it is wednesday....

and I haven't left the house and yard since Saturday! That has to be a record for me! I have not put my sandals on in days! I have been outside alot, but shh, I like to go barefoot. Paul stopped for 2 gallons of milk and some bananas after work yesterday, and we are all stocked up on diapers and bread, so no immediate need for a store trip.

I would like to say the days are leisurely, but nah. But they have been good. It should be the easiest time I have had in years, as I usually have had a baby to take care of along with the 19 month old and 3 year old. Does a puppy count? She does take a good chunk of time. Charlotte Claire has had a few tantrums lately. Yesterday I was trying to do the dishwasher and take care of a stack of bowls and pans that apparently I am the only who's noticed, and a big fight broke out. Not really big, just dramatic. Charlotte Claire thinks that if Camille starts playing with her dolly stroller, she can just take it back. Camille does not appreciate this. Camille hits? bites? screams? any combination of the three....and Charlotte Claire does something back....and there is much screaming. I tell Miss C.C. just to let her keep the stroller and I will get her out another one, I mean we have like 10 more. No. She wants HERS! So, she ends up sitting in a kitchen chair. (Meanwhile, the smart mommy is wondering if she made the right decision)...and while she sits there, she is doing this screaming thing. Over and over. (Charlotte Claire, not the mommy) Now, this mommy does not like to spank. This mommy does not really like to send them to their room, either, as angry children like to dump things, and a bedroom should not be used for punishment, especially if the child goes to their nice bed so good for mommy at night. So here's the thing: the mom thinks she HAS to get this job done. She is frustrated. She thinks, "I am just trying to get some work done, I am not sitting around eating bon-bons..." Thus she is justified in her frustration. But wait. Stop. The mom is not frustrated because of the child. She is frustrated because SHE WANTS. This mom needed to pray about her own impatience, and ask God for help. Which she did.

When we see ourselves, and acknowledge that we are the problem...oh, it goes so well. Not that the kids can just tear each other up and we sit there praying, no, we have to take care of things, too. But we have to come to rest in the situation, give up our will, so that God can speak and give wisdom. It is humiliating to see how much impatience and anger I am full of, but it is a good place to be, since God gives grace to the humble, and I certainly need that.

So the question is: what do I want out of this day? Do I want everything to go smoothly, the kids to just behave and let me get things done? No fights, no pee-pee undies, no full cereal bowls elbowed off the table? If this is what I REALLY want, then I will certainly be frustrated when things don't go my way. But deep in my heart, today, I want to be saved. I want to be faithful in each and every temptation, so that goodness and mercy can come out of me instead of snapping and growling. (can you tell I have a puppy?) I want God to do a work in me. There is a line from a song we sing in church, "Let come what may,
along my way,
I'll give my life each day..."

Anyway, it is nice in here right now. Charlotte Claire was sleeping on a pile of blankets in the hall when I got up at 6:30 this morning. She got out of her crib, and must have discovered no one was up yet, so she went back to sleep. I sneaked by her, took Rosie out, came back in, changed Charlotte Claire, put her back to bed, came out and made 8 or 10 plates of cinnamon toast, got clothes out for the girls, woke them up.....Suzanne did not go today. She says her throat hurts. She is playing waffletown with Jonny, it is spread all over the living room floor. Camille is still sleeping, and Rosie is down for her first nap of the day. No, I didn't tuck her in, she just sprawls under the kitchen table every morning for an hours or so after 2 or 3 trips outside and some playing with the kids.

Okay, here are some of the best and worst things...

Best: When my period is done for the month. Over. Phew. (Of course I have had like 22 pregnancies in the last 25 years, so I haven't had to deal with it as much....)

Sitting down with a hot cup of coffee....or stopping at Dunkin'donuts for one....

One of those nice little notes that Suzanne likes to write to me, how much she loves me...

A phone call from my sister-in-law or my sister, or one of my brothers.....just to talk, or
even better, to invite me somewhere....

Worst: Picking up my coffee cup for that last little sip, and wah. Empty.

So confidently changing a pee-pee diaper, only to whip it off and discover, oops! It
was more than pee.

Last night I thought Margaret made no-bake cookies for us for dessert. How nice of
her. I didn't realize they were going to a girls gathering. After dinner, I picked up the
tray and started to pass them out and all the girls yelled at once, STOP mom! The poor
little kids! The girls were nice and let the little ones have one anyway.....

Finding one of those nice Avent or Soothies bottles with chunky milk in them. Yuck.

