who'd of thought

2011-10-21T10:02:00.002-06:00

the chickens are gone. all of them. something pulled up the fence and took them all. had to be something fairly small, like a small dog or fox or raccoon or something. every last one of them though! no bodies, no blood, just gone.

sucks.

i guess i'll have to have the kids clean out the coop. maybe i'll get some more in the spring.

sucks though.

2011-09-21T06:51:00.002-06:00

parenting a high schooler is sooooo much tougher. this past week we have had to have several different discussions about things like fighting being wrong (in most but not all situations), typed words do not convey sarcasm, lying to your parents to try to keep out of trouble will only land you in more trouble, and finally defriending your dad will not keep him from finding out the bad things.
little things i found out.
if you put things like "i want to kick your a$$" on facebook to someone and you go to a new jersey school, you are automatically suspended the first time and expelled the second.
depending on your school district policy, the same can happen in missouri.

2011-09-09T11:40:00.003-06:00

well, my oldest is 15 now. has been for a almost 2 weeks. he had his first football game. he played both offensive line and defensive line. he didn't start the game, but he played part of the 2nd quarter and then the rest of the game. they won 43 to 8. pretty fantastic first game! we saw hubby's aunt and cousin at the game. the cousin's stepson played for the other team. he was an awesome player, but he didn't have support from the others on his team. i haven't been to a football game in about 15 years. i think i went to one after alex was born. i used to love going to the games...freshman year especially. there have been a few changes since then. cheerleaders uniforms are different, and there are more of them. pommers are now dancers and there are fewer of them. (only 7 out there) but i LOVED it. the day was beautiful and my kid was on the field.

i've been reading a lot lately. i've started reading a new author, Barbara Delinsky. her books are fantastic. very real life. i haven't read one yet that i've had to force myself to finish. they are pretty hard to put down. ones i've read~ together alone, woman betrayed, fingerprints, within reach, family tree, more than friends, suddenly, the woman next door, and while my sister sleeps. i don't think i could pick just one favorite...they were all pretty great in their own ways.

i've been thinking about my life more and more lately. with all of my kids at school, i should get a real job right? or go to school? i mean i still watch kids and all. hubby and i had a decent conversation about it last night. he had thought working at a daycare would be good for me. no. no thanks. is there anything wrong with daycare? probably not. but the reason i like what i do now is it's flexible, and these kids are mine when they are here. not mine for a year. mine until they stop coming. my sis-in-law works at a daycare and really likes it. she has the kids in her room until they turn 3. then they move on. i couldn't imagine giving up these guys before i have to. i like seeing the way they develop their own personalities and quirks. i like being a part of that. especially since my own are older now and i won't be having any more. anyway, back to the job/school issue. i figure i have some time to you know, ponder, what it is i should do. hubby was really great about it. not that i expected anything different. i know he only wants me to be happy with what i do. i just wish i knew what that was.
when i was a kid, i wanted to go to college and get a degree, go to law school and be a lawyer and then a judge. why? my mom pushed for me to do it. why? well for her it was because she missed out on it because she was pregnant with me. would she have gone to college if i hadn't been on the way? maybe, but more for the parties than the education. i'm not trying to be mean or rude, that's just how she was/is. i want my kids to go to college. why? because they will get to see more, and do more and that will help them to figure out what they want to do. won't it? i mean if they know what they enjoy doing or learning about won't that help them? it's a little late for me. my life is set in a path that family is the most important thing. hubby and kids are my main focus. i don't want to change that. but i would like my kids to maybe figure out what they want before they start a family. it just seems like it would make their lives easier. maybe not. i don't know.
parenting is so much harder now. when they were babies we were their main teachers. now, they have teachers and friends and coaches and i worry so much some times. alex is going to a school with 300+ kids in his grade. he didn't have 300 kids in his entire school before this. i don't know these kids. i don't know their parents. i think back on some of the stuff i did, and the kids and their parents and it scares the heck out of me. i hope he does better than i did. i definitely want us to do better than my parents did.

where did the time go?

2011-07-28T11:27:00.002-06:00

well, you know it's been a while when you can't even remember your own web address. sad i know. unfortunately, my life has really not been too terribly exciting. hubby has changed jobs a few times. he is now back to selling fords in the same place. he was managing a tire/garage location, but we never saw him. he was putting in 65 to 70 hours a week (sometimes even more) and not taking a day off. if he would have been getting overtime i might have told him to suck it up, but just making a salary and working himself to an early grave? no thanks. the kids need a dad and i need my hubby. so selling cars works out so much better.

alex starts high school this fall. i'm not sure if i am excited about this or depressed. his is going to the same school i graduated from...while 6 months pregnant with him. there are only a couple of teachers still there from when i was there. he started football. and surprisingly he LOVES it. i say surprisingly because he is pretty lazy, and they work his tail off! he will be taking 3 different advanced/honors classes. honors geometry, biology, and honors history. he's really smart, but i hope he's not overdoing it for his first year. it's a pretty big change. he's going from a class of 19 to a class of 200+.

haley will be in 7th. she's taller than me (has been for about a year now) and looks more like 18 than her actual age of 12. not cool. not cool at all. this i a big year for her. at least a big fundraising year for her. this is the year they raise money for their 8th grade year. there are 2 big trips in 8th grade. one is a team building trip the beginning of the school year, and the other is the pro life trip to D.C. plus the gift to the school, the teacher/staff and other assorted odds and ends. she decided to play volleyball again this year. she skipped last year because she didn't want to play for the coach. but she's not coaching anymore so haley decided to give it another shot. so we are looking forward to soccer and volleyball for her in a couple of months.

grace will be in 4th grade this year. big change there is we are losing the nun who had been teaching this grade for quite a while. there is a new teacher we have yet to meet. she gets to start volleyball this year...well instructional at least. unfortunately, the coach haley didn't like will be grace's coach. thank goodness she has a son so she's only going to coach this one year. i'm pretty sure grace needs glasses. we were discussing the books she reads, and why she likes them...and her reasoning was she could see the words easier and they didn't give her a headache when she tried to read them. great! so i need to get her in to see what she needs and if she should or could do contacts. contacts seem like a lot of work, but if she's like haley, and her prescription changes as much as hers did, contacts may be better. we will see.

josh is going into 2nd grade. first communion year. first confession year. big big year! i can't wait to see how he's going to do this year in school. he's really smart and this teacher is great at challenging the kids. his class is pretty small (i think there are 16 kids) and it makes it easier to focus on the individual needs of each kid. josh is getting so big now. and sweet! he is my most helpful kid. he should be doing instructional basketball this year. boy is he going to be good! he's bigger than most kids his age...not just taller but he's like a brick wall. it's going to be interesting watching him. he's really gotten into Lego's this year. like getting the kits and making whatever. he has several star wars things and i think quite a few halo things too.

zack is going into 1st grade this fall. last year was tough for me. trying to keep up with what he was doing in his class and all the things going on with alex in his class was more difficult than i thought it would be. i appreciate that they were trying to get the kids excited about doing projects and such, but really? a different project a month. he did his own stuff...not like quite a few other kids in his class. but seriously, most of it was stupid. one month was a leprechaun trap. stuff like that. i know, i know. it sounds cute and all, but really? just teach the kid to read and add. but no, he didn't learn much with that. we are still working on that. i'm worried about this coming school year. this teacher is really nice and all, but not the best. i'm hoping i can get him where he needs to be before school starts so he won't get left behind. i think he just has to get interested in what he's learning. i've been taking them to get books from the library and he's been really enjoying that.

i'm still watching kids...yeah for me. most of the kids are great, but there's a couple that are a little tougher. i'm not sure if it's their personalities or the fact that i have them for 12 FREAKIN' HOURS A DAY!!! that's a lot. sorry, i'm complaining and i shouldn't. they are for the most part a nice family. young, but nice. the kids i watch during the school year (3 of them) will be 3 years old this year. the girls are potty trained, but the boy, um, not so much.

we still have chickens. we even hatched some out this year. it was pretty cool. we have casey the dog, and the cat. no name for the cat. it just is. actually i'm pretty sure it's a girl...it has a pretty big umbilical hernia. i wasn't sure it was going to survive when the kids found it last year. it was maybe 4 weeks old and haley found it under the neighbor's truck. the cat and casey have a very loving relationship. casey treats the cat like her play toy/baby. and the cat takes it. in fact when the game is over (swinging the cat by the scruff of the neck) the cat i usually the one to come back for more lovin'.

well, i think that's it for me!

first day of school

2009-08-19T12:59:00.002-06:00

ok, i'm excited about it being the first day of school. 4 out of 5 of my kids started today, and zack starts pre-k tomorrow. 3 hours 2 days a week. i think we are both pretty excited about it.

since summer is officially over, i figured i'd hit the "high" points from the last few weeks since my last post.

the fair happened the last week of july. starting that tuesday. haley was supposed to have her pig up there by 5pm. guess what happened...well, the stupid things escaped during the major downpour we had. and they stayed gone until the next morning. yeah, she was pretty upset. we were all pretty upset. in fact, i think between jeff and i, we could have just shot the damn things and been done with them both at that point.
especially when they disappeared the next day too. we finally got them secured in the pen, set up a time for them to go the the butcher, and we went on vacation for the weekend.

we had a great time at tablerock. even after the morning call of "hey one of the pigs died". that call came on sunday...they were going to the butcher on tuesday. not happy, not at all. so when we got home on monday we had a pig to bury, and that was a nasty smelly mess. ok, no more about that.

tuesday we took the remaining pig to the butcher. it only took an hour to get it in the trailer. that was with 4 of us pushing and pulling and well, whatever it took to drag it up in the trailer. we have decided that at this time, there will be no more pigs at our house. we are done. unless josh or zack use there powers of persuasion on their dad and talk him into it. i am done.

that leads us to last weekend. friday night i played bunco with a bunch of friends and got home at around 2ish. had way to much fun! hubby's work picnic was sunday. he took the girls to the baseball game first. they had a great time and aunt barb spoiled them rotten. at the picnic they had a raffle for all kinds of prizes. we got tickets for every family member there. alex was fishing with my mom so we got 6 tickets. 4 out of the 6 won. besides the 3 different gift cards we also won a 40 inch flat screen t.v. that's right everyone. a huge t.v. that is now in my bedroom. why? well, hubby was having a hard time seeing the t.v. before...but not anymore.

the kids had a great time at school today. even though (or maybe because) they got out at 11am. that's right all.

i'll try to update more often, but no promises!

2009-07-27T19:06:00.002-06:00

well, we've had a fairly uneventful summer...

until last week that is.

one of the kids i watch, a little girl who's 4, broke her foot. her parents didn't realize it. it wasn't swollen or bruised. so they didn't take her to the doctor until tuesday. she was put in a walking cast. wednesday, the doctors called in for more tests because they didn't like something about the x-rays. thursday, i get a call from her grandma saying they were doing even more tests and talking about bone grafts. friday, i get a heartbreaking call from her dad. she has leukemia. she started chemo that day.

i know i've been a terrible blogger lately, but will you keep her and her family in your prayers? her parents are a few years younger than me. his older sister was in my high school class. there are this little girl, her little brother that just turned 2, and they are expecting another little girl in september.

thanks!

2009-05-04T11:31:00.004-06:00

i am back for another exciting post.

i finished up a bunch of books. kelley armstrong, patricia briggs and a bunch of short stories (trying to find some new authors to try). loved all of the books. they kept me from being able to post, or clean, or cook, or well, pretty much anything.

the kids spent the weekend with my dad and stepmom. they had a blast, and came home all the richer. they spent most of the weekend getting the yard ready to open the pool. i guess grace was such a pain that they actually paid her to sleep. seriously, i think that should tell her she has a problem with whining. will she take the hint? i doubt it.

hubby had to work on sat, and went golfing with buddies on sunday...and had tball practice. so he was wiped out.

we lost 2 chickens over the weekend. josh's rooster and one of the polish crested hens. no major loss there, the rooster was starting to get mean, and the hen only laid a couple times a week...but i would like to know what happened to them. there were feathers in the yard but no sign of what took them. ah, well, like i said, no major loss. we have a bunch in the basement ready to go out, and more on the way in june.

the pigs are doing well. well enough i guess. they a tearing up the pen like nobody's business. and they really aren't getting that friendly. haley needs to work with them a lot more.

that's pretty much it for us right now. i'll try to remember to post more. but honestly, my life has been pretty boring as of late, and i don't have much to say.

2009-04-21T21:42:00.002-06:00

long time no see!

corny i know. sorry, i just couldn't resist. i've been reading....a lot. believe me, the hubby would rather me be on the computer. i'm not sure why he. he just isn't big on seeing me reading. if we are watching t.v. i get the "why don't you want to spend more time with me" talk. since when is sitting there staring at a colorful box spending quality time?

anyway, back to why i am here. haley hit a grand-freakin-slam tonight!!!!! she nailed it! i heard anyway. it's cold here, and i brought 2 of the other kids with me...and i saw half the game. so i figured i could just go to the car and keep a look out. not enough apparently. dang it!

got to get to cleaning. i want to sweep the floor before i go to bed.

2009-03-18T11:55:00.003-06:00

we have pigs now. 2 to be exact. i'm not exactly excited about having 2 instead of just one, but the lady we bought them from wouldn't sell just one. she didn't want them to get depressed. i don't think that bebe was depressed last year, but i can kind of see her point. her pigs were so friendly. i hope they do well here.

the lady we got bebe from last year, she was in the paper over the weekend. i guess she's been indicted for embezzlement. nice huh? she had her assets frozen or seized.

i've been really busy lately. doing what? well, mostly reading.

i think the new chicks will be here this week. we have been getting 2 or 3 eggs a day now. mostly green, but we also have been getting brown, and 1 white egg so far. the kids have been so happy to go out and take care of the chickens now. i don't even have to threaten them anymore. we'll see how long that lasts!

josh is coughing a bunch again. i think it's the weather. poor kid.

not much else to tell right now. if i can think of something exciting or worthwhile, i'll be back!

2009-03-02T08:55:00.002-06:00

i am so depressed about the mail i've been getting.

i think i've gotten more coupons and offers for baby products in the last month, than i did with all 5 babies put together. my baby is three years old! i'm not having any more. why do they have to rub my face in it? i told my hubby to just throw them away before i see them. he's the one getting the mail. what dummy is selling info saying i have a baby the age for using "first year" items.

it just sucks.

2009-03-02T08:40:00.002-06:00

in the last 4 days i have had 2 kids down with a stomach bug. not the nice kind where you throw up once or twice...no, they had the "puke on the floor/couch/bed/mom" kind. lovely, i know. they couldn't hold down anything. the littlest sip of water would cause them to start all over again. in fact, when i got "it" it was still cold. zack had snuck someone else's tea, and it didn't even get time to warm up to body temp. how sad/disgusting is that? i am hoping and praying that it ends here. i am washing all the blankets and the couch today, scrubbing the floor, and probably taking multiple showers today. no extra kiddos today. i called all the parents yesterday and told them what was going on. they decided they didn't want it in there houses. friday, i was up with grace until 5am. she not only was puking, but couldn't make it to the bathroom and i guess forgot about the bowl she had to use. so i had to clean the floor/couch for her a couple of times.

i guess the good thing about having puking kids is that i'm not hungry...in the slightest. i had to force myself to eat, and even then didn't eat much. hard to have much of an appetite when i've been cleaning that up. so no snacking between meals for me!

funny but embarrassing story. i found out one of my children has a very big mouth. my sister in law was telling me about how one of my kids was telling her that "mommy and daddy lock the door to their bedroom alot". hubby's family is pretty funny. they started laughing hysterically, and my face turned BRIGHT red.

the we played cards. and they found other things to laugh about.

2009-02-25T17:46:00.003-06:00

on monday i went to the library and picked up 3 books. they were a bunch of short stories. charlaine harris had some "sookie stories" in each one so i thought i would get them and read all the stories. um, i returned them today, after reading all of them. some of the stories were, well, not so great. some made me want to just skip ahead, and some made me want more. more from those authors. i don't usually care for short stories. well, i take that back...i like them if they are done right. there were a few that reminded me of something i would have wrote in high school. B-O-R-I-N-G! i love to read, but i'm not so great on the writing part. in fact, in my creative writing class that i took (the teacher ended up running off with a student a few years later...or so the story goes) and had to write a children's story. i wrote about a ghost chicken. a rooster to be exact. and he saves his little girl (the girl that owned him...not another chicken) from a fire. yeah, um, she didn't like it. i had words like "vegetarian" in there. she didn't think it would be "age appropriate". whatever.

authors i want to read*...
laurell k hamilton, stephenie meyer**, rachel caine, vickie taylor, toni kelner, patricia briggs, and carrie vaughn.

the books i read were Bite, Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, and Many Bloody Returns. bite didn't have a particular theme. well except vampires and werewolves. W&B was that and christmas, and MBR was that and birthdays. they were definitely worth reading.

*i don't think anyone really cares what authors i plan on reading...this list i more for me. i forget like nobodies business. so if i have them here on my blog, i can at least look them up!
**well, stephenie meyer didn't actually write any of the short stories in the books i read, but she has been well recommended.

josh

2009-02-21T08:06:00.003-06:00

my josh is 5 now. it just doesn't seem possible that my babies are all growing up so fast. what can i tell you about my boy?

he's a big boy. bigger than most of the other kids his age. in fact, he's as big as some 1st graders...and he's just a pre-k kid.

he was my smallest baby. he was 8lbs 2 oz. my doctor induced me 2 weeks early so that he wouldn't be too big. he and alex are the only kids i didn't have major bleeding issues with.

he loves cars, trucks, and tractors. he can play by himself for hours as long as he has some of them to play with. he makes all the different noises, and i even hear him talking in voices for the people in them.

he has one heck of an imagination.

he is so smart...he's the only one so far to know his letters this young. not that the other kids aren't smart too, but he's the only one that was that interested in them. it amazed me when he was picking out letters off of signs and asking me what words they made.

he has the biggest, most beautiful blue eyes. it makes it so hard to say "no" to him!

he used to have a special blankie and suck his first 2 fingers on his left hand. i think he was 2 or 3 before we were able to get him to stop sucking his fingers. when his blankie "disappeared", he stopped sucking his fingers.

he and zack are best buddies. they play with each other all the time. i hope that they stay this close as they grow up.

he idolizes his big brother. he loves being with the big boys.

his favorite color is blue. like his eyes. and his room. and his sheets. and his towel.

he loves that he has chickens. he is so proud of how cool they look, and that they are going to lay green or blue eggs.

he's the only one of my kids to lose a fingernail...so far. it was one of the most disgusting experiences of my life.

his teacher loves to tell us what a great kid he is. how well behaved and quiet he is in class.

he still crawls into be with me at night. in fact he doesn't sleep in his own room. he sleeps on the floor in my room...until he crawls in mine while i'm sleeping. he's the only one that isn't always ready to spend the night somewhere. don't get me wrong, he loves to spend the night...but there are still days/nights that he will tell whoever to take him home, he's tired and wants to sit on his mom's lap.

he is so excited about going to school with the big kids next year. and making friends. he's excited about t-ball too. and that his daddy is going to be his coach.

