Favorite Pictures of 2014

Apostle Islands Ice Caves

Lani with a family friend

Amy in a ski race

Me and a friend at a scrapbook retreat

Rachel, Cailin, & Andrew

Photo by Emily Hedstrom

Lani

Kiah and Dayton

Cailin

The last of my son's 4 close friends from High School got married. 

(photos by Jake's wedding photographer)

Andrew was the first to get married, Jake was the last

 My son is the giant

He who finds a wife, finds a good thing

Four Generation Picture

My dad, my son, my granddaughter

Anna, Lani, and Amy

Lani on her 16th birthday

Look who turned 18

Erica flew home from Texas for the first weekend in December

And there you have it. 2014 is a wrap. 

Looking forward to what the next year has in store. 

In Honor of Erica's 22nd Birthday

Our Middle Child turns 22 today. In honor of her birthday, I've compiled a list of the cute things she said and did when she was little. One of the privileges of motherhood is being able to embarrass your children whenever you feel like it.

 

Childhood Nicknames

Erica from America (Proud of this one - I came up with it.)
Hairy – She was born with a lot of hair

6 Months

Destructo – self-explanatory
Walking Disaster Area
Twinkletoes
Sparky

Childhood Erica-isms

Hanna – Banana
Barbecue – Barbie
Bitos – Burritos
Nee-Nog – Egg Nog
Uncles – Ankles
Birk – Book
Gates – Dates
Skookies – Cookies
“I’m two my old.” – I’m two years old
“Stake a bath.” – Take a bath
“On Friday” – her standard answer when we asked her to do things
Jackie Fair – Her word for a homeschool geography fair we participated in.

Fun Stories

Hide and Seek – November 1993

One evening we couldn’t find eighteen-month-old Erica. We lived in a small two-bedroom basement apartment so there wasn’t many places she could be. Finally we found her stuck under our bed in one of the underdrawers. We all had a good laugh while Keith figured out how to get her out. 

“I Protest” - 10/29/94    

On the way home from Sam’s Club, Keith said to the children, “Stay in the car while I take Erica (2) in and lay her down for a nap.” Erica, who had been sleeping in her car seat, woke up and cried, “No nap!!, then cried for a bit with her eyes closed, and fell back to sleep.

Not Hard - November, 1994

Kiah (5) stubbornly refused to eat her banana. She held up the banana and said, “I can’t get it open.”

Erica (2) walked over, took Kiah’s banana, very easily opened it, handed the peeled banana to Kiah, and said matter-of-factly, “There.”

 Not Tired – 11/94

It was afternoon rest time and Erica (2) was up goofing around. Kiah yelled, “Mom, why isn’t Erica resting?”

Erica yelled back, “BECAUSE, Kiah!”

A Different Perspective - December 2, 1994

I took Erica (2) to the grocery store one evening. As we walked to the car she noticed blinking Christmas lights down the street. She said very seriously, “Mom, the lights go off and on.  Off and on.” I thought this was funny because adults would say “On and Off” but she had it the other way around.

Comforting Words - January 11, 1995

We had all come down with the winter crud. Erica (2 ½) was very sick and wanted comfort. I held her and said, “Mommy loves you Erica.”

She replied, “Yes.”

Then I said, “And Daddy loves you.”

To which she again said, “Yes.”

I finished with, “And Grandma loves you.”

Then she sweetly and seriously said, “And Erica is very happy.” 

Imagine- August, 1995

We were visiting good friends in Colorado Springs.  We had taken three-year-old Erica to their downstairs bathroom earlier in the day. Before we left, we took Erica to the upstairs bathroom.

Erica looked around wide-eyed and said very seriously, “Is this a different bathroom?”

“Yes, it is,” I answered.

Then Erica said, in a voice full of wonder, “Imagine.  Two Bathrooms!”      

We’ve had one bathroom for as long as she could remember. In her mind, two bathrooms was sheer luxury.

Not Beating Around the Bush – August 1995

We had gone over to Keith’s bosses’ house for dinner. We also knew them from church and our children must have been feeling at home with their family.

After dinner and been served and everything was cleaned up, Erica (3) went up to the hostess and said, “Do you got any cake and ice cream?”

We were embarrassed and later explained to Erica that it wasn’t polite to ask for dessert.

Equally Yoked – December 1995

We’d explained to our children that it’s important to marry Christians when they grew up.  We’d gotten a Christmas letter from friends who’d shared that their seven-year-old daughter had become a Christian that year. 

Three-year-old Erica’s face brightened and she said seriously, “Then I can marry her.”

True Confessions – October 1995

At Faith Baptist Church one morning, Pastor Dave asked the congregation, “Do any of you have any unconfessed sin?

Three-year-old Erica pipes up, loud and clear for everyone to hear, “Yes!”

Good Advice – January 15, 1996

 Christina (11) was out of sorts and grumping at her siblings. Erica (3), tired of Christina’s rude remarks, yelled at her, “Respect your elbows!”

Duh! – May 30, 1996

At lunch one day, I told Kiah (6) that she had received some mail. When Kiah wondered who it was from, Erica (4) said, “From the mailman.”

