House of Boys

Can you believe it?

2009-03-25T07:51:00.004-05:00

Really can you? I am posting again. It has been so long, I don't even know where to begin. I had all but given up on my blog when a trip to Houlihan's and a few mini martini's convinced me to give it another go. I really don't want to neglect my blog. I used to really enjoy blogging. But along came Facebook..... Its not my fault really. It has games. Scrabble, boggle, texas hold em' poker. It is just begging for me to waste large amounts of time on it. But for now, for this moment, I will resist the pull of facebook, and give my time to my first love.

With so many stories to tell, 4 months is a long time, I will just give you one I have been waiting to share. In January, I sent my boys out on the trampoline to get out some energy. Every one sends their kids outside at 8am in January right? Good, that is what I thought. So anyhow, Jacob and Tyler were out on the trampoline having a good ol' time. As I busied my self around the house (read played poker), I looked out the window to see them playing "lightsabers." Now I have always found these weapon-like toys not a real good idea in a house with 4 boys, so we have NO real lightsabers. But as expected with boys, where there is a will there is a way. They can defend the world with their potato chip gun and defeat the greatest of all enemies with a pencil. So not owning lightsabers has never stopped a jedi master from training his padawan. There they play with a wiffle ball bat and two vacuum attachment poles stuck together. Quite resourceful, if I do say so myself. Now the vacuum attachment thingys have been in the back yard all winter. They are from an old vacuum that we no longer have and they became toys last summer. So at this point, said vacuum attachments are frozen together. Gives the Jedi Master a bit of a false sense of security and he starts really showing off for is loyal padawan. Well, as you can expect, all the friction of play caused these attachments to become unattached. Not too good for young padawan. He runs in the house screaming and here is what I see.

If you look closely, you can see the imprint of the end of the attachment. An almost perfect circle from the lip to the chin. I looked at this for a bit and determined that we would now be on our way for our first stitches ever. How we made it this far without stitches amazes me! But our perfect record was now broken! Poor Tyler. His lip swelled up to the size of a golf ball, actually he looked quite funny. I had to restrain my laughter a few times to protect is precious spirit. So I grabbed the camera, like any good mommy blogger would do, and headed off to the hospital. Much to the chagrin of the 22 year old doctor, I only had one hand to help hold Tyler down. My other hand was busy taking pictures. But honestly he can just get over it. After cleaning it and giving him the anesthesia, he left us for hours. By the time he came back and stuck in the needle to begin the stitches, Tyler flew off the bed. He left us for too long. The anesthesia had worn off. The first time they gave it to him, he didn't know what to expect so he did alright. Second time, not so much. He freaked out, jumped off the bed and wrapped his arms and legs around me and my chair. It took 5 of us to get him back in the bed. Well 4.5 remember I am still taking pictures. It just keeps getting better!! So anyhow here are some shots of the hospital for your viewing pleasure:

My poor baby!!!

And this is the finished product! 6 stitches to bottom lip!

Not too bad for the kid doctor! This happened the day before his 8th birthday. So for his party he had this giant lip with string in it. On Sunday morning, a week later, I took some tweezers and took these suckers out myself. No chance I am paying a copay for that. If I had the anesthesia, I would have put them in myself as well!!

Well that is it for today. Hopefully I will be back before my kids are grown and out of the house. I hope you have enjoyed this story. If you miss me, you can probably find me on facebook. Most likely playing games!

update and contest

2008-12-18T14:39:00.003-06:00

Well the museum went great! Other than getting lost on the way there and lost on the way home is snow storm, everything else was great. No obnioxly long walks around Chicago, didn't lose any kids, didn't spend any extra money. Yep this one goes down as a great trip.

Anyway my friend Clair is having a give-a-way on her blog mummydeals for some super cute shoes. Head over here and take a look!

I'm doing it again

2008-12-15T07:23:00.000-06:00

Well I am going back to a museum tomorrow. Alone. With my boys. Pray!

I should have stayed home!

2008-11-12T07:45:00.005-06:00

I love that all of the Chicago museums have free days. I always want to go but with 4 kids, I can't afford to go unless it is free. Monday was a free day at the Field Museum. Jacob has been obsessed with dinosaurs ever since he was very small and has always asked to go to the dinosaur museum. So on Monday we decided to go. This was the first in a line of bad ideas!!
I didn't decide until Monday morning to go, so I was quite unprepared for the adventure. I had no lunch meat in the house and I had to scramble to come up with lunches at the last minute. Peanut butter and jelly for everyone. YUCK!! Oh well, I pack up and off we go. I realize pulling out of the driveway that I have no gas. First stop gas station. While pumping my gas, I look down and realize that I am wearing one shoe and one slipper. I have no idea how that happened! Dang it, I have to go back home and change my one slipper into a more socially acceptable shoe. Off we go again. We hit the expressway and it is smooth sailing all the way to the museum. After 20 minutes of looking for the parking, we are parked and trying to get in the museum. We load up the mammoth stroller and head to the elevators. Of course not with out going back to the car 3 times for things I forgot. Oh well all is well! We take the elevator up and take the long walk to the doors of the museum. We are on the south side of the museum where I am greeted by A GIANT FLIGHT OF STAIRS!!! No ramp in sight! Time to get creative. I take Camden out of the stroller and give him to Jacob, while Tyler and I carry the stroller up the stairs. Not so fun and not a single person offered to help us! That's fine I can handle this. I can take 4 kids to the museum alone and I don't need any one's help. Yea. Once inside we had a fine time. They have this GREAT natural disasters display right now. We have been studying volcanoes lately so this was the highlight of the day. The rest of the museum, ehh, waste of my time. But oh well, I see things a bit different than the museum does so we plowed through the rest rather quickly. When we exited the museum, we were on the North side of the museum. I looked up and saw the building that my mom works in. I said to the kids, "Look, there is grandma's work. It is not that far, lets go visit her." *disclaimer* Large buildings appear closer than they are!
We head off down Columbus Dr. toward Michigan Ave. to visit grandma at the Prudential building. Just after passing Millennium Park, I realize that we are below the street we want to be on. I am greeted again by a GIANT FLIGHT OF STAIRS. This time, instead of killing ourselves to get up them, I decide to travel a bit underground to work my way up. My kids are exhausted, we had already been walking for about 30 minutes, and I keep saying, " hurry up guys." My legs are very long, one of my steps is at least 3 of theirs. Tyler has now gotten multiple cramps all over his body from too much walking when he says to me, "Where is the worst place to get a cramp?" Before I can respond, Jacob says," Chicago!" Cracking up we continue on. As we walk underground, I realize where we are. Sam stepped on a sleeping man and I panic. We are on lower Wacker. Me alone with my kids. CRAP!! My hurry up's get frantic and I am now encouraging my kids to run, not walk. After a lot of questions about why people are sleeping on the ground, we emerge in daylight. AAH!!! Freedom! 2 blocks west and then 3 more south and we arrive at the Prudential building. About an hour of walking for Giordano's pizza. To add insult to injury, my mom ordered thin crust! Who eats thin crust at Giordano's? Apparently my mom. Love you mom, but deep dish is the way to go.
I made the decision to take the train on the way back. Quick, cheap ride from Randolph to 12th street and we are close to the museum. Unfortunately when we arrive at the train station, it is 30 minutes till the next train. We wait. At least we are stationary. Camden is out of his mind tired and screams the whole time. When it is time to board the train, I am greeted again by A GIANT FLIGHT OF STAIRS!!! Again out comes Camden, give him to Jacob, and Tyler and I carry down the stroller. Again NO ONE offers to help. Now I need it. I am tired, frustrated, and quickly loosing my sense of humor. Any way we are on the train. YES!! Five minutes later we are off at 12th St. We are greeted yet again by a GIANT FLIGHT OF STAIRS!! Same scenario, like groundhog day, Cam out, Jacob hold, Tyler and I carry, no one offers to help, blah blah blah. Street level arrives and we head back to the museum. 15 minutes later we are back at the original flight of stairs and off to the parking garage. Another 15 minutes and I have found the car and we are in. I then realize that I had to pay for my parking at the terminal back by the elevators. There is no attendant on duty. Nice. Everyone back out of the car. I cried all the way to the stupid terminal thingy, pay for parking, and head back to the car. I am sure the onlookers wondered why I was crying as I paid for my parking. Or maybe they understood since we were all paying WAY TOO MUCH for a place to put our cars. We are now on the road. A wonderful, uneventful ride home. It was a beautiful thing. I really needed uneventful at that point.
So the moral of this story...Its not that easy to take 4 kids alone, anywhere, it looks close, but its not, stairs suck, chivalry is DEAD, pizza should be deep dish, nothing is quick, remember where you park, read the signs in the parking garage, and next time you start a day with 2 different shoes....STAY HOME!

Welcome to my circus!

