New Days Ahead

This is the week I was going to relax and enjoy my family, but manage to accomplish a few major tasks. So far, so good. Christmas Day was very exciting! Four happy kids, a shiny tree, and all the other makings of a Norman Rockwell painting. We had loads of excitement filling the air and toys everywhere. We spent the following day taking down the decorations, mainly because mom was tired of picking them up, and cleaning up the house. The kids were angels who disappeared to play with their new toys. Mostly, we've slept a little later, played more video games, and just slowed down all together. It's been a much needed hiatus.

Our major accomplishment has been getting Bubbie potty-trained. We went cold-turkey and told him that only babies wear diapers and pull-ups. He is now a big boy and must wear underwear. The first day, he ran downstairs to tell us that he had put his poopy in the potty. Eric and I stared at each other in disbelief...it couldn't be this easy! Come to find out, he had gone in his underwear, picked up the little package, and put it in the potty. Technically, he did as we asked. After explaining the procedure in a bit more detail, he got the idea. He's been doing it right ever since, excluding one accident. It's amazing how easy it is to only have two kids in diapers now!! Yippy! Unbeknownst to the little twins, the passy-nazi is coming to visit next!!

After taking down the tree trimmings, I rearranged the living room in a new fashion it has never before seen. Eric is reluctantly going along with it, while I feel like I'm in a totally different house. I'm sure I'll get tired of it and move it again, but for now it's a nice change of scenery.

This going to be "Our Year." Eric and I have decided that we have been so focused on surviving, that this year we're going to get our lives back in order. I've been working hard to maximize our budget. Having one more out of diapers will help. We have a savings goal to reach and when we get there, we're going to get a bedroom suite. I've always wanted Eric and I to have a nice bedroom that we could retreat to after a crazy day. I'm hoping to have it by our eleventh anniversary. Got to start saving away!!

This is starting to sound like a generic New Year's Resolution list...

I am going to go to the gym more. Not necessarily for my physical health (even though that's a plus), but for my mental health. It's so good to get the blood flowing all the way up to the brain!

On a different note, God's really laying things on my heart that he's got big plans for our family as long as we trust and obey Him. We're at a point with our kids that we must choose to fully devote our lives and follow Him. Mom's do a lot of what I like to call "behind the scenes" work. We constantly pray for our kids, devote our lives to making sure their needs are met, run the home, take care of the man of the house. I believe God made moms as special unique beings created for this purpose. However, when a mom chooses to devote her life to God and her family is raised up by a woman who fears the Lord, then there are no boundaries to how much blessing will be poured out from above. Not to say they will endure no hardships. God doesn't promise us an easy life. He just promises to never leave us in this life. Everything we endure is for a reason. I am thankful for all the things I've endured in this life because it has taught me compassion, faithfulness, and to be humble. God is so good. I hope to truly devote my life and my time to growing in His grace this next year. I hope my family will reap the rewards.

So here we go...into 2009. Seems like just yesterday we were rolling into a new millennium!

Merry Christmas!

I've been a baking fool today. The house smells WONDERFUL ...for once! We've got cakes, cookies, fudge, and everything in between. And I've only left out two ingredients so far!

The kids have been pleasant and we're all enjoying some much needed pajama days. We're all hanging out in our flannels, watching too much t.v., and everything else that good mommies don't let you do. I will say I can't wait to take down the Christmas tree! My little OCD Pods insists that all similar ornaments must be hung together on the tree. We have a candy cane section, ball section, etc. Little Big E prefers the ornaments to be on the floor. Thank goodness for the plastic balls!

I'm looking so forward to the chaos of Christmas morning this year! The kids are finally old enough to be excited and understand what's going on. I almost feel the same excitement as I did when I was a kid! So much fun! I've already cut all of the wires that keep children from removing their toys from the boxes and inserted batteries. Everything is ready to go!

Since I probably won't be back until after Christmas, have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the day with your friends and family. If you don't have any, come join us. We've got plenty to share! Merry Christmas!!

Christmas is Coming!

Wow! A whole week's gone by since I was last here. This year, I decided that I was going to let things go around here and enjoy doing Christmas projects with the kids. I always have these great plans of decorating cookies, reading stories, lighting up the neighborhood with our house, etc. Somehow the busyness of the season always seems to take over. Not this year. All Christmas shopping was done before Halloween, except for a handful of little things. You wouldn't believe the load that takes off! Decorations were put up right after Thanksgiving. We've just been enjoying time together. We've painted ornaments, read Christmas stories, and sang Christmas carols. I built a gingerbread house and Miss Pods took over the decorating. I iced the roof and she did the rest all by herself. I thought she did a good job for a five year old! Thanks to Anita for all of the decorating tips! :) We drove around and looked at lights. Frijole Man had to tell us about every light bulb he saw. Bubbie and Pods wanted to go home.