Big Words – August, 1996

One hot day I was checking for cucumbers in the garden. I thought I had found them all but Erica (4) found one more. She held up the cucumber and said, “Aha! Apparently you didn’t look thoroughly.” We laughed, thinking “apparently” was quite a big word for a four-year-old.

So There! – February 12, 1998

All the kids had come down with bad colds at the same time. One night Erica (5) had a fever and was dozing on and off. She woke up, mumbled, “I don’t care what you say, my fever hurts!” and went back to sleep.

Ouch! - May 6, 2003 – Erica wrote this when she was eleven-years-old.

Today we are playing with our imagination and we wrapped tape around our ankles and
wrists and called them “Laser Beams.” We tried to shoot each other.

Amy got carried away and wrapped tape all the way to her knees! Later she tried to pull it off. Her legs were red for an hour.

Today Erica (second from left) is a proud aunt and has fun chronicling the fun antics of her favorite niece. 

Love ya, Sweetie. Hope you have a great birthday. Glad that you're part of our crazy bunch.

 

On a more serious note, I wrote this blog post for Erica's 17th birthday. 

If interested, click here to read.

Remember Me?

 
The one cursed by a procrastination fairy at birth. 

This might be a new personal blog record for me. The longest time I've left one post up. Apologies to anyone nice enough to check back that kept having to see that last post for days on end. 

In my defense, November was a blur and December isn't looking too promising either. 



The blurriness began the middle of October when our daughter-in-law Rachel came to visit to run a 10k race with Christina and Kiah.

 

 She took my three youngest girls home with her for the week. The next week, Andrew, Rachel, and two friends came up for a short visit. They were all headed to a friend's wedding two hours northeast of here in Upper Michigan. 

I'd written earlier this fall about our recent rash of birthdays.  We have our four fall birthdays, then two guests, Ruth and Rachel, also had birthdays. 

When Andrew and his carload arrived, I was amazed to find that their friend Megan would turn 25 while at our house. What are the chances?  

Kiah loves to concoct one-of-a-kind decadent birthday treats so she created what I affectionately call, "Death By Birthday Cake." She made a Three Layer Red Velvet Cheesecake, which was heavenly for the first few bites, but sat like lead for the rest of the night in the stomachs of those, myself included, who weren't smart enough to eat a small piece of that rich dessert. 

On November 3rd, Keith, Anna, Amy, Lani, and I flew to Virginia for ten days. 

We spent three days with six others from our Wisconsin church at the headquarters of Advancing Native Missions in Charlottesville, VA. 

Our church is exploring how to become involved with the work ANM does worldwide. ANM supports the work native missionaries do in their own countries. Sending American missionaries to a foreign country is very expensive. Supporting a native missionary who reaches out to his own people can be done at a fraction of the cost.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the amazing people at ANM headquarters.  

Our church friends went back to Wisconsin and our family stayed for five more days. We reconnected with old friends in Virginia and also visited Washington DC.

We returned home and a week later drove six hours down to Iowa to Andrew and Rachel's for Thanksgiving. Kiah, Rachel, and Anna cooked most of the Thanksgiving Dinner which tasted wonderful.  

This past weekend, Christina, Amy, Lani, and I went with twelve other people from our church to Minneapolis (four hours away) to volunteer at an Operation Christmas Child Processing Center.  We had a great time and hope to go back next year. 

Then my laptop died and my sweet husband replaced it with an iPad, which took awhile to learn since I'm not a teenager, and is horribly distracting, especially for people cursed by procrastination fairies.  

So now it's the first Tuesday in December and while I'm very thankful for all the visits and trips we've had, things like blogging and cleaning bathrooms has slipped through the cracks. 

If you're still reading this post, you've earned 50 Messy Cars and Muddy Shoes points. These can be redeemed at our house anytime, but maybe not during your birthday unless you're willing to risk eating one of our recklessly decadent birthday treats.   

Birthday Bunch

We normally have four fall birthdays in our family, and this year we added two guest birthday people.

I meant for us to be in order of our birthdays but forgot when we took the picture, it would be backwards. The names are listed right to left in order of birthdates:  Me, Kiah, Ruth, Lani, and Amy.

I started the fall birthday lineup with my carrot cake.

 Kiah (on the left) turned 23 on September 20.
She made herself a Lemoncello (sp?) cake.

Ruth (far right) stayed with us for three weeks.  

She chose to go hiking on her birthday. 

Ruth turned 25 on September 23rd. 

Kiah and Anna made her a Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake 

Lani (top right) chose a day in Duluth with her sisters. 

First we went hiking at Amnicon Falls State Park.

 

 A week later Amy turned sixteen on October 5th.

Kiah and Anna made two cakes - Six Layer Red Velvet

Cake and a Key Lime Chocolate Pie 

We celebrated our Daughter-in-law's birthday for the first time. 

Rachel (on the right) turned 23 on October 15th. 

Though we're thankful to celebrate our special days together,

We're all glad birthdays are done for awhile. 

A Problem Pregnancy

We celebrate our youngest child, Lani's 14th birthday today. Funny how things that seemed so important fourteen years ago, don't matter now.

