A Poem by Kristin

A friend of ours, Jack, a customer from the bakery has been having a tough go of things. His wife has been ill and in the hospital. Kristin's heart has been hurting over this, and wanted to do something for Jack. She made him a lovely card for he & his wife, colored some special pictures, and then decided she wanted to write a poem for them. Here it is:

Love

When you’re lonely and down

Love is around to guide you.

Around the corner are friends and family to love you.

With no fear, tell them you love them back,

After you do, you will feel better,

And that’s one thing I know!

With friends and family to love,

the fears long to go

AND

Remember I Love You Always!

Kristin

Written by Kristin 04-27-08

Seven Kids and Tons of Fun!

Today turned out to be great fun! After the snow this morning, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day with a few short hail storms. Sean & Tracey dropped the kids off on their way to take Nana & Papa to the airport. The kids had great fun playing outside.

Alyona & I worked on cell structure, not my favorite part of science, but I had plenty of material on it from my college days, so pulled all that out, and we went through the differences of animal and plant cells...what fun! She worked hard, and we finally made her go outside to join the others, to take a breather. Some of those science words are big for a gal who has only been speaking English for 4-5 months. The are big for me, and I've been speaking English most of my life!! It's just not something that I feel we need to know in our everyday life. Yes, if you're going to be a scientist, but I just don't see me needing to know anything about ribosomes, lysosomes, or mitochondria as I go through life or to the grocery store! I do remember going through this same thing, and not liking it much more than Alyona was liking it! She did two different tests for me, and did great on both. She will do fine, provided the wording isn't too different from what we worked on. You don't realize how using two different words with the same meaning can confuse someone who has just learned English. We pray she will do well on her test for Monday!

After a long playtime outside, the kids headed inside. Four of the girls played barbies in the basement, Alyona & I continued on her science and the boys were playing monopoly. We had supper, and 7 of 9 of us said they wanted waffles & bacon...wow...easy supper for me!! Everyone helped with dishes, and kids went back to what they were doing before supper.

As it got dark, the kids decided to head out to play tag--and it had started to snow...oh what fun they had playing out there in the few flakes that were sticking to the porch, and the railings. They were huge flakes and they had a blast.

Sadly, Sean showed up to take them home...they had a great day together, and it sure went too fast. Oh well, there's always next weekend!

It's Snowing on My Flowers!

Bill took today off (Friday) and we woke to snow flurries. As the morning progressed, we have had some snow sticking, but not much to speak of. Just enough slushy weight to pull my flowers down! The Johnny Jump Ups did well, which surprised me, as they are much lighter.
The forecast has us expecting 2-4 inches tonight, and more tomorrow, but the snow levels are to raise by Sunday to 1500 ft., and we are at 1000 ft, so don't expect anything to hang around. Certainly not enough for tubes & toboggans!

It has been a busy week, and although we've spent some time at the O'Hara's with Nana & Papa, certainly not as much as we hoped for, since three of us came down with a cold on Monday/Tuesday. Ryan started first on Monday night, and Kristin & I were feeling it Tuesday morning/afternoon. Mostly head congestion, for me it's been the ears.

We spent Monday celebrating Papa's 67th birthday. It was a great evening with a wonderful supper of scalloped potatoes and ham...it was SO good. Key lime cheesecake was the dessert...what a guy, cheesecake instead of birthday cake...right after my own heart! Happy Birthday Papa--thanks for letting us share your day with you!

Tuesday was a lazy day at home, getting caught up from the camping weekend. Being we are sick, we're home instead of out playing, thankfully, no one feels awful, and we are keeping our normal routine. As you can see, we're too busy to keep the animals water bowl full. Mr. O'Malley makes sure we know when it is empty. He will walk through the house meowing, and then go and sit in the bowl...it's too funny.

Wednesday we ventured out to the eye doctor. All four of us piled in, and everyone checked out OK. Ryan is still at perfect vision, even though we worry about him with the side viewing he does. The eye doctor checked everything down to muscle control and it's fine. He suggested having his hearing checked, which we have done, but will do so again. If we rule all these factors out, it's just "RYAN"! Sadly, his sister is copy catting him in this! However, we're assured everyone is doing well.

Thursday was a mopey day, since we were supposed to be with the O'Hara's for supper, on Nana & Papa's last day. We didn't want to share the crud with anyone, so we were going to stay home, but Tracey finally skyped me and said we should just come....boy were there some happy kids around here, including me! We had a great supper together and some great visiting time. I'm never at a loss for a farm story of pigs, chickens or other fun sorts of stories when Cyril is around. It was great to have you share Papa...we'll miss you & Nana when you are gone. Can't wait for July! Have a safe trip home! Thanks Tracey for letting us come and share in loving your parents!

