Life on the farm

It has been a busy week here in Horner land. I am not sure where to begin. Since I last posted we have been cherry picking, weed pulling, house cleaning, you name it. The kids have been kept a lot busier with their pigs, which require walking and washing to prepare for the fair. They should have started this a while ago. The piggies are a little on the lazy side but still jump around with glee when I mow the lawn near their penned in area. The wash stand had rotted so the boys had to build a new one.

We started with 60 broilers and thought we might actually make it through with all 60 but a coon came to call the other night and got one. This is maddening as the coon only kills it and can't eat it through the fence in their chicken tractors. Then Sunday night I was awakened to the cries of another chicken. Fortunately it was not killed and but Charley and I did not sleep a whole lot as every little noise sounded like an alarm of near chicken death. Last night the boys put boards around the outside of each tractor and there were no mishaps last night. Phew. The chickens are big and I am hoping they all make it till their vacation trip to Walkerton in a few weeks. There is nothing quite like these birds for dinner any time of year.

The garden still looks fantastic. The kids and our gardening partner mom weeded the extra patch yesterday morning. Veges are mostly weed free. I need to go set the sprinkler going on some areas. The new area was the old chicken yard so it is actually twice the size in plants for being planted at the same time or later than the other patch. We must spread manure in the old patch this fall. We have bell peppers and Hungarian wax peppers coming on. I am happy to be eating more from the garden and less from the store. We need to inventory our canning stuff so we are not left panicked.

This afternoon the boys need to get into the hives and get their fair honey. Hopefully there is some. The swarm hive is doing very well by the looks of things.

Tomorrow we are going blueberry picking. The price per pound has gone up but so has everything else. I suppose it is true that homemade yummies will be much tastier than the expensive kind we pick up at the store. I love blueberry and cherry anything.

I should go relieve Matthew from the Stefan......

They're mine, all mine.....

So it is back to school time in the school supply arena and I have decided this year to not give them ANY school supplies. The supplies will be kept in my area for those kids who drift my way and their ticket out of my room will be to return the pencils to MY supply container. I haven't had brand new school supplies in a LONG time. They are sort of fun to see in all their newness in MY container. Lots of glue, maybe over 200 pencils (one penny for eight!) and the colored pencils are the best. I admit that when I bought some Dover coloring books to use in my art class that I bought a Cassatt book for me to color in my leisure all of my own. How silly. The rest will be used to give copies of certain artists through out the school year to color.

I am being beckoned

Nesting

So 'the list' has finally had its effect. At least an effect that makes me very happy. Every baby has inspired nesting on the part of my dear husband. We have a room or project for just about every baby. Anna's was our previous home and ended up being the detached garage and making the windows work. Then we sold it. Erik's daddy nesting project was the roof - four layers of shingles including the original cedar shakes. Matthew's daddy project was.....I'm trying to remember........probably the living room and the dining room. Martin's was "The Big Dig" in the basement. Cecilia's were the cabinets in the basement. Benjamin's was most likely planting 350 trees but I am not positive of that. Stefan's project was definitely some of the trim work. Baby ? has multiple projects. So far we have the bookshelves in the basement hallway finished after seven years and ready to receive organized books in a few days. It took till baby number 8 for the daddy dear to discover the joy of hiring someone else to do some of the grunt work and so 'Santa Claus' (Steve the biker guy) is coming to plaster our stairway walls, and the kitchen walls and ceiling! I am so proud of dear husband. It took a lot of humble pie and plain old not having enough hours in the day to succumb to hiring this out. Or is it that we can afford to do that now and couldn't before???? Then......we are planning a painting party to attack the rooms that will need fresh paint and the rooms that need repainted. He is hanging the doors in the basement hallway as well. Yay!!!!!!!

He has BIT the NESTING BUG!!!!! Awwwwwww!!!!!! My nesting includes watching training dvd's on writing and literary analysis and helping dd get organized for applications etc. There is also that lovely garden which we are now enjoying broccoli and greens so far. I am also the cheer leader and organizer of tasks handed out to the Incredibles otherwise known as my children. Sigh.

I am about to turn into a pumpkin so better post.

Getting it all done/large families

I still think the FlyLady is a good thing but any dream of the house being put together until our youngest is maybe 5 is sort of a 'looking forward to heaven' sort of dream. Beginning the eighth month is bringing back memories of a few other babies who after they were born I was amazed at the mere ability to move easily again. I can't remember which baby it was but I think it was Matthew where I found this absolutely amazing. I find bending over quite the chore as well as standing still, like during church or while pealing and chopping veges, to be equally challenging. So in trying to conquer and divide I have many choices to make. My two oldest children have their own projects and aspirations to work on now-a-days and of course I have my own goals. They would really like to help with those goals too but then there are all the every day stuff that still takes time to attend to that takes away from practicing or reading or blacksmith work or whatever the case may be. So juggling and trying to be satisfied with what got done today still can puzzle me. I am not despairing or anything but this large family dynamic is really mind boggling at times.

Then there is the dear husband who I have told that I will steer completely clear of as far as expectations so he can work on the two things that are most needed around here. He has been diligently working on the vestment cabinet for church and I think can begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. This project sorely needs to be completed as it is quite remarkable the vestments don't just collapse in a heap as it is now. The other project would be to work on the trim work all over the house. Argh. That too is a huge project. He will feel burned out and then little bambino will probably be here and school will need to begin.

I guess homeschooling and having a large family are part of the dynamic and the only answer is to keep muddling. I am not upset at anyone in the family or otherwise it is just thinking through what is reasonable and what to do next. What I need to do next honestly is to waddle down to the vege garden and get some lettuce and peas for a 4th of July salad. Zucchini will be attacking soon! Not soon enough.

I do think that it would be cool to compile a Lutheran large family tips/forget the guilt guidebook for all the young folk who are endeavoring on this path that we are now 20 plus years into. Perhaps it might spare some pain somewhere and I would hope to warn the homeschooling crowd of the dangers of discussing these struggles with fundamentalists who wallow in guilt messages from not being perfect housekeepers and mothers and wives. Another blog has addressed the myriad of questions that they would love answered on this topic so perhaps that could become the book.

Off to the garden. Try hard not to visualize.

Approximately 62 days

or something like that......till baby. So we plod along on our projects and trying to have some fun and relaxation every once and awhile. The young folks or rather the older kids, successfully extruded the books from the basement hallway bookshelves. They sorted them and now I need to have someone begin tackling cleaning and staining the shelves so that area shapes up soon. The toys are sort of sorted and back under lock and key.

We spent the day at a friends lake cottage with a few extra children in tow to relieve their poor mommy. She was beaming when I picked them up and beaming when I dropped them back off. Perhaps I will do this more often. Fun was had by EVERYONE. I am myself feeling a lot like a lumbering elephant but did manage to take Benjamin canoeing and then kept tabs on the kids who got tired or cold and came up to the picnic area. I do so appreciate the help of the third families mom and kids with corralling the little ones and entertaining them. The mom and I had some opportunity to exchange horror stories of losing our children at various places (such fond memories) and the lack of empathy there is for any parent who might have the same thing happen to them. I mean losing in the "where did they go" sort of way. No, we didn't lose anyone at the lake for more than 30 seconds. Some little people run fast and find it witty to run behind barriers laughing at us. No biggie.

This evening we had the simple cop out meal of pancakes and bacon with some sort of fruit. I am glad the fresh ground whole wheat relieves my guilt of not knowing what is for dinner. The kids had made pigs of themselves at the lake so I knew they weren't starving.

It is late and tomorrow there are picnics to be had. I better get my rest so I can tackle potato salad in the morning.

Glasses

So Martin and Cecilia both need glasses. Martin was devastated but now seems over it. He even gets clip on sun glasses!!!!! Jealous. Transitions, new ideas come hard for him. Poor guy. We peppered him with horror stories of how horrid glasses used to be and how we cried buckets as well when we were found out. I personally remember lying to my parents or at least concealing my obvious blindness and then was found out at a routine school check. Foiled by the system....... Cecilia on the other hand was delighted and had a lot of fun picking out her latest fashion statement. Very cute. Pink. She will just be adding to her studious ways with her studious appearance.

The kids picked over 300 beetles off the other day and need to be sent back out. Benjamin ENJOYED the task. The garden still looks great but needs daily attention. Tomorrow is full of stuff so will have to MAKE time to go put in some weeding time.

