Super Woman Has Left the Building

Remember my "Things To Do Before Baby is Born" list from January? I have revised it. I took off the things I have gotten done and added a few more things that I want to get done before she/he is born.

1. Go through kids’ wardrobes- get rid of extra clothes and shoes that don’t fit or they don’t wear
2. Totally baby proof the house (so that Baby Girl doesn't get into as much mischief)
3. Clean out the van- clutter, vacuum, Armor All, tires, outside of van
4. Have my garage sale
5. Send dh and kids out of town for a weekend so I can clean and declutter entire house
6. Arrange for house cleaning in last months before baby and few months after baby
7. Cook and freeze lots of meals for month after baby is born
8. Buy new infant car seat
9. Stock up on diapers (newborn, sz1, sz2)
10. Bottles (3 or 4)
11. Plan and stock an “emergency bag” for the car- snacks, water, extra clothes, extra diapers and wipes, toys, blanket, money, etc.
12. Make appointments for hair cut, highlight, wax, manicure, and pedicure for April
13. Plan birth announcements- shop for them
14. Buy birthing/exercise ball
15. Buy/choose 2 books to read after baby is born
16. Finish birth plan
17. Agree with dh on a girl name and a boy name
18. Clean up and organize my desk

Yesterday at noon I got dd12 from school because she had a fever. This morning we went to the dr. and she has...the flu! Plus, an ear infection and a sinus infection. Taking her to the dr. and all that was involved (carrying sleeping Baby Girl for part of the time, then wrestling her in the exam room) and then going to Wal Mart in the freezing cold wind to drop off prescriptions completely wore me out. I came home and crashed on the couch for 2 hours. Of course, I didn't get to sleep much, but I got to rest. That was good. I am just so tired today. A lot of my new to do list will probably get delegated. : )

Today

I walked out of the living room to go make my bed, and when I walked back through the house, I found these 2 little rascals in my kitchen! Ds4 was fascinated by the balloons and Baby Girl was just trying to find some candy!

I have another list today. It is a short, easy one. My lists are getting shorter and easier as time goes by. I am tired today and I want to sleep.

Things To Do Today:
1. Catch up on laundry (fold and put away all clean laundry, wash wet sheets and blankets from bedwetters last night)

2. Get sheets back on beds

3. Take a nap with ds4 and Baby Girl

4. Clean up my bedroom for 15 minutes

5. Clean up my bathroom for 15 minutes

6. Chick fil A for lunch

7. Make a plan for my days Baby Girl and ds4 are driving me crazy and they need more structure

**I made the plan**

Here it is:

8:00 Breakfast and kitchen cleanup (we get back from taking kids to school right at 8)
8:30 Make bed, switch laundry, kids play inside while I fold and put away one load of laundry, put dinner in crockpot (if I'm using the crockpot that day)
9:00 Read 1 story to kids, then play with them inside or talk a walk around the block or run errands
10:00 Give kids their baths, then computer time for Mommy while they watch a cartoon
11:00 Kids watch Sesame Street while Mommy listens to Revive Our Hearts
11:30 Lunch
12:00 Naptime
2:00 Snack, then go get kids from school

To My Husband

Tomorrow morning if you wake up and the sun does not appear
I will be here
If in the dark, we lose sight of love
Hold my hand, and have no fear
'Cause I will be here
I will be here
When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind, I will listen
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to crying
Through the winning, losing and trying
We'll be together
I will be here

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I will be here
Just as sure as seasons were made for change
Our lifetimes were made for years
So I will be here
I will be here
And you can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we're older
I will hold you
And I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me

--Steven Curtis Chapman

Happy Valentine's Day!



















We are having a great day! Dh is here and we are enjoying spending some time with him before he flies out to St. Louis this evening. We took the kids' lunches to school (I had to pack special Valentine's Day goodies in their lunchboxes and it took a while, so we took their lunches to them at 11), then we went to lunch at Chili's. After that, we went to the twins' school parties. When we got home and checked the mail there was a letter from ds6#2. It was a Valentine's card he made at school and mailed to us. So cute!

I have decorated the kitchen with red streamers and pink balloons. I thought it would be fun to have a special Valentine's dinner for the kiddos. They LOVE balloons and, in their opinions, if there are balloons, it is a party!! I tied two balloons on the front porch post also. Of course, my neighbors will think we've had the baby early and it's a girl. Until they see me waddling out to the van, that is.

This morning when I got back from taking the kids to school there was a piece of paper stuck in the handle of the glass door. It was a love letter from my sweetheart. It is the sweetest letter I have gotten in a very long time.

My Love Letter

"To my Valentine, Julie. My wife forever. My love forever. I love you as much as chicken pot pie. I love you as much as ice cream. I love you as much as chocolate. I love you as much as looking on realtor.com. I love you more than you even know.

I just wanted to stop and write you a note, on this LOVE day, to tell you how much I love you. For all that you've been, for all that you are, and all that you will be- I love all of you.

You're a gift from God, who has helped me make decisions that are heavenly sound. You're special to me and I thank God that he chose you for me. I love you more than you can imagine.

My prayer for us on this special day:
God, thank you for my wonderful friend, partner, and lover. You have blessed me in a way that I can't thank you enough. Thank you for my wife, thank you for all that she adds to my life. Please protect her when I'm not around, keep her safe, and help her to always know that I love her- no matter what.

I love you."

My Ultrasound Today

The ultrasound went great. Baby is healthy and just the perfect size for my due date of April 29th. She weighs 3 pounds. Everything is fine!

I saw Baby sticking her tongue out and opening her little mouth. We got a really great profile picture. It was a fun ultrasound! I even got to see little wrinkles on her forehead. So cute!

BTW, I am saying "her" because I hate to say "it" when referring to Baby. So, I am choosing to say "her" even though I do not know if the baby is a girl or boy.

: )

School Lunches

I need ideas for school lunches to pack for my kids. They take sandwiches almost every day, and sometimes they take a hot dog. I usually give them a piece of fruit or applesauce, and cookies or some kind of candy. Sometimes I send yogurt and occasionally string cheese. Dd12 takes leftovers usually and sometimes a sandwich. She has a microwave so she can heat up her food. What are some other ideas for school lunches? What do you send with your kids?

TV Shows

There are a couple of TV shows that I do not like. I can't figure out why so many people love these shows. One of these is Gray's Anatomy. I do think Patrick Dempsey (is that his name?) is adorable, but I don't like the show AT ALL. I have tried to watch it and it is too much for me. I also don't care for Desperate Housewives. We watched it last night and when it was over I thought, "Why did I waste my time watching that?"

There are a few shows I really like. One of them is Super Nanny. I love her! She is so great and I really like watching the bratty kids. Tonight Super Nanny is going to deal with a rebellious teen. We're watching it!
Lots of times I think the kids just need a good old fashioned spanking, but I have read Super Nanny's book and she basically says that nannies can't spank so she had to come up with other ways to deal with kids' misbehavior.

Another show I like this season is American Idol. I have never watched it before or gotten into it at all. I know, I am a little behind. But this season, for some reason, I really like the show. I still think the judges are mean, I feel so sorry for the guys and gals who are good but not good enough, and Paula looks drugged sometimes, but overall it is a fun show to watch.

And there's always Oprah! I really like watching her show most of the time. My SIL warned me that Oprah is a feminist and I shouldn't watch her show or read her magazine, but I think I am a big girl and can decide who and what to watch and read. Lots of times I turn it off because the topic doesn't relate to my life, but sometimes she has really good stuff on her show. She usually has good celebrities as guests. I have specially enjoyed watching her interviews with Carrie Underwood, Faith Hill, and Jennifer Anniston.

Update

I got the garage cleaned out last week. I can't remember what day that was. I cleaned for about 12 hours, with an hour break in there to get the kids from school. I got a lot accomplished, but I didn't find the box of clothes! I think I have already given the clothes to SIL because I remember her baby wearing one of Baby Girl's outfits at Christmas. And I think it was a 6-9 months size outfit.

I went to my midwives Friday. They ordered an ultrasound for this coming Tuesday because they are concerned about the baby's size. I am measuring small and I have only gained 5 or 6 pounds. We're confident that our baby is healthy and everything is fine. I will update you on that Tuesday afternoon.

Baby Girl came down with the flu Friday morning. She already had double ear infections, a sinus infection, and a respiratory infection. She has been on amoxicillin for about a week, so there is not concern that the flu will turn into pneumonia or any other bacterial infection.

This evening we (dh, me, and kids) made Valentine boxes for the kids' school parties. We made ds4 one also, so he wouldn't feel left out. Baby Girl and Daddy made Valentine hearts and glued them onto paper. Everyone's Love Tank is full now. : ) Dd12's box has a picture of Zac Efron on it, of course.

I have a busy week ahead: ultrasound, Valentine parties, dh out of town Wednesday afternoon thru Friday night, plus the normal daily challenges of living with and taking care of 7 other people. It is going to be a great week though and I am looking forward to the fun we're going to have and the memories we're going to make.

Cleaning Out the Garage Tomorrow

Tomorrow I am going to clean out our garage. This is a BIG deal because right now it is impossible to walk through our garage without getting hurt. I do not really want to clean out the garage all in one day, tomorrow, but I am being forced to do it. My SIL wants a box of clothes for her baby and the box is lost in my garage. I located the box of clothes in early December but then it disappeared again. It is a box of 6-12 month baby girl clothes. Some of the clothes are her girls' clothes that I borrowed and some of the clothes are Baby Girl's clothes that SIL is going to borrow. SIL wants the box back and is asking if she can come to our house this weekend and get it.

