aah, monday again...

Where did the weekend go? The kids went to school, except for the two little sick girls. Jonathan got showered and ate his wheat Chex while watching, "Curious George", then brushed his teeth and got his shoes and coat and backpack and went out and got on that bus all by himself (the six older kids go an hour earlier). I hated to send him. Honestly, after what happened Friday in Connecticut, it makes it all the harder to send the kids off to school. It is just unbearable what happened to those kids.

And it makes all my troubles and trials seem quite silly.

Suri thinks the laundry room is her lair. She stole one of Camille's boots, brought it in to the laundry room. Gloves, the foam package from the hamburger meat...in the laundry room to be chewed up later, I guess. A few Christmas ornaments, a pine cone, one of the stockings that didn't get hung up, a doll. I would just go in and scratch my head and pick random things up...then I realized that Suri was the culprit. I mean, who else would stow the foam burger package in the laundry room?

She hasn't peed on the floor again since the Great Present Catastrophe though.

My coffee is gone, wah. There wasn't a full cup left, and I lazed out and didn't make another pot. My oatmeal was really yummy this morn. We are out of crunchy peanut butter, so I just added a heaping spoonful of pumpkin, some cinnamon and allspice, lots of sliced almonds, some splenda, a teaspoon (yes, I measured)...and whole milk. Yum.

Benjamin is coming home soon!!!!! Yay! I don't know if he is going to tell me when he is coming, or just surprise us. He says I am a terrible secret keeper so he might not even tell me. ouch, I am not! Ashley is coming with him, which is very nice. I have been praying!

Just knowing Ben will be here for Christmas is so so nice. Too bad that Emily-The-Nurse has to work the 24th, 25th, and 26th, all 12 hour shifts. But having Ben home will be just so good. I still read, "The List", on The Drudge Report...I can't help it. Soldiers are still dying in Afghanistan, America may have forgotten that war, but families are still losing their sons, husbands, fathers. I feel like it's the least I can do...read their names, whisper my thanks. I pretty much broke down reading about one of the most recent ones, he was from Benjamin's base, he had just gotten there last month, replacing a Stryker unit. So Ben and his guys come home, one of the replacements gets hit with an Improvised Explosive Device. So I do not take Ben Being Home For Christmas, lightly. Oh no. I am so thankful.

And just for the record, I think the principal of that school in Connecticut should have had a gun. Just sayin'. Or perhaps one in a cabinet in the nurse's office. I mean, this principal and the school psychologist both are heroes, they went after that guy. If only they had had a weapon too. Seriously. I just think if we control guns more, have more laws, the bad guys will still get them. I mean, look at drugs! I could get some tomorrrow, if I so desired. They are everywhere, and guess what: they are illegal!

Anyway. Charlotte Claire is sitting on the couch in her warm fuzzy robe...or rather MY warm fuzzy robe, with a sippy up of water...asking when I am going to be done with Daddy's computer, because she wants a turn. This is good, yesterday she was so sick she didn't care about too much. Camille's temperature is 99.5, so she is on the road to recovery. She is sitting with me.:)

We have no fresh fruit left in the house, except for a bag of grapefruit. I need some pears. Need...no, perhaps NEED is too strong a word. Weightloss news: I seem to keep losing and gaining the same four or five pounds. I am glad I lose them again, but I am getting tired of vowing not to gain them again. But. I will NOT give up. No sir. Not an option. I do not want to re-gain. So I am hereby proclaiming that I will not nibble cookies, take bites of pizza, or eat too many chocolate chips. I will not lie and say I will eat NO chocolate chips, however. ha. I went up a few pounds, but am back down again...but I am SO ready to lose some more...I think I am getting to be an expert at maintenance, but I am not ready for that yet! Fifty more pounds to go!!!

And now I will put those towels in the dryer and put in a load of darks....I need to wash my "Dome jeans". Yes, back to the Dome this afternoon. The basketball coach is hoping for his 900th career win. Seriously, going to work concessions there with the team SO good...is not too difficult. I happen to love college basketball anyway, but to get glimpses of those three pointers, and to hear the crowd roar...not too shabby.

sunday at home...

Jonathan with Suri...

