Day 3 Post a picture from your wedding

We have a love affair with Lake Superior. We met on the lake, we courted along the lake and hiked along the lake many times. We got engaged on the lake and it was only fitting we get married on the lake. We love Gooseberry Falls State Park. We rented a small shelter house there for 50 bucks, ordered a cake, sent out invites(that I made on the computer) and got hitched with the shores of Lake Superior in the background. we even put our feet in the lake after the ceremony. Then we went to our other favorite place, India Palace and had dinner with our family. It was a beautiful summer day. Not too hot not too cold. Sunny. and bright. All my favorite people were there. It wasnt a huge wedding. but it was very us. and we look back on it very fondly. sometimes we even remember our wedding anniversary! haha. Most years Eric remembers the wrong date. its ok though, at least he remembers. People often asked where we went for our honeymoon. I tell them we went to Mason City Iowa. We liked it so much we stayed 3 years. The reason I say that is because we moved to Mason City for Eric's residency a week after we married. we did get a trip to mexico several years later. This June we will have been married 9 years. Little did we know, that somewhere else in the world a baby was born that would become ours. He was born the same week we married.

blog challenge day 2

post a random photo from your day. I initially had a problem getting a random photo. I overthink things. random would be start snapping away at various things. I am always looking for "the PERFECT photo" so I found the perfect photo but decided it wasnt really random. instead there is a pic I took of Ben and the dog looking out the window while the other boys are out there playing. this is a sight I see often as Ben is often left behind due to his limited mobility at the moment. I added the other for fun too. It is a coke can with the words in Russian. I have russian and ukrainian kids and have spent time in both countries. I keep this can on the back of my stove where I see it all the time. I also love coca cola and collect things with the coca cola label on it. I dont collect everything I see just like to see the coke label around. to me it says Americana. It says refreshing on a hot summer day. It says camping as a child. It says trips to the movie theater. so there is my randomness for the day.

blog challenge day 1

once someone told me I was a good egg. I am also a good egg that enjoys adventure. Adventure doesnt have to be wild and exciting it could be a hike in a state forest where I have never been. It could be a trip to a state park museum that intrigues me. It might be a trip to the lake with kids who have never before been allowed to swim, or just watching the sun set over the ocean in Mexico. All of these are my adventures. I used to keep a book of our adventures. I would include souveniers like brochures of the places we visited. or our entrance tickets. As we added children and traveled less the book sort of went by the wayside. but the enbergadventures continue. every day is a new adventure. and my kids are really all good eggs. they have moments sure when I would like to hang them by their toenails and throw peanuts at them but for the most part they are a good bunch. they are loving and sweet. they are good to their little sister when she needs help. They delight in teaching her new things. or helping her to find her own way to get into trouble with them. They do well in school, they try hard. they help at home some voluntarily some when asked all when there is money to be earned. They are good eggs. since there are 12 of us in this house(although the kids would like that to be more like 15 or 16, they often suggest we adopt again)that makes a dozen. a dozen good eggs. and this is the blog of our adventures. some days they are little adventures like a child learning to crawl some days they are big adventures like moving to a new city. but we are a dozen good eggs, and these are our adventures.

A day late and a dollar short

Dad always used to say that. I am slow in keeping up with blogs. slow in keeping up my own blog. so a day late I found a challenge. so I will start today. thanks 1mom. here is the blog challenge. watch for new posts!