2008-10-02T06:37:00.004-05:00

Did you ever have one of those days where you think only of your bed all day? Where all you want to do is climb back in, pull up the covers, and SLEEP? This was my day yesterday. It wasn't a bad day, but with a terrible sinus infection and a never-ending list of things to do, all I wanted to do was go to bed. When that moment finally arrived, I was thrilled! With all of the kids sound asleep, I was one happy camper! After watching the weather, I turned off the tv, curled up in a ball, freezing my butt off, and went to my happy place. Fast forward 20 minutes.....I hear crying. It is Sam. He often has night terrors so I wasn't too surprised to hear him. I perfected the art of "pretending not to hear" and so Jay got up and handled it. Happy and peaceful once again. I relaxed and got cozy again. Aah happy place. Fast forward 5 minutes.... I hear crying. This time it is Camden. After a quite a few minutes of crying, I realized that now Jay has perfected the art of "pretending not to hear" and in the spirit of fairness, I got up. Searched all over the house for a binky, figuring that was the problem. Finally after moving couches, I found one. Stealth like, I move in the baby's room, hoping he will believe a binky just appeared in his mouth. I do not want to be seen. I am crawling on the floor, reaching through the bars of the crib, frantically feeling around for his mouth to put in the binky. I am using a bit of childlike mentality here, assuming if I can't see him, he can't see me. This is not a true statement. I am big, crib is small, and baby is smarter than my tired brain was giving him credit for. As I reach through to find his mouth, he reaches through and finds my hair. Ugh, plan foiled! I now look up to find him standing over my head with a binky already in his mouth and realize I am trying with all my might to shove the binky in between his toes. Our eyes meet. I stand up and lay him back down, position his blanky and cover him. In my mind all I can see is my bed. I head back out of the room, this time on my feet since Jacob's legos on the floor drew blood from my knees on the way in. I close the door and the screaming returns. Now we are at almost 15 months here and Camden has NEVER woke up like this before. I decide to leave him for a bit and see if he will put himself back to sleep. After 10 minutes of crying and a bit of fear that Jacob sleeping next to him might be next to wake up, I head back in. This time I picked him up. He quieted immediately and I held him next to his bed for a few minutes. When I felt that his breathing had slowed to a sleeping rhythm, I laid him back down. Screaming again. Again I leave the room and hope that he will give it up. I got back in bed because I was freezing and vowed to out last him. After about 10 more minutes, I realize that due to sinus infection, I have no sense of smell. What if he has a dirty pants? I would feel terrible if I didn't check so back in I go. I take him down to the couch to change him and nothing! Hardly even wet. Back to bed he goes. Screaming again. I wait yet another 10 minutes before going back in and this time I broke our cardinal rule number 1 for sleep success. I brought him in our bed. I know bad move! I was so cold. Please understand it was like 40 degrees last night and someone refused to turn on the heat. My head was pounding and I needed sleep so bad. It is now after midnight and I have gotten a grand total of 20 minutes sleep so far. I turn into a pumpkin around 9! Back to baby. He was happy and comfy in our bed and he went to sleep. Around 2:30 I woke back up to use the bathroom and decide it is safe to move him back to his bed. Not true. As soon as I laid him down, screaming again. Frustrated beyond belief, I moved him back into our bed. I struggle to get comfortable with anyone in our bed, but at least I can be under the covers. We have a GIANT king size bed that sits very high off the ground. At 4:30 I hear crying again. I can't remember at this point if Cam is in my room or his so I sit up and try to get orientated. I realize that the crying is coming for my left. My eyes won't open. Due to said sinus infection, they are stuck shut. Nice, huh? Jay sits up and looks and my baby is on the floor next to my bed. Yeah you read that right. He fell off. Don't know how that happened. He fell a good 2.5-3 feet off my bed onto our hard wood floors. I panicked! Now imagine the sight. Jay is holding my hysterical baby and I still can't open my eye. I had gotten one open but the other will definitely take a warm rag or something to get it open. So I pull out my best pirate and try to handle the situation with only one eye. Quite funny in hindsight! I am pretty sure that Camden is OK. Jay calmed him down and guess what, he moved him into his bed and he went right to sleep. I suppose our bed doesn't look so good after it dumped him out! By the time we finished all of this, Jay climbed back into bed only to have his alarm go off 3 minutes later! I got up and cleaned up my eyes and went back in to check on Cams. Soundly sleeping he is! I fell back asleep for probably about a half an hour when Jacob woke up ( he is quite an early bird). I give up. Sleep will not be mine tonight! Oh well, sleep is for sissy's!

Crazy town

2008-08-20T07:12:00.003-05:00

Well the bus to Crazy Town is scheduled to pass my house and we've decided to hop on. Yes I know I am crazy. I've actually planned this trip to The Town. Two months ago I looked forward to this trip. As departure time approaches, I am starting to get VERY nervous. Where am I going you ask?? I am going to home school. Why, you ask? I have no idea right now. I am too nervous to remember why. We home schooled back when I only had a preschooler and a Kindergartner. Even that overwhelmed me a bit. Now after 2 years in school, they are coming back home. I have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, kindergartner, and a toddler. So I imagine this will be a bit different then last time.
I have a file cabinet full of curriculum that I have no idea what to do with and 3 semi-angelic faces staring at me, ready to learn. Really it is not the teaching part that freaks me out, it is more the organization and discipline that homeschooling requires that brings me to nausea. There is no rhyme or reason to my day. There never has been. But now there must be both rhyme and reason. Kind of like, " hey watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!" And I am no magician. So pray for me. Encourage me. And all of you veteran home schoolers out there, HELP ME!!!!!
Lord love a duck!!!

I love a great deal!!!

2008-08-17T08:59:00.002-05:00

Ok So I must admit. I am not the greatest at using coupons. I find them to be a bit difficult and confusing. I have found a resource to simplify this for me. My extremely savvy friend has decided to start a blog posting all of the great deals she gets and tell us, less savvy people, how to do it. I was skeptical at first whether it would be as easy as she said so I tried it. I went to walgreens yesterday to get diapers. The walgreens brand were buy one, get on 50% off. That is 7.99 for the first pack and 3.99 for the second. Not a bad price in my book. But it can be better. Using the instructions on Clair's blog I went to the front of the store and grabbed a coupon book. In it I found a coupon for $5.00 off 2 packs of walgreens brand diapers. I then went to the pharmacy and asked for a book of the prescription coupons. In there I found a coupon for $2.00 off each pack of walgreens diapers. That is a grand total of $9.00 off!!! The diapers were only $12.00 before the discounts so I got 2 jumbo packs of diapers for $3.00!!! $1.50 EACH!!! I was so excited when I left walgreens I called every one I know who has one in diapers!! She is posting a few times a day because she has so many deals to tell us about. So check out Clairs blog and let me know what deals you try!!!

OH YES

2008-08-05T13:18:00.002-05:00

Well I am now on week 3 of my e-mealz plan and it is still A-MAZING!!! All of the food has been so good to eat and so easy to make. One of the recipes was a chili, not such a big hit with the boys, but everything else they have loved! If you haven't checked it out yet click on the link in the post below. I have even stayed 30-50 dollars under their estimated total! By shopping at aldi, keeping an eye on sales at other stores, and following the helpful coupon hints on the emealz website I am saving so much money. What I am saving money? Yes time for a pedicure!!!!

This is it!!!

2008-07-25T11:14:00.003-05:00

I have found a website that will revolutionize my life!! Yes this is it!! It is called e-mealz and it is amazing!! Dinner is one of my biggest obstacles each day. I never know what to make, and I am so sick of saying, "do you want spaghetti, tacos, or sloppy joes?" Then repeat that sentence the next day. This website gives you a weekly FAMILY FRIENDLY meal plan along with a corresponding grocery list. The bonus to this is that you can choose your grocery store and they will coordinate your meals with what is on sale!! Your meal plan is complete with recipes and your grocery list is broken down by AISLE and lets you know what items are for which meal. So if you want to skip meal 2, you can skip all of the ingredients with a 2 next to them. PERFECTLY BRAINLESS!!!! They also give you options of low-fat, low-carb, or points. I don't even know what points is:)

I have already printed 2 weeks worth, yes they are printable so you can save them to reuse, and each of the 14 meals are things my family will eat. The highest cost of the 2 is $77. That is only if I have to buy all of the things, some of them I have on hand, and if I only go to the store I chose. I could just as easily take that list to aldi and get what I can there and probably save quite a bit. I already spend more then $100 just on dinner stuff for us each week. This is also the meal plan for a family of 6 so smaller families would definitely cost less. I am so excited about this. If you want to check it out click here E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families

I said I would NEVER do it!

2008-07-02T06:55:00.002-05:00

I have one very important rule, one that I broke last week. "Thou shalt never bring 4 boys into anyone's place of business by myself." It is the 11th commandment, and I have sinned against it! I took all of my boys into the store and let me just tell you the wages of sin really is DEATH!!

I was heading to a weekend long conference at my church, and on the way to taking the kids to my parents, I had to run into CVS. It is not a big store, very few toys and such, so I justified my rule breaking. They actually did pretty well at first. We charged through the store, quickly, grabbing exactly what we needed. Diapers for the baby. I hightail it up to the counter and a very nice 12 year old boy begins to check me out. Halfway through the transaction, the computer freezes!! Ok I decide to remain calm. He looks dumbfounded, not exactly sure how to handle this problem. I suggest calling a manager or trying another register. His first life-saving maneuver was acting promptly on both of my suggestions. Manager arrives just as he is attempting to re ring me, there is no drawer in the register. The manager calls to the "back"(I can't imagine where that could be the whole store is about 500sq ft!) to get a drawer for the new register. I say don't even worry about it I will use a credit card then we have no need for cash. Apparently the register won't work without the drawer so it doesn't matter how I pay. Right next to the register is one of those "can't find the price, find it here" things. Here starts the fun stuff for my boys. While I wait, Camden is crying because his is sitting in the reason why we needed diapers so desperately and my bigger boys are roaming the store to find the coolest stuff to scan! After a 15 minute wait, they finally have the register situation worked out, the counter is full of random items they now need to reshelf. By the way, coolest item scanned that day, Dr. Scholls corn removers. Don't ask me why, the tribe has spoken.
After paying for my diapers, I head to the car. As we approach the automatic doors, Sam slams right into them. They would not open! Many people had come and gone while I waited, but when we tried to leave they wouldn't work!! We were trapped!! In what might be my own personal hell! I am starting to sweat and all of the walls are closing in on me. That store never seemed so small! After another 10 MINUTES, they get the doors working and I burst out to the free world. I was only moments from dropping to my knees, tears flowing down my face and kissing the sidewalk. I have never felt such sweet freedom! I had an overwhelming need all of the sudden for a GRANDE white chocolate mocha. Which I got, but this time I used the drive-thru!! PRAISE GOD FOR DRIVE-THRU'S!!!!!!

Don't eat the big white mint!

2008-06-10T06:30:00.002-05:00

Apparently this applies to more in life than just urinals. Yesterday afternoon, my children were enjoying a swim in our pool/over sized bathtub. I could hear them playing and laughing and just plain having a wonderful time. As I watched out my kitchen window, I took a minute to thank God that they get along so well, how they love and protect one another, and what a blessing it is to have brothers. Fast forward 5, only 5, minutes. I ran to the laundry room to switch the loads of laundry when I hear, " MOM, HURRY!!!!!" I bolt up the stairs, breaking a toe on a rescue hero, to find one of my brilliant children puking in the backyard. I rush to his side to find out what the problem is when what to my wondering ears should I hear. The uninvolved brother was quick to report that brilliant child A was dared by brilliant child B to eat the chlorine tablet!!! I paused for only a moment in utter amazement before dashing in the house to grab my cell phone. Thankfully with four boys, poison control is on speed dial in my phone. I call and a much calmer person answered the phone. Child A is still puking and crying that his throat and tongue is on fire. I am borderline hysterical at this point so calm poison control guy is just another blessing. He is happy to hear that I have a yard full of vomit and instructs me to have him wash his mouth out with water. Then have him try drinking some milk. He will call me back in 1 hour to see how he is. Once the vomiting subsided, we all calmed down and after about 10 minutes he was able to drink something. His throat was still burning most of the night, but calm poison control guy told me that would happen, as long as he could swallow he was going to be fine. How wonderful of God to create us with a quick gag reflex. Never actually thought I would find myself so grateful for it, but hey with each new day comes new stupidity. Needless to say, child B BIG TROUBLE, child A probably punished enough by the natural consequences of trying to impress everyone. Good times, good times!!

