last day of Janurary!

It sure doesn't feel like it. There's been hardly any snow here this year, and you don't have to bundle up just to go outside to take out the garbage. The kids just started third quarter in school, before I know it school will be out.

Guess what time it is?

Tax time! Wooohooo! LOL For us at least, it's a happy time. Now to plan where our refund will benefit us the most.....

Happy Birthday Jacque! Hope you had a good one!!

No doctors today

Chason caught whatever bug it was that Colby had last week. I thought I had lucked out and the rest of the kids were in the clear. I was WRONG! When Chason stayed in bed all morning I kept checking on him, and he just got worse and worse. I gave him medicine for his fever then re-scheduled his doctor appointment for next week. It was a well child appointment so I couldn't bring him to it. This morning I woke up to him yelling from the bathroom. He had gotten sick and was so mad it was all over himself. I wasn't too thrilled either. He kept saying, On my arm! Gross! Ugh my leg! Ewww! I put him in the tub and scrubbed the floor and walls were he touched. If the first smells that hit my nose didn't wake me up, the Clorox sure did.

I got him all cleaned up and snuggled him back down in bed. About an hour later, he ran for the bathroom and missed again. So I had to repeat my earlier scrub down and just hope he feels better soon.

blah Monday

Its Monday morning and Scott is back to work after taking off a couple days to spend time with us as a family. We took the kids out to dinner and to a movie. I only got asked twice how many kids we have, and was told they'd go crazy if they had that many. That's as it should be, but I admit it's those crazy moments that brought most of our kids, lol. Scott got my dryer fixed last night, so today has been spent with me catching up on as much laundry as possible. I am not too far behind, as I made a quick trip to the laundry mat yesterday and got 4 loads done. I am now starting a dryer fund in preparation for when my dryer goes out again. I am hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

Tomorrow is Chason's and Troy's doctor appointments. It ought to be event full.

Break time is over, gotta go vacuum now......

Surprise!

I got the best surprise this morning! At 8:00 a.m. guess who walked in the front door?

My hubby is home!!!! He was gone for 31 days. The longest we have ever been apart. The kids jumped all over him and everyone was so excited.

The baby wasn't quite used to his voice, and freaked out a little when Scott peeked on him in his crib, but soon daddy had him laughing and giggling like crazy.

Today is a good day!

Kindergarten check up, 2 year old well check

Cavin had his kindergarten check up today. 5 shots, 1 finger poke, and he had to pee in a cup (yeah that was sooo fun). He passed his eye test wonderfully, and is a very healthy kid. We are going to get his hearing checked out just to make sure that's not the reason his speech is not quite where it should be, but overall he is doing great.

This was right before they clipped his finger. He said, You hurt my finger! Then they put a cotton wrap on it and all was forgiven.

Next was Travis's turn for his immunizations, and the reason there's no picture is because he didn't think quite as highly of the whole experience as Cavin did. My poor little boy was so mad at them. They tag teamed him and got his legs at the same time. The whole way home in the car he kept saying owie, owie, owie, leg....mean octor....mean octor....

Next week its Chason and Troy's turn. Oye.....

maybe if I walk sideways......

Have you ever had a day where you wish you could just crawl back in bed?

You wake up, get ready for the day, and take the kids to school. You talk to a few teachers, go to the bank and chat with the teller, get gas and make a quick stop into the dentist office to pay off a bill. All the while you are feeling very sluggish, but you know mom's don't quit, mom's don't get a day off. You throw in a load of laundry, and fold and put away a load as well. The clothes are still kinda damp, but it's not that big of a deal, and as you happen to pass a mirror you notice somethings off. You literally back up, and stare into the mirror, when you realize you spent the entire morning with make up on half of your face. That's why the teller at the bank never broke eye contact. Only me I swear.....

The next part of the day involves sweet talking to a dryer, who hates you for the fact that it does enough laundry for 3 families. Next it goes on strike and kills the heating element. The same heating element that was replaced 6 months ago.

Awesome.

Guess where I get to go now?

Yes my friends, its a place where dreams and wishes come true. A place where you can dry 8 loads of laundry in less then an hour.

The Laundry mat.

Woo

Hoo

I hope I can find a place that has a heating element in stock, because if I have to go back to every other day laundry mat trips, imma go cray-zy!

Monday Morning Laugh

Just because we all need it

Awwww

I love this pic I saw tonight so much I just had to put it on my blog. It's Colby and Anna, and they look so happy together.

Love it!

