Sooo we had Christmas yesterday!! My husband works all weekend and we knew that he would be in no shape to celebrate Christmas by the time Sunday morning rolled around. Luckily we contacted Santa and made sure that he was going to be out and about on Wednesday night. He was! So he came on out and we got our presents ready. 

The morning was so wonderful. I have never been more proud of a Christmas. I thought it was going to be horrible to have Christmas without whole extended family here. It was quite nice to have it just be us and our kids. I can't explain the feeling. Ceci came to my room at like 7 am and was like "Mom it's Christmas."

I was soo tired that I told her we would get up when the babies got up. I was really going to get up, I just didn't feel like it. Then I heard Jojo rustle around next to me (we have ended up with a family bed and I don't know how) so I whisper in his ear "Santa came" 

He jumps up out of the bed screaming "It's Christmas!!!" 

Needless to say at this point we all got up and it began. 

We opened presents here and then my mom and brother came over. Once they got here we went to my in-laws and celebrated there. There was definitely an abundance of gift giving this year! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family. I am so glad that my in-laws treat my family like their own. I am fully aware of how special this all is. 

I think this is why December is one of my favorite times of year. You get to show the people you love just how much you really care. I know it should be done all year but it's hard to get everyone together all the time. 

I'm back....again.

I know that it has been FOREVER since I blogged. I actually don't even remember what my last post was about. Let's just say this has been the craziest semester of my life!! I have been sooo busy and I forget to make time to do the things that I like to do, like blog. I will no longer make this mistake because it only takes a few minutes :)

So, an update. Hubs has been working at the jail for about 4 months now. It's so awesome for him to have a job that he LOVES!! We have both of the big kids in basketball and that is tons of fun. It's also pretty hilarious to watch. I can't wait for the little ones to be able to begin sports.

Oh and I have FANTASTIC news!! My little sister is visiting from Germany. I have missed her entire family so much. I have three wonderful nephews and I cannot tell you how happy I am to have them here! I have nothing really interesting to tell you as of right now but as soon as something happens I will.

Day Fourteen

Lately I have been trying to make sure that my kids are eating healthier. My sister is a very healthy person and more of a motivation to me than she knows. I want to get the entire family healthy and there is never a better time to start than now. I began with the decision to pack the kids lunches this year. I figured that I was the best judge of what was going into their bodies. It began with me being fairly lax and just packing traditional lunches of sandwiches and various snacks. I've been talking to a friend of mine who plans on being a dietician and who happens to be gorgeous and thin. Not a bad place to start of you ask me. She gave me a few great suggestions and it has been up to me to make these changes. So I took her tips and googled some more. Today as I was looking around I was seeing tons of great ideas for healthy snacks and lunches. I knew I couldn't remember them all so I began writing them down. I then got to thinking about how much my kids like looking at the lunch menu to know what they would be having the next day. My little brain got to thinking. I could make a healthy menu that the kids could help with and they could choose what they ate for the week. Not only did this sound great but it involved them and would be teaching them healthy habits. I tend to prefer things that have a more artsy flair to them so I began thinking about how I could so this. I decided to make little cards that had various snacks and lunches on them. Then I got a cork board and put my creation together. There is a snack side for after school and a lunch side for what they can take. I simply put then on the cork board and allow the kids to come up with their own menu.

We then pin the choices on the calander for the week and voila.

 They have their own menu. Plus I get to plan ahead and don't have to stumble around in the morning trying to figure out what to make. I am going to try and get some pics up here to show you guys. I am so proud and they love it!!

Day Thirteen

Now that the big kids are back in school I am trying to get more things done during the day. It seems like I didn't do anything over the summer. I am officially catching up on everything though. Today, for example, both the babies had their well-child check ups and shots. Boo to the shots!! It was so sad. Joe went with me so he is the brave parent that stays in the room while they stab my babies. I was lucky enough to get to hold the child that was not getting a shot in the hall. Jojo went first and it was sad. I could hear him scream from the hall. Then Joe brought him to me and it was Jax's turn. I got Jojo calmed down fairly quickly but as soon as we heard Jax scream it was over for Jojo. It absolutely broke his heart to hear his brother crying like that. Overall, it wasn't too bad. They were over it within minutes and then we bought them cotton candy.

