6 Little Heads!

Excitement is Brewing!

Amazingly all the presents that I have been laboring over are upstairs, in the attic, under the tree. We decided to only decorate with homemade ornaments & ornament gifts from this current year & its, amazingly, completely decorated. Its small (next year!), but showered by creative little hands! The kids have been up & down, up and down & up & down. They have counted out each others & their own (6 a piece). They have shaken and felt for some kind of a clue. But, amazingly, no wrapping paper has come off! I was anticipating Maverick deciding all the presents were his & finding wrapping paper everywhere, but he could care less. I don't think he gets it, yet. Unless its a veggitale, he might be hard to impress. The other kids are trying to be patient... trying to be good... trying to find things to fill their time, before they run back up to the attic & count out the presents again. I put them all in their own piles, now. Counting should be easier.

Celebrating starts tomorrow with a kick off by the reason for it all ~ Jesus. Our church has a live nativity scene & its complete with real animals. So exciting for the kids. We will have 4 Christmas's in the next 4 days. We start at Mike's families house. Christmas morning will be Mike & I & the kids, then traveling to my brother's house for my mom & dad's Christmas, followed on Saturday by my extended family. Its always busy, but its my favorite time of the year. Mike told me the other night, as I'm wrapping even more presents, that this is when I really shine! This is when all the hard work I do doing the year, getting all the great bargains, working all the monster deals, shopping all the clearance racks. This is the culmination of it all. Presents galore, even in a economic crunch!

Hmmm....

Its that time of the year, the time I try to figure out just where to put our Christmas Tree. We went from having a gorgeous big REAL tree completely decked out in our apartment, to a fake 3' tall one that fits on the playroom drawing table. I always tell everyone, space is at a premium in this house, but it never rings so true as to Christmas time. With the presents and decorations and life in general happening, its hard to figure out where to shoe horn in the Christmas tree. The kids have off next week for school. Vacation starts on FRIDAY at 2:20pm & they will have 16 days off! I've saved most of the decorating & cookie making for them, as I'm sure we will be home bound (Love Wisconsin, Hate the Cold!) & needing stuff to do. Where to put the tree though? I rearranged the living room... not very exciting as we have 4 doorways, 2 windows, a fireplace & a radiator to contend with ~ Yeah, 1 actual wall ~ but I'm not thinking it'll work in there. Maybe in the Dining Room corner... or there's the playroom again, or maybe up in the attic. Hmmm... Its not going in the bedrooms or bathroom, so that takes out the 2nd floor... I'm thinking the attic rec room is going to win. Conveniently close to the Christmas storage area & the present room... Hmmm....

Friday night at the Johnstone's

With Mike's new hours, used to be 2-11, now its whenever to whenever ~ he was really looking forward to dinner at home around the table with everyone!


Tonight we went around the table and discussed our highs from the week...

Morgan ~ her harp playing, she gets to be the librarian for her class for the month & she got a great interim report

Marina ~ her singing for the winter concert, she's the farthest on our Farm Valley game & she's looking forward to sleeping in the tent tonight (I cleaned the attic & set up a tent for them to sleep in! FUN!)

Mitchell ~ went from being a Beatle with LONG hair to having his close crop again, also he kept most of his stars this week in his class (he's usually a good boy)

Madigan ~ got a CD Player from the treasure box (WOW!) for being good at school all week (What parent donated that?! Mike asked why she didn't grab the TV! LOL!) & she got to "chase" gingerbread men all around the school on a savenger hunt.

Miranda ~ had a blast at McD's with her friends today & loves her new Christmas sweater

Maverick ~ is enjoying being a Veggitale fan ~ BIG TIME!

All in all a great week for the kids!

Morgan Playing Harp

Thanks Samantha! Sidhe, Morgan's friend, is on the left, Morgan is on the right. Here is Morgan Playing the Harp. She just started this year & loves it!

New Community Columnists!

I was selected to be a community columnists for the Journal Sentinel... read the ful article here. Looking forward to seeing my thoughts, ideas & opinions in print!

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/34118909.html

Here are some of the Reasons I'm voting McCain/Palin

Random Rant ~ Awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjo85WhbYqM

Sarah Palin On SNL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1g5qvgtSg

Biden Gaffes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhAbhwpjT_I

A spoof ~ "I'm voting Democrat"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPG25Wf0aa4

My Letter to Oprah

Oprah & Staff ~ I found yesterday's show (Thrifty Families) interesting, but not enough. In the economic times we are in you have to show REAL solutions. The lady in MD who was unplugging her appliances ~ yes! That's a great idea (misleading, though, because her energy payment DID NOT drop that far just from unplugging things... it dropped b/c of weather, usage, work/home habits. You need to compare last year same month to see what the real savings was). Using Coupons at the grocery store, sales, shopping tips ~ again YES! Great ideas! There are so many more though. The budgetting section was, I'm sure helpful, but not enough. You need to show your viewers you can relate ~ how many people have the luxury of having a $8000 a month budget?! You need to show them how you can create a budget in any financial situation. How you can "find" money for them by reducing their costs ("Finding money" is not just stopping them from buying stuff), teach them how to pay down credit cards one at a time, make a zero budget, save for themselves off the top, how you can contribute to your IRA without it costing you more (before tax deductions), finding cheaper insurance, combining services, paying your house off early, shopping at CVS & Walgreen's (TONS of DEALS there!), the list just goes on and on, Oprah. I am 31. I've been married for 11 years to my husband Mike, 33. We have 6 children from 10 years down to one. We have only $15,000 left on our mortgage, no credit card debt, no student loans (both have BA's), money in the bank, we bought our suburban for cash, all the kids have saving & college accounts that we contribute to monthly & Mike & I both have IRA's (mike has 2 ~ 1 through work). Our pantry is exploding ~ I stick to about $60-70 a week for groceries/tolietries/household needs and we do all this on my husband's VERY modest job (I stay at home). We have everything we need & then some. I have Christmas done (done since Jan), I have a "present room" in my attic that we put all the extras that I buy in ~ its stocked to the point that friends & family do their own shopping in it. I do CHEAP (for me) wedding presents by buying up all the clearance Christmas stuff & presenting them a tote full for their first Christmas ~ usually about $20 & at 90% off that's almost $200 worth of supplies. I have totes FULL of extra shampoo/toothpaste/medicine/baby items/etc that I use to make Christmas baskets for my family ~ cheap (again) for me & very pratical & useful for them. My family calls me very resourceful... I'm just doing what's best for our family. You need to look to do more. You need to give your viewers that hope & security they look for in you. You need to show them that they can change their life. You need to show them how to be financially independent. You need to be more.

Noodle Contest ~ Win free Noodles for a Year

The Flies Ate It

So, I think it was Thursday last week. We were all in the backyard playing and having a generally good time while we waited for the clock to finish up getting to 5:30 so we could go to baseball. I was more cleaning up then playing, sort of walking around with bag in hand picking up various garbage and dog droppings. With Sysco being about 15 now he sometimes just drops them where he wants to, which is often on the sidewalk. I had picked up one pile and then noticed a larger pile with flies all over it on the pathway, so I scooped it all up & dropped it on the bag. I continued to walk around and circled back to drop the bag of stuff in the garbage. While I was walking to the back gate for the garbage can, Marina stuck her head out of the play house and said "Mom, that was so nasty!" "What was nasty?" I ask, curious. She says "There was this big pile of poop with like a hundred flies all over it!" I said "I know" Marina continued "Yeah, well the flies must have been hungry because it's gone! The flies Ate It!"

