When Will I Be An Expert?

You would think that being I have 6 kids and I have potty trained four so far that I would be an expert. Am I? Nooooooo..... I am not. Ashley is three and she is still not understanding what it's all about. You should see how cool my toilet is. It's got 3 lids. One for an adult, then pull down the next and it's a child, and then the final lid on top. REALLY COOL. I even had Ashley try it. Nope. She is not being stubborn about it. She just doesn't get it.

Oh well, she is so cute in a diaper.  She even wanted me to put one on her head with her pig tails sticking out.

Found the Guilty Culprit

I found the pillow thief!! 

I was wondering who in the world has been stealing my pillow.  If this isn't evidence then I don't know what is.  It's a little more annoying because everytime I find him snuggling it, I have to go wash it.  Maybe I just need to buy him his own pillow.  Big baby.

Henry is such an incredibly good dog and well trained.  He is so amazing around the kids and gentle.

Kyle is his cuddler and he loves it.  If you look close you can see where Kyle just got his stitches in his chin.  He was in the bathroom at school when he fell and hit his chin.  They said he never cried when he first got hurt and when he was getting stitches.  Kyle is a tough little dude and a total sweetheart.

Ashley's 3rd Birthday Party

Looking back... Here I am 9 months pregnant with Ashley! :D

Ashley turned 3!!! She is my baby princess. She loved her Disney dishes. :)

My mom got her this little doll. Ashley definitely is a little mommy.  She is always trying to take care of her baby brother.

Below she is with her grandmother which is my husband's mom.

Destiny and I in the kitchen.

This is the coolest birthday cake ever.  It's a round cake in the middle but surrounded by cupcakes for the kids.

Dropping The Ball

After 3 months of false charges from my phone and internet company and a 3 hour phone call this morning, I finally got my internet again.  Can you believe I was being charged for 3 months of service I have not had?  They insisted I had internet.  Believe me, I know when I don't have internet.  3 hours of being passed person to person and FINALLY they drop all the charges.  They were basically calling me a liar and saying I've had it all this time.  Sheesh.  Turns out, someone just forgot to note on the records that I cancelled all my services with them 3 months ago.  No, I haven't had internet all this time, it just wasn't in their notes and they didn't mind at all continuing to charge me.  After getting several hundred dollars dropped and an apology, I'm happy. :D

Pretty Food

I love to cook. I'm not naturally as good as it like my big sister but it's just incredibly fun. Back in the day when I was first married we had lots of boxed complete meals. Pasta Roni with corn was a common one. Heh heh. I told him on our anniversary we should have that meal every day but like at lunchtime or something. Those are actually pretty yummy but not something for EVERYDAY! LOL.

I was making salsa and noticed how pretty the layers looked.

I wanted to make Pineapple Upside-Down cake the other day but then wondered how neat it would be to make it into cupcakes. So I had to trim down the pineapples and then put that and the cherry in the cupcake pan first and then batter. I left out the brown suger though to not have as much sweetness.  OHhhhhh, it was super good and actually really fun to eat.  In this family....it went incredibly fast.  Even my neighbor kids came over and took some.  Haha.

Next week I am signing up for some culinary classes so it should be exciting!  My friend is signing up with me so it'll be double exciting.

This Looks So Bad

We were all sitting together and chilling out when Caleb crawled up and wanted to sit next to his daddy. Well, he reached his little hand (and his whole arm since he's so little) into the chip bag. Ashley then grabs my almost empty soda and tries to take a sip. I had to get a snapshot of this because it looks so funny. Heh heh.

 

I rarely ever buy potato chips because it's so bad for you but I had these from a party for one of my kids.  Naughty!

Ashley is always wearing really girlie stuff around the house. It's funny because Ivy gets really upset if I put anything girlie on her at all and Ashley gets really upset it I DON'T put something really girlie on her.  Such opposites. 

Cinderella

This is embarrassing but I remember when I was younger and I told my sisters and my mom that I felt like Cinderella.

They all started laughing at me.

If anything it was the other way around. My sisters always did my share of work because I would rather take a punishment any day than help out.

So here is a picture of Ivy trying to prove to you guys that she is indeed Cinderella.

..... and what is mommy doing while she is working so hard????