Anyhoo, my plan is to lay out working clothes tonight and get to bed by 9. I am going to get up early and get everything done that I normally do after taking the kids to school (empty dishwasher, make bed, start laundry). Then tomorrow when I get back from taking the kids to school I will attack the garage. My goal is to be able to park in the garage by my due date. I am having a garage sale on March 31st or sooner, depending on how much stuff I decide to sell when I am cleaning tomorrow.

I have found that if I take my vitamins at night I have lots of energy in the morning when I wake up. If I take my vitamins in the morning, I have lots of energy until noon. I can't figure out how to have energy from noon until bedtime. But at least I can work on the garage until noon. Hopefully Baby Girl and ds4 will cooperate and play nicely while Mommy works. We'll see. :)

Filling Up Freezer and Planting Pansies

Filling Up Freezer

I want to fill up my extra freezer with food for after our new baby is born. My original thought was that I would cook double portions of meals and freeze the extra portion. But, I am spending every bit of my food money already and I don't really have any extra money to buy more ingredients. I am not good at planning my menus around sales and coupons. I have tried it and it doesn't work for me. One time I made me menus based on the sales ads, went to 4 different grocery store, spent 4 hours shopping, and spent $60 less than I normally spent. It was great at the time, but I can't get excited about that kind of work just to save $60. I guess $60 is quite a bit of money, especially when your food budget for 2 weeks is $200. Another problem is that there are only 2 grocery stores in this town. Ha! That would present a problem, now wouldn't it?

I think I will try fixing one cheap meal a week (beans and cornbread, eggs and toast, etc.) and buy double ingredients for one of my other meals that week.

Like last night we had Sticky Chicken and Cheddar Biscuits (I didn't have time to make sourdough bread). I could have bought 2 chickens and made 2 batches of biscuits, or just frozen half of the biscuits. The recipe made 20 biscuits. Tonight we are using the leftover chicken to make Chicken and Pasta with Vegetables. I could have frozen another meal tonight if I had bought 2 chickens and cooked them both yesterday.

Questions for my loyal readers:
*What are some other cheap meals?
*Do you have any other ideas for filling up my freezer without spending too much extra money on food?

Planting Pansies

Today dd12 is out of school and we are going to plant pansies. When I pick up the boys from school in a few minutes we are all going to go outside, the boys and Baby Girl are going to play, and dd12 and I are going to plant pansies in the front flower beds.
I also bought 3 pots of daffodil bulbs that have been started for me. I have never seen pots of daffodil bulbs, but at Wal Mart yesterday (yes, I took Baby Girl to Wal Mart again) I saw lots of pots of planted tulip bulbs and daffodil bulbs. You just leave them in the pot and they bloom there. Perfect! I'll post pictures of my flowers when they get planted and when the daffodils bloom.

Note To Self

"You are pregnant. 28 weeks pregnant, to be exact. Hauling a 20- month old around Wal Mart for 2 hours wearing high heeled boots is not smart. Your feet will scream at you after this adventure and your back will ache. Then you will want to come home and rest but you can't do that because dh has the flu now. Next time, don't take 20-month old to Wal Mart. Don't do 2-hour shopping trips anymore. And DO NOT wear the high heeled boots anymore. Ever."

Beyond Survival

Kim over at Large Family Logistics has invited her loyal readers to join her in her "Beyond Survival" series. Basically, she knows there are times when things fall apart at home because of too many activities, illnesses, a new baby, husband travelling, etc. She is helping those of us who are at that point get it back together. The first post she wrote was about Morning Routines. I'm going to post everything we work on in my sidebar, just for my own personal satisfaction. I really like to see my routines; I like to see what I want to accomplish.

You can go to her blog (listed in my links) and check out her Beyond Survival posts.

Taking Care of Myself While Family Has Flu

I sat down to write this and looked out the window at what I thought were leaves falling. I thought, "It is so windy out there." I was looking through a curtain. Then a looked closer and saw that the "leaves" were white! Snow!

Today was ds8's first day back to school after being sick. I asked his teacher to call me at noon if he hasn't perked up a bit. He still is as white as a ghost and his eyes look sick, but his fever is gone and he is on antibiotics, so he wanted to go to school. I think he's been pretty bored here. TV and Play Station get old after a while, even for an 8-yr old boy.

I realized this morning that I do not take care of myself very well when my kids are sick. I spend so much time taking care of them and taking them to the dr., going to get prescriptions, going to the grocery store to get more stuff, etc., that I neglect myself, and consequently, baby.
I have been staying up way too late because after the sickies go to bed I want to be ALONE or at least sit up and talk with dh in peace and quiet.
I have been drinking too much soda and caffeine. I haven't been balancing my checkbook everyday like I normally do. I have been forgetting to take my vitamins at night before bed. I have been shooting up "bullet prayers" instead of taking time to thoughtfully pray and study. And I have let the house get very messy during our bout with the flu. The house is the least of my concerns, but I do need to get it picked up because I get stressed when my house is in chaos.

I need to focus on taking my aspirin and vitamins, drinking lots of water, taking vitamin c, getting the basics done each day (meals, laundry, house maintenance), and getting more sleep. I think last night I slept maybe 3 hours. Baby Girl was up so many times. I kept thinking, "In a couple of months, I will be up all night with a new little one. I have GOT to get this one sleeping all night in her bed!" Actually, she normally sleeps all night in her bed. She occasionally gets in our bed sometime in the night. Ds4 is the one I need to get out of my bed and into his bed. He cried and cried last night because I wouldn't let him in our bed. But Baby Girl was in there already and it was getting crowded. She likes to sleep horizontally with her head in my back and her feet in dh's back. Not too comfortable. Tonight I hope to go to bed at 9:00. And I also hope to get a nap this afternoon.

Well, by the time I finished this post, the snow stopped. : ( It was pretty while it lasted.

Today ds6#1 is home from school, Baby Girl has a fever, and ds4 seems to be feeling puny again. he has cried all morning and I can't figure out what he's crying about. He won't tell me anything, he just cried. So he is back in bed.

Dr. Visit Today

Well, today is ds8's 7th day to be sick. He started complaining of ear pain last night, so I took him in to the dr. this morning. We switched to a much closer dr., by the way. 20 minutes away instead of an hour away. I like the new dr. a lot.

Anyway, she told me that yes, they all definitely have the flu. I refused the "booger test" as she called it. There's nothing she can do for the flu at this point anyway. BUT ds8's flu turned into an ear infection and sinus infection, so we got antibiotics for him. He has missed 4 daysof school so far, and will probably be out tomorrow again, but I don't care. There's no way I would send him to school feeling this bad.

Yesterday after school, ds6#2 started feeling bad. He went downhill FAST and within 30 minutes or so his fever was in the 104s and he was throwing up and lethargic. It was bad. I was worried about him because of his asthma. But this morning he got up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and went to school. The boy LOVES school and he said he felt fine. He didn't have a fever, so I let him go. I called and checked on him and his teacher said he is doing great. The other twin is home today with flu though.

Last night everyone focused their prayers on ds6#2 since he has asthma and the flu can be scary for asthmatics. Tonight I think we'll focus our prayers on all 6 kids and mom and dad. :)
Then by tomorrow morning all will be well in our household once again.

Symptoms of the Flu

Here are the symptoms of the flu to look for in your kids (in this order):
1. CRANKINESS!!!!!
2. Headache
3. Fever
4. Stomach pain
5. Exhaustion
6. Body pain (everything hurts, even their scalp)
7. Red eyes (looks similar to pink eye, but it's not)
8. (new symptom) sore throat

Ds8 came down with these symptoms Wednesday, starting with #1 and by Friday working his way down to #7. Today he is feeling a little bit better. He has been out of bed all day, but he still has a low-grade fever, a headache, and he is CRANKY.

Now, this afternoon I have noticed ds4 being abnormally testy and irritable. He just came to me and said his head hurts. Oh no!!! I immediately gave him Tylenol and put him in bed to lie down.

I have read that the typical flu lasts a week or two. I hope that is not the case around here. I hope this is a short-lived virus that gets out of our systems quickly.

***Monday Update***
Ds4 is very sick~ I can't get his shaking to stop. He is shaking so badly that it's shaking the bed. He is being calm and good natured about it all though. I have dd12, ds8, and ds4 sick today. Dd12 is going to school at noon. Her school had Grandparents' Day today so there was no real school till after lunch. I kept her home, thinking she would feel better after getting up and around. I was right.
In Family Fun Feb. 07 issue, there are some tips on keeping sick kids occupied. One idea that is neat to help them drink lots of water is to label a water bottle in 6 ounce increments. Then each time they drink 6 ounces, they get to draw a reward out of a hat. Our rewards are things like, "10 minutes of computer time" "a picnic lunch in bed" "Mommy reads one chapter from The Magician 's Nephew to you" "You get to pick out a DVD to watch", etc.
So far, they have been very excited about this. Ds4 is coming out of the bedroom right now to tell me he finished his water bottle!

