winter again

Okay...yesterday I did something "bad". I let five children skip school to go to the Museum of Play. Margaret doesn't count, because the eighth graders were going to Washington, D.C., and she wasn't going. The school requires the students who don't participate in the field trip to attend school anyway. Um..no thanks.

Anyway....I took nine of them to the museum...three older ones went to school, two went to college, then of course Abigail was at work and Ben...he is in the Army. I always have to add up how many I have and where they all are.

Because it is easier than you think to walk away without someone.

So, I let the kids skip to do this fun thing, and it was FUN. But this morning rolls around.....and Suze has this headache...she says she really WANTS to go to school, but her head hurts....my own head has been aching for a few days, so I believed her, but....I suggested that since I still have to do everything when I don't feel so great, she should go to school....was that right? Am I an awful mother? She looked so sad about it....but she is quite the drama queen. I don't know. Then Jonathan...he needed a shower. He was taking his own shower. He came out of the bathroom dry because the water would not co operate. He went in a second time. I tried to help him but he locked the door, said he was fine and didn't need help. Well, he came out with just the top of his head wet. Said he washed his hair. I told him he shouldn't lie to me, I can tell he didn't even get into the shower. So I gave him a shower, which he did not like one little bit. He started to cry.....he cried and cried, then it was almost time to leave, I was dressing him, wondering how this crying boy could get on the bus, and Sonja K. went out the door and let the dog out!!! rrr. I had to get my coat and boots on and go trick her. I opened the van doors and asked her if she wanted to go bye-bye....I let her in to eat a few pretzels and fries that my dear nephew had showered the floor with, (I also noticed several and I mean SEVERAL empty sugar packets scattered on the floor toward the back of the van....when I was driving through the snow, I thought I had heard them talking about eating sugar, but I decided not to process that particular information at that time....) then hooked the leash on her collar and brought her into the house.

The bus came, Jonathan was still sobbing. He is home today. I am not happy with him. Oh, I still love him to pieces, and I am thinking he is very tired...even though he got to sleep at a good time last night..I don't know. He is in his own little world playing with his Hess trucks. He told me he is sorry, but that he "can't help how his body reacts...", in regard to the crying. He said it is because he has a headache, and that he is sorry. He is also telling me that his brain can't control his imagination, his own words, when he is trying to go to sleep at night. He thinks of cars going off the road, then thinks of other things like roads breaking and crumbling, and he can't sleep. And it isn't his fault. He is telling me these things, because he is a good boy and doesn't want me to be upset with him. I tell him I still love him and I like him, but he has to listen to me in the morning, and that he has to go to school....not today though. He is staying here and having some time with the girls and I. Perhaps a boy with such an imagination needs a little extra time with his mom.

Yesterday at the museum I really missed having a baby in a stroller. It was so strange not to have a stroller at all! I was almost jealous of one young mom, she had the nicest PegPerego stroller and car seat...and a very sweet little baby boy to go with it. But to everything there is a season. I was glad to be there and enjoy my own kids, and my nieces and nephew. They all are so delightful. Even when they cry in the van.

quick update on the kids...although since six of them are teenagers and four are in their twenties, it is hard to call them all "kids"...

Emily, 26....she is still an RN, working the night shift at a very busy hospital in the city. She is thinking of buying a house. She was offering some of the older kids to come live with her and pay rent...and I said, "NO FAIR stealing my KIDS, Emily!!

Abigail, 24....she is still working in accounting at an insurance place in the city. It is SO nice when she drops in for a visit. She also likes having the kids over to her place to visit, which they love.

Benjamin, 22...he is doing well. He has a good attitude, he called Kathryn last night to wish her a Happy Birthday.

Mirielle, 21.....she is still in college, and is planning to go to nursing school. She made the yummiest homemade chocolate/vanilla marble three layer cake with chocolate frosting for Kap's birthday....

Joseph, 19....he is in college, he commutes with Mirielle. He still plays his guitar, and has been working out and running. He also eats only healthy things. He is looking good.

Aaron, 18....he is a senior this year, and has been accepted to nursing school in the fall. He is in the school play and he works at a grocery store. He is still a brat, he and Joe put ketchup on Rosie's head the other night.

Mali, 17....she is also a senior and is going to nursing school. She is still a vegetarian, and is on the track team at school. She keeps me on my toes, but she is a sweet girl.

Samuel, 15....Sam is hilarious. He has found he can make us laugh, and he does. He continues to learn and teach about all things war and especially WWII.

Margaret, 14....she is thinking her lucky stars she didn't shell out the money to go on that D.C. trip since they cut the Holocaust Museum trip out. She is very knowledgeable about history also. She played the piano so beautifully yesterday while were at the museum, I almost cried.

Kathryn, 13....my youngest teenager. She is just lovely. She is so open and bright and happy and good...oh, she has her moody moments, but she is just an optimistic girl. She does gymnastics whenever she sees open floor....

Evelyn, 11....Evelyn is eleven going on 20. She is so grown up already. And she is hilarious. But also slammy....is that a good word to describe someone who stomps off and slams a door at what I think is a slight provacation? Yet she is so capable and helpful and funny and nice and so pretty....

Suzanne, 10....Suzanne loves to write stories. She loves to play "office". She has that little space under her loft bed, with her little lamp....she hates when it it time to go to bed and she has to stop writing or playing......

Sonja, 8.....she is spunky. She has the red hair and the freckles and she is something else. She is very smart and quick at school work, and very responsible. She is also needy and a bit whiney...she has Youngest Child Syndrome, because she is the youngest of the "Five Girls In A Row In Five Years", I think.

Jonathan, 6....Jonny is a sweetie...he is very sensitive and smart and he is like a little old man. It seems like he was never a little boy, just from a baby to a miniature grown up. He KNOWS things. He has his little break-downs like this morning, but he is usually very reasonable and easygoing. But he IS a worrier......

Charlotte Claire, 4....she is smart and well-behaved. She occasionally will smack Camille, but she is always sorry after...they play nicely about 95% of the time. Camille does not hit back, she just cries her eyes out and wants to be held.

Camille Anaya, 3.....she is my baby...she still likes to be cuddled. She is not clingy to just me though. She loves Emily and Abigail and Ashley...(I loved it when Ashley came in from work the other day and Camille just flew into her arms...) She also loves to play pretend. She sings her little heart out no matter where we are, and she is usually very agreeable and happy.

I know that is already the 16 of them, but I shall say a word about Ashley, my daughter-in-law and 17th child...

Ashley, 20....she is such a sweetie. She started her new job and really likes it. She is driving Abigail's old car which is pretty old. The driver's door doesn't open, and the passenger door CREAKS because of the dented front quarter-panel....this car doesn't always start, among other things.....but it runs and it is on the road and insured and she is so thankful just to be able to use it. She is happy about her new job, she is like a sunshine here. I am thankful for her, and I love her.

Was my house actually really clean last week? It seems like I remember saying it was...