Cookie Chaos

The cookie mania is almost over. Just finished totaling up most of the forms. Waiting on one callback, since someone ordered 6 boxes but never listed what kind. But the grand total is 250! Not too bad, considering we are in a much smaller town, established area and she is new to selling here.

Course our family's order put her over the edge of the next leval lol, we have to order a billion and one around here.

MJ

Morning Mutiny

It seems that the activity of the hour is argueing -- from how many yahtzees you can win to thats my car to what time it is on the stove clock. Lets just say it got old very fast. I know part of it is, they all have fairly stubborn, dominant personalities but all before I finished one cup of coffee is a bit much.

Started a new schedule with the kids and their chores. Lately it seems like a crazy cycle, the kids dont want to do the chores, thus drag their feet, we get frustrated and yell at them and it goes over and over. It was clear that this wasnt working so well.

So I brought out the poker chips and holder again. We have used that in the past, and it worked well for awhile. The concept is fairly simple, they get a chip for each chore they complete, up to two a day, one for main chore , one for bedroom. Previously, we had then charged them for computer time, extra tv time, fun things like birthday parties . Basing in on the concept that if they arent helping do chores and around the house, they dont get to do the fun stuff. Im not sure we will incorporate the charging for stuff right now, havent fully determined that.

But this time at least, Im insitituting a reward saturday. Each week there will be a predetermined amount of chips to be earned, some weeks it might be all 14, others maybe less, or maybe more that they have to save for or do extra chores to earn. And if on saturday, they have enough , they get that weeks reward. It could be a chuckie cheese trip as it is this week, or a family budget movie or as simple as a candy bar or a chore free pass for a day. The other component i added was a time piece, it needs to be done within an hour, half an hour roughly for each. I am using grace where needed, if a room is particularly messy and they have made a "good" effort i may give an extra 15 min or somthing of that nature as well. But this elimnates much of the foot dragging we have seen and let me tell you last night was so much more pleasant and they had free time that I wasnt yelling at them to stop playing and work during.

So last night was the first night, i started this again. It worked pretty well, sucess was had! The harder part Im sure will be getting this to work when Im not here to manage it, ie IM at work and a sitter is here , etc. But that too can get worked out.

The other thing I did was create a bulletin board, with spots for each of the 6 oldest kids names and each has a card below it with the name of the room they are assigned for the week. on the back of those cards, is an outlined list of the expectations for that room. So the line they like to use sometimes "I didnt know I had to do that" is no longer applicable. Those will switch on sundays. And even though Ezekiel is too young for a spot, he was put to work helping take down laundry and did a great job!

Well thats enough babbling for now.,
MJ

Morning Musings

I seem to have caught a nice head cold, so feeling a bit drained this morning. Sore throat, stuffy nose and all that jazz.

I spent a good bit of time working on cleaning my bedroom yesterday, so the rest of the house suffered a bit. So hopefully I can get moving on laundry today and give the kitchen a good scrubbing. Although the bedroom still needs some work, not sure if Im up for delving further into that project. Its mostly the closet left.

Got up later today as the alarm didnt seem to go off, the extra sleep was appreciated, although that means a later end time for andrew. Starting later really had added to his commute time, so hes on the road an extra hour , half an hour each way. Praying that either his hours at work can shift earlier or he finds something closer to home.

Well thats all for now folks
MJ

Busy Weekend

Andrew and the boys had to get 3 cub scout pinewood derby cars done and ready to race by sunday afternoon.
Generally wasnt intended to be down in 2 days, so Im impressed they managed to get them down. Elijahs was a typical wedge shape, and of course red, his favorite color. He got 2nd in most of his races and i think one first but didnt place overall. Zechariah made a modified thin wedge with a notch out of it, it reminded me of a wrench. He scored mostly 1sts with a few 2nds and won a 5th place trophy overall! Nathaniels was the most unique. Last year he made a 3 wheeled car that got disqualified at the district race, so this year he wanted one that had some of the same concepts but had the 4 wheels. It was very uniquely shaped, sorta s shaped, sorta curly cue. Andrew said it reminded him of a hurricane symbol. He scored mostly 3rds and 4ths but he really loved his car!

