I've been tagged...a month ago!

So, it's been a month already. I'll get around to things eventually, see?


A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B. Each player answers the questions about themselves. C. At the end of the game the player tags 5 people, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was preparing to get married. This October will be our 10th wedding anniversary, so needless to say I was in love . I was substitute teaching and waiting tables at T.G.I.Fridays, which is where I met me beloved.

5 things on my to-do list today:

1) Clean the kitchen floor.
2) Play a game with Evelyn and Charlie.
3) Fix the valence in my bathroom (I hung my toile sideways so the people are lying down!).
4) Read with Joey and Evelyn.
5) Clean the playroom.

Snacks I enjoy: Chocolate anything, especially with nuts. Tea and/or coffee. Chips and salsa.

I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire: Pay off our debt and all the debt of our family and friends. Go on a vacation...a big one with the whole family (ours not extended!). Hire a housecleaning service and a nanny. The nanny wouldn't be replacing me, he/she would be here while I am here just to help.

3 of my bad habits: 1) Eating when I'm upset. 2) Feeling guilty for everything. 3) Not sending out birthday/anniversary/celebration cards. I do some but I'm not as good as I should be.

5 places I have lived: Oak Grove, MN, East Bethel, MN, Coon Rapids, MN, Bloomington, MN, Hardin, MT. These are the most recent.

5 jobs that I have had: Teacher (school), teacher (piano), waitress, retail sales, my first job ever...Little Caesar's Pizza Pizza.

5 things people don't know about me:
1) I taught on an Indian Reservation in MT.
2) I can wiggle my eyes.
3) I thought I was going to marry my college sweetheart.
4) I have always wanted a large family (they're not all surprises!)
5) I honestly don't enjoy breastfeeding like I think I should. I do enjoy it at times, but I'm so busy I just wish someone else could give the baby a bottle so I can get some other things done sometimes.

Whew, done!~
I tag Julie!

Illness and rash

I know it's been a while. I think a new baby will do that to you. Mary Margaret is a wonderful baby. She's smiling and sleeping through the night and is such a cutie. She's got dimples, just like Charlie. My husband and I both have dimples and I have seven kiddos, only two of them got the dimples. I love dimples...they're so kissable.

I really wish I could post pictures. Hopefully I will be able to again soon. The way our computers work, my husband has everything on his computer because it is constantly being backed up since he works at home and needs to make sure that everything is good. So, we have all of our pictures on his computer. I only have a few and I think everyone has already seen the few that I have. Oh well, someday I'll be computer saavy enough to post more pictures.

Life here is drudging along after 2 weeks of illness. Six of us had strep throat and I, of course, had it the worst. It was so bad that I couldn't swallow or talk. Thank goodness we all got medicine and are doing much better, but now there is some sort of virus going around. My poor Joey woke up with a rash today also and I fear he is allergic to the antibiotic that he's been taking. And, since today is Sunday, he'll have to go to urgent care, which I HATE. You have to wait and wait and wait until you are seen by a doctor who is in a hurry.

We've seen signs of spring lately. The weather has been in the upper 40's even getting to 51 once. Tonight, however, is a prediction of snow. Too bad. Just yesterday Evelyn was commenting on how she could see grass in our yard. It will mean that the Easter egg hunt will definately be indoors this year. Only one week until Easter.

That's all I've got for today. I know it's not much and kind of boring, but I'm just trying to get my life back in order with a 9 week old. My house is a disaster so it's a cleaning day for sure.

8 more days~!!

Only 8 more days until I finally get to meet this little girl! 8 more days until we check into the hospital, at some very obscene hour of 5am!, and get ready for my 5th c-section. 8 more days until I can be alone and get some rest!

Okay, the getting rest may not actually happen, but I am looking forward to not taking care of the other 6 kids for a couple of days. Does that sound mean? It's certainly not that I don't love them or love taking care of them. It's just that I am so tired these days that it's been a bit more challenging than normal.

I plan on finishing the living room cleanup today and starting on my bedroom which will involve getting the pack-n-play set up and getting some newborn girl clothes out of storage. That will be fun! I won't start that, however, until I have the living room done, done, done. Hopefully it won't take too long. The tree is outside and most of the decorations are put into the boxes. It's just a matter of putting away the rest of the Christmas stuff and toys that the kids got, vacuuming, and moving the furniture (I think I'll let Brian do that). I usually like to keep our decorations up until Jan. 6th, the Epiphany, but with this baby coming and all, we have a lot of work to do to get ready and just felt the need to put it all away this year. It makes me a little sad. We didn't do much with Advent or some of the other Christmas activities that we normally do, but I am 9 months pregnant and I keep telling myself that it just is the way it is.

