Birthday Pictures

Here are some pictures from Noah's birthday:


We went shopping for a cake with a theme toy on top, but there weren't any that Noah wanted that we haven't already bought from the bakery, so I got a $4 Lego set and put it together to put on top. It turned out so nice, and for sure it's a better $4 spent than the cheap bakery toy, which costs the same.



Here is the whole group.

Ok, My Turn

I went and opened my big mouth and posted a comment on another blog, so to be fair, I guess I'd better post here and let that blogger come here and post back. I only hope I didn't blow a good friendship out of the water. I'm sorry if I made you angry.

Just so you all know, here is my position: OMG what a huge devestating disaster. No question, it is shocking and unbelievable and heart-wrenching. I feel so so so horrible for all those people trapped down there in those horrible conditions. I can't imagine it, and I don't want to. I can't help but watch the news and all the images, and even still, I know I have no concept of how really terrible it all is. I want so badly to do something more than just throw money at it. I want to be involved. I want to invite some of those families to come and live with us while they sort out what they are going to do. I want to open my home and my heart to them, because they look so lost and hopeless and I want them to know that people care. But I live so far away, that isn't an option. I have heard that even sending needed goods down there isn't helping because the distribution issues are so difficult. What they need is money, so that is what I will do. But it feels so cold.

I see those people angry and crying and yelling to me through the cameras, thinking that no one cares because they have not been rescued yet. I see their desperation, and I wish there were more we could do. What, I don't know. I have friends who work with disaster relief, so I know a little bit about how difficult it is. It isn't a matter of simply passing out some bottled water and getting busses in and driving them out. This disaster is so huge that the logistics of it are mind-boggling. All that needs to be done, yes, as well as medical needs attended to, immediately. But there is unavoidable disorganization at the beginning, and it just takes time. I am well aware that many of those people don't have time, but that doesn't change what is.

What I am overwhelmed with, beyond the tragedy, is the anger. Not from the victims; that is understandable. They have no tv or radio, or contact at all with the rest of the country. They have no idea how large this disaster is. They know only that they need help, and need it NOW. But the anger from the rest of the country, those who are watching the newscasts and wondering what is being done, and seeing what is not being done, scares me. It is so frustrating to see it all and not be able to do anything. But getting angry to the point that I have been seeing and reading is just such a waste of energy and emotion. I guess when you are filled with such sorrow and frustration, anger is the most common outlet for it, but it hurts to hear it and see it. Please, put that effort into something positive to be done, rather than just throwing blame around, and name-calling. It makes me sad enough to watch the suffering; but sadder still to know that I live in a country so filled with hate.

Best Friends

Levi and Voof at bedtime:

Happy Birthday Noah!

Today Noah is 9 years old! It was a busy day, and I got some good pictures, but I have to upload them from my computer first. I will post about the day when the pictures are ready.

Baby's Best Friend

For his birthday, Levi received a stuffed puppy from his Aunt Aimee. It is a cute border collie. Last week, I was playing with him and the dog, and making the dog bark at him, and he said his first word! He named the puppy Voof. You'd think he was just making dog noises, but seriously, he was pointing at the puppy and saying "Voof!" lol So that is the puppy's name now. They are so cute together. He really loves this dog. It is easy to get Levi to lay down for a nap or to go to bed; all I have to do is hold both him and Voof, then tell Levi that Voof is sleepy and lay the dog down in the crib on his side, and make snoring noises. Levi jumps right in and lays down next to Voof with his arm on a paw. It is soooo cute. Here they are together going for a ride in the van:

Levi and Voof


We were in the van to take Samuel and Caleb to their first day of camp at the YMCA. Caleb was super excited to go, but Samuel was a bit shy and nervous. Of course that manifested itself in his behavior as anger and stubbornness. He dragged his feet leaving the house, getting out of the van at the Y, going inside at the Y, signing the paper that covers the discipline rules for camp, and carrying his lunch bag each of those places. In fact, he mostly kept dropping the bag on the ground. He also hid in the vestibule rather than come all the way inside. I was so embarrassed. And angry. I really was torn between crying and just hauling off and smacking him. Of course, I did neither. But boy did I feel like it. Here they are in front of the Y:

Caleb and The Grump


And in front of the bus:

An excited camper


An exasperated camper and The Grump


Of course, you know the outcome of the day; they both had a great time. I talked to a counselor when I came to pick them up, and she said that Samuel told her he was afraid it would be boring, but that when she asked him again at the end of the day he admitted it was fun.

My mortification was not quite complete, however; I had had to wake up both Levi and Micah from their naps to go get Samuel and Caleb. Micah is not good when you wake him up before he is ready, and he demonstrated that at the Y. When he saw the room with all the fun stuff in it that the campers wait in for parents to come pick them up, he wanted to run right in and play. Of course it is only for campers so I couldn't let him. Well, you know that story too. He laid down on the floor and had a tantrum and I had to have Noah carry Levi so that I could carry Micah to the van. Wow I was making a bad impression as a mother yesterday!

It wasn't over today either. This morning I was carefully watching the clock to get the boys out to the van at exactly 8:00. I checked every 10 minutes to make sure we weren't late. On the second the long hand reached the 12 I looked and said "All right, it's time to get in the ... Aaaaggghhh!" It wasn't 8:00, it was *9:00*!!! HOW did that happen? OMG I can't even tell time. To make things worse, today was the scheduled field trip for the boys. The campers were going to have a tour of a potato chip factory. They weren't even going to be just at the camp, they were going on a trip! Waaahhh! I raced them out the door and over to the Y, and ran in the door to see if I could maybe meet the bus at the factory. The lady behind the desk was so nice. It turns out the busses went first to the lodge where the campers spend the day, and from there they were loading up to go on the trip, and they hadn't left yet. So she called and asked if I should drive the boys up to the camp or meet them at the factory. They said they'd hold up the bus for me to get the boys over there. Back out to the van I go, and hurry over to the lodge and we made it! Phew! I was feeling sooo guilty, I am so glad it worked out. When I went to pick them up today the report was that it was really cool and they had fun :-)

Tomorrow morning I will not make the same mistake of thinking it takes 2 hours to go from 7:00 to 8:00 LOL

The Black Hole

There is a Black Hole in my house. Astronomers and scientists everywhere can stop all their searching the cosmos to find evidence, I have one right here. It is not a big one, though. It doesn't suck up anything that comes near it. It is more sneaky. After all, if everything fell in, I'd know to keep things away from it. No, this black hole is selective. It only takes a few items at a time. However, once something falls in it, it is lost forever. Nothing can withstand the awesome force of gravity that keeps these items in its grasp.

I have lost many things over the years, but today so many things are missing that I am going to go crazy. I have a notepad with important numbers on it that I keep in the desk drawer of my computer desk. Is it there? Nope. Gone. Troyer and Noah went camping with their grandpa this weekend, so on Wednesday I got their bags out to pack for them. Fully half of Troyer's clothes are missing. Half! I have searched high and low in the house, in everyone's dressers and closets and under the couch and behind furniture and under beds. Nowhere. This morning Chris left to go up to the camp and join them for the weekend. The boys had asked me to give him a disposable camera that was left over from earlier in the summer, to bring up and take pictures. Do you think I could find it? Of course not! I spent 2 hours looking for it, but there is no sign of it.

I know exactly where each of these things should be, but not only are they not there, they are not anywhere. We have lost other things over the years too. Troyer still asks about when we will find a Woody doll that went missing 5 years ago. Things like that I can just let go. Oh well. But now I am just going crazy. Too many things missing, just in the span of 3 days! I know, we just moved here, and we are still disorganized, and they might just turn up. But these are things I know I saw recently. They have no reason to be missing! Aaarrgh!

Happy Birthday Levi!

Levi turned 1 year old on Saturday! Wow, the year has been busy! It's hard to believe that just last summer we were starting to get our house ready to sell, Chris was starting his new job, and we were trying to figure out when he should start his orientation.

He sure is a cutie :-) He is my best natured child; even tempered and easily entertained. He is not afraid of strangers and likes to be held by lots of people. That is nice at church, where so many ladies are baby hungry ;-). He is also the earliest walker, at 10 months, and the slowest to grow teeth. Most of the others had a full mouth of teeth by their birthday, Levi has just the 8 in front, and 2 back molars so far. Troyer had all of his baby teeth by his birthday. Then again, Troyer has all of his adult teeth now, including his 12 year molars, and he is not yet 11! Levi walks and runs everywhere, and can climb like a mountain goat. He gets himself into a lot of trouble, lol. He is usually a good sleeper, though the past few days he has woken up once a night half way through needing a snuggle and drink of milk. He also wants to play, so I have to walk him up and down the hall to show him that all the lights are off and everyone is in bed. He usually is convinced and will then lay down and go back to sleep.

There are no plans for another baby at this point, so Levi is our last. He will be the baby forever. I hope his sweetness and good nature will last into adulthood.

