Happy Birthday Kainan: Homebirth Story

 Happy 13th Birthday Kainan

13 years ago, I was waiting for this child to GET OUT OF ME. I was hot, tired and tired of being pregnant. Yeah, happy stuff:)

Honestly, though, I had this weird issue with my hands falling asleep every time I would lie down. It would get so bad that I would wake up with that painful tingly feeling all the way up to my elbows. I'd groan in my sleep and my first time dad husband would wake up in a panic. He was like the typical movie dad, he'd jump up out of a dead sleep and be fur-eaking out, "What? What's wrong? Is it time? Is it time? Where's the phone?" By the time I woke up enough to figure out what he was on about, he'd be ready for this kid to pop out at any moment.

After going through false labor and being dilated to 5 cm for TWO WEEKS, my water finally broke at 2:45 in the afternoon... right before I was supposed to wake my hubby up for work. He worked nights and most certainly did not like waking up. I woke him by saying, "Honey, you need to get up now and call work to tell them you won't be in today." Five minutes later I woke him again the same way... and five minutes later yet again. It finally got through his sleepy fog. He bounded out of bed, got dressed in record time then asked if I'd called the midwife yet.

Having been fairly adamant at the beginning that we would NOT have a home birth, (mainly because I'd suffered a pretty severe miscarraige a year earlier, he was not all gung ho on natural anything) he was a nervous wreck.*

I told Sprite, then called my mom who was working across the street at her shop. The woman who we had arranged to be with Sprite during the labor just happened to have stopped by to visit mom, so they both came right over. Sprite was 3 1/2 and SO excited. I let her lay down newspapers for her "job" because I could think of anything else to have her do. My hubby was still a nervous wreck, so I gave him the job of putting the plastic and sterile sheets on the bed to give his brain something to do other than worry.

Mom got there and asked, "Have you called the midwife yet?"

"no, I was getting to it,"

"WHAT? You haven't called yet? You know how we do this, its fast! Call her now!!"

"Well, I didn't think it was that important, I haven't even started having contractions yet."

"I don't care, call her now."

So I did. She was at a dance recital or some sort of show her kids were in, I really didn't pay that much attention, because at that point I thought I might be having a contraction... no, that wasn't it. I told the midwife she could stay and finish the show that was almost over and then come over. My mom wigged out a bit. "Doesn't she know how we do these things? You'll already HAVE the baby by the time she gets here! She lives 30 minutes away!! Does she need to go home first?"

Thankfully my brother chose that moment to pop in and say hi... for all of five seconds. As soon as he found out that I was in labor, he bolted. Seriously bolted. It was like thsoe cartoons where there was a cutout of my brother in the door. It was pretty funny:)

At 3:15 I started feeling contractions. They were still fairly far apart for me, like 6-8 minutes, so I still wasn't feeling anxious. My mom was, though, so I called the midwife and asked her to hustle her butt over (no, I didn't say it like that). by 3:45 I was having them much closer together, but I still could barely tell they were contractions. They were nowhere near as painful as pms-cramps, and nowhere near the level they had been with Sprite.

The midwife arrived around 4:05, and a few minutes later, she checked me and said, "okay, you can push now..."

And I said, "But it doesn't hurt enough yet."

That was apparently a first for her, because she started laughing at me.

Kainan was born at 4:15.

I hadn't wanted to ever have any boys. I was scared of trying to raise boys. I knew nothing about boys. But this child stole my heart from the first moment. I never wanted to put him down. I didn't even like to let my husband hold him. Just about the only time that my hubby got to hold him was if I had to run to the bathroom or have a superquick shwoer. No one outside of our family got to hold him for a wvery long time. My extended family thought I was nuts (again) for this, but I didn't care.

Out of all the kids, he most reminds me of my husband. Personality wise, he is just so similar. I can't wait to see the man he is going to become:) He is going to be such a fantastic husband and father when he grows up. I am so proud of him.

Mr. Toad Cake and Sprite Can Birthday Cake

Okay, so we had very laid back birthday parties this year because we were REALLY busy doing plays.  Abyni and Sprite both had birthdays very soon after we finished up with my directorial debut of "The Mad Adventures of Mr. Toad"  I still made them cakes, though...

Here is Abyni, dressed in her "Mole" costume:

And here is the cake!  I did a sort of caricature of her, combining her two favorite things:  Skating and Acting!  The corner of the cake is missing because Paris, my other daughter, was too impatient to wait, and stole a corner of the cake.  I was NOT pleased.

