Photo Opportunities

My Mother mentioned to me recently that she did not have updated pictures of the kids. Hmmm...I thought to myself. I remember when I took the kids to the local Sears to get their pictures taken every three months when they were babies and then once a year. Then I found that it was becoming more stressful for me as we added more children to our family.

The kids would be running around the waiting room while I was in with the child that was currently getting their picture taken or they'd all be with me in the photo room and totally distracting the child that 'needed' to smile. Oh, and then there was those times when we were patiently waiting for our turn, only to find that our photographer was African-American and grumpy sending the child into a sobbing fit or we'd get a photographer that had so many piercings that it was hard to see their face. Can you get your kids to smile without a tear running down their cheek in those instances? Not me..so we'd end up having to reschedule. Ahhh...the memories.

Anybody that knows me, knows how much my camera means to me. I love to capture the natural moments and the kodak moments and all those in between. One day when I was going through some of those pictures, I realized there were some pretty cool shots of the kids. So from that day forward, I decided to use those cool shots of the kids to blow up to 8x10's for the Grandmas and relatives. It is so less stressful then trying to keep the kids clean while you quick hop in the car and get to the photo taking place before they get something on their new outfit you've been saving for just this moment only to find you can't get them to smile even if you stand on your head making quacking noises.

Of course, my new adventure is chasing a 14 month around trying to get a picture of her face so Grandma will be able to display it proudly amongst her growing collage. This is what I've got....



I'm tired! Maybe we'll try again tomorrow :-)

Can You Do This?

Or maybe this....




Or what about this??


Who do you think Grace takes after?

Camping With Our Small Group

We left this past Thursday for yet another camping trip. This one was with our small group from church at a private camp site. There were five families that enjoyed the great chilly outdoors. The weather for the most part was partly sunny with a smattering of rain here and there but it was quite cool during the day and downright cold at night.

We ate all our meals together under the pavilion, played cards (I even learned how to play euchre!), and watched the children play on the mountain of dirt. Some went fishing, shot skeet, played their guitar and we even did an experiment that included a bottle of diet coke and mentos. We canceled the trip to the beach due to the north wind blowing in the cold front. We took turns sweeping and mopping to keep the place clean. Our Kara decided to add her help in making footprints with her dirty little feet on a newly mopped floor....

One of the families brought their fluffy white dog named Lightning. Kara took a liking to him instantly. She followed him (or should I say she stalked him day and night) around waving at him while saying 'hi there'. She pounded on him, laid on him, tried to crawl over him and even brought him some of his dog treats. Of course, she had to taste it first before her Mother flew over the picnic tables to get to her before she put it in her mouth. Blehhhh.....

Then there was poor little Aaron who was deathly afraid of Lightning. He didn't like him from the start. He stayed far, far away away from the dog making wide, wide circles to go around him. From the moment Lightning arrived, Aaron asked to go home. He didn't like that dog, he said. He clung to his parents for most of the weekend while everyone told him that he didn't have a thing to worry about because Lightning was a nice dog. Lightning was NOT a nice dog, he said.

After the close of our weekend and we arrived home once again, Aaron was once again smiling. I like my home, there's NO dog, he said.

Follow That Red Suburban to Interlochen - Day 5

Day five was our day to pack up and head home. I always hate to say good-bye but I guess reality needs your presence at some point. Who would keep tourism flourishing if we didn't have any money to spend??? And who would purchase all those hats that are out there just waiting for some poor soul who doesn't want peeling skin on the top of his head from an awful sunburn that he got from being hatless....

Of course, it happen to be that EVERYONE decided to sleep in TODAY! As Bob jolted from the bed after hearing the rain and thunder beginning, he threw on his clothes and scurried outside to get the awning pulled in, the hitch on and hooked up before it decided to down pour. We managed to get packed up and ready to roll very quickly right before the clouds moved aside and the sunshine came out.....and BEFORE I had my coffee (this is never a good thing).

As we exited Interlochen State Park, we stopped to give this park a seven thumbs up plus four more. With all it's trees and beautiful park setting and being full to the brim with campers from all over, they kept it pretty clean and were pretty friendly.

Apparently, cooking pancakes wasn't going to happen so it was unanimous that we head on over to Grandma's Kitchen for some breakfast before we headed home. After quite a wait being that everyone else had the same idea on a Sunday morning, we sat down to a breakfast buffet that included scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, potatoes hashbrowned or not, sausage gravy and biscuits, french toast sticks and sausage or bacon, your choice. After eating at the Omelette Shoppe, I wasn't quite as impressed but the food was hot and the coffee was plentiful.

Towards the end of our travels, the 'I'm hungry' screams were getting louder. We ended up at Bill's request for some beef at Lucky's Steakhouse in Imlay City. Our waitress was very friendly and the food was delicious! I had a steak salad with a horseradish dressing that was absolutely fantastic. Kara's macaroni and cheese with it's homemade sauce was awesome too (I took a bit or two)! The kids ate all their chicken strips up and the ranch on the side was to their satisfaction. Bob's prime rib and Brad's rib eye were also very delicious. We give this place a seven thumbs up also!

We had a blast traveling about and exploring places we haven't seen before. We look forward to our next adventure.....stay tuned!

