just another manic monday

We had a full week-end as usual...the talent show was a lot of fun...the skit the girls were in was so funny, and Ashley did a great job playing the guitar and singing.

The older children were all gone Saturday to Bowlegs for Share the Fun 4h talent competition. Their skit won first place in the Sr. division...and Ashley won first place for her guitar and singing...she was so excited she jumped up and down and waved her arms...then she said it's fine, it's cool, let's face it, i rock...

They will be competing again in a few months at districts for a chance to perform for the OK State 4-H convention this summer...

Ashley, Nicole, Jonathan and Sean have piano lessons this afternoon, and since Kyles' car broke down on Sat., he has my van, so i will have to borrow Andrews' car to get them there...Ben and Kyle are supposed to work on the car tomorrow, and i just hope it is warmer than today, last time i checked it was overcast and drizzling 27 degrees with wind-chill. It is supposed to snow.

We went to grocery store this morning, to buy food for the next week or so, and i hoped to pick up a few gifts, but by the time we bought gas, rxs, and groceries, we are down to 50.00 until the end of the week...having all that money stolen really hurt us..

Dixie Belle and Gus are refusing to go outside, the just sit at the door and cry..kind of like Ben if he has to go out in this kind of weather..Me, i try to stay indoors. With my auto-immune yuck, i can't tolerate the cold and damp..

I am hoping tonight we finish putting the decorations on the Christmas tree. I have everything else done, except the buffet in the dining area, and i keep telling myself simplify, i haven't found a safe place for my nativity set, i have almost come to the conclusion one doesn't exist. i really think a need a little people one so i don't cringe everytime the children go near it. I have had to glue so many peoples head back on over the years.

Ashley has rehersal on Wed. even. with the Methodist church she is going to sing 1st soprano in their Christmas Cantata...our church is having a potluck dinner in honor of Fr. Matthew and Fr. Adrian on Sunday, and i have to figure out to be in 2 places at once in 2 towns 45 miles apart...i hear a big Charlie Brown scream coming on...life is always complicated..

I think i need a nap, i think we will try before the troops come marching in .

Happy Monday...2nd week of Advent Psalm 85 I will hear what God proclaims; the Lord-for he proclaims peace to his people. Our God will come to save Us!...

out of the mouths of babes

I was wandering(wondering) around the house this morning, and was distracted by a phone call encouraging/pressuring me to attend vbs tonight with the children in spite of my kidney infection and temp of 99.9. I was having a hard time just being out of bed.

I mean no problem , how many people do they expect to drive 1 hour round trip, and then stay up 3 more hours, but i didn't have to do anything, oh except sit in the kitchen chase me 2 toddlers and try not to collapse. A hamburger dinner was included, so i wouldn't have to cook, and that made it all ok.

I must confess, I was very irritated, by the whole conversation, and even though they mean well, not walking in my shoes, and expecting that out of me is really unfair, and unrealistic.

The next conversation involved just telling my husband to do it...i don't know, but i don't "tell" my husband to do anything, i will ask him to do things, but the key to success, is knowing when to ask him, and when to leave him alone, and as he had struggled with putting the new, lock and handle and things on the door for hours, and everything had gone wrong, it seemed like the wrong time in my judgement to ask him anything,and i live with him...

While i was wandering/wondering, i lost my cup of coffee, and couldn't find it anywhere. I finally asked the children to help me look for it...I was searching and muttering under my breath that my coffee cup was probably with my mind, and Sean Patrick looked up at me and said, Mama, have you lost your mind too?

Yep, its going to be one of those days, my six year old knows, i have lost my mind and my coffee cup....we finally found my coffee cup in the laundry room, my mind has yet to check in!!!!!

one sock short of a load

Today started out like any other Monday, I fed the babies, sat and drank coffee with my husband and talked before making the bed, straightening up the kitchen and starting that first load of laundry.



I received a frantic call from Connor, that one of his rained out ball-games was rescheduled for today, and he didn't have his uniform, cleats, or ball-glove at school. I knew exactly where his base-ball pants were, i was soaking them in oxy-clean to try and remove the red oklahoma clay and grass stains. I found his shirt, his underarmour, his glove his cleats, but in the sock department, i could only find one black baseball sock. I know in the grand scheme of things, it is probably not a big deal, but Connor is very particular about his clothes, and his uniform especially. After tearing the laundry apart,dumping every other hamper in the house, and crawling on his floor to look under the bed, i realize, there are more than i pair of long black base-ball socks in this house, and i decide to borrow Nicoles'...only to discover hers are at school in her bag with her uniform...I called the school secretary to see if the missing black socks were on Connors' feet, and I discovered, they were, and the game had been cancelled.