5 is a big year, but i think he's going to handle it well. i love this kid like crazy! he's handsome, smart, funny, and talented. how i got blessed with a kid like him, i'll never know!

2009-02-17T13:33:00.002-06:00

hey all! i have been a holy terror lately. i blame it on my addiction to reading. no, i do have a problem. i am addressing it. i figure that i only have 3 more books to read in the series and i should be good for a while...well not really, but i'm thinking it anyway.

i have been trying to de-stress. watching the chickens in my yard is a lot like watching fish in a fish-tank. it can be quite relaxing. and entertaining. actually the chickens are much more entertaining than the fish...unless you have piranhas or something. maybe the chickens are more like the turtles in the tank than the fish. they look so cute and sweet...then BAM!! crazy psycho killers!

yes, i do find that entertaining.

i can't wait to see these guys in action in the spring and summer. i wonder if i will actually see them eat stuff like mice and lizards. if i can teach them to get moles...that would be so cool. and profitable. i could start my own "mole removal" business. and it would be totally green! how cool would that be!

i am sitting here watching "space buddies" with the kids. they like it. me, not so much. well, it's a kid movie for sure. talking dogs are not normally my thing.

josh is turning 5 tomorrow. he's so excited. i am too...i guess. this year, out of my 5 kids, i will have one that is 13, one that's 10, and one that's 5. those are some pretty big years to me. alex is going to be a teenager, haley's in double digits, and josh is going to start school. then there's grace and zack.

i am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next book. sad, i know. it should be here today, or tomorrow, or the next day. i sure hope it's today. that way i can read it and be all happy and ready to celebrate josh's 5th. otherwise i may end up being crazy mom, jonesing for my next fix.

i know, i know. i need help.

my V-day

2009-02-15T12:06:00.002-06:00

well, we finished up with the kids games and then we took them to my step-mom. we dropped them off, and i went home to get ready...

then we headed down town to the Millennium Hotel.

for my niece's gymnastics meet.

that's what the hubby and i did. watched her do her "thing". then we went upstairs (wink wink)

for dinner. they have a revolving restaurant at the top. the food was spectacular! then it was off to home. he had to get up early (6am) for work.

not exactly the most romantic evening...but it was worth getting rid of the kids for the night!

2009-02-13T13:15:00.003-06:00

ok, i am re-reading the 5 books i read on sunday and monday. let me tell you, charlaine harris is a fantastic writer. i can really get into her books. i started reading the "sookie stackhouse" series, and i can't wait to read the other 3 books that i haven't read yet. i really to love her style. i grew up reading stephen king and dean kontz, and of course anne rice...but i think i like this series much more. her books are anything but predictable. that is something i have found lacking lately. most of my normal "fave" authors are so, well, predictable. in the first chapter or two, you can pretty much figure out what is going on and who caused it...and how it will be resolved. not so with these stories. (at least not for me) i haven't watched the hbo series "trueblood" but i am looking forward to it...as long as it can compare to the books.

the kids are going to with my step-mom tomorrow night. my dad is leaving today for virginia beach, and so she volunteered to keep the kids for us. so very nice of her. so hubby and i are trying to figure out what to do.

haley is spending the night at the zoo with the girl scouts. she's so excited! i would be too if i was her. seriously, that's my idea of a fantastic night! lucky kid!
she got glasses over the weekend. they look really cute on her. so grown up. uh, too grown up if you ask me. i think i'd rather her be blind.

alex did well in the math competition. he tied for 3 with three of his friends out of the kids from our school. there were several other schools that were represented. he did great. we were so proud of him.

grace started indoor soccer. they lost their first game. they were surprised, but i'm glad. this team deserved to win.

sorry, i had to go outside. the new little girl was telling me about the new gray kitty sleeping in the garage. well, since smoke was where i could see him...and there are no other gray cats around...i had to check it out. hubby was just leaving when i was out there...and had to flag him down to help me because the cat wasn't a cat...

it was a possum. sleeping in an old towel in the trailer for josh's little ride-on tractor. i ended up pushing the trailer out with a shovel, and then tried to get it towards the woods. unfortunately, it woke up when i accidentally dumped it. whoops! and then it looked up at me, snuffled back to the towel, and tried to go back to sleep. i guess i don't cut a very imposing figure! when i pushed it with the shovel, it took off to the woods. i followed it halfway to make sure it made it. it wasn't very big, smaller than smoke.. poor baby. hope it finds a better place than my garage to sleep tonight!

2009-02-10T11:48:00.003-06:00

well, i haven't touched the computer in a couple of days.

no my hands aren't broken.

i got the next 5 (that's right) charlaine harris books...and i read them all. all 5, on sunday and monday.

yes, my house is pretty dirty. thanks for asking.

and i think i dropped a couple of pounds. well, when i do a reading marathon like that...well, i forget to eat...and drink...and pay attention to any one or thing.

bad mommy! bad!

i have the next book due to arrive in the next week. (thank you walmart.com) and i can't wait.

i think i may have to read all 5 over again. very slowly this time.

they are like, um, romance type sci-fi type supernatural books.

and yes, the hubby has been reaping the rewards. dirty house and all.

on another subject.

terry's memorial is tonight. my mom picked up a picture of him and i from hubby and my wedding. i was sitting in his lap, and he has this huge smile on his face. he was pretty cute. of course he has his mouth wide open so you can see his tongue piercing. it's going to be a sad night. when i get it back from my mom, i'll post it.

maybe

2009-02-06T11:06:00.002-06:00

terry died yesterday. i thought we would have time to come and see him this weekend...

his mom turned 50 this month.

i know he was ready for it. he's been ready for it for a long time. but it still sucks.

he fought MD pretty valiantly for 20+ years. even after the doctors told his parents not to expect him to make it to 18. shows what they know, he was in his 30's.

please pray for his mom, and his sister...and the rest of the family too.

rose!

2009-02-05T11:06:00.004-06:00

i am so sorry that rose flack got eliminated last night! she spoke to my inner hippie. i really liked her, and i thought she would have made it farther. (stupid bikini b#$% had to screw it all up!)

on a lighter note, my alex has graduated from D.A.R.E. yesterday. his essay (along with 3 other kids) was picked to be read in front of the assembly. he did a great job on it. he has a way with the written word, let me tell you! he gets that from me. in school, i could b.s. my way through an essay like no-body's business! we (the parents) were all talking after assembly was over, and we were all saying how we hope it sticks with them. the pledges they take, the lessons they have learned. i was really impressed with all the kids essays that were read. they put a lot of thought into them. some of them were more facts (like alex's) and some were more funny ("i don't know why anyone would want to smoke. i don't know about you, but i like my teeth white and my breath not to stink!" was what one of the kids wrote.), but all were very well written and to the point. the deputy they had working with them was great. he will be sadly missed at our school! (he was transferred to another school district) he was funny and the kids all really seemed to like him.

i have 2 new kids now. my days start about an hour earlier now. it is an adjustment...for me more than anyone. the kids are nice enough...but the older one is a bit of a bossy tattletale, and we will need to work on that. the younger one doesn't talk. seriously, he's at the age he should be doing much more than "uh" and pointing. i think it's the pacifier. i don't like those things. josh was my only kid that needed something like that. he had his blanket and his first two fingers on his left hand. when his blanket "disappeared" so did the finger sucking. one of the little ones that i watch has figured out a way of getting out of the walker. you would think after having 5 kids, and watching quite a few, that would have happened to me before. um, no. it hasn't. not until today.

anyway, i am glad american idol is back. i have a few fave's, but i really was surprised rose forgot the words. to much drama i guess. poor girl. i really thought she would go far...hopefully she still does.
good luck kid (if you ever read this!) you have talent and you are likable. i think you could go far.

later taters! i got me some kidlets to round up for naps and lunch!

2009-01-27T13:20:00.003-06:00

i am really starting to hate the snow. another f'ing snow day. another day with a house full of kids that can't even go outside to play and burn off energy. no, i just get to listen to them fight and argue because there is nothing for them to do.

my kids actually spent the night out last night. my step-mom brought them home this morning. hubby got off work at a decent hour, so we had a night of fun.

no, not that kind of fun. aunt flo saw to that.

we went to the mall. i haven't been there in at least a year...maybe longer. we got josh a birthday present, tried to get some monster jam tickets, went to the pet store (i know it's not P.C. to like them but i can't help it), and we ate at sbarro's (yum!), and then we went and saw the newest eastwood flick.

let me just say, i love clint. even though i am "technically" young enough to be his (grand)daughter i think he's sexy as all get out. i know people have said he always plays the same type of character. that's ok with me. he has it down. total badass, with a slight bit of hero-shine. in this movie, he plays a believable old guy that could still kick ass. (made me think of my grandpa...he's that guy) my hubby and i cracked up at some of the movie, winced at some of it, and i almost cried at the end. ( i HATE to cry and do anything not to.) there is definite unexpected plot twists, and the kids that play his neighbors were great. i don't know why they got flack on not being "real" actors. they were WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY better than sandra locke. you remember that chick that was in a lot of eastwood's movies because he was dating her...then she sued him saying he ruined her career because she was only in his movies. newsflash lady, you weren't any good! at least not on the screen. clint must have seen something, but we sure as heck didn't!
anyway, i really liked it. hubby really liked it. the 2 other people in the theater liked it (i think). so if you dig eastwood, go see it!

off to yell at some more kids and check on my veggie soup!

10 years ago today...

2009-01-22T17:45:00.002-06:00

it's amazing to think that at 12:30 in the morning, 10 years ago, my water broke and we left for the hospital.

it's also amazing to think that haley was almost 2 full weeks early, and an ounce shy of 9 pounds. (just like i told the doctor)

she had rolls on her thighs. it's unbelievable how cute those little rolls were.

i remember our nurse, a little bit of a woman all of 4 feet 10 (maybe), telling me not to "worry" about her being "too big" because she was her mom's biggest baby at 9 and a half pounds. she didn't know the genes haley had gotten. now that you are 5 feet 1 and 95 pounds...with a size 10 shoe.

she walked the day she turned 9 months. october 22nd to be exact. how do i remember? well, because she is the ONLY ONE I DIDN'T WITNESS TAKE THOSE FIRST REAL STEPS!! we had a wedding or something to go to, and so she and alex stayed with my sister-in-law...the next day she says "why didn't you tell me she was walking?" um, because she wasn't. i knew she was close, she walked around the furniture barely touching it, but she didn't have the confidence to just "walk". until she went to aunt debbie's anyway.

i was so worried about her going to school. girls can be so catty..and (not that i'm biased or anything) she is just so gosh darn beautiful. and nice. but a touch on the goofy side. i was worried about her getting bullied. little did i realize how much confidence she has. if someone was mean, she told them exactly where they could put their opinions. my darling girl did not get this from me. i am so glad she has such a strong backbone, and knows how to make good friends.

she has such great choices in friends. not that she isn't nice to everyone. but the girls she is close to are really great kids. they have really great families.

she has a strong backbone, but a soft heart. i L.O.V.E seeing her encouraging other kids when they are struggling. nothing compares to witnessing the compassion in her heart.

she is so incredibly smart. i feel bad because i didn't see it. not that i didn't think she was smart, but she was/is a little dingy. that's ok, it's just her personality. the intelligence she has is staggering. she reads books that are 600+ pages. i love reading, but i was a lot older before i read books with that many pages. like high school, not 4th grade. she is doing 5th grade math...and it's easy to her. she's doing better than my nephew who is in 5th grade.

this kid loves animals. she rarely complains about doing her chores like feeding or giving water to whatever animal i tell her to. she is the one kid that i could see giving a puppy to.

in case you can't tell, i love this kid. she has such an amazing mind and personality and heart. i have been so blessed with having such an great kid.

2009-01-20T11:55:00.004-06:00

as i sit here finishing up my lunch (a ham, bacon, cheddar cheese and cream cheese wrap...affectionately known as heart attack on a flour tortilla), i was thinking about all the things i have done lately, and all the things that are coming up.

this weekend was spent traveling to a town about 45 minutes away. every. single. day. on friday, haley had a tournament game there at 7. her coach picked her up and drove her there because there was no way i would be there early enough for her to warm up. they won that game. the coach's daughter spent the night with us, and then haley spent the afternoon with them while i went to alex's game, then they met me there. then alex and haley both had regular season games in the same town. so saturday was spent there. alex's game was a mess. the boys weren't playing their best, but the officiating was horrendous. we had boys getting smacked and elbowed in the face, in front of refs and parents, and no calls made. even the parents from the other team were upset at it. no one wants to win that way because when you don't call a fair game, it makes your team look weak. so they lost. haley's team won by more than 10 points. they played a really tough team on sunday (second tournament game). this game, we knew, was going to be tough. they are a very talented bunch of girls. one girl in particular was a monster. she's fast and aggressive...but fouled out because she let her emotions get the best of her and didn't keep herself in check. we won that game by more than i thought. hubby's cousin's little girl was on the other team, so we sat with them during the game. talk about awkward! but we cheered for both kids, and had a good time talking about how the families are. this was the first game we were held to 3 pts in the first half...and they only had 2. i think it ended up being 16 to 4 (most of our points were scored after that girl fouled out or because of her fouls). haley had 4 points in that game, and 12 on saturday. she is at least 2 or 3 inches taller than most of the other kids. her games had different refs than alex's. i don't know why they would put adults out to ref 4th grade girls and kids to ref 6th grade boys, but oh well.

we celebrated my girls birthdays and my sister's 29th birthday. haley's birthday is this thursday. it's hard to believe she's going to be 10. it's even harder to believe that 10 is also her shoe size! YIKES! i sure hope that means she's going to be tall, and not some clown footed freak. oh, i kid! so i will have a post on her coming soon.

my boys spent all weekend at my dad's house. it was much easier than dragging them to games all weekend. and we were going there anyway on sunday. haley spent the night there on sat and sun nights. grace went to a birthday slumber party on saturday night, and then had 2 of my nieces spend the night sunday night.

i got rid of 4 roosters on monday. thank you craigslist! a guy sent his son to pick them up and we are now down to 11 chickens...and 2 too many roosters. though i can't convince josh or haley of it. i asked josh if he would take money for his rooster, and his eyes started welling up...and i was all "bud, i'm just asking, i'm not going to make you!" oh and we now have a cute little black and white girl kitty.

our 8th graders from school are in washington d.c. this week for the annual pro-life trip. what a bad week for that. it has got to be crazy up there right now...not to mention not exactly pro-life friendly. and 4 years from now, it will be my haley going to d.c. hubby and i already had a talk. neither of us has been there yet, so we are taking turns. i can't wait for alex's teacher to get back (she went with her daughter) so we can all hear about the trip. i guess that would be the deciding factor of whether or not i would want to go with haley...or send hubby instead.

well, i am off to take care of my waking babies!

2009-01-20T10:31:00.003-06:00

well i finally did it.

i made laundry detergent all by myself.

thanks to lacy, and her fantastic recipe for liquid laundry detergent, i finally felt capable. well that and i finally found the washing soda i have been searching stores for during the last month or so. turns out shop n save carries it. unbelievable! i had been searching all these other stores (farm supply stores and walmart) and the grocery store has it.

anyway, it is so so so very easy. lacy's instructions are so easy to follow. if you think it's something you want to try, check out her post (link is at the bottom of this post) and seriously give it a try. i couldn't find the bar soap she recommended, so i used another brand that said it was all natural. i couldn't find it without scent so i picked the scent i liked best and it has worked beautifully.

http://razorfamilyfarms.com/crafts/washed-up-not-even-close/

oh, yeah, we have another cat. i snuck out last night and brought smoke a new friend. her name is sammy and she is a beautiful black and white cat.

2009-01-14T10:44:00.002-06:00

my oldest asked me the other day if he had to participate in a math competition. i guess it's something all the local catholic grade schools do. grades 6 through 8 get to answer questions and compete (if you are in 8th grade) for scholarships to the catholic high school. sure you can i said. let me know when it is and i'll be there.

i guess i missed the intention of his question. he doesn't want to do it. all he would tell us is he "just doesn't want to do it". so we kept pressing and finally he said he just doesn't like being the center of the attention.

i don't believe that for a second. if he issues with that, we would have seen that in other things like shooting free throws after a penalty in basketball, or batting in baseball...i think he is afraid of not being "smart", or maybe being too smart. i think he's scared of being considered dumb, so he just sits back and does the little that he has to to get by.

then haley chimed in with how she and alex were both in the spelling bee...and neither of them wants to do that well. well enough, but not so well that they have to compete on a larger level. i don't get it. they are so competitive against each other...and in sports...but when it comes to academics, they want to sit back and watch.

this is the exact OPPOSITE of what i've been trying to instill in them. i love that they enjoy playing sports and all, but learning is WAY WAY WAY more important. i have extremely intelligent children and i want them to be smart. i want them to know they are smart and be confident in it. what am i doing wrong?

hubby told alex if he wants to play baseball in the summer, he better compete at the math competition. not sure i agree with that. i want him to actually want to do well. not be forced into it. i tried to tell him if he wanted any chance of going to the local catholic high school that he has to do well with these things and try for scholarships. we don't have an extra 7 or 8 grand just lying around to spend on one year of school for him. i don't want to add lots of pressure either.

i understand that it's hard to get up in front of people like that and compete. been there done that. i didn't like it either. i still have a hard time in front of people. my face gets bright red and hot. i lose my train of thought. my hands shake. and on rare occasions i break into a rash. it's not a pretty picture. i don't want them to be like that. i want them to be comfortable in front of groups. that's why i am totally for the kids reading in front of church. which is basically the whole school. they get to see everyone makes mistakes during their readings...everyone messes up once and a while.

i just wish i knew what the right thing to do is.

miracle monday

2009-01-12T18:13:00.002-06:00

well, i'm a little late, but here it is...

on december 24 of '07, my nephew had a horrific car accident. he was driving his car too fast, and of the 3 kids in the car, one had no injuries to speak of, one died, and my nephew had a broken neck, and a fractured skull with major brain trauma. we spent the entire holiday and several days just praying for him to live...and several weeks praying for him to not be paralyzed and months praying for him not to have have major memory loss or loss of brain function. he was a brilliant kid. he was a gifted athlete. we were hoping and praying that we wouldn't be saying "was" for ever.

fast forward to today...he is in college going for a degree in engineering. he is walking and has no major issues from his accident. (aside from some weight loss that he is trying to gain back still) he has had some battles with depressions, and with adjusting, but he is doing well now.

it's so hard to believe he has come so far in such a short time.!

note to self

2009-01-12T13:18:00.002-06:00

seriously consider the ramifications of teaching a 4 year old about calling 9-1-1.

you would think that the child in question, being the 4th kid, well, i should have it down by now. but i didn't. and i was a tad surprised when i picked up the phone (after he slammed it down) to hear a 9-1-1 operator asking if there was a problem.

we had a nice little discussion...

which ended with him in the corner...

for quite a while...

and he actually fell asleep there.

i don't think he'll be doing that again.

at least not any time soon.

wrap that hoe in a towel...

