Marriage - the story

(Here's Daniel setting the table for our romantic anniversary dinner for 8.)


And we don't look very happy in this photo (my husband looks much more like Sean Connery in real life, and I'm actually about 30 lbs lighter than this photo makes me look - stupid camera), but at least the cake looks good. And it was.

Yesterday was my 28th wedding anniversary.

Unreal.

Not in the fairy tale unreal way, where time has magically flown by amid sparkly, scrapbook-worthy moments. Although there have been many scrapbook-worthy moments (very few of which have actually made it into the scrapbooks.)

Marriage, for my husband and me, has been a journey in sanctification.

We're happy we've been on this journey together; We do not want to be on it with anyone else, but it's been long and uncomfortable and if truth be told (and that's what the blog world is for, isn't it?) it is taking us much longer to get to our destination than we ever dreamed it would.

I'm about to finish a book that has impacted my thinking, about my marriage in particular, in a way that surprised me. It's called A Million Miles In A Thousand Years, by Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz). The basic premise of the book is that we are all characters in a "story". Some of us have safe, boring stories. And some of us are so busy living the story that we don't know the plot.

Marriage and having lots of kids has made our story un-safe, and un-boring......and Hard.

The book has hundreds of quotable passages; I love the way the guy writes, talking to you out of his own experience, so you don't feel "preached at", but you end up hearing a sermon just the same. Here's one such passage:

"I realized how much of our lives are spent trying to avoid conflict. Half the commercials on television are selling us something that will make life easier. Part of me wonders if our stories aren't being stolen by the easy life."

Well, if all it takes is an un-easy life to keep your story from being stolen, then mine is very, very secure.

I have several friends in the midst of divorces right now. Friends with marriages similar to mine.
No previous role models. Erratic, sometimes unbiblical teaching on the roles of a husband and wife. Dysfunctional backgrounds. High hopes. Unrealistic expectations. Hard, long, overfull days.

Miller spends a good deal of the book talking about how joy rarely changes a person, unless it's the joy you feel when a conflict is over. And he speaks of how conflict is what really changes people. I bet Job would agree with that. In speaking of Job, reportedly the oldest book in the Bible, Miller says "It is a book about suffering and it reads as though God is saying to the world. Before we get started, there's this one thing I have to tell you. Things are going to get bad."

Marriage, and it's accouterments (children, home upkeep, giving up any personal space/rights), has changed my husband and me. Or maybe revealed more of what we really are.....Which is people that needed lots of changing. And at times things have gotten bad, mostly when we resisted the change.

The mistake would be in thinking that when things look bad, God is taking a break from writing the story.

We are indeed characters in a story, but the story is not primarily about us. That lesson was learned slowly in our case. I think my husband and I both came into marriage expecting that we would each be the "main character" - and we supposed we were being benevolent by letting our spouse "co-star" with us. And the more we demanded "star" treatment, the more the story stalled. If we were a reality show, we would've been cancelled :)

Turns out the story God is writing is way bigger than the characters. It's a story where He stars and gets all the glory, and the so-called stars go through all kinds of conflict and hardship and suffering - - - and in the end.......Well, I hate to spoil the ending.....But I'm pretty sure it has a sappy- happy ending. But the characters look Way Different than when they started.

And we try to remember that "the reward you get from a story is always less than you thought it would be, and the work is harder than you imagined. The point of the story is about your character getting molded in the hard work of the middle."


After all these years, we've realized that as our marriage is focused on the ending (the final ending, which will not take place in this life) vs. a comfortable story, we are more content characters. And we persevere by faith in the writer of the story.

And unlike our friends that are getting divorced, We stop wishing for an easier story.

Happy Anniversay, dear husband. Even though it's not the story I thought I was auditioning for, I plan on being there till the finale' (and don't tell the National Enquirer, but I have a huge crush on my co-star!)

At least someone has blog time...

...but she certainly doesn't live in my house!

Because in my house the computer is taken up by half-written upper school essays. And biology definitions, spelling websites, and states and capital matching games.

School is defining us.

However, I plan on rectifying our misaligned priorities.