My daughter, Sprite, turned 16 ON Thanksgiving, so she had her party at a different time.  I still wanted to make her a cake, though:  I REALLY messed up in putting the small round cakes together, but it didn't turn out HORRIBLY... just a little bit of a dented can.  She loved it anyway!

What is your favorite birthday party memory?

MacGyver Themed Party!

MacGyver Party!

Take things apart and make OTHER things Supplies:

Collect broken old VCRs, DVD players, TVs, anything with fun moving parts inside.

Screw Drivers of assorted sizes.

Wire cutters if you want.

Depending on the age of the kids, you may have to show them how to use some of the tools, but that's about it.  My boys and their friends spent an hour and a half doing this until we dragged them away!

From my journal:

There is a birthday party going on in my house... and I've not had to do anything other than cook/bake for it!

BTW ~ when having 5 boys in the house, make more than FIFTY pizza rolls or no one other than those boys will get any food:) I made pepperoni rolls with french bread dough, pepperoni & mozzerella cheese rolled up like cinnamon rolls/pinwheel sandwiches and baked them. Apparently, they were yummy:)

My hubby is helping them build their little speakers, after they were DRAGGED away from dismantling an old heater, VCR, DVD player... and some other things as well (Which they spent well over an HOUR doing ~ in this case boys ARE easier!!) and then, if the parents "ok" it, he's going to take them to his new custom home theater store and let them watch a movie on the big screen TV with "real" surround sound. Wow. Points for hubby:)

Kainan just LOVED his cake. I've gotten a half a dozen hugs for it already:)

My kids are so flipping blessed to have such an awesome dad!

Cake Decorating Themed Birthday Party!

Let's Decorate a Cake!

My Baby is Nine!!!

This year, Paris wanted to have a Cake Decorating Party!  I made small cakes for the girls to decorate.  I was having a very rough year emotionally that year, so I didn't have a lot of energy to put forth... but we had a great time.

For the Guests:

• a disposable decorating bag, with a coupler
• about a dozen decorating tips to share
• 2 large "personal size" cakes to decorate
• 4-5 cupcakes to decorate

The Kids and their Cakes!

Big sister Sprite helping out

And this was the cake I made for Paris with a royal icing crown!  It was SO easy and turned out SO cute!

I just made royal icing, drew the design I wanted, and then taped the design covered with waxed paper over a fountain drink cup from our local gas station.  Then I piped the icing on and let it dry.  It took a couple of days before I had the nerve to take it off the cup, but it worked like a charm!

Obstacle Course Birthday for my 11 year old competitive son

My son is very competitive and he LOVES games... so for his 11th birthday, I made an obstacle course.


The boys were timed to see who had the best time, they had to:
1. Write the word "RACE" with a marker using their mouths

2. Hop around a tree to the basketball hoop in a pillowcase
3. shoot two baskets

4. walk a specific line down the sidewalk with a plate balanced on their heads
5. Ht a croquet ball wth a mallet through the hoop-things around another tree

6. (this one was fun) There was a 5 gallon bucket full of cooked spaghetti, jello and cold water with 10 black marbles and 2 red marbles. The boys, using only one hand, and pulling out only one marble at a time had to find a red marble.

7. My Dh buld a ramp-type thing... the boys had to blow a ping pong ball up the ramp using only a straw... it landed in a cup (if they didn't rush it) THEN they had to get the ball out of the cup using the straw. Place the ball in a small "Dora" yogurt container (4oz?) and THEN using the straw, fill the cup up with water until the ball floated hgh enough to blow it out of the container.

8. Eat a bowl of pudding with their hands behind their backs.

The times ranged from 4 minutes, 30 seconds to 11 minutes! The birthday boy won second.

I had ordered nice engraved medals from Oriental trading for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place and other basic boy necklaces for participating.

We had cheesecake, carrot cake and chocolate cupcakes... lotsa gifts that my son LOVED (think Star Wars, Legos and lots of baseball cards:) I found a HUGE box of baseball cards at a garage sale for $10. this summer so MIL got him a really nice binder for them and a bunch of sheets to put them in. Paris and jaedin each wrapped up a big set of cards for him. I barely made a dent in my own "Stash" and he feels like he really made out with a bundle:) We also bought him a CD boom box as my mom got him an audio book set he's been really wanting. Oh, and Abyni got him some cool marbles for his collection and some tools for his workbench.

