You Don't See That Every Day

I've been going to the same store for about 13 years. Sometimes when I think about it, that blows me away. There are a couple of cashiers who have basically watched my kids grow up, and seen our family grow from one to five. We have a certain cashier we like to go to; the kids call her "The Nice Lady," as in , "Mom we need to go to lane 8. The Nice Lady is there!" She is friendly, and always smiling. Maybe she remembers us because the kids are nice. Maybe it's because taking 4 or 5 kids grocery shopping is a novelty to some people. For whatever reason, she knows who we are. And today something happened that I just need to applaud her for. Last week we went in for our big grocery trip. We had a lot of stuff to get, along with a number of coupons. One of the girls always likes to be in charge of the coupons and handing them over to the cashier. At the end, I check to make sure the coupons were received, and then off we go. This week we had to stop in for

The days of sunshine bring smiles and mud. We head out to the farm to pick up potatoes and  carrots and apples lounging in the cellar. And we also  pick up Mud. In our hands; on our boots; across our jeans. Sunshine, beautiful sun, come and play again.

Is it donut, or doughnut? Either way it was yummy. Do you remember Grandma's donuts? Oh, the memories! Way back in my childhood, my parents bought a donut maker. (I'm going to go with the shorter spelling.) I remember just a few times of it being used. And somehow - thankfully! - we have inherited it. If any of my siblings want it ... we could probably work out a loaner system. So the two older girls begged me to get a pretzel recipe from the neighbor. And so I complied, because that sounded yummy too. It's winter in Oregon. Homemade bread always makes the gray days better. As they were compiling the ingredients - we've learned from past experience to check first - we realized we were out of unsalted 'real' butter. And I am pretty sure the recipe we had wouldn't work so well with our cheapo margarine. So they dug out the donut maker and 'convinced' me that they could do it. And they made donuts. Hallelujah. They've been listening to me cook

The other night the Boy challenged me to a duel; a battle of strength; a test of endurance. We arm-wrestled. I don't recall just how it came about - he was probably dissin' me about something and we needed to settle the matter. What I do remember is the awesome result of the match. His right arm and my right - arm, well yes, he is stronger and took me down after a little struggle. But then we changed sides. And he couldn't get my left arm to move. He tried everything too, but I just happen to be stronger on my left than he is. With lots of giggles and glee, I reminded him of the benefits of packing around an almost 3 year old child regularly. Who needs a weight-set when you have kids?!

One of the best moments of the day Blowing bubbles with Little K. She would blow, then laugh, laugh, laugh. Even funnier was the dog Who chased any bubble she could see, and leaped all over the yard trying to catch that bubble. Hilarious! Easy entertainment.  

In my corner of the world this past week I did ... our taxes. Just the preliminary figuring. I wrote down the numbers, researched the numbers, added the numbers. It was kind of, sort of, fun. Almost like solving a puzzle. I ran ... and ran! I made it up to 5 miles today! My first mile was alone, kind of a warm up. Then I snagged our dog and ran with her 2 miles. She is such a good pace-setter. And getting better at not chasing the squirrels. Or else they are hiding when we go by. The last 2 miles I exchanged the canine pacer for a minion-pacer.  My daughter and her bicycle helped me finish up. Oh, it feels good to go this distance one again! I baked ... heart sugar cookies last week. Most of them went to my son's basketball team for snacks, but the girls and G got some too. We didn't do a big Valentines Day celebration, because, really every day is a Love-ly day with my family. (But we did watch the Charlie Brown special!) I watched ... plenty of basketball. I love the game

Daddy, I want to help. This little one loves to be in the thick of things, whether it is hauling firewood (she actually sobbed the day the kids were helping move firewood and I wouldn't let her outside) or helping build the addition - laying down flooring in the girls' room.   So these pictures were taken earlier in the week. Today!! was moving day. Even though the bunk beds were put up -and slept in - on Tuesday, it wasn't until today that we had time to start moving more furniture, clothes, books, and all the paraphernalia that two girls have. I had hoped to have photos to share ... but the girls have discovered something on the camera called "video" and have worn out the batteries. So no new photos until I go to the store and get some more. But at least they are happily ensconced in their new bedroom. And I have a bunch of organizing to do downstairs!

Oh, how I love Sundays. (The ice cream kind, and the day kind.) Sundays mean church and friends; the kids make lunch, and I get to nap as long as I want. Sundays bring family walks (sometimes) and some TV zone-out time. Sundays are family days. This past Sunday was not quite what I had in mind though. We had some relaxation, we had some family time. I got a tiny nap and there was mindless television. But most of this happened in the ER. My husband woke up at 2 am with intense stomach pain. After trying various methods of relief (I'll spare you any details) he was still in pain. I watched him writhing around on the floor, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep. Finally, just before 7 he said I think we need to go to the doctor. (I'm so thankful our son is old enough to be responsible for his siblings for a while until my sister could come over to supervise.) I have never seen my husband in so much pain. It reminded me of my baby-contractions; such intense, focuse

When my girls get a hold of my camera I find numerous, odd photos. But to spare you, I only included a couple of them. here's one of a girl jumping in the air. As my oldest girl explained,   it was hard to get just the right shot. Yeah, I kind of figured that out when I saw all the pictures on the camera. These girls make me laugh. Tonight our two older daughters participated in the regional Awana Bible Quiz here at our church. It was pretty cool to watch, and hear, them answer so many questions about the Bible. They have studied hard, and memorized a ton of Scripture. They also participated last year, but this year.... this year, the oldest girl got 2nd place! Wahoo! And she is going to the State "playoffs" next weekend! Thankfully it is being held locally - at our church! - so I can juggle the basketball games and the quizzing day.   And I came across this scene at Little K's dollhouse earlier in the week: hmm... I wonder if this is what she sees a

We're riding in the car, one of the numerous times we are in the car today. My 7 year old says to the 2 1/2 year old, "You're not the authority!" and of course the little K says, "I'm not a shorty!" At least we had a good laugh while we were in traffic.

We got outside Thursday! The sun was (sort of) shining, and we needed firewood; so a trip to the farm was on the day's agenda. And what a fine afternoon it was. The girls helped load up some wood, and then we had enough time before we had to pick up the Boy from school, to take a walk down the lane. The girls actually asked if we could stay a little longer, because, as they said, they never got time to play out there, and wanted to stay long enough to run around and play. So we walked and looked and laughed and ran. Little K. likes the camera, and wants to see the photos immediately! and she also likes to have the camera in her own little hands to take pictures. I let her this time. Most of the pictures came out like this: On the was to get big brother, the little one was worn out - well and it was nap time - so she had a good sleep in the car. This is what her older sisters do when they are waiting;   In other happenings of the weekend ... I made it up to