Ok, well that week flew by!

I guess I was so busy shopping and child sitting and sending out Christmas cards and trying to breathe that I forgot to blog!

I'm done with my Christmas shopping now. For real. Except for some of the stuff for Christmas dinner. That's a hard thing to say, because I keep coming up with more great ideas. But now is the time for self-discipline.

Remember when I got sick back in October? Well, I felt great for about a week in November, and then it started all over again. So I finally went to the doctor. A steroid shot and two antibiotic pills later, I'm feeling much better. Hopefully I'll be totally over this by the end of the month.

I drove Toby to work this morning (a strange statement to get used to), and poor Gracie was NOT ready to be awake. She was eager for a nap by 10am. Here she is, snoozing hard on Daddy's pillow.

Baby got blog

Toby and Lynae started blogs today. Their links are listed on the right side of this page. Check 'em out... I'm so blessed to spend my days with these children!

Gratitude For a Sovereign God

Mood-setting media: The song I can't get out of my head

It's a big day: a treasured IRL friend is loading a truck to move across the country. A treasured internet friend just got home from the hospital after surgery. Another internet friend is grieving the loss of her father. And my sister is having her baby.

My own life is boring by comparison - praise the Lord! And praise the Lord, He is in control of all these situations, as well as the child who was hit and killed by the skidding plane, and the two brothers who were killed in car accidents 20 minutes apart, leaving their father with unspeakable grief.

With that in mind, it seems I should be able to handle my own burdens with wisdom, patience, and a grateful attitude. Lord, help me to do so. And be with my friends and my sister through these big changes in their lives.

Happy December!

I have a minute while I use my nebulizer, so it seems like a good time to post.

We had a very quiet and low-key Thanksgiving, and are now overwhelmed by "holiday stuff". There are packages to send (I'm grateful for online ordering and the option of having things shipped directly, but I have a couple to mail myself anyway), a parade to be in, pictures to take, cards to mail, a concert to attend, friends to bid farewell (sniffle), field trips to take, treats and memories to make, and a special diet to maintain (groan). Oh, and then there's the cleaning and decorating.

It makes me want to hide out in bed under my new quilt and read the following giant stack of books on my dresser:

Training Hearts, Teaching Minds
Parenting With Love and Logic
Senior High: A Home Designed Form+U+LA
The Business of Heaven
Bible
Created to Be His Help Meet
Love and Respect

But no... gotta run!

Listening to: The ticking of the clock and my two oldest blessings giggling together in the other room

It's almost my bedtime. What's funny about that? Well, I just woke up from a nap a couple of hours ago. We tend to spend the afternoon in town after the homeschool meeting each month, and come home totally exhausted. Today we laid down just after 4:00, and the little ones are still sleeping. I'm sure it was nice for Loren to come home from work and be able to crawl into bed, rather than being mobbed by enthusiastic children who try to keep him up for hours!

Hmm... come to think of it, this might be a great time for me to make a Walmart run! (groan) Loren did the grocery shopping for me yesterday (have I mentioned that he's a wonderful husband?), but I have a couple of meds to pick up for myself. Can you say "bronchitis"?

It turns out my big kids were cracking each other up, talking about words which are often mispronounced ("often" being one of them). I told them about Category 7, the weather comedy designed to promote the religion of environmentalism. I wonder how anyone could take it as anything but a joke when the leading scientist character continues referring to the "mesosphere" as the "messophere".

On an unrelated note, Toby said he woke up from his nap to find Lynae writing by the light of his fish tank. I told her, "Girl, you are going to go blind and deaf (added for dramatic effect only) and there will be nothing I can do about it." Toby added, "Yeah, you'll have to go sniff out truffles." ROFL!! He got it from Guy Noir, A Prairie Home Companion

Welp, I think the kids and I are going to giggle and cough our way through Walmart. I leave you with something I found encouraging:

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

73 Degrees and Autumn-y

The air has an autumn glow about it this afternoon, so I took the kids outside to play. Normally I'd send them out, but today I went with them. I walked until I was winded, then came back in. That didn't take long, since I'm out of shape and recovering from respiratory crud, but it felt (and smelled) so good to be out there!

This has been a modestly productive week so far. We're plugging away at chores, school, and a bunch of desk work I'd been putting off forever. It feels really good to be getting back into the swing of things again. I have no doubt that we'll be doing great by Thanksgiving, and will hate to take a break from school at that time. Maybe we won't this year. We'll see.

Jonathan had a monumental day today. He and I discussed Michael Pearl's wisdom regarding 7 year olds:

"By the time a child reaches seven, he should be making your life easier. A house full of seven-year-olds ought to be self-sustaining."

I explained that we'd been putting off this expectation in his case, trying to make allowances for his unique challenges. But since I thought Jon was reasonably prepared and he was sure of it, we made some changes in his life. Today we updated his chore list, passed on a couple of his chores to Mike and Grace, and put him on the payroll. That's a huge deal at our house. He now earns $1/week per year of age. He gets a check, from which "taxes" have been deducted. He tithes on the gross amount, saves, and uses his spending money to cover everything except toiletry items, curriculum, and groceries. I've also explained to him that if he wants to continue wearing diapers, he can buy those himself. BIG decision time for Jon! Yes, he'll be able to afford that if he chooses. He'll also have to buy his own clothes. I have a feeling this may cut down on his urge to destroy his clothing, though it won't surprise me if he has to buy a few items before he gets it.

True to form, he's had a challenging day since then. No meltdowns, just a lot of whimpering and complaining about silly things, and pretending to be confused about something quite ridiculous. At the end of the day, though, I think we'll come through it all right.

I appreciate technology. I'm on hold with Loren's benefit enrollment people, so I decided to blog while I wait. They tell me I'm the 6th in line. I could get irritated about being on hold, but I remember waiting on the line for 45 minutes to get my children well baby appointments at the clinic on Ft. Carson 10 years ago... with a corded phone, a toddler, and a baby! Now THAT was a drag!

Ok, I just found out that open enrollment doesn't start until Thursday, which is why I couldn't enroll online. Looking... looking... looking... nowhere does it say the start date in the paperwork. Ok, so I'm not the only one who forgets things sometimes. (sigh)

Tonight we're trying our hand at crockpot lasagna. We ate lunch at 4:00, so I guess we'll have a late supper. LOL But first we'll watch Surface.

Speaking of technology, I want to watch movies and network TV programs on my computer. I'd rather have it on my PC than on my cell phone. Is that possible?

Reason #59

to home church:


Or maybe go straight to a prayer meetin'!


Praise the Lord! We lost a tree and a huge limb in last night's storm, but they were both up the hill and not near the house. I often stay awake during such storms just in case a tree falls on the house. Wouldn't that be a rude awakening?!

I'm so thankful for a husband who will tighten the chain on his chainsaw when I mention that it's loose, rather than disregard my interference.