Lately

On a perfect night, trying (to no avail) to get a good picture of my four kids...
Going from bad to worse...
I am learning that you needn't worry about them having pleasant looks on their faces if you just shoot them from behind...

Better.

Jack started flag football...
The coach told the boys to tuck in their shirts. Do you see the smirk on Jack's face?
That's because he was getting ready to do this...
Our littlest spectator...
Bill and Emma went on a date to a wedding...

Always stealing my guy that one is. That's okay, I can share.

When Jack hopped into the tub with Lulu, I wasn't too sure how I felt about the appropriateness of it. But then he started singing "Eight Days a Week" to her by the Beatles and I just melted...
What movie is this line from "It's to do with the hair"...
Doggie playtime is settling down a bit, though still a daily event around here. Check out the chops on my dog...
Or should I say on one of my dogs since I have two now. Hard to believe when she's baring those teeth during playtime that she's the sweetest dog ever.

And lately, while the big kids are at school, I have been enjoying my own playtime with this sweet thing...
She's yummy!

Never Say Never

On July 31, 2010 I wrote, "I have sworn that I will never, no never, have another garage sale."

I broke my promise. I had a garage sale on Friday...
I decided at 4pm the day before because there were neighborhood sales. I really didn't have that much stuff since we pass on most of our clothes. Plus we have taken 12 trash bags of things to the mission this summer and thrown away 8 trash bags in an attempt to not be invited to be on the TV show Hoarders. But I had a spontaneous urge to be insane and I went with it.

The spontaneity was good in that the process wasn't drawn out except that I started working at 10pm and stayed up until 4am (thus, the part about being insane). I made $108. $108 profit for 13 hours of work not including the clean up I still have to do(we can't park in our garage and my house is now trashed). Therefore I am returning to my ban on garage sales. Not shopping at them, of course, just having them.

I tried not to be offended by the drive-by's. There weren't too many, but there were the even more painful "walk through's". If I don't want the stuff anymore, I don't know why it would both me that someone else doesn't want it, but it kind of does.

But it was a beautiful day to be outside and I had a great co-worker...
The whole process of purging our lives of stuff has been healthy for me. If I'm honest about it, I have to admit that I believe stuff will make me happy. Deep down I know it won't, that it can't, but I keep living like it will. Chasing after the wind. I was recently challenged by a quote from a book I can't site that my Pastor used in a sermon. It was about the "undisciplined pursuit of more". Have mercy on me, God. I don't want to live my life this way. Unless it's more love. More generosity. More caring for the needs of widows and orphans. And more contentment.

The moral of this story? Maybe it's a good thing, regardless of whether it was worth it or not, that I was at home getting rid of stuff on friday instead of out at garage sales pursuing more of it. But let me say once again...I will never, no never, have a garage sale.

And this time I really mean it.

Deja Vu

Monday was The First Day of School, The Sequel. Mr. Whooping Cough has finally been let out of the house and unleashed again on the world! Here he is in the morning... Surrounded by his girls...
Here he is in the evening after his much-needed haircut...
I did not plan for Jack and Lulu to be in matching "accidental tourist"outfits, but it worked.

And here he is at the very end of the day...
He collapsed on his bed and fell asleep (backwards and with his feet on the wall) while playing with an action figure. As much as he enjoys school, all that standing in line and listening and behaving can leave a passionate guy like Jack feeling exhausted.

Re-doing the first day of school was not the only deja vu experience we had this week. Our church held it's first service in our new building...
Five years ago we had our first service ever in the high school we've been meeting in. Our focus has not been on the building itself, but the God that we worship in it. A God that can be worshiped in a high school, a straw hut, or wherever we are everyday of our lives.

dé·jà vu

a : the illusion of remembering scenes and events when experienced for the first time

b : a feeling that one has seen or heard something before

When I think about that second definition, I realize that I experience deja vu all the time. Whether it is in our family life, or in grieving my Mommy, or in anything I have walked through in my life, I get the feeling that "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:13) I have seen or heard the mercies of God in my life over and over again. Maybe that's because "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22,23)

This is what Whooping Cough looks like...

