Too Little Time

Well, here I sit yet again at an ungodly late hour trying to grasp in some sort of way everything I want to put down. Why is it that there is so much to capture in life when you have the most limited amount of time? Is it because so much happens during the busy seasons and there is so much more to try and log? Or is it because things get so busy and this becomes a haven for emotional outpour? Who knows. I still have our 2nd trip to Nanny and Pawpaw's to get on paper, New Year's, then my plan for the 14 Day challenge and then a ton of pictures I have taken that are waiting to be uploaded onto here. Ohhhhh. What it would be to have a few hours. Mother arrived yesterday so we have spent some great time just getting caught up and then today was spent making a trip back to Eden to handle business, cleaning house and I had to pack.

Tomorrow Brad and I are leaving for our weekend trip to San Antonio. We're, of course, taking sweet Gavin and it's still up in the air if we'll take Evye or not. Mother will stay here with everyone else. Since Brad will be tied up all day Saturday I thought it'd be fun to have Evye with me. There's a mall nearby so it'd be a fun girls' outing and one that does not come along very often. If we do leave her with Mother and the others and opt to make this a little honeymoon getaway then I will be taking tons of paper and a pen or two and writing some long overdue letters. I figure I can find some little spot tucked away from the world and write the day away. We're taking Gavin's backpack and front carrier so he'll be content wherever. Instead of staying in a hotel we opted to take the trailer so we'll call the tiny little quarters home for a few days. Well.....maybe not home, but it'll be our overnight accomodations. I'm not wild about being holed up there all day so I opted for the mall and a little coffee shop of some sort to get my writing done. If I had a wireless laptop I'd be catching up on here! Oh well.......I've been putting letters off for months....some even years. How perfect this alone time is.....or rather, almost alone time. I can hardly wait.

Instead of coming home Sunday Mother offered to stay an extra day with the children. So, we won't return home until Monday. We'll spend Sunday touring the caverns and scouting out places to take the children when we go back to camp with them in the spring. I know San Marcos has the glass bottom boat but it may be too cold to do that right now. We'll have fun finding out though! I can hardly wait to take all of the children back with us. I'll enjoy the time with Brad but I'm already missing them and we haven't even left yet. I'll come back with a ton of fun pictures and we'll have a better idea of where to vacation with them. Why is it so hard to leave them?

I'll try to get caught up on here once I'm home. We'll be starting school back up on Tuesday so maybe, hopefully, life will fall back into its routine and naptime will be left free. It seems life looses all sense of cohesiveness, organization or routine over the holdidays. I love the freedom of every day that it gave but I'm ready for the routine again. The everyday routine where I know what to expect and what is to be accomplished. But before routine once again becomes daily life we're going to have our weekend of travel and fun.

Woes of the 7th

Well.........as I have come to learn in some very comical ways......Baby #7 is very different than Baby #1. So very many things change along the road of parenting. But, last night was by far the most comical and most interesting little issue to date. Gavin has been sleeping through the night for many months...but most of those have been spent sleeping peacefully through the night in his swing. I figure whatever allows me to sleep uninterrupted and gets them on an all night routine is what works.....whether it be swing, bed or car seat. So, on that note, I have gradually been working Gavin into his bed for the nights. He's done exceedingly well and continues to sleep all night except for a couple of nights where I fed him at 1 or 3 am. Other than that all has been well and we continue on in peaceful uninterrupted slumber.......at least uninterrupted by Gavin. That doesn't include the restless sleep of Grant and the 778 times he wakes during the night.

After having stayed up until 2 am to usher in the New Year with Grayson and Evye we all fell into deep sleep. Gavin was in his little bed in his hallway bedroom outside of Brad's and my door. Having failed to awaken him at 11 for that feeding he'd been asleep since 7pm. 5am rolled around and I heard him cry. In some far away world, as in some drugged state, I got up and made my way to him. When fussing he usually works his way around in the bed and eventually ends up with his head towards the wall and his feet towards me. So, in the pitch black dark of the night I gently picked him up as I always do and made my way to my own bed with him. Before laying him down in my bed I went to cradle his head and cup it in my hand as I positioned him on the bed. My hand went up to my shoulder in an effort to find his head. I thought it was kind of odd that I couldn't find anything round to cup my hand around. But, alas, I was still in a very zombie like state. Fishing around in the dark I tried to find his head thinking he was just laying over my shoulder in a rather odd position. Hmmmmmmm. No head there. Just small and pointy hard little things. Finally I couldn't figure out what I was doing so I put my hand down by my waist to cup his butt and figure out where he was. But........that was not his butt down by my waist. Nope......then it hit me. Oh my freakin gosh. Upon putting my hand down by my waist to cup his butt I found I was now holding his head. I quickly felt back up around my shoulder yet again and discovered 2 little feet by my face and his little head most definitely hanging at my waist. A bit stunned and now a little more than 1/2 way awake I flipped him over to right side up and gently laid him on the bed. He was no worse for the wear and quickly went searching for his early morning breakfast. I snuggled into bed with him........making sure he was still right side up........and then dozed back off as he nursed.

That is something I can most definitely say would never have happened the 1st go around of our parenting experiences. I suppose it really hits you that you have 7 when you start carrying them around upside down.

When You've Trained Your Children Too Well

I forgot to add that during Saturday's outing I came to realize that the training one works so hard to instill in children can potentially backfire on one at times.

From previous experience I know full well that a dirty diaper will not only stay on the Suburban running board after being placed there but make it all the way home and still be in the exact same place on the said running board when you arrive home. This has been done many times....and not once has it failed to arrive home safely. And I must say the intention was not exactly to have it fall off but it wasn't exactly to greet it still sitting there when we arrived home either. I began laying it there thinking that it would ride comfortably outside the Suburban and save the occupants from a world of stink inside until we got to a trash can at the next destination....correctly assuming that it will stay put at lower in-town speeds. What I failed to take into account is that not only would it stay put at lower in-town speeds but that it would stay put at higher, 80 mph, out of town speeds too.

So, as I drove I began to smell the infamous stink of a breastfed baby.......and I must add here that he does not poop every day. So, when he does poop it usually rivals the contents of the Indian ocean. The sour, curl your toes smell did not take long to waft through the entire Suburban and overcome the occupants therein. As we arrived at our next stop I went to work changing him while Brad and some of the children headed into the store. Though the clothes had been spared the diaper itself was filled to maximum holding capacity...and threatening spillage that, upon reaching its failure point, would rival the Hoover Dam. So, I wiped and cleaned and powdered in an all out frontal assault to conquer the overpowering smell of what has been trapped for days in a nursing baby. I've got news....looks can be deceiving. The sweetest, cutest, most lovable, endearing, kissable, cherub cheeked angel baby can harbor smells within them that give a septic tank a run for its money.

