No pictures yet. However, I offer to you Mission Monday. Please say that in your head with a loud voice and an echo. It makes it sound WAY cooler!

Go check out my friend Carmen at www.momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com That is NOT your mission. Your mission is to follow Carmen's mission. Today, as hard as it may be, be super duper nice to someone who has bothered or offended you, someone you loathe or cannot stand to be around. Do it up right. You don't have to go ask for forgiveness or anything, just do something nice.

We are headed to the zoo today, I think, so I hope to have cool pictures when I return!

Holy cow! You don't get my pictures today. Instead you will get a picture of each of my kids, all taken by my SIX YEAR OLD! I let her use my camera and take some pics. She did an amazing job with focus, composition, and capturing the individuality of each child. Lydia rocks!

They are lined up in order of age. Celeste 7.5 is holding Isaac. Then Lydia's self portrait. Then William 4.5. Then Samuel, 20 mos old. And Issac 2.5 mos old.

A woman of few words today! Isaac, being his cute self again. The bottom picture is Lydia with my Mother-in-Law. She is arguably the best MIL in the world. These pics were taken last night at her house, where she invited us to dinner. We love Momeena!

I am loving this taking pictures every day thing!
1. Samuel wearing a necklace or two. He loves them. He also has my used purse now too.
2. William, clean up your blocks please.
3. counting colors
4. Isaac relaxed!

I ate a healthy lunch today. My challenge for you today is to NOT eat all the leftoever food on your child's/spouse's/friend's plate. You do not need to eat the rest of the rice or the chicken or the ice cream because "There is just a tiny bit left." Toss it. Or put it away. DON'T EAT IT!

ok. in black and white, which somehow demands lower case letters, all artistic or something. Anyway, the b&w tones down the overwhelming stripes that the color photo had. It is amazing that the baby is so cute in black and white!

Yipes Stripes! Isaac fat monkey baby lying on my dining room table. All super striped he is, Not to mention cute!

breathe
breathe
drink a glass of water
breathe
walk for 20 minutes

There, you just made your day much better. You increased your water intake, you took a moment to catch your breath, and you exercised a bit. Don't you feel better now? No? Ok, then go have a margarita. If that doesn't make you feel better, you are on your own!

ok, how much Christmas money did I get Carmen wants to know. Well, I got Christmas money for me, Nathan, plus all five kids. So, it was quite a bit. It came from my grandmother who had a stroke. My mom and Uncle went to the bank to check on Hazie's, that's my grandmother's name, accounts. She had WAY more money in there than she could ever use. Her house is paid for; she doesn't drive but has a practically new car anyway; and she lives in a small town in Mississippi. The cost of living is not that high! So, my mom and uncle decided to spread the wealth. Hazie has 6 grandchildren. Five of them are married, and my aforementioned Middle Sister is engaged to be married in June. Hazie has 11 great grandchildren. Each grandchild and greatgrandchild got a check. I think even Middle Sisters's fiance' got a check.

By the way, Celeste dubbed the fiance' Almost Uncle Walton over Christmas holidays. She says we sill call him Uncle Walton once the wedding happens!

So yea, we got a nice chunk of change for Christmas. And the Dodge dealer will thank us when they GET THE SPRINTERS IN!!

Here is my picture of the day for Tuesday. I took lots on the way to Nashville. You don't get any for Wednesday as the day was taken with a funeral, burial, lunch, a trip to Joann's, and a LONG drive home. I will try to get some pictures today though.

The picture was taken along I-65. I always love
the drive to and from Nashville to Alabama. I saw amazing changes in season while driving. This was just a shot I took amongst about 100. I love th contrast of the "naked tree" as we call them and the bright green of the cedars. I didn't do any touching up of the photo. This is simply cropped and posted. Cool, huh!

Ok, so we got Christmas money. My sisters have posted what they are doing with theirs. The Middle Sister, who seems a tiny bit bitter about the whole thing, needs to get over it! She is getting married this summer, so she is getting plenty of money to throw at caterers and florists and so on.

