Saturday to Tuesday

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Shanda

I cleaned the entire house all day on Friday.

On Saturday morning I woke up and we had four extra people in the house; our wonderful friend GB, with his three children. (Rich had stayed up to welcome them).

I made baked oatmeal and roasted sausages drizzled with maple syrup for breakfast.

Big Mike (Jacob’s buddy and our “8th child”) arrived with Cardell and Jimmy. Ethan S. arrived.

The kitchen and living room was filled with boys checking airsoft guns and ammo.

Trying on safety gear.

LOTS of teasing, talking, and laughing.

The 8 of them ran off into the woods, including Rich and Seth.

I saw Cardell and Seth, after a while, team up …. Cardell even picked him up in order to run faster into the woods. So cute.

I went to go get Davy from his friend’s house, to take him to baseball practice. I left him there to go back home.

In due time, I went back to the field to get him (15 minutes away) and took Seth with me.

Came back home…..for lunch that day we had sandwiches.

I put dinner in the crock pot; 2 pork tenderloins, a sliced onion, a sliced green pepper, and BBQ sauce.

Left at 1:30 with 8 year old Caleb. He was going to a birthday party. We went to the mall to get a gift and I dropped him off at the party.

I GOT TO SPEND ALMOST 2 HOURS ALONE AT THE BOOKSTORE….

While I was gone, the girls joined the guys for another airsoft battle.

GB left to take Myriah to her friend’s house.

I picked up Caleb, went to grocery store, went back home.

Meanwhile, Rich left to take Davy to a second ball practice.

I finished up dinner. We had bbq pork sandwiches, cole slaw, and I can’t remember what else.

Mike made gallons of lemonade. Jimmy took out the garbage.

GB got back in time for leftover dinner and then he got to work in the kitchen. He made 2 lasagnas and a pan of ziti for us to eat after church on Sunday.

Billy-Cat kept trying to jump on the counter.

GB talked to me all about his new girlfriend. (they are both christians) He has a great testimony.

All the kids hung out together…Dave was home again and in his pj’s in the rocking chair.

Everyone colored with little Sarah, including me. I love coloring. We had like six hands working on the same page.

Happy music was playing, we hummed or sang or whistled along.

I went to bed at about 9:30 and that was Saturday.

*****

On Sunday we all got up and got ready for church.

GB sang a solo (what an amazing voice he has!!) and gave his testimony.

After church we came home to warm up dinner and tidy up the house.

Rich left to take Seth to his little league meet and greet.

Mike was here for dinner.

GB’s salad was made extra special with avocado, strawberries, and goat cheese. It was delicious.

He had a job as a cook in his younger days.

He was in the Coast Guard, too. This guy has lots of great stories.

The kids adore him from their camp in the summer. Rich met him last year and they became good friends.

Sunday evening we had bible study. I made a pan of brownies, a crumb cake, and a spinach-dip bread bowl.

The dog ran through the study and then Billy Cat jumped up on Gary’s lap (the pastor leading the study).

David and Daniel had made a big triple batch of Davy’s special pretzels and he begged to bake them up.

It was about 8:00 pm when we got started, everyone around made a pretzel. I just had to laugh.

You roll out a gob of dough into a three foot long rope and then twist it into a big pretzel. Then, you dip the raw pretzel into a baking soda bath, and bake it in the oven. When they come out you brush melted butter on top. YUM, SO SO GOOD!!! The triple batch was entirely gone in no time.

GB played the camp video from last year.

Kids made a fire outside in the fire pit.

They had music playing outside and all the fellowship between them was so precious to hear….so much fun.

I went to bed around 10:30. Ethan S and Caleb S spent the night; the kids all stayed up really really late. I heard stories of Grace and Ethan S jumping in the pond at 10:30……and Myriah fell over wood while running in the dark and hurt her leg. They were playing manhunt.

Yesterday, (MONDAY) GB left to go stay with Gary (our pastor and his good friend of 18 years) and his kids stayed here. My own children have spring break.

They all spent a lot of time outside; the weather was GORGEOUS. Davy caught tadpoles, crawfish, frog eggs.

I did my nails on the porch with kids surrounding me. It was fun to have them here….we love to talk and laugh.

I feel like my brain is fried. In a good way. (I truly love these days)

Jacob had a track meet at 1.

