"Time? I have no concept of Time."

"Time? I have no concept of Time." from So I Married and Axe Murderer. This is how my motto should be.

It's a Monday and what have I done today? NOTHING!!! I've been trying to figure out some tweaks for my blog, and playing with my 2 year old, and trying to keep "sickko's" in their room since they weren't feeling well enough for school this morning. I did, however, manage to take a bath, get dressed, talk with a friend -(who by the way made my day!!)

I went to the school and dropped off my two "sickko's" that were feeling MUCH better and let them finish the day of school, lucky they went now they get to play outside when homework is done. So I managed to run a sink full of water and have a huge mound of bubbles towering over the counter top. The boys would love it if I let them up there to play, but not today!! I have major dishes to wash, and about 8 loads of laundry to fold -- none of which I want to do. I've been fighting a slight dizzy feeling, and an oncoming headache all day. My cure, I should go lie down again, and read some more.... but then I feel slightly guilty because of the duties that haven't been accomplished today.... there's dinner that needs to be made, and dishes washed (as I already mentioned) and laundry to fold, not to mention -- it's nice outside and I should go on a walk -- but where oh where is the TIME!!!

This one element about life I can't seem to get a grasp on, but then again I don't have a grasp on many things that I feel I should. I don't even have teens yet, but I feel my day is already taken up and used before I can really do anything I want to... I guess it just all boils down to setting priorities and just knowing that my kids won't always be with me, eventually they will all leave the nest (because I won't let them live with me forever and if they want to try IT WON'T BE PRETTY) they won't be little like this forever, and I'm sure that when they are much more grown then now, my house will probably have a semblance of order on a more consistant basis and I'll not have clothes all over the sofa because I can't get them folded as they come out (for whatever reason). But I need to find JOY in the journey I'm having right now. I don't want to wish away my life and I want to avoid having or possessing the "If this happens.... then I'll be happy" syndrome. I try to sit back and look at my life right now and wonder what the heck, others might say in conversations if I were to die right now. Frankly it kind of scares me.

• I don't feel like I'm that great of a Mom, but I try my best.
• I'm not some fashion guru who wears great clothes all the time. (actually I don't think I ever do)
• I don't really get into shoes all that much.
• I dont' work to earn any money.
• I don't feel like I'm a runway model with the "HOT BOD" and "GREAT FACE" to go with it. (Because I tell you I have those huge pores on my face that look NASTY when seen up close, so stay back for better looking effect)
• I don't have a lot of rich relatives (now that I think about it I don't have any -- DARN IT!)
• I don't have a lot of jewelery. Heck my wedding ring is "laboratory created" aka: A FAKE!! But I love it because HE gave it to me. (He = MY MAN)
• I'm not extremely talented in anything. I know a little about sewing, a little bit about exercising, a little bit about decorating (but I suck at it), I'm a wannabe photographer, and digital scrapbook designer.
• I don't feel like I have many friends at all. Most days I get calls from automated messages, not a real person ever. And then when they are from real people, it usually comes bearing bad news.
• I don't keep my house immaculate. But try to keep it somewhat functional. Even if that means dishes get washed as they are needed.

So what in the heck would anyone say about me if I were to all of a sudden "leave this earth"? Well maybe they could say :

• She was so caring, and always friendly.
• She was always modest in her dress. And kept her children clothed.
• She tried to help even though she didn't know how.
• She loved her family, she was always taking them on walks, going to the park, talking about them, trying to find ways to help them make good decisions.
• She loved the Lord!! Her example proved it.
• She was a loyal wife and friend. She tried to show her love by the deeds she did.
• I never heard her get mean with her children ever --(gotta work on this one)
• She never lost her temper. (Well maybe not in public)
• She never tires from her duties as a mother and wife. (gotta work on this too!)
• She truly cared about me, because she always said Hi when she saw me, and tried to find out how I was.

Not that I'm hoping to die anytime soon, but I was just thinking about other family members who have passed on, and all the great things I can remember of them, and I just hope that when my time comes, I can fulfill some of my dreams and have great things remembered about me.

