The month of December in pictures~

Big boy learned where the stair case is and how to climb it!

Coffee is still a staple in this house~

 

Pizza made/baked on cast iron is the best!

Mile Stone! 6 yrs. old!! hard to believe the twins are that big.

A trip to Toys R Us got them balloons and a small gift pack, and they spent their $3.00 gift card.

 

A FULL day in town got two cakes baked and only one 1 frosted. So we decided to put candles at each end. Carrie let me know that was identity theft at it's finest! So we put her candles on an unfrosted cake-she thought it was the best ever ;)

Another high light was Daudy coming close enough that we could pick him up for a day at our house. We surprised the children.

Jesse just loved him.

He was waiting on Daudy to hug him ;)

 

 

 

Christmas Eve (and as Dakota says, You'll aren't my friend, because you'll always have your secrets and don't tell me)

Annie, Carter, Carrie,  Dakota

And the two that are best friends. He loves her so much!

Christmas Day at Pappa and  Grandma's took us on a hay wagon ride. We sang and laughed the whole way.

Seth  and Conner

Three cousins

We stopped and sang for Mrs. Moon, Cynthia and I hung out and played at her house as little children.

And yes the dog went along, it was a first and will be a last!

And this morning, I once again am sitting with sick children. We have had the vomiting flu, and now fever, sore throat, sinus infection-it's terrible stuff.

 

 

We were struggling with the vomiting flu the week before Christmas. And when we went and picked Austin up at 'Camp' he was thoroughly exposed and came down with it the day after Christmas. He missed the family gift exchange. My heart broke for him...He was looking forwards to it so much-gifts and good food, what more could a boy want ;)

 

Austin's 7 day home visit is ending way too fast. Tuesday morning we will be hitting the road heading towards Maryland again. This time I am hoping to make the trip myself with the children. Wayne is looking at the end of the year, and has parts that have to be done. I feel like the little Engine that Could, "I think I can", I think I can".... "I know I can, . . . . It is a 4.5 hr. trip and is pretty much a straight shot, so I shouldn't get lost. I am one of those that go by land marks, I don't do gps, maps... or any of that new fangled stuff ;)

 

And as we near the end of home visit, faces are getting longer, tears are caught in Momma's voice all the time. Children are feeling sad...and the tears are seen sliding down Austin's face. I asked Austin how he is feeling, he said he misses his Chiefs really much, and the boys and can't wait to get back to be with them. That was good for this momma heart to hear. If you haven't caught on, we cry a lot in this house. Every day...

 

 

Until January you will find  me sitting by my cookstove staying warm.

 

 

 

 

And with a beautiful Tuesday morning dawning, I can't help but think today will put Monday in a blur, but before it is forgotten I want to preserve a few memories here:

When there were three littles crying at the same time...That only happened when the twins were little babies and Dakota was only 2 yrs. old. But yesterday was a rough one for tears!

-When I laid the four youngins down for naps, and the twins got into a fist fight (first one ever) and twin 'b' told twin 'a' "your a piece of junk" and twin 'a' replies, "well at least I am not trash".
Twin 'b' comes back with, "Well, I am NOT going to marry you now". And twin 'a' says, Mom what does it mean to marry?" I said, it means to live together forever with the one you love. And Twin 'a' quickly says,  "I am sorry I didn't talk nice to you twin 'b' and were ugly, will you forgive me?" and than twin 'b' says, yes, I forgive you and will you forgive me for being mean to you too?"

The whole time they were being little spit fires, I was sitting on the couch holding little Annie, and literally dying of laughter. I had tears streaming down my face....probably thought I was  crying. But the day had been so stressful, that I think it was a release of pent up feelings to just sit and laugh. But that can be the life of twins. If we have made it almost 6 yrs. without a fist fight like yesterday than I think we are doing pretty good!

I am sure today will have it's own unwanted problems, but we will deal with them when they come.
By 7:30 I will have 2 extra youngins for the day. Than at 10:00 Kayla's Chemistry tutor comes and gets her started on her book.

Well, need to get the children breakfast and get the morning started. This week is ending up a little more busy than I had planned for it to be.