Also, it isn't like we will be spending our money on frivolous vacations or lobster dinners. Oh no. We will be using our money in a very responsible way.
1. Check to church for a portion.
2. Piano for the kids, and for me, plus lessons for the girls. This is because I love the piano, and my dad will NOT get off my back about getting lessons for the big girls. William will get them when he gets bigger.
3. Dodge Sprinter. We have five kids. They are all in booster or carseats. They don't all fit in our minivan unless Celeste sits in the front seat. So, when the 2007 Sprinters start rolling off the assembly line, we are buying one.

Let me tell you about this amazing van. Room for up to 11 people. We will probably get the 10 seater. There are eight seats in the back, each with it's own cup holder, arm rest, seat belt, etc. Also, this is a diesel engine. It gets TWENTY FIVE miles to the gallon. I am thrilled with the gas mileage on this thing! You have probably seen them about town disguised as church buses or DHL delivery vans.

The biggest decision is deciding what color? What do you think a mom of 5 would drive?

Well, you get another extra photo today. Some of my friends are doing a 365 pictures this year deal. Their blogs are simple, concise, and mostly contain pictures. I, however, don't know to shut up. So, if you don't like all the verbage, just look at the pretty pictures and ignore the words.


Now, we move on to photos! The first is entitled brotherly love.
Now that Lydia is in real school, we have Tuesdays and Thursdays just for the boys. I put Isaac on the floor so the big brothers could see him with less danger for injruy. I went to check on them and William was reading to them. Isn't this super cute! Oh, and William found Lydia's hat, so he wore it. I think he looks good in pink and fluffy!










Now, the second photo! I took this before the sun
had burned off the clouds. I call it lonely. Is there anything more sad than a playground with no children on it? It was just such a cool pic with the sun peeking over the Baptist church in the background of our backyard. Also, it is a nice reminder that we could really stand to grow a tall evergreen hedge along the fence.

Today is Monday. It is also Lydia's first day of school. We have been homeschooling for the last semester. Most of what we did fell under the theme of unschooling. During this time, my sweet little girl figured out addition, subtraction, and multiplication. She is also reading a bit. She is smart as a whip!

So, you get three photos today! You get Lydia in pajamas. Then you get an official "First Day of School" picture, in her official made by mama first day of school outfit. As an added bonus (does this sound like an infomercial yet?) you get a " Crazy Lydia" picture.

Granny died yesterday afternoon around 4pm. She went quietly. She was 95 years old. She has gone on to her great reward.

Hey! I heard I can add photos! I see how, but let me try it out. If this works, you can see Isaac's rocking mohawk from today! Do you think that was enough exclamation points?

Did you get money for Christmas? Did you get a gift certificate? How did you use it? I want to know what YOU bought yourself for Christmas!

There was some private adult time at my house last night. Let's just leave it at, a good time was had by all, a very good time in my case.

Moving right along...

Granny is not doing well. Nathan and his whole family got to sepnd some time with her on Friday, which was good. However, she has a staph infection, so the kids can't go see her, so bad. They have her on morphine now, so she is comfortable. On Friday, the doctors said her lungs were pretty much full of fluid. It is just a matter of time. She is 95 years old and has had a good life.

On the heels of the "I need to lose weight" confession, I have one more thing to confess. I am addicted to fabric. Really really addicted. I have ordered quite a bit of spring fabric in the last 2 months. I have got to get sewing. I am going to try to make most of my children's clothing this spring. I will still buy t-shirts and polo shirt for the boys. The reward versus effort on those is far too small for me to attempt.

also, my middle sister is getting married this summer. I am going to make some gorgeous heirloom dresses for my girls to wear. I haven't done anything like this is quite a while. They will be soft blue, to match the bridesmaid dresses. I promise to share pictures when I finish them. However, that means someone will have to tell me HOW to get a picture in here!