Updates and Blessings

2008-05-02T06:30:00.002-05:00

I know you are all wondering how I can go from multiple posts in one week to no posts in well a long time. I felt that we all needed to linger on Farve's greatness for just a bit longer. That and it has been crazy busy around here lately. Camden has begun to travel. He began with a type of army crawl some months ago, quickly progressing to a full on crawl. With in days of the crawl, he started pulling up and walking around furniture. He is now 9 months and will let go and stand alone and just yesterday he climbed up the stairs. Well only 2 before falling backwards. So needless to say he is keeping me on my toes!! Aside from all of this mobility, he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth! With three big brothers, keeping all of the chokables off the floor is a full time job. He is still as sweet as can be and he is loving being outside. We can put him in his walker in the driveway and he just laughs as he watches his brothers play. It is too cute!!!
The rest of the brood is doing great. Jacob and Tyler have 25 days of school left, and I couldn't be more excited to have them home again. The are both doing EXCELLENT in school but I love when they are home. So does Sam. He is so bored without his brothers. All day long he asks me when they will be home. I will not miss that question!! Sam and I have been enjoying our spring weather with lots of trips to the park and lately lots of garage sales. We love those!
Speaking of garage sales, I am having a massive one tomorrow. That is if the weather cooperates! I have so much stuff it is sick. 18 bins of boy clothes, 5 strollers, 4 swings, 3 car seats, 2 bouncy seats, a bassinet and too much other stuff to even try to list. On top of that my cousin is joining me with ALL of her stuff too. It has been a lot of work to put this together so we are praying for a decent day so I can get rid of as much as possible!!!!

Today is a great day. Today I have been married to the love of my life for 9 years! I can't believe it has been that long. I love him more today than the day I married him, and 9 years ago I didn't think that was possible. He is an amazing husband and father. He works so hard for us and then comes home and loves us all with every ounce he has. I can't imagine my life without him. We had a very rough first couple of years, so each anniversary I get the privilege of looking back on the goodness of God in our lives. It is ONLY because of his grace that we made it this far. And only his grace that will see us through the rest. I am so thankful that the Lord gave me Jay and I can't wait to see all that awaits us. Each day has been an adventure, one that I would DEFINITELY do again. I love you Jay! Thank you for all that you do and all that you are!

Football will never be the same again

2008-03-05T14:37:00.005-06:00

The sport of football will never be the same again. Yesterday came the announcement that the greatest quarterback to ever play the game of football has decided to retire. I am not saying that I am upset by this, it is probably time, he is 38 years old. I would rather see him go out on top. I am simply sad to see the end of an era. The bar has been set, the bar is high. Every single quarterback from pop warner to the NFL wants to be him, but all are looking at his back. His records are the ones to beat, his integrity is that to be modeled, his dedication is unmatched, his ability undefinable.
I will leave you with just a glimpse at his greatness.
He has started in the NFL for 16 of his 17 seasons. In regular season W-L he is 160-93, he has had only 1 losing season, he has made 11 playoff appearances with a W-L record of 12-10, he has won 7 division titles and appeared in 2 Super Bowls.
He holds the record for most TD passes at with 442, behind him Dan Marino with 420; He has thrown for 61,655 passing yards, with Marino behind at 61,361; He has the most QB wins by a starter with 160 with Elway behind him with 148; He has 5,377 completions in 8,758 attempts.
He has started in 275 CONSECUTIVE games. He is football at its finest.

You may hate the Packers, most of my Chicago readers do. You may hate Farve because his skill caused your team to lose many times. But you cannot deny great football. He is what makes this sport the greatest ever. He is the Michael Jordan of football. He is Brett Farve!!

What I learned from a GSN marathon

2008-03-04T13:12:00.002-06:00

What else can you do when you are down for several days other than a non-stop marathon of Game Show Network? I don't know.

I have enjoyed the classics and grown to enjoy some new ones as well. I have cracked up at the outfits and hairdos of the 70's and 80's and wondered how being a contestant on Lingo effects your "chick magnetism." From Lets Make a Deal, to Press your Luck, to Card Sharks, Who Wants to be a Millionaire (original Regis version), How Much is Enough?, and many others there has definitely been a progression of what is considered a "Grand Prize" over the years. In 1963 on Lets Make a Deal, a GRAND prize was a 22 inch console tv valued at $400. People went nuts over this. Also entire electric kitchens ( in avocado green, I might add) worth a whopping $2000. Even a brand new car, a 1964 Pontiac Tempest, was valued at $3,927.

Then it was on the the 70's and 80's when I enjoyed Card Sharks and Press your Luck. Nothing like a bunch of middle aged men in one piece leisure suits with bad comb-over's screaming NO WHAMMY to brighten spirits. Big bucks was $1000 ( and a spin:) and the host of the show was a quick wit with his poetry about the whammy. The trivia portion of the show was ridiculous and has anybody else noticed that the whammy bears quite a resemblance to hmmm Satan??
Card Sharks was one of exceptional difficulty. Not only did you have to answer a mind boggling trivia question such as," we asked 100 Catholics are you offended by football commentators using the term hail Mary to describe a last-second desperation pass. How many said yes?" then you had to determine if the next card was higher or lower than the top card. The skill involved in making the high low determination really impressed me. What also impressed me was the incredibly intelligent women they found for that show. These poor ladies didn't even seem to know that every one was laughing at them. And while on the subject, the level of sexual harassment dished out to all women on these shows would certainly have put Wink Martindale behind bars now a days.
All in all though these shows seemed to be so innocent, you know other than a vacuuming satan erasing your $1400 cash and wicker furniture. People got genuinely excited over what seems to me to be small amounts of stuff. Their grand prize was what most people make in only a week or 2. Flash forward to the shows of today. Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Greed, How much is Enough?, Deal or No Deal. Enough is never enough. So many contestants leave these shows with NOTHING because it was never enough. How sad I say. Or how spoiled I say. Our idea of a blessing has changed from anything to anything significant. Are we blessed with a dollar even though we already have 10? Or is it only the $100 that blesses us? Or more than that? I want to jump for joy over an avocado green electric kitchen and not always be so willing to trade it in for what might be better. I want to be a grateful person, content in any and every situation.
That my friends is what I learned from GSN!

My kids learned to share this week!

2008-03-03T11:09:00.002-06:00

I guess at this point I have about one reader left ( thanks mom) and the rest of you have probably given up on me. I really do mean to keep up with this blog, my intentions are good, but like everything else in my life, good intentions don't seem to get the job done.

I survived my week of 9 kids. Really it wasn't as bad as I expected. They were all really well behaved and the best part of all is that they all slept well at night. I can handle anything before 10pm and after 7am, but in between those times I cannot be held responsible of anything! Thankfully they are all great sleepers! Which is a good thing because they will all be back for a few days this month when their mom has her baby.

On Sunday of last week, Tyler got a fever. No other symptoms really, just a fever. He missed school on Monday and Tuesday and went back finally on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Samuel got a fever. Again no other symptoms, just fever. His lasted until Friday or so. Wednesday night I was playing cards with my girls. This is an event I look so forward to each month. We play twice a month, hopefully if nothing else gets in the way. It is so much fun to just play and hang out taking with me only the child whose meals are served from my body. On these card nights I am usually out pretty late. Well 10:30pm is pretty late for me anyway. This week by 8pm I was yawning so much that before 9pm I had to quit and head home. I was just so tired I could not keep my eyes open. I awoke on Thursday morning with.... A FEVER!!!! After all the moments of teaching my kids to share, now they decide to:) Now when my kids get fevers the might slow down a bit, but a little tylenol and they are good to go. I felt like I had been run over by a truck. Thankfully my mom was off work on Thursday so she came over to help me so I could take a nap. On Friday I woke up feeling a bit better so I went on about my business as though Thursday never happened. Bad idea. Better only lasted so long before I was down for the count with a high fever again. This flu is no little cold. It is "knock you on your butt and don't even think about getting up" bad. Fever lasted all day Saturday and Sunday and I woke up with it again this morning. I think Jay was probably pretty excited to get in the car and drive to work this morning after spending the weekend caring for all five kids alone and his big baby wife! He did wonderful though. Never complaining just getting my drinks, medicine, doing laundry, feeding everyone, changing everyone. I am so blessed to have him!!!!!

Well I am starting to have a headache again and I am feeling my fever going back up. I better find my way back into my bed. Hopefully I will be back with you before April!!!!!

Help I'm drowning in kids!!!!!

2008-01-29T09:26:00.000-06:00

Due to an unexpected surgery of a friend, I have 5 extra kids staying with us this week. Yes that makes 9 kids under the age of 10!!! I have a 10 year old, two 8 year olds, a 7 year old, a 6 year old, two 4 year olds, a 2 year old, and a 6 month old! Things are going surprisingly well. I suppose the more kids you have the more organized you have to be. And organization is NOT my gift. I was able to get 4 kids ready for school and waiting for the bus with 20 minutes to spare!! Funny thing is that just last week my 2 kids missed school because we didn't make it in time for the bus! All of the kids have been very well behaved, that is a gift from God! Well I must go now due to my brood of hungry youngins'. I'm sure I will return next week with some stories about our adventures. I already have those posts brewing in my brain. Hopefully I will be able to remember!

Who are you going to vote for???

2008-01-10T11:34:00.000-06:00

With all of the voting going on in other states and ours just around the corner, I thought I would share this cool website with you. Do you know who you would vote for? Does the one you have in mind really share your views or have we been swayed by "political spin?" Thought it was really informative. Check it out!

Click here

I had a dream

2008-01-04T08:25:00.000-06:00

It is no secret that my kids love to eat. They eat obscene amounts of food and they eat all foods. They love herring, avocado, eggs, broccoli, and just about every other food that makes most kids squirm. For this I am blessed! The first questions my kids have when we do anything is what are we going to eat and whenever they go anywhere the first story we hear upon returning is what they ate. That being said, this obsession with food has now infiltrated the dreams of my 4 year old. He woke up this morning and was telling me he had a bad dream....

Sam: Mommy, I had a bad dream.
Me: Oh boy do you want to tell me about it?
Sam: Ok We were being chased by hot dogs.
Me: Oh my
Sam: They were trying to attack us and the only way to stop them was to eat them.
(insert Sam's tears)
Sam: Mommy I tried my best, but the chili dog got Tyler.
Me: (doing my best not to laugh) What is important is that you tried your best, right buddy!

