surviving the birthday sleepover...

How many kids at Evelyn Joy's 10th birthday? Hmm. 13 of ours, and 4 friends. And me. Paul was at a meeting for most of it....it is hard to fit things in sometimes, so I just planned it, and he already had a meeting scheduled....

Evelyn had a nice time with her friends...all of the little kids enjoyed them too...
Camille the monster. Oh, but a sweet and cuddly monster.

Charlotte Claire fell asleep in this unlikely position....she looks like I feel right about now....

I found evidence on my camera of the snack-fest that went on after they finished painting the other night.....it looks like onion rings and pizza rolls....




Here is my sweet niece Olivia with Camille....Olivia has eleven brothers and sister, including a little brother just a few months older than Camille......

So, we survived the sleepover....the girls settled into bed at midnight, then the usual nonsense went on...but amazingly, no major fights. I don't even remember any minor ones. With seven girls sleeping in one room, that is pretty admirable. Jonathan bunked in with Charlotte Claire.

Tonight is the night of The Surprise Party That Didn't Happen. We planned to do a s.p. for Samuel, as his birthday was the 2nd of August and we didn't do anything for him yet....so, Aaron secretly invited some friends over....three came......and they talked about going to the drive-in. Sam still did not know that they were here for a party, he just thought they came over. The time came when the others were supposed to come...one mom called, her boys were sick. Paul called the 4 others' house, they just plain weren't coming...THEY could have called!! But they didn't. So, Sam and Aaron went to the drive -in with the other three. I sent them with glazed donuts, half-moon cookies, salt-n-vinegar chips, and Hawaiian punch.....Sam does not know that we planned a party and it fell through. He just thinks I had lots of snacks on hand.

In other news, (I always wanted to say that!), the mousies are alive and it's day five!!! I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. Who is the #1 mousie feeder? Uh-huh. I even wipe them down with a piece of wipe after every feeding, to stimulate blood-flow and help their digestion. I don't really even like them! But they are miracle mice! Last night, I squished one accidentally with the ricebag we use to keep them warm and it still lived......I got their box down from the top of the bookcase, and only one mousie was in there! I moved their bedding around and looked all around, only one...I looked up to the top of the bookcase, moved the ricebag, and there was the other one, under the ricebag. Oops. I thought it was dead for sure. I put it back in the box, it wiggled, but mostly it was still. I called Suzanne to say goodbye....but it didn't die. When I looked in their box this morning, I wasn't too surprised that they were STILL ALIVE. How? I feed them formula with a medicine dropper, it runs down their faces, they don't seem to suck very much directly into their mouths, but I guess they get enough. What in the heck are we going to do with them? The girls are glad they are still going strong, they are praying for them, you see. But they are also glad that I do most of the feeding.....

I noticed a number "5" on Charlotte Claire's bedroom door yesterday. Just tonight when I put Camille to bed I noticed a "6" on my bedroom door....wait, yes, they numbered all the doors in the hall with black marker, in huge numbers, at least 8 inches long.....they must've had a pretty good reason, I guess.....I will ask them tomorrow.....anyone have any guesses?

Aaron and Mali are bad in the stores. I already knew that, but they reminded me this afternoon. I went out to drive some of the girls home, and to go to a grocery store in a different direction that I have only been to once, and now think I cannot go back to ever again. They each took a produce bag and blew it up a little, tied it off, the put the bag on their head so the blown up part rested on the top of their heads......then they talked to me in their Indian accents all through the store, as they pretended to beg for brownies and cheap toys. They are 15 and 16 years old, for crying out loud! They are so darned funny though.

We had some good dinner tonight, taco salad....and sweet corn on the cob....and ice water. It seems I spent the better part of my day preparing food today. This morning Paul and I made pancakes and bacon for lots of people.....17, I guess. Then for lunch we had grilled hot dogs, big soft pretzels, strawberries, and popsicles. The girls were gone by dinner time, but we had three extra boys.

Mirielle, Mali, and Margaret are at the video store, and the younger 7 are all tucked into bed, finally. Not sleeping yet, though. Jon just came out to tell me that Suzanne won't lie down and be quiet. Evelyn just came out of the bathroom, again. It is like 10:30, they are so tired, they need to just go to sleep. Charlotte Claire is sleeping in her room, and Camille is sleeping in my room.

