Long Time no write....

Sorry everyone!! Yes, all my peoples.... he he, yeah like maybe 1!!

Lets see, I am going to keep this brief because I am typing with one hand :) I had my first Carpal Tunnel Release done last Thursday. Yeah! So far I am doing great and haven't been having too much trouble getting things done. But that is mostly thanks to my beautiful kids and husband! Wrist number 2 will be done Sept. 24th. I have only missed one week of playing at church and miss it tremendously already. I can't believe that it will probably be almost November before I can start playing again. :( I love sharing that gift, and feel useless with out that chance.

I have finished serving the Thomas Family, however, which has allowed the kids and I to have a fairly relaxing August to prepare for our upcoming school year. I know that this lapse of non-service will end before too long, as God always has a new challenge in store for me! But for now we are looking forward to a great year of schooling together as a family, as well as AWANA and Martial Arts. I am so looking forward to a more intimate year than was permitted last year. I can't wait to snuggle on the couch for morning bible studies with coffee and cocoa :)

We begin school next week with a unit study on Explorers, Navigation and Sailing. The kids all helped pick that out.

Better go for now, hopefully it won't be so long next time!

Oh My Goodness!!

It has been a BUSY week!! We went to China Town in Vancouver, B.C. yesterday. That was a lot of fun. We had lunch there, guess what, we had Chinese!! Hehe!! We walked around through all the little shops and found a souvenir for each of the kids, the girls all picked out their own things and we had fun picking out things for each of the boys that we left with MaMa and PaPa stateside :) Today we pretty much just hung out. I made 2 hugomungo cheese cakes, one a Sugar Free with a ground pecan/almond crust for Jason's Mom and Dad and G-PaPa, and an Oreo one for Jason and all the folks over here. I haven't gotten it out yet and served up a piece, but I am hoping that it turned out good :) My Mom and Dad drove around sightseeing today looking around the area for potential areas of interest for later when they plan to move up :)!! I know that it's a LONG way off, but it will be so nice to have them close again. Prolly a good 15 years or so give or take a decade, but here's hoping! Tomorrow, the 4th, we are planning on just hanging out here and having a wienie roast in the front yard and then doing our fireworks afterwards. Jason said that he and my Dad picked out some really cool ones for this year, some cakes, roman candles and rockets etc. I'll try to get a few pictures. Today is Isaac's Birthday, so Happy Birthday!! Not that he'll see this, but hey, I tried! And in 2 days is my Sis's Birthday!! So Happy Birthday Tia!! I miss you so much and can't wait to see you again!!! And, nope, she prolly won't see this either!! Hehe!

Saturday will be our last full day with everyone. Jason's parents leave pretty early in the Morning on Sunday, I think that they have to be at the airport at like 6:30 a.m. and then my Mom and Dad, little Bro and little Sis are leaving sometime in the a.m on Sunday as well :(!!! It has gone by entirely too fast for my liking. I wish that they could all stay another week or two!! Though, I know that Kristy misses us too and can't wait to get together again! :) I miss you to Kris-te-te :)!!

It's always so nice to have Mom and Dad here, my Dad LOVES it here, he just relaxes and enjoys the cool shade. Mom is so busy with the kids, but I know that she is loving her time here as well. And Max LOVES playing with Cayleb and Noah. Keira and Charity Ann ADORE each other and play all day long with Rosie tagging along not far behind. I really wish that we all lived closer because they are all really good for each other.

Jason's Mom and Dad love it here as well, they have their "little house in the big ranch" as I affectionately call it. We lived there for almost 2 years after we moved from Cally and while we were putting together our land and home. We haven't seen a whole lot of them the last few days, just a few evenings and they had dinner with us last night. I think that they are planning to come hang out sometime tomorrow as well, but I know that they have other family in town as well, so they try to make the rounds. Jason's cousin's and his Aunt and Uncle live up here as well now, so it's a juggling act trying to see everyone I am sure.

That's all for now, but I'll chat again later :)

And yeah, I used almost 6 pounds of cream cheese today!!

First Waves...

