Watching a Movie

Licking the Beater

"Okay, it's straight to the bathtub for you!"

Awesome Pictures By Ruth

Notice John's Constant Clutter around the computer. It does not matter how many organizers I buy he just fills them up and keeps going and he does NOT like me throwing his stuff away.

Here's a cute Kate peeking around her bedroom door.

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Here's a cute Kate posing by the fireplace.

Here's a cute Kate being her exuberant self. (Image this, but in the car with volume on high.)

"Peace, Dudes."

A Bad Guy In My Bed

A few nights ago just as I was tucking Rachel into she said, "There is a bad guy in my bed." I groaned internally, but sweetly said, "No there's not, Rachel. Our house is safe. Your bed is safe." Rachel said, "No. Look, Mom." She pointed above her. Rachel is in the bottom bunk of a metal bunk bed. So there are metal bars and a mattress right above her head. I looked up and indeed there was a bad guy in her bed. I said, "Oh my goodness, we do not want that here." Rachel said, "Yeah, it's a bad guy." I took the bad guy upstairs and asked Ruth, Kate, Johnny, and Adam who put the bad guy in Rachel's bed. No one confessed. But Rachel did sleep soundly last night.

What Is That Smell?

Today while I was driving near some stinky factories, Adam asked, "Mom, what is that smell?" I said, "Stinky factories." Adam replied, "No, it smells like your stinky armpits." Feeling aghast, I think, "I really hope that is not true."

Mistborn Spoiler Warning

John and I finished reading the third book in this fantasy trilogy, Mistborn. We both really enjoyed books I and II and most of book III until the author killed off the two main characters just near the end of the book. John was very unhappy about this. I think I was too sleepy at the point that we read this for me to really care. The day after we finished the book, Johnny asked John how his day was. John responded that he had a bad day. Johnny asked why and John said that it was nothing important, just something imaginary. I was a little lost at this point. Then I realized that he was feeling upset about the trilogy that he had enjoyed so thoroughly end in a way that made him feel rather depressed. I don't think I have ever felt sad about a bad book ending, but I did feel rather like people I had known and loved had died when I finished the final book in the Anne of Green Gables Series. I think John is really cute to let a book spoil a whole day. It is funny how something imaginary can affect our emotions so significantly.

A Food Storage Lunch

We had to get our house painted, as well as replace a lot of the siding. We had some money saved up for this project, but not enough. So the last two weeks we have been eating just what we happened to have in the house to help with the bill. As this week progresses, it is getting more and more difficult to find food for lunch that I don't have to think about and prepare 2 or 3 hours ahead of time. This morning I did not have time to prepare for lunch early. When lunch time arrived, I had to start rummaging through our can goods. I ended up giving us mandarin oranges, canned refried beans with cheese and plain tuna fish. I just thought how funny it was to have such an odd variety for lunch. Adam and Anya ate the tuna fish, and Rachel and I ate the beans. We all had some of the mandarin oranges. Luckily, I have been able to get us through without having to break into our actual year supply stuff. Fortunately it is only two more days until payday. Then I will go grocery shopping. Deli sandwiches and grapes sure sound good. I think I will make bread tomorrow morning so we can have a normal lunch.

What's Too Hard

Rachel is at a stage where she only wants Mom to do things for her. She gets pretty upset when Dad is putting her to bed, taking her to the bathroom, taking her out of her car seat, giving her a bath, etc. The other day John was insisting on being the parent to get Rachel out of the car. Rachel was screaming and pulling her arms toward me. I said, "Rachel, Daddy wants to get you." Rachel said, "No...it's too hard for me."

The Will of The Lord

Three weeks ago I found myself really worrying that my period had not started, but I just stuffed that thought away as paranoia. Two weeks ago, I told John that I thought my period might be late, but that I could not remember exactly when I last had it to begin with, so it was probably nothing. Monday, November 23, I bought a pregnancy test, just in case, so I could start prenatal vitamins if needed. About 2 hours later, I took the test expecting it to be negative. About 20 seconds later, I read over the instructions of the test three times to make sure that the result I saw was correct. Then I took the test and the instructions to John and he confirmed that yes indeed it was a positive test. I felt completely shocked. I did not sleep for the next three days. I really didn't think we were going to be having any more kids, at least not for three years. I had already thrown away my maternity clothes, and had given away most of my baby clothes. John and I were trying not to get pregnant and we were using a method that we knew had its faults, but that has worked 100% for us in the past.

John and I both feel that this is the will of the Lord for us, whether it ends in a miscarriage or a seventh child. I only started feeling ill two days ago, and I have had some cramping, so I do not feel confident that this pregnancy will not miscarry. I suspect we will know in two months time. What I do know is that I am going to be happy with whatever the Lord wants for us. I am not saying that I will be happy if I miscarry. Actually, I have been dreading that possibility. I know that seven kids, and particularly, the seventh kid just around 4 years and 8 or 9 months after the fourth kid, will be really hard. But it is here, and I am pregnant, and I want the baby. I am just determined to be pleasant and happy no matter the outcome. The Lord knows what is best for my husband and I and our children. I know that I can trust the Lord. He will be there to guide me and help raise all of these young children, or He will be there to support me through the difficult emotions of a miscarriage. I know this is true, because the Lord has always been there and he has always answered my prayers.

Question For All You Runners

Okay guys, I have been doing a 20 minute run Monday through Friday for about five weeks now and I still feel like I am dying. Some days are pretty good, but then the next day I will be exhausted after 2 minutes and the other 18 minutes are torture. So does it ever get better consistently? I don't expect to ever love running or train for even, say, a half marathon. I generally feel pretty happy with 2 miles in 20 minutes. In fact, having run 5 weeks consistently is probably approaching a record. I think I went three months straight my freshman year of college. But I was hoping that eventually I wouldn't feel like I am torturing myself 20 minutes every day. Since, I realized I am never going to give up chocolate and icecream for very long, and that my 30 year body does not want to stay as thin as my 20 year old body, I plan to do this for the rest of my life.

Something I Find Funny

For several Christmas's starting the first year we had Ruth around, I had us read Christmas stories and sing Christmas songs every night between Thanksgiving and Christmas. John complained a lot about this, so two years ago I quit. This year John has been having us sing every night and he has been reading a Christmas story to the kids. He even punishes the older kids if they do not sing. He has initiated this all by himself. In fact, John even goes to the effort of gathering the entire family together and keeping the kids up later for this purpose. John also fixed our broken Christmas tree so we could have a Christmas tree this year. We are leaving Dec 18, for Seth's wedding, and not coming back until Jan, so I decided to forgo the Christmas tree. Anyway, I am pleasantly surprised and find it pretty funny that my Ba-humbug husband has taken over making Christmas nice for the kids.