They All Call Me Mom

their favorite day of the week

2012-02-13T01:15:00.000-08:00

We are hooked up with a really neat homeschooling group in our area. Not only do they have park day every Friday, as well as holiday parties and field trips throughout the year, but every Monday they meet at our local ice skating rink. The skating rink hosts "Homeschool Day" on Mondays and we all get in for a discounted price. (yay for that! $$) And since the scheduled time for "Homeschool Day" is from 11:30am to 12:30pm, the place is practically empty except for us homeschoolers! So that's very cool. Literally.

So this is where we are on most Monday's. I love that the time is 11:30 to 12:30 because that gives us practically the whole morning to do our school work. And when the kids know that it's Ice Skating Day...well, let's just say there is no nagging on my part to get them to finish their work. Whoever goofs off and doesn't get his or her school work done that morning gets to bring the unfinished work to the ice skating rink and finish it there before going out onto the ice! Yep, I'm a mean teacher -- I know.

Okay, so you'll notice two of the three kids are wearing helmets. A.J. normally wears a helmet, too, but on this day he could not find his and we were in a hurry to leave the house. So his little head was not protected on this day, and I was worried the entire hour. Now see, some of you might think I'm being over-protective by making them wear helmets. After all, they were the only kids wearing helmets out there (well, except for my friend Joan's two girls. Joan and I think the same) but I will tell you, once you have a kid who suffers from a severe traumatic brain injury due to being hit hard in the head, your prospective and awareness of the brain's importance is forever changed, and you take all the precautions you can to protect that very delicate brain in your child's head. *Add that to being married to a fire fighter/paramedic who goes on calls all the time on children who do not wear helmets while riding bikes, skateboarding, roller and ice skating...and there you have it: an "over-protective" mom who insists her kids wear helmets while ice skating. Yep, that's me.

Five-year-old Andrew is having a wonderful experience at the skating rink. These photos are of his first day out on the ice! He hugged the wall the first time around, and then after that he wandered out to the middle of the ice and did great! He only fell a few times. He had a blast and was so proud of himself for learning something new!

Way to go, Andrew!
This was A.J.'s second time ice skating, so he was practically a pro out there on the ice. Even though he spent a lot of time ON the ice, it wasn't because he fell a lot by mistake. No, no -- this kid spent so much time ON the ice because he would skate fast and then slide on the ice. Crazy, I know. But I guess that's fun for him. His pants were pretty wet by the time the hour was up. He didn't care much at all about that.

Having fun, A.J.?
And finally Aislynn. Just like Andrew, this was her first time ice skating. She did great! I think she had a bit of an edge over Andrew because 1) she's 18 months older than him, and 2) she roller skates a lot with roller blades. So I guess that would be called "roller blading" instead of "roller skating" ? Whatever!

Can you see why Mondays are now my kids' FAVORITE day of the week!

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Special Time

2012-02-10T02:02:00.000-08:00

I took Aria to the library yesterday, just me and her. She wanted Special Time with me, and so I spent one hour and 15 minutes in the children's section of the library reading one book....

after another....

after another.

And then as soon as we got back home, she asked me, "Mommy...when are we going to have Special Time? Just you and me?" And I said,"What? We just did! At the library! The library WAS special time!!" and she said, "That's NOT Special Time!" and I said, "Why not?" and she said, "That's just reading books!"
So apparently I still owe her some Special Time.
SEINFELD FANS: This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry owes dinner to Kenny Bania, a guy who Jerry doesn't particularly like, and when he takes him out to Mendy's restaurant all Bania orders is soup. And he insists that Jerry still owes him a meal because he only ordered soup.

source
Somehow I don't think telling Aria "the library counts" is going to change her mind. Ah well. She's no Kenny Bania, that's for sure. I don't mind spending more time with my little girl :)
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when life gives you lemons...

2012-02-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

... let your three year old make lemonade!

This is Aria's "forced smile" face. We are seeing this more and more in her photos lately. She's getting to that age where she knows she is supposed to smile for a picture, and so she forces one instead of smiling naturally. And it's useless to tell her to "smile right" because that just makes her force it all the more, turning her "forced smile" face into a face that more resembles constipation. So I've learned to just leave the "forced smile" as it is ~ she's cute even when she's frowning :)
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is this an age thing or something I have to worry about?

2012-02-08T00:24:00.000-08:00

Okay so it's no secret that I'm 42 years old. If I want to be factual, I am actually almost exactly 42 and a half years old this month on the 14th.... to be exact. I hate being exact. But there it is.
So now I'm wondering if everyone my age is losing their short-term memory? I know they blame pregnancy on short-term memory loss (some research claims) so I'm wondering if I perhaps had one to many? Pregnancies, that is. Did I totally fry my brain cells away with all these pregnancies? I'm really staring to wonder.
Lately, not only do I forget things easily (like for example the kids will give me their money for "safe keeping" and two days later I won't remember where I stashed it) but I can't remember doing more important things, like say...taking OFF my wedding ring!
Back in the summer months, we had a string of burglaries in our neighborhood. Thankfully, our home was not targeting. But I took precautions, just in case. One of the things I swore I would never do again was to take off my wedding ring. I just couldn't bare the thought of it being taken from me in some random robbery. So, I stopped putting it in my jewelry box at night. Instead, I kept it on my ring finger and NEVER took it off. I have never taken it off since the summer of 2011.
Well, the other day I was driving the kids to school and I looked at my left hand which was on the steering wheel at the time....and my ring was GONE! I said, "Oh! My ring!" and the kids said, "What, Mom?" and I said, "Where is my ring!" Of course no one knew what I was talking about, and then my mind raced back to the night before. Did I take off my ring? No. Am I sure? Yes. I haven't taken off my ring since June 2011. WHERE IS MY RING! I had no recollection whatsoever of taking my ring off. None!
And NO, I hadn't been drinking the night before, lol. This is my completely sober and drug-free mind not remembering. I was seriously freaking out. WHERE WAS MY RING!
Once I got home, I searched my room. I looked on my night stand. I looked on the bathroom counters. Finally, I searched my jewelry case... and there in the waaaaay back of one of the smaller drawers was my wedding ring.
I had absolutely no memory of putting it there. And it's not an easy thing to take my ring off. It's about a size smaller than my ring finger and to get it off I usually have to soap my finger or put lotion on my hands. So I was trying to remember doing that... and I just couldn't remember doing it! I had no recollection of taking my ring off. None!
Brain cells. I must be losing mine to some extent. How could I not remember taking such an important piece of jewelry off my hand? So this left me a bit worried about myself. Am I getting some kind of early memory loss? I am now second-guessing everything that I do around here. The baby is in her high chair: Don't Forget!!!!! Andrew is in the bathtub: Don't Forget!!!! Pick up Alex from soccer at 5:00pm: Don't Forget!!!! Never mind the bills and the mortgage that needs to be paid every month, but I worry about my children's safety. Gosh darn it, if I can forget about taking off a piece of jewelry, what else am I capable of forgetting?
I just don't trust my mind anymore. What is going on? Is this just me, or is this an age-thing that everyone goes through at one point or another?
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I'm linking up with Things I Can't Say: Pour Your Heart Out

my favorite...

2012-02-06T09:53:00.000-08:00

Being that I was a child of the 80's, of course this was my FAVORITE Super Bowl Commercial that was aired yesterday. Did anyone else love this one? Ferris Bueller!!

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Super Bowl Baby

2012-02-05T14:59:00.000-08:00

Today is Super Bowl Sunday!
Not that I'm a fan of football or anything, but this certain Sunday of the year will always be special to me. You see, I became a mommy on Super Bowl Sunday, 1993.
I went into labor the night before, and Rich said, "Do you think you'll have the baby tomorrow?" and I said, "I bet I do! How exciting, huh?!! and he said, "Yeah ...um...but do you think you'll have it before kick-off?"
"Now how would I know that! I've never had a baby before."
"I know. But I'm just saying. Because, you know, it's Super Bowl Sunday."
So then the next day in the hospital....

From the expression on my face, I'm obviously not having fun in this moment in time. Do you think Rich is saying...

a) "You're doing a great job, honey!"
or
b) "It's 12:37pm. Kick off is at 3:30. How close are the contractions now?"

I'm tired. I'm in pain. My body has had it. Do you think Rich is saying...

a) Hang in there, honey! It won't be much longer. You're doing great!"
or
b) I hear Michael Jackson is doing the half-time show. We don't want to miss that, right? Let's get these contractions more productive!

I'm at the final stages of pushing. My face is all scrunched up and I've got an oxygen mask on my face. Rich is saying something to me at this point. Do you think he's saying...

a) "..... one! two! three! -- come on, baby, you can do it! -- three! four!...."
or
b) "Perfect timing! It's only 1:00 and in a few more pushes the baby will be out! Kick-off isn't for another couple hours! Thanks, honey. You're the best!"

And here is our new baby! Our Super Bowl Baby! And her daddy is so proud. In this photo is he thinking...

a) " She is so perfect! She's beautiful. I am so blessed!"

b) "When she grows up, she's going to be a football cheerleader!"

(If you answered A to all the questions above, you are RIGHT! ~ he wasn't into the game that day at all.)

And for your entertainment, here is the half-time show of Super Bowl XXVII ~ and at the time of this show I was holding my new baby girl just about a mile from where this was going on. If my hospital room window had been open, I bet I could have heard the screams coming from the Rose Bowl.

One of Michael Jackson's most acclaimed performances came during the halftime show at Super Bowl XXVII. As the performances began, Jackson was catapulted onto the stage as fireworks went off behind him. As he landed on the canvas, he maintained a motionless "clenched fist, standing statue stance", dressed in a gold and black military outfit and sunglasses; he remained completely motionless for several minutes while the crowd cheered. He then slowly removed his sunglasses, threw them away and began to sing and dance. His routine included four songs: "Jam", "Billie Jean", "Black or White" and "Heal the World". It was the first Super Bowl where the audience figures increased during the half-time show, and was viewed by 135 million Americans alone; Jackson's Dangerous album rose 90 places up the album chart.

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Valentine's Day Project

2012-02-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

Aren't these the cutest Valentine's Day hearts?

I saw this photo on a wonderful blog called Clean and Scentsible

and right away I knew I wanted to make these with the kids.

Luckily, she had an awesome tutorial :)

source

They are called CRAYON HEARTS and they are a FUN project to do with your kids. Very simple, yet just to warn you the process is a bit messy (the crayon shavings get everywhere!) but what is a fun, kid craft project without a little mess, right? And we good mommies don't worry or stress over a little mess, right? It's all about the kids, right? You bet!

To see the steps in making these, please click on this link:

Clean and Scentsible

And here are the photos from our attempt at these cute Crayon Hearts.

One thing I want to add: Let the kids cut out their crayon hearts. Don't do it for them, no matter how much you want them to look perfect. If you want perfect looking hearts, then make some of your own. (That's what I did!)

I was actually impressed at how well Andrew and Aria cut their hearts. When did they get so good with scissors?

Because my kids didn't want to stick to the light pink crayons for their crayon hearts, we had some deep purples, some dark reds, and even some blue hearts. But all the colors swirled and blended and made for some very interesting Valentine's Day decorations. We hung them throughout the house near the windows so the light would shine through.

Linking up today with these awesome blogs:

Beauty Bright: Weekend Gathering Hop

Mom's Bookshelf: Weekend Warrior Blog Hop

Create With Joy: Friendship Friday Hop

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I'm a tiger

2012-02-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

I saw this today and just had to post it. I love this! And heck yea, I've earned my stripes! and then some!

