Off and Running

I am off and running to teach my lesson on internet genealogy in Pierre (pronounced pier) this weekend.

WISH ME LUCK!

We might have internet at the motel so if I get a chance I will check in on my laptop. I knew I bought this for a reason! :)

Little moments

It is those little moments in parenting that keep us coming back. With five kids, those little moments are plentiful....

...Megan came up and hugged me from behind and then smiled. (She is NOT the cuddly type so this was a shock.)

...Mr. Bill grabbed my cheeks and rubbed his nose on mine. Eskimo kisses!

...Becca did her required chore and then snuck into the bathroom to clean it without anyone knowing.

...Marea sat next to me on the couch and entertained the little girl I babysit so much that she giggled.

...Cassie decided to set the table for dinner while everyone else was outside. And she even gave us each a napkin!

...My husband goes to work everyday without ever complaining and makes money so his wife and kids have what they need.

I am blessed!

Butt-crack fruit

Tonight for dinner we had Tortellini and pear halves.

As Mr. Bill finished his Tortellini and dug into his pears he looked at me.

MB: "Mom, do you know what these look like?"

ME: "Pears?"

MB: "Nope it looks like a butt crack!"

ME: "Really?"

MB: "Yup."

T.V. Off

On Friday the kids came home with a flyer. It is apparently TV-Turnoff week.

In the past I have ignored this week. "My family is not addicted to the t.v. We hardly ever watch t.v. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!"

Well this year it is not so much the t.v. but the computers. The kids race for them so they can play games after school. They have created much fighting.

So this year I made copies of the sign that says TURN OFF THE TV WEEK and taped one on each computer and t.v.

This morning was the beginning of the fasting. I found myself at a loss for what to do once the kids got on the bus. I sat and then decided it was a good thing I went to the library on Sunday. Now at least I have something to read. Over the course of the day I can't tell you how many times I thought I wanted to turn on the t.v.. Mostly I wanted to turn it on to entertain Mr. Bill.

But you know what? After a couple of hours he started searching out things to do. He layed on the couch and played with a pencil for a good 20 minutes. He found his cars in his toybox and raced them. He drew a picture for Grandpa. He had no shortage of things to do once he got started. We even baked cookies together.

At dinner, Megan started telling us the story line from the show "A Suite Life With Zack and Cody" Billy said, "Hey NO TALKING about t.v. either!" I said, "She is not talking about t.v., she is telling us a story." LOL

And now here Billy and I are glued to our computers after having gone through withdrawal pains for the last 12 hours. No t.v. but I must check my email and stuff. :) The kids are in bed so they will never know what we did. Not until they are the parents.

15 minutes....

It must be a record..... I just went through my entire blog list in 15 minutes AND checked my email. DSL combined with summer-like weather has left my blog list rather short tonight. Where is everybody?

I had a miraculous recovery from whatever germ had invaded my throat. By Friday night I was feeling peachy keen. Thank heavens for my strong immune system.

We spent the entire weekend outside playing in the 70-80F weather! Bliss! We bought a tiller on Saturday and so today we sat outside while Billy tilled up the garden area. I am going to have such a large variety of vegetables this year! I can't wait to get in there! Only another month before I can start planting. :)

In the process of watching Billy, I decided to mow the lawn. We have a HUGE yard and still only own a push mower but it is good exercise. I started out and two hours later had all but a very small area finished (we have new grass growing there since we replaced the main sewer line last year). And guess what? I got sunburned again! Dang it! I even put on sunscreen but that was BEFORE I went inside and changed into shorts and a t-shirt. My leg is particularly sore but rest isn't too bad. I must remember to slather it on even though it is only April. It is obviously summer here already! LOL

Forgive me while I die...

Yesterday at 6 a.m. Meg woke up puking.

What a GOOD MORNING call that is. I got her and her bed cleaned up and then got ready for the day myself. She puked a few more times and just layed on the couch all day.

Today she still was not feeling so hot yet so I let her stay home. No puking and by noon she was eating normally again.

Then as she begins to feel better, I develop a sore throat. Is this because I snuck a bite of her cadbury easter bunny? If so, too bad! It was worth it.

Now I am dying and wish my throat and head would stop throbbing.

Please oh please don't let this be strep!

I command thee!

While at walmart last night we took the car in to get the oil changed. As we were getting ready to go and I was paying at the register, Mr. Bill decided to play with the automatic door that was right next to us. He kept stepping on the mat and expecting that the door would open. After all several other customers had walked up to the doors, they opened, and they left.

