Yea Me!

I have "defeeted" the Mound 'O Socks!!

Laundry Loathing

Holy crap I hate laundry. I hate washing it (although I do love the clean smell), I hate folding it, I hate putting it away, and I especially hate matching up 50 billion socks. I'm not kidding, we have 50 billion socks in our family. Come and count them.

I'm thinking of having a clothing strike where no one is allowed to wear clothes for a week, or if they do wear clothes, they must be the same exact clothes the entire week, underwear and socks included. And I am not washing any of it.

It doesn't matter how much laundry I do there is always more. I'm so sick of looking at the dirty laundry downstairs waiting to be done (I swear it mates at night and reproduces like rabbits), the laundry upstairs waiting to be folded in multiple baskets, and the clothes that actually are folded waiting to be put away 'cause the only time I can fold clothes is when Cooper, Halle, and Emma are sleeping and can't go in their rooms to put their clothes away.

And don't even get me started on the socks. We were at a Christmas thing at our church where John was the MC. He does such a good job. Anyway, he's giving some little anticdote about life and out of no where, to my utter shock and embarrassment he says, "my socks don't even match tonight"...............AHHHHHHH!!!

I hate laundry and I'm trying to avoid going upstairs and matching the mound of socks which the kids have started using like a big leaf pile. They jump in it, throw them in the air, put them back in a pile and start over. I'm seriously considering just throwing out dirty socks and buying new ones each week. It will be warm soon and we'll be back to going sockless anyway. Drastic I know, but we really do have 50 billion of the things.

Stitches

Madison and Marshall spent the night with my parents last night and they were to spend the day at their house today just having fun with Grandpa and Grandma while I was at my house with the three little ones just having fun here.

I wake up after a restless night of sleep looking into the faces of the most beautiful twins in the world. And these twins are asking for chocolate milk and cartoons. We snuggle in bed for a while and then they request pancakes. Lazy me tries to convince them of the merits of the poptart, cereal bar, cereal in a bowl with no milk, even an Eggo. It's no use. I get up and make pancakes and am actually very happy to do it. They smelled sooo good!

The twins eat and then I sit to eat while Cooper is still sleeping peacefully in his bed at almost 9 in the morning. Emma is dressed and Halle and I decide it's a great pj day today. Ha. In my dreams. As I am finishing my last few bites and talking to my John, my parents beep in. Odd, I think to be calling so early. I decide I better answer and it's a good thing too, because my Dad informs me that Madison needs to go to the ER for some stitches. They're not sure exactly how it happened, but she hit her head on their wooden rocker and has a pretty bad cut.

I throw some clothes at Halle, grab Cooper and quickly change his stinky poo and throw them all in the car to race to the hospital to meet my mom and do the exchange of children...I am sooo thankful even more that my parents are here to help in a crisis like this especially with John out of town. Although, come to think of it, if they didn't live here, Madison wouldn't have been at their house, and she wouldn't have fallen and hit her head and needed stitches in the first place...but that's beside the point!!

I tear up when I see my little princess with red, watery eyes holding a washcloth to her bleeding head. I look and to my horror it's not just a simple deep cut, it's a hole like a puncture wound. My baby girl has a hole in her perfectly beautiful face. I try not to vomit at the sight and we go inside to begin the waiting game.

It's not too long of a wait (note to all, any future major illnesses or injuries requiring the ER services should definately occur on a Sunday morning!). The nurse was great...I think his name was Len. The doctor was horrible. His name was Dr. Ghandy (note to all, if you are at Eastside and Dr. Ghandy shows up, request someone else).

He does nothing to help ease Madison's fears of stitches and starts poking at her holey head. He leaves and comes back a few minutes later with a needle of numbing medicine and just starts shoving it in her head as blood gushes down her cheek freeking her and me out. Then using the force of an elephant he presses and presses and presses on her head all the while tears are rolling down her face. I am whispering to her that she is being big and brave and trying to convince myself that I am big and brave too, praying that he hurries up already.

He tells her she won't feel the stitches and starts in. With the first poke of the needle she almost jumps off the table. She tells me it does hurt and I tell him. He says, and I quote, "I seriously doubt it is hurting her." I want to slap that man so bad. He does the second stitch and she nearly jumps off the table again. Then he walks out. No good-bye. No hope you feel better. No drop dead. Nothing.