Mad Scientist Surprise Birthday Party, Volcano Cake & Alien Cupcakes for my Son

My son loves all things science, so for his 9th birthday, we had a "Mad Scientist" themed Surprise part for him!

I made these super easy Alien cupcakes with marshmallows and the 'sticks' are leftover melted cinnamon candies that I used for the volcano cake below.

This volcano cake was super easy, too.  I just used a bundt cake and filled it  with a bunch of cool whip and then melted down those red cinnamon hard candies.  Once they melted, I poured them out onto foil in different lava looking shapes. It was a big hit!

 

One of his creative friends wrapped his gift in foil:)

The big surprise! 

This is from 2005!

Friday night, after many upheavals trying to get a kitten (after option one two and three all fell out, two at the last minute), Dh found one in the bargain shopper... actually IN our own town! (The rest had been at least 45 minutes out of our way.) He picked up the absolutely GORGEOUS 2 month old 1/2 siamese kitten and brought her home. I smuggled her in my bedroom as Dh took all the kids to the play for their last performance.

I baked the volcano cake and the martian cupcakes, cleaned up a bit and did the other next to the last minute things that needed to be done.

The kitten spent the night in our room... and Jaedin didn't discover her!! We even managed to keep it a secret from Paris and Abyni as well;)

We kept Jaedin away from home by telling him that he had a job doing some gardening work for a friend.  I took him to do his "job" weeding my friend Shawna's garden. I was about ready to burst by this point, I was So excited. 

We also stopped at a garage sale, where I found 4 white button up shirts for 50 cents each, for the assistants "lab coats." Meanwhile Sprite, her friend Kerra & Kainan were at home starting the decorating process.

I finally dropped Jaedin off, picked up Shawna's two girls and came home. We hustled and got ready, another friend of Sprite's showed up to help... and at 2:00 the guests started arriving. 

WHEN THE GUESTS ARRIVE:

The assistants pinned the name badges on each child, then sent them to the guessing game table (three jars of candies and plastic critters ~ guess the closest to the actual # and get the jar:)

ACTIVITIES:

TOOTHPICK BUILDING CONTEST:  While we waited for the birthday boy, the guests worked making toothpick structures (all had a bag of 3 tootsie rolls, 4 DOTS candies, and 10 marshmallows for connecting the toothpicks. We latergave prizes for the sturdiest, tallest and most creative.

EGG DROP CONTEST: We did an egg drop contest ~ all the kids got three feet of masking tape, 12 straws and a raw egg. We then dropped them from different heights, until there was only one left. The boys actually didn't do too bad. Several of the boys' eggs made it after being dropped from knee height, and the winner's egg lasted until dropped from shoulder height! 

EXPLODING VOLCANO:  We had an "exploding" paper mache volcano that we had built around 2 liter bottles of Dr. Pepper.  My husband dropped a roll of Mentos into it and it was fun:)

Film Canister Rockets!  You can get film canisters from the photo department of WalMart or whatever

We had each boy make his own jar of slime.

Home made Slime!  The kids each made some in a little jar to take home.  Ewwww, but boy did those kids LOVE this!

 
I called Dh, and he and Jaedin were around the corner at a Pet store and on their way home. ALl the kids hid and we got ready. When Jaedin walked in, everyone jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE!!!" (With 15 kids, that's a pretty LOUD surprise!:) 

Jaedin was SO SHOCKED. He had NO idea... and he was so happy to get all the attention:) He did the guessing jar thing right quick and then he and the rest of the boys finished their toothpick buildings.

I took all the kids out to do the film canister rockets. We had too much water in them the first time, so they all exploded before the kids could put them down... so it was try again! THe second time it was a bit better... some of those rockets flew across the street into the neighbor's yard!

Then we did the big Dr. Pepper volcano. The first one didn't go too terrbly high ~ maybe 3 -5 feet high. The second one went probably 8 - 9 feet high ~ and had Dh trying to figure out a better way to get a higher pressure stream next time:) He has decided to cut a hole in the board underneath, so he can swap out new Dr. Pepper bottles:)



We then did some of the other stations, while Dh set up the slime table. The recipe was wrong, so we had to adjust a bit, but soon all the boys had their hands full of green goopy snot looking stuff (ICKKK!!) There were more than enough baby food jars for everyone:) thanks to my freecycle friends!


