Friday, June 30, 2006

All it took was a phone call

My mom called me this morning. She wanted me to settle a discussion they were having (dad, mom and grandma). The burning question was...Would you nurse in a store? Without hesitation I answered...yeah! I do it all the time. My mom was deflated. "You just tarnished your image with me."

It seems they were discussing an article in today's paper about a breastfeeding incident at a Victoria's Secret store. My mom claimed I wouldn't go into a store to nurse. I'd either go out to the van or find a secluded bench to nurse at. My dad claimed I'd nurse whereever I was....he won. lol

I asked her why she thought I'd take all the kids out to the van to nurse and then lug them back in again? She swears I interrupted a trip we took to Sam's Club to go out to the van to nurse...returning to finish when I was done. I don't remember it and have NO idea why I wouldn't have just gone over the cafe area to sit and nurse. But oh well.

I then asked her how sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall could be more discreet then sitting/standing in a store to nurse? While sitting on a bench every and anyone would pass me by. A few weeks ago while at Hollister's with the girls I sat on their couch and nursed Danielle...MAYBE 10 people walked by. They were all of the female persuasion.

After reading the article online I now know why she laughed when I mentioned my refusal to nurse in the bathroom. The article had the same sentiment....I wouldn't eat in the bathroom, why would I feed my baby in there?

I then tarnished my image even moreso by confessing to nursing while walking around the grocery store and shoe shopping at walmart in the middle of school shopping madness. All while not caring what anyone around me thought.

The final question was....would you go to a nurse-in and nurse? No, I can't says that I would. I'm not the militant type. I heard her breathe a small sigh of relief. I think I might have saved a bit of my image with that. lol

It's FRIDAY!

You know what that means...it's my post day over at largerfamilies.com This week is the last of our relationship's series. This week's topic is Outside relationships. I chose to cover a different topic then most of the other writers did. Going against family touches lightly on dealing with family that doesn't always agree with your choice to have a larger family.

I know I'm blessed more then other's who've dealt with this. After all I have Tom's side of the family that totally agreed with my choices! Even my side of the family wasn't THAT bad. I just wanted to bring up something I know a lot of larger families deal with.

Hopefully it'll start a conversation up. Who knows it might even get those who don't have larger families thinking about how they react to those that do.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Finally a whole day at home!!!

I didn't have to go anywhere on Wednesday. It was sweet! We managed to make a dent in the housework. The kids all cooperated and did their jobs. Now if we could stay home and clean everyday we just might get it ALL done. ;o)

There's no appointments in the works for a few days and Tom is now on vacation until the 5th! He's celebrating the fact by having the septic tank pumped out. ICK and oh so exciting! I'm trying not to gag as I type this out. I'm glad I'm not pregnant or I'd have lost it by now.

Wednesday was our 23rd wedding anniversary. We both remembered for once. To celebrate we decided to have Tom take 5 kids (Carrie on down and one of Jake's friends) to the drive-in. LOL I didn't go because I'd already been there and seen it with Liz and her friends...so didn't want to "waste" the $6 for me to see it again. Also it was raining on and off. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of dealing with Danielle in a stuffy van full of kids.

I hung out here with Michelle, Val, J (val's best friend) and Liz. I didn't even bother trying to wait up for Tom. Matter of fact, I didn't even hear him climb into bed! I'm thinking we might try to do something nice tonight, whether it's to find a bit of alone time here tonight or go out somewhere for a few hours.

I'm in the mood to get things done...Hoe out the laundry room, sew, clean my room. The trick is to get my body to agree and cooperate with my mind.

The con job

I managed to fit in getting the muffler repaired with 7 dentist appts on Tues. (had orignally planned on getting it done Wed or Thurs)

I now have a QUIET van!!! It's so nice to be able to have someone talk to me without having to scream. I was giddy with excitement about driving it home Tuesday night. (I'm easy...what can I say?)

I feel like I conned myself into a huge bill though. The muffler man (MM) handed me an estimate of $97. I looked a bit surprised and this is the conversation that ensued.

Me....You're only replacing the muffler? There's no holes in the line?

MM...I didn't see any holes. But your engine is racing so that'll need to be fixed. BTW...you're muffler looks like it blew apart!

Me...Yeah I know...it backfired and blew out when I decelerated. It's still backfiring. Won't the muffler explode again?

MM....Yeah probably.

Me....Are you SURE there's no hole in the top of the line? I thought it was backfiring because there was air getting sucked in there.

MM....You mean up near the engine?