Thankfully nice nurse Len comes in and wipes off her face and puts a band-aid on and makes her feel so much better. He tells her to be careful and to have a good rest of the Sunday. I like Len. He knows kids...much better than stupid Dr. Ghandy.

We go to Target to get a toy for being so good (it's become our ritual with all the stitches Marshall has gotten). I take her back to Grandma and Grandpa's for her to spend the rest of the day because that's what she wants to do. The rest of us come home and just veg all day. The house is a mess. Well, the dishes are done...big whoop. But I don't care about the mess. I've spent the day playing with my kids and having fun doing it. If anybody expects a house with 5 children all ages 6 and under to be clean, you are seriously delusional!

Madison should be home soon and I can't wait to tuck her into my bed again tonight! I love that strong-willed, firey, gentle, shy, loving little girl. With all my heart!!

Great day!

Praise the Lord I slept last night!!!!! I went to bed at 10 and woke up at 7:30!! Emma woke up to go potty at 2:30 but went straight to bed right after. I had a heart to heart with the girls before bed last night. I told them they could come in and snuggle me but they had to wait until the sun was in their window...and they did!!! I have realized that I really require 9 hours of sleep a night to feel fully awake and energized all day...I know that sounds lame, but it's true.

I actually showered uninterrupted and got make-up on to boot. Whoo-hoo it was a great morning! Madison helped me make blueberry muffins which the kids devoured like they hadn't eaten in days...I think I fed them last night, maybe not though. Madison and Marshall went to "story time" at our church (it's a new thing and they loved it!) while the rest of us went to Wal-Mart to get the supplies for the Abraham Lincoln log cabin.

We came home for nap and quiet time while Maddie and I started on her cabin...it took 4 hours and we're not done yet!!! (The thing is HUGE...we used 5 bags of pretzel logs!!!) We had sooo much fun just bonding pretzels and bonding with each other! (I don't know how to post my own pictures from my own camera because I'm a lame-o on the computer, but I'll have my love do it when he gets home on Tuesday. Can't wait.)

My Mom and Dad came over with some pizza for dinner and took Maddie and Marshall to spend the night and then the day with them tomorrow so I had some adult conversation and some relief when it came time for bed. The twins were exhaused and I didn't hear a peep out of them. Cooper is sick but he still plays like a maniac. I just put him down, no peeps from him either.

So I'm going to go and grab a whole bunch of Valentine candy, a sappy chick flick and crawl into my lonely bed.

It was a good day and I feel blessed and content!! (But I do miss my hubby!!)

Night Two

I'm hoping I get more sleep tonight than I did last night. My sweet Emma decided that last night she didn't want to sleep between the hours of 2:30 am and 4:30 am.

She first woke up at 1:30 and I bribed her with a Whopper to get back in her own bed (I know, I know, bad mommy). It worked for an hour.

She then was up every 5 to 10 minutes for who knows what...just walking into my room. I know it would have been easier to give in and let her crawl into bed with me, but I already had one squiggly child with me, Madison. (I had promised her she could sleep in the "big bed" when Daddy went on his trip...next time more thought goes into that promise!!) Anyway, it was the principle of the thing. I had told her no and I was sticking to my exhaused guns.

At about 3:30 (and this is a.m. people) I decide, maybe she'd stay in bed with her twin. Well yeah she did. Except she woke Halle up and they were playing Barbies and Dora.........ahhhhh! Got her back in her own bed again and Halle fell asleep right away. Not Emma. That girl has the will of iron she does.

So as I'm stuffing cotton in my ears and pulling the covers over my head at 4:30 I decide I am NOT going to preschool in the morning...oh yeah, didn't you know I teach 2 year olds on Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30-1:30...cause I'm just not crazy enough yet! I'm thinking I'll call the director in the morning and make up some excuse like Cooper is sick or something. I turn off the alarm and rest easy with my decision.

Marshall wakes me up at 6:30 and I start getting ready for preschool cause I just don't have the heart to call on such short notice...dang work ethic. Normally we have 10 children in our class, only 4 kids show up...and 2 of those are mine. Miss Donna (my helper) and I just let the kids play all day and we decided that it's the kids that were sick that are the messy, loud ones cause we had a great, quiet, non-messy day today.

