Progress has been made!

I went into the office/den/guest room/craft central on Saturday afternoon and spent a couple of hours sorting and filing papers so I felt like my life was in order then I got started on my crafting later (actually LATE) that night. I got some more done Sunday afternoon and last night. I am happy with my progress and did enjoy it. I think to myself that I look forward to later when my kids are more self sufficient and I might have more time to work on things, but then I look at my mom was also has a thousand projects she would like to do and still doesn't feel like she has time.
I guess no matter how many kids, how much you work, and how old or young you are, you only have what time you make for what you feel is important. Time is kind of like money in that way. My (very wise) grandfather told Rob once long ago that no matter how much money you make, your bank balance will always be the same. Over the years (with a few ups and downs along the way), we have found that to be true.
I seem to digress because this posting began with talking about my crafts, but oh well . . . I believe I did promise some pictures, so I will have to take some and get those posted. Perhaps, I should wait until after Christmas, however, so no one sees their gift here first!
Ten days till Christmas, Folks! Hope you are all happy, relaxed, and enjoy the love and miracles of the season!

Turkey Cupcakes and more

As I was posting my last blurb, I realized that I never shared the photo of the turkey cupcakes the kids made. One of our friends (the fiance of an athletic trainer) stopped by and helped coordinate the effort of the turkey making on Thanksgiving morning while I did some cleaning and organizing for our gathering later in the day. The kids had fun.

Interestingly enough, the cupcakes were the most popular dessert! I figured my kids would eat them and they would look cute. Nope! More cupcakes were eaten than pieces of pie and dessert squares combined.

I also found a picture of the set table before the crowd came over. Not very exciting, I know, but I didn't get a chance to take a shot of everyone at the table.

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The last photo is of Cole's belly after the meal. He may have won the biggest increase in waist size in a pre-meal to post-meal measurement.

Making Something

I LOVE MAKING THINGS - whether it is food in the kitchen or some kind of craft. In fact, I look forward to holidays because there often so many fun ideas of things to create. There have been previous years where I made all of our gifts for Christmas- partly for a financial reason, but an even bigger part is that I love doing it. HOWEVER, this year I have no interest in making anything! I got out some craft supplies in October for some projects that I was planning and I have done nothing with them other than move them from one spot to another when they get in my way.
I am not actually sure if no interest is my problem or that it is difficult for me to find the time and space to make any real progress without interruptions which then deters me from even getting started. I have a couple of projects that I really would like to complete that aren't difficult or too time consuming, so I am hoping to complete them this weekend. One of them is our annual teacher gift. Once completed, I will add a photo and blurb (or at least I will try to). The other thing I haven't done anything of is bake cookies or make the variety of chocolate treats that I usually do. I have all the ingredients for those things as well.
I'm sure once I get started, I will have get in the mood and enjoy myself. For any readers out there who might receive one of these gifts, please know that your gift was made in love even if you feel my reluctance to get started on it!

Signing Out

Well, other than rolls which I ended up tossing outside (!!!), my time in the kitchen was a success today. The cupcakes haven't been decorated yet, so I will have to send photos of those tomorrow. I didn't bother taking pictures of the rolls or fruit salad. The turkey, brownies, and cookies have all been delivered already. But you can note on the right the apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin pie dessert squares. Hopefully they will be enjoyed by all tomorrow!

Quick update from the kitchen

The apple pie is just moments away from finishing and looks and smells delicious! The final verdict will be given tomorrow. As for the pumpkin pie dessert squares, Rob was just through the kitchen and asked with such sweetness about whether they were being saved for tomorrow that I let him cut into those. The yummy noises he made let me know they turned out just fine!

And the apple pie

. . . is in the oven! I am trying a new recipe, so we'll see how it turns out. Back to the fruit salad, and then I think both my oven and I will take the rest of the night off.

Oven idle again!

My timing is a bit more off this evening than this morning. The pumpkin pie has been out for 15 minutes or so, but I am still working on getting the apple pie ready to go in. I got a little side tracked with cleaning up dinner dishes, helping get Robbie and Alexa to bed, and then started putting together a fruit salad when I realized the pumpkin pie was almost done. Egads! I am working on the pie filling now though, so it shouldn't be too long before I can toss in the last dessert! Whew!

