They call me Mama.

They also tell me delightful things like...

"Mama I dipped my bum in the potty!!!"

"You don't look fancy. But you do look nice mama." 

"There is poopy on my sleeve. Should I change my shirt?"

"I love you more than daddy. And I love ghosts more than you!"

For Mother's Day my kids gave me a delicious breakfast in bed...

and ate half of it too! I was also given a lap full of homemade gifts before I was even fully awake. (Compliments of their hard working and thoughtful school and church teachers.) I love them all. I mostly love how excited my kids were to present me with their creations. 

The gift I was less than pleased to receive this Mother's Day was their cold. I woke up achey and snotty. Pretty much worthless as a mother. So Mr. Blue Eyes and I spent most of our day like this...

There were no cute dressed up and matching mommy & kid pictures this year. I never made it out of my sweatpants. Just a whole lot of nose blowing and napping...while Uncle Mike and daddy took the kids to the zoo!

And then in a feeble attempt to care for my children (while Joe was away spending the evening with his mother) I tried to make pancakes for dinner. But the lack of pancake mix (and flour!) made that task impossible. And my extremely tired body and brain could not come up with an alwrnative (easy!) dinner. Luckily my mom took over. {Thanks mom! You saved me....again! And sorry for making YOU work on Mother's Day.} Her goulash hit the spot. 

So I guess not a terrible Mother's Day after all:)

Cake Baking

I really dislike baking. But I love her. So we bake. (Oh the things we do for our kids.) Just the other day I/we created this masterpiece...

Ha! That thing was a falling apart disaster! But by some miracle the final product turned out beautifully! Seriously it is a MASTERPIECE. (Not in that picture though. That was pre-masterpiece.) After I have a baby I find myself for hours...days...weeks....staring at him/her in awe. Amazed that I made something so perfect. And (as cheesy as it sounds) that is exactly how I feel about my cake. I keep sneaking peaks at it because I can't believe I actually created it! Just ask my poor unsuspecting friends and family. They have been bombarded with (unsolicited) pictures of my masterpiece....errr...I mean cake. My children want to eat it but I keep telling them "not yet". It's my fifth baby. We can't eat my baby!

Don't worry. We will eat it. Tonight! I promise. I'm not completely bonkers. It's only the practice cake for Joe's grad party.  I'm hoping I get lucky and can recreate it and maybe even make a few improvements in a few weeks. Time will tell. 

Ok. Enough about me and my creations. And back to this girl. 

She wrote the names of our family members. More or less. 

She's a writing machine these days. She just loves practicing her letters (the fact that her daddy gives her a penny per letter might help:). No scrap of paper is safe in this house. She fills them with (mostly random) letters faster than I can "file" them away. As much as I don't like to admit it, she is ready for kindergarten!

Speaking of our family, Charlotte and Isaiah are convinced we need 6 more babies! And they are working hard to convince me of this as well. According to them I can have all six babies at one time (oh my!) or one-by-one. They only care that we have 10 kids total. Because apparently that is our perfect family size. 

The other day I tried to reason with them. Telling them that I couldn't handle six more babies physically or mentally. That I wouldn't have enough time for TEN children. Isaiah was undeterred and immediately responded with "that's okay I like being by myself."  And then they offered their assistance in running the household. Isaiah said he would do the laundry. Charlotte offered to set the table. And they volunteered Hannah to change all the babies' diapers. And Levi (once he is older) will play with the babies. So all I have to do is cook and wash the dishes. 

While their offer is tempting...I think I'm going to stick to cake making! I'd like to keep my remaining shred of sanity intact a little bit longer. Although the help does sound nice...

10 Things

Here it is in no particular order, 10 things I have been doing lately. Things that have been keeping me from doing what I really NEED to be doing...which would be getting us ready to move across the country! Because procrastination is my middle name.

1. Sewing legging type shorts for my girls. Lots and lots of shorts. They have all been made from old t-shirts of mine or their (old, worn out) pants. No stretchy knit fabric is safe! I'm a crazy sewing lady.  Six pairs made so far with four more to go!

Cowgirls need legging shorts:)

2. Ironing Isaiah's button up shirts. Because that makes sense, right?!? Clearly right before we move is the time to start ironing! Oh and most of the shirts are long sleeved. Honestly. I'm not sure what possessed me. I really dislike ironing and yet I ironed...shirts that will likely not be worn!

