I just need a moment

TOOPID Rain! I feel like I live in the rain forest. It's either raining, sprinkling or the sun's out making it so muggy it's hard to breathe. It ruined a whole tree full of cherries!!! Last week I took note of how great the crop was this year (cold got it last year...barely a one on the tree). Problem was they weren't quite ripe so I gave them a few more days. Then it rained and rained and rained some more. By the time we got out there to pick the tree clean...they were a moldy, rotten mess. Waaaaaaaaaaaa! I was so excited! I had plans for those things. I haven't bought any cherries at the store because they're so expensive ($4/lb, on sale for $2 last week). Tom told me the cardinals were enjoying themselves to MY cherries yesterday. TOOPID birds!

TOOPID grain moths! Everytime I open the cupboard they fly into my face. It's disgusting! Guess I need to clean out the cupboards really soon. There's gotta be a forgotten box/canister of something in there that they're multiplying in. I feel so wasteful when I go through this. I hate throwing away food.

TOOPID allergies! This morning is the worst. My eyes, nose and scalp itch really bad. Well the scalp BETTER be allergies, otherwise I have a nasty case of lice! It's not even 8am and I already have a tissue pile next to my keyboard. My eyes are slits and I feel and look like I haven't slept in days. Guess I need to break out the claratin.

*deep cleansing breath* K, done. Now onto the good stuff.

Tom's been enjoying his time off although I haven't seen him too much. He's been out doing what he loves doing, working in the garden/yard. (a little rain doesn't bother him) I still enjoy having him home. It makes me happy to see him relax. Times like this make me look forward to when he retires. Last night I mentioned to him how sad it was he had to go back to work in the morning. He informed me that he didn't HAVE to, although he could. He'd put in for Wed off separately incase he decided he didn't want to go back to work yet. He's still sleeping in bed...guess he didn't want to go back yet. LOL

Liz leaves for Norway tomorrow! I'm a little less stressed about it. She's managed to pack almost everything but a few odd things. It's hard to let her pack herself. I'm so afraid she's going to forget something. I guess as long as she has her passport and the clothes on her back, she'll manage. LOL We've been so blessed to have the couple in our lives that's allowed these kids to travel like they have. Thank you V and L!!!!! I couldn't imagine bringing 28 young adults (14yo and up) to an amusement park for a day much less on a 17 day trip across the world to Norway! But they're doing it. They're going to have a BALL!

For some reason getting ready for a trip equates getting ALL the laundry done to me. So Liz's preparations have helped me do just that. Michelle and I have hoed out the basement of any old clothes down there. I won't mention how many bags of wet, moldy and plain old disgusting clothes we hauled out of there....it's too embarassing. Today I'll be cleaning up my laundry room floor and rewashing things that have fallen out of clean laundry baskets. It's something that's been weighing me down lately and it's nice to have it almost done. :oD

I broke out my sewing machine yesterday. One of the things Liz needed was a duna cover. I bought a twin sheet set and a coordinating flat sheet then stitched the two flat sheets together on 3 sides. The kids all enjoyed watching me sew. Eileen is now begging me to teach her to sew. Problem is she wants to learn to sew by hand...ummm.....mommy tries to avoid that honey. lol I have some fabric she can make some pillows with.

I have to admit, it's nice to look over and see the machine ready to be used, without a ton of stuff stored ontop of it. I'm going to try to get some fabric washed after I finish the laundry, then I can sew up some skirts, jumpers, lounge pants and/or camisoles.

I'm ending here. I HAVE to break out the claratin NOW before I do some damage to myself. Hope today is a good one for everyone.

Misc Tidbits

Saturday was a productive day although you can't tell by walking in my door.

Sunday was BUSY! Baptism, shopping for Liz's trip to Norway, a 4th of July picnic at my uncle's, and a side trip to my parents' house on the way home to pick up a bigger suitcase for Liz.

While hitting a dollar store I saw they had a HUGE display of fresh cut carnations. I wanted to buy a bouquet of each color, I settled for 2...deep pink and white. They're pretty sitting next to my computer and smell nice. I LOVE flowers!

It was hard for the other kids to shop for only Liz. They're all old enough to understand the reason behind it. Taming the green eyed monster over it is a bit more difficult. There were a few times when I really had problems tolerating their case of the gimmies.

I'm glad we were gone Sunday evening. A summer thunderstorm knocked out our power and it didn't come back on for over 5hrs.

I'm cameraless at the moment. We've lost a piece of metal that the batteries make contact with (on the battery door). I'm hoping it's gone under the couch or loveseat and we'll find it later this week.

At my uncle's picnic my aunt (who had 7 kids herself) joked....Hmmmm...Danielle is almost one. Isn't it about time for another? My dad was standing there and wasn't amused. Told her to bite her tongue!

I realized...there's nothing like sparklers to make you feel like you're 10 again.

Also at my uncle's picnic. One of my uncle's crazy friends (whom I've known since I was little but haven't seen in quite a while) threw me one of his classic pick up routines. He acted like he mistook me for Annette who is GORGEOUS! Running into him again brought up the fact that I really do look like her and she really is gorgeous. Rolling my eyes I had to wonder if he realized I was K's baby girl.

