Poor Pablo

Traveling is always an adventure. Add to that traveling with the Flanabrood and you get high adventure. Last week my daughter and her family were traveling by plane from Utah to California and back again. Somehow they missed their 7 am return flight. The next flight out was 12 hours later. Everyone in their group of 11 was working on only 4 hours sleep, the rental car had already been turned in and they had given up their hotel rooms. There were 7 children 8 and under on the trip. They were stranded at LAX.

Yesterday I met up with them in Baltimore. My flight landed 20 minutes before theirs in a different part of the airport. I went and waited for the bag that had the car seats I brought. Strapped them to my carry-on and wandered the airport to find their concourse. Soon all of us were together and we headed to baggage claim for the mountain of luggage and baby gear they checked--more car seats, a double stroller and I don't know how many bags. It was a funny sight to see the two little ones strapped to their parents carry-ons still sitting in their car seats. When you travel with this many little ones you do what ever works.

We got the luggage and put the pile on the curb then waited for the shuttle to the car rental depot. We load all of the children and the mountain of bags onto the shuttle. Get to the depot and unload the children and the mountain of bags onto the curb again. After 4 attempts they finally find the rental companies contracted for the two cars we needed, all the while I am trying to keep the little ones entertained on the curb while keeping watch over the mountain of bags and car seats we have assembled. Eventually we are given the two cars and piece by piece we load the luggage into the two cars, strap in the 4 car seats, load up the children and head out.

After a quick stop to feed the hungry children we finally head to the hotel only to find that they have no record of the reservation and the hotel is full. So are all of the other hotels in the area. After about an hour we find a vacancy and head out. Now it is nearing 10 pm. I landed at 4pm.

We take the children up to the room and try to figure out how to make beds for the 8 of us with the two queens and a sofa bed the room has to offer. No porta crib, but we do have a chair and an ottoman--we will manage. We bathe the children, make the beds and my son in law carries up the bags and puts them in the room one by one--that huge mountain of bags. We start looking through the bags to find pjs and undies for the freshly bathed little ones and my son in law asks "why do we have my brothers clothes in here?"

WHAT???

He looks closer at the bag and realizes that accidentally, while loading up the mountain of bags we brought, we picked up an extra bag. Poor Pablo. He is naked in Baltimore and we were lugging around extra baggage that we did not need. We call the airline to let them know, say our family prayer and ask a blessing on poor naked Pablo.

Note to self: Black bags look the same, check the name tag.

Lalie

Logan Ann, our first granddaughter, celebrates her 9th birthday this week as well. We shortened her name to La (for Logan Ann) when she was little and it naturally became Lalie. Logan is a sweetheart who loves to create.

When I called her and asked what flavor of cake she would like she replied "Chocolate, with vanilla frosting. Make the frosting for the cake green, put pink hearts and yellow stars on it and I would also like some blue on the cake, and flowers as well--that will be good--Oh, and no chocolate chips please."

Logan loves her little brothers and is very nurturing. When she was about two she was curious about the things I kept hidden in my drawers, like makeup and perfume. Whenever she came to visit and it got quiet for a bit we knew where she was, and beautiful does not begin to describe what we would find.

One of her favorite things to do is lay in bed and have someone, usually her daddy, read her a book. She loves to ride the bus to school and fix her own lunch to take. I really enjoyed our trip to Forida last summer. It was fun to be with her, she collected every interesting brochure the rest stops had to offer--plenty of reading material for the long drive. Lalie and her brothers come for Sunday Dinner almost every week so I get to see her grow and she is growing into a beautiful young lady.

Gotta get busy on that cake! Happy Birthday, Lalie.

First Born

Thirty six years ago--2 days after I left my teens--I became a mother, a career to last the rest of my life. My first born, a daughter, was born on a Saturday afternoon in Southern California. My husband and I were ecstatic. She was beautiful and perfect and changed our lives forever.

When she was little she could not manage dirt. Just a spot of grime and the clothes had to be changed. When she was a teenager she became the self appointed 'fashion police' of the whole household. With her own sense of style she would regularly paint her fingernails each a different color and her signature outfit was a pair of bermudas with patterned tights.

In her twenties she ventured across Europe and Scandinavia with a girlfriend, sleeping who knows where. She has always had a sense of adventure, then she met Sean and her adventure really took off. Now she has 4 beautiful daughters and a son of her own. There is always something happening that keeps their place hopping. Active, curious children exploring and creating chaos and joy is the norm of the day.

Shawna is a contented mother, patient and gentle with the antics of her brood. She travels regularly with all of the little ones and does it with style. Last fall, when she was 8 months pregnant, she came on a 24 hour flight, by herself, with her 4 little ones. She managed well and I was proud of her.

Together, Sean and Shawna live an amazing life filled with as much as they can handle. There is never a dull moment in the Flanabode as they go about their Flanaventures.

Thank you Shawna, for the richness you have added to my life. Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

homemade laundry detergent

Today is laundry day again. When the kids were all at home I did 2-4 loads a day. Today it is tablecloths from the 200+ guests at the dinner I helped serve over the weekend. A few months ago our septic system started acting up and we decided we needed to cut our water usage--especially with our daughter and her family coming for an extended stay. With 11 people in the house that is a lot of laundry, showers and flushing--SO--my husband bought me a new washer that uses much less water. We are enjoying the new washer and find ourselves watching the machine do it's work with amazement.

I was concerned about the need to purchase expensive HE detergent for the new machine, however, while researching for my new washer and dryer I found a number of recipes for making your own detergent. They all called for ingredients I was familiar with (as a bonus they were a fraction of the cost of commercial detergent) so I thought I would give it a try. I have been using the homemade detergent for about 3 months now and I think my whites are whiter. The clothes are clean and smell wonderful. A years supply of the new detergent costs the same as a months supply of what I used to use. You, too, might want to make the switch.

Homemade Laundry Detergent
2 bars natural soap *
3 cups washing soda**
3 cups borax***
Finely grate the soap. Mix with washing soda and borax. Store in airtight container. For normal loads use 1 tablespoon. For extra large loads or heavily soiled loads use 2 tablespoons. For whites add oxyclean and an extra rinse.

*The best soap to use is Fels Naptha, Zote, Sunlight or Ivory. Fels Naptha comes highly recommended but I could not find it locally so I used Ivory.

**washing soda is different than baking soda. It is made by Arm and Hammer. Find it in the laundry aisle. I found it at Kroger.

***Borax is found in the laundry aisle and is made by 20 Mule Team.

To really make your whites clean try hanging them out to dry. You will not believe how white they can get or how good they smell!!

Character vs. Aging

Character takes time to grow,
like the facial lines of those that are growing older,
lines that are the steady imprint
of a persons evolving character.

Today starts another busy birthday week--beginning with ME!!
Another year, more memories.

FOOD

It is time to run FAST. I am on the food committee for Youth Conference--
200 youth
aged 14-18
3 days
9 meals or snacks
Home made cookies
Home made bread
watermelon
chicken stew
Water--LOTS of water
aprons
dish towels
and so on and so on....

Today's Thought:

There are three kinds of people:
those who make things happen;
those who watch things happen;
and those who have no idea what has happened.

I hope I have an idea. Wish me luck.

Judgements

Today's thought to ponder:

To govern yourself, use your head;
To govern others, use your heart.