multitude monday

Well, after 10 {I think it was 10} weeks off, here are last weeks blessings. I kept listing them during my break, but if I started where I left off {#1982} it would be a LONG list, so I'll just pick up with this week.

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"::

2127. Bible study . . . and the wonderful women who share intimately in my life. who pray for me. cry with me. laugh with me {sometimes AT me}. who encourage me.
2128. seeing a little hint of progress after months of work
2129. the arrival of a dumpster in our yard
2130. basement demo :: all gutted now
2131. hearing a wonderful, encouraging, challenging message from Wess Stafford
2132. a few great garage sale deals
2133. CSC banquet :: arguably my very favorite night of the year
2134. seeing so many friends
2135. seeing Angie all grown up :: beautiful and eloquent and loving the Lord!
2136. seeing God's hand on so many lives :: ours and others
2137. 17 years since he asked and I accepted
2138. picking up coffee on the way to church
2139. fun lunch at Bonnie's with my parents
2140. Lydia's spring choir musical and family and friends there to watch
2141. Rebekah's kind, generous spirit
2142. cheering on our church softball team in the rain
2143. teacher workshop day {and a "sunny and 70's" forecast!}

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

seventeen

seventeen years ago tonight he asked.

seventeen years ago tonight I said yes.

after more than 3 years of dating and nearly 4 years after we met.

with much fanfare and a big {surprise} party waiting for us at my parent's house.

two kids took the first major step into a life that is now so much more than these 2 could have imaged.

i might not be wearing that ring he gave me in the picture on my finger today {it's in a safe place, though}, but i'd answer the same again in a heartbeat!

randomness

A few random things, in case you care::

• I got a haircut today. I was planning to grow my hair long enough to donate it, but it was driving me mad and since I value what little bit of sanity I've got, I got it cut. It's kind of a shaggy, long-ish bob.
• I was driving behind a Porsche going about 52mph in a 65 on 94 today. There was no traffic. Most people were doing 70. As I blew past this Porsche in my maxi van, I had the urge to say :: "Buddy, do you realize what you're driving? It's a PORSCHE! Pick up the pace, already!"
• I had a coupon for a free Frappe at Burger King, so I went through the drive-thru and picked one up. It wasn't really all that great and it gave me a brain freeze. TWICE! Those suckers hurt! Anna begged me for a drink of it, so I let her have the rest. I'm sure I'll pay for that later, but oh well!
• We have a HUGE dumpster in our driveway. It'll be there for months. It's not pretty, but it is exciting!
• We are about to start on the drain tile and radon mitigation part of our basement undertaking. Not at all a glamorous way to spend thousands of hard-earned dollars, but it'll be so good to have it done.
• I love where we live. About a 10-minute walk from home last night {walking at the pace of a 4-year-old} we spotted a white-tail about 30 feet off the road and stopped to watch a deer who had stopped to watch us. Also we walked by a swampy pond and enjoyed the sound of frogs. I love that we could get to either downtown St. Paul or Minneapolis in about 10 minutes by car and still be only blocks away from deep woods and wildlife! Perfect, if you ask me!
• The sunshine is glorious!
• Joe has an eye appointment tomorrow. We'll see if his patch on his glasses that he's been wearing for a few months has made any noticeable difference in his vision.
• I've had a {pretty nasty} cold for nearly 2 weeks. I'm about ready to be done with blowing my nose. Hopefully it will be gone soon . . . like yesterday!

seven

Seven years ago today we were introduced to this little man. This bird-skinny, crazy-haired little man.

4.19.05

skinny little arms and legs :: about 3 months old

that hair!

He's been counting down to this day for months. I doubt it will live up to all the hype, but today is his birthday. His seventh birthday. Seven! Wow.

This seventh year has been, by far, the toughest yet for this little guy. Although it is all of our story -- living through this year -- I'll let it be Joe's story and not "air" his stuff to the entire cyber world. But, believe me, it's been a pretty rough 9 months or so around here. By far our toughest parenting {probably whole of life} struggle and challenge so far, piled on top of the normal, day-to-day struggles and challenges of a big family. We're not ignorant enough to think we won't have other struggles. Worse struggles. There are 8 of us who are fiercely interconnected and who fiercely love each other, so there's gonna be plenty of pain and struggle. It's pretty clear that we can count on it. {Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1.2-3 :: it clearly says "whenever you face trials", not "if you face trials".} So, we know this probably isn't the worst of it. But so far, it is our worst and that's no fun.