With that now over and a much cleaner, freshened up, lotioned up, good smelling, kissable baby now bundled in my arms and shielded from the bitter winds I tossed the diaper onto the running board. After nursing him I buckled him back up and we took off for our next stop on our to-do list. Evye had chosen to ride with Brad and Garrison and Grant so I had Grayson, Garrett and Gavin. The nauseatingly sour smell stayed with us. I chalked it up to having waited too long to change the diaper and the now contaminated air was circulating throughout the vents of the blowing heater and coming back to cheerfully greet us yet again. After our notorious trip into Wal Mart we again climbed back into the Suburban and, after sitting in it for a minute, even Grayson mentioned the nasty smell. So we rode home finally growing accustomed to the foul air. Soon it was not even noticeable and was forgotten. We unloaded groceries and did our usual clean out and the doors were shut for the night. Morning dawned and the little ones were ready to roll. I went out to move the Suburban so they had the entire paved area for their wheels. Upon opening the door I was bowled over by the smell that hit me like a brick. I am quite assured that had I not been a parent used to dealing with these issues I might would have considered puking. I went into the house and approached Grayson and Evye about the diaper that had been changed on Gavin about 18 hrs ago now. Neither of them knew what had come of it. Knowing from the conversation that Grayson really had no clue where it went I quickly realized Evye wasn't quite understanding the whole story and just going along with Grayson's side of it in her cluelessness. Seeking to tell the story in a different light and ask exactly where the dirty diaper had gone she still maintained her innocence. Finally a little exasperated I asked,

"EVYE......the diaper I changed on Gavin when we were at Big 5. I laid it on the running board. You went in the store with Daddy and then came back out and stood talking to me with the window rolled down. Then you went and rode in Daddy's truck. During that time did you do anything with the diaper that was on the running board?"

In typical Evye fashion a light bulb went off and her eyes lit up. In complete understanding she said,

"Ohhhhhhh! That one! I put it back in the Suburban."

In total disbelief I asked, "WHY would you do that????!!!!!!!"

With big, blue, honest eyes she stated, "Well.......I didn't want to litter."

So, having looked for it myself and having been unable to locate the source of the offending smell I asked, "Where did you put it?"

She answered, "Well....I didn't want anybody to step on it so I stuck it under your seat."

Ugh!!!! No wonder! I sent her out to get it immediately. It took a good 3 days to finally rid the nastiness so that we were free to ride in a pleasant, odoriferously free environment. But I suppose it has never been so apparent that we have environmentally friendly children that are very aware of picking up and keeping the world free of all litter.....assuring a little too well that it is being preserved for many future generations.

The Day After

Well...if Christmas is a day of wonder the day after is certainly lacking in any amount of being wonder filled. I think people have some of the worst attitudes ever around the holidays.

He just gets cuter

Brad and I loaded everybody up and headed into town for feed, hay, houseshoes for Garrett.... since he had been woefully overlooked in that category......and other odds and ends. Since trash had to be taken we were on a time schedule and had to be home by 5:30 before trash closed. We headed to CiCi's first for a pizza treat and then onward to accomplish our errands. With Garrison and Grant dressed in matching shirts and camo overalls and Garrett in a different shirt and brown corduroy overalls they were obviously not looking too much alike. But, as it never ceases to amaze me, we were once again asked numerous times throughout our day if the boys were triplets. Brad was finally able to witness the whole twin girls/triplet boys questions too. In our kindness we went through their ages and everyone was filled with admiration at our little brood. The compliments poured forth and, due to the manners that have been beat into them, the children thanked their admirers. Some days are worse than others and I suppose given the highly populated outing the starers were just more obvious. Wal Mart was packed and it seemed that everyone stopped in their tracks and stood to stare and count, watching us all the way by. Some people did not even try to be conspicuous as they counted aloud "1,2......3,4,5.....6,7!!!!!" as we passed. I just laughed. Yea.....you people can count! I know I signed up for this when we chose this lifestyle but it never really stops amusing me. It does feel kind of odd though when a whole entire isle stops to watch you coming, stares as you pass and then turns to watch you retreat. I cannot help but be filled with pride as the children happily laugh and talk. Grayson pushes the stroller with Garrison and Grant in it and Brad pushes Garrett in the cart with Gavin riding on his back in the pack smiling at absolutely everyone. They are clean, well dressed and happy......not to mention breathtakingly beautiful. Of course, as I write this they are all down the hallway screaming and fighting over 5 pennies each claims is their own. Oh.....based on the sounds floating this way I think Aubrey just resorted to biting Garrison and Evye hit Aubrey seeking to punish. Yep.....my beautiful little family.

The new do

But as we shopped it was becoming obvious that the hour was growing late and we needed to pick it up to make trash, Garrett having not had any sort of nap at all was wearing way too thin. By the time we made it to the checkout Garrett was at his wits end and the world knew it. With every line having no less than 104 people waiting we were in for the long haul. To make matters worse, Garrett's ear piercing screams were heard by the shopper's not only waiting in line with us but by the shopper's who occupied the dairy isle at the back of the 400,000 sq ft store. Aubrey was pulling every bit of candy off of the displays and Grayson and Evye were both begging for something. To this day I'm still not sure what. Unbeknownst to me Garrison and Grant were within arms' reach of the glass bottled Frapuchinos and, having been overcome by boredom as we waited, were man-handling them. Brad's good mood was fading along with the children's. I finally steered the stroller and screaming Garrett of of the line, that was now nearing the register, and out into the open away from the millions of tempting sugar filled choices. With hundreds of thousands of passerbys giving some outrageous go to hell looks I was now becoming quite irritated. I tried to smile kindly and just say he was in need of a warm bed. By the 104th evil, wicked look I'd about had it. After having stated smilingly to one old hag that he just needed a bed she said wickedly and full of contempt "Well........he needs something." Having never been known by my quick thinking abilities or wit I was at a loss of a good retort. So, in a soft quiet way I just said way too kindly "Merry Christmas to you too." There was no doubt he got the attention of the entire front of the store that happened to be checking out at that inopportune time in his life. People glared and stared and huffed and puffed and it just made my determination to stick it out right there with them even greater. One sweet looking, softly wrinkled with many love lines type of granny finally came by and said kindly "Oh, honey, he's just worn plum out. I betcha he'll be out as soon as you clear the parking lot." I wholeheartedly agreed with a kind smile of my own and on that note decided we'd head out and wait for Brad at the Suburban. I stuck him in and let him scream it out while the children played in the bed of Brad's truck that was parked next to us. The feeling that accompanied shutting the Suburban door on his screams was quite the relief. My ears were ringing by that point and no amount of Chips Ahoy was going to pacify him in the cart or Suburban. Grayson and Evye had become painfully whiney and asking for every form of liquid they could think of. They declared dehydration by the time we arrived home.

The Foot Obsession.....and it's soooooo cute!

When Brad finally made it out to the truck we all piled in and he headed for the feed store with the girls and Garrison and Grant while I headed to the gas station for a coke with Grayson, Gavin and the still screaming Garrett. He settled down while I was in there only to start up again over the fact he had been jipped out of a drink. With nothing left to do to quiet him and quite at my own wit's end we were driving down the freeway and I just started screaming with him. Grayson looked up quite shocked and then went into fits of laughter. He chimed in with me and, admittedly, it was a stress reliever and felt quite good. After only a few minutes of counteracting Garrett's raucous screams he began to finally hush. I think he grew tried of hearing me scream. Ummmmmmm......yes. That's how I feel about your screams, son. He would pause for a second or two and then try to start up again. But everytime he started I just jumped right in there with him and eventually he quit altogether. They certainly don't give you that tip in any parenting books to help quiet your overly tired child.........but, hey.....it worked.

Her Baby

So, the day after certainly did not quite hold the magic that Christmas did but it was fun. Well, I suppose fun is relative, as all of life is. It's always fun to get the compliments, hear the world ooh and ahh over your children and to be told you don't look like you could possibly have more than 1 or 2. I actually was guessed for being 22 with my 1st baby on Brad's and my most recent date night. I laughed and told the guessing group of girls the truth.