I also received a call from the Seminole Vets' office this morning, this is odd because i have never done business with them. It was Kyle, he was stranded outside the office with a blow-out,and needed help. I tracked down Andrew, who of course had no money, so he came here to get money and go rescue his brother. In the meantime, Ben is asking me 20 questions, where is the spare, why isn't he just putting that on? It turns out Kyle had a flat last week, and put the spare on, and hadn't got a new tire. The boys went to several tire places, and couldn't find one in their price range, so they called home..I got Ben to call some other places, locate a reasonable tire, and send the boys in that direction. Meanwhile, Chritian couldn't find Batman & Robber, and dumped all the toys out looking for them,then Alexandra who has figured out the babyproof locks grabbed a bag of powdered sugar and dumped it...I put her in the high-chair, and walked into the laundry room to get the broom and dust pan while Christian left alone for 2 seconds decides to run through the pile of powdered sugar, it is now scattered powdered sugar, all over my cabints, and the floors of 2 rooms.

Ben came in the house while I was on the floor wiping up the sugar residue, and asked what is going on in this house, it looks like a bomb has gone off in here, i said it has and the bomb was named Christian Joseph and Alexandra Rose...

We have been on a roll lately, Thurs. evening I was dressed for church, the girls were dressed, I had all the little boys shirts ironed and ready to go on their little bodies as soon as dinner was over, and Alexandras' dress on my bed, a terrible wind storm and wild fires came in. There was a fire east and west of us, and another north of us. The winds were gusting at 65mph and Ben had 2 seperate cars blow into his lane, and then the wind almost put him in the bar-ditch. He felt it was unsafe to drive the 25miles to church in these conditions as the road to Konawa is much worse and windier than the road he was on earlier.

Friday night i was dressed the girls were dressed, all the little ones clothes were ready,dinner was ready to go on the table, and no Ben...i called his cell phone, but couldn't get him. At 7:00, i finally reached him. He was still at work, 1 guy had left early for a funeral and didn't come back, 2 others were late for their shift, and as the supervisor he couldn't leave until everything was covered. We got up from the dinner table at 7:50, 20 minutes after services had already started. We had done 3 seperate bible stories throughout the day Friday, a family rosary, and so that night we read the Stations of the Cross.

Sat. Evening I thought Ben and I would go to the vigil service and leave th children home as Mass starts so late, and is quite long. I put supper in the crock pot, and set about doing some last minute cleaning, decorating for Easter. At 3:00 the boys went out to play, Jonathan immediately gets hit in the head with a baseball and falls to the ground. He just laid there. When i reached him he was crying, but said he was dizzy. I helped him in stuck ice on his head, and watched him. He kept complaing, so I called Ben home, and we went to the ER...After observing him for a few hours with no serious changes, they decided he had a concussion. We got home, ate supper, and had Dr.s orders to keep a close watch on him, and wake him every 2 hours....

Sun. morning, I wished Ben a Happy Easter before he left for work, and reminded him to give Andrew gas money to put in the van after they switched vehicles, so i could make it to church...We got up, we ate breakfast, everyone got dressed for church, we decided not to wear our new Easter dresses, because it was 40 degrees windy and raining..We loaded everyone into the van hooked up the babies, i turned on the van to find 0 gas, it was completely empty...i called Ben, he forgot to give Andrew any money for gas. The store in town is closed on Sunday, and the nearest gas station was now 17 miles away, I was afraid to risk running out of gas with a van full of children in the rain on these terrible, curvy roads. We unloaded the children, and i sat down and cried. I was so frustrated..We did the Easter readings, and prayed a family Rosary and thats' when i discovered 2 beads short of a decade. My favorite Rosary broke quite a while ago, so i got out the needle nose pliers and fixed it, no big deal, and every time i said a Rosary with Ashley she would say Mom your'e off, i always attributed this to praying, and then saying sit down, be still, take that rosary off your head, stop choking your brother, etc. i do get a little distracted at times... so after Ashley said I was off again, i counted my beads 8 instead of 10, and i never noticed ....so not only am i one sock short of a load, i am 2 beads short of a decade.

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