Yup.  On the phone.  Just talking away while her daughter SLAVES away at the dishes. 

Okay, so don't buy that.  Ivy is just like me when I was little.  She will run and hide rather than doing her chores each day.  My boys don't give me a hard time about it but, oh, Ivy makes me work for it.  I have to go find her in her hiding spot and stand there and watch her just to get her to clean her room.  It's hard to get her to do it. Can even take a couple of hours.  Little stinker. 

I actually don't have her washing dishes yet but she begged me that day because she thought it was interesting.  I think she got over her curiosity because she only volunteered twice total.  Haha.

Just Having Fun Together

Above is Ryan shooting paintballs.  They think it's the coolest thing ever and they did this for so long.  I had to pry them away.

This pic is inside a paintball tent. They were have fun shooting it up. Ivy is also wearing army pants but you can't tell because its a pink camouflage. Wait a second.... where is Ashley in this picture???? I just realized it. haha.

My kids love Army events so whenever there is one, you can bet we're there.  :D

 

Chaz wanted to show you guys this cool move.  I know this is a cool shot, but just so you knew, I had to try about 10 times to catch the right moment.  By the time I got it, he was tired.  LOL

It is cute seeing my girl in pink shooting paintballs.

This (above) is my oldest Chaz shooting paintballs.

 
This event was supposed to be bigger but, well, we were surprised how small it was.  Nevertheless, Ivy thought walking through this was super cool.

Happy 1st Birthday!!!!!!!

This is Caleb as a newborn!!!  Isn't he adorable??   AWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!  Darn it they grow so fast.  Sigh.

 We had an early party for my son Caleb about a month ago so he could celebrate with his cousin.  Because of it, I almost forgot the actual day of his birthday which is September 25th.  I was sitting here typing on the computer and was like "Whoa!  It's Caleb's birthday!"  Do homemakers ever look at calendars?  I do not very often.  All my kids birthday are extremely close together but Caleb's is the last one.  We have had lots and lots of cakes in the last couple of months.  :D  It's a wonder that I have not gained any weight.  Haha.

My mother-in-law below with Caleb.  He's soooooo cute.  My sweetie pie.

Caleb below sitting at kid table eating vetetables.

My baby boy is 1!  Wow, happy birthday to my baby.  I tell all you guys to stop growing up so fast and you just don't listen to me.  Stinkers!  I love you, Caleb Joseph.  You may a celebrity in my heart.  I love watching the news things you learn every day. I laugh when I see your first steps.  I cry when you are hurting.  My heart jumps for joy when I see you in your crib each morning.  I love seeing your new teeth coming in even if you don't think it's very fun right now.  Trust me. You're gonna need those.

I love his little diaper butt.  Babies in diapers are just so cute.  Most of the time I like him in a diaper but I will only get away with it while it's still warm here.  In this pic, he just came back from church so he is dressed up so cute.  I will post pics from his birthday party soon. :)

Daily Dishes and Deep Thinking

While the kids are in school I have been doing a lot of thinking. This is usually why it helps me to have a year off from homeschooling. In that year I really look into how things are running or about decluttering. Organizing rooms that badly need it. Doing inventory at home to see what we need to get rid of or have too much of. It gives me a breather to step back and look into areas that might need some special attention. So this is the year.

While doing dishes (like I seem to do a lot) I was thinking about how much cleaning and laundering I have to do every day.  When is there a break?  When is the best time to clean?  I started to think about the purpose of it all.  I used to make my kids go play while I clean.  Only to do that the next day and the next day.  Then I would go to sleep at night and wish I had spent more time with my kids.  Reading to them, asking them about their day, play something with them, or just talk to them. 

Time flies so fast.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that I am doing all this for them.  Sure, I could have had just one kid and my cleaning would have been much simpler.  What am I doing all this for?  I realized how much I truly enjoy my kids and I just didn't have enough time with them it seemed.  I'm living for them.  They are my joy and the highlight of my day.

They are the sweetness around me.

I decided that any cleaning I had to do would HAVE to be done before they come home every day from school.  Except for washing dishes and wiping down the kitchen after dinner, everything else would have to be finished for that day.  No more folding clothes at night or waiting till they sleep to clean.  They are in school this year so the habits will have to change again.  If I'm doing all this for them, then when they come home, my husband and my kids will have my attention.

