Friday, August 28, 2009

This is My Life

For those of you wondering what the paint fiasco looked like, I must apologize. While I would have loved to document the occasion with photos, I was too busy ripping clothing off of my daughters and hosing down dining room furniture. I even spent 45 minutes with a toothbrush scrubbing the fabric on the chairs. It was a fun-filled night! I did take a picture of the "bowl" that the girls used to mix up their colorful concoction. This rainbow assortment of acrylic paints, while beautiful, did not exactly match the southwestern theme that is going on in this house. And somehow I don't think the owners would be too pleased with their handiwork. I am pleased that I saved one chair. One chair is questionable. The girls' dresses are still soaking in water right now. And I didn't even mess with this plastic bin. The paint is 2 inches deep so I just left it. Jason said when he caught them Sarah had both hands covered in paint and was wringing them out to drip paint on the chairs. What is wrong with these children? Where do they come up with this stuff? I can laugh now but it was not too funny the other night. Trust me.Now I am going to bombard you with what may be the most boring post you've ever read. Or it may make you feel better about your life. Or it may make you want to have your tubes tied. Or it may just make you laugh or smile.

This is my life...The day starts around 6:30am for most of us. Joshua is up first and always wakes up the babies. Sarah is usually the last to wake up but lately Matthew has been sleeping in later too. On this particular morning I had 4 children in my bed. Sometimes it's more, sometimes less-but never less than 3 children. We eat breakfast right away. My kids are ravenous. I'm in trouble when they're teenagers because they already eat constantly. Sometimes I make muffins or oatmeal during the week and we usually have big breakfasts on the weekends. The rest of the mornings we eat some cold cereal because it's fast and easy.The babies play while I feed the older kids and I usually toss them a few pieces of cereal as well. They have to eat on the rug because we don't have highchairs here. We don't have much of anything, just the essentials!While the kids are eating breakfast I change diapers. Leila and Joshua take theirs off when they wake up. I change the babies and then Sarah (if she's awake.) This will be the first of many diaper changes. I start a load of laundry.After everybody is dressed, we play! The babies love to knock over stacks of blocks and usually one of the other kids will stack them up over and over.The big kids like to use this time to color or play quietly. Matthew is almost always driving his Matchbox cars around. Joshua likes to draw.
By the time I finish my breakfast, the kids are hungry again. I give them a snack, nurse the babies, and change diapers again. Do another load of laundry. It's not even 10am yet!
If I'm lucky I get to sneak a shower in while the babies nap. Usually I'm too scared that the girls will burn the house down if left unattended. Either way, I get dressed. Usually.
On Thursdays we hit the farmers market. I load the kids into the van all at once. I used to have to load them two by two, but now I just carry both babies and let the older 4 walk. I buckle everyone into the carseats and we're off!I swing by to pick up my friend and her 2 sons next. She's having a problem with double vision and she can't drive so we usually run errands together. I install her kids' carseats and we hit the road. On this particular Thursday I was feeling brave enough to hit Target first. I go to Target at least once a week. I never buy much, but I like to look. And if I behave I get an iced mocha! If the kids behave they get a treat from the dollar bins. This time the girls got new headbands. This entertained them for days! Anything that is pink and glittery is right up their alley. Besides, they have to smile and be nice to the dozens of total strangers who will stop us to ask questions. A new headband is pretty much a guarantee that they'll be on their best behavior.After Target it's back into the van. Every stop we make is another time I have to lift "the Beast" in and out of the van. I should have some pretty toned arms but I must be doing something wrong. Oh well.Same old routine-buckle, buckle, buckle. Carseats and diapers are my life.We drive over to the farmer's market and stock up on fresh, local produce. We have made friends with some of the vendors and the kids always get lots of samples.Sometimes they get dried fruit, sometimes a cookie, or even a loaf of bread. This week it was fresh peaches. Yum!Nathan and Ryan get in on the action now too. They love to gnaw on some fruits and veggies. They spent 30 minutes devouring these peach halves. It was so funny! They are so sweet. Just like the peaches.
We take my friend and her son home and I head back to our house across town. I unload the goodies from the farmer's market and usually try to sneak an apple tart into my mouth before the kids see me. Never works.
Next is lunch. It's nothing fancy. On this day the kids had pb&j, carrots, yougurt, and fresh fruit. I tell myself it's ok because it's all organic. I'd love to whip up hot lunches but I rarely ever have time to do it.
The kids eat their lunch while I nurse the babies again. And change diapers. Do you see a pattern here?

After lunch the girls take a nap. Actually, just Leila takes a nap. Sarah usually plays quietly in her bedroom while Leila sleeps in my bed. (Total opposites, remember?) Sarah has apparently outgrown her nap and Leila has not.
When the girls are napping I try to lay the babies down. Sometimes they'll take a nap now but sometimes they play for 30 minutes first. Now it's lesson time. The boys get their books and sit around the dining room table. We use Sonlight curriculum so I'm not creating my own curriculum this year. It's relieved a lot of stress for me about how I was going to find time to plan everything.

We don't spend too much time doing lessons if we aren't interrupted.
Sometimes we get distracted by the hummingbirds in the backyard. The town we are in right now is the hummingbird capital of the United States. There are 14 species of hummingbirds here and we always have some flying around outside. The kids are mesmerized by their antics as they swoop and dive at each other.
After school work is completed the kids go outside to play while I start dinner and clean up. The girls wake up. The babies wake up. I nurse them and change diapers. Before I know it Jason is home! On Thursday nights we have pizza at my friend's house so we all get into the van and head back across town.
We enjoy pizza and chocolate chip cookies as we laugh and talk. The babies beg for whatever Jason is eating. I try to make sure my kids aren't destroying the playroom.
Our kids enjoy playing dress up and chasing each other around. The playroom gets destroyed. Before we know it, it's past bedtime (8pm in our house.) Jason loads the kids into the van and I help straighten up. We head back home where I will once again do diapers/training pants (5 kids this time) and nurse babies. It's into bed for our kiddos and Jason and I follow soon after. Because the next day we get up and do it all again.

The End.

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