On the Mend... Soon on Our Way

Yesterday was the beginning of the end of the bug my kids were suffering from. It's such a relief to see them feeling better - even if they're still not 100% yet. I'm just so thankful that I might be able to get something done today!

But now that our road trip is much more of a reality, I have a lot of last minute packing to do. And for my own reference and sense of accomplishment, I'll be adding to and adjusting this list throughout the day as I get things done.

Breakfast
Shower
Clean litter box
Pack diaper bag
- camera
- sippy cups
- bibs
- soother
Pack toy bag
Pack first aid kit
- inhaler
- vitamin Cs
- zinc
Lunch
Pack kids clothes
- diapers
- extra wipes
Pack grown-up clothes
- spare glasses
- books
Put music playlists together
Clean kitchen
Clean bathroom
Charge and pack AA batteries
Make bed
Take naps
Feed and water Birds
Dig out coolers, fill one with snow
Pack food
- make salami rolls
- slice cheese
- muffins
- eggs
- pop
- pepperoni sticks
- crackers
- bagels
- cream cheese
- yogurt cups
- pistachios
Dinner
Wash and fold booster seats
Take GG to dogsitter's
Laptop
Bibles
Playpen
Shovel sidewalk out front
Shovel driveway
flashlight
border portfolio
battery charger
inverter
put clean laundry away
Pack cosmetic bag
Stepstool
Kids baths
Put kids to bed
Add water to fishtank
Pack project box
- craft scissors
- pencil, sharpener & eraser
Double stroller
Kids' blankets
Pillows
Travel blankets
Collect and take garbage out
Set up light in birdroom

Emma at One Year.

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

And now that Emma turned 1 year old three months ago, I'm finally getting her picture posted. At least I had it taken reasonably close to her actual birthday (I think I was a week and a half late this time). Anyway, today Emma is 15 months old.

She is quite the character - assessing people and situations very seriously for, perhaps not 'lengthy' amounts of time but, at least longer than I'd expect someone her age to do. I can always tell if some stranger behind me is trying to get her to smile because suddenly her eyebrows are closely knit and perched on the bridge of her nose. At a glance it looks like she's glaring multitudes of evil thoughts at some poor victim, but if she thinks they're ok, she'll instantly switch and give them the most charming smile. Or she'll release the glare, and then do her best to keep herself from smiling and that's almost as amusing as the 'eyebrow' look.

Emma can say a lot of words more clearly and accurately than PC can, but her vocabulary is still far behind his. Among the words that she uses, here are a few of her favorites: Owie, Hehwoah (hello), Mom-Mee!, Mama, Pease!, NaOh!, Nana, thAydeh (thank you), DaDee, dThat, Ohwuvh (Olive), yes, hi-EE, up, dow (down), bay-bee, bah! (bad), back, cug-el (cuddle), joo (juice), deh (drink), purble (purple), moruh!, hat, bonk and MINE! There are a lot more, but I'm having trouble listing them here AND keeping the peace in the living room.

Other than that, well, Emma is by far my most cuddly/snugly one. I love it when she comes up to me and just hugs my legs or if I'm sitting, she'll start sucking her thumb and put her head in my lap. When I pick her up, she almost always tucks her arms down in front of her so that they're wedged between her body and mine, and gives the most intense no-arm hug as she snuggles down as close as she can get. I'm doing a poor job describing this baby love, but it melts my heart every single time, and I love it! As far as quirks go - well, she's a thumb sucker, she is very happy to play alone, but interacts just as well with the other children, she LOVES to dance, and will start swaying, spinning or tipping from side to side within three seconds of the opening note. Another favorite activity - brushing her teeth BY HERSELF. She also does a great job playing 'lion' and has the most ferocious growl roar that she emits as she persues her prey at high speeds on her hands and feet.

She loves the cats and dog, and will spend lengths of time just petting them, or snuggling with them. Her nicknames include, Yum-yum, manna, and most often - Baby. Oh, and her favorite foods are: Crayons, sour cream, crayons, cheese, grapes, pomegranates, juice of any type, cheese, crayons, salad dressing, avocados, tomatoes, cheese, olives and crayons. Did I forget the crayons?

And now I must restore order to the ranks.

Rejoice...

"And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost."
Luke 15:9

...Or in my case, "Sir hath found" the missing box of flea treatment. See This Post if you're wondering what I'm talking about.

Sir was working on getting the FM modulator installed in our van tonight so that it would be ready to go in time for our trip. When he had to go down to the birdroom to dig out his soldering iron, he found the box of Advantage. It had fallen off the table downstairs and into the bag that had all his soldering stuff in it.

Needless to say, I was very happy to have the pet medication back again. Just in time too, since the calendar says it's time for another treatment on Monday! Now - it's back to work.

Sick Babies

Well it was inevitable, but I was hoping we'd survive until a later date. After all, we are hoping to make a two day drive by car in less than five days. But how we plan things, are rarely how things go.