Welcome Brooke

Randy, Brooke & Patty

While we were out playing & camping, Randy (Bill's Cousin in Michigan) & Patty, (OK, Patty) was hard at work, delivering their new daughter.....the note we received from Aunt Kathy:

Randy and Patty welcomed Brooke Sophia Burns into the world at 5:26 this afternoon. She weighs 7 lbs 12 oz, and is 26 inches long. What a nice Easter present. Mommy and baby are doing fine.

Congratulations Randy & Patty....we miss & love you!

Proud Daddy Randy & Brooke

Easter 2008

We started off the weekend leaving home around 3:00 and arriving at Milo McIver close to 5:30. We pulled into the park, and drove another few miles to the campground. It's a large park! We found Jen & Brady already there, and set up. The sites are HUGE! There is a lot of brush and trees between each site, as you'll see in some of the pictures. Our site was over 60 ft long, and the one next to us was 86 ft long. Incredible! All wooded and really not a bad site in the place.

We got set up, and had supper. Then enjoyed a nice evening by the fire. We sat out past 11, and although it was cold, we rotated around the fire! When we got in, we saw why we were all cold....it was 38 degrees!!

We woke on Saturday morning to beautiful sunshine, and 32 degrees outside, 55 inside--our propane had run out!! The small electric heater we had in there just can't keep up with that big trailer if the big furnace doesn't run too. Bill & Ryan ran to get propane first thing. We did end up warming up to almost 60 by later in the afternoon, but the morning was chilly. It was a very lazy day for all of us. The kids did a few loops around the camp pulling the wagon with the kids in it....and Ryan rode his scooter, and Kristin did some skating. We decided since it was supposed to rain on Sunday morning, and since the weather was so nice, we did the Easter Egg hunt after naps. Bill & I napped, Brady napped, Jason did not!!! Haha!!! We hid eggs, and then the kids had a blast hunting them. We hid them between Jen & Brady's site, and the empty site next to them. They had a huge area to hunt. The rule was Ryan & Kristin were not allowed anything below the knee level for the first 5 minutes to make it fair for Brooklyn & Jason, but they were great in making sure that they all got enough stuff. Brooklyn had a great time, and never got tired of looking for eggs. There was lots of giggling!

After the egg hunt, we visited with Brady's Mom, Carl, Misty, Lincoln & Zachary who came to visit. The guys went to the fishing hole and the fish hatchery. They stayed a little over an hour, and then headed for home. Afterward, we started dinner since it was getting late. Brooklyn & Jason needed to eat, so Jen made them Mac & Cheese...Kristin decided she was hungry and wanted to have that as well, and not wait the hour for the fish. Brady was kind enough to share his catch of steelhead, it was INCREDIBLE--if only we could have shared it with you all...wow....what a great supper! We also had grilled veggies over the fire and fresh garlic bread....we eat much better out than we do at home!

We had a great evening around the fire, and knew it was our last since it was supposed to rain on Sunday AM....we had a great night, and headed in to bed.

Sunday morning we woke to rain, and gloom. The kids found their easter baskets, and after being lazy, Jen, Brady, Jason & Brooklyn came over. We did the resurrection eggs and a devotion....a great way to remember the gift that Christ gave us today. Jason & I had colored a picture before everyone came over, with a picture of the open tomb, with "He is Risen"--he walked around saying "HE IS RISEN"....it was cool!

After our devotion, Bill asked Jen & Brady how they felt about us following them home, and having dinner there instead of being all cooped up in a trailer. We packed up and headed to Jen & Brad's...where the kids played, and we had a great lunch together...pork loin, sour cream/cream cheese potatoes, salad and rolls. Yummmmy!! Thanks Jen & Brady for letting us barge in....it was much better than being couped up in a trailer!

Enjoy the pictures....Happy Easter...HE IS RISEN!!

Fun Week

Busy Week--Fun week!

We started off on Monday with home school group, and the busy day which that is. We hurried home to get some of our chores done, and some extra for this week. Nana & Papa are coming from Canada, and everyone wants to spend as much time as we can with them while they are here.