Help needed!

Rob had to step in and help as I was putting Rachel and Cole to bed when the pumpkin pie dessert squares came out. He did a marvelous job; I might have to put him on the payroll (or is it payrole?) Anyway, the oven is working to keep the house warm while I get the pumpkin pie mixed up. Stay tuned for more baking excitement as the evening progresses!

By the way, I know it isn't really that exciting reading about it, but it adds a little more fun for me to write about it. So, you can hang in there with me, or just don't read again until another day when all this craziness is done.

Next up

Pizza out - pumpkin pie dessert squares in.
I really love this dessert. I don't like pie so much, so this recipe which is basically a pumpkin pie filling between a yellow cake crust and crumbly cake topping is just right for me. Rob really enjoys it too. It is a recipe from my mom; I am not sure where she came across it, but it is a favorite in our house. I will try to post the recipe sometime.

Oven is back in business!

The oven is now on again . . . preheating for tonight's dinner - pizza!

Break time

Turkey is out and smells delicious. The oven is now off until later this evening when I get started with more baking, as soon we will be running out to take care of some errands- like delivering the cookies and brownies to the football players and dropping off today's turkey at the community center.

Switch again

Rolls out - turkey in!

Really ready or not,

rolls are in. ?!?! My fingers are crossed.

???

I am not sure how these rolls are going to turn out. They didn't seem to rise much on the first round or the second- some rising, but not like it should. They may end up being kind of heavy. Oh well . . . Wal-Mart is open all day today and tomorrow if I need to go buy some. (sigh)

Cupcakes out

. . . rolls still on second rise.

Switch!

Brownies are out. Chocolate cupcakes (future turkeys) are in. Rolls ready to be shaped and left to rise some more.

Busy Kitchen

Well, Thanksgiving is upon us and my stove has a booked schedule. Last night I baked Cowboy cookies (delicious! - find recipe here) that will be delivered to football players after practice this evening. Just like the good 'ole days in the high school pep club! Anyway, this morning, I have dough rising to make rolls and while I wait for them to finish rising, I'm mixing up a batch of brownies to toss in the oven. More to follow . . .

High School Musical Spoof

Although I have not personally experienced the whole High School Musical craze, I do know that it seems to be quite popular among a large age range of children. My kids at ages four and six have friends that are into it all; I don't really know how old of kids like it although I would hope it goes into high school age seeing that it is "HIGH SCHOOl Musical". Anyway, I just turned on the televesion this morning for a little Sesame Street time and what are they showing? "Preschool Musical!" Puppets are singing and dancing around a preschool classroom singing about finger painting, snack time, etc. Too cute!

Household Chores

My kids help with things around the house. Sometimes complaining is involved, but for the most part, they are willing participants. They help with laundry (sort, fold, put away) on occasion, clean up toys everyday, set the table most days, clear their dishes each day, and take care of their own school bags, papers, etc. all the time. Now this may not impress that many people as you are thinking that I speak of my four and six year old who should be able to do these tasks with no problems. The fun part is that my one year olds are involved in these things as well. Cole has set the table with napkins and silverware the past two days. Both Cole and Rachel will bring their cups and snack bowls to the kitchen sink when they are done with them. Cole and Rachel also help with the laundry as they will move loads in and out of the washer and dryer. They are also phenomenal toy picker-uppers. We are in this business together, baby!

Mittens and Hats

It's not too cold here yet in Oklahoma, but we are definitely approaching winter and winter weather. This is not a profound thought here, but my twenty-one month old twins love wearing their winter hats! It is not a fight to put it on --or more importantly KEEP it on. They are so cute too, if I do say so myself. We got out mittens today for the first time and they were entranced with them after watching Alexa put hers on. They could hardly wait for theirs. In fact, Rachel managed to put hers on by herself. (I have to admit, I was impressed

New Baby!

