tomorrow...

Cannot come soon enough. These boys need their daddy in the worst way. I need their daddy in the worst way. I won't have to go it alone 24x7 anymore! It's like they're so wild and out of control. They make the BIGGEST messes ever. I hate the setup of our basement. I really want it finished. I want to get rid of so much or organize it differently so its not always trashed and they're not getting into things they shouldn't be in. I took everything toy-wise out of their bedroom but that STILL gets messy and ends up with toys in it. Zach just called. He's 4 1/2 hours away. I seriously want to fly away, fly the coop and get some ME time away from these wild ones. They're like animals. I'm just fed up. I've had it. Bedtime cannot come soon enough tonight. Lord, give me the strength to make it through these last hours. Cuz I'm gonna need it.

24-36

That's about the amount of time I'll spend alone. Wait, I'm not alone I have 4 kids to take care of. The amount of time from when Emily left to when Zach comes home. Well, it may be a bit more than 36 but it isn't much. Emily's mom broke down on the way here and didn't come until last night to get her! She was about 2 hours away. Had to get a brand new car! What a nightmare for her I'm sure. Emily was just anxious for her mom to get here, although she didn't want to leave either.

I do miss her but its nice to not have an extra person, ya know? She didn't help out much so it was like taking care of another kid and I really didn't need that! I think Zach said he's leaving at midnight. He is crazy. I will worry about him all night and day!

Other than that I don't really have too much to post...

what is it???

Ok so I had quite the baby-sitter fiasco Friday night. I was rather frustrated about it but since have had time to cool. The sitter called me last night and then her mother a bit later so I felt better after talking to them and letting them know how I felt. I have not paid her for the time she WAS here nor do I really intend to and I honestly hope they don't expect it, ya know? I think most of my readers are on facebook and most of the story is on there! I was soooo angry though. I never get breaks out and really just wanted to enjoy my night, and was until the first phone call! I think its especially important for breaks with Zach being gone...it is not easy being with 4 children 24x7 for weeks on end!

Anyway, Zach comes home Friday (I think). It will be so weird to have him here. He hasn't really been here all summer. I'm really excited and glad he's coming home. I do wonder though if I'll be as 'busy'. Sure I'll have him here to help with the kids and all, I don't mean that. I mean busy enjoying summer...seeing new things, exploring, playing outside, going to the awesome parks we have. Zach's more of a homebody I think. Well, when he's been gone for how long and works all day I can't say I blame him. But that will be hard for me to adjust to! It's weird that daddy hasn't been around for so long- the kids probably won't know what to do!

Speaking of kids, yesterday Junior Squirrel said to me, "Mom, you're the cow and Sweet Pea is the bucket". It was soooo funny. He sure has been coming up with some funny things lately. This morning and again last week he told me that eh peed in his bed, that when he awoke his underwear were wet. Well, they didn't seem wet to me, neither he nor his bed smelled like pee. It's weird. I looked up about puberty but he's WAY too young for that (thankfully). So who knows.

Nothing is more annoying to me than the things my kids say to each other to get their way...
BS: JS, I want that
JS: No I do
BS: Fine, I'm Sonic
JS: (in the most whiney, girly voice) Alrigghhht

All day long I hear, "Fine I'm _____" and the whiney "Alright". How do I get them to stop that? Even if they're upstairs or in the basement I still hear it. It is frustrating!

Today my cousin's mom comes to town and they leave tomorrow. For awhile it was rather annoying having her here (I guess the 'excitement' wore off). It felt like I just had another kid to take care of. But the past few days have been better (maybe because I know she's leaving). Anyway, I'll have a few days to myself with the kids and then Daddy's here!!!

We did have plans with friends for the week but some friends are sick so we'll see how it all pans out.

