2 months of stress free dinner

A few weeks ago I realized my already crazed life was about to speed up even more.  What normally is Space Mountain was about to turn into the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.  What is normally the freeway, was turning into the autobahn.   With 4 girls playing soccer on 4 different teams and 3 of them being coached by Rusty and me, our life just sped up.  I decided that in order to survive I had to have some food prepared ahead of time in the freezer.  Right before Finn was born I cooked 3 or 4 of our family favorites and froze them.  I knew I had to do this again but on a larger scale.  Here is my step by step process to filling my freezer.

First, I normally make a menu for each month and I try to buy all the ingredients in one shopping trip.  This keeps me out of the grocery store and therefore making less impulse purchases.  For the milk and bread weekly trips I try to send Rusty, men don't make impulse grocery purchases, or I go to Aldi.  Aldi has less stock which leads to less junk for me to buy.  I printed out a blank menu for September and got out my list of "Riley approved dinners."  Yes, this list actually exist.  I filled in different meals each night leaving Saturday and Sunday open.  I don't cook dinner on Sunday night and Saturdays are left for spontaneity.  Some months I ask for my family input during dinner one night but not this time.  The week we had spaghetti I filled in a block later in the week with leftovers.  There are always spaghetti leftovers usually.  This week, however, we gobbled up every bite so I will have to do a plan B tonight.  I added on the menu items like frozen pizza, chicken nuggets and fish and chips too.  Side note, on nights where you might not be home for cooking, make something that you can put in the oven before you leave and set the oven to automatic.  I sometimes partially thaw something and let it finish thawing while it sits in the oven waiting to cook.  Do not bake a cake or cookies this way.  The preheat time and the time it sits in the still hot oven after it shuts off will ruin anything baked.  

Second, I started a grocery list.  I began with the meat that I would need.  I would put a tally mark next to the meats I needed for more than one meal.  I then wrote down all the other ingredients needed, various pastas, seasonings, veggies, cheeses etc.  I also calculated how many different veggies we would need for the month.  I use at least 1 can of veggies each night.  Sometimes a frozen bag, sometimes fresh, sometimes dried.  There is occasionally a spoonful left that I get out the next night.  Last thing added to the list was frozen foods.  I made sure to add extra chicken nuggets, fries and pizzas for the nights dinner just doesn't get done.  I also added a box of good freezer zipper seal Ziploc bags and aluminum foil.  Making this list actually took a while too.  I wanted to make sure I hadn't missed anything and I checked my pantry for ingredients that I might already have.  I also left the list on the counter for the kids/Rusty to add items they might wish for.  My plan was to buy the cereal needed for the month as well!  These first 2 steps were day 1.

Third, I went to the store, Wal-Mart actually.  I knew they would have everything I needed and the cheapest price.  A side note, I don't go to Wal-Mart for customer service, clean bathrooms or an organized shelf.  I go there to save money, so I can stand a sassy cashier or filthy bathroom.  My solution to both of those, potty before I leave the house and find a familiar cashier and kill them with kindness. I have found if you say hello, how is your day going, they are generally nicer.  OK, back to the shopping trip.  I went on a Thursday, the day I only have 1 kid, which means more room in the basket.  I shopped and shopped and shopped.  I started with dairy, skipped the meats and moved until I got to frozen food.  My basket was completely full, it was time for my high schooler to come home and baby boy was getting hungry.  Even though I still had meat and produce to buy I headed to the check out.  Like I said, I was very sweet to the cashier and she felt bad for me when it had to be put in two baskets and called someone to help me carry it out.  How's that for customer service at Wal-Mart!  When I got home it took me 30 minutes to put everything away, that was with the eldest who had already made it home from school helping me.  The next day I took the same list went back to Wal-Mart with 2 babies in the basket and purchased the rest of my ingredients.  I'm not even going to share the grand total as you can probably imagine.  So there was 2 days of shopping!

Fourth step. I began prepping meals.  I cut all the veggies at one time.  I put them all to the side.  I then began to cut meat.  I am going to add recipes below.  As I mixed things like fajitas I put the chicken and veggies in a bowl with my seasonings, mixed them up and then divided it into 2 Ziploc bags for 2 meals!  I fold a bag over a blender so it is on a stand, just a little way that makes it less messy.  I then laid that flat in the freezer.  Once frozen I set it upright like a file folder to use more vertical space.  That is a tip from a smart friend on storing stuff in your attic but I have applied it to storing this all over the house, freezer included, use all of the vertical space available.  I went ahead and cooked the ground beef for 2 spaghetti dinners and 2 taco nights.  The spaghetti I went ahead and put it in the crock pot and completely made the sauce.  The taco meat was also seasoned and ready to go.  For the fettuccine alfredo I cooked the chicken, sauce and pasta and froze it all together.  I didn't finish on Friday so cooking day actually turned into 2 days.  By the end of Saturday this is what I had, 2 hamburgers, 2 bags of cooked and shredded chicken with broth, 2 dijon pork chops, 2 spaghettis, 2 whole chickens, 3 bags of chicken legs, 2 bags of chicken wings, 2 fajitas, 2 fettuccine chicken alfredos, 1 pork tenderloin, 2 pinwheel steaks, bacon, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, breaded fish, fries and pizzas.  That is enough for almost 40 meals.  

