in which i confess to weenie camping~

I used to be a camping snob.  In kind of a backwards way.  I thought unless you tent camped, you weren't really camping.  You know, you were just weenie camping.  That was back when I only had six children  ;)

Then, I got pregnant with Grace, and had a pretty serious hemhorrage while I was pregnant.  I was released back to "light to normal" activity right as fall was beginning, but somehow tent camping with six kids and being pregnant didn't sound quite like something I should be doing.  

Enter the pop up.  It was great.  Not super weenie like those mini-condo RVs.  It still fell under the category of "roughing it."  Sort of.  I still suffered minor twinges of guilt when I would tell people we liked to camp.  But gee, traveling in general with a pile of kids is not exceptionally easy, add to that preparing meals, dealing with laundry, etc. in an outdoor setting and I still felt that we qualified.  At least a bit.

So for the past year and a half we camped in the pop up.  And the best part was that while we used to only camp twice a year, we suddenly started camping almost once a month except for during the winter.  Camping is super great for family time, and probably the best part for me is that I don't feel like I should be doing something.  I can be lazy  relax.

So when this Spring began we started looking ahead.  We really enjoyed going somewhere every month, but we really wanted to go further.  As in the mountains.  I've never been West.  (Unless you count that layover in Texas when I went on a mission trip to Mexico.  I guess technically I've been West, but an airport in Dallas doesn't really count.  In my opinion, anyway.)  But the pop up takes awhile to set up and even longer to pack back down, so it wasn't really a viable option for a multiple stop trip.  So we sold it.  For a lot more money than we bought it for, actually, which was definitely a bonus.  And then we started watching craigslist for (gasp) a camper.  After some waiting we found one that just happened to be listed by a guy Glen has done some work for.  So he gave us a great deal.  

So now we have a travel trailer.  As in one with a kitchen, and two sets of bunk beds, and a pull out sofa, and a separate "room" for Glen and me.  And the table makes into a bed too!  But guess what!  It's big enough that we don't even have to take down the table at bedtime, we can leave it up the entire time!  Trust me, when you've been trying to get 9 people to bed in a space where you can hardly squeeze past each other this is a Very Big Deal.  We even have enough room to just hang out and play games if it's rainy.  I can wash dishes, cook an actual meal, and we can even leave the pack and play set up.  And it has a bathroom with a shower.  This is also a Very Big Deal when you have lots of little people needing to potty.  Trust me.

Since it's so big, we wanted to take it somewhere close by the first time to make sure we didn't get stuck  didn't crash into anyone  weren't going to end up in a ditch  Glen could handle it easily.  So this past weekend we went to a campground about an hour away that's right on a lake.  My sister even stopped by one night.  It was lovely.  Beautiful weather, and we were right by the playground and swimming area.  I lost track of how many Scrabble Slap, Chess, and Uno games I played.  Grace and I even took a nap on the beach by the lake.  And we didn't even crash into anything.

So there.  I confess.  We are now full fledged weenie campers.  And I don't care one little bit.  You can make fun of me.  I can take it.  :)

What are you doing this summer?

life x7~

Well, I'm still here. Minus a few brain cells, plus a few gray hairs. I'm not sure exactly what happened, other than life, but blogging kind of fell by the wayside. Buried under a pile of train tracks, diapers, and jr high girl emotions. Gee whiz.
I don't really know what to say. I miss blogging, but I kind of needed to step back and just reflect on life. I definitely needed to be silent for awhile. I'm not even sure I'm really going to begin blogging again with any regularity right now, I still feel like I'm in a silent season, but I wanted to at least catch up a little. Especially since seeing as how I really started blogging just to have a journal of sorts. I've got a lot on my mind today, and some free time, so I'm feeling the desire to just get some of my thoughts in order.
I think having my posts show up on facebook kind of shocked me into silence. There's something about realizing that suddenly a lot of people you actually know are reading what you think about things. That, and having a baby that has been teaching me that I really can't control everyone and everything and the best methods aren't always foolproof. Apparently I hadn't learned that yet.
I survived my sister being gone on a YWAM DTS for five months. I guess for some people they frequently go that long without seeing or talking to their sisters, but my sisters are really my closest friends. I missed her a lot. Thank you, God, for facebook chat. It made it much easier. But I am so glad she's home.
A little update on the kids and life and what they're like right now~

