You Don't See That Every Day

In my corner of the world this past week, I read a travel magazine and dreamed of all those places to go; I watched my kids enjoy the church Fall carnival, and get too much candy; I battled a cold all week; ugh. I ate too much candy bars and candy corns; I went to dinner with my family - 5 kids and my husband. It was a near disaster with our 6 month old; sigh. I danced with my baby girl to the tune of Josh Turners' Why Don't We Just Dance; I made birthday cake, graham crackers; and carrot bread; I bought shoes for my son, my daughter, and I splurged and bought some for myself; I celebrated my girl's birthday; I learned not to stress when the baby cries in the restaurant, because that will make her cry even more and then you might want to join in too; And most people are understanding. Or at least appear that way.

My eyes have been opened to even more differences in my upbringing versus my kids'. This morning the Boy had a football game at 8:30 am, meaning he had to leave the house by 8. Now for most people this doesn't seem unreasonable. But if you home school and have an infant who does not sleep through the night, along with a 5 year old who often gets up in the middle of the night and needs help - well then leaving the house dressed and looking alive does seem unreasonable. So only the Boy and my husband went out in the rain to play/watch football. My oldest daughter asked me(out of the blue), "Can we watch Saturday Morning Cartoons?" (yes, in all caps, because it is an Event, unheard of in our household.) And then my 5 year old asks, "What are cartoons?" So naturally I let them watch cartoons while they ate breakfast this morning. And now she knows.

It's that time of year - the kids get a little costume mania going on.  Last night was the AWANA fall carnival at church - a night for the kids to dress up in fun costumes, play games, get candy. This year my (10 year old today!) daughter went as a cowboy. Again. She is becoming more and more like me every day. Miss M. went as a butterfly or a fairy. I wasn't sure which. I had fun with makeup though, and so did she. We found some bunny ears while looking for the fairy wings, so naturally little M went as a bunny. The boy did dress in football gear, but no photo ops were allowed.  Instead we got one today. Notice anything different about his teeth?!

Baby K is 6 months old today! She's getting really good at moving across the floor in a strange not-quite-crawling way. She can sit up by herself for a few seconds. And she has a loud happy 'scream' that is uniquely hers.

(this one's for you angle face) In my corner of the world this week: I missed my sweetie who had to travel for work I enjoyed my girl's delight when I told her she could do ballet after all, just her, no siblings attached. I bought groceries, basically for free, using a gift card. I watched my kids deposit money they had earned and saved, into their bank accounts. It was a sweet moment. I listened to my 6 month old "scream" at me because I was taking the time to change her diaper before feeding her. I've never had one of my babies scream at me like she did. I also watched my boy score touchdowns at his game. Woo!! I went to a wedding, and got to see friends we haven't seen in a long time. I learned to pray for little things: Our son had a scrimmage/exhibition football game on Friday night at the high school game halftime. I prayed hard that the rain would just wait until they were done. (My husband wasn't home, so I had to take all the ki...

I have been away. That seems to be a common theme for this time in my life. Football dominated the weekend. There was a wedding. The next day was pumpkin carving day. My brother holds an annual carving party, dozens of friends and family coming to carve pumpkins. In the recent years a pumpkin rolling has been added to the list of events. We all stand at the top of the woods and take turns rolling. This year we even had a King crowned - the one whose pumpkin went the farthest won the crown. It just happened to be my 26-year-old nephew.

(our front yard) I realized I never informed some of you in far-flung places about the latest on our house-for-sale. The house had been up for sale since March 8, or so. In the first two weeks that the sign was up, we kept the insides very, very clean. Clutter was gone, trash was put out regularly, even the lovely smell of Febreze refreshed us often. We had one realtor call for a walk through. And then time went by, and my baby-belly grew, and I got a little tired. And no one called to look at the house. And more time went by and I had a baby born, and I was very tired. And the house looked like 5 kids and no grown-ups lived here. And then I had a 6-week old, the house was not looking much cleaner, some clutter was creeping back in. But. No one came to peek at these wonderful living quarters. Not a one. Nada. So we dropped the price. We looked at various home around the area. And still no one came to see our place or make an offer. So we took the house off the market. We can survive in...

I am the queen of substitution. And whenever I mention how I made a recipe my husband usually whips this little poem out: " I didn't have potatoes, so I substituted rice. I didn't have paprika, so I used another spice. I didn't have tomato sauce, so I used tomato paste, A whole can, not a half, I don't believe in waste. A friend gave me the recipe, she said you couldn't beat it. There must have been something wrong with her, I couldn't even eat it! " -- author unknown Today I made breakfast again for lunch. The recipe, breakfast pizza, calls for bran cereal to be sprinkled on top. I don't have bran cereal. (Rarely do I have it.) So I crushed up some other cereal, sprinkled some oatmeal on top also; and it worked! Admittedly, some of my substitutions have not worked. I like to throw leftovers together and make soup; so the one time I had spaghetti leftovers ... well let's just say the mention of spaghetti soup brings a grin and a grimace t...

