Sister Sanity!

Even though Jay had to leave the day before Thanksgiving, we managed to have a great day. We did have "Thanksgiving" the night before he left on his deployment. It was wonderful food. And it was so nice on Thanksgiving day to have just have leftovers and not have to stress about cooking. :>



It was so great having Elizabeth and the girls here. They were a great distraction and so much fun. It was really hard having them leave us today. We did try to talk them into staying with us, but no such luck. I think that Elizabeth may have found 8 kids a bit overwhelming. LOL. It was so good for them all to have the fun and distraction of each other.

I could not believe how fast the time went by. Luckily, having her around we got a lot done. The kids played, did crafts, ran around, made messes, and got us mommies up before the sun was even up. (little stink pots) We all went to see the the new 3-D Bolt movie. We were lucky that our friends Lauren and Phil once again stepped in and helped out. It was a little crazy at the movies, but no spilled drinks so that is excellent!! Since Lauren and Phil love my kids as much as my kids love them they came back and sat with the kids so that Elizabeth and I were able to get out to an adult movie. That was awesome and so fun.

While Elizabeth was here the twins, found all the Christmas presents. And I do mean all of them. Now this really is quite a feat as the closet itself is used only for storage and in order to unlock it they had to stack several bins to reach the key that was on the board above the door, and then use it to unlock the door. The key is one of those that is just a straight pin like thing and you have to hit the unlocking mechanism just right or it will not unlock. I struggle sometimes to get into this closet. But not my identical boys. (I am convinced that these two very spirited boys are a result of a MIL curse to Jay that he would get kids as fun and mischievous as him. Becuase we all know I was an angel. LOL.) So being the mean mom that I am I told them that I took all the presents back and if they were good I would consider buying some new ones. We emptied the closet after dark and wrapped them all. We showed the kids the empty closet and I have them hidden away behind many things so finding them this time should take at least three more weeks and then I am in the clear. :>

I also had another "mean" mommy moment. I got a call last week (just as we are heading into Thanksgiving vacation) that the Tanner and Hunter had gotten written up on the bus for being too physical with each other and not sitting on the bus. Which means, of course that they can be kicked off for the rest of the year. Okay, that would not be bad if all I had to do was drive up into the same circle I drop them off at in the morning. But it is not that easy. I would have to drag all the kids to the school, unload, go into the gym stand in the 1st grade line to show ID and sign out Hunter. Get into the 2nd grade line show ID and sign out Tanner and then go back outside, load back up and drive home. Well, that would get very old very fast. So I had them walk to school to see what it would be like. Now in order for that to happen I had to follow them in the car (I was not going to walk that far, I was not bad on the bus) which means no short cuts. After they had walked for an hour and gone 2.5 miles I let them get in and we drove the rest of the way 3.9 total miles. Every few minutes I would ask them if we were there yet, until we got to the school. I hope they got the point. :>

It was also so cute this morning as Elizabeth and the girls were getting ready to leave that Jayson and Nathan were so very sad and kept telling Aunt Elizabeth they were going to miss her. Then Tanner told me that we needed go to Utah for Christmas so we could see everyone. And after leaving the airport without them Bryan kept telling me that we needed to go back and get them again. I love that they love to have family around!!! So cute, at least they were not kicking them out the door.

Well, my friends have a great day!!!

Projects?

So I was lucky enough to finish the quilt for Jay to take with him on deployment. I was very frustrated because the iron ons that I used this time were not as good as some that I have used in the past. So I really need to find some good ones. If anyone has used some that are wonderful I am open to suggestions. The nice thing is that I just wanted him to be able to the kids with him and wrap in them every night. For the record though I am not a seamstress and these projects always stress me out.

Now this is my warning to everyone. I just bought these "new" kraft easy mac things for the kids to eat at lunch. I cooked one and had no problems. When I tried to do the next one you can see what happened. I had run out to the garage fridge to grab some more milk and smoke was streaming out of my microwave. I was so afraid that the sprinklers were going to go off but I got lucky. However, the house did smell like smoke for two days. I called Kraft and complained and let them know that there might be issues. And for the record, the kids love these silly things. So I will be buying them again. :> Oh the fun. Sleep well my friends.

Too much to do and not enough time!

I am sure that I am not alone with this one. Jay is currently in MN training for his deployment. Having him gone this week has been interesting. As you may know, since moving to Arizona he has been gone a lot more than usual. This really frustrates me becuase we were led to believe that this would not be the case. But really there is not anything we can do about it so we deal with it. Anyway, I think that knowing he is deploying has led me to look at my schedule and try to figure out ways to do things differently so that while he is away the kids will survive me. LOL. :> I have no answers yet, but hopefully soon. I am really good at trial and error so we will see what I come up with. I have also decided that the house needs some rearranging as the kids have gotten to where if I am upstairs they want to be down, if I am downstairs they want to be up. I currently allow no toys downstairs but I am thinking that I am going to have to change that so that I can keep my eyes on them a little better.

