I think they missed me

I believe the above picture was taken the same day or the day after I arrived home from my Minnesota trip. I was in my room reading and one at a time these guys came to my door to check on me. Did they think that I sneaked out the back door and hopped on another plane after I put the little ones to bed? I'm not sure, but I thought it was pretty darn funny that they all came to check on me. So, I grabbed my camera.

And just to not leave anyone out I'll add some of my current favorite pictures of my three younger girls.

Visit With A Friend

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of going to Minnesota for my older sister's wedding. That, in itself, needs to be a blog post of it's own. But for now I wanted to write about one of the friends that I visited while I was there.

Let me start by saying that this friend no longer remembers me. She is now 84 years old and has Alzheimers disease. I think the reason why she was willing to let me come and visit her is because I sent her a letter ahead of time and let her know I would be in the area. She also remembers the church that we both went to when I lived in Minnesota so long ago. Because of this church connection I think she felt safe to let me come into her large old farmhouse for a cup of tea.

Right away I showed her a picture of me with my family. She immediately got tears in her eyes. She has always had a passion for large families. Over the past several years when I would receive something from her in the mail there would usually be some sort of encouragement in the area of family and parenting.

Marta* and I had an interesting time talking about large families, marriage, her childhood growing up in Germany, coming to America and becoming a Christian.

Because I too have a bad memory I actually took notes on the things Marta told me. I didn't want to forget a thing!

(Ironically,I have no idea where those notes are at the moment!)

So, from memory I will do my best to share with you the wisdom and stories that Marta shared with me.

On family:

Marta had 8 children. This was from two different marriages. (Sadly, she lost both of her husbands and two of her daughters to cancer.) I asked her something to the effect of, "Would people ever give you a hard time for having so many children?" To which she replied, with a shrug, "It didn't matter. If they did I just made them feel ashamed for not having more." She went on to say that she would encourage mothers to have lots of children. I believe that whatever she said to them probably gave them strength to raise their kids with dignity when others told them that they had too many in their family. (She said that sometimes women would cry because of the criticism that others gave them for having large families. )

On marriage:

Husbands need the respect of their wives.
Wives need the affection of their husbands.

On Hitler:

Marta was in the first grade when Hitler rose to power. She said that the children were completely indoctrinated. She thought to herself that Hilter might be God Himself. She remembers asking a friend in her class if she thought that Hitler ever used the bathroom. When the friend said something like, "Of course, stupid!..." and then went on with details, Marta said she had to think long and hard as to whether or not she should turn her friend into the teacher for saying such things about their dictator. All the children were to report anything negative said about Hitler.
When Hitler invaded Russia Marta's father said that Germany would lose the war. When Marta asked "why" her father replied that Russia was too big.
I'm not sure what Marta was taught at home regarding God or religion but it seems she was very influenced by Hitler's teaching that said "God is fine for the weak and the old."

On Coming to America:

She came to New York on July 4th, 1951. She said there was a big brass band playing at the airport for the holiday. It was a very special experience for her.

On becoming a Christian:

At one point (I believe this was after she got married), Marta had a neighbor who was a Christian. This woman often would share with Marta about Jesus, but Marta held to the belief that religion was not for her....only for the weak and old.
Over time, something terrible happened (again, I don't know the details), and Marta was stabbed. The knife went right below her heart. At the hospital Marta's Christian neighbor visited her and said, "I have been praying that God would spare you so that you could repent."
And she did!

There is more that could be said about Marta and oh how I wish I had a picture to share with you. She is a short woman with long white hair that she always keeps braided and up in two buns on either side of her head. She is a hard working farm woman who loves and serves God.

Before I left her home I told Marta I was going to visit another mom who also had several children and she encouraged me to go and choose a bouquet of wildflowers from the many that she had prepared early in the morning to sell at the farmers market.

It was an honor to be able to visit with Marta. I'm so thankful I was able to do so.




*Not her real name.

Why I'm awake

I was sitting in bed and on the computer and I wondered to myself "why am I still awake?". Then, I remembered that I had a big honkin' yummy coffee thing at Starbucks during that huge storm we had tonight.

I'm much too brain dead to blog about it, but I just thought I'd post the letter that I wrote to the Starbucks manager tonight. It will give you some idea of what I did during the storm.

Dear Mr. , April 26, 2011

I wanted to express to you how very impressed I now am with Starbucks. In the past I wasn’t a big fan of Starbucks, but tonight all that has changed.

I came to the Starbucks on 64 and the loop tonight while my son was engaged down the road with his CAP activities. I was greeted by two employees right away and felt very welcomed and comfortable in this particular store.