Until then...8 more days, 8 more days, 8 more days!!!

Did I make a mistake?

Oh my goodness. There I go using French words when I have no idea if I am using them right! I happen to have a reader who is French Canadian, French being her native language. Then I go and use a term like "se la vie", not knowing if I spelled it correctly, used it correctly, or even had the correct words to begin with!

You can see the faux pas (French again?!) in my Dec. 22 update. Well, Julie, feel free to correct me and tell me how I really did.

And, now to actually NOT post as I am very under the weather with a yucky cold. I have to go lie down as the twins are napping and the other four are out for a few more hours with Grandma. I must take advantage of the quiet house while I can.

Let's say a little prayer that I get some more sleep in the next few days. Sleep has been very elusive and I am not going to feel better until it comes around again!

We are truly blessed!

Just a quick note to say that our Christmas was wonderful and I hope that everyone had as much fun as we did. I am exhausted, however, and coming down with a cold, but we did have a fun holiday. If I get a picture on my computer, I'll post one soon (the connection between Brian's computer and mine isn't working right now and he has all the pictures).

Merry Christmas!

p.s. No names yet for this little girl. Unless you ask my husband, then he'll tell you that it's Mary Margaret, but I haven't given the official 'yes' yet. I'm still just not sure.

Okay, okay, okay...here I am!

I didn't think people actually read this blog, but I guess there are a couple of you out there! What can I say? Life is keeping us busy and I am exhausted. I've been substitute teaching when I can and I am 9 months pregnant, so my days are busier than normal.

I can't believe I only have 3 weeks left! I still don't have a scheduled date because my dr. left town and the hospital was supposed to call, but it didn't happen. So, I am waiting for my dr. to come back to town so we can actually schedule the c-section. I'm fairly sure it will be either Jan. 14th in the morning or Jan. 15th in the afternoon. We're hoping for the 15th just so we don't have to be at the hospital before 11:00am. If it is in the morning, we'll have to be there around 6am and we live 30 minutes away. That's early for us! We like to take our time and be leisurly.

So, my kids are outside playing in the snow and sledding down our hill right now. That makes me so happy. I love when my kids play outside. And, no, it's not because they are out of my hair! I just love that they get the fresh air and excersize and they feel good after a day of playing outside.
We got about 2 inches of fresh snow this morning, so they're having a blast.

I did a marathon Christmas shopping trip yesterday, and can you believe that I'm not done? We're going to the inlaws tomorrow and I don't have those gifts completely done yet. I honestly don't know what I am going to do! I'm going to have to go out tonight and see what I can do to finish. Sigh, oh well. I was going to make some homemade fudge to add to their gifts and I sent Brian out to pick up the ingredients today. Well, I forgot one...the butterscotch chips. Now what? He had to go out because he had some work to do and he didn't want me to drive because it is very slippery with the new snow. Well, now I'll have to go out later anyway. I'm frustrated that I forgot that. Oh well, se la vie.

Christmas day will be here at our house with all of my relatives, including my brand spanking new nephew! I'm so excited to see him again. He was just born on the 14th so he won't even be 2 weeks old. He's a real cutie and it will be the first time that our kids get to meet him. I'm looking forward to that.

Well, I'm here typing away when my twins are napping and the others are outside so I really should be productive and get some stuff done. I promise to try to blog more often.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Look!!! 2 posts in 2 day!!!

Ah, yes, I've been inspired. Not that I have anything useful to say, but I was just sitting here thinking, why not add another post? So, here I am.

This morning was spent cleaning the older boy's bedroom, Evelyn's bedroom, and the toyroom. It was quite an endeavor. I really wanted to vacuum it (we know about my love of vacuuming) and those rooms hadn't been cleaned in about 2 weeks. It took way, way too long, but that's because the kiddos didn't want to help much and I had to keep reminding them what we were doing.

Then came lunch. We've been doing some bento lunches recently, basically because they are fun and because I am trying to introduce them to some new foods. Today, however, I was worn out and frustrated after all the cleaning so I just scrambled some eggs and cut up some plums, peaches, kiwi, and bananas. Of course, John Paul didn't eat any fruit, but he did get a fruit bar and ate all of his eggs so I'm not complaining.

I really wanted to get some schoolwork done today so I think we'll be doing that soon. I also want the kids to play outside (I love when they get fresh air and lots of excersize) but I'm still frustrated about how long it took us to clean this morning and I think we'll have to get some schoolwork done. I know it sounds mean, but we're taking 2 days to do 1 day worth of work, so I'm not actually doing too much.

Okay, I have one baby climbing my leg and another sitting on the floor looking at me so I'd better run.