My favorite pal

There is nothing like a father son relationship. They can do things that mothers and daughters just don't do. There is all kind of bonding to be done. Physical labor, belching, farting, camping, fishing, and just working side by side. This all starts at a very early age. Ken was replacing some drawers in the kitchen and Asche was very interested in what he was doing. He kept squirming his way in under Ken's arm and peering into the drawer. He was soo much help!


All I could think of was the Primary song "My Dad." The first lines are:

My Daddy is my favorite pal and I help him every day. It's plain to see I want to be like him in every way.

He thinks he is so smart sitting there with him! Look at that smile! I love this kid.

The "n"th degree

My painting fiasco went from a great big freaking mess in our front room to a stinky smelly wet mess. We were all done with the rooms. Walls painted, touch ups fixed, trim painted, closet painted, everything. All that was left to put my house back in order was to finish sorting through the things in the front room and put back what needed put back and DI the rest of it. We decided that we would put the baby's crib in the front bedroom. It is arranged so that it won't look cramped in there and it gets it out of our bedroom, which really doesn't have room for it in there. We had to move the fish tank. This is not a cute little bowl that sits on the counter. This is a serious tank. 30 Gallons of water fit in this tank. We have a plectosmus that is about a foot long and then another fish named Dinner. It is a white fish, honestly I don't know what kind and don't care to know. I feed it each night and that is all that matters. These two fish live in the tank in the older girls' room and the light serves as a night light and white noise for them (the filter runs and makes a low toned even sound all night). We had to move this tank from it's current place on the far wall to the back wall so we can fit the older two's bed and the baby's crib. Instead of emptying the tank to a managable weight, Ken decided that he was Superman (a complex he has had since before we met) and that he could just move it--stand and all. In the process of moving it we hear a pop and the stand didn't sit like it was supposed to. It was leaning to one side. Sure enough, we had broken one of the welds. This was not something we were going to ignore so we went to Wal-Mart and got another stand so we could transfer the tank to it. We got home and again, instead of emptying the tank to a manageable weight he just tried to move it. The last weld gave way and the tank slid to one side and the castle that was in the tank crashed into the glass and broke the tank. We immediately had fish, plecostomus, rocks, castle, broken glass, filter, and 30 GALLONS OF SMELLY STINKY FISH-POOPY WATER ALL OVER THE CARPET!!!! We were able to save the fish (dang it anyway) and I went back to Wal-Mart for a 10 Gallon tank to house our fish. The problem now is how do we get the water up. We do have a shop vac and were able to get the rocks, glass, and a lot of the water sucked up. I couldn't get all the water. The carpet was still soaking wet. I made another trip to Wal-Mart to get a fan so we could try and dry the carpet so we didn't have to add moldy mildew smell to our odorifis concoction we already have. We had already planned on replacing the carpet in the bedroom and front room, but now we get to do it sooner rather than later. Thank heavens for 0% financing and hopefully we will just have to pay it off with the proceeds from the sale of our home.

Painting fiasco

We have made the exciting decision that it is time for us to move. We need a bigger house. 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 5 girls, and 2 boys = grown out of our space. In order to be ready to move however we have some deferred maintenence we need to catch up on. Project one: Paint. This 5 letter word doesn't seem like it would be much. It only takes up a little room on the page. The theory behind it is simple. Go pick the color, tell the guy behind the counter to mix it up, bring it home and apply it to the walls.

THIS IS A LIE! PAINT IS WAY MORE WORK THAN THAT! First you have to argue for at least 20 minutes in Lowe's (in front of some poor blue jacket wearing sap that really just wants you to make a freaking decision because he really just wants you to go away so he can go outside for a smoke) about which shade of brown you think is appropriate to be putting on the walls. Did you know there is about 400,000 shades of brown? Some are more green, some more orange, others red. So, we have the argument with Nataushia and Keneisha just dying that we are fighting in a public and settle on Balsam Beige. This is not too dark, not too light. We ask the guy to mix this up. 2 gallons should be enough to do the rooms.

Ready, set, paint. Whistle blows in the backgroung. Ref calls a flag on the play. False start. 10 yard penalty. First you have to clear everything out of the room. Did you think so much stuff could be stuffed into one little room.