For his birthday, we had a little party for him. My sister Aimee was here with her kids, Danny and Katie, so it was more than just the brothers, which was nice. We only did cake, and Aimee gave him a cute stuffed dog. All the other boys have "pet" dogs, so Levi needed one. I didn't get him any presents because, really, what does a 1 year old with 5 older brothers need? I hated the thought of getting him new clothes, knowing that there wouldn't be another baby after him to use them. That just seemed like a waste. And same goes with baby toys, he already has plenty. So he will get some cash in the bank instead. This really is better anyway, since a lot of the relatives that used to send money in cards for the older boys are now gone, and he doesn't get much.







We also all went to a picnic after lunch. Chris' coworker invited all her officemates to her annual picnic out at her farm, along with their families. I made sure it would be ok for Aimee to come along, and as expected it was no problem. The drive up there was a bit nerve wracking though. When we started out from the house it was the hottest day of the summer, and we were wondering about the sanity of an outdoor picnic when it's 100 degrees outside. But, it's about an hour and a half from here (I can't believe that woman drives that distance every day even in winter to get to work and home again!) and half way there we had to go over a mountain. Well, there happened to be a thunderstorm going on on top of that mountain! It was very scary. We thought about turning around, because really, what fun was this picnic going to be for the kids in the rain, with no swimming? And I was so worried about a tree getting blown over on top of the car! But we got over safely and kept going. A lot of cars had stopped along the side of the road to wait it out because it was so hard to see, but we kept going. I figured by that point we might as well just get there and get inside her house to wait out the storm. Wouldn't you know it, about 2 miles from her house, the sun came out and it was beautiful! There hadn't even been any rain there. It was a bit cooler, too, maybe only 85, which is perfect for swimming.

We got there and jumped straight into the pool. It was a lot of fun! The kids all had a great time, and it was neat to see them all swimming so well. The swim lessons paid off! Even Caleb, who hasn't had lessons yet, was doing great in the shallow end, jumping in off the side and going under the water. He was fine as long as he could touch the bottom with his feet. Micah and Levi loved it too, taking turns with either me or Chris getting towed around and pretending to swim. Samuel almost got up the nerve to try out the deep end, but never did get out there without a float. I think it is the first time I have had a chance to do some real swimming in over 10 years. I did swim at my dad's place 2 years ago, but his pool isn't deep, so you can't dive in it. I actually dove off the board twice this weekend! Aimee assured me I didn't look very bad LOL. I just couldn't resist. It makes me wish I had a pool.





We stayed about 4 hours, and then headed off home again. We were hoping the kids would be really tired and sleep well, but of course they didn't get to sleep until after the adults! And they were still up by 7 am. Ugh! lol They are paying for it now, though. They have been very sluggish this week.

Today Levi had his 12 month check up, and did great. He is 21 lb 4 oz, and 29 in long. Not quite as big as Caleb or Micah were at 12 mo, but bigger than the other 3. I told the dr that he is right on track for my group. He got 3 shots but didn't even cry, and had his iron retested, because at 9 mo it was low. This time it was 12.5, so very good. He minded the band aid on his finger more than any of the pokes, lol.

I also had his picture taken on Friday and it came out very nice. The pictures on the disk that I bought are off on the color, which disappoints me since it cost almost $15, but you can still see how cute he is :-)



I love this one:

A Few Thoughts

to add to my last post, in order to clarify to some readers who apparently are missing the point of that post, and of this blog:

1. This blog is about ME, not about the world and how I should work hard to make it a nicer place. As it happens, I generally do that (did I *say* that I was rude to my neighbor??? NO, because I was not; I let her in the house to use my phone, and said "you're welcome" when she left) but this blog is my little spot to vent my frustrations and anger when I need to. I am not here to have no-names lecture me on how to be nice.

2. I do think I "deserved" a thank you, as that is common courtesy; I do not think I deserve, nor do I want, "praise" for the favor I granted. What I would like is more sleep. I get very little of it, and I am not one of those people who can exist well on 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. I do it, but not well.

3. Most importantly of all, I have heard from several other people as well as the anonymous commenter that in general it is assumed that a mother of small children will automatically be up at 6 am as a matter of course. WHAT? What gives people such an insane idea??? WHY would I be up anyway at that time of morning? (and by the way, in winter it is still dark at 6 am, and therefore qualifies in my book as still night) Ok, so let's go with the absurd idea that mothers of young children, who have gotten up 2 or 3 (or more) times already that night, will be up early (to cook a nutritious full course breakfast for her darlings, and wash dishes, and maybe throw in a load of wash in my spare time? Not in this house!) If so, wouldn't there be some lights on in my house? There were none on. If so, wouldn't I have answered the door after the first time the door bell rang? Or maybe the second or third? Somehow shouldn't she have gotten the message before the 17th time it rang???? And even if *I* were awake, and maybe some of the kids, is it a kind and thoughtful thing to do to make sure *everyone else* was up at 6 am???? Come on, you have to be a special kind of ignorant or insensitive to keep at the doorbell so insanely after it's clear that I am either not hearing you (i.e. alseep) or can't get to the door that quickly (maybe I have the baby on the changing table and can't come immediately without leaving a poopy baby to roll off the table, or maybe I am in the bathroom?)

Your lecture didn't do a lick of good, it only makes me more indignant. Next time sign your name.

A Great Start to the Day

I started my day at 6 am this morning. This doesn't count getting up at 5 am to nurse Levi, I still consider that the middle of the night (even though Chris was already in the shower when I got up). At 6 am, Caleb and Micah came running into my room to tell me the door bell was ringing. Sure enough it was. I asked, did Daddy lock himself out? (He has done this in the past but that is in the winter when he goes out to shovel his car out and wants to come back in and get his briefcase before he leaves.) No, not Daddy, someone else. So I drag myself out of bed, wondering who in the heck is at my door at this time of morning, and for what possible cause? It is my next door neighbor, who I have only met once before, when she came over to ask if Chris could trim the weeds around her fence because her lawnmower doesn't fit there. He does this regularly for her, she has never come back to say thank you. So here she is at my door. She has locked herself out of her house and needs to call her daughter to come let her back in. I'm so ticked off that I really want to say no, but how can I do that? So I point her to the phone and she calls her daughter. She already mumbled about how she keeps meaning to put a key outside somewhere but hasn't done it yet. I'm wondering myself why an older lady who lives alone does not have a cell phone for emergencies. I didn't say anything to her, though, and just hoped that she wouldn't make too much noise and wake up the rest of the kids.

After she left, and I tried to go back to bed while letting the kids watch a Thomas the Tank Engine dvd, I started to get angry. I was very tired, since I had only been up an hour before with Levi, and needed as much of the morning left to get what sleep I could, and she disturbed me, but that is not what really bothers me. What the heck was she thinking? I am not the only neighbor on the block! But I *AM* the only neighbor on the street with toddlers and babies! Could she wake up the older couple across the street who go out to mow their lawn at 7 am, they were probably up having coffee already anyway? Could she go to the house on the other side of her who only has one son who is 12 who could probably sleep through a tornado (or at least fall back to sleep after one!) But nooooooo, she rings the doorbell of the one person on this street who desperately needs all the snatches of sleep she can grab. The one house where the occupants are NOT likely to go back to sleep after being awakened anytime after 4:30 am. And let me tell you, she didn't just ring the doorbell and hope for the best. No, she rang it, and rang it, and when no one seemed to answer, she rang and rang and rang it. Super-obnoxiously. O. M. G. I am so ticked now. She barely apologized, and once in the house seemed to be glad for the chance to peek around and see what the inside looked like. She had already told me the last time she was over that she had never been inside. I am envious of the previous owner of this house.

At This Point

I am just about ready to get a ball point pen and stick it in my ear and drain the darn thing myself! Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh I hate being half deaf! (well, half again as deaf as I already am, according to my lovely husband) When I bend over and hang my head upside down, it actually takes the pressure off my ear drum and I can hear pretty well, but it's not a very practical position for getting much done during the day. And really tough for driving ;-) Besides the huge headache from the blood rush, there's the view it leaves for everyone else to consider too LOL Anyway, I am taking it as a good sign that at least when I change positions I can feel a difference and movement of the fluid in my ear, and that maybe, just Maybe, it will clear up overnight? Oh please oh please oh please?

In answer to your question Lisa, of course I always beg them to stop, but usually not with my hands over my ears, and mostly while simultaniously putting them on /ignore so that I don't really notice if they have stopped or just started a new round.

And for a further aside, this /ignore thing is getting addictive and habitual with me. While we were in the doctor's office on Tuesday they were pretty rambunctious (that's a polite way to say obnoxious and loud and unruly) but it took seeing the look on one of the receptionist's faces to realize that something was going on that I needed to stop, namely climbing on chairs to make tunnels for brothers to walk under, which to the untrained eye screams "accident = liability" (to the trained eye it screams "people will think your kids are monsters = you're a rotten mother if you let them keep that up!")

