putting stuff in it's place

Hi Again,

I've obviously not given up completely (yet) on blogging. I can't seem to fit it in but I sure want to.

The picture relates to nothing in genreal. Just a day with a box full of Kiley's clothes that needed to be gone through and gotten out of my house or put into the "Jillie may use this" catagory.

Tip #1 If your girls are 10 years apart in age, you really should not be saving very many things at all! What was cute and in style and couldn't be parted with in 1996 doesn't look quite the same in 2006! Yikes!

So another box sorted and a few pieces saved or put into circulation (do you like the vest?) . I have figured out that at the rate I am able to go through these boxes which are taking up the entire storage side of my basement, I will have a neat and organized basement somewhere in the neighborhood of 2010. Yup, just in time to wonder what to do with every last one of these Fisher Price and Little Tikes toys I have been saving, recycling and letting my kids hang onto for oh. . 20+ odd years.

This is so nuts. I actually participate in resales, consignment shops, give things away regularly, and keep the donation boxes at goodwill quite full on a regular basis so where oh where does this all come from? Guess the secrets out of the bag, I love to shop and love even more when I get a bargain. oh bother. (which reminds me, picked up 2 winnie the pooh tapes videos for 1.50 today. . .)

So all of that to say this, it's just stuff. Having 6 kids sometimes really makes you stop and think. Tonight the thoughts are how precious each one of them are. Different, unique, even trying but precious, absolutely precious.

Sometimes stuff clutters my life so much I lose sight of what matters most. I get busy with cleaning or sorting or shopping or even attending Bible study or church and before I know it another day is gone. Finished. Over.

This week baby Jillie had a one day stomach flu. Yuk. Just plain yuk. But not completely. I found myself relishing the entire day of holding her, cuddling her, knowing she needed me in a big way and then, even though I was dead tired and not feeling so good myself, I found myself looking at each of my other children and wondering how it would be if I never forgot what a special gift they were and never thought about tomorrow with them but focused on today?

Guess I needed that "slow down" more than I wanted to admit. Sure am glad the good Lord knows what I need and when. I never seem to on my own!

And so tonight, after Jillie was in bed (well, Daddy put her down after we went out the door. . .)
Kiley and I had a little bit of Mommy and daughter time at the Old Navy and the WalMart. Yup, she doesn't fit into any of the clothes in her closet at the moment so we have to pack them all up in a box ( no, just kidding, we are over that! really! just save one or two of the bestest things) and go hunt for more! Fun stuff! But so tiring. Good shopping, good company, good memories.

Not sure what the point of this post was but just wanted to think through my fingers maybe. . .

'nite.

Jillie's 1st camping adventure

So, did I mention Mommy and Daddy took all five of us kids camping (yes, that would be tent camping) for an overnight?

Isn't Jillian adorable in her gap denims and white fallish turtle neck and her red goose leather hiking boots? After all when you are one and Mommy can still afford to dress you this way, you must take advantage of it! (um, shh! don't tell Jillie Mommy is an excellent shopper and gets most things at 75% off or better!)

Anywho! We got scrumciously filthy and no one cared, we ate way to much sugar in the form of toasted marshmellows and hot chocolate with whipped cream and it was okay. We played in the dirt, picked up nasty things off the ground and even tasted a few and it was still okay. Then we burnt the baked potatoes in the campfire and they still tasted good! We slept in two different tents and one of us even ended up in the car but that worked out too. Oh and then we also got to see stars, play with flashlights, take hikes, play on the playground, eat ice cream bars, and it was so fun! Daddy makes really good eggs and bacon and Mommy can sure mix up that quaker instant oatmeal with the best of them. . .we even had toast and juice!

You should try it sometime, it makes home look oh so good when you get back there!

pondering my blog life

I've been reading blogs on and off for most of the day. I haven't done that in a while I guess, usually just an hour or so here or there once a day or every few days.

I'm busy you see with life. I so wanted blogging to be a part of that and to be honest it has but in a different way.

