Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Not feeling too great

Wow! I've had the worst headache today. Started about 11:00am and just got worse. I don't get alot of them, so I'm always surprised and somewhat reluctant to take a medication. Usually I will remember that I haven't eaten or maybe I didn't get enough sleep, but today, none of that was the case. I just had a bad headache. Finally, I took some acetamenophine, but I think it was too late...about an hour later, it was still pounding, so I took some ibuprofin and had a diet Pepsi. I also took a power nap. Meanwhile, I was trying to manage carpool, piano lessons and dinner. Senior helped pick up some of the slack and directed activities while I was down. For dinner we got out the Quick Soup Formula (Sahmsistersrecipes.blogspot.com) and the left over steak and made a delicious soup and saltines meal. TGH took over bedtime, bless his heart, before he left to play basketball with the guys. I'm feeling tons better now, took a hot shower and played with my Facebook page for a while. Off the subject, I'm thinking about learning meditation as a way to reduce stress. Any thoughts??

Monday, September 29, 2008

impatience

I am waiting. The Professor is due to call before he starts the drive home. I have read an entire book, I have eaten when I was not hungry (again). I have ran for the phone twice, only to be disappointed by telemarketing calls. I have paced around the living room and flipped a few channels on the tv.
I am reminded of when we were dating. Waiting, waiting, waiting for his call.
I am going to call him any second. I am not good at this. . . .

Two Year Old Trauma

My original plan was to post this oh so cute pic of my Caboose, helping with the dishes. He thinks it's his personal mission to unload the utensils, going so far as to climb into the dishwasher to get the rack they are in. I was planning to wax poetic about the joys of parenting and how wonderful that he has a cute little chore at such a young age. BUT. That was before Sunday. Sunday, our church had a children's program as the main part of the meeting. I am a teacher of the 6 and 7 yr olds and so my help was needed up on the stand behind the podium. TGH and my 3 bigger kids were on hand to manage the Caboose and #6. After the opening prayer and song, but before the program began, there was a quiet moment...EXCEPT for the unmistakeable sound of someone throwing up! My lips tingled, my vision sparkled with tiny stars and I said a silent prayer..'please, please, please don't let that have been one of my kids.' I craned my neck, trying to see around the pulpit and was horrified to see my hubby running out of the chapel with Caboose cradled in his arms. Then a man sitting behind him jumped up and ran out. Then my best friend also jumped and ran! I could see the congregation looking after them, then up at me. I sank into my seat and tried to take deep breaths. There was no way I could go out without making a scene and now the program was under way. About 10 min later, I felt my purse at my feet vibrate. I checked my cell and TGH had left a message saying Caboose is fine and he took him home. After the program, I found out that my friend had run for paper towels and all purpose cleaner and had taken care of most of the mess on the bench. I love her. We finished cleaning it up and went on. Caboose really is fine. Ate a great lunch and is running all around as usual. Who knows why he had to "toss his cookies" in the middle of church?

Sunday, September 28, 2008

ode to the lazy

The Professor has left town. I did not do the dinner dishes. The girls played recklessly all afternoon while I laid on the couch with a blankie and read a book and I have no plan to pick up toys. I ate nachos in my bed. I have already eaten two desserts. I am on vacation. :)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Saturday Fun

Senior went camping last night with a couple of buddies. He came home and I asked, "How did it go?" "Fine," he answers. "What did you do?" I ask. "Nothing," he answers. "Did you eat?" I ask.
"Yup," he answers. "What?" I ask. "Um," he thinks, "muffins, and milk, and we had tinfoil dinners." "Did you have fun?" I ask. "Yeah," he answers. OK. Enter Freshman a few hours later after 2 hours with her friends. "Hi," I start to say, "How..." "Mom, we had so much fun, we ate Mexican food and we all sang Happy Birthday, like, so loud in the restaurant and she was like, so embarrassed, and we were like, laughing and it was so funny and then we ate ice cream and then her mom came and we went back to her house and then she had to go the bathroom, but, like, she never came back and we asked her mom where she was and she was like, outside and we were looking everywhere and we thought she went with these other kids, but they were like, so rude, and we were like, whatever, so we were walking everywhere and I think I burned off my whole dinner and then we saw her and she was like, where were you and we were like, where were you but she had her skate board so we were like trying it out and we were like laughing so hard and then her mom called and we had to go home and I'm like so tired, so g'nite mom."

