Blogger Problems

I have somehow created a couple accounts on google. Needless to say, they are not connected and from time to time, I am unable to sign in to write on my blog. It can be quite frustrating. I hope I have a handle on it now. Kids are home. Spent all my blogging time trying to connect and sign in. Oh well. Maybe another time.

A few firsts this Friday

Eight wore different clothes to school! If you don't know him, it may not seem like a big deal. It is. We've been struggling with clothing with Eight for many years. He has a hard time with change. He likes clothes to fit tight for security and self soothing. For this entire school year, I've been trying to get him to wear the new clothing he picked out before school started. It's not like I want him to dress up in khakis and button down shirts. I gave up on dress clothing a long time ago. The clothing I am talking about are things he wants to wear. Ninjago shirts, angry birds, Mario bros. etc. I even found pants that one would think should meet his approval. I struggle and try so very hard to accommodate him. This morning, all of his clean laundry was downstairs, in my room. He had very little time. It was time to get on shoes and coats, the bus would be here any minute. Finally, he comes out of his room wearing clothing he's never worn before. I was so happy. We've been taking him to OT weekly. This is the first result I've seen. At his last apt. she introduced us to brushing. It's where you use a surgical brush on the child. She demonstrated on his arms, legs, back, etc. Brushing on skin is the most effective method, but you can do it over clothing. It's to help the child build a tolerance to textures. As soon as we walked out of the appointment, Eight made it perfectly clear he was not doing that. Great. Her other suggestion was trying to wear something new at home for 15 minutes. I told him if we weren't going to try the brushing, we were going to try the new clothing for 15 minutes. He said that would be alright. It was a huge jump in a new direction when he came down the stairs all on his own in new clothing. I was so proud and told him so. The second first we had today was Nine getting upset from something that happened in school. He never has issues at school. Poor boy. He was so upset. He really struggled to get out his story. Every night we sign his planner. Every night he asks us and makes sure it is signed. Somehow, last night it didn't get signed. Rule is he had to stay in for 5 minutes of recess. This wasn't the problem. Apparently someone told the teacher another student didn't have her planner signed. When Nines five minutes was up, the teacher asked him to find the girl and tell her to return to the classroom. Turns out this information was false, the girls planner was signed. The teacher outside then tried to teach Nine a lesson. He sent him all the way across the playground to fetch a ball that turned out to not be there. When Nine returned without a ball, the teacher tells Nine that's how the girl felt having to go back to the classroom when her planner was signed. Lord help me. Nine was so upset. He doesn't get into trouble. He was just doing what his teacher asked. Why the teacher could not have checked the girls planner before putting Nine in the middle of all this, I do not know. I felt bad for him. I did email the teacher so she knows how upset he was by the situation. We'll see how next week goes. He won't forget to have his planner signed I am certain. It surprised me, he's usually so on top of that task. I know I asked him to bring it to me last night. Christmas prep is going well. We have nearly a week until departure. I've got a great start to holiday baking and will be able to deliver next week. I hope to get it done in the middle of the week. We will then be able to enjoy the weekend getting ready. We've been enjoying our new Advent activities, too. I never make ginger bread houses. Thankfully, my people were easy and willing to compromise. We used plastic containers for a base and layered frosting with graham crackers. I pulled out what little candy I had and they were happy. The icing on the house was I gave them each a star cut out cookie to use. I had just made cut outs that morning. Six wasn't too thrilled with me. Her exact words were "How dare you bake without me!" Oh boy. Just trying to knock some of these tasks out. I wanted her to be able to participate in icing. We're doing well and will be happy when we drive out of town. We always love the journey to Gmas house. The littlest one is requesting cereal. Time is up.

Thanksgiving Thursday

Thanksgiving started out with a stressful drive to the cousins. The weather wasn't too bad, but the ice on the roads left us worried and stressed the entire drive. What was supposed to take 1 hour 45 minutes turned into much more. We left the house at 9:30 am and didn't arrive at our destination until noon. We brought the boat to N's sisters for storage for the winter. After dropping off the boat, we headed to the cousins house for our holiday celebration. We had brought a 5 bean dish in the crockpot. Everything was ready to be put in the crockpot, but it took awhile for the food to heat up. It was ready when we were done eating. Some still had a bowl of beans later and they were delicious. The night before, the kids and I made some treats to take. They did most of the work. This was the first time they really wanted to do it themselves. I let them go to town. They turned out great. Nine made puppy chow. He measured everything and doubled the recipe. Six and Eight worked on dipping pretzels. I let them do as they pleased and some were thicker than others. I did the sticks and they sprinkled colors to decorate. They made the Ritz cracker peanutbutter sandwiches and I dipped them in chocolate. It was a great cooperative effort. I made pumpkin bars, too. Everyone was happy with the treats we brought. The kids ran and played. They haven't seen each other since the summer. Sunflower shared with us she'd like to see us more. She said she would come this direction. Ultimately, that is why we don't see each other. Honestly, I got tired of always going there. We moved into this house in August. My sister made it here before anyone else. She had to buy plane tickets. Long story short, it will be great to have them. We discussed New Years. We will see if it works out, weather permitting. Days at home with the kids now. We cleaned the basement yesterday. We have lots to haul away to goodwill this week. I dug out the tree. N will need to bring it upstairs. I really didn't even want to put up a tree, but Six begged me stating that was her favorite part of the holiday. We've stepped up our advent activities this year thanks to our church supplying us with lots of ideas. Looking forward to bringing our focus in the right direction. We are leaving for MN in almost exactly 2 weeks. Going early shaves off prep time for me. I will bake and have all teacher, bus driver, etc. gifts ready in advance. Hope I can get it all done.

Wednesday

Eye appointment, check! Dentist, check! 1 pan of pumpkin bars, baked, frosted and delivered, check! So much more to do, but lots accomplished before noon. Happy kids and content mom. Poor dad in recovery from root canal. Hopefully I can keep the house quiet for him to rest. Looking forward to the holiday weekend!

