Random Friday

Time for random Friday bits....

1.  Played Raquetball for the first time in years with my husband on Wednesday night and LOVED it.  I forgot how fun it was.   And the best part, we were doing something together, getting a great workout, and it didn't cost anything.  (Except for the membership we paid for, and the cost of the equipment to play. But now were set for a year)

2. I'm ready for a Saturday!! Until I realized that in the morning my oldest has an activity through church at like 8 or 8:30 in the morning.  Ugh... maybe I can get the hubs to take her and I can sleep in.  And then we'll do something in the afternoon as a family.

3.  My kitchen and living room have been clean for most of 3 days now.  Yeah, I know not a long time, but it's a start for us.  And seriously I like it more this way, now onto the rest of the house... time to get rid of the clutter, and un needed things.  It's really crazy!!  But we're determined together (the hubs and I) to clean up the spaces in our house, and the cellar and start painting and fixing up the appeal of the house. 

4. I'm not comfortable with public speaking.  Well, maybe with more practice I would be, but I know that it terrifies me, especially when I feel like a goober and am trying to teach something for which I am familiar with, but don't consider myself and expert by any means. So I'm now onto doing more digi pages because that workshop at which I was the "instructor" got me motivated even more.  So ... I'll be pretty busy over the next little while doing that fun stuff. 

5. OH WAIT!!! I forgot the school yearbook has to be finished first, and then onto the digi-scrapping. 

Wordless Wednesday

MY ULTIMATE FAVORITE. 

And after going to the dentist with 5 kids, 

I need some NOW!!!  

But I don't have any sort of chocolate stash.   

(Um, is that kind of weird that I want chocolate, 

after spending the afternoon at the dentist)

Random Friday...

BROWNIES ...... I love 'em!!!!

I found this great recipe on the internet from someone, and I altered a few ingredients (or rather omit them) and these things are so delightful. I'm surprised because I made some this afternoon, and from the entire pan I made, I've only eaten one brownie. (by the way that's good... of course, the kids are headed off to bed, and when I'm done here, well....you can probably guess that I'll eat at least one more) Do you blame me??

CREDIT CARDS..... I Hate 'em!!!   

Well, just the fact that they are easy to use, but twice or ten times as hard to pay back.  We're using tax return money to pay off all the higher interest balances that we had, and that will leave us with only 1 that we will make payments on and hopefully be rid of it by the end of this year.  (Crossing my fingers.)  We're looking into buying a newer, bigger house in the near future that is about 2-3 years away maybe and really would like to have our finances in our control again, and keep them that way.  Although, having a credit card is great when emergencies come up, but not for impulse spending.  So now my motto is this " if I say to myself that I can just put it on the credit card .... a bells and whistles sound should go off, and then I should know that I need to talk with Chris (my spouse) before doing such a thing."    I'm committed... and so is he... I really think that this will work, but only if we don't face any catastrophe's this year before we're ready to be rid of the debt.  

Valentines Day..... (NOT SURE WHAT I THINK???)  

It's nice and all to have some kind of "Special Day" but seriously since I'm married, I like my Anniversary more.  Not that I don't like Valentines Day but there just isn't any thought behind any of it.  My husband isn't romantic (well not all the time, he has it in him if he really tries) and we have 5 kids.  No one really wants to watch 5 kids, and I don't like "farming" them out.  I like them to all be together. Call me weird, but I do.   Luckily the oldest girls are old enough for us to start going on dates every week, and leaving them here at home to "babysit".  So it's getting easier, and I find that I look forward to our date night.  We're not rich, so we can't afford the "FANCY SCHMANSY"  places that I hear lots of couples go for the big day's celebration.   So we're going out for dinner tomorrow night... not sure where.   But I know it'll be fun.  But for Valentines Day which falls on Sunday this year I'll make the family Chicken Enchiladas.... and we'll make some valentines cookies.  (Basically a sugar cookie that they cut out in heart shapes.)  But we really make a bigger deal out of our Anniversary.... am I the only one that feels and thinks this same way???

YEARBOOK ---- 

I'm the committee chair this year for the yearbook at the elementary school my children attend.  This will be my third year working on the yearbook, and so far I feel like I'm just a puppet doing what the PTO says I should do.  I have to include things that they want, even after I tell them we don't have room.  I can't really do things the way I want to, and when the first deadline came, I was told to not submit the batch. But to wait until the March final deadline to submit everything.  Well, at least those pages are done, now it's just time to fix the activity pages and get pictures of activities that have gone on throughout the year.  I don't want any complaining because, if you aren't helping to "build it" or supplying us with much needed pictures, or helping to sponsor the book... then really if I'm the chairperson... let me be.  Please.  I don't know if I want to do this again next year, because ...well it's a whole long story I could put into a different post. It's seriously a stressful ordeal, when too many hands get into the project. 