.....Right after we get finished with (way, way) overdue essays, mysteriously missing writing journals, and several big fat 0's on math homework, we will put away our Ticonderoga pencils and make a plan to put school back in its proper order.

God. Family. School. Blog. Chores.

After all, Jesus grew in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man, right? I see more than just one category in there!

Jesus grew in wisdom. It's just too short and out of balance.

But I humbly ask you - How can one expect to grow in stature if one doesn't have time to eat, sleep, and play soccer? And may I add that part of the blame needs to go to Frankenstein?

His doggone story takes up ELEVEN CD's, all of which had to be listened to this weekend (good story, btw!) And don't bother me with the little detail of the book being assigned 6 weeks ago. It's not our fault that whomever had the CDs before us took their sweet time listening to them, probably taking occasional breaks to eat, sleep, pee, and play soccer - none of which we had the luxury of being able to do.

And what about growing in favor with man? I'm not feelin' the favor right now.
Could it be because of the sign on our front door that says "Do Not Disturb our Study!"


Perhaps that's enough ranting for one blog post. (although my faithful readers know I am really only getting warmed up....)

If misery loves company and you haven't gotten your fill of ranting, just call me. Or better yet, meet me at Panera. Their orange scones are rant-inducing. So I may need to rinse that down with a rant-calming chai tea latte.)

In the meantime, here's a blog you'll like, and it will keep you plenty busy because she sounds amazing.

I bet she doesn't have kids in private school.

Maybe she doesn't even have kids.

If she does, they must be illiterate. Lucky ducky blogger.

Just kidding, my dear, studious children. You're very worth it. I'm glad you're not going to be illiterate. I'm glad we spend every waking hour doing homework. I'm glad I read the Illiad and Frankenstein and The Yearling instead of Southern Living and Cook's Illustrated. I love learning about the locomotion of flagellates instead of playing online Scrabble.

And who needs to blog anyway?

(Just because it's my only creative outlet.)

Why should I even get to pretend for 10-15 lousy, precious, rare moments that someone is actually listening to me? I mean, who cares if this is the only writing I get to do that isn't "assigned" to me by someone 1/2 my age?

Whoops. Was I just ranting again?

I can't end on a rant. I'll end on a touching moment in my otherwise academically overloaded life. You may have noticed that I haven't blogged in awhile. But I'm honestly awed (actually, stupefied) that I keep getting visitors every day. Visitors to nothing. And comments.

You deserve better. Go read that other girl's blog. The one with the stupid children.

Love,
Debbie; teacher, mom, and blogger (in that sad order)

I'm Available

In case there is any confusion as to where I stand on product reviews, my status is:

Available: a·vail·a·ble; adj.>
Present and ready for use; at hand; accessible:Capable of being gotten; obtainable:

Qualified and willing to serve or assist.

However, I totally prefer this 'archaic' (according to dictionary.com) definition, because it fits me to a T when it comes to reviewing (cool and free, savvy) products:

Capable of bringing about a beneficial result or effect.

Want proof? Of course you do! Go on over here and check out my inaugural product review at Chic Critique.

Available. And Generous. I humbly ask you: What's not to love about me? :)

Stuff in the works

I have so many good blog ideas swirling around in my head. Never let it be said that I don't care about my blog. Or that I don't have the most creative, witty posts (half)written in my brain. Just because I don't spend much time actually blogging does not mean I don't spend plenty of time thinking of things to blog about. Isn't that comforting?

One brilliant post, awaiting publication on Chic Critique, is my first-ever product review. I'll let you know when it's up over there, so you can go over and ooohhh and ahhhh over the review, er...I mean, the product. Plus, there'll be a give-away!

And speaking of give-aways, my daughter, over at Redefining Normal, is giving away some adorable, classy note cards. I entered. And left a glowing comment (which isn't supposed to help, but couldn't possibly hurt, right?)

So, go over there and enter and win. And send one to me as a thank-you for telling you about the contest. (But don't write in it - just send it. Then I can have one in case I don't win.)

Expectations

I get a little glimpse of my immaturity when I hear my favorite man's truck pull up in my driveway. In fact, my heart starts to race the moment he pulls on to my street! Over the years the excitement has not waned even a tiny bit. If anything....it's gotten more intense.

