Tales from the Quiver

My 7 year old has Leukemia

2012-01-27T09:18:00.003-07:00

If that isn't an attention grabber. If you have wondered where I disappeared to, it was to the hospital. It was a long tough road to get a diagnosis, but when it finally happened I was not ready for it. Lets recap...

In March of 2011 my newly minted 7 year old complain of heal pain. We took him to a pediatric urgent care in the middle of the night. They did xrays and determined the swelling was due to a sprain not a break. We gave him tylenol, ice and bandaged it. For awhile the pain went away. In the summer the pain returned. This time it was on the other foot. We again wrapped it, iced it and gave him tylenol. Nothing helped. We made a visit to the family dr who told us, it was tendonitis and to keep him off it. I was livid. By this time he had not walked in a week because of the pain. He was crawling everywhere. I told her he wasn't walking and therefore wasn't on it. Her response? "Oh good." She totally did not understand what I was telling her. She got snippy with me and asked if I wanted to see an Orthopedist. I said I did, I honestly didn't care who she sent us to as long as it was someone who actually wanted to help. We saw the orthopedist and she diagnosed it was Severs. We took him to therapy for 2 months. While he maintained his strength the pain persisted and he was still not walking. Back to the orthopedist for more testing. Blood work and an MRI and more xrays. This time we saw some shading on the xrays, shading in the MRI and his blood work was all over the place. We repeated the blood work and it actually came back better. We also did a bone scan and a soft tissue scan.

By this time my 7 year old has now had an MRI, 2 sets of labs done, xrays at least 4 times, a soft tissue scan and a bone density scan. We were told the possibilities were Cancer or Arthritis. We waited for the test results with baited breath. Finally, the orthopedist said she thought it was Arthritis. But that only the rheumatologist could give a definite diagnosis. The Rheumatologist ordered another MRI, this time of his legs. And he wanted a bone marrow biopsy. He wasn't convinced he was leaning more towards leukemia. Meanwhile I was a human pretzel. I was scared. Really scared. I didn't sleep. I didn't eat. When we got the diagnosis it was Sunday morning. I was home with the kids and my husband was at the hospital with my 7 year old. He told me over the phone, "It is leukemia." I broke down.

My 4 year old ran and locked himself in his room. Momma was crying hysterically and he was scared. I pulled myself together, I knew I had 8 other kids to care for. And I had to tell them. If hearing the diagnosis was the hardest moment of my life, then telling the kids was the 2nd hardest. My oldest said, "I didn't know life could be this hard." And my heart broke again because kids should not have to know this pain and fear.

He has spent a week in the hospital now. We are hoping he can come home tomorrow. He needs to go back every week for his chemo, twice a week to therapy. And we will hope and pray he will go into remission and kick this thing in the butt. Because I need my son to live.

New Years Resolution 2012

2012-01-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

Last year my resolution was to read more books than I did in 2010. Which I did, soundly I might add. In 2010 I read 13 books (my goal was 12). Which if you think thats flimsy I would say, Walk a mile in my shoes. Anyhow, in 2011 I read 21. So my resolution for this year is 24, 2 a month. And I am telling you all this, to hold me accountable. If I start slacking on my reviews (which should be 1-3 every month), yell at me.

I also included this year to try 1 new recipe every week. That means by the end of the year I will have tried over 50 new things. The kids are very excited about that one!

And lucky for you, I resolve to write 8 blog posts a month.

Honestly, these resolutions are more about managing my time better than just about anything else.

Belated Monday Craft: Georges Seurat

2012-01-10T14:14:00.003-07:00

Late again because of sick kids. Today we are creating art via Stippling. For the younger kids I gave them some coloring pages (which you can print out or create your own with some black markers if you don't have any coloring books around) and the older ones I have free reign to. We talked about Georges Seurat and gave the older kids some handouts to read. Be sure to click on the links so you can print out your own hand outs. If you have a bunch of kids I suggest just pouring some acrylic paints onto a paper plate so they aren't fighting over the jars. Be sure to have enough pencils or qtips for everyone. When you do this, you need very little paint on your eraser each time. So if you are pouring some out even the smallest amount will get you a lot of painting.

These guys are all doing free form. Whatever their little heart desires.

This one was done by one of my little guys using a coloring page.

One of the finished products.

Wished I could have blamed the kids

2012-01-05T18:45:00.001-07:00

Mission: Retrieve Helmet

The other day I knocked a GI Joe helmet down my dryers lint trap. It all happened in slow motion. I cleaned the screen and when I went to replace it I knocked the helmet which went sliding right down the chute. I looked down there and couldn't see it. I tried to grab it with the wire hanger that I straightened (seen at top of picture). Which did not work. As with all questions we don't know the answer to - to Google I went. Which of course had the answer. If you have thought it, its on Google. I had already filled the dryer with wet clothes, of course. And I couldn't move it so I had to wait for dh to come home. But we did get back GI Joes helmet.

In case you need it, this is how you get stuff out of a lint trap. And if you have kids, you will probably need it. I wished I could have blamed the kids, but lying is wrong.

New Year and Homeschooling

2012-01-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

It would be easier if school started in January and ended in October. With all the holiday stuff to squeeze in and then the post holiday blues to deal with in the new year. And New Year is all about new beginnings. Of course I am saying this now as I really really don't want to grade school work. So it was perfect timing when I saw this article today about Homeschool Burnout.

Thankfully we aren't doing our bowling league again till the Summer. So we won't have to disrupt our school days to take field trips as much. But as it is I already have half our weeks planned in the next 6 weeks. Its hard to say no to everything that comes up but sometimes a little down time is just what you need.

Mmmm Nommy

2011-12-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

For Christmas I got the kids candy canes filled with Runts. Because when you are a parent and you walk down the aisle filled with stocking stuffers you become spell bound by their cuteness. All rational thought leaves your head. No other time of the year would we look at a tube filled with candy and think, "Wow the kids will love getting sugar high off this...lets get it!" So, we have these candy canes filled with candy. I have to open them. They need to come with directions. First I tried pealing the paper off, which failed. My 6 year old said, "Maybe its because you have sausage fingers." I laughed, which embarrassed him. Finally I did get the top off, which sent candy flying in every direction. Yea, that was a great gift.

Gift #2 was not much better, and that works out to be a great pun as you keep reading. I bought these Reindeer, Santa Clauses and Snow Men that poop out candy. Not a typo, they poop out candy. Apparently the reindeer poop tastes sour. "Which poop do you like better? The red or the green?" And thats not the worst of it. They sing. Loudly. I think we were drugged. Its the only explanation.

Book Review: December 2011

2011-12-26T15:53:00.001-07:00

With all the holiday stuff I only got to read 1 book this month. I might make up for it this week though, I started on Bill Cosby's book: I Didn't Ask to be Born, today and am already half way through. Its hilarious.

The one book I did read this month was Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation. About the generation who produced the baby boomers, the men and women who fought during WW2 and created the America we know today. It isn't overly syrupy in its reverence for that generation, but it is a good read and nicely broken up into segments. I love those types of books because if I have to leave it for awhile I can come back and not have to remember what was going on. It was a best seller when it was written. I would love to read another book like it, but written now post 9/11. I see my own grandparents in this book, part of the greatest generation. I see where Brokaw got his revere from. Those that see the hard work, the drive, the spirit of those who lived the Great Depression and survived the War, see the greatness.

More Christmas Crafts

2011-12-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

We aren't having school this week, so no crafts. But I figure all the wrapping and baking will suffice. If you need something to keep the kids occupied this week, try these crafts:

Wreath

Nativity Scene

Snowflake ornament

Monday Craft: Snowflakes

2011-12-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone here knows how to do this. The kids requested it so I figured why not. They were already attending another crafting class in the evening they didn't need 2 involved crafts in one day.

And if you need a little something extra to go along with this craft check out: http://snowflakebentley.com/index.htm For all sorts of beautiful pictures and great information about snowflakes.

Monday Craft - Wreaths

2011-12-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to do Japanese Woodblocking but I didn't prepare enough. So I thought I would try something easy. I should have gone with the Japanese craft.

I got my craft from All Kids Network again. For this I suggest you start at least a day ahead of time. It takes about an hour to cut everything out if you have a bunch of kids. I needed like 16 pieces of green paper and a ton of glue...a TON. You will need way more than you think you do. You need to stick the leaves to the plate and then to each other because they overlap. Or they will fall off. I suggest something better than Elmers. Also, have the kids write their names before they start work on it. Esp if you are doing this with a homeschool group with lots of kids. I also suggest putting down newspaper because of the amount of glue you need to use.

Advent/Count Down Craft

2011-12-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't post Monday, but I had to wait to finish this craft till I got to the store for chocolate.

We made our own Count Down/ Advent calendar. I looked around for different crafts. I wanted to do one we could use every year but there is some problems with that. For one I need enough space for 8+ kids inside each day. Not a lot of crafts are built for large families. Procrastination was the other problem. I suggest starting crafts at least a week before you need them!

So this years I got from Design Sponge. Of course I had to put my own spin on it. I had my kids decorate the envelopes. I have 8 kids who can color so they each got 3. YMMV depending on how many kids you have. You can also do stickers, stencils, painting, etc.

Inside the envelopes I put Hershey Kisses. One for each kid. I do recommend doing the same thing and not a mix. Because then you will have kids fighting. Unless your kid is abnormal...I mean nice.

I used garland instead of string (cause thats what I had), and I used tacks to hang the garland . I wrote the numbers on every day cause I didn't have stencils or stickers. But you can get really creative and do the pictures inside giant numbers. Or you can have each kid create a number out of reindeer or hearts or whatever. Like I said, get creative.

Make sure you number your envelops so you have enough!

If your craft is heavy you may need more than tacks. Mine was pretty heavy with our choice of chocolate.

Whats on your Nightstand or Book Reviews November 2011

2011-11-22T15:04:00.020-07:00

Once again joining 5 Minutes for Books for this month's Whats on your Nightstand.

This last month I read Laura Bush's book: Spoken from the Heart and Adventurous Women by Penny Colman.

Spoken from the Heart was great to read after I had read George Bush's book Decision Points. Its like a his and hers commentary of the 8 years in the white house and some of their time before the presidency. If there is ever any doubt men and women are different just read these two books for the perfect example. Her book is an inside view of things that go on at the White House that you never hear about. The cost, the intense schedule, how little time the first couple actually get to spend together despite "working from home" together every day. She chronicled her time spent working with charities and how she chose the decorations every Christmas. It was so enjoyable and warm. Aptly named, her book truly is Spoken from the Heart.

Adventurous Women is a great book for pre-teen and teen girls. The book showcases 8 women who not merely were adventurous because they were women in a mans world, but they did things even men didn't do. From exploring the arctic to changing laws on citizenship. Its a short book and not too in depth, just enough to give an overview and peek your interest. I am going to write up a unit study on it for my girls to do, when its complete I will post the PDFs.

I have already started on The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw and if I can fit it in with all the holidays, Onward by Howard Shultz. I have about 10 books sitting here though so I might change my mind. Like that ever happens. I have a cute little book about Leonardo da Vinci I picked up for the kids for school. Its a translation of an Italian book about his paintings. I was hoping to wait till next summer to read it but its just so cute I might have to do it after Tom Brokaw's book.

American Heritage Festival

2011-11-20T16:28:00.001-07:00

We love us a good history lesson. My poor 2 year old was scared of the canons. The shooting didn't seem to bother him too much, but he still held his ears for them. The baby didn't flinch. We enjoyed the music and fashion show. I really loved hearing about gun making. And I am always reminded about how great it is to live when we do, to have the things that we have. Here are some pictures from the event. If you are in AZ next November, its a great event.

Yea, we bought a toy hatchet. Cause you know, the kids don't have enough stuff to hit each other with.

Fashion show. Thankful we wear only 2 layers of clothes, maybe 3 when its cold.

Monday Craft - Old Fashioned Turkey

2011-11-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

We only had 7 pieces of construction paper to do a craft today. Seems someone forgot to buy some. *cough*

So we had to improvise a little. We were going to do a more colorful version that my 2nd son picked. But we settled for just tracing hands on construction paper, cutting them out and taping them on a picture they drew. Suggestion: make a couple of samples for the kids to get ideas from. Also, rolling tape and adhering the turkey to the picture that way makes the turkey pop and looks neat that way.

They can make more feathers if they want a fuller turkey. Or add scraps of construction paper between the fingers.

We had a lot of farm scenes. My oldest had a cornucopia, one of my sons had a snowy scene. You can draw a thanksgiving table or woods. Whatever your little heart desires. An oven would be funny.

Cutting skills is hard to learn.

My oldest's and my 7 year olds.

Monday Craft - Puzzles

2011-11-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

You can buy blank puzzles for your kids to make, but I prefer not to spend the money. It also gives you kids a chance to practice their scissor skills. You need blank paper or poster board. Construction paper will also work. Draw your puzzle shapes on one side.

You can get creative or go traditional. Kids can do their own but be sure to supervise so they aren't making pieces that have no way of being cut out.

Like this one here. He did cut it out but it was rather hard to fold up and store afterward. When the pieces are done, flip it over to make a picture. Here is my 2 year olds.

Once the design is done just cut the pieces out. He didn't seem the least bit upset his picture was cut up.

Here is my 11 years old put back together. The kids had a fun time challenging each other.

Store in plastic baggies or small boxes.

What I learned today

2011-11-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

I learned that to a 4 year old "Ankles" and "Knuckles" are very similar, and honestly they look a lot alike. My 4 yr old came to me with his pants on and asked, "Are my knuckles showing?"

I learned that if you leave the window open on a breezy day you will most likely have to dust. ALOT.

I also learned if you use a wet sponge to clean it up you make mud.

I learned that you might think that recycling a container into a tool box is a great idea until your neighbors ask to borrow a tool. Then it looks more hillbilly than hippie.

Book Review - All Creatures Great and Small

2011-11-04T16:19:00.001-07:00

My oldest daughter read All Creatures Great and Small by James Harriet and wrote a wonderful little review on it.

All Creatures Great and Small was a unique book that showed the life of a young man making a hard living was still content with what he had. It helps us understand the value of any life, and to value our own, no matter what we do.
Despite his hard job in the unknown countryside of the Yorkshire Dales, James Herriot was a determined young vet who put up with everyone he met, no matter their attitude. We should learn from him, looking ahead at dangers or rewards, and always try to do the best you can even if it isn't the best outcome.
The book itself was special; it brought us to many different areas and times, helping us learn and letting us see how good we have it today. It didn't follow a single line, but let us see his memories in parts.
We see that Herriot teaches us to respect, be content, always try, and value all life, whether great or small.

