Since I didn't get these in with my post about the first day of school (who could see the keyboard through all those tears?), I give you my "babies" on their first day of school.
We are on vacation now until Tuesday so I will give you some posts to read in the meantime. Look for me to be back in here on Monday or Tuesday. Have a great weekend!
I told you she was growing up too fast.
Yesterday while she and I were in Target, Becca quietly whispers to me.
She wants a razor!
"For what!?" I want to yell. But I know the answer before the exclamation escapes my lips.
She is shaving folks. Shaving. her. legs.
What happened to the baby rolls of fat on her thighs and the cute dimples?
Chris was ever so nice to share this "recipe" with me.
Put equal amounts of coke and ammonia in a bucket and use to scrub down your old wood.
Here is what I started with:
And here is how clean it got:
After scrubbing it down I discovered our wood is waxed, not varnished. The entire finish came right off with the ammonia/coke mixture so I added some stain. Now I need to either re-wax or put some polyurethane over the stain.
It looks maahhhhvelous! Thanks for sharing that tip Chris!
I currently babysit one little girl everyday. Her mom came to me shortly before her due date last year. She had talked to the preschool teacher and asked her for a name of someone she thought would be good with a baby.
I enjoy having her everyday and it keeps me busy especially now that Mr. Bill is gone half days.
But... someone else is dropping my name too. Three people have contacted me about watching their kids now. One is pregnant. One has a 9 month old. And the other I am not sure about yet.
Perhaps when I didn't get that job after the interview this summer God knew a better job was just waiting for me?
Took Becca to "Band Night" tonight. They got to choose what instrument they wanted to play and we got to fork over our arm and leg as payment. She chose the sax. I would post a picture but they had to leave their brand new instrument in the band room until the teacher can show them how to put it together and use it properly. It should be coming home sometime next week.
It is so hard to believe my baby girl is old enough to play an instrument. In a year's time she will be marching in the Middle School band at the local parades.
Of course she is excited and I am too. I just can't believe how fast they grow.
The PT evaluated my shoulder by moving it all over and had me do a couple of things.
His diagnosis? No Rotator cuff injury. I would have weakness which I don't. He thinks my shoulder is squishing a tendon at the top of the socket and thus causing my pain. Because it has been there so long it has also limited my shoulders ability to move in all directions thus my neck and shoulder muscles are compensating for that. That is why they are in pain. He gave me five stretches I need to do 2 times a day. I did a few to learn how while I was there. I did them again as soon as I came home. My shoulder already feels 100% better. Just stretching out my chest made a HUGE difference.
One stretch he gave me is MUCHO SIMPLE and it actually can make you have better posture (which I need) You just roll up a towel and lay it on the floor. You lay on the towel with it laying the long way right between your shoulder blades. You lay on it for five minutes twice a day. That is is! And boy does it feel good when you are done. All in the name of good posture. No more of your mom telling you to stand up straight.
The PT said 4-8 weeks and I should be feeling tip top again. If not, well we will see. For now I have two weeks of stretching and 2 weeks of 15 minutes on the treadmill twice a day.
Keep your fingers crossed.
I made it to 11:30 yesterday when I could go and pick up Mr. Bill. He had fun and spilled all about what he did at school. And he ate his lunch too.
Today he rode the bus with the big girls. Oddly it was easier for me to put him on the bus and say goodbye than it was to drop him off in his classroom. Not that I am worrying any less. Did he get off the bus with Becca okay? Did he eat breakfast this morning? (He wouldn't yesterday). Were his teachers waiting for him? You get the picture.
Thankfully he only goes to school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I get him all to myself tomorrow. :)
The girls also had a great first day. They all came home and melted down though. They were all whiny and fighting and driving me nuts. I was never so glad to send them all to bed at 8 p.m. I hope today goes better.
Tomorrow I have my first appointment with the physical therapist for my shoulder. I really hope they can offer me some help.
Oh, and I may be getting a new NEW baby to babysit now. It will be born via c-section on Sept 5 and the mom is only taking 5 weeks off. That would definitely give me my baby fix. :)
I just left my heart at the preschool.
He was a little apprehensive but excited.
I miss him already.
This morning I did a trial run of our first day of school. I do this for two reasons: It helps me determine how much time we need to get ready, and it gets the kids over the shock of getting up early the day before so they aren't dragging at school tomorrow.
So you are wondering how our morning went aren't you? Well I am alive and typing so I did survive.
The girls did beautifully. They flew out of bed and hopped in the shower. Marea thought she could stand in the water for 20 minutes though and finally I had to shut it off on her. I am so buying a kitchen timer so I can set it for 5 minutes to get her out faster. The only problem I had with them was when it came to hair brushing. For some reason this takes four times longer than it should.
Then I went in to wake Mr. Bill. Let me just note that this child is NOT a morning person.
NOT. A. MORNING. PERSON
He screamed, he cried, he refused to open his eyes.