Doing sister things. Evye's Tide-ing some dirty spot out of Aubrey's uniform. She was supposed to be folding clothes so just look past the clean clothes baskets laying around!

So it was that we brought a very tired group of kids home and put them all to bed. We had all of Thurs free to stay home. Brad cleaned up the trailer in preparation for our San Antonio trip next weekend and then Friday we were off to spend the day with Nanny and Pawpaw once again. Since the doors of communication are open and communication is flowing we cannot stay away now and they are longing to see the children as much as they can. So with eager hearts we all anticipated Friday's trip.

Cooing and talking to everybody

The Wonder of Christmas

Brad returned to work Monday for his normal shift. With both of us having been so worn out Sunday night after the day's events we only had thoughts of the bed. Neither of us brought in the presents from the trailer to start the wrapping process and I innocently assumed I'd just do it on my own sometime Monday. In hindsight, we desperately should have brought them in Sunday night. That would have greatly aided my late night Santa efforts.

Monday night I trudged outward and quickly came to realize it was going to take some help. We determined a limit to spend on each child and bought according to their limit...not number of presents. So some got 5 presents while others got 3. And then we had the really big 110 pound everybody present. While shopping for it Brad had Gavin on his back so I just figured I'd throw it in. I couldn't budge it. Brad laughed at my wimpiness and went to work on it. When not even he could move it easily I realized it was no small joke. Then he read aloud "Net weight 110 pounds." Well, no crap. He ended up having to toss it in the cart....even with Gavin on his back. He dealt with it once we arrived home so Monday night was the 1st time I had to wrestle with it. And wrestle I did. Finally coming to the conclusion there was no way in the world I would ever get it in the house on my own I had Grayson come to help a little. I tossed a tarp over it so that it was still well hidden from Grayson's eyes and together we moved it inside. Oh, how times change. Never in my life would I have ever been given the opportunity to man-handle or aid in the efforts of getting one of my childhood presents moved around. Oh well. You do what you gotta do. Growing impatient with the long process of transporting this stuff inside I finally just starting throwing blankets over it all and passing it to Grayson to speed up my endeavors. Ever loyal and honest he transported the goods in complete sincerity and integrity of heart and never even attempted to glance.....though we were able to get some good laughs out of it.

After putting the rest to bed the 2 of us stayed up and wrapped everyone else's presents. Since I didn't start this whole little undertaking until midnight I figured I could use all the help I could get. We wrapped their presents until 2 am and then I sent him scurrying off to bed. Then I went to work on his 3 presents and the stocking stuffers. Having kept it simple this year, everyone received the same stuffers. Each one got a pair of houseshoes, a flashlight and a package of gum. Grayson got red rubber soled houseshoes fit for walking outside, Evye got fluffy, burn-your-eyeballs pink houseshoes, Aubrey got fitting bright purple houseshoes while Garrison received Cars shoes with wheels and Grant got Spiderman shoes complete with massive distorted head topper. Poor Garrett didn't get any, with me ingeniously assuming it wouldn't make him any difference, and we lived to pay for that mistake.

I wrapped Grayson's stereo which was small, perfectly boxed and manageable....a sheer joy to whip into a nicely packaged, perfectly papered gift. Then came the helicopter....and that wrapping went about like the teapot shaped tea set we got Evye. And by 3 am it became quite apparent that all sense of caring about the end result went out the window. Then came the 110 pound dome. It was a nicely boxed rectangle but the maneuvering of it became quite the feat. But, alas, it did get wrapped and quite nicely, I might add. Then came the huge, larger than life foam mat sets. Somehow I managed to get those into one large piece of wrapping paper without having to use any extra paper to patch gaping holes. Then I had to venture out into the below freezing, middle of the night temps and lug in the massive hockey table. Had I not hit the tin of the shop it would have been a pretty quiet endeavor. But as I hit the tin it, of course, echoed obnoxiously and sent the entire town of dogs into fits of frantic, early morning barking charades. And then of course, our dogs felt obligated to bark back despite their indoor status and inability to see anything going on in the outside world. I just drug the table into the dimply lit den and wrapped the front of it. By that point I just didn't care if the brown cardboard was visible. All that mattered was that he couldn't see the advertising pic painted the full length of the box. Besides, all of this effort was just going to be ripped into in about........oh...........3 hrs from that point.

But as I looked around the den after everything was in place and each present had been carefully....or not so carefully.......wrapped and laid out I was consumed with the peace of Christmas Eve and the blessings that are so abounding in our lives. Our little world seemed magically transformed in that one moment. In nothing but the dim colored lights of our tree our world seemed to come to life. It gently illuminated an abundant amount of gifts for each child and outlined the silhouettes of 7 red stockings. It transformed a night so taken for granted into something so surreal. There, at 3 am, my little world was perfect. And the peace of this wonderful night so filled with wonderment pervaded and settled upon our home.....the Spirit of a living God falling like a gentle mist over our sleeping children....blessing us in ways that exceeded what I had even hoped.....for Brad's and my life and their's. More than anything, Brad and I know how blessed we are. After having overcome so many years of physical and emotional life hardships our relationship has never suffered but, in fact, grown infintitely stronger and we have truly come to value absolutely everything we have been given but our God who provides for every need and who loves us deeply. By learning some of life's very hardest lessons we have come to marvel at the absolute gift of each and the wonder of each different place we enter in life. And this moment....this second in time.....took my breath away with the joy of what we have been given in each other and our children and how very rich we are because of what God is doing for us each and everyday. We may not ever have the riches of this world but we have a God that is completely on our side and providing for our every need every step of the way. We are wealthier than we will ever be able to comprehend. Brad and I have a love between us that is absolutely insurmountable and a love for each of our children that is unsurpassable. To watch the children's love for each other as they delight in the companionship of one another is just amazing to me. We are in a very pleasant place in life right now. A very peaceful place.

I stood transfixed at the sight of our tree illuminating the blessings of Christmas and the serenity of our home. It took my breath away.

I hesitantly turned toward the bedroom and away from the moment that held me captive. Away from the tree, the dim twinkling lights, the silhouette of a baby swing, and the colorful glistening presents that sat reflecting little dancing lights. I marvel over this time in life and wonder what the rest of life holds. I find myself not ever wanting it to end. For the children to stay the ages that they are for just a little while longer and to revel and soak in this place in life with Brad. This companionship, adoration and joy we have for each other. The incomprehensible love that we feel for each other and that we feel for our children and our life.

I fell into a deep sleep and woke to a crisp, clear Christmas morning and Brad arriving home from work. The house slowly came alive and shamefully greedy excitement took over. With both of us having been forced to sit through the entire Bible read, Christmas story every year of our young life we decided to skip that part with our own children. Brad is quite convinced it was just a sheer torture device from cruel parents that were seeking to beat down the inevitable greedy mindset and keep the true focus of Christmas intact. Neither of us are living proof that it ever worked, as neither of us can remember any part of it except that Ben was absolutely the slowest reader ever and that my mom and sister can outpray every Christian brother out there by about 2 hours. So, having established our own tradition, I read to them every year on Christmas Eve The Legend of the Christmas Tree, The Legend of the Candy Cane, The Crippled Lamb, The Alabaster Angel and a children's version of the Christmas story. The Christmas story varies every year since it is dependant on whatever new book we find about it that year. I love reading different children's versions of it since I figure if it is read in so many different portrayals by different authors they are sure to paint their own vivid picture of it that will make infinite lasting impressions in their own imaginative minds. And then, of course, we read it from the Bible itself since there is no truer word than coming from the pages of the Bible, the source of The Story. Since there is no hope of getting any presents on Christmas Eve I am hoping they remember this special time of reading and will remember it as part of our tradition and, not only listen, but anticipate it too.

