crazyacres...

2009; it was a very good year.

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Okay, here is a year in review. I didn't link any of these posts, just excerpted. December's is new stuff, because I have hardly posted at all in December. What a great year! What a challenging year! What a disorienting year! Anyway, this is a little baby heavy, and I can see that next year will be more "normal". This was an extraordinary year, to be certain!

January '09

I find myself leaning into the season I am in, rather that fighting against it. It seems as if part of living with an open hand means accepting what is real, what is put in my hand and what is taken out, and by doing so, experiencing the blessings of all the seasons of life. 1/14

When the baby moves, I just can not believe how satisfying a feeling it is. I know I will miss it when the baby is born. I am so loving being pregnant. 1/23

Being content is a gift. Lord knows I can not make myself content, although I do spend much time trying. I thank God this morning that He allowed me, in His wisdom, to begin my day with a deep, cozy contentment; He just GAVE it to me today. 1/28

February '09

During Liturgy, I get chills every time we are at the Consecration, "This is my body". I feel so connected to Christ right now, having my body being given to assist in creation. Birth is coming, the sacrifice that will be given to bring my baby into new life. I know how much I love my new baby, and therefore can rest so completely in the love that Christ has for me, given His sacrifice of love to bring ME to new life. It is all so amazingly, mystically beautiful! 2/6

Offering my body, and my blood, my sleep and my comfort for the good of the other. Letting Love conquer fear, and accepting both the blessings and sacrifices offered me by being open to new life. Relinquishing my plans and my control for the reality that, what will happen will happen, and I can not be in charge here. I have given birth many times before, twice before during Lent. There is something quite spiritually rich about joining in the Lenten Offerings with birth giving. A true gift for me to be allowed to do so. 2/24

March '09

Six weeks after I had my first baby, we got a dog. A puppy. A little Sheltie puppy, very timid and very sweet, very beautiful. We named her Sophie, which was the name we were going to use had the first baby been a girl. This wasn't even a year after my husband and I got married. For 15 and a half years, this dog has been part of our family...She followed me around everywhere, and if I was out of the house for a few days, she wouldn't eat until I got back. No doubt I will never be the recipient of such devotion for the rest of my days...So now we get used to the house being a little less full, for a while, until our new baby girl comes home, and new life brings its joy again. We all know that it was a good decision, to have our Sophie put to rest, after a long and faithful life with us. But we miss her. She was a part of us all along. 3/11

I ardently hope my placenta is retired by next week. Ardently. 3/13

I never thought I would get to test the theory that childbirth is better than a root canal. I would have been content to leave it an irrelevant saying. 3/13

3/15

3/17

April '09

My eldest two children are her Godparents!

Melanie only gained 3 oz this week. She is still 12 oz below her birth weight, and is 4 weeks old. She still has a lazy suck and poor latch, and we both have thrush. I am sore and tired, and tied to either her while nursing, or the breast pump when she is finished. Someone remind me how glad I will be that I persevered in nursing. That this is really a good thing for her, that she will chub up, that this really isn't that big of a deal. Thank you. I feel much better now =). 4/15

I found a fabulous pram style stroller at the thrift store for 12 dollars. I love it, it is so cute, and baby fell asleep in it as we took a walk. 4/23

Just as I have learned through experience NOT to wish away a moment of the newborn and baby phase, exhausting as it may be, I am exhorting myself to live in the present moment with my teens as well, relishing the time we still have together. The confidence and competence will come, but this time together is finite and precious. 4/28

May '09

Baby in a cute outfit before church last Sunday. 5/6

Just a quick note to say just how much I love watching my 10 year old son. He is totally immersed in Star Wars right now, and I have observed him swinging his light saber around, doing daring jumps and flips on the trampoline, all the while so engrossed in his imaginary battle that the real world fades away. I can almost see his imagined battles by the intensity of his actions. 5/26