Tried to get a nap after school but Cooper had other plans. I think he's getting sick. No. I know he's getting sick. I wiped his green snot all afternoon and he's woken up about 5 times since he's been in bed.

Please God, just let me have a good night of sleep. I don't know if I can make it through the day tomorrow if I'm deprived of more sleep. I might "accidently lose" one or more of my children...that would be bad, very, very bad!

Okay, I'm going to bed now. The kitchen is clean. The clothes are folded (and put away honey!!). The children are in bed (for now). The cat is fed and happy. The dog is in her crate whining to go out...so I better take her out or she'll bark until I do.

Oh yeah, and I have to help Madison build a replica of Abraham Lincoln's log cabin home this weekend. It's due Tuesday. This was John's job. He doesn't get home 'til Tuesday...did I mention he procrastinates?!

Good-night.

Not her actual cabin, but it gives me ideas!!

Sad and lonely

John left today for 6 days at NRB. I'm sad and already missing my hubby. He's awesome...I don't tell him that enough.

Stressin'

It's been a good day, but it's been a hectic day in and out of the car. Madison's school, Marshall's preschool, MOPS, ballet for Madison and home again with three trips up the stairs carrying sleeping children and another for all the other junk that goes along with five children. Tonight Madison has basketball practice and my sweet husband has a Sunday School curriculum meeting and won't be there. Thank the good Lord above that my parents live close by and my saint of a mother is watching the twins for me while the rest of us go to the practice.

I remember that tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Okay, the kids and I just did their respective Valentine cards and inserted the pencils that go with them (that took longer than writing all the names on them). I'll have to make the chocolate chip cookies for the teachers tonight after basketball. Do I have anything for my sweet husband...uh that would be no. Will he get anything from me? Not anything that can be mentioned on this blog.

Now on to thinking of dinner, PB&J again (can you die from too much PB&J?) I guess I should start getting that together because I only have about 45 minutes before we need to get in the car for basketball...it takes longer than you think to make PB&J for 5 kids!

Oh, and as I was coming downstairs for a little "me" time (with Cooper in tow) I see that someone(s) who shall remain nameless (but their names ryhme with Calle and Jemma) have thrown a whole bowlful of leftover breakfast Coco Puffs down the stairs...minus the milk, they eat them dry...while I was helping Madison and Marshall with the Valentine cards. In addition to that they managed to put all their toys (Polly Pocket shoes included) in the middle of their room. It's actually quite a neat little pile.

Oh yeah, and John's leaving town for 6 days on Thursday. Yippee!

Sweet Kisses to Puppy Kisses...NOT the same!

Now I know what Lucy from "Peanuts" was talking about when she would declare, "AAAHHH!! Dog germs! I've been kissed by a dog and have dog germs!" For I too now have dog germs. And I did indeed screech, "AAAHHH!!"

I was scolding the dog for once again jumping over the gate that seperates the kitchen from the living room. I was holding her face to face so she could see just how upset I really was about her infraction of "the puppy rules". I was looking at her and she was looking at me with this pathetically sad puppy face and proceeds to reach forward and lick me when my mouth is wide open. Frenched by a dog. How disgusting...I have brushed my teeth several times just in case you were wondering.

(The picture is not our actual dog...but you get the idea!)

Favorite Time of the Day

My favorite time of the day is when my husband comes home. He's so incredibly handsome I can't stand it! I love the way his hair is turning gray and makes him look all the more delicious. I love the way he undoes his tie as he's walking up the stairs with a big grin on his face. I love the way the kids run to him screaming "Daddy's home!!", as if he's been gone for a year rather than a day. I love the to hear the laughter of him and the children upstairs all wrestling on the floor. I love the way he twirls them around. I love the way he can't remember the words to songs, but makes them up as he goes along and sings to the kids anyway. I love the way he has a one-sided dialogue with Cooper and makes up Cooper's answers for him! I love him. I love him. I love him...and he loves me!

(I just need to add a small PS here. As I'm writing this "love letter" about my husband, two things have happened. 1- Cooper fell down the stairs because someone, who shall remain nameless but his name rhymes with "Ron", left the gate open. 2-The dog chewed off one of beloved Hilton's ears. (Hilton is Cooper's monkey.) But I love that man, I do. I really, really do!)