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nineteen

2012-02-01T19:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my oldest daughter's 19th birthday. Her last year being a teenager! It's crazy how the time goes by so quickly.

her first Halloween ~ 1993

So she is graduating from high school this spring. I can't begin to tell you how much this thrills me and how much I look forward to watching her walk across that stage.

walking across the stage, Kindergarten ~ Mother's Day Presentation

Below is the page that will be in her senior yearbook. My friend Kristi helped me with it, since I do not know how to do all the fancy editing yet. Didn't she do a great job?

Audriana is going to be thrilled when she gets her high school yearbook in June and sees this page. It's going to be a full-page in the senior section of the yearbook!

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the toys

2012-01-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

When we get the chance to get away for a weekend, one of the things we love to do as a family is to go camping with the toys.

And when I say the toys

I'm talking about

...............

.............

...........

.........

.......

.....

...

....

.....

......

.......

........

.........

..........

THE TOYS!!!

Avery on her toy

This is how we spent the recent 3-day weekend: Camping & Dirt Bike Riding. Camping is not #1 on my list of favorite things to do (I'd rather be in a nice 5 start hotel, to be honest) but I DO love going to the desert and riding our quads and dirt bikes! That is A LOT of fun for our family. We have quite a few of these toys for our kids to ride, and one big trailer to haul them all in. When that trailer is hitched to the back of our motorhome, it makes for one long vehicle on the road. I have no idea how Rich drives that thing, but he does it well. (must be all the practice he gets while driving those fire trucks!)

Rich helping Alex start his bike.

Aria was able to ride around a little bit, too. Rich would take her for a ride now and then, but mostly she just had fun being adorable in her racing outfit. She was so excited to "look" like the rest of her siblings, all dressed in riding gear.

Every SINGLE time we go...someone breaks down and needs a tow. Hey, I sound like Dr. Suess! This time it was Andrew on his quad. He was way over on the hills and we saw him just stopped still, and we knew something was up. Sure enough, the quad had engine troubles, so Rich went up there and got him down.

I didn't take my good camera on this trip, so all these photos are from my iPhone. They didn't come out too bad, actually. Ya just gotta love the iPhone.

I love this picture of Aria

The next time we go, Aria will be on her own toy. Rich is looking for one her size, and once she gets one she will make me a nervous wreck because the girl has no fear when it comes to riding dirt bikes. She will be keeping up with her older brothers and sisters in no time. My sweet three year old. I wish she'd just stay a baby for a little while longer!

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in the 1800's

2012-01-26T10:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was what I like to call one of our Fun Field Trip Days. Because I'm a natural homebody, I have to schedule Fun Field Trip Days and actually make reservations for some place to take the kids. If I don't make actual reservations that hold me accountable then chances are I'll skip out on going. I know, I'm pathetic that way. What can I say except that I love being home? That's not such a bad thing. But for kids it is. Kids need to get out and do stuff! Especially kids who are homeschooling. They need to be out and about on a regular basis.
So yesterday we joined our neighborhood homeschool group and met up at the Heritage Museum where the kids learned all about what life was like back in the 1800's. Our tour guide was Jason, and he was really good with all the kids. Our group was fairly small - just about 7 kids total - but he knew how to keep their attention, which isn't easy when you are working with kids of different ages and attention spans.

*pretty cool that I made all my pictures look vintage, right? Neat effect! Oh, and I might mention that all photos were taken on my iPhone. I know, I sound like I'm a salesperson for Apple, but I just can't help bragging about the picture quality on that phone!

The kids learned about certain machines that were used in the 1800's. Their favorite

demonstration was watching the blacksmith make nails and tools over the hot coals.

They were able to dress in clothing from the 1800's. Aislynn loved this part of the tour, but A.J. not so much. He would only allow me to take a photo from the back view. Even from behind they look like a very proper lady and gentleman from the 1800's, don't you think? (pay no attention to the Vans tennis shoes that they are both wearing)

They learned to appreciate our modern washer and dryer.

They did a quilting craft.

And they thought it was absolutely ridiculous how people used to talk on the phone!

I learned a lot on the tour, too....like how I would NOT have been a very good housewife back in the 1800's. There was way too much work! Especially in that kitchen. I hardly even cook now, with all the modern stores and appliances. If I had to kill the chicken, pluck the feathers, gather wood for the stove, churn my own butter, milk my own cow, and wash and dry all the dishes by hand....well, I believe we'd all starve. Not only that, but we'd be running around naked half the time, because laundry would take just waaaaay too much time!
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no more babies?

2012-01-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

So I'm going to tell you a little secret. I've been pregnant five times since having Aria, my last baby, who is now 3 and a half years old. Obviously since I have no new babies this means I've had five miscarriages. The first two I've written about, but the last three I've kept to myself because I did not want to mention a new pregnancy until I passed that 12-week mark. And they never got that far.
Here's my track record:

first miscarriage - lost June 8, 2010 @ 11 weeks
second miscarriage - lost March 8, 2011 @ 10 weeks
third was a positive pregnancy test... but then a week later it was gone.
fourth was a positive pregnancy test...followed up with blood work confirming the pregnancy, but then I lost it in that second week.

And the fifth one just happened. I got a positive pregnancy test on New Year's Day 2012. The blood work looked good. I even had a follow-up blood work taken to see if it was progressing, and all look good. I even went on progesterone supplements to ensure my progesterone levels. But then I lost it in the 7th week (this past Friday)
Okay, can I be honest here?
This pisses me off, big time! I obviously have no problem conceiving. But since I've turned the big 4-0 I have not been able to hang on to a pregnancy. What is the deal with that? I'll tell you what the deal with that is: I'm getting OLD. Yep, I must have old, defective eggs. I hate that my stupid age and my old eggs are preventing me from doing what I love the most. Yes, having babies and being the mother of young children is what I love doing the most. There, I admit it. So shoot me, but it's the darn truth. This time in my life is my absolute favorite time and I cannot even imagine what it will be like without a baby on my hip or little ones running around this house.
This makes me angry. It really does. Maybe even more angry than sad this time around. Rich and I would love to have another child. But we are getting OLD. Blahhhhh. I don't like it, I don't like it, I don't like it. Not one bit.
This post is just for my venting purposes. I don't want or need advice or opinions or any nasty remarks. Don't tell me that this is God trying to tell me something; I don't think God puts babies in my womb and takes them away just to say, "There! That'll show you!" The God I know and worship isn't cruel like that. Don't tell me that I should just be thankful for all the children that I have been given; I am thankful for all of my children and know that I'm extremely blessed to have so many. But because they make us so happy, and because they are blessings, of course it's only natural that our hearts would love more. I would love more children. It's not a bad thing to want children, so don't make this into something bad or wrong. There is nothing in my heart that is bad or wrong when it comes to children.
Defensive much? You bet. Because believe me I get all kinds of comments.
My heart wants more babies, but my body has other ideas. And I guess that's just going to have to be okay with me at some point. But I haven't reached that point yet. Right now it still pisses me off. The way I see it, 42 is still "young" -- I have friends right now who are pregnant at ages 42 and 43. In my eyes, they are young and I am young. But it's really not all that young in reproductive age. In fact, anything after age 35 is considered "elderly" in reproductive age. Ugh, I hate that I'm elderly already...when in fact I still feel so darn young!
Anyway, so that's what's been going on with me this month. I apologize for the bad words in this post. Yes, I consider "piss" a bad word. And before you ask -- I have NO idea what we are going to do next. Try again? Maybe. Or maybe not. I just don't know. Part of me looks forward to losing weight, getting my body back, not having to think about any other body except my own body, and getting back into some cute "skinny clothes". Wouldn't that be nice? I guess it would be nice.
But then there's another part of me...
that would like
maybe
just one more.
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just a few words on Sunday

2012-01-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

I remember back to when I was a kid and I looked forward to the weekends. The weekends always meant one important thing for me: SLEEPING IN! Is there anything better than the feeling you get when you first wake up and then remember that it's Saturday or Sunday and you don't have to get up for school? so then you do the "roll" back onto your side and fall back asleep. That's the BEST feeling. Yea, I miss that feeling. Because it's not like that anymore.
Ever!
This morning I got out of bed at 5:45am. I took a shower. I then woke up Alex and A.J. at 6:00am and fed them breakfast. Then we three were out the door at 6:30 to be at Alex's soccer game by 7:00. His game started at 7:45 but he had to be there at 7:00 for pre-game warm-up.
I miss sleeping in, but there's a positive to waking up early, even on the weekends. Here are a few positives that I'm already discovering about my day today:
1) I was up and showered and ready by 6:30am. Make-up on, hair done, and dressed in shoes. This automatically gives me an energetic start to my day.
2) I was able to have quiet time with just my two boys this morning without the rest of the crew. Quiet, alone time around here is rare and very valuable.
3) I got Alex to his game on time! BIG accomplishment for me, as I aways tend to run late.
4) I was able to take A.J. to Starbucks, just the two of us, while we were waiting for the game to start. He and I shared a table in the back and sipped our hot chocolate. Again, rare and valuable one-on-one time.
5) After the game I returned home and made the kids pancakes for breakfast. It was only 9:15am and most of them were up but a few were still sleeping.
6) I folded and put away what was left in the dryer from yesterday, and started a new load. I only have about 3 loads left and our laundry will be ready for the week.
It's only 10:00am right now and I feel like I already accomplished quite a bit in my day. Hey, I even managed to get a blog post out!
Now, I'm off to take A.J. to his baseball practice and then it's back to the field for Alex's second soccer game of the day. Then I'm free until 5:30 church with the family.
Well...not exactly "free".... but you know what I mean :)

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Penny Update

2012-01-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Remember the dog we adopted back in December? Penny is doing quite well. Of course she gets into everything, as most puppies do. If it's lying on the floor, she will have it in her mouth soon enough. Shoes left out get chewed. Toys get destroyed. Paper gets shredded. Food gets eaten. (crayons, too, for that matter. Penny's poop is always very colorful.) We have to "Penny Proof" the house constantly. During the Christmas season with all the wrapping we did, she was in Heaven. Every time we finished with a roll of paper we'd let her have the cardboard tube afterwards. She'd carry that big thing around in her mouth all day, before finally shredding it.

If there are any dog experts out there, here are a few things that Penny does that I need to break her of.

1) Penny will dart out an open door and just RUN into the street! She doesn't stop to look around first, she doesn't sniff the grass or the surroundings. Nope. She just runs straight into the street and then runs around IN the street. I can't figure her out. When Milo used to get out, he would at least run to the nearest tree or some grass or bushes. But Penny just runs right out into the street. She gets walked at least twice a day, so it's not like she's deprived of the outdoors and runs whenever she sees the chance of freedom. I don't know why she does this other than just the simple fact that she's not trained well. But how do you train a dog not to run outside? I'm so afraid that she will get hit by a car. We live on a fairly busy street, so she has been extremely lucky so far.
2) Penny will not go outside in the morning. I let both dogs out of their kennel at around 7:00am so that they can go to the bathroom. Then once they go, they get let back in again. Penny knows the routine, so as soon as I let her out of her kennel, she runs around the house. She will not run outside with Milo, but instead just stays in the house. I call her. I even go outside myself and call her to entice her to come out. But she won't go outside on her own will. I can't have her run free in the house when I know that she has to pee after being in her kennel all night. So I go pick her up to put her outside, but then she does that nervous "piddle" and makes a mess on my carpet each morning. Rich is NOT doing well with this habit of hers, by the way. He is a cleanliness freak and cannot stand the fact that this dog pees whenever she's nervous or excited.
3) Penny will growl at people when we are on our walks. She either growls or barks at them. Adults and children, which I just can't understand because she is so good with our kids and has never done anything even slightly aggressive towards them. But it seems that with strangers she is always in "guard dog mode" and it's not only embarrassing, but I can't trust her. She has never bit anyone in our family, but the way she growls at others makes me wonder what she's got going on in her head.
So what can I do about these three things? Any advice? Other than these two things, she's a great dog and we all love her so much.

me and my "baby"

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let's wrap

2012-01-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

This year I let my three year old wrap all the Christmas gifts that she had carefully chosen for her brothers and sisters. She has 4 brothers and 4 sisters. That's eight gifts. Do you know how much self-control it took for me to just sit there while she did her best to cut that paper straight, watching as she carefully picked off each piece of tape and placed it delicately onto the gift wrap....for eight separate gifts. She would not allow me to help. And of course I had a million other things I could be doing. Yet, all I could do was watch.......her wrap........eight.......presents.....one.....at.....a.....time.
Can you imagine how much time this took? The tape would get stuck to her fingers, again and again. Even the tiniest rip in the paper made her want to start over, again and again. Yet, I had to smile. I had to encourage. I had to be patient. I had to endure. I had to sit on my hands at times to keep from giving some assistance. It was almost painful.
But do you see that smile on her face? That smile clearly says, "Look! I did it myself!" That smile shows how proud she is of herself. That smile means the world to me.
That smile made it worth every single ~~minute~~ hour!
linking up with And Then She Snapped
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Birds fly. Fish swim.