Here's a Nifty New Development

Not only is my ear not better yet, it is worse. Today if feels like it is swollen (though visually it is not) and more stuffed than ever. On top of that I found out that now sounds at certain pitches resonate inside my ear and makes a sound in my head that is akin to the noise a microphone makes when it gets feedback. Plus my own voice and chewing echo like crazy. Can you visualize me holding my hands over my ears crying to my children "please please please Please PLEASE stop your whining and crying and screaming!!!!" I called the dr back this morning but she said I need to give the medicine at least one more day to unclog my ear before we try something different. I can bet you if it were HER ear, she'd be taking something stronger by now!

Farewell

This past Sunday we drove the boys up to a cabin on the Susquehana River to see some friends of ours. We have been friends with this family since college, before any of us were married. Chris and Scott shared an apartment for a while, even, and had some classes together. When Chris and I hooked up again after graduation, he and Scott had both gotten jobs in the same town and were going to the same church. Debbie and I had babies together (my 10 yo is 3mos older than her 10 yo) and spent lots of time at church, working on their house (they bought a fixer upper), and just having fun together.

About 6 years ago Scott was lured away to a new job in North Carolina. It was so hard to see them go so far away; we knew we would only see each other once a year at most. Sometimes 2 years would pass by before we'd get a chance to see each other.

Last fall Debbie called me up and said "what would you think of us moving to New Zealand?" Truthfully, I just laughed out loud. These two have always talked about moving far away, but to someplace like Colorado or Oregon. New Zealand just sounds crazy! I guess a head-hunter had called Scott to try to recruit him to come down there to work. This is how they came to be living in Asheville, but at that time Scott was getting really run down and fed up with his current job. I guess he was feeling the same way again at his new job, but wow, New Zealand seems kind of extreme, you know? Well, I guess it sounded romantic too, because they decided to seriously consider it.

After looking into it, and actually going down there and interviewing for jobs, they decided to go for it! So this spring they sold their house and put all their furniture in storage, and today they are leaving us for their biggest adventure yet! By the end of the week they will become Kiwis! They said they are planning to be down there for 2-4 years at least, maybe more depending on how the kids are doing in school.

So this weekend, we got together one last time with all the kids, and just spent the day hanging out. We had such a good time, like always, and it was sad to go; it is hard to find such good friends. I am hoping 2 years goes by quickly. I know that when we see them again, it will be as though only months had passed instead of years. So Good Bye old friends! Have fun on your adventure!

Sick

Did I mention that the boys had all passed around a cold last week and that I ended up catching it? Well, I'm not sure now if it is the same as what they had or not, because I am soooo worse off than they got. I usually don't get very sick at all, but ugh I feel horrible. It started off with fever and went to sore throat. I tried to tough it out, and avoid going to the doctor, but Sunday night my ear plugged up and I could not get it to drain. It was annoying, being that I couldn't really hear out of that ear now, but it didn't really hurt, so I hoped that maybe it would clear up on its own.

But last night it started to bother me enough to keep me up at night, so this morning I found a doctor and made an appointment. When the doctor looked at it, her exact words were, I think, "Yuck!" LOL I guess it should have been hurting me more than I felt it. So now I have a prescription for amoxicillin (she said she could give me something stronger but since there is that small chance that I could be pg - WHAT? LOL When I said but we used that ahem oh so common and cheap otc form of birth control, she just laughed and said unless my tubes were tied or we weren't having sex at all, they consider there to be a chance. ROFL) and I am waiting for it to kick in. I took my first dose before dinner tonight and I confess, I was hoping to feel some difference by now. But obviously, since I am up at this time of night I am not feeling any better yet. Waahhh I sure hope dose #2 in the morning helps!

Rich Man Poor Man

I got to pick up the van yesterday, and it runs soooo nice now. I am very happy. Chris, however, is grumpy about the bill. It was over $1000. Today our long lost tax return check came in the mail - Finally!!! It never got forwarded to our new address so I had to call the tax office and have them send out a new one. They told me it could take up to 3 months (waaahhh! I filed the darn return in February!) so it was a pleasant surprise to see it in the mail today. It will cover the van repair with a little left over. Unfortunately we were looking forward to stashing the whole amount away for when we move again. I keep telling Chris to stop being so pouty, at least we could afford the repair, even before the check came today; we didn't need to charge it or anything. And hey, it wasn't a $3K transmission!

The boys finished up swim lessons today. Troyer and Noah both passed out of their levels, but Samuel is still a polliwog. His instructor said he needs to build up more self confidence in the water. I could see that through the lessons, he is still nervous about jumping in or swimming without a kickboard or lifevest on. I am still very proud of him; he overcame a lot of his nervousness about being in the water, and I know he can swim enough to stay up if he ever falls in. He is looking forward to more swim lessons next year. Their lessons have been at the school pool, so when the school session starts again, the pool is too busy with the swim team to have lessons there. They offer Saturday lessons, but we'll be at church. So they will wait again until next summer. I still plan to sign Samuel and Caleb up for day camp at the Y at the end of August, and they will get some swimming there.

The Garage Called

Got the call about the van. Turns out it was a faulty throttle sensor, whatever that is. The guy said they replaced it and took the van out, and it didn't give them any trouble. They also said that the alternator was giving low output or something like that, and recommended replacing it. He said it would account for the odd electrical things that have been going on, like the radio going crazy. I told him to go ahead and replace it now, rather than have it go out on me in the future; I hope I wasn't stupid to say ok. Chris doesn't have an office number or email yet so that I could check with him before I ok'ed it. If all goes well, we should get the van back tomorrow night or Thursday morning - yeah!

No News

I took the van to the garage on Sunday and stopped in Monday morning to hand over the keys and explain what was wrong. At noon we drove past on the way home from swimming and I saw that they already had the van in a bay to look at. I thought that was a good sign and hoped for a phone call telling me what they found, but as of this afternoon I still haven't heard anything. The van was still inside when we drove past again today.

Chris got home at a decent time last night so I was able to run Troyer, Noah, and Samuel over to VBS. Our church is doing the "Bibleland Adventure" theme this year, with a Jerusalem Marketplace set up in the gym. It was really cool. Samuel didn't really want to go, and dragged his feet and crossed his arms all the way up until they started the theme song. At that point I left, but I was confident that he would have fun once he saw all the activities. I came back at 8 and I was right, they all had a good time. Hopefully Chris will be home at a good hour each night this week so they can keep going.

Micah's shoulder looks much better this week. It looks like it was a bit of eczema after all. I didn't know it could show up in just a single spot like that, and what an odd place. I think of it being on hands or legs or elbows. But it is paler and drier this week, so I think it is clearing up on its own. I wonder if it was related to the virus that was going around. I say "was" but really it still is. Micah has goopy eye and Noah had a bit of it too. I called the dr but she said if the eyes weren't red then they didn't need drops. I also ran Troyer in to the dr on Monday morning for his throat, and the dr said he was probably ok. I guess a lot of kids have had sore throats lately, but the dr said almost all of the cultures were coming up clear, so he wasn't going to prescribe antibiotics yet. They would call me within 2 days if something showed up on the culture.

I had a fun weekend; on Sunday my sister Michelle came up by herself and she and I went over to Gettysburg, just the two of us with no kids. We toured Eisenhower Farm and had lunch at Friendly's. The weather was beautiful, a little warm but there was a breeze, and the humidity was low (a rarity around here these days!). While shopping for postcards and magnets we found a CD of fife and drum music with all sorts of muster songs that we knew, so she bought it for me. It was fun to listen to in the car on the way home. We are going to try to get the book of music for it so we can learn some of the songs we didn't already know.

Nostalgia

*Note: I wrote this weeks ago, but it took me this long to scan in the photos!


Every year around the 4th of July, I get nostalgic for the past. When I was growing up, I lived in a small town in northern New Jersey. Very typical small town America. Our 4th of July celebration was a huge all day affair, a bit more than typical. We had a great parade with more than just local bands and fire trucks and boy scouts and girl scouts (though we had those too). We had the best fireworks for miles around, and they were free to all borough residents. The fireworks were held at the high school football field; my family lived down the street, so we could walk there carrying a blanket and folding chairs, and then walk home again - no fighting traffic or worrying about finding a port-a-john.

But the best part of all for me was what I considered the essential element for 4th of July, The Morris County Militia. The MCM was a colonial style fife and drum corps made up of kids ages 8 to 18 (or high school graduation, which ever came first). It was started back in 1969, when I was only 2 years old. My older sister begged and begged to join and as soon as she was old enough she became a member. The corps grew in numbers as the patriotism of our country grew with the approach of 1976, the Bicentennial. Soon there were 3 different performing groups within the one corps. It was very competitive to get from "Little Corps" to "Big Corps" and be able to compete in state and regional competitions. The MCM soon became well known at musters and parades all over the northeast. They participated in and won all the competitions there were to win.