2009-01-09T14:15:00.003-06:00

or how i got spaghetti sauce off of the porch ceiling.

how'd i manage to get spaghetti sauce there? well, i was throwing a couple of leftover meatballs to the cat...and it was cold outside...and he is always trying to get in the door...so i tossed them out the door. unfortunately i was trying for some distance...and well, the balls hit the ceiling and then rolled off the porch.

it's been like that for a couple of days.

man it was cold outside. i'm not going to try to get frozen spaghetti sauce off the porch ceiling!

today it's actually kinda nice out. so i figured i'd get to that sauce, you know, before the hubby sees it and goes ballistic.

but i don't have a ladder, and the chairs outside left me about 2 feet shy of touching, so i sprayed it with some cleaner from the chair, and got out the good ol' hoe from the garage and wrapped it in a wet towel and went to work. and it worked...for the most part. it got most of the sauce off. then i came inside, instructed my 4year old on how to dial 9-1-1 in case mommy falls, and took a bar stool out and finished the job. it worked well. and i didn't fall.

but i came close when i heard my boy repeating 9-1-1 over and over under his breath.

so lesson learned! no more going for distance!

seven today

2009-01-09T09:08:00.003-06:00

my grace is 7 today. it's hard to believe that the little 9lb 2oz baby i brought home is now a 65lb 7 year old that is taller and prettier than i ever hoped. and smart.
man is she smart. she's a bit of a ditz, and because of that, i didn't realize how truly intelligent she is. (i seem to under estimate my girls for some reason)
she has a kind heart, except on the soccer field...there she's a monster!
she may not be the most graceful child, but she's more than i ever was! she does cartwheels through the house, and enjoys sitting on her head on the couch. yeah, i know, she's totally weird.
she is a math whiz, and loves reading as much as i do. i love having kids that i can share that with.
she's not much for animals though. i don't see her wanting to raise a pig. she doesn't even like taking care of the cat!
she wants to be a babysitter like me. which gives me conflicted feelings...it makes my heart sing because she wants to be like me...and yet, i want her to be her own person...and if her own person means a college graduate with a home, husband and kids that she can stay home with without too much of a strain, eh well that's ok too.
this kid is the biggest baby...and by that i mean she still wants to sit in our laps and wants to be carried...unfortunately she's 65 lbs, and i just can't do it anymore.
she's growing up before my eyes and it's scary! even if i complain about her whiny tone of voice, i'm going to miss it when she grows out of it (if she ever outgrows it).
she likes american girl dolls, webkinz, the jonas brothers, hannah montana, zack and cody, and all those tween shows on disney and nick.
she has crushes on boys already (YIKES)
i can't believe it's been seven years since you entered this world.

2009-01-08T21:57:00.003-06:00

here i sit at 10 o'clock on thursday night baking brownies and totally mis-spelling every other word. no joke! i am soooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo exhausted! i'm not exactly sure why i am so tired. sure it could have something to do with the fact that i am getting myself (and kids) used to the "back to school" schedule. or it could have something to do with the fact my youngest ran a fever for 4 days (one night it got to 104.6 folks!) and i was up a lot making sure he was ok and comfortable or i was waking up sweating because my little oven boy had crawled into bed with me. that could be why, but i think it has to do with the fact that i had to read this book. no i am not kidding. i seriously think i have a real problem. perhaps i should join a "compulsive book-readers anonymous" group. if a book is, say, 350 pages or less, i must read it to the end. how is that a problem? well, when i say "read to the end" i mean i don't do anything else. kids are hungry? fix yourself something to read, can't you see mommy's got a book? i don't eat, drink, talk, go to the bathroom, whatever, until the book is done. and if i get interrupted? whoa, watch out! i am a raging bitch. after my oldest was born, i stopped reading for several years. it was tough. but i couldn't get into a book and forget about everything but the book when i have a little bitty one around.

ok, that was last night. i am not changing it. that's me, totally exhausted and jonesing for the next book in the series i just started. i just read Dead until Dark by charlaine harris. um, totally awesome! i have been thinking about this book and have even re-read it. it's the story that the HBO show Trueblood is based on. i so wish i had hbo again. well, that and the new season of Big Love is starting soon. i hope it comes out on dvd, then i can rent it at blockbuster. i have heard a lot of good things about it.

i know you probably are thinking i'm a total vampire freak. no, i'm not. i love a good scary book/movie/show. of course i happen to like monster/supernatural stuff more because i can tell myself it's not real. i get too freaked out by psychological thrillers. if it's about some freak serial killer, um i don't care for it as much. well, i won't say i don't like them...because i do. i just get more scared now that i have kids and things like that could really happen. i love a good stephen king book...or dean koontz....or anne rice....and now charlaine harris.

i am waiting for the library to get the next book in. can you believe some one has the audacity to check out the book that i want to read? i may have to wait until sometime towards the end of january before i can read the next one! ahhh.

2009-01-07T11:50:00.002-06:00

well, the youngest has pneumonia. yes i know what a horrible mom i must be...my mom and mil have called me a couple of times each in the first 24 hours of finding out he has a very mild case...like he's on a regular antibiotic that the rest of the kids have been on for things from ear infections to strep throat. so please forgive me for not totally freaking out and crying and lamenting on how i am the most horrible mom ever. i mean, if i did that when only one of my kids has ever had it...well, what would that say about my sister in law (both of her kids have it at least once every single year). i don't want to cast dispersions, or make it sound like i don't care, but he has a cough...he had a fever all weekend (started monday and ended 3 hours after his first dose of antibiotics) and is now coughing a little more, but i figure that's a good thing.

and he is yelling for me right now to wipe his butt. i love being a mom.

ok, i'm back. he's doing so much better. he's back to his old self...and i am so happy. well, i am off to fix some lunch and take care of some kiddos!

2009-01-05T09:54:00.005-06:00

well, we are down to 15 chickens. i gave away the big white ameraucana rooster. the lady that took him asked me if i was sure...he was beautiful and she was planning on showing him...uh, yeah...he tried to spur my 12 year old in the face...can't have a bird that's like that. i have too many little kids around to have that kind of aggressive bird around. she is our project leader in poultry. she said we may find that we have problems with whoever steps up to the top of the pecking order. she also recommended that i "get rid" of all but one rooster. that means the 5 of the 6 roosters we have left. well, haley wasn't too happy...and josh cried for about 20 minutes...until i told them that i wouldn't "get rid" of their roosters...yet. haley's rooster she has eating out of her hand...but he pecks everyone's hands when he comes close to you now. he's a nice looking rhode island red (well except that his comb isn't perfect), so if you know anyone that would like a nice rooster...let me know. josh's is a beautiful ameraucana rooster. but he's not a solid color so he can't be shown. he's a beautiful white with black splashes. he's actually pretty nice too. i mean if my 4 year old can pick him up and hold him in his lap and pet him? he's got to be pretty good. as for the other roosters? they are all polish crested. not much meat to them. i'm not sure what to do with them. i would like some whole chickens for cooking, but i don't know if they would be worth it. haley's and josh's would be, but i don't know that i can do that to them right now.

i had the kids put the chickens out the other day. it was really pretty out and i thought they would like getting out. they did. of course the kids were all gone and i looked up and saw it was dark...and the chickens were still out. so i got my coat, grabbed a bucket of feed, and went out to bring in the chickens. they were all huddled in the corner..but i heard a rustle in the opposite corner. so i went over to make sure it wasn't one of the darker ones hiding in the dark corner...nope, it wasn't. then i saw movement at the top of the pen...it was an opossum. well, it took me a couple of seconds to react, well, correctly. at first i was going to grab it by it's tail and look at it a little closer (not a smart move). i stopped myself, held the bucket in both my hands and hit that little sucker as hard as i could off the top of the pen (without spilling the food).

*question: do opossums eat chickens? i mean like pretty much full grown chickens? i could see them getting some chicks, but they are more scavengers than hunters (i think). *

it was pretty funny though. i told my hubby about it and he gave me a hard time about it. "what if it was a mom with babies in her pouch?" "maybe you should go look and see if you knocked any out when you hit her". no no, dear reader, he isn't really worried about that little creature. he just knows that they are one of my favorite animals, and was surprised i was so protective of the chickens i guess. or he just likes giving me a hard time. yeah, i think that's more like it.

now we are ordering more chicks from http://www.ideal-poultry.com/ (thanks jayedee). we are getting some quail belgian d'anver bantams, and some buckeyes. please don't tell the hubby! he's wasn't too happy when i said something about getting some different ones. so i figure when they get here in march, he should have forgotten by then.

good pic of the bantams here http://www.waidinmiki.com/Ryan/Ryan.html

good pic of the buckeyes here http://www.mypetchicken.com/images/product_images/Large/buckeye-bc.jpg

now i'm not a huge fan of the buckeyes. they don't look very cool to me. i really tried to talk him into getting some black australorps. they are really pretty with shiny black feathers. http://www.mypetchicken.com/images/ChickenPix/medium/FRE_AstlrpCk_1_M.jpg
but he's raising them, so i'm trying to let him choose. i tried to talk him into the japanese bantams too. http://www.freewebs.com/professorchickensbreeds/japwheatenpair.jpg. well, i hope he does well with them.

i have to go. zack is going to the doctor today. he's been running a fever since friday, with a cough and runny nose...oh and throwing up a couple of times too. saturday night his fever was 104.6...and it only went down to 104.2 an hour after his dose of motrin. i had to put him in the tub to get it down. talk about freaking me out. i hate it when they get sick! especially when we haven't gotten the new insurance card yet. we have insurance, they just haven't sent our card to us yet.

2009-01-02T13:14:00.002-06:00

happy new year to all of you!

how did we celebrate? well, hubby worked until like 9 because for some strange reason all kinds of people want to enter the new year with cars that work and new tires and stuff. my brother came out and hung out with us at my in-law's house. he even spent the night...although i don't think he will be doing it again any time soon. something about trying to sleep on the couch with 4 kids one of which is so WIDE AWAKE he keeps asking you if you "want to watch this movie" or "uncle chris, you have to see this part!". all night long folks. i took him home at around 10 so he could actually sleep. it was really nice having him around.

my 4h meetings went well. there isn't much to say about the swine meeting...i have one other kid in there with my haley. it's funny...they are the same age and have the same last name...and yet are not related at all. now what's really funny is that this other little girl has the name we actually had talked about for our haley. anyway, we talked about what to expect with their pigs, how to choose, what they would need to do...most of it was stuff she could find out from her dad (his family raised pigs when he was younger).

the crochet meeting went well. i had 3 girls, and 2 of their moms stayed to help me. thank goodness. they needed some help! i wasn't sure how much they would know before the meeting...but i had to show them how to do it all. it made me a little self-conscious because apparently i hold my hook completely different than anyone else. i hold it like a pencil. none of the other moms did. and the 2 girls that had a little (i mean very little) experience were getting confused by the way i explained how to do it. i don't know, by the end of the hour, they were getting the hang of it. they each had projects they wanted to start...and i don't know if they were ready for it or not, but 2 of them started them. the other girl was still trying to get the hang of it. i think once she gets it, she's going to do really well.

well, i have high hopes for '09. i don't make resolutions anymore...i don't keep them. so i'm just going to make plans. plans for a bigger garden this year, plans for teaching my 4h groups, plans for our family...you know, hopes for a better year.

hope you all had a great 2008, and an even better 2009!

2008-12-27T11:03:00.003-06:00

wow, it's been a while! the hubby had an interesting time at his training. he met people from several of the surrounding states. many were very interesting, some were a little freaky. he wasn't excited about going at first, but once he was there he was learning so much, he was actually really glad he went. he said the instructor told him "i'm sure i'll be seeing you in the near future. i can usually tell when someone is on the right track and you are on it". so hopefully they will be calling him back up there in the near future for more training...then he gets to go on to being a store or shop manager.

christmas was very hectic. we had my MIL's house on christmas eve, and then went to my aunt nancy's, hubby's aunt nancy's, and my grandma's house all on christmas day. it made for a very very long day, but the kids had a great time seeing all their cousins.

we have a scavenger hunt every year for the kids. they wake up in the morning and find santa's note, then all the clues that santa leaves through the house (and sometimes outside). they have a great time, and it makes it more fun. they don't get many presents at our house. just one from santa, one from us, and they each pick a name and buy a present for that brother or sister. this year alex bought for haley, haley bought for josh, grace bought for zack, josh bought for grace, and zack bought for alex. it makes it a little harder, you know, taking each one out to buy for one of the other kids...but they love it. they have a better time buying for each other, and watching them open up the present they picked out, than they do opening their own presents. i have to say, i have a better time watching them open the presents from their brothers and sisters than i do watching them open the ones i picked.

i have my first group meetings for 4H this coming week. one for the swine group, and one for the crochet group. i am a little nervous...well, a little more than a little. i am trying to make sure that i teach these kids what they need to know. but i'm not sure that i know enough to be teaching them anything. i have a kid in each group that has a parent that probably knows way more than i do...and yet i am in charge. the swine group i will probably not have that many meetings with. i just wanted to have one to kind of let them know what they need to have before they get their piglet, and what to look for in a piglet. but i don't really know that much about that either. the other girl's dad probably knows more than i do about that...so i think i will ask him to tell the kids what to look for. as for the crochet group, i need to teach them stitches...and i guess i will have them start with a simple single crochet. i just wish i had a project book that had beginners projects in it. i think i may just have them start out practicing some stitches, and then start a project at the next meeting. i know i will have to have at least one meeting a month for them. this way, if they want to try doing a project like a baby blanket, or a real blanket, well, they are going to need a little guidance.

well, i need to go and sanitize my house. i've had 2 sick babies at my house for the last week, and i need to get rid of all the germs. if they are going to be coming here on monday, i'd like to have the house germ-free.

merry christmas all! and happy new year too!

2008-12-14T11:51:00.002-06:00

well, i took my hubby to meet up with 4 other guys going to chicago for training this morning. he won't be back until thursday evening. i now find myself extremely crabby. i didn't think it would bother me so much. not that i thought i wouldn't miss him, but i figured it would take me a little longer than the car ride to take him over there.

i finished up making the dough for the peanut butter blossoms. they are a peanut butter cookie that you bake as a ball and when you take them out of the oven, you push a hershey's kiss in the middle. very yummy. we've made these cookies all my life. (if you want the recipe, leave a comment and i'll post it) they are fantastically peanut-buttery. and there is nothing better than one about 5 minutes after they are out of the oven. the chocolate is still melty and the cookie is still warm...........yummmm!

the roosters are starting to crow. when we were leaving to take hubby to the meet-up, you could hear them. it's not the "cockle-doodle-doo" you would expect. it's more like a baby trying to talk. some of it you recognize...but not all of it. they are huge too. we have at least one that rooster that is not going to be shown. he has messed up toes (they bend all funny) and he has a pretty bad cross bite. i think it's a rooster...maybe it's a hen. it's hard to tell because it's a bearded polish crested chicken. i guess i should try to figure that out. to show hens at the fair, you have to have a matching pair, and other than haley's rhode island reds, i don't think we have a matching pair. the poultry superintendents have decided to order chicks from http://www.ideal-poultry.com/ this year. i think we may have to order some more...hubby will be so pleased. he may end up travelling more if i bring home more animals!

i still have some presents to buy. i have to take the little guys out to buy presents for grace and alex. i think that i still have to buy one for grace too. i think i'm just going to give some money to the rest of the nieces and nephews. i think that's all we have left to get. i hope that's all i have left to get! i am so done with shopping.

hello? anyone there?

2008-12-10T11:33:00.003-06:00

hello there! well, it's been a busy week or so here at the zoo!

friday was our "breakfast for dinner with santa". i know, the name isn't the greatest. i have no idea why they couldn't come up with anything a little...um...snappy-er. but it is accurate. we had pancakes and sausage for dinner...and the kids were able to get their picture with santa. of course alex didn't want to go...so i didn't make him. i figured he got his "just desserts" by me not making dinner and his friends were all there having a great ol' time...and i let him know it. haley didn't want to look like a baby..even though a bunch of her friends had a big group picture with santa. i don't know what her deal was. but she was super helpful and i was so happy she was there. i pretty much talked the whole time i was there. well, until the work had to be done for the craft fair. we set up tables and chairs...we cleaned up...we brought in waters...it took a couple of hours. it probably wouldn't have taken as long if there wouldn't have been 10 kids (and one dad) playing basketball while we were trying to work. poor paul, he had been working out of town all week and came home just in time for his wife to have him come up and work setting up tables and measuring and well, work.

the craft fair went well. it looked very busy. i don't think it was as busy as we had hoped (another craft fair was going on at the same time across town...with santa arriving by HELICOPTER in the morning) but it was better than the first one we did. my sil did well with the doll clothes. i think there were other people that also did well...and there were people that didn't sell a darn thing. i got a couple of things. not much. i'm not sure i spent more that $20 but well, i can't see spending a bunch o'money on stuff i have no need for or that i can make myself. i worked there from 12:30 until about 5:30.

sunday we made cookies at my mil's house. i totally screwed up some snicker-doodles (added twice the amount of butter needed) but my sil fixed them and all was well. they actually turned out really good and fluffy looking. we cooked up there until 9, then i went home with the little guys. (hubby had already taken the older ones home) i love to make cookies. i really really do.

now i am getting ready for tomorrow...josh is joseph in his pre-k play and he has 2 lines in it. he is a little nervous and doesn't like to talk about it. the other kids were disappointed because it's at 11, and they don't get to see it. the girls are in their program on thursday too. haley is a narrator. she has more lines than any one else in the program. grace gets to sing. that is at 2 and again at 7. poor hubby, he has to miss all of them. he works 11 to close (like 9:30) and so he doesn't get to see anything. i'm going to get the video camera going and tape it (hopefully ) for him.

this friday the kids are supposed to spend the night at my dad's house and make cookies with my step mom's parents. well, haley has a girl scout christmas meeting that night. they are exchanging gifts and going caroling. so now i have to let my dad and stepmom know that she's not going to be there right away. hubby is off and i was planning on going out with him, but i'm not sure i will be able to since we may have to take haley over to grandma and grandpa's.

this sunday is the annual cookie bake at my grandma's house. it's also the day my hubby is going to chicago for training with work. i have to drop him off at 10 am sunday morning. he doesn't get back until sometime thursday evening. so i will be a single mom for almost 5 days. i am not looking forward to it. at least i will have lots of cookies to drown my sorrows in!

homemade gourmet #2

2008-12-04T11:55:00.002-06:00

last night i tried the creamy italian casserole. it wasn't bad. not great. in fact, i didn't care for it (i have this weird thing with noodles...don't ask), but the kids ate it pretty well, and some even went back for seconds. hubby liked it, said it was a tad bland, but he liked it. he has such a sensitive stomach, bland is definitely better for him at dinner anyway.

it was these bigger noodles (kinda like mostaccioli) and the mix made a cream type of sauce. add chicken and cheese. not too bad. it was super easy. it took about an hour to cook, but it didn't take more than 10 minutes (if that) for prep. so great for nights when you don't have time to chop and saute and boil and well, you get my point.

so i would give it a thumb's up for ease, but for actual taste um.....a so-so. it was ok, but not something i would go out of my way to buy.