Me...yeah

MM...I didn't see any...but I'll go look again.

Five minutes later he was in the office looking up parts in the book.
Ten mintues later I was looking at a $560 bill. Seems he did find quite a few holes up where the manifold connects to the catalytic converter. So the whole system needed to be replaced. I'm sure he'd have found them eventually since replacing the muffler alone wouldn't have completely quieted the beast. I'm just glad I kinda knew what was going on so I wasn't surprised by a bill for 5x as much money as the original estimate! (I'd figured it'd cost between $400 and 600)

OH and the engine racing is gone too...go figure.

A few long days

Friday through Tuesday went something like this...

Friday...house cleaning, grocery shopping until 10:30pm, and food prep

Saturday...out the door by 8am for a music weekend at church. Grad party for Pat's girlfriend during the afternoon. Back to music practice. Spent the night at church with Liz on down...minus Luke. Went out cold at 11:30

Sunday...up at 7 for music weekend again (didn't sleep well). Practice until 12:30 and then home to pickup everyone left there. Two grad parties...home about 9ish. Fell into bed around 10'ish.

Monday...Up at 4:30am because of the early bedtime. Cleaning/laundry. Head to my parents' in the afternoon for my dad's birthday. (stop at a few stores on the way in) Home at 11pm

Tuesday.... 7 dentist appts, muffler repair, visit and dinner with parents again...home at midnight.

Where is the vacation part of summer vacation?

Monday, June 26, 2006

Speaking of anniversaries....

While having a conversations with some friends on Saturday I realized... I forgot Carrie's re-birthday on the 20th! I was shocked, upset and yet happy over the fact. We call the anniversary of Carrie's bone marrow transplant her re-birthday. This year she is now 9yrs cancer free. Carrie's story

It threw me off guard that I'd forget such an important date. Then again it's gotten to be not so important anymore. That's what I was happy over. That it has gotten to be a thing of the past. We don't talk (or worry) about it much anymore. Most of the time it's only mentioned around her checkup times and in terms of keeping time....something happened before or after Carrie's transplant. (much like I use births to track time)

Although I'm happy that it's getting to be a thing of the past, I don't really want it to be. I like to acknowledge the sacrifice Drew gave for Carrie. At the time donating his marrow to her was a VERY big thing for him. The kid couldn't look at a needle without going soft in the knees and turning pure white. Yet he had dozens of blood tests and huge needles stuck into his pelvic bone so they could harvest his marrow. OUCH!

It reminds me just how fragile life is and to not take things for granted. During one of my low periods after Carrie's transplant I mentioned to my SIL....it hit me that Carrie may not be here in 5yrs (magic survival date). She responded with...Kim...ANY of your kids could not be here in 5yrs. So true!

It's nice to look at Carrie and not see a sick girl or a cancer survivor anymore. To just see a girl who's developing into a lovely young lady. BUT sometimes it is good to remember everything she has gone through and survived. If only to appreaciate the future all the more! :o)


June '97...........June '06

Happy 9th rebirthday Carrie!!! May you have 90 more. :o)

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Happy 2nd Blogiversary to me!!!

And for my blogiversary I'm doing....absolutely nothing! Well not really nothing. Just not anything here. Today is church choir practices and a graduation party. I just had to pop home between the two and decided to pat myself on the back. :o)

Here's to many many more years of sharing glimpses of our lives together. May they all be great years!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Topic of the week...Siblings

My article is up over at Largerfamilies.com. This week's topic is Siblings. It surprised me how difficult I found this topic. Maybe I'm just not cut out for the article type blog. Hopefully each week won't be like this.

Anways....here's the link to my article.

If my kids have nothing else in life

Included with the article is a fun picture of the kids we took on Monday that I haven't shared here.

Hope you click over and take a look. Leaving feedback is always appreciated. Either here or there. :o)

Today is sleep-in day

Being the first day of summer vacation I decided to let everyone sleep in today. Everyone has had such a hard time getting up for school, I figured they could use it. Obviously Danielle didn't get the memo. She was awake, poking me and playing with my eyes before 6am (read...before Tom's alarm went off!) She's since taken a nap.