If I were to be laying on my death bed and someone were to ask me if I could have done things better.  I KNOW I won't say, "Well, I wish I would have had a cleaner house."  I don't want to have to say "I wish I had not worried so much about my house while my kids were home with me.  I wish I would have read to them more.  Hugged them more. Listened to them more.  Cared more about looking through their backpack to discover their creations they made at school.  Wishing I had skated with them outside or at least watched them learn how to jump a ramp." 

So the next day, while washing dishes, I smiled and said, "This is a good plan."  If my life is revolved around my family then I should act like it.  Not just hope someday I get around to it. 

It has been fun spending my evenings with them, reading to them, playing hide and seek.  Spending those few hours with them I get each day.  I know if I want to have a relationship with them when they are older, it is important to establish it with them when they are younger. Plus, they can be so much more fun sometimes that adults.

Besides, what adult thinks its so fun to blow bubbles in their chocolate milk?  Kids love it.

A Short Life

This is Mr. Lizard that my son found while on a camping trip.  He snuck him to church and that's why you see a pic of him on my skirt while sitting at church.  Well, we all though it was cute and I "cuddled" and played with him in secret all service.  We even took him to McDonalds. 

Well, his little life ended quickly when we went to a friends house and Ryan put him on the floor to play with.  My son Kyle came along and stepped right on him while walking across the room. Basically the little lizard's stuff was pushed out of him and it took him 2 days to die. Ryan and I were really upset throughout those two days.  I couldn't clean, cook.  Hardly do anything.  Ryan was in tears all the time. He hadn't died yet but he was getting weaker and weaker.  Finally I asked Charles if he could take the Horned Toad Lizard to a nearby park and lake and let him die there.  We told Ryan he was going to a happy place. I felt much better after that and so did Ryan.

I can be so weird.

The Schedule Nerd

Every time something big changed in our lives, I have to adjust our schedules in the house again.  It's fine.  It just takes a little figuring out for me.  I do great with routines. 

Last year, with homeschooling, I would have them do chores twice a day.  Meal times were the exact times.  Bedtimes.  Everything.  Except on church days of course.  Now that I'm not homeschooling and the days are so quiet with only two little ones at home, things are running different.  I decided that any cleaning I have to do needs to be done before they come home.  I really want to have my arms and ears open when they walk through the front door.  I love sitting down with them at the table to see what nice drawings they made or how their work is going.  What they need help with or review. 

Last night I was folding clothes in the living room when it was still early in the evening.  I stopped and asked myself why in the world I was folding laundry rather than hugging and kissing my kids goodnight.  I could be reading a book to them.  After all, they are gone for a large portion of the day.  Couldn't I fold laundry in the day while they are gone?  So I put the clothes down and went to talk to my boys while they were still trying to fall asleep.  I have 8 hours a day to do my housework.  Goodness gracious.  Surely I can wait on housework till the next day again. 

I am so used to cleaning in the evening because when I homeschooled I didn't have much time for that in the day.  So that's one of my new changes. 

Another question I have asked myself a million times is "WHY DO I STILL HAVE SMALL LAUNDRY BASKETS FOR OUR CLOSETS?"  Hello.  We are a family of 8.  Laundry is a monster and those baskets fill up so fast and start spilling over before I can get to them.  So I have been replacing them one by one.  The kids now have a gargantuan one.  Seriously. 

Another thing I had to fix is the times of the kids' chores.  Okay.  They have always done chores at 10am and at 5pm.  Well, of course we dropped the 10am one because they are gone at school and the 5pm one just wasn't working.  It didn't make sense because they always come home to a clean house now and so they have no chores.  However, by 7pm we have a pretty good mess building.  So had had to change their chores to 7pm and it works better for all of us.  Showers are at 7:30pm and 30 minute reading time is at 8pm and then bedtime is 8:30pm.  I'm such a schedule NERD!  I'm a very unorganized person so I thrive on having a schedule.  Have to have one.  I never cared before but things change when we have 6 little cute stinkers.  Things just function better and my brain doesn't melt. 