2008-11-30T15:46:00.002-06:00

well, i got more than half of my shopping done! that usually doesn't happen. i guess i should say, i have more than half of my expected shopping done, because i always forget something or someone.
i went shopping on friday with my mom and sister. we had such a great time. i didn't buy much (just 3 regular sized shopping bags). between the two of them, let's just say it was a good thing i drove my big 12 passenger van. they needed the room!
my sis and i had a great time. we were funny and sarcastic, and i think my mom appreciated it. even if most of it was directed at her. she cracked up, and cut up, and it was really one of the best times i've had with them. mom teased me about being prepared and having a list...kate and i teased her about her taste in gifts.

i cleaned out the turtle tank (filter died and it smelled quite funky) and gave them some new plants and fish to clean the tank and some for them to eat. it looks lovely! i gotta say, i do like just watching them when it's clean of course. i bought 8 guppies, but actually came home with about 20 because they don't charge for the babies! how lucky is that? so i made sure i got enough plant material for the babes to hide in until they get bigger and procreate and then get eaten. does that sound callous?

i finished the book i had been reading. it was Queen by alex haley. very good book. it was the story of his grandma. she was born a slave and was freed during the civil war. it starts with her grandpas (her irish owner, and one of his slaves) and then her mom and dad, and then tells of her story to find herself. she could pass for white, but didn't fit in, and basically her story of finding where she belongs. it's a great read!

that was my weekend! poor hubby is stuck working 6 days (10 hour shifts) and i feel bad for him...but i'm not complaining! we know too many people out of work right now, and too many facing the possibility of losing their jobs!

hope everyone's thanksgiving was wonderful!

2008-11-25T13:22:00.003-06:00

after talking to my little brother and sister over the weekend, i'm not sure if i feel better or worse.

my sister is a year and a half younger than me, and my brother is two and a half years younger...and they have had gray hairs for a while.

seriously, my baby brother? he's like 27! so do i gloat because i just now started getting them, or do i feel worse because my kid sister and baby brother both have gray hairs too?

homemade gourmet trial #1

2008-11-24T13:41:00.002-06:00

well, i tried my first item from my cache. we had a a table at a trivia night fundraiser so we all brought stuff to munch on. i decided to make the jalapeno bacon cheddar dip. i really liked it. so did everyone else at the table. but, it is spicy. so if you aren't into spicy foods, this may be one to skip. it is really really good...and addicting. i couldn't stop eating it.

jalapeno bacon cheddar dip=definite thumbs up!

miracle monday

2008-11-24T11:08:00.002-06:00

today i want to tell you about my husband's aunt. she is one of the most remarkable people i have ever met. she has one of the biggest hearts and i want to be like her so much!

aunt "em" and her husband married and moved to another state. he was in the military. they tried for 5 or 6 years to start a family, then decided to adopt. they adopted a healthy little boy first, then when he was about 10 months old, they started the process again. this time they were adopting a little girl. when they were finalizing the paperwork, she found out she was pregnant. baby number three was born less than a year after adopting baby number 2! she had 3 little babies under the age of 3! and that was just the beginning! they moved back home to missouri where they went on to add babies numbers 4 through 10 in the years following. as hectic as life must have been, she always was there for everyone in the neighborhood and family. her home is a warm and loving place where all are always welcomed. she now has 30 grandkids, with one more on the way. her children are her children whether they were adopted or born to her...or just friends of her kids that needed a mom. i don't know if i have ever seen anyone so in love with her family. she sees most of her kids everyday. they stop by on their way home from work to see her. to see if she needs anything. just to be around her. they have one of the most special families i know. i see the love she brings to the world around her and well, she is truly a miracle.

for more miracles, visit beth at http://beth-amomslife.blogspot.com/.

2008-11-22T18:38:00.003-06:00

guess what i found today?

three gray hairs!!!!!!!!!!!

i had no idea i had one let alone 3! i was so depressed this morning (after i removed those offending hairs of course) and i just can't believe it.

i have (had) gray hair.

i know i am thirty now, and i will be getting more of them...but i really thought it wouldn't happen to me. i don't know why i thought this, i just did. (of course i thought the same thing about getting pregnant in high school...and look where that got me! ha) i teased my hubby quite a bit when he started getting them in his chest hair and and he took it in stride. i don't think i will be that easy with it. this is really bugging me!

another thing that's bugging me is that i got those three hairs...but i can't see the back of my head well enough to see if i have any back there.

well, i guess a few gray hairs aren't that bad.

at least they were where they are supposed to be...unlike the stray eyebrows i've had to pluck from my chin!

WFMW

2008-11-19T12:04:00.002-06:00

well, the last time i posted on a WFMW, it was about how i was using baking soda as a facial scrub. it worked great. it still works great.
but i have dry skin. i needed a moisturizer. i have very sensitive dry skin. i break out in rashes if my skin doesn't like what i use. or i just break out. so i was having a tough time finding something.
i've always had this problem. i've used everything from special salon type moisturizers to clinique to hand lotion...and nothing really ever worked well.
and then i found it...

in my pantry...

olive oil.

that's what i use. i scrub my face (or just wash it) and put on olive oil after i dry my face. i also use it on my hands and any other rough spots. my face isn't oily. my lips aren't chapped anymore. my hands are better than they have been in a long time. i used it on my 6 year old last night. my girls hands get so chapped in the winter they hurt and crack and bleed. i put some on her after her shower last night and her hands were so soft and smooth this morning! i need to put some on my 9 year old after hers tonight.

i change lots of diapers...from 7 to 5, i am changing diapers. as a result, i wash my hands a lot. almost constantly. they are usually so rough, i don't touch the babies faces because my skin actually scratches them. yeah, it's that bad. since i started with the olive oil, my hands are smooth. i don't have them crying from me accidentally scratching them with the pads of my fingers!

that's what works for me, just plain old olive oil. rub it in after a shower/bath. it works like you wouldn't believe!

for more tips and tricks check out http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/.

2008-11-18T12:51:00.003-06:00

so far so good! the hubby still is likin' the new job. i mean, if the man can get out of bed and be at work by 6:30 in the morning (this includes a 45 minute commute), well he must REALLY like the new job. that or he's living off a "new job" high. probably the latter. this week he's working 6 days...at 10 hours a day he's making some good money.

sunday we went to visit my mom and grandparents...my two aunts...and my uncle and his little girl...and my sister and her husband and their 3 girls. we had a pretty good time. i love my family. they are a little off their rockers, but i love them anyway. my mom asked me if we were really thinking about getting a bulldog.
me: no. no dogs.
her: well i thought i heard you guys were looking and i thought i might get one for santa to give to the kids.
me: santa would be taking it back with him. i don't want another dog. it hasn't even been a year since we got rid of the last dog. no way.
her: well haley really misses having a dog.
me: she can have all the dogs she wants when she has her own house. i am tired of being the only one that takes care of it. i don't have time and i have too many little ones in my house. no way.
her: yeah i guess you guys are pretty busy.

i am glad we had this discussion when i wasn't PMSing. i might have been a little more ummm pissy(?). i don't want any more dogs. i am tired of neighbors complaining about dogs. i am tired of cleaning up after dogs. i am tired of petting dogs. i am tired of dogs. i have too many kids to deal with...that want and need my attention, i don't need a dog wanting and needing attention too.

that being said, tiger, our cat disappeared last week. i thought he went up to the in-laws, but they hadn't seen him either. no one has seen him. i am hoping someone found him, thought he was a sweet little stray and kept him. i am totally fine with that. he's a sweetheart. he wants lots of love and attention. i think he was getting tired of all the little guys' attention (perhaps being worn as a hat didn't suit him?) and he left for greener pastures. i hope that's the case. i think some of the local toms were giving him some trouble too. he was coming of age, and i guess they didn't want the competition. well, we still have smokey. he's got his little house on our front porch and he's loving life. he is a gorgeous gray with green eyes. he's smaller boned. i'm thinking about getting him fixed...but it seems that as soon as i put money into a cat they die...so i'm not so sure i want to do that. so far he's doing good. but i think he's a little lonely. maybe he needs another friend.

hubby would kill me if i bring home another cat.

still have 16 chickens. they have grown more, and i haven't noticed as much fighting. that may be because the crests are starting to cover their eyes more. i hope that the other roosters don't start picking on them. i need them looking good for the fair.

i found out i have 4 kids in my swine group. i am kind of nervous about having a meeting. i don't really know anything about pigs. add the fact that one of the kids has a dad that was a pig farmer...well, yeah, i'm a tad nervous.

2008-11-13T10:57:00.004-06:00

well, i'm sorry i haven't been keeping up with my posts...i guess i've been a little down lately. that and having a house full o'children most of the time doesn't help much either.
the hubby's enjoying the new job. he couldn't get over the fact that even when he was just standing around and doing nothing...he was still making money. very exciting! especially when you are coming from a job where you could be working for hours and hours on a deal...and make nothing on it because it fell through. so this is pretty exciting for him. the hours? well, I was cracking up when he told me he had to be in at 6:30 in the morning for the next 2 days. why? well, i have a hard time getting him up before noon, so having him up in time to drive 45 minutes to work and be there on time at 6:30? yeah, i was laughing pretty hard. he did it though. all on his own. i was so proud of him.

oh, does anyone remember the bloggy carnival? no, i didn't give anything away...although i probably should...seeing as i've won yet again!!! i don't know if i posted about the earrings i won at the last one. they were really cute and i gave them to haley (my ears aren't pierced but hers are) and she LOVES them. cute little dragonfly earrings. this time i won a big box of homemade gourmet food. check them out at http://www.homemadegourmet.com/HG-redesign-index.aspx. i was thinking that i may start posting on the things we try from my new treasure trove of goodies. what all did i get?
well, i have the creamy italian casserole mix, cranberry almond pasta salad mix, chicken enchilada soup mix, italian mozzarella meatloaf mix, skillet burrito mix, white chicken chili mix, apple pecan vinaigrette mix, grandmothers sunday roast seasoning mix, jalapeno bacon cheddar dip mix, mock spinach dip mix, maria's salsa mix, season and steam broccoli beef mix, awesome oatmeal cookie mix, texas cornbread mix, texas cobbler mix, basic sweet bread mix,basic cheesecake mix, and mini pecan pie muffin mix. more than $100 worth of stuff!
that's one heck of a list! i am really excited to try the cranberry almond pasta salad mix, and i don't even like pasta salad! it just looks and sounds that good! what else...um the jalapeno bacon cheddar dip mix sounds really good too. but honestly, it all sounds really good. i can't wait to try something!
so i guess if i was a good bloggy-winner, i should return the favor by hosting my own giveaway next time...but what could i give? how about a whiny 6 year old? hmmmmm, no probably not. who in there right mind would want that? i don't know i guess i have to think about it...

winter is finally here!

2008-11-10T10:57:00.001-06:00

haley and alex had their last soccer games of the season on saturday.
haley's was at 8 am. yeah, that's right...8 flippin' o clock in the morning. and it was about 35 degrees. i was freezing!
my little goalie girl. she didn't get in goal the entire game. they had her as a forward in the beginning...and she scored her first (and last) goal of the season! she was so excited. i was so excited. i love love love watching her play any sport...but especially soccer. she has this natural grace and athleticism that is just poetry in motion. not to mention the girl is beautiful. that's not just the proud mom in me saying this...she is really just, well, beautiful. i think the word may lose some of the meaning when we talk about anything and everything under the sun as being beautiful...but in the truest meaning of the word...well, that's my oldest* daughter. anyway, they ended up winning the game, and going undefeated in the season. they were so proud! they deserve to be proud, they worked hard...2 practices a week, 2 hours each practice, not to mention the games! they ran their little tushies off! laps around the field before and after practice, and wind-sprints...they really worked hard!

alex's team didn't play until 3 o'clock. it had warmed up quite a bit...it was like 37 degrees. hubby went to the game with me and the boys and grace. haley ended up going with my mom to help watch my nieces. they had no subs. none. which isn't a bad thing when it's that cold. if you are sitting on the bench, you are freezing and asking to go back in so you can run and warm up. poor alex. his team has won maybe 2 or 3 games. he's pretty competitive (with his sisters) so he hates that they have a losing record. but honestly? well, they've had maybe 4 practices all season. they have a couple of kids that just joined the team this year, and we lost a couple of pretty strong players. they haven't had time to work out the "kinks" of the new team dynamic. it's not their fault...and yet it is. they could be out in the yard working on ball skills, but they don't. they could ask their coaches to have more practices...but they don't. so instead they started tearing down their teammates. not cool. not cool at all. there are some kids that have some major talent on the team...and some that are not as strong as they could be ~my kid is in this group~...so the ones with the talent and the drive are getting frustrated. i can totally understand that. i get frustrated with them too. i think we will still have enough to play soccer next year...i sure hope we do. alex really isn't that into soccer. he does it to hang with his friends. that's fine with me. it keeps him active and that's fine with me. i told him if he doesn't want to play, that's fine, but he's only got 2 more years of playing with all these guys so he better make the most of it. after 8th grade, they'll all split up into different schools. some will go to the local public and some will go to the local catholic high school.
anyway, they lost their last game too. it didn't dampen their spirits though.

*i say my oldest girl is beautiful because she is. inside and out. i don't mean to take away from my youngest girl, but she's 6. she's cute, and in time will be just as beautiful as her sister is...but at 6...well, kids are cute not beautiful.

looking back...

2008-11-07T08:34:00.002-06:00

ok, the complaining about my hubby being home too much, i probably shouldn't have done that. i am really blessed with a loving caring hubby that not only loves our kids...but loves me too.

why the change?

well, yesterday, jessica lost her battle with cancer. this young mom, young wife is no longer with her family. i feel like such crap for saying my hubby was around too much. i can't imagine being in the same spot as her husband.

the day before yesterday, hubby found out someone he knew died in a car accident. he had sold the man a car, knew him well, and the night before last, someone hit him head on in the car the hubby sold him. this man took pictures of our kids at the fair, was very nice and had a wife and 2 kids. a daughter in her early twenties and a son about 15. it's so sad.

and here i was, complaining.

yes the man sleeps a lot, and likes things kept neat and tidy, and has "his" way of doing things. those things can get annoying. but i love him like no one else, and even the thought of him not being around is enough to bring me to tears. i can't imagine what these poor families are going through right now.

please pray for them!
jessica and her family
bruce and his family

so far, so good

2008-11-06T21:01:00.003-06:00

well, the hubby starts his new job on monday. so he's been off all week (that's why i've been away).

he's been home...all...week. i love him, and i love when he's home for a few days...but really? a whole week?

anyway, his former boss told him he could come back anytime. that's always nice to hear. he also had a few other nice things to say. some of the guys he was working with showed up at the bonfire we had last weekend. they also had some really cool things to say. some guys he had worked with a long time ago also showed up...like from about 5 years ago. it's always nice to see some faces from the past.

anyway, the bonfire was a hit.

we moved the chickens outside finally. oh, did i not say anything about them living in the basement for the past month and a half? uh, well they are in the coop now. i also believe i have about 4 or 5 roosters...out of 16 chickens. they're already fighting some. i'm hoping when the crests are a little more poofy, well, that they won't fight as much. it's hard to fight someone you can't see.

well, i have to go get some sleep. the public school is out tomorrow, and my kids are out early. so that means there will be tons of kiddos running around at the "zoo". yeah, i really really really hope the day is nice! i don't want them hanging out in the house all day!!!

change is happening...

2008-11-03T13:52:00.002-06:00

no i don't mean obama...(i really hope that change doesn't happen)

the hubby, as of tomorrow, will no longer be a car salesman.

he's no longer at the dealership starting tomorrow.

he is going into the Firestone family...and management training. hopefully someday soon, he will have his own store. he's really excited. he's sad to go, he really enjoys helping people find the right car, but well, this is a great opportunity. that's really hard to pass up.

we don't know what his schedule will be. he starts next monday.

oh, and today is his 33 birthday.

miracle monday

2008-11-03T10:04:00.002-06:00

i have shared with you the story of jessica. she is the wife of a man i knew in high school...and has cancer.

unfortunately, the news has not been good as of late.

please take some time to visit her caring bridge site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessicainchiostro and leave some words of encouragement for her and her family.

please pray for her husband and son, and her mother and sister. jessica is an amazing woman and will truly be missed...when that time comes. until that happens, please pray for her. pray for her comfort and strength.

thank you to all who have kept her in your thoughts and prayers.

school confrences

2008-10-27T15:55:00.002-06:00

well, the day of the great sickness (that's last friday folks), we also had school conferences. i had to send the hubby in my place. he doesn't usually do school stuff, but since i had been dealing with puke for about 6 hours at that time, not to mention all the other kids, well, he knew better than to just leave me and go to work. so he did the parent teacher stuff.