Emma woke up from her nap today and I brought her to my room so I could get a few more minutes of rest. She climbed all over me, and played queen-of-the-hanger (more of a battle for possession) with PC's cat, Olive, and occasionally would lay her head down on the bed and suck her thumb for a minute or two before resuming activity. Then she came over to me, and it seemed like she was trying to get into my arms. As I started to move to accommodate her, I realized she was about to chuck her insides outside and with no time to spare, I managed to dodge all of the mess, although the bedding on my bed wasn't so fortunate.

When Emma was done emptying the contents of her stomach, I gave her water, but she kept it down for a grand 30 seconds max. I gave her a bath, put clean clothes on her and collected all of the sippy cups so she couldn't help her self to more torture. Then I tackled dinner, stopping every few minutes to re-wipe Emma and clean up her latest mess. After the first two times, she really didn't have much to throw up, so the messes were pretty tiny. She ate a little dinner, and kept it down until about 15 minutes after I let her down from the table. Then I had to change her clothes again, but after that she seemed to settle down.

And then, just as we were starting the get-ready-for-bed process, PC joined the ranks of the retching. He lost all of his dinner (and he'd had seconds for a change!) and just like Emma, he couldn't keep even the tiniest sip of water down. He was able to warn me, and we made it to the toilet the first time, although, he didn't realize it wasn't over after the first heave, so the second one mostly missed. Once I got him cleaned up, his clothes changed, and the bathroom cleaned again, I finally got the kids into bed. But PC has been up three times now to throw up the tiniest amounts of almost nothing - the poor guy, his dry heaves are so miserable to watch.

And now, I'm waiting for Dolly to succumb. As a precaution, I took most of the blankets away from all of the kids, so I'll have some clean ones if they happen to not make it out of bed during the night. The bathroom light will stay on and the toilet seat will stay up as well.

Hopefully this is over pretty quick. None of the kids have fevers, and the only clues that I had that they might not be feeling well, was a little loss of appetite on and off over the last three days. That and they have seemed a little more tired recently, but I wasn't expecting this.

Anyway, we had plans to drive down to LA starting either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, but if we're all going to be sick, we may not be going anywhere. In the meantime.. well, I need to go make the rounds again, and then I need to change my clothes one more time. After that I can tackle the kitchen cleanup!

But I was wondering... I thought the bug that was being passed around right now was more of a extra-long lasting head/cough/sniffles cold rather than some sort of flu? 'Anyone have any tips on this one?

New Sidebar Link - Check it out!

Sunday night I found this site with a Bible Trivia Quiz section. Anyway, it's been a lot of fun to see how much I do and don't know. And all the answers are backed with a verse, so it's that much better of a learning tool.

So, I've decided to add it to my 'Other Links' with all the other places I like to go to in a hurry. That way I can be lazy and not type out the address each time I visit their site. :)

One To Follow

There is nothing particularly heroic in going with the crowd - is there? If in the street one finds masses of people moving in a certain direction, it is quite easy to move with them, just as a piece of driftwood easily floats down the river, carried along by the eddying current. What tries one's mettle is battling against the tide. It is the live fish that travel up the river; the dead fish go down with the stream.

Some time ago a shepherd was slowly driving a flock of sheep along a country road. Just as they reached a bridge which spanned a river, running in a rocky ravine, something alarmed the whole flock. For a moment the sheep stood still in a state of panic; then one of the number, bolder than the rest, took a big jump, cleared the railing and disappeared. In a flash another had done the same thing, and another, and another, and another. The shepherd did all he could to stop them, but it was too late. Each sheep seemed to be suddenly possessed with the idea that it must be a right thing to do since everybody was doing it. Only a very few were restrained; and in a matter of seconds the rocks below were covered with dead and dying sheep.

What Not To Follow

Do you follow the fashions - and particularly the religious fashions? At present it is very fashionable to ignore the Gospel, and live as though you had no soul to be lost or saved for ever, no sins to account for, no eternity to spend. There is not much virtue in being a mere follower of a fashion which is good. There is a great deal of vice in following one that is bad. There is a commandment, often either unknown or ignored, which runs,

"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil"
(Exodus 23:2).

Not the biggest of crowds can make right the thing that is wrong.

If you ignore your soul and its needs, you are wrong. If you shut God out of your life, if you treat Christ as a mere historic Personage of no particular interest to you, you are wrong. If you just live for your own pleasures, thrusting your sins into some dark corner of forgetfulness, you are wrong. And it is no valid excuse to say, "Oh! but everybody's doing it."

Who To Follow

And further, let us tell you this - NOT everybody is doing it. There is no case for which it can be said, "Everybody is doing it." Always there are exceptions. In this matter there are, thank God, a great many exceptions. The Gospel of Christ is being widely preached, and thousands are believing it.

Many are choosing Christ today,
Turning from all their sins away;
Heaven shall their blessed portion be.
Where will you spend eternity?

Yes, where will YOU spend eternity? To say that folks nowadays are not troubling their heads about such matters is no answer to the question. You will still have to spend eternity somewhere. When you die, you will not be like the beasts that perish; and because that is so, Christ has died for you.

"There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all"
(1 Timothy 2:5,6)

Seek the Mediator for yourself. There is one God against whom you have sinned. There is one Mediator who died for your sins. May you be one sinner who gets his sins forgiven by trusting in Christ as your own personal Saviour - even as you read this. - F.B.H

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved"
(Acts 16:31

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Romans 10:9-13

BTP #2064

We got snow today!