Creeper

I had to make sure I blogged about my lil Chason today. I was in a hurry this morning, and grabbed all the boys clothes and brought them downstairs with me so I could get them all dressed. As I was helping Cavin get on his shoes, I told Chason to get off his jammas and come downstairs so I could get him dressed. He hollers, "okay mom!" and the next thing I know hes bouncing down the stairs butt naked. I said, Chason! Where's your under ware? He says you told me to get undressed mom. OK fair enough, I did.....course I didn't mean completely, but OK. So I tell him run upstairs and get some under ware, and he does and brings them downstairs still completely free styling. I tell him hurry Chason, get over here before someone sees your bum-bum. And just then Haylee walks in and tells him, I see your bum-bum! I see your bum-bum! He looks right at her with his eye brow cocked and says....

Creeper.

Haylee stood there and said, did he just call me a creeper? LOL

Sure did Hay, HAHAHAHA!


On a side note.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!!!!

Happy Birthday Travis!!

He's 2! He's 2! No longer classified as a baby. EEEEEEK! But I don't think I can actually say that out loud. I am just not ready to go there yet.

Here he is at about 1 month old

And at 6 months old.....

I remember that day. We was waiting in the truck for Scott to get done unloading his truck, so I fed him in his car seat, and he fell asleep. I kinda sat there debating to wipe his face down, or let him snooze.

My rule of never waking a sleeping baby unless absolutely necessary won that match.

With that lil face, he wins most of the time around here.

I have been telling him Happy Birthday Travis, all day long. He just looks at me and tells me Happy Birthday right back.

But when he saw the cake,

He knew something was up...........                                                                                                               

He smiled and clapped with us when we sang Happy Birthday to him........

And then was really happy when he got the first piece!

Happy Birthday Buddy! We love you!!!!!

Hair?

Today I picked the boys up from school, and Cavin waved at another boy from his class who was coming out. I asked him, Is that you friend? He said yes, his name is Hair.

I said Hair?

He says noooooo not Hair! Air!

I said Air?

He says nooooo not Air! Aaaaaarrrrrrreeee!

So I say, ummm Bear?

(This is where he looks like he's gonna explode)

He says, MOM! Him not a bear!

I said, so then what's his name Cavin? He looks at me and says....

I dunno.

I woulda gave up too.

He starts speech next year btw. I think it will do us all good, lol. Usually I have to translate for him, but this kids name totally threw me......

Sunday

I got quite a bit done today. Washed and put away (yay!) 6 loads of laundry, and I even have a 7th and 8th load going right now in the washer and dryer. I cleaned my kitchen twice, my bedroom once, and made sure all the kids got their chores done as well.

I fixed spaghetti for dinner, and as usual it was a hit!

Travis ate all his cheese bread, and mine as well, but hey that is just what happens if you sit next to him. Your food is fair game.

Cavin ate everything on his plate, and got a full belly. Shelby had been asking for spaghetti for dinner for a couple weeks, so she was happy she got her request.

Caden had fun trying to make Haylee and everyone else at the table laugh.......

And Chason really gets into his food......literally......

The little boys all lose their shirts when anything that stains comes out on the table.

And lil Troy just sat there like.....hey.......

I got jipped.....where's my s'getti?

Day 18

It has been 18 days since Scott left for New Mexico. Everyone tells me they don't know how I do it with 8 kids by myself, but the truth is I have always done it by myself. Even when Scott is here he is usually gone during the days, so it is usually just me and the kids. But this time it is different. This is the longest we have ever been apart, and I miss him terribly. If he continues on this work schedule of being gone for over a month at a time, I just may consider moving out of state so we could be closer to him. It sure would make him happy.

I do not mean to complain about this job. Complaining solves nothing. It is a great job and he has a boss who is very good to us. It's just the hours and days away from us that hurt. We have gone through job losses before, and are very thankful to have this one, because with a family as large as ours, jobs that can support us are hard to come by. He will be home soon, and we will all be happy to see him.

All I know is today, at this moment, I sure do miss him.

oldest and youngest

feeling better.....

Today I was able to crawl out of bed. I got 5 loads of laundry done and my kitchen floor mopped. It took me a long time because I feel so tired and my muscles hurt, but it had to be done. Poor Travis missed me and was happy to see me out of bed, so he clung to me most of the day.

My 2 oldest kids made me so proud. They took care of the younger kids all day yesterday. Shelby fixed dinner for them and even read to me while I was sick in bed. Colby kept the little kids from killing each other, and made sure I got my meds.

I am so thankful I got some help! It was a miserable day, but it was great to know I could count on them!

sick

I am sick today, so this post will be short. It started last night and by this morning I couldn't get warm, no matter how many blankets I had on me. My throat is swollen, and I have a really hard time swallowing. I am pretty sure its strep.

Oh joy. I started antibiotics this morning, so hopefully by tomorrow I will feel better. I have been doing my best not to breathe on the baby, but its hard because he is always in my arms. Colby did a amazing job with him this morning. When I couldn't even move Colby took care of the baby, and of me. He even brought the t.v in my room and put on a DVD for me to watch. Even Shelby checked on me and brought me toast.

I am thankful to have them.

