Category Archives: thoughts on life

My New Home

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I am happy to finally have my new blog up and running.  I will be honest, getting use to word press has been a challenge and I could not have done it without Dadzoo, he sure takes care of me.  (He designed the header for me!)

I have several posts in the works, my blog might have been silent over the last few days, but I have been far from idle.  Nesting has hit me full force (and considerably earlier than previous pregnancies).  We have been moving things, painting, adding furniture and decorating up a storm, and I am not close to done yet.

flowers from my garden

I would love for everyone to leave comments with suggestions on what you would like to see me write about and how I can improve my schmancy fancy new blog!

(p.s. I imported all my old posts, and hopefully organised them better so you can find recipes and such with less effort)

 

 

Having a grateful heart

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(this was originally posted March 2008)

My Dad told me a story the other day about his father, my grandpa. The day before he died my Dad was talking to him about some chickens he had just bought and my grandpa related this story: When he was a little boy a neighbor gave his family an old rooster to eat. His Mother didn’t really know how to cook it, so the neighbor told them to kill it and pluck it and they would help her cook it. So they did just that, and my grandpa on his death bed remembered how good that old, tough, stringy rooster tasted. His family was that hungry.

It is amazing to me that someone could be that hungry. I know it happens, my brain knows that people starve to death all the time, but it is so far removed from my little world that I give it no more than a passing thought. For some reason this story really stuck me.


A few days later my two oldest were complaining ”this is the worse day of my life!” The reason it was the worse day? They had to do dishes. I know! Poor abused kids! The story of my hungry grandpa jumped into my head, and I couldn’t help but look at my kids and realize what pampered little turkeys they were. Seriously! It was Monday and I let them all stay home from school (which never happens at my house, usually they have to be coughing up blood to stay home) we did a few house keeping things then we went on a picnic, a girly picnic, with a pretty table cloth and a whole bunch of dainty little treats! Then they got to play outside in the warm sunshine for the rest of the day. They had a good hearty meal, which they didn’t have to kill or gather in order to eat; they didn’t even have a part in the preparation! Then when it comes time to do dishes, there is crying and whining “it is the worse day of my life!”

I was mad
Oh so very mad
I told them the story of their great-grandpa and pointed out that they have never been hungry a day in their pretty pampered little lives. How dare they complain about their lives being so hard when they have food, clothing and shelter; a mom and dad who are here and take care of them; they are not beaten, neglected, or emotionally battered! They don’t have to work for their food; they get to go to school, there are places in this world where it is illegal for girls to learn how to read! They are pampered, petted, princesses and they should be ashamed for acting like selfish little girls!
One of my girls stared crying and the other silently started to do her dishes.

How do we teach our children in this world of instant everything to be grateful, to value the things we have? In a place where if we are hungry it is just a short drive to the grocery store, and if we are feeling particularly lazy, food can be brought to our door! Instead of it taking a season of work to produce a meal, it takes a plastic credit card and all sorts of good things are at our finger tips. How do we teach them in a world where our homes a built for us, our clothes made for us, heat comes not from chopping wood, but flipping a switch on the wall. Even our entertainment is easy, just turn on a TV or computer, no effort, no thinking, no sacrifice.

THAT kind of family…..

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with THAT kind of car.
Yesterday we found and purchased our (ahem) dream car.
It. Is. HUGE.

It seats 12….yes TWELVE people.

I have to admit my pride is hurting a bit.  I am not a “car” person, I usually don’t care what kind of car I drive, how old it is or the general condition, but this one, has me feeling a bit…shy.

I am going to have to get over that.

When one chooses to have a large family, you limit other choices, such as, the kind of car you can drive.

Other than feeling like I am sticking out like a sore thumb while tooling around town, I am very happy with the purchase.  It is only a year old, low miles, great interior with nice extras and priced just right. 

We have been blessed.
On a side note, I have noticed that having 6 kids bumps a person (at least around here) into the weird category.  Why do people feel like they need to comment on my mental state, my sex life, and our (apparent lack of) education on birth control, just because we are choosing to have a large family? 
 My mental state is very healthy, yes, I know how babies are made (obviously, we have successfully made 6), and I am well aware of my birth control options, thank you very much!
 (Sorry for the rant)

There Is Hope

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I think I have about had it with this winter.
First, lots of snow
then, lots of smog and fog
now, subzero temperatures.
All while battling morning sickness and pregnancy fatigue.

I think that bears have the right idea, go to sleep during the pretty colors of autumn, and wake up the first part of spring, skip winter altogether!

As I was sitting at my kitchen table writing blog posts and skimming through pictures on my computer I came across some pictures I took this past spring and summer.  It was like a breath of promise and hope…this winter will not last forever!  Not only will there be green, and colors and my vegetable garden again, there will be a new baby, there are so many wonderful things to look forward to this year, so no more gloom for me, only looking forward.

I thought I would share some of my nuggets of hope.

Little Bit of Early Spring Cleaning

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Winter this year has seem particularly cold and long.
In Northern Utah we get temperature inversions in the winter.  Basically a high pressure system sits over the valleys, trapping cold air, pollution and water vapor in the valleys.  It will just sit and sit until a storm system, strong enough comes along to clean everything out.  We can easily go several days or weeks with out seeing the sun or blue sky, everything is grey and foggy and down right gloomy!
This year has been colder than normal and the inversion seems to be more tenacious.  We have had several storms move through, but while the fog and smog will clear out for maybe a half day, the inversion comes right back.  I don’t know if it has to do with being in the yucky first trimester, where I am normally tired and sick, but this year seems so bad!
About a week ago my Brother-in-law came and painted my bedroom and cheerie shade of green.  I took the opportunity to “spring clean” my bed room, moving furniture and washing curtains, something about a good deep clean seems to raise my spirits a bit.  The next day when I ironed the curtains and hung them back up, we had a rare sunny day with blue sky, it felt like a breath of springtime and I was reminded that we are only about 6 weeks away from the first breaths of real spring!
Ironing my curtains, by a sunny window, I couldn’t help but admire how pretty it all looked.

 

Curtains all hung up in my sunny bedroom window, the cradle has already found its home, between my bed and the window.  I can’t wait for baby to fill it.

The sunset from our backdoor, yesterday and today are proving to be beautiful and warm, and nice break before we head back into winter.