Ordinary Time

Just a quick note...it's been a long day and there are still many small children to put to bed. M came through the surgery with flying colors and is feeling good and in good spirits. Of course, her leg is still completely numb and will be for 24 hours, so we'll see how she's doing after that. I'll describe in more detail exactly what was wrong...but it will have to wait for a later date. Thanks for everyone's prayers. I'm just so relieved to have my girl home and have the surgery behind us!

The hospital called this afternoon and M is scheduled for her knee surgery at 2pm. The best scenario is that the doctor goes in, removes the broken off piece of cartilage, closes up and is done. If that happens, then M can go home the same afternoon. But, even with an MRI, the doctors can't really tell what is actually going on with her knee and won't know for sure until they are in surgery. There is a chance that the cartilage will need to be reattached or holes drilled into the bone to stimulate more bone growth. In either of these cases, the surgery is more involved and M will need to stay the night in the hospital. So, we have been instructed to be prepared to stay overnight M isn't looking forward to it, but is pretty calm about the whole thing. I'm...doing a good job of appearing calm, but feeling the need to pace growing stronger and stronger. I just keep reminding myself that this is pretty easy compared to when P had surgery at a week old. Is it too unreasonabl...

You would think in a family of 7 children, there would be more to blog about. But, aside from the cute comments from children, which I'm pretty sure only J and I find interesting, and my ongoing battle to make my children responsible and organized, not much is new around here. We get up, we learn some stuff, we fix and eat meals, and we make costumes. I know that last one isn't normal for most families, but it seems to be for us. The last costume event was M and her friends' murder mystery party. Thankfully, I had nothing to do with these...aside from finding B a new sports coat at the local thrift store. (His coat from last year was, predictably, several sizes too small.) B sprang for the dry cleaning cost himself. The party was a success, though I think the level of committedness to costuming was surprising to those for whom this was a first-time event. The girls also discovered the lack of importance that many people attach to the letters 'RSVP' these da...

I missed it again! Yesterday, Sept. 19 was "Talk Like a Pirate Day". I had such great intentions...talking like a pirate (and it was even swimming lesson day, and as my friend, P, reminded me, we could have had the children walk the plank), having pirate-y treats, perhaps wearing a bandanna and a big gold earring to embarrass my children...I was going to do it up right. But, like every other year, I forgot. I'm sure it had something to do with all of the emotional turmoil going on around here, which at some point I will blog about, but not yet. Pirates are way more fun. (And to anyone with an Eeyore frame of mind, we are all fine. Please don't panic...it has more to do with future family stuff than current family stuff. Did I make anyone feel better? I sure hope so.) Anyway, next year I vow to remember my favorite holiday that I've never celebrated. Anyone want to join me? Arggh!

I do not know this family at all, but I am so moved by their plight, I am asking for prayers on their behalf. They are living every adoptive family's nightmare. http://www.roomforatleastonemore.blogspot.com/

We have started back to school. I hesitate even to write that, as it sounds as though the children have only started to learn things again since summer began. Since they are learning things all the time, what it really means is that we're back to following a schedule. How this schedule looks changes radically from year to year. In my continuing quest for the perfect schedule...the one that will make me as fantastically organized as I fantasize about...I have tried many things. When the children were small, and there were fewer of them, I didn't really have a schedule. Life was less complicated and we could follow our interests, read lots of stories, make art projects, and play together...all before lunch. I'm sorry to say those days are over. From our structureless summer, I am all too well aware of what happens when too many children have too much free time. It starts out great. There is lots of play, reading, daydreaming, and various projects that happen. Children do crea...

Having good friends who own a boat and invite you to ride in it. J and I had a great evening last night. We were invited to join our friends (who have the boat) plus another couple for an 'evening cruise'. (And it was adults only. This is a big deal when you know that between our three families, we have 19 children. Plus, we wouldn't all fit on the boat together.) So, at 5 pm last night, we set off for our three hour cruise. (I only put that in because now you will all be humming the theme to Gilligan's Island for the rest of the day, because ours was really four hours.) First there was the quick trip along the lake front to get to downtown Chicago, and then into the lock to get to the Chicago River. We cruised up the river all the way to Chinatown, where we tied up and ate our dinner. (It would have been fun if some of the restaurants served dock-side like they do along the river downtown. But we probably wouldn't have been able to afford it anyway if the prices of...

Today I took B and D in for their annual physicals. I've now reached the point where the receptionist no longer needs to ask my name when I check in, instead she moves straight to small talk. However, I never seem to get the same nurse...I'm in there enough, you'd think I'd get a repeat at least once. But no, I have to break a new one in every time. This means dealing with children's baffled looks when asked if they like their teacher, avoiding the halo with which the nurse wants to crown me upon learning I have 7 children, and explaining that we don't watch TV. Again. But these are minor inconveniences. What was really interesting was the amount both B and D have grown over the past year. B grew 5 1/2 inches and D grew 4. I knew they had grown, but had no idea they had grown so much. This explains why I am finding it difficult to keep food in the house and why they (along with everyone else) often follow me around telling me how hungry they are. Left...

We've been eating dinner outside quite a bit since the weather has been nice and all too soon it won't be. On the spur of the moment, while we were outside getting things ready, J and I decided to buzz K's hair. It was too long (he was starting to receive "Oh what a cute girl" comments) and he sweats so much that he just always looked hot. So here are the results of J's efforts: We then enjoyed a pleasant dinner together. As we were finishing, D looks up and announces, "I see two skunks!" We turn around and he was right. Two skunks were ambling around our back yard having their own dinner. Not wanting to startle the skunks, we had everyone sit quietly (not easy for some of us), while we watched them...and took pictures. Eventually, the floor show ended and the skunks went under the fence into the parking lot next door. We have seen quite a few skunks in the past couple of days, and as long as they don't take up residence in our home I'm OK w...