- Tuesday morning, Nate came home with some mouse traps and sticky paper to see if we could catch our new little friends in the act. I don't know if I already mentioned this, but on Sunday morning, while I was making breakfast, Bradley saw a little mouse run from the stove to the sink, just under the ledge of the cupboards, on the floor. I was extremely disappointed, not surprised all that much, but definitely grossed out. I hate the feeling of unwanted extras. Especially dirty ones. I mean, I kind of assumed we had mice, all this time we've lived here, but not seeing them left me with that little bit of a "maybe we don't.".... not anymore. And after finding 2 mice, one right after the other, stuck to the paper, two days in a row, I'm left feeling like there are lots more. Kinda bums me out. Hopefully we can just keep catching them I guess. And eventually be rid of them. In the meantime... the kids, well, Bradley and Noah mostly, are completely entertained by the whole idea. That first day, upon returning to the kitchen moments after the mouse discovery, I found Bradley's freshly designed "trap" placed every so carefully right next to the hole he'd witnessed as the mouse's retreat. His trap was an empty Steven's Chocolate can, filled with shredded Mozzarella cheese, with a peanut butter coated stick propped up next to it. All this surrounded with shredded cheese... yes, he dusted the floor with cheese. It was awesome. I couldn't help but smile. And then have a talk, with everyone, about leaving food on the ground. Kinda funny. All the while Bradley was making his trap, Noah was making plans for his new pet. Where the mouse would stay, and how he would keep him safe from Buddy. Good times. And there ya have it. I've been keeping this stuff to myself mostly, since I find it all really embarrassing, but I thought we better document it all.
- Since Jack was born, I've been going to bed around midnight, waking up around 4:00, then again around 6:00 and then waking up for good around 7:30/8:00ish (more like 8:00, but it's embarrassing to say that out loud). It's not exactly like this EVERY night, but for the most part. I have felt very lucky to have gotten so much sleep with a newborn. I really can't complain. And it's unlike with my other babies in that Jack will eat on one side, fall asleep and go right to his bed with no trouble. The others were less easy to get back to sleep and generally speaking, each feeding could take 1-2 hours. So this is definitely a nice change. The reason I am bringing this up for yet another time is to announce that I am working out again!! And I'm happy to say, I've been getting up at 5:00 in the morning to do it! It's been hard, and I can feel my body adjusting to less sleep, and hard work, but it's been so awesome!! I have Sarah to thank for it. If it wasn't for her, it would be much harder! I had no idea what a difference a good workout buddy can make!! She even helped drag me out of bed (not literally, just for the record) one of the days when I had really had a sleepless night. It helps that we've been swimming mostly too. I LOVE to swim! I'm hoping to be able to work up to more laps, faster laps I guess, and being able to carry out my day without naps afterward :), but that will come I'm sure. Jack has cooperated SO WELL! He even gnawed on his own fist for about 20 minutes today, since he didn't wake me up to eat before I had to go. Nate's been really supportive as well. Couldn't be doing it without his support and encouragement. So anyway... kind of a big deal for me... Did it four days this week and hopefully we can keep it up!
- Wednesday, Nate and I took the littles to Kangaroo Zoo and while Noah and Erika played, we planned out our Christmas shopping. It was very productive, and lots of fun. I just love this time of year! 12-7-12
- Nate and I and the little three went to Charity's class today to do the "No Missing Work Activity" again. This time we did a fun little candy wrapped in the streamer ball thing with the dice. Turned out pretty good, minus all the kids who cried because they didn't win anything. Next time I'll spread the candy out more, and make it bigger, but we had been so limited on time, there wasn't much choice. And it was our first time. It was still fun though. I especially enjoyed playing Down By The Banks with everyone when the other game ran out. FUn stuff. I hope CHarity enjoyed it. 12-7-12
- Tonight, as part of our "advent activity bag" we decided to make our cookies for our Primary teachers and deliver them. It was quite the undertaking with Nate being at work and all, as I quickly discovered, but we survived! Kelly was extremely helpful the entire time and Erika had a blast. Everyone else was somewhat uninterested in the baking part, but were right there and enjoyed every minute of the frosting and decorating. So that was fun. I'll be honest, the delivering part was totally insane. It was really too late to be taking them around. But we had just spent the entire evening making them, I wasn't about to let them sit and get stale overnight. So I did it. Shouldn't have, but we all piled in the car with all 13 plates of cookies and delivered every last one. All the while we had crying (by more than just Jack), screaming, whining, fighting over who got to go to the door, fighting over who had to buckle the little ones, fighting over who eventually got to sit in the front, crying and screaming, and some more crying. It was nuts. I really don't think I'll ever attempt this one on my own again with a new baby. BUT we did it! And by the time we got home, we were all grumpied out. Everyone cheered up. We decided it was because we had done something nice for our teachers. I just hope that my kids were somehow able to learn how to say thank you from this experience. That's really all I care about. I'm sure the teachers LOVE their cookies, but it really is more important to me that they think about them, than anything. 12-7-12
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Friday, December 7, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Putting Up Christmas (not sure why I'm still calling it this :) )
Someone used to call it "putting up Christmas" when we put up our tree and decorations, but I think it's been a while since they did, and I can't even remember who it was, but I like it :). So I'm using it again this year :).
We had our FHE where we put up the tree!! Worked out perfectly that Erika was the lesson because she's been anxious for us to do so. It went well. We really have a good system now. The kids did so good at being careful and patient as we did one ornament at a time since they were a little tangled up in the box. No matter how hard I try, I can't pack them in a way that they don't do this! We did have a few casualties, Luke's "first Christmas" ornament bit the dust. Or more specifically, the knot in the top of the string came out, and it fell and shattered the little snow globe. It was pretty devastating. Luke looked mortified. I don't know if I've seen him that sad without tears. I think he was trying to keep his cool. It was so sad. I think we salvaged enough of it, it still is pretty cute, just lacking the cool snow globe-ness. I tried to contact Precious Moments, but they don't make new baby 2006 ornaments anymore apparently (go figure). I was bummed. But I guess that's life. And really, it was bound to happen one year or another. Just sad. I still need to get a picture of all of them with their ornaments. We didn't have Jack's yet, so I waited. Hopefully I remember before the year is over.
