Beauty

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". It is a very true statement. Beauty can be found in the simplest form, but I think it is thought of more on a larger scale. The Grand Canyon, the Smokey Mountains, ect ect.

When I think of beauty I think of Isabelle's brown eyes, Joseph's birthmark, Alexis' funny ear, Michelle's multi-colored hair(and its all natural!), Brooke's hair.I think of a freshly fallen blanket of snow. A tiny kitten. A Minnesota sunset. The quiet when everyone is asleep. Tiny buds trying to break out in the spring. Little blades of grass fighting thru the muddy Minnesota soil. The first tulips of spring. Dennis' smile.

On the Road Again

Yeah! We are back on the road with Dennis, we love being together, even if it is a hotel room! So far Red Wing is wet, slushy and overcast! We are hopinh for some sunny weather sometime this week, from what we've been able to see it is very beautiful here. There are a lot of little shops to see, and I plan on seeing a lot of them today. We have spent the morning at Caribou Coffee, the kids are doing school and I am online. What more could a girl ask for, the nummy smells of a coffee shop, the kids sitting at little tables getting school finished up and me on my DELL. What a life!

We are all in one hotel room for now... but at least there is a little kitchenette! Tramp is all settled in, and the kids are doing great with school and looking forward to being finished for the year! I am so thankful for kids who are versatile! As long as they have a bed to sleep in and as long as we are all together they don't seem to complain.

I'm still trying to figure out if I should cancel cable and internet at the house, and garbage service... hmmm, I shall have to see I guess. It would save us quite a bit of money, and come May we will be out of state again, we will be canceling it all at that time anyway, but for now?...

I love being on the road again, even if it is only 200 miles from home! We are excited for the upcoming summer, and another 6-9 months on the road!

A New Love

Yes you read right, I have found a new love. I love to cook. I never felt this way about planning meals before. I love to go thru recipe books and find some new exotic recipe to try out! Last night we had Greek Chicken and Pasta, Monday night we had steak medallions smothered in saut'ed onions, mushrooms and garlic sauce, with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. Yum yum! Tonight we are having pulled pork sandwiches with bbq and sweet and sour sauce. Ok, some may not think this sounds exotic at all, but for us, it is! Who would have ever thought that my grocery list would ever contain things such as marinated artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes (which I could eat right out of the jar!) spinach, spinach and more spinach ( my kids LOVE spinach, fresh especially)and Havarty cheese. Hmmm, if you ever want to stop by for supper let me know and I'll make extra! Now I'd better run, I have to try to find some good side dish to go with our "summer in the winter" meal!

Anderson- table of 7

Just a few observations I have made

When we decide to go "out to eat", we have gotten to the point that waiting for 20 minutes really isn't a stretch for a family our size. At one time, we would tell them, we can squeeze into a booth, but those days are over as our children are continuing to grow!

Finding a vehicle is not easy. It has to be large enough for our family, preferably an 8 passenger, plus have enough cargo room for groceries. I know all of you are thinking that any minivan would work for us, but we have been there, done that, yes, they do have 7 seats, but honestly, I don't think they are made to be the only vehicle for a family of 7. For one thing, we have found that it does not have enough cargo space. If we are making a trip to Sam's, we found we had to leave the girls home, otherwise we would not have room for the groceries and tp. Also, we have gotten to the point that we need to look at space, as we travel thousands of miles with 5 kids and a dog and cat, on a monthy basis!! Oh, and those of you who have been to my home know that AWD or 4-wheel drive is a must for us to get up our driveway! (We have found that the GMC Safari, AWD, is the best vehicle for us.)Oh, and anyone looking for an older Dodge caravan, give me a call, I have one that I will sell to you for very cheap!

Staying in hotels can be a challenge. Most hotels will not allow more than 5 people to a room. It can be expensive, and frustrating!!

Sharing 1 bathroom... ha, you can imagine the challenges of that! Especially if we have the flu bug ( praise the Lord, we haven't had to deal with that yet this year!). Modesty takes a sideline when you have 7 people to get ready for church on a Sunday morning! Don't lock the door when taking a shower at my house, you'll hear pounding on the door within minutes, usually followed by an urgent, "MOM! I gotta' go.... BAD!!!"

The amount of laundry that I do on a daily basis is mind-blowing! Of course it doesn't help when you have 4 girls who can never decide what they want to wear.
I love my new washer and dryer, man can you pack a LOT in them!!

I dream of a larger house! 5 bedrooms would be wonderful, with a family/rec room in the basement! 2 bathrooms for the kids, and a master bed and bath for D and I... aww, what a life that would be! And my very own room just for my cardmaking and scrapbooking, and a schoolroom, that I could shut the door on and never have to look at when school is done for the day! It's fun to dream.

I look at my children, and it is all worth it. Our cozy 3 bedroom 1 bath house just allows us to be in constant contact with each other(literally!), it is very easy to know where everyone is and what they are doing at any given moment.

I love my life, and when I say "Anderson, party of 7",I will count my blessings,to soon it will be, "Anderson, party of 2".

Eleven

Alexis turned 11 today... I don't how to feel about this, my angel baby is growing up and turning into a beautiful girl, inside and out. She is my sweet girl, always so caring about others. She loves animals! Animals love her too, they seem to gravitate toward her :)

She asked to have a party of her own this year, as it is her last family party, with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. She has celebrated with her little sister since Belle turned one, a couple of years she celebrated with both Joseph and Belle, but this year she gets a party all of her own!