A whole inch of fluffy falling, wet snow. Until noon - then it started raining and most of it was gone by the time it got dark out. I didn't get any pictures - it wasn't really that spectacular. Instead I enjoyed the novelty of it with the kids. I let them drag their feet coming inside when we got home from dropping Daddy off at work. That gave them time to make some footprints as well as catch and taste a few snowflakes. When we came in, we made paper snowflakes and taped them to the dining room window. I'll vacuum the little paper bits up tomorrow sometime - today was just too full.

Just to see if we'd get any more snow in the next few days to replace what melted today, I googled up a weather forecast and... Well, we won't be getting much snow, but it's gonna be COLD! (at least for our area).

And for any of you non-metric folk out there (don't worry, I'm non-metric :)), that's a hi of 21°F tomorrow, and a low of 6.8°F. For Sunday and Monday, 'looks like it'll be a toasty 12°F dropping to 1.4°! on Sunday and 3°F on Monday.

So, I guess I should find all those little hats and gloves! 'Looks like we'll be bundling up for a few days.

And how well you know me...

Well, the results are in. Below are the answers to the 20-question pop quiz that was my last post. Out of the people who participated, Sir still knows me best :) (I would say that's a good thing!). But he didn't want a prize from me and the kids, so we're going to be catching up to Grandma C. one of these days! Many thanks to everyone who gave it a shot - it was really fun to read the different answers.

1. My three favorite flowers are? Any kind of Lily, Narcissus tazetta flowers (particularly the Grand Monarque or Grand Primo varieties) and Black Locust tree blossoms. (pictured above, but not in the same order)

2. What is my shoe size? 10 - 10½ narrow

3. What day was I born? Tuesday, February 23rd, 1982

4. I predominately use which hand? Left

5. I have how many siblings? Four

6. My birth order? Firstborn

7. What is my favorite color? Red

8. Favorite kind of music? Classical/Instrumental

9. My favorite verse in the Old Testament? Jeremiah 31:3

10.How many children do I think I want? 9 would be interesting.

11.I have lived in how many houses? 3

12.My birthplace was where? St. Elizabeth Hospital in Red Bluff, California

13.What were my 2 favorite subjects in school? History and Literature

14.How many states and countries have I visited? 16 states (WA, OR, CA, NV, AZ, UT, WY, NE, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH, ND, NJ, HI) and 5 countries (US, Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, Scotland) and as Sir pointed out, 5 Canadian provinces as well (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON).

15.I play which instruments by ear? Piano, Violin, Guitar

16.My 3 favorite orchestra instruments are? Cello, Tuba, Percussion (particularly the Timpani drum and the Chimes)

17.I learned how to use an oven at what age? 16 years. (Unless you count the Dutch Ovens, but I didn't really use those until I was 8 or 9.)

18.What color are my eyes? Predominately blue, but are often combined with green and or gray. It's called 'Albertson Blue'.

19.I have broken how many bones? One arm, a fingertip and at least two toes.

20.What is my middle name? Lisa Marie

And that's that... So, there you have it!

Just for Fun

I was thinking it might be fun to give you all a pop-quiz. Here are 20 questions about me for you to answer - don't worry, they're not all hard. Leave a comment with as many answers as you can come up with. My kids and I have something for the person with the most correct answers!

1. My three favorite flowers are?
2. What is my shoe size?
3. What day was I born?
4. I predominately use which hand?
5. I have how many siblings?
6. My birth order?
7. What is my favorite color?
8. Favorite kind of music?
9. My favorite verse in the Old Testament?
10.How many children do I think I want?
11.I have lived in how many houses?
12.My birthplace was where?
13.What were my 2 favorite subjects in school?
14.How many states and countries have I visited?
15.I play which instruments by ear?
16.My 3 favorite orchestra instruments are?
17.I learned how to use an oven at what age?
18.What color are my eyes?
19.I have broken how many bones?
20.What is my middle name?

Doing this made me think of this verse in 1 Corinthians 13, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."

'But then shall I know even as also I am known'! There is One who knows everything there ever has been or ever will be about me - what will it be to know Him!

"Dear Diary," January 4th, 2000

I was reading through some old journal entries, and thought you might enjoy this one. :)

January 4th, 1999 2000

"As you might have noticed, I corrected the date. That happens to be the second time! But who can blame you, when for 360 days you wrote '1999'? Eventually we do get it, since you don't see anyone still writing '1997' or something like that!

Originally I was going to complete my last entry, but I can't remember what exactly I was going to say and it wasn't quite yesterday, since its only 2:30am. (From the 1st to the 4th). My purpose this time is to copy a new poem that I wrote. I am rather proud of it.

I was writing to Becky in her journal, and I ended up going through the 100 or so letters I have in here from her. then all of a sudden I had the perfect words for my favorite Bible picture of our friendship. So, in a minute you'll hear them (I mean read 'em).

But first, let me tell you, I woke THREE of my siblings to get a general opinion. First Ginny - her answer was three "um hum's". Ike's was only two and a "that's good.". And Tina's was a little more detailed than Ike's but still the same line of thought. (After she finished telling me she was looking for the wood for the fireplace in her bedroom.) Here's my poem:

God Gave A Friendship

God gave a special friendship
To two boys in days of old.
Their friendship was more valuable
Than gems or worlds of gold.

