what a nice day!!!!

It's still winter here in central New York state. We got a few inches of snow last night...

My day started with a headache...a headache that I have been fighting off for a while, you know, the niggling kind of background headache. It kicked in today...I had to take some ibuprofen and went to bed, after enduring through doing some schooling with the kids. I was in bed for half hour tops, and Jon came in and asked me if Margaret could take them to Pizza Hut to redeem their monthly Book-It pizza coupons...I remembered we needed dog food, so up I got. We went for pizza....


Eight of us went...my five homeschoolers, and Margaret who just graduated in January, and Olivia, the girls bestie, and cousin.

We then went to BJ's for the dog food...and a big bag of kitty food, and kitty litter...and a huge package of Peeps for Easter.

We stopped for a few movies....


Home...I put a pork loin roast in the oven, and made two pumpkin pies. The kids hung sheets over the windows to make it nice and dark in here, and are watching, "Alexander and the Horrible Terrible Very Bad Day", or whatever it is.

So my headache went away, and we had a nice day.

The house smells heavenly, too.

So, Paul might take me to Florida with him in a few weeks! I hope so! He is getting work plans in order, and if that's his next assignment, I may just be going on a little vacation!!! I am SO excited. Even if it doesn't work out, I still get to keep this excitement...does that make sense?

I am sipping coffee, and having a little dark chocolate...what a good day.

the dreaded phone call...but all is okay.....

I suppose I am a drama queen, and get too upset too quickly. Now that I realize that nothing is wrong, it is very clear that I overreacted. But when the phone rang and it was the state police...asking about, "a vehicle registered to a Paul W., that was found...blah blah blah..." I looked out the window. All cars accounted for except for Paul's truck. I told the nice policeman that Paul had driven his truck to work. He asked where he worked. By now I was bracing myself for bad news. The scariness bypassed all reason, assuming I have any reason, and went straight to the pit of my stomach, but shot out adrenaline down my arms to make my hands shake, along the way. Then I realized that he was saying the vehicle was parked near a bar...a bar? Paul? What? Apparently it was illegally parked, and the owner was going to tow it. I asked if it was there right now, and he said he didn't know. hmm. I asked if it was perhaps on NoName Rd., and he said, yes, it was. Okay. I figured it out....

My daughter lives close to a bar. It's a country-ish bar, does get a little rabble-rousy on the weekends, and in the warm weather, the patrons play horseshoes outside. Parking is limited, as it is in Emily's driveway, but she and her roommates know not to park at the bar. There is another business farther down the road, which apparently calls the cops if one parks there...the business owners assumed a bar patron was parked there...but it was one of my daughters who was visiting Emily's house for girls' fellowship. Yes, they were gathered to have fun and encourage each other to faithfulness...last night. The owners called the police, and the police checked out the plates, and called me. okay.

Now that it is straightened out, and I promised Officer Friendly that my daughters would not park there ever again, it is rather funny. But the first few moments of the call had me unraveling.

We are out of cat food. I can't believe that all the people around here who feed the kitties couldn't think to let me in on the fact that the bag was getting low. Now we are totally out. We are also almost out of raw spinach. We have switched from iceburg lettuce to romaine to eating almost all spinach for salads.

Anyway, I guess I am going out and about a little bit. I have a package to mail to Washington State too, some clothes for Miss Anya, my little granddaughter. Have I mentioned that they are coming east in June? Yes they are! She gets to ride on a big airplane, and come to see her Grammy! I hope she isn't scared of me. I hope she lets me cuddle her. If not, I will still enjoy her absolute cuteness, as will all her aunties and uncles. Samuel may not be able to get the time off to come up to the camp we are renting on an Adirondack lake...that breaks my heart. Apparently in the Old Guard, they are a smallish unit, and aren't supposed to ask for time off in the summer. Sam and Ben haven't been together in a year and a half. wah.

Off I go....

monday morning lazies...

