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.

This I could get into!

When I am on my treadmill in the wintertime I am always bored. Staring straight ahead at the wall, window, or even t.v. is just not the same as being outside.

Many times I have wished I could put my laptop on the treadmill. I can kill hours on the internet and never feel bored. But it will not stay balanced and I don't want to risk losing my laptop to a fall.

But then I found this today on Happy News! This was made for offices but if the price drops I may be the first home user. It only goes up to 3.5 but that is okay with me. I would get 3-5 hours of exercise a day if I could walk and use my laptop at the same time. Too cool!

Thank Goodness....

I wasn't born a penguin!
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Goodbye Gift

When I graduated from high school my parents gave me the perfect gift.

It wasn't money.

It wasn't a car.

It wasn't clothes.

It wasn't jewelry.

It wasn't anything fancy.

Nope.

It was a suitcase. My very own travelpro luggage.

And I used it about 2 months later when I moved out. I have always been a forward thinking person. I know what I want and I do what it takes to get there. I rarely look back.

That suitcase has long since been ruined and trashed. But I still have that same forward thinking ability. And I like it that way.

A Woman of Few Words

Pardon me whilst I hibernate. I will be back when the world thaws.

Okay not really, but I sure wish God made humans hibernate.

Take me awwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

Today I had to go outside. In the cold.

And I am going to complain about it. A lot.

Winter is not my favorite season. I hate having to bundle up to go outside and sit in an icy cold car for the first 15 miles of my drive.

I hate the wind whipping around and making what little body heat I have dissipate.

And winter hasn't even officially started.

I need to become a snowbird with a vacation home Orlando style.

You know, where the heat goes in the winter.

Decisions Decisions

As more and more of the new attic space is getting done, we are finding we have more and more decisions to make.

I mentioned awhile back how we have decided we NEED a bathroom up there. Which now leaves me to the task of purchasing fixtures, toilets, shower, etc. But the fun part for me is choosing the bathroom decor. Our downstairs bathroom has a traditional but formal feel to it. The upstairs bathroom is more country-ish but still in the traditional realm.

So now that I am doing a bathroom for teenage girls do I go with a funky teenage theme or keep it in the scheme of the rest of our house? It can always be redone later if we do go teenage and I wouldn't have to use the bathroom nor would any guests (other than other teenagers).

What do you think? Do any of you have a bathroom that just your kids use that is decorated for them? For some reason this scares me.

Alarmed

I like to be early. There I said it. I am not a late kind of person. I hate hate hate hate to be late to anything. But this being early thing has its downside too.


For example, every day this week I wake up at 5:40 a.m. just 20 minutes before my alarm clock is set to go off.


I mutter something about damn alarm clock and roll over pulling the covers up higher.


And then my brain kicks on. Can't go to sleep now. I will sleep too deep and miss the alarm clock going off (which btw has NEVER happened). ;)


So I lay there for 15 minutes stressing over the stupid time and then fall asleep. Which leaves me 5 good minutes of sleeping before the alarm clock really does go off.


Damn.

Sunshine and Summertime-Two things I miss

Wintertime is so hard. It gets dark so early and the snow and the cold.

In the last few years the cold and dark is getting to me more and more. I keep telling Billy we need to move south, like the birds. I can't imagine being able to wear shorts year round and not owning snow boots, winter coat, hats and gloves. Can't imagine.

I have tried and tried to talk Billy into moving to a warmer climate but right now with all the kids in school it just isn't really practical. So we stay put. And I browse the Internet for summery pictures and hide under the laptop and pretend it is warm sunshine on my lap.

In my searching I have found several websites about cruises. I could totally see myself on a boat in February enjoying the Caribbean sun. Although with my luck I would get seasick and spend the entire cruise throwing up in my cabin.

So if you are looking for me this winter, I will be the one under the laptop sipping hot chocolate. Brrrrrrrr.

Hit Home

Sunday Billy and I watched a rerun of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. It was about a couple who had married young, they had been high school sweetheart's. They were unable to have kids of their own so they had adopted two children of different races. Shortly after they adopted the father, a police officer, got shot in the leg and fell and broke several bones in his face. The mother developed cancer.

This show hit home for me. I always figured God had blessed us. But I didn't realize how much until I saw that show. We married young. But we have been able to have our own children and adopt several others. Neither of us or our children have had any major health problems. Sure our adopted kids have issues they need to work through and we have to deal with.

