Witnessing in Globe!

On Saturday my dad, my two boys and I drove to Globe for the church outreach. It was great also because I got to visit people I hadn't seen in years from when I was little. I'm so proud of my boys knocking on doors and sharing about Jesus with them! Afterwards we visited my relatives and had fun. :D By the way! Do you see this funny Toilet sign? I thought it was so weird how they said toilet instead of restroom. LOL! Oh my gosh, that picture of me with my son Chaz in my aunt's backyard is cute. Well, I'm 4 months pregnant so you can totally see my pregnant tummy. We got up at 6am to head to Globe so we first went to Denny's for breakfast. I thought my boys would do great together in the car but, oh my gosh, it was like this, "he touched me, mom! He won't leave me alone..." I was always saying, "arghhh, knock it off guys." But you know, they're siblings. I'm just getting payback. :P

The Hunt is On!

The pics speak for themselves! :D In the morning, eight kids woke up to the surprise of an Easter basket. We kept the tradition this year of new summer beach towels. They loved that! Lots of candy and even more candy was to come as they hunted for eggs at our house after church. Once we released the kids for egg hunting, I just knew to stand flat against the wall. LOL! So you can see Ryan and his granddad in the first picture counting the money he found in the assortment of eggs. I love the picture of Ashley and her daddy (my awesome hubby) holding her bag. Martin and Maureen, Charles' parents, came and they brought eggs also for us to hide. The kids had lots of fun. :) First and foremost though, we visited God's house to celebrate Jesus on the special day. The most important event and glorious to celebrate!

Loving the New Van

I'm loving the size of our new van!!! It's big and so comfortable. Not only that but I feel safe! Ha! Our kids love it too and now they have tons of space. That is hard to find for a family of eight. Suburbans are beautiful but they are 8 cylinders. It's a Dodge Ram and this van is only a 6 so gas is great. :) I'm so happy with it! What a blessing!

It's a Boy!

It's a cute little boy! Little Caleb Joseph it is. I'm only 15 weeks and it was so easy to see it was a boy. We brought my oldest son Chaz with us and he was so excited the whole time. He could point out everything he was seeing. His mouth dropped when he heard the heartbeat. It was so cute. :D The other kids were so excited. That means we'll have 4 boys and 2 girls. The boys said they are excited that they have another brother to wrestle with. LOL.

Bachelor Fun!

My sister-in-law is getting married this month and so we had party to celebrate. Kind of like a clean bachelor party. :) The girls went out to Red Lobster and the guys went bowling and to Arribas. Then we all came back together at my mother-in-law's house to play games and have fun. The picture on the bottom is of my husband's mom and I. The two girls is my husband's two sisters. Then you see Martin (my father-in-law) and My hubby sitting together. Desiree made little miniature wedding cakes for us to decorate and that was totally fun. We played other funny games. It was just a nice time to get back together and visit. I always miss the little ones when I'm gone for too long though. :)

After Church Snack

After church my friend's kids came in the kitchen (they live here, they didn't just appear out of nowhere) and said, "can we please have some cereal?" Of course! My kids were already laid down and so I got them some and then we sat and talked with them. Their mommy was out so I just chatted with them and laid them down. Before I laid them down I said, "hey, while you guys are sitting there so cute, you want me to take some pictures"? Kids are always game it seems (unless of course it's a professional that costs you lots of money). The bottom picture is of Jeremiah playing swords with my daughter Ivy. So cute!

Garden Therapy

My favorite thing to do and several times throughout the day is to go out and water my garden, pull weeds, check out any new growth, or plant new seed. Any stress that I may have for any reason, completely melts away when I go out there. Sigh. It's a beautiful thing. Oh the first picture is of my oranges, newly growing tomatoes, then you see my new banana tree and then the bottom is cabbage and onions in the background. I would have so much more but my chickens escaped and ate every thing in my garden. I no longer have them until I can build a seperate coop for them. I can't wait so I can buy some laying hens again. I miss having them.

After Kid's Bedtime

So when the kids go to bed at 8pm, this is what it looks like at our house. That's my friend Michele who lives with us and there is Charles on the computer. I'm in the other room usually with my laptop or working on something. :) It's so quiet! We actually have set internet times during the day where no two one of us is on it at the same time, but at night, it's opened up to all users. This is usually our relaxing time since were just working throughout the day. Once all eight kids are laid down, it's super quiet!

