monday monday...

 This fine morning, the living room is bright, and it feels almost Christmas-y, as we have new snow on the ground.  I'm on my second load of laundry, but I did cheat, Paul took Miss Char's load of clothes out of the dryer for me.  I've done some exercises and walked a few steps with the cane.  It's feeling a tiny bit more natural, but I am not there yet.  The only way to get there is to go there, so I'm working on that.

These are the kids of mine that I saw yesterday:  Emily, Benjamin, Mariel, Samuel, Margaret, Kathryn, Evelyn, Sonja, Jonathan, Charlotte Claire, and Camille.  That is a lovely day!  We did have people over after church, Nate made a venison roast, and I put the ham in the oven.  I peeled about eight pounds of potatoes, and we had mashies.  I chopped some apples and put them in the unsweetened applesauce with brown sugar and cinnamon, and baked that too.  Evelyn brought fresh green beans, and Kathryn brought Brussel sprouts.  15 of the grandchildren were here, and 18 adults.  (The brownies were gone before dinner!)

Last week at Aldi, I had gotten a cookie decorating kit clearanced for 69 cents, so I grabbed that out of the pantry yesterday and had some fun with 8 of the grandkids. 

Grant, Tennyson, Achilles

Rhys, Jamie, Maeve, Ruth, Blythe...it worked out really well because Wulf was busy and not interested, and the kit came with 8 big chocolate cookies. 

Having the house filled with adult kids and spouses and grandchildren is wonderful and fun and overstimulating and loud and sometimes challenging, but it's the best part of life, for me.  I like having a home where they can feel comfortable, where the kids can feel loved and wanted.  I love that they are my grandkids, and I can give them hugs, and tell them how pretty they are, how special they are.  Sometimes I call one over, and tell them that I like them and love them.  Sometimes they do things that make me raise my eyebrows up to my hairline, I can stop my mouth from asking SERIOUSLY??!!!, but my face...well, it has a mind of it's own.   You know, throw a fit if they can't have a twentieth Hershey Kiss, or jump onto the couch with an half eaten apple.  Kids, they're messy and loud, right?  But.  I had so many of them, we had to eat at the table and wash hands after, because I do not like sticky.  And neither Paul or I are fans of loudness, so we always toned it down in here.  Screaming?  absolutely not.  Not unless you were really hurt.  

Anyway.  I had my ways of parenting, and these young parents have their ways.  I don't want to tell them what to do, I don't know what's best for each child, and they all have to learn their way through it all.  Of course I have to speak up about what I allow and don't allow, and it's getting much better about the kids having their hands washed, ect.  

There are things I never would have allowed, and yesterday I reminded some moms that "No means no" is a good thing for all kids to learn, especially when dealing with each other, if someone wants them to stop doing something, well, they need to stop.  

But, I remember that parenting was hard and I struggled too, and I prayed for wisdom, for God to give me patience and help, you could figure something out for one kid, then the next one, what the heck?  

So I don't sit here judging and criticizing, although sometimes I do find those thoughts, and dear Lord, help me to be awake and not be like that!  

Anyway.  We had a really nice full blessed day.  I had gotten this take-apart airplane new in the box from the thrift store a while ago, and it was on the laundry room shelf.  Paul saw it and thought it would be perfect for Declan.  He remembered it yesterday, and put batteries in the little drill, and Declan really liked it.  

Ha, yesterday two of the cousins were having a big fight over a hula hoop.  They pulled and tugged and fussed, one had it first, blah blah blah...of course as soon as one of them gave it up, the other just dropped it and walked away, it lost it's value really fast.  

It wasn't too long ago when the very adults sitting around on the couches watching football and drinking coffee were doing the very same thing.  Recreational arguing is a thing, with kids.  

Anyway.  It was a very nice day.   So many of the kids helped with clean up, but Miss Char gets the prize for washing so many dishes.  We used disposable plates, but all the pans and forks and cups and serving dishes...she washed them up.  I have had to remind the older kids to make sure to take care of their seltzer cans and coffee cups, ect., because at this point, it's still hard for me to pick them up.  Obviously it's good if they do that anyway, but they are busy with small children sometimes.  

The hair...it's darker than normal, and the gray isn't totally covered, but it's not horrid.

Random photo...Declan, Darius standing up, Benjamin, Paul, and Elise (Elise brought me some really nice drawings, and some flowers she made, with a nice card that said that I spread joy and she is thankful for me!)

It is definitely reddish...

You can see the gray near the part...but most of it's covered.

Ah well.  I have PT in a few hours.  I do not like going, and am always so glad when it's time to leave.  The last week has been super challenging, but there's no getting around it, only going through it.  

Also...my dear sister is in the hospital still.  You remember she has cancer, breast cancer that came back after several years, and landed in a few places.  I'm vague because it's not my story to tell, and Cheryl is private with her health issues.  She has pneumonia and some other things going on, and these things weaken her already fragile body, and it's so very hard.  She's still so funny and lively and she's my very favorite person in the entire world.  We are just in sync.  If I added up all the hours we spent yakking on the phone, it would be astounding.  When we're together, we just have to look at each other, sometimes we know NOT to look at each other, because we know exactly what the other is thinking.  She'll say, "Did you like the way..." and I'll be like "OH MY GOODNESS YES!"  I've already written about us showing up at events dressed in exactly the same thing, not planned of course, but oh dear.  Back in the day, our shopping trips and laughing fits, and she used to come over here with her seven daughters like once a week.  In the last weeks, we haven't talked as much on the phone, and when we do, I love it, cherish it, and she seems very tired.  

So pray for Cheryl, that she gets her strength back, and for her family, it's not easy.  Pray for me too.  She has not been able to go out and about with me for a long time now, not that I am going anywhere right now either, and with not talking to her as often, it's really really sad.   I love her dearly, more than words can express.  

Goodbye for now, as I gear up to get out the door for PT...it's cold out there today!!!