Weekend highlights

The girls were have a great time at the Vandalia festival. We all had fun!

The big kids made a mudslide in our backyard. They must have slid down that thing for an hour. And spent two trying to get the mud off.

The kids had the camera for awhile. They took about 15 posed pictures. Interesting.

We got water guns and firemen hoses out to play to beat the heat. The kids were supposed to be out of the area where the adults were, but Nolan was enjoying spritzing us while we sat at the table.

Our Memorial Day weekend was great. Both of my brothers and their families were here and our friends Steve & Hannah were here also with their kids. There were nine adults to eleven children. We were outnumbered by little kids. There was one 11 year old (yo), one 8 yo, one 7 yo, two 4 yo, one 3 yo, two 2 yo, two 1 yo, and a 3 month old. Sounds crazy, but the kids did really well. Very few fights not a lot of major whining either. Lydia was in heaven to have a girl her age to play with. Unfortunately we got a lot of rain on Friday so things were a bit muddy all weekend. Even with temps in the 90's the mud still isn't completely dry. It was a busy weekend but also relaxing and fun.

Other highlights that I don't have pictures for -

The fawn- We took a good hike around the property. We went to the creek and looked at plants and animals. On our way back to the house Tim spotted a fawn. It must have only been a few weeks old. It was maybe 20 feet from the path nuzzled beside a rock. It didn't move. I had never been that close to any deer before. It was a sweet moment.

Instant bonfire - Saturday night we were all tired and we had decided not to put up a tent as planned b/c of the mud and going to church in the AM. So I asked Tim if he still wanted to do a fire in the backyard. I had never seen a grown man so excited for a camp fire. I knew he was up to something. So we get all the kids to bed and Steve and Tim are in the backyard. Hannah and I are wrapping up a few things. I see Tim walking around with a propane tank! He is very evasive when I ask what he is doing. Then we hear this woosh sound. Tim is starting the fire with a large propane torch that is used to heat roofing material. After a little more asking I realize he has been planning this all day and couldn't wait for the fire! Have a mentioned life is always an adventure here?

AAHH!

Yesterday I started (and almost had finished) a pretty good sized post. I didn't get to finish it yesterday, but was sure I saved it as a draft and now it is gone!!!! I don't have time now to rethink and type either! Maybe when Tim gets up he can help me find it, but if not it is gone forever! This weekend will be busy so I doubt I will have time to post again until Tuesday. Everyone have an enjoyable Memorial Day. Thank you to anyone out there who has served our country in the military!

Motivation

I love to be a stay at home mom/housewife. I wouldn't have it any other way, although on a bad day with the kids I do tease Tim that I am going back to work and he can stay home again! :) But sometimes the repetitive nature of my "job" gets me down. You know. . . wash dishes only to return a hour later to another counter of dishes. Mop the floor and voila soon there are small muddy footprints across it. Laundry is a never ending pile. Sometimes it is hard to get motivated to do the things I need to.

I do ok at the basics (laundry, dishes, toys picked up) usually. There is a lot of cleaning that should get done more regularly in my house. There are also a lot of organizing type projects that need done. (or redone) I told my mom the other day that I could tell how wiped out I was by the pregnancy when we moved. I am normally pretty organized but most of our cabinets and closets just got shoved with stuff when we moved in.

Well now V is almost 3 months old, the weather is nice and I find these some of these issues are starting to bother me. Yet still I am not getting them done. It would be easy to say that I don't have the time, and that is true to a point. But I am a firm believer that we all find the time and money for the things that are really important to us. So I how do I motivate myself.

Well one way is I have resorted to is a reward system. Yes just like a kid! :) "Now Steph, if you want to blog, check email, read blogs or your book you need to do this and that first!" And for those of you wondering, yes I started laundry, got N breakfast and cleaned up our dishes before sitting done to type this blog.

But my very best motivator is to invite company over. Suddenly there are bathrooms being cleaned and clutter being decluttered and long forgotten projects being finished. I don't feel like I have to clean to impress them. And most people have seen my house at its worse at some point anyhow. I think the motivation comes from having a deadline to reach. Company is coming on Friday so I have to get this clean and that done by then. When there is no deadline it is too easy to just think, "oh I will get to that later." I still don't ever get everything I would like done before company comes, but I do make a significant dent in it.