Parent teacher conferences

Trying to keep it together can be a weekly/daily struggle. I have a big calendar to write everything down on. I keep it in the kitchen, all are able to see what is coming up. Tonight, I failed. Actually, last night I failed. Turns out I was off a night for Eight and his parent teacher conferences. I had no clue his was on Monday. My calendar said all on Tuesday. His teacher was as sweet as can be and we will meet at another time. Eight was disappointed in me. I felt bad. On another note, it was so great to hear such good things about our children. I think I get so wrapped up in the daily routine. We've been frustrated with Eight. I feel like frustration has taken over our life. I feel frustrated way too many days a week. It shows in my children and their behavior. We are wound too tight and need to relax, get more energy out. Nine has straight A's and is doing very well in school. His teacher loves having him in class. The boy never has any homework. She said she knows, she can see how hard he works in class. He makes the maximum use of his time during school hours and gets everything he needs done during that time. I told her we never study spelling words, it comes naturally to him. She already knew. We couldn't be more proud of Nine. I will have to write about Eight after we get to meet with his teacher. She did give us his papers and I saw a report card he gave himself. He was quite honest with his answers, for that I was incredibly proud. Six is also doing a great job in school. She is above where she is supposed to be in all categories. Her reading was probably my biggest concern, but she's right on track. Above actually, she is doing very well. The teacher told me about when Six gets to a word she doesn't know, they have been working on attacking it to figure it out. Six is quiet and not aggressive with reading, but she is getting better. Lately, she has told me when she can figure out the word she is reading. She doesn't want me to help her figure it out. We've been reading more at bedtime. It's been great. Baby Girl even joins in on the reading fun. I felt so good after conferences, minus the failing to meet with 3rd grade. It is nice to hear kind things about your children from others. With all the frustrations, we are doing a good job. I feel guilty for the frustrations and hope to keep them out. We need to work on not letting the frustrations take over the day. For now, that is my goal.

Just another Sunday

I love Sundays. It's a day when we don't have to rush out the door. Today is our church Thanksgiving potluck. It's been awhile so we need to have another potluck. Fr. B continues to bring us together, and food is usually involved. My pumpkin bars are done, ready to frost and go. The kids are just as excited as I am. Poor N will miss out. He has the am shift. It snowed for the first time yesterday. Oh were there happy children when they realized what was outside. We have a row of trees in the back yard. They've made a fort in a section. Our backyard is just what I wanted. It's not too big, but fenced in and the right size for my group. They can be out there and I don't have to worry about them too much. They were outside twice yesterday. Some days, outside time seems challenging when it's rainy Michigan weather. They don't get to go out for recess. They are all cooped up and get wild. Those days, I am thankful for the basement. I can send them down there, and not have to be involved with the chaos directly. Lately, we've been struggling with behavior problems. I have been so discouraged with the children and myself. I get frustrated way too easily. It's not too bad, but still disappoints me. We've had too many upsetting days. Part of it is trying to deal with Eight and his ever changing mood. He's started OT to get some of his frustrations under control. Turns out he has weakness in his hands, thus his hate for writing. He wants to wear tight clothing because the tightness is a self soothing mechanism, keeping him on task at school. He works so hard all day long staying on top of things and being good at school. When he gets home, he can relax and lets go. Sometimes the pressure will cause him to blow up. Doing homework can be too much to ask. Just another expectation that frustrates him. This situation has taken over our day/night many times. We're finally doing better in the am with him. One day at a time. If we don't do homework right after school, the entire night can fall apart. It's a challenge we are still working on. His teacher says she doesn't see any different behavior at school. He does very well. Our challenges are at home. We've been praying more to remedy this situation. I'm trying my best, all we can do is keep trying and keep praying. Six can be a challenge in the am too. If it's not one, it's another. She does alright as long as she gets enough sleep. Would you believe a difference of as little as 20 minutes more sleep time can change her attitude? I've discovered it's best for her to be in her bed before 8. She always falls asleep with a book in her hands or on her face. I turn out her light and move the book away each night. She's such a good girl. I've also tried really hard to not have an opinion on her clothing choices. I will let her wear whatever she likes, as long as it's weather appropriate. Sometimes, that is a challenge. The ever changing MI temps make it difficult. For awhile, she wanted to go without socks. Reluctantly, I said okay. Eventually it was not an issue, as the temps began to lower. She's doing very well in school. She gets all her spelling words right every week. It was that way with Nine when he was in first grade. She loves her teacher and her classmates. I was fortunate to sub for the gym teacher last week. I got to teach Six and her class. It was great fun to see the kids in action. I love spending time at the school. Friday was the kindergarten bake sale. Only one more sale in January. They decided one bake sale per class this year. Too bad, I know the teachers could have used the extra funds. Last year, Eight and his class got to go on two field trips with bake sale money. It was out of my hands as far as how many each grade could have. Nine is doing great, too. He is such a good boy. Every morning he gets up, gets dressed, packs his lunch and is ready for breakfast when I get up. He nearly always wakes up at 6. He asks me to make his sandwich in his lunch, otherwise he does the rest on his own. All of last year and so far, all of this year he has taken his own lunch. He still has the same money in his account from the first day of school in 3rd grade. He does very well in school. I am so proud of him. Our other challenge this year was attending faith formation at our church. I teach Six and her class on Tues nights. I signed the boys up to attend class that same night. Well, Nine wasn't so comfortable with the teachers. Eight wanted to be with his friend on Monday night. Long story short, the boys go on Monday, girls on Tuesday. It works out well. I always struggle with spending quality time with the kids individually. This is forever a struggle with N and his schedule too. Attending faith formation two different nights gives N quality time with the girls on Monday nights and quality time with the boys on Tuesday nights. Too bad it will all end in January. Just when I get it figured out, it will all change. N put in to have Sundays off in January. While I am thankful for him being home on Sundays, the pay cut and change in schedule will be difficult. We will see. Change is hard. Guess that is all for now. Better get a move on for church. Happy Sunday to whomever is still reading these!

Quite settled

It's been months since I've written on here. Just got out of the routine I guess. We are loving the new house. The space is great. Each kid has their own area. Today we created a new space. I gave them a "fort" under the basement stairs. I remember having a fort under the stairs at the original Anderson household. We stapled fabric to create walls and used carpet pieces to create a floor. I hung a curtain over the "doorway" and happy kids for the afternoon. We continue to make changes in the house. It's so much fun to have something of our own, finally. It's been too long. We left our house in Texas when Six was 2 months old. Here we are, almost 6 years later to date and finally in our own home again. Baby Girl is growing fast. She's got all these new words every day. She thinks she is 6 and can do anything the big kids can. She brings joy to us and has been a fantastic addition. We've made a few videos for my family. I love being able to share videos with them from so far away. We will see each other at Christmas, even though it won't be the exact right day, I know it will be great. We look forward to it every year. The kids are excited to have a fire place this year at Christmas. Nine has a picture in his mind of how he wants the night to go. I am excited for him and hope we can live up to his dream night on Christmas eve. Well, I'm being summoned for a milk cup. Time is up for now.

Back to school

After a three day weekend, tomorrow we head back to the school routine. Happy to share the diorama was completed and handed in on Friday. The paragraph was finished today. He is not crazy about writing, completed the task after some influence from N and info online, he finished. Baby Girl is sleeping better. Five lost her first tooth. I can't remember when I last wrote on here. I haven't used the laptop. That is where I am missing these entries. So much to catch up on, no time to complete. Card making has taken a new turn. We've come up with new ideas and designs. I still enjoy making cards so very much. We also got a few new tools and paper, the motivation is high! We've come up with some really great baby cards. Maybe I'll post some pictures.

