Category - Family Life

…and God laughs.

I have this nice house now, you see.  After 17 years of following my husband around the world, making a home out of whatever 4 walls we found ourselves in, we have a real house.  With carpet and granite counters and a deck and a basement and even a music room! It’s only 15 years old and we’re the 2nd owners, so there’s not much work needed.  We’d like to update the landscaping, add some built-ins to the music room, get one of those custom closet things…

But before then we’ve got a little more unpacking to do.  Little areas around the house still wait to be sorted, purged and put away.

Then there’s the children.  We need to stay ever vigilant over math woes, I have some fun hands-on history projects waiting and the little one thinks maybe he might want to learn to read.  Or maybe not.  He’s only 4, so we’ve got more than enough time.

We need a better daily schedule and our chore system needs updating.  I’d like to be more efficient at the computer so I can spend my time with more important things.

I’ve got things to do, you see.  Plans.  Important plans.

And God laughs at my plans. Not in a mean or sarcastic way.  But laugh he does, though I think he  acknowledges that all those plans are important.  But before I get too hung up on all I think I have to do, he’d like me to slow down a bit.  He’d like me to get some more rest, eat a little – a lot- healthier, learn to delegate, and get some fresh air.

Because a long time ago, my lonely little girl’s  heart wished to have a big family.  I wanted five children to fill my house with love, laughter and joy.  The Good Lord smiled down at me and said, “Now THAT’S a good plan!”

So God said, “let there be five…and there were five.”

Yes, indeed!  Sometime towards the end of October, our fifth baby will be arriving.  As Boo would say, “the Lord has blessed us again!”

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I had hoped to make  Major Announcement here last week, but that and every other blog worthy moment in my life was preempted by The Sick.

For the last three weeks we have had pretty much every viral symptom known to man.  Headache, stomachache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, sneezing, coughing, aches, chills, fever, congestion, runny nose and crying.

I’m the one doing the crying.

Even though each symptom we’ve had has been pretty mild, someone in the family has had at least one on any given day.

We’ve missed soccer practices, soccer games, religious ed classes and today Bip and I even missed church.  And if you’re Catholic, it’s a Very Big Deal to miss church.  But for the whole hour between when I woke up and the rest of the crew left for mass, I sneezed and coughed and blew my nose.  This was one of those times when having the man be the spiritual head of the house is such a blessing.  Man said, “stay home,” so I stayed.

I’m sure the congregation of mothers with small children, older people, and children with upcoming sports games, recitals and First Communions were glad I was not there to share the love.

I’m not a good patient, either.  I despise being sick. I don’t lie there and quietly recover.  Nope.  I turn into Crabby McCrabbypants, wishing for death in one breath and taking it back with the next. I get very hard to please, then weepy because I’m being difficult. Cooking and blogging and other necessities fall the wayside when I’m sick. It’s not pretty.

So until further notice, this blog is on hiatus.  Don’t worry, it’s not you, it’s me.

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Look who joined our family!

This is Mittens and Cinnamon, our new kitties.  In this picture they are taking refuge between the commode and the wall.

Mittens is the mama cat and she is 2 years old.  She’s very sweet, very soft and doesn’t seem to mind all the people who need to pet her.

This little puff ball came to us without a name and the children decided to call her Cinnamon.  She is a Fierce and Powerful Fighter, who likes to make sure that the curtains are properly subdued.  She’s still not too sure about us, but we manage to catch her and love on her anyway.

We had to drive halfway to Kansas, or so it seemed, to get the cats from Pumpkin Girl’s piano teacher’s family.   We’ve been wanting to get a cat since we’ve stopped moving and it worked out nicely that we could get a kitten and her mama.  It’s nice having cats in the house again, especially these two.  They are slowly getting used to all of us, but they’ve really taken to Pumpkin Girl.  She likes to find their hiding places and read aloud to them.  She spends practically all her free time with them, so they’ve grown to trust her in particular and have moved into her room.  She couldn’t be happier!

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Well, would you look at that!  Today is both Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year. Lots of red to go around, firecrackers, hearts, candy and lion dancers.  Party like it’s 1999!