I'm a little tired myself. Think I'll go to bed. Have a nice Sunday:)

Friday, September 26, 2008

Parent Teacher Conferences

I have not posted recently because I have been overrun by parent teacher conference week, which, in my mind, is the #1 reason to homeschool. Bar none. Usually, I am very unhappy attending these things. I am usually presented with a long list of work my children have not done. No, that's not quite true...they DO the work, but seem to have some deep religious belief that actually turning it in is very wrong. Once, when Senior was in the 4th grade, we found a deep mulch of completed yet ungraded assignments in the deep recesses of his backpack. I was naively making sure he finished it without making sure he handed it in. This he did not do. So. Fast forward to this week where I was amazed to hear that my children have actually been giving their completed homework to the ACTUAL teacher! Teachers were using words like "delight" and "very smart" and "a joy to have in class"! The kids are getting "A's"! It was mom-nirvana! Now, a speech: I would like to accept this award (Mother-of-the-Year) and just say thanks to my husband, who encouraged me and yelled at the kids for me when I was too crazed to do it myself. And all of my friends, who said my children were bright, even when I thought they had the IQs of lettuce. Thank you! (Sniff!) :)

my own little panic

I should probably be too embarrassed to admit this, but I actually made my own little "run on the grocery store" yesterday. The problem arises from the fact that the Professor wakes up with the news for an alarm clock everyday. So each morning, before my eyes are even open, I am bombarded with reporters grimly warning me of our tottering economy and bleak forecasts of doom. In general I am a person who likes my news in small doses, when I am ready for it. Otherwise, my 2 am wake ups are full of worries I can do nothing about. Well, it finally all got the best of me and with only a half an hour between picking up Buttercup from preschool and Blossom from kindergarten, I sped off to the grocery store. I started stuffing my cart with flour, sugar, baking soda, and for some unknown reason ketchup (which we never even eat cause the Professor thinks it's sick). Usually when I am at the store I don't see people I know, but unfortunately while I was running down the aisles with my eye on the clock, throwing things into my cart, I kept running into friends. Friends who know me well enough to be eyeing my cart suspiciously as if they thought just maybe I was off my rocker this time. And maybe I was. But I'll tell you what. I just wanted to buy enough bags of flour that when I wake up at 2am I can tell myself I've done what I can and just go back to sleep.
This morning when the Professor's alarm clock started forecasting doom I put my fingers in my ears and went back to sleep. I think that will be my new morning ritual.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow"

Yesterday and today were busy, busy, busy. It looks like the whole week is going to be that way. Now that my gals are just a little older I have been having such a crazy time of running back and forth between preschool and kindergarten. I know for those of you with teenagers in sports and everything else this can't compare to your business but even so, I've been feeling a little well, weary, as I look at the year ahead. I imagine there will be a path worn back and forth from my house to the school.
Luckily, I just got a good dose of perspective from a friend I was visiting with. This friend is in her 70s (atleast) and when she saw me unloading my gals from the van, she laughed and said I reminded her of her. She had three little ones in three years. She rather lovingly helped me get the girls herded inside and sat herself down into her comfy rocking chair. Bubbles happily started unloading the diaper bag, bringing tiny animal after tiny animal to her for inspection. My friend's children, she told me, are all in their 40s atleast, and some have grandchildren of their own. She went on to say how quickly these days of little children pass and how she often just misses her own small ones.
Even though I have heard so many people express this, it always impresses me whenever someone says it. I try to tell myself, enjoy these busy days. Sit down with the girls. Watch them play. Hold on to it. Grab the camera. Write down what they're doing and saying.
Last night I almost cried as I thought over just how fast these little girls will grow into women. On a less melancholy note, the Professor also had something to say on the subject. He noted my tearful mood and after I told him what was bothering me he had some typically terrible advice. "Lock them in the basement." ha Atleast he got me to stop feeling sorry about what might be. Him and his outrageous sense of humor.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Will this be her first memory?