Well, the day is starting....wait, I have been up for almost three hours.....anyway, here I go.....

wow, tuesday morning....

the days just fly, life is going by tooooo fast. And the perpetual underlying element of my days is being tired. Even with Camille mostly sleeping through the night, I somehow don't get enough sleep. This morning I thought it was 6:45, and I got up and went in the bathroom. I turned on the light, looked at my watch, rats, it was 5:45! Wait a minute, yay!....back to bed I went without even going to the bathroom. And would sweet sleep come? ha.....

So, here I am. Rosie has been out three times and hasn't peed in here yet, which is nice. She is also getting much gentler with the nipping, and the kids are warming up to her more. The cutest thing ever is little Charlotte Claire, getting a treat out of the bag, and making Rosie come and sit. And Rosie listens to her!

I did make cookies last night, but I didn't feel like doing the chocolate covered cranberries , so I just did chocolate chip. I doubled the recipe, used half shortening and half butter, and instead of equal amounts of brown and white sugar, I used 2 cups brown, 1 cup white. Then a bag of mini hershey-bar baking chips, milk chocolate, and a few cups of Nestle's chocolate chips. ( we buy them by the huge bag at B.J's)....I baked a few trays in time for them to have one before bed, hot and gooey. I put some of the dough in a glass baking dish because I didn't have time for more cookies, and the rest in a storage baggie in the 'fridge, for Joseph to eat. Not really, but I may as well just give him permission.

My dear daughter Emily wrote a very encouraging short story recently, and I asked if I could print it here. She is thinking about it. The basic message of the story: we have our time here on earth, and we need to get oil in our lamps. I can clean, I can dress this way or that, I can be on time, or I can be thrifty. Great. But faithfulness in the hidden, obedience in the thoughts, humbling myself before God, that will bring oil. I can't borrow from my husband, I can't grab some at the last minute when the trumpet sounds. I can only work on my salvation day in and day out to get those precious drops. It doesn't matter in the least what others think of me, if I have a reputation for being a good mom, or if I am all organized (thank God for that!)....it is the virtue I attain here in my daily life. The virtue is a result of faithfulness.

I had to take a break and go get the puppy. The kids took her outside without a leash, then the bus came and Rosie wanted to go to school. She was coming back to me fine, but then Sonja was a straggler, trying to get a day off I think. When Sonja went running toward the bus, Rosie changed directions and went with her. So I had to do what I try not to do: go out in the driveway with barefeet in front of all the kids on the bus. And Rosie was filthy. She must have been under a car. I carried her in and gave her a bath, which she was thrilled about. Too bad she is going to get so huge, it is kind of fun to carry her out in her towel, and sit with her on my lap and brush her out so nicely. She tolerates it, but when she gets bigger, I don't know.

Well, never a dull moment around here. I do believe that all things happen for my best, and that God never sends me too much. Now I shall go on with my day and be tested in these things.....

stormy evening...

Paul and Abigail are at a meeting, Mirielle is babysitting, Joseph is at a town meeting for civics class (way to wait 'til the last minute, Joe!), Ben is working...and I am going crazy! Ah, not truly crazy, but the puppy is in here, and I am getting weary of just being so alert. The kids just picked up hundreds of pieces of Waffletown, then Camille started to dump the bin out again, which resulted in much shouting...enough to scare Rosie, who wondered what the heck SHE was doing wrong. Charlotte Claire did not go to sleep for her nice nap, again, so she is fussing. She needs stories and cuddle time and bed. She DID yell she had to go pee during dinner, yay, she has been dry and using the potty nicely all day.

Aaron and Mali have "tons" of homework, and Samuel is helping out keeping an eye on Rosie and the little ones....we got dinner all cleaned up, and I even took care of a big load of laundry, and put more in the dryer.

Our dinner was courtesy of my mother-in-law. I got the dreaded phone call that she was coming over today, not dreaded that she herself was coming over, just that I suddenly had to clean up and look like I had things under control. Ha. She came 1/2 hour early, and I was in the bathroom....yikes. She is very nice, and the kids just love her. She made us two pans of noodles, beef, tomatoes, corn casserole. It was good, and the best part was that it only had to be heated up. No, the best part was it was in disposable pans. But I usually wash them anyway.

I have this idea of cookies I want to make, and just can't seem to find a time to do it....I have a container of chocolate covered cranberries, and a bar of white chocolate. All I need are some macadamia nuts and my plan can go into action. But maybe I'll just make them without the nuts....hmmm. Would my my kids love me forever?

