tie dye fun

my sister and i thought it would be fun to tie dye a bunch of shirts and a background sheet and do a photo shoot of all the grandkids... (my mom is really into tie dyed things...)

it was fun, but hard to do with the kids. they enjoyed putting the rubber bands on the shirts, but the dye is permanent and a mess, so we just let them pick the colors and we did the dying.

they all did a great job and the patterns were awesome :)
we did a few onesies....

i had such high hopes for this photo shoot.... but not all children were as excited as i was...
ava was into it! she's a little model!
little S was having a hard time...



peace man :)

growing too fast!!

from the mouth of babes...

S (9) and cousin C (8) were very interested in observing me give baby R a bath while he was screaming his sweet little head off. they were both watching from start to finish...C , especially, was wondering if he always cries like that and how i handle it, since she will be a famous singer someday and wants to write a song about it.

as i was drying him off...

S: "look, the tip of his *einie is turning white!"

C: "he must be really mad!"

S: "why is it doing that?"

me: "oh, well... when he is screaming all the blood rushes to different places and makes him change colors"

S: "look how red he is! his *einie is still changing colors!"

C: "maybe it's just like a mood ring."

so true, C. that will definitely make an interesting song...

summer must haves... so far

1. mcdonalds $1 drinks. i am addicted. i love to drive thru even when we get food from somewhere else.... i get the unsweetened tho.
2. philosophy baby grace lotion3. jimmy johns. the bread is to die for. turkey tom for me and 2 slim #1's for the kids, cut in half. 3x a week works for me...

4. soy creamer. delish. i prefer fresh and easy's organic soy creamer.5. love to flip thru this and dream of summers in cooler locations... antique fairs, lake cabins, lightening bugs... etc....
6. it's like i am using it again for the first time...

7. perfect solution to a crying baby... who now loves baths thanks to this....

i surrender

well, my strike didn't work out. as i suspected, it is not possible for me to be on strike. after a broken table (that i had just painted), broken closet doors, 2 bloody noses (due to picking, not assault), one bloody lip (due to assault), a broken dishwasher and 4 wild-eyed kids... i decided to surrender. turns out (my) kids really will act like wild monkeys when set free. i know it sounds like paul gets a bad rap in this whole thing, as he was in charge during this whole fiasco, but he was trying. the kids were fed, the kitchen and the basement had been cleaned. his technique just included a lot of free fun time and time to work it out themselves. in the end though, they really do need rules, consequences and basically mommy to run the show. as mean and no fun as i am, they do need me. most importantly, they need paul and i to work together as a team to do it right. they need us.

so, to start off monday with a fresh new start, we attended rosary club in the morning. then i drove their little tooshies (and my big tooshie) to confession. it was a cleansing experience. i felt better and motivated to tackle the day to day of summer, and the kids, well... i think they realized that they had better get it together or mommy will be driving them to confession every day if needed. we also had our first "being grounded" experience. no play dates, no tv/movies, no computer and no sweets for 2 days. just reading and writing. and an occasional meal or 2.

i am going to make a few charts and signs and junk like that.... blah blah blah... but i think we are starting to get things under control again.

although they may drive me bonkers sometimes... i do love them so.

strike. day 1.5

i am on strike. i don't condone this, as it is very hard to be on strike and it could be interpreted as giving up or quitting.... but i don't care. i got to a point where i felt like all i did all day was shout out orders and correct kids... while driving them, watching, and doing all things kids. the kids were in vbs last week. it was awesome. the kids loved it and miss it. however, i may have bit off more than i could handle this early in handling 5 children. it started at 8:30 and it was a real challenge to get everyone up, fed, in their color they were assigned to and out the door on time. i think we were there on time 2 days out of 5.

i was really looking forward to meeting some friends on friday for breakfast right after drop off. after i got out of the shower that morning (god forbid i actually take a shower) i expected everyone to be already fed from the breakfast i had set out and in the car waiting for me wearing the clothes i washed and laid out. instead i came out to everyone happily dancing around to the radio in their pajamas making a huge breakfast using every pot and pan in the kitchen. well let's just say things did not go as planned.

this made me so upset on so many levels. so i decided to go on strike. i decided to put away anything that i get out and do only things that pertain to me or baby R.

without going into too many details....

here are a few things i have already noticed as of day 2:

1. being on strike is a lot harder than i thought. the first day i woke up, rolled out of bed and before even making it into the kitchen, i made the bed, closed the door which was left wide open, flushed the toilet which was full of someone else's sweet surprise, changed the toilet paper roll, and put away the milk which was sitting out on the table. this whole "ignoring the mess" is going to take some practice...

2. the kids are fighting just as much as when i was trying to "handle" every situation the right way. it is surprising how many times they will actually work things out on their own. i think i even notice the nice things they do for one another more when i am not mad at the last thing they did.

3. the kids really don't care if the house is a mess. they do not care if their room gets out of control. they do not care if they have to put laundry away more than they need to, they will still put clean clothes in the dirty clothes basket.

4. when i am not suggesting outfits to wear... tap shoes and a winter sweater dress are worn to the performance for the last day of vacation bible school.

5. i am losing confidence in my strike because i don't think anyone even notices and i am afraid of the mess i am eventually going to have to clean up.

cutest love note ever....

if i do say so myself. one of my little angels wrote this for another one of my little angels and it made my heart melt.

i know 5 girls (including myself) who are pretty much head over heels for this little guy.