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.