You know your a Mom when.......

*  Your 3 yr. old lost her toothbrush and you hand yours over  as a loner
*  When you spend your first mile going down the road doing role call, and calling your husband to make sure he has the other half in his vehicle
*  You cant sleep at night because the peace and quiet is so rare or you sleep better during the day because of all the yelling and crying
*  Your so busy making sure the children have their Sunday go meetings on, that you walk out the door in a ripped everyday dress yourself
*  You drive down the road singing "Sing a song of sixpence, Pocket full of Rye Annie and Momma   riding bye.........."
*  When  you sit in the rocker you are guaranteed at least 3 children on your lap at once
*  Peanut butter and chocolate chips become a staple in your house-for mom
*  You wake up in the morning fully dressed-only to realize that you fell asleep that way
*  You find yourself running full blast through the house in the middle of the night, almost colliding      with your daughter who has a squalling child
*  You can't wait till 9:30 so you can fix a cup of coffee and sip it all alone
*  You say "I have been around the world a time or two" but meaning, learning how to handle burns, glue gashes, deal with concussions, Doctor others children. Fix bikes, mentor, cry, give hugs, pay bills, and drive 500+ miles in one week, only to come home every night.

And that is only part of what being a Mom is.........
                   Gotta love it!

Exhausted!!!

 After running full throttle at the school sale, she crashed hard!


 And Jessse is about beside himself with exhaustion too... So tired, he just cries out in his sleep.
Think I will head to bed before I reach that point too! We came home and cleaned up the house, put our vehicle load of stuff away and entertained company... Once we sent the Children to bed, they fell asleep right away-no hesitation.

School Sale Prep

And the day before the big day is finally here.
Check list:
Cup of coffee
Pumpkin Roll out of freezer
Avery downloaded and printer ready to go
Chores finished

I still have a host of things to finish yet!
Extra clothing together
House straightened up
Laundry finished-at least 2 loads

and my list could go on and on. But that is a realistic list! One that is manageable to do before 10:00, when I said we would head out to the School to work on our stan.

On top of my list, I have a baby that sits and cries if we go in public, and sounds like he is getting sick. I am just praying he doesn't start fever which will put me in the Doctor or the Hospital immediately. Although this year is looking easier to a certain point because Wayne is on my stand. That has taken a lot of pressure off my shoulders... He is the brains behind everything, He can think through things so clearly.. He can see a finished project.... even though we aren't finished setting it up. He is positive-yesterday after driving 130 miles (one day) Being told I needed to stop by Sam's Club and buy bags yet before I came home... And if you only knew how I can't stand Sam's Club, you'll understand my disgust when I got to the school to find bags on my stand. I told one of the committee, "look, It's been a long grueling day, tooth pulled, 130 miles, crying baby, exhausted, now this" sigh.
My list could go on and on..........Trying to make a Birthday happen for my now 8 yr. old yesterday... Bake bread, since we are out and we have some gluten intolerant children, and did I mention the baby that cried and cried... and cried some more, so the last thing I wanted to focus on was my Stand. Thankfully Wayne stepped in and carried on, I gave him a few pointers from last year since he was on a different stand. By the way, our baby doesn't cry, so when he does, it is a HUGE deal. We all huddle around him trying to figure out what is wrong, we pass him from one person to the next trying to figure out "the tears".
Well, the clock is ticking, and I must keep running. Wayne gets off with in the next hr. and I am so excited to spend a whole day with my hubby... YAYYYY!

I sit here staring at the screen, wondering how to put in words where I have been the last 10 days. Only my tachometer tells me I have been on the run. Last week, Saturday to Saturday 527 miles. Tuesday (today) 127 miles (just today) I made 9 stops, entered at least 3 different counties, went to two different towns........and am now in my rocker with a cup of coffee, printer at my feet. Cases and cases and CASES of jars staring at me to label. Children are still a mite under the weather with a round of sickness....Wayne is on the other couch sleeping. It has been a huge day. The only fun thing I done today was make a grand haul out of old Navy. 10 pairs of flip flops ranging from $1.99- $8.99 all for $4.70. I have all next years flip flops on the shelf! yay.
The most depressing thing I done today was write out a HUGE check to the Orthodontist. My life savings went swirling down the drain. Those sort of large $$$$$ amounts cause me to have a panic attack every time. But after seeing the severe problem Kayla has with her teeth, will make it all worth it. I asked Dr. Black on a scale of 1-10 and 10 being worse, how she would rate her mouth. Oh, she said, about a 7. Yikes. We are talking bone deterioration, possible (but hope not) rods in the roof of her mouth....
Other than that, the trees are lovely,

