We May Be in Trouble

This is MAD.

This is MAD sleeping in MY bed.

This is MAD sleeping in MY bed at 7:54 am.

Problem? We start school in a week and a half and MAD and I will be leaving no later than 7 am EVERY morning. I think we may be in trouble...

I Totally Agree

This blog is one of my favorites that I read all. the. time. Chris Jordan is funny, down to earth, pulls no punches, and is the mother of seven. And you all think I have a lot of kids! This post is so very, very true. Well, of course I have to change a few things:
#3 - Insert 'soccer' for 'baseball' and 'football'
#6 - I'm already there with the 2 dogs and a cat. Don't mention the farm to K, because we'll probably end up moving far far away from civilization
#7 - Preparing delicious, nutritious meals? Not me. I hate cooking. Instead I spend my time trying to figure out how to bake from scratch at high altitude. Much more fun and the kids eat every last bite!
#19 - Can't say that one, 'cause I live in Colorado....
But other than those, I think I could've written a lot of them! Hope you got a little giggle as you went through the list...

Bribery... I'm Not Above It

Yesterday, we had a LOT of errands to run.

Pick up JAD from school (WEBLeader training)

Go home to get the two things I FORGOT

Go to insurance office to sign some papers

Go to doctor's office to pick up MAD's shot records for daycare

Go to OfficeMax for school supplies (and have kids buy their 'own' supplies to beat the purchase limit)

Go to Kohls to return pants I bought for JAD (because I found khakis at Old Navy for 1/2 the price!)

Go to WalMart to finish shopping for school supplies

Go to Albertson's to return moldy raspberries (bought day before - irritating!) and get some needed groceries

Why do all this running in one day? Because then I only had to endure one day of hell instead of two. Get my drift?

Yes, I bribed the kids. With their free junior frostys they earned for being good at the dentist. If they behaved all the way through WalMart (that included NOT running through the clothes racks at Kohls and WalMart and NOT whining at me every 10 seconds), I would stop at Wendy's. Bribery is a beautiful thing because, as you can see, they made it. Parenting well is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Moving On Up

I took the next step in having an 'almost' teenager today. The kids have been making their own sandwiches and such for a while now (that's what happens when both parents work, right?). They find stuff in the frig and put it in the microwave, make all sorts of sandwiches, and pretty much fend for themselves during the day. No comments, please, on my lack of parenting skills - particularly in the area of making nutritious lunches. Today, however, JAD took the next step forward. He made mac-n-cheese. All by himself. Does that scare you as much as it did me? That's what I thought. Here's photo proof of his mad cooking skills:

Who said I was old enough to have a teenager? But hey, he's becoming more and more self sufficient! That's a catch-22, isn't it?

Oh happiness...

Yes, I am a geek. Crazy. Lame. Whatever you want to call me. But these make me happy. I am going to use them to organize my students' writing folders. My life will be easier. Believe me. Here's the pattern I bought:

Isn't it just CUTE??? CED and I spent almost an hour in the teacher section of Mardel's today. Oh, abundant, abundant joy. I love getting ready for a new school year...

Future Salesmen

Today we had a bake sale to raise money for JAD's soccer team. Money is going towards tournament fees (or just season fees). Only three families participated, so the boys split the profit three ways. We decided to set out items and not price them, instead only ask for donations. The boys raised $350 today! That's exciting considering we just had $116 shaved off JAD's fees. AND it made my 8 hours of baking yesterday in 95 degree weather with NO air conditioning feel more worth the effort.
Here's a picture montage for ya:



Aren't cupcakes just FUN? I adore cupcakes...


These brownies are actually made from scratch, loaded with chocolate chips and topped with a fudge frosting. I think each one weighed, no joke, about 1/3 pound. They are oh-so-yummy-chocolately goodness. If I must say so myself. And I must.


JAD and two of his teammates. These are probably his favorite teammates as well. They did a great job of asking people to donate money to the team. Good job, boys! Way to raise some money!

