New Blogger Hits the World Wide Web!

If you look closely under the word "Progeny," upper left, you'll see a new name.

'Tis Derek, second son, fifth child, and fourth offspring to blog.

He claims it will not be a daily diary and I can certainly live with that.

But when he purports to limit it to discussion, argument and intellectual exploration, he is sadly underestimating my capacity to focus with laser-like intensity on trivialities and the tension-easing, shallow remarks that we all need, each and every day.
 

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Big, Big Plans, Afoot

Ma and Pa are going away for ye olde anniversarye!

Actually, Loren hates being called "Pa," so I take that back...

Anyway, the 29th year is coming up on the 5th, so we's a goin' down south, a coupla hours.

Kendra will look after the kids and she's already honing her management skills by threatening to put everyone to bed by 7:00 and ban Ethan people from talking.

I'm sure they'll all get along fine, heh, heh.

Loren has the hotel booked and I've scoped out 4, count 'em, FOUR Goodwill stores in the surrounding area :-)

Can you say heaven?

There are nearby state parks for hiking and movie theaters for vegging and even an Arts Festival down in Iowa City for Arting.

And speaking of high class cultural opportunities, Ma is looking forward to free admittance to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art one afternoon to see the large Grant Wood collection.

Good times, people!

In other news, Ethan and I mowed the hard half of the lawn this afternoon. Took us just over 2 hours and that's pretty good on a hot day.

Tomorrow will be more humid but the terrain is easier for the push mowers. I bet we get it done in less than 2 hours.

Loren has been collecting parts to put in the real swings for the utility pole swing set/windmill platform/lookout post. He hopes to have some hardware installed and swings up before we leave, later this week.

In school news, I only have one unfinished piece of business for my part--a test over the 100 Latin and Greek roots--and then I'm taking a two week vacation before implementing remedial summer work for Nolan and Trevor. Can't wait to get that letter from the Des Moines Department of Education...

And somewhere in there I need to finish up the garden and move all my roses, again.

Other than that, my summer plans include the requisite 6 hours of continuing education for the Master Gardener program, as well as 6 hours of service hours. So glad this summer doesn't include that 40 hour initial workload from last year.

In holiday news, we had a grand time over the weekend, as you may have deduced from the pictures of earlier posts.

But Sharon and Stacy left this morning, and we're getting ourselves back to normal with the sleeping arrangements.

The boys' room is already normal. It's a mess. But not as bad as some-times.

Little boys: God's way of making little girls look good.
 

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Memorial Day Weekend - Day 3

Well gang, we are winding down El Weekend Biggo. Church this morning, followed by a potluck and Lord's Table, and home for relief naps.

Then it was time for a little Dutch Blitz.


Sharon left the game early to make cookies :-)
Amazingly enough, after some of us nibbled there was even dough left to bake actual cookies.

Ma took a walk to check on the garden and discovered she'd forgotten about the radishes...
...so we had some for supper.

While this was going on, the kids had organized a game of Capture the Flag.
No one was hurt, but there was much gloating by the winners, whose initials were Kendra, Ethan and Nolan.

After the meal, Stacey regaled us with several numbers from her violin.
Flight of the Bumblebee and Humoresque, along with selections from Sound of Music and Fiddler on the Roof, to name a few.

Then she patiently let a few people try out her instrument.
Ma's ears will never be the same. After about the fifth kid I demanded a halt.

Sharon and Stacey leave tomorrow.

I foresee much weeping and gnashing of teeth.
 

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Memorial Day Weekend - Day 2

Justin and Ardith invited everyone--plus the Scholls--to their house for the annual Memorial Weekend food fest. Justin had his homemade smoker in service, for pulled pork...YUM!

While the roasts were cooking, a few "kids" played Mario Kart.


After the meal, thanks to ammunition provided by the Scholls, water balloon fighting ensued.
Kendra flees from the wrath of Ethan, while Josh keeps a sharp eye out for bee-sized antagonists.

Ethan is undaunted by his towering brother-in-law, Justin.


Ardith and Justin, chillin' after the war.


Sweet Baby Grace, rests in her mother's arms.