(This is Bryan and Cassie cleaning out the pond after they threw rocks and sand in it.) This is also one of their favorite things to do while mom is running (and I do mean running) to the bathroom.
I am not sure what it is, but when I am very busy and need to be very productive the kids are much more mischievous than "normal". The other day in order to get something done I put on a movie that was streaming from Netflix. I had Jay hook my computer up to the big screen TV so all the kids could watch it. As you can see from the picture the kids thought it was much more "cool" to watch the computer. They are such funny little people.

The other day I was trying to do too many things and everything that I touched or did was deleted, lost or destroyed. Not kidding. I was trying to get Christmas cards made and I spent hours on the computer and the site locked up and I lost it all. So then I was working on a Christmas present for Grandparents and again, spent three hours working and working..... only to have my computer lock up and lose it all. I had been hopeful that it would have saved since I had saved it at least once..... no not that lucky. :<

Tonight the kids got to break one of my big rules. No eating in front of the TV or on the coffee table. But since I was in the middle of one of our projects and the table was full they got to break the rules. I actually think they loved it. As you can see I could not even get their attention to take a picture. (well at least not all of them.)


In other news , I took Hunter back to the doctor today for his broken arm. It is healing nicely and he has been in a cast for five weeks now. However, the x-rays still showed the break nicely. The doctor did talk about putting him in a brace for three weeks. But once he remembered that I have five boys under 7 and I reminded him that I would much rather be "safe" than "sorry" he put him back in a cast for three weeks. Much better for me. This place is great for kids though because they get to choose their casts. Hunter chose this one so that he could be like "Daddy". It takes us 45 minutes to get to him so that is not an easy or quick trip for us. I did ask him if he would do preventative casts and just fully cast all of my kids for the next three months. LOL. He did chuckle about that one, however one of his nurses told me that would be considered child abuse. I am not sure if she was just having a bad day or if she could not tell that I was kidding.

Well my friends, since it is almost 1am I must head to bed. Or when that alarm goes off at 6 I will not be able to get up. Sleep well and have a fabulous Friday!!

From the mouths of Babes!

Dinner last night made me laugh so hard I was crying. Kids say the darnedest things. I made some Rhodes rolls yesterday. If you look at the picture, you can see exactly why my children thought the rolls looked like bums. Funny. My kids do not eat a lot of hamburger because they just don't really like it. However, it had been on sale so I bought quite a bit. In an effort to get the kids to eat it in casseroles(instead of just hamburgers ) I also purchased some hamburger helper. I set the table with the kids plates that included : rolls, hamburger helper, peas, and peaches. Nathan sits down and says, "Gross, what is this?" I tried to explain that it was hamburger casserole. He said , "It is poop, why would you make poop?" And with a very strange little look he confirms, "We are eating bums, and poop!"

Unfortunately, he did gross everyone but Tanner and himself out. They ate it and loved it. I think they actually thought it was great to gross everyone else out while eating it. But no one else would even try it. So I guess we will not be having hamburger helper at my house again. So for the record, I guess I fed my kids bums and poop for dinner. Gotta love it. Have a great day and many laughs!!!

Tough Weekend

We had a rough weekend here. I have never had a coffee table as I knew it was just an accident waiting to happen. Well recently I decided we were past the stage that I needed to worry about it. I was kindof excited that we could graduate and have one. Not a good idea with this many little ones. Bryan managed to trip. Head versus the coffee table. Unfortunately, Bryan did not win. So off to the ER we went. This is my second time at one particular ER here in town. It was miserable and I will not go back again. I will drive the extra 15 minutes to a different one. They decided he needed stitches (which did not surprise us). So they prepped him. This was after waiting 45 minutes to even talk to someone. I am amazed that they can decide which patients are the most critical when they don't even talk to you for 45 minutes. Unreal. Anyway, after waiting another 45 minutes a different doctor decides we just needed to be glued shut. (Are you kidding me, I could have done that myself) I was ticked. I have had to "super" glue the wound back twice already. :<> had to go to heaven already.
Despite the sad times we did have some nice relaxing times as well. The kids love to lay on Daddy and watch movies. We got Kung Fu Panda and the kids had a great time watchig it. We did also go to move to see Madagascar 2. That was a real adventure. We managed to only spill two 32oz drinks. Not bad. I honestly do not know how the second one missed the guy sitting in front of us but luckily it did. :> Have a fabulous Day, it is time to get back to the grind!

Happy Unbirthday!

Since the quads have to "share" everything we celebrate unbirthdays for them. We let them chose a treat of their choice on the day that they were released from the NICU to come home. It is kindof a fun way for them to have their special day without having to share with everyone. Jayson surprised us and was the 1st one released from the hospital. He started out the sickest with an unknown infection. He also had a hole in his heart but he still pulled past his sister and came home first. He, along with Nathan and Bryan, had to come home on oxygen. But not for long.


