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  • ~little boys and puppy dog tails~

    One day last week, I spent the afternoon sitting in the front yard with Julia watching the children play. Here’s a few pictures from the afternoon.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ~cheryl

  • ~A Tea Party Fit For A Princess~

    Back in January, we had a girls day with Grandma Beth and visited a Tea House. We had a lovely lunch and Maryann announced after our trip there that she wanted to go back for her birthday. She turned four on Monday and so today was the chosen day to celebrate her birthday. We don’t normally have big birthday parties. Just a special day for the birthday child. They get to pick their favorite meals for the day and we make a cake. A few presents and that’s it. But this year I wanted to add a special event that they would choose. And Maryann chose a Tea Party.

     

    Originally I was just thinking the girls. I figured the boys would be bored out of their minds. But they all quickly assured me that they wanted to come along and that they would all behave like gentlemen. They wanted to wear their suits. So we talked about all the things that gentlemen do. I think secretly they were wanting to get in on the good food that we girls had boasted about from our previous trip. And the sugar cubes. 

     

    I had forgot to check and make sure each boy had a suit that fit him. I usually pick up random pieces at thrift stores. They usually still look brand new. But, this morning as everbody started to get dressed, we realized we were missing quite a few sizes… 

     

    Like everything for Gabe. So he wore Josh’s suit from last year. And it was WAY too big on him. But I had to make a decision at that point. Either bag the whole idea of siuts because these boys were going to look like they were playing dress-up because of all the ill fitting sizes, or just let everybody “Dress Up”. And dress up is what I decided. So we put Josh’s old suit on Gabe, we put suspenders on Josh to keep his pants up. And made a pit stop at Wal Mart to get a shirt for Ben.

     

    Maryann picked out my clothes. She has been talking and planning for days on what we girls would wear. We did our make-up and hair together. She wanted to look like “the dancing lady at a wedding” aka-the bride. So we pinned her hair all up and put curs in it. The boys came into my bathroom wanting to look good too. They put on Eric’s cologne and did their hair. Josh has really enjoyed parting his hair WAY over. It’s hard not to laugh at him, because he thinks he looks “so sharp!”. But the part is a little extreme. One of these days I am going to get it on camera. 

     

    So everybody looking their best, we drove to the Tea House. The lady who owns it loves children. I had called ahead and made reservations. She was thrilled that the boys had come along, and encourage them to pick out hats and some “accessories”, like swords and such. The boys were delighted. THey had sword fights out in the garden. Maryann rummaged though all the dress up clothes that were in the closet. And wondered all over her house, looking at all the pretty things she has for sale. 

     

    We all had a lovely time. The boys did a great job acting as gentlemen and protecting us princesses at the same time with all their new found swords. They pulled out chairs, held open doors, and let the girls go first.  Maryann was right in her element!

     

    On our way in.

     

    Trying on hats

     

    and glasses…

     

    The chandelier that hung over us

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Playing in the mirror

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The dress up closet

     

     

     

    Officer Josh caught an alligator!

     

     

    Ben loved this hat.

     

     

    The PiNk birthday shoes from Grandma Beth

     

     

     

     

    Daddy joined us for dessert

     

     

    Hats the boys found for us.

    The sugar grabber / The Gentlemen paying for lunch

  • ~2 Months ~

    Julia is 2 months now. Here are pictures from the past few weeks of summer.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Dahlias from Laura’s flower garden

     

    Flowers from Laura’s flower garden.

     

    Beauty Sleep

     

    Playing on mowers at Home Depot while waiting for Daddy

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    ALL FOR ONE…

     

    …AND ONE FOR ALL!!

     

    Date Night!

