Up Her Highway, Path Plowing, Working in the Mines

Days in the Life...

Monday morning I was determined to start the week strong and get up early despite not sleeping great. I did. Coffee helped. I had my Bible time first thing, then did Cize all by myself in the bonus room so I would not wake anyone else up. It was fun! When it ended, though, I was behind schedule (because I'm an UGS) and had to race to take my shower and get ready for the day.

Aron came for breakfast and played ERS with everyone except Dad (who was meeting workers at the little house), and Mom and Chloe (who both prefer to watch). That was the longest game of ERS I have ever played. I went out 3 times and 3 times I slapped back in and each time I slapped back in one of the others kids went out and couldn't get back in. Finally only Aron and I were left and then it took quite a while for me to get second place.

The kids got started on school while Mom and Dad visited.

I started preparing to take the College Composition CLEP test.

The view from my room that morning.

In the afternoon I had errands to run for Dad and needed to buy groceries and make some phone calls. 

Chloe worked all day at a horse photography shoot which she greatly enjoyed all aspects of aside from missing lunch and the intense humidity. Her job was very hands-on with the horses, driving right up her highway(?). Pretty sure I horribly butchered the correct phrase... 

I babysat in the evening and 

came home to this and everyone else in bed. 

Tuesday morning Kate arrived early. We did not have Sofia at all this week. Kate asked for her all day. *sad face* 

When Kate took her morning nap or when she was in bed supposedly sleeping I also took a nap as I didn't sleep well again. All week Mom, Dad, and I have had a hard time sleeping. One possible factor is the full moon right now. 

Why not play blocks on the trampoline? 

The kids enjoyed playing with Kate whenever they had opportunity to. She had a long nap in the middle of the day and then didn't sleep again so I was grateful for their help. 

Chloe worked for several hours in the afternoon and I feel like other stuff happened... Oh! Mom and the littles went to Crazy Town Bubble Land it was crazy which was slightly crowded. 

Kate demonstrating "Happy Baby" which is a real yoga pose.

Getting ready to go outside.

Aron came over in the evening for dinner and to watch "Lion King" with us. 

Wednesday I did not get to watch Calvin as he was sick. 

Chloe and Ava babysat for Nana's Bible study. 

Mom took the kids to gymnastics. 

In the evening I took Christian to his guy's group. 

Thursday Chloe had a stress breakdown expressed appreciation of any form of effective distraction, so the two of us went to see "God's Not Dead 2" early in the afternoon. 

If you thought the first one was good, this one is amazing! I found it hard to watch because I simply don't understand people who disregard logic and are just so so mean! BUT it was still good. It's not a sit-back-and-relax movie, however most people probably would not find it as hard to watch as I did. I'm very glad we went to see it and I would watch it again. 

I had dinner with a friend that night. 

Something to be aware of, if you are a server and you take your customer their order and they tell you that it does not look like what they asked for, you do not tell them they are wrong. Also, if you spill their coffee you should offer to remake it, even if you only spilled a little bit. We let it go and were able to chuckle about it, but we were not impressed. 

Friday morning Mom, Chloe, and Christian all left for the last Debate tournament for this school year and Kate arrived. 

The tournament day was long. They had check in at 7:30 and then were scheduled to participate in 4, hour and half long, debates in one day. That would be why Chloe almost had a panic attack and Christian was ready to get to it. 

After their first morning round they received a BYE, which meant they did not have to debate because there was an odd number of teams and the round was counted as a win. It was a huge blessing, especially to Chloe. 

Nana got to go watch their first afternoon round and came home to give a fabulous report! 

Their last round ended about 7:30 in the evening and they made it home in good time, surprisingly not as worn out as I thought they'd be! 

Mom did some judging. 

Meanwhile at home, Kate had a stuffy nose and was completely off her schedule, though, of course, still as sweet and darling as ever. 

She ended up taking her one sort of nap, late morning, and spent a long time just talking in her bed both in the morning and the afternoon. By 2:30 she had eaten all the food sent with her and after that ate ours. Hungry girl! 

Pretty sure she knows she is cute. 

Definitely. 

