You Don't See That Every Day

Thanksgiving Day 2009. Last week was a lot of fun preparing the foods to share with the family. All but 2 of my siblings were able to join us for the feast and fun ( and we missed you guys ). I brought some homemade stuffing - a little dry, but now I know - and mom's famous? frozen cranberry salad, and some breakfast food. There was too much food - which is great because we love leftovers. There was even more dessert. Which is even greater because we love leftovers!! From age 1 month to 90+ years old, we gathered and ate and talked and laughed. We played games - the Phrases game is still popular - and had a Ping Pong tournament. To my son' s dismay, there was no football game in the yard. I had told him about how my brothers used to play every Thanksgiving (well that's how I remember it), and I am afraid the uncles have just gotten to a point where grubbing in the mud with the pigskin isn't as alluring... or else they didn't bring enough clothes to change into .. or...

God has been preparing me for this day, for the past couple of weeks. Today we went in to the doctor for an ultrasound. Our oldest daughter, SaG, wanted to come too, so she got to see her new little sister in the womb. Very cool! Yes, daughter number 4 is on her way -- well in about 5 months. I was playing the "What if" game in my head last week; as in What if it is a boy , or What if it is a girl . And I concluded a few things - 1. God knows what I can handle, even if I don't think I can. 2. Little boys have a LOT more energy than little girls... usually , and I am not getting any younger, if you know what I mean. 3. A little girl might be a lot easier to integrate into our mostly female household. 4. I had a lot more morning/evening/ sickness than ever before with this one. So, in my head at least, God was preparing for the wonderful news today that we're having another girl.

37 items I am thankful for, in no particular order : 37. Being alive for this long 36. 4 great kids 35. a husband who is faithful 34. clothes that fit 33. The Amazing Race 32. Jane Austen 31. Daffodils 30. The way my husband dances 29. the beach 28. cookies 27. babies 26. Fire fighters 25. and thus, police, and doctors, and nurses 24. Zyrtec 23. Learning from the past 22. sunshine 21. college football games 20. healthy babies 19. a very large extended welcoming family 18. Skype and Facebook, so I can visit my friends I never get to see anymore 17. comfortable pajamas 16. heated, running water 15. plenty of food 14. a plethora of choices every day 13. my parents who raised me right 12. my grandparents who raised my parents right 11. an awesome pastor 10. friends who put up with me 9. freedom to do as I see fit in this country 8. responsibility - which keeps me from doing whatever I want and getting into trouble that way 7. cows 6. large, snow covered mountains I can see from our home 5....

The AWANA Grand Prix was a couple of weekends ago, but I am only now getting the photos online! The kids did not have as much time available to prepare but thankfully G did not have pneumonia this year and he was able to help a lot more. The orange car is the boy's, of course. He named it The Flying Wild Beaver. SaG chose a Herbie design. MoE wanted the cheese block with the cute little mouse. And G helped MeR to make the black, odd shaped, car; he chose the name of Black Licorice. The day of the event was a lot of fun - kids in the gym, adults too, cheering for their cars, but also clapping for each other. The Cheese car placed 3rd in speed! Herbie made it into 2nd place winner for design, and Black Licorice was also 3rd in speed! It helped to have the kids all racing in different classes. The Flying Beaver was 4th, but unfortunately they don't give trophies for 4th.

Oregon celebrates 150 years of being a state this year. All kinds of events took place during the summer in remembrance for this. But this weekend - our church is celebrating 150 years of being a church! We have been part of the church for 10 years now, and I thought that was a long time. But learning about the history some of these families have in this church, I felt like a newcomer! Today the girls and I went down to partake in the fun. ((G and the boy went to a basketball game!)) We walked around and looked at the various exhibits. The room full of wedding dresses from the past was probably my favorite. Especially when I got to see the pictures of the ladies on their wedding days - ladies I know and admire. The oldest dress there - I think - was one from 1924! My 2 youngest, M and M, did not appreciate the dresses quite as much as they did the wedding cake we got to eat and the mints that were also there. The girls also had the opportunity to make some crafts and hear some history,...

Lately the kids have been tossing out some baby names, that, well, I just wouldn't use for my baby. They get them from these books they read. Books like The Boxcar Children , Encyclopedia Brown , Hank the Cow Dog , Nathan T. Riggins . Books that have some interesting names, and characters, And lots of nicknames. We usually hear their suggestions at dinner time, and it often ends up in giggle fest. I won't mention them here, because, well what if it was your name?! We have 5 months to figure out what to name this new child. I have my ideas. G has his. Hopefully we'll meet up in the middle. We have the last 4 times. The hard part this time around is finding one that is special, not too trendy, not too unique, but not used in the family already. I have a feeling that we will be having a repeat this time. By repeat, I mean a name that someone in the extended family already has. We have a nephew on both sides with the same name as my brother. We have nieces on both sides with th...

