We're off to see the...

DENTIST, the wonderful, wonderful dentist of Columbus. LOL. Brandy gets phase 2 of her braces today. She is SO not looking forward to them. And brilliant mommy scheduled the appt. at 9am during Christmas break. ~It must be hard to have me as a mom.

Jessi loved her RC Barbie car from us (read: me! I thought up the gift, hunted for it, purchased it, wrapped it, etc.) and the mp3 player, she was a little less sure about the chair from me but I think she will appreciate it in time. It is for her desk and has a storage box in it to keep her "special things." Keeping one's stuff from all other one's seem to be a high priority here. Bekki also moved into Jessi's room during break so the need to keep thing organized there has increased. I do have to laugh, the two little ones have the biggest room in the house. But all the older girls want the "pink room."

I'm off to make sure 6 GIRLS get started on breakfast before taking Brandy to her appt. Yes, I said girls. Sarina (niece) spent the night and as Josh groaned that there would be EVEN MORE girls around Will invited him to spend the night there. Funny how much quieter it is with A) a different child around to play with and B) no boys around (they really are just more enthusiastic with pretty much everything they do!)

The decorations are down and today

we celebrate the 7th birthday of my third child! Since her birthday falls so close to Christmas, I try really hard to make sure the decorations are down before her bday. But today, here, I thought I would tell you a little bit about her introduction into this crazy world of ours.

I took the tree down on the 26th that year. My due date was the 28th and I wanted to make sure the tree was down before I went to the hospital because I knew no one would do it while I was gone. During those days Steve's brother Ken was living with us. He had just gotten a job and was getting on his feet. Joan had just delivered the twins on Dec. 23rd. So I had asked my sister to come stay with us during her college break to watch the kids while I was in the hospital. Yes, it was a crowded 3 bedroom trailer! 4 adults, 2 kids and a babe on the way!

It was looking like my baby girl would not be born in 2002. My body just does not like to be timely. Left to it's own resources, it will be a week or more late. I was huge, uncomfortable and a little bit disappointed that Joan had her babies (that were due a week after Jes) and I was still waddling around with no signs. Call it hormones. LOL.

On the 30th I had a regular checkup. I am sure I looked miserable, but I bet what my doc really had in mind was making sure she didn't get called in on New Years. She asked if I wanted to be induced. OH YEAH! We went home, got the bag and told my sister. We went to the hospital. I was hooked up to pitocin and we got started. Jes's heartrate kept dropping during contractions, but it would rebound as soon as the contraction was over. Steve was staring at the darn machines with a very worried look on his face. I told him that was less than helpful, but still he persisted. Finally I realized I had forgotten the cameras. I told him to go get the cameras. He accused me of wanting him to stop staring at the monitors - well yeah, but I did forget the cameras.

Not 10 minutes later I was complete. I told the doctor I wanted to wait for Steve. Called him and told him to get on over. Jes's heartbeat quit rebounding and my doctor said we had to deliver NOW. Steve walked in just as Jes was being born. A lovely site I am sure since a white plunger needed to be used to get my baby out quickly enough. The only delivery of 6 that he saw from the foot end. LOL.

He had brought Brandy and Josh with him and they were in the waiting room. He went to get them while Jes was cleaned up and weighed. She had just been set into my arms when the other kids came in. Josh's first words were "Where's the other one?" (remember Aunt Joan had 2 babies just a week earlier) and Brandy climbed up into my lap, leaned over and kissed her forehead. Brandy was the first person to kiss Jes. <3

Through all of the pregnancy with Jessica I swore up and down, sideways and backwards that three was it. As I stared down into her beautiful little face with a mass of dark hair and brown eyes, yes she was BORN with brown eyes, I said "I could do this again."

Happy Birthday JessiCA! I love you!!!

cloth virtues

Anyone who knows me, knows this post has been coming - the tree hugger post. (I'm sure there will be more.)

As I stared at the large pile of washcloths near my laundry chute yesterday - (the three youngest children took the initiative and cleaned up a breakfast mess, yeah!) - I couldn't help but be thankful that we don't use paper towels much. In fact I haven't bought a roll of paper towels in over two years. The kids had obviously used way more cloths than the mess had warranted, but who cares. It isn't costing me money to replace, it isn't cutting down trees (along with the fuel used to transport the lumber, run the machines that process the wood into paper products and ship to my local store - you get the picture - I'm a bit of an environmental freak), and they cleaned up the mess without coming to get me. So all is good.

