today....

I was right. I am kicking myself about the kitchen clean-up. Joseph did load and run the dishwasher after dinner, but there are still lots of cups and mugs and some pans.....rrr. Oh well.

I was thinking last night while preparing dinner, that if I only had two or four or even six to make dinner for it would be a whole different story. It is the quantity that I make that turns it into an ordeal. I did cook up a package of hot sausage while I had the oven on, then I baggied it up and put it in the freezer for future use. I like verbing nouns, "baggied" is such a good word. And since this is MY blog, I can use it if I want to, so there, Mirielle.

This morning I read the paper, as usual. Not much going on, yet....Israel shouldn't be sorry to Joe Biden, and China shouldn't censor Google. I saw a soup recipe that looked good. It was called "Red and Yellow Chowder", made with red peppers and corn and potatoes and chicken broth. What surprised me was how short the cooking time was. "Cook for five minutes and then allow potatoes to finish cooking, another five minutes." Five minutes? hmm. I haven't made a pot of soup that cooked that fast in years.

I am laughing at myself, fretting about the price of Reese's Eggs. 39 cents each, times six is $2.36. And I paid $2.50 at Big Lots...big deal. I guess it is just that for $7.50, we each get one stinkin' egg.

I put pictures on my new bulletin board last night. I looked through lots and lots of pictures. I was up all by myself, and I found myself crying my eyes out. I cried for Billy, because I found pictures of him with the kids, and for my mother, oh the pictures of her with my babies. She was the number one fan of my babies. And just the pictures of my older kids when they were so young and cute. Benjamin in his Syracuse Orangemen hat with missing teeth. The three oldest sitting on a picnic blanket in the sunshine. And my favorite, which I will scan someday and put on here, me with Kathryn, Evelyn, Suzanne, and newborn Sonja, all on my lap. Sonja is almost eight, so that made Kathryn 4 years and old, Evelyn two and a half, and Suzanne 14 months old. It seemed like it would just go on forever, having those babies every year or so. Time slips away, and I cried for those days, and I cried for all the times I could have been more patient. I know how hard it has been for me to maintain the house and rasie the kids, and looking at those pictures makes me see how important just spending time with those sweet children is. I want to go back in time and hug my little Joseph, as a toddler with his little OshKosh overall shorts on, and those big ears and huge blue eyes. And Mali, with her hair chopped off, courtesy of herself. And Emily, dressed in old-fashioned clothes to visit the one-room schoolhouse, not just playing the part but really living it. And baby Jonathan, sleeping in then-thirteen year old Joseph's arms. And 12 year old Aaron holding my niece Grace. The sweetness. I laughed and cried and had myself a good old time. It was midnight when I finished up.

So today I have time-change-fever. Ugh, I am tired. My children did not want to go to school. But having looked at those pictures, I was armed with the mind to be good! So I went into their room this morning, singing a gentle song about waking up, (I was making it up as I went along, )then I sat down on Jon's bed and talked them awake in a quiet voice. Then I made them toast and jam or heated up pancakes. And did hair and packed snacks, and before I knew it, they were gone on the bus. And I am not proud and bragging when I say I am glad I was good to them this morning. No, I am thankful to God that He allows me to see myself and teaches me how to humble myself. My whole being is about ME, ME, ME. But I am learning!!!

Emily and Mali are flying in tonight. The four guests from Norway are also flying in, but to New York City. They are renting a car and driving up. They are staying the night down there, so they will be here tomorrow night. We are all so very excited to have them come here! I was telling the kids this morning not to jump on them and climb on them. Not that they are attention starved, but if you come to our house, you WILL have friends. They will bring you books and jump around and act crazy, and I will say, "They don't always act like this!" And I will tell them to calm down. But they are just happy to have company. They will fight over who gets to sit next to you at dinner.

My sweet Camille is up now so.....