Should I call this Catching up or Starting Over!!!

So as you can see I am absolutely horrible at this. But thats alright!! Lots has been going on here, but nothing too exciting. Lets see, we got a dog in April! Yes, I got the one I wanted. He's a Malteepoo. Cute, cute, cute! We named him Bently. Jay wanted to name him Zilla because if he had to own a girlie dog it needed a manly name. But, No Way!! We decided on Bently because its a manly and expensive car. At least thats how I won the name the dog game. He has been really great. He thinks he is so scary and tough. I didn't think about the fact that I was adding yet another name to remember when I am trying to get one of the kids attention! HEHE!!! I do just love to torture myself!

Skipping a few month later, we went to Destin, FL again for a family vacation in July. This was the first time in 11 years that the whole family has gone (Jay's mom and dad and both of his brothers and their families). It was a full house! We spent lots of time at the beach and at the pool. And thank goodness no sharks this year. This was the first year we haven't had to take a pack n play, bottles, strollers and basically lots of baby stuff. Can you say AWESOME? We could actually see out the back of the van. Okay, so maybe you have to experience this a few times to really appreciate that. We had lots of fun and came back a bunch of bronze goddesses!
Right at this very moment we are having a family Wii night. We got some new games and its hillarious watching everybody try to work the controllers to play. Everything Samantha does looks like she is swinging a baseball bat!! Jay and Ash are playing this cycling game and they look like their dancing! LOVE IT!

The kids start school in a week. Bitter sweet! It will be nice to have a few hours of quiet in the middle of the day, but they are a lot of fun to have around. Especially when they aren't grounded. But they are ready too. You know the I AM BORED thing gets pretty old after a while. Sammy will be in 6th grade. I can't believe I have a 6th grader. She had a camp 3 weeks ago at the middle school and she had boys asking her to go out. She said no, but I want to cover my ears every time I hear these stories. And its only the beginning. I don't know if I will survive the next 14 years with these girls.

Just a side note: I am pretty sure Landon thinks the phrases, I HATE YOU and YOU ARE A MEANY are sweet endearments. What are parents teaching their children these days? Oh wait that would be me! Shoot I forgot one he just reminded me of, YOU ARE A BIG STUPID. I am feelin the love!

OH MY GOSH!!

Okay, can I tell you guys that I totally forgot I had a blog. It must be the fog that rolls in around age 30. I think its gotten to thick in my brain and nothing functions properly any more! Maybe there is some way to install a fan in there when it gets too thick! ( just a thought) I was looking on Facebook a little while ago and looked at my page and thought, Oh Crap, I totally forgot about our blog. Man, it cannot get much worse than this and if it can I am in big trouble. I only hope that my husband can put up with me for a while longer! HE HE!! It won't be long before I am drooling and need a diaper again. We better start buying now!
Okay, on to family. I have to take a moment and brag on Samantha, our 10 year old, whoops, I mean almost 11 year old. (DUH, MOM! and just imagine with me for a second the famous roll of the eyes! Oh, yes I think you see it, yeah right there. Yep she did it. Or maybe you imagined yourself doing it. Well, whatever,Yes, 10 and she has already mastered it!) Seriously, (just for a second though) I met with her 5th grade teacher last week and she has recommended that Samantha be tested for the honors classes for English/writing and math. This is a big deal first of all because Samantha is an overachiever and because she has wanted this since 3rd grade. So, yeah, I am so happy for her and yes, very, very proud. Ashley and Hannah's teacher both love them so I just sign papers and socialize for the alloted 20 minutes we have. It's my adult time if you can imagine how absurdly pathetic that is! What a proud mama I was that day! I know, I know, sometimes I am proud other than that day!
WARNING! WARNING! Landon, my little man, has become a monster! If some one sees my son please tell him that his mother wants him back home immediately. The little bugger that he sent in his place it going to cause me to twichand mummble on a continual basis. It feels like it happened overnight. Oh, of course he still loves a good cuddle and kiss, but he is so sassy and loud I don't know what to do. I took them to the kids club at the gym the other day. Opened the door and let them in to go play and I'm just talking to one of the teachers and he runs up to the door and screams, "Hey mommeay, (come on just imagine a two year old for a moment) GET OUTTA HEEYA! WHITE NOW! The little girl looked at me and said," what did he say?" I think he just told me to get out of here. I was a little offended. She said, "I can safely say that I have never heard a child come in here and ever tell their mom or dad to leave them." That is all that needed to be said.
He copies Josh and every ugly word that comes out of his mouth. Like the other day when the boys were out in the backyard yelling at the 4th and 5th grade boys that play next door, "Hey, you guys are losers, oh yeah, well you are a loser. Then Landons' immediate response is, "Hey, you losa!" And then he just beams at Josh like, what a cool big brother I have! Of course they were both sent to their rooms, you know right after Jay and I picked ourselves up off the floor and stopped laughing! Maybe I shouldn't admit that, but oh well this is what I have been reduced to. I have to find laughter in the little things. And yes there are alot of little things with our bunch. The funniest thing with Lan is that not only does he sound angry, but his looks could kill a man on the spot. I think his favorite phrases of late are "get way from me, humph!", "don't tuch me!", "you weeyed (wierd)" and oh yes my favorite of all time "I hate you mommy!". But see when he wants to be sweet he says "I lu you mommy" and then he hugs the life right out of me. Yeah, you just melt don't cha!
I have to say that the Goober who said that boys are easier than girls must have had girls and been deaf and blind. Boys are crazy and loud and like to hit and kick and move and yell and jump and climb. Must..... STOP.... NOW... And they love dirt and bugs! I have a huge supply if anyone is interested. They love to pick bugs up and show them to me. You know that thrill of the hunt and proud protector of the house thing. It starts at such a young age. What a proud day this is for me! Oh, I love my life!

