wednesday afternoon

Jonathan loves Camille...the question is: how hard is he hugging?

Emily had Kitten Force first, then Joe took her....

Whatever you do, it you talk to Emily, do not tell her these pictures are up here.
We were just sitting around, Em trying to convince Joe to give blood with her tomorrow.

Molly thought it would be nice to put Camille in the doll pram. All very cute, but just seconds after this was taken, she leaned forward, and mom screamed....at least I dropped the camera to save the baby, unlike those mean parents on "America's Funniest Home Videos"....I never can understand how they just keep filming when those disasters happen. But, Camille was fine, thanks to mom....

Here is Samuel, 12, holding Camille, while Kathryn, 10, looks on. I just love the pictures of the boys with the baby. They have no idea how lucky they are. Or what good kids they are. We have had such a nice afternoon today....Emily and Aaron are home from their trip to England, and were both home today, as jet lag prevented Aaron from even thinking about going back to school....and Sam was home with a stomach ache ha . And Mariel was home because she is a senior....When Joe, Margaret, and Molly got off the first trip bus, we had some coffee, and sat around chatting. It's interesting to hear about the kids' trip, too. They had more fun hiking in the mountains than they had in London, which they described as hot and crowded. They ate in a Pub, and had "chips", which are commonly known as fries....they had tea frequently, and marveled at the large number of sheep and lambs wandering around...Em drove their rental car on the wrong side of the road all right, but apparently the roads are narrow, and sometimes they are enclosed on both sides with a brick wall, which Emily bumped into, resulting in a torn tire, resulting in a visit to a repair shop...but hey, with those two, everything is an adventure.

I have had another busy day, so far. I won't bore you with the details, but when I finished some work in here, I took the kids outside for some sunshine. Aaron was studying in my favorite chair. I made him move. Then there was a worm in Charlotte Claire's sandbox, so I got Aaron to get it out for me. When he went to throw it, he stepped on a piece of glass. So he went in the house to fix it up, and I was outside feeling so guilty....I mean, the kid was out there doing his homework so peacefully, and along comes mom.....oops!

Then, Jonathan and I put together the 4 new solar lights I bought last night. We put two in the front yard, and two back near the hottub that isn't running yet. And I raked up a bit back there, to ready for some planting....we had some of these solar lights before, but whoever mows the lawn just picks them up and tosses them out of the way....I have to put my foot down here - please be careful.....!

So, last night at Target, I bought a memory foam mattress topper for my bed!!! I put it on today with a little help from Emily and Mariel. Then I tried it out, and it was hard to get back up...I am counting the hours 'til bedtime...

The new thing around here is the kids playing in Benjamin's Nissan Maxima, parked in front yard, not running. He wants to keep it because it gets better milage than the car he's driving. Anyway, the kids have discovered how much fun it is to play in. I don't let them go in it when Charlotte Claire is awake, because I don't want her: in the road, or fingers pinched in the door. Jon likes playing in that car so much, he didn't even want to go to Price -Chopper with us and go in the car-car-cart....I won't let Jon go in the car with-out someone at least Kathryn's age (10) with him. I'm afraid he'll get locked in or something. I really don't want them in it at all, but they have so much fun pretending. And I remember so clearly when I was little, and my uncle had his volkswagon beetle in our yard for a while....so much fun to play in....

We had fun at the grocery store, aside from the fact that we : forgot the list AGAIN, and didn't have the ad with the coupons in it....but we did okay, and spent less than $300. The manager knows me, and she wants to have 12 kids someday. She was asking me questions again, which I don't mind a bit. I like talking to people, and if I can help their day at work go quicker, fine. But it embarrasses my 18 year old daughter, whom I won't name. I don't know why. Our big van embarrasses them, too. People in school have called them Mennonites....which we of course aren't. My daughter just wants to be herself, not be known as one of the kids from that big family. I can understand that. One more reason I try to keep the yard from looking like we're having a yard sale....'cause one of the kids on the bus asked if we were, one time.....

Evelyn Joy, 8, is staying home tomorrow!! Yay! Her class is going on a field trip to a science museum, then to a huge mall for lunch. Second grade. I tried to get Emily signed up as a chaperone ( I can't really do it with a nursing baby), but the slots were all full. So, she's having a fun day home with me. I have a hard time sending the kids out the door to school, but the Mall? With another mom that I don't even know? Naw.

Camille Anaya is whining, and I need to get dinner going, again. I think the single biggest challenge for me is the daily dinner. Everyone is here tonight, which is nice, but that means 17 plates....The good thing is though: we are having steak on the grill. Price-Chopper is wonderful: $1.99 a lb. for sirloin steak. Cheaper than hamburger these days.

Sonja K. 6, is painting her nails at the kitchen table. Lovely. I still have some groceries to put away before we can sit at the table....

Camille Anaya having some tummy time. Which doesn't last long before it turns into "back" time...notice the nice orange car Mr. Jonathan shared with her?