I also had to work saturday and sunday, although i got 3 hours off in order to attend the race. But that does mean i have to make up 3 hrs today, ugh! Got the household and grocery shopping down in there as well. Sunday besides church,work, and the race, was the church budget meeting. So a jam packed weekend. Im looking forward to a little down time today.

Since ive got a little quiet time this morning before the kids are due up, Im hitting hte bible. My question of the morning is, why include letters written to specific churches? Wouldnt that just be specific to them? Hmmm ... inquiriing minds wanna know.

MJ

Its the little things that get me

I wasnt super attached to the dog, but I did like him and he was always happy to see you. So its the little things in my routine day that make me want to cry. Getting up and knowing that I dont have to let him out today or opening the can of tuna and realizing he isnt there to carry the can down in his mouth and lick out the remains. Getting home from an appt and thinking he will be at the bottom of the stairs happy to see us.

Walking outside and remembering how much he liked to play in the snow. He would put his muzzle right down into a fresh pile of snow and run around crazy.

So the little things ...

Not Sure

Im not exactly sure how to blog bout this, how to let the gamut of emotions Im feeling out. Our dog, Abbott died yesterday. Hes been sick and we had made arrangments to get him to the vet, but before that could occur, he got progressively worse and died. I was the one on watch, so it was a long hard emotional day.

I can say Im glad hes no longer in pain and suffering. But I miss him. He was a good dog, yes gave us grief at times when he was on one of his running streaks but awesome with the kids. He would tolerate them sitting on him, trying to ride him, put up with pulled fur and tail and just would growl and walk away. He had this sense of knowing they were little and didnt know better but that didnt stop him from knocking them over though! He always came home, even when people tried to steal him. He got away and made his way back to us.

He wasnt that old, only 6 in human years but I guess it was time for him. The kids are doing okay, I wasnt sure how they would all take it. I figured most of the boys would take it in stride, fairly typical for them. The girls, as expected took it harder. Ariana was upset and that I guess i didnt predict. Katarina I figured would be, shes always been close to the dog, but I hadnt realized arianas connection. But now that i look back, she did try to ride him, give him treats and play with him a good bit.

I was surprised to hear andrew say yesterday he had thought bout getting another dog already. In the past, when our cats have died, I was the one that wanted to replace them right away and he wanted to wait awhile, usually longer than I wanted to. So the role reversal is suprising. Some of his reasoning, is that he thought it would help the kids better. Maybe ... but Im not ready yet and not sure when I will be. Im not even completely sure I want another dog and I definitely dont want another one that looks like abbott. We obviously arent jumping into anything and it would likely be awhile before we consider it.

I really hope out of sight is out of mind for the little ones though. It would break my heart to hear Zemirah say "Abbott Come" as shes prone to do.

MJ

Headache

I dont normally get a lot of headaches and if i do, usually meds help. Occasionally Ill get a good one that just doesnt want to go away, seems like thats the case this morning. Not sure if its cold air or what, but despite the stocking hat my darling hubby put on my head, it still hurts.

Dog is holding his own, not really better but thankfully not worse. Hopefully we can get him in to the vet tonite, andrew is getting off bout an hour early and went in a bit earlier.

Work was pretty decent last night, I enjoyed both of the coworkers I worked with last night and one who has been on sick leave stopped in. That was great to see her looking so much better! Work again tonite unfortunely. The hard part last night was when my husband called and was having a rough night, just wanting to be home and couldnt be. Its not that my presence would have necessarily calmed the children or the night but it would have been easier to go thru together. Sigh ...

Todays adgenda, includees phone calls, finding a babysitter and making the vet appt, laundry and snuggling some kiddos lol.

Thats all for now folks
MJ

Moody Central

Im feeling rather emotional and moody this morning. Zemirah just wants to sit on my lap, and im not feeling very mommy like, and just want her to get down and play. She doesnt understand the concept of a mommy space, so im trying really hard not to get frustrated with her, she just wants to be near me.

I know part of it , is the stress of the dog situation, not enough money and worries over budget and just life in general. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all.

But God is still good and in that I trust, that no matter the outcome of life down here, he still reigns on that throne and I dont know how many times im going to need to recleaim that truth today but im going to keep saying it until it sinks in!

MJ

Mixed Bag

Woke up in a fairly good mood and a fairly relaxing time getting him off to work.

