morning mayhem

When we enrolled Jack in preschool for this year, he was put in the afternoon class since he's an "older 4"...meaning he was 5 less than two months after school started.  I wasn't sure how this would work.  He gets out at the same time the elementary bus arrives at our house.  Then again, if he was in the morning class, he would start at exactly the same time the elementary girls do.  That means they would get on the bus and we would leave immediately for the trip to preschool.  Which would be great for most people.  Not me.  I barely make it out to the bus stop most days because I'm still in my pj's.  So....I'm not here when the little girls get off the bus Monday through Thursday.  There are other kids here, though.  And I'm home about 15 minutes later.  Just enough time for them to eat enough junk food for snack that they can eat something healthy as I walk in the door.

(And quite honestly, this afternoon thing works really well for me with working overnights.  I do my stuff in the morning with my little helper and then take him to school and NAP until the older kids start trickling in.  It's so good that I requested afternoon kindergarten, too)

Since I don't have to get the littlest one dressed and fed and out the door, mornings go in stages here with relatively little stress.  The high school bus comes at 6:50 so Bella is up and at it early.  But she is also out the door before most of the other kids are even awake.  Once she's gone, the middle school boys are usually up.  Their school is a block away and starts at 7:54.  That means Trey usually leaves at 7:20 (oh, I remember those days of walking the halls before school....seeing and being seen!) and Clay leaves at 7:40.  Somewhere in the middle I make sure the little girls are up.  Their bus comes at 8:10.  Kelli is usually pretty easy to rouse, but Emma has been know to hear me say, "The bus is coining in 5 minutes.  GET UP NOW!!!"

Then the drama is over and Jack plays while I check my Facebook.  Easy peasy.  

Catching up

It was quite a weekend....lots of fun and not enough sleep and now we are paying the price.  D feels like he's getting sick, some of the kids are feeling sick.  For them, especially the younger ones, I think it has more to do with the amount of sugar they consumed yesterday than anything else.

We had planned to do a chocolate fondue after dinner last night, but there were too many of them feeling icky or just plain tired for that to happen.  I had given all the kids a chocolove bar so they had a little treat at home too.  I think we will plan a fun night Friday with chocolate and maybe pizza before that.  There's no school on Friday.  Or Monday for the President's Holiday.  I love February.  Not only is it the shortest month, but it seems the kids are out of school all the time.  And in the winter when we are tired and feeling puny, all that extra sleep is so nice.

I met with my knitters on Saturday morning.  It was nice to sit and talk about our crafting.  There are couple there who like to start things but aren't good at the finishing.  Now they have some accountability to get something done before we meet again in 2 weeks.  I like to finish a project before moving on, but I also like to have something small to do during car rides or in church so sometimes I need to have 2 projects going.  Then there's that sock that I need to work on.....

We have been having a February thaw the past few days.  After the beginning of the month when it was so cold and we were getting snow, we have been into the 50's for a few days now and it looks like we have a couple more.  It's so refreshing after the brutal cold.  The kids have been playing in the snow in their shirtsleeves.  A little funny to see, but they are outside and that's a very good thing!  They've been using the snowball maker contraption to make piles and piles of snowballs, too!

Friday

I'm so glad it's Friday, though I'm not really sure why.  I still had to get up early and get everyone out the door, though the 2 oldest are pretty self-sufficient in that regards.  I barely see Bella in the morning, since she's out the door at 6:45.  ugh, I know, right?

And the little girls have an early dismissal today.  Kelli will be home by 1, but Emma is going to the local skating rink.  They do it as a fundraiser for the school.  The rink opens a little early and the school provides a bus to take kids there that want to ride the bus.  Then it will take them back to the school at regular dismissal time, too.  Since Emma is older, I'm letting her go and have fun.  Kelli is only a first grader and has to come home to see ME.  HA!

The 2 older kids will be at the high school basketball game tonight.  Even though Trey isn't in high school yet, they do an ice cream social time before the game and encourage the incoming freshman to come hang out and feel grown up.  It will be fun for him since there will be kids going to that high school he hasn't really seen since elementary school.

