An Eagle Scout and Singlets

January 15, 2014January 15, 2014 / amylynw / 1 Comment

Life is a constant heart-beat, which drums all around me. Sometimes in the thundering noises of many little elephants coming down the stairs, and sometimes in the aftermath of many mouths having been filled and satisfied. Tonight, I have two hours of quiet. The heartbeat of life still hums in the background, even though there is silence. There is a crudely drawn circle on the mirror in the kitchen. It appears to be etched in maple syrup. The stairs have more dust bunnies making themselves at home on each step. Paper airplanes have crash landed under pieces of furniture. A small pretzel has been stepped on more than once, looking like a little mountain which has been leveled to a mess of crumbs in the middle of the floor. The once-caught up laundry smirks at me from a huge pile, now ready to go through the cycle again. Our fridge is still in self-emptying mode, as dozens of eggs and bushels of apples and clementines disappear into thin air… or hungry bellies. The clock is ticking, and life is still drumming. There have been a few poignant moments in the past week.

It was an honor to attend Matthew’s little brother’s Eagle Scout Court of Honors. I have known Jacob since he was Betty’s age, and am so proud of the young man he has become!

The other night I came across Nadine trying to give Jack a shoulder massage. He was backing away from her and exclaiming: I’m not a woman! I laughed, so thankful he isn’t! Then Friday night he was peeling potatoes for me. The aftermath of his help was a scattering of sweet potato skins all over the kitchen floor. He gazed at the mess, shook his head and said, If I was a woman, none of this would have happened. I guess his impression of women is as follows: They are neat potato peelers who love shoulder massages. I think I qualify.

The boys are both in the middle of wrestling season. I finally got to watch them on Saturday, and it brought back many memories of watching their daddy, donned in his singlet, oh so long ago!

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I’m so proud of the boys in my life. Whether they’re wearing singlets, an Eagle Scout uniform, or a wrestling coach’s shirt… they all make me so very proud. Their hearts all march to the beat of their own drum, and make my heart beat a little faster.

Christmas Part II

January 2, 2014January 2, 2014 / amylynw / Leave a comment

Christmas, part two, was a delightful day at my sister’s house. My entire family was together again.

I grabbed my phone camera to capture this amazing outfit, hand-picked by Betty herself.

I’m quite sure Elsie enjoyed being the only damsel amidst an army of soldiers.
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Each cousin picks the name of another cousin to give them a gift. Jack was pleased as punch with a custom-designed lego airplane by his pilot-cousin, Aaron.

My favorite present: An original painting by my sister-artist.

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We didn’t get an entire family picture this time around, but we did remember to do a picture of all the sisters!

The original Watt siblings.

Our new niece, Taylor Grace is having a rough week during her Christmas visit to the hospital. She’s a strong little lady, though!

Giving Thanks for Twenty-Seven, Road Trips and Scavenger Hunts

December 16, 2013December 16, 2013 / amylynw / 1 Comment

Thanksgiving weekend began with our Weldon family gathering. Turkey vegetable tray, dangly earrings, a crackling fire, and games highlighted our time together. We even managed to pull off a paleo thanksgiving breakfast, complete with monkey bread!
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Next, we took off for New York. With new tires on the van and every inch packed to the gills, sipping joy tea, we listened to a Thanksgiving history audio book from my dad and enjoyed an almost completely argument-free drive up North. It was delightful!

We were welcomed by a happy sign:

The highlight of our time together was the Mall Scavenger Hunt we did one day. We divided into four teams, according to birth. Various items on the list to find were: “something that smells good, the largest bug, and someone doing the best karate move.” We also had to “plank” as a team and find Grandma and Grandpa who were wandering around the mall. The team who found them first got… the honor of finding them first. As leader of the 3rd-borns, I’d like to acknowledge we found them first. We had one hour to scavenge the mall. The creativity started flowing.
There were the firstborns:

The second-borns:

The third-borns:

The fourth-borns (and Betty):

Besides the fun of the scavenger hunt, the daddies took almost all the kids ice-skating, and we enjoyed snow, games, and many delicious meals together.