6th grade alex: his teacher said that he is amazingly smart. well, the standardized testing* said he was amazingly smart. he is in advanced math (basically a grade above his peers) and tested better than 98% of his peers nationally. now, as great as it is to have a smart kid, she also has some concerns. nothing terrible, just that things come easy to him. he doesn't have to work for good grades. so he hasn't learned how to study, or how to work. it is something she's been trained to look for (she's our former gifted teacher) and she's seeing some of that in alex. no surprise there, i've been a bit worried about that myself.

4th grade haley: her teacher is awesome. she said haley is a pleasure to have in class. haley also tested about the same as alex (actually 99%) and the only thing she really mentioned was that haley takes a long time with her work. at first she was a bit worried, but as she got to know haley, she realized that haley takes great pride in her work. her penmanship, the detail in her artwork, all of it she takes her time in doing. as a result, her work is something she (the teacher) really enjoys grading. haley is also in advanced math. her math teacher had no issues.

1st grade grace: grace's teacher is so happy with grace. she said she wants to have grace tested for the gifted program at the school, and also thinks she would benefit from the special gifted program at our local public school. it's a one day a week, all day program that runs through the school year. um, not so sure i would want to do that. i know she's smart. i'm not so sure the benefit would be enough to make it worth the extra school work, and missing time with her friends. i don't want to burn her out on school and learning. i would have to talk to some of the other parents that have kids in the program before i would make that decision. oh, grace is also a wiz at math. the teacher is actually worried that she's going to get bored with the work.

i'm glad hubby was the one that got to hear all these good things about the kids. i wonder sometimes if he thinks i make all the good things up. it was nice to get some really good and positive info on my kids...especially on a day that i really needed it!

*i don't necessarily think that testing is perfect. believe me, i've had my own issues with it and my kids.

pillow talk

2008-10-25T18:01:00.003-06:00

i have been dealing with puking kids since 4am yesterday.

zack woke me up by puking on my pillow.

he didn't get any on me, but not exactly the way i want to wake up.

he continued to puke all day, and by evening he was feeling better. but he wasn't able to go to grandma and grandpa's house. and he was ticked!

i picked the rest of the kids up right before the girls played. both my girls were playing at 9am. alex was complaining about his belly hurting. yeah, great.

except it wasn't him that threw up as soon as i parked the car.

it was haley. she did good though. for the most part, she hit the parking lot and not much got in the car.

so she didn't get to play. and she's missing her volleyball game too. and i'm not sure if i'll be sending her to the game tomorrow.

the weekend isn't all shot though...josh's team won! coach d is out of town (ha go figure) and i was the one coaching. i had 2 parents helping me, but we only had 9 kids today. we have 20 on the team. for not getting much of a break, they played awesome. the kid that scored the goal is one that hasn't scored yet. i was so proud of him. he was so proud of himself. he kept asking me if i saw his kick.

then i got the call that zack puked again at the soccer field.

what a fantastic weekend!

2008-10-23T20:08:00.002-06:00

well, the chickens are growing...the cats are trying to come in the house every time the door opens...and my sister's 3 girls are spending the night tonight.

i also have kids coming tomorrow starting at around 6am.

my kids are spending the night at my dad's house tomorrow.

the hubby will be playing cards at his brother's house tomorrow.

i will be hanging at the homestead...all by my self.

i think i'll be ready for an evening to myself.

works for me wednesday

2008-10-22T09:59:00.002-06:00

i had no idea how hard it would be to come up with something that actually "works" for me.

i hate to spend lots of money on stuff for my face. i've never really had problems with breakouts, but i've always had sensitive and dry skin. i love to use scrubs to keep my skin looking fresh and bright, but i HATE paying $20 to $50 for them (salon types).

and then i found something in readers digest. queen latifah was talking about how her grandma had beautiful skin...and used baking soda a couple times a week to wash her face. (i think she said a couple of times)

just about a teaspoon or so in the palm of your hand. wet it ever so slightly, and rub on your face. not too hard, it really does scrub.

i have had so many compliments on my skin since i have started doing this. you do have to use a moisturizer afterwards, but it's really great!

since i started using it, i haven't had the breakouts i normally had with my period.

granted, i haven't been doing it that long, but it's really working for me!

for more great ideas head over to http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/!

miracle monday

2008-10-20T13:25:00.002-06:00

how about another birth story?

my grandpa just had a birthday, i think he's 73. this is the story of his birth...

my great grandparents had tried for several years to conceive a child. they had several years of sadness and no child.

then my great grandma found out she was pregnant. it was a pretty normal pregnancy. no major issues. she went into labor at home, and he was born at home, and pronounced dead at home. you see, he was over 11 pounds when he was born. he wasn't breathing, or moving. they assumed he had died, and put him in the sink so they could finish with my great grandma. she was pretty messed up from having such a big baby, and consequently was never able to have any more children. she asked to see my grandpa, and when they picked him up, they found him actually breathing. his arm was not moving right (they thought it was trauma from the birth) and thought it would be crippled. my great grandma wrapped it close to his body, and it healed. my great grandparents were so thrilled. they had prayed so long for a child. they doted on him...spoiled him, and even with all he was given, he was (and still is) so kind. they raised a wonderful person full of love and kindness. he has always given so much to those around him. we are so lucky my great grandma wanted to see him. i don't know that they would have looked at him as closely if she hadn't.

for more miracles, go check out beth at http://beth-amomslife.blogspot.com/

garden '09

2008-10-15T09:20:00.002-06:00

well, i'm trying to think of what i want to grow for next year. you know, what worked, what didn't.

i don't think i'll be doing watermelon again...ever. the kids wanted me to grow them, so i did. we got about 5, and they ate part of one. that's it. i can't stand watermelon, so i didn't eat any. so i wasted a lot of space on something no one ate.

i want to to zucchini again. hopefully i can figure out what happened to my plants. they all died. i got maybe 4 zucchini from my 4 plants! i thought they were a plant you couldn't kill!

maybe one cucumber plant. so many people i know liked them. maybe i'll try to make pickles next year.

i need a greater variety of tomatoes. i grew all big ones, and i really missed having the smaller cherry or grape tomatoes.

the sweet potatoes turned out good. some of my kids really liked them, some were not too impressed. my in-laws like them, i liked them ok.

peppers, well, i didn't have too great of luck with some. the bell types i had didn't really produce, but i think i overcrowded my garden. the hot ones did great, but i didn't' use them as much as i should have. and i didn't do any freezing (dumb, i know). so i wasted them. the smaller ones, well they were so hot, alex was sick for 3 days with acid indigestion from just part of one on his quesadilla.

broccoli, well, there is nothing better than home grown fresh broccoli. i will keep growing them.

green beans, i'm not sure. they didn't produce like i thought they would. the flowers are beautiful, but i only had one plant that survived being outside...that and the sweet potatoes spread out over them.

the lettuce didn't turn out well at all. it was tough and bitter. it was green leaf lettuce, and i'm not sure if that's the way it's supposed to be, or if i let it go too long. this was my first year with lettuce. it's easy to grow, but i'm not sure i did it right.

i think i would like to add regular potatoes, carrots maybe, onions, yellow squash, and i'm not sure.

so next year's garden will be tomatoes, potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, carrots, onions, yellow squash, cucumber, some peppers, and maybe another type of melon.

i would LOVE to plant some blueberry bushes, some strawberries, and some fruit trees. i don't know if that will happen, but it's a goal.

miracle monday

2008-10-13T09:05:00.004-06:00

i know everyone is scared about the economy. people are having a tough time getting loans, losing money in the market, paying an arm and a leg for gas...and well, i think many are afraid for their jobs.

not exactly the best time to be a car salesman. (like my hubby)

he's been having a tough time the passed few months. he "sold" many cars, only to find out the people couldn't get financed.

and here i am, staying home with our kids. i was feeling pretty low, not helping him out much on the financial front.

so i said a few prayers...
one for thanksgiving. how could i not thank him for our health, the fact my husband has a job, our kids and our families.
one was for direction. how could i help my husband? how can i help take some of the burden from him? the man makes himself sick with worry, how can i help?

this month, God sent me another little one to watch over while his parents are at work.

and the possibility of one more a couple of days a week.

i was worried that i might be taking a little more than i can handle. with caring for my own kids, and the 2 little ones i already watch during the day, but He quieted my mind. He sent them into my life, for me to help their families. if they weren't meant to be here, their parents would not have chosen me to watch them.

i can handle this.

please check out Beth at http://beth-amomslife.blogspot.com/2008/10/miracle-monday_13.html for more miracles!

the new count

2008-10-10T17:21:00.003-06:00

well, i went to orschlen's and bought 8 more chicks. 3 rhode island reds and 5 ameraucana chicks. then, on the way home, my oldest totally ratted me out to the hubby.

to say he was not pleased, well, that would be an understatement.

you see, his brother had offered to give haley a few chickens. these hens are close to a year old...or are a couple of years old. my brother in law doesn't believe in handling or interacting with the chickens. you go in, feed them, give them water, take their eggs, and that's about it. no handling unless you are getting them out to butcher. not exactly what she needs for trying to show. you have to be able to handle the birds. the judge needs to be able to handle the birds.

not to mention the unpleasantness that surrounded the last time we dealt with chickens and my brother in law. not something i want to experience again.

anyway, hubby was not pleased. he said, "the coop is only 8X8 and that's not big enough for that many chickens". um, excuse me? the plans said it was for 25 chickens. "there's only 4 laying boxes". um, so? why would that matter? brother in law only has 12 laying boxes and about 40 chickens. it works ok. they don't need their own private condos! all they are doing is laying an egg, and then leaving.

how do i make him understand that i had to get more chickens? the 8 i have right now, i have no idea if we have hens or roosters. they were straight run. for all i know, they are all roosters. and even if they aren't, they aren't the "production" type of chicken. they are more "ornamental". they will lay eggs, but they won't have the output of other breeds.

anyway, i'm excited.

rhode island reds look like this
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Rhode_Island_Red_hen_on_street.jpg

ameraucanas look like this
http://www.fowlvisions.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/new-chicken2.jpg

oh, and i was told wrong about one of the polish ones. he's a black one with a white crest.
http://thai.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/c/ComptonPhotographer/100.jpg

cool aren't they?

ahhahahahahahaha!!!!

2008-10-10T09:20:00.002-06:00

i think i'm addicted. i'm off to buy more chicks. i'm not telling my hubby (he will want me to...well, none of your business) and i'm going to take the kids and pick up a few more.

i'm doing this for the kids you know. and well, we like eggs. and i have lots of rationalizations for you, but you don't really care, do you?

haley needs some laying hens...and i need some others to look cool and lay eggs. that's right. that's what i said.

so after my shower, i will head out to pick up some more chickens. i think haley will need 3 or 4...and i guess i can get by with 4 or 6. whatever. even numbers. i have 8, if i add 8 more, i'll have 16 chicks, if i add 12 more, i'll have 20. hmmmm, guess i'll update you when i get home on what i got and how many. and then in june, we'll add a few more for the other kids (market chickens).

+1

2008-10-09T08:31:00.002-06:00

last week, i met with a lady that was trying to find someone to babysit her baby boy. she was also going to meet with a lady i know, and another i don't know, but have heard great things about. the lady i know, well, she's fantastic with kids. she would be a person i would totally trust my kids with. the lady i don't know, well, she's great with kids too.

i told the lady interviewing me all these things. i was the first person she met. i answered her questions. i asked her what other names she was given by our parish secratary. these 2 other ladys and myself. i told her that she couldn't go wrong with whoever she chose. the other two ladies were great, and i wouldn't get my feelings hurt if she chose either of them.

finding a sitter is a huge job for parents. you are trusting your child/ren with someone most of the day. babysitters have a big impact on your kid. well, not just the kid, on parents as well. finding someone that fits the needs of your family can be really tough.

i got the call on friday that she had picked me. me? i was pretty shocked. i guess she liked me. i met her husband last night and he seems nice too.

so baby boy starts on monday. he's going on 8 weeks old, and he's 12+ pounds already. bald, but a cutie, and very mild mannered.

i'm a little excited. it's been a while since i had 3 babies at one time. when zack was a baby, i had 2 other babies. they were all born the same week. one was the 10th, zack is the 12th and one is the 15th. i only had all of them at the same time maybe once a week. it was funny lining them all up on the blanket, changing diapers, and seeing the size difference. zack was in the middle for sure. the older one was bigger (still is much bigger), and the younger one is smaller (still is a lot smaller).

anyway, i'm pretty excited.

WE ARE GETTING CHICKS!!!!

2008-10-08T11:17:00.002-06:00

i called our 4-H poultry leader to let her know we had our coop. she was checking out different hatcheries by ordering a bunch of chicks this fall. there were a lot of problems with the hatchery they had used previously*, so they wanted to find one that was better. basically she has an abundance of chicks right now, so we are getting 7 polish crested chicks. some are golden, some are silver, and one is white with a black crest.

what will they actually look like?

goldens look like this http://www.oldfrogpondfarm.com/master/images/chickens/Golden_Polish_Hen.jpg

silver look like this
http://www.ruralramblings.com/blog/uploaded_images/rooster-769381.jpg

and the white with the black crest will look like this
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/2518853535_4e1c9df428.jpg

don't worry dear friends. we will still be getting more. haley is wanting to do laying hens (so she says) and so we have to get some white leghorns for her. not to mention the market chickens we have to get. so our little 8X8 coop will be full...eventually.

and no i haven't told the hubby yet. believe me, he'll be taken care of.

*there were some problems with chicks being deformed. so they have decided not to use them anymore. i will not post the name of the hatchery, but if you want to know, i can email it to you.

boy i'm glad i'm me!

2008-10-07T12:03:00.002-06:00

well, maybe.

today i only have 2 extra. well, until school lets out. yay me...

i was early starting out to the car, you know to take one of my b.s. (babysitting) kids to the bus stop.

unfortunately, the cat had been locked up in my van all night.

i don't keep a litter box in my van.

that's ok, he just used zack's car-seat.

yay me, again...

i didn't find the mess until i had almost put one of the babies in it...of course, i also realized, just then, she had made a mess of her own. yeah, it was all over her onesie, pants, and even her jacket.

yay me, three times over!

so far, i have spent my day cleaning poopy car seats, poopy kids, and well, it's not over yet.

alex comes home today. they are running late because their plane was waiting on a part. it's ok, the part was in chicago, they are in orlando. it should be in sometime today.

i can't complain too much, though. i made it in time to get kid to the bus stop. i got the car seat sprayed out in time, you know before the rain. and it is hopefully going to be dry enough for the kid pickup at 3. i made it in time to pick up josh from school. i made the kids their favorite sandwiches (cheese and mayo). and i've only had 3 poopy diapers to change.

it could always be worse. the cat was in the van all night. i only found that one mess...of course i didn't actually look any farther...oh, i hope there isn't any more! the kids will find it for me i'm sure.

miracle monday

2008-10-06T16:39:00.003-06:00

when i was 16, there was a terrible car accident before school, and a friend of mine was killed. he had been a passenger in the car, driven by his best friend, and the driver was the only one wearing his seat-belt.

the driver (i'll call him jay) and i had been close our freshman year. closer than we had any business being. we ended things because, well, he didn't feel the same way i felt.

and i hated him.

well, hate may be too strong of a word.

it hurt to be around him. to see him.

our junior year, we ended up having a class together again.

and it still hurt to see him.

and then the accident happened.

and we both lost a friend.

i visited him at his house afterward...and i forgave him for all the hurt. it's horrible that it took our friend's death for me to see how short life could be. how forgiving him was also forgiving myself. i was just as much to blame for what happened between us as he was.

we became friends again. just friends.

our senior year, we had our last class of the day together. we sat at the same table together. he helped me so much. we talked more than we ever had before. we talked about what had happened our freshman year. i got a better understanding of him. of the man he was becoming. and then i became pregnant with my oldest. he never treated me any different. he saw me as the same person. he helped me in so many ways, just treating me as he had before. most of my guy friends kept their distance, they didn't want to be mistaken as the dad. jay still treated me as he had before.

for that, i will forever be grateful.

i would like to ask for you to pray for jay's wife. she has been fighting cancer for too long now. they have a beautiful little boy, and a wonderful family together. please pray for them all.

this is her caringbridge site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessicainchiostro. she is a remarkable woman.

whew!

2008-10-02T20:59:00.003-06:00

it's not the pox!!!! i am really happy that, well, it's not chicken pox.

what is it?

well, it is something bacterial...

like a strep infection in the skin (been there done that before)

or a small staph infection in the skin (been there done that too)

or impetigo (don't think we've done that one)

basically, while it is still spreading, it isn't nearly as bad as it was the other night. doesn't make sense does it? she's still getting little bumps (like bug bites) but they don't itch that badly, and they don't hurt as bad as they have been. the ones from the other day have started to fade quite a bit. so she's getting better...but i still have to give her some meds.

and she's not contagious.

so i let everyone at the school know that it's not the pox. and i let all the family know, and the families that i watch. so we should be good to go!

i'll let you all know about alex's soccer game, and baseball game, and leaving for his trip to (ha you thought i was going to tell you!) and the bookfair family night. no major funny-ness, or anything. just boring old me.

*thanks for the prayers for rachel, she's doing well!

a pox upon your house!

2008-10-02T08:34:00.004-06:00

grace could have chicken pox.

just in time for the book-fair family night tonight.

i don't think it is, but my MIL said it looked like what her kids had when they had the "pox".

they only itch a little bit, but they hurt if you touch them.

they are only on her trunk.

they looked like whiteheads on her belly, sternum, and sides...oh and a few on her back and arms.

no fever, no feeling bad. just these hurtful little bumps.

and she's had the vaccine! couldn't go to pre school or regular school without it.

we see the doctor today...hopefully it's something else!

**please pray for my dear friend rachel. she's having surgery today. you can check her out here http://theotherhuse.blogspot.com/.

i need to get back to my scratching. ever since i saw those spots, i'm the one itching!

am i asking for too much?

2008-10-01T09:33:00.002-06:00

2 things...

1. yesterday was a long day. i had fewer kids to watch, but i had 3 of my kids that had soccer practice, and one that had a baseball game. i left at 5:20 and didn't get home for the night until almost 10. i had to bring all the kids with me to soccer (well, minus alex who didn't want to come) and then dropped them all off to hubby and picked up alex for his baseball game. i had a brat at the game...that was my dinner. i get home, and hubby says, "i made some cheese bread it's really good. go get some." i'm thinking AWESOME, he finally cooks! and get a piece and take a big bite...

and gag! the jerk made it with miracle whip instead of butter!!

knowing full well i can't stand the stuff!

he sat there hiding behind the computer screen watching me...and then had the nerve to call me a baby when i spit it into the trash.