I finally persuaded him to sit up in his bed for a few minutes. Then I told him it was time to get in the shower. I held his hand as he walked, eyes still closed, to the bathroom. He went potty and I took off his clothes. He got in the shower and we got him washed while he screamed bloody murder at me.
I got him out and dried off and handed him his clothes. I informed him that he would dress himself as I still needed to blow dry my own hair. When I clicked the blow dryer off I heard complete silence. I go looking for Mr. Bill thinking he finally got it together and went downstairs after he got dressed. As I turned the corner to go downstairs to check I see the little stinker curled up in my bed under the covers. I pulled the covers back and he was fully dressed and giggling at me.
This is going to be a long school year.
Ye gads why can my children not dress in matching clothes?!
I am about to resort to putting their clothes together in outfits so there are no questions. It is like they are 2 years old again.
Today Megan comes in with a pink tank top and a light green skirt. Do these match? Ummm no.
But, she reasons, there are purple flowers on the skirt and pink and purple match.
Ummmm no.
This has been an ongoing fight all summer. Why did their aptitude for color matching suddenly head south? I don't know.
Stripes and plaid, no.
Flowers and stripes, no.
Do they have a "What not to wear" for kids?
We still have the net we have just been busy bees this weekend.
Friday I had my annual "torture me" doctor appointment. I discussed with him again my continuous shoulder pain. He now thinks I have a rotator cuff injury. He suggested physical therapy and/or an MRI. That was all he had to say. I guess I will go visit our friendly wellness center and have a chiropractor and a physical therapist take a look. I am tired of my shoulder being in pain 24/7. Other than that everything looks good.
I also talked with him about Cassie. She has had stomach aches daily for the last six months or so. At her visit a couple of weeks ago he suggested perhaps she had an ulcer. I was rather surprised. He said to get her on pepcid complete. I was amazed to discover he was right. I give her a pepcid in the morning and at night and then Tums as needed and it has made a huge difference in her. He said to just continue until she doesn't have symptoms anymore. So I went and stocked up on Tums and I found some really yummy chocolate ones. I hope this fixes it for her. I was so sad to always see her in pain.
We had company this weekend so we haven't gotten much done on the room upstairs. We did manage to get the first stair and a couple of walls up so we are making progress even if it is slow. I did go outside and clean up the rest of the lath that has been laying in the yard all week. I started to mow too but the mower is acting up again so Billy will have to look at it. The people who came to visit also helped Billy move all the sheetrock upstairs. Thank Heavens! I was not looking forward to moving those heavy things up two flights of stairs. My shoulder would have been killing me by the time we were done.
The kids start school on Wednesday so the next three days will be busy for us. Mr. Bill starts too and I am scared and excited all at the same time. This will be the first time in 11 years I haven't had a kid to take care of all day. I never thought this day would come so soon.
See you tomorrow! :)
On Sunday our internet died. Kaput! Rolled over and went belly up.
I told Billy who said he would look at it.
By Monday I was dying. The convulsions had started and I couldn't go 10 minutes without checking to see if by some miracle the internet had restored itself. I wired and rewired the computer over and over hoping to restart it. I even contemplated the jumper cables in the trunk of the car.
Finally Monday afternoon I called the phone company. At 4:30 the guy shows up. He will be back tomorrow.
And at 11:00 a.m. today he comes with a new modem and ta-da! I am back online.
I am just waiting for the shaking to stop. ;)
In honor of the mess we are making in our house, I thought I would share with you all the blog I started a few months ago about our Big House on the Prairie.
It is a blog entirely about the remodeling of our house, complete with pictures. Go check it out!
The dishwasher is running...
The kids are all tucked quietly into their beds...
I am reading blogs in complete silence...
Well except for the noise my husband is making upstairs ripping out the last of the lath.
We got a little sidetracked today in the remodeling process. The kids all had a dentist appointment in a city almost 2 hours away so we were up and off early this morning. The good news is no one had a cavity for the first time since I started taking all five to the dentist. Usually Becca is good for at least one. We got the all clear this time though. Two kids got sealants and one had a baby tooth pulled because the adult tooth was already coming up behind it and if we didn't pull it they said the other tooth would remain in the back.
So five kids+sealants+cleanings+xrays+one tooth extractions=almost 1000.00 dollars. All I can say is thank goodness for insurance. I just used an entire years premiums in one visit. And they get to go again in 6 months.
Once we got home we got back into the swing of things, sort of. We bought a new storm door for the front of the house since the old one was, well, OLD and yucky. The cats get muddy feet and stand up on the outside of the white textured door and then the prints become permanent. So we bought an all glass door and got it installed when we got home today. It looks awesome!
Next step in the remodel is building the new walls. We discovered upon the demo that some IDIOT took out a load bearing wall in the room to make two rooms into one big one. Well the joists in the ceiling both rested on that wall and so now they are sagging big time. We are putting a wall back but not quite where it needs to go so that is going to take a little extra work. One thing we have learned for sure at this house is that you never NEVER ever assume a job will be simple. There is always something thrown at you to keep you on your toes.
