I Love Church!

Before Sunday night service we always have platform practice for the people that sing on the stage and it's fun getting together, learning harmonies, talking, being silly, singing new songs, or practicing ones we're going to sing that night.  The guy below is our assistant pastor but he's also our song leader. 

This lady below, well... this lady is crazy.  She has four kids!  What's wrong with her?  Doesn't she know what causes that????  Heh, heh.  Just kidding Kristy.  She's our very talented and young pianist.  She puts my piano tinkering to shame.  She's a sweetheart though.  Don't let her fool you.  She may look tough but she's a gummy bear.  J/K.

This is the view from my seat.  We're not a mega church (about 300) but I love it because we're all family and it's I love remembering who the person is that sits next to me!  LOL.  It's grown so much though since we came a decade ago that it's starting to get super crowded.  (Except when the choir gets up and a quarter of the church is up there.  lol)  The usher even asked me if this lady could sit on my lap but I drew the line on that one.   Just kidding.  OH yeah, we have a TON of kids in the nursey.  It's pastor's fault.  He keeps telling us that children are a blessing from the Lord and being a mother is a high calling.  Darn it!  It makes having a family to hard when he talks like that.  J/K!  haha.  Seriously though.  People love kids and tonight it seems half the church was either in the nursery or in children's church.

Pastor Mammen (I know.  What an interesting last name for a pastor!  LOL. He's used to the jokes though, at least it's not spelled the same as Mammon in the bible),  giving anouncements.

Our Choir!  I love how Pastor Dodd puts in surprises sometimes.  Tonight was a rockin' cool night (no, we don't have chandeliers and we don't dance down the aisles).  I just mean I loved what he did tonight with the Choir.  There was this one song where instead of ending it, they repeated the chorus while they'll all lined up to go sit back down and they were still all singing while going to their seats.  Eventually, the whole church was singing along with them and I loved it!  One they were all seated, the song ended.  The song had a theme of telling all the world about Jesus. 

Pastor Dodd directing the choir

There's my mom on the right.  Yay mom! 

My Friend's Wedding

There are so many different kinds of friends these days. There are neighbor friends, Facebook friends, church friends, blog friends, friends of friends that you see at candle parties and then meet up again at a Mary Kay party, best friends you actually have over all the time, etc. You know what I mean?  These are my friends from another church and at one point I had lived next to Natalie when we were little. She found me on Facebook after all these years and so we picked back up our friendship again.  Well, she got married on Sunday and since I got an invitation, we all headed over to see her.  Well, she goes to a church I used to attend all growing up so then I got to visit and reminense with those friends.  It was great! I only see them at special events or (eeks) a funeral.  I love them like crazy and it's so good visiting when we all get back together at times like these. 

Whenever we get a picture together, for some reason I always have my huge heels on and she always has her shoes off. So I just resorted to calling her shorty and that's that.  :)  The top picture, I had bent way down to be next to her.  Natalie, short is cute so no worries!  LOL

What's a Couple More Kids??

I don't know about you but we love loud and crazy get togethers where there is just kids running all over and playing while my friends and I visit.  Well....friend.  Between my friend and I we have 9 kids.  Oh wait, this leads me into a funny story.

Yesterday I was with my friend Michele and we had the kids stay with the dads so we could run to the store.  While we were there I overheard a guy tell his buddy, "Man, you don't want this life.  It's tough".  I looked and his two kids were in the cart.  I was sad he said that in front of them.  (That's not the funny part).  Anyway, I said "Sure you do.  You should have a couple more eventually too.  In fact, between my friend and I we have 9 kids and we love it!"  The guy and his buddy looked at us funny and got quiet.  I said, "Oh, not together!  We are FRIENDS and when we get together, between her and I, we have 9 kids!"  We all laughted. Phew. I had to clarify that.

Anyway, usually we get together every week at her house or mine and the kids just go wild crazy having fun together.  That day I also asked two more kids to come over so they had fun with our kids too.  LOL.  I asked them to all get in the hallway for a picture and this is what I got.  You can barely see Ashley but 9 of them are there.  There would have been 10 in the picture but Ryan was spending the night at his friend's house and Caleb of course couldn't be in the picture so I guess that would have made 11.  So there was only 10 there that night till about 2:20am.  Yeah, I know.  Late partiers  It's clean parties though.  :)  Thought I should clarify.  Hey, maybe thats why Christians call it fellowshipping.  If we say party, people might think something.  Ohhh, I thought you were a Christian!  lol.  So, I guess you can say we were FELLOWSHIPPING.

In second pic I noticed kid was missing so I yelled out "Hey Alexandra!  We need you in the picture!"  So she pops her head in for the second pic.  Chaz loves doing this.  He obviously loves Spiderman.

Chaz's First Basketball Game!

I posted it on my Asperger Blog.  Come visit if you get a chance.

Easter Sunday!

