What day is it?

At 7:50 this morning the dog started barking like crazy. Billy jumped out of bed to see what the deal was.

Someone was at the door.

That someone was the lady I babysit for. Ummm, hello Jodi, it is Monday. You have to babysit today.

Oops. So Billy let her in and talked with her and I jumped in the shower and got ready.

Clearly this vacation is going to my head.

Ice of Death

As we were driving to my SIL's for our Christmas get-together we drove past a lake. I must add that the temperature according to our van at that time was 7F. As we drove past that lake we saw many many crazy people men sitting on the frozen lake with a fishing pole in their hand.

Some of them were sitting on nothing more than a 5 gallon bucket. Others had tents and other camping gear and still others had poles sitting on the ice while they sat in their vehicles.

Billy turned to me and said, "I must not be manly man because I don't see the fun in sitting on the ice freezing my butt off to catch a fish."

I laughed and said, "I am not a manly man either because you would have to sedate me to even get me out on the ice. And what kind of a sport is it if you are sitting in your truck watching a dvd on your portable dvd player while the heat is blowing on you full blast?"

Clearly we will not be ice fishing in our retirement.

Like Crack

Grandpa gave the kids a Playstation 2 for Christmas. (Well he sent money, we bought it. Surprise Grandpa!) And we bought the one that came with this new Super Star game. Which isn't really a game but rather karaoke for the playstation.

And it is addicting. Billy and I spent all afternoon on Christmas singing our little hearts out. Neither of us could form coherent words or sentences for hours afterwards. Really. But it is so addicting that the microphones are coming out several times a day. And everyone gets into it.

I don't think any of us are aspiring stars, except maybe Megan, she has an amazing voice. But she is so shy that there is no way we would get her on stage. But we are all having fun with it.

----------------

And my own personal crack has become these limited edition dark chocolate peppermint frappuccino's from Starbucks (which can be purchased at Walmart). If they didn't cost so dang much I would drink 10 of them a day. I like the regular frappuccino's too but these, these are like crack. Yum-O!

---------------

And just as I finished this Becca comes in from getting the mail and says, "It isn't cold out there unless you touch the snow."

Uh-huh. She is a 6th grade genius! LOL

Peace

Today I am searching for a little bit of peace and quiet.

Because my husband has gone back to work, there are 7 kids in my house today. Did you all know I had seven kids? Because, seriously dude, you should have told me about the extra six kids. It was quite a shock to the system this morning.

I have been sneaking off into what I think are empty rooms only to find one or two kids already there playing something that santa left under the tree.

I think the only safe place left is inside my new front loading dryer. If you need me just knock.

Happy Birthday!

My Becca, you are 12 today.

12 years go by so fast when you are a Mom. I remember the day you were born so vividly. It is hard to believe that cute chubby little girl is turning into a young lady right before my eyes.

There are so many things I can't wait to share with you as you enter this stage of your life. So many things you don't know about this world that you will discover over the next several years.

I hope mostly for you as this year goes by that you accept yourself and learn to love yourself even more than you do now. This stage in life is hard. Your friends and classmates will become your biggest support group and your biggest enemy. Don't let them bring you down. You are a beautiful person, inside and out.

We love you,
Mom and Dad

Christmas Blessings

This year has to have been one of the best Christmas Day's ever.

We are all sitting here with full tummies. We spent the afternoon playing karaoke on the kid's new Playstation 2. I am hoarse from singing my little heart out (and no I cannot sing well) but it was fun.

We have 7 beautiful kids and many wonderful friends and family.

I hope you all had a great day too.

Merry Christmas

I hope you are all tucked safely into your warm beds enjoying your friends and family.

Merry Christmas!

Diet, Schmiet

I took the battery out of my scale and hid the whole thing under the sink in the bathroom.

I am slowly accepting my body for what it is. It is precious to me because it provided me with 4 beautiful and healthy babies. Sure somedays I wish I didn't have stretch marks. And others I wish I weighed about 20 pounds less. But when I feel bad and catch that little voice in my head telling me I am fat or ugly I tell it to shutup.

My husband loves me and my body and I need to learn to too.

So there will be no hoodia diet pills or other weight loss paraphenilla at my house this holiday season. I am going to enjoy my friends and family and the food.

Santa's Affairs

It is just hours until Santa hits my house. Which started this conversation over dinner. Names have been changed to avoid life-altering embarrassment.

Kid 1: Mom, how is Santa going to get in our house if we don't have a chimney?

Kid 2: We do too have a chimney! I have seen it sticking out of the roof.

Kid 1: No we don't! A chimney is big.

Kid 2: We do. It is just a really small one. Right Mom?

Mom: Um, no. Daddy ripped out the chimney so we could get heat to your bedrooms remember? That pipe in the roof is the bathroom vent.

Kid 1: I told you so.

Kid 2: *sticks tongue out at Kid 1*

Kid 3: It is okay. Mommy will let Santa in. I heard it on the radio this morning. Mommy kisses Santa after he leaves the presents. The song said so.

Kid 1 & 2: *look at Mom with raised eyebrows*

Kid 4: Does Daddy know you kiss Santa?

Sailing Away

Well it is official...

We have worn out the threats of being good or Santa won't bring gifts. The kids don't even flinch anymore when we tell them to knock it off or Santa will leave them coal.

You have no idea how tempting it is to put a lump of coal in each of their stockings to see their faces on Christmas morning. Afterall don't all the parenting books tell you to make good on a threat if you give them one?

But alas, instead of shocking my kids on Christmas morning I will provide the boxes and packages and hope they will get along for at least an hour so I can sit and relax and daydream about sailing away on carnival cruises smooth sailing ships.

Because I have been really good this year, and that would be my ideal gift right now.

And the Final Product...

Here is the Christmas card we decided to go with. The cute little gingerbread men at the bottom are part of the animation that Billy made for the parade of lights float at his work. It is adorable!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! I hope 2008 is a great year for you.

Dog Tags

Sometimes it is good to label your child's belongings so if it gets lost it is easily returned.

Like the 5 dozen or so gloves that we have already had to dig out of the lost and found at school and on the bus. Not to mention the 4 hats I have had to recover after a child claimed that they were in their "backpack" which I have learned is code for "I don't know where it is Mom".

So when Megan started band this year and I handed over a kidney and a few of my limbs for her flute I knew this was one item I didn't want to be searching for. So I ordered dog tags that are metal and that will attach permanently to her flute case. Here she is holding the dog tag before we welded attached it.
Hopefully this will help keep someone else from accidentally picking up her case. And if it should get misplaced or left in her "backpack" at least the finder will know who it belongs too.

What are you looking at?

Ummmm yeah, the camera is over there people? Really what were we looking at?

Need Help

For years I have watched some people close to me drown in the world of drugs and alcohol. It is hard to watch and painful to feel so helpless.

It breaks my heart to see young famous people like Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan get into this nasty world of drugs. I don't think they realize what they are getting into and suddenly they are in so deep they don't know how to get out.

The people in my life and these famous people all try a stint in a drug rehabilitation facility. And it never seems to help. I was watching a special on pbs the other day that said 90 some percent of people who enter a rehab facility will relapse and go back to their life with drugs.

This makes me fear for the future. What kind of people and communities will we live in if no one is sober? That is a scary thought.

Attempt 5000 at Christmas Photo

We tried to get this done quickly and painlessly. Too bad the kids didn't have the same goal. I had to laugh at this picture since it looks like I am about to flick Cassie in the head. I was going to adjust her bow right as Billy snapped this picture.

Staying Up

I mentioned my little trial with coffee awhile back.

What I discovered is I like the flavor of coffee if it is drowning in sugar, milk, and flavoring.

Which leads me to cappuccino. Which does taste really good. But since I only have a very basic coffee pot, making it at home is not going to happen unless I find some inexpensive cappuccino/espresso machines. So far my searching online has found several that are well into the hundreds of dollars.

At this point I think it may be cheaper to drive to Starbucks every day. And it would get me out of the house and hibernation. he he he

Christmas Vacation

Christmas vacation officially starts for us at 3:45 today! I can't wait. No more homework, getting up at the buttcrack of dawn, no more crabby kids getting dressed in the mornings.

I am looking forward to lazy days on the computer, eating lots of pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, dancing and singing to karoke, playing board games with my kids, and staying in our jammies until noon or later.