I started out reading Lisa Whelchel once a week and getting so much from each of her daily journals. Occasionally I'd have time to play around and look other places on her site but mostly, I just read her once a week journal. Ben doing that for at least 3 or 4 years.

Then she sent me over to Sarah's blog, In the midst of it, and I got steamrolled into something so addictive I was up to my ears in reading and trying to write. Yikes.

As a mom of 6 (only 5 at home now, actually soon to be 4 again in January) I have more than enough to do with my time.

Actually when ever I hear people make comments about "well, in my down time. . ." or "sometime when you have nothing to do . ." or "when you are looking for something to do. . ." I just feel so insanely jeoulous it is almost unbelievable.

I truly do not ever have a time with nothing to do. Don't get me wrong, I do quite often choose to do one thing over another but there is never just "nothing" on my plate.

Like today I am suppose to be cleaning, laundering, getting packed to go away with hubby, getting kids organized to stay home without us, etc. . .and instead I have chosen to slip into this chair every hour or so and read between folding, giving instrustions, making list, picking up, feeding lunch, etc. . .

Thankfully, she says with sarcasm in her voice, my wireless interent connection has been out for several weeks on and off so I've had very little ability (using dial up) to upload pictures and other stuff I would typically like to put on here.

I am of course ramblnig but it does have a point I think. Instead I've had time with my books again. I do so love to read. I've had time with my Bible study and have even caught up on my scriture memory and gotten the kids memorizing along with me. I've emailed a few in the flesh friends and gotten back in touch and it is good.

But I have to amit, I am addicted to this blogging. I love to put my thoughts into words, remember and record stuff, and most of all I love to read the insights everyone has. So I know I will continue to read blogs for now. I hope also to post. But pray for me (if you get this far in this epistle!) because I want to use my time wisely and do feel the need for a break here and there but so many things call my name and yet the daily responsibilities do overwhelm me at this point in my life.

So in the never boring, always consuming, never ending, always enlightening adventures of parenting which go from here to there and across the board and back again it seems, I'm just typing for pleasure today and parenting as I do it from 1 year old to 19 year old. How fun is that.

Keep up the good work you faithful bloggers. I so envy you and enjoy my peeks into sanity every now and again.

Oh and to Tammy I think it is, thanks for tagging me for that meme a long time ago, it was just to long for me to get to but a short one would be fun. I've seen a couple of those lately. I'll be around lurking and learning from you all and commenting as I can.

time to switch the laundry . . .

Badlands or God's Sandbox

How fun to see landscape the likes of which was alien to us east coasters. As our 14 year old son put it as he explained it to the 3 year old. . .

"Emory! Look what happens when God plays with sand! This is like God's great big sand box and this is what He built!"

Wow. On the landscape (Badlands) and the 14 year old son.

We did lots and lots and lots of this.

Thank you Father Above for some very very nice (read clean here) highway rest stops and van seats that recline nearly flat! Oh and those wonderful disposable changing pads! I'll never go back to the cloth/vinyl diaper bag ones.

This little sweetie (just a tad bit of sarcasm in Mommy's voice there) on average (read sometimes more!) went thru 3 yes, 1-2-3! changes of clothes a day! Not because of her sweetness factor let me assure you.

Oh and thank you Jesus for those little blue smelly bags to toss used up boppers in because it's just not nice to leave that kind of smell around even in trash recepticals.

and just because I have such a fact I feel I should share it, she went through 102 of those diapers in just under 13 days! That does not count swimmie diapers!

Her brother only used up 65 in the same amount of time but twice as many swimpers!

ah well. . . we did know who we were taking on this trip before we started!

back and busier than ever

and we are back. 5000 road miles later, we are home and Mr. Independant decided now that we are home again he would use the potty!

3 years, 8 months. do you think he just didn't like the idea of any more rest stop diaper changes?

just going to try and post little snippets here and there. not able to find time in my life for more than "lurking around" and a comment or two on the "faithful ones" sites.

gotta run, timer is going off for dinner! enjoy the fall and cooler weather if it applies to you! In the 50's last night here in Delaware! woo-hoo!

time flies when you're having fun . . .

