Friday

Today is a much calmer, more ordinary day then yesterday. My mom came back this morning and helped me finish up the peaches (3-1/2 more canners (27 qt.) and a batch of jelly). I still need to cook the jelly but otherwise that's finished. We also made a batch of salsa. Now I need to clean up the kitchen (which is a very normal occurrence here...it needs cleaned up 95% of the time). Matt has been sleeping for nearly 2 hours which is so nice considering that yesterday he only took (2) 30 minute naps. Mom took the older 4 kids to the library. Everyone is happily playing. I need to put the little boys down for naps...but I'll wait until they start fighting. :-) I hate to interrupt nice play!

Tonight we are planning to go to my sister's house to celebrate my niece's 1st birthday. Tomorrow night Randy's family is getting together.

The weather is absolutely lovely again! It was quite hot but a front came through during the night and it is lovely...no humidity! I even was wearing a sweatshirt this morning.

Well, off to clean up and do laundry...

300th Post...I think.

For my 300th post you get to read about my day today....a bit extra ordinary. I've read "a day in my life" posts on other blogs but never done one. This is quite random, even though it's only 1:00 I doubt if I can remember the morning in order!

• alarm goes off at 5:15


• drag myself out of bed and get dressed


• eat a cinnamon/raisin bagel w/cream cheese for breakfast


• realize that a lot of the peaches that we bought to can yesterday are ready


• start peeling/slicing peaches and continue all day long interspersed with the following points
• Boys fighting over cereal & trucks....in the process they knock over the blender of crushed peaches (thankfully only spilling 1 or so cups...plus lots of cereal).
  
• realize I don't have enough sugar to last until Randy gets home. Get everyone ready to go to the grocery store.
• Can't find my list...make another one (forgetting half the items I'm sure).
• Clean up spilled water...realize it is not spilled water but rather "water" dipped from the toilet. YUCK!
• break up assorted "disagreements"
• while grocery shopping, Matt cries most of the time.
• Matt is cranky as he got his immunizations yesterday and is cutting multiple teeth. He finally feels better after I give him some motrin.

Currently the boys are in bed (2 napping, 1 under protest). My nieces are here to play with the other girls. Randy & Josiah should be home in an hour or 2 and then will help. I'm off to peel more peaches....3 canners down, how many to go?!

***continued...

• Randy & Josiah did come home around 1:45 and Randy helped me finish the peaches (for today, more will ripen by tomorrow I'm sure). We ended up doing 7 canners worth (42 qt. total) and 2 batches of jelly (16 c. total).
• Randy just planted nearly a bazillion broccoli plants as well as some celery and cabbage (I never use cabbage but I guess I'll do something with it).
• The kids did well helping clean up this afternoon (always goes better when Daddy's around).
• Randy washed up the kitchen floor (it was beyond awful after Matt found someone's pb&marshmallow sandwich).
• I am finally doing the laundry...better late then never!
• Time to get these kiddos to bed...

Good night!

Computer

My computer is driving me absolutely crazy! One of these days it will totally go kaput and I will be absent for awhile. I keep trying to figure it out...but so far, no luck. It's gone down hill since I installed Internet Explorer 8. Maybe I should try to figure out how to uninstall it and go back to IE7. I know nothing about these things....but I use my computer often enough to resist taking it for anyone to work on until things are really bad!

Okay.

Anyway, Josiah got his impression done this morning in no time flat. We went through clothing (for school) and tried it on since we had a low humidity day. The girls are looking good. Josiah needs jeans and socks. Oh yes, Janae needs sneakers. We also cleaned up the basement during the little boys naps. Big job!

Tomorrow Janae gets to go with grandma to find a lunch box for kindergarten!

Weekend

We had a lovely weekend camping...well, quite honestly, lovely might not be quite the word...very hot...very humid would be more accurate. I was glad that we do not have a/c at home or it would've been very hard to want to go! The weekend (and the end of last week) was the "sweat if you do more then breath" type of weather. Yuck! I hate to sweat! But we sweltered through. And we did have fun with our friends.