But of course housework never ends so by the time we have company again we are back to the same mess. I think I just need to plan to have company at least every other week in order to keep myself motivated!

Well if you read my AAAH post this is the blog I was referring to. It has been found. It wasn't where I usually find my drafts but I did find it so . . .here it is. Ok Steph if you need to go fold that basket of laundry if you want anymore computer time!

Kellen

(Isn't Vivian too cute!) This is classic Kellen. Nose always in a book! This kid loves to read! He reads fiction and non fiction, books, magazines, newspapers. He reads his books 3 or 4 times. Here he is reading one of the Narnia books. He didn't go to the library with me last week or he would be reading Hardy Boys. He gets 5 every week.

He reads in the car. Yes even on these hilly curvey roads. He reads in bed, on the couch, the floor, where ever. He often reads outside because mom says, "Kellen it is too nice of a day to sit inside the whole time." So he takes his book outside.

Classic book worm? Well yes . . . well no not really. Not if you are thinking quiet, and reserved. Oh no not Tim's son. He has his dad's gift of gab, and a loud voice to go with it. When he isn't reading he is talking. He tells you all about the facts he has learned from his books and magazines. He reads my parenting magazines then lets me know what I should be doing! :)

He wants in on every conversation. If he doesn't know anything about the subject he will make something up. He will talk to kids and adults, family or not. He is a little quiet around new people, but once he gets to know you look out, the conversation begins!

Kellen is very smart. When he was little I used to feel uncomfortable saying that. I guess it felt like bragging or like being the parent who thinks their kid is the best at everything. But he is really smart. Nest year will be his first year to take a standardized test. I am very curious to see how he ranks.

I am thankful fir the gifts Kellen has but there are down sides. This combination of intelligence and talking can be very annoying. He knows so many facts. There is a lot of pride and self reliance that comes with it. Humbleness and wisdom will need to be learned. But for now we nurture and guide the best we know how and trust the Lord for the rest! Oh and make lots of trips to the library!

Don't Touch that Dial!

I like music. I like lots of different kinds of music, but I have never really been "in to" music. Meaning I rarely know the names of groups or any info about them. Music is also very much background to me. I will turn on a station in the morning and rarely change it all day.

I live with a musician. Needless to say he is very "into" music. He also likes to listen to a variety of music. We have XM in the house so there is lots to listen to. He wants to change the station frequently. You know how guys are with a TV remote? Tim can be like that with XM too! And regardless of what I have on Tim seems to change it within the first 30 minutes he is home and often turns it up.

Usually what he changes it to is something I don't mind listening to. The only time I really mind is if it has been a loud (kid) day, I can't handle rock. I do mind the volume increase regardless of the day. My senses are usually already overloaded. Please do not increase the volume so we all have yell or speak loudly to hear each other. Isn't there enough yelling already? :)

I also do mind that he doesn't ask! Usually it doesn't matter, but what if I was really enjoying what I was listening to?

Then the thing that drives me nuts! He will spend 5 minutes "surfing," pick something, be in the house another five minutes and go outside to do some work! Or if he is staying inside I might ask him to help me a do a job that just takes a couple minutes like changing a diaper. He will spend five minutes picking the right music for the job before doing it.

It just shows the differences in our personalities. I am very efficient and practical. Tim is not! Yes, we have talked about this and he knows I am posting about it. I just think it is funny and thought I would share!

short & funny update

Today I thought I'd blog about some of the funny things the kids are up to . . .

Kellen -He continues with Holler Climbing (prev post) this weekend's project is to make holler climbing ids! In addition he is building a drum set from 5 gallon buckets.

Lydia - She was going to run errands with Papaw. She says to him, "I will pick out your clothes. I do it for Nolan." Funny, I don't remember this. He politely declines. When he is dressed she says, "Papaw you are so handsome." Hmmm. They are not even out the drive when she says, "Papaw can you poil (spoil) me?" Of course Papaw stops for ice cream after they run errands.

Nolan - He is so into trucks. Tim posted about his new T-shirt. I think he was in it about a day and a half before we could get it off. He also "parks" cars in his bed to sleep with him at night. Not just matchbox size either. He parks Kellens R/C Jeeps which are rather large.

Vivian - well she really isn't doing anything funny yet. She is still smiling and looks like she wants to laugh but can't get the noise out. She still is high maintenance, but she is getting better and easier to calm.