Fifth step, let us take Monday night for example.  We had spaghetti on the menu.  I took the spaghetti out of the freezer the night before and thawed it on a plate in the refrigerator.  I put the sauce on the stove and let it simmer for an hour.  All I had to do was open a can of green beans and make noodles.  Homemade dinner very quick.  Clean up was easier too!  

So here are some of the recipes:

• Spaghetti sauce- brown ground beef and drain fat off.  Put in crock pot for 8 hours with can of tomato sauce, tomato paste and season the way your family likes it.  We use some italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic and onion.  This time I also added pureed onions and peppers.  I have been known to puree carrots too.  
• chicken noodle bake- it is on the back of the egg noodle package at Kroger.  You can mix the whole thing and freeze. All that is left is baking it in the over.  
• Dijon Pork Chops- Taste of Home http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Dijon-Grilled-Pork-Chops  I prepped these in the sauce before I froze them.  They work great from the freezer!
• Jamaican Jerk Chicken- massage a whole chicken with EVOO.  Don't forget to get the guts out of the chicken before you cook it.  Don't be a wimp, it is just a chicken kidney.  Mix salt, pepper, cinnamon, all spice, red pepper, onion powder and garlic in a bowl and rub on the chicken.  I cook mine in the oven on 450 convection for 25-30 minutes then bring it down to 400 for 15 minutes or until temperature is right.  
• My alfredo sauce isn't anything fancy, Kroger brand powder sauce mix.  I like the store brand better because it has less garlic.  I mix the cooked noodles, cooked meat and sauce together.  Put it all together in the freezer.  Just thaw and cook until hot.  
• Pork tenderloin- I massage the whole thing with EVOO and sprinkle a couple of different packs of McCormick seasoning on it.  Again, I use convection roast at 450 for 25 minutes or so.  I don't do any prep work before it goes in the freezer.  Just thaw the meat, season and cook.  Super easy. 
• I make cookie dough ahead too.  I mix up dough from scratch and scoop onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet.  I use the Pamper Chef little scoop.  Flash freeze on the cookie sheet for 30-60 minutes.  Take frozen dough and put in a Ziploc.  I only take out what I need, instead of cooking 40 chocolate chip cookies.  They thaw enough while the oven is pre-heating.  

I suggest getting this book, Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer.  It has lots of tips and even more recipes.  I went through the whole book one day and tabbed every recipe that I thought my people would eat.  I wrote in the front all the chicken recipes with page numbers together and the same with other meats.  That way when I find meat on the quick sale rack I can just go to that list and make each of those recipes with whatever meat I bought.  ALWAYS check the quick sale meats!

This whole process has evolved over 10 years.  It started when a girl sitting next to me in English 201 at State Tech told me about making a monthly menu.  At 22 I had never thought about planning dinner more than 1 hour ahead.  It changed as I learned to cook more. I have tested various meals in small batches in the freezer and know what I can and can't freeze.  If you have something your family loves, next time you make it freeze a small portion and test it in a week or so.  I have learned how to double and triple things.  I have learned how how to work the KitchenAid  mixer.  I have learned how to shop on a tight budget.  I have also learned that cooking from scratch really is cheaper and probably better for us.  Now here I am with dinner planned and a lot of it ready for each night until November.  

If you have ways that you prep and cook ahead of time I would love to hear them.  I am always looking for ways to save time in that 3pm-7pm time frame.  If you have a family friendly meal that doesn't involve mixing veggies and meat together I would love to hear it.  My family is anti-casserole.  I love the crazy life having 6 kids brings and I am always looking for ways to ease the insanity!  

Surviving Soccer Season

This is your survival guide for multiple kids playing soccer this fall.  This guide does not include Little Caesars, McDonald's, Chili's, Wendy's, Backyard Burger or cereal for dinner.

First of all, plan ahead.  The more you plan ahead the less stressed out you will get.  Sit down as a family and plan a month worth of dinners.  Let each person in your family pick a meal each week.  Make sure you are keeping a variety.  On nights you know things will be the most insane make sure you have the least amount of prep work.  Here is our menu for September...

                                 Just like I am terrible at grammar, I am not a great photographer.

As you can see, it doesn't have to be written on a cute chalkboard with pretty artistic lettering.  It is just a plain blank menu with scribbled ideas.  You will also see on Saturdays and Sunday I have nothing planned.  These are nights I do one of a few different options.  1st option, dinner date with family, 2nd option, fill in something from a night we skipped earlier in the month, 3rd option, frozen pizza or 4th option, I just make up something totally different and see what happens.  Mostly, it is options 3 or 4.  Sundays I do not cook.  If I do cook it is box mac&cheese.  Fancy, I know.  My mom cooks Sunday lunch each week so I don't see the need for two full sit down meals in one day.  For some of y'all, you may want this to be a time your family all eats together. I will admit, this month I did not ask for input but I did put in each week something each child would love.  That way when we have a night where they just don't like what I've cooked they can look forward to another night they will love.  I do my absolute best for us all to eat together.  I know those days are probably coming to an end as my oldest two get older.  We may eat at 8:00 but I prefer us to eat together.  This is when the,"how was your day" conversations go on.  My kids without prompting will even say, "how was your day, daddy?" or "what did you do today, mommy?"  It is amazing what a 9th grader will tell you if you just ask.

