It's Monday!

Mike spent the wee hours throwing up.  That's how our day started.  I got the 7 dressed, fed, and packed for school, delivered 6 to assorted schools, came home, fed baby, fed sickling toast, cleaned up house, started laundry, dishes, and made beds.  Now its time for me to eat.  My stomach will not allow me to wait another moment.  Okay.  Now I can think.  Let me update you on the kids

Oldest has baseball tryouts this week and has not touched a baseball in at least 6 months.  I feel like he is our Sue Heck.  Good thing there is Carrollton Boosters to play in the spring if the school team doesn't pan out.  He is also on the chess team at school and is playing basketball at Carrollton.  He has a very "Gambel" attitude towards school and grades and is driving his father crazy with his laziness.  I wish I knew what to say or do to motivate him to do his best work all of the time.  Unfortunately, I feel the same way he does.  He received a drum set for christmas and is loving learning to play those better.

Second child is playing soccer 4 days a week and is loving every moment he is on the field.  When not playing soccer, he is shooting hoops, playing with his friends, challenging someone to a chess match, or if all else fails, reading a book.  He used his christmas money to purchase an electric guitar, and is learning to play.  He is doing really well in school.  His teacher and classmates think he hung the moon.

My Girls are getting so big.   They both are playing in the chess club after school and taking piano lessons.  They are also playing basketball together.  3 is the point guard for their team and plays with such fierce determination that is entertaining to watch.  She loves making art and reading books.  She is also a wonderful assistant.  She loves to help cook dinner and is an excellent little brother wrangler.  She still buts heads with her older brothers and is trying to find her place in this world.  It can be hard to watch somedays, but it is definitely a more entertaining day when she is around.

4 has practiced shooting so much that they call her Automatic Ellen.   She thoroughly enjoys learning and will ask a million questions about a subject, but does it so quietly that sometimes you do not hear her.  She is reading and writing well beyond her grade level and is intrigued by math.  She asks tons of math questions and selects leapster math game to learn more.  She has lots of friends and is loved by her teachers.  She is the middle man in our family and needs extra attention.  I think she feels like the odd man out sometimes.

5 is playing his second season of soccer and is learning more and more with each practice and game.  He is a natural athlete and has the determination to become something to recon with on the field.  I am excited for him to be able to play baseball this summer.  He has been playing with his sibling for years and it will be fun to see him on the field.  He is often found riding his big wheel up and down the street, grinning from ear to ear, or killing the monsters with younger brother,6, in tow.

6 is my big boy.  He is sweet to his baby sister and plays well with the older kids.  He is thoughtful and sweet with his friends.  He is also 2.5, so he is willful, and belligerent sometimes too.  He loves books and puzzles and is very happy sitting quietly with a book or chasing down monsters for 5 to kill.

Baby girl is finally starting to settle down a bit and make life a bit more bearable.  She laughs and talks and sleeps more and more each week.  I'm hoping to get her schedule more defined so that I can better plan my day/weeks so as not to interfere with her sleeping and eating plans.

Mike is the assistant coach/stand in for the basket ball and soccer teams for the kids.  He is also getting ready for his JPRD team to resume games is a few weeks.  He is working really hard lately.  Maybe harder than he ever has.  I'm really proud of him and try to make things as simple as possible for him at home.  I feel like I fail at that more than I succeed, but I'm trying and that has to count for something.

Me?  Still tired, but not as badly in need of sleep.  Two cups of coffee each morning with my protein shake gives me enough of a boost to make it through each day.  I'm hoping to add some exercise time back into my life, but I know I have to take it slow.  Maybe my Lenten promise will be to exercise everyday no matter what.  It's just hard to find the energy.  It's comforting to know I usually get my 10,000 steps in each day, so its not like I'm sitting on my but all day.

Day 5 - Superbowl Saturday

Another exciting Saturday in our house.  9am Basketball Practice, 2:30pm and 5:20pm soccer games, and an exciting excursion to Babies R Us to purchase a stroller!

That's right, you are correct, I finally did it!  I finally picked a stroller that does everything I need it to for a reasonable price.  I am so happy that they have finally created one.  Gotta love Graco!!