At first he walked up to the doors and nothing happened. Then he decided he needed to JUMP on the mat because that would make it open. After several jumping attempts he stood there staring at the door for a few seconds and then yelled, "OPEEEEEEEEEN!"

Of course the door did not open.

Apparently we need to have him dubbed "King Bill" instead of Mr. Bill so the door will follow his commands.

Mommy Brain

While I was getting my hair done on Saturday, I was once again reminded of how old I really am.

The gal who did my hair was probably 20. She began by putting my hair in four boxes of aluminum foil. It is actually quite a fascinating process. After she had all my hair soaking she left to cut another customer's hair. While this is not an odd practice, I realized she hadn't set a timer for MY hair. I was soaking in bleach with no supervision. I quickly said a prayer that she wouldn't forget my hair.

You see if this was me doing someone's hair, I would have walked off after getting her hair up in foil and started tidying the magazines. Then I would see a pile of hair on the floor and go get the broom and dustpan to sweep it up with. Once I got the hair cleaned up I would notice the pile of towels that needed washed. I would take them back to the laundry area and get the towels started in the washer and fold the ones that were in the dryer. Then I would see a stack of mail that needed going through so I would sit down and read through it. That would remind me that I needed to check my email to check on an order I placed. After reading my email I would look at the clock on the computer and panic as I remember that I still have a gal sitting out in my chair with bleach in her hair. Then I would have to stumble through an apology as I take the foil out and her hair all comes with it.

The gal who did my hair obviously has no kids.

Highlights

I did it! For the first time ever I went and got my hair highlighted. I asked the gal to lighten it so it looked like I have been out in the sun all summer. Nothing drastic.

She did an awesome job. I had Billy take some pictures for you all to take in the awesomeness that is my hair. (Which took him forever! Is he camera illiterate or what? I think in this picture I was mumbling ANY DAY NOW!)

Unfortunately the front pics you can hardly tell there is any difference but believe me it looks the same color as the back highlights.

AND to top it all off she cut it right! I came home and styled it my way and it worked perfectly. No tears, no frustrations, no screaming. I hope she does as good of a job the second time around.

I feel all new and perky. More spring like today! :)

I got a new toy!

And it was an expensive one but soooo wanted by me and my hubby. We finally broke down and bought one. Now when I got teach at the DAR Conference at the end of the month I can take it with me. :)

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Too numerous

Today I went Easter shopping for all five of my kids. A new thing happens to me when I am shopping for all five kids at the same time: I get embarrassed.

Why would I get embarrassed you ask? Well, I am walking down the Easter candy aisle today and about 10 other people are in this aisle also collecting sweets for their kids. One couple is there slowly deciding what to get their one and only son for his basket. So many choices so much time....

Me? I was grabbing peeps packages by the handful. M&M's were thrown in the cart haphazardly. The cute hollow chocolate bunnies hopped on in five at a time. Those little packages of shredded plastic we call Easter grass? I had five, one in each color piled on top of it all. Oh and don't forget the five stuffed bunnies. Oh yes, it didn't take long before my cart was overflowing with Easter goodness.

And suddenly I felt embarrassed. Embarrassed that I had such a huge cart full of stuff when everyone else was walking by with three or four things in the bottom of their carts. I really felt sheepish when a guy walked by me and eyed my cart and then looked at me with raised eyebrows. I wanted to shout, "I am buying them for poor children who won't get an Easter basket!" just so people would stop judging me.

In the end though, I got my stuff home and hidden away in the closet and all I could think about was the joy that would be on my kids faces come Easter morning when they find their baskets hidden by the Easter bunny. That my friends is worth all the shopping embarrassement in the world.

Ouch!

We spent Saturday afternoon working on our tans.....

Okay, not really. We went for a bike ride that ended up taking us six miles around our town. We forgot about sunscreen totally (IT IS ONLY APRIL!) and boy did we pay for it. I bought some Saturday night and threw in some burn relief gel too.

We have a trailer that we pull Mr. Bill and Cassie in but the rest of us biked the whole way. By the time we got to the last mile the kids were pooped and complaining too. We arrived home and Billy and I plunked ourselves in a chair. The kids, on the other hand, headed for the trampoline. These are the very same kids who just rode 6 miles.