Tuesday, is a flurry of school, laundry and prep for the week ahead. As you can see, O'Malley felt compelled to help me change the bed. What fun we had, and how hard we laughed at him! We also head into Corvallis to visit Harry & Flo. Harry had hip surgery, and he is doing great! He had his operation on Monday, and is heading home on Wednesday for some recovery at his daughters. We hit Costco on the way home, and make an impromptu stop at the O'Hara's. Another fun night of visiting, and the kids (as well as the Mom's) are excited about Wednesdays' special arrival.

Wednesday, Nana & Papa arrive!! The kids & I head to Eugene to get our work done, and then run our errands. We head straight for the O'Hara's for supper, and an evening of visiting. It is great to be back together again. Nana brought special gifts for her kids & grandkids..which included our family. What a blessing we have been given to add this wonderful family to our own.

Thursday, the kids & I work on getting things ready for the weekend of camping, along with doing school. We switch plans of having supper here, to taking supper to the O'Hara's. Papa is going to take the boys shooting while Sean & Bill go to Bible Study. We enjoy another evening of visiting. We head home, ready to pack up for the weekend away...and somewhat saddened about the fun we might miss, but looking forward to our time with Jen, Brady, Jason & Brooklyn this weekend. Praying for sunshine...as we have a light dusting of snow this morning!

Sorry for the lack of pictures. We may try to snag some that Tracey took last night, but we were so busy visiting..we forgot to take pictures! More to come after the weekend! Happy Easter!

Ryan's Award

Ryan & Bill have been going to the Albany Gun Club every other Thursday. Ryan did very well the last two visits. The only shot outside of the target areas this time was ONE....and when I asked what happened, he said (and I quote) "I had to pee"!!! He has been having a lot of fun, and is learning the proper way to do things. He is very proud, and so are we!

Happy St Patricks Day

Happy St Patricks Day!

Day Three--I Need A Nap!

Day three of the O'Hara/Richards sleep over--I wake at 6:30 to poor Alexis with a nose bleed. We get her mopped up, and as I'm cuddling her, I silently pray that she will go back to sleep, and no one else will wake up. (Sorry, selfish on my part!!) Thankfully, I fall back asleep and the next thing I hear is a soft knocking on the door followed by "Can we use the blender"? I look at the clock, it is 8:30--and Bill & I look at each other. "The Blender?" I almost ask what for, and then I figure, what can go wrong with a blender? We give our consent, get dressed, and then head downstairs to Alyona making orange smoothies for everyone. I looked at the kitchen that I didn't rid up after popcorn the night before, took some pictures of the girls, and then headed back up to get dressed, commenting that I'd need to rid up before I made breakfast. Imagine my surprise when coming down just 20 minutes later to find the kitchen not only rid up of the smoothie mess, but the popcorn popper cleaned up, bowls and cups all put in the dishwasher, and the counters all wiped down. Thank You Alyona! Is she for hire?!! I was very happy and told her so!

The morning progressed with finishing a movie that didn't get finished yesterday, and then a late breakfast. The girls then went in different directions, some of them playing a game, some crafting, and the others just hanging out. Later in the morning, we had a "girl" primping party, and did some beauty masks and a few of us did our eye brows. I'm not sure Alyona or Tanya will ever be up for waxing again. Tanya did OK, but Alyona did the SLOW painful pulling of the wax, that really didn't do more than painfully pull the wax off the hair instead of ripping the hair out. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy with my "wax" tactics!!

After our beauty session, Kristin had a birthday party to go to...so I had promised the girls a movie, thinking this would relieve Bill from having to deal with "What can we do now?" "Can you paint with us?" "Will you play a game with us?"!! I dropped Kristin off at her party and headed to Sean & Tracey's to get the boys. Since I stayed with Kristin a bit, because she was uncomfortable for me to leave her, I got to Sean & Tracey's late. Instead of driving back home, spending 15 minutes, and heading back almost to Sean & Tracey's to get Kristin I just stayed and enjoyed the few minutes of quiet. Five girls can do a lot of giggling, screaming (usually for something fun) and just plain make noise.

When it was time to go get Kristin, the boys & I loaded their stuff up, and headed out to pick her up. She was ready to go, and we headed home, unpacked the boys stuff into the girls mess and the chasing, yelling, screaming, and tormenting began. 2 boys + 5 girls = LOTS OF NOISE! Bill looked at me and said "How many more days of this?"!! (Just kidding..he did great--and I even think he had fun watching the pampering party we did today!)

