Out of My League

I am out of my league with this one.

I am not one to primp. I don't wear make-up, though I am sure I could use it, and I have only gotten one mani/pedi in my life. I choose clothes based on comfort, and the cheaper the better. It's just not my "thing". So, why did God give me four girls? Who knows?

It's funny how they are all so different. Mary loves to dance, but dreads the make-up and hair thing. Her nails are typically dirty and ragged. Clare is a reader who enjoys looking cute, but affords no real effort and is pretty satisfied with the status quo. Maggie is a little artist and a little bit of a primper. She doesn't LOVE dressing up, but has a definate sense of her own style.

This one, however...

...loves all things girly. Make-up? The girl has been caught in the recital make-up more times than I can count. She has special hair-do requests daily and says, "Hairspray, please!" when I'm finished.

We were at the mall last week (a place I avoid like the plague) and she thought she had died and gone to heaven. We passed by the huge Sephora store and she stopped at the door, eyes wide and said (most dramatically), "Oh. My. Gosh!!!" I had to drag her away.

I am glad she has dance to fill her need for girlish fluff. She is certainly in her element at the studio. I'm afraid she is on her own at home though. Please pray for us during the teen years. If this is her at four, what does the future hold?

I am way out of my league!

Remember When

Remember back in high school how much you hated geometry? How about writing compare/contrast papers? Or reading poetry and plays in olde english and having to discuss metaphores, symbolism, motifs and the like?

Well, guess what? When your children go to high school now-a-days, the teachers "let" you experience all of those wonders yet again!

I like the history, though. I didn't the first time around, but am enjoying it now. That's something, right?

When I Grow Old

One of the unique joys associated with having lots 'o kids, is realizing that some day, God willing, you will have lots and lots 'o grandbabies! I am looking forward to the day! Sometimes I think about what life will be like when my kids are grown and have houses and families of their own. I've even gone so far as to imagine what it will be like when I go to visit them! Here are a few of the things I'd like to do when that day comes....

I can't wait to sit down to dinner and ask "What is this stuff?" while acting like I smell something nasty. I think I'll even take a very tiny bite of the food and say, "I tried it. I don't like it. What else can I have?" I might even cry.

I will take a big box of Legos to their houses and sprinkle them liberally on the floor, being careful to hit the good spots...next to the bed and in the bathroom are favorites!

My shoes will be taken carefully out of my suitcase and flung around in front of doors, under couches and left in the middle of the hallway.

I'll be super helpful and help fold thier laundry! Then I'll dump it all over their bedroom floors.

When I use the stairs, I will hold onto the banister at the bottom of the steps and swing my body around it, making the wood creak and groan. Fun!

Bickering is fun. I will try to annoy eveyone in the house so I can watch the different reactions...then make fun of them. Making the "retard" sign is a sure fire hit!!!

These are just a few of my ideas. I'm sure I'll come up with more, because I'm a people pleaser.

I Heart Cooking

There's a job for everyone! Teach them now and someday, somewhere, someone may thank you.

There are spoons to be licked...

Ummmmm, where's Mary? Oh. Gathering wool at the window. Get busy, child! Go chop something!

There are pots to be stirred, watched over and stirred some more.

Dominic likes to break eggs. If a recipe calls for an egg, Dominic's the "go to" guy. I don't have a picture of an egg, or of Dominic breaking an egg or actually helping out in any form or fashion...but I do have this delightful self-portrait.


Stephen loves to slice and dice. Just look at that enthusiasm! Check out this pro-style garlic pressing. That's a lot of garlic! I believe it was for the Gumbo.

Maggie prefers to draw. Especially if everyone else is busy in the kitchen. That is a great time for her to find a quiet spot elsewhere to draw and write stories. Maybe Maggie will be a professional artist and be able to hire a personal chef. At our previous home, our neighbor's mother, who just so happened to be of Native American descent and believed in spirits, dream interpretation and had "feelings" about things to come, told me when I was out with my 4 (at the time) small children playing in the yard, that she had a "strong feeling" that one of us would some day be a famous author or published artist of some kind. I think the ball is in Maggie's court!

Guest Blogger

Today, I have a guest blogger. She doesn't have her own blog, but she does write many journal entries and stories in creative writing. So, without further ado, I present to you, my daughter, Clare.

Note: This is not a picture of Clare.

Last weekend, we were sitting in the grass, when all of a sudden, a duck flew about 5 feet away from us. We ran inside to get bread to feed to it, but Jonesy chased it away. Mary went to the front yard to look for it while we got the camera and the bread. She saw it right in the grass in our side yard. We threw bread to it and it loved the attention! It was waddling up and down the driveway eating bread and posing for her photoshoot! The picture above is her famous pose telling us to throw more bread. Now, raise your hand if you know how much longer this would last! If you said it would last only seconds longer, then you are right! Stephen came outside, the duck pooped, and then was chased by him down the road! I haven't seen the duck since, and thanks to Stephen, I don't plan to.

Dominic's First Holy Communion

Guess what I found? (must be said in sing-song voice..) My camera cord! Where was it? Only in the place I put it! Score one for dementia!

Anyway, here are some fabulous fotos of Dominic looking handsome in his shirt and tie. The shirt and tie he swore this time last year he was not going to wear. Who always wins? Mom does. Capice?

There is a great story to tell surrounding Dom's first communion. I will tell it later. Right now, I'm gonna post a couple of pictures and get back to the tidying up I must do before I see my husband off...because I don't want his last thoughts before he goes to be...dang, this house is a mess!

I know! Isn't he handsome?

Okay, he's had it with the pictures, now. The girls posed for about 500 pictures in their dresses on their big day. Dominic is done after two. Just look at him force that smile! Straighten that tie, mister!

Here he is with his teacher, Mrs. Presley. Boy, am I going to miss her! I took this after the big event, so he was okay with one more picture...

Now, who would like to explain to me why there is a picture of the dog wearing 3-D glasses on my camera?

The Fightin' Side of Me

I took a great picture of something today, and if I could find my camera's cable, I would upload it to the blog. You, too, would then get to see something that makes smoke steam out of my ears. It grinds my gears. Frustrates me beyond belief.

It is one thing to have piles of laundry to do each day. It is my fault when I go a day or two without washing a load. Piled high laundry, my fault. HOWEVER....clean, folded laundry put back into the hamper? Now you're walking on the fighting side of big momma! I know for a fact that clothes are sometimes tried on and discarded into the hamper. That is only slightly annoying. But, FOLDED clothes found in the dirty pile? That is just lazy. Seems like a bigger effort was made to treck the clothes back to the bathroom hamper than it would have been to just open a drawer and shove the clothes in. Because that's what they do. Shove...push...cram...then close the drawer with bits of clothing poking out. Sigh.

I am in no way, shape or form a "neat freak" or "organized person". Quite the contrary, much to Mike's chagrin. (Sorry, honey. Thanks for taking the good with the bad.) But don't make my job harder, please. Thank you.

Man, I wish I had that camera cord!