I think she was probably teething. When babies are getting teeth they tend to drool quite a bit, put their hands in their mouth, and get a stuffy nose. Sometimes they will also get a mild fever. She greatly enjoyed putting her hands in her mouth and then rubbing them all over her face... 

The littles all enjoyed playing with her every chance they got. I love watching them interact with her. 

We got to give her a bath before she left. She pointed at herself in the mirror and said "baby!" 

We ate a late dinner and the kids started "Star Wars." Mom and the others returned and gave the report of their day. Chloe joined the kids and Christian spent 3 hours improving their debate case. 

Saturday nobody had to get up super early. 

At 10:00 Mom, Chloe, Christian, and I all left for day two of the tournament. We met Aron there as he also wanted to watch the debates. 

The first round of the day started at 11:00. I'd not seen Chloe and Christian debate in a long time and was extremely impressed by how much they have improved over the course of the year! After Christian gave his first speech, and then killed it in cross-examination, I could not stop grinning. 

Lunch was after the round and we got to visit with people and then watch other types of debate while waiting for the final Team Policy round. It ended up starting very late and Aron and I had to leave early so we missed most of it. 

Aron and I got to church in time for the pre-service worship and prayer time. Mom and Dad did a switch off so that Mom could take Ava home and Dad could come to church with the others. (Ava had a slight fever. No, she was not teething.) 

Church was really good. I cannot imagine not having that time of corporate worship, encouragement, and fellowship every week. 

Sunday Mom stayed in bed all morning and into the early afternoon with a headache. By the end of the day she was much better, though. 

Dad hurt his ankle chasing chickens the previous afternoon and so took Christian with him to Costco after brunch so he would not have to walk all over the entire store. 

The littles played outside a good part of the morning and afternoon. 

Chloe recharged in her room by reading for a long time and then went to ride horses later in the afternoon. 

Chloe and Christian ended up placing last out of 17 Team Policy teams in the tournament. They were one of two novice teams and most of the rest of the teams were already qualified to go to nationals next month. All that's to say, the competition was tough, but Chloe and Christian got to get lots of good experience and learned a lot from the rounds since they were hitting teams that were so much better. Neither of them were overly upset about their placement. Chloe is glad it's all done and Christian can't wait to do it all again next semester. 

My early afternoon. *heart*

Aron arrived around 2:00, just as Dad and Christian returned from Costco. We all unloaded the truck and I got a 6 pound roast in the oven for dinner as fast as possible. (It still didn't end up being ready until 8:00.) 

The kids played outside with Aron for a while and then came inside to shower and have rest time. 

Aunt Cendei joined all of us to watch "Beauty and the Beast" and eat dinner. 

It was a good end to the very long week. 

The Herd: Quoted 

"So you get to continue in your path plowing ways." -Me
"Trail blazing, maybe?" -Mom
"Yeah, that." -Me

"Showers are not a recreational activity at our house." -Mom to a child who enjoys 30 minutes under the water.

"You are just too old to be able to see that kind of thing, Mom." -Gabe

"Christian said I could be a minor, but I don't want to be, it's just too much work." -Mia
"You are a minor, Mia, being a minor means you are under the age of 18." -Dad
"Oh! That's what that means! I thought that meant I had to go work in a mine." -Mia
"That's what I thought too!" -Gabe

Brownies that Save Puppies from Burning Buildings and the Linns finally watch Star Wars

Days in the Life...

Tuesday, Kate was her normal, happy self for the most part. She and I made pancakes for everyone else for breakfast and then the others did Cize while she napped and I had my Bible time and drank coffee.

Everyone is getting so good! 

Tell me she is not adorable. 

After her nap I tried to study, she stole my notes...

We thought "Why not try it?" 

Chloe, Ava, Kate, and I made a trip to the Ponder library early afternoon. 

While we were gone, Mom decided they should spontaneously meet the Peisers at Six Flags again. She, Chloe, and the littles headed out as soon as we got back and pretty quickly Christian left with Grandfather to try one last time to shoot a deer before the hunting season ended. 

If they didn't get one, Grandfather was going to take Christian out for dinner. They ate yummy burgers that night. 

Dad continued working, thankful for the quiet house, and Kate and I hung out until her dad came. 