     

     

     

    Berry Smoothie

     

     

    ~cheryl

  • ~Lost Keys~

    I’m not sure where to even began today. The weather said 100 degrees. And even though we have AC, the one day I ran it this summer, it never shut off. I was so stressed about my electric bill, that all I could think about was turning them off. There is no shade on the house, so it bakes in the sun all day. And the afternoon sun is brutal. Reminds me of our house in CA. And the house actually has 2 old heat pumps, so it’s twice the electricity in a futile effort to cool this place. So I just gave up on them. We leave the windows open and most days it’s just fine. But today would be miserable. I knew that. So I had told the children we would head to the river after swim lessons. We have a favorite swimming hole and that was our place of destination. But after two hours of me asking them to clean up their rooms, I got frustrated and told them we were not going to the river. They promptly cleaned their rooms and informed we they were ready to go.

    This is where being a Mom is so stinking hard. I really wanted to go to the river. I knew how hot are house would be. And cranky the children would be. I had laundry to do and a room to finish painting. The yellow jackets in the yard would be mad and someone would probly get stung. The river would be so much easier for me. But then there’s my word. If I say one thing and then do another, what does that teach them? – That mom doesn’t really mean what she says. We can disobey, and in the end, still get the privileges that we were counting on.
    So as I thought this through, and processed the morning in a few nano seconds, I realized we would be home in our very hot house on a very hot day. I loaded everybody up, and off to swim lessons we went. Just as I turned into the parking lot, I realized that I had wanted to go to Wal Mart first and had left early enough to do so.  Why can I not stay focused enough to just get to the right place?  So U-turn done, we headed to Wal Mart. 
    Getting out the door every morning has been a challenge. Other than church on Sunday, which I have Eric’s help, I don’t normally head out very early. But for two weeks, I have needed to have everybody in the car and driving by 9:30. And then, trying to be extra efficient, I have been running errands BEFORE swim lessons. 
    My WalMart stop was out of necessity. Our kitchen floor is tile, and since we have moved in, someone (including myself) has dropped a dish on the floor every day and broke it. Yesterday, after cleaning up a broken plate full of food in the middle of dinner, I decided that I was done with my porcelain dishes. We were going back to plastic. I switched about a year ago and was using all porcelain, after all the bad stuff being said about plastic, but last night I just didn’t care anymore.  So plastic it will be until we tear out the tile and put down something more friendly to glass. 
    We made it through Wal Mart uneventfully. Everybody picked out their favorite color in plastic dishes, I gave a quick talk on how I didn’t want any fighting over whose dish was whose, and if they thought that would be a problem, then we should put back the chosen dishes and get just one color. They all assured me they would do great with the colors and sharing if necessary.  We checked out, I filled up with gas AND we made it to swim lessons on time. Wow!
    While sitting watching the children swim, I suddenly remembered that there was a luncheon at the church that I had wanted to go to. But since my days are consumed with the children, especially in the summer when we seem so busy, I had forgot about it. But now that we were not going to the river, I could go. It was just down the street from my house, the little ones would all be napping, my neighbor would be home, Julia would come with me, and the older ones could work on some chores. So I made up my mind that I would go. I was suppose to bring a favorite salad. I decided to swing by Costco and grab something that looked good. Since there was no time anymore to make something.  But I would have to hurry to make it on time. 
    As soon as lessons were over, we quickly headed to Costco, I power walked thorough the store and made it out in record time. Ben opened the car doors, and I mentioned that I once again I had forgot to lock the doors. Good thing we live in a city with low crime. Everybody got in, got buckled- they were all racing to see who could do it the fastest. I think they had made up teams. Then I realized that I couldn’t find my keys. I dug though the diaper bag. Nothing. Everybody started unbuckling to help me look. Ben checked the cart. Nothing. We tore the car apart. Nothing. So I loaded the little ones back into the cart (including Josh-who had forgot his shoes), and we headed back into the store. Laura and Ben re-traced our steps while I stood in the very long line of people waiting to sign up for a membership.
    Soon an older couple got in line behind me. It didn’t take but a few seconds for the counting to begin…
    “Are those ALL yours?”  
    I didn’t even want to answer. I knew it would be seconds before one of the children would announce that Mom had lost her car keys. They were all thrilled with this new adventure. I have never lost my keys in a public place before. They have been misplaced many a time here in our home due to children needing to unlock something, but when we go out, the keys stay with me.                  
     