Luke, Jake, Liz and Eileen didn't bother sleeping too late either. They're already up at 8:30. I'm taking advantage of the early morning and getting a few things done. So far I've finished and published my article (separate post above), thrown in laundry, emptied the upright freezer and started defrosting it. I'm in a...."Let's get this done today!" mood. That makes it hard to get my body out the door and to the grocery store. We don't NEED groceries and can survive the weekend without them. BUT it's a GREAT sale that ends Saturday. Since I'll be at church and a grad party on Sat, today's the only day. How can I pass up $.99 chuck steak/roasts!?!? We never have steak and I actually like chuck cooked on the grill. And a huge pot roast....yuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmm! With some chuck roasts I'd be able to try out the new pressure cooker/canner (never used!) I bought at a garage sale. :o) So I'll have to find a way to drag my rear out the door eventually.

Ok...now onto the yearly quest for a perfect, organized house for the summer.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

It's the first thing I thought when my eyes opened this morning. THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!! Tonight I can go to bed and not have to worry about an alarm clock, clean clothes or whether everyone has everything they need. I came to realize this last month that I wasn't sleeping well. Even though we have a few alarm clocks set to go off at various times during the morning. I was always worried we'd miss them and oversleep. That meant at various times throughout the night I'd pop awake, sit up, check the clock, breathe a sigh of relief and try to doze back off again. I'd also do the samething only wonder about clothes and supplies. Add in a nuzzling Danielle here and there and it's not healthy, although I feel well.

Tomorrow I hope I can be sleeping like a log when Tom heads off to work. I don't want to sleep in. I still feel like sleep is a waste of time. But to be able to sleep soundly when I am in bed would be a good thing.

We're still really busy here and it doesn't look be calming down until at least Tues. We have....

a gathering at church tonight
grocery shopping and prep for the weekend on Friday
church music weekend and a graduation party on Saturday
spending the night over at church Saturday night
finish up music weekend and 2 grad parties on Sunday
My dad's birthday party Monday

Tom has Thurs, Fri, and Mon of the following week off. I'm hoping to take the kids to the drive-in to see Cars and Shaggy Dog on Tues or Wed. One of us has to take the van to get a new exhaust system one of those days. So much for the lazy days of summer!

The house is coming along ok. Not as immaculate as I'd have liked, but it's a big improvement. On Tues we made up cleaning teams (big kid paired with a little one), decided what the chores would be, and who would start where in the chore chart. We're all working collectively this week to do some deep cleaning, then daily chores start on Sunday. The kids seem excited about it. They know if we DO it and stick to it, it's best for everyone. Not to mention easier.

I've heard a rumor that Tom's dad will be coming home from the hospital tomorrow. I haven't heard how he's feeling or what this setback will do with his chemo timeline. The good news is that the tests showed his leukemia is still in check! *big sigh of relief*

Happy 2nd Blogiverary to Chris. I'm not sure I'd have joined into the blog world so readily if it hadn't been for her encouragement. Thanks Chris! With her anniversary coming up it means mine is a few days away. :o)

I'm working on my article for tomorrow over at largerfamilies.com. This week's topic is siblings. It's actually been a hard topic for me to write about. You'd think with so many of them here it'd be a SNAP! Maybe that's my problem. There's too many angles. I'll get it ironed out eventually. I hope.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

New Family Pictures!!!

Since everyone was at Olivia's graduation ceremony I insisted we take family pictures! I hadn't gotten one taken since Danielle was born and even then I had to photoshop Drew in. So after we had our lemonade and cookies at the reception, we hit the playground.

Pat's girlfriend took the rare photo of Tom and I both in the picture with the kids.
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

click on pics to see full image

We tried a bunch of different poses on the playground. This is the one I like the best

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

I have one more that's no so great but fun. I'm saving that for my post over at Largerfamilies.com on Friday.

Sunday/Monday

I had so much going on Sunday that I momentarily forgot it was father's day *blush*. Luckily the kids didn't! They all had cards and/or homemade gifts for Tom. Eileen gave him a picture of her surrounded in a popsicle stick frame. Olivia made him a pinch pot in art and gave him some shells she'd collected at the lake during my sister's birthday party last month. I had found an old school percolator for him at the thrift store. He can now have REAL coffee when we're camping (instead of instant). I also bought him a 4x6ft flag for his huge flagpole in the backyard. I was getting a bit embarrassed by the worn and tattered one he was flying. He went out and hung it up immediately.

We were out the door by 11am for church. Shortly afterwards we were to attend a graduation party at the conference center. Dinner wasn't served until 4 so I brought a picnic lunch for us to enjoy after the meeting.

It was sweltering out!!! Luckily we all brought our bathingsuits. Being in the pool made it enjoyable. We swam from 2 - 4 when it was time to eat. Inside the gym was getting really muggy which made it hard to breathe, so most of us left shortly after dinner and cake. We got home at 6.

