It's a Wonderful Life

My Mischief Maker and his Matey

2010-10-19T09:13:00.006-04:00

Alternately titled: Chapter 137 (or something like that) in The Kurtis Capers.

Yesterday, having pushed my start time to the outer limits of it possibly being finished by the time Karson needed to leave for gymnastics, I set out to make dinner, only to immediately run into a snag. It was a minor snag at first. I had forgotten to thaw the enchilada sauce for the Mexican Lasagna. This would definitely set me back a few minutes...minutes I didn't have to spare, so I hurried down to the basement to retrieve the sauce from the freezer. Unfortunately, the key to our freezer was not in its usual location and was nowhere to be found.

Panic started to set in as I realized that Kevin was heading out the front door to go to work and that he was the last to gain access to the freezer. I caught him in time, but he was little help as he assured me he had placed the key back on the ledge. He did point out that he had found the outside door to the basement unlocked earlier and suggested that the job may have been done by our beloved youngest son. Sounded likely, so I set out to find him, trying to keep my head from spinning around and the steam from spewing out my ears.

I found Kurtis and his best friend and next-door-neighbor, 4-year-old James, in the backyard of our rental property next-door. When I asked about the key, they didn't seem to know what I was talking about. James even commented, "How would I know, I'm blinded." I had noticed that he was missing his glasses. He unzipped his backpack to show me his broken pair, but no key. I decided to look in the other part of his backpack. Again, no key, but I did find a LOT of very large paint chips with chunks of old decaying brick still attached. Apparently he and Kurtis had been entertaining themselves by peeling paint off of the rental property foundation. I went to check out the damage before dragging Kurtis off to the basement, hoping that pointing out where the key had been located would jog his memory.

At this point, I decided to do all that I could to suppress my growing frustration. I figured that revealing any anger might push Kurtis to lie and that I'd never find my key. Playing nice seemed to work and Kurtis' memory was indeed jogged. He confessed.

"So, where did you put it?" I inquired.

"It's where James keeps his stuff. Follow me!" Kurtis said, a little too enthusiastically.

He led me, follow the leader style, out behind our house where our property has several garages that we rent out as storage space. Sitting there in a pile on the sidewalk was an obvious "stash". An old plastic soda bottle with 2 corks inside, several fruits and twigs from nearby trees, an old sash pulley from the window that Kevin rebuilt this summer, and 4 out of 6 knobs from the buffet that I'm in the process of refinishing. Things I hadn't even realized were missing yet, but no key.

Kurtis then led me into James' backyard. Suddenly, perhaps because he was now in the presence of his grandmother, James' memory came rushing back and he admitted to knowing where the key was. He ran off into the house and returned with an old printer paper box full of his "treasures".

There, at the bottom, was the key to my freezer. I didn't have time to notice whether I recognized anything else in the box or to wring any necks, I was now half an hour behind schedule on my dinner making. Perhaps I'll go back today and investigate further.

I know I've said it more than once. Number 6 needs more supervision. And maybe a lesson or two in resisting peer pressure.

Letting Go

2010-10-15T21:47:00.005-04:00

Poignant moments can occur anywhere, can't they? How about near the crowded register of your favorite Chinese place while you wait, already-bagged order in hand, for the egg rolls you decided to add at the last minute. Kendra leaned her head on my shoulder and I reached up and patted her cheek. Her tenderness was meant to console after my confession that I was taking the fact that she drove us to the Chinese restaurant harder than I'd expected.

Don't get me wrong. It wasn't our first time out together since she's had her learner's permit and she's really doing a great job. However, it's really beginning to hit me how big a milestone this is in the letting go process. Up until now in Kendra's life, I guess I've felt a certain amount of control over her safety. I've never been much of a worrier, but the thought of her soon being out on the road by herself...with other drivers of who-knows-what level of impairment, distraction, or just plain idiocy....has my heart beating a little faster. I strongly believe in the truth espoused in Psalm 139:16 - "Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." I know that I can't add a day to her life via any form of anxiety, but it surely has become more of a temptation.

Then there's the fact that this is all such a strong reminder that in just a couple of years she'll be considered an adult. An adult? How did that happen so quickly? My mind rewinds to all those sweet older women who told me that it would go by quickly (usually as I'm pushing a full grocery cart while simultaneously trying to control 4 young hooligans). Turns out those ladies that I was maybe, just a little, tempted to smack, were right.

It does go by quickly.

What Possessed Him to do THAT??

2010-07-09T20:48:00.005-04:00

It's been a LONG time since I've regularly posted to this blog. The time period from December through about May of this year was so busy for our family that all creative energy was sucked out of me! Sometime about mid-June, I found myself creating a blog post in my head about something that had happened. It was then that I knew my creativity was on the mend! It was a wonderful feeling. I never did get around to typing up the story swimming in my grey matter and, unfortunately, it has long ago drowned. We've again been terribly busy with remodeling a couple of rooms for the last several weeks and I've even contemplated giving up blogging altogether. I voiced my ponderings aloud yesterday only to have my proposed resignation met with much negativity. Kendra in particular moaned, "You can't give up blogging, I like reading about myself!"

Obviously I've taken that into consideration since I'm sitting here at the computer when there are tomorrow's yard sale items waiting to be sorted and priced. Or it could be that I'm sitting with the window air conditioner blowing at my back in one of only 2 air-conditioned rooms in the house during this unusually hot summer.

Or it could be that I have a story to tell that needs to be recorded:

About a month ago, Kara-Faith and Kurtis came to me complaining about the toys in the "fake food" bin being wet. I went to investigate. There were several items on one end that were wet and some liquid in the bottom. I couldn't identify it by it's smell, but I was pretty certain that it wasn't urine. I couldn't imagine how urine could have gotten into the bin, but I did recommend that the kids not play with the fake food until I got a chance to clean it up, just in case.

Then the above referenced remodeling project happened. I forgot all about the incident until I was moving every last item out of the kids' rooms. Somewhere in there I happened to find a small plastic tea cup with a dried yellow substance in the bottom. I was now pretty certain that the earlier liquid had indeed been pee and I was also immediately certain of the perpetrator. The same 4-year-old little boy who, at the time of reporting, seemed just as baffled as his sister as to what that strange liquid could be. It was a good thing that he was away at Nana and PopPop's house at the time of my discovery. I made mental note to take the issue up with him when he got home later in the week. I then erased my mental note, deciding that it was probably going to be an isolated incident and it probably wasn't necessary to bring it up. I knew I wasn't going to get acknowledgement out of him anyway.

Fast forward several weeks to this evening. I walked into Kara-Faith's newly painted room to be greeted by a foul smell. I sniffed around, unable to find it, finally deciding to chalk it up to the extreme heat, but when Kara-Faith complained about it to me later, I went back to hunting. I found a pair of her pajamas on the floor that smelled slightly of urine. They could be it. I took them and all the dirty laundry in her hamper to the laundry room hoping it would take care of the odor. No such luck.

It was then that it dawned on me to check the fake food bin to see if the dried pee in the bin was the culprit. Yes, that same pee that I had still never gotten around to cleaning. In my defense, there is a lot of toy food and plates and cups, etc. in that bin and it's going to be a big job! As I lifted the lid, the tip of my finger touched something wet. I eased back the lid the rest of the way to discover a tea cup, filled nearly to the rim, with....yes, you guessed it, pee. It was ever so gingerly resting on a not-so-stable or symmetrical stack of other toys. I guess I was wrong about it being an isolated incident. Immediately I remembered earlier in the day when Kara-Faith had asked me, on Kurtis' behalf, if he could play with the fake food (it had still been off-limits at least!). My "no" answer prompted quick begging on his part. He claimed he only needed "one thing". I guess I know now which thing it was he "needed"!

No longer at Nana and PopPop's, the perp was pulled in for immediate questioning. I stood him over the still full cup that I had set on the floor and grilled him for answers.

"What is that in that cup?"

"I don't know", he promptly lied.

I spanked his bottom once for the lie. It's the one automatically punishable offense in our house. The wrong-doings won't neccesarily get you in trouble, but the lying about it will! He didn't even try to use his earlier excuse for me not giving him a spanking: "I already spanked myself". Uh huh.

I asked again.

I got the same answer several times before he admitted to it being pee. Now that I had that established I moved on my next question: "Who peed in the cup?"

Back to his favorite answer: "I don't know".

He received several spankings for that one, which persuaded him to confess through his tears.

"Bailey did it!"

Bailey is our dog. Uh huh. Just try to picture a 4-year-old getting the dog to squat and pee on-demand while he holds a very small cup under her! If only he knew the absurdity of his answer. I managed to keep a straight face during his repeat of the same answer two more times! It was only after another persuasive round of swats to the bottom that I finally got the truth.

That's what I thought, mister. Kurtis, you win, hands-down, the award for the most creatively mischievous child I've ever raised. Now don't ever do that again!

My Dreamboat

2010-02-22T18:07:00.003-05:00

I'm thinking that if I just get on here and type something, maybe the creativity will start to flow once again and it won't be so long until the next time I write something. So here goes a short post just for the sake of getting creativity flowing again.

It's about my husband. He's the kind of man that always draws astonished looks from other moms when I tell them the things he does. It's sometimes downright "husband envy". That's a term I actually heard today from someone who'd learned that Kevin had gotten up at 5:30 this morning to: bake bread, make homemade scones for breakfast, and make pasta from scratch to pack in our lunches for our all-day excursion to homeschool co-op.

He usually makes breakfast. Homemade breakfasts. Often something from fresh-ground wheat, even. He also usually bakes the bread around here. Again, from fresh-ground wheat. And he regularly packs our lunches on Monday mornings, so I'm quite accustomed to getting envious looks as a I munch on my delicious salads. Today, however, his envy-worthiness was over-the-top.

Did I mention he brought me tea, sweetened just the way I like it, up to the bedroom while I was preparing for my day of teaching? Yep, that, too.

Oh, and he took his short lunch break to come by and spend a few minutes with me.

That's just the list of today's sweet things. I don't have time to write about the past weeks....months....years.

Dreamy, isn't he?

I sure think so.

My Fashionista

2009-12-08T09:02:00.002-05:00

Again. I should have known.

He was about 3-years-old the day he walked into my bathroom, crumpled onto the floor in a crying heap and loudly bemoaned the fact that he didn't "look good". Nevermind that he was only in his pajamas. He was not to be consoled by my assurance that I thought he looked good and that I was the only one who was going to see him.

The clothes he wears has always been an obsession of Karson's. Each season, he would choose 2 or 3 favorite outfits and could not be steered to wear much else. One year, he even became enamored with the outfit that had spent the last year in his preschool cubbie as his "just in case" change of clothes. It spent the year in the cubbie because it was an outside-the-family-hand-me-down outfit that I thought was ugly and didn't mind sacrificing. Who knew?

As a second boy, Karson hasn't had much in the way of new clothing. Through most of his nearly 10 years, he's been wearing his brother's hand-me-downs. Several years ago, however, he started to notice. He'd notice every time I brought home clothes for any of his siblings and would proceed to pout. Wanting to speak his apparent love language, I started occasionally bringing something home for him, too - even if he didn't really need it.

Fast forward to last night. We took the 4 youngers shopping with us, stopping at several stores. As you might suspect, Karson never minds clothes shopping. At one point, I went to the checkout while Kevin was still looking at something. Given the choice to go with either one of us, he requested to remain in the men's section to look around.

We spent the most time at the Gap outlet. As an aside - I love the Gap. Although I'm not into labels, per se, I do appreciate quality clothes at a good price and Gap's sales are unbeatable. I can usually find things cheaper on sale at Gap or Gap outlet than I can buy them new at Wal-Mart or Target (or even used at a consignment sale!)...and they've always held up better for the inevitable handing down.

Anyway, I didn't pay much attention to what Karson was doing while we were there - the kids were under Daddy's watch for the most part - but apparently he kept himself busy (even though he was disappointed to hear that the store only carried grown-up clothes) As he was heading to bed last night, Karson showed me the stack of clothes on the end of his bed. He told me he'd put together an awesome outfit that was nearly exactly like one he'd seen on a mannequin in the store. He'd studied the mannequin and was certain he had similar items at home. Sure enough -
dark jeans, a striped button-down shirt, a charcoal grey half-zip sweater, and a hoodie zip-up vest. It was a pretty awesome outfit. Apparently he has more talent than gymnastics. My son - the fashionista.

What If We Lived What We Believe?

2009-11-29T15:34:00.012-05:00

James 1:27 ~ Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Matthew 34-40 ~ "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we...?' "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even to the least of them, you did it to Me.'

One of the sons the Lord has given me was carried in the womb of another woman. I didn't even meet Kurtis until he was nearly 6 months old, and couldn't call him "mine" until he was more than 2. The circumstances by which he came to us - through being foster parents with Social Services - was something Kevin and I volunteered for, even though it's a system that we don't wholeheartedly support. As strong believers in parental rights, we don't take lightly the fact that the state can step in and take a child from his parents. We even cringe a bit at the thought of being party to such a system. Yes, I do know that it serves a good purpose and saves many children from fates that no one wants to think about, but as with anything in this world, it's far from perfect. Sometimes justice is served and sometimes the innocent get the short end of the stick. I've come to the belief that it's too often the poor and uneducated who do not find justice within our system. I think that both my youngest children are mine because of little more than the socio-economic situation of their parents. Both they and their parents were among "the least of them."

I have always believed Kurtis' birth-mom to be innocent of the abuse that landed Kurtis in the hospital with the injuries he had when we met him. However, she did lie about what had truly happened. Perhaps she was scared of losing her son, the way she had recently lost her older 2 boys for not protecting them from the severe beating by her boyfriend. In the end, she lost him anyway. When the 14 months of Social Services standard operating procedure had elapsed, "A" was on the short end of the stick. She had missed all of the hoops that Social Services had asked her to jump through and had continued to make poor choices. Genuinely wanting what was best for her son when faced with being asked to sign away her parental rights, A asked if we would adopt him. She knew he would be safe with us and that seemed worth more to her than continuing to fight for his custody. I said we would. She then asked if she would still be able to see him. I answered yes again. I held back tears and walked away.

To be honest, I wasn't entirely comfortable with having an open adoption. I wasn't sure that I could trust A to not overstep the unspoken boundaries I had in mind. Afterall, I'd just spent the last 14 months being told one thing by social services (though what I was told was extremely limited) and being told another by A. I never stopped feeling compassion towards her, but her situation seemed so steeped in a lifestyle I knew nothing about, let alone knew anything about delivering a person from! I wanted to help, but felt crippled to do anything more than be a mom to her son.

I decided to release information about us slowly and gradually. First a phone number and meetings in neutral locations, then a birthday party at her apartment, then I gave her our address and let her come to our home. The unspoken boundaries were never crossed - there have only been a handful of times in the 2 1/2 years since I made those promises that we've seen A and only another handful of phone calls. My trust increased. Still, selfishly, I hoped she wouldn't call too often or that someday she might move on with her life and give up on maintaining a relationship altogether. My discomfort was not only having to deal with a birth mother, but with the socio-economic status that birth mother dwells in. It's a whole other culture that I can't relate to. The bad decisions, the immorality, but, being the squeamish girly-girl that I am, it was the stench of cigarette smoke over EVERYTHING that made me the most uncomfortable. The emotion of compassion met it's demise against the self-centered, mere-toleration of her more often than I'd care to admit.

Not long after we adopted Kurtis, J came into A's life. By then, A already had another little boy by another man (neither Kurtis' or her older boys' fathers), but J was undeterred. A big, heavily tatooed fella with, what I imagine, was a heart to match. He was with A to stay and he loved her son like he was his own. He was a hard worker who dealt all in cash because he "didn't trust banks", but wanted to provide for his little family. They got engaged. She got pregnant again, this time with her first girl. It's far from the picture perfect story....there was still the lack of education, the poverty, squalor, and the cigarette stench, and some in society would be apt to cry "she should have her tubes tied!", but somehow I felt encouraged that life was going to get better for them and happy that they had each other....and the mother in me rejoiced over a baby girl. What is a visual reminder of hope more than a new little life? I felt hopeful for them.

The last time we saw them, A and J had moved to Richmond and we had been invited to Kurtis' half-brother's birthday party. It was February. We went and spent a couple of hours trying to hide our distaste regarding the filthy surroundings. Would it be too obvious if we didn't sit on anything?? I didn't hear from A again until early November. I'd begun to think that she had given up. Far from it - she'd just been busy...and couldn't afford to get her cell phone turned back on to retrieve our number. She and J had gotten married, she'd survived the traumatic emergency c-section birth of their daughter, and they'd started going to church, resulting in them both being baptized and both children being dedicated to the Lord on Mother's Day! She and J were new creations in Christ! What could be a better start to their life together? A then told me she and the kids were back here staying with her mom for a while and would like to get together to give Kurtis his birthday gift once her children were over their current illnesses. I didn't think too much about her explanation of J staying behind in Richmond because "he still had some things to take care of".

It turns out that the thing J is taking care of is a 12 year prison term on trumped up drug charges. Having had a brother who died of an overdose several years ago, J, with A by his side, took on the mission of ridding the world (or at least their corner of it) of drug dealers and de-toxing their addicts. Unfortunately, J acted from his heart, seemingly forgetting his head. He was working diligently, on his own, undercover, to inform the police of a drug dealer....a dealer who, unbeknownst to J, was already working for the police as an informant, and was, in turn, informing the police about J with every "deal". I don't understand all the details, but I do believe A's story of J's innocence. Again, the poor, the uneducated, the man who has already served time and so continues to struggle to make a better life for himself, does not find justice within the system....a system that includes dirty cops who do drugs themselves and don't mind sending a man to prison to save their own hides.

Left behind is the wife, struggling to keep a stiff upper lip while still rehearsing the dreams they must've lain in bed at night talking about - of her being a preacher's wife someday. And the children - a 2-year-old who has only been told that Daddy's in the hospital, because his mother doesn't know what to tell him, and a 7-month-old who's never even known him. All living in one room of her mother and step-father's home while their "stuff" remains on the front porch getting wet and "spidery". They're, of course, on government assistance and waiting for government housing to open up, but, with her history of her children being abused when left in the wrong care and the lifelong consequences of such, she's afraid to leave them in order to seek work. The portraits that her husband was drawing from prison to bring in a little money have ceased with the new inability to use his hand - broken by a guard.

As I re-read what I've written so far, the same old thought of "what if she's just made it all up...what if she really isn't to be trusted...what if their conversions weren't real?" comes to mind. What if? Would it lessen her or her family's personhood one iota? Would it change at all the fact that she is still this society's "least of them"? No.

My heart is burdened for this family...this family that I believe, no matter how uncomfortable that is to me at times, is indelibly linked to ours by God's sovereign hands. After I hugged A goodbye and had kissed everyone's cheeks, my mind was racing. I had already promised to be their "Angel Tree" family this year, but it seemed a small gesture in comparison to their great need. The proverbial "be warm, be fed, I'll pray for you". Could we do more? Not only as followers of Christ, but as conservative-minded citizens of these United States, who profess to believe strongly in personal responsibility and that "cradle to grave" government care is NOT the answer!

Could we live what we believe? Could we afford to "give" A our vacant apartment at a rate similar to that subsidized sub-standard housing she's waiting for? Could we be the "subsidy" ourselves? Could I juggle babysitting her kids, so they have a safe place while she works? Could we have them over for dinner regularly? Could we make them more like family than people we tolerate? Could we risk being thought foolish and being taken advantage of? One answer comes to mind: only by God's grace. If that's where He leads, Kevin and I know that's where we'll follow. Not because it's comfortable, but because the places where the "least of them" dwell are not comfortable.

Neither was the cross.

With the Tulips in Spring

2009-11-26T11:00:00.005-05:00

Whether it was born out of a desire to avoid the literature paper she had hanging over her head or hormones gone wacky or something entirely off my radar, Kylie was "in the mood to clean" yesterday. Her helpfulness never comes at a wrong time! As I was stuck in front of the computer screen in my robe and pajamas, still finishing up the PEACH newsletter, Kylie was like a whirlwind. She washed dishes, did laundry, cleaned bedrooms, picked up messes, packed clothes for the little ones and generally held down the fort the entire day. We were able to depart for Thanksgiving weekend only an hour or so behind, leaving a nearly spotless house in our wake. I told her she did a "mommy job" of it and rewarded her with a strawberry smoothie at our dinner stop on the way to Nana and Pop Pop's house that evening.

At lunchtime, after feeding Kara-Faith and Kurtis, Kylie sat down to eat, too. Still hanging out in the kitchen, Kurtis became curious about the cheese grater on the table. He pointed to a particular side of it and asked what it was for. After explaining it was for slicing cheese, Kylie warned him not to touch the blade or his finger would fall off. Undeterred (and stubborn as usual), he ran his finger over the blade anyway.

Insisting her bluff was true, Kylie feigned concern. "Oh, no! Now your finger is going to fall off later!"

"No, it's not." Kurtis also insisted, but with obvious hesitancy and growing concern as his finger did, indeed, start to bleed.

They went back and forth with the yes-it-will-no-it-won'ts for a bit.

Kara-Faith, observing the whole scene, found Kylie's story more believable and inquired as to whether fingers grow back.

"Nope. Once they're gone, they're gone. They don't grow back," Kylie assured her.

Apparently Kurtis had been thinking hard about his situation. Maybe she's right, I imagine him thinking, but I'm still certain it's going to work out all right in the end...."It will grow back! It will grow in the flower bed," he stated triumphantly.

Who knew? Right next my spring tulips, I suppose.

**Updated 2 days later**

Kurtis is still wearing a band-aid on that finger, even though the cut is rather minor. I went to clip his nails today and he told me not to take off the bandaid. I took it off anyway and when I did he sort of gasped and said, "Oh, it's not fallen off!" Maybe Kylie's comment got to him more than he let on : )

In It For The Long Haul

2009-11-05T18:03:00.007-05:00

I should have known.