But back to the element of Time. It's short here on earth, and I have to make the best I can of it, while trying to tackle everyday items with children underfoot, or uncooperating with me and what I deem important. My goal needs to be to TEACH them how to live and WHAT is important in life, that when I'm not with them all the time, they can make good choices. It's such a tender spot with me, because I have some family experience with bad choice making, and I see what kind of misery that can be, and don't want that for my children. I'm so glad that they have good primary teachers at church that help instill in them a desire to do good.

My time is fleeting, and I never seem to have enough.. .like I need to go make dinner but haven't even started yet.... So it's off to make dinner, time to make sure homework has been done, and we have Family Home Evening tonight and I have to make sure all parts are ready for that, then it's bedtime, and that is a whole different time task on its own. I just don't feel like I'm ever in control of my time and when I feel like I am, I don't know where all the time went. So now it's time to get better control of my time, while I have TIME to do something about it.

That's not on the agenda for today.

I've been contemplating this for a while. I always wonder how my day is going to turn out and as it happens find myself saying " That's not on the agenda for today."



What on Earth might I be referring to??



Well where do I start? Maybe at the beginning -- that's always a great place to start.

First of all --- I'm so not a morning person, never have been and find it hard to be when I am supposed to be one. So that said, each day is started off already on the wrong foot because I'm not a morning person. So I wake up not as early as Good Moms do, you know the kind I'm talking about -- those ladies who have everything together and a place for everything and they get out of bed at like 5am. They work out, they make a hot breakfast for their family and they wake their kids up and the kids all quickly obey, and get dressed into their clothes that are neatly set out and shoes are easy to find, and there are always socks mated to be worn. They feed the kids and then realize that it is time to leave for school, so that they will arrive at least 10 minutes early. The kids all quickly get into the car and off they go. They never speed, because why would they need to, they are always 10 minutes early. They have the intellectual conversations about what's going on in the world, and about global warming, and such junk like that. The papers that have needed to be signed and turned back in our dilligently done the night before and placed in the back packs that, every child remembers to take every morning.





STOP !!! WAIT!!!! I want to make sure that you know I'M NOT THIS WOMAN!!!



For me, the morning typically goes like this --



Most kids are put to bed around 8:30 but fail to fall asleep before 11pm at night. (might have something to do with the fact that they all share a room and feed off each other and talk into the night, and keep each other up all night) With baby boy staying up because he fights his sleep and I'm exhausted trying to figure out how and what to do without feeling like a failure because I can't figure this one out. After several attempts and a few hours it's nearing midnight and he finally falls asleep due to exhaustion. And I follow shortly. So I spend my night trying to get him to go to sleep and can't -- wash any dishes, fold any laundry, read a book, or ANYTHING!!! I'm so SAD!!! I looked forward to this time, and now I don't have it at all!! Hopefully this won't last forever. Then baby boy wakes up a few times during the night comes running into my room screaming and crying and wanting to be with mommy. That's fine, I'm too tired to get up and deal with him, so I let him lay beside me for tonight. I'm sandwiched between the baby, and the DH -- I don't reccomend it if you like to have your space some of the time. But it does make for good snuggling in the morning.



** Oh wait I was supposed to discuss how my morning goes: Well after getting little sleep, and not much of it was a deep sleep, I have to wake to get my kids up and ready for school. It's 7:30 and they need to leave in 40 minutes so that they get to school 10 minutes early. They whine and complain, and tell me how they don't feel good, and how tired they are (maybe because they kept each other up all night -- just a guess). So I have to pry them up from their beds, pull the covers off from them, and sometimes even dump water when someone doesn't want to "wake" up. I'm lucky if I've remembered to wash the few clothes that they can wear to school and have them clean. So we're usually pulling out the clothes from the dryer because I remembered to start them late the night before and somewhere when I was awaken in the night threw them into the dryer so that the clothes would be dried. Because I so don't have it together!!! They usually don't have socks ready to wear, because I sometimes miss getting all the socks because they aren't in the laundry basket to be washed and I hate digging around the room and under beds trying to find the dirty critters. I am searching like MAD, minutes before we need to leave trying to find socks, just in time to hear someone say "WHERE ARE MY SHOES??" "WHERE IS MY BELT? IT'S LOST!!"