Last night G. and I watched the movie, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. It has stuck with me, all night and into today. I woke up at night thinking about it. I am sure I will be thinking about it the rest of the week. It is a movie I think every adult should see and share with their children at some point. It is a movie about a family, a Nazi family, during the Holocaust. The father is high up in command; the mother is concerned about her position in society; the children are, in the beginning, quite innocent. The twists and turns it takes are not expected. I kept trying to justify different scenes in my dreams. I tried to explain away certain behaviors. I looked inside myself at my own prejudices I hold. I might say I don't have them, but I do. I kept thinking, it's not Bruno's fault - he shouldn't have been in there. (If or when you see the movie, you will understand that better.) But then I had to remind myself, none of the Jews were at fault. All of the Jews were inn...

Today marks the day of my parents' 55th anniversary. Wow, that's a long time! All of us kids threw them a party back on the 50th, but this year was a quiet one. I hope we all make it five more years to have another, bigger, bash for their 60th! Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! (Sorry I forgot to send a card. I'll get right on that.)

Just a little of my random thoughts today: It's Veterans Day. Now, I haven't looked this up yet, but is it for all military personnel, or just ones who have served in the past, or just professional ones serving now? Our family on both sides has a diverse amount of relatives who have served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Merchant Marines, National Guard, (and my friend in the Coast Guard). Back in college, G. entered ROTC for the Army ... I think... it has been so long ago I can't remember! But for various reasons he didn't continue on. Selfishly I am glad he didn't! But I am so proud of my uncles who served, my dad and father in-law, and today, my nephew who is still in there. For some reason I always get choked up when we play the national anthem in church, and ask those who served to stand and be recognized; gets me every time. The kids are playing in the boxes today. Although most school children had the day off, mine had to do schoolwork this morning. So...

By the end of last week I did not feel like smiling at anyone. Hence the earlier post. But by Saturday afternoon the sunshine was back in my life. My bestest friend, my husband G, took all 4 kids for the day, and let me go out. Alone. Shopping alone. Did I mention I was alone? And I loved it. I needed it. I was out of the house by 9 am! I wandered through stores. I tried clothes on over and over and over. Nobody whined about going to the bathroom. Nobody was hungry except me. So I went and got a Jamba Juice and one of their pretzels. And nobody asked for a bite. OK, I love the kids and love being the mom ... but every so often, I just need to be on my own. I found some maternity clothes and some were even on sale. And if it wasn't for needing a nap, I would have stayed away even longer. As it was I surprised them all and came home mid-afternoon. But it gets even better! I got to go out again yesterday all by myself, to check out a sale on maternity clothes. And then again today I g...

What I love about Fall - besides the smell of woodsmoke and the local high school football games - is the food! It's soup time! And the desserts! I am looking forward to cooking in my new oven; I've already got a list going (yes, I make lists for everything) : pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie cornbread stuffing (from Pioneer Woman's recipe book) turkey, (from my lovely cooking mentor C.H.) sweet potatoes homemade rolls (although I can never make them quite as good as my mother in-law!) cinnamon rolls (again, never as good as my Grandma's, but I'll give it a whirl) and frozen cranberry salad (from Mom) I'm salivating over all these things I want to make and consume! Thankfully the kids eat all of this too - or this baby weight would be doubled in no time!!

How often do we smile at people as we pass them on the street, in the store, at church? Often I will smile occasionally at a stranger; most of the time at people in church, since we've been going there long enough to recognize most of the faces. I was challenged this week by a friend to look at myself and see how often do I smile at my children. !! (Thanks, S.) She heard this from someone else at a retreat she went to. But it sure resonated in my life. I have been thinking a lot this week about how I treat my kids. This has not been a "fun" week, nor was the last one, mostly because I have so many things on my "to-do" list. And then I get a little cranky when the kids are not hard at work, all the time, on their own chores or school work. So, I'm taking the challenge. I'm still going to have high expectations of them ... but I will try and be a little nicer and happier when I talk to them. And I will try to smile more at them.

I have had so much chocolate in the past 4 days, I needed to make oatmeal bread to eat for a snack instead of fishing another Almond Joy out of the bowl. The girls were the only ones to dress up this time for trick-or-treating. The first door we stopped at (thankfully neighbors we know pretty well) the 3 of them just stood there, not saying a word! We coached them for the next stops. At one door, we heard them say "Trick or treat" before the door even opened. We sported the Ninja look this year, the kitty cat, complete with a tail you can't see, and the Princess, surprise, surprise, surprise. The boy walked along with us, eventually wishing he had dressed up too. He gets to share in the grub though. Other than the few hours we put into collecting candy, we did a bunch of work around the house. It was so nice to actually have a free day to do this! Earlier in the week G. installed our new oven! After 10 years in this hous e, I finally have one that works correctly. He also...