Busy, busy day

WOW! My legs are really going to be sore tomorrow...I was in the kitchen cooking practically all day! I prepared from scratch, cooked and froze 11 meals for our size family. Plus a few other things I needed to do like slice up carrots, mix sugar cereal with low sugar kinds, etc.

I froze 3 pork loin in marinade, 2 meals of pork chops in marinade, 6 meals of salisbury meatballs (this will make 3 meals for us) and 3 chicken broccoli casserole. I am beat!

My wonderful husband is so excited about my home cooking that he not only watched the kids while I worked, he made a trip to Walmart to get a few things for me. I love him soooooo much, he knows that we will have more real meals when I do this about once a month.

Tonight as I count my blessings he is at the top of the list!

Great Expectations

Can you believe it? Having 6 kids under age 9 is stressful! Who would have ever thought?

In the midst of the chaos, it helps to have something to look forward to. I found a church in town that has a parents night out ministry. One night a month, all ages, planned activities and run by Tech students. Oh, and affordable...there is a cap of $15 per family, it couldn't be more perfect!

Two weeks, I have been counting on this for two weeks. We are dressed and ready to walk out the door. Albert sends the older girls out to clean up their mess in the back yard, he tells them to meet us at the van around front and locks the back door...frantic knocking...

You wouldn't believe it could happen so quickly but our girls are gifted! Dee was swinging a broken broom handle...(they swing everything, I am constantly telling them not to swing purses, bags, etc...why don't they just listen?!)...and slices open Nana's right hand! Albert opens the door and the girls are frantic, Nana is crying, Albert tells her to quit crying, she is fine. He goes to put a band aid on it, just a small scratch...then he turns her hand over...it is bleeding profusely.
At this point, being supermom, I quickly assure her she is going to be fine, that we need to go to the clinic to have the doctor look at it, no big deal...right? NO, I am furious. Two weeks, I have been counting on this night out for two weeks!!!

Moving on...we get to the clinic (we make big sister come along so she can see the affecs of her actions) and as I walk in the clinic, 2 blocks from the house thank goodness, the girls at the front desk say, "You just can't stay away can you?" Now, when they know you on sight, you have been there too often! We finally see the doctor and it is the same one who took care of the baby boy on two previous occasions, I cannot imagine what he must think!

An hour and a half later, we go to drop the kids off at parents night out. Wow, they have a college intern who is amazing! All of the girls up there are wonderful! Baby girl did not even cry! Talk about miracles! And a wealth of willing babysitters!

Now to land this plane...we missed the movie, but had a wonderful dinner, just the two of us. We laughed and relaxed for the first time in quite a while. Obviously God has quite a sense of humor. My high hopes for a night out were almost dashed, but in the aftermath, we found a treasure trove of hope and good wishes.

Oh...afterwards the girls just raved and raved on our kids? What is that all about?

Precious but very telling

Tonight we found baby boy with his nose in the corner. He stayed there for a few minutes. I guess the girls spend so much time there he just knew he was missing out on something!

A Step Ahead...Kinda

Monday I washed 8 loads of clothes, vacuumed half of the house (big house), cooked supper and baths, including hair for everyone!!!

Yesterday I drove a lot, took babies to McDonalds to play while I finished paperwork, copied paperwork for all 6 kids, drove all over town picking up kids and dropping off for visits, supper and baths (for most).

It is now 10:10 a.m. and I have cooked enough chili and soup for 4 meals! I plan to make homemade bread and homemade chicken tenders to freeze, all before picking up kids from school. That sound great but...I'm still behind! I think I could clean 8 hrs a day and never be able to stay ahead of these guys! I just turn my head as I walk past the toy room, the Christmas tree and mess still needs to be tackled, but don't tell anyone. If I ignore it, it might disappear! Ya think?!

20 pounds...obviously not enough!

We were getting ready for church this a.m. and one of the girls told me I smelled good...then my 4 yr old told me I look like I have a baby in my tummy. What do you say to that?! Obviously the 20 pounds I've lost is not enough!!!

It is hard to stay mad at her though, an hour later she informed me that she would start calling me mom. The group of 4 now knows that they might not be going home, the judge will decide. Pray for them as they come to grips with this and who will adopt them. God has not called us to that roll but chances are good that they will be here for a long time. Who else is crazy enough to take on a group of 4 kids under the age of 8?!

Gotta go run the loop a few times!!!

The Zoo

I have found the zoo to be a magical place...the more kids you take with you, the more exciting it is! We could have watched the hippo for hours. You would not believe the amount of screaming that went on as we watched him swim to the glass and away again! "Here he comes, here he comes!" "I can't see him, where'd he go?!" Over and over again. As I watched the merriment, it made me smile at the sheer joy I was experiencing.

We ran from exhibit to exhibit as the animals were very active in the cool weather. Each child had their picture taken on the concrete lion, it's tradition! We rode on the back of the train, waving to all the people and then screamed as we crossed the bridge! "I see an aligator!" was heard over and over.

When it came time to leave we were sad.

I don't remember ever having so much fun at the zoo!

Stitches, Throw up and presents

Have you ever seen one of these? Well, let me tell you, thanks to this item, our Christmas trip to Lufkin started off with on a bad note. Morning one, baby girl pushes this over onto baby boy's head. I know for a fact your skull is white! We spend 3 hours in the ER then attempt to enjoy the rest of our trip. A few days later we head back to the ER with a different child (thank goodness) because of the stomach virus. We stayed away from everybody for a day or two and then we opened presents! That is a very short synopsis of our trip to Lufkin.