My new door is already getting a workout. Children that didn't know I existed minutes earlier suddenly find themselves drawn by an invisible force to my closed door. I guess they can't stand the thought of being left out of whatever is going on behind that door. Since it isn't on hinges yet I just lean it in the opening. That leaves a pretty big crack, not to mention the door knob hole.

So Mayfee Boy comes to door and starts talking to me through the hole and peeking in the crack. No need to bother knocking, he can see and hear just fine. I'm trying to listen and to persuade him to go in another direction when WHAM!
my door hits the floor!

He looks at me, genuinely surprised. Big tears. I brace myself for the crying of the babies that I'm sure he just woke up.

He looked so sorry and sweet that I felt sorry for him. And, wonder of wonders...the babies slept right through it.

Why is this taking so long??

I wonder if the unpacking will ever end. Seems like this should've been done in a weekend and here we are 2 weeks later with boxes still around. One problem is that there isn't a place to unpack stuff. No shelves even for towels! Where did people put their towels before we moved in? Honey has lots of shelves to build for towels, blankets, and books, books, books.



Another problem is that the bathroom still has the nerve to get dirty when I already cleaned it 2 weeks ago! The babies still think they need to be fed! Why does life still go on when I'm so busy? Can't we take an unpacking break??

Today

Can you believe we already have enough stuff for a garage sale? Why did we bring so much junk? Here's my advice for the day: If you're thinking about moving...DON'T!! All of a sudden we have 3 microwaves. That's 2 too many for me. So I listed one on craigslist.com and it was gone the next day and I was $25 richer.

Fun indoor soccer last night. We all took lunch boxes with chicken pitas and sat in the bleachers and did the wave.

I changed COW to COD...meaning child of the day. With 7 kids in the COW rotation, it took too long for everyone's week to roll around. Today LB is COD (Actually I still call it COW, cause cows are cuter than fish). I wrote her a note to put on her bed for a surprise. Today I'll let her help me around the house and maybe price some g-sale junk...I mean "treasures".

We got a door! Actually several. Enough for the whole upstairs. They aren't hung yet, but it is nice to lean it against the opening and pretend we have a little privacy. I also have internet access in my room. Much more convenient.

My boys have been busy busy busy hammering and using up the wood we tore down from the roof. They made "speeders" to float in the creek behind the house. 6yo tied a big string to his and we took it back there to see if it floats. Success! It was the first time I'd been back there. Nice trail to walk on with babies or dog. Apple trees hung over the creek and we picked a lot to take home. I do like this area. What is lacking in the house is made up in the neighborhood.

Today...
school
chicken pizza
apple crisp for breakfast
Honey gets off work early!
lots of laundry
more unpacking
g-sale pricing

This neighborhood is full of kids. Knowing that we'd get lots of trick-or-treaters, I went out special to buy candy.....on purpose. Not one trick-or-treater!

I don't ever remember being up in the night as much as we are now. I don't know why. Every night either Honey or I...usually both...are up with somebody or the dog, usually more than once. Someone is always crying in the night over something. I keep telling myself that it's only a season and soon we'll be sleeping through the night again. Or....maybe we'll get a door soon and shut it and sleep right through it. What do you think Honey?

My new stove is here and (WOW!) is it spiffy!! I was almost afraid to touch it. I got over that pretty quickly though. I've made bread, oatmeal, meatball minestrone, ice cream topping, and something else but I don't remember what. It has a lock out feature so my little ones can't touch it. It has lots of other features but I don't know what they all do yet. We also have our cabinets ordered. They might be here by Thanksgiving, might not. The next (and hopefully only) big thing left is the roof.

Tonight we made another trip to storage with my nephew and brother-in-law. The piano is here! While we were unloading, the neighbor came over with a big apple pie. It was one of those $9 pies from Sams. He said it was left over at church and their small family of 3 couldn't possibly eat it all. Great timing. Even with my nephew and bil eating it with us, we only ate half. Anyway, only one more trip to storage and we ought to be done.

The radon man came back today to test. Hopefully by next weekend we'll have boys sleeping in their beds again.

6yo has 4 games tomorrow. He's so happy. CT's team won their game today 8-0.

5yo burned his hand on the "girl thing" in the bathroom. He learned a new word....curling iron.

I miss my friends.

A New Generation With A New Name

I had 2 favorite dolls as a little girl. I still have them now. I'm happy my mom saved these for me. One of them is a little baby doll that is bald with no eyelashes. One of the things I liked about it was that it didn't look like a girl. It didn't look like a boy either. It just looked like a baby so you could pretend it was either one. So I named it "Chris". Clever, huh? (Remember the days of Three's Company?). The other one is a big baby doll named "Pam".