That is some snippets from our days. It is crazy around here. I am not sure what date this post will show. I started it Friday, it is now Sunday evening.

Driving on Two Wheels

Taking the hint from Tim and Jake I will tell you how I almost killed the whole family (including our dog Lady) when I was 16. I am a little fuzzy on some details so please fill in the blanks or make corrections! It is funny I do not remember much from that trip. I think because I was a rebellious teenager who had her mind elsewhere and really did not want to spend time with the family! Sorry family but it was true. I like to spend time with you now! :) Anyway I digress. . .

We took a family vacation to Colorado the summer I was 16. I had my license for maybe 3 months. I thought I was a good driver, but don't all teenagers! On this trip I had my first (I think it was the first) of many accidents. I had just spent a week at volleyball camp and was exhausted. We had our 86 Toyota MiniVan. In case you are not familiar this was the first Toyota minivan and it looked like a space ship or a modern hippie van. We were pulling a small trailer.

I slept the first part of the trip. I guess we all must have had more confidence in my driving and the rest I had then we should have. Sometime late in the night (2 or 3 maybe?) it was my turn to drive. I believe we were in Indiana somewhere. I think we had left in the evening. Now I look back and I am sure my parents do also and wonder what the heck we were thinking having and inexperienced, physically tired driver drive in the late night hours, but . . . I am not sure how long I drove. The whole family fell asleep, including Lady.

I had the cruise set, movin' down the high way. I am sure I was very proud of myself. It didn't last long. Soon I was struggling to keep my eyes open. It sounds dumb now, but I really didn't know to open the window, turn the radio up, turn the cruise off or just stop. I set myself a goal to drive until such and such a time.

We all woke up with cattails and tall grasses whipping around the van. Some were screaming, some barking, some in shock. When the vehicle stopped the grasses were head high, we were looking at a field and couldn't see the road.

We were beside the highway at an overpass. I think it was an overpass to a swampy area or small creek. It was near dawn. We hiked up to the road. There was no traffic and of course this was before everyone had a cell phone. I forget how long we waited or exactly what happened. I think a trucker called a tow truck for us.

It was truly a miracle that so little damage was done. None of us were hurt. The van had minimal damage. I think all it needed was an alignment. But we were so far down into this marshy area it took hours to get us out.

When I fell asleep the cruise was set at 65 mph. We missed a guard rail by a few feet when we went down the bank of the overpass. The speed and slope caused us to be on two wheels at least for awhile. We were able to tell this because near where we went off the road there was a shallow concrete drain ditch. There were fresh skid marks, but only on one side.

I did have several accidents after that, but none of them because I fell asleep. To this day I never use the cruise if I am tired. I insist that the copilot stays awake if the driver is even slightly tired. When I am not driving I have a very hard time sleeping. Only in the last few years have I been able to sleep at all in a vehicle. When I do sleep I wake up for every bump or slow down. Lessons I wish I would have learned before the accident, but then that is not the Miller way! :)

Relax, Reflect, Connect

I (and Vivian) spent Friday and Saturday at a womens retreat with the ladies from our old church. It was so good to have some time of quiet and to reconnect with friends in "real" conversations about life and God. I took my relationships with these ladies for granted when we lived there. I knew I would miss them, but didn't really realize how much I needed them until we had left. I told Tim that it is bittersweet everytime we get together with them. It is so good to be together and conversations flow like we have never left. Sometimes conversations seem even more meaningful b/c the time together is valued highly. Then there is the bitter reminder of how much we left and of course the time comes to an end and we leave again.

The weekend was very laid back. Vivian did fairly well. She spent most of the time in the sling, but she slept so I was not complaining! The retreat was at a beautiful state park. The food was yummy! There was lots of down time to enjoy the scenery, connect with each other or spend time alone with the Lord. Even in the "structured time" there was quiet and the "activities" were conversational. Just what I needed and what everyone else seemed to need to. There is never enough time to spend with all the people I wanted to, but I did reconnect with some that I was really missing!

