gallivanting

I inevitably forget my camera when we go out, but thanks to our cool new phones, (we got the most amazing deal on a new phone plan which was very exciting because some kids wanted phones, some kids wanted texting -- can you believe we made it so long without it?  And it is already causing trouble...) I was able to take some pictures while we were out last weekend.  They're not the best, but they will do.

We went down to Springfield to see Charles run in his third cross country meet.  He is doing really well and got 13th out of over 90 kids.  He was very excited because they gave the first 20 a medal.  I have no pictures of him, not that he would've let me, so I suppose since I didn't even think of it he obviously has conditioned me.  He rode home on the bus so we took the three youngest over to New Salem.  It is so beautiful there and they happened to be having a bluegrass festival.  Matthew sat and listened to some great music while the kids and I visited some of the little dwellings.  And by little I mean minuscule-y tiny.  Some of those families had 9 or 10 kids with only one room!  We think we have it so bad sometimes and we in all actuality absolutely do not.  We came home and thought our house was so spacious and had a lot more rooms than we actually need.  A separate kitchen and indoor toilet are merely luxuries.  We also decided that what we do need is a family bluegrass band, doesn't everyone?  There were people playing the banjo, the ukulele, the dulcimer, the bucket (?), apparently anything goes -- now I know what we're getting for Christmas...

After New Salem we missed an important turn, but decided that we were perfectly capable of finding the freeway by taking country roads in the correct general direction.  Normally our rule is to never turn around or backtrack, but  we ran into this:

And a whole lot of this:

And had basically decided that the new rule was that yellow lines on the road were mandatory when we ran into this:

Can you see that rusty car in the silo?  It was amazing and must have happened during a tornado years ago!  And to think that we might have gone through our whole life without seeing it just because it is on an extremely remote Illinois back road -- that was a close call!

blood, sweat, and tears

I haven't had much gumption for writing in the ole' blog recently and I don't quite know why.  I suppose I'm just busy with the regular business of living, but I don't understand how all of those mommies are writing novels, sewing, painting, etc.  (Sigh) Someday!  Let's see what I've been doing.  


Reading:  I had sort of stopped reading so much in the last couple of years, but in the last few weeks I've read an embarrassing number of novels -- mostly young adult, and almost all excellent.  


Canning:  this is where the blood, sweat, and tears comes in.  There wasn't actually any blood, which is rather surprising since I was using a sharp knife to both peel and slice the peaches.  The opportunity was undoubtedly present.  There were, however, a couple of somewhat serious burns from my very spazzy removal of the jars from the hot water bath, with boiling water splattering my front -- instant blisters!  I told a friend and she asked if I was wearing any clothes.  Hmmm, that is quite an image...  Why yes indeed, I was wearing several layers, truth be told, and after this experience I certainly will never be trying the nude canning and recommend that none of you do either.  We got a very good deal on a box of local peaches at the farmer's market so that and the satisfaction of rows of lovely jars of peaches more than makes up for the hours of labor, the terrific mess, and the resulting scars I am sure.  


Chauffeuring to seminary:  I am suffering from chronic lack of sleep and no amount of yoga shoulder standing will make up for that.  I will use this as the current excuse for my inability to think straight. 


Dressing my truth: I have been OB-sessed with the website and watching every single thing they have.  I have also ordered some things from their website and when I saw the charge on my credit card bill, it said, "Dressing your truth, disco"  Disco?  Did I order a disco ball and/or some funky music?  Think, think, think.  Oh!  It is short for "Discover your beauty profile."  I thought it was amusing.  I also thought it was funny that I have been trying so hard to look a little better and went a whole hour walking with a friend before she looked over and said, "Your shirt is on inside out."  Their truly is very little hope when I can't even master the simple basics of dressing.  


Being plagued by deadly pestilence(s): two different children at two different times in the past week have had, respectively, pinworm and lice!  Both were thwarted before spreading to any other family member (knocking on wood).


Losing weight:  Last, but not least, I have lost the same five pounds about three times this month.