Sometimes I really wish that I had the gift of dream interpretation!!!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T20:56:00.000-06:00

And this is a shot of the kids enjoying the awesome gift from Grandma and Grandpa Jeeninga
Oh yes it is a full size air hockey table. The kids love it. Jay and I like it too. On Sunday night Jay and I stayed up quite late playing.
On Monday we went to my Grandma's house for our Christmas celebration with my family. This is always the greatest day of the year. All of my cousins and their families are there as well as all aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents. It is a full house but so much fun. This is the only time of the year we are all together with our children. Here is a picture of the boys before we left the house

Here they are waiting patiently to open presents

This is the only time I will ever put a picture of me on the blog. Here is me with my cousin Lisa. She has been my best friend since birth and now I love to see our children playing together. She has 2 boys and then she went and had a girl in October. Not too sure what to do with her:) I am the one in purple for those of you who have never actually seen me.

On Christmas morning we actually slept in a bit. Jay, Jacob, Tyler, Camden and I were all up by 8am waiting for Sam who strolled out of bed about 8:30. After opening our stockings, each of the kids had one present under the tree. Jacob and Sam opened theirs but Tyler didn't have one. He looked a bit concerned for a moment, even fought back the tears, when Jay ran down stairs to get the video camera ready. Once ready he called Tyler down. Ty found a large blob covered by a blanket with a large bow on top. We told him to open his present and this is what he found....

I can't believe I actually bought drums to keep in my LOUD house of boys, but there is something about finding that perfect Christmas present that tends to send all reason out the window. He was ECSTATIC to say the least.
Here is the baby on his first Christmas....

I had 3 different baby's first Christmas outfits for him to wear for each day of our Christmas's but apparently I never took any pictures of him while he was wearing them. Since he pukes a gallon every 3 minutes, none of the overpriced outfits lasted too long. At least I got him in the bib.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and if you didn't, at least it is over:)

I know you are all proud of me finally adding pictures to my blog. I FIGURED IT OUT!!!!! Now I need to learn how to upload videos, but don't hold your breath-it took me almost a year to get a handle on the picture situation.

Questions

2007-12-19T06:18:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, its been a while. Seriously, I mean to keep up with this blog and then before I know it, it's been a month. I am having a bit of writers block lately or maybe it is the children induced brain drain, either way I haven't been able to come up with much to write about. So today I pose to you, the reader, some questions. Some of these are my questions, others have been asked by my kids and I do not have an answer.
1. Mel, can you send me the recipe for that dip you made for mops? I am still dreaming about it!! Any other appetizer recipes would be appreciated. I have lots of "events" coming up in the next few weeks that require my bringing something and you can only bring spinach dip so many years in a row before everyone gets sick of it.
2. What's sex? This question was, of course, presented by my children. But it was delivered with such a shock effect, that I had no answer for them. I fell back, by default, on the "go ask your dad" answer, but I am not sure his answer was much better than mine. All I kept thinking was, "why do you need to know, your 6" but I figured Dr. Dobson taught me better than that, I just couldn't think of anything in that moment!!
3. Why is it that when boys play anything it includes sound effects accompanied by obsessive amounts of spit? The better the move, the more spit. Seriously, I don't get this one. Every time I play whatever it is we are playing, even uno, I end up covered in spit!!! And while we are on this one, why do I always have to be the bad guy?? And how come when you do the jump, kick, spit move, you kill me, when I do it, you magically put up a force field at the perfect time which sends it back to me and again I am down?????
Ok that is enough questions for today!

An update on the kiddos:
Today is the last day of school for 2.5 weeks and honestly I can't wait!! I love having my boys home with me. Sam will be SO excited to have his brothers home which means less spit activities for me:) Camden is 5 months today and he is doing great!! He is such a good baby. He NEVER cries unless he is hungry. He is rolling over and trying very hard to be a thumb sucker. I just keep pulling it out and giving a Binky. Gives me a feeling of more control.

Well that is all I have for you. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!!

Just a bunch of stuff

2007-11-20T06:52:00.001-06:00

Now that the comment situation is remedied I can quit obsessing about it and get on with life. Things have been CRAZY busy around here. On Saturday a group of people from church came over to help us with jobs around the house. I am so blessed to be a part of such an awesome church!! We painted our living room, dining room, hallway upstairs, hallway downstairs, foyer, the whole lower level, kitchen, and boy's room closets. In addition to all of that painting, windows and blinds got cleaned, gutters cleaned out, leaves raked, garage organized, and a bunch of electric thingys changed. It was a busy and exhausting day for all, but the results are AMAZING!!!! We have lived here almost 3 years and had never painted anything. The walls were a yucky antique whitish color originally painted about 30 years ago. So it was time. I also must confess, I have never cleaned windows or blinds. I daily clean off the fingerprints, but the whole inside and outside and screens have NEVER been done! What a blessing this was to me!!! I didn't realize but I love clean windows! Probably not enough to try to fit it into my "cleaning" but enough to say the one who did it is my new best friend! So now I am on to the business of putting my house back together. I figure it is time for the Christmas decos to come out anyway, so I will use all of the open space for that purpose.
We are approaching my favorite weekend of the year!! After a giant dinner on Thursday, my kiddos will sleep over at grandma's so Jay and I can wake up before the crack of dawn to SHOP!! We love it! We map out our route on Thursday night and hit the ground running! I should be done Christmas shopping by about 8am on Friday! That is if I can fight off the other crazy moms for that sweet new transformer on sale while nursing a 17 pound baby! This ought to be interesting this year with baby in tow. It has been a few years since I have had to whip out the (lets be pc out there for my male readers) "baby feeding devices" at Kohls at 4:00am while surrounded by 100's of other people. But lets face it, I can currently nurse, take out the garbage, clean up spilled milk, cook dinner, and paint my toe nails all at the same time, so Kohl's should be childs play! Then it is off the buy the family Christmas tree. I dive into full egg nog mode on Friday and continue on it straight through Christmas day. I am a nut about Christmas. I love everything about it. The sights, the smells, the food, the Starbucks choices, the movies, the music, the weather, and most of all the fact that MY SAVIOR came as a baby! I will never get over how amazing that is! I am awestruck every year at the humble way he came into this world. He could have easily descended on a cloud surrounded by trumpets and thunder and lightening, but no, the God of the universe came the same way the rest of us do! Often times I find the things I think are incredible about Jesus are more so what he didn't do. Oh the scene he could have made, deserved to make, but he didn't. Leaves me speechless (something I rarely am)!
So, in closing, welcome back commenting friends. My house is clean, er I mean painted. The kids are good, providing no humorous stories for you but sanity for me! Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

OK try this

2007-11-07T06:47:00.000-06:00

Although I was absolutely in love with my layout and colors, I decided to change it to something else to see if it help my comment situation. So let me know if this helps, if it doesn't I am going back to pretty.

So much to blog, so little time

2007-11-03T11:56:00.000-05:00

I would love to make this a nice long post but time is not my friend lately. So I will quickly hit a few points.....
1. about an hour after the previous blog entry, Tyler began throwing up!! So much for the underfed or emotional issues diagnoses. Just the plain old repulsive stomach flu!
2. computer issues solved!! Pictures will follow as soon as I learn how to do it. Apparently it is easier to solve to issue of a new computer than it is to resolve the stupidity of the user.
3. Why is it that when I wait 15 minutes for a good parking spot, just so I don't have to walk alone with a baby through a dark parking lot at night, that I forget where I parked and end up spending an extra 15 minutes wondering around said dark parking lot alone with baby trying to find the van that is parked right in front of the exit??????

I am MOTHER OF THE YEAR!!!!

2007-10-24T12:59:00.000-05:00

No matter how hard you try to figure out your kids, they will ALWAYS surprise you. I learned this lesson again today while dining at McDonalds with some gals from my mops group. A great time was had by all. There were about 10 kids between the 4 of us although it seemed like about 25. Us ladies were busy gabbing, while ignoring the chaos around us when my cell phone rings. Normally in a situation like this I would not answer the phone as it is loud and it looks really bad when your kid is running nuts and you are on the phone. Today though I did not recognize the number and thought to myself I better take this.
This is the interesting part. On the other end of the phone is Mrs. Kitchenmaster (yes that is her real name) the school nurse at my kids school. I knew immediately this call was pertaining to Tyler because Jacob NEVER goes to the nurse. She begins to tell me that Tyler has a stomach ache. I said ok, should I come get him? Here is where it gets funny..... She says, " well Mrs. Jeeninga, he says that he has been having stomach aches every morning and that he doesn't get breakfast. We, here at school, offer free breakfast and lunch to all kids if you are having trouble. I will send home the application for you with Tyler today. We gave him some cereal this morning and have also offered him some lunch." At this point, I am having a hard time holding my composure. I explained to Mrs. Kitchenmaster that my children are offered a quality, high protein breakfast every morning and a lunch is packed for them every day except Friday when they buy lunch with the money put on their lunch accounts. While I can appreciate her acting on the information provided by my now grounded, attention seeking child, really we are doing ok and are fully able to provide food for our children. And then it goes on....." have their been any problems or changes at home in the past weeks that could be causing this. Because you know often times stomach aches are just a cover up for deeper emotional issues. Or maybe he is having trouble with someone at school? Have you discussed this with him?" "Not as of yet" I replied," but I have every intention of TALKING to him when I see him. In fact, how about I come pick him up now and see if we can get to the bottom of this while it is still fresh." So off I go to the school to pick up Tyler. Now I am angry, embarrassed, and finding all of this a little bit funny. I am doing my very best to temper my sarcasm and act like a grown up now when I enter the school. Camden had just cried himself to sleep when I pulled up in front of the school so I decide to leave him in the car while I run quickly in to get Ty. Samuel follows me in and as I am opening the door, I realize he has no coat on and no shoes because he took them off in the car. Normally I would not care too much about this, but my ability to provide for my children has already been called into question once today and to be honest with you, once a day is plenty for me. So I try to run back to the car to get his shoes at least, when the secretary hit the button and inadvertently buzzed in Samuel. I saw this occurring and turned to run back and catch the door before it locked but I was late. Now I am on one side of the locked door and Samuel is on the other. Bad, very bad. He takes off like a maniac down the hall. I am finally buzzed in when he hits a corner, turns to look at me, and makes the wrong choice. I honestly could hear what was going on in his brain at that moment. He has been wanting to be let loose in that school for 1.5 years now and he saw his chance. In his looking back at me, he knew he shouldn't, but the sinner in him won and off he went. SO at this point, I have a baby locked alone in a car, a shoeless, coat less 4 year old running like a banshee through the halls of the school, and a 6 year old who has convinced the school nurse I don't feed him. I am having a great day. I finally catch up to Sam, who by the mercy of God, must stop at every drinking fountain he encounters. Definitely slows him down a bit. We walk purposefully back to the office to get Tyler, all the while I have a death grip on Samuel's arm. I am busy signing him out, when in comes Mrs. Kitchenmaster. She kindly tells Tyler she hopes he feels better, greets Samuel, informs him it is too cold not to wear a coat ( thankfully she didn't look down at his bare feet) when Tyler asks where Camden is. I try desperately hard to avoid answering this question until we are outside, but it is not one of those days. Samuel (loudly) replies, "Oh mommy locked him in the car" At this point, I do not even bother to reply. I simply gather up my children and head out to the car. Once in the privacy of my car, I began this buffet of emotion. Even the kids asked me if I was crying or laughing, angry or happy. I could not answer this for I was unable to talk. I beelined to Starbucks, got a grande pumpkin latte, and came home to pretend this day never happened. Miraculously, Tyler's stomach ache is gone shortly after arriving home. I have a feeling this is not what the psalmist meant when he said they will rise up and call me blessed!!!