I went grocery shopping, sipping an iced coffee as I shopped; the sugar and caffeine pepped me up.

Ethan had practice at 2:30. His first after recovering from his yucky bronchitis/pneumonia type sickness (whatever it was)….

Grace had music at 1.

I took Emily with me to watch the meet and Myriah watched the other kids. (thank you, m!!)

Rich came home at 5 to take Caleb and Seth to practice.

We had leftover pasta for dinner.

There was a lot of jumping on the trampoline.

I love this picture of Emily and the dog…..she was so good to him and he adored her.

Grace and I had to take Sammie to the vet’s this morning (TUESDAY) for her surgery. She was supposed to go last week but we could not find her. Rich has nicknamed her “Slinkie” for a reason-this morning she ran away from us AGAIN and got into her favorite hiding spot; the drop ceiling downstairs. Jacob had to wake up and help us. We disarranged the ceiling until we grabbed her. We drove through the rain with tired eyes to the vet……..I got Grace a sandwich at McDonalds and we had a sweet time together first thing in the morning.

When we got back home I made scrambled eggs with cheese, ham, and toast for breakfast for the rest of us.

It’s been raining all day and the kids have watched two movies. We watched Secondhand Lion while I folded socks, and they watched Spiderman while I finished up my bible study lesson and took a catnap in my room.

Myriah slept until 12 today….she was exhausted….the sweet girl needed some good sleep.

We had mozzarella sticks and melon for lunch, some of us had pb and j.

In a few hours our guests will be going to Youth Group with Jacob and Ethan and our visit with these delightful kids will be over.

Tonight another guest arrives; Erinn is spending the night with Grace here at our place.

I have to pick up the cat at 6:30.

*****

THEIR FAVORITE THINGS:

GRACE: it was either airsoft or watching our movie. that movie was fun.
JACOB: it was probably airsoft. either airsoft or manhunt
DAVE: shrugs shoulders. has nothing to say.
ETHAN: taking a walk at 3 in the morning. playing apples to apples.
CALEB: when we got to play airsoft
SETH: my first baseball practice
DANIEL: playing airsoft
EMILY: playing manhunt
SARAH: playing in the bath with my ponies and these.
MYRIAH: playing airsoft. when i was president, that was the best. people were trying to assassinate me. and other people were trying to protect me. staying up until 2:30

*****

“I don’t wanna leave! I don’t wanna go to NY!!” Myriah

“I hate how when we get down to the last couple of hours we get desperate when we don’t know what to do.” Jacob

“This game is addicting.” Jacob, playing a new app

“Did someone say they had an addiction?” Mother

“I’m addicted to breathing. Every time I try to stop my head gets really light.” Grace offered.

*****

I had to write all this down so that someday when my life is slow again I can look back on it and laugh.

being a mama

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Shanda

“the way the ice melted (down the middle)”

The beautiful spring came;
and when nature resumes her loveliness,
the human soul is apt to revive also.
Harriet Ann Jacobs

April hath put
a spirit of youth
in everything.
William Shakespeare

“Grace and David climbing a tree”

Spring’s greatest joy
beyond a doubt
is when it brings
the children out.
Edgar Guest

“going on an adventure”

“looking for the fish”

I’ve been a stay at home mom for 17 years and here in the Northeast, the arrival of blessed spring time is always whole heartedly welcomed by myself and the children. It’s been a cold spring so far this year but little by little we are spending more time outdoors. It is almost impossible to keep socks and shoes on the children, and jackets, too. They are so full of energy and joy in being outside again. They love the ponds, the stream. The dog likes to scratch rocks out of the edge of the pond and run off with them. We haven’t seen a turtle yet, but we’ve seen fish and some bullfrog tadpoles that woke up from their winter sleep. We are starting to hear the spring peepers and frogs in the distance, too.