Our entire family:
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At the beginning of November, my dad reminded us of the news we received as a family twenty-two years ago: Get one small bag packed with all that you treasure the most. Get ready to evacuate Nyankunde tomorrow! As a girl of almost twelve, this was an exciting adventure. It didn’t turn out how I imagined, however. Our “quick” trip back to the United States turned into permanent. It’s hard to imagine how twenty-two years later, our family of six has grown into a family of twenty-seven, with another on the way! (My sister, not me!) God has richly blessed us with a family who loves each other, drives great distances to be with each other, and children who think their other cousins are the absolute bomb-diggity! I couldn’t be more thankful.

Forever Young

December 14, 2013December 14, 2013 / amylynw / Leave a comment

Once in a while I am privy to the children’s imaginary games. The other day Elsie was blocking the kitchen doorway so Jack couldn’t enter. Apparently, there was certain criteria for one to enter the kitchen. She began the interrogation:
How old are you?
One-hundred.
Do you have any children?
Yes.
Where is your mother?
At home.
And finally, the kicker. The most important requirement for entering the kitchen: Do you have a grandma?
Yes.
You may pass through.

The other night they requested classical music and danced ball-room style. They carefully choreographed the swing and spin. It was fabulous.
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When they were looking through old photo albums, both received major brownie points for their observations.
Mom, you look so young now, said Jack.
She’s always young, Elsie countered, making my heart feel forever young.
Betty also has her own specific interpretive dance. First, with Elephant:

Next, she likes to close her eyes… almost… and squint while her hands slowly raise into the air and she spins very slowly and purposefully. A little toe raise here and there for good effect.
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Then, when the audience starts to touch the rug one too many times, the entire dance is ruined and little ballerina melts into her own arms.
Everyone has been enjoying the new snow. There have been snowmen and sledding galore!

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving weekend with Matthew’s family, and then in New York with my entire family. There were cousins, fun, and… of course, Grandmas. I’ll save those pictures for another post soon. I’ve been secretly working on surprises which have taken every waking minute. And even when I have things to make and things to finish, somehow people still get hungry around here and their clothes still get dirty. As I speak, the pizza is out of the oven, and we are ready to eat while the snow falls outside.

Where Opossums Sleep and Cars Melt

November 11, 2013November 11, 2013 / amylynw / Leave a comment

I love to write. Today, however, is best left unwritten. This Veteran’s Day, I fought my own battles and waged my own war, along with my small army of five. We came out victorious in the end, but sometimes the process is painful at best. The past weekend was rough. I woke up with a blazing fever on Saturday morning, tried my best to mother from bed, while the kids brought me water, cool cloths, and warm rice bags for my freezing cold feet. Matthew was gone, and it was a sad and strange weekend. Both sets of grandparents were gracious to lend their hands to help with the kids so I could sweat and sleep in quiet. Thank you, guys… words aren’t enough.

Sickness, an opossum in the trashcan, and ornery computers all fall into my “No thank you” category of life.

When I focus on the misspellings, the bickering, the grime, and the general imperfectness of life… I end up just like a little wet rain cloud. It’s not cute. This is why I must write, because when I write, I remember. I remember: I love you, Mom, scrawled across the chalkboard… when it felt like the opposite was true. Someone finally nailing multiplication tables. Five wild munchkins voluntarily starting a game of hide-and-go-seek at the magic hour of hunger, while I finish cooking supper. A surprise cleaning of the bathroom without being asked. An entire day of clean bedrooms. Supper altogether.

In our one-room-school-house, learning doesn’t always involve the books. After the boys presented a reasonable-sounding argument as to why I should allow them to melt a few “useless” cars with the heat gun, I obliged. They showed care and it kept them busy for almost an hour.

While the boys melted cars, the girls enjoyed playing with shapes. I love what a dollar can buy in a thrift store!

My favorite thing last week in school had to be Jack’s letter he wrote to our friend in basic training. I knew in his mind he was thinking: Thank you for defending our country, but he wrote: Thank you for saving our city. I absolutely love it. He even told me today that he loves to write.

