Ocks and Ooos

That's what Shelby told me as she was bringing me my socks and shoes. I let Cynthia, Al and Mary-Jo go with a friend to her house to play on a tree that was cut down. They are making obstacle courses with it to run on and race. They were getting their socks and shoes on, too, so Shelby was telling me she wanted to go. Unfortunately, the grass in the yard is too high and the surburban is not reliable enough right now for me to take them to the park that is 9 miles away and back. Hopefully, I'll be able to get the grass cut by Sunday or Monday so I can go outside and play in the yard with Kurt and Shelby again.

Why do we even buy them toys?

Mama's sanitary napkins are so much more fun to play with? They make a nice ripping noise when you stick & remove them from the floor, the dining room chairs, the table, and everything else in between. They don't like it too much when it gets stuck in their hair, though.

DAY 3!!!

I was sure that my house would be a disaster area by now, but here we are on day 3 and it's still presentable! Hmmmmm, I wonder if being out of the house for almost all of the waking hours makes a difference?

Wednesday evening after Jaba got off from work we went and spent the whole evening with my Aunt Debby, Uncle Howard and cousin Zack. We ate at a BBQ place, then stoped at TCBY for a cool refreshment. Afterwards we went back to the hotel. We were talking quietly in the room when the phone rang. The management called to say we were being too loud??? So we decided to go outside to the pool area where everyone else was being loud. My Dad showed up about an hour later. My Aunt Debby and my Daddy have not seen each other for close to 22 years. Mostly because of the distance. I hadn't seen my Dad for about 4 or 5 months. Tears were shed and hugs were plentiful.

My house is presentable today

It's not perfect, there is still lots of places that I could declutter. My entertainment center, the computer desk, the china cabinet, the bed with all the clean clothes on it could all use some attention, but I'm satisfied. The kitchen is clean, the diningroom is clean, 3 of the 4 bedrooms are clean, the bathrooms are clean and the livingroom is clean. I've also washed 4 loads of clothes, but there are about 15 left to go including linens for 8 beds. However, I'm finished with laundry until late tonight as the heat index is not to pretty today.

Why is my house clean? Well my Aunt Debby, Uncle Howard and cousin Zachary are coming into town today. They are originally from Concord, CA, but are moving across country to North or South Carolina. However, after 4 hours yesterday and 5 today of cleaning, I'm just done. They are not coming to inspect how clean I keep the house, they are here to see my family.

I do hope to declutter some of the spots that need it before we leave on vacation. It will be really nice to come home to a clean house after a 2 week vacation. Maybe Jaba will finish putting the floor down in our bathroom and even get the toilet set! That would be wonderful to be able to start using our master bath!

Going on Vacation

My SIL, Darlene, finally got a contract. It is in Longview, TX, which is about 1.5 hours away from 6 Flags Dallas. She has an apartment as part of her contract so we are spending the first 2 weeks of August between Longview and Dallas. I haven't really let my kids know as of yet, but after I talk with my SIL tomorrow and finalize the details with her I plan to get lots of work out of them before we leave on Sunday, July 31.

She got the contract just in time, too. School starts the third week of August. We will get back and have 3 days to get all ready for the first day of school.

For those that I keep in regular contact with, I will have a laptop that I can check in so I won't be totally out of touch.

Micki is pregnant!!!

Mindy called me on Tuesday to ask if I'd talked to Mama or any other family lately. I didn't suspect anything at that time so I just told her that I hadn't and that maybe Mama was working. Well she chatted with me for a few more minutes and then said, well, I better get off the phone in case anyone tries to call. Immediately, my brain kicks in gear and ask/exclaim, "MICKI's Pregnant?!" Mindy was quick to reply, "I didn't say anything!" So we get off the phone and about 15 minutes later Micki calls to surprise me with her news. I didn't tell her any different. So, Congratulations to my sister and congratulations to me, soon to be a new niece or nephew's favorite aunt, well in about 8 months anyway. hehe

Well, maybe next cycle

Jab and I are not actively trying to get pregnant, but we do not prevent pregnancy either. Our conviction is that God will open and close my womb. That does not prevent me from praying and wishing for another baby, though. These last 2 days I was actually beginning to think that maybe there was a possibility, but this morning I was visited by my monthly friend.

Maybe 5 children is God's plan for us, I don't know, but I hope that no matter what path God has planned for me that I will be content.

