Opportunities to sweat

Anna and I are making up neighborhood clean-up signs. That will certainly be a reason to sweat. ANYTHING to burn off some fat cells. Yes, I am obsessed. There are women I know who JUST had a baby who are skinny as all get out and I am just stuck. I was invited to go to Fernwood this afternoon but I can't as we are having dinner guests over at five. There are more leaves to rake, and signs to deliver to people about the clean-up so that will take off some fat cells. I could scrub all the floors in the house on my hands and knees but I think the cooking will take over at somepoint. The husband is also working on my kitchen so I hope I don't break into a sweat figuring out how to cook for guests when the kitchen is torn up. I can be pretty creative that way though. I better RUN!!!!!

Cutting back on the Kum Ba Yah

So says the headline in the Wall Street Journal. The article is about how families are cutting back on sending their kids to summer camp. The featured family spent 12,000 last summer for two kids to go to camp. Uh.....wow! I think this is the saddest article I've read so far on how people are having to tighten their belts in light of the economy.

This evening was a little odd though. We have had three days of the stock market rising and I sort of wonder if that had some sort of mental effect on people or something. Anna and I were at Target buying an umbrella and diapers (not a related purchase :o) ) and there were lots of people in line with carts full of STUFF. 200 dollars of stuff in front of me. Wow again. I didn't even notice at first but the lady looked at me with my diapers as I was hoping another line would open up and she apologized saying something about "It must be Christmas". I am sort of curious if there will be some sign of a jump in consumer spending because of this short little jump in the stock market. This is just an outsiders observation of what I see going on. I know, I know, I am just a little, sheltered, naive mommy buying diapers but it did seem a little strange. I have not seen anyone buying much of anything lately. Lamps, sheets, skimpy shorts, and other non-essentials in abundance were passing through the checkout.....

Hmmm......I just want it understood that there is no Kum Ba Yah going on here in Hornerdom, at least I don't think they sing that at Boy Scout camp. I 'll have to ask.

I hate ticks

We are going to need to take up nightly head inspections around here. I hate those nasty little things and how many more of me can there be around here to make sure we have all our bases covered???? Yuck, yuck, yuck. Do I run to the doctor every time we need 'the rest' of a tick removed???? Maybe I am getting chickens back as the population did not seem as bad when they were around. Excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall.

Pictures

Looking at a few pictures lately of moms with their brand new babies reminded me of the fact that there are very few pictures of me at all. I have pictures of me with my brand new babies but as the mothers mentioned above observed, they are not always the most flattering. I thought about this well over a month ago while at a visitation for a friend of Charley's who died in early February. Leo had GREAT pictures of himself, all taken by others of course, holding his kids and grandkids and of the times he spent in general with his family. So I got to thinking. If the only pictures my family can find when they have to put together some poster of me, is of me having just given birth, then everyone can comment on how I look better than I did while I was alive! Isn't that amazing. This is a post that was long in the making so a few others have heard this observation already. I am usually the one taking pictures and pictures are almost always taken of the kids and almost never of me. The poster can also include pictures of me hoeing the garden and snow blowing the driveway. This is why there are no pictures of me on facebook. I will have to put up one of those not so flattering post birth pictures eh? Then people can comment on how much better I look now.

Music and mid-life crisis

Perhaps this is what is called a mid-life crisis. I go with Anna to her piano lesson and it just makes me want to get back into music. I LOVED making music when it happened in my life that I could and I miss it. I miss ensembles and symphony and playing with friends. I miss my horn teacher. Anna's piano teacher reminds me of her. I suppose this is all longing for self-indulgence but music was a HUGE part of my life once upon a time. I suppose I sort of regret not majoring in music and I am VERY excited for Anna that she will be able to.

The other part of my mid-life crisis is.......being and feeling fat. Ugh. I used to be in such great shape and even if I was in good shape I certainly wasn't fat. Yes, people say "You are NOT fat" but a wardrobe hides a multitude of sins. I can't seem to kick the fat and want to do something about it. Even though jogging was not recommended I think I will try any form of exercise that might be available or reasonable to do considering the weather and time for now.

Last thing......hair.....I don't think I can handle long hair. Other people's hair is long and beautiful. Mine, if it even thinks about getting long, is drippy and heavy and takes too much time. It also accentuates every fat cell of my body........so there you have it. I want to be able to wear the clothes I have and not EVEN think about looking for clothes that fit a little looser. NOOOOOO!!!!!! That would be succumbing to my fatness! Am I ok? Sure.

Have a wonderful, cheery day folks.

Busy weekend

It was a busy but good weekend. I won't elaborate too much on my social life but it sure is nice to have such wonderful friends. I was especially thankful for some more intimate conversations with a friend at church who I have no doubt we should do that more often. I love it when someone can sense I need to talk to someone and just listens and understands when I am being a lunatic. There is just something sweet about being understood especially if I know that I am being stupid, selfish etc. and to just get that sort of yucky stuff off my chest and be able to laugh about how silly we can be. This probably doesn't make much sense but I am going to write it anyway. Sigh. Needless to say the whole weekend was good and too bad we can't all just sit around all the time and visit and laugh and enjoy each other's company without worrying about the next day's responsibilities. Perhaps heaven will be like that and there we won't have to either worry about washing dishes or wondering if all the perishable food got put away. That's sounds delicious all around.

Funny shower game

I was searching for baby shower games last night and came upon a funny one. I am not sure it is just a baby shower game but it worked. It said to take a basket of mismatched socks and time people matching them. The person with the most matched socks wins. I did a little different twist and since I had access to my own sock basket and two other families baskets, we made up teams and I gave them ten minutes to match socks. The mom given the shower had her basket there and the team that worked on it made 69 matches in those ten minutes. As she would say "sweet!" They were the winners. The other two baskets made 48 and 28 matches. Not too shabby. They all had fun. I think I would call this the large family shower idea or game idea. Maybe we can do this at voters meetings or potlucks. :o)

Friday's Ha Ha

I took Erik to the bank to put some of his money in cds and while I was there decided for Matthew that I would do the same with some of his money. They have chaulked up little nest eggs for themselves with their animal projects etc. When I got home I told Matthew I had bought some CD's with his money in the bank. I wasn't really thinking anything was odd about this comment but he looked at me a little stunned and said "you did what Mom?" Then it dawned on me he thought I had purchased music cds with his money. SO.....I couldn't resist "Yes Matthew the van is full of cds. Hope you don't mind and I just thought since you had some extra money that you wouldn't mind too much if we got some cds with it". I then told him what CD means. "Ohhhh, ok mom." relieved son.

The key to toddlers actually sleeping

Wear them out. Our first dog was a crazed Dalmatian and I walked that dog at least four miles a day to wear him out some so he would leave us alone at home. Our little Stefan can definitely wear us out with his displeasure about almost anything. He also would not sleep long enough in the morning and Matthew was getting worn out from getting up early with him. Well.....yesterday was gorgeous and we kicked him out to play. He didn't want to come back in and he played and played all day. He did take a little nap but out he went again. He ate well, and JUST got up to greet another beautiful day. This boy loves to be outside and I think we will have more peace around here now that it is thinking of warming up outside. The Stefan screaming was beginning to make us all nuts. At least I do not have to walk the boy four miles as he I am sure walks four miles on his own. He slept from nine (OK, we got to bed a little late last night) till eight this morning. Oh happy day.

Now to go cook and clean. Yippee!!!!!

The Battle of the Bulge

Dh brought this movie home and no, I do not think I can stay awake for all that. It did me make think of my own Battle of the Bulge. I can not wait to get my hands on a hoe. Rakes and shovels are sounding good too and the grass should be growing soon too. Yippeee!!!!! Sweat! Playing with bees makes you sweat too and that too sounds delightful. Jockeys used to put on suits similar to bee suits to lose weight so bee keepers can too. I am hoping to have the most pampered bees this summer. I couldn't touch them last summer as I did not want to get a new suit just to fit.

Ingrid has been a little naughty lately and is reminding me of baby Cecilia. Cecilia used to pinch me all the time and little Ingrid is picking up similar habits. At least she isn't laughing at me yet like her big sister did. Cecilia had an abrupt weaning.......poor child. I don't even think she noticed. Ingrid, I think, just needs daily manicures or something. She has knives for fingernails. Ouch.

Off to nighty night land......sooooo tired. Fell asleep during the family movie watching. Some people I know fall asleep during conversation.....