I even enjoyed the drive. It was about 4 1/2 hours to the retreat. Vivian is very good in the car. She sleeps. I only had to stop once the whole trip for her. So basically I had nine hours completely to myself to think or listen to music. I loved it! I guess I was desperate for some quiet! :)

As good as it was though it was good to be back home. And regardless of how much I miss the people there, this feels like home. As soon as I turned off the main road onto the crazy hilly road that brings us to our ridge, I thought "This is home." I love the woods and the life we live and raising the kids here. A friend told me this weekend she wishes that we could have found all we have here without leaving there. We have often said that we wish we could have brought all the people there down here with us. Neither of us will get our wish, but I can cherish and maintain the old relationships while remembering to do the same for the new ones.

She Smiles!

It has been eight weeks of a fussy, grumpy and screaming baby! Vivian has been high maintence. (per previous post) Ask my parents they watched her for 3 hours and were more than ready to give her back! :) But she has been a different baby this week. She has been easier to get to sleep and sleeping better during the day. She has slept some in the bassinet at night. She has been more content when awake and will even sit in her swing or bouncy seat for awhile. I am afraid to say she has turned a corner, she may wake up grumpy tomorrow, but we have been enjoying these contented days!

I need to get some new pictures up. Tim tells me it is easy, but I haven't tried yet. Maybe I will get that done later this afternoon.

Today she started really smiling! She had given me some half smiles before, but today she was giving me full happy smiles. It is so cute! Vivian is happy and smiling . . . so is mom!

Starting the day off right

I am a functional morning person. Meaning I don't jump out of bed smiling saying, "hello world", but I am usually able to get up and moving fairly easily. I have noticed lately that how the day starts sets the tone for the rest of the day. It is hard to recover from a frustrating morning.

About half the time Nolan wakes up before we do and he is grumpy. The best we can figure is he really isn't done sleeping, but wakes up because he is hungry. (what else this is Nolan we are talking about!) He is just impossible. He wants everything in the kitchen but isn't satisfied with it. You give him a bowl of cereal; he wants more milk in it. You give him a cup of milk; he wants juice. You give him a bannana; he takes one bite and wants mandarin oranges. And of course these wants are not expressed quietly they are stated with kicking and screaming. Fortunetly, for me, Tim deals with most of these early morning fits, but it does wake me up and I listen to the whole thing. Occaisonaly, I have to go out to "relieve" Tim as he also likes his quiet morning time and has lost all patience with Nolan. This is not starting off the day right!

I found there are two keys for me to start the day off right. First, I have to get up before the kids. (even on Nolans good days!) If Kellen gets up first it isn't too bad. He can get his own breakfast and will sit and read until I force him to get moving, but the other three "NEED" me. I need 1/2 an hour to be alone. There is no set thing I want to do then, sometimes read, check emails, make coffee, pray, start laundry, or whatever. I just want a bit of time to wake up and do what I want or need to do to get the day started.

The other thing I need is to have the house be decent. Now I have pretty low standards for what that means. I don't think our whole house has been clean since we moved. It has been company clean! :) Which means presentable except for our bedroom/bath, somehow I never quite get to that when getting ready for company. But to start the morning off right I need to be able to walk through the house without tripping on toys. The dishes need to be done. There is nothing more depressing to me than starting the day off with a counter of dishes to do! Having the kitchen floor swept is pretty high up there too, but if that doesn't happen slippers help!

Sounds like a simple plan to start the day off right. It rarely happens, especially the getting up first part. But today was one of those days and it has been a great day. I was up before all the kids. Not because I got up early mind you, but because they slept late. The house was decent. I was able to unload the dishwasher, start laundry and check email before any kids were up! Nolan woke up happy and cuddly. Vivian slept until 9:30. (probably b/c Nolan didn't go in there and bug her.) School went easily, we all spent time outside and Vivian was the most content she has been in weeks! No, it wasn't a perfect day as always there was bickering, mouthing, spills, yelling, prodding and the usual stuff, but it was not as frustrating as it sometimes is. Now how do I get the kids to sleep in tomorrow?!

Where do the Morels grow?

I love morel mushrooms. I haven't had them for years (decades?) though. So I was looking forward to finding lots of them here at the 100 acre woods. Learning about and searching for morels has been our science lessons. We got books about wild mushrooms. I had no clue how many edible ones there are. I have only had morels. We read about the best places and times to find morels. When Kellen's grandpa was here he showed Kellen several spots that would be good for hunting. (It was before the season)

Kellen has hunted. The family has hunted. No morels or any other edible mushroom. I am still enjoying the hunt. It is great to be outside this time of year and I have found others things of interest. I think the best thing we have found are wild iris'. They are very tiny (compared to other iris') and so delicate and beautiful. I want to dig some up and move them closer to the house in the fall. But I digress. . . Kellen has given up on the Morels. Do they grow here?

