Quote of the Week

8:30am the other morning, Mr. T came to wake me up and asked:

"So what's for breakfast Mom...... brunch?"

Yeah... we've been having some pretty late and slow mornings lately. That same boy made oatmeal for everyone this morning... so basically his sarcastic remark didn't phase me. Just made me laugh and put him to work!

Saturday was a Special Day...

It's the day we celebrated Mr. Man's birthday!!!
He woke up bright and early to do his mountain bike race.
Came home to some phone call birthday wishes, opening presents, and cinnamon buns for lunch. He barely had time for a shower before we headed out to do the Pioneer Day Fun Run. He opted out of the 5K after doing his 10 MILE bike ride and did the 1 mile with all our kids instead.


(Mr. T actually did really well and was WAY ahead of the rest of the family... such a phenomenal thing to see after all his leg and ankle issues and surgery!)
The Toddler gave up after a bit - it was also 90 degrees which is VERY HOT for us here. He drove in the van taking pictures with me!

The proud participants sporting their t-shirts.

We abandoned the other festivities... since tradition holds that we visit a beach on Mr. Man's birthday. We drove up a mountain (gorgeous drive) to Fairy Lake - and like fools dragged our sand toys and swimming suits only to find rocks and freezing cold water. It was beautiful though. We would have stayed longer, if there hadn't been a kajillion black flies swarming and biting everywhere. Since we are reading "Fablehaven" I told the kids to imagine they were fairies (since we were at Fairy Lake).


After a while we headed home to the comfort of our own backyard to enjoy the sandbox and hot tub - our personal beach!

Mr. Man requested brats and broccoli salad and instead of his traditional cherry cheesecake, he opted for sinful brownies. This chocolate lover didn't argue. After the kids were bathed and in bed we enjoyed a movie together.

I think he had a pretty nice relaxing day, doing many of the things he loves to do and we felt lucky that he wanted to spend the day with us - his favourite people.

Love you babe. And you know how much I like older men :)

"Caps, Caps for Sale"

During the witching hour tonight as I put my kids to work doing their roomopoly jobs while I finished up our soup and biscuits, I looked over to see The Toddler un-setting the table and declaring loudly: "Caps, caps for sale!"
Guess what book we read over and over today?!
He's one cute peddler. (And I love that he put the red "cap" on top!)

Like Father Like Son

Remember THIS?

Recently Mr. T decided to ride his bike down our local sledding hill, unsupervised. He had a great run his first try, but on his second round he bit the dust. His friend said his feet were flying in the air and his bike was upside down above him. I'm impressed he didn't break any bones.

The outing was with another family that we love spending our days with. They have four kids almost exactly our kids' ages and we just enjoy each other tremendously. First we rode our bikes over to the creek to swim... and nobody drowned, not even close. The the kids were climbing a HUGE pile of rocks, and nobody suffered too much from all the rockslides they created. So really, the bike crash was inescapable. We were definitely pushing our injury luck. I didn't have my camera that day, but took these pics a couple of days later.


Now, my brave boy tells the story with gusto. He, apparently, loved every minute of it. I have been taking him to "smaller" hills to practice his mountain biking skills. He can't help it; it's in his genes.

Speaking of which, Mr. Man rode in a 10 mile mountain bike race yesterday and came in fifth. Not bad for an old guy! (I can say that because it was his birthday too!!!)