Well, it appears to be August 29th ( I only know because I just asked my husband) and my 3.5 yr. old is making me a blanket cake (?), strawberry of course with the pretend kitchen things while the 11 and nearly 14 year old do math. The 19 year old is "in house" and the 1 year old is in bed for the night and that is all I know for now.

I will be back once I get my vacation pictures uploaded and have so much to write about! Nearly 5000 road miles produce a host of interesting writing topics to be sure.

Enjoy your week,Kim

He's home, Safe and Sound

Yes, he is home, not much else besides the clothes on his back but home.

Took another 24 hour stint awake/traveling to get him here but it is oh so good to have him home.

Thank each and everyone of you who commented and prayed and checked back in on me. God's answers are not always so easy to understand but this time, I'm thanking Him I can humanly understand His ways. Thank You Jesus!

Can't share much more without some sleep so I'll try again tomorrow.

PS Did I mention he's home and sleeping in my bed right this very minute?!!!

He's on his way

I sat down at this computer the minute I had changed diapers, and nursered the baby. Oh, and had taken my BP and meds (cringe) ~not even reporting what that number was.

7:24 am here. 12:24 pm there.

Hubby has arrived in Birmingham by high speed train w/o incident and after getting some lunch will start off to find the hotel he booked there. He leaves on early flight tomorrow to Frankfort, Germany. That will be a relief to have him out of England! Even if he does have to fly out. Not so relieved that his passport promotes him as a male, US citizen, traveling alone for first time out of country, My brain keeps saying "target". I know, dumb.

New prayer item. His car keys are in his luggage so I will be driving the 45 minutes up to the airport to pick him up and take along the spare key. I do a lot of drving, even city driving but I do not like driving to PHA. ah, well, for this, I'd drive in my underwear and slippers! Except I don't own slippers. . now where did that come from??


Again, thanks so much for praying, I'm being a wimp I know but what a scare.

Kids need Mommy to shape up now and get going with the day.

He's stuck, but safe

Can not even believe on his first trip "across the pond".

In a Heathrow airport hotel is where he stayed last night to fly out to Dublin this morning.

Not sure if anyone heard the news this morning but a terrorist attack was thwarted at Heathrow (the likes/size of 911 they believe) and the airport is chaotic. Closed down for now.

Still stuck at airport, trying to retrieve luggage. Alternate plans (for now) have him getting in a day late with no further buisness happening, just trying to get home.

Thank You in advance for all your prayers.

UPDATE: I was able to keep in touch via cell phone/e-mail most of the morning hours but than I did not hear anything until 5pm this afternoon. It was a long day no matter which side of the ocean you were on today I think.

Latest update is this.
He was finally able to leave Heathrow Airport this afternoon. His luggage had already been checked through to Dublin so is being rerouted back here to the states, home in fact. He asked me to watch for it, like lugage matters to me at this point! Tracking down luggage and finding alternative means of travel home took all day.


Latest travel plans for now.
He will stay overnight in London again but not at airport, closer into the city. He will then take a train to Birmingham (and yes that is the city where several of the suspected terrorist have been picked up and arrested) and spend the next night there. On Saturday he flies out to Frankfort, Germany and then on to Philadelphia and home. Still not much more than a day or so late, if all connections happen and flights don't get cancelled again.


Praises: He has been able to keep in touch with me for most part. He almost checked his phone thru (no taking it on plane now) when he heard his flight cancelled.
Although his words this morning were "It is pure chaos here." He seemed very calm and ever reassuring to his wife.
He was able to make alternate travel arrangements.
I have only cried twice, away from the children and remained mostly calm and in control. What else is there to do really?

Prayer: He has only his phone, no charger, it is in checked luggage. Pray his phone will hold a 3 day charge!
He has only the clothes on his back for the next two nights in hotels/planes/trains and he is a male. Will he shop? Doubtful.
Please pray Birmingham is peaceful and calm and there is no trouble with the train, etc. as it seems to be a hot spot for this group of terrorist.

Thank You again. Kim for my clan.

