Becareful What you Wish For

I am sure every kid has wished they could eat their desert for dinner.  That they didn't have to eat what was being served for dinner.  I know my eldest son wished those things.  I often heard him whine about how hated what I had made for dinner.  This week though I think he has changed his mind about how awful my meals are.  

My oldest son had to have some dental work done and now can't eat solid food afterward.  The poor kid is starving.  The dentist told him he could eat ice cream and popsicles, yogurt and mashed potatoes.  So thats what hes been doing.  You have never seen a kid get so sick of sweets so fast.  He told me yesterday, "Even the beans you had for dinner looked good."  Its made him appreciate that even though its not what he wants its still good and its good to eat.  And of course this happened right at Halloween so he can't eat any candy.  Not that he would want to after eating all that ice cream. 

I don't know how my kids are so strong. The dh and I are both so wimpy when it comes to dental pain.  I had 1 cavity filled and couldn't eat for days.  I came home and slept for 4 hours.  My son?  He was playing like normal and wanting to eat dinner and non stop talking all night with his brother.  Do they not have nerve endings in their mouths?  

I just want them to be happy

But that is hard when I have conversations like these with my children. 

My 3 yr old, in a whinny voice, asked me where his zippered pajamas were.  I told him we didn't have any zippered pajamas.  He said he wanted some, and again I told him he didn't have any.  So he told me, "Well go buy some then."  Buying zippered pajamas, when he already has about 4 pair of pajamas just isn't on my list of things to do.  But I do want him to be happy.  I guess I wish he were happy with the pajamas he already has. 

My 8 yr old brought me his history and asked for him.  The first thing I did was ask him if he had read the page yet.  Cause, of course you aren't gonna know what to do if you haven't read the page.  The look on his face spoke louder than any words could, but then he added, "Why do I have to read my history?"  Oh I don't know, so its easier to do the assignment?  How can you make a time line of Little Big Horn if you haven't read about it first?  Maybe I should have acted it out for him.  Heaven forbid he end up on an episode of JayWalking on the Jay Leno show.

Hiking is Exciting

We love to hike but aren't able to during the summer heat.  So we finally went this weekend.  We had to start out easy because we are all out of shape.  Which became obvious with our last hike at the  Natural Bridge.  I guess one thing we forgot to mention, besides "Don't Step in the Horse Poo!" was "Don't touch the Cactus!"  Thankfully that happened at the end of our trip cause I wouldn't have liked to hear our son scream for 30 minutes while we made our way back to the van.  Our 3 yr old somehow got a cactus in his shoe.  The dh told him to wait and he would get it out.  Being 3 of course he just reached down and grabbed it.  It promptly stuck itself into his fingers.  So using his other hand he ripped it out of the first hand.  By this time he is screaming and dh is running over to him telling him to stop touching it.  I guess pain makes you listen cause my 3 yr old just stood there with a cactus hanging off his hand.  He did have some bruising and bloody spots but hes fine.  At least it wasn't a rattle snake. 

Later that night, after hiking and cleaning the garage, several of the kids fell asleep where they sat down.  Dinner was quiet.  My oldest said, "I feel so small."  There were 5 kids and 2 adults sitting at the table, but that was just small for what we normally have. 

Memorable

The dh had a drs appt today.  We had to find a new dr since ours left his practice.  I had seen the dr back in April when I had my wisdom teeth infected.  He was pretty excited that I was gonna be bringing 10 people into the practice! 

So when the dh went in today the dr comes in and says, "I think I met your wife.  You have 8 kids?"

Dh said, "Yup."

Dr said, "Yea. Thought so."

You don't forget people who have 8 kids I guess.  Sadly dh is about as messed up as his car.  He needs his hoses fixed too I guess.  Maybe the connection between man and car is greater than we think!  Let them work on their car - they might stay healthier lol. 

Pregnancy Update

I am not a happy pregnant person.  I am huge, well for 15 weeks anyway.  Its making me mad.  I can't wear my regular clothes and most of my maternity clothes is too big.  It wasn't until this weekend that I realized part of the problem is that I gave away some of my maternity clothes to someone who needed them.  At least I know why I have so little that actually fits.  I will need to go shopping (oh boo hoo lol).  I don't know whats happened but I have not gained any weight but I look 6 months pregnant.