It was a fun evening filled with memories and traditions. I love it! I got lazy (and a little busy) so I passed the camera off onto everyone else to get pictures. They turned out pretty cute! I'm glad I can rely on them for this sometimes!
It was a fun evening filled with memories and traditions. I love it! I got lazy (and a little busy) so I passed the camera off onto everyone else to get pictures. They turned out pretty cute! I'm glad I can rely on them for this sometimes!
These two just look so grown up in this picture, decorating the tree all on their own! My babies are growing up too fast!!
Speaking of babies growing up!! She's gorgeous!!
Some of Grandma Mottishaw's ornaments! Love them.
Kelly the star :) Such a beautiful little lady!
I love having a picture of Bradley's bracelets. He has been wearing these since the parade on the 24th of July!!
Bradley pointed out that the next time it's his turn to put the angel on top, he will be 12!!! And he had to rub it in my face that he probably won't even need help, he'll just be able to stick up there :). CRAZY!! I swear that kid is too young to be 12 in four years!
And handsome too :)
I think Nate likes it when we have a baby for him to hold, this time of year :). He gets to just sit back and watch :). (after putting the tree up of course... that's his special job :) )
The Holiday Specs... and thank you Charity Manwaring for more! These are so fun! I think the kids were going for a "Mom's making us take this picture again, let's look like we don't love it" look. Not sure.
We wanted to see what the camera flash looked like through them:)
Jack-jack refused to wear the specs. He was annoyed that I interrupted his nap too.
Erika's first time putting the angel on the tree! She loved it :)
Christmas we're ready for ya!!!
(oh and just for the record, Charity PROMISED me that she would always come back home to help set up the tree. Had to get it in writing so that I can hold it over her head later if she misses :) I had mentioned that it won't be the same without the kids there to put the ornaments up.... and she was consoling me :). She's a sweetheart. I really do hope that she will always be able to make time for her Mama at Christmas :) )
Saturday, December 1, 2012
So cute
Every time we got in the car on Friday, with all the many errands, it would beep at me. Not thinking, I stated that we were almost out of gas. Without an ounce of hesitation, Charity requested that we say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father for help. I welcome these opportunities and it made me proud of her for having the idea. We said a prayer and drove off. As we were driving, the kids were talking about us making it to Burger King, and one of them said, "Heavenly Father will help us." And to that Erika said, (in her cute little voice) "Yeah! Him so nice!... I WUV him!.... Jesus too!" I thought that was so precious. That my kids have so much faith. It's cute that Erika knows who Heavenly Father and Jesus are well enough to say what she did. Made me smile :).
A minute with a stranger
As we were sitting at Burger King eating our free ice cream cones, this guy came over and a very familiar question popped out of his mouth, "Are all six of these kids yours?" I pointed down at Jack in his seat on the floor and in a very routine tone said, "All SEVEN of these kids are mine, yes." I thought I knew what was coming, since it usually does, but I was wrong :). Happily, he replied, "Oh, cool! I have seven kids too! Very rarely do you see families with seven kids anymore! That's so awesome!" I was relieved and agreed, and mentioned how much I love it. He asked a few more questions about ages (his were similarly close in age) and made a pretty bold statement about how people these days are selfish and only have one or two. Which I found a little judgemental, and I have to say I disagree with for the most part. I guess I have my theory about that already. Which is: there is probably a small percentage of "one-or-two-child-parents" who could have more and should, but are being selfish, but the rest of the group are people who SHOULDN'T have more kids, and people who are TRYING!!! I know too many people who are "stuck" at two (if you will). They want and pray for more and ache every time they see someone who has more. Especially those who don't appreciate what a blessing they've been given. Every month they're left with that empty feeling and the anxiety of yet another month. I can't imagine how that would be for those of you who have gone years. The few times it took us more than a month were the hardest. I really can't imagine what longer would feel like. I hope I never do. So I really just hate it when people assume that everyone who doesn't have 20 kids is being selfish. I wish I'd stuck up for those of you who try, and those of you who are making a wise decision NOT to have more. But I didn't. I'm sure he didn't mean it offensively anyway. But that does stand out to me as something that I'm sure people would assume I agree with. Having seven kids myself. I feel like I was prepared to have a large family. I always wanted a large family, and I prayed everyday after finding out at 17, that I might have difficulty getting pregnant, for a large family. It was a big deal to me. I know that the Lord wants me to have this family. That doesn't mean that He wants everyone to have seven kids. It's not for everyone. I believe we are all different and have different missions here on earth. And truth be told, I struggled just as much with 2 as I do now with 7, so it's not like I think it's easier. There really is just less and less time for myself as we have more. That is a sacrifice I am willing to make. SO anyway. Back to the conversation. The guy then asked the dreaded, "are you going to have any more?" The reason this is dreaded is not because I don't know, it's because I don't know when. I think about this E V E R Y S I N G L E D A Y O F M Y L I F E!!!!! It's overwhelming in fact, to think about it, simply because I don't know how I will do it! I WANT more kids. There's no question about that. I feel like there are more Spirits waiting to come to our family. There's no question about that. The question lies in whether Nate and I will be able to do it. Whether my body will take it or not. And whether Heavenly Father will see fit to send us any more. It's not entirely up to us. I believe there have been Spirits who wanted to come to our family, but got tired of waiting their turn. I believe there are Spirits who want to come to our family, but will not get to simply because it will be time for us to be done. That makes my heart ache to think about it, but it is Heavenly Father's plan. I know He will bless us with the desires of our hearts if we are obedient. I know that He knows me and knows what I can do. I hope that we will be able to recognize the promptings of the Spirit and be ready when it is time. I'm sure I sound ridiculous to some of you and I wouldn't be surprised if many of you thought I was crazy. That's that. I probably am. But crazy or not, this is how it is. So in answer to the guy's question, I said, "Umm.... we're not sure, we'll cross that bridge when we get there." I hated my answer. I always hope I'm not offending those Spirits who want to come when I say stuff like that. I hope they know what I feel in my heart and not what I say when I'm trying to avoid the subject or judgement. It's a special subject for me.