 

 An evening around the campfire

 And Jesse keeps us all laughing and squishing him to pieces!

 So full of personality

 

 

I am so grateful that I can stay home tomorrow, hoping to get the house under control-a little bit at least! There is lots to do, Thursday I have to take Kayla in to get a tooth pulled that is bothering her. And also it is Dakota's birthday~
I love the feel of fall in the air. Wood Cook Stove going, leaves changing color, Coyotes yapping... I think this has to be my favorite time of year.

And as the Security guy in the Hospital  said. "That was just another walk in the park". I wondered at first when I overheard him say that...... but not now!
Today was filled with "things" that should have been done a long time ago. Like a tooth checked out and temporarily fixed till the extraction.  A        L.O.N.G over due Orthodontist call made.
Than there was the Prescription that needed refilled because of the 3 yr. old drinking antibiotic like juice, and spilling more on the floor. And because of last minute Insurance change, I was going to have to pay full price for Jesse's meds, but the Pharmacist knocked the bill almost in half for me!- did you forget how the South is? Last minute on it all!
Or the guy wanting to get in line in front of you at the Pharmacy..all he had to say is, "I GOT THE ITCH". And we encouraged him to go ahead and step up in front of us-even though we had been waiting a spell.
And try taking a child that is only 5 days post-op tonsil/adnoidectomy to town with you. An ice cream bucket with all the meds, Gatorade and bread. Well you see, I tho't bread would be soft??
I found myself running behind the whole time in town, The Granny that was 90 yrs. old needed help finding scrapple, so we helped her. Or the "up in years" Granny that wanted to hug Jesse, and I let her. Oh how her eyes shown!
But than it was the moment I dreaded the most. A voice, and I turned to find the man that had cussed me out in the store a few weeks back, but than had said, " I know you Mennonites can cook good". I quickly ushered Kayla in the van amongst dumping rain, and jumped in and locked the door. Seriously that was the last man/person I wanted to run into  without Wayne. (Shudder)
And of course I worried leaving two children at home. One that refused to go to town, he just can't stand shopping!
Now the house is quiet. Baby dear is sleeping again...and I am waiting till the clock chimes 12:00 so  I can give Carrie another round of meds. She gets Prescription Medicine every 4 hrs. And Ibuprofen every 6 hrs. We kind've let the pain get away from us a bout 3 nights back, and we haven't been able to get control of it since, poor girl. She has done excellent despite it all.
Today I sat down with my "Time Keepers" planner. I had several appointments that needed the time changed on them. Than there were dates that I needed to fill in, And as I sit here thinking over the next week.... I will be in Lynchburg 4 times. The one day will be twice.


Yep! This was "another walk in the park! "

*An email update*

 

Our *'Young Marrieds' group has been camping at this same place for the last 10 yrs.! There was 19 adults and 33 children this year. Here is a few pictures, as well as my little man with his latest hat. We use the 'antibiotic' excuse for another hat ;) He isn't supposed to have any sun exposer.(I found out this weekend that the antibiotic Jesse is taking is on the 'dangerous' list, so I will be taking more precautions with that)

We let the children live in the water-as long as they had life jackets on...

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Rhonda and I done a big homemade pizza supper with Caesar Salad
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Soda...soda and more soda.
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These two are best of friends, they are all the time sharing giggles. All they have to do is look at each other and they start giggling. One night, Jesse laughed in his sleep so much I told Wayne Annie had to have been the culprit on that one ;)
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This afternoon, Carrie come in the house telling me the tail fell off, the tail fell off. I looked up to see her holding a lizard. I shrieked and sent her sailing out the door. Carter and her thought it was the funniest thing. I made the mistake of telling her that if you try and catch a lizard their tail will fall off and they will than grow a new one;) The twins ended up just killing it. At dark tonight, when Wayne was in the barn, they found a nice size black snake, Carter bawled and cried over that one.