    So I answered, “yes” lacking the confidence I normally have. I was tired. Frustrated. I had decided that I would actually do something for myself, by going to this lunch, but I was already late and things were not looking very good. I had already run the “what am I going to do if I don’t find the keys” scenario though my head. Eric could not leave work to rescue me for six hours. And even if he could, the second set of keys and the spare had already been lost somewhere in our house by different children since we moved in. Boys and keys are like magnets here.  The situation was looking bad. If I was just locked just out of my van, with the keys inside, then I’d just call a locksmith. But what do you do when the keys are gone?
    The man was not satisfied with my one word answer. He actually counted again, then asked how many children I had.
    “seven.” (I’m wishing he would just leave me alone)
    He says “You must be missing one.” My head snapped around. I count my children every few minutes non-stop when we are out.  ”one, two, three, four, five, six,…seven.” Over and over. Hundreds of times. Often one has wondered off, but is close enough to track down. I had just done a head count not a minute ago. Who could possible be missing. The four little ones were in the cart and the older ones knew I was stressed. So I count…1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Everyone was there. But then maybe I had somehow miscounted. So I counted again…1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Everyone accounted for. I looked Mr. Cause Me Stress dead in the eye and said, “No, they are all here. All seven.” He argued with me that he had only counted six. So I counted out loud, while pointing to each child. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.  
    He replied,”Oh, guess there were so many I couldn’t count them all.”
    At this point I was feeling attacked. Seven…really???? He can’t count to seven??? Even my three year old can count all seven of them. In fact, she can count all nine of us.  
    It didn’t stop there. His wife started drilling me about patience. 
    “Goodness, she was glad the good Lord had only given her three, because Lord knows, she could never have survived another child.” 
    “Patience- where do you get enough patience- I could never do that. It would have killed me!”
    “And you must be one of those crazy homeschool families too!”
    “When do you ever get time to yourself?”
    “And how come THAT (pointing to Gabe) one is BLONDE? He sure doesn’t match the others?”
    Then her husband cut in.
    “How stupid can you be?”
    “Don’t you know how to stop having children?”
    “Really, you can’t take care of that many children, you know?”
    “How DO you take care of that many children?”
    Back and forth they shot out accusations at me. How my children were surely suffering from my lack of care. How stupid and crazy homeschooling was. How no human could have the patience needed to care for these children.
    I blinked back tears. Really, today was not the day I felt like taking on this verbal abuse. I just wanted to find my keys. Go home. I had not asked for their opinions. And my children were being so good. Patience?? I needed it for them at that moment, not my children. Homeschooling?? My oldest two tested well above their grade levels on the CAT, (administered by a public testing facility)  and they have never stepped a foot into a public or private school. So I can’t be doing that bad of a job teaching them. And they seem plenty socialized. I think they are all thriving. And me…well I have good days and bad days. Days I am consumed with children who don’t listen to me or fight or have bad attitudes.  They break things that should not have been broken. They make messes. Somedays, I just want to crawl into my bed, hide under my covers, and cry myself to sleep. 
    And then there is the good days. These children are amazing. They are sensitive to the needs of our family. They can give unconditionally. They can love with a child like love that I have much to learn from.  They work hard and play even harder. They want to fight for things worth fighting for.  They want to understand good and evil.  They have each others back. 
    And at the end of a day, no matter how hard the challenges were, I survive. And I’m ready for the next day. One day at a time. With the grace of Jesus.
    I slowly made my way to the front of the line. Giving Mr. and Mrs. Cause Me Stress one word answers to their unending questions. At the counter, I explained my situation to the lady, who pointed me over to another employee, who instructed me to look in a drawer, where my keys were waiting for me. I thanked him, and quickly headed back to our car.  It had taken thirty minutes to retrieve the missing keys.
     By now I was almost an hour late to the luncheon. I didn’t even want to go anymore. But I had bought the salad, and I decided that late was better than never. I put the little ones down for their naps, left instructions for the older ones on what chores needed to be done. Made sure they had my cell phone number, the neighbors phone number, and knew that I would be home in less than an hour. And sooner if they needed me. 
    The ladies were all so happy to see me there. I was the youngest by about 20 years. And I’m not all that young anymore. It was a nice lunch and I met some new women who all adored Julia. The pastors wife asked me how I was doing. She looked me right in the eye, and at that moment, I could no longer pretend that all was well. That I had my whole life together and I was just so happy to be there. I blinked back tears as the words tumbled out of my mouth about what had happened at Costco. The lost keys. The mean words that had been said to me. How I didn’t really even want to come to the luncheon. She quietly listened as she does so well. She hugged me and promised to go with me to Costco if I ever needed her.  She was so upset at the people who had been so rude to me.  After filling her in on my whole morning, I felt much better. Somehow, everything didn’t really seem that big of a deal anymore. Even sounded kinda funny as I thought about it all. I was ready to take on the rest of the day. Rude people and all. 
    I headed home as soon as the luncheon was over. I came home to a very clean house. I changed into my painting clothes, sent the children outside to play in the pools (little kiddie ones from kmart) and picked up where I had left off painting. It wasn’t long and my friend from church (the one I had just shared my horrible, no good, very bad morning, with showed up in her painting clothes too. In no time we had finished what needed to be done, and she left to go make dinner for her husband. And I got dinner ready for my family. Eric came home with some beautiful sunflowers, knowing that it had been a rough day. Oh, how I love him. Sunflowers…so big and bright and beautiful. So just perfect for today. 
    As I type this now, it already seems like weeks ago since this morning. I am still alive and well, even laughing to myself as I write this all down. Time to check out and go to bed. I’m exhausted. Emotionally, physically, and spiritually. And tomorrow is just a few hours away. :)
    ~Cheryl

