And from out of the Rubble

I'm happy to be awake this morning before the kids. They are slowly trickling down the stairs one at a time to investigate the chaos that was Christmas. All five of them have a big giant gift bag from Grannie to sift through. We spent Christmas morning opening presents and cleaning up a little bit before rushing off to my mom's house for dinner and present exchange.

Today we start what will likely be the first day of several in a row of cleaning and reorganizing around the house. The children's room as well as their loft tv area have been severely neglected since before Thanksgiving because I just couldn't bring myself to forge a takeover and really get things in order up there. Really, I haven't had a lot of time to go above and beyond the daily dose of just clearing a path and keeping up with clean clothes to wear every day.

I am looking forward to the overhaul of sorts because it will bring me into the new year, hopefully with a new focus to become at least a more efficient person if not a person with a few extra dollars in her pocket so to speak. Today it feels like there are books and blogs to write, photo frames to fill, rooms to organize, CDs to burn and time to do it.

Things to do Today on this dreary rainy day

It's just after 11 and I've still so much to do today.

Fold and put away the load of kids clothes (that I washed 2 days ago).
Fold and put away hubby's load of clothes so that he doesn't nag me about having to do it himself.
Make the internet work for me and make some $$ before I have to go out and get a real job.
Empty the dishwasher
Start loading the dishwasher with the breakfast dishes
Think about what's for dinner tonight for me and the kids.
Start a grocery list for tomorrow(or saturday or sunday, whenever I get to doing that).
Put away the load of my laundry that I washed the other day.

Hmmmmm.....I won't even mention the stuff that I have no intentions of doing today...like other cleaning. Just not going to do it.

Summer is Flying by

Next week The Scholar and The PreTeen are starting their second 2-week session of their Summer Enrichment course. This will signal the end of summer vacation for me. Is this really the last week of July??? The girls have 2 weeks of the summer school then they're off for about a week before all the kids start school on August 22nd for the first full day. Why start on a Friday, I don't know, but they do.

I finally finished filling out the preregistration forms for all five kids last week. I made appointments for The Scholar and The PreTeen to have sports physicals so they could play volleyball and The PreTeen wants to do cheerleading this year too. I was putting off writing the checks for registration, but finally did that this morning and sent them off.

Five kids, two public schools (one elementary, one middle school), nearly $500 for registration. That's the bare minimum. That does not include lunches (hot lunch is available for about $2.00 a day), portraits, yearbooks, field trips, scouts, school supplies (which I'll likely spend a couple of hundred bucks on at Walmart) and a myriad of other things that come up every month that they're in school ranging from $5 to $25 a month or more.

My kids take their lunches daily maybe getting hot lunch once or twice a month if they're serving something yummy (and I have cash in my purse--which is rare). I also take portraits myself and order them up from Shutterfly and only allow the kids to purchase yearbooks ($9-$15 per person).

Man, kids are EXPENSIVE!!!! And we haven't even hit high school yet--or the orthodontist--or had any broken bones (the joy of more girls than boys i suppose!LOL) I think I need a hobby that's gonna make me some money soon or I'm gonna have to get a real job!!!

A Fine Summer Day

Wednesday's play date has been pushed to Thursday. I certainly didn't mind, when I woke up I was going to have to rush around getting myself and kids ready to go, now I don't have to. Tomorrow will be a much better day for a play date.

The next batch of kids is going to Wisconsin with the grands. They're headed out early in the morning, so I'll be up and raring to go out to play by 10:a.m. Today, not so much. We're creeping up on 10, and I've done nothing, and while I have some chore time with the kids in mind for sometime later in the day, I am looking forward to continuing the doing nothing for a couple more hours.

The jig is up.

Her Royal Highness is fighting with The Middle Child, Her Highness throwing a fit and being perfectly unreasonable. The Scholar was trying to mediate. And it's quiet again...we'll see if I can make it through this whole movie I just started before I need to go shower and make something of the day.

I've now wasted 20 minutes of movie time handing out some new directions, shuffling people around. I feel like a giant wooden spoon stirring the pot of children around the house for an optimal day. I had to move The Scholar from the computer and into the shower (if she's in the shower, mine will wait until she's done). The Scholar prepared the computer for Her Royal Highness, which gets her away from The Middle Child, one of her biggest adversaries. The Boy has been quiet and so has The PreTeen.

Mom's Day Off

It doesn't happen often and I don't know when it will happen again, but today, I have a day off. There's no one home except for me, no kids, no spouse. I hardly know what to do with myself. Three of the of the kids are in Wisconsin until Tuesday with their grandparents (the inlaws). The other two kids are at my mom and dad's house until probably Monday evening. The spouse is at work until likely around 5:00.