Charlotte Claire is smart, she knows that, "Cats are stoopid."

Two sick little princesses cuddled on the couch...

Camille made this picture in kindergarten art class. It is a monster with wings, and a bellybutton. She is the little girl holding it's leash.

Suri with Camille...

Char says the only good part of being sick is er friend Suri snuggling with her all the time.

They have been really sick today, the little girls. Temperatures 104.2 and 103.5. I stayed home, except for the cold windy 1.2 mile walk I sneaked in, and cuddled with them. Abigail took Suzanne, Sonja, and Jonathan ice skating...then brought Jon to a friend's house to watch lots of episodes of, "Psych". Mirielle brought Margaret, Kathryn, and Evelyn to the twins' first birthday party. So it has been a strange day...rather quiet. There were only Paul and I and seven kids here for dinner. I made meatballs, some pasta, green beans, a garlic and cheese pizza, and a sugar/cinnamon pizza.

I don't like that they are sick. But I must admit, I do like taking care of them. Making them tea with milk and sugar in their sippy cups. Sitting with them. We went online today and spent all their Christmas money at the Disney store...Camille has asked me fifty times already, "When is the stuff going to come in the mail, Mama?" Char is feeling a bit better, she was up and playing, "SIMS" for a bit.

And now I sign off...there are seven girls in here right now, and I want to talk to them...

saturday morning at our house...

I made Camille's little dream come true last night. She, for some reason, has been asking begging pleading to sleep in the living room...for weeks now. She does not give up. So last night, I decided to let them sleep in the living room. The older kids were all ice skating with the youth kids from church, so we were having a cozy little evening here. We had some M&M's and watched, "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer". They were already cuddled up on the couches...we brought Jon's mattress out, and made a cozy nest on the floor for Charlotte Claire, who had a 104.5 temperature earlier in the evening. Camille and Sonja slept on one of the couches. Suri thought it was a great celebration. She slept with Camille most of the night. Camille said she sat up and petted her. Camille woke up with a fever. She has the "flute", she says. Ha, she has already missed several days of school, and is just now coming down with it. But I will be glad to keep her home with me for a few more days. Because, like the rest of the world, my little ones have become a bit more precious since that horrible tradgedy in Connecticut. I look at her cute little face, her still-chubby toddler-ish tummy, and the way she tries to be so grown-up...the way she pronounces her words so correctly...and I can't imagine...how someone could do something so awful. How parents can possibly bear the news. Kindergartners. Impossible to fathom.

So last night I decided she could sleep in the living room. She jumped up and down on the couch and said, "You made my dream come true!!"

Ah, the little things in life.

Today is a Dome day for me. Again.

And...since I have a sick Camille snuggled up on the arm of my chair, a sick Char who is better enough to be whiny...and since it is Saturday, lots of other kids are milling around talking to me...so. I cannot concentrate, which is fine...I will sign off for now and go be a mommy...

friday...sweet.

Out to dinner for Abigail's birthday...with my niece Ellen, my sister, me. It was also my sister's daughter Claire's birthday.

Abigail. Emily told her, "I bought you a house for your birthday, Ab." Emily and Abigail live in an apartment in town. But not for long! They are closing on their house next week! A nice big roomy house.

We had too much fun last night. And yes, I was bringing home the straws to the girls. Yes, I washed them when I got home. Yes, Camille was happy. But Charlotte Claire is too sick to care. She has a temp of 103.3 this morning, and Jon is still 101. No fun. Camille...she is home because there is no way, no how, she was going to go to school all alone. Even if I picked her up, even if I put pudding in her lunch. I decided to just relent and bow out before the battle..

Today, I am staying home. I am sick and tired of shopping anyway. (Mirielle was nice enough to volunteer to take good care of them while I went out last night for Abigail's birthday..I offered her money to go instead, but she didn't want to...so knowing they were in good hands, I went with only minimal guilt)

Suri is a great comfort for sick kids. She lies as close as possible to them, or right on them. She is a cuddler.

Camille is not sick, but she has a big comfy robe on and wants attention. So...I will give her some.

happy birthday abigail!