Monday Craft - Crayola Color Explosion

2011-10-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

This weeks craft was out of a box. I know, the shame of it. It was $3.50 on sale and I had a 30% off coupon. So for 8 kids (I had to buy 2 of course) it was $4.90. Pretty decent price right? Wrong. There was a reason these were on sale.

The pros: It was easy to do even for little kids. All prepackaged ready to go. Cheap.

The Cons: Smells horrid. Stains terribly.

It has a ton of warnings on it about the staining. Don't let it touch anything. And why oh why if they knew it would bleed did they give us paper that it could bleed through? It even says not to let finished product touch just about EVERYTHING. So what the heck are we supposed to do with it once done? I hung mine up anyway figuring we can throw them out tomorrow.

It does not however have warnings about how badly these things smell. And it doesn't go away when it dries. I have such a headache. My 9 year old won't go anywhere near them.

Aren't you glad I bought these before you did? Awful things. Do not recommend.

Fort Verde, Arizona

2011-10-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

Last week we visited Fort Verde, an Arizona State Park. Its about a 90 minute drive from the Phoenix area.

There is the main museum where you pay admission. There is a video in the last room and artifacts from the Fort throughout. Of course my kids, being the boys they are, they loved the guns. I wanted to stop and read all the biographies of the people who had served there but my kids kept pulling me away to see this gun or that gun. You also get stuff for the kids to do. A type of scavenger hunt and when you have found all the answers you get a pin.

There are also 2 buildings you can walk through. Be prepared for some steep steps! I wonder if they used baby gates back then. It was very educational for the kids. The last time I went I was 16 or 17. So it was neat to see this from a mothers perspective this time. There were a few things only a mom of many would appreciate. For one their tiny kitchens. There were no cabinets. They stored all their pots and pans at the stove. Each size pan sitting neatly in a larger one. The creaky boards used as flooring, would be great today to listen for sneaking kids. Those made a lot of noise as my troop tramped over them.

Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves and hope to go back for some other activities like their ornament making class in December.

An Apology

2011-10-30T14:50:00.001-07:00

Frequently, when we go out altogether, people want to talk to us. I know there are so many questions, from our religion to their ages; and even more stories about their own children or upbringing. I do love to talk to each and everyone who is curious but so often I am unable. Those precious children you are curious about? They are ready to knock down a display rack or push the buttons of a nearby unattended cash register. While they aren't bad kids, they are kids. And they will act accordingly when they are out. So, for the sake of the rest of the patrons, I must forego polite conversation to turn my attention to the spilled water that is about to send someone hurling into the air. I am not intentionally being rude, I just figure you and I would rather not end up cleaning up whatever it is my son is trying to pull off the shelves.

Thank - you for your understanding!

I wonder if I can have this made into a business card.

Whats on my Night Stand or Book Review October 2011

2011-10-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Once again joining 5 Minutes for Books for their monthly Whats on your Nightstand post.

This month I read The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived as well as The Broken American Male.

101 was rather annoying. It was written by a few different people so as you went from one fictional person to another the writing style changed. One was even written from a dogs point of view. They also interjected political opinions into some of the essays, and not in any way to enhance their essay. It was just cheap jabs, and I didn't appreciate it. However, there was some good information in the book and it was a fun and easy read. Out of 5 stars I would give it 3.

The Broken American Male is a must read even if you don't have a Broken Male in your home. I learned just as much about myself as I did men in America. His respect for women is refreshing, I wish every man could read this book and realize what true respect is. As a parent I walked away with great ideas on how to help my boys become wholesome men and not broken men. A great book.

For next month I have already started on Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush, and hope to fit in Adventurous Women. Spoken from the Heart has so far been very enjoyable. I was actually sad she had to leave her childhood and grow up. It was simple and beautiful, calm.

Monday Craft: Window Craft

2011-10-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter found days craft in The Halloween Book pages 8 and 9.

You need Tissue paper, Construction paper, pencils, scissors and tape.

Draw your panned window on the black construction paper (or other color if you prefer something more cheerful for autumn).

Cut out the panes and tape the tissue paper to the back. You can use different color tissue paper for a more natural look. Orange for pumpkins, blue for sky, yellow for lights.

Tape the finished product in the window.

Why I Make My Kids Change Diapers

2011-10-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

So when they become parents they actually know how to change a diaper. I know, its such a stretch. Teaching a kid to do something so when they become an adult they know how to do it. Thats like school or something. And you know what else I teach them? How to cook, and do laundry and clean and exercise and eat healthy. Its a very simple program, its called chores. Amazing right?!

To be fair, I do not MAKE my kids change diapers. They can do it if they want to but they HAVE to learn how. And for the most part I do the cooking but my kids help.

What are parents for if not to raise children who can be productive members of society? To give back instead of take. To care of themselves and others. What are parents for if not to keep them healthy and safe? So they will live long healthy lives with which to serve others. When my children leave the home I want to look at them and see that all the work I did was good.

Sacrifice or Responsibility

2011-10-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

When we were struggling financially we had to cut back on everything. That meant any luxury had to go: cable/satellite, home phones, eating out, etc. It felt like such a sacrifice. Like we were missing out.

When we were able to afford those things again we indulged. To be sure we don't need any of those things. Life was fine with out it, except in our mind we weren't enjoying ourselves as much.

So why is it that we decided to do without again? Because even though we can afford it, we don't need those things. The best way to keep your money is not to spend it to begin with. Not to mention there are few things worthwhile on tv, eating out isn't that good for you and I don't even talk on the phone so having 2 is worthless.

A surprising thing happened when we got rid of stuff again. I didn't miss it. I didn't feel like I was missing out. The extra money in our bank account is nice too. Instead, I feel responsible. I did the right thing. And some other benefits: you can buy or watch your shows for free online minus all the commercials. Especially all those commercials which kids probably shouldn't see. No more sales calls at all hours disturbing sleeping kids or school. In the pursuit of food as good as a restaurants, I have become a better cook. A skill I can then teach my children. And in all things we have gained more time. Time is valuable you know.

Yup, I feel responsible. I feel good that I made a good decision.

Monday Craft: Mosaic Pumpkin

2011-10-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

My oldest came up with this craft, and I should have taken pictures because I don't have a link for you to follow today.

She used 8 pieces of paper and drew a giant pumpkin and raven on it. Just the outline in black marker. You can do whatever you like but the point is that its one big thing split into smaller pieces. We used 8 pieces of paper for the 8 kids who would color but if you have 4 kids do 4 pieces of paper or 20 kids do 20 pieces of paper.

Next you need to number each section and assign a color to each number. That way the kids know what color to make that section. She wrote the number/color combinations on the white board.

Once everyone has colored their sheets you need to tape it altogether for the big reveal. What will it be? The kids got so excited since they had no idea what they were coloring.

My 9 year old said this has been his favorite craft.

Atmosphere for Learning

2011-10-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

My home is less of a showpiece and more of a classroom. My decorations consist of maps and posters of the alphabet. My dining area is where we do our school. Its also the main room we host parties in. I felt a little bad that its not very formal. I don't know how guests feel when they come over and eat while staring at a multiplication table. Its probably not the most relaxing environment, most likely reminding them of their own school days. But isn't that the point of homeschooling? That learning happens everyday, in every place. We never stop learning. 6 Things Every Smart Home Needs was an article in USA Weekend today, talking about just this thing.

I was happy to see, based on that list, we are 6 for 6. Some of my kids favorite toys are dominoes, our walls are plastered with maps (not to mention the quizzing globe), and our entire living room is designed to allow for a quiet reading space. We have no TV in our living room, with plenty of seating (not necessarily NICE seating but its a place to plop your butt) and a nice ottoman where numerous kids can put up their feet. Also the only toys allowed in there are baby toys. And do they ever take advantage of the area. It has become the go to place for not just myself but my kids as well. You are almost always certain to find someone in there reading.

So while guests might not get why my home isn't like theirs, I feel confident knowing I am providing the best atmosphere for my kids to learn. And learn all the time, not just at school time. (if you don't want your pics to look like mine, don't let your baby slobber on your phone...just a suggestion)

Signs your Toddler is Ready to Potty Train

2011-10-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

Runs into your closet and squats behind the clothes.

Yells at his older sister to "Change my diaper. Change my diaper NOW!"

Tries to go on the potty (AFTER he pooped in his diaper thus smearing poop all over the toilet).

Can get his own diaper on.

Can actually verbalize his disgust of diapers. "Do I have to wear this sweaty diaper?"

Has gone from playing with poop to finding it disgusting, what a relief.

Monday is Craft Day

2011-10-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

We are trying to be consistent with our Arts and Crafts this year. Every Monday is craft day and this year I am letting the kids be responsible for one craft a month. They pick it, assemble the parts and teach it to the other kids. I figure that way at least once a month they get to do a craft they want to do.

Today we made Pumpkins.

Its actually a great craft if you have a big family, because there is always an abundance of toilet paper rolls around.

Unlike last weeks craft this one involves tape. Which is less fun but also less messy. It also means you either need to have enough rolls of tape for everyone or you need to take turns or you need to give everyone enough tape for theirs.

You can string these together and hang them in a window or out front as decorations.

Autumn Craft

2011-10-04T14:04:00.001-07:00

To celebrate the cooling temperature (we are below 100!) we made an autumn craft today. I saw something similar on All Kids Network . But I don't have enough scissors for the kids to use, that never turns out well. So instead I cut everything out ahead of time and the kids could pick and choose what to put on their picture. My daughter made some witches on brooms and some black cats as well. You can cut out some black ovals for hollows of a tree. The leaves can be all wiggly or triangles, they don't have to look like leaves but if you are really patient and want to cut out leaves you can do that too.

Next, have the kids all glue their pieces onto a blue paper. What I do is put 2 plates at either end of the table, pour some glue in the middle and let them use tooth picks to put the glue on their papers.

Make sure they put their name on it. My Ewan here spelled his name Wean! Hes 4, what can I say? My 6 year old went through a time when he refused to cross his "A".

Its amazing how each childs came out so differently even though they all used the same parts.

Finally Back to Normal

2011-10-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

The 2nd week of September a cold started to go through our house. While the dh is still coughing everyone else seems to have mended for the most part. I am finally all caught up. Caught up just in time for my dishwasher to get clogged today and I have no idea how to unclog it.

While I was sick I made sure I complained a lot. When I couldn't talk because I had laryngitis I texted and imed everyone to tell them how awful it was. I told everyone how annoying my sore throat was and how awful my cough was. I told them my sinuses hurt, especially when I blew my nose. Yesterday, the dh told me every little symptom I had he is now experiencing. See, this is why its important to complain when you are sick. Its a public service so everyone knows what to expect.

I think everyone should complain, its just thoughtful.

Whats on your nightstand September 2011

2011-09-28T19:38:00.001-07:00

This month I am joining with other bloggers to bring you Whats on Your Nightstand.

Since my last book review I read: License to Pawn by Rick Harrison and I Can Make You Sleep by Paul McKenna.

If you like Pawn Stars you will like License to Pawn. Its delves into the history of all the major stars, has the history of the shop and how they got started doing a reality show. Its full of funny stories both personal and business. I enjoyed this book and it was a quick easy read.

Paul McKenna is a hypnotist, the book comes with a cd but I have not had the chance to listen to it. But as a writer his work is clear and concise. The directions are simple and easy to understand. The book worked wonders for me and I highly recommend it. Quite honestly you aren't gonna be any worse off if you read it, but you can be if you don't.

I also read Decision Points by George W. Bush. I enjoyed this book, but it was difficult to read. So many bad things happened in the 8 years he was president; from 9/11 to Katrina to the collapse of the economy. It was like reliving all those things. It was nice to get an inside view as to why he made the decisions he did and how he would have handled things differently. Overall it was a good book.

For the month of October I hope to read: The Broken American Male by Rabbi Shmuley Botech, The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived by Dan Karlan, and if I have time Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. Although, I might push Palin's off if I find something more interesting in the meantime (no offense).

The Kids Ban Revisited

2011-09-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Recently the dh and I went out for dinner, alone. Just the two of us. It was the first time in about 6 months, the dh and I try to go out once a month on a dinner date but because we had a new born we had to wait till he could take a bottle. On this night, a mid week night, it was very crowded. People were waiting outside and every table in the place was full. It was noisy in there. There was no music playing, thank goodness. This is a rather upscale restaurant, well compared to Johnny Rockets where we usually go with the kids, so you would expect it to be a bit quieter.

At first I was a little over whelmed. I am not used to going out somewhere with that many people. I told dh, If I had wanted to be around a ton of people where we can't even hear each other across the table, I would have stayed home and had dinner with the kids. Which brings me back to the Kid ban. Out of all the people in the restaurant there was 3 kids at 3 different tables near me but they weren't loud or disruptive. And even if they were, I wouldn't be able to hear them over all the other patrons. Which made me think back, every time we have gone out before, without children, I have never once noticed disruptive kids. Even in our usual place which is very quiet. So either I am damn lucky to never had a dinner ruined by some unruly child or there are some people who are really unlucky to the point of frequently having their dinner disrupted by kids. I could be so immune to children that even if there was a terror running rampant I wouldn't notice. Or, and I think this is the correct answer, people don't like kids. Their mere presence is a disturbance. Their typical behavior is viewed as disobedience. I don't doubt there are kids out there that are bad at restaurants. But are there so many that there is a need for a ban? How many kids really go out with their parents? I saw 3 kids in our area, out of probably 30 people. Most people only have 1 or 2 kids anyway, so the place isn't going to be over run by kids.

Now, raise your hand if you had dinner ruined by an adult. Me me, I'm raising my hand. And you know why I remember those times? Adults know better, yet their behavior is worse than a kids. Some of them were drunk. Which is even worse cause at least kids with no manners can't get drunk and make even more of a scene.

I should clarify ruined. Ruined my dinner as in: I came in a good mood and left in a bad mood cause I couldn't spend my time unwinding with the dh because someone was so loud or creating such a scene you couldn't ignore it. I have seen kids do kid stuff, but nothing that was not quickly resolved and taken care of. I can't say the same for adults.