That is what Christmas vacation is all about.

Teenager Problem

When I was about 12 I got my first pimple. And I was so proud. I was officially a teenager. The excitement lasted about a week and then I started getting more and more pimples until my face was covered. Then I was not so proud. I was embarrased and sad.

My Mom started buying me all kinds of products thinking it would help my acne. Every soap imaginable was used. She even had me try oatmeal, egg, and vinegar. Nothing helped. I think it is safe to say I tried all the acne treatments available at the time.

So finally when my self esteem had been totally crushed and I had tried everything else, my Mom took me to a dermatologist. I finally got results and had somewhat clear skin.

Now here I am 21 years later and my skin still isn't letting go of those pimples. I certainly don't get them like I used to but I still get several a month. I am trying once again to treat them myself with otc products with some success. Thankfully technology has come a long way and the products that are now available are better than when I was a teenager.

I even saw proactive at the mall in a vending machine.

I didn't do it.

I just couldn't bring myself to tell Becca. After doing some secretive exploring, I determined that she is either really good at hiding that she knows or she truly doesn't know.

I am not going to be the one who ruins it for her. I still remember how disappointed I was when I was told.

So for another year at least the fun lives on.

Unlocked

Living in the boonies has it advantages. Like my neighbors are several hundred feet away and there is very little traffic on the street in front of my house.

But it also has its disavantages. For example, we do not have access to any large internet companies or cable companies or cell phone companies. Which means we pay through the nose for services that people in larger cities get for usually half the price.

When I was shopping around for a cell phone I was very disappointed to discover there were very few companies that even had service in our town. And what was worse was the deals they had on their phones was not that great. I wanted a specific phone which I discovered was not available through the company I ultimately chose. I wish I knew then that we could purchase an unlocked phone. That would have made things much easier.

Slave Woman

The dishwasher is running. The large dishes have all been washed, dried, and put away.

The washer and dryer are both running and laundry is getting washed.

The frosting I needed to make for today's gingerbread activity is made and sitting on the clean counters.

The floors have all been swept and vacuumed.

Jack has been fed, washed, dressed and is playing happily.

So I sit down on the couch to get in a little email time. Jack decides he wants to sit next to me so he climbs up on the couch.

And the smell hits me. Damn! How can he possibly need changed 5 minutes after I JUST changed him?

And this is not a chore you can ignore like you can the dryer's buzzer. Especially when he is sitting right next to you.

A Mother's work is never done.

To Tell or Not to Tell...

Becca is 11. She turns 12 the day after Christmas.

Do I tell her the big secret? You know the one about the man in the red suit?

She probably already knows but like the rest of us she is scared to admit it because if we know then he won't bring us any presents right?

She has to know don't you think? After all she is in middle school. Surely her friends have convinced her that her Mom and Dad have been playing her for a fool for all these years?

But what if she doesn't know and I tell her and break her little heart? My Mom told me at 7 and it was way too young, or I was way too naive because I didn't know.

It would be nice to take her shopping with me this time of year but when I am buying S-A-N-T-A gifts I can't. I don't know if she knows.

And if I tell her do I tell her sister who is 10 (11 in June)?

This is way harder than the Birds and the Bees talk. Waaaaaay!

I am

I have seen this going around so I thought I would play along.

I am...
I am a mother to 7 kids.
I start my days optimistically.
I try hard to help my kids become the best they can be everyday.
I enjoy the small moments when I can spend some time alone with each of my kids.
I marvel at how wonderful my kids are.

I am a wife to a wonderful man.
I spend my time doing things that I hope will make his life easier and happier.
I love that I am his wife.
I am proud that we have been married for 14 years.
I am so thankful that he loves me as much as I love him.

I am a woman.
I love that every year brings me a better self-acceptance.
I am proud of what I can do when I try.
I am glad that God gave me a strong mind and body to face the challenges life throws at me.
I am so glad I have been given the opportunity to give birth to my children.
I love who I am.

Home Improvement

It is offical. Billy and I have both burned ourselves out. We have no desire to work on the house, to make any changes, or do anything other than sit on the couch and play on our laptops.

Which is bad considering that the attic is half done started.

Today I stood in the kitchen doorway and looked, really looked at the kitchen. When we moved in we didn't have a kitchen. Unless you count the 50's metal sink that was propped in one corner. There were NO cabinets. And by NO I don't mean a few. I mean zero, zip, nada. So we slapped together a temporary kitchen that looks, well, temporary.

So as I stood there imagining the possibilities if we spent a little money to fix it up. After my little daydream I told Billy about it. And his standard response was, "Not until the attic is done." But with our lack of motivation it is never going to get done. Maybe I need to buy his some new tools as an incentive. That always seems to get him motivated for a little while.

How many festool power tools do you think I can fit under the tree? I need to light a fire under his butt so we can get the attic done.

Thanks

The things I am thankful for this week:

1. I was able to keep my perspectives straight with these two new boys of ours. Sometimes I get overwhelmed at the thought of being responsible for making them "normal" productive citizens.

2. I am thankful that Jack had several good days this week. It was nice to hear him giggle for real.

3. I am amazed at Mr. Bill's ability to read. He is only halfway through kindergarten but is already sounding out large words. Today he was eating M&M's and sounded out the word milk on the bag. He was so impressed with himself that he figured out the word entirely on his own. He has been doing that a lot lately.

4. I am thankful the kids and I have been able to relax and have fun. I bought a squirt bottle a few weeks ago and it has made for some interesting and wet games with them.

5. I am thankful that my husband and I are usually on the same page when parenting our kids. We have hit some rough spots the last two weeks and it is hard to deal with. I am glad we are able to work through our parenting differences and parent our kids together.

6. I am thankful for the writer's strike because we have found some new shows to watch. The George Lopez Show is one of my new favorites.

7. I am thankful we have a four day week ahead of us and then the kids are off for 12 days and Christmas is so much closer.

Battery Backup

I am not a good picture taker. I always forget the camera for an important event or even when the kids are doing something cute. I never used to be that way. I have a zillion pictures of Becca and Megan and it gets less and less with each kid. Part of the reason is it seems like everytime I go to grab my camera for an activity the kids are in, I find the battery is dead or almost dead. After a year of this I decided to go online and get another battery so I won't have this problem again.

Thankfully we have a common camera so it was pretty easy to locate one. Ours is a lithium battery which means it should have a long life. Let's just hope it can keep up with my sporadic picture taking.

Alvin and The Chipmunks

We went to see Alvin and The Chipmunks today. It was a cute movie. I really enjoyed the chipmunks. Theodore is and always has been my favorite. He was really cute in the movie too.

The kids all enjoyed it (except Jack who didn't watch any of it. He was just there for the candy.)

If you are looking for a fun family adventure before Christmas I would recommend this movie.

It comes with the territory

Part of living in the arctic tundra we call South Dakota is dealing with the snow and ice that accumulates on the roads. And with that ice comes accidents.

I am always astonished when we get the first big dumping of snow at the number of drivers who have forgotten how to drive in the stuff. There are usually several accidents involving cars, vans, and tractor trailers.

I imagine it keeps the truck accident lawyers very busy each winter.

Wahhhh!

The heathen child has returned.

After 4 blissful days of a smiling happy child who giggled and let things roll of his back, the tides have turned.

Jack is back to screaming. If you dare look at him I think he may spew green puke on your face.

D.O.N.T L.O.O.K!

Winter Blues

We have snow and cold. Bitter bitter cold.

Today I had to take Mr. Bill to the doctor for his second varicella shot. And the temperature as I loaded 6 kids into their carseats? -3F

That is worse than "freeze-your-nose-hairs" cold. That is "OMG-I-need-a-vacation" cold.

Nothing makes me long for a Vegas hotel room more than this bitter cold in December. What the heck is February going to be like if it is this cold already?

Brrrrrr.

He could sell comforters...

Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

When I was a kid my favorite show was Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Not because of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe or any of the characters (although I could identify with X the Owl.) but because of the picture picture episodes where he showed us how things are made.



I loved seeing crayons go from chunks of wax to perfectly round and sharp pointed colors. And the one where they make blue jeans (which weren't even mainstream style in the 70's) and the vacuum device that sucks the legs in to turn them inside right after they were sewn. And through the whole thing Mr. Rogers and Mr. McFeely narrate what is happening.

