My Doppelganger... almost

I don't have pictures with me right now, but if you put the women in my family in a room full of unrelated people and then asked a stranger to pick out which of us was related, the stranger would have no problem figuring it out. My mom and her sisters, while different in many ways have facial structures that clearly define their relationship. My aunts' daughters look like their mothers as much as I look like mine. My mom came to visit a few months ago, and she walked into church before I did and people who had never seen or met her knew exactly who she had to be by looking at her.

I spent my whole life assuming my daughters would look like me as well. It just seemed obvious to me. Boy, was I wrong. Except for Chet, who is the spitting image of my brother, my kids look like their dad and grandparents. They have their dad's ears, his curly hair, his height, his long feet, his father's eyes.  Kyle, with the exception of my green eyes and freckled nose, looks exactly like Jack. Faith doesn't look just like Jack, but she doesn't look like me either. (When she was little, she told people we adopted her from a family in the North Pole. I like to tease her and tell her she looks like her polar bear cousins.)

As a baby, Beth looked like another cookie-cutter version of her dad. But something has happened as she is growing. She is starting to look like, dare I say it... me. Oh she still has those ears her dad has imposed on his kids, and she has my mom's brown eyes (although they show the signs of turning green like mine did), but she has my nose. She has those lines around my mouth. Her hair is the same color mine was at her age. She is  starting to grow some of my freckles, and she even has the same cowlicks I do. And those cheekbones, those cheekbones that I associate with the women in my family, they are mine.

They are my mom's cheekbones. And my aunts'. And my gramma's. And my great-gramma's.

And for some reason, that really struck me when I saw this picture Faith took of Beth and I the other night. It makes me wonder about unanswerable things, such as how many generations in my matriarchal line previously have passed those cheekbones to their daughters'.

I think the frog-obsession come's from Jack's side, though. I can't take the credit for everything!

She'll never be a farmgirl.

To date, my daughter has lived less than half of her life in a city, and the rest in the mountaintop country. She has learned many farming and agriculture terms out here, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have all sunk in. Sometimes the call of the city is just too strong to override a countrified education.

Occasionally we wake up to the escaped horses grazing on our front property. As long as the escapee isn't  MY horse, this is a fine and pleasant way to wake up. I love watching them ramble around.

So does Beth. "Look, Mommy," she called and pointed. "They brought their calves with them!"

While she may be a renowned herpetologist when it comes to frogs, I think it is apparent that her equestrian vocabulary needs a little work.

Cleaning Up The Yard

Today we did some clean-up in our front yard. With our engine blown on the Expedition, and the damage to the green car when Jack and Mom took it sledding in the snow, we had some ugly yard ornaments. In fact, we were teetering badly on becoming a Jeff Foxworthy redneck joke.

So we called the salvage yard, and once they arrived they loaded up the Expedition.

Then we had to sign the titles over.

Next it was time to load up the green car.  This little car was such a good car. It made dozens of cross-country trips, and only ever asked for oil and gas in return. I was so sad to see it go.

After the green car was safely buckled for its ride to town, I bid my final adieus.

And then the towtruck drove off with the last major physical vestiges of our life in Vegas.

Who knew sprucing up your front yard could cause homesickness?

Fields of Wishes

Spring has kicked into full-speed ahead, and the fields and roadways are full of dandelions. I love seeing them. I have friends who live in cities that hate these things. I know some people who even get upset if their neighbors leave them in their yards because they don't want the seeds contaminating their grass lawns. Not me. I love seeing the dandelions growing wild and free.

There are tons of wishes available for the wishing around here.

What would you wish for?

I can think of a million things I could wish for; some silly, some serious, and several just-for-fun wishes. More time, more money, better health, the Wolfgang Puck products on sale this week. (Jack just turned off HSN to watch the Cardinals play the Giants. Who would rather watch baseball when you can watch Wolfgang cook and drool over his products??)

McClacken is making wishes, too.

He is wishing somebody would hurry up and bring him some grain.

Now.

Chet's Literary Compositions

Chet has been writing poems in his English class. I love it.
I thought I would share one of them with you.

Tell Me a Story
Chet Wellborn

Tell me a story
where the brave knights fought.
Tell me a story
where the wise men taught.

Tell me a story
where blazing swords are.
Tell me a story
where dragons aren’t far.

Tell me a story
where sirens have sung.
Tell me a story
where the spears are flung.

And when you are done
tell another one.

This is a story he had to write. I had to laugh, because this is exactly what he would do.

The Wish of Mine

One afternoon, on a sunny Tuesday, my family and I
went to the park.

When we arrived, we met Tyler and a few other people.

Kyle and Todd went to the swings with hard
seats.That were painted red and would squeak with each push.

Faith and Beth went for a run for the entire time, walking
every now and then.

Matt and I raced each other to the stream's bank. The water
was ice cold.

There I saw a 12 foot long a fish, colored like a rainbow,
that would grant one wish.

So I wished for more wishes.

The fish did as I asked.