But here's the real reason I wanted to go into detail about this, it was what he said. And even still, it makes me rethink how I answer this question. He said, "We want to! My wife wants to have as many kids as she can! We've been trying for number 8!" All excited-like! How cool is that! They are so easy! Just "We want to!" I wish I could just say that. I wish it was that easy for me to show my faith. I'm so weak sometimes. I'm just not up there with them. It's tough to admit that as much as I want to, I worry. I worry about stupid things like what people think when I tell them I'm okay with having an eighth child, or about how we'll fit them in the car, or where in the house. Or the biggest one for me, the pregnancy! These are all silly things to worry about when bringing a new Spirit into the world. Those things ALWAYS work themselves out. I don't know why I go over this in my head as often as I do. It dominates my mind a lot of the time. After I had Kelly and wondered how I would ever be able have the big family I wanted, because it was so difficult to make the transition to "just two", I had a good friend say something to me that really offended me at the time. She said, "Just enjoy the kids that you have." I was offended because it implied that I wasn't enjoying them. Luckily I took this as a challenge and now, I'm afraid this is part of the reason I want more :). I do enjoy my kids. They are the light of my life! The more light I have the better :). Each new person brings a new little ray of sunshine to my day. Every cute little phrase, all the achievements, the cuddles, the giggles, the smiles, the hugs and kisses (especially the cute open mouth baby kisses :) ), the talks and the trials together.... all of it. I enjoy all of it! I can't find anything else that offers as much pleasure and joy as my children and having my best friend to enjoy them with! Why wouldn't I want more???!!! This joy isn't free. Kids are work, and it is a sacrifice, but it's SO worth it. More than worth it, I feel like I come out on top for sure. The things you give up to have kids are so meaningless. It's been such a blessing to have that knowledge in my life. I am so blessed to have the kids I have, to have the husband I have, who loves me and knows how much it means to me to be able to stay home with my kids. He's worked SO hard to make it possible for me to be home with them. I couldn't have enjoyed it as much without that. I'm rambling now. I guess I just want to shout it from the tops of the mountains, "I LOVE MY BIG FAMILY AND YES I WANT MORE!! I WANT ANYONE WHO HEAVENLY FATHER WANTS TO GIVE US!!!" And I wish I'd said that all the millions of times I've been asked this question. I am resolving to do so from here on out. And there's my lengthy post about that experience at Burger King. Funny what a one minute conversation with a stranger can do to me :).
But here's the real reason I wanted to go into detail about this, it was what he said. And even still, it makes me rethink how I answer this question. He said, "We want to! My wife wants to have as many kids as she can! We've been trying for number 8!" All excited-like! How cool is that! They are so easy! Just "We want to!" I wish I could just say that. I wish it was that easy for me to show my faith. I'm so weak sometimes. I'm just not up there with them. It's tough to admit that as much as I want to, I worry. I worry about stupid things like what people think when I tell them I'm okay with having an eighth child, or about how we'll fit them in the car, or where in the house. Or the biggest one for me, the pregnancy! These are all silly things to worry about when bringing a new Spirit into the world. Those things ALWAYS work themselves out. I don't know why I go over this in my head as often as I do. It dominates my mind a lot of the time. After I had Kelly and wondered how I would ever be able have the big family I wanted, because it was so difficult to make the transition to "just two", I had a good friend say something to me that really offended me at the time. She said, "Just enjoy the kids that you have." I was offended because it implied that I wasn't enjoying them. Luckily I took this as a challenge and now, I'm afraid this is part of the reason I want more :). I do enjoy my kids. They are the light of my life! The more light I have the better :). Each new person brings a new little ray of sunshine to my day. Every cute little phrase, all the achievements, the cuddles, the giggles, the smiles, the hugs and kisses (especially the cute open mouth baby kisses :) ), the talks and the trials together.... all of it. I enjoy all of it! I can't find anything else that offers as much pleasure and joy as my children and having my best friend to enjoy them with! Why wouldn't I want more???!!! This joy isn't free. Kids are work, and it is a sacrifice, but it's SO worth it. More than worth it, I feel like I come out on top for sure. The things you give up to have kids are so meaningless. It's been such a blessing to have that knowledge in my life. I am so blessed to have the kids I have, to have the husband I have, who loves me and knows how much it means to me to be able to stay home with my kids. He's worked SO hard to make it possible for me to be home with them. I couldn't have enjoyed it as much without that. I'm rambling now. I guess I just want to shout it from the tops of the mountains, "I LOVE MY BIG FAMILY AND YES I WANT MORE!! I WANT ANYONE WHO HEAVENLY FATHER WANTS TO GIVE US!!!" And I wish I'd said that all the millions of times I've been asked this question. I am resolving to do so from here on out. And there's my lengthy post about that experience at Burger King. Funny what a one minute conversation with a stranger can do to me :).