I hope you guys had an awesome Easter! Jesus is the reason for the season. :)

The procrastinator that I am, there was no easter baskets for us to buy. It seems like before I turn around from the last holiday, they are already putting up stuff for the next one. I'll be like, "oh, that's nice. Easter is coming." Then people start calling me about plans. I'm like, "Isn't it way off? Isn't there still time?" Then a relative sends me a note saying "Can't wait to see you this weekend!" What? This weekened? You're kidding me! Somehow, it's the very last night before Easter and I say "Charles, we need to go to the store? Where can we go last minute?"

It's 10pm, the night before Easter, and we pull our van in at Walmart. Walmarts open late! I go in and all I see are, well, lots of parents like me. Procrastinators. All that's left are really crappy baskets. I mean, do they seriously think I'm gonna pay $20 for some really cruddy toys shoved in a basket? Those toys would break as soon as my kid touched it!

All my kids basically would like is some candy and I usually throw in a cool toy. Even the baskets by themselves, unfilled, were priced at $10. That's so crazy. Heck, I'll make my own basket. Well, I went past the moms that are furiously digging through overpriced and unfilled baskets. I walk into different areas looking for ideas. If I am going to do anything like this, I like to have a theme. So I chose a summer theme (like I did last year) and it was about swimming. I remember them asking me for some goggles and swimming stuff. So I found sand buckets for a buck a piece. Found them each a pair of goggles and throw rings for the pool, put some candy in. Whah lah! Easter baskets that are useable. My kids loved it and it wasn't money down the toilet. I was gonna by them that stuff anyway since we're already swimming.

Above, here they are checking out their stuff.  They loooved goggles and begged me to take them swimming that week so of course I did.  I hate wasting money on stuff people wouldn't actually use.

Above:

Aaaagh!  Einstein hair!  Hello!  Ashley with a dolly her papa got her for Easter.

Ahhhh.... keeping boys shirts tucked in is tough.  I love my kids matching.  I'm just getting away with it while I can.  Heh heh.  Caleb has a vest on too but you can't see it.  We're off to church to celebrate Jesus!  The real reason for Easter.

Ivy checking out some more goods her grandparents got her and some from my mom also.  After church we headed to my hubby's parents and family.  They had an Easter egg hunt there.  Pretty nifty!  Phew, a busy day too.

Above:

Hey, look!  Kyle shirt is untucked in this picture too!  So cute.  :)  This is my husband's family.  It's not often we can all get together so we grab a picture while we can. Don't worry, the blonde that has her hand on that guy with the baby is me. 

Let Me Count The Ways

Lately, the word BUSY seems to be in my mind.  I know moms are busy. OBVIOUSLY.  I've been thinking about it all the more since a friend asked me the other night, "What would you rather be doing?  Being out there working a job and bringing money in?  Or, staying at home doing nothing?"  When I posted that on my facebook page, I had girls lining up wanting to slap him.  Me too. 

At Wednesday night church service pastor mentioned the importance of having a prayer life and spending time in the bible.  I agree.  Not having a personal relationship with Christ, like reading the bible and praying, is much like trying to get somewhere fast while holding your breath.  It may be okay for awhile but, sis, you may need to bring in some oxygen before you pass out collapse.  Christianity is much like that.  It's really, really, really hard to keep going in your faith when you are not walking with Him daily.  I'm not the super spiritual time.  Nor do I hold my "sister" friend's hand and greet them with a kiss.  My friend Kristy would agree that I'm very down to earth. 

Pastor said that we can't hide behind "busyness".  I know I'm busy.  I have laundry to wash!  A gym to workout at!  Diapers to check!  A floor to mop!  Dishes to wash!  My son's basketball game to attend!  It is not a good idea to replace the most important thing in our lives...God....for earthly duties.  Of course we have our duties, but there is a time and a place for replenishing our leaky vessels.  So, this got me thinking.  How busy am I?  How can I put some order into my day?  My week?  I know I have a simple list but it was time to get more detailed. 

I grabbed a huge whiteboard from my husbands office and I seperated it into three parts.  Daily schedule, Weekly activities, Clean schedule.  I didn't have to think about it, I was already doing it.  It was just on the top of my head.  It goes something like this:

Wake up time
Deal check on frugal blog
Start chores
all boys homeschool
lunch
Deal check
All boys finish homeschool
Ashley naptime
Snacktime
Deal check for frugal blog
Start chores
Dinner
Bedtime and Devotions
Blog on my family and Asperger blog.

I didn't put the times in there, just a general idea.  Now, that's simple, but take the things below, activities and cleaning schedule and fit in between.

Next was:

Activities:
Monday: YMCA PM
Tuesday-YMCA PM/Library night
Wednesday-Church pm
Thursday- YMCA PM/ Chaz basketball practice
Friday- Boys class/biblestudy
Saturday- Outside chores, Chaz's games, family fun day, Church Concerts PM
Sunday- Service AM and PM

Just to clarify on the one below.  LOL.  I don't mean I don't clean anything else.  It just means that on TOP of all my other cleaning duties.  I focus on this one room on this day of the week.