Then I discovered the dog isnt doing so well, hes not walking at all. I think his hip dysplasia is bothering him b ig time. I noticed he has been laying down more lately but thought maybe he was just tired or that the kids werent playing with him enough. But obviously its more than that. So just trying to make him comfortable i guess.

Went off to my work evaluation, surpringly good, boss realy didnt have much negative to say at all and she seemed to enjoy me working there. So that was good.

A bit more tired this afternoon, so resting here a bit with ezekiel. The afternoons are nice with Zemirah sleepign and ariana off to school, its usually just the two of us. Sometimes we nap, sometimes we chat and sometimes we even play lol.All day yesterday, had a desire to read the Bible, for those of you who know me, thats definitely an unusual thing, as i much prefer fiction. So with andrew off teaching last night, i drew a hot bath and pulled it open. I decided to read Ephesians, since Pastor Tom is there currently preaching. I seriously think Paul was way too wordy in some spots but what do i know lol. Actually this is the first time I think ive read an entire book of the bible, maybe i have read a full book before and dont remember it though. So going to run with this while it lasts. I found some interesing proverbs last night, will probably post some here eventually.

Have our video series growth group tonite. Sorta looking forward to it , sorta not. We have lots to get done this week and it does feel like one more thing piled on but on the other hand, it will be good to learn more and get out together as well.

Well enough babbling,
MJ

Good but Tiring weekend

We had friends of mine from high school come and stay for the weekend. This is the 4th time we have visited together and really enjoy just hanging out for the weekend together. Their kids and our kids get along well together as well. So all in all everyone has a lot of fun.

This time, they brought a bingo game and a box full of full little prizes and we spent the afternoon bingoing. They added a twist to it, by allowing the person who just bingoed, to trade their present with any of the ones already opened. Lots of trading went on over the big hershey kiss lol. We plan to make it a regular event of our visits to each other. So the hunt is on now, for clearance prizes :) So the next time we visit them(its our turn) we can bring half the prizes.

The kids enjoyed a weekend of staying up late. Their family typically stays up much later than ours, but they also have the benefit of sleeping in too! We let ours stay up late, but they still get up early! Last nite after our friends left, our tempers were a bit heated, so not enough sleep defitniely added to that.
And we are dragging a bit this morning from several nights of staying up late. Andrew is the one who has it tougher today as hes working both jobs. Thankfully I dont have to work today, so i can relax and hopefully catch a nap. Although I really want to get going on laundry. I made some good progress last week on the gigantic pile and im a bit anxious to see what i can accomplish this week.

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Morning all

We had a great time last night. Went to this neat rennovated budget theatre(think we found a good replacment for the one we loved in the cities) and watched santa claus 3. Despite the kids attempts to derail our dates, we managed to have a good time. The movie was funny, although the repeated narcing calls to our cell phone from some of the boys was well ... just a tad bit annoying.

We then hit shopko and did some clearance bargain hunting. I was wishing we had more extra cash, they had a lot of good deals including a leather jacket that my darling looked drop dead gorgeous in! Came home with the few steals we grabbed. This is one of the things i miss from the cities, we used to go bargain hunting a lot, at the big box stores or savers and it was always fun to find the great deals. A lot of times we'd stop by kmart on our way home from chuch on sundays, some weeks we didnt buy anything but it was a common occurance for our family. Now we walk thru the cemetary on the way home from church :) I do enjoy having a closer church though. Its just not as convienent for those misc shopping trips, probably good for our budget though!

We ended the night watching a movie together at home, which although it was late when we finished, was enjoyable.

I hope we can steal away more dates like that! The theatre was very reasonably priced, not only on tickets(3.50) but on snacks as well. Definitely will be back with the kids too!

Well thats all for now folks, have a great thursday!
MJ

Rats

Last week was national delurking week and I missed it. I had intentions of snagging an icon and writing a post inviting my readership to delurk but life got in the way. Oh well lol.

Josiah left today for a 3 day school trip, that i completley spaced out til last nite when he mentions what time he has to be there this morning. Um ... yeah have you packed yet? So a little mad scramble to make sure he had all his stuff and he was off early this morning. Its a winter camping type trip but they are staying in cabins, doing skiing, snowshoeing, survival classes etc. He was really looked forward to it and well lets just say his sister isnt too sad to see him gone for a few days lol.

