summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

hot and muggy with a chance of thankfulness...

Here are some things to be thankful for today....

1. My husband. He is such a responsible guy. He weeded the garden yesterday, put new brakes on the minivan, worked on the truck, and started getting the pool open. I, on the other hand, took all the kids to a picnic at Davian's house. When I got back, he had been working all day and hadn't eaten since breakfast.

2. Emily 27 and Abigail 25. They live in an apartment a few miles down the road, but visit all the time. Yesterday, they had Jonathan over for a while after the picnic.

3. Benjamin, 23. This guy has grown up so much, being in the Army. He is with lots of guys who are younger than he, and feels so protective of them. He is so scared of losing one. He said he didn't want to get so close, but it happens. That bond, "closer than brothers".

4. Mirielle, 22. She is so nice to have around. College is done for the summer, and she doesn't have a job yet. That means she has time to help me, and talk to me, and just be around. I love it.

5. Joseph, 21. Joe, Mr. Calm. He never gets mad. He takes life as it comes, does what is asked of him, and has a wicked sense of humor.

6. Aaron, 20. I am so proud of Aaron. Today is his first day of work as a Nurse's assistant in the cardiac operating room, I think. He is so extremely motivated and hard working.

7. Mali, 18. Miss Mali quit her ice cream job last night. Her boss is a miserable guy. Everyone around here knows it, yet she thought she could manage to work for him. She got sick of being yelled at in front of the customers. She quit, along with another girl. They just walked out.

8. Samuel, 16. Sam has a job interview this afternoon for a summer county job. He is so excited about it, already planning what he's going to buy, no matter how many times I remind him not to count his chickens before they hatch.

9. Margaret, 15. Marg, or Marge, as she is called, is an amazing girl. She has long curly hair that is to die for. She takes good care of herself, as in, she works out and exercises. She gets excellent grades, and she plays the guitar and the ukelele.

10. Kathryn, 14. Miss Kap, or Kappadia, as she is called, is also amazing. She is Benjamin's biggest fan, and misses him tremendously. She is leaning towards being a vegetarian because, "meat is gross.". She loves her music, and is very cool.

11. Evelyn, 12. Evelyn Joy is a little mommy. She knows what has to be done around here and how to do it, and what everyone else should be doing, too. I see myself in her so much. She so nicely volunteered to put the princesses to bed for me last night when I took a sneaky little trip over to my sister's house for a swim in her pool....

12. Suzanne, 11. Suzanne is cool too. She is still a little kid sometimes, talking a blue streak and playing with the younger ones. Then she is a teenager, hanging with the older ones and being smart. I like taking her places with me because it is nice to get her to open up and talk, there is goodness in her heart.

11. Sonja K., 10. Miss Ginger, or Ginge, is our redhead. She has to be told ten times to go to bed at night, she wants to be one of the Big Kids. She is funny and sweet and she shares a room with Jonathan, and loves the babies.

12. Jonathan, 8. Jonny is so sweet. He is sincere, and honest, and is like a miniature adult. He loves his trucks and toys, and takes good care of them. He knows so many things and is always interested in learning more. He is in charge of how many tents they take on their camping trip this weekend.

13. Charlotte Claire, 6. Miss Char loves school, but she loves staying home even more. She plays with Camille, and they do not get bored. Char is sweet and stubborn and smart and sincere and she has a loose tooth that has been just hanging there for days and days and days....

14. Camille Anaya, 4. My baby. Camille is lost today without all the kids here. She is at the kitchen table with some pretzel sticks. She is making a pretzel family. She has nine kids in her pretzel family. She told me, "if I want them to be littler, I just take more bites."

I would like to include Rosie on My Thankful List, but hmm. Oh what the heck:

15. Rosie, 3, Old English Sheepdog, also known as DumDum. She is smart. If I tell her to Go Get In Your Cage, she will. Even if it is closed, she can open it with her nose. She will go in there, circle around, plop down, and sigh. She always sighs when she is ordered around. She is supposed to stay on her rug when she is in the house, but she has to be told a million times to Go Lie Down, On Your Rug. She tries to lie with just half of her on it, and we will tell her, No, Get On That Rug. She will get up and lie down again. If you pet her, she will not leave you alone. She likes to drink water, get her beard all gross and wet, then put her face on your lap.

16. My sister Cheryl. Now, this list is not necessarily in order of thankfulness, as Cheryl does indeed rank higher than Rosie-The-Bad-Dog. Cheryl shared her pool last evening. It was a 90+ degree day, and I just did not cool down, until


Anyway. One thing I am NOT thankful for today: my weekly weigh-in. Since I am an optimistic person, I shall look at the bright side of it...wait, what is the bright side of gaining 1.4 pounds? I guess it could be worse, it could be raining. I guess the same thing that helped me take off all this weight at the beginning doesn't work so well anymore. I need to up the exercise and down the calories, or at least up the exercise. I haven't been a bad eater, but have lagged off on the evening walks and the weight lifting....but: today is another day, and I shall not ever be a slacker. Well, tomorrow also is another day. Today is really really hot. 85 already. I am hot just here in my comfy chair. It is going up to at least 91, and blah.

I am also not thankful for that sinkful of dishes.

Or the floors that need to be swept and mopped AGAIN.

Or those hampers that sneaked up on me again, all filled up with things to go into the washer.

Today I will get done what I have to get done, and take Sam to his interview in the afternoon...blah, in the 15 passenger van with no air conditioning. Maybe I will stop and buy another watermelon and some popsicles.

Friday morning, the second annual Girl's Camping Trip will begin as two vehicles pull out of our driveway with nine of our eleven girls, plus Mr. Jonathan, who gets to go along this year. He is thrilled, as he has never seen the ocean. He is a little worried about the hermit crabs. Charlotte Claire and Camille are too little to go. So they will stay here with Joseph, Aaron, and Samuel while Daddy and Mommy go off on a weekend away. I don't know why I think it is so hilarious that the three big boys will be here with the two little princesses. It makes me almost want to cry with joy that they are so okay with it. They certainly love their little sisters, but just that they are fine with taking care of them is so...well, so unselfish. And so sweet. They will all fit into the Nissan, so they will be able to go to the beach or the movies or whatever.

And with them being fine, and the other kids being more than fine with their trip, Paul and I can go away without feeling one little bit guilty...(one year we took off for a weekend, and the septic tank collapsed...Paul was on the phone a million times with the fixer-guy and with Emily, who was home with all the kids who couldn't run the water until it was fixed...oh, the guilt!)

More on our Weekend Away later...I need to get moving here....

But, one more thing: Thank you thank you thank you for the requests for Benjamin's address. Four nice people are going to send things out to the guys, and I know they will appreciate it so much! I have heard that if a general address is put on something, as in not one specific soldier, the package isn't as likely to make it to it's destination.














































































1 comment:

FLmom7 said...

I loved reading about each family member (even Rosie!)...and the part about Camille and her pretzel family just cracked me up! LOL!