Lazy

I am so lazy. While my little ones are napping and the older two are playing a video game downstairs, what do I do? Do I fold the 5 loads of laundry waiting in the baskets? Do I scrub my disgustingly dirty bathroom? Do I vacuum the carpet or mop the kitchen floor? Do I do any of the mundane things that REALLY need to be done? Absolutely not.

I instead grab a snack (only had half a bagel for lunch and I'm starving!!) and I head to the warm comfort of my own bed and turn on TLC...I'm addicted to "A Baby Story".

So now it's almost 4:30 and I have no plans for dinner, a babysitter coming at 6:30 so my hubby and I can go to our Bible study tonight, and my house is a mess. When am I going to learn to take the precious time I have to myself (which is not that much or that often) and make good use of it? Stupid comfortable bed. If only it didn't call to me so!

Sweet Kisses

We're walking in Wal-Mart the other day and something happened that has never happened before. I'm pushing Cooper in the cart and he takes one of his little hands and grabs my sweater and pulls me toward him. As we are almost nose to nose, he takes both his hands and puts them on either side of my face and squashes our noses togther. Then he opens his mouth as wide as he can and starts giggling so much his whole body shakes! It's then I realize that my little baby has just given me his first kiss! It's the best kind...all sloppy and toothy from his 7 little teeth. Wow. Being a mom is awesome!

Where have the chubby legs gone?

I wish I were talking about myself here, but alas I am not.

I am talking about my precious twins, Halle and Emma. They just turned 3 a few weeks ago and it seems like that was the magic day when the chub left their legs. I realized it tonight when they were running around in their short pj's.

Now I do give my children baths and I see their naked little legs all the time. But it was something about the shorts that made them look like little girl legs instead of baby girl legs. It made me cry.

I'm sad to see my babies growing up. I'm happy too. I know God has great plans for these cute, energetic, exciting, smart, full of life little ones. I just wish they could have chubby legs a little longer. I just love squeezing them. I love being their mom, and the mom to my other children as well.

Children truly are a gift from God. A gift that is too easily taken for granted. May I relish every moment with them...even when I want to pull my hair out. May I be reminded that youth is far too fleeting, and before I know it, they will be gone.

I love you my precious little ones. More than you can ever know.

Why do we have a gerbil?

I am tired today. I didn't sleep well last night. Many nights I don't sleep well because I am an extremely light sleeper. I think it must be the mom thing. I can hear the twins ever so quietly open their door in the middle of the night to come sneak into bed with us. I can hear Madison getting a drink of water. I can hear the cat purring in the living room. And I can hear the gerbil scratching at its cage trying to escape.

Now the gerbil was one of Marshall's birthday presents this past October when he turned 5. We got it because, well, I'm not sure why. He did the typical kid thing and was REALLY excited for about 3 weeks about it. Now it's like he doesn't know the thing exists. It had been in the living room, but the cat kept trying to attack it and actually did one time and we thought the thing was going to die...bloody eye and all. (But that's the subject of another blog.) We moved it into the boys room and shortly thereafter Cooper started waking up each night between 11 and midnight, which in turn would wake Marshall up and us and sometimes everyone. We had to find a solution to this problem.

We, well John really, realized that the gerbil was waking up Cooper. Did you know that they are nocturnal animals? You do now. And so do I...stupid things.

The gerbil now resides in the bathroom during the night so as not to wake up the Coop. It seems to be working, except now it keeps me awake...which is better I suppose than keeping Cooper awake.

Anyway, last night I kept hearing Pavarotti, the cat, scratching at the bathroom door. I was about to kill him. Finally I heard what sounded like scurrying across the floor and thought, no, it's not possible. How could that gerbil escape? Well, he had gotten out of his cage somehow...probably one of the twins had left one of the little caps off of the cage, they are STILL obsessed with it!

So at 2:45 a.m. I am on all fours in the bathroom trying to catch this small, white, bleeping animal. Did you know that gerbils are quite quick and they jump? Well, they do. I'm trying not to scream so as not to wake any of the children or John, I'm thoughtful like that, and the thought crosses my mind...should I just let Pavarotti get the thing and be done with it? Marshall would not care (when we thought he was going to die before he started jumping up and down and celebrating that he could get another gerbil...weird kid.). But after 15 grueling minutes I caught and recaged the varmit. Why do we even have a gerbil?