I gathered clothes for the next few days left of school and threw them in the washer. I then headed back out the door at 8:30 to go visit with my dad. I tried to get Tom to go with me so he could visit his dad who's in the hospital with pneumonia. Tom couldn't because he was on call and had to be near his truck. :o( I guess it's a good thing he didn't come with me because I didn't get home until 2am. After hopping online for a few minutes it was 3:30 when I climbed into be. 6:30 came REALLY quickly!

Monday was the last full day of school for the middle and elementary kids. The original plans were for Tues and Wed to be half days, Wed being the last day. Unfortunately the district had to attend the funeral of one of the teachers (she was Drew's 5th grade teacher and then the math resource teacher after semi retiring). So the kids had Tues off with Wed and Thurs the half days.

Michelle, Val, Liz and I hit the outlet mall and found some GREAT deals!!!! I bought a ton of stuff at the children's place and could've bought more (I'm considering going back!). I spent $160. Except for Olivia's graduation dress which was $3.99, everything I bought was either $1.99 or $.99. Eileen and Olivia are pretty much set for the start of school in Sept. Although they may need a pair of jeans or two and underclothes.

We got home in time to make dinner, clean everyone up and head back out the door for the Kindergarten graduation ceremony. Olivia really liked her new dress. Here's a pic of her in it...



The ceremony seemed short this year, which is a good thing since it's always broiling in the packed auditorium. The kids did a great job singing their songs. Our camera was acting up and all the pics we took during the ceremony came out blurry. I did get a good pic of Olivia and my niece afterwards though.


The proud graduates...Olivia and E

Friday/Saturday

On Friday I had to play catch-up from the stomach bug. We were having Liz's birthday party and I had things to do! Michelle, Liz and I went shopping, finishing up in time to pick up 3 of the 4 girls on the way home. We decided to have chinese for dinner and pizza at the drive-in. We dropped the groceries for the house off and headed to the church conference center to set up our dorm rooms and eat.


Liz, J, P and EB

We headed to the drive-in early so we could get a spot. The girls played tennis, volleyball and football in the back of the lot to pass the time. I stayed at the van and got treated like dirt from people who didn't care they were blocking our view and who's kid I "saved" from squishing tires. Yes, you read that right.

The place was packed and until the movie started, cars were driving down the lanes constantly. Four cars down a woman got out of her car with her 2 kids, around 18mo and 3yo. She put the 18mo down and started talking to someone on the otherside of the vehicle. The 18mo toddled away across the lane. 4yo started yelling....Mom! Mom! X is in the road! She yelled at him to go get him, continuing her conversation. I saw a pickup coming so walked across the lane and stood there besides them, watching the 4yo trying to wrestle his brother. I didn't feel right touching the boy. I was already holding Danielle so it would've been difficult to pick him up anyways. The 18mo saw the pickup, started panicing and was trying to cross back to his mom. The 3yo was pulling on him, trying to keep him back from the lane, still screaming for his mom. I stepped in front of the toddler and put my leg out when he tried to go around me. After the pickup passed us the boys started back toward their mom, who met them in the middle of the lane. She looked up at me and snarled....What're you lookin' at!?! Under my breath I murmured....Obviously...not much! I'm not sure if she heard me or not but I could hear her talking very loudly to her friends about how she'd....kick that b!tch's a$$! I just shook my head and thought....sweetie...At another time, another place. You just might have gotten the chance to TRY! By the way.....You're WELCOME!


front...ES and Liz
Back....EB, J and P

Thankfully the rest of the evening was uneventful after that. We saw Cars, Shaggy Dog, and Eight Below...getting home shortly after 4am. Of course the girls couldn't go right to sleep, neither could I. Last time I reminded them they had to work to do the next day was at 5:30, it was getting light outside and the birds were singing. lol I was nice and let them sleep in until 11. This gave them just enough time to get up, get dressed and have breakfast. Then they went out into the scorching sun to work at a church fundraiser. I got home around 2'ish. I was dragging most of the day since I hadn't slept well. But at least I had fun. :o)

Friday, June 16, 2006

Marriage and Partnerships

That's this week's topic over at largerfamilies.com. It's been great getting to know all the other families over there. Today it's my turn! Hope you can stop by and let us know what you think.

Hang on for dear life!