Hopefully Back

Things have been frustrating lately, I think it's the lack of blogging. Haven't been on here since we moved into the new house. I hope that can change. Hope to be back online soon. For now, it's bedtime for a crying girl upstairs.

Life without a microwave

I hate to admit how much I use the microwave. I really didn't think I depended on it as much as I do. Take it out of the picture, you quickly find out how much easier it makes your life. We can't reheat things quickly. We usually heat up our coffee in the microwave. Baby Girl tends to sleep through lunch, I find myself heating up her meal later. Today she gets peanut butter bun. We've been home for many days in a row and its starting to show. I may have to get them out today. They've been after each other this am. Poor Five. Most of the time, all too often it's her vs. the boys. She gets so very frustrated with them. I wish I could just have her go play with a friend some days. We used to have that set up, but not so much anymore. It's hard when distance is created in friendships. You don't feel like you can just call at the last minute and set up the play date. School is right around the corner. I can't believe all we have to do before then. I printed out the lists. I only have a couple things per child, we have a ways to go. I feel bad I didn't meet some of my summer goals. I wanted to set up some play dates with friends, never happened. I am not sure where July went. Here we are, almost the 2nd week in August and I still feel like I haven't accomplished enough. My new goal, just take it one thing at a time. So what if it doesn't go the way I planned. I've got to just roll with it. I'm still not feeling good. I can't afford to be frustrated, it will only make me feel worse. So what if the baby room isn't all painted before we move in. Would it be nice, yes. Will it get done, probably not. Is it the end of the world? No. Perhaps I just focus on that part after the kids are back to school. Baby Girl has become part monkey. She's constantly climbing on things. I've caught her sitting on the kitchen table playing with the snowmen hanging from the light fixture. Yes, I still have the snowmen up. Guess when we move out I'll take them down. She's a turkey and we love her. Her little personality is shining through every day. She's got so many words for 15 months! Yesterday she said watermelon! She's also said the name of her little friend, Hudson. Somehow, she thinks its okay to go down the stairs facing forward. It is scary to watch, but she doesn't fall. Guess that's all for now. Hopefully I can keep this going!

Getting stuff done

Slowly, but surely I am getting things crossed of my never ending list. While yesterday seemed so rough, today has been surprisingly pleasant with a few minor hiccups. I took all 4 kids to the chiropractor yesterday. I've had friends watch them so many times lately it seems, I hated to ask. Also, I believe no one was free. I went prepared, only to be flustered before we left the house. We were able to take it easy in the morning, the appointment wasn't until 12:50. I fed them a late breakfast/early lunch. I wanted it to be substantial so they wouldn't be hungry as soon as we left the house. They love egg sandwiches and we had tons of sub buns in the freezer. I thawed 4 in the microwave. Seven stated he didn't want a sandwich. Fine. I can do that. Well, he changed his mind once he saw his order. I pointed to the bag of buns and told him to toss one in the microwave. I use the defrost setting normally, but his had been out for awhile and wasn't completely frozen anymore. They've been using the microwave for many years now. Our rule is one one/11. That's all they are allowed to use. Occasionally something will require two two/22. I don't know what he pushed, but the next thing I know the microwave is smoking. Yellow smoke coming out. The entire kitchen filled with smoke. The kids instinct was to rush Baby Girl upstairs. I didn't even tell them. They whisked her away while I took the glass tray with the burning bun into the back yard. They all grabbed the fans in their rooms and we tried to blow the smoke out. Every window and door was open, even the garage. I couldn't believe it. Good thing this wasn't right before we had to leave. That was enough excitement for one morning. I was surprised no one mentioned a smoke smell on any of us at the varies places we visited that day. Perhaps they were too kind to say anything. We made it through the 10 minute chiropractor appointment. Baby Girl wandered down the hall, inspecting the room I was in. The big kids were supposed to watch her, but lately she screams if they get in her way. It was harmless her coming down the hall. They colored in the lobby. After that, I was exhausted, but the day must go on. Home to make a nice lunch. N was due home shortly from the early shift. BBQ chicken sandwiches, chef salad, sweet potatoes and corn on the cob were on the menu. By the time I got it all together and done, N was home. Just enough time for me to eat, beg everyone to clean up and head to the dentist. Yup. Not my favorite place. Sure disappointed in myself when I left my cleaning with two small cavities. 45 minutes in the dentist chair and I thought of Daffodil when I heard Debbie Gibson and Belinda Carslisle. How many instruments can they fit in your mouth at once? It's been awhile and I'd forgotten what that experience was like. Survived another event in the day. By the time I got home, I was spent. Disappointed when I walked in the door to find the baby had just laid down for her nap. I had wanted her to be napping while I was gone, not until 5 pm. On with the day. After an hour nap for her and N, we were ready to plan the rest of our day. I wanted to hit the pool. I've been having neck problems and them same headache for 2 weeks. The pool always calms and relaxes me. Five was the only one who wanted to go. The boys complained. N was not interested. I just felt more and more stressed. I couldn't find the things we needed. No one wanted to go. I could make them all go, but N didn't really want to. I didn't feel up to being able to take all four kids alone. In the end, just Five and I went. It was just what I needed. We went at our own pace. We swam where we wanted. We did a few laps, then went to the lazy river. I sat in the hot tub and tossed her diving toys. It was wonderful. After we stopped at Target. I spent $8 on her. She got new shoes, a purse and a pair of sunglasses. She was so pleased. It was a very nice night. We came home and had a late meal with N. They had grilled steak and baked some seasoned fries. Watermelon put a smile on Five's face. We ate at the table in the backyard. The temp was perfect. It was a wonderful evening. Late, but wonderful. Kids brought all the dishes in the house and I washed things up. N rode his bike to meet his friends for a few hours. I got everyone to bed and chatted with a friend on the phone. Today we took at our own pace. No rush, no worries. Baby Girl was the first to wake. Usually a big kid retrieves her from her crib, but this am, no one would rise to her scream. Took me awhile to wake, but I got her. It was 7 am. Everyone else slept for another 45 minutes. This was the first morning she's ever woke up holding an object that has been in her bed. I've got soothing objects for her, taggie blankets, lovies, satin blankets, small soft dolly, and somehow Seven's old Curious George was in there. It's George in his pj's. G and G gave it to Seven when he was really little, 1 year old I believe. She was holding on to George as tight as she could. I think he's the new fav. We had errands to run and eventually got out of the house around 11am or so. N had to stop at a boat shop. Last part he needed to get the boat running, at least that's what he thinks. I wanted to return the last two library books before they get lost again. We also needed groceries. Of course a late start meant hungry people. We're trying not to eat out at fast food places. Not that we do that often, but it seems to happen more frequently to us in the summer months. Luckily, the library handed out great prizes for reading this summer. One of their prizes were Big Apple Bagels. Each kid got a free bagel and cream cheese. After the library, we stopped there for a snack. It was just what we needed to make it through the next errands. We lost Seven in Walmart. Never happened before. They were running around and didn't pay attention, I don't know what happened. He wasn't following us. We were all the way in dairy and didn't see him anywhere. N backtracked faster than I could with the cart and Baby Girl. He was in Electronics with the person working in that department. He was crying and really upset. I was proud of him for going straight to the desk for help. We've never had an experience like that before. It was so quick. After that, everyone stayed close and maybe finally realized why I've kept after them all these years to stay by us. Needless to say, that was it for our day. Home we came for a meal and naps. I made a couple of cakes, one for a birthday girl today and one for us to share with whomever comes our way. We are waiting on Mr. Gene to wrap up the closing on our new house. I have half the house packed, but need to get moving now on the rest. The kids bedrooms are my plan today. The basement is close, just the things the kids have been playing with lately. Little, by little, we will get there. I want to be as organized as I can. Yeah for two blog posts this week! Are you happy with the return? leave me a comment so I keep the momentum going! Please!

