Out of Order

So I wanted to save some of my old posts from my first blog. So any posts before this post will be out of order and a hodgepodge of previous posts from that other blog. I'm hoping that after this post this blog will have some sort of order.

Trying to Measure Up

So today was our first field trip with k12. It was an outing to the Children's Museum. The plan was to meet the teacher at 11:30 for a 20 min one on one and give her a chance to talk to the girls. Then the other families were to get there around noon and it would be a picnic in the park, then into the museum while the teacher had her one on ones with the other families.

So I was going to make a nice sack lunch for each of the kids before leaving but the morning got really crazy and I was running late so I decided I would just pick something up after I had the teacher meeting. When I got there I realized I had gone to the wrong place and that I had no idea where I was supposed to go. There was one other car in the parking lot and so I asked the couple if they could give me directions. The man was very kind and started to give me directions but after I asked a couple questions like " and how do I get to that street" he very sweetly just said I could just follow him. He looked at his wife and said " let's go for a drive". He then drove clear across town just so I could follow him and get where I needed to go. It was just so sweet for him to take 30 min out of his day just for me. I felt like God had sent him to me so that I could get the kids to the event in time for at least the picnic and the museum. After he had shown me where it was I quickly had to find a place to pick up food. Luckily there was a Burger King close by so we went there and grabbed some burgers and then went to the picnic. We did end up missing the meeting with the teacher but she was very understanding and it turned out that later we were able to talk with her anyway.

At the picnic there were several other moms there and a couple dads. When it was time to eat, of course, I was the only one handing out fast food burgers. One mom had a nice noodle salad that she pulled out of a cooler along with cheese sticks and sliced apples. She served her kids their food in real dishes with silverware. No paper plates or throw away anything. Another mom gave her little boy his sandwich and I noticed it was cut in the shape of a dinosaur. Then there I am handing out burgers and fries. Immediately I felt like I just didn't measure up and how they were just so together. Then I decided to just laugh at myself and go on. I told myself that I wouldn't have to wash out lunch dishes when I got home and my children were never going to be served dinosaur shaped sandwiches from me. I figure if they are hungry they can eat a normal sandwich. I mean we don't even cut off the crust.

What is it though that makes me take notice and then compare myself to what they are doing? Is it a competitive type thing? Am I hoping to fit in? Am I worried what they think of me? I really have no idea. Do other moms go through this same type of thing when they have shindigs?

The kids all had a great time. Emily immediately found a friend whom she talked with on and off the whole time, Abbie had a great time in the museum running from one thing to another with Emily, and Jack was just loving every minute. He loved going on the train they had, loved the kitchen area with pretend food, tried on a bee costume, made huge bubbles, played on the swingset, and was just generally very busy.

We all came home quiet tired but then had to get busy right away on getting the house in order and after that I had about an hour before it was time to start making dinner. Very long day!

I Don't Like Birds!

Well, I don't like birds loose in my house. Today around 2:30 in the afternoon I moved the couch (to look for something under it) and when I moved it I heard a little flutter. I thought maybe some papers had fallen down but then when I looked I saw this beak moving up and down. I have to say that I freaked out a bit. My oldest daughter told me she would take care of it so I quickly removed myself and the baby to the babies room. I was in the process of changing her diaper when the bird flew into the room. I wasn't expecting it and I started screaming like an insane woman. I scooped up the baby and ran to my room mid diaper change screaming the entire time. My two older daughters were laughing so hard they could hardly contain themselves. They did finally manage to get the bird out of the house. My only defense ...THE BIRD WAS HUGE! It was about 6 inches tall and had a very long beak. I think it may have been a woodpecker. When my daughters asked me why I was freaking out so much over a bird in the house I could only reply that I DON"T LIKE BIRDS!

He said What?

Jack the three year old asked me is he could paint gorillas and after I told him no but he could color them his reply was ” that’s lame” Thanks a lot teenagers!
At church after we had just sung “Oh Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world” Jack in an indignant voice says “why is the Lamb of God TAKING AWAY my sins” It took a little bit to explain to him that it was a good thing!
Then he looked at me the other day and said ” mom your pretty good”.
Tim who remember is a teenager and I’m always trying to get him to remember his manners said to the dog ” Excuse me Bruce” as he was trying to get around him. I about died especially since of course the dog does not respond to excuse me. He might respond to a gentle nudge or MOVE but not to excuse me!!

Let the peeling commence

So, Doctors really do know what they are doing! The cream the Dr. gave has helped Abbie so much already. Last night she was able to sleep through the night for the first time since Thursday.
Since the sunburns the two little girls have been very sedentary. They have watched countless movies since Thursday night because really what else are you supposed to do when every time you move it hurts. Today though it was time to get moving again and what better way than Dance Dance Revolution. That’s right we got DDR out of retirement and had a blast playing all morning. Yeah for exercise!
Abbie’s back is just a bunch of peeling skin. Alicia is going to have so much fun. She has been waiting for the girls to start peeling so she can peel it off. That’s right she is a picker, peeler,popper. We’ve all had that friend who wanted to pop our zits or the sister who wanted to peel the skin after the burn. My daughter is one of those. YUCK!