I told my dad what I thought had happened and he confirmed that I had read it right. Later in the evening as my sister was giving my dad a kiss good-bye, crazy friend asked if that was his daughter and how many he had. My dad told him..Yes she is, I have 2. The other one is the one you thought was ANNETTE! LOL

My mom didn't go to my uncle's. When I told her the story she replied with...That musta made your day. I sarcastically said yeah, if it'd happened 20yrs ago maybe! Thinking on it now, it did tickle me just a bit. :o)

She's driving me crazy!

My grandmother has been living at my mom's house for a few weeks. While I'm there she likes to make comments. She's always felt free to make comments. While working with her as a teen it was...you need some makeup on. Get in there and put some color in your face. As my family started to grow it was...you need to stop having kids. No one in this day and age needs to have a lot of kids. Then my parents told her to back off and she did. But now...now she's driving me crazy with her "admiration". It's not quite admiration but it's the best description I could think of and on the surface it looks to be. Things like...

Good God! You're too busy! You're never home! Don't you ever sit down?
Don't you ever stay home? Why do you always have to be going and going?
I feel sorry for you. You have too much to do.
You really need to slow down Kim. You're too busy
You poor thing. You need to relax! You do too much.
and on and on...

Thing is, I try to explain to her I can't be too busy if I can find hours to sit in front of the computer most days. The condition of my house shows I'm not busy enough. She says I like to always be going and I just think I'm not busy enough. Yeah right! I'm one of the laziest people I know....just ask Tom's family. ROFL!

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.

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?

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)

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!

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.

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.

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.


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



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)

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.

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*

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!

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

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!

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.

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*

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!

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

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

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

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.

Sunny with a chance of baking

We had a beautiful day at the beach on Monday! I didn't bring my camera so no fun photos to share. We had a grassy spot in the shade near the beach, bathrooms and playground. I got there a tiny bit later then I'd originally planned. I was moving in slow motion during the morning. I really didn't want to leave Tom for the day but he had a lot to do around the house. I slathered the kids up with sunblock before we left (nothing worse then sandy sunscreen being applied!) and they stayed fairly sunburnt free. A few ended up with slight pinkness by the evening. I "forgot" to cover myself with the stuff and ended up red but luckily I wasn't sore at all.

Danielle LOVED the water even though it was ice cold (turn your feet red with coldness cold). She could only tolerate being down on her own feet so long though. As long as I was holding her she was fine. So most of the time she spent going up and down. I'd stand her in the waves, holding her hands or arms. She'd kick around and laugh for a few minutes until she'd realize I was up there and she was down here. So she'd try to climb my legs and whine to be picked up, which I did. She was a happy baby again until a few minutes later she'd decide the water looked fun. Then it was time to try to scooch her fanny out of my arms. So I'd stand her in the water. And around and around we'd go.

We were a bit disappointed when they closed the beach at 6 but it gave us incentive to get the kids home early. Everyone stayed until the beach closed. For some reason even though I had less stuff then most, I was the last of the group to leave. Which meant I had cleanup duty. It wasn't too big of a mess, just a few odds and ends.

You'd think with all the sun and fun the kids had they'd be happy to be home, shower and get ready for bed. WRONG! (when will they start thinking like a tired mom?!?) Instead they begged to go swimming in the pool. LOL The water was a lot cleaner, warmer and deeper so they could actually swim. While they swam, Tom took me on a tour of the gardens so I could see all his hardwork that day. We sat out in the shade until the mosquitos started bugging me too much.

The kids snacked and then headed to bed.

Congratulations to my friend!

Memorial Day and my sister's birthday aren't the only reasons to celebrate. One of my best friends ma just found out yesterday morning that she's expecting #12!!! Maybe this will give her something to blog about again. *hint*hint*

I'm so happy for her! I hope this pregnancy goes as smoothly as her last one.

Happy Birthday to my sister!

On Monday my baby sister hits the big 4-0. We're exactly 14mos and 3mins apart. Which was WAY to close for my mom. LOL I was the really active, hardly slept, and into everything baby. She was the calm..."put her down and she stays there" baby. Which I guess is a good thing. ;o) (we have a brother who's 4yrs younger then me also) My sister and I were always great friends even though I drove her felix mentality crazy with my oscar antics. To this day our houses are kept totally different. It might be why she can't quite get that I'm not being driven crazy with all these kids running and around and making noise. (she has 3 girls)

The cookout was a great time. Her dh did a good job and kept it semi secret from her. (she was suspicious but didn't know) It was a catered BBQ with chicken and steamed clams. YUUUUUUM! He rented a bouncy house and cotton candy machine for the kids to enjoy. Danielle REALLY likes cotton candy!

Tom kept laughing at me because he'd catch me eyeing/drooling over the caterer's set-up. It was a flat trailer topped with tons of propane/gas fittings on a pole that ran around 2 sides of the trailer. He mainly used a huge barrel roaster and 2 turkey fryers. I was dying to talk to the caterer but he was pretty busy (him and one other guy working).

Something I haven't shared here before is that I would LOVE to be catering or cheffing for profit. A few times a year I go through this phase of thinking of starting a personal chef business. When I found out I was pg for Danielle I was seriously considering going to the community college for a Professional Food Handler's Certificate in September. Now that our church is installing a commercial/legal (read inspected) kitchen, I'm seriously considering it again. I'd like to eventually put a proposal to the board that I rent the kitchen during the weekday when it's not being used.

