Mery Christmas

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! As the year comes to an end and we reflect on all that has happened in the last 12 months, I can truly say that by the grace of God we made it. It has been a year full of challenges, sorrows, stress, struggle but also a year full of lessons learned, new chances and abundant love and joy. Financially we never should have made it, I still don't know how we d...id but we did, we added a new member to our family and are blessed to be a part of his journey. We faced cancer with my father and are pleased to say he is doing well. We grew more in our marriage and faith than ever before and learned to set our pride aside. There has been a lot of tears, a lot of sleepless nights but here we are still standing and still believing that God will continue to see us through. Thank you to each one of you who have been there for us this year, each kind word, each pat on the back and prayer. We are so blessed to have each of you in our lives. These 6 little faces are a reminder each and every day of how blessed we are no matter what storm we may face. God IS good all the time.

Sleep in heavenly peace....

Santa

Daddy had to sit with Santa this year because Krews would have nothing to do with him. We have tried three times and a no go every time! I mean not even a sit there screaming face, just flat out won't go near him. Oh well there is always next year...

Merry Christmas(ish) time

I am seriously slacking on blogging. I just flat don't have time. Having six kids is HARD! Doctors appointments, sports, church activities and just general day to day living is just about all I have time for. This time of year is my favorite time..usually. I find however that this year it seems to be just plain stressful. There are a few reasons for this, one is I love to decorate, craft and participate in Christmas activities, I start the season with a long list of things I "must do" before Christmas. This year I am finding it hard to keep up and yet I am completely unwilling to say no to any project or event. Secondly I like things to be pretty, calm and planned out at Christmas, with 6 kid including 4 very active little boys who would rather wrestle under the tree than look at it's beauty this is a hard thing to accomplish. Third, money is tight and I feel the pressure to make a great Christmas for my children, and others on a very small budget. I know these are all trivial matters. But my OCD is in overdrive with all the above mentioned things and I am a complete mess.
I know that none of this matters, I know the reason for Christmas is our Lord Jesus and his humble birth in a manger. I know this.. but sometimes my brain forgets.
I know I am blessed, I know I am far better off than most people. I am not trying to seem petty or ungrateful. I am just trying to be truthful.
Any one else ever feel this way?? Anyone??

Pay it forward.

I love chances to pay it forward and I recently discovered a great one and I couldn't help but share. I am an avid coupon-er and always felt bad throwing those expired or unused coupons out. Well turns out, I don;t have too. There is a program that sends expired coupons to overseas military personal, they can use even the expired ones! So excited to help our service men and women save some cash. God knows they don't make nearly enough :) To find out more go here : Overseas Coupon Program. In our area the local contact is

Celeste Claggett

PO Box 720336

Norman, OK 73070

Organic Bloom knockoff frame

I am in love with the Organic Bloom frames found on pinterest and all over the Internet but the pricetags are out of my reach( the one i wanted was $400) so with the help of my husband we designed and made our own! I could not be happier with the results!





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Everybody needs a best friend

These two are best friends, inseparable, funny, happy, always there for each other friends. I love watching the two of them it brings back so many good memories of me an my best friend. I hope they will always be best friend, I hope in 25 years they still laugh, act silly and confined in each other.

Everyone needs a best friend, the kind you tell everything to, share secrets with, laugh with and never outgrow.

Pinterest!!

Pinterest has officially taken over my life! My house too. I have been busy crafting myself silly. I am slowly redecorating our house room by room. It is so much fun to turn trash into treasure or see how little it costs to make something beautiful!


The above was made of scrap wood from a project my husband did.
Pallet shelf now residing in my living room! I actually have 2, not for everyone but I LOVE them! They are decorated now of course.
Junk store shelf re purposed into a backpack rack for the boys.
Crown print I designed for the living room. I printed it and modge podged it to a canvas.
The last print I designed for the kids bathroom. I just painted it and redid the cabinets and it needed decor.

It really is inspiring me to be creative. If you have not joined Pinterest yet, do it!!

