My fondest wish come true?

Alas, no. The cow jumped the neighbor’s fence – two days in a row now – and is wandering around our yard. It’s funny how much bigger they look, say, next to your swingset or under your deck, than they do out in their pasture.

I secretly have plans to picket it in our yard and try to milk it, but a) that would be stealing, b) I would most likely get kicked, and c) it doesn’t look like it’s lactating anyway.

Meanwhile I have to keep the dogs and kids indoors whenever it’s “visiting” and hope that it doesn’t get a hankering for my vegetable garden.

Memorial Day Weekend

What started out as a Cameron – Rushford – Cameron – Milwaukee – Sheboygan – Milwaukee – Cameron trip turned into just a relaxing weekend in Rushford (our trip to see the new twins has been postponed due to Meg’s not feeling well). It started out badly; we had planned to leave at 2:00 on Friday afternoon, but at 2:15, as I’m putting in my contacts so that I can wear sunglasses if necessary (it was a beautiful sunny day) Sam comes into the bathroom and proclaims, “Elaina has a broken egg in her hand and Josiah’s lying in it!” So our departure was pushed back until 2:45 as I spot-cleaned the carpet (which never did get clean, and Wisty chewed a hole in the carpet when we got home because apparently it still tasted pretty eggy) and gave Josiah and emergency bath (Elaina just needed a good hand-washing). Once we got on the road, though, everything went fine – we even made good time, and were at Joel’s in time to help make supper (yummy homemade lasagna!)

In contrast to its inauspicious beginning, the weekend turned out to be extremely relaxing – possibly because Kirsten did laundry for us every day! We had only packed for one day, planning to go back home and grab more clothes before heading down to Milwaukee, but when plans changed Kirsten talked us into staying for the whole weekend. She even gave the kids baths before we came home! What a great hostess!!!

We had campfires every night (which of course is the most relaxing way to end the day!) took the kids to the new Rushford playground on Saturday (they rebuilt it bigger and better after the big flood last year – it’s really cool! There’s a miniature town, a two-and-under section (with railings all around and only one entrance/exit – genius!) and all the other expected accoutrements of a playground.

Then on Sunday we all went fishing in Winona, where the kids caught a bucketful of sunfish, much to their delight, and we grilled our lunch. At two we headed back to Joel’s to put the little ones down for their naps, and to meet Peter, who drove down on the motorcycle to stay overnight (he had stayed home – with my blessing, I must be sure to add – to get some more projects done (his list was quite extensive, and it’s still not fully completed).

On Monday morning we had another bit of vicarious fishing fun when Dad, Kirsten, and I (along with Josiah and Logan) drove across the bull pasture to pick up Jon and Joel at the trout stream running through the family land (Joel’s house, and over 2,000 acres surrounding it, belong to Kirsten’s grandmother. Most of it is in beef cattle pasture). The guys (Dad, Jon, and Joel) had gone fishing there every morning – which we didn’t mind so much because they brought back more than enough trout for supper on Sunday!

Saturday night was another bit of outdoor adventure as all of the adults except my mom (who volunteered to watch the kids) went hunting for morel mushrooms in the woods across the street from Joel’s house (also owned by Kirsten’s grandmother). We only found a few, and those were old and rubbery and we ended up throwing them in the fire, but it was a fun new experience.

The weekend was not without its problems, however, as the older kids, who had all been sent to sleep in the camper without direct adult supervision, were up and playing loudly at 3am Saturday morning. It was made clear to them that this was NOT acceptable, and the rest of the mornings were greeted at a much more reasonable hour.

There was also the rather frustrating (and humorous) experience of interdenominational hymn-singing. Even the hymns we all knew, more often than not we couldn’t remember all the words, or half of us knew by a different tune! By Sunday night, we had it pared down from “everybody pick a hymn to sing” to “the kids who are going to bed get to pick one verse of a hymn we all know” which helped smooth the process immensely!

The only other negative I could think of was the fact that the kids were constantly dirty – it was misting Saturday morning, and Joel’s yard is on very sandy soil, which made for some filthy little monkeys (just check out Naomi’s jeans in this picture!)

 But of course this was all cured by our gracious hostess, who not only washed our clothes every day, but also gave all of my kids baths on Sunday morning.

It was very hard coming home on Monday, to a house that had been half-cleaned before we left, baskets of clean laundry that needed to be put away, and hungry kids who needed me to think of something to feed them for supper . . . Yup, I got spoiled!

 

Ooh – and I almost forgot to mention (again) that we celebrated my Dad’s 66th birthday – Happy Birthday Dad!!!

The Twins Were Born on the Twins’ Birthday!

To most of you, that probably sounds redundant, but for the Westendorf clan, that is exciting news. On Sunday (May 17, 2009) Trevor and Nathaniel Mentch were born on Peter and Natalie’s birthday (May 17. 1977). This is particularly fitting because, in true Westendorf style, Meg and Dan announced their pregnancy by playing the telephone game with the whole family at Thanksgiving (if I remember correctly), with grandma starting out the message, “From a family of three (Dan, Meg, and Anya) to a family of five, on the twins’ birthday the twins will arrive.” And that’s just how it turned out! (although, like all games of telephone, the message got a little garbled by the end, so Peter heard, ” . . . on the twins’ birthday the twins will be alive” – which also came true)

We got the news yesterday just before lunch, while Debbie, her sister Jennifer, and I were grilling brats and getting the rest of lunch ready, Peter, Trevor, and Jennifer’s husband Daniel were working on building steps around the retaining wall in our back yard, their brother Kent was fitting trim around the new linoleum in the downstairs bathroom, and Kent’s son Cameron was mowing our lawn (the other kids were watching Word World in the living room to stay out of the way). We got so much done this weekend, and we are so greatful to our friends and family for helping out!

