Catching up on old News

The days have been passing so quickly that I haven't kept up with some things here on the ol' blog. So this post is basicly to share what has been going on around here.
I now have 2 children in double digits. The Artist turned 10-years-old on the 13th of August. Yes, he was my friday-the-13th baby. Which was pretty cool because that meant they had an Alfred Hitchcock marathon on the movie channel while I was in labor ;) Hey, I wasn't gonna turn away any distraction at that point! Since he was the 13th grandchild, and also born on the 13th, his grandpa gave him the nickname Lucky.
Here he is with the Lego set we gave him. I bought this about 6 months again on spoofee.com for $19.95.... The msrp was $100...I LOVE those kind of deals! This kid can build anything with legos. He doesn't use the directions much, as his creations are much more impressive than the ones that come with the box (said by a slightly prejudiced mother:).

My girlfriend from Alaska will be coming into town for a visit sometime soon. A few weeks ago she called me to give me an update on some testing her daughter recently had done. It turns out that they are tentatively diagnosing her as having cystic fibrosis. Needless to say, we've spent a good bit of time on the phone as she's quite concerned about what this means for her daughter's future. More testing is being done, but either way she will definitely be coming to Portland within the next month for treatment, and most likely surgery as well. So the plan is to buy an open plane ticket and stay with me for... we're not sure how long. She lives on an island in Alaska, and they have very limited medical facilities there. Since it will most likely coincide with the start of ( home) school, things are going to get very hectic around here at that time. I'm happy that I can be there for her, as she's like a sister to me. But I have to admit I'm just a tad bit worried about being able to juggle it all. I hope that doesn't sound selfish to say that.

And speaking of school... Beware if you're considering homeschooling your children. Your mind never truly get's a Summer break! I've been weighing so many options over the Summer in this area. My kids are getting older, and one has special needs. What's the best way to go? I honestly don't know, and it's not for lack of thinking. I'm worried about the legislation being drawn up even now to limit our rights in this area, and equally as worried of the sheep-in-wolves clothing approach some of the charter/virtual schools can take. And through it all I want my children to also be happy. And the clock is ticking...

Getting ready for a garage sale is such fun... I'm joking of course. Because the novelty has totally worn off. But I do like the extra money it brings. If only I wasn't such a sentamentalist (which sounds much better than a pack-rat) and could give up more things. Seriously, no more Autumn or Christmas decor is entering this house! My walk-in storage closet is wayyyy too full... but that's beside the point. I am so ready to get rid of all this stuff that I had ready 4 weeks ago (for the aforementioned, last-minute cancelled garage sale). The Princess is so excited because she is going to sell Lemonade and cookies, and has her profit margin all figured out, lol.

And speaking of the Princess... She loves the colors pink and purple and, of course, anything Princess. But she also has two brothers... and anything they can do, she can do better. So she has taken to climbing trees, and had a near miss of a bad fall the other day. Fortunately her brother chivalrously broke her fall by catching her (no kidding). And do you think that I bought the excuse that she "forgot" the tree-climbing rule? Nice try. My tree climbing rule is thus: No climbing trees (or at least the really high ones) on the days that mommy does not have the car. 'Cause I'm not calling an ambulance for a broken arm. I personally think that's sensible ;)

Well, there's more to write, but I've gotta get to work. I'm reorganizing my cupboards today (fun, fun).

Wishing everyone a happy weekend!

Decisions, Decisions

I hate to make them. Even the small ones. And yet there doesn't seem to be any way to truly avoid having to do so.

Sometimes I wish I could just glibly go with the moment. Obviously, there are plenty of people who do so. Because I refuse to believe that there could be so many people in this world who purposely make the bad choices that they do. The only way to understand (though not excuse) these choices is to come to the conclusion that they simply give it no thought.

So why do I labor in anguish at times (excuse me if I slightly dramatize) over every little pro and con of a choice? Especially when it comes to my children.

I've made it a sort of pet project to study parents of older (teenage and up) children. Raising kids is no small task. If I thought my hands were full changing diapers, or teaching the ABC's, that just may be the easy part. Those little adorable (and yes, trying at times) human beings get even more challenging. I don't speak this as the voice of experience, more the voice of observation.

So who do you turn to when you see the teen years approaching on the horizon? Interesting enough (at least to me) is how many people turn to their peers... who are in exactly the same spot as they are. Which means they have no proven record, they're just using the same trial and error as yourself. So you don't really know if their advice is good until they (or you) succeed or fail down the road.

Obviously, I'm not talking about potty-training tips here. I get advice on those sort of practical things myself. But when it comes to child-raising advice, I don't trust anyone who doesn't have a child at least 10 years ahead of mine, no matter how well-mannered their Johnny or Susie may be.

But all the child-rearing advice in the world, even that which comes from those who are older, and sometimes wiser, won't make your decisions for you. The knowledge gleaned from these must be weighed in the balance. Which finds me right back where I started from: having to make those earth-shattering decisions.

And maybe having to come to the realization that one decision, in and of itself, won't sink the ship. But then it's been my observation that one bad decision often leads to another. Not being a sailor myself, I'm not sure how easy it is to get a ship back on course. But without a doubt it's much simpler to choose the right path to start with.

And yes, I do know that there is no guaranteed way to raise a child to turn out perfectly (or at least what we consider to be so). And the older my kids get, the more I realize just how much "free will" comes into play.

I hasten to say that none of my children have suddenly gone "rogue." Though they do insist on all three being so completely different from each other that sometimes I question whether they truly could have come from the same parents... not that there's any doubt in my mind on that point.

No, I'm simply laboring over decisions that may seem small now, but could in the long-run have far-reaching results. And knowing that I can regret a choice, but doing so won't let me go back and change it after it's all said and done.

Such is life I guess. We can try to do our very best, but then some things are out of our hands. And thankfully in God's. Perhaps more of our time spent reading and searching for the perfect parenting skills would be better served in prayer, asking God to work in our children's hearts in ways that we ourselves never could.

And so ends another rambling post~

Pics from the past week

Here we are at a family get-together held at Shady Dell. Hubby's uncle (the engineer) bought one of these little trains when he retired. In spite of its being small in stature, everyone seemed to enjoy riding it. Of course, for the adults, the real trick was staying on board when it went around a curve, lol. The Princess and I are on the middle car.
The high-point for the older kids was getting to drive the train themselves. Here's the artist getting a little instruction in engineering.
And here is an empty spot where there really should be a picture of my husband's beloved grandmother whom we visited two times in the last week...

Yes, I most certainly had my camera with me, but I was enjoying listening to her stories so much, it just slipped my mind. And then there was the pack of very angry bees that succeeded in stinging the Princess four times, the Artist three, and hubby just once. Yes, that was slightly distracting as well.
Between Grandma's house (blueberries and cherries) and the back field (blackberries) we did a lot of berry picking this week. Here's what actually made it into my freezer, right around 30 lbs worth. That's pretty good considering several of my children ate at least as much as ended up in their buckets. Can't say I did much better myself :)
And of course some of them were made into freezer jam.

My roma and cherry tomatoes have finally ripened. And I've been able to put up some green beans and zucchini as well.

Otherwise, we're just enjoying our cooler weather, and hanging out with friends and family.

Have a great weekend~