A little mini vacation

Since Andrew changed jobs, he isnt eligible to use his vacation time for 90 days. Pretty much the entire summer, so that means no long vacation this year as we had hoped. So instead we are taking advantage and getting a weekend away.

On my grandfathers side, they are having a family reniuon that we are atteneding this weekend. I found a nice lodge that has two room suites that will fit our family(score, this is a tough thing to find). The bonus is it has a small waterpark for their pool area. Pretty minimal just two slides and a couple of fountains but i suspect the kids will have a lot of fun.

It will be nice to see some family especially my grandparents. I really miss living close to them. And Im looking forward to some time away with the family.

So today will be the mad rush of getting the house tidy before we leave, packing bags, retrieving our van from teh mechanic, printing maps, etc.

See you all on the other side!
MJ

sad day

We have 3 beautiful ash trees in our front yard( 2 directly in front of the house and one in front on the side). They are growing into the power lines, so they either have to be cut down or trimmed way back. The type of line and the type of tree it is, really would leave them short and really chopped. Like maybe 7 ft tall if that.

So they are cutting down the 3 trees today :( We did get them to agree to give us 15 lilac plants for the front yard. Its still not the same though. Our house looks so naked without the trees and there is sooo much sunlight now. It really shaded the entire front yard. Sigh ... I know it needs to be done but I guess I really dont have to like it.

MJ

The first one

We found a home for one of the kittens today. It happened to be one of my favorites :( but I am happy that it has a home rather than a shelter cage. It went to another family with young kids, so Im sure it will have lots of love and attention.

We are keeping two ourselves, so that leaves only 3 more to find homes for. Im hoping to find them a home but I will take them to the shelter rather than let them go. Momma cat will most likely have to go the shelter. She was really freaked out in the beginning and really has warmed up though.

We gave them all temporary names:half pint, shadow, storm,gandalf, adolf and greybeard. We are keeping half pint(the smallest runt looking one, it has longer hair, tiger striping, white, grey and a kid favorite) and shadow(grey with white paws and neck, little white streak on its nose, a cuddler).

Anyone want a cute little kitten?
MJ

God is good ... all the time!

All is well!
My doc called this afternoon, so I wouldnt have to wait and worry thru the weekend. I really appreciated her doing that. She said from everything we can see on the ultrasound, baby girl is developing normally and all measurements are good! Woohoo, praising God from whom all blessings flow.

I have to say while I was nervous and a bit worried the day of the ultrasound, God has given me the peace during the subsequent days. So even when a friend called and asked me if i had gotten the report yet this morning, I realized I hadnt even been thinking bout it at all. Praising God again for his blessings!

God is good ... all the time ... he put this song of praise in this heart of mine!

MJ

Its a . ...

A baby! lol!

All looked good thus far. Heart was strong and 4 chambered, measuring within a few days of the due date.

It will be a few days, maybe even a week , before Ill get the detailed report. So I know they measured the fluid but I dont know amounts. So keep praying that all is well with this little one.

And as for the gender(disclaimer ultrasounds can be wrong lol) our boy and girl totals are going to be 6 and 4. So if the tech is correct, we are having a princess! Katarina of course is elated! Some of the other big boys are out biking and dont know yet.

God is good ... all th time.

MJ

Part 3

Saturday morning dawned with my very first opportunity to try a starbucks coffee.
REally, had I wanted to, I could have had one well before now but I didnt.

The first clerk looked absolutely incredulous that I had not ever had starbucks before. She asked with a rather dumbfounded look where in the world did i live. So there was a fair amount of discussion over what to have me try. Finally they settled on a black and white mocha with a pump of vanilla added. It really was tasty. Now I at least know what to order next time I go in lol.

The kicker was at the end when the clerk, a fairly young guy, asked if my friend and I were sisters. We look nothing alike at all, although we are the exact same age minus about 14 hours or so. It was rather amusing the rest of the weekend joking bout which one of us he thought was the older one. And whether or not that was a hit on line.

I know we knocked a few more things off the to see list, but my brain is not remembering exactly what. But i know as afternoon approached we headed over the space needle park to meet some online friends of mine. Both groups of friends were running late so Nikki and I took some time to take some pics. They had a cool fountain that had some neat artist benches , each designed differently , around the walkway of the fountain. It provided good picture fodder and lots of fun.

So eventually my friend, Libby and her two girls arrived. So more picture taking ensued. Then we took her girls on some rides while waiting for the others. Eventually the latecomers all managed to meet up! It really was neat to meet some of the friends that I have shared joys and sorrows with over the internet. One I had talked with via phone, the rest was either message boards or email or IM. We ate lunch at the food court area there and then wandered out near the space needle area.

Quickly we were distracted by a sight. There was a group of musicians playing music along the boulevard and a crowd of people was gathered. Although IM not sure the crowd was entirely there just for the music, it was the dancing granny that drew my attention. A uniquely dressed older lady was having the time of her life dancing away to the music. I mean she was putting on a show in her own right. At a couple of points, she started taking off a jacket and then gloves and we were wondering if this was going to stay G rated. Thankfully it did. Eventually we tore ourselves away from the entertainment and got in line for the space needle.

I enjoyed the view and a chance to take some fun pictures with my friends. Although time was short and they soon had to go home.

Part 4 to follow!

MJ

My trip part 2 :)

Finding longer periods to write a detailed blog post is tougher than i thought.