Nasty, Hungry Flies!

Summer Picture

Root Root Root for the Home Team

With the Packer season forcing its way in and the Brewers going headstrong, Wisconsin can only hope that both teams‘ seasons, make us jump out of our chairs and slap high fives all around. Brewer losses are easier since there’s usually another game the next day or at least the day after. Packer losses make for very bad Monday’s, dark Tuesday’s & grueling Wednesday’s. Then we lament and criticize and cry and finally start setting our eyes on Sunday again. We go through it all together, though. Driving around listening to the game, it’s not uncommon to be waiting at a traffic light, and see everyone else around you abuse their steering wheel the same way you do. We are excited by every win, devastated by every loss.

There’s something to be said about rivalries, though. My next door neighbor is not only a Cubs fan, but also a Bears fan. For the last five years, since they infiltrated the neighborhood, we’ve had a constant back and forth. During games we ring each others doorbells obnoxiously when our teams do a good play. Phone calls interrupt important kick offs and returns. Green window paint has adorned their doors and car windows, while blue is often found on mine. Last season I took a big piece of drywall and wrote PACKERS and BEARS across the top and religiously kept track of wins and losses, at times trudging through the deep snow. I protected it with vinyl sheeting, so when he sat down to eat his meals he could see his team’s history of disaster through his kitchen window. Revenge, of course, was both times the mighty Pack fell to the Bears and I had to write WIN in their column and LOST in ours. Sad, Sad times.

We live side by side, though… him with his wooden cut-out Bear on the front porch, us with our swinging Packer on ours. We gripe and moan, laugh and dream. We take moments and replay them. Retell jokes and comments. Lately we’ve been whining about quarterbacks, offering each other up trades like we are in charge. He just put a Cub’s #1 Fan license plate border on to match our Packer one. Our kids still play with each other, though. It’s all talk.

I’m very excited for the Brewers. I know I am because when I read the articles I see the last name and instantly know the first name. Other years I don’t know any players, much less read any articles. I signed up for the ticket lottery system for opening day and I get MLB emails. I was listening when Cory Hart made his “in the park homerun” and I check their stats nearly every night on the computer.

I’ve always been a Packer Fan. Starting decades ago when, after selling programs outside County Stadium we got to go in with employee passes. We were restricted to standing room only spots, but we still got to watch THE game. Currently, I’m a highly coveted #62359 on the Waiting List. And just like the masses in Wisconsin we usually plan things AROUND the Packers Game.

The Brewers could catch the Cubbies, they’re only 5 games back. Milwaukee and all of Wisconsin (bar a few renegades) is rooting for them. In the meantime we can all enjoy the George Webb burgers (6 for $5 when the Brewers get at least 5 runs), Brewer and Cub fans alike.

I’m not sure about the Packer Season yet. The two preseason games have made me feel like I’m watching an episode of LOST ~ more questions then answers, lots of expendable characters, and no chance to predict the ending. Nevertheless, I’ll be watching every game, hoping Mondays are bright and beautiful!

* This piece was submitted for consideration for the Journal Sentinal Community Columnist position.

The End of July & into August

WOW!!! Is time flying by quickly?! Its already the end of July! Tonight was the second last game of baseball for Madigan & Mitchell. Today was also the 7th day of swim lessons for the top 5, 3 more to go with a big viewing on Friday for the culmination & hopefully successful passings! We have a few more gymnastics classes with a few performances at the State Fair & a local library coming up. Morgan & Marina had a blast at a week long overnight camp. The top 5 also were able to attend VBS at our church. We finished the library reading program and have gone on a few day trips. In August we will be going on a family vacation, the oldest 3 will be attending a day camp with their cousins and we have a total of 4 birthday parties and 2 picnics to attend. Not to mention the older girls have a day long art class in 2 weeks and Marina turns 9, while Mike & I celebrate 11 years of marriage, both a day apart in August! School starting still seems eons away, but I know I need to get supply lists out soons as we will have 4 in school this year! What will I do with just 2 at home during the day?! Here's to a very fun July & the upcoming joy in August!

Expert Couponers! GEESH!

I couldn't even watch this... They have hardly any other coupons in their box! REAL EXPERTS! Why don't I show the Schulz family & Today's TMJ4 how its REALLY Done! I could pull out dozens & dozens of receipts that I've saved more then $80 including a few in the over $200 range while spending under $20! Just today at Walgreen's I saved $53 on one purchase & only spent $3.08 & the other one I saved $25 & spent 35 cents ~ now THAT'S Couponing! I shouldn't be so mean, though, I'm sure for the average family $40-$80 savings is fantastic (I'm extremely curious what their end total was, though!)! I'm sure people are looking for good advice though in these economic times & they talked nothing about clearance, stocking up on good sales, tips of the trade, not being brand specific, price matching, shopping online, printing coupons online, the list could go on & on!!! GEESH! EXPERTS! BAH!
http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/25640014.html

Project Fish

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do, but in the meantime I wanted to share photos of the fish the kids & I & a bunch of help from Uncle Carl made. Mitchell's teacher was retiring after this year & she so happened to have all 3 of the school age children during her years at the school. That coupled with about 2 years ago Morgan, Carl, Aunt JoAnn & I made a giant mosiac salamander that "lived" in the school hallway for months, made for an request of a mosiac art piece for the teacher's new condo by the lake. Wednesday night Carl dropped off the prototype ~ the wood held up by PVC piping & the fins strapped on with laundry bottle cutouts and screws. Some "Great Stuff" (expandable spray in foam) formed the body, a little shaving got the right shape... a little more "Great Stuff" to finish it off & then it was all set for me. On Thursday I spray painted in between rain drops and then set about smashing dishes and interesting glassware to get my mosiac pieces. I stayed up until 2am getting high off the liquid nails just to get up at 7am to try and get it finished. Finally a dry sky I decided to go outside, along with my office chair so I could swivel & spin to the fish. Carl arrived to glue on seashells and add the yellow to the back of the tail. The PVC & Base were painted Blue & with moments to spare I arrived at school (paint still wet) to present the fish to our teacher. As I pushed the cart, with the fish on it, through the halls of the school everyone stopped to stare and comment! It was very well received. I'm looking forward to the next project!

Don't forget ~ you can click on the photo to make it bigger.

Speaking of Rummage Sales

Here's some "info" I got on spending that Economic Stimulus Package we all got/are getting.

As you may have heard, each of us will be getting a tax rebate check to stimulate the economy.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.

If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.

If we purchase a computer it will go to India.

If we purchase fruits and vegetables it will go toHonduras, and Guatemala.

If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan.

If we purchase useless stuff it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the only businesses left owned by Americans!!

What did you just Call me?

Well, this past weekend we ushered in the summer with a rummage sale. Its a nice way to meet the neighbors, make a few bucks and clean house! We do one twice a year on our front yard... once as a spur of the moment idea (this one was such an idea) & the 2nd as a neighborhood function (probably July). So, all day I have people stopping by, picking up my stuff, putting it back down, mentally deciding and then handing over hard earned cash for my empty pockets... all in all a very fun two days. I think my house is 250 lbs lighter, at least!

Six kids, of course, adds lots of humorous moments, though & this weekend wasn't without its share. Madigan, commonly referred to as "Bruiser", has always been a no-nonesense, independent, stand up for herself kind of girl. As #4 she comes by it honestly and has no qualms about getting in anyone's face about anything. Which is the prolouge for the rest of this story...

