I’m sitting in the dark livingroom with Seth wriggling next to me.  He’s watching Little Bear.  He’s already had his morning bowl of cheerios.   I’ve made my cup of coffee, started the dishwasher, threw in a load of laundry, and opened all the windows.  Thankfully, it’s much cooler outside this morning.

Yesterday, it was an oppressive 100 degrees outside, and so very humid…the kind of day that all the little one’s faces turned pink and sweaty with the heat.

Also, yesterday was the day I met Marcia, after we met each other through this blog years ago.  My friend came with her suburban filled to the max with her eight children.  Oh it was so exciting to meet face to face for the first time, after several years of letters and just a few phone conversations.  Inwardly, we were excited, but outwardly…..as the moms hugged and began chatting, the children stood around quiet! and shy! awkward!

Very soon, after introductions, and lunch, things began to warm up and we all headed outside in the HEAT to the swimming pond and dock.

I went up to the house to get pops…and this was her baby’s first one, ever!  She was so cute. 

After we baked ourselves in the sun for a while, the thunder started rolling in.  The older ones ran up to the house while Marcia and I talked and let the little ones dig in the sand for a while. 

One of my favorite memories of the day was when we went back into the house to find it so nice and cool, music blaring, and all the older children playing a game around the table.

While their older siblings played a game, the middle children went downstairs (just these three boys) to shave bark off of sticks with a knife.  They spent the rest of the day fighting with their homemade swords.  I think Jordan went home with his.

While we were inside it got darker and darker outside, until the sky opened and it rained buckets.  I wish I had taken a picture of it….I was so happy to see the rain.  It didn’t last long but it did cool off the land somewhat and Marcia and I took the little ones out on the porch to play.

I took Grace away from the game to take a few pictures for me.

(The second one she took is the one I posted first.)

After the older ones played some basketball, it was time for the visit to end.  They stayed for about 4 1/2 hours in all, and it sure went by fast.

Before they left, we wanted to take some group pictures. 

One of her older boys had a small Nikon (I also use a Nikon camera)….we used a little table for a tripod (couldn’t find mine) and I thought he was cute setting his camera up with his little brother looking over his shoulder.

And here we all are!

Grace and Brooklyn

The big, handsome older boys! 

Seth must’ve been watching….and just knew he should be in the picture, too.  (so cute!)

We wanted one more picture of the two of us…and this next shot is the best representation of busy moms of many…..

Marcia running away from the picture to save her child from falling off the hammock.

It took a few minutes, but she finally reappeared.

We said our goodbyes after a satisfying visit.  She came with a gift for me (actually,for Sarah)…a little fiesta cup. 

She left with a gift from me….a fiesta shaker and bowl.  Fun. 

I put the children to bed early last night (Rich is gone this week on business) and I hit the hay at 9pm to read my book and relax, happy to have met my friend.   

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things
you can be.  ~Douglas Pagels

About four years ago, I met a sweet friend through this blog.  She doesn’t have a blog, but after reading mine wanted to introduce herself and be friends.  We started writing back and forth (old fashioned snail mail) and we’ve also chatted on the phone a few times.  She is from Massachusetts but when she got married she and her husband moved down south.  She is visiting her parents for a few weeks and is coming over to my house TODAY so we can meet face to face for the first time! 

And guess what else?  She has EIGHT children, all about the same ages as my seven!  Her daughter has been writing with Grace and they are both very excited to meet.

Yesterday, my sister and I took her children and three of mine out to lunch.  Then, we watched Ice Age 4.  (fun movie)

After the movie, I went to Target to buy stuff for lunch today.

To feed 15 children (some are teenage boys!):

4 packs of hot dogs, and buns

40 individual chip bags

40 kool aid drink pouches

homemade macaroni salad (using aunt colleen’s recipe!) so yummy, I also used the healthy, whole grain pasta

I want to do something sweet…I’ll probably make brownies.

She told me not to stress out getting ready and I haven’t, but it’s been a fun few days cleaning my house!  It’s amazing how I let things go, only to realize the fact when Important People are coming over.  We’ve even moved out furniture!  LOL  Today I need to vacuum floors, walk around with paper towels and windex, and throw the stuff I don’t know what to do with in closets, but that’s it.  I’ve got everything clean and the laundry caught up. 

My camera battery is charging.  She’s been reading my blog for years….I’m a little nervous….please pray, & send us your happy thoughts for a great day!

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?” 

I’ve come across this quote many times through the years and I’ve always liked it. 