Now, I choose to do my "big shopping" once a month.  Y'all know what I mean.  However, this month I had to make two trips because my basket was full, I wasn't finished and my kids were about to start trickling in from school.  Some of y'all may prefer once a week.  I bought all the meat, sides, flour, sugar, cheese etc that I would need to make dinner for the month.  That leads me into the next way I have planned ahead to survive soccer season with 6 kids.  

I cooked/prepped ahead of time almost every meal we will eat in September and October.  It took me 2 full days, tons of dishes and 6 Tylenol.  I labeled each bag with a date and instructions.  I froze things flat and spread out and when it froze I filed them away.  My next blog will give more details on how to do this.  Here is a picture of some of my freezer stash.  This isn't all of it of course.  As you could see from the menu above, there are nights of chicken nuggets and frozen pizza!

Another way to survive is divide and conquer or as I like to call it, delegate.  I couldn't write this blog about soccer season and not add in a quote from one of the best coaches to coach any sport.  "Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."  That is from Vince Lombardi, I know he was a Packers coach but when you look up "Bill Cower quotes" there aren't any!  Sorry Rusty.  OK, back to my point.  The whole family has to help.  The whole family has to take on responsibility at the house.  I don't care what the normal family dynamics are, during a busy time in the family's life everyone MUST chip in.  Each person must take their job and commit to it each day.  A group effort will help everyone be a little more stress free.  Whether it is putting shoes in proper homes (we call this shoe patrol), unloading the dishwasher or helping little sisters put their clothes away, they must do it completely.  Don't be afraid husbands to load or unload the dishwasher when you see the need.  Rusty cleans up dishes every night after dinner.  EVERY NIGHT!  A different daughter each night helps him get the dirty dishes to the sink.  That leaves me available to help someone study, bathe babies, take a shower for the first time in 2 days, or even watch Project Runway.  Husbands, don't be afraid to fold some towels.  I don't care if you worked all day, help anyway.  I will add here too, many weeks Rusty gets more laundry done than I do.  Don't feel bad about asking your kids to vacuum the den or straighten their bathroom so you can disinfect clean it the next day.  So delegate some jobs mamas. There is nothing wrong with your kids doing some chores, for free even.  

One other way to help survive soccer (or whatever your kids are involved in)season is to make a home for uniforms and other items that they need for the sport.  We put in our laundry room a bench that has cubbies for each child.  In that cubby goes their cleats, shin guards (glove in t-ball season) and uniform.  I do not allow clean uniforms to ever leave the laundry room, otherwise they are lost forever.  As soon as they come out of the dryer I fold them and put them in the cubbies behind me.  When they come in from a game have them take the stuff off right then and make sure they put things away. Before we had the cubbies I put the whole uniform, socks and all, on a hanger in the laundry room and hung it up in there.  Here is a picture of one of our cubbies...

During the summer, this is actually where each kid stores their bathing suits.  

Make no mistake, we have Saturday mornings where we are screaming, "WHERE ARE YOUR SHIN GUARDS!"  Many Tuesday evenings where I say, "Forget it, let's get some Hot & Ready!"  And some nights where I'm not really sure what they eat.  There are nights where we eat in shifts too.   I find though, the more I plan ahead, prep ahead of time and organize the smoother our afternoons go.  Each day it is like a roller coaster ticking up the slope and when 2:24 hits it is all crazy twist and turns and loop-de-loops until 9pm.  Hit the hay and rest for the roller coaster ride the next day.  I love this life and I am so thankful for the chaos.  One day it is going to be too quiet around here and I will miss cooking for so many mouths.  

I hope this has helped some of y'all not pull your hair out this soccer season.  Stay tuned next week for a How-To on freezer meal planning.  

Helicopter Parenting

So what is a helicopter mama?  Maybe you've heard it before, maybe you are one and don't even know it, maybe you are one, you know it and don't care, and maybe I am one.  According to Urban Dictionary (not sure how official that is but you'll get the point) a helicopter mom is "A hovering & controlling, but well-meaning, parent who gets way too involved in her child's life to the point of doing things that are completely inappropriate, such as personally attending all of little Sweetiepie's extracurricular activities, writing medium-sized Sweetiepie's school application essays, and submitting full-grown Sweetiepie's job applications."  Or maybe this definition from Urban Dictionary as well, "the mom who hovers over her child, especially at school. This mom is too involved. She annoys the other parents as well as the teacher(s)."  