I know, I know, I could go in and wake them up, lazy children of mine. The older girls are up and about doing their school work...Camille is reading a book in bed, while Char slumbers away, Cam being a good girl and not waking up her sister. Jonathan is still sleeping too. One of the things I love about homeschooling is not having to rouse sleeping children from their comfy beds on dark cold mornings. I try to get them to bed early enough that they wake naturally, early enough to tackle schooling and get it out of the way so there's still lots of time for play. They were tucked in well before ten last night, so obviously they are catching up on sleep, isn't that nice for them? Honestly, when the elementary aged kids were in public school, they were always tired. They got home from school after four each day, and had to be in bed by 8:30. So five days a week, I had four hours to spend with them...after school snack, homework, dinner, playtime...it was never enough time, hence they had some days off:)

Anyway. I know it's not for everyone, but we are enjoying it immensely.

Emily, my oldest daughter, is starting her own catering company. She is a nurse at a big hospital, but has a passion for cooking. She bought an established business, complete with a delivery van, dishes, serving dishes, ect. But she's not keeping the money for herself, it's for our church. It will be lots of work, but fun too, and will keep the young people busy in a good way.

Samuel, my soldier son in the Old Guard, is on a bus heading to New York City, he is going to be in the St. Patrick's Day Parade there tomorrow.

And fast forward...it is now Monday afternoon...we did our school, then the kids read books while I worked out for a bit. Two of my girls still go to Real School, Evelyn and Sonja. When they got home, I brought them along with Camille to the small city to get salt for the water softener. We also stopped at the thrift store, where I bought a few books and not much else. We HAD to stop for a coffee, which led to a Coolata and an iced latte and three donuts. No, no donut for me.

Home: Aaron was here for a visit! Margaret and Jonathan had made chili for dinner.

Aaron is gone...the girls have been working out, doing homework. I cleaned up the kitchen and decided to sit down and relax.

The girls are now coloring at the kitchen table, and Jonathan is in from riding his bike, and playing a game on his tablet. It is nice today, but more snow is coming! More cold fronts, more snow...spring is going to be greatly appreciated this year.

I am excited about Easter. It is in 20 days, Camille and I counted today. She wanted to just Ask Siri on my phone, but I made her figure it out the regular math-y way. I suggested a family basket this year instead of individual baskets. The older kids are all for it, but the younger kids still want their own. I love filling Easter baskets. Chocolate bunnies and malted eggs and jelly beans...the smell of it all together, yummers. I will behave though.

Ah well...life is good.

life is too short....

1. Life is too short to hold a grudge. Let it go.

2. When I am tempted to blurt a mean retort, I try to wait a minute...think about it...and hopefully, not say it at all.

3. I am so thankful for afterthoughts. When I think later about a situation and see how hard I was, or how stubborn, or how contentious...I am thankful I have a chance to put it right.

4. Daughters are tricky creatures. "Be quick to listen and slow to speak" should be a verse that comes to mind when dealing with daughters.

5. Having two huge dogs when the snow starts to melt and the mud appears...oops, I am complaining about the snow melting!

6. Mopping the floor three times a day is good exercise.

7. Corned beef is too salty. But yum, once a year won't kill us.

8. We cracked into the Norwegian chocolate today...it's history now. There were 13 of us here though, so we divvied it up.

9. Spring is coming! Spring is coming! Not this week, there was actually new snow on the ground this morning...but next week maybe...

10. This Friday I am working at the Billy Joel concert...not too shabby.

11. It's so nice to have Paul home again...

12. I have a huge list of the stuff I want to accomplish around here. High on that list: get the hot tub fixed!!!!

13. The house is quiet, and I am tired. Tomorrow is another day...

cinderella movie review

The little girls were enchanted.I found myself with a smile on my face.Lily James totally nailed it! Sweet and believable, beautiful in a likable way...and with a motto, "Have courage and be kind.", how can you not love her? Plus, she was friends with the animals, and took good care of the cute little mice.