Today I was walking down the street with Blossom to pick up Buttercup from a neighbor's house. Blossom and I had just spent an hour watercoloring at the table together and having a wonderful mommy-daughter time of things. She was saying something so funny that I was quickly composing a post of it in my mind. I would write that funny entry right now except I have completely forgotten what it was Blossom said. Because just then, I (the chronically dizzy) mom, tripped on my own shoe. As Blossom and I were holding hands at the time, I caught myself but she went sprawling onto the street. "You did that to me!" she accused questioningly as she began to cry. Her jeans were ripped and blood was starting to drip from her skinned knee. I wanted to deny that I had in reality just knocked my 5-year old into the road and made her bleed, but instead I apologized. We got a band-aid from the neighbor and picked up Buttercup. We walked home without further incident, i.e. I didn't knock anyone down.
Fast forward a couple hours. Some friends came over to chat and the little gals were downstairs having a "movie party." Blossom comes upstairs and whispers to me, can she show one of my friends her band-aid. I comply. Then she lifts her pant leg and shows the band-aid. She appears to be pleased with the ooh's and aah's of concern, and then smiling she tells them both, "Mommy did this to me, she shoved me down in the street."
I am always wondering what her first memory will be. This had better not be it.

Preserving A Fruit and a Heritage


Many of my days are filled with experiences that require a strong sense of humor. I mean, strong. And then, some days are just bad. I don't need a sense of humor as much as I need a emergency response team and a licensed therapist. But Saturday, there was something else. A new kind of day where mother and daughter joined forces and participated in a ritual that people on this earth have been performing since they first had to start feeding their families. The process of preserving the harvest. Preparing for winter by drying, canning, and freezing anything edible. Freshman and I bought peaches to supplement the meager fruit on our own tiny peach tree, and began to peel, pit and slice! We laughed and talked and watched The Sound of Music. When it was over, many hours later, we had 7 pints of jelly (those were our own home-grown) and 46 quarts of sliced peaches. And even better, there was a sense of comraderie and accomplishment between us. She was tired, but smiling. I was secretly pleased that I had passed on this knowledge and spent time with a girl who has vastly different interests than my own. And we were both satisfied that we had made such a substantial, yet economical contribution to our families health and welfare.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

I woke up singing the children's song, "Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday".... believe it or not I was in the mood to clean. I had visions of me scrubbing the entire house, room by room, top to bottom. The mood lasted exactly long enough to carry me through the kitchen.
Not quite what I pictured, but at least I was VERY thorough in there. I'm talking cabinets, refrigerator, microwave, stove burners (whatever the heck those things are called that collect all the burnt offerings) and the dirtiest thing of all, Buttercup's booster seat. Ew! There were unidentifiable food bits from who knows how long ago underneath that thing. I just might sleep better tonight knowing they are gone.
Best part of the day? Professor got home from hunting and took us all to IHOP. Yay for the two-for-one coupons! Yay for not cooking dinner in my sparkling clean kitchen! Yay for the Professor!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Date Night

It's Friday! That means date night with my honey! Kids eat mac and cheese at home and TGH and I flee the premises. I love getting all gussied up; nice clothes, makeup, good date hair. My sweetie comes home from work, changes and we run away to be friends, grown-ups, lovers. We talk about the election and movies and books. We do NOT talk about teen problems, bodily functions or grades. We hold hands and kiss without the choruses of "Gross!" echoing around us. We eat food without little mouths begging. I order things they would never touch. Delectable entrees with onions and peppers and all sorts exotic veggies that make children groan. My honey orders all the food I never cook...deep fried, covered in butter and salt. White bread! Then sometimes we see a movie. No dancing dinosaurs, or red monsters, or educational content. We like funny. Sometimes, we go bowling. No bumper guards, no crying about who's turn it is. It's a friendly game, where we make suggestive innuendos and laugh at inside jokes. Then, we get ice cream and drive around, savoring the alone time. Sharing thoughts and wandering through our relationship at random, picking up new little tidbits about each other. We discover that we do change, and we savor getting to know each other every week. I love date night. I love being reminded I am a beautiful, intelligent, sexy woman for 4 hours. I feel reconnected, recharged and ready to be a mommy again. Which is good, because I have 7 children at home, waiting for me to take the reins again!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Well, now that you've brought it up. I have a confession. I, too, am an America's Next Top Model addict! I don't understand how it happened. One night, I woke up about 2 or 3 in the morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Even though I'm not really a TV watcher, I went into the family room and turned it on, thinking there might be an old movie or I Love Lucy reruns. What I did see was a reality TV show about models. I wondered, how is this a show? Who are these girls? Who is this Tyra Banks person? As the show progressed (they were showing an ANTM marathon) I was more and more interested. I started to care about who was going to be eliminated. I liked Nigel. I didn't like Miss J Alexander. I love the pictures. I started to believe Tyra when she said how hard it is to be pretty. Several hours and episodes later, I was completely hooked! Me! I don't even WATCH tv, for pete's sake! I don't let my kids watch except for very limited times on the weekend. I'm known for saying, "TV does NOT rule our LIVES!" I'm a go-read-a book, or get-outside-and-find-something-to-do kind of mom. I don't know anything about Lost or Big Losers, or emergency nannies. I've never seen a Maury, Jerry, or (I didn't know she even had a talk show) Tyra. The last episode I saw of Oprah was in the 90's. Why oh why do I love this show? My husband just rolls his eyes. He is sworn to secrecy. The kids, cannot know their mom is watching catch-up episodes online. In the meantime, I missed the makeover episode because I accidently signed up to host book club at my house last night. But when the last woman left, I ran to the lap top and googled Top Model. I know who went home and when the episode airs on CW's website, I'll be there, an armchair expert on the fascinatingly strange world of modeling. Heaven help me, I love that show!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