So, the first wave of familiy arrived here at our hosue yesterday at around 3ish after frequenting the grocery store :) Everyone was so happy to be able to sit down and rest finally and the kids were all so excited to see MaMa, PaPa, G-PaPa and Baby Faith! I made everyone dinner and we had a rather relaxing evening. I also got to do some more gardening, Yipee!! I planted most of the plants that Grandma Marcia brought over on Wednesday. Only 3 pots left.... and I am still pondering where I want to put them :)

Today is going to be busy..... I have a Chiropractor appointment this morning at 9, and Jason's Mom (MaMa) is going to go with so that we can go grocery shopping for their week here after that... Hopefully it won't take too long. Tonight we are all going our separate ways, as we have a potluck for our last day meeting with the "10 Great Dates" crew. It should be lots of fun, and they have requested my "Mona Salad" as usual :) It's my Mona Salad cause a good friend that we met while living in Yuba City, CA made it for us one night and then gave us the recipe.... Who knows what it's actually called, but I called it "Mona Salad" from then on to remind me of the awesome woman that made it for us :)

VBS went great this week, the last day I brought bubble stuff so that we could take the nursery kiddos out to do bubbles. They LOVED that and made such a great mess with the bubbles, in their hair, on their clothes, in the grass.... I think that there is going to be a spot that "bubbles" every time someone waters that spot of grass!! My kids all had a great time, and the Johnston girls had a great time the one day that they were able to go. Poor things.... Kourtney was sick on Tuesday, and Brittney and Mom were sick Thursday and Friday!! I really am hoping that the sick season will come to a grinding halt now, so that everyone can enjoy summer!!!

Gotta go, not sure how often I will get to blog while we have family in town. 8 extra peoples to play with you know :) And the kids have been DYING to see Max and Keira!! I will try to get a few good pictures to put up here.

I know we are having the Potluck tonight and are BBQing tomorrow with who's here already and family that lives in town :) After that we haven't really planned, other than a wenie roast at the beach for 4th of July!

Ugh! it's Ten O'Clock!!

So I have been cleaning up a storm lately, trying to get the house back up to par....my par, very confusing, but don't mess with the par or you'll get sent to your room! hehe!! Anyways..... We have a bunch of family coming into town for the Holiday week coming up. Jason's parents will be here tomorrow, along with Baby Faith and Jason's Grandpa. Jason picks them up from the airport tomorrow afternoon. My parents and my younger Brother and Sister will be here either Sunday or Monday, they are driving up and camping along the way :) Everyone will be here till next weekend sometime. The Fourth will be a blast as usual. If you have never been up here for the Fireworks, you have to try to make it sometime. I don't know where else in the country that they let you buy as many kinds of fireworks as they let you buy here, most people get them from the Indian reservation, things like bottle rockets, mortars, roman candles etc.... and everything but the firecrackers and bottle rockets, I believe, is legal!! zit makes for a wacko shoe down at the water beginning around 9 and then things really start to pick up around 10:30 when it finally gets darker.... and keeps going well into the morning hours.... and then it starts getting light here around 3ish. so they stop and wait for the next night! Hehe....

The kids have had VBS this week and I was assigned to the nursery for baby duty, which made Sarah Rose really happy cause she hates it when I try to leave her in there. But now, she's getting used to me staying the whole time, so who knows how it will make the situation after VBS??!!

Well, it's getting late and I have one more VBS day left, taking 6 kiddos to and from, and working in the nursery during. And then when I get home I think we are having lunch with Kristy and her girls and I hope to get to work out in the yard a bit to plant all the wonderful goodies that Grandma Marcia brought me yesterday :) TTFN

Oh yeah, and I have another Chiropractor appt on Saturday :) And I sold 3 of my pieces at the Farmers Market last Sunday! Yipee!! I got to go buy some groceries! (a few Papa Murphy's Pizza's just fell into my front seat *wink**wink*)

A visit to the Pacific Science Center and the Rainforest Cafe!