PS after I heard from him around 5pm (10 pm his time) I just had to get away from this computer for a while. I piled the kids in the van and took them to Friendly's. Dinner and ice cream. Then I went to Old Navy for some shopping therapy. I needed to get my hubby a new swimsuit but did not do it before he left and felt the sudden need to do it today,the mind works in strange ways hhhmm.

Home and exhausted.

He called!

Now, we had e-mailed a few times and that made me feel good.

And I've been keeping up with the time difference and all so I knew he was just about ready to turn in for the night and still no e-mail for the day. . .probably couldn't get computer to work or something or just way tired.

But no, HE CALLED! Sometimes little things like that just mean a lot to me. It's been a great trip so far and he has been able to fit a lot in and see so many things as well.

So tomorrow he is off to Dublin, cool. Hope it is another spectacular day. I miss him but no way I would want him to miss this experience.

Kind of makes me feel like I should be doing something really great here too, like cleaning a whole bunch or organizing our never ending paper trail or getting ready for this trip that looms ever closer but it's not happening. So frustrating.

I have had lots of giggle time with the little man, snuggle time with the walker, talk time with the preteen and no knock down drag out fights with the resident teen ager so I guess something has been accomplished! Oh, and visit with the parents, phone call to the in laws and the college boy, cooked dinner two nights (of course you'd have to know me to know what a big deal that is and "cooked" is a relative term) and well, survived without that break in my day that always says to me "okay, this part of the day is done and there is only so much more to go" . . .you know without hubby coming home, my day just never seems to end and that's just exhausting!

So anyway, I'm just happy he called!

She Walks!

Yup, Little Miss Jillian Elyse Walks! I know I said I would not be excited by this because of all the extra work involved and added freedom and all that other stuff but ... well...

There is just something so precious about those first little steps. And to couple that with her rocky start in life and her excruciatingly slow weight gain, well... it's just so fun to see her do something so normal and cute and sweet and and well, you know, so precious!

She gets this little look on her face like "hey, look at this, look what I can do, hey did you see that?"

She had been cooped up in a stroller, our arms, a hotel room and the car for the better part of 2 days and when she hit the family room floor after that at 10pm she just had a look of sheer delite on her little face.

She has been standing randomly for a while now so we had produced the required "walk behind toys" and all of that. She mostly just pushed them for a few minutes and then squealed for someone to come do it for her. Smart woman I say.

I think little Miss Jillie decided that since Daddy was going away for a whole week she should preform for him before he left. And what a grand preformance it was.

Jillie took several jaunts of about 3-4 steps each time. So cute to watch.

Since Daddy's been gone she has progressed rapidly! Tonight she "walked" about 8-9 steps across the room to her big sister while her MomMom and PopPop were here. wow!

Wait until Daddy sees this!

He's Off

After almost an hour delay, his flight has departed.

That means by my time 2am, the hubby will be arriving in Frankford, Germany at their time, 8am and hit the ground running, so to speak. I pray he was able to sleep across the Atlantic. I pray he can function properly at 2am, his body pretending it is 8am and checking out of the airport and customs and going straight to the office there. . .

He is actually one incredible guy, this hubby of mine. As he held me in his arms as I bawled last night for no apparent good reason other than my fear that he would not come back safely from this international week long trip. It is an irrational fear right? Lots of people do this all the time I know but not my hubby.

So, although he has never been overseas before and had to be ready to go into work (here at home) this morning (he left before 6am this morning) before he came home to pack and leave for airport this afternoon, he spent all week end with his family, away from home. And let me tell you, home is most often where my hubby wants to be when he is not at work. He never seems to have enough time here. Yet, instead of "puttering" around here, we were off to a Family reunion 3 and 1/2 hours away.