The Championship Corps, The Morris County Militia at its best:


My sister was there in the thick of it, vying for top spots, hoping for coveted fife solos. She really became a talented player. I tried out fife playing for a while right in 1976, and had some fun, but I didn't have the same drive and at 9 years old I wasn't willing to put in the time and effort to become really good. I soon dropped out. But in 1979 I gave it another try. By this time Bicentennial Fever had dropped off and the corps wasn't as big any more. There was only one group playing at all the events, so right away I got to wear the "Big Corps" uniform and march with the big kids. My sister became my fife coach and helped me learn the songs and also the unwritten rules of getting along in the group. I ended up being an average player, but I had a lot of fun.


I'm in this picture!


We traveled many places, like Old Fort Henry in Ontario, Walt Disney World (twice!), and musters in states up and down the East Coast, as well as countless parades in all kinds of weather from rain to blistering heat to snow (yes we played at Christmas too!). Our last performance was at a muster in Westbrook Connecticut, in 1981. It was bittersweet, because we didn't know the corps would be disbanding after our performance until the practice that morning. The practice run was probably the best show we had marched in a long time.

One thing the MCM did get to do at the height of their fame was to make a recording of their championship music. Of course back in the 70s it was on vinyl LOL. I made a tape of it and played that to death each year on the 4th of July, after I went away to college. Finally, 20 years later, the corps' director put together a CD of that recording plus a collection of performances from the last 3 years of the corps. I wasn't in the corps that recorded the original album, but I am on the second half of the CD! Now I can put it on my stereo (or computer - it is playing as I write this post!) LOUD and remember back to "the good old days."

My sister and I agree, there is nothing out there today to compare to what we had then. We (the Corps) were the pride of our town, had the honored place in the parade, played at the fireworks, and were known by almost everyone who lived there. We were a group of dedicated, hardworking kids who kept clean and achieved great things. It was a group that was entirely voluntary, we didn't get school credits or grades, or get paid. Everyone in that corps worked hard just for the pride of being in it and knowing we were great. I really miss it, and I wish there were something out there for my kids today like it.

A Lot Going On

OK, I was going to post all about what a great week the kids had last week, but today I just have to whine a little.

Our van is severely disabled right now. I can't say "dead" because I can still drive it in second gear. That's right, I can go a whopping 30 miles an hour (and in second gear it starts to make a lot of noise at that speed!). Here's the story: almost a month ago, it started acting funny. Sometimes the power would surge, and sometimes it would almost cut out. The engine light would come on every once in a while. We checked on all the fluid levels and that sort of thing, found nothing. Chris' BIL came over and changed the fuel filter for us, and it was acting better again; we thought great, it only cost $10! But then the light came on again, and the surging/cutting power started again. It wasn't consistent, so we kept putting it off. I had too many things on the calendar to be without a van while it was in the shop. Last week, it started jerking when changing gears up, when it went to 3rd 4th or 5th. The boys have had swim lessons this week, so I've only been driving it 10 miles or less a day, but each day it got worse. On Wednesday I had to run to the store after swim lessons for groceries; on the way home just when the van should have jerked into 3rd gear, it just stalled. Right there in the middle of the road. Ugh. I put it in park and it started up again fine, so I tried again to get home. Once again, as it should have gone into 3rd gear, it just stalled. I managed to get into the parking lot of a hotel and park, so we went inside to call Chris at work. Of course I had to scrounge up fifty cents because the desk wouldn't let me make a local call. Ugh. I felt very lucky I had two quarters in my purse, because that was all I had! lol As we sat and waited for Chris to get there I thought about the van, and the idea came to me that if I kept the van in D2, I might be able to get home, though it would mean I would have to drive slowly. When Chris got there (and it didn't take him long at all, I sure love having him work so close to home!) I suggested it to him and he agreed it was worth trying. We drove back roads rather than the main road so we would annoy the fewest number of drivers lol but we did make it home, at 35 miles an hour top speed. Yesterday Chris came home from work for an hour just so I could take the boys to the pool in his car. Next week MIL is going to come over every morning and watch the 3 youngers so I can take the 3 olders to lessons. I have an appointment to take the van in Monday morning and have the garage look at it. I cringe at the thought, but it would seem that it is the transmission. Waaahhh that is going to be some major $. I also know there is an exhaust leak somewhere, and they are going to have to fix that too.

Oh, did I mention that starting Monday Chris is going to be working out of town? He will be commuting over an hour away each way plus working over time to do office work that he won't get done while he's on site. So I'm without a van and he won't even be around. Waaahhh.

Oh, did I also mention that the boys are all sick this week? It started over the weekend, with Samuel complaining of a sore throat. It took about 3 days and then he was better, but then Noah started complaining about a bad headache. On Wednesday he was crying about it in the pool. The next day he had a sore throat too. Today he finally says he feels a bit better. Meanwhile Micah came down with a high fever on Wednesday. I gave him some Tylenol and he slept it off. By 4 am (that's when he woke me up asking for something to eat lol) he was all better. Now today, Troyer has the sore throat. I sure hope his only lasts 3 days too so that by Monday I don't have to be worrying about how to get them to the doctor when I have no van. Samuel is right now lying on the floor with a bit of a fever and kind of listless. Ugh I hope he is not working on round two already.

Also just something odd, while Micah was sleeping on Wednesday, I noticed a red mark on his back, in the center of his left shoulder blade. I thought maybe it was the start of a rash, or maybe a bug bite. The next day when Chris and I looked at it, it looked like a big flat mole. I can tell you that this is new, he did NOT have it 2 weeks ago. It scares me; I know that moles that pop up out of nowhere are not good. We are keeping a close eye on it. It is pink and oval, and not smooth. The center looks like it is getting dried and scaly. It is less than a half inch diameter. I've taken a picture of it just to document what it looks like so we can compare later to see if it's getting worse. I sure hope it is just some sort of raised rash and not a mole. It worries me.

Here is what it looks like now:

So Tired

Last week was a busy one; we had 2 extra boys here. Chris and I invited some friends of the boys' from our old church to come down and spend a week with us, so when he went to pick up Troyer from camp last week, he stopped in at their house and picked them up too. We had a great time, they are some of the nicest kids I know. I have lots to tell, but I am so tired! They were polite and helpful, but MY kids wore me out! They were just so excited to have them here. So I want to tell all about our fun week, but it is probably going to take a while. I already have 2 or 3 posts in drafts that I haven't been able to finish yet; hopefully things will slow down here some so I can finish them. Ok, I'm off to take a nap LOL

Fast Forward

Ok, I am going to forget most of what happened in the last month if I wait for a time to write it all out in detail. Here it is in fast forward:

Father's Day

For Mother's Day Chris got me a bunch of candy and a card, so that's what he got for Father's Day. Isn't it nice that the men have to set the standard for such holidays? We went over to FIL's house for dinner and gave him some cards, but no gift. Chris' family isn't big on cards and those sorts of holidays; much different from my family. My Dad's cards are on my table to give to him when he comes to visit.


Levi Walks

Levi has been cruising the furniture for a few weeks now, but only a few steps at a time, and never stepping away from it. Well, at 10.5 months, he got brave enough and tried it out. Only a step or two here or there, from the end of the couch to the chair an arm's length away. But of course you can guess, less than a week later, he is taking 5 or 6 steps at a time, and now is practicing turning and walking at the same time. The only thing he hasn't figured out yet is how to stand from a sitting position unassisted. He still needs to pull up on something to get upright. Come to think of it, so do I LOL.





Noah off to Camp

After a frantic week of gathering up clothing and digging out flashlights, Noah was ready to go to camp. We weren't sure if we would all go up as a group to check him in or if Chris would go up with him alone in the car. I like to take pictures dropping them off, but the car would save $ in gas. On Sunday morning, Samuel decided the issue for us. He had not eaten well the day before, and woke up throwing up. Since it was going to be very hot all day, we knew a car trip was just a baaaaad idea for him. Chris and Noah headed out around 10:30, and by 11 Samuel was keeping down Saltines and some soda. I figured he'd be fine as soon as he got some food in him, but still, I'm sure being stuck in a hot van would have made his recovery take much longer. By afternoon he was his old self and eating fine.

Check in time for camp was at 3, and Noah had to take a swimming test before Chris could leave, so he didn't get back home again until 8 pm. It was a long day for Chris.

Dad Here

My Dad was lucky enough to score a ticket to the 50th Porsche Parade in Hershey this year, and was super excited to go. He decided to take an extra week driving up from Florida and stop in at my sister's for a few days on the way. He had a great time at the Parade, even though the temperature was in the 90s all week and he was outside most of the time, often on the parking lot at the autocross. He said the concours was not as successful because of the heat; it was on the golf course.