Not an easy admission

Yesterday was a real doosy of a day for me. Jab went into work for the early shift so I was looking forward to spending an evening with him and the children, then some intimacy time with him (and no, not just sex, there's so much more to intimacy). So I call Jab up to find out the time he's going to be home and I also had a few things that I needed from the store.

He told me he was scheduled to get off at 3 and my heart just flew because we were going to have a very long afternoon & evening together. However, he then informed me that he was going to Lake Charles (about 1 1/2 hours away) to meet some of his internet gaming buddies (cribbage, euchre, pinocle, etc). He said he had told me over a week ago, but that was not how I remembered it.

I remember him mentioning that he was thinking about going, but we did not have time to talk about it at that moment because of some interference with the kids. We both forgot to bring the subject back up later. I remember at the time, that I was thinking that it would be great for us to go on a little excursion together and thinking who could I get to watch the kids. I have met with internet friends--Sabine & twins (twice), Amy & Rob & their twins, Eric & Laura and their twins--but each time I met them in VERY public places WITH all 5 of my children.

Anyway, after he surprised me with the fact that he was going, my heart just sank and I'm not very good with surprises so I didn't take it very well. I got hot and angry quite quickly and after about 10 seconds I hung up on him. I don't like to have an argument with my husband on phone while he's at work. It's just not professional. So I'm steaming mad and in the middle of making a late lunch for hungry kids.

In recent times, I would have started to take my anger out on my kids for any little infraction. But this is something that I've been trying (with God's help) to stop. So I told Cynthia that I was not very happy and that I needed her to take the kids back to the bedroom while I finished up lunch so that I wouldn't get upset with them whining about when lunch was going to be ready. Then I thought of Sandi because I knew she'd be on AIM as our children have very similar schedules. I asked if I could vent and she was accommadating.

So I hashed out all my gripes and complaints. First, he was going; second, he was going without me; third, I had no idea of what his plans were. I didn't know who he was meeting, where they were meeting, when he was going to be back home. AND I know when he gets together with a bunch of guys that its a normal thing for him to want to have a drink. I don't have anything against drinking alcohol, but I didn't want him to drive back inebriated. Sandi asked if maybe I could spend the evening with my Mom. She wasn't available, but my SIL was.

Come to find out, Jab called her yesterday to borrow their vehicle. The air is out in the truck and our suburban needs some repair. My SIL suggested that she could watch the kids and I could go with Jaba, so, YEAH, I was excited, my original thoughts when Jab first brought the meeting up was going to happen!!! I get myself dressed up for going out and the kids packed up to spend the night at my SIL's, she picks us up and we're off to meet Jab at her house.

But then my excitement is dashed to smithereens when Jaba informs me that he wanted to go alone and that he hadn't planned on bringing me. I was so upset and disappointed. It still upsets me as is evident from my watery eyes. However, after about 20 minutes of my brooding and self-pity, I tell Jaba to go ahead and go because if I didn't we would just have a sad evening of both of us resenting each other and I didn't want that. He promised that he wouldn't drink and told me he'd be home by 11.

I am so thankful for Sandi being there for me and most thankful for her suggestion of spending an evening out of the house with someone. Even when it rolled around to 12:15am and no Jaba, I did not get worried, angry or upset because I wasn't home alone (well not alone, but I would have been the only one left awake as the kids would have been in bed). Jab did call at 12:30 and said he was about 30 minutes out but that there was an accident and traffic had backed up. So he gets to SIL's house. The kids wake up because the dogs barked, we all load up and go home. I wasn't sullen, mad or angry, I was just relieved to have my husband home safely. I was relieved that I gave in and gave Jaba my trust to be faithful to his promises.

Oh, and btw, I've never kept this blog hidden from my husband, but I am certainly going to make sure that he reads this one so that he will understand my thought process through yesterday. It's hard for me to convey my thoughts and emotions verbally, but most of the time when I write them down they become a complete picture. So, Jaba, I'm sorry. Please forgive me for my reaction. I love you.

"You have to ask God"

"Are you going to have any more babies?" That's what Mary-Jo asked me after our Library & McDonald's visit this morning. So rather than just giving her an answer, I asked her if she wanted me to have more babies. She said "Yes!" Then she said, "You have to ask God, Mama." I told her she could ask God, too, but she was insistant that I am the one who has to ask God for another baby. So, God, please give me another brother or sister, or both, for Mary-Jo.

BTW, if those of you who read my blog are wondering...Yes, I would love to have another baby.

