Crazy morning

The hubs carpooling buddy has been out of town for a few weeks, and we adapted to a more relaxed scheduled   Today was the first day they rode together again.  This meant he had to be ready to go out the door at 6:30.  We try to always have breakfast together as a family, so this meant getting up at 5:30 and getting the kids up at 6.  The last few weeks we have been having breakfast between 7:00 and 7:30, with Cinderella running out the door around 8:00.  So this morning the kids had more time, and they weren't sure what to do with it.  Unfortunately in this house that usually means trouble.
To add to things I think Baby is going through a growth spurt, and so he is sleeping and eating more than usual.  He slept through the night last night, which was wonderful in the amount of sleep it gave me, but not quite so wonderful in the amount of milk my body had stored up over the night.  I was too full for him to get much, and he was more interested in sleeping than eating, which resulted in spending a long time feeding him. This being the case, the children were not as supervised as I would have liked.

All before 9:00 I found myself having to rescue children from a locked room, being informed that Spike was drawing all over the couch in permanent marker, reminding Cinderella of all the steps she needed to do to get ready for school.  Getting Spike and Cinderella dressed only to find them later covered in marker and needing a bath, and then Baby screaming because I finally put him down figuring he was more interested in sleeping than eating.  I had to pump so that I wasn't so full, and he could eat.  It seemed rather crazy.

Other than that, my day wasn't too eventful.  I don't know what I am going to do in a few weeks when school is out, and all the kids are home all the time.

Moms Day

Today was "Moms Day" in Guy's kindergarten class.  I got to go to his class and read books with him, make a handprint flower, a whirly bird, write him a note and eat ice cream.
He had such a big grin on his face, I am so glad I was able to be there for him.

My Mom

The longer I am a mom, the more I realize what my mother knew, and why she did the things she did.  I am also a lot more appreciative for the efforts she made.  My mom is the mother of 9 children.  She taught us the value of reading, work, and music.  She kept a mostly clean house, she made  most of my clothes when I was small, she works hard, and I never realized just how hard, until I was a mom.

Keeping a house clean, is hard.  Teaching children how to help you keep a house clean is even harder.   Taking care of 5 kids is hard.  I can't imagine being mother to 9.  Finding the time to make an outfit here and there is difficult.  I have no idea how she made all of my clothes.

I asked her about it recently and she gave me her advice.  Clean up as you go.  Keep the kids with you. While you sew, have them play on the floor near you.  When you are ready to move on, clean up that room before leaving.   Make your bed before you leave your room in the morning.  When you finish breakfast, clean up, wash off the table, and sweep the floor before you move on to the next thing.
I started trying to follow her advice, and keeping my house clean suddenly became a lot easier.  My mom knows what she is talking about.

Thanks Mom for all you have done, and all you do.  I love you.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Aftermath

Have you ever noticed that when you do something that is fun, but a lot of work, at the end you are really worn out, tired, and sometimes negative about the experience, but let a little (or sometimes a lot) of time pass, and what you remember are the positives and you want to do it again.
Today we dealt with some of the short term results.  I spent the evening and morning with some of my siblings and parents, while the hubs took the 4 older kids camping.
I got home shortly after the hubs and kids, to find Spike screaming.  Turns out he didn't sleep that well, and then Aurora woke him early this morning.  The hubs was worn out and so was Aurora.  Cinderella and Guy didn't seem to be hit quite as hard.  But true to form, give it some time, maybe a month, maybe  a few months, and they will be talking about how much fun they had, and how they can't wait to do it again.

A free day

So I am making this post in the middle of the day today, because that is when I have time.  The hubs is giving me a day off and taking the older 4 camping.  They can have their adventure, and I get a break.  I just have to take care of baby.   You know that is funny, when Cinderella was a baby I sure didn't think taking care of just her was much of a break, but compared to 5 kids, 1 baby is easy.

Little quack, and a cute dress

Tonight was the kindergarten plays.  Guy played the part of one of the ducklings in the story Little Quack. 
Aurora also wore her dress/shirt that I just made for her.
Aurora hasn't been sleeping very well lately,  she keeps waking up screaming,  and it takes a while to get her calm enough to figure out what the problem is.  Unfortunately this makes my sleep rather sparse as well.  I will be glad when she out grows thise phase.

Pulling Weeds

This morning Aurora and Spike wanted to play on the front yard, so I went out there to work on my flower gardens while they played.  Ironically enough they would rather help me in the garden than play.  I don't mind that, other than Spike's method of pulling weeds is pulling anything he sees, lilac flowers, iris leaves, rocks, dirt, etc.  But he is trying to help right.  I would just thank him for his help, and try to point to a weed.    I think I maybe got at least the tops off of most of the dandelions that were in the garden.  I know, if you don't get the roots, they will come back, but I figured getting the tops off was better than just ignoring them and leaving them all there.