Coincidence? I think not.

Three years ago on the Wednesday following Thanksgiving my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. A couple months ago I made my annual mammogram appointment for December 2nd not at all realizing, while making the appointment, that December 2nd would be the Wednesday after Thanksgiving . . . that fact was not lost on me this morning as I checked in for my mammogram. I am thankful for the technology that can detect such things early enough to allow for successful treatment. I am so very grateful that my mom is healthy and doing well! She is such a blessing to many, I know, but I'm pretty sure there's no one more grateful for her than me! As I type this, many friends come to mind who have lost their dear mommas (or other loved ones) to cancer (or any number of other things). It's hard, this life. The joys mixed with the sorrows. So many emotions all the time. As one of my favorite authors, Glennon Doyle Melton, says, life is "brutiful" (brutal and beautiful all at once).

a day in the life {or just a morning}

3 of the kids were up WAY earlier than usual . . . and way earlier than they should have been, if you know what I mean. It's never a good way to start your morning to have the kids get up before you. {But I usually like to wait until the first number in the time is at least a 6 before I get up.} One other kid got up later than usual, which also has its issues! We were not off to the best start at this point.

Anna {one of the early risers} was whining like crazy and I could, honestly, hardly make out what she was saying. It was something about cinnamon. I had to go to the bathroom, so I went -- how dare I do such a thing, I know! -- She comes up to me in the bathroom with HUGE tears streaming down her face. I kissed her tears from my perch on the toilet {can I not just have 30 seconds, please?} and asked her what the trouble was. She was angry that I wouldn't give her cinnamon. Yup, plain cinnamon. Not on toast, not on oatmeal, not on applesauce. She just wanted cinnamon! Weirdo! Finally she conceded and let me give her oatmeal {which she calls opey-meal, it's ADORABLE!} -- with cinnamon on it. So that situation had been diffused.

Next, a certain pre-teen complained of not having socks to put on. I asked if he had checked for his clean clothes pile in the laundry room and looked through the not-yet-folded stuff in the basket by the dryer. He screamed yes! He did that! He had NO socks to wear! What on earth was he to do? So I checked the clean laundry {and the dirty laundry, to make a point} and there were no socks to be found anywhere. So I reminded him that I don't wash stuff unless it gets into the laundry basket and that, possibly, there were a bunch of dirty socks in his room. He thought, maybe, there might be some, but surely I was slacking on my motherly duties somehow to create a scenario where he had no clean socks. We went, together, up to his room {which I rarely enter} and it was a pit! We found the missing socks . . . almost all dirty. A few pair still balled up, like you do with socks instead of folding them, and in random places in his room -- but none in the sock-and-underwear-drawer where they belong, mind you! He put some on, slammed a few doors, mumbled under his breath and went to the bus.

Next, the first grader of the house decided he didn't really want to go to school {it's kind of his "thing" to not want to go to school}. He told me his leg was broken and he couldn't walk. He wouldn't get up off the floor. I tried to lift him up and set him on his feet and he slumped to the floor like a wet noodle. It was time to leave. He had no coat on, no boots, no backpack, and he wouldn't get up off the floor. SUPER! So Rebekah left without him. {Lydia is home for the 4th day this week with the crud. We've been to the doctor and I guess it's just viral, so they can't do anything. Fever, sore throat -- her voice doesn't even sound normal -- and generally achey.} Our kids usually walk, but there is a bus that comes to the apartment building a couple doors down from us and picks up kids and takes them to Falcon. So after talking to his dad on the phone {who miraculously with a few well-spoken words, possibly the same ones I had already said, can make things better -- which, if we're being honest, just pisses me off more} he agrees to get on the bus.

So, now I'm down to "just" 5 kids {one baby, one sick 4th grader, a 3-year-old dressed up as Minnie Mouse and 2 "extras" who don't live here, but who are practically like family}. This afternoon I have a funeral to go to.

At least the dryer started today {it doesn't always start} . . . there's always that! Gotta wash some socks, dontcha know?