One of the perks of being a blogger is getting free stuff. The other day I got an email from a gentlemen asking if my kids would be interested in viewing a Choose Your Own Adventure Interactive Movie.
It is called The Abominable Snowman. It is based on the books I read as a kid where you get to pick what choice the character makes. Whichever choice you make influences how the story line goes.
I put it in the dvd drive on our computer (but it also works on the dvd player). The kids are all piled in front of the computer. The first go-round they lasted about 10 minutes before they hit "the end". LOL
Many of the characters have famous voices (Lacy Chabert, Frankie Muniz, Felicity Huffman). It is well animated and has a good story line. It is also 80 minutes (according to the box but I suppose it depends on what story line you choose.)
Here is what the kids had to say:
"It is cool!"
"I like that we get to pick what is going to happen."
"I don't like it when we pick the wrong one and the story ends."
"It is fun!"
"I want to watch it again!"
And me, well, I loved it. It kept my kids occupied for a good 2 hours. And there was no fighting to be heard. Nuff said!
A stray cat has started hanging around our house. And of course the kids luuuuuuuv it. They ooh and ahhhh over it. I keep telling them it has a home. It is probably someone's farm cat. Nevertheless, they feed it and love it everytime it comes over.
This morning Cassie and Mr. Bill were at the table discussing how to find the owners of the cat.
C: We could take a picture of Mittens (yes they have named it too) and put them on a poster and then hang it up.
MrB: Noooooooooo! You can't hang up the kitty!
C: We have to if we want to find out who owns the cat.
MrB: No!
Me: I think she means she should hang up the posters not the cat.
MrB: *ponders this* Oh, okay.
We took the kids to school on Monday to register for the upcoming school year. School starts for all five of my kids on August 23. Mr. Bill will be entering preschool. For the first time in 11 years I will be home without any of my kids, at least for half a day three days a week.
It is a good thing I babysit so I have a kid to love all day. :) Ironically a few days ago I got a call. A lady was talking to people in the town my kids go to school in and was told that I do daycare (which I don't) and the lady gave her my phone number.
I found out she has a 9 month old little boy. Perfect age and I already have a 9 month old little girl three days a week. Just a little extra money and something for me to do. She will be visiting next week and then she will decide. Maybe this is why I didn't get the other job. I don't know if I am cut out for daycare though. ;)
Mr. Bill got a letter in the mail today from his teacher. I really appreciate the effort the teachers put in to make the kids feel welcome and excited about school. He is carrying his letter around and keeps talking about his "friends" at school. It is so cute.
Only two weeks until life returns to it regularly scheduled organized chaos. Is it too late to duct tape my kids to the floor so they can't keep growing up on me?
Here is the doorway to the attic (straight ahead) and the bedroom (to the left).
This is the west side of the room where the attic stairs currently are. (Notice the plywood just waiting to be hoisted to the attic as it wouldn't fit up the current attic steps. They are toooooo steep.
The steps to the attic.
The wall after we demolished it.
This is the largest game of pick-up sticks ever. We threw the lath out the window into the pile you see. Then we (okay, I) got to stack it all in nice neat piles so Billy could move it all. We will probably burn it once the burn ban in our county is lifted.
The closet wall before we touched it.
This is the closet after we took out the lath and plaster. What you can't see is the ceiling of the closet is gone as well. The new stairs will go in the old closet area so we cut the hole into the attic which will be two bedrooms as well. The doorway with the plastic hanging in it goes into the other bedroom. For some reason the two bedrooms shared one closet.
I got the standard "Thank you but we are considering other candidates" letter today.
I am in shock really because I thought it was my job. I don't know what qualifications they are looking for that I don't have.
I guess it wasn't meant to be.
Took all five kids to the doctor yesterday for their annual check-ups.
It only took one hour total to do all five kids and burn off Becca's newest round of warts. The poor girl has been dealing with them since kindergarten. Eventually they tell us her body will figure out they are not supposed to be there.
Anyway, after weighing and measuring all five here are the results:
Becca is 25% for weight and 70% for height.
Megan is 20 % for weight and 10% for height.
Marea is 45% for weight and not on the chart for height.
Cassie is 15% for weight and 5% for height.
Mr. Bill is 50% for weight and 30% for height.
The consensus is we just have short kids but thankfully not a single one of them is even close to overweight so if they can maintain where they are they will not ever be overweight in their lifetime.
The doctor also could guestimate Becca's future height and said she would be around 5'5 or 5'6. Not too much taller than me and she is my tallest kid. He said once girls get their period they will grow about a half an inch more and then will be done. So he said if she waits awhile yet to get it she will grow some more. I found that rather interesting since I didn't know girls stopped growing once they get their period. That gives me hope we have a few more years before puberty as she still has a good foot or so before she is as tall as me.
