Photo frenzy!

Ugh. It is that time of year when Francis drags us to the photographer for our annual family picture! I would rather have my wisdom teeth pulled than sit for a picture. I don't think he realizes what goes into preparing for the photo shoot. So last night I let him experience some of the pain...uhhh I mean joy.


Now remember we are all just, and I do mean JUST, coming off strep thoat. But the picture is on Sat., and we need matching clothes. Off we go to the mall! Just let me ask you, have you ever washed a cat?? Try to imagine getting all of its legs into the sink at one time -- that is what a shopping trip with my children is like. All three of them are very exuberate and excited children. One of the things I really love about them...except when we are in public. So, they are enthralled when they enter the mall. It's like we never leave the house for heavens sake. The are excited about the "stuff", the people, the food court (most especially the pretzel store), the fountains and heaven forbid that a bird might be trapped in the mall. That would really set them off. Trust me, I have experience. They are all talking a mile a minute and asking a thousand questions, and I am trying to herd them into one store. (Note the look on the salespersons face....)What do you think Francis is doing?? He is hunting out the nearest Starbucks! Already in need of caffeine and we are only entering the mall. Poor man.



Okay. So we made it to the store. No one is hurt. Mommy is not crying. Dad has his coffee. We're good. Clothes. We need clothes. Clothes that match! Now, You don't need to know what store we were in, but let's just say they like music we are not accustomed to. Add three very excited children who love to sing and dance...note the look on the other customers' faces. My children have do not have a shy bone in their body and they sing and dance like crazy people. I love their joy for life, really I do. Just WHY do we have to have so much joy in the mall??

After a few exhausting hours we do find matching clothes. Francis...? He just looks a little overwhelmed, covered in a pile of clothes, new shoes dangling from his hands, lovies stuffed in his pockets, his empty coffee cup begging to be filled, and his credit card burning.

Ahh...the joy of the ANNUAL PHOTO!

sick sick sick...

It started on Sunday afternoon. You know it, that little tickle in the back of your throat, the tingly skin feeling, legs that feel like overcooked pasta. Ya try to ingnore it, maybe take a little Tylenol...go to bed a little earlier....BUT NO. It's still with ya the next morning and it has grown.

That is how our week has been going. First me on Sunday, quickly followed by Grace on Monday....how many more....who is next???

I dragged the girls to the doctor's office yesterday to discover the Strep virus (or is it a bacteria? I can never remember that anymore....)has found its way into our home. What I can't understand is how kids with a fever of 101 can continue to fool around and lay on the floor and just generally bug me with questions about food when I am dying on the sofa??!! Is it an age thing? Am I just wimpier?? I can barely stand up to get to the bathroom, but SHE is changing DVD's for her sisters and asking for food!! She can't be sick. At least not REALLY sick. Nope, her fever still reads 101. shessh.

We are on the road to recovery. Antibiotics are wonderful things. Maybe we'll even get some schoolwork done....

Mere chance or God Provides??

Last weekend we travelled to Minnesota to visit with some friends, but this story starts right before we left. We spent Friday packing and loading the car with all the paraphanalia that three little girls need for a 4 hour drive...trust me that's a LOT of stuff. Finally loaded all the kids, including the dog and all of his paraphanalia (he was going to spend the weekend with friends), got ourselves situated and turned the key....click, click, click. Again....click, click, click. Kids whining about when we are going to leave, dog whining cause he is in a kennel...click, click, click....me whining 'cause we might not get to go.... you get the picture.

Unload kids. More whining. Francis gets the jumper cables. Maybe it is just a dead battery and after a jump we can get going. Thankfully the car starts....REload the kids. Now the questions begin; should we take a 4 hour trip with a weak battery, IS it the battery that caused the problem...could it be the alternator?? Is the AAA paid up? Are we being safe? Should we go or should we stay?? After driving around for about an hour we turn the car off to get fuel. It starts!! Francis decides it is safe to go and we head off to Minnesota. The car acts a little funny a couple of times, but overall we forget the problems we had and write it off to a drained battery.