We got Christmas money from my grandmother. Stay tuned to see what we buy with it. I promise it will be exciting!

I think it is a vast small person conspiracy. I love my sweet baby Isaac. I really really really do. And 99% of the time, he is an AMAZING kid. He sleeps incredibly well, so well that I won't tell you because if I do the parenting gods will get me. He nurses well, likes to nurse. Is content out and about. Sleeps in the car, even on trips.

But, for some reason, he KNOWS I am trying to get something done today. I am trying my best to get caught up on laundry a bit. He fussed himself to sleep a little while ago. He slept MAYBE 20 minutes, and is now up again.

He wants to nurse. But he isn't hungry and doesn't need it. He will eat, then be happy, then burp, then puke up most of what he just ate. His tummy is still mostly full from what he ate about 45 minutes ago.

However, it is not advisable to argue with a two month old. At least not for long! Off to feed my young!

We went to Sam's this morning. In case you don't know what Sam's club is, imagine your favorite grocery store. Now supersize everything! It is a big bulk buying club. We have a business membership, so we get to go earlier than most members, very cool.

I got 90% of my grocery shopping done. Then I had FUN! They had Hershey's miniatures mixes. I haven't seen these since I was a kid! My great grandmother kept a jar of them on top of the table for Sunday nights when the whole family got together. I bought 2 bags, one to send to each of my sisters. I also got a big bag of Hershey's Special Dark minis. Dark chocolate is actually GOOD for you, dontcha know! I got my mom 2 zip up cardigans.

Also, they had ORGANIC clothing! 100% organic cotton tops and pants! I got 4 shirts and 2 pairs of workout pants. Woohoo! So now I have good new workout clothes. And they are soft and comfortable.

What do you love from your childhood? What fun food memories do you have?

Two sick great grandmothers and a broken Grand. My mother's mother had a stroke a few weeks ago. She is coherent. She remembers all of us, including her 11 great great grandchildren. But when they come to visit, she doesn't remember the visit. She is 85 years old.

My husband's mother's mother (did you get that?) went into the hospital a week and a half ago. She had pneumonia. We were told that she would be out in a couple of days. We had planned to go see her last weekend, but she was still in the hospital so we decided to wait. Last night, my MIL called to say the doctors said that Granny wasn't doing well. My husband and sister in law are on the way there now to see her. She will probably not make it through the night.

I talked about my mom in my last post. Go read it. She is in good spirits and doing ok. But she is onlu 58 years old. She was a very active Grand before she hurt her back. I want her to get well soon.

The upside? My children are all well. I registered Lydia for Kindergarten. She starts on Monday and is thrilled! Celeste went back to school yesterday. William went back today. Starting next week, I will have three days a week when I only ahve two small boys in my immediate care. I like that!

Dear Friend,
I appreciate it so much that you pick Celeste up from school every day. I appreciate it more than you know. I appreciate that you came by to get Lydia for Daisy Scouts. Really, I do.

But you KNOW that I have small children. You KNOW it is 2pm, naptime. Please, PLEASE do not come down the hall yelling for me.

Thank you,
Hayes

I am now holding a completely overwrought Isaac. He has been up almost all day, since about 9am. He is exhausted and fighting a cold. I had finally gotten him to sleep. And she stands RIGHT ACROSS from his door talking loudly.

Off to console little bit.

DUDE! This is an example of how NOT to blog. It has been a year and a day since I last posted. This is also a great way to see how quickly things change.

Now, I have FIVE kids! Celeste is 7.5, Lydia 6, William 4.5, Samuel 20 months, and Isaac 2 months old. I am NOT going to try to catch you all up on our entire last year. Instead, I am just jumping in feet first and posting.

The thing is, I have had LOTS of stuff rattling around in my brain the last few months. I need someplace to get it out. Sinc eI spend so much time sitting at my computer anyway, returning to the blog seemed like my best bet.