And did you know I never realized that it was Mr. Rogers flipping a switch by his feet that made the Trolley go back and forth and then zoom out of the house into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe until I was a teenager and I was babysitting and watching Mr. Rogers? I know I was so naive.

**Interestingly, while I was searching online to see how to spell Mr. McFeely's name I found out you can watch picture picture episodes online! Who knew! So I added the link above so you can reminisce with me!**

Pearls and Disapproval

On Tuesday when Becca was getting ready for her Christmas concert at school she asked me for a necklace.

Since I am not a big jewelry person, I opened my small jewelry box and there hung the 4 necklaces I own; a pearl necklace my mom gave to me, a Black Hills Gold necklace Billy gave to me many years ago, and two necklaces I have bought thinking I would wear them often.

She looked at me and said, "That is all?" I smiled and said yup.

I guess I need to ask Santa for more jewelry for my kids to borrow since they don't approve of mine.

Tookie

Now that the Christmas season is quickly approaching I am baking almost daily. This weekend we made quite a few cookies for the elderly at our church. The kids helped me make them and of course helped me eat them.

This is when we discovered that Jack really really likes cookies.

Everytime I would take them out of the oven he would run over to the kitchen door and yell "Hot! Tookie! Mine!" and run back out. Pretty soon we were all laughing so hard we couldn't see straight.

When they finally cooled enough I gave everyone a cookie. Jack would stand at my feet yelling "Tookie! Tookie! Tookie! Mine! Pwwwwwease!" until I handed him one.

As he walked away clutching his tookie he would say, "Tank you tookie. Mine tookie. Tank you."

Custom

I am sure you have all seen the tricked out vehicles on t.v. as I have. I would say on the road but I live in South Dakota where the road is dominated by tractors and old antique pickup trucks that can't go over 45 mph.

But I watch shows like Trick My Truck and Overhaulin. And it is fascinating to me that they can change a vehicle from drab to fab. After all a vehicle is not like a house. If you don't have a good foundation on the car, you have a lot of work to do.

But somehow they always manage to make the trucks and vehicles look great. The other day I ran across a website while shopping for my hubby's Christmas present that sells billet grilles which, at first I thought was a chicken organ, but after reading the website discover are custom grills for the front of a vehicle.

Right now my husband drives a Chevy Metro. Think itty bitty clown car. So I don't think a custom grill is really going to look that great on his car. Now maybe if I could afford a new truck for his Christmas present I could get a new custom grill to go with it. Too bad my SAHM income doesn't cover the price of a new truck. ;)

Agoraphobic

Why is it so hard for me to pick up the phone and call to RSVP when my kids get a birthday invitation?

Everytime they come home with one I dread making the call. If I can, I pass the job on to Billy. But most of the time I try to suck it up and make the call. Afterall, I am an adult and I am perfectly capable of making a phone call.

And it is not like the parents are mean or anything. I just get scared and nervous. It makes no sense to me.

But I am always relieved when I get an answering machine instead of a person. Is it any wonder why I have no friends?

Protection

When Billy and I first got married we were hounded by a "nice" man who thought we needed family life insurance. At the time we were newly married and in college. While it would have probably been the opportune time to purchase life insurance, we were on a college students budget. Eventually the guy talked us into a small term policy for both of us. And about 2 years later we couldn't make the payments. Afterall we had a ton of art supplies to purchase so Billy could graduate from college.

2 years ago Billy's Mom passed away. And we suddenly realized the importance of life insurance. At the time of her death none of the children knew if she had any life insurance at all. We found out that thankfully she had some through her employer. It was enough to cover her 8000.00 funeral and leave a few hundred for each child. Suddenly we could see how life insurance would be important to our kids even if it is for nothing more than to cover the funeral expenses.

And ironically at that same time another "nice" man started hounding us about buying life insurance. So we did.

Mr. Bill

I have mentioned before how ummm.... anal?.... my son is about certain things in his life. We have found as he gets older it is only getting worse.

For example,

Only Mom can get him up in the morning. If Dad tries he cries and throws a fit.

The little tag thingy on the back of his tennis shoes CANNOT be tucked into his shoe. (I hardly even notice this on my own shoes much less worry about where it is.)

He must have a cup of water before going to sleep every night. And it must be brought by Mom. And it must be his cup.

He will only sleep with a flannel pillowcase. The flannel one with clouds on it. No other one will do.

He likes to wear his handsome clothes (aka dress clothes) but the other day a boy at school made fun of him because he was wearing his dress shoes. Now they are only for church and weddings. (And at home when noone is looking.)

He writes, eats, colors, and cuts with both hands. And he gets really mad when someone tells him not too. (Working with his teacher on this one. She said it is fine so long as the muscles in both of his hands stay equally strong, and his right hand is weaker so they are working on that with him.)

There are many more things he does. The getting up in the morning is rough. Billy gets irritated and angry with him because he can't get him up for anything. I walk up there and tell him it is time to get up and he does. He is just so particular.

Thanks

I have decided to bring a little more positive into my life and in the process I will share it with all of you. So each Sunday I will post the things I am grateful for from the following week.

1. I am thankful for doctors and antibiotics. Friday I took two of my kids to the doctor because I suspected they both had strep throat. Two days on antibiotics and they are both feeling 100% again.

2. I am thankful to the kid's school. They had organized and executed two wonderful Christmas concerts that all of my children participated in. It was so exciting to watch them stand up and sing in front of all of the parents. They did a great job. And Megan got to play her flute in front of a group for the very first time. She did a great job.

3. I am very thankful for my husband. He is really good about stepping up and helping out with the kids and the housework when I don't want to. I was not feeling good on Saturday and he took over and got all the kids fed so I could rest for awhile.

4. I am thankful for working appliances. With a family of 9 a working washer and dryer is very important. Unfortunately our dryer has bit the dust and so I have had to resort to a clothesline stretched across the hallway until we get a new one. It gets the job done.

5. I am thankful I have very well behaved kids. I hate to differentiate between our biological kids and our adopted kids but in the behavior area they show huge differences. Somedays I wonder how I am going to make it another day and one of the kids will come up and hug me and tell me they love me. We really do have very well behaved kids.

Christmas

If any of you would like a Christmas card from us please email me your address and I would be happy to send one on to you.

Cold

I have been drinking a ton of hot chocolate lately. Because I am freezing. And it tastes good. But it also has a lot of calories and fat in it. So I thought I would try coffee. Although I am not a fan of coffee. It smells good but never tastes as good as it smells.

So I went out and bought some starbucks morning blend (thinking it wouldn't be as bitter) and some non-dairy vanilla flavored creamer. And I made my first cup the other day. It tasted okay if I added some sugar but I didn't want anymore after the second cup.

And then about 2 hours after I drank the coffee I felt like my nerves were on edge all day. My head was spinning and for the life of me I couldn't sit down but everytime I got up I felt dizzy.

Thinking it was just a fluke, I tried it again the next day with the same results. So I put the coffee in the freezer and called it a day. Clearly I cannot even force myself to become addicted to something. LOL

Of course I still can enjoy Starbucks Frappucino's (especially the new dark chocolate peppermint ones) and an occasional cappuccino. They don't have nearly the same effect on me. I may have to invest in a Rancilio Silvia Cappuccino and Espresso Machine (or something similar)to see if I can make my own at home. Although I am pretty sure hot chocolate and cappuccino are about equal in the fat/calorie department.

It's Friday...

Today is our usual day off now that the kids are going to school 4 days a week.

Unfortunately two of my 7 kids are sick. Both Billy and Becca have a fever and sore throat. It started yesterday for both of them. I am guessing strep throat but have made an appointment for them this afternoon.

The joys of winter at our house.

What if?

As I was driving home from preschool today I saw a huge flock of birds on the road. And I immediately felt sorry for them. They can't go hide in a warm house like I can. I hoped they had a good fat layer built up to keep them warm.

And then I thought, "What if God is making the world obese on purpose so that we can live through the next ice age?"

Then all those super skinny models and people who are constantly fighting the fat would not survive. And all their starving, exercising, and eating vegetables would be for nothing.

That would be ummmm.... sweet revenge? ironic? funny? the perfect reprisal!

Surprise

My very good friend, Tee, over at Spilt Milk gave me this award almost a month ago. And I have been meaning and meaning to post about it but life got in the way.