I pulled all the toys out of the basement to sort (again) and am getting rid of a lot and then locking the rest up and hiding the keys. Ugh! I have requested no more toys for the kids for Christmas. Personal vats of chex mix or a nice shirt for church would be preferable.

Parenting is hard. I won't say much more but sometimes I feel like a corporate manager making tough decisions that will benefit the employees in the long run. Hard decisions, hard words. Ugh.

On the bright side, Anna did well on the SAT in my opinion so that was a nice thing. Now this manager has to get the applications worked on, filled out etc by the dd so life will proceed without as much stress. 9 1/2 weeks to baby I think.

I am ripping everything out of the basement basically and doing whatever necessary to get it cleaned out and organized for a great start to the school year. Phew. We made a lot of progress today and hope to make a bunch more tomorrow afternoon and evening.

Better get to bed.

Bugs

So last night I discovered potato beetles attacking my potatoes!!!! War! We are trying some Jerry Baker solutions so will let you know how that goes. There also seems to be a problem with the green peppers and there are some thought on that as well in "Bug Off". I have never had a problem with peppers before. Hmmmm......perhaps we are taking too good of care of keeping away the weeds. It is way too stinking hot out right now for me to have the want to attack these problems right now. Perhaps this evening. Then the mosquitos will be out.......

Isn't this riveting information? The kids get back tomorrow noon from HT. Matthew leaves again Sunday morning for BS camp. Hopefully he weathers that alright. It is my understanding from my dd that she sang Karaoke with a bunch of other attendees some song about Texas. She and Maggers invited anyone who lived in Texas or wanted to live in Texas to come and sing with them. So I guess it was Pastor Borghart and Lenea and a bunch of people from Indiana who sang. I thought I was talking to an impostor but the voice on the other end did sound like Anna so I think it was the same person. She won't dance but will sing Karaoke????? Is this a new Anna?

There was also a recent call from her where she was very excited to tell me there is going to be HT conference in Sweden next summer. I am sure she is dreaming of going. Charley remarked from the other room, "If she learns Swedish maybe we would consider it". She is of course excited for the Swedes who have hauled to the US for years every summer.

Sweat

I must have tackled at least eight rows of tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn this morning. It did end up getting hotter and humid but I think in a sense I become addicted to sweat. I love mowing the lawn and frankly I love hoeing. There is something about tackling a job that does not involve picking up little Lego pieces that I find very refreshing. I always feel better afterwards also. Yay, Sunshine!

We have little broccoli plants and lots of lettuce to nibble on so far. I can see the healthier broccoli plants are going to have us in the broccoli business soon. That will be nice. I plan to make a trip to a store for pine nuts later today as our basil is doing great and I love pesto sauce.

Martin diligently went through a row of corn to get rid of all the grass that is growing in that plot. That row looks much better but there is a lot more grass to get out as soon as possible.

If I had my camera I would take a picture of our lovely masterpiece out there. I think we will be able stay on top of things since this is a two family (two mom with a few extra helpers now and then) project. I won't allow Charley in the garden as he is a plant killer. He proved that again as he thought he could help til between corn rows yet couldn't see the corn plants.......Erik! Come to the rescue!

There are tomatoes forming (no salmonella here) and the squash and cucumbers are coming along. The onslaught of zucchini and yellow squash will be upon us soon.

I am interested in finding a good salad spinner (never thought I would see the day) so am looking for recommendations.........

Better go drink another gallon of water.......

Getting stuff done

So happy day! I found my IEW training video. It just appeared out of no where which is sort of odd. I am busily watching the Literary Analysis training video in my spare time so will be able to move on to the review my IEW stuff when I am done with that. Finding this set again was a huge relief as it was a HUGE investment. Now I can feel like I am getting something done as I sit around with Stefan while he is snoozing.

This morning I went for that lovely glucose test. The lab tech amused me as she takes her job very seriously (more seriously than any lab tech I have ever encountered) and as she was drawing blood she asked me if this was my second or third. I told her I would wait to tell her till she was done drawing blood before I told her. "Eighth" ......"What???? You must really love babies!" "Yep".

I mowed the lawn, got some of the perenial garden weeded, took the kids to the pool, chased Stefan around and by the inspiration of some friends dh is taking me out to eat for our anniversary which we have never gotten around to doing (May 30th was a busy week.....wedding, and dh leaving the country the next day). He is beckoning so toodles!

Bliss

Not that I don't like my family being around but this afternoon the hubby took my kiddos to canoe at a friends place. Ah...... The friends and the hubby tried to talk me into going but an afternoon with just Stefan and I has been delightful so far. He started the afternoon sleeping on my shoulder and now is pleasantly playing wherever I go with his little language. He never seems this content if there are other kids around and he normally is screaming for attention.

I do not feel a burning desire to tackle the world here but am getting a little bit of this and a little bit of that done. There are not children bickering, screaming, running through the house etc. and I know someday I will want that but quite frankly I have been on noise overload for awhile. There has been a lot of confusion with "are we going camping' "What, we are not going camping?" and all the preparation for the camping trip that wasn't going on. When I am taking the kids to the pool, or to appointments, or shopping, gardening, or church......I am not home. I like to be home and this quiet time is just what the doctor ordered. Stefan is cute and sweet and I relish this time alone with him to just think and hold him and listen to his cute little self. I am sure he won't be entirely thrilled with the upcoming little person so will try to find alone time with him then as well. So......off to go 'do some things together'.

Strawberry picking

I took the kids strawberry picking this morning and they did a great job. I started picking until Stefan decided it was more fun to run up and down the rows and into the driving area. So.....since it is easier for the kids to stoop and pick, I chased Stefan and they picked. They managed to pick 68 pounds in a little less than two hours. Not bad. Now to get them in the freezer.

We came home last night to the rest of one of our cherry trees laying in the drive way. It only took the phone line out this time. We just upgraded our cell phone so I was able to call people about plans for today. The cell phone seems to have better reception than the last one so some things are improving.

I need to go get some weeding done in the garden which is looking great. I should take some pictures. The potatoes are now flowering so that means potatoes will be busy forming soon. Yay! They were planted April 18th.

Charley would still like to attempt a camping trip sometime this summer but I just don't see how that will be possible. There is a lot going on and then of course there is the baby the beginning of September and I do not take new borns camping. I think the youngest baby to go camping was five months old or so and that was Cecilia.

Off to weed......

Camping cancelled and Dad's 55 years

Well, I suppose God reads my blog and takes it seriously. Har har. Just kidding. Last fall I blogged about how I hate camping or least many current aspects of it. This afternoon, while our youth group was at DQ cooling off from the car wash, my phone rang and it was Ludington State Park informing me the park had been closed due to flooding. I did reschedule but have thought better of it as I can not imagine that park will be recovered from 8 inches of rain on Friday simply because it stopped raining. I read that the town has many streets damaged and roads are closed, not to mention the ecoli alert for the beach and area in general. This pregnant mom with seven kids is not going to do that.

So.....instead, we are going to schedule some other fun events for the kids to enjoy and not necessarily all this week. I hope to take them to the Field Museum in Chicago in July and Charley hopes to take them on some biking outings. Since I really hate the preparations for camping and that camping with this many kids is generally work, God certainly has made me a tall glass of lemonade. Phew. I am now stocked with various treats that were going with us to Ludington that I will have to hide and take with us to the these various events.

Tomorrow is the 55th anniversary of my dad's ordination. I didn't know this before we planned our camping trip so now we have decided to go. We will begin our morning at dear old Emmaus and then proceed to Valpo for dear old dad. 55 years is pretty amazing if you ask me. He fits in his original cassock which is also amazing and a credit to his well disciplined healthy lifestyle. I would say he probably could use a slimmer cut. His family always has tended to get thinner with age so I am hoping I might inherit some of that tendency Lord willing. He graduated from Augustana Theological Seminary in 1953. Mom and Dad are attending a reunion this summer to celebrate with other fellow graduates. I believe they don't just get together with just the 55ers but with all the graduates that are able to attend. Here is his basic bio: LeRoy Oscar Anton Martinson, Ph.D., Associate Professor Emeritus of Sociology; Gustavus Adolphus College (A.B.,1949); Augustana Theological Seminary (M.Div.,1953); Columbia University (M.A.,1965); The University of Chicago (Ph.D.,1971)

Did you notice he has a few middle names???? Har har. I would say Dad is a little educated don't you think? So off we go tomorrow. It will be a short visit as they had previous after service plans but at least we can go. We were going to go biking afterwards but the Chesterton weather forecast is calling for rain......rain foils us again.

