To bed, to bed. . .

It's 7:45 p.m.
I brought E and Q home from tonight's pack meeting early because their behavior was no better than last night at the court of honor. Seating was limited, so we had the smaller ones sit on the floor. They immediately started running, playing, rolling, and generally making noise. No other children their age were having this problem. D told them that if they weren't still and quiet, they would go home. And so, here we are. The crying has nearly stopped. They won't be allowed out of their bed except for a trip to the bathroom. Maybe next month we will have better luck. I hope so because these are the moments that make me wonder if I was out of my mind to have 5 children. If I wasn't then, I'm pretty sure that I am now. Thankfully, I have some distractions to boost my confidence and morale.
I can't even imagine what would have become of me without my faith. When I had T, after 22 hours of labor, nearly needing emergency c-section, and forceps, I asked the doctor how women "did this" without painkillers. He said "women don't do what you did without painkillers." In some ways, I feel the same way about my life right now. I wonder how people get through what I'm going through without faith in some greater plan. I don't think you could do what I am doing without faith.
Children grow up. I've heard it said that they learn by the things that they suffer. Tonight, we are all suffering with them. I hope that they learn how to behave appropriately so that next time maybe we can sit together and enjoy the night.

Later that Day. . .

The repair place finally called, and made an appointment between 4 and 6 p.m. Of course, that was a problem in a logistical sense since I had to get my entries to UPS by 5:30 p.m. but I didn't care. The possibility of cool air dwarfed the other issues of the day. The other issues just seemed to take care of themselves, to my surprise. I started working on a card that I've been thinking about for some time. It came together much easier than I thought, and I was very pleased with the final outcome. I based it on a shirt that I have, and now all I can say is WOW! This is why I love this hobby! I was also able to put together a quick Halloween Scrapbook page to send in. It also came together very quickly, and so I sent in the pink card and Halloween page today. I will send the "birthday boy" card in for next month. I didn't want to put all my eggs into one contest. I do think that I will send these two cards to the "fresh face" call. Luckily all that I need for them is photos, and I have those.

When the repairman came, it turned out to be an issue with the thermostat rather than the air conditioner. That was quick and easy! I was able to get to UPS and make it home in time to feed children, and get to T's court of honor for Boy Scouts, where he received his Tenderfoot rank. E has been unbearable, and needs more sleep. It was painfully obvious during the court of honor that her "be good" rations for the day were spent. A full day of school is hard on her little person. It's difficult to get her into bed soon enough. She went to bed as soon as we got home. Q is now at his limit, and starting to fall apart. At time's like this, I am even happier to have some lovely creation ready to spring from my fingertips.

Air Conditioning is Down

Well, the good news is, it isn't supposed to by quite as hot today as it was yesterday! It should only get up to about 100 or 101 instead of 102 degrees! And, I may (well most likely I will) loose a couple of pounds because the act of walking around the house is causing me to break a sweat. That's sure fun. Thankfully there is a breeze. I haven't heard from AAA heating and cooling yet. The home warranty guy said the they would put our work order in with the highest priority, because we have an infant in the home. (Okay, let's think for a minute about where I live. Just about EVERYONE has an infant in their home.)
Q has been bawling for a 1/ 2 hour because I won't cook him eggs. (Are you kidding me?) He doesn't accept the possibility of cereal this morning for some reason, and to top it off, we didn't give him the top bunk - unforgivable! A is just wandering around behind me, happy as a lark. (Speaking of the infant.) She seems a little bit bothered by Q's constant whining and crying but she's not complaining.Today's tasks are Laundry and maybe another item to send to Stampin' Up! and the other place. I'm just trying to be creative and if I come up with enough that I really like, then I'll send it. I'm excited by the possibilities. I have one card done, which I love, and I'm hoping for a little more today. We'll see. The really really good news is that the basement is STILL QUITE COOL. Whereas the winter months saw me wearing a heavy coat down there to avoid hypothermia, now I'll just be breathing a big sigh of relief thinking about the possibility of having died and gone to heaven.

On my mind

I need to try to focus today. There are a number of things I've been mulling over and a moment of decision has arrived. There is a "fresh face" call for a stamp company looking for two new people to add to their design team. I think that I'd have a chance. I need to think about what I would do, or send. I've also been thinking about sending something in to Stampin' UP! for their contests again, I have a fairly unique idea. I need to look over the site and see if it is indeed unique or if I picked it up there. If not, I think that I'll send something. Stand back. Abby's thinking. She may need some room to move around.

(The card above is the one I did today. I'm quite happy with it, and hope to do more tomorrow.)