I love new babies! Although I enjoy actually playing with my 21 monthers, there is something so special about a new baby. I am always excited for anyone who is expecting a baby or just had one . . . and yesterday, my sweet friend and old roomie from college, Maureen, just had her first baby- a boy named Joseph. I don't have details yet, but I am sure he is a handsome, strapping lad who will grow into a fine young man if she has anything to do with it!

Birthday Party Follow-up

So, we get our gift buying done yesterday. Robbie gets ready for the party today after lunch; it was a swimming party, so he is getting on a swimsuit. The other three of my kids want to put on their suits too. A no-go from me, so they are all disappointed; Alexa most of all since she actually understands what she is going to be missing. Anyway, we all get in the van; Cole and Rachel fall asleep on the way there; they wake up when we get there and walk Robbie in. Upon arrival, the mom tells me we are all welcome to stay and swim. I gracefully decline since I need to Cole and Rachel back home to really sleep. She asks if Alexa can swim and says she could stay. Well, Alexa doesn't really swim, so I wouldn't have left her anyway and I know she needs some rest too (we all stayed up late watching a disappointing football game last night). However, the point here: Alexa hears the offer and is again disappointed and mad at me that I don't let her stay, and she didn't have a suit with her even if we could have stayed. In the end, everyone did fine and got a rest at home, and Robbie had fun at the party. Do my frustrations with this really matter? No. Will I continue to dwell on it? No. End of story. Thanks for listening tho.

Clothes

As I was logging into my email this morning, I noticed another headline about Sarah Palin and the amount of money she has spent on clothes. I don't really know what the whole issue is with her clothes and/or clothing budget as it may be or how the whole thing got started, but here is my question. Does anyone ever question the amount of money men candidates spend on their clothes? Just because their suits all tend to look alike doesn't mean they only have one or two. I am guessing they have just as many suits (or more!) as well as ties, socks, coats, etc. than Sarah Palin and their suits likely cost just as much (or more!) than one of her dresses or suits. It seems like a really silly thing for people to be worrying about or making an issue of.

Seriously!?

My six year old brought home a birthday party invitation TODAY for a party that is on SUNDAY afternoon!! I like to think that I can go with the flow with many things but receiving invites this late to a birthday party irritates me a bit. In order for him to go I am going to have to figure out transportation to the party as Rob will be at work and the two youngest will be in the middle of napping and we will need to shop for a birthday gift sometime in the next 24 hours. The real kicker . . . the invitation actually requests an RSVP! Are you kidding? Although I understand the desire to plan (HA) and know how many are coming, if you don't have enough time to get me an invite with more than 48 hours notice, do I really need to respond as to whether I am coming?

Weekend Travels

Here are some of the more humorous and monumental events of our weekend. If you are starting with this blog entry, you might want to go check out our family spot too to see more info about the weekend at cowboyhunts.blogspot.com.


1) Our portable dvd player didn't work when I plugged it in. Upon closer inspection to the unit, I realized the plug looked a little odd and remembered hearing something drop when I was plugging it in while stopped in Tulsa. Unfortunately I had plugged it in in back of the van so whatever fell was under all the luggage. After driving out of Tulsa and Friday rush hour traffic, we made a quick stop to look for the missing pieces. I found two, but there must have been at least one more that remains unfound because the plug still did not work properly.

2) The kids cheered after stopping on the north/east side of Springfield, MO, when I found a replacement dc adaptor at the truck stop gas station. They got to watch a movie for that last leg of the trip. Incidentally, Robbie was the only one who managed to stay awake long enough to watch the whole thing.

3) While touring the town on Saturday, we drove by all three places we lived while in Columbia, the hospital where Robbie was born, playgrounds we played at, and favorite local spots. Lots of growth in the area! WOW!

4) When driving down the road to the one place we lived that we actually owned (a small 1200 sq ft. two story box-shaped house), I was shocked to see that a huge "mansion" now stands in its place! I was floored! It was a good thing it was not located on a busy street because I am sure that I would have caused an accident. For anyone who never visited us while we were there, the house is (was!) outside of city limits on a little over 3 acres of property. We bought the house because we loved the property and the neighborhood. The house met our needs at the time, but was nothing special . . . other than being our first home. We knew the people who bought the house from us intended to rebuild, but it is a totally different thing to actually see it. It was beautiful! It fit nicely in the neighborhood as well because as I always said, our house was the shack on the block. Still, quite a shocker!