My Baby Boy Explorer

I love little tiny babies in diapers so if you wonder why little Caleb is always seen in a little diaper in my pics.  That's why.  It's so, so cute.  He doesn't walk yet but he loves to pull himself up to play the piano.  He can't see what he's doing but he loves to hear what sounds come out of it!

Okay, now that I took this picture and a flash shows brightly on the piano... I realize it needs to be dusted!!

When we first got Henry, Caleb was really afraid of him but now that we've had him for some time, Caleb has gotten closer and closer to him.  Henry can prance in between little babies crawling around on the floor without stepping on them.  For a huge dog that's pretty awesome.  I had another Great Dane that would always knock my kids down so Henry is a blessing.  On this day Caleb finally crawled all the way up to him and touched his paw.  It was so cute.  He just kept staring at Henry and getting closer and closer. 

I don't know if this look below is a proud look.  Like, "haha, mom, I tamed the beast" or a mischievious look. Heh heh.....

... I'm kinda worried about that look.

Little Buddy Ol' Pals

Ashley and Caleb are now the pair at home while their siblings are at school.  I love seeing them giggle together and be cute.  There is this one McDonalds that has a smaller playland.  More for toddlers.  When my boys were little I took them to this one too.  :)

They like to stand at the edge of the slide, stick their heads in and scream into the slide. 

Can you believe Caleb will be one in only 3 weeks?  Ashley will be 3 in 2 weeks. 

Sigh.  I love my diaper babies. 

I am not having luck with potty training Ashley at all.  You would think after six kids that I would get it.  You know?  Like, boom, potty training should be a cinch.  Noooo... they are all so different.  Chaz didn't get his till his younger brother did it.  It took Ryan one try and he was potty trained.  Chaz saw him and went potty at the same time.  1 hour, instantly two kids potty training.  Three kids in diapers was tough so that day I went down to only one kid in a diaper.  So Chaz was 4 and Ryan was 3.  Kyle and Ivy learned at 3.  Something about their third birthday.  It's a charm.  Well, Ashley is turning three in two weeks so I've been trying.  One time I took off her diaper and so much happened everywhere in ten minutes that I put a diaper right back on her. Whew!  Will try again in a few weeks. 

Still, I like their little butts in diapers. Just so cute. 

A Father Taken Hostage By His Daughter

This is so, so, so, so cute!!! Had to share.

Kyle's 7th Birthday!

Kyle is next in line for the many birthdays we have.  My kids birthdays are all 2 weeks apart!  Except Caleb's which is the last birthday and it's one week after Ashley's.  So, four down, two more to go.  :)  We are having lots of cake these past few weeks.  I am so behind in posting everything about the birthdays but I'll catch up.  My babies are growing up!!!

Caleb loved the chocolate cake.  Before you know it, he'll be running all over Chuck E. Cheese.  The other day he took his first step.  You know what is freaky about that?  I have all tile.  It's time to put 2 knit caps on his head again while he is doing his learning stuff.  :)  I did that when he was learning to crawl.  He bonked his head many times but was safe because of the hats.

Charles got Kyle yet another cap gun.  LOL.  I got him two playstation games.  Yeah, he already had 24 but we needed these too. 

I can't believe Kyle is already 7.  He was third in line.  Today I told him how squishy cute he was the day I met him.  I told him how my tummy was really big and he was kicking me so hard that I couldn't wait to get him out.  That daddy walked the boys and I around the malls for hours trying to get him to want to come.  We were at the mall when the doctor called to say I can come in to get induced.  I really wanted to wait but the pain was so bad in my back I practically flew to the hospital to have doctor help him come.  I told him how he came out looking like a little butterball at 8lbs 9oz.  He was my biggest baby and he had such a loud cry the nurses said they felt sorry for me. I wasn't sorry. Even if he did have a cry that could scare all the leaves off a tree, he was mine.  My third boy. 

Ryan gave him bunny ears and Ivy gave him cuddles.  Ashley was dancing soooo cute in the background!  LOL.  They were not supposed to be up there but I HAD to take a video of Ashley dancing before I took them down.

Above, Kyle playing. 

Ryan is being is normal goofy self. LOL.  He always keeps us laughing with his funny humor or silly dancing.  He says stuff out of the blue that surprise us.  But he's a total sweetheart who gets his feelings hurt easy.