We all had a great time, with the entire family together.

Once in Cedar Rapids, we made a quick stop at Jason and Derek's apartment. It's entirely possible that some jealousy was displayed by certain siblings, but not quite enough to switch majors to computer science.

At least, not at this time.

Off to bed. I have to rest up for the pot luck, tomorrow.
 

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Memorial Day Weekend - Day 1

A little late (since it's already Saturday morning) but here are a few doin's from today:

I took the kids over to the Severs, this morning. Some of us were messing with flowers and others were just gliding along, having a good time.
Trevor, this is not your father's tricycle. But it could have belonged to your grandfather...

Look closely and you'll see Trevor's leg riding on the back of the 4-wheeler. Aaron Severs drives with sweet Susannah on his lap.


We always hear more piano playing when Kendra is at home.


A hot game of "Settlers of Catan."
Nolan, Trevor, and Ethan (who sits completely un-posed) await Stacey's move (Stacey Bollman is Sharon's housemate...they drove out from Indiana).

The ritual preparation of the potato salad. Kendra has taken to using large knives since she came home for the summer. Do they let PA's do surgery?

We're off to Cedar Rapid in the morning for a meal at Ardith and Justin's. GOOD FUN IS GONNA BE HAD!

Possibly even more pictures!

WE ARE PSYCHED!
 

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Duct Tape....

 

...the handyman's secret weapon.
 

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Life in the Yard

Sorry for not posting, yesterday. Ethan and I were finishing up the lawn, including the part we hadn't completed on horrid, sweltering Monday. When you add in morning school and the required flopping-into-a-sweaty-heap-on-the-couch, it doesn't leave much energy to fire up the ol' brain cells. They're having enough trouble as it is, of late.

But on---to---the---yard :-) Flowers are starting to bloom:

Like my White Rugosa Rose?
The first year I had this, its blooms looked rather ratty. But now it boasts white bursts of brightness that threaten to illuminate the night.

The dependable and traditional Rugosa. Less petals per flower and they open up wide.


Ditch-rescued Spiderwort are just showing forth.
(be sure and click on the spiderwort picture to get a good look at the feathery filament)

And this wild beauty...
...which has caused me no end of consternation, this morning. After discovering I'd previously mislabeled it Rue Anemone, I spent over an hour before lunch ("Mommy...we're hungry..." "What?....ok, just a sec...") and finally nailed it down as Canada Anemone. Well, I had the anemone part right.

Anemone canadensis, also known as Roundleaf Thimbleweed, Meadow Anemone and Windflower. This member of the buttercup family is prevalent throughout the U.S., but endangered in some eastern states. Native Americans used it for LOTS of stuff, including an astringent, to ease nosebleeds and sore throats, and even--if the seeds were rubbed together between male hands--love potion #9.

And now, cute yet severely annoying, this House Wren...
The male fixes up a couple of nesting spots and then starts advertising to see which potential home the female will choose. This year he's scoped out the furnace exhaust pipe, exiting the house, next to the feeder.

Starting EARLY IN THE MORNING, he proclaims his message with the fierce urgency of a shrill Sinatra version of Come Fly With Me.

It stops being pretty after about 20 minutes. He's blasting right next to the window where Carolyn does her schoolwork, and the wren has taken to chasing other birds from the feeder.

So after a consult with Loren, I rubber-banded a cloth over the hole. Hope we remember to remove it come cold weather...

Now, thanks to last night's drenching rain, this afternoon promises to be a dandy time for pulling up unwanted grass in various flower beds.

And with that, I'm off to make the world a better place.
 

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Whoo-ee, it's HOT in Them Thar Heels!

And naturally, it being hot and all, I thought we'd mow a little lawn today.

Emphasis on "little."

Ethan and I try to knock of one half of the lawn each time we mow, but today was an exception. Somewheres between 1/4 and 1/3 was shorn (and that's a word, spellchecker, so don't try and tell me otherwise).

The breaks kept coming at more frequent intervals, so when 5:40 rolled around I told Ethan, "Just leave the mowers out...we'll pick it up again tomorrow."