When Dakota and Kayla road up to the barns to chore this afternoon, the sun was at a blinding spot and neither of them seen the copper head that was laying in the road-Thankfully nobody drove over it with their bikes and their bare feet were saved!

Hopefully this will be the last night of camping out in the living room to stay cool, and we will have the upstairs unit up and running again-I lost track at how many weeks it has been since it has been down......

Tomorrow is a new day~ and with it comes Laughter and Children

Dear Journal,
I am sure God must have chuckled a few times today...
I woke this morning at 6:59 .. the house was silent. Very unusual. The company that is here for 6 days firmly believe in rising E.A.R.L.Y.  But only God knew what I needed this morning, and that was extra silence. So I laid in bed and read a book, now if you know me, I DO NOT like reading. But this morning it was pleasant. Very pleasant. And once I heard that first little footstep upstairs, I made sure I was up telling them to let my youngins sleep ;)
Chores and Breakfast were almost over when Dakota came downstairs, leg and hand covered in blood. I immediately/naturally panicked and grabbed the peroxide bottle and dumped it on Dakotas leg so I could see what was going on. Oh, it itched like crazy. He was going insane. So I grabbed the benedryl  stick and dabbed that on a good one. Once I got him calmed down, I got to looking at this peculiar spot on his leg. It was a good 2 inches across and rock hard. Red flags started waiving, but I shoved them aside, put meds on and we went about our day.
About lunch time, everybody decided they wanted to go swimming, and since we have 5 girls and 5 boys, I told the girls to go to the pool, and the boys to the creek. That left Jesse and I here....I didn't waist a moment. once the baby was rocked and sleeping, I got food in the oven. Good thing I did, because it wasn't long and everybody was back at the house again-Hungry!
With 10 children in the house, we have learned to listen to stories.... The youngins will sit for hours literally inhaling Odyssey or The Sugar Creek Gang. This afternoon, I put a story on and took the twins and Annie and we all 4 squished in a full size bed, and slept. I was exhausted. Jesse just fussed and cried. Cheyenne had gone to the farm at 2:ish to milk. So that left Kayla rocking Jesse and trying to sew. She woke me to take him.....and handed me a cup of coffee!
Late afternoon I looked at Dakota's leg again, and decided to take a picture and send it to Wayne at work. Red Flags were flying high again, and I was turning my back on them. I called Wayne since I figured he wasn't in his office, and he had left his cell phone here at home accidentally.. He didn't know what to think.
So we cooked supper, A BIG supper. I had told Heidy J. to just eat supper here when she brings Chey back from the barn. Remember the numbers have climbed to 13 now. The table got stretched out another board or two added, and I am feeling like Old Mother Hubbard. Supper was in the oven, beets cooking on the burner on the back deck. Baby was happy, children were fighting, life was-well, you know about as normal as it gets. Wayne is home. And all I want is to get another cup of coffee and relax in my chair in the office and catch up on the day with Wayne. But from that thought on it turned into a roller coaster. Wayne handed me his phone to tell Bob what I thought of Dakota's leg, I text him a picture, and it wasn't long, and he said, he wanted to stop by and look at it. Than the phone rang, and Grady wondered if I wanted cucumbers. I said sure, and thought he said he had 14 bags-ended up it was 14 lbs. -thank goodness. So while I am cutting up beets, Wayne is chatting with him, baths are trying to get given, and Bob drives in the lane. After discussing some medical stuff with Grady, Bob comes on in and looks at Dakota's leg, which has now a nice streak darting out the side of the rock hard red circle. Bob's first thought was MRSA, but on looking at it closely is thinking more a spider bite. He thought it best to start him on antibiotics tonight. So as he was in the living room calling the Pharmacist giving him the order, I was grabbing my bags, sailing down the road, because they closed in 20 minutes and it took me 15 min. to get there.
I came home feeling like I might just snap, Carrie was complaining about her ever present sore throat, Carter has a scratch on his leg that hurt, Annie was hungry, the baby was screaming the Bacitracin has walked off-literally, it just wasn't good.. And quite naturally it wasn't enough of me to go around. I took a break to look for my cup of cold coffee that I left somewhere in the kitchen....come to find out Wayne had drank it, Kayla was shaking my bottle of meds in the cupboard, I could read her mind, she was wondering if she maybe should offer me some. And sweet Wayne came in and slept on the couch, at least I had his presence there while I was trying to get the 4 youngest in bed ;) *laugh out loud* And since Dakota seemed far from sleep with a miserable leg, I made some more coffee. and honestly by the time it was ready-Dakota was sleeping! How unique!!!! So here I am drinking my coffee, Annie is still playing cards, and now Jesse is awake. Tomorrow is another day- with another two children on top of the 10 I already have ;) The next 2 boys coming are the life of the party-Great entertainers!!!!!!!