Anyway, news of the event was transmitted via speaker phone from new big sister Anya to Uncle Pete and Uncle Trev, which means that actual details were few and far between. Rest assured there will be phone calls to grandma for information shortly

So now we get to fit a trip to Sheboygan into our already busy Memorial Day weekend plans (no, we can’t wait any longer!!!), somewhere between Tami and her boys moving into our basement for the summer on Friday and camping/butchering roosters at Joel and Kirsten’s . . .

Welcome to the world, boys! We can’t wait to meet you!

Your Immediate Response is Required

Some have said that being a stay-at-home mom is a mind-numbing, complex-thought sucking enterprise (oh, wait, that was me . . .) but I have come to see that it is really quite challenging, and actually involves some pretty complex thinking on your feet – such as, what is the appropriate response when your child walks up to you and says:

1) “Mom, I have my pants on!” (from the three-year-old, very excited and obviously looking for a response)

This would be occasion for one of the non-specific affirmations used to encourage the child to do more simple tasks on her own and thus free up more time for mom, ie. “Good job!”

2) “Mom, do worms have ears?” (from the five year old, completely out of the blue at the lunch table)

As a homeschool mom, I like to respond to this kind of question with a) admitting I have no clue and b) making the kids finish their lunch before c) digging into research on worms!

3) “Mom, come look at my tick collection!” (from the six year old, who is no longer allowed to have the cat in her bed!!!)

This calls for a long discussion on how you should not collect things that suck your blood and could give you nasty diseases.

4) “Mom, wanna try on my coonskin?” (from the seven year old, referring to his new cap from the Pioneer Village Museum field trip)

Here, you throw decorum to the wind and have a little goofy fun with the boy who is growing up way too fast . . .

5) “Yah!” (emphatically, from the almost-two year old)

To this, I usually respond in kind, with my own emphatic “Yah!” – and possibly a raspberry on the belly for emphasis

I challenge anyone to say that having a job outside the home would engender more mental stimulation (and besides, your boss would look at you funny if you tried #5 in the workplace!)

My Mother’s Day

Ok, everybody else posted about their Mother’s Day, so I guess it’s my turn.

Now, I should preface this with noting that Peter is opposed on principal to any “Halmark Holiday” and although I’ve been working on him, he still refuses to buy anything or make a fuss just because “they” say you should.

That said, his idea of making breakfast for me apparently means bringing home a paycheck so that I can buy a box of granola and feed it to the kids while he sleeps in. Works for me (although I would have prefered to be the one sleeping in – too bad Elaina loves me best)

After breakfast (and before, and during, actually) I was cleaning (read: hiding clutter and vacuuming) for church, which we were hosting, while Peter (once he woke up) was grilling brats for everyone for lunch (he had the bright idea to grill them before church, and then throw them in the crock pot with beer and onions until it was time to eat. Brilliant!)

As usual, church was great (the Lees forgot to bring the box of hymnals, so we made do with my stash of old Lutheran Hymnals – it was great! We got to sing the “right” tunes and words!) The brats turned out great (so I heard; I indulged in cheese hot dogs, one of my many weaknesses) and we had our usual wonderful fellowship.

Then after everyone left, we put the babes to bed for naps and went outside, where I commenced to move lots of little rocks. I do this every year – I keep changing my mind about what I want to do with the rock garden in front of our house, and every time I change the arrangement of the garden beds it means moving hundreds of river rocks. By hand. I’ve tried using a shovel, or other “faster” ways, but I either hurt myself or it’s more trouble than it’s worth. At least this time I’m not hugely pregnant . . . 

At 5 the real fun began – Debbie came over to watch the kids while Peter took me out for dinner at my favorite restaurant and a movie (X-Men Origins: Wolverine – yes, that was my choice!) When we got home, she had washed the supper dishes and given all of the kids a bath (all at once, all seven of them (including her two boys) in my big whirlpool bathtub!)

So, it turned out my Mother’s Day included lots of my favorite things – worshipping God with wonderful friends, spending time with my family, spending time with Peter (without the kids!), puttering in the garden, having someone else wash my dishes (and children), and not spending a ton of money or getting some trinket I have to find a place for in my house!

 (PS – Happy Mother’s Day, Mom – I tried to call but Dad said you were busy. Hope you had a great day! I love you!)

(PPS – No, I didn’t get the flames for my mixer. Maybe for my birthday . . .)

What I REALLY want for Mother’s Day!

I think the flames would look good on my black mixer, don’t you?

(although then Peter would be jealous and make me get some for his bike, too . . .)

The Family Curse

My mother always said that as soon as she would get a raspberry garden started, we would have to move. I can never remember having raspberries at any of our houses when we were growing up (although I think it’s both my parents’ favorite fruit) so it must be true.

This morning I planted raspberries.

In a way, I did this to test Mom’s theory – Peter and I have been looking at different properties all week, and we are actually planning on calling a realtor to look through some interesting prospects (we’ve done this before, so it’s not a “for sure” sign). On the flip side, we are also looking into adding on to our current house (obviously each of these options would negate the other!)

If we do move, it will be just when most of my fruit plantings (apples, pears, plum, mulberry, cherry, kiwi, blueberry, cranberry, and strawberry) are just starting to actually bear fruit. We’ll see if the family curse has passed on to the next generation . . .