Healthy growth

I so identify with a repotted plant. Although I don't feel that I am the type that shies away from change, I recognize now that I am not immune to the natural effects of it, either. I've had a fairly vivid illustration of this sitting on my kitchen counter for about one month now. When my first child, T, was born, my mother gave D and I a basket filled with tiny young plants. It has been with us all this time, 11 and 1/2 years. At first there were three plants. One of the plants didn't make it through the first year and I had completely forgotten about it until now. It had small palm like leaves and was very upright. The other two were trailing plants with differently shaped leaves. We had repotted it once before, but it had been in the new container for at least 7 years. It survived the move, and its pot was undamaged. For a while now, we have known that it was sickly or at least not nearly as robust as it had once been. As things finally settled a little more for us in the new home, we decided to get our old plant friends a new abode as well. Finding the pot was easy enough. Moving the plant over didn't seem exceptionally difficult. (Probably because in the world of plants, we are as close as it comes to simple idiots.) D left to pot on our kitchen bar, and we watched. Some of the branches had broken off during the repotting process and we had those in a pot of water by the sink. Time went speedily onward and those branches in the water were thriving, growing all kinds of new roots. The plant in the pot, however, seemed to be dying. It was more than shock. One by one all of the green leaves, and many of the branches withered and yellowed. It was a bit painful, like watching a sick child and wondering if they'll recover. I tried not to be unduly concerned, I even empathized with the plant. My life during the last year has seemed much like that plant. Things that I believed about my life and marriage were simply not realistic. I had been allowed and led to believe things that weren't true by the only one whose honesty could have made all of the difference with respect to my understanding of our relationship. I felt a kinship with the poor withering plant. I knew of its suffering. Interestingly, D carefully picked off the dying parts and worried for it as the weeks went by, fretting now and then over what seemed like an impending and certain demise. Something in me, maybe the way my own soul has started to regain it's strength, assured me that the old plant would make it. About a week ago, we started to see some new growth and although the plant is very sparse now, it seems quite healthy. The branches that have been in the water all this time are also doing very well, and when the rest of the plant seems to be a little stronger, we'll add them to the larger pot: A bit of the old added back into the new, although now completely separate and distinct plants.
As for myself, I recognized some truly healthy growth of spirit. Strength is returning that I had nearly forgotten, along with some I never knew before. I'm not withering and yellowing any longer, I'm growing now.

Shower, please!

AC is T's buddy, and I just learned that he is our best friend, too. When T went over there yesterday, he was his regular old smelly self. AC said, "Did you take a shower today?" T said no, which was honest to his credit. AC's little brother said, "I didn't take a shower either." AC replied, "You two get out of here, you're stinking up the room." So, thanks to AC, T did a VERY thorough job of washing in the shower today! AC may have a cell phone and his own room, (which T now thinks that he needs to have as well) but at least the kid is up on hygiene! I will bless his name for weeks.

And now, for your reading enjoyment, a snippet from the blog on one of my friends. The entry I took this from also discussed the hygiene habits of tween boys. These are the instructions she gave to her son with regard to the proper way to shower.

"Stand under the water coming from the shower head. Pick up the soap. Lather it up, apply it to your body until the dirt is gone, then rinse. Also, the shampoo? It goes in your hair. You lather it up, in your hair--not just in your hands-- and then rinse it out."

It may seem like a simple task, but as we have learned, nothing is simple with boys. When I read her entry, I laughed harder than I had for days, probably months. In this case, familiarity bred a really really good guffaw.

An Itch to communicate

There are times when I am just all prickly with the desire to "talk" to people. I'm not sure why it is, I just want to know what's going on in the world. It's like butterflies in my stomach, waiting and wishing that something would happen. It could have something to do with the fact that at times my days seem to run together, without much to distinguish one from another. That isn't the case lately, so I'm banking on the fact that I'm a little off balance and wishing that I could resolve difficulties more satisfactorily. Today, for some reason, I feel glued to the computer. I feel the need to reach out to people that have been on my mind. I'm positive that I could redirect my energy and find much better ways to spend the time. I need to move on. Nothing is going to be resolved today and I have a lot of other more profitable things that I could be doing. LIke making dinner, rotating laundry, helping E and Q get their bedroom cleaned up - many many opportunities to be productive and useful. Don't want to be, though. Just stinks.

I think I just gave myself a clue. If I get an email or a phone call, I can respond. It is very much an avoidance issue, I'm afraid. The other things are real, too. They play right into my "not wanting to do much" and make it easy for me to think of things I need to look at on the computer while I wait for emails and phone calls. Yep. Some days I'm just itching for someone to talk to.

