We decided this year that the whole family would attend Life Light this year. In the past only Beautiful and I have attended. I haven't gone for 3 years (Beautiful has missed 2 years). Here is a bit about the trip.
First, life has been crazy busy for us lately. I have been working an extra day a week due to an increased caseload, Beautiful is in her Senior Year and is also taking 2 online college classes, it is "harvest" time for our little garden and fruit trees, my husband hurt his back and can't do as much (and mine has been acting up so I have been really careful), and...home school has resumed:)
I normally work 10 - 12 hour days on Monday and Tuesday, but have been working 1 or 2 more afternoons lately which is affecting the routine at home. Then I had to figure out how to take a whole day our of our routine to get Grace in for a root canal. Poor kid. The root in the tooth that got chipped off during the cheering of the "hail mary" Husker win last year was dying and she was in pain. So...we spent a day getting that done and doing some shopping. By the way, did you know that Endodontists ONLY do root canals? So, if you feel bored in your job, imagine ONLY performing root canals day in and out! Anyway, while 5 of us did the root canal route which included clothes shopping, my husband took 2 kids to the state fair (we were all in the same town). Our kid who NEVER gets sick said he didn't feel well so stuck with me as we went home early. Hmmmm.....
The next day (Thursday) the other kid who never gets sick complained of a headache and vomited. We were trying to figure out if we were heading to Life Light or not! We hoped that she just ate too much at the state fair...
Friday we canned all of the apples. They were already rotting and we knew we would lost a lot more if we waited another week until we had a free day to can again. My husband had to attend a follow up appointment for his mother and didn't get home until 11. I was supposed to have all of the apples picked from our trees and be started canning before he got home. However...it rained almost 2 inches in just over 2 hours that morning...so I saved the apple picking for him;) He and some kids went out and picked when he got home. Grace hauled buckets of apples to the house constantly. It was a great job for her and she did great (she was 100% from her root canal. She heals quick!) The rest of us were in the house starting the applesauce process. We finally got done after 11 p.m. We had less quarts than usual - only about 75 or so. But since we haven't used up last year yet it will be fine.
Saturday we headed out to Life Light. We weren't sure what to do since the forecast called for bad storms on Sunday and there had been a lot of rain Friday night already, and we didn't know if a kid would get sick. But, we went. We checked into the hotel and then headed to the grounds.
On the way we picked up Beautiful's boyfriend where he attends college. I haven't talked too much about him. I don't like the word "boyfriend." That implies something very different than the courtship relationship that they have. "Boyfriend" seems to cheapen how they are carrying on their relationship to something that the world had made to be...I don't know...uncommitted? Anyway, we call him that for lack of a better word but we think of him as another member of our family, whom we prayerfully expect will be a member of our family one day. They have been in this relationship almost 2 years and we have loved how they are conducting their relationship with us or with his parents. They have only been allowed to go anywhere without any chaperones present twice (to public locations). We are blessed that they don't rebel against these boundaries but actually seem to appreciate them. But, I really like getting to know him as my daughter gets to know him. This weekend he pulled a practical joke on her that had all of us in tears laughing. He is a wonderful young man to deeply loves the Lord...and he is fun. Anyway, he is usually a fixture at any of our family outings and Life Light was one of them:)
At Life Light the kids loved the music. By the time we got to Skillet at night - wow. Grace LOVED how the bass from the music just ran through her body. She and JJ were dancing up a storm totally into the music. I couldn't understand a single word the band said...but I guess that isn't the point at a concert;)
Sunday morning we quick ran through Kohls to buy matching shirts for our upcoming family pictures. We have never done matching outfits before so this will be fun!
Then we went to the worship service - awesome music...followed by the sermon by KEN HAM!!!!!!!!!!! He was one of the 2 biggest reasons I wanted to go to Life Light. We have almost all of his videos and many of his books. We went to the Creation Museum during our Disney World trip in March. Love his ministry. Love his speaking. It was great!
The weather was hot during the day. We wandered around, sweat, and some of the kids napped on the blankets in the grass. The mud had dried out so we didn't need boots on Sunday.
In the course of 30ish minutes a bunch of things happened. I was talking to one of my cousins whom I hadn't seen for 2 years. My husband and big kids went to get food and look around before the next band. Grace had to go potty. There were rows of port-a-potties (the cleanest ones I have ever experienced). Two banks of them were behind where we were sitting to each side of the entrance/exit. We were toward the back of the crowd but there were a lot more people behind us. We sat right on the "alley" between the left and right groups. That made knowing where we were much easier and the kids could "dance" in the "alley." Well, Grace had to go potty so I sent her to the port-a-potties that she had gone to many times. However, I told her to go to the ones on the east side of the entrance instead of the west. I watched her walk east through the scattered chairs rather than just walk to the back of the crowd and then over. I thought that was probably a bad idea and would get her disoriented. My cousin left soon thereafter. Grace didn't return. I ran back to find her and couldn't. I came to our spot and she wasn't there. I saw Buddy heading to the other bank of port-a-potties so went to get him to sit with the younger kids so I didn't lose them. I went back to the other row and she wasn't there. I was wondering where they took lost kids if they found them. Would I have to head over to Lost and Found (I had found someones cell phone earlier and returned it to that tent so I at least knew where it was)? Would they announce her name over the loud speakers to 100,000 people...in the middle of a concert? Had someone taken off with her through the exit? Then Superman said, "Hey! Grace is riding on a golf cart!" Whaaa? Sure enough, apparently she had come out of the bathrooms and walked straight down the alley like every other time she had gone...but since she was disoriented it was the far east alley and not the central alley. She stopped at a Pizza Ranch tent and asked for help (she did have my cell phone number on her wristband but no one called it). They handed her off to volunteer. And they put her on the golf cart. I don't know where they were taking her since she didn't know where we were (I am assuming to the Lost and Found tent). She didn't make a lot of sense when she got back (which is typical- asking her for logical, linear, chronological information is asking for tons of confusion) about what exactly happened. However, since we were sitting right on the alley and I was standing in the alley looking for her...they found me:) I started crying and was so relieved when they drove up with her that admittedly I didn't ask them many questions except to find out that she asked for help at the Pizza Ranch. So, I snuggled up with her so relieved she was found when...
I was soooo excited to hear Big Daddy Weave and Michael W. Smith (the reason other than Ken Ham that I wanted to make this family trip happen). The band right before them, Remedy Drive, was playing at 5 as we watched the heavy clouds roll in (also while I was searching for Grace). I had packed up everything earlier and thought we could just brace ourselves under umbrellas if it "rained" on us - after all, I could see the back edge of the storm (eye roll...). People started to leave. We didn't. Then...at 5:15 the sky opened up. It didn't just rain, it down poured. I am so glad that I had everything packed up. We ran and Beautiful (somehow she had showed up during that as I had texted her to come help since Grace was lost - but the men still weren't back) spotted a tent for us to hide under rather than run to the van a long ways away. We were all dripping wet and soaked through completely. My husband and Beautiful's boyfriend were still off getting food. Later we learned that they had headed to the van thinking we would be there...but were too soaked to get in so just got...soaked... It seemed like it rained at least 1 inch in 20 minutes. The ground had standing water everywhere and we just sloshed through it. Life Light is set on a 1/2 mile square farm. So the concerts are outdoors and the main stage is in a field. It was ...wet. After the men sloshed back to us it was a hard decision of what to do next. We finally agreed to go back to the hotel and get dry clothes on (and warm up) and come back but stay in the van in the back field to listen to the last 2 bands (the ones I wanted to hear...and there would be NO problem hearing the band from the field).
But...we got stuck in the parking lot. It was downright embarrassing that our 1 ton 12 passenger van couldn't get traction in the wet grass/alfalfa. God provided an older gentleman with a truck and a towrope within 2 minutes of us realizing we weren't going to get out and he towed us a 1/2 mile - completely out of the parking lot (field).