With Brad home they began ripping into presents. Each year just gets better for Brad and I since the gift giving is forever being fine tuned and each year the gifts grow more meaningful for each one. Garrison was the only one that really truly stumped me this year. He seems to have no specific interest except just being included and playing with the others. He lives to play in Aubrey's imaginary worlds and dress exactly like Grayson. He wears nothing but jeans since that is all Grayson ever wears. And having only 2 pair...one with a ripped butt.....I just bought him a couple more pair of jeans. Grant was, by far, the easiest one since his love for balls, race cars and dirt bikes and everything incredibly boy and testosterone oriented is excessive. I could endlessly buy for him. Grayson was fairly easy too since he is growing older and we don't have many older more sophisticated things for children to do just yet.

While shopping on our date night Brad and I ran across a massive fire truck with lights and sounds.........the same fire truck Grayson received for his 2nd Christmas. I knew when I saw it that with Garrison's intense love for visiting Brad at the station and watching the trucks that we have found his perfect gift. Evye and Aubrey tore into their cheerleading uniforms together and were awe struck, as Evye has been asking for one since moving here and discovering girls her age that wore real live cheerleading outfits at the football games. In true maroon and white colors she and Aubrey now had their own that were the exact replica of the real famous town cheerleaders. Grant opened his treasured basketball and was quite sure he had received the ultimate gift. Garrett had to have a little overly eager volunteered help from the others with opening his new tricycle that perfectly matched the other's. Now he would no longer be left out screaming while the older ones rode without him.

Each opened their fitting gifts and then tore into the 100 pd dome and play mats to go under it. Then finally Grayson opened his hockey table and between that and the dome the crowd cheered.

The indoor playroom dome

Brad and I spent the remainder of the day assembling millions of things, each having their own million pieces. Surprisingly, by early nightfall it was all complete with time to spare for them to enjoy it all. Having had our big Christmas feast on Sunday while his family was here we were all content to eat leftovers for lunch and then cereal for dinner...the perfect Christmas meal.

It was the 2nd Christmas we have spent without Mother and probably the 3rd or 4th that we have not seen Jackie, Curtis, Daddy or Scott at all. There was a bit of a sad, sweet longing to see them all knowing each celebrated without us, but at the same time I enjoyed this day just as much as I had last year. I loved more than anything being home with our little crew. And I loved the peace that came with being able to stay home and just savor the moment without having to pick up and go anywhere. I loved that we were able to put everything together and they were free to just play.

And, in typical Texas style fashion, the high was in the low 70's so Grant ran around in underwear most of the day...having had some stomach issues earlier.....and the rest of the children were in shorts and tank tops. When we awoke on the 26th the cold had arrived and what should've been Christmas day came a day late. With highs no higher than 45 it made for a bitterly cold, clear, gusty winter day. And, of course, we got out in it.

Aptitude in the Kitchen...or lack thereof

Well, as usual, lots of catching up to do. What a week. It's been fun but it's always good to return to some form of normalcy for us...........if normalcy and us could actually be used in the same sentence. Somehow that seems a bit contradictory. I will make this entry on the events leading up to Sunday and Sunday itself to keep from making this a 10 page post. I'll save Christmas day and the day after for the next entry...as they deserve one all of their own!





So, on Sat the 22nd Brad was on shift and the children and I stayed home for the day preparing for Sunday when Brad's family would arrive to do Christmas here. I used to pride myself on my hosting abilities and absolutely go all out on the decorating end of things.......forever searching the world over for ways to liven up a home-hosted event. But these last few years I'm content just to live in the moment and enjoy the company rather than spend an outrageous amount of time fussing and fretting over aesthetic appeal. So it was that I was rather content with our bare naked tree, our still raw unfinished wall from where the bookshelf had been torn out a couple of months before and the lack of any real outlandish signs and wonders of the impending big day. The stockings still lay in a Wal Mart sack stuffed inside a cabinet waiting to be laid out on the coffee table for Christmas Eve....since Santa has to barrel through the backdoor to visit our little crew. So, not even stockings hung on the walls of our home or sung their Chritsmas melody. But I was more content than ever this holiday season....even while hosting a family get together without the seasonal fuss.


Daddy's little cooking buddy, already highly impressed by his kitchen abilities......I know, I know.....the Bumbo recall about setting this thing on high surfaces. And to think I actually was amazed at the incredulous thought of stupid people placing it on tables, wondering who in the world would do that. But it's still a sweet funny little view. He looks like a real live baby doll.

So it was that the children and I stayed home and finished the clothes folding.......as much as we could......and I tackled the preparations for the upcoming day's Christmas dinner. Having made our homemade ham last Christmas it was such a huge hit and loved so much by everyone that it was the one big request this year. The children were begging. I delegated out the side dishes and desserts and gave myself the ham, bread and sweet potato casserole to make. After preparing the casserole and double checking to make sure we had everything needed for the bread at around noon I left the now cleaned up kitchen. With the ham left waiting until 10 pm to hit the oven to slow cook I suppose somewhere in my malfunctioning brain that I just figured I was done for the day. I never looked back. And, yes, you can see the end of this story coming.

Hanging out



I loaded up the children and we set off for a late trip into Ballinger for something sweet to eat, Grayson some more bullets, flour and more toilet paper. We returned home somewhat later than we should have and I hurriedly made oatmeal for the little ones while the older ones made their homemade pizzas and got them in the oven. If turning the oven on didn't trigger something within me I figure there's just no hope at this point in my life of ever mastering the kitchen art. Admittedly, I am a very good cook if I could ever remember to cook the crap I need to. After putting a very tired Garrett and sleepy little Gavin down for the night the rest of us crawled into bed for a Little House marathon, which lasted 3 or so hours. After the rest of the children were tucked in I defied all wise counsel from Brad and stayed up waaaaay too late. I'll refrain from fessing up to the late night/early morning hour but, suffice it to say, it was far removed from the hour I should have drifted off. As in.....the sun was making noises that it was about to peek through with its first rays of its early morning rise.

Aubrey looking through our wedding album with Brad's mom, Grandma



I finally dropped into bed. I've finally figured out that not only do I treasure the quiet nights that Brad's on shift for the quiet, alone time that it gives me but I also tend to subconsciously avoid the bed. It's a horrible habit but after mulling it over again and again I have finally figured out my tendencies and patterns. I hate, even after these 8 years of being married to a firefighter that has never done anything but work 24's, going to bed alone. I hate facing the other side that is cold and empty. So, with my love of writing, my very limited amount of daytime hours that allow any amount of quality computer time and this avoidance of facing my cold, empty bed I find myself staying up until I can no longer fight the need for sleep. Sometimes that exhaustion doesn't even begin to settle in to that point of no longer being able to fight inevitable sleep until 3 or 4 am. There have been a few rare nights that the clock has glowed some 5 am numbers. The really pathetic part is that Gavin has now been sleeping peacefully through the nights for many weeks now. He started faithfully doing it around 6 wks so I suppose we are going on 16 wks, or 4 months, of uninterrupted nights. These should be the nights I am sleeping peacefully with him but instead I find myself reading or writing.