So that means I will be home alone with the 4 younger kids.  D is pouring pints at a local brewery tonight.  He works for tips there, so we are always hoping for a good night.  Or at least gas money for him for the week.

I don't know what it is about Friday's, but I don't want to do any "work" on those days.  No laundry, no cleaning....I just want to play.  And today is sunny and it's supposed to be into the 40's again finally.  A perfect day to blow off responsibilities, right?

I didn't get to knit much yesterday.  And I'm frustrated because I don't like how the project I just started is coming together.  I'm using yarn that I had crocheted into a shawl years ago and never liked it.  In fact, the shawl never made it out of the yarn basket I hated it so much.  I guess the shawl is fine, but I don't really wear shawls....so I ripped it out and was going to make that yarn to knit a cowl.  Not liking it at all.  But at least I have 3 balls of a gorgeous raspberry yarn to use for something else!

Happy weekend, blogworld!

Stuff to do

I've been knitting a lot more this week, and that means I feel like I haven't been doing the other things I should.  Like cleaning.  I have picked up, have the 4 loads of regular laundry, a load of sheets, 2 loads of towels and another load of towels going.  And I've also made dinner every night.  Well, except last night.  It was a much needed "please eat all the leftovers" night.  But I did bake a yummy oatmeal for this morning last night.

Anyway....just trying to find a little balance I guess.

I'm starting a knitting group with some friends on Saturday.  We plan to do something service related as well as have lots of fun!  And my neighbor who doesn't know how is coming to learn to knit!  I'm very excited about that.

More later!

Today's trip

Yesterday I found out Clay has a pulled muscle in his back.  Fun.  So he's to use some heat on it and some ibuprofen for pain, do stretches.  It was odd to me because he'd been fine all weekend and then as soon as he got to school, it was bothering him.  Add a big heavy messenger bag over one shoulder and walk the couple of blocks and now I see why.

So one thing I had him do yesterday was go back to a regular backpack.  I'm thinking that messenger bag was how his back got wonky in the first place.

Today we are going to the orthodontist to fix the loose bracket he has.  Yay!  I got a letter from the school last week about the number of partial days that he has missed.  When he had his adenoids out last fall, he had a hard time recovering from surgery.  He was really tired.  Instead of sending him to school and then letting him come home at lunch or something for the rest of the day, I sent him to school to go his first 3 classes, then he had PE (which he couldn't participate in for 2 weeks anyway) and band and then lunch.  I would pick him up and let him rest at home and eat lunch and then go back for his last 2 classes of the day.  He was out from 10:30 until 12:50 for those days.  We only live a block from the school and it was nice weather and I really didn't mind signing him in and out so he could stay in his main classes.  I've been playing phone tag with the assistant principal to discuss it.  Thankfully, she knows our family and is being great about it.  But Clay struggles in some of his classes and the school is concerned that those partial days are the cause.  No.  They're not.

Off to work on some laundry and get me and the little man ready to take Clay to the ortho.  And it's about 5 degrees today with 4 inches of fresh snow last night.  I'm wishing my day consisted of sitting at home on my couch....

Going to the doctor

Not what I had planned for today, but Clay has been complaining of back pain for a week now.  But only sometimes so I wonder......

Thankfully the co-pay is tiny, so I will let the doctor (who knows far more than I do....at least in my kids' opinion!) give the diagnosis.

In the meantime, I am trying to get my Monday morning work done....as Jack seems to get it undone.  I really did just vacuum the family room, but Jack has been cutting things out of construction paper, so.....It's clean up time again.  And right now that same little man is trying to figure out how to take the bottoms off of 2 empty soda cans that he has taped together.  They will be his new binoculars.  There is never a dull moment with that boy.....

just another Saturday night

I had grand plans for myself yesterday.  I didn't do it all.  And that's OK because I didn't hurt anyone either and that's an accomplishment.

I'm hormonal these days.  That translates into being irritated that my children would even think of leaving the room I am in.  Or talking.  Weird I know, but I want them all around and silent.  It's my control issue I know.So one kid having friends over and 1 being out to dinner and 2 going on sleepovers (1 is still not home and I won't see her until TOMORROW because of scheduling and weather....long story), I was in a MOOD.