Deep Clean Schedule:
Monday-Wash Charles' clothes, deep clean kitchen
Tuesday-Wash Virginia's clothes, Sanitize and deep clean bathrooms
Wednesday-Wash linens, go through all mail and declutter
Thursday- Wash boys clothes, deep clean master bedroom
Friday-Wash girls clothes, declutter all kid's rooms
Saturday- Wash van, outside chores
Sunday-no chores

I know I don't mention that my kids can be human tornados and can make it hard to keep things up at times.  Stinkers!  :)  Regular maintenance cleaning fits in between all that too.  I KNOW you moms understand!

So, I'm gonna take this whole list and tape it to my friend's forehead that told me I should be bringing in money rather than staying at home doing nothing.  What do you think?

Fun With The Easy Bake Oven

Ivy is so proud of her Easy Bake Oven.  She loves it!  Daddy has his friend over to play games so naturally the rest of the family had to come too!  Ivy put on her apron and they made some cake together.  I don't worry about buying the special mixes.  I just use regular cake mixes and let them decorate their cake to their heart's content.  So cute! 

They made a terrible mess but they had fun and ate till they couldn't eat anymore.  The only thing is I think Easy Bake Oven parties are much more fun if each girl has their own because there is more activity going on for impatient little girls.  It takes 12 minutes to cook each one so if each girl has one, there is always something coming out.  Ivy got this for Christmas and it's one of my favorite things.  You know how kids easily forget what they got for Christmas sometimes?  She's still so excited about this.  I'm so glad she got one of these.  Super nifty.

Who's Knocking?

Yesterday at night time my son came running in the room with a sword and shield and said "Mom, someone's knocking on the door!"  I never open the door for strangers so I always tell them to be quiet for a sec while I check.  I was walking into the living room and noticed Ryan was following me quietly.  I asked Ryan what he was doing and he said, "I'm protecting you with my sword and shield!"  So I looked outside and saw that no one was there.  I told Ryan there was no one at the door.  He said,  "Oh, it must've been the Lord knockin'!"  He thought for a few seconds and then said, "I can't hit the Lord!!!"  So he put his sword down and went to go play while I was left laughing in the room.

Stinkiness Not Allowed

Well, today I attacked my fridge.  I took everything out, all the shelves, bleached all the inside, and put everything back.  You know what I realized after all that? I need to go to the grocery store.  Soooo, that's where I'll be tonight.  Just thought I'd let you know.  You can tell by the pic I'm a big diet dr pepper fan and my husband is a diet mountain fan!  Nooo, I don't drink it all day.  I save it for a treat every now and then.  :)  I don't EVEN want to here about how diet sodas are not good for you.  Regular soda is really bad! 

My next project was taking off all the couch cushions and washing them.  It's just so much easier that way. You know what stinks about it though?  (No pun intended)  It's so hard putting the covers back on!  I hate that part.  My great danes like to sleep on our couches.  I am not picky about our couches because I didn't want to be one of those moms that freak out about my couch.  We buy seriously durable couches and have the kind of fabric that can handle roughness.  I personally don't want my great dane on the couch but he's a sneaky one in the middle of the night.  So I have to give them a good washing sometimes.  When we eventually get another couch,  I'll never buy a non-child friendly one. 

Boys can do the most grossest things sometimes!  The kids go in and out of the house a lot so a fly or two will get in sometimes.  Ryan got the fly swatter and was laughing and smashing a fly.  Then he walked up to me and showed me how blood was coming out of the fly's eyes.  GROSSSSSS!

Today I have pork loin roasting in this with black beans and a jalepeno for flavor.  It's good with sour cream, cheese, onions in a burrito!  Ohhhh...yum.  Just need to make some spanish rice and it's a keeper. :D

***Amazingly Frugal Updated***

I've been finding it easier to clean at night while the kids are in bed. There is just so much to do with them during the day and wherever they go a tornado seems to follow. I know they don't like doing chores but being that they leave messes wherever they go, there is just no way I could do it all. I've tried to train them so many times about picking up after their messes so it doesn't get so hard at chore time but they still are human tornados. So, we still have to have chore time twice a day. I tell them they are my hero helpers. :)  As a family we need to keep the house functional even though at times it may be well, disfunctional.  They do awesome at chore time so I can't complain.  I just wish kids would stop comparing their chore money to each other at church or wherever.  My kids are like "What??? You get paid how much?"  Come on, little guys!  Don't ruin it for me. Their chore money will increase as they get older.  Sheesh. 

Caleb is 6 months! Sheesh!