My love for him is hardly unconditional, though - since my first thoughts are always of what he might be bringing me.

Like today. First, I heard his truck. Then his footsteps. I tried to act nonchalant by not flinging the door open while he was still in the driveway. And I'm savvy enough not to peek (anymore) through the curtains to see if there's a package in his big, strong hands.

And of course, I'm talking about the UPS guy.

Why I still have so much affection for him when he so often disappoints me is a mystery.

Even though I know I'm not the only consumer in this household of 9. And even though I couldn't recall ordering anything (recently). I was still downcast when I opened his package today and found it was not a cool, new, monogrammed tote (which it felt like...in the few moments when I was trying not to open it), nor some cool "bonus" from Land's End for being their Customer With The Most Returns last month.

In fact, most of the time - the packages delivered to our house are not for me. They are uniforms. Or parts my frugal husband has ordered for some appliance that lesser men would have just replaced. Or, worst of all - something for the previous owners of our house!

I deal with this same manic problem with the mailbox. Every time I go out there I expect something amazing might be in there. And my expectations usually have to do with money. As in checks. Preferably made out to me.

I was thinking about this today - in the aftermath of opening the UPS package and finding my husband had ordered himself some much-needed navy blue trousers for work - and realizing that the reason I have this "issue" is because occasionally...maybe, even rarely....I do get unexpected packages in the mail. Just last week my daughter sent me an adorable hand-made pillow and some cute bookmarks she had stamped. Now THAT is worth the walk out to the mailbox.

And once in a blue moon, someone really has sent our family a check for "no reason". One time an elderly lady from our church sent us $250 with a note that said "I was eating cereal this morning and I thought about all the cereal it must take to feed those boys of yours. Use this to buy some." And another time some friends got a small inheritance and decided to tithe on it - - - to us! That was the month every single child got new athletic shoes (and not from Goodwill!)

I bet you wonder if I'm going to end this post with supplying you with my address, don't you? LOL

No, oddly enough - I'm going to tie it into parenting. The past few weeks I have had trouble getting a couple of my children to go to bed and stay there (remember...my youngest two are ELEVEN! So this is not a new rule for them. It's been about 10 years since the rule was established.) 95% of the times they get up, I send them back to bed with an "admonition" or a privilege taken away. The point being....there's rarely any reward for getting up.

But occasionally.....Maybe 5% of the time, I see their cute little brown face; their sweet-smelling, pj-clad body; I hear their lovey-dovey, sleepy voice......and I invite them to sit and snuggle with me for a few minutes. (Sometimes I even give them some of my hot tea....or ice cream!) Sometimes it turns into a delightful, rare, one-on-one mommy/child, no-agenda time.

Sort of like going to the mailbox and finding a card with a sweet, encouraging note (and a gift card.)

I'm not saying they're right to break the 'house rule' and get up. I'm just saying that today when I heard the UPS truck drive up, even though I knew I would probably go back inside being disappointed - It was still worth flinging open the door in excitement. For that itty-bitty slim chance that it was a monogrammed tote.

I hope I remember this tonight when my quiet, solitary tea-time gets disrupted by a child hoping I've got something amazing for him.

Why should I blog.....

.....when you can just read my two married daughter's great posts this week? Plus, they are showing me up, Big Time, in the creativity department. Go and see.

http://redefining-normal.blogspot.com/2009/08/projects-of-week.html

http://www.thedomesticationproject.com/



Are you gone yet?

It's worth the click(s), I promise.

Was the summer a bummer?

Beware of ideas you copy off other blogs (except mine...)

This seemed like a great idea at first glance. So we had a pre-summer pow-wow with our kids and made one of these to boldly display on our kitchen door:



The purpose of the poster was that, by the end of the summer, the children could look back and reminisce on what a fun-filled, active summer they had. And it was also supposed to keep the parents accountable to make the summer fun for 'said' children.

Unfortunately, now we are accountable. And there are quite a few unchecked activities - -which we warned them might happen when they started firing (expensive) ideas at us.

