did I mention that I love my blog?

I can't explain how much it relaxes me to write everyday. I spend too much time sitting here every morning, but it helps me put things into perspective. And the comments I receive do that also. For instance, I am more motivated to focus more on what I AM eating rather than what I am RESISTING. A lightbulb went off, because of the nice feedback I have gotten concerning what I am eating...so, thank you!

Yesterday...the dentist appointment. The dental hygentist was a lady I had never met. She had heard about "a family with a whole load of kids" from the other hygentist I usually see. She said I was her hero. She has two children, and her husband divorced her. (she doesn't even know me, but told me that it was his idea...(jerk!)..I wanted to hug her...life is cruel sometimes...) She said she always wanted more children. It really hit home, how blessed I am. Here I complain about how I am not good at this and that, don't have my act together. That is still very true, but I still have a pretty good life!

Of course Camille sat there in the room with me while I had my teeth cleaned, sat there with her dolly, reading books and enjoying herself, being a little angel. It was a far cry from years gone by, when I had to sit there in the dentist chair listening to my older kids rocking a baby and keeping the toddlers out of the water cooler....hoping no major fights would break out, and no one would poop through or spit up...

Since I am a nice mom, I took Kathryn and Evelyn to Aeropostale in the mall yesterday to get a few shirts. We also picked one out for Suzanne, and one for Sonja.

Jonathan's class for his little birthday celebration...those kids are so sweet! The teacher asked what we put in the cookies, the kids are apparently NEVER that quiet. I was surprised they liked the cookies so much, oatmeal chocolate chip with M&M's. They are Jon's favorite. One little boy politely said, "No thank you.", but all of the other kids ate theirs up and kept saying how good they were. We also brought in apple juice-boxes. Anyway, the kids were so funny. They just wanted to talk. If I were a teacher, I would get so distracted, listening to the kids tell me so much stuff...in just fifteen minutes, I heard who had how many sisters and what kind of food one kid's dad didn't like. I think they just liked having an adult listen to them. One of the kids asked me how many sisters Jon has, he probably has heard but didn't believe. So I told him eleven. Another kid asked if he had brothers too, and I told him he has four. They seemed totally impressed by this. I wanted to take a few of those kids home. No offense to anyone who dresses...shall we say "casually"?, but...these kids were almost all dressed like they were staying home on a Saturday morning...sweatpants in school? One girl had grubby denim shorts on and mismatched socks. One little girl was dressed very nicely and neatly, and looked out of place....

This morning as I walked with Rosie, I thought about dying. Everyone does it, apparently. If I don't write for three of four days, you can probably assume I bit the dust somehow. My sister knows my password, so she is supposed to come on here and let everyone know. Why I feel compelled to say this morning is a little bit nervewracking, but I am not superstitious...just a little stitious, as my kids would say.

It was a lovely walk this morning, besides the worm-dodging, which Rosie doesn't bother with. She didn't tug too much, no cars went by, and no neighborhood kitties crossed the road, causing her much distress. It was misty and overcast and sprinkling rain. The rain seems to bring out the fragrance of new leaves and wildflowers. The view from the evil hill as the morning breaks through the trees...so amazing. I thought if I took pictures, they would just be pictures. I wouldn't be able to capture the essence of what it is like to be standing there at the top of that hill...to one side, the hill climbs even higher, but it is grassy with a few trees...the other side is a field, all hilly and freshly tilled and spread with manure, ready for planting. From the hill, the woods with the swampy creek are visible, and deer are often seen peeking out of the trees...or their white tails bounding away from me and my noisy dog. Since it is getting lighter earlier, I am thinking to get up earlier so I can walk farther....

Today, my brother might come over and look at our truck. Something is wrong with it, and it would be so useful to have it running. My nephew might come over to look at the plumbing and start fixing the hot tub. And Joseph is supposed to be digging up the septic cover so it can be pumped. Oh joy. My sink is full of dishes, and there are towels to be washed. I washed all the dishes before going to the pool yesterday afternoon, but ha, that sink filled up again. I have already swept the floors, cleaned off the counters, made lunches and helped 8 school kids out the door. Sometimes "helping" just means not falling into the argument traps with a few of the teenagers...(the other day I mentioned to one of the girls that I had her black sweater hanging in the laundry room in case she wanted it...she said to me, "Are you saying I need a sweater with this outfit?!", as if I was insulting her choice of clothes...um, nevermind, dear. Touchy touchy!) No one wet the bed, yay, but I do remember that not too long ago, my laundry room always had a mountain of bedding in the doorway...yes, times are a-changin.

blah, out of this comfy chair...