The basketball jersey

My oldest, Amanda plays basketball on the girls junior high team. They have three uniforms that they have to wear. One for scrimmages and practices, one for home games and one for away games. Amanda is well aware what her basketball schedule is. She has it posted in the kitchen and carries a copy in her backpack. Yesterday, I had to work, so I wasn't home in the evening (I work afternoon shift). She knew she had a game today, but didn't make sure she had her jersey for today.

So this afternoon she calls home (a half hour before she needs the jersey) and tells me she couldn't find it this morning and asked me if I would look for it. I said well I'll try but I'm not promising anything. I looked in her bedroom. Now if you can remember back to being a teen and how many clothes you had, you can imagine what her room looks like. Clothes everywhere! I looked in the laundry room, in the hamper, behind the couch, in the little boy's toybox, behind the tv, in the other kid's closets, every where I could think of, I looked.

I look and look and the whole time I'm thinking, why am I looking for this thing. She knew she had a game today. She should have taken better care of it. She shouldn't have waited until the last minute. Does she think I can just jump up once I find it and run it to her, because I can't - I have to get her little brothers ready first. I shouldn't have to be looking for it, it's not my responsibility.

I kept looking and thinking about it. Why was I looking for it? It must be mom guilt. I would have felt bad, if she couldn't play at that game today, because she didn't have her jersey. So I kept looking and looking for it, until she called and asked if I found it. I told her no and I looked everywhere. God's honest truth. I have no idea where that jersey is.

Amanda said, oh well I guess I just won't play today, I'll just sit on the bench and watch instead of play. Now, she didn't seem that upset over it. I actually think I was more upset than she was. Why do I let myself feel that way. Deep down I know she was responsible for it, deep down I knew it wasn't my fault. Deep down I know there wasn't anything I could do about it and yet I felt terrible, like I let her down of something. It has to be mom guilt that makes me feel that way.

hmmm, peanut butter

Just had to share what my little darling did today. He found a jar of peanut butter, opened it and decided he would eat some. He also thought the cat was hungry. So my sweet, precious baby smeared peanut butter all over himself, his jammies, his hair, the cat - yah, you read that right. He smeared it all over the cat, LOL!! The floor, and the walls. Oh, he looked like he was having a blast doing it too. So I thought I'd share with all of you just how much fun my little wonder had. Just don't pay any attention to my messy house :) Did I mention that I also have to work today? I now have to clean up mess monster, the cat and the house, all before I go to work - all in 2.5 hours. Oh what a lovely day, I'm having!

Before:



The poor cat



In the tub, before bath





After



With his big brother, who used to do this type of stuff



And big brother

Oh My God!!

My house stinks, literally!!

My downstairs is covered in poo water!!!! Yah, that's right, our sewer backed up! And we live in a split entry house. Our laundry floor is covered (at least 3 inches deep in nasty, stinky water), my bathroom downstairs is covered in poo and poo water, and it started to seep into the familyroom and garage. Rich took all the laundry to the laundry mat, because it was all laying on the floor. Everything was wet and nasty. I was supposed to work, but I had to call off to clean up the mess and wait for the plumber. We have to pay a plumber for weekend hours too.

Sucks BIG time!!!

I was so upset, I almost had an asthma attack. I started up a load of clothes, and while I was still down there sorting through the clothes, I saw all this water flowing into the laundry room. When I looked in the bathroom, water was shooting out of the toilet like a big gesyer (sp?). Water and crap went all over the bathroom walls, toilet, and also shot out of the shower drain. It was nasty, poo water! So GROSS! I shut the washer off and ran upstairs to tell Rich. I had to take pictures for the insurance company and everything.

I'm so grossed out right now. EWWWW!!!

Update: We bleached down everything in the laundry room, bathroom, garage and family room. It's all clean now, and sanitized. The plumber said that we have a sunken pipe and it will cost 15 hundred dollars to fix, on top of the 250, for fixing the mess and cleaning the drain. This just after the gas company came and told us we had a leak and since it was outside the house we were responsible for fixing it. Just got the grass to grow in nicely and now it's getting dug up again.

You would think by now, I'd be used to it

I think at some point at least every one of my kids have done it. It always takes me by surprise the first couple of times they do it. I don't know why, but you would think by now I'd be used to it (especially since I've been through this five other times).

This morning, Nicholas yelled "Mommy, Nathan took his diaper off." Off I run. Of course the kid pooped in his diaper before he took it off. He didn't play with his BM, but I just caught him before he leaned up against the couch with his poopy butt. Oh, I hate that!! What is the big deal with taking off the diaper anyway?! Why do they do that?!