18 months

Like I said I have been slacking and have not properly updated around here, since I am also behind in the scrapbooks I'll update here as well. This little guy is happy as the day is long:) He is talking more and more the last few weeks. He runs everywhere with his tongue hanging out like a puppy. He loves, animals, Dora and Diego, Grandpa and snuggling especially with Daddy. He waits for the bus each day yelling "Kale" and then hug his best buddy as soon as he enters the house. He eats anything you give him, weighs 25 lbs and is 34 inches long ( taller than any of his brothers were). He recently discovered gum and is often found digging in purses to find some. His wild and crazy hair is my favorite :) I love this happy boy with all my heart and am so glad God decided to "surprise" us with him.

slacking

Is it just me or does it seem like everyone is slacking lately? On blogs, facebook, everything...I know I sure am. I am so behind on blogging and scrap-booking. Every-time I try to do either I get so depressed about how long it's been that I have no idea where to start.

I have also noticed that pretty much every blog I love to read is slowing down as well. Makes me kind of sad. I really love reading all your stories. Hopefully we will all recover from our slumps soon.

God please show me the way..

I have been praying that a lot lately... I am trying to decide how to make a change in life, better serve my family and do something with myself. I am leaning heavily towards returning to school. Either a technical school or a traditional college. The problem is they are to very different paths and I am still unsure which is right.
I know God has a plan, he just hasn't disclosed it to me yet.. Change is a scary thing to me. Part of me wants to stay put, be a mother, a wife and never text my boundaries. Another part of me though wants a a change, wants to be more than a mother and a wife, wants to contribute to my family financially.
I just need to find a happy medium, if there is one. I wish I knew what I am supposed to be doing. It seems just as life seems to become somewhat smooth, along comes another fork in the road and you are faced with another decision. I guess life would be boring without the little twists and turns but sometimes I wish the path was a little more straight.

My hero

I took the boys to visit their dad today at the fire station. I thought the whole time I was there about all the brave heros that gave their lives 10 years ago. It is hard not to think about that day. Hard it imagine all those father, husbands, sons lost in a senseless act of violence. Of course I also thought of all the other people who were not firemen that also died, but for me the firefighter images are the most powerful, because I am and was at the time married to a firefighter. Today as I remembered that horrible day I was also filled with pride that my husband chose to be a firefighter, to risk his life to save others.
My boys love their daddy so much and a trip to see him at work is just as good as a trip to the candy store. I love that they are proud of their daddy and his job.
I thank God today for firefighters everywhere and especially for my own special hero.

I'm still here

I have been trying to blog for days ( not that anyone reads it) but something always prevents me, mostly lack of something to say. I recovered now, getting back to regular life. My mom is gone now so I am on my own again. The kids are all in school and honestly I am still trying to get into a routine. Having two high school kids, two elementary kids and two toddlers at home is a challenge.

On top of all the daily stuff my husband and I are both considering going back to school. Our current financial status makes it necessary for a change, plus I need my husband home more! So we are prayerfully seeking our next moves.

I keep thinking life will slow down at some point but it seems to do the opposite.

It really is hard

You would think that relaxing after surgery and letting other people take care of you, your kids and your house would be easy. Turns out it is not so easy for me. It is actually rather hard. I cannot relax, rest and recover because I am feeling like a bum when I know my mother is struggling to get the kids fed or my husband is trying to work on invoices and take care of the house. I just feel so guilty. I know I should not, but it is hard. Hard to let other people do "MY" jobs.
I know it is necessary right now. My body is telling me I cannot do the things I want and feel I need to do and yet I want to do things so badly.
I am so lucky to have family and friends that are not only willing but actually happy to help me out during this time but man is it hard to need help.

Too many kids in this tub

I am recovering, still... no lifting, no driving. Frankly I am getting pretty sick of doing nothing and seeing only my house or the hospital. So today I ventured outside and with the help of my darling husband, I was able to try out this idea I had.

However the idea didn't go just as I had envisioned, but that's ok because I actually think it went better. You see I planned on photographing Krews, in the old tub...by himself. What I got was lots of boys in the tub...It brought to mind the poem below.

Author: Shel Silverstein

There's too many kids in this tub
There's too many elbows to scrub
I just washed a behind that I'm sure wasn't mine
There's too many kids in this tub.