3. Garage sailing for polo shirts. Size 5 girl polos and size 8 boy polos to be exact. Because in Texas the public schools have a dress code. Basically it allows polos and jeans (or khakis). Who knew?! Want to know what my kids don't own/wear? Polos and jeans! I'm on a mission to remedy that...and on the cheap!

4. Swim suit shopping for myself. Finding something flattering for my current figure has been challenging! Buying and returning swim suits is practically my new hobby. Which leads me directly into the next thing...

5. Running. Wait. That's too strong of a descriptor. Jogging with intermittent walking. Even that sounds generous. Walking with intermittent jogging. That's more accurate. Because halfway through my 0.6 mile "run" I decided it was too hard. I thought I might collapse. I decided I am just destined to be soft and round forever. That sounds easier. 

6. Trying on and purging my clothes. ALL of my clothes. Because I own too many. And I only wear a small percentage of them...because well....they don't fit! And haven't for years. Ok. This one is actually helpful for preparing to move. Helpful because we will be moving less stuff. Not so helpful for my emotional well being though. 

7. While the rest of the world waited for the new princess to be named I tried to remember the royal family's LAST name. When my memory failed me I checked other sources...mainly Wikipedia. And it failed me as well. Seriously! They must have a last name, right? Does anyone know? What is their last name?! Speaking of names. Clearly I like the new princess's name, Charlotte. It's one of my favorite names. I'm just not sure how I feel about them using it too! It's bound to become way too popular!

8. Daydreaming about how I'm going to set up our new house!!! For example, it has an "eat in" kitchen...so can I just set up the formal dining room as a playroom? Or do I use a guest room as the playroom? Speaking of bedrooms...do I want the kids on the same level as the master bedroom or not? The fact that I (will) have enough rooms that this is even an option boggles my mind! I can't help but look at the pictures of our house (and the floor plan Joe drew for me) at least half a dozen times every day. Which leads me to....

9. Pinterest! I've spent far too much time perusing this site lately. Making plans. BIG plans for our new house. Even though I know only 0.05% will actually come to fruition. A girl can dream. And in those dreams her kitchen is pretty...and clean!

10. Contemplating changing my hair...somehow! I'm just not sure how exactly. I just know I need a change. Plus a very kind and thoughtful family friend gave me a gift card to a local salon as a "baby gift" after Levi was born and it's burning a hole in my pocket! I really want to use it BUT I'm indecisive. Should I cut my hair short(er) or get some color (ie ombré) put in?!?! And I'm afraid I'll make the wrong choice and regret wasting my gift card! Because seriously, this might be my favorite baby gift yet!!!

And now I'm going to waste even more time. Designing Joe's grad party invite. Clearly that needs to be done;-)

Pokemon Craze

Its a real thing. Or at least it is in this house with a certain snaggle toothed seven year old boy...

And its rubbing off on his sisters too! At lunch today they told me that they are going to ask for Pokemon cards (and chocolate!) for Christmas this year. Hannah went crazy and added a toothbrush and toothpaste to her list. I'm not sure how Santa will afford such extravagant gifts:-) We might have to reign them in a bit...

Speaking of affording things. Isaiah owns seven Pokemon cards. And not a single one has been purchased. Or stolen...thank goodness! He wanted Pokemon cards but didn't have money to spend. So he made rainbow loom Pokemon figures and traded them for cards at school! It was pretty ingenious if you ask me. 



Look its a pony!

Nope. Its Zorua. A pokemon.  Just hanging out in our yard waiting for his picture to be taken.

These last two pictures...all Isaiah's idea! He posed him "in his natural habitat" and asked me to take his picture and post them on my blog. Of course I was more than willing. How do you say no to that cuteness? 

House(s) and a mouse: a weekend recap

We'll start with the houses. Because there have been many, many of those this weekend. By my rough estimate I have researched 30+ houses and Joe toured at least a dozen. But I'll just cut to the chase here. Have we found "the one"? Yes! We think so. Nothing is final yet. But it looks like it's going to happen. But the process of finding our house sure has been...interesting! 

[STOP here if you don't want to read every nitty gritty detail.]

Its gone a little something like this. 

Friday evening. Serve the children a deluxe meal of "racaroni" and cheese, chicken nuggets, fries and frozen mixed veggies all while trying to make my final list of houses for Joe to see the next day (because I can't relax and trust the realtor to find us a house). After allowing the children to run wild for a few hours I put them to bed and continue my online house search. Graphs and charts are created...the old fashion way...with pen & paper. Finally go to bed and dream bizarre dreams of bizarre houses. 