How are kids ever going to learn how to act in public if they are never allowed out in public. Oh, never mind, thats how all those adults that annoyed me came to be.

I should have known better

2011-09-06T19:10:00.001-07:00

Earlier today I caught my 2 year old in the fridge.

I got him a drink because I thought he was thirsty. I guess I should have been paying more attention to what he was getting when he was in the fridge. Because a little later he came to me all chatty, saying something about how he put it in the bowl and yummy yummy yummy.

Me: What did you eat? You smell like pickles.

Him: Ahhh weegaa loooaahhhh Yummy.

Daughter in the other room: He made himself a bowl of Mustard.

And he thought that was yummy. It was definitely snack time after that.

Tasting our German Heritage

2011-09-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today we explored our German heritage with some eierikucken . My Oma (german for grandmother, but she was actually my great grandmother) used to make these for me all the time. Thankfully my kids enjoyed them as much as I did.

Add the ingredients to the blender. For the eggs, crack one in a bowl and add it to the blender, instead of all the eggs to the same batch. If there is a problem with the eggs you will have to throw the whole thing out and start over. So be safe and do one at a time in its own bowl. You want to blend at high speeds.

It will look like a shake. Thats a good thing. But don't drink it. Thats a bad thing.

We started off using oil. I didn't care for it and switched to butter. Pour some batter in. It will be thin. Think Crepe.

You can roll it up with Nutella or Strawberry Jam or serve it with Syrup.

Guess which way my kids chose? I think they are addicted to syrup.

Hes totally blissed out.

Word Families

2011-08-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

You learn them when you are starting to read. We have flash cards to teach them. But as adults, experienced readers we tend to gloss over our words, reading them to fast and missing the little things.

I texted my mom to ask if she wanted to go shopping because I needed a new Griddle. She was excited to go so later that night we were at Kohls together. My daughters took off to the clothes and I told my mom I was gonna head to the kitchen section. She said, "I thought you were here to buy a Girdle?" Of course we had to see if it was me who misspelled or her who misread or if my autocorrect got me. Here she was excited to go buy a Girdle and I wanted a Griddle, something she is not excited about seeing as how she does not cook.

Those word families will get you every time.

School: Organized

2011-08-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

This is how I organize the kids school work. With 6 kids in 6 different grades, all doing a minimum of 5 subjects I need a way to keep it all organized or I would have no idea what I am doing.

Once I know what curriculum I am using I decide when we will have breaks and make my calendar around that. I always give time off for Thanksgiving and the day after. I give at least 2 weeks for the end of the year and one week at Passover (Spring break/Easter). This year I didn't write the days of the week on their schedule cause I knew we wouldn't be here some days in the middle of the week and they would have to make it up on Sundays. So I just did Day 1- Day 5. You can do more or less, whatever suits your schedule. I do know someone who did school 6 days a week. I figure out how many pages per day they would have to do to get through the book in a year/semester/etc. The 3 biggest kids do both Science and Health. So I break it up between semesters. My oldest does 2 semesters in Science then 2 in Health. The other 2 do 1 in Health. My oldest is doing Half the year in Latin and Half in Art.

I have the schedule arranged so that they can check off the work as its done.

I made a copy for me and instead of checking it off I have a spot to record grades. I also keep progress reports and a report card for each semester/yearly total.

I color code their notebooks. So I can just grab a book instead of trying to figure out whose is whose and what subject they put in there. So Red is Math, Green is History, Blue is Science, Yellow is Spelling and Black is Misc.

All their books are kept in a back pack. This serves 2 purposes: It keeps kids out of the school work and they can just pick it up and go when they need to. Working at grandmas today? Just grab it and go.

I keep all the answer keys, quizzes, test etc in a drawer system. Honestly I need bigger drawers. A filing cabinet would be better. But it is what it is. I have a box under my desk for all the extras they will need throughout the year.

I copy all their reproducible stuff, some has to be copied because it is meant to be cut and pasted and you would lose the stuff on the other side if you didn't. But I have learned that its better to keep a hard copy so you can make more for redos and also because next year that book might be out of print and you are out of luck. So it might be time and money to copy but in the long run it saves me a headache. They keep all those types stapled together or in 3 ring binders depending on what its. All color coded of course.

We went on a Field Trip

2011-08-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

And school hasn't even started yet. We couldn't resist. Its so hot in Phoenix we had to leave town to cool off.

If you are ever so inclined Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, AZ is beautiful and very educational. There are several buildings and they frequently have Living History presentations there. Of course we had to check out the one room school house. Its about the size of my dining room. If my family were to have gone there we probably would have had to build an addition. We took up the whole place.

And today we are building $100 million dollar schools. I will refrain from commenting *cough*.

I loved the Heirloom Garden. The kids really want to do their own and I might have to let them, cause its really cool. I do have to say all those hours spent watching documentaries has finally paid off. I knew what Heirloom seeds were and could explain it to my kids.

And I had to get a picture of the period shoes they had on display. My one foot is bigger than their two. Either they just had small feet back then or we have all turned into Hobbits.

Of course there was the Rose Garden with the Sundial, the Koi Pond and the crab apple trees, and we can't forget the mummified mouse. Sorry, no pic of that, you will just have to go see it for yourself.

So glad to be going into the fall season. There will probably be many more trips like this in the months to come.

Because Stay at Home Moms are Dumb

2011-08-26T13:24:00.003-07:00

About 10 or 12 years ago my brother in law said of me being a stay at home mom, "Why did you bother going to college then? You are wasting your education." This from a man who manages a Bob Evans. Which is a great restaurant and all, but really hes probably wasting his college edumacation. You can bet that statement didn't go over real well with me.

I was reminded of this comment when reading that book; Spilled Milk. There were a few comments in it about how women wanted to keep working because they needed the mental stimulation. They didn't want to be a stay at home mom and have their brains turn to mush. Well that ticked me off. Cause I find being a stay at home mom particularly challenging mentally. So either I am a dim wit who can't hack even the least strenuous of mentally challenging jobs or she was just woefully misinformed about how much it takes to be a stay at home mom.

Then wouldn't you know it I got even angrier when I read an article about how Chinese women are faring better now than before the 1 child policy because they can actually go to college and have jobs. Where before it was just assumed you would be a mother and not need to be educated.

Ok, granted its China. The country isn't synonymous with women's rights. But it is the prevailing attitude about stay at home moms. Its not as if I need a degree to change a diaper. But thats about where the mindlessness ends.

How many parenting books are there? Books on weaning, books on potty training, books on how to teach your child to read. Books on discipline and how to talk to your child (which I have read by the way and its not a very good book.). How many television shows are there dedicated to problems parents face? Super Nanny, Nanny 911, Positive Parenting Radio...and the list goes on. Frankly, I find it to be the opposite. Women are scared to be stay at home moms because its too hard. Of course lots of women have to work. But if it were a choice and they tell me want to work because being a SAHM is mind numbing I would probably laugh in their face.

I could have used more education. There are some problems I face over and over again. The same solution doesn't always work for different kids. I could use more ammo for those problems. And to women who found being a stay at home mom boring, you know you can read. You can go for a walk or talk to someone, get involved volunteering. You don't have to sit around being bored. Might I suggest you have a few more kids? That should liven things up for you.

Now that I have that off my chest, I have to go figure out how to get my 2 year old to take a nap while I have a migraine. That should be enough challenge for the rest of the day.

Using DVDs in Homeschooling

2011-08-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

I think homeschoolers tend to get stuck in a book. Sure, reading is important. But its also time consuming and not every kid is gonna be a reader. Some things can be taught better through watching.

Art is meant to be enjoyed through hearing or seeing. As much as you can read about Beethoven it doesn't compare to actually hearing his work. Aside from going to a concert or a museum you can learn about art via cds, mp3s and DVDs. Art 21 or Sister Wendy are great examples of learning through media. If you don't have Netflix most can be borrowed from a library. Its also easy to go through these DVDs in a short time. Covering more than if you would if you were reading. Supplement your existing lessons with a DVD on Van Gogh or Impressionists. Learn about the different types of music through both listening to the music and watching how it evolved. Blues, Jazz, Classical and Folk music is best appreciated by actually hearing it. I can remember 4th grade learning about the Mozart and the other masters and falling asleep during class. Might have been the Benedryl but it was the only class I fell asleep in...Every time. Some music would have helped for sure.

History, Science and Math can be enhanced through DVD as well. Face it you aren't gonna be able to nor will you want to do every science experiment in your house. Watching a clip on youtube will be much safer and cleaner. And just as informative. History can come alive with dramatized videos. Math tricks are easy to teach once you have seen them yourself.

How about creating videos of your homeschooler doing a project. Make a video of Hannibal crossing the Alps using Lego people. Or make a mix cd of rock music that employees classical music.

The idea is mostly to get out of the book. Liven things up. You children will thank you and you will feel good knowing they are getting a well rounded education.

Keep Them on Their Toes

2011-08-24T16:20:00.000-07:00

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Parents are insane. I would put money on that fact. Every parent tells their kid to do something expecting them to actually do it. The kid almost never does it. Take the statement, "Go clean your room." What do they do? Clean their room? No, they go in there, shut the door and read. Or play a game. Or jump off the top bunk. They never actually clean their room. Parents need to get smarter about this. We can't just keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. You have to change it up. Keep the kids on their toes.

If they don't put away their clothes, start hiding them. Put a shirt in their pillow case, put some shorts in their back pack, put some socks in the VCR (what are we the only people who still has one of those?). Keep them in your room. Eventually they will run out of clothes and they will put them away.

Won't clean off their dresser? Go throw everything on the floor. All their toys, papers, collectibles. I bet they will clean it up then. I know mine did.

Won't eat their fruits and veggies? Give them a plate of mixed veggies and tell them they can have their main course when they eat a serving.

Won't take the garbage out? Gather up all the garbage in the house and deposit it in their room.

Won't do their school work? Print out some school work for yourself, a book to read, a sheet of math to complete, anything and then race to see who gets it done first.

Won't make their bed? Seran wrap it.

Won't brush their teeth? Offer them some of that blue staining gum.

Eventually they will realize they are dealing with pros. Hey we were once kids, we should be experts at this. Play their game and win.

Now, I must go short sheet someones bed.

Book Review August 2011

2011-08-23T15:49:00.008-07:00

Last month I read 3 books: If These Boobs Could Talk, On Writing by Stephen King and Spilled Milk.

If These Boobs Could Talk was an ok book, I would give it 3 of 5 stars. Its good to have in your diaper bag for nursing sessions when you are out and about or if you are looking for something easy in between 2 my involved books. It might make a good gift for a baby shower to throw in with something else.

Spilled Milk by Andy Steiner drove me crazy. I would give it 2 stars out of 5. She wrote in the first person but had quotes from other mothers thrown in here and there. It was difficult to know if she was talking or the person she was quoting was talking. She restates things over and over as if the chapters were originally meant to be stand alone articles rather than a book. Like she will state over and over again a persons profession and credentials. She also jumped around talking about how she hopes her 2nd time nursing will be better, to how shes nursing her 2nd now back to how she is expecting her 2nd. From a breast feeders stand point she focused on problems more than anything else. I honestly felt that her own bitterness was coming through. I just did not care for the overall attitude of the book.

On Writing by Stephen King has been by far my favorite book in the last 2 years, a 4.5 stars out of 5. It by Stephen King, how could it not be? Hes a fabulous writer. This book is more memoir than how to, but has enough tips in it to give you the confidence to get started writing. It was well written, followed a good time line even though right in the middle is when he was hit by a car and had to take a long break from writing it. It does not feel jerky at all. I laughed quite a few times, especially at the beginning when he was talking about his childhood. If you don't care of swearing you probably will be offended by this book, to which I will say, get over it. Its a great book.

Next month I hope I will have 3 more books done so I can review them for you. On my nightstand now is License to Pawn, Decision Points and The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived.

What I did today

2011-08-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Emptied boxes of clothes into nice clear plastic bins my mom gave me. Hurrah for being organized!

Pulled a screw out of an outlet.

Furiously printed out progress reports for the kids school work which starts in a week.

Picked up random items around the house that needed put away including: 2 screw drivers that my husband keeps replacing because he thinks he lost them when he really only left them where he was last working, a ladle, an empty coke can, a package of bologna, a floor fan that for some reason my 2 year old dragged into the foyer and 2 items of clothing that needs fixed.

Talked to my aunt who says she is coming to visit in October. Good thing she gave me a warning as it will probably take me that long to clean this place up.

And look, I blogged!

There is always more to the story

2011-08-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I found a coke can in the chest freezer. I questioned the kids and no one claimed responsibility. I knew one of them was lying. Either that or I had done it on accident in one of my sleep deprived hazes. I couldn't be sure which. I had taken the can out and left it laying on the floor of the garage for the dh to see when he got home. Its not everyday you get to see a can of coke turned inside out. So I guess its my fault that it never found its way to the garbage and I really should know better than to leave stuff like that laying around.

A few days later my 7 year old found it laying on the floor of the garage and set it on the chest freezer. Being all turned inside out like it was it didn't stand well. It fell over and rolled off the freezer, landing on the garage floor and exploding. Scaring my 7 year old so bad he dropped his yogurt which also exploded. The car, chest freezer and fridge all got a soda bath, not to mention the floor and ds's legs.

At this point I kinda figured out who has done it and my suspicions were confirmed when my 10 year old told me he put it in the freezer to see what would happen. Of course I had found it before it could explode in the freezer. Which is what would have happened if I hadn't found it. Instead it ended up exploding all over the garage. I explained to my son that if he is ever curious about "what would happen if" he should just google it cause someone somewhere has done whatever it is he wants to do. And its way less messy that way. And then I told him to go clean up the soda.

Surprisingly this was less messy than the time the fire extinguisher exploded all over the garage.

Let Them Eat Cake

2011-08-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

If you have an addiction to sweets then finding a large family to be friends with (or having your own large family) is a sure cure. What you need to do is get yourself invited to all their birthday functions. Just say, I would love to stop by for some cake and ice cream. We'll be more than happy to have you because if there is one thing a big family hates is when there are 3 pieces of cake left over and 8 kids to fight for it. And we will send you home with all that cake, month after month. Pretty soon the mere thought of cake makes you sick. When you drive past an ice cream shop you will need to look the other way. After you get sick of cake and ice cream you will start to get sweets like giant cookies or brownies instead, and soon those things will start to lose their appeal. In fact instead of craving sugar you will start craving celery or lettuce, heck - anything that doesn't have a hint of sugar in it. Or at least thats how I feel right now, as we are in the midst of birthday season. Only 6 more to go. Heaven help me.