Please pray for the Morris family

This family needs our prayers as they deal with their grief over losing their son/brother, 3-year old Joel. http://weloveyoujoel.blogspot.com/

Online Conference in March

I copied this information from http://www.christianhomemakingconference.com/

"Imagine!
No long lines at the airport, no hours of travel on the road. No cramped hotel rooms or expensive meals out. All you need is a computer and a high-speed (256K+) Internet connection, and you can join a live conference online with streaming audio and visual presentations! Curl up at home with a cup of tea and listen as speakers deliver sessions on topics that touch us all:
Why full-time homemaking isn't about high heels and pearls.
Homemaking 101: Help! How did my grandmother know how to do all this stuff?
Training daughters to be competent and visionary keepers at home.
For busy moms of little ones: how to avoid growing weary in well-doing.
Why teenage rebellion isn't inevitable and how you can avoid it (panel discussion).
Q&A with speakers
Join us for the first, groundbreaking online conference on March 17, 2007, from 10am to 2pm C.S.T. We're thrilled that technology will now allow women from all over to hear vital messages without having to leave home and hearth to do so. Besides being able to listen to talks live and submit questions for the speakers, you'll have opportunities to chat with fellow attendees in real time for extended fellowship. All sessions will be recorded and available after the conference for free to registered conferees (they'll also be available for purchase afterwards at $12 per session to those who couldn't be a part of the live conference). Sessions can be tuned in from any high-speed connection. You can plug your earphones into your computer or turn up the volume on your speakers and listen while you work!
Consider making this a special mother-daughter event or using it as a one-day getaway for a time of refreshing and encouragement. Group discounts will be available to those who would like to gather together for this conference--including church groups, Bible studies, extended family and friends, etc. This is a neat way to do a very inexpensive local "retreat" without the hassles and high costs of travel! The average costs for an in-person conference can run upwards of $750 when travel, meals, hotel rooms, and such are figured in. Online conferencing is a bare fraction of that cost at $50 ($40 for early birds!) and doesn't require the wear and tear on vehicles and family members. ;-)
Early Bird Discount! The price for those who register prior to February 10 is $40. After that, the price will be $50. Space is limited at this first online event to 500 participants, so be sure to sign up soon! You may register online with a debit or credit card, or you can use the registration form and choose to mail a check (address provided during the sign-up process). To register, please click HERE. For information about group rates, please see the How It Works page. We look forward to "seeing" you online in March! "

I am very excited about this conference. The conference I usually attend is in February in Dallas. It is the WHolehearted Mother conference. I had planned to attend this year as I have done for the past 7 years, but our finances are very tight so I am going to "attend" this conference instead. And I won't even have to leave my house! I guess that can be looked at as a good thing and a bad thing all at the same time. Getting to leave for a weekend and spend time in a nice hotel BY MYSELF was always very fun and refreshing. We'll see how this online conference works out.

The Johnson Holiday Picture

Modified Dream Plan

I have decided the first thing I am going to do to get me closer to the country life I want is plant a garden. I wanted to plant daffodil bulbs in the Fall, but I never felt like it was cool enough outside, then the holidays came and I forgot. Now I think it is too late. But it is not too late to plan a vegetable garden.

I tried to make my garden plan simple, because I am going to have a new baby in 3 months, but I got a little carried away. Those of you who know me are surprised by this, I'm sure.

I found a website that has a gardening calendar for Central Texas. The calendar says that in January I need to order seed catalogs, then decide what I want to plant and order those seeds. I ordered two catalogs this morning~Johnny's Seeds and Territorial Seeds. Those were recommended to me by Kim in Iowa.

This is what I am going to plant in my garden this year:
green bell peppers
big tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
squash
zuchinni
pumpkins
cantaloupes
watermelons
green beans
garlic
herbs in kitchen (rosemary, basil)

My calendar says I can't plant my vegetables until April 14th. That sounds awfully far away. Sure sounds fun to be outside planting vegetables when I am 2 weeks away from my due date.

Well, we'll see if this actually happens. I hope I have the energy to go ahead with the plan. Right now I have energy to spare. I have been cooking and baking bread like crazy. My house smells SO good. I need to be cooking double and freezing half, but we seem to eat it all, no matter how much I cook! And dh loves to take supper leftovers to work for lunch.

Dh and I have agreed on what kind of little farm life we want. This is what we want to do:
We want enough chickens to provide eggs for our family, and a milk cow to provide milk for us and extra to make butter, ice cream, cheese, etc. We eventually want a horse or two, just for fun. We want some fruit trees and a big garden. We want to grow Christmas trees and pumpkins. Dh wants to sell the trees and pumpkins each year, but I am not that ambitious just yet. I just want them for our family and to give away to friends and neighbors.
Oh yes, I also want honey bees and beehives. Dh is not so sure about this one. Actually, he's sure he DOES NOT want this part of the dream life. I think I have told him about my dad having 50+ bee stings on his body after harvesting the honey each year. Me and my big mouth.

So, we figured out that we will need 20 acres or more to have this little farm. The catch is that I want our children to stay in the school district they are in, and it is hard to find that much land around here in this district. We have found lots and lots of land in other, less desirable school districts, but not in this one.

This is a far away dream. Right now we are just going to plan a garden. :)

Dream Life

Over the past several years, I have developed this strange desire to have lots of kids (working on that one), homeschool them (tried it for 6 years), and live in the country. Living in the country is still something I really want to do. We moved to a small town last summer and are living in town in a rental house.

The thing is, I don’t want to just LIVE in the country, I want this whole country experience. http://largefamilylogistics.net/ and www.youredoingwhat.blogspot.com are two blogs that are very inspiring, although very overwhelming at the same time.

See, I would love to have hens that lay eggs, so I can go out each morning and get fresh eggs. Ditto milk, although I don’t want to do the milking. I also want lots of fruit trees so we can just walk out to the field and pick juicy fruit in the summer. I would like to raise organic chickens (for us to eat/sell) and raise organic beef (for us to eat/sell). I would also love to have beehives so we can have fresh honey. We had beehives when I was a kid and I loved to chew on the honeycomb. I do remember my dad having over 50 bee stings after getting the honey out. The bees were not too happy about his interference. I want a garden, so I can have my own little harvest. Growing up, we had a large garden. In fact, one summer Mom got overly ambitious and made a HUGE garden. It got a bit out of control and was nicknamed “Vietnam” because it grew so big and unruly. We had a plum tree that was between our house and my grandparents’ house. I remember just walking over and picking a warm, ripe plum to eat. Yum!

I really want to grow Christmas trees on my little farm. I know. That one is a stretch. I’m wondering how well Christmas trees grow in central Texas.

AND, I dream of being Suzy Homemaker, complete with my homemade quilts, up-to-date scrapbooks, and numerous cross stitch projects I have completed hanging on our walls. The dream goes on to include nutrition. No artificial colors or flavors, no preservatives, limit sugar, everything (almost everything) made from scratch. Yes, I want to grind our wheat and bake our bread.

Here’s the catch: I am not a natural hard worker. See the dilemma? My dream life comes complete with HARD WORK and EXHAUSTION. And, now that my kids are in school, I am going to have to modify the dream a bit. I am happy that we homeschooled for a while and I am happy that they are now in school. They love school and so do I. But I still want all the other things mentioned above. I tend to strive for perfection, then fall off the wagon somewhere around the hard work stage.

I have been brainstorming and trying to come up with a plan to get me to this dream life. But I think having a hubby who grew up on a city block, with no animal experience, is going to limit the dream. Who is going to take care of the cows? The chickens? Oh, and I do want 2 horses, just for fun. I love horses. They smell so good. I'll let you know if/when I come up with a modified plan.

I hope everyone has enjoyed reading about my dream life. In 20 years, my kids will look back on this post and laugh. :)

Snow!

It snowed here last night and this morning! Our children have not seen "real" snow (snow that accumulates) since Valentine's Day of 2004. Schools were closed today and Daddy is working from home. I have the boys' bedroom set up as the Activity Room with board games, coloring books, and crafts, and my bedroom set up with the TV and DVDs.

The snow has stopped and now we are getting freezing rain and sleet. It is not a fluffy, pretty snow like I hoped it would be, but at least it is something.

Pink Eye

Ds4 and Baby Girl have pink eye. We went to a pharmacy today in Dallas that sells naturopathic medicine and got colloidal silver. I have to put drops of it in their eyes 3 times per day for 3 days, or until their eyes get better. The pharmacist also gave me a nasal spray bottle to put the silver in. One squirt in each nostril 3x per day also. According to this pharmacist, usually pink eye is a viral infection that begins in the sinuses and spreads to the eyes.

Putting eye drops and nasal spray in a 4 year old boy's eyes and nose is not my idea of fun. It is AWFUL!! First I tried talking calmly and rationally to him about it. That didn't work. Then I tried bribing. That didn't work. Then I tried the stern approach. Nope, didn't work. Finally, I sat on his hands and pried his tightly shut little eyes open and put the drops in. I never made it to the nasal spray. I was exhausted afterward. When he finished freaking out about it he said, "That didn't hurt."

Baby Girl didn't know to be afraid of the drops, so she opened her little eyes and got the drops and them jumped off the bed to go play. She hugged ds4 and patted him while he screamed and cried about getting his drops. Ha! A toddler comforting her older brother is so sweet. She was truly concerned about him, worried look and all.