Everyone got to add a few things to the list, including mom and dad. Mine had to do with reading books, and Dad's had to do with yard work...... Because we're older parents..... and our definition of fun doesn't always match up with our kid's. In fact, if we had our way "Go to bed right after dinner" and "Read the newspaper out on the porch" (vs. the kitchen table) would've been right up there.


If it looks like we hardly did anything on the list - it's probably because we used a yellow marker for some of the check marks. And in case our kids are reading this. please note.....Out of 29 items, we completed 14 of them - which is almost 50%. Which is a higher average than you have on doing your chores without being reminded.....or brushing your teeth after each meal....or picking your clothes up after a shower..... Not that we're keeping track.

School started yesterday - which means summer is Officially Over (even though it's 90+ degrees outside and still very light at bedtime.) The poster is coming down - and maybe we'll do it again next year, but with a little realism thrown in.





P.S. I think it's interesting to note that many of the things the kids put on their list were no-cost activities. In fact I think, by far, their most memorable summer activity is the No-Work Saturday. Followed closely by the White pancake breakfast (instead of our normal whole wheat batter). So learn from us, you young parents - - - Make your children's lives semi-miserable to start with....and then almost anything seems fun in comparison :)

Honor your father and mother. It never ends.

"Work while you work, Play while you play;
For this is the way to be happy all day."

Author anonymous (and in this case, dead wrong)


I feel like several apologies are due.

One for not posting.

And one FOR posting - at least for posting about the same subject ad nauseum.

I have lots of semi-valid excuses for not posting in so long. Winston's back surgery (which went well, thanks for asking); getting ready to teach 5th grade at the local classical school (more on that later as I compare and contrast for you on this new experience vs. my previous life as a homeschooler - Just a little hint about which was easier, I now have to use a rubric- which to me sounds like it should be some kind of huge, shiny, fake ruby that gets hawked on the home shopping network - but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with grading...); and then life in a big family. Those are my semi-valid excuses.

I'm not a faithful blogger. There, I said it.

But I am blogging today, so I should get some points for that on the Big Bloggy Scoreboard of Life.

Today's post, as stated in the title, is about honor.

Real honor. Not just the kind of honor that sends a card now and then with nostalgic sentiment about what a great parent you were.

I'm talking about the kind of honor that causes a grown, married child to drive down to Florida, from places northward (too northward if you ask me...) under the pretense of enjoying a restful Staycation at a parent's house - - - - then finding things like "Replace rotten bathroom flooring under house" on the Staycation To-Do list, sandwiched in-between "go to beach" and "eat at nice restaurant".

Some sons-in-law would complain when they realized they'd been duped....er, I mean..that the plans had been changed. But not mine.

Here's a picture of their smiling, servant-like, honoring faces:



And here's a picture of their dirty butts:



(also pictured - the father-in-law/boss, and two younger sons who were displaying "forced honor")

Why do they look so dirty, you may ask? Is it because they all went into this small hole?


And I would answer, Yes - and here's proof. This is Justin under the house.He actually looks like he's enjoying himself. When else can you wear a cool head lamp, skateboard around on your belly with a flashlight, and get as dirty as you want? I asked him why he was making such a silly face - but he said it just looked silly because he was holding his breath (ew....!)


And here's Warren - congratulating himself (?) or maybe just praying and thanking God for giving him such wonderful in-laws.


Pop's recent knee replacement came in handy as he was banned from crawling under houses. Instead, he manned the board-cutting station (and made sure none of his sons tried to sneak out of the hole....)


Not to be left out of a chance to serve their aging parents, the married daughters did some honoring of their own by sewing new curtains for their younger sister's bathroom. They also helped fashion a velcro sink skirt out of an old shower curtain. (I can't find a decent picture of the finished bathroom - and don't hold your breath until I do - but I'll try to find one. It looks amazing with these big black checks on the window and sink, and black toile on the shower curtain. The walls are white with black/white framed pictures on the walls. It took the girl's bathroom and turned it into a lady's bathroom, fitting for 11 and 17 yo sisters to share.

This is Brite -trying to remember how to thread my cheap ol' Brother sewing machine (which I had to buy after she took her ultra-modern, computerized machine when she got married and left me small appliance deprived.)