Follow That Red Suburban to Interlochen - Day 4

We began day four with a delicious breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast hangouts in Traverse City. The Omelette Shoppe has the best pecan rolls in the North. They also serve up some good ol' fashioned customer service. The coffee is hot and the food is Yum-o. If you should have to wait your turn to be seated, don't be surprised to be given a name like George Clooney or Bette Midler....it makes for a very fun experience when they call your name to be seated. They also have these fun signs on the wall that are worth a look-see. My favorite is: There will be a $5 charge for WHINING! I need this for my own home :-) Being the tourists that we are and so being impressed with this establishment and wanting to promote the community, my darling husband bought paraphernalia which included another HAT to add to his growing collection and a coffee mug! We give this place a definite seven thumbs up!

As we pulled out of the parking lot and came to the stop light, there were a bunch of girls on the side of the road from the swim team promoting their car wash. We decided to let them wash our cars. It was pretty funny watching the giggle gang try to wash a car. Did they notice there was a roof or maybe that was way too high up there, I'm not sure. But overall, they did a pretty good job.

As we were headed back home, we decided to stop at TC-RV to see if they had a good price on a tote hauler which is these cute little blue tote's that you can dump your waste into and take it over manually to the dump station. It beats having a nasty backup and if you should say...be stuck in a certain site between lots and lots of trees and not want to move your camper for nothing, it's well worth the purchase. While we were there, we just happened to check out some fifth wheels that were nicer than my home. Some even came with a fireplace and a garden tub! Now that's what I call home away from home. After Bob starts making his millions, we'll be sure to go back and check them out!

Since it was another gorgeous day, we decided to head back out to the beach in Frankfort. But before we arrived there, we decided to stroll through the quaint little village shops. We grabbed some sandwiches from a cute little deli and headed to the beach. Bob and Bill wanted to visit the smokehouse place that offered smoked salmon. They bought some of that, some crackers, cheese and hunter sausage for a snack on the beach. Again....yum-o. I think I'm not going to be able to eat again for a week! ({{{wink-wink}}} Did I mention that Miss Kara didn't enjoy the water so much....

Karin's sister, Katie, brought these adorable little kites to fly on the beach. Karin had so much fun getting her kite to fly, she spent most of the time doing that until Bill and little Jeremy decided she needed to get wet.

I just have to mention Henry in my blog. He is the cutest little two year old (besides my own kids) and quite fascinating to talk to. He is so funny and you should see him do his pirate face for you. It will have you in stitches. He has a few others but that one was my favorite. He, also, had a grand ol' time building sand castles and playing in the water.

Here's Henry!

After soaking in the sun and enjoying the water, we headed back home BUT....not until after we stopped for ICE CREAM! Along the way, there was this little ice cream shop called JoMo's. Bill and Karin got a turtle sundae, I got a Eskimo Kiss (Coconut ice cream with chocolate truffles and a fudge ripple) in a waffle cone, Aaron and Ryan got superman (of course!), and Grace had a soft serve dipped in sprinkles (she's my sprinkle girl) and Kara missed out, she fell fast asleep two seconds after we were in the car. We give this place a seven thumbs up!

Once back at the ranch, Bob and Bill used our newly purchased tote hauler to empty the trailer tanks. It must have just been too much because pretty soon, I get a knock on my camper door from Bill asking how pizza sounded. I think he was too bushed to think about cooking. Pizza it was so we headed off to eat at Cicero's. The service was friendly and the food was delicious. We had along with our pizza, cheese bread, wings and salad too...enough to feed an army (oh, wait! We do have our own tribe). They have a piano there for customer's to use and I suppose you could say that could potentially be fun or perhaps annoying depending on whether your three year old is playing it or a nine year old boy who came to dine from another party and played like an expert pianist. Apparently, he's been studying music since he was three and was up from Texas at a music camp that is being held there in Interlochen. Simply amazing!

Follow That Red Suburban to Interlochen - Day 3

Today was my day to make breakfast. I made cinnamon french toast and Bill cooked the sausages. I had the coffee but he had the syrup. So finally after the last piece of toast was cooked, I meandered over to their camp site to have syrup on my french toast, sausage on my plate and a place to sit to drink my coffee and enjoy the rest of the morning. There is nothing like eating breakfast outside in the morning while the dew is still in the air and the smell of the campfire is still lingering about.

We decided to get our showers and head off to Friske Farms where Bob and I had discovered this wonderful creamed cherry pecan honey on our trip last year. We wanted to share this cute little farm with it's kid maze and playhouse shaped ark with our friends. I cleaned up the breakfast dishes and got the kids ready to go while Bob got his shower. Then it was my turn. There was quite a line for the public showers and I don't generally enjoy using them. That is why I was ecstatic to have a shower in our camper. As I'm looking out the sunroof that happens to be over the shower, I was thanking God for yet another beautiful day that was ahead of us. I was up to my head in lather when all of the sudden, no water was coming out the shower head or the faucet. Apparently, the fresh water tank did NOT get filled with it's full capacity of 40 gallons and being the wonderful wife that I am even if it was unknown at the time, let my husband have a wonderfully cleansing shower before me leaving him rinsed from head to toe. I began to wonder as the itching and stinging began to set in, how many people outside of our camper and along the way to the public restroom (provided there was one free and not a line) would notice a half crazed, lathered up women running down to the showers to get thoroughly rinsed. Then I thought, so far in the three days we've been camping, we have enough material to write a sequel to the movie that Robin Williams was in entitled, RV!

Thank goodness my husband happened to come into the camper and I yelled for him to give me bottles of water. The question of the day was.....just how many bottles of Ice Mountain does it take to rinse the shampoo from your hair and caress soap from your body? That will remain unanswered until the day I die and be sealed in the vault where they hold the answer to how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie pop. As I was squealing from the coldness of the water being poured over my head, I could hear the hysterical laugher coming from my loving husband. I will forever be known as Aqua woman by some.