2012-01-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

Andrew's preschool class has a bird for a class pet, and each weekend "Mike the Bird" goes home with a family so that he will not be alone in the classroom. At the beginning of the year we signed up for the weekend that we wanted to take the bird home with us. Well, of course I got to the list late, and the only "weekend" that was left was for the two-week Christmas break. No one signed up for that one, of course. So it was left for us. Yep, the family of eleven with two dogs gets the bird for two weeks instead of two days. Of course! Why not?!

During the two weeks Mike was the perfect guest. He stayed in his cage like a good little birdie should. It wasn't hard to take care of Mike. Andrew helped to feed him, clean his cage, and put his cover over the cage at night. We have never had a bird, so all of this was new to us.

What I realized was that birds aren't all that much fun to have as pets. You can't really pet them, or cuddle them. What do they do but sit all day in their cage? I actually found myself feeling a bit sorry for Mike, day after day just standing there on that stick. What kind of life is that for a bird? Shouldn't he be out flying somewhere? What crazy person in history decided to catch a bird and stick it in a cage? Who was the first guy to do that? Am I the only one who thinks this is unfair? I guess the same could be said for fish in a fish tank? But at least they get to swim around. They still DO what they are supposed to DO. But birds can't fly in their cages, and by definition isn't that what birds are supposed to DO? Birds fly. Fish swim. I think it's an injustice to keep birds in cages. But I don't know, maybe that's just me.

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stomach bug

2012-01-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

We had a stomach bug here in our house recently. It was so much fun, let me tell you. Seven out of the nine kids got it, and I'm still holding my breath on the other two. I've been busy disinfecting toilet knobs, door knobs, stair railings, desks, counter tops - if they can touch it, I've got a disinfectant wipe on it, doing my best to keep the germ at bay.
But I have to be honest, I'll take a 6-hour stomach bug over a regular cold with stuffy nose, cough and congestion any old day! Those coughs and congestion can last anywhere from 1 - 2 weeks, and then everywhere you take your kid everyone gives you the stink eye when he or she coughs, and you just want to hang a sign on them that says: I had the cold 10 days ago. This is just a lingering cough. I'm not contagious anymore.
The stomach bug we got here ran it's course in each child in about 4-6 hours. They had no fever, they didn't feel achey; in fact, it was hard to keep them in bed they were feeling so good. They just threw up every 15 to 20 minutes.
I was a little worried about Aria. Being just 3 years old and not remembering the days when she used to spit up as a baby, I thought that she might freak out and cry when she started to throw- up. You know how little kids can be. But that wasn't the case with her. In fact, when the bug hit her, we were driving somewhere on the freeway and she said, "My tummy hurts." and I thought, okay...here we go. So I pulled off the freeway, gave her a plastic bag that was in the trunk of my car, and I said, "If you get sick, throw up in this until we get home, okay?" and she said, "Okay, Mommy." and I thought to myself, well this will be a fun ride home.
So I started back on the freeway again. Less than 5 minutes went by and I heard her making coughing sounds and sure enough she had her head in the bag. I said, "Aria, are you okay?" and the other kids told me that she was getting sick, and I was about to pull off the freeway again, but then she pulled her head out of the bag, took a good look inside of it, turned to her brothers and sisters and said, "Guys...you DON'T want to see this! " meaning the contents of the bag, of course. And I just started laughing. We all started laughing, and then she started laughing. So I didn't pull the car over but instead just continued on our way towards home.
She was the best sick three year old I've ever had. Once at home, she never missed making it into the toilet. She would get up from playing and say, "I be wight back. I just have to go fro up." Then she'd run to the bathroom. I'd quickly follower her to see if she needed help, but she never did. Then I'd wash her hands, clean her up, and she was ready to play again.
I swear, only if they were all that easy. They boys - oh what is the deal with boys and being sick?!! Alex and A.J. complained the most. After every time they got sick they would moan at me, "Mommmm....when is it going to stopppppp?!" and I'd say, "Oh, 6 hours or so. You'll be fine." and they would whine, whine, whine. The wimps. Rich can be the same way when he's sick. I'll be honest and admit I don't have too much sympathy for Rich when he's sick. I would have a lot of sympathy if he wasn't such a baby about it. It's like he's always trying to exaggerate it, and that's where he loses me. If he plays it up too much, then I give him the famous "Oh give me a break. Try morning sickness for 8 straight weeks." comment, which he never likes to hear me say because he knows he can't compete with that.
You know what's totally not fair, but I do it anyway? I compare everything to childbirth. If Rich gets a cramp in the middle of the night, gets out of bed screaming because his hamstring muscle has seized up, to where he's practically crying out in agony... I just prop myself up on my elbow with a smile on my face and say, "See? Now imagine that feeling over and over and over and over again for three or four hours straight. Yea, that's right. Hurts, don't it?" Oh, I'm so mean. But darn it, if they only knew!! Getting a cramp in his leg is the closest he's ever going to get to the feeling of contractions during labor, so I use it as a comparison. What's even worse is that during his cramp he can't even get mad at me for saying that because he's in too much pain. He just agrees with me as he's seizing up "Oh wow oh wow oh wow you go through this I can't even imagine it oh wow oh wow oh wow it hurrrrrrts!" - by the way, he doesn't really say oh "wow" but I'm just trying to keep it clean here on the blog.
Okay, enough of that. Let's move on to nicer things.

Like the weather! We are still having very warm weather for January and are enjoying being outdoors. Rich's favorite place to go locally is down to the Harbor, so on this day we took the dogs, some of our kids, plus two friends -- and we had lunch down by the water.

What made this day a rare one was that Afton graced us with her presence. Usually this sixteen year old has a full agenda with friends, sports, homework, etc. But on this day she said, "I'll go, too" and we all about fell off our chairs from the shock. It was nice having her with us :)
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my hobby

2012-01-10T10:09:00.000-08:00

My most favorite away-from-home place to go...

I've been going here since 1999, right before I had Alex. In fact, it was about 3 weeks before my due date that I went for the first time - my belly was huge and I was scrapbooking for 4 days straight. I swear I could scrapbook for days on end without getting bored. It's my #1 hobby and I just don't take the time to do it at home - I need to get away to get anything done!

There are so many things that I love about Christine's Retreat. First, it's very, very relaxing there. There is such a feeling of calm. It's quiet. I can sleep through the night without being woken up. I can shower without being disturbed. I can eat meals that are prepared for me, and not have to clear my plate or wash a single dish. I sit at a large dining table with other adult women and can have the best conversations without being interrupted. It's quiet. (did I already mention that? oh, how I crave the quiet!) Second, I am very productive with my scrapbooks while I'm there. I can leave out all my stuff and come back to it without the worry that someone (kids!) will get into it and mess things up. I can sit there, uninterrupted, hour after hour and just work on my photos without having to stop to take kids to soccer practices or school, or make lunch, or take someone to the bathroom. I get so much done while I'm there! I love that. Third, I always come back from my weekend feeling very refreshed and ready to jump into all my mommy duties. Not only that, but I feel accomplished and caught up with my scrapbooks, and that is a really good feeling. (those of you who scrapbook know what I mean!)
So I just thought I'd share this place just in case any scrapbooker near Apple Valley would like to get away for a weekend. I'm going to try to go in the month of March, not too sure which weekend yet, but if you'd like to join me, maybe we can compare dates and meet up! For more information, just email me at mommmy9times (at) aol (dot) com.
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she got stung!

2012-01-03T19:48:00.000-08:00

Penny got stung by a bee today! She was out in the yard, just hanging out with Milo like always, and the next thing I knew her lip was all puffed out. It was HUGE! At first I thought she just had a ball in her mouth or that she had picked up a toy and was carrying it around, typical Penny, and I didn't think too much of it. But then about five minutes later I noticed that there were bumps forming under her fur, and her face had gotten swollen, and by the time we got to the animal care office - about 10 minutes after I first noticed her swollen lip - her eyes were swollen so much she could barely open them, and her fur was all lumpy from all the bumps. She was lumpy, bumpy and so swollen. She was a fright!

They quickly took her and examined her, plucked out the stinger that was in her lip, then they gave her two shots of something that helped reverse the reaction. Then we waited.

Here is a photo of poor Penny during her time at the animal care clinic. By this time, the medications were already starting to take effect and the swelling had gone way down. But even here she doesn't look like herself.

You can see the right side of her face where that lip is still pretty swollen, and her head is all lumpy from the bumps, and the back of her, too, which is barely visible in this cell phone photo.

We hung out in their office for a while to be sure she was going to be okay, and then we went home. Right now, just an hour after being home, Penny is downstairs running around with all the kids, seems to be back to normal and having a good old time. Everyone keeps saying, "Poor Penny! Poor Baby Girl." She is loving all this extra attention.

So this is the first time I've ever had a pet get stung by a bee. Leave it to this one to get stung. She always has her nose to the ground, sniffing for things, and she's very playful. She probably saw the bee when she was sniffing around in the grass, and then she probably wouldn't leave it alone, thinking it something "new" to play with... and then ZAP!! She got stung. I hope that she will remember that the next time she comes across a bee in our backyard!

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it's almost not fair

2012-01-02T01:30:00.000-08:00

Here we are

at the beginning of January

and while in some areas across the United States

the weather is bitter cold, wet, and even freezing

the weather here where we live

is a pleasantly warm 78 degrees.

It's almost not fair, right?

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three and a half

2011-12-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

I took this photo of Aria today

and thought I might as well do an Aria Update to go with it!

ARIA

at age three and a half

The other day she had an "accident" on the bathroom floor, and when I asked her what happened, she said: "I just ran out of time!" She is completely 100% potty-trained and has been for about a year now, but lately she's been waiting until the last second because she doesn't want to stop playing, and then when she just can't hold it anymore she RUNS to the bathroom...and well, let's just say that the "I just ran out of time!" excuse is very accurate!

Although we have built her a toddler bed and it is set up in her room, complete with new bedding and pillows... she still won't sleep in it. Her excuse is something different each night: "But mommy, I'm afraid of the dark!" "But mommy, I'm afraid of the Grinch!" "But mommy, I'm too cold in there." "But mommy, my bed isn't cozy." Rich and I are the wimpiest parents on the planet because we just cannot kick her out of our bed. We just ... can't. We can't!

She got a two wheeler bike for Christmas and has learned how to pedal and stop and steer. Soon we will take the training wheels off and she'll be on her way!