I can't believe Caleb is already 6 months old!  He's such a little cutie.  Always smiling and being sweet.  Well, not always. He's been on of my fussier babies but he has so much attention between his siblings and his parents that he is never bored and it keeps him happy. There is always someone cooing to him or giving him his toys.  I love watching the boys' faces melt whenever they are near him.  They coo at him and call him sweet names while giving him hugs.  Babies are the greatest!  Why do they have to grow so darn fast???  I keep thinking about that. Time flies and flies. I feel like I can hardly catch my breath. 
So, being that we do school all year round in my house, we are in the third quarter finally.  We school through the summer so once school is out for other kids, my kids will be starting the fourth quarter.  It's been great this year and they are fantastic readers.  I'm proud of them!  I love listening to them read the bible aloud during Friday night bible study.  I know those words are hard in the bible and they are reading it well.  Garsh.  Proud mommy.

Wow!  So I've been so, so, so, so busy that it's been hard to keep up with everything.  I need to keep on my system that always worked for me.  A schedule of cleaning.  It worked so well for so long.  When I backed off a little, I noticed that I've struggled keeping up.  I haven't even had as much time to hit the gym and that's a big no no.  I've lost 8 pounds so far this last month but I need to push myself harder. I don't like slacking off like this.  Will get back on track with that starting Thursday.  I took 2 weeks off.  Eek.  Still losing weight though because I watch my calories, fat, etc.  I definitely notice a big difference in my eating patterns.  I NEVER realized how much calories and fat is in so many foods. It's crazy!  Now I don't put salt on my food like I used to.  Oh man, I was the salt queen.  I just find other ways to season my food without adding all that sodium.  Oh, here is another health tip.  It's okay to have canned vegetables but it's a good idea to rinse the vegetables before you cook them because it's packed with sodium.  I prefer to get my vegetables fresh and then steam them but I can't always do that. 

Okay, it's obvious now I do my chores at night after the kids are asleep because now it's 1am and I have to hit the hay.  I did four loads of laundry, put it all away, the dishes, cleaned the kitchen, a bedroom.  So, I'm finally off to dreamland!  Zzzz....

Burning the Midnight Oil

Last night my baby Caleb couldn't stop coughing and it seems like it's just been dragging on and on.  He's been tested for everything and they said he just has a virus.  The thing is it's been over a month long.  I don't know if he just has that lingering tickle in his throat.  So last night Caleb woke up coughing so many times that both him and I didn't get to sleep till 6am.  I wasn't sure whether I should just try to stay up so I can go to church or if that would be too hard to not have slept for so long.  I finally fell asleep for 5 hours.  I was bummed I didn't get to make church this morning.  I knew I needed the few hours I got.  It was enough to get all my energy back.  Goodness.  Why, oh, why didn't I remember to put on the humidifier?  I know that wouldn't help greatly. 

Ryan was being funny in his odd sort of way today.  If you get grossed out, please just stop reading here.  This is only for mommies that don't mind subjects of boogers, poopoo, and other stinkers.

I don't know about your kids but my kids are always trying to find some way to earn money.  They will come up with some really weird ideas.  Here's another one they tried on me.  Ryan was in the bathroom and he was....having some trouble.  When he came out he told me all about it and he asked me to bend down so he could whisper in my ear.  He whispered "Mom, can I have 50 cents for pushing out a big poopoo because I was soooo brave?"  Ummmmm.....no.  I said, "Nice try, Ryan."  They've even asked me if they could get $1 for not hitting their brother that day or saying anything mean.  I tell them that we don't get paid by the government for not robbing a bank so I'm not gonna pay them for not calling their sibling a name.  LOL.  Kids are funny.  Smart though.  Sheesh.

Well, I'm off to Sunday night service at church!  Looking forward to being there.  :D

I Love Deals!

Wow, so I'm having so much fun lately finding ways to earn money online and earn gift cards.  One of my favorite is through Swagbucks.  No joke!  I just started 4 days ago and I've already earned myself a $15 gift card for Amazon and, obviously as you can see by the books on my sidebar, I love ordering on Amazon.  Either that or I can get myself a Starbucks card.  There are others of course to choose from.  I'd rather use the Amazon one though because I always have a wish list of things I need on Amazon.  Now I can tackle my list without spending any of my own money.  Whats cool about Amazon is that if you order at least $25 worth, then you get free shipping.  I'm not gonna cash in my points with Swagbucks yet because I want to wait to at least get the $25 Amazon gift card.  That way I can get the free shipping on Amazon.  Man, I'm such a coupon, savings, and freebie lover.  I think it's become my hobbie.  I have so much fun going on hunts for freebies and savings that I started another blog called Amazingly Frugal.  My mom was always very smart about her purchases and I'm the same way.  Why buy it in a department store when you can get it way cheaper online or through discount stores??  I used to always cut coupons but when this lady at church came up to me with a pack of coupons, I decided that for once I'd try it.  Whoa.  Guys.  It was only a little bit of coupons.  You know how much I saved when I went grocery shopping without even really trying?  I only cut out the coupons she gave me and planned some meals around it.  $20.  PLUS I got a $1 back.  Don't know how that happened.  PLUS, coupons popped out for an $8 voucher next time I shop. No purchase necessary.  Since I bought so many Oscar Meyer hot dogs through a major deal, I got the vouchers.  So that night I went back to the store to buy some things I needed and got $8 worth for free.  Okay, dang.  If I barely cut any coupons and basically saved almost $30, I'm definitely going to do more!  It's way worth it.  I'm going to kiss Carol next time I see her at church.  Well, maybe not kiss her. I'll hug her!