I can't believe this but I have to go feed the mousies again. And Miss Rosie. Yeah, I get the kids in bed then have to take care of the animals....I need a vacation.

afternoon break...

Today I got some things accomplished...Charlotte Claire's room got cleaned and sorted, again...it is the toy storage room...and I am a toy-a-holic. Ten doll strollers in there, and one on the deck. Oh, and there was one in the hall, too. Trucks and cars, and dishes and play food, dollies and clothes, baby toys, dollhouse stuff, Waffleblocks, blocks, cash registers (4 or 5) (but they play with them when they play store), and a big shelve set in the closet filled with old Fisher-Price little people stuff. Each time I clean in there, I try to weed out a few things. It is hard for me to do, but I try.......

My sister registered her camper to go camping. If you register late in the year, you only get charged for a 6 month period, and it is cheaper. She camps in August, so she registered right before she left. She was told she could only get the cheaper rate if she had her husband's driver's license. She could register the camper without it, but to get the special rate, she needed it. What??? That is the law, she was told. Okay...she got her husband to fax a copy over, and got it done, but she couldn't help ask the obvious: And people want the government to run health care??!

Polly Pockets have way too many little pieces......why do I feel so responsible for the pieces when they don't seem to care?

Mirielle is making icecream cake for the big birthday party. We don't know yet what we're having for dinner. I was planning to make chicken wings, and Evelyn just said she doesn't like them. So she went to check in the freezer, and dumped over the soupy cake that Mirielle just put in...it went all over the stuff in the freezer, and Mirielle is asking her to clean it up...she says she'll do it in a minute.....meanwhile, the thing is melting.....hmm.

Sonja K. was my helper cleaning Charlotte Claire's room, so she gets to help me fill party bags....the stuff is all in my room and Camille is napping. She has asked me about a hundred times to go in and get the stuff, just sneaky, Mom. right. As if it's worth waking Camille. Every time Sonja goes down the hall, I suspect she is either trying to make a little noise to wake Camille, or she is going to "hear" her and go into the room to get her. Nah, my kids aren't brats....

But I do love them so much. Even when they fight. Yesterday, Aaron, Mali, and I were at our wits end with the fighting when we went bye-bye. Kathryn, who wasn't too bad, but Evelyn, Suzanne, and Sonja, who are 11, 10 (today), 8 and seven, are like two, no 4 cats in a sack. Rrrrr. Scratch, hiss...pick, tap, slap, screech, STOP IT, MOMMY, SHE.....whatever. I told them to knock it off. I told them to stop it. I told Evelyn not to touch Sonja. I told Sonja not to whisper loudly in Suzanne's ear and spit on her. I told Kathryn not to tell Sonja to shut up. They did not listen to me. All this time, I was driving, and I was tense. So I yelled at them, loudly. Very loudly. I suppose it could be called screaming. I didn't do it because I was mad, I was driving along and thinking what I could do....so I yelled. They were shocked at it, and they all started laughing their heads off....and I couldn't help it, I laughed too.....then Aaron and Mali started yelling at them too, and we were laughing so hard.....it DID diminish the fighting, but we no sooner stopped to get our breath, and Sonja was complaining that if they just stop doing whatever, and they were telling her they didn't do anything, she should stop blaming them....ugh.

Well, I had better go start cooking......

day four for mousies...

and who was up bright and early, spending a half an hour feeding them? Yeah, maybe I am stupid....a few people have come right out and told me so....but I cannot just let them die, can I? The girls bright and happy faces each morning when they find out they are still alive are worth a million bucks. Not that there haven't been times when they have gotten sick of taking care of them...but it is neat, because even Margaret, who has been very vocal about the "grossness" of the mice, has heated up the ricebag and placed it next to their box several times to keep them warm. And Kathryn, who hated them is now helping take care of them. It's pretty funny, really, that they keep living.