2. this morning zack was whining about his pants. he needed help buttoning them. i'm curled up on the couch, all comfy and warm under my big fleece rams blankie. "come here" i say. i reach and help him with his snap...

and it's a little wet...

"why's it wet?" i ask.

(you all know what's coming next, don't you?)

"i peed on 'em a little"

just by the snap though.

just where i would have to touch it.

am i asking for too much when all i want is a husband that doesn't try to poison me, and a son that keeps his urine to himself?

IT'S ALMOST FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-29T10:27:00.002-06:00

my dad, my little brother, and my kids, are almost finished with the chicken coop. they had to work on it at my dad's house because, well, my brother is not allowed to leave the house. (long story, and not mine to tell) anyway, they started on it saturday, and for the most part, it's done. it just needs the nest boxes, and some stain, and i think i may put in some linolium (for cleaning). that's it! well, it needs a door, and it needs to be moved to my house.

my dad had the kids all help him. he was really impressed by zack though. he said zack was hammering like a champ. he was most impressed with the way he did it correctly (bending his wrist). how many 3 year olds do you know that can do that? shoot, i'm 30 and i can't!

alex leaves on friday for his "birthday present" trip with my stepmom. alex still doesn't know where he's going! i don't think he would ever check my blog...but i don't trust the kid so i won't say until friday where he's going.

this is bookfair week. i already have been there, and helped out. but i have to go back on thursday for the "family night" event. my sister in law and i run that. it's pretty easy. really really easy. all we do is make dinner for about 200. no sweat! we usually have about 6 helpers, and that's plenty. the money we raise goes to our library, and buying tests for the kids.

and apparently this is also the first day for the runners club at school. i thought it didn't start until next monday. i still have to send in all the sign up stuff to school. and bring clothes and snack and water up for my kids that are doing it.

that's about it for now!

karma

2008-09-25T09:58:00.003-06:00

yeah, after yesterday's post, um, well, i broke the youngest child. not my youngest, the "youngest" in the previous post.

well, i didn't exactly break him, he broke himself...but at my house and on my watch.

i heard some screaming and yelling (not exactly an uncommon sound at the zoo) and so i went out to see what was going on, and to yell of course. instead, there is youngest with a mouth full of blood. not the "oh i bit my lip" bloody saliva, but the "i think i knocked all my teeth out and bit my tongue off" blood drip-age*.

i got him a cup of cold water and had him gently swish and spit in the sink. as he screamed and cried, i tried my best to comfort him...but i find that soft voices and nurturing words often make them more scared. (sounds mean, but that's what i've found) so instead i told him to calm down and quit his screaming...

and then he pulled out his tooth...

and i about puked...**

and then i thanked God it was just a baby tooth.

and he kept gently swishing as i babbled about tooth fairy money...

and then his sister came into the room and said "oh my God, oh my God"...

and youngest started crying again, and screaming again...

and i told her to get out that wasn't helping...

and i told him to be quiet, screaming was only going to make things worse...

and he believed me...

and he swished and the blood stopped...

and i looked in his mouth, and about puked** again..

i then called his mom's cell phone to tell her about the gash in his gums, and that it may need to be looked at.

what happened? well, he and josh wanted to see who weighed more. there's a pvc pipe out back that they put in between the fork in a tree trunk (think teeter-totter) and each took a side. i guess youngest won, and then fell off his side and busted his mouth on the pipe. after seeing his mouth and all the blood, all the children agreed that they never ever ever wanted to do that again.

*i have no idea how he did this, but he didn't get a single drop of blood on his clothes. tell me, how do you have a mouth full of blood, and not get a single solitary drop on your white shirt?

**i have some issues with blood and injuries. i tend to pass out or get sick when i am around it. granted, most of the time, it was mine, but i have actually passed out at the bedsides of sick relatives. so if i hear you are in the hospital, please don't expect me to visit.

adventures in babysitting

2008-09-24T12:22:00.003-06:00

just a warning, this is a self serving complaing type of post! basically i just needed a place to let it out...

i lied. there was no adventure. only aggravation. not even a major one at that.
as i'm sure you know, we have soccer practice on tuesdays and thursdays. haley has practice both nights, josh has it both nights. i also watch haley's coach's kids after school. on tuesdays, the oldest one stays at school for some activity. the younger one hangs with me until around 5 when his dad picks him up.

except for yesterday....yesterday, dad forgot.

not the "oh man, i need to turn around and grab him real quick" type of forgetting either. the "had no clue because i'm too focused on one kid" type of forgetting. to focused on making his oldest a great athlete, and completely forgot all about the younger (not athletic at all) kid.

not too big of a deal. i just stayed at my house, waiting...and waiting some more. finally at 5:25, i loaded all the kids up and left. i was late for josh's practice. this would normally not be a big deal, but coach d. wasn't able to be there because he had to meet his new boss. not a meeting you can miss. i thought i would have no problem getting there in time. i had 3 kids, hubby took 2 (zack and alex) to alex's game. sometime between 5:45 and 6, the mom called another coach's cell to find out if i kept the youngest with me or left him at my house*. he was with me. she picked him up and apologized profusely. then later last night, her husband called to apologize too. i told them, not a majorly big deal. i just would have liked to have known so i could just take him up with me. that way, i'm not all pissy when i get to my practice.

whew, i feel better letting that all out.

*oh, like i would leave a 7 year old at my house alone!?! seriously? why would you leave your children in my care if you think i would do that?

happy birthday!!!

2008-09-22T12:27:00.003-06:00

today is my dad's birthday. he's 54 today!

today is brendan's birthday (one of the kids that i watch), he's 12 today!

today is little mia's birthday, (nike's daughter) she's 4 today (i'm pretty sure, that or 5).

happy first day of autumn too!

miracle monday (and some other stuff)

2008-09-22T08:40:00.003-06:00

the kids are home. they had a great time...you know, almost dying on the river.
that's how they put it...almost dying on the river.
i guess the river is a little high, and well, a little cold. they got the raft stuck under a tree. as it filled with water, my dad said all he saw were the little faces in the raft with him..."thank God i brought the kids that can swim" was what he was thinking. (he brought my 3 oldest...and skipped my 2 neices that are in between haley and grace)

this actually happened when i was a kid, too. except when i was a kid, the raft popped. my dad went under, along with the cooler, and for several terrifying seconds, we didn't know if he was going to come back up.

he did, and he still had the cooler. priorities man! the cooler had all the beer! (the soda was in the kids' cooler).

only half of the raft popped. but it was next to impossible to paddle. so they gave it to us kids, and we took an extra couple of hours (no joke) to paddle it back.

*the place we rented the raft from actually tried to make us pay for the raft...saying that we did it on purpose. i don't think we ever went back there after that.

those were some of the best hours...just me and zack and caleb (my dad's friend's 2 sons that were so very very very cute).

that is one of my most favorite childhood memories. i'm not sure why my dad almost drowning in a river would be, but it is.

anyway, back to the kids. they had a great time. no raft popping, just one lost fishing pole, some name calling, and lots of laughing and fun.

next weekend, my dad gets to help us build a chicken coop.

whooo-hooo! i am so glad he's home from detroit!

now i have to design it, and decide where it will go.

do i put it directly behind the neighbor's house? or ours? or do i move it all the way down by nathan's? who should i stick with the stink?

anyway, hope everyone had a great weekend!

**beth, i'm not sure if this would be considered miraculous...if you don't think it is, feel free to delete the link.

my josh...and my team

2008-09-20T13:45:00.002-06:00

WE WON OUR FIRST GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i was so proud of those kids! they played their positions. we have a new little guy on our team...i was really scared he might get hurt. he's not "clueless", but he's pretty uncoordinated and well, really small. i think he has some kind of "condition". i'm not going to ask about it. it's none of my business, but i do try to be a little more aware of where i position him...and who with. i try to put him with two stronger players, that way they take more of the attention away from him, and he doesn't get run over. i don't think he noticed. he played all the positions (except goalie...i don't think i would put him in there). and he did his job.
anyway, i had several kids score goals today! no one scored twice, but.....................

JOSH SCORED HIS FIRST GOAL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

he almost scored at the first game, you know, the game i wasn't at. i am so glad he did it today! i would have felt horrible if i missed his first one! oh, today was pictures to. i don't know if they got his goal in their action shots, but how cool is that? tomorrow, we play again.. i sure hope they play as well as they did today.

you know, it's not that they won the game, or that they scored several goals, it's that they listened to what we've been saying. seeing them actually use some of the stuff we've been working on with them....man there is nothing better!

well, and seeing your son score his first goal is pretty cool too!

ballgame, ball practices, and a couple of sign ups

2008-09-18T08:52:00.002-06:00

i love it when everything hits at once. alex plays baseball tonight at 6, haley and josh practice at 5:30 until around 7, and we have to sign the kids up for 4-H tonight.

i sure wish i had a money tree growing out back.

oh, well.

it looks like there will be 6 children raising chickens at my house.

funny, i'm pretty sure i only have 5 kids...and only 2 that can actually raise animals in 4-H...

i told the parents of the kids i watch, and those that i used to watch that it would be ok if they wanted to raise them at my house. these kids live in subdivisions, so it's not like they can raise chickens at their houses. plus, they spend quite a bit of time at my house. plus, by the time the chicks get here, they will be getting out for summer break. plus, these kids are great kids. they are always helpful. i know that they will be responsible.

so, i am really looking forward to my dad coming home. he's been stuck in detroit (apparently people up there don't like showing up for work*) and he's hoping to get the job site to a point where he can come home...with some stuff to help us build a chicken coop.
well, chicken and turkey coop. alex wants to do turkeys too. i told him to think about guineas. they eat ticks. that would be pretty darn useful!

so i guess i will be missing alex's game tonight. he's going to miss his soccer game this weekend (him and grace both) because they will be on a float trip. haley's going to miss her volleyball game (darn, 9pm game, and i'm going to miss it). they're going to be back for haley's soccer game on sunday.

*i've never been to detroit. i'm not "hating" on it. that's just the issues my dad's had with some of the contractors up there.

the bestest doctor ever!!!!

2008-09-17T11:01:00.003-06:00

hello all. i think everyone has had experiences with doctors that were less than ideal. my first ob/gyn was not the most friendly...he treated my questions as annoyances. perhaps that had to do with the fact i was 17 and a senior in high school. most of the people he saw were welfare recipients and/or teens. i guess it's understandable...but, well, i wanted...no i needed more than that.
then i found the bestest doctor ever. i was 19 and pregnant with my second child. we had decent insurance at that time. this doctor had really long hair he wore in a ponytail. he was very talkative, and i probably know more about him than i know about my own father. that being said, the man listens. he loves babies. oh, did i mention he listens? he has a great bedside manner. he delivered my middle 3 kids.
then our insurance changed. i had to find a new doctor. the new doctor i found was adequate. he was a 5 minute appt man. in and out in 5 minutes. no time to answer questions. when i told him about my 4 previous labors, and some of the issues and what we did that worked, well, he smiled and said "uh-huh". let's just say, i was not impressed with him, or his 2 partners (2 of the 3 women i mentioned above).
i realized how special my other doctor was. well, not just him, his whole staff. i went back for the first time today for a regular check up. only one change in staff has happened since last time i was there...4 years ago. his wonderful (seriously if she had been an ob/gyn, i would have gone to her) nurse died of cancer a few years ago. she was just like him. you could talk to her. she was there when i was having bleeding when i was pregnant with josh. she was there for me when we had some family issues to work out. she was truly a wonderful woman.
ok, back to my doctor. he is a doctor that takes his job seriously. i may have to wait an hour in the waiting room, but if it was me in labor, i would want him to be there for me like that. in fact he was, 3 different times. his care is worth the wait.
anyway, if you live in the st. louis area.. and are looking for a great doctor, let me know. i'll give you his name!!!

miracle monday

2008-09-15T13:12:00.003-06:00

i have been thinking about this post for a while. i guess trying to figure out the right way to put this out there.

when i started high school, my mom asked me about some of the people in my school...you know, names, in case she knew anybody's parents. it is a small world, and as it turned out, she actually knew a couple of people's parents.
one in particular was terry. he was in a wheelchair. our moms were friends in high school. as terry put it "we rode in car seats next to each other". terry's mom had lost her brother tragically, the year before he was born. she named him after her brother. she was young, i think 16 when she married terry's dad, and had terry.
our moms lost touch after both of them moved. they kept up with each other a little through a mutual friend...but really didn't keep up as they should have.
and then we had to move, and i went to high school. and there was terry...in a wheelchair. he had been diagnosed with MD when he was a pre-teen. he had been athletic..played sports, and was a pretty outgoing kid. his parents were told it would be a miracle if he lived to be 18.
terry was a party guy. my husband and several others would go and pick up terry and take him to all the parties. he had lots of friends, even if he couldn't walk, and you had a hard time understanding him sometimes. high school was great for him. he wasn't left out, as some may have been. he lived his life to the fullest.
funny thing about doctors, they aren't always right. terry lived to be 18...and 21...and 30...in fact, he's still around. it hasn't been easy. his MD has progressed.
for his privacy, i won't go into how he's doing as of now...
please pray for him. i had no idea how much pain MD can cause. please pray for his mom, she is having a really hard time right now. please pray for his sister, and the rest of their family.

busy busy day

2008-09-13T07:54:00.003-06:00

i have about 45 minutes before we start going...the two girls have games at the same time at two different places. after that, josh plays right away, then alex plays 90 minutes after that at a field that is about 30 to 45 minutes away. i should be done with soccer, and home around 5 tonight. then volleyball at 8.
these are the times i really miss having a husband that is home on the weekends.

hubby

2008-09-12T11:45:00.002-06:00

hello all!
hey, i have a favor to ask, please pray for my hubby.
he is making some pretty major decisions right now...and i think he could use all the help he can get!
nothing bad...just change, it's never easy.
please pray for God to lead him in the right direction!
thanks!

soccer and a mayo sandwich

2008-09-10T10:12:00.002-06:00

let's start with the mayo sandwich...i know you are all wondering "what is that?"
well, my boys like cheese sandwiches with mayo/miracle whip (same thing in my book). but i don't have any cheese today. hubby cleaned me out. so zack wanted just a "bandaise samich". he ate every bite. now haley used to eat pickle and mayo sandwiches.

no, i have no idea how my kids come up with such weird ideas.

on to soccer practice.

josh is having some breathing issues lately. i guess it's the asthma flaring up. i hope so anyway, as i was giving him breathing treatments. he did really good, considering he lost steam about 20 minutes into practice. we had enough kids to scrimmage. we worked on playing in our positions. i don't mean to sound like i know soooo much, but my half of the team played their positions...and even scored a couple of goals. coach d's team, uh, not so much. i made sure my side knew their jobs: offense-score goal, defense-stop the ball, goalie-catch the ball. coach d focused too much on just the offense, so his defense was playing in the grass. i think as long as you are making sure they are staying focused, it's an easy job. focus is the main thing they need to learn. they are little kids, so it's not easy. you have to make sure you praise them when they are doing the right thing. if they stay in position, that earns MAJOR praise. that's one of the hardest things for them to do. they have to focus on doing their job. it's really rewarding to see them do what you tell them to. and when it works, and they are scoring goals, it shows the kids they are doing it right.

hubby is taking haley to the doctor right now. she has poison ivy (i'm pretty sure) and in the week she's had it, none of the normal treatments have helped. in fact, it's spreading more. she has spots of it all over her lower leg. one is pretty big. we've tried caladryl, ivy dry, benadryl, and cortisone. all of that, and it spread. so off to the doctor. hopefully they don't put her on steroids. poor alex put on like 15 pounds the first time he was on steroids. well, i guess it doesn't matter as long as it clears it up. it's really nasty!

off to finish my lunch!

miracle monday

2008-09-08T17:01:00.002-06:00

i spent this weekend with my mom. we have not always seen eye to eye. to say we have "issues" is putting it mildly.
my mom loves me. it may not always be apparent in the choices she's made or her actions, but she truly loves her kids. she has done her best to be a good mom.
we talked quite a bit over dinner saturday night. we talked about when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer (she never had HPV for those who think the vaccine is a cure-all) and when she had her surgery. we didn't get to see her for weeks. that was her choice. she had left my dad about 6 months previous, and we were stuck at my aunt's house, going to a school where we knew no one, and our mom was totally out of commission living at our grandparents' house because she wasn't able to take care of us. i guess is still held a little resentment about this.

and then it happened.

she told me about how hard it had been to not see us. how scared she had been because she hadn't been told about how hard this surgery would be on her physically. i don't think she thought she'd be walking out of the hospital the next day, but to be almost completely unable to walk on her own for weeks...well, that she wasn't prepared for. how, it took all her strength to put on make up for the one and only visit we were able to have with her in the hospital. she waited until she was off of most of the machines (or they were well hidden) so not to scare us more than we already were. (i tend to pass out with that kind of stuff...something i got from my dad.)

i started to see things a little differently. God opened my eyes. i know that as a mother, i make mistakes every day. every single day, i pray that i have done right by my kids. that i haven't done anything that will damage them as a person, or that they will hold against me in their hearts.
i realized that is exactly what i have been doing to my own mom. she has made plenty of mistakes. some she takes responsibility for, some she doesn't. that doesn't matter. i know, mother to mother, that she did the best that she could. she tried. she succeeded for the most part. she didn't raise perfect children, but she did the best she was able to. that has to count for something.
i forgave my mom. in my heart, i know she meant me no harm. she did what she thought was best. that's what really matters. i love her.
thank God my hubby talked me into going with her, and having an open mind and heart.

weekend in chicago

2008-09-08T09:45:00.003-06:00

well, it's official. my weekend is over, and i had a good time. we didn't get in until 9pm friday night. i was pretty tired (so was my mom) so we had dinner on our way up, and just slept after we got there.
saturday we had to be at the spa at 8:45. we went to mario tricoci's. let me just say, those people working there are so nice. we had a great time there. we started our morning with massages (hot stone one for me) and it was the best massage i have ever had. sometimes, you feel more bruised after one (especially if they have to work hard on specific muscles) but i got up feeling absolutely wonderful. thank you louisa! then on to the facial. it was good. i've had better, but she did a good job. then it was off to have an olive oil scrub. you have to take off everything, and then put on a disposable thong. yeah, laugh away. i was basically scrubbed with olive oil, plus a few other types of oil, and sea salts. it was harsh, but in a good way. you come out glowing with radiant skin. i've never had anything like that before...it was pretty cool. my skin still feels soft and smooth. then they put makeup on me. my mom said it looked great (really heavy around the eyes) but i just think it was too much. i don't really wear makeup...not unless i'm going somewhere special. so maybe it was just the fact i don't wear any that made it seem like too much. anyway, then i had a manicure and pedicure. a pumpkin pedicure to be precise. very different. but my feet are so smooth (and pumpkin smelling) and pretty right now. i screwed up my manicure when i changed my clothes (my fault totally). just one nail. after that we were done (my mom got the same stuff done that i did) and we headed back to the hotel. i washed my hair (it was pretty nasty from the oil) and we went to pizzeria uno. really really good pizza. after that we went back to the hotel and took naps (i know, how exciting.) and then went out to dinner. we went to this place down the street from our hotel, flemings prime steakhouse. oh, my, gosh, it was some of the best food! of course i had a steak. it was perfect. we both had a wedge salad with blue cheese. i've never seen that much blue cheese on a single salad before. it was more like for a salad to feed 4+ people. really really good. then i had a baked potato that was one of the best i've had in a while. butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon...mmmmmm!
sunday we went to shedd's aquarium. it was ok. lots to see. but it made me miss my kids even more. we didn't stay there for long, just enough time to see a few exhibits and pick up some stuff for the kiddos. then we drove home. it was a pretty good time. very little talk of politics (thank God for that, we are total opposites) and we got along pretty well.
the kids were excited to see me. i was so happy to be home. jeff kept me updated on how all the games went. alex's team lost their game...pretty badly. haley's team won their soccer game. she played goalie and only let one get by. they won 6 or 7 to 1. they had a lot of shots on her, but she blocked all but one. josh's team lost 2 to 1. he almost had a goal, but my MIL walked up as he was getting ready to shoot, and he stopped to wave at her. priorities! grace's team won. she played goalie for half the game, and had an assist. her little friend claudia had 3 goals. she's the size of my 3 year old, and 6 months older than grace. small but mighty! haley's team lost 2 out of 3 of her volleyball matches. she did good, they just haven't had much practice.
that pretty much sums up the weekend. well, my poor hubby was so lonely. the kids stayed the night saturday at my dad's house. so he came home to an empty home. poor guy!

anyway, got to get back to the kiddos!

only a couple of days left...