Playing out front, running back and forth, pushing doll strollers & flying plastic bag kites Madigan and our neighbor's boy were having a blast! On one such passing the kids were still a house away when I heard the little boy yell something at Madi... it was something that you think you hear, then shake your head because you MUST have heard something wrong. At the same moment I am shaking my head Madigan stops dead in her tracks, whips around, hand on her hip and yells "What did You Just Call Me?" The neighbor boy repeats his name calling ~ in which, of course, I am highly interested by now. He answers her, my mouth drops open and Madi says back to him "Oh, Yeah, well your a f...face!" AHHHH!!!! I motioned for the dad to come over ~ he took his and I took mine and Madi sat on the stairs wailing that she was innocent (Patsy!), that she was just repeating words. A five minute lecture ensued and another five minutes on the stairs and they were back to pushing strollers and flying plastic bag kites.

Nice gentle reminder that children are listening to EVERYTHING!!! Oh, and don't mess with Madi!

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

One of our favorite books is If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. I highly recommend the audio tape, narrarated by Carol Kane, that we've listened to so many times it's now distorted, but it still plays on... The title song is Cute & so is the "Mouse Cookie" song that you can't help but do a "knee slap" and a "bump bump" to.

I got this in my email today... Very appropriate & humorous!

IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MUFFIN~
If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook('101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger' ).
The cookbook is setting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her pursethat is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two-year-old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are.
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
Author Unknown

Count Your Blessings

* Warning ~ Disturbing Photos *

If ever you think you have too much to handle
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JHPX5eYY9UY

How uplifting and courageous!

I'm Normal

Eight years ago we had a minor scare... my hands and legs would go numb periodically and have pins & needle feeling. They ran the whole gamit on me to check for MS ~ MRI, spinal tap, electroid test, blood test and they found nothing ~ good news, bad news. With a barrage of pregnancies and nursing the symptoms just sort of subsided (or I just ignored) into the background for the past eight years. The past two months, though, the syptoms have reared their ugly head and again a lovely course of blood tests & most recently a MRI followed. This MRI was longer and I got shot up with some dye to see the contrasts better. I had it done on Monday & they handed me my films ~ 15 extra large xrays of my brain and C-Spine ~ and said the results would be in 24 hours. Tuesday came and went with no phone call, so on Wednesday I called them... They'd have to get back to me... They did. The results are ~ "Normal". I'm not sure that anyone has ever used that word to ultimately describe me, but there it is. Normal. I'm still hoping its just a few pinched nerves or big knots that a few deep tissue massages can work out, but for now I'm holding on to the fact that I'm Normal!

Prince Caspian

We took my mom to see Prince Caspian ~ the new NARNIA movie ~ last night. After reading the review in our newspaper http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=751010 I was expecting a laborous 2 hours and 24 minutes in the theater. Mike had already gotten the tickets on Tuesday, though, so the movie was on. The previews were interesting... the kids got all excited about some chihuahua movie that looks AWFUL... oh my! The things Disney comes out with sometimes. On the other hand W.A.L. - E. from Pixar, looks fantastic! So, the movie starts & I'm sitting between Mitchell & Miranda. I've already given out the popcorn & soda, napkins, straws, etc. Within minutes the action has started and its a nonstop (except for the few bathroom breaks with the 2 & 4 year olds and popcorn/soda refills) ride that doesn't end until the subway cars finish passing in the London underground. We clapped when it was over ~ the whole audience did. I thought it was rousing AND inspiring... I covered my mouth twice in an OMG! expression and I saw my mom cover one of the kids (should have probably been rated PG-13 not PG) eyes at least once. There were a few surprises and a few really cool moments. I would have given it the three stars the reviewer also gave it, but not all the backlash. Great Sequel... I think I might even like it better than the first.

Tear Down

On Saturday the long overdue and much needed deconstruction of my mom & dad's house began. They are ripping down their old family room and one car garage to create a much bigger family room, 2 car garage and a mud room (which a few of my kids are convinced will actually have MUD in it!). This first photo is of it largely intact... roof still on, partial walls, etc. I'm in the red, my dad's in the blue & my brother's on the roof. You can see the footings laid out for part of the new construction. On Saturday, ten of us descended on it. Good weather surrounded us and a dumpster stood empty in the driveway just waiting for us to fill it up... and we did! I started out down, but quickly ended up on the roof, running debris from the back to the front for my sister in law, Heidi, to hurl into the dumpster (or at least close). Others were inside and out ripping off walls and siding and gutters and soffits.

The second photo is a better overview & you can tell we had really been working. Heidi and I had been up on the roof, but found ourselves losing ground as the roof quickly came off. Most of the gang had been dismantling the family room, so we helped out with that. After a short break for lunch we were back at it undoing rafters, a rock wall (behind the fireplace), a very reluctant floor (poor David!) and trusses. Oh My!

The third photo is my brother & cousin, saw weilding and crowbar handling. They are on the last little piece of the remaining roof before being done. We kept moving the tarp (see photo 2) further down the line to try to collect most of the debris, while my aunt & uncle kept wheeling wheelbarrows full to the dumpster.

Next is my mom FINALLY getting her chance to whack the wall and take out all her frustrations, she ended up knocking it all the way down! YEAH MOM!

I got to do the back wall & I got it down ~ all by myself! Then we carted more and more to the dumpster and recycle piles and finally stood back to admire our hard work.

This is not the first project our family has all converged on to get done. And it definetely won't be the last. We seem to work well together & have an unspoken understanding of what needs to get done & who is going to do it. My aunt said it like this... "Some families get together & drink or play poker... we do this!"

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

I slept in until 10 ~ I needed it! Even when the door opened and my husband walked in, holding Maverick, balancing a tray and directing the other 5 I could barely open my eyes. Exhausted wasn't even the right word. But, there they were... all smiles and proud of their breakfast in bed. Two pieces of peanut butter toast, chocolate chip waffles, oatmeal, strawberries, a granola bar, and a big glass of juice. So I rearranged the pillows and sat up and rubbed the very reluctant sleep out of my eyes and dug in. They all helped though. Mitchell gave me a cute "MOM" foam shape magnet with his photo in the "O" and all wonderful mom sayings all around on it. He also had a card that he made that was gushy and lovey and I will keep forever. Marina gave me a marigold planted in a milk carton and a homemade card that we giggled over because in one of the many "Happy Mother's Day" she accidentally wrote "Happy Motor Day". We laughed thinking about being nice to your cars for the day. Mike and the kids got me a spa certificate for fingers, toes & a 60 minute massage. "A Day Away" it says. How luxurious. Food eaten, off they went for showers and a clean up run through the house. I love Mother's Day... full of flowery good stuff and making mom's feel like the Queen's they Are. Honestly, I think we should have one a month!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's in this World ~ Without us, life just doesn't run like it should.

The Last Place I Looked

Well I found something this morning in "the last place I looked"... I always find that phrase funny ~~ of course its the last place I looked... I stopped looking after I found it!