The last time our family had pink eye, ds4 was a newborn. We passed it around the whole family for 10 weeks. Yes, 10 weeks. I read that breastmilk is a natural antibiotic and that you can put drops of it in eyes to treat pink eye. I tried it with Gabriel (no one else would let me!) and he got better first. It worked! Everyone else used antibiotic drops from the doctor.

No breastmilk this time though, just colloidal silver.

Things to do before baby gets here

I will be 25 weeks tomorrow, and I have been thinking a lot about the things I want to accomplish before Sweet Pea gets here. Yes, Sweet Pea is the baby's blog name, because I can't change Baby Girl's name and what if this one is also a girl???? See the dilemma??? Sweet Pea will probably change to Baby Boy if this baby is a boy, but for now, Sweet Pea it is. Hhhmmm...I also like Little One. What do you think...Sweet Pea or Little One? I am open to suggestions here.

Anyhoo, I have started a list of things to do before Sweet Pea gets here. My neighbor will remember that a couple of months before Baby Girl arrived on the scene, I made QUITE a to do list for dh. Unfortunately, most of the items were completed after Baby Girl's arrival and I was the one who got them completed. So, this time I am making a list of things for me to do. That way I can control whether they get completed or not.

Here is the list, so far:

1. Arrange for help after baby is born- a friend to watch kids so I can sleep occasionally
2. Arrange for house cleaning in last weeks before baby and few weeks after baby
3. Cook and freeze lots of meals for month after baby is born
4. Find a local pediatrician for kids-Interview pediatricians
5. Decide what we’re doing about immunizations for this baby
6. Buy new infant car seat
7. Buy new toddler car seat for Baby Girl
8. Stock up on diapers (newborn, sz1, sz2)
9. Bottles (3 or 4)
10. Plan and stock an “emergency bag” for the car- snacks, water, extra clothes, extra diapers and wipes, toys, blanket, money, etc.
11. Make appointments for hair cut, highlight, wax, manicure, and pedicure for April
12. Plan “the event”- make a plan a, plan b, plan c, etc.
13. Pre register at the hospital
14. Create birth announcement list
15. Plan birth announcements- shop for them
16. Make an after-baby exercise plan
17. Buy birthing/exercise ball
18. Buy/choose 2 books to read after baby is born
19. Finish my birth plan-which I will publish on my blog, by the way. I know y’all want to read all the details of my birth plan, right? ;)
20. Agree with dh on a name for baby
21. Clean up and organize my desk


That's all I can think of at the moment. If I think of anything else, I'll add it.

It's cold here and it's supposed to get icy tonight. I like it when we can all stay home and be warm and cozy while the weather goes crazy outside. I am very thankful for a warm house, warm clothes, a warm bed, and a heater that works well. God is good to me.

Our Week

This week has been an intersting one. There is never a dull moment around here. Saturday I was checked into the hospital with kidney stones. My mom came down to help us Sunday evening and dh left on a business trip Monday morning. I came home from the hospital Tuesday afternoon.

The kidney stone/stones have not passed and they are making themselves known constantly. I am taking Tylenol with codeine and phenergan for nausea. I am supposed to stay lying around as much as I can, but I can be up if I feel like it. Yesterday I was up quite a bit, but today I pretty much slept all day.

The kids are thrilled that my mom is here and she is enjoying getting to spend time with them in their normal setting. When we are at her house for holidays and visits there are usually 13 kids there and things are chaotic. So it is good for her to get to spend time with them here. She has enjoyed taking them to school, playing with the little ones during the day, picking the kids up from school, listening to them read to her, helping with homework, etc. She has also gotten all of the laundry done, cleaned the house, bought us 2 new dressers, cooked all the meals, and basically taken care of our every need. It has been wonderful, despite the pain I am in.

I will see my midwives and OB next week sometime and they will then figure out how to handle this situation, if the stones have not passed by then.

Dh will be home tomorrow night and for that I am thankful. We all miss him!

2006 At a Glance

January 2006~ We decided it was time to move to a bigger house. We found a house about 30 minutes north of us, made an offer, offer was accepted, then we found out there were major foundation problems and we withdrew our offer. We began looking for a different house.

February~ We found a newer, much larger house that was closer to home (15 minutes from our house, 15 minutes closer to our church). We moved into that house on Feb. 15th in sleet and ice! We found out the day we moved in that our closing was tangled up in a financial mess of the home owners'. We agreed to lease the house from owners and went ahead and moved in.


March~ This was a pretty calm month. We unpacked boxes, homeschooled, played, and spent time together.

April~ Ditto March. Add Easter celebration with 100 degree weather.

May~Birthday season began!!! ds8 had a big medieval knight party. It was a blast!


June~Birthday season continued. ds6a and ds6b had an outer space party, complete with NASA bounce house. Baby Girl had a small family party complete with a pink castle cake. dd12 had a pool party at a friend's neighborhood pool house. We also saw the movie Cars, which is my kids' favorite movie now.
We found out we were not going to be able to close on our house, after all. We made plans to move AGAIN.

July~ We moved to a small town an hour away from our friends and church!


August~ ds4 had a birthday this month! Cars was the theme of his party.

September~ 4 oldest children started school! Mommy found out she didn't have the flu after all; a new baby is due in late April!! We spent September dealing with Mommy's debilitating morning sickness, spending lots of money eating out, and just surviving. Daddy's birthday was this month.

October~We spent this month adjusting to school routines and pregnancy. We participated in Halloween for the first time in 6 years. We all had fun and have great memories of this time.
The kids and Daddy spent a weekend in Oklahoma with Grandma and Grandpa, while Mom came down to help Mommy organize, decorate, and clean the house.


November~Mommy finally started feeling better this month. Daddy spent 2 weeks travelling for business. We had several sick kiddos, including Baby Girl, who spent a weekend going back and forth to the hospital. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Oklahoma with family.

December~Christmas parties, Christmas plays, a church musical, shopping, wrapping, travelling. That pretty much sums up December! Oh, Daddy travelled 2 weeks out of this month and Mommy turned 30 this month!

December 24, 2006

Holiday Picture

Tah-Dah!!! Here it is...the Holiday Picture! Does anyone else know how hard it is to get 6 kids to look at the camera and smile at the same time? I got 5 out of 6. I love it!

The Flu Strikes Our Household

Yes, the flu has struck our household, specifically ME. Long story short- I thought I had a stomach virus, called midwife, she said based on my symptoms she thinks I have the flu. The reason I am out of bed right now, typing this, is because I am too miserable to sleep. Does anyone feel sorry for me yet? Or am I just being a whiny baby? ha ha

We did get the bad weather last week. It wasn't really bad though, like it was at my parents' house. My kids got out of school early one afternoon and they went in late the next morning, but that was about it. We got a bit of freezing rain, but no pretty snow or icy roads. My parents got 6-8 inches of pretty snow.

Right now dh is in St. Louis. The kids are eating pizza and watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

That's about all that's happening around here.

The Last Week of November

We are home from our vacation! We made it home last night, rolling in at about 10 pm. The kids are at school and ds4, Baby Girl, and I have just walked in the door. We went to an appointment this morning with one of my midwives. It went well. I have gained 1 pound so far and everything looks great. Baby is very active and hides from the doppler thingy that they use to hear the heartbeat. :) Last month it took her 15-20 minutes to get a heartbeat and this time it took at least 5 minutes. That seems like forever when you are lying there waiting, especially when you have had 2 times in the past when there was no heartbeat to be found.

This week we're having warm weather (70s) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Then Wednesday night and early Thursday we are dropping into the 20s. The high Thursday, Friday, and Saturday is in the low 40s. We are also supposed to have freezing rain/sleet Thursday and Friday. My kids will be thrilled if they get out of school. They love school, but it's always fun to get out for bad weather.

I left the house last week in a hurry to go out of town, which means that I left a mess. Dh and dd12 were here through Wednesday, so I assumed they would do some picking up and make things look nice again. Wrong assumption. So I have quite a messy house to clean this week. I also need to go through storage (the garage) and find the rest of my maternity clothes, the rest of the kids' winter clothes, and the Christmas decorations.

That's all for now! Check back Thursday and I'll let ya know if we really got the sleet and freezing weather. :)

What We're Doing Today

We are at my parents' house for the week. Dh and dd12 are still at home; they will join us tomorrow. On Thanksgiving Day we will go to my in-laws' house in the afternoon.

This morning Annie came over and cut my four boys' hair. Their hair was so long that it was no longer cute. Some boys look good with longer hair (my 4 year old does), but my oldest 3 boys DO NOT look good with longer hair. They look neglected. So, Annie saved them from looking neglected! All of their hair looks so cute!

I got to sit and visit with her wonderful 16-year old daughter, Amanda for a while. That is always fun! I love Amanda. When she was little, she was watching the Miss America pageant with Annie. She asked Annie, "Which one is Julie?" She won my heart right then and there. :)

Now the boys and Baby Girl are playing/watching the Disney station. We do not have cable at home, so they love to watch TV when they are here. Of course, my mom can't stand TV, so she shoos them outside when she gets home from work.

This afternoon I want to bake sugar cookies and just hang out. I have 2 friends I want to go see, but I am enjoying just being home.

The boys are going to build a dog house for Smokey this afternoon. My dad is going to help them. Won't that be fun? and memorable? Yesterday the boys helped Paul (a young man that works for my dad who just happens to be a hottie) unload a trailer of fire wood. They were so cute and so happy to get to be helping do "men's work." And Paul said they were a lot of help. He seemed surprised. Doesn't he know my boys are wonderful little men??