But I fed them all and cleaned my kitchen.  And then I fed them some more and cleaned the kitchen some more.  And now dinner is over and my kitchen is clean.  Again.

I did plan my meals for the week and I'm ready to go grocery shopping tomorrow.  Having that planned feels like a major accomplishment.

It's that season now where we are limited as to what fresh vegetables we have.  Potatoes, carrots, leeks, beets, onions, celeriac....and more winter squash than I even want to think about.  No cabbage this winter and I am missing it.  So I'm trying to plan around what's in the freezer and what's preserved from the summer.  The potatoes will soon be gone and I will be getting creative with our starches.  With a big growing family, a starchy side dish is what fills them up sometimes.  If it's not potatoes, then it's rice or bulgur or quinoa.  Tonight I made a dish with mushrooms and barley.  YUM!

I have been knitting a ton the past week, too.  I am working on a sweater/jacket thing for myself.  And D asked me to do something for some co-workers who have just had babies.  I'm doing little hats for them. They go really fast.  I have one done and I hope to finish the second one tomorrow during the big game! I'm so not into the football...just the commercials.  I just hope I can sit and watch instead of cooking the whole time.  I love to cook but some days I just want to order take out.....

D and Kelli are at the father daughter dance tonight.  Emma didn't want to go and she got her wish since she's not home from her friend's house yet.  I'll post a pic of my little lovely soon.....

kindergarten!

In just a little bit, I'm taking Jack E to the elementary school to sign him up for kindergarten.  Basically I have to prove that we live where we do (via utility bill) and prove he's old enough to finally go (via birth certificate).  It's public school.  They HAVE to take him.  This is just the first of the school hoops he will jump through in the next 13 years.  Or so.

He's of course sooooo excited because his sisters are still there.  And they will be there next year when he's a full fledged kindergartener.  I'm sure the office will be breathing a sigh of relief that this is the last of our clan.  Trey had a teacher shocked the other day to find out that there were 4 more kids coming up through 8th grade behind him.  Yep!

My to do list yesterday?  I finished it!  Well, except for the load of jeans still in the dryer waiting to be folded.  But it's jeans....those are easy.  Today, I am going to register for kindergarten, make a quick trip to the grocery store, take treats by the middle school for Trey, work on the big huge grocery list for the beginning of the month grocery run, plan a week's meals, bake bread, and make dinner.  Tonight is a little bit of revolving door around here.  Clay has 2 friends coming for a sleepover to celebrate his birthday from last weekend.  D will leave for work around 4, Emma is getting picked up for a sleepover birthday party at 5:15 and an old friend is taking Bella to dinner at 6.  So tonight it's me and Kelli and the BOYS!

Now I'm off to fold those jeans.....

So cold

It's been crazy here in Denver lately.  I think this has been one of the colder winters we've had, but we haven't had much snow.  This week has been COLD...and that's coming from an Iowa born girl!

On Monday, it was a little snowy and supposed to drop to around 0.  When school was let out, all after school activities were cancelled (that meant no basketball practice after school or evening wrestling for Trey) and school had already been cancelled for the next day!

Trey shoveled the little bit of snow we had.  D got home from work and we just hunkered down, ready to be chilly.  Trey wanted to make plans to sled on Tuesday.  When the high was supposed to be well below 0.  I was the total party pooper and said NO WAY!  If you can't go to school because it's too cold to go out, do you really think you should be out playing in the cold?

The kids had no school Wednesday either because of the cold!  Crazy....but I really enjoyed having a little break  in the schedule this week.  Except.

I get so much more done when they are all gone.  Yes, they pitch in and help with things.  But I have a rhythm to my week that doesn't include having all the kids home.  And feeding them breakfast and lunch and snack every day.  Thankfully they don't eat all day.  That would make me nuts.  But they do go through the treats (like the 3 loaves of banana bread( when it's time for snack.

Now I need to finish 4 loads of laundry and pick up and vacuum and clean up the kitchen and go to the bank and take Jack to preschool and go to the phone store and get a shower and pick Jack up and go to a basketball game and make dinner and go to choir practice tonight.