Yesterday we had a family trip down to Seattle, centered around an appt. for Sarah Rose at Children's Hospital. Her appointment was for a condition that we now know as "Trigger Thumb." In Layman's terms, there is a sheath around the tendon in your thumb and hers have both inflamed and since it has been like that for over 3 months, they consider the condition permanent.So, we have scheduled a surgery for July 25th to have the tendon sheaths cut, and they said that it will never reoccur and that the surgery is one of the easiest ones that they do, especially considering this is Children's Hospital that we are talking about. It is a "simple" procedure, which requires her to be put to sleep, and they make a small incision at the base of each thumb to go in and cut the sheath, the thumbs are supposed to react immediately to the cut and will spring straight again. Currently they are both slightly bent and do not straighten out completely even when you try to push gently on her thumbs..... So, surgery in July and then one post op. appt. August 5th and then she should be all better :) They said that the general anesthetic is the most dangerous part of the procedure, but that we have a greater chance of getting into a car crash on the way there or home again, than having any sort of problem. So, I know that we will be worried for her, but I am sure that she will be fine. The hardest part will be getting her to keep the bandages on for 3 days and keeping them relatively clean! So.... Before her appt. Jason and I decided to treat the kids to a trip to the Pacific Science Center. They LOVED that!!! the huge Dinosaurs, the Butterfly house was my favorite!! And the other exhibits were amazing! The featured exhibit was the "Speed" exhibit, all about Speed, speed of light, speed of sound, motion in general, reflex speed etc. Lots to walk through, though not as big as the commercials try to make it seem :) But over all they had a fabulous time. We saw the IMAX film that went along with the "Speed" theme and they all loved that as well. After lunch and a quick trip through the "store" we headed over to Children's for Sarah Rosy's appt. After her appointment, we went down to Southern Seattle, actually called "Tukwilla" to the Rain Forest Cafe! A place that we have been dying to take them ever since we went several years ago with Sarah. We went to the San Francisco one, however, and when I heard there was one in Seattle a few years ago, it's been on my mind. Charity Ann was with us then, but only about a year old, so I am sure that she doesn't remember any of it! Anyways!! It was an adventure of a day, long, as we left our house about 8 and didn't get home until about 9:15. But we didn't run into much traffic in Seattle, and the kids were awesome!! We even purchased a membership to the Science Museum so that we can go back unlimited whenever we want to in the next year! And we have 5 more IMAX tickets, so I want to go back maybe when we go for Sarah Rose's Post Op appt. and see the Ocean Wonders 3-D film :) Well, have to wait and see. BTW-This is post #50!!! WOW!!!

"Huge fish that was eyeballing us while we ate our dinner!"

Our Camping Trip

turned out beautiful!! It went great and everyone had lots of fun. We were told that it would prolly shower some each day and that Monday would be really rainy. We planned on coming home Sunday afternoon anyway because we knew that we needed to water the grass that we planted last week. And we thought it a good idea to take th tent down in sunshine than rain so that we didn't have to worry about setting it up again to dry it out. So, it was a short trip, but lots of fun. Only about 45 minutes from here, it's up in the foot hills of Mt. Baker and it was beautiful. There was one set of flushing toilets that work on a generator and septic system ie: no power. There was also running water for the toilets and faucets from a generator powered well. We were one of three groups that camped there this weekend, so it was pretty quiet. Very nice, as I expected for it to be really busy! There is a horse camp just up the road from this camp, so we saw people riding by on their horses all day long. That made me homesick for the horses that I used to have, and made me want some even more. Ahhhh, I can picture it now, hubby and I riding horses out in the back of our property, through the huge fir and Cedar trees and among the ferns. So pretty :) Our property looks a lot like the property that the camp ground is on actually. So, anyways, the kids had lots of fun playing with the kids from the other family that we were camping with. And we got lots of time with the Mom and Dad of that family which was really nice. We like getting to spend time with them. I brought bubbles, and our base ball stuff and some fun stuff from the $ store (glow sticks, hula hoops, and some ping pong paddles, and a few beach balls for the babies)

I can't wait to get my Konos order, it didn't come while we were gone, so hopefully tomorrow :)

Mother's Day!

I can't believe that it is Mother's Day again already!! I have a "Mother's Day Tea" in Noah's class this afternoon at 1:00. He was so excited and picked out the cutest sweater and pants to wear to school today. *Teacher asked the kids to dress nice* It was so cute!! Cayleb is working though his list of stuff for school today. I just made a list because it was all things he could do without me being right there, so when he finishes, he finishes..... it's all up to him today. So far he seems to be moving along slowly but surely. Charity Ann is playing in there with him right now. And Sarah Rose is in here digging though Daddy's basket of stuff *not so good*. I see a Sharpie! Jason is home today, that's normal, he works' 4-10's. He is out right now, though, taking his grinder to be repaired and running a few errands for me :) He will be home soon though, and I think he is planning on working out in the yard since we won't be home to work on it tomorrow.... He has also made a deal with a guy from work to trade a few of our chickens for a 50# bag of grass seed. :( Not too happy about parting with my chickens, but we need the grass seed :) This weekend looks pretty fun so far, Saturday is really busy, but Sunday should be lower key. Church and then just some quiet time at home :) Maybe I'll get the kids to make dinner! J/K!!! TTFN And I hope everyone has a GREAT MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Okay, so we've decided, I think?!