Swinging our feet

There is nothing cuter than a baby swinging her feet in happiness. Ingrid does this all the time. Older children do it too. Perhaps we adults should give it a try. I was sort of laughing, thinking of some shorter people who complain of chairs not being short enough to touch the ground. THEY can SWING THEIR FEET THOUGH. I am jealous. I was definitely a foot swinger as a little girl and frankly it was fun. Maybe we all need to get some taller chairs so we can swing our feet.......

I think I will actually be sad

I can not believe I am saying this but since there are only around 11 to 12 weeks of co-op left I am thinking of how I will be sad to stop for the summer. I know we have to stop as summer is nuttier usually than the school year. The kids seem to really be learning a lot lately and also seem to WANT to learn a lot. It is an atmosphere that seems to thrive on learning. They do not seem stressed out and one of my groups even challenged themselves to complete their book by the end of the school year. So far so good that seems to be clicking along. Keeping up with grading is a trick though and I should really devote an hour or two to that in the next few days.

In the meantime I need to read my brains out to keep up with them but I am enjoying that too. 'The Chosen' I think is one of my favorite books now. It certainly was the most interesting book that I have read recently and I would really like to read the rest of his books but of course I can't pull that off right now.

Teaching I am in my element so much that of course the house work stuff slides. Hopefully I can catch up on that too by next Monday morning!!! Ugh. I definitely enjoy seeing and hearing the kids discuss the books they have read and having a handle on different literary terms which was a goal for the year. Now to challenge them some more......

I best scoot to bed. I am more than exhausted but the day in general was good.

What a day.

It has certainly been a long and full day. The morning began very early with our geriatric dog wanting to go out and chase some animals. I gave up getting back to sleep shortly after that (5:30am) and drug myself out a little after 6:00. The kids needed to get up early anyway to be at choir practice. We were a few minutes late but not too bad.

The service was great as usual. Sang my funeral hymn, Sing with all the Saints in Glory, (I think that is the title but am not running down the stairs to confirm that), made it through the service with Ingrid keeping me plenty busy. Little Benjamin received his first communion this morning so that was a moment of excitement for both of us. He was all decked out in this suit which I discovered had quite a bit of donut on it from the last time he wore it. The choir descant went very well at the end of the service and dd Anna looked pleased. I did sniff a little knowing that my favorite setting to the liturgy will be on hiatus for awhile. Sniff.....sniff.....

After church and Bible class we headed off to Matthew's Court of Honor. I think it literally WAS his Court of Honor. He seemed to just shine all through it and obviously everyone there loves and appreciates him. He is now patrol leader of the Ferrets (what a name....) and his old patrol put on a skit entitled "Ten reasons we will miss Matt". Hilarious. They also had a skit where Matthew is sawing away at a log and someone asks the rest of the members why they weren't doing anything and they replied "Because Matt does everything for us in our patrol." Woot! He really should try out acting in some plays. He has confidence that I did not know he had, and a great sense of humor and enthusiasm. Several of his fellow Scouts were watching my reactions and seemed anxious to witness the look of pleasure on my face. I love this troop. The boys were all enthusiastic and seemed genuinely proud of their work and advancements. The leaders are great as well and very supportive of the boys.

Martin is sort of the Scouts mascot at the moment until the end of May when he will be old enough to join the troop officially. In the meantime he hangs out and boys treat very decently for being considerably younger than they are. I am sure he will love being a Scout there.

This evening, after dropping Anna Nana off to help at a friend's house, I came home to play some games with Martin, Cecilia and Benjamin, dinner, catechesis, and reading some to the kids and now I should be in bed. Ingrid fought sleep but perhaps will be in bed for a little while. Erik loves to say to me in the most pathetic voice "Po little Ingid, all alone up in her bed.....all alone.....Po Ingid...." Sweet child my eldest son. Knows how to rip my heart out. Some of you might be familiar with his dry sense of humor.

I am lamenting missing my good friend but should be able to see her more easily in a few days. Ingrid will get to meet her BFF too! Yippee!!!!

Now I must really hit the hay......zzzzzzzz.....

Teaching another child to read

I have begun this journey again. So far so good. We are also doing some math but just the very basics. I detect that this sweet little child is not going to take to reading as easily as some so I will have to keep working on that patience thing. I did have to laugh at the description of the product I chose to teach him with. It said something about how patience is needed in teaching children to read. Yes. Definitely. I am letting Stefan eavesdrop so perhaps his journey won't be as painful.

Two of my children did learn by eavesdropping which was a wonderful treat. Actually one of them heard LaRena explain the rules for about a week and she was up and running. The other did literally eaves drop and began to correct the three years older child during his lesson. Sigh.

I always see teaching a child to read as both a challenge but a relief when they figure it out. Everything is so much easier when they can read and they become more self entertaining. People have commented that my kids seem pretty content to play on their own and I am not sure why that is but being able to read is an added plus to peace in a household.

It was a good school day overall. I actually have energy left and a sleeping baby to boot so should scoot off to declutter something before she wakes up.

Oh, last but certainly not least....we are looking forward to said child's (Benjamin) first communion this Sunday. Yay! I am excited for him and he too is excited and brings it up at random times during the day. I need to go hunt his suit.

Support a mom and wife need.

I would post the link to a post by Concordian Sisters but I suppose a reader could look for it. It is hard to maneuver with infant in arms. I don't really remember the title but it was just a few days ago about a wife and mother's need for support and what happens when it doesn't happen. Well I suppose I could elaborate that if I had advice to give to any husband or extended family member, it would be that a woman does need to hear that she is doing something right. This is especially true after a LONG day with kids who might have been less than charming or exercised their sin muscle a bit too much. Days can be long and what I see moms blog about are things like how amazed they are that they got only a little bit done that day or having blog titles like "the laundry is never done". I don't believe these are bon bon eating, slothful soap watchers but rather moms who REALLY take their vocations seriously and faithfully serve their families. Life for a mom is very task oriented and let me tell you, a compliment or message of appreciation can certainly brighten their day. It might even make the difference if given on a regular basis, of keeping the mom from coming unglued. I heard a mom express recently that she wondered if people thought she were incompetent after a certain patronizing comment was made to her and my heart wrenched. Moms are very sensitive to anything that may hint of being an evaluation of their ability to mom. Sometimes we misunderstand of course a person's intent but really being a mom is open season for random comments. First time moms have the BIGGEST target and I wince at well meaning people who say weird things to new moms. I think I am now more practiced at laughing at such things as some people think Ingrid is my first. These condescending comments are really quite hilarious as I might slip out a comment about how my sixth or seventh child was really far happier to do thus and such......

But.....family members, please do not forget to thank the mom/wife for all she does. Our only performance review comes in the form of either complaint or thankfulness. A mom could certainly be tempted to feel like a failure otherwise......failure is not a good feeling.....

T.I.R.E.D.!!!!!

So I have been making some attempts to get Ingrid in her cute little bed as I am no longer sleeping with her as in I am not able to get to sleep with her hanging out with me for all the wiggling etc. Some nights this goes well but last night was ridiculous. I must have had a hair too much caffeine yesterday as I seemed buzzed. Today I must exercise my patience muscle in several areas so I will have to concentrate hard on keeping the crazies (children) busy and quiet, and keep my mouth in control somehow too (Lord have mercy.....). When I am tired this is what HAS to happen. I am so very weak when fatigue sets in......

Catechesis at my house

is like an exercise routine.

could be compared to watching monkeys in a zoo...

a test of my agility.....

a test of my patience.....

never boring....

nothing like a church service......

It generally goes like this if you can picture it. Children eventually show up for catechesis and we attempt to begin. Someone usually has some level of drama is stating "Make haste oh God to deliver me" and then the 5 month old, two year old and even the six year old see how close they can sit next to me. This may seem sweet but in the meantime I need to juggle papers, the TDP, my hymnal and there may also be all the other hymnals and Bibles that my two year old thought I may need during Catechesis. Plop goes a hymnal on the floor and then here comes an elbow to cause me to have to shift the TDP so I can continue reading. There is an amazing amount of shifting of the book so I can read it. I would like to see a Pastor try to keep reading with a five month olds hand groping to see what he has in his hand and at the same time watching all the rest of the random behavior going on. Actually I am very glad they don't have to do that because at least the reading seems to keep going at a steady rate and I can usually hear most of it at church. Somehow we make it through. My exercise routine does include a lot of book saving though by shifting books to safer positions while the little elbows are flying around. True you all could say that I should just have perfect little angels sitting quietly during Catechesis but I am a professed far from perfect mommy and though I do give it my best effort, two year olds elbows are hard to control. If I do too much in the line of trying to stop the flopping two year old he may raise his face to the heavens and let out a squeal. Oh joy. Then I have to decide if I should stop everything and stop that behavior or ignore. But then......the two year old's other six parents might decide they need to take care of the problem and we are interrupted.....again.