Then I wished for a billion dollars.

I got my billions dollars, and the fish tried to leave for some reason.

So I just had it for dinner.

A Quick Layout to Share

There is a lot going on, and I don't get to blog - or read, or scrapbook, or sit and do nothing - nearly as much as I would like to.

I did get a layout put together, though. Maybe there will be more to come. I hope.

Window Shopping

I am in the mood for summer skirts and pretty dresses, but my favorite stores are an hour away and there won't be a chance to go shopping anytime soon. So as I sit here watching American Idol with my family tonight, I am drooling window shopping on the net. Here are some of my favorites.





This one's only $24. I wish they had it in colors, though.

I love this one.


I think I could fall in love with this one.


Cute!




I adore this one. It's on sale if you adore it too.














Okay, this isn't a dress or skirt, but I love it anyway.



I have to know.... are people really wearing these???? Bleck.


Okay, American Idol is over. I need to stop now before I start looking at shoes. Or jewelry. Or shrugs. Or camera equipment. It's a good thing window shopping is budget-friendly.

Patience is a Virtue

The elementary school focuses on a positive character trait every month, and then awards certificates to the kids whose teachers select them for modeling that trait. These are called the Kid With Character awards. January's word was patience. In January all three of my little kids were independantly chosen to receive the Patience award.

Ironically, January had so much snow that the monthly assembly was cancelled. The kids had to be patient and wait until February's assembly to be recognized. When Beth was called to the stage for her award, she could hardly contain her excitement and was beaming from ear to ear.


After passing out the awards, the principal commented on how impressive it was that all 3 of the Wellborn kids were chosen for the patience reward, particularly since the teachers don't discuss their selections with each other. She said something about asking Jack and I how we raised patient children.

I suspect it has more to do with having so many brothers and sisters than it has to do with any one thing we have taught them. With six siblings sharing everything (bathrooms, bedrooms, vehicles etc) you pretty much HAVE to learn to wait your turn. Add to that a zero tolerance policy for hitting/kicking/wrestling and you have a pretty good recipe for raising some fairly patient kids.

As proud as we are of all of them though, we had to laugh when they were all chosen for this award. It is obvious that none of their teachers have ever seen them have to wait their turns for the video games.

Congratulations, my little ones. We are proud of you and love you!

The Sweetheart Dance

A week or so ago, Faith's classmates elected her the queen of their class for the upcoming Sweetheart's Dance. I think Faith had mixed feelings about this. She was flattered and excited to be chosen, but it meant she would have to wear a dress.

Getting Faith to wear a dress these days is a struggle of epic proportions, but we went shopping last week and found a very pretty dress that we could both agree upon. I couldn't get her to curl her hair, though. I don't know where that stubborn tomboy streak comes from.

When she got home from school today she got ready to go.

While this picture doesn't do her justice, she was stunning. Simply stunning.


Chet came home and announced he had a date for the dance. After dinner I loaded them up and drove my youngest teens to the dance.

The first part of the night consists of introducing the court. This boy was Faith's king.

Faith was an extremely nervous girl during the entire time they walked to the stage.

In fact, she never really smiled during the whole ceremony. She pretty much looked like this the whole time.

You know what calms nerves? Friends. Best friends.

Chet introduced me to his date, and we had pictures taken. She is a very sweet girl.

His friend Sheldon was there too.

After the court was introduced and I had taken pictures, my sweet docile (cough) children told me I had to leave.

What? Leave? Why?

Apparently they thought it could be potentially embarrassing to have your camera happy mom running around the junior high dance. So I left, but I made plans. I called Jessica to see if she wanted to come with me when it was time to pick them up. If a mom is embarrassing, surely a mom and an older sister could make some toes curl!

We got back and found Faith dancing with somebody else's king.


And one of our weekend kids was dancing with her boyfriend. This picture cracked me up.

Apparently our presence wasn't too embarrassing. Chet danced with Jessica.


Then Faith danced with her.


This just might be my favorite picture of the night. I love the big smiles on their faces.

After Chet's date left, Faith convinced him to dance with her friends.

That must be one of the pros of being friends with somebody who has a cute big brother.

You know what makes school dances so fun?

Friends. Best friends.

And a camera happy mom who knows you'll be glad I was blinding you with my flash when you look back on these photos years from now!

Scaredy-Geese

When I was very little, my parents managed movie theaters. At one point we lived in Tuscon, and there was a huge (to me) park with millions (or maybe just a flock) of geese.

Big, huge geese. With big huge bills. And teeth. I am sure they had teeth.

We would take bags of leftover movie popcorn and go to the park to feed the ducks and geese.

I have very few memories of those early years, but I clearly remember one particular day of goose-feeding.

I somehow dropped my bag of popcorn all over myself while feeding the geese. Geese aren't particularly friendly anyway, but they saw this as a cue to throw any semblance of manners to the wind and descend upon me in a ferocious manner. I don't remember anything else about that day. I only remember being covered in popcorn, with geese surrounding me and pecking me to what would surely be my death.