While I think my BIL got a great price for the food he had. I told Tom...I wouldn't want you to do something like this for me. He agreed, saying I'd be too critical...thinking...I could do this better and for less. He was RIGHT! It was exactly what I was thinking. (especially with the guys setup) LOL

This morning was church. The kids went swimming after we got home, ate lunch and they picked up the main living area. They still get amazed how much work they can do when they all work and work well. We talked about restarting our chore list once school is out. I started fondling some fabric, thinking about sewing again. Maybe I'll even make Olivia something to wear for Kindergarten graduation on the 19th. I have to find my summer clothes. I have NO idea where my bathingsuit is. Being pg last summer, I didn't use it. It's practically brand new!

Besides looking for my warm weather clothes I also have to make some food for tomorrow. We're going to the local state park with a bunch of families from church. Since we'll be there for most of the day, I guess it'd be a good idea to bring food and feed them. I don't think Tom will be going, he has too much to do around here. He bought plants on Thursday and needs to get the garden in. I understand since I could find a lot around here to do also but :o(

Oh yeah, have to charge batteries....cute kids and beaches are great photo ops.

Prom night!

Being a small school district, the Senior Ball/Junior Prom is together. The rule in our house is...I'll pay for your Senior Ball...that's it! Since I had NO seniors I thought I was off the hook this year. WRONG! I ended up with 3 kids going this year. Michelle bought her dress, Val's is borrowed from a friend.

Pat's pictures are on another camera at the moment. I can share Michelle's and Val's now though. One note...in the 2nd pic you might recognize M who took Michelle to her Senior Prom last year. They're bestfriends and graduated together.

Michelle and C (he's a senior)


M, Michelle and C (all best friends)


Val before S arrived


Val and S (he's a junior)

Guess I'll stick with the microwave

I was pretty proud of myself this morning. I'd gotten all the kids out the door for school (huge task in and of itself), matched up a huge tote of socks, added water to the fish tank and threw in some laundry. I decided I could justify sitting down with a cup of coffee now (especially since if I waited a headache would be likely). So I pushed back the crockpot that was resting on the back burner and turned on the burner under the tea kettle. Then headed for my email.

You got it....I had turned on the BACK burner. The controls are different from my old stove and I still get them confused once in a while. Just as I sat down to start reading emails I smelled something. Looked out into the kitchen and see smoke billowing from the stove. Thought maybe a plastic serving spoon was too close to it. Then thought maybe I hadn't pushed the crockpot back enough. As I get up to check it out the smoke alarm goes off....LOUDLY! Do you think any of the older kids bothered to see if they should get up and out of the house. Or even if I needed help? Nope! Although now that I think of it...Drew and Pat may be in the backyard sleeping in the tent. Hmmmm. At least the weather is a bit warmer today so I could open some windows and doors to air out the place.

I'm not sure if the crockpot is salvageable. I have it on /ignore right now. If it's not I'll miss it but I'm not terribly heartbroken. I have a newer one so not totally crockpotless. Although with them being only 4qts each I tend to need two of them. (the 18qt roaster is TOO big for a single meal) At least they tend to be easy to find at thrift stores and garage sales. (burnt one was junkpicked)

Hey! I can scratch something else off my list now....test the smoke detectors. I know the downstairs one works and it works REALLY well.

Edited to Add...

I've taken a look at it now and it's a lost cause. Looks like I burnt the cord pretty bad so it won't be safe to plug in. At least I can use the removable crock still.

Danielle finally got it

or something. She's been running a fever since Sunday morning. I took her to the ped's on Monday. As it usually happens, by the time we got there she'd cooled down to an almost normal 99.1. The dr put her on antibiotics. Her ears are infected and her throat is a bit red. He didn't do a throat culture because he's treating the ears.

She was really burning up last night. I don't think I've ever held such a hot kid in my life. My arm was hot, irritated and bit sore...like I had a bad sunburn. I kept waiting for her to go into a febrile seizure. Wondering if I should take her to the ER anyways. Hard to justify that when you can't tell them her temp to begin with. WHERE ARE MY THERMOMETERS!?!?! She feels a lot cooler now.

She's really hard to give meds to and it bothers Liz to hear Danielle upset over it. Little does Liz know, she was a lot worse then Danielle in that department! Hmmm that reminds me that there are such a thing as tylenol suppositories. Wonder if I can find them OTC here (had to have a script for them when Liz was a baby).

These next few weeks are going to be busy! Between all the things going on in school (field trips, picnics, olympics, and special days) and having the next few weekends booked solid (party, picnics, wedding, bridal shower). I was thinking it'd be nice to have a few days off of school on Friday and Monday but they are now filled with activities.

The kids are looking forward to some WARM weather so they can go in the pool. Yesterday Eileen couldn't understand why I'd say no to them swimming. So what if it was only 49 degrees out! According to the forecast they may get to go in this weekend....if we're home.

UGH!!!

I've been dealing with a major headache for the last 24hrs. It actually sent me to bed before dinner it was so bad. I've only had a handful of times it's been that bad. I'm not sure if it's allergies, a bug or related to AF arriving yesterday. I've noticed that I'm running similar to my teens years now...30+ day cycles, heavy and long, horrendous cramps for the first 48hrs. I hope I'm not adding on my mom's migraines that sent her to bed and made her throw up every month!