Practical Joke!

Let's hope they didn't have expensive electronics on them!

The Perfect Woman... Ahem

Have you ever felt like your days are so busy you can't keep up sometimes?  Or that you can focus on one thing but then something else might suffer?  That's how I feel at times.  I might do great at homeschooling, cooking dinner, being with the kids.... but then majorly lacking on my laundry.  Or I'll be doing great on the laundry but then my kitchen needs some good sanitizing. Or the floor is crying for a good mopping.  SOME DAY I'm going to be a SUPERMOM that can do it ALL!  Seriously.  At least maybe I can pray for it.  Hope for it.  LOL.  I'm learning, trying really hard at least, to stop worrying about doing it all.  Being the perfect woman.  Do I need to wake up earlier?  Go to bed later?  What is it?  I ENJOY my work at home.  I wouldn't trade it for a career life in a million years.  There is no pay that can be better than being here at home.  I do what I love and I love what I do. 

I said all of that to say this..... I need to find a loose schedule that I can follow everyday.  Sometimes I try one but I'm such a free spirit (or a schedule rebel) that I tend to purposefully fight against it.  I don't like tight schedules.  They feel constricting.  I like to have a loose schedule and that's what I'm working on right now.  I'm noting what we do at certain times and then trying to figure out how to fit it all in but without being majorly constricting.  I want to have fun with my kids.  Take care of my family.  Not be a drill instructor. 

My kids do have a lot of fun and they are playing together outside right now. Thank goodness I have a big backyard!  They have it good.  I tell them all the time.  They don't have to school all day in a classroom and then come home and do homework before having dinner and then going to bed.  They have the sweet life.  :D 

Clever Ways To Clean and Even Exercise!

I've found some fun and clever ways to clean my kitchen really fast when I'm just so incredibly bored that I don't feel like doing it. My husband and kids came up with this really cool game called Swords and Gunners. The team with the guns have to wait by the kitchen sink (yay for me) while the team with the swords go hide. It's very much like Hide and Seek. So after us gunners count to 30, we go on a hunt. Usually all the lights are off and we always stick together. We'll first go into the living room with our guns drawn and turn the light on. The rule is that we have to shoot first before they can touch us with the sword. If we shoot them first, they have to quietly go sit on the couch while we hunt for the rest. The trick for the sword team is they need to be hiding in a spot where they can sneak put their sword out and tap us to get us out.  Here's my clever cleaning part....

While I'm counting the 30 and my back is to the rest of the house, I make it a race to see how many dishes I can wash before I go on a hunt with my partner. I volunteer to be a gunner over and over till my kitchen is clean. So the second time I go count, I'll race to finish what's left of the dishes. The third time I'm usually cleaning off my counters and stuff. By the 4th or 5th time we count, my kitchen is usually spotless. Haha! I find that very fun. Also, when we are all finished, we all get on the floor and do 20 crunches. By the end of the night we have usually done about 100 crunches. This is good for my tummy. Heh heh. Sometimes, even when I'm hunting around I'll be picking stuff up as I go along to bring into the other rooms. I don't let them on that I'm doin that though. :D I only do that if I hunted in that room and there is no one there. While I'm there, I might as well have picked up a few things. So, this is quickly becoming my favorite game. We have fun as a family and the house gets cleaned at the same time.  I'm such a scaredy pants though that when my husband or one of the kids jump out in front of me, I'll be so weak in fear that I'll fall to the floor sometimes.  Then we're all laughing so hard that it takes me awhile to recover!

P.S.  There is another modification to the game.  Guarding the Princess.  I will post on this game soon!  :D

Sunday Rush Hour

Sunday mornings are always hard for me. As much as I know I should be more of a morning person, I'm just not. I set my alarm for as late as possible for church. (I'm just using Sunday morning for an example). The alarm will go off and my arm will fly over my head, hit the snooze, and I'll snuggle my pillow and pass back out. I will do this two or three times and then fly out of bed once my head clears and I realize I now only have 45 minutes to get myself and my 6 kids out the door. Wow! Okay. So I run inside my walk in closet. Find something that looks churchy but awesomely cute. Then our routine is for me to set out the girl's clothes and Charles will assist them. The boys dress themselves but there are times where we have to send them back into their room 3 or 4 times. Chaz will come out with his sleeveless basketball shirt and black dress pants. He tries to talk me into agreeing that it is a perfectly respectably outfit. Maybe he could even add a tie to it. Kyle will come out with 3 shirts on. He'll tell me that he wants a wardrobe with options. That way if he's in church and he doesn't feel he looks good enough, he can simply take the top shirt off and have another that looks good. Then if that one is just not snazzy enough or catches someone's eye, he can take that one off and have one underneath. Or they'll try coming out with mismatched socks. It's pretty frequent that Chaz will walk out with a sock that goes up to his knee and his other sock will be one of those low rise ones. Then when I tell them they need to go do their hair, Ryan will walk back out with a mohalk. "Ummm...Ryan, I don't think so. You don't wear a mohalk any other day of the week. You're certainly not wearing one now." The things they try to get away with. So I wake up at 8am and hit the snooze. Usually by the time I'm up on my feet, it's about 8:15am. By the time I get my coffee and get myself past zombie mode, it's 8:30am. Well, by that time I only have 45 minutes to be out the door. Somewhere in between 8:30-9:30am (which is when Sunday School starts) a miracle happens and we are all groomed and looking good. I smile as I walk into the front doors and act as if I had gotten up at 6am. And yes... my kids even ate breakfast. No I'm not yelling or freaking out. We just have a system that works and it works well. I'm not saying it'll work when their teens. Ha.