Journaling
- Wednesday we kicked off our Fall Break with a big cleaning day, YAY! Haha. Just kidding about the "yay" part. We did start out the day with a cleaning competition. Girls versus Boys. The Boys had to do the Backyard, Front yard and bathrooms. The girls had to do the Kitchen, Family room, Living room, Toy room, and Laundry room. Sounds unfair, I know, Charity made that very clear, but we needed the whole house done before Thanksgiving and well... the girls are just faster and more helpful! Unfortunately for us, the boys won. But according to Nate, they were REALLY hard workers the entire time! I was really proud of all my boys every time I looked outside and saw them all sweatin' and workin' so hard! The girls and I worked pretty hard too! We got everything but the Laundry room done. So, go us!! We had a little whining and complaining, but nothing too out of the norm. The boys chose SWIIMMING for our family activity for the day. Everyone was pretty excited about that! And it went along with a (kind of) tradition that we started 4 years ago with Brent and Sarah and the rest of my sibs. I think we've missed a couple years, but I consider it a tradition :). We got held up at Walmart (not literally, it just was really busy and then the power went out), so we didn't make it to the pool until about 3:30, but we had a lot of fun! Jack slept in his seat the ENTIRE TIME! Just next to the pool. That was kind of a relief, but I was also a little bummed that he didn't get to have his first swim. Erika, Luke and Noah bounced around in the shallow end most of the time. They braved the water slide near the end with Daddy and the big kids. Bradley, Kelly and Charity were all over the place! They went on the slide, played Monkey in the Middle with Daddy in the deep end. Then talked me into going into the diving area with them, where they all did cool tricks off the diving board. Talked me into diving a couple times (which I don't recommend to nursing mothers who haven't fed their baby in 3 hours... just sayin'!). Then we all stood in line for almost 20 minutes to attempt the big blown up obstacle course. Charity and Bradley both did really well, made it to the end. Kelly tried SO HARD! She was SO CLOSE! She even got back on after falling off a couple times, but the last time she fell off, the lifeguard made her swim to the side. But she really surprised me at how well she did. I, on the other hand, did horribly. I fell off on the second trick. Although, I was really happy with how well I got up on the thing, that was the part that worried me most, and I did it with very little trouble! Apparently there is still some muscle left in this flab on my upper arms! Wahoo! Brent and Sarah and their boys showed up about halfway through our visit and we were able to play with them a little. I was pretty much tied to the side of the pool, not wanting to leave Jack alone in his seat there. And the kids are so all over the place, it's hard to get adult time in :), but I think everyone had a good time. We hurried home at 6:00 to have Grandpa over for dinner. Lots of fun. 11-23-12
- I had a really cool experience today, I want to remember it. There's quite a bit of background to this story, but I'll try to make it brief. I have had a really bad tooth ache (and when I say "tooth ache" I mean, the right side of my head feels like someone is smashing it under a ton of bricks) for the last month or so. Yesterday I hit an all-time high on the pain level, and my tolerance was almost gone. I doubled up on Ibuprofen and Tylenol, and still couldn't sleep all night. It was awful!! Sunday morning came too early and the pain was STILL THERE! So church was difficult to say the least. Luckily Nate was here in the morning, he was able to get the kids ready pretty much on his own, then took everyone because I wasn't quite ready when it was time to go. We were subbing for Bradley's class so we had to be on time. But of course, Nate stepped in and taught the lesson. He didn't have to go to work until the second hour of church because they are messing with his schedule for the next month before the change at the new year. But that meant I still had to do Sacrament meeting on my own. I have to say it went okay, it was just stressful I guess. Filled with blown out diapers, spit up fountains, and crying whining kids (just two of them thankfully). So when I got home, I was already exhausted. I had a whole evening of supposedly entertaining 7 kids by myself on the Sabbath. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sundays. It's just difficult to come up with good Sabbath day activities that keep their attention and that don't let us go into cabin fever mode. So anyway, I was anticipating this long evening. As I was sitting there trying to console my very unhappy baby (which is TOTALLY not like him!!! so that was even more frustrating- the whole wondering what might be wrong with him....), I started to feel this heavy weight on me. The tears came pouring out and I realized I needed to distract myself. Everyone was playing and under control, so I turned on my Kindle onto a Conference talk and listened. It was Elder Ballard's (I think) talk about how the Lord uses us to answer each other's prayers. Immediately I started praying. I knew that Heavenly Father could bless me with someone to help me through the evening if I just prayed. I was crying and asking him to please let me have a break just this once, and send me someone who would be able to take up some of the load. I was having a bit of a pity party, feeling like that NEVER happens for me. Very rarely do I have someone show up on my doorstep and offer to help me with my kids. Like so many people I know do. And I told Heavenly Father it was my turn, in a sense. Immediately, I could feel the Spirit say, "You never accept the help that is offered to you." This was true. I began picturing someone stopping by, knocking on my door, saying that they felt like they should come help, and me saying, "No, we're fine, thank you though." because I don't want them to see my messy house (it really is beyond messy right now, very embarrassing). And I realized that even in this moment of sheer desperation, I would probably refuse help. Sad. I started to apologize for being that way, then I decided to pray for help with feeling better since having help probably wasn't in the cards today :). I felt prompted to go take a nap. So I came downstairs, asked the kids if they would please watch Jack for me while I rested. They were all very happy with the idea, fought over who would get to hold him, and I disappeared. About an hour later, I heard Jack crying and called the kids in to let me take care of him. As I sat up, I realized I was feeling much better. Right then, the Spirit reminded me of my prayer earlier and I realized that my kids had totally been an answer to that prayer. They had given me the help I needed to get a little rest. I changed Jack's diaper and fed him and realized it was time for dinner. I called the girls in to see if they could help me think of something for dinner and the conclusion we came to was potatoes. They were MORE than happy to get that started for me. And cheerfully, they ran up the stairs. That was a relief. I realized that they had once again, been an answer to my prayer. A few minutes later, I was up in the kitchen with them, and Bradley came in offering to help with the dinner too! Another little angel to answer my prayer. They were so awesome to help out! They