It is fixed!

I cannot believe after MONTHS of not being able to get on blogger, I have finally managed to fix all the problems and get back on. It all came back to when we changed internet providers and snowballed from there!
This photo became our Christmas card for 2011. The main reason why is because it so aptly captured the personality of our kids. I took this in Springfield, MO when I was picking up Kat for Christmas break at a friend's house. Chances are we won't be going that way again since she now owns her own car and can drive back and forth from school. Thankfully also, she has a daddy who is a pilot and can escort her and fly back.
This past month has been filled with trials in tribulations, which I will not go into at the present moment because I have already wasted too many hours already on this computer and I fear I've lost the children's motivation to be productive today. So, be assured this blog will be updated and hopefully pictures added so everyone can catch up in the busy lives of the Mississippi Harpers!
Love,
Kris

Mother's Day

Last year I got zilch, zero, squat for Mother's Day; or at least from anyone but me! No one wished me a "happy mother's day" except for Rebecca, my artist, who made me a card. So they all knew they had to do something BIG this year! And thus, my garden is born...

Stephen and I found this fountain on sale at Lowes and an inspiration for the "bare spot behind the garage" finally emerged. Keep in mind we've been here four years and I had not the foggiest idea what to do with that space. We'd yanked out an overgrown cherry tree three years before and left a big weed overgrown space for years. My neighbor blessed us a we

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ek or so ago by bringing her kids over and hosting a weed pulling party in my front yard. But now I had to put something in its place! That is where the fountain and a hundred dollars in plants and topsoil came in....
BEAUTIFUL!

Proof that babies snore

I recently had to undergo a radical hysterectomy and surgical repair of damaged tissue and muscle when I got home 48 hrs later, Veronica had a 102 fever and really didn't want to do anything, but lay in bed with me...here she is in her favorite position, snoring away. By the way, I am now a little over five weeks post op and I feel really good. I started back to the gym this week and I've been able to do more and more every day.

A Lesson in Humility

Humility is an important virtue, not humiliation. Many people confuse the two. Humility means to put others first and yourself last. True humility comes from realizing God's greatness and allowing His greatness to shine thru our weaknesses.
Children are a great example of forcing us into humility. Just when you think you have something down pat, they prove that there was something you never considered; therefore, you don't know as much as you think you did. You'd think after seven kids I WOULD know a lot about raising kids and life in general, but the more I have the more I realize I don't know!
Recent events have taught me much in the way of humility. Being at the mercy of others for my care, nutrition, health and *sanity* have been very good for showing me what control I've exhibited over others for so long that lines blurred and how much pride was exhibited in having said control. This has created a whole new dynamic between myself and my husband, as well as the kids and their dad. It is amazing what happens when mom doesn't butt into and run everything in the home! On another note, I don't think my house has ever been messier! Kids just don't have the same qualification on "clean" that mom does ;)

One, Singular Sensation, every little move she makes...

Veronica is 18 months old. In her short life, she has kept all of us busy. She is the only one to have 1) broken a bone; 2) swim in the toilet whenever she gets the chance; 3) put away silverware quite ingeniously (I will have to shoot a video tomorrow so I will have it to jog my memory when I am in the old folks home); 4) ride in an ambulance; and finally 5) have to stay the night in a hospital...oh wait, Katherine was born in the hospital, so she did stay two nights in the hospital because that was before they kicked everyone out at 24 hours...military hospital = 3 days!

Her most recent escapade had us all in stitches. In one of her "empty the cupboard" moments, she found a potty chair and began to cart it around. She then turned it into a game of peek-a-boo. Til the bowl got away from her! Thankfully it had been cleaned and put away after its last user was done with it...umm but Kimberly used it in a much different way!

I just wish we could figure out how to keep her out of trouble without leaving marks....I think they really discourage parents from using ropes to tie their children down!

Oh, and if any of you are wondering why I complain about this child so much....these smiles are for the camera. This is the most disagreeable, unhappy child I've ever known, well, except my friend Kim. We were due very close, but Dominic couldn't wait and came early. He, too, is a very cross and unhappy baby. Maybe it is just a July baby thing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

We drove to Texarkana on Friday, so we could attend the Koebel-Stewart wedding on the 1st in Bossier City. Amid threatening tornadoes and horrendous storms, we set out hoping to head it off before it hit, too badly. We had nothing to worry about....I've seen and drove through much worse!
Little did I know, the most challenging part of my weekend, was yet to come. I go to check in and the desk clerk informed me that some woman just came in looking for me-by name?! I hadn't told anyone we were coming as our family health has been a little unstable and I didn't know if we'd even be going until the last minute. When we left, everyone was doing fine, except I wasn't feeling well, but I figured I'd gut it out. Anyway, the strangest thing was "she" apparently said that she needed to catch up to me since I had her kids?! Weird.
We then go into the elevator...Stephen let V walk in...she promptly went over and pressed the emergency call button! Ugh! I had to run back to the front desk clerk and have her cancel it as I couldn't cancel it in the elevator. I got "the look."

