Blogger's Lament

Blogging is fun when those in your circle have new content, and when you're new content gets quick response and lots of it. As obsessed as I am, Dove and Kim are not enough, as good as they are, to keep me occupied. So I have to reach out and find more to add to my circle, in hopes that I can find more people who are as willing as I am to blog about life more than actively participate in it.

So, this morning by the time I checked for new content on about 25 blogs, commented appropriately (minimal since few were updated) and created posts for 3 different blogs of mine, I had washed most of the laundry (minimal since 5 out of 8 kids are not here--hence my obsession with time-killing blogs). Five loads were washed, folded and put away by tonight. It usually takes me 2-3 days to fully process laundry around here.

Devanie, what gives! You got us started on this whole blog thing and now you abandon us? Update for goodness sake!

Here We Go Again

When I get emails that tell me to do something, I never do it. But, since I am becoming so addicted to blogging, I don't mind filling in a couple of blanks, but I won't tag anybody else

5 things that I do for myself:
a. Blog
b. love on my babies
c. HGTV (It's been a while, though)
d. Not enough
e. Gardening (It's been a couple of years)

2.Name 5 kind things I do for friends, my children or partner:
a. Blog
b. Take a shower
c. cook dinner
d. Go to Fry's Electronics
e. Smile

3.Name 5 kind things I've done for a stranger:
a. Smile
b. open a door
c. pick up what their baby dropped
d. Put things back on the rack/shelf where they belong if I don't want them
e. Use shopping cart out of parking lot instead of at the door

4.Name 5 hobbies I enjoy:

a. Writing (especially on a blog)
b. Music
c. Dancing
d. Sewing
e. Gardening

So there you have it!

Click It

I have spent a ridiculous amount of time at Blogger. I realized it had been well over a month since I had posted to the Lay Family History Blog, so I posted another letter from my great grandmother to her husband.

Also, inspired by Dove, I am doing a daily spiritual thought on my Circle of Sisters Blog. The focus of it is my local friends, but I encourage anyone else to benefit from the daily quotes. Feel free to spread the word. I am trying to keep the thoughts somewhat in line with scheduled curriculum. For the most part they are simple, straight-forward quotations, which I am linking to their source in the gospel library on LDS.org.

Enjoy.

Killing Me!

I would love to take a nap right now, but my babies never manage to sleep at the same time during the day for more than a 1/2 hr overlap. They sleep together from 10pm until 8 or 9am. They wake up around 2 and again at 5.

All this week, Mike has had to get up around 5:30, but he snoozes for 1/2 hr. I do not sleep well once the alarm has gone off, especially when I am concerned that my husband will miss work if I fall too deeply into sleep. he leaves by 6:30. I try to sleep as much through that as possible. Then Isaac has to be taken to school by 7:45 so I might get as much as an hour more of sleep. By the time I get home, the babies are ready to start their day. In short the most sleep I have gotten this week is at 3 hour intervals, with another 2 or 3 hours, 1 or 2 hours at a time.

I was thinking I must not like my haircut because it has been a long time since I looked in the mirror and thought "nice" but then again, it could be that I look stinking old with these bags under my eyes.

I worked a little bit this morning, but I find that blogging is the equivalent of taking a nap for me. I get to just sit down and rest for a while. Thanks for the break.

Because you like Pictures

Its fun to take pictures of babies, but it is even more fun to take pictures of kids--especially ones who enjoy the attention of having their pictures taken.
















These adorable little outfits are size 6-9 months, because that's what fits best. I've never had a kid that was ahead of the size curve. These adorable little girls fit perfectly in our family.




















"I'm scared, what is it?




















Amelia maneuvered the walker to the swing where Anastasia was. Didn't make it in time to get the pictures of them playing together.
















If you look closely at Anastasia, you can see her teeth.











Sweet feet!

Big Exhale

I got a bunch done yesterday. All the kids are gone since their camps are all over and it is the other parents turn--except Isaac who is going to summer school--which means I still have to wake up by seven, but at least the house is quiet for several hours. I must have done about 8 loads of laundry and moved the boxes out of my hall and dining room so that the babies have more space to move in the walker, and so they have less junk to get into at arms reach. Having the walker is a great child proof prep, since they are still unable to have the full access they will when pulling themselves up to things, but gives an idea what they are interested in getting at.

FINALLLY we got our tax return, but IRS still owes us nearly $1,000. Big exhale. Now we have the earnest money to make an offer on the house we want, but we are still hung up in a lot of other details.