The rest of the day will be chocked full of laundry, dishes and playing outside in this fabulous cloudless sky, 60 degree weather.  There is always nap time though, so we are inside now and enjoying the peace and relative quiet.

There is an intense chess game taking place, and assorted leapster and leappad games being played.  I'm sure someone will tire of that and resort to reading their latest favorite book.

I hope your Saturday finds you enjoying a peaceful moment too.

Day 4 -- Its Friday

So today is the Friday before the Super Bowl here in NOLA.  Of course 5 & 6 do not have school because of Parent Teacher Conferences.  I think they really just wanted to go downtown today and enjoy the party.  I, on the other hand, spent my morning at Sam's.  Woo Hoo!

On the brighter side, Miss Thing had a bottle at 1am, woke up at 2am, and again at 3am looking for her nuk, and slept until after 8 this morning.  That's what I'm talking about!  Now if I could only get her to repeat this over and over again...

I can actually think clearly.  Well, much more clearly than the day before:)  Today just might be the day I pick out a stroller for this little one.  Let me explain.  I never struggle to make decisions, that is, unless I am not sleeping.  Then I cannot make even the most simple of decisions.  It is frustrating to say the least, given the enormous number of decisions I make any given day.  Things as simple as "What's for dinner?", to "What are you going to do about it?" become impossible for me to answer and push me to tears.  And not because of the questions, but because of my complete inability to answer them.

So back to the stroller...do I get a double or single?  jogging or not?  simple to fold and carry, or lots of storage space?  What will I use it for?  What stroller(s) do I already have?  Do I really need a new stroller?

That one is easy...YES!  Umbrella stroller is moldy and jogging stroller doesn't collapse.

I know it would seem simple, but then there is the ultra "thrifty" part of me that doesn't see why I should spend any money on another stroller.  I could easily replace the umbrella for $20.  But it doesn't have storage space, and it is not good for little babies.  So I could get the latest and greatest Bob stroller, for the bargain price of $300...not!

So somewhere in between.  Good, there are only 500 strollers that fall into that category.  I'll look for a Graco (carseat) compatible stroller that folds easily and is rated well on Amazon, then just buy it. Unless the have it at Babies R Us.  Then I'll go pick it up.  Hope you have  a great decisive day!

Day 3

More ramblings from my day.... This morning started off crazy.  Mad dash from bed, get kids up and moving, make lunches, make sure they are dressed appropriately.  Mad dash back to bedroom to shower and dress before older 4 leave.  Dress and feed 3 youngest.  Load them in car, drop at school, head to HNJ to make float, turn around (forgot supplies and king cake for class)  Head out again for HNJ, arrive a little late, but I got a great parking spot!  Make float while nursing baby.  TRy not to get super glue on said baby.  Clean up, admire floats of others, smile.  Load up and get out before fire drill begins.  Baby screaming because she's still hungry (only ate one side).  Head to Mikes office, but have to stop for gas...running on fumes.  Still screaming...arrive at office and screaming stops.  Typical.   Hangs out with Dad for a while.  I return emails.  Then Mike has meeting so I feed her and the head out again.

Back home again.  Feed dog, eat breakfast, baby spits up on me and herself.  Change baby.  Baby poops.  Change baby.  Change Mom's shirt.  Start laundry. Run dishwashers.  School calls...4 is sick with stomach ache.  Teacher assures me its for real.  Call Mike.  no answer.  Text mike to pick up 4 asap.  She throws up on the way to the car.  I picked up 5&6 from school, got pills for Dad, dropped them to Pat, refused a commercial, again, headed home to make lunch and run the sick ward.  As of now, 4, 6 & 7 are sleeping.  We need to leave NOW to go pick up carpools in order to be home again for music lessons, basketball games and soccer practice tonight

I guess I should cook dinner too.  Oh and exercise.

Am I busy...nope;)

Day 2

Here we go again.  6&7 are sleeping, 5 is playing with his Leapster laptop.  I just arranged a play date for 2, signed up for camps for 1-4, paid some bills, arranged for a donation pick up and cleaned my house from yet another case of lice.  Oh, and restrained myself from firing an architect who cannot seem to understand a budget.  and that was all after I fed and cleaned up lunch.