I was about to head to CVS to do some damage this morning, but I had misplaced my white envelope full of coupons (this happens often) specifically for CVS. Of course it was compounded because my Free Extra Care Bucks, which is what any self-respecting CVS coupon shopper uses to actually pay for their orders, and thereby earn MORE ECB's, was in that envelope, too. UGH! So I first frisked the car. I found plenty of other things I didn't need yet, but mentally noted, in the front and middle seat including a library book due at the library today. The back of the suburban was full of soccer stuff, rummage items and stuff for the Appleton house (see Next Adventure Blog) so I repacked the soccer bags, took the rummage items to the basement, and while down there found a big box to house the items for Appleton until we go up there. The back now looked presentable, but still no envelope. Back in the house I went & decided to tackle the 3 "hot spots" in my kitchen, or in other words, my paper piles... I weeded through everything & ended up with one bag of trash, one box of kids old school papers to save & a fairly organized kitchen, but no envelope. On to my office, the cabinet under the tv in the living room, the stack of mail on the porch, the back of my bed, on my dresser... all areas where the elusive white envelope could have been, but sadly was not. Garbage bag in hand I kept filling one right after the other with stuff, junk & trash I didn't need. I got the brilliant idea then to call the store I had been at last and ask if anyone had turned in a white envelope... "Just a white envelope?" the clerk asked "anything more descriptive?" she continued. "Yes, just a white envelope, a white envelope SHOVED full of coupons and receipts." No luck. Back to looking. Finally I decided to look under the couch and at this point I need to digress to yesterday...


Yesterday my husband was tidying things up with the kids and Miranda (2) needed a break and asked to watch "Spiderman 2" her favorite movie right now even though "That Doc Ock is Scary". Mike put the DVD in and then asked if I had seen the first movie... he couldn't find it amongst his movies. My husband's vice is movies... he doesn't drink or smoke, but he does have a love affair for his movies. So much so that if a movie is missing he uncanningly knows it and sets out seeking it out until it is returned back at home on the shelf... all discs in their proper spots. "Spiderman" was missing. He looked around for it for a while, but didn't find it and had to go to work, so it remained missing. Which brings us, again, to today...



Today, I was moving the couch and while I found some stray socks, a missing shoe, an almost empty sippy cup and dust bunnies reproducing at will, there still was no envelope. I cleaned it all up and pushed the couch back, when I decided I'd actually look in the couch (by now I'm feeling hopeless). I moved one pillow, then the next and I found "Spiderman" ~ Mike's lost movie. Which, if he had had more time to find it yesterday, he would have found my white envelope hiding underneath it!

Mighty Mom Contest

Hello Everyone! Please take 2 and a half minutes out of your day and go vote for me! The kids have entered me into the "Mighty Mom" contest & its decided by voting. I don't know what the prize is... something to do with a spa and haircut I think... I just want to walk around for the year with the title of Mighty Mom... it makes me sound like a superhero!

http://www.mighty92.com/pages/mightymom.html

We got a Wii!!

For a while now, Mike's best friend, Mike, has been exclaiming, quite loudly I must add, how much we need to get a Wii. I'm never one for buying the latest trend right away, but I had to admit that the Wii really intrigued me. A video game system that gets you up and going ~ how fun! Fun and Intrigue do not pay my bills, though, so the Wii would wait. We really didn't need one anyways. Mike already owns an original Nintendo, a Nintendo 64, Sega, Sega Saturn, Sega Genesis, Playstation, Gamecube and a vintage Atari. The 6 kids also share a Nintendo DS & 2 Gameboys. Mind you... most of this is in the attic stored neatly in boxes with their appropriate controllers and games and every once in a while we have a nostalgic day & set them up & spend some time reliving the past. With everything going on though, everything we do, we didn't really need a Wii.

Nevertheless, best friend Mike showed up at our house last week with a big bag from his job at the shoe store. No shoes were inside... I'm sure you're not surprised it was the Wii. He bought it with the intention that he was "covered" for the year. Struggling with what to get Morgan for her birthday all he kept coming back to was the Wii... obviously too expensive for one child, but for 6, for all their birthdays & Christmas this year, it was doable, so that's what he did. He was smart, too, and got an extra controller, nunchuk and wheel (as well as the Mario Kart Game which came with a wheel) so that there were 2 of everything... no fighting yet!

We set it up finally on Friday night and got introduced to the Wii Mii world, making our Mii's for everyone & having a lot of laughs along the way. We put in Wii Sports & played Tennis and Baseball. After the kids went to bed I tried out the Boxing and found myself jousting around the room yelling "Uppercut, Uppercut, take that, and that!" before KOing my opponent. Three more opponents later my skill had jumped up into the high 300's (1000 is pro apperently) and I was breathing hard. Bowling looked interesting and I scored my highest game ever (I'm lucky to get 100) with a 152... I'm good! Mike got home from seeing a late movie ~ "IronMan" with Mitchell and I listened to them tell me all about the movie while I bowled a 167 & then, feeling optomistic, tried out Baseball... I sucked! Morgan & Marina seemed to have no problems getting singles, double and homeruns, but I kept swinging too early or too late & hitting an eternity of foul balls... not my forte. Mike steps up to the virtual plate and by his third inning hits 7 homeruns in a row. I'll have to practice. I'll definetely have to practice because after going through their 3 part "fitness test" my fitness age is 47! YIKES! Um... It was the first try, okay!?!

All in all I'm imagining lots of fun, plenty of exercise and a few people getting whacked in the head. Oh, and for any would be robbers ~ our Security System Code is.... Wii!!

The Next Adventure

Since I don't have enough to do during the day I started another blog. Crazy, I know! We have a new adventure we are embarking on & I just wanted to share my excitement ~ and what better way to do it!! Over on the side of this blog I have 2 new links. One is for my friend Jenny (we've been friends since kindergarten!) and her family ~ Dan (hubby), Nate (step-son) and little Cassidy. You should watch Dan defy gravity with Cassidy (don't look at the massive amount of laundry ~ folded, mind you~ on the chair! LOL!) in their "Big Top" Video... too funny! The other link is for our next and newest adventure! Thanks for spending your time with us!

Its May... Can't I Turn Off the Heat!!!

I don't remember what day I turn off the heat, usually, but I do have a feeling its long before this! I've had it off a day or two here & there, only to hear "Why is it so cold in here?" and rightly so! It hasn't gotten warm out AT ALL yet! We usually keep our house between 62 and 68 which is extreme since my entire childhood we walked around with coats on inside the house, practically bundled up because my dad (who stands 6'2" & had this issue with the heat registers aimed right at his head) would always keep the house around 55 or a touch more (still does & honestly sometimes he turns the whole furnace off & my mom has to sneak back in the house & turn it back on!!). The kids just make sure they are wearing socks and sometimes a sweater. Miranda, however, is just like her grandpa & ends up stripping and running around in just her pull-up no matter what the temperature.

We have budget billing for our utilities which keeps us at a nice constant, however we also have a house built in 1910, so that nice constant is also expensive. Which leads me to ~IT'S MAY! Can't I turn off the HEAT! There's only 31 days until June, only 45 days until the kids are home for the summer & its still cold! According to the 7 day forecast I'm not thinking it'll be this week that it goes off permanently. With my luck it'll be off just in time to turn on the air conditioning!

Summer Rec Programs

The Summer Rec Program got delivered in the mail today & we always start planning our summer with its arrival. Luckily Maverick really doesn't need any extra activities, so that just leaves 5 to schedule & manipulate around. I let them all know immediately that we would be only shooting for about 3 activities each (and I secretly was hoping my "sway power" was on high level). We start at the beginning of the book & I call out the different sub topics & if anyone is interested they speak up & find out more. An asterick & number (birth order!) go on the page if someone is still interested & on and on. Mostly, we are still undecided. I actually have to make a mock calendar up & make sure that we aren't trying to plan the impossible with activities going on at 2 different places at the same times. Last summer, because of age cut offs, I was at the baseball field 4 nights in a row with Mitch playing M&W & Marina playing T&T. Hoping to avoid that again I flipped ahead to the baseball section and... I'll be at the baseball field 4 nights in a row... sad sad sad... at least this year Madigan can also get in on the team. Morgan has resigned herself to drawing classes and swimming lessons ~ she HATES the deep end, but will be working on level 3 this year. Marina ~ is going into level 4 of swimming (Morgan & her passed level 2 together & then last year Morgan asked to pretty please repeat that level. I explained to her that I was not holding Marina back ~ Marina is half fish! ~ and she was fine with that. The other rule was that this year she'd have to do level 3) and would like to do softball again & learn tennis. Mitchell is all for t-ball and swimming and is debating between about 3 or 5 other things. Madigan wants swimming (with daddy!), t-ball, and "do they have fishing?" and Miranda is looking forward to swimming (possibly with Uncle Carl) and ballet.