We often make the trip a "day trip" albeit a long one. This time hubby let me book a room to make it a bit less rushed and a little more leisurely. The reunion itself was neither great nor awful so average is kind of nice for a change. We were able to get away at a reasonable time, drive over to our hotel and check in before we headed to a local amusement park. What a fun time that was as well. And the late night swim after. And the nice big suite and the super comfy beds, the wonderful breakfast buffet, and then back to the amusement park for a few more hours. I thought we would head right home but no, hubby wanted the kiddos to have more time to enjoy trip. We ended up leaving there much later than I thought we would, and hubby still had to drive home. We made it home inside of 10pm but that was still plenty late after all week end. Only a guy totally committed to his family would try to fit in all of that right before going away!

And now, he's off. I cried again, when he left. I already miss him. And, well, one incredible guy.

It's Friday

And I'm so sad because I had a great post on time all written out and my Internet connnection went out on me.

Bum.

Not nearly as poetic but it's been a busy week, it's going to be an even busier week end and even busier month overall if you can even believe that!

And the one precious statement I just have to retype is this,

Each time my 3.5 year old ask me what time it is or is it time for ________. No matter what my response is, every single time his response back to me is the same.

But Mommy, the hands just keep spinning round and round.

Oh my goodness, they sure do and time just keeps on moving but his statement always reminds me how precious each and every moment with my little ones really is.

No matter how tired, or how busy or how many minutes there are. . .each one is a gift to be thankful for.

signing off for now, but treasure each moment because those hands just keep spinning.

One more room and a precious one year old!

Okay, so I've been a little busy lately (I'm sure to hear murmurs of aren't we all?) And as much as I truly want to have you over and invite you in. . .there has just not been time to clean up anything! And when I don't clean, you really don't want to see what happens around here (think two Jr. Highers watching two pretot/toddlers and Mom ignoring not only the housework but the kids and nutritional needs of her family as well [um, McD, Pizza, and Pop Tarts nearly everyday] and then Dad throwing in some "more fun than all this work, let's go! suggestions" and you have a sorry looking mess!

Confession time! The pic of my daughter is from the State Fair and is as close to live animals and their surroundings as I go all year long. My 11 year old once called horses "big dogs" because her Mother had not taught her any differently at the age of 4 years, opps. So now, come rain, heat or whatever, we head down to the rural part of my small state and see horses, cows, pigs, goats, chicks, rabbits, and on and on it goes I'm afraid. We even climb on tractors. My favorite part? Touring those mega motorhomes and double wide modular houses! They'd be perfect for a place at the beach. . .so I like to dream! Guess there's just not much country in this girl.

Now the 3 yr old is properly versed in all domesticated, farm and wild animal names so you could say I'm reformed, sort of. I still do not have any pets and leave no hope in my children's minds that I will change my mind anytime soon.

But isn't it a cute picture? Barefooted and hay! so cute.

uh-anyway, confession number #2 I actually threw stuff off the couch onto the floor by the couches so you could not see it in these two pictures of my family room!! Don't look to close or you'll see lots of stuff I didn't move at all or look hard and have a grand time seeing the lovely toys my children drag around each and everyday from all over this obnoxiuosly large house (yup, I don't feel guilty and I love it! Hey, 7 of us fill it up).

The shot on the left is taken from my kitchen (which you will not get a picture of today for sure) into my backhall and family room. Down the hall is my powder room and to the left you can see my overflowing bookcases in my office. There is a 3 year old being babysat by public television and a 4 foot pink stuffed bunny from Easter that the little ones think is a great chair. Otherwise I love my big chair and halfs as we call them. These shots are from early in the day. I have morning sun in this room which is wonderful in the winter streaming through my double french doors and 3 Palladian windows (they match the window over my front door). You can just catch a corner of them in shot number 2. Oh, before I leave shot #1, notice the back hall has been painted. woo-hoo! It only took me 5 years to convince hubby that I could not stand builder white any longer. I guess shot #2 is pretty self explanatory. We sit in here everyday. We read in here. We occasionally watch the news or tv in here (only once or twice a week actually for the adults) Seeing the 3 year old in here is kind of deceptive and not of my choice. His Daddy has started a morning routine and I can not seem to break either of them of it. Every morning while I am still in bed (yup, he does not want me up and under his feet he says, I'm happy to oblige.) before he leaves for work, this little guy hears his Daddy putting his shoes on (He drops them on the hardwood for goodness sake as he comes down the steps! We all hear him!) and gets up out of bed to say good morning /goodbye to him. This also includes Daddy indulgently making him a cup of choch-ey milk and turning on PBS. Not a big deal? AAHH! This is builder grade carpet. This is a 3 year old prone to spills with no supervision, this is the big people family room, the kids have their own finished basement family rooom with a perfectly good tv down there. . . .oh , never mind, I have given up and besides, it is kind of cute that they have their morning thing going on. . . even if I'm not invited.