5) As I turned on to our old street to the house mentioned in #4, I was telling Robbie that we were going to see the house where he lived from when we was born until he was two. Upon coming up to the house, Robbie says, "I don't remember living here, Mom." HA, you didn't, Sweetie!

6) Back to the dvd player, the cord I bought was a bit loose where it connected into the dvd player itself. With some tape, I was able to fix it for a while. Unfortunately the tape gave out on the way home, so we had to resort with pushing the player up against the side of the seat to kind of hold it in. This worked for a while too. By the last hour and a half of the trip, it was obvious this was not going to work anymore. So, for the last hour of the trip, I held the dvd player in my hand so I could hold the plug in tightly with my thumb. If it were just the big kids, they would have had to find something else to do; however, at this point Cole especially was tired of sitting in the car but had slept all that he could sleep. When my hand went numb enough that I thought I might drop the dvd player, I switched hands. The first hand had been in the same position for so long, I couldn't even move my fingers. Oh, the things we do for our children!


In summary,
We arrived home safe and sound around 7 pm Sunday night to Rob and a prepared dinner. It was nice to be back home altogether again. I marked the trip down as a success. We visited with old friends, made some new friends, and didn't drive each other too crazy in the car. Just in case you were concerned, my hand and fingers have recovered nicely. GO POKES!

Too Much Education?

You know your child has been watching too many Animal Planet/Discovery channel type show-videos and/or reading too many non-fiction animal books when upon seeing your husband swim up to you in the pool to give you a hug and kiss, your six year old asks, "Are you two mating?"

Trip to Portland

Well, I haven't been very good about writing lately. Last week I was trying to get things in order because I was going to be gone for a couple of days. I took a solo trip to Portland for a friend's wedding. I had a great time, the wedding was fabulous, and I enjoyed the area as it was my first visit to the northwest. This week I have been busy playing catch up after being gone for a couple of days. I will try to be better as I have lots of ideas floating around in my head to share.

Fun photo

I haven't written in a long time. I don't have much time to write now, but I will post a fun photo from Rob's and my trip to San Diego this summer. Enjoy!

A love note from my four year old . . .

MOMI LOVE YOU KRISTA HUNT --I LOVE YOU MOMGRANDMA SAYS HI TOO AND I LOVE YOU TOO!YOU ARE THE GREATEST MOM EVER!LOVE,ALEXA

aaaahh :)

Girls vs. Boys, Part 1

I took 19 month old Rachel and Cole to a shoe store today and let them out of their stroller. Rachel tried on at least 8 pairs of kids shoes as well as a few pair of ladies' shoes. Cole kept the one pair of black shoes on almost the entire time. He did try a couple of pair of ladies' shoes - just like playing in my closet at home.

Free Shipping

Just a note to go along with my Lands End sweatshirt note, they have free shipping from on-line orders for the next five days. Good time to stock up if you need any sweatshirts or anything else. www.landsend.com Don't forget to check out their 'overstocks' too - clearance stuff . . . my favorite.

Dessert Recipe

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

½ c butter or margarine, softened
1 ½ c sugar
3 eggs
½ c vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¾ c all-purpose flour
¼ c baking cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 c shredded zucchini
1 c chopped walnuts, optional
½ c semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in oil and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Fold in zucchini and walnuts if desired.

Spread into greased 13x9x2 baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

This is something else I made last week and while I was typing up the recipe for someone who asked for it, I thought I would post it here as well. It is yummy and healthy, of course, because it has a vegetable in it! Right?!

Favorite Clothes Item for Kids

I don't do much ordering of clothes, but I do love Lands End sweatshirts for kids. They cost more than I would normally spend on kids' clothes (I am really cheap!), but they are durable. I bought Robbie some two years ago and they still are in great shape- good enough for the rest of the crew down the line. They have several colors and sizes 2T and up, and they often have free shipping sales on-line. You can even keep an eye on their "overstocks" department for close out colors/sizes.