A Little Bit Warm

It's been a bit warm this summer. Like in the upper 80s and low 90s just about every day with the exception of 2 short 'cold' spells. We're not complaining AT ALL. Temps in the upper 80s and low 90s here is not bad at all considering we are usually BELOW 25% humidity. I'll take that ANY DAY OF THE WEEK over the Midwest humidity! However, our house does NOT have air conditioning, so it tends to get a little warm inside. Lilly is having a hard time with it and you can find her sprawled out all over the house. Keep in mind that this cat would hide for DAYS over the past years. Now she's out and screaming for attention constantly. Poor kitty is just trying to get cool, and with all that fur, she's having an awfully hard time. K keeps telling her that she should be shaved. I'd like to see that. In fact, I may PAY to see K shave her :)
The many poses of Lilly in less than a 2 hour time span:

Over and over and over again

Here is K's newest most favorite video. He says he can watch it over and over again ALL DAY LONG. He just loves Gunny...

America's Favorite Pasttime

Last Thursday we were supposed to go to a Sky Sox game (AAA affiliate to the Colorado Rockies). Because of bad weather, the game was postponed until Saturday night. Our tickets were turned into rain checks, but we decided that we'd go on Saturday and catch a double header. That's right, folks! 5 1/2 hours of baseball! We really did have a lot of fun. MAD spent her time split between watching the people behind us and searching out Sox the Fox, the mascot (otherwise known as her boyfriend). Everyone else seemed to enjoy just being out at the game. The weather was perfect and the Sky Sox won both of their games. A good night had by all!


JAD and his 'buddies'

It doesn't get much cuter than this face!

What's a baseball game without a cold beer?

All the kids - minus MED, who is hiding her head because she was mad at something totally inane, I'm sure.

We've already heard about a dozen times 'When are we going to another baseball game?' That's what $2 Tuesdays are for, kids :)

This is how I roll...

Three year old style.
Have candy, will travel.

Look Ma!!!

I can cut my hair!!! Oh yes she did... How she keeps finding scissors, I don't know, since I've confiscated many in the last few months. This time she really did it up. Good job, baby girl. Well played.

Why I Love...

where we live. Specifically, our cul-de-sac. Where else can my kids run pell-mell without fear of being mown down?

Snapshots of our Week

K's dad visited this week and we packed a LOT in. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Manitou Springs, Cog Railway and Pike's Peak, Pioneers Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science - including the BodyWorlds exhibit! Whew! We are beat! But we had a great time :)

Fifteen

Today K and I are celebrating 15 years together. Happy Anniversary, honey. I love you very much. Here's to FIFTY more years together!

I'm Convinced!

I'm convinced that EVERY TIME we have family visiting from out of town, we get crappy weather. When my parents were here in March, we had a spring snow storm that stopped most any activity from taking place. My father in law is currently here and we have cool weather (upper 60s/low 70s) and major thunderstorms. For days! What was the weather like last week? Sunny, upper 80s/low 90s. Weather next week? Sunny, upper 80s/low 90s. I think the Colorado spirits are trying to convince non-Coloradans that our weather here is just not that good.... what do you think? I'm convinced!

Independence Day

We spent our Fourth of July in laid back fashion. We ended up heading out to America the Beautiful Park in the Springs for an Art/Craft Fair. The fair itself was, overall, non-inspiring, but we'd never been to this particular park and we enjoyed walking around and letting the kids get some energy out.

This is Penrose Fountain. It actually moves, very slowly, and occasionally water flows from the very top. The bottom is filled with constantly running water and people of all ages are allowed to play in it.


CED, sporting her fashionable self, before heading into the fountain with her younger siblings.


Ahhhh... JAD being pensive. He was 'too cool' to join the others in the fountain. That's okay. He sat and talked with me.


Yes. It is what it looks like. They are picking their noses. I didn't get a picture of them flicking their boogers at the camera. You can thank me later. This is what we do in our free time to entertain ourselves - take goofy pictures that will later in life becoming embarrassing when shown to boyfriends and girlfriends. Yes, we are that mean.


A real picture of our beautiful children. They may drive us batty a good portion of the time, but we sure do love them a lot.