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • ~a DaY iN mY LiFe~

    Today has been one of those really long days. I seem to never stay on top of laundry. So after I had asked all the children to bring down their laundry, the pile was knee deep. And it was so wide I could not even step over it. I had to step into it to get out of the laundry room. I once again am thankful for my huge front loaders that Eric got me after Gabe was born. He had a promise to keep… 

    When we were first married and I was pregnant with Laura, we were walking through Sears and we stopped in front of the washers and dryers. I walked over to the biggest one that claimed to do 10 bath towels, and said to Eric “When I come home from the hospital with our 6th baby, I want this set in my laundry room.” He said,”When you come home, it will be waiting for you. I promise.” So as each child was born, we would laugh about that day and count down the children until I got the new washer and dryer. And then when I was pregnant with Gabe, number 6, Eric casually mentioned that the promise was when i “came home” from the hospital. And that home births didn’t count. Well, I think he forgot that I was pregnant and emotionally unstable, and I began sobbing that it wasn’t fair. Pregnancy, births, and children were difficult and created lots of laundry and he had promised!! All the washers and dryers that I had had so far were given to us. We started with a mustard yellow and pink set when we first got married and had kept “upgrading” with “better” sets from friends and family as each set died. So all these years I had day dreamed about picking out my very own washer and dryer that would be brand new with whatever options I wanted. And then he thought it would be funny to pretend that he had no intentions to fulfill the promise that I was so eagerly anticiapting. But after seeing my reaction, he apoligized profusely and told me I would have them. 

    But then I started thinking about this whole thing from a more rational state of mind. We had no money to buy them since he was in school. So for him to get them for me would mean huge sacrifice on his behalf. I didn’t want that. And then there was the upcoming move after graduation. Moves are always so hard on appliances. Dents, scratches, and dings always leave there mark. And I couldn’t bear the thought of a scratch in my new set. So the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was ridiculous for me to get this. So I put it out of my mind. It had been fun all those years, talking and thinking about it, but in the end it was not a very good idea. 