So, today I got a Sam's membership, mostly for the gas discount for Mike. I don't know if getting groceries there was a good idea at all. I spent all but $20 of my budget there while trying to be really careful, which meant not getting a lot of the things on my list because I didn't need huge quantities of a brand name--which means I have at least $50 more to get before I can incorporate the month's menu that I came up with this morning.

Mike's cholesterol is up to 345, so I need reduction-power foods, and probably something different from my top five weekly meals so that he will come home to eat it. We need to get fit. Sure I'm my pre-preg weight and I look "great for having 6 kids" but if I don't find it in myself to care now, it will only go downhill from here. I have not done any exercise since they were born. It is better to stay ahead of the game than have to play catch-up.

I am definitely relieved, but still tense. And Inhale.....and whhhhhhhhhoo. Again with me. Inhale.....and whhhhhhhhhoo. Repeat until you are centered in tranquility.



Now go take care of the noisy, needy kids. You are loved.

Amazing A (s)

Amelia is amazing to watch in the walker. I have it set low enough she can get a good amount of spring. She will push off and let the wheels roll for a good 6 feet. She can cover a whole lot of ground fast. Sometimes she will follow me. Sometimes that means maneuvering around tight corners and into the hall. She is so sweet

Anastasia is amazing. She is enthralled by music. I was doing some blog work and she was in my lap, getting fussy and squirmy. I was on Katie Folsom's blog and she has Bubbly as the first song on her playlist. She immediately stopped fussing to listen to it. I turned her to me and sang along right to her face. She was enthralled. She was working her mouth like she was taking it all in. At the end she tried to join me--so sweet. She got fussy the instant the music stopped, so I had to pull up Devanie's blog in another window and let her playlist run in the background to keep Anastasia happy.

Precious to me.

Sunday School

I had a thought today in Sunday School, kind of a series of them. For those who don't know, we are studying the Book of Mormon this year (last year was the New Testament). This week was the book of Alma, chapters 8-12. Alma is called to preach repentance to the people of Ammonihah. They kick him out of the city and an angel tells him to go back because God has a bunch of people to save there.

What is interesting is that the angel who told him to go back was the same angel who had called him to repentance when he was persecuting the church as a young man. Which set him on the journey of being an incredible witness for Christ and responsible for the conversion of thousands.

He goes back to the city immediately but is hungry, so he asks this guy for food. His name is Amulek and he says that he was there because an angel told him to go to the gate of the city and the man who would ask him for food was a prophet and to give him everything he needed. It doesn't say, but it is a fair assumption that it was the same angel Alma had seen.

Amulek had a heritage of righteous leaders and teachers. However, he had been rebelling against God and the church up until the visit from the angel and the teaching of Alma (who had stayed with him a few days while he recuperated and prepared his message. Having this prophet of God in his home brought about a great change in his heart.

The two of them together became unstoppable missionaries and converted many people in the city. I was struck by the thought that their individual experience with the same angel created a shared bond and conviction that made that effectiveness possible.

They go into town to preach and come accross a bunch of lawyers, one of whom is Zeezrom, who offers Amulek a ridiculous amount of money to deny that there is a God. He cross-examines him with a bunch of trick quesstions about the nature of God. Amulek answers clearly and unmistakably and Alma tag teams by calling Zeezrom out; saying that he knows very well what's right, but he has tried to get the people to believe otherwise for his own gain. Zeezrom starts freaking out because he knows they are right. He repents and becomes a mighty preacher of the word himself.

Again, I am struck by God's wisdom in sending those specific people to that specific situation. Alma who had persecuted the church knew best how to defeat the cunning words of one persecuting the church, following the collaborating witness (this is important for a lawer) of Amulek who had also seen an angel.

As often as I have discussed, read, or heard that story, this time I was impressed by the individual journey of each of the players and how interdependent they were on a layer I had not recognized.

Links for the entirety of the story are imbedded. It is in the gospel library on LDS.org

TEETH!!

I was playing eat my hand with Amelia and as she brought my fingers to her mouth, I felt a jagged little tooth! She is five months and one week old. They have been fussy and drooly so I expected them to show teeth before too long. Still! I think the earliest any of my other babies cut a tooth was 6 months--Emylie I believe. Andrew took the longest at the end of 8 months, I think. The other two were somewhere in the middle.

Anastasia was sleeping, but I gently slipped my finger along her bottom gum and felt not one, but two teeth!! They were not as high up as Amelia's one, but I would say they have about the same amount of tooth above the surface.