When we drop Andrew off at preschool during the week she gets excited and tells me that when she "gets bigger" she will go to Andrew's school. I send my kids to preschool when they are four years old, so this means that she "gets bigger" next July. I am not ready! She may be ready, but I am not ready! The thought of my last "baby" going to preschool makes my heart hurt. I'm a wimp, I know. But I'm just not ready!

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My Elf on the Shelf failure

2011-12-29T02:36:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you know about the popular Elf on the Shelf by now. For those of you who don't, here is a photo of the little dude:

He comes with a book that you read to the children, and the story explains how Santa sends one of his elves to "spy" on them during the day, and then at night he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa on their behavior that day. You are to name your elf, and then look for him each morning, because when he flies back the next day he always sits in a new spot in the house. The fun part of this "tradition" is when the kids look for the elf's new hiding spot each morning.

Okay, so after hearing all the wonderful things about this Elf on the Shelf tradition, I decided to buy one for our family last Christmas. Our elf was given the name "Peter" by our then four-year-old Andrew. I read the book to the kids two times, to be sure they knew and understood the "rules" -- the main one being that you never, ever, ever, ever touch the elf! Never! or he loses his magic. Yes, it says that in the book.

The first few days that Peter visited us, he was doing his job just fine. But then as the days went on, Peter's true colors began to show and we realized that we got ourselves a lazy elf! On most mornings, the kids would wake to find Peter sitting in the SAME EXACT SPOT as the day before!

"Why didn't he move to a new place?!!"

"Did he forget to fly back to the North Pole last night?"

"Did someone touch him? Is his magic gone?"

Okay, truth be told...I hated this little guy and his stupid Christmas tradition right from the start. It's like having to be the Tooth Fairy every single night! The pressure! I mean, come on... as if us parents don't have enough to remember each night before going to bed, but we are supposed to remember to switch the Elf to a new spot in the home every night during December? It just wasn't happening in this household. I tried to remember, I really did! But I just couldn't do it every night.

Anyway, so that was last year's ~~stress~~ fun. I believe "Peter" changed places a total of seven or eight times, total. I felt the mommy-guilt like crazy, but did my best to cover up...saying things like: he must really, really like that spot...and yes, of course he flew back to the North Pole last night; doesn't he look tired to you? ....and no, I'm sure no one touched him. Look how high up he is!

Christmas Eve is supposed to be the elf's last night with the family. On that night, he is to fly back to the North Pole, give his final report, and stay the entire next year helping to make Santa's toys. Then next year he returns to the family during the month of December to Spy & Report once again. So, that adds yet another ~~stress~~ responsibility for us parents: On Christmas Eve, after we stay up half the night wrapping and setting out the presents, we not only have to pretend to eat the cookies and drink the milk that was left out for Santa, being sure to leave crumbs and just a little milk at the bottom of the glass, but we are now also supposed to remember to grab the elf and put him AWAY for next year -- AWAY so that the kids do not accidentally FIND HIM during the year. Because if THAT happened, well...wouldn't that be a disaster? How would you explain that?

This is what gave me my biggest dilemma last year: where to hide our elf? I couldn't put him in the Christmas decoration box, because I knew without a doubt that I'd forget he was in there and one of the kids would find him when we were decorating the house next December. So I hid him in a really good spot, a place where the kids would never find him.

Now fast forward to this year: We finished decorating the tree and the house, and then one of the kids asked, "I wonder when our elf will come?" and right away I tried to remember where I hid that guy. I could not remember! I searched every inch of the house. No elf. Every day the kids asked me, "Where is our elf? Isn't he coming this year?" and I'd say, "Oh, I'm sure he'll come. Maybe they are just extra busy at the North Pole and he's needed there right now."

Days went by and still no elf. I kept assuming that I'd eventually find him, and after a while the kids stopped asking for him. Mommy-guilt BIG TIME! I thought that I should just buy another one, and I planned on it, but things just got busy and I'd keep forgetting to. Before we knew it, it was December 24th and one of the kids said, "I guess our elf isn't coming." and oh, I felt so bad. I really did. DARN THIS STUPID ELF on the SHELF thing!! So I explained that maybe the elf goes to another family on some years. And then Andrew said, "But WE named him Peter. He's ours."

Ugh. I had nothing else.

However, the excitement of Santa's arrival took over and the elf was soon forgotten. The kids woke up to presents galore and we had a very nice Christmas despite being Elf on the Shelfless.

It's now four days after Christmas, and today Rich and I took on the oh-so-fun job of cleaning out our closet; getting rid of old clothes, going through the shelves and the drawers, sorting things. After about an hour of this, I decided to take a quick break and went down to the kitchen. Rich stayed to finish up his side of the closet. After about two minutes or so, I heard him calling my name. But because I had just sat down at the kitchen table, I didn't feel like going back upstairs to see what he wanted. Since he only called my named two or three times and then stopped, I figured it couldn't have been too important.

Then all hell broke loose.

A.J., Aislynn, and Andrew came running down the stairs, top speed, shouting, "MOM!! MOM!!" and they ran into the kitchen. I could see that Aislynn was in tears. In A.J.'s hand was our elf.

"Look what dad found in his sock drawer!!"

"Dad touched him!!

"You can't touch him or his magic will be gone!

Everyone is upset. Including me. My immediate thoughts:

a) Ugh! so THAT is where I hid him!

b) Damn my 42-year-old forgetful brain! I hate getting old!

c) WHY did Rich give the thing to the kids when he found it!

d) WHY didn't I go upstairs to see what he wanted! If I had, he would have given it to ME instead of the kids!

So I grabbed the elf, marched upstairs to find Rich still sorting through his drawers. He stops to look at me and say, all cheerfully, "Hey! I knew you were looking for that thing! I found it in my sock drawer." He was proud of himself.

"WHY did you show it to the kids??!!!!"

He looked so pathetically confused. Seriously, had he no clue about our Elf on the Shelf ritual last year? How could he not know!

"What? Why? I shouldn't have?"

"NO!! You can't TOUCH the elf or his magic goes away! How am I going to explain THIS to the kids?"

So then he got defensive.

"I don't know the stupid rules to that thing! Don't blame me. You are the one who hid it in MY sock drawer!"

He had a point. And I was mad mostly at myself, anyway. No use beating him up about it.

So I went back downstairs to face the crying children. Well, okay...it was mostly Aislynn who was distressed about it. Both A.J. and Andrew were handling it pretty well.

"Here's the thing, guys..." I began, "The elf doesn't lose any of his magic when he is touched AFTER Christmas Day! Today is the 29th of December. He's going to be fine."

Aislynn: But what was he doing in Dad's closet?

Me: Maybe he chose that as a hiding spot, and then got shut in a drawer?

Aislynn: Do you think he's been in there all that time?

Me: I bet he was.

Aislynn: But when Daddy opened up the drawer to get his socks, why didn't he come out?

Me: Because Daddy was there, and you know he can't move or fly when people can see him. So he had to wait, but then Daddy shut the drawer before he could get out. So he was just stuck there day after day.

Aislynn: But how did he fly back to tell Santa that we were good?

Me: I guess he didn't.

Aislynn: But then how did Santa know if we were good or not?

Oh my gosh she just went on and on and on.

And after every lie that I told, I kept thinking to myself...

Oh, what a tangled web we weave,

When first we practice to deceive!

I was just digging myself deeper and deeper, and for what? For some stupid Elf on the Shelf holiday tradition.

Did I mention that I hate this Elf on the Shelf thing?

Now, to prove that our Elf still has magic and will fly away to the North Pole now that he's out of the closet, I set him in our Christmas tree and told the kids that we will know if he's still got his magic if he is gone from this spot by morning. If he isn't here tomorrow morning, I explained to them, that means he flew back to the North Pole. And then you will know that he's okay!

That seemed to settle them down. And the drama was over.

Now, before I go to bed tonight...

- remember to take the elf from the Christmas tree... because if I don't, and the kids see him there tomorrow morning... they will be convinced that his magic is gone for good.

- find a new hiding place for him - one where I will actually REMEMBER when next December rolls around!

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Today I'm linking up with Things I Can't Say

Penny

2011-12-27T17:24:00.000-08:00

Remember sweet little Penny?

Yea, she's a lot of work. Look what she does during the 5 minutes that I wasn't watching her.

Hmmmm. With a family this size, we need all the rolls of toilet paper we can get. So when she shreds a roll, it's nothing to smile about.

Oh, what's that I hear? You say to keep the bathroom doors shut? Well, yes...that would be ideal. But I have nine kids. NINE. Chances are, someone is going to "forget" to shut the bathroom door. What's that I hear? Another suggestion? Oh yes, keep the dog outside. Well, I hear that one, but no thank you. Dogs are family and belong in the house if the family is in the house.

Anyway, Penny has to be watched constantly because she's in that puppy stage where she picks up everything, runs with it, and then chews it. We've lost socks, Barbies, toilet paper, and one Christmas ornament that was hanging too low on the tree. Rich has been very patient with Penny, I must say.

Oh, and remember how we were looking for a home for sweet Penny? Well, we found one. Right here with us! Rich gave us his blessing by finally saying, "Okay, fine - keep the dog!" So maybe he could have used nicer words, but hey, we will take what we can get! Truth be told, Penny was growing on Rich bit by bit. I could tell when he'd say things like, "That's a good girl" to her, and when he wanted her to go to me he began saying, "Go to mommy!" Once he started saying that, I knew she was IN. And of course, my insisting that she get in the family Christmas photo... well, that sort of sealed the deal. It was shortly after that photo was taken that he told us we could keep her! So it was a very Merry Christmas for us!

I will post Christmas photos soon ~ it's just been so busy with the kids off school this week and last. I know you all understand!

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2011-12-25T14:40:00.000-08:00

I love how our Christmas tree looks in the background of these photos :)

linking up with MckMama - Merry Christmas!

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Not Me! Monday

2011-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

It is not me who hasn't even bought one single Christmas gift for anyone - including all nine of my children. It's not me who is waiting until the last possible second, hoping that the stores do not run out of all that is on their lists.

It was not me who gathered all the kids together in about two minutes to snap this Christmas photo - not me who didn't plan, didn't coordinate outfits, who didn't even bother to do who her own hair but instead just threw a Santa hat on and said, "Oh what the heck!" because she is fed up that no one is ever home at the same time to take a picture, and this is the best that we could do before someone has to run out the door again. It wasn't me who completely ignored that one of my children was crying because she got knocked in the face during the shuffle...but instead took the photo anyway due to time restraints and just wanting to get it done!

Oh, and it also wasn't me who photoshopped a Christmas present in the photo to hide the dog's privates because she didn't think that was appropriate to have on a Christmas card.

No, not me!

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randomness

2011-12-18T02:03:00.000-08:00

I have website woes. ~heavy sigh~ For some reason my blog's post page isn't white anymore but instead blends in to the background...which makes it very hard to read. Unless it's only coming up that way for me? Doubtful. Something is glitching, for sure. I wish I knew more about web design. If I did, I would go "in" and fix it. But since I don't, I am at the mercy of the person who designed my blog's template. And she's always so busy, I hate to bother her with my trivial stuff.

But guess what? I've learned how to make a blog button ....

and a "grab my button" box....

;

Oh yes, I'm proud. You are darn right I am. Because I am majorly web design challenged. So for me to be able to do this is HUGE! Huge, I tell ya!

So here it is, Sunday the 18th - and would you believe I have not bought ONE Christmas present yet? Well, believe it. Because I haven't. I haven't even been out there looking. I haven't been on Amamzon.com, either. I'm just a no-shopping-waiting-until-the-last-minute fool, is what I am. Ah well, it isn't the first time. Probably won't be the last.

That last week of school before the Christmas break almost killed me. Everyday there was something extra going on. Thursday was especially busy. I had 3 school functions to attend: Avery's choir performance, Andrew's preschool performance, and Audriana's high school choir concert. Then at the end of the night I had the annual Gift Wrapping function at my church. In between all of that I had the usual stuff going on. It was busy. I guess that explains why it's been so long since I've posted anything.