I think sixth grade is the new seventh (or the old seventh?) Or maybe I just don't remember (I am almost thirty, you know :) But school is different, again, this year. I guess every year will always be different. But now I have a jr-higher, whatever that means. I am so thankful we homeschool. I just don't think I could handle having Anna in school and all the outside influence that would bring. There is enough of it already. She is an incredible, awesome, (as-of one month ago real) woman ;) but it's hard on a girl being different. She wants to be normal, to fit in, to be like her friends; and some of that is fine. It's been a season of praying hard, listening to and seeking God's perspective on things, and learning how to shepherd her while granting increasing freedom, choices, and privilege; but also protecting her. What a fine line. I don't know how people navigate this without the Holy Spirit. She is highly sensitive and emotional, but I'm also enjoying her more and more. She is so good with the little kids, at seeing what needs to be done and helping out just because she wants to bless me. She is so responsible and so good at managing her time. She pretty much schools herself now (except History and Bible which we do together) with the occasional question or concept she needs help with. I couldn't have asked for a more incredible daughter. It's hard and intense, but also very cool watching Anna grow into who God is making her to be.

Caleb is 9. Such a quiet, sensitive, thoughtful guy. A real pleasure and blessing to Glen and me. He's grown and matured so much this year. He and Glen are taking a gun safety course this week as we allowed him to buy a shotgun earlier this year. He's a hard worker, and still is showing a strong bent toward building and engineering things. He also has a great love of the outdoors and all things hunting related.

Ethan just turned 8. My New Year's Eve baby :) He's so different than Caleb that everything with him still feels like a first. His brain is pretty much all Star Wars, all the time. He always has some battle playing in his head. He's super sweet, and so smart. Still very affectionate. He calls me "Mom Mom" and Glen "Dad Dad." I'm not sure when or why he started doing this, he was quite young, but he still does it. I kind of thought he would outgrow it, but not yet. And now Moriah has started doing it too. Mostly when they're asking a question or trying to get our attention. If I could just get him to stop pretending the broom is a lightsaber we'd be good ;)

Moriah. Talk about 6 going on 30. She's such a little mother. She loves to play outside, loves to play all kinds of creative, imaginative games with Noah and Haven. She can invent games and ideas that entertain them for hours. They play house, store, restaurant, pet shop, puppies, and all kind of other stuff. She loves dogs, which is kind of ironic because when she was a toddler she would scream hysterically at the sight of any dog, but now she loves them. She has a very late birthday, so she's really kind of a Kdg/1st grade mix, but her school is coming along really well. She's reading better and better, and seems to have a math mind. When you tease her she kind of points her chin down and looks up at you with her eyes and says, "Mo-om!" or "Da-ad." And Glen teases me endlessly because it is the exact same look that I give him when he teases me. It really is funny to see her do it because I can tell it's the exact same face that I make.

Noah. Oh........Noah. My Mr. Charming. AKA Mr. Know It All. I guess that's to be expected with you're number 5 and feel the need to make your place in a large family. His personality doesn't lend itself well to being treated like a baby or being talked down to, so he's very dynamic; and yes, seems to currently think he knows everything. He was so proud to receive his "official job list" soon after he turned four. Notice I say was. The novelty has kind of worn off. But he is a pro at cleaning up the living room, bringing down the laundry, making his bed, straightening the shoe closet, and feeding the dog. When he's in the mood. Ahem.

(Have I mentioned we got a dog. It was back in like, May, or something. Moriah had been begging for a dog. We are not dog people. We have an outdoor cat that we joke is the perfect cat and that God just sent her to us. She appeared a few years ago, catches all kind of unwelcome creatures around the house, and lets the kids play with her and pull her tail and all kinds of things like that. Her name is Gracie. So we always said we'd get a dog if God sent us the perfect dog like He'd sent us the perfect cat. So I was in the nursery at church one night and was telling my friend this exact story. Right after church, a friend of ours came up and said she had a little dog that needed a home and was wondering if we would like him. Hmmm....interesting. I got the details. Sounded good. Been an outside dog for awhile, sweet, good with kids, not aggressive, didn't chase my friend's chickens. Used to being in the country. Okay. Picked up the dog. Perfect dog. His name is Biscuit. He tolerates Moriah dressing him and putting a leash on him and

dragging him around
playing with him. So anyway.)

