Ha Ha Ha!

Click over to my sister's blog. You'll love it.
*Warning* Swallow any liquid in our mouth, first!

How Come

It takes 20 minutes to get all the snow gear on them, but only 5 minutes for them to get cold?!

Baby sicky day

JoJo laid at the top of the steps whining today. I just let him lie, because I had 3 others to get to school. As soon as they were out the door I went to get him. He had little tears streaked down his cheeks. I picked him up, hugged him and kissed him, brought him down stairs and set him down. He laid right back down on the floor.

I picked him back up and put him into my bed- on daddy's pillow! He snoozed on and off there until noon, when he finally decided to get up. I wish he was still in bed. Now he is whining at my left elbow, going in and out of my office, and basically making me batty. He was supposed to be at "school" (daycare) today so I could work. See how well that is working out?! He doesn't have a fever, but he has that metallic fever smell and his heart beat is just crazy-fast. He isn't pulling on his ears, he doesn't have swollen glands. What he has is general malaise and chronic whinitis!

Organizatin 101

Not that I am super organized- but I do try.

Here are a few of my best nuggets for a sane household.

My kids are 101/2, 8 1/2, 7, 5 1/2, and 3. Sanity is a must!

The entry for instance:

This is the first stop in the door. each kid has their own and Sebastian and I share. The baskets on top hold stuff like beach/pool towels, AWANA books and vests, Bibles, library books, etc. The bins below are for shoes.

They look good now, because all the kids are at school. Sometimes, though, I scoop everything out of the bench area to the floor and say "Fix that, please."

These are the little catch-all bins on the top. Notice the color coded names?

Or maybe Laundry:

These are the sorting bins. Everyone is responsible to get the laundry from their room and the bathroom down and sorted by Sunday night. Monday Mornings these are heaped over the top.

The labels are easy enough for the non literate 3 and 5 year olds.And of course these were the largest noncommercial units we could fit in our budget. I love them. They go with me if I ever move.

The bath towels and dishes are even color coded!

These ones have recently been downgraded to picnic/camping dishes.

Why Do I Own Sharpies???

I have a stash of sharpie markers. I consider them an absolute necessity for running my home.
Sebastian HATES them. He goes on a search and (almost) destroy mission when he sees my box out.

"Why do you even own these?!?!?!" He will ask through clenched teeth.

(Huh, there used to be more. Office Depot, here I come!)

Here is why I own sharpies:

• Because I like 'em! I have a slight office supply fetish.


• Because every child in our house has an assigned color (toothbrush, towel, dishes, etc.) and if I can't get it in their color I can at least write it in their color. They all learned to read and spell their own names through color association.
  
• Because all socks at our house- except for the mom and dad ones- are marked on the sole with an initial. You can't do that with color crayon or ball point pen! It makes matching all those white (the principal color) socks much easier.


• Because I have 2 girls who are the same size and insist on matching- but "We're NOT twins!" I label a lot of their clothes with an initial on the tag.
  
• Because at the beginning of the school year EVERYTHING (including your kid's left butt cheek) needs to be signed or labeled.


• Because the micro tip ones are perfect for signing your credit/debit cards- again, way better than ball point!


• Because when my kid comes home from school saying, "Oh, Mom, tomorrow is Western Day at school. I wanna dress up." I can whip up a couple of these babies!

Front

Back

Notice the fine "stitching"

Check out the limerick contest

http://www.ohmydad.com/2008/01/22/limerick-contest/

Also, check back for the voting- so you can vote for me!!!!!

Especially For Lee Ann

Dining Room



I tried to install my printer which will just upload my pictures straight to "my pictures", but alas, there is something wrong with the full feature driver. I had to install the software that goes with my camera and take the long way around the problem. Here you go, Lee Ann.
The Last ones are Jonah being cute because I got my camera out.

I'm Ba-ack (Almost)!

Ah, so close I can feel it. That's because I keep bumping my left elbow on it. As I sit here and type, my left elbow brushes against the tower of my computer. Yes, that's right! All fixed up. So, be looking for pictures of my dining room- and maybe the bedroom too- as soon as tomorrow! I'm going to bed now, but I expect to pack a full day of computer time in tomorrow. I will have to work first, but I'm sure there are a lot of Adventures in Odyssey for me to catch up with while I do.
Until tomorrow, blogging friends!

Wee Hours Fun

Here's something for the inner foodie in all of us- especially you, Cookie!

