Update

Mocha has definitely decided we are 'her people'. She gets friendlier every day.  She is still small but has grown quite a bit in the last month.  In about another month we'll trundle her off to get her fixed. No kittens on our watch.

My back is way better. I am so thankful.  Kevin has had an aching back, as has his mother. So apparently this viral thing attacks backs.

This week we took a week off from 'normal school' -- everyone but Naomi, that is, who of course has to keep up with her classes.  Lydia's 1 credit class is done. She did very well.  I'm so proud of her.

Rose has her moments of not being a total terror. And then sometimes she is a terror.  Still.  Often.

I adore her.
4
That's about it for now. And the Terror wants me.

Oh, My Aching Back...

A few days ago, my back started hurting a lot.

Fortunately, it is just a virus.  Really.  That is fortunate. Nothing long term, nothing really serious. Just a pesky virus attacking my back.

That first day I could hardly walk straight.  Since then, it has been better but not great.

I'm extra tired, too.

It is hard being sick. I am blessed with older children who can do almost everything I can do, but the younger and middle kids rather need Mama on their case to make sure they do what needs to be done. The house is definitely a tad on the messy side right now.

Ah well.

I'm hoping by next week I'll be much better. I'm planning to do some major work on the kids' clothing and shoe needs for winter.  Daniel has almost no long pants as far as I can tell.

Kids also get to attend a birthday party next Thursday, which is fun!

Cogitations on TV

I haven't watched much TV in literally decades.  We decided against cable TV when we got married and the natural result was that we didn't watch television. Which was all to the good.  For me, anyway, TV was a temptation toward wasting time that could be better spent in other ways.

We have Netflix and Amazon Prime now, so have access to many shows now, but, and this is the big thing, we can decide when we want to watch something. TV doesn't control our lives since we can decide when and if we want to something.

I like mysteries.  I like forensics.  Last week, I heard about a long running series called Bones, about a forensic anthropologist and an FBI agent.  Our library didn't have the first season readily available so I found it on ebay for $5 and bought it.

So...sigh...in some ways, the first 3 episodes (the only ones I watched) were a lot of fun.  The main characters are amusing, the plots were interesting, the science was fascinating.

But I ended up throwing the disks in the trash yesterday.  Because, by the third episode I realized that 'sexual banter' was a pervasive part of the show.


The underlying worldview by episode 3 is that everyone is and should be having sex regularly, and having sex with random people is totally cool.

It is not cool.  It is not healthy.  The man who supposedly has slept with dozens of women didn't mention any issues -- pregnancy scares?  Worries about sexually transmitted diseases?  Emotional devastation on the part of the women involved?

It bothered me enough, and I had enough of a check in my spirit, that I threw out the disks.

Now I know everyone is different.  This issue really bothers me, far more than the gruesome nature of the dead bodies in the show.  Some people would probably be upset but since I knew it was just acting, it didn't bother me.  Some people can no doubt handle the sexual stuff without it being an issue.

But that calm acceptance of unhealthy sexual relationships was not good for me.

So I am going to try another show out, Rosemary and Thyme, British I believe, apparently very clean.  The library does have that one.  We'll see...

Up Comes the Deck

We have a huge deck out back, and it needs replaced rather desperately.  We've been dealing with splinters and other sundry issues.

So we're pulling up the boards and have replaced one section with new cedar boards.

I'm taking a trip down memory lane right now. When we moved into this house, Naomi was 5, Lydia was 3, Isaac was 2, Joseph was under a year, and I was pregnant with Miriam.

Obviously, the kids were too little help, and I was too overwhelmed by child care duties and pregnancy to help Kevin with the truly incredible number of tasks that needed to be done on our house.  It was a foreclosure, and the project list was in the dozens, I believe.

So I kept the kids alive and healthy, and Kevin toiled away with some help from a couple of male friends.

This year, we have older kids and they are doing such wonderful work on the deck. Kevin's back is not suffering all that much and the work is going so quickly.

It is truly a blessing having a large family of willing, helpful kids.

(And they are being paid, which makes them even more willing!)

Hard Week

Our 3 youngest are having a hard week.

I am tired.

A friend of mine named Debbie has given me so much good advice but one of the best things she ever said was, "Don't expect to always 'enjoy' your children."

I adore my children, love them, like being with them. Usually.

BUT there are phases which are not much fun.

Rose has been crabby.  Daniel has been crabby. Sarah has been crabby.

Crabby X 3 is exhausting!

I have been busy with 2 afternoons of work and 2 trips to take Lydia to her college class each week. It may be that the busyness is stressing out Rose, in particular.

In other news, it has been insanely hot for this time of year, but tomorrow the temps will finally fall.  I'm looking forward to fall weather.

Tired Rose

Rose very very rarely takes a nap anymore, but she was clingy and whiny this morning so after lunch I put her in her room, thinking she might fall asleep.

After an hour, it was very quiet. I poked my head in and looked around.

Where was Rose?

Ah, there is a Rosie foot!

She woke up and heard me.

But decided she wasn't ready to get up yet :-).

Cute girl!

I'm Thankful It Is Friday

Busy week!  Still sick off and on, though improving. My tailbone is better after a trip to the chiropractor on Monday. That actually helped a lot, and I'm thankful.

It has been a very busy week.  Chiro appointment on Monday, dental appointment for Sarah on Wednesday, normal work 2 afternoons a week and then Lydia has a class Monday and Wednesday afternoons for an hour, but she drives me here and there to get driving time in.

So yeah, I feel stretched.

Kids went crazy checking things out on the microscope one day this week.  It was homeschooling on the porch!  It was great.  I think that was one of my "not feeling well" days so it was terrific they were excited about learning when I was just in survival mode.

(To be totally clear, I am NOT PREGNANT!  I know that sick Laraba makes people think that but dudes, I'm almost 48. No more babies!)

Mocha, the kitten, is still timid and nervous and living in our shed, but she is warming up to us.  Lydia touched her for the first time today.