Typical Evening Rountine

All right, I thought some of you would love a glimpse into a typical evening in the Gill Home.  Here is how it goes....

6:30- herd all children upstairs for bath, brush, books, and bed

6:32-tell children it is time to go upstairs

6:35- chase all children up the stairs

6:36- girls run into their room to get pjs and get naked, bear goes into his room to do heaven knows what, Parker runs into his room

6:38- chase after Parker as he runs down the hall with a toy sword

6:40- retrieve Parker from Bear's top bunk

6:43- chase Parker out of girls room so they can fish undressing

6:45- retrieve Parker off Bear's top bunk

6:48-start showers for girls, retrieve Parker off top bunk

6:50- comfort Bear who has been hit in the head with a plastic sword by Parker

6:55- holler to girls their shower time is almost over, ask Bear why he is not yet ready for shower, retrieve Parker off top bunk

6:56- chase Parker down the hall to get him undressed

7:00- finally tackle Parker to ground and undress him for bath, herd girls out of shower and Bear into the shower

7:05-Bathe Parker and wrestle him into his PJS

7:07- chase Parker out of Girls room, grabbing the pjs out of his hands and handing them to the girls so they can get dressed

7:10-check on Bear in shower, help girls brush teeth, retrieve Parker of top bunk

7:12- cut shower off and send bear to his room for the pjs ( which he was supposed to have brought into the bathroom with him) 

7:15-check all three older ones teeth, send them to pick story, grab Parker off top bunk and take him into his room for a story

7;20-read story to other three children

7:30-prayers, hugs, kisses, and LIGHTS OUT!!!!

7;35- collapse on sofa

Repeat each evening......

Two Little Gifts from God

Okay, I thought I would share with you a very wonderful thing that happened to me.  I had to go to the grocery store last Wednesday.  Before I go any further, I want all of you to realize that yes this WAS the day before Thanksgiving and yes I DID have to go to Walmart for more than a few items.  The children got out of school early and I had no intention of taking ANY of my children to Walmart the day before Thanksgiving sooooooo, I hired a sitter. This was the first gift, imagine being able to go to the store to grocery shop BY MYSELF... I think the amount of money I saved by the kid impulse buys CERTAINLY paid off the sitter.  Secondly, before I left my neighbor was feeling guilty that I had to brave the crowds for food so she said a little prayer for me.  Well, someone in the cosmic universe was listening because my shopping experiences was wonderful.  Not only did I find everything I needed, THERE WAS NO LINE!!!  I was able to walk right up to the register.  So, thank you to whoever it was out there looking out for me.... ANd if there are those of you who do not believe in God, come on... look at the facts... NO LINES AT WALMART!!!!!!!! And a sitter willing to watch four children....

Out of town

My dad is out of town.  This is important for a good reason.  He does not leave all that often but when he does, things seem to fall apart.  Last year when he left in November, my mom had pluresy and was bedridden, we had a horrendous rain storm in which my parents house flooded.  My husband was out of town for the day so I had to drive over with a five month old and 2 year old and try to coax my ill mother into the car with us so she would not be alone in a flooded house.  She refused so my sister and I took turns staying at the house for 3 days.  

Well it started again this morning.  I got a call while I was at the pediatricians office (getting Parker's second flu shot which he ended up NOT needing, a whole other post...)  and it was from my Mother's principal (she is a first grade teacher).  Mom was sick and needed me to come and pick her up.  SO, I packed up Parker, we drove out to her school to bring her home.  I got her all settled at the house, bowl beside her, coke and crackers next to her bed, reset the alarm and came on home, knowing I will be going over to check on her later in the day.  At least it is not supposed to rain, RIGHT???

Another Monday Morning....

Well my Monday morning started off well.  But then went quickly downhill... I think my wallet was stolen AGAIN so I have been spending the morning canceling, replacing, and changing all the info one keeps in their wallet.  Chad has to change the locks (yet again, 2 times in 10 months).  WHy does this seem to happen to me?  I guess I am too trusting of our fellow neighbors... Which is really upsetting to me.  My neighbor called and said he had money stolen out of his car as well last night, at least I am not the only one.  AND, I learned the hard way last time how to minimize what I do indeed keep in my purse.  HE did not get the motherload of cash and giftcards like last time but it is STILL a pain in the ---!  

VMI Trip

We went to VMI last weekend for a football game.  Well it did not turn out as well as we expected but we had a wonderful time.  We drove 2 1/2 hours up to the Institute, parked, unloaded everybody, got out all coats, hats, mittens, and backpacks we needed, and headed to the ticket booth.  It was not until then that we realized it would cost us close to $80 to go INTO the game.  I do not know how many of you who read are familiar with VMI and its football tradition but there is NEVER a game worth $80 to attend.  So, because we are wonderful parents, we quickly devised an alternative plan.  We watched SOME of the game from the hill behind one of the buildings then we headed into Crozet Hall for some lunch.  This is where we found the deal of the century.  It was an all you can eat buffet of hot and cold items for $5 a head.....AND 5 and under were free...yes FREE!!!! SO, my entire family of 6 ate for, you guessed it, $15!  You can not eat ANYWHERE for $15.  YEAH!!!  

After eating, we wondered around the campus with some friends, headed over the Sweat Things for a DELICIOUS ice cream treat then drove a short 1 hour to our friends house in Charlottesville.  There, we stayed on into the evening, having a wonderful time...great food and wonderful friends and ADULT conversation..... the children played and we talked until everyone was about to crash.  Chad and I then loaded everyone back up and headed on home.  All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday with my family!

Crazy Few Days

Well, I want to apologize to my faithful few readers for my lack of posting over the past few days but... hey, I have four kids... give me a break. No, seriously, we are back! I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving. We certainly did. We went to my side of the family for lunch and CHad;s side of the family for dinner. The children got to play with TONS of cousins, new and old, and we got to visit with lots of family. I got the pleasure of meeting some new members as well (not so new to the family but new to me) which was a wonderful delight! The day after Thanksgiving is decorate for Christmas day in our house. We ventured out, put down a small fortune on a tree, came home and attempted to decorate with WILD MAN undecorating as fast as we could work. We chose to save the tree trimming until this morning.... not our best decision but we wanted all children to be a part of it. Let me just sum up the morning with this..ALL CHILDREN WERE A PART OF IT...I am not saying what part that is.
Now we are taking over the great leaf pile in the front SO we can find our kids again. They went out a few hours ago not to be seen since. I figure once ALL the leaves are blown, they will turn up. Probably just in time to pounce on the large pile and quickly spread all the leaves again.

3 Ring Circus

We were at some good friends house over the weekend and we were discussing the wonderful transistion times we both have in the early evening before Daddy comes home from work. (She is a mom of 3) While we were talking, mu husband interjected and said coming home to our house each evening was like' " Walking into a 3 ring circus on fire being attacked by pirates..." We laughed so hard becasue sometimes it is SO TRUE!!! But now that he has voiced that analogy, he must really know what the homefront is like in the evenings...SOOOOOOOO, when he says he needs to work late, is that really true or does he not want to Sword UP and fight against those pirates OR pull out the fire extinguisher.......
Next time he calls, maybe I will lock myself in the bathroom so he can not hear the chaos and he will quickly come home.