So when my older girls were little I passed these on to them. "Pam?!" they balked, "that's cooking spray!" Ok, well I didn't know about cooking spray when I was little. Where's their imagination? They re-named her "Taller". What kind of name is that, you ask? It's the name you give the baby doll that is taller than the others. Tell me, how is that better than "Pam"?

"Chris" was re-named "David". I tried to tell them that was a bad idea b/c David can never be a girl. They didn't get it. So Chris has been David. Until this week.

The unpacking has uncovered the dolls that have been put away for some time. Just in time for Little Bird to fall in love. She immediately took a liking to David and re-named him "Dolly". Now Dolly is a girl and she has a new momma. Bird carries her on her back and has her wrapped in a blankey. So cute. I can't wait to see what Taller's new name will be.

We got our first snow! Beautiful and fun. We went to church Sunday while it was blowing and swirling all over the place. It looked like more than it really was.

One of the neat things about our house is that our cul-de-sac backs up to an elementary school playground. The kids walked over there and had the whole place to themselves to play and build snow men and have snowball fights.

By the end of the day the sun came out, the snow was gone, and life was back to normal. We love CO!

See some fun in the snow photos here: http://thetaggs.smugmug.com/gallery/3706285

We have internet and phone now! So now I can blog at will and call up my friends and bug them. Life is good.

We also have new appliances. They aren't hooked up yet and our stove won't be here till Thursday. Help is on the way. You have no idea how much you depend on these servants until you don't have them. We got a dishwasher, fridge, and an over-the-stove microwave all in the scratch and dent section. You can't tell it though. It saved us a lot of money.

Today I made a dent in my bedroom and it is looking more bedroom-ish and less like a storage room. It's all coming together. Sorry JH I can't post pix yet. If my mom saw it looking like this she'd cry! It is way better though.

House Update

Ta Da! We have a working bathroom. It even has a door! Bonus.

We bought clothes rods for the closets, a sink for downstairs, and the kitchen sink is now operational. We tore up the roof and can't put it back together. Gotta call a guy. We got a new garage door. Still have to unload the storage.

In the meantime I'm learning to cook with a microwave and electric skillet. Quite limiting. My friend is sending me her portable burner. That will open up the possibilities. Hopefully we can get our appliances soon.

I'm also having to work on the clothes exchange. It's colder here. Problem is...we can't find our clothes!!

Communications Will Resume!

Next week we get our phone and internet! I miss my blog and e-mail.

Back To Texas

My sweet Granddaddy went to Heaven Monday night. So Honey and I are here in TX with Bird and Froggy for the funeral. So nice to see lots of family that I haven't seen in a long time. Lots of different emotions.

Granddaddy and I had a perfect relationship. Nothing left unsaid. No regrets of any kind. We just loved and enjoyed each other. I got to see him one last time when we were staying on the farm. So happy for that! He was in so much pain and so uncomfortable but still wanted to come to LB's b-day. I just sat by him and loved on him any way I could think of. I called him the day before he died and although he could not talk, Uncle Jim held the phone to him so I could tell him that I love him.

When I was little he let me drink the last of his coffee.
He gave me a dollar in the mornings to spend at the neighborhood store.
He took me fishing a LOT.
He always called me "Sweetheart".
I used to spend the night with them on Friday nights and we watched a lot of Gunsmoke.
We both liked strawberry shortcake.
I loved my Granddaddy and he loved me.


We're staying at my in-laws while they are staying at our house. We got the better deal. It's good to be in a clean house with no boxes everywhere. We had no pack&play so we set Froggy up in the bathtub to sleep. It works.

Lots and lots of driving. Babies have been reasonable. We plan to head back home to CO in the wee hours of the morning.

I love my family. I miss my kids.

Moving In

is more fun that moving out! Yesterday the radon man came and (hopefully) fixed that problem, the garage door man came and at least got the door open until Monday, the furnace guy came and condemned the furnace once and for all. So today we get a new furnace and Monday a new garage door. We couldn't get the water heater to work, so that might be something else for Monday. Those are those peace-of-mind things that you have to spend money on but have nothing pretty to show for it. I can't invite my neighbor over to see my spiffy new hot water heater. Rats.

BUT....just wait till I get my new kitchen! Oh yes, that will be pretty!! Speaking of neighbors, 4 different sets came over to introduce themselves yesterday and we are not even moved in yet. One brought apple pie. Such a great neighborhood! Kids and neighborhood dogs all over the place. 2 cul-de-sacs to ride bikes in, a park a block away, and a soccer field across the street.

We almost finished unloading one truck yesterday. Today we'll work on the other one. We have soccer today too, plus a photo gig, and family coming to help.

It's fun moving in.

Three and Thirteen

I am been blessed to have mothered 7 three- year -olds so far. Three is an interesting age. It is fun to watch this little girl's personality unfold as she is growing out of babyhood and into the world of a big girl. She is often head-strong. She is able to make her own decisions about right and wrong and willfully choose her own way. She talks, but doesn't always make sense. She trusts you to help her. She needs a lot of direction.