THEN we did gifts (we were quickly running out of time:) Jaedin was thrilled with all of his gifts. He got some cool cub scout stuff from last years' den leader and his son, he got some AWESOME science stuff from a homeschooling friend that he was so excited about. He got some money, some legos, some seeds & a pot and some books... and then it was time to bring out the kitten...Kerra covered his eyes, and all the kids were instructed not to breath a word. The gasps were heard all around... and when Jaedin opened his eyes, I thought he was going to cry. He just kept saying, "Oh.... my... god!" He could not believe it. He sat there rubbing his nose on the kitten's face and just being so cuddly. It was sooooo sweet.

ANYWAY ~ most of the guests had to go at that point. Jaedin and Kainan holed up in their room playing with legos and science stuff... Dh and the teen girls made oobleck int he kitchen and messed witht aht for a while, Paris and Abyni and their friends went outside to swim... and I began to pick up:)

That was about it!:) It was a FANTASTIC day and we had an ABSOLUTE BLAST!! I am SO glad we dd it this way ~ and I know that Jaedin really enjoyed himself, and just felt so specialf or having that much effort put into something for him. Yay!:)

DVD Collection

Dh and I were talking last night about how we want to start a good DVD collection before we head out again. (I want one NOW!!:) We love sitting down to veg-out in front of a good, funny (usually mindless) comedy at night... esp during and right after a rally as we are both so drained!

Last year we picked up a bunch of videos at pawn shops basically because they were $2.00... and DVD's rarely were less than $7.00. This year we would like to have an "entertainment" budget ~ mainly to spend on DVD's (since we rarely get to actually go OUT to a movies anyway since we don't have a sitter) both for the whole family, and "grown up" ones for us to watch in our room after the kids go to bed. DVD's are better with our tight amount of space anyway ~ since they take up about 1/10th the amount of room (or less) Plus we really love the extras ~ yes, we actually seem to watch almost every extra on every DVD we own. As a matter of fact, the other night I was SO desperate for something to watch (having just watched the entire first four seasons of "Friends" again for the third time on DVD) that we watched "Monsters Inc" with the commentary ~ without the kids ~ and it was really interesting!:) But yeah, I think I need to add to our collection.

So... now I'm on the hunt for good deals and starting a wish list... Ya know how it is, when you watch previews and want to see this or that ~ but when it comes time to actually buy/rent something, you can't remember? That's me right now! I know I'd like to get some Shirley Temple DVD's for the family viewing (Abyni absolutely LOVES imitating her singing and dancing... to cute:)

Anyway ~ I need to make french bread this morning. I made lasagna last night, but just couldn't eat it without having some french bread too ~ what's the point?:) I guess I had best get myself in gear and get things done this morning...

Byn

HOLY COW!

RIght after my last post, I took some pans of lasagna up for Scott and Christine (vegetarian for her) and borrowed some foil ~ because I STILL haven't remembered to buy any... not that I've been out shopping much...

ANYWAY ~ on my way back down the drive, I notice the VAN IS HOME. Wow! Patrick got home before 7:00! Holy Cow! WHoo Hoo!!!

The job (yes, again)

Okay, he came home Monday night at 8:30 ~ happy as can be... things went well... WHEW! This was quite a relief, cuz I hate to see him miserable with a job ~ especially when it has so much of his time!

But last night (okay, technically this morning) he came dragging himself in after 1:00 a.m. Miserable and in pain. He was working out in the cold... and his joints were killing him (they've been bothering him for some time anyway, and this job isn't helping) He said that it just makes it worse that he keeps making stupid mistakes that take more time... because he's TIRED. (His words, my ALL CAPS)

Now I swore to myself that I wasn't going to lecture him this time around... that I would just keep my opinions and advice to myself, not to add to his stress with my complaining. But this was a hard one to ignore. I DID though, mostly because I know this is for three more months, then we get our "normal" life back... so I figure we can deal with anything for that long. I really hope he can see what he's doing to himself and not make himself sick over this job. That he can find some options that he can be happy with ~ and a job that I am pretty sure he could really like if it wasn't so "all consuming"... Well, that's it for now...

I started on some lasagna tonight ~ hoping to make some french bread tomorrow so we can have a nice yummy home made meal again!:)

Later!

Byn

Musings for Wednesday...

I've decided to post the "story" on its own "blogspot" ~ so you don't have to wade through all of my daily musings if you want to read it. I'll be posting one chapter per week (usually on Wednesday mornings) If you're interested...

The Always Family Adventure

My only issue is that I can't figure out how to get the thing to post them in order... it always shows the most recent entry, so as of now, you'll have to go read them backwards! Either that, or make sure you keep up, then the next chapter will be waiting for you each week! Sorry...

