Slightly Slacking

My blog posts have been less and less lately. Sorry dear readers. I just haven't found time and motivation to write I guess. We aren't doing much these days. Many afternoons and evenings at home. Kid entertaining themselves with their imaginations and toys in the basement. For awhile, they set up a mall. Six was selling blankets, 2 for $20. When N's parents came for an afternoon, he told Gpa T he could buy one for $10. In the end, Six let him try it out first. No sale, but happy kids Gpa was a good sport and played their game. We've been spending time at the pool. We go by ourselves. It works out nicely. Gets us out of the house and doing something. The pool is our plan for today. Baby Girl has been sleeping better, but no where near all night long. Some days it takes its toll on me more than others. We're planning our big trip to MN. As all things in this life, it's not going according to the original plan. No worries. We just work out what we can and roll with the changes. This time we're going to Mpls first, then up north. N will drive us part way and come when his vaca starts. Kids are excited. Not sure how Baby Girl will do in the car. We'll see. She's got to get used to it, this is part of our life. She's such a happy baby. She always smiles and loves the kids around her. Well, company is here. Time's up for now. Hopefully more sooner than later!

The Big Bash

We hosted yet another birthday bash for our boys. Eight didn't get a party since Baby Girl was born shortly after his birthday. We waited and combined the celebration for both boys in the summer. They each got to pick five boys to invite. This turned into 10, 12 with the birthday boys and 13 with one little sister. I love hosting parties for my kids. No matter what I try, it always turns out to be a ton of work. I tried to keep it simple this time. It was for the most part. I think it would have been fine had I gotten more sleep the night before. N wasn't feeling well, that didn't help. He took Baby Girl duty. New Moon stayed and helped too. We called her the baby whisperer. In the end, everyone had fun. Kids enjoyed the obstacle course. The boys worked hard on their own version of Angry Birds. They were quite proud of their creation. We were invited to two different activities today and I am afraid we could not make it to either. I was too exhausted after yesterday. This life with a baby and older kids can be challenging on the mom. I try to keep up with the rest of the world, on less sleep than everyone else. Some days it gets to me and I can't keep up. Others, we roll just fine. It doesn't seem like things were this way with the first three. I think because they were all so young and close together, we just kept our routine the same as always. We'll see how this works out for Baby Girl.

Sunday

This morning was a morning I wasn't sure we would make it to church. Just one of those mornings. I didn't get much sleep last night with Baby Girl. I've had a migraine for 3 days and thought if my head was pounding in the morning, I would take it off. This did not happen. Even though I had little sleep last night, I still woke up before 8am. Thanks to N, he started the dishwasher for me and the kitchen didn't look too bad after breakfast, this is the reason I got a shower. Today was our last Sunday to turn in our gifts for the kids to take to their mission trip. We were out the door in record time and actually early. We had enough time to get all four kids in to the grocery store for a paper, still be early to church. Kids were pretty good during mass. Four was speaking quite loudly during a song saying "I'm not going to lose a privilege." Other than that, we were good for the morning. Nothing to do today, no pressure. Surprise visit from the inlaws and we had our day planned out. Time's up.

Baby Feet

Baby Feet by Edgar A Guest

Tell me, what is half so sweet As a baby’s tiny feet, Pink and dainty as can be, Like a coral from the sea? Talk of jewels strung in rows, Gaze upon those little toes, Fairer than a diadem, With the mother kissing them! It is morning and she lies Uttering her happy cries, While her little hands reach out For the feet that fly about. Then I go to her and blow Laughter out of every toe; Hold her high and let her place Tiny footprints on my face. Little feet that do not know Where the winding roadways go, Little feet that never tire, Feel the stones or trudge the mire, Still too pink and still too small To do anything but crawl, Thinking all their wanderings fair, Filled with wonders everywhere. Little feet, so rich with charm, May you never come to harm. As I bed and proudly blow Laughter out of every toe, This I pray, that God above Shall protect you with His love, And shall guide those little feet Safely down life’s broader street.