Here's a picture of Jack and Kelli from a few days ago.  This is how we've spent many of the past few nights, on the couch with a movie.

100 miles an hour

That's how I feel about life these days.  I am working a ton of hours which is fabulous....not complaining about that in this economy.  And I have 6 kids home eating and making messes.

I want to blog more, but life just seems to get in the way sometimes.  I am trying to find balance this summer and not make the kids feel like they are working all the time.  I'd love to do more fun things, but we just haven't made it happen much.  Well, other than the free movies at a local theater.  We get there almost every week.

We are planning a camping trip for the end of July and beginning of August.  We'll be using my in-law's RV.  I'm so thankful that we will be able to get away.  We will be doing the budget route, of course, but cooking over a campfire will be a break from cooking in my kitchen.

And it's summer and we are just starting in with our farm food.  Again, I'm so thankful to have all the food, but it does mean some extra work in the summer.  But like Barbara Kingsolver says in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, it's just making dinner in advance.  I finally finished that book this morning.  I've been reading it for literally years.  I would misplace it or get busy and then pick it up again later.  I can't recommend it enough.

my little man...

The past couple of days I have spent a different kind of time with my little man.  Yesterday we had lunch on our own since Kelli was at an extended day of school on a field trip.

Then there were a couple of errands...and one of them was to Target.  He picked out band-aids.  But then he changed his mind.  Twice.  It's a big decision between Toy Story and Spider Man and Hot Wheels.  I had brought one of his Christmas gift cards with us too so he could pick out a little something.  He chose more Trios so then we got to come home and build it together.

This morning after the big kids all went to school (2 hours late since it was a late start day), we went to check out where we hope to send him to preschool.  At first he thought he would want to do something there on his own and I could wait for him.  After we parked the car and were walking up, he changed his mind.  He was more tentative but did seem interested.  Then on the way home we stopped at the park for a while.  He is just so grown up all of a sudden.

Next year he will be at preschool 4 mornings a week and I will be alone.  It will be the end of a long season in my life.  While I am excited for him and so excited to see how he is growing, I will miss having him as a companion day in and day out.  I haven't been alone like that in over 14 years!

survival

This morning I was heading out to do a couple of errands with Jack E.  It is still so strange to only have him around all morning every week day, but he is great company!

I was making the list of where I needed to go and what I needed to do.  I knew the last stop before kindergarten pick up would be the grocery store.   It got me thinking about my errand days 10-12 years ago.  OY!  Even grocery shopping with 2 or 3 little ones was a chore.  And we had a system it seemed.

I would have my list ready the night before.  Coupons and sale flyer in the diaper bag.  By the time I got us all ready and out the door it was usually around 10.  I would go to the store and stock up, but it would take a while.  More often than not, I would hit the drive through on the way home.  Yes, I had a car full of groceries, but I also had a 2 year old, 1 year old and pregnant belly.  Or the next year, a baby, a 2 year old and a 3 year old.  And the idea of carrying in groceries with 2 or 3 hungry kids and then getting them some lunch was just overwhelming.  So we picked up some lunch.  Thankfully they could share an order of chicken nuggets and an order of fries.

I called it survival.

baking bread

I'm trying to get back in the swing of things where the kitchen is concerned.  Today I am starting a batch of bread that I will bake tomorrow.  I am out almost every night this week with different things, half of which include dinner so my cooking is all messed up.

But I did get all the laundry (minus a few towels and sheets on beds) done and put away on Monday. I'm not sure how that happened, but it did.

It is so warm and sunny here this week.  I really have spring fever.  I went for a nice walk today with no jacket.  So nice, both the warmth and the solitude.  I'm hoping with longer and warmer days I can get out more for a walk.

update on those goals

This winter has been crazy it seems.  I am still trying desperately to find some balance in my life.  I had a bunch of goals that I set out for this year.  I'm doing OK with some, great with others and totally given up on others.  And I am OK with that.  It's all about priorities.  I can only do so much and I have a lot that is non-negotiable...like laundry and making dinner every night and helping kids with homework and working and sleeping.


So here's where I am with some of these things...