Those words made my heart soar, because loving to write isn’t forced, it’s born. Every once in a while, I get to witness the miracle of new discoveries being born in the hearts and minds of our children. It’s worth all the labor and gives me fresh perspective to press on for another day.

Eyes Open To Beautiful

September 29, 2013September 29, 2013 / amylynw / Leave a comment

Things I’ve been loving about our children:

When Jack wraps his arms around me just because. When he tells stories, his voice gets deeper and he sounds like a little man weaving a tale of seriousness. I love that he is brave enough and has the imagination wide enough to wear a cowboy hat for an entire day all throughout the city of Philadelphia.

I love how his trusty sidekick wears a pink cast and also a swell hat. I also love that by the time we got home, he had transformed into “Bill” and talked in a cowboy accent and enjoyed his “cowboy soup” for supper.

I love how they make celebrities out of ordinary people. Like the other day when Jack and Elsie took their mini white erase boards to our next-door neighbor and asked him to please sign his name. They got so excited when he did so, and didn’t erase their boards for the rest of the day.

Betty is so verbal and polite. On Friday we went with some friends on the train to the Franklin Institute. When we got off the train, she said, Thank you for the train, Mommy! After walking through the giant heart, she ran up to me and said, That was amazing! My heart is amazing! Unbelievable.

Jack discovering how polymers work… relieved when the cup of water did NOT dump onto his head! 2013-09-26
Nadine did a great job blowing up a balloon!

At the end of the extremely fun day, things melted down on the train ride home. My friend got this great picture of how things REALLY looked those last few minutes. Tired mommies, tired kiddos.

The next morning Betty’s sweet thankful heart was back again after a good night’s rest and she told me: Thank you for the eggs and bacon, Mommy. I’m going to wash my hands. I’m going to do it myself. And proceeded to do so. She is somewhat of a self-acclaimed vegetarian, but she loves bacon!

A couple of weeks of school have finished and I’m thrilled they are still smiling! We even have ninjas who sometimes attend. Elsie wrote everything on her board all by herself. The last line is my favorite, translated: I love God as well.

My fifth student helped me chop a ton of peppers to freeze for the winter. Sometimes she can be very serious about her work, but she is always a really cute and helpful chef!

There are always things I am learning and loving about our children. I always want my eyes to be wide open to the beautiful, amongst the mess and flurry that is life.

Mangoes, Heartbeats, & IV’s

September 23, 2013 / amylynw / 2 Comments

School is always in session, even when it’s not. Take for instance last night when Elsie looked at me while drinking from a little milk container, straw stuck in her mouth while she talked: Mom? Am I drinking a cow’s pee? I then had to explain the anatomy of a cow. Fun stuff, really.

We almost managed to avoid visiting any doctors for an entire week. My wrist has been acting up (has a lot in the past) and I thought it was finally time to get an x-ray. At the urgent care, I was told it was nothing but a ganglion cyst. Ganglion is one of those words I really don’t like saying. I don’t mind the word “gang”, it’s kind of cool-sounding, really. A lion is so strong and majestic. Put them together, and ganglion is just plain awful. It feels dreadful too. Thankfully I didn’t need an x-ray, but Elsie is bummed we won’t have matching casts. I’m amazed at how she has had zero complaints about her pink cast. She rides her bike, jumps on the trampoline, plays on the playground, and has a personal assault weapon on her at all times.
We had a fun time with Matthew’s family last night. Jack learned how to use chopsticks. He loves China, including its food. Notice the concentration:

This week, Matthew was able to bring Elijah to work with him one day. He had an excellent report from the boss, and was a big help!

Besides being good with the drill, he is also a handy taste-tester. What’s an African girl to do when she has a few mangoes on her hands? Make mango sauce, of course! That, right there, is a small taste of my childhood in a bowl. I’m always happy when I can share a piece of Africa with my kids on this side of the planet.

Nadine’s love tank is always full whenever she can hold a heartbeat with fur on it.

She has also been incredibly helpful watching Betty each day for slots of time so I can write, cook, and do school with the short crowd.