Haven. He's two. That's about sums it up. I think I need to go re-read my Taming of the Two Post. He is all sweetness and smiles and snuggles and stutters wrapped up into a whirlwind tornado two year old boy. So sweet. And so busy. I'm often left wondering how in the world I ever managed with just toddlers. It seems that it takes all of our eyes to keep an eye on Noah and Haven. They have these blue and brown striped footed pajamas that have a monkey on them.that they like to wear together. I was joking the other night before Glen and the two older boys left for cub scouts that.Thing One and Thing Two were putting on their uniforms to terrorize me while he was gone. I was only partly joking. :)

(the picture of innocence)

And Grace. Sweet Grace. Oh how she has stretched and humbled me :) That will be probably an entire post in itself. In two days she will be nine months old. Nine months. Where has the time gone? She is, for the most part, a smiley, happy sweetie. She loves her bouncer and can play there for awhile as long as she has company nearby. (Which, of course really means she is number seven and used to being with people all the time and doesn't like so much not being entertained. Ha ha.) She has started really eating baby food and some normal food within the last month, and just this week has learned to sit up on her own a little. I know, it seems late to a lot of people, but our babies have always been like that. So far they're all good and all smart, so I'm not worried. All our kids have been around 8 months to sit up, 10ish to crawl, and close to 16 to walk. Lucky me :) Seriously. All you moms with lots of kids know exactly what I'm talking about. Now if we could just come to an agreement on the whole sleeping thing...

(those are really her eyes, aren't they gorgeous?)

Life in general is different. This season has been one of intense change and transition. Internally and externally. I don't really like change, so it's taken me awhile to adjust and settle in to new things. And it's good, for the most part. Some of it I still don't prefer, but some of it is good. It just takes me awhile. That also probably has a good bit to do with me just being quiet lately. It almost feels like a new life. I've always said things are really easier in many ways with a lot of kids, and that is partly true, but learning to juggle older kids and younger kids is definitely a new challenge. Glen and I are definite homebodies. We prefer to just be home and hanging around. We intentionally chose to not overcomplicate our life with outside activities, too many commitments, etc. Suddenly we have these kids who are older and want to do things like play with their friends! *sigh* So we went from our life of school one day a week, and church on Saturday nights to early Sunday service, Wedenesday night church, gymnastics, and cub scouts. And we're in the process of praying about if Anna should do a two day per week homeschool tutorial next year. Not to mention that the time of possibly having another baby is rapidly approaching. We're still very good to guard our family time, I really do believe that is super important, so the other five nights a week we stay home together, but it still feels so much busier than it used to.

Life. x7. Whew.

buddies~

snuggle buddies

camping buddies



no, that's not a tv in our pop-up buddies



how many kids can you fit around a camper table buddies

cool buddies



rock climbing buddies



reading buddies



sleeping in the car buddies



3-D buddies



even though we're cousins don't we look alike buddies



happy buddies





pretending to be puppy dog buddies

smiling buddies

my sister thinks it's fun to dress me up buddies

singing and sleeping buddies

vegging buddies

the super-buddy

diaper changing buddies

sweet sleeping buddies

over the river and through the woodsgreat smoky mountains national park2008 october

I finally managed to confiscate Glen's camera so I could retrieve the pictures of our trip this past weekend.

We went to East Tennessee, and stayed just outside Gatlinburg. We've always stayed in State Parks before, but this time we chose a Jellystone Campground. They advertised kids' activities (craft time, flat football, hayride, etc.) and it looked like a nice spot. Their website is upfront about them being Christian owned, so we thought it would be nice to support a Christian family-owned place. During craft time Satruday morning, Glen asked the mom of the bunch what had brought them to Tennessee (she had told us her husband had formerly been a chief of police somewhere in California.) Her answer was that God brought them, so that was kind of cool. It is owned by her and her husband, and her two sons and daughter in law help run the campground. While it was nice, we happened upon some beautiful state parks nearby with river front spots, so I think we'll probably go that route next time. We had expected the entire area to be crowded due to the fall colors and beautiful weather, but were pleasantly surprised that there were only maybe four other families at the campground, and not too many people in the actual park area. I guess not many people go camping Halloween weekend.