"Really?!!" was his gaping, incredulous and totally relieved reply.

Yes, it was hot enough to bring out the big guns. We're talkin' Diet Cherry Coke with caffeine.

Oh, I know you're not supposed to have caffeine on a sweltering day, but life's too short to worry about dying at the hands of a 12 oz can of pop.

I'll probably succumb quicker to this blazing migraine, anyway. Nothing like a little mowing on a sunny day with dewpoints in the high 60's to bring out the best in constricted blood vessels.

And now I can't remember whether I took the ibuprofen out of the bottle to combine with the two acetaminophen that I swallowed...well, one more probably won't hurt.

Don't worry. Ma is a tough old bird.
 

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Weekend Wedding Goodness

Here is a Picaas album of Lydia Weikert and Tim Weddle's wedding, per Ma.

I didn't take many photos of the actual ceremony, because I didn't want to be obnoxious. We all know I am the soul of meekness, ha, ha.

Please let me know if I've misspelled or mislabeled anyone.

Lydia Weikert and Tim Weddle wedding

And now I have about 12 minutes to brush my teeth and get dressed for church...
 

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Gardeny Goodness

Here are a few plantin' pics from this past week.

On Wednesday I spent a WHOLE lotta time digging out weeds and turning over a couple of beds.

Trevor got to plant his peppers.


Same kid, different photographer (Nolan)


Then I had Trevor and Nolan plant the beans.
(it's fun as long as you don't have to plant more than one row)

The next day I went to work on the tomatoes.

Measures become more extraordinary each year, in attempts to thwart the blight fungus that resides in the soil.

For two years now, I've been putting down cheap fabric from Wal*Mart.
This year I extended onto the paths.

The idea is not to have dirt touch the leaves. I pick off the bottom branches. And the reason these tomato plants look so pathetic is because I--being "thrifty," remember--bought several pots that had extra plants growing right beside each other. You get more plants for your money, but when you have to separate them, they get really stressed out.

That's why the tomato plants pictured here are all having nervous breakdowns.

The next step (after putting in the plants and cages) is to throw some mulch on top of the fabric. Hopefully this will help prevent rain splashing dirt onto the leaves.
Last year it held off the blight for a while. I might put on extra mulch this year...

This last picture is a second little oval bed that I made, since I couldn't squeeze 8 plants into the other section.

About half the garden is straight-type beds, and 1/3 to 1/2 is morphing into winding little paths and zig-zags. It might end up being very cool, who knows? But it's fun to do something different.

Life is too long to stay in the same boring rut.
 

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The Strange, Productive Day of Sadness

We had a tough, tough message on the prayer chain, yesterday. Hayley (Weikert) and Daniel Novak lost their third child, Gabe, to SIDS. He was around 4 months old, I think.

Hayley is the oldest child of a family in our church, so she spent her last growing up years at Allison Bible and they come back often to visit.

Please pray for the Weikert and Novak families. Hayley's younger sister is getting married this Saturday...

I spent a lot of time out in the garden yesterday, digging and digging and thinking and praying. Some things we just will never understand, so I make it a point not to try and dole out pithy sayings or whatever, in these instances. It's not at all helpful in the short run.

I do know this....when something traumatic happens, the only respite is sleep, if you can get it. Then you wake up and remember, "Oh yeah....*sob*..." re-experiencing the trauma all over again.

Anyway, please pray for Daniel and Hayley and their son and daughter, Jacob and Cambria.
________________

In other news, Loren was able to return Jason's car to him in Cedar Rapids, yesterday. Loren has worked on that crazy thing for a LONG time and now it really seems to be goin' good. Jason is pleased to have his car after a year of nothing but problems.

As stated earlier, I was working like a mad dog out in the garden yesterday. There seems to be a lot of quack-grass and dandelions and some other nutty weed, this year. But Trevor got his pepper plants in and Nolan and Trevor both planted the beans, for me.

I prepared the main tomato plot but had to quit around 8:30pm. Before noon I went out and went through the extensive procedures to try and keep away the blight, dug up and another small space and finally got the 8 tomato plants into the ground.