I won't be around for most or all of Friday and Saturday. We're getting ready for and having fun at Liz's birthday celebration/sleepover.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

State of the House Address

Family and fellow house members,

Today I'm here to talk to you about our house. To put it bluntly, it's DISGUSTING! I realize a sick mom who's sitting on her rear doesn't motivate you very much. Boohoo! I know that school, church activities, weddings, grad parties and the like leave little time to do anything around here. But we are a household of big people! There are not tons of little kids running around making messes they can't clean up. There's no reason it should be like it is. We have to change!

School will be out of the equation for 10wks next Wednesday. Expect to have this fact taken full advantage of. You WILL be cleaning the first few days of vacation. Unless of course you decide to get smart and get a head start before then. The chore list will be making a comeback. It does help.

I would appreciate full cooperation on all fronts. With your cooperation we can then have fun. Going swimming, picnics, to the beach, enjoying the air conditioning at the mall with your friends, etc. You will be free to have friends over since I won't try to lock the door and hide whenever someone knocks on our door.

With little effort from everyone we can and will have a place we'll be proud to call our home. Thank you for your time.

Your Dictator
MOM

PS...those not in compliance will be shown NO mercy. *bwahahaha*

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Happy Birthday Liz!

Liz's birth story

Today Liz turns 15 today. It's also the last day of school for the high schoolers (1/2 day) so she's doubly excited. She only has to attend one Regents test on the 21st. We'll do cake and ice cream today but nothing too big. She wants to take 4 of her friends to the drive-in for a triple feature on Friday...Pixar's Cars, Shaggy Dog, and Eight Below. We may be sleeping in a dorm at church, but that part isn't final.

I've been noticing lately just how beautiful she's getting. She's growing out of that goofy early teen look quickly. I can't believe how fast they are growing up! (yes Chris, I agree...time needs to slow down!) I haven't really gotten her a present to open today. I feel bad but she's not getting cheated believe me! Besides the drive-in party she's going to Norway for 17days really soon. I'll be giving her money for that and buying her essentials.

I thought we'd go shopping today after school but my body has decided differently. Yesterday I was the sickest I've been in awhile. I've been dizzy, could barely stand and was on the verge of barfing on and off all day. Today is a bit better. I wanted to be in bed so bad yesterday but couldn't. Michelle needed to go to school to take her entrance exams and register for classes. I dropped her off and thought I'd run a bunch of errands. I got a few done but then couldn't stand so drove back to school. Going through Dunkin Donuts drive thru first (XL coffee and 2 donuts).

Danielle and I stayed in the van for about an hour and then headed for a cooler place. We sat in the foyer of the college and watched everyone come and go. Danielle brought huge smiles to lots of people's faces. She made a lot of friends, including one girl that wanted to give her a bag of cheetos. lol Two of the staff came out to see her. They said all they could see was her profile and they thought she was doll at first, then she moved. So they decided they had to come out and see what she looked like up close. After an hour or so there I decided to head outside. We found a shady shop under a tree in the front circle and stayed there for the next 1.5hrs. I wanted to lay down SO bad but I was afraid I'd fall asleep. I kept imaging me waking up to find someone had snatched Danielle. *sniff* *sniff*

I took Michelle to the chinese take out place and she ate on the way home. As soon as I got home I told the kids, watch Danielle, I'm going to take a nap. I woke up 2.5hrs later! I NEVER NAP!!! But if felt SO good. I could've stayed there longer actually. Most of the evening was spent in the recliner trying to keep my head still. The kids microwaved Pizza Rolls and chicken patties along with cut up celery and dip for dinner. Thanks goodness for the microwave!

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Meet the kids ~ Updated

I've been wanting to update the Meet the Kids page for a while. It's almost 2yrs old.

Andrew/Drew is 22yo. He currently works temp jobs on and off. In the fall he'll be attending a community college nearby. He's engaged to his girlfriend of 5 yrs. He plays bass guitar in a band. Right now they specialize in fundraisers, grad parties and a few gigs for pay.
Drew's birth story

Patrick/Pat

is 20yo. He will be finishing up his schooling at our local community college this coming year. There is talk of trying out for the school's soccer team this fall if his sciatica doesn't flare up too badly. Most of his time is spent hanging out with his longtime girlfriend of 4yrs.
Pat's birth story coming in December

Michelle/Shelly is 18yo. She's enrolled in the local community college for the fall after taking a year off. She's artistic and spends her freetime decorating/painting her room.
Michelle's birth story

Valerie/Val is 16yo. She will be entering 11th grade in the fall. She does great at school and boosts of never having missed a homework assignment. She is active on the school's volleyball team. She can usually be seen with her bestfriend J.
Val's birth story