So goes Catechesis at my house. At least we get to it most days of the week and I am glad there aren't any video cameras around and rarely any unexpected visitors during these gyrations.

Warmer and brighter spirits

Despite a lot of extraneous stressors lurking around, the past few days have been good for me. It is so nice to not be cold, not be shoving wood in the wood stove, not listening to the fans of the woodstove, and just enjoying the sunshine peaking through between the rain. I enjoyed a walk yesterday evening with Cindy and I did not even mind a little mud to slip in. I am sure it is too optimistic to think that this weather will last. I understand the gas futures crowd is counting on some more severe cold weather mid-February. How cheery.

Warmer weather inspires me to tackle the work that is not done around here. I become more efficient (I am sure that makes my dh happy) with plans and cleaning etc., and it seems like I get more done. Weird. In the summer I actually look forward to some time inside and cooler weather. I must just be fickle. This is certainly not a deep thoughtful post and frankly there has not been too much excitement around and hope that there will not be any excitement to report in the very near future. That is all for today!

Found....a little too late

I was waiting for Anna to run into a shop to pick up something and dear little Ingrid starting crying so naturally I tried to find her Binky so she would be happier. I never found the Binky but I happened to glance into the empty car seat next to Ingrid's and THERE IT WAS!!!! Martin's glasses lens!!!! This car seat was stored in the garage where Martin lost the lens to begin with. I guess we never thought to look that far up!!!! We had just put the seat in the car over the weekend. So we now have an extra lens and spent 30 dollars a little prematurely but I suppose for his sake not fast enough. Life is pretty funny at times.....

After a very nice yesterday

Between church, an interesting Bonhoeffer discussion, and a lovely evening out and at our home with friends, yesterday was a breath of fresh air. I need all the fresh air I can get..... Other highlights from yesterday were getting the taxes basically done (federal) (thanks dh)(they owe us), getting the house cleaner than it was for Bonhoeffer discussion people so now I don't need to mess with that so much today, the baby slept for three hours on her own (woo hoo!). and the sun shone but I did not manage a walk.....

Mondays are NOT my favorite day. At least the mornings can be tiresome so I am hoping things go smoothly today. I should try to squeeze in a walk this morning too to help me not fall apart literally. This kid raising thing/vocation thing amongst other things does whittle away at me and my weak little countenance struggles at times so I know I need to get cracking here and move on to the next thing.

Oh.....me being a bear of little brain, I am trying to figure out how to be more clear explaining my little brain thoughts......I am JUST not good at that. I used to be and now I think I suffer from fear factor of not being understood......there you have it.

Saturday (night) and I ain't got nobody....

Sure they are referring to something else but doesn't that mean that you do have somebody???? At any rate I am pondering how many somebodies I have around here and how Saturdays are very fuzzy days as every one of the somebodies has a different idea of what Saturdays are for. I myself have a clear cut agenda but the water gets muddied as each of their agendas are revealed. I am plotting a plan to make my Saturdays more predictable and not so muddied. I think everyone in this crazy family needs a predictable Saturday. But....how to help that along is my burning question for my brain today. Next Saturday is but a week away.........

Good news is always nice

Anna was accepted to the Jacob's School of Music. I am very pleased for her. We have been quietly waiting and it is certainly nice to learn this in a timely fashion so we know how to proceed. I am excited for her and then of course there is the mom thing of trying not to panic as life keeps spinning along. The year is rushing forward and I will have to join the 'kids flying the nest' club. Rats. But on the other hand it is right for life to keep plugging along and I can say with all honesty that there is much to look forward to so will try not to get too bogged down with feeling blue.

Seven more to go and I know I am not done with the Annabanana either. My brain sure can use a break at times of processing the next thing necessary on all of their roads toward flying the nest. Can you say homework???? Mom keeping up after the homework doers???? Mom TRYING to keep patience with the homework doers.

Better run back upstairs and see what is going on......

We will try her birthday out again tomorrow

I think Cecilia was sick on her birthday last year. I will have to check out last year's blog writings to confirm that. At any rate, she is nice and sick this year and I would say not too whiny about all the coughing and temperature. We did not even attempt to give her birthday gift to her as the day was also very busy with co-op stuff and church. She slumped around the house and did manage to blow out some candles on some cupcakes we made for her to share with the rest of the kids in co-op.

I spent my little time available with her giving her cough syrup and Tylenol. I always like to reflect a little on when each child was born on their bdays. At least that is what comes to mind when I stare at them in their pj's and I am tucking them in. She has been a cutie pie all along and is growing up quite a bit especially the last few years. Sigh.

So if she is feeling a little better tomorrow I will whip her up a cake and hope to spend some time with her. I do need to go glasses shopping for Martin.....again. We will be in search of dork glasses that will be indestructible. He has broken or lost parts of his glasses three times in the last month..... I guess the first year of glasses was like that for my older son as well. His blew off his face into the grass while biking. Martin's was your basic cartoon, stepped on a rake and hit his face and the lens went flying......somewhere......sort of loss.

Happy Birthday Cecilia!

Sickos

I thought everyone was on the mend but they all woke up sicker. Hmmmm....I have only a touch of the problem but today seems to be crawling by with kids creeping around being only mildly responsible. I am VERY much looking forward to spring at this point. I have my weight issue to whittle away on and that is pretty hard when you can't take the little person with you. I keep dreaming of hoeing the garden and knowing it will do some good. I love hoeing have I mentioned that?

Cough, cough.......lots of coughing. Yes mom, they are sick. Cough, cough, cough......

Cold walk, cold me

I don't think I have warmed up yet from my walk last night. I felt chilled to the bone as the saying goes and I can't say I have quite felt toasty since. I guess it was colder than I thought it was and the night was cold too. Our 'heating system' had a small failure as somehow the wood did not continue burning the way it usually does and formed a bridge in the middle. The house was FREEZING. I am now interested in finding some real long underwear and I did unearth my wool socks this morning as well. Brrrrrrrrrr.......

We plan to walk again tomorrow but the temperature is supposed to be a balmy 35 and not the 10 of last night. I must go find my latest read, set in South Bend, Death in Lacquer Red, which is just strange to read as all the locations are real places I drive by frequently and have been to. I feel like I am on a driving tour more than reading a story. I can't recall ever reading a book and having to orient my brain to where I am in town before.

Not much else to report. I did have the pleasure of going to a lovely baby shower and visiting with friends this afternoon. Fun.

We have erased yesterday

This morning I suggested we get out our imaginary wipe on/wipe off boards and erase yesterday. I do feel a lot more sane today and keep having to remind myself that I am the Mommy! And don't you forget it! There are so many yucky, tedious things that drag me down but I am somewhat ready to face the little whipper snappers again. I did really appreciate what Glenda had to say on her post on motivation. We are reviewing a list of places to go as a reward for our goal setting. The Field Museum in Chicago I believe is our first pick.

Today my spirits were also lifted by finding a car seat carriage carrier (or whatever you would call it) and my back is sighing in relief. It was second hand, the price was right, and mommy and baby are happy. No more lugging the car seat awkwardly around and being sore all over.

I do believe a therapeutic walk is on the agenda this evening as well. The unshoveled sidewalks make me sore just by themselves. So.....maybe the snow will melt someday. Snow, snow, snow with no end in sight.

Thank you again Glenda! and your hubby too!

Loony update

I called my walking friend and she was up to taking a walk so we scheduled a time and I watched the clock to know when to run out the door. Well.....while we were attempting dinner the phone rang and she had to bow out as there was an errand that she had to do that could not wait. So.....I begged my family for someone to go with me. No one volunteered. I must be too scary or it is too cold or something. It occurred to me to ask the hubby and.....he agreed! I insisted it be on my regular walking path as I knew he would want to stay in the neighborhood and I did not want to. It is dark and much slippier around these parts and my friend's neighborhood has lights and more shoveled areas. Off we went. After a few blocks he asked if we were almost done. We had barely begun. I drug him through the neighborhood which I am pretty sure is a four mile hike and it was just a good thing he came with. We talked through my insanity and I do appreciate the time he took which would not be his regular choice of evening activities. He was cold, slipped, (I caught him :o)) got hungry, evaluated the lack of shoveling even from the fire department, sped up towards the end and made for the car. I usually talk with Cindy about books we are reading etc. so asked him what he has been reading and he actually bit and told me about his latest book on wood - riveting. All and all it was a good walk. One wrong turn in that neighborhood and you are completely lost but I made it without my friend, feel a little better, and hope I can go again tomorrow night. Thanks Charley.