 

And dare I mention that there was no left overs to put in the fridge-dishes were scraped clean~

July 15, 2014
Evening was upon us, supper was finished, and I had started the pizza sauce process. One that I have learned to enjoy since the Vita-Mix. You see we put the tomatoes in whole-minus the core, and blend them to puree and dump it in a kettle, add your seasonings, and wa-la, your done. I had sat down to rock Jesse a little bit, after turning my kettle of juice on high, when somebody came to me in a desperate tone said, "Dad cut his finger". I ran to the 1/2 bath only to see blood gushing everywhere. I immediately called Bob, who had totally forgot to bring his bag home with him. In the mean time, Kayla had dumped cayenne pepper in the gaping wound, and that still didn't stop the bleeding, so she dumped a large amount of peoples paste in, and that clotted the blood. This was 8:30, and since we thought the walk-in closed at 9:00, we hit the road. Kayla kept baby and all home. We sail up the road to find that the Walk-in closed at 8:30. And Wayne refused to go to the E.R. So we went to Walmart to get bandaging supplies. Once parked, Wayne looked at his wound again, and said, "he just doesn't know". I told him, think about it till I come back out. Once out, he decided it was bad enough, that we would drive to the E R and see what the waiting time was. I could not find my glasses in my mad rush to get out the door, and my eyes are bad enough at night, poor Wayne was trying to help me see where I should turn and such. Not this lane, it's blocked off, No that is exit only, go a little further, try this one. And when we did find an entrance to the parking lot, and parked. We seen why the others entrances were blocked, the Helicopter was getting ready to fly out. Once in the E R Wayne signed in and than they were taking his vitals, when the nurse asked how deep it was, if it hurt, and how bad it bled. I can't remember what question she asked, that led Wayne to tell her we put "People's Paste" on it to get it to stop bleeding, the nurses comment "well, it worked good"!
After sitting in the E R for awhile, Wayne about had enough and went and asked them how long the wait would be, the guys response was "it is a slow night, but it will be 2 hrs.". Wayne opted to come home and go to the walk-in come morning. So we taped a pencil to his finger, put more "People's Paste" on the now oozing/starting to bleed wound and wrapped everything up, and went to bed. I on the other hand finished adding my seasonings and boiled the pizza sauce, and than crashed.

A  typical day goes like this: (it can vary a bit, but this was Monday)
Alarm blares at 6:30, and since we had just come off a trip and got to bed about midnight, I was exhausted. I shut the alarm OFF. And fell asleep promptly till 7:30. Woops, children need up, cow needs milked, hogs need slopped, and breakfast needs served. Wayne overslept and was an hour late for work-
9:00 the phone rings, poor Wayne, who sounds down and out, says he locked his keys in the truck and forgot his laptop. Mind you it's only 32 miles to work-and that's one way. I offered to pull him 'out the ditch', and at first he said he would be fine, but than changed his mind, and I quickly I got my grocery list together for the week and left about 11:30 and got home about 3:00. I left my baby home with the others, and he slept almost the whole time-he was wore out from the trip.
We had an hour battle with emotions in a child..........
4:00 I sent two of the children up to the farm to chore.
We worked on getting laundry in off the line, and supper made. Although, we didn't get to sit down for supper till about 6:30. By than, my head ache was getting the best of me, and I was starting to feel sick with it.
Once again, milk cow, pick tomatoes... and wash up supper dishes. I don't remember much after I left the table,  I kept laying down and falling asleep. I was just too tired.

