You Don't See That Every Day

Let me tell you about my run this morning. My 11 year old rode her bike while I ran. We stopped at  a stranger's house. I've done it enough that my kids are surprised when I do it but not mystified-surprised. My 11 year old asked, Do you know them? and left it at that. We stopped to tell him his truck lights were still on. I knew the truck was old enough to be one that won't automatically turns off the headlights. So we knocked and rang the bell and listened to the dogs bark. Finally the man came to the door and I explained why I was there. He was quite appreciative, even though he had just gotten home from working graveyard shift (oops). Now I don't tell you this to brag about me. Not at all. It's because of Allison. Not my relative. No; it's the one who writes This Blog . ((You've gotta check it out!)) I enjoy reading her adventures with 2 little boys, and her out take on life in general. She has challenged readers to Friendly Friday. And it wasn...

The conversation this morning: Me: Kids, it's time for chores. Get dressed and get started. Son: You don't have any chores. (emphasis on the you) Me: Oh?     as I look at the lack of fire burning inthe wood stove. And I offered to show him my to-do list. I gave him this little poem. I made it up on the fly. Pretty amazing huh? Keep you all warm, keep you all fed, keep you all clean, and send you to bed. Yeah, that English degree is paying off I tell ya .

2001 -  11 years have gone by. Quickly. Today my oldest girl, the one who is so much like me, today she turns 11. 2003 - I remember the pain of her birth. The one baby I did not have an epidural with. Because I wanted the experience. And did we have it! During the pregnancy, she was sitting on my sciatic nerve, and I hobbled around trying to walk; 2005 - But since then there hasn't been the same kind of pain. Oh we have our clashes of course, because we are so alike in some ways; but I am so blessed by this girl and all she is and does in our family.  2009 - 2011 - Happy 11th Birthday, to my swimmer girl!

  It might have been one of the last days of nice weather in our part of the country. The rainy season is supposed to be upon us soon. As in tomorrow. So I took advantage of the sunshine today. I had to drop my son off at school, due to orthodontist appointments. And since we were all out anyway, I decided to take an impromptu field trip. It started with a doughnut. Or rather 4 of them. And then the road seemed to lead right to a nearby museum. There was an exhibit there of old quilts. Very old quilts; brought over on the Oregon Trail back in the 1800s. It was amazing to look at them, and think of the years that have passed since the women had made them. There were at least 10 or 15 quilts being shown. Along with various sewing baskets, and bags from that era. One had a lock of hair included in the sewing kit. We wondered what is would have been used for - perhaps in a pin-cushion was my guess. Of course the was more than just quilts to see at this museum. We wand...

It's that time of year again. When the months of talking and dreaming get to be put into action. The dress-up box gets dragged out, and the imaginations kick in. Tonight was carnival night ('harvest party') at the church for Awana. My three younger ones are still dressing as princesses. My girl M in light purple wore the crown I wore for my wedding. She was pretty thrilled about that. And her sister M in darker purple wore the tiara from a cousin's wedding. The older girl has passed that phase long ago. She tried the ballerina outfit on but had outgrown it, so she went with the basketball outfit. And have you ever seen a cuter Snow White? I didn't think so. (And here's the star princess trying to eat some breakfast while the paparazzi swoops in.)

A milestone in the life of our little one. Baby K , Little K is 18 months old today. She sings, she jabbers, she imitates all the words we say. Gotta be a bit more careful these days; not that I am spouting off bad words all the time, with 4 other parrots in the house, my words are usually chosen carefully. And forget about spelling things out. The kids can figure that out quickly. G and I use code words when we need to. But I digress. Little K. has survived a year and a half with bonks and bruises, scrapes and older siblings. She has screamed at me, and cried long and loud. I really did not know how we were going to survive the first year. But we've all made it. with much prayer and tears, we've got 18 months under the belt. Her cousin (shown on the left) turns 2 today. They are exactly 6 months apart; it's going to be fun to watch these two grow up together, and hopefully be good friends. 

It has been an almost ideal day for me. The sun is shining; and although it is cool and crisp outside, it is warm and cozy in our woodstove-heated house. This morning I was able to prepare a ton of applesauce and can 2 batches of it, while the girls sat and did their schoolwork. Well, they didn't really sit for the whole morning. But they did get their work done! And when that happens, it is always a good day! I even heard one of the older girls helping the younger one read and learn her history lesson for the day. Even little K 'helped' make the day go well. (Except for that little incident involving a cereal box dumped all over the not-swept-up-yet kitchen floor.) She pushed the step stool over to the sink and 'helped' me with the applesauce. As I cut the apples, (I'm not one to leave the seeds in, just the peels stay on) little K would place each ready one in the waiting pot. I cooked them up, and then ground them down in the food mill, and voila, we had ap...