Corn

So we are getting pretty industrious around here and I have visions of my family on their feet A LOT in the months to come. We are tilling up a bunch more ground to plant sweet corn. Since we have put in as much as we have in the main garden, there was much less space left for corn which we love. The last time I put up sweet corn was nearly eleven years ago and I was expecting Martin.....and had a kidney infection. Misery. So I guess the bad memory was preventing from much enthusiasm in this department. However, the price of food is affecting us all and we are sharing the garden with another family so we are getting down and dirty.

I am almost caught up with the lawn mowing for now. It is hard to behave myself when I see the nearly two feet grass all over. I suppose it is a plus financially that I am expecting as when I am not expecting the lawn stays neat and tidy and uses more gas. This way I have to behave and not do too much at a time. I sometimes do lean towards misbehavior like yesterday morning. I slept well last night. Sleep greedy......

Charley had the opportunity to go to the Eric Sloan museum yesterday. He never goes sight seeing in the States, but we have been reading the Sloan books and lo and behold the museum was where he was traveling yesterday. The boys are jealous.

I think I will go plant some pole beans and some peas........

Interesting chat

So during the kid's Catechesis class I had an interesting chat with a friend about why some people feel threatened by choices we make. I suppose it is normal for us to evaluate ourselves somewhat by what other people choose but it also seems a little pyscho. We were talking about how several friends or relatives have felt somehow judged by us because we choose to homeschool, or strive to eat healthier or that we might not be jumping on the bandwagon to do things exactly like everyone else. Why is it threatening to someone else what we choose to do with our kids etc.? Do they really think that we sit with our husbands and contemplate switching to whole wheat flour because it will make everyone else feel guilty? "I know honey, let's be sure to buy cotton clothes for our children and spend a little more on them so we can pass them down just so we will appear to be snobs." Come on, is this reality? Personally if one friend eats beef and another eats mainly beans is no big deal to me. I have enough to worry about without wondering whether I am meeting my whole wheat, fresh egg quota this week.



Or......what if I have a closet knowledge of something like music? Does it mean that just because I don't currently use it much (outside of knowing when musical mistakes are made during a service or concert) that I don't know anything about music? I just tend to stick with what I am given to do now. OH, and I also don't point out the mistakes.........



Newspapers come to mind. I only get the weekend newspaper at the moment and try to keep up but getting the weekend only is mainly because it is another expense, and I am the only one who really reads it. So I read what I can online to try to keep up. Does this mean I am ignorant and need help as I also don't watch the news at night (no reception) or does it mean that when something is going on I may grab the nearest person that I trust their political view points and ask questions. Not to mention the fact that I am busy (as usual) doing what God has given me to do and it seems to me that the world has been ticking from the beginning of time without everyone being up on all the latest news all over the world. This does not make me stupid or in need of help. This means there are only 24 hours in the day!

I have a dear friend who is afraid of dogs and frankly, so am I! I have a dog and I don't stop having her over because she is afraid of my dog. I tie the dog up because I value my friendship more than my dog. Her fear is no reflection on my having a dog or our friendship. I have been assured in the past of a darling little pooch (Rotweiler) being so wonderful and wouldn't I like to meet him and then upon saying no, they let the dog in anyway and I became the dog's personal chew toy. Gee, I wonder why I have a fear of dogs. Is that a reflection on anyone other than we are all different and do things differently????

I don't know exactly what my point is here except it bugs me to see families and friends giving each other anxiety attacks simply because they see some underlying evil motive that doesn't even exist. It is just sad and it was sad to see this friend the other night so worn out by the criticism. Hmmmm......

Busy weekend

Friday I had my cute little appt again and all seems well. Three weeks til the next one. I went from there to pick up a few more veges for the garden that we forgot. Perhaps I already said that. Friday evening we went to an open house graduation party and had a grand time. I got to see an old friend who I haven't seen since high school. He hasn't changed much and it is fascinating to me to hear of life choices after so many years. I find these sort of things pretty interesting. At nine o'clock it occurred to me that Anna needed to get to bed for the SAT the next morning and we all dashed to the van to hurry home. How did I forget that?

Saturday morning I of course drove dd to the test. She was cool and confidant which was great. She feels things went well so we are looking forward to finding out the results. She also observed that since she has been so intensely studying that sitting for four hours taking a test was not a big deal. We will have to make a note of that for her younger siblings.

Saturday afternoon I spent in the garden again. I am sure I did spend a little too much time in the sun but water is a great thing. Saturday evening Anna and I took off with Stefan to go purse shopping on the way to pick up Matthew from camp. I found a few cute suits for Stefan which was fun and a couple size big shirts for after the bambino's arrival for me. Nothing worse than a grumpy new mother.

The sermon was great this morning so I ponder HOW we love our neighbor. What is most loving? Is it always loving to not talk with people about things or is it more loving to talk things through. I lean towards the later as the first leaves too many question marks and hurt feelings. Great sermon pastor!

I best go eat and make some hamburger buns.

What to say today.......

My dh gets home this evening. We won't be here right when he gets home so perhaps that will nice for him in a way. He called at what was 1:00am for him last night and had about four hours to sleep. Sleep deprivation is certainly my summary of his trip. Paris, Bavaria, and Barcelona since Sunday. Hopefully he can get some sleep tonight.

I am getting confused as to what day of the week it is. Tomorrow is the SAT and I do feel confidant that the person taking it will be fine and her preparations will pay off. Phew. I always have a fear of getting to such things late so will be up bright and early tomorrow.

Our garden is looking pretty good with the cooperative effort. We should have peas within the week and definately spinach and lettuce. Some things were started later than I would like but I do have to remind myself that I never used to get anything in until after June 1st anyway.

Hopefully next week we can begin math with the boys and spelling and reading help for some as well. That girl taking the SAT will probably just want to read books for a week or sew.

There is severe weather on the way. I hope that doesn't affect dh getting home. I haven't heard from him since last night so I am assuming he is in the States at least. I loath bad weather/storms in the summer. We have had some dooseys in the past and the 100 plus foot tall trees around here have been know to wreck havoc. At least the electric lines are a little clearer of danger.

Gardening

So Monday and Tuesday I got in most of the plants that needed planted. My body is sort of in shock after all that bending, hoeing and digging. I suppose if I keep weeding steadily I won't feel so sore after awhile. The trick is also not overdoing it as once I get going it is hard to stop.

We are headed to the pool for a little R & R. The kids have worked pretty hard today so I am sure that will feel pretty good.

I guess I don't have a lot to say here. I did read Mostly Harmless's blog post and perhaps my grumpy post inspired that, who knows. I could ramble on some more about the subject of thinking of others etc but perhaps I will wait on that. I in no way was directing my grumpiness at the wedding. Dynamics of personality do play into how well people play with others though. Maybe I will ramble later.......

My dh called and he and his boss are searching for clothes for the boss as his luggage was lost. There are no shopping malls in Barcelona and dh said the boss may end up looking a little, uh, well.....not sure I should say but more youthful and having a different profession come to mind. He has been in the same clothes for four days. How nice. I guess it is easier to get away with that in Europe.

Better scoot to the pool.

Sunshine on my shoulder......

Makes me hyper...... So the boys and I planted most of the rest of the garden yesterday. I was determined to get all of those plants in so spent much of the afternoon hanging up-side-down digging holes and throwing plants in. Matthew came to my rescue by at least pulling the plants out of the flats. The plants should be pretty happy as there was a great rain right afterwards. I hope we get a little more today.

The baby chicks come this afternoon so the boys need to finish preparations for that. We are not raising turkeys this year as the price of feed is ridiculous. I am just realizing as I write this that we don't have any feed that I am aware of for these new chicks...hmmmm......hopefully the boys know what is up.

That last post I could dedicate to Debbie T. I am just teasing you Debbie but you said that you liked my blog as it wasn't always chipper and unreal, or something like that. Hope I didn't disappoint you. Just teasing. I actually found that a high compliment.

I went on a chip and dip run for the study maniac last night before Vespers. I hope she doesn't pick up this habit in college. She does have Charley and my metabolism though so perhaps she can get away with it for now. Opps.....I mentioned her again.