I remember how I worried for weeks how to tell my Mother-in-law that I was pregnant again for the seventh time, more concerned about her reaction than going through labor again.

Bless her good, practical heart, she had not approved of the previous four additions.  But once they arrived and she grew to love them, she was, as always, the wonderful grandmother she had been to the "approved first two."  Stoic and sensible, she couldn't understand why we kept having babies.  Doggone it, seven was too many!

After the sixth baby, my stomach muscles gave up and I looked five months pregnant all the time.  I didn't have long to hide the impractical fact, that defying all social norms and well-meaning advice, we had done the unthinkable and were once again expecting. 

I usually looked pregnant two months sooner than my skinny pregnant friends and was once asked if we were expecting twins.  We definitely needed to tell Grandma soon, but how?

Keith suggested we simply not tell her and wait for her to notice. In Rural Iowa, people freely talk about things behind your back they wouldn't dream of saying to your face.  Considering how polite and proper she was, she might never mention it. 

Pregnant tummies were easier to hide when we lived three states away.  When we moved nine miles away from her, we no longer had that luxury. I considered writing a letter, so she could adjust in the privacy of her own home, and bring up the subject when and if she wanted to.

           

We had sworn three friends to secrecy until we told Keith’s Mom.  Unless you've lived in a small town, you cannot begin to imagine the difficulties of keeping this kind of stuff private. 

I went with a friend to check out a certified nurse midwife in a town thirty minutes away.  Lisa left her son with a mutual friend for the afternoon, explaining we were going to lunch and then shopping. 

The midwife showed us the hospital’s maternity wing.  We enjoyed the tour until we ran into good friends from church visiting an elderly sick relative.  We exchanged greetings and they asked why Lisa and I were at the hospital.  I don’t think well on my feet and gave an ineffective vague answer, then followed the midwife back to the clinic. 


Gary and Carol didn’t take long to put two and two together.  I learned later, they recognized my midwife and there are only so many reasons a woman of child bearing age would follow a midwife around a hospital. 

           

After I'd been home an hour, Lisa called with an urgent tone in her voice. "You're not going to believe this!"

           

"What?" I tried not to panic, but Lisa was sensible and even-tempered and didn't get uptight about much.

"Cheryl knows you're pregnant."  Cheryl being the friend who had watched Lisa's son that afternoon. 

"You're kidding."

"It gets worse."

 I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.  "I'm listening." 

She heard it from Kelly who heard it from Tara, who heard it from Gloria at church." (names have been changed to protect the guilty parties) 

Amazing!  How frustratingly amazing.

How did someone I didn't know very well know I was pregnant?  And then feel free to post it on the grapevine?  The friends I'd seen at the hospital weren't even home yet so they hadn't tattled on me. Gloria's family attended our church, so if she told one family member, she probably told them all.  I wanted to express my displeasure to her. If I wanted people to know, I would have told them myself. 

Keith said not to worry about it.

Not worry about it!?!  In a town of 2500 where everyone knows everybody else's business and rumors spread faster than wildfire?  How did Gloria find out?  I called my other two friends who both said they hadn't told anyone.  

Big sigh!  I really wanted Grandma to hear it from us so she needed to be told soon.  I felt like an unwed pregnant teenager afraid to tell her parents.  

Keith solved the problem. We went out for pizza with Grandma that night.  She commented that mutual friends had just had their sixth baby and had caught up with us. 

 Keith couldn't resist and blurted out, "Not for long."

"Gasp! You don't mean . . .”

"Yep.  I do mean.  Sometime near the end of September."

That put the kabosh on polite conversation for the rest of dinner.  Keith had wisely told her in the best place possible.  Being a deeply principled person, she wouldn’t dream of getting angry or upset in a public place.   

What a relief to finally spill the beans.  I knew she didn't approve, and things would be temporarily strained, but we no longer had to fear that she’d find out from the local rumor mill.

We were just in time. That night, Keith's Mom went to choir practice at her church which was a different one than ours. Her Pastor's wife said, "I hear your son's family is expecting again."

           

Good grief!  How in the world did she know?  We didn't run in the same circles.  As far as I knew, she wasn't friends with the lady who had spread the rumor around our church. I shouldn't have been so bothered, but it was the principle of the thing.   

When I complained about this unfair rumor mill, Keith explained that everyone would talk about us, but not for long.  Next week they’d talk about someone else. Sure enough, it's been many years since our seventh pregnancy was headline news.

 

Thankfully Grandma loves babies. She loved Lani from the day she was born. I wasn't able to nurse Lani and Grandma loved when we'd leave Lani with her. She'd rock her and hold her until we came back. Over the years she read books, made grilled cheese sandwiches, baked cookies, knitted mittens and slippers, played card games, and watched TV with Lani. Grandma loved all her grandchidren. It just took her awhile to get used to the idea of seven of them being in one family. 

Lani chose to spend this birthday in Duluth. We'll load the big red van with five sisters and a friend and start her next year of life off right. 

Happy Birthday, Sweetie

(If you want to read another post about Lani's birth, click here.