Happy Friday!

{In the spirit of keeping up the appearances of normalcy on the blog -- even though you may have noticed I totally blew yesterday off -- here's an old picture. Enjoy!}::

{Don't freak out and worry about me. I'm fine. Really. I was just a yucky morning. I'm pretty sure you've had one or two of those too, right?}

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing writer and an inspiration!

"One Thousand Gifts"::

1839. sickies home from school playing board games together
1840. preschool Christmas programs {our 9th one at RLNS}::1841. going to the mailbox to find it FULL of Christmas greetings
1842. seeing and catching up with old friends {all the more fun when it's completely unexpected}
1843. successfully finishing all my Christmas crafting {and not a moment too soon, I might add!}
1844. no major injuries for Sara after her run-in with a flight of stairs::1845. how quickly kids heal! {praise God!}
1846. Jacob all snuggled up on the couch reading this book :: warms this math geek's heart!
1847. Christmas program at Seabury {Kirb on trumpet, vocals and reading from Luke 2, Jacob on trumpet and piano, Rebekah on piano and Lydia on piano and violin. Joe passed out the song sheets and Anna did a few unscheduled piano interludes!}
1848. the joy of giving!
1849. a fun, new game
1850. FAMILY!::1851. 11pm candlelight Christmas Eve service {Beka was the only Stoll kiddo to stay awake until the end :: she was rewarded by holding her very own candle as we formed a circle around the sanctuary to sing Silent Night}
1852. going to church on Christmas morning sans coat :: in Minnesota! so very weird!
1853. a walk with "the littles" to the park on a glorious {although it would be so pretty with a bit of snow!} Christmas afternoon
1854. a Christmas day nap
1855. much-appreciated, much-loved, heartfelt gifts::1856. my newly outfitted winter-proof workshop in the garage {new propane heater, shop light and workbench :: thanks Kirb for the set-up!}
1857. a clean basement

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

thankful thursday

I think we're on the other side of major big-family shared sickness and for that I'm thankful. One parent spending 6 hours in bed during the day is a big deal around here. Add to that 4 sick kids with 3 missed days of school, an angel fully robed and halo-ed puking all over the stage during the Christmas program, a toddler taking a major tumble down the stairs, at least a dozen loads of laundry done this week and a mom trying to finish up Christmas gifts {that she just started last week} and you've got our house the past 5 or 6 days. I think {at least I hope} everyone who was going to get sick has, and everyone who has been sick is now better. Here's to a Merry and puke-free Christmas!

Here's our poor, little brute of a toddler smiling despite her painful looking face::

thankful thursday

Ama & her two littlest girls

Today I am SO thankful that my mom is finally, really getting better. She's been sick for about month now and it got really, really bad over the weekend. I was so sad and scared on Sunday -- which was her worst day, not to mention the day we dedicated Sara at church, so she had to miss that special day. She was at the hospital for a while on Sunday having some testing because she was presenting with some extra-nasty, potentially more serious symptoms, but in the end she didn't have anything other than the really bad case of pneumonia that we knew she had and she was already be treated aggressively for, and some torn muscles from all the coughing. Finally, after a couple different drugs (and a severe allergic reaction in the mix that also sent her to the hospital -- twice) she's on the right thing and it's doing its job. When I talked to her on the phone yesterday she actually sounded like herself. Praise God!

Mom, I'm thrilled to have you back, now take it easy and don't let yourself get sick again!

it has come to this::

I just finished a wonderful {REALLY thick} book late last night and haven't started the next book in my stack yet. This morning I was taking a shower {surprising, I'm sure . . . but I DO take one now and again} and was in no hurry to get out. There is a chill in the air and the warm water felt great! So as I was standing there, I read my shampoo bottle {yup, this is the exciting stuff of life!}. I found it much more amusing than most shampoos I've read and thought you might also appreciate it.