Baby tips: 

-It's a good idea to start your young child or baby's meal with the least sweet food item you have for them to eat and work up to the sweetest. Apply this also with foods you know they like the best, save those for last and give them the thing they don't enjoy as much first or mix it with the item they do like. Don't nurture a picky-eater, motivate them to eat at least some of everything that you have prepared for them.

As soon as she left, I ran out the door to care for baby Sofia at the church again.

She was hungry when I received her so I got to give her a bottle! Then she was awake and slightly fussy the rest of the time.

During the 5 minutes she slept. 

The others had a blast at Six Flags. 

Aren't they gorgeous? 

Wednesday morning Ava and I babysat for the Bible study. Ava really is a great helper, especially with crying two year olds. I was so glad to have her with me.

The dreary weather, combined with not drinking coffee that morning (if you ask some people, who are under the misconception that I am addicted to caffeine..) gave me a headache for a majority of the afternoon and evening. I always forget that there is such a thing as "pain-killers" that are tremendously helpful for such situations.

Dad inspires me. He gets headaches frequently enough, but he always pushes through his workday, even as one who is self-employed and manages his own schedule.

In the evening, our "new" friend from church, who has a real name, Aron (pronounced "Aaron"), came over to do Cize with us. We figured we should feed him dinner, too.

We were all glad he was okay to be in the front as he and Gabe were equally entertaining to observe.

I finished pulling dinner together once we finished and Aron concocted his special brownies so they could be baking while we ate real food.

This is a picture of his brownies, just from a different night. 

(The photographer failed her duties that night.)

If you ask Gabe, the brownies were, "Out of this world." If you ask Mia, they were, "Awesomely, deliciously, scrumptious." And Mom says they are another one of those foods that "save puppies from burning buildings." 

A few of us were awake trapped in a chocolate coma until 2:30 am, but the brownies were so worth it. I just got up and did school and other things that needed to be done until I began to emerge from my stupor, so it worked out! 

Thursday was a normal school morning for everyone.

In the afternoon I dropped my car off for an oil change and Mom, Chloe, and Christian picked me up on their way to Speech and Debate.

Chloe and I were able to look at our feedback forms from our first tournament and see some things to fix in our duo. One of the moms helped us with that and now we just need to practice.

Mom took me back to get my car after the speech time and I headed home. Chloe and Christian stayed for debate.


Friday morning I left the house before hardly anyone else was moving.

A family in our church needed someone to go sit with their three daughters in their Classical Conversations class while they went to their last doctor's appointment before their new baby is born.

The littles were in CC last year and the year before, but I never got to sit in on their classes (I was in my own high school level class which was totally different), so I was excited to go watch.

Straight from there I left to have coffee with a friend and then rushed carefully home to turn right around and leave for a surprise birthday party.

I actually arrived home late (due to traffic) and so got in such a hurry to change into a dress and throw my hair up that I knocked a picture off the wall. *Mental note, five minutes is not very long*

Chloe, Christian, and I caught a ride with Aunt Cendei to the party for a girl in our church who was turning 19. Her sister had asked us to arrive early to help her finish setting up for the Jane Austin Era party.

The whole venture was highly successful. Emily was completely surprised and we all had a great time eating, watching her open gifts, playing games, and learning some couple and line dances.

Chloe and Christian were convinced they would NOT be dancing. Guess who loved it the most once she got into it? Chloe. And Christian also had a blast! Dancing was always something I thought would be fun, but never had the opportunity to learn. I was glad that my partner the second half of the night already knew how to dance, once he and I started dancing I finally got the hang of it.

The father of the birthday girl offered to take us home whenever we were ready to go. We ended up being the last to leave around 11:00 pm.


Saturday we slept in. A lot.

We all did the second Cize workout. Wow. That was just slightly more challenging than the first one. And by "slightly," I mean extremely. It was still super fun, though!

I took Ava to the library in the afternoon and once we were all ready for church, us older ones taught the littles the "Virginia Reel."

Dad stayed home not feeling great.

Church was a blessing. There are no words. No words.

She wanted a picture with the worship leader. 

Sunday morning Aron came over for brunch.

Then he beat me at "Rummikub"  That's okay, though, I beat him at "Speed" the last time he came for brunch.

