One House, Three Moms, Nine Kids

A lot of fun.  A lot of mess.  A lot of memories.

First there was this...

very quickly followed by this...

They didn't hesitate-it wasn't like they hadn't seen each other in a year...more like yesterday.

A rose among the thorns (or th'orneries)...

Our time together was more than just fun and games.  There was some Education going on here, people.  When these three moms are together the conversation is highly intellectual, unyieldingly academic, and extemely stimulating.  Right, ladies?  Oh, they're too humble, they won't admit it.  Especially on the internet.

While our friends were staying with us we studied the Fine Arts.  There were very talented and lovely actresses and no shortage of shows.

There was always an eager audience awaiting the performance in the theatre...I think the boys are discussing the motif of "Women and their accessories...what does it mean in the 21st century?".

We also dabbled in some Engineering, Architecture, and Construction here in our entryway.   This area is a multi-purpose place.  The kids LOVE to play work here. 

Great minds think alike, even though they be young...here the little ones are examining Physics; I'm pretty sure this led to a philosophical discussion on transparency in relationships and how technology is affecting how we relate to and connect with one another.  I love how they are inter-disciplinary.

Now, along with the Arts, Sciences, and Math, we also encouraged Geography and Culture exploration.  Here is the Asian Palace (Is he practicing some Martial Arts here, as well?)...

The Asian Palace after invasion, or conquering, or an attack, or something...

There were Athletics, like wrestling, in which the boys knocked one another's teeth out (it was really loose)...

and of course the dining hall was open (all the time)...

Sometimes they separated into the boys and the girls, and sometimes they did things all together...

but no matter what they did, at the end of the day they would finally go to sleep and leave us to talk or watch a movie, and eat brownies and ice cream!

Aren't they sweet when they're like this?

I think they had just gone to sleep, and it was 12:20.  What can we say?  They take after their mothers.

Full House, Full Heart

When we lived in the seminary community, we were surrounded by some of the closest friends we have ever had.  We often got together for cookouts, we met at the playground with our kids every day, we ran errands together, we called upon one another to watch our children at the last minute.  It was such an amazing way to live, in such a way that while you had your own family there was also this extended family, this group of people who loved you and were happy to help out, who shared joys and sorrows, who knew when to come around and when to say,"Let us know what you need."

This is the way that I think, a lot of the time, life ought to be lived.  I won't go into a great deal about my thoughts on that, but this week, having my friends here, (and I always feel this way whenever my parents visit, or when we are with Mike's family) being around other moms, having women help prepare meals, laughing and talking and scooting all manner of tiny people out of a tiny space in the kitchen where they all want to be while the grown-ups are cooking, cleaning up while someone is bathing the kids...all these things were like this micro-picture of the time we were in Princeton.  Those were sweet years, and I treasure the moments I have like that now whenever they happen. 

I hope that doesn't sound like I don't appreciate what my husband does, for he does do the kids' baths while I get Eliana settled, and things like that. 

There is something about having girlfriends around, too, though. They arrived Tuesday and Wednesday, and they left this morning to return to their homes, and I've been busy today getting things back to normal (Actually, I'm taking this opportunity to get things better than normal around here!); the house has been so quiet today, and everyone was so tired tonight.  We had some very fun, but very late nights this week.  I want to share some of our moments, but for now I will just show you a few pictures...I'm sleepy myself (I fell asleep while waiting for Eliana to fall asleep, so hard that my arms even went numb as they were crossed over my chest-that was a bit weird to wake up to...I'm surprised I didn't think someone was lying next to me with their arms over me!) and I'd like to process our time together before writing about it. 

How To Be a Good Hostess

When your guests arrive, do not meet them at the door, because you are putting your daughter's new comforter on her bed; it had to be moved from the drying rack in the hallway downstairs, and right before your guests arrive is a great time to relocate it.

Go to prepare a nice meal and check the date on the meat a few days too late so that you realize you can't use it; instead suggest that you order pizza.

Make your friend pay for the pizza.  (Nooo...I offered, but she insisted.)

Watch as your friend picks up the messy schoolroom/playroom that you were supposed to have picked up so that the kids could sleep in there, and then notice that you don't have the car with the carseat in it in order to pick up the pizza that your friend paid for.

Ask your guest if you can borrow her car; it only makes sense...it's the only vehicle with a carseat in it right now.