They were closer than brothers
And the reason is clearly seen,
They had a common object-
God had given them this thing.

They loved the Lord their God.
That made all the difference, see?
One was heir to the nation's throne-
The other, king would be.

There were no bitter feelings
Even though they both knew.
For the heir had said to his friend,
'I shall be next unto you.'

These two boys, whose friendship
Was more than death is strong,
Stayed friends in all manners truest
Even after one had gone.

Many years later - centuries in fact,
God gave another friendship.
Almost as true as the boys' of old,
To girls this time he gave it.

Through trials truly sore
Their friendship never wavered,
For they had a common object-
And it was this they savored.

The Lord their God was the One
Who tied their hearts together,
Who made their special friendship
That lasted for forever.

Now, I've stated my point and if my mom finds out I was up at 3am, she'd kill me. So, good night!"

THE END

Memory Anyone??

Where would you put $60 worth of cat flea treatment?

Last month I took Olive (PC's cat) in to the vet and came home with a supply of flea treatment enough to protect BOTH of our cats for a YEAR! I got the 'dog' size package (I wanted to be able to treat both cats and they don't sell the tubes individually any more so I bought the whole box). The vet gave me instructions regarding how much to measure out based on the weight of our cats, and our cats are on the small to medium size, so that meant we had lots left over. Lots.

So as far as I remember, after I'd treated both cats, I took out one of the 12 tubes, tossed it into the top drawer of the hutch in my kitchen and put the box (with the instructions scribbled on the outside) somewhere to make its way downstairs to the Entryway. I think - it could have been headed outside to the storage shed since I keep extra things in both of those places.

Then this month came around and my calendar said it was time to treat the cats again, so I pulled the little tube out of the hutch drawer and realized I didn't know how much to give each of the cats. So, I headed downstairs to get the box of extra flea treatment tubes that had the amounts I needed on it. But it wasn't there. So I checked the shed. It wasn't there either.

Now I'm convinced I put it in a 'safe' place because I have small children, and flea treatment (although it may be contained in sealed tubes) is poisonous. (Children have sharp teeth so no amount of sealing, is in my opinion, 'childproof' when it comes to poison). But I digress. It's just like me, to put something out of the way so it's not gotten into - especially if it could be dangerous to my children.

The problem is, I either put it in a VERY safe place, or I completely misplaced it and it could be somewhere that my children can get to. I've checked the double stacked bookshelves (it's possible I stashed it in a bookshelf), I've checked under the kitchen sink where I keep my cleaning chemicals, I've checked in all the medicine cabinets (we have three), I've checked in the pile of clutter that is my desk, I've double checked the Entryway, I've checked in the animal food storage containers on the porch, I've checked in my filing cabinet and I've checked the pantry, linen closet and the bedrooms (excluding the nursery). I've even checked in the refrigerator and my sewing machine cabinet (both cabinets actually) to no avail.

You can stop laughing now, I do have to check the refrigerator or outlandish places because I have been known to absentmindedly put socks in the refrigerator, clothes in the pantry and food in the stationary drawer of my desk - to name a few examples. I've also looked right at the missing object multiple times and still haven't found it. This last tendency provides great amusement for Sir since I will often search my diaperbag for a fair amount of time to find an item and when I have come up empty-handed, Sir double checks for me and finds it in a matter of seconds. So, "Have you checked the diaperbag recently?" is not just a question in our household.

Anyway, in the very back of my mind I have a sneaking suspicion that I did indeed take the flea treatment downstairs to the Entryway, but I keep thinking that it got tossed onto the newspaper basket because I didn't have a minute to put it in the storage container of extra animal supplies. The problem here is, I've put the newspaper out for the recycling truck to pick up twice since I visited the vet. I just can't be sure that I would or wouldn't have noticed a box of flea treatment when I moved the newspapers to the recycling bag to be carried outside.

I hope I'm wrong about the little suspicion. Or that if I'm not, I would have noticed the box in the newspapers and moved it somewhere else.

For now, I guess I'll just keep looking, but I was wondering where would you put something you wouldn't be needing for two or three months?

Time to Blog

It's just time to blog. I've been putting it off for too long again. All of the posts that I want to work on involve digging through our archive of pictures for the right pictures to re size and post. So yes, this is another new post while my stack of 'started' posts does not budge.

See, I used to keep a copy of all of the pictures we took on my computer. This system worked fine since I wouldn't have to wait for Sir's computer and the external hard drive to be on to access the pictures. But the pictures for this year alone (January to August) took up MORE than half the space on my computer hard drive. That meant that my computer was very slow, was so full that I couldn't store any more pictures, and I didn't even have enough room to run standard updates.

So, I reluctantly gave up my copy of many of our pictures and now there's a few more steps involved in acquiring a picture to post. Anyway, I don't need to be droning on about accessibility to pictures.

