Aged to Perfection

 Dustin has often commented that I have too many shoes and clothes, but really I don't.  Its just a collection of items that I have accumulated over the past decade +.  I seriously do wear things until they fall apart or get lost.  In an attempt to "prove"this to him, I took inventory of some of the items in my closet.  Some of the highlights...

My very favorite shoes...April 2001-November 2010:  Cause of death:  campfire

I don't have a picture of them new, but I bought them when I was pregnant with Judah, and I have worn them year-round in several countries and many states--over the river and through the woods.  Finally, this fall I was visiting a friend in Oklahoma, sitting around campfire, and smelled a really funny smell.  We thought someone was burning tires nearby.  Eventually when my feet started smoking, I realized that it was not tires, but rather my sandals that were melting.  I suppose I could have kept wearing them, but rather I used it as an excuse to let my mom buy me a shiny new pair for my birthday.   It was a good ten year run for the dear old Birkenstocks, and I expect these new ones to last even longer because I will remember not to put my feet too close to a fire. 

 

My very favorite tshirt...January 1996-current

This tshirt was given to me by my first youth pastor, and its what got me thinking about this blog this morning.  I still wear it all the time, and this morning I thought, "wow...this shirt is getting THIN!".  As the picture indicates, the shirt has faded considerably and its wearer grown larger over the past 15 years!

My favorite backpack...sometime 1994-current

I bought this backpack in 10th grade because I wanted a new backpack for our consolidation with Sistersville.  Like my shoes, its been around the world and carried everything from school supplies to poopy diapers. Sometimes I WISH it'd wear out so I could buy a new one, and at the same time I'm trying to convince Cana to buy one just like it so we won't have to buy her another backpack while she's under this roof!  Sadly, she doesn't like the thought of not getting to buy a new one for high school here in a few years.

 

So, yes...while my closet IS full, I am confident that neither do buy extra "stuff",  nor am I a hoarder.  I simply know what I like, what will last, and I keep things for a long, long time.    

Morning Fog

The windows in my house are fogged because of the heat and humidity outside compared to the cool inside temps.  That is a true sign of the times we are living in...late July in West Virginia!  Occasionally I like to pretend I am in a remote jungle somewhere.  I leave the windows open and fans off, lay in bed and sweat, and refuse to kill bugs.  I make rice for supper and wash my hair in the rain.  However, right now with THIS jungle weather, I am a wuss with the air conditioning on.

A couple months, a couple trips, and a couple (or rather, a few) birthdays have passed since my last blog about Eden's birthday!  Dustin traveled to Peru with the youth group from church, and while he was gone I entertained my "bff" for two weeks and then took the kids to visit with my brother and his family in Illinois.  Nadia celebrated her 3rd birthday in Illinois for the second year in a row.  We all (including Dustin) arrived back home on the 3rd of July, and Simone had her 5th birthday on the 7th.  Six days later we had a wonderful dinner of turkey vegetable soup in honor of the end of Dustin's 34th year.  A week later we took the kids for a short weekend vacation to Cincinnati to visit the Creation Museum and Cincinnati zoo.  And now we are back home (again) to relax for the next few weeks of summer before school begins.

My pastor has referred to a quote a couple times lately that says something to the effect of "true mental health is a commitment to reality..."  I've been thinking about the truth in that statement, and reality for me, among many things, is that I am blessed.

Eden's 8!

Eight years ago today, I came home from the hospital following Eden's birth. Which means that this past weekend we celebrated EIGHT years of Eden's life!  Blogging slacker that I am, I somehow manage to at least give the kids a blog on their birthdays!  The weekend began with a slumber party.  I can think of about a million things I'd rather do than host slumber parties, but its a small price to pay to see my kids have such fun.  Eden and her friends danced and danced, and when I thought I'd heard enough music and smelled enough perfume, we loaded up in the van and went to the park.  Everyone came home thoroughly dirty and exhausted. Showers, a movie, ice cream, and sleepbags on the floor rounded out the evening.

Saturday was Eden's day.  She took full advantage of it by starting most sentences with, "since today's my birthday can i..."?  After a much needed nap, we loaded up to take the party to Uncle Dougie's house.  Luke was in to help Doug work on the roof, so they watched the party from up there, but the rest of us had a glorious evening watching the kids play in Doug and Virginia's back yard.  I think I was more excited than she was for present opening because I was so excited to see her face when she opened her present.  With six kids, its impossible that any one kid gets an expensive electronic (or even non electronic) gadget. Plus, I'm just not into kids having their noses in a screen all day.   Cana bought her own IPOD touch.  They all share the Wii, and the time spent on both of those is pretty limited.  All Eden has wanted for birthdays and Christmas for the past two years is a Nintendo DS.   I have looked at them, and I knew there was no way I could ever spend that much on just one kid.  Again this year, it was her only request.  So, I began looking on ebay, and I finally found one that was reasonably priced and like new!  And it was PINK...Eden's favorite color!   It came in the mail a week before her birthday, and I was just giddy all week thinking of how excited she would be.  And excited she was...