Jacqueline, who would rather cook than sew - and would rather have fun than cook, assisted her sister by ironing. Did this make Jacqueline miss her teen years when she ironed for the 13 of us? Rhetorical question.



And who says you can't have fun while you work? (other than the guy who wrote that poem at the top of this post..)


Well, dear readers, this is the end of my staycation posts. Feel free to go back and read them over and over again. Or....you could check out my daughter's blogs (on my sidebar) and read something fresh and inspiring. One will make you hungry - and one will make you want to order a pillow.


I'm going to try something new as we head back to school and my time gets even more scarce.
I'm going to try blogging regularly (not daily. My memory isn't that bad. I remember May.), but I'm going to blog shorter. Little short blog spurts.

(And yes I also remember that I've tried this before and they weren't all that short. But I'm growing and learning - and maturing - and I think I'd like to try again. Come back and see!)

The Dog Days of Summer

Hah! Gotcha! You thought maybe, with that new title, this wouldn't be yet another post about my Staycation, didn't you? I'm so sneaky. You must be new to my blog...Otherwise, you'd know better than to trust me.

However, there are dogs in the post. And the pictures were taken this summer (during my staycation.) So the title is not a complete lie.

This picture reminds me that we really should get one of those "Rules of the Pool" signs made.

No Dogs Allowed. Especially on the pool floats.



And especially if they plan on bringing friends.

Oh, and No Dogs touching the pool toys, either! If these weren't my GrandDogs, I'd be grossed out.


Surprisingly, we had no injuries during the Staycation - even though many daring (and stupid) stunts were tried.

Yep, that's my daring son-in-law, Nathan, doing a handstand off the very-edge of the diving board and hoisting himself over with his muscles. And then look how high he gets on his back flip?!Even Pop has to crane his neck to see this one.



But of course, I am equally enamored with both of my sons-in-law. But maybe just for different reasons :) Warren leads a mean family devotion - and makes great coffee, even if his jack-knife doesn't get quite the airtime that Nathan's does.



Here's another one of Warren's jumps. I think he calls this his SuperMan dive. Or not.




I love how, in each of these pictures, you can see the manly competitive nature of the guys as they check out each other's dives.




Watching all of this must have been agony for Winston, since he could've jumped higher and done Way More Dangerous stuff than any of these guys!

(If you're reading this before 7/28 - he has his surgery that day, so please pray for a full recovery!)






And then there were the girls showing off their, er....dives (?)





Here's Cooper proving his boyliness by being Top Gun on the pyramid.

Although he didn't really need to use his newfound swimming skills very much with so many doting uncles around.


I think if I had to wear one of these....I'd learn how to swim real quick-like, too.


Pop and I were too cool to dive. This is what we mostly did. And yes....we were on speaking terms. Not so sure why we didn't sit just a little closer to each other.


Some commenters (and you know how I love my commenters!) were asking about that mural in the background. It's painted on the back wall of the cabana. The previous owner of our house had it commissioned. All of her pets are in it...even tombstones for the dearly departed ones.
Isn't that ummmmm....special?!

This was my favorite pool activity. Holding wet babies with cute little butts.

You know how hard it is to find that pefect pool-side hairdo? Well, not for these guys.

And here are my last few pool pics to show you - Then next time, I'll share with you the non-fun part of the Staycation. It's the part that makes our family what it is.

The 100,000 calorie Staycation

Are we getting tired of hearing about the Staycation? Yes, we are.

But will that stop me? Not when I have all these food pictures to share, it won't.

So, let's just go ahead and get the most unflattering picture out of the way, just to prove that I have no pride (which would be a total and complete lie...).

I asked my daughters to send me any Staycation photos they took that had to do with food..and this is the kind of stuff they send. No pictures of them pigging out- Oh No... just me and my flabby arms and my gooey pizza. I'm sure they thought it would never see the Light of a Bloggy Day.




This next one has nothing to do with food, but everything to do with unflattering.
I couldn't resist this picture of Uncle Shep and baby Eli. You can't really tell who is trying to mimic who, can you?



OK, getting back to our topic: High Calorie Staycation Food.

