The Story of a Lifetime: Another one of those school days

Well........hmmmm. Today was one of those days that just never really seemed to fully get into gear. One of those that no matter what I do I'm always a step behind the clock....or to do list.....or any given school subject. One of those days I should've just given up on school and gone with the nature of the day instead of fighting it and going against the flow of it as long as I did. One of these days I really will chill out enough to learn it's ok to just put the books down when the realization dawns on me that nobody's getting anything out of it anyway. One of those spontaneous field trip days where it's alright just to put it all down, lock the door....and mess.... behind us and take off for adventures waiting to be lived and wildlife waiting to be discovered by growing little nature enthusiasts. But.....no. I stuck to the books like your worst elementary school teacher. I will get the hang of this one of these days.....probably when our 15th baby is near graduation...but I won't be able to say I never really learned from it all.

Discovering even the smallest of God's wonders

The school day didn't even begin until 10:30. And by begin I mean, we had just sat down to start Bible and the little ones come crashing through the door saying that the dogs were on the run. So, like somebody had set an alarm off, everyone flies out of chairs and off we go to round them up. With huge stinky dogs finally in Suburban we head back home. Back to Bible. We successfully were able to finish that up.....complete with 17 month old baby standing on the kitchen table showing off his newly acquired skill of climbing to the highest point possible. At some point in there I began to wonder if God hears the prayers of a 7 and 9 year old above the outrageous scream of a mad baby that is quite outraged at all of life for set firmly back on the floor where feet are allowed. I finally concluded that He does despite the less than optimal environment while they prayed. I sat him in his highchair and he joined the rest of us as we prayed and even began to chime in with his own baby words as we prayed.

After only getting 2 subjects completed lunch was not only upon us but a little late. The preparation for lunch began at 12:45 and by 3:30 it was finally ready. I looked at the clock and assumed it was wrong and asked Grayson to go check another. He confirmed it was really 3:30 in the afternoon. I had gotten busy doing laundry, bathrooms and straightening and lost all track of any sort of time. I was in disbelief and it took awhile for it to really be a reality that the day was near gone and we had only done 2 subjects, just started lunch and naps were still needed. Naps at 4?????? They should've been up from their naps 1/2 an hour ago. Not looking too good. I went ahead and laid them down since the thought of keeping them up and not having at least a rest time for them sounded less than thrilling. Of course, they ended up falling asleep at 5. So, I woke them up at 5:30. Nice. No sooner had they gone outside than the dogs were loose again due to way too many kids and friends in and out of the backyard gates. This time Tigger made it across the hwy, back to the cat he discovered earlier, only to get ahold of it and give it some fatal injuries as he played "goat" with it. Good freakin grief.

He doesn't exactly look like a goat and cat killing machine

Athena ran expertly beside Grayson's bike as any superb, highly trained dog would. She stayed by his side, rounded up Tigger with him and they returned home. Now the worry of whether it was a feral cat.......since there's 10 million of them in this town.......or someone's dear, now long gone pet.

With Grayson and Evye quite the basket case and living in fear that Tigger would be caught and sentenced to death for his actions they carried out their evening chores. Evye made everyone a hot dog dinner while I nursed Gavin and then showers were taken, baths given and everyone was in bed at 8.......though seeing as how the little ones had only been out of the bed for a mere 2 hrs they were in no sleeping mood. I don't think anyone actually fell asleep until around 11. 7:30's going to come a little too bright and early for most of them tomorrow.

Brad returned from Ruidoso yesterday late afternoon only to prepare everything for his shift today and he left again this morning at 5:30. So, we haven't seen much of him at all over the last 5 days. He left Thurs and has been gone pretty much every since. While in Ruidoso at the cabin there was no way to even reach him so talking on the phone was not even an option. Those seemed like the longest 3 days EVER. He's gone on some occasions for 72 hrs at a time between his regular shifts and overtime but he is never out of reach during that time. We thought about it and this was the first time in our marriage he's ever been unreachable. Neither one of us were thrilled with it and he was as miserable not being able to talk to me as I was with him being out of reach. You'd think after so many years of him working shifts that his absence would be normal to me. But it's never normal when he's gone.

Simple Pleasures.......the joy of being married

Farmer Brad

And I keep meaning to put pics in here of this. For my birthday Daddy bought me the sewing machine I asked for. I guess I really am going to do this!!! After asking around, a little after the fact, and seeing what fellow sewing buddies recommended and what their experienced advice had to offer they actually recommended one a little different and easier than the one I had wanted. So, after making an easy exchange I came home with what is supposed to be a perfect, all inclusive machine for the rookie seamstress. I have the experience of my younger days to help me out to some small degree but that was many years ago. Mother says it's a bit like riding a bike......one never truly forgets. I'm relying on that to hold true for me too. Let's hope it does. I can hardly wait to start in on my projects. I have some simple spring dress patterns for the girls. I figure if I start on them now maybe they'll be done by spring. First I've got to figure out a really good place in the house to set up my little operation. There's room in my bedroom but I'd really like to have it somewhere in the living area so that I can sew while the children school.....and of course, it'll provide even more endless hours of crap for the boys to get into in the living area. I think Evye's as excited about the machine as I am. She's asked endlessly if we can use it together. I think maybe after I get the hang of it I can begin teaching her and possibly get her her own little beginner machine if she finds that she loves it as much as she thinks she will. She's much like Granny in that regard and loves everything creative, so I think her interest in it will not waiver or dim after the newness wears off. Somehow I missed the creative gene in the family...but I am so thankful I can see it in her.

Complete with underwear kid happily modeling it