August is already here

It's been awhile, where did July go? Not sure why I haven't fit blogging into the routine. It's been a difficult month. The chaos started when we were trying to buy a house. It seems like it shouldn't be this difficult to buy a house. We started the process and things seemed great. The mortgage guy said we has 99% of what we needed to get the house. We thought all was well. A few weeks later we got the disappointing news. We did not meet the qualifications for our loan. Turns out it was an error in our file. Our file was turned over to another mortgage guy and he seems to think this will all go through. I have my doubts after last time. I'm anxious to get moving. I've packed up nearly the entire house. It was supposed to happen yesterday. Last weekend, when we didn't think things would go through I unpacked the kids rooms. We'll see. I feel stuck in limbo. I don't know whether to pack or unpack. All this stress left me with a bad headache that lasted for nearly 2 weeks. I went to the dr a few times. A visit to the chiropractor helped, but still am not feeling 100%. I hope things get better this weekend. It's been real low key around here. The past two days I've taken 3 naps. I hope things get better. I hope we are able to make it through the next few weeks with little stress. N has been really supportive and great. I hope to keep his stress level down, too. Kids are kids. They were sympathetic to me during my rough days. Last night they practically made their own meal. Tonight they did as well, along with cleaning up the table. I am thankful to have big kids to help me out with the baby. Well, that is all for now. Hope to be back sooner than later.

Saturday Canceled

Today we had planned to attend soccer games, then hit the pool. They closed the fields, too wet and muddy. Kids decided against the pool. Poor mom was out voted. Church instead and an evening with friends. We had an inspection on the new house. It went very well. We are so excited to move, it will be hard to wait all summer. At least I have plenty of time to get organized! I tackled the basement a few weeks ago, but there is always room for improvement. I really want to do it right in this house. While I am giving up some spaces I am used to, I am also gaining new ones. The laundry room for example. Here it serves not only for laundry, but craft, lunch and tote supplies, paper goods and more. It's quite a versatile space. The new house does not have a laundry room, just machines in a closet. It will be a challenge to decide where new homes will be for the rest of my things. I want to create a mud room feel in the garage, right next to the house entrance. I want cubbies and hooks for each kid. The craft supplies I hope to create an area in the basement especially for such projects. I also want to have an area for the kids to sit and play board games. I have high hopes for the basement areas. Getting a new house can only come with the desire for new things. My mind is a swirl of pinterest ideas. Shelves for everything, organized areas and a bigger table. We've found plans for a farm house table. N said we could give it a try. I'd love a new, bigger table to fit our family more comfortable. It would come in handy during when we get together with family and friends. The ideas are great, but executing them will be a challenge. First, to get the hubby on board the building train. Wish me luck.

Might be a long summer

Buying a house in May, but not moving in until August leaves lots of room for ideas to fill my head. I am so excited for our new adventure! The kids are excited. Seven doesn't want to see the house until it is empty and ready to move in. Everyone else can't wait. I plan to take pictures next time we go. Buying a house in May, waiting to move in August also interferes with our trip to MN we planned in January. Nothing like changing it up so we leave in a few weeks instead of a few months. We were lucky N had time off in June. Normally, we would not have had the option for two different trips in one summer. Looks like I will celebrate Fathers day with my father, not sure how many years it's been since that happened. Not too much else going on. Kids enjoyed the last two days at home. Tomorrow, we head to a BBQ with Azalea and friends. We took the kids to the park tonight for the first time this season. Baby Girl had never played at the park, last year she was too little. It was a nice family evening. Later this week, I hope to prepare for our trip. Once we return, I want to get organized for the move. Purge and clean. Sort and clean. As goes with most people who've moved as many times as we have, there are still boxes to look through. Maybe there aren't people who have moved as many times as we have. Regardless, it's going to be an organized summer.

On the path to home ownership

Well, we did it. We put in an offer on a house and they took it! We've been house hunting for a few months now. It was starting to get slightly frustrated. They disappear fast. You have to know what you what right away. We saw lots of great stuff, but there was always something off. I was driving to pick up a friend earlier this week on a street we've looked at before. For some reason, the simplest house on the block caught my eye. My thoughts: "Why can't we find a house like that?" Would you believe the next day the owner of that house called and asked if we were interested? Not sure I'd believe it myself if it didn't happen to me. The lady up the road gave the owner our number. We'd looked at her house twice in the last year. Guess the Lord really does want me in MI, or at least back on Oriole Drive for now. When we move a 2nd time in the same location, we never move far. This one is just around the corner. They took our offer. Now for the rest of the house purchasing business. We are excited.

