today the kids are all spending the night with my mom. i don't think she's ever had all 5 spend the night before. at least not at her place. i think she's come here before, but i don't think it's been since zack was born. she would come and stay a week with us after grace and josh were born. she was a huge help. it gave me time to bond with my newest baby, and know the others were being taken care of.
anyway, tonight is date night for us. i don't know where we are going, or what we'll be doing, but i can't wait. hubby's at work right now. hopefully he'll get home at a decent hour so we can go out.
the pig is doing great. she's still friendly, still likes to swim in the pond, and still grunts when she sees us or hears us. if anyone is looking for a pet pig, she'd be perfect for you. or do you need a pig for a movie? perfect choice right here. what does she look like? well, i still haven't taken any pictures of her (i know, bad pigmom), but this is pretty much what she looks like...




well, except that our pig is a girl, and so she doesn't have the *eh-hem* bulge in the back...and she has a little more white on her legs and belly. and her back legs (hams) are huge. other than that, this pig is the spitting image of our little girl.

ok, rachel, swingtown is a show on CBS on thursday nights. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/swingtown/
it is about a couple that were married right out of highschool, that move to a new neighborhood, and meet the new neighbors...who just happen to be swingers. i happen to like it. it will definitely not be for everyone. of course, the fact that we actually know some swingers makes it all the more fun to watch...(did that sentence make sense? sounded funny to me) i told my husband that if all swingers looked like the couple on the show, there would be more people willing to try it out. unfortunately the ones we know look more like, um, well princess fiona and the penguin (from the batman movies). yeah, i know, attractive picture. and people actually swap partners with them! gross!...i just threw up a little in my mouth...

anyway, check out swingtown, i like it. the hubby likes it. of course, like i said, it's not for everyone.

water water everywhere

well, except for our house. it is pretty close. we live on the west side of 79. the water is on the east side. when the hubby leaves to go to work, he sees the flood. it's behind his workplace, it's around the roads he takes to get to work. we are really lucky to be able to not only get out and get around, but just to be able to live in our home. we know people that have to boat in and out of their homes. we know people that have been out rescuing fawns, and other wildlife. this has got to be the worst time for animals...spring is the time of babies, and now there are going to be so many that are going to be separated from them. north of us is where the levees broke. so many lost their homes.

haley is home from disneyland. (that's the one in florida, right?) she had a blast. she brought gifts home for us all, and i am so glad she's home safe and sound. she came home saturday morning, and so i had one whole day of having all five kids home...before alex left today for 4-H camp. he's going to be home on wednesday. haley starts basketball camp tomorrow. my SIL, dawn, is taking her. dawn is one of the coaches that is in charge, so it works out well for us.

i am having a tough time keeping up with everything. the house is not anywhere near as clean as it should be. i have been wanting to scrub the floor for a couple of weeks now. it still isn't done. i'm lucky to get it swept every other day. i am doing dishes constantly.

i must say, i have been cooking more now than i ever did before. i make lunch every day. i make brownies and cakes a couple of times a week. i could be a domestic diva...if someone felt like keeping my house clean and doing the dishes for me. anyone? anyone at all? i'll make you some of the best brownies you've ever tasted if you clean my house, or just scrub my floor.

my garden is doing well. i've already picked a couple of cucumbers and a green hot pepper. i am hoping to get some more straw down in the next day or two. i think i have room to plant some potatoes, and maybe some other stuff. right now i have 3 zucchini, 5 tomato , 4 broccoli, 4 sweet potatoes, 2 hot pepper, 2 watermelon, and 2 cucumber plants. i didn't plan to plant any cucumbers. i don't care for them, and no one in my house likes them...but they were mislabeled as zucchini plants, and i didn't realize what they were when i planted them. i know some of my neighbors like them, so they won't go to waste.

not much else to blog about. i guess i could talk about the show Swingtown. (love it!) but i have a very sleepy little guy on my lap right now, and it is getting increasingly more difficult to type with a tired head on one wrist and a flailing arm on the other.

so good night folks! hopefully i will get to post some more soon.

happy father's day

well, i think my hubby is enjoying his day. i say "i think" because he is no where around. he went to the cardinal's game. haley is in florida. she is loving it! i talked to her yesterday, and she was swimming and having a great time. kids have been driving me crazy. i get 3 more on monday...my little sister is working on monday, and i'm not sure if this will be a regular thing or not. it depends on the hours she gets. if it's first shift, i'll be getting them everyday. if it is second shift, then i just don't know. and third shift...well, i hope they would get to stay home and sleep! it's not like they live that close ( a good 25 minute drive without traffic), so i can't get them to school when it starts...and i can't pick them up either. i guess we'll just see.
my dad is heading back to florida today. we spent the day with him yesterday, and my 4 remaining kids spent the night there. they love spending time with my dad and stepmom. i wish my grandpa would have made it yesterday, but my stepmom's dad was there, so the kids had 2 grandpa's to visit with. they have no other grandkids so they love my kids and my nieces. i miss haley. she's the biggest help. she's always willing to do what i need her to do and with little complaint. grace is a great help too, but some stuff she's still just a little to young/small to help with. now, alex, he's a great help...when he feels like helping. otherwise, well, not so much. josh and zack, they like to do their own thing. josh thinks he can shirk helping and still get to do the fun stuff...no way pal!
well, off to the in-law's house for celebrating....and playing cards.

miracle monday

hello dear readers! i would like to share what happened to a friend a couple of years ago. jeff (the friend not my hubby) is the step dad of one of alex's friends. he's a really nice guy, very "faith" filled man. he lost his mom to breast cancer when he was pretty young. he's a great dad. he's also a duck hunter. a very avid duck hunter, as are many men out in our parts. (not my hubby though) he and several of his friends have a really nice duck blind...complete with a cooking stove and chairs, a lower level...very nice. this cook stove is a propane stove. he arrived early one morning so he could get some breakfast cooking before his friends got there, and when he went to light the stove....

BOOOOM!!!!!!!

the stove had been left on a little, or there was a slight leak in the tank, no one is really sure, but the result was the same...the lower level of the blind had filled with propane. when he went to light the stove, it exploded and blew him into the water. his friends heard the explosion and called 911 on their cell phones, as they rushed to him. he was in the hospital for over a month recovering from the burns on his arms, hands, and face.

there are so many miraculous things that came together here for this man.
1. he was the only one in the blind, it could have been so much worse had they all been there.
2. he didn't bend down to light the stove, he just lit the match and lowered his hand. his burns would have been so much worse, possibly could have caused his death.
3. he was blown into the water. had he not hit the water, his burns would have been worse.
4. his friends were right there.

this man's wife spent every day at that hospital with him. they had friends that spent every day with them, helping them with their kids, helping them at the hospital. they had our parish praying for them constantly.

today, i am so happy to say, he has really no visible scars. there are no scars on his face at all. there may be slight scarring on his arms, but you can't tell. he is a different man. before his accident, he was involved in so many church committees. he is taking things a little slower now. he's appreciating life more now.

this man is truly a miracle.