Styling a Personal Resort

This is our Anniversary Weekend. On August 5th we have been married 14 years. We left our children with my parents for a couple of nights and have been footloose and fancy free. It has been so much fun, not that I haven't thought of the kids, just that I've been very relaxed and happy just to be with D. A friend said that the funniest part about being alone is a house which is normally filled with children is that you can put something down, and the next day it will still be there. On the flip side, you can clean up a mess and the next day it will still be clean. It's been Niiiiiiiiice. We are much more settled than we were last year. On August 5th, 2006 we put an offer on a home, and put our first home on the market. It was time to move, and so we jumped into the crazy limbo that is selling and purchasing real estate. The fact that we are actually now living in the home that we put that first offer on is a testament to correctness of the whole plan. Between that moment, however, and the time we actually sold the house and signed our purchase papers for the new home, NOTHING went as planned. It was amazing, and even miraculous according to our real estate agent, that we were able to get the first home we wanted given the circumstances. Little miracles have followed us around during the last year, which is good, because skimming the surface and counting those little miracles, it's easy to ignore the torturous moments brought to us by the last 12 months or so. Although I'm not convinced that there won't be more difficulties ahead, I'm happy to be where I am. I'm very happy to be where I am.
Back to the weekend's activities. We decided that instead of going to somewhere else, and staying in a beautiful room that we'd have to leave behind, we would turn our bedroom into the place we wanted it to be. We spent the weekend right here at home. We went to lunch on Friday at the best Japanese restaurant in town and had some delicious sushi. The Maui roll was a fabulous sweet finishing touch, and all of it was "better than chocolate". What was a treat! We had to park a little way from the establishment, and were worried that a downpour would catch up with us, but it was blue skies all afternoon. From the restaurant we went straight to IKEA, and loaded up our carts with goodies. It was after 7 p.m. by the time we got home. We spent the rest of the evening putting the room together. The next afternoon, don't laugh, we went back to IKEA - this time for bunk beds. We had to move a piece of furniture into the kids' room to make our bedroom plan work. Saturday night, we finished up all the rearranging and added all of the finishing touches. When I woke up on Sunday morning, I really felt like I was in another world. It was just so beautiful. Everything translated perfectly from thoughts to reality, which is an experience I don't take for granted. It doesn't happen very easily in life, at least not in mine. There were quite a few really perfect moments over the weekend. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and probably the least of it has to do with furnishings. Most of our work has to do with the people living here in this home. That's the way that it should be. I just try not to get overwhelmed, and do my best to remember that people are what matters the most.

Some days are like this

I ran completely out of energy about an hour ago. Of course, the children don't seem to run out when I do and so now I'm way over-done. Things that could have been simple turned into three-levels-of-complicated issues. Another extra half hour of necessary evil. Poor D is hard at work. I've been working at a number of things today that I just can't seem to pull together. Q was running at a hot hot fever pitch all day long. I think he just wanted more than I had to give. He was trying to "control" things and make them go his way. We had episode after episode of heated emotion boiling over. At the time the kids were home from school, there were toys everywhere and I was already wilting. Normally, I think I would have relished the opportunity to get out and do some errands but it felt like serious slow motion. Errands in slo-mo. Fun! Monday had a few moments like today. Most Mom-of-five days have at least one or two moments like the ones that made up today. When you can survive a full day of "this" you know that there aren't many things you couldn't make it through. Time for bed.

