Fair Day!

We just found out on Friday that our County Fair was going full force. We haven't been to the fair in a few years because either I was pregnant or we had no money. Our fair is doing something new and not charging anything for admission (of course the vendors gouge you with the food costs, $3.00 for a hot dog???).

Anyway about 8:30 am on Saturday we decided to surprise the kids with a trip to the fair. They were extremely excited. The weather was perfectly cloudy and cool. I HATE going to the fair when it's hot. We packed a few snacks, loaded up the kids and left.

We discovered DockDogs just starting (dogs flinging themselves into a pool and adults measuring the distance). What fun to watch! We went to the carousel and Graedon loved it! Next we hit a barnyard full of activities. The kids milked a "cow", pumped water and made dirt babies. The top of the head will grow grass the kids can cut.

Then we all sat down so I could nurse Molly Kate and have some cotton candy. We sat in a covered area and a local production of Peter Pan started. Grae and Ellie were thrilled to see Captain Hook, Tiger Lily (Ellie's favorite), Peter and Wendy. As soon as that was ending, a Pirate's Parrot show was starting. We hurried over and Grae was in awe of the pirate ship and real live pirate.

The day wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Dairy Women's ice cream booth. I couldn't have any this year as I'm off milk due to Molly not tolerating it well. So I watched and drooled.

It was a fun day and we all went home and crashed.

Overheard at my house

Graedon: "Uh-oh, Daddy paint in hair."
Me: "No that's just Daddy's grey hair."

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Graedon kept running around the house saying, "boobies, boobies". We couldn't figure out what he was talking about as that isn't a word we say in our house. Finally I caught him looking at a grocery ad. He said "grapes and boobies". Ohhhhh, grapes and BLUEBERRIES, gotcha.

ramblings...

We had "proper" school today which consisted of a study of Proverbs 19 (we are doing a chapter of Proverbs at a time), grammar and typing. We are supposed to do Greek and Roman History but Molly woke up so we'll move it to Friday.

It felt good to spend that time with the girls. I've been feeling guilty lately of not spending any time (besides telling them to do their chores and such) with them. We had laughs and discussions about fools and a fun time. I'm always amazed at how creative, witty and funny they are. For example, in grammar today we learned about Predicate Nouns and the sentence we were working on was "Sally was a very nice lady."

We classified that sentence and I turned to write their next assignment on the board when I heard them saying "Sally was a very nice lady, what happened to her? Did she die?" "No, Sally was a very nice lady until she tied me up in the back room." Where did that come from?

The next assignment was to write a non-rhyming poem about a color. Ava chose grey and her last line was: "Grey is the color of the silver bells at Christmas." When I pointed out that grey is not silver she replied that silver is just a shiny grey. Well, I suppose she's right.

This all makes me wonder if we should be done having kids so we can spend more time with the ones we have. Of course we won't make that decision when we have a 1 month old. We've been down that road before. A few weeks after we had Ava, Brian went in for a vasectomy. Low and behold 3 years later we wanted more children and had it reversed. It was a success obviously and now we have 3 more children. We most likely won't travel that road again but what do we do?
Brian will be almost 60 when Molly is 20 and I'll be 54.

I want to teach the older girls so much more before they get married and leave the house but I never have any time because I have younger children. It's a struggle and and I don't know what to do about it. Fertility is in the hands of God and we are not promised more children even if we want more.

So those are just my ramblings for today. Off to make Grae and Ellie some lunch.

Look what I ordered!

I have been wanting a clothesline for a while, not only to save money but I love the smell of line dryed clothes. The only requirements I had is that it couldn't take up much room and was able to come down to store for the winter.

Found it here:

Can't wait to get it! Now I need to make an apron to hold the clothes pins.

Oops...

I was playing around with my blog last night and accidently deleted some pending comments. So if you don't see your comment on the blog - I probably deleted it. I'm so sorry!

it's friday

Lest you think from my last post that my life is perfect, let me tell you what happened that afternoon.

Molly Kate woke up and from 3:30 pm - 10:15 pm cried and cried and cried and cried. She had one 30 minute nap when Brian got home but pretty much cried the rest of the time. This is the first time its happened and it was awful. My head and ears hurt so much.

Graedon decided he wanted to pour his milk from one cup to another and spilled most of it on the table and himself. He did this twice before I got wise and removed the cups from the table.

Lauren and I made soup before CryFest 2007 started and I thought it needed more tomato sauce. Bad idea as it made the soup too acidic. Nobody said anything about it but me but they were all thinking it. At least I made bread (ala the bread maker) so dinner wasn't a total loss.

Since it has been raining here, the kids haven't been able to play outside so by evening they were bouncing off the walls and furniture. We finally just sent them outside anyway and let them run.