I really need to get some things done around here. This place is a mess and I won't be here this weekend to fix it. The kids have to be fed and out the door for the pep rally by 8. Carrie has a 4:30 dr appt for her physical. Her ped has been bugging me to get her in for one. Nevermind that she's had 4-10 of them in the last year already. He wants one by him who will concentrate on the WHOLE her...not just her cancer, post bone marrow transplant issues, post meningitis arthritis issues, or diabetes. I love this guy! He's so thorough and cautious. If the ibuprofen doesn't help I'll be calling to ask if it's ok for Drew or Pat to bring her in. I really need to talk to him though and bring him up to date on her diabetes and the TODAY study. Maybe I'll just have one of the boys drive us there.

I'm suppose to be going grocery shopping afterwards too. Need to at least get things for the kids' breakfasts and lunch this weekend. If I call Tom before he leaves work I'm sure he'll stop at Save-a-Lot for stuff. Guess for lunch I could give them cash to buy stuff from the Grill.

This better go away! I don't think I could do all day on my feet outside in the rain and cold tomorrow if it doesn't. And then to be there all night for a feast...on my own...with a bunch of little kids. Joy of joys!

It's been mildly calm here this week

No one's sick although most are exhausted (again, can't wait for summer vacation!). I've had a few kids feebly try to stay home in the mornings. This morning I thought Olivia was going to be impossible to get going. Luckily she finally woke up enough to get ready.

The pool is now crystal clear and has a chlorine reading!!! As true to form mother nature has decided to thumb her nose at me. It's rainy and chilly now. I keep thinking I'm getting excited for nothing, that SOMETHING will happen to cause us to not use the pool this season. Like a whole season just isn't possible for us. Watch it'll probably snow in August or something.

The kids are hopeful for this afternoon...it's suppose to hit 70. (then drop into the low 50s for the weekend...yeah!...not!) It's hard for me to argue it's too chilly to go still. Last Saturday morning I was attempting to vacuum and nothing on the bottom was moving. I did what a good mom would do....I put the kids to work! I let them put on their suits, go in the pool, and stir things up. They weren't allowed to get water in their face/ears but they had fun anyways....so what if it was probably in the 60s. You didn't hear them complaining. LOL

Liz, Luke and Carrie are getting excited. This coming weekend is our semi-annual soccer tournament at church. They get to see friends from all over the Northeast. As I mentioned above....it's suppose to be wet and chilly all weekend. Wouldn't be a soccer weekend any other way. LOL I'm not too sure how I'm going to go and keep Danielle semi dry and unfrozen.

My house is in shambles right now. It's still not whole after we started tearing it apart last week. How can cleaning make such a mess? It's exciting to have a way to organize things. What I'm really wanting to do it run out and buy supplies to make shelves and smaller bins for everything. I'm in my..."can't have too many shelves" mood. I think I heard the craft store is closing next week. So if I decide I do want more bins/shelves...I'll have to figure it out and get down there by then.

My garden is getting pretty, even if it's getting overtaken with weeds! While the kids were waiting for the bus yesterday morning I spent some time attacking the weeds. I'd like to be able to see my Irises when they bloom (almost there!) I'm afraid someone is going to not realize there are desired plants amongst the weeds and just trample all over them. I haven't done too much in the garden this season. I'm waiting for Tom to buy the belt for the tiller, hopefully tomorrow. It's getting late! Not really but it seems like it. Around here most try to get things put in around Memorial Day weekend.

Time is flying! I'm amazed how quickly the week seems to go by...busy or not. I keep thinking about trying to rush things and missing out on something. Danielle is a perfect example of this. It seems like everyday she learns one or two new things. This week she's learned to pull herself up and cruise. She tries to spend as much time standing as she can. It amazes me since she can't crawl or creep yet. Although she can push herself backwards pretty quickly :o) Just goes to show you....each baby is an individual. No parent is an expert no matter how many times they've been through this. Last night the girls taught her to throw kisses. Granted right now it looks like she's just smearing spit around her face, but she does eventually throw SOMETHING out there. lol

It amazes me how gaagaa everyone is about her still. She can't even stick her finger up her nose without someone thinking it's cute! They're still fighting over her. She's constantly being carried, hugged, and smooched on. If she doesn't grow up with a BIG head (or become a total cutup) I'll be surprised. And to do my part to assure she does...

Eileen and Olivia

The other night Eileen, Olivia and Michelle were fooling around. They came out dressed up with something robin's egg blue on along with pink gingham. Michelle would kill me if I shared the pics they took of the 3 of them together. I feel ok sharing the pic of Eileen and Olivia though.

Sweet moment to share

I've never been bold enough to take, much less share a breastfeeding pic. Tuesday I decided why not? I liked it so much I'm even going to share it!

Week in review

Monday
Michelle down and out on the couch all day. Needing another trip to the dr.