2008-09-03T17:09:00.003-06:00

until i go to chicago. actually i leave on friday. i am excited, but i'm also a little worried. it's just me and my mom. we are about as different as you can get. she is waaaaay more wild than i ever was.

no, seriously.

i'm not joking.

i'm not much of a drinker. i'm not much for being pushed to drink, or whatever. so, we will see. i really hope i have some great stuff to tell.

anyway, coaching is still, well, coaching. last nights practice was cancelled. well, coach d and i cancelled josh's, and grace's was cancelled (not that she was going to go, she came home from school with a headache ) but alex and haley still had theirs. and since i had to be there anyway, well, i had a very small practice. just josh and 3 or 4 other boys. and another dad helped. he was very nice. cracked me up too. he tried to tell me he'd never played soccer before. well, he had some pretty mean foot skills, so i find that hard to believe. anyway, he was there helping me for about an hour. his little guy is so adorable. all of the boys are adorable. i'm actually surprised at how fast i've learned most of their names. the only one i still mess up (in my head) is one little guy i want to call "paco" all the time. his dad is the one that was helping me last night. and yes, they are from mexico. but that's not why i want to call him that, he actually looks a lot like paco. (rachel, you remember him? he was a senior when we were freshmen) his dad doesn't, but the little guy sure does.

anyway, i need to be off to haley's volleyball practice. she's doing really well. she's one of the few girls that can serve the ball over the net and in the court. and she can hit the ball once it's served to her. that's pretty impressive...to me. i don't know about anyone else.

sorry, i got distracted. kids are watching the cheetah girls movie.

dance me, dance me if you can!

ummm, no, i can't dance.

2008-08-30T15:09:00.003-06:00

today, my hubby called me to say some a friend of ours' spouse has moved out. this friend is one of the kindest people i have ever met, and i don't think i have seen a better parent...

i feel so badly for him. you hear so many stories about husbands that don't help much with the kids (like from me for example). this guy takes their 4 kids to their games and practices, gives them their baths, takes them to church, cooks...

their youngest was born 3 days after my littlest, zack. their oldest is a year younger than my oldest. these kids are some of the most well behaved and nicest kids around. their 3 child is my grace's bestest friend. i love them like family, and it hurts to see them going through this.

i guess it brings back that fear of being 30. the wife is only 3 or 4 years older than i am. she is repeating old family patterns...her mom left her dad with all 5 of them, her being 18 months old at the time.

why do people do that? i don't want to sound like divorce is evil, and always wrong, but how do you go from loving someone enough to not only marry them, but create 4 beautiful children together...and then decide it's not what you want? i just don't get it...and i hope i never do.

twelve years ago today

2008-08-29T12:32:00.003-06:00

today my oldest child turns twelve. i can't believe my boy is almost a teenager. here's a picture of him with bebe. isn't she beautiful? i still can't believe she's been gone. almost a month now. it still feels like a weight on my chest when i think about her. still feel the tears...anyway, back to my boy...twelve years...amazing.
i remember him as the most beautiful baby i had ever laid eyes on. i know what you're thinking, everyone thinks their baby is the most beautiful. they may think it, but i know it. he was a week and a half late. i was swollen and miserable. but i will never forget being surrounded by friends and family the entire day. i mean the whole day. my labor started around 7 am, and he was born around 10:30 that night. long time not to be able to eat or drink. i remember the hubby asking if it was ok if he watched him come out. if i was comfortable with it. i remember the tears in his eyes and how he told me how much he loved me and our baby. i remember my father in law, coming in to see his newest grandson, and crying like a baby. alex was number 8 for them, but i think he was special to them in a way the other kids (none of the other grandkids) will never be able to touch.
i remember how excited he was when he saw haley for the first time. how he just stared at her, laying there naked in the warmer...and then asking where her penis was...
i remember him playing outside at my in laws, and really never having to worry to much about him, because my brother in law's rottweiler loved him more than anything on earth. she watched over him and kept him from harm all the time she was alive. God help the poor dog or cow that came near my boy when seirra was around!
i have watched my boy welcome each new member of our household, each new brother and sister with loving and open arms. i have watched him take his little brothers to the pond, and i must say, i love to see the look of open admiration those little guys have for him.
my alex is not perfect. i do not expect it from him. and yet he is constantly surprising me with how well he does with school, how athletic he is, and how kind he can be.
i have been so blessed with him as my oldest child.
happy birthday!

change is on the horizon

2008-08-28T12:57:00.002-06:00

i'm not sure why, but i know some big changes are coming for our little corner of the universe. not "the" change for me...at least i don't think that's it...more like something is coming. i'm not sure what, i'm not sure why, but i can feel it. i'm hoping it's just a weight and inches change...but it feels bigger than that. i can't say if it's good or bad...just that something is coming.

soccer is going well. we had our first practice tues, and another one tonight. the guy helping me is really nice (i'll just call him coach d). but, well, a tad on the boring side. i kind of let him take the lead, and i think that was a bit of a mistake on my part. not major, he coaches his older son's team, so he just has his way, and i have mine. i think kids learn by doing. he likes to make them listen to him explain...and explain...and explain some more. out of the hour, i think the kids got to use the ball for maybe half the time. maybe. i just don't work that way. 4 and 5 year olds want to do, not be told how do it. they don't know how do dribble the ball, or kick it in the goal. they have no clue how to pass it to their team mates. that's not something you can explain. they have to try it. he wants to test them on what a corner kick is, or a fullback kick. uh, hello? they are 4 and 5. i didn't even know what they were until 2 years ago. they just need to get the basics of a) kick the ball b) don't touch it with your hands. this is tough enough.
sorry, i kind of started ranting on you. it's my hubby's fault. if he just would have let me rant and rave about it tuesday night, i would have been over it by now. instead he told me it was all my fault, and to either change it or shut up about it. (well, a little nicer than that, but you get the idea)

alex has his first baseball game tonight. they actually started on tuesday, but he had been sick with a stomach bug, so he wasn't allowed to go. (no school, no sports is our motto) he's pretty excited. they won the first game, and they had just had a soccer practice right before the game. haley has practice today. i don't think grace has it tonight. i think she's just on tuesdays. they are all so excited about games starting the 6th.

our parish picnic is this sunday. i love the picnic. we always have so much fun, and see so many people. i help out with cutting the pies (home made pies) and jeff helps seat people at the dinner. kettle cooked beef that is the best stuff around. i don't know how they make it, but oh my gosh, it's heaven on a fork. yes, it really is that good. there is also fried chicken, hamburgers, liver and gizzards (blech!!) and so much more! and that's just the food. they have bands, and beer, and wine, and a kids' section with games and inflatable rides, and a "train". i must say, i love working there. you meet so many other people in the parish you may not normally come in contact with. the kids are excited about it too. alex gets to work it too. kids in 5th grade and up get assigned stuff to do. he's working by jeff. i got to start getting stuff from the garden, they always need tomatoes and anything else from the garden. they have a country store they sell fruit and veggies, and anything homemade. jellies/jams, breads, deserts, anything.

well, i'm off to pick up kids from school.

miracle monday

2008-08-25T13:25:00.002-06:00

today's miracle involves my little brother. he's a great guy. he's funny, charming, and a good looking guy (reminds me of myself. heehee). he's also had a drug and alcohol problem from the time we were kids. like preteen years. yeah, that young. there's three of us kids, i'm the oldest. my sister is almost 18 months younger than i am and my brother is 14 months younger than her. so there are 3 of us in less than a 3 year span.
anyway, my brother has been in trouble here and there all through his teen years. he had 2 DUI's before he was 21. but honestly, he hadn't had any since then...until this year. he had 2 more. now, there has been almost 10 years in between the first 2 and the last 2, but he could have been facing up to 7 years in the state prison. he hadn't hurt anyone, or caused any property damage, just got caught. plain and simple. with his third, he didn't seem to "get" it. he was into this "poor me" mind-set. you know, they're out to get him. he was driving my dad crazy. poor dad, i can totally see why his blood pressure is so high...he's had a rough go with us 3. the 3rd of july, he was picked up again. no one knew it. he had gone to see a friend who was in a rodeo, and didn't get back the next morning. my step mom and dad were pretty worried, but couldn't let on because they had all the grand kids there. he called them at 12. he explained what had happened, and that he needed a ride home. my dad went up to get him, and on the ride home, my brother talked to my dad. my brother finally took responsibility for his actions. he realized he needs help, and that pot and alcohol aren't it. he's going to AA and counseling and has made peace with the fact that he may face jail time. he's talking to us. he's opening up. he's not as angry as he had been. he's finally dealing with some of the crap that's been dealt to him since our parents split when he was in 4th grade.
so you see, it's a miracle that he never hurt anyone or himself while driving. it's a miracle that he is finally taking responsibility for his actions. it's a miracle he finally see's that he does have a problem. thank God that he has watched over my brother as much as he has.

please pray for his continued recovery.

wtf????

2008-08-17T12:44:00.003-06:00

i'm not usually one for profanity...ok, let me rephrase that...i don't use a lot of profanity. the occasional slip here and there. but today? well, the wtf, that almost slipped right out.

i took the kids to the flea market today. i like to go up and see if they have any good deals on produce, check out the animals, see if anyone i know is there. you know, fun stuff. i brought 3 of my 5 kiddos with me. we walked around and were on our way out when i spotted a sign that said "free kittens". oh buddy, i had to check it out. inside this kennel were 4 kittens. one was black, one was solid gray, one solid white and one that was white with some spots. super cute. i couldn't resist the gray one. i picked him up, held him, checked under his tail (looked like a boy to me) and then the crowd came. everyone had a kitten. this crazy lady with the little white one decides she wants to find out if hers is a boy or a girl and proceeds to rub her finger over the cat's butt. i kid you not. this woman was feeling up this poor kitty. then she does it to my little gray one (you know, for comparison) and i have never felt so sorry for any animal in my life. she ended up not even taking one, so i took the gray one...and the white one. what can i say, i felt so sorry for them both. i hope i was able to hide what i was feeling at that moment.

seriously, who rubs a cat's butt?

math? isn't that for geeks?

2008-08-15T14:37:00.003-06:00

my kids started back at school today. *happy dance* i picked them up at 11 am. i know, why bother even starting the day if you are going to be out in just a few hours? this was the question my kids asked me. well, a school day is a school day. that's it. period.
alex asked me if i knew who his math teacher this year. well, duh...the same teacher you had last year, right? nope. guess who is in the accelerated math now. that's right. so i have 2 math whizzes. at least 2 so far. grace is no slouch. i have told my kids that math is pretty easy. well, maybe easy isn't the right word. math is constant. 2+2=4 that will not change. once you understand the principle, that's it. i wasn't a math genius, but i did alright.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i smell brownies.

oh yeah, that's right. i'm making brownies with chocolate chips in it. i'm celebrating my pounds dropped. a whole 3 pounds.
i'm going to pack them all back on!
hahahaha

i talked to the guy in charge of soccer. guess who volunteered to coach the prek/kindergarten boys soccer team. that's right. yours truly. haley's team is joining up with my niece's team. neither team had enough players. so it actually works out better for me. if i need to send haley with someone for her game...i just send her next door. perfect! hubby's boss is still alex's coach. i 'm not sure when they start practices, but i hope it's soon. he's going to be one tired little pup. with soccer and fall baseball, he's going to be tired.

josh is so happy. he gets to start school next week and he gets to start soccer too. i'm actually excited about coaching soccer this year. the first year or two are easy to coach. at least for me they are. i just cover the basics of the sport. i don't have to come up with plays. i have my whistle. i can yell pretty loud. i handle little guys all day long.

alex leaves for his fishing trip today. he's going with my mom. they both sound pretty excited about it. i need to talk to my brother though. i heard that my mom may have been saying unkind things about my dad and stepmom within earshot of my kids. or directly to my kids. if that's the case, well, we will be changing the amount and how my kids spend time with her without hubby or myself present. if it keeps happening, well, let's hope it's not happening at all. my kids come first. my kids love my dad and stepmom. i will not let her damage that. end of story.

and that, dear friends, is the end of my bloggy free time. until the next time!

who do you like?

2008-08-14T12:06:00.003-06:00

there are certain actors, or well, people that i love to watch in movies. maybe they aren't actual "actors" but do act in certain movies. others are classically trained actors i just love.

1. Clint Eastwood. ok, the man was totally hot back in the day. i have loved his movies all my life. my dad and i would watch the spaghetti westerns, but my absolute favorite movie of his is Unforgiven. this movie has so many scenes that can bring you to tears. if you haven't seen it, go out and rent it, or check and see if it's on some channel. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105695/ go to this site if you have no idea which movie i'm talking about.

2. Gene Wilder. sorry johnny, he is the first and last Willy Wonka for this sugar fiend. that was the first movie i had ever seen with him. then when he teamed up with richard pryor, well, how can you not love those movies?

3. Willie Nelson. i watch Honeysuckle Rose every time it's on tv. he may not be an award winning actor, but i love his movies, and tv appearances.

4. Mel Brooks. need i say more? the man is a total genius.

5. Johnny Cash...and June Carter Cash. i fell in love with them when they made a few appearances on Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman. try watching Stagecoach sometime. it has johnny, june, willie, kris kristopherson, and walon jennings. oh and john schnieder (one of the dukes, or superman's dad depending on which generation you're from). great movie to watch.

miracle monday

2008-08-11T18:17:00.002-06:00

hi everyone! i just wanted to update you about jessica. for those of you who may not remember her, or didn't read the original post it's here http://amymomof5.blogspot.com/2008/04/miracle-mondaywell-how-about-asking-for.html.
she is defying the odds, and doing so well now. thank you all for the prayers and support for this woman and her family. please visit her caring bridge page and learn about what a strong and inspiring woman she is. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessicainchiostro

best vacation spot?