Day 0: The 30 Day Challenge Explanation and Description
Day 1: Meaning behind your blog name
Day 2: Take a photo of a random part of your day and tell us about it
Day 3: Photos from your wedding
Day 4: A weird hobby or collection
Day 5: A song that means a lot to you
Day 6: A random picture that makes you happy
Day 7: Favorite books
Day 8: A place you've traveled to
Day 9: Your favorite quote
Day 10: Something you're afraid of
Day 11: TV shows that your currently addicted to
Day 12: Something you don't leave the house without
Day 13: A photo that makes you laugh
Day 14: A website you love to visit
Day 15: Share a Bible verse
Day 16: Describe your dream house
Day 17: What’s in your purse?
Day 18: Photos from around your town
Day 19: Something you miss
Day 20: Nicknames
Day 21: Favorite Movies
Day 22: Share the oldest photo that’s saved on your computer
Day 23: Something you fear
Day 24: A photo of somewhere beautiful
Day 25: 3 things you hope to accomplish by the end of the year
Day 26: Something that stresses you out
Day 27: Your favorite poem
Day 28: A photo of the inside of your car
Day 29: 5 things you are thankful for
Day 30: a picture from today

should I stay or should I go now? If I stay there will be trouble! If I go it will be double!

we are not having an easy time finding a new home or property to build on. We have seen just about everything we can find. we have lowered our expectations from large acreage to 40 then lowered to 20. now to 10 and to 5. as yet we have found nothing that would work for us. Everything is overpriced. it is a down market who can afford a 400K house? we really cant because we still have this house to pay on. and since this one needs work which costs money and isnt likely to fly off the market given the area. We cant find land that isnt swamp. or its 30 miles away. we cant find a house that isnt gonna be a money suck (or its 30 miles away) we are feeling very burdoned right now. we wanted to move and have an easier lifestyle. and yet we are starting to think we will have little more than we have here, although probably less when you consider the energy status of any house we might buy. we flip flop with the idea of even staying put. that isnt ideal either. so as of now we are caught between a rock and hard place. no easy decisions. time to build is running short. soon it will be summer and we will be hard pressed to get a house built in time for school in the fall. but again its so expensive we arent sure we can even afford it, given that the cost of land(swamp) will drive up the overall cost of the build. we NEED to garden and raise chickens just in order to feed this crew. it isnt a want, a desire but a real need. we have the dogs who need space to run a bit and not bother neighbors with their barking. we need a place that has room for kids to play and ride bikes. and we just cant find a place like that. and did I mention with a child who doesnt walk we really NEED a mainfloor bedroom and bath. Miss Priss is not getting any lighter and we dont want to have to carry her to the bathroom and to bed. staying here includes a less than challenging curriculum, bullying kids, kids who start other kids hair on fire and still get to ride the bus, kids who ask little kids about their private parts, life alone, rounding every single freaking day, driving hours to get anything or see dentist. so if we stay it would still suck, if we go it seems like it will suck because we are NOT finding the perfect place.

trip to philly and home again

ben's poor feet

Ben's feet are not doing well. Darn AMC is winning! and with the sores on his feet that makes it easier for the AMC to win. Doctor in Philly on Friday. quite possible he comes home in plaster. again.

Lookout world! here comes SOPHIE!

she climbed the stairs (all 13 of them) by herself twice this weekend. it was incredible. she is so motivated! it was hard hard work and really rather awkward but she insisted and she DID IT!

AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!

Tearing my hair out! going crazy! running screaming in the streets! this whole move thing is making me crazy! Andre thinks we will leave him behind when we move so he pushes me away and says I wanna go back to Ukraine every time he hears something he doesnt like. Ben sobbed his heart out because he didnt know if he would come along when we move, and probably somewhat because he will have to leave his special aide. Chrysta keeps asking what color she can paint her room and will she have to share a room and I dont even HAVE a room to tell her about. The girls and the boys are concerned with their toys and the pets coming along. and Mama is concerned with FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE! Eric and I have made about 6 trips to town to look. all came up empty. nothing new is coming on the market much. There is not a lot that is what we want where we want for a price we want. There just isnt. I guess I ought to put my parents on notice that we will be putting our tent up in their backyard! What I like Eric doesnt. or we both like it but its too much $$ and too far away. Building sounds like a rather expensive venture. the whole thing is maddening.
Sophie and I are going to go take a walk in the sunshine. maybe I will feel better after that. or maybe it will take Chrysta's yummy chocolate eauclaire cake to make me feel better. or the perfect house at the perfect price in the perfect location