Tanya joined me in the kitchen to help fix supper, and soon Alyona was there offering help too. I gave them jobs (one was for Alyona to make her Russian salad again...I call it that because I can't pronounce it!) while two helped in the kitchen, two emptied the dishwasher, two set the table, and one ran odd jobs. Supper was on the table by 6!! Pretty good for not getting home until 4:30--and having to get everyone settled after a run around the yard during the break of sunshine between raindrops! Once supper was over, dishes done, showers taken, clothes laid out, and beds chosen (it was musical beds, sleeping bags, and couches again tonight!), they were allowed to pick one movie (one boy movie for Ryan & Declan, one movie for the girls and a GUY flick for Bill), and everyone headed to separate rooms. The girls had the living room, the guys had Ryan's room and his portable DVD player and Bill had a laptop in our room with a borrowed movie from Sean -- DieHard4 (or 6..who knows...), which Bill enjoyed. Bill is amazed at how Bruce Willis can be beaten so badly, and still come out on top each time! By 9:30 everyone was headed for bed, teeth brushed, tucked in and I actually sat down,but by 10PM, I had 5 of 7 back in my room. Tanya, Kristin & Alyona were changing their minds on what to wear for church tomorrow....and the boys, of course, had to see what they were missing!! I think it was after 11 by the time the upstairs was quiet. Kim & Alexis were both asleep downstairs on the couches way before 10!

Eleven thirty, we finally hit the shower and head to bed. I figure in order to get out of here by 9:30 for church--we need to start at 8:00AM...it should be interesting to see how well 9 people do in two bathrooms in the morning. You just might find me in the trailer!! Boy will I be ready for that Sunday afternoon nap!!

Enjoy the pictures...and yes, I would do it all again next weekend. They are such a fun bunch of kids to have around...and we sure do love them!

Three Day Sleep Over

So, you know when we had sleep overs as kids they started at 8:00, and everyone was home by 11:00AM the next morning? Not the O'Hara/Richards' sleep overs! We start on Thursday at 3pm, and end on Sunday after church! Actually, we were just supposed to go to O'Hara's for supper on Thursday. The guys went shooting, the girls hung out, visited, played outside, and Tracey & I visited, and went through some devotionals for the kids. Sean had picked up a monkey bar set for free off of Craig's List earlier last week, and the kids have really been having fun on it...so much that they stayed on it in the rain to watch an awesome rainbow. The guys returned home with ice cream & cones for us as a treat. Thanks guys! Afterward, the guys watched some funny videos, and the rest of us were playing cribbage. Alyona is just learning, as well as Declan. We had a fun time, and then we realized it was after 10! Good thing there was no school the next day. The girls concocted this story about sleeping over, and then stood in the hallway with big puppy dog eyes, pretending to cry. So, we said OK. I took the boys & Alexis (she needed a break from the girls!) and we headed home.

Ryan was up at 7:30, Declan and Alexis around 8:30--and they played hard until 11:30 when we had to meet Tracey and the girls for "kid swap". Declan had an online class today at 1:00 that we forgot about...and the girls wanted to sleep here. SO, we swapped kids, I have all 5 girls, Tracey has both boys, and we headed back home! We've spent the afternoon dressing up, playing games, making a restaurant, and crafting out of the craft cupboard. They were very creative when I gave them free reign of the cupboard. We'll see what they come up with tomorrow!

Alyona was discussing this dish that she loved. She spoke of several, and we tried to look them up on the internet, but did not have much success. It would help if we knew how to spell them correctly! My Russian consists of the little we learned when the girls got here. Alyona remembered one dish that she'd seen other people make, so she asked if I minded if she tried it. It was fairly simple, and I figured worst case scenario, we'd toss two eggs, some mayo and a sausage link. She mixed up the most incredible salad I've ever had. It was like an egg salad, with sausage, carrots, and she said she'd even had it with corn in it. It was so good, we made more hard boiled eggs, and will make another batch for tomorrow for lunch! Thanks Alyona for sharing a bit of Ukraine with us!

The girls all had showers after supper, and then they settled in for a high school musical movie....oh the singing. Afterward, Alexis came up to snuggle with Bill, the other three girls, Tanya, Kristin & Kimberly were tearing up the living room dancing, while Alyona was in our bedroom, singing to her MP3 player, watching herself dance in our full length mirror!

Tomorrow Sean & Tracey have a dinner to attend, so we will be getting the boys back, and will have all 7 here tomorrow night. I will be a challenge to see if we make it to church on time Sunday.

Lots of "This & That"

I was reminded yesterday that I hadn't blogged in awhile. I almost hate to blog when I don't have pictures to share, however, I was reminded that wasn't important, that it was fun to keep up with our "day to day" with or without pictures. Of course, the pictures are a bonus!

