One Thousand Gifts (111 - 120)

111.  Finally!  Kids in our cul-de-sac!  And nice ones, too!

112.  Baseball season is almost over.  My boys aren't thankful, but I am!

113.  Hope for healing.

114.  Impromptu massage from my kids.

115.  Silly, homeschooling days.

116.  Halloween candy.  (well, that is both a blessing and a curse)

117.  A sweet friend who, out of the blue, asked to borrow ALL of the kids for a day

118.  A wonderful and romantic day alone with my hubby.

119.  My kids having a fun filled day baking cookies and making customized      t-shirts.

120.  Dayquil

Make a wish

Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper 

and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

3 John 1:2

"T" turned 9 a few weeks ago.  I am so proud of the young man he is growing to be.  When he walked through our door nearly three years ago, he brought with him pages and pages of negative diagnosis from so-called professionals.  I was really worried that we had gotten in over our heads.  But this boy continues to amaze me!  He is so kind and gentle.  He loves to share with all of us.  When he gets snacks from baseball, he has been known to give away all of his cookies just to bless his siblings.  He is sensitive and a little shy.  And did I mention handsome?  Just look at that face!  God is doing a work in this young man's heart.  I am so lucky I was chosen to be his mama!

My baby Boo is 5.  I know it's silly but age 5 is kind of like a turning point for me.  It's the age where they move out of babyhood in to full fledged childhood.  She even lost her first tooth not long ago.  I'm a little sad but I guess she'll always be my baby.  Boo has really blossomed in the last few years.  We welcomed her home when she was just barely 4 months old.  Life had not been good for her up to that point.  She was very fearful of everyone except us. It took nearly two years for her trust in people to be restored.  She is now silly and outgoing, even a little daring.  At the same time, she is so sensitive.  She breaks down into sobs if I look at her cross.  I love her with all my heart and I continually thank God for bringing Boo to us.

GRFT

Girls Running For Truth

A friend told me about this group last summer.  I got the girls signed up and, let me tell you, it is amazing!  They have been going for 4 or 5 weeks now.  I am loving this group.  Coach Anna is so good with the girls.

Girls Running For Truth is a Christian running club for girls 6 and up.  They begin their class with a biblical character trait teaching.  So far the girls have learned about humility, leadership, sacrifice and "real" beauty.  

Then they do some warm up games.  After that they run.  They are up to a mile and a half.  Most of the girls can't run that without stopping but that's okay.  I finally don't have to fight the Bear to run more than 3 feet!  

The season will end on November 17 with a 5k.  This year they will run in the Color Me Rad race.  I can't wait!  I signed up the whole family (except Boo).  It's going to be so much fun, and so messy!  Hopefully, I can get someone to take pictures of our messy selves and I'll post them.

2010 - A year in review

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Large Family Ramblings

Hey, guess what?  We have a large family.  There is even one website that defines us a a "Mega-family"!  Isn't that a hoot!?

I guess when our last two kids joined our family and we had to sell my beloved Toyota Sienna and buy the big, ugly van (aka Monstro), I figured we had crossed over.  But. like anything, you get used to it and it becomes normal.  The only time we feel large is when we are all traipsing through the supermarket or Walmart. People do tend to stare.

People are fascinated, and will often ask how we do things.  We do have to do things a little differently than smaller families.  For example, counting is a huge part of my parenting day.  I never, ever, ever start the car until I've counted heads.  I'm totally paranoid of leaving someone behind!  When we're out at a park, I count constantly 1 - 7 (or 1 - 8 if my grand daughter is with us).

Spontaneity doesn't really happen anymore.  It takes too much preparation!  Seriously - "Hey mom! Lets have lunch at the park"  is followed by roughly an hour of making and packing lunch for 9 or 10 people plus water and wipes.

Extracurricular activities are on a rotation basis.  Right now we have 2 in baseball.   Three more are in a running club.  This is the first time we've done more than one sport at a time.  We'll see how it works out.

Screen time is severely limited.  Each child gets 30 minutes of video game time.  Siblings are not allowed to watch each other.  I've been accused of being a control freak over this.  But when you stop to think that if each watches the other play games, that's 3 1/2 hours of staring at a computer/tv screen each day.  Then, they want to watch a movie on top of that.

We've actually been asked by El Pollo Loco to call ahead with our order.  Ha!  We now go to KFC instead.

Laundry must be done every day.  Usually 2 loads.  Unless there are towels and bedding.  Then there are more.

I insist the kids pick up after themselves.  If each person left one toy on the floor, I would be tripping over them constantly.  Legos really hurt too!

Only one cup per person, per day.  As it is, we wash one load in the dishwasher every day.  Sometimes it's more depending on what we've been cooking.

Organization is key though.  Some of my friends laugh and call me OCD because of the way we live.  But without the schedules and routines, chaos would reign in my home.  Okay, it still does.  But to a lesser extent.

Sometimes I look at friends who have fewer kids and I wonder if my kids are missing out.  My friends can easily go on trips or buy cool things for their kids.  My kids do look with longing on those things that their friends have.

But in the end, the stuff will end up broken and discarded or at a yard sale.  The really valuable things are the relationships they have with each other.  One day the kids will realize that too.  We are richer by far than almost anyone else I know!

Oregon Nature

Here are a few of the nature pictures that I took on our vacation.

Technically, these all weren't taken in Oregon.  The clouds were taken on the drive.  Somewhere in Utah probably.

The pink flower and the plums were taken at my parents house in Idaho.  So many beautiful things!

I cannot remember the name of this place.  We hung out here while the boys (adults) went on a quad adventure.  We hiked down a trail and couldn't find any place worth looking at so we went back to the car to wait.  I wandered off and found this place.  It was so much more beautiful than the pictures show.

This little guy is a bat.  We stopped at a convenience store on our way home and he was hanging out behind the garbage can right outside the main door!  I wanted so much to take him home!

One Thousand Gifts (111 - 120)

111.  Ladybug, who jumped up from the show she was watching and ran over to give me a hug and kiss.  :)

112.  Coming out of a very long and very dry spiritual place.  I feel alive again!

113.  My son's birth mother.  Her selfless act 10 years ago has brought so much joy to our lives.

114.  Taking my kids out for ice cream.

115.  My kids, who are so comfortable with each other.

116.  My husband who treats me like a queen.

117.  Books.  I love to read.

118.  Freshly mowed grass.  It looks and smells so nice.

119.  No school tomorrow!

120.  Total silence.