Compliment or Not a compliment??

Anyone who has ever spent five moments with a child has probably walked away from the conversation wondering "how exactly did they mean that?"

of course, I would like to think myself WAY beyond being insecure about what a mere CHILD thinks of me...but sometimes, the DO leave me wondering!!

such as, when out of nowhere my 3 year old says "mommy, you aren't crazy" (said like k-haze-ey)
"um....thanks??????"

or how about when I spend A LOT of time cooking. I mean, I REALLY enjoy it and I get excited to try new things and try really hard to make healthy, yummy, fun meals. So, when I ask the kids what they want for dinner one night (b.c this would fall into the catergory of when I am NOT trying really really hard to make healthy, yummy, fun meals) and they all YELL, with LOTS OF excitement that they want peanut butter and jelly!

And, when I say a dumbfounded yes, they yell "you are the BEST mommy ever!"

Or when they say to me, as they pat me all nice and special like "mommy, you are not fat"

or "Mommy, you were good.....and bad...at that game"

yes.....it is hard to tell at times if these are indeed compliments or not

Mine and Tates photo shoot

He insisted we have a photo shoot!

He kept telling me to take another one and another one!

so, I obliged.....relishing in the one on one time with my biggest little boy!

and then I toook a picture of my favorite part of him....his gorgeous, big, blinking eyes!!

Randomness

this the pose we like to call the (vertical) George Costanza...

and this is what we call "just plain hideous"

but, regardless of his looks ;)...he is a GREAT big brother

Whenever Tad cries, Trigg RUNS for him saying (in a high pitched voice...which is NOT his normal voice) "OOHH!! Tad!" (which sounds like tdad)

isn't HE JUST PRECIOUS?!?!?

oh...and LOVED

ok, the big one is a bit precious too!!



and of course, he is adorable when he sleeps too!! Although, his clenched fist makes him not seem TOO relaxed!!

Who said quiet is ideal?

I have to say that I happen to enjoy noise...

this may help some of you to understand how I stand live-with so many small children!!

As the oldest of 4 kids I pretty much do not know what the word "quiet" means
As the 3rd oldest of about 50 grand kids (this is not an exaggeration), words like "still" and "noiseless" are lost on me
Having birthed the 1st of 17 great grand kids (and counting) I have no idea what a simple family get together would entail

and this is just one side of my family

And with all of these people sitting, running, walking, jumping, laughing, talking, cackling, around me...I feel truly at home

I do NOT have a hard time focusing 1 of 15 conversations going on around me (and I can usually even focus on several at one time! Yes, I know....I am special like that! ;))

But, its not just the noise of people I like

It seems the new fad in appliance making is to make them as quiet as possible

But, if i had one drop of time (or really thought it was all THAT important) I would stand up to GE and Whirl pool and hold up my picket sign (be it covered with jelly and coffee) and protest "Leave the Noise in the Washer!!"

[But, alas, I realize I would be the only on standing on the streets outside their headquarters.....and it IS winter after all...and a yummy cup of hot coffee will only warm me for so long. So.....I will just let them press on with their quiet-machine venture]

There is something super comforting to me when I hear the swish swash of the washing machine
and the tumbling of the dryer (unless of course there is a rock or something in it...)
and the percolating of the coffee pot
and the hummm of the dish washer (although, I don't have one of these so I may have to stop by your house for a listen!)

I am also especially fond of the noise of a power saw (or drill or hammer).
One of my dad's favorite past times is working in his shop: measuring and cutting and drilling and hammering and making priceless treasures

I can smell the shaved wood as I type

mmmmmmm....yum

All of these noises remind me of my childhood.
If I could make a "noise song" to my youth, it would involve all of these things

So, I am here to stand up for the noise and ask, really...who said quiet is ideal??!!




Now excuse me while I go tell my kids to be quiet

In the light of honesty...

We can all use that, right?

Don't get me wrong...as much as I hope the next girl has her life together as much as it SEEMS she does (for her sake...) I am quite thrilled when any of these girls allow me in to see how much she DOESN'T have her life together (for my sake!)

I DON'T have myself together

I have not been able to find my rhythm in this life of 5 kids; 2 in school; and 1 newborn
my days go as such:

up and out of the house by 7:45 (amazingly I have only gotten them to school late once)
back home by 8:03
spend some time cleaning up breakfast, nursing Tad and usually having some quiet time

then I manage to wander around the house until lunch time...pretty much just wandering.
How does one wonder for such a long period of time in such a small house?
I have no idea...but I have mastered it
I can't get my brain and my body to function quickly enough together to go beyond the stage of wandering
It seems I am stranded on the side of the road called "productive"

We then do lunch and naps and I continue on my pattern of wandering until its time to go pick up children
sometimes my wandering leads to a phone call or two
sometimes it leads to the couch where I sit (and stare??? I don't even know!)
sometimes I actually pick up a toy or two in the process of wandering from one room to the next
in which case I reward myself for the efforts by....continued wandering

at 2:45 we, again, leave the house to collect the missing children
And then, suddenly, for whatever reason, I come to life and spend the next several hours in a hectic, frantic, whirlwind trying to get myself caught up from my day spent wandering (You can imagine how well this works when by this point I have 5 kids at home, non of them who are napping, all playing {thus making a mess}, all hungry, all needing stories read, homework completed, pajamas on, etc)

and then we wake up and I start all over again!