A day for mothers

Have to admit, the whole Mothers day thing isn't really for me. It's never what you hope it will be. I still do the same things I always do and get frustrated even more because it's supposed to be great. The kids really tried and were great in the morning. They "made" breakfast for me. A hard boiled egg, banana, greek yogurt, OJ, coffee and a waffle. They were sweet and I loved their little gifts they made at school. Getting 4 kids and myself out the door for mass still frustrates me. It wouldn't be so bad, but I've got kids who tend to want to play Lego's and take forever getting dressed. Needless to say something bad happened and I still feel guilty. It was an accident, but couldn't help blaming myself. It ruined my attitude for the entire day. It got better at church, but Baby Girl was all over the place and fussy. It was exhausting. We left quickly and I felt like collapsing when we got home. Can't, had to make lunch and try to get Baby Girl down for a nap. I finally accomplished that and was about to relax when I get a message from N. We have a house appointment at 2. That's less than an hour away and I just put down a fussy baby. Daisy to the rescue. She came over and stayed with the kids while we looked at the house. Baby Girl slept 2 solid hours and was happy when she woke up. N made a meal and we had no dessert. A quick family drive for ice cream and our night was complete. Not quite the mothers day you'd hope for, but still, my mothers day. On to a new week. The weekend seemed like it was a week long. Now to try keep kids soccer straight. I've been known to have the wrong day/time. I think I've got a handle on it. It helps the coaches are emailing frequently. We'll see how it all goes. The house hunt continues. We've seen quite a few places, but each seems to have a flaw. One was beautiful, everything we need, but an in ground pool. Can't imagine dealing with that. I really wanted another to work, it had many great qualities, but in the end was just too small. 1985 was the prime time for another house. Someone let it go. Mold, mildew, but lots of space. Too bad it comes with such a high price. It's a money pit and should be a bargain. Others just weren't even close to what we want. I know it's out there, we've seen them before. Months ago there were two that would have been great, right lot, right house, right price. We weren't ready and missed those. If they were around before, more should be around again. We just need to be patient. I'm always working on being patient. Seems to be my eternal homework.

Thankful again

Trying to get four kids and myself out the door before church can me difficult. Today was quite challenging. What could go wrong, did. Everyone was dressed, but after milk/cereal spillage, two needed to be redressed. My flatiron melted the baby lotion bottle. After mass, we were were planning on going to Daisy's house to celebrate J's first communion. I planned to bring a relish tray. Getting veggies cut and everything together was just one more thing to do before leaving. It was chaos. To top it off, I had some issues of my own. We made it and got to church on time. In the end, it was a great morning and I felt so thankful for my community.

Gettin Ready

My family comes tomorrow. We are having a birthday party for Eight today. His actual birthday isn't until Sunday, but his buddies are coming over tonight for a party. They've all been helping to get ready. I created a new chore chard with a small magnet board. I divided it into four sections, one for each kid. I took thin magnets and covered them with paper. I then used some small labels to write the chore on. Turned out really nice. The kids chose their chores and were trading them like baseball cards. Throughout our party prep, Eight asks me "Are you going to make the house all neat and clean for the party?" Oh boy.

We are recovered

So thrilled to report Baby Girl is close to back to normal. She's picked up a few bad habits. She's got this high pitched scream she does to get my attention and meet her needs. I'm hoping this doesn't continue. The sickness stayed in our house for 5 days. It was rough. She's saying "Hi" to everyone. She walks around here, miss business. Her eye color is changing. She's not as blue as she was. First kid to have a different shade. Some days they look gray, others hazel. She's a pretty girl. We love her more and more every day. Highlights were Five picking out some new play food at the dollar store. She got it home and discovered the apple juice and oj has the same name as Baby Girl. We went to eat lunch at Arby's after N took the big kids to the movies. Seven was really sweet. We were standing in line and didn't know what we were going to order. Seven asked the lady if he could tell her a joke. "What's a pirates favorite restaurant?" "Arrrby's." Caught her off guard and made everyone smile. What a boy. We're going to look at more houses this weekend. N's getting stressed about it. I am trying to keep it calm. The right one will come and everything will work out. Trying to keep the faith. We are working on prep for the birthday of Eight, soon to be Nine. We made the invites and delivered some. He's asked 4 boys from his school and 3 from the other. We have game ideas and are closing in on the rest of our plans. I went to introduce myself to a family on the end of our street. They have two kids the same age as Five and Eight. She shared they are getting a new baby in June. How exciting for them. I shared with her how great it is to have a baby in the house with big kids. Zinnia and I made business cards tonight for our card project. Excited for their arrival. Also excited to get a binder together with our projects inside. We'll see where it takes us. I attended my first day of cake decorating class today. It was fun. Fun ladies, fun subject. I get to attend 3 more classes with this great group of gals. Looking forward to it. I know three of the four really well. Guess that is all for now. Hopefully more to come sooner than later.

Easter Crush

I do believe the Lord has a plan for me. Just when I was starting to whine about being alone, he helps me see the light. I'd like to say put me in my place, but I don't think that is a fair statement. I was thrilled for Easter, excited to attend mass on Easter Sunday and celebrate with our church family. All my plans were canceled in the middle of the night with a sick kid running into my room. I am thankful she had a bowl and was able to keep it in the bowl. This was 3 am. I was irritated before with our Rockstar neighbors. They were celebrating the new temp outside until the wee hours of the night. N and I went to bed around 10:30. We were awaken to Adele in the back yard. I finally fell back asleep around 2 am. That was my night. I forgot to mention by the time I got Five cleaned and situated, Baby Girl was in need of attention. She must have cried in the hour I slept. She was sleeping in her own mess. Poor babe. I cleaned her up. Two very excited boys were awake at 5 am wanting to look for their Easter baskets. What a night. Easter Sunday was spent trying to keep up with laundry and taking care of our girls. Poor Baby Girl, this was the first time she was actually really sick. I think the message was to be thankful for the things I have. Slow down and enjoy my kids. Yesterday seemed like a day of survival. Cleaning and caring. Next, I pray the boys don't get it. Perhaps I did this to myself by purchasing a three pack of Lysol from Sams. At least I was prepared.

Good Morning Good Friday

Everyone woke up with new attitudes. It's still early, but I hope to have a new foundation of respect established. We've got a full week at home together. My goal, repair the frustrations, relax and enjoy our time together.

Holy Thursday Struggle

Today started out alright, average. I felt tested as the day went on. Big test with house hunting. More to come when the kids came home. They were so thrilled and happy, excited for spring break. I really wanted us all to attend mass. Our church was having a pot luck before mass. We never get to go together. N is always at work and misses out. Tonight was a great opportunity to attend as a family. I am happy to report we made it. Eight didn't want to go. I feel I've failed him. Tonight, I felt like I failed all each of them. They were all tired, in tears at bedtime. No one wanted to go to bed. 9:30 and it's just now quiet. What a struggle. Overtired. We were up at 5am. Makes for a long day. I can't help but think how much easier it would be to be with my family. I thought I'd put all this behind me. I am trying so hard and it all comes back to being alone. House hunting is at a halt. The falcon house won't work out, nor will the doll house. There isn't anything meeting our criteria out there now. I feel fine about it. The right house will come. It's a big decision, one I want done right. I will continue to plug away at making believers out of my children. Each week I take them to mass, alone. One of these days they will get it. I think Seven has and does, but in his own way. I'm not so sure about Eight. Five doesn't. Baby Girl is all about exploring. I continue to carry my cross. All that I have, all that I offer.