Tuesday
Carrie had her all day appt at the TODAY study. When they say all day, they mean ALL day. We arrived at 9:40, left at 3:05. She looked like garbage after her 2hr GTT (glucose tolerance test) and wanted to take a nap. There was tons of paperwork for us to do. She did great on her fitness test. They kept upping the resistance on the stationary bike every few minutes. I don't think I could've done it, yet she didn't seem to be huffing and puffing. Her full body x-ray was really cool! She's been put into one of the medicine arms of the study. It was a bit disappointing to not get the PAL/coach. The kids here were starting to come on board with it. Our next appt in in July. For this week Carrie has to wear a monitor that records her activity level. We'll be fed-ex'ing it in on Wed.

I made a dr appt for Michelle. Luckily she's 18 and can go alone, Drew drove her. They decided to wait to see exactly what type of strep she has since she's been on so many antibiotics already these past 3 months.

After the appt I ran down the Rag Shop craft store that is closing. I bought a 5' table/counter and 14 metal wire bins. I'm thinking of going back down for more! I keep thinking of other places around here that could use some storage. I still have a little tweeking on how to hang the bins though.

Wednesday
I had to go to school bright and early for Luke's IEP meeting. It was a good thing. His resource teacher had nothing but praises for him. He's done a complete turnaround in terms of focusing, completeing his work and his writing!!! What was one of his weakest subjects is now up to grade level. Where he used to barely get a paragraph out in 40mins of prompting. He now sits down, gets a topic and writes...pages even...no prompting needed! He still needs extra time and possibly a quite location for testing. His reading is still below grade. We're pushing him to TRY harder things. They've cut his book reports to one every other month instead of one a month. He has to promise to use more difficult books for his reports (was using Choose Your Own Adventure Books). Even though they aren't in place until next year, he's already trying to get started on harder ones.

Liz was the next one to be down and out on the couch. I made a dr appt for her before I left for school and took her in in the afternoon. Dr didn't think a throat culture was necessary since she was so sick. We also found out that Michelle's culture came back positive (surprise! lol). So they both got a prescription. That makes Drew, Pat and Danielle (which totally amazes me!) the only ones that didn't get strep.

While home I played with, vacuumed the pool some (water isn't green anymore but very cloudy still). Then we started pulling the house apart. We got rid of the microwave stand and an old buffet I was using as a kitchen counter. My kitchen is in shambles as of now but it looks better then originally already.

Thursday
D went to the hospital to be induced with #16. I kept waiting to hear from them all day. I'd finally decided to I was going to call her house after the little kids were in bed. I never had to...D called a little after 9. I became an aunt at 8:12pm to a little girl! 6lbs 8.8oz. Baby and mom are fine.

While waiting for the phone to ring I played with the pool and tore my house apart some more.

Friday
Played with the pool some more. Tore apart the house some more. I now have a bookcase back in the livingroom. When we built the addition and gained a playroom the kids books ended up in there. When Val and Michelle moved in there the bookcase was pushed into a closet. It's nice having books in the main living area again. I've noticed that the kids are more apt to pick up a book now. Makes me smile!

I went up to the hospital to visit D and see the baby. I even got to hold her! She's a little tiny thing but definitely one of D's kids. :o) While holding her I couldn't help but think of Robert (D's angel baby born at 25wks). :o(

3 out of 4

That's how many throat cultures came back positive for Strep. Jake's was Strep but not Group A so techincally he could kick it himself. He was originally sick almost 2wks ago so I had him treated also. Liz was the one that was negative. She's still acting sick. Of course she is also exhausted from the Youth Weekend this weekend. Nothing like staying up until 2am and waking at 7 to help you recoup from an illness. She tried to stay home from school today but I made her go.

I told the dr's office that Val was still sick from the beginning of the week and had pus pockets on her throat, Eileen was complaining of a sore throat, and Olivia had a headache. The dr called all 3 in a prescription with instructions to wait until they are sick for 48hrs before I start them on the meds. I ignored him. Michelle woke up this morning with a sore throat. My nose started running last night and my throat is scratchy. Looks like we may not be done with the dr appts.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I was in and out all day. I worked on the pool and the front garden. Throwing the super shock in on Saturday morning has turned the pool from green soup to a cloudy white...so we're heading in the right direction. I noticed the filter is pumping DE (earth) back into the pool. My dad just happened to offer me his 2yo filter on Saturday night. (one I'm using now is original...15yo?) So I'm taking him up on it. Tom should be bringing it home tonight. I think it'll make a huge difference. Pat just got back from the pool supply place with a new vacuum head and bag of earth. I'm going to try to vacuum out a bit of the pool and let it discharge out the drain pipe instead of filtering it back into the pool. The only problem is it might drain the pool too quickly. So we'll see if it works or not. I did fill the pool higher then normal the last day or two.

I'm sure I'll let you know how it goes. I'm hoping to have it sparkling clean by the weekend...even if the temperatures are forecast to be below normal (55 is normal temp right now). We may not be able to swim but it'll sure be pretty to look at! lol

Shopping in hell

Friday night was a youth BBQ. I dropped Luke and Liz off at 6 and had to pick them up at 8:30. So 2.5hrs to pick up meds and go grocery shopping...tight but doable. So I thought. I had to wait half an hour at the pharmacy for the meds. Then it was to the grocery store.