And then I thought more about that family. And I got angry for a second. Why does God make life difficult for some people. And as quickly as it came, the anger faded. I realized if we don't face any adversity in our lives, we would never appreciate the good things.

I am sure that family stops and smells the roses and enjoys every minute of their lives no matter how hard it is because they are both blessed to still be here to enjoy it. I also am sure there are way to many times that I take for granted what I have and what God has blessed me with.

Today I vow to change that, even if it is just a little bit each day.

Dating

Way back when Billy and I had been married for barely a year, my Mom entered us in a contest at their local bar. Until the day I got a phone call from the radio station telling me I had won, I didn't even know I had been entered. The phone call went something like this:

Radio DJ: You've just won free tickets to Denver Colorado to watch the Rockies play at Mile High Stadium.

Me: *silence*

Radio DJ: Jodi? Are you there?

Me: NO WAY!

Radio DJ: *laughing* WAY!

Me: NO WAY!

Radio DJ: WAY!

Until finally he said he would call me back with all the details. So on our 1st anniversary Billy and I flew to Denver and got to watch the Rockies play. We both had a blast!

Unfortunately we have since moved farther away and never get to Denver anymore. If I did live closer I might consider buying world series tickets. Then we could go to more games. Of course it would have to be a date night because I don't think 7 kids would sit still through an entire game. Not without lots of junk food and toys anyway.

Franky's Fun Wheel

Here is the game we have created for the Halloween Party this weekend. It is almost done.

I have many other things to get done before the party as well. Candy bags, food, 75 frankenstein cookies (which I baked last night) need frosted. I have all the prizes thankfully so I just need to get it all organized now.

Isn't my husband an amazing artist? He drew this in about 15 minutes. I did the painting part. :)

Christmas Wish List

Every year I struggle with what to buy the kids for Christmas. I don't want toy overload because 99% of them just end up in the bottom of the toy box and then later get donated to goodwill because they just don't get played with.

So every year I keep an eye out for unusual gifts that the kids will actually use. This year so far I am not being very successful.

But I did find these animal inflatable toys. After our trip to the carnival last summer when the kids won several large inflatable toys, I thought these might be good. And they come in a huge variety of sizes and animals. There is even a leopard print chair.

Sometimes I long for the olden days when kids got one toy for Christmas and they were very excited about it.

Throwing myself in

I am going to give it a go again this year. How about you?

This cat drives like my hubby!

more funny pictures

Good gracious I haven't laughed this hard since yesterday! I am in love with icanhascheeseburger.com

This cat and my hubby must have been separated at birth.

Shopping

We have the same entertainment center that we bought in our first apartment over 14 years ago. And while I would like to say it is an antique and in great shape, the truth is it is not. It is walmart-put-it-together-yourself furniture. The cardboard backing has long been replaced with a monster sheet of plywood to help the thing stay in a rectangular shape and not wobble when someone pushes the on button on the t.v. And years of hanging Christmas decorations on it have removed a lot of the papery veneer that made it look (sort of) like wood.

When we moved into our house, the first thing I wanted to replace was our entertainment center. So we looked and looked and looked. I have been to a gazillion webpages with a gazillion tv stands. We want a corner unit. But so far I can only find ones that are half a cabinet with no doors, a full cabinet with no doors, or a short unit with small doors.

But today that all changed. Look what I found!

It is beautiful! And matches our woodwork in our house. And has doors. (Although the handles would have to be changed). Just don't look at the price. Now oooooh and aaaaaaah with me. So pretty!

Happy Birthday Cassie!

8! How is it my baby girl that eight years have gone by since you woke me at 3:30 in the morning to make your debut?

You are by far the cuddliest and most loving. You always want hugs and kisses. Which we are happy to give.
You are in 2nd grade already. You read like a champ and love to share that talent with the rest of us.

The world is a better place with you in it.

I love you!

Bluetooth

When I ordered my laptop almost 2 years ago now, I ordered it with bluetooth. Because who knows, someday I may use it right? Well I haven't. And I am wondering if I wasted my money.

But now I see more and more products are popping up with bluetooth. In fact I do regular searches for bluetooth products just to see what is out there.