So here it is:

And after much consideration I am passing it on to all my blog readers. Because I truly do think you are all fabulous. You come and listen to my craziness everyday and don't judge me for the stupidity that spills out.

YOU are fabulous. If you have a blog, go and put this award on your own blog. And then pass it on to your fabulous friends.

Wah!

Jack is crabby.

Really really crabby.

If someone so much as even looks at him, or he thinks someone looks at him he throws himself on the floor and screams until he is hoarse.

So today, after 3 days of this torture, I decided to hell with normal parenting techniques. Distraction hasn't worked, time out hasn't worked, bribery hasn't work. He doesn't respond to anything. He just likes to scream.

So today I screamed when he screamed. If he goes Wah! I go Wah!, if he goes boo hoo, I go boo hoo.

The first time he looked at me like I had three heads. The second and third time it was funny. But by the fourth time he was pissed. He was not getting the results he wanted anymore.

Just wait until all the kids get home and I tell them to join in when Jack screams at us. He will really love me then.

Squished

Since we brought the boys into our family our house feels like it has shrunk.

We gave the boys our bedroom upstairs and we moved downstairs into what was the office. So right now it resembles an office with a bed stuck in it. I would love to redecorate our bedroom so that it looks like a bedroom again.

I was surfing the web looking for designs that I would like to see in our room when I found modern platform beds. While I was looking at the pictures Becca came over and shouted in my ear, "I want one of those!"

And in my best mature voice I yelled back in her ear, "Me first!"

The ninth box

Last night I opened the ninth box.

Of what you ask?

The ninth box of Candy Canes to put on the tree of course.

The kids have eaten 8 boxes of them since we put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving.

Any guesses on how many we will go through before the tree comes down on Christmas night?

Celebration Time!

We found out today that starting in 2008 our insurance will cover surgical sterilization!

Celebrate with me! That is great news for us.

Well, for me.

Billy is not nearly as excited as I am.

I must go buy several bags of frozen peas. ;)

Me

I was reading another gal's blog the other day and was shocked when I read her rant about not getting any comments on a particular post. I was shocked because I couldn't believe she said it out loud...on her blog.

I don't know why it shocked me. And I was really surprised that I was shocked.

And then I started pondering this oddity. I realized that I don't ask for what I want much. I expect people to know what I am thinking and what I want and what I need. I realized I think like a 2 year old. You know, the stage where you think the world revolves around you and only you?

Apparently I never grew out of that stage. I recognized this in my relationship with my husband a few years back. It sort of came out of necessity; I didn't like being disappointed when he didn't do what I had expected him to. Not that he always does what I expect but he has a better idea of what I want now. And we do a lot less fighting.

But with the rest of the world I am still holding back. Why is that? Sometimes I think I am being polite. Sometimes I am just too scared to ask. Sometimes I just feel like keeping things secret.

But many times I feel angry that the person didn't read my mind and know what I wanted. Which is silly when I didn't voice my needs. How could they know?

Interesting....

Invitation

It seems like this time of year my calendar fills up quickly. Between school and kid activities we stay hopping.

December is definitely a busy month in our family. We have parties, sleepovers, communions, baptisms, and other family activities. Thankfully most of the people have sent invitations to their get-together in plenty of time so I can plan ahead. I am not a spur-of-the-moment type of gal. Especially now that I have 7 kids.

But in the middle of all of this we also have Becca's 12th birthday party to plan. She made the wise decision to be born the day after Christmas even though she wasn't due for 3 more weeks. So I was online searching for some tween style birthday invitations. While I was searching I found these really cute first communion invitations. I love looking at all the designs. When we were shopping for baby announcements I spent many hours just looking at the catalogs.

But I suppose I better get back to birthday stuff. Otherwise Becca will be having a party of one.

Thank Heavens

I did it...

My fingers are sore...

And my eyes cannot focus...

But I am done....

50 thousand words. One after another....

And ta-da! I have a story. A novel.

AND I WIN!

Laptop Lurve

My Christmas present should be arriving today. Cross your fingers for me would you since it was supposed to be here yesterday.

My hubby bought me a new laptop from Dell. So we can both have a laptop and sit and watch CSI at night. And yes I am opening it as soon as I can get the box in the door. Are we romantical or what? ;)

Dieting

Thankfully I grew up in a household where no one said diet. My mom just emphasized healthy eating and staying active.

And it worked well for me. I was at a very healthy weight all of my life.

But now as I have had four babies and have held on to a few extra pounds from each of those pregnancy's I struggle to maintain a normal healthy weight. And while I know I can get there through healthy eating and staying active sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to try diet pills. We have all seen the commercials for products like hydroxycut, hoodia, and leptoprin. But how do we know if they work?

I turn to the internet and do some reasearch on each of them. The warnings and side effects read like a novel. Or they give you little to no information on the drugs. Neither is very reassuring.

And the more I think about ordering a pill, the more I think that if we truly had a diet pill that worked as they claim then there wouldn't be any overweight people on this earth. Because everyone would be taking it. Right?

It's Not You...

Can we just be friends?

It's not you, it's me...

Okay, I am not trying to break up with you. But I only have 2 days left to finish this crazy novel I started if I want to win. And I really really want to win!

So I am going to be a scarce blogger for the next two days. If you are looking for me I will be the red-eyed, sore-fingered lady hunched over the keyboard.

I only have to get 10,000 more words. I can do it!

A Fix

Over the last 14 years we have had many computers. Our first one was an apple with a whopping price tag of 4400.00. Later we bought new computers but switched to p.c.'s and lower price tags.

But no one prepared us for the amount of work a computer requires. After a year most of the specs a computer comes with are no longer good enough and everything requires an upgrade. And if that doesn't cost enough there are also the parts that break when you don't want them too. One of our computers lost its power supply. At the time Billy was working from home so it was vital that we find a power supply repair shop. What we discovered in our research was that it was cheaper for a normal pc to just replace the power supply box.

Thank goodness for technology. But I like cheap technology even better.

Depression

Depression runs in my family. Three of the 6 people in my immediate family have it. I have never struggled with depression of any kind and have struggled to understand it. I can usually pick myself up and move on and life is good.

But since we have taken in these two new boys I am finding I can't do that so easily. I feel like a bad mom daily, no hourly. I run the gammet of emotions everyday. Sometimes I am angry, ashamed, sad, happy, and proud. I can't seem to find a normal level for anything.

I do know taking in two kids is a huge adjustment. I have been through this before, although it was only one then. But I am not doing well this time.

My family and my parenting is going down the tubes either because I am pulling it there or because I am falling with it. It is much like the question, Which came first the chicken or the egg.

I am trying. Daily. To make it better. But I feel like I am failing. I just want us all to be happy. Happy and normal.

Please tell me what do you do when your family needs something fun and happy? I know with time it will get easier. Right now I need some immediate fix where I can see the kids smiling and laughing but I am so buried under the sadness and stress that I can't see a way out. Help!

Not Good

It is not good when your NaNoWriMo novel ends itself 15,000 words short of the 50,000 word goal.

I have never had this happen before.

I am going to have to go back in and write a serious amount of detail to get my word count up to where it needs to be.

Mourning

The weekend is over. What a bummer. We had a really good weekend.

Here are some random bits about our weekend:

~We didn't touch the attic. Not one little finger. Darn!

~We did spend most of the weekend playing with our kids and having a good time.

~My husband beat me at scrabble for the first time ever. Becca came in second.

~We took out rummikub that we bought 2 years ago for Christmas and had a blast playing it.

~We are no closer to any conclusion with our newest boys. Hopefully it will come in the next few months. It will involve a court date, that much we are sure of.

~I never did find my important papers. I just had to find a way to get new copies. I think the dog ate the old ones.

~I am 99% done Christmas shopping. I just need a few more gifts.

~I didn't touch my book all weekend. So that means another marathon writing day. Hopefully I will squeeze in some writing each day to get my numbers back up. Only 20,000 words left and I win NaNoWriMo this year.

~My dryer bit the dust over the weekend. So I now have a clothesline strung all over in the upstairs hallway. Hopefully we will be getting a new dryer in the next couple of days. I want to upgrade to the larger front loading ones instead of buying another regular one. But the price difference is quite large.

~Two of my kids appear to have pinkeye. Their eyes are all red but there is no oozing. Please don't let this be pinkeye. Please!

