It's All Adam's Fault!

Today we were sitting at the table eating dinner and we were talking about how thankful we were that everyone is feeling better. Nate, the 5 year-old, and Sam, the 8 year-old, still have runny noses. We were discussing germs and sickness and having a little science lesson, when out of the blue, Nate says, "If only Adam hadn't eaten the apple!"
Out of the mouths of babes!

Snow Day

OK, what a great day! I was doubtful, but the snow finally started and it's lovely! The kids went out for exactly 10 minutes before they were back in, wanting to sit by the fire. Thankfully, we had 2 ricks of wood delivered yesterday. We've already been through 6 ricks this winter. Our fireplace is connected to our home's ductwork, so we've only run the heater a few times this winter. In our old, victorian house on Wright St., our monthly gas bill was anywhere from $350-450 a month! Now, our gas bill runs around $50. I can handle that! But, we ran out of wood last week. I think these 2 will get us through the rest of the winter. It's funny how we've trained ourselves to "keep the fire going". We hate to start a new fire from scratch, so we do everything we can to keep the flame going.

Now, let's talk about laundry. In my last post I mentioned that I had done 3 loads in one day. I was talking to a friend of mine and she was surprised that 3 is a lot for me. With 7 in our family, our laundry is never done, but we always have clean clothes and towels. I have a few "rules" that help me keep my sanity. First of all, I tell the kids that they should be able to wear their clothes at least twice. Now, I know that toddlers/babies may need several outfits a day! But, I'm past that stage. And, since baby clothes are much smaller than kid/adult clothes, I think it would be easy to keep up with thiers as well. I tell the kids that they can wear their clothes for 2 days, and they should wear their pajamas at least 3 times. And, they can use their big, bath towels at least twice. I have hooks in their bathroom that they can use to hang their towels. And, there are hooks in their room to hang their clothes/pajamas. I do, however, tell them that I should see their underwear in the dirty hamper every day! So, we have a laundry shute and the kids are able to get their clothes down the shute and I do one load every day. I start, or I have Katie start one load first thing in the morning. Now, of course, if the family is sick...well...all bets are off and the goal is survival! And, of course there are times that the kids get really dirty and can't wear their clothes twice. That's life. But, getting one load completely done each day is easier for me than trying to do 7-8 loads in one day. I used to separate everyone's socks, but with 4 boys, there's just no way. So, I have a basket on top of the dryer and all the socks go in the basket. Now, they can get their own socks! It's a beautiful thing! I know that there are those that put their laundry in a basket and take it somewhere in the house to fold, but for me, it's just easier to fold right out of the dryer. It's too easy to take the basket somewhere and then not get the laundry folded. I have 5 dish tubs in my utility room, one with each child's name. Their laundry goes into their tub. They can take their tub and put their clothes away each evening when they get their pajamas on.

OK, you know that you're boring when the most exciting thing you can post about is laundry! We just found out that school is canceled again tomorrow, but of course, there's no reason to cancel homeschool! But it's sure tempting! Right now we're getting ready for a hot game of Sorry! Now that's exciting!

Coming Out of the Fog

Has it really been 10 days since my last post? Well, the last thing I remember is reading my friend, Shelley's blog about how her daughter had been sick. Well, after that, my daughter became feverish. The next day, I became feverish. One by one, we each (except for Zack) fell victim to fever, chills, cough, aches, pains, etc... So, after a week, I'm actually able to look around and see clearly. Wow! We've never had so many, so sick. The first day, I spent the whole day in bed. After that, it was just a 4 hour cycle ...as I would begin to feel feverish, I'd take my Tylenol. I'd begin to feel better in about 45 minutes...which means I'd have about 2 hours to get things done before my fever would spike again and I'd need to take my meds again. Add to that the fact that there were 5 other people doing the same thing and you can imagine that we were all just kind of bumping each other in our fever-induced fog. I just feel so tired! We got a little bit of school done during our little snippets of lucidity. Of course, now that we're on our way out of this fog, I look around and the house has gone down the drain! I actually cooked a meal tonight. I did 3 loads of laundry today. I bagged up 2 bags of trash. I swept. I cleaned the kitchen. I took Zane to band. We did our school work. We did piano lessons. So, basically, life is getting back to normal...hopefully.

Where to, sir?

