rose!

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!

+1

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.

boy i'm glad i'm me!

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.

karma

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

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?

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!)!

count down...

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!

water water everywhere

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

what's the haps

while we were gone on our vacation, 8 or 9 inches of rain fell...in one night. it caused major flood damage pretty close to our home, and we actually had a little bit of water come in our basement. several houses were moved off of their foundations by flood water, one only just around the corner from us (maybe quarter of a mile "as the crow flys") and a couple of miles down hwy P, the highway completely washed out. an 8 foot sized section just washed out. this is right by my hubby's uncle's house. his house is fine, but several houses a little lower than his washed away. like 50 feet away. one of the homes belongs (ed) to a friend of my mother in law. she was in her home with her two daughters (one of which is disabled). they escaped it when it came to rest, and had to drag the disabled daughter to safety. she lost her husband just a year ago, and has now lost her home and her car. please keep her in your prayers! i don't know if they had flood insurance. if they didn't, they are totally screwed.
i don't think we had much water in our basement. the rug down there is shot. it was pretty wet when we got home. we had 2 boxes that got a little wet, but for the most part, we got away pretty clean.
while we were in florida, my oldest 2 stayed with my dad, stepmom, and little brother the whole time. they usually go with them for a couple of days or a week in the summer...or the school year. they really love going on vacation with them, and they are able to go places that...well, we can't afford to take them. they've been to mexico a several times, aruba, jamaica a couple of times, and to florida several times. most of the time, the rest of us stay home. grace has been able to go the last couple of years. she doesn't go with alex and haley though, she goes with my neices...they are about the same age (they'll be 8 and 7 the end of june).
alex caught a 10 pound flounder, a couple of 4 pound mackeral, and a stingray. he was the only one to catch anything while we were down there. my dad has been there since march, and has been fishing the same dock (since march) and hasn't caught anything. alex caught 3 of the 4 fish from this dock. the kid loves fishing. he reminds me of myself. i loved fishing, and getting into the creeks and rivers, and lakes...you know, catching minnows, or turtles, or tadpoles...whatever i could.
my kids are out of school! yeah, yippee...for now. until the start to wear on my nerves...then i will be counting the minutes until they go back. they get awards the last day of school. this would probably mean more if it wasn't an "every kid gets x-number of awards" ceremony. if it was based on actual merit, well, i would be totally stoked about the both of them getting 4 awards. with that said, haley got an award (voted on by her classmates) for being the "most understanding" in her class. very cool. she also got an award for being in the excelerated math group. also very cool. alex got a reading award (he better get that award, the kid finished his reading goal 3 weeks into the quarter), an a couple of other english type awards. really cool, considering boys are usually better at math. i guess my kids switched. not that they aren't good at the other, haley especially.
this monday is the last day for the rest of the kids. we really need to get the pool cleaned out. otherwise these kids are going to drive me batty!

strike

i wish this strike would end! i have two families that have parents laid off because of it. i haven't seen one of "my" girls in over a month! she starts kindergarten this fall, and i won't be seeing her then. she's a good kid...very active, talkative, and helpful. her mom (she's laid off) is a really neat person. i like her a lot. the baby i started watching last week, well, her dad got laid off on friday. so who knows when i will get her again. i would have liked to have all my kiddos consistently, that way in the summer, it's not as huge of a transition. after all, i will be getting one of my families back in may (when mom goes back to work after the baby) and i was hoping to not have to try and juggle getting 2 babies used to the new environment at the same time. so basically my house is so quiet. i only have one or 2 kids during the day and maybe 2 or 5 in the afternoons. and the extra 3 are just because their mom is out of town for work this week. i don't know what to do with myself!