I'm feeling a bit better today. Whatever is going around our house (okayyy... BUS) seems to be of a somewhat tame variety compared to what I've heard from others. It just seems to be two or three days of feeling slightly under the weather, headache and general sleepiness. Oh, and a little irritability:)

I think we're about through with even that, as most of the kids appered to have their "down time" already...

Jaedin has been spending so much time reading! He has discovered now that he can read all those numerous "encyclopedia-type" books we've had on our shelves for years... and he is going to town! I have to say, I am surprised that he is the beiggest reader thus far. For being the kids who most often and vocally complains about having to do "school time" he certainly LOVES to read and learn on his own!

We made a countdown to Christmas poster yesterday... the kids are getting soooo excited!

I think Sprite needs glasses. She got glasses once before (back when we lived in the "moldy" house. They were for reading only, and the eye Dr. said that sould get better eventually... she'd out grow it. She didn't wear them for long because htose appeared to give her worse headaches. And then when we moved out of the toxic house, she didn't have the headaches anymore anyway, so I figured it was just the house environment. At any rate (I say that a lot, huh?) She's getting older ~ and now complaining about her eyes hurting after doing a lot of any kind of reading or TV. So... next month is now Dr, Dentist EYEDr. month! We'll be busy!

Gotta go be productive. I'm starting on "book 2" of the kids story. I figured if I wait much longer to start on it, I'll not only get out of the mood, I'll forget what I wrote in the first book and have to study it all over again!

Byn



Byn

My Daughter's Poem for me...

My Best Friend
by Sprite Always

My best friends who most people think are Kirsty and Kerra
Are not really my best friends at all.
Now, they are great friends, and I know this is true.
For we know each other so well we can read each others' minds
and Think each others' thoughts.

But my most best friend is someone so special
The most special person in the world that I know.
Her name is Byn Always,
And I know this is true,
For she is my mother,
A very awesome one too.
For she does many awesome things for me,
like cooking, homeschooling for me.
Like saying prayers when I have bad dreams,
Like helping me when I've got something hard,
Like buying me clothes and on special days CDs,
All I've got to do is say "please."

She wants to make me happy,
Even when we fight,
and supporting me in all I do,
Like Missions trip, COG classes too.
She takes me to really cool places
Like New York and the Zoo.

She gives me really cool birthday parties,
This year with more friends.
I'll never forget the fun things we did
Like taking pictures and singing songs.

And this is why my best friend is my mother,
the most special, most wonderful, most remarkable person ever.

Now mother I'm giving you this poem,
Iand I hope you enjoy,
For now you can see,
Just how good you are to me.

I love you Mom!

Christmas 2003
Sprite Always

***Oh my Lord... I almost cried when she read it to me. Not that "I" think I'm that wonderful, but boy is it nice to see that she really apprecates all that I at least try to do.

I video taped her reading it to me too:)

Christmas Visits

For as excited as I am about Christmas with the kids this year, I am SO excited to see my mom again after Christmas!! She's coming down with her husband on the 29th, and I can't wait! Okay, I will wait of course, but I don't want to! Its looking like Sprite's bio-dad, Steven will be coming down as well for the visit, since they all live close by each other they'll all just ride down together. I am just soooo looking forward to some girl talk and time with MOM...

Anyway, the kids and I wrote a poem for Santa yesterday, since we want Satna to take the presents up to Scott and & Christine's house on Christmas Eve. They invited us up there to open gifts, so we figured it would be just as easy to just put them therre in the first place. We'll open our gifts at "home" first and then go up there in the afternoon.

Our poem:

Dear Santa,
We ask you a favor this year,
Please don't leave our presents down here.
Just take them up to Miss Christine's house please,
You can put them under her Christmas Tree.
We will even leave yousome treats,
Don't worry, we won't leave you beets!
(We also won't leave you a Coconut Cream Pie ~
But I suppose you already know WHY:)
Thank you for bringing the presents to us,
and for working so hard to find our big bus!


**BTW ~ The pie comment is because Scott and Christine's dog, Sheba, ate the coconut pie off of the counter that I had made for Thanksgiving dinner:)

Draggin....

Ugh. I am draggin really bad today. I made homemade noodles yesterday after the COG play... and then made chicken veggie/noodle soup last night. I was hoping to help ward off the uckiness that seems to be hanging about our bus lately. Everyone has just seemed a bit under the weather... although I don't know if it has just been the actual weather, or if one or more of the kids are actually fighting off a bug... No one seems to have actually come down with any specific thing.