Okay, so we've decided to go with the Swing Set from Costco. Looks pretty cool, right? My one condition, well actually two is that we HAVE to add monkey bars!!! And we are going to add a Stage 3 to our original plan that includes a zip line of some sort. I'll try to take some pictures to show you where we are thinking of putting the zip line..... hint-hint:we have a huge hill off the back of the house with a valley and another hill on the other side.... So, I think that I am excited!
Phase I: Airplane Teeter-totter, picking this up this weekend from Costco (I have an earlier post with a cool pic of this)
Phase II: Swing set with added Monkey Bars, too come soon after grass is planted.
Phase III: Zip Line!! Yipee!!!

The week so far...

So, Monday sucked as it has for the past few weeks.... but yesterday and today have been great so far :) We are working through fractions now, so math has been really easy for him. Nice, after a rough two weeks of long division. not that he didn't get it or anything, actually he's really good at it, but he just doesn't like all the pencil work that the practicing required. So, Fractions are like a vacation compared to that. I will try to write more later, I need to give him another assignment.

Okay, I am back....
We started Sarah Plain and Tall this week, he has read Chapters 1-5 already. Cayleb likes that it has three of our families names in it ;) Well, one isn't exactly the same Anna versus Ann :)

We feel like the end of the year is finally approaching, a relief after a long year. Spring is finally here, and flowers are blooming. Tulips are everywhere and Daffodils as well, people have planted them along the freeway even! It's so pretty :) I don't have any bulbs planted yet, but I think I may get around to that the next time they have the bags of them for sale at Costco :) I am hoping!

Cayleb is currently finishing his math time for the day making a recipe that his Auntie Sarah gave me for my Bridal Shower many years ago called "Popovers for Piglet" It's been a favorite of his since I started making it for him as a "first food" when he was just 7 or 8 months old! I told Sarah Rose that Cayleb was making her a "treat" and she is so excited!

Our chicks are getting bigger and moved out to the "Chicken House" on Monday. They are still under a light for night time, because it still gets down in the mid thirties some nights. It's so cute watching their half feathered bodies run around! Half feathers, half fluff!! Too cute!

I am anxious to get more work done in the yard; I can't wait to get the grass planted..... I know that is the first big step towards completion of our project. Jason and I walked around talking about my ideas the other day and we have a pretty good idea of what we want to do. We'll be sure to take a picture after it's done.... but that will be 2-3 months away still.... That's all for now

Remembering....

I posted this a little over a year ago on another blog and just really loved how it turned out....