All for nothing

My planning and worries, all for nothing. Sunflower said the children couldn't come. I expected this, why did I get so much planned? I told myself I wouldn't go down that road again, N tempted me and here I am, left with frustration. Just have to shrug it off my shoulders and move on. We had a lot going on this coming week anyway. It's tough because we love those kids so much, but just can't seem to spend time with them. Times up.

Lets get together, yeah, yeah, yeah

The Parent Trap has to be one of my favorite movies from my childhood. The song came in my head when recently trying to coordinate receiving two of the ten cousins. We're lobbying for Cousins #5 and #6 to come stay at our house for a week. We'll see if it works out. The problem is there are so many factors to consider and work out. First, she has to be willing to let the children come. Second, we need to leave two of ours behind in order to have enough room to bring two back. This involves one of my great friends. I've got it all figured out for picking them up, but not sure how we will get them back. I'm praying for assistance from that side of the family, but not counting on it. If I have to drive them back myself, I guess I will. N would probably take them before going to work before letting me drive. It seems so stressful to figure out. Is it worth it? We can't find a library book the library says we didn't return. This is enough to make me quit the library again. I have no idea where it is. We were really good at keeping the books together downstairs. I really thought we returned it last time we were there. I renewed it and will keep looking. They are going to check at the library. I guess this happens more than you'd think. Just one more thing to add to my chaos in this life. What else is on my mind? OH how I don't have enough time to type it all out. Picnic with the Pastor is next week. I am really looking forward to it, but have to make my dessert first. I want to try a new recipe my mother makes, but have to get to the store for the right stuff. My shampoo and body wash are on sale this week. I hope to get to the store to make a purchase before the sale ends. I've been trying to figure out refills for some of my medication. What a frustrating thing that has turned out to be. I'm considering switching dr's offices over it. That's a frustrating step in itself. We'll see. They won't help me out until the end of September. Thankfully my OB is so very cooperative and willing to work with me, but I need that from the regular doc too. The elliptical broke. I mean really broke. A big metal part came off. The company that makes it went out of business. The place we bought it from will see if they can find the part, but can't promise us anything. N will take it apart and in. If they can't help, he will bring it to the auto body place to have them weld it together. I'd been disgusted with myself for not getting on there. It's been three months since we've had Baby Girl. I told myself after N's vacation time I would add it to my daily duties. Then it broke. Great. I've been swimming laps at the pool and that has made me feel better. We went two days in a row, but I only swam laps one of those days. It's hard when I need someone to watch Baby Girl when I swim. Just another thing to coordinate. So much of my life depends on other people. I can't believe it. Well, can't believe I squeezed all this in. I have to wake up the baby, who wouldn't go to sleep, and get the troops ready to go get my prescription. The kind nurse from my OB called in 5 pills for me for the weekend. If needed, I will have to drive all the way to the OB next week. This coming week is so completely full, I can't believe it. The following week, we have nothing; yet.

Donnerstag is Thursday

It's cloudy and overcast. We have no plans yet, it's only near 9. I looked at my friends pictures on FB of their adventures at Grandma's house in MN this summer. I am really looking forward to our turn. We've begun to plan our big drive, what to take, etc. Yesterday was better after much energy was expelled at the pool. The kids were tired and got along great. Too much time together in the house so many days in a row does something to their attitudes toward each other. We were home from Friday until Tuesday. That's a long time of not going anywhere. I'll try to keep that in mind. N will only have one day off this week too. We are planning a birthday celebration for both boys next week. We made some Lego invitations and need to deliver them today. The boys are really excited. I let them each pick five boys to invite. I want to keep it as simple as possible, but I know it will be a lot of work regardless. We're going to set up an obstacle course in the back yard. They always love that part of the party. We're also going to try a big version of Angry Birds. Each kid can have three turns to try to knock down as many boxes as they can. We'll break out "the claw" candy machine for kids to play with and just have some fun. I think those are all the games I will plan. Six requested the bean bag tic tac toe game. We got rid of ours, but Daisy has the same one we can borrow. I'm going to make an Angry Birds cake. After the AB cupcakes, I think the cake will be fairly easy. Hot dogs and chips and we're set. Simple and satisfying. I've got a lot to do.