"I'm this many!"

a typical Joe face::

A bit about Joe at 7 ::

• he shares a room with Sara, on the main floor across the hall from us
• he LOVES Legos. especially the Ninjago collection.
• his reading coach at school is named Fred {he is my friend, Laura's dad and Joe's friend, Maya's grandpa}. Joe loves Fred!
• he's {mostly} over superheros -- after a run that lasted nearly half his lifetime!
  
• he is an exceptionally popular guy! at conferences his teacher told us that one day in class they made "friendship wheels" where everyone wrote down a few of the people they consider to be their friends and Joe's name was on nearly everyone's wheel. far and away, the teacher told us, Joe was named more than anyone else on his classmates wheels.
• he is a great jump-roper
• he is in an after school Lego club through community ed and he LOVES it.
• Lego club is on Thursdays, which means today he gets a birthday AND to go to Lego club. it's a red-letter day!
• he can be so sweet and loving.
• he takes up an entire queen sized bed when he sleeps . . . and he grinds his teeth!
• he got glasses this year -- and big teeth in the front -- and looks cuter than ever, if you ask me!
• he claims his favorite food is candy, but he also likes macaroni and cheese.
• earlier this year he banged his tooth/mouth on the dining room table and chipped the table. the table, not the tooth . . . kid's got a hard head!
• he is always -- I really mean always, like as in constantly, without stopping -- making noise. usually he's not talking, just making random Joe-ish sound effects.
• he had these corduroy pants with skulls on them that were hand-me-downs that he LOVED and wore through both knees from wearing them nearly every day this winter.
  
• we love him like crazy and can't imagine our family without him.
  

Joe has had a cold lately {so have a bunch of us} and last night his cough was exceptionally bad and he couldn't sleep, so he came in bed with us. It wasn't "us" for long, though, as Kirb decided to relocate to the couch. So, Joe and I were snuggled in bed . . . Joe coughing and coughing. For a while it was nearly constant and he couldn't sleep. He was pretty miserable and at one point a little after 1 he said to me "When will it be morning?". It was probably 3:30 when he {and, consequently, when I} finally fell asleep. He was up again before 6:30 -- even though he usually sleeps until at least 7 or 7:30 -- because, after all, you've got to maximize your big day. Hopefully he'll still be awake and functional when it's time for Lego club! We'll just have to see, I guess.

off to the bus on his 7th birthday
{his backpack is OLD and the front pouch has a broken zipper. maybe next year he'll get a new one. one that wasn't a hand-me-down. one in which all the zippers work . . . we'll see!}::

eighteen

{typical Sara face}

Well, Sara is officially closer to 2 than she is to 1.
18 months already!
1-1/2 years.

with one of her {many} big sisters::

another classic Sara look::

Here's some stuff about Sara at 18 months::

• she talks up a storm
• her words include :: uh oh, up, Daddy, Mommy, Annie {what she calls Anna}, Ama, BopBop, Jo-Jo, a Sara-version of Lydia, baby, Sara {although it sounds like it starts with a "b"}, puppy, yeah, yes, no, out, hi, bye, hot, poopy
• she eats like MAD. we say she's a bottomless pit. she can eat more than 2 or 3 of our other kids combined and she eats just about anything you put in front of her . . . except for peas!
• she waves in such a way that you imagine she is turning a doorknob that only she can see
• she runs. and climbs. and slides. and swings
• it's a whole new ballgame now that she can reach things on the edge of the counter
• her favorite mischief, as of late, is to climb up onto the dining room table and make a huge mess of whatever is on there :: siblings homework, a deck of cards, leftover lunch {which she will promptly consume!}. she'd stay up there "playing" for hours, I imagine, if I would let her!
• it's nearly impossible to change her diaper without pinning her down -- adult legs over toddler arms . . . and if you don't hang on to her feet she'll kick you. hard. it might even leave a bruise!
• she weighs 27 pounds {85th percentile} and is almost 34 inches tall {92nd percentile}
• she wears a size 2T in most stuff . . . the hand-me-downs from nearly-4-year-old Ava no longer fit her by the time we get them {Ava's a petite little bundle!}
• her thighs aren't quite as enormous as they used to be . . . but still quite chubby and adorable
• she'd stay in the bathtub ALL day if we'd let her {unless she had the option of playing on top of the dining room table} . . . it's been so unseasonable warm this spring, that I often drain all the water and then let her keep playing in there {and since the water's gone, I can go in the kitchen and get stuff done!} until she gets cold and yells at me to get her out. she's happy. she's contained. there's no water to dump all over the floor {another favorite pastime of hers}. it buys me some time! that's a winner in my book!
• yup, "yells at me". she's a yeller! you should hear it! holy cow!
• she's also VERY opinionated . . . thus the "need" for yelling to get her point across -- and, let's be honest, to be loud enough for anyone to hear her over the ever-present noise in our house.
• she still, as a rule, doesn't sleep all night. little stinker!
• I suppose if I were ambitious I could try to potty train her, since she announces before hand that she's going to poop, then she poops, then she repeats "poopy" over and over, while holding her crotch, until we change her.
• she still far prefers her daddy to be up with her in the middle of the night
• she's quite skilled at the puppy dog eyes, tears and pouty face and can call them up at a moments notice, the instant daddy leaves the house {even if just to take out the trash}
• she's loves to be read to and to "read" books to herself too.
• she thinks she runs the place. no matter where we go. she is completely comfortable and feels she's in charge :: home, church, preschool, the library, the Y . . .
• she is a breeze to put to sleep {make sure she has a nuk, put her in her crib and shut the door} but the trade off is the 11 pm crying, but it's nothing a little snuggle and a drink won't fix {96% of the time anyway . . . we won't talk about the other 4%}