Mirielle and I, and Suzanne and Sonja, and Charlotte Claire, Camille, and cousin Danielle...headed to the small city this evening. We stopped in the dollar store first for some chocolate...I had Hershey's with almonds...

Anyway...the little girls absolutely love the movies, they were entranced. I thought the stepmother was a copy of Glenn Close in 101 Dalmations/Anglelica Huston in Ever After. Cate Blanchett is lovely, but I felt like she was poured into that stepmother mold, it was like deja vous. The prince...well, he was all right. But Prince Charming, or Kit, as he was named...should be stunning, or really handsome, or something. This guy was just so-so. I was so ready to be entertained by the stepsisters, but they were silly and loud and looked seriously dopey in their matching clothes. I think Sophie McShera, aka Daisy from Downton is adorable though. The fairy godmother had me at hello, she was flawless, Helena Bonham-Carter.

The overall look of the movie: magical. It was like Disney animation came to life. The costumes and dresses were gorgeous.

We all think we got our money's worth, it was a good movie to see on the big screen. The little ones are planning to see it again when it comes to Redbox.

Margaret took Jonathan to the library, where he stocked up on Star Wars movies. She watched one with him while we were out. I did offer to take Jon too, but he decided not to. I think he would have liked it.

Tomorrow I might take Evelyn shopping for shoes after school. With eleven daughters, I am starting to get use to hearing, "I have no shoes!". It does no good to go look in their closet and hold up pair after pair, because believe me, they have no shoes. She is being truthful though, she likes to wear nice clothes to school and her flats hurt her feet. It isn't sandal weather, and it won't be boot weather for long...the thing about Evelyn is, I offered to take her, and she said that shoes are too expensive, she would be fine. I need some time with her though, so perhaps I will insist.

Raising kids is like climbing a mountain that has no peak. Sometimes the going gets easier, but you never really get to the top. The needs change, but they still NEED. In this day and age, with internet so accessible, I can't police everything everyone does, but I try to pay attention and talk to them, encourage them, steer them in the right direction. With Paul gone so much, I am The Parent. I love being their mom, but that doesn't mean it's always easy.

Yesterday, Jonathan went to the airport with me to pick up Emily and Margaret. They had been in Paris for a few days, and in Norway. They brought back Norwegian chocolate, which I am saving for an evening when lots of the kids are here, and a really nice scarf for me from France. Oh this old thing? Yah, it's from Paris.

We picked them up, and they were hungry. We went to Moe's for lunch, oh Mexican yumminess. They have fresh tortilla chips and this homemade salsa that is just incredible.

Our dinner tonight was almost as good. I deboned several chicken breasts, and chopped up the chicken. We had Jasmine rice, chopped green and red peppers and onions, broccoli and cauliflower. I put Frank's Hot Sauce on my rice, and orange ginger on the chicken...not bad at all.

I did work out today, again! I saw a nice number on the scale, which was encouraging. It helped me not go overboard with the chocolate, thinking about that number and how I would like it to go even lower. Okay, a lot lower.

The princesses are loud and silly. It's getting late....I am tired, but it's my own fault. I read an entire book last night in bed, then another one this morning. That makes three since Sunday. That's what I do when Paul's gone.

I haven't given up on my remodeling ideas...but I am a muller, I have to mull those thougths and plans over for a while before I jump in. We have two bad kitties who are already plotting to jump up on the wet countertops which haven't even been started yet. And taking the cupboard doors off and sanding them all down...blah. Wake me up when it's finished and the kitchen looks like a page from Better Homes And Gardens. And don't even get me started on the What If list. Because Paul doesn't think the cabinets look too bad, which is in itself hilarious. But hey, he doesn't think that I look too bad either. His lack of discernment is a good thing:) But if I wreck those cabinets, make them look like one of those Home Decorating Fails, he will wonder why I even wanted to change them because they look, "fine".