Learn from the Pros

2011-08-07T14:11:00.000-07:00

Kids can be annoying. When they ask something over and over again, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" or when they like a certain food this week but not the next and vise versa. But being annoying can be a useful tool for adults too. When you want to get your point across for instance. Say when your brother forgets your birthday. You can use those annoying tools for your benefit. Maybe act stupid so he has to repeat something over and over again because you are just not getting what he is saying. Stand in the kitchen and ask where the knives are. When he says 'Over there.' point to a drawer on the opposite side of the kitchen and say, "This one?" He will stand there like an idiot and say, "Over there." Louder because sisters who have their birthdays forgotten must be deaf. Repeat the question, "This one?" while pointing at the next drawer. Keep going till he becomes exasperated and says, "You spend too much time around kids." and walks away in a huff. Then tell him, "If you had just showed me instead of standing there saying 'Over there' I might have figured it out."

Or on his birthday text him every 20 minutes through out the day wishing him a Happy Birthday, and don't forget to gift him a bag of underwear 2 sizes too big.

No body should mess with a mom with a lot of kids. We are way better at being annoying because we have so many pros to learn from. Not that I am bitter or anything about someone forgetting my birthday. Or 5 someones. Not bitter at all.

Words that Don't go together in the same sentance

2011-08-03T14:02:00.001-07:00

...Part....1 million something

"Who put blocks in the babies diaper?" Thankfully it was only a peed in diaper. That could have gotten messy.

"Why is there a towel in the garbage?" Thank-you Luc. He feels the need to throw away everything.

"If you look really close, America is an elephant." My 7 year old. Its true - just squint.

"Babies are like worms. And by that I mean pink, fat, squirmy and droolly." My oldest.

"Why are there tuna cans taped to the wall?" Apparently they were making some sort of phone system for the house? I try not to get too many details.

Good Mom/Bad Mom

2011-08-02T20:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a few ways to tell if you are a Good Mom, a Normal Mom or a Bad Mom.

Good Mom: Peels and cuts apple into slices.
Normal Mom: Tries to convince child that eating the apple with the skin on is better than not so she doesn't have to peel apple.
Bad Mom: Opens a can of apple pie filling. Hey its already peeled and cut.

Good Mom: Buys multiples of childs favorite outfit and makes sure there is always a clean copy for them to wear.
Normal mom: Lets child wear same clothes for 2 days in a row so she doesn't have to fight with them to get it into the washer.
Bad mom: Lets child wear clothes for indefinite lengths of time. Hes dressed, what more do you want?

Good Mom: Documents the mess, with pictures and details of time and date for the baby book. Cleans up with a smile and counsels child on how to ask for help next time.
Normal Mom: Yells some profanity. Scrubs up the mess after texting pics of the disaster to her husband and hides the cause of the mess from her child.
Bad Mom: Leaves the mess because it blends in with the decor so well anyway. Or instructs the child to eat the mess off the floor, cause its their dinner for the night.

Good Mom: Arranges a play date with like minded families. Serves a snack and syncs calendar with the other mom so they can schedule the next play date.
Normal Mom: Takes kids to the park and hopes there are other kids there for her child to play with.
Bad Mom: Figures there will be kids at the parole officers waiting room the next time she goes. That counts right?

Good Mom: Has movies, snacks and a schedule of games for a sleep over. Gives detailed report to other parents the next day during pick up.
Normal Mom: Lets kids watch movies and eat popcorn, do their hair and pass out sometime around 3 am while she is hiding her head under her pillow.
Bad Mom: My kids are where?

Good Mom: Journals the time between nursing sessions, duration of nursing and every poopy and pee diaper, just in case.
Normal Mom: Feeds baby on demand and changes all poopy and pee diapers when they happen.
Bad Mom: Still trying to figure out how to get the diapers to weigh 8-12 lbs, they always fall off before then.

Good Mom: Composes a book of poetry on her love for her child and has it self published.
Normal Mom: Tells her child she loves them.
Bad Mom: Wait. What were we talking about?

The Latest Craze

2011-08-01T09:47:00.003-07:00

Have you heard about the latest No Children Allowed craze? This won't be a post about why stores should allow kids in them or why you are a horrible person for not wanting kids in places. What this post is about is all the other things that should be banned by these obviously conscientious store and restaurant owners.

1. Women in low rise jeans wearing thongs.

2. Men with droopy drawers and their butt cracks hanging out.

3. Anyone with any kind of political, satirical, or offensive in any way t-shirt or hat.

4. Anyone with any kind of gang colors on their clothing. (we should all be forced to wear tan and white quite frankly)

5. Old people who are hard of hearing requiring everyone speaking to them to shout.

6. Men who are wearing socks with their sandals.

7. Men who are wearing white belts. (Do they do this because they can't see the brown or black ones?)

8. Men in shorts with knee high socks.

9. Women in clothing so tight that it will pop off if she tries to sit down.

10. Anyone speaking in a foreign language because how will we know if they are talking about us?

11. Assistance dogs, we could be allergic you know.

12. People wearing strong perfume or cologne or who haven't showered in a week.

13. Cell phones. Period.

14. Complainers. Way to ruin my dinner with your outdoor voice when you complain about EVERY dish the server brings out.

15. Parties over 6. Save some tables for the rest of us.

16. All radio programs. Because every station and genre has the capability of offending SOMEONE.

I would be willing to bet money there is some lawsuit somewhere about one of these things, if not several.

Syrupy Sweetness

2011-07-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

It was a dark and stormy night. Actually it was, but thats not relevant to the story. I was laying in bed nursing the baby to sleep when my five year old comes bounding in. He jumped on the bed and said, "Ewan got out the syrup and squirted it all over the floor in the kitchen." He seemed very pleased. Probably that he was able to get his brother in trouble but also because its really amusing. I put the baby in his bed and went down stairs to the kitchen. The perpetrator ran past me and I told him to go clean himself up. I was already sticking to the floor before I even got to the kitchen. When my son ran out of the kitchen he took the stickiness with him. What awaited me in the kitchen was a syrup version of a slip and slide. A package of waffles lay on the counter. There was no plate in sight. I knew what he had tried to do, but when you accidentally poor syrup on the floor, and no one is around to see it except for the two year old, your little mind starts to think up awful things like, 'I will squirt some more out, already made a mess anyway'.

There was syrup foot prints smeared this way and that. From the pantry to the dining room with a giant puddle right in the middle. Half the two quart bottle was gone. And the smell. Oh the smell. No more does maple syrup remind me of pancake breakfasts with turkey sausage and eggs. Forever indelible in my brain will be a sticky floor and sore arms.

I scrubbed and scrubbed and mopped and mopped. Lots of towels were used, an entire wash load in fact. I enlisted my 10 year old son to help with the drying. He had a towel under each hand and one under his foot. He scurried across the floor in small circular motions drying drying drying. I laughed. He laughed. We both bust out laughing. Meanwhile remember I sent my son to wash up? Instead he hid in his bed. So then I had that to clean. Every rung up the ladder to his bed, the door knob, the walls, the rails. All had to be washed.

When all was said and done it was pretty funny. I actually didn't yell at him, hes only four and he was hungry and I was busy. I told him he had to ask a big person from now on, which includes big sisters. I am thinking after wrestling him into the shower they would much rather make him something to eat than deal with the aftermath of whatever mess he makes. And who wouldn't laugh at a syrup slip and slide? My two year old however was stunned. He just stood there. Probably because the toy he was riding got stuck in the syrup.

The victim.

The weapon.

The perpetrator.

And isn't he a cute perp? As bad as this was, it was easier to clean up than the petroleum jelly my oldest got all over her toys and herself and her room when she was two. I have never bought another big jar of that, only the little tiny ones for us now. Way less mess can be made with that size.

Indecision

2011-07-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

When I was 15 I decided I wanted to be a midwife. So I started going to college getting all my pre reqs. Thats when I was exposed to all these different ideas and professions. I changed my mind and decided to go for a degree in Psychology. Until my last year when I started having nightmares of dealing with abused kids. But what was I gonna do with all those Pysch classes? I figured I would go into advertising, so I got a degree in Communications. And what did I do with it? Become a mommy. Then as a mommy I took my hobby of sewing and writing and made money doing that.

The Dh had a similar experience. He actually got a degree in CAD and did that for 14 years. He was a landscaper in there and a maintenance man. He got into IT then Appraising and did some security work and pizza delivery then back into IT again.

I know very few people who have stuck with a profession or career for more than 10-15 years. These are adults who spent a considerable amount of money (and time) on school, who really thought they would love their job and do it for the rest of their life.

I look at my kids with all their different interests and talents and feel bad when I get upset that they won't stick to any one thing longer than a few months. However, a few months to an 8 year old is a really long time. I know I am not the only parent out there that gets frustrated after buying all the Ballet stuff only to have your daughter decide 3 months later that she would rather take Tap. But how will kids know if they really like something unless they try it out? They might get in their head they would love soccer, but until they try it they don't really know. Then, why stick with something you hate or aren't good at?

You never know when a hobby will become your career and when your career will become obsolete. I think that indecision that kids have, trying things out, is natures way of making sure we have enough interests in life so that we have something to fall back on when one job doesn't pan out. In our case when Appraising died at least the Dh could get a job in IT again. I turned my hobby of sewing in to a job and was paying the bills for awhile. Don't look at it as indecision as much as alternative opportunities in life.

Chocolate?

2011-07-26T09:13:00.001-07:00

I am sure everyone's meal conversations are about fecal matter or eating insects or the latest gross thing one of your children did. Because, really, doesn't food make everyone think of disgusting things? It does at our house, and I know we aren't in any way weird, so I assume its the same at your house. Which is why I have no problem sharing this story and everyone will shake their head in agreement, because this totally happens at every dinner table.

Me: Whats that on your arm? Is it chocolate or poop?

Ds: I don't know.

Another ds: Smell it.

Ds smells arm: Hmmm, I don't know what it is.

Me: Lick it.

Ds licks arm.

Meanwhile another son was gagging his dinner. And the rest of the kids are falling off their seat laughing. Just for your piece of mind, it was Nutella. I get the grossest mom award for telling her son to lick an unknown substance off his arm. Honestly, I didn't think he would actually do it. Why I don't know. I really should know better.

Milestones

2011-07-25T08:53:00.001-07:00

I don't care how many kids I have, I can never stop being excited when a baby reaches a milestone. It holds the same excitement that watching my first learn to roll over, sit, crawl, talk and walk did. I think maybe it actually gets worse when you have had several kids. I notice every little development. "Hey hes vocalizing 8 different sounds now! Last week it was 4!"

For instance, my baby can grab his feet, and suck on his toes.

My daughter said hes thinking, "Hey, 2 more thumbs! And these ones are bigger and juicier than the others."

Learning through Experience

2011-07-24T11:57:00.000-07:00

2 of my boys have discovered how to do back flips off their bunk bed. Thankfully we are talking about the older boys, because I am sure if it was my 2 year old I would be hospitalized for a heart attack. I have told them repeatedly not to do it. But like climbing the walls (literally, I have to clean the foot prints off the hall walls) they do it when they think no one is around. Of course they don't realize I can hear them land when I am downstairs under their room. Part of me wants to tell them about how when I was their age I discovered flipping off my bunk bed too. And that I stopped because I hit my knee on my forehead nearly knocking myself out. But I know it wouldn't be a warning as much as it would be a challenge.

I left my 2 year old in the care of my 13 year old while I nursed the baby. I came back to check on him before I started dinner. In that time he discovered fingernail polish and painted his sisters make up case.

She told me, "I smelled something and turned around and there he was makin art with my finger nail polish." As I walked away I said, "You need to pay better attention, you can't smell all messes." My 12 year old was entering as I was leaving and I could hear her say to her sister, "What the heck is that supposed to mean?"

The Value of Things

2011-07-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Cost of an iPhone: Avg $500

Cost of a laptop: Avg $500

Cost of homeschool curriculum: Avg $360

Cost of a chest freezer:
$328

Cost of a Nintendo 3DS: $250

Cost of a pair of Seven Jeans: $180

Cost of a Convertible Car Seat: $150

Is there a reason I can buy a laptop for less than a cell phone? Someone wants me to believe that it costs me nearly $12.5k a year per child to raise from birth to 18. Which is just silly, cause we do not make $113k a year. I wish! I mean I know diapers are expensive but really? You can use the USDA calculator to determine how much it costs you to raise your family in your area. Unfortunately it only goes up to 6 kids. I inputted our information with only 6 kids and it says I would spend almost $20k on childcare and education. If I could do that I would have them all in private schools. Housing would cost me $40,000, which includes utilities. Transportation costs is identical to food expenses at $12,000. No wonder people think kids are expensive given the "Experts" take on it. Everyone say it with me, Life Styles are expensive, not kids.

Common sense tells us that this is way over estimating expenses. Paying cash instead of using loans or credit cards, recycling and reusing cuts expenses way down, typically the greener the household the less the expenses. Using items till they is no life in them, living within our means, changing our perception of want and need would ensure our expenses remain well below what the "average" supposedly is. To borrow a Duggar saying, "Buy used and save the difference." Showering children with gifts, privilege and money does not make you a good parent or ensure they become better people.

What I value is not lifestyle just a good life for me and my children. I can get lots of toys for lots of money, or I can get great school curriculum, items to keep them safe, and to feed them for less than the toys for myself. Theres nothing wrong with having all sorts of fancy and fun stuff. But we can't be made to feel guilty because we or our children don't have the fun stuff.

Too Smart

2011-07-21T10:01:00.001-07:00

The dh has made himself a dark and quiet place to sleep since he is now nocturnal. He has dubbed it the "Matt Cave", he thinks hes so clever. Our 5 year old thought it was a grand idea and announced, "Its like your natural habitat." 5 year olds shouldn't even know the word habitat, let alone its correct usage. Although, I had to laugh because he was so right.

My kids like blocks, but I refuse to buy the little legos. Ever step on one of those things? While running down the stairs? It wasn't pleasant, I still have scars. And that wasn't even my kids, that was my brothers 20 years ago. So they have to be happy with the big toddler blocks.