Oh, and Thursday night was our first Girl's Night Out in MONTHS!! We had a great time celebrating all of the Mrs. December's birthdays!! Especially, Mrs. Cristy! Doesn't she look FABULOUS for 50?? Just kidding... she is one hot 40 year old!! Sorry boys, she's taken. :) And when they kick you out of the restuarant where else is there to go but Big Lots? ;)

On Friday night, Eric and I had our first date in months. We decided to go all out, so we ventured out to the "ICE" exhibit at the Gaylord. Amazing!, but freezing! Something to see. We are planning to take the kids out there later this week and try and get a picture for the annual cards. Our first attempt was a failure.

Pods and I went to see The Nutcracker today. We've done this every year since she was two. It was beautiful! Always a treat!

This week will be consumed with school parties and programs. The count down to Santa's arrival is beginning...I've already had to pull out the old "Santa doesn't come to naughty kid's houses. Remember on Polar Express!" Eleven days to go and threats already fill the air!

I must say, I am thrilled that we haven't had all of the usual illnesses that plague our bunch this time of year! It has been such a blessing to have healthy kids! I used to keep charts of who got what meds and breathing treatments and when. Explains some of my nuttiness! Hopefully, this will be an easier winter!

Party Time

Today is, regretfully, a very good day for blogging. I must begin on a positive note. Yesterday was a great day! We went to Gabby's and destroyed her house. Then, she retaliated by loading the kids up with sugar and sending them home with me. On the way home, we drove through a local nativity scene, or an "activity scene" as Pods would call it. Everyone got home and took a quick bath and hit the bed. What a day!
1:45 a.m. changed all of that. I woke up with a flash. My stomach felt awful! You know, when you want it to either go up or down, just go! I started analyzing what this could be. Stomach virus, Griff's burger, antibiotic, time of the month?? Whatever it was, I was going to die right there. Well, I might as well do something useful, so I started thinking of future blog topics. I
stayed in bed like this until 6:15 a.m., when the party got started. There was a loud crash from the floor above. All sorts of noises were coming from "their room" upstairs. When I reached the top of the stairs, their light was on and they were having a party. My intent was to open the door, put them back to bed, and turn off the light at the ceiling fan so we didn't have a repeat. Of course, my plans never work. As I reached in to turn the light off, down the stairs they went. Ughhh! They were wired. I decided it was Sunday morning and I would not be getting up a moment before 8:00 am. I've paid my dues, now I'm going to get some rest. I tried to get them to lie down with me, but that was pointless. Big E had bigger plans like seeing what was cooking in the oven for him.
Finally, I got all of the little restless rascals in my bed and still. And wouldn't you know it? The little kid with a bad hiney rash released his bowels. I had to go over all of the other kids to get to him. So much for keeping them still. I got up, turned on the t.v., gave them some chocolate milk, and went back to bed. They did not get breakfast until 8:15. Stinkers!
There were about a million other things that happened this day that I was going to blog about, but it's been 24 hours and I have, thankfully, forgotten the rest of the chaos that happened. There will be more to come...you can be sure of it.

Let it be known that anyone (ie. grandparents, friends, family, anyone breathing) who loads my child (ren) up with sugar will be forced to keep them until they have finished detox.

Wisdom from the Wild Side

1. Never wax your eyebrows with children within 500 feet. If I happen to see you out, it's okay to pretend you don't know me. I'll understand.

2. Pick up the phone and signals are sent to children's brains telling them it's time to act like monsters.

3. Two year old boys are capable of anything they put their little minds to...and they must prove it.

4. Don't buy anything new because it instantly moves to the top priority on the "Must be Destroyed" list.

5. Get hugs and kisses everyday, because soon they probably won't even acknowledge your presence.

Water, Water Everywhere!

"I'm the one!"

Well, I'm a bit behind on my blogging. Here's the follow-up to the last entry.

I had company coming, the house had been hit by three little tornadoes full of testosterone, and I was supposed to be out of town the next day. The phone rang and it was Eric who was on the road. All of the boys were watching Elmo. Maybe I could talk to my hubby for a few minutes?? Nah. Big E escaped upstairs without me even noticing. After I hung up the phone, I heard it raining again. It had been raining all morning. However, this time the rain seemed a bit more, shall I say, "in the same room?" I thought maybe one of the boys had opened the front door to watch it. As I left the living room, I noticed it was raining in our dining room. How lovely! In the blink of an eye, I was up the stairs and turning off the over-flowing sink faucet in the kid's bathroom upstairs. What is it with Big E and water? There had better be a swimming scholarship in that kid's future! And with his ADD issues, he might just be the next Michael Phelps...or Joe the plumber.

It wasn't as deep as the last episode. This time it did involve two rooms and a ceiling. Hopefully, we'll get this latest project completed soon. Eric and I are becoming quite the home improvement guru's. We might even have our own show someday.

And yes, the door now has a child-proof lock on it. We'll find out if it's Big E proof...