summer comes to an end...

I'm sitting in a house that's been quiet since 9pm....I can't remember the last time that's happened this summer! I'm trying to get the kids back into the habit of earlier bedtimes and earlier waketimes, but we've still got some summer left in us and it's just amazingly hard to wrap it up by 8 or 9 at night! Equally as difficult to rise early. Helping me get my tail out of bed earlier, however, is my sweet neighbor....a teacher/track coach/totally fit new mama to twin boys....who is willing to walk with me a few times a week. I really enjoy getting to know her better...great motivation to get up early!

So we begin our school year in one week. We're ready. The kids are ready. We'll be doing a sort of "co-op" with another family. The more the merrier, really. While trying to wrap my mind around getting ready to educate a 5th grader(plus two friends), a 3rd grader, a 1st grader, and a preschooler (heaven help us!), we TODAY began removing cabinets from our kitchen. Good timing, I know. Seriously. The plan was to work on this project over the month of August and be done by the time we started school. For most normal people, it might seem wise to do these projects while the punks are IN school. But since "school" for us is either upstairs, in the dining room, or in the living room, and also because we're quite ABnormal, we were hoping to get this done in a month. (I can hear you snicker....especially you, Huntley's!! No, the Huntley's are rolling on the floor laughing because they are always roped into our projects and are painfully aware of how long it takes us to get these things done.) This project is very exciting, as our kitchen cabinets/counters were literally falling apart, and we were able to do a re-fi and use some equity to fix up our mess hall. So far I've freaked out twice on my husband, and not in a cute way...nope. You see, three days a week we will have two extra fifth graders joining us, plus our two little "extra" daughters (still with us, yes)....which will include LUNCH. Without a functioning kitchen. I'm shaking my head as I type. Thank heavens for the picnic table! It will be a rocky month or two (stop snickering, Huntleys :). But obviously it is a HUGE blessing, so I'm vowing not to be one of those wives that freaks out (oops) and becomes a monster during a home remodel. Okay, enough about that.

Our little girls are still with us, though they are getting closer to being able to return home. It has definitely been a challenging summer, and I see the kids wearing thin with some aspects. We reminded them to try to picture Jesus just over the shoulder of someone who may sometimes be hard to love...kind of regaining perspective as a family. On the other hand, they have shown amazing patience and open-armed acceptance as well. Challenging as it is, it will still be hard to say goodbye when the time comes.

I was reminded recently (by a story on a sign at Jimmy Johns, to be honest! I'll spare you the minutia...) of how life isn't about destinations and end products, but the day to day, the everyday minutes and hours. And how God sometimes does big great works in us, yes, but so much more often He works in us in small, unnoticeable ways...day by day...shaping and refining. I think of Chris Rice's lyrics "teach us to count the days...teach us to make the days count"..and one line about "will you invest or squander?". And sometimes I need to remember that "investing" doesn't always mean "accomplishing" something. Sometimes investing means doing nothing. Playing tag. Jumping rope. Sitting alone with Jesus. "Wasting" time. Sometimes it just means doing the next thing. Okay, I'm probably not making much sense, but I guess I'd like to say that over the summer and amidst its fun and challenges, I've been forced to take it a day at a time. And that has been a most excellent lesson for me.

Happy new school year to you all! I'm thankful for you!

big baby

Once again, a long lapse between blog posts. Let's start fresh again with a few shots of Henry Fussy taking it easy in the baby swing! At about 18 pounds, he really is just about the right poundage for the swing. He likes to try to catch the frame of it as he swings, and he favors the "2" setting.

extra campers..

We went camping recently, and we thought we scored by choosing a campsite right next to the playground. However, a few other kids took a likin' to us and hung out at our site the WHOLE day while their folks relaxed by their own campfire the WHOLE day. (grr.) I thought this scene was kind of funny....three little campers hovering around Tim...none of which were OUR SIX. It was cute for the first six hours or so, but then at dinnertime when NINE kids were hovering and getting hungry I had to get pretty firm to send them packing. :)

Link issues....oh, and finger surgery

I don't know why, but when I click on my link to the Pioneer Woman's website it's sending me to this "Pipes...feed" something or other. I have no idea why, and I have no idea how to fix it. This "pipes" thing lists her posts, but is nothing like her actual site. If you've never visited the Pioneer Woman, you MUST. She is stinkin' hilarious, she has great recipes, gives Kitchen Aid mixers away all the time, and is just generally great fun to read. The site is at www.thepioneerwoman.com. Anyone know how I can fix this link problem on my "blogs I read" list?