Monday is MY day

Dragging my feet today. Baby Girl is ready to go back to bed, I am too. Alas, that is something I never do. On with the day! This first cup of coffee better get me on go. We looked at 5 houses yesterday. The first was fancy, small and over priced. The second was old, smelly and had room for all the toys we could wish for. The fourth and fifth were brand new. Yes, wonderful and would have been perfect if not for the location. One was too small, never would have considered it. The other was great and really had me thinking. The location is next to a busy highway. It's a decent distance to the highway with a carpet store in between. They created a big hill for sound barrier. I loved the house, but it will be the 2nd house into a new subdivision. That means all the traffic for the million homes they are going to build, would drive right past our house. I don't want to be on such a busy corner/street. As tempting as it was, I don't think so. Just didn't convince me when there are great houses in our current neighborhood. The last house is one we looked at last year. N is in love. Never did I think he'd want it more than me, but I believe that is the case. It's great. It's beautiful. All the things that bugged him last year no longer do. I wish the bedrooms were bigger, eat in kitchen instead of dining room and more walk in closets. These are all things I can live with/without. The kitchen is beautiful with 4 stools at the bar. Kids can eat there on a daily basis. The formal dining isn't too formal, it will be fine. Now on to paper work. We try to agree on a price and we'll see how that goes. Seven says it looks too much like a doll house. It has some great additions to the front making it unique. There is also a great playground and shed N is thrilled to have. If this one doesn't work, I'd like the other house in the neighborhood. The other is true to our town with the school colors, white with green shutters. I would love this one too, but the other is more move in ready. This Falcon house would need paint all upstairs, a good carpet steam clean as they have a dog and cat. I had to take a zyrtec after being in there. The yard doesn't have a privacy fence, just a short, white picket fence. N wasn't crazy about all the neighbors being right there and no privacy. I didn't mind. No extra parking. All walk in closets. Eat in kitchen. Finished basement. Only three bedrooms. We will see how it works out. I am remarkably calm about it and not worried if it falls through. Why you might ask? Not sure. I just have faith that the right house will work out without fretting over everything. I learned this a very long time ago. Let go, give it all to the Lord. He'll work it out for us and it will be fine. Of course, I am not the one on the phone with the seller, mortgage company, getting insurance quotes, banks, realtors, etc. N has been doing all of that and is rather stressed out over it. Last night we talked to Daffodil and that really put him at ease about the entire situation. He asked if I'd call her. Then five minutes later he asked if I got in touch with her yet. So I gave her a call. He was pacing. I put her on speaker and he was able to explain his concerns. We value her opinion and it helped tremendously to talk to her. We will see where this for sale by owner takes us. We are ready. We know what we want. We've been keeping an eye on things for over a year. It's time. I love Mondays. It's just Baby Girl and I. Today we are supposed to start pricing garage sale stuff. It's 9 and I still haven't been in the shower. Our partner is coming to price in 30 minutes. Better get a move on.

Palm Sunday and Open Houses

The house situation is growing. We're looking at two homes, both for sale by owner. We aren't thrilled with the realtor the mortgage company assigned us and will probably seek help elsewhere. Our realtor in TX has been fantastic at helping us out. She answers all our questions and responds immediately. Both houses are on bird named streets, go figure. Just continuing with our theme I guess. Both are original owners, one the actual builder. House 1 we looked at last year. It was beautiful then and I am sure is still beautiful now. It has a big kitchen, nice size living room and formal dining area. We don't really need a formal dining area, but that is the only place for a table. The kitchen has more cabinets than I could dream for, a large island and bar with 4 or 5 stools. Really nice! Real cherry wood floors, new carpet in the living room. Unfinished basement is not so great, but I guess it will be ok. Half bath on the main floor, large pantry and laundry on the way to the garage. Upstairs are three bedrooms, two baths and a bonus room over the garage. I think to start we would maybe continue with a boy room and girl room, leaving the bonus room for a playroom. Eventually I would put boys in the bonus room, give each girl their own room and finish the basement for a play room. We will see. Just ideas. House 2 has a huge living room and kitchen. I loved them! Ceramic tile kitchen, island, top notch dish washer and new paint. Nice half bath and separate laundry room. Finished basement with large family room. Its in an L shape. The back part of the L could be finished off to make another bedroom. Nice big room for storage. Upstairs no rooms were painted. Master was decent size with small full bath. One kid room was bigger than the other, but had a smaller walk in closet. All bedrooms had walk in closets. The smaller bedroom had a huge closet. I think I would put the boys in their and they could have a Lego room in their closet. It fits a dresser and much more! Time is up. Gotta get the troops ready for church. We're going to 4 open houses today, if we can fit them all in and if N gets off work early. Should be interesting.

Sleeplessness again

Fever time. Low grade, and only later during the day or evening, yuk. Poor Baby Girl. Even though she was sick, she was still pleasant and happy. Two sleepless nights for me. Last night was much better. I think she's on the mend. Hopefully tonight will be back to normal. We're nearly done with our second set of bunk beds in our house. N has been working on them. I painted yesterday and am almost finished. He made trundles to go under the beds. Five is so excited. She doesn't know it yet, but I have new bedding for her new beds! I can't wait to give them to her. They are blue, purple and lime green, just the colors she wanted. Fate stepped in by directing me to two comforters on clearance for $21. Just the right colors and price. We hung her new pictures and letters. We just need to finish the beds, set them up and we will have a new girl room! Just in time for my family to come for a visit. We are very excited for their arrival in April. Seven will make his first holy communion and confirmation. Of all my kids, he is really prepared for these sacraments. Well, in some ways, others I tend to wonder. I struggle with him paying attention to mass during the consecration. Other than that, the Holy Spirit is already with him. We finished his booklet this weekend. He knew all the answers before we even read the sheets. "Oh Zachaieus, I know Zachaieus." I really enjoyed his prep lessons and look forward to his big days. On another note, we're meeting with a Realtor on Wednesday to look at 4 houses. Pretty exciting for us. It's taken us awhile to prepare for purchasing another home. We'll see how it goes. There are around 8 total we'd like to look at. As always, it's difficult to determine needs and wants. I think we need 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths minimum. Could one bedroom be in the basement, certainly. Which may be the case as there are not too many 4 bedroom houses for sale in our area and price range. Two happen to be two streets down from where we are now. I can see their rooftops from our current living room window. Those are the two I think I am most interested in. As silly as it may be, I'd really like to stay on this side of town. That isn't a need, but a want. I am flexible. I'd also like to have city water. Not that it is so great, but I just don't care for well water. We also live down river from a major chemical company. Who knows whats in the ground around here. N wants land and space. I'm afraid he'll have to compromise with that this time around. Lots with land are rare around here, especially in our price range. I'd also like to stay closer to town. The district spreads out, quite far south. I don't want to worry about a long bus ride. That will just lead to me taking them in instead. I love that bus that comes right to our driveway and safely takes my children to school. I don't want to be on a busy road. I don't want to be on the river. We want a newer home, nothing older than us. N has his eyes set on one with three garages. It's across the river. Daisy was thrilled to hear about it. There was a house on her road a few months ago, I would have moved right into that house. We were not quite ready then and missed that sale. We are also looking at who the builder of our new house may have been. We haven't been too impressed with some of the builders around here and wouldn't want to buy one of their homes. Time is up. Better get lunches made, breakfast on the table and so begins another day. I have a parent teacher conference with Fives teacher this morning. Baby Girl has been asleep since 4am. Looking forward to a great day with my children.