Hello, my name is Super Mom, nice to meet you.  The kids are all getting started in their spring sports, basketball and soccer, at Carrollton Boosters, and the daily schedule of games and practices is enough to make me want to force them all to quit.  We limit them all to one sport at  a time and we do seem to manage the chaos, but it is just that...CHAOS.  I feel the stress of dragging a 2 month old to soccer practice in the rain.  I feel the stress of impending hours of homework after practices. And then there are dreaded mealtimes that can best be described as feeding disgruntled gremlins who are hungry only for junk.

Yeah...fun times.  This stuff doesn't bother the kids though.  I am the only one who feels the stress of it all.  I guess its good that its just me, because if the kids felt this, we would discontinue everything until stress subsided.

Oh, and Super Bowl is this weekend.  Yay.  And Mardi Gras is next weekend, followed by kids home for a week.  Double Yay.

I am rambling.  I have no focus.  Maybe I will get better at blogging the more I do it.  For now you will get these ramblings from the over worked, sleep deprived, stressed out mom of 7 young children who is still trying to figure out how to do it all.

Seven

I'm not going to sugar coat it...Life with 7 is pretty challenging.  Baby doesn't like to sleep, although she is getting better each week.  And the older kids are more and more argumentative each day.  I want one day where they all do what they know they are supposed to do without a knock down, drag out fight to make it happen.  It's exhausting. And I am majorly sleep deprived as it is.  It is hard to remember what needs to happen each day, much less keep track of who sat where int he car last so we can "keep it fair".  AHHH!

One day at a time, right?  

This too shall pass, right?

Will I remember any of this??  Really?  Will I?

Judging from the recollections of older moms I know, the definitive answer is NO.  There is no way moms remember the first few months of life with new baby, because its really hard, and really exhausting.  

I can remember being told that it only gets harder as they get older, so enjoy the little kids, little problems, moments in time.  I'm not sure it gets harder, but it certainly changes.  My 10 year old is difficult, but not any harder than the 2 month old.  Just as challenging, though.  I spend my days trying to translate what they are each telling me in their own way and dealing with their problems, no mater how big or small.  Because I do know that no matter what it is, it seems HUGe to them, and they want help.  

There in lies the problem of a big family.  How does one very sleep deprived mom, and one over worked dad find time, energy and patience to interpret the requests and meet the demands of all these kids?

Rest assured...we do.  But it is definitely at the cost of personal time, or as I call it... sleep.

They are staying after school today for Chess, and the 3 babies are sleeping...nope make that 2 are sleeping and one just came to ask for a snack.  Guess its time to resume my day.  Maybe I'll find time again to post some insights into my days.  Til then....

The smell

We spent a few days trying to figure out the source of "the smell" that had now taken over our home.   We spent the weekend with windows open and candles lit, cleaning every nook and cranny for the source of the smell.  Is it a lost diaper?  Sippy Cup gone very wrong?  maybe a kid hid food somewhere and its rotting?  We noticed that with the A/C off, it seemed to get better.  So on Monday, when the smell had gotten so bad that I couldn't get out of the house fast enough, I called Patrick and insisted that something must have died in our air ducts.  Could he please send out someone who can help me look in them to determine what happened?

Well, the poor guy who came out could make it to the den before gagging.  He exited through the kitchen door, masked up, and came back in armed with Febreze to lead the way.  He agreed that it was horrible and could not find and evidence that anything was in an air duct.  He got us some air neutralizer that helped with the smell, but certainly was not enough.

The next day, Billy and Alex arrived with sheetrock knife in hand and we began looking for the stinky animal.  After 6 holes in the ceiling, and no dead animals, Alex climbed into the return air and began cutting holes in the wall.   On his second hole he declared, "Oh, Mr. Billy, it's my lucky day!"  He had found the dead animal, a HUGE raccoon had fallen into the wall and died.  It was so gross that Mike and Billy exited the house.  Poor Alex and I worked together to get the raccoon out of the wall and out of the house.

After cutting away the sheetrock from the other side of the wall and cleaning the 2x4's with bleach and lysol, Alex and Billy left and the sheet rock repair team arrived and began patching our holes.  They finished the next day and we were happy that it was such a quick fix.  The scent, however, took its time completely leaving our house.

I am happy to report that the scent is now gone and we are back to the usual culprits of stink in our house...dirty diapers:)