Back in the kitchen for Brad. Now for the clean up. I'm not exactly sure what I was doing at this point.....besides taking a few pics. I think I must have been cleaning off the table with Evye. I never did do any dishes. Poor Brad. I did put the entire kitchen back together the next day since he got the dishes out of the way. Since firemen happen to be pros in the kitchen, in both the cooking and cleaning category, I am quite certain I married well.

At any rate, Brad returned home Sunday morning. Having had my alarm set for 7 with every intention of rising, that plan somehow amazingly flopped and he found me still sleeping at 8 when he walked into our bedroom. I slowly got my day started as he shut his down after having been up all night on the medic. He climbed into bed as I climbed out. I sleepily made my way to the kitchen for some caffeinated hot tea and any amount of other caffeinated liquid I could find. I quickly located coffee, which I expertly turned into pumpkin spice coffee, and a coke after having downed the hot tea spiked with honey. Both coffe and coke were eventually consumed after having gotten the tea down.

So, here it is at 8 am on Sunday morning and family is set to start arriving at 11. As I opened the frig to go for the milk there it was. The unthinkable. The only thing I had to master on Saturday...the biggest to-do on my list. The big purple crinkly package that housed the ham sat staring at me in a very cruel early morning way and if I listened carefully I was quite sure I heard it laughing. I closed the frig door gently knowing full well it was just a bad dream. I opened it back up to look again...as if that was going to somehow magically cook it or something. Nope........still there and still just as cold, lifeless and uncooked as it was 30 seconds before that on my 1st look at it. This time around the door did not close nearly as gently as it had the first time. Crap does not even begin to come close to what I was saying at that moment.





I stomped in there to Brad and said as loudly as I could.......disturbing his already asleep state....that I hadn't cooked the ham. Being the tremendous help he was at that moment he asked incredulously......."HOW could you forget to cook the ham??????" Not even I could answer that one. Feeling no better that I had someone to be mad with me I marched out. I suppose I expected in some small way to feel better at having gone off on somebody and awakened them in my frustration to spout out my woes but, alas, I still felt no better and the ham was still no closer to being cooked. So instead of the long slow cook approach I threw it into a pan........quite literally.....and turned the oven on. If the ham wasn't already dead before I got ahold of it it was surely dead after I got done with it. It was then 8:30 and lunch was set for 1. So, I upped the temp accordingly but still low enough to get somewhat of a slow cook effect. In my little fit of rage I had ripped off the crinkly wrapper which Garrett found very fun to crinkle. He had then ripped off the directions for the glazing process and conveniently tossed them into the trash can...since I usually tell him that paper goes in the trash. Most days he usually shows up with gum wrappers, 1/4 of a page of a coloring sheet, tiny cut up pieces of construction paper and all sorts of other types of paper I never new could exist so unnoticed on a regularly trampled floor. So it is that he knows to toss paper trash.



At noon the timer went off alerting me to the now glazing process. I grabbed the brown sugar mix and looked around for the directions of the amount of liquid that needed to be mixed with it. Then the memory of it glaring at me on the top of the kitchen trash I had taken out many hours before came horridly back to me. Surely not. But, yep.....that was undoubtedly what was on the top of the trash that had been cinched up after having dumped all kinds of other crap on top of it right before Grayson was given the order to take it out. I improvised and just winged it at that point. I was kind of figuring I couldn't really win at that point.



But in the end we all gathered around the table and the ham made its debut despite its many problems that had to be overcome to even get to the table. It was as good as last years and nobody could tell it had suffered a fast cook instead of a long overnight cook. The children loved it which made it all worthwhile. They were certainly impressed and suddenly the whole war I waged to even get it on the table seemed entirely worthwhile. It received rave reviews from the family that was gathered and Brad's mom was full of unending compliments which made me feel better about it all. Having almost mastered the art of bread making I did not want to try any new recipes and use poor family members as experimental taste testers. So, I left the bread up to Brad. He attempted to make Nanny's rolls which in the end did turn out tasting quite like them but looked far from the normal Nanny appearance. We decided we still need to refine our Nanny roll making abilities. Thankfully we had crescent rolls as a backup and so between the 2 varieties everyone was fed and there was bread to spare.



The children sat around the coffee table beside us while the 6 adults sat around the kitchen table. I wish I'd thought to get pictures. I loved having the whole family in there and eating together instead of feeding in shifts like I had given some thought to.



The children were pleasant and a source of joy. Except for the older ones' impatience at the present unwrapping ceremony the day was enjoyable for Brad and I. Gavin seemed a little fussier than usual and slept for most of it. It wasn't until yesterday that I realized nobody was feeling very great.....him included. I felt so sorry for him since he has only had 2 little colds since his July arrival. But it explained his little fussiness issue on Sunday and some of Monday. By Tuesday his little stomach was miserable and he seemed to be having the stomach issues Grant was having. After being given some Motrin, Mylecon and chamomile and lavender tea, since that's the only stuff I felt comfortable giving him, he was back to his old little smiling, cooing self and slept peacefully from 8 pm to 8 am. I didn't bother waking him for his 11pm feeding since I knew he'd had a rough day. I just figured I'd live through the inevitable 3 am waking but it never came. He was perfect today and he went and did with us...taking in all of the sights and sounds as usual while charming the world with his sweet little coos, bigger than life smiles and flirtatious little ways.



So it was that the ham was saved in the last hour and we ended up enjoying the day but being grateful that our holiday celebration was over. Now it was time just to sit back and relax...in theory......as we waited for the big Christmas day for the children. Little did I know what still had to be done!!!! That is, if I remembered to get it done.

And to close, these pictures were taken by Aunt Abby and can also be seen on her blog. I thought I'd put a few of her pics on here since I am always so amazed at what God has blessed us with in our children. It's always so amazing to see them through someone else's eyes. I truly am amazed by their beauty and their little radiating spirits that shine from their eyes.

Look how red his hair is!!!!!!! It's orange! His hair never ceases to be a novelty to me. And he is hilariously guarding the notorious basketball that he expertly nailed his new cousin, Baby Milo, in the head with.

They're just so sweet

Evye holding her 1st cousin on Brad's side of the family.

My Sweet, Loveable, Kissable Gavin

Christmas Miracles

2007 Christmas




Before I really get started...
on a Christmas card note.......here we are only a few days from Christmas and the thought of Christmas cards is just that.....merely a swiftly vanishing, not-enough-time-to-cram-it-all-in thought. Having received tons of them...with pictures, I might add.....in the mail today my burden of guilt mounted at my inability to do all things properly and accomplish everything I set my heart on. We did them last year and I purposed to make it an every year event from there on out. Annnnnnnd......that's now kind of come and gone. They were such a huge success last year and our children were even featured for public viewing on the city's notice board at the town bank due to everyone's delight at their picture. They quickly became the town mascots, I suppose you could say. Their Christmas card picture was the talk of the town for weeks.....do I dare need say how very small this town is???? It doesn't take much to enthuse. Of course, that was all while they were enrolled in public school and we attended the Baptist church so we were a very accepted part of society and the town's delight. Send them out this year and the town may host the biggest bonfire to date with Bettis Christmas cards serving easily as forked up kindling by every local around. Homeschooling and large families just don't mesh with these people. But then...come to think of it......they don't mesh well with most people.

I lost count of the amount of times "Sit down, Garrett!!!!" was said. It's still a good one in the running nonetheless!