That, of course, meant that we couldn't go back for the last 2 concerts as we probably would get stuck again. I really had to wrestle with God about that one. I only wanted to come for 2 reasons - Ken Ham and Michael W. Smith. God reminded me of my constant and innate selfishness and told me to knock it off. So, we went out to IHOP for supper (which made Buddy VERY happy) and I fell asleep early in one hotel room with the girls while the rest of the kids stayed up later in the other hotel room. JJ had fallen asleep soon after getting drenched and cold and slept for 3 hours. I was really worried that he would get sick. But, he didn't. He had a restless night of sleeping that kept me occupied. That wasn't a terrible thing for me as I was awake "wrestling" with God anyway;)
The next day my Dad drove down to see us. We hadn't seen him since he came with us on our Black Hills trip last September. We enjoyed a trip to The Falls and got lots of great pictures of him and the kids:) We went out to eat at a buffet restaurant that he likes. We always eat there with him as my kids are all so picky with their food that it suits everyone well!
While we were at The Falls the kids were climbing over rocks and such. You can imagine Grace not slowing down for much. I told her repeatedly to slow down, not run, and NOT jump over the small pools of water between the rocks. But...she did...and lost her shoe...when she fell in... I was a ways ahead of them and watched as she and the older kids tried to find that silly shoe. I was trying to figure out how we were going to go out to eat with a kid with no shoes! She kept wanting to reach in one spot and grab it but Beautiful couldn't see the shoe and didn't want her tumbling in and getting her clothes wet so stopped her. I eventually went back and finally I told Grace I would hang on to her and she could grab her shoe if she thought she knew where it was. The little goofball reached right in...and came back up with her shoe!!! It was lodged in the...crud...in the bottom of the pond. Just another adventure with Grace:)
We drove home and JJ vomited in the car. He really can't handle much with his stomach and food and gets car sick way too often but usually it is only in the morning. Anyway, we got home and settled in.
Tuesday and Wednesday I worked all day. I was so tired lol! I worked 1/2 a day on Thursday and got lots of other things accomplished. It was one of those very, very rare days where the kids actually cooperate and we can all click. I wish there were more days like that... Friday was back to the frantic "rat in a wheel" that I hate but is the reality of my life.
This weekend I finally felt like, even though I have been very productive, I was able to take a breath again. I am so thankful for our trip to Life Light even though the week before and after any such "extra" family activities brings me so much extra stress. It is such a wonderful ministry and lots and lots of fun! I will say that I was probably the most blessed (aside from Ken Ham) by seeing the shear number of transracial families. I have never seen that many transracial families in one place before. It made me feel like we were a little more...not atypical? And, of course, I was so excited to see all of those kids who had been adopted into Christian forever home families. We met one and exchanged numbers. They live in our state and the boy and girl came from Haiti. I have to laugh and share that the best way I have found to meet another transracial family (well, one with a child with African hair) is to walk up to them and ask the girl, "your hair is beautiful, does your mom do that?" Faith's hair has been a conversation starter many times:)
Sunday, September 7, 2014
First Day Back as a Sunday School Teacher...after a several year hiatus...
Since the Middles came 8 and 6 years ago, then JJ 4 years ago, my husband and I have felt like we were drowning most of the time and treading water some of the time. We stepped back from almost all "extras" as we tried to adjust to having 3 toddlers the same age along with their needs due to their...prior lives. Teaching Sunday School was one of the things we stopped doing. We have also stopped being able to grow most of our friendships due to time constraints. It has been isolating but necessary - even though various misunderstandings have arisen. Over the past 1 -2 years we have felt that we are actually doing a little "swimming." Of course, last year's situation with not being able to adopt Superman and Faith's sister took me back a long way into a dark pit, but we are almost a year out of that now. When we got asked to teach Sunday School again I initially thought, "no way! I am so stretched with just work and family that I can't do anything extra." But, as my husband pointed out, JJ is of the age to be in this Sunday School class and he REFUSES to go anywhere without us. Thus he has never been to Sunday School except when my husband sits in there with him. We decided that we would teach so that he could hopefully acclimate a bit to being in a teaching environment, get used to other same age kids, and maybe accept some structure.
Today was the first day. It went surprisingly well. I loved getting back into the teaching mode. I love teaching! The problem is usually an unmotivated audience;) My husband is the best "helper" and ummm disciplinarian lol! He keeps things moving smoothly so I can just get the teaching done. I love how we work together as a team and he anticipates the needs. Anyway, this isn't a post about how awesome my husband is (although he is definitely awesome!!) There were about 13 kids in there with 3 of them boys. My husband had to take JJ out once for his behavior and I could see the other kids stare at him quizzically. He did fine after that though;) Teaching 4 and 5 year olds (there is 1 6 year old) is so much fun. In past classes I have taught them all of the books of the Bible, the "walk through" of the Bible, the 10 Commandments, and the placement of all of the objects in the Tabernacle. I am excited to see what this group of kids will be willing to learn:)
There are a bunch of awesome kids in there. I am so excited to get to know them. They are a bunch of eager kids:) Especially the 10 girls...who...like to...talk;)
But...a bit unexpected, what I really took away from today was just how delayed JJ is. Granted, JJ is the youngest child in the class having only turned 4 three weeks ago. However, all of the other kids can spell their names at least aloud. Some couldn't do all of the letters but at least knew some of them. JJ can't even SAY his name (much less have any clue of any of the letters of the alphabet). His speech delays were way so much more poignant to me today. We have planned to have him tested by a speech/language pathologist next month. She saw him in the Spring and said to wait for this Fall to see if he caught up at all. He certainly talks more now, but not better. I had thought that perhaps we might get told that he is still within normal limits. However, my thoughts on that are significantly altered today. He loves to speak, but very few people have any idea what he is saying. In fact, those of us in the family still have to use context to figure it out. His full bio sister also has the same problems...so we will navigate this new issue... He hardly ever speaks in public (being so afraid of strangers) so I don't know how many other's have even noticed. In fact, I am worried that he won't speak to the Evaluator so that she can assess him!
He still holds his hand in his fist and just scribbles. He had no clue how to use the scissors even with me there helping him (part of that is my fault. If you were me would YOU allow my kids access to scissors??? Nuff said;). However, the kid is a pro at playing with little legos and Wii games;) He has good gross motor skills and some good fine motor skills. However, I have always noticed that when he moves one hand the other hand does the same action. We had an adult friend once who neurologically was "wired" backward so if one hand did it, the other hand did it. He neurologically could not separate one hand's action from the other. JJ's isn't as pronounced as his was, but I have noticed that it is present. Perhaps we will have to deal with other sensory issues as well.
He is finally sleeping through the night most night. He is also eating more consistently. He is at the 25% for weight which is the highest he has ever been. We are so thrilled he is on the growth chart! We have noticed that food is still a major major problem for him. He still gets car sick if he rides in the car early in the morning. He won't eat right away when he wakes up. He will say "my belly hurts" but it doesn't seem to be something that food makes better. So, who what knows that the digestive issues are. He seems to have a lot of symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder with issues with food, sound, touch, texture, etc. Because he is never "himself" around others it is hard to know how any attempted interventions may work.