They also made a Spongebob and an Eiffel Tower. My favorite had to be the game system with removeable disks and the controllers to match. This here is a character from Minecraft.

Haboob

2011-07-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

We recently had not one but two Haboobs hit Phoenix. It happens every so often,but mostly our dust storms are rather small. The first one was moving so fast that one minute we were outside swimming and the next we were inside wondering why outside was pitch black. Took me a minute to realize what I was seeing was dust. The second one was slower moving, we got to see that one come in.

Thats the view out of my back yard. We actually got some rain with this one, my mother quipped she was glad she wasn't able to get her car washed like she had wanted. She would have been ticked to have a mud caked clean car.
Once again, science in your back yard.

Kids are Adaptable

2011-07-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

Mothers, not so much. In fact I think the say, "Old dogs can't learn new tricks." came from some mom trying to explain why she can not possibly do another shift change. The dh started a new job, which involves a very dramatic shift change. He went from sleeping 10 pm to 4 am to sleeping 10 am to 4 pm. Meanwhile I am supposed to keep my schedule and keep the kids quiet while he sleeps. Someone should probably have told him we have 9 kids. Actually, they have been incredibly good. I will tell you, you have no idea how good your kids truly are till you need them to be. Unfortunately, I don't sleep so well when hes not here. Apparently even *I* can't live on as little sleep as I am getting.

Its going something like this:
1-2am - Tries to sleep, takes about 30-45 min before I am out

2-3 am - Baby wants to nurse

3:30-4 am - 2 year old wakes up wanting a drink and needing a diaper change

4:30 am - Baby wants to nurse

5 am - 2 year old wants a drink and needs ANOTHER diaper change

5:15 - 5 year old starts yelling at his 4 year old brother in his sleep.

6 am - baby wants to nurse again

6:30 am the garbage truck rolls around

7 am I am finally bad to sleep, but I know I have to be up at 8 so I can shower and get done before the dh gets home to crash.

Then as I walk around all zombie like during the day while the kids have all this energy and get to take naps. We shifted their schedule over the last 2 weeks so they are staying up later so they can see daddy more when he is home. They have not noticed anything, no one has complained. But me, I am falling up the stairs, not down but up, because I am so tired I can't make my legs work the way they are supposed to.

Once we are on this schedule and back to "normal", what ever that is, we better never ever change again.

Fish and Eagles and Stink Bugs

2011-07-15T14:57:00.001-07:00

We are spending our summer doing short jaunts around the state. This week we went to Willow springs Lake in Northern AZ. First we stopped at the lake in down town Payson for a picnic.

It was so refreshing to step out of the car and not bake in the sun. We can actually enjoy the outdoors. After that we had to get up the road to the fish hatchery before the road closed for 45 minutes. If you are going to make the trip be sure to check road closures. Last year we got stuck in it and it was not pleasant. We had fun feeding the fish and seeing the different stages of development. We wanted to see a deer but all we really got to see was squirrels. Oh yea, and a lizard with no tail.

Somehow there was a dead fish laying outside the runners. We hypothesized it had tried to jump up the water spicket and landed outside the area. The kids wanted a picture, because whenever you have a fish story you have to have a picture. So I knelt down to get the picture and told the fish to say "Fish". Yes, I was talking to a dead fish...And? My kids were probably thinking the same thing as you all cause they, in unison, said "Fish." If I had tried to explain myself to them they would have just thought I was even more nuts, so I let it go.

After a lovely ride down a windy road, where we all got lite headed from the thin air, we went to the lake.

See, there are pretty parts to Arizona, its not all desert. We walked along the water for a ways when my brother pointed out this huge bird over the lake. It ended up flying over us and landing at the top of a tree. It was very apparent we were looking at a Bald Eagle. A hawk then started to dive bomb the eagle. A hawk dive bombed an eagle. Yea, probably not the smartest bird around. The eagle could have had the hawk for lunch it was so much bigger. Yes, I know eagles eat fish, just go with me here. Then, as if it wasn't cool enough to see 1 bald eagle, another flew down and perched on the tree.

After the Eagles flew away we were left to entertain ourselves with whatever wild life we could find. The kids chased some chipmunks till they found a stink bug. There was a bald eagle, 2 of them, and we saw them take off and land, but give the kids a stick with a stink bug on it and they act like they won the lotto. My daughter insisted I see it; I insisted I not get sprayed. She assured me I wouldn't, "I've poked it and prodded it and it hasn't sprayed me." Great, get it all angry before you bring it over to me. Thanks. Then, instead of returning it to the trees, she left it on the cement pillar next to me. It wasn't long before I had little boys with sticks poking the stink bug. I must have said, "Stop poking the stink bug." 20 times. And do you think anyone thought to get a picture of it? No.

How to Make a Diaper Stacker

2011-07-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

This is the first time in a few years that I have had 2 in diapers. I have come to accept that my toddler will not potty train anytime soon. Or at least not soon enough for me to stop being annoyed with having stacks of diapers laying around. I needed another diapers stacker. I didn't have a pattern and I have had no luck finding one in ANY store. So fine I will make one, it can't be that hard. Well, its a little hard but at least I have somewhere else to stack my diapers and not my night stand.

You will need:

Fabric
Binding
Sewing machine or needle and thread
Scissors, pins and a pen
Hanger

Measure and cut the washed and dried fabric to 35 inches wide and 23 inches long keeping about 1/4 inch for the seam allowance. The bottom is 11x7 inches again with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. The bottom does not have to match the fabric. I used a cotton woven, you don't want anything stretchy like knit because the weight will end up stretching it out.

Sew the biding onto the ends of the short side. If you would rather not deal with binding you can add an inch instead of 1/4 inch then turn twice and top stitch. Binding gives it a cleaner look though and its really not that much harder to do.

Sew the bottom onto the body of the fabric. To do this find the middle of the long side of the bottom, place the binding at that mark and start sewing there. Keeping right sides together and taking special care at the corners not to round them too much. Using pins will help keep the fabric from shifting. You may want to do a faux serge on the edges to make it more secure.

At the top of the body again find the middle and fold the corners in and sew straight across. Once sewn measure in from the corners about 3 inches and fold the corners in to that point. Pin down and sew straight across the top again. This is designed for a children's hanger and this pulls in the top to form corners for a smaller hanger.

Measure 4 inches from the top and stitch just the bound edges together. This will give you a loop with which to put the hanger through. Its supposed to be covered by a bow but certainly doesn't need to be. I didn't have one so I just left it.

Turn right side out and place cardboard at the bottom and hanger through the top. Fill with diapers and hang. Viola! A diaper stacker. It took me about an hour to complete and that includes all the cutting, marking, etc.

Book Reviews

2011-07-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

I love to read but don't have much time for it. I can usually get in a chapter a day. My goal for the year is 14 books. I remember a time where I could read 14 books over the course of the summer, like my kids now. I should be having them write reviews, they could do a couple a week! I think I have a new idea for school work, will have to work on that.

So onto the books I read.

First was Diners Drive-ins and Dives by Guy Fieri. This is basically a cook book with stories. Guy's humor doesn't translate as well to the written word but its still a good read. Its amazing how many restaurants aren't run by people who are trained chefs. You will want to keep this book for the recipes, there are some killers in there.

Next I read Dave Barry's History of the Millenium. If you have ever read his year in review this is that, just compiled for the first part of the 21st century. Not great for reading in bed at night with your significant other, on airplanes or any where else you are supposed to be quiet. A quick and funny read, great if you need a pick me up.

And I just finished What Mothers Do by Naomi Stadlen, now this was a good book. I wished I had had this book when my first was little. This is not a parenting book, or at least she tries very hard to keep parenting tips out of it. This is more of a mothering book. If you ever looked around your house after swearing you worked all day, yet it doesn't look like you did a thing, you need to read this book. It made me feel normal, about all those things you are sure no one else goes through. Possibly the best quote from the book, "I've done all sorts of jobs, and I've enjoyed them. But motherhood is the first thing I've done to the best of my ability. I'm not perfect, but I feel I'm doing the best I can. I thank God for motherhood, for letting me have the chance to work like this."

Where do all those Helium Balloons go?

2011-07-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered where all the lost helium balloons go to? A couple of my kids were having this conversation the other day. Surely they must come down somewhere, we thought. But you would see evidence of this wouldn't you? I guess if you had seen a flat balloon on the side of the road you wouldn't even give it a second thought so perhaps they do come down we just don't notice. How would you know if one such balloon was a lost balloon? Well I guess if it came down in your backyard while you were out there playing, that would be good way to know.

As if God wanted to punctuate our science lesson with real life evidence, we had such a balloon land in our back yard today. Yea, Really!

And it just so happens we have our own helium balloon my 5 year old got over the weekend. So when my 2 year old saw this in the back yard he thought he got his very own balloon too. Its the little things I tell ya.

The Great Tie Dye Disaster of 2011

2011-07-04T10:18:00.001-07:00

If your child wants to tie dye be smarter than me and do it at the park, not at home. Tie Dying can be a great craft, where you can wear the fruits of your labor for months or years to come. But if you are gonna tie dye with small children around you either you need to keep track of the dye really really well, or do it where there is less to destroy.

And if you can't find the red and the purple you might want to look in your sons bedroom. He just wanted to tie dye his socks. Unfortunately, at four he just isn't all that coordinated. He also dyed a set of sheets (the blanket was black thankfully), his mattress, his brother and the shirt he was wearing at the time, his outfit, the carpet and a whole Thomas the Train set. The Thomas set came clean, the other stuff, not so much.

On the good side my daughter did do a great job on a bunch of socks and shirts.

Whose a Domestic Goddess?

2011-07-03T14:22:00.001-07:00

Not me. Thats for sure. If there was any doubt after my adventures of the thing that lived in my sofa, let me erase that now. Did you know there is a fill line on a vacuum cleaner bag? And that if it gets full past that line it doesn't really work that well? Well you should have told me.

I attempted to vacuum the floor, but when I turned it on it made this funny noise. Kinda like "hhhhheeeeeelllllpppppp", but way higher pitched. After trying a few things, like smacking the vacuum on the floor, I turned it off and opened it up to see what the bag was like. What it was like was nearly exploding. Fill line...HA. You can fill that thing WAY past the fill line. That bag weighed 4 lbs 5 oz. Aside from the fact I weighed a full-to-the-brim vacuum bag, you have to admire that fact that not only did it not explode but that my floors have had at least 4 and a half pounds of dirt and debris on them!

I went to put a new bag in the vacuum only to discover the bag was so full that it was now storing dirt from the top of the hose all the way to the bottom of the bristles. What I removed, just from the connecter, looked like a dead rat covered in doritos. The hose I had to take outside and spin to get the stuff out.

I am happy to report that my vacuum suffered no ill effects from bag replacement neglect. My floors are now, relatively, clean.

Next on the domestic front: Teaching my children how to use a clothes line. Stay tuned for the riveting details.

Under the Heading: Things You Need to Pay More Attention To

2011-07-02T10:02:00.001-07:00

Nearly mobile 2 month olds. If you place your baby in their crib to fold clothes and you hear him start to fuss you figure he might be bored, or lonely or hungry. Whatever it is can wait a few minutes while you finish that load right? Wrong. Because if you had been paying attention you would have noticed they have scooted their way to the top of their crib and gotten lodged in the corner. Which apparently isn't very comfortable.

Dirty loads of laundry. Do you check pockets? Do you shake your clothes? Do you go piece by piece before you throw them in the washer or dryer? You might want to. The cell phone you save could be your own. Actually today was a new one for me. I have washed everything from cell phones (3 and counting) to lock box keys, to crayons and probably a small fortunes in spare change but never dirt. What? I guess I should mention that we are using towels to cover the ground when we go swimming so that we don't get dirt in the pool. The load I washed today had not been shaken out. So when I washed it what was left was piles of dirt at the bottom of my washing machine. Makes you wonder how much dirt really is going out with the dirty water and not getting redistributed onto the next load. So I ended up vacuuming out my washing machine and rewashing the towels - properly shaken out of course.

Two year olds. I swear, I could watch my two year old like a hawk and he would still find mischief. Today when we were at the grocery store he wanted apples. Really wanted apples. I really wanted mushrooms, which happen to be right by the red peppers. I told him they weren't apples but I don't think he believed me. Because he grabbed on and said, "Apple." then proceeded to bite into it. I guess I was gonna have red peppers on my pizza too. I turned my back to get another bag. As a mother I should know better. You never turn your back on a two year old. He grabbed another red pepper and took a bite of that one too. He probably would have taken a bite out of every one in the display had I not buckled him in to his stroller for the remainder of our shopping trip. No word on how he liked his "apples".

Are we Greedy?

2011-07-01T08:17:00.001-07:00

Am I greedy to have 9 kids? Greed means wanting more than you actually need. The question is then begged; Do we NEED to have children? I don't need to have children. No one person needs to have children. Society, however, needs us to have children. Children are the future generations that will support us and care for us when we are too old to do it ourselves. The more children we have the easier the burden will be on them both physically and financially. No one wants to be overworked or overtaxed. And don't even get me started on Overpopulation.

So far we have been told we are Addicted and Greedy, and obviously naive that we don't know the numerous reasons we shouldn't have children. We must be evil, terrible people! Gosh, I walked around with my family and people are starring at us thinking I am an addicted, greedy, ignorant woman. There are probably more adjectives I could throw out there, from things that have been said, comments I have read etc. Those who give up having children so they can travel, so they can buy all the latest gadgets, to maintain their lifestyle, they aren't greedy of anything apparently. So even if I were to think I was greedy, that would mean I was guilty of wanting more life. More love. Gee, what a horrible thing.

Free Educational Games Online

2011-06-30T11:10:00.001-07:00

I have been having too much fun playing games at History.com. The State that Plate Game is HARD.

And if you want a better Place the State game check out Addicting Games for one that gives you how many miles off you are.

Sheppard Software has awesome games; everything from the food chain to vocabulary.

If you are more into reading games you might like Kabongo. I am not sure my kids actually got to the games section, they were having too much fun designing their character.

Don't leave the preschoolers out, theres stuff for them too so they can feel like a big kid.

Say Hello!