Back to the card issue. If you are one of the few that do happen to get a now New Year's card from us then you will undoubtedly see the top picture again. But, if not, here's our crew at Christmas 2007. We were able to get some fun group ones on the porch again this year and then Daddy's coming next week to take some and see what he can get. One thing I deeply love about being an experienced parent is that my idea of perfection has changed from when Grayson and Evye were young. I used to require the perfect pose and setting and now I just want to capture their sweet little spirits and personalities for that moment in time. I absolutely love last year's pic because it did just this. It was a far cry from the world's standards of portrait perfection but I look at that picture and I see them at that stage in each of their little lives..forever captured for Brad and myself. And it's just incredibly funny to me to see one of them laughing too hard or Garrison in one of his ever changing faces with his incredibly funny personality or Garrett standing up 1/2 way trying to walk off. It captures what it is to get a picture of them at this stage of life.....Grayson's self confidence, Evye's up and coming maturity, Aubrey's forever carefree, independent spirit, Garrison's many faces, Grant's absolute delight at life itself, Garrett's inability to sit still during his toddling years and then Gavin's utter contentedness and his sweet, fleeting moments of infancy. They just grow up so fast. Life is too short to make it all perfect. Next Christmas Gavin will be almost 18 months old. It's so hard to think about when you look at him now in this picture and wonder what this next year holds, each and every milestone and think of each one of then growing up another year. This was Garrett just last year.

Christmas 2006

We got Jackie's and Curtis' (my sister and brother in law) card in the mail today and their picture is by far the best in years. I see Madison and Curtis Wade and once again time flying seems to hit home much too hard. It seems like just a few years ago that I was holding a toddling Madison's hand and cradling baby Curtis. Here's their great Christmas pic this year. They're so physically pretty. Every one of them. I think they're even prettier to me because I see their hearts and I know each one of them. And I know the change that's taken place in their family as well. Baby boy Cyrus is due sometime in April.

On other happenings of life.............our Christmas miracles.....we have had many many reasons to fall on our face before the Lord in thanksgiving over His abundant love and care for us. He is indeed an Almighty God who does heal and who does provide.

Aubrey had her 30 day recheck on her eyes. It was left that probable surgery was needed to loosen the muscle in her right eye. At her initial appt the problem was seen as so severe that he thought surgery was an action that would need to be considered at her 30 day recheck. She was put in glasses and the 1st course of action was to reassess her in a month to see how her eyes responded. But he didn't feel it would be too promising. Her vision was said to be very poor and the right eye muscle problem extreme.

Both Brad and I went to her appt this past week and the dr was amazed by her progress. He said surgery is not even a consideration now due to how very well her eye responded to the glasses. I wanted to cry. These past 30 days with her have been an emotional journey. All of the other children pitch in and help her with her glasses, bringing them to her, telling her how pretty they are and even finding pairs of sunglasses so they can wear the new look around too. Leave it to Garrison to wear shades all day to do what she does. The 1st 2 wks or so went exceedingly well. They gave dire predictions of how she would despise them and how we were walking into a minefield until she grew accustomed to them. But to my relief at that point, she adored them. She wore them day in and day out all day long as instructed. From the second she rose to the second she went back to bed they were over her eyes. But at the 2 wk mark she began to change. Her tantrums became worse, she obliterated her glasses case by slamming the bedroom door on it, she threw her glasses at anythingn and everything in her outrage at life, she discarded them when no one was looking, she pushed them down in between the seats of the Suburban so that the entire 3rd row seat had to be taken out to get to them and then the ultimate..........she conveniently lost them outside one day.......not to be found for another 4 days. When they were discovered by Brad they were laying in the flowerbed a little more bent and twisted then before....but, more importantly, they had been found. There were several days in there that I cried with her. It seemed so wrong to me that somebody so little should be so burdened with something. At only 4 she now has to learn to be entirely responsible for something she never should have ever had to think about. It seemed to me, while on my own pity party for a few days, that it was a handicap on somebody so little and innocent and so undeserving. It still crushes me when she interrupts something by saying, "Wait, mom. My glasses are dirty. I have to go wash them with the water. I'll be right back" as she holds up a small little index finger bidding me to be patient with her interruption.

Since her 2nd appt she has progressed by leaps and bounds and reverted back to her initial love of them. They adjusted them so that they are clinging tightly to her head instead of slipping down the bridge of her nose incessantly. Since they cease to slip now she has no longer had issues with them and has, in fact, become the one asking for them and telling us she can't see. She is coming to realize how much they aid her eyesight and that she really can see so much better with them. Right now she is said to be seeing double of everything without her glasses. But, as her appt went on, he was so impressed with her eyes' and brain's response to the glasses she had to have an entirely new lens strength prescribed. He said that was an amazing thing in and of itself and rarely ever happens at a 30 day recheck. I felt so much better having gone to the appt too and now having a much clearer idea of what to be praying for her. It was explained that by the world's standards it is considered a birth defect but in all reality of what all can possibly go wrong in an unborn developing baby it is just a minor little issue requiring attention. He spoke what I feel so incredibly strongly....that it is absolutely amazing given the process that God created as a baby goes from an egg the size of a grain of sand to a full term 40 wk baby that anyone ever comes into this world fully functional and healthy. It indeed in a staggering thing to comprehend that one cell could multiply into billions and form every part of a human body in order for it to live normally and outside of its mother's nourishing womb. It's amazing to me that a specific cell is told to form a pancreas, and another told to form a bone and which exact bone, and yet another told to create the brain, the nervous system, the lymph system and every part of your body that one is born with.

In Aubrey's case, she was born with her right eye nerves being too short. For whatever reason they did not develop fully and were created too short. I could not help but ponder the thought of how amazing it is that a child even has specific cells to create those nerves and how grateful I am that she had those cells telling her to create them and then praising God that He created those cells that resulted in short nerves instead of no nerves at all in that eye. And now knowing what it is that we need to pray for more specifically we have turned our prayers in that direction. He heard our cry for her healing and has already begun her complete healing. She is a living testimony to a God that dearly loves His children, his little tiny children that He created, and He has already eliminated the need for any surgery. We continue to pray for her complete healing and that her nerve cells would catch up to her body's growth so that her eyes will function in complete health as the Lord intended our bodies to do.

And as a God that heals He is also our Provider in every way. We purposed to give our finances completely over to Him in every way. By the world's standards there is no way Brad's income will support our large, growing family. We are not so stupid that we do not know this. But so many families today base their number of children on the income they see before them. But, as a God that does not change or ever go back on His promises, we know more than anything in life that He does provide for His children. He does nothing but speak of the heritage and blessing that children are in the Bible. That which He gives He is faithful to provide for...and Brad and I take Him at His very literal word for it. As we have been deeply convicted about paying off debt.....all of our entire debt in life.......we have purposed and directed every bit of money in that direction without straying very far. The incredible financial blessing we received in Nov was primarily directed towards our last few remaining debts. We are down to nothing but house, truck and trailer left, which we are eagerly working towards and chipping away in every way. With money already allocated we knew going into it that the bus was our Christmas.....which was a unanimous decision in every way. And each child received one present just for them on Christmas Day. This actually became the most fun Christmas we've had in awhile as Brad and I pondered each and every child. It enabled us to carefully discuss each of their personalities, likes and dislikes extensively as we tried to pick that perfect gift for each of them. We both continued on in utter contentment and honest joy as we planned out our Christmas. It gave us an open door to also discuss with the children where each and every penny is going and the importance of a debt free life in every way....lessons Grayson is very much taking to heart these days.