The dynamics of the house always change with just one gone, somtimes it brings more fights but more often it brings more peace. It doesnt always have to be the same one either, they all bring their stubborness to the mix!

Doing a video series with a group from our church, called love and respect. While im not too keen on video series, it seems to have some good concepts. And already has fostered some good discussions. I think we have stumbled across some of these concepts in our marriage as we went along, so its not all new to us. The exact phrasing and implenting some of it maybe though, will have to see. As with any marriage though, always room for improvement, so hopefully this will make our awesome marriage even better! We are coming up on 14 years together, which just seems like a long time, a good long ... but it seems a bit unreal that we have been together that long already! The man of the hour, is actually taking me out on a date tonite. Not sure if we will do anything exciting, as funding is limited, but we will be together and its a dedicated time for us.

Andrew is doing better, still gets tired out easily though. He made it thru a half day yesterday before just feeling beat... so he has it scheduled to do half days all this week. After having him home early yesterday, it just illustrated how much I miss his old schedule, where he was home by 4 each night. He cooked supper, woohoo, nice break for me and yummy chili to boot. Next week will bring return to him getting home late again but ive determined Im going to enjoy his early nights this week :)

Thats all for now folks,
MJ

God is Good!

Had the leval 2 ultrasound this morning, early this morning(730 am lol).
Which meant getting up at 545 to get everyone up and dressed and out the door. We couldnt get a sitter for such an early morning appt, so the little ones tagged along. Thankfully, planning ahead and bringing mini cookies made it fairly easy to manage them. They really did good, stayed mostly quiet and not too rambunctious in the little room. Ariana enjoyed watching the screen and seeing the baby. Ezekiel pronounced the baby "scary", "big scary" lol, i suppose to his little mind, it doesnt quite look like a baby but mroe like a blob at times.

The result, baby looks great and they dont think he has down syndrome, which was the main concern with the abnormal results. They looked for specific other characterics, of which he has none. Praising God for a healthy beautiful baby boy, which they confirmed two more times lol. They said 85 percent of babies with the thicker neck fold have other probs they can check for. So not complete assurance but pretty darn close.

Im also very thankful that the doc didnt go into all these what if scenarios. The tech had already really went over everythign with us, she was fantastic and very forthcoming on what she was doing and looking for. Doc basically confirmed it and said that everything looks normal.

Ultrasound dates though were a week earlier than they have been, which would put me at april 22nd. i doubt they will change anything at this point but I think this is the first time the dates have put me earlier rather than later like they typically do.

Im ever so thankful God gave me the sense of peace . Even if the results were different than we had wanted them to be, I still feel i would be at peace with what hes given us. God is good .. all the time!
MJ

Wednesday wanderings

We have a fun little stomach bug make its way thru the household this week. At this point, 7 kids have gotten it, which only leaves Katarina. She has a good immune system against this kind of thing anyway, and rarely throws up. I cant even remember the last time she threw up, probably when she was a preschooler or toddler.

Even I got it, thankfully mostly just stomach pain and not repeated throwing up sessions. Andrew felt a little queasy yesterday, so im hoping that was it for him and he doesnt get it full blown. That wouldnt be good with his immune system already compromised.

Back to work today, its been a week and a half, so been a nice break. I dont really miss the work, but i do miss the clients a bit.

Now that im feeling better, its back to trying to get caught up on laundry and housework. fun stuff lol.

God is good all the time!
MJ

Happy Birthday Ariana!

My middle girl,shes not the baby girl anymore:(, is 6 today! She seemed to enjoy the presents we got her, so im happy bout that. With all the hospital stuff, havent managed to pull off her party plans just yet, but ill work on that tommorrow.

Andrew is home from the hospital, Praising God he is doing better. We learned today though, that its likely going to be a full month before hes fully recovered. This infection really took a lot out of his immune system. He does a little bit and hes very tired easily and very weak. Doctor told him to stay home from work all this week and only if he feels up to it, half time next week. That really puts a perspective on how serious this illness really was. Still praising God that he is begining to heal his body!

Well off to make a cake with ariana and deal with the rest of the crazyness that this household brings!
MJ

Tougher day

Its likely everything starting to catch up to me. But the first 2 hours of the day were nonstop argueing,fighting, discliplining and all that fun. Katarina is off doing bible quizzing today, so I dont even have her general possitive attitude. But things eased as the chores got done, the boys got some gameboy time and thus went the day.

