so far, so good

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!!!

free day

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!)!

today was a school day, and a snow day. my kids had school, and yet most of the local schools were closed. that means i only had 9 kids at my house, not the 14 or 17 i would normally have on a school day.
i'm sure people see those numbers and are thinking "how on earth do you actually take care of that many kids." well, most of these kids are 3rd grade and older. in fact, the ages are my five 11, 9, 6, 4, and 2. then family A is 11, 10, and 5 with a new baby that will be here in the next couple of weeks. family B is 12, 10, 8, and 4. family C is 11, 8, and 2. family D is 11, and 6. most of these kids are technically allowed to stay home alone. i have been very lucky with the families i watch. they are very good kids. they are all fairly well behaved (but they are kids! they have their moments) and polite. the parents are so very nice. i have no complaints when it comes to the quality of people i deal with. i am truly blessed with the kind of people in my life.

how do i feed them all? well, we eat in shifts usually. the youngers go first, and then the older kids. i am very strict on this...just ask my 11 yr old. he got in big trouble for eating ahead of the other kids and had to go help shovel snow for his grandparents. it may not sound like a big deal (and it wasn't) but when i have a large number of kids, i have to feed the little guys first or they may not get enough. those big kids can really put away some food! i only had 9 today, but i fixed 20 hotdogs, 3 boxes of mac and cheese, sliced 3 apples and peeled 4 oranges. i don't know if that sounds like much, but it was all gone by the end of lunch.

what do they do all day? well, hmmm, beside drive me completely crazy? really they are good kids. they may get on my nerves more when they are stuck in the house, but that would be the case with 1 kid or 17. when it's summer, we swim everyday. every single day. they are outside every single day. well, unless it's storming. but even those days, if we have any time at all that is clear, they are outside. snow days are a little tougher. they are usually stuck in the house those days. they play in the basement or upstairs. they play on the main level too. ok i guess you can't throw a stick without hitting a couple kids on snow days.

is it hard on my kids having to share me? it is. i won't lie. they do get jealous. but they also have friends to play with every day. i think they handle the sharing part pretty well. in fact, i don't think i have had any of the "it's mine" issues with my own kids. i have had the "she's my mommy, not yours" issues come up. but that was just because one of the little guys i watch started to call me mom. only because that's what he heard me being called all the time. we straightened it out, and he now calls me by my name, but he still calls my hubby dad. very funny when we see him out at school or church functions and he waves to him saying "dad". hubby finds it hilarious. i don't think his parents have realized what he's saying.

i do enjoy taking care of these kids. they are like family to me. i won't say i love them like my own kids. i do love them like they are my nieces and nephews though.
as much as i do love them, i will not be doing this forever. i am planning on going back to school after my youngest is in school. i may put it off long enough for the youngest kid i watch to get into school, but i don't know. i love taking care of kids. i also would like to have a real job someday. you know, with co-workers and adult conversation. that would be nice.
that can wait for now.

i have been up to...

one week from tomorrow and we (meaning the hubby and i) are leaving for new orleans. then the following day, we leave on our cruise. let the countdown commence!

yesterday, (being friday) alex had a tournament basketball game at 9 pm against one of the other teams from his class. (there are actually 3 teams) tomorrow at 6pm, he plays against the other team from his class. this one for the championship. it's pretty cool seeing how competative these boys are on the court (and before the game), but after the game's over it's like all of the competativeness was left on the court. in fact 3 boys from our team went home with 3 boys from the other team. oh yeah, we had to play them again this morning. we lost that game.

grace played goalie in soccer today. atleast for the first half. well, playing goalie is what i like to call it...what she actually did was play in the net, twirled around, and danced a little. her team won. i think she may have touched the ball once as goalie. the second half she was out running the field.

haley has been a huge help with her younger sibs. she watched them for me most of the games. that way i can actually watch the games. she starts her games soon i think.

josh woke up this morning having one of his "it's not asthma" attacks. i had to give him a breathing treatment, and it cleared up pretty well. last time i took him into the dr's office, she told me it was croup. (not my dr, one of her partners) it's not. i know it's not. although, i'm not really wanting them to call it asthma either. he's fine now.

zack was running a low grade fever last night. it never went above 100.2. he never complained about anything. he just felt warm to me. i hope that's all it ends up being.

the hubby has sold 5 cars so far this month. for those who don't have husbands that sell cars, that is really good. really really good. especially when said hubby will be out of town for a week.

i have been keeping up with my cleaning. i seem to hit it every other day. i don't know why. i guess i just need to get into the swing of things first.

