one of those moms...

Sometimes I find myself wishing I was one of those moms.....who takes pictures of every birthday party and puts the pictures in an album....maybe even one album for each child with pics from each birthday, with other milestones in between....instead, I take pictures of some of the birthdays, and if I ever get around to getting them printed, they land in a drawer.....that is IF we have a birthday party. Right now, I owe one to Margaret, from last Dec. 22nd, and one to Kathryn, March 23, and Samuel James, August 2nd. Not too bad. But Evelyn's is creeping up, so I should do the owed ones first. Or be a huge cheater and have a 4-way party. ha. Sam would hate that.

Mali, who is 15, and Aaron, who is 16, are good friends. They are going on a bike ride today, 4 miles to town for Aaron to drop off a job application, and then on to their grandparents' house, a few more miles down the highway, for a visit. I gave them money to stop for ice cream. I wonder if they realize how nice it is to have such a good friend as a brother/sister. I could tell Aaron missed her when he got back from Norway and she was still in France. They love their adventures. It is not so easy for me to let them go, but at the same time, I love that they like to such simple things.

They want to go to the Adirondacks. We aren't thinking to go this year as a family. It is expensive (not just the campsite, but the tire of the camper that needs replacing, gas to haul a 35 ft. camper behind a 15 passenger van, ect.), and it takes so much work to pack....and the unpacking....yuck. So a few of the older ones might go up for a weekend. Hey, maybe we should all just go tenting..and forget the camper. Nah. We did try that. When Emily and Abigail were little, we tented up there for a week. Abigail did not sleep. We went home vowing never to do that again....but I think now that we just didn't have the right equipment. The ground was too hard, we had no camp stove, so we had to make a fire even for coffee.....the smoke was tiring....anyway, we got a pop-up camper the next year. I remember the night we decided we needed to graduate to a bigger camper. We had 5 kids. Emily, the oldest, was seven. Abigail was 5. Benjamin was three, Mariel 2, and Joseph was one year old. I newly pregnant for Aaron. After we tucked them into bed, we went outside, since the camper was packed with sleeping kids. We sat under the teeny-tiny awning (this was a very small camper), in the rain, trying to read the paper with a Coleman lantern....we talked about getting something bigger....so, the next year, we had Aaron, and bought a nice big camper.

Anyway, we just got home from staying in the camper, and it is kind of fun. One day some girls were in the camper while Paul and I were down at the grill. They were playing house, I think. They ran alot of water. Lots and lots. The grey water tank overflowed, right into the shower. Now, the hot water heater in our camper broke the first year we owned it, and we never replaced it, $$$, so we have only cold water. So, we do not take showers in there, which is fine, because putting the dirty clothes into the shower is nice for me. Anyway, the grey water tank overflowed and filled the shower stall with like 6 inches of water, making the clothes float. I was so stinkin' upset when I discovered this! It wasn't a big deal to empty the tank and rinse out the clothes....but again, vacation..... I slept with Camille the entire time....she just would not sleep in the nice little nest I made her on the floor. She refused. So, I took her into the nice comfy queen-sized bed with me. She rolled off the bed onto the floor the first two nights, so after that I put a laundry basket full of clothes along one side of the bed, and she stayed put. Sort of. She climbed up me, rolled into me, and kicked me. It was sort of sweet to sleep with her, but not so conducive to a good night's sleep. So, another "vacation"...hmm. I think we are just too tired!

The kids tried out the pool today. The filter is installed, we just have to get a little more water in there....and then put on the ladder. I stayed in the hot tub, set at 96, with crazy Camille, while they swam with Paul. Camille is giving me grey hair. She says, "I JUMP!"....and she hold her breath, and jumps right under. I grab her up each time, but she is determined. She knows to hold her breath, and she didn't cough and choke at all. When I try to grab her, she says, "No, No, Mamma, I jump!" and she says, "Watch!".....hmm, good idea.

The thing is, I have to go to the grocery store. We have no milk. At all. Camille went to bed with a bottle of apple juice. I know, I know, never put the child to bed with a bottle. Rules were made to be broken, I guess. And, I have a child who loves to go to bed. Who wouldn't want to be tucked in with a nice little bottle of strawberry or chocolate milk? Make bed time nice, that's what I think.

So, we need some things from the store. I might just pack up 5 or 6 kids and go to the closer store, it is 16 miles from here. Then I'll get home in less than 2 hours, compared to the 4 or 5 hours it takes me if I go to the Target and Price-chopper.....(but Target IS fun!)

Well, my blissful afternoon is marching on, Camille is sleeping, and Charlotte Claire is playing in her own little world in the little blue tent in the middle of the living room. The girls are having some afternoon tea, Mirielle went on a run. She has mowed the entire lawn. She uses the push mower to get excercise. She also likes to tan at the same time. (some of us just are having a hard time believing that tanning is evil)

Evelyn Joy just brought me the most delicious cup of afternoon coffee. We are out of milk, but Mirielle brought home some of the leftover heavy cream from the coffee bar at the conference center....which she has plans for, so she was not thrilled when Evelyn dumped a whole bunch in my coffee. Buy YUM, talk about good! I am glad we don't always have it, I couldn't resist it. I have to stay out of it though, Mirielle's plans probably include something chocolate, like her famous chocolate cake, which is so dense and rich and sinful......

Well, I have to go and get these kids ready for a shopping trip....just what I want to do on a nice afternoon. But I cannot complain. I have a van, a magic card (named such by Aaron and Mali), and stores with everything we need, want, and didn't know we needed or wanted....Now if I can just get up out of this comfy chair.....