Mr Bean and the Guardsman

Hilarious!

Natalie's Day

There was a bridal shower for my friend Natalie at her house. Us goofy ladies got together and had fun fellowshipping while our little ones were at home.  We had a crazy time playing some games, teasing each other, comparing mommy notes, and just enjoying each other's company.  Natalie is a girl I lived nearby at one time, about 18 years ago and she found me on Facebook!  Wow.  I've found so many people I used to know at some point.  Even friends way back from Kindergarten.  Just so awesome finding and reconnecting with them all.

Close Your Ears!

Organizing for the Unorganized

That, my friend, would be me.  I love finding ideas that help keep me brain together.

<----- Do you see this awesome laundry truck???  I can imagine how cool it would be to have a laundry truck come by and pick up your clothes, clean them, and return them folded?  Sigh.  I don't mind washing so much.  It's just that I have only 1 set of washer and dryer!  I would love for one more set.  It just makes sense how the Duggars made their own laundry mat.  Wanna see?  The kids and I LOVE looking at these pictures.  We can look at the pictures all day long and dream and dream.  :)  I tell the kids though that God has blessed us immensely!  Just because someone has more than us doesn't mean they are happier. Life is what you make it.  What you appreciate.  I love looking at their photos because I love seeing their neat ideas and such.  I LOVE the slide to the playroom.  Way cool.  The kids love it too of course.  You bet I'd be sliding down it myself!  LOL. 

I also love online tools!  One I'm new to is Springpad.  Springpad is a free personal organizer to keep favorite web pages in one place: recipes, notes, restaurants, books, movies, music, tasks, etc.  I set mine up.  It's pretty neato.  I don't know if you've ever signed up with Kim Komando but she has really cool free downloadables also.  I get them in my mailbox everyday and the ones I've downloaded that I still have fun using.

Whatever Works

Have I ever said before how much I love Flylady?  I'm sure I have!  It's past midnight and I'm finally laying down.  Sometimes I just find it easier to clean at night once the kids are in bed.  A couple of weeks ago I had completely emptied out my kitchen, cleaned out the cupboards, donated duplicates of stuff, and then I've been working on putting it all back.  It was much, much needed.  :D  Well, tomorrow, I'll be cleaning out my last cupboard and putting back all my recipe books in it.  Phew.  I'll be DONE with the kitchen.  So far I've decluttered the girls' room, boys' room, and now the kitchen.  Big grin here!  I'm tired though!   With the younger ones in bed, I actually tried homeschooling the older ones in the early evening the last few nights.  I actually really like it and so do the boys.  It's quiet, which never happens here, and there is way less distractions.  While I'm homeschooling the kids, a younger one will fly by in a cape and the other kids just stare and drool because they want to play too.  So, it's been working nice for me.  Also, when I do some straightening up at night or some much needed sanitizing, it frees up my days to play with my kids more and spend more time with them.  I'm really liking it.  :D  Big, big grin here!  Whoo hoo! 

Who Can Find an AWESOME Wife???

I changed that of course from the scripture of Proverbs 31. Who can find a virtuous woman? Well, for all that the bible lists are virtuous, that's what I call an awesome wife. LOL.

I ran into a really cool site called A Virtuous Woman.  It's pretty daunting to me at times to have everything perfect as it seems like some women are able.  I have to remind myself that a lot of women (not all of course) have their kids at school during the day and have more cleaning time.  For me, I have six kids at home at all times and most of the waking hours are put into training kids on their certain chores and homeschooling. When it gets to the later afternoon and now I have to prepare dinner and then clean up, well you can imagine.  That's why I know even more how important it is for me to have a schedule.  Not a time schedule.  I hate those.  I mean just a certain order to clean up.  I set certain rules for myself about things I have to do before bed.  Sometimes though, on nights I'm especially tired, I have to really, really push myself.  That doesn't mean I always get it done though. 