The good news is...I am really not bothered by it.
I know its a phase
which will pass...as all phases do

and the other good news is I am VERY much enjoying my kiddos these past few weeks.
I think holding my newest and last baby stirs up some sort of hormonal concoction of nostalgia, sadness, excitement and sappiness that does not allow me to even pass by a child without kissing all over them!

Even if my passing is just me wandering by....

The Sleep Stinks

Please tell me that you are familiar with this (especially if you have kids)

All of my kids have gotten it to some degree, but my Trigg...well, he leads the PACK in the race to acquire the sleep stinks

He wakes up SMELLING
HORRIBLY
WET and SOGGY (its like his nick name...soggy...suits him or something)

I can hardly hug him and hold him at times b.c he smells SO bad....but I am such an amazing mom and FORCE myself to give him a quick squeeze before we race off to clean him up (please...if you could smell him, you would not put your lips NEAR that smelly face!)

I don't always have time to throw him in the tub, so I regularly am wiping him down with a wet, Baby Magic-drenched wash cloth in hopes to prevent the smell from carrying itself through out my house

For his future wife's sake...I sure hope he grows out of it! =)

Prayer again please!

**update again (2:30)** I just spoke to Brodie and he said they are home. Erin is doing better pain wise, but is nauseous. Now, she just has to rest! Thanks, again, for all the prayers!

**update** this is from my mother in law, which explains what happened with Erin much better than I could:

Just to let you know that Erin had problems with her biopsy yesterday. A ½ hour procedure took 3 hours. After they did the cone biopsy or during, not sure they decided to remove the scar tissue from the last cancer she had and it was tough removing...thus she had a lot of bleeding. Because they could not stop the bleeding, they put something like a catheter in to put pressure on that area to stop the bleeding. It finally worked but they had to leave that device in overnight so she was admitted to a room. Brodie said she was not in danger of bleeding to death, but just couldn’t get the bleeding stopped. They almost did the hysterectomy because of all the problems, but finally found a way to stop the bleeding. Because of the device, she has cramping like she’s in labor. They are giving her morphine drip but it is not taking the pain away. She is to have the device removed today and if all goes well, will go home.

Praying all will go well for her today and she can go home. With the device removed, that should stop the cramping. Her doctor thought the tissue they removed looked normal but they can’t tell until the pathologist looks at it. So we’re still hoping for the best. Either way, she’ll be having the hysterectomy in January barring no other complications.

**************************************************************************************************************************************

My sister in law, Erin, has recently found out she needs to have a hysterectomy.
In order to find out exactly how much they need to remove, she went in for a biopsy today

Apparently they have been having a hard time controlling the bleeding from the biopsy so she has been hospitalized. And b.c of this she is in HUGE amounts of pain. My brother in law said they are giving her morphine and she is still in excruciating pain.

B.c this information is coming down the line, I am not really understanding it all, but please pray for her. That they can control the bleeding and that her pain will subside. THANK YOU!!

AMAZING THINGS TO BUY!!

My friend, Jenni, makes these fabulous treasures! I have one of the memo boards and LOVE it. I get a million compliments on it. I use mine to display current photos...which is so fun! I change them out regularly. Please email her at carlson_jen@juno.com

They make GREAT Christmas presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)

30"H x 28"W ~ 3-Pane Memo/Chalkboard ~ $35

30"H x 26"W ~ Memo Board WITH Antique Clothespins ~ $28

30"H x 19.5"W ~ Memo Board ~ $15

20"H x 25.5"W ~ Forrest Green Chalkboard ~ $25

18"H x 24"W ~ 4-Pane Chalkboard ~ $25

Me and my drinks

I am thirsty. ALL OF THE TIME

like seriously, bring a water bottle with me to the grocery store

However, not just ANY drink will do. Especially if their is food involved

For example. I LOVE milk. LOVE it. And it is the most perfect drink to accompany:
pancakes/waffles/french toast
anything with peanut butter or chocolate...unless of course this chocolate has mint in it, then please give me water

I can NOT, however, have milk with eggs or ice cream. BLAH
With eggs, I MUST have orange or apple juice...but please NEVER serve me these drinks with pancakes/waffles/french toast/chocolate or peanut butter

And what is better than a nice glass of lemonade on a hot summers day?
Nothing....unless of course I am eating popcorn with it. BLAH!
this combo leaves me reminiscent of fruit loops....seriously

And wine...mmmm...I LOVE wine
and as much as I love the thought of a yummy dinner with wine, really, I just can't drink it with food at all. Just all on its own please!

so there you go... just a little useless info you never needed to know about me!