2011-06-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

I know there are people out there who take time out of their day to read my blog. Thanks so much! You either like me or need something to put you to sleep at night. Either way, I appreciate all the page views. I got curious to see where you all were coming from and I found some very interesting things. First, someone out there got here by searching for Big Boy Socks on Girl Boobs. I don't even want to know what you were expecting to find with that but I bet what you found wasn't what you thought you would. Secondly, the majority of you came from another lovely blog: http://jurnal-de-mutunau.blogspot.com/

Everyone, say hi to our readers in Romania! Hi!

I might be easily amused but I think its totally awesome to be read in Europe, and slightly creeped out by someone searching for such a weird use of socks.

The No Good, Awful, Horrible....Typical Day

2011-06-28T12:52:00.001-07:00

If you told someone, who didn't have kids, what your day is like on a day to day basis - they would think it was an awful existence. They might even classify one of your days as their worst day ever. When you have kids things rarely go smoothly. The problem arises in the fact that you have kids. They aren't pros at life. They are still trying to figure out how to do basic things like pee in the toilet and get food into their mouths. Let alone the big stuff like cleaning up after themselves or speaking in complete sentences.

Take for today instances. Its not even half way over and it would still classify as most peoples worst day ever. It started at 3:30am. At that time most people are still sleeping. I wish I was sleeping. I had gone to bed at midnight, was up at 2 am to feed the baby and then at 3:30 because my 2 year old woke up scared. He was up again at 4:30 and 6. At which time he figured he had had enough sleep...wait did he actually sleep? And so my day started. Being tired isn't something new to most parents. Pretty typical day so far.

It wasn't long before the trouble started. Dh had left the umbrella open which doesn't seem like such an awful thing till you realize its made of metal and its 112 outside. Its like putting your hand on the burner of a stove. I can't just leave it up because it came off the base and every little breeze knocks it over.

Then I noticed the wash had not been moved over from the night before. Meaning it threw off my laundry schedule because I have to rewash it. Now that I was sufficiently ticked off at the dh - I told him so. Only for him to tell me he wasn't the one to wash the clothes. It was my daughters. Well now I am mad and embarrassed, I restart the wash myself. I finally get to drink my coffee only to be beckoned back to the washing machine by a horrible screeching it began making. Worry about my scheduled is taken to whole new heights. Especially when I have a load of peed in sheets courtesy of my 4 year old waiting to go in.

During my shower my girls are supposed to watch the little kids, only they apparently decided to listen to music in their room with the door shut. So my 2 year old took that opportunity to get naked and pee on the stairs. My 5 year old alerted me to the emergency, soon followed by said 2 year old completely naked and asking for his Wow Wow Wubbzy DVD.

Are you exhausted yet? Its only 9 am.

I get out of the shower and quickly put a diaper on my 2 year old, before he goes again. Once I am dressed, and my hair is done (miracle of miracles!) I get to hold my baby, who is very happy at the prospect. As soon as I pick him up I can smell it. He pooped. But, when I get the wipes out of the cabinet the whole handle came off. I change the baby, screw the handle back on and smack my ankle on the bottom of the dresser.

I work my way down stairs (after I move over the laundry) where I find my now dressed 2 year old eating gold fish crackers out of a ripped bag. Its about 9:30 at this point, so not really a great breakfast food. When I go to get the gallon ziploc bag I step on a wet diaper. The diaper that my 2 year old had taken off before he 'peed a line on the stairs' apparently. I get the gold fish cleaned up and look for that Wow Wow Wubbzy dvd he wanted. Which I found in the computer, unfortunately it won't play because it got scratched. I wonder how that could have happened.

So lets recap. I got no sleep, my son peed the bed, my washer is breaking, I stepped on a diaper, my toddler peed on the floor, I had to repair a handle, I hurt my ankle and burned my hand on the umbrella. Its not even lunch time yet. Remember that I also have to nurse the baby, feed the kids, do the dishes, clean the house, etc during this time. It might sound awful but that is a typical day.

Now, my life is not awful, I have come to expect these things. Its what having kids is all about. My toddler doesn't know how to go on the potty even though he thinks hes a big boy. My 4 yr old can't always wake himself up to go pee at night, and I understand that. My girls are still teens and haven't fully grasped the concept of responsibility, though they are getting there. So when you stick all those kids in one house things can go wrong. I expect it. Just like when you have 1 you expect to not sleep, get thrown up on, get peed on, get pooped on etc. Each child you add you expect that and whatever the older child has to throw at you. Well if you have 9 kids you have that much to expect too. Thats just a typical day here.

My kids just wrapped the dog in thread while I was typing. Well at least its past the half way mark for the day.

Free Candy

2011-06-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

My kids are in a homeschool bowling league. Today, however, they couldn't bowl since the systems were down. Presumably because of a near miss we had with an asteroid, sending out bowling disruption rays; or something like that. Unfortunately we didn't know about it till we actually showed up at the bowling alley. And by we I mean my brother the chauffeur and my four oldest kids. I guess the phones were connected to the lanes and were down too. Cause a business would never not call all the people of a league and tell them there was no bowling that day. My kids weren't terribly disappointed since they got passes to play another day and free candy. At least thats what I thought when they came home. Not sure what made me think that but it was probably when my daughter said, "We got free candy." The free candy turned out to be more like stolen candy once I got the whole story.

It was dinner time and conversation abounded. I am not sure how we got onto the subject but someone said, "The candy machine was broken so we got free candy."

I stared at my husband. I knew exactly what they meant: that asteroid really had it out for those bowling alleys. No. It meant that they could get candy without putting any money into the machine.

Oldest daughter: "I told them not to do it."

Oldest son: "Yea, after you had already gotten your candy."

The dh: "Thats stealing."

Oldest daughter: "No, they knew the candy machine was broken."

Me: "They don't own it. Its independently contracted."

Oldest daughter: "Yea, thats what they said."

Me: "See! Stealing."

The dh: "What kinda candy we talking 'bout here?"

Oldest ds: "Gob stoppers, Skittles, licorice. It was one of those scoop things."

Me: "This story just keeps getting better and better."

And what I want to know was where was my brother during all this? Hello?! Adult Supervision?

A Rare Breed

2011-06-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

Big families aren't common, that pretty standard knowledge. Thats why we get stared at, comments made and why whole reality tv shows are filmed around us. We are an oddity. But what most people don't realize is that big families were always a rare breed. A common myth people believe is that if everyone were to give up birth control people would be popping out babies like rabbits. That every woman would have dozens of kids. That simply is not the case, it never has been the case. Take for example the New York Times page, if you were to input our family you would see families like mine make up .0028% of the population (or 3,158 families) in the US today. In 1900 families of 11 accounted for .1235% of the population. Back before the pill and before abortion on demand. Back before Women's Lib and the Baby Boom.

So how is it possible that in the absence of birth control people weren't having huge families? Part of it was that there really was never an absence of birth control. It might not be as neat and tidy as taking a pill, getting a shot or a trip to the drug store, but there was birth control. The other part is that its a myth. Most women will not pop out baby after baby if she does not use birth control. Sure, more women will have big families compared to what we have today, not that many more. Some women are more prone to Lactational Amenorrhea than others. Some couples just don't have relations as often as other couples, and long separations for military deployment, traveling for work or just travel can hinder conceiving. Stress and illness can disrupt fertility not to mention interest. Even under the perfect conditions you are not guaranteed a pregnancy.

So while I would love to think that in some point in time my family would be celebrated and accepted I have to realize that is probably not the case. But I really hate that people use my family as an example of why they shouldn't give up their birth control. As if every family would be like ours.

Things we learn from babies

2011-06-26T09:14:00.001-07:00

The best way to get mommy to smile at you is to smile at her.

That sometimes you just have to cry.

Even though you are fed, clothed and loved, the basics aren't always enough.

Sometimes you just want to see the sights, listen to some good music and go for a ride.

If you are grumpy, take a nap.

Its easy to be a morning person when you are waking up to someone you love.

Comfortable clothing is better than cute clothing.

You can say I love you a million times over but its how you show it that really matters.

Too cute

2011-06-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

I had watched a clip of an actor on CBS and simply could not get over the women screaming. I told the dh about it and he asked me if I ever felt like fainting at the sight of someone. I told him only of my kids because they can be just too dang cute. And I swear the smell of baby breath is like a drug.

Not 5 minutes later my kids had to go prove me right. I caught my 7 year old talking to the baby, "What was it like before you were alive? Was it dark? Were you in heaven?" Yea, it was so cute I wanted to faint. Baby wasn't sharing his secrets though.

Reading is fun

2011-06-24T14:38:00.001-07:00

You will find us reading quite frequently here. I have a few kids whose reading appetite is simply insatiable. By insatiable I mean will read a book the same day they get it. They will read anything that is left laying around that has words on it. I have 3 kids right now who are doing extra chores and their reward is more reading material. My oldest wants the boxed collection of Warriors, my youngest daughter is working towards a subscription to Astronomy and my oldest son is working for the last 2 books he needs to complete his collection of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

If you have kids like mine then check out your local library for summer reading programs. Ours also has a reading screening for grades 1-3. Not that they need an extra incentive to read, but if they are going there anyway for more books you might as well sign up.

Worried the kids will trash the books and you will end up replacing it anyway? You can get them cheap at Book Closeouts. It helps they send me a $7 coupon every time I order. I really like that I can find new things to try out for myself there. Cause even though I will spend a small fortune on books for the kids, I simply can't spend more than a few dollars on myself.

Check out my widget to the right, We Read. Keep track of the books you want to read, the ones you have read, read reviews, recommend books to others, review books and get recommendations based on your reviews. Remember when I made my New Years Resolution to read more? I ended up surpassing my goal of reading 1 a month and read 13 in 2010. This year I hope to read more than 13.

How about Barnes and Noble Kids Club? Who doesn't want a cupcake on their birthday?

So go read. Its fun.

Your toddler might be teething if....

2011-06-23T13:30:00.002-07:00

Right at the bottom edge you can see teeth marks. Its a flip flop. You can still see the dirt on the bottom. Ewwww!

Mmmmm paper. You can still see some in his mouth. I also see him biting his dolls feet frequently.

Crafting Stars

2011-06-22T14:05:00.002-07:00

Without some sort of schedule my kids go crazy. True Freedom is too much to handle for some people I guess. So I did some crafts with them. An easy one for all ages is the String of Stars. Little kids need to learn how to trace and cute and this is an great way to teach that since it does those things repeatedly. Which might get kinda boring for big kids or kids with ADHD. My hyper 8 year old did 2 stars and got bored.

First you print out the star template. On their site it says to color it and string it. But I suggest using construction paper for an easier craft for the little kids. What I did was trace the printed out template onto cardboard and the cut that out since paper is hard to trace for little kids. I made enough for each kid to have their own to trace.

After that they can trace as many stars as they want. You can let them make their own strand or you can combine them to make one big one. My 7 year old decided to write his name on all the ones he cut out, I guess he wanted to everyone to know which ones he did.

I didn't even have to pose this picture for you. Its what my 8 year old left when he got bored.

Some of my kids enjoyed it though. My 13 year old and my 5 year old. A craft for any age! After all the stars have been cut out you fold over the top of a point and staple, glue or tape it the string. I found that stapling it leave it able to move along the string.

Cheap entertainment for an hour.

Yummy

2011-06-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

I don't allow the kids to have dessert unless they have finished their fruit or veggie. Today I guess I forgot to give my 5 year old anything besides a main dish cause he asked me, "Can I have dessert?" Like I was playing some sort of trick on him. I said he could and he looked at me all confused, "But you didn't give me any fruit." Opps. I could have sworn I did, but I didn't even get an hour straight of sleep last night so I'm not totally there. I told him to go look for something he wanted. He comes back about 2 minutes later and says, "There is only bananas and onions. So can I have a banana?" I can't imagine he actually thought I would make him eat an onion! Never mind that there was raspberries, carrot sticks, celery and apples in the fridge.

Honoring our Fathers

2011-06-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

When we were instructed to 'Honor our fathers and mothers' I don't think it really meant buy them the biggest screen tv you can fit in your house. I know for my own father, if I going to go show respect for him, its not going to be done in gifts and praise. Although, he would probably go for that too. I will show him respect by not telling him he needs to baste the turkey more, cause dang its dry. And I won't poke his belly and tell him he could lose a few pounds. I will keep my mouth shut when he tries to convince me the computer is cheating when he plays hearts. Instead of laughing at him I will help him get up off that floor. When he tells me the next one better be a girl, I will just agree with him. Although we are all thinking the same thing, "Yea right." And most importantly I will talk to him with dignity and do as he asks so as to set a good example for my younger brothers still living at home.

Kids can honor their father by being obedient and showing him their love. My kids have a funny way of showing you their love. When they have 1 french fry left and offer it to you, you better believe that was a huge token of love and esteem right there. 2 year olds think that changing their own diaper must be the best gift anyone could ever give. But they also can be totally sweet and cute with their gift giving too. My 7 year old made a house out of a pizza box complete with tables and chairs. Several drew pictures for daddy, which will probably end up on his cubicle wall at work.

Time for another round of "You Might have a Big Family if...."

2011-06-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

You Might have a Big Family if....
Your stack of baby books is too big to fit on the shelf anymore.

Your dh says, "We night need to get that trailer so we can go grocery shopping." After trying to fit the groceries from a shopping trip to costco in our van which was full of kids. Or maybe he should just go by himself.

The cashier knows there must be a house full of kids at home based on what you are buying (this after dh went to costco to shop alone).

People think you have a lot of kids and you are only out with some of them.

People aren't quite sure how many kids you have anymore.

You have to start thinking of baby names 6 weeks postpartum because it takes you 2 years to find one you haven't used yet.

You go to a party and you outnumber all the other guests.

You make up 2 teams on the bowling league.

You consider Walmart quiet.

I've learned

2011-06-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

There was a time, when I was a mom only to young children, I would get easily frustrated at some play time activities. When the kids were doing tattoos and they would leave the clear papers everywhere and wet towels laying on the counters. When the kids would paint and get it on the table, and their clothes, the chairs; basically everywhere. When they would color and every crayon would end up broken, and then they would gave me a stack of precious art projects knee high and I would have to figure out what to do with them all. Playdoh was the worst and I have forever banned it from the house. Clay they can have, but no playdoh. If only I knew then what disasters awaited me as a mom to 9. If I only knew that how bad of a mess they really could make. But I have learned.