In my corner of the world this week: I felt ... overwhelmed. Feeling like i was just marking the checkmarks on the To-Do list, and not Living. I made .. the blue walls pink and then red. I painted. And Painted. And painted. I sat ... through orthodontist appointments. Fixing some kids' teeth has been an eye-opening experience. In many ways. I slept in. Twice. It felt wonderful! I spent ... 2 days with my son - he didn't have school on Thursday or Friday, so it was pretty nice to have him around again. Of course, old habits die hard, and the friction between him and the oldest sister was back in a flash. I missed .. my friend. I watched .. my latest Netflix craze - "Foyle's War" I love it! Such a good BBC series. I also watched my husband work on the stairway - well, the landings really. The stairs themselves are yet to come. It was a busy week. It was a learning week. It was a week I don't think I will repeat.

They say autumn starts in September. I don't believe it. Fall doesn't really start until I smell woodsmoke, and eat freshly picked crisp apples, and pick out the pumpkin from the patch, and watch my babies playing in the first leaves that came down from the tree, That's when Fall really begins.

About a year ago we took our house off the 'for sale' market. We decided after no one showed any interest in 6 months, that maybe we should stay put. G came up with a grand idea of adding on some more room - one of the main reasons we were looking to relocate in the first place. After months of planning, and permit processing, we started tearing into the structure - mainly the garage. In August we had a full roof and garage. A week later we did not. But with a lot of blood, sweat, and some tears, walls went up. along with siding and all the other stuff that went into it. And soon we had a fully roofed, water proof second story. We don't have stairs yet, and a few other details to take care of... but just look at how far we have come in 2 months!

We're thinking of adding to our family. A four-legged addition that is, not another child. We went to visit the puppies yesterday, to see which one we would like. From the 11 squiggly noisy little bodies, we think this one that S is holding will be the one. So I'll be heading to the library soon for books on puppies and training, along with local research on training, accessories, crates, food, etc. So we're welcome to any advice you might have on puppies and labs in particular (Brother T this would be you !) We won't be bringing her (the dog, not the daughter) home anytime soon, so I've got a chance to get my information and get the kids in the mindset. Now what to do about the awaiting dog at home.

I had breakfast with the Earl today. He and I got along fabulously, sharing some pancakes and quiet. Although it was a fast break before I had to take the Boy to meet the bus, I still enjoyed my Earl Grey tea. Coffee is for the  ... crazy people. The crazy people happen to be my friends, so I am thankful there is coffee (for them). But I won't touch it. Ugh, gag, blech. Give me some nice hot tea instead! Awhile ago, my husband was sent on a business trip to Austria (oh I should've gone! One of my biggest regrets!) and he was so sweet to pick up some English tea for me while in London on a layover. I am just now getting to the end of my favorite Whittards of England tea. I told him it's time to go back to Europe. He suggested I order it online. Harrumph. My sister in-law gave me some of the Irish Gold tea she got from her trip to the Green Isle. It is so good. It, too, is coming to the end. I don't think I could convince them to go back for more either. how about y...

Instead of the usual pizza and movie on Friday night deal, we decided to shake things up this week; we had a Family Talent Show before the movie. There was dancing and tumbling, Piano playing and singing (can you see the two girls in there? Just don't look too closely at the mess my son also captured on the photo.) There was more dancing: We even had finger tricks. G cracks me up when he does these - thanks to his brother for teaching him this so long ago. Even little K chose to show us her useful talent of standing on her head - which she does often. The finale was the high-jumper. We had to do a little arm-twisting and guideline-setting, but we finally convinced the Boy to do something to participate in the family show. He chose to jump over the baby highchair. (Side note here, that high chair? Survived my husband's babyhood, and all 5 of our children. That thing is solid! I love older, metal (not plastic!) items.) I did a magic trick, rubbing a nickel in...

In my corner of the world this week I painted - on any dry day I could. I am about 3/4 of the way around the (original) house. The cousins came to play again. Fun times all around. Little Princess lost her first tooth! She was quite excited about it! I think she is the earliest of all the kids - losing one at age 6; the others all waited until they were at least 7 yrs old to lose teeth. Perhaps that explains why we need to take the Boy in this week to have some teeth pulled. And the roofing materials were delivered. G spent half the week putting on all the shingles on the new part of the house. He got another window installed; and our freezer is no longer sitting on our back deck, with the extension cord running through the laundry room window. The freezer is back in its home in the garage, neatly plugged in. I took the girls shopping for clothes this week - time to get some pants and long sleeve shirts. We started out wood stove this week. A sure sign that fall is here. I wa...