The books say they grow in all regions of the country. Dad said he mentioned mushrooms to the neighbor, who has lived here his whole life. I forget what the exact response was but I do remember it was not enthusiastic. I have a cookbook that is about eating and using the plants and animals of West Virginia. The author includes three types of mushrooms, including the morel. She is from another part of the state, but finds enough to dry and use year round!

We have been looking near the trails so I am wondereing if someone isn't beating us to the mushrooms. This property was "community rec" land (no one lived here) before we bought it. Change comes slow.

So we continue the search!

Kellen & Vivian

Well I know you are not supposed to compare your kids. Why is that does anyone know? I am sure it has to do with their self esteem and being an individual blah blah blah. I think it is only natural to compare/contrast your kids. Not in a "I wish you were more like your brother" way, but more in a we are family, you are a lot like your brother in this way but you also are unique b/c of this and that way. I think it also helps as a parent to see that Nolan is like Kellen in this way so this parenting technique that worked with Kellen might work with Nolan. Anyway. . .

Vivian is now 7 weeks old. It is amazing how quickly it has gone. I can't get over how similar her and Kellen are so far. They look alike. We found a picture of Kellen in a swing about the same age as Vivian is now. She looks just like him. Head full of black hair,(of course they all had that!) big eyes and long and skinny. It seems weird to describe a baby as long and skinny, but Kellen was and Vivian is. I remember when Kellen was in the car seat or other seat bunched up so you really couldn't see his whole body, people asked me if he was a premie. Not only was he full term, he weighed 9lbs. 9 oz! We did have some trouble starting nursing (lots of reasons, long story) so he did lose a little more weight than your normal newborn, but certainly never to premie size! I haven't had anyone think Vivian was a premie, but many have been shocked when they find out she weighed 8lbs 10oz. They always think she was a tiny baby. Kellen started to plump around 2 1/2 - 3 mos old. (Vivian is starting to a bit now) but compared to other babies the same age he was always long and skinny. He still is!

They act like each other too. The best way to describe them(as babies) is high maintence! Vivian is a bit easier to console, but I think had she been born under the same circumstances as Kellen (first child, difficult birth, time in nicu, moving ect) she would be just as difficult as he was. They both would nurse forever, have very loud cries that they use frequently, want to be held constantly, often not content to just be held, but want to be moving also (you'd think I would losing weight like crazy for all the walking!), take cat naps, love to sleep with mom & dad and, love to ride in the car. It makes it hard to get anything done! Luckily Vivian likes the sling. I didn't try it much with Kellen, but have used it more and more with each child. Vivian spends almost all of her non eating, awake time in the sling. It is also the best way I have found to get her to go to sleep during the day. I don't know how anyone with multiple children survives with out a sling!

So those are by observations of Vivian's first seven weeks. She may turn out to be nothing like Kellen as she gets older or maybe they will stay a lot alike. Kellen is funny. He is so proud that Vivian is a lot like him. She was crying loudly one day and he asked me why she cried so much and of course I explained that is how babies tell us they need/want something. Then I told him he was a lot like that at the same age. He has heard me make other comparisons too. He gets this proud look on his face. He loves to be the big brother!

Opie Turns 30

Today is Tim's big 30! Recently Tim's boss said he looked like Opie. (See his blog) It is true Tim has (and always will?) a baby face. He is a big kid too in a lot of ways. I think he is having a hard time believing he is 30! Anyway if you have a chance why don't you leave him a birthday message here or on his blog (link is to the right)? Have a great day! Happy birthday Tim!

Are we nuts?

Well I think you would all agree the answer is yes we are for many reasons. One more to add to the list, we with our four kids including a 6 week old, decided to, got ready for and left for a four and 1/2 hour trip to Akron all within an hour and a half.