At any rate, today I seem to feel like several of the kids (and Patrick) have looked the last few days. Tired and blah...

I'm going to laze about tonight and watch "A Christmas Carol" with the kids. I bought an older (but supposed to be on of the better ones) that was pretty cheap the other day... since they've been curious to see some different versions of it after we read it for school.

At any rate ~ off to take some extra vitamin C!

Patrick's Job

Well, for as happy as I am with my situation, my Dh seems to be in quite the opposite space. Of course, I think part of it is that he's just not feeling well... And working outside in this weather on top of working VERY LATE every night and therefore not getting enough sleep is certainly not helping.

But actually, the main issue is that he just can't seem to say "no" when it comes to his job. This is not a new thing, which only makes it worse. I had told him when he took the job (when it turned out that this was not going to be a 5 day a week, normal hours kind of job) that I would deal with it, and try not to complain to him, as long as he didn't work Sundays. I wanted the van to be able to take the kids to church... As that was one of our main reasons for staying in one place this year.

He balked at having to ask them for Sundays off... He was sure they wouldn't hire him if he asked for ONE day a week off. This is just to show what a big issue this kind of thing is for him. He did finally tell them he had to have Sundays off through December, and then asked to have them off after that as well... After I insisted that I would not let him use the van on Sundays. I had to take a stand somewhere, after already giving in on the only working five days a week thing... And this was way too important to me.

At any rate, yesterday was Sunday, his first since working there... And he worked. Now, to give him credit, he turned down assignments for Sunday, and this was just a "leftover" from Saturday night that it got too late to finish. BUT he rescheduled it for Sunday rather than Monday because it would fall on this week's pay period on Sunday ~ and he did schedule it for the afternoon. All of this would have been tolerable and was understandable...

EXCEPT this particular Sunday was Sprite's COG class Christmas Program. He has known about it since he took the job, and the kids had been practicing for over a month. Sprite had put her heart into it ~ and it was to be our Christmas surprise. When Sprite and I came home from church, he was already in a hurry... And made some comment to her that we needed to hurry and do the play or he'd just have to leave for work.

She was in tears, totally crushed that he'd agreed to work on a Sunday, especially the Sunday of her play. He did tell her he would come, but not until a time of tears and a talk with me... So she still thought he was only staying because of me. She cheered up and they did a great job on their play...

But when I went to tuck her in last night, I could tell she was upset. She had been crying because first of all she thought Patrick hadn't wanted to come... And the boys had complained about the "prizes" or gift bags she'd bought them (with her own money) ~ so she wasn't having a very good time. I told her how proud I was of her... And how awesome they all did and we talked for a while. I also told her she couldn't let other people issues and problems taint her own happiness over what an awesome thing she'd done. Of course that's a pretty difficult thing to learn, but if you're going to be happy, sometimes you have to separate yourself a bit... If only to not let others destroy your happiness over things. This issue with Patrick and his work "habits" or whatever you'd call it has been a strain on our marriage numerous times before... And this time I was determined I wasn't going to stress about it because its for a short time. I hadn't planned on the kids all reacting so strongly to it though.

Keep in mind that he hasn't seen the children except for a couple of hours ALL WEEK. They are used to seeing him almost all the time... So this is a REALLY big deal to them. And they are getting old enough to see it as at least partly a choice on his part to work instead of being home with them, and its a hurtful thing.

Top it off with the fact that the job he did last night took farrrr longer than expected. Once he finished the difficult job, had to exchange a disfunctional part, etc. people went to sign the contract and the price/quote was higher than they'd been told on the phone, so they had to call someone. THEN they hemmed and hawed for a half an hour... THEN decided they just wanted to take it out. So, Patrick would have had to rip out everything, and it was already close to (if not after) midnight. He talked them into signing the contract and using the right of refusal before their three days was up if they decided they still wanted it out, and he'd come and take it out then. So he came home miserable and exhausted (He's been looking horrible the past few days too... not well.) really late again and just upset that his job is taking over everything again. He's totally regretting taking this job ~ although as I said to him, if he'd taken the $9/hr job there would have been the opportunity for these long hours as well... And he would have felt even more pressured to work longer hours because of the lower pay.

I'm sure it will smooth out with time and lots of prayers... but boy, is it a bumpy road at the moment!

Say some prayers for our family's health if you would, and for my Dh to find satisfaction in his job without having to give up everything to do it.

I woke up late today ~ gotta go get started on school...