Other points of interest? My antique barn box, my grandmothers 100 plus year old quilt, one of many oil paintings ( Hubby I like to shop for art) and a stack of library books. The couches do not even have their throw pillows or throws on them (heaven alone knows where they are this morning) . The french doors need dressing up but I can't really decide which unobtrusive treatment to apply to them. All suggestions welcome, under $20 of course which is about how much my decorating budget would be this month! And please make it colorful, it's a very brown room (which I personally love but hubby thinks I'm nuts) . Can't quite see in picture, but accents are there in red and blue and yellow! Fireplace was suppose to be between those doors but we built it in the basement family room instead and now don't really want another in here so we must decide what to do.

So there you have it, the center of all activity in our home, the family room not the kitchen(I avoid the kitchen whenever possible to be honest except to entertain or buy pretty things for it or cook with kids . . .it's that regular meals thing that flusters me) . It's a lovely kitchen though, so keep checking back and I'll show it to you!

still blog illiterate I guess

what in the world have I done now???

Every time I try to click on my blogspot I only get a link that takes me to blogger and then I have to hit view blog to get here??

oh man. and just when I was thinking up some good stuff to share, as if anyone comes to visit much anyway (thanks Diane for persevering and checking back often.)

So anyway, seeing as it is the middle of the night (hubby came up later than me and woke me so I just got up since sleep didn't seem to be returning) and since the baby girl went down early last night which means she will be up early. . .

guess I should try to get some sleep.

So wanted to brag on my shopping bargains this week but it'll have to wait. and update on my VBS week, and about a dozen other life things. . .

Please come back! I would love the company!

'nite

Okay, so this really is as far as I got! Ta-Da, the front door.

Which we never use. Now, the Shwann Man, my kids friends, my in laws (who are not allowed to see my garage!), and various and assorted other folks do use it from time to time.

The front door was the same green as the shutters and I hate, hate, hated it for the first 3 years we were here. I tend to use "occasions" to pull work from my already over worked hubby and a party with many guest who had never been down to our new place, did the trick this time!

Now I love the paint color but am not happy with the current wreath. I change it often though so for now the purple flowers on the undersized wreath help you find us when you visit. Because there are no house numbers and I finally took the paper with the number on it (in sharpie!) out of the transom window above the door you'll have to look for our mailbox.

Since I'm not sure I'll know how to link this anyway, I'll stop now and go on over toBooMaMas and see what I can do. If it works, I will be thrilled and post more pics within a day or two!

Please come back and visit soon. Just use the garage entry okay?

13 things I've done in the last thirteen days

I've seen this kind of thing on other blogs and since I have no idea how to link into any of that or any time to try and learn right now . . .I suppose this is merely to amuse myself and anyone who happens to stumble onto it. (grin) So, enjoy!

1. Driven my Father in law to the hospital for a cat scan.

2. Purchased and delivered a new matress set to my parents.

3.Written, copied, folded, stuffed, stamped, mailed over 100 invites to Hubby side family reunion and recieved back 17 of them including one very nasty note from a perfect stranger who did not like my junk in her mail!

4. Collected money for reunion on my side of family and not deposited one cent of it into ING account as promised as of yet. Also have managed to not book rooms yet either. But have made headway on weekend schedule and craft for said reunion. Did I mention I am a perfectionist in many ways and just can't be a happy person about crafts?

5. Collected, compiled, and culled names and contact info on more than 200 people to be entered into data base in order for sons missions support letter to go out in mail asap. This work was done while program kept losing/not saving my data.