I learned that compared to when they throw blocks all over the house, the little clear pieces of paper all over the place is not so bad. I learned to hang up the wet towels and let them dry to be used again later for more tattoos. I learned that paint comes off, usually. And its not so bad as compared to 100 army men on the floor. They really hurt to step on. I learned that broken crayons aren't the worst of it. If you stick it in an electic pencil sharpener it breaks. And I learned that some kids like to eat crayons. And I learned that if one gets stuck in the bottom of your vacuum it colors all over your floor. And I learned that if you dry them in the dryer you have to throw out a load of clothes. I learned art projects could be boxed up and taken out years later to be smiled at. I learned that a 5 year old with a piece of clay the size of a corn kernal can have hours of fun and develop a keen imagination.

I have learned and become more patient. I learned that in the long run, in the big picture those little disasters are only little disasters. That kids can make WAY bigger disaster and even those don't end the world. I learned to let the kids have fun when they are kids, because you can't sterilize the world. And even if I could, then I wouldn't have the memories I do. I think how proud I am that I have learned, that I am not so thick headed that I couldn't learn. It gives me hope that I am still learning, still becoming the better parent, better person. And thank-goodness for my kids, they have years of fun ahead of them.

What homeschoolers do on summer break

2011-06-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Like most people we look forward to the time off from school that is summer break. We like to sleep in too. But give free range to kids and all hell breaks loose. You need to keep kids occupied. This is a challenge here in the desert, you can't really send the kids outside to play. Indoor activities are usually the safest thing to do. In the dark, with the air conditioner on.

One of our favorite things to do is read books. This summer we are doing Book Adventure and it really brings out the kids competitive side. I am impressed with how much the kids remember from their reading. I am gonna have to start getting more strict when they say, "But I forgot!"

Reading is all good and fine if you like laying around all day. Apparently my boys do not. I need to get them moving. But again, here activities have to be done in doors. But thats cool, you can bowl for free! Well the kids, not you. You can also join a league, which is what we have to do since there are no participating centers in AZ. We have a homeschool league here that meets on Monday mornings. Great way to meet and play with other kids.

And what else do you do in the summer, but swim?

One Persons Trash...

2011-06-06T15:19:00.000-07:00

That saying has never been more true as it is today. This week is bulk trash pick up. Thats where the city picks up the stuff too big to go in a trash can. It only happens about twice a year so the rest of the time you are storing your trash in the back yard waiting for that flyer to come in the mail. Or if you get too sick of it you load it up into your van and take it to the dump yourself. For a fee of course. We were saving it up in the back yard. We had a swing set we took apart, a broken carpet cleaner (hmmm wonder how that happened), a dresser that was in pieces, a toy car and a pile of tree clippings. This morning when I got up the only thing left was the tree clippings. People had come by and taken everything else. My tree clippings aren't desirable? Meanwhile my neighbors all have their trash sitting out: a mattress set, a sofa, a toy tool bench and more tree clippings. I would have thought the sofa and tool bench would have gotten snatched up. No, instead they took long metal poles? Truly, one persons trash is anothers treasure.

Sometimes I need to laugh too

2011-06-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

When you read about my kids doing things funny its usually not too funny for me....at the time. Later after I cooled down I can see the humor in it. For instance, when the kids have shoved veggie sticks in their nose and then spit popcorn kernals at each other its only funny after the mess has been cleaned up. Not so much at the time. Sometimes I need to laugh without waiting an hour. A friend shared this today and I can't help not to pass it on. I am not one for potty humor. Just ask my kids how many times I day I have to say, "No potty mouth talk." But those last 2 are especially funny:

While you are using the restroom, do various co-workers come in the stall and ask you to settle a disagreement or open a packet of fruit snacks? During a board meeting when everyone is present, do you notice a smell and then have to check all your colleagues’ pants to locate it? In fact, at ANY point in your day do you have to deal with another person's feces?

I think, the next time I discuss work with the dh I will ask him first which of his coworkers used his shirt to wipe their nose. A little levity never hurts!

I think they might be stir crazy

2011-06-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

Schools out. We are at day 3 of summer break, and I think they are already bored. Not sure what tipped me off. Maybe it was when three of my boys decided to stick veggie sticks up their nose. No worries they are hollow. Or perhaps it was when my 4 yr old sat on the top bunk and threw the stuffed animals from our Noah's ark all over the room. It could have been when the kids ate popcorn and then spit the kernels at each other. It might have been when they tried to vacuum each other. The idea was good but my vacuum can't handle dirt like that. I didn't mind the chair and stool maze too much, that was better than when they sat behind the sofa pillows and threw "bombs", aka blocks, all over the floor. Its far easier to avoid a chair, not so much for avoiding stepping on blocks.

I think someone has to come up with things to keep these kids busy. And I am betting that someone is me.

Dream House

2011-05-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

What would you want in a dream house? Come this fall we are looking at having to move so we have been searching for houses that would fit our family. We have to start now so we know what kind of expense we are looking at. With rentals you need the first and last month rent, security deposit, and of course the moving van and turning on the utilities. Plus we have to hire cleaners for this house, a requirement of the landlord. Which quite frankly if you had a family this size living here for 3 years you would want it professionally cleaned too. Still, I don't expect our security deposit back.

Anyhow, we are looking at houses. Rentals have to have at least 6 bedrooms for our family (even though with rooms big enough we really only need 4 since everyone wants to sleep together). As I am looking I am realizing there are certain requirements that I have to have. I can't pretend to be able to make it with a house that doesn't have a very large dining area, simply because we would not fit otherwise. We have to have a walk in pantry, just to store enough food for a week requires a good sized cabinet. Counter space isn't that big of a deal but I have to have at least 4 complete uppers and 6 complete lower cabinets. More would be better but if we have too many more than you just don't know where everything is. BTDT, bigger isn't always better. I have to have a door to the bathroom in the master, none of these decorative arches stuff. I would be really happy with a series of doors, with combination locks and sound proofing but I realize that is probably not something any one has ever built. No rocks in the backyard. Something people here like to do is landscape with rocks. Well little boys and rocks are not a good combination, you can ask our neighbors. So no rocks.

As we are looking at these houses though I have seen things of my dreams. 2 kitchens, irrigated lots with mature citrus trees, pools, balconies, looooong driveways, 8 bedrooms with full basements complete with separate entrances to the backyard. Whirlpool tubs and walk in closets in every room, double ovens and climate controlled pantries, laundry rooms with space for fridges and freezes. Stuff I have literally dreamt about. But what do I really need? How realistic do I have to be. Cause I am sure I can find excuses for just about any of those amenities.

Baby Bedding Zone - Curtains Giveaway

2011-05-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

Smockity Frocks blogged about a curtains giveaway today and I just could not resist sharing. Besides the free entry I get, I was having way too much fun browsing through their selection. Here I thought I was being so clever in finding a Spongebob Squarepants comforter and sheet at the thrift store for my 2 year old's toddler bed. And what do you know? They make whole bedding sets for toddler beds....I know, I know, I am so not in the decorating loop. But how cute are some of these sets? The Max 4 Piece....and you can get matching toddler chairs WITH ottomans?! Its probably a good thing I have not won the lottery because I have a feeling my kids would be spoiled.

Never say your baby sleeps well

2011-05-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

Because they very next night they will have to prove you wrong. Never fails. The best way to jinx yourself is to brag about how well your baby sleeps. You know you are sleepy when you are rummaging through the fridge looking for something - anything to drink that lists caffeine as an ingredient.

For the last 3 weeks the kids have been telling me how cute the baby is when he sleeps. You keep saying you think hes cuter when hes awake - those big eyes, staring back at you. Then the baby stops sleeping and suddenly you start thinking the kids were right. He is cute when hes asleep...and you would pay good money to see him asleep again.

Then when you complain the baby doesn't sleep he hears you and figures he'll help you out. He falls asleep and sleeps for hours...In the middle of the day.

Never ever say your baby sleeps well. You are sure to jinx yourself. *yawn*

Celebrity Baby Names

2011-05-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

I love celebrity baby names. It seems they are more free, than the rest of society, to indulge in naming their children what they really want to name them. Average ordinary people get flack for getting a little creative and giving their daughter a traditionally boys name or their son a more unique name. Everyone quips how those poor children are bound get their butts kicked on the playground or everyone will forever be spelling or pronouncing their names incorrectly. Take it from someone who had a very common first name and an easy 4 letter last name - it doesn't matter. They will still get spelled wrong and mispronounced regardless if its a unique or not. Thankfully I am a woman who could take her husbands last name. I graduated to an odd 5 letter last name that no one can pronounce or spell. And it doesn't bother me a bit because I expect it. When you have a common name that gets spelled or mispronounced you just assume people are stupid. I have a new respect for people now, see they aren't that dumb.

Oh sure everyone talks smack about the stars and their kids names. How stupid they must be to name their kid what they do. But it actually makes a lot of sense. I bet you anything everyone can spell Bear or Apple. And everyone will remember your name. No need to change your name when you decide to follow in mommy or daddys foot steps either. How many of the Hollywood elite changed their common names in for something more unique so they would stand out? And as far as getting their butts kicked or kids picking on them, you have to ask by who? Look at who their peers are.

But really, I love celebrity baby names because I can say, "And you thought my kids had weird names." And if ever I decide to name a kid Gimli or Turnip or something I can just claim I am being trendy. Remember, at one point most names we have today were on the edge and different. And most names from the past would be viewed the same way. Someone has to set the tone and start the popularity rolling on a name.

While I am being the voice of reason, let me just say if you want to name your child something that people don't approve of, do it. Once the baby is here they will get used to it. I am speaking from experience. Not that my kids name is terribly unique or different. But no one liked it but the dh and I. Now you wouldn't think twice about the name, its who they are.

Being a Mom

2011-05-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day!

What is it like to be a mom? Its wondering why there is a tooth laying on the counter, its picking crayons out of your cup of water, its having to ask "Has anyone seen a dirty diaper laying around?" when you catch a streaker run by. Being a mom is nursing a baby at midnight, comforting your 8 yr old from a nightmare at 2 am and going stargazing with your 12 year old at 4 am. Being a mom is taking 3 months to read a book, 2 days to watch an hour program and never getting to hear a song all the way through on your mp3 player before someone needs your help. Being a mom is being grateful for P/DVR's, Pause buttons and timers on coffee makers. Being a mom means hurting for your children when they are ill, being proud when they accomplish something and loving them even when they hate you. Whats it like to be a mom? Its always having someone to love.

A Sense of Irony

2011-05-06T18:50:00.000-07:00

I don't think God has a sense of humor as much as he has a sense of irony. Take for example our latest edition. I hired a new midwife. I explained how my labors are generally short, afterwards it takes me about a week to get back to my old self and the problem I generally have with breastfeeding is oversupply. Well now life could not go and prove me right. Oh no. We had to be different this time.

This time I had a 22 hour labor, my 2nd longest. She asked me around hour 20 if this was one of my longest labors, and I told her it was one of my longest labors 8 hours ago! This time I am on day 10 and am still sore. I still can't do a full shopping trip. This time my milk decided it was going to take 4 days to come in and I didn't have a good supply even then. Thank goodness for Dr. Jack Newmans site for the absolutely best information on how to tell a baby is not getting enough and how to increase your supply. This after my poor baby was born starving. Never before had I heard a baby, fresh from the womb, with a growly tummy. Even the nurses has to comment on it. And this time our baby has felt the need to hold onto that nasty umbilical cord stump even to day 10. And this time I am within 5 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight already. Which normally I wouldn't complain about, but not if its whats causing me to have such issues with my milk supply.

This time I had to be different. I guess God felt I needed to feel like a first time mom again and to remind me that nothing is set in stone. Hopefully my midwife doesn't think I was lying to her!

In case you ever wondered

2011-05-05T07:38:00.001-07:00

Yes, the kids like living in a large family. No, they do not feel resentful. Quite the opposite. Just today my 4 year old told me, "I wish you had had 2 babies." I asked why and he said, "So we could have a boy and a girl." I guess it didn't occur to him that I could have had 2 boys.

Yesterday my youngest daughter told me she couldn't wait till the baby could sit. I am forever telling people not to rush babies. That I like them better when they can't go anywhere and get into stuff. That they grow too fast the way it is. Come to find out its not that she wants him to sit its that she wants him to be old enough for me to get pregnant again! I was left speechless. And thats pretty hard to do, those of you who know me are probably laughing your rears off. I'm still sore from the last birth and as much as I like to add to my quiver can you give me a little while please?

Then while discussing why people are constantly asking us if we are done yet (we're not if you haven't figured it out) my oldest said, "Good, I hope you keep having babies till you can't have them anymore." I now know how my own mother felt when I was constantly bugging her for more siblings.

The Real Layette List

2011-05-04T16:55:00.001-07:00

I have seen a few dozen layette lists during my parenting days and few are really truly what a new parent is gonna need. You can ask any new mom if the list is reflective of what she needs and she will most likely say no. So, for new parents, here is my layette list.

Figure out how often you will do laundry and then multiply it by 4. Unless you are like me and do 3 loads a day. But be honest and know that unless your dh or kids are gonna step up, laundry will take a back seat for awhile after a baby comes. I knew that even though my dh would try his hardest to stay on top of the laundry situation I would still be behind.

- Forget the bibs, side snap shirts, shoes and mittens. At least for now. Its fluff stuff and will usually just sit there looking cute. Bibs for newborns get in the way (they bunch up as you try to nurse, they twist around their little necks, the velcro or snaps can irritate), burp clothes are much easier to deal with. In a few months you will love those bibs, but for a newborn? No. Most babies want to suck on their fingers or at least figure out how to use them, which they can't do inside of mittens. If you are in a cold climate you might want a pair or two for out and about but for everyday normal use? Skip them. Even if you have a scratcher, God gave them long nails for a reason. I am sure they help as they learn how to get those fingers into the right places. Side Snap shirts? Never ever used them. Not a one. Except for the 3 babies that were born in the hospital and only for a day.

- 6-8 Gowns instead of footed sleepers. Changing diapers in the middle of the night is hard enough the way it is. Make it easy on yourself by just pulling up their gown or unzipping their sack sleeper. They will likely pee, poop and spit up on them so have more on hand then you think they will need. If you live where its cold you might want to go with long sleeve shirts and a sack sleeper, if not the regular gowns work fine.

- 6-8 pair of socks. Or more. Babies lose socks, all the time. I'm not sure you can have too many socks. Get all white ones so they match with everything, if you lose one it can be matched with another one that is missing its mate, and you won't feel as bad when you lose a plain white one as you would a cute one for twice as much.

