beautiful day, full of promise....

Jon was so tired last night after a long day at kindergarten and then childrens' choir practice, this is what he did when they got home.... In our school, kindergarten goes all day. They leave at 8:30 and get home after 4pm. That is a long day for a little child. But they go on the track every day, and they get their little naps, and supposedly it is a more leisurely day for them. They do art and music and gym and everything the older kids do. But it tires them out, that is why I am not adverse to keeping them home here and there......

Jon, Charlotte Claire and Camille like playing with Rosie. Rosie is the mom, Jon is the dad, and the girls are the big sister and the baby. They crawl around behind her, they maul her and pet her and climb on her and call her, "Mommy"......and I watch and worry that she will haul off and snap at them....but she hasn't. Although she bites Mali like there is no tomorrow. Just look at Camille in this picture....she is so sweet and affectionate, but such a BRAT! She loves being sung to. Last night she did not want to go to bed, "No want it, night night!", she kept declaring. Then Mirielle offered to sing her a song, and she rushed over and jumped into her arms, saying, "Butterfly, Butterfly", which is what Mirielle sings to her. I sung the Teddy Bear Picnic to her three times in a row this morning, she just melts and hugs and sucks her thumb......but, she is such a monster!!!

They were all in the cage with Rosie.

So now the medium sized kids, Kathryn, Evelyn, Suzanne, and Sonja, are out in the way back yard making a fort. I saw a blue sheet structure from the window, and then I saw Kathryn with a lamp that doesn't work anymore. I was planning to take them all to the apple place, but they are having so much fun with their fort, I think I will wait. Fort-making is a wonderful thing.

This morning the kids wanted hot cocoa because it was chilly in here. I was nice and said yes. Then I realized as I cleaned up the mess that they hadn't had breakfast, only the cocoa with marshmallows. The mess Camille made was shocking, even to me. Oh, she wants a big-girl cup, and yes, she will be nice and not make a mess. Okay, to be fair, she doesn't really agree to the terms, she just wants the same cup as the other kids. And because I am nice (and stupid, or blindly hopeful, or just plain naive), I let her have it. After all, a marshmallow in a sippy cup is no fun.....

Anyway, I made eggs and sausage and toast, and omelets with cheese and peppers for Paul and I, and by the time I got out of the kitchen two hours had passed. And I still have to go clean up the second breakfast mess. Abigail took Mali and Margaret shopping, and to get her oil changed. Joseph, Aaron, and Samuel are going to a birthday celebration for their friend soon. So Mirielle might help me clean up. I don't want to call the kids in from their fort to help.

So it is a perfect autumn day. Sun shining, breezy, not too warm, not too cold, (in the sixties), the leaves are starting to turn. Our pear tree is literally heaving under the weight of the pears this year. They have alot of brown spots, but they aren't too bad to eat. Mirielle and I are thinking about baking some pear tarts. Our peach tree is producing small hard peaches that resemble miniture tennis balls. Which is what the kids are using them for. They also have spots. I don't know if we should be spraying them or something. We just planted them, they grew, and bore fruit. Is there more to it? It's funny to think that when we moved here 17 years ago, this was all corn fields, our land was raw brown earth in the midst of those fields. We planted the grass and the trees, and trees planted themselves in the land next to us....time goes by so quickly.

I have been thinking about marriage, and how often they seem to break up these days. Okay, two people fall in love, and get married. They like each other, they love each other, they like to spend time together. So, through the years, the trials come. In each trial, we have a choice. We can blame and be bitter and offended, thus hardening our heart, or we can choose to be good. We can admit that we have sin ourselves, and have mercy on the other. We can choose to be forgiving and overlooking and kind and gentle. These are choices we make in our thoughts. These choices dictate who we become. People who are old and bitter were once sweet innocent babies. They chose to grumble and complain and thus turned out miserable. Marriage is a gift from God. It is worth fighting for. I mean, we are not perfect. Somehow we don't see ourselves, but every single time HE does something or says something, wow. I am SO upset. Why is he so mean? Why can't he ask me first? On and on. To be forgiving and respectful is not just a worthless suffering that only hurts me and suppresses me. No, it is fighting for the marriage, fighting for peace. Fighting that sin in myself reaps peace with those around me. Paul and I have been married for over 25 years, and we still have so much fun together. We are very different people. He tends to be much more responsible and practical than me. But we have been good to each other, and there is a blessing over that. I have a brother who is not with his wife anymore, and they used to hang around with us when we were all young. They were crazy about each other, and had so much fun together. Communication is very important....when you think you know what he is thinking, it is usually wrong, because MEN think DiFFERENTLY than women. Oh, he doesn't love me anymore.....and since this is a family blog, I will not get into this here, but men equate love with different things than women do. I think women like to be talked to and listened to first and foremost. And hugged. But...anyway....it is just something I have been thinking of.

I need to do some things, and maybe get the kids out for apple picking...or maybe wait 'til next week if they don't want to leave their fort....oh, the forts they love to build but hate to clean up.