A Sleep Well Earned...

So I actually did sleep most of last night. Lets hear a hip hip hooray for me! However, sleeping all night DOES mean I actually get stuff done the next day as opposed to blindly crawling thru the day like a half dead zombie. We got EVERYTHING on our homeschool schedule done for the day. It was a great day. I made snickerdoodles for the kids, okay I actually made them for me! Anyways it was productive and cool and I felt accomplished. Matt will be thrilled at having clean undies :) I know, I know, he's a lucky man.

Lazy Sunday

Today was such a lazy day. Our dear sweet toddlers chose not to sleep last night between the hours of 2 and 5 am. While for many that would be fine, and perhaps a great chance to catch up on something they left undone during the day; NOT so for me! The only thing I leave undone during the day to catch up on all night is SLEEP! I know,I know, I was the origionator of the quote that sleep is a luxury for the childless, but seriously I am needing a little luxury right about now. Sleep is a necessary tool for me to function the following day, sooooo today I did not attend my previously scheduled event (church) and instead I mopped the floor, did laundry, read exactly 8 children's books, and did dishes....you know restful things. I went to Walmart,dropped and picked up the teenager from an indoor BBQ,made lunch and dinner, scraped permanent marker off of a white board and had tea with my bestie , Kimmie....relaxing....oh and I got in a 1/2 hr power nap. All in all, my kind of LAAAAZY Sunday. Bring on tomorrow!!

Never a dull moment...NEVER!!!

So today Lori our piano teacher was over giving Sophia's piano lesson, and through the backdoor runs Avery screaming..."Mom, Benny has a rat", and I slowly walk toward her as my brain begins to process what she is saying, and then Benny comes running into the house arms outstreched with a LIVE gopher. "Mom, look what I found...it's a squirrel...and ist's so cute", I started SCREAMING, Lori did too, but not as loud I think. "BENNY PUT THAT THING DOWN", to which he replied "no, I don't want to it's so cute", as he begins to lean toward it as if to kiss it ....COMMENCE me screaming "MATT, MATT, COME NOW, MATT." Matt, who was giving Gavin a bath at the moment scoops up the dripping naked baby, runs down the stairs and thrusts him toward me yelling "What, what is it?" And I again...screaming...of course...."Benny...RAAAAAATTTTT." Matt proceeds to knock the THING out of his hands and chucks it over the fence into the canal with a shovel. Let me just say one thing "I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MY HUSBAND THE MIGHTY GOPHER HUNTER." It turns out it wasn't a rat, but it WAS a very mellow gopher just hanging out letting Benny pet it and hold it and heaven forbid almost kiss it. Anyways, that is our house...NEVER a dull moment ...NEVER!

Park Day at Settlers Park

Hear ye, hear ye, come one, come all. Meet at Settlers park in Meridian for some homeschool family fun....Uhhhh not really. Picture this reality instead: 300 kids in one very spread out park complete with musical instruments and water....my 6 sweet dumplings all running in different directions....me in panic mode for 2.5 hours as i realize each of my kids in turn is now "lost". I dressed each of them that morning...okay not Phillip or Avery...but most of them, and for the life of me I have NO IDEA what any of my children are wearing. And all 6 of my kids look amazingly like every single other one of the 300 kids there at the park. Except for the 50 or so wearing matching green shirts with a daycare's name emblazoned on them....now that's a smart idea!! MASJFHFUEHF FAMILY DAYCARE. That's us. Anyways wouldn't you just know that It was the FIRST day of non monsoon, tornado or hurricane weather in Idaho this year and every family in Treasure Valley decided to go to the SAME park....imagine that. Also did I mention there was water...it kept SOME of my kids very excited for a while...however, I forgot most of the swimsuits, so Avery and Benny and Gavin just went in their clothes. I did bring a change of clothes for Benny and Gavin...BUT as soon as I put on Bennys "clean" clothes, OF COURSE he peed in them. :) I would have been stressed except my dear friend reminded me that us moms of more than 2 children just let them airdry...and Fabreeze the carseat when we get home. That is what I did, except I am out of fabreeze.....oops.

All in all an exciting day. I will also mention that TADA i DID in fact finish the pioneer dress in time for Avery's 10th bday. She loved it. It is quite cute except...and this is a big except...i had to rip the skirt out 3 times and redo it, and it still looks very odd. The bodice has a different middle than the skirt. Hmmmm.... BUT I sucessfully finished something I started and I am darn proud of that! My sweet daughter made it all worth while whe she said "Mother, I know that i will remember the hard work and dedication you put into this present for the rest of my life. It will be the gift that keeps on giving, because I will pass on this family heirloom pioneer gown on to my children and their children and our family will know of your love for generations to come." Just Kidding...but she did say "thank you Mom, you are a great Mom, and I love you". It was kinda close...just sayin.

I Feel Like Doing Nothing Today

Today i am operating on like 3-4 hrs of sleep. I am oh so tired. I feel like doing absolutely, positively, nothing. Phillip's school has had some financial woes...who hasn't...anyways, so they are stopping school today for all but the freshman who go till Tuesday. This has created ALOT of drama in my life. I am trying to decide whether I should just homeschool him, or if I should go thru IDEA, or IDVA. I am very confused. I am tired of thinking. Now is the time to lay out all the options before the Lord and just pray. I am to tired to think about anything else anyways. I have accomplished NOTHING today. Nothing of consequence anyways. Not even a shower :). It is 1:15pm and I am still in jammies. What a waste of a whole day. I mean i COULD have done 7 loads of laundry because God knows I have it available and waiting to be done. I also COULD have mopped my floor...it's pretty bad. I COULD have done school with my dear children. BUT I did...pretty much, next to nothing. Know what...it feels GOOD. My kids played with the kitties, and fought over whose turn it was on the computer, helped me make pizza bagels for lunch, cleaned their rooms...almost, and pretended to be Power Rangers. Oh well, i guess i could go make myself useful to add a little exitement to my day. Maybe I'll shower too....my hubby would probably appreciate it in about 4 hrs.