Thanksgiving part 1

We do holidays every other year with our families. This year was my parents turn...however, my entire family went to Chicago and since Bill didn't have Friday off (causing us to have to drive late Friday night to get there and then come home Sunday morning) we chose to stay home and do Thanksgiving alone.

We had a BLAST . We have never done the entire meal...and it was so fun to do.

the entire day was SO relaxing. We slept in. Took naps. Played. Made the food whenever we were ready. There was no plan. No agenda...it was perfect.

The kids helped alot...but as you can see, Trigg was a bit unhappy with me taking his picture!

And this is what Tad did most the day....



Tate preferred video games...

But, Tuck and Ella were in the kitchen with us most of the day


And Bill cooked half of it! It was SO fun to hang out in the kitchen together


I will have to say this was one of my FAVORITE holidays we have ever had!

Thanksgiving part 2

after dinner, we went out side to play football but we couldn't find the ball, so the kids raced instead =)

Bill ALWAYS kisses our kids' fat cheeks



Trigg isn't as wonderfully cuddly with me...here he is PUNCHING Me. That's right! See how pleased he is with himself?!

on your marks....get set....GO!



all of us but Tad...too cold out for him


see his cute Thanksgiving shirt? My cousin, Mamie bought it for him. Thanksgiving came just in time, any later and it wouldn't have fit him!

My friend

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for praying! Mandy is out of surgery and her and baby are doing well!

One of my closest friends, Mandy, just called.

Her family was suppose to be on their way to Colorado this week for vacation but instead are staying home b.c she has to have surgery today!

It turns out she has appendicitis.

Of course she is nervous about this unplanned surgery, but mostly she is afraid b.c she is 3 months pregnant...and as can be imagined, surgery when pregnant is not ideal.

Please pray for her and the safety of her baby!! Thank you

S.O.S

What does that mean anyways? I have no idea...but I know it communicates that I need HELP!

I have a wonderful little (not so little...TALL actually) 5.5 year old boy who is giving me a RUN for my money these days.
Now, as much as I have learned to love running....THIS is no the type I am trained for

Let me tell you a bit about him so that maybe you can help me!

Tate is So sweet. So sensitive. Always is asking "Mommy, can I do something to help you?" always saying "I LOVE God. God is AMAZING..."

Tate is very aloof half the time. He is that child that you can't tell if he really is listening or not. Sometimes when he seems to hear nothing you say...he repeats it back in detail.
Other times, you may think he is listening, but it turns out he heard nothing at all

He is content to sit and do one activity for a significantly long period of time
But at the same time, he has TONS of energy and THRIVES at being outdoors

He does so good when he gets to ride his bike regularly...which is a great solution except now that there is snow on the ground, it makes it impossible

SO...there are a few issues I am struggling with right now:

1. He isn't listening. Its not in a defiant "I don't care what you say" kind of a way...more like an ignoring (read: maddening)

2. He is not handling his emotions well...but it comes out of nowhere, so I have no warning and just like that he is a wreck. This is something we dealt a LOT with when he was younger, but it has gotten much better over the years....but, it appears to be back. And, of course, it can't resurface the same way as before...meaning, we have to re-figure out how to handle this!

3. His energy. Need I say more? I don't know how to help him let it out when our options are so limited right now. And, this huge amount of energy (that does not always appear at the same time of day...so also catches me off guard) leads to his not listening

So, here I am ladies...sending out an S.O.S. PLEASE share with me all your experience and wisdom and insight! This struggle with him has turned into me yelling. A Lot. I refuse to stay in this place and am praying SO much about how I respond to him...

(btw. I KNOW that this too shall pass...I am not worried about that. I don't feel defeated, just frustrated. I am just trying to figure out how to most effectively walk through this with him!)

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you know what makes me the bravest/stupidest lady around???

six weeks after the birth of my 5th baby

I wore a swim suit

in public

that's right....


you can scream at the thought, I wont blame you

;)

(notice there are no pictures accompanying this post!)

A poem...just for all of you!

There once was a girl named Miss
she most often felt her life was Bliss

now and then she got busy and behind
leaving little time to even drop ya'll a line

she spent her days in much a blur
so many things done, but can't remember what they were

its been a good week for the most part
minus trouble with one child, causing her to fall apart

she is loving the snow and all the inches
despite the fact she gets stuck in the its ditches!

she has successfully done 9 days of the shred
although it leaves her wanting her bed!

"please stay with her" she begs of you
as she waits for life to slow a notch or two

=)