Here are a few more Sara pictures, for your viewing pleasure. You're welcome!

hunting Easter eggs with dad
{there was LOTS of competition -- 20 kids 15 and under!}

a bit of her plunder::

relaxing with grandpa {she's a Mennonite through and through, I guess, with that little head covering and holding a baby! see how proud Grandpa is?}::

enjoying some lunch on daddy's lap::

I couldn't pass up these jammies when I saw them at Costco
{on sale, even . . . or, more correctly, with a manufacturer rebate, taken off at the register}
never have truer words been printed on 2T jammies::

four

Little Miss Anna is 4. In the first minutes of March 28th, 2008 -- in the wee hours of the night -- we welcomed our 5th little blessing. Our 3rd girl. Anna Grace.




Some fun things about you these days ::

• you sing ALL THE TIME
• you learn song lyrics {although sometimes not the actual lyrics intended by the songwriter} with amazing speed
• you love preschool
• you want to be called "Anna S." all the time, because that's what they call you at preschool {there are two girls named Anna in your class, and your teacher is Anna as well}
• you are always asking if you can play Fruit Ninja on my iPod
• you eat just about anything
• your curls just keep getting curlier and curlier
• you can write your name, but you write all your letter upside-down. it's weird!
• you are a great older sister to Sara and are always saying that she is your best friend
• you often crawl into our bed at some point in the night -- often undetected :: we find you there with us in the morning and don't remember when you came to join us.
• you share the big room upstairs with Rebekah and Lydia. we just rearranged it a couple weeks ago and you love the new layout with your bed by "da doow" {translation :: the door}
• i love the way you talk! {which is good, because you talk A LOT!}
• my favorite mispronunciations of yours are "covered" for cupboard and "make-ed" for naked.
• you dress yourself and do your own hair :: sometimes it's hard for me to let you out in public looking the way you do, but 81% of the time, we just go with it {the other 19% requires intervention -- often because of things like the fact that a sleeveless top isn't so great a choice in the dead of winter}. you've got a style all your own!
• you have this cute pair of boots that i love {and you like pretty well too} and they zip shut on the insides. one day i told you that the zippers need to "kiss" and that way you would know they were on the right feet. I thought that was a clever way to make sure your boots got on the right feet, but it backfired and now you put them on the wrong feet intentionally because, as you told me, you DON'T want them to kiss . . . ok, lesson learned!
• in the bathtub, or just after you've taken a bath you always say "don't look at my privateness." also, just the other day you were playing with a doll with no clothes on and you mentioned that fact that you could see her "privateness" . . . how cute is that!?!
  

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! We love you lots!

Yikes!

Just a little break in my break to say . . . Yikes!

Today we enter a new world. Today we are a house with a teenager! Jacob turns 13 today (and Rebekah turns 11 today . . . but that doesn't make her a teenager for 2 more years, and since this post is about teenager-ness, that fact is not quite as important, as it pertains to this post).

Today begins a new chapter.

A chapter that will last 18 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and 2 days.