In other news, I've gotten lazy about photos again. I'll have a great new one after today, because Tim pounded off the tip of his finger while pounding in a ground rod (I don't have any idea what that is). He called me from the express care about an hour ago and said they sent him to the hospital to have a surgeon fix it. I get calls like this about once a year. I'm used to them now. The last one was about a year and a half ago when he called saying he thought he broke his ankle (which he did)...he was calling while driving himself to the doctor. So I plan to take a photo of the finger. Perhaps it will be too gross to post, we'll see. I don't know...the Pioneer Woman posted pictures of a mama cow's uterine prolapse! Certainly a missing fingertip isn't as bad as a cow's uterus! Until next time.....

Five candles, and hold the sprinkles, please...

Today my baby boy turned five. FIVE. It didn't really hit me until today that he's FIVE. That's a big deal! (Especially at our house....that I haven't given birth in five years!!) The photo is of his birthday list..I'll get to that later. I offered to have a little party for him with his two or three buddies from church (he's never had a friend party before)....but he flatly refused. Family only, he said. I was a little surprised by this, but then he went on to say that he wanted a lemon cake, no "theme", no sprinkles, no ice cream, and no games. Good grief! Who is this child? He didn't even want to go to a park to have his party (which ended up being a good thing since it rained cats and dogs all day). Nope, he wanted to stay at home and have his cake with no sprinkles and no ice cream and no friends. Alrighty then! What's the catch, because this is too easy. Or is there some deep-rooted psychological reason he didn't want sprinkles or ice cream or friends? Oh, I'm just kidding. I didn't really wonder that. Really, I didn't. Really.

So, today we had a very nice and low-key birthday, complete with lemon cake (he did cut me some slack and let me put on a few sprinkles...and the rest of us had ice cream). A few days prior he had made a birthday list. I always like to keep these, and thought you all might get a kick out of this one. I'll translate for you:

Start
Go
0. IPOD (yeah, right...I don't even have one!)
1. vidyo game (video game, which he didn't get. The Wii is still fresh.)
2. calindr (calendar)
3. map
4. legos
5. go otor (we couldn't figure this one out, and he couldn't remember, either)
6. cumpyoodr (computer, um..I don't think so)
7. clock
8. seeydy (CD)

Other than the computer and the ipod, I thought these were pretty simple requests. His favorite gift? A 2009 Veggie Tales calendar I found for $.97. He said it was his best birthday ever. Now if I can just get the other kids to have these same expectations!!

Happy fifth birthday to my fresh-faced little five year old Peter!

lane closed

I love my kids. I love interacting with them, listening to what's on their minds. However, it seems like all day yesterday, I did not experience five consecutive minutes without hearing my name (Mom) called in request for help of some kind. Usually for food. This really gets me when I'm on the phone or talking in person with someone (they have been taught OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER and....that if I'm SPEAKING or LISTENING to another person, that they need to WAIT their turn and not interrupt - unless there is blood involved, of course.) I get real tired of having to stop and tell them that they're interrupting and to wait. I do realize that part of the problem is me failing to give a consequence when this habitually happens, but also that sometimes the kids are just one track minded and so focused on what's in their little brains that they forget. So I was thinking how handy it would be to have a light on top of my head that would automatically be "on" if I'm free to talk or answer questions, and "off" if I'm engaged in conversation with someone else. Lane closed. Find another lane. (DAD's lane, perhaps? :) I'll bet I'm not the only mother who would invest in such a gadget.

ball.....camp......

Scroll down two posts to "ballpark fun", and in the first photo you'll see Sam's baseball team lining up to "good game" the other team. (Sam's team is in the navy blue.) You'll see numbers 9,3,6,1,7, and two coaches (I think the second coach is very handsome and manly, by the way..). Anyway, Sam is number 1. In that same post, I mentioned something that didn't bother him about his baseball experience this year. Can you guess what I'm talking about?

In other news, the boy returned from camp today with lots of stories, camp memorabilia, smiles, and a suitcase full of clean, folded laundry. Which means he pretty much wore the same thing for three days. But he did say he took one shower. He and Janie had fun swapping camp stories in the van on the way home.....that was fun to listen to!