NOW the story gets interesting. We drove the car all weekend and parked it safely in the driveway on Sunday. We don't use it at all on Monday, but on Tuesday we have a boatload of errands and places to go. ...click, click, click. This time it is dead-dead. Won't take a jump -- totally unresponsive...click, click, click.

Now some people would say we were lucky....I find it a reason to rejoice in our God. We felt totally safe and confident that our car was fine for a long journey and it was. God provided for us; allowed us to visit with friends and brought us home safely. The car has to be towed to the mechanic today.

I am so thankful that God provides for us daily. We can write it off as chance or we can be humbled by God's provision for us in even the little things. I choose the latter.

Great weekend trip to Minnesota

Just came back from a great trip to Minnesota to visit the Lindell family. We had a wonderful time at the zoo exploring with them. It is a beautiful zoo and just walking the grounds was a pleasure. It was a perfect fall day; well until 4pm when the sky broke open with rain. However watching Daddy run for the car to rescue us will just add to all the memories. Some of our favorites were touching the sting rays, watching the sharks, milking a goat, and having ice cream with the Lindell's in the barn.

After the zoo, we enjoyed a good ole grilled dinner of brats and hot dogs topped off with a wonderful birthday cake Aunt Anne made for Joe, Ruth, and Grace. The girls loved playing with Eric and visiting his room to see his big boy bed, and Lydia had fun being a "momma" to Adin and kissing and tickling his toes. It is so nice to see the girls playing gently and kindly with little ones.

After church and a great breakfast of Danish Pancakes we said our good-byes to the Lindell family.

We ended our weekend with a stop at the Mall of America for a little dip into the world of commercialism! Whew. The girls were wide-eyed at all the "stuff". Our entrance into the mall brought us right up to the amusement park area and needless to say that set everyone into a whirl of excitement (no pun intended!!). They could hardly believe a mall could have all those rides AND all those stores...and they didn't even know about the aquarium yet!!

Ruth was all set and ready to try out all this stuff (they had never been to an amusement park before), but Grace and Lydia went pale just watching the rides. Ruth took a turn on the Log Ride, and the Orange roller coaster, and the other girls joined her for the tamer carousel and a ride on Thomas the Train. The best part of the whole adventure was the discussion between Grace and Dad about being brave. We reassured her that being brave doesn't always mean doing something scary, it can, more importantly, mean doing what you know is best regardless of what others are doing or saying. Standing up for what you know is right for you can take a whole lot of courage.

While we were at the amusement park we also ran into our dear friends the Carlson's! How funny to catch up with them in a whole different state!

After that, we spilt up so Dad could go shoe shopping and we could go to the aquarium. Isn't that a little backward?? Isn't Mom supposed to go shoe shopping?? Oh well...to the aquarium the girls and I went! What fun. They loved the little moving sidewalk almost as much as the fish swimming above us. It was the perfect diversion until Dad could catch up with us.

To top off the day, we ate at the Rain Forest Cafe. Ever since Lydia first experienced this restaurant at Niagra Falls we have had, at least, weekly requests to revisit it! Since Iowa does not have a RFC, this was the first time we could accomodate her. Needless to say she was thrilled. We got to sit by the gorillas so she was even more thrilled.

The only other event needing to be recorded was that Grace stayed awake most of the way home. She was bound and determined to stay up until midnight. Remember the first time you got to stay awake until midnight?? She fell asleep about 12:02 shortly after she welcomed Monday morning in with a little "yippee"!! All of the girls were so tired from the weekend that just getting them into bed was a feat! Ruth tripped over her feet in the garage and started screaming (remember it is after midnight!!) so I rushed her in the house only to find that Lydia is now screaming because I love Ruth more than anyone else!!! They were like limp rags getting into their jammies and asleep before the hall light was turned out!

In all, we had a great time. It is always a lot of work to travel with the girls, but always so worth it to see friends and experience all that God has given us.

going technical!

Who would have thought I would give this a try!! Check back soon for details!!