Today marks the second and last Rituxan treatment for Matthew. Since I couldn’t be with him, I bugged him for pictures. I know he wouldn’t post them himself… but… I would, because I love him so very much! His voice is still weak, and sometimes he still is a bit tight, but he “feels” good. We continue to pray for strength and healing! I am so incredibly thankful for a man who never sits around (except if there’s an IV pumping through him!) and is never lazy. He simply follows Jesus in his attitude, actions, and mindset. I’m not married to a perfect man by any means, but he is a real man. There is nothing remotely fantasy-related in his life. He is all real-life and hard-core. Grow old with me, my love!
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Our One Room Schoolhouse

September 17, 2013September 17, 2013 / amylynw / 1 Comment

Our first week of school flew by at top speed. I have barely had time to sleep, and my head is spinning with Ancient Rome history and what sound “A” makes. We are steadily getting into a routine, and for that I am grateful.

Here is a tour of our school room! My mother-in-law rescued the chalk board from the school where she works, and it fits perfectly on my Life is Beautiful wall. We use it all the time! The desks are made from two Ikea table tops, which Matthew reinforced underneath with metal plates. The top is screwed into the four filing cabinets. The four oldest kids each have their own set of six drawers. We are still getting used to having so much extra space, and we’re trying to keep one subject per drawer, then filing papers straight into our portfolios at the end of each week. Along the window wall is an old Ikea coffee table (again, which my mother-in-law rescued). I wondered if maybe we sawed it in half, if it would make a better window seat. Voila! My live-in-carpenter/handsome hubby did just that! Betty’s puzzles, little toys, blocks, train set, etc. go in the baskets for easy access. On the far left corner, under the red “W” is our reading corner. You can not see the wooden library box which I keep heavily stocked with both books of their choice and along the same lines as what we’re studying in Science and History.

The red lockers contain my school supplies (top 3 cubbies), shared school supplies (next 3 cubbies), kids’ personal lockers for their own projects or collections (next 6 cubbies) and finally the last 3 cubbies are math manipulatives and Betty’s shapes and stacker-type toys.

We have our first morning board calendar, which everyone loves getting a turn at doing. None of these ideas are my own original. What a blessing the internet is sometimes!

Finally, each child has their own school and chore chart, held together with a jump ring. I got this idea from Homeschool Creations. Certain children LOVE their lists, others are more forgetful. We’re all still learning! If it works as it is intended, each person has the ability to earn sixty cents a day. However, if I end up having to do their chores because of ceaseless reminding or bad attitudes, they pay me. Each day there are six (easy) chores required because they are a part of our family, and three (slightly harder) chores for which they can earn money.

Further on in their charts are the school days, with velcro tabs in each of the sixteen boxes. I printed out many many possible school and life things to do. These get stuck in the order which I would like them done.

Once completed, that child can remove the square and put it in their top drawer.

Here you see Nadine has four things done, and a few more yet to do. We are flexible here, and constantly tweaking, but it gives them a good idea of what is expected of them. It takes me about five minutes the night before to set it up for the next day.

So, there is a brief show and tell of our first week of school! I hope you have enjoyed it! There are a lot more things going on behind the scenes. The bright pink cast on Elsie’s arm and the very short bangs are only a slight indication of the excitement which goes on outside the doors of school. But that is for another day. Right now this teacher must hit the hay… which rhymes with… yay.

Third Annual Kids’ Day

September 8, 2013September 8, 2013 / amylynw / 1 Comment

It was a beautiful sight when the kids got home from being at Grandma’s after Matthew was released from the hospital. It was impossible to fully capture the joy, hugs and squeals. August 20136
Two days later, we declared it to be our third annual kids day! This is something we started three years ago, and each August we celebrate our fabulous kids with surprises and fun! Jack and Matthew went to the store early in the morning and bought little gifts for everyone. Next, we had waffles and ice-cream for breakfast before setting off on a bowling expedition. The kids had never been bowling before. It was a nice excuse to use the bumpers for us older folks who haven’t bowled since my belly looked like a bowling ball ten years ago!