I'm In Love!!!

Today I went to my ultrasound at 3 months so they can determine the due date. I KNOW my due date because... I know. I'll leave it there. I know that for a fact, today I am 13 weeks. Theirs came out to 14 weeks and 2 days. That is not possible. I'm not explaining it. Just leaving it there. I was gone on a 10 day trip alone, by myself, without my family. So I know I'm not further along. Any-hoo, I had so much fun watching our little one bouncing around, as hyper as can be. I said, "I know that's my kid!" Ha. He/she was propelling itself by jumping off the placenta. So funny! Charles was with me and we loved every minute of it. It was just so much fun. I just can't believe how far they are developed at only 3 months. It's amazing! I'm so in love. :) By the way, that's it's little fist on the mouth.

Krazy Kids!

This pic is of goofy Kyle on Valentines Day. He's my silly little stinker. LOL. Anyway, we did have the kids doing chores in pair with their buddy but it wasn't working out because usually only one of them was actually doing the chore while the other one was watching or playing. So I decided to split them all up to and give them all separate chores so I can see who is not doing their part. It works out much better and conquers laziness. If they don't do their chore before lunch then they don't eat. Same for dinner. Works good. :D

P.S. If you are lost about what's going on. We have another family living with us for a little while. A mom and her 3 kids. Add a little one that I babysit and that makes 9 kids. Wow! Amazing. I have a new respect for larger families. You know, I always wondered what it'd be like but it's very possible when their is organization in the home and everyone does their part. I learned this the hard way. :P

Silly Girl and Chore Trade

I love this picture of Ivy in this costume. So funny! LOL. Looks like she is riding the chicken. Had to share the pic! This weekend was crazy and tiring. Okay, my husband and I have this awesome trade we do. I hate sweeping and mopping the floor, he doesn't care for mowing the lawn. Well, I love mowing the lawn and he loves mopping. So we figure, "good trade, good trade". So Saturday I was outside mowing the lawn and weed eating for quite awhile, while ALSO mending my poor garden. My Great Dane likes the feel of my garden so she just lays in it. In the meantime, all my onions were dug up. The roots were spared so I replanted and I'm hoping they survive. Saturday was so tiring doing all that work that it was hard to get up for Sunday church but it was certainly worth it! Church was great today and I love the preaching. I love the people too. Tonight was baptism night so 6 people were baptized. :)

Amazing Eight!

We now have an Amazing Eight kids living here. Imagine the loudness of the house! Whoo wee! Totally! So, I asked before about needing some ideas for keeping the house from looking like a tornado ran through it. Here's some ideas we came up with:

1. We wrote down a chore list between Michele and I and split them down the middle. Ex: She has one bathroom to keep clean throughout the day and I have the other. She cleans pots, I clean dishes. Etc.

2. Kids must do their assigned straightening chores twice a day, before lunch and before dinner. Not cleaning results not getting to eat the meal.

3. I cook 3 times a week and Michele 3 times a week. Sunday is optional of who cooks or leaves room for eating out. Whoever cooks dinner that night has to thoroughly clean kitchen before going to bed. Whoever cooks dinner, the other person has to make lunch that day.

Blah, blah, blah... on it goes. A nice little list. It really helps! I can't do it all alone because all the kids are all so little. 8 kids under 8 years old. LOL. Anyway, here is the kids just before prayer and bedtime with Charles.

My Dog Scooby Died

p.s. This is picture I took of Ashley kissing Scooby when I first got him.

A few days ago, Charles came in to tell me that he went looking for Scooby (my miniature Dachshund) in the backyard. He came to Charles but was hiding under the kid's slide. He said Scooby looked skinnier. I went out to see and sure enough he barely had enough strength to come to me. I took him inside and held him. 

So I called to make appointment with vet for this morning. They told me to give him dropper with pedialite every half hour. So I did it for hours trying to nurse him back to health. So this morning, I went to go get him from his bed but he had died overnight.

I know sometimes kids are kids.  Things happen or kids are ignorant.  I had some kids over and one of them threw him up in the air and he landed on concrete.  I freaked and said "Don't ever do that again."  Within 10 minutes I saw her get on the trampoline with him and throw him off the trampoline.  He went high up in the air and once again landed on his stomach.  He died of internal injuries. Absolutely BROKE my heart.  My kids are used to little animals and I've really taught them about how to be gentle.  But other kids that have never had animals maybe don't understand. They are not rag dolls.   