I have spent enough time here, I have kids to play with and cookies to make....

monday morning

I made plates and plates of bagels this fine spring morning, but I have yet to see the cheery faces of Abigail, Mirielle, Joseph, Mali, or Margaret. The first two are college students, the other three are in school. Or are supposed to be. I have to go get them up for second trip. Late is better than nothing, I guess. Samuel got up and went, and he didn't get back from fishing until midnight. For a thirteen year old, that is way late on a school night. My little girls are dragging. To much light too late at night for good sleeping. There is this excitement in the air about summer vacation that seems to rev up a bit around bedtime.

The girls want to go camping in the yard for a summer activity. We have a lot of ideas, I am probably more excited for vacation than them and the reason they can't sleep at night! As far as camping in the yard goes, be my guest, girls, just don't expect me to join you. Nah, I'll stay in here in my comfy bed. But I WILL make you a campfire first and toast marshmallows with you. When I say the little girls, of course I mean Jonathan, too. Poor Jon.

Well, these kids are getting ready for school, and I need to get moving....

i almost missed a day!

I am up too late, and was going to go to bed, then I realized: I didn't write anything today! Today was such a good day, it can't go without being recognized.

We stayed home today. Paul was gone for a long time yesterday, and with the amount of work he puts into church work (he does financial stuff, and planning stuff, and general paperwork),and home maintenence (notice I didn't say home IMPROVEMENT?), he needs a day off once in a while.

The day started waaay to early for a girl (I mean 43 year old woman) like me who stays up into the wee hours on Saturday night....6:00 Camille was whining. I picked her up and rocked her and she went back into her little green bed and back to sleep. Then I heard the dreaded sound of Charlotte Claire's squeaky door opening. Rats. I went in there, and she had taken her diaper off and peed on the floor (I am not a psychiatrist, but me thinks she is copying the dog)(out of jealousy)....she had made herself a nice nest on the floor, and was talking loudly to her dollies...I had to sneak out to the living room for another diaper, and rats, the puppy heard me! I quickly diapered Miss C.C., tucked her back into her crib, and took bratty puppy outside. I then brought her in, fed her, played with her, brought her back outside and linked her leash to the tie-out line, and came back in. It was 7:30. I snuggled into the couch, on a chilly cloudy morning, and was just starting to doze when Sonja woke up. I told her to let me sleep, and she could go out and say hello to Rosie, but don't untie her!! Well that somehow translated to untie the dog and bring her in to run around and bark and wake up all the kids!!!

Anyway, after a nice breakfast of eggs and sausage and fried potatoes and toast and orange juice , we cleaned up, Kathryn and I sneaked into Charlotte Claire's room for some cleaning and organizing. We had that room so nice before we did the living room floor. Then, all the toys from the toy corner got put in there, and it got so messy again. So we sorted, and straightened, and two hours later, the room is all clean and nice. Kathryn is working hard helping me with some of these projects to earn a new bike.

Of couse the newly cleaned room is a magnet to all these kids who want a new and different place to play.....no sooner had they set up library/kitchen/school, than Charlotte Claire was ready for nap...they set up in the foyer instead....which was nice, because I made them sweep it first!

Anyway, I took a nap this afternoon from 4 until 6. Which is a total waste of good Sunday time, but I was deliriously tired, and everyone was taken care of, Paul was here, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity, since I do love sleep. I actually woke up at 5, thought, "Not bad, just one hour", and promptly fell back asleep for another hour. I guess it just caught up with me, all the late nights and early mornings. The old grey mare ain't what she used ta be.

And now the house is silent except for Rosie shifting and panting in her cage. Here are some of her good points, and some of the bad...

Good points:

1. She keeps her cage dry, except for when she sees me in the morning, sometimes she starts peeing.

2. She has NEVER pooped in the house or in her crate, which I hate to even mention, as I know I am bringing on a massive case of doggy diarrea.

3. She is soft and fuzzy and loves to be pet.

4. She doesn't mind a bath, or being brushed.

5. Charlotte Claire likes feeding her treats, but first tells her to SIT, and she does! (she is getting gentler with the kids)

6. She goes into her cage at night, and sleeps there until morning with no barking or whining.

Now, the bad things about her:

1. She pees on the floor every half hour or so sometimes, unless we are super diligent about bringing her out. Even asking her if she wants to go outside will prompt her to pee.

2. She stays around nicely if I take her off the leash unless the cat runs by. Or unless she feels like running over to the neighbors quick. She does not respond to her name when this happens, it is as if she has never heard it before in her life. As if she never came to us over and over when we train her and reward her with treats.

3. She still has to be watched very carefully around the kids. She likes to play, and when they run, she nips at them. She WILL stop when we shout NO BITE at her, but she has sharp teeth. (the kids are also learning how to stop running and get her to sit when she gets wild. (Rosie can go 0 - 60 in like 5 seconds)).