This is me at 14 weeks this time.    In this picture I am wearing some regular clothes cause I refused to admit I needed maternity clothes. 

And here I am with #8 at 22 weeks.  What the heck?! Not fair!  I weigh the same as I did with #8 so thats not the problem.  I guess #8 destroyed my stomach muscles. 

Other wise I am doing much better.  I can eat again.  I can think again.  I actually cleaned the house last week. 

As a side note, what happened with the date on this picture?  Thats really wrong. 

Field Trip to Tonto Natural Bridge

We went to Tonto Natural Bridge, outside of Payson, AZ.  This was our third attempt, and as they say, Threes a Charm.  The weather was fine, it was open, and traffic was not backed up 20 miles.  It was well worth all the attempts to go.  God has made so many beautiful natural wonders.  Of course it would have been nice to know there was one of those "Hope you don't have a fear of heights" roads to get there.  Could have warned the kids before they all started to pull their shirts over their heads.  My 5 yr old, who was on the other side of the van and could not see the sheer drop off said, "What?  Its beautiful!"  Yea, he doesn't even like freeways in town cause they scare him.  He would have loved seeing what I was seeing. 

But then we got down to the Park and it was beautiful!  Autumn is a wonderful time to visit.  I am kinda glad it didn't work out the other couple of times.  The leaves were changing, it was not too hot (although we should have worn shorts anyhow), and there wasn't that many people. 

If you go I recommend carriers for babies and holsters for your water bottles.  You will need to hold little kids hands and you will need good foot wear.  Especially if you want to walk through the arch.  The rocks are smooth and slippery.  There are several look outs that are not difficult to walk to.  If you are afraid of heights, don't bother going.  If you want to walk down into the arch you will get a good hike.  Its a mile round trip, down and up huge steps, with no hand rail.  But its so worth the hike.  It is simply beautiful down there.  There is swimming up and below the bridge but not under it.  So if you go during warmer months that is definitely feasible. Along the hike were markers for the different plants.  It was nice to learn what all the different trees and shrubbery was that we were seeing.  

Sadly this fat old pregnant lady is out of shape and had a rough time making it back up.  Man do I need to get into shape.  My legs will be feeling this for days.  Ahhh the memories.  Somehow my 3, 6 and 8 year old ran most of the hike back up.  Where do they get their energy?  If I could have 1/10 of that!  As it was I nearly passed out on the way back up.  And they ran!  I wasn't even gonna try to stop them.  I figured they could go for help if I fell over from exhaustion.  You'd think I was hiking the Grand Canyon.  Well, next time I vow to be in better shape so I can enjoy it more. 

Finally some good news

We were very surprised to get a phone call that our insurance has accepted an exception for the birth center and midwife.  I am so happy and so relieved.  I don't have to pay anything except for my copay of $25.  I hated the thought of having to pay for the insurance every month and then having to pay for what it should cover.  Not to mention we can't afford all that! 

And your laugh for the day.  I was making dinner on the stove and was waiting for the water to boil.  After awhile I thought, "Geez its taking an awful long time for it to beep."  Then I realized the pot does not beep when the water has reached a boil.   I am too used to all my appliances telling me when they are done.  Good thing I didn't burn anything.  Can I blame pg brain? 

Can you park in your garage?

Thats my criteria for having too much stuff.  If I can't park in my garage I have a problem. 

I am going through my closet.  It always starts out so simple. I needed to exchange my regular underwear for maternity ones.  Nothing like ripping 3 pair in a week to make you realize you might have out grown them.  Next thing I know the entire contents of my closet are on and around my bed in my room.

I discovered an entire pile of stained, really stained, baby clothes.  Why I kept them I have no idea.  Its Arizona, for 5 mos out of the year the baby can go naked.  Like I need a whole pile of stained clothes for him? 

Also I found 4 boxes of diapers in my closet.  Thats not including the one in my sons closet, or the ones in use, or the ones I already went through and bagged up for donation.  Thats a whole lot of diapers.  I must have hundreds.  Probably 50 in every size.  Easily. I think I have a problem.  A diaper addiction.  Someone needs to intervene.  I could survive a week or two with no water or electricity though.  Or the baby's behind could anyway. 