Some days I hate homeschooling

I have no doubt that most homeschoolers feel this way from time to time but frankly, homeschooling this crowd has been somewhat overwhelming lately. Some days I just don't feel like facing the little non-reader and the giggling grade schoolers who have trouble focusing, and the older kids who avoid the subjects they don't like.

Another funny conversation today from the same boy as other funny comments.......I was watching him do everything but his math and it was making me NUTS. I said "You know Martin, if you were in school the teachers would probably be having me give you some sort of medication to help you focus." and Martin replies, "There really is medicine to help you focus???? Can I have some???" Ugh. Then my eldest said she could use some too. This whole family needs some!!!!! How does the mother of eight side tracked people married to the expert of side tracked people keep their sanity????? AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I think I need a little escape this evening. WalMart to pick up some yogurt I need or.....could my walking friend be available? I will have to give her a call. I am feeling very loony at the moment.

Part of the homeschool insanity also is having to spend a lot of intense time taking care of my own children not including their laundry and stomach and then the cute husband comes home and needs care as well. Then......it doesn't end. Caring for them goes on and on till......ZZZZZZZ......I try to get a few winks before it starts all over again. Did I mention that the side tracked husband tends to come home only to leave for his next project so the little whining, crying, tired, hungry wungries are still here with their not so cute mommy. Hmmmm......

There really are no options but at least hubby is drawing the line in the sand with kids on TV and Internet till some subjects are caught up on. Somber children. Tired mommy.

Afternoon fun

My kids went sledding with some friends this afternoon. It was FREEZING out but they seemed to enjoy themselves. My parents came over to celebrate Benjamin and Cecilia's birthdays. Mom got Benjamin some sort of delightful drum that makes all kinds of noises with different music with. I wish I had the camera up and running as it most amusing to see her demonstrating how it worked. I think we need to find her one for her birthday as she seemed a little torn to be giving it away. She was calling us the last few weeks and demonstrating it over the phone to Benjamin. Hmmmmm.........I don't think she has grown up and I have a new perspecitive on what to get her from Christmas and her birthday.

House work

I think paying off the house might have inspired dh to take trimming out the house more seriously. Remember.....no nagging or asking any questions. What it has done for me is that I have been looking at the homestead differently when I pull in the driveway. Don't ask me why but I get this weird little feeling of "wow, no more payments" each time I've driven in since yesterday. I have less of a sensation to dance on the table but still might every so often just to keep my reputation with the children and husband of being odd alive and well.

I smell popcorn so must run and eat some. I love popcorn. My dear daughter made some popcorn and is a little cranky as she did not buy sufficient sewing supplies so cannot tackle her latest project. Poor, poor daughter. I feel for her and I am sure her daddy can too as he too has forgotten key supplies during one of his projects. Like father, like daughter. She is going to watch a movie instead. I should read more Bonhoeffer. I find a lot of Bonhoeffer hurts my brain and I can only take so much at a time.

Debt free!!!! Yippee!

God richly and daily provides all we need to support this body and life! The mortgage is paid off! Christ be praised! I am such a happy woman.

So I went to the bank today sort of by accident. Anna needed a pair of shoes repaired and the bank was across the street from the shoe doctor. I decide to pop in and ask about the whole process. Our goal this month at the bank was to pay off our mortgage. It did not occur to me until I walked into the bank that I could do that today. Charley only gets paid once a month so we weren't going to have another pay check so.....why not today? I told the information lady why I was there and we both got sort of excited. Surprisingly I got butterflies in my stomach as it was hitting me what a wonderful point this was in life to be completely debt free. I was not expecting to feel anything but while she was working out the paper work I was just feeling stunned and grateful it was over with. She warmly congratulated me and I skipped out the door with an official looking paper in hand. Jumping up and down for joy.

I called Charley and suggested we go out to eat to celebrate (we RARELY go out to eat) and he said something about wanting to celebrate with friends. I said "But Charles dear, I am your WIFE and this is OUR house we are talking about". "Oh, good point. Let's do that." So his choice is Texas Road House. It is not always my favorite as it can be a little loud at times but if the husband wants a steak then so be it. I am going to ask for a table rather than a squishy booth. Ingrid will be along for a ride and there is just no room in those booths for the mom and the baby.

Cheers everyone. If there is a little extra spring in my step you will know why.

New list idea

So it occurred to me that my making lists for the kids to do was making me a little nutty. Why do I have to make them lists? They are aware of what they need to do so I turned the table on them and told them to write on the board what THEY got DONE in the day after they completed something so when their dad got home they had evidence of how they spent their time on the board. I figured it also might make them more aware of how they were spending their time.

I was discussing possibilities of what they might include in their list. I had also just taken notice that a certain child had VERY little underwear in their laundry....hmmmm.....so without embarrassing that child, I mentioned they could include changing their underwear on their list. Actually I think there are several kids who seem to have a mysteriously small number in their weekly laundry. I am referring to the younger children. My dear eldest made sure to put that top on her list. I couldn't stop laughing.

I would say that overall they were much more concerned about how they spent their time. I also called their day their "free time" as there is MUCH whining around here about not having free time. They consistently frittter time away during the day if they have a list made by mom on the board. They have seemed to have no awareness of how fast time passes. We shall see how this goes. Day one of a new idea always seems to go better. Consistency is always the challenge.

Sadness and swallowing my pride

It is always a tough day when I realize I am not cutting the mustard any longer in providing for my baby. I have been through the turmoil of 'trying to do things better' and try to hang onto exclusively breastfeeding my little person and frankly it is the better thing for me to do to just shove some cereal (or beef ;O)) into her and put her back onto the road of weight gain. Yes, I spent an hour or two wondering when this happened yesterday as her last appointment showed her climbing up the weight percentile scale. Sigh. Solids are a pain and messy but I usually cave a month from now with solids with the rest of the kids anyway. Ingrid will be five monthstomorrow. I always feel a little pang of sorrow when I even hear mention of people struggling with leaking all over the place. None of that going on here.

So, shut up Karin, keep doing the next thing that you are given to do and Ingrid will still keep her cute smiley self and not be scarred by solids at five months. I should be glad I made it this far. January was a crazy month and hardly a restful one so I shouldn't be so surprised.

Oh, I figured this out through mere suspision that she had stopped gaining and through dragging her to the scale at my friend the doc's.

Oh......tread lightly if you feel the need to discuss this with me. Only words of "I am sure this is hard for you" will go over too well right now. The nursing mother brain can spiral into being inadequate, not trying hard enough, judging myself, etc. Understanding this concept is perhaps difficult for the population who has never nursed their baby, let alone eight of them. Anna was prematurely put on the bottle, solids etc at the coercion of others, Erik was the most talented at growing and eating, Matthew made it to nine month before solids (wow), Martin was 6 months, Cecilia five, Benjamin 6, Stefan 6 but should have been 4 probably, and so now Ingrid is five. I suppose that is average for me.

Sniff, sniff, where did I put those little spoons anyway and NO I do not need new ones.

She doesn't mind

For the record, Anna doesn't mind these comments. She is used to it by now. She did say she would prefer if people would ask instead of assume. That's all......

Giving blood

So Anna wanted to give blood today but her hemoglobin (or something related) was not high enough. She was bummed. I had Ingrid with me of course and the nurse asked Anna if the baby was hers. Sigh. She wasn't embarrassed, just a tiny bit annoyed. Anna then said that she thought all the hoity toity (spelling?) parents at the audition probably thought Ingrid was hers and that is why her mommy was holding the baby for her. (I haven't had a chance since she said that to point out that her mommy wasn't just HOLDING the baby.) I don't think she is upset with the me or the situation but I am sure it is awkward to be a young 17 year old with a four month old baby sister who might be hers in other people's eyes.

What I did during the Innaugeration

I copied and pasted my favorite jokes from Susan's blog. I discovered my son's quote from Christmas was one of them but the one that has had me in stitches the most is the kid whose Dad was part of Democratic National Convention. My dh's eyes bugged out of his head while I was telling him.