Great Vacation Two

As you can probably imagine, there are hundreds of photos. I'll try to add some once we've downloaded them. Unfortunately for me, D decided to snap some shots of me in my bathing suit at a little water park in Henderson. It was stunning, and I don't mean that in a good way. I won't post any of those, most likely, but there are quite a few others that will make this little cyber-place a great deal more colorful.
After the National Parks we went to Las Vegas where we stayed with my cousin for a few days, and then with Dan's brother. I was surprised by how much more comfortable I was than I had imagined I'd be. The outdoor temperatures were between 105 and 108 degrees (mostly at the high end), but thanks to air-conditioning and lots of it we were happy as clams. By 10:00 p.m. it was down to about 95, and you could go running around without much trouble from the heat. Tuesday, we went to the Buffet for lunch, then to the Shark Reef, at Mandalay Bay. (I bet you can't guess what the kids chose - pizza, mashed potatoes, meatballs, and soft serve Ice cream for dessert.) The aquatic life was awesome. I was only sad that I couldn't get any photos of the best part - it was just too dark. Other than that, we didn't do much "downtown". When we got back to my cousins' we explored that little squirt park that I mentioned before, then my cousin and I went to the best Sushi place ever! It's fun to be a grown up! The plan had been that the moms would go and enjoy their Sushi, followed by the dads - allowing us the opportunity to avoid trying to find a babysitter for nine children. Well, little did we know that the little restaurant closed at 9:30 p.m. The dads were pretty disappointed, and had every right to be. I have to say that I was impressed by how well D took the disappointment. They tried another place, but it wasn't nearly as good. I tried to make up for it by running out for Cold Stone, I think that my cousin's husband had forgiven me by the time we left on Wednesday.
The children were great, and seemed very content with a swim every day. Both families had pools, and what a difference that makes! My older boys were very excited to to get to THEIR cousins' house. The children in that home are closer to their ages, and they had non-stop fun. They played "spoons" a lot, video games of course, went to the go-carts, and swam each evening. Even the baby loved the water, and was very excited each time she saw people putting on their swim suits.
When it was time to head home, on Friday, no one really wanted to go. That wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise to me was that as the parents, D and I weren't completely wasted. We all had a good time, there was very little fighting, the kids were respectful and well-behaved. It was much better than anyone, including myself, had imagined. We needed it, and the heavens have smiled upon us.
Right now, I've got to get some Sunday breakfast going. Life, as they say, does go on. . .and it's been going on without me for an hour or so. Hungry people will soon be making their appearance in the kitchen, and I'd better have a plan.

Great Vacation

So far, its been wonderful. There are so many things that I can point to which have made this fun for everyone. Zion National Park was lovely, as expected. We had dinner at the restaurant in the lodge. It was delicious and people were friendly. Aeryn was the biggest challenge. She didn't want to be contained, and who could blame her after being in her car seat for so long. On the shuttle bus, while eating and hiking, her theme song was "Born Free!" She wasn't interested in parental guidance. Oh well.
She was so dirty, the white shorts she was wearing turned brown. I'm talking completely brown-front, back and sides, not just a little circle on her tiny behind. All of the kids were dirty top to bottom. The hike was just wonderful, and absolutely stunning. I really enjoyed it, and although I'm not much of a hiker I was wishing we had more time to spend. There were some tense moments along the trail, but all in all it was very family friendly. We didn't get back to the room until about 10 p.m. and by that time, we were pretty well exhausted.
The next day, there was more driving, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. On the way to the canyon, you pass through the Kaibab National Forest. There was a fire there recently, I think within the last year or two. The forest was beautiful all by itself, and the burned portion was quite a stark contrast. I was just amazed when we got there. We didn't have anything specific in mind, but we started to wander, and ended up at a trail called Bright Angel Point. It goes out into the canyon a waise, and the views are spectacular. Before we even got onto the trail, we met a woman from Mississippi, and talked to her a little while. She and her granddaughter were enamored with our children. She asked if we were Mormons, and told me about some LDS friends that she has - but they aren't the same as you, right? It was nice to be able to clear that up for her. Many people questioned our sanity, due to the fact that we had brought so many small children out onto that trail. One man even said, when he had gone by, "You're crazy." To which I replied, "I guess we are." Another woman noted that I was bringing up the rear and said, "Oh, so you got stuck with the baby." I said, "Oh no, not stuck with the baby. She is a reason to live."

For anyone that would like to see. . .

what I did to win that award, here is my website address, where I've posted photos of it.

http://abby.stampinup.net/Welcome.aspx

And they're off!

I came up with a pretty ingenious way to pack clothes for a large family going on a road trip vacation. I will discuss that further if it works. I guess I'll discuss it if it turns out to be a disaster, too. It seems pretty fool-proof so I have high hopes.
We are planning to leave this morning. All of the important things are done, and I'll let you know later what I forgot. The kids are all very excited. Q was so tired from Gramma camp that he just couldn't deal emotionally with the preparations for a trip.

Here are some cute E stories. Yesterday when I was working on some changes in my Stampin' Up website, she came up and began to talk to me about her son that had died. "I have a son, he died. He didn't die because someone killed him, he just died. I think that he had a heart attack."
I was trying to encourage her to go on, because she was being so "adult and serious" so I asked her what her son's name was.
"Superman." Totally deadpan.
Very hard not to laugh.
She was having a hard time waiting for vacation day. It was all she talked to her friends about. "If you come here tomorrow, I won't be here. We are going to be gone for EIGHT DAYS."
I love it. This is the first time that she's been old enough to anticipate a vacation, and it's cute. This morning, she came into this room and said, "It Friday now?" in her "happy baby" voice and a big smile on her face. (She sparkles when she smiles, it is a pleasure to see her happy.)