Another organ gone

Well I was recovering pretty well after my hysterectomy until Wednesday when I started having strange pains. I just chalked them up to healing and went on. Thursday I felt even sicker and decided I must have a UTI, I called my doctor and got an antibiotic. Friday I felt better but Saturday I felt horrible but the pain finally went away until Monday morning when I woke up vomiting and feeling generally ill. I wanted to stay in bed but my husband insisted on a trip to the ER. After several tests it was determined that my appendix was inflamed and needed to be removed. So last night at 8 pm I had my second surgery in two weeks. I must be lucky!
Thankfully my mom has been staying with us, since I can't lift for two more weeks so she was able to keeps the kids while my husband stayed with me. I don't know what I would do without her!!
As I type I am waiting to be released and I can honestly say I hope I don't see this place for a long time!!


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Bye Bye..

Well I did it, Friday I got rid of my baby maker! I have to say it was much worse than I anticipated but that was mostly due to some other repairs that I had to have done. I will spare you the details, just know that having 5 big babies will demolish your body. SO everything is all removed, suspended and or tightened and I am SORE and tired.
I will say if you think their is no modestly in child birth than do NOT have a hysterectomy! It was worse than childbirth. People prodding, touching, asking questions. Men have no idea how easy they have it. I must have said that to my husband a hundred times. It is true though, men have no clue what a woman must go through from periods and childbirth to hormones and hysterectomies! I would not trade it for the world, well at least not the pregnancy/childbirth part, but I am glad to have it behind me.

Why I am looking forward to having an organ removed..

Let me just say today was one of "those" days. You know the ones where you have a great plan for everything and then God smacks your plans in the face and says "Not today?", yeah those days. i guess to be fair it has been building up for a few weeks now and it just all came to a head.
Tonight I am fairly certain that not only am I ready to have a hysterectomy on Friday but I am EXCITED to do it, because sadly it will give me a peaceful night away from home. Sad huh?? Yeah it's come to that. Lets just recap the last few weeks shall we?

1. Started WAY to many home projects and now my OCD is telling me I must finish them all and have a clean house by surgery day.

2. Really sick baby that required 2 trips to the pediatrician and 2, yes 2 ER visits. Also includes 3 completely sleepless nights.

3. 3 year old with strep throat

4. Trying to line up babysitting, meals, chores for after surgery. I will be unable to lift anything for 2 weeks!

5. Trying to complete all needed paperwork, school enrollment etc. for M

6. husband that is working extra 24 hr. shifts because his side job is being destroyed by 31 straight days of temps. over 100

7. Trampoline broke - i know seems small but kids are sad

8. My parents are headed out of state Monday for 6 weeks for my dads cancer treatments.

9. 6 year old requiring an ER visit for 3 stitches in the chin after running in the house and face planting on tile.

10. My car air conditioning has a problem so it will only blow one speed. It isn't high :(

Hmm.. I think that is it, well besides the every day laundry, cleaning, cooking, diaper changing, teenager hauling stuff I usually do. It seems I have hardly had a moments peace and while I love my children and my job as a stay at home mom, I am TIRED. So sad as it may be I am actually looking forward to having an organ removed just so I can have a few minutes alone :)

Teens and toddlers

Can I be honest? It is hard having teens and toddlers. People see us and see the two teenagers and say things like "oh, you have your hands full but at least you have these helpers." and usually they are good helpers but they are not adults, they are still children. I honestly don't ever want them to feel as though they are "raising" their younger siblings, after all my husband and I are the ones who chose to have all the kids not them. Don't get me wrong I do expect them to help but I never want to overdo it or make them resent the younger kids.

That being said it is a difficult balance.It is hard to find things everyone wants to do. I always feel like someone is missing out, either we are shuttling the big kids places or going to a place the smaller children enjoy and the teens are bored.

I feel stressed some days, especially in the summer trying to keep everyone happy and occupied. I don't want anyone to look back on their child/teen years with anything but fond memories. Some days I really struggle with guilty feelings for having kids so spread out.

I know their are other families like ours but I don't personally know any and I am still trying to figure out how to make this all work.

