christmas is coming....

the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny a half penny 'll do, if you haven't got a half penny, God bless YOU!......I have always liked that poem. Here is a nice view of our tree. It is leaning toward the wall. It is big and bushy and random. The kids decorated it and I didn't go touch it up. They have gone through 3 boxes of candy canes so far. Camille found one this morning, and I asked her to bring it to me. She looked at me, looked at the candy cane, turned around and waddled away. We went to church this morning. We had to take two vehicles. Everyone went except Ben, so that's seventeen. The kids are too big to squish into the big van, especially with the car seats. We have 5 in car seats, although Suzanne doesn't always sit in hers, as she is seven years old. Lunch was a potporri today, eggs&sausage, microwaved frozen pretzels, leftover pasta/chicken/vegetables, bagels, peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches, and oranges (thank you Gramma and Grampa in Florida !!)

Now it is the quiet part of the day. Samuel is going to make me a cup of coffee. He is working on picking up the kitchen, as he is going to sweep and mop to earn money for a movie ticket. Some of the boys are going tonight to see, "The Day The Earth Stood Still". Emily, my dear daughter, is leaving for an ice-skating excursion with Mirielle, Aaron, Mali, Kathryn, Evelyn, and Suzanne, and some of the other girls from church. Sonja has a friend over, and is watching a Barbie movie with her and Jonathan. Charlotte Claire and Camille are napping, Abigail is studying, Paul is on the other computer, Benjamin is at work, and Joseph is playing guitar with a friend from church. We went to the meeting with 17 and came home with 18. Because Margaret went shopping with her cousin Becky.

There are probably 50 things I should be doing rather than sit here, but heck. It is Sunday afternoon. And I do have a monumental headache brewing. So the treadmill is out. How can anyone excercise with a headache?

One thing about having alot of kids is when they all go to do extra fun things on the same day, and want money. They do help us out alot though, and they don't ask for much. And we very often have them do a little something extra to earn it, like Sam with the kitchen floor. Someday they will be good workers somewhere. They will know how to do just about everything. Sam can make coffee, cook simple meals, change diapers, (he doesn't do it regularly, but he knows how), do a load of laundry, vacuum, make a fire, shovel the driveway, change lightbulbs, put gas in the van. He can console a crying baby, he knows not to shake babies or toddlers, too. He also knows how to tease the little girls, and Jon, too. As long as teasing isn't mean spirited or hurtful, it's okay.

One game we play is, if such-and-such was a dog, what kind would he/she be? For example, Sam says the little girls would be yappy little vain dogs, and Abigail would be a border colllie. Joseph would be a St.Bernard, and Aaron a golden retriever, steady and dependable and friendly.

Paul and I get to go out tonight! We are going to some friends of ours' house. They have 14 children, one is married, and all the rest are still at home. Their kids go to school with ours, and they are in our church. They are having a Christmas couples' gathering at their home tonight. And of course the fudge I put aside, wrapped up on a plate to bring tonight has been looted. And: No one did it. I am a bit hesitant to leave Miss bratty-Camille at bed time, because she cries and cries when I am not here to nurse her. Then she punishes me for a few days afterward by being bratty when I put her in her little pink bed. The thing is, when I am here, sometimes after I nurse her, I hand her off to Mali or someone to put her in her bed, and she is fine with that. Oh well, it will be worth it to be out with some grown-ups who aren't my kids.

Well, it is late afternoon, and I HAVE NO IDEA what we are having for dinner yet. Yesterday, I raided the big freezer, and cooked 3 bags of chicken chunks, honey barbecued, and chicken strips, and served them with fries and broccoli. Too easy. I thought of having Emily pick up some Little Cesaers pizza while she was in the city, but for $6 each, and we need five.....well, not today.

Camille is up.....so quiet time is over.