This week has been busy - I guess all weeks are busy, really. I don't remember what happened on Monday (That's pretty bad considering today is only Thursday!), Tuesday was Grandma C's birthday so the kids and I rearranged our normal routine for the day and dropped Sir off at work so we'd get out of the house earlier. We picked up some flowers and chocolates and dropped them off at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Nobody was there, but we knew that was the case and let ourselves in to arrange a bouquet 'just so' to surprise Grandma. It worked, but it took longer than I'd hoped so we had lunch at home and left to go clean the meeting room around 2.

Getting to the meeting room later than usual meant I needed to rearrange the order of cleaning since vacuuming while my kids try to take naps is just asking for trouble. But that worked out pretty well too - In fact I was on such a roll, I thought we could postpone dinner until we got home and just have it late, but Arsenic Hour attacked and I had to give up that plan.

Once the kids got up, I cleaned until they started to fall apart (which wasn't a very long time) and then we took a break for supper. Before supper though, I got some pictures of PC and Emma playing follow-the-leader while Dolly kept herself busy with the Sunday School crayons. After supper, I just finished up the cleaning, and we left for home at 7:30.

"Hey, Emma! Check out the tunnel!"


"Get down so she won't see us! Down! Down!"


"Slow down PC! Let me just grab this stool first."


"Hm, where's Mom?" "Forget the stool.. I'm right behind you, Bro."


"'Think this'll hold us both, Em? I wonder if I can stand on it."

Man! these two are either going to be the death of me... or themselves. Just today they were trying to help each other over the stair gate. And later they were trying to figure out how to step across the gap from the table top to the windowsill without landing on the chairs between.

At least some of my hair might not turn grey before I'm 30.

"La-de-da-da...."

Wednesday was spent doing laundry, bathing kids, attacking my kitchen and bathing the kitten. Today we went took Sir to work so we'd have the car to go shopping for a birthday dinner for Grandma C. And that pretty much took up the day until lunch/nap time which brings us to now. The kids went down for naps, I put the groceries away, read blogs and wrote this.

And I should go... Emma is waking up from her nap. So much for my nap... I still have to feed the birds before we go pick Sir up from work. Oh well, at least I got something written here finally.

Backlog

House Wreckers Inc.

I have eleven (11!) draft posts all partially written or written and waiting for edited pictures or just left hanging while they wait for inspiration. And do I take one of those, to post today? No, but I did resist the urge to start yet another (to finish later probably). These things frustrate me. I don't like to rush through something that I want to remember because they just end up getting skipped over or done half-heartedly. But on the other hand if you take forever to do it 'just right' you forget even more than if you hastily scribble down key points which would remind you of at least 'some' of the other little details that you're so worried about forgetting.

Anyway, this post isn't supposed to be a long woe story on my inabilities of posting in a timely manner, but rather a quick peek at the goings on here until I can expound in more detail or get a few minutes to work on one of my other posts.

Right now, Dolly is happily coloring little pieces of paper with as many crayon colors as is possible, PC is cheerfully trying to coax Emma into his bedroom where he'll probably lock her in and leave once he succeeds, Emma is blithely dragging my kitchen broom along behind her as she heads toward Dolly and PC's bedroom, Sir is getting ready for work and I probably should be packing his lunch and getting started on breakfast for my gang.

But the day started earlier than is usual, so it feels like I still have tons of time (I don't really). You see, Grandpa & Grandma C. went far far away for their 30th wedding anniversary and we get to have Uncle A. stay with us for the last five days of their vacation. Uncle A. started off staying a few days with Salad and Grace, then traded off and spend a day or two with Doc and Bashful, and now he'll be staying with us until Grandpa and Grandma come home. The kids are absolutely elated although both Dolly and PC were a bit disappointed to find that Uncle A. had already caught his bus to work before they got up. As 'the early bird gets the worm', Emma was smugly rewarded with getting Uncle A. all to herself for a few minutes before he had to leave and got to wave goodbye from the window without any sibling rivalry. Somehow I doubt that will happen again tomorrow, but we'll see.

Anyway, my kids are starting to fall apart already and it's not even 8:15, so I think it'd be a good idea to feed them before I lose my sanity. Maybe it's just me since my sanity is fleeting when I'm tired or haven't eaten in a while. Maybe it's a combination of my kids being hungry and me being tired - which is probably the most likely. So, I'll go get on with the day and maybe I'll get the house put back together after yesterday. I did laundry yesterday which means the kids are unsupervised for short periods while I'm downstairs. During my absences they manage to create enough work to last me through the next two days.

Still Charming at Two

Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.
Proverbs 29:17

After delaying on getting PC's picture taken, then delaying on finding a verse to go with it, I decided it might be good if I didn't delay any further on getting it posted.

This is PC's 2year old picture. He needed a haircut, but the last picture I had professionally done was taken within days of a haircut, so I figured a little variety in photographs might be nice.

Anyway, I need to get some work done in the kitchen while my kids are all in bed and unable to make messes in other areas while I'm busy.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes

I've made this dish probably four times now, and each time I forget how I did it before and end up winging it again. So, for future reference... this is what I did tonight. It is a great way to complete a meal.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Serves 4-5

• Fresh ripe tomatoes.
  