Our official church camping weekend was back in June when we went to Spruce Lake. This weekend our church had an outdoor service at Woodcrest Retreat (http://www.woodcrestreat.org/) and some of us camp there for the weekend. It's close to home and people can come and go. It was quite hot and we had very few campfires. This afternoon a group of thunderstorms came through and cooled us off. The highlight for the kids is their water slide which was open Saturday and Sunday for 2 hours. Well, Sunday we had those storms but we did get to take a few rides down in between the storms.

On to this week:

• have Josiah at the orthodontist by 7:00 Monday morning to finish the molds of his teeth that they didn't get on Friday as he kept gagging (not that I blame him, just looking at him with that tray in his mouth makes ME gag).
• take Matt to visit his birth mom on Tuesday
• take Matt for a well-child check-up on Wednesday
• Caseworker visit on Wednesday
• convert cucumbers into pickles--banana and 5-day
• do something with these multiplying tomatoes I have (I'd like a kitchen scales...I have a recipe that calls for 6 lb. of tomatoes--how many is that?!).
• clean the basement
• clean out the camper (it was storming when we packed up...usually we do it then).
• clean out the Expedition (all that dirt tracked in because it was storming when we packed up).
• Clean the house -- no one is coming to do that for me this week or next....but she'll be back the following week (and probably to a quite dirty house!).
• laundry, meals, and all that normal stuff...

And speaking of laundry, we generally like to keep our Sundays pretty low key. We prefer not to "work" on Sundays more then necessary (meals etc.). We are not fanatical about it but if we can avoid doing something until Monday or do it ahead of time on Saturday, we do so. I appreciate having one day out of the week where it is perfectly acceptable to simply relax without feeling like I need to be doing something productive. That being said, I did give in and do laundry this evening. I brought home 2 laundry bags full of wet, dirty clothing and towels and the thought of it mildewing and molding and smelling until the morning was just a bit to much for me. So my laundry is in the dryer and on the line...and not smelling up my laundry area.

Another random post...

As it's been nearly a week since I posted, this will be quite random!

• Weather - it's been a hot and humid summer. We have had a few showers off and on to help cool me down but in general, I'm feeling warm and sticky...oh well, in a few weeks the nights will get cooler and in a few months I'll be complaining that I'm cold. :-)
• I love summer. Despite the fact that I do not like sweating at all, I love the open doors and windows, the hum of the fans, the insect sounds, the long evenings and early mornings. I love to hear the children outside running and playing. I love not having to worry about shoes and socks and coats for all of us.
• Last Thursday I did take Janae & Mark to the doctor. Janae is now all ready for kindergarten! Mark did not need any immunizations, Janae got 2 and they haven't bothered her at all.
• Friday I enjoyed a wonderful lunch with 2 of my longtime friends. The one lives in another part of the state and another in another country so it was wonderful that we could all get together. And equally wonderful was that my mom could come babysit so we could go out together. We went shopping for a bit and I got some things for Randy's birthday and for the little boys for Christmas. Then we ate at Olive Garden. It was great!
• Saturday evening and Sunday evening we had friends over for dinner. It was rather hot out, but not to bad in the shade.
• This morning (as mentioned in my short post this morning) I got together with the foster/adopt playgroup. Today there were 6 ladies, 13 boys, and 6 girls. It's always so nice to get together!
• Tomorrow I am hoping to remember to give the kids their piano lessons. It would be a record in recent months to actually accomplish this for 2 weeks in a row, but I am trying to get back on schedule! At the rate I'm going they will be a long time in getting anywhere....maybe I should just take them to someone else, but I figured I can save a bit of $$ if I can teach them the basics to start with.
• Friday Josiah & Autumn have their appointments with the orthodontist to do "records". That is, to do x-rays and impressions and whatever else they do. Josiah also needs a cavity filled. Then in September I'll go back for a "consultation" to see what needs to be done (and how much it's going to cost).
• As far as reading - I've been reading my 2 Jane Austen books again. I read "Sense and Sensibility" and now am reading "Pride and Prejudice". I've also been watching the movies on Youtube of those and some of Jane Austen's other books. Someday I hope to acquire the others. These two are my favorites though...I think....I really do like Mansfield Park and Persuasion also. And really, I like all 6 when it comes down to it. I've also been reading some "light" Christian fiction books that I picked up at the library. Sometimes it's nice to read "fluff" for a break from reality.