Avery's Birthday

Avery's 10th Bday is coming up in a few weeks and she has requested that I make her a pioneer costume, complete with dress, pantaloons,bonnet, and apron. All this just when I had come to terms with the fact that I have don't have the time to sew. And then (of course) Sophia has decided that she too would just love a matching costume. So my project for today was to set out to find a pattern in which to make said costumes. My dear friend Debra has graciously allowed me to borrow some patterns. (Poor Debra....she has not seen what a pattern looks like when I am done with it...there were supposed to be a front AND back piece to the dress, oops.) Anyways when I am done with this amazing gift for my dear daughters 10th bday I will post a picture...you better not laugh. (Don't hold your breath...I am a confessed procrastinator....everyone knows this about me; it will really be HER daughters 10th Bday gift.) All kidding aside I would really like to not dissapoint her and give her her hearts desire. Pray for me, pray hard!

Sleep is a Luxury for the Childless

Okay, so in the past 2 nights I have gotten very little sleep. On Tuesday night I made the mistake of allowing Bennett to sleep from 4:30 pm to 11pm. Trust me this was not intentional. I actually(foolishly) thought, maybe he just needs the sleep, and he'll sleep all night. He did not. I did not. Enuf said. Then last nght Gavin woke up at 11pm throwing up. Poor baby. But really he had ALL day to throw up. Why did he have to wait till 11 at night to start puking. And realistically, WHY do kids always start puking in the middle of the night? What is up with that? I mean why not at 9 am when you are well rested and able to deal with the need to steam clean your couch , shower, change clothes, do laundry, clean up the child who had thrown up on themselves and everything in a 50 ft radius? I am not getting this phenomenon. Obviously today will be a multi/cup coffee day. And here's my sincere prayer that he takes a LOOONNGGG nap. If you think that I will be catching up on my own sleep during this time, you are mistaken, I will be mopping the floor. It's gross, really gross. Not from puke tho. From 6 kids. Now I'm off to muddle through half awake, trying to remember something worthy to teach my children today.

It's Been a Year!!

Has it really been a year? Uh yes, it has. A whole year and 1 month and 13 days. Since I LAST blogged. I am so sorry for those of you who actually used to follow my blog. Oops. Well here is a recap of my last year:

As you last saw we got a dog...she is gone. Enuf said. My dear friend Leia, has instilled in me the perspective that if you have a pet, it should earn it's keep. That dog did not, it's now gone. We did increase our family by 8 new cats (momentarily). Gracie, Avery's sweet 8th bday kitten has had 2 litters of 6 kittens each. We kept 2 from the first litter...we will not keep any from this litter. I mean it. These kittens will have NO personalities, no NAMES, no dear sweet faces, or soft purring bodies, or 12 eager hands petting and holding them. None of it. Because we are not keeping them. None of them. Unless of course the little all grey one happens to like me the best....then NO!

I am still homeschooling. Still a mom. Still have 6 kids. Still one hubby. I still live in the same house, which seems to shrink as our children grow. I still love to read. Still hate laundry. See, not much has changed.

But, I have. I have changed. In the last year I HAVE changed. I have learned new things and accepted some old things. I have come to terms with the fact that my house isn't as clean as I'd like. I now drink coffee, to keep me going till bedtime (I know, it's a drug, do you see my face...it's the face of ambivalance.) I am now able to understand WHY God gives us children as helpless infants instead of 14 yr olds. I am able to say that I can and have spent a whole weekend without my husband or children.(It was needed, deserved and it was beautiful...I will do this again...someday)

I am okay with the fact that I will not be making dresses out of the 50 yds of fabric in my garage accumulated in the past 10 yrs with the hopes of becoming the maker of clothes for my little girls. I have lost over 20 lbs. I hate to excercise (okay, that is not new) I am totally secure in the love of my husband. (For many years I struggled with this, but I no longer feel the need to do so, interpretation: I am no longer freaky and needy, yes, my husband is relieved.) Public school is not for my family. (We tried it for one of our kids this year, he learned ALOT, not all of it good, some of it great, but just not worth the cost.) Kids grow up so fast...this I have learned in a way I have never fully appreciated before.

I am not 18 anymore...I know really and truly... I'm not. I am 31. I don't feel particularly "old", but neither am I particularly "young". That realization came upon me quite suddenly. I was not depressed by it though. I feel more cautious with my time...is this time being spent worthily...interpretation: would I rather be taking a nap?....you know like "old" people do? I do not, for the first time in years feel overwhelmed. (This is a big change...I have spent years in chaos mode.)

I am content. I love my life. It's not always easy, not always fun. not always simple, not always clean, not always orderly, not always serene, not always predictable (okay NEVER predictable), but it IS the life the Lord has graciously bestowed upon me, and it is full of wonderful richness, not in money, but in vitality and splendor. MY life is etched in smiles of 6 little people, rather 5 little people and 1 towering giant. It is good and well with my soul.

I will be more faithful with this blog...I will update again soon with tales of the hilarious everyday life I enjoy...and you will flock to me and read, captivated, intrigued, (maybe not bored), and virtually participate in the life that I love. Hang on it's going to be a wild year.

Andie (a name only my hubby calls me anymore...but you can too)