2008-08-09T07:42:00.001-06:00

hey everyone! just a quick post/question. please leave a comment!!!!
we are trying to plan our vacation. it's with 3 other couples, in feb and keep in mind these other couples like to drink. we went on a cruise. that was lots of fun, but we had to pay for our drinks. while that wasn't a big deal for us, there were a others that spent quite a bit more than they expected.
please tell me of some of your best vacations. or some great spots in your neck of the woods. just keep in mind that we are talking feb. we would love some place you can drive to. (we can drive anywhere! so far we've driven to new york, canada, new orleans...so you get the picture!)
we are up for pretty much anything. most of us are coming from missouri, but one couple will be coming from new jersey.
anyway...please leave a comment or two. tell your friends, ask them to leave a comment too! so far, we are looking at colorado...but feb? not so sure that would be a great plan.
thanks everyone!

free day

2008-08-08T10:50:00.002-06:00

today was supposed to be a pretty light day for me. just one family. the others were all going to be out of town or parents were off of work for one reason or another (woohoo!). anyway, the only family i was supposed to have has a sick child and so the mom took off work to stay with them. so it's just me and my own kiddos!!!
what to do, what to do? well, right now, grace is killing some of the flies that have invaded my house. with so many kids running in and out all day, well, some obnoxious little buggers got in. (the bugs, not the kids) so now she is running around smacking them with the fly swatter. i think she gets 1 fly for every 10 swats, but she's the one doing it, not me. so who am i to complain.
alex is up taking a shower. haley is waiting for her turn. they are going with my dad and stepmom to the horse races. they have been cleaning all morning so they can have friends over this weekend. (works for me!)
josh and zack went with me to sign josh up for pre-k. he is so excited about starting school. sure, it's only 2 days a week, but he's in a class, making friends, and learning something. the poor kid has been asking when he can have friends over like the big kids. well, you have to actually have friends before you can ask them over to play. i don't know anyone with boys the same age as josh. soccer starts soon too. he'll have friends coming out of his ears.
zack has taken his second shower for the day. he had to get in when i was taking one this morning, and then had to get in with alex too. he may be the cleanest kid in the house.
so, i am hoping to figure out something fun for lunch. maybe we'll head to the park, or get some pizza or something. something different. i want to be able to sit back and have a good time with my little monsters today.
ok, scratch that...the older two were picked up a little earlier than originally planned. so i am getting papa john's pizza (mmmmmmm!) and then we are going to figure out something fun that they will enjoy. maybe grace's friend will spend the night, maybe we will play some parcheesi, maybe we'll go swimming. the choice is theirs my friends!

now, i am going to play with my kids! have fun today (it's beautiful here!)!

miracle monday

2008-08-04T07:53:00.002-06:00

ok, i meant to have this ready for last week, but my days got a little confused and as i was getting ready to write it, well, i realized it was tuesday. so i figured i would wait until the next monday to write it...and well, that's today.

well, you all know we had our local county fair a couple of weeks ago. we had to be there every day. every morning, and every afternoon/evening. alex's pig went the first day of the fair, haley's lambs went on wednesday. the animals aren't released until saturday night at midnight, so we have to be there every day, a couple of times a day, to make sure they have food, and clean their pens. it was a very expensive week. besides the fact i wasn't able to babysit, the passes we had to get ended up costing us about $100, the gas to drive there twice a day, plus buying a soda/water, and dinner up there...well, let's just say, the money added up pretty quickly and i was getting pretty short on cash by the end of the week. saturday came and i was down to $30. i had my 5 kids, and grace's little friend with us, and it was lunch time. it was so very hot, and i knew they wouldn't eat a lot, so i bought them some drinks, and told them to pick something small to eat, so i would have enough to buy them some ice cream for the long walk to the car. every one wanted a hamburger or hot dog or huge thing of fried potatoes...and i just didn't have enough money (and i knew they wouldn't eat all of that) so i told them "look guys, i don't have unlimited amounts of cash, if you want an ice cream for the walk home you have to get something small...like one or two dollars". as i was getting their orders ready and counting out my money (just enough to get what they wanted...not enough to get ice cream later) a $10 bill gets put in my hand. a man and his wife overheard me talking to the kids and he told me to get the kids an ice cream. "oh no, (i am red faced with embarrassment over being overheard) please, it's ok." he tells me "get your kids some ice cream". his wife smiled, and he grinned. "please, really, it's ok". "get your kids some ice cream" he says. smiling, he and his wife walk away. i said " thank you" and made the kids say it too (they didn't even know what was going on, but did what they were told.).
the people at the fair were some of the nicest and most helpful people i have ever met. these people volunteer their time to set it up, work the booths, and help out those of us (namely me)that have no clue what we are doing.
they even help out frazzled moms (that have more kids than they know what to do with) get the kids a cool sweet treat on a unbearably hot day. (and $10 was the exact cost to get the kids their ice cream)

i have joined the club

2008-07-30T14:35:00.003-06:00

today, i turn thirty. i don't feel any different. i don't know why i thought i would. i don't feel old. i feel a little moody, but rainy days always make me feel like that...especially when i have a house full of energetic kiddos. i don't feel old. i don't feel crazy either. (well, maybe that comes with a little more time?)
don't get me wrong. i am actually getting used to the idea. thirty. i feel like a grown up. i feel lucky. yes, i feel lucky. last week, i remembered why birthdays are special. no real reason. i just had an epiphany. there are plenty of people that would love to turn thirty. that would love the opportunity to watch their children grow a little older, their own hair turn gray (mine hasn't yet). here i am, complaining about getting another year to, well, to be here, on this earth, with my most cherished family. how dare i. seriously, how self centered am i? to complain about getting another year. forgive me, bloggy-friends.
so i am looking at things differently today. starting today, this rainy day is beautiful. i can actually see the grass getting greener and my veggies growing.
starting today, i am so very thankful for all the energetic kiddos running around me. they aren't sick, they aren't horrible rotten kids. they are some of the greatest kids i've ever met. that's not just my kids, that's all the kids in my care. they are some of the greatest kids, most polite, helpful children. their parents are some of the nicest people you'd ever meet. i am lucky to know these people, and for them to allow me to care for their kids...well it means a lot to me.

in all honesty, the crazy part has worried me more than the aging part of turning 30. i know, many of you are probably thinking "what on earth is she talking about?". well, when my mom was in her early thirties (31) she left my dad. i have known several other women that left their husbands when they hit their thirties. i know, that may not have been a major contributing factor...but in my family, it seems like that's when the mind starts to "break" some. my mom and both her sisters are bipolar. they all really started to lose it in their thirties. they start to "remember" things that never happened. they start to "see" things. they become really hard to be around. they lose interest in their kids. they lose interest in being a mom.
i am so scared it will happen to me. i am even more scared that i could pass it on to my kids. i know, medication helps. i know, i have a husband that has promised to watch out for me. i don't want it to come to that. i want to really enjoy my family. i want to keep loving being around them. i
i am talking too much about stuff that hasn't happened. i am thinking about the negative.
so i'm going to stop.
i am going to enjoy going out with my hubby tonight. i am going to enjoy my kids singing happy birthday.

double edged sword

2008-07-25T10:15:00.002-06:00

that's what this week at the fair has seemed like. my heart has been bursting with pride because my kids have worked so hard, and have done so well.

this week has been a lot of early mornings and late nights. yesterday, the second time we got to the fair, the kids had to get their animals ready for the auction. we were anxiously awaiting the 5 o'clock meeting to find out how alex's pig did overall. haley was feeding the lambs and giving them more water, and alex was cleaning out the pig's pen and then going to start scrubbing her down and then feed her really quick. i saw some people looking at a bulletin board. i went up to look and it had all the kids with pigs listed, with all kinds of next to it. alex's name was at the top of the list. next to his name was GR. ok, being new to all of this, i had to ask someone to explain it to me...

ALEX WON GRAND CHAMPION OVERALL!!!!!!!!!!!

we were all really excited, i started making phone calls, and so my in-laws and my mom hurried up and drove to the fair just to see alex get his trophy and ribbon. poor hubby was stuck at work. i took lots of pictures though. apparently this was not enough to get the hubby to reconsider doing pigs again next year. he's still saying "no way, we are going out on top".

haley was so excited for alex. it was so cool to see. first thing she said was "that's so cool, maybe she won't get eaten then".

perhaps now you see why this fair is a double edged sword? that's right, the auction. while it's really cool that the kids get to make money off of their hard work, they also put a lot of time, money, and effort into these animals. some moms *ahem* have developed affections for these animals. so the thought of my, i mean alex's, pig going to a processing center, weighs pretty heavy on my heart. doesn't seem to bother him much. and really, it shouldn't. if all farmers and ranchers made their animals into loved pets...well, we'd all be vegetarians.

anyway, on to the auction. because alex's pig was the grand champion, his was the first pig to be auctioned. after the last of the steers, alex brought her out. they did great out there. she ended up selling for $4.25 a pound. most of the other pigs went for $2 to $3 a pound. he made a little more than $900. i'm hoping that if someone is paying that much for a little pig (she was one of the smallest up there), they are planning on something other than eating her. of course the fact it is josephville meat processing co that bought her, well i'm not sure what to think. i hope she is going to be a brood sow for them. she's such a great pig.

haley's lamb was the 12th lamb out. she brought her out, smiled, and kept her lamb in check. she did great. lambs they sell by the head, not by the pound like hogs and steers. she ended up making $280 off of her little lamb. the grand champion went for around $500, and i think the most paid was $600, but she was about average for what the rest went for. some were as low as $150...but that's still a good profit. haley's lamb was bought by wright city meat market. haley was more upset about the lamb possibly getting eaten. she was nearly in tears. i honestly forgot that people eat sheep/lambs. you don't usually see it in the meat section of the grocery store. at least not the stores i go to.

all in all, this has been a very positive experience. the kids are excited about next year. they are already deciding what animals they want to try to raise for the next fair. i think we may be sticking with poultry. i told them if they want, they can do lambs and poultry, but only one animal per child can get sold at the fair. we will see. chickens get sold for quite a bit of money, and usually they end up going home with the kid. not always, but it happens pretty often.

haley's lambs

2008-07-24T12:27:00.002-06:00

haley did such a great job last night! i was so very very very proud of her! her lambs were in the first 2 weight classes (one was 90 and the other was 98 pounds). she also did the junior showmanship competition. her first lamb (the black one) one 4th place. her second lamb took 12th (out of 13). she did such an awesome job with these lambs.
for some reason they decided to do the showmanship competition first. haley's lamb was really spirited. i mean like jumping all over, knocked her down, in fact haley fell down on top of her lamb. now what really impressed me (and a lot of people in the stands) is that she never let go. she grabbed it's legs, yanked it back and took control. i got to tell you, i was almost in tears. watching my kids at the fair...i can't tell you how proud i am of them. they have been helpful to those around them, attentive to their animal's needs, and what else can i say?

don't get me wrong, they haven't been perfect. i have argued or yelled at them all...several times...each day. in fact i am yelling at one (actually both) while i am writing this. i am a tad stressed at the moment and have been threatening them continuously all day. i am starting to think i need to move past the threat level...into action level. i am really tired. can you tell? these late nights and early mornings are hard on all of us. ok, time to head back to the fair...wish us luck!

oh...my...goodness!!!!!

2008-07-22T22:08:00.002-06:00

ALEX'S PIG WON HER WEIGHT CLASS!!!!!!

she was in the smallest weight class (she weighed 215) and she won first in her weight class! alex did a great job with her in the ring. it took us an hour to get her loaded into the back of the truck today, then another 20 minutes tying down the "cage" so she couldn't just flip it off and jump out of the back. alex was so excited!

today's the day

2008-07-22T12:45:00.003-06:00

the pig leaves for the fair today. i am actually fighting back tears right now. pathetic, i know. i've been pretty good so far today. we all had dentist appts. so that kept my mind off of the day. we are trying to get things together so they can leave around 3:30.
what's really funny is alex is totally fine with it. here's the conversation we had yesterday:

ME: well, you know that half the money you get will go into your savings account. at least half.

Alex: conrad said that pigs brought like $500 at the auction last year.

Me: don't count on it. you don't know for sure how much you will get, so don't get your hopes up.

A: well, she has really big hams, and they are really all muscle. just a little fat, so that should be a good thing right? not too much fat, but enough to make them taste good. grandma says fat makes the meat taste better.

Me: STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!!!! i think i'm going to be sick.

yeah, i think he's going to be fine. i'm going to be the one crying hysterically in the corner.

we are taking some pictures today, so hopefully i'll get some up soon!

ok, maybe 30 isn't as bad as i thought..

2008-07-20T09:49:00.003-06:00

last night my family threw a surprise birthday party for me. i was TOTALLY surprised. i had no clue they had this going on. it was at my dad's house. i thought we were going over there because we had started this tradition of the adults going out for an adult's birthday. even when i saw all the cars, i still had no idea. it wasn't until i saw the crowd on the front lawn. my wonderful husband started planning this in may. he did such a fabulous job. i guess my kids had known for a while too...well, at least the older ones. josh and zack had no idea what was going on. the boys and i had had the day to ourselves. we went up to the fairgrounds, we went to a feed store, we went out to lunch, zack helped me wash the pig. it was a great day for us. they were just as shocked as i was.

this is my 3rd surprise party. i have had no idea anything was going on at any of them. my best friend jessica (she was there last night) threw me a surprise going away party when my parents split up and i was having to move away. well, she and her mom (we were like 13). her mom was there last night too. she was like a second mom when i was growing up. i actually called her mom and her husband dad for a time. i practically lived at their house for months before my parents split. i was so glad to see them, and jess's 2 kids. i hadn't seen them since they were like 4 and 2. they are like almost 9 and 7. beautiful, well behaved, and i could totally pick them out of the crowd. brady looks just like he did, jenna is the spitting image of her mommy.
i think jessica threw the second one too. for my 14th or 15th birthday . she and shawn. maybe sara helped too. and my mom helped of course. i can't remember my teen years to well. i want to say my 14th birthday because i wasn't into drugs at that time...and shawn was around a lot then...but i don't remember that well. i just remember thinking (before the party) wow, the house sure is clean. then friends started showing up. i can't believe i have been so blessed with family and friends that find me so worthy of all that planning and sneaking around.

what's funnier is i had told hubby i didn't want a party. no thanks. not because turning 30 bothered me so much. more because i don't like putting my mom and dad and diane in the same room...or town. it is too nerve wracking. i spend the night hoping mom doesn't drink enough to decide she wants to start something. my dad and diane, i don't worry about them. mom, well, she's another story. i would have been sick for weeks had i known about this party. (like i was before my wedding and my sister's wedding...and jeff's 30th party). mom "had a little captain in her" but she was well behaved. i am so glad. (maybe i'll put this in for my miracle on miracle monday)

thanks to my dad, diane, hubby, mom, sister in law deb, for putting this together for me. i have truly been blessed with you all in my life. thanks to all the friends and family that came. you people totally rock! for those that couldn't make it, i'm sorry you missed it, it was a great time.
thanks to my kiddo's. you didn't spill the beans, you decorated the house so beautifully, and you got along! i couldn't ask for more (except you to help clean the house and your rooms once in a while!). i love you all! thanks to God for putting you all in my life!

count down...

2008-07-17T15:53:00.003-06:00

well, my little guy turned 3. that same day, i had to take the kids to a family reunion at a park in lake st. louis...by myself. saturdays are just not great "family" days for us. the hubby has to work, so anything i do, i do by myself with all the kids. it was nice to see all the cousins that i haven't seen in a while. the kids had an "o.k." time. they didn't really know anyone, and there weren't too many kids their ages to play with...oh yeah, and it rained...and the temperature dropped...and we could only stay for a couple of hours before we had to leave for zack's party. i got to see my cousin greg (well, he's my mom's cousin's son). i haven't seen this kid since he was about 5 and i was about 15. he was such a cute kid. so nice and polite. his parents were messed up (drugs) but he was such a good kid. he's turned out pretty good. actually the hubby sold him a truck last month. he's in construction, but it's steady work and great pay. i'm so happy for him.
zack had such a great time at his party. he was so cute. he was so excited with every single gift he got. josh had a tougher time. he was upset zack wasn't "sharing". well, his idea of sharing was a little different...he thought zack should open the gifts and just let him play with whatever he wanted to. not gonna happen. my SIL, debbie, made him a monster truck cake. he was so excited about it. he had a great day.
this week has been a tad hectic. i know, i know, when isn't a day in my life hectic. well, this week, i have all my usually kiddos, plus my nieces have been coming over. we have been getting haley over to work with her sheep every night. i got a new washer and dryer (front loading) and i LOVE them. the hubby's parents are out of town, so we have been watching the dog (he's a 90 lb puppy). the pig started limping and i'm not sure if it's just the way she walks or if she is truly hurt.
the fair starts on tuesday. the kids are getting nervous and excited. i'm just nervous. i think they will do fine, i just want to make sure I don't screw it up. i'm not sure how i could, but it has been known to happen. tonight we have a 4H meeting at 7, so i have to make sure we get there. haley also has a game at 8. thank goodness they are right by each other.

i have a favor to ask, could you please pray for my little brother. he's been going through some really tough personal stuff lately. please pray for him to continue on the path he's on now. thanks!

pigs and sheep and kittens oh my

2008-07-09T18:49:00.003-06:00

ok, first off, let me just say, we have a new kitten. he's a little gray tabby kitten. i'm not sure what his name is yet. i've heard "tiger", and "shady", and "take it back where you got it". (guess which one was the hubby's suggestion) so far so good. he hasn't been eaten by any dogs, hit by any cars, or eaten anything poisonous. of course we haven't had him a full week yet, so anything can happen.

last night i took alex to the lincoln county fair. their hog show was last night, so i figured "what better way to see what we need to be doing". well, most of those pigs were bigger than ours. 90% were white (the pigs, not the people...although i guess those stats would work for both). there was a huge age range in kids showing. there were kids as young as 8 or 9 or as old as 18. they all were terrific. we weren't able to stay for the whole show (which lasted several hours), but i think alex has a better understanding of what is expected of him. he's getting nervous now. the fair is only a couple of weeks away.

after we got back from the fair, we took the whole family to see haley's sheep. she has 3, but she has to pick 2 for the show and 1 to sell at the auction. she has to break them before the fair. basically, she has to get her sheep, (which is difficult) and hold them until they surrender, then let it go and catch it right away. she has to do this at least twice with each one. i helped her, so did alex and the hubby. i didn't realize how oily their wool is. (that's where lanolin comes from...breastfeeding moms should have some on hand) and boy howdy, they stink! it's hard to describe, but think wet dog+urine+feces+farm=one big stinky mess! the kids didn't even argue about taking showers...that's how smelly it was. i will be doing this again in a few minutes...and every day until fair. fun.

well, i have dinner to get on the table, kids to get out the door (to do some sheep work), and well, there's always cleaning to get done.

then there's the fact my littlest one is turning 3 this saturday...don't get me started, i can't believe my baby is so big!

rachel, let me know when it is you are coming into town. i'd love to get together!

miracle monday

2008-07-07T08:11:00.003-06:00

hello all! i've been a tad busy with the summer starting and all the kids out of school, so i haven't really posted much at all. here is a miracle that happened right around memorial day this year.

joy is a woman i used to bowl with. she's a really nice woman. she just lost her husband the previous may, and at the time this happened she had 2 of her daughters living with her. one daughter is mentally handicapped, and the other is going through a divorce.

i am sure you have all heard about the flooding here in the midwest. the mississippi jumped it's banks and flooded many towns and fields...janet's miracle happened before all this.

memorial weekend, we got around 9 inches of rain in one night. i'm not sure exactly when because we were on vacation in florida at the time. places that have never flooded before were under water. joy lived next to a creek. she had lived there for 20+ years. the water had surrounded her house once before, but never had it come inside. at least, not until that night. she was home with her daughters, and the storm was raging. she looked outside and saw the creek had risen quite a bit, enough to make her tell her girls to leave the house. they were finally able to get her handicapped daughter to leave the house, the water was at the door. joy went back in to get her purse and some belongings, and leave by the front door. as she tried to step onto her porch, she couldn't find it. it was gone! the water was at her waist by this time. she looked to the neighbor's house and it was not in the same place. at first she thought his house was moving, but she noticed the power lines, and realized her house was the one moving. she tried to get out the back door, but the furniture was all floating in the way. the house caught a power line and snapped it. she felt a slight buzzing sensation in her legs. her neighbors called 911 and the firefighters tried to decide what to do. they decided the best thing to do was to wait until the water had gone down some before mounting a rescue. when the water was down to only a couple of feet, they got geared up and went in to save joy.

her house was a total loss. she didn't have flood insurance. the cars were the only things insurance covered. thanks to her church, and many friends, she is on her own and has some belongings.
joy is not a good swimmer. had that furniture not blocked her path, she may have tried to swim for it. flood water overcomes even strong swimmers. (that's why the firefighters had to wait before going in to save her) she wouldn't have survived it. her house stayed intact while traveling 50 feet in a raging flood. God was with her that night.

this is the article about joy that came out recently. http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/articles/2008/07/02/news/sj2tn20080701-0702stc-pokin0.ii1.txt