I do believe in training kids so that they grow up not being spoiled and having everything done for them.  I know it's sometimes just easier to do it myself but from experience I can say it's just better in the long run to teach them to clean up after themselves.  My mom did put good effort into doing that but she was influenced by many to do it for us instead.  That we were children and we had enough pressures of our own.  We didn't need the added pressure of making our beds or, by golly, picking up after ourselves.  I can't believe how much we had put on our mom to do it all for us.  No wonder why she was so hard at work all the time.  If we had each put our part into the load, it would have been made lighter.  Many hands make light work.  So while it's hard for me training them now, I know it'll pay off in the older years.  Well, at least I'll go down trying.  :) 

Are They Asking Too Much?

I am curious. What do you guys think about this????

Kids Are Funny!

My 6 year old son Kyle just said, "Mom, it wasn't Adam and Eve's fault that they sinned and ate the apple.  They were starving."

The other day Kyle said something funny again.   I came out of the bathroom with a large orange towel on because I had just showered.  Kyle said, "Mom, PLEASE don't let go of that."

Some days, on bad days, I'm not so sure on my choice to have six kids.  Of course I love them like crazy but then there are times that I think they copy things right out of the Calvin and Hobbes book.  Not on purpose, but enough to make me worry at times!  Depending on the day, there are times I say "Oh, six kids is enough for me."  Other days I think it'd be nice to have another one down the road a bit.  So I was talking with Charles by the bed the other day and we were discussing this.  Ryan was sitting right by me.  Just as a joke I said to Charles, "Ryan and I decided that we are gonna at least have 3 more kids."  Ryan looked at me and said.  "Mom, I thought you said you were done with six?"  I said, "Oh, Ryan.  That's just on a bad day.  Haha!"  He smiled and said back, "Well, Mom, words have power."  Wow!  That's exactly what I say all the time.  Be careful what you say because words have power.  Boy, I was convicted.

Ryan's Play

I actually have a video of them dancing but I first have to upload it on "Tangle".  I hate that name.  Tangle.  Why would Godtube change it's name to Tangle?  It sounds like "Oh, hey look!  We're tangling our morals with the world."  When I mentioned this to a friend, she told me they had been putting rated R previews on there.  What???  I couldn't believe it.  They supposedly are very strict about what goes on there.  I guess eventually it might become gross like Youtube.  So sad.  Okay, anyway!  I went on another rabbit trail!  LOL.  Ryan always likes to put on plays for us.  He puts in a lot of time and effort so I make sure I take the time to sit down and watch.  They had to redo it so many times because Ivy would stop and all of a sudden say "Ohhhhh, I need a drink!!".  Then she would just leave.  Or it was, "I have to go to the bathroom!".  So they would have to keep starting over.  It's so funny so I'm piecing together the videos to make one.  Either Caleb would start crying or the phone would ring.  Or Ivy had to keep leaving or Ashley would get hurt trying to dance with them.  It was so cute!!!  That is Ivy and Ryan in the picture.

Soldiers and Princesses

I love it when my kids are creative and play fun stuff together by using their imagination.  We have plenty of dress up clothes from over the years. This time, Ashley got to play (my two year old).  It's so neat because she's finally getting old enough for her and her sister to play together.  We often play Hide and Seek but Ashley will walk around and start talking to someone in hiding.  It's so funny because you won't see who's hiding but you see my two year old standing their talking to them.  You'll hear real quietly "Ashley, shhhhh, don't talk to me right now."  LOL. I need a big costume box that'll hold all the costumes.  I need to work on getting one so it doesn't just get mixed in with the toys.  It's so fun watching them walk around as a soldier or princess.  Some days they are having boxing matches in a ring.  Other days they were hiding in their castle.  Other times they dressed as soldiers, looking for terrorists.  What was so fun (and hilarious) to teach them was broom ball.  We all had brooms in the living room and we were playing hockey style!  Some nights I want to get something done or work on something but I'm learning to just put it down and play with the kids.  Time flies!  That other stuff can wait.

Anonymous Love Letters

Don't you guys love it when people post anonymously and don't have the guts to put their name on there?  Hmmm..... kind of makes you wonder why they are not brave enough to say there name.  Well, I am.  Hi, my name is Virginia and I'm a republican who happens to also love Christ and big families.  I love the color red and I think President Bush was an incredibly awesome President who is proud of our country and never apologized or showed any shame for our nation.  President Bush put his hand over his heart when saying the pledge of alligiance and he had the guts to look for bad guys to put behind bars rather than sip tea with them on the porch.  We don't own a TV and I think hollywood is overrated.  I don't HAVE to like Obama if I don't want to.  This is America.  So forcing me to tell you why I dislike would just be wasted space on my blog.  If someone can do so much damage in such a short amount of time, well, that speaks for itself.  I don't plan on writing a love poem to him anytime soon.  I save those for my spouse.  Wink.  ;)

Skating Party

Chaz found a friend and he got invited to a birthday party at a skating rink. Yay! Of course we all came along. I came for 3 reasons. You can burn 700-1500 calories within one session of skating. Also, to meet Dexter's mom who I found out that we have tons in common with each other! Also for Chaz being that we he finally does find a friend, we'll do anything to promote that friendship and let them play together.