This post makes me tired

Yesterday was one of those go go go days, where I never got a chance to stop and breathe, so I am posting today about yesterday.

I woke up early because I had so much to do and knew I needed extra time, so when I had 7 kids dressed and ready to walk out the door at 8 a.m., I wasn't very happy to find my keys missing from my purse. I searched everywhere. I had the bigger kids searching everywhere. We looked in toy boxes, under beds, in beds, couches, cupboards, the garage.....everywhere you could possibly think of and still couldn't find them. The extra set is with Scott in New Mexico, so that wasn't even an option. I text Colby asking if for some reason he used them knowing I wouldn't hear back anytime soon because he can't use his phone during school hours. Minutes are ticking by.....the kids school has already started.....no keys are to be found....

I get a text on my phone, and it's Colby! Yay! He did take my keys to get something out of the car and forgot to put them back, they are down in his room in his hoodie which is in the hamper! Arrrg!

So we rush out the door a good 45 minutes late, I stop and get them a breakfast sandwich to feed their faces with, and I see in the bag a couple extra sandwiches. So I tell Shelby to bring one to her teacher since she's so late. He couldn't be mad at her then.....lol she said it would be to embarrassing. Oh well....I decide to bring the extra sandwiches to my mom since shes so close to my boys preschool, and this is what I see when I pull up to her house.

I know she gets cold easy but come on!! All she's missing is the scarf over her face with a little hole for a cigarette and shes the outcast smokin Muslim!

I drop off the sandwiches, take the boys to preschool, go back to my moms to pick up my nephew Matt, and take him on a few errands. Bills, gas station, rent, pick up boys from preschool, and 2 hours later I am dropping Matt back off at my moms. A quick diaper change in the car and I am off again.

Next stop is Sam's Club, where I buy diapers, formula, milk, and some nice big strawberries (yum)
The boys are hungry by now, so I grab them some pizza at Sam's and feed the baby then we leave to go grocery shopping. I load my item up and my kids and quickly realize there's no room for groceries in my car. So I call my mom and ask for help. She meets me at Walmart, along with Lexi my niece and my grandma Tryon. 3 carts and an hour later, I am ready to check out.

I push a cart and pull one behind me and Lexi pushes one. We are quite the spectacle, lol. I leave Walmart and hurry home to unload the cars. Thankfully Colby makes it home in time to help Lexi and I unload. I am now running late (imagine that!) to pick the kids up from school, so the groceries just get placed on the counters and table until I return. After the kids are home and I get our loot put away, it's now our dog Dazeys turn to go. She had been holding her hind leg the whole day before, so I had to take her to the vets to get it checked out. They think its a torn muscle, so she gets some pain meds and her shots updated while we are there. I get her home so she can relax, but lets face it, with 8 kids in 1 home, it's easier said then done.

Here she is today.....

I hope my poor pup feels better soon!

By now it's dinnertime and I haven't been home long enough to cook anything, so we eat out. Again. Oye.
 I get back in the car to go pick up dinner and bring just Haylee with me so she can get some much needed mom time in. We go to 7-11 as well so I can buy her a slurpee so she has some time to rub in the other kids faces when we return. When I get home I am feeling exhausted and I pass out dinner. Shelby reminds me I promised to take her to Rue-21 to buy a birthday present for a friend. Of course I did. I needed 1 more thing to occupy my time with anyway......

So off again with Shelby, Trav, Troy and Cavin this time. 2 stores later she has everything she needs. Can I just say how much fun being a mom is?

I trudge in the door and check the clock. Its 8:00 and bath time. Just thinking about it makes me tired. But then, I get a renewed sense of energy when I think about what comes after bath time. Bedtime! YAY!!! I gather up all the boys, run upstairs, and throw them all in the tub. Scrub, wash, brush, dry, dress, and they are all in bed. I have 4 boys and 4 beds for them, but 3 of the 4 end up in the same bed every single night. Cracks me up there are 3 in 1 bed while 2 beds remain empty every night. But it sure is cute to see them all snuggled together.

As I am shutting the door and picking up the baby so I can feed him his bottle I start to think of all the stuff I didn't do at home today and know I will be paying for it tomorrow.
Laundry Mountain.
Kitchen sink.
Messy living room.
Awesome

I went to bed. No blogging, no relaxing, no nuttin. Just bed. Yay.

And the Grammy goes to........

So Caden was watching Chason gobble up some peanuts coated in god knows what  tonight, when Travis eyed them and asked for some. Caden wanted to feed him some, but I told him no because he could choke on them. Caden says choke? You mean like this? And this is what he does.....

So I am laughing and he hams it up further.....

Till he keels over........

Caden is dramatic?? No freakin way!!!

And on a good note I would like to report he has gotten greens from his teacher on both days since coming back from Christmas break. Go Caden!!
                        

Happy New Year!

All I can say is I hope this year is better then the last!