I found out last night that a girl I used to know in high school has a brain tumor. Actually, to tell the truth, we were flat out ENEMIES!!! My first serious boyfriend, if you know what I mean, broke up with me to go out with her. I was 15 and she was 14. They dated forever and are now married with 2 kids, last I heard.
They are starting treatment on Monday. I feel so bad for her, her husband, her kids, and her family. She is only 28 years old. She still hates me, which is sad. The stuff between us happened14 years ago. I feel terrible that we are still enemies and that she is going through this.
I am just going to focus on praying for her. That is all I can do anyway.

"May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord's face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace."
Numbers 6:24-26 TLB

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kids say the cutest things!

Ds6 #2's teacher said to him, "Your little sister is just so cute!"
Ds6 #2 said. "Yeah, she never gets uncute."
___________________________________________________

This morning ds4 screamed, "MOMMY! Baby Girl is losing her teeth! Look, look, she has lots of missing teeth!!"
He was relieved to find out that she is not losing teeth, but still working on growing teeth. :)

Thanksgiving Program pictures and a short update

Here is a picture from ds6 #1 and ds6 #2's Thanksgiving program. It was the cutest school program I have been to in years. I loved it!
The children sang cute little Thanksgiving songs and recited poems. Then we all had a meal together. That is another story!!
Since we are short on funds this week, I attempted to be frugal and wise. I had a few frozen pizzas at home (the good, crust-rising ones) so I cooked those, cut them up, and put them in a container. When it was time to eat, I took out our pizzas, thinking I was so smart. When I opened the container I saw that all of the cheese from both pizzas had melted! So we had a big cheesy mess. There was no way to get one slice out at a time. I just packed it back up, we left, and went to Sonic for dinner. So much for being frugal!

Dh is in chicago this week. The high there was 44 today. The high here today is supposed to be 58, but we haven't made it past 51. The wind is fierce! We can hear it howling and howling. Last night ds4 thought we had a tornado because he kept waking up thinking he heard the tornado siren.

My boys get out of school early Friday and they are out all next week. Dd12 has to go next Monday and Tuesday and then gets out early Wednesday. I am taking Baby Girl and the boys and going home to Oklahoma for a visit, since I didn't get to weekend before last. That was the weekend Baby Girl was sick. Dh and dd12 will join us in Oklahoma on Wednesday evening.

Baby Girl is no longer nursing. Today is the third day that she hasn't nursed at all. She had cut back to nursing only at night, to get to sleep and now I can just put her in her bed and she goes to sleep by herself. She is sleeping all night in her own bed! This is a first for her. To sleep all night is a biggie and to sleep in her own bed is miraculous!! I am happy! AND. she is napping for 2 hours every day.

Now if I can only get ds4 out of my bed...

Has everyone voted for their favorite Dancing With the Stars man? Of course, my favorite is Emmitt! You can still vote at www.abc.com!

One Thousand Gifts

Y'all need to go to this website http://largefamilylogistics.lifewithchrist.org/ and read her "One Thousand Gifts".
Scroll down and it is on the left.

Enjoy! I love reading it daily.

Here is another link to read the original post on One Thousand Gifts.
http://www.christianwomenonline.net/One_Thousand_Gifts.html

Nat, can you put this on my blog, also?

Halloween Pictures

The whole gang, almost! George Bush was taking the picture, so he didn't get in it.



Mommy and Ladybug

Flylady's Holiday Control Journal

www.flylady.net

Go to the Flylady website, then find the Holiday Cruising section. You will find all kinds of goodies, including a Holiday Control Journal. I used it during the 2004 Holiday season and it really helped. A friend called me OCD when she saw it, but that's okay.

The goal of Flylady's Holiday Cruise is to get all Christmas prepping done by December 1st, so you can "cruise" through the holiday without stress. I am not going to be able to get my gifts all bought by December 1st, but hopefully I can do everything else and figure out what gifts I am going to buy. So when I get paid on December 5th, I can go buy all of the gifts and be finished.

Check it out! It's fun!

Baby Girl's Rough Weekend

This weekend has been quite rough for little Baby Girl. Let me tell you about it...
Thursday morning she started running a fever. No big deal. Kids run fever for lots of reasons so I didn't think much about it. Ds4 had also been running a fever for a few days and he was better, so I figured she had his bug.

Friday morning early (3 am) she had what I thought were seizures. It was really strange and scary. I took her to her pediatrician Friday morning and he thought she had had febrile seizures and that she had a virus. He said if the seizures happened again, to take her to the ER at children's hospital.

Saturday morning (5 am) it happened again, just once. We took her to the ER. My mom was here to help for the weekend so she stayed with the older kids. At the ER, they thoroughly checked her out. They did blood work, a urine test, a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia, and also a spinal tap. Everything came back normal except the blood work. Her white blood cell count was high, so they gave her an antibiotic shot and sent us home. DH and I felt confident that she was on the mend and we were so glad we took her in to the hospital. The doctors and nurses were great with her and it was not a bad experience.

Well, she slept the whole way home (1 hour). When we got home, she cried for 2 hours straight and she held her neck while she was crying. Her pediatrician said it was probably a headache from the spinal tap. He said to lay her flat and it would go away within 24 hours. Yeah, right! Have you ever tried laying a hysterical 17-month old flat down? Impossible.

We finally got to sleep and had a very tense night. She was miserable all night.

Sunday morning she was still holding her neck and she was not walking right. Her body was hunched over like an old person and she would take a few steps and then say, "Owie!"

I called the nurse on-call at our pediatrician's office and she said to take her back to the hospital.

We took her back and the dr. said that she was having side effects from the spinal tap. He said to give her Motrin every 6 hours and to follow up with her dr. in the morning. This morning she is feeling quite a bit better. Her fever is completely gone. She is still experiencing neck pain and stiffness, but it seems to be improving.

I have called her dr. and he wants me to keep an eye on her and let him know if she has any other symptoms that alarm me.

My To Do List for Today

I am putting my "To Do" list on my blog this morning. That way I won't lose it!

Mail eBay package to Australia
Dishes
Sweep kitchen
Grocery store- chili ingredients, hot dogs and buns for tomorrow night
Put dinner in crockpot
Get trash out of van
Wash boys' underwear and socks
Air out bedrooms
Email Aunt Marilyn-called her instead
Put important dates on kitchen calendar
Wash dark clothes
Bathe Baby Girl and ds4
Crisis Cleaning: Living Room and laundry
Figure out if dd12 can go on retreat this weekend
Call midwife
Call Cheerful
Shower
Brush Baby Girl and ds4's teeth
Throw away pumpkins (rotten and moldy on front porch)
Find mailbox key
Get mail from PO
Clean out fridge
Make chore charts

Thanks, Nat, for explaining how to cross words out! :)

An Update

Hi everyone,
I wanted to give a quick update. The past week I have had a houseful of sick children and a sick husband. Our pediatrician diagnosed the children with a viral upper respiratory infection. They are back in school now and dh is back at work today. I have not gotten sick, thankfully. I am still battling thsi awful nausea, but it is getting better. This morning I was up at 5:30 mopping the kitchen floor. that is a good sign that I am getting more energy and am starting to feel like myself again. Usually in the 2nd trimester I feel great and have lots of energy.

This morning I am taking dd12 to school late (she got to rest a bit longer than usual because she didn't feel well when she woke up) and then am heading to the nearest Chick fil A. About the only thing I want to drink these days is their lemonade. It is SO good!!!!! I highly recommend it. :) I am going to break down and buy a gallon for $7.95. That is cheaper than driving 15 minutes each day and buying a large lemonade to last me the day.

Next weekend I am taking Baby Girl and going home to visit my parents, and 2 of my very best friends. I am so excited about this!! Dh is leaving on Monday, November 6th to go out of town for 2 weeks. He hasn't travelled like this since Baby Girl was born. When I was pg with her, he travelled a lot. It wasn't too bad, really. But I had awesome neighbors back then. Now I do not have awesome neighbors. They're nice, but they work and I hardly see them.

Oh, one more thing, I see my specialist next Monday and then my midwives again on Wedneaday. They are worried about me because I am losing weight. Honestly, I kinda like losing the weight. I am still 15 pounds heavier than I was before Baby Girl was conceived. I think I will be fine, even if I lose more weight. I still have lots of padding. :)

First Trimester Almost Over!!

Well, the Zofran is not going to happen. My insurance will only let me get 3 days at a time filled. At $35 a pop, that is $350 a month, I don't think Zofran is an option for me. So, my midwives are calling in Phenergan tomorrow morning.

Today for lunch I made the mistake of eating a normal sized meal. I have been paying for it ever since.

I know this could be worse. I have read about women who vomited every 20 minutes all day long! Can you even imagine? I can't. I think I would be begging my midwives or someone to either give me drugs or shoot me. So, I am counting my blessings and being thankful that I am not THAT sick.

Speaking of being thankful, I am getting excited about Thanksgiving Day and the beginning of the holidays. I always consider Thanksgiving to be the start of the holidays, but this year I may consider Halloween the beginning of the holiday season.