Not only have I not bought paper towels in over two years, I am using some of the same napkins I started with -- in the spring of 2003. Yes, you read that right, 2003. Six years for some of my napkins! I did recently have to repair a handful of napkins - they were starting to fray around the edges. A couple seconds with my serger and they are good as new. Actually better than new because they are broke in and soft - though a little smaller after the meeting with Sergie.

I wonder if the people I have given napkins to are still using theirs, or if they ever really did. I would love to think that I am helping Mother Earth, even just a little bit, by encouraging others to reuse rather than buying and tossing paper. Now I know what I am giving a friend with a birthday coming up. ;-)

A Merry Christmas was had by all

We spent the Eve with my husband's brother and his family. A very nice enjoyable evening! Their new house is nice and big. It really helped muffle the sounds of children - which is great as there are 10 right now. :)

Christmas morning my kids broke their Dec. 25th ritual and woke me up sometime before 6:15am! I grumbled something about it not even being 7 and went back to bed. LOL. Santa was up late stuffing stockings and such. Daddy and I came out around 7:15, we read the Christmas story as told in Matthew. And allowed chaos to ensue. It seems all the kids really liked their gifts. The biggest hit was Rita's trampoline which is rated to 80 lbs so all the kids can jump on it. Steve has suggested we purchase more. And he wants one too.

Mommy loves the presents that come home from school! All the ornaments personally made by our own family members! Though, we may need a second tree in a year or two. LOL. (this was the tree in 2008 - thee is even more there now.)

Well, I am off to help a 5 yr old paint a mermaid trinket box. :)

Ever get weird feelings?

You know, like flashes of the future? Like in Mad Money. When Katie Holms character says she "had a bad feeling." A feeling, a flash of the future, undefined except by very vague notions.

I get 'em. Always have. A lot of people don't really believe in that sort of thing. I myself am a skeptic when others talk about being able to see the future or other similiar "fortunes."

I got one tonight, a feeling that is. It really rocked me. I was prepping things for tomorrow morning - Christmas you know! :) And I was thinking how I really hope the kids enjoy what I got them - and what Santa got them. And a little voice in my head said "make it great, it'll be your last." Rather hoping I am wrong on this one.

It is weird. I haven't ever really given much thought as to whether the kids will enjoy their presents (I mean after initally purchasing them). And then there are the goodies. We don't do goodies - I bake a batch of sugar cookies and the kids frost them. That is all we do. This year we also made some Brazilian treat that Brandy wanted to try, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered cherries. I also purchased white almond bark and oreos - we just ran out of time. And the stockings... I normally only get them one stuffer each and a "candy cane" filled with m&ms. This year, they have 3-4 stuffers, the chocolate oranges things, the canes they normally get, a Chocolate Santa and a regular candy cane. I made up a stocking for Steve - something I have NEVER done. Just weird - especially for a Grinch like me.

I must be over-tired and over-thinking.

Moms' are funny -

And by that, I mean me. :-P Around 6 o'clock last night I realized that I had walked around all day with one leg of my jeans rolled up and the other not. The funny thing is, I just shook my head and giggled. I even went to the chiropractor like that. Now I know why he stared at my shoes when I climbed on the table. LOL. Hopefully he got his giggles for the day. This is something new. I have done the shopping trip with a burp towel on my shoulder - even when I left the baby with daddy. Hehehe. I counted that as sleep deprivation combined with that being a standard part of my clothing at the time - I would have felt naked without it. But this... I don't have an excuse for this.

Then, my big excitement for the night? I figured out how to take the top rack out of my dishwasher!!! We are giving Rita's old booster seat away to a family expecting a baby. I wanted to get that seat clean for them. Apparently not everyone thinks items should be cleaned before giving them away. You should see the spider egg sacks that are on some bookcases that came by this week. But, I digress. I wanted the seat clean before giving it away. Wiping it down with a cloth got the seat itself clean, but the straps were - well, YUCK! Since it is hard plastic it can't really go in the washing machine... the d/w! I tried all kinds of angles to attempt to get it to fit. Then I thought, the d/w at the other house has a top rack that comes out. Maybe this one does too. YIPEE! It does. :)

It's the little things that make me leap for joy and excitement. LOL. Now... if only my kids could get along... really, right now it is just one youngster who is not dealing well with siblings winning a video game. Hehe. I think he gets his wonderful gaming spirit from his Grandma Barb - not a fan of playing with her. If she is losing she will whine and moan the whole game, if she is winning she will sit there and cackle and tease about the other person losing. Yep, lots of fun to play with. ;-)

I'm off to shower, hit Walmart for the last minute candies for the stocking and maybe ingredients for some tasty treats. Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Two Thirds visit Santa

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For the first time in at least three years I took kids to see Santa. I dread and drag my feet on this every year. The lines are long, I can't just snap a picture on my camera like my parents could years ago, the Santa usually looks so fake that three year olds notice... Just not psyched for that kind of thing. This year I told the kids I would take them.