As cliche as it sounds to go on and on about how I can not possibly be the mom of kids so old, I will say it anyway. Abigail is 26 years old today. (Emily will be 28 in January, eeks!) How can I possibly be so old? How can she be so old? Since I spend most of my days muddling through being patient with teenagers and keeping the energetic little kids happy, I forget that, for all intents and purposes, a few of my kids have actually passed successfully on to independence. Abigail did well in high school, graduated from a 4-year college with an accounting degree, and has a job in the big city. She is happy with her life, she is a good girl. She has a bad knee, which she dislocated while playing volleyball a few years ago...it was not put back into joint properly and healed wrong. She goes to physical therapy a few times a week, but it is still painful and limits her activities. Anyway, today is her birthday, and since I have my act together, I have tons of fun planned. Not really, but seriously: if you are one of my kids and are reading this, you know by now that the degree that a celebration is planned in advance has no correlation to the degree that you are loved. 'Cause I do love you all.

Sickness update: Jon's fever was 103.7 last night. He seems a bit better this morning. Charlotte Claire has a fever. Camille had one yesterday, this morning she is lying on the couch with a normal temperature. Sonja still had a fever last evening.

I actually crawled back into my warm comfy bed this morning after I got up and saw the older kids out the door and ran around in the cold with Suri. I checked on the girls and decided they couldn't go, and...back to bed I went. Oh, it was nice. I dozed off and everything. I could so easily be a lazy bum. Or rather, more of a lazy bum.

And since no one wants to hear about what I bought at the store yesterday and what I still have to do before Christmas, I won't bore you with the details. But let's just say I have like five kids to still get things for.

Does anyone else have kids who like to write on things other than paper? Camille scribbled in green marker on the side of the counter-top trim. I took a wild guess that she was the culprit, when I told her I knew it was her, she didn't deny it. She asked me how I knew. So I guess my guess was right.

I am starting to get really excited for Benjamin to come home for Christmas. I had better get him a present though...

what will today bring?

Sonja K. is sick with a fever, she has the flu. The nice nurse from school called yesterday to say that that Suzanne was there in her office and needed to be picked up. Then Jonathan came home from the Activity Club ice skating party last night shivering...102 temperature. So, did I send the two little princesses? No. I tip-toed into their room with the thermometer this morning and checked Miss Char. 97.4. Camille was still sound asleep. Char begged to be able to go back to sleep. She said her throat hurts and she is tired. Well, with all that is going around...I said Okay, as long as she was quiet and didn't wake Camille, and truly went back to sleep. They are finally waking up now.

So Evelyn is here. She went back to school yesterday and feels worn out today. Suze, Sonja, Jon are sick. And the princesses are up and playing Barbies. I guess this means I cancel Evelyn's dentist appointment, since I can't leave the younger ones all here by themselves.

I do have to go to BigLot's sometime today. I went there yesterday and spent $99 on things we really needed, like a new zippered vinyl mattress cover to replace a ripped one, stocking stuffers, a SpongeBob Christmas dvd, and some 50 cent bags of kettle chips. The bag with the quilted waterproof mattress cover and the shower curtains stayed behind at the store. I called and they are holding it for me. It never made it into the cart somehow. oh well. (I know, right? 99 dollars??!!)

I didn't even get new undies for the little girls. They need some because a certain puppy likes to chew them up. lovely.

Christmas is coming,
The goose is getting fat,
Please put a penny in the old man's hat,
If you haven't got a penny a ha'penny will do,
If you haven't got a half-penny, God bless YOU!

I do not know who wrote that. But it puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

I have most of our presents wrapped now, some for the third time. Suzanne pitched in and helped me last night while most of the other kids were ice skating. I still have like five kids to buy for though.

All my own mother ever wanted for Christmas was, "seven good kids."...and we would tell her she already had that. She would say that she was all set then. I miss her. Christmas is a tough time for that. I miss my dad too. He wasn't perfect, but he cared about us. The way he looked out for us all felt so secure. He has been gone for almost 6 years now and I still feel rather untethered. A little lost. My parents loved me like no one on this earth ever could. Then there is my brother Billy. I can't even think about him without crying still.

Yes, Christmastime is a season for memories and traditions, and some of those memories make me feel such loss.