June '09

I can only come up with one (success) this time, and that is the fact that today, I got up, and started to do the whole darn thing all over again. After I see most of what I do undone so very, very quickly, and my efforts so completely unnoticed, I figure that the fact I am still trying is a flippin' big success, actually. So there you all go, a little, bitter success. Hurumph. 6/4

Three months old! 6/17

July '09

Four months old! 7/17

So, as I mentioned, school is approaching and I am doing my yearly freak out. My husband reminded me that I only have to make a reasonable decision, put an honest amount of effort into it (regarding curriculum, scheduling etc.) and then really let God assist in the process. He reminded me that it really isn't all up to ME, that God is going to help, and fill in gaps, and take care of them. So now I need to repeat this to myself over and over, and quit thinking that there is some perfect choice for my children, the Holy Grail of Education, so to speak, if I could only find it. I am not Indiana Jones. 7/24

August '09

I had to clean out baby's dresser, and empty out all the newborn and 0-3 month clothes. Sniff. Bawl. I am saving them in case a friend of mine from church has a girl baby this fall. The gowns, onsies and sleepers will work well, as I used them for the early spring. The first of many heart aching transitions with this baby, to be certain! 8/7

8/17

September '09

9/2

I can not keep up. I fall short everywhere. I am truly fatigued from comparing my insides with everyone else's outsides. I am tired of fighting the temptation to covet everyone else's lives. I have come to the conclusion (a gift of grace, I am certain), that I am coveting an image, not a reality. And what a stinking waste of a sin. Coveting something that isn't even real, for heaven's sake. 9/18

October '09

The day I got married, I have to say, I could not see the fruits of our marriage, not even in a foggy, hopeful sort of way. I had no idea what life was going to bring. This morning, as I was sitting in the nursery (that used to be my icon room), with the baby, one daughter bringing me coffee, another bringing me some delicious cinnamon toast with pumpkin butter, and a few other children just sitting around, being a little sleepy, my husband walks in with the latte, a card and a nice bottle of wine for later. It occurred to me, that had I been asked seventeen years ago what my life might be like now, I wouldn't have ventured a guess that I would have a baby on my lap, seven other children, a bigger icon studio in the basement, 3 acres, and a vibrant life full of friends and family. 10/10

10/17

I am amused by the difference in perception about the fall foliage between myself and my 7 year old son. While driving my eldest to school this morning, I was bemoaning the recent rain and wind had knocked all the leaves off the trees prematurely. It was so beautiful earlier this week, but didn't last long at all. My son, however, came to me this morning (with his shield made from cardboard and duct tape and a stick/sword) and said, "Thank you, trees, for looking so scary just in time for Halloween." See? It is all about perception! 10/30

November '09

Melanie was sitting on the floor by me, playing with some toys, clapping, cooing, babbling. I enjoyed telling her about her newborn days, and realized with a great deal of satisfaction that my pregnancy with her, her birth and newborn days were truly some of the most glorious of my life. I treasure all the memories of my babies, of course, but there was something truly different about her birth, and I think it was my appreciation of the miracle and gift that new life is. You would think that would have happened before, but I wasn't as receptive to the notion of "gift" as I am now. Life has a way of doing that, doesn't it? 11/05

11/18

December '09 ***NEW CONTENT***

(Draft post I entitled "Whelmed Again")
Oy. What is whelmed, you ask? We all know what overwhelmed is, right? So whelmed is when I am just at the edge of overwhelm, and if I don't make some changes, I am going down hill quickly. And this, at a time when we are approaching Christmas. So here is my challenge to myself:

1)Be grateful everyday for the people in my life.
2)Let my emotions work their way out, and do not feel ashamed of them.
3)No sweets until Christmas
4)Some exercise every day, even if it is only 10 minutes
5)Be at ease with saying "no" when I need to
12/2

(Photos of Melanie at Christmas taken by my Sister in law Anne Marie, over at Nada Farm Life)

Still here.