Clearly you can see my summer unfolding before me already! We still have family vacations to plan and the summer library schedule to do and then add in VBS, soccer camps and a week long camp adventure for the 2 oldest girls. Should be a full BUSY summer ~ one with lots of photo ops and memories ~ missing baseball gloves & lost shoes ~ empty gas tanks & after game slushies! Honestly it all sounds fantastic ~ I Can't wait!!!

Mitchell on Soccer

Today was Mitchell's first soccer game of 2008. Spending so much time watching & kicking around the ball with his sisters has created a little soccer prodigy... a cocky kung-fu soccer prodigy. As the three little ones & I sat amongst 2 folding chairs and a couple of blankets we watched the orange #10 jersey blaze up and down the field ~ passing, shooting & scoring. At 6 years old they play 3 on 3 and it's co-ed, but today his 3 were 2 other equally talented guys who were beating the snot out of the other team. Each time they touched the ball magically, or talentedly, they scooted past the other team & floop ~ the ball was in. It actually got tiresome cheering because in four 8 minute quarters the 3 boys scored 23 points to the other teams 3. What was funny, highly inappropriate, but still funny was Mitchell... at one point he had the ball & was slowly kicking it towards the goal... then as the other player was approaching him I heard him say "Waahhh...." (imagine a Kung-Fu move here) & then "I know Kung Fu" as he did a scissor kick & passed the ball through the legs of the other player & into the goal. I giggled. I thought it was funny. He doesn't know Kung-Fu. Over the course of the game I heard him do it a few more times and after about the fifth time motioned a throat slice to him for some silence. Not so funny anymore. That's when the cockiness came in. I can't really blame him. His sisters play hard, they sweat & turn beat red, they've gotten kicked by feet & balls alike in most body parts, Morgan in particular has been in the goalie box for extemely long, brutal games and they lose... they lose alot... they are determined, though & go out week after week. Mitchell's team, today, probably scored more goals then the girls team has scored in 3 years combined. Which is why I let the first offense slide.

"Eighteen to your One ~ YEAH! WAHOO!" How he was keeping track, I'm not sure, but he was dead on. He's seen that other side, though, so I had high hopes for him yet.

Be Considerate ~ I was trying to send telepathical messages ~ Be Courteous. No Bragging.

"Nineteen to your One!"

"Mitchell!" ~ I figured I'd send him a warning, hoping my inflection would renounce his actions.

"Nineteen to Two, that's okay, I know Kung-Fu!" That was it... I broke out all the "Secret Weapons" a mom has & sent him "THE LOOK", "THE TONE" and "THE WORDS".

"What? It rhymed!!!" Two... Kung-Fu... UGH! It did rhyme... nevertheless, he trotted over & I explained I didn't want to hear him saying the score anymore & the rest of the game proceeded with little to no noise from him. Afterwards, after congratulating him on an highly impressive game, I gave him the minilecture about hurting friends feelings and looking at it from the other side & he seemed to get it... Hopefully he won't be cocky again.

I'm not too confident on the Kung-Fu... as he was running to the playground nearby he turned around & looked at me & said "I DO know Kung-Fu, Mom... WAAAHHH!"

My Pink Purse

Notorious for losing things... (things, not kids!), especially at critical moments, I opted for a BRIGHT pink purse this spring. My tan purse that I've used for over a year now was often found hiding even in the most obvious places. I really liked that tan purse... lots of pockets & zippered areas made an interesting filing component for my couponing habit. The new pink purse has cute side pockets for my virtual cell phone & matching sunglasses, convient for crayons & chapstick instead. A big middle pocket just lets me "dump & cram" & by using the same wallet from 2 purses ago I have a little bit of vintage "old faithful" with me. I'm not one for pink, especially bright pink, but now I can spot that purse from across the house. As often as my husband hangs it up on my office (read: cute nitch under the stairs with a door on it) door, I leave it laying somewhere... usually thrown about casually as I run in from one errand or another, picking up or dropping off kids, choir practice, church, you name it. One sweeping glance, or a quick gallop around the first floor & TA DA! There it is. You would think I would learn, you would think I would be able to find a safe place for my purse & put it there consistently, you think I would be smart enough to want to save myself the headache & hassle & just be a bit more organized, but... there are small miracles performed still today... someone had the insight to make a pink purse!

It had to happen today...

I woke up sometime between 3am & 6am to the sound of someone getting sick & Mike talking quietly & slowly. I had been up late having a gab session with two friends & then, after they left, reminded myself that Morgan needed cupcakes, 32 frosted & jimmied cupcakes, for her school treat today. So, at almost midnight, I set out making 2 batches of cupcakes, cooling, frosting & putting the sprinkles on. Realizing I didn't actually have a carrier for that quantity I ransacked the basement & found an underbed storage container that, with a bit of tin foil, worked perfectly. All done & safely on the dining room table I trudged off to bed. Fast forward to me waking up in the barely lit bedroom where my sweet husband was taking care of everything. Its bad I didn't even think to ask who it was, I really didn't care, I was too tired. I knew he could handle it, his working hours are filled with cleaning up other people's messes, and I needed a few more moments of sleep... out I went. By the next time I woke up, there were 4 of us in the bed. Morgan & Madigan had both managed to wiggle in & I was sure it was one of them that was sick... great! Morgan woke up too & asked if I had made her her cupcakes... "Ah, Shoot!" I replied leading her to believe I had failed my mom mission & informed her I'd be stopping at the store to get some. Clearly dissappointed, she scurried off to get her clothes on & then back for a french braid. Marina & Mitchell woke up & gave Morgan some Birthday Greetings. Mike was planning on taking them to school, so next he is up & letting me know that Morgan had gotten sick last night. UGH! Not on her birthday! I asked her if she was okay & wanted to go to school & sure enough... she wasn't missing her birthday. Downstairs they all went for breakfast... primed & ready for school, Mike does a double take & says "Can't forget these!" grabbing the cupcakes. I got a double squeeze hug (You didn't forget!) and I smiled saucily at my new 10 year old. So Big!

An hour or so later, after I had just climbed back into bed with Madigan (still sleeping), the phone rang & it was school... Morgan had gotten sick & we would need to come & get her. I drove over & got her, she hadn't even enough time to pass out her birthday cupcakes! After getting her home & in bed with a bucket & a cool washcloth, the phone rings again. School Again. Mitchell is sick & we would need to come & get him. I drive over to get him & have the foresight to see if Marina is feeling okay before leaving her there & taking Mitch home. Two in bed with buckets & Madi is now walking around with a bucket thinking she'll get sick at any time. Dinner plans with extended family moved to tomorrow & storm clouds have been rolling in & out all day.

Of course, it had to happen today!