That's how long we will have teenagers in our house. At the peak of teenagers, in 2018, we'll have 4 teenagers. For 8 years we'll have 3 teenagers under our roof. Another 5 of the years between now and 18.5 years from now, we'll have a pair of teens. And for this year and 2013 we'll just have one . . . and we won't return to having just one teen again until 2028. That's some crazy stuff! I'm kind of a statistics lover geek. If you aren't, you can just ignore all the numbers and let the fact that I'll be 56 before I'm done raising teens soak in a bit.

So, until then, you can keep us in your prayers. We'd appreciate it!

Happy Birthday Jacob! Happy Birthday Beka! We love you :: baby. toddler. preschooler. big kid. tween. teen! adult. It doesn't matter :: we'll always think you're the best!


And in other fun facts :: Jacob and Rebekah share the same birthday {you already know that!}, but did you know that Jacob's best bud, Jack, and Rebekah's best bud, Evelyn, share a birthday too? Cool, huh? I find it quite interesting. They share a June birthday -- exactly a year apart. They were both here jumping on our trampoline just yesterday.

TTFN

I'm taking a little break. I'll probably be back later. Just thought I'd let you know

{In case you aren't familiar with TTFN, it stands for "ta ta for now" and, although it was around before this, I'm pretty sure it was made popular by Tigger from the Winnie the Pooh books by A. A. Milne}

flashback friday

thankful thursday

We had a great weekend celebrating {very nearly -- their anniversary is on Sunday} 40 years of marriage for my parents. Our whole family {my parents, the 8 of us, my brother and his family, my best friend -- who is an honorary Carlson -- and her family, my grandma and my cousin}, 20 of us total, headed up to Trout Lake Camp on Friday afternoon for a weekend of family fun and celebration. The weather wasn't overly cooperative, but we had tons of fun anyway.

The whole lot of us {minus my Grandma, unfortunately}
Joe, Anna, Kirby, Sara, Brie, my mom, Haddon, Jacob, Lydia, me, Rebekah, Schaeffer, Jenn, Allie, Ava, my dad, Justin, Sam & Luke::

My parents and our family of 8 were the only ones who had seen, in person, the result of the years and years of hard work my dad has put into the new Timber Ridge Dining Hall, so it was fun to have the rest of our family finally have a chance to see it. It is amazing, that's for sure. He laid nearly every cement block that makes up the foundation and structure of the building, then proceeded to put stone on the {very tall} chimney and the pillars on the outside of the building -- and since the building stands on the highest point of land in Crow Wing County, saying he was up high when putting the tippy top stones on that chimney is an understatement! Praise God he was safe through it all, especially since he was often working alone, without another soul around! After that was done he grabbed a few thousand more stones and built 6 stone fireplaces inside the building. The main one of which is the largest stone fireplace in the state of Minnesota {and my dad thinks, although has no proof, possibly in the entire country}. It's HUGE! And beautiful. {and Lydia would have you know that she laid 3 of those stones too. She can even point out exactly which ones they are.}

The biggest of the 6 fireplaces
The focal point of the dining area::

When we arrived on Friday night we got all situated in our rooms for the weekend and had some hot dogs and s'mores cooked on the fire out back. One at a time, the 10 kids got tucked into bed and the adults stayed up to chat a bit before turning in as well. Saturday we ate, played some games, had a tour of camp, ate some more, climbed rock walls, went skateboarding, played air hockey, had a snack, played some board games, ate dinner, enjoyed the machine that automatically dispensed hot chocolate at the touch of a button, strained to hear my mom {who had laryngitis} say a few sweet words to my dad, looked at pictures from their wedding, toasted my parents and ate wedding cake, watched movies, played some more games, ate a bit more and turned in for the night. Sunday morning we woke up, ate again, took a "Doug and Marcia" quiz {which I won!}, had a family church service where Kirb preached on God's faithfulness, packed up our stuff, had brunch, took a walk {since the temps were a bit less arctic than they had been on Sunday}, made sure everyone went potty one final time and piled back in our cars for the ride home. It was a wonderful, wonderful weekend together. Between the 20 of us, hopefully we can find a major milestone to celebrate each winter as an excuse to do this again each February!

I am so thankful for my family and for the example of love, commitment and faithfulness that my parents' marriage is a testament to. What a blessing!

Here are a bunch more pictures from our weekend. Enjoy!