And then seconds after hearing this -- remember that these kids need to eat food, the cereal never lasts very long, and the fruit gets eaten in just a few days so then I resort to grab a piece of bread and take it with you. At which I get a lot of complaints and then grab RITZ crackers to appease some of the kids. *that doesn't always work though!



As soon as I've found everyone a pair of socks I am just in time to hear two of them SCREAMING at each other, getting mad because of something dumb, and come back to say " I'm sorry that wasn't on the agenda for today, try it again some other time"



So we're running out the door finally and realize that I didn't even dress the baby and the older boy doesn't have shoes on, and put his pants on backwards and wants his blankie which he left inside. So I make a mad dash in the house again, grab the blankie, see a back pack that got left on the floor and realize I didn't sign two pieces of paper and grab those too! Run back outside jump in the van, and realize once again, that the older boy isn't buckled in his seat, so I open the door run around the car and put his staps on and buckle him in. Run around the front of the car back to the driver seat jump in and close my door. Off we go, by now we'll be lucky if we can make it before the bell rings.



Mind you I haven't gotten a shower probably forgot to brush my hair, and still have my bed head, (WHICH IS BAD!! VERY SCARY!) Heck sometimes, I'm not completely dressed, like certain underclothing which adds some support to my upper region might not make it on in time to make the trip to the school. So then I just throw on big sweatshirts and go. So needless to say I'm a SCARY SIGHT TO BEHOLD!!



I'm trying my hardest not to speed, and everytime I see a police car, get FREAKED out. Luckily I don't see the lights come on, but sometimes they have and the timing was just so -- so that I thought they were after me, and then they speed on past me. Whew!!

I finally pull up to the school to let the girls out of the car, and then have my youngest decide to have a REALLY BAD DAY and then just cry at the car, which makes me sad, but know that she needs to be at school that day and then looking as bad as I do, but trying to be a good mom, get out of my car, leaving it in the front of the school and walk inside with her to her class. She still is sad, and sees her teacher and finally decides to go in because it's okay. But sometimes she still has issues. But we'll talk about those later. I get back home, and proceed to eat something, and settle issues between my boys, try to get in a shower or bath, and then try to start the daily chores.

Everyday is like a circus act in my house, and I'm the Ring Master or rather my husband might be. Who knows??? I have hope restored when I hear other more mature mothers (Meaning their kids are beyond this stage at which I am at) say that they won't be like this very long. I pray every night that I won't do anything rash that will inflict harm on any of them, when I'm inpatient, tired, hungry, sick, hurt, or whatever the case might be. As long as I can keep them alive till then, I might not have too many of these "that's not on the agenda for today" moments.

So I know that I must be the only Mom, who ever has a bad morning with kids that don't want to co-operate and do as they are supposed to. To you moms, I wish I could be more like you and have my act more together but I guess that is what one of my weaknesses are because I seriously have issues with this and don't really see any way out of it anytime soon. But I hope in the dismal days of winter that Sunshine will come through and light the way to beat this weakness.

Weighty Issues

Okay so I keep hearing friends that are "working out, and exercising" to try and lose weight but only end up "unhappy, and diappointed" because they aren't losing "WEIGHT".


The muscle cells in the body are lean and long cells. Fat cells are opposite. When you engage muscles in a workout, especially one that works the muscles as with "strength training" you tend to develop those muscle cells more, and muscle cells are more dense - so they weigh more. So a few good rules of thumb if you are trying to "lose weight" :

Don't look at the scale!!! It's not the numbers on the scale that you want to be watching to drop. Its the amount or percentage of body fat you have that you want to shrink. There are a few ways to do this.