You should see our front yard. The weeds are about 2 feet tall and we can't cut them down. We only have a push mower and it doesn't cut weeds that tall. So we either need to buy an electric or gas lawn mower or a weed-wacker. But we are slowly getting our bills from Molly Kate's birth and waiting to see how much we owe for Ava's ER visit. This month is also the month to pay for a new life insurance term policy for Brian and I. Fortunately I do have money to pay for that as it's our #1 priority. If Brian dies in the next 20 years, the girls and I will be set financially and I will continue to stay at home with them. Hey then I can buy a proper lawn mower!

On friday's we have Cleaning Day. I really, really want to get some cleaning done as our house is looking like a disaster area. Anyway, we'll see how today goes.

Love Thursday

Many bloggers participate in "Love Thursday" and today I am one of them. I finally have some time right now (we'll see how long that lasts). Graedon and Molly Kate are napping and the older girls are playing a horse riding game on the computer. It's quiet in here.

I have been realizing lately how God has blessed me. Not only did He give me the world's greatest husband (yes, you Brian) but He's given me 6 healthy and smart children. I love having my kids home with me during the day and really enjoy homeschooling them. They are such a help to me and do what I ask pretty cheerfully.

My husband takes such good care of me. When he gets home from work he will take Molly Kate so I can eat dinner and then we switch. He makes sure that I'm resting enough and will usher the kids outside so I can nap. He'll run any errands including taking back women's clothing to the store ;) But above all he is an excellent father who adores his kids. That makes any woman's heart melt.

Yes, I'm not sure why God has blessed me so much but I am thankful.

A string cheese birthday...

Today is Grae's 2nd birthday and all he wants is string cheese.



This is what he really got...

More Molly Kate...

I haven't been to the sewing room since Molly was born, neither have I worked on any home projects - and I don't feel guilty! The world revolves around Molly Kate right now and when she eats, poops and sleeps. The girls and I actually had "school" today although it was just math and typing. It's a start though.

A very sweet and kind lady from eBay sent Molly Kate a package. In it were the most adorable crocheted booties and a beautiful white eyelet dress and bloomers. I feel so blessed to have people I haven't even met in real life caring about us.







Of course my friends in real life have been helpful too. We just ate a delicious lasagne, bread, salad, fresh picked raspberries and vanilla ice cream last night for dinner. A dinner that was dropped off for us by some friends from church. We are certainly blessed.

Why Grae wanted to get naked...

Brian wants me to share why Grae wanted to get naked yesterday. I was trying to watch the news to get the weather report but Martha Stewart was on. Since I like Martha and I was nursing I decided to just watch it.

12 NYC firefighters were on promoting their new calendar. Of course they posed without their shirts (in the calendar) but were fully clothed for the show. I told Grae those were firemen. He went to get his fireman hat (a fireman had given it to him at the 4th of July parade the day before). Then he wanted his shirt off just like the firemen on tv! He kept saying "naked monster fireman". (Naked monster is his way of saying he wants his clothes off).

So he ran around with a diaper and a fireman's helmet on and was perfectly happy.

The rest of the day...

The rest of my first day alone was kind of a blur. I know Molly slept all afternoon. I actually had to wake her up to feed her. More laundry got done, folded and put away. I caught up on Journal Modiste and emails. My friend Mira came over with dinner for us (even brought cheesecake). She is a great cook and I'm glad we have some leftovers.

Big Molly present day! I received a package in the mail from an eBay forum I belong too. Inside was an adorable outfit, a towel and a cute rattle that Graedon loves ;)

Here is a picture of Molly wearing her outfit from the ebay ladies:

Brian brought home a present from a coworker with stuff we really needed, socks, really pretty washcloths and 0-3 mth onesies (why I didn't buy any I'm not sure but now we're stocked), a very soft bear and a tiger rattle that Graedon loves. He also brought home a $200 VISA gift card that will be used to purchase a hard drive video camera. Our old video camera broke and we really wanted to replace it but always spent the $$ elsewhere. Tonight we're going down to Costco and buying one. I can't wait to film Graedon talking about pirates, it's hilarious!

I did manage to get a grocery list made and Brian went shopping that night. It's nice to have food in the house. Anyway, so far the day today has gone well (except for catching Graedon stripping his bed and sending his toddler bed mattress down the stairs. He was disciplined for it and won't be doing it again, I'm sure). Molly is awake now so off to feed her.

First day on my own...

My day so far. Brian is off to work today so this is my first day alone with 6 kids.