    After we moved up here, and got into our new house, Eric looked at me one evening and said, “I think it’s time you go buy that washer/dryer set that I owe you.” I was speechless. By then I had totally forgot about it. But once again, he had not forgot his promise. I mentioned that I didn’t think we had the money, and I didn’t really need them. The ones I had worked just fine. Even if they were size small. He just hugged me and said, “The money is in the account. You go buy whatever washer and dryer you want. You have six children, and I think it would make your life a lot easier. I really want you to have them.” So I cried again. But not because I was mad at him, this time because I love him so much and am always blown away by how much he loves me and how he treats me.

    So I bought a front loading set. And it cut my washing in half. I could put two loads worth into the washer and they actually got clean. Shirts that had become dingy starting looking bright again. And every time I go to do laundry, and I look at that shiny white washer and dryer, I remember the story of the 19 year old girl who stood there in Sears with her new husband and big pregnant belly, talking about their future and making promises for over a decade later. 

    So back to my day today…lots and lots of laundry. A phone call from the post office at 4:15 am to tell us that we needed to come pick up the baby chicks that had just been dropped off. Eric is getting them for us to have laying hens. The children have swim lessons in the morning. I chose the last session of the summer to ensure I would be able to get 7 children out the door and to their lessons. THey are all loving it, except Maryann. Her instructor is a guy who happens to have long, frizzy hair, mirrored glasses, and very large earrings. And I’m not sure what she was expecting for a teacher, but I don’t think it was him. But he is really nice and patient with her. So she spent the first day crying during most of her lesson. She insisted I sit right next to her and hold her hand while she was in the water. This complicated matters, because Julia was crying and Gabe wanted to jump in and go swimming. A friend saw my distress and came and took Julia and I convinced Gabe to sit down next to me. So that was day one. Later that day, she and I talked about her lesson and her teacher. She told me that she thought he looked like Jesus. We talked about how he was a good teacher and how she needed to learn her lessons. And the next day went so much better. I was able to stand about 10 feet from her. Any farther, and she would cry and say she needed me to hold her hand. And today I made it all the way over to the bleachers after the first half of her class. She is enjoying her class and I think she even likes her teacher now…a little!

    After swim lessons, I ran errands. Picked up vaccinations for the puppy, went to Staples and let Josh buy six notebook for $0.06. They have a back to school sale and you can get up to 6 notebooks for a penny a piece. I have always told the children that you can’t really buy anything with a penny, but I was wrong. winky So each day this week has been a different child’s day to go into the store and buy their six pennies worth of notebooks. (Because it’s a limit on a household per a day). I returned some shirts to Sears that I had ordered at Lands End. The guy at the register had no clue what he was doing, so it took half an hour. After having worked retail many years ago, sometimes when things like this happen, I just want to climb over the counter and say “I think I can do this all by myself!” But today I refrained. Instead I bounced Julia because she was hungry and crying. And told the children “no” to the hundred things they wanted to buy. And reminded them they could not try on three pairs of sunglasses at once. They might scratch one of the pairs in doing so. The boys reminded me frequently that they were about to “starve to death” because it was lunch time. And then they had to go to the bathroom (I think because they were bored). It was a very long thirty minutes. And I’m not making that up. I slowly watched the clock go round on the wall.

    This afternoon I decided to walk through the house and take pictures of things that I saw that are a daily reminder that I need patience and my children still need lots of training on cleaning up and keeping a tidy house. And as I type this, my right hand is tingling from poison oak that must have been on someone’s clothes today when I did laundry. 

     

    I asked Ben to hold Julia while I made dinner, they both fell asleep. Then he dropped her.

    After crying big tears, as if she was broken hearted that her big brother had dropped her,

    she perked right back up.

     

    Gabe in the middle of all the magazines/pictures that I have saved for house ideas. 