Seven

Oh my dear Seven, how his comments lately have made me smile. It started with N's dad's birthday gift. I made a gift that showed all the birthdays in the family. Turns out, October is the only month with no birthday. My kids were baffled by this. Seven then gets the idea that we could get a baby in October. I simply say, oh no. We are done getting babies at our house. He looks at me so serious and says "I'm gonna pray for another baby." Lord help me, he's working against me! On my birthday, he was determined to make it special, not like any other day. I was beginning to load the dishwasher when he raced over to me and said "Show me how to do it. Do the spoons go up or down?" He didn't want me loading the DW on my birthday. I also asked them to clean up all of the little things off of the living room floor. He looked at me and said "You are going to vacuum? Today? Make dad do it." At the end of the day, he asked multiple times if I had a great birthday. I did. I feel so blessed to have such a great boy. We've had our share of frustrations, but in the end I think he's on the right track.

Haven't seen you in awhile

Not sure what is the root of my lack for blogging lately. Could it be that Baby Girl is still giving me a hard time sleeping? Not sure. I just do not have the motivation. I had her under control, and then she got sick. I feel like I'm starting all over again. Exhausting. I put the second coat of varnish on our second set of bunk beds. These do not come apart. We should have them in the girl room in no time! I am so very excited. Just two more boards to cut and varnish. I scored two matching comforters for them last week. I wasn't planning on purchasing bedding. Grandma keeps us up to date with nice, new blankets. These were the exact colors we were looking for. We have a blue dresser and lime green curtains. She loves purple and these contained all the colors we needed. To make it even more of a bonus, they were marked down from $32.95 to $21! I was able to get one for each bunk. She still doesn't know about them yet. I figured when we put the beds together, then I would pull them out. G and G are coming in one month. We are very excited for their arrival, but I have so much to do before that. Speaking of, guess I better get started. I'm trying to wrap up projects this weekend. The bunk beds being number one on the list.

Now that the dust has settled....

The small town drama has ceased for now. On to bigger and better things. Today was slightly rough as it began at 5am. Yesterday I found myself taking a nearly 2 hr nap. I rarely nap, let alone for 2 hours! Baby Girl is great. She's in to everything. She's gone from pulling the ziplocs out of the drawer to carrying cups around the house. I find bowls in the living room. Yesterday she actually put a cup back! She's also learning about her diaper. Twice I've caught her with a new diaper when she needed it. She would open and close the diaper, then stair between her legs in awe of how to make this work. She's a magnet for the stairs anytime there is an opportunity. Her vocabulary is growing. She says da da, mama and hi. She will waive bye. Her speed is increasing as well. At Sams the other day, she kept the same pace as an old man pushing a cart on the way out. Today we had lunch at the school. She loves the kids. Last night she came to RE. She walked the halls peaking in windows, thrilled they were at her level and she could see more kids. She's loving my friends more and more every day. She brings happiness everywhere she goes. What ever would we do without her.

Small town drama

Oh boy. Got myself into some small town drama alright. Sad at how childish some people can be. Just a waste of volunteer efforts for our schools. It still surprises me how adults can act worse than kids.

Illness and the mom loses sleep

I shouldn't complain, it's only head colds that have us all down and out. Eight was the first to the dr. His ears were all red and he got an antibiotic. Then Baby Girl had a cold in her eye. Eye drops cleared her up in no time. N was tired of feeling icky and he went in on Monday. Today we took Five in for more eye drops. She got a bonus day at home. I could have taken her back to school, but I wanted to get her hair cut. She and Seven have to be to the dentist by 2pm. She would have been at school for lunch and not too much more. Oh well. It was nice to spend time with her. I want to paint her nails after this post. I know she loves when I do it, it's not very often. So after $100 in copays, hope we can avoid that place for awhile. We have well visits scheduled and I'm fine with those. They are free. Snow is still present. Really wish it would warm up. Zinnia found a steal on a new car seat for Baby Girl. Everyone was excited. Hope to get it installed today. That's about all for now. We really aren't that interesting lately, thus my lack of inspiration to blog. Baby Girl is on the move and all over the place. She loves remote controls. We have to keep them up because she loves to get the batteries out. She into all the cupboards in the kitchen. She takes the straws off of the juice pouches and carries them around. She also pulls all the Ziplocs from the box in the drawer. If you come to my house and see things scattered, you know who it was. We moved her to the girl room. She's still not sleeping due to illness. She will sleep great one night, then the next will be terrible. I was told it might last 9 days. LORD HELP ME! We are working on improvements in the girl room. I bought room darkening curtains, but of course they are too short and I have to get different ones. Story of my life. Guess I should have taken measurements, huh? If I could only find a tape measure in this house. I need a tool box for my birthday with tools with my name on them. Maybe I can work that out with someone.

Ash Wednesday

Tonight was a good night for our family. Kids came home, crabby about going to church. We made it barely on time and I had my doubts about the rest of the night. Wouldn't you know, the short service was just what we needed to get on the right track. We came home to a wonderful night together. Eight had N shave his head into a Mohawk for crazy hair day. Seven desperately needed a haircut as well, but of course met the idea with much protest. When it was his idea to cut off the long part in the back, he agreed. No money was exchanged, we didn't even have to bribe him! I was able to paint Fives nails for her valentines party tomorrow. I usually do not do that, but when we came upon the polish, it seemed like a good idea. We even put sparkles on her nails. We decided as a family what we would give up for Lent. There has been more yelling than I'd like to admit in this house lately. We decided to give up yelling. We have a small jar in the kitchen. If you yell, you have to put a paper clip in the jar. You get to take it out when you do a good deed for someone else. We hope to have no paper clips by the time Lent is done. We are also not going to eat food at McDonalds or Burger King. Not that we do that much, I can not recall our last meal there. Everyone was on board and happy. Here's to a great start of change this Lenten season!