oh, Mommy time!

This is my ode to Wednesday nights. How I love them! Why? Because on Wednesday, starting at 7 I have one happy hour of "me time." What do I do during this blissful hour? It is shockingly silly and frivolous. I herd the Girls to bed as fast as I can. I ignore the Professor. My favorite spot on the couch awaits. I watch . . . (drum roll please) . . .
America's Next Top Model.
Why oh why do I love this show? I have no idea. Say what you will, but I am a sucker for it. Once Blossom came downstairs while it was on, took one look at me, and said "Mommy, are those women your friends?" I was mortified at the time and resolved to be more social so she wouldn't be warped forever. But even that experience hasn't kept me from slipping in front of the tv. I think more than the actual show, it's one hour that I enjoy looking forward to every week- something completely fun and easy, uncomplicated and unimportant to my life. I have a sister (you know who you are) who likes "retail therapy" to cheer her up. It's "Top Model therapy" for me all the way.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Cute daddy-daughter moments

Today after dinner the Professor went outside and came back in to announce that the peaches on our tree are ripe! He hurried outside with Blossom and started picking. They had a little system worked out and everything- one box for those that looked nibbled by birds, another for the ones that looked untouched. It was great to see them working and chatting together as they picked. I was amazed that she was big enough to be so helpful and do such a good job. When they were done Blossom was VERY proud of herself- happily calling out to me, "I must have picked 100 peaches!" Meanwhile Buttercup ran around the backyard catching more grasshoppers and as for Bubbles, she just ran around laughing and happy to be outside.
For night-night treat, our nightly ritual of reading scriptures and having a little snack before bed, everyone had half a peach and a plum (yay! some of those were ripe, too)
I guess tomorrow or at least in the very near future I will be in the kitchen canning. This will be round two since I mistakenly didn't trust our little tree to produce and already bought and canned some peaches. Gotta work on that optimism I guess!

School Daze

At 7:15am I wake up PreT-2 and Cub Scout. The rule is get dressed and come to the kitchen for breakfast. PreT-2 is dressed and ready to go. Cub Scout comes in sans shoes and socks. I ask, "Where are your shoes and socks?" "I don't know," he replies. I remind him they are probably in his room where he undressed the night before, and send him back to his room. About 10 min later, he comes back, no shoes, no socks. "Where are your shoes and socks," I ask for the second time. "I don't know," he answers, shaking his head sadly, as if he truly is saddened by this. "Go get your shoes and socks," I say sternly. I am not sad, but starting to feel frustrated. Five minutes later, I walk into the kitchen to see him eating his cereal, NOT WEARING SHOES AND SOCKS. I take a deep breath and ask in a very soft voice, "Where are your socks and shoes?" He responds casually, unconcerned, "I can't find them." He spoons a very large amountl of cereal into his mouth. I took a big step back. This is important if you feel like you might smack someone... and say, somewhat less calmly than before, "GO get your shoes and socks. He sighs, gets up from the chair and returns, I swear, less than a minute later with...TA DA...shoes and socks. "Where were they?" I ask. "In my room." After breakfast, I send him to get his backpack. Big mistake. We reinact the scene above until I feel my eye is twitching. Finally, I send his sister to get the pack. Their ride is going to be here in 2 minutes. We've searched the house and I'm frantic to find this thing. He remains unconcerned. PreT-2 finally announces she's found it. Where? In his room. Their ride pulled up. I grabbed the backpack away from PreT and opened the door. I threw that thing as far as I could towards the waiting carpool and yelled, "GO TO SCHOOL!" How do 8 year old boys ever live to be 9? AND, how are we, their mothers, not all in institutions babbling.."b-b-b-b-b-b-b"?