Tuesday morning, I woke again to that blasted alarm clock blaring music... I shut it off once again and wished to go back to sleep, but new I couldn't. I looked over to see Jesse looking at me, and when I met his gaze it melted my heart... This was day 2 on unpacking camping items and putting them all away. I know, I sound so organized, but in this house, organization hasn't even reached the end of the lane yet. lol
This evening is pizza sauce, milking, supper.........and more sleep.
Jesse was thrilled to be home again. He sat in his seat playing with his toys and grinning from ear to ear. I love seeing that.
Tomorrow I am sure things will change up a little bit more, but the norm is still there!

and until than..................

Every night I go to bed asking the same questions to myself, Worrying about the same things.

1. Did Jesse get his antibiotic
2. Did  I take Jesse's temp.
3. How do  I go about finding out where Jesse's prescription is?
4. Jesse feels warm, is he running fever.
5. Change his diaper... and thinking his urine smells strong-which antibiotics can do that too.

These are all legit concerns, but I do about worry  myself sick sometimes. And than I pick up my baby and just snuggle him tighter. And thank God I have him to hold and love.

Last week, I "whole house shampooed" It almost put me down on the couch for a few days. Today I am fighting myself to keep going, keep working. I was determined to clean the floors by myself. I am normally one to start a project and not even half way through, Wayne has to come along and finish it for me. Oh it was terrible. I will NEVER do that one again. If you know what it is like to have low Vitamin D3 Than you know what I am talking about. The bone and joint pain is so bad you can't hardly walk. The first time I struggled with it was almost 6 years ago, and I literally thought I had leukemia.
Today there are only four children here with me, and we are trying to get on top of the laundry and dishes. It's coming along, but rather slow!

Dear Blog,
It has been awhile since I sat down to tell you how we are doing. Oft times I lay in bed wishing I had just a little more energy to write. But there is just nothing left in me. I am tired, my body is exhausted, and all I want to do is sleep. Mornings, I wake up and try to start the day, but by 10:30 I am on count down to 12:00 so I can sleep. Oh yes, I even serve lunch early if that is what it takes to get me on the couch sooner. I stay tired, and that is frustrating me terrible. I have 8 children to run after.
After two weeks of Bible school running-I would take the children out and the bus would drop them off here again. But with all the other schedules to mesh, it was taking a toll on me. By Saturday I had another one of those physical melt downs. Bad enough, I didn't leave the yard until my blood pressure felt stabilized again. Sunday morning the "stove shot willie". That term means, I stayed in bed all day long, and just let the world go by. By Monday morning, I was starting to feel better, but it didn't take much for me to start feeling weird again. So I took it easy all day, rested, drank tea, cleaned up the kitchen... My girls are wonderful. Cooking, doing laundry, etc.
I feel certain, that if I would have rested and eaten the way I should have after the baby was here, I would feel differently. But between conflicting schedules, Dr. appointments, Dentist appointments, etc. there truly was no time to rest.
So here I am, hoping another night of rest will get me even further tomorrow!

So long~

 

A few more pictures from the month of May. It was a busy month for us-

One of my favorites-Annie rocking the mother cat and patting it.

 

Memorial Day Weekend (Saturday)

 

Was spent down in Roanoke with my Uncle.

My brother took his boat..(the fast boat)

Mom and Dad showed up in time to baby sit Jesse, I wasn't into taking him out on the water-

We took the Pontoon boat out-it was fast, but not near that of my bro's.

Children just loved it

The fast boat group was come and gone in a jiffy.

We of course took our time looking around.

Till we got back- we lost our spot at the dock.

My bro. camped out by the water-it was beautiful down there.  I was happy to just go home and crawl in my bed, with the ac running ;) We do want to go back down there again-camping next time.