So anyway...over all I am excited about teaching Sunday School. It is fun to see the world through 4 and 5 year old eyes. I am excited to be back into formal ministry (other than the ministry via my job). Right at the beginning of the class God totally confirmed for us that we were supposed to be doing this. The lesson was on John 3, with the story of Nicodemus and God showing His love for us. However, before we could even get started one of the kids started talking about how JJ was a different color from my husband and I. She went on to say how her mom had told her that JJ had a different mommy than me before. It was such an awesome opening to discuss being "born again" and being adopted by God - just like John 3. I had to smile right there and thank God for confirming that this was the right decision for us to teach again at this season of life, and for the opening a sweet 4 year old made into the lesson. Gotta love when He shows up like that;)
Today was the first day. It went surprisingly well. I loved getting back into the teaching mode. I love teaching! The problem is usually an unmotivated audience;) My husband is the best "helper" and ummm disciplinarian lol! He keeps things moving smoothly so I can just get the teaching done. I love how we work together as a team and he anticipates the needs. Anyway, this isn't a post about how awesome my husband is (although he is definitely awesome!!) There were about 13 kids in there with 3 of them boys. My husband had to take JJ out once for his behavior and I could see the other kids stare at him quizzically. He did fine after that though;) Teaching 4 and 5 year olds (there is 1 6 year old) is so much fun. In past classes I have taught them all of the books of the Bible, the "walk through" of the Bible, the 10 Commandments, and the placement of all of the objects in the Tabernacle. I am excited to see what this group of kids will be willing to learn:)
There are a bunch of awesome kids in there. I am so excited to get to know them. They are a bunch of eager kids:) Especially the 10 girls...who...like to...talk;)
But...a bit unexpected, what I really took away from today was just how delayed JJ is. Granted, JJ is the youngest child in the class having only turned 4 three weeks ago. However, all of the other kids can spell their names at least aloud. Some couldn't do all of the letters but at least knew some of them. JJ can't even SAY his name (much less have any clue of any of the letters of the alphabet). His speech delays were way so much more poignant to me today. We have planned to have him tested by a speech/language pathologist next month. She saw him in the Spring and said to wait for this Fall to see if he caught up at all. He certainly talks more now, but not better. I had thought that perhaps we might get told that he is still within normal limits. However, my thoughts on that are significantly altered today. He loves to speak, but very few people have any idea what he is saying. In fact, those of us in the family still have to use context to figure it out. His full bio sister also has the same problems...so we will navigate this new issue... He hardly ever speaks in public (being so afraid of strangers) so I don't know how many other's have even noticed. In fact, I am worried that he won't speak to the Evaluator so that she can assess him!
He still holds his hand in his fist and just scribbles. He had no clue how to use the scissors even with me there helping him (part of that is my fault. If you were me would YOU allow my kids access to scissors??? Nuff said;). However, the kid is a pro at playing with little legos and Wii games;) He has good gross motor skills and some good fine motor skills. However, I have always noticed that when he moves one hand the other hand does the same action. We had an adult friend once who neurologically was "wired" backward so if one hand did it, the other hand did it. He neurologically could not separate one hand's action from the other. JJ's isn't as pronounced as his was, but I have noticed that it is present. Perhaps we will have to deal with other sensory issues as well.
He is finally sleeping through the night most night. He is also eating more consistently. He is at the 25% for weight which is the highest he has ever been. We are so thrilled he is on the growth chart! We have noticed that food is still a major major problem for him. He still gets car sick if he rides in the car early in the morning. He won't eat right away when he wakes up. He will say "my belly hurts" but it doesn't seem to be something that food makes better. So, who what knows that the digestive issues are. He seems to have a lot of symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder with issues with food, sound, touch, texture, etc. Because he is never "himself" around others it is hard to know how any attempted interventions may work.
So anyway...over all I am excited about teaching Sunday School. It is fun to see the world through 4 and 5 year old eyes. I am excited to be back into formal ministry (other than the ministry via my job). Right at the beginning of the class God totally confirmed for us that we were supposed to be doing this. The lesson was on John 3, with the story of Nicodemus and God showing His love for us. However, before we could even get started one of the kids started talking about how JJ was a different color from my husband and I. She went on to say how her mom had told her that JJ had a different mommy than me before. It was such an awesome opening to discuss being "born again" and being adopted by God - just like John 3. I had to smile right there and thank God for confirming that this was the right decision for us to teach again at this season of life, and for the opening a sweet 4 year old made into the lesson. Gotta love when He shows up like that;)
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Bragging on my husband
I realized that I spend posts updating on our kids, but I don't ever write about my amazing husband. I thought I would do that today in honor of our anniversary:) Some of this post is serious, some is silly, all of it is meant to show what a great guy I am married to.
My husband and I must win the "most opposite couple" award. We are very different but we have (over time...much time...) learned to appreciate one another's differences and focus on how we may not be similar in many areas but we complement each other well.
The quality I appreciate the most about my husband is that he loves to serve. He genuinely and authentically cares about the hearts of people. He takes the time to consider what touches someone's heart and he desires to meet that for the person. His love language is Gifts. He loves to let people know they are cared for whether it is giving them something, talking to them about something, or just being there for a person.
He quietly tolerates that Gifts are not even on my radar screen. It will be a month after a special day and I may (or may not) note that I did not do anything special for him that day. He lavishes the rest of us with thoughtfulness and does not complain when we are not as quick to notice his wants. Two years ago I bought him a used 4-wheeler and told him that it was to make up for the first 17 years of not being intentional about gifts...and to not expect anything else for awhile either;)
When the older kids were little he loved to just lay on the floor with them. It used to drive me nuts as I kept thinking he should be "doing" something. However, I came to realize that the best thing he can "do" for them is to "be" with them.
I am so thankful that my husband is a stay at home dad (with 2 at home jobs). He spends so much time with our kids and it is so important to our kids.
I love that my husband fills up my car with gas. I never even look at the gas gauge. The other day he was shocked that he filled it and there were only 40 miles left in the tank (my husband thinks that the car is empty if the gauge is on 1/2). I told him, I really, really never ever look at the gauge. I know he will take care of it. He always takes care of it. He always takes care of me:)
He also takes out the trash without my awareness. It is just done.
Since I got my herniated disk he has taken over all yard and garden work. I do the canning when it gets to the house (he helps with all of that too), but he takes much pride in his garden, weeding, and watering - and of course the harvest.
He does dishes. And scrubs floors. He does laundry - and folds and puts away!
He is readily willing to put up with my impulsive "lets do this" even when he had other plans. He is always game for going away for the day or for a trip (I attempt to involve wildlife, fishing, or some other outdoor activity as we all enjoy those things;)
He holds my hand while we walk:)
He rarely complains about things I do...perhaps about the children's choices...but not about mine;) He puts up with me unceasingly.
When I tell him the little things that mean so much to me, like how I like coming home from work to a washed off kitchen table, it is usually done:)
He loves to surprise me. Just last night after I had already worked 10 hours he knew I was exhausted and still had another hour of work. As I swung past the house to grab an item he sneaked a peanut butter cup to me. Ah, he knew that I needed chocolate and peanut butter to get through the last hour. Then, when I got home, I went straight to bed (by 8). He did not get grumpy that I had been at work all day and he needed a break from the kids especially at bedtime. He just let me sleep and when I woke told me how much he appreciates me.
He does not mind that I don't iron...or dust;)
He loves kids. While the childbirth of our 2 bio kids could have been much more traumatic, they were complicated enough that if had birthed them without medical intervention I probably would not have lived. After it happened the second time my husband insisted that I not do that again. He was terrified he would lose me (and have to raise the kids himself;) However, still loving kids he wanted more and 4 adoptions later we are at 6 kids. He still is very open to another child (it is me that is content to be done at 6...unless God makes is crystal clear we are to do that again!)
He feels totally out of his element home schooling the kids, but he is courageous and 2 days a week he teaches (while I work) and 3 days I teach. That has been hard with kids with learning struggles but we love the reasons that we home school and that helps us keep each other focus and persevere.
I love how we are usually thinking the same things. We often finish each others sentences. We can be apart for an hour and when we start up a conversation it is often on the same topic that the other one wanted to talk about. We have the same values and goals for most things...not that we necessarily agree all of the time on how to achieve those goals. But at least we have the same goals lol!