Being a Friday night there wasn't much left of their stock. Quite a bit of what I'd planned on buying was GONE! Frustrating but at least I got quite a few rainchecks. The main problem was one of the families shopping drove me crazy! They had a boy about 8-10yo and a girl who was maybe 2. The mom was pushing a shopping cart with the little tykes coupe fronts. The 2yo didn't want anything to do with it. I (and everyone else in the store) soon found out that the mom was...loud, sarcastic and HARSH! You could hear her speaking to the little girl through the whole store. When I went to pass them she told me....Just go and run her over! (I stopped and said hi to the little girl as I walked by) Now I've been known to say something along those lines...jokingly sarcastic...in my younger years. Let's just say this woman wasn't younger and she certainly didn't sound like she was joking. By the time I was a few aisles over I was feeling shakey having to listen to her.

You'd think this would make me sympathize with the old lady following behind me in the cracker aisle. NOPE. The old biddy was so bitter and equally harsh I ended up "turning" on her. *blush* I felt like an idiot defending the harsh mom but geesh! The old biddy was looking to me for validation and I wasn't going to give it to her! I think it was that I could see her acting the same way to me if I had all my kids. She was spewing.....

I came here to do my grocery shopping...not to listen to someone's BRAT crying!!! (little girl was fussy/crying over something). For crying out loud...TAKE THEM HOME and come back later! I then looked her in the face and said...sometimes that's NOT an option. She stammered...well I've raised 3 kids so....
I cut her off and shot back....I have 11 kids...SO!?! You'd think the fact you had 3 kids would give you a little compassion and understanding. Sometimes you HAVE to get groceries and you can't come back at a different time! Sometimes NONE of us can be on our best behavior! She then stormed off. Leaving me shaking and on the verge of tears. I came upon and passed this lady through the WHOLE store! It wasn't pleasant. Things did seem to calm for the harsh mom. We all ended up cashing out around the same time. I ended up pulling out of my parking space at 8:31. A bit late but not too bad. I also ended up feeling like I didn't get anything I needed/wanted. I may have to go shopping again on Tues after Carrie's clinic appt.

One thing leads to another....

I was sitting here thinking that my "About Us" page needs to be updated....it's almost 2yrs old. Then I remembered I couldn't take any new pics anyways because I couldn't find my memory card. I also realized that I never installed my graphics program when I reformatted. So decided to do that.

That led to looking for the CD (CD rack fell over onto the table a week ago). That led to cleaning off the computer table. I picked up a USB cord and realized it was for my card reader which I had just placed ontop of the CD rack. I start to plug the cord into the reader and realize...there's something in it. Hmmmm...MY MEMORY CARD! Imagine that! A memory card in a card reader...whodathunk?

This led to searching for rechargeable batteries and a charger. I found 2 quick chargers and 11 batteries. I also found a set of batteries that were already charged. Now I'm cooking! I try to sneak into my bedroom and take a picture of Danielle while she's sleeping. I wake her up and end up playing with her. Which led to this....


Danielle ~ 8mos

All that to say...now you all are in trouble! I have a camera, memory card and fully charged batteries and I'm not afraid to use them. I'll have you begging me to please leave some of my life to your imagination. ;o)

Now onto the real fun stuff!

Around 1pm today I started the pool pump and fed it earth. So now we are filtering. The pool should probably be done filling tomorrow. I want to stay home and vacuum it but I need to go grocery shopping. We'll see which gets done. It's suppose to cool off this weekend so there's no urgent rush for it. I keep going up on the deck and checking the level of the water, feeling if the water temp is improving and listening to the hose fill it even more. Danielle likes to sit on the deck but what she really likes is...kicking her feet in the water. She's a fish! If you take her in the bathroom all she has to do is see the sink and she's trying to jump into it. Today she ended up in the tub with Eileen. You'd have thought she won the lottery. She was splashing and kicking and giggling and a grinnin. She also pulled herself from a sitting to a standing position for the first time. Of all the places for it to happen it HAD to be in the tub. As soon as she was upright I took her out. I don't want her comfy with standing in the tub. She's been working on pulling up on everything ever since.

She also LOVES to be on the floor. It's a bit of a challenge since our floor space has decreased lately. We've added a chair, a swing/highchair and a bouncer. Just everyday stuff (shoes, backpacks, books, etc) takes up a bunch of space. We seem to be doing well with it though. She tends to stay in a sitting position. Once in a while you'll find her on her belly but she's usually screaming to get picked up then. She does this weird contortion thing with her legs...one in front, one behind and she twists a lot. You don't realize it but eventually she's moved. It's almost like magic it's so subtle. One minute she's sitting next to your chair, then next she's 5ft across the room trying to reach a ball. If she does get on her belly and doesn't mind it...she can move like lightning! Too bad it's in REVERSE! Her arms can shoot her 10ft backwards in the blink of an eye. LOL The pitfall of it...she usually ends up stuck somewhere and screams to be saved. She's cute...even when she's screaming.

I REALLY want to find my memory card for my camera and take a new pic of her! How can it just fall out of the camera like that? Drew has an adorable video of her on his camera. I was hoping to get a snapshot of her off of it. He needs to buy a cable to connect it to the computer though. :o(

And now the fun begins

As I mentioned before quite a few of us are fighting colds. Some have been hit harder then others. Around 2 this afternoon I got a phone call from D telling me that a few of the families in the church are dealing with STREP! (she knew we were sick) OH NO! Not again. We dealt with it in January. I realize that a few of the kids are still not acting so great. They're also complaining on and off about headaches and sore throats. So I call and make only 4 nurse visits for throat cultures for 3:30. I was afraid of sending them into a tailspin with too many at once. (some weren't showing symptoms either) I triage and take the ones I think need it the most...