Have your visitor watch over all the rest of the kids while at the same time picking up your son's room and the extra room upstairs so that the beds can get arranged, while you get your youngest to bed.  Spend some quiet, peaceful time with your little one, giving her a bath and getting her settled in bed, listening from afar to Lollapolooza upstairs as you lay down in order to get your own child to sleep.

Once all the kids are in bed, put your friend to work cleaning out and rearranging your refrigerator in order to make room for all the sodas.

Finally relax in the armchair while she joins you to chat, facing you on the ottoman.  It's a comfy ottoman.

I love my friends.  I don't know why they hang around me, though. 

The Not-So-Calm Before the Storm (A Good One)

Visitors arriving in the next 24 hours will certainly get you motivated to clean up around your house, if you are the kind of person who otherwise is untidy and a disaster in general.  I've been trying to clean up most of today.  This is what I have to say about that...

Cleaning your house while three children are in the house with you is like washing your hands using dirt.  In other words, not very effective.  I manage to get things put away, and they accomplish a lot of unputting things away.  So while we're all being productive, things don't look all that different when I'm done.  I give them a job to do and halfway through the job their autopilot turns on and the toy that they were relocating suddenly inspires a complex game which involves some other toys, some stuffed animals, some playing cards, and the tea set.  Also a loveseat cushion that has yet to make it onto the loveseat because it is still sitting in the garage awaiting a good bath before use. 

They stayed very busy while I got the living room picked up and vacuumed and I am grateful for that.  They played together, for the most part, and I am grateful for that.  They cranked Michael W. Smith up in the CD player and sang as loudly as they could for fun and I am grateful for that.  And they didn't complain about their dinner which was late and I am grateful for that.

I have a feeling that cleaning up all the toys before the arrival of six more children is like brushing the little bit of dirt off the sidewalk before an impending tornado blows through.  I think I'll just wait until after the dust settles before doing much more...

Bring on the fun and the brownies! 

For Eyes

This is our oldest, Michaela...

She is an independent, opinionated, confident, sweet girl.

On the inside she remains the same, but what I see before me is changing quickly these days.  I'm still trying to get used to her bangs, this framing of her face is so different for me.  She wanted them so badly, and I didn't want her to get them.  I tried to put my own likes and dislikes in her mind, but she knew what she wanted.  They are cute, but I have to say sometimes I miss seeing her little forehead.  It's a silly thing, I know.

While the bangs were a personal decision for her, a necessary change in her life is that she needs glasses.  This is no surprise really.  I'm descended from a blind mole rat, I think, and Mike's eyes aren't that great either. 

Mike took her to an appointment the other morning to get her eyes examined and later that afternoon we all headed out in order to find the perfect pair.  We ended up visiting three different stores, and trying on 7,842 pairs of glasses.  I'll only show you pictures of a few of them, though.  I wouldn't want to send you to the eye doctor in need of new glasses yourself!

Of course, one of the first pair she tried on was orange...

They were deemed too big by the associate who was helping us.  They may have been ruled out for other reasons as well...

I was surprised at how many bold, colorful options there were for children...

These were a little more tame...

She had some decisions to make; we asked her to narrow it down to her favorite three.

Clip-on sunglasses were a fun option...

And Christian wanted to try some on, too.  What do you think?  Studious?  Pretty cute-ious.

Then there were these.  She didn't like them so much.

Her dad picked these out...pretty snazzy, huh?

In store #2 she tried these on...

We all liked them, but she wanted to try one more store.  Just to see.

At our third and final destination (thank goodness, because I was now in a sweat chasing after Christian and Eliana who had been very good but were getting a little tired of small stores filled with row after row of glasses that they couldn't touch) Michaela modeled some more options for her dad.

And decided on two pairs, which we got for a great deal at this place here. 

Choice #1:

Simple and practical, silver frames that will go with just about anything.  They are adorable.

Choice #2:

These glasses are RED with a zebra print on the inside!  They are so cute.  She said,"They'll give my outfits a little POP!" and did a very Broadway-esque dance move, flinging her arms out and sliding across the floor with one foot behind the other.

We are all happy that she found glasses she really likes and is comfortable wearing.  She is excited about them.  Also, she is quite pleased to be able to see clearly.

Speaking of seeing clearly, I am realizing that what I see before my very eyes is not necessarily a change...while her appearance may be a little different than what it was before, it seems that instead of changing she is actually the girl she has always been.  Just with a little "POP!"