Over the last few years I have caught myself stepping in situations that I really should have just left alone.  But but but I just want to help and fix it!  I found myself wanting to bail my kids out of situations that weren't fantastic.  But but but I just want them to be happy all the time!  I found myself wanting to call out some little brat.  But but but that kid can't do that!  I found myself just wanting to do the homework for them.  But but but I can do it quicker and better than them.  Recently, I was mid-bailout with one and realized, what in the world am I doing!?  I realized I had stepped into the helicopter no-fly zone.  So for now, I have stopped with the emails or nasty-grams as my friend calls them, I have stopped with the phone calls begging for a bailout.  I have resigned myself that that is the situation that my child will be in for a while and it IS going to make her a better person for going through it.  Now, am I happy about the situation, absolutely not!  I am still tempted to look for an out but I am fighting the urge.  In the past, I will admit to secretly changing stuff in a typed report after my kids went to bed, don't judge, most people have done it.  I will admit to doing more of a science fair project than I should have.  But I have seen the error of my ways the last few years and taken my hands off of school work.  I don't stalk teacher blogs, I don't check homework every night, I don't change papers (I do make very strong verbal suggestions), and I don't help on science projects any more than buying the stuff at Hobby Lobby.  I will tell you, one of my kids got a mark off for being sloppy and yes, I wanted to send a nasty-gram to the teacher and ask if she thought the ones better than that were done by parents or students.  I resisted, even though I thought the whole thing looked fantastic and knew how hard she worked on it.   It was hard, but I resisted!  

Not long ago, I let one of my kids make one of those pinewood derby cars by themselves.  I let her pick the color and glitter, put it on the back porch with a paintbrush and said have fun.  In hindsight, I should have helped some because that poor little car while looking awesome didn't even make it down the track.  After drying tears and healing the broken spirit with a happy meal I realized some help is ok.  Winning mom moment that day.  

So, where is the line behind which the helicopter should stay?  How much should we help our kids with homework?  When should we call a friend's mama and say, Jimmy Joe said x-y-z to my little Sally Sue?  I don't know where the line is but I do know that I cross it.  I also know that I have seen the harm it is doing to adults now and it is scary.  I saw on the news recently that it is being reported that parents are calling potential employers about their ADULT child getting the job.  That is an extreme I know but here is the point, we are constantly bailing our kids out and not letting them fail so when they get into the real world they freak out and can not survive.  They have to learn some teachers are below par so that one day they can work for a boss that is below par.  They have to learn to remember their lunch because it never fails on the day you forget your lunch teriyaki beef nuggets are on the menu.  They have to learn that other kids are mean and sometimes there are no consequences because when they grow up adults act the same way.  They have to learn if they don't study they will most likely fail without the option of a re-do because when they don't do the work at their job they will get fired no questions asked.  They have to learn that they should have looked back over that essay instead of printing it quick and watching TV.  They have to learn how to survive in an environment that is not perfect and maybe not just survive but thrive because one day they will be bagging groceries and need to thrive in a job they might not like.  

I have decided to stay out of their business in middle school and high school.  I will help when asked and I will ask if they have homework they need help with.  I will talk with them about problems if they want to and other times I will just hug them and say I love you when I see it in their eyes.  I will also continue to read their text messages, Facebook and Instagram though.  Sorry, not letting that go until 18 or maybe later.  I will intervene in the instance of excessive foul or sexual language being used around them or any language directed at them.  I will intervene when I know they should have gotten a better grade and it has been confirmed by another non-related adult.  I will not intervene in affairs of the heart or friendship unless they become extreme.  I have given my older kids 3 strikes per semester for me bringing stuff to school they have forgotten.  One of them has 2 already.  For my elementary babies I will help out once on a science project a little but after that they are on their own!  I will make suggestions on other projects but keep my hands off (this is VERY difficult for me).  I will stay out of friendship quarrels unless it is absolutely necessary to swoop in with my helicopter.  I will not send nasty messages to a teacher, principal or post things online about a teacher, even if they are crazy.   I WILL NOT YELL AT A REF, EVEN IF I"M THE COACH AND THE CALL WAS TERRIBLE!  I want everyone to read that again.  With that, promise yourself to never ever yell at a coach about anything until you yourself have had the opportunity to be a coach.  

Parents, let today be the day that we cruise up to a higher altitude with our helicopters and let our kids experience real life.  Console them when they fail but don't say I told you so.  Help them figure out how to change a situation without doing it yourself.  Help them find a lovable trait in a superior that is unlovable.  Let them throw glitter all over their pinewood derby car and teach them to be proud of it stopping on the tracks. Let us be the parents that send out a generation of kids that turn into great hardworking problem solving adults instead of sending out kids that turn into lazy entitled adults.   