Pop Culture

With four girls in my house it should come as no surprise that they are madly in love with Hannah Montana. Really it shouldn't.

We have one daughter in particular, Megan, who really likes to watch the show and is a frequent visitor to youtube to find videos of Hannah Montana singing her favorite songs.

And then the other day while we were in the car the radio dj announces that Hannah will be visiting a town near us (about 5 hours away) and of course she "absolutely MUST go". So we came home and started checking out the Hannah Montana tickets. And well lets just say I fell out of my chair when I saw the prices. If you want your daughter to be on the floor in front of the stage you better be willing to spend well over a thousand bucks. Yes you read that right. Or hopefully I read the website wrong.

Needless to say, we won't be visiting her in concert anytime soon. Megan will just have to be happy with the videos on youtube.

Nada

We aren't getting anything done. Nothing, zip, nada.

And we are liking it. So far we have played scrabble with our kids, stuffed ourselves with turkey, watched movie after cheesy movie about Christmas, and just enjoyed ourselves.

Today we decorated the house for Christmas and no one got out of jammas until almost 2 p.m.

The attic is feeling neglected. Tomorrow is a new day. ;)

Educational Christmas

Every year I am looking for Christmas presents that don't end up in the bottom of the toy box. And every year I get some successes and some failures.

This year I have had the chance to try out some new educational toys to see if they were something our kids would like. The kind folks at Learning Resources sent me three toys to try.

The first one we opened was the Race Around The Clock Game. It is recommended for ages 8-11 which I must totally agree with. The younger kids couldn't play at all as the questions were too hard but the older kids played for quite awhile.

The second game is for the younger kids. It is called Jump N' Jam Jungle. This one was great for the littler kids. It has five games that you can choose from. And the best part is the kids can jump on the animals to answer. It is educational and gives the kids a chance to get up and move.

The biggest hit though was definitely the Gears! Gears! Gears! It is the same concept as legos but the gears lock together and they have a small motor that makes the gears turn. They also have lights that light up. The kids haven't put them down since we opened the box. This one is well worth the money.

So if you are looking for some fun and educational toys check out Learning Resources. They have some great stuff.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I won't be around most likely for the entire weekend. We are celebrating Thanksgiving and we plan to get a lot of work done in the attic. Cross your fingers for us. We have a lot of work to do.

How Cute!

How cute would this home theater carpet be in a media room?

Not that we have a media room, yet. But what fun it would be to decorate one like a real movie theater. Billy has been dying to order one of those projector t.v.'s that take up an entire wall to watch it on. And the kids keep drooling over those popcorn machines. Wouldn't it be awesome to have one just like a real movie theater. Of course for as much as I "like" t.v. and movies I will just use the media room for napping in the nice comfy recliners we would put in there. Right? ;)

Happy Birthday Billy

Happy Birthday wishes to my husband today. He is 32 now. That is sooooooooooooooo old! ;)

What happens when...

You know you have a tween in the house when...

You leave a comment on a friend's blog and realize you just posted under your daughter's name. Because she has her own google account duh!

Online banking

Everywhere I turn lately I hear about these online banks. And they want my business. Really. They keep saying they do.

But for some reason online banks make me nervous. I think mostly because if something goes wrong there is no brick and mortar building to take my complaints to. Which shouldn't be a big deal because the bank I use now is over 400 miles away from me. I do all my banking online anyway. And there are times that I have needed to go to the bank but that obviously wasn't an option.

So I have been looking into WaMu for a checking account. It looks like a good deal. And since I do everything online now my lifestyle wouldn't have to change to have an account here.

But I am still nervous. No one said change was easy.

Lost

I have lost some very important papers. VERY important papers. Where the heck did I put them?

If you have seen them would you kindly let me know where.

Thank you!

Wishful Thinking

Last night Billy and I were watching Designed to Sell. If you haven't seen this show they go in and redo a few rooms to make a house sell quicker. All on a 2000.00 budget.

I used to love this show. Because I love to see the before and after pictures. Last night though I looked around my own house after the show and sighed. I told Billy that is it so depressing to watch those shows and then look at our own house. We have done so much to our house but it looks like we have just made it worse. We still have so much to do. And it frustrates me.

Billy responded by saying yes we do need to finish some things. We need crown molding, trim, paint, accessories, and bar stools. Yes bar stools. All the new hip houses have them. *sigh*

We are so behind the times and we aren't even done with our house yet.

I DID IT!

I did it. I wrote over 19,000 words in the last two days. I am now officially caught up. 30,002 words as of today.

And in my story I am in the process of deciding if I should kill a very important character or not. Decisions, decisions.

:)

On a roll

Today is my writing makeup day since I missed writing on my NaNoWriMo novel the entire week my sister was here. I was about 18,000 words behind as of this morning. I have managed to get 9000+ written today so I only need 9000 more before tonight is over. Then I can go back to 1667 words per day.

I think I can....I think I can...

Saturday Fun!

Today in the mail I received three free samples of products from Vat19. And several hours later the kids are still having fun with them. So I had to share!

We got a free sample of Color Flames Colored Candles , a Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencil , and Insta Snow Fake Snow Powder.

The biggest hit was by far the Insta Snow Fake Snow Powder. It was fun to watch it grow as we added it to the water. And then the kids started playing in it like playdough. It feels wet when you squish it but your hands stay dry. Lucky for all of you we video-taped us trying it out so you can see it too. Aren't we nice? ;)

The Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencil was a big hit too. Ours is popcorn scented so you can imagine it was a big hit here. We had to have a drawing to see who got to keep it. The coolest thing is these pencils are made from recycled rolled newspapers so you aren't hurting the environment. And they are guaranteed to be smelly for two years! I doubt ours will last that long. I will definitely be getting some of these for stocking stuffers.

The color flame colored candles were popular as well. Becca has confiscated them for her upcoming birthday. There were exactly enough in the package for her cake. :)

If you are looking for some fun things for your kids for Christmas that aren't toys that will end up in the toy box, these are a great idea. Megan has already put in a request for the snow and everyone wants the pencils. And I am happy because I know it is stuff that will get used rather than buried in a toy box. Of course if you are looking for some more practical products they have those too. Like this Electronics Charging Station for your collection of ipods, cell phones, and blackberries.

Me? I want more snow. The fake kind. It can be made with warm water and is much more fun to play with. :)

Vote Nay

My husband saw my blog post. Apparently he has started reading here for the first time in FOUR years. (Hi Honey!) But that is not the point of this post.

He saw the Undies post below and said we didn't need a pop-up blocker.

So sayeth him...

Kick It Up

After my shoulder really starting bothering me a few months back I stopped exercising. It didn't matter if I did aerobics, Tae Bo, Pilates, or even just running on my treadmill. Everything seemed to aggravate it.

I even spent a lot of time checking out new exercise equipment. I thought about getting a ball, heavier weights, an eliptical machine, and many other things. But in the end I know there isn't any new equipment that would make a difference.

So I went to the doctor and got a bunch of tests run. And they found out nothing. But suggested I try Aleve. And what a difference it has made. I still have pain but it is nothing like it was before. I can move much more fluidly.

So I am hopping back on the exercise wagon again. I like myself and feel better when I am exercising. I am not trying to lose weight or specifically any amount of weight. I just want to be fit. And since winter is here, or nearly here, the treadmill is my weapon of choice. Hopefully I will be successful and not aggravate my old lady injury again.

Wish me luck.

Undies

I need these. Do they come with virus protection? A pop-up blocker would be good too. Oh and spam protection... Is that expecting too much?

Rescue Me **UPDATED**

Okay, Thanksgiving is coming. And I am cooking it.

But I hate stuffing. I think it is the spices that go in the stuffing that I don't like the most. None of my kids nor my husband like stuffing either so I never make it.

So rescue me this year. Do any of you have a stuffing recipe that is a different recipe? I have heard of cornbread, raisins, and other odd ingredients being added.

I am looking for a recipe that doesn't involve thyme, sage, or any other "standard" stuffing spices.

Anybody have one?

**Updated!**
Look what I found on Allrecipes.com

Rice Stuffing with Apples, Herbs, and Bacon
Chestnut Stuffing
Wild Rice Stuffing for Turkey
Ibby's Pumpkin Mushroom Stuffing
Milk Cracker Stuffing
Vegetarian Stuffing
Cranberry Apple Raisin Stuffing
Bulgur Stuffing
Wild Mushroom Stuffing

Which should I try?