Carrie...she's been out of school the last 2 days and is still running a fever. Complained of her throat hurting this morning

Luke....Complaining of a headache on and off. This morning said his throat felt swollen. He's planning on spending the weekend over at the conference center for a youth conference (read LOTS of other people)

Liz...She's been exhausted and actually slept across 3 kitchen chairs last evening, after school. She's also going to the youth conference.

Jacob...One of the first who started this.

I ask for Liz and Luke to get the rapid test done. If they are positive I want them to have over 24hrs worth of antibiotics in them by tomorrow night. Then they should be ok to be around other people. (go to the conference) I didn't realize it was a HUGE todo and there were separate things that had to occur. (like a dr visit and his permission for it) We'd never had one done before. Because we had to be sandwiched in between patients it took us an extra hour to get it done. I'm lucky they agreed to it...I LOVE my pediatrician! Luke came back positive, Liz negative.

Liz is notorious for testing negative but continuing to be sick and eventually testing positive needing meds for it. They sent a 2nd culture from her off to be tested with the rest at the kids. I don't normally do this but I'm having Liz take some of Luke's antibiotics too. I'm almost sure she'll test positive. If not, I'll take my lashes with a wet noodle like a man.

While waiting at the dr's office Eileen kept complaining of her throat hurting. I'm not sure if it's a ploy to get out of school tomorrow (yes she'll start trying to work me over the night before) Or if she's finally getting hit with it. Later I looked at her throat and it could be considered a bit red. Val was sick in the beginning of the week but she wasn't home to take. When she walked in the door I asked and she confirmed...her throat is hurting still and even worse then the last few days. I'll probably be heading back to the dr's tomorrow for a few more cultures. I'm not sure how many kids will be going to school tomorrow. I can see at least 3 of them staying home already. I suggested to Tom that he make an appt with his dr since he also seems to still be a bit sick.

Before bed Luke asked why I didn't make him a dr appt so he could have his toe looked at. UGH! It totally slipped my mind. The poor kid has been walking around with ingrown toenails this week. We've soaked and treated but they are still there. Well hopefully his meds will help it.

So the tally of as tonight.... Throat Cultures...4 Positive Kids...1

Sometimes it DOES pay to have TOK

After school yesterday we went out shopping. As I knew would happen...I didn't finish. We never got to the grocery store so we'll have to do it tomorrow. I took the girls to the mall so Michelle could look for shoes. I WASN'T going to buy anything there. UNTIL...I spied the "Additional 50% of clearance" sign outside of The Children's Place. I stopped dead in my tracks...couldn't resist...had to go in....in I went. The older girls took Olivia to the bathroom (where I was originally headed lol), Drew took Jake, leaving me with Danielle in the front carrier and Eileen. I found each of the girls a pair of active knit pants with a matching t-shirt. Eileen and Olivia both ended up with 2 skorts and/or skirts with matching t-shirts. Carrie got 2 skirts (no matching shirts in her size). As the lady was ringing them up she said...you cleaned us out! I offhandedly say...No, but I probably could. Then I spied the boys t-shirt rack and grabbed Luke and Jake a few...threw them into the pile. I think the cashier realized I was buying a lot of different sizes because she asked THAT question....How many children do you have? I tell her 11 and then it starts.

NO! Seriously!?! You seriously have 11 children? No way! You gave birth to 11 babies? I couldn't imagine someone giving birth that many times. *turns to the other worker there* THIS LADY HAS 11 KIDS!!! Unlike this time (under newest) I wasn't embarrassed or getting angry. Maybe it was because it was a more intimate setting. Maybe it was because this cashier wasn't incredulous but in awe...to the point of stammering and being speechless at times...with a few more seriouslys thrown in.

She asked me if I had a 15% off coupon. (No, I don't.) Well you do now! She continued cashing me out, the older kids came into the store. It picked up another notch. How many boys and girls do you have (7 girls and 4 boys). How do you do it? (One day at a time, just like everyone else). I don't know ANYONE who's had 11 kids. That is amazing. You were pg 11 times? (Well actually 12 but yes) Can I ask you how old you are? (41) Really how do you do it? How do you afford to feed and clothe them all? (By doing what I'm doing now...only buying clothes when they are clearance and at their cheapest). You must have a lot of patience. (The look on my and my older kids face let her know that's not the case lol) Well do you pray a lot? (Yes, I do)

Other worker gets into the picture and they start talking about how they can't imagine what it's like to have 11 kids. One thought 2 was hard, the other can barely keep up with her 3. Other worker starts going more toward the wisecracking side of the conversation and asks....How do you get through the day? With a little bit of this *putting fingers to her mouth like she's toking on a joint* (No, I don't think so) She replies with....I think that's about the only way I could get through it. (I tell her I used to hang out with girls like her in high school!)

When they finally get all the clothes rung out and put into the bags the original cashier says...I don't care! You deserve 30% off! I'm scanning this coupon through twice! There...you saved $18.XX. I thank her and walk out of the store laughing. The kids were a bit put off at how they went on and on. It quickly wore off though because as we get near the toy store Drew asks...Hey mom! Wanna go in and tell them you have 11 kids?!?! I could just see the wheels turning with visions of video games and toys being thrown at my feet.