end of the peace

Ethan and Jaeger had been getting along really well. playing all the time. Ethan had been personable and kind even. but we are back to snotty snarky mean and nasty Ethan and he just punched Jaeger in the face because he was following him around outside. It isnt because he isnt getting enough sleep because he went to bed at 8 last night and was asleep by 9 sleeping right through to 6. Ben hasnt been crying the last couple days so he has plenty of sleep. and of course dad is working on call tonight so I am it. I am the target. and boy can he spew some nastiness. probably having a growth spurt and time to adjust his meds but of course cant go too high or causes depression and its the ONLY one that worked thus far. who knows what goes through his head.

next week off to philly where Ben will most likely return in plaster. again.

no news on the house front.

do without?

I look around at all the stuff we have accumulated and as we consider living in a new home it occurs to me that we have TOO MUCH STUFF! that perhaps we could live in less space if we had less stuff? but what do you choose to let go of? the piano? no way! the couch? (sure no problem but we gotta sit somewhere....) the dining table? the bookshelves and all the books? we LOVE books! It pains me to get rid of them! beds? clothes? dressers? no we cant really do that. its the random useless junk that we have to get rid of. it tends to multiply when it isnt looked after and it tends to lend itself to chaos when everything has a "potential" use. It really needs to have a specific use. I really cleaned out my kitchen cabinets and saved only the things I use a lot. I cook for many people so out went the small mixing bowls and other things for cooking for only a few. I think that there is probably a lot of junk that could go but for the life of me I cant seem to get rid of it, or find it, or "get started" most days. This must be how hoarders start!!

to build or not to build

Eric wants to build a house. I want to buy. at any rate we are not finding either a house OR a property. Tomorrow we go back to look some more. some land and one house. we have pretty much seen everything that suits us in the way of houses. Until the market opens up with spring we dont have much we havent already seen, either on paper or in person. building a house makes me terrified. Years ago we talked about it. before we had a dozen kids. for some reason it wasnt scary then. I dont like the styles he likes and vice verse. I am NOT spatially oriented and it is hard for me to visualise a concept. which is why I like seeing houses in person not on paper. I need to see it feel it smell it hear it be surrounded by it before I can fully grasp the shape the space the square footage. I am afraid that we will end up in a house that I hate for the rest of our lives. and based on my inability to put a blue print into a picture that is entirely possible. He always asks me what I need so it isnt that I wouldnt have any input. I know that pretty much anything I asked for in a house would be fine(and really I dont demand much, a dishwasher...or two, and a nice bathtub. I currently have neither)I am not interested in granite everything highest end everything. but I do want to love my house. I want to love living there. I want it to work for me as much as I work for it. THIS house that we live in now, does not work for me. it wasnt too bad when there were only a couple kids but now with more kids it just doesnt work. there is no entry way. no place for coats and boots. no storage for backpacks. the kitchen is small and cluttered because things that have no home(because there isnt enough room for them to HAVE a home) are on the counters thus making cooking dinner a nightly battle. and I always have at least 2-3 kids who want to help and there really just is no space for that! the living room is too small but the family room is too far away. On so many levels it just doesnt work for me. keeping it clean is difficult at best. so I need a house that has enough bedrooms, has a space for MY stuff so I can sew and scrap and do whatever without having to worry that my stuff will walk away with a child OR have to put it all away after an hour or two. I need storage and lots of it. I need ADA bathroom and mainfloor bedroom for my girl friday. I need a kitchen that makes me long to cook(I used to hate cooking. I dont mind it anymore but I might be tempted to try something new if I had some space to do it in)and that elusive bathtub. all of that needs to fit in a house that isnt too big or too small. that has good resale value. that isnt too expensive. that is designed to be solar/self efficient. That is surrounded by trees and land for the running of children and pets. room for chickens. room for greenhouses and gardening. Room for a covered porch. all of this in one house. so far we have come up with nothing and may well be still living in THIS house next year while Eric goes off to his new job in our new city.