Another funny dream

This time we were all at church on Sunday and it was the end of the service. There were some construction workers outside the walls and there were construction evidence inside of the church. The pastors had exited the church and were waiting to greet people in the back when suddenly some guy comes and tells us that the walls are unstable and we should really get out quickly. Well, we have this tradition of the ushers, ushering everyone out so no one got up to leave. The ushers must have left as no ushers came to usher us out to greet the pastors. Then, suddenly Pastor Stuckwisch ran back up the isle and into the sacristy declaring he needed to blow his nose. Hmmmm.......Anna thinks that last part was because of a discussion the two of us had about Matthew. We were sort of giggling that the poor boy would have to learn better sinus habits if he ever thought he wanted to become a pastor. The church falling down part I think came from another discussion at church about how there were some pressing needs at the church that needed attention and someone used the phrase of the church falling apart.

Then the dream progressed to my saying goodbye to Sandy before her trip and giving her a hug. So Sandy, hugs from the blog and from my dream. I will send you an email hug too. I missed being able to say goodbye to you on Sunday but I did in my dreams. You are in my prayers.

The Hiding Place and Cost of Discipleship

I am done rereading "The Hiding Place" and am about a third of the way through "The Cost". The first is a reread and I suppose since it has been 20 plus years since I first read it, I would say it is worth rereading more often. Anna and I talked about it and agree that this book and "A Day in the Life of Ivan D" are pretty similar. It is astounding and scary to read the potential for sick, cruel hatred and also humbling and inspiring to read of people capable of loving and forgiving their tormentors.

"The Cost of Discipleship" is definitely humbling as well. Some phrases are perhaps a little confusing to this bear of small brain but I am enjoying reading it. I cannot put my thoughts down in bloggerdom quite as poetically as some but this book lays it on the line what it means to love our neighbor and exactly what cost there is to the Christian who lives out their faith in this world in service and love for their neighbor. I am sure I am not stating that exactly right but my brain at least knows what I am talking about. I am looking forward to discussing this book with my class and hopefully a pastor or two.

Another book I really enjoyed last year related to WWII was "The Book Thief." This is a new publication and what I especially enjoy about this book is it shows the war through the eyes of German citizens and helps the reader understand how many people were caught in a state where resistance was not tolerated and that there were people who quietly resisted, loved one another and did what they could for all people who were suffering and dying during the war. It is mainly about the life of a young girl who is taken in by a German family and explores her relationship with that family and the people in her neighborhood. The characters may seem harsh at first but the author reveals their frailties and fears, and their hidden qualities that are more caring then first appears on the surface. It reminds me of situations like going to church and only knowing some people on the surface but if you were able to spend more time with them you would grow to appreciate them far more. The surface relationship is so deceiving and lends itself to fast judgements. Not everyone is flamboyant in their lives with other people and what they live out in reality can be far richer than that quick judgement or ignoring of the quiet, ever present people who are all around us. I guess I especially enjoy books where the characters are well developed and you form a relationship with the characters as their stories progress. I especially enjoyed this aspect of this book.

Most of my reading has been for the classes I teach in our co-op so there won't be too many for fun books on my list.

I think I need some exercise

I have been living somewhat in terror of the scale and contrary to some people's opinion need to figure out how to lose even a little bit of weight. I can't go to the extreme of my popcorn diet of years ago as Ingrid probably would be the loser in that plan, but SOMETHING needs to change. I was having a great time exercising over Christmas break but now it has been snowing or completely way too cold to even get outside. My not exercising also brings on that word Anna uses of Constantensation which I haven't fully appreciated it's meaning till I finally figured out what that meant this weekend. There is nothing to make me feel that tense outside of an overwhelming list of things to do and also my desire to curl up in a chair and catch up on all the reading I need to do for school. Reading in a chair will not help the filth go away.

The kids are upstairs taking down the tree and then I hope to clean up the blurp on the floors before Anna and I run off to an organ concert at ND. I need to fit in feeding the blurper in the next hour as well. Hmmmm........

I will try not to think too much about my newly stocked supply of Meade (spelling?) that might tempt me while avoiding my vocation. "Mom!" chirps the two year old as he discovers me in the basement. He is napless and didn't eat lunch so early to bed for him tonight.

Ok, ok, back to the house rescue......

She did great !

I meant to blog last night but I was WAY too tired and too busy wrestling with Ingrid to do it. Anna was enjoying some very silly Youtube stuff that another organ student was talking about so there was much giggling while I was attempting la la land.

Her audition was Friday morning at 8:30am. We got up at 6:00 and were at the school for her to warm up by 7:30am. Warming up had two meanings. It was only 8 below zero in Bloomington as compared to 19 below in South Bend but certainly cold enough that her feet and fingers needed some warming up before she warmed up her playing on the organ. Brrrrr......we have a knack for picking politically correct weather. (You know that extreme weather is a result of global warming don't you???? Even though as a kid this was considered normal weather) Last spring it was unusually warm when we visited. Her warming up had its glitches thanks to nerves I think. We left for her audition at 20 after and Dr. Fischell and Dr. Young greeted her warmly and in she went. Ingrid and I were in the hallway outside. You can hear everything through the doors. After a tiny bobble in the beginning, Anna sailed through her pieces beautifully. I was busy pacing with Ingrid, trying to concentrate on praying for her (it is hard to pray while listening to a prelude and fugue did you know that?) and also thinking about how incredible Bach's pieces are to begin with. Her other piece was some Mendelssohn sonata which also went very well.

She had to sight read a hymn and she tells me that the professors told her to pretend the pastor gave her a new hymn on Monday to prepare for Sunday. This to a girl who looks up the hymn for Monday evenings on Monday afternoon. She believes she just smiled and went ahead and played. I could only hear a little bit of that and had never heard that hymn before but it seemed to go fine.

We had many conversations with the organ professors after that which I at least found helpful. I am always full of questions so I can understand what is going on. She should know in a month, the result of her audition but considering our conversations and the fact that they seem to be building their organ program, I am optimistic she will get in.

We had dinner with the organ students last night and they impressed me as a great group of young people who seemed very down to earth and serious about their studies. One grad student has two children so she would not have to miss little people all together as they come to all their events. Their names are Carolina, and Annaka. The name Annaka they told me was in the same name family as Nancy. Who knew - sorry Mom, I didn't know...... We got back to the hotel close to nine and I hope to get on the road around nine this morning. It is Benjamin's birthday so I need to get stuff around for him. Perhaps we won't be able to pull off cake till tomorrow but who knows.

It was a great experience overall so we push onwards to the next thing in the Horner family.

Snow, running around and the homelife

I think I am hiding right now from the reality of life with the kiddos. I better type fast. It has been a hectic day as I knew it would be. We are having more than the usual ammount of snow for us today and all week. I am keeping the plan to leave sometime on Thursday afternoon as the time to leave for Bloomington. They are calling for a foot of snow tomorrow and into Thursday but they say that is ending at one. Hmmm......we may be leaving a little later than I thought. Those people in Duluth who read this blog are not required to express any sympathy for us Southeners. I am actually delighted to get real snow but why does it always have to decide to come when I have travel plans????

Whenever I have a day to run around my children at home decide it must be a vacation day. Not. I find it very difficult to keep after the grading on days like this so I am in a 'give up' mode which I know just affirms their idea that they are on vacation. I NEED to go upstairs and round the troops.

Matthew had an orthodontist appointment, Anna had an organ lesson, and I had an appointment to see how painful it might be to renew my teaching license. I want to take a few courses to help me more effectively teach the kiddos English/literature and have been toying with taking a very slow journey towards working on a Master's in English. This may be totally insane but according to the lady I spoke with today, lots of people take this approach. I can not say I was that impressed with the interview itself but would have to take courses locally anyway so I can not be too picky. In light of my scary, screaming children I may even give up on the idea of a few courses to renew my teaching license but we shall see. Stefan must have a nap hangover or a nap cut short too soon to produce a happy child. Sigh.

Back to the vocation........

Finally winter

Just kidding. It has been winter here for awhile but I haven't changed my view from my window picture. At least it is obvious it is winter in this picture. Today was the "Big Tree Contest" award ceremony. OOOhhhhhh! Aren't you excited and impressed. The tree in the view is the largest Beech Tree in our county. Our shagbark hickory is also the largest in the county. Every time we go this cute little event the kids chat about how certainly we have some more winners but then they never bother to measure them for the next contest. Oh well. Not much changes around here. Everything is about wood in one way or another.

The kids are sledding at the moment and I need to retrieve my ten year old from Grandma's. I thought I would throw in a picture of our three girls since I believe it is the first picture of the trio we have taken. Pretty nice picture eh? I need to go figure out my school stuff for Monday and am hoping I can remember where we left off in December. That will be a trick.