Okay so that's it for my Random Ranting and Praising .... Remember these are just my thoughts, and are subject to change without further notice.

Tardy Again.... And yes I said Again.

Okay so I wrote a note that said something like this:

Mr. P,

Katherine had a rough morning which has caused her to run behind today.

Thanks

Mrs. R


Not a big deal right?? It's not like she was all that late for school this morning, but this is what the note should have said....

Mr. P,

Katherine has had a rough start to her day. When entering her room to make sure she was waking up, she whined and cried that it was "FREEZING" in her room, and did not want to get out of bed. Even after I suggested she go into the living room where it felt "warmer" and that she could stand over one of the heater vents and "warm up". She screamed at me with high pitched, hurt your ears king of screaming, and so I had to think fast as to what I could do to get her up and moving. I then took away her blanket that she loves, and had been mummified in, only to hear her start her awful girl screaming once again. Sorry, but I was losing patience at this point, and really was running out of time. We continued to get the other kids dressed and ready, and were going to eat instant oatmeal this morning, but realized the time, and opted for bagels instead. You know, because they are quick, easy and portable. The perfect breakfast when you are in a hurry. Katherine was still in bed, and don't fret because she is nearly 10, and so I left her here at home while I drove the other two to school so they could arrive on time. I told Katherine before I left that she needed to be ready to go when I got back. Luckily she was, and then we headed back for the second time today already. I've told her that she doesn't get to go swimming this weekend because of her behavior this morning. Now I might still let her, but it will have to be a HUGE thing she does to earn that privilege back. We really try to get her to school on time, but sometimes, well as you can see it isn't that easy. And she was the first one asleep last night. I think things will work out a lot better if we were able to have our girls in their own rooms. But that can't happen until we move into a bigger house. But one day at time, and we'll be able to solve that problem. So because of this, she is running late this morning.

Thanks

Mrs. R.


(She was only 3-4 minutes late, but still it was a hard morning, trying to stay calm and not wanting to actually make and force her to behave.) I think I need a nap now, I'm tired from doing all that just this morning. And just so you know her grades aren't suffering, she really has great grades.

New FEATURE.... (Make Me Laugh Kid)

I don't know about you, but my kids are pretty darn funny!!  And I'm constantly sharing their funny moments with my friends.  I also like to hear about the funny stuff that my friends kids do as well.  Nothing like hearing about what a kid says or does, to put a smile on the overly tired Mother/Grandmother/Aunt/sister /Dad/Grandfather/Uncle/brother 's faces.

I know I have this up for being posted on Sunday, and that's so you can link your funny moment up in order to be on here for Monday.  And really throughout the week.

 So now I want you to share with me, and others out there what your most favorite funny thing was from this last week..... (Remember to keep it clean)  So just post to your blog, and then come back here to link up to that post on your blog. 

So my favorite thing from this last week:

While driving down a major street in the city we live in, we were stopped at a light and my 7 year old daughter was reading some of the street signs, and I hear her say. " One hour po-tatoe? "   Of course, I realize that it doesn't sound like any sign I'd ever seen, and turned to look, and realized it actually said, "One hour photo".   I seriously couldn't stop laughing.

Monthly Book Group Discussion.

Okay so I just got back from Book Group about an hour and half ago!!

Finally I feel like it is organized, and planned out ahead enough that I

can read ahead if I am able.

I sometimes feel out of place with some of the ladies that go, because

they seem to be great educated women, and have read a lot of the

books that tend to bore me to death. 

So for the next 11 months, I'm pledging (maybe I should insert committing instead)  to actually read every book

they have voted and agreed on for the book group. Although I feel

a little overwhelmed when one book was suggested and the

lady had mentioned the book wasn't very long, I came home

and checked on it, and holy shmoly it is like 782 pages.

And it's a Russian literature read.  But luckily that one isn't until October, so

maybe I can start like now, and finish by then, and hopefully read all the others in between.

So here are the books in case you are interested:

The Thief  ---   Megan Whalen Turner

Woman in White --- Wilkie Collins  (I'm really excited for this one!!!)

