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 8, 2011

I should be fired by now...

It occured to me this morning as I made plate after plate of raisin toast for the school kids, that if this were a REAL job, I would have gotten fired long ago. Jonathan said, "You woke me up and there are no school clothes, Mom!"...I knew that. I just thought I would make toast first. He couldn't find his folder this morning, after we so carefully did his homework before dinner. rrr. I got his clothes out, which was easy because someone took my load of darks out of the dryer and put them on the clean and naked couch....presto, a complete outfit for Jonathan. I am determined to put them away before it becomes a free-for-all again.

Camille says I am "squishy". Thanks. She is cuddled up to me, on the arm of my chair, her regular perch. She has her thumb in her mouth, and her fleecy Minnie-Mouse jammies on. What the heck am I gonna do when she outgrows this? Invite Rosie up here to cuddle?

I had to drive Aaron to work yesterday because Mirielle and Joe and Margaret went to the gym and weren't back in time. (the only vehicle here was the huge van..) I had my around-the-house-skirt on, but I had a decent shirt on, and I had just washed and brushed my hair. So I drove him the four miles to town, and decided to go into the little grocery store for eggs and milk and bread. I promised him I wouldn't embarrass him, but of course the romaine salad mix rang up wrong, and when I pointed it out and the cashier had to call the manager, I told her that I had promised Aaron I would behave, she said it was okay, her mom has to be good in that store, too.

So fast forward to evening....I KNEW I had to go pick him up....then he texted me to remind me, GOOD THING! I had totally and completely forgotten, and was sitting here on my computer....oops. Out the door I went, as fast as I could go, which, believe me...ain't lightening. Rosie-The-Bad dog went with me....the roads were TERRIBLE! Snow covered and slippery, blah. The minivan does horribly on the snowy roads. So I had to drive ever-so-slowly as I watched the minutes tick away on the dashboard clock. The store was dark and the parking lot empty...only his boss was there, waiting in the store foyer with him. oops.

I really didn't mind driving him though. We got to talk.

Camille has a bottle of nail polish, she is holding it "just in case"....just in case what, I am wondering.....she wants me to stop "typing, and fix my nails right now!" Not likely.

They have had their raisin toast, and Charlotte Claire had the last apple from the huge bag I bought on Saturday. She has her Kitty suit on, and is putting stickers in her Barbie notebook.

I do have things to do, I really do. I have to wash the pans that were overlooked last evening. Oh, we had a yummy dinner....a mixture of frozen veggies on the bottoms of two glass baking dishes....covered with leftover rice, then some frozen red, green peppers and onions, then the leftover chicken from the day before's crockpot lunch....boneless breasts and thighs cooked in barbecue sauce. I poured some water over the pans, and baked them uncovered for a half hour. Served with salsa and hot sauce...it tasted like stirfry! It was so easy, and I thought the kids would totally balk at it, but it was really very good.

One thing I have to do today...I have to go out to our church conference center and cook chicken wings....all because of Joseph. On Sunday I asked him, and his friends, to take the sixteen bags of wings out of the minivan and put them in the walk-in freezer....he informed me later that he put them in the walk-in cooler, not the freezer part, and was that okay? Nah, they have to be kept frozen. He went to move them, and the door was locked. He found someone with a key, their key broke in the lock. So last evening I texted someone who takes care of things there, and he fixed it. So now I have forty pounds of wings still in the cooler, which need to be cooked now because I am thinking I shouldn't refreeze them. So....I have to pack up the little girls and go on an adventure....if I bake them all up, I can baggy them up in the sauces and freeze them, then just heat them up on Saturday night...I hope it works.

Benjy called last night. I was totally surprised when I answered my cell phone and it was him! He has finished another phase of basic, and now has more privleges. He had one hour phone use, but I was ever so conscious of Ashley, so I kept our call short. He said Oklahoma is expecting more snow and more cold, and they cannot train in it, but will still graduate on time because the next shipment of guys will be coming in no matter what. He is doing well, and I am proud of him. I am pretty sure he was tearing up when we said goodbye, I miss him so much!

Sonja has the third-grade Boat Project due soon, our family's thirteenth Boat Project. I could write a book about Boat Projects. Paul asked me if I started it with her yet, and I said, it is NOT due TOMORROW.....so duh. But I am thinking about it....

Among other things...I have things to file and call about and appointments to make and things to straighten out...and since I love to procrastinate, the pile grows....then I take care of it all and feel like Superwoman.....I would definitely be fired by now.

9 comments:

Humble wife said...

I remember once as a young girl when it became warm so I ran home from playing at a neighbors house that had only one child. When I returned in shorts, Mr. Baker pointed out that I had two different colored socks on, and to this day I can remember saying, "Yes, sir, but they are both clean, and mom says that washing is her department and matching is mine. Today there were no matches!" I wonder what he thought...as they were the strange family as everyone else had seven, eight or nine kids where we lived!

How funny, as I use a sock basket too, although I only have four kids and three at home. I try and buy all the same styles of long, or short. If they have design socks(my daughter) either she pins them together or risks the loss to the sock basket.

Oh the laundry!!

Momo said...

Hi, my name is Wanda. I am a grandma and I read your blog everyday but have never commented. But, I had to laugh when I read that Camille says you feel "squishy" I was holding my grandson when he was about three and he was touching my arm and he said Momo your arm feels like a sponge. I still laugh about him saying that. I enjoy reading your blog.

Tereza said...

pfffft fired smired.....you a good mom... this me have to say!!:)

so I guess your boat project is like our castle project!!! I kind of hate it:) and yes...always completed the very last night it is due!

It's interesting how God uses different situations for different people...I think you Ben's heart is softening! I'm praying for him.

Have a wonderful day playing superwoman:) I know I will...the house is a mess but I made bread:) I'm so proud of myself:):)

16 blessings'mom said...

Wanda, I guess there is some consolation in being squishy, the huggy little ones like it. And, some of my kids have developed the attitude that "matching socks are over-rated", which horrifies me...what will people think of us!!?? But I guess it is sort of "in" right now...I wish there was a way to make it really, really popular....

Martha said...

Rats! I was going to comment and now the flowers are coming to life... Maybe later.

FLmom7 said...

LOL, I enjoyed this post.

Kathyb1960 said...

I was going to tell you...the next time that a "bill collector" (not sure if that's who it is) calls for Benji, ask to speak to a manager. It's just peon cust serv reps (CSR's)calling. If you speak to a manager, and explain where he is, and that he can't call, they should work with you. If the CSR who is calling gives you grief or probs abt speaking to a mgr, tell them you want to escalate the call. And make sure it's a MANAGER NOT a team leader. Hopefully the calls will stop, b/c they do have to memo the acct that something was worked out. And if they call again after that, tell them to READ THE MEMOS! LOL

Martha said...

Now it's time for bed...

Sandra said...

I would say a promotion is in order! Forget being fired, no one would let you off that easy,LOL!! I only have one kid and socks are the bain of our existance. She is now of an age where her socks are indistinguishable from mine or her fathers. I buy all the same. If you need "different socks" you buy them and then herd them through the wash cycle. Being from a military family my heart is with you and Ben, my husband and dad, years after retiring, still enjoy the comraderie of serving our community with a retired servicemens group. Ben has embarked on a lifelong committment of service and brotherhood which will always be there to support him. You have good kids, what more could the school nurse want? LOL!