Andrew was dressed as a shepard boy for his Nativity play

We had a homeschool Holiday Party on Friday, and Santa arrived to sing songs with all the kids! How fun! And afterwards, each child had an opportunity to tell him what they wanted for Christmas this year. Aria said, "A purple bike, a new Barbie, and sparkly shoes."

I just love how this Santa brought Mrs. Claus along!

Even though I have not shopped yet, I am definitely getting into the Christmas spirit. The house lights are up and looking good, our tree is making the house smell wonderful, and there is Christmas music playing 24/7 in our home. I love this time of year!

Aria has been playing the piano for us lately, along with singing Christmas songs.

So serious! She's concentrating on her song.

I love how the tree sparkles in the background.

So you know what else is making my Christmas cheery and bright? Penny! Oh yes, the dog. She is doing much, much better! Thank you to everyone who wrote in advice about what to do about sweet Penny. I'm happy to tell you that she is doing the nervous/excited pee very seldom now. She's so darn cute, and I'm getting attached. So are the kids. Rich has not been home much due to working a lot of overtimes, and he won't be please when he sees just how well she's adapted to our household, and how much everyone loves her. Like I said, he really doe not want another dog. I'm hoping that the longer she is with us, the more she blends in, until finally he doesn't even notice her. You think that might happen? Hey, it's possible. What I'm really hoping for is for Rich to fall in love with her, too. It's Christmastime...and small miracles can happen during this season, so you never know!

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tree trimming traditions

2011-12-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

Some of my friends have these amazing Christmas trees. I'm talking the kind that you'd see in a Martha Stewart, Better Homes and Gardens, or House Beautiful magazine, complete with the coordinating ornaments and fancy ribbons. And while I admire those beautifully decorated Christmas trees, and sometimes even plan on "doing it that way next year", the truth is this: I don't think I could ever give up all the handmade ornaments and personalized decorations that we have on our tree every year.

I have nine children, and each one has made many ornaments over the years, and each special piece deserves a spot on our Christmas tree. Always. They will never be "bumped" for something more fancy. And we just can't get a tree that is big enough to fit all of our children's ornaments and the fancy stuff, so each year I have a "kid" Christmas tree, and each year I am very pleased with it.

Every child has their own "Baby's First Christmas" ornament, and some children have the famous "hand print" ornament, while others have special ones that were made just for them. These alone take up about half of the tree! Even I have my special ones, like the "Mom To Be" ornament, given to me back when I was expecting my first child.

Every year I also get an ornament made for our family, with all of our names on it. Rich's mom used to do this for us, too, so the collection we have of these personalized name ornaments takes up about 1/4 of the tree.

Aria was the one chosen to put the angel up on top of the tree. Of course she needed to stand on daddy's shoulders to do it.

She really got into the decorating this year. Last year at the age of two, she didn't quite know what was going on. But this year my three year old knew exactly what to do, and she sure hung her share of ornaments. And then some!

The three older kids sat back this year and let the younger ones decorate. Audriana handed the ornaments to the kids, and Afton took the pictures. Tony sat waaaaay back -- at work. He had to work on the only night Rich would be home, so he graciously gave up the tree decorating this year. I saved all of his personal ornaments for him to hang on the tree when he got home. Everyone has to put their own ornaments on the tree. That's our tradition.

I also let my kids hang all the ornaments on the tree themselves. And I do not rearrange to space them out better. I want my kids to know that whatever spot they chose on the tree was THE PERFECT SPOT. After all, their little feelings are much more important than the Christmas tree's!

In the end, our tree always comes out perfectly decorated. Better Homes & Garden worthy? Probably not. But it makes my heart happy, and the hearts of my children, and that's what it should be all about!

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I need to learn how to say NO

2011-12-11T15:32:00.000-08:00

Rich has been at work for the past five days. So it's been just me and the kids. It's been a bit crazy and very busy, but what else is new, right? The kids were getting impatient about getting our Christma tree, and I kept putting them off with "let's wait for daddy to get home" but after a few days of that, I decided not to wait.

So, being that Tony works for Home Depot, one day while he was at work I sent him a text: Bring home a tree today. A big one.

and then he texted back: Ok.

For some reason it didn't even occur to me that he wouldn't have Rich's truck. How would he be able to bring a big tree home in his little convertible Volkswagon?

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I love this kid.

He's a just-go-with-the-flow type of personality.

Mom said to bring home a tree, so he did. No questions asked.

So now we have a tree up in our living room, the lights are on it, and we just need to trim the tree with ornaments. (We will wait for daddy to be home to do that!)

And since I've decided that our home isn't busy and crazy enough, enter Penny....

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Our neighbors are moving....

and cannot keep their "Penny" anymore.

I didn't want to see her spend the Holidays in the animal shelter.

So I said we would take her

and keep her until we can find her a home.

She's just under a year old.

She is not house trained. At all.

She jumps up on everything, including people.

And she is at that one-year-old puppy-hyper stage that is oh so sweet

and yet oh so exhausting at the same time.

But oh my gosh, she's so cute! I'd love to keep her. She's be great company for Milo. The two get along great.

But the worst thing about Miss Penny is that she pees whenever she's excited. Which is ALL THE TIME. For all you dog lovers out there, what do you DO about THAT??!!! I can't have PEE in my house and on my floors and carpeting all the time! Yet, I don't want her to be outside all the time, either. What to do? Anyone have any suggestions or tips for me?

If I can get this dog to mellow out some and to STOP peeing every dang second, Rich just might let us keep her. Right now, he is NOT happy with me. Nope, not at all. You could even say that I'm in the dog house right now, which is a first. Usually it's the other way around! Rich has told me time and time again that he doesn't want another dog. He believes that another dog will be a headache and thinks that one dog is enough for us. Two dogs = more food, more destruction, more poop, and it's harder to travel when you have two dogs. All good points that I cannot argue with.

But still. Look at this face.

Could you have said NO to a face like this?

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Rent your college books and help save a child

2011-12-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, who out there is trying put a kid through college, or maybe you might be enrolled in some college classes yourself? In any case, saving money is always important, right? Something we all like to do, if we can. And aside from the tuition, what is the next biggest expense while going to college? Books! Buying the books each semester can really add up! Our son Tony is in his second year of college, and his math book this semester was $200! Two hundred dollars for a math book? That's crazy. And to think we have eight more kids to put through college!

So I just discovered an online service where you can RENT your school books! What a cool idea, right? I thought so! With campusbookrentals.com you can save anywhere from 40-90% off of the bookstore prices, you get FREE shipping when they ship it to you and when you ship it back to them, and you can even highlight in the textbooks. They offer flexible renting periods, you can "search" for the book you are looking for right there on their website, and best of all .... they donate a portion of their proceeds to Operation Smile.

What is Operation Smile? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'm going to tell you a bit about that, too.

Children who are born with a cleft lip or a cleft palate are faced with challenges many of us cannot ever imagine. Many have difficulty eating, speaking or even smiling. If a child is born with this condition here in the United States, chances are good that it will be fixed in infancy and will never be an issue for the child. But in many parts of the world, this surgery is not available, or even if it is most parents cannot afford it.

An infant with a severe cleft palate will not be able to eat properly and might die, while those who are able to survive their deformity are subjected to ridicule and teasing during their childhood, and in some cases are kept from socializing, hidden away from society, never playing an active role in their community.

Operation Smile is an organization whose goal is to fulfill a child's greatest wish: the chance to be normal. They mobilize medical volunteers across the glove to treat children with cleft lips, cleft palates, and other facial deformities, and they also leave a legacy of trained medical professionals, surgical equipment and professional partnerships to help carry on the work after their team of medical volunteers has left.

What a wonderful organization, don't you think? If your child was born with this deformity, wouldn't you want this operation for her? I know I would. And we are no different than other parents around the world who only want the best for their child, too.

I think it's great when a company donates to a wonderful cause such as Operation Smile. So if you know anyone who might want to save money next semester by renting their books instead of buying them, share Campus Book Rentals with them. You never know how many children you will be helping when you do!

* Although all opinions written are mine, I did receive compensation to write this post.

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what happens when I'm in a hurry

2011-12-08T22:03:00.000-08:00

You know how sometimes you are in a major hurry and you are trying to get things done and you don't notice some of the things going on around you because you are too focussed on the things you are trying to get done? Or does this only happen to me?

Last night I had Alex with me as I ran a few errands. It was getting close to 8:00pm, and I only had about ten minutes to do what I had to do, so to say I was in a hurry is a major understatement. The last errand of the night was a quick stop at the grocery store to get some milk and bread and a few other items.

As I hurried into the grocery store, I said to Alex, "Quick - grab a cart and follow me." So then I hurried down the first aisle not looking back, pulling this and that off the shelf and handing them off to the side or behind me for Alex to grab and put into the cart that he was pushing. I was so hurried and so distracted that I hardly glanced at him, and would quickly go on to my next stop, grab another item, hand it to him, and it continued this way for about two minutes or so. Finally we got to the milk aisle and I could hear Alex following close behind with the cart, like he had been the entire time. I stopped at the milk section, opened up the glass doors and pulled out two big cartons, and because they were too heavy to just hand back to him, I turned to put them into the cart myself. Only then did I notice that my funny-guy Alex was pushing one of those kiddie karts, and all my groceries were just about overflowing out of it.

I was laughing so hard! To think he had been following me around the store the whole time with that thing, and I never even noticed! He just looked so silly, I couldn't stop laughing. You normally see two and three year olds pushing those kiddie carts, not preteens! Alex had to hunch over to push it. Finally, when I could breathe again, I said, "Alex! Why did you grab that thing?!!!" and he said, "I don't know! I thought it would be funny!" We were both laughing so hard and giggling about this until it was time to check out, and even in the line I couldn't stop laughing.

Life Lesson: No matter how rushed or busy you are, sometimes you just gotta take time out to be silly! Thanks, Alex, for reminding me of that!

I've got to take him on errands with me more often. The kid has a sense of humor! I sure do love my twelve year old :)

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super proud of my five year old

2011-12-08T12:07:00.000-08:00

So Andrew surprises me sometimes. Last night at Kung Fu he volunteered to lead the class. He was the first to raise his hand, and the instructor called on him. I was beaming with pride as I watched my little guy lead the class in their Eight Basic Stances routine. I am so HAPPY that I had my iPhone video going at the time!!

(if you have the time, watch it twice: once to watch Andrew at the front of the class, and a second time to watch Alex at the back who keeps looking at me, not happy that I was videoing him during Kung Fu.)

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I'm a bit behind...

2011-12-06T23:34:00.000-08:00

We are already seven days into December. My Christmas Tree might not be up yet, and the Christmas lights might not be hung outside, and our Christmas decorations might still be sitting in boxes in my living room waiting to be unpacked...

But by golly, we got our Christmas Countdown Chains done today! Hallelujah!!

Let the Christmas Season begin!

Christmas Countdown Chains

Just Do It!

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things I hear

2011-12-05T23:25:00.000-08:00

Things I hear often around the house...

It's MY turn!

Mom...where is my _______?

Who ate the last _________?

(when looking in the pantry or the refrigerator)

No....not bedtime yet!

(when told to get into bed)

But I'm not tired!

(when told to get into bed)

I'm hungry!

Where is the Wii remote?

Okay, okay...I'm almost done!

(when told to get off the laptop)

Okay, okay...it's almost over!

(when told to turn off the tv)

But it's not fair!

(to just about everything)

I get to sit in the front this time!

(fighting over the front seat of the car)

Do we have to go?

Things I hear myself say many times a day...

Just don't argue with me!