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Oh, I have a back log of posts in my head, and on my camera. Today was the day I was going to catch it all up, but alas and alack, it isn't going to happen. I began the day vacuuming the living room and den (so baby can crawl around without choking every other second), and that quickly turned into a project of disassembling, cleaning and reassembling the vacuum cleaner. Then vacuuming all the corners, nooks and crannies that get missed when the children of the house do most of the housework. Now, the day is in full swing, and I may not get back to the computer until tomorrow or the next day. But, I've got show and tell about my newly 9 month old baby (??!!$$#@???), Advent wreath, St. Nicholas mantle, concerts and plays that my children have been in, and a craft or two. Toodles and blessings!

A Cutie to Remember

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:37:00 +0000

We woke to a bit of snow and one very excited seven year old, "Mom, do you think I'll get to wear my snoveralls today?" I asked him where he heard the term "snoveralls". "I just now made it up!" It is great to start the day with a laugh!

I have some photos to share when I get my purse back, which is where I put my camera, which I left at a friends house. We have our St. Nicholas Mantle set up and our Advent activities (simple as they are) in place.

Until later, my friends,

Blessings!

Hmmmmm

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:36:00 +0000

Thought for today:

"If you do not allow yourself to feel anger, sadness or pain, then you probably won't feel joy either."
(From "You Can Choose Christmas" by Clyde Reid. I picked it up at the thrift store, and it has so far been worth the .59 I paid.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

Blessings to you and yours for a thankful day! May we see clearly all that God has given, and rejoice!

A Blessing

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:05:00 +0000

I don't know what to call the people with whom I attend church. Fellow congregants is way too cold and formal. Parishioners works, but again, very impersonal. Friends? It works, but is a little to one dimensional, really. This morning I was thinking of our day yesterday, and just how much our church community really means to us and why.

Of course the obvious intimacy of a church community is that we share the Feast of Faith, the Diving Liturgy, come together in community to receive Communion by partaking in the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. You can't really get more united than that. But then, after that communion, the circles of community continue to spread, like a body of water with a little stone tossed into it.

My church day began with my husband taking the top 7 children to religious education class. I joined them with Melanie shortly before Liturgy began. As I walked into the basement, I saw the room full of children, teachers, two priests and some parents, all working, learning, discussing. There were also the ladies setting up for coffee hour after church. Melanie received many compliments, hugs and kisses, as usual. The bells begin to ring, and the room clears as everyone heads upstairs for Liturgy.

I encounter a family just coming into the building. This family just buried their husband/father this week after a long illness. The wife is my age, the children in junior high and high school. They were immediately embraced, consoled, encircled, if you will. I know everyone was thinking of them during all our prayers. Shortly after Liturgy began, another family came in, one that just had a new baby girl. Again, encircling, embracing, but this time rejoicing instead of consoling.

The families join in prayer and worship and Communion during Liturgy, and then for community and the work of life and relationships in coffee hour afterward. The teens all meld together and so do the smaller children. Babies are passed around, the newest baby in the church is admired and many a mother's eyes mist up at the memory of their own sweet little newborns.

At some point in the afternoon, clean up begins, and the families return to their lives.

I am not expressing this well enough, I know. I was just so struck by the role of a church community, both in our regular practice of worship, and in the aspects of surrounding and consoling when a family is overshadowed by death, or in surrounding and rejoicing when a family is gifted with new life. The encouragement we share when someone is struggling with finances, job loss or illness. We encourage, console, rejoice, share our burdens and our joys. In a world where people are becoming increasingly isolated, it is truly a blessing to have this community in our family's life!

Now that is much better

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:39:00 +0000

Just a quick sleep update: 2 weeks of very little sleep can be reversed by just one full 9 hour night of sleep. I know, because I got that last night, and today it as if I have been reborn. To add to the gift of sleep, we got the gift of a gorgeous, sunny day today, and I spent it outside planting 150 more bulbs and soaking up as much Vitamin D as I could get. Tonight is our church's turkey raffle, and we are very much looking forward to that. The kids got the house nice and clean today, and got to have some friend time at the mall. All and all, very good, restorative day. Much to be thankful for today!
(some sister love. Baby has food all over her little face, but it is still cute)

Alrighty, then

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:27:00 +0000

Okay. I am still so. very. tired.