A few months ago I found that this quote is actually part of a poem, written by Mary Oliver.

The entire poem is so much better than just that one quote…..

It’s now my very favorite, and often the essence of it runs through my mind.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?  Mary Oliver

 Hope you have a blessed Monday, my friends.  You are loved.  xoxo

Seems, at times, that her little sister has taken over the blog these days…only because Sarah is new and Grace is old enough now that I don’t feel comfortable following her around with my camera.  Grace is almost 13 now and continues to be a joy in our lives and family.  For so many years–10 to be exact–she was our only girl.  Needless to say, I have enjoyed each step of her life.  She was a beautiful baby, a fun toddler, a bright and happy elementary student.  I taught her myself for five years.  She started public school this last year in 7th grade and she blossomed there.  She has made friends and loves her classes, especially chorus. She is a gifted writer, always writing stories.  As soon as school was out she began a book, and finished it a few weeks ago; which was a proud moment.  She filled up a black and white composition book with it, and is now typing it.  I read her work and am blown away by her natural story-telling abilities.  I do think that someday she will be a published author.

She had her annual check up this week and when we were done at the Doctor’s, I took her to the mall to update her wardrobe.  As a mom of a 12 year old girl, I struggle at times, with what to dress her in.  For many years she wore only dresses.  In fact, she will tell you that when she was younger she didn’t even know stores made pants for girls.  I don’t regret those years of seeing her so adorable-cute in her Land’s End dresses, but for her age now it doesn’t seem right anymore to dress her like that all the time.  She “hates” skirts now and only wears them to church.  She’s at the age where she has the right to decide what to wear for herself.  She’s sort of a tomboy, and I have to encourage her to look for things SHE likes, instead of wearing any ol’  thing.  In these photos, she is wearing new jeans and a t-shirt that she picked out herself.  My sandels.  It’s so fun to see her grow into a lovely young woman, she has grown so much, in many ways, in these last 5 years. 

She loves the Lord, loves church, loves people.  This fall she is going on a missions trip with other like-minded Christians, and her Dad, to Jamaica.  Please pray for her soul, as it draws nearer and nearer to Jesus.  My desire is for her to live the life He has intended for her, using the gifts and passions that He put in her heart.

Yesterday, after I put Seth and Sarah down for their naps, I asked Grace to go downtown with me.  What a treat, just minutes down the road is a place–a very neat little bustling TOWN– to hang out with my girlfriend and daughter, Grace Lillian.  We parked and walked; to the ice cream place, to the thrift store, to the scrapbooking store, and the coffee shop.

There are many cool brick buildings.

At the thrift store.

Something neat happened.  Grace has been wanting to learn to weave baskets for a while now, but we got stuck trying to figure out where to get her needed supplies.  “Good things come to those who wait”  We found a WHOLE basket FULL of stuff for her to learn, including a booklet of directions.

It was so great.  I loved every minute.  I plan on taking each one of the children downtown, just the two of us, throughout the rest of the summer. 

I love you, Grace!  Soooooooo much!  Thank you for being YOU.

These summer days are such a blessing, so special.  Each one of the children is a delight and joy, all of them together is a party. There is indoor and outdoor excitement.  Just this morning, Caleb, Seth and Sarah colored all over a box and made a boat.  Then, they put the kitchen chairs in a line and made a train.  I make sippy cups of milk and serve bowls of cereal.  I sip my coffee and visit blogs.  Now they are watching the Crocodile Hunter catch snakes and the dog is lying down practically on top of his boy Caleb; he loves summer, too.

Just yesterday Caleb and Seth brought me a toad that they found in the grass by the Bird Forest.  We sat him on a book and took his picture.

It’s the time of year for poetry….lots and lots of light, joyful, children’s poems.

My brother David sent me the Christina G. Rossetti book of poetry.

Now We are Six is one of my favorites.  I know I’ve shared several of A.A. Milne’s poems here before.

In my heart, I’m feeling poems.  Of boys and girls, birthdays, laughter, treats in the kitchen, songs, animals, the vegetable garden, staying up late, summer days.

Glorious summer days.

I stood for a long time, trying to get a picture of a fluttering monarch butterfly.  A few years ago I read in a magazine article that the monarchs are decreasing in number due to a lack of milkweed (where they lay their eggs).  As a result, I have allowed milkweed to “take over” one of my small flower beds by the house.  I was thrilled yesterday to discover a monarch laying eggs under the leaves.  Upon inspection, I found several caterpillars and eggs in various stages of development.  Son David and I look forward to watching them grow.

Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.  ~C. Rossetti

Yesterday afternoon I took Sarah, baby chicks, and a couple of my old diaries outside with me.  We sat in a spot that I’ve never spent time in before (down at the end of the new pond, near the woods).  Reading words that I wrote in my 20’s, I would look up and marvel at how far we’ve come since those early years of marriage.  I hadn’t written in my last diary since David was a baby (blogging and busyness took over the written word, sadly)….I updated it with the announcement of three more children and a move to the country.  Counting blessings, humbly thanking God.  It was a beautiful time.  I saw so many birds, and a flock of gold finches chasing each other through the trees.

I’ve been wanting to show a photo of the baby toads.  Each spring, toads come from the woods to lay eggs in our pond.  It takes several months for the eggs to grow and develop.  But now, they are starting to absorb their tadpole tails and they are hopping on the edge of the pond, finding new homes.  I caught one and put it on my phone, to show how tiny (but perfect!) they are. 

Life isn’t always quiet….with big teenage boys in the family.  They grabbed their little brother and took him down to the dock (where I was sitting) to throw him in.  It didn’t go well, Ethan let go before Jacob did and Dave’s head bounced off the end of the dock. 

As I sat with his head on my lap, consoling Dave and waiting for E to return with an ice pack, I noticed the clouds above were so beautiful.

Thankfully, other than a goose egg on the back of his head, David was fine (mad, but fine).

No one can tell me,
Nobody knows,
Where the wind comes from,
Where the wind goes.  ~Milne

They all fished last night, even Sarah, (but she had an empty stick-no hook).  The others had sticks with string, bobber and a hook; that’s all.  No “real” poles here.

The fish were hungry; they caught a lot.

I’m fishing.
Don’t talk, anybody, don’t come near!
Can’t you see that the fish might hear?
He thinks I’m playing with a piece of string;
He thinks I’m another sort of funny thing.
But he doesn’t know I’m fishing–
He doesn’t know I’m fishing.
That’s what I’m doing–
Fishing.  ~Milne

How many hours in a day?
Twenty-four for work and play.  ~Rossetti

Isn’t life a joy?  There is so much to be thankful for. 

I hope my friends have a great day today!  You are loved.  xoxo

Rich fell asleep on the couch Saturday afternoon, so I gathered up the small ones and took them for a walk in the woods. Sarah is old enough to walk on her own so I also walked on my own, hurrying to catch up to the runners, or slowing down to wait for the laggers. 

We found our old friend Toad on the trail.  He looked well and allowed us to pick him up and pass him around.

Just look at the picture I got, of Mr. Toad (anxious to get on with his afternoon plans) leaping out of Sarah’s hands.

We made our way into the woods.  Everywhere we looked there was magic, and Caleb trying to climb every fallen tree.

Sarah walking with small careful steps.

E N C H A N T M E N T

We rested awhile, on a big fallen down tree.  A particular fallen down tree that we’ve visited lots of times before.  As the boys fought it with sticks, I sat down and noticed that someone was at home in the log. 

I wonder who was more surprised. 

He was surprised and rather concerned. 

I was surprised and charmed.

We begged him to come out and introduce himself.  He met us all and then we put him back. 

He told us, as he trembled, that he was going right to work, to make a suitable door.

We noticed that he had a neighbor nearby, but his hole was deep enough that we couldn’t reach him.  The next time I draw a picture of a hollow tree I’m going to draw a toad in it, instead of an owl.

 We noticed some pretty mushrooms nearby.  This one with a red cap.

 This one with a very bright yellow. 

 When we got home I emptied my pocket of what I gathered.

 And Rich was awake and waiting for us.

(Caleb’s first birthday)  He turns seven today.

1. wish Caleb a happy birthday and give him a big hug

2. kiss hubby goodbye (he left for work)

3. hunt for tape and scissors; wrap Caleb’s presents

4.  clean up dog p**p from upstairs (a production which involved a lot of scrubbing)

5.  put in a load of laundry; have David empty dishwasher and Grace clean bathroom. 

6. clean up shards of glass (David was playing tennis in the house and smashed the glass cover on the ceiling light), take out trash

7. take a shower and get dressed

8. serve breakfast to the littles

9. make big brothers wake up so they could watch Caleb open gifts. clean up wrapping paper.

10.  make myself a big bowl of oatmeal w/maple syrup and butter (share it with Sarah) while posting blog.

Happy seventh to my dear son.