We arranged that he would get to my house on Saturday after checking out of his hotel. He was supposed to get here around 2. That would give me time to run the vacuum once more and straighten up for him, and get sheets on his bed. He stayed in Troyer and Noah's room, so I made Troyer clean up and he slept out on the couch. Well, at 10 am while I'm vacuuming, someone knocks on the door. Guess who? That's right, my dad! Arrgh! It turned out ok, he came in and sat for a bit, then decided to go out to the liquor store and the cigar store (we don't drink or smoke here, so I didn't have even a beer or bottle of wine for him). That gave me over an hour to get a shower and get dressed and finish picking up. Chris and the boys went to church so I could get the place cleaned up, and they ended up getting home before my dad got back.

I did a lot of shopping for food the day before, and had a great meal planned. We had cold subs for dinner (it was way to hot to cook inside, and I don't have a grill) plus grapes and corn on the cob (yes, I had to boil water for that LOL and the kitchen was HOT!) and I made homemade strawberry shortcakes (Bisquick recipe) for dessert.

Chris was invited to play cards with his friends that night, which he was going to decline, but I told him it was ok. We've been here 3 months and this is the first chance he's had to go hang out with them. I didn't want him to have to wait another 3 months. Saturday nights here is movie night, so I made popcorn and gave the boys Twizzlers and we watched Galaxy Quest. It was very funny, and my dad enjoyed it too. He likes Star Wars and Star Trek, so it was right up his alley. I was hoping Chris would get home by 10:30 or 11 so I could run to the video store and return the movie, but he didn't get home until 11:45. I was already dozing in bed, so I decided to just pay the late fee.

My dad left early the next morning (not quite as early as Troyer and Chris, but that's another topic) for home, and we headed over to SIL's for her 4th of July picnic around 2 pm.



Everyone but Noah with my Dad


Troyer off to Camp

Chris and Troyer, and this time Samuel, got up and left by 7 am to drive back up to camp. They had to leave earlier this week because check out time for Noah was at 10 am. I called the day before and let them know that we would be getting there a little late, and could we leave Troyer off a little early, instead of having to wait the 4 hours to check him in. They told us it was fine, they would take care of Troyer and help him check in himself.

Samuel wanted to go along because he was so eager to see Noah again. He figured that driving up there meant he would see Noah 4 hours earlier LOL. So I had just the 3 youngest boys at home with me. We cleaned up from my dad's visit, and then headed over to SIL's for a picnic on her deck. I rummaged through the garage and found our box of play-doh and brought that along. I also spent the morning making cookies again. Yum, they turned out much better this time, since it wasn't quite as hot as last time.

4th of July picnics

About 1:30 we headed out to SIL's. I stopped on the way and returned the video (the late fee was only $1, so not bad at all) and got gas. We drove on over to SIL's, and broke out the play-doh right away. It was a good idea to bring it, Caleb and Micah were busy with it all afternoon. BIL was already starting the grilling so it wasn't too long before we started to eat. Levi ate some watermelon and really liked it. I gave him a huge lunch before hand since he tends not to eat much when we are out. To my surprise Chris got to SILs house not much later. I thought he'd be tired and want to go home and nap, but I guess Samuel and Noah out voted him. BIL had fireworks planned for the evening, so Chris just drove straight to their house from the camp.

Noah told us all about his week. He had a great time; he did very well in archery (though he says he got 5 bulls-eyes in one afternoon, which seems a little too good so I'm not sure how truthful he's being) and had great fun learning to jet-ski. He said it wasn't actually lessons, they just had older kids take them out on the lake on the jet-ski and they rode passenger. Well, that was the plan, but one time they were out they hit the wake and his driver fell off. He managed to stay on, so he got to drive the ski back. He had such a thrill! He also passed his swim classes this year, so next year he can take the next level of swimming. I am very happy that he is learning to be a competent swimmer.

I had thought that Chris would want to head home early with Micah and Levi, since they didn't care about the fireworks, and he could get some sleep, but I ended up being the one to leave early while he stayed with Noah and Samuel. Caleb ended up going home with Grandma and Grandpa and spending a few days at their house. Chris said the fireworks weren't that impressive, but I'm sure the noise would have bothered Levi and Micah. In fact, there were quite a few going off all night in our neighborhood, which surprised me since we don't live out in the country. BIL has 2 acres, and his neighbors have even bigger properties, so it's not such a big deal out there; but all the houses here have 1/4 acre lots. It sounds too dangerous to me, but oh well. The noise kept Levi from getting to sleep until after 11.

On Monday we headed over to MILs for another cook out. It was nothing fancy, but FIL got a new grill and has been using it any chance he gets. He made chicken again, and this time we could actually eat it ;-) We had a nice time and headed out to get the boys home for bed. Caleb stayed over again.


Ok, I think I am caught up to this week, hooray! The coming weekend and next week will be busy again because when Chris picks Troyer up from camp on Sunday, he will be stopping off to pick up 2 of the boys' friends from our old church and bring them to stay for a week. It is something we have planned since we moved. The boys are very excited about it. Samuel also has a drs appt on Monday, which I am hoping I don't forget about!

Ok, Book Meme

Gretchen, over at www.Lifenut.com/blog/, tagged me for a book meme. Now I will have to confess to you the junk I read, LOL. I used to like good stuff, back in high school and college, but now all I have time for are trashy novels that are easy to put down when life calls.



Total Number of Books Owned:

Does that include children's books? We just got rid of a bunch of college text books when we moved, and boxes of paper back novels too, so between us Chris and I probably have only a few hundred books, but the kids have another 2 hundred or so. It's hard to really say; whatever the number is, Chris is always reassuring me it is too many LOL

Last Book I Bought:

AstroBall Free-4-All, a book for Troyer. I've been very good about going to the library for my own reading, instead of spending $. If I could have found it, it would have been a book titled King Me, a Christian book on Dads raising sons. I heard about it on Mid-Day Connection a few months ago. I was hoping it would turn up in a bookstore near me, but I haven't seen it. Yeah yeah yeah I know, I could get it online.

Last Book I Read:

Here is where you find out just how low my literary tastes have fallen since I had kids, LOL. I just finished a trilogy by Michael Phillips called The Stonewycke Trilogy. It is a set of historical romance novels set in 19th century Scotland. Somehow in college I became fascinated by Scotland, and also my roommate got me hooked on reading time-travel novels. I read the series of books by Diana Gabaldon and enjoyed the parts about the history of Scotland and time traveling, and even for the most part the plots; the sex part, ick. I'd have been just as happy if they had left it up to our imaginations LOL.

I am currently reading another Michael Phillips series, The Secrets of Heathersleigh Hall, starting with Wild Grows the Heather in Devon. Michael Phillips is a Christian author so at least there isn't any sex in these, LOL.

5 Books That Mean A Lot to Me:

Wow, that is tough. It would be hard to pick out only 5. At the same time, it is hard to pick out a whole 5. I have read sooo many books, I am sure I'll post the answers to this meme and then in a few days smack my forehead and say "I can't believe I forgot THAT book!" Ok, so here goes:
First that comes to mind is The Great Controversy, by E G White. It is a fascinating book about the ultimate battle between Good and Evil, and how the Earth got caught in the middle of it.

Second is Northwest Passage, by Kenneth Roberts. I read it in 10th grade English class. It stands out for me because it is totally a guy's book, all about an exploration party searching for a Northwest Passage through Canada in the 19th century, not the sort of book I'd ever read, yet I remember enjoying it so much. I loved that class because we read so much that year, most of it books I'd never pick up on my own.

Third, another Christian novel Some Wildflower In My Heart, by Jamie Langston Turner. This is part of another series, and I don't think it is the first one, but it is the first one I read of them. What got me about this book is that there is a character, Birdie Freeman, who I shouldn't like at all; plain, sticky sweet kind, a total overkill of Christian goodness that normally I would be gagging over, and yet this book actually succeeded in making me want to be like her. I liked this book best out of the series.

Fourth, Hmmm, I knew this would start getting hard, lol. How to choose which ones meant more than others? Really, I blow through books so fast, I hardly remember one from another after I'm done. Well, I guess this is where the truth comes out. I don't have a high standard for my daily reading, lol. I will critique one romance novelist over another, because honestly some of them are really horrible and not even worth finishing the book yet others are fun to read. (I enjoyed Victoria Holt books, but even they get predictable when you've read 7 in a row. There is one author my sister and I have read who is remarkably inconsistent. Some of her books are great, and others just make us gag.) In the end, though, I guess I just read for escape at this point. Reading the really good stuff was more fun in school where we discussed the books in groups. It's no fun to have profound personal discoveries and insights if you don't have anyone to share them with. My husband doesn't like to read with me because he always feels dumb trying to discuss it. I read the Hobbit and was going to read The Lord of the Rings, since he read them and liked them, but he wouldn't discuss any of it and I lost interest. Romance is fun because there is seldom anything profound in them LOL.