I Hate Math

Let me say it again. I HATE MATH! My brain feels like its going to explode. Too much information in a very short amount of time. I don't have much memory left after having 5 kids anyway. I may not be able to remember my name when this semester is over. Just babble!
On to another wonderful topic: CHILDREN THROWING UP!
Yes, I know a bit disgusting, but this is my life, what can I say! Last night Josh is fussing about his belly hurting. So the mom in me says, okay he's got gas! Well, next thing I know Landon is running in the kitchen to drag Jay and I to the basement stairs. It looked like Josh ran to the top of the stairs turned around and just exploded. If you know me, I can clean up poop all day long and it doesn't bother me, but throw up. Lets just say I would rather pull my nose hairs out one by one than have to clean it! It was everywhere, the wall, every single stair (on the new carpet!) and of course Josh is clean as a whistle. I will never understand why kids don't run to the bathroom or sink when they feel like they are going to throw up. They just freeze and cover themselves and anything in its path. BLAH!! Then he just wants to get up and run around like nothing happened. Not 10 minutes later he filled a huge bowl and luckily he didn't miss. We high fivied for that. Yes, he looked at me like I was a little weird. Then the fever started and that put him down for the count. He was ready for bed and I was ready to sanitize and take a shower.
Hopefully, that will be the last of throwing up for a while. A stomach virus can bring me to tears very quickly so I am just hoping and praying that it was only Josh.
On the Marriage Front: We celebrated our 11th Anniversary on Saturday!! So Jay and I get to have a date night this weekend!!! We are spreading all of the kids out and they are spending the night with both of our parents. Thank you guys!! We usually go to dinner, maybe a movie, if there are any good ones out. But our favorite part of all is waking up to a quiet house and going to breakfast where some one actually serves us! Oh, its the little things in life that keep me going! I love breakfast and getting to talk to my husband without hearing, "Get me orange juice, Hey, I don't have a spoon, she's touching me, he just spit cereal at me". I CAN'T WAIT!!:)