Pics Part 1...perhaps

I have no idea if these pictures are in order. I picked which ones I wanted in the video but I think it put all from the album. I'm so tired of picture troubles. I wonder if I'd have such issues elsewhere???

complaints

I just don't understand the changes in the price of gas. I've watched it fluctuate so much I could puke. It was down to $2.11 on Sunday and yesterday back up to $2.24! How such a ridiculous hike in such a short time? And of course I needed gas yesterday...but I only put $10 in. I'm going to take advantage of the next time it's below $2.15! I don't see how the price of a barrel of oil can change that much. Stupid government!

I don't know why we bothered to go with the same people who built our fence to do our deck. It took them FOREVER to come and do the fence and now its taking the same to get the deck done. We told them we wanted a deck the last week of June or first week of July. And they still haven't been out. Now I'm sure it's really busy with everybody requesting these type of things in the summer but I WANT MY DECK!!! One thing they said about completing the fence was that the rain held them up. I was in MI so I'm not sure how much it really rained but according to my neighbor it didn't rain THAT much. I wonder if it will even be done by the time Zach comes back.

Speaking of Zach, I'm so tired of him being gone. He told me he figured he's been gone over 100 days since we moved here! Crazy! I'm quite used to doing it all alone by now. At first evenings were weird and horrible and seemed to drag on but now its no big deal. But I hate it. I hate that I get zero breaks. I hate that I do everything by myself. Sure my kids help out a bit here and there but it's nothing like when Daddy's here. It's not like he even helps out much, at least as far as housework type stuff, but he sure is a help when it comes to the kids. And they behave so much better when he's home. I feel like we're all in limbo because our lives are just turned upside down with Daddy gone. My children don't listen well to me at all, although I'm really trying to work on it! They need to learn to listen to mom. I'm sure it's not easy for them for their dad to be gone so much. And please don't tell me "At least he's not in Iraq" because YES I am grateful for that but that doesn't make it ANY easier right now! Until you're in my shoes you just wouldn't understand!

Ok, I think I'm done griping for now. At least as far as what I'm willing to share on here. There are more things I could complain about but I'll just keep my mouth closed!

babies grow too fast

OK, so here is Sweet Pea crawling to me as I sit on the couch. She's saying, "Mama, Mama" as she reaches the couch. Normally she gets up on her knees to reach for me. This time Emily said, "Oh my goodness, look" and there was Sweet Pea STANDING holding on to the couch! It's so bittersweet. I love to see my baby grow and learn new things yet I want her to stay little longer. Then she'd done it one other time too. What really stinks about it is that Daddy is missing it all!

Silly Squirrel

Junior Squirrel has really had me laughing lately. Yesterday morning he began telling me that Sweet Pea was going to marry a man named John Labertsons (no idea how to spell that). What is he a prophet?? Then he came up to me and said, "Mom, Booty Shaker bless you'd all over me", instead of sneezed! I'm still cracking up about that one! I can't remember if I told you the other day that he mentioned he wanted to shave. Today I believe he said something about having a moustache, wondering when he'd have one. He sure has been a silly one lately! Then you have his humor that isn't quite as funny, like saying in all seriousness and not so quietly that he wanted this one shirt in the JUNIOR GIRL'S section- totally a girl's shirt! He also wanted a girl's watch. Not funny JS, not funny! BUT you do have that sense of humor that keeps me laughing even when you're gone to bed and I remember your silliness. That's what my squirrel's all about!

the coolest place ever

Today we went to such a cool place with some friends. I'd seen pictures on my friend Sadie's blog and asked her where it was. I knew we just had to go there! Let me tell you that even though I didn't get that wet I had a great time! It was great to see the kids having so much fun and great to visit with friends! I have pictures but I'm not sure how to get them on here yet. Anyway, the place was called Ledges State Park. The river flows through the park and over the road. It was so fun to drive a bit fast through that water! Then the kids can splash in it and sometimes they egg the cars on to drive fast through it so they get real wet. It was cool. There were trails but we didn't go too far on the one we went on- we'll have to go back and try it another time. The one we went on said it was an old Indian trail. It was definitely a wonderful day.