My family has completely gone to no gift exchanging at all except for the children. The family has grown and become so large and money so tight that we all agreed the true meaning of Christmas was slipping away and stress was becoming more and more of an issue that surrounded the holidays as we all sought to give gifts. So, instead of gifts we all agreed the true gift was each other and the time spent in each other's company on such an incredible day. That was a huge turning point for us as Brad and I began to realize what Christmas is truly all about. It's not about obligatory giving or trying to buy 50 million people gifts for 1 day but about sitting around a table filled with food in a warm, dry house with a fire blazing in the fireplace and drinking whatever happens to be the hot drink at that moment....ranging anywhere from cider, to hot chocolate to coffee. All while children romp and play, lounge on the floor playing checkers or propped up on 104 pillows watching whatever dvd they received that year while sipping hot chocolate through their straws. It's the memory making and the fellowship of people that are held so dear to your heart. I can't tell you the gift I received 4 years ago but I can tell you who all was there and what we did.

In those thoughts Brad and I grew more and more excited about our little family holiday. With Thanksgiving being our primary travel holiday we came to absolutely cherish what Christmas became to us last year as our little family sat around a meal and made our own memories here at home. I feared that I would ache for the family that we are always with and have never been away from each Christmas but instead it grew to be something I dearly loved and would remember always as our 1st Christmas as a family of just us. There were pangs of loneliness as I thought of my huge extended family celebrating hundreds of miles away but I looked around and loved what I saw in our little home that Brad and I have made. So, we continue on in complete contentment with life and a new understanding and perspective on gift giving....even to our children. As we attempt to take the focus more off of receiving and focus more on giving it seemed joyous as we shopped for their one gift.

Maybe it was in this new found release and contentment that the Lord saw our hearts. Maybe it was just the freedom from holiday bondage. Maybe it's because of what we are trying so desperately hard to instill in our children about what this season means and teach them at such a young age. Maybe it was because we finally discovered what so many are still searching for during this season. I'm not really sure. But, as we picked up the here and there's with overflowing happy hearts for each child we received a card in the mail shipped next day air. Upon opening it there were instructions to spend this solely on ourselves and the children and nothing else. A job that seemed joyous and heaven sent considering the fact that we have worked so hard to get out of debt and most every penny has gone in that direction. As I opened the envelope inside the card I discovered many crisp, new, hundred dollar bills tucked neatly inside. Grayson, forever being Grayson, saw an opportunity to add to his ever growing stash of cash that he continues to save diligently and begged for "just 1". As I sat there a little stunned as to the contents of the card he sat begging next to me in the front seat, "Please, mom. Just please. May I have just 1? Just one of them????? You got so many that I could have just 1? Please???? That would put me up to 278.oo for my 4 wheeler! Oh please!" It's so hard to say no when faced with his incredible green eyes knowing how much he gives of his earned money. He saves like an old oger but his soft pliable heart gives in every way. He would give his own clothes away to someone who needed them. He gave Evye 10.00 for her birthday to pick out her own sunglasses, he gave Mother 20.00 to aid her in paying her electric bill the week after she lost her county job and he buys me anything and everything if he perceives any kind of need I have. Using his own money he'll bring me back cokes from the little grocery. He's stated that once he has a steady income he wants to support a child every month through one of the mission programs. I marvel at his heart and I pray fervently that we are able to nurture that within him and give him the environment in which that can grow into something that is ingrained into his adult life. I pray that he is exceedingly abundantly blessed for it.

So, in staring into his green eyes I laughed and teased with him before giving him his firm "No" as he pushed the issue in all of his Grayson ways. Brad and I discussed heavily how to go about spending the money wisely, sticking to our convictions about not overdoing Christmas with materialistic "I wants" and still using this extravagant blessing for our family. So, before ever going out, we made a list of the biggest desires of each of them and then narrowed it down to what would be the most utilized. We weeded out anything with lots of parts and pieces and then continued to narrow it down as we thought through any items that would be fought over or cause selfish behavior and wreak havoc instead of creating a playful fun environment for all. We then decided to buy 1 or 2 gifts that would truly minister to them individually and then focus everything else on what they could all use....and then one really large main gift for them all to enjoy.

This has become by far the most fun Christmas Brad and I have ever had in celebrating and buying for the children. I think mostly because we put so much thought into it, having become so convicted about the amount of junk toys we have that have just accumulated over time. It allowed us to dig deeply into each child's individual nature and rediscover the uniqueness of each and every one of them.

We have been so exceedingly abundantly blessed in every area of life. Our sweet children are a continual source of overwhelming joy to me. They are something God is continually using to probe microscopically deeper into my heart and reveal who I truly am inwardly...exposing the deepest regions of my inner self to change me more into the likeness of Him and away from the worldly mindset that so saturates the world. I see Gavin's absolute abounding contentment with life and the joy that he radiates and I wonder if it's because the Lord has molded me and shaped me into a better parent in all of these years. Brad and I stayed up pondering last night if Garrett's and Gavin's happiness is due to the constant stimulation, noise, joy, love and siblings each are completely engulfed in. Or is it because the presence of an ever loving God sees what we are so mortally striving to accomplish for His Kingdom in what He has called us to do and the joy of the Lord truly is our reward...both in ourselves and in our children. We both are fully aware that we have had supernaturally happy, content, joyous children in both Garrett and Gavin. And it is my children that God uses each and every day to continually draw me more and more into Himself because without Him I am so inept at ever being able to do this parenting thing.

There are days I just look at my children and want to cry. I stand in awe at what God has created through Brad and I. I stand in wonder that we were chosen to be the parents of so many when there are so many that can't even have one. I stand in amazement that we have been given such inwardly and outwardly beautiful children. There are days that I feel so utterly unworthy to have them....to even be doing this job. There are days when I know I have failed them and I cannot imagine whatever it was God saw in me to raise them. But there is not a day that goes by that I do not stand in awe of the complete gift that they are to me.

And I still stand in utter amazement each and every time God blesses us so very much more than we ever anticipated. He not only provides for us but sees that we are blessed many times over even what we thought possible. He is still in the miracle performing business. He is our provider in every way. And He is our healer. He is Aubrey's healer.

Photoshop's Wonderous Creations

Look at this!!! This is one of the many things that the wonder of technology can accomplish. This is a mix of the 2 pictures I posted a few days ago along with some color changes to boot. I think that is just the coolest thing ever. Thanks to Aunt Abby and the wealth of info that she is she was able to tweak 2 ok pics into one great pic. To a newcomer of modern technology this feels a bit like lying since it wasn't really the real thing....but I've come to quickly see, it's whatever makes a great group shot! I think I might just become a great fan of Photoshopping. Now just for the time to educate myself on it and I'll become quite the pro myself.

Take a look at the 2 originals.

Pretty funny and sooooo incredibly wonderful!

Santa Day

Well, here it's been a week and I haven't even had time to sit down and do much on the computer, not to mention attempting to try and write on here. Although I did manage to get 37 maternity patterns off of Ebay for only 1.49.