Well, I actually took the time to figure out how much time I spent in the car today. 2 hours and 45 minutes!!! AND I WENT NOWHERE!!! Just dropping off and picking up. Granted, this isn't a typical day...we had some extra stuff going on today...but boy does it really take it out of me! By the time I got home, I was whipped. So, here I am, with my feet up, watching Cheaper By The Dozen.

On another note, we've officially become Gilliganized. We've seen all the episodes at least twice now. Seriously, they'd watch them nonstop if I let them. We love them.

We've had a good week. School went relatively smooth. Everyone got fed, clothed, and stayed warm. What more could you ask?

Rambling

I don't know what to write... You know, it's been interesting getting my feet wet in the "blogosphere". I read some blogs of people that I know, but also strangers. As I read other blogs, I wonder if I ever come across to people as obnoxious? Ok, maybe these people aren't obnoxious, but they have very strong opinions about things. For example, I read a lady's blog and she spoke about childrearing, nursing, discipline, etc....you know, all the common parenting issues. Anyway, her convictions were so strong that it was offensive. My quandry is, as a reader, should I respond? What usually happens is that I think that I will write this wonderful, intelligent response that will certainly help her see the error of her ways. She'll see the light and come to her senses. Then, after I've written about 3 sentences, I realize that if a complete stranger wrote to me, I'd probably blow it off. So, then I just delete everthing I planned to post and go on.
OK, so what's been going on that is not obnoxious? Well...Katie and I had a mother/daughter getaway last weekend. My heart is so full when I think about her growing up! I'm getting tears just sitting here thinking about it! She turned 11 in November and I decided it was time for "the talk". I know, I know... She's only 11!!!! Believe me, I hated to do it...but it would just break my heart if she began her time of the month and didn't know what it was. Some of her friends are already there. Since she doesn't go to school, she really had no knowledge at all, which is great! Also, we talked about where babies come from. She was sufficiently repulsed, which is also great! The only real problem is that I could hardly keep from crying every time we began to talk about her growing up! I sure love that girl! To celebrate the weekend, she got her ears pierced. We had a great time. I used Family Life Today's Passport to Purity. We only did the sessions concerning friends, peer pressure, and sex. We'll do the sessions on dating in a few years....many years!
Monday it was back to the grind...school has been good. I had a meeting tonight, but not a lot going on this week. I love it! Zane has a swim meet on Sat., but that's about it.
And, you may be wondering how my resolutions are going. We'll, do you remember how you'd go to church camp every summer and "rededicate" your life to the Lord? I going to have to rededicate my resolutions. I'm going to bed earlier than usual, but not as early as I should. I'm going to work on it though. Of course, if you look at the time this was posted, you'll see that I'm not doing well. Perhaps I should say good night.

2008 is prettier than 2007!

Let's hope we have a pretty 2008! OK, I'm going to share one of my dark secrets... I give inanimate things living characteristics. I treat nonliving things like they are alive, sometimes. My earliest memory of doing this was when I was about 12... In the old days, when I used hot rollers in my hair, I would be sure to use 1/2 the rollers one day, and then the other 1/2 the next day because I didn't want their feelings to be hurt. I was sure they would be sad since they had to go through the pain of being burning hot, but then not get to be used. I rotate my dishes so that none of them gets used more than any other. Every card I make has a personality and I try to use older ones first. Anyway, along those lines, I also think that numbers have a personality. I think that 3, 6, 8, and 0 are the nicest numbers. 4, 5 and 9 are mean numbers. 1, 2, and 7 are sort of in between. So, now I've passed this psychosis on to my kids and Katie informed me that 2008 is prettier than 2007. Now you know...I'm crazy!

We had a nice evening... I am so loving these Gilligan shows. I really love the head-hunter ones. Do you remember the one when the HHs show up looking for a "white goddess" to throw into the volcano? Gilligan dresses up a "Gilliana" to protect the girls and hope the HHs will take all of them to a different island so they can get away. Well...the king HH falls for Gilliana and makes a pass at her. Funny!

It's windy, but pretty today. Roger has been flying pretty much all day. He promised to take the Christmas stuff up to the attic, but has been gone. I am so ready to get this stuff put away so I can get the living room back in shape. So, to make him feel bad, I took everything up stairs and was able to get all but the tree and 2 big boxes up to the attic. He didn't even notice! I about killed myself on the attic stairs for nothing! AND, I broke a nail!!

Now that's NOT pretty!