Elizabeth/Liz is 15yo. She will be entering 10th grade in the fall. She is active in church and soccer. She's looking forward to a church trip to Norway in July.
Liz's birth story

Luke is 13yo. He will be entering 8th grade in the fall. He loves science, especially nature. He hopes to be a wildlife photographer when he grows up.
Luke's birth story

Carolyn/Carrie is 11yo. She will be entering 6th grade in the fall. She's a tough cookie, having survived cancer and bone marrow transplant in '97 (Drew was her donor) She now lives with Type 2 diabetes and does a great job with it. She likes to spend most of her freetime playing with and carting around her baby sister Danielle. Carrie's story
Carrie's birth story

Jacob/Jake is 9yo. He will be entering 4th grade in the fall. He's a bundle of energy that keeps everyone laughing and shaking their heads. (sometimes at the same time) He's one of my most outgoing kids.
Jake's birth story

Eileen/Bean is 7yo. She will be entering 2nd grade in the fall. She's blossomed socially and academically this year after repeating 1st grade. Her favorite thing is to play with her cousins and friends at church.
Eileen's birth story

Olivia/Livvie is 6yo. She will be entering 1st grade in the fall. She's made a lot of friends in Kindergarten but is looking forward to summer vacation. She's hoping to spend most of it in the pool.
Olivia's birth story

Danielle is 9mos old. She's the happiest, smiliest baby ever (not being biased either!) She's not crawling but manages to get around the house pretty well somehow.
Danielle's birth story

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Nope, I'm a mother

There was an incident at our church spring conference today that left all of our hearts racing.

We have a canopy over our snackbar that looks like this...



The wind came under and took hold of it, sending it flying through the air. It hit my sister in law, barely missing her newborn and sent a huge group of boys scurrying. Luckily no one was hurt too badly (sil will probably be a bit bruised).

When we were discussing how to secure it and make it safer I noticed that there were holes where the pieces interlocked. I asked if it would be a good idea to make cotter pins out of pieces of coathangers and wire everything together.

One of the guys helping fix it looked at me and said...Good idea! What are you? An Engineer?

I answered.....Nope, I'm a mother. :oD

My first post is up

I've written my first post over at LargerFamilies.com This week's topic is the Family Unit.

Link to my post is here -> What is a Family

Enjoy!

Friday, June 09, 2006

Sssshhhhhh! She's asleep!

Sometimes I'm such a sucky mom. Why? Because here I have the happiest baby in the world staring at me, hugging and kissing on me and what do I do? I nurse her so she'll fall asleep and take her morning nap. Why? Because I want to....

PLAY DDR!!!!

Yep, I must feed the addiction. GOTTA PLAY! GOTTA.GET.MY.GROOVE.ON!

Yesterday I played on and off all day. Pausing only long enough to remove Danielle from my mat (kidding...really). Today I got her into bed, threw in a load of laundry so I'd feel like I was working while I was playing and hit the mat. I did 22 songs for 30:30mins and burnt 177.026kcals. Granted I'm still playing in the workout mode (totally different then playing game mode) and only on the beginners course. But I'm doing all the songs on the heavy setting (hardest). I tried to do workout course...it's very similar to game mode. This outta shape body can't get her feet to move that fast...and breathe...furgetaboutit.

Ok...now it's time to switch laundry, throw some dishes in the machine, pickup a few things and get dressed so I can go grocery shopping. I WILL NOT look at or touch the tv/ddr game until shopping is done! WILL NOT! Really I mean it!

DDR Report
------------
Mode: Workout
Course: Beginners
Setting: Heavy

Playing time: 30:30mins
Songs completed: 22
Calories burnt: 177.026

It's their game

My cousin is getting married on July 1st. I was suppose to go to his fiance's bridal shower last Sunday...I didn't. I found out the week of the shower that I couldn't bring Danielle to the wedding. I found out the day before the shower that I wasn't welcomed there if I brought her. My mom is upset, I'm not...for me. For the other 2 girls who can't come with their nurslings (newborn and 3mos) I'm a bit more put out....especially the mom of the newborn!

I totally understand a bride not wanting a baby at her wedding ceremony. There's lots of talking done on a non shouting level. The shower and reception, it's a bit harder to see the importance of them not being there. But I respect their decision. Even if it means I can't go.

