More Chaotic?!?!?!

I know that one might think that more chaos around our house is impossible. Not so!!! We are so very lucky to have Daddy home. He arrived on Saturday only about 40 minutes late. We are all so very happy to have him back with us again, that we are all bursting at the seams.
I had heard that the media was going to be at the airport on arrival to help greet our men and women..... so I was not going to drag all the kids into the airport. We usually end up getting "too" much attention anyway and we were coming directly from karate. I was not sure we were even going to make the 12:04 arrival (since we had to stop for balloons). However, we arrived a few minutes early and the kids were so excited. How do you tell the kids we are just going to sit in the van and circle the airport until he gets there? So we decided to brave the media and head into the airport. Plus, we thought it would be a nice surprise for Daddy since I told him we would just meet him out front.
I bravely dragged six kids and 11 balloons in the doors. (two balloons had already not survived the 20 minute drive to the airport so I was a little nervous. :>) We got into the airport only to discover the flight was delayed about 30 minutes. I was a little worried about how I would entertain six kids for 30 + minutes. But once again we did attract some media attention and the balloons were a life saver!!!
They had a screen set up so we could watch as everyone headed our direction. All we could intially see were feet. As people started getting off the plane the kids would search for Daddy's feet and each time they would sadly announce to anyone around that "those are not Daddy's feet." Then all of the sudden they found his feet. They could hardly contain themselves as they ran to greet him followed by cameras. One of the sweetest moments was when Bryan shouted out ,"Daddy, I missed you!" Too precious. While waiting for his bag we finished up some final interviews and headed home to Christmas.

I think that the kids unwrapped more of his presents than he did. It was a great time had by all and definately worth the wait.

The next several days have been so busy I am not sure where the time has gone. It is very interesting to me that now that there is an extra set of hands available that it just seems more crazy and chaotic. I have found this to be very true though each time that Daddy has a trip to go on. We seem to get into a pretty good groove but when that extra set of hands arrive it is like we all relax just a bit too much and it gets a bit crazy. I think that we are finally getting back into the groove again though so things hopefully will settle down a little more.

I was so excited for Tuesday as Jay had the day off and we were going to catch up on some projects around the house. I did/do have a nice "honey-do list" of things that I could not fix while he was gone. And I was lucky enough to have no appointments on the calendar except karate in the evening. But that was not to be our luck. The day started with us having to run Bryan to town for a hearing aide check. To which we discovered he had a lot of fluid on his ears so he needed to see his pediatrician. While in town I had to run Hunter to his ortho doctor to get a new cast. They one they had put on him last Friday was not as water proof as they thought it was going to be and we could not get it dry so his arm was breaking out in a rash.

While at the pediatrican we found out that Bryan does have fluid in his ears, however it had not gone into infection (which is the good news). Unfortunatley though, he had developed such congestion in his little head that his eyes were responding and his cough is not improving. We had to start breathing treatments twice- three times a day for 10 days. Not bad really. Since moving to AZ we have had to have the quads all on breathing treatments at different times. I am not sure if it is the air that is more dry and that aggrevates their symptoms, or if they have allergies that might make it worse. Cassie started with the horrible cough yesterday as well so she is also on breathing treatments. The nice thing is that they usually respond very well to these treatments and we see a huge improvement within days.


This time around Jayson and Nathan did not want to be left out of the fun so they got to have a treatment today too. Lucky ones. LOL>.

While Jay was gone I had to "tweek" our chore system a little. We had a chore wheel and each night the kids got one new chore. Dinner, trash, setting the table etc.... However, some nights I did not need help with dinner or there was no vacuuming that had to be done and they would be very upset. So I changed that and along with their chores of making beds, putting clothes in the bin for the next day...... they have their "fun" chore that lasts all week now. They love it. Last week Cassie got to make dinner every night and Bryan was in charge of garbage. The night we had eggs Hunter took me aside and whispered to me ,"I just thought you should know that you left egg shell in the scrambled eggs." I told him that Cassie had done it on accident and that she was just learning. He took her aside and told her "that she left egg shell in the eggs but that was okay and she would get better." How sweet is that?

As a reward, if they get all of their chores done and they don't break the rules and end up in time out they can earn "game" time each night. They average between 20-40 minutes a night. It works pretty well so that I can be doing homework with some while the others are entertained and not tearing the house apart. We will see how long this system works. I have found that I have to "tweek" each system every few months. They sure do keep me on my toes!!! Well my friends I think that is the week in a very quick or not so quick nutshell. We have a fun weekend planned of karate lessons, park visits and the pinewood derby for Tanner. I will get more pictures and update again soon. We hope you all have a fabulous day!! Sleep well.

One Word!?!

One Word (hard)

I saw this on Ruth's blog and thought it would be fun to try.
It is a lot harder than one might think. Give it a try.