When you are Jack. Yep, it's official. Jack has a confirmed case of Whooping Cough. My sister asked me what the symptoms are. And I answered brilliantly, "A whooping cough". I should have gone to Med school. Along with that, it is presenting itself (at least in older, immunized kids) just as a cold. So, though I am thankful that he is not really ill, it has been a little bit tiring to have him home and feeling close to normal. His energy level is decreased, but that still means he has 85% more energy than the rest of the general population...
His appetite is also decreased, though you cannot tell from this little number he prepared for himself...
I've had a call from Health and Human Services wanting to know what pool we swam at and what baseball team he was on. I guess it is kind of a big deal when your child has a "communicable disease that is highly contagious". We've had an outbreak around here and it can be quite dangerous for infants. The moral of the story: if there's an outbreak of something, you can be fairly certain that the Kollars are in some way involved. Always the trendsetters. So now the whole fam is on preventative meds, though I kind of thought that's what an immunization was for in the first place.

Despite the fact that he has felt pretty good overall, they don't call it Whooping cough for nothin'...
Just looking at this picture makes me sad, though you have to admit the kid has a pretty sweet 6 pack for a 7 year old. Before the diagnosis, we thought he was purposely coughing with gusto because he is, well, Jack. We were wrong.

I have enjoyed having my little buddy around for a few days and he enjoyed having more screen time I ever should have allowed...
We did do at least one educational activity...
He will have plenty more where that came from when he head back to school on Monday since he will no longer be considered contagious. We will be glad for "Jack's house" arrest to come to an end so he can have his very own first day of school. And after this week guess what might be on my to-do list that day? A NAP!

This is NOT what I had in mind

You know what time it is...
And here are my babies ready to go back to school...
Well, maybe they aren't all ready. Do you think Jack looks a little under-dressed for the occasion? That would be because he is staying home today. And maybe tomorrow. And maybe the day after that. Not because I can't emotionally handle sending my kids back to school (though that is just about true). He may have Whooping Cough. We vaccinate our kids so it kind of bites if you have to get the shots and you still the disease. Until we know what he does or doesn't have, he is home. And shirtless...
This news threw me into a funk. It's not about the Whooping Cough. He's on an anti-biotic and he should be fine and back in school on Monday even if he has it. But I love to mark occasions and the idea of him missing the first day of school makes me sad. Plus, when my kids were sick I would always call my Mommy. Having her empathy and prayers always made me feel better. Having Jack sick just makes me miss her all the more.

But we're trying to look on the bright side. He just got a bit of a summer extension. And I get one of my big kids home with me. Granted, I get him home possibly infecting the baby (since he can't keeps his hands off her)...
But home is home. And though I am sad that he's sick, I like his company. This definitely happened to the "right" one of my kids. Jack is a happy-go-lucky guy and will make the best of it. Which for him means video games, movies, donuts, marshmellows and a McDonald's cheeseburger with extra pickles...
To cheer Jack up, Emmie brought him breakfast in bed...
When my kids spontaneously show love to each other, I find it to be one of the greatest highs in life.

After breakfast (and a teeny weeny photo shoot) it was back to school for the oldest two. Tate is in 7th grade...
7th grade. The grade my whole world revolved around Tom Selleck, Noxema & Sea Breeze, and friendship bracelets. Also the grade I had my first boyfriend. Deep breaths Miss, in and out.

The Divine Miss Em was ready to start 4th grade...
Bill got to take Tate while we waved goodbye...
And I got to take Emmie to the annual first day ceremony at the elementary school with our friends...
Lulu was a big hit as usual...

(Betty, who is Ethiopian, has "promised" me that Lulu's hair will look like hers.
That is, if I take care of it right!)

I can't count the number of kids who have asked their parents if they could have a baby like Luci. As it turns out, there are unfortunately about 147 million of them. If anyone can use the sheer power of charm to lower the number of orphans in the world, it's Lulu...

With all 7 of our older kids in school now, my friend LeAnne and I will be having fun with these two little caboose's...
Lulu is going to miss her big kids so much. But it didn't take her long to realize that she will now have unrestricted access to Emmie's barbies...
It was a different kind of summer for us and I wasn't ready for it to end. And the first day of school was not at all what I had in mind. But life is rarely what I expect it to be. Given this reality, it's a good thing I love surprises, right?