Quick Check In....

Just checking in to all of my loyal fans. Sorry I have not posted in awhile but as everyone's lives are, things have been crazy this week. Barrett and Chad's birthdays are this weekend so I have been trying to get ready for those...(still not REALLY ready)
So, I am off to put laundry away, empty and load the dishwasher, update/ pay bills, put groceries away, and make a TO DO list of everything else I need to do tomorrow and Friday before the Parties. Yes I said parties because when you have a family as big as ours you can not have one party. Just family is 22 people....soon to be 23 in Oct. when Courtney has her little one. It seems I always end up with a FRIEND PARTY and a FAMILY PARTY. I say I do it to save myself the hassle but it somehow always ends op causing more work. All this is to be done before Cooper arrives home in one hour..... I promise to write more soon! Later.......

Quiet Time

My favorite part of the day..... It is the time that any child who is in the house must find something quiet to do and entertain themselves so I can have some peace and quiet. Parker still naps and Cooper usually does a WONDERFUL job entertaining herself. Today, however, has been a different story. Not quite sure but I think my quiet time today is DOOMED! Maybe I need to break out the big guns and turn on High School Musical. Hey, she dances to it so at least she is getting some exercise???? RIGHT?????

Clothes, Clothes, and MORE CLOTHES

Okay, so I am have been sorting through clothes this afternoon. Trying to finally put away some winter and hang up some spring and WOW! We have a LOT of clothes. I save all the kiddos clothes for their siblings until Park and Coop outgrow them then I happily give them to other deserving children but COME ON! You should see my attic. I have boxes on top of boxes on top of boxes with clothes ranging in sizes from 2t to 16. I am SO GRATEFUL to have them. I could NEVER have gotten all of them on my own but the task does sometimes get very daunting. I mean taking large stacks of clothes up into the attic, sorting and moving the boxes to find the right season and size, and then attempting to JAM them into the box before going back down for another load. I have left out a few long sleeve shirts, pants, and sweatshirts for each child but I think I am finally done for the season. Now, it just needs to stay warmer!
In spite of all the clothes in the attic, I also found out that after spending way too much money on Logan for her spring/summer wardrobe, that she STILL needs a few items. I do NOT think she will be able to get by with 4 pairs of shorts for the summer. AND, I had to buy Parker some new ONESIE shirts since he is gong through a wonderful new phase of reaching down into his pants and taking his diaper off. Then he pees and says, "UH OH!!!" I want to scream, "NO UH OH, KEEP YOUR PANTS ON!!" He doesn't quite get it though. Now some would say it is time to potty train the little monster but I disagree, for several reasons.
1. He certainly does not have the language skills to tell me if and when he needs to go
2. He is ONLY going to be 2 in June and if I do it too early, it will take FOREVER!
3. the most important reason is I will have everyone home over the summer and I am NOT dragging all four children into every public bathroom around Richmond just for their brother to try to go PEE PEE. HEy, A diaper is way easy for me.....
SO, I stocked up on onesie shirts and one piece PJS and hope for the best!

Bathing Suits

What is it with Little girls and bathing suits? I think my girls wear their bathing suit more than their Pajamas. And I am talking all year... not just in the summer time. It is very normal for Chad to come home and find at least 2 if not more children running around in their bathing suits and pretending to have "DANCE CLASS" and it could be 20 degrees outside. Right now, Cooper and her friend are sitting in their suits (Jenna borrowed one from us because for some reason her mom didn't send one....what was she thinking???) on the kitchen floor coloring and painting. They are both in what Logan used to call BATINIS... and I just noticed that both girls have their tops on backwards. Oh well, at least they are happy and somewhat quiet!

New Look

I am trying out a new look on my blog. I am not sure whether I like it or not but I was looking for a change. Also, I want to figure out how to add music to my blog. If anyone knows how to do this, PLEASE let me know! So.... tell me if you like the change.

Bird O'Clock

Well, let me give you a little background. We have a bird that lives outside our window. Every Spring and Fall, he (or she) decides to start chirping every morning around 5am. He chirps just long enough to wake me up, then stops. Unfortunately for me I then already awake for the day and unable to fall back into a blissful sleep. Well, this situation had changed this Spring. WE had new windows put in in the fall and I had not heard Bird O'Clock for some months. That is until this morning. Chad decided to sleep with the windows open so guess what, 5am came very early this morning. So, lesson learned and we will not be sleeping with the windows open any time soon.