Stupid things people say and what I want to say

After last week's thought provoking blog, I decided to lighten it up today!  It may provoke some thoughts but hopefully it will just make you shake you head and think, oh no, I've said that before.  Tuesday Night while at my oldest daughter's parent night at the high school a lady said something to me that was just plain old rude.  To her she probably thought it was funny, to me it was rude.  While walking around the high school with a 5 month old strapped to my front I know people were thinking things but this lady just spouted off exactly what was in her little brain.  She looked at me and said, "You have a high schooler and a baby in a carrier!  What were you thinking!  Obviously, you weren't thinking!"  She didn't even laugh, she said it in a nasty way.  Say what?!  I was dumbfounded.  After she scurried on down the stairs I realized a friend was in front of me and said to her, well that was rude.  Let's play what if...  What if I had been trying for 14 years to have another baby and it finally happened or I had finally adopted this baby?  What if I was 15 when I had my first and I was finally old enough to have another?  What if this was my high schooler's baby that I was just holding for her?  None of those are true, but that lady didn't know me!  She didn't know my situation to be passing judgement on me.  After I got my wits about me, I thought of many sassy come backs that were probably better left unsaid.  Like, wow you wore that out of the house, you really weren't thinking, or wow you paid someone for that haircut, you really weren't thinking.

Here are some other comments people make about my duggaring (my made up word for mass producing children from one's womb):
           Wow, are those all yours?  I want to reply, yes and we left 4 more at home with the dog.
           What do you drive to fit all of those in the car?  It's just 8 people, we fit in a Odyssey.
            You're gonna need a shotgun one day!  Have you seen Rusty, we have no need for a shotgun
            That's gonna be a lot of weddings to pay for!  We are just hoping they elope!
            You need to stock up on tampons!  Really people?!
            It's usually followed by telling Rusty he will need to leave the house for 1 week out of the month.
            You are crazy!  OK, that one might be true
            Are you catholic?    ummm... no
            Are you mormon?   ummm... no
            Baptist have a lot of kids?  Some do, but only the really crazy ones
            Do you homeschool?  I want to say, do you think I want all these kids at home with me all day!? I honestly think I am the only mom of many that doesn't homeschool. Matthew 5:13-16 is our reason, in case you were wondering.
            You must have a ton of laundry.  I want to reply to this I make them wear stuff 4x before I'll wash it! That's not true of course but I still want to say it.
            And of course my favorite....  You know what's causing that right.  
                    I mean come on, I'm 35 years old, do you know how dumb that sounds?!  Please don't ever say that again to someone, it is really dumb.  Sorry, if you've said it to me before.  
            How many more are you going to have?  1st none of your business, 2nd Rusty's aunt said for us to tell people, until we have an ugly one.  She has 10, so far.  
             No one actually ever said this to me but a friend who has four kids was asked if they had a TV in their room!  There are so many more, but I will stop.

And since I've been pregnant for like 1/2 of my married life, I've heard some dumb comments there too:
              You look like you're about to pop
               You must be having twins
               There is no way you still have (fill in a number) weeks left
               You've gotten a lot bigger since I saw you last
               You're STILL pregnant
I will admit to guilt in saying these things but I have seen the error of my ways and do not say them anymore!  Trust me, a pregnant woman knows exactly how big she is the moment she tries to roll over in the bed, tries to put on maternity clothes that are now too little, tries to get off the couch, tries to fit in a desk at parent night at the school, turns the stove on with her belly, can't cut her toenails, can't reach the top shelf in the kitchen, tries to breathe, you get my point.

Here are 2 more random things that I hear often from people that are just stupid:
                How do you stand that beard on your husband?  It would be just awful to me.  Seriously, I hear this more than you would think.  I think, ummm... do you realize that is my husband whom I love and have bore 6 children with that you are dogging? I'm thinking in my head, what if I said how can you stand that giant nose on your husband, or that annoying laugh, or the fact that he likes the Cowboys?
                Making fun of one of my kids names.  I mean adults do this.  Come on people, show some etiquette.  I didn't name them Blue or Apple or North or Scout, which are all names I would never make fun of to those lovely parents' faces even if I think they are weird.  Try not even to say, what an interesting name, because we all know that is code for, what an awful name!

So the point is, watch what you say.  Think before you let some dumb comment pour out of your mouth.  Even better, watch what you say in front of your kids so those dumb comments don't pour out of their mouths.  I could share some stories there but I'm afraid you might see some kind of resemblance to what I said and realize it was your kid.  I don't generally get my feelings hurt.  I have a thick skin and can laugh a lot off., but others don't and you may be sending them home to cry themselves to sleep.  I am not in anyway saying we need to be politically correct but just be kind and try not to say things that might just hurt someone's feelings.  You have been warned with this list, you now have no excuse. Stick with "bless your heart, what a beautiful family" or "bless your heart, I know you must be ready to have that baby."  And if anyone knows the lady from CHS who is hopefully still trying to pull her foot from her mouth, send her a link to this blog!
         
Feel free to share other stupid things you hear folks say a lot...

Your diamond shoes

Have you ever heard the saying "Are your diamond shoes too tight?"  One of my high school teachers said this once and I will never forget it.  I am pretty sure it was Mr. Hutson, but I could be wrong.  It was almost 20 years ago when I heard it and I probably have just lumped all good things said by a teacher under his heading because he was so awesome.  Let's see if he actually reads the blog.  Anyway, that was a quick chasing rabbits, let me get back to my topic.  Are your diamond shoes too tight means you are whining and complaining about things you should not be whining about but be thankful you at least have whatever it is.  I mean if I had diamond shoes, I'd be so proud of those suckers it wouldn't matter if they rubbed blisters on my feet.  Another saying in that same family, "I can't fit all my 100's in my wallet!"  So here we are at the start of the blog that I have been scratching the surface of all week.