And I still haven't found time to do portraits ~ I'm REALLY in the mood to do them!!

What do you want out of life?

I was asked this recently from a friend... and ya know, even though I've put a lot of thought into it lately (several times over the last few years its actually been quite a big issue) I wasn't sure that I really knew... I think that is because I am already doing what I want... at least that was the first thought that popped into my head. I wasn't sure that was the "correct" answer though. Kinda threw me for a loop ~ I haven't had many times in my life when I truly felt that way ~ or even close! How sad is that?

And here is what I want out of life... or what I want to do with my life (I can't remember the exact way the question was phrased)

I want to be happy, and I want to spend as much time as I can with my family...

I want to have options and never feel "Stuck" for any length of time ~ or that I'm doing something ONLY because I feel I "have" to... or because society deems it "normal".

I want to teach my children to love learning, to love life, and to cherish the good times and learn from the bad times. I want them to have the courage to try, and not be afraid of failure. I don't want them to try to live their entire lives just trying to please others. (I believe that I am, if nothing else, accomplishing that one:)

I don't want to live my life trying to do what I think is "the socially acceptable" thing to do... I want to do what feels right to me (and my Dh) I don't want to feel that I can't try something new because people "just don't DO that."

SPECIFIC Things I would like to try... writing a book (and maybe self publishing)... publishing my writing through an outside source... as in magazine article(s), or something of that nature. I have a lot to say, I enjoy writing, and I believe that others could if not benefit from my life, they could at least enjoy reading about it for pure entertainment!

Also ~ I would really really like to work towards doing a traveling ministry. I want to sing (it is the one thing that really just gives me a deep sense of satisfaction and a true feeling of "conection" with God), to speak, to teach... I would like to live a life of faith and always feel free to follow God's lead...

I would really love to visit other countries ~ be it through my artwork and painting on motorcycles, or just sometime in the future through means I couldn't begin to imagine (Just as I couldn't imagine doing motorcycle rallies NOW as a means of traveling and exploring our country!)

Above all ~ I guess the answer is that I HAVE what I want out of life. I am DOING what I want to do with my life... I'm just not finished yet:) I want to do and try and be everything I can be.

I do NOT miss having a house... I don't want one. Every once in a while I miss some part of having a house (a nice relaxing bath, a big kitchen) but its temporary... and I don't miss everything else that goes with it. Rarely did I ever live in a house that gave me the nice "warm fuzzy" feeling every night when I went to bed... just because I loved it so much, like the bus does... weird, I know.

I know it is absolutely inconceivable to most people that I could actually LIKE living in a bus with five children... but I do, YES, ME, the person that "hated" being outside, driving ANYWHERE, the total homebody... I love it... and for now, this is where I feel at "home" this is where God has given me soooo much peace. This big old bus and my family... we are home~Wherever we go!:)

The C.O.G. Christmas Program

For those of you who don't know, C.O.G. is the name of Sprite's children church (Children of God) that she does at least once a week with her siblings. They have been practicing for a little over a month now ~ a play that Sprite wrote, and songs that they have been practicing... WOW

I am SO impressed with my kids!!! They all got up infront of us grown ups (Scott, Christine, Patrick and I) and performed this play, knew all their lines (Kainan's a pretty good little actor... they all are, but for some reason he surprised me:) They all had a solo part in a song... and they did SO WELL! I am just so proud of them.

Sprite took charge of the whole thing (it was a surprise "present" to me as well, so I didn't help at all) and organized the kids, gave them parts, helped them practice, wrote the play and taught them everything. She is TWELVE. She did such an awesome wonderful fantastic job! I'm flying high:) I just love this season!!!

Oh ~ went to church this morning, but left home Dad, Kainan, Paris and Beanie. The kids had been looking/acting "under the weather" the past few days and I just didn't wan tto take them out and about with all the flu stuff. I didn't want them to pass on germs, or pick up germs when they obviously weren't feeling quite up to normal. ANYWAY ~ the youth did the service today. The music they did was beautiful... and they did one song in sign language/dance type thing.. and it was gorgeous... moving, everything. I am so glad we found a church. Now I jsut wish we could be closer!:)

Happy Holidays!