----- You can get some kind of device to measure your body fat like this one listed with Amazon. This uses the skinfold method -- which is the most common. Which means that you pinch your skin and with the device it can tell you your percentage of body fat based on your weight too. And through hospitals and such you can get more accurate tests done but they can become quite costly.

Here is another great website that you can check out just to get some answers to some of your "questions" about weightloss.
MyFitnessTrainer -- the site is owned and operated by one of my friends from college and she's good at what she does. I took fitness for life back in college and have been very athletic most of my life, until about 10 years ago, when I only get on and off workouts as time and children permit. One of these years when my kids aren't so "helpless" and I'm not so "financially challenged" I think that I will get a membership to a gym, and what I wouldn't do to play Basketball, Volleyball and maybe Softball again. I played all three in high school, and loved almost every minute of it, I was in such great shape and I was working with weights and I felt really good back then. But of course, I've been a SLACKER lately and know I need to do something about it, but my kids just cling to my legs if I try to do anything at home, and well, I could just come up with a million and one more excuse of why I don't, but I'll not waste my precious time on that and instead do something more productive like "workout".

Friday Ramblings...

My Random Thoughts for this last week.

Okay so I don't have a dishwasher, which I understand would make my life more bearable. But seeing how I don't have one, that means that I'm the dishwasher. Except for rare times when I might actually get my girls to do them, ha ha. So I don't always use the "rubber gloves" because my hands sweat like crazy inside them, and therefore my hands are in the water "au naturale" --- I've been comparing a few dish soaps lately, and I think I've finally decided that Dawn or Palmolive are the best out there.

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Toilet Paper:

Well, I found a kind that I liked and Wal*Mart was carrying it for a while, but then they stopped selling it. So then I was disappointed. But after trying just about every kind out there, I have to say that the Kirklands Signature (or whatever that brand name is) that is carried at Costco, and the rolls are individually wrapped is now my new favorite. I'm trying to stockpile on buying it once a month to build up enough for the "year's supply" --- heaven only knows how much I would hate to be caught without the T.P.

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Pots & Pans

Well mine are all OLD!!! I've had most of them since we were married and they are losing their non-stick coating ( well actually they have lost it) and I really need to get them replaced with some decent pots and pans, and not with just one set -- but I need at least 2 -3 of my favorite sizes because I make food in "bulk" and trying to do it without the right size of pan or without the correct number of pans can be quite a process and make a 30 minute ordeal turn into a 3 hour escapade. Maybe this Christmas...?

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It seems like everyone I know is now selling their houses and trying for something bigger, better and newer. I don't blame them, but I sure hope that someday it will get to be MY turn. Trying to fit my family of seven in this house that is only 1100sq ft. is getting quite snug. Not to mention we only have one "commode" ( as I heard my father in law actually call it last week).

I really hope that this isn't something bad that I'm hoping for. ??

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Homework???

I HATE IT!!! It was okay when I was the one doing it but being one parent who is home with the kids in the afternoon and having three children that need help with various things, is quite a monumental task. And this happens M-F not to mention all the "reading" minutest that need to be recorded and kept track of. Plus the fact that I only have so much time to get them started with homework, while trying to finish up any tasks that were started before I went to pick them up, and then need to get dinner going right away, if I didn't do anything earlier. There just never seems to be any time to "relax" in the evenings, and my kids are really involved with the extra-curricular yet. I guess these are just some of my "i'm a bad mommy, and don't like the tasks I have to do" thoughts that plague me quite heavily lately.

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It's Friday and now it's the weekend. So I feel that we can finally spend some fun time together as a family. It seems to be only on the weekends that we really get to be together. Which isn't so bad, but the time just seems to fly by so fast and never last as long as I want it to, and not only that the kids are just growing at a very fast rate. Not technically, but I swear I feel like it was just yesturday that I first became a mother, and now I'm a mother to 5!! My how the time flies.

Summer Vacation Pictures

I never really posted any of our vacation pictures but here are a few that I really liked. And Chris wants to use one of these for our Christmas cards this year. I said "Sure, go ahead" -- Less stress on me later.