It's nearly a week

It's almost a week and we're close to finishing our sleep training. Just when I thought we had progress, last night was completely off the charts. I am not sure what the change was, but Baby Girl was unlike any other night. My hunch is feeding her fruit at the evening meal could be the problem. She went down like normal, but woke up at 10:30 upset. I fed her as usual and put her back down. No go. She was awake for a VERY LONG TIME. I couldn't stay up with her. Good thing the dad could. She had two messy diapers. We'll see what we are in store for tonight. The bedtime routine was as usual. Praying for a quiet night. Out off all the nights, only two were with tears. Tonight, we are waiting to see if school is closed tomorrow. Everyone things there will be a snow day, which leads probably yes. Plows usually come two days after the storm is done. We'll see, but I think they'll just cancel, even if the weather is fine tomorrow. Buses won't be able to pick up the kids. Mine will be thrilled. Two weeks in a row with no school on Monday, next two weeks in a row with no school on Friday.

Moving day success

We moved Baby Girl into the girl room and I dare say, it was quite a success. I feel so much better. It was a step in the right direction. I can do this. I can have four kids. I guess it was fear that kept her in my room. Fear of the other kids not getting any sleep. Fear of disturbing everyone. The only one being disturbed was me and my crabbiness caused everyone frustration. We are on to a new road. After two days of not much else going on, I am praying for no snow day tomorrow. It is quite cold here. N couldn't get either of his vehicles started this am and took the van. Good thing we all went to church last night. Fr. B is headed for Mexico tomorrow! We wish him safe travels and are a tad jealous. Our neighbors continue on their around the world vacation. So happy for them! They are half way through their journeys. I can't wait to have coffee with her and hear all about it. Baby Girl is walking. She started out with 1 step, then 3, then 6 and now 9! We are very proud of her. It's bazaar to see her walking. My guess is with four siblings to keep up with, she was highly motivated, making her the earliest walker in the family. I still struggle with what to feed her at times. She will have nothing to do with baby food, which is fine. We run into trouble with too much fruit. It leads to diaper issues. Not much else. Starting to get my walleye festival items in order. N is building bunk beds for the girl room. We're starting a list to have somethings done by April. My family will be coming for Seven's first communion. Should be a great month. Can't wait for it to get here.

Finally to the Post

It took me 4 weeks to get to the post office. I finally made it and got letters/packages sent. Today, I received compliments about the info sent. My problem, I couldn't remember what I sent to whom. Oh well. There are worse things. Kids are good. It's so cold here, not as cold as in MN, but cold. I am ready for warmer temps. N is working on bunk beds for Five's room. So excited to get those done! N pulled out Sevens tooth just before the bus came. There was blood on Seven, N and myself. It was eventful. With N having the day off tomorrow, I hope we can get somethings done and have a great family day.

It's been awhile

My entries have been next to null these days. Not sure what the excuse is, lack of energy, too busy with all of life, exhausted at the end of the day or just no motivation. Any one of those could be my reason, but I can't decide which it is. Guess it must be a combination of all. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think we've got Baby Girl on a regular sleep schedule. Only took us 9 months! Not really, our trip to MN left her with lots of bad habits. She's back on track and I am so pleased. Today was our first meeting for Seven and his confirmation prep. Perhaps that is where my inspiration has come from. I was so happy with the things discussed. Discouraged at the same time. Sad that N misses out on these things. I can't do justice to try to repeat it all to him. The experience, fellowship and time with our kids at the church cannot be repeated at home. Everyone is in a different place once we are home. Different attitudes and answers. It was a great session and we came home ready for change, at least I did. I had forgotten the suggestion Fr. B had offered during our baptismal prep class. He suggested blessing your children when they leave to get on the bus and remind them they are a child of God. I had wanted to start doing this, but the idea slipped my mind. We discussed it on the ride home and everyone was in agreement this is something we want to add to our routine. I will catch Seven blessing Baby Girl on his own, completely random moments. I am so proud of him for this, but then struggle to wonder why he does these things and Eight does not. Where did I fail Eight? He just has a different personality than Seven. He's a thinker. Seven will act first, think later. Seven has been invited to a sleep over on Friday night. While I have no worries about where he is going, I can't help but want all my ducklings under one roof. I hate to let him go. This must be what it was like for my parents. I can't help but think of when they put me on the plane to Germany for 9 months. 18 and naive. I have to get better at this. I feel so strong about this when he is seven, will it get worse? I wish Eight could find a good friend like Seven has. Seven has a number of good friends. Five lost her first tooth last week. She was so proud! She came home from school and found me right away. I had a 3 day migraine last week. Wednesday she came straight to my bedroom to show me. In the morning she told me she has a wiggly tooth, but I just got her out the door, on to the bus. It could have been her head wiggling, I didn't really pay attention. Sure enough, snack time was pretzels and her tooth came right out. Seven needs to follow in suit, his top teeth are coming in and the other two keep moving. He looks more like Mater every day. Well, I believe that is all for now. Hope to please some readers, if you're still reading. Happy Monday to all!

Lets get together

Again, it's been awhile. What's new? Kids are back to school and finally back to normal. The first week back was a little rough. Baby Girl, I pray, is going to start to sleep better again. She's saying no to all baby food and is slowly saying yes to new things. Her spirits are high and she is happy. We're back to sleep training again. The trip to MN messed her up. Lots of bad habits picked up. Today is day 2. I feel so disappointed in myself that we're still on this road. Many different factors were present when training the other kids. I wish she had her own room. I think that made things easier. Just before Christmas, we got a new washing machine. I hated to spend money like that just before the holiday, but I am thankful it wasn't too much of an issue. I am in love with the new machine! It's amazing. I don't have to worry about load size anymore. It's great and I am incredibly thankful. Warm weather is coming this weekend, while MN is getting a storm. Praying for everyone to be safe.

I wanted a label maker for Christmas

It wasn't until now I remembered wishing for a label maker. Not sure why that thought came to my mind, but it did. I continue to attempt to eliminate the clutter, but creeps in. Still unpacking, we are slowly getting back to normal. Three suitcases remain in the living room, all full of clean clothes. The tree is still up as are all Christmas decorations. It is hard to get it all done. I worked on it all day yesterday, slightly distracted by organizing Five's room. Add all the new Christmas gifts only makes me want to organize in a new way. We're still just looking online at houses, there are a few that would work, but none that get me really excited. We've decided we need 4 bedrooms. Time is up. Sorry again for not writing more. We did have a great Christmas, but the trip home was terrible. We have to break it up more, there's no way around it.