Help

2007-10-21T19:38:00.000-05:00

Ok I need help. Ever since redoing my header and layout only about half of my blogger friends can access my comments and links. The odd part is that some can, but others can't. Does anyone know how I can fix this??? I have no problem getting to my links and comments but many others can't. If you can help me but can't tell me because you are one of the ones who cannot comment catch me on myspace or facebook or email me. Thank you for you immediate attention to my computer stupidity:)

More Camden

2007-10-04T17:57:00.001-05:00

The long awaited pictures of Camden

2007-10-03T06:31:00.001-05:00

Finally, after nearly 3 months, I have pictures of Camden I can post. I must begin with a HUGE thank you to Michelle for taking these awesome pictures and uploading them for me! She does such a great job!! Capturing a 2.5 month old on film is no easy task. His smiles are still so hard to get, his head is still so wobbly, and he gets tired and fussy after a little bit.

Here is our little pumpkin!
Isn't he sweet!!!

He has a very happy looking smile, tongue always up!

This is a picture of what we will be doing Sunday, in the second half, when the Packers are beating the Bears so bad, we might as well take a nap!

I think this is my favorite!! Kind of far away, but so precious!

I hate potty training!!!

2007-09-25T06:32:00.000-05:00

I began potty training my first child in 2001. I was eager to prove that a child could be potty trained at the age of 2 if mom was good at her job. Well, if I could have had a glimpse into the next 7 years (and checked my pride) I would have waited a little longer. At that time, Jacob was 2 and Tyler was 6 months. After a year of attempts, Jacob was finally trained. Enter Tyler....I again started at 2 and at 3.7 years old Tyler was finally trained. Enter Sam....I AGAIN began at 2(you'd think I would have learned). Sam is now 4.4 years old and WILL NOT use the toilet. I have been potty training almost non stop for near 7 years and I still have one more to go. At this rate Camden may be using the toilet before his big brother. I have always said to other potty training moms to relax, eventually they get it, don't worry they won't go to kindergarten in diapers. This may not be the case for my precious little one. I am having trouble finding a kindergarten that accepts a child in pull-ups!
As I look back on the last 7 years, I feel like I am in the movie Groundhog Day. Only my day that keeps repeating is full of fluids and smells that would have drove Bill Murray to tears!! I can admit it I AM TERRIBLE AT POTTY TRAINING!!! There is no pride left here. We have every potty chart, chair, and treat ever created and yet they all fail me. I have learned over the potty years that I don't like that which I can't control. I can't make them use the toilet. We have even spent an ENTIRE day in the bathroom. Playing, reading, cleaning. With the big porcelain bowl right there, and still untouched.
So I digress. I have taken advice from every book, friend, doctor, and "potty training expert" out there, but if you have some nugget of help I am all ears. Otherwise PRAY FOR ME!! I am drowning in a literal sea of CRAP!!!!!

In other news, gotta give credit to my friend Mel for my new page. I LOVE IT!!! She is so creative, something else I am not. Although I do have many talents, potty training and creativity are not among them. Thanks Mel for making my blog pretty!!

Full contact sports

2007-09-14T16:49:00.000-05:00

In first grade at my children's school, they use a system of colors for behavior. Green is good, blue not so good, yellow even worse, red is very bad. Only once have we had a red. Last year Jacob found a pin on the floor and proceeded to poke his neighbor because "she looked squishy." Drew blood, apparently violating some school policy about weapons. If you know Jacob, you are laughing now. This incident marked the only dropped color for Jacob his whole year of first grade. Enter Tyler....(for those of you with only one or even one and a baby let me just tell you , your second and subsequent children will surprise you often!!). Tyler has been in exactly 3 weeks of first grade and we have had 2 dropped colors already. First one he was trying to "help" someone blink and "accidentally" hit him in the face. When he came home, we discussed why he didn't need to "help" anyone blink and I informed him that God already took care of that by giving us very little control over blinking. This week we had another blue. Sometimes getting a story out of Tyler can be tricky so I dove into this carefully. Here is how the conversation went:

Mom: I see you are on blue today, buddy. What happened?
Tyler: I hit Mallory.
Mom: Oh Tyler you know you aren't supposed to hit, and above all a girl.
Tyler: But mom, we were playing a game.
Mom (thinking it must be tag or something at recess, you know accidents happen and girls are a bit more sensitive): What game were you playing?
Tyler: Tic tac toe
Mom: WHAT???? How on earth would hitting be part of a game of tic tac toe?
Tyler: Well she lost.
Mom: so you hit her??
Tyler: yeah
Mom: Well that is just not acceptable. It is hard enough to lose sometimes and then you go and hit her. Blah, blah, blah..... What got you so upset to hit her if you won?
Tyler: I wasn't mad, when you win you take the other persons arm and say"I win, you lose, now you've got a big bruise."
And that folks, is how tic tac toe became a full contact sport.

DISCLAIMER

2007-09-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

I will begin with a disclaimer. I, in no way, intended to be "complaining" in my last post. I have been told that I have a "dry" sense of humor (would the opposite then be a "wet" sense of humor, I would love to hang out with that person) and my story could easily be misunderstood. I simply wanted to express reality. I am very thankful for all that I have and have to do. Actually unloading the dishwasher is a great feat and I am awfully proud of me for accomplishing that.

Anyhow, true to form for me, I got distracted while microwaving a bag of popcorn the other day. Let me just tell you 7 minutes is TOO long. Once I got the small fire out, we were good to go. Or so I thought. Every thing I put in my microwave now tastes like burnt popcorn. Does anyone know how to eradicate that??? My microwave burrito just isn't the same anymore!!

Is it ADD???

2007-09-08T17:10:00.000-05:00

I have sat down to post many times now and I just keep getting distracted. I have been noticing this quite often lately. For example..... I wake up around 5:30am each day and set off to do all of those things on my mental to do list. Upon pouring my cup of sanity, I mean coffee, I realize the dishwasher is full and clean and needing to be emptied so the mountain of dirty dishes can be hidden. So off I go to empty the dishwasher. After a few pieces have found their homes, I notice how messy my cabinets are so I decide to organize them before adding anymore dishes. I pull out all that doesn't belong and start to put them in their proper homes. I take the unused cookbooks back to their home in the dining room and bang my leg on the dishwasher door I forgot to close. I am on my way to the bathroom to get a band aid for the gaping wound on my leg while all of my boys watch in utter amazement at how cool the blood looks. I put on my veggie tales band aid ( cuz that is all we have) and as I am heaving my giant leg off of the sink I notice all of the sparkly blue toothpaste painted on my sink and counter. Before I can wipe that up, the baby cries...time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes.... Back to work. While nursing the baby I see a family of ants that is having a picnic of lucky charms cereal on my living room floor ( no marshmallows of course, they are the only thing they want to eat) I grab the ant spray and a broom and break up the picnic when the phone rings. It is my husband, he asks me to wash some underwear for him for he is out. No problem I say. I head up to gather all of the laundry and notice that clothes is falling out of the drawers in my kids rooms so I begin to fix that. Well I realize that half of this clothes is NEVER worn anymore so I make piles of that which we will save, donate, and trash. I head down to get a bin to put them in and the baby cries...time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes......Back to work. I decide to pee because my body kept demanding it. I again find the sparkly blue toothpaste in the bathroom and internally complain because no one has cleaned it up yet, but leave it alone because my toilet is a mess. Apparently boys have a hard time hitting the target. I go back to the kitchen to get the toilet cleaner and realize it is lunch time. I make a gourmet lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for all when the phone rings. Husband again (he calls on break, lunch, and on the way home every day). Now I remember that I was doing laundry. Quickly and purposefully I gather the laundry and head down to start a load. I open the washer to find a load fermenting in there. I rewash that and throw in a couple of pairs of underwear for the hubby. Start the dryer to get the wrinkles out of the load that has been sitting in there for a couple of days when the baby cries....time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes. Back to work. I get up to get a glass of water because nursing sucks you dry, when my adorable 4 year old walks in the room wearing EVERY piece of clothes that was on his floor. I forgot to finish cleaning that up and he is doing a fashion show. I ask him, kindly and gently, to please take off all 21 layers of clothes and put it back in the piles they were in (HAHAHA). I hear the dryer buzz and head down to change the loads. On the way I find a few pieces of clothing from the fashion show on the floor and they are wet. After a very scientific experiment of smelling the clothes, I realize that they have been peed on. Now these were the outermost layers, so I begin to wonder where the rest of them are. I follow the trail until all are in my possession and head back to the laundry room when lo and behold baby cries....time to nurse. Pause 20 minutes. Back to work. I head back in the kitchen to get that drink of water and realize there are no glasses in the cabinet. Oh yeah, the dishwasher. So I unload that when my wonderful husband walks in the door from work. He asks what I did today and my only reply can be "I unloaded the dishwasher"(I have left out most of the interruptions from the kids because I figured this was long enough). Somehow I get up at 5:30am, create a disaster in my path, and only manage to unload the dishwasher. Stuff still on counters, sparkly blue toothpaste still in sink, clothes unsorted, underwear not dried, laundry not folded, water not drank. And that is a day in my life!!!