Stefan loved the pool yesterday and I loved him loving it. He was kicking and splashing in the big pool or he would hug me tightly around the neck jabbering away. What is not to love about that.

Not sure what to say - HA

I have thought of quite a few blog posts lately. I am not sure how to put things once I get to the computer though. The kids and I had a great discussion this evening about our many glaring weaknesses and frustrations about ourselves. We certainly have a culture of our own here in this household. We also came up with the plus side of this odd family. I would say overall the plus sides are that every single person does seem to have a sincere desire to serve other people and help them in their hours of need. We have a special empathy towards large families as quite frankly, watching or helping a family with a lot of kids can simply be overwhelming and not exactly the first thing that people think to jump up and do. Large families are not quite able to lead glamorous lives either so we empathize. We don't care about glamour as there is no time to consider that we are missing it. So....we helped the brides family as I could just only imagine being in their shoes when it is considered a feat just to get through a regular church service and actually stay in the pews. Enjoying your daughter's wedding and not having to worry about little children who might cry and crawl on your head was not my picture of enjoying a daughter's wedding. So we helped to watch them when we could. Everyone in our family just sees that need and does it. There can be parties going on, or friends beckoning, but help we will. No, I am not trying to sound like a martyr but this is just what this family enjoys to do for fellow parents similar to us. We concluded that we love to do this and it is certainly a plus. The kids were having a sort of "we are a bunch of losers" sort of mood this evening so the time came to discuss what sort of losers we really are. Of course we are sinners to the core, and we DO realize that, but seeing my kids so depressed was I suppose a teachable moment.

The other thing we discussed was our great dislike of being criticized or have stupid questions asked of us like....."why is there laundry all over the place" or the assumption made that because we have a bunch of kids that we don't have any passions or ability to make it without the aid of the eldest. Or that all we do is change diapers and do housekeeping duties. Or we just don't handle criticism in general very well. When you live with this many people, criticism can just abound. After all there are 9(actually 10) sinners running around bumping into each other and of course criticism happens. We have our pleasant routines but there are also two parents here who are not always good at giving praise or appreciation to anyone. Making it through the day can just be wearing. I have personally had my share of people in my life who criticize me for my decisions, my grammar, my political views, my theological practices, my house keeping inabilities, my marriage etc. to the point that I have pondered designing a t-shirt with a target on it. Yes, that is sarcastic but truth be told I get sort of tired of it. So this family tends to be a little defensive. Who likes to be corrected or criticized anyway? Yes, there is the ability to take constructive criticism but I not so sure the comments that irk us fall in that category. So.....we pray and forgive and keep forging ahead. We remind each other to pray and forgive and that we are forgiven in Christ. Sigh.

On the flip side we also discussed that because we do have a large family that it makes PERFECT sense that we bond with people who also do. There are certainly those who love us and I truly enjoy spending time with. I thank God for that. I do not love the fact that I feel misunderstood and that some people seem sort of afraid of me or something. I am not in my comfort zone when I sense that I need to help people understand this large family or that I am being evaluated for my abilities or knowledge. I AM in my comfort zone with people I find interesting who I can take the time and enjoy them. I SO enjoyed talking with the Great Grandma at the wedding about her farm and her love for her family. She is a kindred spirit from afar who I may not have the privilege to talk with again. I think I am attracted to the quiet, hard working humble people of life who do not live a glamorous life but do have passion, love and care for those they have been given to care for. They are inspiring to me.

I am sorry I make some people uncomfortable including some of my relations. I am not exactly sure what to do about that but keep praying. I am usually just taken by surprise and sometimes stumped as to what to say in response. I guess I do not like either to be pressured or forced to agree with people when frankly I don't always agree. So at times I am forthright and say something. I don't think I am really THAT scary but of course I was told in High School that no one in HS wanted to ask me for a date as I was intimidating....smart.....whatever. This is getting long (not competing with anyone.....) but I do still struggle with the stereo type that because I have a bunch of kids, from nearly out of the nest to babes in arms, that I am not capable of making decisions or having many brain cells left. I have passions and interests that are most important to me and I AM NOT helpless because there are some younger kids around. I am not looking for pity at all and sort of resent it which is not too friendly or forgiving on my part. But really, PITY????? We love our family the way it is and I do happen to know what to do with this crew and really am perplexed with comments that insinuate that I can't handle contributing things because after all I have all these little kids to take care of. Two of the little kids are taller than me now! One could probably fly the coop now but I don't want her to, not for reasons of needing help, but because I love her and will miss her, so am I helpless?????? The help I love is from people like our new members who make dinner on Monday nights so at the catechumens (can't spell that tonight) can make it through the day without totally falling apart. It is a quiet help but is greatly appreciated by all. It is also a sort of humbling, wonderful kind of help to accept. Thank you H's for all of the stress relief you have contributed to.

So this post may sound as weird as the apple that fell from the tree's posts, but these are things that I am struggling with and would appreciate prayers for. How to not get depressed with misunderstanding and hurtful comments, decisions made for us , that may not have been intended to be hurtful but in the quiet background have been. I know, forgive them, but truly just getting over hurt is hard as well.

Love from this weird family....

Class act

So the wedding was great and yes, a class act. The bride's planning and forethought were wonderful and smooth and the bride's mom also did an awesome job of all the things she was involved with. My dear husband commented on the way home that he would classify it in the top five of his favorite weddings he has attended (we've been to quite few). The babies were especially cooperative - Gerhardt, Stefan, Frederick and Saranita caught their two hour afternoon naps just at the right time! Thanks kids! Or....was that the brides careful planning which I wouldn't be surprised, in which case.....thanks! Great planning! The reception went quite smoothly as well and fun was had by all as far as I could tell.

Today was Martin's 10th bday as well so he can say that over 200 people came to the party. He just doesn't have to mention it wasn't his party. He had a grand time though. He did mention yesterday that things are always very busy on or around his birthday. Sorry hon, but we are not sorry we have you.

21 years

So it is time for another anniversary. I can't say I have much deep to say but we are going to postpone celebrating till life calms down a little bit. We may get some carry out Dairy Queen. Who knows. I mistakenly told someone it was 22 years today but we will crack that up to a LONG year. That does not necessarily mean a long year with Charley but in life in general. I can't believe how much has gone on this past year. Our 22nd year will be equally busy but I can definitely do without some of the details of year 21.

Today I am still working on trying to get summer clothes and winter clothes in order and put away. The kiddos have grown a lot this year and making heads or tails of it all is definitely a chore. My wardrobe is enough to make anyone crazy. Is is winter and I am pregnant, winter and not pregnant but not skinny yet, summer with same options or either option summer or winter and actually skinny. Ugh. Someday I might end up with a simple combination but that is not say I am looking forward to that either.

It is supposed to rain and I am hoping it does. I have a little cooking to do. Tomorrow is Martin's birthday as well as DoRena and Sam's wedding. I am sure he can get some cake. I would love to leave the house in order and ready for Sunday but we shall see if I can maintain the steam. Perhaps it is time for a chocolate bar.......

The boys all got hair cuts and look a lot nicer. I hope to get to my hubby's head later this evening. Everyone says Stefan needs a hair cut but frankly I like his curly head. Who wants to chop off baby curls anyway????

Chocolate.......

Crossing things off the list

So "the list" is still long but we are making progress. I have just begun to put away winter clothes as they still are wearing them! We went to the pool on Monday which the kids loved and Stefan loved as well. Stefan did get his first skinned knee there so I can tell keeping up with chasing him around will be a little tiresome.

One of the things on my list was to clean up the book sale mess in the basement of the church. I was just bemoaning how I haven't found the opportunity to get to that on Sunday. Well! Thank you to whoever conquered that one this week. I can guess who may have done it. That was an easy one to cross of the list.

I watered my peonies in hopes they will bloom but things are looking grim. They are VERY late. Anna always has peonies in full bloom on her birthday and these are not even close this year. Hopefully some will make progress overnight.

Anna is downstairs making cake. That seems to be going smoothly. Whew.

I am waking Stefan up.....later!

For the record.....

Anna is not cramming for the SAT. She is systematically reviewing her Algebra and Geometry and frankly I have been quite impressed with her handle on math in general. Sure she could have made it further in Algebra 2 but the review has been good and she is learning a lot from going through practice tests etc. Frankly I would recommend this sort of review for anyone taking the SAT. Her essays have been pretty good as well but would like a little more practice with the time factor. Her greatest lesson was to not worry about the subject matter she chooses to use to defend her position but how she defends it using strong examples.