I have an admission to make. Not a confession, because this is a good thing, and no shame here. I like ironing. I Like it. I LIKE it. (I still remember ironing for my brother when I stayed with his family one summer. It was that wonderful.) So this weekend I ironed the pile of clothes that had built up over the past week. I turned on the radio and went to town. I find ironing relaxing. And it gives me a great time to just think. For some people, the shower is The Place to come up with ideas. For me, ironing is when I get some good thoughts. A song came on the radio - Small Town USA - by Justin Moore. I started thinking of growing up in a small town in southern Oregon. At the time I wanted out (like he sings in the song) but now I look back with fondness. I had a great home, land to run around on, mud pies to make, cow pies (dried!) to throw, mud to squish in between my toes. Of course, there was a lot of work to be done, but I remember getting dirty. And I began to think of my own chil...

In my corner of the world this past week: I watched with great emotion as the Chilean miners were lifted out of the mine. We kept the live-stream going on our computer all day Wednesday and the kids cheered and clapped with each new person brought out. I went to more doctor appointments; one of them for the 5 year old who had some immunizations. ouch. I read a book. Yes, an actual fiction novel, from beginning to end. After weeks of not having time to read a book, I just sat down yesterday and did it. Of course, I stayed up too too late to finish it. I watched my son score a touchdown at his football game. His new nickname, "Shake and Bake"; he's got some moves! I enjoyed a shopping trip all on my own (well along with baby K, which is good b/c she kept me from buying more than I went to buy) and I purchased my daughter's birthday present without her knowing. Keeping secrets like that isn't always easy in this family. I made a menu plan, and stuck to it this...

Minion meaning, "subordinate; servant" As in " I'll have the minions clean the house. " or " That's why we have these minions, isn't it?" Yes, I have used this wonderful word in my everyday speech this week, more than once even. It's a lovely reason to have 5 kids, if only to use this great word.

It's a few days past when I *normally* post this, but then I found out today how not-normal I am ... so it all works; anyway, In my corner of the world this past week: I left the house too much. I was gone more than I was at home; I watched my baby "creep" forward using her arms; I read Runner's World, well part of it, I haven't read a book in I don't know how long! I made English muffin bread and graham crackers; I bought a baby gift for a baby shower; I threw caution to the wind and took off for the coast for an afternoon; I learned that I need to be spontaneous a bit more, that I can strike a balance between organized-scheduled and free-and-wild. Now to explain the first sentence, I went to a new doctor today to see what he would say about my chronic hives; I was so looking forward to a "cure". No such luck. I am a medical mystery; most people have chronic hives for a few months in his opinion; 3 years is quite a long time in his words. So ...

It's too soon for me, but today baby K moved herself forward to grab something she wanted. And then she did it again. And again. And again. So during nap time we spent a few minutes baby proofing. (I'm just not ready for her to be moving yet; this changes everything!)

The beach in August: The beach in October: Notice the dress of my girls ... coats, hats, blankets in August. Shorts, capris and wet legs in October. Yep, that's how it goes on this coastline! Actually it's a toss-up for any day on the Pacific Northwest. So last Wednesday, I checked the weather for my sister, and seeing it was going to be 73 and sunny, I announced to the kids, "Let's go to the beach!" Let's blow off school for an afternoon and rearrange all those other things, and just go have fun. Spontaneity - something I don't do enough of because we are always doing so many other things. And we were so blessed by an afternoon off. No squabbles or whines or complaints all day; teamwork and smiles all around. It was a wonderful sunny time. And by Thursday morning I was wishing I was back in that sunny spot on the beach.

Birthdays can be like flamingos, they just keep showing up, getting stranger and stranger. (I actually had nothing to do with these this time around!) My brothers share a birth date, 9 years apart, and so the family got together last weekend to 'celebrate' all those born in Sept. and Oct. These two birds happened to show up also.

Memories. We each have a plethora of them. Lately my kids have been asking for more stories of when I was a kid. I know I loved listening to my dad's stories of growing up (the one about his split finger, the knife in his brother's head). I can't recall my mom's but I bet she told us some! So I have been writing down random memories that come into my head. Someday I might assemble them to make sense and let the kids read them all. Here's just one example: " There was an orchard in the front section of the acreage with peach and apple trees. I took it for granted at the time, but oh how I wish we had one now! On the bottom half of the property we had cherry trees and peach trees past the barn. I used to hate helping my mom prepare the produce for canning; but now…it’s what I do. Mom would pick the beans early in the hot summer mornings and Dave and I would sit at the table and snip the ends off and then cut them up for Mom to c...

In my corner of the world this week, I bought orange nail polish. I'm branching out, but realized it wasn't the right shade. Plus the girls nabbed it, and they really like it! I went to the doctor's office, for 4 different appointments. "Health Week" here at our home. I had an X-ray taken of myself. I began reading a biography on Helen Hayes, a beautiful actress IMHO.