    They all started out in that bucket.

     

    The pile of socks I asked somebody to match up. But still not done.

     

    Chewed up and spit out pear on my front porch. I’m thinking

    Gabe…Even the puppy didn’t want it.

     

    The kitchen table after I was promised by the children they would clean up after a snack.

    I was sitting on the front porch feeding Julia while they got a snack.

     

  • ~Still~

    This past Sunday, the worship team sang a new song and it ministered to my heart. Often these day I struggle with where to find God. I find myself so busy with the thousands of things that demand my attention every day. I know He surrounds me, is everywhere with me, but still my heart cries out to Him to find me…here…now. In the midst of the craziness of being a wife and mother and sister and friend. As I listened to this song for the first time this Sunday, I felt like the words were a prayer coming right from my heart. And the music is so gentle and yet so full of truth and life. I pictured waves crashing against the shore. An eagles wings spread wide.  

    Here are the lyrics. It is playing right now on my playlist. If you can’t hear it, check your speakers.

     

    Still (Performed by Hillsong)
    Words and Music by Reuben Morgan

    Hide me now
    Under your wings
    Cover me
    within your mighty hand

    When the oceans rise and thunders roar
    I will soar with you above the storm
    Father you are king over the flood
    I will be still and know you are God

    Find rest my soul
    In Christ alone
    Know his power
    In quietness and trust

  • This last week has been filled with lots of fun and new adventures. The most exciting was the grand opening of Costco. When we moved here, I was very disappointed that Costco was over an hour’s drive away. But still worth the drive to me. So one or two times a month we would make a “Costco Run”. Buying whatever food and household items that we needed from Costco. Eric always had his office list too. But it made for long tiring days since we always squeezed the shopping into a day with visiting friends or family. The rumors were already buzzing when we moved here that we were getting a Costco. And then one day I drove past the “chosen” spot, and there were dozens of dump trucks hauling away dirt and bulldozers flatting out the ground. That’s when I got excited. So then every time I was out, and just “happened” to be in the area of the construction, I would just drive by. Soon there was a huge  sign that said, “Costco coming this fall”  The newspapers said before Christmas.  The children and I were amazed at how fast the store went up. It only took a few months for them to build the massive warehouse. Soon the sign announced the opening date. So I put it on my calendar and circled it with a big fat red pen. It was a day I did not want to miss. Eric laughed at me, but the chldren were all as exicted as I was. They love all the samples. 

    A few weeks before they opened, Michael asked me if I was going to stake out a place a few days before they opened and camp there so I could be first in line. “No!” I quickly answered. Ok, maybe I was a little too excited about the store opening. And then the day before grand opening, my car ended up needing to go to the shop. Thus creating a problem for me. No car to go to Costco. As I desperately ran different scenarios though my mind, I realized that if I drove Eric to work  (40 min) and dropped him off, (on the morning that he has to leave the house at 6:00), and then drove back here, I could still go. So that’s what I did. I got to Costco around 7:30, and though they weren’t suppose to open until 8, they were already letting everyone in. 

    There was samples galore. Every isle had a few tables set up. The exictment was high, you could feel the energy being generated by all the shoppers and employees. One lady handing out chips and salsa even did a little dance while singing “Costco’s here!! Costco’s here!!” I laughed! 

    Other than Costco opening, we have been working on painting one of the rooms. It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do to a room. I am going to do a faux brushed leather texture over the base coats. It is a dark color, but the room is plenty big enough to absorb the darker color and not feel small. The children have all helped paint. I’m glad the floors will be eventually changed. Because it made it so much easier to let a 3 year old paint when you are not worrying about drips. I still have to finish the top part of the wall near the ceiling. Then the faux painting begins. It is taking me so much longer than I had planned because life keeps happening. 