Above the really stupid warnings that I'm sure are legally required or some such thing {like::"for external use only"} was a heading that read::"You probably already know this, but . . . " And on my conditioner under "Directions" it read::"After shampooing, apply conditioner generously to your hair and scalp. Leave for 2-3 minutes while pondering the meaning of life (or whatever you usually ponder about). Rinse thoroughly and comb through while wet. For best results (and who doesn't want those?), use with our Nourishing Shampoo."

Now, wouldn't you agree that's the most entertaining shampoo/conditioner bottle you've ever read? Well, it made me smile anyway!

Sara's cord stinks. It's not quite ready to fall off yet {hopefully soon!} but it's stinky and gross. I'm hoping it won't be around much longer . . . but that would also mean she's not "freshly born" so much anymore and that makes me sad. I'll try to enjoy the littleness while it's still here. Smelly or not!Joe asked me yesterday::"So mom, when you eat does your food make into poop or milk?" Poor little guy was obviously confused about the whole business.

I really hope I'm not getting sick. I woke up with a really stuffy nose, which caused me to breathe through my mouth most of the night, which meant I also woke up with a sore-ish throat. I'm not sure if the stuffy nose came from the cooler weather and the fact that we turned our furnace on for the first time last night {poor Sara had super chilly hands and we had compassion on her!} or if I really am coming down with something . . . I really hope it's the former!

And for no reason other than the fact that I find it completely adorable, I leave you with this::

thankful thursday

Today I am thankful that Anna didn't get up until after 7 . . . you see, her pattern lately had been to get up when the first number on the clock still glowed 5 in the darkness. I did not appreciate this new pattern a bit! Kirb leaves for work just after 5 and though I usually try to get up shortly after 6, I don't get much done when I have a 2-year-old early morning companion. The point of getting up early is to get some stuff done before the kiddos start rollin' out of bed. I tried to convince her it was still nighttime, tried to have her cuddle in bed with me . . . tried a lot of things, but to no avail. Once she got up, she was up and ready to go! Hopefully this 7:15-ish wake-up time will become a pattern and wasn't a fluke!

I am also so very, very thankful lately for my amazing husband who has been picking up a great deal of slack that I've left laying around the house while I crawl under the covers and nap and try to get over this really nasty chest cold I've had for just about 3 weeks now. He's been extra great! I do ok during the day, but by the time he gets home from work I'm usually completely spent and pretty much worthless! Thanks, babe! I'd be in a heap of trouble without you! {And really, if you know him -- and us -- well at all, you already know he does the lion's share of the work around here normally, so these days, he pretty much does it ALL!}

I am thankful, too, for our new school year resolution to have devotions together every night as a family after dinner and read from the Word. Joe isn't quite on board, but the rest of the kids are really excited and into it. I was inspired to really get this underway more regularly and "formally" {although that's not quite the right word} after reading this great, inspiring post on my very favorite of all blogs. Check it out! {then, maybe even give it a try}.

Today, I'm also thankful for the little things. Like the fact that today is picture day and this year I had the option of making ONE online payment . . . which meant I didn't have to write out 4 checks. Sometimes the little things can make a bigger difference than you'd think!

I'm thankful that when I got up at 4:30 this morning, to go to the bathroom in the dark and saw a man walk by my kitchen window and freaked out a tad, that it was just the man delivering the newspaper and not someone with bad intentions, like I immediately suspected it was! {imaginations are in high gear at 4:30 a.m. in a dark house where everyone else is asleep!}

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.

"One Thousand Gifts":

774. how quickly kids heal
775. a REALLY clean garage {thanks babe!}
776. fallish weather {my favorite, by far!}
777. the state fair
778. dry diapers in the morning
779. dry Elmo undies all day long
780. cough syrup with codeine
781. the return of wearing skirts and boots {and even some long sleeves!}
782. thoughtful friends who bring extra folders and take a couple kiddos for most of the day
783. my mom!
784. a perfectly-timed puke bucket brought bedside
785. a day off with only 2 things on the "to do" list {ok, maybe 3}
786. sibling love
787. my dad's safe arrival home {he's been gone again}
788. tom thumb mini donuts . . . the perfect way to end a day!