Tim was off Friday and we got some work done around the house and had Ashley and Miles over in the evening and overnight. Our plan Saturday was to go shopping for ceiling fans and other house hold things. As we are getting ready to go shopping mom comes and tells us Jake is not doing better. There have been some issues with the care at the hospital (I will leave that for Delilah to explain) and they are thinking of moving him to Cleveland Clinic. Dad also was out of his meds b/c he did not expect to be staying so long. Tim and I decided in about 5 minutes to go and were on the road in about an hour and a half.

We are in Akron now. We saw Jake yesterday he seemed better (than what I had heard), but today is worse again and Delilah says there has been no real improvement over all, he has only gotten worse since he has been there. Mastoiditis (sp?) has now been diagnosed. Delilah has done research on this and it is very rare (0.4%) in adults. This is what caused the meningitis. Care issues continue to be a problem and it has been very frustrating for everyone, especially Delilah. She has decided to move him to Cleveland Clinic and we are now waiting for a room assignment and transport.

More news as I get it.

Ohio News

Part One
Good news! Jake is still in the hospital, but is finally starting to improve. He is able to keep liquids down and well other things that were not working are starting to move. :)

Part Two
I don't think Tim or I have blogged any updates about our house in Ohio. We had the house sold. We had a good price and were just waiting for the closing. We didn't hear much from the title company for awhile and then get a call from them that the bank wants to close now. Long story short the whole family had to run to Huntington twice to get the papers signed, notarized, faxed and overnighted. Then we get a call that the buyer is backing out, then he is back in, our realtor says they buyer's realtor says the buyer has signed all the papers (both realtors work in the same company) - DEAL ON! Next day we are getting conflicting reports from the realtor and the title company. Chip (our realtor) says he is also getting conflicting reports. He will try to figure out what is going on.

Apparently, the buyer did sign all the papers, everything was done and then he got upset about something (we aren't sure exactly what happened) and the mortgage company let him out of the deal, which never happens. Chip and his lawyer (the company's?) have contacted the buyer to put the pressure on. He has broken a legal contract. For now we are in limbo.

We have been told we could sue the buyer, bank and title company. I hate the "sue happy" culture we live in, but it may come to that. We have been losing money on the house for six months b/c we have left one unit vacant to be able to show the house, and we continue to lose money. We had a good price for the house which we may or may not be able to get again. And mostly we just want to be finished with the house. And it drags on . . .

Update on Jake

The Dr is calling what Jake has symptomatic viral meningitis. He is still in a lot of pain, unable to eat anything and his bowels have shut down. Since it is viral there is no real treatment but to try to keep him comfortable and wait it out. There is no time estimate for the waiting it out either. They have told Delilah it is day by day to see how it goes. More as I hear it!

Jake

An update. I am getting this all second hand so sorry if I have some details wrong. I am not sure if Delilah will be able or want to post tonight.

If you don't know Jake started to feeling even worse than he had last week. Last night Delilah took him to the ER. The initial diagnosis was a blockage in his intestine. They thougth this was due to the intestine being swolen and admitted him for observation.

Today the poked and prodded and ran lots of tests. They now are thinking it is viral menangitis and are going to do a spinal tap to confirm. He is on a lot of medicine (morphine?). The last report this evening was that his fever is finally under control and he is starting to feel a little better and has been able to sleep.

Sorry this is the short version, but wanted to let you know. Please be praying!

Hillbilly Scouts

The imagination of children. It is so much fun to watch. How do we lose that creativity over the years? I have some theories, but that is not for this post! I am watching Kellen, Lydia and Nolan outside setting up for the "awards ceremony" Kellen has come up with. A little background to the story. . .

Kellen and Pac (the dog) are out in the woods almost everyday. Lydia sometimes goes with them. There are old logging roads that go just about everywhere on property. Kellen normally opts to slide down the "holler" and walk back the roads. He knows how to get around the property better than I do, maybe better than any of us.

One weekend when Ashley and Miles (my niece and nephew) were down, Kellen led them down the "holler" and Miles got hurt. Not badly at all, but it scared Ashley who came back for my mom & I. (the guys were someplace else) Well the new rule after that was when Ashley and Miles are here they all must stay on the paths. We explained to Kellen that 1) Miles and Ashley were not used to hollow climbing and ridge running and 2) they are, to put it nicely, out of shape.

Then Tim's parents have been down. Gail prefers to walk only flat paths, (We have a couple!) but Kellen took Jeff hollow climbing and ridge running a couple of times. Jeff has a funny story about sliding down the hollow!