• Salt
  
• Pepper
  
• Parmesan Cheese (grated or shredded)
  
• Garlic (crushed, granulated or powdered)
  
• Onion Powder - optional -

Spray a 8x8 or 9x9 inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Wash and cut tomatoes into sixths and place into casserole dish until a single dense layer is formed. The tomatoes will shrink, so don't hesitate to pack them in. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, parmesan, garlic, and onion powder. Put in a 400° oven and bake for 1 hour. Tomatoes should be well cooked down and have very little juice left in the dish.

The oven temperature can be raised or lowered if you need to use the oven, but the tomatoes seem better when they cook for at least an hour. My oven's top element doesn't work, but I imagine it would give a more 'toasted' flavour and I'd definitely use it on this recipe if I could!

Lost Lambs

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
Matthew 11:28

"Like a Little Wandering Lamb"

Like a little wandering lamb,
Lost upon the hils I am;
Like a shepherd Jesus stands,
Holding out His blessed hands.

"Come," He says, "Come back to Me,
Little lamb, I died for thee;
I will take thee to My home;
Little lamb, I pray thee, come.

"Though thou has a wayward will,
Little lamb, I love thee still;
Come to Me and be forgiven;
I will bear thee safe to heaven.

"I would have thee lie at rest,
Little lamb, upon My breast;
Thou shalt be My sweet delight
All the day and all the night."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There's a little lamb that the Shepherd is seeking. Please pray for me that I would have the wisdom needed to be His tool.

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Luke 19:10

Thanksgiving... continued

Traditions are great, and our Thanksgiving traditions are some of my very favorites. After the Chestnut Picking, it is tradition to go to Grandpa & Grandma's house for the rest of the day. First everyone mills about or helps Grandma C. put on the Breakfast Feast. I was in picture taking mode that day, so here's a few shots of what the family did while they waited for breakfast.

The Food Approval Team


The Underfoot Ride-on Specialist


The Masterminds


The Outdoors men

Grandpa kept the fire going amongst other things, Sir was doing something on the computer, Bashful was Mom C's right hand and I mostly took pictures until the food was ready. Then I got sidetracked getting plates together for my kids and forgot to get a picture of the Breakfast Feast. It looked as good as it tasted - and it was delicious!

This year we had sliced ham, breakfast sausages, sauteed mushrooms, toast, egg omelet, cinnamon rolls, biscuits & gravy, baked tomatoes, orange juice, cranberry juice, hot chocolate, Mandarin oranges and jello. For breakfast! And it's possible that I'm forgetting something.

After breakfast, which usually ends around 11, everyone works on little projects. We don't have lunch, but there are snacks around if you don't think you can make it 'till suppertime. This year Sir and I took our kids home for early naps. It was also so Sir could flush the radiator system on our van during daylight hours. While we were there I baked a coconut cake for Grandma C. so she could put the turkey in her oven earlier. I also worked on Pockets and helped Sir with the van a little. But we were back in time for the kids to get plenty of pistachios, peanuts and apples before dinner was served.

When the van was finished, and the kids were up from their naps (3:45), we headed back over to Grandpa & Grandma's for supper. Doc had come after he got off work, and a couple of Aunt Knittery's girls came and brought Tea with them. We had plenty of time to decorate and set the table and help Grandma C. with the last of the dinner preparations.

Dinner was delicious. I know I posted this picture in my last post, but it helps to see the 'spread' instead of just imagining the homemade cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, butter, gravy, jello salad, turkey, mashed potatoes, pickle plate, brussel sprouts in cheese sauce, oven roasted vegetables, stuffing and an assortment of beverages to drink. Then there was dessert - we had pumpkin pie, rhubarb-berry pie, coconut rice cake, whipped cream and ice cream to go with coffee, tea or hot chocolate. It was a Feast, it was Family, and it was Fun. I didn't get any pictures of the desserts, but I got before and after dinner pictures of Emma - it's how we all felt, but she's more photogenic stuffed.

"Hey! don't forget about me down here!"


"Life is Good."

And then, after dinner, the kids disappeared to remote areas of the house to play, and all of the adults played Dictionary. When 9:30 rolled around, it felt like 11, so we put the kids into their pajamas and followed all the other guests examples by going home to bed.

Traditions... they're worth more than you sometimes think.

Feasts, Family, and Fun

Monday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada. We celebrated it with Sir's family last Saturday.

The family tradition is to get up bright and early and go Chestnut picking first thing in the morning before breakfast. This year we were all supposed to meet at Redwood Park at 8am, although I must say, the five minutes it was going to take me to get out of bed turned into another 20 minutes because I fell asleep again so we started out running behind.

The morning was gorgeous. Crisp cold air and glorious sunshine filtering through the leaves. All of the kids had bright red noses and icy cold fingertips, but nobody was complaining. We hunted and hunted, but at best we found only a few handfuls of fallen chestnuts. I got some pictures of the outing though.

Following the path through the forest to the gathering place.

Hunting for Chestnuts:

Emma


Grandma & the Girls


The Guys


The Canine Unit (PC & Silly)



The Rewards

Eventually it was time to head back for breakfast. I started to gather people together for a picture when a lady walked by with her dogs. She offered to take a group picture for us which was really nice of her.

Then we headed back:

The main body


Lying in Wait


Ambush!