Now some of my three year olds are teenagers. I have learned that there is little difference between three and thirteen. The issues that you face at three will be revisited at thirteen...just on a bigger scale. Now this little girl is growing into a woman and eager to show what she is learning. She talks, but doesn't always make sense. She is able to make her own decisions about right and wrong and willfully choose her own way. Now and then she can wow you with a wave of extreme maturity, and the next minute she is the little girl that you know. She trusts you to help her. She needs a lot of direction. I am so thankful that we laid the foundation when she was three.

When she was three, I had no idea what would await us at 13, nor did I even think about it. She is delightful, challenging, and fun to have around. Enjoy your 3yo! Mother them carefully. They will 13 before you know it.

Attentiveness

There was a man in Lystra who was crippled, lame from birth and had never walked. He looked at Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. ~ Acts 14:8-10

This guy didn't do anything but pay attention and a miracle was done for him. I wonder what sort of look he had on his face. I wonder about his body language. It doesn't mention that Paul knew his name or had ever even seen him before, but b/c of the way he was paying attention, it was counted to him as righteousness. He didn't just hear the words....he *showed* he was listening in a way that Paul noticed.

What good will be given to me if I only pay attention? How do I show attentiveness? If the pastor saw me in the pew would he think that I had faith just by looking at me? Does my husband and children think that I listen to them just by the way I act when they are talking? Do I read my Bible with attentiveness, eagerly expecting and believing God for a special Word? Or do I lay back in my chair with my legs draped over the armrest and check my watch as those who love me are desperately trying to communicate their thoughts and dreams and share their life with me? I wonder what I've missed out on by being "too busy"?

Today I want to listen and learn. I want my family to know that I am interested in them. I want God to be pleased that I am not going my own way, but moment-by-moment listening to Him and eager to follow.

I read this this morning as I contemplate the many busy (and fun) things on my plate today as we close on our house. I'm so excited and eager to get this done. In the busyness of this day, though, I want to pay attention. I want my kids and husband and God to know that I love them enough to SHOW that I'm listening to them. I wonder what miracles await if I just pay attention.

Update

Long story short, we're in CO (all of us!) in CCU student housing. Tomorrow we close on our house!! We won't sleep there until the radon is fixed which will be a couple of days but we can move stuff and situate. Ah, we're almost done.

How I love having my whole family back together again! When Honey came back it was like a great big deep sigh........ So good to be complete.

Our house closing has been pushed back to Thursday and with our 2 lovely extras named Jack (as in Captain) and Trixie we hate to impose upon anyone for so long with so much. As it stands now we have already inconvenienced every single friend and family member we have with the move process. (If we left you out, keep in mind that we're not there yet! In the meantime praise the Lord for His great mercy toward you. )

Sooo, after some deliberations it looks like we'll camp out here at my gracious in-laws' till the end of this week-ish and Honey will head back to CO on Sunday. Man, how I hate for him to leave without us again. BUT... it's almost over (!) and for that I'm oh so thankful. Then we will all come in the Big Beautiful and move in. MOVE IN!!!

Oh yeah, my new address will be......something something Place. Isn't that pretty with Place at the end of it? Not Road or Street or Avenue, but Place. I like it already.

I've got it all planned out. Whenever the unpacking slows down and we can put our feet up awhile, I'm gonna get chips and salsa from Chili's and watch Star Trek on the couch with my Honey and my favorite blanket. Or maybe Lord Of The Rings, or maybe St. John in Exile, or maybe even a Pirate one. Mmmmm... date night! I miss my books and movies.

"What's in that building G'pa?" asked LB.

"Nothin' but a bunch of junk. Go see." He replies.

She and her sister tromp through the horse pasture to explore it and come out squealing! A litter of kittys!! 5 teeny tiny little things walking around and cuddling on Momma Cat. Awww......

Yes, we *did* promise a kitty in CO but we meant IN CO. Dad pulled a sales trick on me and talked us into two of them. He said they'd keep each other company and not cry as much. I have to admit he was right. So far they've been low maintenance.

So we are two more. Welcome Jack and Trixie. We fed them milk with a dropper but they are just starting to eat a little food. They are so cute when they walk around outside. They are taller than the grass, but not by much.

9 kids, a dog, and 2 cats...watch out Colorado! At least we're not bringing the fish.

What a month of growth for my little ones! Bird is talking so much these days in her cute little chirpy voice. Zekey is a busy man.

Just last week I could put him in the sink and he'd just sit there while I washed him up. This week is different. He kicks and splashes, he grabs the faucet and swats at the soap. We both get clean at the same time!

Today we're at Honey's parents'. It was sad to say good-bye to my family. I'm moving so far away. Life at G'pa and Nana's was fun....except for the bugs of course.

We're hoping to close on our house next Thursday!