--get back to more consistent menu planning and making use of the food we have on hand


I've done really well with this one.  This is the first week since January that I didn't make a meal plan for the week.  I have really tried to look at our freezer and fridge as I planned meals and I've stuck to the plan even when I had second thoughts.  It really does make life easier to know what I am supposed to be doing in my kitchen.

--get back to making our bread, probably using more of the 5-minutes a day approach


This one has been good and bad.  I was doing great until a couple of weeks ago when I made a bread that was a flop.  (I now have a big canister of whole wheat bread crumbs!  lol)  I've been thinking all week that I should start some bread.  And I will...maybe today even.


--make our yogurt


I'm doing pretty well here.  I am having a hard time keeping up in fact.  The kids really like yogurt with banana and some chocolate chips as a snack or dessert.  I've been doing 4 pints at a time and I really need to step it up to 4 quarts.

--read the Bible in 90 days (our church is doing this and my Emma wants to do the kids' portion too)


This one has been totally abandoned.  I just couldn't do it.  It's not that I'm not interested in spiritual things or in being better at my devotion to God.  I just couldn't commit to that much reading every single day.  I guess I could have, but I chose other things as more important.  And I'm OK with that.

--spend more time knitting or blogging or reading for information and less time playing silly games on the computer


Good and bad...I am trying to spend my time better, but I find myself choosing to be lazy and unproductive and using facebook as a really good distraction.


--lose the 15 pounds that have crept on in the past 18 months


I've lost 5.  I'm good with that one too.

--do the Couch Potato to 5K program


It's still too cold and snowy.  Summer is coming...summer is coming...summer is coming.  I did get a yoga DVD and have been doing that the past couple of weeks.  I think I am actually finding my butt under all those peanut M&M's and carmel corn!  lol

--make breakfast for my kids


Doing this one really well.  I have found a couple of new things to put into our rotation and I plan to make some granola soon that they can use as cereal.  This one is really important to me because I want them to have a healthy breakfast and not just eat a processed cereal for breakfast.  It is also complicated by my working nights.  I get home from my current contract around 6:20, and the 2 oldest head out the door and hour or so later.  I have to have a plan for breakfast the night before.  That's where meal planning has been a lifesaver since I plan breakfasts, too.

--incorporate more homeopathy into our family


I've purchased a couple of things.  I want to do better, but it takes research and I've already admitted that I am highly distracted with this laptop!  lol  The one thing that has been great is callendula cream.  I got it because it's kind of an all around thing for skin.  I get cracks in my skin on my thumbs and index fingers especially...all that handwashing from baby care and cooking I guess.  Emma and Clay get chapped chins and faces.  The callendula has been great for both.

--eat more fruit


Definitely better.  I'm opting for a piece of fruit for snack as opposed to bread and butter.   Maybe that has something to do with my shrinking behind, too?

--try to salvage my kefir grains and get back to using kefir for soaking oats and flour for pancakes


Yes and no.  I was doing great until last week.  Now my grains are shoved in the fridge again.

--figure out my sewing machine enough to do simple mending


I haven't touched it!  But Trey has taken a family sciences class in middle school and he's used it!

--clean out closets and donate more of our excess


Always a work in progress...

the ultimatum

I just told my oldest that she's got to put it away or I'm giving it away.  *gulp*  Did I really just say that?!


I am so tired of the "clean your room or else" conversation.  We have taken away priveleges...we have restricted activites...none of that is working.  So I'm done.  Now I just have to do it.


Somewhere along the lines of going to work at nights and working LOTS of nights, I feel like I have lost control of the stuff in this house.  It is driving me crazy!  I know there are 8 of us here, but we are such accumulators of stuff!  Why do we need to keep so much stuff?  I find myself not wanting to let them buy anything (even with their own money) because there's so much stuff already in their rooms or in the basement or in the front room.  I have got to do some major tossing around here.


I can say that I just got rid of 3 trash bags full of VHS tapes!  One bag was just junk...old TV shows and such but I have 2 of the bags in the back of my car to take to Goodwill.  I'm guessing someone out there still has a working VHS player?