4 different ages

I can’t believe I have four different age groups all under one roof. I have three teenagers, two elementary aged girls, a three year old, and a newborn. It is totally crazy. Trying to juggle the needs of all those different ages is a constant challenge. There are days when I think I am nearing the brink of madness. I usually recover pretty quickly though, thanks to my sweet husband who has the amazing ability of talking me off the ledge. Without him I couldn’t survive. Of course without him I wouldn’t have so many children either!
Having teens is emotionally exhausting and having little ones and a newborn is physically exhausting. This means that I am tired all the time. I prefer the physical over the emotional. Being emotionally tired is usually tied to the worry that comes with teenagers. I would love to say that I have trained my children so well that my teens are always making good choices and never get into any trouble, and always have stellar attitudes. Alas, that is not the case. So, while juggling the needs of my little ones, which are rather simple, yet very demanding, I also have the responsibility of trying to help my teens make it to adulthood. Little ones have small problems, while the big ones have big problems.

I love the fact that Jack still gets excited every time he sees a train. He loves to run errands with me and inevitably we will see a train. His little face lights up and he starts counting the cars which is so adorable since he can only count to ten and even then he gets the numbers mixed up! When was the last time you got excited to see a train?

Last night we took the family to see Tim in his play. My kids are theater kids which means I have set through some really long, boring, and just plain awful plays. At times it is painful to sit there and listen to wrong notes and mumbled speeches. That all disappears as your child comes on stage and you see them singing and dancing and having a great time. Tim has a couple small solos in this production and I never wanted them to end. I love, love, love hearing him sing. Jack really enjoyed the play but the last thirty minutes he was literally coming undone sitting there. Doug was sitting next to him and told me he thought he was going to explode. Then when we went into the lobby to greet the young actors Jack was just running, jumping, talking, and basically going nuts. It was like watching one of those wind up toys. After we got home some friends stopped by and we all had ice cream which made Jack even more hyper. Needless to say it was a long night and took forever to get him settled down enough to go to bed.

Nursing

Somedays I really feel like all I do is sit on my tushy with my boppy and baby and nurse. Today I had so much to do that I substituted two feedings with formula. After the second bottle the baby just kept puking up all over me for about an hour. So really it was not worth it all! I felt terrible for her. I must remind myself that she will only be a nursing baby for such a short amount of time and this time should be treasured. This is not a chore it’s a gift.

Three Things at Once

So this morning I spent time trying to do three things at once. I tried to nurse, blog, and teach Emily how to make pancakes from scratch. I did pretty well for a while but something eventually had to give and so I opted to quit nursing. Just kidding! I had to stop blogging and concentrate on my family. Sometimes though I wonder what it would be like if we could manage 3 things at once. Not mentally (I know most women are mentally juggling a lot more than 3 things) but physically. You could be cleaning the house, caring for the baby, and reading or blogging all at once. It would be loverly! Maybe I would get a clean house then or knowing my luck I would just be messing up three things at once. I probably should just concentrate on whatever I am doing at the time and do it to the best of my ability! Things tend to get messed up when we have our attention focused on too many things at once. Which is fine if it’s related to some of the more mundane aspects of life but when it comes to our children we can’t afford to lose focus. So I’m going to pray that God will help me focus and that whatever one thing I am doing at the time I can do it in such a way as to please Him. God has His work cut out I think I have Attention Deficit Disorder!

Yesterday Margaret was a really high maintenance baby. Most babies are high maintenance but you sorta get used to it after awhile but yesterday was more intense than usual. By the time evening came around I was just exhausted and cranky and I just wanted to EAT a lot! I hate that about myself. I hate that when anything in my life is just a little off I turn to food. How do I change that? Especially the eating when tired!

OK will all that being said….Where’s the chocolate?

Drinking it all in

Sometimes I look at the new baby and I want to just drink it all in. I want to try and remember every little detail. How she smells, her soft skin, her fuzzy little head, and her beautiful baby smile. I get overwhelmed at how precious she is! Then that starts me thinking about the other children and how much they have grown and how fast their childhood is flying by. My hope is that when they grow up and think about their childhood it will be with fond memories. My parents gave me the gift of a wonderful childhood and I pray that I can give that to my children!

Tonight when we told Jack it was time for bed he informed us that it wasn’t even dark outside. Of course it was dark outside and so we told him to look again and see how dark it was. He opened the front door looked outside and said ” It’s just cloudy”! We about died we were all laughing so hard! I love having kids.

Pampered Pooch

Today I went into the kitchen and much to my dismay saw our dog drinking water out of my beautiful crystal bowl. Thats right a crystal bowl courtesy of the 8 year old. I love the dog and all but COME ON!