Rite of Passage

Our once little baby is turning 10 on Tuesday, so today, shoved in with Sound of Music & a 2 hour photo shoot, Singing at Church, Sunday School, going out for dinner (for Morgan's birthday) and a stop at Barnes & Noble for her next Warriors Book ~ Morgan is the proud new owner of 2 14k Diamond stud earrings! Waiting this long to get her ears pierced was easy since we told her early on that when she was 10 she could get them done... whoever thought time would fly so quickly! Today was the perfect day, family was in town from Appleton to see SOM, so they joined us at the mall. Morgan got the seat of honor, right next to the mall window, in a pink high back chair. She picked out her birthstone for her studs. I clipped back her hair with purple hair clips & then the nice lady put a dot on each ear where the stud would go. Getting all of our approvals, Morgan grabbed my hand & squeezed tight. I counted slowly to 3 and in it went, slower then I thought it would (I was expecting a quick gun, but it was a casual stick). She never even flinched. Then, after a long delayed second, Morgan just said "ouch"... slowly & matter of factly... just "ouch". On to the next ear & 10 seconds later it was done. Morgan is now the only child to have hit this Johnstone rite of passage ~ I should mention this rite is ONLY for the girls... the boys' can get theirs at 18! She has First Communion & Confirmation next (I'm ok with that), and then it's on to getting her Driver's License & I don't know if I'll ever be ready for that!

Sound Of Music

As Many of you Know Marina is Brigetta in Sound of Music at Cardinal Stritch University & it is Opening TONIGHT!!! Yesterday I got invited to attend the Final Dress Rehearsal & she was FANTASTIC!!! Its overwhelming to think off all the late nights & hours driving & gallons of gas ~ but when you are watching your child, on stage, in the lights, saying words that you know everyone else in the audience is hanging on to, singing songs that you know & hold dear... nothing else matters & you just want to watch her over & over again! She really impressed me last night... never missing a word, a costume or an entrance & these kids have 7 costume changes!!!

Its even more special because 5 Years ago, when Marina was 3, she was enrolled in a Language Enriched Classroom because she barely talked. For a long time her favorite, and only, word was "DIGA!" Diga, Diga This & Diga, Diga That and she would throw temper tantrums and was just an unhappy child because she couldn't communicate (especially now as she is the sweet motherly one of the bunch). Through lots of work from teachers & parents alike she is a full fledged talker & those non talking days are a distant memory. Putting that into perspective, she WOWED the PANTS off me!

Couple all that with the fact that Mike & I both performed in Theater, at Stritch, and it turns it into a nostalgic & warm fuzzy spot for us.

All in All ~ Proudest momma in the theater!

You're the Best, Mom!

After dropping Marina off at rehearsal (4 more till Opening Night!) Johnstone & Company were itching to go to the park, the store or the library... pretty much in that order. Being a little too chilly out yet & not up to the challenge of corralling 5 in a grocery cart or just keeping them close by we opted for the library. The little kids LOVE to look at all the hard paged books & play with the animal puppets, while the bigger kids search for new stories or music. Morgan has been going gangbusters on reading the WARRIORS Series... flying through around 100 pages a day & was already on Book #6. She had asked before the weekend at her school library for it, but someone else was a step ahead of her. We immediately hit the shelves & found that only 1, 3 & 5 were in... DRATS! Off to the electronic card catalog to see if we could request it or when to expect its return when I stumbled on the fact that they actually had a copy... in paperback... on the spindles in the kids section. We looked past the BoxCar series, the Harry Potter Books, Nancy Drew & Geronimo Stilton & found WARRIORS Book 6! I pulled it out & handed it over to Morgan, who was frantically searching a different spindle. She quietly squealed & hugged it to her chest & uttered those 4 fantastic words... You're the Best, Mom!

Out of Ketchup

It rarely happens in this house... The Johnstone's actually being out of something!

The diligent shopper that I am (my friends might call it obsessive compulsive) has turned our basement & attic into more of a warehouse then anything. I have a second pantry in the basement that is difficult to get to on account of the bins & boxes piled up filled with stuff, good stuff, useful stuff that's intended for more then the 8 people in the house. The walk-up attic has an entire room that's dedicated to "presents" and stuff, good stuff, useful stuff for other people... My freezers, yes ~ a full one in the basement & one littler one in the fridge in the kitchen ~ are usually brimming, so much so, that I sometimes have to stick a big piece of packing tape across the door to make sure it stays closed. I actually pride myself with the knowledge that I have a replacement for the replacement for the replacement. We have toliet paper for our toliet paper & enough diapers to make sure every stuffed animal & dolly have their own allotment... what we didn't have was Ketchup!

There I stood, having exhausted the main kitchen pantry, down in the basement pulling boxes & totes out of the way so that I could get to the shelves & again NO Ketchup! My children were sitting at dinner with lovingly prepared, highly unoriginal Chicken Nuggets & Tater Tots & Corn & Milk and the one last thing they wanted was Ketchup... such a simple request. A request I, as a parent, the grocery shopper, the fridge & cabinet filler, the keeper of the Ketchup should have been able to grant. However, the facts remained, we were in fact Out of Ketchup! Suddenly, a lightbulb went off ~ I grabbed out the small bag of condiments from the butter dish area (who ever uses it for that!) of my fridge & found some ketchup packets that they could squeeze onto their plates... so useless... Ten packets later, dinner was over & I had escaped the paradox of not having more, in a family where one of our mottos is, "There's ALWAYS More!" I have a good feeling that we may never again be... Out Of Ketchup!

Things Kids Do & Say

I remember years ago... We had taken the three kids (yes, there was a time when there was only 3) out to lunch at Applebee's... we were sitting in a corner booth... The waitress came over & was poised, ready to take our order & I asked Morgan if she wanted Chicken Fingers (to eat!). This weird look came over her face & she stared at her own fingers & she said "NO! I want People Fingers!" Too Funny... Yesterday we had two moments like that... As I'm driving around our neighborhood we pass a yellow sign... Morgan, who is completely engrossed in her book (Book 5 of the Warriors Series) looks up breifly & ends up startling me with the gasp she makes. I immediately ask if something is wrong & confused she says, "Why would we have to watch for a Dead Child?" WHAT?! She goes on, "That sign back there said 'Dead Child...' that's kind of mean!" I start racking my brain for where she would have gotten that & before I have to actually turn the car around & retrace my steps I remember the yellow sign... "Honey," I say very calmly "It didn't say Dead Child... it said DEAF child!" She laughed & sighed & said... "Ok... Deaf child I get it... Deaf!"

The other moment was while I was finishing things up around the house & my darling 2 year old was showcasing her coloring for me. We had had waffles for lunch that afternoon & I remembered that the old syrup bottle had a miniscule amount left, so I grabbed down a new bottle & proceeded to open the new one & stand the old one upside down above it to drain the syrup into the new one. A few moments go by & I get busy cleaning another area of the house... a few minutes later I walk back into the kitchen & there are no syrup bottles only the lids. Frantically, not wanting sticky syrup everywhere, I start looking for the syrup bottles. I find one kicked aside by the back door & turn around to see my little "angel" child still coloring with the syrup bottle (no lid mind you!) tucked in close. I come a little closer... not wanting to really startle her, but still get the syrup & I snatch it up when I get there. I put the lid on & she says, "But I want it." I try to explain to her that she can not just have syrup... we use it on pancakes & waffles to which she replies "But its Yummy, I want to drink it!" YEOW!