Old Friends

I had a wonderful treat and surprise today. I was able to visit with some very old friends of mine whom I do not see very often if at all. I had set up a playdate with a good friend from high school and her little boy and she brought with her another long time friend and HER little boy. What a treat for me to be able to visit and catch up with these wonderful women and get better aquainted with their little boys. Parker had a blast romping around his backyard, showing off all of the good dirt piles and mulch beds. He also did a very good job of sharing his dump trucks.
The best part about the day was how I felt afterwards. I was able to sit down and think back to the last time I was able to see these women and how long it has been. The most wonderful part about it is it has been FOREVER but we picked up right where we left off. You guys know what I mean, there are some friends that if you do not talk to for a week or so you feel a gap in the conversation and it is hard to catch up. Then there are the OTHER kinds of friends... the GOOD kind, the kind you want to have more of but we seem to only have a very few special ones. These are the type of friends you could spend months apart and not speak but when you DO get together, it is like you just spent a WEEK together. These women are these types of friends. I only have one or two other people in my life like this so it was wonderful to spend time with them. As a sidenote, It also made me feel more starved for adult conversation. Maybe, I scare people away when we get together because I am so depleted of adult interaction, maybe I smother them. Maybe, most people are like, "GET AWAY CRAZY WOMAN, WE HAVE HEARD YOU TALK ENOUGH!" In any case, I know at least Cat and Cindy don't feel that way, at least I hope not! SO, It was wonderful seeing you girls and I look forward to the next time. Thanks for making my week AWESOME! Lots of love, hugs, and kisses to you both and your boys.......

Monday

Well it is Monday and time for me to update all on how my week is going so far. It started out VERY HECTIC! We were almost late for the bus, drug 2 crying children by the arms to the stop, as Bear was coming to hug me goodbye, he tripped and forehead hit pavement. I had to take him back home, get him cleaned up and then drive him to school. The yard men did a TERRIBLE job on my yard and now OF course PArker is going to sleep just long enough so I can not fit a walk in before the troops come home. Chad is having a coworker spend the night tonight so dinner needs to be good and the house needs to be extra straight. On a positive note, I have lost a pound! Yeah for me! Is it Tuesday yet????????

Stressing myself out

Okay, so I am laying in bed last night and having trouble sleeping. My mind is wondering and it goes to my blog and what I should say for my next post. All of a sudden, I start stressing out. Thoughts start tearing through my feeble brain and I can't stop them. I worry about what to write, how often to write, how long to write, and so on and then it came to me....WHO CARES???? WHo am I doing this for really? I am doing it for myself to give me a little brain stimulation in the trenches of my not so brain stimulating day. I think I worry that if I am not timely in y posts, my tens of readers will call it quits. But again, WHO CARES??? I need to let myself relax about it and move forward so I remember why I started my blog in the first place and who I am writing for...ME.
SO, I am going to try and let go of a little of the worry and concern but hose of you who might check me periodically, please don't give up on me! I promise, even if I take a break for a few days... I WILL RETURN! I HAVE to return or I might go crazy here! Hang with me and enjoy the ride of a lifetime, or at least MY ride for my lifetime.

I'm Hungary

Okay, so we are on day two of our diet and I am hungary... GREAT!!! I guess I just need to find something else to do with my time instead of snack. BUt OF COURSE, Today, I am pretty on top of things and have most everything done that I need to have done. Isn't that always the way it works? So, I guess I will go lock myself upstairs away from the snacks and fridge and hope for the best.
As a side note, how come I started my diet again with Chad and he gets to eat more than me? Not really FAIR........

Back on the Wagon

WELL, with summer and bathing suit season around the corner Chad and I have decided to hop back onto the weight loss Wagon and try to lose a few pounds before the summer time is here. I am telling all of you out there so you can help me be honest about my eating AND hopefully encourage me along the way! So I have been doing it for 2 hours and am already hungary....not a good sign. Wish us luck!

Greetings!

Greetings to all of you who are finding me for the first time OR for those of you who have not checked me out in awhile. I hope you enjoy this peek into my life as posting gives me a little reprieve from the daily grind. Please feel free to post a comment if you enjoy the site OR if you have anything you want to hear more about! Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon...Off to Hannah Montana or as Cooper calls it, HANNAH TANNAH!!!!!

Promised Photo

Okay, here is a picture of our trip to Maymont with the seven children....
Good job on my ability to catch all seven LOOKING at the camera. Anyway, I was enjoying looking at those pictures of us out and about last week when it was warm and sunny while I am sitting here right now on a very COLD and RAINY day! UUGGGHHH!!!!