Here we are at Carthage Jail On Monday the 28th, of July. We had just come from visiting in Nauvoo. Which the kids were kind of cranky about already. I think it was the humidity that they aren't used to that help trigger there fits they tended to have.

An old prison near Moundsville, West Virginia that I thought looked really neat and then the only sightseeing we did was basically from the car so of course, it was raining and then you get all the water spots -- but I think it adds to the effect.

My Ultimate Favorite: They would climb up this hill just to get to the top and then turn around and run all the way down. The kids had such fun playing in this yard and having a great time being together.

My Three favorite guys!! Ethan was just excited to be outside of the car and not strapped into the carseat!! Thomas was a little grumpy I think.

We were all waiting around and checking out the site across the Freeway

This was the scene aross the road. I didn't think I'd be able to get the clear enough but I guess I was able to get them enough to see what they were. I love the green pasture all around him and the fact that there are cows in the background, it would have been a lot cuter had I brought some overalls and snapped some with just overalls on, maybe next time.


One of my favorites of Thomas while on vacation -- this was near Elkins, West Virginia at the Rice Family Reunion that we attended. There were little creeks and streams everywhere back there. It was so great.
I was standing up on a bridge that seemed to be very unstable but someone that lived there rode across it with a four wheeler. CRAZY!!!
Sitting on a rock in the middle of the creek that was being played in.

One of the coolest bridgest that we crossed while headed to Steubenville, Ohio to visit with a distant cousin of my father in law. (And my husband for that matter) Chris wants to use this picture for our Christmas card this year. Of course, I don't think that I'll make a big one to hang on my wall. I still will try and get a nicer one before we do our cards.
Check out the COW!!! I couldn't stop laughing. My husband took this picture because he went to help on a cemetery headstone restoration project while we were there. But that cow, just .... is so worth this picture being taken. (And the cow is why he decided to take the picture)

Some cool SPIDER WEBS!! The dew that collected on these just made them look so mystical

Here is the Columbus Ohio Temple. It was so pretty there.
Our Last West Virginia Sunset --- SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL!!

The girls loved this little stream right on the Temple grounds for the Columbus Ohio Temple. It was nice and refreshing for them to play in.
There are a few of the high-lights from our Summer Vacation. It was so much fun, and we can hardly wait to go back. Well at least I'm not looking forward to the drive. But the fact that we got away from the normal stuff, to see things we've never seen before was a nice change to my days that I was gone. Now I just need to take a MOMMY VACATION --

I'm so engrossed ...

I've pretty much "WASTED" today away. For more than one reason. Thursday Night or should I say Friday morning, my BABY BOY woke up right before 3am and didn't go back to sleep until around 6:20am -- yeah, when it was almost time for me to get up anyway!! I had started cleaning up my kitchen since I wasn't getting to go back to sleep, and pretty much I had been awake since before 3am. I was quite tired already and the day hadn't really started. I made sure to tell my husband before work that I was pretty tired and then when he came home if sometime after 6pm I "crashed" into a slumber to LEAVE ME BE!!! I didn't get much rest on Friday because we decided to hold Heidi's "belated" birthday party from last month so she could celebrate with some friends. After the party I cleaned up the mess, we ate dinner -- which DH made !! and then I said, after dinner I'm going to hybernate in my room and don't want to be disturbed. I ended up going to sleep around 8pm !! I slept good and didn't hear any of the kids really until about 5am on Saturday morning. I came out to see what was happening and DH was sitting on the couch with BABY BOY in his arms and was trying to get him to go to sleep again. Not to mention that all the kids were asleep here as well (FRIDAY MOVIE NIGHT) - Thomas didn't have his "bedtime" pullup on so he had awaken as well because he "wet" himself on my floor, and all DH could say was "oh, I forgot about that" --- my comeback??? "Well, that's why you need to take your turn at this more often so your more 'practiced' " he just laughed.