We also have two physicals this week as well. Fun stuff I tell you. Looks like this evening my daughter is going to go try out for cheerleading. Both of the big kids are in track so this should be an eventful fall. I love it though! We are also going to be going to DC in October for the 5th grade trip in our county. The amount of things that we will get to do is amazing. I can't wait to blog about that :) 

Also, I had some people ask about commenting and following the blog. You have to have a google account to be able to do so. This is easy and fun. You will have access to not only the blogs but you get a gmail and can have picasa web albums to store your pictures in. It's great. Once you have a google account you simply view the blog while you are logged in and it will allow you to comment on and follow any of the blogs on blogspot. I really hope this helps!!

Day Twelve

I have had a yard sale for the last two days. Ah...the good ol' yard sale. Where should I begin? I have saved stuff up for around a month. I gathered my mom's old stuff, got a friend to join me and set forth on my mission to make a little extra money. We attempted to find a babysitter but that was an epic fail. It seemed doomed from the start but no, we knew better than that. We were going to make money, honey. We weren't too concerned with the lack of a baby sitter because my husband was going to be home and he could handle 6 kids. He is good like that. Well, Friday ended his last day of training at work and they gave him a new schedule. Of course, this would include Saturday. Why wouldn't it? If he was actually off on Saturday that would be beneficial to our yard sale. Seeing how the yard sale gods were against this from the start, we should have taken this as an omen. Nope, we were going to make money I tell you! So, we decide to pay my 10 year old $10 to make sure that the house stayed clean and the other kids didn't kill each other. Fast-forward to this afternoon. We have a total of $54 profit in these two days. My husband worked Saturday, went camping last night and came home this morning too tired to think. My daughter (the 10 year old) went to her mamaw's last night and left us with the other 5 kids to watch while we attempted to do this. I am thinking that the $10 is no longer necessary....maybe I will give her five. Oh and we have also had sporadic showers for the last two days. Keep in mind that this is following a long week of dry, humid heat. We should have known better, but NO we were going to make some money. Now, here we sit. At the yard sale. 3:30 on a Sunday and pretty sure that we're not going to get any more customers before the next shower. Are we going to go inside? NO, we are going to make some money!!

Day Eleven

I know I have spent the last three days complaining about how my big kids are getting older and what not. But let me tell you, these past two days of just having the babies has been quite nice. If you haven't noticed by now that is what we call the kids in our house. We have an 8 and 10 year old who are known as "The Big Kids and then we have a 2 and 3 year old who are known as "The Babies". I do realize that the babies won't always the babies but for now, it has stuck. I wonder when they will become just the kids because the others will be moved out and in college. Oh no, we are not going down this road again today :)

I will be cutting this one short because I am going to go watch a movie with my 3 year old, Jojo while the actual baby, Jaxon, sleeps. I am loving this free time. Only one week and then I will be back to school. Should I begin 3 days in advance, complaining about my first day too? Hahaha I won't bore you with that. Besides, I like school. 

Oh and check out my friends blog. Her kids are hysterical!!

stmykidssay.blogspot.com

Day Ten

Today went wonderful! We got up super early to begin the first day of school. The kids were so cute! I couldn't have asked for a better morning. I know that they won't all start like that but it was a good beginning. I was a little sad because my son, who is eight, took off into his classroom without even saying goodbye. He's getting too old for me and that breaks my heart. I know that one day he really will be. For some reason this school year has been making me really emotional. I.don't know why though. Maybe its just because they are all growing up and I can't stop it. I mean even my baby is 2 1/2. I feel like I just had him yesterday. I promise you guys that my posts will be a much happier now that this is over. It's just been hard watching them grow up on me. Tomorrow's another day and I will talk about something funny :)