I'm back with a quick thought before my kids get home from school.

We are into sport season here, my oldest plays basketball which translates into A LOT of games to lug my other 4 children to. We are talking 3-4 a week!!!!!! So since my littlest 2 don't sit the best at games, and my oldest 2 daughters don't enjoy them entirely, I made the decision to go to Home games and an occasional away game if close and works into my schedule.
 
Little did I know that I am a bad parent for doing that!!!!! I have been told more then once that a good parent goes to all games, no matter how far they are or who they need to bring with. A good parent would want to be there in your child gets injured, a good parent would be there to tell your child what they did right and wrong while playing the game,

So my thought is Am I a good parent? I think I am!
 I go and cheer the TEAM on when they are at home games, no I do not tell/yell at my child when he does something wrong, he is out there getting exercise and enjoying himself! Isn't that important??

I also think of my other children and what they want to do. Is it fair to them to say no you can't do anything after school for the next 3 months because we NEED to go to your brothers basketball games. Don't they have a right to enjoy activities they like and love?????

 If my son gets injured, I am not sure I want to see it happen. I am sorry but I LOVE him to death and back, I think I would embarrass him by running onto the court and making sure he is OK. I would probably freak out and who needs a freaked out parent when they have an injured child? The coaches are trained in 1st aide, and I have great faith in our EMTS, 1st responders, and ambulances, ( we have used them before) I fully believe that in an injury situation, they would be better at caring for him then me. I am a mom, not formally trained in dealing with injuries!

My children are home from school, so I need to run. But I want to Thank you for letting my vent!
Here's to sports season!!!!
Happy Mom

I also want to post that today #2 turns 11! I am so proud of #2 and all that #2 has become. As #2 grows up I see maturity coming through!

My #1 left on the bus for state fair today. #1 will be there  until Thursday, it was hard to let #1 go, but I think it will be good. #1 is with other teens from the county, #1 earned the trip with the project done for the county fair.  I am proud of what was accomplished.

The fair went well, all blue ribbons, 1 reserve champion!! So proud of my crew and all they accomplished.

VBS went well also. Very HOT HOT HOT, but I loved the company, fellowship, laughs! We did a 24 hour camp out in tents. Love getting to know my fellow Christian friends!! And the kids all had a blast.  The one thing all the grown-ups will remember is hearing the wind, but not feeling the breeze inside our tents. We all laid there thinking. " God, isn't this kind of mean?? It is 106 out and we can hear the wind, but not feel it??" :) We all know God loves us and takes care of His own.

We are off to a birthday supper for #2.

Enjoy your night!!

Happy Mom! :)

So what do you do when you have unwanted pets in your yard??
This just happened here. We had a  cat come into our fenced in backyard while the kids were outside. So I went out to see the cat and  saw it had on a collar and got info off the collar to find the owner. I call the owner, Who is someone in our neighborhood, who we don't know well. The mom is super nice, and I think has a tough life. Anyway I leave a message for her telling her we have her cat, please call back. While we are waiting for the call back, #4 goes outside and the cat comes in. Now I am chasing a cat around the house, trying to catch it. Without getting scratched or bit. I catch it and the cat does NOT like to be picked up. I dispose of it outside, where the kids are eagerly waiting to see the cat. I tell them to follow it around, but don't touch it. Yeah RIGHT! This is a cat!
 She calls me back and tells me it is a super nice cat, loves kids, won't hurt anyone, etc. While I am on the phone with her, the car bites or scratches #5. Since I am not out there, I do not know what #5 did to the cat 1st. It could have been justified, I mean #5 just turned 3 and isn't around animals.  So I get #5 calmed down and then get a phone call saying her son is walking over to get the cat. Perfect! He comes over and I take him into the backyard to catch the cat. It takes him awhile, and the cat hisses at him also, but he does catch it. I thank him, and I am happy to report the cat is back home!!

We do not have pets, 5 kids is enough for me to take care of!! I know the kids are always asking for a pet, maybe after today they won't. The sweet innocent cat was not that when it left here!

If the pet seems harmless and has a collar, I would like to try and get ahold of the owners 1st before I call animal control. What do you do?  