    Like Eric climbing a mountain with a friend for the weekend. A cougar being seen on our property two mornings in a row. A bunch of baby chicks in the garage. And the weather being so hot that we just want to find water to play in. So we go to the river to swim and play. Oh, and buying a puppy. Who I think is the best little puppy we could have found for our children. They love her and she loves them. She is a border collie/McNab mix. We are all in love with her!

     

    Sisters

     

    Being a girl is so much fun!!! And having them is even better!!

    I love the bracelets and skinned knee in this picture.

     

     

    6 Weeks

     

    Brothers.

     

    The Cousins.

     

     

     

     

    Towel Art

     

    Eric and Luke putting together a desk.

     

    Peeling wallpaper off.

     

    Steaming wallpaper off after the top layer was peeled off.

     

    More peeling. 

     

    Josh was the Shop Vac Man.

     

     

    Staying up late to paint

     

    Snuggling while everybody else works on wallpaper

     

    The boys find at the river. Oh, how boys will be boys!!!

     

    Too much fun at the river

     

     

     

     

    Josh and Toffee

     

    BEn and Toffee

     

     

     

    The first honey of the season

     

     

    New baby chicks

    ~cheryl

  • ~The Fair~

     

    This was our second year going to the fair here. I hardly took any pictures. I find it difficult to funnel creativity behind my camera when I have Julia tucked into the baby carrier on my chest and I am constantly counting 4 children while pushing a stroller with 2 more. We had a wonderful time. Nothing really changed or was new from last year, so we pretty much knew our way around. After going to the LA County fair, this one seems so small. But I think I like it that way. We can actually cover all the fair grounds in a couple of hours.
    I have come up with this “Fair/Carnival” philosophy. I give the children a few dollars each. They then get to decide how they want to spend it. Whether it is rides, food, or games, I don’t care. But when it’s spent, then they are done. My reason is this- with 5 children that all are consumed with greed, as soon as we walk through the fair gates they began to ask to ride every ride, buy every food item, and play every game. And I have to say no or yes. That’s a lot of no’s and yes’s which wears me out quickly. So, with dollars in hand, they all feel very wealthy, and are not nearly as quick to part with the money when it belongs to them then when it is mine. They really think hard about what they want. There’s Josh who doesn’t, and burns through it with in about 5 minute. But the older ones go from wanting one of everything, to considering what it would feel like to walk out of the fair that night with the money still in their pocket. After all, an inner-tube for their bike tire is a much better investment for fun than a 3 minute ride or snow cone.  And I don’t have to say “no” once the whole evening.
    The highlight of the fair is the 4H livestock auction. Last year was my first livestock auction. My head spins when that auctioneer starts his “Auctioneer Song”. I can’t follow the bidding to save my life. But Eric can. He grew up going to these auctions. When he was a kid, he showed and sold sheep at the 4H auction. And when he was that little, he made up his mind that someday, he would come back as a man and buy some child’s animal. So here we are now. Last year he bought a pig. This year, a steer. He chooses an animal that belongs to a child in the little town that he works in. He really believes in supporting the local youth whenever he can.  This year there was only one steer raised in that town, so that made it easy.  Right as the Auctioneer yelled “SOLD!!!” and pointed his finger at Eric, and he held up his bidding card, Maryann told me that she was going to throw-up. Great. Every person at the auction was looking at us, and I in that split second realized that Maryann and eaten ridiculous amounts of sugar that evening.  And was now going to throw it all up. I managed to get her outside the tent without any vomit escaping her little body. Once outside in the fresh air, she perked right back up, asked for a drink of Laura’s Icee, and said she felt fine. It was a great cardiac workout for me.  We then made our way back to the Beef Barn to look at this steer that would be packed into my freezer in a few weeks. The children wanted to pet the steer and have their picture taken with it.  We got to meet the owner and talk with him about being in 4H, raising the steer, and anything else.  And the children are all convinced now that they want to raise pigs for the fair next year.  We’ll see…

     

    Ben cracking a board in half at the martial arts booth 

     

    Eric climbing at the Army booth.