Which brings me to my point.  I have too much stuff.  I can park in my garage but clearly other parts of the house need help.  With 10 people we are gonna have stuff in storage.  No way around it.  I have clothes in nearly every size for boys.  I have maternity and nursing clothes for winter and summer.  I have school books for last year and next year and this year, which is a lot of books.  We have holiday storage and presents stored away.  We have memorabilia, important papers, wrapping paper and boxes for shipping.  Not to mention my fabric, not saying how much of that I have.  Some of that I simply can not get rid of, it would not be wise.  But 4 boxes of diapers?  Something tells me even I don't need that many.  And stained clothes, I think I can live without. 

As I purge I urge you all to do the same.  You will feel clean and free.  I know I will when I can walk into my closet again. 

Its Time to Play

Its time once again to play: Words that don't go in the same sentence.   I am gonna go with the excuse that we are all insane and think our house is wire tapped  - we are just trying to confuse the spies.

Me to the children: "Why does the baby have cream of wheat on his toes?"

4 yr old: "What do mutants taste like?"  In response to asking what the funny looking item in the chex mix was...I told him it was a mutant.

Me to the 3 yr old: "Please don't play with your cheese balls." 

12 yr old: "I just caught the baby eating deodorant."  Good thing its Tom's.

Babysitter Uncle to me: "Ewan peed on the patio."  Sure, doesn't everyone do that.

"Wheres my head?  I can't find my head!"  From 3 yr old while playing with blocks.

"Liam, there is cheese on your shoulder."  Watches as Liam reaches around his back trying to get cheese. I don't know what was funnier, that he didn't know where his shoulder was or that he had cheese on it.

Tips on Freezer Meals

If you have entertained the thought of freezing meals for later use here are a few tips that will help you. 

When placing food in a plastic bag try to get it as flat as possible.  The less bulk there is the less time it will take to thaw when you are ready to use it. 

Label your food carefully.  Include the date you froze it.  You don't want to end up eating something that fell in the freezer 2 years ago and you think you made it 2 mos ago. 

Don't place freshly made bags of anything on wire shelves or baskets.  They will get frozen down into the ridges and holes and they are really hard to get out.  Learned that one the hard way. 

Freeze some individual portions when you are making the big family ones.  Instant tv dinners. 

And don't forget to use your meals. Keeping them all in one place in the freezer helps you to not loose anything and remember how much of each you made.  Just how long can you keep food frozen?  Depends on the food. 

Why do things always happen in 3's?

You know the saying bad things always happen in 3's.  People in Hollywood always die in 3's.  What is so bad about the number 3 that make life so miserable?  Can't it be enough that bad things happen at all, let alone multiple times over? Should I be grateful they don't come in 5's or 8's? 

On Wednesday we found out that our insurance will not cover the birth center I wanted to deliver at.  Nor will it cover my midwife.  Despite the fact our insurance does cover birth centers.  Maybe ours is too new, it just opened in August.  We will try again in January when the year starts again, but I am not holding out hope.  So now I have to find a new OB, thats always fun. 

This morning as dh was driving to work his brakes failed.  He was able to see the problem, the hose is ruined. But he then had to work in the 100+ degree heat to fix it (it is October right?  Where is fall?) with some duct tape.  This is the 2nd hose to go, so we are thinking we need to replace them all, you know before someone gets killed because the car dies during rush hour. 

Then #3 hit.  Nothing like walking out of your bedroom and into water.  Our washing machine broke, water overflowed everywhere.  Out in the hall, into the bath next door, down stairs through the ceiling and all over the floor of the bathroom.  While we have gotten it mostly cleaned up I hope no one minds if we don't shower tomorrow, we used all our towels.  The good news?  It was my last load of the day.  Sadly it was towels I was washing.  Oh well.  I see a laundromat visit in our future.  Oh more good news, that means I can go to a thrift store next door while I am doing laundry!  Always gotta look on the bright side. 

But this is the end.  No more bad things.  We did our 3.  Time for the trouble makin to move on.