Another week has almost gone by. This week we are fighting colds, mine has turned into a sinus infection. Went to the dr on Monday and am starting to feel a little better today. I was hoping to feel almost normal again by the afternoon, but I don't think that will happen!  The in-laws are coming up today and have invited us to go swimming with them at their hotel. Tomorrow is crazy days here and I love to shop at them with my mother-in-law!! It is set to be a couple fun days! I was so hoping the meds would be helping more by now :(
The dr told me locally produced honey helps the most, so I am on the hunt for a local bee farmer. I am willing to try it, as I hate treating everything with antibiotics.

The kids are doing great on their 4-H projects! We worked hard on them over the weekend, and now with mom not feeling well, we are again at a stand still. I am hoping Friday we get back to them.

Just wanted to drop a short note, I am off to try and rest a little bit. This headache and infection is getting the best of me!

Stay Healthy!
Happy Mom

Whew a week went by and I haven't had time to post! Needless to say all the kids are back home, as I have no time to get much done!! The older kids are busy working on their 4-H projects, some of which need to be done on moms computer, which in turn limits my usage of it.

They also have "whiz kids" ( summer school) the next couple of weeks. My older kids all go, some to volunteer their time and help out; others to learn and have fun. It is not a regular summer school. The kids get to do all sorts of neat crafts and hands on projects. They also get to spend time in the garden picking fresh produce, sewing, and making projects for the garden.  They also have team sports after school, this week is soccer. It is a great way for the kids to try out a new sport.

With soccer this week, I have been up at the school every day and night either working in the garden or prepping the soccer field. Our school custodian doesn't do a lot of yard work, so the grass around the nets was about 3-4 feet high. How much fun can it be to play in the tall grass?? So I took up the weed whipper and trimmed around the goals on Monday, On Tuesday we went and moved 1 of the goals. What a job! It took us an hour and a 1/2 to dig up the old stakes ( which weren't holding anything down!) and move the goal so it is in alignment with the other goal. I would have thought when the person installed them, they would have lined them up!! Last night we went up and put on the new goal nets that the school had but no one installed. Now they can play soccer!! And the school yard looks so much better with out all that tall grass.

Monday we went and got glasses for my #3 child.  When we went on vacation earlier this yr I noticed she couldn't see license plates and was mixing up the numbers 3 and 8 when doing homework. Yep #3 also needs glasses. #3 likes to see better, but of course there has been some teasing at summer school, but the teachers are all very good about stopping it and today went much better and #3 enjoys wearing them!

This week I have managed to be on the treadmill every day! Yeah for me :) I have upped my time to 17  minutes and .7 miles!  I did discover that we have a chipmunk living in our shed :(  I saw him when I was on the treadmill......... He is pooping on all my boxes and the kids toys.  We tried to find him yesterday afternoon after the kids got home, but no luck. It looks like we are going to have to empty the shed and clean it all out. I am wondering if he has a small hole somewhere where he is entering and exiting at his leisure?

That about sums up my week so far. I am enjoying have the kids around for a little bit longer before school starts again.  They all grow up so fast!

Enjoy the day!
Happy Mom!

Happy Thursday!!  It is almost the weekend and I hope the weekend brings cooler temps!! It is 90 + degrees here and very humid, for someone who does not have central air it is a little to warm!!  We do have several window units we use to cool some rooms, but for some reason the big one that cools the main room downstairs keeps blowing the circuit this afternoon, so not much relief from the heat!!

We had this same heat yesterday and took advantage of it to wash off the deck. And boy was it dirty! We have a large deck, I am guessing maybe 36 feet by 16 feet. It needs to be resealed this year so I thought I would get the hose out and start cleaning it. It is a ground level wood deck with spaces between each board. Each one of those spaces was filled with dirt, leaves, sand, and other gunk. I had to get in between each one with the hose. Which wasn't so bad since it was so HOT out and I am originaraly a farm girl, so getting dirty doesn't bother me either :)  The tots and I am actually had a great time splashing water and getting wet with the fresh well water from the hose.  I will admit I am sore today, as it took me 4 hours to clean that deck. And those 4 hours were spent crouching down and crab walking to get it clean.  When I was done I looked like the Loch Mist Monster, but both my tots had a great time "hosing" mommy off.  For them the day was worth it just to be able to spray mommy with the hose.

We have been picking raspberries and peas nightly, what a blessing to have this year. The raspberries are from the school garden, and the peas from ours, usually our garden doesn't do well, so we are taking full advantage of them.  This is also the 1st year we have helped in the school garden. What  a  great experience for the kids! And since we live in town our garden is small and we are not able to plant a lot, but the school garden is fairly big, so that helps.  Next week the summer school kids will have first pick of  produce from the school garden and when school starts they will be able to use fresh produce in their meals! I LOVE that!!