Hopefully the lesson was learned and it won't happen again.  So that's why I felt like getting Hoover was getting my Scooby back.

How To Clean With A Herd

Okay, so how does one go about cleaning a house that consists of eight kids? I've never been there. So I asked someone today how their mom did it with ten kids. She said the mom didn't. The kids cleaned and the mom did all the cooking and laundry. I thought that was interesting. No wonder all those kids are such awesome housekeepers. They did the bulk of it all growing up. So the only thing I can think of to keep a handle on things is to have all the kids straighten up before every meal time. No one can eat until all the toys, clothes, etc are all picked up. So far that's worked good. Half the time I forget though. LOL. This week I'm gonna go through and try to throw out stuff to make it simpler. :) If you have any great ideas, please let me know. :D

Anonymous Comments Are For Cowards

If you are going to leave a negative comment on my blog, please have enough courage to leave your name. Otherwise, don't leave a comment at all. If you wouldn't say it to my face, then you probably shouldn't say it at all.

Trials and Hard Times For Friend

My friend and her three kids are staying with us for awhile. Divorce is an ugly thing that cracks and bruises the heart. It's sad to see first hand what it does to little kids that don't understand why their daddy is gone. I'm glad to be here to give lots of hugs. Seeing what divorce does first hand because I'm experiencing what my friend is going through, makes me sick to my stomach. It really does feel like a death. I think "My God, 50% of marriages end in divorce"? This is sad! It's heart breaking. My heart is breaking watching it unfold and I hate every moment of it. As a friend, I hate to see this happen. I am fortunate my parents are married still and so I've never had to experience it. I never want to. I am one of the fortunate ones. Sigh.

Rock Climbing and Day of Swimming

This week is spring break for the boys so we are trying to do different fun stuff for every day. Anyhow, we took them to the Y for rock climbing and swimming. See the picture where Ryan (blonde hair) is following the lady with the weights? She had no idea that Ryan and his friend were right behind her mimicking her squats all the way down the path. It was so funny, my friend and I were trying to quietly laugh so she wouldn't know. It was so cute. When the lady finally did realize what they were up to, she had a good chuckle too. LOL!

New Vaccination Schedule

If some of you have wondered where I have been, I have been reading book after book by Jenny McCarthy about her struggle with her son who has Autism. The more I read, the more I was shocked at how much vaccinations were linked. Could this have happened to my own son? Just like some of the other stories, after a certain vaccination, my son broke out with such bad eczema that his face bled. They are not saying you shouldn't have your kids vaccinated but they are saying they don't need to be getting them at such a young age and they don't need all of them. This is the schedule I'll be implementing with Ashley and any future babies.

To read about it go here:
http://generationrescue.org/pdf/user_friendly.pdf

That's the document talking about vaccinations. If you scroll down to the very bottom, it gives the recommended vaccination schedule.

To see Jenny McCarthy's site:
http://generationrescue.org

My Kids Answer Questions About Me

Cut and paste these questions and ask your kids their answers.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Ryan (7 yrs old) -I love you.
Chaz (8 yrs old)- I love you.
Kyle (5 yrs old) - Be good
Ivy (3 yrs old.) - Be Sick

2. What makes mom happy?
Ryan-When I play with her
Chaz- By being smarter
Kyle- You laugh
Ivy- kissing

3. What makes mom sad?
Ryan-Being naughty and disrespectful and being bad at church.
Chaz- Being real bad.
Kyle- working
Ivy- because you didn't want to play

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Ryan-You say funny words and you make fake fart sounds
Chaz- She says funny words!
Kyle- by mommy dancing and shaking her booty
Ivy- You say cheese!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Ryan-A baby
Chaz- She was very good (Ahem)
Kyle- she stole from the mall (Ummm... that was looooong ago when I was a freshman)
Ivy- Real little

6. How old is your mom?
Ryan-29
Chaz- 29
Kyle- 29
Ivy- 5 but older than 3

7. How tall is your mom?
Ryan-44 inches
Chaz- 38 inches
Kyle- 25 lbs
Ivy- 29 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Ryan-Play with me outside
Chaz- To exercise at YMCA
Kyle- being a princess like Cinderella
Ivy- going to work