So anyway, in my days of absence on here I've been freaking a little lately. Not sure why. Kind of like a PMS week with no reason to be PMS'ing, I suppose. I've worked so hard to provide some consistency to our days and really stay on track. In my continuing efforts I rose yet again today at 7 with my day strictly laid out and every plan to adhere to it. To say I was setting myself up for failure is just putting it mildly. Goals are good........but not when they become gods. And I tend to quickly let a schedule become a god....and then I just get all out of sorts and ruin the entire day for everybody, even myself. I see so much in my children that I want to give them. One of the real problems with homeschooling is the vast, dizzying array of trails you could venture down or interest one can pursue. And I always feel this pressure to cram it all in since, afterall, one's brain is only pliable and flexible from the age of 2-10 yrs or some crap like that. TLC even confirmed that last night only proving to irk me more today. We have the basics of Bible, handwriting, spelling, reading and math that I consider mandatory and then we have 10 million different ways to experience science and then there's the typing program and Spanish program that Grayson has 1 more month to accomplish before his brain freezes up and goes into cement mode....according to brainologist....and on to history and the million different ways to teach it, especially when it comes to holidays such as Thanksgiving. Then, of course, there's sewing for me, the freakin treadmill that I definitely need to pay more than one or two visits to, cooking, and then the notorious creative art things I could do with them. And on a side note here...stringing popcorn is NOT the thing to hang on a poor tortured tree. The process itself is horridly messy and then there's the issue of many children eating it off the string. I thought about just lighting into them for it but I have learned to pick my battles and that to me seemed a little like taking a kid in a candy store and then asking them what they want just to turn around and walk out telling them you don't have any money or some cruel crap like that. So, the popcorn was quick to go...or rather, quick to be eaten.

Loving the backpack....as all of his siblings that have gone before him in it




Anyway, here I am once again trying to cram it all in and only succeeding in making everyone of us miserable. Not to mention the whole little house issue I have going on. I might as well be pregnant right with how anal I've become about the house again. It might make me feel better if I was since at least then I'd have a legitimate excuse to be blaming this crap on.





In the midst of my whole house obsession I've become deeply convicted about a simplistic and minimal lifestyle. Sometimes I think the children have so many things surrounding them that it's like they just can't focus on any one thing. Sort of like putting too many toys in front of an infant...they go into sensory overload and shut down or just cry, whereas one toy will not only attract their focus but become greatly tantalizing to them. So, I have begun to clean out even more than I had. Looking around seeing so much excess is causing me to go crazy and also think about the mindset of Americans and what it has transitioned to. As we read through the American history biographies I see what people sacrificed and lived on and I see what we now hoard and have become accustomed to as part of living in modern society. People now are overweight with cluttered houses and sheer excess in every way. I want to pare it all down in order to focus on what really matters in life.....and teach the children those things. I want them to grow up valuing each other and not the material possessions they can possess, or be so overwrought with excess around them that they find they lose focus because of the many directions they could go. I want them to pull everything out of life without being surrounded by mounds of crap that hold us down and burden us with a weightiness in life that the Lord never intended us to have. Something that we have totally brought upon ourselves out of ignorance and being considered acceptable....that has now even become expected as part of living the "American dream".....that, in the end, is not the dream at all.

Finally taking a turn on the engine




On that note, yesterday we took our family Christmas outing. Like every set of good parents should do we have never even taken the children to see Santa Claus. Grayson and Evye went when they were around 3 and 18 months but, other than that, none of the others have even come anywhere near a jolly fat guy in a red suit. With the dept hosting all fire families for a free afternoon with Santa Claus and all of the pictures one could take we decided it'd be a fun outing and something for the little ones to experience for the 1st time. In my ingenuity I thought it'd be fun to do that from 2-4, then go for pizza, run to Wal Mart and spend some time before it got dark and then do the river of lights with Brad with us. This would have been a 96 for Brad but he was called in for OT both Fri night and Sat. We'd finally succeeded in managing to call a babysitter so we had a date night on Fri, thus resulting in him turning Fri's OT down. But when it rolled back around Sat morning he took it. Needless to say, the whole little heading back into town on Sunday wasn't as thrilling for him as it was for the rest of us since he had just returned from there and was having to return on Monday for his normal shift. But with the children absolutely ecstatic about it I was in high spirits and not about to let it deter me from the grandness of the day with the entire family together.

Pretty sisters ready for a day on the town







The station was fun. We arrived with the only other large family on the dept, who we know well, so it looked quite funny as their 8 and our 7 bombarded the place...though they were minus their 2 older ones. Our 2 crews made it seem as though a flock of vultures had descended upon the cookies that remained. Grant, surprisingly, took up with Santa in every way. He clambered up in his lap and sat contentedly, talking his ear off. Not really specifically about anything he desired but just about his little life and what all he found amusing out in the bay. The basketball goal became a hot topic that rolled around more than once and then they graduated on to talk of the engine, medics, cookies, the fire decorations that dangled on the tree and so on. Gavin had been perched happily beside Grant in ole Santa's lap and he smiled non stop. His many admirers that stood cooing and drooling over him only served to prompt more wide gummy smiles and cooing..which then sent his flirtatious onlookers into fits of dying to hold him. So, as the others took turns he was passed from person to person, loving it all. Of course, Garrison decided he did not like Santa at all and then Aubrey was forever Aubrey and obstinately refused to look any male in the eye. She did manage to smile for the picture though...which Garrison never found it within himself to do. But I figured given the sheer number of people we have to get into a picture we're doing really good if we've succeeded in getting half with pleasant looks on their faces. So, that was quite the funny challenge that was somewhat easily conquered. After much visiting with all of the guys and a few other fire families that had showed up later in the day as we had....we somehow managed to miss the bulk of the crowd that had shown up earlier.....we were off for pizza. We made a Sam's run and took time to play on the toys and leisurely make our way through. But by this time Brad's internal body clock had begun to tick and was saying he desperately wanted to go home before having to return for his normal shift in only 13 or so hours. I still was quite determined to make the most of our family Christmas outing so we forged onward to Wal Mart. By the end of Wal Mart Brad was really cranky and the children were wearing a little thin having had no naps at all. Ummmm........an irritable, tired Brad and cranky tired children don't bode well together. But my anal retentiveness in sticking to a plan shone brightly as we pushed forward to the lights. I envisioned the children squealing with delight now that Brad was enjoying them with us. But, alas, it turned into quite the excursion once we arrived. Rows of brake lights faced us as we neared the line to get into the park. Of course Brad resorted to cussing them out. Once in we were behind a slow moving limo...which was, afterall, more than fine with me since we were there to soak this moment in time in and savor the season. We crept along a few blocks discussing each new display as suddenly Brad grew tired of the limo's snailish like speed. Managing to get us up to no less than 80 we flew by it on the undecorated side of the road. A bit shocked, I hadn't had much time to recoup as we then pulled back into the line to see the next display and continued on at about 30 mph, racing through the remaining lights. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever seen the river lights at 30 mph before last night. I suppose a colorful blur of twinkling lights has some sort of allure to it that the normal, dull, traditional lights do not hold. Instead of the glorious cheering I had expected the children were tired and merely conversational about what they saw. Even Garrison and Grant had to be prompted to discuss what they were supposed to be overjoyed about. I found our light expedition fairly humorous so in good spirits we set off to make the trip home. The last 20 or so miles were spent quietly talking without the roar of chaos in the backseats and by the time we reached home all 7 children were sleeping soundly in the back of the Suburban.





My sweet view while cooking dinner

Now here we are and ready to take on the preparations for the coming holiday. The rest of the week should be interesting.

The best of friends...Garrison says he wants to marry Aubrey

Bed Buddies

It's just so hard to believe they're all this big

This is the same group of 5 nearly 3 yrs ago

Rowdy Boys!

Smiles from both