It's supposed to rain later this evening, so hopefully the pathetic looking plants won't croak. I was showing my cheap side by buying pots that had 2, and in one case, three plants growing in a clump. You get multiple plants for the price of one, but then you have to practically have them surgically removed from each other and most of the surrounding dirt falls off...oh well, we'll see how they fare.

Nothing left to plant for May, but I do have to transplant all of my roses, again.

Enough boring garden news for now.

I would again ask that you keep Daniel and Hayley Novak in your prayers.
 

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One Person's Loss is Another's Gain

Introducing, Ethan: Weed-whacker Extraordinaire :-)

Ethan has been itchin' to try his hand at the weed-destroying-machine-of-whining-power. Today was the day and boy did he go at it!

I warned him that it wasn't as easy as it looked. My first time took me well over 2 hours and my arms got terribly sore. There's also something about holding that contraption up all the time that make me feel slightly nauseous.

Apparently the same does not hold true for Ethan. We'll see how his body feels tomorrow, but by the time I came home from acquiring plants he had the whole drive done and it looked amazing!

Of course, now there's one less way for me to burn calories, but then again, it frees up more time to eat chocolate!

Here's something that doesn't involve twisted thinking...tonight's sunset.

It was a beauty and completely calorie-free.
 

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Two Weeks Left of School!

Pretty much, anyway. I think Trevor might take an extra week or so to finish up his Bible, Ethan two more weeks of spelling, Melinda has a paper due and then there will be the mandatory summer work of reading and computer drills for the two youngest.

There's also that little matter about Trevor and Nolan not making the grade in testing, but I'm going to mentally push that aside until I get the garden put in and all my yard projects finished.

Today is also momentous, being Derek's first day working at Rockwell Collins. Time to report in to votre chère maman, O Noble Son! Nothing too lengthy. Three pages, double spaced, would suffice. And don't forget to tell me what you're eating, now that you've got that wonderfully furnished kitchen in your Executive Suite apartment.

(I keep thinking of Hyacinth Bucket, pronounced "Bou-kay"...)

By the way, Derek, you don't have to report in every single night about what you're eating. Making a detailed list at the end of each week would be more efficient. It's not like I've ever been hard to please or anything.

In other news, Ethan and I knocked off the rest of the lawn, today. I took extra care and joy in going slowly over the front ditch, to ensure lethal slicing of the dandelions. You get a nice little "pop" when the stems go, and well...it's just real special.

The fluff tends to fly into the air and attack me, but no one said life would be easy, did they. It's not like I expect a special award for doing such a completely awesome job in mowing that you don't even need to trim around the trees!

Speaking of visual acuity combined with manual dexterity, I set a new record today with The New Yorker jigsaw puzzle...2 minutes and 30 seconds...READ IT AND WEEP, Baby!

Yes, life is pretty sweet when you have so much going for you.
 

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El Dayo Biggo, or...Cedar Rapids, Watch Out

Time for the guys to head on south to the 2nd largest city in Iowa, Cedar Rapids. Both will be at Rockwell Collins. Jason, for the summer and Derek through December to fulfill his co-op.

They'll be sharing a nice condo courtesy of the good folks at RC.

I'm gonna hafta see if I can't work out a co-op one of these days. Maybe Rockwell would let me manage their Facebook page or somethin'...

Here's Jason, trying to jam some of the last of their junk valuable possessions into the minivan.


Not sure how the managed it, but the electric piano is in there....somewhere (hope you remembered the earphones, Derek).

Trevor and Ethan try not to look too downcast.

Those left behind are lined up on the steps...
...Kendra cannot hold back a smirk, realizing the power she now wields as oldest progeny in the home. Others look appropriately sad, either from seeing them go or having to wait to get back to a computer game. Trevor puts on a brave front by lightly skipping through the herb and flower bed.

All ready!


Goodbye!....GOODBYE!....Don't forget to write call on your cell phone...


(soon after departure, Ethan and I trudged through that long grass with the mowers)

The report of their safe arrival has come. They are all moved in to the Executive Suite and get this...they've even done their shopping!