I am back

My sister has left. It is so quiet and sad here now.

But 7 kids will arrive in a few short hours and the chaos will return. Sad chaos as they remember Aunt Vonnie has gone home today.

The love her. More than anything in the world.

And I love that they love her.

Upgrade

When we started ripping out the upstairs of our house to make the new stairs to the attic/bedrooms we found a letter that had gotten hidden under the stairs. It was dated February of 1908.

It was from a heating contractor sending an estimate to the then owner of this house for a new heating system.

It was funny to me how he was bragging in the letter about the wonderful new insulation they would use, asbestos, to keep the heat in.

Of course now we all know that asbestos can cause malignant mesothelioma. Almost 100 years ago this stuff was new and wonderful. Now it is deadly. It is funny how things change so drastically isn't it?

It makes me wonder what we will find hazardous to our health another 100 years from now.

Insert Foot

Tonight while my sister was putting the dinner dishes in the dishwasher my husband looks over and says, "Why are you doing dishes? Don't you know they do themselves?"

My sister laughs and says, "Yea sure they do."

He responds, "They do. I go to work and come home and they are done. It is like magic."

If I am magic I want more powers than the ability to do dishes. Like the power to insert his foot in his mouth.

Need More

The other day I sat down and started purging. Purging all the junk off my computer. It is amazing what we have acquired on there over the last two years. There were lots of games that we never play and lots of files that were only used once and intended to be tossed but for some reason didn't walk themselves to the recycle bin.

So I started throwing stuff away with wild abandon. And then I went to the disk defragmenter so it could undo all the mess I had left behind. And you know what it told me? After all that tossing and sorting? We had 2% free on our hard drive! 2% people! That is just crazy!

I mentioned it to my husband who says "Yeah, we need more memory." Ummmm I would say. Too bad this IBM memory won't work on our computer. But they do have Dell memory too. And boy do we need a lot of it.

Good and Bad

We have recieved some very bad news here. News that may prevent us from keeping the boys we have just added to our family. While I obviously can't share this here let me just say it is not life-threatening or anything to that extent. Just rock your world news. Please pray that whatever should be will be.

And my sister is visiting for the next week (with her new baby!) so I don't know how much I will be on here. But most likely I will pop in a couple of times. If I don't see you before then, have a great weekend.

On Time

I mentioned before how I like to be early or on time for things. Well from an early age in order for this to happen I had to wear a watch. In fact the only gift Billy and I exchanged for our honeymoon were disney watches. Mine had Minnie Mouse and his had Goofy. Now that I think about it that should have tipped me off to what kind of person he was. LOL

But anyway, for the last 7 or 8 years I haven't had a job or school or anything that required me to know what time it was all day. I need to know what time it is about three times over the course of a day and so I don't get too worried about not having a watch. Afterall I have a cell phone with the time, my car has a clock in it, and every room in my house has one as well.

But as I was sitting in the doctor's office and get rather irritated thinking it had to have been at least an hour since my appointment was to start I realized I needed a watch. So I would know how late my doctor is and how irritated I really should be (and I am a very patient person).

So, of course I turned to the internet. While I found many pretty watches for women I also found a website with Ulysse Nardin watches. Maybe my husband needs one too. Although I doubt it would help anymore than the large clock I bought him for his desk so he could leave work on time. Yea, that didn't work.

NaNoWriMo Excerpt

“I wasn’t expecting you so early,” admits Trixie. Julie frowns, “I am sorry. Do you want me to come back later?” Trixie shakes her head, “No Tommy would never forgive me if I sent you home. And maybe I will have better luck if I hit some of these businesses earlier in the day.” Julie looks at Tommy, “I brought you something.” Tommy starts jumping up and down, “What? What did you bring me? Huh? Huh? Julie what did you bring me?” Julie giggles. Trixie rubs her forehead again wincing at the sound, “I am going to take a shower. You got this?” Julie nods her head and turns back to Tommy, “Guess which box it is in?” Tommy points to the top box. Julie opens the box flaps just enough to get her hand inside. “Big or small?” she asks him. Tommy’s eyes get larger, “Big!” Julie feels around in the box for the larger Barbie car. She pulls it out and hands it to Tommy. Tommy looks at the car, “A car! Really? For me? Wowwwwwwwww!” Julie giggles. Tommy sets the car on the floor and starts pushing it around the floor. “Vroom. Vroom. Eeeeeerrrrrrk!” he says over and over. Julie sits in a chair and watches Tommy drive the car up and over the back of the couch. Soon the other kids wake from the noise Tommy is making. Kirstin comes out first and smiles at Julie. “Hi,” says Julie. Kirstin watches Tommy. Tommy sees her watching him and looks at Julie, “Do you have anything for Kirstin too?” Julie nods, “Is Maya awake yet? I have something for both of you.” Kirstin slips back in the doorway and says something quietly. Julie can’t make out what she is saying. Kirstin sticks her head back out the door and then comes out holding Maya and Scott’s hands. Julie smiles at them, “Good morning everyone.” Scott sits down on the floor and Maya walks over to Tommy. She bends down to see the car he is playing with. Tommy grabs his car and hugs it to his chest, “Julie has something else for you guys.” He runs over to Julie’s box and opens the flaps. Kirstin runs over and peeks in. “That box is for Scott and Tommy,” Julie explains. The bottom box is for Kirstin and Maya. Tommy pulls the top box off and sets it on the floor next to the door. Kirstin opens the bottom box and peeks in. She shrieks suddenly and everyone in the room jumps. Maya runs over and pulls the box open. “Dollies!” she shrieks. Soon Kirstin and Maya are jumping up and down and yelling “Dollies! Dollies!” Julie giggles thinking today is like Christmas morning at her house. Tommy reaches in the other box and pulls out a soft squishy ball. He runs over to Scott and drops it in his lap. Scott looks at the ball and then picks it up. He throws it as hard as he can at the couch. It lands just a few inches away and rolls back towards Scott. He picks it up and throws it at the couch again. As it rolls back to him the bathroom door opens and Trixie steps out in the same blue suit that she had tried on yesterday. The older kids all pick up their toys and run over to show them to their mom. Trixie rubs her temples and smiles at the kids. Julie can tell Trixie still isn’t quite awake and ready to deal with the kids and the noise level she has created. “How about we get some breakfast while your mom finishes getting ready?” she asks the kids. Scott ignores her and continues to throw the ball at the couch. The other kids all nod eagerly and take their toys to the table with them. Julie opens the fridge and looks in. There is milk so she checks the cupboards for cereal. On the third shelf she finds a few boxes of cereal. She pulls them down and take them and the milk to the table. “Tommy can you and Kirstin get bowls and spoons please?” she asks. Trixie goes back in the bathroom and shuts the door. Tommy and Kirstin jump up and run to the cupboards. Tommy is tall enough to reach the bowls and Kirsting grabs the spoons. Soon the table is set and everyone is eating. Except Scott. He is still throwing his ball to the couch and waiting for it to roll back at him.

Julie walks over and crouches down next to Scott. “Scott, do you want to eat?” Scott shakes his head and throws the ball towards the couch again. He watches it roll back to him and he picks it up again. Julie watches him throw the ball again but this time she grabs it before it rolls back to Scott. Scott stands up and looks to see where the ball went. Julie takes his hand and guides him to the table, “Let’s eat Scott.” Scott looks at Tommy eating his bowl of cereal and nods. Julie picks him up and sets him on a chair. Scott looks in the bowl in front of him and grabs the cereal with his hands. He starts stuffing the food in by the handful. Julie picks up a spoon and hands it to him, “Can you use a spoon?” Scott doesn’t answer but continues to stuff the cereal in his mouth. Julie decides this is one battle she is not willing to fight today and allows Scott to eat this way. By this time the other three children have finished their bowls and are asking for more. Julie pours each of them another bowl of cereal and sits back down by Scott. His bowl is nearly empty too. As he reaches in for a handful of cereal he realizes it is almost gone. His lower lip begins to tremble and then he lets out a loud wail. Tommy covers his ears and shouts to Julie, “He needs more! Give him more! Hurry!” Julie pours more cereal into Scott’s bowl and as fast as the screaming started, it stops. Tommy uncovers his ears and resumes eating his own breakfast.