I can't believe they have this much junk. They need to get rid of half of that! Now that we have emptied the room of it's contents it is time to paint right? Wrong!! You have to tape it off. Every square inch you don't to have painted must be covered up with tape. This takes about and hour when you are working fast. When you have a 6 year old, 4 year old, and a 9 month old this process is extended to about 2 hours. It really isn't the taping that takes forever it is the interuptions that take forever. It sounds a little like this: The 6 year old is hungry. Can you please get me something to eat Mommy? Yeah me too Mom says teh 4 year old. Sure I would love to get you something, what do you want. I want a peice of cheese, a BIG one please. Ok, sure, simple enough. Slice the cheese, two happy people. Back to taping. Ah Wahhhhh! guess who else is hungry. Fix the bottle and ask the 6 year old to feed him. (one perk of having older kids). Back to taping. Mom, I think Asche is poopy, I don't want to feed him anymore, he stinks. OK, just sec, let me finish this wall and I will change him. Baby changed. Please quit fighting over the Halloween clothes. Yes it is fine, Keneisha if they dress up.

I eventually got the taping done. The little two girls wanted to help, so I armed them with a little paint can and a brush and told them they could do no wrong in the closet, please just stay in the tape lines. They did a good job, minimal drips, and I think I lost square footage in the closet, but they had a great time. Brennady moved on to dress up and wore the witch outfit the rest of the day, even to Wal-mart and Broulims. Ken told people she had just dressed up to look like me. ha ha very funny.

The painting starts next. This is arm breaking labor. It took two coats to completely cover up the yellow paint that I had on the wall before. But overall it looks pretty good. I am excited about it being done. I still have to put one more coat on the older girls' walls but I will get that done tomorrow. I will post the pictures tomorrow, that is if my arms work anymore. (Does anyone know where the icy hot is?)

One and a half

One day when I was watching my sister's son, Logan, he was mad at me and was going thru a list of things he didn't like about me. He said, "I no like your house. I no like your hair, I no like your curtains, I NO like your truck!" He was about 2 1/2 when he was telling me this. He is such a smart aleck but cute as all get out. He has the biggest blue eyes that just glimmer when he is being a turkey.

So, when my sister texted me tonight and said that Logan said that Kaitlyn was the second cutest baby and asked me to guess who was the first cutest. I texted her back and said that it was him. She texted back and said that no, Logan said that Asche was the first cutest then Kaitlyn. I told her to tell him that I forgave him for not liking my curtains. She said that she told him that Kaitlyn was first then Asche was second. He told her Fine, they are both one and half. I can settle for that (really, Logan was right the first time. Asche is first cutest).

Outnumbered and looking for a plan.

www.simplemom.net/spring-cleaning-day-one I am going to follow this. I have a 3 day weekend coming up and I am going to get a jump start on this. I really do want to have a clean home--I also sincerely believe that I am the only one that wants this. Ken claims to want this but I don't know that he knows how to. My kids are mess making machines. I can get one room done and turn around and they have messed up everything again. I admit, I am not perfect at putting away all my stuff but really if you were to count what was not in its place you would see that I am a small offender.

I tell people that I secretly look forward to the day that I live all alone--no kids, no husband, no pets. I know that I will be able to have a clean home--everything has a place and everything in its place. We just need to be able to let go of this stuff. Ken had a rough childhood. He constantly felt deprived of the simple things and so now he over compensates by never letting go of things and hauling tons more of it home. If everyone would go away for a week and let me be I could make amazing progress in the house and no one would be able to tell me exactly what I had gotten rid of. There is that much stuff just hanging around.

I will update as my progress goes, and hopefully remember to take the pictures like it says too. Then when I call my realtor in a week to list my house, I will be ready for strangers to come in and look at it and hopefully make an offer. I want to build a new home (that way we can fill it up and I will still be outnumbered. AHHHH Well, who said life is fair)

Finally!!!

For the past 3 nights Asche slept basically through the night (meaning I didn't have to do anything other than get up and soothe him a little) AND he slept in his OWN crib. It has been amazing!! Ken and I actually get to sleep in the same bed together with no little body between us (and you can't count Rose, she is like a teddy bear with a bad temper). It has been about 6 years since Ken and I have slept together. We have had a few nights here and there, but as a rule, one of us has been relagated to the couch. I hope he makes a habit out of it.

Now, that being said---I miss the feel of my baby next to me. I loved snuggling in with him, tucking his body in next to mine. Feeling his body heat, smelling his hair, listening to him breathe. It is sooooo short of a time that I can do that with my babies and I wasn't quite ready to let it go even if I was desparate for a full night's rest. Sometimes being a mom just sucks. On one hand you are thrilled that your little one has learned a new skill, has found a new way, has grown and is so pleased with themselves that they squeal their delight when they do their new found ability. The other hand says, WAIT, I AM NOT READY FOR YOU TO DO THAT!!!! I needed about 15 more minutes with him cuz I think I only got 15 minutes with him tiny.