For the past week I have been back in the mode of: these two are so different they must be fraternal, but to hit that kind of milestone at exactly the same time puts me back on the identical path. Besides that, the past two days they look totally alike again.

The pictures are a month or so old, but I figured you might want to see them.

Oh, and I did not get to sleep in on my one sleep in day because Anastasia wanted to be up at 6:30

Good Morning

This is how the babies woke up this morning before their doctor visit. They were in chatting and playing with one another's feet.

According to the doctor, they are in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Amelia is 1/2 inch taller than Anastasia who is 25 inches long, and proportionately heavier at 16 lbs 3 oz. Anastasia was 15'12". I got a physical therapy referral for Anastasia's congenital torticolis. She has a muscle in her neck that is so tight she can't tilt her head toward her right shoulder. If that doesn't work, they will have to surgically cut the muscle to release it. It got that way from her being so low in my pelvis with the pressure of her sister on her so she couldn't move. Because I don't put them on their back to sleep and give them lots of time for independent movement (not strapped into a car seat or the like), Anastasia does not have the flat head that is characteristic of the condition.

Amelia has mastered the walker. She can go anywhere she wants to in it. Anastasia has learned to belly scoot, and she did it right off my bed yesterday morning while I was resting my eyes next to her.

Anastasia has developed stranger anxiety. She goes from nearly smile to wail when somebody gets in her face and says hi that isn't a local family member. She even did it to Grandpa Skembo who was visiting for two days while he was taking care of some airline business. Twins get so much attention--maybe she is tired of it.

Cub Day Camp is over and no summer school on Saturdays. Yea!! maybe I can sleep when the babies do in the morning.

Isn't that a kind of pretty house? Random.

Incomplete

The boys got rained out of day camp Tuesday, so they were back by noon. After I picked them up, I went to meet my husband for lunch with Scott and Arren at the Corner Bakery. I had a Ham and Swiss and Scott got a lot of desserts. Mike took us on a test drive in a newish BMW that we are not going to buy, but it was nice to think about.

Mike got me a book for our anniversary and I got him one. Maybe one day I will have read it, let you know what it is, and tell you what I thought of it. I used to read all the time. The last book I read was nearly a year ago, I guess. So, I didn't even come close to folding laundry or tidying my room, but I did get it done on Wednesday.

Wednesday the boys had a full day of camp.....

I have been "workinng on this post for 3 days now. Time to give up.

Just Getting Started

Last night around 7:30 the urgency of everything that needed to be done hit me, so before 11pm I managed to do 4 haircuts, finish getting secret sister gifts together, spoon feed two babies, get Mikey to help me cook dinner, (chili dogs, thank you) cycle through the last 3 out of 7 loads of laundry I'd done that day so everyone would have the clothes they needed, go to Wal Mart and get an extra water bottle, band-aids, a camp journal, head cover, and an anniversary present for my husband with $16 in change made at the girls' lemonade stand. I came back, put the babies to bed, ate my dinner, and helped the girls with the thousand miscellaneous tidbits they have to do to get packed and ready. I took a shower, talked to my husband for a minute and fell soundly asleep.

The babies woke up together at 3. I let the one cry long enough to wake up her sister so I could get it all done. Then my alarm clock went of at 6:30. I had to help find neckerchief slides, pack lunches, find non-paper lunch bags, find boy's jeans (in the garage) and review checklists. While I was at it I found a whole backpack full of wet clothes from Boy Scout camp!!

Mike had to be at a client meeting at 9:00, but he was able, at least, to take Isaac to summer school because it was on the way. I had to get the girls to the stake center at 7:30 and the boys to our chapel at 7:50. This is not Utah, so there was a 15 minute drive between them all--In theory. We just changed stakes, so I have never been to the stake center. I could not find the street that was written on the directions I had received. I drove around for a long time trying to find it and get back to where I could look for it since it was off of a 1-way access road. I never did find it, but I thought there might be a chance to make the cub scout carpool. They were now 1/2 hr late, but I got a call from the Cub leader asking where we were, and told them we were on the way and sorry for the delay.

I went home to get contact numbers for the YW leaders to see if I could catch them somewhere or if I was going to have to drive the girls to camp myself. Camp is not horribly far away at a little over an hour south of here. Fortunately, though, I was able to catch them. I came home, ate breakfast, fed babies, uploaded video to my computer, (don't expect to see any of it) and took a nap while it was transferring.

Now I have to put on a bra and go pick up Isaac from summer school. I am loving summer vacation.