That's my good boys.
 

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Midlife Shopping With a Bulging Midriff....

...or why the Witness Protection Program looks so attractive.

Thanks to Jason being home until tomorrow, I could visit retail-land without little boys begging, "Can I/we/all-of-us come?" I knew they would be safely comatose entertained within their self-imposed tractor beam surrounding his computer.

What a break! Here was my big chance to shop for certain undergarments, the like of which is so much fun that it's only eclipsed in dread by shopping for the same items with one's daughters.

ANY-way, I found several possibilities, plus two pair of jeans-which-I-figured-wouldn't-fit-but-hey!--miracles-can-happen.

Now to get a saleslady to unlock the dressing room.

It took 3 tries.

After passing a lie detector test to prove I didn't have more than the 6 allowable items, I entered the cubicle of doom.

I will say this, even though the jeans didn't fit, they sure did make my legs look skinny, so right away I was feeling pretty terrific about that.

As to the other "stuff"....ICK! I have so many bulges now that I must once again seriously consider do-it-yourself liposuction. It would simply be a matter of buying extra straws, I think...

Naturally, every single thing I tried on did not fit. But being the clever Ma that I am, I was able to prevent the dressing room door from clicking shut so I could get back in without having to recall the saleslady from her congeniality class.

FINALLY choosing two articles that I thought could work, I took myself back out into the clothing department, only to discover that I had put my shirt on backwards. It was, in fact, the layered look, wherein the tank on top was fine, but the short sleeve underneath was reversed.

New dilemma: do I go back to the changing rooms and ring the bell three or four times just to turn a top front to back? Or do I take advantage of the temporary sparsity of peoples in the ladies department, slip my arms out of the sleeves and twist?

I chose the latter. Which means that I then had to perform the same operation on the over shirt.

Somewhere in the Iowa Falls Wal*Mart is a surveillance tape of a really weird lady.

And what did we learn today, Ma?

We learned that,
1) mirrors should be abolished
2) midlife bulge is the reward for having more than two kids
3) someone needs to invent a pill to put women like me into sleep mode until they're past the point of wanting to complain about 1 & 2
 

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Un Autre Triomphe Glorieux

This morning was the scheduled driving test for Derek. And since having a large family occasionally warrants efficiency measures, I asked Carolyn if she wanted to look through the manual and take the permit test.

Asked her, as in, last night.

The short of it is, they both passed :-D

Derek can now drive legally by himself...not that Jason will probably let him DO that, down in Cedar Rapids.

Carolyn only missed one question and gives the credit for her success to Kendra, who meticulously quizzed her for a couple hours yesterday evening.

As mentioned previously, we should seriously consider hiring Kendra out as a test prepper. An ad something like, "Need helping cramming? Call Kendra. Results guaranteed. Must be prepared to work during television commercial breaks."

Ma is so proud :-)

Quite reminiscent of a previous post....

Most of us then took the afternoon off to watch Rocket Man, courtesy of Jason. FUN STUFF.

Tonight we celebrate further with Derek's birthday. It may be ten days late, but we can't pass up this chance for fun family time and food snarfin'.
 

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A Drivin' Big Dayo, Tomorrow

Ye Olde Drivinge Teste is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Derek has logged more hours practicing the parallel park than probably anyone on earth.

As a last minute addition, Carolyn is tagging along to take the written test for her permit. She started cramming this evening and Kendra is going through the manual, quizzing and explaining.

I'm pretty sure we could hire Kendra out to prepare people for the permit quiz, as this is her third trainee.

There will be more to report tomorrow, naturally, including exciting details of the lengths we go to to insure that Jason's car--being used for the driving test--will start.

In weather news, we've had raindrops galore. I wouldn't be surprised to find out we had 2 inches or more. Heavy, heavy rain.

Quite often, the kids are convinced there is some special polarization effect around our property, that splits storms as they come, leaving us with little or nothing.

Not this time. Plenty of exciting lightning, too. Pity it is so cold. Can't get the rest of the garden dug or the tomatoes and peppers planted.