Get in the car, please!

Where are your shoes?!??

(mostly said to Aria and Andrew who never can find their shoes)

Turn the lights off, please!

Just eat it. I'm not a restaurant.

Go brush your teeth.

Did you flush?

Leave your sister/brother alone.

Where's Aria?
(who is always in some room playing too quietly)

Pick up your towel.

Get OFF the computer, please!

(mostly said to Alex and Avery)

WHERE is my PHONE?!!

(mostly said to Aria, Andrew and Aislynn

who take my phone to play games)

Pick up this mess, please!

Just stop! Enough, already!!

(said to stop the bickering amongst siblings)

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Okay, I'll admit that I don't always say "please" after everything.

It just looks nicer written out that way ;)

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funerals

2011-12-05T00:25:00.000-08:00

We were out of town to attend Grandma Bernadette's funeral. Her church service was beautiful, and the reception afterwards filled her home with many people. There was hardly any room to move around -- it was that crowded with her family and friends. I kept looking around the room, and I couldn't help thinking that she would have enjoyed the gathering very much.

I think we should have our funerals before we die. That way, we can be there with ALL the people who would gather for us if we were to pass away. It's funny (in sad way) that people will stop their lives, call in sick to work, drive for hours, hop on a plane, cancel other plans, etc. to attend a person's funeral... but when that same person just 4 months ago invited them to a family reunion or a birthday party, or even something as simple as going out to lunch, they couldn't make the time to be there. But they will stop everything to attend that person's funeral. I'm guilty of this, too. I'm not throwing stones. I'm just observing something that is all too common.

One of my most favorite shows growing up was Little House on the Prairie, and there is this one episode that totally pertains to what I'm saying in this post. There was this little old lady who was getting on in her years, and she kept writing to her kids to come see her. All she wanted was for them to make the trip to see her, to stay a few days and bring her grandchildren. But they always wrote back that they were too busy, that maybe "next year" they would make the trip. And the old woman was very fed up with them and their excuses. So she got an idea. She had a letter sent to her children informing them that she had passed away, and the funeral day and time had been set. So on the day of the funeral, she hid and watched everyone mourn for her. Then she came out to join the reception party. Her children were furious at her trick! But she said, "It was the only way you'd come to see me!"

I think about that episode now. A lot.

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Hey, it's okay...

2011-12-02T01:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's okay...

to hide in the pantry to eat a snack so that the kids won't come up to you and either a)request one of their own, or b)pester you until you give them a bite of yours!

to admit that you are having a bad day and that you need some quiet time to yourself.

to give the kids cereal for dinner when you feel like reading a book instead of cooking.

to pay your child $5 to give you a foot massage for 10 minutes after an extremely busy day.

to pretend that you remember someone when they recognize you in the grocery store ... when you really have no idea who they are.

to return the wave of every person in a car who waves at you first...even if you have no idea who they are.

to let your child stay home from school every once in a while for no good reason except that they want to be home.

if you aren't on everyone's "invite list" -- who wants to be that busy, anyway?

to tell a child, "Okay, you can sleep in my bed again tonight... but only if you rub my back until I fall asleep."

to neglect your blog every now and then when life gets too busy!

Joining in with Amber at Airing My Dirty Laundry for Hey, It's Okay: "I got this idea from Glamour magazine. They have a section called Hey, It’s Okay and will list a bunch of things to be okay about. You're welcome to join in and do something like this on your blog. Doesn't have to be on a Tuesday either. Just make sure you link up!"

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7 and 7

2011-11-30T00:54:00.000-08:00

Happy 7th birthday to my 7th child! What a lucky birthday today is ~ Seven & Seven! Today is November 30th and my sweet Aislynn was born on this day. We told her we would take her wherever she wanted to go on her birthday. And she picked a place. And the kids are SO excited! Aren't you just dying to find out where we are going? Sorry, but you'll just have to wait until my next post!

In the meantime, here are a few FACTS about my girl:

Aislynn was...

born under water

our first home birth

delivered by her daddy

born on her exact due date

9 pounds 7 ounces at birth

a very happy and content baby

Aislynn is...

beautiful

tall for her age

talkative and social

a great playmate for Aria

learning how to play the piano

always eager to learn new things

the reason we got our 15 passenger van

Aislynn might sometimes....

disobey

stay up too late

pick a fight with A.J.

throw a temper tantrum

slam a door when she's angry

leave her room very, very messy

Aislynn always...

brings me joy

wants to snuggle

likes to sleep in my bed

eats all of the food on her plate

enjoys spending time with her friends

reminds me that seven is indeed a lucky number!

Happy Birthday, Aislynn

Mommy loves you very much!

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regrets

2011-11-29T01:39:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit sad lately. Actually, everyone in my family has been. It's so hard to lose a beloved member of your family. But I believe it's especially difficult when they pass away during the Holiday Season. Because this is supposed to be such a fun and joyous time. But for us, we have a grey shadow hanging over us this year...keeping us from being 100% joyful and festive. Everything we do - decorating, Christmas shopping, listening to holiday music - just reminds us of who we are missing this year.

Tony, Afton, Alex and Avery with their Grandma Bernadette ~ Halloween 2001

I keep thinking about random things....

Like the last time we spoke: just two weeks ago she texted me to ask for ALL the kids' clothing sizes. So I did. And a day later she called to thank me, telling me that she now had ALL of her Christmas shopping completed. (I hadn't even started my holiday shopping, yet she was done! That was SO like her. Always a month ahead of the game.) And that was the last time I heard her voice. If I had known it would be the last time, I would have kept her on the phone longer.

Like how she won't see my kids grow up. Some of them won't even remember her. I should have taken more pictures of her with each child.

Like how she won't be at Audriana's high school graduation this coming spring. Knowing all the hardships that Audriana faced with her brain injury, I know she would have been especially excited to attend her graduation ceremony. She has always been so proud of Audriana, but I bet this day would have shined in her memory. I should have ordered Audriana's senior photos so that I could have sent her one. At least she would have been able to see her graduation photo, the one that will be in her yearbook and in the graduation announcements.

Like how she and Audriana had a cruise to Hawaii planned to celebrate her high school graduation. They were going to go the week after her graduation. Audriana had already saved close to $400 for this trip, and she was so excited. It makes me sad that they will never take this trip together. Thankfully, I can be happy that they did take a cruise together to Mexico a few summers ago. At least Audriana will always have that memory.

Like how we haven't had a Thanksgiving with her in .... well, I can't even remember how long ago it was. And every year she called to ask us what our plans were. And never once did she ever give us grief about not spending it with her. Not once. If I had known that last Thanksgiving 2010 was going to be her final one here on earth, I would have been at her house without even thinking twice.

Like how I never got to give her the "my grandkids" picture frame that I bought for her about a year ago. I was planning on giving it to her as a Christmas gift this year. I should have given it to her on her birthday in June.

Like how I was always "going to" make a scrapbook album for her of all her kids and grandkids. She would have loved that! If I weren't always so darn busy, I could have given her one for her 65th birthday. If I had known that she was going to pass away on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011, I would have MADE the time to make one. I would have stayed up all hours of the night for a week straight just to make it for her. If I only had known.

Like the last time we visited her house was this past June for her 65th birthday party. I was playing with my new camera and started taking random shots of all the photos on her walls, all the frog collectibles that she had lying around the house, etc. I was just playing with the settings on my camera, and so when my memory card filled up, I deleted all those photos thinking them unimportant. And now, well I just wish I still had those pictures on my memory card. I would have liked that detailed memory of how her house "looked" while she was still living in it.

Regrets? Yep, they are there.

I hate regrets.

With all the people we love in our lives, how do we live our days as if each person could leave us at any moment? How do we remember to do that? To make sure that there are never any regrets? Or are regrets just a part of the normal emotions you feel when you lose someone you love? I'm starting to think that I need to make a list for every person who I love, and on that list I will write what I have been meaning to do, to say, to write, to take pictures of, etc... and work on completing that list so that I never, ever miss a single thing ever again.

Because living with any form of regret really sucks, especially when it's too late to fix it.

(Sorry this is such a bummer post, but it all can't be rainbows and roses, you know.)

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Not Me! Monday

2011-11-28T02:55:00.000-08:00

I did not get a new header for my blog! Nope, not me... because I hate change.

Not only did I not get a new header, but I did not get it designed so that each of us was drawn to fit our individual personality and hobbies. For example....

That is not little Aria holding her pretty pink purse and wearing her Cinderella shoes!
The little boy with the sword in one hand and Milo's leash in the other hand is not my sweet Andrew!
The girl next to him wearing her blue Daisy Girl Scout smock and her favorite purple shoes while hanging onto her older brother's shoulders is not Aislynn! Nope, it's not her!
The kid in his favorite red baseball cap, comfortable ripped jeans that he wears almost everyday, and riding a skateboard is not my sweet A.J.!
It most certainly is not my Avery standing there looking pretty while wearing her roller blades that she's so into lately. No, that's not Avery!
And that other boy can not be Alex wearing his soccer uniform with a fistful of Red Vines, his most favorite candy in the whole wide world. No way!
And who is that girl with the hip-length hair and the iPhone in one hand while the other hand is on her hip showing all that teenage attitude? Is that Afton? wearing her favorite Ugg boots and her soccer Jersey #19? No, it couldn't be her!
That tall girl with her nose stuck in the Twilight book and her baby sister's arm wrapped around her leg because she is her second mom is not my oldest daughter, Audriana.
The kid on the end with the surfboard and shaggy hair? That is so not my oldest son, Anthony.
And the woman in the middle wearing the cute red top and jeans, holding a camera... don't even for one second think that hot mama is me. No way, she is not me! Because we all know I ain't that skinny.

If this header were my new header -- which I'm telling you it's not -- it would almost be too good to be true, because we all know that there is no one talented enough to pull this off. To draw my entire family so precisely? No way! But IF anyone were ever so talented to do this artwork -- and that's a big IF -- it would be these people right here:

Whatever you do, do not click on their button to check out their work!
Don't even THINK about doing that.

Other things I didn't do this week....

I did not forget to bring my 40% off coupon for Justice when out shopping with my ten year old at the mall yesterday. I did not go ALL the way back home to get said coupon....only to save 40% off of an $8.00 black tank top. Yes, I know that the gas it took to go all the way home and back to the mall again totally negated the savings. But still. I just had to do it.

I did not tell my husband "I'll be there in a minute" when he got into bed last night, only to get sucked into the computer stuff I was doing, and then an hour later I did not find him sound asleep in bed, obviously had fallen asleep while waiting for me. I did not feel guilty about that.

I did not get 3 people scratched off of my Christmas list by shopping online at Sticks & Stones ... and not only did I not get 50% off my second item but also did not save 10% off my entire order by using the coupon code IBGIKL.No I did not, because I'm usually just not that good at saving money. Nope, not me!

and while I'm thinking about it,

do not click on this link to vote for me today!

just don't do it!

save $20 on that Kelly Moore bag you've always wanted

2011-11-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

Guess what?!!

My favorite camera bag is on sale!

On "Black Friday", you can get any Kelly Moore bag and save $20 off the price!

Check out all the compartments!

I love this bag because it doesn't look like a camera bag -

it looks like a stylish purse!

I have this one in the heather grey color!

And I also have this one in the purple.

If you've had your eye on a Kelly Moore bag, now is the time to get one!

Use the coupon code blackfriday

This code will be valid from 12 midnight 11/24 - 12 noon 11/25.

Finally…a camera bag that gives you MOORE!
Don't miss out on our $20 off Black Friday discount code.
This code will be valid from 12 midnight 11/24 - 12 noon 11/25.
Discount not applicable towards previously placed orders.

to check out all the styles and colors and to place an order,
just click on the link below or any of the bag images in this post

$20 off the BEST CAMERA BAG EVER!

