airport tonight......

Did I stay home today? How could I? Abigail had a flat tire on her car, and the next day the tire on Emily's tire exploded, right after Ab pulled in the driveway. We shudder to think what would have happened if it had happened just a few minutes earlier, while she was cruising down the highway. Anyway, she needed a new tire, and the other car had to be towed to the shop. I went to Walmart with her for the tire. Yes, two days in a row. Then to Wegmans, where I only needed a couple of things. ha. Gloves and hats were 75% off. The ride home was, as usual, wonderful. I got a large coffee, and instead of our cranberry walnut muffins, we opted for chocolate peanut donuts. 65cents each or a dozen for $5.60. hmm. Of course we got the dozen!!! To be fair, it WAS lunch, and I only had one. Not one single bite of another. Anyway, fast forward to evening....we have been wondering when the girls fly in from Norway....Emily texted me a bit ago, and said they will be in at midnight. YAY! I am not merely tired, I am really tired. We set the clocks back an hour on Sunday morning, so my body thinks it is eleven, and it is ten....or is it the other way around...anyway, it is late and I have to leave in about an hour.

Benjamin and Camille

I came across this picture from Christmas-time....I guess I am lucky to have eleven daughters. Kathrun is the one standing backwards..Emily has her head on my shoulder....

Mirielle will kill me...she is the girl in the purple out front....Emily Anne is next to me, then Margaret and then Mirielle.....Abigail is on the far right, then Mali holding Camille...and Evelyn in front of Ab, and Suze and Sonja, and Charlotte Claire all the way to the front. Kathryn isn't in this one... And.....that is all. Does that mean we had a nice quiet evening? Well, there were sixteen of us for dinner, again. That is not quiet. Oh wait, Samuel did not come to the table because he ate a huge bowl of leftover Hamburgerhelper after school, plus a donut. He did wander in afterwards for the dessert Mirielle made, chocolate pudding, real whipped cream, and a scoop of ice cream. I resisted, but I did go to the pan and scrape a spoonful of pudding. yum. I wish I hated all these good things, but no such luck.

Mirielle and Margaret painted their room the color of Mirielle's shirt in the picture above. They painted their window trim white, and it looks really nice. They have been cleaning their childhood out of their room. Sweetstreets and old Barbies and china dolls. Pictures and papers and folders and oh, the clothes they have weeded out......

I looked at our Jamaica pictures tonight....oh the sun! The warmth! I feel so pale and blah. Every day I think I need to get on that treadmill, but it has been so so busy. And today I had a revelation: for years and years I was either pregnant or nursing a baby. Now I am not pregnant OR nursing a baby. Pregnant ladies take naps sometimes and take rests....and nursing mommies sit down and feed babies. Ah-ha! That's why I am so tired! I am not taking those rests or nursing breaks. Well, I do take breaks, but not often like nursing. Actually, I am not tired when I am up and about, but when I sit down, I could fall asleep. And I cannot do that tonight, because I have some driving to do.

I saw a miserable lady today. She had a grim look on her face. She was walking through the parking lot, and I felt sorry for her. We were at a store in the middle of a small city, and I assumed she was walking back to her apartment or something. Then she got into a shiny new Mercedes.....but she still looked miserable. What is my point? I don't actually know. But I guess fancy cars don't make one happy.

I'll tell you what makes ME happy:

1. Jonathan sounding out words. Tonight he read the word FLAPJACK.

2. Charlotte Claire being so tired because she didn't have her little sofa-sleep, and asking if we can PLEASE put her to bed.

3. I trimmed Camille's hair, and caught her five minutes later with the scissors, she was cutting it "again, Mommy"....(the happy part was that I caught her)

4. Benjamin...when he is good, he is very very good, and that is all I am going to say about that.

5. Our dinner table. Our kids are awful. They are thinking of all the things they want to do when the Norwegian guests are here....like having me walk in and announce we are out of toilet paper, and everyone at the dinner table starting to fake cry really loud.....tonight they were loud and silly and funny and it was so absolutely wonderful to be here that I cannot put it into words.

6. Mirielle. She made dessert AND did the dishwasher.

7. I bought six new towels, and washed them with Downey fabric softener. Yum.

8. Paul hung my new bulletin board, I will take a picture tomorrow when I am not so tired.

9. The quiet. As much as I enjoy them all, the quiet is nice too.