As for myself, I am feeling content, even if a little frazzled. I have no anxiety, just the feeling of needing to take one section of a day at a time. Ethan has been sick over the weekend and through this week, with *either* bronchitis or pneumonia, we are not exactly sure which. I took him to a walk in clinic on Sunday and he was put on antibiotics, but as of this morning he was not perking up like he should so I took him to his own pediatrician for more advice. Good ol’ Doctor P helped him out and reaffirmed my instincts that he wasn’t shaking the illness like he should. He sent us home with things for breathing treatments and a list of things to do for him like; motrin (for a sore back), vicks (for the cough), probiotics (to use with the antibiotics), lots of fluids (soup and gatorade), saline (for his sinuses), and of course plenty of tissues and motherly TLC. I have the couch made up with a clean sheet and blankets for him to lay on, and a nice clean pillowcase for his pillow. He sleeps and rests. Right now he is watching Duck Dynasty. I hope and pray he feels better soon, he’s been pretty low for about 2 weeks, but like his Dad does, he has been trying to tough it out, only to have his body crash “enough is enough”. He won’t be able to go back to school this week, doctor’s orders.

It is sort of fun to have someone to fuss over. 🙂

Every afternoon I have Jacob to pick up from track practice at 4:30 and Grace to pick up from music at 6:30. David and Caleb also have little league practices, too.

A word of advice for (oftentimes distracted) moms of many: don’t forget to nurture your children. I feel bad because Ethan has been complaining of a backache for 2 days and I never even touched his back or looked at it…..at the doctor’s office the doc had me feel his muscles….on one side of his spine the muscles were relaxed and normal, on the other side (lower back) his poor muscles were so tight, it was completely obvious! If only I had done this simple thing at home, I could have helped him much sooner with a massage. Just because I have seven children doesn’t mean I can skimp on attention and nurturing each and every one of them. I have a responsibility to care for them all, not “over the top” spoiling, but simple, practical, loving care and attention. THEY didn’t ask to be born into a big family, it was my choice, and the sacrifice of time and energy is something I MUST give to them as they grow……..this is something I have been convicted of. A mom MUST sacrifice and do her best to take care of her children …. and the more children she has the more time it will take. There is so much satisfaction in doing our very best with our families, caring for them.

I go from one thing to another, yes, but nothing is more important than the children (and husband, too, of course). The cooking and cleaning can wait. Today for lunch I gave Seth and Sarah a piece of bread with peanut butter and a glass of milk. Simplify when in times of sickness or trial. Give up a clean house, give up the more complex meals, in order to redeem the time for the child who needs extra care. And even on “normal days” a family of seven children still needs a lot of time to be invested in each child; checking on them, talking to them, clipping the nails, checking the ears, going over clothes to be sure they are fit to be worn to school, NURTURE, NURTURE, NURTURE………….they cannot be left to themselves when they are so young. They need Mom. Those little extra things like a massage, or essential oils, or brushing my daughter’s hair for 20 minutes, these things don’t always come to my mind, but it is something I want to improve on in my mothering. (any tips)

Yesterday I sat next to Caleb, checking him all out (he’s 8) and he finally said, “Are you done checking me like I am an ape?” LOL

*******

Seth and Sarah and I went to the thrift store last week and got all this for 2 dollars and fifty cents. A 5 by 7 frame, two Easter baskets, 3 stuffed bunnies, four books, and a wooden “chicken/egg” decoration. Sarah also got a plastic snow globe. It was fun. We like to walk there after I get my Post Office business done.

This is our new boy, Billy-Cat. We love him. He is soft and interesting. When we pick him up we never know if he will nonchalantly bite us. David made this toy mouse for him by hand. I just had to tie the knot on his threads.

Snickers is the only one who will tolerate Billy-Cat. Billy is so new that the other 2 cats run away from him, yowling loudly.

I’m turning into a crazy cat lady!!!!! We have four now. 🙂

And of course, the chickens. I sat outside and watched them enjoy the sunshine. They settle down into the leaves, lift up their wings, roll around, they just love being outside in the sun. We get about 5 eggs a day, which is a nice amount. We have just enough so I don’t have to worry about what to bake in order to use up 3 dozen eggs! LOL

Rich had a business meeting here at our place on Friday and one of the men brought me this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

I made a nice lunch for everyone.

1. Deli platter from grocery store
2. homemade buns (these were a BIG hit)
3. sliced tomato, seasoned with salt and pepper (for sandwiches)
4. mayo, pesto mayo, mustard
5. tossed salad
6. jello salad
7. pretzels
8. boiled baby potatoes, with plenty of butter, salt, and pepper

For dessert I bought 3 dozen baby cupcakes from the bakery.

And that is all the news from our place. How are you doing? I hope you are well and enjoying these early spring days. xo
“You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.” Psalm 16:11