Today I had 11 children at my house. Yup. 11. Sam- 10 1/2, Jonathon-10 1/2, Katherine- 10 1/2, Abby-8 1/2, Emma- 8, Joe-7, Jacob-5, Ben-4, Abigail-4, Mary 2 1/2, Abby-19 months. Whew! Actually it was fun. The neighborhood kids were over (4) while I was watching my friends kids (3). I think it's funny how I can have 11 kids in my house and have a great time, and at the same time I can have a miserable time with two crabby little ones. Oh well. Kids enjoy being around other kids. Especially in large quantities. I see their excitement build when they get together. I really like kids. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like it after a bad day, but I just love the fun of their imaginations, how they play, how they talk to each other. It takes me back to my youth of creative imagination, little responsibility and the joy of simple activities. Kids see things with the freshest eyes. Everything old can be experienced new again if you look at it with the eyes of a child. So I quite enjoyed my day with all of them. Mostly I just let them be and do their thing.
It also felt good that I was doing my friend a favor...helping her get some valuable office time in at her real estate office. She appreciated it....just as any mom who can get time away from the kids to focus on something important. Like after a good crop day. I feel refreshed. Like I accomplished something. I'm always happy to help a fellow mom to feel that way, because I know how good it feels for me! And as for the neighbors, she was getting her car worked on and needed to pick it up. That's how we got to 11. But I often have 8 because they live right across the street and my house is like an addition to theirs. They come in and out all day long and I love it because my kids are not bored with them around. I never feel burdened by them.
This evening we watched my sister's kids at their swim meet. If you are going to watch one child at a swim meet, it can be quite boring. Each child can swim a max of 5 events and there may be 50 or more. So you are always straining to see and hoping you don't miss their races. With four kids, there is always someone racing! It was a beautiful evening and Ted willingly stayed home with the little ones.
On other fronts, I sold my mini-disc on eBay and got quite a fair amount! I was very happy. On the same day, I bid on a bargain, slightly flawed mini-disc and won! It was much cheaper than I thought I would have to spend. The lid doesn't spring open when you push the button, you have to open it yourself. No big deal. Something I can live with. It came with nothing else, but I have the software already loaded on my computer and I have the USB cord, so I have all I need. Be ready to hear more "sounds" from my house.
Also going on...we're gearing up for our next camping trip. We're leaving Friday for a four night stay at beautiful Eminence, MO. One of my favorite camping spots. We love the spring fed river and will enjoy our annual float trip with the older kids, Sam and Abby. We come with a big group and have a nightly campfire, along with long days on the rocky beach that faces tall bluffs. I'm looking forward to and so are the kids!
What else...Oh yah! Sam came back from Webelos camp and it was so good to see him. I really missed him. He came home liking two more foods than when he left! I knew he would be in a situation of being served a greater variety of foods and I wasn't sure how much he would try them. I think I made some snide comment on a previous blog that he would not come home changed at all...that you don't change a picky eater. But can you believe he is now eating macaroni and cheese and spaghetti!!! I know to most of you this sounds like regular kid fare, but not for my son. He is PICKY! And he came back like two more foods!!! I have two more things I can put on his money. We stopped working around him a long time ago. We have whatever we're going to have and he will fix his own picky plate. But there is nothing like eating one meal as a family. Macaroni and cheese is not exactly my idea of a family meal, but it's a good side dish when he doesn't like the main course.
I had a bad week last week, but things are going better now. I had a yucky conversation with my Principal at my PTO meeting. I was so proud of my very detailed agenda and e-mailed them all in advance. I even opened with a nice prayer....and what does she do? She comes down hard on me in front of my peers about some incorrect dates and how our dates need to stay firm and we can't change them once they are on the "non-tentative" calendar. I was very hurt by the way she treated me (like a child) and felt very unappreciated as a volunteer. I usually get over these things, but not until I've wallowed in it for a while. This one took me a good 2-3 days which is long for me. I had other things go poorly which compounded my "dumps" feelings. I've reasoned with myself that she has a stressful job and I'm not the only one that has been on the receiving side of this treatment. We ended up working it out, but you don't leave without scars. I know her hot topic now, and I'll be sure to steer clear of that area again! It's water under the bridge now, but I was disturbed at how long it took me to get over it. I always over analyze and this was no different. I care very much about what people think. Too much. I'm very conscientious, very planned...to avoid things like this. I take a lot of pride in doing things well. I think that's why this hurt so much. It's not like I thought PTO would be easy, but too me, things like this should not be the focus. It's on much bigger things. Anyway, enough said. I feel better now.
And one last tid-bit. I got to satisfy my cookie cravings. They were so good. Mmmmm. I want to get some more. They are all gone.
And one more thing...really. Have I told you how much I love the swim team???? I LOVE IT! The kids are having a blast. We had another meet last night and while neither of them placed that well, Abby improved her times from last week and I told them that was the focus. I worked the Bull Pen and was that an experience! Action at it's best!
OK. Time to go. To bed.
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