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thankful

2011-11-24T04:19:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for this woman.

Grandma with Alex back in March 2000

This is Rich's mom. I am thankful that she raised up a small boy to be such a wonderful man. I am thankful that she taught him how to care for family and that she gave him a wonderful example of "Family always comes first." I am thankful that she taught him how to cook! I am thankful that she always gives me great marriage advice, but only when I ask for it! I am thankful that she dotes on all my children and always makes them feel special. I am thankful that we celebrated her 65th birthday with a HUGE birthday party this year, that we made such a fuss over her that day. I am thankful that she came out to visit us for a week this past September, right before school started. We had a lot of fun times during that week, a lot of laughs. I am thankful that I've been blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law for my 19 years of married life.

I am sad that she suddenly passed away late last night. I am sad that I didn't get to say good-bye. I am sad that my husband's heart is now breaking. I am sad that her 65th birthday was the last one we will celebrate with her. I am sad to have to tell my children the news in the morning. I am sad that I no longer have a mother-in-law.

Those we love are never with us long enough, are they? I mean, when is a "good time" to say good-bye? Never! We always want our loved ones right here with us. It's just never long enough.

It's Thanksgiving today. And ours has a black cloud hanging over it this year. Rich has left to be with his siblings, and I am home with the kids. This will be our first Thanksgiving apart. I'm sad for that, too. But despite it all, I have much to be thankful for. I have my health, and so do my children and my husband. I have a warm home, many friends, and I have wonderful memories in my head of all the people I have loved who are no longer with me. That is a lot to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Now .... go HUG or CALL all those you love!

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family rules

2011-11-23T01:50:00.000-08:00

Although my family is nothing like the Duggars, I will admit that I like some of their family "Rules" -- thought I'd share them here. If my family could follow even just a few of these, I'd be happy:

Always use soft words, even when you don’t feel well.
Always display kind actions and joyful attitudes, even if you have been mistreated. Have the right response by quickly forgiving others in your heart even before they ask.
Always be enthusiastic and look for opportunities to praise others' character.
Always deflect praise and be grateful to God and others for the ways they have benefited your life.
Always use manners and be respectful of others and their belongings.
Always do what is right, even when others may not, or when no one is looking.
Thank God for how He made you, for what He has given you and everything He allows you to go through. (Romans 8:28)
Don’t mock or put others down. Develop compassion and pray for others.
Never argue, complain, or blame. Quickly admit when you have done wrong and ask for forgiveness (even if you were only 10% at fault). Don't wait till you’re caught. Be sure your sins will find you out. He who covers his sin will not prosper, but he that confesses and forsakes it shall find mercy.
Have a tough accountability/prayer partner to daily share your heart with and to keep you in line (your parents, spouse). The power of sin is in secrecy.
Be attentive and look for ways to serve others with sincere motives and no thought of self-gain.
Think pure thoughts (Philippians 4:8, Romans 13:14).
Always give a good report of others. Don't gossip! Never tale-bear unless physical harm will come to someone. (Use Matthew 18.)
Never raise a hand to hit.
Never raise a foot to kick.
Never raise an object to throw.
Never raise a voice to yell.
Never raise an eye to scowl.
Use one toy/activity at a time. Share!
Do your best to keep your surroundings neat, clean and organized.
Never let the sun go down on your wrath.
(Don’t go to bed angry or guilty)
Amendment J.O.Y. - -Put Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last.

Okay, these are all find and dandy, but I guess what I'd really like to know is what they do when a child raises a hand to hit, a foot to kick, an object to throw, a voice to yell, an eye to scowl, or any of the other things? What then? Do they do time-outs? spank? what? They never address this on their show. Or if they did, then I missed that episode.

Here are 10 tips the Duggars say can help any parents with one to 19 children:

1. Praise your children 10 times more than you get on to them.

(I could get better at this!)

2. Model the character and responses you want your children to develop.

(check! I do this, not always but often.)

3. Don't raise your voice or say put-down words, stay under control.

(ugh, a hard one for me. I tend to yell.)

4. Humbly apologize when you blow it.

(check! I do this.)

5. Lead by example, look for opportunities to serve those around you.

(check! I do this.)

6. Turn off the TV and spend time as a family building special memories.

(Ugh. I could improve on this.)

7. Be involved in your children's activities and go to church together.

(check! check! We do this!)

8. Have heart to heart talks with each child on a regular basis.

(On a regular basis? O.K. this one is hard -- the only negative to having many children, in my opinion.)

9. Encourage your children to make wise choices and to choose wise friends.

(check! I do this.)

10. Post your own house guidelines.

(Yea, I should really do this. Because sometimes I'm not consistent, and kids really thrive on consistency!)

So what do you think? Do you have family rules that you live by? Or, like me, do you fly by the seat of your pants on most days, making it up as you go along? Okay well I'm really not that bad. But I'll admit that I'm not always consistent. Sometimes my kids will remind me to step it up...

sister: Mom...Andrew HIT me.
me: Andrew. Be nice.
sister: MOM! Aren't you going to DO anything?
me: Andrew...come here.
Andrew: What?
me: You hit your sister?
Andrew: (silence)
me: You know that's not nice. Say sorry.
Andrew: (turning towards sister) Sorry!
sister: Mom! He SO isn't sorry! Send him to his room!
me: Andrew, go to your room. You think about what you did.
sister: And don't come OUT ever!
Andrew: How long?
me: Well, I'll let you know.

Then you know what happens? I get busy with other things, I get distracted, and soon enough I see Andrew back downstairs playing the Wii with everyone else. And then of course, the wronged sister comes at me...

sister: MOM! Andrew is downstairs playing!
me: Andrew!
Andrew: What, mom? (all innocent-sounding)
me: Are you out of your room?
(silence)
sister: Yes, he IS out of his room! And he shouldn't be, right? Tell him to go back!
me: Well...he was in there pretty long....
sister: NO he wasn't! Mom! He HIT me!

The problem with me is that I've got no law laid down. Sure, I say things like "no hitting" and "no name calling" but there are no concrete consequences for these actions. And my kids know this. This is something I need to work on. Like, right now - before my kids are all adults who go around hitting everyone who makes them even the slightest bit angry.

Actually, I the more I think about it, I really don't think I have too much to be concerned with regarding the hitting-thing. My kids have always slugged each other every now and then, but yet not one of them has ever hit any kid outside of our family. Never! Not once have I ever got a phone call from the school or another parent about a kid of mine hitting. So maybe, just maybe, it's more like a show of love and affection here in our home? Not really anger or aggression after all?

Yea, that must be it.

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Not me! Monday

2011-11-21T02:15:00.000-08:00

I did not turn around while at a stop light to snap this sweet photo of my Aria snoozing in her car seat, and then heard an angry honk! from the car behind me because the light had turned green and I wasn't paying attention. No way, not me!

While at our local mall, I did not embarrass my kids by making them take a photo of me standing next to a Breaking Dawn poster as if I were some kind of Twilight groupie. Nope, not me!

I did not let my three year old make Jell-O while sitting up on our kitchen counter. Why would I do that, when she could sit perfectly well, and much safer, at the kitchen table? This just doesn't seem like something that I would allow. No way, not me!

And finally, I did not have such a crazy-busy week last week that I got out the Geoboards, let the kids play around with them for a little while, and called it our math lesson for the day. No, I did not! Not me! Because math isn't supposed to be fun, right?

What sort of things did you not do recently?

I'd love to hear them!

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all I want for Christmas...

2011-11-18T21:14:00.000-08:00

All

she

wants

for

Christmas

her

own

iPhone

and

all

want

for

Christmas

have

iPhone

back!

Seriously, I'm all for sharing...but this is getting ridiculous!

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this post is linked up at Mommy of Two Little Monkeys

just some random things and thoughts

2011-11-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy week. Soccer season has ended for AYSO and that means we had a lot of final games and team parties to attend.

Afton volunteered to referee Aislynn's final soccer game of the season.

Here's a shot with both Afton and Aislynn in it. Aislynn is #7.

Two weeks ago it was Alex who volunteered to be the center ref at Aislynn's game. I think I forgot to post the photos of that, so here are a few:

Here's one with both Alex and Aislynn.

Don't they both look sporty in that yellow uniform? I will say that it's kind of neat to be at your kid's soccer game while your other kid is the center ref. I have double the reason to be proud while sitting on the sidelines!

Aria likes to come to the games with me. I know this is not the greatest picture of her, but I just had to post it. Check out the pink purse in the background. And the Cinderella shoes. Yes, even on the soccer field she wears the shoes and carries the purse. So while this photo isn't the best of her, it still tells a story. And that's what photos are supposed to do.

We had many end-of-the-year team parties to attend this week. A.J.'s soccer team was undefeated, and so his party was a fun celebration at our local Sports Grill. Pizza, cake, and a few games of pool. It just doesn't get better than that, you know?

Yea, that's my 8 year old playing pool in a bar. So?

My iPhone has become Aria's most favorite thing. She would carry it around in her little pink purse if I let her. Why does she love my iPhone? Because she is addicted to Angry Birds. She plays every chance she gets.

playing Angry Birds at A.J.'s team party.

(pink purse and Cinderella shoes are under the table)

I have been avoiding the computer this week due to all that's going on with the final games and the team parties. Not only that, but I have a few clutter spots to take care of around this house and I don't want computer time to distract me from it. It's my goal to go into the holiday season with a clutter-free house. Seems impossible, but I'm determined! I'll post photos of my efforts soon.

Speaking of the holiday season, I can't believe that Christmas music is playing in the stores already. Not only that, but Santa is already in our local mall. If holidays had feelings, I'd feel so sorry for Thanksgiving. Christmas is stealing it's thunder this year. How rude.

Have you heard all the stories on the news lately about the missing babies? One mother passes out after a night of drinking, leaves the doors to her home unlocked, and wakes up to find her baby missing from her crib. Another mother leaves her two-year old in the car and comes back to find him gone. What is the matter with mothers these days? They are failing to protect their children. You don't leave your house open at night, you don't drink so much alcohol that you pass out and are therefor unable to protect your children in case an intruder enters your home, and when your car runs out of gas, you don't leave your baby in the car while you go to get help. I don't know, these things just seem like common sense to me. What about you? I just keep hearing more and more stories like these and it makes me so sad. What makes me even sadder is when the truth comes out and the mother is found to be the one who lied and actually did harm to the baby, such as in this case.

I just wish I could scoop up all these little ones and bring them home to live with me. Even in my full house, even with my super-busy schedule, even though I feel I am stretched to my limits at times.... I would still take better care of them than their own mothers did. It's just so sad.

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a car is just a car, right?

2011-11-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Does anyone know Manny Pacquiao, the fighter from the Philippines? Well, that is his car. Nice, huh? To be truthful, the car does nothing for me. It's impractical, and costs way too much, in my opinion. But Rich was all over this car!

"Stand next to it!" he told me.

"What for?" I asked.

"So I can get a picture!"

and I was like, "No, I don't think so."

Like I said, it just doesn't impress me much.

And so he made poor little Aria stand next to it instead, because I was being so stubborn. And she was more than happy to oblige. So that is why we have this picture.

Notice her Cinderella shoes and the pink purse? I told you that she carries a purse wherever she goes, either that one or another pink one that she has. Do you know what is always inside of it? Pink lip gloss and a bottled water. Seriously, she never leaves home without those two things. That girls cracks me up!

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enjoying the downtime and a visit to the police station

2011-11-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Today is a school holiday. It's 2:08 in the afternoon and I'm still in my robe. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not being lazy. Not exactly. I've already made my bed, done the breakfast dishes, started a load of laundry, cuddled on the couch with a few kids, tidied up Aria's room, and helped Audriana wash and style her hair for her afternoon out with friends. So, I wouldn't exactly call the first half of my day as being a waste. But it's definitely more kick-back than our usual days. I have no where to be and nothing that I really have to do until 3:30pm. Yay!