I was grateful that he did allow me to sleep all that time and not be interupted. I haven't had that since Mid July!! It was great. The other reason I've "wasted" my day was that I didn't feel well for most of it and had no desire to do ANYTHING, except ...... read New Moon. I read it like all day and didn't make meals didn't clean anything --- heck I barely put daytime clothes on even though I wanted to remain in PJ's all day. I have been lucky enough to force myself on a walk mostly for selfish reasons --- to find someone in my neighborhood that had a copy of Eclipse that I could borrow, and luckily I found one ---- so now I'm starting into book number 3!! I don't know why I can't put it down!!! I guess that is when you know it's a good read. Maybe it's the sure thrill of the "danger" without getting too involved physically. Who knows?? For once it's a little after 10pm and all the kiddos are asleep and DH is on his nightly walk the the Amber --- our dog!! Yes, we do have a DOG, we've had her for well a few months longer than we've had Heidi so over 6 years now!!

So it's quiet and I could go read some more, only I need to make some rolls or something to take for a potluck tomorrow. Aghh!! I don't know for sure what I want to bring. But the rolls are tempting especially because I just made a few batches of Jam this last week. It's to die for. Peach Strawberry, and Peach Raspberry. YUM YUM

I've been really CRANKY and/or TIRED lately. So I've tried to figure out the reason why:

• Baby boy doesn't like to sleep at night.


• Baby boy likes to throw fits left and right.


• Baby boy is full of "ENERGY" ( I feel for Shantil now!)


• School is back in session and the girls have to be there by 8:15am


• School is back in session and the girls come home so that they can do their homework, which I have to make sure they do.


• School is in session and that requires me to make sure that their READING is done every evening.


• After being home for just a few short minutes it is then time to "get dinner started" if I haven't had a chance before then to do it. So that it will be ready in time for Chris coming home from work at 5pm.


• After dinner - I like to try and wash up the dishes but for the last week and half, I haven't been able to get to the dishes (LIKE AT ALL!!) I only wash the dish I need to use if it's dirty. Actually on Sunday at the begining of the week I did have all the dishes washed, but it was short lived due to BABY BOY!!


• Baby boy doesn't like to sleep, we took down the crib so I can't just leave him in his room and know that he will stay, so it takes major cuddling, rocking, back rubbing, or if I'm completely desperate and have $$ to "WASTE" I'll put him in the car and take him on a car ride to "KNOCK" him out. ( IT WORKED THE LAST TWO NIGHTS!! -- WHO CARES IF GAS IS $$$$$ -- I NEED SOME SANITY!) Of course, I don't resort to it until the last thing and by then it is already 10pm agghhh.


• The laundry is piled up because I can't keep up with it, or I go on a marathon washing day and then I have to do a marathon folding it and putting it away but because of BABY BOY I don't get too much done while he's awake. EVER!! I try but get interrupted at every turn. So I do take advantage of the few minutes I might get in a day for the top priority things like get a shower/take a bath, get dressed, eat. I fit the rest in as I can.


• I've had a "hoarse" voice for over 7 weeks now, which I need to be taking some RX for but haven't gotten the medication for it because it too costs $$ I don't want to spend. OR better yet don't have it to spend.
• I've also been having some major "cramping" that feel really close to the cyst pain I experienced back in February and I don't know whether to go in or not. Because there isn't much they really can do about them. I just know it doesn't feel very good.
• I have so many things on my agenda and I don't really get any of them accomplished. Because I'M SO TIRED.

So maybe now that I've worked this out a little and both of my boys are asleep on the livingroom floor and I have to pick up my girls from school in a little over an hour and half, maybe now I can go fold some of this MOUNTAIN of LAUNDRY that HAUNTS me WHILE I SLEEP. So after going down this list I'm not sure I can really say WHAT is causing me to feel this way. But I do feel slightly more energetic (NOT A LOT, JUST SLIGHTLY) after typing this. As my husband says, " I'll do it, but I'm doing it grudgingly!" at least for the moment while I'm bitter and in a FOUL mood. Really I'm not going to HURT anyone, I'm just going to get really annoyed if they push my buttons, and yes, I have buttons and my HUSBAND knows every WRONG one to push.

