Most of you already know that my children range in age from Huggies to high school (my eldest will be turning 17 in just over a month and my youngest is nearly eight months old) with three more children in between.  You might think that I should have this whole parenting thing down pat.  Well, I don’t.  I’m still learning all the time.  Good for me that I enjoy learning.

We took the children to see Wall-E this weekend.  I had some serious doubts about taking an eight-month-old to a movie theater, but my children really, REALLY wanted me to see the movie with them.  They seem to think that doing things with their mom is fun; doing things with their dad is great; and doing things with both of us is the absolute best.  It’s good to be loved and wanted, isn’t it?

We planned this trip very carefully.  The time was carefully chosen.  The theater was carefully chosen.  The children were prepared.  What could go wrong?  Well… Guess who decided he didn’t like the theater seats?  Yep, Baby Buddy.  I never even imagined that the theater SEATS would bother him!  So, just shortly after the movie began, I found myself out in the corridor pacing with an uncooperative baby.  Do you feel sorry for me yet?  Well, don’t!  I was completely delighted to be there!  You see, after we lost our little Samuel a couple of years ago, I found myself watching so many other mothers wrestling with little ones and thinking “Oh, what I would give to be in that person’s place!”  I wasn’t exactly jealous.  I was just missing my own baby.  I was finding myself thinking about those frustrating little moments that children throw at you in a whole different light.  I found myself praying a lot.  I wasn’t necessarily praying for myself, although I did that, too.  I was mostly praying for those mothers and their little ones.  I was praying for them as they struggled with the here and now and I was praying for their futures.  I was praying G-d’s greatest blessings upon them.  Somehow that helped.  Now that G-d has blessed us with our little Buddy, I don’t have nearly as much time to notice what is going on with other mothers and babies.  My own little guy is a handful and often keeps me too busy to notice much else.  I learned an important lesson during that time of loss and longing and prayer, though.  I am ENJOYING the here and now with my little guy.  When we were out in the corridor we talked about the pictures and the lights.  We didn’t just smile at everyone we saw, we GRINNED!  Almost to a person, they smiled back.  A surprising number of people actually paused to say “hi” or to compliment my adorable little baby.  We enjoyed just being together and I recognized it for the time of blessing that it was.  Eaglewood, being the thoughtful gentleman that he is, came to my rescue after awhile and took Buddy so I could watch some of the movie with the other children (who also seemed to be missing me).  Eaglewood is my hero.  I’m more than blessed to have him and our children.  Wall-E was great.  It was every bit as cute, as sweet and as charming as you have undoubtedly heard.  I would heartily recommend it to anyone and everyone.  But, the best part of the movie was being with my blessings, and being reminded of the great and awsome grace of my Heavenly Father.  That’s one lesson I have finally managed to learn.

… when everyone has been sick a lot lately passing around the various stomach viruses and colds that each child brought home so that everyone can share in the “fun”?  You know those days when you have been cleaning up constantly, but people have been messing things up behind you so quickly that it looks like you sat around all day doing nothing?  You know those days when your normally sweet and cooperative children are picking fights with each other and quarreling with anyone who so much as looks at them (possibly even the cat)?  You know those days when no matter how rough things around you seem you still cannot believe how overwhelmingly blessed you are?  You know those days when you are suddenly overwhelmingly reminded of just how much G-d loves you to bless you with such a wonderful spouse and so many wonderful children?  Yeah.  Me, too.

 

Now I just need to go hide in… er, I mean CLEAN OUT some closets….

Take note of how neatly Nutter Butter has stashed himself away in my husband’s bag.

Just in case you may not have noticed it… A Proud Grandpappy, who posted a comment on my last blog post, is my Dad.  Hi, Daddy (waving).  He’s a very intelligent and funny person who really ought to start his own blog (hint, hint!).

Just thought that I would peek in and let you know that this blog is still on life support. We are still wandering around coughing, sneezing and sniffling, but are otherwise doing MUCH better.   We even felt well enough to spend the whole weekend spoiling Eaglewood in honor of Father’s Day.    

May it be truly blessed.

Thanks Lawanda, Maggie, Kasi, Beth, and Heather for the well-wishes and prayers!  They are much appreciated.  We are all recovering from or recovered from our case(s) of family ick.  There just doesn’t seem to be much interesting or blog-worthy happening around here these days.  We are reading a good deal, playing a Nancy Drew computer game together as a family (because we LIKE being a bunch of nerds, thank you!), and occasionally doing a bit of accidental garage saling.  Which is to say that we recently drove past a moving sale where there were two large shelves for sale for $5 apiece and bought them both.  We haven’t actually been seeking out many garage sales lately, though.  We have been home bodies.  Just in case you are concerned that we may not have been keeping up with our previously high standards of homeschooling excellence, I should probably tell you that you are absolutely correct.  With all of the ick going around, we have taken a week off to watch a sci-fi marathon.   We should be back to our normal (and much higher) level of academic rigor next week.  I hope.

Most of us here in Eaglewood’s Nest are experiencing a throat bug.  We don’t really feel bad, and aren’t terribly sick, but we DO have some rather painful sore throats.  We’ve taking to whining about our own sore throats and fretting over everyone else’s.  That’s what we do here.  If you get sick in our presence, we will probably fret over you, too.  We will feed you soup, soothing hot drinks and take your temperature until you are tempted to run at the mere sight of a thermometer.  We will also ask you how you are feeling until you learn some sign language in self defense just to protect your sore throat.  The exceptions to our household illness being Little Buddy who shook it off a couple of days ago and Ditto who has already recovered and has made it his responsibility to take care of and fret over the rest of us (in so far as we actually NEED that).  What a great guy, huh?  I’m so proud.

* Link the person who tagged you (That would be Junkmale of “Thou And Thou Only“.  Blame him.).
* Mention the rules in your blog (Keep reading…).
* Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours (Only six?).
* Tag a new set of six following bloggers by linking them (If you are reading this and haven’t been tagged for it already, please consider doing it now.  Or not.).

• I enjoy reading books on economics, government and history.  There, I said it!
  


• I talk to inanimate objects and to people who cannot hear me (such as those in other cars).
  
• I don’t miss sugar.  The only time my allergy bothers me is when it causes my family some sort of hardship.
  
• I actually enjoy keeping my closet (and Eaglewood’s) organized.  Shhh… Don’t tell Eaglewood!
  
• When it comes to upholstery and home decor, no matter how much I like a floral print, if I have to live with it, I will get sick of it inside of a month or two.  I’m not good with floral prints. 
  
• I hate wearing shoes around the house.   Flylady would be ashamed of me, I’m  quite certain.