In my searches I regularly find a Bluetooth headset. The more I think about it the more I realize one of these would make life so much more convenient. Imagine talking on the phone without having to hold in between your ear and your shoulder. And walking and talking or working and talking.

I might have to add this to my Christmas list. And they are not to expensive either. Which is good when you have 7 kids to buy presents for.

Perks

I experienced one of the perks of being a stay-at-home Mom this week.

Early in the morning we rouse the kids to get up and get moving for school. On this particular morning Mr. Bill woke on the wrong side of the bed. He was grumpy and grouchy and not at all participating in the getting up part of the morning. Billy was upstairs trying to get him ready.

After I finished getting myself ready, I headed upstairs to help out with the grumpy one. It is not unusual for Mr. Bill to not want to get up. Last year in preschool he spent many mornings crying and screaming until the second the bus showed up. Then he would wipe the tears away with the back of his hands and walk out the door and get on the bus.

This year has been much better. But this day, he was back to his grumpy self. So as I climbed the stairs Mr. Bill came around the corner and met me near the top step, crying. He said his stomach hurt. Immediately my heart reached out to him. It hurts me more when my kids are hurting. So I gave him a hug and removed the clothes his Dad had stuffed in the back his footy jammas he was wearing.

I carried him downstairs and kissed the top of his head. He whimpered in my arms and then rested peacefully as everyone else finished getting ready around us. It was at that moment that I realized how wonderful being a SAHM is. I didn't have to force an unwilling child to get dressed because I needed to get to work. We could sit and cuddle and relax instead of yelling and screaming and fighting our way out the door.

At that moment my heart felt like it would burst. Both for my son, who could sit in his mother's arm's and be comforted by that small gesture and for my husband who has worked very hard for the last 14 years so that I could stay home and be that comfort for my kids.

I love them all.

In sickness and in health

Someone dropped a virus bomb in my house this year. So far two of us (one being an adult) have succumbed to a nasty puking virus. Megan got it too but didn't throw up. She must have a stomach of steel. If I get it I assure you there will be much puking. After all-day-morning sickness with 4 pregnancies my stomach has no problems releasing its contents on demand.

Yesterday though, I was lying on the couch hoping to pass out from the burning pain in my throat and ear. Today is not much better. I am hoping it is not strep. I had that two years ago and didn't enjoy it much. I prefer to think of it as my immune system kicking that nasty puking virus's butt.

Cassie informed us one of her classmates puked right in front of his desk yesterday at school. And they had to jump over it to get out of the room so they could get it cleaned up.

I think we are doomed. 3 down and 6 to go. Who do you suppose is next?

Controversy

Several members of my extended family use a radar detector while driving. Which got me to thinking. Aren't radar detector's illegal? I thought they were banned awhile ago. Well thanks to the internet I could find out relatively quickly. I did some searching and found this:

"Are radar detectors legal?
Yes! Radar detectors are completely legal to use in non-commercial vehicles in 49 states. Only Virginia and Washington D.C. currently ban radar detector use in the United States.
Radar detectors are illegal to use in commercial vehicles over 10,000 lbs. and in most Canadian provinces." Via

So the answer is yes and no. Depending on where you live or what you drive.

I am not a speeder. I just don't think it is worth the risk of getting caught, getting a ticket, and/or getting into an accident and hurting any of my kids. But I know a lot of people around here do. We have wide open interstates and highways. At the right time of day or night you could be the only car on the road. So it is understandable that people go faster than the posted limit. But the benefit of getting somewhere 10 minutes early is not worth the risk to me.

S-U-C-C-E-S-S!

The conference is over and it went incredibly well. I was the first teacher of day. After I did my lesson and all questions were answered I went and sat down. Of course I analyzed my performance and what I did well and could have done better.

At lunch time several people came over and thanked me for teaching and said I did a wonderful job. I actually had a line of 3 or 4 people waiting to come and talk to me at one point.

Then after lunch I headed out to my car and two gals parked next to me stopped me and the first gal said, "I didn't even want to come here today but SHE made me (pointing to the gal next to her) and I am soooo tired. BUT I couldn't have slept during your lesson, you were amazing! I am so excited to get started on my genealogy! And I didn't think I would even like genealogy!"

Needless to say I was pumped by her little compliment. And while she was talking a guy stood and waited until we were done talking and then he also told me how much he appreciated my lesson and that I had done a wonderful job.