But, what makes this store’s employees especially great is how hospitable they all were to me and the one other costomer that remained here while there were tornado warnings sounding outside. They brought us to the back room, gave us chairs to sit on, brought us coffee and allowed me to charge my cell phone so that I could stay in contact with my husband during the storm.

I would also like to add that the women’s bathroom was spotless. I’m a mom of six, so I notice things like clean bathrooms.

I really value good customer service so I just had to write you and let you know about my positive experience on this crazy stormy night.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please know that the employees at this store are wonderful! I have listed their names below so that you know exactly who they are.

Sincerely,

Katie K

And Jessica, the other customer that I mentioned, wanted to add her name to this letter as she completely agrees with it.

Laverne

Brent

Rebekah

Bart

Roel

PS By the way, the mocha I ordered was great too!

Anybody Else Ever Feel Like....

Do you ever feel so incredibly exhausted at the end of the day and think to yourself that as soon as the kids are in bed you will also drop into your own bed?
But, then you realize that there's a mountain of laundry waiting for you, a book you could read to be more knowledgeable in one area or another, a book that you have been yearning to read just for fun, a movie you would like to watch, a blog you would like to check up on, a friend you would love to connect with (maybe your spouse?), thank you cards you have neglected, rooms to straighten.....you get the point right?
Tonight as I sat on the couch barely awake I had the bright idea that maybe I should just go ahead and have some coffee so that i could stay awake for another 5 hours so that I could 1) get a whole lot of housework done or 2) Get caught up on my read through the bible in a year plan and also read some of a historical fiction book that I've had in my room for almost 2 weeks.
But then, I remembered that sleep is important. And that I'm not so great at bouncing back in the morning after I have only had a few hours of sleep.
I also realized that even though the laundry mountain is not dwindling as fast as I wish it would and my room is a mess, that there are some really important things that I did today. Things that don't show immediate results but because I do (most of) them routinely, they will affect the future.
I said good bye to my son before he went to school.
I made my girls breakfast and helped some of them get dressed.
I got them to the bus on time.
I (finally) got the ball rolling for me and Shane to be able to take a CPR class.
I stopped what I was doing and watched as my 4 yr old showed me her twirl with an added hop. This was really important to her. I got to tell her how wonderful it was. Got to delight in the sweetness of the moment.
I had a friends' kids over. (I LOVE when other kids feel like our place is their "home away from home." It's like the biggest compliment a child could give me.)
I read my bible outside as the kids played on or near the swing set.
I made a super yummy snack for the all the kids to have once everyone was in the same place. (Some of my kids were still on their way home from school.)
I got to talk with a friend from Canada when she called me.
I made dinner for my kids. (Shane's on a trip with Aubrey, that's why hes not included in this list.)
I listened to my son tell me about how well his band did in the competition he took part in yesterday.
I had my kids do chores. Even though it may have been easier (at the moment) to just not follow through on that and do the task myself, later.
I drove my son to youth group.
I gave correction/discipline to two of my kids....even when it may have been easier (for the moment) to just overlook what they had done.
I kissed my not- so -little baby on the head. Throughout the whole day.
I read books to my kids.
My list could go on and on. None of the things on my list were super hard, but they all took time.
I guess what I'm trying to get at is this...being a mom is really important. I'm so thankful that I can be home to do all of those things I listed and more. I'm thankful that I am healthy and physically able to help my kids with things they need. I'm thankful that even though we are not wealthy in material riches that we are so very wealthy in family and we have very close family ties.
I wish I knew how to write better because I feel that this is coming out all wrong. Stupid and clumsy and self righteous.
That's not my heart at all. I'm just trying to express that at the end of the day when it seems like I have barely done anything, that I have in fact done much. My children are growing to be responsible, fun, smart and caring people. And that is going to make a difference in the world. They are learning the fear of the Lord and learning that God loves them and is interested in their lives. And that makes all the difference in the world.
What about you? What has God called you to do and is it hard for you to sometimes see the importance/significance of it?

Yard and Garden

Side yard. This is supposed to be toward the bottom of the page. Read on...hopefully it will end up making some sense. At least, a little bit of sense.

Strawberry plants. Also, in the wrong order.


A long long time ago, a friend of mine said that her husband specifically wanted a picture of our back yard. Finally, today I am posting that picture. Along with a picture of our front yard (above), and pictures of our new attempts at gardening. Unfortunately, I am brand new to this posting -pictures- on -blogger deal and I don't know how to re-arrange the pictures that I uploaded. Thus, the seemingly randomness of it all.