Well, yesterday I chose the kids who could go with me: Mali and Aaron, Kathryn, Evelyn, Suzanne, and Sonja. We had to make a few stops in a close-by town for Aaron to get some job applications, and while he was in one store, I checked my wallet to make sure I had my credit card. I don't know why I did, I just did. And I didn't have it. One of the girls in the back seat said, "Oh yeah, Mommy, Camille had your purse yesterday. I put your BJ's card back, but I didn't see your credit card..." thank you dear. We called home and had Margaret search, but decided just to go to Paul's work and get his card. Of course when I looked in my purse last night, there it was, in the wrong place, Camille must've been playing with it....I am glad I didn't have to cancel it......(that is why I have only ONE credit card)......we stopped for 3 orders of take-out Chinese, and shared it. Then we went to get the new tire at the BORING goodyear store. But icy cold and air-conditioned.....we took a walk up the block and got some candy at RiteAid, and a water and some drinks for the kids....(Aaron and Mali were bad in there...they got a stack of musical birthday cards and opened them all at the same time...one of them also had a can of flarp...or something...I didn't ask, I just got away from the two of them as soon as possible) Then back to the icy cold BORING tire place and sat in the waiting area. I had a fantastic time. The kids watched "Aurthur", and I read magazines and had a few Riesens. (chocolate covered caramels, wickedly good).A couple of the kids got into the complimentary fresh coffee (cremora, yuck), but when I'm paying $155 for one tire, oh well....enjoy it, kids........It was actually too cold in there. After all these warm muggy days with no a/c, it felt pretty nice.....what a life, to actually enjoy waiting for a tire to be put on.....

Then we went to Walmart. We needed more paint rollers, some plastic wrap, and dishwasher soap. The girls found some cute skorts for $5, so i let them each get one for school.

It is always nice to get home and have the ones who stayed home be so happy to see me. Plus, they are hopeful that I got them something, which I didn't. But there were leftover juiceboxes, which we never have, so they get to have one today. Very exciting, I guess.

Also, today is EVELYN JOY'S 10th BIRTHDAY!!!....Ah, ten years ago today....don't tell her, but I am drawing a blank. I cannot remember. I know I named her after a very very special friend who was an English lady who grew up in India....she went by the name Joy, but she was Evelyn Joy, and she was about 80 years older than our Evelyn. But she was young at heart, and very sweet and kind. She passed away three years ago.....The details of my Evelyn's birth....I will remember them later.....I just need to think....

So, we are having a big birthday party tonight. 4 little girls are coming over to spend the night, and have breakfast and lunch with us tomorrow. These four little girls don't always get along together, much drama, so it will be interesting. I thought it would be better to invite them all anyways, and keep an eye on it, than leave one out......we are celebrating Kathryn's birthday, too, since she never had a party in March. I do have a gift for Evelyn, but I should probably look in the closet for something for Kathryn.

We don't get to go to the amusement park again after all. Rats. The cheap tickets were all sold out. The kids were bummed out about it, but I don't regret telling them about the possibility of going because they had several fun days dreaming about it. Now we are thinking of going to the New York State Fair. I haven't taken the whole family for several years now....just a few of the kids...the older kids aren't too interested...and the younger kids tend to get disapointed there...it can be hot and dusty and tiring...and it is EXPENSIVE! The rides are like $4 bucks apiece. Multiply that, and one ride would buy a child a new wardrobe, at least how I shop. So if we go, no rides. Just looking around at the displays and having the 25cent chocolate milk. So we are thinking about it. If the older ones decide they will go along and help make it fun for the younger ones, I'll take them.

Sonja and I are the only ones up, and it is nice. I had rye toast with peanutbutter, and am drinking my coffee....ah, life is good....

the mousies live on!

And on and on...this is day three of taking care of mousies. And guess who is ending up feeding them? Oh, if I knew they would survive this long...nah, I probably would've done the same thing. They are a little bit cute, but mostly - yuck-, but they are alive, and they are babies. And sometimes when I feed them a dropperful of formula, they hold the dropper with their tiny still-almost-transparent paws....

My back hurts. It has happened off and on through the years where my lower back has just killed....I can't get comfortable to sleep, so I have been pretty tired...I wonder if it is all the swimming I have done, which stinks if it is, I need the excercise. I cannot really swim with this pain, anyway....I don't feel like going to a dr., paying a copayment, going for xrays, paying the copayment, then going back to the dr.... In the past, I have just been more careful when it acted up and it eventually got better. So I am biding my time....

I am glad for the gospel right about now. Just think how frustrating it is when you want things in order and can't quite manage...add in a hurt back, and wow. I just have to remember that God knows my heart, it is Him I live to please, and if you stop in and think I am a lazy slob, so be it. (you would be kind of right...)