Mary-Jo had me all to herself

Jaba got off early today (around 2pm). The twins had just been put down for a nap so I decided to spend an afternoon just with her. First, we brought my Mom's gasoline container back to her house then we headed off and did everything that Mary-Jo wanted to do (with a little guidance of course). We went to the zoo where she got to decide the paths to take and how long we spent at each exhibit. Then we went to my SIL's house so she could play with six 3 week dachsund puppies. Afterwards she chose Taco Bell for supper. Then she helped me clean out Mama's van because her Meme & brother are returning from vacation tomorrow. We were hot after that so we headed to TCBY for Wednesday Waffle Cone night. She got rainbow and I had white chocolate mousse. By this time it was 7pm, but as we were approaching her favorite park (Key's Park) she asked if we could stop so since it was her evening and it was still light I told her we'd stop for about 30 minutes. She got to swing so she was happy. Finally, just as it was starting to sprinkle, we loaded up for our last trip and headed home.

Tomorrow, Jaba is off, so I told Mary-Jo that I'd take her to the library tomorrow morning. Then we are going to Mama's house to watch my sister's children while my sister mows Mama's yard before they arrive home. Tomorrow evening Mary-Jo and her 2 cousins are spending the night at Meme's house. So today and tomorrow was and is going to be a big fun day for her.

Edited to add...Oh, I forgot. We also stopped at the everything's a dollar store and got her some paint and brushes so she can paint on the big brown paper (the kind you use to wrap boxes for the mail). She is so excited that she will get to paint when the babies are sleeping!

Handfuls of dogfood

Kurt and Shelby discovered my new "hiding in plain sight" place for the dog food. I was chatting with Sandi on AIM when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like beans falling to the laminate floor. But from the direction that I heard it, I knew right away that Kurt and Shelby had discovered a new fun mess to make.

I really gotta find my digcam so I can post pictures!

Shelby's cuspids have finally broke through

Shelby has always been right at the outside on almost every developmental stage. Teeth eruption is no different. Her upper cuspids have finally broken through this week. She's only 4 months past the time that they normally appear. I used a pediatric dental chart to discover this information.

I am so in love with my children and their love for Jesus. They are constantly making up their own songs about Jesus and God. I need to get a recording tape deck so that I can record all of their lyrics and melodies.

Today, when I went to meet my step-sister, Nancy, to drop of Cynthia for a Nazarene Church Camp, Cynthia and Mary-Jo began singing some of the VBS Ramblin' Road Trip songs (the link give you a list of the songs and you can hear them, too). Mary-Jo's favorite song is "Raise some Praise". Cynthia's favorite is "The Heartland". My favorite is "We Believe".

After we dropped Cynthia off, MSK & I headed to McDonald's playland, then the city park & the zoo before heading home. During each "road trip", though, Mary-Jo started making up her own songs. Her lyrics on the way home were "Jesus died on the cross for my sins, Jesus loves me, I love Jesus." There were some more lyrics but I can't remember all of them.

It's times like these that I realize that for all that I do wrong while trying to parent my children, I must be doing something right for them to just start bursting out in song, praising Jesus. In fact, during these times my heart comes close to bursting out of my chest.

28 months

At 28 months, these are Kurt and Shelby’s stats.

Kurt
Length = 33.25 inches
Weight = 27.5 pounds
Head circumference = 19.0 inches


Shelby
Length = 30.5 inches
Weight = 23.5 pounds
Head circumference = 18.25 inches

King Solomon

Lots of stories to tell today...

First, I picked Cynthia up from her 4-H trip this morning. She has 2 cameras filled with photos, but I have to get them developed before I can post them.

Second, since Jaba was off today, I asked him yesterday if he wanted to do something with the kids. When I got back with Cynthia, I was going to lay down for another hour because I had to pick her up at 8:45am and that's really early for me. Well, Jab decided that we should go ahead and get up and take the kids to the Alexandria Zoo. So about 45 minutes later we are all loaded up in the van and off. Kurt and Shelby enjoyed walking and running to each animal habitat. Kurt would quickly repeat the names of the animals, but I had to work with Shelby a bit. (As an aside...I've been reading a little bit about speech development and have been wondering if maybe Shelby has a case of developmental verbal apraxia. She may not, but I'm paying close attention as I try to teach her to say new words over the next month. If I find that her speech doesn't improve tremendously over the next month, then I'm going to contact a professional speech therapist.) Our zoo has a wonderful Louisiana Habitat exhibit that was completed in 1998. The last picture at the bottom of that page is a picture of the zoo train that is always the finale of our zoo tripa. The train ride at our zoo is not at all good for seeing animal exhibits, it's purely for the enjoyment of riding a train with your children.

