A Walk Down Memory Lane

Come for a walk with me down Memory Lane!And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!

We don't celebrate Halloween at our house, but we have attended different Fall and Harvest Festivals over the years. The kids love to dress up, especially the girls. We aren't the best at figuring out costumes, and tend to repeat the same ones for several years! But it is fun to see how the kids have grown over time. These are the only years I have on my computer. I need to learn how to scan pictures so I can go further back in time.

The kids in 2005

Padme was not impressed with this outfit or the picture taking!

Padme was very unhappy in the dalmation outfit. This is the best picture we got of her!

2006

2007

Play Dough Fun

I am not a crafty person. And I don't particularly enjoy letting the kids make messes. But, recently when we had to stay home from our Bible study because of colds, I wanted to do something fun for them. So we made homemade play dough, for the first time ever. The kids loved it. Here are some pictures of them mixing the color in.



They loved this play dough, and I like to clean it up much better than the store stuff.


Yoda doesn't like to touch it with his hands!

Obi has a knack for making things from play dough. He inherited it from my older brother. Here is his figure he made.

The kids have gotten a lot of use out of this play dough, and when it passes its prime, we will be making some more. I can't believe I waited so long to make our own!

Gloom, Dispair, and Agony on Me

Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

Do you know this song? I grew up with this song on Hee Haw. Hee Haw is a part of my childhood. When we were home visiting this summer, Hee Haw was on at my parents' home. It has to be a least 20 years since I last saw this show, but I knew every song they sang. On numerous episodes. And I still think that Roy Clark looks an awful lot like my Aunt DJ.


Anyways, this song has been running through my mind lately. Not the part about bad luck, but the part about gloom and despair. There is something about sickness that is passed through multiple kids, and then recycled, that really starts to get to me. Especially when I don't leave the house for days on end, see another adult other than hubby, and have an adult conversation that does not center entirely on the state of health of the people residing in my house. It also doesn't help when I haven't had a good night sleep for days. And it is only the middle of October. It is a long way to summer time.

This gloom and despair has brought about a wave of homesickness. I have been thinking fondly of, and longing for our house back home. We built it and I loved that house. The house we have now is fine. Nothing special about it. It is just fine. When I was a kid, my mom would ask my dad how she looked and he would say she looked "Fine". This made my mom so mad. Now I know what fine means. It means it will do; nothing special, or spectacular, but good enough to get by. And I miss my old house. Especially my kitchen. It was wonderful and special. Not just fine. I wonder if the people who live there know how special that house is, or is it just fine to them?

I miss my family and friends back home. It still feels like we are new here. We have been here a year, but still trying to find our place and where we fit in. Some of the kids are well adjusted, making friends, and enjoying life. Several are still longing for home, missing friends and family, and wondering what we are doing here. I am with the latter group. It is hard to see my children sad, lonely, and longing for what was.

During this time of melancholy, sadness, sleep deprivation or whatever else you want to call it, it often seems like things won't change. Even when I know that we are very blessed to have 6 healthy children, my husband has a good and stable job, we have a fine house to live in, reliable vehicles to drive, and food to eat. We are blessed. I know this. But, I long for something more. Some connection to this new place, some hope that we will get healthy and leave the house again, that we will feel that we belong here, that God loves me, even though I am a whiner at times, and that something good is going to come of our move here.


These are times when I especially need to lean on God's word, but when it is the hardest for me to open the Bible. The very thing I need to do, is the hardest for me to do. And as soon as I get into the Word, things fall into place and my spirits lift. Even when nothing has actually changed. Isn't that just like God? And then the Hee Haw song becomes funny to me, instead of feeling like my life song. Because it really is a silly song, and I don't believe in luck at all. Rather my heavenly Father looking out for me and my family. And doing what is best for us, even when we don't understand, or appreciate his efforts.

Yoda Happenings

I realized that I haven't had any pictures of Yoda lately, so I thought I would do a whole post on what he has been up to recently. And mostly, he has been sick a lot. He even managed to get the Influenza bug from his brothers, and it ended with him getting an ear infection, even with tubes in his ears. The infection was so bad, it closed off the tube. And he got 2 new teeth on top of it all. Here he is showing me his new teeth. He finally got his top middle teeth in, so he will soon lose his fang look.

This boy is absolutely crazy about balls. Any kind of balls. Big ones, small ones, round ones, oval ones. He likes them all. And he loves to throw them. And he has a good right arm.

He has learned how to feed himself with a fork. And he wants to do it by himself. Here he is eating lasagna, his favorite meal.

He sort of likes crackers. Padme loves peanut butter crackers and she always shares with him. He mostly takes a bite and then feeds the dogs. They like him a lot.


And he loves to help Padme with her school work. He really likes pens, pencils, crayons, anything he can get his hands on to write with.

And he does NOT like to touch play dough with his hands. He likes to use anything but his hands to touch it.

And sleep is something he has not done a lot of lately, so I have a picture to prove that he does occasionally do it!

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Our October book for our Read With Me, Mommy book club was Island of the Blue Dolphins. When I first heard the title, I was a bit worried about the book for Leia. I had read this book to the boys in our school curriculum several years ago, and I wasn't sure if she would like the book. It is a bit of a sad book, with a girl living on an island alone, with a few animals for 18 years. The girl's brother dies at the beginning, which was also very sad. And Leia is very tender hearted.