Today I have an assignment from Daddy. Take the minivan into Walmart for a new tire, he got a flat yesterday. That sort of wrecks the plans I had to take all the kids on an adventure, but it has to be done. The thing about the minivan is that it only seats seven. So now I have to choose. It is hard to do sometimes.....they all are so eager to go (the younger ones, anyway)(and Sam if he thinks any McDonalds might be involved)....

We also have to mail a special package to Emily....she requested some coffee, apparently the coffee they serve where she is in Norway is pretty bad........Mirielle made me buy a pound of Starbucks coffee, and we are also sending a pound of another kind. Aaron wants to get some job applications, so he will probably come with me. So I will be running around today. I just have to remember that it is not doing what I like that makes me happy, but liking what I am doing. Or not even liking what I am doing, but being happy anyway.....that contentment "come what may" is precious, a good thing to seek after. God wants me to be faithful in the circumstances here, not to seek my own. Sometimes it seems like being a mother is like a disapearing act...the things I really like to do disapear.....but if I take it right, without resentment, I am rewarded with peace. Look at the movie stars, and show me one who is truly happy. They have money and fame and they spend their time trying to be happy and fulfill their lusts. But that is like trying to fill a cup with a hole in the bottom, because it is only by doing for others that true happiness comes. (I know, a relaxing day at the beach, or to sleep in, or to have someone cook for me are wonderful experiences...but the way the lusts operate, if I seek these things, I will want more...and more....but if I live my life for the others, (God) when these special blessings come along, I will be thankful for them, and enjoy them so much more than if I sought them and longed for them.....)

And that is my preaching for today! Now I have to go live it....

blank day....

Nothing planned, that is. Except I have to call the wood lady. That is, the nice lady who sells us wood by the dump truck load....hard to think about the freezing cold winter in such a heatwave, but it will come. Actually, today is only supposed to be in the low eighties, with less humidity. As uncomfortable as the hot weather is, it is also nice. Our pool water has been like bath water....

I just talked to Benjamin before he went off to work. He looked in the baby mousie box and said one was moving, but he didn't see the other one...I am dreading looking in that box. The girls had a big fuss last night over those baby mousies. Kathryn and Margaret were totally opposed to the box being brought in their room. Evelyn, Suzanne, and their cousin Olivia were bunking in with them for the night, and wanted to bring the box in there with them. The box is up on the bookcase so the opposers won. I spent a considerable amount of time trying to get those babies to ingest a few drops of baby formula at a time. (that is why you should never throw anything out, you never know when you will need it).....I detest mice, but hey, they are little newborns, and very sweet.....to see the girls holding them and petting them is so hilarious but sad at the same time, as they are going to die. They asked me what we would do with them if they live, and I said we would set a mouse trap for them, of course. Just kidding. I would let them keep them, easy to say, because I have read that even with a mommy, baby mice survival is only 50%. But now they are asking, Mommy please, if they die, can we get some pet mice from the pet store....

Oh, the funniest thing was when daddy got home from work and they all ran down to meet him, stumbling over each other to tell him about the mice....but they agreed not to tell 'til he got up on the deck.....so they were giving them hints, telling him they had something cute, two little cute things, so adorable....he was giving me this look as he walked up the driveway, like, "What did you do now?"....(once he came home to a baby bunny, which I do admit I purchased for $25 at the pet shop, it was SO cute and they begged)....and the two kittens...and of course Rosie, but he said I could have her.....anyway, when he saw what they were, he looked mighty relieved.

Sonja stayed up to watch the movie with the older kids last night. She is awake already, on the couch, and she is tired. Why oh why do kids get up when they are still tired?

I am thinking about doing something fun with the kids today. Cheap and fun. Summer is ticking by, I do not want to think about school yet. I have been stocking up on supplies, but not school clothes. My kids will be neat and clean, but they will not have all new clothes. Except for all the nice things I bought last year on clearance for Jonathan....

Why is it that I never run out of things to say?

baby mice and broken hearts...

Are they even mice? I hope they aren't rats....oh, wait 'til daddy sees these!

Suzanne and Kathryn...

Kathryn and Charlotte Claire....