Adjusting

2007-07-25T06:15:00.001-05:00

Well life as I know it now has resumed. Mom back to work, all kids home, and off we go. Camden is doing GREAT!! I took him back to the Dr. yesterday and he looks wonderful. He left the hospital on Saturday weighing 8lbs 12oz. Yesterday, only 3 days later, he was back up to his birth weight of 9lbs 5oz!! The kid is an amazing eater!! The first couple of nights home he was up alot at night, which was ok with me cuz if he didn't eat often mom might explode!! Last night he went down around 9:30pm and slept until 1:00am. I fed him, only half, then he fell asleep. I changed his diaper, and laid him in his bed unswaddled and even left the light on, expecting to hear from him again very soon. I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew Jay's alarm was going off and it was 5:00am. The light was still on, I was half sitting up, and Camden was sound asleep!! I can't complain about the sleep thats for sure! Although if he isn't going to eat in the middle of the night, I may have to get up and pump cuz by 5:00am I am pretty uncomfortable.
The kids are just in love with this baby. I am actually hoping the novelty wears off pretty soon because they are constantly fussing with him. Sam says he is "his baby!" If he even whimpers, all three boys come running to help him. Heaven forbid if I leave him cry for even a moment, they all yell at me to take care of him. They are trying so hard to be "helpful" I love to see them be so sweet with him. They are like 3 little daddy's.
I am anxious to get back to feeling a bit normal. The postpartum hormones wreak havoc on your mind and emotions. I feel a bit overwhelmed be even the smallest things. I know this will pass, but I am not good at waiting (see last 5 posts:)! I can't imagine life with out Camden being here, and being pretty certain he is our last, I am doing my best to enjoy every minute!!

On another note, Jacob is 8 today!! I can't believe I have an 8 year old!!! He is so much the little man in our house and such a great brother. He is a very typical first born. Obedient, pleasant (most of the time), and he has a huge desire to learn all that he can all of the time. He loves to read and studies about different subjects that interest him all the time. He has said ever since he was able to talk that he wanted to be a paleontologist when he grows up. He still loves dinosaurs and loves to learn about them. I love this kid so much and I am so proud of the man he is becoming!! Happy Birthday Jacob! We love everything about you!!!

Welcome

2007-07-21T19:13:00.000-05:00

Camden Ray Jeeninga
July 19, 2007
10:48am
9lbs 5oz, 21 inches long
More details and a picture to follow

Click here to see picture from nursery

It's 1:32am and that can only mean one thing

2007-07-19T01:32:00.000-05:00

MY WATER BROKE!!!!! I will be back with all of you soon to let you know the details for now it is off to the hospital!!

What not to say

2007-07-18T15:09:00.001-05:00

Every time I leave the house I am bombarded with comments from people. I do my best to smile politely and quietly repent as I walk away. This has inspired me to make a list of those things not to say to an overdue pregnant woman.

5. "That is definitely a girl (or boy)"-the truth is you have no idea and it is a bit irritating.

4. "Is it twins?"- no explanation required

3. "Oh another boy, I am so sorry."-Is a baby not exciting enough? Do we really have to make negative comments about the genitalia they have?

2. "Hello Preggers"-from friends~not so bad, from the deli lady at the grocery store~so annoying!

And number one has got to be
"You have a ways to go, you haven't even dropped yet."-really do you want to leave with your life intact???????

Crazy dreams

2007-07-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

Yes still pregnant!! But even better is the turn my dreams are taking. For the past month or so, I have dreamt every night about either childbirth or the baby. These types of dreams have been crazy enough themselves, but last night iced the cake. I had a dream that Jay went out to the store to get some "ornaments" for my belly. He came home with some hook-type dangling earrings. After discussing how we could not hook them into my skin, he then proceeded to go back out and buy this gaudy gold belt with large circles on it. He came home put it around my ENORMOUS belly and hung all of these earrings from it. So instead of dreaming that this belly might sometime be gone, in my mind, I've just begun to decorate that which will never leave. I guess this is my best attempt at making the best of it!!!

Its Official

2007-07-16T06:54:00.000-05:00

Well folks I am officially OVERDUE!! I know (Elizabeth) its only one day late so far, but I have NEVER been overdue before. This waiting game is beginning to consume my life. I know of a total of 5 people all due on or about the same day. They are all currently loving on their newborns and I am trying to get mine off my sciatic nerve!! Oh well I must remember that God knows the day in which he will enter the world and even though I think I know better sometimes, His will is perfect. So the waiting continues......

YUP

2007-07-14T07:21:00.001-05:00

.......still pregnant.........

In case you were wondering

2007-07-12T12:31:00.001-05:00

still pregnant.......

update

2007-07-10T10:42:00.000-05:00

Went to the doctor this morning. I am almost 3, 50%, and -3. If you know what that means, you are a mom. If you don't, google it. Please pray that this baby comes soon, my doctor leaves for vacation on Sunday!! That is all for now, I am going to do some squats, jump on the trampoline, scrub a floor.......

Yes I am STILL around and no it is not twins!!

2007-07-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

Well we have reached 39.1 weeks of pregnancy and all is going well. Gotta say there is no feeling quite like being this pregnant in 98 degree weather. I have become an indoor girl lately. Other than being rather large and a little moody and impatient, I feel pretty good. I have people asking me every where I go if I am having twins! They must not have read my last post warning against those very comments:) I go back to the doctor tomorrow so we will see if any further progress has been made. For her own safety, I hope she has good news!! I am trying very hard to "be content in any and every situation" but it is difficult to say the least. I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET THIS BABY!!!!! Well that is all for now I will try to keep you posted in the event that something actually happens here.

Still here

2007-06-27T11:05:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Not much to report as of now, but I thought it might be nice if I stopped in to say hi! I am 37.5 weeks pregnant, hot, large, and a touch on the crabby side. But there is light in my tunnel. Eventually this little moocher will exit my body and rest in a bed of his own!!
Still no name, but we have narrowed it down to a few and most likely we will wait until we see him to finalize it. I have been busy "nesting" this week, cleaning and organizing all that I can. Although with 3 other boys running around here, I never quite feel like I finish. The boys are enjoying their summer so far. We spent 6 days at my parents camper while Jay was in Mexico. That was lots of fun. My parents bought the boys a bonsai water slide that they keep out there. I attempted to go down this thing, but in my current condition that proved to be a BAD idea!! I couldn't heave my enormous leg over the top of the thing and ended up falling off the back. I was fine, but I am sure I looked ridiculous!!
Well, like Bipin says, now it is like waiting for water to boil. Although I never tell my water, " dang you look big!!" Such comforting words for a woman with highly volatile mood swings!! Being pregnant with your fourth is a lot different then the rest. I don't think I want to see how a fifth would be. I am not 25 anymore, I can't take a nap (but so desperately need one), I can't see my toes, and I would love to complete a sentence without having to stop to pee! Come on baby, today is a good day for a birthday!!!!!!

Maybe Uniqua???

2007-05-16T08:56:00.000-05:00

Ok we are down to the final 8 weeks and still without a name for this baby. Once you have had so many of the same sex, you run out of ideas. The kids have been very helpful in this area suggesting names like Uniqua (from backyardigans), Jesus, and Tyler the second. We would be thrilled with some other options. So today I open it up to any ideas you have. In case you are new here, it is a boy. Our only idea was Four Nomore Jeeninga, but I was hoping for something a little less obscure. Suggest away blogger friends!

I'm still here

2007-04-30T07:15:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone
I am still here. Just not alot to post lately. Which around here is a good thing. I do have a request though. In May, Jay and I have to got to a dinner where he must wear a coat and tie. Let me tell you, he can't wait!!:) I am in need of a dress I can wear. I will be 32 weeks pregnant and I really don't want to spend the benjamin's on a dress I will never wear again. So if any of you blogging friends out there have had to do this in the past and wouldn't mind lending it out, I would really appreciate it. It will be sort of like a wedding type event, without the wedding part. Let me know. Oh by the way, you should probably be over 5'2" tall at least, seeing as I am 5'10" and modesty is always an issue. Sorry 5 in a row, that leaves you out!! Thank you for considering my request and I look forward to hearing from you.

The case of the missing blankey

2007-04-02T11:07:00.000-05:00

My children have all had blankeys. They love their blankeys and they have all had just one that was good enough. We could not substitute a decoy, oh no they knew better. They would not be fooled by that trick. So maintaining a location on the blankey has always been a high priority for me.
About 6 months ago, I sat in my kitchen with a CPS caseworker and watched my adorable 3 year old stand on the picnic table outside of my open kitchen window and sing "I like big butts" while dancing with his blankey. You know, one of those moments of pride!! After my subtle suggestions of a new song, he finally lost interest in his "show" and proceeded to play outside for a little while longer. Flash forward to later on that evening, it is bed time and the blankey is nowhere to be found. I knew that I hadn't left the house since I had last seen blankey, due to the memorable moment that had occurred. So I began to search. We looked all over the house, in every conceivable and inconceivable location. I took a flashlight and searched all over the backyard. I walked the perimeter of our privacy fence to see if it had by chance flown the coup. I even knocked on my neighbors door and asked them to check their yard in case it had gone south for the night. NO BLANKEY!!
I was baffled. After a lot of tears, he finally passed out with out a blankey. I woke up the next morning on a mission to find the missing family member. I even went as far as to offer large sums of money to the one who found the blankey. Meanwhile, my mom had a blanket at her house that he would occasionally use in addition to blankey, so I hightailed it to moms to pick up that one. Begrudgingly he accepted the substitute, but continued to pray for the return of his best friend for weeks. Eventually we resigned. Where ever it was, it would remain. Maybe it ended up in the garbage and we missed it, maybe it fell in the neighbors yard and their dog at it and they were too embarrassed to fess up. So blankey was gone. He slowly adjusted to the new blankey and over time talked less and less about the "other blankey" Life goes on. Tough lesson for a 3 year old, but one of natural consequences since I have always told them not to take them outside.
Today, 6 months later, I look outside where my boys were playing and I hear Sam screaming. He is standing in the yard holding BLANKEY!!!! I stand in awe in the kitchen for a moment. thinking I am seeing a ghost. Sam comes running in the house and sure enough it is the real thing. Of course, I immediately ask, "where the heck did you find that!!???!@!!!" He takes me outside to show me and I can't help but crack up. On the side of our house is our hose reel. It is a plastic thing attached to the house and in the front of it is a small door for holding attachments. There, protected from the elements of a NWI winter, is precious blankey. Looking exactly the same as the day we lost him. Sam is beside himself and I can't believe I never checked there. Actually I didn't even know there was a "there" to check. So mystery solved, blankey in washer, Samuel ecstatic, and mom still scratching her head wondering how in the world that even happened!!!

Thanks, Happy Birthday Tressa, What did you say??

2007-03-11T08:55:00.000-05:00

After a difficult week, we are doing well. Thank you so much for your prayers! On Wednesday morning, the caseworker came and picked up Marcus and Brandon. It was, to say the least, a very difficult day. But Gods grace is amazing and his mercies new every morning, so each day has gotten a little bit better. I miss them like crazy, but I cry a little less with each new morning.