1. Where is your cell phone? charger
2. Your significant other? gone
3. Your hair? red
4. Your mother? friend
5. Your father? hardworking
6. Your favorite thing? laughter
7. Your dream last night? chaos
8. Your favorite drink? Diet Mtn Dew
9. Your dream/goal?Survival
10. What room you are in? Loft
11. Your hobby? cleaning
12. Your fear? loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? settled
14. Where were you last night? home
15. Something that you aren't? skinny
16. Muffins? poppyseed
17. Wish list item?vacation
18. Where you grew up? Utah
19. Last thing you did? clean
20. What are you wearing? pj's
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? lazy
23. Friends? strong
24. Your life? busy
25. Your mood? content
26. Missing someone? always
27. Your car? bus
28. Something you're not wearing? socks
29. Your favorite store? Fry's
30. Your favorite color? green
31. When is the last time you laughed? today
32. Last time you cried? today
33. Who will add this to their blog? Elizabeth
34. One place that I go to over and over?kids school's
35. One person who emails me regularly? mom
37. One place you would like to go right now? Hawaii
38. One person who really gets you? Mom
39. One TV show you watch all the time? Bachelor
40. One thing you cannot live without? Kids

So my friends, let's see what your answers might be. Please share so we can learn a little more about you. Sleep well. And have a fabulous weekend!!

Who would have thought?!?!?!

Not me that is for sure. Today the kids had the day off from school in rememberance of Martin Luther King Jr. My neighbor and I decided that since it was going to be near 80 degrees we should go and do something fun.

We started by heading to Chick Filet. With her three kids and my six we were nearly the entire lunch population at the restaurant. Now, I am used to being stopped and questioned by good intentioned people, however today was a bit different. Of course, people wanted to know if they were ALL min. But luckily my response today was , " No, only six of them." Which seemed so "normal" to me. However, the look of complete and utter shock on people's faces when they reaffirmed my answer of "only six" made me laugh. I guess that is my "normal".

Next, we were off to the Tucson Zoo. After living here for a year and a half, we figured it was about time. It was small enough that it worked okay with only two adults to nine kids. LOL. Actually, the kids all did great and had a great time.

When we were in Utah last year, my sister in law and I took the quads and her two kids to the zoo. (Tanner and Hunter were camping with the grandparents.) Just as we got to the elephant exhibit they decided to do their "potty business". So naturally that stuck with the kids. You would have thought that was the only thing they saw that entire day. As soon as we got in the gate today they wanted to head off to the elephants to see if we could see it again. Aren't kids great?!?!?!?

Well it would have been nice if this was the end of the story.........But, that was not to be our luck today. We came home and "rested" and enjoyed snuggle time on the couch while watching a movie. We had just finished cleaning up and had headed into make dinner, play outside, and get our playstation reward time. Hunter and Bryan and done a great job of cleaning up the downstairs and were outside playing while the others finished up. I heard the horrible sound of true pain as Hunter came running in the house. As a parent you get used to the many different types of cries, and hollers, and I knew this one was not a good one. :<

Yes, he did it again. He was playing on the monkey bars and apparently one of them has worked a little loose. As he went to grab it, it was slippery and it moved. He fell and caught himself wrong. Since he has just recovered from a broken arm, I knew he knew what it felt like. So I called my neighbor and she came and sat with the kids while we headed off to the ER. Five hours later we arrived home. Good little man. He has a very high tolerance for pain and was charming all the nurses. The good news....... it is his left arm this time instead of the right, so it should not affect his school work, and they did not have to put him to sleep to set it. I will call our "favorite" ortho doctor tomorrow and hopefully we will have a "true" cast on it by Friday. But how do you tell the karate instructor that after just starting back again that we are going to have to take another six weeks off?

Perhaps I should write a book. This is stuff you honestly cannot make up. However, we did have a great day and we survived!!! Sleep well my friends. :>

Solution!!!

So this week the door that the kids get out of everday decided to malfunction(BREAK) from indoors. At first I just thought that the kids had locked the kid lock...... but I was sorely mistaking. It will open from the outside but not the inside. Not really a problem , at least the kids cannot escape. However, when I drop the kids off at school each morning, I cannot park and go around to let them out....... it will take too long and I will get honked at. Also, having them climb over the passenger seat takes too long.

I can hear something broken or loose in the door. I tried to take the door apart but must be missing some screws somewhere and I would hate to break the door completely. But Jay is my McGyver, so I cannot see any reason to take it to the shop and be charged an arm and a leg (possibly even a child) to fix it since if all goes as planned he will be home within a week or so.