This is another site with pictures of where we were...

I love deals!

So I've finally figured out all I'm using for our school for the coming year and boy I've already gotten some deals and steals! I must say I love trying to save money on homeschool materials. Here's a list of what we're using this year:

Chatterbox:
Bob Jones English, Spelling, Handwriting4
Math-U-See Gamma
Pearables Personal Help for Girls
Writing Strands

Junior Squirrel:
Bob Jones English, Spelling, Handwriting 2
Math-U-See Beta
The Gentleman's Series, Lessons in Responsibility for Boys by Pearables
Writing Strands

Booty Shaker:
Bob Jones K5 Beginnings (Phonics/English)
Math-U-See Primer
The Gentleman's Series, Lessons in Responsibility for Boys by Pearables

ALL:
Leading Little Ones to God
Mystery of History vol. 2
God's Design Science
Various read alouds

It's funny, I feel like I'm 'preparing' for school so early! Really I know I'm not, especially since I'll be teaching 3! I'm scared to do 3 children! I wonder if we'll be doing school all day long? I'm really excited to start the new year though (I always look forward to a new year of teaching). I love to see what my children (and myself) will learn. Once I get all my books ordered I'll have to let you know the savings!!! Do you have a favorite place where you get homeschool materials from? I need to look into my archives and see some of the places where I ordered from last year because I know I saved money last year.

out of the mouths...

Tonight on the way home from the fireworks Chatterbox asked something about the streetlights and how they turn off and on. She asked if there are people in them that turn them on and off! Then Junior Squirrel piped up and said he used to think that too! LOL

Ok, now I can't remember the other funnies but I know there were others. Junior Squirrel had Emily cracking up about something at dinner.

Sweet Pea has been pointing a bit lately. She also sometimes plays peek-a-boo. My sweetie is growing so fast!

Hopefully I'll remember the other funnies so I can share them next time.

something I received

This is something one of Chatterbox's friend's moms sent me. I thought it was so sweet and wanted to share. It really does make you feel good and like even when there are bad 'mom moments' you still have good ones and must be doing something right! Thank you Jesus!!!


K was playing with R this afternoon when a little spat happend. Later tonight we were talking about how to tell if people were your friends as R had her ask Shannon for something I had already said no about. She said " She made me ask" Which we responded that it was still a choice she made herself. That K could have told R that the answer was no and that she wasn't going to ask. We also explained a little about how true and good friends don't ask you to do things that are wrong. About 15 min after our discussion, K came up to me and said " my only true and good friend is Chatterbox, she never says hurtful things or asks me to do things I'm not supposed to like R and T." I asked her why she thought that CB was that way and she replied " Because she follows Jesus and the rules that God have given us."

I just wanted to share this with you as I know I sometimes wonder myself if we are getting the message through to our children and this is a good confirmation that both of us are.

Fun, Fun, Fun

So I'm trying to remember what we did on Friday but I'm drawing a blank! Oh, we went to the Capital building in Des Moines. We got to walk around inside and take some pictures. We also walked outside and looked at some of the grounds. There were some cool statues and things. It was so hot though, so then we just drove downtown a bit and headed to the store for groceries.