6:45 am: Wake up.
7:00 am: Molly wakes up and I feed her.
7:30 am: Brian goes off to work.
7:45 am: Molly poops all over my clean pants. Hand her to Lauren while I search for a new clean pair.
7:47 am: Realize I have tons of laundry to do and start a load.
7:50 am: Take Molly from Lauren and change her diaper and clothes. This does not go over well.
7:55 am: Feed Molly again.
8:00 am: Graedon decides he wants to be naked. I tell him fine but to keep his diaper on.
8:02 am: Graedon attempts to throw all pillows and cushions off the couch. I tell him no which elicts a tantrum.
8:05 am: Burp Molly. She spits up all over her clean outfit, just missing the burp cloth.
8:06 am: Change Molly again.
8:10 am: Carry Molly around and tell the girls to get breakfast eaten. Make a list of chores to be done. This is met with frowns.
8:15 am: Realize this is going to be a long day. Check Safeway.com to see if they can deliver groceries today. We have no milk or bread. They can but not until 6:00 pm. Won't do me any good as Brian will be home.
8:17 am: Find a $10 off $50 coupon for groceries in the newspaper. Vow to make a list of things needed today.
8:30-9:00 am: Molly still fussing and won't sleep. I hand her off to Lauren again and jump in the shower. Want to stay in there but manage to only take 5 minutes.
Tell girls to start chores. It's getting hot in the house (forecast 95 degrees today) but I can't turn the AC on. The dryer and AC share the same plug. Try to remind Brian to fix up a clothesline for me.
9:15 am: Molly falls asleep in the swing. Maybe I can get breakfast now. I'm starving. Instead put washed load in dryer and start a new load.
9:20 am: "Remind" Graedon again to not take the cushions off the couch. Threaten discipline if it happens again. See new tantrum. Step over him to help Ellie fix her hair.
9:25 am: Tell Graedon not to take the covers off my bed. Tell him to go find something to do. On his way out of my room he picks up a dried up wipe and throws it in the garbage. I pick him up and tell him thank you and kiss him. Throw him on the couch to watch Elmo's World. Start melting butter for eggs.
9:27 am: Ava drops the broom on the hardwood floors and startles Molly awake. Tell Ellie to stop trying to hold her hand so she can go back to sleep.
9:40 am: Get Molly back to sleep and remember I have butter burning. Rush to kitchen and see someone already put eggs on for me. Ask Ava (who was in the kitchen at the time) who did it and she didn't know. Finish making eggs for Grae and I and sit down to eat them. Off to check email.

She's a medical mystery.

Our doctor had no idea what is/was wrong with Ava. She's going to do a few more blood tests to rule out a few things (I don't know what). Ava ate almost half a watermelon and a few crackers when she got back. Now she's outside with her sisters. Who knows....just glad to have her back.

9 hours later...

Well 9 hours in the ER and they still don't know what's wrong with Ava. Brian and Ava walked into the house about 3:00 am.

They pumped her full of fluids and took lots of blood. They got her in for a CT scan which showed no appendicitis but a slightly enlarged gall bladder. The doctors said that they don't ever see that in children, just the elderly, so they woke up an ultrasound tech and off she went. Her white blood cell count came back normal but her co2 levels were really low - indicating dehydration. The doctor told Brian when the levels were that low your body is tricked into thinking that it isn't thirsty and there is no coming out of it. So I'm so glad I listened to my gut and called to get her in to the ER.

After much debate, the doctors sent her home with a note to see our doctor in the morning.

So far Ava is awake and has eaten an apple and is working on drinking a tea. She says she feels fine. I have no idea what she has/had. All I know was it was a scary night last night.

ER

Well it is 10:20 pm and I'm waiting by the phone to hear how Ava is doing. She hasn't been able to keep anything down for 2 1/2 days and was becoming dehydrated. We called the doctor and she said to get Ava to the ER. Brian took her about 6:00 pm. They finally saw a doctor after 2 hours and she is on IV fluids. Brian called and said they are taking her for a CT scan now to rule out appendicitis.

I'm praying.

The week that flew by...

One week down. This was the best first week we've ever had with a newborn. Molly Kate sleeps so good during the day and night. The older girls have really helped out. Brian and I take turns napping during the day when we need it. We did get the head cold that is going around and Ava has some type of stomach flu but all in all a perfect week. Brian goes back to work tomorrow and then is off for the 4th. He'll go back in on Thursday and then off on Friday.

Now for some pics:


We didn't have batteries for the swing so Ellie stood guard and pushed her.


My dad stopped on his way home from a cross country Harley trip. He had been gone since May 7.


And Grae out in the backyard playing in the dirt of course. He has really warmed up to his baby sister and always wants to hold her. He thinks it's neat that they both wear diapers. Little does he know that in a month or so he'll start potty training ;)


So we will see what this next week has in store for us. I hope it goes as well!