An end to a pretty good day. We went to a country club that is all of five minutes from our house. We were able to sit on the golf course, on a pond which put us right across from where they were setting off the fireworks. For many of the fireworks, we had to lean back in our chairs to watch the fireworks explode over our heads. It was great. We've never experienced fireworks this way. Happy Independence Day, America!

Money Tree Anyone???

Today JAD started his journey through orthodontics. The first order of the day was to be fitted with an expander. This is to spread out his upper palate in order to fit on the braces and correct his 100% overbite.


Here he is getting the mold of his upper teeth so the orthodontist can make the expander.


The Expander! This fits across the roof of his mouth.


Yes, these would be our orthodontists. All three are watching the highlights from the Brazil/Netherlands World Cup game from this morning. Where else can you find an orthodontist who will pull up highlights on his phone so you can watch them while he puts a tortuous device in your mouth?

Here is the final check. The final pushing, prodding and final positioning of the expander. The fun job is now mine. Twice a day for the next 2 weeks I have to insert a small metal rod into the middle of this expander and twist it. This slowly spreads his teeth out on top, which will make room for the braces on the bottom... whenever that happens.

JAD thinks that this is our way of torturing him without actually touching him. I say it's not. But we'll see how much I giggle each time I have to turn that expander...

Number One

I figured that I'd start writing this as a chronicle through my daily forays of being a mother of five. Someone once told me that my daily life would be great as a sitcom. Not sure if that was a compliment or an understated way of saying that I'm crazy and thus, by proxy, my offspring are as well. Two boys and three girls always make for interesting days. JED, being the middle child, is always good for a laugh and constantly puts himself in the center of anything possible. He is my daredevil - jumping ramps on his bike - and the consummate class clown. I am breathing huge sighs of relief that school is temporarily out. We are enjoying the relative quiet of not being called several times a week about his 'behavior'. He completely epitomizes the red hair he sports (currently in a mohawk). Last week at the fanfest for Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, JED watched motorcyclists doing jumps and acrobatic feats with their bikes. He immediately turned to his dad and announced that he wants to do that. Yep, that's my daredevil! JAD, the oldest boy, is incredibly bright and only has interest in soccer and air soft guns. Much to my bewilderment, he is going to be 13 in just over a month. I'm still trying to figure out how to prevent that one from happening. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be much obliged. :) His sarcastic mouth, unfortunately, doesn't fall far from the tree. I'd like to say that he gets it from his dad, but... CED, being the oldest of my three girls, is fully into the preteen mentality. Tears, frustration, slamming of doors... and she's only ten. Her dad and I are not sure that she'll live to be 13. She is every teacher's dream student - helpful, sweet, bright, hardworking, kind... and then she comes home. She, too, plays competitive soccer and is following in her big brother's footsteps and playing defense. On the flip side, she loves to shop - online and in stores! I still am waiting for that money tree to sprout in my backyard. MED is child number four and the epitome of all things sweet. Do you need a hug? A kiss? A boost to your spirits? MED is the one to go to! She is incredibly determined - last summer she learned to ride a two wheel bike, no training wheels, thankyouverymuch, and will not take 'no' or 'you're too young' as an answer. She won a scholarship to a conservatory this past spring and will be attending this fall to learn music, theater, and dance. MAD, our youngest, is determined to put her dad and I in an early grave. 'No' is not a word that exists in her world and she knows that she can do anything. She can swing higher than kids twice her age (and all on her own) and, I believe, she is preparing to walk across hot coals sometime in the near future. Shoes are an evil necessity that she shuns at every possible minute, instead opting to walk across rocks, blacktop and sticker weeds in her bare feet.
Hopefully I can capture the essence of our family as we wind, weave, stomp, cry and laugh our way through life.

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Conversation earlier this week:
MAD: Mommy, can I have a pop?
Me: No, honey. Not tonight.
MAD: But why?
Me: Because it's almost bedtime.
MAD: Then can I have a beer?

My reaction? Dismay? Yelling? Crying? Nope, hysterical laughter. Is that wrong? Try not to be jealous of my mad parenting skills....