Another yummy recipe

. . . this time for COWBOY COOKIES. I got this one out of Family Fun magazine, and they seem to be a hit - especially in the Cowboy Training Room.

Ingredients:
2 c oats
2 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 c unsalted butter
1 c packed light brown sugar
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs, at room temp
1 tsp vanilla
2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c chopped walnuts

Directions:
1) Stir dry ingredients
2) Blend butter and sugars until smooth (approx 2 min). Add eggs and best until fluffy (approx 1 1/2 min). Blend in vanilla.
3) Using wooden spoon, stir dry mixture into butter mixture one half at a time. Mix in chips and nuts. Refrigerate dough for 1-2 hours.
4) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large (light colored) baking sheet with foil; then grease foil.
5) Using 1/4 cup per cookie, shape dough into balls and place on sheet about 2 inches apart.
6) Using fingers, flatten each ball to 1/3 inch thick. Bake for 13-14 minutes turning sheet halfway through. Cookies are done when lightly browned and still look moist.
7) Cool on sheet 2-3 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen big cookies

Back to School

Well, Robbie started first grade this week and the Alexa started pre-kindergarten. That left me with just two kids at home. I thought I might be bored, so I have started babysitting for another little guy just to make sure I am busy enough. His first day was Tuesday (his mom went back to school too; she's a teacher); he is four months old and very sweet. Rachel loves on him all the time and tries to attend to every need he has, might have, or didn't even know he had. Cole is definitely intrigued by him and wants to play with him, but isn't really sure how. (More on that will be shared in my upcoming series "The Difference between Boys and Girls".) Everyone at home and school had a good week, but we are all ready for a sleep-in day tomorrow! :) Whew . . . who knew two days of school could be so exhausting!?!?

Van is Back!

Hooray! We picked up the van today -an outting that in itself was an adventure. We were borrowing my mom's car, so I had the four kids and drove across town to the mechanic's lot. We parked in a non-parking place but as close to the van as we could. I first got the van started and the a/c on (as the black van gets a bit toasty when it has been closed up and it is 102 degrees outside), and then carried Cole still buckled in his seat to the van and secured his seat to the van seat. Alexa followed. Then I carried Rachel to the van still buckled in her seat to the van and secured her. Robbie followed. I then went back to the car to get all of our miscellaneous traveling items (mail I picked up on our way out, a pacifier, my purse, a stray shoe, a cup, a toy) and got them to the van. Then I pulled my mom's car up a bit, pulled the van out of the parking spot, pulled the car into the parking spot, and then returned to the van to actually leave the mechanic's lot. Although the a/c did seem to be working just fine, it took me a while to cool off from making the switch . . . like I've said before, it is HOT here in Oklahoma. I'm not quite sure how the football players practice in full pads in heat like this. Whew!

Van Air Conditioner

So . . . our van is in the shop for the third time for air conditioning repair. It took 3 days to fix it the first time (just after the previously discussed six hour trip), and it broke again after about 20 minutes of using it. During the second stay in the shop -another two days- the mechanic went through 3 air compressors before sending it home with us because we needed it. When Rob picked it up that day he said it was cool, but not cold and he (the mechanic) really wanted to spend some more time with it. I've been driving it for the last ten days or so, and the a/c is sometimes cool, sometimes warm, and sometimes shoots bad smelling gases out of the vents. I am hopeful the smelley gases are not poisoning us.

The rough part of the whole car in the shop thing is working out alternate transportation. It is hard to fit us all in another automobile. Rob is able to be without an automobile some days at work, but we can't drop him off/pick him up because all six of us can't fit in his car. So . . . on days he is willing to give up his transportation, he has to rely on a co-worker to drive him. Thankfully, he has found willing people to be helpful with this. When we keep Rob's car to use, Robbie has to sit in the front seat which everyone knows is not the safest modes of transport.