After the laughter had died down and the jokes came to a slow down, we headed off to Friske Farms. It's a quaint little orchard with many condiments available for your purchase made with cherries. We highly recommend the milk chocolate covered dried cherries and the creamed cherry pecan honey. The kids fed the goats, played in the ark, ran through the maze and sat on a tractor.



On the way back we stopped at the Grand Traverse Bay beach which wasn't as nice as the one in Frankfort. The kids played in the water and some of them even fed the seagulls. On our way, back to our camp site, Bob decided to stop and purchase some hose to run from our camper to the fresh water hook up since we were only about 150-200 feet from it. There was NO WAY we were going to pull the camper around to fill and dump and then try and get that sucker back in there. That would have been an all night event and another thing for the experienced campers sitting around their campfires watching all us newbie campers to get a big ol' hee haw about.

People were laughing and making jokes as we strung one hose to the next to try to stretch it all the way to where it needed to go but we just didn't buy enough hose. Bob was determined. He set off once again to the store to purchase yet some more hose. We finally had enough to reach and began filling up our tank. Then, here comes Mr. Park Ranger in his little jeep and scolding voice. You can't do that, sir. People could trip and that would just be no good. At least, he let us finish up and left with the assurance we would never do that again. However, as we were headed to unhook the hose from the filling station, other campers along the way were asking us to fill their tanks too. Why not? And that's what we did. You got to get your use of the zillion dollar hose purchase....I suppose you can't take it back after you use it???

Follow That Red Suburban to Interlochen - Day 2

Day two of our vacation began.

Of course, after being out late due to our driving adventure, I had hopes that we could sleep in just a smitch. Kara and Aaron decided at 6:30 a.m that they were ready to start their day which means no more sleep for me :-( Thank goodness, Mr. Bill, an early riser himself, had breakfast cooking as quick as you could say, I can't get my eye's open! Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese and a side of sausage was available to all who wanted to partake.

After filling our tummies, we kind of all sat around comatose-like enjoying the beautiful day. During our vegetative state, we decided to venture back to Frankfort where there was a gorgeous beach on Lake Michigan. The sand was clean and the sun was beating down making it a perfect day to get wet. The kids had fun building sand castle's in the sand. There was even a lighthouse to venture out to. We give the beach in Frankfort seven thumbs up!

Meghan, Grace's friend, being buried in the warm sand.

Grace, Ryan and Aaron out at the lighthouse.

Bill trying to scare the seagulls away...(or was it people??)

We drove back to our site for what I call foil dinners (aka steam boats). They are hamburger patties, potatoes and carrots all cooked together over the fire in a foil packet. We also were introduced to a hobo dessert by another couple who happens to be the sister of our friends. They were camping with all of us. You buy this really cool hobo sandwich maker which is made of cast iron. You butter a piece of Styrofoam bread and place it on one side, filling it with cherry pie filling and some Hershey's chocolate. Then you butter another piece of Styrofoam bread and place it on top, closing the two sides together encloses it into a sandwich form. Place in the fire for 5-10 minutes and then remove. When you open it up, what you find is this buttery toasted bread with a cherry-chocolatey dessert that is very yummy! But be careful you don't burn your tongue!

We then, loaded everybody up and headed on over to the Cherry Bowl Drive In Theater. They were showing Ratatouille and the Pirates of the Caribbean latest movie. The snack shack was a big time hit and pocket draining experience for the kids and my husband. They had nachos, chili fries, popcorn, funnel cake, and let's not forget to mention, Mt. Dew! Kara made it through the first movie but was not to be put off by the second. An employee of the Theater even offered to get her a bottle of warm milk and it wasn't because she was being disruptive. They were just trying to be helpful. Aaron fell asleep half way through the movie all curled up in a beach chair. We decided not to stay for the second movie since a fussing baby is not for a pleasurable movie experience. Brad and Grace were going to stay behind with our friends. We loaded up part of our family and went to head home when what do you suppose we found?

A dead, dead battery with no jumper cables.

Thank goodness, the people at the Cherry Bowl Theater are use to this thing. Although, we had to wait in line to use their battery jumping portable pack, they were super nice about it. Apparently, we were number nine.

If you are ever in Interlochen, we highly recommend that you come check this place out. The customer service is extremely friendly and very welcoming to all. We give it seven thumbs up plus four more...

Follow That Red Suburban to Interlochen - DAY 1

We decided to join some friends of ours very spontaneously on their trip to Interlochen over the holiday. We were skeptical that we would even be able to find a camp site available but much to our amazement there was some available but just not all on one camp site. We were going to have to hopscotch it for the time we were there but we thought that would be no problem since Interlochen State Park (which is one of the oldest and biggest in Michigan) has less than modern sites available. This means for us, a family of seven, need to fill the fresh water tank for showers and such and dump the excess if you know what I mean. How long does it take to fill a 40 gallon tank? I will spare you the answer.

The trip up there was pretty smooth until we stopped at a rest stop to give Kara, our one year old, a break from being cooped up and a snack. She was insistently letting us know it was time. While everyone was taking a potty break, I took Kara into the camper to feed her. I turned very quickly to throw away her yogurt container and she somehow scampered over to the door quickly and quietly (which didn't get shut all the way) and fell down the metal stairs onto the pavement. As I rushed to her, blood was running out her nose and a purple goose egg on her head was raising quicker than a volcano reaching it's boiling point. Other than that, she seemed coherent and alert. So after a bit of consoling and kissing on, she was ready to roll.