My husband is not a man of many deep words. However, he is a man of very deep emotion and loves our family with thoughtfulness, insight, and service.
Our marriage has not always been so great. I have been working on a post of the testimony and progression of our 19 years of marriage to where it is today. But today it is great. I adore, appreciate, and love my husband. He takes care of me. He pampers me. He reminds me with his actions daily that he treasures and cherishes me. He is a great man.
My husband and I must win the "most opposite couple" award. We are very different but we have (over time...much time...) learned to appreciate one another's differences and focus on how we may not be similar in many areas but we complement each other well.
The quality I appreciate the most about my husband is that he loves to serve. He genuinely and authentically cares about the hearts of people. He takes the time to consider what touches someone's heart and he desires to meet that for the person. His love language is Gifts. He loves to let people know they are cared for whether it is giving them something, talking to them about something, or just being there for a person.
He quietly tolerates that Gifts are not even on my radar screen. It will be a month after a special day and I may (or may not) note that I did not do anything special for him that day. He lavishes the rest of us with thoughtfulness and does not complain when we are not as quick to notice his wants. Two years ago I bought him a used 4-wheeler and told him that it was to make up for the first 17 years of not being intentional about gifts...and to not expect anything else for awhile either;)
When the older kids were little he loved to just lay on the floor with them. It used to drive me nuts as I kept thinking he should be "doing" something. However, I came to realize that the best thing he can "do" for them is to "be" with them.
I am so thankful that my husband is a stay at home dad (with 2 at home jobs). He spends so much time with our kids and it is so important to our kids.
I love that my husband fills up my car with gas. I never even look at the gas gauge. The other day he was shocked that he filled it and there were only 40 miles left in the tank (my husband thinks that the car is empty if the gauge is on 1/2). I told him, I really, really never ever look at the gauge. I know he will take care of it. He always takes care of it. He always takes care of me:)
He also takes out the trash without my awareness. It is just done.
Since I got my herniated disk he has taken over all yard and garden work. I do the canning when it gets to the house (he helps with all of that too), but he takes much pride in his garden, weeding, and watering - and of course the harvest.
He does dishes. And scrubs floors. He does laundry - and folds and puts away!
He is readily willing to put up with my impulsive "lets do this" even when he had other plans. He is always game for going away for the day or for a trip (I attempt to involve wildlife, fishing, or some other outdoor activity as we all enjoy those things;)
He holds my hand while we walk:)
He rarely complains about things I do...perhaps about the children's choices...but not about mine;) He puts up with me unceasingly.
When I tell him the little things that mean so much to me, like how I like coming home from work to a washed off kitchen table, it is usually done:)
He loves to surprise me. Just last night after I had already worked 10 hours he knew I was exhausted and still had another hour of work. As I swung past the house to grab an item he sneaked a peanut butter cup to me. Ah, he knew that I needed chocolate and peanut butter to get through the last hour. Then, when I got home, I went straight to bed (by 8). He did not get grumpy that I had been at work all day and he needed a break from the kids especially at bedtime. He just let me sleep and when I woke told me how much he appreciates me.
He does not mind that I don't iron...or dust;)
He loves kids. While the childbirth of our 2 bio kids could have been much more traumatic, they were complicated enough that if had birthed them without medical intervention I probably would not have lived. After it happened the second time my husband insisted that I not do that again. He was terrified he would lose me (and have to raise the kids himself;) However, still loving kids he wanted more and 4 adoptions later we are at 6 kids. He still is very open to another child (it is me that is content to be done at 6...unless God makes is crystal clear we are to do that again!)
He feels totally out of his element home schooling the kids, but he is courageous and 2 days a week he teaches (while I work) and 3 days I teach. That has been hard with kids with learning struggles but we love the reasons that we home school and that helps us keep each other focus and persevere.
I love how we are usually thinking the same things. We often finish each others sentences. We can be apart for an hour and when we start up a conversation it is often on the same topic that the other one wanted to talk about. We have the same values and goals for most things...not that we necessarily agree all of the time on how to achieve those goals. But at least we have the same goals lol!
My husband is not a man of many deep words. However, he is a man of very deep emotion and loves our family with thoughtfulness, insight, and service.
Our marriage has not always been so great. I have been working on a post of the testimony and progression of our 19 years of marriage to where it is today. But today it is great. I adore, appreciate, and love my husband. He takes care of me. He pampers me. He reminds me with his actions daily that he treasures and cherishes me. He is a great man.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
When the Kids are Away...the Parents will Play!
We dropped off the Middles at camp Wednesday. YES! Faith really wanted to go on her birthday so she got her wish:) My husband and I decided that it may work this year for us to get away. It has been so complicated with little ones and we tend to be a bit overprotective of our kids...and we actually want people to still like us after leaving our kids with them overnight! So, right after we dropped off the kids we went away for the night for the 4th time since we became parents...17 years ago. Actually, we never left Beautiful and Buddy until they were 7 and 4...so it was the 4th time in 10 years;) (I also want to clarify that we did go to Mexico several times and friends watched the little kids sometimes because we couldn't take them out of the country with us and sometimes...because. But we still had the other kids with us;)
We don't have grandparents or any family in this state, so we have no convenient people to watch our kids. I am so glad that Beautiful is now old enough to do that. My husband and I are looking forward to being grandparents who get to keep our grandbabies a lot!!
Beautiful and Buddy did a great job watching JJ. There were some bumps in the road when Beautiful wanted to go to sleep at 11:30 and night and JJ was still full of energy, but he did eventually go to sleep lol! It was great to have peace of mind of the kids left at home and we knew that JJ would do well with Beautiful. Actually, he didn't even ask about us until Thursday. When he was told that we were on a date he supposedly said, "oh yuck!" Silly boy...
We went out to eat and...are you ready for it...we actually ordered food that we have never eaten before! My husband and I tend to be quite "inside the box" people in certain areas and eating out is one of them. One does not want to spend money on food when one does not KNOW that it will taste good lol! Fortunately my husband's was delicious and mine was good. I will be ordering what he ordered next time we go there though;)
I mentioned in the last post that I am reading What did You Expect? by Paul Trip. In that book he has a Trust Questionnaire. My husband and I spent hours talking through those 22 questions. To have UNINTERRUPTED conversation was soooo delightful. We usually use our 2 mile walks to talk uninterrupted, but that isn't near enough time to talk of things other than planning daily life (and now I use the treadmill more so our walks are not as frequent). It was also wonderful to sleep without keeping an ear "open" for a child coming in the middle of the night to disrupt our sleep:) Since JJ still doesn't sleep through the night more than a few nights at a time that was a major highlight!
Beautiful is 17 1/2 and we hadn't gotten her a car. We have talked about various options and it has been a hard decision for us. Do we buy a new car and sell her our old one like my parents did for me? I really liked having a reliable car when I was a teen that I knew where it had been/what it had been through. Or do we buy her a used car? I hate buying used cars as I don't know who to trust to sell me a car while being honest. Thus, we have almost always bought new. Beautiful is not a very social kid, so it is not like she is needing the car for many social events so we have just muddled along with her using my car. I only work 2 days a week (usually) so making it work was acceptable. We decided to wait until this fall. However, she is working 5 - 6 days a week and while it is close by in town it was driving me crazy to shuffle vehicles. Tuesday I had to ask someone for a ride for the first time. So....
Yesterday we bought a new car and Beautiful bought our old one. We deep cleaning her car and washed it and it was fun to see her so thorough as she was now taking ownership for "her" car. I couldn't believe the important things that I "found" in the car that I unfortunately didn't even know I had lost!
We picked up the kids today from camp. One had fallen in the lake out of a boat. All had eaten too much candy. One had lost an important item of clothing. All were filthy muddy from all of the rain. Some were grumpy from not enough sleep. Yep, typical return from camp day lol!