TWO WEEKS UNTIL WE GET TO GO!!

Okay so really who else has made one of those crazy across the country kind of trips? And better yet, with five young kids?? I haven't !!! The longest trip we've taken with our kids is to California to my parents place, and that is like a 10 hour drive from here. But it's been nearly 3 1/2 years since we've all done that trip and Ethan wasn't even born and neither was Thomas. I did however make the trip by myself but I did have my sister and her two kids plus the four kids I had at the time. It was CRAZY!!! So in two weeks we will be leaving for West Virginia, driving in a car, with FIVE, got that FIVE KIDS!!! We're going all the way there which is around 2000 miles and then we have to come all the way home. We'll be gone for 2 weeks. AAAGGGHHHH!!!

But really I am excited for it but not quite sure what exactly will happen. I know how my kids can be, we'll be in the car for an hour and then I'll start hearing the are we there yet?? and the I'm hungry!!, and I have to go Potty!, and IT'S BORING!! And then by the time we reach each of our daily destinations, we'll be sick of the kids yelling and screaming, we'll just want to get them to bed to SLEEP!! But of course, after being in a car for several hours they won't want to SLEEP, because they will have so much pinned up and stored energy that they will need to release it all, but .... and on and on.

But some of the highlights, the kids are really excited that they will get to see the MISSISSIPPI RIVER!! They've been learning about in school and learning how to spell MISSISSIPPI that they are WAY EXCITED about that. They will venture into at least 6 new states and even more if we come home a different way but I'm not sure yet. Got to plan out the return trip home so we can figure out what will happen and go on.

The funniest thing, Kaylee just thought that she was taking 14 shirts because she was going to be gone for 14 days!! I had to quickly let her know that she could have 5 shirts, 1 to wear and 4 in the bag. We're going to be cramped for space, so next weekend I think we're going to have to go through a mock pack up and see how we are for space -- my oh my what will we EVER DO!!!

It's just at that point of getting ready for a trip that I'm getting STRESSED!!! It will be fun, because we'll meet up with Chris's parents that are taking a train out there, and so we'll get to be with them in West Virginia too!! It is also kind of crazy because I'll be meeting several of Chris's relativest that I've never met in the 10 years that we've been married. At least I can say he's met all my aunts and uncles that are still living. So this should prove to be quite the adventure and yes, all my in laws from here are saying "TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!!" We're also going to see the place where my husband and siblings spent most of their years growing up. Which is in Ohio. So we'll be WAY BUSY!! But we've never taken a vacation like this the 10 years that we've been married. Some how we'll pull through it, have lots of fun!!

Afternoon At the Mall

Just from the title you may be wondering just exactly what I have to tell you. Truth of the matter is I just returned from taking my five perfect children to the mall where we went to JCPenney Portrait Studio. We have a membership there where if purchased you don't have to pay sitting fees for two years. The price of the membership is about $30.00, so for how often I go I get my $30.00 back in one sitting with three kids getting their photos taken.

Things were going great at home, all the kids had been freshly showered or bathed. So we didn't have any dirty feet or faces, all the hair was nicely combed and they were all dressed and we left in time to get their right before the appointment time. Although when we parked the car and four of my children had jumped out and ready to go in, I was starting to unbuckle the baby to place him in the stroller ---- " Where's the diaper bag?" I asked. This was an important object for me to not be without, because it had the coupons to get portrait sheets at $3.99 a piece and I had done an online survey with a $3.00 off coupon and my membership card to waive the sitting fee was in it also. Not to mention all the necessities to keep the baby happy and fed. I do nurse my baby but occasionally like today when I'll be away from home in a store by myself with five kids I like to have a bottle on hand too!! And so I knew the little guy was about to get quite fussy if I didn't feed him soon. So I told all the kids to get back in the car upon which I hear lots of mumblings and I don't wannas. They eventually sat down buckled back up and we left the parking lot to head for our home which is less than a mile away. I call the studio on my cell phone and let them know I had to head right back home to get all these things I had left.

