Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on Ann's wonderful, amazing blog that is a favorite of mine. If you've never checked it out, do yourself a favor and click on over. She's an amazing, gifted writer and an inspiration!
"One Thousand Gifts"::
2522. family camp HERE WE COME!
2523. arriving at our favorite place on earth for our very favorite week of the year
2524. the sound of the rain
2525. our kids walking across camp together
2526. unexpectedly bumping {almost literally} into an old friend that I haven't seen in years :: 1 minute earlier or later and we would have missed a fun little reunion
2527. a loon call breaking through the early morning quiet
2528. chipmunks on the path
2529. live praise music coming out of the chapel at various hours of the day :: brushing my teeth one morning to "Jesus, awesome in power forever, awesome and great is your name. You overcame!"
2530. my selfless, sacrificially giving parents
2531. delicious kettle corn, still warm from being popped over the open fire
2532. family chapel
2533. Joe's smile
2534. sun glistening off the water
2535. seeing to the bottom of the lake :: crystal clear water
2536. canoeing Hidden River with Kirb :: so much natural beauty
2537. sunrise over the water
2538. eagles flying overhead :: 3 of them at once! so majestic.
2539. spotting 4 deers {uncomfortable close and not a bit intimidated by me, I might add} on my morning run
2540. men taking off their hats to read the Word and pray
2541. progressive snack date night with Kirb & my parents
2542. being brave ::
2543. our family camp babysitters :: Marie & Shannah
2544. a exceptionally peaceful drive and being home again
2545. meet the teacher :: Knutson for Joe, Hausman for Lydia and Simonson for Bekah. All teachers we've had before and really, truly love!
2546. the annual back to school parade :: so fun!
2547. the state fair {we love it SO!} ::
watching the mini donuts fry
2548. a family walk
2549. donuts with Joe at the park
2550. how Sara announces "My lucky poopy!" when she needs a new diaper {she can't say "yucky", so it comes out "lucky"} :: we just LOVE it . . . and it makes changing her kinda fun!
2551. morning runs with the older kiddos
2552. fresh school supplies ready for a new year
2553. hanging shelves and pictures up in the basement :: I just keep loving our new space more and more
2554. enjoying the last day of "summer"
Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.
I had an especially weird and crazy dream early this morning, right before I got up {maybe even during the 10-minute "snooze" after our alarm went off the first time}. All day yesterday and all day today our house has been extra full as we're hanging out with 3 extra kiddos. My friend Allie's little man, Sam, and Vince and G-Rae, the 2 kids from the family that I've done daycare for the past few years have been here. Sam is here for 48 hours straight {since he lives on the other end of the world and coming to get him at night isn't so smart}. The other 2 go home at night. When you have a teacher for a parent, childcare gets a little extra tricky the week before school starts, since you need to "go to school" and your kids don't. So what is any good teacher to do? Call us! Thus we've been a 9-kid house.
Possibly that fact had something to do with fueling my dream -- a dream in which I "gave birth" {not in the normal way though . . . you know how dreams are!} to triplet boys! It also might have to do with the fact that we just got home from a WONDERFUL, FABULOUS, favorite-week-of-the-year week at family camp {which, hopefully, I will get a chance to blog about later} and there were 2 ladies at camp who were about 37 weeks, plus there was an adorable 4-week old boy there with his family, and a few other not-quite-as-far-along pregnant ladies there too. Also, I have a thing for babies! {in case you didn't know!} And, also, I have to add that there was a family at camp with 7 kids. Their oldest was a few months younger than Jacob and their youngest was a few months younger than Sara, so basically we had kids the same ages, they just squeezed one more in there than we did. I told them we had 4 girls and 2 boys and the mom answered, "So did we until we had the seventh one." I love being around other big families! They "get it" so much better than most people.
So, back to the dream :: In my dream I was sitting in a chair in a room with another woman {OB? Nurse? Produce manager? I'm not sure of her exact role in the whole thing}. Appearing, seemingly, out of nowhere {wouldn't it be nice if that's how birth really was?} into this woman's hands one at a time came these three little spheres which she then peeled, kind of like you would peel an orange, and then she handed me my baby -- which had emerged from the little sphere. None of the boys cried or anything when she peeled/delivered them, but that didn't seem any weirder to me than the fact that she was peeling them in the first place. As I held the boys one at a time, my thoughts went immediately to the fact that I would have to name them. Being that they came together, I wanted their names to kind of "go together" too.