I am hopeful that this time in the shop proves to be a success. I start "work" next Tuesday which involves watching a sweet little baby while his mommy starts another school year, so that will be just one more person to try to fit in another car. It is also HOT here in Oklahoma, and the poor kiddos just sweat up a storm anytime we try to go somewhere.

Signing off and thinking happy thoughts for a fixed air conditioning system ready sooner rather than later!

ROAD TRIP

HOW TO DRIVE IN A MINIVAN FOR 6 HOURS WITH FOUR CHILDREN AND NO AIR CONDITIONING

The key to managing a drive like this is:
(1) Be prepared.
(2) Plan your trip on a day with cooler weather.
(3) Prepare the children for what to expect and how to be the most comfortable.

OF COURSE . . . when you don't know the a/c isn't going to work until it just stops working five minutes into your drive and it is your last day of vacation which happens to be the hottest one yet and you need to get home and two of the children are completely locked into car seats and can't move an inch and don't really understand what you are talking about or what is going on and the two older children who do understand "the air conditioner is not working" but who question "Why can't you fix it?" and "When is it going to be fixed?" and want you to know that "I am hot and sweaty back here" these guidelines can all go out the window.

So, here are the things that really do work:
(1) Stop for lunch at a restaurant where it is air conditioned and save the picnic lunch for the next day.
(2) Make extra gas station stops where you fill up as many cups, waterbottles, etc. with ice and buy water, frozen slushy drinks, and ice cream snacks. Note- The older kids in the back can manage their liquid intake pretty well, but serve ice in bowls to little ones because they think it is a great treat and will remain hydrated . . . although everybody's cheeks will be rosy and their clothes completely soaked with sweat by the end of the trip.
(3) Most importantly, keep smiling in the front seat no matter how soaking wet your own underwear is from all the sweating you are doing as the sun beats down on you through the front windshield.
(4) But also don't forget to be thankful that it is "just" the a/c and at least the van is still functional and you can get home safely.

Favorite Pancake Recipe

1 cup flour
2 T baking powder
2 T sugar
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 T oil

. . . YUMMY!!!

(this makes about 12-14 pancakes)

My Friday

In case you ever wondered what it is like to be me . . . here is a glimpse of my day so far (it is a little after 2 in the afternoon):

As is usual for me during the summer and we generally have no where to be first thing in the morning, I slept until the first person smaller than me woke up and needed me. Today that happened to be 7:20. (Poor Rob had already headed out the door around 6 a.m.) I got milk cups filled for Rachel and Cole (the two little people who were calling for me) and set off to their room to deliver milk and get them out of bed. We wandered to the kitchen where I fed them bananas and waffles. Upon cleanup of hands, faces, trays, floor, and counters, we went to play in the living room for the next 30 minutes with play food, plates, etc. until Robbie and Alexa came out of their rooms. I got cinnamon bread and milk for the big kids and took the two younger ones to their room for diaper changes and to put clothes on so the others could eat in peace. Cole is quite certain that if food is out (any kind, anywhere) that he should be one of the people partaking and is quite loud in his declarations.

In the bedroom I made the necessary changes and we played with toddler toys and read books. Robbie and Alexa came in to join us when they were done. Rachel and Cole's room is not all that big so we were pretty cozy with all five of us in there playing, but we got along okay. We worked our way out of the room into Robbie and Alexa's by 9:00 and had just enough time for the R/C to make a good sized mess of the R/A's toys before I put them in bed with some books for a little quiet time. R/A entertained themselves with reading some books while I took a shower, dressed, and made myself presentable. All said this takes about 25 minutes; keep in mind, my standards of being "presentable" may be much lower than some.