my mom started a new job last month. she is traveling 3 weeks out of the month. she gets to come home on the weekends. she really likes it. it's the perfect type of job for her. she is really excited about the people she works with. she says her bosses are tops in their field. so far she is just traveling in the US but it could be an international thing in a couple of months. if that happens, she will be gone for months at a time. i think she'd like that. i know she loves seeing the kids, but i think she likes being "independent" more. when she lived in chicago, we saw her 2 or 3 times a year. she came in town every 2 month or so. she just liked hanging out with her friends when she was down. most of the time, she didn't even tell us she was down here. not a big deal...except when she would say things about the kids not knowing her. she has been around a lot more since she's been back in MO. we were seeing her every friday for lunch for a while. the little guys know her now. the bigger kids love hanging out with her. so i think she knows she wants to keep that going. i'm really proud of her. she just has a high school diploma. her bosses were so excited to get her because they said she had great experience. she went from customer service at MCI to management at worldcom. she knew the jobs she was asking people to do. she was friends with lots of her bosses...and still is friends with them. they gave her great references. i'm glad she did such a great job that her bosses still know her name 5 years later. that says a lot about her work ethic.

the pig is still doing well. she's still friendly, and growing well. she's put on about 2 pounds a day. alex has even been giving her baths. so far so good!

i went to a party, and who knew....

i'd find a drink that i like! i have discovered amaretto sours. debbie is a lady i babysit for, and she was also the bartender where we went last night (baby shower). she wanted to get me a drink, but, being the wuss that i am, i can't stand the taste of alcohol. so she thought about what i might like, and gave me an amaretto sour. it tasted like lemonade. very sweet lemonade. i LOVED it. so she ended up buying me 3. she has been trying to get me out on the town for a while now, and wanted to make sure i had a good time. i had a great time.
the shower was for another girl i babysit for. my friend lana, a girl she works with, and i got it together for her. cindy is great. she just had her 4th baby, and i get to watch her! yippee! i can't wait. she has a son that is alex's age, a daughter that's a year older than haley, and another daughter that's right between grace and josh. they weren't planning on having anymore kids after their third, and got rid of all their baby stuff. the baby is absolutely beautiful! a thick (and i mean no scalp showing thick) head of black hair, and a clear darker complexion. gorgeous!

so, other than the raging headache i have right now (not through alcohol, i had it before then), i am having a pretty great weekend. alex has a soccer game tonight, haley has a girl scout thing, and then we are playing cards tonight too.

the pig is doing pretty good. she's been eating well, and alex has been taking her outside alot and walking her around. i was worried that she'd try to run off, but we have more trouble getting her away from the basement door than trying to get her back in. she likes the basement. i think this may become a problem when she's 200+ pounds, but right now, it's ok.

that new baby smell

i had a new baby start with me this week. she's a new year's eve baby. pretty complexion, chuuuuubbbby!, and so very smiley. i met her mom and grandma a few weeks ago, and then i met her daddy yesterday. they are a young couple, fresh out of high school, and remind me so much of jeff and i twelve years ago. i like working with younger parents. they need a little guidance and someone to listen. they are a little more "flaky" sometimes, but what teenager isn't? they seem like really nice kids, and very much in love...i love to see that. it's so rare to find young couples like them that survive.

i am trying to be a more patient and understanding parent, while at the same time more, uh, what's the word i'm looking for? not strict, or demanding, well....maybe a nicer word for strict...like consistent? i don't think i "demand" much from my kids, but i don't expect much either. i think i need to "expect" more of certain things like, helping out around the house, keeping their rooms clean, you know, stuff they should be doing. i don't set boundaries very well when it comes to that kind of stuff. i need to do better. i know i need to be more of a role model for my kids when it comes to responsibility, but it's really really tough. my bedroom is a total disaster. no, i mean it. it is. it's as bad or worse than alex's room, perhaps not as bad as the little guys' room (but that's just because i haven't been sneaking snacks in there), but it's worse than haley's room. that's horrible. i don't want to be a "do as i say not as i do" type of parent! i want genuine respect from my kids, not fear or apathy.
can you tell it's "that" time of the month? i feel like i rant about my parenting every time it hits me! or at least rant about something every time.

my kids started back to school today! hip hip HOORAY! on friday, the other kids start back at school. i'm glad i have a few more months of school before the kids are out for the summer. it gives me some time to prepare myself.