It is a good thing that we only go on these overnight dates every several years - this date was expensive lol!
We don't have grandparents or any family in this state, so we have no convenient people to watch our kids. I am so glad that Beautiful is now old enough to do that. My husband and I are looking forward to being grandparents who get to keep our grandbabies a lot!!
Beautiful and Buddy did a great job watching JJ. There were some bumps in the road when Beautiful wanted to go to sleep at 11:30 and night and JJ was still full of energy, but he did eventually go to sleep lol! It was great to have peace of mind of the kids left at home and we knew that JJ would do well with Beautiful. Actually, he didn't even ask about us until Thursday. When he was told that we were on a date he supposedly said, "oh yuck!" Silly boy...
We went out to eat and...are you ready for it...we actually ordered food that we have never eaten before! My husband and I tend to be quite "inside the box" people in certain areas and eating out is one of them. One does not want to spend money on food when one does not KNOW that it will taste good lol! Fortunately my husband's was delicious and mine was good. I will be ordering what he ordered next time we go there though;)
I mentioned in the last post that I am reading What did You Expect? by Paul Trip. In that book he has a Trust Questionnaire. My husband and I spent hours talking through those 22 questions. To have UNINTERRUPTED conversation was soooo delightful. We usually use our 2 mile walks to talk uninterrupted, but that isn't near enough time to talk of things other than planning daily life (and now I use the treadmill more so our walks are not as frequent). It was also wonderful to sleep without keeping an ear "open" for a child coming in the middle of the night to disrupt our sleep:) Since JJ still doesn't sleep through the night more than a few nights at a time that was a major highlight!
Beautiful is 17 1/2 and we hadn't gotten her a car. We have talked about various options and it has been a hard decision for us. Do we buy a new car and sell her our old one like my parents did for me? I really liked having a reliable car when I was a teen that I knew where it had been/what it had been through. Or do we buy her a used car? I hate buying used cars as I don't know who to trust to sell me a car while being honest. Thus, we have almost always bought new. Beautiful is not a very social kid, so it is not like she is needing the car for many social events so we have just muddled along with her using my car. I only work 2 days a week (usually) so making it work was acceptable. We decided to wait until this fall. However, she is working 5 - 6 days a week and while it is close by in town it was driving me crazy to shuffle vehicles. Tuesday I had to ask someone for a ride for the first time. So....
Yesterday we bought a new car and Beautiful bought our old one. We deep cleaning her car and washed it and it was fun to see her so thorough as she was now taking ownership for "her" car. I couldn't believe the important things that I "found" in the car that I unfortunately didn't even know I had lost!
We picked up the kids today from camp. One had fallen in the lake out of a boat. All had eaten too much candy. One had lost an important item of clothing. All were filthy muddy from all of the rain. Some were grumpy from not enough sleep. Yep, typical return from camp day lol!
It is a good thing that we only go on these overnight dates every several years - this date was expensive lol!
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Our Current Trials... What did I expect?
I apologize if this post comes across grumpy. I am feeling more than a little grumpy but am trying to keep perspective.
We are in a Sunday School class right now on the book "What Did You Expect?" It is a book on marriage by Paul David Tripp and it is EXCELLENT! I am very happily married but am still finding a lot of great information in the book. Mostly I am trying to think of the information more broadly than my marriage and focus it on how I live.
A message the first week was asking when an open water bottle gets shaken what comes out? Water. Milk, juice, Pepsi, or whatever cannot come out. Water comes out. So, when life "shakes" us, what comes out of us? If we claim to be _______ (calm, loving, kind, anchored to God and His plan for us, whatever) and we get "shaken," is that what comes out?
So I have been spending a lot of time considering the moments when I am "shaken" and how I respond. What comes out of me?
A second message was, when we are feeling grumpy we should examine what we are really grumpy about. It is usually that we are worshiping/idolizing something that is the created rather than the creator. While I have known about this concept before, I have been striving to be more intentional about it and really key in on what I am idolizing in my life. Quite honestly that has not been a surprising find but it has been uncomfortable.
You know when you pray and ask God to grow you...and he answers? Well, we got water in our basement from our rain gutters being blocked and now it looks like we will have to replace at least 1 bedroom's carpet. That is a minor annoyance, but I am worried about our kids who have allergies and their tendency to be affected by airborne allergies. Today we are ripping out carpet and my husband has decided that he is going to try to replace the carpet himself. There was a time 12+ years ago that I would have argued and rolled my eyes. But my husband is amazingly handy with all projects of a home improvement nature so I am more curious this time around how it will go.
But then...I began to fret about the cost. About why water came in. About the kids' health. About how long it will take to fix this. About the project outside my husband wants to do before the carpet gets laid to hopefully prevent the problem again (we have not had water in the basement in over 10 years, since we got new rain gutters on the house).
We have been talking for over a year about a new a/c unit. We put a new furnace in 10 years ago and they put an A-coil on it so when we got a new a/c unit we would just have to replace the outside unit.
We had a quotes come in last year and found out that the a-coil will have to be replaced again due to the new unit designs. Sigh...
We did not act on it last year but yesterday called the person and told him to go ahead and replace the unit and a-coil.
Last night our a/c unit QUIT WORKING! Sigh...
So now we have a stinky basement with wet carpet and no way to get the humidity out of the house. I have a headache that I fear is from the wet carpet. I am hot. I am sticky. I am grumpy.
What was that, God? You are shaking me and wondering what is coming out? You are showing me what I idolize? Ahhh, yeah, that isn't pretty. What is coming out is fear. Fear of health issues. Fear of where the money will come from. Yep. Pretty much I am not relying on God but on my own flesh.
It was also sad for me to realize what I ran to when I felt stress. Did I seek out the Lord in prayer or stop to fret and engage in immediate comforts. Yep, that was convicting too. So, after spending time with the Lord in prayer asking for him to take care of these issues but recognizing His sovereignty I am, at least in my heart (even if my mind keeps trying to work out logistics) submitting to however He resolves this issue...and whenever.
It is quite ironic to me, and I have to believe that God wants me to see the joke in this, that it is our fund that we are saving to go to Indonesia that we will have to use to fix the a/c unit. A place where there is limited and spotty electricity and whole lot of heat and humidity. I am grumpy about not having my "comforts" that I idolize when we plan to vacation in an area without those comforts AND I am placing something that is very "created" above what I should be valuing and appreciating as gifts from God. For example, in light of the recent tornadoes in our state and complete devastation, the loss of some carpet and an a/c unit is utterly and pathetically minor. At least our family is intact and well. We have the house as a whole.
I knew it would be dangerous to pray that God grow me, but what did I expect? I am sure I will get through this stretched and more focused on my Creator. While I admit that I am quite grumpy about this today, I am working on counting this trial "joy" and reminding myself that it really is not a trial at all in light of the evil and tragedy in this world. My husband is going to get a window a/c unit to at least cool the living room and we can all camp there tonight and create some memories. And, hey, I won't be able to cook and heat up the house so we can all eat sandwiches and reduce my time in the kitchen. It's all good;)
We are in a Sunday School class right now on the book "What Did You Expect?" It is a book on marriage by Paul David Tripp and it is EXCELLENT! I am very happily married but am still finding a lot of great information in the book. Mostly I am trying to think of the information more broadly than my marriage and focus it on how I live.
A message the first week was asking when an open water bottle gets shaken what comes out? Water. Milk, juice, Pepsi, or whatever cannot come out. Water comes out. So, when life "shakes" us, what comes out of us? If we claim to be _______ (calm, loving, kind, anchored to God and His plan for us, whatever) and we get "shaken," is that what comes out?
So I have been spending a lot of time considering the moments when I am "shaken" and how I respond. What comes out of me?