Our room was cheaper than anything in Shreve/Bossier and much nicer. Clean, two queen beds and a pull out couch, with a kitchenette and big bathroom...we were in heaven! Kat and Paul weren't there as work filled their schedules, but the rest of us got a nice dinner @ Applebees and two hotel rooms--yes, I said two, because we had to switch at 9pm when Kimberly 'accidentally' locked the bathroom door and no one knew how to unlock it. After all the excitement, I decided that letting them stay up to ring in the new year wouldn't be all that bad, so we settled in our beds and turned on an old Twilight Zone....mom would have been so proud! When that was over, I noticed Kim & V were sound asleep, on me-and they were feverish (great!). The kids soon realized that going from 2010 11:59 to 2011 12:00 wasn't the big deal that they thought it would be and everyone said goodnight and fell fast asleep, except for the youngest two who woke up to their second wind right as the others dozed off....ahhhh, the life of mom.
The next day went smoother and we were off by 10...in plenty of time to reconnect with old friends for lunch and hit the church in time for the wedding. Grace was beautiful and revisiting with the bride's family and also the Grete's was the icing to our cake! I was so glad we'd made the effort and the kids, while a little bored as they didn't remember everyone (we did move three and a half years ago) had a good time.
Now, for the next wedding on the 8th, we're hiring a sitter, so I can actually enjoy the wedding!

Christmas 2010

I love Christmas, but this year it has really been a struggle. It has been one illness (setback) after another. The day after Thanksgiving, Veronica developed croup & coughed and cried her way through the next several days (first dr. visit, Prednisone to help her breathe). Within a few more days the kids each fell to strep throat and after a week of my natural cure-all they weren't any better and Lauren's pustules in the back of her throat appeared to be filled with blood and she looked absolutely horrible. So back to the doctor we went! After arguing with the doctor that the kids HAD strep (he doubted my diagnosis until the swab came back positive), I left with two prescriptions for Augmentin. Calling the pharmacy a few days later I said I needed more and they refilled it...for the third child (unbeknowst) to them. Three days later, Kimmy appeared at breakfast a bit spotted...looked like prickly heat. Thinking it was scarlet fever we returned to the doctor, who doubted my diagnosis as she never had a high fever, but was perplexed as to what it could be...by the next day we knew it was an allergic reaction when she had some difficulty breathing and was covered from head to toe with huge hives (the tiny spts gathered together in the night to gang up on her). I called the doc immediately and they wanted her to finish the baby's Prednisone, take Benadryl by the handfuls and then called in more Prednisone...she was on that for five days. 24 hours later the first child began to feel sick. A violent stomach virus invaded our home and kept us captive for the next several days. Thankfully each of us only had it maximum nine hours, but it was hard! Two of the kids broke blood vessels in their faces...yes, they'd thrown up that hard! Paul came home and got it...then a friend came to play a week later; he got it within 12 hours. Friends came to help out after Veronica got into the medicine cabinet and we were transported by ambulance from the ER to the children's hospital and had to stay a fitful night of monitoring...those friends got sick! I feel like putting a quarantine sign up on the front door! Amidst this, Advent passed quickly and quietly. Before we knew it, it was just a few days from Christmas and we'd done little to no preparation.

I quickly sounded the troops and we got a tree (sadly without the whole family, but daddy was sick, Kat was working and well, it just didn't work out for us this year). Thankfully I'd done my shopping quite early this year, so that was almost all done. But baking would have to be content to wait a year. We did a few things, but not nearly what I usually did!








We still managed to pull off Christmas successfully! The kids had a blast and we got to enjoy family and friends over the holiday! We missed those who are far away from us, but know that the coming year will be full of excitement with two friends daughters getting married, Katherine graduating and entering college next fall, Megan getting a driving permit (heaven help us) and continuing to compete in swimming. Stephen has his calendar filled with scouting events and Veronica has us all running around trying to keep up with her (and keep her safe). Hope everyone has a joy filled Holy-day!