Yesterday was a busy, busy day. We were out the door around 8:30 in the morning for the Summerfest parade! Amazing to be out that early, and the parade was even more amazing! It was 2 hours long!!! I've never in my life seen such a long parade! And there weren't huge gaps between things either, like you see in some parades. It was a real good parade and the kids walked away with way too much candy. They even handed out dog treats so even Daisy got some treats (she wasn't there with us though). I got some good coupons for places too, though I haven't looked at them all yet. After that we grabbed some Taco John's and headed to the carnival. It wasn't quite open yet so we walked around to look at the various tents and the boys made some sort of thing out of wood (one of the 'attractions' that was free). I let each one play two games and they all chose fishing and throwing the dart at the balloon (what is that called?). Talk about giving chinsy, cheap prizes! Darn carnies! I played one where I had to shoot a gun at a plastic cup to win a prize. I shot horrible- Zach would not have been happy! Maybe I should let him teach me how to shoot a gun! But I did win this decent size purple dolphin that I gave to Sweet Pea. All the kiddos (well the three oldest ones) went in the Fun House and on the huge slide. Then Chatterbox and I went on the Bumper Cars, Junior Squirrel on the Swing thingy and Booty Shaker on the Carousel (he rode on a monkey, how appropriate). Emily didn't want to do any of it! After that it was time for the Touch-a-Truck so we headed that way and the kids got to sit in huge tractors, fire trucks, police cars, a tow truck, a snow plow and a few other things. We didn't do them all because by that point we'd been outside all day and we were tired and SP was cranky.

I was going to put water in the pool that I aired up Friday night but the pool was flat! So off to the store to buy a new one, but it isn't very big. I could not find the same pool that we already have and its a perfect size and I was too tired to go looking at every store. But the kids had fun playing in the littler one I did get. Sweet Pea was mad when I took her out at first, she wanted to sit right in it! And the water was COLD but she didn't care at all! Eventually I took her out and she nursed and fell asleep.

This morning we went to church at my friend's house. They're the ones planting a church and are trying to get it started! It was real good and even my kids were good! Then we went out to eat Mexican but I wasn't too thrilled. I have yet to find my favorite Mexican place here. I'd been to this one before but it's been awhile.

I've been itching to go through my homeshool items and see what I need to order but I haven't gotten there yet. I also keep meaning to share my Michigan pictures with you but they never turn out right when I try to put them anywhere! I even tried to put them in albums in Snapfish but they still were weird. Ok, I have a little girl who's trying to get smart by eating books so time to go.

feelin' good

It is so good to be home! We arrived Tuesday about 11 am. I managed to unpack and clean most of the house and then we were out. We went to VIP night at America's Incredible Pizza Company. It was insane the amount of people that were there. But we got to eat for free and then we each got a $10 game card to use to play (which totalled $60). Chatterbox and I played on Bumper Cars and then we all just played some games. We came home with lots of money left on our cards so we'll have to go back!

Wednesday we stayed home most of the day, then we headed to the chiropractor. Afterwards the kids rode their bikes and I visited with the neighbor a bit. Then we headed to Sonic (Emily had never been there) and to the library. We walked away with all sorts of books for the kids!

Today we were supposed to head to the park but the weather wasn't cooperative so we headed to Jester Park to see the buffalo, but they were so far away you could barely see them. We ate lunch at Okoboji Grill and came home. Here I came home ready to sit in all day because of the rain, so I changed into sweats and wouldn't you know its clearing up! Oh well, I am relaxed. I'm doing laundry and don't have much more planned for the day. I do need to go through the oodles of mail I have and file it all away and I should clean up parts of my basement since I just threw some things down there.

This morning Junior Squirrel asked me if he could shave! He said because CB took showers when she was 7, since he's 7 isn't he old enough to shave? It was hilarious!

I'm having a good time with my cousin, Emily. I try to keep us busy so she doesn't get too bored or homesick! I hope she's having a good time. Last night after the kiddos went to bed we played Scattergories.

we're almost there!

So, here's my weekly update if I can remember what I all did.

Tuesday we stayed home for most of the day. Kim, my stepdad, was going to baby-sit the three older kids so my mom and I could go and see My Sister's Keeper with her two friends. He 'watched' them at his parent's house, although I'm not sure how good you can watch kids when you're outside stacking wood (his parents ended up watching them, and I was not happy about it)! But at least he offered to do it and I got that night out with my mom. The movie was good, though not as good as the book.