Upon arrival to the park, we were excited to find out that there were some cancellations which meant we did not have to move our trailer. It could stay in one spot the whole time we were going to be there! Only people who are familiar with backing in a 30 foot trailer between a bunch of trees could really appreciate our excitement. We stopped at the filling station to fill the fresh water tank with water. (Let me just interject here....I've never filled the fresh water tank, we've always used the water hook-up right there next to our camper for an ever available supply of water...end interjection.) As I was filling the tank, I heard the gurgle that reminded me of a full tank (just like filling the gas tank) and water shot back out at me leading to my assumption that it was full.

We then proceeded to our site which with great surprise, we were met with a very narrow and very wooded site to try to maneuver our trailer into. Now keep in mind, it was very crowded so using the site in front of us was a bit difficult. We couldn't see anyway possible to get the trailer in so we drove back up front to see what could be done and were met with...that site, sir, is good for a 35 foot trailer. So off we went back to the site. Only this time we went down the up (one way) listening to many telling us we were going the wrong way. We even went bajaing through the baseball diamond trying to not hit trees and such. Once we got to our site, Bob tried for an hour to back our trailer into the site. We had offers from our friendly neighbors to use their smaller vehicles to back us in but of course, they weren't rated for such a load. Finally, one of our neighbors came by to offer his directional assistance and it came at right moment before frustration started flying. In two shakes, he had us backed in and in just the right spot. Was it poor parenting to offer our first born child to him?

We set up camp, ate some dinner and off we went to Frankfort to watch the fireworks being shot off Lake Michigan. It was spectacular and enjoyed by all except for Aaron. He covered his ears the whole time and quite emphatically announced to me that I needed to go tell them to stop right now.

One of our friends had stopped on the way up to our destination at a fresh cherry stand to buy some cherries and had been eating those all afternoon. What happens when you eat a lot of fresh fruit....do I dare mention this??? I hope she will forgive me as I continue. You get a rumbly in the tumbly and I'm not talking hunger pains. During the fireworks, she was searching for a restroom but none was to be found. As it was getting more and more urgent her daughter mentioned she needed to go potty and what a perfect decoy she was. What would you do in this situation? Would you find some bushes or would you put on your most beautiful smile with your adorable daughter right in front of you and plead at someone's front door? Well, she choose to ask at one of the houses to have pity and the husband of the home did. The wife, wasn't so sure but at least, she got in before he changed his mind!

On our way home, we were directed by another person in our party (not mentioning any names to protect the innocent) to turn right when we should have turned left. After 35 miles or so and not seeing anything familiar (of course, what looks familiar in a strange place, in the middle of complete darkness, in the middle of the night???), it came to our realization that we had indeed gone the wrong way. A U-Turn was made and off we were again. After two and a half hours, we arrived back at our camp site ready for B-E-D.

A Discovery....

Brad was rummaging around in the garage and decided to climb a latter to see what's up in the garage attic. He found a couple of boxes that looked interesting and got them down. Upon opening up the boxes, the kids eyes became wide as saucers. But before I tell you what they discovered, let's take a step back in time....

Long, long ago....(when I was a youngun')

My Dad was heavily involved as a leader for years and years in the Wednesday night program for boys at the Baptist church we attended. One of his favorite things was when they helped the boys in the program build and race their Pinewood Derby cars.

My Dad loved to work with wood. That's what he would do when he came home from working at the plant every day or on weekends. It was that or working in his garden. So when Pinewood Derby time came around, there was a lot of activity going on in our basement which we called the 'Dungeon'. This was his work room where he kept his woodworking machines like several different kinds of saws and such. You should have saw the sawdust pile! He was very creative and every year when it came time to make a new car, he came up with a new idea to see how it would race. It also made for many good times and memories with the boys.













































He passed away in 1993 but I kept his collection of cars. Some he made with his kids and some were his own creation. It seemed like a shame to just throw them out. I know that they don't mean anything to anybody but it was a part of who he was. This, my friends, is what my son discovered in the box up in the attic (plus a couple of empty mud wasp nests as a bonus find).

As my boys, took each one out of the box, it became history time for them. They listened intently as I explained about some of them and all about their Grandpa David. It was a wonderful time to fill them with some of the stories of my childhood and to pass on some of their heritage. I knew as they were carefully playing with the cars that, that would soon come to an end. Boys just are not GENTLE with such things as cars and trucks! I was just fine with that. This moment was worth me saving them all these years.They've been having an immense amount of fun playing with those cars. Somehow watching them play with them brings a smile to my face. I think my Dad would have been very happy to see my boys playing with those cars and he probably would have been down on the floor playing right there with them.....

A Trip To Selfridge Air Museum

We had the opportunity to visit the Selfridge Air Museum with some of the families from our homeschool group.We caught the train in Mt. Clemens which gave us a ride onto the Selfridge Air Base. The two younger boys thought it was pretty cool riding in the train. However, Ryan wanted to make sure we were still going to go to Greenfield Village to ride that train. We haven't rode that train in a couple years but apparently it's made an impression????!

They had a little museum that sold touristy things that draw the attention of all the little people in our family. Bob had forgotten his usual attire that is required to protect his poor little naked spot on the top of his head (once again! He's starting a collection by the 'forgot it again' default) so off with the checkbook he went. After purchasing a matchbox train for several of our children and a hat, we explored the displays of old time uniforms and infantry items. The jeep was a hit. I don't know if you were suppose to go in it as they had signs all over the place not to touch or climb the displays but the kids threw caution to the wind and filed into it.