A second message was, when we are feeling grumpy we should examine what we are really grumpy about. It is usually that we are worshiping/idolizing something that is the created rather than the creator. While I have known about this concept before, I have been striving to be more intentional about it and really key in on what I am idolizing in my life. Quite honestly that has not been a surprising find but it has been uncomfortable.
You know when you pray and ask God to grow you...and he answers? Well, we got water in our basement from our rain gutters being blocked and now it looks like we will have to replace at least 1 bedroom's carpet. That is a minor annoyance, but I am worried about our kids who have allergies and their tendency to be affected by airborne allergies. Today we are ripping out carpet and my husband has decided that he is going to try to replace the carpet himself. There was a time 12+ years ago that I would have argued and rolled my eyes. But my husband is amazingly handy with all projects of a home improvement nature so I am more curious this time around how it will go.
But then...I began to fret about the cost. About why water came in. About the kids' health. About how long it will take to fix this. About the project outside my husband wants to do before the carpet gets laid to hopefully prevent the problem again (we have not had water in the basement in over 10 years, since we got new rain gutters on the house).
We have been talking for over a year about a new a/c unit. We put a new furnace in 10 years ago and they put an A-coil on it so when we got a new a/c unit we would just have to replace the outside unit.
We had a quotes come in last year and found out that the a-coil will have to be replaced again due to the new unit designs. Sigh...
We did not act on it last year but yesterday called the person and told him to go ahead and replace the unit and a-coil.
Last night our a/c unit QUIT WORKING! Sigh...
So now we have a stinky basement with wet carpet and no way to get the humidity out of the house. I have a headache that I fear is from the wet carpet. I am hot. I am sticky. I am grumpy.
What was that, God? You are shaking me and wondering what is coming out? You are showing me what I idolize? Ahhh, yeah, that isn't pretty. What is coming out is fear. Fear of health issues. Fear of where the money will come from. Yep. Pretty much I am not relying on God but on my own flesh.
It was also sad for me to realize what I ran to when I felt stress. Did I seek out the Lord in prayer or stop to fret and engage in immediate comforts. Yep, that was convicting too. So, after spending time with the Lord in prayer asking for him to take care of these issues but recognizing His sovereignty I am, at least in my heart (even if my mind keeps trying to work out logistics) submitting to however He resolves this issue...and whenever.
It is quite ironic to me, and I have to believe that God wants me to see the joke in this, that it is our fund that we are saving to go to Indonesia that we will have to use to fix the a/c unit. A place where there is limited and spotty electricity and whole lot of heat and humidity. I am grumpy about not having my "comforts" that I idolize when we plan to vacation in an area without those comforts AND I am placing something that is very "created" above what I should be valuing and appreciating as gifts from God. For example, in light of the recent tornadoes in our state and complete devastation, the loss of some carpet and an a/c unit is utterly and pathetically minor. At least our family is intact and well. We have the house as a whole.
I knew it would be dangerous to pray that God grow me, but what did I expect? I am sure I will get through this stretched and more focused on my Creator. While I admit that I am quite grumpy about this today, I am working on counting this trial "joy" and reminding myself that it really is not a trial at all in light of the evil and tragedy in this world. My husband is going to get a window a/c unit to at least cool the living room and we can all camp there tonight and create some memories. And, hey, I won't be able to cook and heat up the house so we can all eat sandwiches and reduce my time in the kitchen. It's all good;)
Sunday, May 25, 2014
We Have Been Sick:(
Monday Grace came home from Field Day and was sick. We pondered if she was dehydrated from her morning experience or if it was the stomach flu. It is a running joke in our house that my husband ALWAYS blames stomach ailments on "it must have been something s/he ate."
I had a blinding headache Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The kind that is like knives in my eyes and I am light and sound sensitive. We finally went to the Chiropractor on Wednesday morning and by that evening my headache was gone:)
Just in time for...Buddy to get sick! Nope, wasn't dehydration. Miss Ellie started something fun lol! Beautiful was sleeping in tent with 4 of her friends (the Furious Five) that night at a friend's house. We got to bed after midnight (like usual with our night owl 3 year old) but when we heard the thunderstorm we got up at 3:30 and watched the news to see if there was risk of a tornado like the devastating ones last weekend (there wasn't). We got back into bed a little after 4 and...in staggered JJ with...the flu. He was sick for 8 hours, frequently. The whole time I kept thinking that if I got it I would not be handling it nearly as well as he did. He started eating late afternoon insisting that he should also play outside-his energy level was back to almost normal. I told him that he was sick so couldn't play outside. He responded, "but I ate my strawberries, I am better!" When another child decided later that she had an upset stomach and JJ had to hand over his bucket, he asked "why?" I told him he wasn't sick anymore so didn't need it. He said, "if I'm not sick I can go outside!!" He is always quick on the uptake.
Friday we all felt well and did well. My husband walked to the nursing home 6 blocks away to wheel his mother to our garage so she could go through some of her belongings. We can't get her into the house as we don't have wheelchair access. I am glad she couldn't come in the house because...Friday night I got it.
Silver Lining: When I was feeling yucky and knew what was coming I asked my husband to please clean the toilet for me. He went far and above using the new toilet pumice stone to clean ALL of the toilet rings in the house! Isn't he awesome! I love our new toilet ringless toilets;) I love my awesome husband too:)
My husband slept on the futon in an attempt to stay away from my germs. Ha! Early Saturday morning he was sick too. I think there should be some kind of Murphy's Law that does NOT allow both parents to be sick at the same time. But...no such thing appears to exist.
Silver Lining: As my husband and I spent the entire day unable to get vertical, or even sit up, I was so impressed with our newly 14 year old Buddy. Beautiful is a bit of a, well, hypochondriac and if she thinks that someone around her is sick she thinks she is sick. So...that put the oldest 3 of us confined to our bedrooms and Buddy in charge (she still hasn't gotten sick by the way). He fed the 4 youngest children, entertained the children, and disciplined the children. He did GREAT! If you know Buddy personally you know that being around people (especially his younger siblings) for long periods of time requires a retreat to solitude for a time before he can re-engage. He really stepped up to the plate though and we are so proud of him. Even today, when my husband and I are still not doing well, he has once again fed and cared for the younger ones. Granted, the kids have watched 4 Star Wars movies and played a lot of Wii, but he did great lol! In typical Buddy style he also watched Frozen with them...with the language turned to French! His sense of humor is...quirky;)
Last night my husband I finally ventured upstairs to lay there after supper. I thought it to be a major feat that I was able to stay vertical for an entire 5 minutes to finish loading and start the dishwasher without fainting! That was my major accomplishment of the day:) We had Superman keep JJ outside as long as possible to make him tired so we could get him to bed at a decent hour (10:30) so we could sleep again.
Today I have remained quite weak and standing for any length of time, or even sitting up, has been difficult. The severe body aches that I had yesterday and today were thankfully symptoms that only I have had out of everyone who has gotten sick. Once I felt safe enough to try Tylenol it didn't even touch them. I just kept laying there thinking that I was fortunate that this would pass soon and it was not like I have morning sickness that lasts for months or nausea/illness from cancer treatment, etc. I keep thinking about Grace's aunt who is on a ventilator right now and very, very sick at a transplant hospital awaiting a possible double lung and liver transplant. Surely I can survive 2 days of severe body aches compared to what she has persevered with in her 26 years with Cystic Fibrosis.
But...I digress...
Silver Lining: 48 hours into this I am able to sit without feeling like I will faint and stand for longer periods of time. I am thankful that this is Memorial weekend and I will have another day to recuperate before I have to go to work on Tuesday:)
More Silver Lining: I have enjoyed the uninterrupted time sequestered with my husband. Even though we did not talk much and slept a lot it was time together. We did express our appreciation that our youngest is almost 4 and we don't have any "babies" that would have made this more difficult. Now that Buddy has proven his ability to watch his siblings well we just may have to utilize him more...especially with his older sister working full time this summer...Hmmmmmm;)
5 down...will the last 3 get it? We shall see!