At about eighteen months of age, it began with him jumping off the sofa. I remember distinctly being quite hesitant to discourage this behavior because I had, by this time (3 years into boy-momma-hood and 2 boys deep), realized that boys have more energy to expend than do girls. Not being the outdoorsy type myself, I was also hesitant to spend hours outside supervising said boys. Couch jumping it was.

Of course it didn't stop there. By 2, he had taken to jumping off of the 5-foot-high stone retaining wall that runs the length of our driveway. Of course, I questioned the wisdom of letting him do it, but he seemed to land just fine. I spent considerable mental energy pondering whether boys just have an innate need to propel themselves and other things through the air - something I would never understand as a female - or whether I should protect him from the possibility of injury. In the end, I decided that I would not put a stop to his 5-foot free-falls, so he kept landing them.

Fast forward about 4 years and I experienced the same heartbeat-skipping, mental quandary when my youngest demonstrated his back handspring for me for the first time - in the middle of the living room. Not as part of a running, cart-wheel-propelled stunt, mind you, but from a standing still position! My 6-year-old got enough "air" to do a back handspring in my living room. Yes, I feared for his neck, but not enough to make him stop (on the contrary, we enjoyed showing him off!), so he kept landing them. He did NOT, however, land the spontaneous back flip off the the backyard swing. That one landed him...with a nice, bright orange cast for about 6 weeks.

It was about that time that we decided to "get that boy some training", in order to prevent further injury. My research in and around my rural small town turned up nothing in the way of real gymnastics training, so I had to look a little farther. It took me almost a year to find just the one, but I finally signed Karson up for a gymnastics class during the summer of '07. A few classes into the 8-week session, it was quite obvious that he had something his classmates his age were lacking. I decided to ask his teacher what level I should register him in for the next session. He told me I needed to speak with the owner.

Coach Joe sat me down in his office and straight-forwardly said, "I see a lot of natural talent in your son. We'd like him on our competition team. What's your family situation?"

He pantomimed being shot in the heart with each of my answers. "We live in Staunton (45 minutes from the gym) and we have six kids."

Apparently "team" requires more commitment than was easily compatible with our family situation and Joe knew it. Long story made a bit shorter, we did enroll Karson in some pre-team training (once Joe found enough boys talented enough for and interested in a pre-team) from January to June of '08. Looking, once again, at the "team" commitment for the coming year against the backdrop of the rest of our life, forced us to take Karson out of gymnastics. I cried. Joe assured me that talent like Karson's doesn't fade and that he would take Karson back anytime we could make it work.

Unbeknownst to us, during the next nine months, good things were developing. At an appointment with my chiropractor, I learned that his son had been going to Classics Gymnastics and had been invited to be on their team. "Carpool" lightbulbs went off in my head (my chiropractor and his family live right down the street) and I promised to call Joe up to see if his offer still stood for Karson.

It did! As a member of the Classics Gymnastics boys level 4 team, Karson has been working hard in the gym for 9 hours a week since June. The whole reason I even started this post was to share about his intra-sqad meet last weekend. It was not open to spectators, even parents, so we didn't attend, but our carpool friends were quick to report the results when they brought Karson home. Their son received 2nd place out of all the boys with a score of 79 points. "Guess who got first?" they asked.

Apparently, all the boys received overall scores somewhere in the 70s, save Karson. Karson received an overall score of 89! Congratulations, Karson! We're proud, excited, certain the Lord has given you this talent for His good purposes, and realizing that we're most likely in this for the long-haul.

I should have known.

A Concordant Opinion

2009-10-22T20:31:00.004-04:00

Kendra came home very excited from choir on Monday night. At the last minute, she had decided to go ahead and join the others who were staying late to audition for available solos. She tried out for two songs, along with many others. Eventually the large groups of hopefuls were narrowed down to only five singers in each bunch - Kendra a finalist in both. In her re-telling of the scenario, she still seemed very surprised. She must have appeared so to the choir's parent helper, too, who commented, "You didn't know you had such a pretty voice, did you Kendra? Everything...your tone, your pitch..."

Although she didn't reply out loud, she recapped her thought process for me. Something to the effect of, "My parents have been telling me that for years. Now that I have a 'professional' opinion, I think I might just believe it!"

It's about time! Kevin and I have only been saying it since she was about two-years-old! I knew then that she had great pitch. While many two-year-olds were not even talking much, Kendra could sing! Not just two-year-old-ese sort of singing, either. She could hit the correct notes for any song I threw her way - from her ABC's to Sinatra. We talked about voice lessons for her before she was even potty-trained.

In recent years, Kendra has also learned to play the guitar. About a year ago, she sang a solo at church while accompanying herself on guitar, joined by Kylie on keyboard. They did such a great job! Kendra got all sorts of compliments. Even so, after that experience, she declared that she hated singing solo and never wanted to repeat singing alone before an audience. I just don't think she wanted to deal with that nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach ever again.

I'm so thankful that she stepped out of her comfort zone and was so greatly encouraged. I don't even mind that my opinion didn't matter until it was concordant with someone more experienced.

Play by Play

2009-10-15T08:31:00.030-04:00

I read a play-by-play of another mom's day this morning on her blog and thought it might be fun to do myself, so here goes my attempt at journaling today's happenings:

6:30 I arise, head to the computer and check email (printing off pertinent ones for today's PEACH board meeting), Facebook, my favorite blogs, read a couple of articles and a couple of devotionals at John Piper's website: desiringgod.org. I then go to our bank website and my online budget program to work on getting the checkbook up-to-date before our bank's big switch-over to a new online banking system tomorrow.

6:45 Kevin comes upstairs to shower after making us muffins for breakfast before he heads out at 7:15 for a 12 hour day at Kroger in Charlottesville.

7:00 I'm still at the computer when the two earliest risers (Karson and Kurtis) ask if they can start in on the muffins that are on the table. I tell them to hold off, so they request to watch a DVD instead. Weighing brain mush vs. the thoughts of what trouble they might get into and what noise they might make over the next hour.....I give in to brain mush.

7:45 I head downstairs and start making the calls for breakfast. Peeking my head in the girls' room, I'm greeted with "Be Quiet!' from Kendra. Once in the kitchen, I set Kurtis to the task of setting out paper plates while I remember that the meat I left out on the counter all night needs to be put in the crockpot for tonight's roast beef dinner. I set about making that happen, while Karson rounds up the still sleeping kids from upstairs.

8:00 Everyone's at the table except for Kara-Faith, who soon groggily wanders in. Karson asks some question about the bulge in her pants and I'm reminded to remind her to go change out of her pull-up. She complies, the rest of us pray over the meal and dig in (except for me, I'm still searing meat and chopping onions).

Talk of the day's plans ensue. Kody announces that he needs to pack today for his camping trip tomorrow night. I make sure that he still wants to go despite the dismal weather and continuing rain through the weekend. He assures me he does. Once again I, his procrastinating mother, discourage his plan-ahead plans by telling him he doesn't really need to pack until tomorrow. The others are discussing their make-believe play. Kendra has set up office as a lawyer named Mr. Shen who declares today's weather "a good day for suing someone." Kylie is her secretary and Karson and I have gone into business together and will be opening up "Food Central" around lunchtime. Although, today will be rushed and I may have to back out of my end of the deal.

8:10 Kara-Faith returns. Somewhere in there, Kendra calls her "pull-up girl" and I chide her for her insensitivity. Kara-Faith is sitting at her place not touching the 2 muffins on her plate. I finally hear Kylie tell her that we've already prayed and that she can say her own blessing and eat. Kara-Faith starts quietly crying. Probably a combination of Kendra's comment and feeling left out of the meal's beginning. I scoop her up and take her away from the table to hold her for about 5 minutes. She's never able to identify why she's crying, but she keeps it up, head buried in my shoulder. She refuses the offer of going back to the table to eat, but agrees that she'd like to go lay back down until she feels better.

8:23 Everyone else has finished and evacuated the kitchen, Kara-Faith returns, blows her nose and she and I sit down to eat. Bailey streaks into the kitchen and, quick as can be, steals a muffin (muffin-paper and all) right off of Kara-Faith's plate! I manage to smack her hindquarters as she's making her get-away, but the muffin is gone.

8:30 I announce that I'm going to go take a shower and do some laundry (my hope always is that they'll get the message that I'm going to be unavailable for the next 1/2 hour, but I'm thinking I need to be more specific). Then I get the brilliant idea to start this blog post....although I really need to be showering and working on the massive laundry pile.

8:50 Blog post is finished up until now....so NOW I'm heading to the shower and the laundry room.

8:54 My cell phone rings in my purse, so Karson runs it up to me. I miss the call, but it's a message from our internet company saying that our automatic billing, which has been messed up since February and for which I've called them every month since, is now fixed! Woohoo!

9:12 I'm out of the shower, but apparently 18 minutes is all they can give without a knock at the door. This time it's Kurtis asking if he can play Playdoh. When my answer is no, he whines about not wanting to go. I'm confused...what's that got to do with Playdoh: "Go where?" He manages to whine, "I don't know!" Apparently he's confused, too.

9:28 I've managed to get dressed and blow-dry my hair. Another knock at the door brings Kylie, posing as Miriam Schenowshky, Mr. Shen's secretary. Standing next to me in the bathroom, she "calls" me from the pen she's holding to her ear and we converse via fake phones regarding setting up an appointment with Mr. Shen. He'd like to see me at 10:30. I agree.

9:36 I'm almost done updating this when Kara-Faith shouts into the room: "Hey, Mommy, have you done laundry yet?" I have about a week's worth of clothes backed up. Better get to it! Instead I decide to glance over what I've already written. Another 5 minutes goes by and Kody has a question about his writing assignment today and Kara-Faith yells into the room again: "Mommy, when are you going to do laundry?" Right now, apparently.

10:30 I've put in a load of clothes, helped Kara-Faith get dressed and with some cursive, dictated some spelling words to Karson and checked his work from yesterday. I proceed to meet with Mr. Shen. He (she) requests that I be the judge at a trial at 11:00 and doesn't need my qualifications or references - "You have a lot of kids, right?" seems to be her only requirement. I accept the job.

11:00 By now, I've helped Kylie with algebra, switched the clothes to the dryer, and made several long-needed phone calls to make appointments: well-checks at the pediatrician as well as dentist for Kurtis and Kara-Faith, a hair appointment for myself, and a call to the piano tuner. I also call the other gymnastics car-pool mom to see if it's okay with her husband (filling in for her today as she's leaving on a missions trip to Uganda) if I drop Karson off at their house early. I wish her well on her trip and head to the "courtroom" (den).

11:15 The trial of Waterloo vs. Kar has concluded with Mr. Waterloo (Kody) accusing Mr. Kar (Karson) of turning out the bedroom light and throwing balls at him. A couple of witnesses are brought forth that seem to have been coached in their testimony (Kara-Faith and Kylie). An expert witness psychiatrist (also Kody) with questionable credentials is brought forth to declare Mr. Kar not-guilty by reason of "anger issues". I dismiss the court for 5 minutes to make my decision.

11:20 Court is now in session whereupon I declare my verdict that Mr. Kar is guilty and that I don't buy the "anger issues". I share a bible verse regarding anger and sentence them to hug and make-up. No one is impressed with my judge skills (overheard: "see if we ask her to be judge again") and a very rough man-hug turns into a fight with Karson getting hit in the head with the bailiff's (Kurtis') rifle. Karson screams and storms off. Maybe I was wrong about the anger issues. I think I'll stick to laundry. Time to put in another load.

11:30 The requests begin: "Mommy, when is my breakfast going to be ready?" Kurtis is still confused about which meal is upcoming.

12:00 I've put in another load, gotten lunch ready for the little ones and fixed myself a cup of tea, while listening (over and over and over again) to Kody plunking out Ode to Joy on the piano. (Kody, the boy who was kicked out of piano lessons several years ago for non-compliance). I decide to appreciate this as it isn't last week's song, Axle F (the theme song to Beverly Hills Cop). There is a break during which I hear Mary Had a Little Lamb. Turns out, it's Kara-Faith! Pretty good for just having been taught by her big brother, Karson, who just started piano lessons himself (I'm hoping he has a better go at it than Kody). Not to be outdone, Kendra comes into the kitchen with her guitar and plucks Ode to Joy.

12:20 Kody man-handles Karson, who screams, his screechy scream. I lose it and pump some foam soap into his mouth letting him know that I would very much appreciate NOT spending my elderly years deaf due to his high-pitched invasions on my ear drums.

1:00 I have updated my journaling, folded a few of the now dry clothes, put a turkey breast (for sandwich meat) in the oven, finally gotten Kurtis dressed and searched high and low for a match to the one shoe in my hand from his newest pair. I decide to move the heavy sofa in the den. I lift one end then go to lift the other. Not realizing that it had been shoved closer towards the direction of the fireplace than usual, I lift and swing, slamming my hand between the sofa and the edge of the brick fireplace. Not fun. I leave the sofa where it is, maintain my composure, give up on the shoe hunt and head to the kitchen to finally get some lunch before we need to leave at 1:15 for our homeschool group's (PEACH) Activity Day (where I attend the PEACH board meeting). Fighting off the urge to sit with my head between my knees because I'm now feeling faint from the pain, I microwave the leftover green beans, eat a handful of cashews and start in on eating an apple. More Ode to Joy on the piano.

1:10 Carrying the apple with me, I think about folding more clothes, but in frustration, realize that I'm out of time. I dig out the sewing machine, sewing scissors and seam ripper for Kylie's sewing class, while Kylie digs out coats for the littles and puts Kurtis' old shoes on him. Meanwhile, Karson can't find a tank top (clean OR dirty) for gymnastics. Feeling the time crunch, I suggest that he just wear a t-shirt and explain to his coaches about his mother being behind in the laundry. This starts a crying meltdown that I quickly curtail by finding a loan tank top at the bottom of the laundry basket. Bonus: it even passes the smell test.

1:15 I check email one last time to see if there are any other newsletter submissions that I need to bring with me to the meeting. I pass along instructions to Kendra (who doesn't attend Activity Day) to take out the turkey breast when the temperature indicator goes off and to please keep the laundry work line going by folding the clothes and putting the wet clothes in the dryer.

1:20 Everyone is out the door and in the car. I drop Karson off at the home of the family with which we carpool.

1:28 We pull into the church parking lot where our Activity Day is held. We're actually on time! A rarity. My hand is only slightly swollen, bruised and sore in that one spot.

3:30 Each child has attended a class and I've attended a very full meeting. Everyone present and accounted for but Kody. I'm told that his "backyard ballistics" class is still outside exploding their potato cannons. We load up in the car and drive over to the other side of the parking lot, missing Kody, who ends up searching for us where we just were. We finally meet up and head home.

3:50 Arrive home, Kylie scoots off to get ready for dance class and I finally consent to getting out the Playdoh for Kara-Faith and Kurtis then check phone messages. While we were gone, Kendra went above and beyond and actually put in another load to wash. I can see the floor again! Woohoo!

4:00 I drive Kylie the 4 blocks to dance and am back within a few minutes. Kody greets me in his heavy coat. He says he's cold. Hmm. I then spend time updating this journal, unsuccessfully trying to figure out a problem in Kendra's math book and answering the phone twice.

4:30 Playdoh continues to entertain the littles. Back to the laundry room.

4:45 I've managed to fold one pair of jeans when I decide to go downstairs to retrieve Kendra's bin that is for her clean clothes. I find Kody still in his jacket. Although, in light of tomorrow's camping trip, he says "I refuse to be sick!", I forget about why I came downstairs and head back up for the thermometer. Yep. It's 100.5. I promise Kody he can still go camping if his fever is gone tomorrow morning. I've a hunch that it may just be his body's reaction to being outside in the cold drizzle for hours in just a hoodie during "Backyard Ballistics". Back upstairs to put the thermometer away, back downstairs to get the bin, then back upstairs to the laundry room....well, after a sidetrack to Facebook. Read my home page status updates and watch a couple of very funny videos. I needed that : )

5:03 Folding laundry.

5:37 Realize I'm late picking up Kylie (her class ended at 5:30) - rush out the door.

5:45 Dinner prep. I pay for the last 2 hours of peace with about 20 minutes worth of cleaning up Playdoh. Totally worth it!

6:30 Kevin comes home early bearing gifts of pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream!

6:45 We sit down to dinner, but not before Kurtis is certain to tell me that he is a "wiggler tonguer" and proceeds to demonstrate by wiggling his tongue side-to-side. He can also touch his tongue to his nose. I take pictures: (bandaid leftover from yesterday's head-on collision with the door jam)

7:15 We've finished dinner. The girls have clean-up duty, but not until after Kendra makes me take about 25 pictures of her to get just the one of her catching a grape in her mouth. Daddy gets the little ones ready for bed and I set to slicing the cooked turkey breast. I make it about 3/4 of the way through, but ask Kevin to finish up for me when my hand is bothering me too much.

7:45 I take some more time to update, Kevin finds me at the computer and proceeds to read about our day. Intermittent chuckles. Karson arrives home and eats dinner.

8:00 Time to break out that Ben and Jerry's (S'mores and Chocolate Fudge Brownie) and sit down to finally watch some of Ben Hur (we've had the Netflix DVDs sitting here for more than a week, but haven't had time).

9:30 A little more than 1/3 of the way through Ben Hur and everyone is enjoying it, but that's all for tonight. Daddy carries a sleeping Kurtis upstairs and the rest are also off to bed. Good-night kisses and tucking-ins ensue.

All in a Mommy's Day's Work

2009-10-11T16:25:00.004-04:00

Last Saturday I took my oldest girls shopping for the entire afternoon. Later, Kylie even told me it was one of the best times she's ever had. We certainly did have a wonderful time!

Nearing the end of our excursion, we stopped by a large display in the mall where a couple of people were displaying, describing and selling "Pocket Pets". They're actually a small marsupial called a sugar bear or sugar glider. Kendra was immediately smitten. She spent the evening and following day reading up on this "sweet" new pet and decided that she really wanted one. Since she solicited my advice, I told her I was going to save her from herself by requiring her to submit to a waiting period and either getting rid of her two rats or waiting until they die.

In the end, the waiting period is still on-going, but the whole occasion did spur Kendra to do something about the rats. These weren't just any rats, these were PEW* rats (*pink-eyed white) and neutered males to boot (Does the question of "who would neuter a rat??" come to mind - uh, huh, me too.) AND, they were obtained from a small-animal rescue in Maryland. The "rat lady", as I affectionately refer to her, drove all the way here nearly a year ago to drop them off to Kendra with the agreement that they come back to her if Kendra ever changed her mind.

Fast-forward a few days and my usually, mostly-free Friday became the only convenient day for the "rat lady" to meet me half-way to pick up the little darlings. Unfortunately, unrecognized by any of us here, the little darlings were not in very good health anyway. Seems I could've saved myself the trip and let "nature" take it's course.

Three hours round-trip later, I was greeted at the door by Kendra's real love - Bailey, the SPCA-adopted Cocker Spaniel-German Shepherd-Border Collie. I no sooner turned around to set the mail down when I heard a sound like Bailey smacking her lips. Turning back towards the door, I realized Bailey had just thrown-up a couple feet from where I was standing. Nice.

Now, I'm not much of a dog person, so I'm not fluent in "dog", but I'd swear she seemed to be saying, "Welcome Home, Grandma! Thanks so much for running that extraordinary errand for Kendra. Oh, and by the way, Kendra's not here to clean this up, so could you do it (before I'm tempted to lick it up myself)??"

Sure, dog. No problem. Rat delivery, dog vomit clean-up....all in a mommy's day's work. Apparently.

In the Future

2009-10-03T08:32:00.003-04:00

Kevin made this comment during a recent meal: "Will you kids still spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with us even when you're grown and married?"

Before they had a chance to respond, trying to forestall any future guilt, I said, "Well, in all fairness, they will have to spend some holidays with their in-laws."

Karson piped up, "We don't have any in-laws!"

"Well, not yet, but you will when you get married", Kendra joined in to explain.

Following a long pause, clearly still confused, Karson asked for clarification, "Wait, is it in-laws that are bad or out-laws??"

Good question : ) I suppose it depends on who your in-laws are. (Just for the record, I have some of the best!)

___________________________

Kurtis never fails to amuse me during our conversations. To me, they rarely make any sense. To him, I'm sure they make perfect sense.

Like the other night when he told me that he was almost getting bigger like daddy. This is one of his favorite assertions.

"You are?? Oh, my! What will I do then?" I said in a mournful sort of voice while hugging on him.

Confidently, pointing to his toddler bed beside us, he replied, "You'll grow smaller and sleep in my bed."

There lies my future.

Thinking Ahead

2009-09-28T18:55:00.004-04:00

One of the most common questions around here is, "What's for ______?" Fill in the blank with the any one of the 3 meals typically served in a day.

I get that question at least a dozen times during each rotation of the earth. 5 out of 6 children even manage to appropriately fill in the blank with the upcoming meal. That other child, however, is constantly confused. If breakfast is coming up, he'll invariably ask, "What's for lunch?" If it's time for dinner he'll be certain to query, "When will my breakfast be ready?". No matter how many times he's been corrected in the last several months, his disorientation shows no signs of improving.

Frequently he even rebuffs my correction of, "Honey, it's not time for breakfast, it's dinner time", with a whining, complaining, "I don't want dinner!" It makes little sense to me, since I'm certain the inquiry was entirely hunger motivated. What difference would it make so long as a meal, any meal, is forthcoming?

Such is the irrationality of a 4-year-old boy.

Add, oh, say, about 7 years on to that and this is the type of off-the-wall stuff that goes through a boy's mind:

As we were driving home from co-op this afternoon, Kody piped up from the backseat with an odd request.

"Hey, Mommy. Next time you cut my hair I don't want you to cut my sideburns."

Picturing the combination of long, bushy sideburns and his buzz cut, I replied, "No. I have to cut your sideburns. You can't let them grow."

Cutting quickly to the heart of his appeal, "But, I'm trying to grow a beard and mustache!"

Unable to hold back the laughter and thinking myself a bad mother for not at least trying to smother it, "Kody, you're too young to grow a beard!"

Undettered, Kody insisted, "But, I want to get a head start on it. That's why I want to grow out my sideburns."