On to other news, tomorrow is Tressa's birthday. She is 8 and such a joy to us. She is, by far, the princess of this house ( right beneath me the queen:). We love you so much Tressa!!!

Yesterday we had Tressa's birthday party at Odyssey fun world in Tinley Park. The kids had a blast. Jay and I were exhausted!!! During the party, I was listening to the kids talk. There were 8 total kids there, 4 of which were ours. This is the exchange I heard:
Jacob: Somebody pinch me
Tyler: OK ( here he proceeds to pinch Jacob)
Jacob: OOOWWW Tyler, Metaphorically speaking!!! ( here he rolls his eyes and looks to the other party guests for a laugh)
Now, mind you, they are all under 8, so nobody, but me, laughed! I don't even know where he heard that before. It sounded awfully funny coming out of the mouth of a 7 year old!!!
Well that is all for now. Have a great week and enjoy the beautiful weather!

a change of life

2007-03-03T16:36:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone. Today I write with a heavier heart than usual. We found out yesterday that we will be saying goodbye to our foster kids, Marcus and Brandon, on Wednesday of this week. After a year together, they will be moving to their permanent family. I knew this day was approaching for months now, but the reality of it is both exciting and sad. I know the Lord is entirely in control, even where they are going is an example of that. I do know these people and will be able to maintain contact with them to check on the kids. But we cannot see the kids again after Wednesday for a long time. I am so excited that this will be their last move and they are leaving us to be a part of the family God has chosen for them. I can't wait to hear the adoption is final and they can begin to be normal kids again and not "foster" kids anymore!! Saying goodbye is the hardest part, hard for Jay and I and hard for the kids. We would appreciate your prayers as we go through this time of change in our family. Our kids are sad and really don't understand why they are leaving. They have done such a great job of accepting these kids and making them a part of their family. I am proud of the way they have handled sharing their house and parents for the last year. Please pray for Marcus and Brandon that they will soon feel at home in their new family and pray that we can all move on, in confidence, that we have done the will of God this year and it is time to move into that which He has for us next.

Its a....

2007-02-23T13:33:00.000-06:00

Well blogger friends the verdict is in. It is a big, healthy, active baby BOY!!! But really what else could it be. Apparently girls are very difficult to produce. But that is just fine with me. I am so excited to have a house full of boys. Every thing looks good with the baby and he is currently larger than he should be so my due date may get adjusted. I got some great pictures, but I don't have a scanner to put them up. But I am sure you can picture him. Totally adorable in an alien like way:) The kids are excited as well, except for Tyler who apparently wanted a sister. Well like I always say to the kids, " you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!!"

ideas needed

2007-02-20T13:12:00.001-06:00

Does anyone know how to get red burger king Icee out of light beige burber carpet????

I need a vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-02-19T12:44:00.000-06:00

Have I mentioned that February is the longest month?? It may only have 28 days, but that is God's grace to us. Even 28 days seems like 57!! It is too cold to do much, too snowy to do anything, and its been too long since we could do anything. It is simply a tough month to get through. The winter always seems to sink in in February. And I am ready for warm weather!!! I am ready to go somewhere without 45 minutes of dressing and searching for hats and gloves, ready to let my children out in the yard to run off some steam without said 45 minutes of dressing and searching, and darn it ready to wear flip-flops!!

Anyhow, enough of that. Today my kitchen window go broken. I won't even go into how that happened, but as you can imagine I am not a happy mommy today! My kitchen is cold and I have had to remove tiny, minuscule pieces of glass out of 3 different feet already today. I swept and vacuumed, but there are still renegade pieces remaining. SO I have cried, been on my knees, and have decided to get myself off the floor, pull up my maternity pants that fall down every 4 seconds, and move about my day with a smile on my face. Forced as it is, I am trying to avoid doing some sort of permanent psychological damage to my children who are home for like the 15th day this month!! Plus today is Brandons 2nd birthday and I really try not to be a royal crab on birthdays. So party on we will.

I apologize for this most NOT uplifting blog. I would post a picture of my puffy-eyed, not happy but smiling face but I still cannot post pictures so a word picture will have to do. Till tomorrow.

Ok Ok Ok

2007-02-09T11:06:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a while since my last post. I still cannot post pictures, but I will post anyway. All is well around here. I am 18 weeks pregnant and growing. So far everything is going well with this pregnancy and I feel good. The kids are all great, thankfully with no major news to report there either. So the reason why I haven't posted in a while is I have nothing to tell. It has been too cold to do much else than stay in. My house is a mess and my kids are bored! But never fear, the groundhog says spring will come early this year:) Since I base all of my weather info on that special little hairy groundhog, I have hope:)
In other news, my much anticipated ultrasound is coming up in 2 weeks. I assume it is a boy, but I would love to hear your thoughts. I have no preference other than healthy, but it is always fun to guess! So leave me your comments on what you think it is and I will let you know in 2 weeks the big answer!!!

I've been Tagged!!

2007-01-24T08:45:00.000-06:00

Alright I got tagged so I am indulging Jen. Here goes....

A- Available or married? Married 7.5 years

B- Best Friend? My husband!!!

C- Cake or Pie? pie, banana cream!!

D- Drink of Choice? Dr. Pepper

E- Essential Item? Cell phone

F- Favorite Color? Orange

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? bears

H- Hometown? MattEson Il

I- Indulgence? Egg McMuffins(2 at a time) with 3 hash browns!! I know, I'm pregnant!!

J- January or February? February, cuz it is closer to spring

K- Kids & names? Tressa-8, Jacob-7, Tyler-6, Marcus-5, Samuel-3, Brandon-almost 2, we are taking ideas for the newest

L- Life is incomplete without? Jesus

M- Marriage Date? May 2, 1999

N- Number of Siblings? Brad, Gordon, and Joanie + spouses

O- Oranges or apples? Neither, not much of a fruit girl

P- Phobias/Fears? falling out of a moving car

Q-Favorite Quote? I'm, sure it is from an 80's movie, but I can think of none right now.

R- Reason to Smile? Egg McMuffin's are currently 2 for 3.00!!!

S- Season? Fall

T- Tag three people! Melanie, Michelle T., Clair( I would create links, but I have no idea how)

U- Unknown fact about me: I'm an open book

W- Worst habit? Biting my nails

Y- Your favorite food? I'm going to have to go with Egg McMuffins (after all of this egg McMuffin talk, I am on my way to get a couple)

Z- Zodiac? Is stupid!!!

Houston, we have a problem

2007-01-16T13:45:00.000-06:00

I have hit a glitch in my blogging capabilities. Apparently, my computer has only about 500 megabytes of space left on it. I have been informed not to put anymore pictures, music, etc. onto my piece of garbage! So that leaves me a little stuck for my blog and my poor lonely ipod!! We will be looking into purchasing a new computer soon, but those kind of purchases tend to take a back seat to the needs of 6 children and the coming attraction! So my future blogs will probably not include too many pictures. ARRGG!!!!! If anyone has any suggestions on how to get a good computer on a tight budget, I am open to ideas. As I look over the checkbook, I am not sure how a computer fits in so it may be a while. In the meantime, I can read your blogs and check my email and I suppose I need to be content with just that. A bit frustrating, but not the end of the world. If fact just typing this and rereading it has given me some clearly needed perspective on that which are "needs" and that which are "wants." I sound a little spoiled complaining about computer space. And on that note of confession, I must sign off and go repent!!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

2007-01-08T05:48:00.000-06:00

Today Tyler is 6!! As I reflect over the last 6 years, I am so excited about the hope that I have for Ty. This child gave the terrible 2's their name!! It started at 18 months and continued until about 3 and 1/2. A rough couple of years for us. Now he is the most amazing child. So kind and sweet, with a heart for worship like no other. As I watch his relationship with the Lord grow and change, I am so excited to see what God has for him. We love you Ty Ty French Fry!! Happy Birthday big guy!!!

5 little monkeys sitting on a couch!!

2007-01-03T06:02:00.000-06:00

This past week we enjoyed a wonderful visit to the Barker's. I forgot my camera, but my Amazing friend Sam took these for me. Here is one of the few shots in existence of all of the boys together. It is no small feat to get them all to sit still for the time it takes to get a picture.

Brandon and Faith were SO cute that day. Well they are so cute everyday!!!

I will update with Christmas pictures shortly. Although, we purchased a new video camera this year so I didn't get as many still shots as usual.
As for me, I feel good. First trimester down, two to go!!! I am due July 15. We have now told the kids and they are so excited. For the first couple of days, Tyler didn't want to leave my side in case the baby came!! We finally convinced him he will not miss anything! It would be a long six months for him otherwise! Well I will be back in a few days with the Christmas pictures.

GO PACKERS!!!!!

2007-01-01T12:17:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!!!!

Green Bay 26- Bears 7!!!!!!

For unto us.....

2006-12-21T11:35:00.000-06:00

It doesn't look at all like Christmas:(

2006-12-15T15:11:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, I am a Christmas fanatic!! Although this year has been a bit low on Christmas spirit. I have deceided that the weather has alot to do with that. It hardly feels like 10 days until Christmas, more like 10 days until Easter. But, anyway, I am praying for snow next week, lots of it!!!! And in order to boost the Christmas Spirit ( and because I watched Letterman last night) I will now list my top 10 Christmas movies.

11. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles ( I know it is a Thanksgiving movie, that is why it is no.11 in my top 10 list. Great movie though!!)
10. Its a wonderful life (ok ending, but a bit depressing)
9. White Christmas
8. The Santa Clause 2
7. The Family Man
6. The best Christmas pagent ever
5. Miracle on 34th Street
4. The Santa Clause 1
3. It Came upon a midnight clear ( a very 80's Mickey Rooney movie)
2.5 A Christmas Story ( I can't believe I forgot that one!!!)
2. Elf
1. Christmas Vacation
Leave me any comments on this or any suggestions of other movies. I am on a Christmas movie marathon this week and I welcome all ideas.

2006-12-04T15:57:00.000-06:00

Check this out
Click here
This game will keep you busy until I get a chance to post again!!

UGGHHHH!!!

2006-11-29T13:39:00.000-06:00

I am baking cookies with a 3 year old boy. Enough said!!

Downtown adventures

2006-11-28T11:28:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we went downtown to see the lights. After a very exciting train ride ( what isn't exciting with 5 boys), we arrived in the city to some beautiful weather. Although it didn't seem very christmasy, it was much more pleasant than 20 degrees and windy!! My parents came with us and we met my cousin Lori and her husband Rich and 2 of their kids down there.