Nathan thinks it's hilarious when he takes his off and I start running after him. He laughs and runs around. He probably thinks his mommy is a ding a ling for chasing after him. I thought I had some time before he started taking off his diaper. I think my older kids started doing it around 2. So if he's this early doing this, what other adventures am I in for? Oh boy!

It's funny how much you forget about when your kids get older. Unless you write it down, you'll forget all about the crazy things your kids put you through. And if you are fortunate enough to have more than one child you will relive each moment like it was Groundhog's Day with each child!

Oh the fun, wonderful adventures of being a mom!

Spiders

A week or so ago, I went to a farm about ten minutes from my house. They were selling pumpkins, hay bales, corn stalks, etc. So I bought some things to make a fall/Halloween display. Loaded them up in my van, the farmer came and helped me. I unloaded the car and set up all new stuff, including a scarecrow that I bought as well. Never gave it another thought.

Until.....

Two days later Rich and I had to drop off his car at the garage to fix his mirror (long story). I was following behind Rich in my van. About half way there I noticed a brown spider sitting on my dash about 12 inches from my face. No big deal to some people, but I'm scared to DEATH of spiders. Anything creepy and crawly really, but spiders are the worst for me.

Anyway, I was so freaked out!! I half thought I should call Rich and have him stop and come kill the spider for me! I knew he would think I was a nut, but the man would have stopped in a heartbeat to kill it, cause he knows how freaked I am about them. I managed to drive to the garage and jumped out of the car, leaving Nathan and Nicholas in there (LOL).

We got all the important stuff out of Rich's car and were going to get in mine, when I saw that the spider wasn't where it was seen last. I was freaked and told Rich I wasn't getting in a car that had a spider in it. All the guys at the garage were laughing about it. Rich found the spider and killed it.

Afterwards he said that it was a weird looking spider. And that he was surprised I didn't pull the car over and call him to come kill it (LOL). I said, next time, I go to the farm, I'm taking his car. So he can deal with those nasty little things.

Another spider story....

Yesterday I went down to the laundry room to wash some clothes, when I picked up a sock a spider flew out. Yes, I know spiders don't fly, but I swear this one did! So I screamed and ran out of the room. Rich wasn't home so I figured I had two choices face my greatest fear, or not do the laundry until Rich came home. I chose the first one, simply because we were running out of socks and I didn't want to wait any longer.

So I grabbed Rich's shoe (hey I wasn't going to use one of mine) and went back into the laundry room. I very cautiously picked up clothes and started throwing them in the washer, when I saw that spider again. I almost had a heart attack! I must have whacked that sucker for a full ten minutes, worked myself into a nice asthma attack. When I was done, I put the shoe on top, just in case I didn't kill it.

When my oldest son, Anthony came home, I had him go downstairs to the laundry room again. Anthony took the shoe off of the spider and wouldn't you know it, it was still alive, barely breathing, but alive. I freaked out and ran! Anthony stepped on it and picked it up and flushed it down the toilet.

Oh my God! And so ends my spider stories, boy I hope I never have another one to tell. Hey a girl can dream you know.....

Dentists....

Oh my aching mouth!! I had a dentist appointment today and I had a root canal done.

Oh, talk about PAIN!!

The dentist gave me script for Vicodin, I don't think Tylenol is going to cut it this time. I'm a big sissy anyway when it comes to pain, don't ask how I gave birth 6 times ~ LOL! I only did it without meds twice. And I hate dentists, I'm scared to death!!!!

I went to my childhood dentist about 7 years ago and he started working on some cavities, I told him I was in pain, but he kept working. I was scarred for life! Wouldn't go to another dentist for 4 years.

Rich finally found a dentist that was excellent and liked to work with chickens (like me). This dentist is the sweetest guy. He numbs me up really well and continues to ask if I'm okay, if I need more meds throughout the procedure. He is very good and really sensitive to those who are afraid.

My next adventure is crowns. I need nine. I was so afraid to go the dentist that my teeth got really bad. I hate to smile because of it. So I'm really glad we have the dentist that we do. He is making my mouth and teeth look nice. Soon I'll be proud to smile and my teeth will look pretty too.

Off to LaLa Land, because the Vicodin is kicking in....

No keyboard for a month!!