Bringing up the rear

And I have a whole bunch of pictures for the rest of the day too, but I can't put them all in this post - it would end up too long. Besides, I'm not getting very much done on it between putting my kids back down for their naps over and over again. So, that will be all for now.

Accurately Stated

Our Front Door

About a week or so ago, Sir suggested I put this on our front door. I'm not sure how serious he was, but after living here today, I thought it was most appropriate. Here's a closer Look:

I love the "We are open for your enjoyment 365 days a year!" part.

Well, I am working on another post, but I figured I should post something in the meantime. Life has been busy. Then again... life is always busy here.

Another One of 'Those Days'

Yes, today is turning out to be another one of 'those days'. I've blogged about them before.

Maybe it's because I had higher expectations for today than 'just making it through'. I thought that today we could catch up to ourselves... and maybe put the house back together... and maybe I'd get to work on Pockets if I finished hemming Sir's jeans from last week's project.

Yesterday the kids and I were in and out of the car for 10 hours. We stopped at 13 different places before we finally ended up at home and probably drove close to 100 miles. So, I was hoping today would be a slow day.

It may be a slow day for me, but definitely not for my kids. Before I was even up, they were toting toy dishes full of water from the bathroom to their bedroom. Beside ending up with a pile of soaked cardboard books and a sopping wet closet in their room, they managed to completely flood the bathroom and leave wet spots all the way down the hall.

Then before I could get Sir's lunch packed, PC climbed up the back of the bunk bed (I put the ladder on the top bunk every morning to discourage climbing) and then he proceeded to drop the ladder off the top bunk onto Emma. She ended up with a fist size bruise/abrasion on her shoulder, but thankfully everything still works - including her vocal cords. Looking at her an hour later you'd never know she was clobbered by her brother with a ladder.

Next, I managed to get my fabric into the washing machine only to find that one of my little birds had died. Yesterday I didn't feed them before we left - I thought they'd be ok since occasionally I feed them every other day and they're just fine. But either they didn't have any birdseed backup, or I didn't give them enough soaked dogfood the day before, because they didn't have any food left this morning. Maybe they were just eating it faster because it's been cold and they need food to keep warm. I don't know, but today wasn't a good day to add losing a pet of 6+ years to the mix.

Following the bird discovery, I hadn't even gotten breakfast on the table before all three of my kids managed to completely empty and scatter the contents of my Reading Card container. It has the reading cards, progress sheets, sticker bucket (probably the main attraction this morning), pencils, pens, rubber bands and of course ERASERS. Erasers make wonderful chew toys - especially the ones that Mommy likes best of all.

So, now that my house looks like a hurricane hit it, due to the laundry, two days of dishes, kids and oh yeah, more kids... I think I'll try to put some order to life around here and maybe - just maybe I'll manage to get a nap today.

And I just spent 45 minutes looking for a particular picture for this post and still couldn't find it. I need to un-banish my children from their room now though. If I don't we may just have one less room in the house by the end of today.

Extravagance...

I was going to title this post 'Luxury', but that sounded familiar, and sure enough I'd used it for a former post. So, I chose a synonym instead. And 'Relax', just didn't sound right either although that's exactly what I did.

Last night I stayed up until 2:30 reading a book. I even finished it. The last time I did that was probably ten years ago. Really. Then I slept in this morning until 9 - NINE! The kids were absolutely wonderful. Even though they woke up sometime before I did, I didn't hear a peep from them until I opened my bedroom door. When I did that, I almost tripped over two of them playing with plastic farm animals in the hall outside our bedroom. And as soon as Emma heard my bedroom door latch, she announced through the wall that she too was waiting patiently for Mama to start the day.

It was so nice. When I couldn't put my book down last night I knew I was asking for misery today. The kids had gone to bed at a reasonable hour and I was sure they'd be up and ready to go by 7:30 - 8 at the latest. Then when I slowly woke up and realized that I wasn't being assaulted by the sound of screeching/fighting/whining kids clamoring at my door it was almost unbelievable.

So, I came out, and made a big deal about how great they'd been. Gave them all a gummy bear (I know - there's nothing like starting the day with something to rot your teeth) and then we all piled on the couch and I read them a few books. When 10 AM rolled around I thought it'd be in my best interest to feed my little army before they revolted and deserted (at least the 'good behaviour' regiment). We made as many 'favorite' breakfasts as was possible, and had lots of fun doing it.

Sir had to grab his breakfast and go though, since he needed to go borrow a vehicle in his ongoing mission to repair our van. When he got back it was already almost noon. Since we'd had breakfast late, I wasn't in a big hurry to start lunch and the kids and I had tricycle races on the patio for a few minutes until PC discovered the hose and drenched Dolly. Then we came in and I started on a mending project.

I guess it was actually an 'altering' project, but all the same it was the first time I'd tried to hem a pair of jeans for Sir. Usually Grandma C. rescues me from these difficulties and I'm none the wiser. But this time I thought I'd try it myself.. after all, Grandma C. won't always be able to do all the little things I still haven't had to do. Anyway, I learned a lot in the process. 1st, cut BOTH pant legs before you start hemming. It really does make it more possible to create the same length legs. 2nd, black jeans are much easier to hem than blue, and 3rd, its a very good idea to make sure ALL of your children are in bed before you start a sewing project. I'd barely managed to thread my machine before I was called away for something and came back to find Dolly and PC attempting to figure this mystery out themselves. And every chance she got, Emma would steal whatever she could reach in my sewing cabinet door compartments. The little rascal!