6. Proofed, edited, praised, and corrected above sons support letter for Missions Internship to Cambodia begining in Jan 2007 for 1 and 1/2 years. Ditto for pledge card. Purchased envelopes and stamps for said project as well.

7. Attended a graduation party for dear friends daughter.

8. Visited a dear friends newborn and held coliky baby to give Mom a break. To many memories there gotta tell you.

9. Made dinner at home at least 7 of those 13 nights, amazing actually.

10. Picked up European travel guide from Triple A for husband who is going to Dublin, Ireland, London, England and Frankfort, Germany . . .without me.

11. Booked ten nights in 5 different cities and as many states for our road trip in August which entaled countless hours on the Internet.

12. Picked up the family room a minimum of 42 times and told 13 year old to do the dishes (his lone chore) at least this many times as well.

and finally13. spent way to much time reading blogs and not enough time reading Gods Word. Also read 3 books (fiction) to stay sane, it is my escape, I admit, even when it means losing sleep!

gas prices and choices

At $3.03 a gallon at the gas pump there are some subtle changes around here.

Do I really need to run to WalMart because I'm out of diet soda?

Do the kids really need to go to Gamestop to price new games or look for accessories?

Should I go to the Moms in Touch brunch on the other side of town?

Should I really try to do more than 6 errands at a time with a cranky 15 month old missing her nap?

Should we skip the State Fair this year (good hour+ drive away) or pop over to the beach after for the evening (another 45 minute drive)?

Should we hang out on opposite side of town for an extra two hours to go to 6 'oclock worship service just because I missed it this morning due to kids colds? (otherwise it is another 50 mile round trip to go home and me come back alone). . .

and on and on it goes.

Has anyone else been second guessing their usually straight forward decisions about where to go and when?

I don't drive a huge SUV ( I would though if I could afford one, hey! I have 6 kids!) but I also don't drive a compact either.

I'm not poor by any standard: world or US but I'm sure not rich either.(monatarily anyway)

In the middle of making all these decisions comes Bible School. Now any good christian Mom knows it is a given you will allow your child to attend such a wholesome activity. I normally would be on staff in fact. Not so with Jillian's health this year.
Built in excuse right? or no?

My oldest at home is to old for VBS, my 2 youngest are still to young if I'm not on staff. So we are talking one child. (huge sigh) Not just any child. This is to be her last VBS year then off to Jr. Hi. This invovles many after VBS trips. It is built up to an unbelievable measure.

I resist signing her up and she is handling it well (so far as I hear/know about) but at the last minute the guilt is eating me up. After all, we did drive down to the fair, (skipped the shore after) I did run to WalMart for non essentials a few times, and I did go out one night and pick up/drop off a friend who has a tighter budget than mine just to socialize. . .

Oh boy! So we are going to VBS. (9am-12:15pm) Monday they are to meet back at church for tubing down the river ($$)at 1:30pm-4pm) what to do??? Remember 50 mile round trip.

Tuesday again (9:00am-12:15pm) except my meeting with missions staff member goes over a bit and I still have to get gas (any wonder) and stamps on way home (wouldn't want to go out of way) .

Wednesday "graduating" kiddos have a field trip ($$)which will get them back to church late, around 3pm.

Thursday is pretty straight forward, 9:00am-12:15pm, oh and the 7pm program for parents to show them what we've been doing all week.

Friday we're done. It's big fun day, bring your younger sibs and enjoy the rides, moonbounce, etc.

It's only Tuesday and I'm to tired and poor to think about it anymore! Did I mention hubby and I pay($$) teenager to babysit when it is "over and above" regular duties/hours. . . more money. It is just not worth 1 and 3 year olds missing 5 days worth of naps and their regular schedules have them still in bed for another 1/2 hour after we've left in morning.

all that to say next week we really will eat beans and spaghetti I suppose!

