*Sigh*

After hugging and kissing six little peoples goodbye, the girl climbed out of the van only to hug one more person. Her mom whispered into her ear, "I love you and I'm so proud of you, sweetheart," which only brought tears into her eyes. Her heart felt as heavy as lead at the thought of not being able to go with them. *Sigh*. The car started without a hitch and amid many loud goodbyes (a.k.a. yells thrown out of car windows by little peoples), and some horn blows the car pulled away from the curb and rode smoothly down the street. It turned at the intersection and was lost among the morning traffic. She turned to go inside the quiet, still house with a lump the size of a baseball in her throat.

That girl is me. This incident happened today.

Today is the first day of camp- I've had so much fun every year so far and I really wanted to go this year. Really wanted to go. But I have a job. And with most jobs there comes a certain level of responsibility. There was no one to take my place so I decided quite on my own that I was going to stay home this year, even though it meant a huge disappointment for me. You have to grow up some time, right?
My boss was overjoyed though, and there's a small consolation in that, I suppose.
Plus, I only have myself to grumble at since I made the choice.
Double plus, all my siblings are gone so I have one whole week with just me and my daddy. Complete silence will reign in our home.

Although, *groan* my mom made me promise we'd eat almost all food in the fridge. (You'd have to see our fridge to understand ;)

After All, They Come Cheaper by the Dozen!

Yes, we are here! We are alive! We are doing pretty good! Busy, very tired at the end of the day but pretty well, all the same. Haircuts are done on time (or nearly so, :)our garden is growing quite well, Viv recently learned to ride her little bike without training wheels, and we can barely tear her away from it long enough to eat! Being as busy as I am, I still find time to read and recently picked up Cheaper by Dozen and found it to be such a cute book. Filled with so much humor and the fun of large family living I found it to be a book I will want to read to my siblings. The following is one of my favorite stories:

"Dad himself used to joke that he couldn't even tell us 12 kids apart. He even boasted about one time when Mother was away on a lecturing tour and he was in charge of the household. Things went fairly smoothly and Father had us all lined up outside on the front porch when Mother arrived. "How was everything, dear?" asked Mother. "Fine, just fine," answered Father. "But this one here gave me quite a bit of trouble," he said as he pointed towards the offender. "But as soon as I gave him a good thrashing he was as good as gold." Mother, who was never ruffled at anything, calmly replied, "But he isn't one of ours dear, he's from next door."

Hey everyone! Such a lot has happened since last month. My parents are currently out of town- for two weeks! I'm really glad they could go, since it will be a good vacation. My siblings are all up in Iowa with my grandparents- hopefully they're not creating to much havoc in grandpa and grandma's usually peaceful home! Since I have job, I'm staying with family friends who live two blocks from my home. They have one kid, a three old boy who is really cute, very curious, and follows me like a shadow. He doesn't want to do anything without me and cries when I leave for work. Aw. It helps me not miss my siblings so much.
I also have a room to myself... which is a delight all on its own. In preparing for two weeks of relative quiet, I checked out a whole bunch of books from the library- 11 books, I think- and have so far finished five. So nice to be able to read this much. I haven't done this much pleasure reading in... forever, it seems. Okay, not forever, but a long while! For school literature, I'm reading Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame, both of which I'm so interested in that I'm reading far more chapters than I need to. Okay, well, I have to go and get ready for work now, but I hope that my extra free time will give give me opportunities to post more regularly. *hopefully*

:)

A Modern Mozart

Last Saturday my mom took Si, Lil and me to see Emily Bear perform with the Champaign Symphony orchestra. If you have never seen or heard of Emily Bear you have to check out this YouTube of her. Emily is an amazing seven year old who has an extraordinary talent for playing the piano.
The most exciting thing about my evening was getting to meet her after the performance. We were able to get a picture of her with Rach and me.
To find out about Emily's story, paste this site into your browser address.
(We are currently having technical difficulty linking this site)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUx4t4W4eVY

Chocolate Calculator

My grandma sent this to us and my mom and I thought it was really neat!

You have to try this out!

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate; more than once but fewer than 10. (we won't mention the number we used :)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 (you might have to get a calculator)

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759... if you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should come up with a three digit number.
The first digit of this was your original number (i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week)
The next two numbers are YOUR AGE!

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2009) THAT IT WILL EVER WORK,
SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.

A Puppy Bouquet for You!

A dear friend sent these to me today and I thought they were too cute to not send to you, also! We especially thought of you when we saw these, Miss Rebecca.

Hope you all have a lovely day!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Hanna!

Your dad and I want to wish you the happiest of birthdays, Hanna. When I was pregnant with you I remember how much I REALLY wanted to have a little girl. I am continually amazed at how the Lord knows the desires of our heart and He abundantly blessed us with you! It's hard to believe that the tiny little baby born fourteen years ago is the same young woman who is growing up so beautifully. I still think that there must be some switch going on in the middle of the night - how else could you grow up so quickly?

Hanna, we love you very much. Our lives have been filled with so much joy because of you!