She helped make the cake, its a three tiered cake, chocolate on the bottom, spice in the middle, and marble on top. Then we made buttercream frosting and turned it blue! I frosted the cake but she decorated it, 4 bags of candy! Skittles(her favorite), humongo gumdrops, sour gummy worms, gummy lifesavers! UGH, cavity central. It looks adorable!

hmmmm, my babies are all growing up. but why do I still feel 16?

Productive

Wow! I feel like I've had a very productive day! School went great, we were done by 10 o'clock! Then a friend came over and we made cards all day. What a great day! The kids had so much fun, they had plenty of babies to play with, and Jewels and I were able to sit and talk and get allot of cards made! Yeah!

I'm trying out a new recipe tonight, pork chops, stuffing, apples and onions... smells wonderful, I hope it tastes as good as it smells! I am trying out 2 new recipes a week, I am sick of the same old stuff, and I crave new tastes and smells!

School has been going really well the last few weeks! The kids have been "getting" their math without any meltdowns, Isabelle is soaking up all the new phonics concepts, she walks around the house telling me what sounds are in different words and singing her phonics songs! I love the fact that she wants to learn, it makes is so much easier for me! Joseph learned how to borrow and subtract last week, a hard concept to grasp, but once grasped, it is a breeze! He is determined to be done with school in 2 weeks so he can go to Red Wing with Dennis for work! Maybe not on weekly basis, but he may be able to go with for a week or two. We will have to wait and see.

I feel like I am on top of things lately. I look forward to starting school every morning. I love looking for new recipes ( I am blessed with children who will try everything at least once!). The woodstove is working great. I feel at peace being home at this moment. I am looking forward to Ladies Retreat in March.

We had a friendship banquet at church Saturday, and a potluck at church on Sunday. It was great spending time with our church family! I forget how much I enjoy all of the people from church!

Life is really good for me right now. My head is in the right place, and I am at peace with everything going on in my life! I am learning to give everything to God, the good, the bad and the ugly!! A hard concept for me, I tend to be somewhat of a control freak!! ha ha! I know some of you are laughing! "wow Shanan, you are the master of understatements!!"

yum yum, supper is ready!! I'll let you know how it turned out!!

Simplicity

I desire a simple life.

I have enjoyed today so much! Isabelle, Brooke and I made oatmeal raisin cookies, and chocolate chip cookies this morning. We had zesty mac and cheese for lunch, and all 7 of us spent an hour playing UNO. It has been a great day of enjoying our children without having to go anywhere or do anything.

Sometimes I imagine life at a simpler time. None of the "Quick" microwave meals, speed limits of 70 mph, rush-hour traffic, 1 hour commutes, "fast-food", chauffering children from one activity to another! The interstate is a wonderful invention, but you can travel cross-country, and never see anything! Don't get me wrong, I love my washing machine, and my microwave, (although, truth be told, I mainly use it for the timer!) I love having the convenience of indoor plumbing, and my bread machine and crockpot! Can I imagine life without my Dell? I would hate to give them up! But I would love to have the time to spend on learning to sew, to make a quilt with my daughters, to have only homemade bread in the house, to have a huge garden every summer, and every jelly and jam in our home to be canned in my own kitchen! I would love to learn how to crochet and knit (which is entirely my own fault that I don't, with such a talented mom who could teach me!)

I look at what my children are learning in school, I don't remember learning those things in 5th and 6th grade!! Our children are so micro-managed these days! Between sports, music, jobs, and church, how do families spend any quality time together? And thats not to mention time they want to spend with their friends. I enjoy homeschooling my children. I am able to spend quality time with them everyday! To watch Isabelle master her phonics,and to hear Alexis help all the other kids with their math, and to see Joseph drawing in his art book, how can I put a price on these things? To know that Isabelle and Joseph are learning history from the Bible, to see the older girls learn Christian character throughout all of their school subjects is priceless for me. It is a huge undertaking, and there are some days I am not sure if I am crazy to even attempt this!! I can rest in the Lord through all of this, knowing that He will not give me anything that is too big for me!!!

I try to keep life as simple as I can for me. My children are not invloved in sports, at least not organized sports! They get all the excercise they need sledding, and snowboarding down our hills, riding bikes in the summer, swimming(a favorite past time in our family), and then you always have the loading the woodbox twice a day, doing laundry, and cleaning house! Some may say they are missing out. Are they truly missing out on anything? I don't think they are. They have 5 of their closest friends just a room away, they know that their mother will always be there for them, and their dad is just a phone call away. They will grow up with the security of knowing that they are loved above all else.

Life does not need to be this huge dramatic ordeal. Life can be simple. And you know what? I think you will find it can be immensly rewarding.

I am going to learn to crochet this year, I just decided that it is something I must learn. I plan on making most of next years Christmas presents this summer, something else I have decided!! And I would love to have my Grandma help me and my girls put together a quilt this year. I must ask her.

Is this keeping life simple? I believe my children will be forever grateful to learn some of these forgotten arts. These are things that can be rewarding for a life time. They will know how to make bread from scratch, how to mend their own clothing, how to crochet a blanket for the newest addition in their lives. They will learn that enjoying a good cup of tea and a good book is far more rewarding than watching the newsest reality show on TV.

Life at its simplest can be a life most rewarding!!