Can't. get. moving.

If I drink any more coffee, I'll have a panic attack.

Desperate, I turned to my favorite prayer, didn't have the energy to say the entire thing, but repeated this part over and over:

Bestow on me, O Lord, strength to endure the fatigue of the day and to bear my part in its events.

Amen.

Fail

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:55:00 +0000

The other day I happened to view and enjoy this post, about a cute wee one having his first cereal and loving it. A darling series of photos, don't you think? So I realized that my little one is older than the aforementioned baby in this post, so I went and bought some cereal, post haste. I unpacked my pump, for I intended to be the perfect mother who only lets her little one eat cereal with breast milk (never before have I done this. Until now, I either skipped cereal all together, or mixed it with juice or cows milk). I bought the cute spoons, I put on the cute bib. I mixed the cereal with freshly expressed milk so it would be the most favorable temperature. And I took pictures (Melanie turned eight months old yesterday. I know. Impossible).

Ignore the cluttered counter top. Nothing to see here. Move along.
"Hmm. What is this rather lame attempt at amusement. If you insist, I'll deign to give it a taste."
Mildly concerned. Check out her eyebrows.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?"

As you can see, she had to do it herself, wouldn't let anyone feed her. She gave it a test taste, and spit it right out. No thank you. My meager offering was rejected.

Verdict: Her Royal Highness was not impressed.

Back to my lazy parenting ways of nursing until she can feed herself. I am all about finger food. Until then, you can find my in my recliner nursing the baby.

a-hem

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Wow. Baby is better now, but is suffering from post sickness clingies. My, oh, my. She has apparently decided she likes only sleeping on my chest, with me in a recliner.

Picture quiet, dark house at 1:00am, a sound asleep, floppy baby, placed ever so gently in her crib, becoming suddenly and violently awake. She is practically FURIOUS that I would dare consider putting her down. I give it a few minutes to see if she settles, but alas, FURIOUS doesn't settle back down. So it is back to the recliner, to start all over. Rinse and repeat 4 or 5 times, and then the alarms start going off in the various bedrooms, signaling to me night has ended, and a new day has begun. Wearily, I get out of the recliner, and place the sweetie in her crib. Does she awaken? Is she furious? No. She snuggles in, lets out a deep, contented sigh, and sleeps for 2 hours. I, of course, am up, slugging coffee (reminiscent of post all-nighters in my college days), shuttling my eldest to school and getting everyone ready for another day. I am tempted to wake her up with a furious scream of my own, but that would make me pretty immature, don't you think?

Sick

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:52:00 +0000

Oh, this bug has made the rounds, and just when I thought baby had escaped it's grip, down she went. We have spent the last 3 nights sleeping sitting up in a recliner. Last night she coughed less, but still pretty violently. Right now she is sleeping in her crib for the first time in a few days, and I got to brush my teeth and check the blogs. And drink a hot cup of coffee. Simple pleasures. Now I just hope she continues to improve and we can say goodbye to this nasty, nasty virus. I had forgotten the worry that goes along with a sick baby. I'll just be so glad when we can see the little sparkle in her eye again!

I have managed to stay on top of school with the other kids, and have been very pleased with their progress. Laundry is another story all together, and I predict a folding party later today (either that or a large donation to Goodwill, and far fewer clothes in this house). It is nice that the dirty clothes are getting clean, but when they sit in the basket, crumpled and neglected it doesn't give me any mental relief of a job well done. So, on tap for today, hold and nurse and soothe baby, direct many other hands to fold and put away laundry, and run through the reading and math lessons with the kids (at least). If I can accomplish these things, I will be satisfied.

Til later...

Blessings!