We had a successful night at the dinner table...again! Not as successful as the chocolate chip pancakes, but really, what can compete with that? I am very wary of "supper in a box" type foods, however, when I came across these Campbell's Supper Bakes that were buy one get one free at Publix, how could I resist? We are after all on a budget!

So it was with much trepidation I made the "Cheesy Chicken". Oh my word, it was SOOOO easy. You just mix hot water with the noodles, some butter, and the sauce mix, put your own UNCOOKED chicken on top, cover with foil, bake for 20 minutes (while the children are playing in the backyard with the hard-won Christmas puppy), then mix the noodles around, put the topping stuff on, bake for another 10 minutes, and lookey-loo...dinner!! Well, I did also bake some dinner rolls and throw some corn on their plates for good measure.

Now I am not trying to imply that it was the BEST food I've ever tasted in my life, far from it. But it was pretty good. And the kids ate it without complaint. All I got was "can I be done now?"...but that was when the plates were just about empty anyway. So for dessert we all had my hubby's favorite cookies, "Chips Ahoy"!

Now the wee ones are clean, the older ones are doing my cleaning of the living room, and I have a few precious "mommy moments" to myself! Hooray!!

Frizzy Hair

Why do I even bother drying my hair straight? I used to have straight hair. Well, that's not entirely true...I've always had a few small waves. But now, for some reason, baby #5 has made my hair curly. Not the pretty, oh I wish I had her curls, curly. Not the cool, Jennifer Anniston waves. No. My hair is frizzy curly.
My husband likes it when I let my hair go curly...and I do too for about 10 minutes. Then it's like it takes over my head and starts frizzing out. So I put it up in the "up-do", or pull it back in a pony tail, or most times I put it in the "half bun" thing where some of it is sticking out...just so I look cool!
I've been debating whether to cut my hair in a cute, short, bob where the frizz would be a lot more managable...but then I would be forced to actually do my hair every day. Because my hair is long, it's easy to get by without washing it every day cause I can just pull it back and go. And with 5 kids, that's usually what ends up happening.
But today I decided to actually take the 30-45 minutes it takes to dry my hair (did I mention my hair is REALLY thick too?!), and what is happening outside? It's raining...like I'm able to watch the weather and would know that it's going to be raining all day.
So I take my son to preschool and have to walk him in because (surprise) we are running late, hair gets wet.
I go to MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) every other Monday and had to get 3 other children out and walk in the rain, my hair gets wetter. Back in the car afterwards, wetter still.
I decide to go to Target and get the Coop some new shoes, it had stopped raining by now, so I'm safe on the way in. We take out time and get the new shoes for Cooper and new rain boots for the other 4 (they are on clearance...how can I resist?!). On the way out of Target, the twins get to try out their new boots, cause it's raining again. Hair now becoming quite frizzy.
Now it's time for me to go and get Madison from ballet. I'm early and we go in to watch...wetter still.
I forget to go and get Marshall so not only was he late getting to school, he's now late being picked up which means of course I have to walk in to get him...in the rain once again.
So by the time we get home I am looking like Bozo the Clown on a really bad day. Oh well. Last night I bought some more cute hair bands so that is what is keeping my hair "under control".

Dinner

Is it wrong to feed my children chocolate chip pancakes for dinner? I don't mean pancakes with a few chocolate chips thrown in here and there. I mean as I'm mixing up the batter and talking with Cooper in his high chair, I dump almost an entire bag of chocolate chips into the mix. Don't get me wrong, they were delicious, although I am an admitted chocoholic not seeking reform. But it was like eating chocolate with a little bit of pancake. The kids LOVED them and thought I was the best mom in the world and asked if they could have them every night. I have to say I am tempted. It was the first time in a long while that I haven't gotten the "Ewww...gross!" "Can I be all done?" "I'm not that hungry." "What is it?" "How many more bites do I have to take?" etc...

Why is it...

Why is it that my darling husband whom I love to pieces seems incapable of replacing the soap in the shower? Is it because he doesn't know from day to day whether I will enjoy the pleasure of a shower and takes the calculated risk that I will be unable to have one that day? Is it that he simply forgets? Is it laziness? It surely can't be that he thinks if I haven't had a shower in three days I'll simply be happy with warm water running over me can it?