were happy, didn't fight, even cut their fingers a few times while chopping up the potatoes, but they just plugged along, helping me out. I should mention that not once did I inform them of my tooth ache, they were helping me not even knowing how much help I really needed. They are just that good! A little while later as things were cooking, I was trying to clean up the kitchen a little while Jack was in his swing. He got a little fussy and immediately another little angel popped in the room and offered to hold Jack and bounce him a little. It's so unlike Luke to do that that I just couldn't help but thank my Heavenly Father for yet another answer to my prayer. It was like He wanted me to acknowledge that I have help!! I have it everyday!! I have been SO blessed. Heavenly Father gave me these wonderful, hard working kids, because he knew I needed them. He knew my situation. He knew me. He loves me. I will never complain about not having someone show up on my doorstep ever again. I don't need to, I have my helpers right here, inside my house already. And thankfully, they do more than just help, they let me love them back :). Life is good. They all played so nicely together the rest of the evening, and then they all went to bed really well. Nate came home shortly after that... it was a really great evening. Funny to say that after what I had seen coming this afternoon. Thank goodness I'm not in charge. I welcome whatever Heavenly Father's got planned for me :) 11-25-12
- I'm so frustrated with how little time I have to post on my blog. I know I need to get over it, but I miss how up-to-date it was for a while there. That's life. I'll move on :)
- Nate stayed home on Monday to help me out since I had been in so much pain Sunday. I felt pretty good Monday (go figure), but I am so grateful that Nate has a job that lets him do this. We went through many jobs that this was never an option, not even when we had babies sometimes, so I consider it a great blessing. He helped me make my dinners for the exchange, and it was so fun to have his company for that ;). 11-26-12
- Tuesday I went in to see what was wrong with my teeth. I HATE going to the Dentist. Probably why I have so many problems. It's so embarrassing. Found out I needed a root canal on one tooth, Cavity in another, and the fillings I got when I was little were probably wearing down and causing a lot of sensitivity and pain. Rats. I was able to go back in that afternoon for the root canal. Which, can I just say, that was really painful!! My mouth is still sore, and I can't chew on it yet. I'm going to just live with the temporary crown for a while, it's so expensive to get a real one. And go back to fill the cavity next week. I hate teeth problems. 11-27-12
- Wednesday night was very interesting. I won't go into any details, but it was very long. I knew Thursday was going to be tricky, but I think I had a lot of extra help from the nap Nate let me take before he had to leave for work, but more importantly the help I had from Heavenly Father the WHOLE rest of the day. I was startled awake (from my all-you-can-nurse-buffet nap-with Jack) for who knows what, and my heart was pounding! It was just the jump start I needed for the rest of the afternoon/evening. I remembered I needed to make an appointment for Kelly (I had tried early but just as ALWAYS is the case, I called the Dr.'s office during their lunch break... without fail, this is what always happens! Drives me nuts), for her ears, so I did that and the only time they could get me in, that I would still have time to pick up Charity from her play practice, was at 3:40 and that happened to be in 23 minutes! I frantically ran around waking up Erika, getting Noah in his shoes (which can be extREMEly complicating if he's not on board forthe outing), jerked Jack out of his peaceful sleep and threw him into his car seat.... it was nuts.... but we made it out the door at about 3:25. As we were getting in the car, Charity called to inform me that her practice was cancelled. This seemed like a bonus since I could then just take her and the other kids home and she could babysit instead of dragging everyone to the Doc. But when I got to the school, waited for the long line of carpoolers, it was too late to make a run home. They ALL had to come. The Doctor visit seemed somewhat productive. As productive as no real answers can be I guess. They sent us on our way with a prescription for a nasal spray because her ear looked like someone's who has allergies (which Kelly is not), to see if that would change anything. And an order to get her thyroid tested and her blood count to see if there is anything else. Hopefully she's just fine. The kids all did FANTASTIC at the doctor's office. I took Noah , Erika, and Jack in the room with Kelly and I, and the rest watched the movie in the waiting room. It's been a while since I had to do that, but it really was okay.. Sure is funny to think that having four kids in the room with us was the easier way :). It's nice to have older kids. After that, we took everyone except Jack and Kelly home, Charity babysat, and we went and had Kelly's blood drawn. All of these things were such spontaneous things for the day... I had not planned on any of this. I really didn't think they would even be able to see her that day. The blood draw went well. Kelly is so brave! She wasn't scared at all. We stopped and filled up the water jugs on our way home since it had only taken 20 minutes for it all. The kids did great at home, everyone was sad for Kelly, then I started on dinner. As I was finishing with dinner, Bradley came up the stairs with my phone completely devastated that we had missed the Reflections night. I had completely forgotten about it, it wasn't even on my calendar. My friend Linsey had texted and said that Bradley and Kelly had won first place!! We were excited and bummed at the same time! I couldn't let them miss out on the last few minutes of it, so I made Charity babysit again, grabbed Jack and Kelly and Charity and headed on up to the school. We got there after it was done, but in time to get trophies, skittles and certificates. I was so proud of them!! Kelly's was her dance that she made up to the song "Firework" and Bradley's was a picture of the snow falling. They both did really great. I only wish they'd had the chance to go up in front of everyone and receive their awards with a large applause :). Oh well. We did get refreshments :) and then we ran home to rescue Charity. Everyone ate dinner and we headed out for yet another spontaneous activity-- celebrating with ice cream :)! Bradley's speech teacher had given me SEVEN free ice cream cone coupons at our (very official) meeting with the Principal when they removed Bradley from his speech class (after only ONE CLASS!!). One coupon for Bradley and each of his siblings! So we went to Burger King for ice cream courtesy of them! I have to admit I felt really strange just getting the ice cream cones. I had planned on using some of the spare change I had in the diaper bag to get some fries or something so that I was giving them SOME money, but when I got there, I found zero change in my bag. Oh well though. They are the ones that give out the coupons, not me. I know they do it because they assume nobody is going to come in and get JUST free stuff, and they assume they'll get something out of it, and I usually try to comply, but not that night. Oh well. I got over the weird looks from the teenage boys who had to examine each and every coupon like they could catch me in some kind of fraudulent ice cream coupon activity. No such luck, they were all very genuine. We had a nice time there, then went home and got ready for bed. I didn't accomplish any of the things I had planned that day. The laundry was still very backed up, there were dishes overflowing the sink, and well, the house was a wreck :) to say the least. But it was a nice day :). I was happy to have been able to take care of the things that matter to my kids. 11-29-12