My first thought was "John, Paul and Ringo", even though I'm not a major Beattles fan or anything. But I shot that brainstorm down quickly when I imagined introducing my kids :: "These are our kids, Jacob, Rebekah, Lydia, Joseph, Anna, Sara, John, Paul and RINGO." It just didn't work for me. Plus, there is also the fact that I'm bothered by rhyming names. Contrary to what many people think, our last name is pronounced "stall", as in the place in the garage where you park your car, or where you pee in a public bathroom, or when your car stops going . . . not like "stole" as if you think we take things that don't belong to us. So, anyway, Paul Stoll is not a good choice in my book. {On a related note, some of you know that my father-in-law is one of 17 kids in his family. Now I fully understand that if you give 17 kids a first AND middle name that you have used up 34 names, which is quite a few, and by the end there you could possibly run out of names you really like. But, guess what they named their firstborn boy? You guessed it. Paul Stoll. He was a wonderful, godly man, but I've always thought it funny that, when they had all the boy names in the whole world to choose from, they chose to name their first boy a name that rhymed.} I also considered naming the triplets "Alvin, Simon and Theodore" but decided that wasn't the right three-some either. Finally we settled on Peter, James and John, in the spirit of the catchy Sunday school song that many of you might know. So, I finally got a Peter, which is a name I've wanted to throw in the hat each time I was pregnant, but Kirb always shot it down.
Maybe I should get Joseph from the Old Testament to come and interpret it for me. Or maybe my Joe could do it. Or maybe I don't want to know!
Anyway, that was how I started my day!
And for you long-time blog readers, in the spirit of 'Thankful Thursday' I will add that we are not expecting any number of babies . . . just in case you were wondering. {And I know some of you were!}
Today I'm thankful for the fabulous time we had at Family Camp at Trout last week. Last year was our first time at Family Camp and we had the best time. So, nearly 6 months ago we signed up to go again this summer. I will admit that family camp is more fun when you are not pregnant and when it's not super hot and extra humid. But, even so, we had a great time once again. A few of us weren't 100% health-wise while we were there, which was kind of a bummer, but we made the best of it and all had a great time anyway! I really do think that family camp is the best family vacation around!
The kids loved their classes. Joey even "performed" in the 4's & 5's program this year (rather than standing on the stage looking extremely grumpy) and was a complete ham. Anna was quite a bit more of a participant than she was last year and felt completely comfortable at Trout by the time our week was up. A tad too comfortable at times . . . like when she just decided -- more than once -- to take off on her own. Once we found her in the chapel (which reminded us of this passage), once she was heading back to our cabin and sometimes she was just out for a leisurely stroll. Thankfully, we never found her in the lake! We played in the water, we ate lots, we sang crazy camp songs, we learned lots, we mini golfed . . . and after one extremely uncomfortable, really hot night we even (we, meaning Kirb!) commandeered a fan for our cabin (thanks to my large belly and current "state"). What a blessing!
Speaking of the heat, when we returned home after being gone for 5 days we turned our air back on (no sense spending a fortune cooling a house no one is in) only to find that it didn't work. It was 87 degrees in our house and we were all crabby and miserable (and, need I mention . . . overtired!). We still have to get another opinion, but it pretty much looks like it's shot and we might as well just replace the whole business. Not a huge surprise, since the AC is probably between 15 and 20 years old. But a bummer nonetheless! So I am very thankful for the drop in temps we had overnight on Tuesday and the lower humidity too. The weather yesterday was about as close to ideal as you can get, if you ask me.