I get home and start panicking when I can't find my diaper bag where I thought I'd laid it down, which would have been in the kitchen on one of the chairs. I glance toward my living room and didn't see it there I walk to my bedroom and whew, I see it. Pick it up and go out the door back to the van. (Because I drive one, 2003 Chevy Venture that is White) We drive back to the mall after waiting to get on the main 'drag' that goes over to the mall for about 7 minutes. I was facing west trying to make a left at an intersection with only two stop signs, which happened to be the direction I was stopped at.

Why is it when I'm in a hurry and normally it would take 5 minutes to get to the mall this time it took like 15 minutes. AAGGH .

So we park the car again all the kids jump out I get the stroller out and set it up and then proceed to unbuckle the little guy and notice that he was asleep. So I pick up the stroller and collapse it down and just shove it in the front of the van so I don't have to open the rear hatch again. So I take out the carseat and carry him in like that. We get to the studio which at the moment was so crowded with people that were either waiting to pick up a picture or waiting to pay for their session.

I fill out their form that asks for name, address, membership number and who under 18 will be photographed. My kids are behaving somewhat okay, the baby is still asleep, and I'm thinking this isn't so bad. WHAM!! wake up--- Thomas my two year old just wants to run to the drinking fountain located at the front doors, so I had to chase him down a few times. Like literally -- I was running in the store to catch him, while he was laughing as hard as a kid while running away from mommy. I catch him and finally after waiting for about 5 - 10 minutes we were able to go in a get our portraits taken. I have 5 kids but only photographing 3 this go around, plus I was ready to pose with them individually so we could have some mommy and me pictures. By now I've completely lost track of the time -- don't know how long the actual session lasted it was probably only 30 - 45 minutes but seemed like an hour or two.

Since the studio has gone digital they like to "enhance" a bunch of the pictures and then they download them to the viewing screen where I can then take a look at them. So after the session is over we have to wait for at least another 10 -15 minutes for this to take place. So we're waiting the kids are getting anxious to leave no longer sitting still -- the two year old says " I want to go on the alligator" aka escalator. Finally I let my four children go to the escalator holding hands so they can "ride it". They were to go down from here walk around at the bottom and come back up. Well they did exactly what they were told and then some. They did this at least 2 times but maybe as many times as 5. So while they were doing this I was in the studio still and waiting for the download to happen, noticed the children hadn't come back yet and went to check on them. As I was walking to where they should have been but couldn't exactly see it yet, I heard my two year old down on the first floor, saw my son and youngest daughter running from the one side to the other to come back up. I heard my 8 year old running in her "shoes" ( The college students that lived next door moved out and were going to donate them to either the trash or DI and of course my girls had to grab them because they were cool, not their size and tons of colors on them. They come back up and I met them on the far side as they got to the top. My two year old starts running back to the other side while screaming "do it again, do it again!" I had my baby in my left arm facing forward and started running after my two year old. I grabbed his arm and he wasn't very happy, but by this time I wasn't either. We get back inside the studio and waited for a total of about 30 - 45 minutes at least just to see the pictures.

Well the time arrived that I coudl view our portraits on the computer screen, kids running around being loud -- and I just seemed to tune them out -- what could I possibly do ? Okay so yeah I should have had a helper with me to help corral them but I didn't. The baby is now back in his infant seat and strapped in while one of my daughters is feeding him a bottle he ate a total of 8 ounces really quickly it seemed. ( I guess it was quick compared to the time we had to wait.) I had a hard enough time trying to decide which portraits I wanted and what sizes. I finally figured things out but not too soon though. Paid for my purchase and picked up some of the baby that had come in, and then we were off!!

By now the kids are whining as loud as possible about how hungry they were and still driving me crazy!! We get to the car -- whew, I made it without killing anyone. Next time I go to do a group picture "daddy" will be present to help contain the kiddos. By the time I got to the car and saw what time it was we had been in the portrait studio for a little over two hours, but it seemed like I was there for at least a week!! And that was my afternoon at the mall.