WE HAVE GOT TO STOP COMPLAINING PEOPLE!!!!!

This past Sunday, the lesson my Sunday school teacher taught got his feet all up on our coffee table (meaning he got all in our business).  It was about our complaining.  Boy did it get me thinking and reflecting!  So, this past Monday I posted on Facebook for people to look back and see if they had a habit of always complaining in their Facebook post.  I did the same and found that I don't complain much or I just had a really good week.  Probably the latter.  I mean we all complain, all of us.  Under that post was a comment from a sweet young lady from my church that is on an 11 month mission trip to 11 different countries.  If you want to know more about her, just ask me, I could talk all day about how wonderful I think the things she is doing are.  She is selflessly serving the "least of these" all over the world in some of the most awful but sometimes beautiful places.  Anyway, her comment was this "America has real problems.  The people out here know how to live in love, and they're happier in their conditions than most Americans are in theirs.  It's hard to live on this side of the world and see all the selfish posts from people back home, but I definitely don't think you're bad about it."  People, she is in Africa right now.  Starving, AIDS infested, war torn Africa.  And here I was complaining that my daughter's bus was a little late!  Thank you Lord my children have a free (OK somewhat free) education that will come pick them up and deliver them to an air conditioned building to learn and they feed them!  

Maybe you don't like the current president or the past one, be thankful we live in America and get to vote on our president and are not governed by a group of militant dictators who would kill us for ever posting some of the stuff people post on Facebook about the government.  Do you really need to everyday post some new reason you hate the current administration?  Stop complaining!  Be thankful we GET to vote!  

Maybe your shutters outside your house are falling apart and need painting, be thankful you have windows to hang fake shutters next too!  Maybe your plumbing leaked, be thankful you have clean running water!  Gas cost $xxx a gallon, be thankful you have a car to put gas in!  Maybe you don't like the way something is happening at your church, be thankful you are allowed to worship God freely.  Maybe the cashiers at your local nationwide store get on your nerves and don't always smile, be thankful you have a grocery store to shop in that has clean food, that is inexpensive and there lots of choices.  How are those diamond shoes feeling now?  Still a little tight?  Let me keep going.  Maybe you had to wait 1 hour and 45 minutes at the doctors office, be thankful you didn't have to travel 75 miles in a borrowed car with a child that's about to die hoping you find a doctor.  Maybe, the trash man didn't set your trashcan back upright, be thankful you don't have to live in the trash dump.  Maybe your kids are driving you crazy, be thankful you were able to have or adopt kids.  Be thankful they are still with you.  Be thankful they can talk and get on your nerves.  Oh, I'm sorry, did my diamond shoes scuff up your coffee table?

Our girl's youth minister at our church just announced last night she is planning on going to Europe for 3 months or more to work with people that are in the sex trafficking industry.  How could we ever complain again if we saw the life that some of these girls are forced to live?  Some kidnapped others sold by parents who were starving are being forced into drug addiction and prostituted until they die.  Thank you Lord we live in America and this is something none of us have to worry about for our children.  

So here's the bottom line, we all complain, I complain, you complain and goodness knows our kids complain.  The thing is we live in America, we've got it so good.  You may be living paycheck to paycheck but we are insanely rich compared to the world.  You may have had to steal from your MLGW bill fund to buy the $100 calculator for your kid but we still have it so good.  Be proud of your diamond shoes don't complain about the fit!  Try for 1 week to be ridiculously positive.  I mean, so positive about things you get on your co-workers and friends nerves.  Don't complain, find the positive in everything you say and do.  Challenge your kids to stop complaining.  Please challenge your kids, I have 6 kids and between their friends I hear some serious complaining!  Hold them to it, hold your spouse to it, hold your friends too it.  Make a pack to stop complaining.  It will be hard, I promise.  I will fail, I promise.  Today, I wanted to complain about something, I wanted to call a friend and spout off about how terrible something was but I stopped myself.  Today I stopped myself but I know I will succumb to complaining before next weekend.  You want me to hold you accountable, tell me!  I will call you out, if you call me out!  Check back in with me next weekend, let me know how you did?  Was it an epic fail (I can't believe I just used that word, I had the word epic!) or was it a success?  

My quote this morning from Madagascar, "Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave."

Spontaneity

I'm not much of a routine person.  I like to be spontaneous, but I have found with 6 kids that has been lost for a while.  The days of ,"oh, I need milk" and running to Kroger right then are over.  The days of dropping in Sonic for a route 44 cherry limeade at happy hour are over.  Picking up the vacuum and going over the den just when I feel like it, over.  Even the days of I think I'll run by Kohl's and find some new jeans are O-V-E-R.