*rachel, with my kids, i always wiped for them. when they learn as young as 2 or young 3, it's hard for them to get themselves clean enough. atleast their behinds. that, and the fact my kids all have very chubby bottoms, and that makes it even harder for them to do a good job. usually around older 3 to 4 years is when they start doing for themselves all the time. atleast that's been my experience. i will let them try first, but usually they just make a bigger mess.

promises are made to be broken, right?

well, if you remember my previous post on monday, i had promised to start on the little boys' room. well, i didn't. in fact, i didn't do a gosh darn thing yesterday. well, except vote...and picked up kids, and did recess duty for about 2 hours, and make lunch, oh yeah, and almost finished a blanket. but, i totally slacked off on cleaning.
today is another day. i decided that before i can go anywhere (playdate) we have to get some cleaning done. in fact, before the kids could eat breakfast (believe me, they aren't starving. they've been snacking all morning), they had to pick up all the toys in the lower level. that's the living room, kitchen, dining area, and hallway. sounds like alot, but it's basically one big room. they did a great job. they weren't too keen on the idea of having to pick up in the boys' room after breakfast...but if they wanted to go anywhere or do anything, they had to help. i didn't get it done. i think we are about half way there (oh oh, living on a prayer...sorry, bon jovi took over my body for a second). i am going thru stuff as we pick it up, and i am getting rid of a lot of toys and clothes. their room looked horrible when we started...like a toy store ate a bunch of clothes and then threw up...now it just looks bad. that's an improvement, right?
we have 2 basketball games this weekend, and an indoor soccer game. the basketball games are against the same team...alex's friends. the other school team. it should be a fun time. i actually like playing against them. i can root for both teams, and cheer them by name. except for the win/lose aspect of the game, it's the most fun.
i am so excited that jericho starts in a few days. i love that show. i know it's kind of gloom and doom...but skeet ulrich is so so hot. i know, that's not a good reason to watch a show. but he is seriously, seriously broodingly handsome. (did i just make up some words to describe his hotness? i think i did) perhaps i will come up with a good "sexy men i see on tv" post someday.
ok, time to get ready for the playdate.
i will update about my challenge numbers later.

hubby had a dream

unfortunately it wasn't as uplifting and inspirational as MLK jr's.
let me start this by saying, my husband has some very vivid dreams, and they usually don't make much sense. i think it's from the oxygen deprivation (i believe he suffers from sleep apnea).
anyway, he woke up this morning and hugged me tight and told me how much he loves me. not that he doesn't do this every single morning, but this morning it was a little more intense.
in his dream, he and i decided to split up. according to him, it was a mutual decision. it didn't take him long to realize how insignificant and worthless his life is without me. (hehehe) he wanted to tell me he changed his mind and wanted to make it work. he couldn't find me. i disappeared. he spent the rest of his dream searching for me.
it's funny, i thought after the split he would have looked at the house and realized how clean and neat his life is without me. apparently he loves the chaos that is me!

today was a snow day. the kids were all out of school. i ended up with around 18 people for lunch...that includes myself and my sister in law and her 2 kids. (not the one that gave us the dog) if you do the math, i had a total of 14 kids in my care. that includes my five. my house was loud all day. it is cold in here still, and i am supposed to be getting it cleaned up for the superbowl party we are having. will this be possible? your guess is as good as mine. i am usually a pressure cleaner. ie, i clean right before people are supposed to show up. so i will be crazy tomorrow. today, i am going to play cards with all the in-laws. hubby is working late, and his family is playing texas hold'em. hubby is not really into playing cards. his family is pretty competative. we have a good time though. we laugh alot. usually at someones expense, but all in good fun.

i am totally snowed in. i love my 12 passenger van, but it sucks in the snow. any more than an inch of the white stuff and i am stuck in the house until it melts. last time it snowed about 4 inches, i was stuck for about a week...even though the snow had melted on the 3rd day. we live on a gravel driveway and when the snow packs into the rocks it turns to ice. everyone else can get around in their 4 wheel drive vehicles, and i am stuck at home with my red short-bus.