I had a blinding headache Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The kind that is like knives in my eyes and I am light and sound sensitive. We finally went to the Chiropractor on Wednesday morning and by that evening my headache was gone:)
Just in time for...Buddy to get sick! Nope, wasn't dehydration. Miss Ellie started something fun lol! Beautiful was sleeping in tent with 4 of her friends (the Furious Five) that night at a friend's house. We got to bed after midnight (like usual with our night owl 3 year old) but when we heard the thunderstorm we got up at 3:30 and watched the news to see if there was risk of a tornado like the devastating ones last weekend (there wasn't). We got back into bed a little after 4 and...in staggered JJ with...the flu. He was sick for 8 hours, frequently. The whole time I kept thinking that if I got it I would not be handling it nearly as well as he did. He started eating late afternoon insisting that he should also play outside-his energy level was back to almost normal. I told him that he was sick so couldn't play outside. He responded, "but I ate my strawberries, I am better!" When another child decided later that she had an upset stomach and JJ had to hand over his bucket, he asked "why?" I told him he wasn't sick anymore so didn't need it. He said, "if I'm not sick I can go outside!!" He is always quick on the uptake.
Friday we all felt well and did well. My husband walked to the nursing home 6 blocks away to wheel his mother to our garage so she could go through some of her belongings. We can't get her into the house as we don't have wheelchair access. I am glad she couldn't come in the house because...Friday night I got it.
Silver Lining: When I was feeling yucky and knew what was coming I asked my husband to please clean the toilet for me. He went far and above using the new toilet pumice stone to clean ALL of the toilet rings in the house! Isn't he awesome! I love our new toilet ringless toilets;) I love my awesome husband too:)
My husband slept on the futon in an attempt to stay away from my germs. Ha! Early Saturday morning he was sick too. I think there should be some kind of Murphy's Law that does NOT allow both parents to be sick at the same time. But...no such thing appears to exist.
Silver Lining: As my husband and I spent the entire day unable to get vertical, or even sit up, I was so impressed with our newly 14 year old Buddy. Beautiful is a bit of a, well, hypochondriac and if she thinks that someone around her is sick she thinks she is sick. So...that put the oldest 3 of us confined to our bedrooms and Buddy in charge (she still hasn't gotten sick by the way). He fed the 4 youngest children, entertained the children, and disciplined the children. He did GREAT! If you know Buddy personally you know that being around people (especially his younger siblings) for long periods of time requires a retreat to solitude for a time before he can re-engage. He really stepped up to the plate though and we are so proud of him. Even today, when my husband and I are still not doing well, he has once again fed and cared for the younger ones. Granted, the kids have watched 4 Star Wars movies and played a lot of Wii, but he did great lol! In typical Buddy style he also watched Frozen with them...with the language turned to French! His sense of humor is...quirky;)
Last night my husband I finally ventured upstairs to lay there after supper. I thought it to be a major feat that I was able to stay vertical for an entire 5 minutes to finish loading and start the dishwasher without fainting! That was my major accomplishment of the day:) We had Superman keep JJ outside as long as possible to make him tired so we could get him to bed at a decent hour (10:30) so we could sleep again.
Today I have remained quite weak and standing for any length of time, or even sitting up, has been difficult. The severe body aches that I had yesterday and today were thankfully symptoms that only I have had out of everyone who has gotten sick. Once I felt safe enough to try Tylenol it didn't even touch them. I just kept laying there thinking that I was fortunate that this would pass soon and it was not like I have morning sickness that lasts for months or nausea/illness from cancer treatment, etc. I keep thinking about Grace's aunt who is on a ventilator right now and very, very sick at a transplant hospital awaiting a possible double lung and liver transplant. Surely I can survive 2 days of severe body aches compared to what she has persevered with in her 26 years with Cystic Fibrosis.
But...I digress...
Silver Lining: 48 hours into this I am able to sit without feeling like I will faint and stand for longer periods of time. I am thankful that this is Memorial weekend and I will have another day to recuperate before I have to go to work on Tuesday:)
More Silver Lining: I have enjoyed the uninterrupted time sequestered with my husband. Even though we did not talk much and slept a lot it was time together. We did express our appreciation that our youngest is almost 4 and we don't have any "babies" that would have made this more difficult. Now that Buddy has proven his ability to watch his siblings well we just may have to utilize him more...especially with his older sister working full time this summer...Hmmmmmm;)
5 down...will the last 3 get it? We shall see!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
A Day In My Life...need a laugh?
Yesterday started yet another busy weekend in our home. I tried to finish up home school for the day and it got later than I wanted. Beautiful had a home school spring formal last night so I took her to the beautician to get her hair done, and once home lost track of time. Her date came over and I was not ready for pictures. However, Beautiful had some ideas so we raced around town to take some out of the ordinary pictures. Thankfully my husband chose to drive them and 6 of their friends to the prom so I got to stay home. Well, don't think it was too much of a sacrifice on my husband's part...he and Buddy dropped them off and they went to Cabelas lol!
I decided to sit on the deck and watch the kids play. While Grace is getting better with her behavior, she still needs a lot of supervision. A friend stopped by and we chatted on the deck while the kids were...less well-behaved than usual. JJ locked us out on the deck when I told him to stop standing on the railing, Grace whined about wanting to jump on the trampoline with Superman and not Faith, or some other such "s/he won't play with me" scenario, and JJ found pieces of aluminum that my husband is wanting to keep for "someday when I get the recycling place" and was chasing his siblings around with it. Yep, just a normal evening.
We went for a walk and got a few errands done. We came home, watched a movie as a fun extra since the big kids were gone, and I put them to bed.
Then I enjoyed a movie about Queen Victoria. One of my favorite books is Pride and Prejudice. I love the Regency era. I don't like to think too much about the downsides of that era, but the rest is fascinating to me. So, I stayed up late BY MYSELF! It was glorious!
The rest of the crew got home around 2ish. Our church happened to be having High School lock in over night, so Beautiful and her date went to the lock in until around 6:30 this morning. They apparently, in addition to the fun of getting no sleep (I personally don't see the fun in that lol!), had some excitement when one of the leaders got a head injury from playing an "in the dark" game and had to go to the ER for 7 stitches. That will keep you awake with adrenaline! Anyway, they came home and slept for a couple of hours. Thankfully we have an extra bed in Buddy's bedroom so it is convenient to have an extra person sleep over (if they are male;)
This morning I was awakened by Grace yelling "I gotta go potty!!!" I immediately jumped out of bed to tell her to hush, not wake everyone else, and ask why she didn't just get up and walk the 10 feet through the 2 open doors like she always does...when I realized she was in a deep sleep...
About an hour later JJ, who has been sleeping many nights all night long in his OWN BED!!! but last night came in around 5, called out "WANNA GO OUTSIDE!" Whaa? I realized that he, too, was yelling in his sleep.
We got up and around and decided to go down town to a special deal with independent consultants and see what there was to look at (I had to mail a card and pictures to my grandpa anyway who will be 93 tomorrow!). I found a couple of new items at the Tupperware table (I love organization and storage stuff - hate shopping for clothes, etc but I love organizing stuff although you would not know it anymore by walking into my house lol!) Then we continued on to the library where I got the book that has kept me moving all day long...a biography on Queen Victoria!
But before I could enjoy the book I forced myself to be productive...so...
The older two had a home school teen night event today. I was going to take them but then my husband offered. I was thrilled! My favorite day is the day that I don't have to leave my house. I got to stay home lol! But...alas...I supposed that I needed to actually be productive today and not just read the book that I can't stop thinking about...sigh...