Clorox Wipes Addiction

When you have a large family you start to get a little paranoid about sickness and germs. One flu bug can go through the ranks and keep us home bound for weeks or even months. I happen to LOVE clorox wipes and when someone in the family gets sick I go through the house wiping down everything I can possibly think of with the wipes. On a daily basis I use them for washing off the table after meals, I love them for wiping down the bathroom sink, and I use them for the kitchen counters. My sister thinks I’m crazy but I just can’t seem to get over my clorox wipes addiction. I tried and for about a month I did manage to avoid buying them. It was extremely difficult on my weekly shopping trip to leave Target without them. Then someone got sick and I had to have them again.

Also because I am a bit of a germaphobe I don’t take my kids to play areas in places like McDonalds and Burger King or the Mall. I just can’t handle the thought of them crawling around in those little plastic tunnels filled with other kids snot and slime. YUCK! I do let my kids play at outside parks I just make sure I have some hand sanitizer along. That’s the other thing I love using. In the winter I use hand sanitizers a lot. Every time we get back from Target or Wal-Mart we all use a bit of hand sanitizer. I have little bottles of them in the car, my diaper bag, and a large bottle at home.

I tell myself that its fine as long as I don’t start doing the whole MONK thing where you need a wipe every time you shake someone’s hand. So I’d love to hear others opinions on this. Are you a fellow germaphobe or are you at the other end of the spectrum?

Putting on a Brave Face

Having a large family is hard work and sometimes it is just overwhelming and you go into a survival mode. I’m in survival mode now. Trying hard to keep a brave face on things and not let anyone know how much I’m struggling. If you have two children and your having a hard time you can call a friend and complain and whine a bit and maybe get some sympathy. If you have a large family you don’t call anyone because everyone already thinks your crazy for having a large family and if you complain then they can just say we told you so. I know that sounds a little jaded but anyone with a large family knows what I’m talking about. I hate that. I hate that I feel so alone and tired. The bible talks about not growing weary of doing good and right now I’m weary and my husband is weary and yet there is just so much good that needs to be done. We have 7 children who need us, we have parents who need us, and all the other daily responsibilities. I’m just in need of God’s Mercy and Grace in my life right now!

Two hymns have been going through my head the past two days. Praise my Soul the King of Heaven and King of Love my Shepherd is. I’m really hoping that soon I can get refreshed and live my daily life with more purpose than just mere survival.

Sleep Deprivation

This week has been a blur of activities and the entire time I have been getting just tiny bits of sleep at night. So last night and once again tonight I have been so tired that literally I can’t speak. I try words and sentences but they just come out in a muddle and my poor family looks at me like I have lost it. Which I have!

Tonight was my sweet husbands birthday and I went with a baseball theme. We had peanuts, popcorn, and cracker jacks. We had beer brats, beef sausage dogs, and hot dogs. We had all the toppings you could want for the hot dogs and everyone loved them. I even managed to get some of those foil wrappers that they put hot dogs in at the ball parks. So I wrapped them up and put them on a tray with the bags of popcorn and peanuts. It looked really cute. Then my dear Mother in law made my husband’s favorite birthday cake which just topped it all off.

Now I must sleep while the baby is sleeping so that hopefully tomorrow I can actually form words when talking.

Home-Schooling and Housework

Home-schooling and housework. One of these things is not like the other, one of these things doesn’t belong! (sung in my best Sesame Street voice) I hate house work right now. The kids are busy with their schooling and I am busy with a baby and their school work. So right now the house is taking a back seat and you can tell. It looks like a tornado went through. YUCK! Even right now I have a baby sleeping on my chest while I try typing around her. She has been very demanding and cranky today and I’m thrilled she is sleeping and don’t dare try and lay her down. I can’t stand to hear her cry anymore today. In spite of all this I consider today a success since we did finish all our subjects. Yeah! Tonight I’m ordering a pizza for dinner and we are going to go have some fellowship with some other homeschoolers. The house will still be waiting for me tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow we will have home economics as our first subject and we can all do a speed clean.

Not so Quiet Time

Before the baby most nights I would end the day by having a nice long bubble bath. It was my 30 min of quiet alone time. So tonight I decided that I really needed that alone time again. So I gave the baby to my dear husband and made a nice hot bubble bath. As soon as I got in the three year old had to go potty so in he came. As soon as he saw me in the tub his little eyes lit up and he asked me if he could get in the tub. I told him no but that when I was finished he could take a bath. Before I could get him out of the bathroom another child came in to go potty. So now I have two children talking non stop to me. Alicia finally came to my rescue and shooed them out but Jack realizing that Daddy was busy with baby and Alicia was distracted was soon back at the bathroom door. This time he brought his echoing microphone so that he could be extra loud and annoying. Here is a short excerpt of his echoed rantings at my door, ” Mom are you done yet?, Is it my turn mom?, Now is it? Now? Now? Now?, Effalumps and Woozles, Effalumps and Woozles, Effalumps are scary!, Now? Now? Now are you done? Mom, Get out of the tub.” Then he decided to use the microphone as a hammer and start banging on the door. He explained to me that the banging meant “what” as in “what are you doing in there mom?” Soon after the banging started I decided that I couldn’t take much more “quiet time”.