- After going on and on about Thursday, I hate to even mention Friday. It was similar with it's random trips to wherever, doing nothing I planned and everything I didn't. But it was a good day as well, and I felt like a Mom again. It's obviously been a while since we did the usual spontaneity... that sounds like an oxymoron. I picked up the kids from school because Kelly's ears were hurting again, and then when we got home, Luke surprised me with the news that he had been invited to a birthday party (received the invite a week ago) and that it was starting at 2:00--- this was at 2:11!!! I had to have him show me the invite and luckily the party started at 2:30 but that still didn't give us much time to buy a present and get everyone in the car and there. But I took on the challenge. By avoiding shoes on the little ones, I was able to get us out the door by 2:22. We headed on down to All-A-Dollar (I know it's cheap, but I'd never even heard the kid's name before! Plus my kids love that store :) ), I allowed Charity and Luke to go in alone together while I waited in the car with the kids. I've been feeling for a while that I needed to give Charity some opportunities like this, to go into a store alone, etc., and this was my chance. She did great! They came out at about 2:33 and we were at the Pizza Pie Cafe by 2:37! So only seven minutes late, not bad if you consider I found out about the party 19 minutes before it started! I was impressed myself :). Then we went home for the big kids to do their jobs, and call friends. Unfortunately, they all were invited over to their friends' houses. This is a phenomenon that boggles my mind.... I wait all day for them to come home and be with us, and an hour later, I'm driving them all around to drop them off with other people. Bums me out. I know I need to get over it and I am glad they have friends, but it still bums me out. So we piled everyone back into the car again (this is the third time in about 2 hours... if you've never loaded up 6 or 7 kids into a car and all the car seats, then you don't know why this matters... but if you have.... well.... ), took Kelly to Jaycie's, Bradley to Aiden's, and Charity to Annie's. It was now almost 4:00 and Luke needed to be picked up at 4:30. I hesitated to go home, only to have to reload them all back in the car (and it's even harder without the help of my big kids) in a half hour. But we did and I was able to throw some laundry in the washer and a load in the dishwasher. So that was a good choice :). We then left at about 4:20 so that we could pick up Bradley (his friend had to go somewhere at 4:30) and then get Luke at 4:30 as well. Luke had had a good time, he's such a fun kid to have at a party. I love to hear what he does. We got home around 5:00 and I was exhausted for some reason. We did some more of the housework I'd been wanting to get done, and then realized we didn't have much for dinner. Bradley had the idea of getting pizza and offered up his own money (since I didn't have any, we will pay him back) to go get some. We got back in the car :). Picked up some pizza, and had a lovely dinner and movie night. Sort of. We started a movie they'd never seen, they hated it, I wasn't sure it was a good one anyway, so we started another one, then we had several pauses where boys had to clean up the room they said they'd cleaned up... stinkers!... and then started back up on the movie. Luckily I'd taken advantage of most of that time to fold clothes and do the dishes. That was all I'd wanted to accomplish that day, so it was a must. Then Charity called and needed a ride home (we need to invest in some friends whose parents will drive one of the ways, seems only courteous to me!), so we loaded everyone back up in the car... this is about the eighth time, if I counted right, and I decided to just grab Kelly in the process (I guess I should mention that Kelly's and Bradley's friends' parents had offered to drive, but it was just more convenient this way, so I don't know why I complained). When we got home we finished the boys' movie, and it didn't get over until about 10:00 when Nate got home. That 1 1/2 hour movie took us about 3 hours to watch!! Amazing. Unfortunately, I'd thought we'd have time for a little Princess and the Frog so I'd promised Erika (at the beginning of the evening) that we would watch a little of that too. So, in an effort to keep my promise, (and actually partially because she'd taken a long nap during the evening and probably wasn't tired enough for bed) I let her stay up and watch a little of her show. I was exhausted, my eye was even twitching, so I was very relieved when the night was over and everyone was in bed. But it was a very full day and I felt accomplished :) . 11-30-12
- I had a really cool experience today, I want to remember it. There's quite a bit of background to this story, but I'll try to make it brief. I have had a really bad tooth ache (and when I say "tooth ache" I mean, the right side of my head feels like someone is smashing it under a ton of bricks) for the last month or so. Yesterday I hit an all-time high on the pain level, and my tolerance was almost gone. I doubled up on Ibuprofen and Tylenol, and still couldn't sleep all night. It was awful!! Sunday morning came too early and the pain was STILL THERE! So church was difficult to say the least. Luckily Nate was here in the morning, he was able to get the kids ready pretty much on his own, then took everyone because I wasn't quite ready when it was time to go. We were subbing for Bradley's class so we had to be on time. But of course, Nate stepped in and taught the lesson. He didn't have to go to work until the second hour of church because they are messing with his schedule for the next month before the change at the new year. But that meant I still had to do Sacrament meeting on my own. I have to say it went okay, it was just stressful I guess. Filled with blown out diapers, spit up fountains, and crying whining kids (just two of them thankfully). So when I got home, I was already exhausted. I had a whole evening of supposedly entertaining 7 kids by myself on the Sabbath. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sundays. It's just difficult to come up with good Sabbath day activities that keep their attention and that don't let us go into cabin fever mode. So anyway, I was anticipating this long evening. As I was sitting there trying to console my very unhappy baby (which is TOTALLY not like him!!! so that was even more frustrating- the whole wondering what might be wrong with him....), I started to feel this heavy weight on me. The tears came pouring out and I realized I needed to distract myself. Everyone was playing and under control, so I turned on my Kindle onto a Conference talk and listened. It was Elder Ballard's (I think) talk about how the Lord uses us to answer each other's prayers. Immediately I started praying. I knew that Heavenly Father could bless me with someone to help me through the evening if I just prayed. I was crying and asking him to please let me have a break just this once, and send me someone who would be able to take up some of the load. I was having a bit of a pity party, feeling like that NEVER happens for me. Very rarely do I have someone show up on my doorstep and offer to help me with my kids. Like so many people I know do. And I told Heavenly Father it was my turn, in a sense. Immediately, I could feel the Spirit say, "You never accept the help that is offered to you." This was true. I began picturing someone stopping by, knocking on my door, saying that they felt like they should come help, and me saying, "No, we're fine, thank you though." because I don't want them to see my messy house (it really is beyond messy right now, very embarrassing). And I realized that even in this moment of sheer desperation, I would probably refuse help. Sad. I started to apologize for being that way, then I decided to pray for help with feeling better since having help probably wasn't in the cards today :). I felt prompted to go take a nap. So I came downstairs, asked the kids if they would please watch Jack for me while I rested. They were all very happy with the idea, fought over who would get to hold him, and I disappeared. About an hour later, I heard Jack crying and called the kids in to let me take care of him. As I sat up, I realized I was feeling much better. Right then, the Spirit reminded me of my prayer earlier and I realized that my kids had totally been an answer to that prayer. They had given me the help I needed to get a little rest. I changed Jack's diaper and fed him and realized it was time for dinner. I called the girls in to see if they could help me think of something for dinner and the conclusion we came to was potatoes. They were MORE than happy to get that started for me. And cheerfully, they ran up the stairs. That was a relief. I realized that they had once again, been an answer to my prayer. A few minutes later, I was up in the kitchen with them, and Bradley came in offering to help with the dinner too! Another little angel to answer my prayer. They were so awesome to help out! They were happy, didn't fight, even cut their fingers a few times while chopping up the potatoes, but they just plugged along, helping me out. I should mention that not once did I inform them of my tooth ache, they were helping me not even knowing how much help I really needed. They are just that good! A little while later as things were cooking, I was trying to clean up the kitchen a little while Jack was in his swing. He got a little fussy and immediately another little angel popped in the room and offered to hold Jack and bounce him a little. It's so unlike Luke to do that that I just couldn't help but thank my Heavenly Father for yet another answer to my prayer. It was like He wanted me to acknowledge that I have help!! I have it everyday!! I have been SO blessed. Heavenly Father gave me these wonderful, hard working kids, because he knew I needed them. He knew my situation. He knew me. He loves me. I will never complain about not having someone show up on my doorstep ever again. I don't need to, I have my helpers right here, inside my house already. And thankfully, they do more than just help, they let me love them back :). Life is good. They all played so nicely together the rest of the evening, and then they all went to bed really well. Nate came home shortly after that... it was a really great evening. Funny to say that after what I had seen coming this afternoon. Thank goodness I'm not in charge. I welcome whatever Heavenly Father's got planned for me :) 11-25-12
- I'm so frustrated with how little time I have to post on my blog. I know I need to get over it, but I miss how up-to-date it was for a while there. That's life. I'll move on :)
- Nate stayed home on Monday to help me out since I had been in so much pain Sunday. I felt pretty good Monday (go figure), but I am so grateful that Nate has a job that lets him do this. We went through many jobs that this was never an option, not even when we had babies sometimes, so I consider it a great blessing. He helped me make my dinners for the exchange, and it was so fun to have his company for that ;). 11-26-12
- Tuesday I went in to see what was wrong with my teeth. I HATE going to the Dentist. Probably why I have so many problems. It's so embarrassing. Found out I needed a root canal on one tooth, Cavity in another, and the fillings I got when I was little were probably wearing down and causing a lot of sensitivity and pain. Rats. I was able to go back in that afternoon for the root canal. Which, can I just say, that was really painful!! My mouth is still sore, and I can't chew on it yet. I'm going to just live with the temporary crown for a while, it's so expensive to get a real one. And go back to fill the cavity next week. I hate teeth problems. 11-27-12
- Wednesday night was very interesting. I won't go into any details, but it was very long. I knew Thursday was going to be tricky, but I think I had a lot of extra help from the nap Nate let me take before he had to leave for work, but more importantly the help I had from Heavenly Father the WHOLE rest of the day. I was startled awake (from my all-you-can-nurse-buffet nap-with Jack) for who knows what, and my heart was pounding! It was just the jump start I needed for the rest of the afternoon/evening. I remembered I needed to make an appointment for Kelly (I had tried early but just as ALWAYS is the case, I called the Dr.'s office during their lunch break... without fail, this is what always happens! Drives me nuts), for her ears, so I did that and the only time they could get me in, that I would still have time to pick up Charity from her play practice, was at 3:40 and that happened to be in 23 minutes! I frantically ran around waking up Erika, getting Noah in his shoes (which can be extREMEly complicating if he's not on board forthe outing), jerked Jack out of his peaceful sleep and threw him into his car seat.... it was nuts.... but we made it out the door at about 3:25. As we were getting in the car, Charity called to inform me that her practice was cancelled. This seemed like a bonus since I could then just take her and the other kids home and she could babysit instead of dragging everyone to the Doc. But when I got to the school, waited for the long line of carpoolers, it was too late to make a run home. They ALL had to come. The Doctor visit seemed somewhat productive. As productive as no real answers can be I guess. They sent us on our way with a prescription for a nasal spray because her ear looked like someone's who has allergies (which Kelly is not), to see if that would change anything. And an order to get her thyroid tested and her blood count to see if there is anything else. Hopefully she's just fine. The kids all did FANTASTIC at the doctor's office. I took Noah , Erika, and Jack in the room with Kelly and I, and the rest watched the movie in the waiting room. It's been a while since I had to do that, but it really was okay.. Sure is funny to think that having four kids in the room with us was the easier way :). It's nice to have older kids. After that, we took everyone except Jack and Kelly home, Charity babysat, and we went and had Kelly's blood drawn. All of these things were such spontaneous things for the day... I had not planned on any of this. I really didn't think they would even be able to see her that day. The blood