A Heart Like His: Making Space for God's Love in your Life  ----- Virginia H. Pearce

Resurrection  --- Leo Tolstoy

The Hiding Place --- Corrie Ten Boom  (I've been wanting to read this one for a while now)

Half Broke Horses -- Jeannette Walls

Till We Have Faces -- C.S. Lewis

The Idiot --- Fyodor Dostoevsky   (I'm almost scared to read this one)

The Color of Water --- James McBride

Jane Eyre  --- Charlotte Brontë

Sorcery and Cecelia ---- Patricia C. Wrede, Caroline Stevermer  (This one sounds interesting in how it was written.  One lady write a part of the book, and sends it to the other, and she writes the next part, and then sends it back to the first and so on, and the crazy thing is the other doesn't know how it is going to end because of how they wrote it.)

There you have it.  So if you want a suggestion check out one of these. 

Emotional Connectedness, we all need it.

Okay so I'm posting a few times today, and I realize now that I should have changed the title of the last post....but alas, it is not to be.  I want that to be found pretty easily, and so I'm sticking to it. 

But on to the real business of the day. 

I've been feeling a little weirded out lately.  Not sure exactly what I mean.  But whatever it is, I'm starting to like the changes going on within.  Call me lame, but I'm really someone who needs some emotional connections either with people (and who cares if they are in movies or real life, because I don't always get time with real life women) or with a book (You know I really like a good book, but lets face it your def. and mine are probably different. I haven't read a lot of the "classics" and sometimes when I go to the book group I'm a part of, I feel kind of "dumb" for not having read them way back when, but to tell you the truth one look at the first few pages ...well I don't want to spend my time reading somthing that will "BORE" me.  If it isn't required, I'm not doing. Ha!! ) 

So just recently we switched to Direct TV and now we're getting "A LOT" more tv channels than we used to.  But at the same time, I find myself more motivated to "CLEAN UP" around the house during the day.  I find it kind of like a game.  Yeah, I'm not perfect but I do what works for me.  (Since I'm not rich enough to have a maid, or live close enough to have my mom or grandma have at my house, I have to settle for what I can barely manage to get out)

So with these new channels that I didn't get before, I'm finding movies on galore.  (I'm a real nut for LMN unless the movie is just too whacked out weird)  But I like watching the based on a true story movies, and I'll find the perfect time to fold all the laundry while watching the segment until commercials, and then I run and switch loads if needed, or I wash another rack full of dishes or whatever, until it comes on again. 

It's weird, and almost like I feel as if there is something more to my "stay at home" mom life than there used to be.  I think I'm watching way more than I used to, but I also feel like more is getting done. And then the messes are remade just as fast.  But who cares, when I have commercials to work with.  It's a game, a sort of competition for me, and gives me an adrenaline rush almost.  (That would be a HUGE ALMOST!!! )

Of course, not much can be said for the days when I have grocery shopping and bills to pay.  I'm busy all morning taking care of those tasks, and like clockwork the MESS and JUNK have found thier homes again in all the corners of the room, under the edges of the cabinets in the kitchen under the piano bench, the desk, under the kitchen table....ugh... I swear the mess is like multiplying like rabbits.   I'm not quite sure how to slow it down. 

But no worries here, I'm learning new things, and am trying new ideas to help me conquer the "clutter" in my life, and to get my kids involved in the process without going completely insane. 

And this little place I call mine, helps me vent out the frustration.  My husband gets a little perturbed that the place ALWAYS looks bad, but at the same time, I know my kids aren't going to be little forever, so I want to enjoy my time with them, and teach them when the moments come. 

So I know I'm like the only one in the "world" who can't keep her home spotless,  and all of you out there are such SUPER MOM's that you have your acts together all the time,  and kudos to you, but please don't judge this mama because I'm still a work in progress.  :) 

Nearly Wordless Wednesday..... Trip down Memory Lane!!

Baby Ethan

Kaylee when she turned 2 (It's my Elmo cake that I haven't shown off yet, I don't think)

Kaylee on her 8th Birthday. I love to "disquise" their presents.  By the way I was nursing at this time, Ethan was only 2 weeks old when this took place.

Extra points if you can guess my child that's hiding under there.

Like Father Like Son.

And this is my lovely little Sunshine, who'll make a beautiful bride someday!!  Well, of course, all three of my girls will, but she's my baby girl, and there's always something different with the "baby girl".  This was about a year and half ago.  Plus she dressed up as a "bride" for Halloween this last year in 2009.

Monday Mingle Feb. 1st, 2010

Time for Monday Mingle once again, and it's being hosted by 80MPH Mom.

Here are pictures of my two pets. Since I tried to do an edited "movie" and realized I can't do it currently with the software I own and the digi camera that I have.  So until one of those changes I won't be able to do a fun snazzy edited version, but just know these pictures would have been included in the video.