Oh, and Happy Anniversary to the love of my life. Hopefully I can tidy up my bedroom and fold all that stinking laundry today. Oops now I'm late for picking up Isaac. The bra stays off.

What Do You Get?

What do you get when you have 8 kids on summer vacation? Something to do, in case you are bored.

Lexi and Emylie have to earn money for YW camp. I already paid it but they are paying us back. They took Claire and sat at the nearest stop sign corner with a lemonade stand. From 10:30-5:00 they made about $70 bucks. The cost is $75 each (with the church paying over 2/3 of the cost--but they are staying in air conditioned cabins). They leave on Tuesday. (They are getting totally gyped these days.) So I spent all day running in and out of the house replenishing supplies: ice, cups, lemonade, change. I also had to pick up Isaac who just got done with scout camp and get groceries for this crew.

Mike picked up a prescription for Claire's strep throat between all his activities. He started the morning fairly early by meeting a home inspector friend of his look at one of the houses we are considering. He found out that it is more work than expected--which is to be expected. When he got home he helped a friend work on his car--a Corvair which is being kept in our driveway. Then, while they were at it, they jacked up his car and found out that the rack and pinion were about to go out on it. We decided that rather than fix it, we are going to get another car.Then Mike went out to help another friend take an engine out of his car. We did not really see him much on his day off.

I finally found Isaac's old cub scout shirt for Andrew and bought one for Mikey, so I have been sewing all the stinkin' little patches on--by hand. They start Day Camp on Tuesday as well

This morning all of us were all together at church for the first time in I don't know how long. Last week we almost made it, but Mike had to work. Because it was Father's day, he was sure to go with us. I made him an omlette and gave him the big 3+ oz. Kenneth Cole Black cologne. I have wanted to get him that for a long time and I finally found it at a great price--1/2 what they ask for on the Kenneth Cole website. He left church, though, after the main meeting though because Claire and Emylie gave him strep for Father's Day. He has not left the bed since then except to go to the bathroom. He has a fever of 103.5. I am not looking forward to sleeping next to him. Poor guy.

I am also not looking forward to getting up in the morning for summer school. Isaac would normally be able to get himself up and get there, but it is at a different school--not in skateboarding distance. I have really enjoyed being able to sleep in this week. That's probably the only reason I'm surviving. Amelia has slept through the night for three nights in a row, but Anastasia has been up and fussy. From 5:30 to 8 is my best sleep time. Waking up at 6:30 makes that impossible.

*sigh* I guess that's just what you get.

And Another Thing

I did not mention that I took Emylie to the Doctor 2 days ago--I might have commented on someone else's blog to that effect. She has strep throat. She is on day 3 of antibiotics and doing much better.

Claire on the other hand got out of bed for the first time today at 9:00 this evening. She had a bowl of cereal, read scriptures with us, and went back to bed. The twins have terrible runny noses. I hate that. Gives me flashbacks. My pediatrician, however is out for the week. She is pregnant--dont know if that has anything to do with her absence.

I took Mikey and Lexi to the dentist this morning. Isaac (and the babies, of course) is the only one who hasn't been seen. Lexi is the only one so far who is totally clean--no cavities. Mikey made up for it on the other hand, by having 5 baby teeth that are so decayed that they aren't worth saving. Extraction is the recommended and urgent course, before those teeth rot out the rest of his mouth. Then he needs 2 fillings. I guess he has super weak enamel, because he had 7 extracted when he was a toddler. The only real issue here is that the insurance covers less than 1/4 of the cost. We can split the remainder with his mom, but that still a significant expense. What can you do?

I talked to Devanie this afternoon as well. She wanted someone to talk to Zack while they were waiting in the ER. He has had an unbreakable fever of 102-104 since yesterday. We talked about his Thomas the Train happy sticker and Hoo! Hoo! He fell asleep while Dev and I talked. Hope he is doing better soon.

Wish You had Been There

I forgot to write last week about one of the greatest moments with the babies to date. I had both of them sitting on each of my legs facing each other. They said hi to each other, then started their high-pitched babble at each other. Then Amelia giggled. Anastasia followed suit. I couldn't help but join in. We had a little laugh fest, just because someone that started it. Sweet baby laughter in a feedback loop. You just can't beat it.

Yesterday was their 5 month-day.

Claire

I don't know who took the picture for her, but Claire has had fun posing for her camera. It is a Disney camera, so piglet decided to drop in. The spot on the side of her face is from when her friend picked her up and dropped her on the pavement.