Well, Sarah Rose just celebrated her 1st Birthday! I can't believe that my babiest one is one already. I doesn't seem possible that a whole year has gone by since she was born.
I recall the day that she was born very vividly still. Waking up around 3:45 and feeling little "contractions." My body likes to tease me, I have always had "false labor" nearly every night the last six weeks or so of my pregnancies. So, I woke up and felt them.... wondering quietly if this was the day that my baby would be born and I could finally meet this little person who has been growning inside of me for the past nine months.... I wait patiently in my bed for about a half hour. They are still there, so I decide to get up and quietly walk around the house to see if I can get them to stop or become more consistent. So, there I am, pacing around the house at 4 in the morning trying to keep quiet. I would hate to wake anyone for fear of having to explain myself and then dissapoint them when things stop again.... The kids are so excited, they wake up each morning and ask if the baby will be born today. All I can tell them is that when our baby is ready he or she will be born. God has a perfect day already picked out for our little one, but he likes suprises even more than we do. So, there I am pacing around the house, glancing at all the clocks as I pass to see how many minutes has passed since I last felt anything. So, I do this for about 45 minutes and then dicide that they seem to be pretty consistent but that I should probably be trying to rest rather than exhaust myself pacing around the house. So, I go back to bed. Laying carefully down next to Jason, I wait quietly, they keep coming, not much stronger but closer together.... About 5:15 I roll over and pet Jason's shoulder to see if he is awake. I think that he has been, he asks me where I have been. I tell him that I think that I might finally be in labor that I got up and was walking around the house trying to get them to either go away, or keep coming. So, we lay there, silently, to see where all this is going. About 5:25 I get up and decide that this better be the real thing, because if it's not, its crewl. So, at 5:30 I call my midwives. We are supposed to try an make it to Bellingham, about a 25 minute drive, to the birthing center and I tell her that I think I can make it. So, they get ready to meet us there. We call MaMa, who is over at their vacation house around the block with a few kids... Honestly, I can't remember who spent the night over there, but they all ended up here within about 5 minutes! I am trying to get dressed now things decide to pick up. I catch Jason as he's rushing in from one of his trips with baggage that goes to the car and I tell him, I don't know if I can make it. He stops.... after just carrying almost everything out to the car and says well, what do you need.... I just sort of stand there, pondering, trying not to panic. Really we are prepared for the baby to be born here we knew that things usually go really fast for me once we figure out that it's real labor and not just false labor teasing me.... So, I brace myself through another racking round of cotractions and then tell him I need to stay. So, I call the midwives back, and tell them that I have just had 3 really strong contractions in the past 9 minutes and they say, no problem were already on our way! So, I go and draw a bath in our bath room. Nothing sounds nicer to me at this moment than a nice warm bath. I climb in as its filling, night gown and all. Jason rushed out, and grabs all the stuff he's just carried out to the truck and brings it all back in. He runs out and grabs a few extra space heaters and plugs them in. It has been a cold February and our bedroom isn't exactly a sauna! The kids come in and sit on stools watching me in the tub. They're eyes are wide with excitement and wonder. They are being so good, just sitting there being calm and quiet. Once in a while someone will ask me if I am okay. I tell them that I love them and that our baby is going to be here soon. Each contraction is bringing me closer to the event that will bring our baby home. I stare down at the swirling water in concentration at each contraction. Finally, Jason is done with his jobs and climbs into the tub with me. It's a pretty big tub, a circle about 5 feet in diameter. He sits up on the side and caresses my hair and the midwives arrive. Smiling. They love their job and it is so nice to have people there that love mothers and babies and birth. I think that it's about 6:25ish.... I wait a few more contractions and then decide that I need to start pushing. I climb out of the tub, I just can't seem to get confortable, and climb up on our bed. It's about 6:30 now and they just got it ready for me. Clinging on to Jason, my strength, my support; the reason this being is inside of me.... I hear MaMa talking on the phone, she called PaPa, who wasn't able to come to Washington with her. Later I hear that they have me on speaker phone both here and at Papa's work... :) Completely and intensly focued on my life altering task. Task, just doesn't seem to be enough of a word really. I need a word that carries more weight, but more positive sounding than burden. I push, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my being, with every muscle that I have in my body. I push. I push. I push push push push and then, at 6:36 she slips out. This little screaming wriggling thing. Christine passes her through to me and I clutch her close to me, I have seen her, I have seen that she is a girl. Though Midwives don't shout out the sex as if it's the latest football score. I keep it to myself for a few seconds thinking about it. Then, Jason hands me the phone. It's my Mom and I tell her that its a girl.... Jason hears. I tell him that it's a girl. He tells MaMa and the anxious brothers and Sister that are watching so anxiously from across the room. And, then I crawl back to the head of the bed and sit holding dearly to this little baby that we have named Sarah Rose Gabrielle Clark. Our Little Sarah Rose. This precious baby that I have been waiting so long for. It's a girl. The perfect ending to a perfect experience. It couldn't have gotten any better if I had sat down and written it out like a script. She's here. Not to much longer I call my friend Sarah and tell her that she's an auntie again. When she asks and I tell her the name I think I can hear the joyful smile that covers her face. I think that she was honored. Sarah may not know this, but she has held a very special place in Jason's and my heart for quite some time now. We both think that this is the most wonderful name for our little daughter.
So, I look back and smile on this day and what it means to me. A perfect day, a perfect Birth, and Perfect little Sarah Rose Gabrielle Clark.

Happy Wednesday!

Today has gone well :) We are almost done with Math and will be moving on to spelling in a minute. Then I think I will either have him go pick out a book to read together, or he can work in his AWANA book again. And then we have a quiz in Language Skills, and History and Art today which well read about another type of ship and write notes on an index card about it and he traces a copy of it out of the book.
It's raining outside, so we wont be working out in the yard this afternoon, but with AWANA tonight, that's prolly a good thing cause I tend to get out there and get sucked into the "zone!" This Saturday, however, is supposed to be pretty nice, so I can get stuck out there all I want! This is our last regular night of AWANA for the year, it starts again in September. Next Wednesday is awards night and then on May 3rd we have the "AWANA Fair!" That should be fun, the kids are really looking forward to it!
Saturday Jason and I have our 4th Date of our "Ten Great Dates." It's a "class" through church that involves us reading a book together and then meeting once a week at the church for a quick video segment and then we get a few hours to actually go out on a date and discuss questions that we answered alone about the chapter that we read that week. So far it has been pretty good. The first one was really fun because it was all about remembering how we met and fell in love!! :) So far having this time together a few times a week to read our book together and then go out on our date, which has involved ice cream a few times, has really been great. It's a great book, and even if you don't have a group to do it with I highly recommend you try it and don't cop out after the first few dates. It will be worth it, trust me ;). It's a great reason to spend some time with each other and it has really encouraged us to talk more, which with four kiddos is really hard to remember to do!
So, Tata for now! Off to the rest of my busy week!