Then once I got stuck on the blue jeans I switched gears and started working on other sewing projects that have been piling up on my mending basket. That was a lot of fun - especially the little quilt for PC, but that's a post in itself. The kids slept late this afternoon, and then they were pretty good for a while while I kept sewing. I realized they needed to eat when Dolly and PC kept having the same argument:
PC - "NO! Nana, ou bad!"
Dolly - (in a sing-songy voice) Don't touch that PC - you're being (voice drops to a low note) very bad." NO!! Don't HIT! (he's hitting her at this point)
PC - (more shrilly) "NAO! Nana, Me nao baa! yu bad.
Dolly - (as she swipes at her brother) Mommy, PC is being baad
REPEAT 3 times. They were arguing over who got to sit on what side of the couch and read which of the gazillion books they had piled on the floor between them.

So much for the perfect children ALL day long, but they did straighten up when we got started on dinner and then ate, had baths and I got back to mending with my audience. Finally it was time to put them to bed.

Sir had come in victorious over the obstinate water pump and announced our van was subdued and would perform its normal duties for us in the morning. That was wonderful news after almost a week of everyone getting places on foot, by bus or in strollers. I'm so glad he's done, because poor Sir has been struggling with this silly van all week. It paid off though - all his hard work - in the dark, after work, in wet, cold and windy weather. I have much to be thankful for.

Well, this post has wandered on and on and on, and I really want to keep working on 'Pockets' for PC so I'll close for now and see what I can get done before I should go to bed as well.

Just another Week - Monday!

8:00
Got up
Got dressed
Packed Sir's lunch
Showered Dolly (she wet the bed again)
Changed diapers/dressed kids
Made breakfast
Washed a load of sheets/blankets
Bible Reading/verses/calendar
Reading cards
10:30
Tidied living room and kitchen
Vacuumed one couch and all the throw pillows
Reading cards
Worked on my calendar
12:45
Switched laundry
Made lunch
Memory verses/books of the Bible
Reading cards
2:00
Took kids outside
Dug the lawnmower out of the shed
Mowed the back lawns
3:30
Put kids down for naps
Read a blog/drank lots of water
Brought the dry laundry upstairs
Finished the last of the back lawn
Mowed the front lawns
Hauled all the yardwaste out to the street
Unloaded junk from the old van
6:00
Started supper
Tidied the living room again
Put folded laundry away
Sorted through one storage container of kids clothes
Served supper
Sorted through part of another storage container
Got kids ready for bed
8:30
Tidied kids' bedroom
Put kids to bed
Helped Sir find some tools for the van
Put the shed back together
10:00
Came inside
Washed a rack of dishes
Froze some leftovers in lunch containers
Sat down to blog

There! one week journaled. It's amazing how much time it takes to give an account of a day - especially when the day is so full you almost never sit down. Anyway, now I can write some posts that aren't boring, but there was a good side to all of this. I learned the value of choosing a random picture to head my posts. In the past I've put a lot of work into choosing just the 'right' picture, but we have so many pictures that will never be 'blogged' about that a lot of fun memories just sit stored away in folders.
And I'm rambling. I guess that's what happens when I get myself so tired I can hardly talk let alone type. :) So, I'll close, and go see how Sir's doing on the van. He's trying to replace the water pump, but the parts are refusing to come off. At least I don't have any appointments scheduled for a few more days.

Just another Week - Sunday

7:40
Got up
Showered Dolly (she wet the bed)
Dressed the kids
Got dressed
Packed food for the day
Loaded the van with kids/food/bibles/etc
9:15
Left for meeting
Stalled at the first light
Waited through three lights before the van decided to cooperate
Stopped at Tim Horton's for timbits for the kids
9:50
Barely made it to meeting in time for the kids to say their memory verses
Meeting/Lunch/Reading/Supper/Gospel
Packed up
7:45
Left for home
Stopped at the first gas station to put oil in the van
Continued on home
Unloaded the car
Got kids ready for bed
8:45
Put kids to bed
Called Tina back
Read blogs
Sat down to blog

Just another Week - Saturday

7:30
Got up
Folded laundry
Got dressed
Started icing Emma's cake
Woke Sir up
9:00
Fed kids breakfast
Worked on cake
Washed kids up
Finished Cake
Started to panic
10:30
Grandma C. and Uncle A. arrived to help
Finished tidying the house
Bashful and gang arrived
Aunt Knittery arrived
11:45
Started lunch
Lunch
Cake
Presents
Kidlet Chaos
People started to leave
2:30
Put kids down for naps
Fed birds
Cleared the stash pile off my bed
Took a nap
5:00
Started Dinner
Ate
Washed kids up
Gave kids a bath
8:00
Put kids' room back together
Put kids to bed
9:45
Worked on book repairs
Read a blog
Looked at the kitchen
Sat down to blog