They also had a couple planes open for the kids to go into and look around outside. There were planes of different types. Some were from the Coast Guard, some from the Navy and some with missiles. We found out also how very much the bees/wasps like to cling to the hot metal of the planes which if you know anything about my aversion to such creatures you can only imagine what route my path was directed at....way, way...waaaay far away from them. However, Brad got stung.

We finished checking out all the planes and reboarded the train back to our vehicles. There happens to be a park in Mt. Clemens before you get to the train which had our kids attention even before we started our fun day so we let them play for a little bit before heading home. I wonder what will stand out in their minds....the train, planes or will they only remember playing at the park...hmmmm.

It's A Heavenly Party....

Ryan is my little chatter box. He will talk to who ever will give him their undivided attention. He also is a inquisitive little bugger. He is curious about just about anything that you are doing whether it be construction, mechanical or cooking.

Today while I was making lunch and he was explaining his many observations about the world around him, he asked me just how exactly he was to go about asking Jesus into his heart. I was so totally unaware that, that question has been plaguing him. He's not indicated in anyway that he was remotely curious about that. Our family talks about it all the time but he has just been taking it in stride.

He asked me if I would help him pray because he didn't know what to say. I, in my exuberance, told him I would love the opportunity to do that with him. His response...."I need to eat lunch first, then we'll pray."

After finishing up his lunch, he told me he was ready and we prayed right there at the kitchen table with Spongebob playing in the background and the remains of the left over pizza before us. He gave his heart to Jesus.

The angels are rejoicing and his mother's heart is so proud. I thank God that I've had the opportunity once again to bring one more heart of my children's to his feet.

Church Attendance

I just have to ask this question and maybe I don't want to hear the answer but I'll ask anyway.

Does anyone ever wonder why they go to church?

Let me explain my question. I have five children. Three of them don't go into their classes. And now I have an almost seventh grader who sits with us. So that makes four. He's really not a problem. He doesn't try to run between the chairs and roll around under the chairs. Nor does he find it amusing to hear his voice echo when he uses his outside voice on the inside of the church. He doesn't constantly wiggle and squirm and drive his Hot Wheels over my head.


I've had people at church tell me to force them to go and then walk away. Well, I tried that. It wasn't pretty for the teacher or for the other kids in the class. Have you ever heard of the domino effect?

Yesterday, Kara got us up very early. Since we were having Father's Day company later that day, we had this brilliant idea that would send shock waves across the church......we went to the early service. I never thought that I would be able to pull it off but yet, found ourselves there, sitting in our seats BEFORE the singing was over. We were even sitting in the s-a-n-t-u-a-r-y. We don't do this anymore since many children equals distraction to all around us. We usually sit in the atrium where they have the service up on the 'big screen' and kid noises are not frowned upon as much.

However, on this particular Sunday since we made it to the early service and no one was in the atrium, we decided to give the sanctuary a try. All was going pretty well minus the fidgeting, squirming and loud whispers. Then the pastor starts speaking and he's explaining about a song he heard that doesn't resolve itself. He then proceeds to say that it drives him crazy and he wants to finish it for them and in a sing songy type voice he says "da-daaaa". Right at the perfect moment, between sentences when all the world and congregation was quiet, Aaron, in his not so soft voice, yells out "da-daaaa" sending his parents running for the door to quickly exit out of there hoping that nobody realized it was coming from our family.

My only thought....we are not sanctuary people. Maybe we'll try again when our children are grown. And my other thought.....I'm not sure exactly what the sermon was all about as I think I might have heard maybe five minutes of it or so. But this is an every Sunday occurrence.

Every Sunday, we scramble to get to church, sit there with busy children, spend much of the service fussing at them to shush and then in less then 90 minutes, it's all over and we are headed home. Sometimes I wonder why I bother going. Now don't get me wrong. I love going to church. The praise and worship time is very filling to my soul. And I do realize that all the fussing we do with our kids is only temporary and will be a distant memory as they grow. I need to just muster up some perseverance to keep at it until that time comes.

My remembrance of my childhood does not include what I'm going through. I only remember other people's families quietly sitting in church paying attention and I certainly don't remember them bothering the congregation around them. We did not have a special room to go into with fussing children. What did poor, whipped parents do back in the day? How did my mother-in-law handle six kids sitting there pretty as little peacocks. Perhaps I've got bad parenting skills or perhaps, my kids are just out of control. Maybe I'm not scary enough.....

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged from a fellow homeschool Mom and MNO crony.

I'm suppose to come up with 30 things that don't bother me or that I don't worry about. Of course, as I began to ponder this question, all sorts of things began to pop in my head as to the opposite. So needless to say, it's taken me a bit to come up with some things. I'm not sure if I'll make it to 30 but we'll give it a whirl.....

1. Cluttered state of my home. I homeschool...that is most important on my list and it takes quite a bit of my time. I also live in a somewhat small house with lots of people who live inside. This does not add up to a Better Homes and Garden Show Place (not to mention that I have budding artists in the house who think that every wall in the house is their canvas). Should we get to the cleaning, that is wonderful, if we don't we can shoot for tomorrow. However, should someone whose never been to my home be coming over....then we like to clean...first impressions say alot!