Doesn't this just look like a blast!!! Thank you Nana and Pops!!!! They decided that since this was on the kids wish list (we'll maybe mine too) that they would get it for the kids for their combined Birthday's and Christmas this year!! Yipee!! I can't wait to get it and find the perfect spot for it!!!!

So what's with the name?

Just in case someone was wondering as to the relevance of my Title.... There are a lot of things that I could file as good uses of my Million Dollars. But chances are, I won't be getting a sum like that in my days, so, I'll just stick to the stuff I can aim for :) Currently the kids, Jason and I are saving for a "backyard makeover." If one could call it that, I am not actually sure.... you see for it to be a "makeover" wouldn't that require that it had been "done-up" to begin?? I mean, unless we are going to take into account God's creation of this beautiful land, nothing besides the occasional annoying freeloader who decided to dump off his families trash for the year has been on the property for a very long time.... Very Annoying....!! But that is not what I was going to talk about here, really, I'm done venting about that matter :) Soooo...... Our Make over is going to be small, really small, but we have a large yard that is involved, so mostly it means contouring the land and planting lots and lots of grass! Most of the expense, however, is going to be in construction some sort of "play area" for the kids. Now, we've been looking around this whole time of saving up, about a year and a half and counting, and we have banned all thoughts of "Cheap Wal-Mart Metal and Plastic" from our minds. Mostly because we see those around and after a year or so I see quite a few of them rusting in our humid environment, but secondly, our oldest is almost as tall as me and only about 30 pounds lighter and he's only 9! Mind you, he's not over weight by the slightest, he is just very athletic, can carry a 50 pound bag of feed if I need him too and is finally getting some meat on his bones! So, he's perfect, in my eyes, but is going to require something a little less flimsy! The hunt continues, we've been looking at the sets at Costco, really nice and have a LOT of features for the price... I guess you could say they have a lot of bang for their buck, but this years model has decided to be absent of the one factor that my eldest daughter requested.....Monkey Bars! So, that pretty much squashed that idea! So, let's move on.... Lowes and Home Depot have similar "build it yourself" models and a few have been rather provoking lately to me, but they are still a little out of our budget if we want to have anything besides a few quarters left over for the grass.... Really nice sets, we just have to think a little bigger than some families considering we have 4 already and haven't decided to "stop" for sure yet, so that puts us in the more expensive size brackets.... Still haven't said no for sure yet on those yet.... but the idea sprung into my mind yesterday morning as I woke up bright and early, "Hey we did it before! Why not just be creative and build something entirely unique??" So, I am thinking we are going to go with that..... So, that name "If I had a Million Dollars," though it may change tonight, is somewhat in reference to the fact that a Million Dollars would make things a little easier to be less creative :) So, thank you God, for allowing me the chance to be creative! Really, I am not being sarcastic, you just have to learn to accept life's challenges, and make the best of it, right?! So, no moula, means I get to use my brain :) I like using my brain! I'll write more later about my actual thoughts regarding the "swing set of dreams!"

Today

Can you hear time ticking bye? Sometimes I think I hear it galloping.... like when I am scurrying around the house in the morning trying to get kids off to school and the rest of us ready for a day of school here.... But then there are those few days, now and then, that I get the chance to slow down. Like when the fast falling rain gently turns into snow and pauses for a while to enjoy it's fall to the ground. Not that I think that I am falling. well not most of the time anyways.... I always seem to be in full animation with the hope of being able to slow down the process "soon." When is "soon?" Can we define "soon?" When can we expect to see "soon?" Can I put it on the calendar? Never, no, no and not likely! I have to learn to enjoy the "soon" now. Do I have the ability to slow down? I don't think so, but I keep trying. Maybe in about 30 years! As Mom to 4 kids I always have a "list" going.... things that have to get done, things that need to get done, and then that ever allusive list of should do's if I have the time!! But please note that that list hardly ever sees the light of day because it is forever covered by the aforementioned lists!

So, this is it. I need to stop and smell the roses. My babies won't be little forever. And all you just starting out in that dept. Please take it from me, if you can stand it, time with your babies is ALWAYS more important than that sink of dishes or the cobwebs that are floating around semi-attached to the ceiling.... And don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it.