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

Ode to the Neti Pot

I'm a little Neti Pot,
Short and stout.
Here is my handle,
Here is my spout.
When you get all stuffed up
Pull me out.
Tip me over,
I'll clean you out!

Big thanks to my friend Sheridan who gave me a {really} early birthday present and brought me a Neti Pot the other day when I was complaining about this nasty cold I've had. Now that's a true friend!

destructo-girl

we're having out-of-town company tonight::

donors kirb knows through work.

the people we stayed with when we went to texas.

we don't know them very well.

{don't worry, they aren't crazy:: they're just coming for dessert and to say hi and meet the small people . . . they aren't staying here or anything!}

the house is pretty much a disaster! {it was SUPER clean on saturday:: floors mopped. kitchen cleaned. junk picked up. beds made . . . but that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with monday. today it is another story all together!}

anna does things like this {she was caught -- or just lost interest -- when there were about 3 tissues left in the fairly newish box of 200. it's so fun that they just keep popping up like that!}::
which do not help the situation any!

plus, i'm sick!

thankfully {i'm trying to look on the bright side here!} with this nasty cold i've got, i go through about this many tissues every 5 minutes or so. thus, i won't even bother picking them up, i'll just use them off the floor and the problem should resolve itself very shortly!

now, i'd better get back to work. there's LOTS to be done!

Thankful Thursday

I know, I know, I'm really late. Sorry! But according to my clock it is still Thursday, so I'll make it in under the wire. I appologize if you've been checking and waiting all day to see what I might come up with to be thankful for on such a crazy, crazy day! {I won't go into to what all made my day crazy, but I will tell you that, by my best estimate, I took people in or out of a car seat 38 times over the course of my day . . . that's not including the dozen or so that Kirb, or my bigger kids, did. So, that alone qualifies it as a crazy day in my opinion. I won't even start with all the not-so-fun places we had to go to make all those buckling and unbuckling manuevers necessary!}

But I'm especially thankful today for our exceptionally wonderful pediatrician! Dr. Sackett is pretty much a member of our family at this point. She's been our pediatrcian since, roughly, Janaury of 2003 and, thus, has seen us through quite a bit! One of our trips in {at home}, and out {at the doctor}, and in again {when we were through at the doctors} of the van was to visit her.

Dr. Sakett knows my kids so well. Knows that Joe refuses to wear socks -- even the dead of winter. Knows that the kids {even the big ones, still} will be hiding under the exam table when she opens the door. Knows to pretend, every time, that I came to the clinic all by myself. What a lady!

A few years back we were having an exceptionally rough week health-wise and I think I was in the clinic 4 times in one week and she told me that on her way home on Friday of that week, she was going by our house {the fact that she knows where we live, in and of itself, is pretty amazing, I think!} and she said she almost stopped in just to make sure no one new had gotten sick since last we were there {that morning!}. Well, turns out she should have acted on that and stopped in, because we had to make a trip to the clinic on Saturday morning too, because someone had come home from school on Friday not feeling too hot and was in bad shape by Saturday morning. The receptionist at the time {who always called me "Stoll"} actually laughed at me when I called that Saturday morning, because I had said to her when leaving the clinic with one of the little kids on Friday morning, "I won't see you tomorrow, ok!" . . . I ended up eating those words. If only Dr. Sackett had gone with her gut and stopped on her way home on Friday my pride would have been saved a little hit . . . not to mention the co-pay! Oh well! We sure do love her anyway!

It's great to have a doctor that knows our kiddos so well and that we trust {and that we can ask medical questions of when we bump into her at Target}. Plus, she also went to Falcon Heights Elementary School, so my kids think that is super fun!

Thankful Thursday

Last night was a good night!

