Going home...

Tonight, we will be home and back to REAL life!
Have enjoyed our time without a schedule and time to relax!
But, it is time to go home and I am so thankful I have so much to go home to!

So long Chicago and Milwaukee!  You have been good to us!

Away...

For the first time in years, my husband and I have had the chance to take a little vacation!  I have done more in 5 days, then I have done in 10 years!  Kiddo's are split up at grandparents house and we are...
ON OUR OWN!!

First thing we did was go to my class reunion, then it was off to see my dad in Chicago.  (I had not seen him for 11 years!)

We went on his boat on Lake Michigan and had an INCREDIBLE time!  Next, we left for my childhood friends house in the MIDDLE of good old Chi-town!  Had dinner on the beach and got a tour of the big city!  (Glad I was not driving!)

We arrived at our hotel in Milwaukee at 1:30 in the morning!  Not used to those hours but all I had to do that day was relax anyway so it made no difference!  (Strange feeling!)

We have shopped, gone sight seeing, and introduced our taste buds to some unusual foods.

2 more days left and it looks like we will be going to a Brewers baseball game and dinner on the Lake tonight.

I am having an identity crisis having to take care of nobody but myself and my hubby!  I am ready to see my babies but they seem to be doing fine without me!  And I thought they would be so miserable! HA! 

Here are some pics of our first experience of the trip "flying by the seat of our pants".  We passed a miniature golf course and decided to just stop and play a couple rounds!  We actually had to turn around and go back because we forgot we did not have anything else to do or naps to worry about!  It was so fun!

Hubby tee's off

sporting our favorite colors with our golf balls

Off on a boat ride and a day on Lake Michigan

Best place to grab a Wisconsin Brat!

More pics to post later, I am off to the pool to read a good book! :)

Foto Friday

Brotherly love!

Someday, I'm gonna miss these precious moments!

I love being a mom!

Have a great weekend!

Too HOT!

A summer person I am NOT!  Yesterday the heat index reached 114 degrees where I live.  I don't really care what the heat index said, it was WAY to hot for me!  So we did other activities INSIDE!

~did our bible school books for the day

~watched a movie

~made pudding parfaits for dessert

~layed things on the floor like pillows, folded blankets and books and jumped to each without touching the carpet (alligators might get you!)

~lunch and eat parfaits

~naps

And then...

...The biggest fear of mine happened

The AIR CONDITIONING BREAKS!

So...

~I cry, panic and pray (should have thought of the last one first!)

~kids go out to play in the hose

~I cry some more

~watch sweat form on every inch of babies head (he is tougher than mom! He does not even care!)

~Friend comes over and looks at air conditioner

~sprays it off and cleans it

IT...

WORKS!

So...

~I cry again

~Thank God for taking care of my needs

~appreciate my cool house even more

Still...

I DO NOT LIKE SUMMER!

(Okay, really it is being hot I don't like but I am not hot anymore so I don't mind summer so much right now!)

But I can't wait until October!

Biker Baby

Well,not really! 

We don't even know anyone who owns a motorcycle!

But big sister thought of putting her bandana on him and it was just too cute!

(The slobbery shirt makes me think a bib would be a better use for the bandana
but oh well!)
 
Babies and bandana's just go good together no matter how they wear them!

Busy?

Is summer busier for me than any other season? 

Well, not really unless I choose it to be.  And if it is 'busy' it is because I want it to be!  But there are a few things that I let go of just so we can have less "have to's".  I don't take summer's off for school.  We do it all year round, but I DO find other things that I can't do in the winter.  Hikes, picnics, trips to the amish community, treasure/scavenger hunts, walks, and of course, swimming at grandma's!  These are all things I use to 'teach'.  Sometimes, it is just teaching social graces and other times they are used for valuable science lessons!  If you have read my blog long enough, you know that sitting at a table or desk for school is not my style!  All my kids who are old enough, read, write, and know math!  My oldest surpass all the life skills they need at 16 and 15!  (Not saying that to brag, just a point I want to make).  Teaching them to how to live in this world is far more important, than any knowledge a school book can give!  (Although there is a small place for that too).  Discovering all of God's creation and looking at it with their siblings is a great learning experience!  (Believe me, boys can think of all kinds of things to with rocks, sticks, and some rope!)  And what one does not think of, the other one will! ;0

I choose, not to get uptight about things that need to be done in the summer.  God is teaching me to take one moment at a time.  If that means less blogging, which it has, then I will blog when I feel like it or have time!  Bedtimes not quite so prompt, nap times sometimes just go out the window.  MORE time with family and savoring my children at each stage becomes my priority.  My oldest just got his driver's license this week, and not so long ago, I thought that would NEVER happen, surely the rapture would come before that!  (and I still wish that were the case!  :)  I know there were summer's that I did not apprectiate his carefree day's of just being with mom and no where he HAD to go!  Now, he is away working many days and I am trying to learn from that and apprecitate all the "flowers" (weeds) topped off with a kiss, brought to me by my little ones.  The joy of just going to the park to slide and swing, the excitement a caterpillar can bring and the amazement a slimy frog jumping in the grass brings! 

So, am I busy this summer?  Well, I guess.  But I am hoping I am just as 'busy' this fall realizing how wonderful it is to have kids and how to not take any simple moment for granted!  All to soon, they grow up and then I will hopefully teach them how to enjoy every moment of their 'business'. 

I would not have it any other way!  May I always be BUSY!

This is the part that scares me!

Life with boys...

This is the part that I don't think I will EVER get used to!

What I am not...

~ I am not always easy-going, in fact I need to loosen up sometimes

~ I am not easily swayed when I have my mind made up

~ I am not used to the surprises 8 boys bring into my life even after 16 years of having my first son and sometimes they down right scare me!

~ I am not a summer person

~I am not ready for my oldest to get his driver's license THIS WEEK!

~I am not a person who likes change

~ I am not liking the way the Land of the Home and The Free is getting not so FREE anymore and it worries me!

~ I am not a breakfast eater

~ I am not a good debater

~ I am not a complainer

~ I am NOT pregnant again! (yet)

~ I am not as submissive as I desire to be

~ I am not able to just let things go if I think I am right

~I am not always stubborn, just the times when I know I am wrong and still try to convince somebody I am right

~I am not proud of that!

~ I am not always patient and with 11 children, my patience is tested moment by moment and it is a battle for me!

~ I am not proud of that either!!

~ I am not always sure of my parenting ablilities and have lots of regret already

~ I am not always able to keep my mouth shut when I should!

~I am not self-less all the time, in fact, I can be very selfish more often than not

What I AM:

Although some things I mentioned are not a big deal and some are life altering,  I AM a child of God and all the things that I am not, HE IS (okay, He is not pregnant, but He is the giver of life!  :) 

 So I will continue to look to Him for all that I need and let HIM do the rest!  It really does not matter what I am not as long as I focus on who HE IS!

Someday, when this journey on earth is over, I will look Him in the face and He will hopefully say to me, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!" 

I am not deserving of that...

...but

I AM thankful for His grace!