I Hate Having to TItle the Stinking Posts

Seems like I rarely have time to post lately. Little Bit is sick - this time with a stomach virus. She actually threw up yesterday! Took me 5 kids to have an infant actually throw up. Not something I want to redo.

I have a few pictures to share.

David fell asleep the other day while watching a video. He rolled over at some point and this is how he was sleeping! We wear these kids out! :-) He turned 3 last week. I keep telling him that if he whines I'm going to turn him back into a 2 year old. It's helping, slightly. I also told him that 3 year olds don't pee or poop in their pullups or underwear. That was working great, but the stomach virus changed all that this morning. Old Man sweetly (or swearingly?) changed it for me.


This is just an adorable picture of Little Bit. She is sooooo fun!


This picture might shock some of you. Yes, it's Old Man and ME!!! Our 14th anniversary is tomorrow. We had a romantic dinner, candles and all, for all 7 of us on Saturday night to celebrate. Yeah, it really wasn't romantic, but it was still fun. We had Dawn take a picture of us after we ate. I really should post some pictures of us from when we met and were first married. Man, we are lookin' OLD lately.



The girls got their hair cut yesterday. Dawn had been asking for me to chop it off - here are the results. I think they both look adorable!

Memories

We are just coming out of "birthday season" at our house. We have 3 kids birthdays in a month between February and March. Our other birthday season is in September, with 2 kids birthdays in that month. Last night we celebrated David's 3rd birthday with my sister and her family and a friend of ours from junior high - yep, WAY back. We hadn't seen her in probably 25 years! My sister brought over her dog, Jess. As you might remember, we just got a dog, Lucy. They have been a little iffy with each other, but not too bad. We were keeping them outside, mainly because it was too crazy with all the people AND two dogs in the living room. The kids had a blast playing outside, digging in the dirt and playing tag. We brought them all in for David to open presents. None of us even really noticed the dogs were in too until they started a HUGE fight. Right in the living room. HUGE. I have never, in my entire life, seen dogs fight like this. I'm sure it only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed like forever. I was sitting in the rocking chair, nursing Little Bit, so not much I could do! My sister reached in to try and grab a dog collar and ended up with puncture wounds in her hand. Finally Old Man and my sister's Old Man :-) were able to pull the dogs apart. The kids seemed unfazed, except for Dawn, who was horribly upset at the way her dad took the dog out of the house - she thought he was going to kill her and was angry (he wasn't, he just had to force an adrenaline hyped up dog out of the house).

I, on the other hand, am still sick about it. My stomach hurt immediately. I woke up before 5 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. I just could NOT stop thinking about it and still can't today! Why were we so stupid as to let the dogs in? What were we thinking? What if one of the kids had been hurt? Which dog started it? Do we need to be worried that our new dog is a problem? Are my kids safe? Are other dogs safe? Worry, worry, worry. I finally got up at 5:30 and read and prayed. Truthfully, we've seen not one hint of aggression in Lucy, unless Jess is around. So is it just her and Jess that are a problem? Anyone want to volunteer their dog for us to find out? NO.

Memories. We will NEVER forget David's 3rd birthday. Ever.

On the Sidelines

I have been noticing something about me lately that is interesting. I watch life, but I don't really participate. I've had opportunities to shoot guns, ride motorcycles, ride horses, scramble on rocks and many other things. I don't join in, I watch. Usually I take pictures too, so I'm not doing nothing, but I'm not participating. Truthfully, I don't want to join in. I am content to sit back and watch. Is that bad? I used to do all those things, but not now. I really don't want to shoot the gun, ride the motorcycle, ride the horse (which is amazing that I don't want to - I've always loved to ride horses!) or climb all over the rocks. I guess the only part of this that makes me feel like I should WANT to participate is just that whole feeling of "who am I?" I USED to be that person, now I'm not. Seems like all I do is kid, house, wife stuff. Will this be a problem in 20 years and all my kids are grown and I won't know who I am? My hobbies used to be reading, playing the piano, running, hiking ... I still read. Play the piano rarely. Run - ha ha ha. Should I be even thinking about this or should I just be content with being content. :-)

A Minnicator

Huh? What's that? Precisely my question. Yesterday, David and I had this conversation:

David: Mom, come see the minnicator I made.
Me: What?
David: The minnicator. I made a minnicator for Joseph.
Me: Huh? A what?
David: A minnicator.