It's been forever since I've been able to type anything here. Someone spilled something on my keyboard and fried it, this is the second time it happened, so Rich was going to try to fix it, but it was too far gone. So he went out today and bought me a new one. I have been in typing heaven!! I wasn't able to check my e-mail since I use a password to get into it, and couldn't type in the password, so I couldn't check my mail. Both boxes were flooded and I had a slew of people to get back to. Boy my fingers are starting to hurt now! And, I still have some catching up to do!

The Wedding

Today, my younger brother got married. It seems so strange to me! The wedding was beautiful, so was the bride. My brother was looking handsome. Nicholas was the ring bearer and of course, he looked adorable!! I can't wait to see the pictures.

My sister told me today that sometime soon, we are all going to have our picture taken (that's 8 from my bunch, 4 from my sister, 2 from younger brother and 3 from other brother ~ 17 people total) as a Christmas present to our mom. That will be nice! I'd like to have a picture of it as well. So I'm off to lose more weight to look nice in the picture, I'd hate to be the fat one.

It's funny how at weddings, family you haven't seen in ages come out of the woodwork. My aunt and uncle who I haven't seen since my other brother's wedding (6 years ago) came today. We don't see them much, since my dad died. There was a rift between my mom and uncle (my dad's brother), and we hardly ever see them. I guess except for weddings and funerals. Sad, really. I wonder why some families are like that.

Anyway...

The reception was fun. Jimmy (my brother) took about 5 minutes trying to take the garter off. He kept lifting up her dress and diving in, it was hilarious. Rich (my hubby) had the DJ play our song (at every wedding including ours, he requests When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge). I think the reception was nice, everyone seemed to have fun. The wedding itself was beautiful.

Toys and Dishes and Clothes - Oh My!!

So I decided to get the kids to help me clean up downstairs (toy/storageroom, familyroom, laundryroom and garage) today.

What a mess!! There is so much stuff thrown in boxes. I guess when I told them they needed to clean up the mess, their solution was to cram everything in storage boxes and close the lid. I found 3 cups, a plate, some silverware, a baby bottle, dirty clothes (that didn't make all the way to the laundry room), toys, a piece of cheese and bits of cereal all in one box. And there are about 20 boxes, maybe more down there, all filled up like that. Oy!!

Now you ask why I make them clean up the family room and toy room. Well, because they are old enough to know better than to make a huge mess and smart enough to know that if they make a big mess that they are gonna have to clean it up! Rich (my hubby) and I both grew up doing chores. A friend of mine, didn't have to do any chores and when she moved out on her own, she had a hard time adjusting to doing everything herself. So Rich and I are trying to teach the children life lessons. They need to know that there aren't little blue fairies who clean up the house when they go to bed, ya know?!

So the kids and I have been decluttering, tossing and organizing all the toys, clothes and various other crap that has accumulated downstairs. I have bagged up two trash bags to throw out and five bags of stuff to give away (I don't have time for yardsales, plus I'd rather just get rid of it then and now rather than have it pile up). And we're still not done!!

My weight loss so far and other junk

When I last posted about my weight loss, I said I was 182. Today, I weighed 177. It's a long, hard road to lose weight, but I'm well on my way. My little mini goal was to weigh 175 by August 18 (my brother's wedding) and I think I just might make it!

As I mentioned in my profile, I work part time as a certified nursing assistant. Well the nursing home where I work has been short staffed all summer, it's insane! Today I worked two hallways by myself (about 30 people). I put them all in bed, fed them, changed them etc, by myself. I did have alittle help from one of the nurses, and some help from a new trainee (who mostly just stood there and watched). Anyway, I was doing really well, even the other staff said they thought I was doing great.

That is until, one of the RN supervisors came in to "help out". She was supposed to help me and I swear it took 20 minutes per person to just change them for the last rounds. Afternoon shift is 3-11 and I didn't get done until 11 and I still had to fill out ALL the paperwork, because the RN wasn't going to do it. UGH!! I finally punched out at a quarter til midnight! I was so mad! I hope that I don't have to work with her again.

I never did mention how Nathan's birthday party went. It was really nice. We had 20 people come. He got alot of new clothes in various sizes (some to wear now, and some for him to grow into), some toys and money. I think everyone had a nice time. Now I just have to get my act together and write out the Thank You cards.

I'm off to fold a gazillion baskets of laundry...

It's August already?!

How did it get to be August!? Wow time flies by so quickly, it's hard to keep up with it. I will need to do some school shopping soon. School starts on August 28 here. I can hardly wait. It seems every year I can't wait for school to be over and then I can't wait for it to start. I love my children dearly, but sometimes, you just need a break.

