summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

taking a breather....

I have had a busy day. Between matching socks, and getting some together with their long lost partners from another sock basket, to getting the kids ready and going to the store for diapers, I have been on the go for hours and hours. I am sitting here for a much need put-my-feet-up.

I needed diapers, and they are too expensive in the regular grocery store, so I took a trip out today, and bought so much other stuff, I probably did not save a penny on the diapers.....I spent 25 dollars on 204 size three diapers, and I won't tell you how much more. I went to the dollar store, where I spent just shy of $50 on cookies, MinuteMaid 10packs of 100% juice (I got eight of them), clay and poster board for Margaret's social studies project, bandaids, Pepperidge Farms Raisin Cinnamon swirl bread, limit three, and today I didn't humiliate myself by handing the kids $3.00 each, and sending them through line....then to BigLots, which is right next door to the dollar store, yippee, and only spent $13.....lavender Huggies wipes, yum, pretzels, and socks.

Then on to B.J's. Besides the diapers, I got a giant bag of Nestles chocolate chips, some yogurt, a few birthday presents (clearance stuff), frozen vegetables, canned soup, and some SourPatchKids/Swedish Fish....$4.99 for a huge bag of individual packets, probably leftover from Halloween.....

Margaret and Kathryn stayed home from school today. If you are reading this, and you are the school nurse, they did feel a little headachy this morning. But then after the bus drove away, fine. They both get excellent grades, and I don't mind if they miss a day here and there. Going with them, and Jon, Charlotte Claire, and Camille, was not too bad. I did cave and get Jonathan a dart gun, which he of course shot Charlotte Claire in the face with as soon as we got home, before I got a chance to give him the never-point-a-gun-at-anyone lecture. Thankfully it hit her nose and not an eye. Charlotte Claire is not at the ask-for-something point yet. And she was so good, I got her a package of FisherPrice Little People bandaids in the $1 store. She came home, and went right into a nap, so she gets them when she gets up. How quickly will she burn through 22 bandaids?

I am trying to prod the girls into going outside to play, it is very sunny and in the twenties....no wind. Jon has a pair of pink snowpants on, they are working on it.....Mirielle is on the treadmill, which makes me feel guilty, I need to get on it. Margaret is doing one of those tv workouts, above the belt....Joseph is having snack, Sam is reading the newspaper.....and I have to go make dinner. There is some meat leftover from yesterday, I was thinking of making a shepard's pie, actually two.....see how well I have done with my meal planning?

I thought Shel's comment on my yesterday's post was right on. The kids do not do things like I do, although I must admit, Mirielle does the dishwasher better.....she gets all the coffee and cocoa out of those mugs.....but for the most part, it is a very interesting area for me. Each child is different, and has different capabilities. To be able to determine if they are just being slouchy, or they really did their best, is the tricky part. There are times I call them back, and they think I am being picky and mean. I don't want to be so demanding that they hide when I call their names, but I also have to teach them to do things decently.

I am so absent minded sometimes, especially in the morning before my coffee. This morning, I was moving the school girls along, hurry, get dressed.....then I looked at Suzanne and told her to go put some lip stuff on, her lips are very chapped. She was looking in the cupboard for the Vaseline, and I forgot I told her to do that, and I told her to GO get dressed!.....well, she was a bit huffy about that, and I just had to laugh at myself, and apologize to her.....

Then, I accidentally said to Sonja, when she spilled her bowl of cereal all over the front of her, "What the hell did you do?" Now, I do not swear, in every day life. Sometimes kidding around (shut up, Cheryl) with the older kids or my sister, but I do not swear. I cringe when the kids say "crap", or "fart", and it is hard for me to even type those words, I don't like crude language, especially out of girls......so, when I said this to Sonja, she was shocked....and the thing is, I was not mad. I just was asking....where it came from, I have no idea (shut up, cheryl)....she was like, "Mom just said a bad word!!", with a huge incredulous grin on her face.....Oh, what was I going to do? I told her I was just kidding....that sounded SO lame.....so I said I made a mistake, and meant to say HeCK......and not to say what I just said, it is not nice.....I will not be one bit surprised if she tells Paul as soon as he walks in the door from work, that Mommy swore today.....(Yesterday, the toiled wasn't flushing, I was going to go in and plunge, and I kept getting distracted, then I forgot all about it, and I had warned her earlier not to tell daddy as soon as he walked in, but oh no, she did.....poor Paul.)

Oh, the afternoon hours just go by too fast. I would like to stop time each day when the little two are napping, and just relax before the making dinner, eating dinner, clean up.....it makes me tired just thinking about it.....and, I really need to get back on the treadmill....I took a few days off when I had that monumental headache....

Today in the dollar store, Jon was asking me something over and over again, and I was looking at something, and unconsciously tuning him out....then he said, "Mother!" really loudly.....and I turned to him.....and an older woman who was right there in the aisle was laughing, she said he had said 'Mommy" several times, and I didn't respond, until he said, "Mother.."....well, I told her, I have learned to tune them out sometimes....she just laughed....then I turned back around, and said, "I have to tell you this, I have 16 kids....and if I didn't know how to tune them out sometimes, I would go nuts. " That is an awful thing to say, isn't it? But Mr. Jonathan talks non stop in the store, there is just so much to see and comment about......

Well, here I go to make dinner.....

3 comments:

FLmom7 said...

I feel bad that I tune my kids out sometimes too, especially in the store...it's a survival tactic, I guess;-)

Piper Paradise said...

I went to McDonalds for the first time in years today and got a sweet tea and thought of you : -)

cheryl said...

I will not shut up, Della, and you know that is not nice either!! Be quiet is the way to go. Not that I'd do that, either. I'm with you on the swearing.. I did when I was younger, but I hate it when I'm out and hear a mom or dad swearing at their kids!! Esp. if there is no self-contol in public, what happens in private? Anyway, many years ago Claire was being pretty awful, and I slipped, and that night when Daddy was putting her to bed, she told him. We'd had a baby monitor, and it was always on downstairs, not that we meant to eavesdrop, it was a necessity back then. Anyway, I felt like an idiot, and he never said anything. It's one of Claire's favorite stories from when they were little, apparently I let her know that I'd heard her tell on me! I still hate hearing swearing, unless it's meant as non-coarse jesting. Is there such a thing? Yes, I think so. I also think the movie industry goes way, way too far, so some people think it's acceptable. By the way, I also went out today.. but I missed the dollar store. Rats.