But just to see if I could figure out if he's got it in for me to stay dirty, I tried a little experiment the other day. There was no soap...again...and I thought, okay, I can once again use the shampoo to wash my body. And I didn't replace the soap as I usually do...on purpose. I made it a point to take a shower the next day, just to see if my darling husband would have thought to replace it. Nope. So now I know HE didn't use soap. Well it's just a fantasy of mine to actually get a shower three days in a row, so I missed a day and forgot to check on the soap thing. But the next day (this is day four of my experiment for those of you who have lost track!) I did take a shower, and as I was turning on the water, I noticed...no soap AGAIN!! Thankfully it was before I stepped in so I was able to replace the soap. I can only go so long without soap after all.

But it occured to me, how long would he go without soap. I can only hope that just as I do, he uses shampoo to wash his dirty body...but it makes you wonder...

It's finally happened!!

Just when I thought my precious angel twins would go to college in pull-ups, it happened!! They are potty trained!! Well, almost. But they are wearing only "big girl panties" during the day and Halle had NO ACCIDENTS TODAY!!
She had previously shown zero interest in the big girl panties, and big girl potty, and the m&m rewards her sister was getting, and the big reward of a Dora the Explorer bike that had been promised when she achieved pull-up freedom! However, the turning point for her was when we were shopping at Macy's and Madison and Marshall got to go play at the "play place"...which is the place you can drop your 3-8 year old for 2 hours at a time while you shop...and Halle wanted to go in soooo bad she cried for about 15 minutes! After explaining that she had to be 3, which will be in 2 weeks time, and that she couldn't wear pull-ups she had to wear big girl panties, she was all about the potty.
Now Emma has seemingly reached a road-block. She had been all about the potty, but now is having a few accidents a day. But I refuse to break my resolve. No more pull-ups during the day. I can clean up a little pee on the floor. I can wrestle little legs out of poop-filled panties. For goodness sake, I can get the carpets cleaned professionally and I have a washer and dryer, right? I will not lose my resolve...especially when I am on the verge of only having one child in diapers...which has not happened in 6 years. Yes, 6 years people!! I have been changing the bodily functions of at least 2 human beings for the last SIX YEARS!! Most recently it has been 3 people due to Marshall and the twins, and then the twins and Cooper once Marshall potty trained himself, the little perfectionist that he is!!
So, can you see why I'm so overjoyed? Now, when is it too early to start with Coooper?!

Duct Tape

Ah, sweet, sweet Halle. When my husband suggested I should have a "blog" my first thought was, what the heck is a blog. After he showed me his "blog" my next thought was, what the heck would I write on one. Silly, silly me. Each and every day my children manage to give me more than I could ever begin to write about due simply to time constraints.

Today as Halle, Emma, Cooper and I are driving along to the doctor's office we are happily singing to "I've Been Working On The Railroad" having a grand 'ole time. We had stopped at McDonald's for breakfast to eat in the car on the way to take Madison to school. (Marshall had a play date, thus his absence from this story.) The kids all had their usual pancakes. The twins never really eat much, it's just fun for them to pick at their pancakes and throw the rest on the floor of my ever disgusting van. So when Halle starts saying, "here Mommy, all done," I merely say, "yes, honey. I'll get it when we get to the doctors office." Not ten seconds later, to my utter shock and horror, Halle is standing next to me (as I'm driving 35 miles an hour down a busy road) handing me her mutilated pancakes. I just about ran off the road because first of all she scared the heck out of me, and second, I'm straining my neck to see how she managed to get out of her carseat. Needless to say I pull over at the first parking lot I could find and buckled her safely back in her car seat. Maybe next time I should just use duct tape.

Super Cooper

My little Cooper is just so adorably cute, sweet, and good. I swear sometimes I could just eat him up. He never cries. He's always smiling, even at strangers. He's in the middle of cutting four new teeth and he barely notices. Is it that he is the last of five children and knows he needs to be so laid back? Or did God decide that with our last "surprise" baby He would in His infinate wisdom give us a baby that could roll with all the punches our other children seem to give us day by day? Whatever it is, I'm just so glad He did decide to bless us one last time with what I consider the "perfect baby".