15 months

This happy little man is 15 months old. He is into everything, making sure to keep up with his brothers. He loves balls, milk, being outside, swimming, phones and he gets great pleasure out of taking his Grandpas glasses off. He counts one, two, three then runs across the room and jumps into your arms, he eats anything offered to him, is known to swat the hand of his older brothers when he feels his space is being invaded, he has an affinity for babies and adores rides on golf carts and tractors. I am pretty sure he holds a special place in everyones heart, i know he does in mine.

Happiness is..

A tractor and Grandpa's lap. This boy LOVES his Grandpa and I am pretty sure his Grandpa feels the same way. Almost nothing makes my heart melt more than seeing my Daddy with my children! He is such an amazing man and I am so glad my children have him in their lives.

Are you an Epic Parent?

My former pastor Chris Spradlin has a new blog about parenting that will blow you away! His insights are amazing! I appreciate how he chooses to be real about his parenting failures and offer insights on how we can all make wiser decisions when it comes to our children. Check it out at http://www.epicparent.tv/ and follow him on twitter as well at Epicparent

Hot and tired

That pretty much sums up my life the last few days. I has been record braking hot here this month with temps over 100 all of July. It makes it hard to do anything with the kids because its just too hot for the things we usually enjoy. To top it off Krews has been battling a nasty ear infection and virus and has not been sleeping, which means I have not been sleeping either.

Last night we made our second ER trip this week and finally got some pain relief for him and he slept from 3 am to 8 am!! He is still feeling under the weather but is hopefully on the road to recovery.

No if it will just cool off so I can get these other rowdy boys out of the house to run and jump!

The one where I try and catch you up on my life lately...

As I eluded to in my last post. We are know a family of 8. We finally got guardianship of M and have spent the last month moving everyone and getting legal things and paperwork out of the way. I don't want to divulge too much information as I don't know what he would want me to share but lets just say this is truly a "God" thing and was not something any of us planned on when we all first met at church. M is a blessing to us all and hopefully we are a blessing to him as well. He has taken to our crazy noisy house and is a perfect big brother to our brood!
And NO we are not going to be adding anymore children to our gaggle. As a matter of fact due to chronic pain from endometrosis and other medical issues ( I'll spare you the gory details) I am having a hysterectomy later this month! It took a while to reach this decision but now that I have I am super excited to have it over with and be pain free and move on with the next phase in life.
So obviously it has been a crazy, hectic summer so far with no signs of slowing down soon. The kids are all doing great!
Speaking of great...This crazy year we have had, full of stress, chaos and mayhem has oddly been wonderful for my marriage. I can honestly say I am more in love with my husband than ever before!! I feel like a teenager again, totally in love and so thankful I get to spend the rest of my life with this man. I guess hard times really do make or break a marriage and I am so glad we have chosen to hold on tight and take this bumpy ride together.

Happy 4th of July from..

OUR FAMILY OF 8!!!

Happy 5th Birthday!

5 years ago I was blessed with a 2nd son! The sweetest baby ever, never cried, always happy, calm, laid back. Man am I blessed. 5 years later and he is still sweet, happy, dramatic, lovable little guy! I cannot imagine my life without him. Thank you God for blessing me with this wonderful boy! Happy Birthday Bobcat!

It seems like forever since I had a chance to blog, or scrapbook or do anything I used to have time for and enjoy for that matter. Seems like the last fee months have been nothing short
Of survival mode and while the hours seem long the days are so short! I wake up and in the blink of an eye it's time for bed. This has been an intense couple of months with lots of moving furniture, painting,rearranging beds, clothes etc., lots of big changes in our family. Details soon I promise, please pray all goes smoothly the next few weeks.
In other news my sweet dad was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and that of course has been a life changing event for our whole family. We have spent the last few months trying to find the best possible care for him. Please pray for my fathers health and happiness and also for guidance for the doctors treating him.
So in short I have been to busy to blog, to tired to blog, so stressed to blog or take photographs that I could blog. I
have tried to keep up with all of your blogs, you guys have all provided me lots of laughs and enjoyment. Please don't forget me I'll be back to posting more soon!!


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Happy Fathers Day!

You might think they are ugly...

I found this on the nourished nest today and I have to say I had never thought of stretchmarks in quite this way before. I know for me dealing with my body after 5 kids is not a pleasant thing but I when I stop to think about all my body has been through and given me I have to say I would gain every ounce of weight and take every stretch mark all over again to get these 5 precious babies I have.