Byn

Wow. I am so WIPED OUT! I'm afraid Kainan is fighting off some bug ~ he's been in or near tears wayyyy too many times the last couple of days to write it off to anything else... other than lack of sleep. I let him open one of his presents early from Grandma Barb (Dh's mom) because I knew what it was... and that it would keep him still and resting for some time ~ The complete Davy Crockett TV series on DVD. He's now in the bus lazing around and watching TV until his "early" bedtime tonight. Abyni has been extra cranky too. To ward off any colds, flu, etc. I caled Patrick to bring home some OJ and chicken broth. I thought I'd go up tomorrow after (or maybe before) church and whip up some homemade pasta and make some good Ole Fashioned chicken veggie noodle soup. At any rate, with this bleary-icky weather today, it sounds good at any rate.

The kids are going to put on their "Christmas Program" tomorrow afternoon. I am SO excited to see it:) I've caught Paris and Abyni singing their songs every once in a while, and it just sounds SO SWEET!

Anyway, gonna go get some girl talk and go to bed early myself! Dh should be home at a decent hour tonight ~ he got to work close by all day! Wow:)

Bye!:)

ATTENTION READERS

To anyone reading the story I've written... please read this disclaimer (I've had some peple concerned that the children actually got lost... guess I'm a pretty good author:):

***Disclaimer:The
Always Family Adventure is
completely and totally imaginary, made up, not at all real, not even remotely possible in this world as we know it…
Except, of course, for the few parts in the first chapter or so that are indeed based on their real life and circumstances. The children did not and have not ever gotten lost in the woods... especially not to the extent they do in the story:)

Good News ~ Bad News

Don't you hate hearing that? My husband called last night around 8:30 or so to say he'd be home late. This was when I got the good news ~ bad news question. I said, I don't care, just give me all the news quickly... I got the bad news... "I won't be home until midnight or maybe a little later, and I'm only getting paid $50.00 for today because I'm training again."

WHAT????

BUT the good news is... {CELL PHONE STATIC} UGH! Can you hear me now?

It was so bad, I couldn't understand ANYTHING...

BUT this morning I got to hear the good news... he will be making TWICE as much per (most) install! He only worked three days this week, but they went out and inspected his work, and apparently liked it a lot. They asked him to train with one of the "higher level" techs (can 't remember the phrase he used) to install a new product `Think Super Cable, Hi Fi, etc.` that pays twice (for base install) what a "normal" base install does!

So at least that was really good news:) We could use the extra income to get ahead on things and pay things back! Whoo Hoo!

Of course I am sure even with that, I'm going to get to the point where I want him HOME. The kids haven't even seen him for two days, and won't see him until tonight... assuming he gets home early enough. They only got to see him for a few minutes the night before. Not going over well with the kids. Especially Abyni, who has had him home pretty much 24/7 for the last year+ She's not sure what to think!

Anyway ~ have a blessed day!

What a day!:)

Well, we mangaed to somehow get in a full school day... at lunch the kids got a treat of grilled cheese sandwiches (even THAT was considered a great treat!) and put the chicken on the stove to simmer in enchilada sauce for supper (YUM!). After "school" I sent the kids out on a nature walk afterwards with their sketch books since it was such a GORGEOUS day! They had to find and observe at least two things that we have recently studied in Science, and draw or write about it. They all came back so excited to show me what they'd found... Jaedin especially, but all the kids were pretty excited to have found things that we so recently learned about in books!

While they were out, I made ENCHILADAS for supper ~ I can't wait! The rice is cooking on the stove, and the enchiladas are in the oven (S&C let me use their motorhome for the oven, since its right next to our bus... pretty cool!)

I finished editing the boys' story ~ so it is all done for now... until I start on part II! Now I just have to paint a picture of Paris as a princess for the cover art of her book, and do some quick sketched illustrations for my nephew Dallas' book! I'm getting there!

I also found some canvas yesterday at Walmart, so I can finally get some more painting done. Hopefully this weekend I can carve out some time to myself.. and get some ink for my printer so I can actually print out the photos and not have to keep them up on my screen:)

Had a great day ~ I'm finding it odd how quickly I fell back into "stay-at-home-mommy" role again ~ and its so much better this time because I'm not getting bummed out that things will never change! I'm getting SO much done, and staying on schedule, it makes things soooo much more satisfying that way.

I do miss my hubby though. He's been home after 8:00 each night, and I don't like that at all. I don't enjoy having to go to bed on my own. Even movies aren't half as fun... At least we know this isn't forever either... and at least he isn't here to distract me. That's probably why I'm getting so much more done:) I don't "waste" as much time just hanging out, but avoid going to bed because I know he's not there... and I get up early in the mornings easily because he's not there to snuggle with.

Odd how things work, huh?

I get to call my mom tonight ~ yayy!!