So my friends, my solution to my problem. LOL. I took the passenger seat out and it is now sitting in the garage. :> Quite ingenious, at least that is what I think. It was much harder than one might think though. It took me 45 minutes to get that silly thing unbolted from the floor and out the door. My neighbor walked by and I think he thought I was someone breaking into my van since it was after dark. He actually scared me to death as I was so very focused on my project. He was going to help but "knows nothing about how to remove the seat or tools." No big deal because I CAN CONQUER A SEAT!!!! And I must say it is working nicely. However, we now have no room for anybody else to ride with us. Poor Daddy, his "honey do" list just keeps getting longer and longer. This is Nathan. He made my heart glow this week. Every night I tuck them in and then before I actually go to bed I go back in and tuck them back in and make sure that everyone is okay. The other night as I was tucking Nathan back in he woke up just a little. I kissed his cheek as I covered him back up and said, "I love you." His response, "I know!" What a great thing. I long everyday for my kids to know that I love them and some days as I get tired and worn out I worry that I don't portray that very well. But this was a nice reminder that even though I am not always the most patient, kind, or even nice mom that I would like to be at least my kids "know I love them."

Sleep well my friends, and don't forget to let everyone know you "love them."

My Karate Crew

Aren't they cute? I started these two in Karate at the beginning of October. They had started when Hunter broke his arm. He was not able to participate until the arm was all healed so he started back after the holidays. They both love it. I had them going once a week but they enjoyed it so much that I have started them going twice a week now.

I have to say that my kids are some of the best sports. As Tanner and Hunter are in class we sit in the van, eat dinner, and watch the tv. They do not complain, as you can see they even smile about it. This is one of the challenges of being a single parent. The kids are just a little too little for me to drop them off and be comfortable about not sitting in the parking lot to make sure that they do not leave with a stranger, and the quads have just a little too much(okay the actual truth is they have a lot too much) energy to sit quietly in class and watch for an hour. So this is the best I can come up with.

We do have a pretty good system going though. They are bathed and in their jammies before he leave so when we get home we only have to brush our teeth, and read our stories while the older two are showering and then we still make it into bed either on time or really close to it. The sad news about that is it has taken me many "trial and error" tries to actually get it right. LOL.

Have a great day my friends!!!

Activity for Daddy!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What a Week or would it be Weak?!?!?!?

Happy Birthday Again Tanner!!!!!

So it was our first full week back to school after two glorious weeks off. No homework, no schedules, no early wake-ups, and no extra-curricular activities. So we struggled a bit. We ran all week long and we just feel very excited to have survived it all. Tanner got to celebrate his birthday with his classoom on Wednesday and that was fun for him. You can tell he is the life of the party. Cute , smart kid. And we all know he gets that from his mother. LOL.

It was a busy week , just trying to get back into the groove of it all. The kids really struggle with school starting so very early so by the middle of the week they do not like me and I usually feel the same way about them. But we made it through and even laughed.

But this story of Cassie amazed me and brought tears to my eyes. We had just gotten home from karate on Tuesday night. It was dark outside (which the kids do not see much of since they are usually in bed). However, she was the last one out of the van and just stood staring into the sky, and then she said, "I sure do miss you Daddy." It was as though she could feel his presence or somehow she knew he would be looking at the same sky. If we had be discussing him it would not have been such a unique experience but it truly came from no where but right down deep from her heart. Precious.

Sleep well my friends!!

Just Say Cheese!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Need I say More? School Starts tomorrow!!! Yea, sleep well my friends.

Too Cute!!!

As I was trying so hard to find a great picture of Tanner as an infant (which is not hard to find if you can find the file. :>) He was a gorgeous baby!!! (I promise to post some when I can access them). Anyway, I ran across this picture. This is when we lived at Edwards, CA. Jay was in the Test Pilot program so once again, time with daddy was a precious thing. He was doing so much studying to be at the top of his class that he was "really using" his glasses. The boys found some and wanted to "look just like Daddy". Too bad we cannot just bottle the little ones up and keep them at this cute, safe, moment!! Right before Jay left to Iraq we had our "annual" birthday photos of the kids taken. This is Jay's least favorite day of the year. It usually results in someone spilling something on someone right before a picture is taken and at least one of the kids in tears. This year I decided to try and do it a little differently. I found a great photographer in our area that met us a the park and took pictures of the kids there. They got to run around and she went crazy with the pictures. We got some good ones but definitely not the conventional pictures. However, I think she captured true personalities. But she also put together this collage for Jay to take with him so that he could have the kids with him while he was half way across the world. It is gorgeous and brings tears to my eyes when I see it. So I have to share.


Have a great weekend, my friends!!!!

Tanner's 8th Birthday

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It is so very hard to believe that this little man is 8 years old. Wow, how fast time goes by. I was going to post a picture of when he was a baby and a current picture, however, I am having some struggles accessing the photos on Daddy's computer. So it will have to wait until later.

I do think that Tanner had a great day though. It was busy. We opened presents, went to Chuck E. Cheese, had cake, went next door and jumped in their bounce house (since our new one has not arrived yet ) played some playstation, read stories , bathed and now we (not me) are sleeping soundly!!! It makes me tired just thinking about it all. I think the best part for Tanner was when his Daddy called right before bed.

Happy Birthday my little Man. We love you very much and we are so happy that you are part of our family!!! You make us complete!!!