Here we are, the Sunday before Christmas. If I'm going to follow through on my promise, I better get a move on! My hubby is helping his brother move today, so it is probably a pretty good day to take the kids. The older two decide that they would rather help Will move than see Santa. Ok. Steve takes them and I take the other 4. I look up times Santa is at the mall. Decide to try to hit him early. We load up in the Honda (yes, we have a Honda now!) and head to the mall. There is a very short line, like 3 families in front of us. Woot! Santa looks pretty good this year, the beard and girth are au natural. Another Woot! $15 for one 4x6 picture - no woot. But, they have a website and let me share the image on facebook and blogger, so er, um, ok. LOL.

The kids asked for things I had never heard them even remotely interested in until today (except Merce: she wants a skateboard... she's 3). Rita was a little unsure about Santa. As you can see, there are no tears, this is better that her mommy did 35+ years ago, and Grandma has pictures to prove it. LOL. All in all a good trip to see Santa. Who knows maybe we will do it again next year... and maybe a little earlier in the season so Santa has time to get the items asked for... (note to self)

While in line we chatted with the mom and daughter behind us. She was commenting on our large, well-behaved family. I smiled and told her the other third were with daddy. :) So, we got to talking about families. Her daughter is an only child and wants siblings, my oldest has days when she would love to be the only. LOL. Anyway, God blessed us by bumping into her, and may he richly bestow many, many blessings on her and her family!

Merry Christmas the Wills way!

Say it loud. Say it proud. I may be biased, but this is an AWESOME picture! Look how each child is showing a little bit of themselves! What better way to capture a moment in time?

Looking at this year's picture I couldn't help but look back on previous Christmas pictures. There is this great shot from 2007. It was the wallpaper on my laptop until 2009 was taken. I admit, I used to do the "perfect family" pictures. Every year, until 2005. We didn't have the time or money for professional pictures. So I lined the kids up in front of our tree. And commenced to taking pictures. Going of course, for the perfect Christmas card picture. About ten minutes into the picture taking my kids did this. We did end up with a shot that was your stereo-typical card picture. But I couldn't bring myself to print that one. I had to go with the shot that had so much personality! And it has been our way ever since. :)

Now this does have it's down falls. Not everyone appreciates my kids being such free spirits. Take my family for instance. In the summer of 2009, the kids and I traveled to Iowa for my parents 40th Anniversary. Professional pictures were taken. A few weeks before, my dad was expressing concern over how the pictures would go. I explained that we just needed to relax our expectations and it would be fine. "Everybody looking and hopefully no one crying." Dad says "and everyone smiling." I replied that "Smiling is not requisite (part of our problem may have been my use of big words). Just looking in the direction of the camera." I should have remembered to point out that my kids tend to be quite vibrant in their expressions of personality.

We had a wonderful photographer. (If you are in need of a photographer in/near Lake View, Iowa, look up Jen Wolleson!) But let's face it, getting 9 people over 18 - it would be a stretch to call all of us adults - and 9 kids aged 10 and under (including two 5yr olds and three 3yr olds) even just looking at the same time is a feat! She did manage to get the desired by grandma shot. But my favorite... Brandy is in a "ta-da" pose, there are bunny ears popping up, grins are pulled wide with fingers. And the cherry on top? My nephew, pulling his ears wide to make fun of his uncle, my brother - who can't stiffle a snicker. THAT is the one that I had enlarged, framed and put on my wall! I may very well be the only one who ordered that picture. But it is the only one that belonged on my wall. ;-)

Merce-tales, Merce-tales, now it's time for Merce-tales

A while back, I mentioned that our van was starting to give up the ghost. Steve asked his brother, a new Mazda car salesman to start paying attention to the used cars that came onto his lot. I sent Ken my list of hoped for items on my future van. Some were deal breakers, others were just hoped for items.

Ken called and told us about an '08 Odyssey on their lot. After some talking, number crunching, etc. We decided to go ahead and get this van. It is real sweet.

Daddy went to take care of the purchase on Saturday. He took four of the hooligans with him. One of them was our dear Merce. Know where this is going? Yep, it's a Merce-tale.