Last Thursday, we joined with the O'Hara's in fellowship, to play, visit, have pizza (slowly becoming the weekly Thursday fare), and for the guys to go to Bible Study here in Sweet Home. Tracey & I hung out with the kids, had a nice visit, and shared some exciting news--"Nana & Papa are coming on the 19th"!! At first the kids were not so sure, because prior to that announcement, Tracey said she was pregnant--wow....Bill had to pick Sean up off of the floor!! Just kidding....but it seems she was the only one who thought that was funny. We are SO happy that Nana & Papa are coming for a visit. (Just for the record Tracey is NOT pregnant---5 is enough!)

Saturday, we had the pleasure of having Audrie. Her mommy works every third Saturday. We missed one Saturday and were shocked at how much she grew, how much she was talking and how many new things she was doing...OK, OK, yes I took pictures...she's too cute not to! She didn't want to smile, as we kept interrupting her play time! She was very into a Fisher Price Tractor with a little girl driving it. Forget the farmer....girls drive tractors! This was our last Saturday with her though, as he Daddy's schedule at work changed so that he can be home to spend more time with her. Great for Audrie, sad for us! We're hoping for Daddy to have court once in awhile so we can have her!! If not, we'll be stealing her a day every so often!

Could you please leave me alone so I can play with my toys?

Monday was a busy home school class day. We took Kim & Declan, since Tracey had Alexis home sick and Kim really wanted to share her "favorite pet & food" in sign language class. Afterward it was beautiful, so we played at Tracey's for awhile, and we had a chance for a nice visit. I had told the kids we weren't staying long, so they "disappear" in hopes I'll forget. It makes for a nice uninterrupted visit for Tracey & I!!

As a stay at home Mom, who home schools her children, I often get caught up in the "negative" and so do our children. What they "didn't do right", what we "need" instead of what we are thankful for, the negative that sometimes comes home from swim practice, from work, from the day in general. I came across this devotional at http://proverbs31.gospelcom.net/ and it was so simple, it was God sent. Try it....it works! It was based on “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

Recently, as everyone was just sitting down at the dinner table, the whining began. “I really need a new cell phone”, “I hate my freckles”, “When can I redo my room?”, “Mom we really need to go to the mall”. I was not in the mood to hear “I need ...”, “I want...”, “When can I...” or “I hate...” How dare they start this sacred time of our day with these petty self-centered complaints and requests? Did I mention they were 11 and 13 year-old girls? Rather than letting my frustration get ahead of me and begin the familiar lecture on needs vs. wants, and how we need to appreciate what we have, I quickly changed the tone of the conversation and shared what a great day I’d had. It was nothing special or out of the ordinary. In fact, it was quite ordinary. I shared how thankful I was for each of the very ordinary things or events in my day. Hoping to “bring” them along with me, I handed the proverbial ball to my daughters and asked them to tell me about some things in their day for which they were thankful. Some thought was required at first, but soon they were on a roll. They began rattling off things such as: “I’m thankful for the rain this afternoon,” “I’m thankful mom came and jumped on the trampoline with us today,” “I’m thankful Haley came over today,” “I’m thankful for Bella and that she didn’t run through the invisible fence today,” “I’m thankful everyone worked hard at practice today,” and, “I’m thankful Emily didn’t get hurt today at practice.” Now we were getting somewhere! Through their thankful hearts, they had been “brought” into a loving relationship with God and with each other. We each revisited our ordinary day with a new perspective. We each shared how our lives had been sprinkled with God’s protection and blessings. We all looked back at a day that could have been easily forgotten and turned it into something special. There was no lecture, no hurt feelings, no exasperated children (or parents), just a great ending to a great day for which we were sure to thank God.
Heavenly Father, I am so thankful for Your instructions on raising strong and Godly children. I am also thankful for the example Your Son is to me as I strive to emulate Him in raising children who glorify You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Girl Fun

Today Kim & Declan came to home school group with us. Tracey was feeling a bit under the weather, Sean was home sick over the weekend, and she's been fighting the crud everyone else has had. So, we told her to tuck in and we'd be by to pick up Declan & Kim. After school, we headed home to play for a bit. The boys had a fun time playing a few games on the computer, and Kristin & Kim dressed up and had a great time dancing. They really have the beat. I'm not sure where Kim & Kristin get their "Groove"--but these girls have it. You have to love Kim's get up too...a cowgirl princess! Fun!