What have you been up to?

our prodigy

You might not think it is very funny, but we have a little running joke about our youngest being a little bit on the slow side.  He didn't walk until about 16 months, he still doesn't talk much, and when you tell him to give something to someone in the family he will probably throw it in the garbage more often than not.  When another Finn moved into our ward last summer we teased that people will distinguish them by labeling them the smart Finn and the other one.  I really am not that worried about his taking his time with things, he is the fifth child after all, but when he does something even the slightest bit precocious I get really excited.  Yesterday I was quickly trying to vacuum the main level before we went on an errand.  I told him to go get his shoes, which he did (yea!) and brought them back to me.  I then told him I was going to finish up and then I would help him.  Two minutes later he came back with them on and I was astonished!  I couldn't he believe he had had the coordination to put on his own shoes and proceeded to do a little dance, sing a lively song about how awesome that was and we both clapped for joy.  While I finished up the vacuuming I was daydreaming about how I would blog about my kids all getting so big when even my baby could put on his own shoes, zipped around the dining room, then backed into the library and ran right into someone.  Aaack!  Ella -- I didn't hear you come home.  How long have you been here?  Did you by any chance put Phin's shoes on him?  Complete deflation.  Yes, of course he didn't put on his own shoes.  It was so funny!  She said that she could hear me the whole time being so elated, but I couldn't hear her trying to tell me I was mistaken over the roar of the vacuum.


Today at our RS presidency meeting my friend said that she saw my husband and the littles at the library last night during my class.  She was so gratified that Phin knew her now.  I turned to him and said, "Do you know Miss Clare?  Where is she?"  And he pointed to the dog.  Oh, well.  I'm sure it will soon be his time to blossom.


Matthew just took him to his office for a little bit.  He adores his daddy and was happy to say goodbye to me, but first he needed to give me a big smooch --  that pucker is something he has mastered and no one would want to miss.

rhythms

The tempo of my days has changed and I seem to have more time than I did when we didn't have much to do.  Getting up at 5:30 has its perks indeed ~~ I've been so productive before it's even 9 a.m.!  Ella was questioning this yesterday when we wondered why no one got any Personal Progress or Duty to God goals done this summer:  there wasn't anything pressing and thus nothing was actually accomplished.  Now when everyone has so much to do with schoolwork and what have you, the rest of our lives are clicking into place as well.  I was anxious about school starting again, but having a more concrete schedule is definitely an improvement from what my natural tendencies seem to be.


I know I've mentioned this before, but I  really like using cloth diapers which is something I didn't expect.  I was one day horrified by the idea of how big a mountain of disposable diapers just my family had created and so I switched when my fourth was a baby.  There were also the advantages of not using bleached paper, not buying a huge package of diapers every two weeks, not running out in a pinch, and many more that aren't coming to mind right at the moment, but there were also some unforeseen bonuses: such as right away I became aware of her natural rhythms in a way that had been impossible before and I felt more in tune and closer to her.  I have discussed this phenomenon with other cloth diapering moms and they have felt it, too.  

The sun is moving south.  I wouldn't have even been aware of it if I weren't hanging out my clothes to dry, but the spot where I liked to hang my whites to get really sparkly has diminished to a small piece of line for a tiny window of time because of where my biggest trees are and I have to move my diaper drying rack onto the driveway to get any nifty sun bleaching action at all.  I know this happens every year, but I couldn't tell you exactly what happens with the sun and the moon.  I must not have been paying attention.  Does everyone know all of these things already and I'm just out of touch?  I have always been intrigued by the amount of knowledge that our ancestors had about the movement of the sun, weather predictors, plant knowledge, etc.  Where did they get all of their information without so much as an encyclopedia or google in sight?  It was from experience and necessity and we have lost so much by moving indoors, our reliance on technology, and only buying whatever "they" are selling to us.  The light moved slowly at first, but now as the equinox approaches there are huge differences every afternoon.  I am in awe ~~ of the sun, the earth, and of how much that I don't know or understand.

Like why are bubbles so totally awesome and circular?  We're going to go blow some in the kitchen before I mop and Phin will dance around in delight popping as many as he can.  What amazes you?

good morning, good morning!

Well, the good news is that I have a really good blender -- yippee!  The bad news is that I just blended the rubber stopper thing from the blender lid into our peanut butter, yogurt, spinach breakfast smoothie this morning.  I didn't even notice!  First, I thought it seemed to be having a harder time than usual to blend up the ice and even recalled for a moment the amusing story my friend Julie told me about blending up her little plastic stopper -- hilarious!  Then I idly wondered where my stopper was and bent down into the cupboard and did the thorough yet efficient hand sweep in the dark thing.  Next, I lovingly poured the jewel green nutritious deliciousness into everyone's glasses and demanded that they drink it all up or else!  I drank a little and noted absently that the flax seeds I had added seemed especially tenacious.  Wait a minute, that's not a flax seed, that is plastic.  Oh ~~ the lightbulb illuminates above my head ~~ that's where the stopper went.  I hurriedly yanked everyone's glasses out of their hands, scooped out the black plastic chunks, mournfully poured the rest of the "breakfast that actually wasn't cold cereal" down the drain, and got out the bowls with resignation.