I am proud of her perseverance despite distractions and her commitment to conquer and divide. I am also praying that she has the confidence the day of without any stress the days before.

She does have a wedding cake to whip out, which she is happy to do as she loves the bride and family and would frankly do anything to be of help to them. Erik is the same way and I am very proud of them for their thoughtfulness of other people. I believe we have a handle on the weekend that will allow her to be focused and not have stress to kill a few more days in over processing. Cryptic I know.....

Happy Birthday Anna!

So we hung onto 16 as long as we could and now......she is 17. Sigh. 16 was a year full of all sorts of new things along with some things more akin to growing pains. She weathers the storms, we muddle through and now to see what 17 holds for her. It certainly has been a year of sewing and contemplating college choices. That has been new for me as well. I don't remember this process too much as my dad taught at Valparaiso so that was where I was going. Most of the mail is for her nowadays so she goes and gets the mail from the box and proceeds to the recycling bin.

She is very happy that work called and told her she didn't have to come in today. She was sort of dreading that. Now we are going to traipse off to the farmers market for some veges and vege plants and then a quick trip to......can you guess?.....the fabric store. When you are born around Memorial Day then you get to enjoy days off and sales.

This coming year will hold SAT tests, drivers tests, college applications, most likely a few classes at the local college, a new brother or sister, and of course savoring her Emmaus moments and Emmaus friends (more sewing, I forgot). She is excited about college so I am sure we will also all enjoy the roller coasters that come with these changes as many of her friends have already experienced. I personally will hold onto 17 as long as I can.........

Today's feats

I would say today was pretty amazing. Not only did Anna work extremely hard on math, but we were also entertained by a new cd call Snack Time. It was really for the little children but we were all amused of course because we love to listen to such silliness. While Anna worked and listened, I sorted more socks. Cecilia helped and we have a laundry basket full now. Most of them seem to be for feet that don't fit them right now so the next problem will be what to do with these socks that are waiting for feet to grow into them! Ugh. Organization is SUCH a pain.

After the sock sorting spree I cuddled up with Stefan for a little snoozaroo time. He truly is much more enjoyable lately. He is eating well, loving the great outdoors and sleeping until almost eight o'clock in the morning. Sigh. Hold onto having a one and a half year old as long as you can. I think I am catching up on some MUCH needed rest.

My post napping activity was......drum roll please.......finishing mailing my Christmas letters, God children's presents from Christmas, baby gift for freinds in OHIO, and a wedding gift. Phew! Tomorrow will be return the Christmas gifts that haven't been returned. I can't wait. Our bedroom is shaping up finally and perhaps by the end of next week we will be able to walk through it. I am not such a great example for my children in this department but when you are committed to teaching, the house does tend to go to the dogs. What was my excuse a year and a half ago?????

Anna planted my lilies which badly needed planting and she is still downstairs listening to the cd and working her way through review Algebra one.

Erik sprayed the ant population, trimmed trees and bushes, planted my blueberry bushes, rounded up some more trouble places and helped Charley put together a gate for some friends.

I think everyone will sleep till almost eight o'clock tomorrow......

Twinkle toes

So sometimes you may think I am listening to what you are saying to me, but in reality Twinkletoes is doing acrobatics inside of me and that can be pretty distracting. Most of the time I AM listening but there really is nothing quite like have a squirmy little person entertaining themselves inside you. Of course if you are man then you would have no clue what I am talking about but you moms out there most likely do. This is a squirmy child. I suppose he is reving up to defend himself from almost two year old brother. That would be a good idea as Stefan is a little possesive of his mommy and seems to get more attached by the day. My other children have survived so I am sure he will too. No, we do not know if it is a boy or a girl but he is just easier than all that he and she stuff.

So if I suddenly look spaced off you may now know the reason. OH, and one other baby thought today. When people offer to do things for me seeing as I am expecting, it still takes me by surprise. THey have NO IDEA what I do at home so again if I appear perplexed it is because I probably can't figure out why you are offering at first. I will try to comply and let people be sweet and nice in this way. I am a slow learner.

The potatoes might be burning.....toodles!

Ironing

I ironed from 10:00 am till around 4:00 this afternoon. I still have more to do. Everyone's closets should be a lot happier. I think I had this blog post last fall but perhaps I didn't iron EVERYone's clothes. I found a few things of mine which I haven't seen for quite awhile. Of course I can't use them now but when the time comes it will be nice to have these old friends back. I also have socks to conquer and divide some more. Since I had the boys dig under their beds there have been a lot more socks passing through the laundry and I would imagine their rooms will smell better as well.

The older boys, including Charley, are off camping at Turkey Run. It has been incredibly quiet here with just the little ones. Anna was gone all day at work and then gone some more with a few other activities after work. She might be home soon and I hope we can chill out with a movie or something. I can iron and watch at the same time. What in the world did I do when I just had Anna, Erik and Matthew????? It was SOOOO quiet here today. I was hoping to get more done but it wasn't meant to be I guess. Perhaps I will catch up before September......

Socks

So Nick inspired me to sort socks. I am always baffled by how many unmatched socks there are and wondering where the other ones went. I think we should all have a sock gathering but we would have to be seperated by where we shop or something. We would probably end up with more matches. Sometimes I throw a holey sock out and I don't have the match so that would explain some of it. I think I need to bring everyone inside and go through everyone's room looking under all the furniture. Hmmmmm......maybe after lunch.

Anna is busy studying math while I sort socks and I think that is going well. THe boys are out gathering garlic mustard out of the woods and searching for Morrel mushrooms. We found eleven the other day. I guess I could say that I found them as I was mowing the field they were found in. There have been a ton of them this year.

Sorry about the lid comment last post but really I do find myself sort of scary looking. A friend loves this country song about if you want to have a happy marraige get yourself an ugly wife. Ha! I get it. No shopping or pampering. And no, I am not contemplating death in any other way but thinking that sleeping in Jesus doesn't sound too bad at times. Hmmm.....not helping here am I? If you have ever been majorly tired and buried in work I think you probably could relate. It sounds very nice to me.

No I am not going to apologize for this post.......back to Algebra and socks......

Family pictures

So my friend Karen holds the opinion that she never wants her picture taken. Well......after today I would say I might have to hold the same opinion......I don't like my picture taken. We had our pictures taken at church and the result is more than a nightmare. (Vanity). First of all they put you in the weirdest positions. She had my feet up this tall box, while holding Stefan who was wiggling all over the place, and then asking me to hold my head down (can you say double chin?) and then tilting it to the side, with no back support and of course I had the obstacle of the new baby to deal with as well. I don't think the photograper caught on to that. I look sort of like a terrorist was interviewing me or something. Yikes and ugh!!!!!!! So until the next pictorial directory I will have this horrifying picture of myself for all to share in the directory. Of course everyone else looked fine in the picture. I have noticed most pictures of myself can terrify me. I had the naughty thought to tell my family to feel free to keep the lid down at my funeral. Yes, that is shocking. I did mention that to my older kids and they laughed. I need a hair cut badly! Ack!

Here ends my shocking post of the day......

LIfe is intense

Day three of studying with Anna has gone pretty well. My brain is reawakening to all of that lovely high school math again and the good news is that I remember most of it. Geometry is my favorite and Steve Demme even makes Algebra more enjoyable than I thought possible. We also managed to get some of the house cleaned up this morning and Anna was able to get some practicing in. Every day gets a little better in the tedious department so perhaps by mid-June I might not be embarressed to have someone pop over.

Yesterday LaRena and I planted a little more garden and did a little bit of weeding. The rain has been cooperating for the most part and I reminded her that most things can not be planted till after the first of June. That is good news for her I would think as she has her own things to deal with.

Erik has been working pretty hard on his catechism in between working for his dad cleaning out the barn.....and doing a few things for me. I would like to do more math with him but will get to that sometime I am sure. Ugh.

So not a whole lot is new and different. I do regularly drop into La La land while studying with Anna so that could be counted as a nap I suppose. She is beckoning me to come and do the next thing.

Guv'ment two years ago

My mom pointed me to a picture of Guv'ment. He was quite the character in his prime. When I would water the flower garden he would gooble/yell at me to come give him some too. Whatever will we do without you Guv'ment.

That is the rest of the story......

I think I can, I think I can......