Our Family Vacation: Camping at Yellowstone

Someone is Watching

I had another procedure on my foot yesterday, but after being gone camping, a trip to walmart was inescapable. I hobbled in with four rambunctious children, even with using gum as bribery. We had some returns to do and that took almost a million years. We had the oldest slowest person in the world trying to use the scanner thingamajig. After that we headed over to the in-store optometrist to have Miss J's glasses adjusted. That took another million years during which time my three boys decided that the jumbo card with dual seats was not actually a mode of transportation, but a jungle gym on which to climb, slide, jump from, swing on, etc. I gave them the evil eye while trying to communicate with the gal adjusting the glasses. Then when I saw The Toddler pushing on the back side of the cart and trying to climb in that part - just moments before it would slam down on his fingers, feet and head (can you picture the part I'm talking about?) I ran over and, though I wanted to scream, started a pep talk about how that was NOT SAFE! And we are safety kids and need to be safe, and NOT climb on that part of the cart, and did he want to earn his piece of gum, and we were almost done so could he please just sit in the seat part or did he want me to hold him... The tension was mounting for me, and we hadn't even started in on my grandiose list. That's when a woman whom I'd noticed eying my little monkeys as they maneuvered dangerously on the cart came over, touched my arm, looked me in the eye and said, "It's so nice to see a parent talking instead of yelling at children." I mumbled some sort of, "oh well... um... thank you" and then took a deep breath and thanked heaven I had been talking when I felt like yelling. And yes, I gave myself a literal pat on the back. That gave me the boost I needed to finish our walmart list and run three more errands and then hobble back home. A lot of mothering is done without anyone seeing what we're saying, how we're touching, or if we're actually actively doing it. Today's experience reminded me that SOMEONE is watching, always. And that SOMEONE can give us a boost anytime we need it.

The Green Couch

Tonight we sold our green couch. (Praise Craigslist.) Which means that we finally got our new leather couches. I should be happy, and really I am. But watching somebody drive away with my old green couch in the back of their pick-up felt like I was losing a piece of my life.

We bought that couch when we were expecting our third child. We were shopping at second-hand furniture shops for a dresser to accommodate our growing family, and just happened upon this couch. It was most unnatural for Mr. Man and I to agree on something for our home, and it happened so quickly, and was actually affordable, and so we traded in the black futon for our comfy green couch.

Our hometeacher at the time was gothic and strange, and upon his next visit informed us of how much he liked our new couch and how deep it was. His exact comment was, "I could totally spoon my wife on this couch." I'm telling you, that couch holds memories. Good and strange.

That couch was so incredibly comfortable. Many family members, upon visiting us, have slept on that green couch. My little brother spent weeks on that thing. I can picture dozens of children: neighbors, friends, cousins... who have sat and, ahem, jumped on that couch. My own children have peed and even thrown up on that couch. Mr. Man and I have, well, enjoyed being on that couch too.

How many movies have we watched together, games enjoyed, and family home evenings held on or around that couch? How many bowls of popcorn eaten (and mostly spilled) on that couch? How many days did I spend while on bed rest with one leg up on that couch? How many times have I cleaned that thing?

And now it's gone.

And I'm sort of sad. But also see it as a passing of days. Passing of student life. Passing of having babies and toddlers. Now our new couches will get to hold our memories and life passings... and I really need to google how to get throw up off of leather before it actually happens. Because it will.

Overheard

Across the street from us is a vacant field. When we first moved in there were two horses there. They vacationed somewhere else during the long winter and are now back. Every child in our neighborhood claims ownership to these beasts and each child or family has named them as well. Last night we walked across to admire, pet and feed Spotlight and Brownie (according to Little E) some oats. Little E was very protective of them, and hated that some of his siblings would continue to pet WHILE feeding them. He would scream and yelp over it, but my favourite was this line:

"Would you pet me while I was eating? I don't think so."

Summer Smiles

Summer seems to be flying by... and while the winters are long, the summers here really are divine. I'm glad. A short reprieve is needed.

My kids are fun ages, and I've been enjoying them being home, the comings and goings of friends, the more advanced games and play, and the fun conversations. I've found myself smiling a lot as I listen to them. I like having my chicks gathered round.