My mom does not have cancer. For a little while there, we thought she did. But she doesn't, and for that I am amazingly thankful. The brief rundown was that last Wednesday, we were almost certain she had cancer. We had it announced at our church. I got so many hugs and so much support. And I know my mom got TONS of prayers that night. Thursday morning, my dad talked to the nuerologist. He said the MRI showed a probable infection entering through 2 slipped discs. He suspected this was the problem, not the cancer. The infectious disease specialist agreed. Friday, the guys who read a test said,"We don't see any cancer. We will send it to the BIG IMPORTANT LAB to be sure."

Guess what, they were right. No cancer. So now my mom has MSSA, way better than cancer. She is on SERIOUS antibiotics. Unfortunately, she is still in a LOT of pain. Any small twitch makes her yell out in pain. She has a fentanyl patch and is taking Lortab. She hates Lortab as it makes her loopy. But she hates being in pain more.

HUGE SHIFT IN TOPIC AHEAD!

My kids are great, except for the messiness. (I warned you!) I moved all of my girls' clothes into my closet. I got tired of washing clean clothes and having to get them dug out from under the bed. Now, every morning, I give them their clothes for the day. So far, they actually LIKE IT! The upside for me, is I pick their clothes so they are always dressed appropriately. Also, I got rid of lots of their clothes. I realized I hadn't done their laundry in a week, and they still had plenty of clothes to wear. So I culled and donated stuff.

Another topic shift, beware

I am fat. WOW! That came out all wrong. What I meant was, I have had 5 babies in 7 years and I have some mommy weight to lose. That being said, I am fat. My middle sister is getting married June 2nd. My other sister and I are Matrons (does anyone else HATE that word as uch as I do?) of Honor. I WILL NOT be the big fat bridesmaid. Ya got that? Thanks to inspiration from my friend Carmen over at http://momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com I am using a couch to 5K program. So far, I have done ok! I am upping my water intake and eating better. My goal is to lose 50 pounds by June 2nd. I know it is a lofty goal, but I am going to do it.

One more topic shift
Have I mentioned I have a touch of ADD?

Anywho, I need help keeping my house clean. I have tried really hard to do it myself, but it usually ends up with a nervous breakdown, neglected children, and an irritated husband. So, I have had help. The best help EVER was from my Kathryn. She started out by babysitting when my oldest was little. Kathryn was homeschooled, so she could come during the day and watch Celeste. Then, she went away to college. She has some pretty severe food allergies and kept getting sick, so she came home where she could control her diet better. She came when I needed her. Then, we moved. I asked her to come on for real. We paid her. We loved her. She got pregnant. She now has a gorgeous little girl who is 2 months old.

During Kathryn's maternity leave, I went through 2 other folks who helped me with cleaning. Neither did as good a job as Kathryn. One was good when she came, but was rather unreliable. How hard is it to pick up the phone, or send an email saying,"You suck. I am never coming back"? The second woman was pretty good, but it was like a constant game of hide and seek. My measuring cups were in lots of different places. She kept putting my spices in the pantry, not the cabinet where the baking stuff was. She kept mixing up my kids clothes too. With the girls, I totally get it. They are only 16 month apart, so their clothing sizes are very similar. But the boys? William is 4. Samuel is 1. I kept finding William's sweaters in Samuel's stuff and Samuel's pants in WIlliam's drawers.

Oh well. I sent Kathryn an email yesterday, basically begging her to come back. Her mom lives 2 miles from us, so mom can watch the darling baby. I also told her that Rebecca was welcome here, as we have all the necessary baby stuff, namely diapers, and a safe place for her to nap.

She said YES! I was so happy, I called my sister to tell her. HOORAY! I will not go crazy anymore. I will be able to find my underpants. And the pacifiers will be in the drawer, where Kathryn puts them. I love my Kathryn.

Ok, that's all, for right now. But as my brain fills with annoying random thoughts, I will be sharing them with you!