I guess I've got to give the boy credit for thinking ahead.

A Suitor Comes to Call and Money Matters

2009-09-11T16:22:00.003-04:00

The doorbell just rang. It was the next-door neighbor's 6-year-old son. Knowing he wasn't coming to call on me, I hollered for the most likely recipient of his visit. Karson was nowhere within earshot, so I relunctantly left my laundry folding behind and answered the door. To my surprise, Ben didn't ask for Karson, he asked if Kendra was home.

Kendra was almost as surprised about Ben calling on her as a I was, but she quickly explained their relationship.

"You know what he called me the other day?" she quizzed me as she chuckled and, knowing I wouldn't have an answer, continued, "Hot Girl."

She proceeded to relay the entire exchange:

Ben (addressing Kendra as she walked into the church yard a couple doors up where the kids congregate): "Hey, Hot Girl!"

Kendra: "What did you just call me??"

Ben: "Hot Girl. Do you know what that means?"

Kendra: "Uh...yeah."

Ben: "It means you're a pretty girl."

I'd have to agree.

However, I do have a "kids-say-the-darndest-things" quote from Kendra from this past week.

Needing help with her school work, she asked me to help her look up articles for her economics class. I had already directed her to where on a particular website to look, but she'd been unsuccessful in finding what she was looking for. When I showed up to the computer screen the spot I'd told her to click on was right in front of her: a section titled "Money Matters".

Still puzzled, she whined, "But I don't need articles about money, I need articles about economics."

And that's reason #1 that Kendra is taking an economics course this year.

Freeze the Feature Film!

2009-07-08T19:28:00.003-04:00

Without access to television, we very often spend our before-bed sit-down time listening to a book read aloud. I'm always the one doing the reading. The other night we were in the home stretch of our latest book - Little Britches (the same one from which Karson picked up the idea that fist-fighting was a good way to solve problems - it's taken us a while to get through it!), when Karson suddenly blurted out, "WAIT! Pause the movie! The moon is shining outside but it looks like the sun!"

It was true. The moon was full, low in the sky and very orange - a beautiful sight to behold and well worth the story's brief suspension. The funny thing, of course, was that Karson's instinct wasn't to yell, "Stop reading!", but "Pause the movie!"

I'm hoping that's a commentary on the vividity of the pictures that were being created in Karson's mind as he listened - credit due both to the author's descriptive writing and my dramatic reading of the text- rather than revealing how often my children do plop themselves down in front of the box with moving pictures!

To Do Again, Or Not Do Again?

2009-06-24T19:57:00.006-04:00

I don't experiment very often with new recipes. In a family with six children, I've found that the effort doesn't usually pay off. It's pretty hard to please 8 people with every meal, as you might imagine. I'm pretty happy when a meal has even a 50% approval rating! I have 5 weeks worth of rotating meals that I know work and I don't usually have time try out any that might not. However, not only am I completely bored with most of our meals, it's now summer. My time is more free and who wants to eat heavy, hot casseroles and stews in mid-July?

I decided to come up with a whole new menu rotation.

After spending about an hour, sitting, pondering, and thumbing through a few cookbooks, I came up with exactly 12 different, relatively quick-fix, summer-y meals. Try as I might, I wasn't able to come up with any more that were either served cold or cooked on the grill. 12 would have to do. With only 8 more weeks of summer, I figure we won't be too terribly tired of eating each thing 4 times before September.

I started Sunday night, in honor of Father's Day with steaks on our new gas grill. Monday we feasted on our summer favorite - hamburgers - also cooked on the, (did I mention?) new gas grill. (I'm very much enjoying no longer having to deal with charcoal every time I want to cook out.)

Last night it was time to put a new addition to the menu rotation forward for a trial run. Karson, at least, took the news well:

Karson, to Kylie: "What's for dinner?"

Kylie: "Cold vegetable pizza."

Karson: "No, really, Kylie, what's for dinner?"

Kylie: "I already told you, cold vegetable pizza!"

Karson (probably reminded of times when Kevin and I, tired of the inevitable 6 inquiries about what's being served, have opted to spice up our responses by announcing something like "slug stew" or "grass and peonie salad"): "Quit kidding, Kylie! Now tell me what's for dinner?!"

Kylie: "I'm not lying, we're really having cold vegetable pizza!!"

Karson (growing more and more frustrated): "Kylie!! You're making me mad!! Kendra, what are we having for dinner?!"

Kendra: "Really, Karson. Mommy said we're having cold vegetable pizza."

Karson: "Really??"

Kendra: "Really."

Karson: "Ewwww!"

Actually, cold vegetable pizza (homemade crust, baked and cooled, spread with cream cheese and piled with raw veggies) was much more well received than I'd expected. Even the 3 children who joined us as guests ate it without complaint! It was officially rated a solid "do-again", which is the highest rating this mom can hope for.

In Favor of Outdoor Play

2009-06-18T13:17:00.008-04:00

We received an interesting letter in the mail the other day. The envelope was typewritten addressed to "Neighbor and Parents" with a return address of "Your Neighbors, Washington, St. Clair, Beverly, Frederick St., Staunton." My curiosity was piqued.

The letter within, also typewritten, was a diatribe against our children's weekend morning play (lovingly described as "high-pitched screams and shouts", "whooping it up", and "war-whoops"). It was supposedly written by one person who lives "almost 2 blocks from us", but "on behalf of many neighbors for blocks around" This anonymous person's tirade included such realistic suggestions as for our "no doubt wonderful little humans" to not be "let loose until, say, noon."

I had several problems with politely receiving this letter and acting upon it with the conciliatory capitulation that I'm sure the sender was hoping for. 1) I don't believe that anonymous commentators are deserving of acknowledgment, let alone respect. 2) Some of the accusations are surely false. 3) The next-door-neighbors - the ones with 3 boys that make up half the noise - did not receive the same letter. And 4) we live in a downtown neighborhood (on a block with 12 children), for goodness sakes, it's just gonna be noisy! It would be impossible to conform to every new resident's sleeping pattern. When you live in a neighborhood of house upon house, upon apartment, there's definitely the need to be considerate of others, but there's an equal need for us to just put up with one another.

We did take the opportunity to explain mature conflict resolution to the kids (ie: don't try to solve issues anonymously) and to let them know that after our 8 am breakfast is a perfectly appropriate time to commence outdoor play, but not before. Seeing as though the outdoor Farmer's Market opens at 7 am on Saturdays, just a few blocks from us, we have always felt like this was appropriate and acting in consideration of our neighbors. Pre-church outdoor play on Sunday mornings has always been discouraged.

The funny part about all this (as if the ranting and ravings of Mr. Anonymous weren't already funny enough - but now I'm talking, funny, haha, funny cute instead of funny, disturbing), is that the kids, on their own, decided the next morning to become detectives in search of the lecture-by-mail sender. They put their heads together to such tasks as grinding up pencil lead for use in dusting the envelope for prints (of finger and tongue (?!) ), printing off a Google map of the neighborhood within a 2 block radius, viewing the corresponding GIS mapping system at the Staunton City website, and reading the letter over and over again for clues. They found several. Such as, the person obviously doesn't have any children of their own; the person must live in a house, not an apartment; they are probably newer residents (indicating renters), since we hadn't heard any complaints before; and that they are probably young, because they seem the type to party all night and sleep all morning and their grammar and spelling were poor. Kendra even conducted an experiment whereby she rode her bike a couple blocks away and, via walkie talkie, instructed Karson to scream as loud as he could. Turns out she couldn't even hear him 2 blocks away! They also checked with our senior citizen neighbors across the street to see if they had or had heard any complaints floating around. On the contrary, the Nagle's actually delight in hearing our kids playing.

I never got a good answer from the kids as to exactly what they would do if they really did discover who the complainer was. They strongly poo-pooed my idea of going door-to-door in pursuit - they didn't seem to actually want to confront this person. In the end, they admitted that being on the "case" was just for the fun of it.

I sure am glad that they're outside playing and being so creative rather than sitting indoors in front of a video game!

Never Fear, Bailey is Here

2009-06-07T18:06:00.002-04:00

The other day Kurtis' spoon fell on the floor at mealtime. Bailey, our ever-vigilant pursuer of all things that fall from the table, was on it like.....well, like a dog on something that's fallen from the table! Kurtis picked it up and I let him know that he'd need to put it in the sink and get himself a new one. His response?

"No, Mommy, it's clean. Bailey licked it!"

Ultimatums - Only Effective on the Fully Cognizant

2009-06-02T10:13:00.004-04:00

Blog that!

It's a phrase that I hear often, but rarely seem to get around to doing. More than not, the that -something so very cute in the moment - gets lost in the recesses of my mind and never makes it to the blog page. Not today!

As we were drifting off to sleep last night Karson came into our room. The street light outside the hall window was casting just enough light that I could see the outline of his figure standing in the doorway. Was that our light switch he was reaching for?? Sure enough, he found it and switched on the light.

"Karson, what do you need?" I whispered.

He walked in a small circle there in the entryway to our bedroom without answering. Kevin cut to the chase, "Karson, turn out the light!" in more than a whisper.

Karson did. One of us asked him again what he needed. To which he replied, "I need a plate."

Sleepwalking. The only logical explanation for such an illogical response. We'd already figured out that at least some of Karson's frequent trips to our bed at night are the result of him sleepwalking. We know it's true when we talk to him and he doesn't answer, or his answer makes little sense, or he does the opposite of what we've asked him to do. Like last night when our reply to him needing a plate (at 11 pm) was the very sensible direction that he just needed to go back to his bed. His response? To crawl into our bed and pull the covers up over himself.

"Blog that," I heard Kevin say.

What else can I do? We've given up. Even Kevin realizes that the ultimatum he gave Karson a couple months ago about not sleeping in our bed any longer is useless unless Karson's fully conscious. Maybe by the time he's a teenager....

With a Path Through the Sawdust

2009-05-31T00:21:00.003-04:00

Pregnancy with my third-born was by far my easiest. Early on, I stocked up on the Costco-sized bottle of Tums, preparing for the inevitable 6 months of heartburn, but it never came. Neither did the morning sickness, the general discomfort, the fatigue, nor the standard weight gain. By the end, despite those nearly nightly enormous burritos from Annie's Cafe, I was actually losing weight and my doctor was suggesting milkshakes. I topped out at a 17 lb. increase.

Annie's Cafe was a regular dinner stop in our rotation of restaurants during that last 6 weeks of pregnancy. We had decided that mid-April, with my due date being June 6, would be a good time to completely gut and remodel the kitchen in our 800 s.f. 2 bedroom house. I know, what were we thinking?! Except that it was only supposed to take 2 weeks. That's a whole other story....ahem. As labor began in earnest, a week early, Kevin was still trying to caulk a few spots while I vacuumed up saw dust to clear a path to the bathroom for our dear friend, Gina, who'd volunteered to stay the night with the girls.

As it turned out, there was no need to rush. You may have caught December's post re-capping Kylie's birth. That was the arriving-at-the-hospital-already-dilated-to-7 cm-without-even-realizing-I-was-really-in-labor, labor. Third-born (just 18 mos. later) was the let's-start-laboring-at-5 pm-making-sloooow-progress-through-the-night-while-your-husband-watches-a-cheesy-movie-and-not-give-birth-'til-the-next-morning labor. I guess that was the payback for such an easy pregancy.

However, at the end of it all, 11 years ago today, God rocked our world with our first son! We actually knew we were expecting a boy. Kevin had celebrated after the ultrasound with an olympic landing in the elevator. After having two girls we were beginning to wonder if we could produce anything else! Even though we were prepared for a boy, we still hadn't settled on a name and took our sweet time after he was born to commit to.....Kody. It just fit.

Happy Birthday, my first-born Son!! May the Lord bless you with many, many more! Thanks for being so easy on your mama those first nine months.

We'll talk about the subsequent 11 years some other time ; )

Random Bits

2009-05-14T09:51:00.003-04:00

Kevin brought me hot tea in bed this morning. I tell him that he always makes my tea perfectly, a much better job than I do for myself, but he still always asks for a report as to how my tea turned out. As we were discussing the amount of honey he puts in, Kevin remembered a conversation he had with Kody the other night on the way to Boy Scouts. Kody was telling Kevin about the delicious cup of tea he had made for himself that day.

Kody: "....and then I put in 3 teaspoons of honey..."

Daddy: "Whoa, 3 teaspoons?! That's way too much, Buddy!"

Kody: "It wasn't too much....it all fit."

________________________________

During the last several weeks of our homeschool co-op this school year we were memorizing all the American presidents by learning a song with all their names set to the tune of.... something patriotic that is escaping my memory right now. Anyway....Karson loved memorizing the presidents. He practiced them daily and once he had the whole song down, he would sing it for anyone who would listen. Kara-Faith also enjoyed the presidents song more than anything else we'd done this year. She liked to show off her knowledge as well. I had her sing it for me not long ago so that I could write down her version....

"George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, Something Something, Janely Folk and Anthony Taylor, Millard Franklin, Elizabeth Grant, Rover Cleveland, William Ty, Benjamin Hardison..."

9 out of 44 isn't bad for a 5-year-old.

________________________________

About a month ago, as I was putting Kara-Faith to bed she told me she wished that she wasn't a little Chinese girl. It nearly broke my heart as I quickly assumed that she was already dissatisfied with some particular Asian feature. Was she wishing that her hair was blonde instead of black? Had she decided that she didn't like her skin color? Or was it her distinct eye-shape that was causing her to wish away her ethnicity? I couldn't let myself keep guessing....I must know!

"Oh...why??"

"Because I want to call "Baba", "Daddy".

I had no idea that this special tradition that Kevin had kept up with Kara-Faith was so distasteful to her! I told her I would talk to Daddy and see if it might be okay with him if she called him "Daddy" instead. She seemed reassured. I filled Kevin in and let him take it from there. At some point he talked to her and relinquished the tradition he loved for the sake of Kara-Faith's happiness. It didn't take her long at all to pick up the new habit and to shed the last remaining thing in her mind that set her apart from everyone else around here.

My Heathen Despise Me

2009-05-13T10:22:00.002-04:00

You may be aware that I am the newsletter editor for our local homeschooling organization. I publish an 6-8-ish page newsletter once a month. One of our regular features is a short article written by the organization president or by one of the board members. As a board member, it was my turn to put in my two-cents for the April edition. It dawned on me recently that maybe I should share the outcome of my writing efforts here, since it includes a funny story about the kids:

It was a cold, rainy morning in March. I had waited to inform the kids of my plans until I knew for sure that I felt up to going. So I sprung it on them at breakfast.

“We’re going to visit a new co-op this morning!” I beamed, trying to create contagious excitement out of thin air.

It didn’t work. Their response was replete with protests, whining and even some anger. The mere thought of switching home school co-ops was downright repulsive to my gang and they wanted nothing to do with anything that might move us in that direction. Undeterred, I dragged my brooding brood to tour Classical Conversations, Harrisonburg. I had a good laugh recently with the, now, Waynesboro director, who remembers well my children’s sour faces and lack of friendly greetings that morning. It was one of those moments that you don’t actually find funny until a year later.

I not only met with resistance that day, but nearly every day for the next 5 months. Nevertheless, I inflicted upon my progeny their worst nightmare. We switched co-ops.
Before my offspring, I displayed a front of parental determination and confidence, but inwardly I was alternately convinced and then full of doubt. Several months into the new school year, the Lord gave me some well-timed reassurance. My oldest daughter- ever a drama queen- spontaneously came to me, assumed a kneeling position at my feet, clutched her folded hands to her heart and said something to the effect of: “Oh, wise, kind, loving, wonderful Mommy, thank you, thank you for changing co-ops - I just love my classes!” I’m only slightly exaggerating.

I tell you this little story to encourage you. That quote I put on the newsletter cover last month was meant to be a homeschooling joke of sorts (a quote from St. Patrick - “If I be worthy, I live for my God to teach the heathen, even though they may despise me.”)….sometimes our own children are the “heathen” that “despise” us for teaching them at home (or despise the choices we make). Your children may not agree with your decision to homeschool or your curriculum choices or your choice to change co-ops. Be assured that though you meet with opposition, if you’re going where the Lord leads, you can trust Him to take care of the rest.

A Reason for Posting

2009-05-03T15:42:00.006-04:00

Well, with 6 kids, it was bound to happen sooner or later....

Kevin was ready for church before I was this morning and decided to head over with the kids and the snack I was responsible for for Sunday School. Right after I heard him leave, Karson came knocking on our bedroom door inquiring regarding the location of his church shoes. He must've found them due to my brilliant, helpful, standard answer - "they should be where you left them" - because he never came asking again.

Minutes later, Kendra came knocking wondering when I'd be ready and I reported that it would be just a couple more minutes. I finished ironing my skirt and went downstairs, where I met up with Kylie. I guessed Kevin hadn't taken all the kids after all. Together, we persuaded Kendra to put down the book she was reading and leave before we were any later. I asked where Karson was and Kendra said she'd heard him go out the door. I figured he must've found his shoes quickly enough to catch up with Kevin.

The girls and I shuffled down the sidewalk sharing our large golf umbrella and jumping over puddles for the half-block walk to church, where, several minutes past the start of the service, we quietly found our seats next to the rest of our clan. Or so I thought.

Kevin whispered over a couple of children in my direction, "Where's Karson?"

"I don't know, I thought he was with you." I responded, looking around, counting heads and finally taking the time to notice Karson's absence.

I turned to Kendra to get her to re-cap the story she told me of Karson's departure. Whispering back and forth, she reiterated the fact that she heard him go out the door. I figured there were a couple of possible explanations, but the fact remained that we had actually arrived at church with only 5 out of 6 children. I am sure that was a first.

Although Kevin thought I should just wait - that Karson would "figure it out" - my motherly instinct would have nothing to do with that line of thinking. A mother's devotion won out over the communion devotional. I swiftly left my spot in the pew as quietly as I'd arrived there, grabbed the umbrella, and trekked home....where I found Karson coming out the front door.

Apparently, what Kendra had heard was just the sound of him deciding to wait for us girls outside. Something that ~~is such a ridiculous boy thing to do~~ hadn't even crossed my mind, considering the weather. The storyline that Karson and I pieced together on the short walk back to church was that he had been waiting towards the back of the house where we couldn't see him and then slipped back inside to get a drink of water. Our paths missed crossing somewhere in there, resulting in this minor, comical, "Home Alone" scenario....and a good reason for posting to my blog.

Ends with Alliteration

2009-04-24T10:10:00.004-04:00

The other night Kendra and Kylie were relating a story to me about a conversation they had with a fellow student at their co-op and her mom. The mom, for some reason I never caught, mentioned that her daughter only needed to be spanked twice while growing up. Kendra was finding that hard to believe and replied that she couldn't count the number of times she'd gotten a spanking. The mom then said that standing in the corner was always enough to sway her daughter's behavior, which prompted Kendra to share the fact that she and her siblings often spit on the wall when they were stood in the corner. True story, only sometimes the wall was also covered with snot from the offender's sobbing-induced runny nose! It sounded like the other mom was pretty flabbergasted by the stories of my children's behavior. Such was my life.

The relaying of this story prompted a discussion/recap of Kendra's most famous misdemeanors. Out of respect for the repentant and reformed, I won't retell them here, but I will say that I called Daddy home from work more than once! At one point in the conversation Kendra asked, "Why were we so bad?" I'm not sure Kevin and I ever qualified it that way. I remember many frustrated conversations on difficult days, but at the same time I remember plenty of times when we looked at each other and agreed wholeheartedly that "they're really great kids." We still do. Even so, we have always been well aware of the trickle-down concept of behavior. Although first-borns are completely unaware of their influence, the truth of the matter is that some of the behavior of subsequent siblings is not taught, but caught, from the first-born. It just so happened that our first-born was particularly strong-willed.

We moved the discussion into the kitchen and the boys joined us, at which point the kitchen morphed into a confessional. More rapid than eagles, the admissions they came - all the things they'd done that I hadn't caught! Like a little pack of dogs, it mostly involved food stealing! Kody said he loved orange juice so much that he used to go to the refrigerator and swig it straight from the pitcher - and that was back in the days before I rationed juice! Karson re-capped the time he shoved an entire hot dog bun into his mouth and then met up with Kody, who was wisely suspicious that Karson was up to something. Kendra reminded us about the recent incident when Daddy had to make an unexpected trip to the store. He'd gone to the cupboard for the bag of white chocolate chips to make his planned dessert and felt certain that we'd had more than he found. She relieved her guilt and told us there had been more, but that she'd eaten them all! There were more- I could hardly keep from getting whiplash trying to pay attention to each child. They could hardly wait for one to finish before another started. Kylie was the only one that sat silently listening. Characteristically compliant and considerate Kylie.
So very often Kylie was a beacon of light in my days - days otherwise darkened with the dogged need for disciplinary action. Every family full of rambunctious rebels needs at least one : )

Fist Fighting Fun?

2009-04-10T22:07:00.006-04:00

We started a read-aloud book last week called Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers. It's the first in a great autobiographical series about a boy born around 1900. A bit of a Little House on the Prairie with a boy as the main character. We actually aquired the second book in the series for free, read it last year and enjoyed it so much we've been wanting to read the whole series. A couple nights ago, in chapter 3, Ralph starts attending school in their new home, Colorado. His mother sends him in a "buster brown suit" and forbids him to fight his overall-clad classmates. He immediately becomes the laughing-stock sissy of the school; picked-on and beat-up. Until....about a month into it when he can't take it any more, beats up the boy that is his main taunter and seems to finally be accepted. It definitely put a positive spin on plain ol' schoolyard violence. What a different era!

The next night, we took a break from reading and watched a movie that had just arrived via Netflix - "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". I hadn't ever seen this movie, but figured that I couldn't go wrong with an old musical. The kids enjoyed it from the beginning, but were especially enthralled with the big group of unruly brothers and all the fist-fights they got into. A little too enthralled!