Certain people act like I'm just making problems for myself. Let the baby stay home and just go! Ummm ok, that's a great idea! Let's leave a baby who's never been away from her mom with an 18yo who already has 5+ kids to watch. Nevermind said baby will NOT drink out of a bottle no matter how hard everyone tries (no not trying to wean). I wouldn't even think of putting that on my husband!

I'd have to leave her for at least 5 - 8hrs. I live over an hour away from the reception hall. A bit too far to travel if she decides she's going to throw a fit (even though my baby wouldn't do this lol) and no one will work to bring her out of it but me.

No, I'm not upset over this. I know my kidfriendly views are kind of extreme. Not that I think kids should be at EVERYTHING or welcomed everywhere. I'm just more tolerant of them in situations where others tend not to be. I do have to wonder though...will their views change over time? Who knows maybe they'll never have kids. Then I guess it would stay a mystery to them why anyone would bring a baby/kid to any public function. My guess is that eventually they will have them. Then they'll see babies can't be oh so conveniently put away.

M and C...I wish only the best for you. May you have many decades of wedded bliss.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Just call me....

Jean Jean the Dancing Machine! (guess that shows my age...where's the gong?)

I have finally found and bought a remote control that worked with my tv. The first one I bought turned it on and off but that was it...what good is that!?!? Without the remote control we can't use the audio/video jacks on the tv. So no video games, music, movies, etc. Now that that's taken care of, I can start playing exercising with my DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) game on the Playstation2!

I've played for 2 days and it's addicting! Granted I'm only playing in workout mode (a LOT easier then game mode) but it's still constant moving. The first day I hit the mat 3 times for a total of 30mins. Now I'm trying to keep doing it in 20mins or more sessions. Yesterday I hit the mat 2 times for a total of 40mins. I'd have played it a 3rd time but all us girls went shopping instead. I noticed it was a bit difficult to get up from a crouch while shopping. I'm a bit stiff but not too sore.

The kids are getting into it too. I took a potty break, only to find Patrick dancing away. Now HE's good! And in game mode too! Jake and Carrie were competeing against each other. I think once summer vacation starts we may have to set up a schedule for it. lol

Speaking of summer vacation...it hasn't even started yet and I'm already school shopping for next year! Poor kids. We went to Walmart and they had a decent clearance sale. Most of the prices were at my high acceptable range. I may buy more if they get reduced yet again. The girls were bummed that they couldn't wear anything until the fall but most of it is lighter longsleeved stuff anyways. I did let Olivia and Eileen wear something new that was summery though (I know....what a softie!).

I feel bad for being out as late as we were. We closed up the mall and then hit McD's on the way home (ate in the car though). My kids are so tired and ready for school to be out! When I was picking up Olivia from school her teacher told me she didn't want to play during recess today. I let her know that she's been EXHAUSTED. Wouldn't you know it, Olivia was sleeping before we got down the road. Less then 2 more weeks!

I stil need to go grocery shopping. We have another busy weekend with a Spring Conference at church. So I'll need meals I can bring and eat there. I'd like to go today so I can do prep work tomorrow. BUT (there's always but) I'm TIRED! I don't wanna go today, I wanna just sit around on my butt. Can't someone go for me? *pity party over*

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

A new project

Starting today there's a new blog on the net dedicated to larger sized families largerfamilies.com. I'll be one of 12 regular contributors there. You can find a new post from me on Fridays (although this week it'll be Saturday).

Each Sunday there'll be a main topic posted which we'll write about and around. This week's topic is the family unit. Also you can ask questions and get advice from Chris in the Advice from the trenches



Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Welcome Home Sister Joy

Monday was a day of sadness but mostly a day of laughter and joy. We laid to rest and honored the oldest member of our church, Sister Joy. She was almost 90yo and full of fire. The little kids were something special to her and it shows during the graveside service. All the little ones in the church surrounded her grave. :o)The feast we had for her was awesome! There were lots of great stories and memories.

While I'll miss her, I'm also happy for her. She's been a faithful believer and is exactly where she wanted to be...at home with Jesus.

Joy, taken this April

Monday, June 05, 2006

And then they were one

On Saturday my nephew who is 6mos older then Drew was married. We had a great time. The bride was gorgeous, the groom handsome, and the food decent...just like a wedding should be. It rained so the outside ceremony had to come in (and was a bit cramped) but it still worked out fine. Because of the size of Tom's family they had to have a cutoff age of 17yo. Only Drew, Pat, Michelle and Danielle went with us. I gave the camera over to Tom since I had Danielle...mistake! I forget that he's not camera savy. Almost all of the pics came out blurry. The ones that aren't blurry have a huge glare from all the mirrors hung around the place (so not Tom's fault)

These are the only 2 pics that came out...