S'mores

After we got home from Thomas, the boys jumped in the pool for a little bit and then played on the computer for a while. There was a knock on the door, it was a friend of the boys', Sam, bringing an invitation to a cookout at his house. His mom called while he was here to make sure the message came through ok and see if we could come. Chris wasn't home yet, so I told her that unless he had plans we would be there. He got home while Sam was still here, and said he'd come along, so we sent Sam home with the message that we'd be over after dinner. I made a quick pizza for dinner, and then off we went. They live just 2 blocks over, so we walked.

Their house is on a block that has a large grassy field in the middle of it, so the houses that are on the surrounding streets have this as their back yard. I showed Chris the shortcut to their house so that he could see how to get the boys to the field if he wanted to play ball with them.

We had a nice time cooking s'mores and meeting some more neighbors. I really like this neighborhood. Chris isn't so keen on all the people, but I feel so much more friendly with people to talk to. It is just too easy for me to hide inside my house and keep to myself when it takes so much energy and scheduling to get out to activities. It is nice to be able to walk down the street and wave hi to people.

Chris ended up leaving a bit early to take Levi home and put him to bed, and I stayed to let the older boys play a little longer. It was a lot of fun.

A Day Out With Thomas

After I picked up Noah and Samuel, I made a spur of the moment decision to take the boys to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the Strasburg Railroad. Noah made a big fuss about it being for babies, and I realized Caleb wasn't home to go along, so I postponed it for a day. I dropped Troyer and Noah off with MIL and exchanged them for Caleb.

We got an early start to the day, because I hadn't been able to order tickets for the train ride online, they were sold out already, so I wanted to get there first thing to buy tickets from the counter. The website said they had limited amts of tickets available at the event. I was dubious, but I hoped that it would be fun even if we didn't get to ride on the train. We left just before 8 am, and had to take a major commuting route through two large cities (ok, large for *this* area, not major metropolises or anything). I hoped to get there by 9, but guessed that it may take longer because of it being rush hour, and also in case I missed a turn or something.

We were lucky, it really did take only an hour, so we arrived just at 9 am. We got a parking spot right in front, I couldn't believe it. Apparently not everyone with toddlers either plans well enough or is able to get out of the house so quickly, LOL. We found the ticket counter first thing, and bought tickets for the 10:15 ride. That way we would have the rest of the day to explore all the other activities. I was so happy that we were able to get an early train.

I took the boys over to have their picture taken in front of the train. This one was so much better than the last one I went to, in Ohio over 7 years ago. That time they had just a shell of an engine painted like Thomas. This one was a real working engine, which I thought was really cool. Samuel and Caleb got all the way to the front of the line and then decided they weren't going to have their picture taken. Thank goodness there was no obligation and parents were also allowed to take pictures at the same time, because I grabbed the kids and pushed them onto the bench and took a few quick pictures. No way would I have paid for this:



Micah, on the other hand, was so thrilled with the whole thing, he jumped right up and posed. Luckily he was oblivious to his brothers' reluctance.

After the pictures, we wandered around a bit while we waited for our turn to ride the train. All the little rides were free, or rather the cost was included in the price of the train ride ticket, so we wanted to see what else there was to do. There still were hardly any lines yet. Samuel and Caleb went on a ride where they could crank themselves around a track. Micah wasn't strong enough to get himself around, so he waited with Levi and me. We found one toy store open already, and spent some time inside browsing, and then it was time to line up for the train ride.

Caleb and Samuel were still grumping, but Micah was excited. He didn't like having to wait on line. Luckily we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes. I did have to leave the stroller behind at the line entrance, and I hated to do that, but there was a huge group of strollers there, so I figured I'd have to be as trusting as everyone else. I thought about leaving all my junk in the stroller and just bringing $, keys, and id, and my camera, but since I was carrying Levi, it ended up being too much to carry, so I took along the whole diaper bag. I had so much stuff in it that it took up as much room as Micah, lol.

We boarded the train, and soon we were off! It was a simple trip straight down the track for 10 minutes, and then reversing direction and coming back again. The train didn't really pick up much speed at all, but the boys had fun. I think seeing all the people at the road crossings waving at the train made it even more so.







After the ride we picked up the stroller, which of course was fine, and walked down the the hay bale maze. We had seen this out the window of the train and the boys wanted to do that next. On the way I bought a huge lemonade and a funnel cake. The prices were waaaaay too high, but hey, when else do you get the chance to buy funnel cake? The boys never got that hungry, so that was all the food I had to buy all day. They had a great time in the maze:







They went through at least 5 times each. I got a little nervous with them running from exit back to entrance while I watched, and the 3 started splitting up since Micah was slower than the others, but I rounded them all up again and took Micah over to the tatoo tables.

When MIL took the boys a few years ago, they had face painting, which was really cool; I'm not sure why the difference, but I think I like this better. The tatoos are the usual kiddie sticker you apply with a wet sponge. Micah was the only one who wanted them, but he loved them. They stand up to quite a bit, too, they are still looking pretty good for a week old:



After that we went on some more little rides. I had to go on all of them with the boys because they all said children under 6 had to be accompanied by an adult, and only Samuel was over 6. Each time I had to leave the stroller behind, and I just hated it. I did leave the diaper bag hanging on it one time; I noticed a lot of strollers with bags in them left along the lines, so I thought it would be ok. That particular ride was pretty crowded and I couldn't take up an extra seat with the bag. I got so nervous for the whole ride though, that I didn't do that again.

They had one tent set up with Thomas toys out on tables so the kids could play, which was nice, though nerve wracking trying to keep track of the 3 of them each running from table to table mixing in with all the other little kids there. Micah especially seemed to blend in too well. Lego has just come out with a new line of Thomas and Friends Duplo sets, so they had a really cool giant Lego Thomas. It really was made out of Duplos and Legos. Troyer and Noah were a bit disappointed to have missed that, lol.





We did pick out some things to bring home; I got 2 sing along tapes for in the car, and a glow in the dark t shirt for Caleb. Micah already has 2 Thomas shirts that are hand-me-downs, so he didn't need another, and Samuel didn't want one. The boys of course begged for toy trains but honestly, there isn't much we don't already have that I'd be willing to pay for. So much of that stuff is very expensive, and we don't need more junk stuffed into this house! I did find a really neat unit study pack about the transcontinental railroad, so I bought that for the start of school next year.

By 12:30 Levi was getting pretty grumpy. He was tired of water and graham crackers, and wanted some milk and a nap. I found a bench under a tree and nursed him and he fell right asleep. The other 3 were super bored waiting, so I suggested that since it was lunch time and we'd gone on most of the rides that didn't have lines that were too long, why didn't we just call it a day and head home, and we could stop for lunch on the way. They were a bit disappointed but I just couldn't take standing on another line holding Levi and leaving the stroller behind, and they were ok with it. As we headed back to the van, I couldn't believe how crowded it had become. Not only was the lot I was in full, they were parking cars out in a field and shuttling people in. Wow! I am so glad we got there early.

We got to the van and found ourselves parked next to a Jaguar. Bad enough to try to load kids into a van without letting them touch the car next to you, but this had to be a $$$$ car. Plus, the family was still in it! The grandmother had a pillow in the front seat and was sleeping. Ugh ugh ugh. Of course these were not pull through spots so I had to back out, but I was so close to that car that I had almost zero turning room. I backed in and out and in and out until finally I flagged down a dad who was going to walk behind us, and asked him to please guide me out. He was so nice to help out and we got out without incident. Whew!

We stopped at McDonald's on the way home, and were home by 2. It seemed like a short day, especially considering how much money I spent, but I decided it was ok, because we never got tired and were still in a good mood all the way home. Levi fell asleep and Micah did too for the last part.

I am so glad we went; I almost chickened out when I couldn't find another adult to come along and help out, but I was brave and it all worked out. The weather was beautiful and the kids had fun, and I didn't lose anyone or anything, lol.

Happy Retirement!

Chris' dad retired last fall, after 30 years working for the same company. In today's world that is impressive. It's very hard to work at the same place for so long. These days it seems the only way to advance your career is to move around. Chris even know one guy at his last company that had to quit and get hired by another company for a few weeks, and then get rehired by his old company in a new position, just to get the promotion. They just don't promote in-house anymore. It all seems stupid, as he would never have left if they'd have given him a raise, but they were too tight-fisted, yet when they hired him back he ended up with a salary higher than the raise he had asked for. dumb.

Anyway, SIL decided to have a surprise party for FIL at her house. She wanted to wait for warm weather so it could be outside, as her house isn't all that big. She set it for June 11. As I said before, our van was not acting right, and we were worried that we wouldn't be able to come. Since MIL was at my house to watch the boys while I took Troyer and Noah to their evaluations, she was able to take 3 of the boys home with her that day, and we could drive over in the car. The back seat is a tight squeeze with 3 kids back there, 2 in carseats, but Troyer was a good sport and we did fine. I am glad it worked out, because the party was a lot of fun.