Speaking of delayed expectations, every morning now, the three younger boys play a new game called, "Waiting for Jason to awake."

It's really kind of cute in an annoying and totally pathetic way. Jason's going to be SO relieved to move into the apartment on Saturday, if he doesn't decide to leave earlier...

Here's an example from this evening:
...Trevor pretending to have a laptop just like his big bro.

Sorry for the glow in Trevor's eye. And this was after 7 red-eye treatments.

Luckily for all, I cropped the worst parts of the couch out of the picture. We're the third family that has used this couch and its matching love seat. The previous people were a missionary family, so that will tell you something about our cheapness thrift.

It was in nice shape when we got it though, so that also tells you something about us, I guess.
 

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The Up and the Down

Really enjoying have Jason and Derek home for the week. I know it'll be short-lived, but that's OK too. Sooner or later, this many adults in the house get a bit nerve-wracking for everyone involved.

Last night Carolyn, the older kids and I stayed up to watch Iron Man, via Jason's DVD. It's not the genre I would watch everyday, but it was interesting. Almost as entertaining as listening to Carolyn and Kendra sound off with their helpful comments to the characters, "WHAT? No...don't DO that, or you'll be dead!....no, no...be CAREFUL...Look behind you !"

Males and Females respond differently to these types of movies :-)

This just in...I received a call from the library that they found marks on a book we'd returned, so I'll be forking over $10.00 for the replacement cost. I guess it doesn't matter that the marks have been there for-ever. They must have just seen them and since I didn't report it, I'm responsible. Oh well, they have a nice library and I don't mind contributing a bit once in a while....*sigh*....I just don't like the idea of them thinking we did it. Especially since my kids are not of that age anymore.

In other news, Derek is practicing right hard for his driver's test on Thursday. Parallel parking in the drive, over and over and over...and tooling around Hampton with Loren to get a feel for the streets of testing doom.

And related, Carolyn has started on Derek's birthday dessert, the festivities of which we'll celebrate on Wednesday evening. So there's a fair amount going on, here at the Hoytstead.

Things have been happening further east, as well. My brother Doug, who works at Zimmer in Warsaw, Indiana received interesting news, today. As in, he no longer works for them. They are outsourcing some of the IT stuff to India. He knew they were looking in that direction, but thought his specialized skill set was something they would want to keep.

Seems like they could have given a bit more notice than the day of termination. His name is Doug and there are specific medical conditions in the family, as well as other things, so I'm sure he would appreciate anyone's prayers.

Makes a library fine seem pretty incidental.
 

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The Hodge Podge of Goodness

Howdy who, everyone :-)

Yesterday was a fairly awesome day, I must admit.

First of all, we got into church before they started Sunday School, AND, I even remembered the meals I was supposed to bring for the Bells and another couple in church.

Speaking of new baby Bells, here is sweet little Susan Barbara Bell, held by Debbie.
Always nice to bring a new baby in on Mother's Day. And yes, Debbie always looks that happy!

On the way home from church, just as we were pulling onto the highway, we saw this weird looking straight rainbowy thing.
Initially, I did not find all that much helpful information by googling the above term. I did, however, discover this phenomenon has a name: Circumhorizon arc.

It involves the sun being at a certain degree range, the middle of the day, cirrus clouds and ice crystals. As opposed to...say, the end of the world, or anything.

I didn't realize it occurs here in America 3 times per year. In Europe it's considered quite rare.

If I'd known what I was looking at, I would have asked Loren to pull the van over so I could get a picture including the horizon. But I'm happy to have snapped one through his window.

This is the kind of thing my dad would have loved to see and discuss.

We had two updating calls from Jason, who was on his way back from LeTourneau with Derek and all their stuff. We figured they'd be in around 9:30. The little boys especially, were in eager anticipation.

Meanwhile, Ma had a few things to do in the garden. My free trees had arrived on Thursday. You know, the 10 Colorado Blue Spruce that came after my $10.00 donation to the Arbor Day Foundation. It's a small price to pay for free trees.

And I am now a member of the Arbor Day Foundation, which means I have one more thing with which to pad my résumé if I decide to run for office.