Off to the Knackers with me

If I were a cow (which I am not) I would have been sent to the knackers a long time ago. Nursing babies is WORK for me. There are those moms who worry about leaking all over the place but not me. I am just happy my baby is leaking at all. The past several babies have been a challenge in the weight gain department so I have had to really concentrate on how much I eat, drink, rest etc. If I get that right then I can at least provide for the little peep squeaks. The other thing I have resorted to and not given a hoot about is having little Miss Ingrid stay with me all night. The little nipper at least will get a bonus then and her weight gain has been the best of any of them. The question of "Is she sleeping through the night?" is always a little awkward as I cannot help people understand this sleeping with the baby thing and not see it as I am spoiling her or something. She is actually a very happy and content baby so why throw her in her crib just yet? The few babies before her that I threw them in the crib started to lose their steady gain of weight trend. Do I care if those moms who are not off to the knackers put their babies in their cribs from the get go? No. I sometimes can feel that I am not a 'with it' mom as I haven't done that yet with Ingrid but I am at least happy to be a 42 year old mom who does not really give a hoot if I am doing this mom thing right or not. Being 40 something is certainly good for learning how to ignore the norms of society.

No that was not an announcement

We are not expecting twins or singletons so in case you misunderstood that last post.....that was not an announcement, just an if......(I am easily misunderstood......)

You are amazing

So says many when visiting with us. I guess I should be flying high since people find me so amazing. Am I really so amazing or just doing what God has given me to do? In the next breath the same people will look at me with concern and ask if we are going to have anymore children. I am not so fond of that question as it smacks of "None of your business and this seems like a pretty personal question to me." Hmmmmm......this has been discussed on another blog before so this is not a new thought. Where but with my like minded friends can I talk about how I am OK with my family and my life. Sure there are times when I wish some of the kiddos would learn to not be such sinful little creatures but sin happens. I just need to stay up a little later at times to recharge.

I was contemplating this morning, how moms of many ARE professionals. Who else can manage children of all ages as well as mothers and not find it freakish to have one preparing for college while there is a two year old being introduced to the potty and a four month old 'vomiting' (as the neighbor called it) on the floor beside him. It goes with the territory. The game plan of the morning IS.......spring from bed, start decaf machine, reboot laundry, feed and water dog and kick him out, fold laundry, contemplate whether to get the crew up, and perhaps wash a floor or two (yes, I do wash floors on occasion and without guilt), unload dishwasher, contemplate dinner and if there is anything for lunch and then at 8:00am deal with the kids who are up and compiling their list for the day. Then while doing all that I think random thoughts of what each child needs and sometimes an occasional thought of the older children's lives and what is the next thing I need to do for them besides find them clothes that fit or cut their hair or whatever. Who says that being a mother is mindless. I also throw in there the wife vocation (oh yeah, him) and consider whether he has clothes that are ironed and presentable, if his tummy is happy, are the children following the tightwad regiment, and if the legos are out of his path to protect his poor feet in the night or early morning. (I just thought how God gave me Ingrid to keep up on the floor washing - blurp, blurp.)

If being a wife and mother and taking care of the people in my life is so unrewarding than why am I so busy? It must be drudgery eh? My favorite part is helping the older kids contemplate their future vocations and work on those areas that need attention. I have especially enjoyed teaching literature in our coop so my reading brain is exercised.

Why would anyone feel fulfilled caring for people in their lives? If you are a doctor or nurse and get a paycheck then caring for others is considered worthwhile but if you care for your family it must be less admirable????? Go figure.

So.....if we have twins next year or a singleton then don't fuss at me. I don't mind my family and we have tightwadism and 'affording' the children down to a science. I put 'affording' in quotes as that seems rather insulting. Do I look into my baby's eyes and contemplate if I will be able to 'afford' her???? Not! If I love my life why do others worry themselves with if it is right for me????? Ok, I will shut up now. Well....no I am not upset at anyone in particular but little comments accumulate into thought processes on how the general public evaluates what I am up to........

Psyching ourselves up

I should just say that I am psyched up for Anna. I went again to her lesson which it ended up that we were there quite a long time. Her poor teacher must have been soaking up the last opportunities to sleep in before his classes begin and he.....forgot. He actually remembered at 9:00am when we were supposed to begin and came 45 minutes later. I never saw a man look so humbly embarrassed over forgetting. It was ok. His guilt afforded us a longer lesson and Anna was able to practice a long time before and afterwards.

We leave a week from today. We plan to party on Thursday night and try to be responsible and calm and go to bed early on Friday. Her audition is at 8:30am (ouch) on Saturday so we will have to be up plenty early so as not to be too groggy for the event. I suppose I can sleep in a chair somewhere as I doubt I will be with her considering Ingrid will be with me. It is exciting to me to hear her progress and I guess it is somewhat invigorating to witness another person excelling at what they have worked so hard to do.

Had a conversation last night with an empty nester and she was looking at me quite seriously and telling me how incredibly hard the process was for her. Sigh. "You are going to miss her terribly Karin". I know. She knew what I meant that I would miss her companionship most of all. Many assume I will miss her ability to work around the house and help with the kids but frankly there hasn't been too much of that going on so I am already weaned from that. Erik and Matthew are 'the housekeepers' now. They will be WELL equipped for the life ahead of them.

Oh, Ingrid was talking with the Notre Dame employees who were VERY charmed with her cuteness. Her best compliment yet was "Ingrid, what a absolutely wonderful name!" Thank you Notre Dame employee. Most people don't say anything at all. Another woman earlier this week said "Ingrid, we need more Ingrids in the world" Yes, we do. Perhaps we will start a trend.

I am now at my mother's and Ingrid is getting eaten up by her Grandmother. What will she do without anymore babies to hold? Ingrid is wonderful to hold. She has enjoyed every single one of the babies (ok, Stefan was a little difficult). The kids are VERY quiet right now and we are wondering what they are doing. Hmmmm........

Overload

I have been playi;ng 'put out the fires' lately. Between helping Anna to calmly get ready for her audition, getting a hold of the house, listening to screaming, irrational two year olds, and doing all the incidentals I would say I am in a little bit of struggle time. Am I ok? Yes, I suppose. I think I am ok but drat that vocation is keeping me on my toes and I feel life is RRUUUNNNN and not much fun. I did have a great weekend visiting with many friends who I don't see enough of but I am definitely paying for it now.

I went to Anna's lesson on Monday and all I can say is "wow!" I didn't know her fingers moved that fast. I think she should be fine for her audition. She seems pretty confidant and has another lesson on Thursday morning. She gets to play in the Debartemelo Building (whatever it is called) on this INCREDIBLE organ. She did that through the summer too and since ND is not up and running yet she is having a few lessons there.

I also seem to not be able to remember anything. I have lost A LOT of stuff that I need to find. I found one of them and that is a relief but now I have an illusive library book that needs located. I put things in special places so I will remember where they are and voila! I forget where that is.

Screaming. Why must two year olds scream? There is no talking sense into them. I thank God for bedtime which at least affords an hour or so of peace before I fall asleep and then......he's up again. He did nap today but I was of course away from home and couldn't enjoy that quiet for too long. When he is happy he is quite cute and agreeable but I think he has the winter blues or something. He loves being outside but refuses to wear mittens so....he can't go out.

Charley returned to his work vocation yesterday. He is somewhat tight lipped and biding his time on a few issues so I am hoping there is some resolution for him. His previous boss retired before Christmas......we shall see.

It is almost time to take off for the Epiphany service but took time to write this little post.

Latest conversation/mistress update

I meant to post this a few days ago but our phone line was broken and thus the dial-up was not working either. The day after the wood splitter came home we were eating dinner and discussing the wonderful splitter when Matthew came up with a brilliant idea......"Hey dad! Next year you can make a sawmill!" There were many screams of dismay and Charley leaned over and gave him a big hug stating something about how he was his hero. Soooo......if he makes a saw mill, does Charley have a harem??? Sigh. Life with an ADD hyper engineering husband is VERY interesting.

Oh, I got a saw for Christmas. You read correctly. It is a scroll saw from my dear husband. I have a picture of my mom with her mouth hanging open when I opened it. He gave it to me and before I opened it she said, "I bet it's a saw." and.....she was right. I don't think she expected to be right. I will attempt to use it. Years ago, when I only had two children, I was interested in having a scroll saw and Charley remembered this. It has been an obsession lately of his to try to surprise me. He did. I was thinking some sort of ornaments etc. would be interesting to make. I am in quest for patterns. I am also open to ideas of uses for scroll saws. Maybe I could make a scale model of a wood splitter and give it to Charley to use as a paper weight at work.

That's all for now.