During school, I do nothing but run them to one activity or another. And what's really sad, is that they only have 2-3 activities a piece - it's just running nonstop because there are 4 children who have activities to run too. And I'm thinking of taking Nicholas to story hour this year, so he can interact with other kids his age. And during the summer they fight, scream and pick at each other from about July on. They get along really well the first month, then do nothing but pick at each other the rest of the time.

Soon school will start and they will be happy and I will be happy and life will be good again, until I start missing them being at home...

Countdown to the birthday party

I have exactly one day and a half (the party starts at 3 on Saturday) to prepare for Nathan's birthday party. Whew, what a lot of work involved. Cleaning, cooking, decorating, etc. I think I have my menu planned, unless I change anything. Keep in mind that mostly my dh's family is coming and they are Italian, hence the Italian meats. But I am planning on serving Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Meatballs, Italian Sausage (with peppers and onions), veggie pizza, corn casserole, pasta salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, fruit salad and dip, a relish tray, veggie tray, cocktail shrimp and of course birthday cake.

I have to finish cleaning the house, including cleaning out the fridge and freezer. Get the kids to clean to playroom, family room and their bedrooms, since those rooms are where they make the most messes.

I have finish shopping for the decorations and food so I can start that too. Who knew that planning a birthday party could be so much work. Every time I plan one, I think I'll never go through all that again and the next thing you know, I'm planning another one. I try not to get too fancy, but that doesn't always work either.

I just hope that everything gets down and it all turns out nicely.

My baby turned ONE!!

My little baby is a whole year old! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was holding a newborn in my arms. He struggled the first few months, for which I feel so horrible. I was nursing him and he wasn't getting enough nutrition, so he went from 7lbs. 12 ozs. all the way down to 6 lbs. Poor baby! I felt like a complete failure for not being able to nurse my own baby. This has happened with my fifth child too.

Nathaniel means "Gift from God" and I truely believe he is a gift. I feel so blessed to have that little boy in my life, to have all my children in my life. I'm just getting sappy, cause my youngest and last is turning into a big boy!

Here are a few pictures (if it works)

All six of my children



A few of the Birthday Boy

Finally....Results (and hopefully more to come)!!

I have been struggling with my weight for years. Even when I wore a size 5 and weighed 115, I still battled with it. After having my children, I not only kept the weight on, I gained more weight on top of it. I ballooned up to 205 pounds about 6 years ago and it was frightening (I am only 5'2", so you can imagine how awful I looked, plus other major factors included my father having juvenile diabetes and my mother having high blood pressure, among other things). I managed to lose about 40 pounds, but then got pregnant again and gained it all back. I then went on to have one last baby and now I am trying to lose all this weight once and for all. Back in February, I started at 198, lost a few pounds, and stuck.

About a month ago we went to a birthday party and in the thank you card that they sent they also included some pictures. I saw one of myself and I broke down and cried. I looked hideous!! Like a huge blob of fat! I was so disgusted by what I saw. Add to that, a week ago, I went to a bridal shower and my sister was there too. She used to be heavy as well. But she looked fantastic. She lost a huge amount of weight. I was so upset that when I got home, I sobbed. Then I realized that I could feel sorry for myself, or I could do something about it.

On Sunday, July 16, I weighed myself in the morning. The scale said 190. I thought I would try the South Beach Diet, since I had done it once before and lost about 10 pounds (gained it back when I got pregnant). That very morning I started and in these last few days, I went from 190 to 182 (what I weighed in at today). So something is finally working. I only hope I can keep it going!

I will share some before and after (or during) pictures later. Our scanner/printer is broken. I really hope that things will turn around. I am experiencing all sorts of health problem based on the fact that I am overweight. I have asthma, copd, depression, and a few other things. I think that if I can lose a significant amount of weight that some of the health problems will heal on their own. How nice would it be to walk up a flight of stairs and not get short of breath?!

Now I just need some motivation to start exercising!!

and so we begin...

So, I decided to start a blog. What was I thinking?! Expressing my thoughts on the web, for all to see, yikes! But since I have a lot of thoughts rolling around in the old noggin, I thought what the hey, why not go for it.

As a mom of six (infant to teenager), I get easily distracted, so starting a blog might just help me keep some thoughts, ideas or what have you in check. I've been thinking about starting one for a long time, but alas, never had the time.

So here we go....