It's pretty freaky actually when your little kids are out on the rink and there are kids flying past them. I thought, "of all places, this would be the place for kids to wear helmets and such because something can easily happen." I even saw moms on the floor throwing tantrums because a little kid fell in front of them and it made them have to slow down. They would be flailing all their limbs and screaming. It wasn't the moms that were skating with their kids. It was the ones that were there to look cool while dancing and their "cool skating dance" got ruined by a little kid toppling over while skating. I thought that was pure silliness being its a family friendly place. I've heard of these types of moms. You know like "hockey moms" and "soccer moms"? Yikes.

I had so much fun skating out there with my kids that I didn't even think of eating any food even though we were there for hours.  Family night is every Monday and being that you can burn so many calories just having fun with your kids, we might replace some of our workouts by going there once a month instead of the gym.  The pic is of Chaz below in the black shirt (blonde hair) with his friend Dexter.

Cycling Like a Crazy Mad Lady...puff puff

Guys, I've been so incredibly busy that I have missed visiting all my blogging buddies!  Tonight is library night and usually I go to the cafe and read a magazine by myself for a little bit while Charles is with the kids in the children's section.  Tonight, I have the fat free (adding that in case my trainer sees) cappuchino and taking some time to visit some of my favorite blogs. 

Tonight, at the YMCA, I decided that I am so stinking bored with the treadmill.  I don't WALK on the treadmill.  I do the cardio at max heart rate the whole time and it's a killer.  Still, its sooo boring.  Tonight, I happen to be passing by a spin class just starting.  I popped my head in and asked if I can join.  I've seen these classes through the window but I was always too intimidated to enter because they work so hard.  This time I went in.  I got on the bike and ohhhhhh my gosh.  That was probably the hardest workout I've ever done in my whole life.  While some of these older guys who are totally in shape are cycling, they are asking me questions.  How often do you work out?  How hard do you work out?  What do you eat?  They were all impressed with my 2 hour cardio everyday and my eating habits but I'm not.  My husband said I'm a drill sargeant and I know I'm that way.  That's why I've always loved those summer bootcamps growing up.  Those were fantastic.  After 45 minutes I got off the bike and my legs were wobbly.  I burned 700 calories in only 45 minutes.  You bet I'm going back again!  Then to my surprise they said the class wasn't over.  We do 15 minutes of abs.  Uh oh.  Well, I was game so I did that too.  By the time I was done with all of it, I was looking for a chair.  I forgot to mention that I had already done a half hour of hard cardio work just before this class.  I love a good workout. When I was 110lbs before kids, I was always in the gym almost every day.  I love the atmosphere.  I love the workouts.  All of it.  WONDERFUL!  I could put a bed in there and peacefully spend the night.  :o)

Another thing that's taken so much time is I'm sanitizing the whole kitchen.  Everything is removed from all the cupboards.  I'm counting my pots and pans.   I think I donated about half of it so far.  I matched everything to lids to see what was extra.  Everything is getting bleached really well (the cupboards and floor) and then I'm putting it all back.  It's been nice not seeing such a pile up behind the cupboards. I didn't need that much stuff. 

The homeschooling year is winding down and I'm starting to have to really speed things up.  Several sicknesses while pregnant, then having a baby really got me behind.  So every day they are doubled up on their lessons.  We are spending a lot of time on that.

Soooooooo.... this is all why I can't get any time on the computer to visit my cyberspace friends!  Argh!  You guys are fantastic and can't express to you what it's done for me in the last 4 years since starting my blog.  I originally started to blog because I've always loved to journal.  Then I started finding other families out there that love what we love.  Cherish what we cherish. Have the same goals in mind.  I mean, it's been such a network of support and friendship.  Most of my closest friends I used to go to bootcamp with or school or even church with at one point, all live out of state and not nearby me.  I miss those friendships.  The next best thing is talking with you online and seeing updates of your family.  Even great, I have found some I've never met in person yet they been wonderful to talk to. 

Swat Trucks

We are big suckers for events that happen in the valley.  This one was at a museum opening after redoing the place.  We went to it before and it was really dark and gloomy.  They got smart and made it more family friendly with tons of interactive stuff.  I love history and so we're so happy they redid the place where I could bring my little ones and they can appreciate it too.  Out front they had a swat truck and my kids were checking it out on the inside.  My son went digging and found some bullet shells.  They swat guys ended up having to leave because a kid picked up a heavy tool used for breaking into places and it was dropped on his foot.  Luckily, we got there just in time for the kids to check it out before they left. 

That's Kyle in the window of the truck. 

So, we ended up running into friends, which included Ryan's best friend Georgie!  It was neat to be able to hang out in museum with our friends from church and talk.  Since I have so many great pics I want to show, I put them in a slide show at top of blog.  Such fun!