Karson has been asking all kinds of questions about the injuries the men had after their big fight scene. I'm certain he's weighing whether it would be as fun as it sounded in the book and looked in the movie. And he's been a little too ready to punch Kody over whatever annoys him lately. I'm tellin' ya, that kid came out of the womb lookin' for a fight! That's exactly the way he looks in his newborn picture at the hospital - like a tough guy ready to punch someone's lights out, so I'm not at all surprised. But I was shocked when Karson told me that Kendra confided in him that she wants to get in a fist-fight. She thinks it would be fun! That's my tomboy...

Mommy, Mommy Quite Confused

2009-04-03T11:03:00.006-04:00

I rose early yesterday morning so that I could damp mop the wood floors downstairs before anyone arose. I had vaccumed them the night before and knew they would only stay cleared off for about 37 seconds once my kids woke up in the morning. I had gotten a full night's sleep, uninterrupted - a rare treat. I felt well-rested and was so proud of my productive, early morning start. In southern slang, it was fixin' to be a day where I done did everything right.

I accomplished my chores, cleaned up from breakfast, showered, spent about an hour and a half in the laundry room tackling the mess that had accumulated, untouched, for the last 5 days. Somewhere in there I called Jeni-Lynn to let her know that I wouldn't be able to make it to Body Pump that evening as it was Thursday and I would need to pick Kylie up from ballet at 6 and get her quickly over to her Irish class at another studio, which starts at 6. Body Pump from 5:30-6:30 just wasn't a possiblity. Then I grabbed lunch and was out the door for the afternoon I had all planned out. I had an appointment with the nurse practioner that I see for my Adrenal Fatigue and then I'd need to do some grocery shopping, take Kendra to the library, start dinner and take Kylie to dance.

At the store I needed to pick up some items for dinner. I have a 5-week rotating menu plan that I choose meals from for the week, then I write them down and make up my shopping list accordingly. If it's week 3, I lay out week 3's meals, but I'm usually thoughtful as to which days I assign a given meal, taking into account things like how busy my afternoon is going to be and whether Kevin will be home for dinner or not. That's why I planned for pasta with pre-made homemade sauce that I'd taken out of the freezer a couple days prior with frozen green beans. Kevin wouldn't be missing out on anything fancy and what could be more simple for my busy afternoon? Unless somewhere in there I got confused and thought I was supposed to make Friday's meal. A MUCH more time consuming venture called Chicken Broccoli Casserole....every step, including the mushroom soup, from scratch. I didn't even think twice once I got it in my head, until much later when I began to question why my planning had been so poor and actually looked at my list!

While I was trying to cram a 3 hour meal into the 2 hours I had alotted, I realized that I was only minutes away from needing to pick Kylie up....at 6:15...to bring her home for dinner. Yes, I did just tell you all about having to pick her up at 6 and get her to her Irish class. Somewhere in my dinner prep, that, too, got lost in the neurotransmitter firings. 6:15 came and went as I was struggling with a broken mixer I needed to use for the last step before putting the casserole in the oven. I finally left Kendra with different instructions on how to finish, jumped in the car and raced off to get Kylie (and to run by the store for the finishing touch crackers that I had forgotten when I was there earlier! Just thought I'd give you and even clearer visual of the scene). I thought with me being 10 minutes late, she might have just decided to walk home. When I saw no sign of her at the dance studio, I decided I must've missed her and headed back home, too. Sure enough, when I arrived a frustrated, tearful Kylie charged out the door and was trying to open the passenger side of the van mumbling about being late.

"Late for what?" was my genuinely confused reply.

"For Irish!" was hers.

How is it that I knew it was Thursday in the morning, but by afternoon I had Tuesday's schedule in my brain while making Friday night's dinner?!!

That's a rhetorical question, by the way. It's a wonder that I remember to brush my teeth every morning...oh, wait, I don't!

Not Me Monday - Stellan Style

2009-03-30T15:34:00.003-04:00

Today, in honor of MckMama and Stellan, another blogger has coordinated Not Me! Monday -Stellan style. A particularly special way to confess how so many of us not have spent our week...

First of all, I'm certain that it was not me who posted about MckMama's sweet baby Stellan on my own blog. Could not have been me because my blog is only about our family.

It also would not have been me who put up a link to MckMama's blog on my Facebook (more than once) with a status update describing my behavior as "distracted by following Stellan." I am most certainly always focused on all of my tasks at hand and so that would not have been me! Speaking of Facebook, it is most certainly enough for me to keep up with, so I would not have even considered joining Twitter for the sole purpose of following MckMama. Not me!

I'm not sure that I even want to confess how many times I did not log on to the computer for the sole purpose of heading to mycharmingkids.net for an update - each time without a lump in my throat until I saw that Stellan was still hanging in there . I would not have wanted to join in the highs and lows of Stellan's days and nights, alternately weeping and rejoicing with MckMama. And I certainly have not forsaken all other blogs I used to read to do so. Not me!

I don't even know MckMama or Stellan and so I couldn't possibly have had them on my mind and whisper a prayer for them nearly every waking moment this week....even when awake in the middle of the night. Definitely Not me!

And I most certainly have not gotten my husband involved to the point that he took over explaining Stellan's condition to one of our daughters last night when I was botching it. Not me!

Since I wasn't a MckMama follower last summer when the drs. told MckMama that he would surely die in utero, I did not go back and spend a very LONG time one night reading every single post during MckMama's hospital stay. And I did not use her blog as a springboard to click on ever so many blog buttons about other suffering mamas and babies. And I did not weep with and pray for those mamas I don't know either.

I'm also certain that I did not grow closer to my Lord this week just by being in the blogosphere presence of MckMama and several other women that have suffered greater than myself and yet glorify the Lord in the midst of it.

If I Don't Write These Things Down...

2009-03-29T09:48:00.003-04:00

Kara-Faith, though adorable and a blessing, etc. etc., seriously has a complaint for every situation in life. I find myself muttering under my breath my curiosity as to how she ever got along in an orphanage for her first three years! Maybe it was that spunk - the expecting more out of life - that got her through. Anyhow, most often her complaints are phrased in the form of a question. Yesterday, after having bumped into the wall, she demanded, "why do we have corners, anyway?!" Wasn't even sure how to answer that one without a geometry lesson that I had absolutely no time for, so I just ignored her. Perhaps it was a rhetorical question.

This morning, when I announced she would need to take a bath, she announced that she didn't like baths.

"Why?"

"Because when I go to do my legs, I feel all wet." was her word-for-word response.

"That'll happen when you're in the water."

It's hard not to respond with sarcasm!

9-Year-Old Perspectives

2009-03-28T08:36:00.003-04:00

Do you remember that we've arranged a marriage for Karson? ; ) With his permission, of course : ) He actually told me about a year ago, "it would be okay with me if you arranged my marriage to Margeaux."

I think the pressure has gotten to him, though. Yesterday he was complaining about Kody teasing him about Margeaux having a crush on him. Both Kylie and I responded, "Well, she does."

And she does. Something fierce. Her mom told me recently that Margeaux took her aside and they had a conversation that went like this:

Margeaux: "You know how you told me that I should try to stop liking Karson so much?"

Mom: "Yes, I remember."

Margeaux: "Well, it's getting really tricky."

Mom: "Why is it so hard?"

Margeaux: "For one thing he's just SO handsome!"

I'd have to agree Margeaux!

After Karson's complaint about the teasing yesterday, we had our own conversation and it emphasizes the stark difference between 9-year-old boys and 9-year-old girls.

Me: "Don't you still think you'll marry Margeaux?"

Karson: "No, I'm not going to marry Margeaux. I'm not going to marry anybody! I think being married is gross. Why do grown-ups kiss like that, anyway?!"

Serious Stuff

2009-03-27T09:21:00.002-04:00

Last weekend was my weekend to work on the PEACH newsletter - the deadline for submissions was last Thursday. It usually ends up being about a 4 day process with some late nights. I've typically not been starting until Sunday, though, because I've been swamped with other things before that. Thus, I've been consumed since last Thursday and that explains my lack of posting. Also, just before I finished the newsletter, the son of the mom whose blog I just started following and posted about recently, became very sick. I've been obsessed (in my spare time) with catching her blog updates from the hospital and have also ended up reading many of her blog links about other mothers whose babies have either died or are struggling with serious issues. It has given me much reason to pause in thankfulness that our children are all healthy. My head has been swimming with contemplations of faith, God's sovereignty, suffering and all manner of deep topics, leaving no room for the composition of a jovial post.

Instead my post is a "prayer button" for baby Stellan - a link to MckMama's blog. He is suffering with Supra Ventricular Tachycardia - a highly elevated heart rate. He had the same thing in utero. They thought he would die then, but, through a massive online prayer effort, he was healed and born healthy. He has remained so for nearly 5 months until this sudden and unexpected recurrence. Right now doctors are still trying different drug combinations to get his heart rate back to normal so as to avoid very risky surgery right now that wouldn't be as risky when he's older. Please say a prayer for Stellan that his heart rate will return to normal...very soon.

I promise more about our family in the coming days.

Treasure in the Mundane

2009-03-17T09:57:00.004-04:00

We've all had varying degrees of cold symptoms for the past week. One manifestation we've shared in common: a plethora of snot. The 2 littlest ones around here still aren't fully aware of their frequent need to blow their noses, so it's up to me to recognize the signs (I'll spare you the gory details) and get out the tissue. I'm really ready, and think it's reasonable, for the 5-year-old to take over the responsibility for her own mucus evacuation. Here was our exchange this morning as she was filling several tissues that I was holding:

Me: "Honey, you really need to make sure you blow your nose every morning when you get up."

Kara-Faith: "Why? It's not on my chore checklist!"

Note to self: Add booger-extraction under bed-making.

__________________________________

My kids frequently like to turn chore-time into fun-time by making a game of whatever they're assigned. To my way of thinking, clean-up takes twice as long when they animate their stuffed animals to clean up for them, all while creating impromptu narration to a coordinating storyline. But, whatever works, right? So, several years ago when Kylie shared with me that she liked to pretend she was searching for buried treasure whilst scooping out the litter box, I commended her for turning an otherwise offensive duty into one full of adventure.

Although she hadn't thought of her game in quite some time, fond memories rushed back this morning when her scooping yielded real treasure. Her early-morning sifting revealed a shining silver trinket. Could it be that her years of creativity were paying off? Close, but not quite. Apparently a charm I'd just brought home to her from Gramma had been sitting on the window ledge and had been knocked into the litter box. However, a not-so-pleasant mishap quickly turned to a delightful reminder of childish fun with the right point-of-view.

May we all search out and be rewarded with treasure in today's mundane tasks!

Not Me! Monday

2009-03-16T14:30:00.003-04:00

I've stumbled upon a new blog that I just love! Well, it's not new, new, just new to my own blog-perusing habit. Every Monday MckMama posts an engaging, tongue-in-cheek "Not Me!" story and invites others to do the same. She calls her creation a "blog carnival" and I've been saving up the following confessions for several weeks for such a time as this: My first participation in said carnival! You can head over to her blog at http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My first-born turned 14 several weeks ago and I did not talk my Lovey into getting her the dog she has been begging for for years. I vowed I would not have another dog in this house for scads of worthy reasons and therefore I would have never done such a thing. There's no way that you can read the whole story several posts down.

And, when she was set on adopting a full-grown dog from the SPCA, I did nothing to sway her thinking towards the adorable black and white puppy just begging for a family through that cruel cage wire. I assure you, my heart would have never been stirred by its little whimperings! I am fully aware that puppies are a LOT more work and so I would have never encouraged the aquisition of such a fledgling to household rules. Not Me!

Furthermore, it is ridiculous to think that I was so distracted with the Monday adoption of the puppy and all that ensued that I completely let Friday's sleepover party slip my mind. I would have never done that! It's my precious daughter's 14th birthday, for heaven's sake! That in mind, I can fully attest that I did not forget to order her requested ice-cream cake from Baskin-Robbins. So I did not have to run out just hours before her party desperately hoping to find the exact cake/ice cream combo in the pre-made freezer case. I would not have done that!

Which leads me to say that my forgetfulness did not lead to my life-long tomboy having to settle for the frilliest pink cake I've ever seen in my life. Nope. Not Me!

The rest of the evening went smoothly, though, because I did not forget that I threw away all of our birthday candles after the last festivity had reduced them to mere nubs. And with my steel-trap of a mind, I would not have forgetten to buy new ones. I also did not have every other "number" candle available but a 4, which did not make it impossible to even settle on the number 14 for her edible powder-puff. Therefore, I did not get creative and use a mathematical equation atop her cake. I just would never have let something like that happen to my math-phobic 14-year-old. Not Me!

And my delightful daughter would never have considered the puppy prize enough and completely and lovingly forgiven her mother's unforgettable oversight. That, most thankfully, did not happen.

Insanity

2009-03-14T21:51:00.004-04:00

The year was 2001, the date, September 14. Yes, it is very close to a nationwide historic date. Close, but not quite. That date was only historic in our own home. It's the day our cable was turned off. At the time, being only 3 days past 9/11, it was rather traumatic. I was still glued to the television hoping against hope for survivors to be rescued from the rubble. My call to the cable company had transpired about a week prior and I was told there would be a delay in service shut-off of undetermined length. I knew I was watching on borrowed time.

However, it wasn't long before I was very thankful that the temptation to stick the children in front of the electronic babysitter had been significantly lessened. Without cable in our area there is absolutely no TV reception. Nada. Our TV and VCR were still in working order so videos became the next issue to tackle. I'm happy to say that nearly 8 years later many days go by when my answer to the "can we watch a movie?" question is a firm "no".

We've always taught the kids the reasons why we don't watch very much of the box with moving pictures. They understand plainly and simply that it will cause their brains to turn to mush. I really haven't found it necessary to go into further detail. That was enough to scare them.

Until tonight. Today was a day unlike any other in my memory of our family's history. Kevin left at 4 am for a day trip on business and I dropped the older girls off for their one-day choir bus tour at 7:45. They're all due back around 11 pm. Meaning I've spent the entire day with the 4 youngest without the usual multiple hands to help. Which wouldn't be difficult if it weren't for the fact that I have a miserable cold and feel exhausted. I've spent most of the day either sleeping or sitting. All that going on inside and a cold, rainy day outside made it the perfect situation for Mommy to go insane. I actually told the kids to watch movies all day. I even suggested a Star Wars marathon!

I found the conversation at the dinner table to be quite comical. Kody is the one who suggested that I'd gone insane for having them watch TV all day. "You never let us watch so much! Aren't you concerned about the little kids' brains?"

Karson was definitely concerned and wanted to know what I really meant by "mush". "Does it actually look different? Is it permanent?" he questioned.

I summed up my teaching (and eased their minds) by telling them that feeding your brain on television is a bit like feeding your body junk food. If you do it for a day, you won't feel very good, but the damage isn't permanent. If you do it for a lifetime, the effects are quite detrimental. From that they deduced that eating junk food while watching the moving pictures must be really bad. Karson asked, "So, is that why we don't buy popcorn when we go to the movie theatre?"

Nope. That's a financial decision, but that's a good guess!

Romance and Gun-Fights Make for One Sweet Kid

2009-03-05T21:39:00.005-05:00

The other morning Kevin had made close to my favorite muffins for breakfast. My favorite are his oatmeal muffins. Any other muffin I eat plain, but those I love smothered in butter and strawberry jelly. That particular morning they were banana-oatmeal. Almost as good.

Somehow, Karson was the last one eating and I was alone with him in the kitchen. The strawberry jelly was there on the table and he was asking how I thought he could make his muffin jelly-filled. I said, "You mean like a jelly-filled doughnut?" That was exactly what was on his mind. I tried to give him advice to satisfy his longing and then asked if he'd ever actually had a jelly-filled doughnut before.

"No, have you?" Karson replied.

"Yes, I have, but it's been a long time. They're reeaallllly sweet. I don't think you'd like them. You seem to have tastes like me and you don't like things very sweet."

Karson strongly disagreed. "I do too like sweet things! I like sweet things like....like you."

I love that kid!

Here are some pictures of that kid. I've written about his "romance" side....here's the western side:

He was acting like he wasn't happy about me taking this cute robe-and-jammies-with-cowboy-hat picture.

So he decided to get out his six shooter.

Totally unrelated, but this picture is too cute to leave out: Karson doing his schoolwork with Bailey snuggled in on the back of his legs.

Again, unrelated, but I'm sure this is Karson's artwork that I came downstairs to the other morning. I'm pretty certain it's a couple of Ninjas on a bridge...not sure where the math problems fit in, but I appreciate him trying to make something educational out of it!

Comic Relief

2009-03-05T21:27:00.002-05:00

The other night Kevin was supposed to get off of work at 9 o'clock, but had had a very busy day and was late getting home. I was still cleaning up the kitchen when he arrived. Wanting to get up to bed as quickly as possible, Kevin offered to help.

"What can I do to help you?" he queried.

"Help move me along?" I answered with my own question, attempting to clarify and complete his thought.

He looked at me strangely. "Did you just say to leave you alone?"

I love it when misunderstandings are comical.

What Would You Do For An Extra Scoop?

2009-03-04T21:55:00.008-05:00

Kevin planned a party for last Friday night. No, it wasn't anyone's birthday. I'm off-the-hook in that category until May, and even then it's an "odd" year birthday for Kody, so no party. You see, with 6 kids I couldn't even imagine throwing each of them a big party every year for their birthday! Goodness, I couldn't even imagine it with 4 kids and that's why the friend-birthday parties-on-even-years/family-parties-on-odd-years rule has been in effect for a long time.

I digress.

Friday night's party was a "You're-Great-Kids-and-We-Don't-Tell-You-Often-Enough" party. Isn't that sweet? Planned wholly by my ever-thoughtful and creative husband, complete with balloons, streamers, party hats and pizza for dinner on brightly colored monkey plates (was that a statement as to what we think about our kids??). Oh, and a trip to the best ice cream parlor that I've ever been to in my lifetime (that's sayin' a lot, 'cuz ice cream is my all-time favorite dessert and I worked at Baskin-Robbins for a year in college) - The Split Banana. After a big ol' family trip in the big ol' family van to Target. We just threw that in as a bonus ; )

As we were cleaning up from dinner, without thinking much (I'm good at that...not the cleaning up from dinner part, the not thinking much part!) I blurted out what I thought was an idea that would add some extra spice to our excursion. I dared each child to refrain from removing their party hat for the rest of the evening in exchange for an extra scoop of ice cream. I thought my offer would quickly be shot down, but, to my surprise, not even the teenager cringed at the thought! I told you the ice cream was good.

It was then that I realized my lack of thorough contemplation of my offer would mean that I, too, would need to suck-up my pride and wear my hot pink party hat throughout Target! I was so proud of my children for caring more about supporting a local business with a larger order (their motives were completely altruistic, I'm sure) than about how ridiculous they might look that there was no way that I could waver in my offer or let them smell my fear. So to Target we went - all eight of us piling in and out of our big ol' van, our multi-colored cone-shaped headgear intact, meeting both curious and admiring stares and comments.

And everyone got their extra scoop.

Kendra didn't want to chance missing out on that extra scoop, so she even wore her hat over her helmet while she was rip-sticking in the driveway before we left.

And we had to get Bailey in on it, too!

Overheard

2009-02-23T15:04:00.003-05:00

In honor of Kendra's 14th birthday on Friday she had some friends over for a sleepover (the girls told me recently that the term "slumber party" is old-fashioned). We watched a couple of movies, one that happened to be a romance, while Daddy and the boys watched a western upstairs. At dinner the next evening the kids were discussing the movies they watched and I overheard Karson say: "Gun fights and romance make a really good movie."

Kevin ran a half-marathon on Sunday in Williamsburg. It was nearly a 3 hr. drive to get there and we met up with Nana and PopPop on the way. Upon arrival, Kevin went to register with PopPop, while the kids, Nana, and I waited for quite a while in the car. This was all before we spent about 2 more hours waiting in the stadium for Kevin to finish the race. At some point close to Kevin's finishing Kara-Faith had had quite enough of all the sitting around and waiting. Exasperatedly she said, "Why did Baba take a long-cut?"

A Birthday Gift to Remember

2009-02-16T20:53:00.005-05:00

I never thought I'd do it again. After years of saying "no" for perfectly legitimate reasons, I had found my heart softening to the idea over the past several months. Then came Saturday and instead of listening to someone try to convince me, I was now the one presenting a persuasive affirmative argument. Apparently it was persuasive enough to sway my audience of one. So, we set aside all the legitimate reasons for "no" and embraced all the equally valid reasons to say "yes" - then Kevin and I went to tell Kendra the good news.

"You know that dog you want? The one that's mentioned on your birthday list at least a dozen times - to the exclusion of anything else? We've decided to get you one".

I'm not sure I'd ever seen her more flabbergasted or thankful. Time crawled for Kendra between that moment and Monday afternoon - the next time we'd be available during the SPCA's business hours to check out the dog she nearly immediately had picked out online. "Elvis" was his name. We spent some time on Sunday going through the baby book of names together to choose an alternative. It was decided that "Elvis" would become "Beau".

Upon arriving at the SPCA on Monday afternoon, we were immediately informed that Elvis was too aggressive with other dogs to remain caged beside them, so he had just been taken off the exhibition floor. Bad sign. We decided he wouldn't be the dog for us, sight unseen. So, to the cages we went. With dogs barking, dogs jumping, some ignoring all the commotion and half my kids plugging their noses from the stench, we made our way down one row without meeting any dogs that were a "must have". We headed into the back room and around the circle. Kendra thought a beagle might be it, while I was trying to sway her toward the Cocker Spaniel mix puppies, just 8-weeks-old. She poo-pooed the puppies - they were all girls and she wanted a boy and she also expressed that she didn't like Cocker Spaniels. We decided to head down the last row. 3 cages from the end we met "Connor", a 1-2 year old Beagle/Blue Heeler mix. It was obvious that he was probably the one that came closest to suiting our needs and Kendra's wants, so we found a worker and had him brought to a visitation room. He was calm, even surrounded by 6 children, which I thought was a good sign. There weren't fireworks, but he seemed like a good choice so we put in an adoption application for him and headed home to wait for approval.