2. Gas Prices. I fully expect to pay an increasing price. I pay it for toilet paper and I pay it for disposable diapers. I'd rather pay for some of the conveniences than having to go find a leaf to use or clean out gross stuff in cloth. I also like my car....it's a package deal. Can you imagine trying to load up the stroller with groceries for seven people???? I'll take my gasoline, thank you very much.


3. Price of a Starbucks Coffee. Everyone has a place where they splurge. This happens to be mine. It's beneficial to my mental health.

4. Standing in line at the grocery store. Do you ever see the relief from a cashier when someone is actually patient and smiling rather than cranky and rushed?

5. A Child without a helmet on a bike. I turned out ok after many a mishap.

6. Lights left on in the other room.

7. Unmade beds. Kids are in an out of them for play and for nap...why bother?

8. Open curtains at nighttime. I've got nothing to hide and I don't make it a habit to walk around in the nude.

9. Dust. It's a fact of life.

10. Running out of Milk. I'll get some eventually....

11. Those strange people in Hollywood.

12. Recyling pop cans. Don't gasp! But I throw them away. I don't have time or the space to deal with this.

13. Bare Feet. It beats having hot feet!

14. Messy garages. Aren't they suppose to be?

15. Size of my TV. How big does it need to be to watch Noggin or Nick Jr.??

16. Postage. I'd rather pay 42 cents a letter than having to load all the children up in the van, running to the gas station to fill up cause I'm on empty, sitting in traffic, leaving the kids in the car while I run in real 'quick' to give you a check that is now overdue because it took me a bit to get up my mental ambition to do what I just mentioned.....stamps, it's the cheaper way to go.

17. Husbands who have to work on Sunday. They are just trying to provide for the family and this happens on Sunday sometimes.

18. People who chose not to vaccinate.

19. Breast vs. bottle fed. There are so many varying things that could affect this decision. How can one even judge someone for this.

20. Cell phones. Driving or not, here or there, cell phones are a benefit. I like it that people can get a hold of me and vice versa. I recently saw a man in the grocery store on the phone (I assume with his wife) and she was instructing him on what to get. I'm sure it saved him time from having to take back the wrong thing and when he came home, his wife was happy because he got the right thing. It's a beautiful thing.

21. Internet. Another beautiful thing. It's not of the devil when used properly.

22. Fruit snacks for breakfast. Doesn't it have fruit in it anyway??

23. Not going to the library. Buying books instead. People were shocked for a long time that I didn't use the library. So I finally gave in and let my kids get their 'library card'. I almost went over the edge trying to keep track of all those books and then trying to keep the little ones from ripping pages and marking them up......What I won't pay to keep my sanity.

24. Skipping a day of school. We all need a break now and then. Sometimes I notice that if we take a break, the kids have advanced farther along than if we hadn't.

25. Unmatched clothing. I use to care...then I had Grace who broke me of that. Maybe someday we'll get back to caring but for now, let them say what they will at church....at least she's dressed.

26. Messy cars. With all the running around I do with the kids, it's bound to get messy. We do what we have to, to keep happy, smiling faces when we are sitting there in the parking lot waiting for Grandma to come out of her appointment. And if we've left something there from a previous appointment, WONDERFUL! It's a new treasure and it's bound to keep someone's attention for a few minutes. Now if we are talking about a left over banana peel...(ewwww!) but it could potentially be a science lesson on the go.

27. Mud. My kids are a mud magnet. If there isn't any, they will make some. I've long ago given up trying to keep them out and away from it.

28. Being served peanut butter and jelly sandwich at a friends house. I recently had a friend apologize for offering me that for lunch. I have children and this is a staple in our home. Don't apologize...I thought nothing of it. I'm just glad to spend time with you.


29. Big Families. I think they are wonderful and not just because I have one.

And finally....

30. Loud, chaotic, squealing children. It's the sound of LIFE!

Irritations

I've got a pet peeve, myself, that I need to vent.

I absolutely hate it (maybe detest is a better word) when people judge you from what they 'think' you are. I've had this happen to me on quite a few different occasions and I must admit, I have a hard time forgiving it after that. But I'm working on it.

One particular on-going relationship (if that's what you call it) happens to be with a certain neighbor. I've overheard her comments periodically on people who homeschool and has made it obvious that she doesn't agree. She also is very opinionated about having many children...again, she's not for it.

My opinion is this....

You are not required to homeschool. This is what's right for me. I won't judge you and you don't need to judge me. It is also not a requirement to have a gazillion children. I chose to have five and it's right for me. Again, I won't judge you if you only have one or two and you don't have to judge me. Now, I wouldn't mind it at all, if you enjoyed hearing me vent on one of my crazy days but I'll leave that up to you. I'd also love it, if you actually took the time to get to know me before throwing out your words or making an opinion about me that is hard and fast before you even find out for certain what I'm really like.

Yesterday was a park day for us. Our homeschool group has this regularly scheduled event every Wednesday throughout the nice weather period. Sometimes we attend and sometimes we don't depending on our schedule. We were able to go yesterday. It was a balmy 92 degrees. When we arrived, there was so many children there bussed in from a school having a school's almost out party. You can only imagine how difficult it would be to keep watch of all your children in the midst of all this chaos. Since earlier in the Spring, our three year old Aaron had wondered off and freaked his dear mother out, I told the rest of the kids to help keep their eye on him so we didn't loose him again.