And now, I'm off to load the dishwasher and keep reading "Pride and Prejudice" and eat a "Nutrageous" bar (peanut butter is healthy right?!).

Orphan Sunday 2010

Why Love Orphans? from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

I found this great video through a friend on facebook.

Busy

I noticed I haven't posted for awhile...and don't really have time now. I'm off shortly to a foster and/or adopt play group....hopefully I'll make time to post tonight (last night I read a book instead).

Rain etc.

We have had a lot of rain in the last 24 hours. Any time it was not raining, it was quite hot and humid, but we were so thankful for the nice soaking rain to perk things up. Josiah is excited that he will once again be able to mow yards! The beans we planted the other week for a late crop have come up nicely. We have started digging up potatoes and carrots and have picked a few cherry tomatoes. The peas, radishes, and beets have been picked and consumed or frozen/preserved. I am trying to get excited about doing other produce like normal....but I've never canned/frozen/preserved with multiple toddler/infants before! The 2 biggest things on the list that will need done shortly are applesauce and peaches. My applesauce is nearly all gone and the peaches are all gone. I like to do Red Haven peaches and they will be available shortly. Normally they come the beginning of August but everything seems to be early this year. As for apples, they will be available for awhile so I can get them at my convenience....if such a thing exists. :-)

I did get out to W-mart today. And got totally soaked in the process as by the time we left the store it was raining buckets! With WIC checks I can get baby food and formula and the shelves were rather empty. I did get what I had to have but will have to go back for the rest of the formula. Janae was excited as we purchased fleece material to make a blanket for kindergarten. At the children's school, kindergartners go 2 days one week, 3 days the next week. Janae's schedule is Mondays, Thursdays, and alternate Wednesdays. They go all day so a nap blanket is required to give them a break. As I am craftily challenged...I buy 2 yards of the child's chosen fleece. I leave it folded in half and cut up about 4 inches or so through the doubled up fabric along the bottom edge. I knot the top and bottom strip together. The other side is left open and the child can easily slide in and out. Then I buy puffy/glittery fabric paint and write their name near the bottom. If I think about it I'll take a picture and show you all.

Thursday's agenda - my friend will come to clean (note to self - do not oversleep!), I want to go to a local orchard for some things, and Janae & Mark go to the doctor. Janae needs her kindergarten physical (note to self #2 - find form) and 2 additional immunizations. Mark needs a well-child check-up and possibly some more immunizations, but I'm not sure. And, I'm very excited, I think Randy will be home for supper! He's been gone on the truck all week and I'm quite anxious to see him again. :-) He was gone all last week, only coming home in time to leave for the cabin and then left again Sunday evening after we got back so he hasn't been here at the house much lately.

Random

• After some more wonderful rain last night and this morning the humidity has returned in full force....I have absolutely no desire to move further south! :-)
• Autumn is no longer asking for a baby sister...she is now asking for twin baby sisters...she says I can adopt them, I don't have to give birth to them. What is she thinking?!?
• Tonight we visited birth mom again. Now that I am not getting a babysitter this is quite a production: me, 3 kids walking, baby in single stroller, 2 little boys in the double stroller, a laptop to play a DVD, a backpack of crayons and coloring books etc., a diaper bag for baby, and my purse. Now put all that through security and gather it back up. I'm thankful that the security guards are nice and understanding!
• My biggest praise this week is unfortunately something I can't share as it's a case detail for Baby, but suffice it to say that it's quite a blessing (albeit one that doesn't really change any status in regards to the case).
• Tonight we enjoyed potatoes from our garden along with some grilled chicken breast and green beans (from last years garden). Much more balanced then my lunch (a donut and nutrageous bar).
• I bought blueberries and apricots today at a local produce stand. The kids (except Janae) love fresh blueberries. I like them too...in muffins, pastries, pies, cakes, and pancakes...but not particularly raw. I know they are a super antioxidant so maybe I should cultivate liking them...or eat lots of blueberry muffins!
• My flower beds are nearly over already for the year. If I based the time of year by looking at them I would think that it is at least mid-August. Our above normal heat waves have pushed everything earlier and shorter then normal.
• Baby is doing terrific....particularly if he's in the same room as his siblings. He does not like to be alone. He has the army crawl thing down pack and sits quite well unsupported. He got stranded the other day with his feet on the floor and his arms on the second step...he's growing up so fast. Perhaps someday I'll be able to show you his picture.
• Wednesday is fairly open so I think I'll need to make a trip to W-Mart as I'm nearly out of formula. I got more WIC checks on Monday to purchase Baby's formula, cereal, and baby food.