Third, after hearing Mary-Jo and Kurt talk about cats pretty much the entire time we were at the zoo, Jab decided to take a detour and headed to PetSmart to look at the adopt-a-pet kittens. Since our house has been a mess for about 3 weeks now and neither Jab nor I put it in that condition, Jab told Mary-Jo if she & Cynthia cleaned the house that we'd get them a kitten.

Fourth, we stopped a Chinese place to eat. Jab picked up a newspaper while we were there (this is a significant part of our day for a later event). After we ate we returned home and Jaba put the twins to bed while I took Cynthia and Mary-Jo to my Mom's house to pick over the vegetable garden. We now have an abundance of zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes and okra. Mary-Jo was excited to see her cousin, Macy (she's a year younger) while we were there. Mindy, Macy's mom & my youngest sister, is taking care of Mama's house while they are away on a 2+ weeks vacation.

Fifth, the kids and I returned home to clean. I was flabbergasted! I have NEVER experienced a day in my life when Mary-Jo cleaned without griping that she was tired or sleepy. She cleaned more than Cynthia, even. As soon as she finished a job she was back to find out what to do next. Not once during the 2 1/2 hours of cleaning the house did a negative word escape her lips.

Sixth, we decided to go out to eat supper so we didn't have to make a supper mess.

Seventh, after we returned home, Jaba took Mary-Jo with him to go to the store. This is where the newspaper becomes significant--they went to the store, but the main purpose fo the trip, unbeknownst to me, was to return with kitty litter, kitten food and King Solomon. He looks a lot like the kitten on the right side of this calendar. However I dubbed him "Solo" (pronouced like the musical term). Kurt quickly learned the kitten's new name and both he and Shelby petted her very gently. Solo seems to be very tamed because for a kitten he has not scratched any of the kids. He certainly had a chance when Kurt picked him up and held him just a little too tight, but he just meowed and I quickly removed him from Kurt's hands.

Today was a day all about the kids and it was a great day for Jab and me, too. However, right now, I'm missing my son, Alex.

Baby-socked Door Handles

Boy is it getting harder and harder to keep Kurt and Shelby out of unsafe rooms! Just a week ago my biggest problem was making sure that C,A&M closed the bathroom door behind them when using the facilities. However, Kurt can now turn doorknobs. A friend of mine used babysocks and a rubberband to solve her doorknob turner's probing eyes and hands. So I'm breaking out the babysocks and rooting through kitchen & bathroom drawers for rubberbands that I can wrap tightly around the knobs. I wonder if a locking plastic tie wrap will do the trick?

Here are some more frugal baby tips.

Cynthia left for 4H camp

Well, I am now down to 3. Alex left on Thursday to go on vacation with my Mom & Johnny. And now I just returned from bidding farewell to my oldest child who left for 4H camp. She has 2 cameras and specific instructions to make sure SHE is in the photos. Hopefully I'll be able to share those when she returns early Friday morning. It was a lot harder last year to let her go as it was her first overnight trip away from family. She had gone on many vacation trips with Mama and Johnny since she was 2, but last year was a big step for me to rely on those not related to me to handle her with care. It still was not easy this year, but I since she came back last year fairly unharmed (she ended up with swimmer's ear) I wasn't quite as on edge and ready to load her back up in the van and take her home.

Let the Colors Fly

Last night we had an Ice cream social and fireworks at church. There were about 30 different homemade ice cream flavors (although I don't know who won) served then around 9:15 p we all went outside and let the colors fly.

The biggest part of the night is that I let myself relax rather than be my usual mother hen on patrol. Shelby quickly found the drink table so she only traipse back and forth from that location to where we were seated and I let her do it without me hovering over her. Kurt did take off a few times but I was able to catch up to him before he got out of sight. I even let Cynthia get out of my sight to go with her friends to watch the fireworks.

After we finished eating ice cream (well, Shelby drank) we headed outdoors and found a spot to sit and watch. After watching for about 10 minutes, Mary-Jo laid down so she didn't have to crook her neck and Shelby quickly followed suit. Kurt on the otherhand held onto me as if his life depended on it. I asked him if he was scared and he quickly learned a new word and repeatedly told me he was scared during the really loud firepops for the next 30 minutes.

Overall we had a really good time in a great Christian atmosphere!