to spare, I could sit in those previously terrifying pool lounge chairs without worrying about how in the heck I was going to get back up...

I am excited about Christmas yet I dread it. I am not organized. I am not very smart when it comes to the way I shop. It would probably be better if I just waited until November or so and got the kids what they really wanted for Christmas, instead of buying stuff all year cheap, and giving them stuff they might not really love. And it would be nice if I kept better track of stuff....I am going to be just as surprised as some of them when they open stuff, I don't remember what I wrapped for whom. I started with a list. I have several lists, actually. But lists are not the magic answer for people like me, because a list has to be maintained. I did get them things they wanted, but I hope I didn't forget any special requests.

And...I really should get moving...

friday friday friday!

Aah, the weekend, time to relax. ha. First of all, my big plans to paint? ha. ha ha ha. I had already abandoned them when my sister called me yesterday and asked me if I had already been to Walmart, and I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. See, I wrapped presents yesterday. For a few hours. Camille helped me, she can wrap one all by herself if I cut the paper for her. And it doesn't look too different from the ones I wrap. Evelyn was here, so she finished up for me for only five dollars. I did laundry and sweeping and cleaning up, and some exercise...

Dinner is always my big dilemma. You would think I would have it down pat by now. But no, it is the daily dread...what the heck to feed fifteen or so people. I decided on chicken soup. I chopped up chicken breast, rolled it in flour and chicken seasoning, browned it up, added it to three cans of Cream of Chicken soup with lots of water, and let it simmer...then I got to what I really wanted to do, making a huge batch of cut out cookie dough. As I was making the cookies, YAY, Emily came in...with regular clothes, as Jonny pointed out, which meant she was not on her way to work, and would be staying a while. Yay! Because guess what? Emily likes to make a pot of soup. I told her she could do whatever she wanted with it...I don't know what she did, but it was good. Corn, veggies, seasoning...she also made a huge batch of biscuits. Thank you, Em!

We didn't frost the cookies yet, that we shall do this afternoon. I want to have everything else done so the kids can come in the door and frost cookies and have tea, and I shall be patient and not nag them about too many sprinkles, and I will remind them ever-so-gently not to lick their fingers or they are done....

Evelyn was helping me with the cut outs last night...the dough was kind of sticky, and the first rollouts weren't coming out well, and she quit, said it was stressful because of MOM. What? Was I really being naggy? Ouch! I do not want to be naggy! Can I have a re-do? blah.

Today we are going on an outing, so I had better get my lazy self out of this chair. Emily and Joseph and Aaron and Mirielle and Mali and Camille and I....where will we go? What will we do? I love it!!! I have to get a few Secret Santa presents still, and need more blueberries for my oatmeal...I want to do a quick meal plan with Mirielle before we go, too.

Ben and Ashley get home tomorrow!!!! He loves cut out cookies, so we will have a huge plate of them ready for him. I would also like to make some chocolate chip with red and green M&M's. blah, I need to duct tape my self-destructive mouth closed for the next two weeks. I ate so well yesterday, yet the cookie dough I tasted...and tasted...and tasted...blah. I like the dough better than the cookies...until the cookies come out of the oven, that is...

Time to go...

back to regular life...

Ha, "regular". Actually it is really good here. Mirielle, Joseph, Aaron, and Mali are all on college break, so yesterday it was a bit hard to leave with Kathryn to bring her to the dr. (she has migraines, it seems). The boys had "bling" on kitty, a nice string of beads which drove Kitty crazy, made him go in circles...they are just glad to have some down time, and it is so nice to have them around. I tried to talk them into helping me paint the kitchen, but they are being brats about it. I might have to put my foot down...

It is cozy in here. Lights in the windows and the tree lit up, the stockings are washed and drying on the kitchen chairs, ready to hang, 17 of them. I still have presents to wrap. And, as usual, I have lost track of what I have gotten for whom. Some of them will get more than others, but they are used to that. We are doing, "Secret Santa", and I know who alot of them have, primarily because I have to buy the gifts for them. This year I actually remembered to get something for the person I have. Hey, between the gifts they have to get for school exchanges, the things they like to get for their friends, ect...it is a bit crazy.

Mali made Muddy Buddies last night, Chex cereal with peanut butter, tons of chocolate chips melted, and confectioner's sugar on top...oh dear, I sampled a bit, and was like, "Kids, eat these up quick!" It is the season for suffering, for me. It is time to make those yummy cut out cookies. I think I will chew gum as I make them so I don't eat all the broken ones. Or all the crispy ones. Or all the ones that just look good.

Vacation weight: almost gone. I gained a lovely five pounds, which is No Fair. In six stinkin' days. And that was being careful! Ha, not TOO careful. The desserts...even in moderation, they pack it on...and the drinks, those frozen slushie ones are full of sugar...anyway, it was totally worth it, but I am glad that I am back down to only one pound more than when I left. I shall be careful about cookies and fudge, really careful.

Benjamin and Ashley will be here on Saturday, yay! Aaron's surgery is on Monday, not yay. I just hope for clear weather because I will be driving right on the southern shore of Lake Snow Machine, a.k.a Ontario. I live in Snow Country and hate driving in snow. The tension gives me major headaches. We also want to schedule a family photo before the surgery, since it might be a while before Aaron feels like getting his picture taken.

Hmm, I think I will guilt the older ones into helping me paint the kitchen. There is no "good" time to do it, we just have to do it while they are home. Joseph DID say he would do the whole thing if I let him pick the color, but since I am not stupid, and since I remember when he wanted black for his room and we settled on dark chocolate brown, I said, "No, thank you."

Perhaps I will just get sweetie-pie little Camille dressed and go up to Walmart and get a few cans, some brushes, and a few roller covers...wait, I should do a little spackling first...hmm, I think I will just do this. After all, it is Christmas, and they will feel obligated to help...

pics from jamaica

handsome guy walking toward me...

no words for that sky


pool bar
blurry, but we only got a few together, so...
happy feet
Paul...
A relaxed me...

Our best vacation yet. Excellent, fun, relaxing. The sun was hot, the food was good, the pool was cool, the ocean was warm. We connected and talked and it went by too fast....

Now, home and reality. Kathryn has had these headaches, now her ears hurt, so I have to call the dr. about her. I haven't been home these last two days, between shopping on Monday and going to the big city yesterday, so there is much to catch up on around here. Yes, things to do.

And in it all, there is much opportunity to get those treasures in heaven. In the end, God will not care if we did the things we set out to do, if our houses got cleaned and organized. The inside of the cup is what needs to be cleansed. So off I go, to do what I can and be saved as much as possible while doing it...