I didn't want to feed geese again for years. Ducks were always okay, but mean, loud, honking geese with a hankering for popcorn-flavored little girls held no appeal to me.

We have lots of geese around us now, but they generally prefer the neighbors' larger ponds. They tend to fly over the top of our house and honk rudely at me as they settle in the bigpond across the road. Today, though, a big gaggle of geese decided to cruise around our pond for a while. I slipped on my jacket and with my feet barely covered in walking shoes that are definately NOT water-resistant, I trudged across the 6 inches of snow covering our property to take their picture.

Just as I got nearly close enough to get a good shot or two, the whole flock decided they didn't like me and took off to another pond. They were askeered.

You're not so brave when I'm not covered in stale popcorn, are ya goosies?


The four ducks that were swimming with the scaredy-geese weren't bothered by me at all, though.

But then again, ducks have never tried to turn me into a mid-day snack.

The Joy of (not) Cooking

A couple of months ago I decided it was time to teach my kids to cook. They can make basic things, like mac and cheese, scrambled eggs, toast, etc,but it was time to move them onto the next level.

I started out by having one kid in charge of dinner each night. With my supervision, they have been learning to braise meat, season sauces, cook rice, etc. Now I just have to let them know which meal they are making and they can pretty much get it made on their own.

This is working out really well for me. I have six kids at home. I cook dinner on Tuesday nights at the church, and then one of them is in charge each night for the rest of the week. And so far, they think this is FUN and argue over who gets to cook. I have the younger ones paired up with the older ones, and I still supervise, but my workload has dramatically decreased.

Our church had a chili cook-off a couple of weeks ago to raise money for the youth group to go on a mission this summer. It was Todd's turn to cook, so I let him make our chili.

He made chipotle chili. He opened all the cans, cooked the meat, and added all the spices.

Boy, did he ever add the spices.

It was great chili, but you have to be able to take the heat if you wanted to eat it.


Jack said Todd's chili was the best tasting chili there, and I agreed. We are biased that way, and we like spicy food. The chipotles gave it a true Southwestern flavor. It was incredibly yummy.

Sadly, Todd didn't win the chili cook-off, but if there had been a burn-down-your-esophagus-and-make-a-beeline-for-the-lemonade category, he would have cleaned house.

Better luck next year, buddy!

I can laugh about it now.

Jack was on some very strong pain meds last week. He was in so much pain that they really didn't touch the pain, but they did make him extremely loopy.

He would have a conversation with us, and five minutes later start the same conversation again. I can't tell you how many times he asked if Jessica's broken pipes had been fixed yet. One time he told me there were broken shoulders everwhere. I still don't know what he thought he was seeing.

He would be in the middle of a sentence and start snoring. Then he would suddenly wake up and start his conversation all over again.

And he didn't really think much about what he was saying.

One night Crystal-married-to-Nathan had the kids call to talk to him. Jack had been dosed about ten minutes before this conversation, and the delirium was kicking in a bit. Kyle got on the phone and at some point asked Jack what kind of tests they would be doing the next morning.

Without a second thought, Jack said, "They are going to stick a camera up my butt and see what is in there."

Poor Kyle. I heard him say "whaaaat????" and then he was gone. He never came back to the phone.

The only camera he really sees much of is my big 50d. I can only imagine what he was thinking.

Our God is an awesome God,

He reigns from Heaven above,
with wisdom, power and love,
our God is an awesome God!

I don't talk much about my faith here on my blog, but it is a defining part of my life.

Jack has been in the hospital all week.

First the doctors thought his appendix had burst.

Then they said the CT scan and x-rays said it was fine.

Then they told us they saw what they thought was a large tumor and they suspected he had colon cancer.

Jack was in absolute agony. The pain meds weren't touching his pain.

He developed a fever.

He looked horrible.

As Jessica and Brandon, and Nathan and Crystal took care of the other kids, I tried my best to not be eaten alive with fear.

Our friends and family prayed for him. They visited him and laid hands on him and prayed even more. And through all of it, I prayed; a rambling prayer that just ran repeatedly in the back of my head.

Please, God, make him well. Please don't let this be serious. He doesn't look good, Father, please, please bring him through this.

Then the doctor said he really had no idea what he was seeing on the scans. It could be cancer.It could be Chron's Disease. It could be diverticulitis.

So he performed a colonoscopy. He didn't find anything.

He decided to do a laproscopic exploratory surgery.

He found that Jack's appendix had burst, a full three days after it had ruptured.

He found that Jack's colon had literally wrapped itself around his appendix, and in doing so had saved his life.

He said he had never seen anything like it before.

He doesn't know why it did that.

But I do.

Tonight Jack is home early because a huge winter storm came in. He is still in a lot of pain.

He has a long recovery ahead of him.

But he is home. He is alive. He is resting with Daniel curled up napping next to him.

My heart is full of gratitude.

And praise.

And tonight, I just had to share that with you.

Our God is an awesome God.