Ah, now that is refreshing!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:09:00 +0000

We are finally getting the October we didn't have this year. The weather has been fabulous. It seems a bit odd, though, to be experiencing this lovely weather with the trees completely bare, and no color of fall at all. Not to quibble, though, because I'll take this weather whenever it comes.

Saturday our entire family worked outside to finish all the little projects we couldn't get to in October: cleaning out the gutters, finishing the last bit of sealing the driveway, one last mulching mow over the leaves, cleaning up the gardens for spring, and planting bulbs. Then 5 of the kids and I played catch, with a baseball, which I haven't done in years. My younger kids call playing catch, "Toss the ball", since they have never heard it referred to as playing catch. Way back when, I used to play softball. I was on the Varsity team, and through the years, became a pretty competent. I didn't play in college, so since then, baseball or softball for me has been pretty spotty.

Saturday, my seven year old son got hit in the mouth with the ball when his five year old sister threw the ball to him. He came running up to my husband and I, and was disinclined to toss the ball any more. Out I went, to teach him how to protect his face. Soon, the 11 year old, the 9 year old, the 13 year old and the five year old joined us, and I was throwing the ball to each of them in order, and catching a wide variety of return balls. I haven't stretched and run and jumped and moved so quickly since I can remember. My oh my, what a blast.

I was amazed how even after so many years, my body's memory of how to catch wayward balls, how to throw accurately and hard, how to field an errant bouncing ground ball came right back. I was awesome. I impressed my kids, I know that. I was also amazed how quickly the kids improved their throwing and fielding ability with just a few pointers.

Now for the big question. Yes, I was (and still am) pretty sore. But not as badly as I would have guessed, and since the weather is still quite temperate, we'll be back outside this week, playing and laughing in a way that makes me feel much younger than I have in years.

Gift

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

So, today, I went through all the newborn clothes that I had used for Melanie. All the little t-shirts, the gowns, the swaddling blankets, the tiny dresses and diaper covers. I sighed and remembered as I folded each one, dividing the bounty between two bags. One bag goes to my sister in law, Heidi (regular commenter here =)., who is about to have her 12th baby. The other goes to a friend at church, who just had her first daughter. Admittedly, I reserved a few pieces just too precious to pass on, but I was strict with myself, because I have no need to save all these baby girl clothes. Even if I need them again, I can get them back or get more. There is never a shortage of cute baby girl newborn clothes!

Melanie was sitting on the floor by me, playing with some toys, clapping, cooing, babbling. I enjoyed telling her about her newborn days, and realized with a great deal of satisfaction that my pregnancy with her, her birth and newborn days were truly some of the most glorious of my life. I treasure all the memories of my babies, of course, but there was something truly different about her birth, and I think it was my appreciation of the miracle and gift that new life is. You would think that would have happened before, but I wasn't as receptive to the notion of "gift" as I am now. Life has a way of doing that, doesn't it?

Now that she is the ripe old age of 7 months, I do feel some of the "magical" quality of the past year fading away. The appreciation I have for the gift of Melanie isn't slipping away, just the crystalline, extraordinary sense of unexpected joy. She is settling in to the comfortable joy of the entirety of my life now, and her smoothing in is a good thing. But my, oh my, do I treasure those early days.

Brainstorm

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:48:00 +0000

It has been increasingly difficult to hold Melanie on my lap while trying to do anything on the computer. She is very intrigued with the keyboard, and wants to pound and pound on it. This has led to a few deleted blogs posts, closed tabs, and other minor mishaps. So today, after a futile attempt to distract her while on my lap, while I was trying to watch a netflix movie on the computer, I had a brainstorm.