I'm trying to enjoy the peace and quiet, the time to myself. Sometimes it's nice to not have anyone to talk to. There's not one person here that can direct my day, let alone six people here that tend to chase my day straight away from me. Don't get me wrong, that is the story of my life, much of my time is not my own and I wouldn't have it any other way, but it is nice to take a break and just be able to listen to the thoughts in my own head and (apparently) some dog barking his annoying little head off.

So, it's 9:30 in the morning and what have I done today? Not a whole heck of a lot, that's for sure. I watched Disturbia, read a little email and checked up on a few blogs, right now I'm watching Swingtown, but can't seem to get into it, I might have to turn on another movie...perhaps The Departed. LOVE that movie.

Hubby suggested taking me out to dinner tonight, so I've got that going for me. I need to do a little grocery shopping sometime soon, but that will likely wait until tomorrow, should be fun for hubby, he likes to come with me grocery shopping, but usually stays home with the kids as it is insanely distracting for me to grocery shop with five kids and a spouse in tow. Since the kids are gone hubby and me get to spend his only day off this week, without kids. I think that will be fun.

Hubby and I don't very often get to go out together, let alone have a whole day together without the children. When we do get away from the kids to just have some time together as a couple, it's usually only for a few hours. It pains me that we don't take more time to focus on our own relationship as a married couple when we are so wrapped up in work life and family life on a day to day basis.

So, I vow not to waste this 'me' day, this 'mom's day off'. I want to spend some time being me. I want to listen to some of my favorite songs while I take a shower knowing that not one person will knock on the door while I'm in there or stomp through the house having a temper tantrum. I want to enjoy my leftover Parmesan nuggets that I picked up at a local pizza joint last night with an ice cold Pepsi--half of which is also left over from last night. I want to watch Disturbia again and write a continuing romantic teen book series based on the romance between the main characters, Kale and Ashley (played by Shia LaBeouf and Sarah Roemer).

On my 'mom's day off', I'll go out to dinner with my husband and maybe to a little fun shopping, stimulate the economy a little bit. Hubby wants to go to Chili's for dinner, so I'm going to have to think about what I'm going to want to eat--everything is so good there it's hard to decide...but I should definitely have a margarita!!! Our economic stimulus money is burning a whole in my pocket and I'm hoping to be able to get hubby to let me spend at least a little bit of it before it goes to bills.

What good are neighbors?

Pretty darn good, I must say. This morning I sent my non-bug touching son across the street to fetch a bug-catching, 9 year-old. Yes, I walked through my kitchen this morning to find a little baby grasshopper just sitting there on my kitchen island.

There's only two people in my household that would have been able to help with this odd crisis. My co-head of household, my husband. He would have scooped it up in a cup or something and shooed it outside. The other option, my own 9 year-old daughter; I've seen her catch lightening bugs and put them in a jar. Surely she could have shooed a grasshopper out of the house.

The dilemma, neither of them were home. Hubbie was at work already, and the 9 year old is having a wonderful time spending the weekend watching her cousin compete in some little miss pageant.

My only son is just as squeamish as the majority of his sisters, so he wouldn't do it. Don't think I didn't ask him if he was capable. So, I sent the boy upstairs to get dressed and then go fetch one of the neighbor boys. My neighbor, kiddie corner, across the street has three boys. There's no way their squeamish. I requested the oldest one, the others wouldn't have done, one is six the other in diapers.

My 9 year-old neighbor saved the day. Still in his spongebob squarepants pajamas and some imitation crocs, he tries to pick up the little grasshopper from the counter and it, of course, hops to the floor, which sends my 11 year old across the room. She doesn't want anything to do with the grasshopper or any bug, insect or anything else that falls into that category.

My 7 year old son is holding the patio screen door open cheering on the neighbor as he tries to pick it up again, it hops again. After a few more attempts, he manages to get it closer to the open doorway. He eventually gets hold of it and tosses the little grasshopper back into the yard where he belongs.

Are These the Best Days of My Life

You know the stories, the songs and older generation of folks thinking back to the 'old days' reminiscing about the best days of their lives. Today is my birthday. Another year older, a new number to remember.

So, are these the days of my life? I'm not sure. Thinking about how miserable some of the people around me are, things, life in general, is going pretty well for me. I shudder to think of being an old person and thinking back on my life--I'm just not ready to be that old--but I think when I look back, this particular time in my life will be a thought of as a good one.

Looking back though, even now, as young as I am, there are several times in my life that are good ones, and really I can't think of a lot of bad ones.

My 35th Birthday Horoscope

Right now your brain is wide open to new ideas and new ways of doing things. Stepping out of your comfort zone has never felt so good, so take a walk on the wild side and remind yourself what it's like to feel a little out of your element! There has never been a better time in your life to explore a new hobby or interest. How about checking out a career opportunity that you have been thinking about pursuing for a while? You are about to enter a very sweet and worry-free time in your life.

I am really looking forward what my immediate future holds for me. The natural course of change is fascinating and I feel like I'm in a period of transition/change...Oh the things to happen.