stormy day, cooler evening

Charlotte Claire likes baby Camille's carseat so much, I have to keep it in my room...I got home from the grocery store tonight, and she made a beeline....she wants to be my baby still.... Suzanne Eleanor, 7, skipped school today....she had the zoo field trip, and we thought it was too hot...this is her reaction to the storm that passed through here today....

Here Mr. Benjamin Paul, 19, holding 7 month old Camille Anaya....he just loves her...

Jonathan, Charlotte Claire, and Suzanne are watching the storm....they were worried about the floaties on the pool....

Sonja Kathleen, 6, decided it was too hot to go to kindergarten today...she was afraid of the thunder storm....she said she was glad she wasn't in school for it...

Mariel, 18, is a senior in high school....she needed to get some pictures printed up for her senior speech and collage...so off we went after dinner. First to Rite Aid....pictures, some gum, Dove chocolate.....yum....then to grocery store for bananas, apples, milk, bread, eggs, cheese, chicken, frozen veges....the basics....we took Evelyn Joy, 8, and Sonja, and of course Camille the incredible nursing baby.....Mariel took Evelyn and Sonja to the bulk section and let them pick a few pieces of any kind of candy....it took them forever to decide....but as long as they get only a few pieces, it is cheap....and they had so much fun...

I never got out to the pool today....I must confess, I took a nap....that trip really wore me out. So, when Camille went to nap, so did I....it did feel nice, but such a waste of time. And of course Kathryn's teacher called to cancel the class party, because of the thunder storms, and Sonja answered the phone and said mommy was sleeping....if I've told them once, I've told them a thousand times, just say mommy can't come to the phone right now...

Aaron missed his long-awaited opthomalogist appointment today, because mommy forgot to write it on the calendar....now he has to wait until October....so I am going to call Empire vision and see if he can get in....he needs some glasses....and he is going to the surgeon for a consult about his depressed sternum next week...the same day Evelyn is celebrating her birthday in second grade....the end of the school year is busy, with field trips and picnics, concerts...and Kindergarten graduation....wouldn't it be neat if I could get all my kids to go with me? Emily the nurse has 3 days off next week, maybe I'll try for a family picture....

Today I found myself getting really sick of the noise and perpetual motion....that feeling that I want to escape everything....then I realized, again, that I need to re-adjust my state of mind. I cannot always change my circumstances, but I can, by the grace of God, be more patient, and longsuffering. With the kids I can just get so intolerant, and that frustrates them....but when I can wait, give them time to do what I ask, and be gentle and good, what a difference....they are human, with their own sinful natures, and I cannot mold them into what I want them to be, nor do I want to. But I also have to teach them right and wrong, and respect....I tell them that if they grew up jumping on the furniture and eating all over the house, no one would ever want to have them over....and our house would be trashed....so they need limits....but I just really really thank God that He has been so merciful and good to me, that I can see myself in all this, and really fight against my own sin, and not be so blind as to blame my frustrations on others...