Some Kind of a Day

I started out my morning with Zachary climbing into bed with me VERY EARLY (4:30 AM) and coughing almost non-stop which I managed to somehow sleep off and on through until Ethan (who is also sick) brought down Faith to my room who had just woke him up (7:30 AM).  She had kept Grace up quite a bit with the similar coughing that I had just endured with Zach, so I was determined to let Grace sleep in as long as possible.  I began to nurse Faith, who was very congested, and then began coughing, she then got so worked up she threw up all over herself, me and my bed, which Zach, Faith and I were all in!  NICE.
First job of the day-Give smelly and sick Faith and Zach a bath!
Nothing dramatic here, got the job done without incident.
Second job of the day-Feed all the kids breakfast.
This is where I found out that I would not be allowed to set Faith down for the rest of the day without her explicit permission, or there would be shrill screaming and crying!  She is today a MOMMA'S GIRL!
Third job ATTEMPTED-Shop ads and pull coupons.
Not very easy with a tot on your knee!  Thank goodness it was almost nap time!  So then I put Faith down for a nap and tried to get as much done as possible!!!!
I finished my couponing, cleaned up the kitchen some, played with the kids some, blogged some, got some phone calls made, still didn't get a shower or dressed though :(
Okay, Faith's up, back to working with one hand!  Interestingly enough we had a guy come by to measure for siding that was really cool, he actually took time to pray with me on the front porch for a quick recovery of all the kids!  Now THAT does not happen everyday!  I know I looked amazing in my pjs, no make-up and so little sleep ;)  I sure needed the prayer!
Then Nana got here, and it was nap time!  Praise the Lord!  That was MUCH needed rest time!
Soon after nap time there was pure chaos with Zach and Faith, I had put Faith, down to dress Zach, (so she was screaming) because he wanted to go outside to play, and then I was not doing that to his liking so he was screaming (grouchy from his long nap).  My Mom who was playing Monopoly with Ethan jokingly commented with a smile that it was awfully loud in our house.  I said it's about time that they show their true colors when Nana's around!  This is how they REALLY act!
Just then my Mom looked at me and realized that I hadn't even had a shower today, and commented on that.  And this is when (again) I felt just slightly pathetic and almost wanted to cry.  I sent Zach out the door to play, resumed holding Faith got a little bit of work down on the computer and cooked dinner.
A home cooked meal for eight=$5.20!  Quite honestly, I wanted so bad to go to McDonald's, but I just couldn't justify it.  After cleaning up the kitchen from dinner, FINALLY finishing up my work on the computer, I announced that I was taking a shower now!  It lasted all of five minutes (I think) and I cleaned the tub while I was in it :)
So, after Rob was finally home from working his day off and late to boot, we sat down as a family and watched the new movie that Nana bought us today, Where The Wild Things Are, Rob fell asleep, I ran around the house putting Faith to bed, making popcorn, and even blogging for the biz.  Nana snuggled the kiddos and they said the movie was pretty good, Nana cried (I'm sure I'll see it sometime-at least the parts I missed!).
After the movie, I helped get all the other munchkins to bed, and then I left to do my CVS, Dillon's and Wal-Mart runs, and used my almost expired ECBs, and saved HUGE at all three stores.  Was this a particularly crazy or otherwise insane day?  Nope, it kind of through a wrench in it with the kids being sicky-poo, but, if it wasn't that, it would have been another you know?
Now, my house is quiet, and I shall go upstairs and wake my sleeping husband who has fallen asleep in our three year old's bed (again) while snuggling (three hours ago!) and tuck him in with me into our bed!  You know, God is good, I love this life, as hard or stress-filled as it may seen sometimes, what love there is filling these walls!

Zachary's Idea of Decorating

Apparently MY decorating has become dull and boring and needed a face lift, so Zach thought he'd help out, this is what he came up with, tell me what you think, I appreciated that he kept with the colors in flower arrangement and lamps when choosing the dinosaurs for his ensemble!

Ninja Ethan

 

Ethan did this costume all by himself, he collected items from old costumes and scrap fabric, a ski hat, and went to town, he even whittled his own sword from a piece of scrap wood from the garage. This was serious business.  He is so creative.  He has been a Ninja for a few days now, I know that it won't last so I thought I'd better post it fast!

Faith's First Piggy Tails!

 

The day has come when our baby girl can wear her hair in piggy tails!  It's sooooo cute!  It won't all go up yet, but almost, and we just couldn't get enough of this cute new look, even if it was a mess an hour later.

Ouch!

So, every day I come across those who admire my coupon using, money saving abilities, and then there are the "haters", the people who are just so mean, really-quite rude! Like tonight when I was at the store and this guy behind me in line was making funny comments like "Look, she's amazing, she's saving so much money! I can't believe this, looks at all the money she's saving!" When he asked how much I saved and I was very happy to report that it was more than 75% off and that I also got then $12 in Register Rewards back too, he was applauding, the checker then said "it takes so much time though", to which he asked me, "but what do you make an hour clipping those coupons?" For which I could very confidently tell him I make about $100 an hour! Then he set down his cigarettes and his Diet Coke and laughed "I guess I'll pay full price for these!" The checker then said to me, "Well, I guess if you have nothing better to do." To which I replied, I actually have 5 children AND I home school, so I keep busy, thank you. I was quite astounded by her remark and from overhearing her talking about going to school and working at the drug store, I wonder-is SHE going to be making $100 an hour anytime soon? Even AFTER graduation? I highly doubt it.

ALMOST!

I can honestly say that this has NEVER happened before!  And quite frankly I'm a little surprised that it hasn't, five kids running sometimes a bit wild at a fun place like a bowling alley are tough to keep track of! I ALMOST left one of them!  Sadly, this time I had help too!  Anyway, Zach went running from the bathroom after a diaper change (pray for potty-training to happen SOON!) and I thought since our lane was right outside the bathroom that SURELY Rob would see him and catch him as I finished up (thank goodness this didn't happen while I was alone!), but he was oblivious and so Zach made a B-line for the arcade!  So less than five minutes later as we are headed out the door, Keith says, "Where's Zach?" and O my word!  We ALMOST left him!!!!  Thankfully we did not, and he was having quite the time playing with the birthday party full of kids in the arcade!  How embarrassing!  So, above is the face of our 3 1/2 year old stinker, whom we ALMOST left in the arcade at the bowling alley!  Doesn't he look traumatized?

Well Worth The Wait!

This is our wedding quilt from my Mom, it is so beautiful! I picked out the pattern, a fleur de lis, one of my favorite designs. This one was a true labor of love for my Mom, she appliqued each one! It is in dark brown and cream, the lady that does her machine quilting did the design manually, and it turned out perfect too. She also had it monogrammed, which I also really love! It is a custom size for our bed even. I love this quilt so much, as I've gotten older the handmade things from my Mom have become even more precious to me, I love to know that the things I use were hand-crafted with love by her, it makes me think of my Mom and smile. This quilt will truly be an heirloom in our family.