The Pink Cake Box

Brain Fart

I was so prepared yesterday! I was so proud of myself! I got dinner ready and then got the kids to swim lessons right on time- uh, make that a half hour early.
The original plan was make dinner, go to swim, come home and eat, then go to church. In reality it went something like this:
"Ok, kiddos! get in the car we have to go to swim... NOW!"
"Ma'am, your kids are in our next class."
"Uh...Ok. Sit down. Stop running. Take your toes out of the water. "
"Mom, I'm Bored. And since I had to take a shower to get into the pool, I'm cold."
"I know, baby."
"Hey, sit down. You too, and you!"
"Mom, how much longer?"
"15 minutes."
"No, baby, you have to sit on mommy. I don't want you to fall in."
"Hey, sit down. No. Stop."
"Mom, how much longer?"
"Um, 5 minutes."
"That's no so long, is it mom?"
"No."
"Okay, I need Elizabeth, Caleb, and Abigail!"
"Okay, Jesse, Over here!"
Swim, swim, swim
"Ok guys go get changed and hurry because we still have to eat!"
"Mom! Mom! Hey Mom! I can't find my underwear!"
"I know, you dropped it out here."
"Well could you bring it to me?"
"Uh, no, that's the men's locker room. Come get it."
"I'm already naked!"
"Never mind. Girls? Are you ready? Hurry please!"
"Ok, mom. I'm ready. I just went commando."
"Great. Here take these. Girls, I'm leaving!"
RUN to the car!
Eat dinner as fast as ravenous wolves.
Find AWANA books and vests.
Drive (a little) too fast to church.
Whew. Only 15 minutes late!

Ok, so I learned that dinner has to be before swim on Tuesdays, and I should bring a snack for the ride to church!

Ahh, Finally!

The kids have been asking me when it was going to snow. They really wanted to have white Christmas. I had to break thier poor hearts and tell them that I couldn't make it snow for them in December at all. I told them it would snow in January. Boy, will they be happy when they wake up and see that I kept my promise!

Why Am I So Tired

I can barely open my eyes in the morning before 10 am. I know this is not normal. I also know the cause.
I have always been a night owl. In high school and college I could easily pull off an all nighter at least once a week.
Lately, though, this night owl thing is getting out of hand.
Last night I went to Linens-n-things, out to Target, and grocery shopping- and I didn't even leave my house until 8 pm. I can defend the grocery shopping because the only thing in my fridge was condiments- literally. If grocery shopping was all I had done I could have been in bed by 11 pm. In reality it was more like 1am. I HAD to leave, though, because I have been building up to a seriously Bad Mom Day- and I was about to blow! I took a mini vacation. I feel better today- but tired.
I don't think there were more than two nights over Christmas break that I was in bed before midnight. I have been seriously sleep deprived for the last 2 weeks.
But here's the real problem. After the kids (and my husband) go to bed I go on line and read blogs and write posts for mine! This is VERY time consuming. But the house is so peaceful and quiet. I just want to read one more blog and savor all this quiet a little longer....

P.S. Even "today" has already magically turned into "tomorrow".

Check it out!

You (or your kids) can now check out what my kids are up to at The Family Tree!

What, Oh What, Have I Done?!?!

I have always prided myself that I was one of the few moms in the world whose kids had unscheduled time from 3:30 to 6:00 pm. The extent of our involvement in after school activities has always been just AWANA. I could justify that because A) It's church, #2) I remember it as being a lot of fun, and Lastly) they all did it together.
Just yesterday I had my kids pretested for swim class which starts next week. After the test I ENROLLED four of them in the appropriate classes. Then I came home and started filling in my calendar for January. I do keep a master schedule for my family on the kitchen wall.
Oh boy! Tuesday now looks like this:
7:00 am Jesse leaves for school.
8:40 am Caleb and Elizabeth leave for school.
8:45 am Abigail, Jonah, and Mommy leave for Mops.
12:45 pm Abigail, Jonah, and Mommy come home from Mops, eat lunch, take naps, fold laundry....
2:40 pm Jesse comes home from school. Start the daily homework struggle (I get mad as he stalls. I get madder, he stalls more....).
3:30 pm Caleb comes home from school. Libby goes to rock climbing club.
4:30 pm Pick Libby up from rock climbing club.
5:00 pm Take kids to swim lessons.
5:30 pm Rush home to change, eat dinner.
6:30 pm Rush to AWANA.
7:00 to 8:15 pm Veg at my computer, go on a date with my husband, or run errands.
8:30 pm Pick up kids from AWANA and scoot them home for a snack and bed.
What, oh what, have I done.

At least this is the way it will be for January. Libby will be done with rock climbing club at the end of the month- but there is always the chance that Caleb could be drawn for a slot in the next session of it. In February I will try to get Monday-Wednesday lessons instead of Tuesday-Thursday.

Oh well. I want them to swim this summer. I said it myself!

New Year's Resolutions I Think I Can Keep

• I vow to feel guilty at least twice a month for going to Starbucks when I could have made my coffee for MUCH cheaper at home.
• I vow to be irrational at least once a month. I vow to cry for no apparent reason and then lose my cool when my husband tells me I am being silly.
• I vow to feel bad after I keep the second resolution.
• I vow to lose my temper with one of my kids at least 3 times a week.
• I vow to kiss that child and feel very sorry when I am done.
• I vow to mindlessly pop at least one thing with WAAAY too many calories into my mouth at least once a day.
• I vow to vow that I won't do that again the next day.
• I vow to break that last vow every day.
• I vow to waste all sorts of time blogging and reading all of your blogs.
• I vow not to feel bad about that one at all!

Happy New Year!

May the joy of the Lord fill your lives for the next year and for all of eternity!