They walk into the dealership and there is a red Mazda convertible in the middle of the show room. Merce walks up to it excited and entranced. She says "Daddy this car is a w e s o m e! At first she had her hands in front of her a mere inches from the car, like she was afraid to touch such a beautiful creature. (Much like her mommy has been from time to time around classic 'stangs.) Then she starts rubbing her tummy and her back on the car and saying things like "I really like this car, daddy!" LOL. I guess all the sales people, other customers and my family were laughing. Her uncle says it is quite possible they put the security video on you-tube. (this is not the uncle that works there.) Ah, I would have loved to have seen that! :)

Instead, I had opted to stay home. I had the "bookends." It was a very nice enjoyable day and I got a good bit of bonding time with my oldest daughter. :)

How many times is too many?

I frequently grapple with this question. I "expect" my kids to respond the first time a request is made by my husband or myself. However, I do realize that is a highly ambitious expectation. In general I find that I will ask nicely the first time, repeat the request and the third time, I start raising the volume. Baseball and California have three strikes and you're out rules, right? And, for the benefit of my mother-in-law, three is a Biblical number. Tonight I found myself telling my darling Bekki "get in bed" five times... all nicely I might add. So, time six I not only raised my voice, I actually yelled. Yes, I did. She immediately went to tears.

While I feel bad that I can make my daughter cry by just yelling at her - I wonder why she doesn't yet realize that if she doesn't respond to nicely phrased requests that I will escalate into a not nice command.

Merce'll set you straight

On nicer days I walk over to the preschool to pick up Merce. This was the case a few weeks ago. On days I walk, I tend to wait until all the cars clear out before heading home with the double stoller. As we wait, it is not uncommon to talk with one or both of Merce's preschool teachers. So there we were, talking like that, when who should come up? The tall man! Yep! Merce, seemingly out of no where, says "If you put this finger up alone, it means f*&# you." Um, whoa. You just said that to your preschool teacher, in front of your mom. Mom probably should respond... "um, boy the things they learn from older siblings." Merce continues talking about the middle finger, and how f*&# you, is a bad word. The teacher explains how they have been singing the song "Thumbkin" with all the fingers and the middle one happens to be "tall man." Ok. I now know why it came up between my kids. I attempt to tell Merce that putting only the middle finger up means "f*&# you" only if that what you want it to mean.

It didn't stick. A few weeks later she very happily told the three year old son of some good friends the same thing. :-O

Any guesses as to whether I am up for trouble or not? LOL.

In other news, there is a open house at our old place on Sunday. Prayers/good thoughts GREATLY appreaciated!

Sometimes I think I might be too hard on my kids...

Monday afternoon Josh left his lunch bag on the bus. I asked him this afternoon if he asked his driver if a lunch bag was found. He hadn't asked. I told him to ask tomorrow. He starts crying and telling me that he doesn't want to, he is shy. Ok. I understand being shy. "If you aren't willing to ask the driver, then I need you to pay the replacement cost of the bag and the two sandwich boxes that were in there. That will be about $10." He tells me he doesn't want to pay for the bag and boxes. Ok, ask your driver. He doesn't want to do that either. The way he was crying you would think I was really ripping him a new one. NOT the case. I am not upset, no raised voices, no threats. I know things get left behind on occasion. I just want him to take responsibility and attempt to locate his bag, or replace it.

I drop it and send him off to bed. I ask Steve if I am being too hard on Josh. Is it asking too much to have him pay replacement cost if he won't ask his driver about it? Steve gets Josh up and starts talking to him about the family he saw huddled in blankets in downtown Indy the other day and how they have REAL problems. How Josh's big problem is whether to ask the driver about his bag or pay for it. "Yeah, real tough life."

Well, I might be too hard on my kids, but apparently my hubby and I are on the same page anyway. ;-P Besides, if you set high expectations, kids will strive to live up to them.

Update: I saw Josh pause and talk to the driver as he got on the bus this morning. The driver appeared to reach down and hand something to Josh. I suspect he has his bag back. All that drama for less than 30 seconds of talking to the driver. LOL.

Woot! I did it!

I kept my big ole trap shut! Ya'all might remember a little post awhile back.

I was directly asked "How do you get that?" (referring to well behaved children who actually do as they are told.) And I stayed quiet. Didn't think it was possible did you? Me either. LOL. But as I have tried to answer what we have done - successfully, I might add - before and was brushed off. I literally bit my tongue and hoped she said something so that I wouldn't have to answer the question she thought she was asking rhetorically.

This week I have also de-cluttered (for now) the office and my kitchen counter, ordered photo calendars for the grandparents, ordered Christmas cards, and printed labels for said cards. Now I just need to write the letters... though, I might not. And now you know where I have been all week. ;-)