So it was a success. And hearing that I am good for something other than being a mother is soooooo nice.

Melli thinks I am sweet

Melli, who I just met, has left me a sweet treat.
This treat originated at Hootin' Anni's so go and check her out too. In the meantime here are my choices to pass this treat onto. This is totally random as Anni has requested. Let's meet some new friends shall we?

1. Zoot

2. Pixie

3. Toddler Planet

4. The Dairy Wife

5. Lots of Scotts

Wiping Drool

Remodeling a house is fun. Really it is.

Well it is once you get the walls up and the paint on and you can turn your attention to the bling in the room.

And by bling I mean lights, fixtures, etc.

And by the power of the internet I can browse and drool over all the awesome possibilities for the new room.

Right now we are looking for a chandelier for the top of our stairs. Or more accurately, to hang over our stairs. The ceiling is about 10 feet up from the stairs so we can get a hanging chandelier but the stairs are only about 32 inches wide so it can be anything huge.

I was checking out some light fixtures at the Murray Feiss Store. There were so many I loved. Do you think this can go in a 100 year old farm house?
Of course someone has to climb up a ladder on the stairs to change all those light bulbs. Can you guess who that someone will be?

What happens when...

What happens when you ask your husband to take a picture of your new haircut:

At least that is what my husband does.

When I finally could divert his attention, he took this picture:

Neglect

I am sorry to be neglecting you all. I have the Family History Conference on Saturday so I am busy preparing my lesson. I will be teaching in front of about 60 people so I want to have it all right.

And today is my Friday since the kids don't have school on Friday's anymore. That means it needs to be done in the next 20 minutes before everyone rolls in off the bus.

Wish me luck would ya?

If...

If I was a drinker....


tomorrow I would be waking up with a killer hangover.

Birth Parents

Being a mother to 3 adopted children I am always curious about their birth parents. Mostly about how they think and feel about losing their children.

Yesterday I was blog hopping and found a blog by a birth mother who had willingly given up her rights to her two kids. She was a former foster child herself which I am sure contributed to her anger but this particular birth mom was very angry and vindictive towards adoptive parents in general. She used her blog to link to an adoptive family who were anxiously awaiting the day that the birth mother's rights were terminated and their new baby would be theirs forever. She apprarently didn't appreciate their tone on their posts.

Now I am on the adoptive side of this whole scenario and I cannot even begin to imagine the feelings and thoughts that a birth mother would have. But attacking a family because they can't see life through the birth mother's eyes (or heart) is not going to help them in any way.

I don't think adoptive parents ever try to be mean. They are trying to put a family together from many different sources. It is hard to be an adoptive parent. Maybe not as hard as it is to be a birth mother who gave up her child. Both have feelings they need to adjust to and learn to live with.

I am all for education and I love to hear about a birth mother's experience and an adult child's adopted experience. In part because it helps me to understand my own adopted kids and their birth parents. But education done in anger doesn't teach anything.

Boo!

This month is proving to be an insanely busy one here.

We are preparing for the Halloween Party that we host for the town's kids every year. This year though we have NO adult volunteers to help out with the games and stuff. So I am trying really hard to find activities that the kids can do without an adult helping. I found a halloween twister game on Oriental Trading as well as an inflatable limbo game. Both are relatively easy for the kids to do alone or with their friends.

In the meantime I will be managing "Franky's Fun Wheel". It will be a spin-the-wheel type of game and they get a prize depending on which space the wheel stops on. I am in the process of painting it now. It is another wonderfully artistic creation by my husband. I will get some pictures of it on here once I get it all painted.

Big Cities Bright Lights

Remember in High School when everyone was pressuring us to decide what it was we wanted to do "when we grew up"?

I had a serious love for interior design. I still do. But I grew up in a town of about 1400 people. And everyone I talked to, including the guidance counselor, told me interior designers had to live in big cities. BIG cities, like New York.

And being the wimp I was, I didn't go into interior design. Instead I went for a teaching degree. And came out of college miserable. But that is not the point of this post.

You see when I left my small cushy town of 1400 to a college town of 20,000 I was petrified. Afterall everyone kept telling me how bad life is in BIG cities. And to me 20,000 was huge. But I went anyway. And you know what? I fell in love with the BIG city. There are fast food places (real ones), museums, hotels, swimming pools, and an insane amount of THINGS to see and do in these big cities.