The last time they were here Kellen came up with a point and ranking system for hollow climbing and ridge running. He ranked the whole family according to ability and hours put in. Everyone was "awarded" a level. The rankings weren't entirely accurate in my opinion, but he is only 7! He and Tim were at level six. There is a level seven, but as "no human can achieve level seven, " Pac is the only one there.

We have been talking about getting Kellen involved in Cub Scouts. He has been reading Tim's old Boy Scout manual. Last night Tim & Kellen went to an informational meeting.

Ok today Kellen is getting ready for an awards ceremony. He is now inside making awards, the current one is the Arrow of Light award. It has a green background with a yellow arrow. The outside is ready for the ceremony. There is a stage (vehicle trailer), with steps (concrete blocks), a refreshment table with snacks & drinks, and chairs for the audience.

All day I have been thinking this is about Hollow Climbing, but I have been informed that it is so much more. This is Hillbilly Scouts awards! There are awards (and licenses) for hollow climbing, creek wading and hillbilliness. Kellen wants to be a hillbilly, though I don't think he really understands what that means! :) It should be an interesting ceremony this afternoon!

Get it Out of the House!

No this blog is not about some creature Kellen has found in the woods. It is about my lack of will power when it come to sweets! I love all sweets. Of course I have my favorites, ice cream and cheese cake, but I really love them all. I like homemade, store bought, candies, cookies, cake, ice cream, pudding, you name it. I can only think of a couple sweets I don't like - black licorice and I don't like coconut so German chocolate cake is out.

I am not satisfied with a bite or two either. I want a large serving and have been known to pick a things like brownies until they are gone. I have no will power. I know it. My solution is to just keep the stuff out of my house. I rarely buy sweets. Honestly I do not miss them when I don't have them, but when they are here, they are gone. If we get a sweet tooth craving Tim and I will whip up some no bake cookies. We (just Tim and I no kids) usually eat at least half of them the night we make them.

This is usually a good arrangement, but every now and then I find my house filled with sweets. Last weekend we had cake and ice cream for my birthday and then the kids went to an Easter party and came home with bags of candy. I have been surrounded by sugar! When there are sweets in the house Tim refuses to take any of them to work. The kids would eat it non stop, but of course I do not allow that. (maybe I should though, they can afford the extra calories!) So who does that leave to eat it . . . me! I actually had cake for breakfast one morning! I have been eating sugar all week. The cake is gone, there is only a little candy and ice cream left. Just when I think it is about to end. . . my mom brings over part of a pan of brownies! Thanks mom! Just what I needed! I think she was trying to get them out of her house so she wouldn't eat them! :)

Have a great weekend all!

Catch up

It seems to be a common theme in this family's blogs, but man where did the time go? We had family here the last two weekends and it has been busy busy. The weather has been great (mostly) and we have spent a lot of time outside. I checked my email this morning and there were 70+ emails. Most of these are generated by yahoo groups I belong to (freecycle, homeschooling, homesteading and cooking groups). I usually keep up with these daily so it had been awhile since I sat down at the computer. I really shouldn't be here now. As always there is laundry and dishes waiting for me, but I thought I would leave a quick update on life since my last post.

-Vivian sleeping - well it hasn't changed much for the most part. (She did do much better last night though. I am hoping this is the start of something), but my attitude has changed about it. I am not so frustrated. I can only say I believe it is from me leaning on the Lord more. (previous post)

-Tim's parents were here Thursday - Saturday after several reschedules due to illness. The kids were so excited and we all had a good time.

-Vivian turned one month old! I can't believe it has been a month already.

-I turned 35.

-We have been to the Dr twice with Vivian. It is a long story, maybe I will post about it later. Short and to the point. They were concerned about her weight. I wasn't b/c similar issues with the other kids. They aren't concerned now. FYI Her billirubin is still high, but significantly lower than it was and the Drs. aren't concerned.

-Eric is officially living in WV now.

-Our van was fixed, then it broke, now it is fixed again.

-We have decided Nolan has entered the terrible twos. ( 1 1/2 months early) I will post on this in more detail later.

I would also like to post more on the kids adjustment to the baby and I never posted Extreme Personalities for Kellen. Lots of material here, just not lots of time.