Life

I am typing tonight to the lovely sound of rain. After the long dry spell the yards and gardens and flowers and fields are just loving this nice soaking rain...as am I! This morning I had a WIC appointment and our foster care coordinator came out for her bimonthly visit (Zach always gets wound up when she comes). This afternoon I hung out with the kids and did laundry. Then I remembered that I had forgotten to go to the bank when I was out this morning. So I called my cousin's wife and contacted another friend (we are all foster parents whose husbands are not always available evenings) and we made plans to pack picnic suppers and go to the park.

When we got there, the sky looked rather threatening and it was thundering. We hung out in the pavilion. The kids played on the playground in between showers (and during the none-thundering ones). They got wet and dirty. But it was fun. And the evening passed quickly. There were 12 kids between the 3 of us, all but 2 were 6 and under (I think!). Now the little ones are settled in bed. I am planning to either do a bit of scrapbooking or bookwork before I settle for the night. The fans are pulling the lovely cool air into the house. It was a good day.

Cabin

This weekend we spent at my uncles' cabin with most of my family. It rained Friday night-Saturday early morning and that broke the heat. It was still hot, but not as humid. Friday was really warm/humid but the rest of the weekend was lovely. The cabin is along a river and on Saturday some of us floated about a mile on rafts. The river was very low Friday, slightly higher on Saturday, and much higher today. Friday and Saturday were perfect for the kids though. They had a great time swimming. The water was so warm. Normally it is refreshing and cool but it was in the 80s and 90s this weekend. I could walk right in with no "ooh" or "cold". The kids had fun playing with their cousins too. As the cabin is small, we took our camper along to give us some extra room. That worked quite well.

Coloring

playing in the stones

swinging

The River - downstream

and upstream

Book Review

"God wants to work through you to change the life of a child. He will provide the love, the encouragement, the joy, and the hope. All you have to contribute are arms for hugs, a voice to encourage or to discipline, and time for companionship. You don't have to look far to find this child. In fact, your paths will probably cross this week. And when you reach out, your reward will be immeasurable. Every child God touches through you will be changed, even if you don't see the transformations with your own eyes. And you will be changed by every child God touches through you." from "It's Better to Build Boys Than Mend Men" by S. Truett Cathy.

This is the beginning of this book. I read/scanned it this evening while sitting outside watching the little boys run around, in and out of the pool and sandbox. It is short and to the point. And as most of my favorite books, filled with short, true paragraphs to illustrate the points. Of course, the children directly in front of me are our children. And then the next circle out are our friends' and neighbors' children. I want to be a positive, godly influence in each of their lives. To somehow find that balance of showing them that hard work is important (chores need completed, meals need cooked, laundry needs done!) and that they too are more important than those things. Mr. Cathy packs a lot of wisdom in this little book. Tidbits that I need to take the time to read again, more carefully, and then apply....

Hot...

Still hot. This morning we went to the library and got a DVD (The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything) to watch in the basement. It has started getting tedious down there...but upstairs is nearly unbearable. We do venture up and out to the little pool late afternoon and play outdoors after supper. They ended up watching a couple of DVDs that we had around here too. It was kind of a bum around day. I did manage to get 3 scrapbook pages finished and another row or 2 done on the shawl I'm working on. Now that it's getting dark and cooler, I want to clean up the kitchen. But maybe I'll wait a bit...according to the thermometer in the kitchen it is still 95 degrees in there! And down to 85 outside. Maybe I should go sit outside. We are all sleepy in the afternoon but have trouble falling asleep at night. They do sleep well and have been sleeping a bit later in the morning (past 6:30)!

Tomorrow's Agenda: Laundry, clean up the house.

Quite Warm...