Charley's mistress has come home

For the last seven or so weeks my dear husband has in his spare time been across the street with his mistress - his mistress is a wood splitter that he concocted from MANY pieces of junk from our dear neighbor Jim. Jim is an all things tools collector and has a lot of cast offs from large and small machinery. It is really quite amazing. So out of this stuff, Charley made a wood splitter. I call it his mistress as he has been spending more time with it than me. (Maybe that is why I am depressed). I would love to put the movie of this thing on here but dial-up takes forever. Maybe later. I am including at least of picture of her for your viewing pleasure. The movie really does a better job though. Now she is here on the property and soon will be splitting wood to pay for her keep (the expense of making her).

Now the good news is that Charley has been home a little more and all the things that have been making me crazy are becoming really crystal clear to him and he is making comments like "So-and-so child's behavior is making me crazy." and my knowing smirk and eyes bugging out of my head is my response. If my eyes seem a little stressed it is because they have been bugging out a lot the last few days. Remember the lunatic wife that called you at work dear????? Your mistress is voiceless (loud but voiceless) but what only seemed like an insane wife was really a testimony of the realities of the activities of home. Crazed laughter happens after these statements......nuf said.

Isn't his mistress attractive? She is pretty thin in places too but very loud and messy.

More perserverance

Nothing too amusing today. Well, it is true, I just got home with supplies to make Chex Mix and my husband had the box open and was munching on the supplies before I even made it in the door. Hmmmm......

We finally went to winterize the bees as it was 60 degrees today. The bees are fortunately alive and then we visited with the farmer where the bees are at.

I personally do not feel like doing anything today so we will chalk that up as part of some winter blahs or something. I did consider that post partum blues were rearing their ugly head but dear husband squelched that as the baby is four months old you know. I told him that it is still possible and then he said again that that did not make sense. I said.....how about exercising your sympathy muscle and he said that I married the wrong guy for that and that he was not good at sympathy. He is right and I told him that ironically I married him because he was not a very emotional guy and knew what he wanted to do in life etc. Is this making any sense? We were laughing about his need to analyse the possibility of whether my problem was a post par tum thing. Hmmmm......life is interesting. At any rate I hate this feeling of not wanting to do anything but I am sure it is nothing a good walk won't help. I also am wishing our break was going to be longer but these kids need an education you know......

Now it is time to face the hungry monster, namely seven kids who think dinner is on the way. Pizza? Homemade that is.......

In defense of the mom

The last few weeks has been a blur but I am thankful it has been a somewhat less painful blur this year. One thing that I have most appreciated is the decision we made several years ago to exchange gifts after the first day of Christmas. The tree was up a week ago and was just plain old pretty with no gifts under it. It strikes me that the household happiness seems to be centered on what 'the mom' is able to orchestrate and having one less thing on this mom's list helped make things more enjoyable to me. Why should the mom's Christmas be a time of stress and questioning of what she is able to get done? What she hasn't gotten done. When my dear friends tell me they haven't even started making out Christmas cards it is only with compassion and understanding that I smile in return. I suppose I tire of the world's expectations of 'how things are supposed to be done'. I personally have a small stack of cards that haven't made it out yet and this seems to be true every year. I always sort of gaze at that stack and think "Hmmmmm, I hope those poor people receive their card from me this year as it may get shoved aside in light of other pressing things." Sometimes these 'things' are not even pressing but merely time I have taken to rejuvenate myself for the weeks of school ahead. Is 'the mom' allowed to do this and not feel guilt or pressure to perform? I hope so. I took an accidental nap this afternoon. This was either the result of too many cookies or from allowing myself to actually sit down with my youngest children and watch an old tv sitcom with them. Naps happen.

Right now I am sitting on a bucket in my kitchen with sleeping Ingrid on my nap. I have fish chowder cooking away on the stove top and most of the dishes from yesterday are getting under control. Why sweat the dishes too much on the second day of Christmas? I have been thinking depressing thoughts too of how I have SOOO looked forward to celebrating the twelve days of Christmas with the daily services at church but am bummed at the condition of our road. It is downright dangerous out there. There are four or five inches of ice from the melt downs and deep freezes with freezing rain on top. We foolishly braved it this morning and I was not in fear of our lives but was not looking forward to the deductible and the possibility of even hitting another car. Sigh. Tomorrow morning is not looking much more hopeful with fog. I can not see the ice changing too much overnight but will stumble down the drive to access things in the morning.

That is all for now. The cards still lay on the piano bench where I left them last Thursday and maybe I will blow the dust off the last few in the next few days if I am not reading a book or enjoying my friends and family.

Gilligan's Island strikes again

During a very long bout of ten people suffering from stomach flu, I invested in a very valuable TV collection......Gilligan's Island. The kids love it. I think I have mentioned that before. It is the first season edition and Benjamin particularly loves the episode where this Mr. Surfer dude surfs on a Tidal wave from Hawaii to the Island.

Today my parents gave dear little Benjamin a very cool sled. He opens it and turns to my parents and says "Yippee! A surf board!!!!" We were all very surprised and then of course I had to explain his obsession with Gilligan's Island. What little boy, who has rarely left Northern Indiana would be excited that his grandparents got him a surf board???? Of course this was worth a lot of laughs and no he didn't think we were laughing at him but was rather more excited to learn it was a sled. Martin got one too and they REALLY are fantastic sleds. They spent the latter part of the afternoon zooming down our hill and into the field. It was the best sledding ever in our yard. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!!

Random humorous happening

The following story is prefaced by letting you all know that last summer we were not able to go camping at Ludington State Park due to a flood in that area.

Last week while we were preparing for our little vacation, Matthew was packing the first aid kit for the van or rather he was inventoring it. There was a bottle of meds he didn't recognize so he asked, "Mom, what is Senne?" (generic brand) "Well......that my dear is what you give people when they are feeling constipated." Predictable next question as we generally do not have family discussions on bowel habits......"What is constipated?"asks the son. "Well......(being sort of childish and immature, giggling) son, it is a problem that is more common to people on vacation and it helps you "go" on vacation. You know.......gooo......" So my other dear son who is less likely to pick up on me making little quotes in the air or might not read into what I was immaturely saying suddenly blurts out "Aw Mom! Why didn't you give us that medicine last summer then we could have gone on vacation!" He was serious and I was busting a gut on the floor. I laughed on and off for days after this lovely conversation. His conclusion makes sense.......

Too short a visit

This is Mary eating up her time with Ingrid. We had another nice visit with them today. Their son and daughter-in-law also came over to visit and it was as always good to see them. Charley had plenty of time to share his new love (his wood splitter) with his PA friends. There seems to be a general love of wood splitters in this state. I am happy for him. I suppose it is more bonding to share wood splitter information with folks who love them as much as you do.

I caught up on all the family news with Mary and Pam. The kids ate almost literally all day. I can't even think about eating more food right now.

This evening we went to Kurt and Cindy's and had a very nice visit. They are dairy farmers and they know what it means to work. More wood splitter talk there and Cindy and I chatted about their son's college adventures, life changes etc. She is an editor for Taste of Home too and she expressed disappointment in recent changes made there. I was intrigued and did not mention that I liked the last issue. Hmmm.... Cindy is another friend who it would be nice if they lived closer to us. Wouldn't that be great if all my friends lived near by. Nearly two years between visits is too long. Cindy didn't know about Ingrid until the other day when our Christmas letter came in the mail. They were pleasantly surprised.

I am now sitting in the hotel watching M*A*S*H reruns. The kids are introduced to another mommy past time. And here they thought Gilligan's Island was the best thing in TV.

Erik ran around taking pictures of everything on the farms we visited. He had a blast. He could write a book documenting all things old on farms. We kidded Floyd that we could send him copies for his records.

That's all for today. Tomorrow is a VERY busy day. Ingrid wants to go to bed too so nighty, nighty.

Visiting friends

We are on a brief trip to Pennsylvania to visit some friends from Charley's growing up days. It is difficult to explain how near and dear to our hearts Mary and Floyd are and it will be very difficult to say goodbye to them this time. They are like another set of parents to us. We saw them yesterday afternoon and their limitations are more obvious this time. Since we last saw them Mary has had a stroke and heart surgery. She looks good but hearing Floyd express his concern for her put my antennae up to not wear her out. They are both 77 this year. Floyd also had his health challenges the last two years. Mary and I had a laugh over their new exterior wood burner. If you know about wood burners, she used to have an ancient one in their basement and she would be the one to haul the wood in, pitch it down the stairs and load it several times a day. Well, while she was in the hospital, Floyd had to do this and took notice of how difficult this was. They now have a new exterior wood burner which is loaded right next to the wood pile. Interesting. He is doing the loading too. She is a good sport and we shared the amusement of the sudden change. 50 plus years of hauling wood, I cannot imagine how many tons of wood she has carried. At least the wood we burn is carried right next to the burner.