Saturday. Continue to throw random food and toys at the children while continuing to research houses. I've started looking at Google maps street view. Investigating the public elementary schools even further. And mapping each house out in comparison to the hospital. Houses too close to major roads or assigned to "bad" schools are automatically eliminated. Create a new list of possible houses. Email the list to the realtor...just hours before the actual, physical house hunt is to begin! Realtor kindly tries to work some of them into their already full schedule.

Late in the afternoon the actual house hunt begins for Joe and the realtor. I hear nothing for hours. But fall in love with one particular house I know Joe is touring.  Finally as I am putting the kids to bed I receive a text. A list of half a dozen NEW houses Joe is going to look at in the morning. Houses I know nothing about! Thus I start researching all over again. Oh and the house I loved? Joe liked it best too:) Its spacious and has a good school. He also likes a smaller, cheaper option...but it doesn't have as great of a school. So I'm not thrilled. 

After the kids are all asleep I start my research on the new houses. And for some dumb reason I decide to check in on the kids one last time before I go to bed at an already too late hour! Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Because there was a mouse. Or at least the scratch scratch scratch of what I assumed to be a mouse in the kids' closet! (I am terrified of mice. Like frozen with fear terrified! The sight (or sound) of mice makes me a little sick to my stomach even. Which I know is extreme and unreasonable. But don't tell me that when I am in the presence of an actual mouse. Mice are my kryptonite.) So after half a dozen panic laden texts to Joe I set a trap and try to go to bed. No go. Instead I pick up and carry my sleeping children one-by-one upstairs to the guest room. Then I stress-eat ice cream directly from the carton...while looking at houses online! Finally go to bed and dream of rats and houses. 

Hannah's crazy haired house hunt! Just like her mama.

Sunday. The kids and I attend church. We were only a few minutes late. Because admittedly without Joe's help I can't get out the door on time! I may or may not have daydreamed about houses for much of the service. Oops. 

After church as I am nursing the baby and Hannah is crawling on me begging for food, Joe calls. Actually he facetimes me to show me the house he wants to put an offer on. Perfect timing. NOT. I convince Isaiah to serve Hannah lunch. Cold leftover pizza so I can "tour" the house in relative peace and quiet. It's the smaller, cheaper house. I'm not impressed. Later Joe calls from the bigger house. Despite a terrible connection and only seeing parts of it, I like the house. A lot!!

Later in the evening Joe and I decide we will put an offer on the smaller house. It's the responsible financial decision. Maybe we'll put a really low offer on the bigger house too. Can't hurt to try, right?!  I want to make the offers ASAP! But Joe wants to wait and see a few more houses in the morning and then make an offer. I'm okay with this decision until Joe sends me the list of houses he is going to see in the morning. And they are all bad! Automatic NOs in my opinion. Now I'm annoyed we are wasting time. Let's get this show on the road. 

Monday morning. Joe calls from a new (to us) house. He's excited. He likes the house. It's got plenty of room at the right price...with lots of "potential"! I ask for the address and as soon as I hear Joe's answer I groan. It's the house that I crossed off the list first because it is "A MAJOR FIXER UPPER". And I'm fairly certain we don't have the time, money or energy for that kind of project during residency. Joe keeps telling me it's decent but the pictures on zillow are telling me a different story! So Joe snaps pictures and texts them to me...lo and behold it's a different house. A better house! Zillow has the wrong pictures posted!!! And Joe's right. It's a good house at a good price with a good neighborhood and school! We quickly decide it's THE ONE and Joe gets busy drafting our offer. 

Joe makes an offer, buys some "we-are-moving-to-Texas" boots for our girls and hits the road! It was a successful 48 hours in Texas.

Okay so maybe that wasn't all that interesting after all. It felt a lot more interesting as I was living it! Sorry.

[Since Monday morning there has been a counter offer (which we accepted!) and a contract! Now it's just a matter of setting up a home inspection and financing and all that really important but boring stuff that goes into buying a house! Things are getting real around here. Soon we'll have to figure out how we are actually going to move the six of us and all our belongings across the country. Which reminds me the other day while talking to my mom I mentioned "moving halfway across the country". Isaiah was quick to correct me. To quote him directly, "Um mom. Don't you mean ALL the way across the country? Minnesota to Texas is all the way across the country. If we only went half way we wouldn't get there!" Smart kid.]