But getting back to Thursday: it was pretty hectic, I had no time fer tree plantin', and then the rain started.

SO, I decided Sunday was my big opportunity to save the earth and get the fidgets out of my system from sitting all morning long.

I dug up one of the garden beds and surrounded them all with that plastic fencing and bamboo stakes, à la Wal*Wart. And here they be...

Since they're so little, it's good to give them a couple years growth in a secure location before planting them in the final spot.

This also allows for more time to persuade the husband that planting trees is actually a good thing.

Took about 3.5 hours to get everything fixed up, including transplanting a few flower seedlings to another bed.

Raced around to get brownies in the oven, soup on the stove (thanks to Kendra peeling potatoes), clean up, and watch a bit of Nature.

Just in time for Mother's Day, Nature was filled with the messy births of cute little animal babies, numerous demises, and odd ways in which the parents behave.

Apparently I missed the part about where a particular mother spider lets her newly hatched young eat her alive to increase their survival odds, but hey...I've been there in spirit.

We were happily learning how the maned interlopers kill off all the pride's baby lion cubs, when Ethan lets out a mighty shout, "They're HOME!"

And indeed, Jason and Derek pulled into the drive at 7:30 with much whoopin' and shoutin' from the three surviving males of our brood.

So, we now have the possessions of three college students residing in our home for this entire week.

I hope no undue sacrifices will need to be made.

Throw in a call each from Ardith and Sharon and it was a full and goodsome day :-D
 

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Ode to Mother's Day

(If you're wracking your brain for a present, it's probably too late)

Mothers don't want a big to-do.

Stand up in church and be recognized?
No thanks.
We've been waiting half our lives to sit down.
Don't blow it for us, now.

Pretty corsage for the dress?
Nope.
Little kids smash it and frankly,
We'd rather have the cash.

Breakfast in bed?
Oh Please.
Best to keep a few mysteries in life,
Nothing's magic about "morning breath."

A laudatory speech?
No way.
It's embarrassing to be told you're humble and meek.
'Specially when you aren't.

A topical "Mommy" sermon?
*sigh*
Only if it doesn't involve Ephesians 5 or I Peter 3.
Save those for Father's Day.

Chocolate?
Flowers in a vase?
A phone call?

WHAT DO WE WANT?

It's simple, really.

Godly children are the best present.

But we might take the chocolate, too.

 

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Please...

NO BREAKFAST IN BED.

I'm not one of those mothers who's ever been given breakfast in bed, thankfully !

No, when I wake up, my first thought is: "Where is the bathroom and how can I get there without anyone seeing how bad I look?"

My second thought is: "Did I remember to fold the laundry? Is there, in fact, any clean underwear in my drawers?" (ha ha, just a bit of British humour, there)

My first action is to carefully procure my glasses without knocking them to the floor or behind the bed so that I have to stumble downstairs to get my old glasses before coming back upstairs to find my current glasses. Yes, I am that blind.

My second action is to get out of bed--assuming I can see--find my robe and pull up the covers.

My third action is to grab my book and clothes and head for the bathroom (hey, it's the only place in the house where no one can follow you, HELLO!).

My last action before going downstairs is to look in the mirror, refrain from cringing, and try to make my hair semi-presentable, or at least vaguely shy of scaring the family.

No, I do not want breakfast in bed.

Never have.

Never will.

Time to myself in a bed-n-breakfast?

Now THAT I could handle.
 

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I'm Ba-ack!

Did you miss me?

That's the first time I performed a two-day turn around to Warsaw and back.

Nolan traveled right well, particularly if he was kept stoked up on snacks and drinks. Not that he was begging at all, it just seemed prudent. And that in itself added 45 minutes to the trip east.

Another 45 minutes accrued due to an accident in Chicago. After creep/sitting along 80 and spying five more miles to 65, I turned off at an exit and meandered my way down to Merriville. Even with the school bus and the road construction, it was still faster than 80 under Chicago.

But Nolan and I were plenty ready to hit Warsaw, let me tell you! And I once again learned a valuable lesson: Never, NEVER start through Chicago without taking a restroom break. No catastrophe, but it was highly reminiscent of the ultrasonic torture they perform on pregnant women.