While we were putting in the application, the SPCA workers showed us sheets of information about Connor and we noticed that his personality evaluation included the words - "environmentally focused". Kendra asked what that meant at the time and it came up again in our conversation on the way home. Connor was really calm when we visited, but perhaps that was because he pretty much ignored everyone and was much more interested in sniffing around his surroundings. Kendra became concerned that that was a trait he would never outgrow and we discussed the risks one takes when adopting any dog, let alone a 2-year-old dog who's been in the pound for 6 months. She thought it was too great a risk to take, but was feeling very sad about waiting even another day to get a dog. We decided to look for a dog in our paper's online ads once we got home.

Kendra found nothing. So I got on the computer and just started Googling while I talked to her about what she was really looking for in a dog. She'd had her heart set on a male Golden Retriever, but one of the conditions to getting a dog now was that it had to be a medium sized dog. She was fine with that, but was still having trouble shifting gears. Then we found the "Comfort Retrievers"! In the spirit of all the new mixing of breeds to create "designer breed" dogs, the idea of the Comfort Retriever was born. Small-ish Goldens mixed with all sorts of medium breeds to create the qualities of a Golden Retriever with the size of a more manageable pet. One of the pictures we saw online was of a Retriever that looked much more like a Cocker Spaniel..... and then the light came on! We knew that the puppies at the SPCA were part Spaniel, but what if the father had been something more similar to Kendra's wish list? The puppies certainly didn't look like Cocker Spaniels! We decided to take a trip back to give them a closer look. It was 3:20 and the SPCA closes at 4. We rushed out the door.

When we walked into the lobby area, the first thing we saw was a little boy in a chair cuddling one of the puppies. We knew that one of the puppies had been adopted before our first visit ended, this was the second - there had only been 3! With pounding hearts we rushed back to the cage where we were greeted by..... the last puppy - the one we had liked best! Her siblings were all black, but she has adorable white markings on her chest and neck that are full of black "freckles". Every foot is white and so is the tip of her tail. I "guarded" the cage while Kendra went to find a worker.

While we visited with the puppy, I fell in love with her right away (a big deal for this outspoken non-dog person!), but made certain to keep my feelings hidden so as to not influence Kendra. We discussed all the pros and cons and ultimately Kendra decided this was the dog for her. We announced the change of which dog we were applying for at the front desk and, since they'd already had time to check out our application, within a few minutes we were cleared to take her home! Turned out, the puppies had only been brought in that morning and there were originally 4 of them. It's hard for me to believe that finding this particular dog on that particular day was at all a coincidence.

It's taken me more than a week to complete this post. The first weeks have had their ups and downs, but for the most part things have gone well and we are all in love with this new member of our family that Kendra chose to name Bailey. Well, almost all. Lucy, the cat, is still having some trouble adjusting : )

And Kara-Faith, Being Quite Confused...

2009-02-11T22:04:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday we drove to Richmond to visit Kurtis' birth-mom and half-brother, who was turning 2. His name is Taten. The squalor these people live in (with her fiancee and two other unrelated people)weighs heavy on my heart and is a post all in itself that I'll probably never be able to put into words.

Kara-Faith is very curious whenever we have contact with A.J. During the 2-hour drive to Richmond, there were more than a dozen questions having to do with Taten alone. Only a few in which she actually pronounced his name correctly. No matter how many times we corrected her, she kept calling him "Satan"! One time, Kurtis even piped up to correct her and told her is name was "Temptation". Kevin is my witness....I am not making that one up! I didn't even know he knew that word!

The Protest

2009-02-11T01:11:00.010-05:00

My adorable, multi-talented, brilliant, servant-hearted, handsome, helpful, incredible-baker, energizer-bunny of a husband is still trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. Pharmacy has always been an excellent means of providing for our ever expanding family, but never a full use of his God-given talents. Through the years, Kevin has seriously contemplated a career change more often than....hmm, well, more often than we've added another child to our brood. I think he's serious about the latest one. Kevin is planning on going to medical school. It's not as if he can just start classes tomorrow, however. Before he can step through the doors of the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine as a med student, much must come to pass. First of all, the college is requiring him to have some recent coursework, so there will be a semester or two of classes at UVA. Then there's taking the MCATs, applying, being accepted and, oh yeah.... moving. VCOM is in Blacksburg. It's only 2 hours away, but it seems like a thousand miles to our kids.

A few Sunday mornings ago, the topic of selling our house came up in conversation. We had put our house on the market 2 years ago but it never sold. One of the children asked if we were going to try to sell it ever again. I made the mistake of explaining the possibility of the above-mentioned, mostly-under-wraps move. My announcement was met with tear-filled eyes and lots of legitimate reasons why a move would keep them from all that is currently familiar and well-loved. I quickly backtracked, trying to reassure them that it wasn't going to happen any time soon, but it was too late. Panic ensued and after breakfast the kids banded together. I witnessed them secretly huddled en masse and could easily envision what was coming. I decided to hide by taking a shower and getting ready for church, leaving Kevin to handle the protesters on his own.

Kevin filled me in later that the children had picketed. Carrying signs that said things like "Blacksburg Stinks", "We're Not Moving", and my personal favorite: "We Think You Should Rethink Your Decision", our 4 oldest cherubs marched and shouted their mantra throughout the house. By the time I emerged from our bedroom, though the march was long over, I was greeted by no less than several dozen signs, hastily scribbled and taped to every imaginable surface throughout our abode. All bearing the same message: "We're Not Moving!"

They whispered back and forth as I went around taking pictures to document their creativity. The questions on their lips: "Why was Mommy taking pictures? Were Daddy and Mommy actually moved by our show of force or did they only consider it "cute"?"

I'll keep letting them wonder. Here's a sampling of the images I captured for your viewing pleasure:

(That's the antique rocker with the broken base - compliments of Sporto - still lying on it's side)

Who is teaching these kids to how to spell??

Things That Must Be Written Down

2009-02-11T00:47:00.012-05:00

Just a few quick funnies:

1)In our storage closet - which holds everything from the vacuum cleaner and snow clothes to all the games, a ratchet set and tons more - there is a puzzle. Not just your run-of-the-mill puzzle. This one has batteries. On a side note - one of my pet peeves is that now, even the simplest of children's toys are made to make noise and require batteries! Anyhow, this particular puzzle is wooden, with pegged pieces in the shapes of several different modes of transportation. Airplanes, helicopters, motorcycles, police cars, a fire engine. You get the idea. When a puzzle piece is put in its correct spot, something is triggered by the lack of light and the child is rewarded with the sound of that particular vehicle. For weeks now, anyone who puts something away in the storage closet has also been rewarded - or freaked out, whichever way you want to look at it. The puzzle has a mind of it's own! Flip on the light in the closet, put away your item, then shut the door and turn out the light. At that point a siren shreiks. I'm done being startled by it - I'm just hoping someone finds that missing puzzle piece before it makes me crazy!

2) An exchange I had with Kurtis recently after he'd woken up from a spontaneous on-the-den-floor nap just in time for dinner.

Kurtis: Whining, crying and incoherently muttering something.

Mommy: "Does your tummy hurt? Do you feel like you need to throw up?"

Kurtis: Still whining, but a little more coherently, "Yes. After dinner."

3) Karson frequently licks his lips and so they are very chapped - even around the outside of his mouth. He is trying to kick the habit and is always asking to borrow my lip balm. It's not that we haven't given him his own - several *dozen* times- it's that mine is consistently in the same place, unlike his own which can never be located. Recently he asked for my lip balm and I directed him the zippered pocket of my purse. It was only later that he told me he mistook my new Burt's Bees lip "shimmer" in "rhubarb" for the Burt's Bees lip balm that he usually uses and proceeded to spread it all around his mouth and lips. He wiped the pink mess off before I could get a picture! He actually told me I should blog about it, though.

The Underdog

2009-02-05T21:32:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago, Kody competed in his Boy Scout pack's Pinewood Derby. Kevin and Kody spent some time in the weeks prior getting his car ready for finishing - the cutting and sanding of the small block of pine into the perfect aerodynamic shape - but the finishing touches ended up being completed close to the last minute. Several days before the race my men made a trip to Staunton Trains and Hobbies and purchased just the right shade of racing orange plus a few decals. The paint was applied in 2 coats on 2 consecutive nights and then it was time to add the weights in just the right places. Holes were drilled and the weights added, leaving just enough room within the 5 oz. weight limit for the nearly weightless wheels - or so they thought. The morning of the race, with an hour left before departure, the wheels were added. Quite shockingly, it put the weight of the car way over the limit. Because I had left briefly to run an errand, I missed the drama that ensued, but somehow it also involved the front tip of the racer being broken off and needing a glue repair and Daddy having to apologize for some stray graphite that marred the once-perfect paint job. Kody's spirits remained high, but Kevin's confidence was noticably shaken. It wasn't looking good for our Cub Scout.

Derby departure time was upon us. We parted ways. Kevin took Kody and the little ones and I took Karson to a birthday party. Upon arriving at the derby location, Kevin filled me in on the spectacle that had just taken place. The car had indeed measured overweight and would not be allowed to race if this infraction wasn't remedied. Removal of all the front weights was the only option, but would leave the car back-heavy and a definite loser. Was there no solution to be found?? Where's McGyver when you need him? A more experienced "Scout Guy" fit the bill. He offered the suggestion of substituting coins for the washers that had previously been the car's undercarriage. Scrounging through their pockets for just the right combination, Kevin and our friend, Shelley, found just the things. A dime, a nickel, and some superglue -applied just in the nick of time -and Kody's speedster was ready to roll.

The best 2 out of 3 determined the winner of each heat and I had also arrived just in time to witness what, moments before, was thought to be the impossible. Kody's car streaked ahead of his competitor's not once, but twice in a row! He went on to repeat the feat and won the next heat as well! With just these 2 wins, Kody was declared first place winner for his "den" of 3 boys. When it was time for him to compete against the rest of the pack, his luck had apparently run out. Double elimination quickly came to pass. No matter - the underdog was guaranteed a first place trophy, which was all that he had hoped for.

My Pint-Sized Rogue

2009-01-24T17:32:00.004-05:00

Kurtis is going through a phase that I don't like very much. Actually, it's nothing new, really, it just seems to be revived as of late. I like to call it The Mischievous Phase. It results in mischief miniscule, mischief grandiose, and mischief of the middle-of-the-road variety. I'm blogging about it as a way to release my pent-up frustration.

A couple weeks ago I administered, what has proved to be, a sufficient number of swats to the offender's hiney to have deterred him from making any more mischief that involves toilet water. Half a dozen incidences was my sanity limit. However, this week alone his monkey business took shape in acts such as emptying a whole shelf's worth of books out of the homeschool bookshelf and spreading them around the living room. Behavior such as treating my 3-year-supply bucket of powdered laundry detergent as a sandbox and subsequently scooping large quantities of it into the washing machine and the dryer - full of clean clothes at the time. It took several cycles of running the washing machine where only suds could be seen to even begin to resolve that issue. Using its cushy seat as a trampoline has left my lovely, relatively newly re-upholstered and re-finished antique rocking chair slumped to one side with a broken base. Then there have been the several nights when the boys couldn't find their tooth brushes or toothpaste while suspicious white sticky gunk was found smeared in several places in the bathroom. Not that I really wondered who the culprit was, but I was later privileged to catch him red-handed sucking the toothpaste out of a tube.

When complaining to Kevin about Kurtis' insistence on sabotaging neatness and order around here, he pointed out that he's probably bored and that sending him outside to play might help. I wasn't convinced, as anyone who read our Christmas letter may know, "outside" is where the tomato plant incident took place! But, with there being no living plants outdoors besides trees and shrubs, I began to feel like this was a good idea. I shouldn't be surprised that it only took Kurtis until the second day of weather warm enough for outdoor romping to find a shenanigan to pull. This one involved getting into the basement where a large bucket of joint compound and a paint stirring stick morphed into paint and a paintbrush when combined with a gallon each of boredom and imagination. It also involved the basement door, the outside brick wall, the ride-on toy (perilously located too near the bucket), the door jam, the backyard play structure and the aformentioned tree that I didn't think could be useful in any troublemaking. My pint-sized rogue had done it again! Number six apparently needs more supervision, therefore I'm calling up the creators of "Dolly" the sheep to see about being cloned.

Do You Love Me?

2009-01-07T20:23:00.002-05:00

As I rounded the corner into the den this evening, Karson jumped out of nowhere, shouted and nearly pounced on me. It's not an uncommon occurence for him to be suddenly loud and wild, but I was startled anyway and not appreciative.

"Please don't do that to your mommy!" I scolded and proceeded to sit down at the computer.

Karson followed me with a scolding of his own, "Why don't you love me?"

I didn't think I'd been that harsh! I reassuringly scooped him up into my lap.

"You never wrestle with me", he pouted, making plain the reason for his indignation.

I sure hope he believed my explanation about a mother showing love differently than a father!

Hollow Leg

2009-01-07T20:03:00.002-05:00

Recently we've revived a tradition that had fallen out of favor as the children have grown older - and all the wiser. I can't remember who started it, but Kevin and I would sometimes "check" the children's bellies after a meal to see if they had any more room - for seconds or for dessert, for example. Checking involves a gentle squeeze here and there to a child's abdomen, followed by confirmation of free space by pointing out exactly where more food might be put. A small spot below the ribs or around the belly button might be open. The children seemed fully convinced that they could never really know until they let Mommy or Daddy check.

Somehow, Kurtis decided to do his own check the other night during dinner. Then he proceeded to tell me with each bite where it was going to end up. Tonight, Kurtis' second helping began to seem an amount larger than the free space until Daddy encouraged him by doing the check and finding room. Kurtis repeated his predictions from the other night. The last few bites he told me would go to his knee! Guess he really was feeling full, if it needed to go down that far. Gave a new meaning to having a hollow leg.

Jingle, Jingle

2008-12-31T20:22:00.005-05:00

Several weeks ago, Kendra and Kylie sang in the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir's Christmas concerts. We went to the Sunday performance as a family - even Nana and PopPop drove down for the occasion. At the end of the concert the choir traditionally joins the audience, who has already been singing Christmas carols sprinkled between choir songs, in singing even more. The grand finale is always Jingle Bells, with all of the little ones being invited on stage to ring those bells. Kara-Faith volunteered last year, but ended up balking once we were up there. Too late to turn back and certain she'd change her mind when she saw what fun it was, I ended up being the one to ring the bells while she pouted. Being the only adult ringing bells up in front of the large audience, surrounded by children barely taller than my knees - and who were ringing bells just fine on their own- was not a pleasant experience. I was not going to repeat the embarassment. When Kara-Faith enthusiastically agreed to ring bells this year, I told Kevin he would need to be the one to take her. I wasn't holding my breath that she would actually follow through.

She surprised me! Kurtis turned back and sat back down with Kevin, but Kara-Faith not only rang the bells on her own through the whole song, she did it without an adult by her side. I was very proud and was sure to tell her so.

Fast forward: the concert is over and we're congratulating choristers, collecting our girls and heading to the lobby. As the girls went to fetch their coats, I decided to buy them each one of the Christmas bouquets the choir was selling in the lobby as a fundraiser. They were lovely, small arrangements full of Christmassy greens, red carnations and a candy cane. Apparently, I could have just given them candy canes and saved myself $20, because it was the candy cane that they dug right into.

Kara-Faith became curious as to why the girls received these gifts. I explained that it was traditional to give flowers to performers who'd done a good job. Never one to be left out, she asked, "Did I do a good job ringing jingle bells?" Not yet cluing in, I once again complimented her on her good job.

It quickly became plain that verbal reassurance was not what she was fishing for. Out came the pouty bottom lip and the whiney voice. "Don't I get a candy cane?"

"No, that's just for the people who performed on stage." I knew that my explanation as to who exactly was deserving of a Christmas bouquet was only confusing her. I think I even tried to elaborate by emphasizing how much time Kendra and Kylie had put into practicing for the day's event.

She was not impressed and her response was indignant. "But I did the jingle thing!"

Indeed she did. I think that's a reward all in itself.

See!

2008-12-25T14:53:00.007-05:00

We enjoyed a most wonderful Christmas morning together with the kids. I think this is one of the best ones we've ever had. After all the gift opening and some relaxation, Gramma and Grampa called from California to wish us a Merry Christmas and spoke with each of the children. Kurtis was begging for the phone and so we put him on. He excitedly told Gramma and Grampa about his new tractor and said, "see!", as he held it up to the phone so they could do just that. I had to get a picture!

The Return of the Babysitter

2008-12-22T21:52:00.006-05:00

We enjoyed a wonderful visit from our children's favorite babysitter this evening. Anne Paulus is home for Christmas all the way from Seattle and took the time to come and have dinner with us. She shared a story with us about the first time she babysat for us that I have to write down before I forget!

It was a time that we were having a meeting downstairs so she was sequestered upstairs with the children. She remembers that Kendra, who was 7 at the time, took charge of the whole playtime- in typical Kendra fashion - by announcing that she was Robin Hood. Kendra then pretended to give Anne $20 and told her to "go out and buy me an electric blanket." Kody, 4, had to get into the act so he decided that Anne was a princess, locked in a dungeon, that he needed to rescue. He kept writing her notes, but since he was only 4 he was writing gibberish that only he could read. And read them he did - to Anne - several different times. Something like, "Dear, Lovely, I come and get you everyday, I love you...." (apparently even the thoughts were gibberish!) Then 3-year-old Karson walked in dressed in a princess gown with a tray offering a cup of tea. Anne couldn't remember fully what Kylie was doing, but said she remembers her being a queen or a princess and a dragon, but not all at once.

The sweet thing about her sharing this story is because of what Anne does. She currently works at a children's theatre in Seattle - a job that sounds absolutely made for her. She claimed that the above experience with our children was a turning point in her life....one event in a series that sparked her love of working with children. It touched my heart to hear that our kids actually inspired her that way. Whenever Anne babysat (before she went away to college and then moved away to Seattle) she would always be involved in creating some make-believe or drama with the kids and I know she was, and is, an inspiration to them, too. Well, she couldn't come over without there being a performance, so they wrote, directed and performed a play for us before she left. Thanks for the visit, Anne, and for being the blessing you are to us all!

By The Way....

2008-12-18T11:14:00.004-05:00

I can't forget to include this tidbit for my biggest blog fan....

Kurtis is still coming up with new songs for his duitar. I'm beginning to think music might really play an important part in his life! Two days ago, it was the prettiest and longest song yet. The "I-Love-Nana-and-PopPop-Song." Wish you could've heard it, Mom, because you know we'll never get him to repeat it on cue!

Although not his ukelele, this is a very cute glimpse of Kurtis on an electric guitar at Amazement Square, Lynchburg's children's museum.

It Can't Possibly Have Been Nine Years!

2008-12-18T09:24:00.006-05:00

Happy 9th Birthday, Karson!!

Yes, that's a flower pot and yes, that looks like dirt and worms in there. It's "Dirt Cake" - a pudding concoction with gummy worms...very sweet and very rich!
9 years ago yesterday Karson made his entrance into the world....9 days late. Funny thing is, I still wait on him quite a bit. Seems we're often in the car ready to go and waiting on Karson! (Although it's much easier to wait on him with him outside of my body.) I've always joked with Karson that he just didn't want to come out, evidenced by the fact that he remained very attached to me for his first....hmmm, oh, 8 years or so!

This past summer, Karson finished out a prescribed year of wearing an orthodontic appliance called a "tongue crib". This small piece of metal, fixed in the roof of his mouth, cured him of his lifelong thumbsucking habit. It also cured a previously unknown-to-us habit called "tongue thrusting" which corrected his bite and made him less likely to need braces in the future. One of the side benefits for me to Karson giving up thumbsucking was that he no longer needs my mole. Yes, that certain large one in the middle of my neck (see 3/12/07 post). It's a habit that started when he was about 9 months old. Feeling that mole went hand-in-hand for Karson with nursing and then eventually with sucking his thumb, thus making me a very frequently used comfort item for many years. I'm happy to say that Karson has securely moved on to a new, post-mama's-boy, chapter in his life (in my opinion, without ending up "warped", as Kevin so often predicted) and my mole has shrunk to half its size without it being squeezed and pulled many times a day. Good things to celebrate!

May the Lord bless you with many more years, my precious son! I appreciate you and love you very much!

Review of a New Restaurant

2008-12-16T13:00:00.006-05:00

This afternoon I dined at the newly opened "Kylie's Corner Cafe". It's convenient location - just around the corner from the dining room - heightened my interest. However, the overwhelmingly positive responses the restaurant received from yesterday's opening day guests made it a must for me today.

The atmosphere was lively. The tables in cozy proximity of one another made for ease of eavesdropping on other diners - some whose manners could use improvement, I must say. Reminded me of home! Christmas music quietly playing in the background perfectly complimented the occasional "ORDER UP!" holler from the chef.

The service was efficient and prompt although my server was a bit fussy about doing anything out of her preferred order. My appetizer was served quickly and my main entree and dessert followed as soon as I was through with the previous course. I decided to forgo today's special (it was curiously the same thing I had eaten for dinner last night), but enjoyed a caesar salad, celery with cream cheese and a barbeque chicken sandwich. Dessert was a delicious slice of angel food cake with strawberries and freshly whipped cream. I was sure to pass along my compliments to the chef. I will be recommending this homestyle diner to all I meet.

Basic Christmas Post Plus Pictures

2008-12-14T19:49:00.013-05:00

We're finally getting around to filling our house with the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas! Last week we attended a couple of Christmas parties and had occasion to bake some cookies. You can see the fun we had with gingerbread men above.

We had planned to pick out a Christmas tree last week, but it ended up raining on the only day we could do it. So, with only 12 days to spare, we trekked to the Christmas tree farm yesterday, took the hay ride to the best trees and finally agreed on one. Well, Kevin and I agreed, Kylie was under the impression that we'd agreed on a different one, and the rest of the kids decided that rolling down a nearby hill and running around playing tag was more fun than decision-making. The girls and I left the farm early so we could make it to their choir concert on time, while the boys and Kara-Faith stayed behind, loaded the tree on top of the Jedi and carried it home. Today, we've spent the day decorating, listening to Christmas music, drinking egg nog and watching "It's a Wonderful Life" - a yearly tradition.