The weather was beautiful, and FIL was totally surprised. I heard that he has never had a party thrown for him before, so he was really touched. It got really hot, but SIL has air conditioning so we were in and out of the house a lot, to cool off. There was lots of food, and we got to see some family that we haven't seen in a long while. I brought some chocolate chip cookies that I had made the night before. It had been so hot all week, that even though I left the cookies out on the cooling racks all night, they still didn't fully set, and were soft and crumbly even the next day. They still tasted good though :-)

The next day SIL invited us back over to help eat the left overs, especially the chicken. We were more than happy to come back. Chris got to play horseshoes with the guys; he has never played before, but he did pretty respectably for a first time. He had a lot of fun. I was proud of the boys too, they all behaved very well. Levi is very sociable, so everyone got to hold him and play with him. They asked if he was always as good at home, and I got to answer honestly, yes! lol

The 3 boys stayed with MIL another few days, because she and FIL like to have the company. I was not really missing them all that much, as she had the noisiest ones with her, and it was so peaceful and quiet here, LOL. But I worried about her feeling like I was taking advantage of her and wearing out their welcome, so I had her bring Noah and Samuel home on Tuesday. I let Caleb stay another few days. I have to say, it is nice to be closer to them now, so the boys can stay however long we want and it is so easy to just pick them up again and drop some others off. FIL's retirement worked in nicely with that, since now he is home all day to be with them while MIL works.

I Thought School Was Over

We celebrated the last day of school on June 3, as that was the last day we had to count school days to reach the required 180 days, but I still had some more to do before the school district considered us finished. The boys had their evaluation on June10. MIL came over in the morning to watch the youngest 4 so I wouldn't have to worry about them getting bored and into trouble, and distracting the boys from the interview. Our van had broken down the week before, and Chris hadn't found a garage for us yet. We really had no idea what was wrong with it, just that it was driving funny. Chris was supposed to take the day off of work so I could take his car and he could watch the boys. He never got around to asking for the day off (though I'd been bugging him for a month) and it turned out he was scheduled to go out of town that day. So no Chris, no car. I'm really glad MIL could come over. I would not have been happy if the van had given up on us with everyone in the car. As it was I was nervous driving it.

We only had to go less than 10 miles to get to the evaluator's house, but the van was driving really badly. It almost stalled out a few times. It was very scary, I sure didn't want to stall right in the middle of a turn or backing out of a driveway. Luckily we were able to limp to the lady's house.

The evaluations went well, the lady is very nice and helpful, and she said I had more than enough in the portfolios to make the district happy. She chatted with the boys and showed them her cats and fish. She also gave me information on summer programs that are being run by the homeschool group in the area.

As we got back into the van, I told the boys to "pray without ceasing" and hope that angels would carry us home, LOL. It must have worked because the ride home was fine. The van didn't act funny at all, whatever it was was now better. I was so relieved when we pulled back into the driveway at home.

Finally, the very last thing we had to do for school this year was turn the portfolios in to the district office, along with the evaluator's report. I just got that done yesterday morning. While I was at the office, I turned in my affidavit for next year's schooling, to save myself the trip. The woman there seemed a bit confused, she thought the affidavit I was turning in was for the current year. I had already brought that in to them over a month ago, so I explained that it was for the next year. Now, unless they have any issues with what I turned in, we are done until next year.

When I got home I found a letter from the district in the mail. It had actually come before we left the house, but I hadn't looked through the mail. I wish I had, so I could bring the letter along and work out the confusion. They sent me a note to say they received my affidavit for next year. Huh? I just dropped it off, so they must be referring to the one I turned in last month. Well no wonder they were confused today, if they didn't realize I had registered to homeschool for *this* year. Ugh. I've been trying to call them today, but no one is answering the phone. I'm hoping this is just a simple mix up and won't take long to fix.

Happy Magna Carta Day! (A Week Late)

Last Wednesday, June 15, was my Dad's birthday. He is 67. I had a friend who was born on June 14, Flag Day, who used to taunt my dad about having his own holiday. My dad was a bit disappointed that he missed the holiday by one day, and then he found out he had his own holiday after all. Ever since, he has never failed to remind us, each year, of this important day.

This year my dad was down in Florida by himself. Well, not technically alone, because he had dinner with his girlfriend. All of his daughters are known for being slow with the mail, though we usually try to get a card within the week it is called for. I mailed out his card on Monday, so I figured it might be a day or two late. I did, however, call him to wish him Happy Birthday, and we had a nice chat. He was just on his way out the door to dinner. I told him that Troyer had made him a very nice card, but had only done it the day before, so it would be late. He told me don't bother to mail it out, since he would be leaving soon for his trip (he is driving up to Hershey for the Porsche Parade) and he wouldn't get it until he got home again. He will be stopping in at our house on the way home, so he said he'd just get it then. That was fine with me, I wasn't sure I could unearth an envelope anyway. Well, on Thursday he emailed all 3 of us girls to whine about not getting any cards. What the heck? I know for a fact that he had arranged with my older sister to wait until he saw her (he is stopping at her house on the way TO the Parade) to do the birthday thing. And I called ON his birthday! What the heck was he crying about? He tried a big guilt trip, invoked the name of our mother (said he was taking on her cause, since she always hated late cards - not that we daughters remember it that way), and then issued threats about withholding cards for future birthdays if his were late. Ugh ugh ugh. What a baby. I wish he would have waited until after his visit to do that. Now I'm not looking forward to it quite so much.

So Much Catching Up To Do

I have so many things to post about, that I haven't been able to settle my thoughts enough to post about any of them. I am going to try to get to them this week, I hope! Noah is going off to camp next Sunday, so this week will be spent making sure he has all the right clothes to pack and everything else he needs, too. This year he is going a week ahead of Troyer. He wasn't sure he wanted to go alone, so I am glad they got to be together last year. Next year will be Samuel's first year at sleep-away camp and he will get to share with Noah, so this 2 year age gap seems to be working out really well :-)

I have been tagged for a reading meme (what the heck does that word mean, anyway? lol) which I am working on, but it will take a while. I think maybe some of you will be really disappointed in my answers (and maybe a few others of you will secretly be happy to see them, and feel less guilty LOL) when I come out of the closet about my reading habits. But I'll get to that in another post.

Finally, for today, I want to say Congratulations to my friend Catherine (aka Mabear) and welcome to her new baby daughter Robyn! She was not overdue according to due dates, but going by past deliveries she had us all on the edge of our seats for about a week now LOL I am looking forward to reading her birth story.

Last Day of School! And More Pictures

Today was our last day of school! Troyer and Noah each baked a cake and we layered them and frosted them, and had a party. It was fun, and I think I am just as happy as they are that we are done for the year, LOL. They will have evaluations done next Friday and then I have to get the portfolios together to turn in to the school district. If I am on the ball, I'll have next year's affidavits ready too, and can turn them all in at the same time. I am still going to try to squeeze in some field trips this month and next, but I don't know if we'll be able to count them as school days or not. It depends on when the affidavits get turned in.

Here are Troyer and Noah with their cake:




For the past few days I have been letting them do fun things for school rather than just writing and workbook pages. One day they did a science experiment with balloons to study action and reaction. They set up some strings and straws and had balloon races:




Troyer also did an experiment with magnets. It was pretty cool. It will be hard to keep them out of the stuff before we start next year, so I can count it towards next year's day count LOL.

A few weeks ago, Chris' aunt offered to give us her set of couch and chairs from her family room, so we got our old dead couch out of the house and onto the curb for pick up. We turned it upside down for a last toy check, and got tons of little legos and action figure accessories out of it, along with this gem:



I have to say, actually touching it and looking at it isn't near as disgusting as the idea that that mouse had died and decomposed in the couch cushions years ago, and we have been sitting on it unaware all the while. ICK!

Here are some pictures from Caleb's birthday. I don't have pictures of his bike yet, but he has it and loves it!

I got take out pizza for dinner, a rare treat, since I can make a decent home-made pizza


Caleb had a hard time choosing which Star Wars cake he wanted, since they didn't have one with Obi-Wan and Darth Vadar on the same cake. He wanted both, but ended up with Bobba Fett. He was happy. :-)


As usual, all the boys wanted to dig right in to Caleb's stash of presents, but we have a rule that the Birthday Boy gets to hog all his stuff to himself for 24 hours before he is required to share. Here is Caleb with the bubble-blowing weed whacker that he was excited to get. It doesn't work, though; it won't suck the bubble solution down to the fan. He was happy with the bottle of bubbles and the wand, but I could have spared the extra $8 it cost, LOL. I hope Chris can get it going.



And here is a picture of the Birthday Boy:



I am so far behind on getting birthday pictures done. I had Levi done right before we moved, but I haven't gotten any done since. WalMart only lets you do one package per month, and I'm already 3 behind. I don't know that I can catch up at this point. I suppose I had better try. I will really hate myself in a few years if I don't have the pictures then. There were a few I missed of the boys as a group back when I only had 4 and I hate that I don't have them. Ugh, so many things to get done!