Wednesday I was supposed to go to my cousin, Sherry's, for a BBQ but we rescheduled for Friday because the weather was so awful and rainy on Wed. So we just stayed home and indoors and that was just fine with me! Oh, that was the day we took a 2 hour nap! That was nice!

Thursday I went to visit my friend Kristy who I went to high school with. Another of our old classmates was there and it was nice to see them and their children. Oh, before that I took my mom out to dinner. I had my mom take the boys back to her house and just took the girls so I could enjoy my visit without my boys running around somebody's house!

Friday was the day I went to Houghton to see my family again. I went to eat at Ambassador, my favorite must-have restaurant when I go home (their subs are the best). Well, turns out I ran into my one Uncle that I haven't yet seen so he came to lunch with us (and paid!). That was such a GOD thing to run into him because I originally didn't plan to go there! Then I headed to see my Grandma & Grandpa one last time. They sure enjoy my kids and my kids really enjoy them, as crazy as my Grandma can be! We then went to Sherry's for the BBQ. My dad was only able to stay for an hour because they had to go and pick up their cat. That was a bit disappointing that I didn't get to visit with them much. I tried more than normal to see them more often than I normally do when I come up but it didn't amount to much. Oh well, at least I got to see them. I sure did enjoy visiting with Sherry, my Aunt Pauline & the kids though. Most times when I go home I don't see them too much (maybe one quick visit) so it was real cool to see them for such a long time. And my kids had so much fun playing there!

Saturday we went to the parade in Baraga. My mom handed out candy for her work and Chatterbox helped her so it was just the three younger ones and I watching the parade, but they had fun and were really good. I was next to this lady that looked so familiar and i asked her if she was related to the T's. She never did tell me her name and she wasn't related to them. She was a bit 'butchy' looking and had a little boy. She told me the various places she's worked but I've not been to them. Later it occurred to me that maybe she was a lesbian and I sure hope she didn't think I was hitting on her! Gosh, how embarrassing would that be! Then I thought maybe she looked familiar from the last parade I was at up there! After the kids got more candy (most of it I left at my mom's) we went to Kim's parents and had a little BBQ. It wasn't too eventful of a day but it was perfect.

Sunday we went to church. I sat with Sweet Pea in the nursery most of the service and ended up visiting with my friend Bethany. It was so cool to see her little boy and catch up. We had a bit of a scare wondering if somebody had pinkeye, which I think was part of the reason we stayed there with our babies and let the nursery worker go into church (although I don't like leaving my kiddos with anyone and wouldn't have left her). We picked up my cousin Emily and I packed and bathed the dog. My mom's neighbor, Gail, stopped by for a visit. It was cool because I was really hoping I'd see her!

Today we left about 9:10 am eastern time and got on the road. We stopped in Owatonna, MN around 5 for the night. Only 2.5 hours left of our journey home! The kids were really good today and we had good weather and a good drive. I am looking forward to being home tomorrow, it will feel SOOOO good! I hope to get all unpacked, grocery shop and clean the house. Hopefully the kids will play nice and Sweet Pea will not be cranky so i can do it all!

Overall I had such a good visit in the U.P. I got to see so many people I'd hoped to see which was such a blessing. I wished my mom had felt better so she wasn't so tired, but it was still a wonderful visit.

It's the middle of summer

And I'm thinking of school! I'm trying to figure out what to do this coming year. I thought about trying My Father's World but I don't think I will. I loved using Mystery of History vol. 1 for the past two years so I am just going to move on to vol. 2. Part of me is afraid to 'switch' history programs because I don't want to learn the things we've already learned! Then I was thinking of science and wondering what I would do about that. I think I'm going to try Answers in Genesis God's Design series. This looks awesome! Not only that but I can use it with all of my children at one time and it covers a variety of topics. I do like Apologia but my children (I think) would get burnt out on learning about only 1 thing over the year. Now I'm trying to find something more for Bible than just reading the Bible. Any ideas? I've got our Language Arts/Math covered.