     

     

  • I think I am finally on top of all my photo editing. I have all my files backed up to my hard drive and then burned to cd’s. I tend to let it get behind. I had a lot of down time last week at the music camp, so I burned away!

    Julia is 5 weeks old now. I am always amazed at how fast a baby grows. She can almost hold her head up now and smiles when you talk to her. She has adapted well to this family. She can sleep through just about anything. From vacuum cleaner to being passed from one child to another. She is easily entertained, even if it means Gabe smothering her in kisses. She stretches out when she sleeps now. I already miss the little ball that she was when she was born. How she would tuck her legs up under her little body and pull her arms in tight. Now she flops all out. She seems to have a much more olive complexion than the other children. I guess she got a good bit of the Indian blood from Eric’s side of the family. She is chunking up quite well too. Already has little rolls and a double chin. So adorable!! Maryann always asks me if Julia is “milking me” when I nurse her. I had to think about that the first time. “Yes,…” I replied slowly. In all my nursing years, never had I thought about “being milked”.  Sometimes when she asks me that I feel like saying “MOOOOOOOO”. I would probly scare Julia to death, and Maryann would think it was so funny that she would want me to do it every time she asked. So I contain myself. When Maryann asks to hold Julia, she never uses her name, just says “Can I hold the little girl?” I think she is really enjoying being a big sister. Because up until now, she has always been the “little girl”.

    I am excited about garage sailing (sp?) over the next month. My goal for the interior decorating of this house is to go with the outside look which I would call “Old World” The stone tourets give it a “Castle” look. So I want to bring that look inside. Right now, it’s more of an early 90′s/nothing really matches look. And since it’s so much fun to find really cool old furniture but can be rather time consuming, I figured I should start now. I have alot of rooms to decorate.

     

    ~Here are the pictures from last week at music camp~

     

     

     

     

    Ben on the rope swing

    The children with Grandpa Luke and Grandma Beth

     

     

    Ice Cream tastes best when licked straight out of the bowl!

     

    The weather was perfect!

     

    I let the older children take some pics on their own. This one made me laugh!

     

     

  • Laundry is finished. Or at least it was yesterday. The pile is already beginning to mound again today. That is one of the reasons I have the boys wear matching clothes. It helps me keep track of if they change their clothes through out the day. If they all have different shirts on, then I never know when they change their shirts. So my laundry doubles and triples. So, I made the rule, one shirt per day. (I will always take into consideration a request to change if it is needed) Then there is Maryann. The girl likes to change about every hour. And as easy as it is for me to tell the boys they must limit themselves to one shirt a day, I let her change every time her little heart desires. Why?? I’m not real sure. Expect that she really believes she is a princess and the littlest bit of dirt can totally ruin her day. And she has so much fun with each outfit change. And she is Maryann. The sweetest little girl one could imagine. So I let her change again and again and again. And the laundry piles up…(that’s at least nine outfits a day coming from my family to wash!)

     

     

     

     

    Eric and the boys have been working hard at cleaning up the property. Mowing, cutting down trees, pressure washing. The neighbor said that no one has lived here for over 2 years. And by the looks of the yard, I agree. The boys love using Eric’s tools/machines to help him out. 

    The inside is a whole different story. I’ve most the boxes unpacked. The house feels very mis-matched to me. Every room has different carpet or tile. Right now we are saving to hire an architect to redesign the inside of the house. Then the remodel begins!! But for now I have to wait.

     

    Some front porch furniture makes all the difference!

     

    The prettiest plant in my yard!

     

    Some chairs I found at the thrift store this week for twenty bucks!

     

    Weed Eating the hill behind our house.

     

    Collecting tree branches from the fallen tree.

     

    Pressure washing the driveway.

     

    Cutting down a tree.

    TIMBER!!!!

     

    (On a side note, I have been trying to post a video to my page here, but can’t seem to get it to show up. I have it uploaded to my video manager, and it plays there. Any suggestions would be helpful!!)

    ~cheryl