So by the time the evening rolls around I am generally spent. I am sure I look a little on the grumpy side but I suppose it is trying to maintain endurance to get little people to bed. I think I am also thinking about the many things I need to do to help my kids with their academics. Anna and I will be bonding this month in preparation for the SAT. School is not really stopping. It is just shifting gears. I feel a certain sense of guilt for not being there for Anna as much as I would have liked to. She muddles along but would benefit a lot more by having me as a greater presence in her school life. Self-discipline is hard for anyone so why would I expect her to be some sort of wonder student. We will try to make this month as fun as we can as well without killing each other working too hard. My 'list' will probably not get a lot of attention until the second week of June. Sigh. Anna did point out that most of the things on my list could be accomplished in an afternoon so perhaps our reward for slaving over school work will be knocking something off of the list.

No, we are not despairing but just thinking about what I need to get done can make me a little weary. I also need to keep Martin reading and helping Erik with his various areas that need attention. I think I can, I think I can........

Wrapping up the school year

This week we are wrapping up the main part of the school year as far as co-oping goes. We still will meet a few times a week for the older kids to work on math and I have some tutoring to do with a few of my kids at home. But.......I am looking forward to getting onto 'the list'. No, not the list that my children talk about some of the time but my to do list. Baby ? is around four months from appearance and there are MANY things that need attention around the homestead. I am sure we will not be able to cross off everything from the list but we can try. Charley has two things on his list and my list takes up several pages. I plan to everything I can to help him accomplish his list. Phew. Time for a nap! Oh, I already caught one this morning before lunch.

Anna's list is to finish preparing for the SAT in June. I think that is doable but this too is on my list. I will most likely drop her off at the library for peace, quiet and escape from the screamie meanies at home. I will NOT be tempted then to put her to work. She is incredibly capable of accomplishing the remarkable. Ok, ok, I will let you study.

Charley just told me he will be taking a trip to Europe in June so we will have a week to maybe help him with his list if he gets far enough along to leave the boys with tasks towards this end.

Oh yes. This blog post would not be complete with a plea to everyone not to nag or tease Charley about his tasks. He knows what he is doing and we will get there so.......don't ask. You will figure it out.

I forgot

Earlier this week Benjamin's pet turkey Guv'ment died. Such a sad day.....Benjamin wanted to go and see him after he was discovered and then when I stopped him he asked if we were going to keep him. Oh bother. He certainly had a long life. I am not sure if we have a picture of him or not. I think we do. I will have to look for it. Benjamin has survived the trauma and hasn't inquired after Guv'ment's welfare again. Can you tell we just watched "Sense and Sensibility"?

Anna and I went and bought a toaster this evening. This was an exciting excursion to be sure. There were a couple of choices and they now have new features. Bagel vs bread vs frozen....and cancel! The slots are wider so we don't have smash our bagels in but they still all have plastic buttons. My children will still be able to pound on the button and potentially break it. The old toaster had this problem and other problems of course. It wouldn't stop cooking and we being the observant family that we are would forget we even put a piece of toast in to begin with. There is an overall trust among our family members that the toaster will do what it is supposed to do and pop the toast out. It wasn't working like that. "What's that smell?" I would ask and discover another charred piece of toast smoking up the kitchen. Anna took action and threw it away yesterday. Horners can't live without toast though so bought it's replacement after her piano/organ lesson this evening.

Being in a totally obnoxious mood I scandalously bought a Fox in Sox stuffed animal this evening. I think it will have to live on our bed and be mine. No one can borrow it for long. I love that book. I wonder what Charley will think of it. I am sure he will be charmed.

Better be responsible and get to bed. Fox will go with me of course.

Nighty nighty!

Yesterday

I finally got to mow the lawn for a little while, of course behaving myself. It was tempting to keep mowing and mowing. It is such an escape for me and I do most of my reflective thinking while doing this sort of thing. When do I do that in the winter???? I did spare the blue flower thingies that I can't remember their names but the bees like them and also there is quite a bit of hyacinths still blooming out there. I think I also love to mow as I visit literally half of the ten acres almost every week. I would like to develop paths for the woods and make that an equally pleasant experience. I wouldn't mow the woods though. Our neighbors rake the leaves out of the woods in the fall but won't say anything more about that activity. We just pray for a good wind to blow the leaves into the woods. Works like a charm.

I have perennials to plant from an excursion to my favorite nursery. It was 36 degrees out last night so they spent the night inside. I am a much happier person left to my own devices outside. Sigh. Don't know what to do with myself sometimes. I think I must be hard to live with.

Menards is the source of real lilies as my brother helped me to discover. Lots of choices and great prices. Those will go in the garden as well. I must make myself order some new bulbs this fall for next spring. They are SOO much cheaper that way.

Off to mow a patch.

To push delete or not to push it

So the cute little response to my previous post got a reaction by some person in California who I don't even know. I could go delete it or just leave it. As I stated in my post, it was refreshing to talk to Cecilia who was truly intrigued by the Scientific evidence that exists to back up intelligent design. She did not throw her own articles or views of what she had been taught at me but truly was interested. Sending me a site stating that the movie is full of anti-science propaganda is so typical of the people I know who just simply throw this sort of response back at you. The film was hardly anti-science. Of course stranger in California was trying to help this poor silly mom in Indiana get the story straight. It just made me all the more tired and weary of this sort of response. Perhaps I will go push delete or let other people say what they would like. Or not......
Of course if I push delete I may be accused of censoring this persons views so there you go.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

So I never wrote about my evening out with the girls. The movie was great if not a little depressing but great just the same. I would strongly recommend it to anyone and especially to the crowd who believes there are no Scientists who question evolution or who pay any heed to intelligent design. Guess what? There are! I knew this already of course but the documentary was very well done and I cannot see how anyone could leave without seeing how Scientists are hemmed in by the evolution crowd. There ARE actually many scientists who have written extensively on the flaws of the evolution theory (theory not fact) who some think are just crazy, stupid brain washed people. Who is brain washed???? What are they afraid of???? I am not going to ramble on and on about this but will try to post some of the scientists interviewed and some of their books sometime in the near future. If you have opportunity to see the movie I do not feel you will regret it. It is very well done and even if you are an evolution camp person I can not see how you wouldn't get something out of it.

MY most refreshing conversations about this subject were with my cousin Cecilia from Sweden who is a Physics scholar. She was MOST respectful and curious to learn about what scientists have found to disprove evolution and support Intelligent Design. It was refreshing because she was not an angry person defending her views but participated actively in conversation, listening carefully and respectfully to what we had to say. I think Americans are sort of challenged to hold these sorts of discussions. She was fine with listening to new perspectives and ultimately I learned something about conversations from her. Wish she lived closer. She is actually the young woman in the picture of the bonfire in the May Day post. A person from Poland in the film actually stated that America has a problem with exploring Intelligent Design as they are so tied up with political correctness that it restricts conversation and Science from doing this. He claims this is not so in Poland. Interesting.

So......let me know what you think!

Happy May Day

Three years ago we were privileged to be in Sweden visiting relatives on one of their biggest national holidays. It is also the King of Sweden's birthday so we went to his birthday celebration in Sweden. Awesome. He is in the picture above and was accepting flowers from children. Seeing the military band play and their horses display their stuff was also great. My one cousin Inger had never seen the King in person so she was sort of jealous as she wasn't there that day. The Prince is holding the flowers. We were able to see the whole family.

May day in Sweden is a day to have big bonfires and sing National songs so.....we went to the biggest fire in Stockholm at Skansen (not sure that is the spelling) and we will never forget that. It was a perfect trip perfectly planned by accident. I had help from the relations but being able to arrive in time for these events in Stockholm made for a really great trip. We told everyone at home we were going to Sweden to participate in pagan celebrations.....not really. I did enjoy the choir singing National Songs and still wish I could get a copy of these songs.

We are planning to have our own fires today in our yard. The practical side to these fires in Sweden is that neighbors would combine their yard waste and make a big bonfire and of course they would have a party and eat and spend time together. The kids are very excited about doing this but I think it will be just our family unless any readers want to join us. Anyone is welcome to show up. There will most likely be two fires with one for cooking on. Yum, yum.

The most hilarious thing about that day which a cousin emphatically insisted was NOT a Swedish custom, were these men and boys dressed in peasant garb who......ran or rode up to a May Day gate thingie and would......try to beat a cat out of a barrel. It was a stuffed cat but they said they used to use real cats. Hmmmmmmm.........not my ancestors although there are Norwegians on my mother's side.....hmmmmmmm.......