...which is rather an understatement. After those lovely days last week, Sunday was hot..but certainly manageable. Each day since then has gotten hotter and a bit more humid. My dear husband who handles things like heat with ease is more of a "it's hot, might as well do something anyway" sort of person. Of course, he does get to spend a good part of his day in an air-conditioned truck! :-) Anyway, unless I have something that absolutely cannot be put off, I go into survival mode. Which means, for me, I spend lots of time in the basement in front of a fan conserving my energy for those times when I need to emerge to make a meal. This afternoon it was 96 degrees in my kitchen. The chocolate chips (and my stash of candy bars) were fast becoming mush. They are now residing in the freezer. I did several loads of laundry last evening when it started to cool off and hung them out. They stayed there until tonight when the shade once again hit the washlines and then I took them down. I am constantly thirsty. But tend to lack the energy to do anything about it. Autumn played "waitress" today and brought us all ice water. Nice! I've been considering digging a pepsi from our vacation hoard and drinking that with ice once the kids fall asleep...yes, I know I water is more hydrating!

Anyway, I'm not getting much (other than meals and a bit of laundry) accomplished this week, and that's okay. I'll get caught up when the humidity drops....I think. I did start another prayer shawl as I can't just sit and do nothing! And my voice gives out if I read to much...and the kids are into their legos right now anyway. I am attempting to use up scraps of yarn so I am calling this a "Joseph Prayer Shawl"...we'll see if it turns out decent enough to actually give to anyone! And it could be years before it's finished. My main crocheting project is an afghan for Zach's bed but it is to heavy to be working on that right now. Autumn wound all the tangled threads into nice neat balls for me.

Tomorrow we will see how much we can get done before 8:00 in the morning. As in this house you tend to raise a sweat just breathing (unless you're in the basement with a fan blowing on you). I did get to spend an hour in A/C this morning as I took Autumn to get 2 more teeth filled. But no appointments tomorrow so I'll just have to grin and bear it here....and possibly talk myself into working anyway....

The kids are doing well...between the wading pool and the basement and reading books. You'd think that since I'm always cold I would't mind the heat...but that's not the case....oh well, I'm sure if I can tough it out a few more days we'll get a couple of days of relief. I'm really not sure how you people in warmer climates deal with this all the time! :-)

Happy Summer!

Back to the heat

After enjoying several very moderate days weather wise, we are now back in the heat. Temps are to be in the 90s & 100s for most of the week with the humidity climbing also. Fun! Fun! I do not function well with lots of heat and humidity so this will probably be a fairly low key week...do the basics and try to stay cool.

We did have a lovely weekend. Friday night and Saturday night we enjoyed using our firepit since the temps were lower. Sunday night some family came over and we enjoyed supper and homemade ice cream. This time in addition to vanilla we tried making coffee ice cream. It was delicious!

This morning we did some errands. I just got through a royal battle with Zach because his foot hurt. He was quite angry about this. I did manage to find a small splinter and I think I got it out. It was hard to tell with all the flailing! I finally just sent him to bed as he was so wound up. And I'm hoping it will be better after his nap, if not, Randy should be home so I'll have help in restraining him while I check it out. I have beets in the fridge that I should go and do something about before I forget them again. I'm planning to make "Red Beets" (pickled) from them. Autumn and Randy really like them.

Friday

We have been enjoying several beautiful days...low humidity, temperatures in the 70s. It is supposed to get nice and hot again this weekend. The flower picture above were taken last Sunday night.

This weekend is a holiday weekend here to celebrate Independence Day. We don't really do anything to celebrate though. We do have an annual reunion on Saturday that we hope to get to. Sunday night some of my family is coming over for supper. I think Randy has off Monday but I'm not sure.

Truck Rally - Saturday

Autumn took lots of photos of the vendors stands. Here are 2 of them:

Gift Baskets for the Auction

Trophies for the Truck Show/Judging

This was fairly early in the morning, watching the trucks coming to the event.

This lot was full by the end of the morning.


LATER IN THE DAY:

A lot of trucks including a bunch of antique trucks.

Barrel Train Ride

Janae with a cousin. Janae's cheek had a pink & white panda on it but it's hard to see on this photo.

I had a nice photo of some tired boys here and then remembered I can't post pictures of baby.

Josiah won 2nd place in his age group in the "Garden Tractor Roadeo"