Shortly into our fun, Aaron decided he was done with the park and he was going to go see his Dad. I caught an Aaron sighting as he was headed to the road. Fortunately, we caught him before he got too far. He says to me, "I'm going to see my Dad" and I responded that it was a long way home and he might get lost so he had better just stay with us until we were ready to go. He says to me "All you have to do is go here and turn here (as he's showing me a diagram in the air with his fingers) and I know my way home. I won't get lost." This thought scares me to death. To have no fear that you as a three year old could possibly get yourself home without telling anyone is a mother's worst nightmare. What if I didn't see him....how far could he have gotten?

He came back and sat with me for a bit. He told me he wanted to go home and about that time, Bob called me from home telling me that Kara was up from her nap. As I was trying to gather up my things and wait for the buses to leave since they were blocking me in, Aaron disappeared again! I thought to myself, Oh, for crying out loud! After sending out a search and rescue party that included several adults and many children, we found him...sitting behind a tree. The thing that makes this kind of sticky is that when he 'disappears' he usually is irritated so he refuses to answer when you are calling his name. Thank goodness we found him! I'm very grateful for my own personalized search party.

I finally made it home with ALL of the children. Aaron and Ryan announced most emphatically that they needed food. Cheetos were their snack of choice. I filled two little cups with the last of the cheetos and sent them out to play in the backyard. Ryan's dumped out all over the ground sending him into a crying fit. Since their was no more and I had about had it for the day, I made Aaron share the rest of his cheetos with Ryan promising to buy some more later. This did NOT go over well with him. He refused to eat what he had and threw himself on the ground burying his head in his arms screaming with a volume that could have potentially put a bull horn to shame.

After muttering a question to myself that sounded something like....whose idea was it to have all these children anyway, I left him to cry it out because no amount of threatening or disipline would help this situation especially in my mental state of mind. After a little bit, I get a knock on our door. It happens to be the neighbor kid. He asks me why Aaron is crying in the garage? So I told him. Then he responds with...well, my Mom doesn't like it! Of course, many things were running through my head at that moment but you would have been so proud of me....I didn't verbalize them outloud! I did, however, tell him to let his mother know that he was misbehaving and when he was done having his fit, the crying would end. I'm sure that some of my irritation is just overflow from previous incidents that build up over time but after all that I had to deal with yesterday, my patience for working through an aggravating comment from a I'm better than you neighbor, was beyond my abilities.

When is it not acceptable for a crying child to have his fit outside in his very own backyard? Why do I need to fuss about my crying child annoying the neighbors when he's perfectly fine just irritable? Why should I fuss about whether he's run out there to play and he only has a pull up on? He's happy, healthy and loves to have fun. Shouldn't this be enough for the neighbor to see that she doesn't need to be concerned about our families well being? If you happen to run into any of our children, you will know without a shadow of a doubt that they are not beaten down, but very exuberant, friendly kids who just want to have fun! We are NOT one of those wacky homeschool families that seems to always make it in the news that has some sort of dark secret life of beatings and unsocialized slave children running amok.

Follow That Red Suburban...To Somewhere Up North

The time has finally arrived.....

It's Camper Time!

We have some friends that needed some help doing some improvements around their family campground up North. My husband volunteered himself and our oldest son for the event which included the whole family attending making it a 'work weekend' for some and a 'have fun and play weekend' for others. We were scheduled to leave late Thursday afternoon.

It all began this way:

Disclaimer: This is our first year having to dewinterize and pull the camper out of storage after the winter. So we are still learning about much!

The camper has been stuck in mud for much of the Spring and Fall and I guess that would make it frozen mud during the winter. My husband has been waiting for the mud to dry up enough to go get it but everytime we make the arrangements, it's either raining again or something comes up to interfere with that. He finally made it up to my Mother-in-law's property where it's being stored on Wednesday evening.

At 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, my husband and a friend are trying to dewinterize it in our driveway in the dark of night so that it's already to go for Thursday. It was not even a consideration that we needed to check to make sure everything was working properly. Upon opening the front compartment of the camper up and running bleach water through the system to sanitize it, they noticed a leak. It appeared like it was coming from the hot water tank. After inspecting it more, it was apparent that, that was definitely the issue. I say this to say, we NEED hot water! It's very important to have that! I don't do cold showers!

Note to self: Don't wait until the evening before you are going to leave to get the camper, dewinterize and inspect all the parts for working condition. It's not good for marital bliss nor is it good for a great camping experience.

Thank goodness our destination had a community shower and toilets and a kitchen to prepare food! However, we were scheduled to come back on Sunday and leave again on Wednesday which is now postponed. But before I get ahead of myself....

We loaded up the camper and were ready to go. We only needed to hitch up the camper to the Suburban. My husband gets in the car to back it up to the hitch and low and behold....it won't start! Who ever heard of a less than a year old vehicle with battery problems....

If you've read my previous blogs, you are familiar with a certain three year old that likes to get into mischief. Well, he's struck again! In the process of loading up the camper, our little mischief maker got into the car and was pushing buttons, turning knobs and somehow got the lights to come on for nobody know's how long.....obviously enough to drain the battery. Thank goodness our friends were there so that we could all go together and therefore, were able to give us a jump. We won't mention that in the process of pushing all the buttons and such that all the readings were off like tire pressure and etc which I'm sure were all related to a dead battery too! Did you know that in some vehicles, it has to relearn some things? Thank goodness for the manual and a smart car who doesn't take to long too get it's head straightened out!