enjoy your weekend and GO GIANTS!!!

staying home

i love being a stay at home mom. i'm glad we are able to do it. it isn't always easy financially or emotionally, but it is definitely where i want to be....right now. there are some definite draw backs...
1) i don't get alot of adult time. i feel like a junky sometimes when i see other grown ups. i start jonesin' for a adult conversation fix. just to talk to someone i don't have to tell what to do, or explain why they have to do it, when they need to do it, and how they need to do it would be heaven. it has gotten better, though. since i don't have a new baby or pregnant, i am able to go out with some of the parents i know. i don't know why it stopped me in the past, but it did.

2) i don't feel like i can complain to my husband. i know what you are thinking, "why would you not complain to your hubby?". that's easy to answer, he has to work alot. not as much as he did before, but still alot. his job is a stress filled one. when you work on commission, it will always be stressful, but, when you have a wife who stays home with your 5 kids, it becomes just a wee bit more so.

3) i get alot of kid time. some days, perhaps a bit too much. i seriously can't go to the bathroom without someone right there behind me saying "hey mom". my kids think when a door is locked, it means that we want them to just get the key and come in anyway. i don't even get to sleep in my bed without kids. some days, you can't throw a stick without hitting a kid.

4) i know that these are the best years of my life. these are my babies and they are only young for such a short time. i am scared i am not enjoying my kids enough. you see, i am with them all day. i am worried that by being with them all the time, i don't get a chance to sit back and see them for the great kids they are. (atleast not until someone else tells me)

i hate feeling this way. my kids are my life...literally. i have a hard time being away from them. i can't say i don't get away...i have a great family that loves spending time with my kids. my step mom and dad actually take all 5 overnight. yes you heard right, all 5 (ages 2 thru 11) all night, and they even take the kids out places with them! my step mom actually took all 5 a couple of weeks ago, over night, and my dad wasn't even there to help out. just her and my little bro. (he may be 26, but he acts like 11 sometimes) even with the kids gone, i have no idea what to do with myself. i don't know how to do things without being interrupted 10 times. i will suddenly look around trying to find the little ones, only to remember they are out. i have had a baby on my hip, or in the oven for 12 years (in december). they have been the best 12 years. maybe i am just a little scared about what comes next?

rain rain rain

today is a really rainy day. now, rainy days usually don't bother me, but today i have 13 (yes thirteen!) kids at my house. normally when i have lots of kids at my house, i send them all outside. even in rain, i could send them outside...but it is cold, and loud thunder...so i think i'll let them stay inside. the girls are watching high school musical 2 (i am doing back flips, i love this show so much) and the boys are downstairs, playing video games. i just finished making pancakes for all the kids. they scarfed them down so fast, i didn't stop buttering and cutting until they were completely gone. they were lined up for seconds before the last kid had even gotten her plate! now, while they are all busy with movies and games, i get to write this post. tomorrow, we are going to my in-law's house for thanksgiving. i need to get over there early so i can help her out. i think there is only going to be 30 people, so it should be easy.

haley had her soccer pizza party last night. i got there late (as usual), but still in time for the trophies and the "show". coach brad took pictures of the girls, set it to music, and showed it on the wall at pantera's. it turned out great! then he had it on cd's for all the parents. awesome! i also found out the girls start basketball practice in march. yes, march. it's an instructional league, so it starts after the normal basketball season. alex has already started practicing. it is so nice to not have more than one kid playing a sport at one time. i get to actually watch alex, then when haley starts, i get to watch her too.

haley starts in a new, more challenging, math and english class monday. she is so excited. basically they are going to start 4th grade math. the teacher is a little worried that it might not be enough to challenge them, but they can up it a little if they need to. english will basically be adding to what they do normally in class. they will be reading chapter books, doing research projects, writing papers, and taking quizzes on them. i am actually excited about the fact she will be bringing homework home now. she hasn't had anything to bring home in a long time. she gets it done so fast in class, she hasn't really had any in quite a while. i am really happy that our school recognizes that some students need to be challenged more and work with that. i am so proud of that kid.