I must live by a schedule.  I have my days planned out somewhat a month in advance.  I can tell you what we will have for dinner on August 20th or 29th, shake and bake chicken and then waffles with bacon, just in case you want to stop by.  The 20th will also include a parent night at the high school.  I have to plan my trips to the grocery store.  Last night I bought 3 gallons of milk, 2 loaves of bread and a pack of Hawaiian buns (Rusty is spoiled) along with $200 in other items.  I'm hoping that will last until the weekend but with my kids boycotting school lunches right now I doubt it will.  I made 8 sandwiches this morning x 2 slices of bread + 2 pieces of toast = a mostly empty bag of bread.  I'm chasing rabbits, I'll get back to the point.  I don't have time to just pop in and grab a loaf.  After I spend from 5:30am until 9am getting kids to school I have approximately 27-43 minutes to get my out of the house stuff done before Finn turns into a pumpkin.  Meaning, a starving baby ready to go back to bed.  I have decided grocery store time is Sunday night between 6 and 7, seriously.  I hustled and got it done last night!

Monday is clothes washing day, not towels, not sheets just clothes.  6 months ago I was driving myself insane doing laundry every single day.  Fussing at my girls to put their clothes away, every single day.  I made up my mind to only wash clothes on Monday and Thursday, Rusty work clothes on Friday and towels and sheets on Tuesday (which is when I clean bathrooms).  I have pretty much stuck to that.  Now, I will have done 3 loads by the end of my day today but I don't have to think about whose socks are whose until Thursday.  I'll add I started keeping socks in my laundry room in a 3-drawer thingy.  The drawers are labeled "older girls" "younger girls" and "boys".  This drawer is right next to the shoe rack.  This is a new system, I'll keep you posted on its effectiveness.

Dishes, oh the dishes.  During the summer it was get them done when we can.  I prefer to have the dishwasher loaded and running an hour or two before I go to bed each night, yes every night.  That way, I can open it and let them dry while I sleep and they are ready to put away the next morning.  Adeline recently decided she loves to unload the dishwasher, this load may still be waiting for her at 4pm.  $.50 a pop for her.  I'm really ok with that!  Her sisters will soon catch on.

I'll just let you in on this weird new routine I've added, nails all are cut on Saturday night.  I can't have them going to Sunday School with dangerous big toenails or I'll get fussed at by my sweet friend who at times works in the nursery.  This sweet friend actually cut one of my kids fingernails one Wednesday night since they were too long.  Most moms would think that strange, not me, I appreciated it!  She knows who she is and that I am not making fun!  That night I realized, I have got to schedule that in or I will forget to get it done.  Don't think I didn't throw the clippers at Rusty Riley and demand his talons be cut Saturday night!

Lunches have to be made by 7am, floors vacuumed by 9:27-9:43am before Finn takes his first nap.  Pitt's snack by 10:15 and lunch around 12:15.  Naptime for him 1:00ish.  Finn wakes up hopefully while Pitt is asleep, eats again.  I throw down a sandwich that I made at 6:30am along with the kids while Finn eats.  Finn starts his next nap right before Pitt wakes up.  Notice no shower scheduled in there.  Yeah, that is hard to come by when you have 2 babies at your house, one that climbs and opens doors.  That's where my spontaneity comes in (to my sister, just know I had to look up how to spell that).  The other day I was in the middle of dishwasher unloading and realized I had 2 boys asleep at the same time.  I stopped immediately and jumped in the shower.  I even put Finn in his car seat in the bathroom while sleeping so I could shower all the way up to him waking up.  I have a tankless water heater so I can have a hot shower as long as the town will pump water.  Here's another little touch of spontaneity (I keep looking back at how to spell that too), when baby boy is having a complete meltdown at 10:40am even after he had his snack at 10:15, bust out the sandwich you made him at 6:30am and feed him!  Lunch done, face washed and him saying night night by 11:15am!  Maybe I can squeeze in a shower before the next little hungry kid wakes up!

Spontaneity is a good thing but when you have a big family it is something very hard to do.  I do actually look forward to the days where I can just hop in the van and get a cherry limeade but not now.  I love this schedule.   In a loud busy house there has to be some order!


Here is a picture of the sweet 10:40am early lunch inducing meltdown.  I feel ya little man.  Let's eat!

All 4 girls have left the nest

Today is the day where all four of my girls went to public school.  Yesterday, the oldest three started but today my sweet little baby girl went to kindergarten.  I will start with yesterdays course of events.

The day began at 5:28 am.  Abigail being in high school now needs to leave the house right before 6:30!  Thankfully, Rusty can take her and her friend.  I made her lunch and then we had to decide, paper sack or Vera Bradley lunch bag.  We went with paper sack.  She was not nervous at all and was dressed very nice in what we thought was dress code compliant.  I went over with her a few times about where to go when she gets there, she had her map highlighted in her binder and she texted her friends at least 47 times each before she left.  The time finally came for Rusty to leave with her and I watched her walk to his Explorer and climb in.  I thought to myself, hold back the tears at least until she drives off.  As they pulled away I felt the tears coming.  Then I felt a little one at my side.  Annabelle my super late sleeper had awoke before anyone else.  I was really glad to see her, so I sucked up the tears and started my next round of getting on to school.
Round 2 began at 6:30 getting Amelia up and going to be on the bus at 7:25.  She is not the morning person Abigail is and it takes her a bit to get going.  She gets dressed in a super cute first day of school outfit and was actually ready early. Another lunch made, 1 more little one awake to add to Annabelle.  At 7:05 she decided to go on out just in case the bus was early.  If you were anywhere on facebook yesterday you would have seen that many buses in our new wonderful unified district never showed up.  At 7:40 a neighbor took her to school and by 8am the bus still hadn't shown up.  I didn't have time to worry because the next phase of my morning was starting.