It’s the Year of the Tiger, which is Boo’s year, which means he’s turning 12 this year.  (If that doesn’t strike the fear of God into you, I don’t know what will.) Some of the characteristics of a Tiger are:

Tigers do not find worth in power or money. They will be completely honest about how they feel and expect the same of you. On the other hand, they seek approval from peers and family. Generally, because of their charming personalities Tigers are well liked. Often, failing at a given task or being unproductive in his personal or professional life can cause a Tiger to experience a depression. Criticism from loved ones can also generate this type of Tiger reaction. Still, like all felines, Tigers always land on their feet, ready for their next act in life, pursuing it with unyielding energy and hunting it infallibly.

Tigers are also incorrigibly competitive – they simply cannot pass up a challenge, especially when honor is at stake, or they are protecting those they love. Tigers are unpredictable and it would be unwise to underestimate their reactions. They may appear cool, but they have the Big Cat’s instincts to pounce at a moment’s warning. Natural leaders, they have a strong sense of their own dignity, and if they find themselves in the ranks, they can be stubborn and obstinate. In positions of power they can be difficult though stimulating bosses. Tigers are intelligent, alert, and farsighted. They have their fingers on the pulse. Good strategists and tacticians, they often have a hidden agenda. As long as they do not risk their luck too often, and keep their restless nature under control, their tactics usually pay off in life.

You can read the rest here: Chinese Horoscopes-The Tiger

We tried to get Chinese food for dinner, but our favorite restaurant had gone out of business and by the time we’d figured it out, it was getting late and we just hauled out the left-overs.  Not exactly festive, ethnic or romantic, but what can you do?

Meanwhile, we’ve been hooked on the Olympics.  I’ve been enjoying the skiing in  particular because I’ve actually skied the slopes of Whistler, where the competition is being held.  Of course, I stayed off the black diamond runs unless I was skiing with my dad.  He had a habit of accidentally stumbling on those expert hills.  Looking back, I wonder how accidental it really was.

I’m by no means an expert skier.  And I hate moguls.  But I actually look amazingly like those mogul skiers, except that they are in perfect control, executing each move with the precision that comes from years of training.  I, on the other hand, am completely out of control and wildly flinging myself down the mountain in an effort to just stay alive long enough to get some hot chocolate.  You know how those racers raise their arms in victory at the end of a successful run?  I look exactly like that too, at the end of a mogul hill.  Except I’m screaming, “aaaaaaaaah!”

I haven’t skied in years.

On another Olympian note, one of our parishioners is at the Olympics as part of the US Hockey team.  I’m not sure if he’s a coach or a player.

After watching coverage of the poor luger from Georgia, I told my children, “Now you know why I won’t let you sled on ice.”  They nodded solemnly and said, “Good point.”

As we were watching the Opening Ceremonies, when the Chinese team marched in Boo said, “Hey, that guy that looks like Daddy!”  I said, “Dude, they ALL look like Daddy.”  To which Pumpkin Girl replied, “It’s like a whole parade of our relatives!”

And totally unrelated to the Olympics, Valentine’s Day or Chinese New Year…

Sometimes I screen my calls, especially during school time or when I’m in the middle of a computer game blogging.  But the other day my caller ID said “St. Francis of Assisi.”  I thought I’d better answer that one.

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In January, I declared my birthday a national holiday.  People everywhere slept in and held parades.

My children and their dance group auditioned for “America’s Got Talent” in February.  We never heard back from them.

We got some snow in March.

In April we had one crazy night of Mexican folkdancing.

Pumpkin Girl made her First Communion in May.

We bought a house and Philip had his retirement ceremony in June.

In July,  we moved most of the way across the country and we couldn’t believe all the deer we were seeing!

August brought our first house guests and a big hail storm.

We went on a totally spontaneous trip to Disneyland in September.  Back at home it started snowing on the last day of summer.

It kept snowing in October.

The turkey danced in November and we got more snow, saw more deer and worried about mountain lions.

By December, we stopped keeping track of the snow and deer, we got a new fridge and I got a new haircut.

And a good time was had by all.

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