As I mentioned earlier, camping in a pop up doesn't seem like *real* camping to me. We've camped plenty of times in a tent with little ones, but I will admit, it was very nice having a camper. We've never gone more than two nights before, and this time we went for three. It would have been so much harder if we had taken the tent. Although mid day warmed up nicely, the mornings, evenings, and of course nights were chilly (nights were close to freezing, not so good for Haven, Mr. I Like My Bed and If You Don't Give It To Me Right Now I'll Make Your Life Miserable.) There is a little nook where the table area is, and if we removed the table and layered blankets down between the seating area, it was remarkably like a pack n play. It took him a few minutes to accept it as his bed, but after that snuggled down and slept great. Anna, Caleb, and Moriah slept on one of the beds, Glen, Noah, and I slept on another, Haven got the table area, and Ethan claimed the sofa pull out bed. I remarked to Glen that we could easily get at least three more kids in it comfortably ;o) It was quite warm and cozy, and I've kind of missed everyone snuggled up all together. And Ethan did not fall out of the bed the first night. Oh no, not Ethan.

Our Camping Trip in Photos
because I know you guys can't get enough of my adorable children :o)


Haven in his bed area before we made it into his bed,
he didn't sleep on top of the stove ;o)


Our two littlest guys in pjs with cold noses.

Our stout warriors preparing to brave the *easy* hike


Parenting Tip #11

When officials lable hiking easy, moderate, or strenuous,
they are not accounting for families with multiple preschoolers, pregnancy, or double strollers.

Boys will be boys...

Taking a little break on the way up. See my tummy?
That's *all* baby...Really, I promise ;o)

Success! Was it worth it? Who knew two miles could be SO FAR??!!

Yes, we took a tv and had movie night.
Mom and Dad can only roast so many marshmallows in the cold before alternative arrangements become necessary.
It was either bedtime at 7pm or movie night. I know, I know, the hardships of "camping."

All in all, it was a very nice trip. The time change threw us off quite a bit, especially already being an hour ahead of our normal time, but it was still very nice. This coming Friday is Christmas Village, a tradition the girls in our family have been keeping since I was a baby, so Glen is thinking about taking the boys out somewhere close by. Personally, I think he's just still wanting to play with his new toy.

Although I feel as if I've caved, I doubt we'll ever go back to the tent. The conveniences of shower, toilet, beds, heating and air, sink, microwave, toaster, and stove are just too...convenient. Anyone want to buy a really nice, big, two room tent?

over the river and through the woods~

...to the great Smoky Mountains we go...

Upon my release back into real life last week (the hemorrhage is completely gone, yay God!), Glen promptly planned a camping trip. Poor guy. He neglected to factor in the fact that although I may be *allowed* to resume real life, I am still pregnant and tired. He's going to have a ton of laundry to do when we return. Actually, I'm all for it, but I told him last night I'm choosing to think of it in that hazy "camping is fun" sort of mental fog and not think about all the details...like it's a ton of work and I sure hope Haven takes to sleeping in a pop up. For three nights. (I think I need a what was i thinking category.)

I've been teasing him for a few weeks now because he sold a couple of his work trailers and used the money to buy a pop up camper. We didn't think we'd get to go this year due to the whole bedrest thing, so he's been spending large amounts of time prepping it and getting all our gear stored in it (read: pretending we're going camping) He even slept out there with the kids one night. Now, we've been full fledged tent campers for several years now, but he felt that with our every growing family we needed a pop up he wanted a new toy. I kind of think you're not a *real* camper if you don't stay in a tent, I mean, I've gone tent camping several times within a month of delivering a baby, and even gone camping with a newborn, but you know, whatever. A gas heater with a thermostat will surely be appreciated these next three nights in Gatlinburg.

So if you think about it, say a prayer for us. Pray that I survive :o)

See you Sunday.

(unless i decide to check into a nice hotel with a hot tub and wi-fi, then you might hear from me before then. ha ha.)