I said yesterday that I feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above water lately with the adjustment to the new school year, new job, new schedule and all that jazz. Plus I just have about a million things to do {like I always do}. Not to mention all the normal, day to day stuff that has to go on to keep this place runnin': laundry, homework, clipping 50 fingernails and 50 toenails that get disgustingly long with incomprehensible speed, packing lunches, paying bills, bathing small people, cleaning, feeding people, buying groceries, changing diapers and on and on. A big part of the problem is that our evenings have been insanely busy and scheduled the past 2 weeks. We have discovered that that is NOT a good thing {we've been a little slow to catch on to this lesson}. Even though we are passionate, and often gifted, at the things that are taking up our evenings, they are often not the best choice for our family. I think people might have the impression sometimes {wrong, though it is} that we parent our 5 kids rather effortlessly and can take on one more "little" thing without it effecting our family too much. That is just NOT true. It's a lot of work for us to parent the kids and often stresses us out. We adore our kids and, I think, handle having 5 kids better than lots of people would, but it still is LOTS of work! We need to re-evaluate some stuff and prioritize our family a little higher once again. {I feel like this is a never-ending cycle in our lives. We get to this "valley" point and re-evaluate and cut back. Then we cruise along nicely for a while. Then we forget how bad it really was and, a little at a time, add "small" things back in that bring us back to point A again where we start the whole thing over. The whole process is emotionally draining and stresses me out!}

Just a little side note: I have not read more than 3 consecutive pages in a book of my choosing or made even 1 card in weeks and weeks. If you know me at all, that is a BIG deal. Also, it makes me a little less fun than usual when I'm deprived of these "me" things in my life!

Ok, so back to the "thankful" part {you thought I forgot and was just going to gripe the whole time, didn't you?} I am thankful for our evening yesterday! All 7 of us were home. We sat down to a non-rushed, yummy dinner together. Homework got done, for a change, without much complaining or procrastinating. We took a walk and played at the park. It was a beautiful late summer night!! {I hope you were outside too!} Kirb did have to be gone for a little bit, but it was after Anna was already sleeping and the other kids were getting ready for bed . . . and, he returned before they were even sleeping. Amazing! I can't go anywhere "quickly"! So, I know that, technically, we weren't ALL together for the ENTIRE night, but it was WAY, way better than we have been doing at being all together for an evening in a really long time!

On top of that, we {Kirb and I} were in bed by just after 10, which is also kind of unheard of around here. Often, I'll fall asleep on the couch around 10ish while Kirb keeps working or watching a movie or something. Then he'll wake me up, I'll brush my teeth and get into bed. But that's really not the same AT ALL as being in your own bed kind early. On top of getting into bed early, I also got to sleep all night long. Anna has been sick the past 3 or 4 days and has NOT been sleeping well. She did wake up once last night and needed a little more Tylenol, but Kirb took care of it! {Honestly, I didn't even hear her or notice that she needed anything until I felt Kirb getting back into bed.} Ahhh. What a difference all that makes when it comes time to get up in the morning.

Have a great day!

A fun evening as a family. A good nights sleep. I am thankful!

Some random stuff

A few random tidbits from our lives the past few days. From our family to you, enjoy:

• We had 4 nights in a row of middle-of-the-night puking. We are thrilled to have had 2 puke-free nights in a row!
• Anna "talks" up a storm these days! It's so cute!
  
• Lydia lost another tooth {her 7th} last night. It had been wiggly FOREVER and the adult tooth was already half in before the baby one finally came out.
• Lydia was excited that the tooth fairy remembered her this time {did you know that occassionally he/she forgets to come? Some days are busier tooth days than others, I guess. Usually the mistake is taken care of the next night!} Here's Lydia with her tooth box and gold dollar coin {that's what the tooth fairy always brings!} Also, THIS is what Lydia looks like in the morning. YIKES! She'd be completely fine going to school like that too, but usually I intervene!
  