So, I took the kids to the park for a picnic lunch and playtime. We spent a couple of hours there. JJ loves to be outside. My husband finally has the son who will hunt and fish with him from sun up to sun down lol. He is so adventurous and curious. We have a hard time keeping him inside. Anyway, the kids all had a great time. We even hit around baseball and had them all run bases (yes, you see my hidden motives don't you...I did run with them;) then...
I decided that do a reverse on my normal motto of "work before play" since I have been reminded by my children that I always find something else to do, thus the work never gets done so the play never gets started...
So after the park...we deep cleaned bedrooms!!! I dragged out the totes of their summer clothes and had them try on every piece of clothing they have and that we found in the totes. The kids were...well...I had to keep reminding them to stay on task. That took several hours but the bedrooms are clean, the clothes are exchanged, and the floors are all vacuumed.
However, we had a few distractions during that process. I tend to be "in the zone" when I do things like that and lose track of time. Apparently our 3 year old, who has finally figured out that a rumbly tummy is remedied by actually eating food, decided that food was necessary and I was not available. Also, he was wanting to be like his big brother, Superman, and try on clothes too (and was being pushed out of rooms for dragging Superman's clothes all over out of piles, etc. So, the last time I saw him he had some kind of Superman's clothes on.
Then, in walks JJ with a 1/2 eaten doughnut that belonged to his biggest brother's stash. It wasn't enough that he was eating his big brother's doughnut...but JJ was now wearing his birthday suit. He was a sticky mess so I sat him out of sight of the other kids and told him to finish the doughnut. Then I washed him up and got some clothes back on him. I was frantically trying to bag up odds and ends clothes and figure out where to repack things so didn't really notice when JJ left for awhile. Then he returned with...yep...another doughnut. Big brother's stash is now...gone. When I asked him what he was doing he matter of factly responded "I hun gee, my tummy hurts!"
And in the last 30 minutes...
(screaming coming from outside - looking out the window at Grace running I assumed that she was not hurt and JJ was looking behind him while running so I assumed it was fear). " MOM! Buddy (the dog buddy, not our son;) almost got the bunny! He is going to EAT the bunny!" She was quite hysterical that the dog was chasing a rabbit...quite hysterical.
Grace: MOM! You said today that I didn't need a band aid unless blood was running down my leg (she scraped her knee falling off of the merry go round at the park) and now it is because we have to get rid of the sticks because JJ and Superman brought the sticks down and I tripped over them!!!!!
It is only 7. I wonder what the rest of the night will bring;) I am soooooo looking forward to my biography on Queen Victoria and I think I did enough "productivity" and stuck to "work before play" for myself to not feel guilty sitting down to read a book for fun lol!
I decided to sit on the deck and watch the kids play. While Grace is getting better with her behavior, she still needs a lot of supervision. A friend stopped by and we chatted on the deck while the kids were...less well-behaved than usual. JJ locked us out on the deck when I told him to stop standing on the railing, Grace whined about wanting to jump on the trampoline with Superman and not Faith, or some other such "s/he won't play with me" scenario, and JJ found pieces of aluminum that my husband is wanting to keep for "someday when I get the recycling place" and was chasing his siblings around with it. Yep, just a normal evening.
We went for a walk and got a few errands done. We came home, watched a movie as a fun extra since the big kids were gone, and I put them to bed.
Then I enjoyed a movie about Queen Victoria. One of my favorite books is Pride and Prejudice. I love the Regency era. I don't like to think too much about the downsides of that era, but the rest is fascinating to me. So, I stayed up late BY MYSELF! It was glorious!
The rest of the crew got home around 2ish. Our church happened to be having High School lock in over night, so Beautiful and her date went to the lock in until around 6:30 this morning. They apparently, in addition to the fun of getting no sleep (I personally don't see the fun in that lol!), had some excitement when one of the leaders got a head injury from playing an "in the dark" game and had to go to the ER for 7 stitches. That will keep you awake with adrenaline! Anyway, they came home and slept for a couple of hours. Thankfully we have an extra bed in Buddy's bedroom so it is convenient to have an extra person sleep over (if they are male;)
This morning I was awakened by Grace yelling "I gotta go potty!!!" I immediately jumped out of bed to tell her to hush, not wake everyone else, and ask why she didn't just get up and walk the 10 feet through the 2 open doors like she always does...when I realized she was in a deep sleep...
About an hour later JJ, who has been sleeping many nights all night long in his OWN BED!!! but last night came in around 5, called out "WANNA GO OUTSIDE!" Whaa? I realized that he, too, was yelling in his sleep.
We got up and around and decided to go down town to a special deal with independent consultants and see what there was to look at (I had to mail a card and pictures to my grandpa anyway who will be 93 tomorrow!). I found a couple of new items at the Tupperware table (I love organization and storage stuff - hate shopping for clothes, etc but I love organizing stuff although you would not know it anymore by walking into my house lol!) Then we continued on to the library where I got the book that has kept me moving all day long...a biography on Queen Victoria!
But before I could enjoy the book I forced myself to be productive...so...
The older two had a home school teen night event today. I was going to take them but then my husband offered. I was thrilled! My favorite day is the day that I don't have to leave my house. I got to stay home lol! But...alas...I supposed that I needed to actually be productive today and not just read the book that I can't stop thinking about...sigh...
So, I took the kids to the park for a picnic lunch and playtime. We spent a couple of hours there. JJ loves to be outside. My husband finally has the son who will hunt and fish with him from sun up to sun down lol. He is so adventurous and curious. We have a hard time keeping him inside. Anyway, the kids all had a great time. We even hit around baseball and had them all run bases (yes, you see my hidden motives don't you...I did run with them;) then...
I decided that do a reverse on my normal motto of "work before play" since I have been reminded by my children that I always find something else to do, thus the work never gets done so the play never gets started...
So after the park...we deep cleaned bedrooms!!! I dragged out the totes of their summer clothes and had them try on every piece of clothing they have and that we found in the totes. The kids were...well...I had to keep reminding them to stay on task. That took several hours but the bedrooms are clean, the clothes are exchanged, and the floors are all vacuumed.
However, we had a few distractions during that process. I tend to be "in the zone" when I do things like that and lose track of time. Apparently our 3 year old, who has finally figured out that a rumbly tummy is remedied by actually eating food, decided that food was necessary and I was not available. Also, he was wanting to be like his big brother, Superman, and try on clothes too (and was being pushed out of rooms for dragging Superman's clothes all over out of piles, etc. So, the last time I saw him he had some kind of Superman's clothes on.
Then, in walks JJ with a 1/2 eaten doughnut that belonged to his biggest brother's stash. It wasn't enough that he was eating his big brother's doughnut...but JJ was now wearing his birthday suit. He was a sticky mess so I sat him out of sight of the other kids and told him to finish the doughnut. Then I washed him up and got some clothes back on him. I was frantically trying to bag up odds and ends clothes and figure out where to repack things so didn't really notice when JJ left for awhile. Then he returned with...yep...another doughnut. Big brother's stash is now...gone. When I asked him what he was doing he matter of factly responded "I hun gee, my tummy hurts!"
And in the last 30 minutes...
(screaming coming from outside - looking out the window at Grace running I assumed that she was not hurt and JJ was looking behind him while running so I assumed it was fear). " MOM! Buddy (the dog buddy, not our son;) almost got the bunny! He is going to EAT the bunny!" She was quite hysterical that the dog was chasing a rabbit...quite hysterical.
Grace: MOM! You said today that I didn't need a band aid unless blood was running down my leg (she scraped her knee falling off of the merry go round at the park) and now it is because we have to get rid of the sticks because JJ and Superman brought the sticks down and I tripped over them!!!!!
It is only 7. I wonder what the rest of the night will bring;) I am soooooo looking forward to my biography on Queen Victoria and I think I did enough "productivity" and stuck to "work before play" for myself to not feel guilty sitting down to read a book for fun lol!
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