Trixie looks at herself in the mirror. This suit does look good on her. Despite the fact that she has lost a lot of weight of the last few months, she still has some curves. Trixie looked at her face up close. She looked quite a few years older than her 32 years. Life with a husband like Andy can do that to a person. Trixie tried for many years to hide the bruises and circles under her eyes with makeup. After awhile she gave up trying. She rubs her finger down the bridge of her nose, feeling the bump that grew the last time he broke her nose. The doctor who bandaged her up told her it would probably never go away. Unless she went to see a plastic surgeon that is. Not that Andy would have ever let her do that. He would have been angry enough to discover that she had seen a doctor at all. It is hard to believe it was only the day before that things were so good between them. He was packing to go on his business trip and she was sitting on the bed watching him. He was telling her what she could and couldn’t do while he was gone. Trixie was used to this and was only half listening to him. She was instead daydreaming about how she would spend the next three days doing all the things she wanted to do since she wouldn’t have to worry about Andy coming home at night. Or calling during the day. That had been her first mistake. She sat on the edge of the bed imagining baking cookies and eating them all before the kids got home from school. And sitting in her pajamas until noon instead of getting up at five in the morning to make breakfast for Andy. While she was daydreaming Andy had asked her a question. Unfortunately she was too wrapped up in her thoughts and hadn’t heard him. She was pulled out of her dream by the back of his hand hitting the side of her face. He had hit her so hard that she fell off the edge of the bed. She layed there knowing better than to get up until he told her too, holding her face in her hand. “You will be here when I call do you understand me!” he had blared at Trixie. Trixie nodded and watched him shut his suitcase and storm out of the room. She heard his footsteps as he stomped down the stairs and then silence as he set his suitcase down in the entryway. “Get down here woman!” Trixie scrambled to her feet and swayed as she waited for her body to regain its balance. She felt something wet on her lip and wiped it with the back of her hand. She looked down at her hand: blood. She grabbed a Kleenex from her dresser and held it to her nose. She held on tightly to the railing as she descended the stairs. He stood at the bottom waiting for her. She stopped at the bottom step and stared at him. “Well give me a hug. I will be gone for three days afterall.” Trixie stepped forward cautiously and put her arms around Andy. Andy kissed her on the top of the head and whispered, “Next time answer me and I wouldn’t have to do this.” Trixie nodded and stepped backwards. Andy picked up his suitcase and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Trixie shook her head and saw herself in the mirror again. “Focus Trixie. Focus,” she said aloud. Trixie ran the brush through her hair again and set it down on the edge of the sink. She opens the bathroom door and steps out to see all the kids sitting at the table eating and Julie sitting next to Scott watching him stuff his cereal by the handful. “Scott, use a spoon,” Trixie states. Julie looks up, “Ready to go?” Trixie nods, “Just about.” She walks to the fridge and grabs a yogurt and a spoon. She stands by the counter watching Julie help Scott now that he is using a spoon with his cereal. “Why is it that this 16 year old girl has it more together than I do?” Trixie wonders to herself. She finishes her yogurt in 4 bites and grabs her purse. “I don’t know when I will be back. If I get a job it may not be until late. If not it may be earlier,” she says to Julie. “No hurry,” Julie replies. “I don’t have anywhere else to be today.” Trixie smiles and kisses each of her kids. “Be good for Julie.” Tommy and Kirstin nod. Julie watches Trixie walk out the door. As the door shuts behind her it suddenly swings open again. There standing on the step is Lilly, Julie’s mom. She is carrying several bags and there are two of the older ladies from church standing behind her with boxes and bags too. Trixie squeezes past all of them and stands waiting. Lilly extends her hand, full of bag handles, “Hi. I am Lilly, Julie’s mom. She said you are new in town and could use a few things. The ladies and I assembled a few boxes and bags. I hope you don’t mind.” Trixie smiles and shakes her head, “I am just on my way out to find a job. Julie can show you where everything goes.” Trixie heads down the rest of the steps and the three ladies, heavy with packages, walk in and begin setting things down on the counters. Lilly smiles at the children at the table. Just then Trixie sticks her head in the doorway, “Oh by the way, I put a homemade diaper on Scott so it will need to be washed and dried before you can put it back on him. I only had enough towels for two diapers. The other one is in the bathroom.” “No problem,” Julie replies. Lilly opens a box and holds up a package of disposable diapers, “Good thing I brought these then!” Julie giggles. “Mom you are so awesome.” Lilly nods, “I agree wholeheartedly.”

Today

"Each morning the day lies like a fresh shirt on our bed; this incomparably fine, incomparably tightly woven tissue of pure prediction fits us perfectly. The happiness of the next twenty-four hours depends on our ability, on waking, to pick it up." Walter Benjamin

Today is better. If for no other reason than we are both ignoring the elephant standing in the middle of the living room. But sometimes ignorance is bliss. And it helps a marriage hold over the rough spots.

So today I am picking myself up and getting on with life. I don't like being unhappy. It is not who I am. So smile with me today as I share some good things going on in my life.

~I am making excellent progress on my NaNoWriMo novel. I know you all are probably sick of hearing about it but I can't help but get excited when I sit down to write and the novel just pours out. I am looking forward to writing some more today. I will get some of it posted for you all tonight. I forgot all about it last night. We had a homework marathon and I didn't get to sit until almost 8 p.m. Thank goodness for frozen pizzas.

~Jack is getting teeth. His eye teeth. And while this also can be a bad thing (because boy is he crabby!) it is a good thing too because now he can eat more foods that right now he doesn't chew up well enough.

~My kids are healthy. No one has puked in the last 48 hours.

~The Aleve I have been taking for my shoulder/rib pain is helping. Most days I forget that it hurts.

~Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming. I love celebrating with my family and not having to live on the school's time schedule.

So pick yourself up today and find some reasons to smile. Life is too short to be unhappy. Enjoy it!

Even the best laid plans...

Somedays it is better to not get out of bed.

Or maybe it is just better to keep your mouth shut. Or mine.

This morning a fight that started last night, regarding a certain woman whose children we have, continued.

And there was some yelling and much cursing. The kids were all hiding in the living room being very quiet.

I hate days like this. Thankfully they don't happen to often. But when they do they leave me feeling out of sorts all day.

*Hugs to my kids today. It will be fine. I promise.*

-------------------------
Edited to add: 11,291 words done today! I will post an excerpt from my novel later today.

Word Update

8,667 as of last night! Last night was a good night. I sat down and the book just flowed. I like it when it does that.

I have also learned that I am the queen of run-on sentences. I am using Word this year to type my book in and it seems like every other sentence is underlined as a run-on. LOL

Owie

Hi my name is Jodi and I don't like ice cream.

I know, I feel like I should be in a support group or something. People look at me really weirdly when I say I don't like ice cream. But really I would rather not eat it.

I think part of the reason is that I have always had sensitive teeth. And everytime I go to the dentist they sort of pshaw me and tell me it is just because I have a lot of cavities. Well in April, if you remember, I went in and had my teeth fixed. All 15 cavities were filled at once.

So now I have no cavities. And I still have sensitive teeth.

The dentist gave me some $15 toothpaste that is supposed to make sensitive teeth better. I bought it and used it and saw no difference from the $2 sensitive toothpaste I usually buy. So after the tube was gone I switched back to my usual brand. It works well enough. I can usually eat cold foods and sweet stuff without wanting to rip all my teeth out. But occasionally the sensitivity is stronger than the toothpaste.


Well the other day I received a sample of Biotene, which claims to be different than the other sensitive toothpastes out there. So I gave it a try. First off Biotene is different from other toothpastes because it also contains enzymes that increase saliva production. Their theory is that sensitive teeth may be caused, in part, by a dry mouth. After using the toothpaste for a couple of days I could definitely tell the difference. They also claim that Biotene will solve the sensitivity, rather than just mask it. Since I have only a small sample tube I will have to test that theory when I buy a larger tube to try for a longer period of time.

I do know I wish I had tried Biotene before spending $15 at the dentist. I am sure I would have had better results by now and maybe I would even like ice cream. Maybe. ;)

All of us

Occupied

Need a way to get your kids to stop bugging you and saying, "I am bored!" ?

Try cleaning out a game shelf or junk drawer. Suddenly you will have all your kids interested and hauling off with all the stuff you are trying to organize.