"A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me.

It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it."

High School Bound

Last week my baby girl officially graduated middle school and now she's high school bound!! I am scared, excited and sad all at once. I hope the next four years will be full on wonderful memories for her. I am excited to watch her grown into a young lady and see the adult she will become. I pray that God will guide her choices and keep her safe and that she would always know that we have her best interests at heart when making any decision even when she does not agree with our answer. Most of all I hope she knows how much she is loved and what a blessing she is to us all. Congratulations Buttercup!

Happy 3rd Birthday Bulldog!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wild, crazy wonderful third son!! You can cause more chaos than any child I have ever seen but you can also be sweeter than any child ever. You are funny and silly and lets face it your curly hair and big blue eyes just melt me!! I love you more than the stars in the sky. I thank God for you every day! Thank you for being such a blessing!!

How can it be??

That this week this little guy will turn 3?? He has been growing and changing so much lately, the biggest accomplishment? He is now officially potty trained! YAY!! He is such a stubborn boy, rough and tough, all boy. I think that is why God made him so dang cute because he is the most exhausting child I have ever had!! But with that curly hair and those blue eyes he is hard to stay mad at long.

Balancing Act

Motherhood is a balancing act, no doubt about it and lately I feel like I have failed more times than I have succeeded. I feel like all day I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to accomplish the many goals I have set for myself that day and at the end of the day only half are done, I am spent, physically and emotionally and sometimes to tell you the truth I am wishing I could catch a train to anywhere but here. I want so badly to enjoy this time, when my kids are small and I do usually but man sometimes I just break down in tears wondering how I'll make it through the next hour. And it's not just the kids but the laundry, the Dr.'s appointments, the dog, the financial struggles, depression, marriage struggles, grocery shopping and total utter lack of me time. There is always a power struggle going on in my brain about how much time to devote to what and i feel like I am always messing it up. I want to be outside playing with my kids but instead i'm inside doing dishes, or I want to clean the floors but I am clipping coupons. So how do you find a balance?? How do you maintain a house yet not miss out on fun time with your kids?? I know there is an answer but it escapes me......

The Chosen one

When I was thinking of a blog name for our newest addition I decided on the Chosen one, because, well he was the child we got to choose! I can't really get into much detail about how he is part of our family, partially because it's complicated and partially because it's not my story to tell. But for all important purposes, he is our "son" and we love him to pieces. I truly believe God puts people in each others lives at just the right time and that is so true in this case. God really did a great thing by putting "M" in our lives and I think he feels the same way too. I may not have given birth to him, but in my heart he is my child. Maybe someday he will do a guest post and share his story. Just know from now on he will be included in many of my posts. And please pray for him as he is going through some difficult times and could use some prayer. Thank you.

Getting to Know you is back!!

Haven't played along in a while but I am back this week, playing along with MANNLAND5

The questions this week are:

1. what's something you've eaten and liked, but didn't think you would?
Carrot cake!

2. plastic surgery..yay or nay?
NAY- I have had enough surgeries without a cosmetic one,

3. 2 things you love about spring are.....?
The flowers and the fresh air smell

4. when's the last time you went on a picnic?
Three weeks ago on one of my kid's field trip

5. what's your favorite app?
Twitter

6. who does the grocery shopping in your house?
Mostly me but sometimes my husband and I both.

7. would you rather take a spin class or zumba?
zumba

8. how often do you go out to dinner?
NOT ENOUGH, maybe once a month.

It's been a while

Since I have blogged, mostly because i have been bogged down in a sea of depression and all OI could handle was the piles of laundry in front of me and dirty diapers. It has really been a struggle. On top of that my father was diagnosed with a serious illness. Mental illness of any kind is so hard because it's not like an infection that is a one pill cure all, it is such a guessing game as to what medication will help what person and I am still on the journey to find just the right combination of things. It really feels lie being in the middle of a storm at sea with no life vest.

I have also been taking lots of pictures lately. And working on potty training Bulldog, who is almost 3 and still mostly refusing to use the potty!! Krews is walking everywhere and we are about to celebrate Sunshines big 7th bday!!