Happy? Anniversary!

While I was publishing my last post I heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. It sounded like Tom...got up to check...it was Tom. It then hit me...May 3rd. It's his anniversary at work. As of today he has been working at the county for 24yrs! WOW! When he turns 55 (7.25yrs to go) he'll have the option of retiring. We're hoping that we can work the finances so it's a big possibilty. What HE's really hoping is he can send me out to work so it's reality no matter what! ROFL!

I also had a DOH! moment when I realized that today was Wednesday! That means that I totally forgot about Tuesday night chat last night. Sorry ma!

So why was Tom home in the middle of the day? Did he take half the day off to celebrate his anniversary? Nope. That cold I mentioned below has knocked him on his fanny! He's taking a nap with Danielle as I write this. Carrie just woke up from a nap and is feeling like crud. She took a shower and was sitting here shivering and crying that her head hurts. I finally convinced her to take some Ibuprofen and have a bowl of cereal. At least Danielle is faring a bit better...no fever or fussing.

Oh and between entries I went to run the pump again and check the pool. The water is now going in the skimmer and has filled the filter! Only about 2 or 3 more inches of water until it's completely filled. Should only take a few more days. lol The timer is set to turn the pump on every 6hrs. I'm trying to remember to manually run it every 2hrs between those times.

Almost over the edge!

If you were driving down my street this morning and you saw me doing a happy dance on the deck of my pool. My apologies. I couldn't help it. I went out to check the pool this morning and found that the water level is JUST about to start going into the skimmer! I was happier then normal because I know that the house well is filled to a great level...so any water we pump today can be used to fill the pool! Wooohooo! Can you guess what I've been doing this week? ;o)

This year the pool saga is going so much better then the last 2yrs. To think, we'll have a WHOLE season to use it! (watch I've probably jinxed myself and the pump won't work or something or other) I even put the solar cover on it for the first time ever. The water right now is numbing...even to put your hand in.

Monday was spent cleaning, maintaining and hooking up the pool filter. As usual I ended up soaked trying to clean it, good thing it was sunny and warm. (yes, it was put away dirty! grrr! *gag*) Michelle played outside with Danielle while I did it. Danielle has a tiny farmer's tan on her forearms and a bit of color to her cheeks. Michelle was out longer and burnt. Danielle loves it outside! Bugs fascinate her...for now. I'm expecting that to change once one actually lands on her. lol We're plagued with blackflies right now so we're pretty itchy. Luckily I didn't have a bad reaction this year (first bites can make me swell up pretty bad). Danielle gave me a scare when I saw blood at the edge of her ear canal. She'd been bit and that's where the blood pooled...phew!

I still have to buy a new pool vacuum head and testing supplies. Hopefully I can get them this week, maybe even tonight. We're heading out shopping after school today. I'd rather do it when everyone's in school but I was asked to wait. Val needs to pick something up and Jake is begging for new sandals. He wasn't with us 2wks ago when I bought most of the kids a pair. We're also still on the prowl for soccer cleats....only a few more weeks until the church soccer tournament. I may see if we can find hand me downs around here for Carrie and Luke. They'll only use them 2 weekends a year. Liz will get a new pair since she'll be trying out for the school team in the fall. (and I'm pretty sure her feet stopped growing!)

Michelle's on the hunt for a pair of shoes for the prom at the end of the month. (going with her boyfriend who's a senior) She bought a knee length dress...black with big white polkadots. It also has a pink ribbon sash and trim. It's adorable but there have been a few Minnie Mouse jokes flying around. Val is going with one of her friends who is a junior (small school so junior and senior prom/ball is together). She's borrowing a friend's dress. It's the same length as Michelle's, also black strapless. It's decorated with small irridescent glitter spots. She already found a pair of midheel sandals at Walmart while we were looking at sandals/flipflops. So she's pretty much set.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot I have to find a bridal shower gift for this weekend. My nephew M is getting married next month! :o) This shopping trip is getting a LOT bigger then I thought. I'm not sure there's enough time to get it all done. Oh well, story of my life.

The call came from the Joslin Center....Carrie's bloodwork qualifies her for the final part of the study. I'd scheduled her all day visit for Thursday. Later that afternoon I realized that Carrie had a bowling trip with the sports club Thursday evening. So I called yesterday and rescheduled. We're going in on Tues. I'm not too thrilled to have to drive there. There's major roadwork going on in that part of the city. The main way I go there is shut down and traffic is horrid. I know eventually I'll find my way there...detour signs or not. It's just the idea of driving on roads I'm not as familiar with.

Quite a few of us are coping with a warm weather cold. Tom thinks it's too late in the season for anyone to have cold (especially HIM! LOL) I think he needs to talk to the germs.

With the warm weather comes the homework fight. Everyone wants to be outside and play instead of doing homework. I don't blame them, I do the same with housework. Unfortunately the teachers don't agree. Carrie is having a really difficult time. It just takes her a lot longer to get things done. Monday's are especially hard on her because they have soccer school at 7pm.

Guess I should go do some of that housework. I still need to plan out my grocery shopping and cut a few coupons.