  
• The kids all have fabulous teachers this year. We are so thankful and blessed!
• In case you were wondering, the Flashback Friday from last week was Anna. Good job if you got it right. YaYash, I'll get you a prize when you come here . . . in just a few days!!! Yeah!
  
• I have an official job for the first time in over 10 years. Regular hours and, thankfully, regular pay. Another HUGE blessing to our family for many reasons. I knew I needed to somehow make a little money for our family and this job literally fell right in my lap. I had just started thinking about what I should do to bring in a little extra money and I got offered a job completely "out of the blue"! Plus, so far so good. I love it!
• The weather has been absolutely, positively glorious the past couple weeks. How fun is that?
• I wish my clothesline were bigger. It just doesn't fit 7 people worth of laundry too well. Today is another perfect clothesline day. One load out there now, one finishing up in the washer to soon be joining the drying party on the patio.
• The kids actually rode the bus today. It was about 15 minutes late, but hopefully one of these days it will be here at the scheduled time! (We shaved over 30 minutes off yesterdays arrival time, so it's looking up!)
• Lydia looked a little Pipi Longstocking-ish this morning when we went to school. Don't you think?
  

Summer is here & I'm on the mend

Well, summer is here and it's in full swing. YIKES! Currently I spend my mornings running people to this and that like a mad woman trying {often without success} to get everyone to their stuff: band camp, VBS, playdates, day camp, swim team practice. If there were 2 of me, that would be ever so helpful! Maybe it will be more manageable this week, since on top of 7 people needing to be, seemingly, at 65 different places all at the exact same time I was also pretty sick. H1N1 maybe . . . I don't know, {I'm mostly kidding with that one. I don't think that's what I had . . . but you know since it's going around like wildfire around here . . .} but whatever I had it was nasty and lasted about 8 days before it started going way! I'm still not 100% yet, but I'm so much better than I was on any day last week! So I'm optomistic that this week things will be lookin' up! If not, things look like they'll slow down long about the first week of August. Think I can hang in there for 7 more weeks? I'm not sure, I'll have to get back to you on that one. Until then, Mondays and Wednesdays are completely insane and the other 3 days of the {work}week are manageable. Afternoons, thankfully, are blessedly unevently for the most part. Pretty much everyone is home from their stuff by lunch and we can relax and read or play or nap or just hang out at home for the afternoon. Then, you know, Dad gets home and the fun begins all over again!

It seems I often get sick about this time of year. I'm not usually one to get sick too often, but when I do it's usually pretty nasty. The Elliott's may {possibly} remember 5 years ago right about now I was kinda sick . . . did I mention that when we were at your place, guys? I can't remember! John? Do you remember me being a tad bit sick when we were there? Literally in May/June of 2004 I was sick for the better part of a month. It was terrible and I might possibly have mentioned that fact while we were staying with our dear friends the Elliotts in Idaho on our vacation! It may have gone something like this: "I can't believe I have been sick for 16 days now." "Well, you know, I've been sick!" "Do you know I've been sick?" "Honestly, isn't 18 days long enough, already?" I can't say that I remember exactly, but that, I think, is a pretty accurate approximation . . . John, Robin, Rachel, David: feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, the 2009 version of the early summer crud wasn't as bad as the 2004 version, but it still was no fun and I'm so glad to be on the back end of it! Hopefully now I'll be healthy as can be for another 5 years.

I didn't take any pictures this week . . . I was super busy and, did you know that I've been sick? Anyway, I completely forgot to take any on Father's Day too. Shoot! But, we did have a very fun Father's Day celebration at my parent's house yesterday with my brother and his family and my grandma and her sister, my parents {obviously} and all of us! Dads are great! So you can pretend that there is a super cute picture here of Kirbs and our 5 adorable kiddos . . . and maybe a sweet one of me with my dad, too. Oh, and for good measure you can also imagine one of Luke and sweet little Haddon . . . aren't they great pictures? . . . You don't see them?! Honestly people, get some imagination!!