I attempted our game drawers this morning and my kids are now all sitting at the table coloring and playing with stickers. So far we have had three art shows.

Of course the drawers are clean but that is mostly because the items are now in use all over the table. Oh well.

White Sandy Beaches

When I was a kid about 8 years old, I lived in Hawaii. We lived right across the street from the beach. We could walk over and swim to our hearts content. It was so much fun to play in the ocean.

I tell my kids stories about when I lived there and they get so excited. They all want to go there and see where I lived. I am sure everything has changed since I lived there. It used to be a small quaint town with dirt roads and small houses. Now everything is big and expensive.

While looking online for the small town I used to live in I found lots and lots of Hawaii bed and breakfast businesses. I remember the house down the street from ours was a large house. I wonder now if it has turned into a bed and breakfast or if they ripped it down completely to make room for a great big hotel. Since our house was right on the ocean I would not be surprised to find out that it is all gone. Except for in my memories.

NaNoWriMo Progress

5141 words as of this morning.

Woooohoooo! I have good feelings about this book.

How are the rest of you doing?

Un-medicated

Now that I am taking Aleve everyday for my shoulder/rib pain (that they don't know what is wrong with) I find when I do get a headache I can't take anything else for it.

So the other day when I thought my head would explode and the kids wouldn't stop I did a search online for a headache treatment that doesn't use medications. Most of the websites mentioned things like heat, naps, or a massage. Since heat was the only one I could use at the time I tried it. I layed down on the couch with a hot pack and rested while the kids ran around shrieking.

It worked long enough for my husband to get home and take over parenting duties.

He is my anti-headache treatment. What a good guy he is. :)

Tidbits

It is about time for a random blog right?

• Way back when I was applying for jobs I had to take a typing test. I went in and did it. And got 45wpm. Which is not bad. Nowadays most job openings I see require at least 40wpm. Since I spend quite a bit of time typing for my blog I figured my typing skills had to have improved over the last ten years. So I went in search of a typing test online. Afterall everything else is online right? I found typingtest.com and tried my luck. I got 52wpm! See all this blogging is good for something. You go try it and see what you get.
• Today is Friday. But for us it is Saturday. Remember my kids have a four day school week now so they are all home today. Which may or may not be a good thing today.
• Jack is a screamer. And he has no respect for others personal space. Which means while everyone else is trying to watch t.v. he is climbing all over them and if they say no he starts throwing a screaming fit. So last night I had Billy bring the portable crib downstairs and we put him in it. So he can see us all and watch t.v. but has to stay in his own space. Of course this does not make him happy but it makes everyone else happy.
• I joined NANOWRIMO again this year. I won't be doing my novel on a blog as I have in years past. Instead it will just be on my computer. Yesterday I sat down and got out 2683 words. Well on my way to 50,000. If you would like to read some of my novel I would be happy to email it to you. Just drop me a note.
• We absolutely cannot find a vehicle to fit all 9 of us. We are looking for a GMC Yukon extended version with a front bench seat (so it seats three instead of two). Which means we won't be going home for Thanksgiving or Christmas most likely. Blah.

Scholarship Contest

If you know a student who is about to graduate from high school or is already in college and could use some extra money to help with college tuition here is a great site to check out. The Gallery Collection, a company that creates business Christmas cards, is running a contest to win a 10,000 scholarship.

I know when I was in college, I would have loved the opportunity to win 10,000 to help with my tuition. And all it takes is a few minutes of your student's time and creativity.

Just go to their Christmas cards scholarship contest page to enter and win. It runs until January 15th.

Halloween

Halloween was a big success here. Unfortunately you can't see much of their costumes since they all had coats on already. But they got lots of candy and had lots of fun.

And today is back to school and life as usual. Of course there will be a lot of candy for an after school snack. :)

Understanding

I am reading a new book. Well new to me. I got a copy of "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey. I am not reading it though because of all of the hype and controversy around it but because I want to understand better.

You see my SIL has been in several drug rehabs over the last 13 years and not one of them has worked so far. I get that drugs are addictive and have a strong hold on people. But I don't understand their thinking and what seems to me, a lack of common sense. Now that we have her kids she is interacting a lot with our family. At least a lot more than she ever has before. And I am struggling with that.

I am much more comfortable when we keep our distance. I don't like the world of drugs and alcohol and addiction. And I don't want to be pulled into it by someone else.

Right now my SIL has been out of her latest rehab stint for a few weeks. She claims to still be on the right path and is continuing her rehab through outpatient services. Mind you she was kicked out of the inpatient facility so I am not too sure about her honesty in this situation.

But I am hopeful. And I am trying to understand.

Eeeeek! (Or why billpay is a really really good thing)

Today I went online to check our phone bill so I could get all the bills entered into our bank's billpay system before payday.

And to my horror I saw that no payment had been posted for last month. Which brought my bill up to over 150.00. Ye gads! Nothing makes my stomach flop faster than an unpaid bill. So I scrambled for my budgeting notebook and checked to see if I had put the little pd next to the phone bill entry. Sure enough I had. So then I checked online to see if I had set up the payment on bill pay (it wouldn't be the first time I thought I did, but actually hadn't). Sure enough it was there and it even showed that the check had cleared. Whew.

So then I called my bank to see if I could get some kind of proof to give to the phone company. The sweetest gal on the other end of the line informed me that billpay would contact the phone company for me and resolve the matter. What? I don't have to pay $14 for a copy of an old check to send to the phone company to prove that I did in fact pay my bill?

That my friends is why billpay is a really really good thing.

Toilet Humor

Do you know how sometimes you get an idea in your head?

And idea you think is a really really good one. Something you can't live without doing?

And you latch on to that idea with all your strength.

It becomes your every waking thought. How to obtain this idea you have so grandeur-ly created.

I am having that problem. I keep thinking a baby.....would be so wonderful. Our own baby. An eighth child.

I know this is crazy. I remind myself of the four no make that five months of puking and feeling dizzy. The laying with my cheek on the toilet seat willing my stomach not to let go of my lunch. I remind myself how badly my hips hurt with the last two pregnancies. I remind myself that I have SEVEN kids. SEVEN. That should be enough.

But none of this reminding is doing me any good. The only thing that is stopping us from adding to the overpopulation of the earth and our house is my husband. Thank goodness for his level-headed common sense-ness.

Somebody help me here! Or the next post out of my mouth will include a photo of a stick with two pink lines!

New Lights

It seems like every year about this time stores start breaking out the Christmas stuff. Today while I was at walmart, there they were. Santa's in red suits, ornaments hanging on pegs for miles and miles (okay so it was only aisles and aisles). I try to avoid these aisles every year until it gets closer to Christmas.

Not because I don't enjoy Christmas or the holiday spirit but because I always buy stuff only to realize as I dig out my Christmas stuff a month later that I already purchased some of the same thing LAST year when everything went on clearance.

But this year I was tempted. There is a new product out (they were out last year too but in limited quantities). They are LED mini lights. I just couldn't help myself. It seems like every year we end up purchasing new lights because one or two strings are not working. But these are supposed to be way better and you can tell from the display at the store that they are much brighter and prettier.

At least I know I don't already have any of these in storage.

14 years and 40 pounds later

Today I did something I never thought I would have to do.

I took my husband and his wedding ring to a jewelry shop to be resized.....UP! Yesterday he was twisting his ring around his finger and I saw a red rash underneath. I knew his ring was snug the last few years but I had no idea it was getting that snug.

So we took the ring into a jewelry store today and sent it in for re-sizing.

For anyone else, having a ring sized up is probably no big thing. But you see for me, it is. About a week after Billy and I got married he went swimming with some friends. And he came home without his wedding ring. At some point during the swim it slipped right off and he didn't notice until he was on his way home.

So for our 1st anniversary we bought him a new one. And had it sized small enough that it wasn't going anywhere again.

So today his ring is growing. I hope he doesn't lose this one as the chances of me finding a new identical one to replace it now is not good.

Love ya hun!

Partay!

The Halloween party was a rousing success. The kids all had a good time and got lots of fun stuff. The spider watching over the food.

Mr. Bill trying his body at twister!

Cassie testing out the ghostly limbo!

Some of the Franky cookies I decorated for the party.

I have many pictures with all the kids but since they also have other people's kids I can't post them here.

Fun was had by all.