Dd12 wants to be a rock star for Halloween. She wants to bleach her hair blond and add pink streaks. Uh...no.
Ds8 wants to be a football player. That is much easier than a rock star, in my opinion. Ds6#1 wants to be Spiderman or Batman. Ds6#2 wants to be an angel. I'm going to have to think about that one. It may be a bit too girly. Ds4 wants to be a baby jaguar and Baby Girl is going to be either Belle from Beauty and the Beast or Snow White.
I want to dress up as a queen, but I may not be able to squeeze my pregnant self into a costume. We'll see.

Pregnancy

Hi everyone,
All of my faithful readers already know this, but I will announce it anyway...
we are expecting a baby in early May!!
Today was my 2nd midwife appointment. I have been extremely nauseated and have lost a bit of weight, so my midwife prescribed Zofran. I am going to pick up the prescription right now. Hopefully I will feel like my normal self again. I have been sick and lethargic since August!!!!!!!!!

7 Reasons ds8 Thinks Baby Girl is the "Awesomest Baby in the World"

1. She can climb ladders by herself
2. She can do “hiney-ups” (lean over and look through her legs, so her hiney is up and she’s looking at you upside down)
3. She can flip over couch by herself, face first
4. She can do belly flops (on the couch cushions)
5. She can play on the computer
6. She can take off her own diapers
7. She kisses her baby dolls

Sick

I have bronchitis. I also have asthma that only pops up when I have bronchitis. So, we're not having a fun week. I am super tired, even with the Supermom vitamins.

I joined Flylady's Body Clutter menu mailer. I paid $9.95 for 3 months. I took the grocery list and went to the grocery store this morning with all 6 kids in tow. Challenging while healthy, very challenging while sick.
I spent quite a lot of money on food, but I hope that next week I will already have most of the staples and it will be less expensive.
The website to check it out is www.savingdinner.com

I probably won't post anymore this week. I want to just go to bed and stay there for a few days. That probably won't happen, but it's a very nice thought.

It is 90 degrees in my house because our air conditioner is not working properly. It is HOT!!

I can't think of anything else to say, nice or otherwise, so I will end this post and go to bed. :)

Accepting Myself

I realized this morning as I was getting ready for the day that I have spent lots of time in the past few years thinking "when so and so happens I will be happy." "When so and so happens, I will live my life the way I want to."

Do you know what I am talking about? I have heard people say things like, " When the baby is out of diapers, we will go on a nice vacation" or "When the kids are all in school..."

Well, since 2004, I have been saying, "When I lose weight, I will be happy." "When I get back to a size 6 or 8, I will be free to live my life." So what has happened is that I have spent a lot of time planning exercise routines, and planning diets, and joining Weight Watchers, and starting Body for Life and buying workout books and nutrition books, etc. It is exhausting just thinking about it!

People always tell me to enjoy these years when my kids are young because they go by so quickly. When my oldest child was a baby, I remember thinking, "You're kidding. This isn't going by quickly!" But by the time I got to my youngest child, I realized that yes, time is flying by and I am not paying attention because I am too busy planning how I'm going to lose weight. It makes me sad. I spent her whole first year lamenting the fact that hadn't lost all of my pregnancy weight. I really don't remember all the details of her first year, you know the little details that you want to remember. But I remember being depressed and upset about my weight.

What would happen if I just accepted my body for the way I am? Just accepted and actually liked my body the way it is right now? So I may not be a size 6, but what's wrong with being a size 12 or 14? It is hard to shift my way of thinking after years of finding acceptance through my looks. I was "good and accepted" if I was thin, but "bad and an outcast" if I was bigger than I wanted to be.

I don't want to think this way anymore. I don't want to waste another minute of my kids' childhood planning weight loss routines and diets.

I want to wake up each day and be happy. I don't want to wake up and dread getting dressed because I have to put on size 14 clothes.

I want to make healthy choices. Not for the goal of weight loss, but for the goal of good health.

I love to eat, and I want to be able to cook and bake and eat the stuff I have made without feeling burdened by how many points/ fat grams/ calories it has.

I want to relax and live life abundantly. No more obsessing over my body. Self focus is tiring. I am sick of it. I want to focus on someone else for a change.

I want to exercise and enjoy it, instead of worrying about how many calories I am burning or quitting a week into it because I don't see results. I want to measure results by my energy level and overall health, not my clothing size.

So here's my new plan:
Relax.
Buy some clothes that are cute and actually fit me.
Get my hair cut and highlighted.
Pray that God will change the way I think.
Smile.

What We've Been Doing

Mommy and Baby Girl are sick. You all know that when Mom and baby are sick, everything goes to chaos. Well, not chaos exactly, but definitely messy. We both have sore throats, coughs, runny noses, and lots of sneezes. Plus fever and general achiness (okay, I'm guessing about Baby's achiness, but that is how I feel so I'm assuming she does, too).

I have been doing lots of reading while lying in bed and enjoying the quiet while the kids nap or while nursing. I have read A Midwife's Tale, based on the diary of Martha Ballard, Better Body Management by Stormie Omartian, and I am currently reading The Well-Trained Mind.

Okay, now it's Thursday night and I have finished The Well-Trained Mind. It is SUCH A GREAT BOOK!!!! I recommend it to all parents who have kids in school, whether public svhool, private school, or homeschool. I love it.

I got new vitamins today. They are called Supermom. Hopefully they will give me super powers and all will be good.

The Girls' Room

I am looking forward to having a clean slate to decorate in our house we're building. This is what I want to do in the girls' room...

1. Bed-sand and paint dd12’s bed off white, then “antique” the bed, making it look old
2. Paint walls lavender
3. Paint ceiling same shade of purple or maybe a bit lighter (Annie, what do you think- should I paint it the same or lighter?)
4. White lace canopy over bed with silk rose garland wrapped around top of canopy
5. 2 Bulletin boards for their papers-white frame, large, cork board
6. Dresser-sand and paint off white to match bed, “antique”
7. Curtains-white or pink eyelet curtains, hanging to floor; white sheer panels underneath
8. Small chandelier to replace light fixture
9. Baby’s crib-sand, paint pale pink, then “antique”
10. Stencil girls’ scriptures around top of walls
11. Fancy mirror

I envision a "shabby chic" look for their room. The bad thing is that I will have to wait a while to decorate the kids' rooms because we are going to finish the downstairs of the house and then finish the upstairs as we get the money. We are going to put the kids in the bonus room above the garage while we finish the upstairs.

I want my house to be practical and pretty. I realize that with 6 kids, 4 of them being boys, I cannot have a romantic, pretty house all the time. So I am going to choose a few rooms to make pretty and make sure the kids know not to mess up those rooms. (master bedroom and bathroom and maybe the dining room)

Yesterday I was looking at the house plans with a friend who was over and she suggested that I make the formal living room a school room. That way I can house all of our school stuff in that room and have bulletin boards and posters on the walls. I can have bookshelves for school materials only and cabinets that close and lock for stuff like crayons, staplers, and scissors. My friend suggested that I get a large square table that seats 8. I love square tables!
I also like the idea of painting part of the room with chalkboard paint. Maybe have a chair rail and from the rail down put chalkboard paint. But that sounds really messy and I don't like chalk. I do want there to be certain rooms in the house that the kids can mess up and it's okay. Maybe chalkboard paint is a good idea. It's a contained mess.

Those are my thoughts this morning. DD12 is making chicken soup for lunch and is putting it in the crockpot. It smells good.
I need to go have Bible Time and start the kids on their lessons.
Bye!

Things to do before I turn 30

I was rummaging around in my "Julie's Stuff" folder last night (on computer) and I found something I had written a while back.

Here it is...

I will turn 30 at the end of this year, so I thought an appropriate list would be
30 things to do before I turn 30
1. Lose 26 pounds-I plan to do this by joining weight watchers. Actually, that’s not true. I learned last Fall that simply joining Weight Watchers will not take the weight off. You have to FOLLOW THE PLAN. There’s the hard part for me-Consistency! So, I plan to join WW, follow the plan, exercise, and lose the weight. I also want to keep it off by making lifestyle changes. I type all of this as I drink my 3rd Dr Pepper for the day. Hmmm…
(side note: Now this number has changed from 26 to 38)
2. Grow my hair out to shoulder length-I have been doing the grow-it-out-cut-it-off-because-it’s-getting-on-my-nerves thing for 3 years now. This year, I am going to get through the it’s-getting-on-my-nerves stage and grow it out.
(my hair is officially shoulder length now!! One goal completed!)
3. Finish reading a list of books I made for myself-thing is, I lost the list, so I need to find the list first
4. Finish up every cross stitch project I have going
5. Cross stitch something for my own walls
6. Get Alex’s scrapbook up to date-she’s 11 and I am only up to her third year in her scrapbook
(She's now 12)
7. Buy the boys’ and baby's scrapbooks so when I get ready to use them, I’ll have them-By reading this, you may assume scrapping is a hobby of mine. I only scrap once in a blue moon. I think the last time I sat down and seriously scrapbooked was February of 2005. This explains why I am a little behind.
(I do have Baby's scrapbook now. Mom and Dad bought it for her birthday)
By the way, if I make each of my 6 children a scrapbook that they can take with them when they get married (not when they move out, only when they get married), what pictures will I have left for me and my hubby to look at?? I am going to have to make a scrapbook for us as well as for the kids. That’s a lotta scrappin’!(what if some of my kids never get married? i will let them have their scrapbook anyway :)
8. Read the Bible, the entire thing~I had better get moving on this one-Every year I make this a goal. I usually get through 2 Chronicles and then quit. This year I may start at Ezra and read from there.
(Don't think this is gonna happen but I will try anyway)
9. Make a master schedule and actually stick to it for the year-I am a scheduling wanna be, I make schedules, then make more schedules, etc., never actually sticking to them for more than a week.
(I no longer want to do this. I have come up with a system that works for me- a big to-do list for each day)
10. Take a trip to Mission, Texas, where we used to live
11. While we’re there, I’d like to drive over to South padre for a day or so
12. Okay, it’s really hard to think of 30 things I’d like to do. Does this mean I’m a boring person, or just pretty content with my life??