So I follow David into his room to see the minnicator he made out of Legos. It is unrecognizable as anything I would know (which is normal for anything made out of Legos by a child who is almost 3).

Me: So, what does it do?
David: It crushes things.
Me: Oh. Hmmm. Crushes things?
David: Yes.

This type of conversation continued through the evening by all of us, trying to figure out what word he has twisted and turned into something else. We still don't know! So far we know that a minnicator crushes things and some of them have wings and can fly. Here is a picture of David with his minnicators that he has made:


And here are the minnicators:

When I Grow Up ...

What did you want to be when you grew up? Lately I've talked to a few young ladies (17-20 years old) and they just want to be a wife and mother. (I don't mean "just" in a bad way, meaning that is all they want.) I've also spoken to a couple wives and mothers and that is what they wanted growing up. You know what I wanted? Horses, cats, lots of land, a large building with a grand piano in it. Obviously I wanted to have money, I think I planned on marrying someone who would pay for all of it. :-) I don't ever remember dreaming of having children! I did NOT want to have a wedding, even begged Old Man to elope with me. He refused and we had a wedding. Sometimes I still complain about that. I guess I'm surprised when I talk to a young lady and hear her say that is what she wants! :-) It's awesome!

Recently I've had frequent times of prayer asking God why He chose this life for me. I didn't want it, didn't plan for it, feel completely inadequate at this job. I actually enjoyed working! I liked going to work, doing a good job, keeping busy, using my brain, feeling organized and responsible, accomplishing something and then going home. When I mentioned this to my mom recently, she said that maybe God had me be in a job I couldn't feel proud about! Hmmm, leave it to my Mom to speak the truth in love to me. :-)

A couple nights ago, we read the verse about when we are weak, God's strength is shown in us. AND that we should rejoice in our weaknesses! Rejoice? How about complain, grumble, fight against them, dislike them, envy others? So I am going to try and rejoice in the fact that God has chosen a job for me that I stink at. :-) That way when people see me and ask "how do you do it?" I can truthfully answer that it is only by God's strength, grace and mercy that I can do anything that He has given me to do.

So, what DID you want to do when you grew up? Are you doing it now?

What Will I Write About?

For the last year, our lives have been a little crazy. Pregnancy, moving, death in the family, giving birth, broken bones ... Things seem like they just might settle down a bit. David's cast is off!!! (Praise God!) Little Bit is healthy. Now what? If things stay settled down and "normal" what will I write about? I might actually have to think of topics!

First one I can think of - did I mention the girls, Dawn and Anne, are taking horse back riding lessons? They LOVE it. Obsess about it. Dream about it. Beg to go to the barn every stinking day. They're doing really well.

So, that's the most exciting thing I can think of right now. I have a fussy baby in my lap and kids down for a rest time. Better go! :-)

I Am Short

All right, stop with all the sarcastic comments. You all know I'm short. It's just that I never FELT short until recently. I always thought that I was almost 5 feet, 2 inches. Not tall, I know that. Recently, I found out I'm closer to 5 feet, 1 inch. No big deal, we're seriously talking about a 1/2 inch difference in what I thought and what I am. The weird thing is that it has changed the way I think and I FEEL short. I look at other people now and think that they are tall (something I never really thought about before, unless I was standing with a group of much taller people). Now I'm noticing it all the time. My 11 year old daughter is almost as tall as I am and I feel SHORT. I grew up thinking I was "petite" - such a nice word. But no one would describe me as petite anymore, just short (thanks to 5 kids and many extra pounds).

So there you have it. I'm short!