The things Kids Do & Say

More Money, More Kids

There was just an article in the USA Weekend that caught my grandma's eye... she promptly picked up the phone & called me to let me know that I was RICH! WAHOO!!! According to the article "Having more than two children is a luxury" and "Three or four is getting to be a size that only the affluent can afford". Here's the full article if you are interested... http://www.usaweekend.com/08_issues/080406/080406abtn-money-family-size.html

I read through this article which shows that poorer families are having less children & came to this statement which prompted a jaw drop ~ Now, "people hurt their own standard of living and diminish prospects for their own children if they have more than two," Demeny says. WOW! I always knew I was sacrificing material things & maybe a few vacations & trips to the restaurants by having a couple extra kids, but never in my 10 years of being a mom have I have thought we were hurting our own standard of living or diminshing our children's prospects. In retrospect I think we are doing just the opposite. I guess getting married young, having children quickly thereafter & not ever having that affluent lifestyle saved us from having an actual "standard of living"... I guess We've only had what we've only had & that's just been good enough for us. All our needs are met & some of our wants & we have hope for the future. I think our children's prospects are outstanding, they are leading a "rich" life, full of unique experiences, awesome endeavours & its all directed by two parents who completely love them and find them to be fantastic representations of everything good in life! I hardly find that to be diminishing their prospects. They all are secure individuals with a HUGE support system that extends outside these walls & encompasses family & friends alike... And, they all actually like each other!

Another comment that irked me was "Once families have more than two children, everything becomes much more expensive, he says, pointing out that larger families need bigger cars and homes." Okay, the car thing I get... of course... unless you want to be driving 2 cars to the same place ~ I've already degressed about my suburban & its gas tank ~ We still live in the same house we lived in just after we got married & we adapt & make changes along the way to stay here... (The whole 1 bathroom thing is going to wear out soon enough, though, with 4 girls!) I've seen my grocery bill go up with each child, maybe $5-10 a week, but subsequent children don't really "add" too much to the family budget. The younger ones eagerly await the older ones hand me downs in toys & clothes alike. They are using the same books, crayons, pencils, sheets, pillows, etc. You choose their things more carefully... looking at durability & longevity... you run your errands solo (dad's in charge!) so there is no "I WANT THAT!" or "CAN I PICK SOMETHING OUT?" You spend your money carefully & precisely and don't buy frivolous things (well, sometimes!)... but you aren't catering to 1 or 2, 1 or 2 that just might be used to getting everything they want. I know, I know, society on a whole encourages that mentality... the whole instant gratification umbrella our youth lives under, but that doesn't mean MY kids get to do that. You start it & pretty soon it turns into a habit, a very bad habit that extends into their teens & on where they are soon expecting everything they want they get. We desperately want to give our children all the true goodness of life, but that doesn't mean a new game system everytime one comes out, a car on graduation day & a "free" ride through college (I'll blog my thoughts on that on another day). I truly believe children should work for the things they receive & not always be rewarded with tangible items. We should be preparing our children for "real life" including disappointment & turbulent times instead of just sugar coating them & sticking them in a plastic bubble.

We live on a "for 8 people" modest income that my husband provides. Looking at different charts & programs & by Society standards we are actually "poor", but I've never felt that way, or felt that we couldn't provide for our children. They still get to be on soccer teams & take swimming lessons & play baseball in the summers & enjoy a family vacation every year, they take in an occasional movie & have been to enough restaurants that they know how to behave at them. Rarely have they ever said anything about being bored. They have huge prospects & a fantastic view on their "standard of living".

Spring Cleaning the Front Porch

Yesterday I took part of the day to Spring Clean my Porch. We have a front enclosed porch that ACCUMULATES during the winter. We walk in the front door and DUMP! I'm probably the most guilty. Six kids doesn't help either. Shoes, boots, clothes, toys, brooms, jump ropes, coats, art projects, school work, rummage items, bags from shopping excursions with stuff I bought but we apparently didn't need yet & I wasn't yet wondering where it was! Too much! Eye Sore! It was to the point where I just hurried through the porch, keeping my head down & focused on the front door, kicking my shoes into the growing pile ~ knowing I was going to have to unbury them later to go out again. Yesterday I cleaned it out. Five bags of stuff landed themselves in the garbage and another 5 bags & 2 older ride on toys went in the back of the Suburban to travel to new homes via my church's rummage. Trips were run up to the attic, the basement, laundry chute & sink. How refreshing to have my porch back! The kids rediscovered it, too, constantly amazed at the growing expanse. The shoes still need a major overhaul, but when don't they! With the kids feet growing by the minute and the seasons about to change, we'll have to attack that on another day. For now its nice to come on the porch & not be shaking hands with clutter and mess immediately... you have to actually walk in the house for that!

Signs of Spring ~ Memories of Summer

Despite still being able to see my breath when I breathe, the kids & I took to the outside today. Being an EXTREMELY long winter they all have a ton of built up energy & I'm running out of mine, so the outside seemed like a fantastic place to roam. After shoes & socks & jackets we ventured out to find the backyard DISGUSTING! With a golden retriever I'm sure you can imagine ~ droppings EVERYWHERE ~ the kids could barely take a step without yelling "MOM!" With the little girls safely on swings I took to cleaning up and out the backyard "landmines". Some helped me discover that there were still a few patches of snow & ice, while others were in close proximity to the first bursting of spring ~ My Daffodils are coming up! Debris was scattered here, there, and everywhere & a quick assessment convinced me I am going to have a few long afternoons getting the backyard parklike again. Through it all, though, I was constantly reminded of warmer days ~ we had a 10' pool up all summer last year & the grass has gone away from that spot leaving a large empty circle. Just imagining them so hot they are in the pool half the day, towels hanging over the fence, little bodies sunning on the cement was enough to keep me in my windbreaker instead of running back in for my winter coat.

Report Card Day

Today was Report Card Day in the Johnstone House & I am pleased & proud to say my 3 in school all got 3's & 4'... S's & E's... What's that you say? 3's, 4's? Yes, gone are the days of A+, A, A-, B+, B... and so on... now it is S & E & 1, 2, 3, & 4's. I think the schools are trying their hand at the self-affirming mentality our society has come to depend on. You get 3's if you are doing the work & at grade level, 4's are for those subjects & those students that go above & beyond & are working at an advanced level. E's are for Excelling & S is for Satisfactory & I think there might be one more letter standing in for an "effort" level. They also tote a reading level & have a few comments. Nowadays, apparently "F" is just too harsh for our kids & so must be the rest of the upper alphabet. I remember back to my grade school, high school days & while I was an A student, that dreaded "F" just held way too much clout... a "1" just doesn't seem to get the job done. Nevertheless... all 3's & 4's in this house! Very Proud Mommy!

Laundry

I was watching Jon & Kate plus Eight today & saw how they have a neighborly lady come in on Thursdays & fold all their clothes... GASP! And then another person comes over & actually (here's the kicker!) PUTS IT ALL AWAY! I was instantly green with envy. Having a large family myself I feel I have lamented about my laundry enough that I sound more like a broken record then my own personal daily reminding. I'm actually great at getting it from the laundry chute to the washer & then also again from the washer to the dryer ~ I'll even lay out sweaters & jeans for air drying, I presort & spot treat & I hang up Mike's shirts straight out of the dryer. I wash everything on cold in case that stray red sock falls into the lights & I have a stockpile of soap & dryer sheets. My problem resides in the laundry baskets themselves, and I blame it on those cute things all the time. I love my hipsters, but the basic ones work just as good & they all look so nice holding all my "after the rain" scented clothes. So good in fact that I let them sit there, on the cold floor of the basement for a week or so until I decide that they've stared at me long enough & I take them upstairs to my bed to fold them all. Once the clothes are all neatly folded they sit there on my bed begging to go back into the basket... what am I to do, so I comply & there they are again... rustled through often to find that "pink pair of jeans" or that "blue shirt with the sparkle in the middle". Finally, on another day, I get disgusted that my room is engulfed in baskets & I start the methodicness of putting it all away... Mike is often dragged into this, which he doesn't really mind because as he says "All the hard work is done".