On the way to the wedding I realized I'd had some phone calls on my cell while I was at my parents' house. I checked my voicemail, heard a message from the leading brother at church and called his house. His wife informed me that the oldest member of our fellowship passed away Friday evening after some heart problems. :o(

The wake is Monday morning, funeral is that afternoon and then we'll have a feast for her afterwards in the evening. It's going to be a long day. Most of the kids have a half day of school so will probably just stay home. Liz will be missing the whole day but really wants to attend everything, so I'll let her (it's her bestfriend's great aunt).

Need to go to bed so I can function tomorrow.

Birthday parties

Thursday night we had cake and ice cream for one of Drew's and Pat's friends. He's been staying with us for a few days. The little ones have really taken a liking to him....too much actually. Olivia will hang on the kid 24/7 if we let her. I often found myself asking someone to uncling Olivia from him.

Friday was my mom's birthday. I picked up the kids from school and we went to my parents' house. My dad cooked us burgers and hotdogs for dinner. My brother with his girlfriend and 2 kids, my sister, her dh and 3 girls, my mom's friend and my grandmother (her mom) came also. Tom opted out of the party because he'd already planned on picking up a load of stone he needed. He's working on our leech field and it HAS to get done!!! It was nice sitting and talking with everyone while the kids played. We got home close to midnight.

Olivia, my sister's middle dd, Eileen

Saturday, June 03, 2006

A few of the girls

My mom took pics at my sister's birthday party last weekend. So sit back and be prepared to be inundated with photos. (apologies to dialup users...I reduced a LOT but they still take a bit for my dialup to open them)

Carrie


Eileen


Olivia

Now some of the guys

Drew and his girlfriend


Luke and Jake



Tom and my dad

Danielle and me

Danielle


My sister and me


Danielle and me...not the greatest picture but I liked it anyways

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Sometimes I even amaze myself

It's great when a solution to a problem comes to you AND it works out well! We've had a minor problem with our front storm door for a few years. The screen insert of the door had gotten snapped in half during a bad thunderstorm. Living in mosquitoville and the front of the house being on the eastside (shaded most of the day and where the breeze comes from) it was important to get a new screen in there.

After tripping over a piece of plastic screening for the hundredth time (it had worked it's way out of the hall closet where it was stored) it came to me! I bought sticky backed velcro, stuck one side to the aluminum door frame...the other to the screen. stuck them together and tada! Instant screen door! ok...so it took an hour to do it, instant enough. It should even help our glass insert stay in the frame better. It's a replacement and is a bit thinner then the original insert was, so moved around in the frame quite a bit.

Detail of my handiwork

I'm meeeeeelting!

We've proceeded to go from a high of 50's last week to the lower 90s this week. Talk about system shock! I forgot what it was like to have to hold a sticky, sweaty baby. ICK! ICK! On Tuesday I gave Danielle 2 baths before noon. I think she's going to grow gills before the summer is over. She LOVES the pool! She went in 4 or 5 times that day alone. I'm not sure what to do about her and the pool. Her diapers fill up with so much water that our trash weighs a TON! The swimmers are too expensive to use all the time. We finally sent her in without anything on. Here's a pic of her and Drew....




I had decided I was going to start using the pool. I got Danielle in for her morning nap and started heading to the pool. I ended up getting distracted a few times. One of them was a surprise by Tom, he'd taken a half day off and was home! :oD I finally dove (shhhhhh) into the pool and started swimming laps. I didn't get 2 whole laps completed before Drew came carrying Danielle out into the backyard. I knew it! I ended up getting a few more laps in afterwards but not nearly as many as I wanted.


Wednesday the weather was the same. I decided to spend my time wisely and went SHOPPING! lol We left around 11am and came home at 9:30pm. I picked up a few groceries but still need to do a grocery shopping trip. It'll have to wait until Sun evening or Mon morning though since my calendar is full until then. We bought a bunch of things to do some work around here. Although I forgot to get baskets and hampers like I wanted at WM. It was the last stop of our trip and I was SO tired by then. I just wanted to go home! Drew and Michelle were relentless and made me pick out something to wear at my nephew's wedding on Saturday. I'm not really excited about the shirt, but it works. I'll try to put up a pic of it this weekend.

Luckily it's suppose to cool off a bit this weekend. Don't get me wrong. I like that it's not cold out and we can use the pool. I just wish it'd happened gradually so we all had time to adjust to it.