Santa Baby

I started spoon feeding rice cereal to the babies. I do not remember having such a hard time getting the rest of my babies to eat, but it has been, at times, exceptionally frustrating. For example, this absolutely adorable picture, taken (by Claire with the camera she got for her birthday) when I was frustrated to the point of screaming. The only thing left to do then was laugh. I couldn't get her to keep the food in her mouth. Every mouthful became a chinful. I was so tired of scraping of her face and so anxious to have the bowl empty and say I was done that I just kept shoving a new heaping spoon into her mouth that she kept spitting out. She developed a rice beard.

They have gloriously moved on and are successfully swallowing their food. They have been introduced to baby oatmeal now as well and get excited when they see the bowl with the bright colored spoon sticking out of it.

Claire's camera has some special features as well. More of those pictures later.

Tense

I am a really laid-back person in my older age. I like to have a full day a few times a week. Even when I am really busy, it is my choice and I don't mind it. Right now however, I am not especially busy, but I am feeling really tense and not able to do the things that are required of me at this time. By the middle of this week we are hoping to put in an offer on a house, though we have not decided on one yet. All the kids are here for this week except for Isaac who is leaving at 4am for scout camp, which I have to wake up for in less than 5 hours, not including any waking up that the babies require of me. The girls are going to YW camp next week and the 2 little boys to cub day camp. I do not have everything ready that they need.

I don't feel overwhelmed or anything, I just feel tense. My future is too much in limbo. There are a bunch of little details to take care of on a few fronts, but none of it is hard. I guess I just don't want to have to be the one to do it. Maybe I can get to sleep.

Dormez Vous?

This is our new family slogan: "We're making so much money, we've decided not to participate in the current recession." HA!

We're rich in precious moments and priceless wonders. Take a look.

Is it Just Me?

Okay, I have not gone to the grocery store much lately, but it seems like every time I do (Wal-Mart) there is one less store brand to choose from. This is most noticable in the chip aisle. There used to be GV pretzels, crunchy cheese puffs, and ridged potato chips. Now Frito-Lay has totally monopolized the entire aisle. The ONLY things I can find that aren't are the GV cheese puffs, and potato chips in BBQ, Sour cream and onion, and plain, Medallion Nacho cheese chips and two other brands of plain tortilla chip. Is this a regional thing or a national trend? Have you noticed it in stores other than Wal-Mart?

It is bad enough that food prices are skyrocketing, but to allow a full monopoly on snack foods is unconscionable. (Ha! I spelled that right the first time!) Do you ever feel like you are being tested to see how much crap you are willing to put up with--I don't mean by your kids, that goes without saying. I mean, I couldn't take baby bottles filled with water into the airport. That is not a security issue. That is a profit issue. You know as well as I do that the only reason they won't allow you to bring bottled water into the airport is because they want you to buy it.

We are so complacent as consumers. None of the manufacturers care about what we want or need, they build products and their promotions based on what they can convince us to want. They don't care what we want to buy, they care what they want to sell--something they can produce in massive quantities, at low cost and still convince us to pay huge amounts for it.

Like, a frozen PB&J sandwich with no crust. That is poor man food, but Smuckers turned it into "convenience food" because its too hard to slap, spread, and take a cookie cutter to some bread. Even for the lunch lady at my children's school. I couldn't believe when I went to eat lunch with Andrew and Claire that they had those stupid little single-packed "sandwiches" from the cafeteria. If I wanted them to eat that crap I would have bought it for them and sent it with them in a brown paper bag--or a Sponge Bob thermal bag.

Anyway, I am actually making myself aggravated (or just bringing my seething, subteranean lava to the surface), so I will quit for the night and see about resting.

We Found It!

We went house hunting on Saturday with the Realtor. This process is taking forever--because are needs are so specific and confining. We had almost closed on a house but pulled out because of the black mold. We were going to pay 90k for it. They have it relisted at 84k now. We could re-offer like 70 and get another 10 added to the loan so we could make it livable.

However, we found a newly listed foreclosure that needs no work, on a decent lot, backed up to a little greenbelt with the 4 bedrooms we need and just over 2,000sq feet for 71K, listed (you can usually negotiate lower). We went home to review the school situation and talk things over before we made an offer on Monday. There were actually 3 houses that were up on our list of potentials. HOWEVER, none of the schools in the areas those houses were in were rated above a 3 out of 10. We just can't do that. These were all on the south side of the metro, where my kids would be a minority. *sigh*

We are so eager to move though, that we had to expand our search and check out the less than ideal locations to find the perfect house. I've been trying to do this for over a year now. Maybe we are just supposed to stay here.