Eczema update

I think it is safe to say that Evan does not have eczema. A few of my kids have gotten mild patches later in their little lives but Stefan had it early and fiercely. Evan's baby acne is not bad either so this is good thing too. I am very thankful for this HUGE blessing. Stefan's eczema was one of the most stressful things I have ever experienced which I suppose is minor compared to some people's stress. I can also say that Stefan's eczema is clear right at the moment too so he is a happier guy. Yay!

Decluttering School

Thanks Susan.....

I guess I did not think about the fact, that by focusing on just one or two subjects for a chunk of time, that is the same as decluttering school. I am of the awful habit of thinking too large for the kids with their schooling. They are pulled in too many directions and we fail to do a really good job in any of them. The guilt, the guilt...... Perhaps I was inspired by all the dejunking around here to just keep it simple and take care of the basics. I hope to start soon but my in-laws are coming for a week so we will have an interruption before we have hardly begun. We can probably get away with morning school as my father-in-law is hard pressed to get ready for the day before noon.

Tis the year of the three R's for the Horners. Anything else will be a bonus but I am not going to get too worked up if the bonus subjects are not given the proper attention. I want to have time to read out loud to my little people and pay attention to them. I think I will keep writing about this as maybe I might be less fearful of failing with all this.

We are late getting up for piano lessons. Stefan and Ingrid are especially adorable this morning. Sigh. Evan IS growing for which I am very thankful. It should be good day.

Facing life right now

I have sweet little Evan here working on the pudge (I think he is getting some) and thinking about how to keep life in perspective while facing the new school year. So far I have accepted that this will be a year of working mostly on their weaknesses and not taking on more school goals then we can ever possibly do. Less is more.....I am pretty much overwhelmed even by the LESS but will also try to just be happy with whatever we get done.
We have spent the summer throwing stuff out and giving stuff away. We could probably start all over and get rid of even more. I am beginning to not care about saving ANYTHING in our house but of course I guess we should hang onto some clothes and pots and pans to be able to eat. I should not recklessly get rid of the stuff I have enjoyed in the past which is impossible to do now, in hopes that some day I will do them again. It is tempting........
The kids are totally on board with getting rid of stuff so their junk is getting more in order too. This is sort of a boring post. It also makes me a bit sad to see how much money we have poured into this junk through the years. I am trying (easier said than done) to only purchase for the kids what they truly need. For instance Cecilia has spared us shoe expense for years but now is shoeless besides one pair of sandals so I got her a couple shoes which are quality enough to last till her next growth spurt.
This post is not a lot different than the rest of my posts but perhaps I will think of some more interesting things to talk about if I keep this up. It is nice for me to look back on (or it can be scary too) and see what has been going on through the year. I read a whole bunch of old emails recently and THAT was scary. Yikes. DELETE!

Getting organized

My compulsion to pitch stuff and get organized is getting out of control. I am making myself sit down and merely visualize my next point of attack. Baby is hiccuping away right at the moment. I will take that as a thank you for sitting down. This whole last week or so has been basically manic in activity around here. My bedroom is painted and everything but the wardrobes, the bed, a chair, and a nightstand remain. Perhaps we will get to the bathroom but I am not going to push it. All of the bathroom stuff fits in the closet and not on the counter and to make Charley happier I gave the rags to him instead of throwing them out. You would think I gave him the best present ever. I have previously thrown them out as they might attract a critter in the barn or something. They may still do that but hey, he's happy. What more matters?

We just finished our last stint of raising chickens. Only a little over one hundred this year and THAT is enough. Some are being sold and most are staying here. I can buy a fresh chicken from the farmers market for the same price as this headache. I think I will contact a friend in Ohio in the future too and see if I can buy from her. Road trip and I have no doubt some fun would be in order.

Baby is so nice and low that my hips and sciatic nerve go nuts regularly. Whine, whine, whine. I guess I am not whining. It is certainly a sign that his/her arrival is coming up. Bizarely I feel like I am more in anticipation this time than ever before. It is sort of unbelievable that the little one will be here and we all can hold and see the baby in person. I have never been able to see such hands and feet antics before either which the doctor explained was caused by having had so many kids the baby has a little more wiggle room. Love that..........

I guess there is nothing left that I have to do. Anna and Erik are away to Higher Things. I am delighted for them. I had Charley post pone his parents visit till September when there would hopefully be less running around and I might feel a little more up to the task. I'm happy for everyone's flexibility. Hopefully tomorrow I can take the kids to the pool and literally chill. I am not loving the heat but sweat is a way of life around here. The air conditioner helps to a point but there must be something about carrying around another person that increases the temperature. I am thankful for friends who are and have pitched in with extra work around here. Humbling but very, very nice! Thank you!

That is all for now! TTFN!

Even MORE purging

I went through even MORE stuff today. The diapers etc. just happened to be in the line of fire while Ingrid was playing in the tub. I gifted Charley with all the 19 plus year old diapers and have only kept the cream of the crop. Stuff which I have held onto for years because it was given to me as a gift are now.........gone. I still have more work to do up there and should make that a priority to be organized for the baby. The biggest problem for us all is figuring out how to keep it organized.