Leia surprised me and really liked the book. She was sad at the end when the girl was rescued and wanted her to stay on her island instead of leaving it to go and be with people. That is exactly what her oldest brother thought of the book. I was glad the girl finally got to be with some people after living alone for so long!

The book is based on a true story, so at the club meeting, we discussed the real story, looked at the map to see where the island was located, and then the girls got mugs that they could decorate. And of course there were snacks.

Here is Leia with the book, a drawing she made of the front cover of the book, and the mug she decorated. She always has so much fun at these meetings. It is a very nice group of girls, and she looks forward to it all month.

Next month's book is the Boxcar Children. We love that book, so it should be lots of fun.

Our yard is mostly finished!

Our backyard fence has been completed for a while, but I kept forgetting to take pictures of it. We are so enjoying the kids being fenced in, stray dogs being fenced out, and the privacy that our fence provides for us. We did a combo of privacy fence along the road, with chain link looking back onto our property, so we can possible have critters or a volleyball court out there and see it through the chain link. We chain linked on the side by the garage, also for the visibility. We thought that would be safer with the little people.

This is looking straight back from the patio. You can see the chain link hooking up to the privacy fence on the right. Straight back is where we will develop the yard into either a volleyball court, or possibly for some chickens or goats, or Leia's hoped for horse. The chickens are the most likely addition!

This is to the left of the previous picture. The trampoline is in the corner of the yard.

This is the corner of the yard to the right of the trampoline.

And this is the left side of the patio by the garage.

This is the fourth time my hubby has put up a fence for our family. He is getting rather good at it, but it isn't his favorite thing to do. He says next time, we buy a house with the house, yard, and fence done! He is tired of projects!

I don't know how much landscaping we will do next year with plants and flowers. We spent 5 years working on our last place, and neither one of us seems to have the heart to throw ourselves into doing it again. I guess we will find out next year.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

Come for a walk with me down Memory Lane!And if you have a "Memory Lane" post, head on over to Scottsville to join in on the fun!

My mom sent me this picture recently, and I thought it was the perfect picture to participate in the Walk Down Memory Lane carnival. This picture was taken in March of 1987 in Oregon. The picture includes my mom, my grandma and my great-grandma, with me in the front. Both of my grandmas passed away within a few years of this picture and I never saw either of them again.

My mom and I had taken a trip on my Spring Break from my first year of college to visit her mom and her grandma. It was a very fun trip. I met several cousins and saw a couple of aunts and uncles who I had not seen for years. It was also my first time, that I could remember, being in Oregon and Washington and I was amazed at how beautiful and green it was. I also remember it raining a lot while we were there.

Obi and Han's new Pictures

Obi-Wan's 14 year old pictures. Obi is a natural, and takes great pictures. He seems to know the exact smile and never has trouble getting his pictures taken. It makes it hard to pick out the best one!

Han Solo hates to have his picture taken. It is like torture to him and he has a hard time getting a good smile. I tell him the pictures aren't for him, but for me, so please try and SMILE! And he tries.

Lord of the Rings Marathon

Update: The comment about our family not liking Star Wars very much was supposed to be a joke! I thought it was obvious, with the kids all having Star Wars nicknames, that we loved the movies!!!

A few weekends ago, while Padme and Yoda had colds and everyone else was healthy, Han Solo and Obi hosted a Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon day at our house. They invited 7 other LOTR fans, and watched the 3 movies back to back. Two of the movies were the extended version. Between each movie, they took a break to eat, and go outside and beat on each other. Boys are strange creatures. The trampoline became the wrestling grounds for some kind of Ultimate Wrestling contest. The Mashoongas (the padded clubs) were out for some good whacking of friends. I watched from the window hoping that no one got hurt, or hurt bad enough to require medical attention! They watched movies, ate, fought, and went home 13 1/2 hours later. And all the moms reported that their boys had a great time. Go figure. One of the boys is now planning a Star Wars Marathon. I am not sure if our guys will want to attend. We don't like Star Wars very well at our house!

I am sure they all slept well that night!

I am Sick of Sickness!

Where has September gone? It started with Yoda getting tubes in his ears for chronic ear infections. Six to be exact. The week after the tubes were in, he got a full blown cold. His first one, actually. HE was miserable, but his ears were fine. Praise the Lord. He was better for a week, then he got another full blown cold, and shared with Padme. They were both miserable. All the while we had started school, and all of our activities. It seems a sleep deprived blur.

Finally October arrives and I am thinking of smoother sailing, or getting into a normal routine, at least. Not meant to be. Both of the older boys have influenza. They are quarantined to the basement. I feel bad for them, feeling poorly, alone down there. But they really don't care; all they want to do is sleep. I am making them eat and drink. Which tells me that they feel terrible. Not your usual teenage boy behavior. I am praying that the little people upstairs do not catch this. I am praying for good health for us all. So we can get back to normal, WHATEVER THAT IS!!!

The funny thing is, I totally expected this to happen last year. We moved to a new state with a different climate. Two of the kids have allergies and asthma and I figured the first year would be our sick year. Other than Yoda's ears, and a few colds and coughs here, it wasn't a bad year. So, I was unprepared for this to hit this year. But it seems that people everywhere are being hit with the crud. Our book club and our Bible Study are both cancelled for this week, due to illness in the family of the hosts. Maybe it hitting early like this will make for a better fall and winter with better health. I am certainly praying that is the case.