Things around here don't bother him much. He likes it neat, and we both like the floors clean. But no trim around the bottom of the walls in the living room since he replaced the flooring...six years ago? Doesn't bother him. We have lived here 21 years, and still haven't put that molding around in the foyer. The one kitchen window Paul replaced like four years ago or so, has no trim around it, only ragged sheetrock. He mistakenly replaced it with a new building window, not a replacement window. So it was a bigger job than he bargained for, and he thinks it is fine. Now, I am not criticizing him. He just isn't bothered by it. And because I love him and don't want to be unappreciative, I don't want to fret and nag about it...because for one thing, it has not killed me yet, so it isn't likely to.

I certainly do miss him this week....

love him...

I love him.

home again, again...

Our little getaway was nice...the pool, the hot tub...stretching out on a comfy bed watching my favorite home renovating shows on cable, which we don't have here at home, good thing. Unfortunately, I ate too many Tootsie Rolls...I am not one of those, "yuck, I don't like candy, it's too sweet" kind of girls.

Sleep...well, it was scarce. I took several naps during the night. At times I just sat up in the bed and listened to the symphony of sounds...sleeping in a room with six other people...plus, I may have had a teeny bit too much coffee.

We got home today, and I took a nap. I crawled into my big comfy bed, and slept for a few hours. I had to. Because there is tired, and there is ZOMBIE. See, on Sunday night I watched that scary movie with the girls...and headed to bed around midnight, scared out of my wits. I decided to read for a while, and duh, I read the entire book from cover to cover...oops. 4 in the morning, and I was falling asleep...

So I started this little getaway tired...and ended it: ZOMBIE.

I had to take a nap because my daughters Emily and Margaret are heading back from their little trip to France and Norway, and don't know for sure if they are getting in tonight at midnight, or tomorrow afternoon..they will let me know at ten tonight. With a trip to the airport possibly looming, I had to take a nap.

And a lovely nap it was.

Now my older kids are at the youth meeting, and the younger three are watching, "Star Wars". It is too quiet in here.

I worked out this afternoon, after I woke up, cleaned the kitchen and washed dishes and did laundry...not a spectacular work out, but then none of mine have ever amounted to much. But I was in better shape when I did it consistently. I did swim this morning in the pool a bit, too.

But most importantly, today I had NO TOOTSIE ROLLS.

The Northeast is thawing out. The snowbanks are still as tall as me, at the end of my driveway, but the snow is melting. The kids went outside today and sank into it as they walked around. The roof is covered with ice and snow and Joseph is afraid of heights and of the combination of heights and ice, which I blame him not...and I am certainly not getting up there...I hope it all just falls down nicely without soaking into our roof.

The snow is going to melt and I am going to find myself missing it, when these two dogs of ours come romping in the door all muddy pawed.

Aw well, there is always something to witch about if you look hard enough.

You know what I am excited about? I am going to be a Grandma again. I don't know how that is properly said, because I already am a Grandma of one sweet little Anya...and now Mali is going to have a baby...and I am so excited about it I can't see straight. She has this adorable tummy already...and has names picked out...her baby is going to be LOVED. Mali herself is a very kind and tenderhearted girl. She is a nurse, and she has worked her butt off to get where she is. She has worked 12 hour night shifts, pausing for morning sickness, then back to work.

For her sake, I would wish things had been different...that she would be married first...but this is not really my business. She is 21 years old, and her life is her own. She has the love and support and prayers of her ten sisters and five brothers, and her parents and friends behind her. We will help her out in any way we can..in fact, Jonathan has already declared that he will be the baby's favorite. And I only say that I wish things were different because I want what's best for her. Life isn't easy, and no mom wants to see their child struggle, all grown up or not.

Ah well...Evelyn wants help with her math homework, Paul is in France, he is the math helper, the kids' movie is over and they are settling in for the night, so I have to tuck them in and pray with them...