After getting in fairly late,we slept til 830 or so. We decided to venture out for breakfast. We went to this neat little cafe called the library cafe. It was decorated like a libary and had a couple of cozy fireplaces and neat tables. Breakfast was yummy too.

We then ventured out and proceeded to hit the sights and cross them off Nikki's list. I forgot my camera, luckily Nikki remembered hers. One of the more neat sights was a gigantic stone troll with a real volkswagon beetle in his hand. I think some art society created it, its underneath an overpass bridge. Pretty cool!

Although it was chilly I did enjoy walking along puget sound and picking up some rocks and shells. It rained off and on that day as well as a good wind, so it felt really chilly. Thank God I brought my coat!!!

I got to see the famous pikes market and found lots of fun trinkets there. I sadly did not come at the exact right time to see them throw a fish. If my memory serves me correctly(which it totally might not lol) I think we ate at red robin that night. We decided to hit a late show and see prince caspian. Great flick and the bonus was that I got to see it before Katarina lol.

Part 3 to come!
MJ

Seattle trip - part 1 -- the flight out

The trip really didnt start out on a good note.

I got to the park and ride relatively easy with plenty of time to make it thru security and the like. That all went smoothly. It was issues with the weather that did us in, so really not the airlines fault. Still very frustrating though. We didnt get to board for an hour due to the ramp being closed with lightening. So we boarded only to find out the ramp was once again closed due to lightening and the baggage handlers couldnt load the luggage(definitely made me thankful I had opted to just take a carryon.

So we are all loaded, the baggage was loaded; we were just waiting for the tower to okay a take off. Then the flight crew and pilot timed out. Now I had not heard of this but I guess due to flight regulations and the like, they no longer could work the airplane. So now we are further delayed while they begin the on call search for a new pilot and flight crew. They eventually make us all get off the plane and our orginal 520 pm flight is now pushed to 930 pm.

Just wait it gets better yet. We board the plane around 930 for a 10 pm flight out. We taxi away from the terminal and everyone breathes a sigh of relief only to find we stop on the runway. Supposedly we are first in line when they release the westbound flights. So we sit on the runway waiting and waiting and waiting. At some point they make us go to an alternate runway to make run for eastbound flights. What happened was a line of thunderstorms from Texas to Iowa and the only open airspace was Minnesota. Thus it was saturated and we had to be sequenced in. We left 7 hrs after our orginal flight time, and finally got in the air at 1230 am. I finally arrived in seattle around 340 am our time, 140 am seattle time. Whew that was an interesting evening.

I tried to think as postively as I could and thought well Im very thankful the children arent here or this would be 10 times worse!! Also discovered expensive airport pizza really isnt that good.

More to come :)

MJ

Just a quick post

Im back, had lots of fun, glad to be home too! Will write more later when I have some more time. Laundry awaits!

MJ

Im Off

Well shortly here anyway. Going to drop the kids off at the sitters and head to the park and ride. Hopefully everything is easy to find.

We never did end up watching the movie last night as Andrew was pretty much comatose. He really did a number on his back, so the doc yesterday had prescribed muscle relaxants. Those really made him out for the count. I tried waking him up to get some help with finding a park and ride and he was just too out of it. That was a bummer.

Feelign a little more relaxed, at least I will once im actually on the plane. Got a good bit of laundry caught up, a whole lot folded and put away. Went to the grocery to get some frozen pizzas and bread. I think I covered most of hte bases. I have like 7 notes all on the fridge and emailed andrew a detailed list of stuff. It takes some efffort to leave a husband and 9 kids at home lol.

Well thats about all for now folks, see ya when i return
MJ

The mad dash

I spent today chaperoning a field trip to como zoo with ariana. Other than being a little cold, it was a lot of fun. That also means I have a day less to prepare for my trip to seattle.

So tonite its the mad dash of finishing up laundry, finalizing sitter details and packing my bag. I have a 5 o clock flight, so I will leave before the kids even get out of school to get to the airport on time.

I hope to watch a movie tonite with Andrew while folding the baskets of laundry :) Im looking forward to getting away. The boys actually cheered that mom was going to be gone for 3 days... typical i suppose. Katarina is still begging to go with and the littles really dont grasp the concept.

Well thats all for now folks

MJ

Tad bit overwhelmed

Its only Monday afternoon and Im already feelign the pressure. So much that it makes me want to shut down and do nothing, rather than everything I need to arrange.

Im going to Seattle for a trip away to visit my friend this weekend but the excitement is getting buried deep in the to do list. It doesnt help that this is the last week of school for the kids and various arrangments must be made for the time IM away. Katarina is also going away for the weekend as well, babysitting for my SIL and brother, so detail for that must be arranged as well. I believe they are picking her up but its complicated by the fact she has a field trip that day that wont return til late.

Im sure Ill feel a little better when ill the babysitter arrangments are said and done. I got a reminder call today reminding me of a specialist appt for Gideon. I have already exhausted my possible list of sitters so IM stuck taking all the littles with me tommorrow. On my birthday no less. Sigh ... thus is life.

Then if the ducks line up in a row(mainly if the sitters work out) IM chaperoning a field trip for Ariana on wednesday and then i fly out early evening on thursday. Andrew just informed me we are in for some wicked bad storms that day ... great, As well as figuring out where to park and do security stuff at the airport, ick, that is making me anxious already. Unfortunely with starting the new job it means AJ cant take off to drive me in to the airport.

On top of all this, I had wanted to get the house in good order before I left to give Andrew a good start to the weekend. Sigh I guess i wont get everything accomplished.

God is good ... all the time
MJ