And now, it is time to get ready, get set, go!

Hectic Week

Tomorrow, my Q-tee pie is off to Gramma Camp. Thank Heaven for that because I've got to get ready for a family vacation. We are going down to Southern Utah, Zion's National Park and the Grand Canyon. We'll stay overnight in Kanab. When I called to make the reservation, I'm fairly sure the woman on the other end repeated "5 children" at least 4 times. Thankfully, there was one family suite left, with just enough beds for our little army. It will be Friday the 13th. (Just throwing caution to the wind here and hoping that there are no crazed killers on the loose near the lodge.) Stampin' Up! just happens to have their manufacturing facility in Kanab, so we'll stop there on Friday afternoon. I have high hopes for some fun. We haven't done anything big together as a family since before A was born. T was very excited when I told him what we have planned. He said, "I'll have lots of things to tell everyone when I go back to school." That's the goal.
When we have seen some natural beauty, we'll head to Las Vegas and stay there until the following Friday. Luckily, all of our family members have swimming pools of which I'm sure we'll be making good use. I think that I better get a huge bucket of Raspberry Lemonade mix from Costco - it is going to be HOT! I started making a list today of all the things that I need to remember to pack or bring. It's huge. (Somewhat like our family.) I'm sure of absolutely one thing. I will forget something. Never fails. Last time it was the sunscreen and swim diapers. I'll have three good days to get things done, and hopefully I'll have a clear head. I think that I've mentioned before how much simpler life without Q can seem. A is picking up steam in the precocious department, but she's still pretty small and just doesn't have the same capabilities that he does. Tomorrow has to be a run around day. The car needs and oil change, wiper fluid and probably at least a couple new tires. While I'm out, I'll go pass by a couple other places. I'm going to try to take all the kids with me. It might slow me down a little, but I want to be with them while they are out of school. Getting the boys out of the house is about the only way to keep their minds of the computers. I'm sure the car dealership isn't their idea of fun, but I think I might have a shot with the "maybe they'll have donuts" shtick. I have a Stampin' Up! delivery to make, which is sort of on the way to the dealership. My favorite paper store is downtown, too. We'll see. Lunch might be a good bribe. One of the other days has got to be a shopping day. I think we've got plenty of sunscreen, but I know we need swim diapers and wipes will be a must. We'll need lots of snack food in single serving sizes. Simplification is the word of the day. I'm going to try not to do what someone else has already done for me.
I bet someone could make a career out of planning other people's vacations. Like wedding planners, only more nitty gritty. I'd sure love to have someone to take care of my big to do list right now. I'd love to concentrate on all of the other things that are bothering me at the moment. I doubt there'll be any time for that, however. Not having time to think about the problems may be the best thing for me after all. Concentrating on stress doesn't make it go away. Hopefully, some of the stress will just leak out while we are wandering around Zion on Friday and checking out the Grand Canyon on Saturday and playing by the pool. I'll have to report on later on the reality of all my theories.
I'm just hoping to have some fun and make more good memories than difficult ones. Everything we experience in life seems to have a mixture of both. I'm hoping for some sweet stuff this time around.

Gramma Camp

My mother is amazing. She was thinking about how we, as children, spent long extended amounts of time with our grandmothers in the summer, and she wanted her grandchildren to have that - even though we live very close and see her regularly. She devised "Gramma Camp". This week from Tuesday at lunchtime until Thursday after dinner, she had the little princesses over - my E (6) and my sister's C (going on 3). They were having so much fun, that when we arrived on the Wednesday to celebrate the 4th of July, both girls ran inside saying, "I don't want to go home yet!" Believe me, that didn't hurt my feelings. At all. I'm not exactly sure what they did, I know E came home with a new sun dress that "they" made. I also know that Q (4 years) was extremely jealous. he had not less than three tearful episodes during E's camp time. We kept reassuring him that his time would come. And it will, although the plan right now is for the 4 year old boys will come home to sleep. Q and S are a handful, largely because Q is such a fantastic instigator of frightful fun. (Frightful to adults, that is.)
My father has always claimed that my mother is an Angel and I truly believe that she is. I’ve never known anyone more unselfish and loving. She is a Spiritual Rock and the person most like Jesus Christ that I know. (She probably wouldn't like that I said that, which just goes to further my point.) Lucky for me, she is my very own mother and the grandmother of my 5 crazy children. She says not only “suffer the little children to come unto me,” she adds “and let them have a really wonderful time!”