A Chill in the Air!

There is a definite shift in the weather pattern! The cool, crisp autumn has been ushered in and leaves cover the ground. This time of year always brings back memories of my dad and my grandpa. Two very different men, but their lives touched me in different ways. My grandfather died two weeks after my great-grandmother died over eight years ago. I was pregnant with Lauren and did not enjoy having to fly hundreds of miles so close together...for less than joyous occasions. He died unexpectedly of a pulmonary embolism. My grandfather loved "loving." He had been a little league baseball coach for Richland, WA for YEARS. A whole ball field is named after him. His loving care of ushering young boys into manhood touched many hearts. Men from around the state came to pay honor to him when he died. It was very touching to see how many people truly loved him. I remember going to my grandparents cabin over Labor Day and during the summers. They'd take us down to the streams, teach us how to harvest/feed the worms, patiently guide us over moss covered rocks in order to get the best spot to guarantee a successful catch and fish us out of the water when we slipped in. Grandma fried the trout on the wood stove and grandpa in his quiet way got the fire pit ready for smores and scolded us when we got too close to the fire. I miss my grandpa; but mostly I am sad for what my children do not have.
My dad celebrated his birthday on Nov. 16, but it has been years since that has meant much to me. My father has always been very self absorbed in his own life and has not had the time, patience or gift with children that my grandpa had. I believe that is a huge part of why my parents divorced. Their differences began to overshadow their committment. I haven't seen my father in eight years. Lauren was a baby. He's never met the last two grandchildren, nor do we receive phone calls or letters or even a card on a birthday. I just sent him the belated birthday card (I'd lost his address...that is how well I know him). I will continue to send the obligatory cards for Father's day, his Birthday and Christmas, but it is always touched with a little sadness for him. I try calling, but my calls are rarely, if ever, returned. My emails go unanswered as well. I'm sad for him and I pray for him because I know what he is missing out on! I pray things change, but we all know it isn't always in The Plan.
So in the meantime, I share ice cream sundaes with my children, just like my grandpa did with me and Paul will take them fishing, when he finds some time........

Kimberly turns four!

We weren't really planning a party for Kimberly, but for some reason it turned into one with almost all our neighborhood kids! I guess when everyone is bragging to their friends that it is Kimberly's birthday and we are having cake, all of a sudden there are 7 more kids in the house! Her favorite things...Kailan cake, doll and a dinosaur from the Fugleseth's! She also got a Wonder Pets Fly boat and a pretty dress!













And now for the really bad news...Megan gave her some gum last night (unbeknownst to me) and she went to bed...gum in hair! I didn't have time to work in the peanut butter, so Megan decided to take it into her own hands and "help" me by cutting it out....so now I had to go and get it fixed...now she hates her "boy hair." No 4th birthday pics...for a few months!

All Saint's Party!

So since the good camera is on the fritz, the pics aren't great, but they are all I have...so here are some pics from our homeschool saint's party.

ROXABOXEN

Autumn means Roxaboxen time in the Harper house, umm, outside the Harper house. If you've never read the book, check it out...my kids loved it!

Katherine & choir

Katherine is in her third year of choir in high school...probably the only reason she is in public school! Their recent competitions earned them the highest score of Grand something or another. We are so proud of her! Now if she could just get her mind wrapped around driving a car!

Facebook heralds in death of telephone and blogs!

Ugh! Since Facebook is now the quick and easy method of communicating, I find myself lagging behind my blogging. I realized this morning that it has been almost a month since I posted and yet, my mind is spinning from how busy we've become! Paul has been in and out of town now that his retraining into the new airframe is completed. We all got WAYYYYY to attached to having a daddy around with "normal" hours! Now we are chaotically trying to maintain the new normality. Right after our last post (with out of town guests), the kids and I got onto a plane and flew up to my mom's home in Washington. I can't say it was an easy task, but not nearly as horrible as I feared it to be. Had to keep up the strong front for my worried husband, but it went very well. Got to see old friends and hear all the lavish praise over my mom...who I never doubted would receive it, just love to hear it...although I have to laugh that every story everyone told dwindled down to alcohol, strip parties or how she told off this person and that person and she still actually was gainfully employed! Her retirement party actually netted her more job offers than she's had in years! I think it is wonderful that she has set such good examples for her daughters on working hard and putting up with shit so that years later you can throw it back at them and they have to listen because you've already proven yourself as an invaluable, hard working, truthful employee.
When we flew home, we were blessed by an anonymous donor...someone bought our whole family lunch! I was in tears I was so humbled. When we got back on soil in Little Rock, the car lot attendant, drove us to our van, loaded up my bags in the back and helped with the kids. Laughingly he said, "me and my wife got six kids, I know what it's like!" I thanked him (it was pooring rain out) and handed him a huge tip. The drive home was worse than anything! Pooring rain, slow driving, traffic delays and screaming baby! We finally got in and found my neighbor had cleaned my house and left a fresh plate of brownies on the kitchen counter for us! Just when I think we are at our worst...He shows me what wonderful people exist in this world! That whole trip was a lesson in placing my trust in God and affirmed to me that we made the right decision and that all is going to happen the way it is supposed to! Well, I will get back on later and update the rest of October for y'all. Lauren is home sick from Church, and I hear her up now!