I went through our towels and sheets. Half of them were towels from when I grew up and the rest were VERY worn out. We only use the towels in there which are nice so.......get rid of the rest. The sheets..........bits and pieces of sheet sets we used to have. Gone. They will make good woodworking rags. I now have room in the closet to put all the cream, sprays, contact junk, the few bottles of nail polish I possess into and not scattered all over the counter. Amazing! We might even be able to find our tooth brushes with only a glance.

The bedroom is ready to be painted!!!!! The crown molding has the nail holes filled by my amazing friend. Get 'er done! I dusted and washed the floor and am slowly (or maybe not so slowly) sifting through the junk which occupied the underneath side of our bed. I am hoping that some of the precious stuff which was being stored will actually become something attractive on the wall, nicely arranged. Wow. I do regret not getting Ingrid's baby picture taken and put up with all the rest. I will have to find one of our home pictures to blow up and include with the rest.

The garden still looms and I don't know how I will be able to do that too. I still try to do fun things with the kids so their summer will not be all about work. I can't do it all that is for sure. I have no doubt I will have to spend more time tomorrow putting away and organizing but perhaps making some yummy food for the slaves.

We did catch a band concert this evening at Notre Dame. That was fun. Tomorrow is another day.

Baby thoughts

In light of how close baby is, I think I spend most of the time marveling we will meet this little person SOON! As Stefan would say, the baby will stop hiding. I hope I will be able to share the baby with other people as it still can amaze me that we are expecting a baby at all! Newborns are amazing. I have seen several in public lately and these little people just sort of stun me. So.... will patiently persevere, not think too much about how babies come into the world, and simply look forward to meeting him or her. Sigh.

Ack!

Just did the math as I keep getting the question of how much time is left before the baby. There are twenty days till my due date! The last two girls were a week early so that could mean as little as two weeks. Wow. The boys all seem to like their predicted arrivals. Should be an interesting next few weeks.

I am still running around trying to get rid of as much stuff as possible. I see excess, weird stuff EVERYWHERE! We went through linens today and I found a few more bedspreads which have not been used in years. So........two more garbage bags of stuff and one happy dry sink with no strained hinges. Sweet! I spied a hideous plaid coat in the closet which I think will drift to Goodwill and there are some odd, I am sure wonderful for somebody, dishes which I can see must go. Pacing life is the trick. I am trying to behave!

I think I will weed the garden more. The nature of weeding can sort of help out in certain labor and delivery departments. I see from the forecast that later next week it will be cooler so that would be a great time to do this.

We are loving the pool. Stefan graduated to the big pool today. He is using a 'noodle' and paddles all over the pool. I need an older kid or myself to hang out with him though as it does still make me nervous. He told me the bottom of the pool was scary. Uh......yeah. We will keep him off the bottom of the pool. Will try not to have nightmares.

Charley was at the Scout camp all day with the boys and I think he had a wonderful time. Hot and tired though. The boys have the best troop there is in my personal opinion. You could not ask for better leaders. I am sure they will have a blast.

Tomorrow late afternoon, we are taking my parents to dinner to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. I hope all goes well and that everyone enjoys themselves. This weekend has been very busy. Next week I am hoping will not be too chaotic. Being home and staying home is a relief.

I'm rambling. I did hear some good news today or least very potentially good news so that was nice to hear. Very nice chat with an old friend. I will leave it at that but was greatly encouraged that some things in her life might get better.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

The rules

We have now filled half of our 15 passenger van with stuff to give away. You read correctly. I do know a few others who have accomplished this feat. Charley did ask if there was anything left for the children to wear but trust me......there is. Today was boys clothes. Anna enthusiastically informed me that if the baby is a girl we will just have to have another baby and it better be a boy. She wants six brothers and she thinks the clothes are cute. Okay then. Sounds logical to me.

The rules of getting rid of stuff were this. If no one hardly ever wore it - give it away. If it was white, had writing on it, or resembled a bumble bee - give it away. If it was some weird piece of clothing which matched with nothing we have - give it away. If three children had worn it over and over again and never touched the beautiful clothes that remained - give it away (or throw it away). We are just tired of seeing the same outfits for that long. :o)

If it had many holes in it - throw it away. If it was stained to badly - throw it away. There were a few 'family relics' which also went bye bye - shocking.

Things we found - three social security cards. Um........some pictures that might get put in an album someday. Some doo dads of my grandparents which the children might break I did save as perhaps someday I might want to actually use them. This was a few little items.

Blankets - a few afghans shockingly left. Some baby blankets which we personally have too many of - left. A twin bedroom set which was mine as a kid - left. It is too nice basically and we are too countrified.

The paper bins will be the most painful but perhaps we will find my birth certificate so I can renew my license some day and perhaps a few random car titles that seem to be missing. I hope also to have the kids thin out the toys again even if they want to store some of their legos for their own personal stash, that would be fine with me. There is so much temptation to just trash our basement that it really needs to leave rather than continue the toy headache. Writing this makes me tired.