I was not able to get the pictures to post as I wanted them too but of course you are all brilliant enough to figure it out. I hope you all get out and clean your yards and roast some doggies, hamburgers and if you have some Scandinavian blood how about fish. Enjoy!!!!

Benjamin says hello

The kids have been enjoying the nicer weather despite the fact that it has been a little more chilly lately. Anna doesn't just make beautiful violets on cakes (see her blog) but she also makes lovely violet rings for anyone interested. Benjamin loves them as you can see. You can also see his shirt is on inside out or perhaps you wouldn't notice. Ah, Independence......

I am going to see the movie "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" this evening with a few friends from church. Everyone is excited (who is going). My own dh does not know we are going yet and neither does one of the other mom's but......opportunity knocks. I do not know a lot about this movie except what I read in the description but have heard a lot of people talking about it. I guess I am more and more like an ostrich in the department of current events. I do catch most of the bigger events i.e. earthquakes, tornadoes and such but frankly I am happy right now to try to keep up with feeding mouths and trying to make sure there is something clean for everyone to wear the next day.

I did manage to have a few words with the Scout Master and the parent committee last night. Pass the wine please......ok, ok, I won't drink too much....... Anyway, I have consistently been peeved by the "Boy led troop" baloney when the boys don't have a clue more than half the time. I think the whole 'cry to easily' thing stands in the way of my making myself clear and when I do explain things I am usually met with blank stares as if they have never considered that boys might need some guidance from 'mature' adults. Did I mention a glass of wine? Dh did give part of a glass and then was not convinced I would sleep that night. No problem.

The grass is now getting crazy long and I am not sure if the mower will start. I will have to consult the dh on that too. I must go throw dinner together and maybe get a load or two of laundry done before we go out this evening.

Tired - sleep greedy

I took a walk on Sunday with Cindy and clearly I am a wimp. A friend would say, "No, you are pregnant", but I have never been SOOO tired with the rest of the kids. The walk was very nice and I felt fine but the last two days I can't seem to get enough sleep and also started getting those 'practice' contraction thingies. Dh is the one who pointed out that I have not made a habit of exercising lately so walking 3 or 4 miles might make me tired. I was thinking I couldn't possibly handle mowing the lawn but I think I will try to be self disciplined and just mow one small section a day as opposed to my regular maniac approach in summers past. I LOVE mowing the lawn. We have a 54 inch deck landscaping mower and it has always been my post pregnancy weight loss system. This wouldn't be post-pregnancy however so if anyone catches me misbehaving you are welcome to put me in time out. I think I am too paranoid to misbehave though.

I got a huge water bottle the other day to work on my wimpy ability of drinking water. Why is drinking out of a straw so much more appealing? That doesn't make sense to me. It is more appealing to my children as well. They want mine.

The Scouts are having a meeting tonight about the future of the troop. That doesn't sound too encouraging. I was going to go and talk to them about a few things anyway so I may not even have to bring those things up. The troop WAS very active and strong a few years ago. Some key players have left so that has been a problem. They don't always appreciate Charley as help as he might require that they clean up the mess they leave in our van or he may prevent them from destroying things. Can you believe the harshness he exhibits? What? He doesn't want his driveway chiseled out by some random Scout who thought it was fun to chisel out some asphalt and make a hole? What an ogre. Charley and I both have these weird expectations. Hmmmm........I guess we are married.

It is cold and rainy but still blooming and pretty. I DO need to mow the lawn but doubt I will find the time today. Perhaps I will get a chance tomorrow......behaving of course. The back perennial garden needs cleaned out as well. Anna is VERY good at that but she doesn't have a lot of time right now. We will figure it out......

This is turning into blah, blah, blah so I will close. Stefan is zonked on my shoulder and I have some more math that needs graded.

Book Sale etc.

So the sale was basically successful. It is money the church didn't have before all from a bunch of paper backs, novels etc. from .25 on up. Not too shabby. It didn't take a lot of effort despite feeling like road kill on Friday afternoon. There was wonderful help in the youth (as usual), Mostly Harmless who saved the day with a talent for orginization no doubt genetically handed down from his father, and of course the committee did more than their share of helping throughout the day. I did not feel stressed and there is something to show for a few hours of efforts. We may do it again later in the year and be more specific about what to donate and not to donate. The church is back in order and ready for Bible class and of course donuts and coffee in the morning. Phew. I thought the clean-up would kill us but an expert on church sales suggested we condense the books to sell at half price to the congregation tomorrow. Ah experience is wonderful.

Charley manned the Stefanopolis and will no doubt sleep well tonight (Charley). Much screaming and crying a lot of the morning (not Charley, although my phone rang a few times with questions). Perhaps Stefan was mad at his mommy for being gone. Or......it could be the hives he has had for a week as a result of a reaction from anti-biotics from a staph infection are bugging him. He is basically a big hive, red bumps all over. He doesn't usually seem bothered by it but I do think it does bother him at times. He nearly has a full mouth of teeth so that could be part of his discomfort too.

My conclusion from the whole experience is that my family should be thanking the Lord I don't have an outside job. I would be thinking about what needed to be done for the sale and some poor little child would expect me put them as the center of my attention. Can you imagine? If I had a job than I am sure I would find this 'unreasonable' expectation of my kiddos all the more annoying. I think I will stick to the homefront and NO I have no desire to go back to 'work' when the kids are grown. I pray I won't have to.

Oh, I got my new glasses and I can see clearly now! I think I needed to go to the eye doctor before now. Seeing the little blades of grass clearly reminded me of fifth grade when I was 'found out' and humbled into wearing the dreaded huge glasses. Pretty much can't see anything or find anything without them. Yes, I like these glasses better and may wear them more but I will prefer contacts I am sure till I can't wear them anymore.

Let's see.......it is cold again but everything is green. The trees are flowering and we had our first thunder storm last night. It took down part of one of the cherry trees which was in full bloom. I love those trees and so that is sort of a disappointment. All the trees around here are well over 100 years old so I am getting used to losing them.

Better quit this now and go do something housewifey.......

The Mom's perspective

IU is not red after our visit....... It is in fact in full bloom and swarming with students, very large and populated. I am pleased that the school offers both of the programs that Anna is interested in and our talks with both departments went well. I did not sign us up for a campus tour as I could tell that it was basically large, had a lot of stuff available for students, fed the students something, and that your exercise would include a regimin of going to class and back. That seemed pretty self-explanatory. I suppose it would have been nice to see a dorm but we have friends who could fill us in on that.

The music department is competitive, which was no surprise, and will have new organ professors by the time Anna would be there (if she chooses to go there) and there are only a few under-graduate students in that program and all that tried out last year were accepted. So.....she would have to prepare for the audition anyway and also we would need the department to let us know if it is even possible for her to do both programs, fashion design and music. The fashion design schedule is like a nursing program in that you have to do take classes at certain times and certain semesters or it will not work at all. There is only one class offering per class level. So we will have write the music department to see if they can figure that out. They seemed willing in the office and the people we talked to all seemed to have some connection to the organ department despite the fact that the organ department is small in comparison to other instruments.

The fashion department lady was very helpful and their program is very similar to Stephen's minus the year of learning sewing techniques. THey assume you know that already. Anna seemed pleased with what they told us although she wasn't feeling the best. She faked it pretty well. The fashion and music buildings are right next to each other and both fields that she is considering have small departments so they seemed like small schools in huge University.

More later.......

This was last night's adventure. These logs are from one tree, a 120 plus foot tall tulip that was rotting at the bottom. More wood.......but sort of interesting anyway.

I am taking Anna to check out IU Bloomington tomorrow as they have both a fashion and music department which would meet all of her needs/interests. It is much less expensive than Stephens but needless-to-say it is of course still expensive. It is also closer to home. Of course that shouldn't be a huge issue. It will be nice to have some time to chat.

Frogs

We have a vernal pond and the frogs love it. The newspaper had an article about this and the lady was going on a special expedition to hear the frogs singing and peeping. In the Horner household we just need to open a window or step out the back door. The peepers seem to peeping less now so I guess the next generation is in the works and the tree frogs are deafening at the moment. They seem to sing in chorus and go up and down between three notes OVER and OVER. If you are having trouble sleeping this could make you a little nutty. Perhaps I will take a camera journey and try to get a picture of some as well as a new shot of the view from my window. I am getting used to pushing the space button with my left hand so perhaps I can do a little better blogging.

