pancake morning...

Mirielle got up and made pancakes and bacon for the school kids this morning. It is only day three of the school year, but there has been a peaceful spirit in the morning. I will do what I can to keep that going.

Mirielle and Aaron want to do a series of short YouTube videos of our family....to show the contrast between what goes on here, and what they think people probably believe our family life is like. The will probably have a blog linked to this. I remember when we used to use our video camera all the time, and the kids would hook it up to the tv and we would be watching, and there I would be, chewing someone out about something....and I would think, "Do I sound like that? Do I LOOK like that?"....so this should be interesting. Oh, the perfect would be that every word is thought out and kind, and that is my heart's intention...but the reality....I'm working on it.....and the background mess....Mirielle says it is part of the fun...uh-oh.

We have a dear friend who has cancer. She is 82 and still as sharp as a whip, and so very kind. She is English, and her father was a railroad man who raised the family in India. She set sail for America in her early twenties, and was a nurse all her life in Oaklahoma, then moved to this area over twenty years ago. Her dear sister, Evelyn Joy, who lived with her for many many years, who my Evelyn is named after, passed away three years ago. Now Gwen is sick, and I know she is old, but.....it is so sad. She has total and complete faith and confidence in God, so she is at peace about it. She is in our church, and she has been SUCH a good example. She testifies at every meeting, she does not complain, she never backbites, on the contrary, she speaks of other in such a way that she lifts them up in your eyes. Sitting down and talking with Gwen, you forget in 5 seconds that she is so old. She is easy to talk to, and has fascinating stories to tell. I really want to spend some time with her soon....she is of course getting frail, and to hear her say in her quiet way, "The Lord has been so good to me..." Oh, what a contrast to that feeling-sorry-for-myself spirit.....

Just thinking about Gwen encourages me today. I want to think good thoughts about people and be thankful for what God sends my way. Because at the end of the day, it isn't whether I got my own way, but the way I took things, that matters. Oh, to be cleansed of the irritation and bitterness and stop the ranting and complaining dead in its tracks....so that our home and marriage can be peaceful and good....I read Obama's speech...and I refuse to discuss politics here, ha, but despite my initial misgivings, whoever wrote that speech did a darned good job. To take responsibility for one's own actions, despite the circumstances, that is wisdom. If each and every American were to do this, I can't even imagine how good it would be.

Our house is a mess today. The older ones and daddy left right after dinner, and I did the dishwasher and the pans...but the counter is picking up all the clutter, again. I hate clutter, and it seems to me that that counter looked fine and dandy yesterday. Now, it is home to a stack of clean bowls, a bottle of diet Pepsi, some Hershey syrup, two half-empty plates of watermelon, a bag of granola, Mirielle's camera, a half of banana, a drink pitcher, a jar of pckles, a tub of margarine....and on the living room floor, two sit-n-spins, a dolly stroller, several books, a towel used to mop up Mirielle's water last night that Rosie spilled, a laundry basket filled with clean unmatched socks, a few stray socks, a stuffed fish, a stuffed doggy, a school paper, the tissues Camille emptied last night.....a pair of froggy boots....it won't take long to whip it into shape again, just some quick picking up and sweeping.....but hopefully no one will drop in here for a while.....the washer is humming already, working on the ever present huge pile of bedding, which we never get to the bottom of. It is nice out, so I will dry as much outside as I can....anyway, as much as I would like to clean things up at night, I can't do it anymore. I am too tired from the day......and sometimes I tell the kids our new plan will be that they help clean up in the morning before school, and oh, the groans and protests! I don't think that would be very peaceful here....so, I spend my mornings cleaning up and sorting and picking up......

My little girls are up now this morning, so I have things to do and kids to play with....