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Ryan-You go fun places
Chaz- She works
Kyle- get a spanking when you are with your mom and you're bad.
Ivy- Run in circles

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Ryan-because you are so nice and pretty.
Chaz- because you are so nice
Kyle- being so funny!
Ivy- Being on tables and working (Ummm... that sounds bad)

11. What is your mom really good at?
Ryan-cleaning and teaching
Chaz- doing exercises
Kyle- playing games
Ivy- Being on the fire pole (Man, she's gonna give me bad rep)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Ryan- picking up daddy in the air and Daisy our dog
Chaz- melting the sun and playing golfing.
Kyle- being mad
Ivy- Not getting ice cream

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Ryan-clean up the stuff in the house.
Chaz- she works and listens to her boss
Kyle- clean up the floor
Ivy- give Ryan candy

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Ryan- milk shake
Chaz- fruits and vegetables
Kyle- a sandwich with onions and fruits and vegetables
Ivy- candy

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Ryan-You play with me so much
Chaz- because you are being so nice
Kyle- she's grateful about going to the mall and and Disneyland
Ivy- because you are being five

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Ryan-Cinderella
Chaz- Princess
Kyle- a grandma
Ivy- A princess. Not a bear.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Ryan-we both play and do head stands in water
Chaz- We play together
Kyle- talking nice to each and not kicking each other and not swacking and punching.
Ivy- We do circles in the giant swimming pool

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Ryan-We have the same hair
Chaz- we both have two golfing sticks
Kyle- we are both silly

19. How are you and your mom different?
Ryan-we are girl and boy
Chaz- You are older than me and we have different faces and different bodies
Kyle- because we like each other

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Ryan-because I am your son and little baby
Chaz- because I love you and you love me
Kyle- because you are being so cute.
Ivy- because she be's happy and wants to get ice cream

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
Ryan- how you got married
Chaz- that he's kind and you both believe in being kind to each other.
Kyle- that you are nice to each other
Ivy- that you got married

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Ryan- Disneyland
Chaz- Amazing Jakes.
Kyle- Disneyland and Chuck E. Cheese
Ivy- ice cream place

Other Half of Family Sick

Now that we are back from vacation, the other half of family is sick. Before it was Chaz, Ivy, and Ashley. Now it's me, Charles, and Kyle. Ryan escaped it all. Charles and Kyle have bronchitis and I have pneumonia. Sheesh! I am trying to rest but it's driving me nuts that my house needs to be cleaned. I hate leaving it like this and it's very hard for me to stay in bed. I haven't even gotten to unpack. Lord, give me strength! I just want to be back to my old self so I can get everything in order again. I miss my old hyper self.

Our California Vacation!

Our California Vacation Photos!

Just click on Link above. :) To see comment on pictures, just put mouse over words above the picture.''

We had great time and we stayed a total of 6 days. It was first intended to be only 3 days. We loved it so much that we extended it. :D Disneyland is truly magical and we loooved the beach for sure! Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! I had to sift through 400 pictures and managed to dwindle it down to about 130. LOL.

13 Things PMS Stands For

Ha! This is funny. I had to share!

1. Pass My Shotgun

2. Psychotic Mood Shift

3. Perpetual Munching Spree

4. Puffy Mid-Section

5. People Make me Sick

6. Provide Me with Sweets

7. Pardon My Sobbing

8. Pimples May Surface

9. Pass My Sweat pants

10. Pissy Mood Syndrome

11. Plainly; Men Suck

12. Pack My Stuff

And my favorite one :

13. Potential Murder Suspect

I'm Back!!

We had a BLAST in California! Man, oh, man. We just partied it out big time. I can't wait to share pics with you. Right now I am filtering through 400 pictures so I can only make a slideshow of only a 1/4 of that. It'll take me a bit, lol. So I will share soon!

Vacation in California

I haven't posted lately because we've been on a vacation for the last 5 days. Being the spontaneous super studs that we are, we just took off on a moments notice for Disneyland and the beach. :) Will post pics when we get back.

p.s. "moments notice" means we were just sitting around for breakfast and I said "Hey, lets go to Disneyland!" We packed and left one hour later. I love spontaneity! So exciting. :D