And I know now that even 20,000 is not big. So I am trying to talk Billy into a vacation to a BIG city like New York or Boston. We could mingle among hundreds of thousands of people. And there is stuff to do like Broadway! But being the small town people we are, we would need help. Help figuring out what to do while we are there. So these Boston Tours would be perfect for us. We would get to see all the big touristy stuff and all the quaint "secret" places.

We may be small town people but that isn't going to stop us from visiting and enjoying these bigger cities. The guidance counselor obviously needs to get out of his little town more.

Eating Stork

I did it...

I didn't think this day would be coming so soon but today I did it.

I went to the Alltel store and added a phone to my plan for my girls.

I did.

It excites me and scares me all at the same time. When did they get old enough to need a cell phone?

Becca will be "on the road" quite a bit this year for band and basketball and I don't want her to be unable to reach us if she needs too. And both girls have strict orders to call us when they get to a friend's house for a sleepover but both rarely do because it is long distance from their friend's houses or they are too afraid to ask.

So now they have no excuse. They have an LG phone complete with camera (which we don't even have!).
--------------------------------
On a side note: It looks like we are not going to be so lucky health-wise this year. Last night at 4 a.m. Becca woke us to say her stomach hurt and she felt like puking. Which she did, repeatedly, until about 2 this afternoon. I am hopeful it was eating out with the band yesterday and not something contagious. If it is contagious, there will be much puking at my house for the next several weeks. Oy!

Boys

Looking cute... Chasing bubbles...

A hard day at preschool... (yes he is sleeping like that)

What a waste

In the process of building the attic, we (or should I say I) are getting Billy's tools organized. Because he is anything but organized.

Usually when he starts a project it goes something like this:

Billy: Where is my wrench?

Jodi: Which one?

Billy: The orange one.

Jodi: Where did you use it last?

*silence*

Billy: I think it was in the downstairs bathroom. No wait! It was in the basement when I fixed that leak.

Jodi: That was almost 6 months ago!

Billy: Yea? So?

And then I go and find the appropriate tool and bring it back to him. And it will remain where he used it last until the next project starts.

And in case your wondering, yes, he has SEVERAL toolboxes. And they are all empty.

But anyway, back to the point of all of this, in the process of starting the attic I rounded up his drills and batteries for each one and the chargers for each battery. He has several because they don't stay charged long enough for us to finish an entire days work. So I plugged them all in like the good little wife that I am and had them ready for the wall building day on Sunday.

Billy grabbed the first drill, put the battery in and pulled the trigger. Nothing. So he grabbed the second one, same routine. Nothing. By this time he was irritated and so he just grabbed the electric drill I bought for the last wall building project when none of his battery operated drills would work either.

So being the really really good wife that I am I got online and did some searching to find out which drills have the best batteries. What I found out was pretty much what I already knew. They all suck.

Now if we could find Ingersoll Rand air tools I might be impressed. From what I could find out online these are high-powered. And high-powered means faster work time which means the attic will be done sooner.

I am all for sooner.

Dirty Love

Back in July when we gave our bedroom to the boys we moved downstairs into the office. Which meant rooming with my treadmill. Which was all fine and dandy except it could not be opened with all of the other things in my room.

So yes, for the last two months I have not been exercising. I know, shame....

But today I took it out of my bedroom and placed it near a window and dusted it off and pushed the on button. It roared to life.

And I walked for a few minutes until Jack decided he wanted to try it. And tomorrow I will be getting on during his nap for a real run. It will feel so good to get back in the swing of things.

Old Pictures

After we went to court for the boys we stopped at my MIL/SIL's house to see if she had any clothes for the boys. We also went to get the pictures that Billy's Mom had. When she died two years ago everything she owned just stayed put. My SIL lives there so we just left it all. But now that she is in treatment and her house is being sublet we decided we needed to get the important stuff out.

Billy and I briefly dug through the pictures and took whatever we though would be the older family pictures. In one drawer we found several rolls of 110 film. He wondered aloud if we should take them. I said, they are older than the hills, they probably won't develop well even if we tried.