As previously noted - if you were paying attention - we split up the cooking between families (families = Brite, Jacqueline, and Dad.) The meal Jacqueline made was scrumptious. My camera failed to capture the delectability of it (that, and the fact that I didn't remember to take the picture until we'd almost finished eating and half the food on this plate is gone.)

The menu consisted of risotto, rich and creamy - chicken marsala, rich and wine-y, and broccoli salad, rich and slightly healthy. (Click those links for the recipes - and go to Costco for the broccoli salad.)




Jax also did the snacks one day. Her family had been blueberry picking the day before they came down, so she used the juicy berries in these parfaits. It was a nice break from the Cheez-its I had planned to serve.



While following this Staycation Series on my blog, you may have (rudely) asked yourself, "What did Debbie make during the Staycation? Didn't she help out in the kitchen at all?" Well, Your Nosy-ness, Yes, I did help out. I did an important culinary task - - -

I held my grandchildren so they wouldn't go in and bother the cooks ......

But I also made this one night (to rave reviews, I might add.)

Mixed greens and spinach, with Gorgonzola cheese, honeyed pecans, and a ton of strawberries, topped off with home-made, poppy seed dressing. And you can have the recipe as soon as you apologize for thinking so poorly of me.



Here's the recipe for my favorite 50th birthday cake, enjoyed during the Staycation. Yummier than last years 50th. Or the 50th before that. And you can find the recipe here. When you click on that you may be surprised to see the recipe is taken from Cooking Light.

Don't let that throw you. It tasted very non-light.

My daughter used dark chocolate cocoa powder vs. the regular cocoa powder, and she said it made a huge difference. Honestly, dear readers, you must make this cake (preferably for me...but if not, then do it for someone else you love. And be sure you make enough so that your special person gets more than one piece. I speak from experience there.)



I wasn't the only one celebrating a birthday during our Staycation. Molly Grace turned 11, and was treated to a personal pedicure by her big sis, plus a gazillion beading supplies thanks to a friend of mine who is changing hobbies, and a How To Bead book by another big sis.
I never had a big sis, and I think I missed out on a ton (of presents.)

Brite made these cupcakes for our girly-girl Molly. (Ours are partially pictured below- the ones in that link are similar, although not nearly as pretty as Brite's - sorry Pioneer Woman.) Ours were decadent. More than decadent. Ultra-decadent.

Eli is a cheap restaurant date. This straw kept him occupied during most of the meal. (And then he nursed, which was no charge.)

Mary-Faith showing her baby sister some Birthday Love.



And turning our attention back to MY birthday, which was celebrated at the beach (see previous posts for many, many extraordinary beach pics). Here's the meal. Again, poorly photographed (by me.) Shrimp salad, chicken salad, fruit, and rosemary-olive bread.

Here's one of my favorite large group breakfasts (which could be any day in our family.)

Oven eggs.
Simply spray some Pam into some muffin tins, crack an egg directly into each muffin cup, cover each egg with one teaspoon of half and half, then sprinkle each egg with some cheddar cheese and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Pop them out, and pop them in (your mouth). Forks optional.

For a really special breakfast, serve those eggs with a few of these:

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G home-made (if you don't count the canned biscuits) donuts.
I'd love to take some credit for this recipe, but we found it from our friend, Moriah at Please Pass the Salt.

And to end my series on The Staycation (you wish!....I still have some diving contest photos to embarrass my older kids with), here's a picture of part of our family at Red Elephant. The camera (and the restaurant) had a hard time handling the entire family.

Favorite Staycation Fotos

Call it a denial tactic, but I've been too busy to think about the fact that my house is empty (except for the six remaining children- Molly went home with her older sister for a few weeks- my husband, and my grandchild-deprived self.)

So viewing pictures of all the fun and chaos was not a good idea until I was ready to face the fact that my grown children and grandchildren live hours and hours and hours and hours away from me.

Twelve loads of laundry later (and after the washing machine repair man left), I am ready to relive some of the fonder moments of last week's staycation.

My oldest daughter posted today on her blog about De-Grandmafication. You'll have to go over there and read it yourself to see how she traduced her own poor mother (!)- but suffice it to say she thinks I may have (inadvertently) done a little spoiling of her children while they were here.

Imagine that!