Here is Tyler and Rich and Lori's daughter Kayla. Being the only girl on this excursion, she was much loved!!

The boys and Kayla

All 7 children waiting to eat some delicious pizza at Giordano's

We had such a blast and definately plan to make this a yearly event!!

Giving Thanks and Tree Picking

2006-11-27T10:01:00.000-06:00

It has been a busy and fun filled extended weekend. Here is part one of our adventures. On Thanksgiving we went to my mom's for some yummy food and family time.We have so much to be thankful for and family is a big one!! Here is my cousin and sister-in-law with Tyler.

Here is my brother and Samuel looking at some pictures.

On Friday, we went out to Kingma's tree farm in Demotte In to choose our tree. I highly recommend the place. We took a hay ride out to the trees, cut our own tree down, and then took the hay ride back. They come around with a truck and pick up your tree, bring it to you, shake it, wrap it up, and tie it to your car. We had a great time.

Does anyone really know me???

2006-11-22T13:05:00.000-06:00

I saw this quiz on Jen's blog and deceided to try it. Lets see how well you know me.

http://www.testriffic.com/friendtest/625570

Acquiring some fire

2006-11-11T15:58:00.000-06:00

We had a great time last weekend at Acquire the Fire. Exhausting but fabulous!! Here are some pictures of the greatest bunch of High School and Junior High students ever.
Jason M. is definitely having a blast dancing to Grits.

The Thugs!!

Apparently hotel scrambled eggs are about as good as they look!!

We miss you Linz!!!!!!!

This isn't even all of the pizza!!!! Man we can eat some Papa John's!!

Halloween Part 2

2006-11-02T08:19:00.000-06:00

Brandon couldn't figure out how to open the candy bar so he just stuck the whole thing in his mouth!!

I love those cheeks!!

For anyone who recalls my post about the kids in school, here is a picture of Sam and Joey. The only Joey in the class!!

Halloween Part one

2006-11-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great time this year for halloween. After rushing around to attend all of the kids parties, watching the school parade, and getting them in and out of costume countless times, the time came to get the goods. We only go to a few houses around our house, but end up with buckets of candy anyway. The kids love it and since we are really the only kids on our block, the neighbors love it too! Here are some shots of the kids.

Super Jacob

Bat Sam

Spider Mark

Ty Wonder

5 little monsters sitting on the couch

A busy, busy weekend

2006-10-29T09:11:00.000-06:00

We had a very busy weekend this week. Apparently I am not so good at organizing my pictures so I will be working backwards. On Saturday my cousin Janis was married to a great guy named Mark. These are pictures of my family from the reception. First up is the grown ups.
This is my brother Brad and his beautiful wife Amanda. Clearly I got the looks in the family:)

Here is my Uncle Dean. He was in the grown up's picture but I think he was out of place there!!

Here are all of the cousins and their spouses. I LOVE MY FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Thursday Sam and I took a field trip to the pumpkin patch. What a cold and rainy day!! But all in all Sam and I had a blast just being together.
Here is a picture of Daddy and all of the boys with our freshly carved pumpkin!
Jacob is goofy and apparently for sale!!

Here are all of my little monsters at the pumpkin patch!!
All of those pictures are out of order but I have no clue how to reorganize them!
On Friday night Jay and I had a great date night at the Chris Tomlin concert, thanks to my parents. They gave us the tickets for my birthday and babysat for us!! It was AWESOME!!! Well that is all for now. Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into the last 4 days of life here.

The Dancing queen and randomness

2006-10-23T14:48:00.000-05:00

I must begin with a picture of the "Dancing Queen" And I am not talking about Mallory, no it is Mark doing "the dinosaur"

Here are just some random pictures of life here at our house.

My kids love money!!

Does their mother ever put shoes on them???

Daddy and Tyler playing football

Isn't he just the cutest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Ladies Man

2006-10-16T16:57:00.000-05:00

Having my children in school has been very interesting so far. I am learning so much about them. I have learned that Jacob is very studious, loves learning, and thinks girls are gross. Samuel actually can play well with others and thinks everyone in his class is named Joey (I don't know why). Marcus loves to please his teacher, often going out of his way to get her attention, and barely even knows the other kids exist. Tyler has definitely been the most interesting of all. He is quite the little kindergarten Casanova! He often tells me that he tries to play Star Wars at recess with his friends but it is hard due to the angry mob of girls that chase him (his words). He has been given a myriad of gifts from his adoring gal club. We have received money, fruit snacks or candy of some sort, various pieces of artwork ( one little girl often draws herself with anatomy) and even been kissed by a girl on the cheek (which had Tyler very upset because now he thinks he has to marry her). Today came home the most interesting so far. A girl named Maddy gave Tyler a blank check from her mom's check book. He came home so proud of his check. I, as any mom would, called her mom right away to see if she was aware. She had no clue that this had happened and was rightfully upset with her child. Apparently Maddy wanted to give Tyler her phone number and saw it already written on a piece of paper in her mommy's purse. How convenient!! He is already getting digits and he is only five. We are definitely going back to home schooling in the not to distant future!!!!!

An awesome dad, a clean house, and LET IT SNOW!!

2006-10-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

I am going to take this opportunity to proclaim publicly how awesome my parents are! Every once in a while, my dad comes over and cleans my house. I am not talking about just a little picking up, I am talking about serious cleaning!! Yesterday my dad arrived at 7:30am to begin cleaning. He cleaned the kitchen first. After cleaning the floor once, he moved the fridge and cleaned behind it, removing all of the junk that had fallen behind it and vacuuming the coils. This amazed me, as I have never done that!! He then proceeded to clean the floor again, cleaned my stove, did all of my dishes ( I have no dishwasher, which should be illegal in a house with 7 people!!), cleaned my counters. He then moved into the front room, where he vacuumed my carpet, scrubbed my hard wood floors. He even cleaned up the foyer, which is generally littered with shoes and coats! He vacuumed the downstairs family room, switched out a light switch that wasn't working, and vacuumed the stairs. He didn't leave until 4:00pm. He returned today to clean my kids bedrooms. My house looks amazing!!! During all of this cleaning yesterday, my amazing mom, took my Samuel shopping with her. He tends to follow right behind you when you clean and make a new mess. I am so blessed to have my parents!! Here are some pictures of my clean house:

The man of the year!!!

Notice no shoes or coats!

My how that floor shines when you can see it!!

On another note, IT MIGHT SNOW TONIGHT!!!! I love snow! Many of you may not like to see fall go so quickly, but never fear it will return. This early threat of flurries is God's gift to those of us who love it!! So I will spend the day tomorrow in my clean house playing Christmas music and baking pumpkin pie. I will also go to the store today to pick up egg nog to go with my fresh hot pumpkin pie!!! I will wear slippers all day and burn lots of candles. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!!!!

A beautiful day

2006-10-08T13:27:00.000-05:00

In order to enjoy the beautiful weekend, we took our crew hiking and to the park. This is always a challenge with so many, but it turned out to be a fun day. We hiked through the woods, played at the park, and ate pudding. I believe the pudding was the highlight. These are some random shots from our day. It is always more fun to have daddy around, especially for mommy!!

HELP ME!!!

2006-10-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Alright I need some help. I have an almost 3 and 1/2 year old who refuses to use the toilet. He will use a diaper, his expensive super hero underwear, the bathtub, the backyard, anything but the toilet! Now I have been around this block twice before, you would think I had a grip on this potty training thing. Think again!! Just when you think you've figured it out, God sends you a 3rd born. I can't figure this boy out for the life of me. I've tried m & m's, shooting the cereal target in the bowl, bribery, begging, threatening, begging some more. We have read books, been to the store to buy "big boy underwear," had the diaper fairy come pick up the diapers for the "babies." Still nothing!! Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Even if you've never done this before, clearly experience counts for nothing. I'M SICK OF DIAPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

I figured since I didn't have any pictures up I would add some. These are kind of old. from early in the summer but who cares. First up is Tyler getting some sun. He doesn't like to swim very much, but he loves to lay out!! That explains the amazing tan!

Here is the baby Brandon eating his first piece of watermelon. Don't you want to just squeeze those cheeks!!
Here is Samuel, my little patience-builder!! This was his first day of preschool. He's so excited!!
Here is my little man, Jacob, on his first day of first grade!! I still can't believe my baby is in first grade already, I remember when he fit perfectly in the crook of my arm. AWE.... I'm ok now
And last but certainly not least, here is Marcus. His first ride on a 2-wheeler. We learn how in the backyard because grass is definately more forgiving than cement, and for that Marcus is thankful. Alot of falls preceeded this victorious picture.

So there are my boys. They make me laugh and cry, sometimes all at the same time, but I couldn't imagine life with out them.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

2006-09-30T21:34:00.000-05:00

Saturday, September 30, 2006

ALONE

It is Saturday afternoon and I am home alone!!!! ALONE!!!! It is very quiet. The husband is at the store, kids all with babysitters, and somehow God has blessed me with a moment alone. It is kind of boring, I hate to admit. All I ever seem to want is time alone and once I get it, I miss everyone. I guess that is how it is with most things, the grass is always greener. I'm going to go call my kids.

Friday, September 29, 2006

2006-09-30T21:33:00.000-05:00

Friday, September 29, 2006
I'm Back
Well friends I am back! Apparently in the life of a mom you don't have much time to blog, so it has been almost a year! Lots has happened! Jacob has lost like 7 more teeth(I didn't cry for the rest of them), we gained 2 more boys in this house of boys, and been priviliged to be a part of a church plant. I will not recap the whole year, if you are reading this you probably know me. So I will start with the present.
Yesterday I was preparing my 2 kindergartners for school. Eating lunch, getting dressed, brushing teeth, you know. All of the sudden I caught wind of something stinky. Now you know if mommy can smell it, it is bad!! I searched for the offensive offender, following a trail of poop up the stairs, into the bedroom, right to the butt of my 3 year old! Unbeknownst to him, he had a trail of feces running down his leg. Well maybe he knew, but he certainly didn't care. I wisked him into the bathroon, but not before bumping the arm of his brother, leaving the evidence on the arm of his shirt (which resulted in tears of horror from the unfortunate brother, a reaction I completely understood). Upon removing the disgusting blue jeans, I discovered that at preschool someone put a pull up on him backward. I looked to be some sort of "diaper thong" thing. Stylish, maybe. Functional, definately not!!! It took an extra 20 minutes to get him bathed, changed, the brother changed and calmed down, a half a bottle of oxyclean for my poor carpet, and us in the car. 10 minutes later I had the boys safely deposited at school, only 25 minutes late!! You can never predict what will happen around here.