Two days later, Cassie came home. We thought she would be first but she liked to stop breathing during feedings so she had to wait her two week "probation". The following day Bryan was released and then finally Nathan. Bryan also surprised us. He contracted bacterial meningitis in the NICU and we almost lost him. We were very lucky that his nurse noticed something wrong immediately and he was able to be treated. It was a very scary ride in the NICU and we never knew what was going to come at us but we all survived and five years later you can see they are no worse for the wear. LOL.


As I was looking through pictures, I found these two great ones of the "older" boys. They were so very young when they got four new siblings. But you can see it did not seem to bother them, they did not skip a beat. So cute and funny!!! Have a fabulous day, my friends.

Bribery!!!

I cannot wait until these kids are all 16 and giving me a run for my money. I will pull out these pictures and use them to get just what I want!!!!

I found these at the grocery store on closeout from Halloween. It is amazing how simple things can bring hours of fun.

Ya know people are interesting. Having six kids this close in age has been an interesting ride. But one of the most frustrating things is how rude people can be. We are often times isolated, and made fun of. As the kids get older it is easier to go from Point A to Point B without all of the questions. Don't get me wrong I don't mind answering questions if people are polite and kind. But sometimes it is not that way. I was a little disappointed when one day last week a neighbor that barely knows us was extremely rude about my six kids. She only has two but that is plenty. I was so upset because she acted like we had some disease. But as the time has gone on I am just reminded how much of a miracle all of my children are. I remember three years ago I had Tanner and Hunter in a co-op preschool. It was Christmas time and they made homemade ornaments to hang on our tree. I cried and cried because I was so happy to have those precious little ornaments to hang. I was so afraid a few years earlier that I would never have something like that. I still have those ornaments and they still hang proudly on my tree each year. I also remember wanting so very badly to have little clothes to wash , fold, and put away. I now have a large amount of little people clothes and some days it does seem overwhelming to keep up with it all. And sure if I could have had my kids one at a time and been able to give them all their own "growing" up time I would have done that. But it was not meant to happen that way. One of comments we get a lot is God bless you. My response to that has always been the same. "He already has!!!" So to some it may seem that we have a disease but to those that really know us ,you know that what we really have is a great miracle!!! And I'll take that any day! Good night, my friends.

Gotta Love a Lazy Sunday!

Today was Stake Conference so we decided that we needed a "down" day. We stayed home and watched movies, rested, played, and just enjoyed each other. It was a great day. Now tomorrow is another story, I will be very busy cleaning and catching up after having today off. But it was worth it to just rest. Got to love the whole concept of a "day of rest". I could use one of those every other day.

You can tell that Jayson needs about a week of rest. I did not realize how tired he looked until I was looking at this picture tonight. I guess Halloween did him in too. LOL.


This is our friend and trusted sitter Lauren. You can see that the kids love her as much as she loves them. Cassie and Bryan have found a way to make a little extra Christmas money. Thanks Lauren for being a good sport!!! We do appreciate you!

We hope that you had a nice Sunday too. Sleep well our friends!!

A Haunting We Will Go!!!

Well I must say..... I am truly Halloweened out. We started at 6:30 am getting everyone ready for school. Jay took the older boys since it was Daddy Doughnut morning. Which worked out really well for me. I then got the other four in their costumes and ready for their parades at preschool. I barely made it in time. I dropped them off and then had to run and get stuff for their classroom parties. Back to the preschool, watch the parade and help with parties. Finally home we went. I was so excited and really looking forward to quiet or naptime. However ,it was just not in the cards for me. LOL.
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Instead it was time to go and meet the bus and the older boys. Then we got home looked through backpacks, confiscated candy (I know.... mean mom). Next came dinner and believe it or not it was time once again to get back into our costumes. I am still not sure where the time went all day. It truly kept getting away from me.


So off we go to trick or treat. We were very lucky to have our friends Lauren and Phil help us out.It was so fun to see how "grown up" the little ones have become. A year ago some of the houses would have scared the pants off of the kids and this year they were loving the "scary" houses. Of course, after getting home we had to go through the candy and some of it was re-halloweened (for those not familiar with this tradition you give it out to the kids that continue to trick or treat after we should all be in bed.:>) And then some went with Lauren and Phil and some is in the freezer. Amazing as it may seem they did not even ask for it today so I may be able to just get rid of it!!! Now that would be great.


Now I have a funny Tannerism. I was talking to Jay yesterday afternoon and Tanner kept interrupting. After the third time, I told him "Tanner, I am talking to Daddy not to you." He stops, looks at me and says, "Um, Awkward." I totally cracked up. Where do these kids come up with this stuff? I swear as much as they stress me out they offer such great comic relief how can you not love it!?!?!?!!? Sleep well my friends!!!