Our 6 kiddos in the bookshelves my dad built flanking one of the 2 basement fireplaces::

The Carlson boys take a turn::

My best friend, Allie & my cousin Brie::

Joe, with the Dining Hall seating in the background {aren't those windows fabulous, too?}::

Another view of the biggest fireplace::

Ama & a few of her favorite little people::

The other basement fireplace::

Singing "Head & Shoulders, Knees and Toes" on Saturday morning
{we must be at the "eye and ears and mouth and nose" part}::

I just think this is a funny picture of Sara. It makes me smile::

Cheers::

The cake cutter::

A rousing game of Scrabble::

Grandma and Allie::

Feeding each other cake::

multitude monday

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"::

1963. good mornings with Joe
1964. another night at Feed My Starving Children with the fam
1965. food to feed my kids
1966. the smell of fresh coffee
1967. a fun bookclub night
1968. my Bible study girls
1969. people you can be transparent with . . . what a blessing!
1970. 16 months of Sara
1971. family time
1972. celebrating 40 years of Mr. & Mrs. Doug Carlson {and, 1972 happened to be both the number of this blessing in my list AND the year my parents got married -- how cool is that? I didn't even plan it that way and didn't notice it until I was writing 1973 and thought how that is our house number and then realized the correlation in the previous number. And, in case you are wondering, I hand write my "gifts" in a journal throughout the week and then just type them here on Mondays}

1973. Trout Lake Camp
1974. traveling mercies
1975. light, fun reading material
1976. seeing people enjoying and using the space that my dad worked so very hard {and long} to create. what beautiful work. what a talented guy!
1977. the beauty of creation
1978. a lake so crystal clear you can see the weeds frozen a few feet below the surface -- SO cool!
1979. my kids in full protective skateboarding gear . . . and a great time at the skate park
1980. Lydia, the monkey, climbing up the rock wall over and over and over again
1981. waking up to full mouse traps {meaning there are that many less mice living in my house!}
1982. Sara's excitement over riding {not buckled to anything} in a bus

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

flashback friday

This time last year::

There's not a speck of snow on the ground today. What vastly different winters!

thankful thursday :: my "mudroom"

We enter our house through the side door -- which leads directly into the kitchen. No closet. No mudroom. No nothin'. It didn't bug me too much when we first moved in. It was just the two of us then. Now that there's 8 of us . . . and long before we were that many, even . . . it started driving me mad! Shoes, backpacks, coats, boots, snow pants. They took over the entire kitchen. It made me crazy!

I didn't take good before pictures, but here are some pictures from about a year ago {not staged, mind you} of the area I'm talking about ::


And here's that same space now ::
It had bugged me for so long, but I had no idea how to remedy it. We tried a couple little changes without much positive impact, so I kind of gave up. Fast forward to about a month ago. Enter my friend, Nicole :: a organizing guru with her iPad and a latte for me in hand {bless her heart!}. She had spent the night before looking up and organizing ideas for me online and came armed and ready to go. We looked at the nasty space {or lack thereof}. Measured. Brainstormed. Studied the space a little more. Sipped our coffee -- I even spilled a bit of hers, klutz that I am. Looked at pretty online pictures {that I'm confident WERE all staged} and made some plans.

I then did a bit of online shopping {directly from Nicole's links!} and got to work. It's so very fabulous now, and so far {about a week in} is working out great for our family. I'm so thankful to have the space be better used and so, so much cuter too!

My parents came over for an entire day last week and helped me put on the finishing touches. I am so grateful!

Here's the whole photographic tour of our entryway {also all unstaged -- this is how it looks most of the time now! Praise God! Well, except for the fact that 5 of the people who live here weren't home when I took the pictures, so there were coats and backpacks and some shoes missing that are also in this area when everyone is home -- but the coats and backpacks all have hooks to go on and the footware that was upon those -- possibly stinky -- feet when these pictures were taken fit right into those empty cubes you see there. Prett great, huh?}::


Inside of the door leading to the basement :: shoe organizer that holds winter gear {hats, mittens, scarves, etc.}. When winter is over -- not that it's even really been winter this year -- we'll rotate that stuff out and it can hold summer stuff {sunscreen, goggles, flip flops, hats}::

View from just inside the back door looking toward the dining room::
Our new recycling bin {IKEA has the best stuff!}::
Looking from the dining room toward the back door::
A wider-angle look from the dining room::
Boots and a bucket for music stands and the patrol flag {which isn't in there in the picture because the kids were at school} and umbrellas when that season is upon us::

So, what do you think? Isn't it great? Do you love it as much as I do?