Much to my chagrin, I realized yesterday that I would be Rabbit. I found myself muttering “Why does this always happen to me? Why, oh why, oh why?” and suddenly realized I was quoting! I am also very Rabbit-like in that other people bouncing around having fun while I’m working, and especially making messes in my garden, really gets my dander up (although if you point out that I can have fun sometimes, I will loosen up!). And then there’s the multitude of my relations . . .
Speaking of said multitude, last weekend was Punkinfest (cue fanfare) Our total for this year was 17 kids and 11 adults (of whom 15 kids and 5 adults slept in my house) Oh, yeah, and four dogs (one of whom was in heat – just to add to the general chaos!) 
Much fun was had by all, even though this year’s celebration was fraught with controversy (“you just can’t argue with a word like ‘fraught’” – help! I’m channeling Winnie the Pooh characters!). The big dilemma came over the tradition of making donuts every year. Debbie and I, being outlaws, are apparently not as sentimental about this tradition as “real” Westendorfs, and so we suggested that we do something else for a snack Saturday night. There were low rumbles of protest (mainly from someone who wasn’t coming anyway!) but no out-and-out refusal, so we went ahead and cancelled the donuts. In our defense, Debbie is diabetic and I am overweight, so we preferred to ease up on the sweets, plus the whole donut-making process takes most of the day on Saturday and is, to put it bluntly, a huge pain in the rear. Debbie’s idea was to make apple fritters instead (which are so much more healthy! ha!) and I, being the no-sugar-for-kids Nazi that I am, wanted to make popcorn. In the end, we made popcorn for the kids during Kent’s story telling, and then the adults ate apple pie around the campfire after the kids were in bed. Win-win, I say!
I was looking forward to Punkinfest being the last hurrah in a very busy October, and then finally being able to rest and relax. Fat chance! This turned out to be one of the busiest weeks yet. All of the Westendorfs left after lunch on Sunday afternoon, so I quick cleaned up and had a very fast catnap before everyone arrived for church at 4 (Ack!) Then Monday we had Phy Ed class and it was also Sam’s birthday, so there was cake baking and going out to Perkins for supper (for the record, going out to eat with five kids is MUCH harder than cooking at home!); Tuesday we went to the Pumpkin Patch with a group of friends again (sort of as part of Sam’s birthday present) and his friend Andrew stayed for the afternoon, plus of course piano lessons after supper. Wednesday was our milk run day (an hour round-trip to get REAL milk) and then in the afternoon we were watching Isaac and Levi. Thursday we did grocery shopping in the morning, then watch the cousins again, and Friday we had another fieldtrip (Farms Of The Future – at a state-of-the-art dairy farm that’s currently growing from 1,400 cows to 4,000! Plus they have a manure digester, which enhances the methane produced by the manure and turns it into electricity, which in turn goes to power about 700 homes in the area. Pretty neat stuff – although a little boring for kids. I was amused by the fact that this is the only field trip I’ve been on where there was about a 30/70 Dad to Mom ratio of attendees – apparently the guys were pretty interested in this trip! Even Peter came along!) Obviously, other than field trips, we got very little school done this week.
So I’m feeling a little stressed and out of sorts, but my ever-sympathetic husband was quick to say (as I was whining about how busy I was), “What are you complaining about? That’s what normal people’s lives are like all the time!” Yes, dear, but I’ve worked very hard to make my life NOT normal . . .
Speaking of not normal, apparently I’m rubbing off on my kids, because we all got a “free” pumpkin from our trips to the pumpkin patch (which makes two for each of us now, actually) and the kids immediately were declaring what each of their pumpkins were to be used for. Sam was vehement that his would be made into pie, Naomi wanted hers used for pumpkin bars, and Hannah was prevaricating between the two (Sam, obviously all boy, later changed his to “it’s for smashing!” *sigh*)
So, not to let them down (and always game for baking!) I made pumpkin pie bars on Thursday (but ended up taking them to Bible Study, where all but two were eaten, so I may have to make another batch just for the kids), pumpkin muffins for breakfast Wednesday, and pumpkin pancakes for breakfast Thursday and again today. Yum! Plus we’re having pumpkin bars (made from Naomi’s pumpkin, of course!) for church tomorrow. Anyone want to take bets on how long it is before the kids get sick of pumpkin?
Peter also thought it was funny that I made pumpkin pie bars rather than a *real* pumpkin pie. I was surprised that he’s never noticed that I hardly ever make pies, and told him in no uncertain terms not to expect that to change. I do not like making pie crust, and I do not like eating pie crust. He laughed at that, because here I was the big baker, unwilling to make pies, while my little brother, the grease monkey, loved making pies and was known for making them for our family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas. How very ironic.