Monday, September 15, 2008

When Salsa Attacks...

It all starts so innocently. You get your favorite cup. You open the refridgerator to get the milk. There it is, all white and milky, cold and waiting for you. Then you reach in, the milk comes willingly, and you are thinking, yay! breakfast! But oh no, disaster! The bottle of Pace, the gigantic one you buy at Costco because you have 7 children, is tipping towards you! Your hands are full of milk, and your cup. The salsa tips hitting the shelf! The yellow lid flies off, nearly taking off your nose, and the chunky red sauce flows out of the huge container. As it falls, it hits every shelf on it's descent, taking out innocent cheese, lettuce and eggs. Every thing it hits causes splattering so that soon the door and walls of the fridge are covered, and you! You are left standing in a lumpy puddle of spicy green peppers and onions, holding a gallon of milk and your favorite cup, looking like the victim of a driveby. It happened so fast! The half empty bottle lays on the top shelf, mocking you. Daring you to say a bad word. It's always sad when perfectly good condiments turn against you...
Just found a super fun quiz! http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofshoeareyouquiz/ I'm a flip flop!

Buttercup-isms

Yesterday the Professor and I decided to take a walk with the Girls and Buttercup said the cutest thing. She piped up, "Listen, I hear the whistle of the night-night." We listened carefully. Crickets!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Saturday is a Special Day...

Saturday! The whole family is home and we gather over Coco Puffs (no healthy fiber vitamin crap for us on Saturday!) and review the day's plan. The children are shocked, as they are every Saturday, to discover we expect them to clean their rooms. PreT-1 expected to go the mall with $20 of my dollars, not in her possession. Freshman was apparently planning the same thing. Senior announces that since he worked hard all week, he should get Saturday off. TGH rolled his eyes, and gave Senior a 'you-will-be-cleaning-the-garage-with-me' look. Cub Scout gives us his saddest look and mournfully reveals that he is actually too young to be of any use for Saturday chores. After a brief reality check (dad says, GO CLEAN YOUR ROOMS) we were in business. I spent the day cleaning up and out the boys room. I went the whole nine yards, moving furniture, vaccuming, sorting, organizing, and finally cleaning the carpets. I love my Bissel. We're going to have to move Caboose into a big boy bed since our friends are moving and want their crib back. Now is the perfect time to straighten out that room in preparation for the move. The girls rooms are clean, and the kitchen is passable. The garage plan fell because TGH remembered he had plumbing to finish, the light downstairs needed to be rewired and his favorite college team was playing football... It feels good to get things cleaned up. I know next week, we'll be starting all over, but, tonight, the clean kids are tucked into clean beds in clean rooms and I'm going to go eat some ice cream!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Scenes from the backyard

The Hunt
The Catch
The Celebration!
We had a sad day yesterday. The tip of #6's finger got shut in the hinge side of a bedroom door. Some of his finger actually got pinched off! Sort of the fleshy corner of his "tall man" on his left hand. We had to make a trip to the ER because I thought it might need stitches. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything they could do except make me feel awful and try to bandage it up. What makes it worse for me is that I'm the one who accidentally did it. I just didn't realize he was there! I am just sick about it. Being mentally disabled, the poor guy is struggling with the dressing on his finger, which, by the way, is bandaged so that it looks like he's flipping people off! He wants to chew the bandage and I'm trying to find ways to keep his mouth off, so we can avoid an infection. This whole week has been very tough. I'm hoping for a few minutes away tonight with TGH.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I almost posted earlier but gee whiz, then I would've missed the wonderful opportunity of writing about how Buttercup's legs got stuck in the bars of the Wal-mart shopping cart. . . .
we were there to buy the new digital converter box for the tv. Which by the way, is a HUGE rip-off. We got it home and now our tv says none of the signals are strong enough to receive any channels. Is this some kind of devious plot to force everyone to pay for cable or satellite? Is anyone else ticked off about this???