Same Tune, Second Verse

2008-12-10T09:57:00.002-05:00

Kurtis came to me this morning, with the same "duitar" and told me he wanted to play a different song.

"What song is it that you want to play?", I inquired.

"The I-love-Mommy-and-Baba-song". He proceeded to melt my heart with those simple lyrics.

He followed up with an encore performance that included the "I-like-Kody-and-Karson-song". Both were big hits to me! In all fairness, I'm not sure he was the one who composed the first song. It's a favorite that he and Kara-Faith like to sing - over and over and over again, especially while we're driving. It's one of those very-sweet-but-only-for-the-first-ten-times kind of things. Times 12, 20 and 32 border on annoying.

Kind of like the 20 or so foam heart stickers that Kurtis stuck to the radiator this past weekend. He was so proud of himself and pointed them out to me describing them as "pretty". I didn't have the heart to tell him that wasn't a good idea. I let Kevin lecture him about it later : )

A Tune on the Guitar

2008-12-08T10:57:00.006-05:00

Picture a 3-year-old little boy carrying a Hawaiian souvenir ukelele with only 2 remaining plastic strings - neither of which will, any longer, remain tightened around their pegs. Now picture him coming into the kitchen and announcing, "Mommy, I'm gonna play Jingle Bells on my duitar!"

It was a rather shortened version, but it was delivered with a big smile and a runny nose. And it was probably more appreciated by me than a symphony performance would have been at that moment.

God bless little runny nose duitar players!

Happy 12th Birthday, Kylie!

2008-12-03T21:47:00.007-05:00

I went into labor with Kylie at 5 am on December 1st, 1996. It was my due date. I didn't really figure it was real labor. I couldn't possibly be fortunate enough to deliver right on my due date! So, I sent Kevin off to work and proceeded about my business. I finally called the doctor to see if I might be in labor somewhere around 10 am. You see, I hadn't actually been through a normal onset of labor yet. Kendra's labor was induced and I opted for an epidural at the first sign of pain. No wonder I was confused. Nothing was really hurting yet. So the doctor was confused, too, but thought it would be a good idea if I headed in to the hospital just so they could check on me. I called Kevin and he had to wait for a replacement. When he arrived home, we dropped Kendra off at the neighbor's house, stopping for a comparing-bellies picture with Catherine, who was due with their first in 2 weeks, and then headed to the hospital. Only to turn around because I really needed some heartburn relief and had forgotten the Tums.

When we finally arrived at the hospital it was about 12:15 and the doctor was wondering where I'd been all this time. As we were walking up to the hospital, my uterus was cramping in a way that felt familiar, though still not what I would have called pain. So they took their time admitting me and I was feeling great. When I was finally in a room and the nurse could check my progress, I was already 7 centimeters dialated! I really was in labor! Well, that was easy. So easy, I decided to make a go at natural childbirth. I walked around and rocked in the rocking chair until I wore out and headed to the bed and then, OH MY! Slightly uncomfortable was ratcheted up quite a few notches all in one fell swoop and I decided I really didn't want to go natural. But it was too late. Apparently that dramatic increase in pain is something they refer to as transition. Seems far too peaceful a word for what it actually represents. Anyway, apparently I was already 10 centimeters and it was time to push. I remember the nurse explaining this to me and asking if I would rather just go ahead and push the baby out rather than get an epidural. Sounded good to me.

Kylie was born at 2:14 in the afternoon. Only 2 hours after my first inkling that I might really be in labor. If only they could all be that quick and pleasant!

And pleasant she was. Kylie slept through the birth and didn't utter a single sound or open her eyes for her first 36 hours. Even after that, she was mostly a very happy baby. She wouldn't even cry when she woke up to be fed in the middle of the night. She just made sweet little noises that woke me up.

All that was 12 years ago, Monday. For the most part, Kylie has remained pleasant all these years. She has been our compliant, cheerful, helpful, peace-maker child. What a blessing!

Happy Birthday to my sweet second-born!

It stinks when you run out of fingers to show how old you are!

Kylie's choice for a birthday party was taking 10 of her closest friends shopping with her followed by a slumber party without much slumbering!

You Say Tomato....

2008-11-22T22:52:00.006-05:00

Tonight I was cutting up tomatoes for our dinner salad and Kurtis was in his usual kitchen spot: on the stool and as close to me as possible. He started talking to me about the "pomatoes". I don't usually correct him, but I decided to this time. I emphasized that they are actually "Tomatoes". Moments later, Kara-Faith, in her favorite kitchen spot: wherever Kurtis is (lest she miss out on anything he might be given), also started talking about the tomatoes. I overheard Kurtis correcting her correct pronunciation.

"No, Kara-Faith, they're tom - pomatoes!"

They actually went back and forth correcting each other for a moment. Kurtis was unwilling to budge. I guess I'll just have to wait until he outgrows it.

I Would Gather Children

2008-11-22T13:33:00.004-05:00

The kids and I spent most of yesterday cleaning in preparation for a week-long visit from Oma and Opa for Thanksgiving. Mid-day, Kylie decided we needed some music and I suggested we get out the Christmas CDs. One of our favorites for the last couple years has been Stephen Curtis Chapman's "All I Really Want for Christmas". As I was scrubbing in the kitchen, I had to take a break to see why one song in particular was being played more than once. I found Kylie dancing with Kara-Faith to one of our favorites and it brought tears to my eyes. The lyrics to the song always get me, especially when coupled with the picture of our little girl, once described as "an abandoned child", dancing with her big sister.

"All I really want for Christmas is someone to tuck me in
A shoulder to cry on if I lose, shoulders to ride on if I win.
There's so much I could ask for, but there's just one thing I need.
All I really want for Christmas is a family....

All I really want for Christmas is someone who'll be here
To sing me Happy Birthday for the next 100 years,
And it's okay if they're not perfect or even if they're a little broken.
That's all right, 'cause so am I."

A friend of mine has a great quote attached to her email signature that I love :

"Some would gather money along the path of life, some would gather roses, and rest from worldly strife; But, I would gather children from among the thorns of sin, I would seek a golden curl, and a freckled, toothless grin. For money cannot enter in that land of endless day, and roses that are gathered soon will wilt along the way. But, Oh, the laughing children, as I cross the sunset sea, and the gates swing wide to heaven I can take them in with me." -unknown

I wish I had the money and energy to be that family for even more children!

A Horse of a Different Color

2008-11-21T13:30:00.006-05:00

I just want to jot down a couple funny things that the little ones have been saying lately.

Kara-Faith told me recently that her favorite color is "striped". In response to which Kurtis had to put in his 2-cents. He said that his favorite color is red and that he's going to buy a red car "when I grow up to a Baba". This is his favorite phrase right now, usually followed by "and Kara-Faith grows up to a Mama."

For those of you not in-the-know, Baba is the Chinese word for Daddy that Kevin has encouraged Kara-Faith to continue to call him. Of course, with the fierce competition between the two of them, Kurtis is not about to call him anything different than Kara-Faith does!

I think Kurtis wants a red car because Baba is currently driving a red VW Jetta. The first time the little ones heard the name of the new car they obviously related it with the only other similar sounding word they had in their vocabulary. The nickname stuck and we all endearingly refer to Kevin's car as the "Jedi".

Broader is Better

2008-11-21T09:26:00.004-05:00

Overheard this morning:

Kylie to Kendra, quite seriously and in a haughty tone, "Well, I have a broader vocabulary than you."

They honestly didn't understand why I was laughing! I had to explain the fact that this type of my-dad-is-stronger-than-yours statement is usually reserved for less intellectual comparisons.

Worth the Fuss?

2008-11-19T21:13:00.002-05:00

As I lay in my bed yesterday morning, taking my usual half an hour to be fully awake, Kody's excited yells throughout the house got me there a little more quickly.

"SNOW!!! It SNOWED!!!"

Then I heard him go into his bedroom and loudly apologize to Karson for waking him, but that there was SNOW outside. Karson's response was equally energetic. I heard him leap out of bed and run, presumably, to a window.

"OH, MY GOSH, OH, MY GOSH, it's really SNOW!!! It's not even December yet!!! I bet this means we're going to have a white Christmas!!!"

Then they started talking about the neighbor boys and how sad it was that they would have to go to school and wouldn't get to play in the snow.

Now, by this time I was getting pretty curious. I hadn't heard of any forecast for snow and surprise snowstorms just aren't real common in Virginia. In our nine years here there hasn't been a time when there isn't a run on the grocery store at least a couple days in advance of forecasted snow - no matter how slight. Not to mention the fact that the way my boys were carrying on, I figured it must have been a pretty significant amount out there. I was even contemplating having to fit a sledding trip into the day's activities. I decided to drag my weary body out of bed.

Turns out it was a significant dusting of snow. In my opinion, it no where near warranted the type of response it received. It was entirely gone by 11 AM! BUT, for my 8 and 10 year old boys, ANY amount of snow in November was worth the fuss.

One Fit Mama...Well, Almost

2008-11-10T15:44:00.003-05:00

One of the girls recently informed me that it had been more than a month since I'd posted anything to this blog. I'm not sure where that month has gone or what specifically has been keeping me away, but I'd probably sum it up as exhaustion, overwhelmedness and general lack of writer's inspiration. If something has been cute, funny or note-worthy it seems to have been completely missed as being such or quickly forgotten in my foggy brain. I was hoping that simply coming to the blog and starting to write would bring something of interest to mind....

Hmmm. Well, I could report that I have officially become a Gold's Gym member. I have a rather long history of joining the YMCA and then not utilizing the facility sufficiently enough, so I was very hesitant to undertake such a commitment. However, my diagnosis last spring of Adrenal Fatigue and my slowly spreading mid-section compel me to at least give it another go. Not to mention that a good friend of mine was the impetus for my joining up and has vowed to be my work-out partner at least once a week. So, I've purchased a couple pair of sweatpants and I'm heading to the gym for the first time right now. Wish me well!

The Importance of Enunciation

2008-10-03T11:54:00.002-04:00

Weeks ago Kevin was tossing a string of compliments my way as he was heading up the stairs. Just when I thought my smile couldn't get any bigger, the last one I heard as he rounded the corner at the top was, "Not to mention your gray hair".

Very curious as to how my gray hair fit into all those pleasantries, I hollered back, "Now why'd you have to bring up my gray hair?"

To which Kevin replied, "Well, you know you have gray hair."

Still confused, I decided to not be offended and drop the topic. Maybe it was a guy thing.

However, the next night, as we were snuggling in bed ready to drift off to sleep, the topic came up again. Kevin again told me how much he likes my gray hair! I had to know why he insisted on continually reminding me of my signs of aging.

His reply was equally full of confusion as he inquired, "What's wrong with me telling you about your gray-T hair?"

"You've been saying GREAT this whole time??"

"Sure, what did you think I was saying??"

I wish all our miscommunications led to fits of laughter : )

Rainy Days and Rat Funerals

2008-08-31T15:33:00.003-04:00

The beginning of this week was rainy thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Faye. It was a long-lasting and much-needed downpour. However, it makes digging a grave and holding a funeral a bit more difficult.

The situation began on Tuesday when Kendra reported that one of her new rats, Pip, was very suddenly acting strangely. She had only had Pip and Pogo 2 or 3 weeks and was already considering Pip to be her favorite. It was painful to see her moving so slowly and not eating, among other symptoms. Thus ensued the Google search, the $9 question to online pet experts, and a call to the vet to see if a visit would be within budget. Our understanding of her condition based upon our pet expert's answer was that it was probably a respiratory infection - common to rats - and may require an antibiotic. I convinced Kendra that trying at-home treatment would be wise before spending $75 in an attempt to cure the $10 rat. So Kendra coddled her - wrapped in a towel, hand-fed her, made certain that the air was humid enough for her, and shed a few tears throughout the day. There weren't any signs of improvement by bedtime.

I awoke the next morning to Kendra telling me that Pip was dead. I couldn't help but be surprised that it all came on so suddenly and had so quickly led to her demise. Some respiratory infection! My surprise turned to shock when we soon discovered the real reason for Pip's passing. Apparently, Pip had been in labor. A half-born rat pup was projecting from her already stiff body. Pip presumably died in childbirth. Kylie questioned whether she could have been saved had we taken her to the vet and I assured her that such heroic measures as C-sections probably weren't used for rodents. While knowing full well that my answer was perfectly sensible, I couldn't help but wonder the same thing myself. If we'd only known what was really going on, would the outcome have been different?

It's hard to see your children sorrowful - even it is mourning over a rat.

We held the funeral Wednesday night after Daddy got home from work. Several of us said a few kind words as we stood in the muddy backyard all huddled under one large umbrella. Pip joined guinea pigs, Penny and Sugar, in the Wright family pet cemetary under the deck. And they're also together in rodent heaven....that special place in our hearts for those sweet small pets.

Do Broccoli Have Bones?

2008-08-26T23:41:00.003-04:00

That was an actual question I had to answer today. The 5-year-old's questions are much easier to answer than the 13-year-old's 11 p.m question - "why does God allow bad things to happen?"

That said, some questions are in between and much more easily and enjoyably explained. Like Karson's question the other night as to "who makes up dumb laws anyway?" It turned into an educational dinner-time discussion of how bills are put forth and can become laws...only if the president doesn't veto....and if he does, how it can be overridden by a 2/3 majority. The children enjoyed the particular example I used with themselves as the congress and Daddy as the president so much that they decided to try it themselves the next night when Daddy was home for dinner. They presented their "bill" for a trip to The Split Banana after dinner. Daddy immediately vetoed the measure, but they just as quickly came back with a majority vote override (it would have been a unanimous vote except that they couldn't get stubborn-pants Kurtis to actually put up his hand). Then Daddy explained that despite the law passing there was also the very real matter of the lack of funding for that measure in the current fiscal year's budget. The legislature put their heads together once more and came up with a compromise. Each member offered to contribute a small amount to the ice cream fund and set their sights on the ice cream known to be on sale at Kroger instead. I even contributed a couple dollars so that we could splurge on cones and then we took a "big, 'ol family trip" to the grocery store. It was a lovely, bi-partisan time : )

Who says learning can't be fun?

It's Christmas in the Kitchen

2008-08-16T15:40:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we celebrated our China doll's 5th birthday! It was actually the first one Kara-Faith celebrated here at home. Last year we went to Nana and Pop Pop's and the year before last we were still in China. I welcomed the opportunity to finally bestow all of our birthday traditions upon our youngest daughter.

Though not as elaborate as the antics of the birthday bird in Dr. Seuss' Land of Katroo (see one of our Seuss favorites, Happy Birthday To You, for details), we do a few special things for birthdays around here. In addition to the traditional picture holding up how many fingers they are old, use of the "You are Special" plate for all the meals they've specifically requested, and a measurement marking on the wall, the birthday child is appropriately greeted with balloons, streamers and a happy birthday sign in the kitchen. Yesterday, it must have looked very festive to our youngest, because Kurtis came running out of the kitchen to tell me that it was "Christmas in the kitchen!"

At five, Kara-Faith is as tall as our 4 oldest children were at 6 - 6 1/2 yrs. old. She can count to at least 30 without prompting and she was learning to write her letters so quickly just by looking at them, I've had to forbid her from pursuing that any more until I can formally work with her to prevent her from further reinforcing bad letter-forming habits. That's high on the agenda when we start school next week. Kara-Faith still loves books, eating and her BaBa (Daddy) best.

Happy Birthday, Kara-Faith! May the Lord bless you with many, many more.

My Little Man

2008-08-13T09:44:00.003-04:00

When I needed to make my umpteenth trip to Lowe's the other night I took Kody with me, at his request. I decided to ask him why he wanted to come with me. I thought his reply was precious enough to record.

"Because I wanted to spend time with you and because you need a man around to hold your hand so you don't get run over by a car and to push the cart for you."

Beyond Bedtime

2008-08-08T01:55:00.008-04:00

Most of the last few weeks have been spent still focused on remodeling our guest bedroom and adjoining bathroom into something my teen and tween daughters can share. Did I say focused? Maybe I meant consumed! But....a couple coats of green paint, trim paint, new wood flooring, along with coordinating bedspreads, window coverings and throw rugs and the result is a completely new room. We even went so far as to re-face the bathroom cabinets and replace the towel bars and faucet. It was definitely the ugly duckling room of the house now turned to a lovely swan. Kendra and Kylie spent their first night in their new room tonight. Congratulations girls! May you enjoy many a night chatting beyond bedtime!

Na-ped

2008-07-17T08:26:00.003-04:00

The girls are temporarily all sleeping together in the upstairs bedroom while the work is being done on the downstairs room. I'm sure it's frustrating for the older girls to be back in the middle of all the early morning noise, from Kurtis in particular.

Kendra relayed a story to us a few days ago about an early morning funny that she didn't think was very funny at the time. Apparently, Kurtis had gotten up and taken care of his own early morning bathroom needs, but had heard the trash trucks before he could finish. Pantless, he ran to the window in the hallway between the kids' rooms to get a look at the trucks. He must have felt a need to let the trash men know his state of attire because Kendra woke to him yelling out the window, more than once, "Hey, I na-ped!"

Still Alive

2008-07-17T08:08:00.003-04:00

Once again I'm far behind in keeping my readers up-to-date and am lacking the time to do a thorough summary, so how about a quick re-cap?

Over the past few weeks we've finished up potty-training, spent several very wet days camping in Ohio, and have taken on the project of remodeling the girls' room (formerly the guest room). Maybe someday I'll be recovered enough to relay the camping stories, but for now I'll focus on the remodeling project.

I spent last week painting the room and Kevin has used his vacation time this week to install hardwood flooring. Although most of our house already has 100 year-old oak flooring, the guest room is an addition and only had carpet. When we bought the house, our bedroom had carpet as well. The wood flooring that had formerly been in our room, which was pine, had been used in the kitchen during one of the previous owner's remodels. We replaced the carpet in our room with oak several years ago, so the girls' room was the last bit of carpet in the whole house (not counting the storage closet).

Ever since returning home with Kara-Faith, the sleeping situation for the girls has been a difficult one. At first all three girls shared the girls' room upstairs, but Kendra found the age difference and the addition of a noisy sleeper, who woke up crying many a night, too much to bear. We gifted her the guest room to call her own for her 12th birthday. However, Kylie was then sad. She cried night after night for her lifelong roommate. The solution that came to be was for Kylie to sleep with Kendra in her queen-sized bed, but for all of Kylie's clothes and other belongings to remain in her room upstairs. Even that became an issue at times when Kendra tired of sharing her bed, but for the most part they spent every evening talking and laughing until way past bedtime. We've known that a permanent solution was needed and so the time has finally come. Odd as it may seem, Kendra and Kylie will be moving all of their furniture and belongings to the Kendra's room, finally making it their own together, and Kara-Faith will have the big bedroom upstairs, including the queen-sized bed, all to herself.

The Grossest of Accidents

2008-06-23T15:19:00.003-04:00

Potty training is not my favorite endeavor. Having embarked on the journey 6 times now, I consider myself pretty experienced, but there are still things that come up in the process that stump me. Like the couple of children who've suddenly not been able to poop at all when forced to sit on a potty to do it. Kurtis has turned out to be one of "those".

It started last Thursday when I was, oddly enough, really feeling like tackling the task, so I dug out some of the boys' old underwear from the basement and started my method right away. My method being putting said child solely in underwear and taking them to the potty every 15-30 minutes until they figure it out. It usually only takes a day or two and a few accidents, but it really works! (If said child is still clueless at the end of a week they are put back in diapers and I try again in a couple months) My method has worked for Kurtis, too.....all except the pooping thing! Yesterday, he held it for more than an hour while he sat on the potty , but was able to go within minutes when I finally gave up and put a diaper on him and let him go while standing up. Needless to say, we've had many messy accidents over the last five days, but none so comical as the following:

After church on Sunday, Kurtis asked to play outside with James (our next-door 2-year-old), so I agreed to let him until I had fixed lunch. It wasn't long before I heard "the cry"heading up the porch. Kurtis always let me know when he was in the middle of an accident by a certain cry. I went running, hoping I could catch him in time. I met him in the middle of the porch with poop smeared on his leg, carried him to the bathroom, stripped him down and sat him on the potty. Only one thing wrong with the scenario: there was no solid mass to be found. Uh-oh. I left Kurtis on the potty and went back outside to do the detective work. The first clue I found was a smear on the driveway (the flies had found it already), but then discovered what I was really searching for. In the back of the plastic play car is a trough that fills with water every time it rains. We had had a big thunderstorm the night before and as I glanced up I noticed it was characteristically full of rainwater.....and the floating mass for which I was searching! Now how in the world did it get in there?! I scooped it out with the wipe I had brought with me and headed back to the bathroom to dispose of it and get the real "scoop". I was imagining Kurtis standing on top of the car and it somehow falling out of his pants. Nope. Kurtis went on to explain, in 2-year-old-ese, that it had fallen on the ground and that James had picked it up and put it in the water!!! Ewwwww!

Next assignment: go find James and make sure his hands get washed. He wasn't anywhere to be seen outside, which meant my task became even more dreadful. I actually had to knock on their door and explain the situation to Bonny, his mom. I didn't even know what to say! I remember barely getting out something about the state of cleanliness of James' hands and then explaining the whole situation. To which Bonny replied, "Oh, is that what that was?" She went on to enlighten me as to her side of the story - and it gets even funnier. James had apparently come inside not long after Kurtis had his accident and, after fetching a soup ladle, had headed back outside. Bonny became suspicious of her son's need for her soup ladle and decided to follow him - straight to the floating mass. Heaven only knows what James' intentions were because Bonny wisely never let him follow through with his plan. She brought him back inside and yes, his hands did get a good washing. I was hugely apologetic, but Bonny was much more low-key about the whole situation than I would have been.