This is also the first time I've driven while undergoing hot flashes. Sorta helps to keep you awake, once you've determined you're not going up in flames.

Our hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Felts, took us out to Pizza Hut for their supper buffet. YUM. Unfortunately, I realized the cell phone had been left back in our car, so Loren didn't get notified of our safe arrival until about 90 minutes past. Not intentional, but reciprocal for one of his past trips, heh, heh.

When we got to Kendra's dorm the next morning, it was quickly apparent that I might have to mail Nolan home, there was THAT MUCH STUFF!

We got it in, but the trunk was jammed as well as most of the back seat up to the ceiling. We did manage to carve out a small cave-like space for Nolan, however.

The trip home took a bit more time than planned, as before we left the parking lot I asked Kendra, "Did you check out, then?"

OOPS!

That taken care of, we hit Wal*Mart for drinks and snacks to last until lunch, then it was finally, "Westward Ho!"

Kendra drove after we crossed the Mississippi, a great help to me as I was getting sleepy and the ol' back and neck were quite stressed. We managed to arrive safely home despite the blocked rear view mirror and high winds.

After we lugged in the hundreds of items from Kendra's year at college, Nolan headed straight for his computer, like a moth to an acetylene torch. Poor guy...he'd been deprived of his one true love, for an entire day and a half!

Thankfully, that didn't last long. He was so tired of being cooped up in the back seat all day that he's outside kicking around the soccer ball while Kendra and the other kids verbally cut each other to ribbons reconnect in the living room.

And since they took over my dishes for the past two days, I know what needs to be done...
 

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Tomorrow's Tuesday....

...and time for a trip!

Ma is heading out Winona Lake-way to pick up collegiate #4, otherwise known as Kendra.

It'll just be a quick in-one-day-out-the-other kind of deal, so we should be home by mid to late afternoon on Wednesday.

Guess I'll take Nolan with me, though he doesn't know, yet.

Not sure I want to leave him here since he's hasn't been overly well-behaved, of late. He has his good moments, yes...you just never know when they will appear. And Loren's pretty busy with fixing all the broken down vehicles so it's not like he can spend extra time checking on Mr. Wayward.

Who knows, maybe we can have some good one-on-one time that will make a difference in his behavior. At least the other kids will enjoy a nice break.

In other news, Ethan and I finished up the hard section of lawn, a few minutes ago. Due to REALLY long grass, it took 25% more time than our last mowing, but it's still much better than doing it myself.

Now, I have a few preparations to make for tomorrow's adventure. Not sure if I'm taking the Green Dragon Lady Lincoln or not, since Loren is hard at work trying to fix a leak in the brake line.

I hear those come in handy sometimes.

Anywho, see you on the return trip!
 

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16 hours later....

I am ready to crash.

But better now, than while driving, I always say.

I went through five 12oz Diet Cokes today, two on the way to Dubuque, and 3 on the way back. I didn't get sleepy and only swerved while looking for maps or snacks, ha, ha.

ONCE AGAIN, the INTERNET maps were lacking. I had the two street names before MY street scoped out, with the kids on the lookout. Next thing we know, we were headed over The Father of Waters on our way to Wisconsin. I had to make a U-turn in one of those places you're not supposed to, but I did finally get the kids to their convention site around 9:30.

Then I took the boys over to the Diamond Jo Casino and introduced them to the slots.

I'm kidding.

We went to the Mississippi River Museum, which is a humdinger of a place.

Several nice aquarium tanks, with LARGE fish.


"Yum!" says the alligator. "Tasty young man-flesh!"


A cool little exhibit where the boys could get a feel for the old-time logging industry.
Thankfully they didn't roll.

As we picked up the junior delegates, we met up with Jay and Eileen Kepple, who directed us to the Fenelon Elevator. We all got in a car together for the steep ride.


A very encapsulated nutshell, but Ma is so tired and the neck and back are aching.

We'll see if I make it through The Red Green Show tonight.

Excellent day, though :-D
 

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