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Speaking of Dad's....TGH is working on the plumbing. Generally, he's darn handy, with only a few minor (aka major) mishaps along the way. But when it's MY bathroom we're talking about I feel very very nervous. Stuff can break! Tile is not forever! Porcelain scratches! The manly plumber is undaunted by this minutiae. He forges ahead, drilling, hammering and bolting any obstacles in his way. And he's dragging Senior with him in an effort to pass on these manly skills to his manly offspring!
Thank goodness for dads. It is usually all "girl-princess crowns-fairy wings-and dress-up" around here but when the Professor gets home it's "captured townspeople being threatened by undead dogs, acid-breathing dragons, and explaining what a flying buttress is."
May the fun never end.
Oh and by the way, volunteer day in Blossom's kindergarten class was thoroughly enjoyable.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

My day today? Luckily no poo accidents or banana hold-ups on my end. But it was little Buttercup's first day of preschool. I think it kind of blew Blossom's mind to think of Buttercup taking over in her old preschool class. Buttercup seemed to be fine with it. I asked her what they did, she said I can't remember, and promptly wanted a snack.
One of the moms from the Happy Herd (the walk-to-kindergarten-group) invited us to McD's so we all went there after retrieving Buttercup from preschool. Of course that was loads of fun for the kidlets. I have never taken them there and it's a brand spankin' new McD's so they loved it. Buttercup did get stuck in the top of the playhouse at one point and start loudly wailing. I had to go in and retrieve her- those things are definitely built for tiny kids! It was no easy task for me, the flaming claustrophobic, but we all made it back out alive. :)
Now kids are in bed, the Professor and I have just finished watching an interesting History Channel documentary about what will happen to earth after humans have been dead 10,000 years and I'm off to bed myself. Hopefully the documentary won't bring on any 2am bad dreams!
Tomorrow is the first day of volunteering in Blossom's kindergarten class . . . . .
Tuesdays are ridiculously busy! Definitely crockpot day. Between piano lessons, guitar lessons and church youth group activities, I am done done done! Before I head to a hot bath and an early bedtime, I want to share my super amazing breadstick recipe, but first have to tell this funny story. I was headed towards the kitchen this morning when I hear preT-1 say, "Freeze, sucka!" I'm thinking, what? When I look into the room, I see her behind PreT-2 with an arm around her neck, holding a....banana? to her sister's head. Am I halllucinating? I walk in and say, "Stop threatening your sister with a banana." Again, what? Put this on the list of things you should never have to say. Anyway, I continue, "You do realize we live in middle class suburbia and NOT a gang ghetto?" At which point Freshman, who had walked in a minute earlier and poured herself a glass of milk, laughed, shooting milk out of nose and rendering the other two incapacitated with laughter.

OK, Breadsticks:
1 1/2 cups hot water, 1 T yeast, 2 T honey, 1 tsp salt. Just stir these all up. Trust me! Then add 3 to 4 C flour until the dough is well mixed and not sticky. Knead for a min or two then form into 16 breadsticks. Bake at 450 F for about 10 to 14 min, or until golden brown. These work up so fast, sometimes I serve them with spagetti sauce and salad and call it dinner:)