If I think of anymore, I’ll add them to the list.

Traditions

Yesterday, I was in Wal Mart buying a few things and I noticed that they have their Fall decorations for sale already. This suprised me because it is 105 degrees outside and Fall seems far away.

Anyhoo, this got me thinking about family traditions, specifically traditions for the fall holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (okay, I know it's a winter holiday). I have been thinking about the traditions our family had when I was growing up, the traditions my extended family has now, and the traditions my immediate family has now.

We have not celebrated Halloween since 1999. But this year we are going to have fun and participate in Halloween activities. I am VERY excited about this! Those of you who know me know that I am either all into something or not into it at all. Well, this has been the case with Halloween. DH and I talked about it yesterday and decided that there has to be a way to participate in Halloween fun without exposing the kids to all the scary, evil stuff out there. Besides, scary, evil stuff is out there all the time, not just on Halloween.

On Halloween we always dressed up and then went trick or treating. We have also gone to a few Harvest Carnivals and that was fun. We are planning to do that this year. Our church has a carnival and the kids really enjoy it. We are also going to go to a pumpkin patcha and let the kids all pick a pumpkin, then carve it when we get home. We are going to roast the seeds and eat them. I can't wait to see all the pumpkins line sup on my porch all lit up. I am planning to pop popcorn and make apple cider and we can all sit out on the porch and enjoy it and enjoy the lit up pumpkins. Let's just hope the weather cooperates and it's not 90 degrees! I remember in McAllen, the kids had sweat dripping off of them as they trick or treated. Halloween should be crisp and cool.

When I was growing up, Thanksgiving was a time for family to gather, usually at Meema and Grandad's house or at ours, and prepare a meal together, eat the meal together, and just enjoy being around each other. There were also the football games that the guys watched, but I was wither playing with cousins or in the kitchen with the girls. The girls being my mom, grandmother, aunts, and sisters.
I remember Mom making homemade potato rolls and then having a contest with Grandad to see who could eat them most. We could eat those rolls like you wouldn't believe! I remember eating at least 8, sometimes 9 rolls. I think Grandad always won that contest.

Another memory of Thanksgiving is Meema's homemade dressing. From the smell of the celery and onions sauteeing to the taste of the dressing, it always makes me remember Meema's house at the holidays.
I also remember the cool air of Fall and the brown of the trees at our house. I remember warm sweaters and feeling warm inside.
But I can't remember any other traditions we had at Thanksgiving. If you are a family member reading this, help me out here.

A few things I want to do...
*create a centrpiece with the kids, something that we will use year after year
*"Thank you" place cards for each person- the kids each write something about that person that they are thankful for (on their place card)
*Meema's platter- We used to always use Meema's bicentennial platter to hold the turkey. I inherited the platter when Meema died and I want to start using it that way again.
*Wildlife Tree- Thanksgiving afternoon or the next day, string popcorn, make pine cone bird feeders, etc. and hang them all on a tree for the squirrels and birds to eat


At Christmas time, I remember just being so excited to be out of school. Decorating the tree as a family was a wonderful tradition and also getting an ornament each year to hang on the tree. There was a garland with colored lights that Mom wrapped around the stair rail. That was one of my favorite things. We also had a little gingerbread house that Mom would put on top of the piano. It was one of my favorite things as well. We baked sugar cookies, wrote letters to Santa Claus, set out cookies and milk for Santa and hung up our stockings.
Then on Christmas morning, we woke up early (probably 6 am) and opened our gifts from Mom, Dad, and sisters. We then went out to Meema and Grandad's house to have Christmas lunch with them and visit with our cousins who had come in from out of town. The turkey, dressing, and the rolls were a part of Christmas, too.Later on, we went to Granny and Papa's and opened gifts and visited with family there, too.

A few things I want to start doing at Christmastime:
*I want to make it a tradition to put up the tree on December 1st each year. I want to serve Christmas cookies (prefereably homemade, but store bought if we have to) and hot chocolate (ditto the cookies)
*Let the kids choose their yearly ornament- we already get them an ornament each year, but I usually choose it for them and buy it for them
*Wea re going to start getting each child 3 gifts for Christmas: 1 want, 1 need and 1 character building gift (for example, if one child is struggling with patience, we might buy him a model car or airplane that will take lots of patience to put together)
*Sometime during December I want to put all of the pictures from the past year (the good ones) on a CD or make them into a slide presentation and put on a DVD and watch it with the kids. Ditto for home movies.
*After- Christmas cards - after Christmas, get all the holiday cards together and put them in a pretty bowl on the table. Each night as we pray for our meal, pray for one of the families who sent us a card. Then throw the card away, keeping the picture of there is one
*Christmas Eve (?) -drive through town looking at Christmas lights
*Read the Christmas story from the Bible (we usually do this)
*Sing carols around the piano (last year I learned to play lots of Christmas carols)
*Christmas breakfast- we usually have a big breakfast at either Mom and Papa's house or Grandma and Grandpa's house. Whenever we get our house built, I want to start having Christmas morning at home and I want to plan a Christmas morning menu that basically stays the same each year. Less thought for me and the kids will look forward to it each year.

Typing about all of this is getting me excited about Fall and the holidays!

Brownie Brown, May 2, 2004-August 5, 2006

This evening while I was at the grocery store picking up a few things for chocolate chip cookies, my phone rang. It was dd12. She was crying and out of breath. Brownie, our sweet beagle, had died. He was our 8 year old son's dog. We gave Brownie to ds8 for his 6th birthday.
Brownie had been napping under a large bush in the back yard all afternoon, which was pretty typical of him. He really liked his naps. :)
When ds8 tried to call him and wake him up, he didn't come. Dh went over to him and figured out that he had died.

We're not sure what happened. He seemed to just take a nap and not wake up.

We are thankful that we got to have Brownie, even if it was for a short time. He was a good dog. We miss him already.



Goodbye, Brownie Brown.

Thirteen Things about Gigi 1. I will be 30 years old in about 5 months. 2. I would like to lose 20 pounds before I turn 30. 3. I homeschool our 6 kids. 4. I recently moved to a small town after living in a big city for 5 years. 5. We will be building a house soon. 6. On our first date (me and dh) we agreed that we wanted to have 6 kids and live in a yellow house with a wrap around porch. 7. The house we are building will be yellow and have a wrap around porch. 8. I am addicted to Dr. Pepper 9. I am the youngest of 3 daughters. 10. My 2 sisters and my parents live within 15 minutes of each other. 11. I am a believer in Jesus Christ. 12. I am living my dream come true. 13. Yes, it was my dream to have lots of kids, homeschool, and live in the country. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Gigi's Day and Weight Watchers Progress

Today is already "one of those days."
One of those days where I wish I could...
-go to Starbucks alone
-send my kids to school
-or at least take them to a friend's house all day till bedtime
-go back to bed
-lie in bed all day watching TV and pretending I don't have any responsibilities

I woke up late (surprise, surprise), with ds3 whining that he was hungry, and the other 3 boys hollering in the front yard because both dogs were out of the fence. I turned over and tried to go back to sleep. It didn't happen.

Last night was a slight disaster. We were out of dishwasher tabs, so there are dirty dishes from yesterday's lunch and dinner in the kitchen. The kids and dh watched Spiderman and I took the baby to the park so no one cleaned up the dinner mess. We ate dinner on a pallet in the living room while watching the movie. Baby knocked over her plate, then stepped on my plate, then spilled dh's macaroni, so that's when I took her to the park and let the older kids watch the movie with dad.

We had lots of fun though, so who cares if the kitchen is a mess and I slept in today, right?

Today I am going to write out our actual day. I have it all planned out, but today you get to see the reality of my life. Enjoy.


My Thursday
Town Day

Morning Routine
**I did not even hear dh this morning; I was sleeping like a rock
**No cardio this morning because I did cardio for 45 minutes last night
**No shower this morning
8:30 woke up to ds3 whining for breakfast and other boys outside yelling at dogs.
got out of bed, fixed breakfast (oatmeal with maple syrup and blueberries), then worked on blog while children did Chorepacks

tore myself away from the computer and got dressed, fixed my hair and face, and made my bed.

Then we had Bible Time while Baby Girl screamed in her bed.We prayed that God would help us obey the first time we're told and that Mom would not lost her temper and yell.
-Character Building for Families, Obedience, Day 2

Yes, school did get done. It's amazing. We are just using the stuff we have at this point. But I figure we're a little ahead of the game, since most schools don't start for another week. I will hopefully have all of our materials by next week.
-ds6a and ds6b- K workbook
-ds8- Learning Language Arts Through Literature
-dd12- Saxon math for 30 minutes

11:24 am
Baby falls out of cabinet with coffeepot, breaking the glass. She is not hurt, but Mom is about to have nervous breakdown at this point and there is shattered glass all over the kitchen.