The second place we went was the dollar movie theatre, which turned out to be a great memory as well! We ended our day with a pop-in at some friends’ and then a visit at Grandma’s to see my brother and his family. Kids’ day was a success, and we are so thankful for our amazing children who bring us so much joy. They challenge and inspire us and constantly keep us seeking God.

Yesterday, Elsie was wearing ALL yellow, and Betty was wearing much pink. Elsie looked at Betty and commented: She’s so cute! She’s so pink! I’m so yellow!

When I went to pick up Jack from a friend’s house, it was just about dark as we got ready to drive away. He remembered he left his jackknife in the grass. He ran up the driveway and started to kick the ground around a large area of grass. Five seconds later, he ran back to the car, knife in hand. I looked at him in awe. This is the kid who claims he is not a good “looker” and can’t seem to find something in a well-lit room, let alone a huge lawn in the dark. I asked him how he found it so quickly. His reply? My feet know where everything is. Of course! Next time I will ask his feet to do the finding.

On our drive home we got talking about heaven. He thought for a bit and then said, When everyone on earth is in heaven, this world is going to be left in sadness. Wow.

Elsie, in mother-like fashion was trying to help out an older sibling who was having a bit of rivalry with another sibling. Her advice astounded me and reminded me that I guess they really are listening! This is what she said:
Well, maybe you should work it out. Nope, that wasn’t an option.
Well, maybe you should apologize. Not trying that either.
Well, maybe you should just walk away. Good girl!

I do love overhearing different conversations in the car between the back-seat dwellers. Jack and Elijah were discussing broken bones. He asked Elijah: Have I broken anything?
No, Elijah said.
How do you know?
I’ve been here all your life. Enough said.

Today they were having a “gentleman tea party”, complete with lego “newspapers”. Elijah thinks the raw sugar we use is “camping sugar” and Jack commented about the whole experience: We’re like men. I LOVE that my boys think drinking tea is manly. One conversation during this gentlemanly time went like this:
Elijah: Jack, I was thinking. If the age of driving was about the age of seven, there would be a lot of dead people in the world… No offense.

Nadine was able to start horseback riding lessons again this week. There is a very real hole in her heart that gets filled when she’s around horses. She even jokes that her name is perfect: They call me neighhhhh-deen because I love horses!

Betty is a little walky-talky, except for when she’s sitting in her special little chair… which she brings everywhere. Yesterday while we were driving, she saw some geese. She matter-of-factly said, I love birds. Elsie loves birds. Mommy loves birds. When Jack got home from his friend’s house, she ran up to him, gave him a huge hug and exclaimed: I LOVE you, Jack! She knows how much I love to hear her say, Yes ma’am, so she says it a lot. It sounds a lot like, Yes, man.

Tomorrow, we officially start school. Our school room is ready to go, and teacher is a bit trembling in her gut, but excited. I’m excited to see if our new approach will work smoother than last year, and I’m pumped to share how we do things, after we have settled in a bit. Speaking of, I need to get back to planning!

Four Times Four Plus One

September 5, 2013September 5, 2013 / amylynw / 3 Comments

We’ve been home over a week now, and every day Matthew is stronger. He is heavily medicated, but we are thankful! Yesterday was his first day back at work and he still feels well. He will begin more stringent treatments on Monday, having weekly infusions of a drug called Rituxan for a month. This helped in the past to put him in a good place health-wise, and we pray it does this time too!

The weekend turned into a wonderful family reunion and all four of us “original” Watt kids and our families were altogether again. Four kids has multiplied into seventeen grand-kids! We are blessed! Here is the cousin line-up from oldest (almost 17 years old) to youngest (two and a half).

The “Watt girls”. I missed the memo about the turquoise shirt.

A collection of cell phone shots:

My camera was balanced on a chair and pointing at a jaunty angle, but here is the whole family. Not too bad, for staring at a big open yard and an inanimate camera.

My sweet Betty with her baby browns. If you ask her what color her eyes are, she will tell you: brown.

This is one of the many reasons I love my family. We pray for each other whether we’re apart or together.
Some of my favorite people. I share shoes with my boys, and my daughter is the same height as me. Life is beautifully marching right along.