Just for fun though, and visual efffect, here are a couple random pictures that I think are cute:

Overflowing with blessings

What a wonderful weekend!

It started out a little rough on Friday. Anna didn't feel good, so I took her in to the doctor and, sure enough, her ears are infected again. Argh! So we got her a Rx and headed home. Kirb was planning to take Friday off to recover from his really long, tough week at work but he ended up being sick too, {it didn't turn out to be H1N1, so no worries!!} so it was a good thing he had cleared his day and was able to be home.

When the big kids got home from school Lydia, Rebekah and I met my parents at a May Day celebration at a little flower shop in St. Paul. My dad knows the owner . . . she might start carrying my cards! Yeah! It was a fun, festive {crowded} event and we had a great time. Martha has a really fun shop. Stop on in if you ever need some beautiful flowers {she's near University & 280}! It was Lydia's night to sleep over at Ama & BopBop's so we parted ways after the May Day party and Rebekah and I had a little mom & daughter date. We try to spend one-on-one time with each of our kiddos, but as with all people it means more to some of them than to others. Anyway, Rebekah totally eats up the individual time! You would have thought I'd given her a million dollars the way she nearly glowed all evening. We had a great time together. She is such a great girl! She wanted to stop at Target on the way home {I think she just wanted to milk the evening for all she could} so we stopped. I didn't need anything . . . having just been there in the morning, but we wandered around anyway and Rebekah ate her free cookie at the bakery {in case you missed this all-important fact, Target will give a free cookie to kids to eat while they shop, it is often a life-saver for me and I love it!} We left the store with a bag of gummi bears {one if Kirb's favorties . . . mine too I must admit, but since Kirb was sick it gave us a good excuse to buy them} and a new hairbrush. Our current hairbrush is kind of old and cheap and plastic. The little roundish things have broken off the ends of many of the bristles and the girls complain that it scratches their heads {I use it too and I don't complain, but, you know . . .} so I broke down and let Rebeakah pick out a new one. She was thrilled!

Saturday was one blessing after another! My mom drove the 3 big kids to piano and Kirb {who was feeling pretty much better by then} and I got some stuff done around the house. We went to pick the kids up and enjoyed a little sunshine, some treats, a "baseball" game in the yard and a visit with my grandma {she teaches the kids piano}. Then we picked up a hot dogs, chips, cookies and pop at the little local grocery store in my parents neighborhood. They were serving free lunch to the community from 10-2. Yeah for that! Then we went to the grand opening of the temporary library location that is finally open {it was a long libraryless month for us while they were transitioning}. The kids got to play the wii and check out whatever they wanted. I was glad to have a library again, even if it is a little further from home! When we got home there was a very fun surprise blessing in our mailbox . . . you gotta love those! I love to get the mail. Even when there isn't extra fun stuff in there, it's just something little that I look forward to every day. When there are fun surprises {big or small} in there it just makes it that much better.

Saturday evening was the annual CSC banquet. It is always one of the highlights of my year. I love it! We visited CSC in 2004 and it is an experience that I will never forget! The banquet was great and was a huge blessing to us. It is fun to see lots of people that we don't get to see often enough. To see all the adoptive families and their kiddos and all the emotions that envokes is amazing. The offering this year was a tremendous blessing. The Lord chose this year, terrible economy and all, to be the year that the offering at the banquet broke into 6 digits. What fun! It was close to $108,000 this year, nearly $10,000 more than it ever has been before. Praise God!

Church on Sunday is always a blessing. We can home to beautiful weather. Kirb did some yard work, we spent time outside, I snuck in a little nap, the kids rode their bikes, I meet some girlfriends at Panera and chatted about books {increasing my list of "must reads" by about a half dozen!} and we ended the evening watching our church softball team and chatting with our friends while enjoying the gorgeous spring night. When we came home, I gave Joe a much-needed haircut. He hates having his hair cut, so actually doing it was kind of a drag. Kirb had to hold him down, but now I'm thrilled that it's done and I won't have to do it again for quite a while {it's SUPER short so that I can get all the life possible out of it before we have to do the pin him down, screaming mess all over again!}

What a great weekend! If you had a part in blessing us this weekend and helping lift the spirits of little ol' me, thanks! Now it's off to a new week full of more stresses and blessings and challenges and joys and meetings and diapers and lunches and laundry and friends and family and work and sunshine and all the other stuff that makes up our weeks. Have a good one!