For two years we have tried to have a successful garden at our new house. But, both years were a flop. This year we have high hopes for better results. Above, you will see our method for starting cucumbers. The idea of starting seeds in an egg crate is not new, but if you will notice the bottom row of dirt you will see that 4 of those slots actually have egg shells in them. This is something Aubrey read about in my REAL SIMPLE magazine. I so love to re-use things that I had to give the idea a try. Basically, you start seeds in the egg shell and when they have grown big enough to go into the ground you can put the egg shell in the ground as well because the shell will decompose. (That is the right word, right?)
Photo of the back yard that my friend's husband wanted to see....like two years ago. Better late than never, right?

This picture is added simply because coffee is sometimes essential to gardening. (Also, I have no idea why this text is all in orange.)

Now, for our big new idea. I am sorry to report that I cannot give you the details on this project. It was not my idea, nor did I do any of the work. I just hung out while my husband did some of the work and then hung out some more when he watered the plants the other morning. (Somehow I now am reminded of the Little Red Hen.)

So, how about you? Have you decided to plant a garden this year? If so, are you trying something new or are you already a pro?

A Couple of Lulu's Birthday Pictures

March: The Month of Birthdays

Yes, we have a lot of birthdays in the month of March! I'll just cover the ones in my immediate family, but we also have a grandpa, an aunt and an uncle that all have birthdays this month.

Lucy woke up on March 10 (her birthday) saying, "I'm not bigger." I guess that was part of her expectation for the day. It was very cute.

Things that made Lucy's day special:

Four bright balloons. (Did you know that you can take your own balloons to the customer service desk at Walmart and pay only 25 cents to have them put helium in them?)

Grandma Beth came over for cake and presents. All the older kids got Lulu their own gift and we did "hide the present". (The kids hide the gifts and then the birthday child goes to find them.)

After Lucy's "party" she played "band" outside with Isabel. This was done with the instrument set that she got from her grandma.

Later, Lucy and I played hide and seek in the yard.

We also went out to eat in the evening. Usually for birthdays Shane or I (sometimes both of us) will take the birthday child out to eat. Lucy and I ate at Posados. I really love Tex Mex and I'm glad Lucy chose it....but the girl only ate like one bite of chicken, one and a half tortillas and an ice cream cone. I was kind of wishing I had just taken her to McDonalds and saved us some cash. :)

I look forward to the day that I can post pictues on my blog. I would have loved to put up pictures that were taken of Lucy on her birthday.

One of my favorite quotes from Lucy on her day was after she opened up a pink plastic fancy/cutesy cup. She looked at it with sparkles in her eyes and a big smile and said, "It's SO BEAUTIFUL."

Lucy is such a girly girl. She is often found in a dress and sometimes will even cry if she has to wear jeans. She says, "I love you." or "I love you so much." to me multiple times a day.

My life is sweeter because of Lucy. I'm thankful for her sweet spirit and her love for beauty.

Today, March 16th, is Christian's birthday. I got up early to cook breakfast for him. It was special....cuz I don't normally do that. Sadly, I'm often still asleep when he leaves for school! The bus comes super early. 6:45! Part of what I like and admire about Christian is that he is disciplined. He gets up early on his own to go to school. (Usually Shane or I will get up to say goodbye, but we rarely make him breakfast.)

We are planning on letting Christian have a party with his friends next weekend and Shane will be taking Christian out to dinner tomorrow night.

So, for tonight we had a little family dinner with all of us plus Grandpa David (Shane's dad). We had Chicken Pot Pie, one of Christian's favorite meals. Then , brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream for dessert. I was really proud of my girls for all their help to make Christian's birthday dinner. Anna took an extra long turn at watching Ellie outside while Aubrey made the brownies and Isabel made the pie dough. I worked on the inside of the pie. :)

Christian also went to youth group and after that he came home with one of his good friends, Josiah, which was a perk for me because that meant that Josiah's mom, Aimee came too. (One of MY good friends. :) They hung out with us and had Christian's birthday dessert. The boys ended up going outside and trying out the boladoro that Christian made a week or so ago.

I"m really proud of my son and sometimes I even have to hold my tongue so that I don't boast too much about him! He's really a great kid. I know he's going to do great things in his lifetime.

In a few days it will be Aubrey's birthday. Just in case I don't get back on here to post about her birthday I will say this: She is a wonderful, extremely intelligent girl. She is growing sweeter and funnier every day. She is a detail girl and that is definitely something I can admire and appreciate! She is also very artistic...I'm just a little bit jealous of that gift. :)

I'm so very blessed by these children.