So here's a small list of things I want to remember that have made me smile this summer:

*our car cds have been Mamma Mia and Indigo girls (per my choice) and I love that the kids know every word and belt out these songs whether they are playing or not

*Harry Potter Camp, and how the kids were disappointed that it wasn't at a "real" castle, they didn't get "real" wands, their quiddtich brooms didn't "really" fly and the sorting hat didn't "really" talk - they had high expectations (with great imaginations) but still had a great time

*our weekly hikes: watching my kids be great explorers in the serious wilderness, watching their friendships (and even Miss J's crush) blossom with our hiking buddies

*putting sunscreen on my kids faces over and over - I love looking at their sweet faces but also enjoy seeing them grimace at the cold lotion

*quiet time: a few still read out loud when they read to themselves, and I love that

*the accomplishment my kids feel when they make breakfast (almost) all by themselves

*taking family bike rides

*the accessories and weapons my kids don, not to mention their oufits

*sleepy afternoons but late late nights with time to read and cuddle and falling asleep in random locations

I'm sure there will be many more smiles to come.

Day Trip

Saturday
10am- drop Mr. T off at friend's house, take other two boys to get gas and snacky food for trip
11ish - pack: basically fill a laundry basket full of pjs, an outfit or two for each kid, toothbrushes, etc.
11:45 -make peanut butter sandwiches for kids
12:10 - pick up Mr. T, drive to airport to pick up Mr. Man
-drive around airport several times
12:45 - find Mr. Man: hug kiss and start drive to Canada
1-6pm DRIVE
6pm - arrive at my sister's house, reunite with Miss J who has been with them for a few days
-order and eat SWISS CHALET (yum!)
-let kids play and visit, enjoy cuddling my little nephew
-try to get kids go sleep so the parents can play sans interruption

Sunday
8:30 am - have 7 kids and four adults ready for church - with one bathroom!
9am - be a part of my nephew's baby blessing (first time we've been there for one of her kid's blessings, and this is her third!)
12pm -luncheon with family and friends to celebrate baby's blessing
4pm -Mr. Man decides he really wants to sleep in his own bed (it's been weeks) so we take off for home instead of leaving the next morning at 4am
10pm -arrive home, enjoying lots of fireworks displays along the way





Thanks Sis! So glad we could be a part of your special day and see your sweet family again. Never thought I would spend the 4th of July in two countries though!

I will survive

I've been a single Mom for too many days. I'm coping fine really, and enjoying numerous chic flicks, but when I tripped hiking down a mountain yesterday and twisted my ankle (which swelled up to the size of a grapefruit) it just seemed to make all the little moments alone that much harder. Last night I had a Primary meeting and when asked how I was doing, it was one of those moments where I just let it all out. My poor friend.

She called today to take me out for a drive. I paid a sitter (my friend's daughter whom the kids adore) for an hour; and an hour was all I needed. We were out in the middle of nowhere chatting, woo-hoo-ing and even spitting gum into the air at high speeds! For a single hour today I had zero demands, zero responsibility and zero worries.

THIS:

+ THIS:

= SURVIVAL

I'm reminded of my Mom's utterance to my Dad at times of annoyance. She would often mutter "Go fly a kite!" The irony of it was Dad's passion for flying kites. I think that at times of stress, or even during the calm times, it's vital to "go fly a kite" or "go for a drive" and even to "stop and smell the roses." Quite literally. I'm glad I got away today. It's going to make the tomorrows a much smoother ride.

Just Me

It's way too late at night, and I should be journaling or thinking inside my mind... yet I'm letting it all spill out into the world wide web.

I've been thinking a lot about life, and love, and what's really important. I'm so touched by the lives and people I've been able to know and love in even my short lifetime. Honored, really. So many great spirits have touched mine. And I'm grateful. Grateful to have known love in so many shapes and forms. Aching for those who have yet to feel it, or those who have lost that lovin' feeling for a time. I've been there too. I think mostly, as I contemplate life and love in the wee hours of the night, that I'm grateful for those moments where I've felt known and loved - and not just by those around me. I know that there is a God who loves each one of us, and the He works through us to share that love with others. I can't tell you what that means to me. Precious really.

I hope that I can emanate that love. And miraculously, God allows us to be that medium. Even though it's just me. You are loved.