Fast forward a couple weeks and Kurtis is fully trained, even keeping his pants dry every night, and we are completely free of diapers in our family once again! I'm so glad I persevered through even the grossest of accidents : )

A 3-week summary

2008-06-17T09:09:00.005-04:00

Hard to believe it's really been that long since I last posted, but posting dates don't lie.

Over the course of the last few weeks, among other things, Kody had his first double-digit birthday. Long ago we set a pattern, for financial reasons, of friend parties only being thrown on even birthdays and odd birthdays being family celebrations. This was Kody's year for another sleepover. I think 8 boys attended, with 5 spending the night. Kevin orchestrated the traditional treasure map hunt for the goody bags, filled with the traditional mini-flashlights, for a late-night traditional romp of flashlight tag in the park. He also slept downstairs with the boys. I really like boy parties! I love not being in charge : )

Two weekends ago, I flew to Portland, OR to visit my long-time friend, Amy. We spent 3 days shopping and eating. What a treat! It had been 4 years since we'd seen each other and it was great to get caught up again. Hoping it won't be that long before the next visit.

Kylie performed beautifully in her recent piano recital. I can't remember how many recitals this makes - I think it's #6. She has been performing even more beautifully here at home recently. Having off from lessons for the summer, she decided to turn to the back of her lessons book and teach herself how to play Pachelbel's Canon in D....as a welcome home present for me. We had this song in our wedding and so I'm a bit partial, but I think it's the most beautiful song ever composed! Getting to hear it on the piano multiple times a day has been a real treat.

Kara-Faith finally lost those previously mentioned loose teeth, the second one only a couple days after the first. Not knowing quite what to do with them, her big sister Kylie came to the rescue and pulled them both when they were hanging by a thread. The tooth fairy even came through on both nights this time! Kara-Faith is now the proud owner of 2 gold dollars.

Karson had his "tongue crib" removed at the orthodontist last week. He wore this habit-breaking orthodontic appliance for a full year to help him overcome thumb-sucking and a previously unknown habit called "tongue thrusting". I'm still not completely sure what that was, but it involved the more expensive, orthodontist installed, tongue crib to solve. Kendra only had to have a habit appliance from the dentist to stop sucking her thumb. A much cheaper deal. I really do see a big difference in Karson's bite. He previously didn't have any overbite to speak of, now it's nice and normal. Maybe he'll get away without needing braces. We're hoping that at least a few of them will have straight enough teeth to avoid braces. Kendra may be the first. I have an appointment for her next week just for a consultation. I confessed to the orthodontist that, with 6 kids, we weren't planning orthodontia for everyone unless there was some sort of gross need.

On a sad note, Karson's last day of gymnastics will be Thursday. We've wrestled and wrestled with wanting him to continue because he's so talented, but not really having the financial means to keep it up. I couldn't even face his coach to tell him! I wrote a letter and sent it with Sylvia, the other mom in our carpool, yesterday. There's just no way we can manage him continuing, but I hate him having to quit. If it wasn't a 50 minute drive each way, an hour with the carpool stop, things might be different.

Kevin has been considering going back to school again. Medical school. Last week we drove down to Blacksburg to keep an appointment with the admissions counselor of the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. We were encouraged that his transcripts were medical school worthy, but discouraged by the fact that his school-work was so long ago that he would be required to have at least a current semester's worth of college courses before applying. He's looking into that next.

Other than all that, we've been keeping busy with all of life's day-to-day activities and looking forward to our upcoming vacations!

1/6 of the Group, but 1/3 of the Kids

2008-05-25T20:28:00.004-04:00

Several months ago a home group extension from our church was organized consisting of the families with young children. We've been meeting with 6 other couples on a monthly basis for dinner and discussion and we've all really clicked. Today, a community-wide church service pre-empted our own, so all us families with little ones decided we would forego the inconvenience of lugging all the lawn chairs, blankets, diaper bags, etc. to the hillside service and gather together at our house instead. We usually meet without the kids, but this time it was a whole-family affair. One couple couldn't make it and Kevin had to work today, so there were 11 adults and 18 kids here for several hours. My friend, Christa, and her kids actually stayed the whole day. Fun, fun!

After all the fun was over and we finally settled down to eat dinner, Kurtis made a funny. He was through eating and I told him to wipe his mouth. He questioned me by repeating, "mouth?" and I confirmed. So he proceeded to stick the napkin inside his mouth and wipe! I have no idea why he decided to take me so literally that time, but I thought it wise to re-word my instructions and told him to wipe his lips instead.

In Memory of Maria Sue

2008-05-23T10:27:00.003-04:00

Although this post isn't about us, in a way it is because it has us grieving. Anyway, I've been having trouble imagining continuing to post without sharing about the tragedy of Maria Sue Chapman's death. Some of you may be familiar with Christian recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman. I posted about him last fall after we had attended one of his concerts as volunteers for the Chapman family's adoption-grant-giving organization, Shaohannah's Hope, and was able to meet him and Shaohannah. Steven Curtis Chapman has always been one of my favorite singers and my appreciation of his music has worked its way through the whole family. His songs always seem to strike a chord with what's going on in our lives at any given time. Much of my adult life is marked by his albums and Beth Moore's bible studies. It was his song about the orphan on the other side of the world that was playing in our CD player and Kara-Faith was bobbing her head to when we were finally home from China! The connection with having adopted from China, even using the same agency that the Chapman's did for all three of their Chinese adoptions, somehow makes these celebrities feel a part of the family. Which makes the death of their youngest adopted daughter, 5 year-old Maria, cause our hearts to ache, too. Adding to the sorrow is the fact that the accident happened in their own driveway, the result of one of her older brothers backing up in the family SUV and reportedly witnessed by several other family members. I simply cannot imagine the pain.

I was reading a blog this morning that was discussing the tragedy and eloquently states some of my own questioning and the conclusions I've come to, so I'm cutting and pasting. In answer to the question, is it hypocritical as Christians to highlight the death of one child when so many are suffering around the world:

"One death pales in comparison to the global news of thousands of tragic deaths in Burma [Nargis Cyclone], China [earthquake], and the daily staggering statistics where nearly 30,000 children die daily because of poverty. But there are stories behind numbers. Steven Curtis Chapman has influenced, encouraged, ministered, exhorted, and befriended millions of people through his music. And as a result, the death and loss of their youngest child feels close to home. Christians must care for the suffering around the world but it shouldn’t need to apologize for mourning and grieving over Marie Sue. We are called to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. [Romans 12.15] And we are mourning with the Chapman family."

And in answer to the question, where is there hope in this tragedy and how can we say God is good?:

"Let’s be honest here. It is hard to say, “God is good,” during situations that bring us to utter pain and desolation. But the path to hope and healing always goes through doubt, pain, anger, grief, and mourning. But there is a path.

There is HOPE because Death Does Not Have the Final Say! While I clearly cannot speak for God, I do not believe this death was the will of God. But nevertheless, it is not outside the Sovereignty of God. Simply, God is in control. God was not surprised. He is sovereign and He remains in control.

There is HOPE - even in this tragedy - because it cannot separate us from the love of God that is the gospel of Christ: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8:38-39]

There is HOPE because ultimately, God cares. He has not forgotten or forsaken. And He continues to use all circumstances and situations - even tragedies - to beckon His children and the larger creation - back unto Himself. God restores. God reconciles. God redeems. There is HOPE because there is Life beyond this world. There is HOPE because in short, there is God.
God is HOPE."

First Fruits

2008-05-21T15:05:00.003-04:00

Or vegetables, as the case may be. We dined on our first garden harvest last night. Lettuce for the salad picked just moments before dinner. I don't very often insist on pictures of myself, but I had to get this one.

Bird Update

2008-05-20T10:09:00.006-04:00

I'm fairly certain that I am even more fascinated by our bird guests then the kids are. They seem to get that glassy-eyed look during my daily nest updates. I just can't help myself! In all my life I've never had the privilege of seeing so up-close-and-personal God's design for the entire birdie birthing process. The previously reported lump of peanut butter has now become 3 much larger fully feathered lumps more than a week old. We've even identified them as house finches. I got another peak at them yesterday during a time when the mother bird was gone and even got a few pictures. The father bird was doing his duty and watching me closely from his telephone wire perch. From what I've read, it will only be another week or so before they'll be ready to fly off. Amazing! During yesterday's watering and inspection, I did discover another egg that had rolled from the nest and not hatched. And....this past weekend's watering turned up another nest in the hanging basket at the other end of the porch. This time with 6 eggs. I had no idea there was a nest in there until I walked up to it to water and 2 birds flew from the basket as I lifted it to take it down. They let me get that close before they flew away and there was quite a ruckus of chirping alerts going on afterwards. It got me suspicious.

Fame

2008-05-18T14:44:00.003-04:00

A couple years ago a new store opened in Staunton that was more exciting to us than any other newcomer throughout the years. "Pufferbellies' " opening marked a new day for children in Staunton as they suddenly had more of a choice for their toy stock than the plethora of plastic at Wal-Mart or K-B Toys in the mall. We quickly became frequent customers and the owners know us all by name. Several months ago, these ever-creative owners featured a "Picture Yourself at Pufferbellies" day, inviting their customers to come play and be photographed for future advertising needs. Kylie just happens to be among the first children featured! Imagine my surprise when, driving past one day recently, my daughter's larger-than-life picture jumped out at me from the front window. We, of course, are very proud : )

Here's Kylie re-enacting

New Life

2008-05-14T13:18:00.002-04:00

We have been playing host to a mama bird and her 5 eggs for a couple of weeks now. Two Saturdays ago I noticed a nest in one of our new hanging baskets of geraniums on the front porch. I took down the basket for a closer look and noticed one tiny light blue egg. I brought the whole basket in to show the kids. Kendra decided she would rescue what we thought to be an abandoned egg and raise it herself, so we carefully removed the nest. After some internet research, we discovered that would be near impossible and also that birds often lay eggs in shifts, not actually starting to sit on the nest until all the laying is complete. We put the nest back and hoped for the best. By Monday there were five eggs and the mother bird has been diligently sitting on them ever since. We've been careful not to disturb them and I've only watered a couple times - when I knew the bird had flown off. The most recent time was this past Saturday. I was peaking through the leaves at a safe distance when I saw one bird feeding another. I assumed it was the mommy feeding a new hatchling, but soon realized it was the daddy feeding the mommy! The daddy bird has very often been participating in the whole process by watching over his family from his perch on a nearby telephone wire. The entire process has been so sweet and has had me fascinated. Anyway, I got a little too close to the nest that last time and the mommy flew off. I took the opportunity to water and peek in the nest (also the opportunity to share my excitement with Nana - visiting for the weekend for Kylie's recitals). We both noticed only 4 eggs and what looked to me like a lump of peanut butter with a few down fluffs stuck in it. It was breathing! I quickly put the nest back and the mother bird returned. I'm assuming that all the eggs have hatched by now, but it's been too chilly for me to feel comfortable with forcing the mama bird to even temporarily vacate just to appease my curiosity.

Growing

2008-05-11T08:49:00.007-04:00

After hours of research and planning on my part and at least an equal number of hours of hard labor on Kevin's, we have a successful beginning to our square foot gardens! Based solely upon the book, Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew, we have thriving lettuce and herb crops and solid beginnings in tomatoes, green beans, carrots, onions, zucchini, cucumbers and cantelopes, all in the space of 3 4'x4' boxes, 6 inches deep. We're hoping to cut our food bill at least a little bit for the summer. I'm praying for God's mercy over the harvest since I seen to be the queen of killing all plants that come into my care and the last time we tried a garden was the year that Hurricane Isabelle wreaked havoc, even this far inland, and took out most of what had previously been succeeding.
This weekend marked Kylie's 9th spring dance recital in which she performed a lovely lyrical dance, a fun tap number and joined the other ballerinas in Ballet level 4 to gracefully play the part of the water in Peter and The Wolf. This was only the second year that I was not a backstage mom and so I missed getting any photos of Kylie in her costumes! I've included a post-recital picture above anyway. During the Saturday evening performance, Kara-Faith kept bugging me - something about her tooth being loose. My response was to repeatedly shush her, tell her that her tooth isn't loose and that I'd look into it after the performance. Well, I had to eat my words. Not only does she have one loose tooth, but both front bottom teeth are quite loose! She's growing up way too quickly.

And sticking with the theme of growing, Kylie has been growing out her hair for 2 years now. She has developed a pattern of growing it out and, when it becomes so long that her thick curly hair becomes a burden, I cut off a foot or so and she sends it to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that fashions donated hair into wigs for children with hair loss. As of yesterday, Kylie has cut her hair 3 times for needy children. My cuts weren't perfect, so after I did my job I took her to have it styled. Kylie seems to be thoroughly enjoying her fluffy, layered bob.

The Wright Family Human Genome Project

2008-04-29T09:19:00.003-04:00

I'm convinced there actually must exist a "sound-effect" gene linked to the Y chromosome. Now, I haven't consulted with those fellas who mapped the human genome, nor have I documented and set forth my theory for peer review, but I'm the mother of 3 boys and 3 girls and I think that makes me pretty qualified. Boys just have an amazing innate ability to make sound effects. You know the ones. The "ching-ching" clinking of swords and the "vroom-vroom" revving of a car engine, along with the sound of that same car coming to a screeching halt. Then there's the unable-to-put-into-writing sound of gunshots, accompanied by the squinted eye and the pointing of a finger - or any other stick-like object, for that matter - forks, tinker-toys, the crust from his PB&J. Completely undeterred by our attempt at gun regulations. Yep, planes, trains, automobiles and anything that explodes. Nothing else captures the imagination of those little guys in quite the same way. The amazing thing is that all these sounds come out of even the 2-year-old's mouth sounding quite genuine! Driving the grocery cart "car" the other day, I'm certain Kurtis' revving and screeching could be heard throughout the store and may have alarmed any number of customers.

In contrast, when the girls try to make the same sounds they come out sounding.....well, rather like I've written them. Perhaps that's why women aren't overwhelmingly involved in the development of vehicles and weapons. Perhaps it all starts with the sound effects of a 2-year-old boy. Sounds like a good topic for a PhD thesis to me.

Getting our Colors Straight

2008-04-16T09:21:00.004-04:00

One of Kara-Faith's morning chores is setting the table for breakfast. This morning, she washed her hands and proceeded with her job, but was then caught rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands by Karson. Karson, for some unknown reason, decided that she should wash her hands again before continuing. As Kara-Faith was dutifully heading off to the bathroom once more, we got wind of what was going on and intervened. Questioning Karson, he told us that he thought Kara-Faith had pink-eye. We started to explain that she only has the standard sandman residue, not an infectious eye disease, but Kara-Faith can certainly speak for herself. She quickly came to her own defense by saying "I don't have pink eyes, they're brown!"

It Rained All Day Yesterday....in Maui

2008-04-10T21:18:00.004-04:00

I received that information in an email from my dad today. That was pretty good news, considering he and my step-mom were to have been renewing their vows on a beach in Maui yesterday, but weren't. We were all supposed to be there. Me, Kevin, my brother Kevin, his wife, Kim (I know, how weird is that?) and my other brother, Joe. I even bought a dress to wear to the renewal ceremony last Thursday, the day before we were flying out. Unfortunately, that was also the day that ATA - an airline I'd never heard of before- declared bankruptcy and shut down their operations, stranding everyone else in my family on the mainland. I'm sure we've all spent the week in varying stages of depression, having to cheer ourselves with news of Hawaiian island rain. On the upside, the entire vacation has been rescheduled for late September and should prove to be an even more successful time to get together. I'm certain it all happened for a good reason. It's just a bummer that we'll probably never figure that one out this side of eternity.

On another upside, Kevin and I did take advantage of Mom and Dad Wright being here to watch the children while we were gone to get away for the weekend. We stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast in Blacksburg, VA - home of VA Tech. Kevin is contemplating a career change, necessitating further schooling and so we thought we should take the time to check out the area. It was a very relaxing and well-needed break. The rest of the week has been low-key, too, as I had already scheduled in a break from homeschooling. I will resume regular postings once my "vacation" is over.

Indoor Plumbing...

2008-03-25T06:53:00.002-04:00

...and why it's not all that it's cracked up to be.

The last couple days have been a mess of plumbing issues around here. First, for the second time, the drain pipe of the downstairs bathroom sink disconnected for some unknown reason. Of course, that's not something that is discovered until some child washes their hands in the sink and unknowingly leaves a large puddle on the floor for Mommy to find.

Yesterday morning, I sensed that the radiator in our bathroom may be leaking, so I removed the cover and sure enough, there was a small puddle on the wood floor. Not really a big deal, but enough so that it should be dealt with.

Yesterday afternoon, during my crazy Monday afternoon rush - I left at 2:30, dinner mostly already made and took Karson 1/2 hr. away to meet the carpool to gymnastics, then returned wtih only 15 minutes to spare before needing to leave again to take the others to choir (well, after dropping the little ones off at the Knopps and picking up 2 other kids!). It was going to be a long night, too. I don't always need to stay until Kendra finishes, but last night we weren't scheduled to be home until 9 p.m. Anyway, it was during that 15 minutes that I needed to finish and pack up dinner to bring with us and decided to do a quick kitchen clean up. With 5 minutes left on the clock, dishwasher loaded, I ran the garbage disposal and the vibration caused what has happened several times before to happen again - the pipes under the sink disconnected and the swirling, dirty water sprayed everywhere! I made a very frustrated call to my wonderful husband who agreed to get off early and come home to clean up the water and make the long-needed repair. My efforts to leave the kitchen clean for his sake didn't pay off.

Kevin made all the necessary plumbing repairs last night, including tightening the radiator pipe in the bathroom. However, he now thinks that he may have actually loosened it. I awoke this morning to him rushing through the bedroom in a panicked state. Knowing he had to leave early for work and noticing the time, I quickly asked if I could help. Turned out I was needed to mop up water. The radiator was leaking much worse and had leaked through the ceiling in the kitchen.....and with him only having 15 minutes to spare before needing to leave!

What is it with us and plumbing issues?? Stuff like this happens to us much more often than I'd like to share! I was thinking this morning that they didn't have these issues 100 years ago. One more reason I think I'd like to have lived back then instead of now.

Back on the Wagon

2008-03-15T16:42:00.004-04:00

Apparently I fell off the new year's resolution wagon sometime in the last couple of weeks. Be it busyness, family sicknesses or just my own fatigue that led to lack of motivation, I'm well aware that it's been more than 2 weeks since I posted last. I decided that if my goal was to catch up everything that's happened (if I could even remember), I would be too intimidated to even try, so I'm not going there.

I will say that last weekend we spent painting Nana and PopPop's living room as their Christmas gift. It looks great! Nana watched, fed, bathed and changed the children - at least those who still require such care - and Kevin and I painted. Not a bad swap! Painting really didn't seem like that difficult a job, but it just so happened to coincide with the onset of a mysterious virus, so it absolutely wiped us out. It's taken most of the week to get our energy back and most of the kids had the same virus on and off all week. The illness consisted mostly of feverish aches and pains (with or without a fever) and fatigue. Kevin was the only one to actually have the added symptom of dry heaving.

Fast forward to today. The neighboring town organized a small children's St. Patrick's Day parade and requested some Irish dancers to perform. Kylie, along with a couple dozen girls from her Irish dance academy, were happy to oblige. On the way to the perfomance, we kept an appointment at the vet for Kendra's lizard. Have I ever mentioned Kendra's lizard? She bought a baby bearded dragon back in October. It's been quite the expensive and high maintenance pet, but Kendra has paid for everything, including today's vet bill. "Ian" hasn't ever been a very good eater and has grown slowly. Kendra spends a lot of time at an online "beardie" forum getting advice and it was recommended that she take Ian to the vet and have him tested for parasites. Guess who got to take the fresh dragon poop back the vet this afternoon? Yep. Yours truly. Add that to my resume.

Joining us for all the fun was a new friend of ours. 17-year-old Sienna is a student at Stuart Hall - a boarding/day school up the street from us. Sienna moved here from China just about 2 months ago and we met her at a Chinese New Year celebration put on by a local adoption group. It was there that we also met Emily, another Stuart Hall student newly arrived from China. Emily couldn't make it today, but we're looking very much forward to getting to know these sweet girls while they're here and including them in many family activities. That is if only-child-Sienna will ever want to return to our crazy home after being pestered to death by Kara-Faith then dragged to the vet and a rather hokey celebration!

The Olfactory Non-Senses of a Two-Year-Old

2008-02-27T15:57:00.002-05:00

I wear skirts a lot. I decided years ago that I liked skirts more than pants - they're more feminine and comfortable. Since casual skirts aren't as commonly found as pants, I had to be quite purposeful to make skirts the majority in my closet. At this point, I've succeeded - I only own one pair of pants. Skirts in the winter, however, mean tights are a must. Most of my tights are thick and cotton, but when those are all dirty I pull out the regular nylon type. Yesterday was such a day.

It was just before dinnertime and I had just finished wiping a bottom when I decided I should use the opportunity of being in the bathroom to empty my nagging bladder. I imagined that if I left and got busy with dinner it might be an hour before I got back in there! I didn't even take the time to send the little ones out, I was just discreet - easy to do in a skirt. So, with it hiked a bit above my knees, Kurtis, who was standing right there, had a view he usually doesn't. He became fascinated by my silky feeling legs. He ran his hand over my shin and even stuck his nose to my knee and sniffed. As he raised his head, he smiled and said, "mmm, babble, babble, babble, smell....chocolate!"

"You think they smell like chocolate?"

"Yeth."

Well, they did look like chocolate -they were my brown tights! I had to share the fun with everyone else in the family and Kurtis performed on cue every time. I'd lift up my skirt and, pointing to my tights, ask, "what's this?" He never failed to repeat "chocolate". Which is doubly funny. My above reference to his babble is a pretty accurate description of how his speech usually sounds, minus the last couple words, which are usually clear, but chocolate came out as clear as could be!

Bribery at it's Best

2008-02-24T20:38:00.002-05:00

Kevin said I wouldn't blog about it, so I'm taking that as a dare and here I am.