So, I guess she is a keeper!

fun fun fun with the seven youngest!!!

Jonathan and Charlotte Claire, happy with water bottles....we stopped at the grocery store quickly for some milk and bread, and some water for these guys after our playground trip. Sonja, Evelyn, Suzanne, Jonathan, Kathryn, Charlotte Claire, and Camille, who wanted to try out that swing.

Charlotte Claire is getting so big...

This is the only playground I have seen with a slide like this. It has rollers, and they thought it was FUN! Camille was tickled by it.


Camille was hilarious.

Camille is going down the slide....

I thought camille and Charlotte Claire would be scared to go this fast, but no...

Suzanne and Sonja liked this tire swing. Charlotte Claire told me it was a "wheel"....

But here is the sad part. We went to the cemetary where baby Robert is buried. He was born/died in June, 2003. It is very sad, and I lie to the kids and tell them he was such a beautiful baby. Don't get me wrong, he was. But he was so small, and so helpless....I don't really like going to the cemetary, but Kathryn said she feels bad for him that we don't go visit......

I suppose this is the apex of tackiness, taking their picture here.....

This is the street, still blocked off, where Sarah Palin gave some speeches, visiting the city of Auburn....because she is govenor of Alaska, which was purchased by William Seward, who lived in Auburn. His house is now a museum, and s very interesting - he was a treasure collector, and extensive traveler, and his things are on display. Anyway, we decided not to pay $220 to shake her hand, we went to the playground at the lake instead.....

We had tons of fun. We picked up pizza, ate it at the park, playground, then walking around the park, saw some boats. Then we were thirsty, so we went to the grocery store and got a case of water (oh, those individual drinks are so exciting, even if it is water!) and just a few other things. I bought them some Italian icees to eat when we got home, and Sonja said they should thank her because she is the one who asked for them....We sang "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" on the way home, and everyone was happy except Suzanne, because Evelyn said something mean in Wegmans, and Suze was forced to smack her, and I was after her about it. Oh well....they went to bed like a dream a bit after 10:00.....and I am tired....

gorgeous saturday

And why am I sitting here blogging? Well, I am taking a little break from the gorgeous Saturday. I have swept and mopped and cleaned counters, and fed and changed kids and played outside with Rosie and the kids....I watched Kitten Force run up a tree, courtesy of Rosie chasing her, and drive the birds crazy. There is at least one nest of baby birds up there, and I was suprised that robins AND crows were screaming at the cat. She came down with out any baby birds to munch on, this time. Animals are animals.

Anyway, Camille is taking a break from the sun, too. She is in here on me getting me cooled down with her damp bathing suit. They diverted the hose from the big pool for a while to fill the little splash pool. They brought out a full bag of cheesies, and of course they dumped somehow, due to the extra gravity we have here, and Rosie thought it was her birthday until mean me came along and tied her up while they picked them up. After playing the blame game, which I don't care about, I just want them picked up!

Camille is now watching them out the window, Rosie is tied up and resting, and I am taking a break.

Abigail, Mirielle, and Mali went to Ottowa for the weekend, for a wedding. Paul and Aaron are going out to our church this afternoon and evening to cook and waiter at a wedding that our church is doing for a couple in the community. We have a really nice place, and rent it out occasionally. Paul is cooking, Aaron will be waitering (or waiting?) I do not know what Joseph and Sam have up their sleeves yet, but Margaret is planning to go to her friend's house, then go and clean up from the wedding with the other girls in the youth group, and then have a sleepover. So....I am here for dinner with the younger ones....I was thinking about driving up to the beach to watch the sunset....but is sounds like insanity. Worse insanity than usual. I don't know. I should probably just stay here.

Aaron went to do his NYSMA solo on the drums today. I don't know what it stands for, New York State Music ? Anyway, he got a 97%, on a level 6 drum solo, which is excellent. I am very impressed with him. The kids have so much musical interest and talent, which they do not get from me. But I am surrounded by music, and I do love it. Paul and Joseph play the guitar, Aaron plays drum and keyboard, Mali plays the clarinet and keyboard, Sam the trumpet, Emily guitar, Abigail trumpet, Ben the saxiphone, Margaret saxiphone and keyboard, Kathryn the flute, Mirielle the flute and keyboard. We have a violin they play sometimes, but no one has had lessons.

I may not be the best puppy housebreaker/trainer, but Charlotte Claire is doing well in her undies!!!! She is pooping in the toilet now, yay! And peeing, except occasionally in her undies when she waits too long. She is almost ready for that new pink bike. So 15 down, one to go. Unless God blesses us with another one.

Well, my break is over...