Kathryn has been texting me from school. She doesn't have a phone, but she has one of her siblings' old ipod with a texting app. She is heading to the nurse because she feels awful. Dang, I need to wash my long tangly hair. Wonder if I have time to jump into the shower...

never a dull moment, part II

Suri doesn't go to the bathroom in the house very much anymore. Last night she must have had to go pretty badly. Outside, she goes over to the edge of the woods to do her business. So...you know where this is going, right? Yup. Right under the Christmas tree. Oh, the neat 'lil pile of poop didn't get on anything but the floor, but the pee...oh, the pee. It soaked through at least two dozen gifts. I had to unwrap them and wipe them down...some of the things have to have their tags removed and take a ride in the washer. Mirielle is going to think I got her new ### from the thrift store. It did cross my mind to return it to the store..."These smell like dog pee..." Not really.

Anyway. That is my sob story for the morning. I mean, we just got the mess all straightened out from the tree falling down last evening...all the water from the base mixed with the broken ornaments, the wet gifts... To keep the tree standing, I had to turn it just right, now the side I so nicely had decorated is facing the wall like it did something bad. Oh well. The presents that escaped the pee are piled on the couch, and I have lots to re-wrap.

Suri is having quite a nice Christmas season, I might add. She chewed the sparkly wood star that Sonja made at Activity Club, to splinters. She chewed the head and arms off this cute little rag doll ornament. She chewed up some gingerbread people. She has a special fondness for mittens and gloves, too. She likes them best when the fingers are all gone.

She is sharing the couch with Miss Sonja K. this fine chilly morning. S.K. has a fever, the only one now who has the flu. Evelyn is back to school today, as are all the other kids who stayed home yesterday for various reasons, none of which would stand up in court.

So it is quiet in here for the first time since like last Wednesday.

When I was pulling the presents out of the pee, assessing the damage, I was not a happy camper. Oh My GOODNESS. Jeepers. Dang it. And a few more spicy ones I am not proud of. I mean, jeez. Then, because God is good, I heard this little voice...that perhaps this could possibly be all for my very best. Nope. Not this. rrr. Then a little thought that it is ironic how I am so upset about Christmas gifts when the very reason Jesus was born was so that we an follow Him, and be free from sin...so perhaps this trial was meant to work something good in me, not just get me mad. Hmm. Okay!! True! I need to be cleansed from so much here! And guess what? I got happy. Not thrilled about the dvds and Barbies dripping with pee...or about the brand new socks and yoga pants that have to be de-tagged and washed...but that God loves me. He indeed sends all things for my best.

Which is a good thing, because I was beginning to wonder if the all the forces of the universe have been conspiring against us.

I just hate grumbling and complaining. I really do. I want to learn to be content, and be happy in my days.

Yesterday 27% of the high school students were absent. (only one of them was mine). Since Evelyn and Sonja K. are my only kids who got really sick, I am just waiting for the nurse to call. Mirielle and I both have felt awful on and off, but didn't get the knock-down feverish sickness the two girls have had.

The two little princesses were full of it last evening. They made camping spots in the downstairs hallway. They washed their hands in diaper rash cream. They trimmed their own bangs. They started chasing Suri and pulling her tail, which of course is NOT allowed. They were just short-circuiting. I decided it was because I had spent the day with them and given them so much attention, they wanted more. Plus, it was cold and rainy outside and they had tons of energy. Paul gathered them up and played Matching Game with them, then settled them down with some bible stories before bed. It's funny because a friend was telling me recently that his little boys sometimes stay up 'til all hours jumping around and having pillow fights, and I said that my girls sometimes play Barbies in their beds, but they don't run around so much. hmm.

Anyway, I am thankful today. Thankful for those quiet little suggestions God whispers in my ears. Thankful for my home, my kids, my husband, my rascal of a puppy, the cat who thinks the kitchen table is his "spot" (no, it is't), thankful that Mali passed her semester of nursing school (we were so happy for her we cried. then Aaron and Mirielle, who also passed were like, "hey, we passed too!", and Paul reminded them of the Prodigal son...)

Anyway. Lots to blab about today. But my oatmeal is growing cold, and Sonja might like her mama to talk to....