Separation Anxiety and Camp Registrations

It looks like Levi is starting to have a bout of separation anxiety. I went out shopping tonight, and he was starting to get cranky just as I was leaving. He got over it enough to eat dinner well, but got cranky again just before bed. Chris said all Levi wanted to do was be held and rest his head on Chris' shoulder. I got home with a trunk full of groceries but after just one trip inside, he heard me from his crib and started to cry. I tried to nurse him but as long as he thought I was going to put him back to bed, he wouldn't drink. I had to take him downstairs where it was cooler and walk with him a bit until he calmed down, then sat on the couch and he nursed fine. Troyer and Noah came over to say goodnight and he was happy and playful. I took him back to his room and he layed down and went to sleep. *sigh* I guess that means I will have to take him along on shopping trips for a while until he gets over his distress at my absence.

Once I got him back to sleep, I had to go finish bringing in the groceries and put them away, then gather up the trash and put it out. I'm annoyed that Chris didn't do that for me while I was out. I know if I had been home alone tonight because he had to work late, I would have been expected to get the trash out even though I was watching all the kids. He didn't help carry in groceries or put them away either. Grrrrr.

I registered Troyer and Noah for summer camp today. They will be going back to the same camp they went to last year, but this time they will go two separate weeks. Troyer is 10 this year, which puts him in Junior Camp, while Noah is still in Adventure Camp. He was disappointed until I pointed out that next year he will get to have Samuel with him for his last year of Adventure Camp. That made him happy.

They each had to choose 3 activities to sign up for; Troyer chose Swimming, Horseback Riding, and Crafts, and Noah chose Swimming, Archery, and Aqua Jump which I think is like trick swimming. I know it involves a big inflatable slide, lol. Troyer toyed with the idea of archery, but I talked him out of it. I'm not sure he is coordinated enough for it, LOL. I'm interested to see how well he does with riding.

Samuel and Caleb will be going to day camp at the YMCA. They are also looking forward to that. I am not sure I am looking forward to having to get up everyday, early, to get them ready and drop them off. I remember doing that for Troyer and Noah a few years ago, and bleh, lol. Oh well, they will have a lot of fun.

Tomorrow Troyer and Noah have drs appointments, so the dr can sign release slips for camp. I sure hope the appointment goes better than Caleb's last week. I didn't know it was possible for a 5 yo to actually fail his check up, but Caleb managed to just about do it. The nurse tried to check his vision, but he refused to talk to her, so she couldn't tell what he could see. We have no idea if he was really having trouble or not. I haven't noticed him sitting close to the tv or anything, but maybe he covers well? I think Chris got his glasses at 5 or 6 yo, so it's possible that he is having trouble. The dr said he tested at 20/50. But the nurse said she thinks it was more of a stubborness problem than a vision problem. I was very embarrassed. He also wouldn't talk to the dr (who was a woman) and was uncooperative when she asked him to undress, or bend over to check his back, etc. I tell you, there's nothing like having 6 kids crammed into one of those tiny exam rooms with no toys or books, one of which is an inquisitive crawling baby, and have the patient be obstinant. Ugh. He is in a stage right now where he doesn't want to talk to girls. It was tough to explain that doctors, nurses, and teachers have to be excluded from that rule. He tried the same trick in Sabbath School and his teacher had to come talk to me after the class to tell me how bad he was. More embarrassment *sigh* Growth wise he did ok, though the dr wondered about his being on the short side. It turns out he is my biggest 5 yo so far, LOL. I'm only 5 feet, so I'll just be happy if he can get above 5' 6" LOL.

I am having lots of trouble with my email lately. It turns out my ISP has been transferring to a new email server, and it messed things up. I had to send them an email with my IP addy so they could manually add it to the server to allow connection to download mail. Ugh. Apparently they are still having trouble too, because I can receive mail now, but I still can't send mail out. I have to go online and use the webmail service and that is totally aggravating. I can't send attachments with it. Ugh ugh ugh.

I got birthday pictures loaded onto my computer, but I still need to edit them and upload them before I can post them. I hope to get to it soon!

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Today is Caleb's 5th birthday. He is very happy to be 5. He can write his name and count to 10, and is working on writing the numbers up to 5. He is looking forward to getting a bicycle, though I talked him into waiting til later in the week to choose it, since it rained today. I just couldn't see dragging all 6 kids out in the rain, and trying to push the bike to the van, and getting soaked trying to cram it in the back, and then he couldn't even ride it once we got it home. He did see the good sense in waiting, thank goodness, LOL. We had a nice family party, with pizza and a Star Wars cake, and some smaller presents. I'll have pictures to post later.

Argh

My email server has been down for a while now. I have no idea who is trying to get a hold of me, but sorry, I didn't get your message! I hate hate hate having to pay for services that I am not getting! Maybe I'll be trying out a different ISP next year. *sigh*

More Pictures

We had a beautiful day here today, warm enough to go dig some shorts out for the boys. They enjoyed the weather out back, and I got some nice pictures.



Noah was mad at Samuel, so he wouldn't come outside to get in the group shots :-(




Levi is already starting to pull up on furniture and "cruise"

Here is a picture of the boys downstairs in our family room/computer area. We have a fireplace! We will probably not build fires in it, but at least now the boys have a place to hang stockings at Christmas!



Noah was very proud of this Lincoln Log cabin he built.

And here are some more pictures of Levi, just because he's cute ;-)

Happy Birthday Micah!

Friday was Micah's birthday. He is 3 years old now. We all came down with the flu last week, so the party I had hoped for didn't happen, but I did run out and get pizza and ice cream and a cake, and he opened a few presents, plus he got a few cards in the mail. Being only 3, he was plenty happy with that!









Poor Micah is not so happy with being in a new house. Everytime we get ready to go out in the van, or even talk about going out, he says "I want to go home!" I have assumed he wasn't using the right words, since he is still confusing "in" and "out" and "open" and "closed" sometimes, but on Sunday Chris found out that he really does mean "home." He thought we were just here visiting, and now he is ready to go home, back to our old house. We felt sooo bad when we realized that. The other boys aren't all that happy here yet either. They miss their friends, and it's hard for them to be learning the new rules that come from a new house with a different floor plan. It's doubly hard for me, since there are so many things I am disappointed with. I am trying to keep in mind all the things that are better here, and pass that positive outlook on, but it's difficult.

The stress of the move is still evident in all of our moods. I am very short tempered, no matter how hard I try to be patient and forgiving. The boys are all bickering constantly, and no one wants to do school (not even me!). S0 much needs to be unpacked, but I just can't figure out where it should go. Some things I just can't find, like the baby nail clippers. Levi has scratched his face so many times because I can't get his nails short enough. And we are short on pencils, because I can't find the box of extras. Ugh. I need some peace and quiet, but each time I try to sneak away for a few minutes, Chris comes home and finds me hiding, and starts bugging me about how much we have to do, and why don't I have the boys do it for me? Well, of course because that means I have to figure out what there is that they can do, then instruct them on how to do it, and the supervise them to make sure they do it, and then re-do it anyway so it's done right. If I don't have time to do it myself, how can I have 4x as much time for them to do it??? Argh.

Well, anyway. Life could be worse. My sister had her day planner stolen out of her car overnight, right in her driveway. Years of phone numbers and addresses and months of appointments and school schedules, plus she kept lists of her kids' baby milestones in it. All of it is gone. I cry for her, I can't believe anyone would take it. She didn't have anything valuable in it, nor did she have any critical information like credit cards or passwords or bank account numbers. She didn't even have her last name in it anywhere; so no one could use the information in it, unless they could decipher the initials, which I doubt. So someone took it, and then just dumped it somewhere. What a waste. So my life isn't *that* bad, LOL.

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago. Since Levi was about 4 months old, my hair has been getting really thin, thinner than the usual post-partum fall out, and I am really concerned about it. I should go to a doctor and find out if it is thyroid related or something. But of course we have moved, so I don't have a doctor yet, and I just don't have time to find one right now. Meanwhile, I decided it would be good to cut it shorter so I don't have to have it back in a barrette all the time, to get the weight off of it, and see if that helps. Of course the over zealous girl at the salon cut it shorter than I asked, so now it's shorter than I have had it since I was in high school. It is such a change for me, I have always had long hair. The longest it has been is to the backs of my knees when I was pregnant with #1, then for a long time it was to my waist; last year I cut it mid-back; and now it barely brushes the tops of my shoulders. I think it looks pretty good, but it's freaking Chris out; he keeps thinking I look like my sister. She has always had shorter hair than me. The funny part is, she has been growing hers out, so for the first time ever, she has longer hair than me.


Levi and Mom


I will try to post some pictures eventually, but it is hard to find time right now to take them, edit them, upload them, and then blog them.