draw went well. Kelly is so brave! She wasn't scared at all. We stopped and filled up the water jugs on our way home since it had only taken 20 minutes for it all. The kids did great at home, everyone was sad for Kelly, then I started on dinner. As I was finishing with dinner, Bradley came up the stairs with my phone completely devastated that we had missed the Reflections night. I had completely forgotten about it, it wasn't even on my calendar. My friend Linsey had texted and said that Bradley and Kelly had won first place!! We were excited and bummed at the same time! I couldn't let them miss out on the last few minutes of it, so I made Charity babysit again, grabbed Jack and Kelly and Charity and headed on up to the school. We got there after it was done, but in time to get trophies, skittles and certificates. I was so proud of them!! Kelly's was her dance that she made up to the song "Firework" and Bradley's was a picture of the snow falling. They both did really great. I only wish they'd had the chance to go up in front of everyone and receive their awards with a large applause :). Oh well. We did get refreshments :) and then we ran home to rescue Charity. Everyone ate dinner and we headed out for yet another spontaneous activity-- celebrating with ice cream :)! Bradley's speech teacher had given me SEVEN free ice cream cone coupons at our (very official) meeting with the Principal when they removed Bradley from his speech class (after only ONE CLASS!!). One coupon for Bradley and each of his siblings! So we went to Burger King for ice cream courtesy of them! I have to admit I felt really strange just getting the ice cream cones. I had planned on using some of the spare change I had in the diaper bag to get some fries or something so that I was giving them SOME money, but when I got there, I found zero change in my bag. Oh well though. They are the ones that give out the coupons, not me. I know they do it because they assume nobody is going to come in and get JUST free stuff, and they assume they'll get something out of it, and I usually try to comply, but not that night. Oh well. I got over the weird looks from the teenage boys who had to examine each and every coupon like they could catch me in some kind of fraudulent ice cream coupon activity. No such luck, they were all very genuine. We had a nice time there, then went home and got ready for bed. I didn't accomplish any of the things I had planned that day. The laundry was still very backed up, there were dishes overflowing the sink, and well, the house was a wreck :) to say the least. But it was a nice day :). I was happy to have been able to take care of the things that matter to my kids. 11-29-12
- After going on and on about Thursday, I hate to even mention Friday. It was similar with it's random trips to wherever, doing nothing I planned and everything I didn't. But it was a good day as well, and I felt like a Mom again. It's obviously been a while since we did the usual spontaneity... that sounds like an oxymoron. I picked up the kids from school because Kelly's ears were hurting again, and then when we got home, Luke surprised me with the news that he had been invited to a birthday party (received the invite a week ago) and that it was starting at 2:00--- this was at 2:11!!! I had to have him show me the invite and luckily the party started at 2:30 but that still didn't give us much time to buy a present and get everyone in the car and there. But I took on the challenge. By avoiding shoes on the little ones, I was able to get us out the door by 2:22. We headed on down to All-A-Dollar (I know it's cheap, but I'd never even heard the kid's name before! Plus my kids love that store :) ), I allowed Charity and Luke to go in alone together while I waited in the car with the kids. I've been feeling for a while that I needed to give Charity some opportunities like this, to go into a store alone, etc., and this was my chance. She did great! They came out at about 2:33 and we were at the Pizza Pie Cafe by 2:37! So only seven minutes late, not bad if you consider I found out about the party 19 minutes before it started! I was impressed myself :). Then we went home for the big kids to do their jobs, and call friends. Unfortunately, they all were invited over to their friends' houses. This is a phenomenon that boggles my mind.... I wait all day for them to come home and be with us, and an hour later, I'm driving them all around to drop them off with other people. Bums me out. I know I need to get over it and I am glad they have friends, but it still bums me out. So we piled everyone back into the car again (this is the third time in about 2 hours... if you've never loaded up 6 or 7 kids into a car and all the car seats, then you don't know why this matters... but if you have.... well.... ), took Kelly to Jaycie's, Bradley to Aiden's, and Charity to Annie's. It was now almost 4:00 and Luke needed to be picked up at 4:30. I hesitated to go home, only to have to reload them all back in the car (and it's even harder without the help of my big kids) in a half hour. But we did and I was able to throw some laundry in the washer and a load in the dishwasher. So that was a good choice :). We then left at about 4:20 so that we could pick up Bradley (his friend had to go somewhere at 4:30) and then get Luke at 4:30 as well. Luke had had a good time, he's such a fun kid to have at a party. I love to hear what he does. We got home around 5:00 and I was exhausted for some reason. We did some more of the housework I'd been wanting to get done, and then realized we didn't have much for dinner. Bradley had the idea of getting pizza and offered up his own money (since I didn't have any, we will pay him back) to go get some. We got back in the car :). Picked up some pizza, and had a lovely dinner and movie night. Sort of. We started a movie they'd never seen, they hated it, I wasn't sure it was a good one anyway, so we started another one, then we had several pauses where boys had to clean up the room they said they'd cleaned up... stinkers!... and then started back up on the movie. Luckily I'd taken advantage of most of that time to fold clothes and do the dishes. That was all I'd wanted to accomplish that day, so it was a must. Then Charity called and needed a ride home (we need to invest in some friends whose parents will drive one of the ways, seems only courteous to me!), so we loaded everyone back up in the car... this is about the eighth time, if I counted right, and I decided to just grab Kelly in the process (I guess I should mention that Kelly's and Bradley's friends' parents had offered to drive, but it was just more convenient this way, so I don't know why I complained). When we got home we finished the boys' movie, and it didn't get over until about 10:00 when Nate got home. That 1 1/2 hour movie took us about 3 hours to watch!! Amazing. Unfortunately, I'd thought we'd have time for a little Princess and the Frog so I'd promised Erika (at the beginning of the evening) that we would watch a little of that too. So, in an effort to keep my promise, (and actually partially because she'd taken a long nap during the evening and probably wasn't tired enough for bed) I let her stay up and watch a little of her show. I was exhausted, my eye was even twitching, so I was very relieved when the night was over and everyone was in bed. But it was a very full day and I felt accomplished :) . 11-30-12
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