We will see them a little bit today and some more tomorrow but can see that with Christmas this week, I would rather not wear her out so she can enjoy her family. Despite teasing Floyd about the burner it is also obvious how much he cares for her and this is a man with a reputation for his orneriness. I thought I took a picture of Ingrid with Mary but will have to do that today.

Not to slight the Rodenbeck's, we did have a great little visit with them as well. Poor Erik misunderstood my picture taking instructions and took probably twenty little videos of their trip to a local museum. No wonder they took so long to take...... I love visiting with friends who are accommodating to our overwhelming crowd and especially appreciate their willingness to take us in. The roads were pretty messy on the way there and the wind blew and blew our fifteen passenger van all over the road. Charley's arm hurts today and I wonder if that is why.

Perserverance

So Anna FINALLY was contacted about her organ audition to discover there will be a theory test that weekend as well. We are now in hot pursuit of Music Theory books so she will feel less freaked out about this. I am sure she knows more than she thinks and I have reminded her it is a placement test but being a good conscientious first born, she does not want to look like an idiot either. She is a calmer girl now and I told her that she also does not want to do too well and be placed higher than would be in her comfort zone. Sigh.

I am trying to get through all the laundry and keep on top of the kitchen and general clean-up. I have been having TOO MANY discussions with dear children about the need to keep after the dishes and messes etc. Gee mom, can you make everything great for Christmas, cook wonderful meals, take us where we want to go and let us read our brains out in the meantime? Or.....how about a brain rotting session in front of yet another episode of Gilligan's Island. Well kids, I too used to rot my brains in front of Gilligan's Island with not even a twinge of guilt or remorse for the neglect of my pitty bedroom, so I can say I do feel for you here but......this aint going to work.

There has also been a lot of finding and searching for lost things around here. I found my updated address book and triumphantly put it.....somewhere safe. It is lost again.

This mommy thing sure is interesting. Today was better than yesterday and I hope not to be quite as utterly exhausted tonight. Oh.....I did have bunches of fun at the pizza place yesterday noon so thank you to the husband for saving his frequent flier plan pizza punches for us. It was a nice break from the home noise and all the regulars there, which included hoards of men folk feasting on the buffet. It was just a different noise so it didn't effect me.

This morning's conversations

We have had some very interesting conversations this morning. First off, my dear ten year old son asked if we had any more arteries to put on the tree. (We buckled and the tree is up - there will be NO time to do THAT before Christmas so the time was now). "Arteries?????" I asked. "OH, you mean ornaments. Do you know what an artery is?" (Clearly not as he thought they were found on Christmas trees). He knows now.

Then......dear 13 year old son asked why Mary looks so skinny after just having had a baby. "Well, son.....the people then were far more advanced and practical in those days. We have this sort of clothing today which we are all too stupid to have or too proud to wear that camouflages our figures or lack thereof after giving birth, but instead we just complain about our various wardrobes and which one we are in now. MY wardrobe now does tend to accentuate every flabby flaw and Mary was far wiser than your mama." says the mom. (Me). "Oh.....thanks mom". says the smiling son.

Dear 17 year old daughter and I discussed vampires. Hmmmm......page 200 and something and I can contribute to the conversation now. Odd story (Twilight). Definitely more a chick book.

Now I am off to the pizza place. Surprise! Dear 45 year old husband has been saving free lunch cards so I can go out with the girls. I only had to call and reschedule an appointment to accommodate and the person I had the appointment with was very understanding fortunately. Whew. I am sure I will be adding fat to the rolls but it should be fun.

Happy 3 month old Ingrid needs to get her dadoo changed and get dressed for her outing. I wonder what pizza milk is like?

Muddle, muddle

There is nothing too particularly interesting happening in our family lately except getting from one day to the next. We are done with coop till after the Epiphany and in some ways I welcome the break and in other ways, my children seem to struggle with 'free time'.

I've been reading "The Book Thief" this past week and that has been distracting me some. I am still not done with our Christmas letter and would like to get that out. Reading can put me in a reading coma, so it is hard to switch gears to get anything vocationally speaking done. But......it's a good book so thus the struggle. Perhaps I will blog about that another time.

Anna is making Christmas cookies for the bake sale. She mixed up the ginger bread cookies using my Grandmother's recipe and it makes......400. I neglected to tell her I usually half that recipe. 'Usually' means the last time I made them perhaps 3 or 4 years ago. We are also going to attempt Rosettes. These are both of the Scandinavian flavor so perhaps I am subtly trying to make inroads with the Germans at Emmaus. I would love to have a pazzelle iron to make these outstanding waffle like cookies which you roll into little tubes. They are fantastic.

Matthew and Martin are camping!! I wonder if I should have kept them home. It is COLD out there. Tent camping would obviously not be my choice of recreation. They were excited to go though so off they went.

I have been sort of a sentimental fool lately too. Ingrid is growing up and doing more 'older baby' things and then......there are those thoughts of how Anna won't be here next year and this would be her Christmas break time. Time is flying and THIS is where I am a rookie. As hard as I want to stop this from occurring, it will happen one way or another. Hopefully for her sake, IU works out for her. So far this seems to be the way things are going. I also hope of course that that the Big Three can figure out something better than what they have been doing so hopefully dh will still be employed a year from now. There are so many assumptions going on right now with what life will hand us in the future. I have some strong opinions about the Unions involvement with all this. Dh just keeps doing what he is given to do at work and I guess people at work are sort of tight lipped about the issue.

That is all that is new that I can think of at the moment.

I need a hug

My two year old is always saying this to me. "Hug, hug, I need a hug" so after a long day (at 11:00 a.m), after struggling through catechesis with two year old and five year olds not sitting too still, kids taking their sweet time getting ready for the day, my eldest announcing the organ doesn't work, and finally my two year old trying to shut the washer door on my head, I uttered....."I need a hug!". Ugh. That is the mantra of the day. The older kids find this quite charming. "Let me give you a hug mom".

I am not a huggy person by nature as my parents were not huggers (must be the old children of immigrant Scandinavians background effect - who knows?) so I am not a huge hugger myself. Perhaps I need to work on that. The week has been......long.

Last night I needed a hug as well. Dh was having mental wrestling or something and was not able to come to church or rather I told him if he needed to be alone that we would survive. I got to church and saw that "Abide with me" was on the menu and of course was thinking thoughts of looking forward to that etc. Well........the two year old strikes again. Dad is not here so instead of "Abide with me" I think we will scream instead. Senseless screaming. I hog tied him in the lounge and hoped with the door shut it couldn't be heard. Ingrid had been tossed to Erik as I grabbed the small child and ran out the back. He was mad about something and who knows what it was. Perhaps he was contemplating shutting my head in an appliance. Then, over the screaming, came the sound of the congregation and pastors singing....."Abide with me". Foiled again.

Earlier this week I discovered that our refrigerator had suffered a slow death. There is no fixing it without spending the equivalent of another fridge so for now we have the 'great outdoorerator" and the stair master to the old fridge in the basement which being old.....still works. The broken fridge was around five or six years old. Throw away society. We also have a portable wagonerator which dh came up with to tote the fridge items around?

So maybe I really need a bottle (like the two year old). Whichever it is, I am trying to keep my humor. Oh.....it did occur to me as well, that poor me has to endure screaming toddlers, fighting children, husband who has some work stuff he is dealing with causing stress, all the school stuff, house cleaning, emotional teenagers, schedules, bills that are hard pressed to get paid, blah, blah, blah and still hold it together. Perhaps that is really why I need a hug. God's peace y'all.

There were ten in the family and the little one said

"Roll over, roll over". Little Miss Ingrid rolls over, gets stuck on her arm and cries for us to rescue her. It amazes me this natural inclination of babies to roll over. The once compliant baby on the changing table, soon is grabbing everything in sight and eating it. Soon she will be crawling away from me. The little window of time where she is content to just be taken care of, fed and changed, is already slipping away. I knew this time would come soon even when it felt like forever away and perhaps I might have complained of not being to do much without holding her. Stop complaining. Her smiles are charming. She can't crawl yet and loves nothing more than to have me stand her up on my lap and make goggly eyes at her and she smiles and giggles back. Big slobbery kisses on the cheek to my littlest girl.