The 37 Week Pregnant Procrastinator

Oh my gosh!!!  I'm a huuuuge procrastinator.  You know why?  I realized that I'm 37 weeks so I need to buy a stroller, car seat, outfits, and diapers and asap.  So you know what I did?  I ordered it all (except the outfits) within 5 minutes on Amazon.  AND THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE.  Bam!!! We only purchase a certain kind of diapers, car seats, and stroller.  We always buy a new stroller with each baby because we use and abuse the previous one sooooo much.  This family is so darn adventurous!  We seriously wear out the stroller so much it's good just for donating and that's it.  Not even a resale. 

So I was talking with my family about a good day to be born on.  I told them as long as it's not on a prime number day or an odd number.  My exception would be the 25th as far as being an odd number (clearly not a prime number).  Did I ever tell you I have a thing with numbers?  I don't want to end up with an odd number of kids.  This complicates things for me because I think eight kids is a great and fun amount.  However, I don't feel done.  So, if I have another one, I'm just gonna have to make it 10 so we don't land on nine!  Who knows though because no matter what, God is in control. At least 9 is not a prime number.  Ha!  (Such a nerd).  By the way, 16 is my favorite number.  :D  No, I'm not gonna have 16 kids!  Ha ha!

With one of my favorite guys that help sick kids. Ronald McDonald!

Macaroni for 60!  Eek!

I've been getting way behind on housework lately.  Sometimes I just spend so much time with the kids and I neglect it.  My husband keeps reminding me to stop being a robot and have more fun.  He doesn't like to see me cleaning all the time.  However, larger families do come with more cleanup.  Even though we do chore time, my work load like meal times and laundry is naturally heavier. Holy cow, but not like the other night when I had to make my homemade macaroni for the Ronald McDonald house for sick kids!!!  I had to take the recipe from 4 servings to 60.  So instead of measuring individually, I just took the 1/4 cups and 2/3 cups and times it by 15.  Then I lectured the boys about why it is important to know how to multiply fractions mixed fractions.  Now they get it.  Next time I'm gonna have them convert it when I cook so they can see why we need it. Hands on is so much better!

Anyway, my back is burning sitting down to type this.  Hi to all my blogger friends!!!

Decisions on How to Spend 2 1/2 Hours of Quiet Time/Bliss for Any Mom

Tonight I had nursery at church with the babies, toddlers, and 4's and 5's.  Being that I have so many the same age, I always think about what life might be like for people that have like quintuplets or septuplets.  Haha.  I think, "Man, their days would be sooooo busy!"  Haha.  Then I go home to my nice quiet house of seven kids.  Seriously, it IS DIFFERENT.  I have kids from the ages of one to 13 so, yeah, it is different.  One or two in diapers at a time.  Not all at once.  I wish I could take pictures of all the cute little kids in nursery but I definitely have my favorites.  A little redhead boy that's a live wire is definitely one of my faves.  He's like a ball of energy.  Kind of like a super hero with coffee in his system.  Just a dash of mischievousness.  Love him!  My little Juliet is the known escapee of the group.  We have to have the door shut AND a baby gate put up for when she gets past the door.  You thought we had chain locks on all our doors at home to keep the boogie man out huh?  Nope, it's to keep the little curly blond in the house.

I added something into our day that really kind stretches me to my limit.  I seriously don't think I can mentally afford to do any more than what I'm doing right now.  When I say mentally afford I mean, if mommy can't teach and raise kids with joy, then whatever it is that is making mommy a grouch butt has to go.  Whether it's an outside activity or a time consuming person not part of the immediate family.  I don't know whether to rejoice or wince at times.  (It's kinda half and half depending on the day).  There is a church almost next door to us that does a fun after school program, complete with learning and bible study.  Well, that's double dose for my kids because we already hold our own bible studies at home every morning.  I just thought it'd be neat for my kids to meet other kids in the neighborhood.  Plus, they have the opportunity for volunteer work and gardening.  Once a week they are teaching them baseball and another day basketball. They are having so much fun.  However, we have to really be on the ball to get bible study, homeschool, and chores done before 3:30pm when they leave.  Four kids choose to go which means I usually have only one teen and two little ones napping during that time.  For 2 1/2 hours I can either choose to sit and sip coffee with a good book, mop the floor, or just work on dinner or chores.  I mean, seriously... 2 1/2 hours of options!  Haha.  Yes!  However, it's made my day tighter for the other waking hours and I have to stay on top of things big time.

Fighting Kids/From Discouraged Mama to Proud Mama

Yesterday I was a bit discouraged. We were trying to do bible study and I'm not kidding, it's like instantly I have things to battle against.  Usually I battle right through it but this time I just walked out.  The kids were getting along until I said bible study and it's like the atmosphere changed.  This is almost a daily issue.  They LIKE bible study time.  I don't know what it is.  Well, I guess I DO.  It's spiritual.  This time I just walked out.  I was done and I didn't want to battle it again. I didn't even work with them on their homeschool or chores. I went in my room with my babies and stayed in there for an hour.  Then I quietly just starting doing my chores around the house.  It's easy peasy doing chores without homeschool to worry about.  Without enforcing chores with the kids.  I didn't sin with my words at all but the kids could see I was sad.  The more quiet I was the more things they tried to do to see me smile again.  It was actually kinda cute. Ryan made me food as a gift.  Ashley walked up to me and played a song on her harmonica.  The rest started doing their chores on their own.  It was actually really sweet.

View of boys through my kitchen window

While I was doing the dishes I looked out my window and saw some workers digging with shovels in the empty field next to my house.  The church nearby is trying to convert it into a park for kids to play.  I knew it was hot out and thought maybe there was a good life lesson in helping for my boys to learn.  I called the boys over and let them see out the window.  I didn't want to force it because then it wouldn't be true volunteering.  I explained what I've always explained about J.O.Y = Jesus first, Others second, and yourself last.  This was a good chance to help out even though it wasn't easy work.  My boys happily got their shoes on and went over.  They asked them, "what can we do to help?"  They were each given shovels.  I was a happy mommy seeing them through my window as they helped do some hard work.

Ryan and Kyle waiting for camera on right. :)

Almost an hour later a news crew showed up.  The boys came running back to our house because they needed permission to be in the video.  I was like, HUH?  They said they were running a piece about the project that was to be happening there.  Of course I was okay with it and thought it would be such a neat experience for them to see behind the scenes video work.  They worked awhile longer unloading stuff from a truck.  Eventually more kids showed up.  I guess they had planned on some kids doing a painting project and wanted to show kids painting together. Then they had my kids working in the garden beds that have been planted out there and then interviewed Ryan about some peppers that were grown there.  The kids went from going over there for maybe just an hour or two to six hours!  They had such a fun day.  What made me so happy is they had such a right attitude about work with no reward, but somehow ended up being rewarded through some really fun experiences that are exciting and new for them.  :)  I went from being a sad mama to a proud mama pretty quick.

Kyle painting a message on a stepping stone

 The girls even got to run over and paint after the camera crew left.  They were like PAINTING! YES!  I'm not a big fan of painting which is why I hardly can stand to paint the walls in my house.  Argh!

Ivy

Ashley