- 6-8 onesies (and pants depending on where you live). I really like onesies. They stay in place, no rug (or blanket) burns on your babies belly from tummy time, no straightening out their clothing every time you pick them up or put them in a car seat. They easily can be combined with other articles of clothing to make an out fit to warm them up or make them picture perfect.

- 6-8 receiving blankets. I use these all the time: swaddling, cover baby while in car seat or stroller, as a quick changing pad, as a diaper (seriously, flannel makes great diapers), as a burp cloth, as a cover up while nursing. Never be far away from a blanket.

- Optional, 3-4 baby hats. If you are somewhere its cold you might want a baby hat, little bonnets or baseball caps if you are where its sunny. I only used them one my 7th to cover up his unsightly hematoma, otherwise I find them sweaty and irritating to babies. Of course I plan homebirths so I always have plenty on hand for the first day, but after that they find their way back to the birth kit for the next time.

If you are on a budget or trying to be minimalist this is the basic stuff you need, its what I use everyday. At night I change the baby into a gown sleeper, when he gets up for the day its into a one piece or onesie outfit with a pair of socks. I carry around a blanket everywhere I go and thats it. Easy, simple, takes up very little space.

Starting Kids off Right

2011-05-03T10:03:00.002-07:00

People often ask me how I homeschool with lots of little ones around. Its very simple - I include them. If they can hold a pencil or a crayon they are doing school work with us. While it looks to outsiders like they are just scribbling on paper, what they are learning is that there is a time for school work. They are learning hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. They are learning how to sit for increasing lengths of time. They are learning that when its time for school we can be excited and ready to learn. But what can you do with a 3 year old that won't leave them bored or done after 5 minutes?

How about Mazes? Or Tracing? Or Dot to Dots? Don't want printables? How about Games?

Games on the Computer...Games for the Table like Dominos or Color your Own Puzzle.

How about listening to cds while reading a story book? Or using tools like a Vsmile, Leapster or Leappad.

Don't want to use a ton of paper every day? Try Dry Erase Boards or their very own Chalk Boards.

Even if you are just using crayons and a roll of paper at the dining room table, the important thing is to make the kids feel included. They won't see school as something only older kids do but as something everyone does, everyday. Learning will become habit.

When Somethings Gotta Give

2011-05-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

New parents, including those who have done this a few times before, have all these grand ideas of what it will be like to have a new baby. First timers especially fall prey to high expectations, thinking it only takes sheer will power to have the family life they want. But even those of us who have been down that road before continue to delude ourselves and we really should know better. More times than not parents quickly realize something about their grand scheme has to give because they can not do everything they had planned.

So when something has to give, what is it? I admit I had high expectations, even this time around. School was not going to be interrupted, we were gonna have enough frozen meals to not have to eat out, and I was gonna be up and about and ready to shop in no time. But at least I knew enough to realize I might get over my head, and to prioritize what was really important and what I could give up - before the baby got here.

So if I had to give my advice to expecting parents it would be to be honest with yourself and realize you do not have it all figured out. And then to prioritize what is really important for you. For me that would be establishing good breastfeeding, making sure everyone else is fed and has clothes to wear, the house isn't dangerously dirty and that above all else I rest. I will gladly give up my homemade meals and cloth diapers, full on grocery shopping trips and a sparkling clean house to make sure those things happen. Are those other things important to me? Yes, but not at the expense of the more important things. I know if I don't take the time to heal properly I will be laid up for longer than I need be. Its hard to not push yourself, especially when you are used to pushing yourself, but I have learned from experience what a mistake that is.

And when you get to that point where you realize something has to give please don't beat yourself up. Don't feel guilty and don't be embarrassed. We have all been down that road.

The Quiver gets fuller

2011-04-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Another boy to add to our collection. And of course the questions have already started about whether or not we are done yet. What a silly question. I don't know too many people who planned on 9 kids, what an odd number. And even if we did I have yet to have a baby that makes me say, "Ewww...I'm done." They all make me say, "Ok that was worth it, lets do it again." How can you look at that baby and not want one?

Which one is Eugene?

2011-04-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

We are really tired over here. We have a house full of sick kids, the dh's work is stressful and of course that little thing hanging over everything: A baby waiting to be born all tends to lend itself to sleepless nights. Yesterday it hit a fevered pitch. I had about an hours sleep the night before, I don't think dh got any. Meanwhile kids are falling asleep on sofas left and right, literally. I joked that the dh must have some sort of sleep pheromone because every time a kid came near him they would fall asleep. How I wished I could just sit down and fall asleep.

Then last night, after prenatal appts and a passover sedar, and dh putting in 10 hours of work we were finally headed home and to bed. 2 of the kids fell asleep in the van, the rest were quiet so I knew they weren't far behind. I asked dh a question but instead of answering me he said, "I think I am falling asleep. I was just trying to figure out how I was gonna carry you up the stairs." Yea, I would like to see that one, considering he only out weighs me by about 20 pounds. And I don't think that 20 pounds of extra muscle is quite gonna cut it for carrying me up the stairs.

Once home, not even 5 minutes after our conversation, everyone was in bed in record time. The house was totally quiet by 9:30, everyone was asleep. And finally so were we. Around 1 am I could hear our 4 year old coughing and crying. So I woke the dh to go take care of him. I would have but it would have taken me more time to just sit up in bed as it would have for dh to go see him and come back. But poor dh was so out of it. His response? "Oh ok. Which one is Eugene?" Yea, Eugene. We have so many kids we don't know which one is which now.

This am, after I woke up coughing, I told dh I thought he was funny last night . He didn't remember a thing though.

Extreme Couponing

2011-04-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

The internet is abuzz with talk about the new series Extreme Couponing. I have talked before about how I coupon, but extreme couponing is a bit different; because its extreme. We aren't talking about leisurely cutting some coupons for things you use everyday. We are talking devoting days to shopping, cutting, printing, organizing and a saving of tens of thousands of dollars. I have friends who extreme coupon. I have seen their stock piles. I know it works. Back when I was a teenager, still living at home and we had no money my mother and I could make it out of a grocery store with a weeks worth of groceries for a few dollars. I have done it on a small scale, I know it can be done on a large scale. But while it seems like all well and good (some of these people saved $40,000 in 2 years) there are draw backs. I know, what could you possibly have draw backs with that kind of savings. I would ask, when you are doing something extreme how could you NOT have draw backs?

1. I think the most obvious would be space. I don't have space for things in my house the way it is. And I know lots of other big families face this dilemma as well. I could simply not imagine having enough toilet paper stored for 2 years when I can't even find the space for 2 weeks worth of tp. No seriously, if someone has some ideas on how to keep my tp safe so I can buy more and not have this overwhelming fear of running out, please share. Not to mention if you have to move you would have to bring all that stuff with you. So if you are prone to moving extreme couponing might not be for you. Not to mention flooding or earthquakes, I can't even imagine THAT mess.

2. Recalls. The last few years have seen recalls on a scale I can't ever remember happening. Everything from peanut butter to spinach and even formula. Its bad enough when you have 2 jars of peanut butter and a box of nut bars that have been recalled, I can't imagine dealing with 30 or more of those things.

3. Allergies or dietary restrictions. Imagine having enough of a certain food to last you a year only to discover 2 months into it that you or your child has an allergy to one of the ingredients. Dietary restrictions can include those for health or religious reasons. Gluten intolerance, passover, Diabetes, high cholesterol, becoming kosher, or just trying to eat a better diet are all reasons that would preclude many items from being stock piled. Right now we are in the processes of getting rid of all the yeast in our house. When Passover is over I can once again buy yeast products again, but only 11 months worth. Because then next year I have to get rid of it all again.

4. The shows I have watched talk about peoples grocery budgets and then show them shopping and sticking to that budget. But what I have not seen is fresh fruits and veggies. Now, that might be part of a different budget or maybe they just don't show that since you can't get coupons for them. But that would definitely throw off any budget that they would have.

5. Garbage. When you are buying lots of shelf stable goods you are gonna have lots of packaging. Most can be recycled I imagine, but a good portion will end up in a landfill somewhere. Especially when one of the secrets to couponing is buying the smallest product for the smallest price, this leaves you with much more waste than if you were to buy 1 of a bigger item than 2 of a smaller one. The dh recently noticed we are producing less recycling and no more extra garbage because we are using so much fresh food. So I know it does make a difference.

6. This is not really a problem of extreme couponing as it is a problem of personality: hoarding things you don't need now and may never use. On one of the shows a woman had tons of diapers and yet had no children. Shes thinking when she does she will be all set. Expect you have no idea how many you will need in a certain size, you might want to cloth diaper instead or use a different brand, and your child might not tolerate those brand of diapers. I think it would be a much better idea to donate those diapers to someone who could actually use them. The one guy who made up care packages for the troops is a wonderful example of extreme couponing done right. But personally knowing people who buy and buy and buy because they have the coupon even though they don't need it I know it can cause problems. I don't think even the most frugal person wants to eat chicken noodle soup every day for 2 years just to not have to throw out expired soup.

Couponing can be done right, you can avoid those pitfalls, but you have to be disciplined and smart about your purchases. As much time and effort that is put into getting stuff for nearly free you can spare a little more so you can avoid some of these problems. That said, I am upset dh forgot my coupon book ahead of his walmart trip after work. It was sitting right out on the desk!

I'm 4 days past my due date....

2011-04-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

You know what that means right? Yes! It means everyone in the house gets sick! What fun. This is what I get for going on a date with the dh last night. How dare I go out and relax and enjoy myself one last time before the baby comes. Actually, there are few things as pathetic as a little boy crying for water because hes thirsty only to throw it up as soon as he drank it. It breaks my heart when they are sick, even if they get sick at the worst possible time. The last time I had a baby we had an entire house down with the flu. Including myself. Hopefully the baby will stay put till this has cleared out (yes, I did just hope to be pregnant even longer). Actually given my track record we should be fine. I am sure the baby won't make an appearance till next weekend.

And heres a belly pic. Not much has changed. Baby is quite low so it looks like I haven't grown much in the last 3 weeks.

Spilled Water

2011-04-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to come up with a good analogy to having been hugely pregnant 9 times. Not just pregnant but really pregnant. Beyond what normal pregnancy is. 8 times I have gone post dates. Thats beyond 42 weeks. 8 times. In a row. I know lots of women with as many or more kids as me and not 1 has that kind of track record. Someone could do a paper on me. I could be a great science experiment. Its not a distinction I enjoy though. I loath it. With every fiber of my being.

First, let me dispense with the misconceptions. No, It does not get easier every time I do it. It gets harder. No, they don't just fall out. I wish. Today I am 3 days from my due date, guess whose not holding their breath for an on time baby?

Now, I finally came up with a good analogy parents can understand. Being this far along each time is kinda like when your child spills something on the floor. Sometimes its not such a big deal, you just figure God wanted you to mop. Other times its when the child spills an entire 2 liter of strawberry soda on the floor 10 minutes before guests are supposed to be coming over for a party and you were up all night the night before and already had a massive headache. Then there are the in between times when its is certainly inconvenient and a lot of work but not the end of the world. Are all your pregnancies the same? Mine aren't. I have had some that were easy sailing, where 42 weeks didn't seem to be that big of a deal. Then there are other times where I was beyond done at 36 weeks. And I don't mean I was impatient. I was in severe pain and ill. That everyday seemed like an eternity, where life all around was awful and distressing and I could barely function let alone deal with things like deaths, refinancing, moving, illnesses, etc.

This time its more of an in between pregnancy. I am not miserable, yet at least. But its not been easy either. I think God wants me to be nocturnal. Between the night sweats and the acid reflux I can't sleep at night. During the day, sure no problem. But I have these things, called kids, that don't seem to do well without a mother present much of the day.

But there is one thing I really do enjoy about going late every time. When I talk to a stranger and they inevitable ask when I am due and I get to say Last week or 2 weeks ago their eyes get big like saucers and they take 2 steps back. Everytime. Like I am about to drop the baby on the floor right there. Then I get to laugh at them and walk away. Yea...thats fun. Almost as fun as when they ask if this is my 1st!

Sock Containers or How boys become girls

2011-03-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

These have been floating around the house for a couple of days now. I had no idea what they were, they looked like a Christmas Ornament. My boys were really enjoying them though. My 4 yr old discovered that if you put them in your shirt, you suddenly became a girl. Suddenly all my boys had boobs. And they were very proud of themselves. Last night at dinner my daughter was playing with them at the table and said, "I see the boys got a hold of my sock containers." Oh so thats what they are. I guess I could have looked at the tag, if I had half a brain. I told her, "Oh thats what they are. Your brothers have been using them as boobs." Yea, theres a conversation everyone has at the dinner table. Once again, kids like the packaging more than the actual contents. Although, this is probably the wrong way to be enjoying it.

36 weeks pg update

2011-03-11T15:49:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am huge. Surprisingly, I am not feeling too bad. Just typical pg discomforts. From not getting enough sleep I can tell my brain is not functioning like it should. I find myself leaving words out of sentences, I have to double check when I text someone make sure it went to the right person and it was coherent. Only 6 more weeks though, 6 more weeks. Thats what I keep telling myself.

We have the bassinet all set up. We got a new one. We had this problem with space. We had no where to put the baby once they outgrew the bassinet. The crib was already in use and we had no where for a second crib. So we got a toddler bed off craigslist for my toddler and put that where the crib was. Then we just happened on the travel crib when looking for a stroller. This way I can fit them both in my room and the baby can be in there for quite some time. I am hoping for 18 months. I needed a new bassinet anyway, mine is showing its age. The zipper to hold the bedding on was broken, it was written on, stained, the basket underneath was broken and it terrified me that the kids would knock it over. So this fixes that problem as well. And it stores much smaller than the bassinet. Not that I think we will have it in storage much.

I bought some paper diapers for the first two weeks. Gone are the days where I can use cloth from the moment of birth. Someday, when I have kids who can do laundry for us, we can do that again. These diapers are SO tiny, I hope they fit. My last never could wear newborn diapers. They had to give us some size ones in the hospital. But I am hoping for a little bit smaller baby this time.

Bags are packed, baby clothes are put away, cloth diapers are stacked neatly in the cabinet. Now I just need to feed the freezer and get some snacks together for the kids to take to grandmas house. Oh yea and get a stroller. At least I don't need that. At least right away.