Round 3 was to get Adeline up at to school by 8:40.  She is a fantastic morning person.  She is self driven to do each step of getting ready on her own without being reminded.  She had a super cute very coordinated outfit on and was ready to go by 8:15!  My mom came over to sit with the boys while I took Adeline in to her class.  She is so independent and great at making friends I don't really worry about her.  Not to mention one of her best friends is in the class.  I got her in the building to her class and settled in her seat.  She looked happy and excited to be there.

Round 4 of my morning is where it got crazy.  Annabelle was meeting some other kids that were going to kindergarten for the first time at the park.  While in a search of Pitt's shoes I turned around to find him pulling Finn off the couch.  When I said "no!" he of course let go.  And you know what happened after that.  Finn was fine.  I checked him over thoroughly.  Pitt was very loving and brought him his paci and his own blankie.  We decided to go on to the park.  As I pulled into the parking lot what comes on KLOVE but Matt Maher's Lord I Need You (If you haven't heard it, I'm putting a link below). I thought I was fine with everyone going to school.  WRONG!!!  As soon as the music started I thought, NO NO NO, Lord, I can't handle this song this morning.  I parked away from other cars so other mom's wouldn't think I was crazy for singing in the van.  Then the first lyrics came,
                   "Lord, I come, I confess
                   Bowing here I find my rest
                   Without you I fall apart
                   You're the one who guides my heart"
I just decided to let it go, just go on and cry.  I was crying more I think than any other first day of school ever.  As I'm sobbing I look up and My sweet friend with 6 kids and one also starting kindergarten had parked next to me.  She mouthed through the window, are you crying!  I rolled the window down and all I could say was, "the song."  She turned her radio up and just boo hooed with me.  I'll tell you what by the end I was praying the lyrics out loud,
                     "teach my song to rise to You
                      when temptation comes my way
                      and when I can not stand I fall on you
                      Jesus, you're my hope and stay"
I guess I should say thank you Lord for playing that song right when I needed to hear it. Annabelle had a great time at the park and played with her favorite friend that's a boy.  By the time we got home I 2 hours until Abigail got back!

She got home to tell me all about the great day she had.  She was seconds late to one class but she swore to run the next time.  She gets this insane need to be early from her daddy!  And it would seem what we thought to be dress code was not.  She had a little chat with my former classmate and now assistant principal.  By then it was pouring down rain and we kept looking out for Amelia's bus.  3:15, I wasn't worried, 3:30 still not worried.  3:45, I was getting a little worried, then I got a text from her via someone else's phone that said, "bus is late."  I found out that she was still at school.  My sister called me to say my nephew was on an bus and Amelia should be on the bus with him, but said Amelia is not on the bus!  By 4:15 Adeline was home and we decided to call the school.  Many students were still at CMS.  Rusty left to go get her.  When he got in the office it was full of angry parents wondering where the heck their kids were.  She was on an unknown bus and they could not get in touch with the drivers.  Well, she finally got home at 4:45 after being dropped in an unknown location.  Thankfully, one of the girls that was also dropped off there knew how to get Amelia home, Amelia did not! It seems Amelia was assigned to a bus that doesn't exist. It was a crazy fiasco, it angers me greatly, but I need to let it go and just see how today goes.  She took her phone today.  Maybe I need Matt Maher again.  I'll just say, MCS it took y'all one day to prove why your school system failed.  Thank you for the hostile take over of our once wonderful school system.

We had a fantastic Back2School dinner with grandparents.  A tradition that goes back to Abigail starting preschool.  Dinner was delicious, all my babies were back home, homework was finished, I had filled all the proper paper work and put the ones needing money to the side.  Everyone to bed by 9:30,after a little shark week of course.

Annabelle went to her first day of kindergarten this morning.  She was really excited and feeling very independent, except she wanted Adeline to pick out her clothes.  We had her super heros backpack, lunch box and water bottle ready to go with her princess shirt!  She didn't want to hold anyone's hand walking in and went straight to her chair to get to work.  It didn't hurt that her favorite friend that's a boy was sitting right across from her.  I was trying my best not to get emotional as I walked home.  Officer McKinney helped by pulling someone over right in front of me for speeding in the school zone.  I'd never heard him use a stern voice before and it made me laugh!  I will say, he smiled the whole time he was fussing at the guy!

I can not wait until 4:00 to find out how things went for Annabelle and for all the other to tell me about their day.  Amelia better be home by 4:00 or this mama might get all Madea on some people.  Who's gonna bail me out?

Sorry, it was so long, 6 kids equals long days.


Get your tissues and click here --- Matt Maher- Lord, I Need You