11:27 am
ds8 runs out of bedroom, yelling that dog is out of yard again. The leash we had him tied up with is now apparently broken.

Read a few pages of Secret Garden

11:41 joyfully clean up glass while listening to ds3 scream at the top of his lungs that he needs another snakes (toy) and that he is scared (I knew we shouldn't have let him watch Spiderman).

Lunch (Chicken Pot Pie)
We have no lunch foods, so I am taking a dinner that we skipped last week (on menu) and making it for lunch today
ds3 helped me make lunch; he was so excited and it was fun!

12:36 pm Baby Girl is finally asleep for her morning nap; lunch WAS ready, but we discovered that the biscuits were soggy on the bottom so we turned the biscuits over and put it back in the oven.

12:57 Kids ate lunch and watched Dinosaur while Mom cleaned up and worked on computer

Errands to run:
Wal Mart
Pay rent for Aug.

3:50 pm got back from running to wal mart and to pay rent
listened to ds3 cry the whole time for a drink; gave him a drink and put him to bed
listened to dh tell me that I forgot to do something he apparently asked me to do and I didn't realize it
Wishing that dh could step into my shoes for a week or so and then see what he says about me forgetting things
nursed Baby Girl and now she is up and throwing a tantrum b/c I am on the computer and she is not

3:53 pm turn around as Baby Girl falls backward in kitchen chair onto tile floor
See goose egg and bruise on Baby Girl's head; make sure she's okay
Put her in playpen; order baby gate extension for kitchen gate

4:12 pm kids clean up so they can watch Sound of Music
10 minute Tidy
dd12-her bedroom; ds8-boys' bedroom;
ds 6b-living room; ds 6a-living room;
ds3-whine

DH, if you are reading this, tonight is a GREAT night for me to have the NIGHT OFF :)

Home Management Work for Mom
Put away laundry in Master Bedroom
4 loads by 4
Basic Maintenance
Clean Master Bathroom (floor and toilet)

Finish blog
Daddy Time
Supper Treasure Hunt Pasta Salad, Popovers
Bedtime Routines
Start dishwasher
Check calendar
Make To Do list
Lay out clothes for tomorrow
Brush teeth
Take contacts out
Bedtime! (10:00)- if I would get in bed at this time I would probably be able to get out of bed before 8!


Weight Watchers Progress
This is week 3 on WW and so far I have gained 7 pounds!
Seriously...I have been pretty careful about sticking to my points and I have been doing cardio about 5 times a week. My scale says I have gained 7 pounds. There is something wrong with this picture. I thought my scale was messed up because we moved and I thought maybe it got dropped or something. But the kids still weigh the same, so it's definitely not the scale.
I am not lifting weights so I know it's not muscle gain.
Last week and the week before, I was adding 10 points for nursing. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause me to gain weight. So this week I am not adding in those extra nursing points and I am trying not to eat my activity points. We'll see how this week goes.
Of course, my drug of choice is Dr. Pepper and also chili cheese tater tots. That could be contributing to my weight gain. But I have counted those points, so it shouldn't matter.
I'll let you know how I do this week.

Office Day

Wednesday
Office Day
HM Work
-Menu planning
-Grocery list
-Check kids' schoolwork
-Meet with dd 12 and ds 8 individually
-Think about and plan Quiet Time tape for ds 3
-Email Micala
-Email Darcy re: KONOS
-Call Darlene at church nursery
-Order house plans
-Order gate attachment
-Go through mail and paper piles
-Find WHEEL checkbook
-Straighten up desk area
-Organize my books
-KONOS planning
-Make a list of school supplies needed ASAP and soon
-Plan stops for Town Day
-Clean out one desk drawer or cupboard
-Clean desktop
-Put books in order
-Gather library books & put on bookshelf
-Research Houston trip / THSC conference

Morning Routine
Help dh- Get out of bed when he gets in shower, kiss him goodbye
Cardio for 30-40 minutes (walk outside with kids)
Shower
Get dressed, hair and face, etc.
Make bed
Put away laundry in Master Bedroom

Kids wake up
Baths, Chorepacks
Mommy email and blog

Breakfast and cleanup

Bible Time
-Character Building for Families, Obedience, Day 1
-Work on “Thank You, Lord”

Phonics with ds 6a and ds 6b (Explode the Code 15 min. each)
Put other children in separate rooms

HM Work for Mom
School and Snack
-ds 3PreK workbook
-ds 6a and ds 6b - K workbook and Math
-ds 8- LLATL
-dd 12- Home Ec and Saxon math
-Play outside or in bedroom when finished
Lunch; Kitchen Chores; Recess

Quiet Hour

Read aloud Secret Garden chapter 4

Afternoon Chore Time; Free Time;
Finish HM Work (meet with dd 12 and ds 8);
Finish blog

Put on some relaxing music & Light a candle (1 minute)
Set little ones at the table or in play pen with an activity so they don't undo the work (5 minutes)
Children: Put Away Schoolwork (5 minutes)
10 minute Tidy: Today we’re going to clear level surfaces and straighten things up.
dd 12-her bedroom; ds 8-boys’ bedroom;
ds 6b-living room; ds 6a-living room;
ds 3-play with baby in playpen

Freshen up; fix hair; do one thing to clean your bathroom (10 minutes).

Daddy Time(We usually ride bikes during this time. Tonight I think we will stay home and watch Spiderman. The kids havne't seen it and they really want to.)
Supper Chicken Pot Pie
Kitchen Cleanup

Bedtime Routines
Start dishwasher
Check calendar
Make To Do list
Lay out clothes for tomorrow
Brush teeth
Take contacts out
Bedtime! (10:00)

To do:
Take dh's pants to dry cleaners
Make hair appt. for me and for dh
Get PO box key



Last night we went to some friends' house for dinner. We had THE BEST steak fajitas I have ever had!! They were so good. Then the kids swam and we visited until 10:30 or 11:00. I'm tired today.
Dh and friend want to take a trip to Germany, which is where his wife's family is from. We looked at pictures from their previous trips to Germany and it is beautiful. I would love to go. But I'm thinking it may be a bit pricey to take 8 people across the ocean. I'll have to check on that...

Yesterday was our first day of school. I still need to buy a few things, but we used what we had and the kids did great.

Today we are going to run a few errands, do our schoolwork, and get stuff done around the house.

Kitchen Day

Tuesdays are Kitchen Days, which means that on Tuesdays I focus on my kitchen (cleaning, decorating, cooking, etc.). Here is my schedule and list for today:

Tuesday
Kitchen Day

Home Management Work
-Sweep and mop kitchen floor
-Bleach sinks
-All dishes cleaned and put away
-Unpack all boxes in kitchen
-Finish laundry from Monday
-Polish table
-Declutter for 15 minutes
-Dust (ds#1 can do this)
-Clean out fridge
-Debone chicken
-Make chicken stock (dd #1 can do this)
-Get chicken and rice soup recipe from Darcy
-Make and freeze
-Put away canned goods (ds #1 can do this)
-Organize pantry (ds #1 can do this)
-Light a candle

Morning Routine
Help Corey- pack something for him to eat, kiss him goodbye (this didn't get done today because I slept in till 8 and he left at 6)
Brush teeth
Cardio
Shower
Get dressed, hair and face, etc.
Make bed
Start a load of laundry

Wake kids
Baths, Chorepacks
Mommy email and blog

Breakfast and cleanup
Read Proverbs to children at breakfast table (this didn't get done because they ate while I was still in bed! oops)
Bible Time -Character Building for Families introduction
-Choose a song to learn together


Phonics with nonreaders (Explode the Code 15 min. each)

HM Work for Mom (switch laundry)
School
-ds #4 PreK workbook
-ds #2 and #3 K workbook and Math
-ds #1- LLATL
-dd #1- Home Ec and Saxon math 1 lesson
-Play outside or in bedroom when finished
Finish HM work

Lunch; Kitchen Chores; Recess
*Laundry Switch, fold, put away

Quiet Hour

Read aloud (Secret Garden chapter 3)

Afternoon Chore Time; School Work that didn't get done; Free Time
Laundry Switch, fold, put away (4 loads by 4)
Put on some relaxing music & Light a candle (1 minute)
Set little ones at the table or in play pen with an activity so they don't undo the work (5 minutes)
Children: Put Away Schoolwork (5 minutes) and Start Daily Afternoon Chore Chart (15-30 minutes)
10 minute Tidy: clear level surfaces.
dd#1-hall bathroom; ds#1-boys bedroom; ds#3-living room; ds#2-kitchen; ds#4-help big sister
Freshen up; fix hair; do one thing to clean your bathroom (10 minutes).

Supper (fajitas at friend's house)

Bedtime Routines
Start dishwasher
Check calendar
Make To Do list
Lay out clothes for tomorrow
Brush teeth
Take contacts out
Bedtime! (10:00)

To do:
Think about and plan Quiet Time tape for Gabriel
Email Micala
Email Darcy re: KONOS and soup recipe
Call Darlene at church nursery
Order house plans
Order gate attachment

**I am going out on a limb here, assuming someone cares what my day looks like! This blog is for my personal journaling, for keeping friends up-to-date on my life, and for making my lists, so forgive me if it's boring sometimes. But this may help all of those friends who ask me, "How do you do it?" :) **