We have lots of spare computer parts around here, so my son grabbed an old keyboard, and set it on the floor. Let the pounding begin!!

a very good day

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:09:00 +0000

Yesterday, I went for a long walk, first time since Melanie was born. It was a beautiful fall day, mid '50's, sunny, light breeze. I got the baby to sleep, swiped my husband's iPod (mine was lost, but I found it later in the day), donned my new walking shoes, fleece jacket, and new-to-me coral colored wool/hemp knit hat, and off I went. I estimate I walked about 4 miles. Loved every step. I am so refreshed, that I know I MUST make this more of a priority. I got to think through many thoughts that are interrupted at home. I think that is what is so refreshing about a good long walk, aside from the obvious physical effects. Uninterrupted lines of thought.

After returning, I busied through the rest of our day, and at dinner time my husband called from the train to invite me out to dinner. LOVELY! I thought, and the plan was to go to a little hole in the wall bar that has the best burgers. About 15 minute before he was to arrive, he called and suggested I meet him at a much nicer, much better restaurant by the train station.

So, I got ready to go, and realized that my walking clothes and tennies were fine for the hole in the wall place, but for this other place I would need to tidy myself up a bit.

I had a new pair of dressy trousers, a black turtle neck sweater, a black wrap, turquoise jewelry and my new-to-me coral colored wool/hemp knitted hat. It came together so quickly, looked so good, and was SO fun to dress up to go out. The dinners was delicious, I loved spending time with my hubby, and then was happy to go home again.

Overall, a refreshing day, restorative day, and a day I am grateful for.

Here's to more of those!!

Halloween '09

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:51:00 +0000

Our little Princess
Our Little Lamb with her handsome dad.

Our own Mr. Baggins

Elizabeth from "Pirates of the Caribbean"

Our Ice Queen, plus her cousin as ??

Our slightly creepy rag doll

Our little Lamb

Our Knight in Shining Armor

Perception

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:13:00 +0000

Good day, all! It seems to me that Melanie's addition to the family is just now starting to cause some serious re-arranging of my expectations. Up until now, she slept regularly, could be put down and stay there, and there were any number of arms clamoring to hold her. NOW, she is not content to be held very much. She is crawling rapidly, stuffing everything into her mouth (so now we vacuum daily. I know some people always vacuum daily, but around here, this is BIG NEWS). She is pulling up on everything, and needs constant supervision. She rarely naps in the morning (drat), but is a stellar cat-napper while nursing. One good 20 minute nursing session seems to equal a 2 hour nap for her.

Anyway, this is leading to me being a bit squeezed in the keeping of the home. Once again, I am back to priority only mode, this meaning meal prep, laundry, school and running kids from here to there and back again. No baking, no garden clean up, no long fall walks. But it is just fine, especially because watching Melanie discover so many new things is just as amazing as it was the first time I saw a baby explore her world. Even though this is the eighth time, it is just as exciting and amusing as ever!

BUT, praise God, I got the kids Halloween costumes a month ago, so that is all ready to go, and I am going to try to feed off the excitement building around here from the "middle kids". (I classify the 4 kids between 5 and 11 as the middle kids. They used to be the "little kids", but are now taking offense at that classification, so it has been duly changed). Just now, my 7 year old son walked into my room, and asked me when I was going to do my room for Halloween. He has made many paper bats and ghosts and wants me to hang them from my ceiling. I let him keep them all for his room, but he is aghast at my lack of decorating. The "middle kids" decorated the front porch with carved pumpkins, a scarecrow they made and various other hand made paper crafts.

I am amused by the difference in perception about the fall foliage between myself and my 7 year old son. While driving my eldest to school this morning, I was bemoaning the recent rain and wind had knocked all the leaves off the trees prematurely. It was so beautiful earlier this week, but didn't last long at all. My son, however, came to me this morning (with his shield made from cardboard and duct tape and a stick/sword) and said, "Thank you, trees, for looking so scary just in time for Halloween." See? It is all about perception!

Well, we have a full, busy, and fun weekend coming up, so I wish you all the same, and until next week, blessing to you all!

(Gratuitous baby picture. Notice her blurry hands? When she is being held, and sees me, she gets so excited she flails her arms and legs and smiles).