I am sponsoring a promotion with the oldest kids right now to try to instill in them the habit of clearing, rinsing and loading their own dishes in the dishwasher after every meal. This is a habit that I haven't seemed to be able to enforce previously, so I've resorted to bribery. At the beginning of the month, I filled a jar with $20 in quarters for each of them. If they follow the above mentioned steps, they keep all the quarters. For every infraction they lose one. They're doing a great job remembering! Which is a double edged sword. I got them to form the habit, but I'm gonna be out almost $80! I really thought I'd get more of those quarters back, especially in the beginning. Lately, I've been quite vigilant about making certain no one's forgetfulness slips past me. Except my own, apparently. Tonight I was questioning whose unrinsed plate was in the sink when Kevin informed me it was mine. Oops!

Union Negotiations Stalled

2008-02-24T15:55:00.002-05:00

The county schools closed on Friday due to freezing rain. Since that's the closing schedule we follow, our homeschool co-op was cancelled again, too. I suppose there was reason somewhere in the county to stay at home, but there sure wasn't much here. Not that I'm complaining. I really like it when co-op is cancelled! I got to stay home all day long and was able to get all caught up on the cleaning.

As I was scrubbing a bathroom floor, I turned around to find a paper airplane. I knew to expect a note from the boys - even before noticing the "Message for Mommy" written on the wing. I opened it to find they had penned this: "Strike for Karson and Kody less chores more computer time". Complete with lack of punctuation. Who's their teacher anyway?! The note was followed by the sounds of their strike; the stereotypical marching and chanting. "We want less chores, more computer time!!" And, yes, they were carrying signs stating as much. I'm certain this whole scenario was in response to my having denied Kody his daily 1/2 hour on the computer for not completing all his chores that morning. I just thought the timing was somewhat comical. Did they really think I'd be sympathetic after mopping up the dried urine around the toilet? I started my own chant. "I want less chores, more kids' help!!" I think they were equally unimpressed by my plight.

Happy 13th Birthday to My Firstborn!

2008-02-20T02:44:00.004-05:00

Thirteen years ago I was more than ready to give birth for the first time. Kendra was late. I was trying to get my doctor to schedule labor induction for the 17th, my Dad's birthday, but he wanted to give me (and probably himself) the weekend. So it was scheduled for Monday the 20th and about 8 hours after arriving at the hospital, our lives changed forever!

The little bundle who would all-too-soon be a teenager stole our hearts (and our sleep) from the very beginning. Kendra could talk very early and has been a singer since she was two. She started with traditional 2-year-old fair, like "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Jesus Loves Me" and her ABC's, but her favorite was "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Only slightly more loved than Frank Sinatra's "Jealous Lover". She thought it was a song about Jell-O : )

Parenting Kendra has been quite a learning experience and a challenge. She's always been creative, determined and the leader-of-the-pack around here. We've enjoyed her sweet affection and watching her grow and achieve. I don't think there's anything she won't be able to do if she sets her mind to it.

Happy Birthday, Kendra! May this year be your best yet!

Carrying on the Tradition

2008-02-20T02:10:00.006-05:00

I remember growing up believing whole-heartedly in the tooth fairy. Lose a tooth, put it under your pillow and magically the next morning there's a quarter! I don't think she failed me even once.

Unfortunately, our children have had quite a different experience with the tooth fairy. Perhaps she's gotten old. If nothing else, her memory has definitely gone bad. Not only has she not come through on several occasions, once in a while even second and third tries at leaving the tooth have been met with dissapointment.

Now, somewhere along the way word got around that it wasn't really a fairy doing the duty, but Daddy - who keeps a stash of the traditional gold dollars (apparently teeth have quadrupled in value since the 70's). We do still manage to keep the fun in it by continuing to refer to said money-giver only as the tooth fairy. The fact that the children know the truth has definitely helped to ease the pressure, though. It has caused them to be more understanding, patient....and not afraid to drop blatant hints. Such was the case last week when Kylie lost her second tooth in as many days and had waited 2 nights for the tooth fairy to show up. The evidence of her desparation is below.

Convalescing Cuties

2008-02-13T10:30:00.003-05:00

We've had a house full of sickies on and off since last Thursday when Kendra came down with a fever. The sickness seems to be running the same pattern. A day or two of fever followed by a nasty cold and cough. Kendra is still in the cold and cough phase nearly a week later. Her energy level is close to nothing, too. Yesterday was probably the worst of it when Kody and Karson both had fevers and Kara-Faith had the added aspect of throwing up most of the day. I even succumbed and spent most of the day in bed, while Kylie and Kendra spent it doing my job of doting on everyone. Unfortunately, Kylie is now in bed herself. Kevin is the only one that has so far resisted. Probably because he's been at work more than he's been at home in the whole time period.

Thanks to a few ibuprofen, I did finally get out of bed around noon yesteday and do the running around for various music lessons in the afternoon, followed by a trip to our voting location for the Virginia primary. I'd had several calls from the candidates desiring my vote, and probably more that we didn't answer. Kevin pulled a funny on me last night saying that he had saved a message for me. I asked him if he listened to it and he said that's how he knew it was for me. Seemed kinda fishy that he wasn't telling me who it was. So, I went to check and found a message from my close friend, Hillary Clinton with her "if-you-stand-for-me-today-I'll-stand-for-you-everyday-in-the-White-House appeal" . My husband always knows how to make me laugh!

Just Call Me Vidal Sassoon

2008-02-08T09:12:00.000-05:00

I've been an amateur hairstylist for some time now. Ever since I started dating Kevin and he was too broke (or too cheap) to pay for a hair cut. I've cut his hair on and off through the years, even though I hate to because then I spend the next week staring at his head noticing all my mistakes. I've also cut the boys' hair most of the time. Especially Karson's. His first haircut at the age of 5 months didn't go over very well. He was the only one of all the kids that ever cried during any haircut, so it became my job for about the next 6 years. Over the last couple years, though, Kevin has most consistently been going to Juli's barber shop and has taken the boys with him about 1/3 of the time so that I get a break from looking at said clipping mistakes. Not that they're that many, really, it's usually just things that only I would notice. Until now. I've been asked twice recently -once by my own daughter- if Kurtis cut his own hair! I'm forced to give the honest answer, "No, I did it." After all these years, his hair has me stumped. It had been really easy to cut, until this cowlick at his forehead appeared out of nowhere and made his perfectly straight bangs look as though they were cut by a 2-year-old. I give up! My plan was for his next haircut to be away from home. Except that I remembered at about 8:30 last night that it was going to be picture day today at co-op. All the boys were desperately in need of haircuts, so I got out my scissors and spent the next hour or so fixing them up. Karson actually has an appointment with Juli on Saturday, too. After seeing the morning-after look of Karson's hair I'm thinking I'm still going to keep it.

By the way, I didn't lay a blade on Kurtis' bangs.

Moving Forward, Fun and Fuffins

2008-02-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

Last week we laid to rest our 7-year-old dinosaur and bought a new computer - yippee! Computer time has been sparse since, however, as it took a long time to get things set up and transferred over. Kevin spent several very late nights/early mornings working on it, in between long shifts at work (including working this weekend).

The kids had a fun weekend. Kendra went on a choir retreat to a children's choir festival in North Carolina. Kylie was invited to go with a friend to Colonial Williamsburg. They both left Friday afternoon and returned Sunday. Kody had earned a "blessing" of a "yes" when we might have said "no" that he decided to use to request a sleepover with a friend. Friday night, his best friend, Aaron slept over and they stayed up until midnight playing Playmobil pirates. They then spent most of the next day together, too. Then Kody spent Sunday afternoon at a birthday party. Karson also had a sleepover at the Knopp's house Friday night into Saturday afternoon.

All that partying is making for a slow-moving Monday morning. Daddy did make a wonderful breakfast of pumpkin muffins to get us going. The number of muffins he makes looks like enough to feed an army and yet they're gone in record time (16 jumbos, 1 dozen regular and more)! Kurtis, in particular, is quite the muffin lover. He especially appreciated the mini-muffins Kevin made with leftover batter - the "yittle fuffins".

The Weekend

2008-01-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

Kylie didn't end up dancing in the Starz competition. Although she'd been limping around without the crutches for a couple days, she didn't feel as though her ankle was nearly strong enough. Her Irish group managed to pull it off without her and ended up getting 1st place for group choreography. The studio owner was sweet enough to give Kylie a participant ribbon and announce her as a part of the Irish group. She was also allowed to keep a 1st place trophy for her part in the choreography, even though she didn't dance. Kylie's attitude remained upbeat the whole time! I was the one who was sad about her not being able to perform.

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the Knopps' house. They had quite a few walnut trees removed from their yard a couple weeks ago and the lumber company only kept and paid them for the biggest parts of the trunks, the rest of the limbs are scattered all over their yard -front and back. Kevin went over to help Joel chop wood and I got to hang out with Jeni Lynn for the afternoon. The kids also enjoyed their time together. Today it's back to the grind!

Kids Are Just Plain Funny

2008-01-25T16:52:00.000-05:00

Heading home from co-op this afternoon, the kids requested that we stop at Pufferbellies, the very cool, independent toy store in town. Karson received a reward that he was itching to spend. So, I told them that if they could keep Kurtis awake for the 15 minute ride home we would stop.

About halfway home, I caught the funniest thing in my rearview mirror. Kylie realized that Kurtis' eyes were closed and he was looking very asleep. She shouted "Oh, no!" and proceeded to shake Kurtis vigorously calling his name. Karson, on the other side of Kurtis' car seat, got involved in the shaking, too. It seemed hopeless for quite a few seconds. There wasn't even an expression change on his Kurtis' face. Until at last he popped his little head up, fully awake, and growled at Kylie! What a hoot! Our little 2-year-old pulled one over on us all!

And I just have to add an older funny, but it happened in the car, too. On the way to Nana and PopPop's house this past weekend, we were planning to stop somewhere to eat dinner at a restaurant. At one point, Karson piped up in the back, "Are we going to eat at Hooters?"

"Uh.....nooooo." Once we got over the initial shock we asked logical question, "Where did you hear about Hooters?"

I don't remember his response, but it was enough to remind me that about a month ago we had watched a short video on the internet that a homeschooling family had made - an hilarious, making-fun-of-themselves parody called "A Homeschool Family" set to the tune of "The Addams Family". One of the lines, while the mom is serving homemade chicken wings goes, "we never eat at Hooters".

I chose not to explain Hooters beyond that it's a restaurant famous for it's BBQ wings....so why wouldn't we stop there for dinner, right??

Somewhere on the Globe

2008-01-24T21:21:00.000-05:00

Kylie is doing better. We weaned her from her crutches today and she attended dance class tonight, although didn't do any dancing. I've been pretty hopeful all week that she'd be able to dance by Saturday, but seeing her limping today.....well, I'm beginning to wonder.

We have homeschool co-op tomorrow. The kids have 4 classes and a lunch/recess break. We missed it last week because of the snow. Kody, a fourth grader, is taking a world geography class in which he is required to write short reports about different countries every couple weeks. Kody hasn't ever written a formal report (we're working on getting to that this year), but he did the first one all on his own. Impressive, huh? It wasn't until he needed my help on the second one that I realized he took most of his information on Haiti from an online current news site for Haiti. Making his report (an oral report, mind you) a jumble of facts that neither he nor his audience probably understood. I went from impressed to embarrassed pretty quickly. I determined to help him on his reports from then on. Although that, too, presents a problem. We never seem to get to it. It's never top on my mind and Kody tends to remind me once or maybe twice at usually inopportune times.....like at bedtime the night before it's due. The conversation went like this:

"Mommy, my report's due tomorrow."

Me, with visions of the Haiti report flashing before me, "Oh, man! You haven't worked on it at all?! What country is it supposed to be about this time?

Shrugging his shoulders, Kody stated casually, "I don't know. It's either Nigeria or Siberia."

That narrows it down, don't you think? I think he needs to pay closer attention in world geography!

Our Broken Ballerina

2008-01-21T13:43:00.000-05:00

Well, not quite broken, just sprained, but I couldn't pass up the alliteration! I realize a picture is worth a thousand words, but perhaps I should add a few more as explanation.

Continuing to enjoy the snow on Friday, the kids headed to the school up the street to play with some friends and sled. Kylie's story is that as she and Hannah took a turn down the hill together, she lost grip on the rope, tried to grab at it and the next thing she knew they were at the bottom - off the sled, with Hannah on her leg. It swelled immediately and she has stayed off of it, had it up and iced all weekend, but 3 days later it is still swollen and sore. An x-ray this morning confirmed that it is not broken, only sprained. Good news. However, Kylie has a dance competition coming up this weekend that she's looked forward to all year. She's in several individual dances, one of her own choreography, as well as an Irish quartet. We're hoping that staying off of it the rest of the week will be good enough to make it possible for her to still participate.

We spent a relaxing weekend at Nana and PopPop's house - Kurtis was certainly relaxed.

Kendra has grown so much lately that she is officially taller than Nana and has nearly caught up to me, too!

Winter Wonderland

2008-01-17T23:29:00.000-05:00

When I peaked out the window this morning at 8 am it had just started to snow. By 9 we already had an inch or two and by the time we left to go sledding after lunch it was five to six inches. We haven't seen this much snow in a couple years! I love snow! Now, you wouldn't have guessed that from my family's reaction when I said I'd come sledding with them today. You could've scraped Kevin's and Kendra's jaws off the floor. They both had the same reaction....even though I told them separately. It really isn't the snow that's kept me from accompanying them for the last 3 years or so, it's the cold. I think my inspiration today was the fact that I just really needed some down time with my family and the fact that all of our running around was cancelled so that I unexpectedly got the day off! No Activity Day, no gymastics, no dance, and no co-op tomorrow either - yippee! I had such a great time maybe I won't wait another three years before I join them again.

This was Kurtis' first time out in the snow. The 2 snows last winter barely covered the grass and weren't worth getting him bundled up for. He loved it! We sledded for an hour or two, spent some time snowball fighting and finished it up with some more sledding. We had the whole hill to ourselves for most of the time. A secret spot that Kevin disovered a couple years ago that allows us the privilege of bypassing the overcrowded popular hill. Here are some pictures from our fun day. I took 122 pictures, but narrowed them down to about half that when we got home. I'll just share a few.

Look Mom! I'm all ready to go outside. It's a good thing I don't know my colors yet or I might protest these hand-me-down gloves!

Kevin and Kara-Faith catching some air going over the Daddy-made snow ramp. For some reason Kara-Faith preferred going down hill with her hat pulled over her eyes.
Proof that Mommy ventured out into the cold.

Before and after Kurtis' first time down the hill. He's the one covered in snow at the bottom. Poor guy!

The girls side of the snowball fight -complete with snow fortress and a supply of ammunition.

And the boys side. They beat us - 3 rounds to 2. Kurtis enjoyed getting into the action. He kept saying, "Ready, set....go" before he would throw his snowball about a foot : )

Isn't he handsome?!

Here's Karson flying. He's wearing Kylie's seat sled that straps to your bottom.

Kody with his leg stuck in the snow fortress - on purpose.Kendra with a lovely expression on her face with Kara-Faith on top of her, again with her hat over her face.

Kurtis after approximately 4 hours in the snow. Still smiling!All loaded up and ready to head home.

Carpools, Chores and Big Boy Beds

2008-01-09T23:42:00.001-05:00

Here is Kurtis spending his first night in his "big boy bed"! I moved the crib and set it up this evening. He hadn't seen it yet, so when I was taking him upstairs I was telling him all about his new bed. He gave me his standard naptime/bedtime response, "I don wanna nap", but changed his mind when he saw his bed and realized that was where he was going to sleep. He hopped right in, said his prayers and kissed me goodnight. What a great reaction! I've been through a few crib-to-bed transitions and that was by far the easiest! I do hope it lasts all night.

Our crazy schedule on Monday for gymnastics and choir worked out fine - it was just a very LONG time spent in the car. I guess I neglected to mention that Kevin was picking up Karson. He gets off at 5 on Mondays and headed straight to Charlottesville. The good news is that we may not have to ever do that again! I met a mom at the gym with whom I am going to be sharing carpooling duty. They live in Crozet - about 1/2 an hour from here in the direction of Charlottesville. She has agreed to be the driver on Mondays. This cuts down our driving quite a bit. Now I just have take Karson to Crozet, come home and then take the others to Harrisonburg. And Kevin doesn't have to go all the way to Charlottesville to pick him up, either. Collectively it cuts our driving time by about an hour. All good things.

The kids are responding well to the new "system". They are being extraordinarily helpful and respectful - to us and to each other. Except when they're not. I actually benefit either way, as the consequences often include extra chores (insert evil laugh here - BWA-HA-HA-HA ; ) ). So far my refrigerator is much cleaner and my flowerbeds have fewer dead weeds and leaves in them. Also good things!

All My Best Laid Plans

2008-01-06T16:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I never did get those tortillas made! And we've eaten all the beans already. Even the chicken stock was a bit of a disaster. My beautiful chicken stock expanded more than my glass jars in the freezer and they broke. Guess I learned a good lesson as to how full is too full.

My attempt at corn tortillas barely got past the research stage. Found out that they can't be made with plain corn meal, it has to be something special called corn masa, which is processed differently. Then it was a whole other task to find some organic corn masa - near impossible because of the way it's processed. Apparently it's usually processed with lye, but can be processed with lime juice, too. I finally found some of the natural variety, ordered it, but now that it's arrived I'll probably never have time to make those corn tortillas! So we're starting school tomorrow without any of those nice planned-ahead items. Ah, the best laid plans....

Speaking of starting school tomorrow.....I've spent the week getting together lots of things to occupy the little ones during school time and getting a bit ahead in my lesson planning. I'm still not as far ahead as I would like, but I do feel good about my other accomplishments. Yesterday in particular, I re-organized our discipline system. It consists of an "If-Then" chart and a Blessings chart with consequences and rewards all laid out. The Blessings actually are located in envelopes specific to each praise-worthy behavior. We've been without a "system" for quite a while since I put away the "Privilege Ladder" and "Pickle-A-Privilege" jar when they showed signs of losing their effectiveness. Things always run better when I have a system in place, though, otherwise I digress into hollering and other non-effective means of putting out "fires" around here. Here are my charts. They're something I bought from a company called Doorposts years ago and have never really utilized much - until now.

Along with school comes all the activities. Everything starts back up tomorrow. Including Karson's participation in gymnastics in Charlottesville. I decided to go ahead and put him on the developmental team when the owner called last week and said it was starting up on Monday. It's do-able, but really a bit of a crazy endeavor. He has to be in Charlottesville from 3:30-5:30 and the others are at choir in Harrisonburg from 4:45-6 (then Kendra from 6:30-8:15). The trek from here to Charlottesville is 50 minutes, then the journey to Harrisonburg from there takes over an hour!

Milking It

2007-12-31T15:53:00.000-05:00

On the eve of a new year, I'm pretty excited that I actually made it through the year without giving up on blogging! I'm nearly certain it's the first new year "resolution" I've actually stuck with so long. Now, I didn't post as often as I (or you, perhaps) might have hoped, but in doing so I've left room for improvement and another resolution! I hearby resolve to post more often and to occasionally post pictures in 2008.

We will be kicking off our new year this evening with a church service, a family movie night, and we've promised the kids they can once again stay up 'til midnight and toast in 2008. I wasn't sure that I wanted to allow it, seeing as though it didn't go too well last year (see last January's posts). We did make sure that we don't have any grape juice in the house and Karson has opted for chocolate milk instead of sparkling cider this time. I even cracked that it was a good choice because it would blend better with our carpet! No one laughed but me.

Speaking of milk, here's a random fact that I often think about sharing. I think about it every time I get dressed and put on my shoes. The fact is, I don't own a pair that doesn't have milk splatters on them. Not a single one! Someday I might get around to cleaning them all, but there are also a few other scenarios I picture. A) I could just buy new shoes. B) I could buy new shoes and continuing adding young children to our family, which of course just leaves me open to new milk splatters. Or C) before I can afford new shoes, I could reach empty-nestedness and start seeing milk splatters (and fingerprints for that matter) through the rose-colored glasses of reminiscence. At which point I probably won't want new shoes.....at least until there are some grandkids to guarantee that they end up looking just like my old ones!

The Best Christmas Ever

2007-12-26T11:23:00.000-05:00

The children are scattered from upstairs to down,

Playing with the toys that under the tree they found.

While I in my robe and comfy spot,

Sit down to tell you about it,

like it or not : )

We had, in at least a couple of the kids' opinions, "the best Christmas ever!" yesterday. We stayed here at home and hosted my brother Kevin, his wife Kim and my other brother Joe (out from CA for a few weeks to visit Kevin). They showed up laden with generous gifts that turned out to be things that the kids all loved and Uncle Joe was his fun self, entertaining the kids with his antics. Currently, the boys are playing with their new Lego sets, the girls have set up their Barbie stuff (including the new Barbie bathroom that Kylie got yesterday), and Kara-Faith is under her new "Forta-ma-jig" (a tent-like, fort thing) playing with her Leap Pad. Kurtis? He's cruising around wreaking havoc!

Me, I'm really, really thankful for at least a couple days worth of down-time. I'm hoping to accomplish much to get us ahead before we start school again next week Pre-breakfast, I managed to order all the new books we'll need and put the ones we'll need from the library on hold via their online system. Post-breakfast, among a few other piddly things, I've put beans in the crockpot (for a large batch of burrito-style beans) and I put some chicken on the stovetop to make some stock. (You wouldn't know it, but I just had to pause to write a message for Kody to de-code using his "American Boys Spy Cipher" he got for Christmas). Anyway, later I'm planning to make tortillas from scratch. Maybe even some corn tortillas, too, though I've never attempted those before. I've been trying to make more things from scratch lately, for health and financial reasons, and I'm hoping to keep at least tortillas, beans and chicken stock (for chicken noodle soup) on hand so that the kids have some more lunch options.

The clock has just struck 12 and my little one who has an alarm clock in her stomach indicating mealtimes has just reminded me that it's lunchtime. Then she asked me why I'm still in my pajamas. Because I haven't gotten a shower yet, of course! That's next on my list.