In other morning news, Charles woke up at 5:38 which happens to be exactly two minutes before we leave for seminary -- and we were still on time!!!  I was looking all over for him in the basement, then was going to check if he was still in bed when I ran into him groggily making his way down the stairs.  After a promise that we could run back home before school, he put on his shoes and walked out the door.  Amazing.


Phin has a little cold, didn't sleep at all well, and is wiping snot on the couch at the moment.  Oh, now he has fallen asleep and looks super sweet.


How is your day going so far?

first day of fall depression

School started today and it makes me so sad.  Did the summer go faster than usual for everyone?  I can hardly stand it and I certainly wasn't taking any pictures of the big day.  It isn't really celebratory for me at all.  My friend, Lisa, was writing on facebook about all of her homeschool preparations and I suddenly started to rethink that whole topic, but then did what I usually do which is go with the flow.  This morning, however, the girls were annoying me quite a bit and the thought quickly crossed my mind that it might actually be nice to have them gone until I realized that they were only bugging me because they weren't getting ready for school and that contention is virtually nonexistent during summer vacation.  Perhaps you should brush your hair?  Did you brush your hair??  Have you brushed your hair yet???  Oh and the homework battles!  Just shoot me now.  It also means that the winter will be here soon.  My stomach hurts.

We did have a great summer.  There was a lot of hanging out and visiting; a few projects accomplished; no big exhausting voyages; and not even one single box of macaroni or package of ramen consumed = success!

Now I just need to think of some things to keep me busy.  Heaven knows there is plenty of neglected corners around here to keep me occupied through the dark days ahead.  I know --  I'll do something really fun like reorganize our files!

Oh, and did you brush your hair?

midsummer malaise

I never write in my blog.  I never take any photos.  One day slips into the next and summer will soon be over.  August!  really?  It slides by so quickly while I clutch at it uselessly -- wait!  Did we go swimming enough?  Have we learned anything?  Have we struck the balance between a nice break from the too-busy school year and not going completely into a humidity induced coma?  The kids keep very busy with this and that and I love having them all around me.  Two more years with all of us.  I guess I won't go there.  Cry, cry.

I have been able to read a lot.  I just finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle then watched Food Inc. last night, both of which put me in a complete stupor -- what do I do now???  It will be okay, slow baby steps to organic righteousness.  I recently saw someone comment on how they hate the term "green" and at first I took a rather negative view of that opinion, but it definitely started me thinking about how the term really has become very trite and now has certain baggage, if you will.  Every article on the subject touts the same idealistic measures and pretends that it is all new and fresh.  (Don't even get me started on the How to Save Money articles ~ "#1. Stop getting $6 lattes every morning and you will save 5 million dollars a year."  But what if I don't buy lattes?)  I get all excited about organic and green things which makes me want to immediately buy some of the cool and amazing products and I wind up finding myself on some website and ordering things which a. is not saving me any green and b. doesn't seem very environmental when you take into account the planes, trains, and brown trucks required to bring me the overly packaged green products.  Why just a couple of weeks ago I joyfully opened my box of three Gorgeously Green books (if I bought all three I got free shipping on Amazon -- the savings just add up like that!) and then I got my box full of organic shampoos and other toiletries, but there must be a better way.

I also just finished The Lacuna, also by Barbara Kingsolver, (thanks mom!) and I loved it, but it made me all cranky about politics and people in general.  It did provide some insight about why people are all hesitant to be helpful and loving since I suppose that has the taint of communism.  Why can't people, on both sides of any issue, just follow the golden rule and be logical with regards to food, immigration, welfare, what have you?  That is all I ask.  Maybe I should stop reading and just watch BBC productions.  There is a lot less angst for me the farther one goes back in history and the more fictional the story.  Although, some of the things going on around us do seem to smack of science-fiction.

To calm myself down, I am reading Yearning for the Living God and it does all that and more.  Story after story of miracles and faith.  It does the heart good.  I need to be better, and I can with a little help.

So that is that.  The cicadas are loudly serenading me outside the window, the girls just got back from a bike ride, the boys are in the basement keeping cool, the husband is tying up the loose ends of a sabbatical year, and I suppose I should go buy some school supplies.  I don't want to.