And now to boast on Eden, my little Edie Beetle.   Eden is a spitfire of a girl who doesn't have much fear or inhibition at all.  Being the personality I am, I sometimes try to curb that temperment in her, but I also am beginning to see that she will get things, know people, and experience things in life that I probably never will because she's not afraid to ask questions.  She doesn't fear rejection or being told no.  She is bold and full of courage.  Eden is as compassionate as she is bold, and has a tender heart especially for animals and children (and men over 60, but thats another story).  She can spend hours creating games for her younger siblings, and is very creative.  What Eden lacks in size she makes up for in personality and love for people. I am thankful for her life and for God's gifts in her. 

Happy Birthday Eden!! 

Placenta Tree

The inspiration for my next tattoo has been the "placenta" tree that grows across the road from my house.  I have been fascinated with this tree for six years and have never seen another that so closely resembles the "tree of life" that is found on the inside of a placenta.  My original plan was to get the tattoo before I was pregnant with Nadia.  My sister in law drew some tattoo ideas for me, and I ended up pregnant sooner than I thought and had to postpone the tattoo.

Plan B was to make a print of my real placenta after Nadia was born and then get a tattoo of my placenta print.  I had photographed my friend Brandy's placenta when her son was born in 2006, so I knew what a perfect tree of life could be found on the inside.  I studied how to make the perfect print of my own placenta.

However, after Nadia was born, my placenta was less than ideal.  It was shredded and had to be fished out of me in pieces with extra large tweezer-looking things.  Thankfully it sustained Nadia's life, but there was no way it would make a good print for a tattoo!

My placenta after Reuben was a bit "old" to make a good print, and while I planned to keep it to plant it or dehydrate it, it somehow came up missing from my refrigerator.  (Could that be b/c I have a husband who LOVES to throw things away???)  So now I'm back to plan A of using the inspiration of my neighboring "placenta" tree and Rachel's creativity to come up with a tattoo design.  The tree of life on the inside of a placenta is one of the most marvelous mysteries of God.  I have tree of life shirts, earrings, pictures, necklaces, but I do believe it needs to be a permanent mark on my body.  To me it represents the miracle of birth and the truly miraculous design of God.  

 

Time

  

Time just doesn't stop.  How has it been two months since I "blogged"?  And how has it been one YEAR since little Reuben was born?  Wow.  And I FORGOT to blog on his birthday.  That mistake is almost unforgivable! 

Reuben is as pleasant as they come...content to follow his older two sisters around and grunt out the window at the dogs.   He crawls at lightening speed but hasn't fully committed to walking yet.  He says "nite nite", "mama", "dada", and his favorite word   of  ..."ugh".  I can't imagine life without my baby boy.

And now as time is flying by more quickly than my mind can comprehend, I find myself in the middle of a transition period.  I have been pregnant or with a baby for the past twelve years.  That season of my life is done, and I am looking forward to the next season with great anticipation.  I will miss being pregnant, but I have been blessed more than I could have ever imagined, and I intend to make the most of these "growing up" years, for they too will be gone before I know it.

Happy 1st Birthday Reuben Matthias!

Photo Update

i always hate to overload my facebook friends with a million pictures of my family, so here are a few "extras" for my "inner circle"! 



           little lamb happily walking up the aisle at church...

                the other little lamb remained in the hallway...

                judah disappeared shortly after opening this gift...

     beautiful cana...waiting patiently as the last in line to open a gift...

                                thrilled with her new school clothes...

                lily's christmas at uncle dustin and auntie jessie's

                                taking in all the action...

                                   nadia and marybell...

           picture time that begins at bedtime.  always an adventure...

                       christmas morning in her new pajama pants...

                                saying "thank you" for the new book...

                                 thanks but no thanks...

                                hugs and kisses all around...

                                 sitting with daddy like a big boy...

2010 Highlights

I did not properly say good-bye to 2010, so let me say HELLO 2011! 

2010 Highlights  (mostly in chronological order...not order of importance)
--LOST nights
--watching kids at dance and gymnastics
--fabulous homeschool evaluations and test results
--refinancing to 15 year loan and saving $48k in interest
--REUBEN'S BIRTH!!!!  one of the most amazing experiences of my life!
--the personality test craze
--laura's visit
--finishing the girls room in the basement
--KayCee's graduation
--trip to beach with Ma Barbie & Scot
--roadtrip with kids to see Uncle Luke & Auntie Rachel
--girls weekend in maryland
--mountaineer football games
--kids playing soccer
--week in the hills with family
--thanksgiving dinner
--saturday nights
--birthday weekend in oklahoma
--learning that i will have a new niece/nephew in august
--christmas with family
--doug and virginia moving home
--evenings home with dustin & the kids

it was a good year...