Seven Months

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:58:00 +0000

The Picture Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:24:00 +0000

The trials of getting eight children all looking good in a photo. I am going with the first one for the Christmas card. It's as good as it gets!

Was it seven months ago already!

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:03:00 +0000

My hubby and I went away for the weekend with just the baby. It was fabulous, wonderful and refreshing. While we were there, Melanie turned seven months old, and began crawling all over the place, finding all the power cords and pulling herself to standing and pushing around a rolling ottoman. Wow. I'll post pictures of the wonderful time we had, when I have time. Until then, I am just enjoying remembering her tininess, now that she is getting just a bit more independent.

Blessings!

Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:28:00 +0000

For our anniversary we went to a lovely aquarium, and of course, I did not bring my camera, because I always forget. However, my daughter brought hers, and took a million pictures of fish and reptiles, and one or two of Melanie. Here is one, and I love it! We had a fabulous day!

A Day to Celebrate

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Today is my 17th anniversary. This morning my husband brought me a Starbuck's Latte to celebrate, and on the cup was "The Way I See It, #76". It reads as follows:

"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating - in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life." (Anne Morriss)

Now I could quibble here and there with a few word choices, but I am simply going to be grateful for the commitment my husband has to our marriage, the commitment I have to our marriage, and the shared liberation we therefor enjoy.

I also think it is pretty cool that this was the cup he was given while getting me a latte. Seems to me as if God was giving us a little thumbs up!!

The day I got married, I have to say, I could not see the fruits of our marriage, not even in a foggy, hopeful sort of way. I had no idea what life was going to bring. This morning, as I was sitting in the nursery (that used to be my icon room), with the baby, one daughter bringing me coffee, another bringing me some delicious cinnamon toast with pumpkin butter, and a few other children just sitting around, being a little sleepy, my husband walks in with the latte, a card and a nice bottle of wine for later. It occurred to me, that had I been asked seventeen years ago what my life might be like now, I wouldn't have ventured a guess that I would have a baby on my lap, seven other children, a bigger icon studio in the basement, 3 acres, and a vibrant life full of friends and family.

Mostly, I couldn't have even begun to understand the way love deepens and smooths, becomes so rooted and solid. And God willing we are less that half way finished with this process, so now, looking forward, I have a glimmer of what awaits me in love; and yet there are so many unknowns. But I have hope, the same hope I had on my wedding day, but now it is a hope that is far more formed. And for that, again, I am grateful.

For more ruminating on marriage I have the "Fourteen Years and Counting" under my favorite posts on the side bar. It is all still true.

A Break

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:21:00 +0000

School is chugging along in full force. I have actually been enjoying the process more than I expected, but I am busy every moment of the day. We have been having lots of conflict about internet use and rules regarding internet use. Part of our plan to implement restraint and intentionality about the time we spend on the computer is to take an internet fast. Probably for a week, maybe more, maybe less, but I will be absent from cyberspace for a while.

I have been doing a nature study co-op with 4 of my children and 4 other children, and it has been much fun and very successful. When I return to the blog, I will post some photos of out projects. This has been very fun, interesting and creative. I am looking forward to sharing our success!!

Anyway, God bless, and I'll be back soon!

Multi-tasking professional

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:24:00 +0000

In the last hour and a half I have taught a science class (including a lab) prepared chicken enchiladas for the kids' supper, nursed the baby to sleep, took a power snooze, scrubbed the shower, showered, changed, and am ready to pick up my younger kids from their co-op, take them to choir, bring them home, and then go out with my husband for a date. Phew. That beer is gonna taste FINE!

Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (Mary Poppins NOT) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:51:00 +0000

I weighed Melanie yesterday,and she now, at 6 months, weighs 17 pounds, just about doubling her birth weight. So, even though I haven't been worried about her weight gain for some time, it is nice to now she is "officially" at a weight that is "normal".

Melanie is giving me the best squishy hugs. When I first get her up in the morning she clings to my neck, and squishes her cheek up against mine. It reminds me of the icon at the beginning of this post.