Maybe I should ask around my neighborhood... surely someone has nothing else better to do then fold all my laundry... or maybe I should just buy a few more laundry baskets!

Pros & Cons of a Nap

Today my 2 year old was tired, cranky & just not a pleasant little lady... avoiding naps like the plague has been her silent motto for the past year or so, but today she needed one. BADLY! While my husband took a shower & got ready for work he had her lay down on our big bed & he covered her up & lo & behold she fell asleep. Such a blessing! Quietness took over the house as Maverick (the baby) was also catching up on his sleep. Left with just Madi she took over jumping & running laps & just generally having a good time as the lone child in command of the entire first floor! An hour went by & a second & then Miranda slowly, carefully woke up & decided to put on a pretty shirt over her dress & come downstairs... fast forward to 10 pm... my little cherub is still in a fantastic mood, relaxed & smiley, coloring and playing like a princess, not even a wink of exhaustion...

Seven Passengers in an 8 Passenger Truck

AH!!! I love driving the kids around in our Suburban! I don't love the gas mileage, I don't love my 42 gallon tank & I certainly don't love how messy 6 kids make the interior... but I do love driving them around. I've been doing a LOT of driving lately ~ some days we manage to get to nearly every corner of the city ~ back & forth, sideways, around & around. I'm enjoying it because a few really special things happen when I start driving. First off, there's the whole process of getting ready, getting out & getting in. Interesting to say the least! Especially in Wisconsin, in winter (oh, wait, its really spring now... someone let WI know!).

Here's how my getting out goes...
Ten Mittens, 6 hats, 6 scarves & 2 missing boots, Purse, Jackets, Diapers, Make Sure the back door is closed, sweater, Bag of stuff to go, Water Bottle, Found A Missing Boot with the other 2 Mittens inside, Stove is Off, Dryer is Done, Dishwasher is running, Other Boot under the Sleeping Dog, Zipper Up, Alarm, Keys... no Keys, Turn Off the Alarm, Check the purse, check the jacket pocket, Under the Couch, Oh, Keys, Lock the Door, Unlock the Door, Alarm, Lock the Door, out to the car.

Then we have instead of "shotgun" it is now the "middle of the middle", the most highly coveted spot in the back 2 seats. I'm not sure why that spot is so enticing ~ maybe the lights that are above, maybe the clear view of the front seat, maybe the roomy cushions, but that is it ~ the middle of the middle!

Once they are all buckled in, havoc may or may not ensue & even if it does it is contained to that small area in the back 2 seats where everyone sits immobilized by their respective seatbelts. The front seat beside me is usually empty or I have the bags intended for the rest of the day waiting. If I want I can turn on any channel on the radio, bore them with talk radio if they are being unruly or I can be nice & pop in a CD, plus I have full control over the heat, the windows, the doors & the direction. Sooner or later the 2 littlest start to nod off ~ probably out of sheer boredom, rather then the soothing hum & jostle of the car & sometimes I'm blessed by even Madigan drifting off... then quiet stretches out & the big kids immerse themselves in reading, coloring or asking for math questions (easy tip for parents, just use the numbers you see on the side of the road to come up with interesting math problems for them to solve based on age). Close proximity is no longer an issue & brother & sisters love each other again because a stick of gum needs to travel from my hand to the back seat!

Ah... The Peace...

Why Children Don't Like to go to BED!

It dawned on me tonight as it is nearing 10pm & my children are still awake (they are on Spring Break) the reason WHY children don't like to go to bed. My 2 year old, Miranda & the 4 year old, Madigan are the main culprits as they consistently test my patience with their getting out of bed tactics. Morgan & Marina usually giggle & read & talk before heading off to lala land & I like to encourage their interaction, so I usually ignore it for about 10-15 minutes while I'm coaxing the others to sleep. Mitchell is our best sleeper... he walks in his room (usually wearing some form of outerwear, most recently a light jacket, but very often his SnowPants!) lays on his bed & 3 minutes later he is dead to the world. Maverick is following those footsteps as he can sleep through almost anything (including my brother cutting tile with the tile saw right outside his room). Madigan & Miranda are my breaking point, though... While at first I thought they were thinking they were "missing" something by going to sleep, everyone else is going to sleep, too, so in effect there is really no one to play with. Tonight, I came to the conclusion that they are fasinated that I continue to "live" while they are asleep. Last night they asked just to sit on the stair landing & watch me. Tonight they keep asking what I'll be doing while they are sleeping. I keep trying to make it sound really boring, but I must not be good at hiding my excitement of a little "me" time. I hear the little feet on the stairs & undoubtedly, there they are!

Our Easter Rush

The Kids all sang Thursday night at the Maundy Thursday Service... such sweet voices. Then Friday we got an all day Spring Snow Storm that dumped 14 inches in 18 hours so most of the city canceled their Good Friday Services. Saturday, with the snow already melting ~ I headed off to the Clinic & found, after a interesting nasal swab, that I just have a "really bad cold"... no worries, so the Easter Dinner at our home could go on. Grandmas, Grandpas, aunts, an uncle, cousins & our family gathered for a feast, a small egg hunt (Morgan & Marina filled & hid eggs for Mitchell, Madigan, & Miranda), and we tied pieces of silk around eggs & boiled them for some unique & colorful colored eggs.


Sunday the children sang again for 2 services & we had a light snack afterwards at church (read: donuts & rolls). Then we were invited over to Mike's aunt's home for his side of the family's Easter. After ham & quiche & some birthday cake (Sarah, Mike's cousin turned 9) we stopped at a local Walgreen's where the Easter Bunny was taking pictures with the kids! How fun! A few rounds of Spite & Malice (card game) & an episode of Quantum leap & it was off to bed.

Happy Easter to all! Christ has risen, He has risen INDEED!

Welcome

March 21st 2008

Inspired by my friend Jenny, I decided I should really keep a running blog on the Happenings of the Johnstone family. We are 8 deep... mom, dad, 4 girls & 2 boys... and seem to always have a million things going on. Its easy to get caught up in the daily chaos & forget that everyone else has their own daily chaos that they deal with. My favorite comment, when people find out how big our family is, is "how do you do it?" Its the same as everyone else, just magnified. Our 6 children are 9 down to 14 months & we couldn't be more happier! We have been married for 10 and half years & up until 4 days ago I had been pregnant, nursing or both the ENTIRE time!

My husband is the loyal breadwinner of the family which enables me to stay home & give the kids all the attention they need. Unlike bigger families we do NOT homeschool our kids, they enjoy school & all it has to offer. They are also active in the community. Our 6 year old son just finished being in Fiddler on the Roof & our 8 year old daughter is going to be in a production of Sound of Music. Before that the 3 oldest were in a production of Oliver. They also play soccer on recreational teams.

Today is snowing like crazy & doesn't feel like Spring at all! I am sitting here with a 102.4 temperature debating whether or not to call the clinic & get some good medication. Easter is in 2 days & the house needs to be cleaned & organized for the extended family to come over. Our 2 youngest kids just got over pink eye. Tonight the kids were looking forward to spending the night at Grandma & Grandpa's, but we'll have to confer with the weather & see where that leads us.