I won't make you look through all of them, but here are a few pictures highlighting our time at Trout (I am thankful that I have any pictures at all, since our camera had a little run-in with some water and was completely out of commission for about 24 hours. But, it seems to be back to something close to 100% given a few days of "healing" time). Enjoy::
sisterly love::
{if you look carefully, you can see Anna about to go down the slide}::
our cabin is right through those trees {obscured from view by our enormous van}::
my extra-brave, adventurous husband climbing to the top of a telephone pole for "The Leap of Faith" {you climb to the top -- harnessed in, don't worry! -- and then steady yourself on the top of the pole with no platform or anything, then you jump off and try to catch yourself on a trapeze bar, then you let go and they lower you down} This is something I will not be trying. Ever. Watching him was more than enough adventure and nervousness for me!::
Adventurous activity #2, the "Zip Line". Climb the platform {harnessed, once again} and jump off and "zip" down a cable where you go for a long ways and drop about 70 feet in the process. Kirb is the guy on the far right and the building on top of the hill is the new Timber Ridge dining hall. My dad has done probably 95% of the masonry work on it -- foundation, block work, fireplaces, a huge chimney on the opposite side of the building and all the exterior stonework. I believe I will try out the "Zip Line" the next time I am at Trout in a non-pregnant state. It looks like fun! Both Jacob and Lydia did the zip line too {they have a slightly smaller scale one for anyone over 8 to try) and they LOVED it, but that was during the cameras recovery time, so we haven't got any photographic evidence of their bravery::
Anna at the beach {the last picture taken before the camera troubles began}::
Jacob on the rock climbing wall::
and back at the bottom::
Jacob & Lydia climbing {I think Jacob got to the top 4 times and Lydia did it 5 or 6 times . . . the little monkey!}::
Rebekah's climb::
Joey and his class performing "I am H-A-P-P-Y"::
Hot chocolate is a great way to start the day::
View of the lake on the boat dock side::
All the kids by the sign . . . notice how torn up Anna is about leaving camp::
It was a great week and we all look forward to next time!!
Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.
"One Thousand Gifts":
770. no more staples in Jacob's head 771. the minnesota state fair 772. garage sales {the ones that drain your bank acoount -- but not too much, and ones that add to it!} 773. family camp!!!
Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.
Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here.
"One Thousand Gifts":
747. planning underway for next June's big family vacation 748. more than 24 consecutive hours spent with wonderful, wonderful friends 749. nice ER doctors {who remind the injured child of their favorite teacher} who staple your head closed again . . . and the dads who go along so the moms don't have to endure the emotional pain of watching staples go into skulls. YUCK! 750. tummy x-rays showing no more coins in Anna's tummy {we must have missed it on its exit during our week-long, thorough poop checks somehow . . . glad we went to much of that super fun work unnecessarily!} 751. surviving my nearly 9-hour long 8-kid day last week {9 kids if you're counting the one I'm carting around in front of me} 752. Schaeffer Christian Carlson 753. the hours at the front-end of the day, before I start waddling {by the end of the day, I can't do anything to stop the waddle . . . believe me, I've tried} 754. more than 32 weeks down, 8-ish left to go 755. life-long friends 756. sleepovers 757. birthday parties {happy 2nd birthday, sweet Ava!} 758. the anticipation of family camp 759. 3 days until the fair starts! 760. seeing the Elliott's {the circumstances under which we saw them boggle my mind quite a big, but we're thrilled to see them nonetheless!} 761. the laughter of kiddos 762. a trip to the zoo 763. a couple more things to check off on our summer list . . . and a few more extra fun ones to come in the week ahead 764. a safe 400K bike ride for my no-longer-in-his-30's {or even 40's or 50's} father . . . way to go, Dad. You're one of a kind!! 765. the little hint of fall in the air {but only for one day} we had last week 766. contentment 767. a big week for my brother's family::1 new baby, 30 years of life for Jenn, 6 years of marriage for Mr. & Mrs. Carlson {and before next week, 2 years of life for Haddon!} 768. the excitement of kids when given their very own cameras! {thanks, Elliotts!} 769. my grandma {it's her 84th birthday today!}
Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.
We had an absolutely wonderful time at Family camp this week! It was the best 5 days of our summer and everyone has said that they want to go back again next year. {Well, Anna didn't exactly say that, but she did have fun and said "mine" which we assumed to mean that she wants to go back again next year too!} Being surrounded by such obvious expressions of the beauty of God's creation was such a blessing! The weather was great, the lake was beautiful, the trees pointed straight up to their Creator and reminded us of how good we have it!
Paths to wander were abundant::
Extra-fun, out-of-the-ordinary activities were also readily available. The kids had fun trying out the skate park. Lydia makes a pretty good "skater dude" don't you think?
One of Anna's many silly faces::
Jacob on the zipline: 25 feet in the air! Thank the Lord for sturdy harnesses!
Typical Joe::
The "littles" in an early morning fog of tiredness before breakfast::
We were some of the earliest customers to breakfast::
The kiddos::
"Happy campers"::
Joe & Kirb::
The littlest and the biggest on our 7 am pontoon ride::
Momma and her baby::
Lydia climbing the rock wall::
Jacob::
Rebekah::
The littles on the slide. This was Anna's FAVORITE thing of the week. Up the steps, down the slide. Up the steps, down the slide. Up the steps, down the slide. Over and over and over and over again!
The aftermath of 7 people camping for 5 days::
Well, just loads 1 & 2. There were many more after that!
