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.

Merry Christmas!

Another week has flown by and here we are, the birth of our Savior. Last night we attended mass and it was beautiful. The church was as full as I've ever seen it. We sat surrounded by our favorite people. If only my family members had been with us, it would have been perfect. Yesterday we got our projects done for our trip. N took us out to lunch. We don't go out to eat very often. I realized this when we were leaving and Eight asked "We just leave the dishes there?" Normally, they are begging to go in. We will hit the drive thru while on the road. If we do go in, its to a place where you clean up yourself. Baby Girl was in her first high chair at a restaurant this past week. N took me out for breakfast. We are nearly packed. 2 pm is the earliest we can get out the door. I still need to pack N, myself, bathroom and hotel bag. My pile to load is growing. Santa came to our house during mass last night. What a surprise that was! All were pleased, but they did wonder if he delivered anything for them at Grandma's, too. We now have a wii in our house. Not sure still how I feel about it, but I am open minded. To demonstrate, Seven was completely frustrated with his poor bowling skills. I am not sure I want to listen to more complaints. I think Five was pleased the most with her gift. She got a mp3 player and a boom box for her girl room. A handy and very cute bag came with to store the player in. Baby Girl got the biggest gift of all, a walker. She also got a learn and play puppy. It was a great night. We had a spaghetti dinner, quick and easy after a late service. Everyone was pleased and happy. Great memories and great family time together. One of my favorite parts was seeing what gifts the kids created for us.

So sorry dear readers

Guilt has me! I apologize for not blogging more, especially after compliments in Christmas cards. Not sure why I haven't kept up with it. There were moments when I could have gotten an entry in, but didn't have the right motivation. This past week has been crazy with tasks to accomplish. It seemed there wasn't a free moment in the day. I'd find myself multitasking every minute. The only time I sat down was to nurse Baby Girl, even then I was doing something else. I love all the cards and pictures we've received. So sorry to my over seas friends, your cards are still sitting here. That trip to the post office just gets me in the end. I never can get there ahead of schedule. What a day Thursday was! Five and Seven had parties at their school. Still locking all doors and signing in and out, etc. made for a congested office. No biggie, all things that should have been done before to keep things in order. Seven was thrilled with his party. He had a great turn out. He really does have a nice class. Lots of parents and wonderful activities. Five too had a great party. Baby Girl and I roamed between the rooms helping when we could. She loved it. The more chaos the better. She did manage to fall asleep for a short time. Just enough of a rest to keep her going for the remainder of the party. N was off buying a new washing machine. Yup. The 10 year old Maytag was done. We'd put money into it already. The belt and I'm not sure what else. We knew this day would come, just didn't expect it during the holiday. By the time I was finished at the school, he was looking at machines at the store. He called and we made a choice. He came home with it before the bus arrived. Then the challenge began. Feed 4 kids, dress one for a concert in complete chaos. Every surface of my kitchen was full. No spare space! The new washer in the kitchen, along with the dryer. Baking goods everywhere. Hungry kids and no plan. We made it. The house was still a disaster, but we were on time. We got good seats and it was great. Well, she's awake and time is up. I will try to get on here more, but tomorrow will be busy, too.

Sadness in our nation

Unbelievable comes to mind after today's news in Connecticut. After hearing this news, I wanted to go get my kids and keep them home for good. With that not possible, I wonder what changes will we be in for learning from this tragedy? Will our school change it's policies? Pretty much anyone can get into the school through the front door at any time. There are doors to force you to go through the office, but there is no guarantee they would stop there, especially if they had a weapon. Our best weapon is to educate and pray. What a heartbreaking experience. My prayers tonight will be for those families. Unbelievable.

My list is nearly complete!

Today was productive! Yeah for getting things crossed off my list. I finished some kid gifts and Godparents. I still have a few things to figure out with the Godparent gifts, but otherwise I am done! So excited, yet I have so much to do. We figured out containers for Christmas cookies. Now to get baking! Tomorrow is gingerbread house day in kindergarten. Five is so excited. I'll join her in the morning. Kids want to go to open gym at the gymnastics place tomorrow night. They will be tired after. Saturday we'll stay home and bake. Sunday is big with mass, pizza party, caroling and cookies. Monday we're having a wrapping party. Gotta dig out my tape, scissors and ribbon. New Moon and Azalea are coming to wrap gifts. Not sure, Daisy may join us. Next week we will deliver our treats. Tuesday is cheese ball day. We're giving the teachers cheese balls. Hope they like them, its a popular recipe that always goes over well. Should be a great next week!