Once our food had settled Aron took us five kids and one adult outside to teach us soccer. We warmed up and did a bunch of stretches and drills and then divided up to play a game.

Chloe, Christian, and I were a team, and Aron, Ava, and Gabe were a team. Mia hopped back and forth between both teams.

Aron is only slightly competitive. (Refer to above definition of the word "slightly" for actual meaning.) The game ended at 3 to 1, in favor of Aron and the littles. Ava scored two of their goals!

Christian is great at getting the ball, Chloe at passing it off, and I at defending. When I played basketball as a 10, 11, and 12 year old, I was always set to guard the biggest guy on the opposite team because my coach knew I was tiny and would annoy them. The same principle worked well in our game, although I hope I was not actually annoying.

Aron and Christian left after our game to go play Disc Golf in Denton.

From what I understand, Disc Golf is basically the same as regular golf, except that instead of a ball and clubs, you play with a smaller, heavier frisbee type disc, and the "holes" are special baskets. If any of that makes any sense...

The rest of us had rest time.

Dad was still not feeling great.

This is what he needs. 

Who's ready to leave for Maui? 

On his first ever game of Disc Golf, Christian ended with a better score than some of Aron's friends who have been trying to learn for a while! He didn't win the round or beat anyone he was playing with that day, but the report was that he did exceptionally well. And he had fun. 

Aron and Christian returned after dark slightly frozen and a tad bit muddy, just in time for dinner and Star Wars, A New Hope, Episode IV. 

By the end of the very very very long movie, half of us couldn't wait to watch all of them and the other half (which included me and Mom) were left wondering what in the world it was that we were supposed to have been so missing out on. Ava didn't even stay to watch the whole thing, she much preferred her book. 

I've Been Pondering...

When God calls you to something it takes courage to step out in obedience. And although obedience is simple, it's not always easy. 

If you continue to wait until you "have it all together," or "know all the answers," or are "pretty confident in your own abilities" you will never step out. And if you do feel that way, then you have lost sight of the fact that you need God. 

You are not to move when you know what you are doing, but when God directs you. And you are not to move when you think you've got it, because you need God. Nothing He has called you to has He called you to do on your own, in your own strength, using your own wisdom. 

First you must meet Jesus. He will fill you up. Then you are equipped to go out. You return then, over and over and over, day by day, moment by moment, to be refilled and resent. 

Nothing I do is because of me. It all has everything to do with Christ. And I have to constantly surrender to Him and listen for His leading and receive grace and courage from Him to step out in obedience, entering into the things He is calling me to. 

It's not easy, but it is simple.

That Moment When...

All the kids cry when the mommies leave. 

You don’t get any texts until you start babysitting. Then your phone explodes. 

Mother rearranges and can't remember where she put things. 

The turkey breast doesn't fit in the crockpot. 

The Herd: Quoted 

"Cashews and pop tarts?" -Me repeating what I thought I heard. 

"Hemp Hearts. When have we ever purchased pop tarts?" -Mom

“So the girls are still kids?” -Chloe 

“Yes.” -Me

“Gah! You have so far to go in that book.” -Chloe

“#slowreader” -Christian

“No, #busygirl.” -Mom 

"Hey my pony tail!" -Me finding the one I'd lost. 

"It was under the couch." -Ava 

"Something just flew out the window. It strongly resembled my school work." -Chloe 

"This is going to blow your mind." -Mom to me as I come downstairs.

"What? Is that like, the most advanced Cize dance?" -Me referring to the workout they were watching before we tried it. 

"Nope. This is number two." -Mom 

"We are almost halfway through winter! Wait, nooooo we aren't even a month in!" -Me 

"Well, the last time I saw him working at the library I'm pretty sure he hit on me so..." -Me to Mom

"Great. Are you posting that on the blog?" -Mia after saying something random.

“No.” -Me

“Are you going to post that I just asked if you were going to post that?” -Mia

“Yup!” -Me

“Oh great. Great. Great!” -Mia 

“But I don’t think I’m hilarious.” -Me 

“But I think you are." -Mom

"It takes an hour to enjoy a cup of coffee properly." -Me 

"Well apparently I only need ten minutes." -Chloe