We all had a blast though. Oh, and by this morning all their sunburns were gone. It wasn't as bad as it appears.

Have I mentioned I LOVE SPRING?!

I give!

I bow to thee oh internet. After two hours of searching through thee I have been unsuccessful in finding Megan a YELLOW jacket for springth in the odd sizeth of 10-12.

She will just have to freezeth this spring, oh internet, because thou win-ist. I quit!

P.S. The mall would have been more fun and they have cinnabon!

The weekend

I love the beginning of the weekend!

Homework is done, the kids are all playing, there is no bedtime tonight, dinner is not a rush job, I can sleep in tomorrow, no pressure to do anything but relax. Can we make the weekends be Monday through Friday and the weekdays Saturday and Sunday? Pullllleaaaazzzzz!?

Budgeting 101

That is right, we live with a budget. After our finanical crash in 1999 I knew we had to do something differently.

So, I purchased a notebook. That is right, a NOTEBOOK. A normal 25 cent school notebook that is bound with a spiral wire. No expensive software, no fancy smancy book with columns and lines done for me, no high paid person with math skills. Nope, just a notebook.

Then I sat down and made a list of all the bills we have reaccuring every single month (whether we like it or not). The hardest part of doing this for me was BEING HONEST WITH MYSELF. That sounds retarded, I know, but for the longest time I would lie to myself about the bills and how much they were. That lasted long enough for the bill to come in and make me cry when I saw how much it really was.

I took my list of bills and figured out which bill had to go to which paycheck. We (Okay so it is actually Billy) get paid every two weeks. I listed the paydays at the top of the 1st page to make two columns. I then sorted the bills into those two columns depending on when they were due. If I had a more flexible bill I tried to move it so that the two paydays are fairly balanced as far as the amount of money goes.

I always overestimate for bills that don't have a set amount each month, like the water, electricity, etc. If it averages about 95.00 then I budget 100.00 that way if I come in under budget all is good. I hate when it goes over but I make sure I have some wiggle money left from each paycheck so it doesn't usually become a problem.

I don't budget for things that don't come in a bill such as food, clothes, gas, oil changes, haircuts, etc. Those come from what is left after I pay the bills. I learned early on that any amount under 150.00 is NOT enough to get us through the next two weeks so I try to keep the bills low so we have enough extra money. Of course that doesn't always happen but I try.

Now I sit down and do three months of budgeting at a time so that I can anticipate any unusual expenses (like taxes). As I pay the bills on billpay I mark each one with a pd so I know I have set it up to go out on payday. It is very gratifying to see each bill marked pd and being able to turn the page after the month is up and start fresh the next month.

How do you do it?

I found a new drug!

Who needs cocaine? I got DSL!

Last week I signed up for DSL cause the dial-up was killing me. The phone guy came today and installed my dsl. I am surfing at warp speed.

Can you see me now! Vroooooooommmmmm!

I am in love!

Dragging butt

Some days it takes every ounce of mind strength to drag my body, kicking and screaming, onto the treadmill. Today I did it but almost every minute I just wanted to get off. I hate days like that. I commented to Billy how I feel like this is a waste of my time. Once again, I haven't lost any weight since starting on my treadmill. In fact I have gained over 5 lbs (here is hoping it is new muscle). I don't feel like I look any better but Billy says I look a lot better. I will use his motivation for now.

Today it was beautiful here. I took Mr. Bill outside and we colored with sidewalk chalk and blew bubbles. He was not too interested in coloring but the bubbles kept his attention for quite awhile. I am so ready to get digging in my gardens. I did manage to get the lawn fertilized on our Saturday marathon too and then Sunday it rained all day so I don't even have to water it in. Yahoooo.

Off and running (against my will!).....

Any guesses?

Billy and I spent SIX hours doing something together on Saturday.

Any guesses as to what it was?

I'll give you to the end of the day to leave your guesses. :)
Then I will post the pics to reveal the answer.

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Ali was the closest! Here is what we were doing all day!


When you have a big yard like we do, raking and cleaning up from that ice storm we had a few months ago can be a big job. We raked and filled the wheel barrow and then dumped it on the old driveway so once it all dried out we could burn the pile. As we were dumping the last wheelbarrow full our neighbor kindly came over and offered to haul it away for us. He parked his trailer and truck in our yard so we had to move the gigantic pile from the driveway onto his truck. My muscles are STILL sore. Thanks for your guesses! I had fun seeing what you thought we were doing! :)