This is what I look like in the mornings. I know you were all wondering.

So Rich is home today, which adds to my kick-back mode because he can do all that I normally would have to do, like making lunches and dinner, and just keeping the kids in check around here. I love when my husband is home! It's so much easier to run this house when I have his help. Plus, tonight after we put the kids to bed, we will watch the Netflix movie that just arrived in the mail yesterday. Yep, Date Night for us! Popcorn, maybe a little red wine. I'm looking forward to it.

Rain is in the forecast for this weekend, and that just doubly adds to my kick-back mentality. Because with the rain comes all the soccer and baseball game cancelations. Do you realize how much easier my weekends are when we have no sporting games on the schedule? I hardly know what to do with the sudden freed-up time! I must admit, I really love rainy days. Every now and then I need the downtime.

So this week we went on a tour of our local police station with our homeschooling group. It was a very cool experience and the kids really enjoyed it. I brought my wonderful camera with me, planning on capturing some amazing photos -- only to realize when I got there that the battery was completely DEAD. My fault for not planning ahead. So, I had to use my iPhone as a camera. Blah. Oh well, it's better than nothing, I suppose.

meeting our tour guide, Mrs. Fender

In the above photo, Andrew, A.J., Aislynn and Aria are standing with our homeschooling group- they are the first four in front, starting with Andrew in the green shirt and ending with Aria, who is holding her little pink purse. She insisted on bringing that thing and also wearing her pretty silver high-heel Cinderella shoes. She had a hard time keeping up with the group in those things. I should have insisted she wear her tennis shoes, but you know... she's only 3 once!

Before the tour begins, Aria helps Andrew put on his Police badge (sticker)

An officer met with us and answered some of the kids' questions. They mostly asked about the police dogs. They all wanted to know about the dogs! Too bad we didn't get to meet any of the police dogs on the tour.

Next they took us to the "booking" room, where the prisoners go when they first arrive. They will still be wearing handcuffs, and they have to sit in the "holding chair" while being checked in. The chair is made so that the prisoner cannot suddenly stand up. In fact, it's almost impossible to get out of it unless you have someone helping you up. There is a cut-out in the back of the chair so that their arms are comfortable while their hands are behind their back, and the seat is flipped up a bit so that it keeps you sitting back. Each kid sat in it to see if they could get out on their own.

A.J. just slouched down really quick and got out of it right away. There's no holding him, I guess. It figures. The kid is good at just about everything he tries. Now he's an escape artist. Great. I'm sure the skill will come in handy one day.

Even with her hands behind her back, Aria didn't seem to have too much trouble getting out of the holding chair. Must be her small size? Or are all of my kids genetically designed to escape the police holding chairs? Hmmmm. Do you see her pretty Cinderella shoes? and the purse? The perfect attire for a visit to the police station, don't you think? Would you believe that before we were allowed in the place they searched her purse for a weapon? Okay, okay...I'm just kidding. They didn't. But maybe they should have. With kids these days, you just never know. Don't let those pretty little shoes and pink purses fool you!

Because there were no prisoners at the time of our tour, we were allowed to visit the holding cells. Don't worry, there was plenty of hand sanitizer being used on this tour! I know some of you are wondering about that, thinking to yourselves, Ewwwww! I can't believe she let her children in there! Oh come on, don't you know me better by now? Of course I sanitized their hands like an OCD mama.

As a special treat, we were allowed in the padded cell. There isn't a toilet in this room, just this hole in the ground that has a flushable water system operated from the outside. Aislynn is demonstrating how she would use the bathroom if she were in here. Thank you Aislynn, for that visual. You're always such the lady.

I know what you are all wondering: what's up with those kids without faces?

I know - a bit freaky, huh? I tried not to stare.

I will say it was a bit unnerving to see my kids in the back of a police car, complete with their hands behind their backs. A glimpse into the future? I think not!

You, too, Aria? Noooo, not my baby!

She was always such a "good girl" ....

And now we are leaving that place. It was fun, but I can't say we are too eager to go back. At least not as a prisoner!

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It's not a clown car!

2011-11-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

photo courtesty Google.com

Okay, okay... I know this photo caption is in bad taste, and so unlike me to post on my big family lov'n blog. But I just couldn't help it. It made me laugh! A clown car! Oh wow, I'm laughing at that and I know I shouldn't be. But I am!

All kidding aside, though, I have to say that I really, really like the Duggar family. I know not everyone does, but I really do. And not just because they have a bazillion kids. Even if they only had nine kids (only!) I would like this family. Even if they just had two kids, I would still like this family. They just seem like really nice people. They are raising their kids to be kind, helpful, unselfish human beings. They seem to speak to each other with kindness and respect. They do a lot of humanitarian work as a family. They are living according to their morals and beliefs, and from what I can see on tv and from what I read about this family, they seem like the kind of people I'd like living next door to me. Yes, ALL of them! I think that all nineteen of those kids would make great peers for my kids to grow up with.

We are not like that family, though. I doubt Jim-Bob and Michelle would want their kids hanging with mine. There are a few differences:

We don't dress all that modestly (girls in dresses, boys in collar shirts... just not our style!)
We don't "home church" and we aren't Baptist.
We only homeschool the elementary ages.
Our kids go to "regular" school for middle school and high school.
Our kids are allowed to date at age 16 or 17.
We don't always speak in sweet, soft, patient voices.
We sometimes yell.
We let our kids listen to "regular" music on the radio.
We allow our kids to dance. Dancing is fun, even if it might look "provocative" at times.
We all watch tv. Not a lot, but we do have tv's in the home.

And there are many more differences, I'm sure. We are certainly not the Duggars! In some ways, I'd like to be more like them. I admire them for their family values and the way they raise their children. Sometimes I compare myself to Michelle (the mama) and I don't feel that I quite measure up. Sigh. She just seems to have it SO together over there. And her kids are so darn sweet and respectful. And cooperative! They make good reality tv. If we did a reality tv show over here, who would watch? We aren't all that interesting with only nine kids! Half the time I'm running around, flying by the seat of my pants, yelling at kids to hurry up and get into the car, forgetting things, scraping together a meal, going through the drive-through when the meal wasn't planned ahead, and I spend way too much time on the computer when I could be/should be doing laundry, the dishes, reading the Bible, etc. Who would want to see all that chaos and unorganization? Not me. I doubt I'd tune into a show like that. What would I learn from it? The reason I watch the Duggar's show is so that I can improve on my methods over here. I learn from them. Not only that, but that family inspires me. I feel uplifted whenever I watch it. I never felt uplifted whenever I'd watch Jon & Kate Plus 8. It's just not even close to the same! Kate is so... not nice, and I like nice.

photo courtesy Google.com

The BIG NEWS is that the Duggars are now expecting baby #20. And everyone is making such a big deal about it. But really, is it such a surprise? Everyone knows by now that they let God handle that area of their lives, right? So I'm not all that surprised that she's pregnant again. If you are not preventing pregnancy, then chances are you'll get pregnant. So no, I'm not surprised at all.

But I'll tell you what I am. I'm a bit envious. Yea, that's right, I'm saying it. I'm envious that she is pregnant again and she's 45 years old, when I'm just 42 and can't seem to get a sticky pregnancy anymore. What's the deal? Aren't her eggs older than mine? Isn't her progesterone getting a bit low, too? I had my last baby at age 39, and I've been pregnant four times since then. Two of those went to about the 10th week before I miscarried, and the other two were positive pregnancy results that only last about a week or two. Is Michelle having these early losses, too, but just chooses not to share them with the world? I don't blame her, if so. It's a very personal and private thing. But I'd really like to know.

The thing that is getting them some harsh comments now, however, is the fact that her last pregnancy was such a complication. It endangered her health, and her baby was born 3 months early. So people naturally assumed that she would stop pressing her luck, would quit while she was ahead, and would have retired her uterus after #19. I honestly think I would call it quits after an experience like that. But I am not Michelle. She has her own walk in life, and she has her own faith in God, and who am I to sit back and tell her what SHE should do? I really hope that she has no complications with this pregnancy, and that she delivers a healthy baby. A new addition to the family is always such a joy and a blessing, no matter how many kids you already have!

photo courtesy Google.com

Not everyone out there likes or admires the Duggars, or agrees with their choices on having children. The way I see it is that they aren't hurting anyone. They are not living off the welfare system. In fact, they live completely debt free. How many of us can claim that? They aren't in any way a burden on our society. Yeah, there's a lot of them, but those kids are going to grow up just fine. They are happy kids, and they clearly enjoy all their siblings and their lifestyle.

But still, despite all the good, this family gets plenty of hate sent their way. I just don't get that, to be honest. They are raising children that are going to be productive and positive contributors in our society. They are raising children with morals and strong convictions based on their faith in God. What is wrong with that? Here's a question for you: Would you rather your child grow up to marry one of the Duggars? or a Kardashian? Which family do you think is less likely to have a drug or alcohol problem? or a teen pregnancy crisis? or a bunch of divorces and kids by other fathers, etc? I know which family I'd rather have family gatherings with, which family I'd rather share grandchildren with. What about you?

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update on the missed Daddy & Me Day

2011-11-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

So Andrew comes home from preschool today and mentions, in a sad tone, that he missed the Daddy & Me Day. You should have seen his face. And then you should have seen MY face looking at his face. I was devastated. He found out!! Ugh! I was SO hoping that no one would mention it at his school. I guess that was wishful thinking.

So I said to him, "No, Bubby. We couldn't make it on that day. I'm sorry we missed it. Did one of the kids in your class talk about it or something?" and he shook his head NO. So I asked, "Well, how did you find out about it then?" and he said, "The teacher. She said, 'We missed you at the Daddy & Me Day'."

Oh. My. Gosh. Maybe I should have told his teachers not to bring it up to him? I honestly just assumed that they just wouldn't. I dropped the ball, yet again. I should have said something. He has awesome teachers so I know they didn't mean any harm.

Why didn't I write this important event down on the schedule??!! My poor baby! My sweet #8.

I was so upset all over again that I whispered to Rich, "Quick! Do something with him so he knows he's special to you!" and he said, "What are you talking about? We just went on a bike ride together! Yesterday I practiced soccer with him for a half hour! I do plenty of things with him!" and I said,"Honey, I know, but just do something right now with him...please...for me. I just feel so bad!"

And so he rolled his eyes at me (he thinks I'm thinking waaaay too much into this missed Daddy & Me Day, but what does he know of the Mommy Guilt? He knows nothing!) but he did what I asked anyway (of course he did - good husband's usually do!)

CHECKERS with DADDY!

Andrew is SO good at playing checkers! For a five year old, that is. I taught him how to play when he was 4 years old, and he and I play every chance we get. Because of this, he's become quite skilled at the game, much to Daddy's surprise.

My sweet boy. I love him so much!

We asked Andrew what he would like to do with Daddy to celebrate the Daddy & Me Day, since we missed the one at school, and he perked up and said, "Disneyland!!" and I asked, "With all of us?" and he shook his head, "No. Just me and Daddy!" And because we have annual passes to Disneyland, that is JUST what is going to happen! Andrew and his Daddy will spend the day at Disneyland, just the two of them.

I'm feeling a little better about this now.

Of course...if I'm not there...who is going to take the pictures?!!

Completely different topic but worth mentioning: Did you know that you can change the YouTube setting so that your child doesn't accidentally click on a video that's inappropriate? I didn't know this, until I went on my friend's blog today and found this out. For some internet safety tips, visit her blog at Three Jewels in my Crown

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