He nodded and said, "Who even has these kinds of camera's anymore?" I chuckled. I had one when I was oh.... 10 years old. But he is right. Most people are going digital now. We have a "cheap" digital camera. Cheap because it is nothing like the Nikon D300 but it still cost us several hundred dollars. But our little camera does what we need it to. It records our lives so 50 years now our kids can dig through our belongings and laugh and cry at the many memories we made as a family.

Today

Clearly ya'll think I am totally nuts already because no one even mentioned my little secret about wanting an 8th kid. Or none of you read to the end of the post. he he he




Well I will share with you one of the reasons for my sudden baby fever:

That is my new nephew, Baby Ian. Isn't he adorable? Just looking at him brings back so many memories of holding my new babies. The euphoria of knowing you just pushed that baby out and it is yours and you and the love of your life made that beautiful little thing.

Of course if I think about being pregnant and the days and months following the baby's birth that can put a damper on things. But we will just ignore those thoughts. *Ignoring* *Ignoring* La alalalalalallalalalalalalalala......I caaaaaan't hear you!

New Bathroom

Orginally when we planned the attic remodel it was going to be two bedrooms. End of story.

Now that we have 7 kids instead of 5 we are finding we need another bathroom in the mornings. Trying to shower 6 kids takes too long and we run out of hot water about 1/4 of the way through the last shower. Not fun for the last kid up.

So now we are going to add a bathroom to the attic. Which means I get to shop for new bathroom fixtures. Which I love!

The downstairs bathroom we bought Moen faucets because my family has always swore by them. And we have had no problems with them at all.

The upstairs faucet however was some obscure french brand. And it broke about 6 months into using it. And it took me a year and a half to figure out who the manufacturer was because the name brand came off the first time I scrubbed the shower. Finally I happened to open the access panel and there was the namebrand on the internal parts. I must say once I was able to find the company they were extremely helpful and had us the new part in just a few days.

This time I did a little more research before jumping in. This bathroom fixture buying guide is a great place for beginners to start. It helps you figure out what type of fixture to buy. Then you can go for the one that looks the best.

I am leaning towards this one for the new bathroom. It matches the style of our house but I am not too sure on the shiny part. With two teenage girls I doubt this is going to stay shiny for long.

Settling

How about some random tidbits about life for today's post?

The constant hummmmmm of life is returning to my house. And it makes me happy. The transition of two boys into our lives is going full speed ahead.

I decided to stop the testing on my shoulder and for now continue the Aleve that the doctor suggested. It is amazing the difference I feel. I can sleep better at night and I feel better during the day. Why didn't my original doctor suggest trying this?

Yesterday Becca came home and gave me an earful. Apparently band sucks and life sucks and it is all my fault. Gotta love being a preteen.

Megan is as slow as ever with her homework and her lack of organizational skills are starting to become hugely apparent this year. I wrote a note asking her teacher to help as I am not there to show Megan what to do. I got a letter back telling me everything we are already trying here at home. I need someone to help on the school side. Urrrr. It would help if Megan wasn't so dang stubborn.

Marea has been astounding lately. I think she wants to be the "good" kid now that we have adopted the boys. It is amazing to watch her do things and behave like she has never before. I like this new kid.

Cassie is bubbly and happy as always. This last week her stomach has started to hurt again so I am thinking her prevacid is not working as well. Since she has been on it a year I am guessing it may just need to have the dose upped. I hope it is that simple anyway.

Mr. Bill is loving life as a kindergartener. Well except the part where he has to get up at 6:40 in the mornings. Otherwise free play and recess are his favorite things.

Life with 7 kids is interesting, loud, and chaotic but I certainly wouldn't have it any other way. Well unless maybe we make it a family with 8 kids......

Hey, I said MAYBE!

A spoonful of Sugar

It's Monday! It's Monday!

I don't have any particular reason to be cheerful today but I feel like Mary Poppins this morning. Maybe it has something to do with...

Jack woke up smiling and greeted me with a "Hi!" when I opened his door. That is a huge change from his normal screaming.

Jozey is still asleep at 9 a.m. which is extremely rare (as in never happened before)!

The roofers brought our bill this morning and it was 500 less than the original quote.

I get to go have lunch with my husband today, alone (well with one kid).

It's Monday. And I can get the house clean and it will stay that way for more than 10 minutes.

We made significant progress on the attic yesterday. We got two walls built and insulated. It is starting to look like a livable space.