I am not who you think I am.
Rather, from wherever you are,
You have written me another being
And breathed another's spirit with your lips......

The image of your own conceiving
Is the woman that you praise,
And being yours, she wells deserves
Your very own applause.

Juana Ines De La Cruz


Interestingly, this wasn't written by an angst filled generation-x'er, but a lady that was born in 1648.
It instantly spoke to me. Not that I am so esoteric that people *have* me pegged wrong, but there is something about having a lot of kids that makes the general public have certain preconceived notions of what a mother of said family should be/look like. At least that is what I gather from many conversations I have had with perfect strangers about the subject.

#1 Always quite surprised by my appearance. I am not exactly svelte, but apparently when you have a lot of kids you should be at least 200lbs overweight.
I think there is also some wonder that I am standing upright and not in a wheelchair or using a walking stick. That I am not totally prematurely gray ( I do have *some* gray hair being 43, but I keep that fact underwraps :) That I don't dress like one of those FLDS ladies that are currently being flashed on the news every hour on the hour.

#2 "You must be SO patient!" No, I am not. Ask anyone I live with and they will attest to that fact. It is sad that having a large brood AND being married for 25 years I haven't made more progress on that virtue. Maybe by the time I am 70.

#3 "You must be SO organized." Actually, I do like to be organized. I think it is fun to organize things but it takes time, which I am often so short on. So I am not very organized at all.

#4 ( and this is the clincher) "You must be a saint!" I always find that one particularly funny. I am SURELY not a saint.
Yes, having a lot of kids can be hard work and stressful, but what job isn't? Everyone has something about their job/vocation they don't like or is difficult. I could never be a brain surgeon or an astronaut or .......on and on the list goes, but I do like what I do ( most of the time :) so it is no big deal. I also believe that this is what God wants me to do, so I do have a* bit * of help from above (LOL! wink wink!)

Coming fast and furious.......

While I was standing in the kitchen making lunch, Manny said to me; "Mom, you are my girl!" (awwww).

Not 15 minutes later Jed was sitting on his stool and dropped a toy, which he ordered Manny to pick up. I said "Jed, you didn't ask him very nicely to do that." He replied, "I'm complicated, Mom, I'm complicated."

A taste of the east

I don't usually rave about grocery store products ;), but I have happened upon some good stuff recently. Oddly enough, the Meijer at 13 and Little Mack started selling packages of naan.
I didn't realize we had much of an Indian population around here, because Tim and I always have to go to Rochester or Troy to get some good Indian food ( in other words, there are none in the neighborhood or even surrounding areas close by).
It's REALLY good. Especially warmed up a bit in the toaster oven.
We also found these *Patel* brand Indian dishes. So far we've tried Dal Tadka, Muteer Paneer and Aloo Mutter and all have been surprisingly good ( for being in a little microwaveable bag!)
The price can't be beat, either. On sale they are $2.00 a pop and the naan is 1.50!

yay!

Lotsa random kid shots!

Always in style, Jed wears his suit coat AND bike helmet with shorts!
Dylan leading a game of *Brain Quest* with his sibs
Manny! Look at that cute smile ;)
Following in sister's footsteps
Cousin Gwen and Ella

There are benefits to being a trash picker!

Yep, someone was actually throwing this beaut y away! ( Not the little boy on the left :) I'll admit it didn't look like this on the side of the road.....it was a jumble of pieces. I was so intrigued by the beautiful carved wood, however, I figured I could do *something* with it. My trusty handy man Noah helped me piece it together and all it really needed was a few knobs and hinges and a couple screws!

Whadda find!

Hopefully a distant memory...... ( our last big snow storm of the year, snowman building)

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

Fr Deano is going on vacation.
Strangely, I was just thinking in the past week or two what I would do if he was sent back to Italy or somewhere else. I have come to depend on his terrific homilies for a spiritual boost every week.

Well, Godspeed and come back to us soon, Father!