Hard to blog

Life has been either too busy or the fact that someone (someone small I think) smashed the space bar on the keyboard of our desktop so......typing is a pain. I suppose when I am at friends homes with high speed I can blog then until I replace the keyboard.

What is new......we priced books for the Used Book Sale at Emmaus yesterday and there were upwards of 1500 books not including those from other congregations. We may have to have book sale part two depending on how that goes. There are all sorts of books for all sorts of people. Plenty of people came to help price and we got the job done in a little under two hours until.....someone showed up with a van load of books! He helped price them today with more help from others which was good.

At home we planted eighty pounds of potatoes on Friday, cleaned up the asparagus patch and rounded up a load of brush. We also planted peas and some spinach and lettuce. We shall see. I discovered my dog sneaking potatoes out of the ground today though so he will have to kept reined in. Our help in the sharing of this garden adventure was fantastic and everyone had fun despite a little sun burn. Erik is the roto tiller man of the family now and it is fantastic to have his wonderful help.

It has been incredibly beautiful outside with the daffodils springing up everywhere and the wild flowers EVERYWHERE. The Dutchman's breeches are gorgeous and there is trillium coming up all over too. Sigh. Spring has sprung at last. I even noticed the grass was growing so the lawn mower should be up and running soon. Watch out neighbors, crazy woman in action. Hope they don't notice I am expecting. They tend to worry. I will behave myself.

I managed to iron a few shirts for Charley. Phew. He won't have to be clothing challenged for a few days anyway.

Oh. I did give some thought to that shocking old fashioned saying of 'children should be seen and not heard' at the dinner table. Well.......when every child is talking over everyone else at a given meal then that old saying seems to me to have a practical meaning. Perhaps these people of old times had large families as well and the need to have quiet for the ease of digestion was not such a bad idea. Ok, some table talk rules would be a happy medium but there are times when ALL my children seem to have the need to have the platform. So there are my thoughts on that old saying.

Besides getting things set up for the booksale, watching spring happen is the most that is new with us.

Homer exhibit

So I loved the Homer exhibit. He is my kind of artist. He reminds me of one of Rembrandt's collections where he illustrates the parables and the people are all very 'real people' sort of people. Not that they just looked real but you felt like you were right there with them catching a glimpse of ordinary life. Homer's painting are like that to me. He painted in many different settings. There was one in particular of a mountain guide sitting by a campfire and a HUGE fallen tree which I would love a copy of. It reminded me of Charley. The ocean pictures of fisherman's wives and children keeping watch for them were some of my favorite too as it showed a glimpse of the lives of families looking hopefully for their father's return. Not really romantic but real and a bit chilling.

Erik really enjoyed the exhibit as well and kept returning to different parts of the exhibit to make sure he hadn't missed anything. I am pretty sure he read every single description. I might have but brought the wrong glasses and it was sort of a challenge. When we got to the Hopper exhibit, our feet, backs and stomachs got the better of us and we opted for a quick looksie and then went to the cafeteria for lunch. I knew Erik was hungry when I asked him if he wanted to just walk through the rest of the exhibit quickly with me and he asked if he could go with Grandma who was going right away to the cafeteria. Sometime a young boys stomach rules over interest.

It was a good day. I wish I could have figured out some new areas of Chicago to look at that were close to the train station but didn't think we would have any time left to do that so hadn't looked into it. I also think it would be easier to drive in myself as it took three hours to get there and three back. Ugh. When I drive it takes less than two and the drivers don't make me that nuts. That would leave more time and flexibility to look around.

An explanation

So a wise friend of mine pointed out to me that I am pregnant and that would explain a lot of the crying on dime syndrome. Makes sense. Then I told her that I am not always pregnant which turned into her pointing out that most of the rest of the time then I was post-partum!!!!! I have been one or the other for 18 plus years!

Another friend said "Yes, I feel like this too for another reason." That will be next........ugh hormones.

I still can not stand sitting in a class or church and then suddenly I need to find a way out that doesn't send the pastor or people with us wondering what is wrong etc. Perhaps I need a t-shirt that says "pregnant or post-partum, proceed with caution".

No I am not in the depths of despair but drat does this issue bug me. I am sure it gives me somewhat of a reputation for crying easily and it is true I was like that in kindergarten and drove my parents nuts. Stop crying Karin!!!!! Perhaps the back of the shirt should say "Be careful what you say around this one" Ugh. I think what I almost always need is a nap or a good laugh.

Hope you all have a cheerful day!

Sigh

Sometimes I just wear myself out and find myself difficult to live with. I have been ‘sensitive’ all my life and sort of get sick of how easy it is to set myself to tears. Other people just seem so strong and never fall apart in public.....sigh. Today I have been processing (again) how to help one of my kids on their journey through this fun thing called school and planning for their future. It is easy to say “remember, don’t despair” but when the future seems interminably far away with such huge question marks of how to get there, it is just wearing both for the child and the parent. I know this is true for all of my children but I think it is the times of struggle that I just feel very deeply for my kids. I should never dare to go sing a hymn in the sanctuary at such times as it ends in my feeling foolish for not being able to ‘hold it together’. What is it about hymns that sends me into a tail spin I don’t know but that is the way it is for me.

So I sit and talk with my child about all these things and see the pain and impatience in his eyes and his own personal frustration coming out and I just wish I could fix it for him. “Why does everything have to be so difficult for me to learn mom?" Well dear, on the brighter side you will definitely know the meaning of patience. He has more patience than most of my kids but has the same problem as me and shows his emotions on his sleeve.

I was encouraged by another homeschooling mom that she felt she could help with some areas and that would be great. It gives me some reason to hope that it won’t have to be completely mind boggling for him. Doing things in a hands on manner does make more sense than just reading explanations of ideas and trying to wrap your fingers around it.

So……I will kick myself and my children to bed so we can face tomorrow. Never mind the fact that we are behind in house work (understatement). The future seems a long way off and a mountain of stuff to accomplish but thankfully our Lord is patient with me as well and still loves me and that is probably the explanation for why hymns set me off……

It's been awhile

It has been over a week since I have visited bloggerdom. Life has been a little on the busy side but in general it has been a good busy. This week will probably fly by. Last week was full of appointments and school and the usual at church. I did manage a walk with a friend and a brief trip to do a little shopping with Anna. Saturday I gave probably my last "New Home Schooler" seminar and "Starting High School" seminar. They both went great from what I could tell and they weren't stressful to prepare for. I can never turn my brain off after these sessions though which is sort of odd. Then it is hard for me to sleep. That took all of Saturday and we visited with friends most of Sunday so.......there was no weekend for the usual laundry, wash the floors thing.

Friday I am going to Chicago with my parents to a Winslow Homer exhibit and I am looking forward to that. I always enjoy such excursions and with a new baby on the way I better do that now.

Oh yes, I forgot. My great aunt Marion died last week. She is the 97 year old who I visited last summer on the way to Higher Things. I used to write her a lot as a young person but life dictated that I didn't write as much while raising the brood here. She had five kids and I always used to marvel at that when I was a kid. She and her sisters, one of them my grandmother, humored my love of getting mail a lot back then. I modeled my handwriting after my great aunt Hazel who was truly a GREAT aunt. My brother has the same memories of visiting Marion and Leonard's farm and the crazy bull they had in the barn yard. We would play games with it across the fence. Marion's husband Leonard marveled at how much canning we did. He died a few years ago. I will always marvel at Marion's agility to the end. My dad is now almost as old as Marion was at dad's mother's funeral. Huh. How weird. I am sure it is odd to him to have this end to this era in his life as well.

Charley has been gone a lot lately but I can't complain as he hasn't traveled much in awhile. Anna remembers how once he called and said he had to leave for an emergency trip to Florida and I took him some luggage and the joke was......he asked for me to run to the bookstore at the airport while checked in and get him something to read on the plane and I bought a book by Kevin Leman which I thought was his book on birth order. Well.....it was a book by Kevin Leman about how to choose your mate based on birth order. He called me later to ask me if I was trying to tell him something. Ha! He knew it was an accident. It still was funny though. We gave the book to our neice later. He returned perhaps three weeks later from what Anna can remember......That was a long one.

That's all for now!