OK...off to figure out some lunch and then fill another bag of stuff.  And I need to bake a couple of cakes today too

I'd forgotten...

...how much I love crochet.  I've been doing a lot more knitting for the past 8-10 months.  Crochet has been on the back burner (as in the projects I've started and pushed to the bottom of my craft shelves).  But I wanted to make some simple washcloths for a classroom basket for the elementary school auction.  I decided to crochet them because I knew it would go faster.

Then I picked up some yarn to make an afghan for my new nephew who will soon be here in the US.  I started knitting a gauge swatch and realized I didn't have the right size needles.  Instead of running out and getting different needles, I crocheted a swatch instead.  I really like the look of the knitted fabric, but I'd forgotten how quickly I can crochet a baby blanket.  I'd forgotten how easy it is to rip a little out and go back to fix a mistake.  I'd forgotten how easy it is to pick up the project for 5 minutes here and there.

The blanket will be done really soon, and I will keep working on knitting my second pair of socks.  But for now, I am blissfully hooking away.

Monday holidays

They always mess up my routine around here.  Usually when I get the kids out the door for school on Monday morning, I do a pick up and put away (and lots of throwing away) of what has been lying around all weekend.  But when the kids are having a day off from school it just seems....wrong somehow to do that kind of thing.  So it will be pushed off until tomorrow.  I did some of the picking up and the kids will all have a 10 minute clean up later when Clay gets back from the movies.

His 5th grade class was meeting at the theater today to see The Lightening Thief.  They have read the book this year so took this day off from school to see the movie.  D took him and stayed to watch the movie.  It's a good time for them to do something together on their own.  Clay was really excited to do something on his own today.

One of the best things about February is the broken up school schedule.  My elementary don't have a full 5 day week of school all month.  Two of the weeks they have their late start for teachers to have professional time.  This week is President's Day and last week they had early dismissal on Friday (with no kindergarten at all on Friday).  It gives me something to look forward before spring makes its appearance.  Then again...this is Colorado.  We could get a huge snowstorm in April or May.  I'm ready for t-shirts and flip-flops.....

up early this morning

I'm talking about Jack E and Kelli, not me.  I worked last night so I was hoping to come home and nap for a while on the couch before anyone else was up.  Then I would make them breakfast and we would all be happy.  I'm getting a nasty sore throat (first sickness since the flu in October) and I really wanted that nap.

BUT...I walked in the door and saw the 2 little ones playing and having a good time.  Jack E is planning a stuffed animal puppet show for later.  Honestly he wants to do it now, but I told him he has to wait until it's not dark outside...and the rest of the family is awake.

Yesterday my Kelli went to a Fancy Nancy birthday party at her friend's house down the street.  They all were supposed to wear their fancy clothes.  And she came home with some extra glam.  Here's my fancy girl

Time to make them some breakfast I guess!

checking in

I've been reading my regular blogger friends the past week or so and have found a new one.  She has 16 kiddos and still blogs a couple of times a day.  HUH!

So I guess instead of playing a game on Facebook and thinking about saying something, I could actually take that time to blog.

The 3 kids in elementary school have all had their Valentine's Day parties today (or yesterday for miss Kelli the kindergartener).  They are sufficiently sugared up now I do believe.  So I made them cookies of course!  Trey bought flowers for today telling me they were for his teacher.  He has 2 female teachers, one he absolutely can't stand and the other he mildly tolerates.  I tried to get the truth out of him this morning, but no luck.  So his older sister ratted him out.  They were for a friend to give his girlfriend.  Don't know why the friend couldn't buy his own flowers, but that is so cute.  It makes me think of getting my first little Valentine gift from a boy in 6th grade.  He gave me a necklace with the smallest speck of what looked like a diamond.  I think we broke up like 2 weeks later.

Tonight D and I are going to a Naughty or Nice valentine's party.  I am so not a naughty person.  I have no idea what to take.  Maybe some of those fresh baked cookies?  Or some chocolates?  Or some little panties from the dollar store?

I'll think of something I guess...

busy days

Last week was full of appointments and errands and 2 birthdays.  This week looks worse.  Survival mode to say the least!