The people in my church have been fantastic. I feel so loved and cared for. They are making sure I have meals, babysitting if need it, and just overall general support. That is Christs love in the flesh. God is soo good ... all the time!

The part they cant help with , is one of the harder things for me to deal with, the emotions. I just plain miss Andrew. I enjoy spending time together, talking with him, dealing with the kids together and just b eing us. Its why i stay up late, til i cant keep my eyes open anymore, its why I dont sleep so well when hes not here. Its something that makes our marriage awesome but yet its not something tangible. Im glad hes where he can get better, but it doesnt make the longing to have him home any less.

God is still good ... all the time!
MJ

God is good

Im holding up pretty good, not terribly stressed. A little aggravated with the kids, but I think half of that has to do with hormones and managing my time and attention well.

Andrew is doing a lot better thankfully. His fever is on the way down, his color looked better and his pain has went down, still some but much better. It looks like he will be there for 2-3 days though, thats the bad part but progress is progress.

Taking turns taking the kids up to visit him, two boys went with me last nite, 3 little ones this mroning and ill take the last 3 here this afternoon. That way wont overwhelm him or the space lol.

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Up and down we go

Feel like im on a teeter totter ride,and I want to get off!

Andrew really seems to go thru periods of feeling mostly well and then, esp nighttime, get struck with bad bouts of pain and fever again. Although he said " He was feeling better and felt silly", when he got up this morning, i said well its time to go to ER anyway and figure out what the heck is causing the teeter totter ride to go faster.

It really was good that we went in today, his diverticulits is getting worse, although not to the "scary" leval as the doc put it. His fever definitely was going up, it was 101.5 when i left today. So they did admit him, not exactly where I want him to be,b ut indeed the best place to kick this disease in the butt. Plus its easier for them to manage his pain , than it is here at home.

Its been a long day, 6 hrs in the ER, before they took him back to a room and this is the 2nd visit this week there. Hopefully now they can figure out how to treat this, so he gets better

My mind is continueing to go a mile a minute here, so im going to end. Please pray that God heals him and that he can come home soon!
MJ

Wednesday fun

This morning has felt miles and miles long.

Andrew is home sick again today, seemingly getting worse, more pain and temp increasing. So we have a call into the local clinic to see what the best course of action should be.

The older two(that are home currently) Ariana and Ezekiel are actually playing together for once. Thats great, cept the 16 month old wants in on the process and well lets say she doesnt play fair. On top of that, she is teething big time and a big ole crab. So they keep moving from room to room to try and play where they wont be disturbed.

Im feeling drained, pretty lethargic and just unmotivated. Im trying to muddle thru the laundry, managed to get at least 3 loads folded but the work continues. Thank God, I dont have to work today but I do tommorrow and Friday. And thats in the back of my m ind with andrew not so well. We have enough worry for today, im trying to give it to God and some days thats way easier than others.

Soon enough though, the day will release some relxation. Ariana will go off to kidnergarten, zemirah down for her nap and I will just have Ezekiel to contend with. And Im thinking today sounds like a day to lay down wiht him for a nap. Its t he only way he will nap.

God is still good ... all the time!
MJ

HMMM

A lot of people are doing new year resolutions, or recaping 2006 or adding a fresh perspective on what 2007 might bring but for me, Im not sure i feel compelled to do so. Although, numberwise 2007 seems like a cool number. Ive always liked 7's and 3's, not that they hold any special significance or anything.

New years brought us a visit to the ER this year. Andrew has been suffering greatly over the weekend with some severe adominal pain. By Monday, it was very clear, it was time to get this addressed. Although the pain was lessening at times, the fever concerned me enough to force my hand (the benefits of wifehood). Thankfully , he did go in, he has diverticulitis. He seems to be doing somewhat better today although still dealing with the pain. At the time yesterday, it seemed to be lessening so he declined pain meds, but wondering today if he should have taken them. Though im thanking God that he is somewhat better!

Today brought a return of kids to school and back to somewhat semblence of routine. Hopefully I can get the xmas tree down this afternoon still.

Thats all for now folks!
MJ