Where did the baby mice come from? Why were they lying on the back patio? One was dead, Sam scooped it into the shovel and sent it flying into the woods. The girls put the other two into the woods on a little plastic thing....they decided to check on them several hours later....they are still alive, breathing but little else. They have been trying to feed them milk. They are holding and petting them. They have very little fur, and are smaller than my thumb. They will probably die. I don't want mice in the house. The cats don't want mice in the house. But how can I tell them not to nurture? Even though they're just mice (yuck!)....

Kathryn does not like the baby mice, she says they must wash their hands to get the stupid mice germs off. Margaret says they better not have babies and go into her room.....they are apparently nibbling cheese.....

we stayed up waay too late, again...

We watched a movie last night, Mirielle, Aaron, Mali, Samuel, Margaret, and I. "The Curious Life of Benjamin Button"....he was born an old man, so when he was a child, he had all the infirmities of the aged....then as he got older, his body got younger. We thought it was thought-provoking, but a real downer...the story was told by his dying friend/lover, to her daughter....and watching this woman slowly die throughout the movie was just painful to watch. After going through it in real life with my mother and father, I can think of better ways to be entertained....

After the movie, which ended around 2am, we started talking about my mother. She was a bargain shopper. Now, she died three years ago this summer, at the end of July. In June, I took her shopping. She found a very pretty skirt, and actually paid full price for it because there was a graduation party and a wedding coming up. She passed up the shirt/top that went with it, buying two things full-price was too much for her. This was at Wal-Mart, mind you. And she COULD afford it. It was just the principle. Anyway, I specifically remember how pretty the skirt was, and how nice she looked in it. Fast forward one month, and she had died. My father asked my sister and I to pick out the clothes for her to be buried in. We went to Walmart and got the shirt that matched the skirt, it was on clearance for THREE DOLLARS! Oh, our brains were mush after staying with her for all hours that week in the hospital as she passed, and we dropped the bag of clothes off at the funeral home without taking off the price tag on the shirt...oh, how we laughed about that last night. The thing is, my mother would have thought it was the funniest thing in the world. The problem with all this is the memories it brought back....we were laughing and crying at the same time....the movie ended, Mirielle, Mali, and I stayed up talking about Gramma for a long time.....she looked so beautiful lying there, but now I am thinking about it again, and I still hate it that she is gone. She was so much fun....did not act her age, she could laugh at herself.....my kids have been remembering her, and the funny things she said and did and the cool presents she got them through the years (cheap, of course)....

Anyway, we are going shopping today. A local grocery store has 4 double-up-to-$3-coupons, and we have 4 extra ones from the newspaper. Mirielle has been planning which ones to double....plus this store has some other things that are a good deal, like milk for $1.45 a gallon....it is still pretty hot out, but not as bad as yesterday...we have to figure out who to bring and who to leave. Camille-the-spoiled-but-adorable sweetie pie wants to go. 'Cause she can't pass up an opportunity to cry in the car seat and stand up in the cart, can she? No, she isn't all trouble, she is learning so much all the time, it is enjoyable to be along with her in it all. And Charlotte Claire, with her independent spirit and relative maturity, inflexible and very vocal about it. She will want to go....and of course Jonathan will want to go....he likes to ride in the van. Or any vehicle. He brings one of his steering wheels, or he uses something else to steer with, like a broken camera. Sonja K. will want to go, she cannot pass up the opportunity to possibly "get" something. And the other little girls will most likely want to go too, as they haven't been out and about much lately. This all means that it will be crazy. Because one or two kids dancing and pirouetting through the aisles seems sort of normal. It is when you begin to multiply that the staring starts. And when one of them inevitably argues with another one, or UH-OH, hits or pinches, and the loud crying, oh dear, maybe we don't want to go.....but then, where ever we go, at some point they all start thanking me....it is so funny. I take them to the grocery store, and one of them says, "Thank you for taking us, Mom...", and they all chime in....admittedly, I usually DO get them SOMETHING special.....like a drink or snack. And I try to remember that even if this is just a trip to the store for me, for them it is an outing in their childhood, and I try to make it fun for them.

I need to go start getting out clothes....it is funny, because Mirielle, with whom I stayed up 'til almost 3am, suggested we get an early start. ha. Snoozing, she is....and I have been awake for hours.....oh well.