I'm tempted to say something about how I would not have to hold them so much or be at their beck and call if they lived closer to me....But of course, I won't mention that.

As a matter of fact, my children have been going through a little of their own "De-Grandmafication", but theirs stems from the fact that I spent so much time "spoiling" their nephews and niece that they got away with murder - or at the very least unmade beds, 1/2 done chores, and way too much time on the Wii.

But what can I expect of my younger children when their older siblings had this kind of a laid-back attitude during the Staycation? :)

That picture is especially fetching to me because these two spent so much of their growing up years in "costume". They were the neighborhood detectives (more like spies...), then advanced to script-writing and movie making.

So many of our pictures of Eli have him trying to eat something inedible. I like this one because he looks so determined. I mean after all, it is a fish, right?

In this one I can't figure out whether he's just embarrassed that I caught him trying to eat a diaper, or whether he's taking a big whiff of it before he digs in.

Thomas doesn't eat diapers and fake fish. He prefers sand.
He ate several handfuls during his first 10 minutes at the beach, which would've totally freaked his mother out if he had not been a third-born.

Another favorite picture because of the memory it evokes.
This is Winston's walker left on the shore after he decided, back injury or no back injury, he was going to get in on the Beach Fun! With his shirt hanging from the side, it almost looks like he was raptured, doesn't it? :)

I may just do a whole post about Staycation Food. We had some amazing meals - some at home and some at restaurants. (When you don't spend any money on gasoline you can afford to splurge a little!)

This is the birthday cake that Brite made me. I've had a different kind of cake for my last three 50th birthdays, but I think this is my favorite. It tasted like a turtle candy bar, and the main thing I remember about it is that we should've had two since there wasn't a morsel left over.
I'll get her to tell me the official name and recipe and post it later.

This picture just epitomizes Jacqueline's little family. The world revolves around Eli (in the good kind of way.) They LOVE having a baby to kiss on.

Speaking of my birthday, I got so many cool presents. A silver purse, a watch, a necklace, some antique rooster canisters, and these embroidered handprints of each of my four grandchildren, with their ages. We're not sure whether we're going to put them in red hoops or maybe use some white distressed frames.

Thomas was probably ready for a nap in this picture, but I prefer to surmise that he is chagrined by his cousin's spit up on the outskirts of the Block Town.

In addition to a Staycation Food post I think I'll do a post on the Dive Contest the older kids had one afternoon. If I ever need something to make me smile I can just whip out this photo of Shep, the writer and artist, trying to go All Athletic on us. Looks more like a plie (plee-yae) than a dive to me.


Maybe the best part of the Staycation (if you don't count the spoiling of the grandchildren) was watching the Big kids play around with their younger siblings. I'm truly grateful that they have such enduring relationships. Even with families and busy lives of their own, they do a great job of being Big sisters and brothers to those who are "left behind" and still stuck with the old-fogey parents (who couldn't even think about lifting them up like this!)

Since I only have one granddaughter (so far...) I decided to take her under my Beauty Wing and show her the ropes of Velcro rollers. Here we are heading to breakfast Sunday morning before church. We really bonded during this visit. I speak her language (which is lip gloss and jewelry).
When she turns 3 I promised her a tutorial on pore minimizers.



I miss this face!

Staycation- Beach Day

Yes, I'm still posting pictures from Day One of Staycation (even though the staycation officially ends tomorrow - and Yes, this is probably my way of prolonging the inevitable post-grandchild visit blues.) I would've posted them before now - but Blogger Hates Me...and apparently my offspring, and the children of my offspring.

Two nights in a row I have carefully selected pictures to share with you, clicked on the photo icon, and hoped I would find enough Bloggy Favor to end up with something more than just text, but each night I get right to the brink of success, only to end with a screen full of snow.

"Someone" has suggested that perhaps if I blogged earlier in the evening (or perhaps even early morning)I would not be experiencing these "technical difficulties", to which I answer: Do you think I wait up at night, just twiddling my thumbs until some ungodly hour so I can blog while every other soul is snuggled in their down comforters?

No.