But here's the thing. Both days so far my 11 year old daughter has thanked me profusely for taking her, letting her go, told me I am the best Mom in the whole world and offered her own money to pay for activities. She loves Jesus and getting to go hear about him for 3 hours is just a huge deal to her right now. How could I say no? Where are my priorities? Guess I may be scimping on the diet coke for a bit too.

My pie melted in the freezer!

I am not even kidding here. I spent way to much time on this thing for my beautiful whipped cream dollops to just ...just melt!!

I found myself complaining (isn't this where so much trouble begins?) about a jar of peanut butter and how oily it seemed and then went on to say I thought it might be good to make up a batch of my peanut butter bars (this is quick and I can practically do it in my sleep and they always get rave reviews) to use it up quicker. However, my completely and totally deprived husband says "How about a peanut butter pie" . I'm thinking now this is probably something his mother made (my MIL is a fabulous pie maker BTW) and mine would be nothing like it and why would I want to do this and I would definitly need to go get some ingredient . . .on and on it went in my head...but all that came out of my mouth was something like "are you crazy? have you no idea what you ask?" Well, I do love the man, I just do not love cooking anything that takes to much time or effort unless I get to show it off (oh dear, downfall number 2- pride).

So, yup, after dinner, I put the little one in his arms with a bottle and said I'll be back. I googled a few recipes and came up with pie filling and crust recipe that looked straight forward enough.

Now mind you, I simply can not follow a recipe as it is written. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes I just don't read it right! oopps!
Sometimes I am clueless as to what an ingredient is.
Sometimes I simply do not have time and take shortcuts. (this worked great more than once and now we have a few new casserole recipes, if I could just remember what I did!)
Sometimes I just don't have all the ingredients and I substitute (um-hm, you know what's coming) . This can be either disaster-ish or quite brilliant.

Tonight I decided that a peanut butter pie should definitly have a chocolate crust and surely I had just the thing. A bag of on sale Mickey Mouse chocolate graham crackers. Just enough for 2 cups finely chopped. I quickly hid the bag in the trash before anyone could moan about the tragedy Mickey had faced. Then said peanut butter was crunchy not creamy as it was suppose to be for crust, oh well. And wa-la. The perfect crust! Oh and I forgot it should have gone in a 9 inch pie plate , I put it in 8 inch. So nice thick chocolate crust. I'm tasting it already. Except it was suppose to freeze for one full hour before I filled it. . .bother. It was already almost 9pm by now.

On to the filling. Whipping cream? Surely not. That stuff in the can you top ice cream with would be fine. (substitution #1) Yup, it says whipping cream on the can. Now my brain does work and all the time I'm workiing on this I'm thinking about how it will come out, if my substitutions will work, blah, blah, blah. Hey, this filling really looks great! Now I'm suppose to fill the crust, top it with more "whipping cream" , and freeze for two more hours! oh dear. I decided to make my whipping cream (hey! there were 2 1/2 cans in the fridge, I do shop at warehouses with this crew) look pretty. I dolloped it on in an ornate and oh so nice looking pattern and showed hubby before I put it in the freezer.

For the next hour, my 3 year old won't stop asking when he can have pie with Daddy. (why isn't this child in bed yet?) Then hubby starts asking when it will be done. I decide an hour surely is enough. uh, not. I open the freezer door and low and behold my pretty whipped cream dollops have melted! I am shocked! I think cry or laugh? (actually what I think is thank God this wasn't for company!) And ever logical reasonable hubby says, yeah, that's what that stuff always does on top of strawberries too? But in the freezer? So I'm thinking oh well, it'll eat. I pull it out to cut a piece and the whole thing is still like pudding! Now I'm worried, I had added that can stuff to the filling as well. hhmm. Better let it freeze some more.

Emory goes to bed crying for pie which he will eat for breakfast tommorow no doubt. Finally at midnight I cut a piece for hubby and he proclaims it good.

You know, those frozen pies in the WalMart freezer section that say just "thaw and eat" for $2.99?? Don't you think they taste nearly as good as the 4 hour homemade version that looks not so fancy by this time? Yeah, me too.

And my 13 and 11 year olds? Mom can you still make those peanut butter bars?

Gotta love 'em.