My older kids will be back from the grandparents on Saturday, so life will again get busy here :) But I have enjoyed the time with just my tots! 

Live Life,

Happy Mom :)

Happy Monday!

It was  a rainy busy weekend here. Saturday we got up early to hit garage sales!!!!! I LOVE GARAGE SALES! :)  Since my kiddos grow soooooo fast I hate spending a lot of money on new clothes they may only get to wear for a couple of months. They get some new for school, but for around the house and summer they get garage sale things!! I found some much needed clothes for my girls and 2 year old. I also found some other "stuff" I probably didn't need. That's how it goes no matter where you are shopping, right??

One of my purchases was the treadmill I have been wanting for about 6 months. You would think I could just go outside and walk, but with 5 kiddos I never get very far. The treadmill was only $20 and I was able to use it this morning. I walked 1/2 mile in 15 mins. For me that is pretty good. I know I am not in shape, which makes no sense since I literally chase after 5 kiddos in a 2 story house every day. I bet I run steps at least 30 times a day!!! I am hoping that the treadmill will provide me with a stress reliever, exercise outlet, and maybe a little me time :) Since it is set up in the kiddos "play shed" I doubt I get much me time, but this morning I was able to walk on it and watch the 2 and 3 yr old ride their bikes.  Quite the joy!!

Sunday we made our way to pick up the 3 yr old from the grandparents. The 3 yr old was not completely ready to come home, which made me both happy and sad. Sad the 3 yr old didn't want to come with mom, but also very happy knowing I am raising the 3 yr old to be an independent person!

With all the rain this weekend we have not been able to get outside, which makes for some wild kiddos. So this morning when the rain stopped for a little bit, we went out and my little tots had a huge water fight. We got 4+ inches of rain in a little over 24 hours, so everything outside was full of water! They took full advantage of it and were wet from head to toe in 5 mins. The joy of hearing their laughter is worth much more than the extra laundry I have to do. :)

The tots are napping for the 1st time since school left out for the summer. I am hoping this is a sign of more normal things to come! I missed their nap time and the chance for me to read or catch up on some projects :) 

Take time to find some joy in your day!!

So here we are another day.  Some of my children are spending quality time with grandparents this week. I so LOVE that my children are able to do that. What a great memory they are creating!  I only have 1 left here with me, my 2 yr old.  Let me say this " He was not ment to be an only child!!" Holy cow can he drive me crazy at times!!

We started the day at 5:30AM, and NO I am not a morning a person!   Since all the siblings have been gone for a day now, he is like a lost puppy. By 9 I think I have answered the question " wheres dora?' about 100 times. I am trying to keep him busy but he loves the outdoors and temps here are in the 90s. Thought about the beach but he is sooooooooo tired I am afraid we would have no fun! So we have been doing laundry and straighting out rooms. He does love to help his mommy so that helps.

A couple highlights with him from the last 24 hours:

A bead up his nose that I had to pull out with a tweezers

A jammed paper shredder with a magazine

Fighting his nap and then falling asleep at 3:30!! Can we say late night??????

overflowing the bathroom sink

squishing a spider for mom! you go Boy :)

sneaking out of the house to watch for dad


I just went to check on him and he looks like an angel sleeping so nice with his blanket. It makes me forget all the things that he does that drives me crazy.

Hello! 

I am starting this blog as an outlet for me to use for some of our crazy,busy,stressful, exciting days we have in this house. I am a stay at home mom to five wonderful ( most of the time) kiddos. I have been a stay at home for 8 years now and most days I wouldn't change a thing, but other days.............maybe ;) 

I will not be posting pictures as I am not sure I want everyone to know who is really writing this blog. I live in a very small town and I want a place where I can be very blunt. Since I am writing this for me to let off steam, remember things, etc. I won't be using a filter as to what I write. I hope that makes sense!!  All my "real, true" friends know me to the core and that is what counts.  I will be the mystery writer!

So welcome to whom ever you may be! Please sit back and enjoy the ride with me!



I am going to label my children as numbers through out my blog, just to keep things easy for me and to respect their privacy as children. #1 is the oldest and #5 is the youngest!

Happy Mom!