I blog late at night because that's usually when I have some "unallocated" time. So maybe "someone" should walk a mile in my screen name for a day or two and we'll see what bright ideas they come up with - if they're not too exhausted to speak coherently!

(And if "someone" was truly trying to be nice and offer a helpful suggestion...then kindly disregard the previous paragraph.)

Anyway- here's the pittance of pictures Blogger has allowed me to post tonight, after 53 minutes of trying. Fortunately, they're all excellent and worth the wait :)

The first three are of Jacqueline (my second oldest daughter) and her baby Elijah. He has the most expressive faces, doesn't he?






Molly has been asking for a baby for the past several years. She doesn't think it's fair that everyone else in the family has younger siblings except for her and Daniel. I've tried to explain to her that someone has to be the youngest, even in a family of 13. I'm hoping that all this Baby Holding time (in addition to the poopie diapers and spit-up) will cure her of the Baby Fever.


The beach was wonderful, even though we had intermittent thunderstorms. This is Daniel, waiting for the weather to clear so he can kayak.

More kayakers - Grandchild #1 and #2.

Winston spent hours fishing. When someone yelled for me to come out of the beach house and see the shark Winston had caught I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm pretty sure it was something a little more menacing (and larger) than this.

Jacqueline and Nathan are a Fun Couple. They enjoy life. And they enjoy posing for the camera.
I know they were trying to be silly here, but I love this shot since it exemplifies their care-free spirit and their newlywed (2 years) love.

Here's Shep, trying to act like holding wet, sandy babies is just a natural thing for him. He's going to make a terrific father one day. But first I'd like him to make a terrific husband. And right now I'd settle for him being a terrific Guy in a Serious Relationship that Might Lead to Marriage.

And, just in case you needed proof that I'm a slow learner/eternal optimist, I just waited another 37 minutes (meaning it is now 1:28 a.m.) for Blogger to be kind enough to allow me to show you the following pictures.

This is where "Pop" spent much of his time - In the kitchen. We each took turns preparing meals, which meant that everyone attempted to outshine the others - which meant that we had several 20,000 calorie days.






One night in the future, when I need even less sleep than tonight's potential 5 1/2 hours, I think I should do a whole post on Staycation Meals. Pop's meal above consisted of stuffed pork chops, Gorgonzola/honey pecan salad, and Pop's famous, homemade rice-a-roni.

Delish.

Good night (or morning).

too tired to title

I "wasted" my blog time tonight by holding Elijah for several hours while his parents were out. I definitely made the right choice :) You'll have to add your own witty text to the pictures below since I don't have time.

If you'd like to get some details on the Staycation goings-on, check out my daughter's blog (who has text, but no pictures and is sending people over here. We're all about passing the buck in our family!)



In Winston's behalf I do have to add a couple of words here - He came to the beach with us even though he has a herniated disc in his back and can only sit and watch us play. In this picture his boredom is starting to show. But I think he would like me to point out that the sippy cup is not his.



Alright-y, I guess blogger is also otherwise engaged since it is refusing to upload any more of my wonderful pictures. I'm eager to show them to you, but it is now 12:22 a.m. and my drowsiness is overwhelming my eagerness.

good night.

The picture behind the picture

The staycation is going splendidly. Chronological pictures forthcoming.
Truth is, fun is time-consuming and it keeps one (or nineteen..as the case may be) quite busy.

I have taken hundreds of pictures in the last three days, but these two are classic illustrations of family life.

Here's what you see:

And here's what you don't see happening just moments before:



These are not staged- and I think it's hilarious how even the babies seem to know the difference between 'waiting for the picture to be taken' and HAVING the picture taken.

In defense of those pictured who seem to be in agony - this was about our 20th attempt...in 100 degree weather....before lunch...and before anyone was allowed to get in the water.

And after all that, we're not even using this one as our Official 2009 Aren't We Amazing? Family Picture. You'll have to come back later in the week to see that one :)

But if you want to see amazing, take a look at these cute dudes, with their cute aunts.



I gave each of the grandchildren a bucket with some GrandMama Goodies in them. Here are Elijah and Thomas with theirs (I guess I should've told Eli the swim diapers were not edible.)



Many more amazing staycation photos to come...as soon as I get another break from the fun!