At 10, I called a friend to invite her son to join us at the library for story time, and he accepted the invitation. I spent the next 20 minutes gathering library books (with help), making sure I had the library card, packing juice and snacks for R/C to eat on the way to the library, getting juice for R/A to drink on the way, fixing Alexa's hair, receiving and responding to 2 text messages, sending an email regarding one of the texts, and packing all (well, almost all . . . keeping reading) the kids and stuff in the car.
We went to pick up the above mentioned friend and realized that Cole was missing his shoes and then drove back home to pick up his shoes which were in the laundry room and then driving away once again to get to the library. We arrived at 10:50; I drove through to drop off our books in the outside receptacle to avoid having to carry in the load, drove back around to park, unloaded the crew, and got inside with six minutes to spare before storytime started. Not a lot of time for selecting new books, but we did a few minutes of browsing before we went to claim our seats for storytime. The next 35 minutes were spent trying to keep R/C quietly entertained while the older kids listened to the stories. Then I helped the three with their craft project while basically ignoring poor R/C, who were pretty tired by this time. When they finally gave up following me around from seat to seat as I helped the others, they sat on chairs and watched the doves in their cages. We then went back out to the children's area, selected more books, did more puzzles, read more books, and played.
The big kids were not ready for the fun to end so we called our friend's mom to see if he could join us for lunch which was approved. So . . . we planned to drive over to food market on campus where my mom is working this summer (had to turn around twice due to construction projects), but arrived before the tribes were overly restless and hungry. We got them all inside -minus one of Cole's shoes (are you noticing a trend?!)- and at a table. Thank goodness it was not busy at 12:30 on Friday because they were all a little excited, hungry, and tired by the time we got situated and food on the table. Thank goodness for Grandma too who was able to help secure drinks, appropriate seating, etc. Everyone ate -including me which is really exciting! I tried to clean up hands, faces, dishes, tables, and floor as much as possible and then we headed back to the van where we found Cole's shoe on the ground, loaded up, and drove our friend home.

I stopped for gas, denied myself the fountain drink I really wanted to get at the gas station, and got everyone home (2 asleep and 2 very tired) by 1:50. The two sleeping ones were taken to bed. With Robbie and Alexa's help, I got the library books, drink cups, craft projects and coloring pages from the library, etc. out of the van. They watched 15 minutes of a video about crocodiles while I checked my email, responded to one, and started this lovely (okay, perhaps- rambling and boring would better describe it) post. I gave a two minute warning for the end of video time, and at the end of the 15 minutes turned it off. Helped R/A separate books and get set up in their respective resting areas. I read Alexa a book, and then returned to my writings.

Now, here I sit (at 3pm) with no one needing me for at least a bit longer.

But it is not over yet, in the next 6 hours, people will wake up; snacks and dinner will be prepared, served, and cleaned up; we will swim/play in the backyard; I will get Robbie to/from a birthday party in a neighboring town from 6-8, I will clean up the day's piles, and four kids will be put to bed before I will be "off duty" for the night and hang out on the couch reading while Rob watches tv. Rob has to work an event this evening, but thankfully my mom will be done working in time to come over and stay with the three other kiddos, so they don't all have to tag along to the birthday party. Of course, those last 6 hours are all conjecture, who knows what will really happen! :)

Just for the record, I didn't share this picture of my life to make people think I am busier than you or anything like that, because anyone with kids is doing the exact same thing day in and day out. Those of you with older kids are doing more taxiing than this by tenfold likely. For those of you without kids or past the kids-in-home phase, I know you fill your days with other things. For all my friends with new babies (and there are a lot of you!) who will probably not have time to read this, I have to say that although I miss my little babies, I don't miss the days of last summer where I was like you are now, feeding people every 3 hours which feels like it takes up the whole day. Anyway, I just thought it might be interesting to share how things go in our world (and you can all be happy I didn't give any more details than this and that I chose today instead of yesterday!)
In case I forgot to mention it, I am having a great day and love my job! :)

What is SAHM?

For those of you wondering . . .

Stay At Home Mom

Ramblings

Okay, I know I am probably in over my head now, but I thought I would start a second blog to be more for my ramblings and thoughts, misc. pictures, and ideas to share. With this in place, we will save our other family blog (Cowboy Hunts) for . . . you guessed it . . . family stuff- updates, photos, the who-what-whens of life. I have no time to write now because two of the four kiddos are pulling my shirt ready for me to look at them instead of the computer screen. Anyway, just wanted to make a quick post to this space.