Progress has been made. We laugh our heads off at the ridiculous stuff we have kept and hopefully can find enough time to make some more progress soon. Tomorrow we will definitely rest!

More purging

Anna was inspired to go through the girl's clothes today. That was an adventure. We also went through some shoes and blankets. The stories you can tell going through clothes the kids have worn. It is amazing the memories attached to them. Despite all the memories we were able to get rid of ten plus garbage bags full of clothes etc. for the Seminary. We have TOO MANY CLOTHES! We picked out to keep those things we really loved and knew we would actually use. The stuff going to the Sem is also lovely but you can only use so much. Sadly many things were ruined in storage so we had a few garbage bags too. Dry rotted shorts, swimming suits etc. also had to leave. The most shocking thing I threw away today was my baby blankie. It is thread bare and who is going to want it so.......I let it go. Sigh. I remember being in the basement of the house I grew up in, taking shelter from a tornado that really was only a block or two away from us and then realizing I left my blankie upstairs. I asked my parents if I could go get it. "NO" (duh). Fierce storms abounded tonight too, praying for friends, as I ruthlessly let the blankie go. No I am not going to go retrieve it.

We were supposed to paint today but got four to five hours side tracked by the girls clothes. Our friend's daughter dutifully sat and watched and listened to all the funny stories from the clothes. It was fun and funny. She even asked me to elaborate on some of the stories later. The one I skipped earlier was sort of a sad story so had to ponder how exactly to tell her. She seemed to understand. I have a weird ability to remember who gave us just about every piece of clothing and also who I remembered wearing them before we got them. A lot of stuff was from my parents as baby gifts, bday gifts etc. but after five boys and three girls........time to bless someone else.

That was our day. It was a good one outside of the raging storms. Time to go settle down with a book. Perhaps we will tackle the boys clothes tomorrow. We did this once before but we are now more ruthless..........

Humbling times

Creeping up on the ninth month before Horner 9 certainly is an interesting time for me. I think I have always been painfully independent, a self-starter, goal setter and achiever, and I have a spoiled husband who is used to my doing A LOT around the acreage to keep up etc and keep up with the first eight! "Keeping balance" so to speak has certainly been a challenge or at least more of a challenge this time. WHY would I consider asking anyone for help? Why would I consider asking my husband to help more with night time routines? But in reality, I might have to humble myself even more and do just that in the next month or so. When dh helps with night time routines, dinner, pjs, diapers, prayers and matter a factly putting them to bed, the evening is a cinch! But....asking for this help can be ever so humbling for me in light of what I said before.........little miss independence. There are many ways that Christ shows mercy and love to me. I am slow to recognize that and slow to remember. I have certainly received help through others but I think we all have a fierce need to fight this help and remain 'in charge' of ourselves and not let others care for us. We have to 'figure things out' for ourselves and resist the input and help of others.

Our 'mother culture' is such that if we mom's can't 'handle' handling everything, then we have no business having any further children. Hmmm......I have problems with this modern thinking. Communities used to help each other. I read some study that in Asia, to help prevent post-partum depression or basically to just help the new mom, the Grandma's and Aunts etc. would help care for the other children for........ready?.....two months. Wow. That is a lot of rest. It seems the church can do the same sort of thing, but better, caring for body and soul. We provide dinners which is an extremely big help, but I know speaking for this mom, I am hesitant to allow the church family to do more than that. What mom would not be relieved to have this help though. We moms just set ourselves up to 'be able to handle' things ourselves. The Asia study was interesting to me in that there is a LOW incidence of emotional stress in new moms in countries with this help. It was just interesting to me is all.

Older kids. My kids can 'handle' things but I do think that older kids should not ALWAYS bear the whole weight of family additions. The dad is in charge. The mom can NOT do it all. Kids are still kids. We watch them struggle with completing their own responsibilities. They certainly know how to help with their younger siblings but with MOM TOO! I have sympathy for my own children as they help with their younger siblings a lot and are pretty sensitive to the needs of other moms with their kids so........this is yet another reason this mom does not take care of herself or allow others to do so. I should be able to handle it. This is not pick on dad time but there must be SOME reason God made the dad stronger with deeper vocal chords.....life is just more efficient with their input.

The mom in this country is supposed to either be back on her feet handling things or back at work in a matter of weeks. This is a thinking-out-loud processing moment. Not a request. (That was a backwards statement). Is having a baby or struggling with anything a sign of weakness? Well.......in a sense yes. Is that okay? Yes! Strong in weakness. Isn't that what we are taught? I think we do not let ourselves and others live it though. Come Lord Jesus!

So I have had many goals to get this house in shape but I realize I need to take all that one little step at a time and chill. If it gets done great. If it doesn't that will have to be okay. I ALREADY HAVE a ninth child to take care of and my independence stands in the way there as well. We can not 'see' the child but I still need to take care of him/her. I am just going to have to swallow my pride and keep things calm and simple. Calm and simple is not the American way. I am looking forward to the new little one and do not want to miss out on the fleeting time that infants are infants. Chill Karin.

Thankful for Christ's love and mercy for even me.