After the jump, the hitching up and a scolding to anybody who would listen to keep their eyes on the roaming three year old, we were off for our adventurous weekend. After we had been on the road for a bit, the nagging to watch a movie was off on a run. I put the DVD in the player and pulled down the screen only to find yet another 'oh, no'! Apparently, in the process of playing with the car knobs and such, Mr. Mischief Maker got into the gum we keep in the car for minty fresh breath. Guess where he decided to put his gum after chewing it??? Yep, on the screen! What better place to hide it then in there. Uggghhh! Is there a broken baby store along the way, I asked myself. This one is just too squirrelly. Perhaps a minor adjustment here and there might be needed??? Or maybe it's just this....God's got a very special plan in mind for him and he needed a special home to grow up in so that he could make it to that place where God wants him. God must know that I'm the one for the job. Somehow that thought gives me a bit of comfort.

We arrived around 10:30 Thursday evening, managed to set up camp in the dark and got settled for the day to follow.

Friday brought a new adventure for our five year old. He discovered the world of bugs that he'd never seen before. You may be thinking to yourself that that is right up a boy's alley. But I am here to inform you...that's a BIG negatory! He wanted us to pack up camp and leave for a different camping place. One that doesn't have bugs. His mother was thinking the same thing. When you are trying to use the restroom and there are these flying bugs which I heard were male mosquitoes and they happen to be about as big as your five year old's fist, I strongly object! I was also thinking that there was no way I was revealing anymore skin then was necessary for them to have access to. Not to mention.....spiders! Which I don't want to talk about! See where he get's it from???

Due to the bug factor, Ryan refused to use the restroom and therefore, we went through just about his whole wardrobe on the first day. I finally got him to understand that he could use the camper toilet where I spent quite a bit a time on bug duty making sure if one was to enter the camper, his bug relatives were attending a funeral.

All in all, the ones who were there to play, played hard and the ones who were there to work, worked till they felt the burn and I'm not talking about sunburn. We did take a break and headed off to the beach for some fun in the sun and then for ice cream which is always a welcome for us.

Kara got her sea legs and is walking all over the place and fell in love with a beach chair that was just her size. She was quite adamant that nobody touch it but her. Ryan was such a hard worker even after he got his fingers smashed between a couple of two by fours, learned how to use a saw (not a power one but a hand saw), and put us all to shame with his work ethics. Aaron explored and conquered the dirt pile. His most favorite thing was the 'Mule'. He didn't want to leave that behind! Grace learned how to play poker and hunt for frogs.

We came home Sunday evening with an extra ton of dirt that coated my kids. Perhaps, they should have left some in the dirt pile that was there for the playing pleasure. I'm sure they will probably have to go purchase some more to replace the ton I found in a certain pull-up that was attached to a three year old...it could have been because he was laying in it!

After successfully backing up the camper, I happened to look down at our neighbors grass and realized that there was a pretty big spot of burnt grass. Then I heard my husband say...."oh, no!!"

Another note to self: When sanitizing the camper system, don't do it in the driveway....bleach can kill grass and does!

I'm so thankful that the neighbors on that side of the house are kind and forgiving....

Stay tuned for more adventures in "Follow that Red Suburban"!

The Mystery Is Solved

Have you ever gotten a graduation open house invitation in the mail from someone that you just have no clue as to who it is? We did today! So away I went to super sleuthing the mystery.

First, I asked the kids if the picture of the graduate looked familiar. The answer was a definite no. Then, I called my Mom to see if it was a relative that I didn't know. The answer was a no there also. Then, I decided to go through our church directory but found nothing there either. So I decided to call my good friend April who knows everyone but much to my amazement, she didn't have an answer for me either. We even went to the internet to do some research there but it turned up nothing but an address which we already had. I thought that it was just going to remain a mystery.

But then it happened, my Father-in-law won the prize for unraveling this mystery. It does happen to be a relative....a second cousin to be exact!

It's Moving Day!

I previously mentioned in one of my previous blogs how we had to move in with my Mother after losing everything just after Brad was born. It was July fourth weekend of 1995. We eventually got back on our feet and bought a house. However, my Mom at that time, didn't have the financing to stay on her own. So she moved with us and we've been together ever since...12 years later.

Recently, a senior living complex came to our attention. I called to make an appointment for a tour and my Mom immediately decided she like the place. She filled out all the paperwork and had to wait for them to check all the information out. In the meantime, the plan is to give Grace and Kara Grandma's old room. Grace was thrilled. She hasn't wasted any time measuring and planning on how she wants to decorate. She just let's Grandma sit in her recliner while she get's the tape measure and makes all her mental notes. Then she hits the internet to see what Target has available that fits her fashion plan (but not her parent's budget...lol).

God, once again, is revealing himself to our daughter and to us. She needed a new bed really bad and a dresser since we are in dresser shortage here. The room needs new paint and carpet. I figured that it was something that was just going to have to wait. But to our amazement, we were given a bedroom set which includes not only one dresser but two along with a queen size bed. Then we got a call that someone wanted to give us their carpet that was being pulled up and guess what color it is???? PINK! Grace's most favorite color! The carpet is in great shape. All we need to purchase is the padding to go underneath it. And we've had several offers from friends of ours, to come and paint the room just how Grace would like it and put the carpet in for us. (It's a good thing Kara likes pink too!) My only concern for the room, is that it won't remind me of pepto-bismol when it's all finished. However, it IS a huge reminder that God does care about the little things and He loves to bless his children.

Which brings me to today....It's Moving Day! I didn't realize how much stuff my Mother had squirreled away in her little room. We've taken several loads over to her new place and it still looks like there is much, much more to go. I hope it all fits!