Back Into the Swing of Things

Winter break is over and we are all attempting to get back into our routine again. I started classes again last week and I can already tell this is not going to be an easy semester. Its a good thing I can take my time. Lots of homework, too much homework! But my professor rocks, so that makes it a little easier.
Its been freezing here, well, by Southern standards!! So that leaves the kids inside a bit more and they are like caged animals. The boys are going to hurt each other seriously before winter is over. I guess its a good thing I am going to be a nurse because I have a feeling we will be vitsiting the hospital with these two often! They are outdoor boys. So it is really cold if they won't even go out! The girls are busy, busy. Soccer starts soon, YEAH!! My home away from home during the season! Next year we will have 4 of them in it and I might as well buy a motor home and just sleep in the parking lot. I am looking into junior volleyball leagues for Samantha. I think she would really like it. No luck so far.
Jay is going to be making a trip to Ohio this weekend to visit some friends. Its just a big guy time so I know he is going to have a good time! When Daddy goes out of town we have family sleep overs in our room. We all just get cozy where ever we can fit! Josh takes up the role of man of the house. He gets to sleep in Daddy's spot on the bed and makes sure all of the girls know that.
I have to take a moment and just describe Josh to everyone. He is the most anal child I have ever met in my entire life. Its almost like his is a 50 year old man having to live in a 4yr olds body. Every night before bed he has to have his clothes laid out on his bed so that he can get dressed before he leaves his room in the morning. Then he comes into our room to let us know that he is ready and needs us to go make him a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice NOW! And when his servants don't move immediately he continues to let us know that he took a nap all night and needs his food. So here we are at 7 AM and my 4 year old with no where to go is dressed and ready for the day with his breakfast tucked safely in his belly. Around 9am he lets me know that he needs 2 waffles now and some more orange juice. I SAID NOW! Did I mention I don't get paid enough for this! Then as if he didn't just eat AGAIN he asks when it's time for lunch because his belly is hugry. And he can't believe he has to wait for 2 hours to eat again. OH THE AGONY! So we get to lunch time, but not before I am reminded a million times that we eat lunch at 11:30. He likes to clean himself after lunch then which involves a lot of water. If any of said water happens to accidently land on him he immediately must remove all of his clothes as if he has been touched by the plague. They just won't do anymore. That done we watch a little
Tom and Jerry. This is something I am reminded of often too as we eat lunch. Then its time for his nap. But he doesn't like to do things the easy way. Oh no, he wouldn't dream of it! He must make sure that all of his airplanes are set in a straight line on his dresser and then pick the prize of the day to join him while he naps. His books have to be stacked in the far left corner of the dresser from which he also chooses one to nap with him. His hat must be placed on the left corner of his bed or nothing is right! For an hour he talks and sings and jumps around and kicks the walls and just basically doesn't take a nap. I am so tired!! I think I need a nap!
Okay, I am only going to go this far. But truly this is him every single day to a T. Nothing changes because he can't have that being that he is a 50 year old man set in his ways. Some one told me once after watching him for an evening at our house that they think he will turn out to be a successful CFO of a huge company some day. If he lives long enough to get to that we will see. No one tells you before you become a parent of all the different things you will encounter with having many children. They are the most difficult puzzle I have ever tried to piece together. Oh yes, I love them dearly. But who is going to take me to the mental hospital when we are done here. I don't think I will have an ounce of sanity left.
Okay, I am getting off of my soap box. This was a lot more than I planned to write. But what can I say I live with a constant stream of muses!

Catching Up

Okay, so its been a while! Hillary has sufficiently gotten onto me about my blogging priorities! November and December were crazy. I had finals, then Thanksgiving, more testing and then Christmas and New year! I passed my class with an A. I am actually a good student! Who would have thought.
Hillary and Rich were here with their kids for a week and it was a lot of fun! Ten kids just between the two of us. Things were a little loud at times, but I guess you get used to that. We took lots of pictures and laughed a lot too. Hopefully they made it home in one piece!
Christmas was great. Our kids got just about everything they wanted and then some. The girls all got Nintendo DS's. We don't hear much from them anymore. The house has become eerily quiet! And of course the boys got their share of cars and airplane stuff.
New Year's Eve was spent at my mom's house. We ate, played some dominos, ate some more. Then when the time came we broke out the fireworks and sparkling white grape juice and yelled "Happy New Year"! Then we got to go home and go to bed!!!!! Okay so the going to bed was my favorite part.
School starts tomorrow for the kids and I guess its back to real life. I start school again on the 12th and hope that it doesn't get too difficult. Then maybe I can become a regular blogger!