What's new?

I read this article today and thought it was very funny. Thankfully, my husband happens to be well above-average, so it didn't make me think too much about him. My children, however, are another story all together. I think that I might have to give this approach a better shot . . . I know it's stuff I "know" in the back of my mind and have heard lots of times before, but it's always nice to have a friendly reminder!

I was volunteering at the kid's school this morning when my cell phone rang {in case you didn't know it, I'm not really a cell phone person so my phone doesn't ring a whole lot . . . I, most likely, wouldn't even have one if I didn't have a kiddo with some major medical stuff. It's nice to know that I can be tracked down when the kids are at school if I'm needed}. Turns out Joe was not feelin' too hot at preschool and he wanted to come home. So I picked up a rather pale, warm, not-at-all-himself Joe from school and brought him home. He is napping, so that would be a sure sign that he really isn't feeling too great. Hopefully it will pass quickly, whatever it is!

Rebekah was the ONLY kid who slept all night last night! It was miserable. Kids up and back down, crying, crawling in bed with us, deciding to go back to their own beds, bad dreams, sleeping on our floor . . . the list goes on. What was that all about? you may ask. Well, to the best of my understanding, this is what was going on: Anna is just Anna and doesn't sleep all night yet. Lydia had a bad dream. Joe must have already not been feeling too great. Jacob, I think, was nervous about his standardized testing today and tomorrow. Rebekah, however, slept all night, so it could have been worse! {although not much, I don't think!}

12-month check up

Well, Anna had her 12-month check up this afternoon!
She is roughly 20 pounds {19 pounds, 10 ounces in case you care about the specifics} and just about 28 inches tall. Her head is over 18 inches . . . I guess that's big since it's the 75th percentile . . . I don't know what to make of that info!
Her left ear is infected again. . . poor girl!
Plus, she had 2 shots and blood taken . . . those finger pokes are the worst and bleed FOREVER!

The good news (other than the fact that she is a healthy . . . and ADORABLE! . . . 12-month-old) is that I didn't spend one single {non-Amoxicillin} cent while I was at Target waiting for her Rx to get filled . . . and it's not even April yet . . . I was so proud of me!

Day 16

Anna is sick again . . . or maybe it should be still. I've lost track. I counted and at least one of the kiddos has been sick everyday for the past 16 days. The last time we were all healthy was the first week of March. Maybe tomorrow the kids will go back to school, Kirb will return to work and our health will come back . . . and things will become somewhat normal again. I sure hope so. Poor Anna! I took her to urgent care today thinking maybe she had another ear infection (she had been pulling on her ears) but . . . nope. Her ears look good . . . today, anyway! Just a random fever, puking and generally not being herself. It makes me sad, although she was really cuddly and sat on my lap and snuggled for about 45 minutes this afternoon, which is not at all like her!!

I spoke too soon!

Well, I guess I spoke too soon. I just cleaned up a pile of yuckiness in the hallway, so I guess we're not 100% healthy yet! Bummer! {Anyone know good ways to get vomit out from in between the floorboards? There just happens to be a gap in the boards right there? Super!}

Also, someone must have somehow spilled some soap on my toothbrush because when I just brushed my teeth it was not such a good experience . . . but, I would imagine they are extra clean and germ free! ISH!

Well, maybe . . .

Lydia just said to me:

"Maybe I got sick from daylight savings time."

Hmmm, I've never heard that one before, but the timing lines up pretty good so I guess we shouldn't rule it out. Anyone else get sick from daylight savings time?