Monday, September 8, 2008

You are just not going to believe what happened this morning. As I went to wake up the 3 boys, I opened their door to a wall of truly awful smell. I staggered over to the window and wondered what in the world three small boys can have been doing overnight to produce this kind of stench? #6 had the answer. His bed was covered in barf. Great. Miraculously, there wasn't really any on him so after I looked him over, (no fever, seemed cheerful) I took him up to try breakfast. He ate it up and I debated whether or not to send him to school. The debate ended when I started to unzip his jammies. At first I thought, how did he get throw-up IN his jams? Then the truth and the smell hit me! NOT BARF! It was poo. Poo up to his chin, down to his toes, IN THE ARMS of his jammies. How does this happen? Who is going to clean this? Am I really the mother? As these questions swam around in a poo/barf-fume induced fog in my head, I realized that while this was awful, it barely even deserves an honorable mention in my Worst Messes Ever Hall of Fame. I showered the kid. I washed all fabrics in hot water, Tide and Oxyclean. I sprayed every hard surface in the house with Lysol. I brushed my teeth. I had a Diet Pepsi. He was fine the entire rest of the day. Not even one messy diaper. One day I'll have to tell you about the Great Paint Disaster...
well, perhaps this day isn't shaping up as I'd hoped. Buttercup just peed on the floor (AGAIN!! ARGH!!) This isn't meshing with the whole preschool starting tomorrow thing . . . .
Hi, it's Carrie- I got Blossom off to kindergarten with the big happy herd we walk with. Then when I got home I sat down to pay bills but realized that Buttercup has no backpack for preschool tomorrow. So I ran off to the store, thinking I had just enough time to load Bubbles and Buttercup into the stroller and hit the thrift store. (ever the thrifty mom, right?) We found a beautiful Ariel backpack, alas the zipper was broken, so I had to take a now crying Buttercup to another store. I still had fifteen minutes to spare. Got to thrift store #2, found a pink backpack that I had to talk her into because she now really really wanted a princess pack. I promised her I could glue something sparkly to it. What that is I have no idea, but surely with three girls under 5 we have something small and sparkly that will fit the bill. Anyway, I got in line, now only a few minutes left until kindergarten pickup time but the person in front of me took an unforeseeably long time to check out their ONE item. So I was late to kindergarten and as I tried to pull up to the school I could see Blossom frantically looking around for me. Luckily the other mamas from the happy herd were by her and I parked the van (taking up two spots) and retrieved her and the friend who was coming over to play today. phew! What have I learned from this? NEVER think 40 minutes is enough time to visit two stores with two kids. Better go, they're upstairs hungrily waiting for lunch. Already sitting at the kitchen table. . . . . .

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Usually Sunday is a hit the ground running day. Even more than weekdays. On weekdays, departure times are staggered...Senior leaves at 6:30am, Freshman and PreT-1 leave at 7:10, TGH leaves at 7:30, #6 leaves at 8, and Cub Scout and PreT-2 leave at 8:15. Then me and the Caboose heave a sigh of relief and get on with our day! But Sundays, we all have to be out the door in time for church at 9. Everyone in shoes, socks, and nice clothes. Clean, pressed and dressed. And with equipment...scriptures, lesson books, diaperbag properly stocked. It makes for a pretty stressful morning. Ha ha! "Exactly what a pre church experience should be..."she said sarcastically! ANYWAY. Today is different. No church. Ok, technically, there is a meeting, but it's a Stake Conference and while we usually attend this, today, we having a by. As in pass us by, cause I'm not going. Not with two little kids to sit for two long hours on metal folding chairs. Not today, baby! Does that sound belligerent?:)

Saturday, September 6, 2008

#6 ate a jar of jelly left out by Freshman and her cousin. To clarify, he spread jelly all over his shirt, his face, his pants, the floor, the kitchen table, a chair, and his toes. It took two washcloths, a change of clothes, a bath, and several rinsings to de-stickify the newly-mopped linoleum and the boy. Whew! It's 10pm now and all babies are in bed. Finally, a minute for MOM! Right after I rotate the laundry...
Today, we have many wonderful activities to choose from. In the family room, the LDS missionaries are showing a video with Senior and his friends, in the kitchen, Freshman and her cousin are eating pbj's and talking about Hurricane Gustav. In the master bedroom, I'm hiding out with the kettle chips and laptop, and cat #1. TGH is camping with Preteen 1 and 2 and Cub Scout. Is that everyone? Oh! Babies are running all around, stealing chips and wiping their little hands on everything.

I mopped earlier, sort of. I used the Bissel on the kitchen floor. BTW, do NOT use Lysol in the Bissel...I love Lysol, but it seriously messes with the Bissel's abilities. Also threw in a load of whites. TGH has got to have socks for work! I'm going to Bed Bath and Beyond for some pants hangers later, and those low profile velvety hangers. I love those. I'm currently trying to color code everyone's hangers so when their stuff gets hung up out of the dryer, it's easier to tell whose is whose.