Is it me....or them???

So on days like this, or for that matter days in a row like this I have to sit back and wonder if the problem is me or them. Five against one is really unbalanced. I'm not really sure how much more screaming, fighting, hitting, bitting, running, destroying, teasing, complaining (do you get the picture?) I can take. I have to think is it because we are coming closer to the end of off track (7 more days!) or am I really losing control of my children. I thought that I have done a pretty good job at keeping them busy and occupied. We have gone to the movies at least once or twice a week, parks, vacation, beach, play dates, swimming, shopping, played games at home, art projects, off track homework, reading, the list goes on. Not a day has gone by that I have not entertained my children in some shape or form and they still seem like they have all this energy that they don't know what to do with it. It is like they all have a meeting before mom comes out in the morning and they try to figure out what shade of red they are going to make my face today. UGHHH!!! When do they all get to go to school ALL day??? What was that, did you say 3 more years???? I am so ready for more than a few hours of quiet time...ME time. Does that happen though or do you just fill your days with things that you never had a chance to do in the first place? Craig seems to think I am going to be terribly bored and that maybe I should get a part time job. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? Bored, well maybe at first, but the possibilities are endless. I guess that says it...NO MORE kids for us. The crib is gone we are done, mom is D-O-N-E! Okay, please don't take me wrong. I love my kids and I love staying home with them, but the last few days have been particularly difficult. It really doesn't help that I am sleep deprived, for me at least. I know that these precious few years will go by to fast, but I think I am okay if days like these just fly by. The good with the bad, right? I am very grateful for each one of my children and for all that they teach me. I think it has been patience and self control that we have been working on, but I guess I needed it. I probably still do. Sorry for the rant. I am feeling a little better now. On to dinner. So what is the verdict...is it me or them?

Catalina 2008

Well here it is. Our annual trip to Catalina. The kids look forward to this every year. It really is a great place to go as a family. No cooking, no cleaning, just relaxing...well, sort of. I do have five kids, there never really is a quiet moment. Anyway we took off on a Saturday and was over on the island by lunch time this year. That was great, we felt like we got an extra day in because we got to go to the beach after lunch. Basically we just hung out at the beach every day. They did open the climbing wall and that is all Zach needed to hear. They had that thing open for about 2 1/2 hours and he was there the whole time. He just absolutely loves it! He tried every wall (about 10 of them). The kid is a monkey. We find this very interesting because when he was smaller he was to "cautious" to climb anything. I guess the wall is pretty competitive and Zach is all over that! Craig and I even gave it a try. They had a little wall and Matthew, Allison, and Spencer gave that one a try. Of course we participated in the annual variety show that grandma Nana puts on, but do you think I could remember to bring the camera out for that. Who wants to get up and walk back to the room for it??? Not me, I'm on vacation! Maybe I will get pictures later form others who were more responsible than I. Okay, what else did we do??? Oh, I decided to be like every one else and start those dang Twilight books. Needless to say I did a lot of reading and made vol. one stretch out for the length of our stay. I didn't think that I would need the second one. Boy, was I wrong! Good books. I am on the third one now and am trying to just get through this blog so I can get more reading in. It is the soul reason why I haven't posted this sooner. Anyway I will have to let you all know how I feel next week when I finish. I just had to post a few pictures alone from the slide show.
This is how Craig spent his vacation...like father....

Like son

Beach trip and the much anticipated tooth pulling!

Well we had our annual beach trip with the Lomenick family on Saturday. The kids had so much fun. The plan was to saty there all day and BBQ dinner there. Problem was that we did not get there early enough to get a fire pit. My husband says don't worry I brought the camp stove. I'm thinking okay dinner is still on. As the day goes on it just keeps getting windier and windier (is that a word?) Anyway, as we are all huddled under blankets and none of the kids are really playing I say lets pack it up and move to the parking lot and try to BBQ there and make some sort of wind break with our cars. Craig says, "Okay, but what are we going to cook the food on?" I'm thinking what do you mean??? You said we had the camp stove what else do we need? He says I brought that to put the pot on for the corn, but how are we going to cook the dogs and chicken? Again, I'm thinking then what are we doing here being miserably cold. Why didn't we figure this out earlier?? So, we did pack it up and decided to find a park to BBQ at. Again, no luck. So now we decide to drive to our house and do dinner there. It is like 6pm by now and we have kids complaining that they are hungry, because do they ever really stop to eat anything that sticks to their ribs when they are at the beach? So, on the 91 we go and you will never guess....TRAFFIC. Of course, this is Southern California and why would we even think that we could get on the 91 at 6pm on a Sat, and NOT have traffic. Anyway, we get to our house at about 6:45ish and get everything going. All I could think of was, gee we could have been doing this hours ago, wind free and a lot warmer. It really was a good day and the kids were totally zonked by the end of the day.


Isn't he just sooo cute!!!


So, Allison has had this loose tooth for months now. It has been hanging on by a thread. She, just won't let anybody get near it. Yesterday morning I'm in the kitchen and I hear screaming. Honestly, I didn't even think anything of it. Screaming is normal occurence at our home. Then Allison comes running to me, "MOM, MOM, my tooth, daddy pulled my tooth out!!!" She was so excited and I think quickly forgave her daddy for pinning her down and pulling her tooth out. Needless to say she could hardly wait to go to bed last night. She even said to me can I just go and you don't even need to tuck me in?

Here she is. A little blurry, but here is our toothless little girl.

Lesson Learned????

NOOOO!!! What do you get when you leave a tube of desitin on the family room floor and you have a two year old wondering your house?


Seriously, what was I thinking? Am I just a gluten(how do you spell that word any way) for punishment? As if I don't have enough to do in the mornings. Of course I have to clean it up and then post the blog. I just keep singing that song from Enchanted. You know the Happy working song! Boy am I happy...this is G-R-E-A-T!!!

Our week in a nutshell

Actually it has been about a week and half. I know we just started school, but this year round thing is for the birds. We go for 3 weeks and 2 days and then we are off for 4 weeks and 3 days. So, each time they go off track they have an awards assembly. Allison got the Principals award for outstanding academics. Then we were off to Palm Springs with our best friends the Fishers. Just the mommies and 10 kids for 2 nights in a hotel and swimming during the day. I know you are just trying to contain yourselves. You so wish you could have been in on this one...or at least had a hidden camera to watch us. It wasn't that bad. We learned form our mistakes last month. The kids had fun. Funny thing our friends the Lomenicks just happen to be there too one of the days.

We are so proud of her. We went to Claim Jumper that night to celebrate and daddy took the "big" kids to Barnes and Noble to pick out a book.

I forgot to take pictures at the pool. Here is most of the kids watching tv.

Spencer wanted to take a picture with mom. CHEESE!!!

It is contagious. Everyone to do the same thing!
Do you ever have that thought go through your head like, I really should move the container of powdered sugar, but I'm sure it will be okay while I take a shower. What was I thinking??? I know we are supposed to listen to our inner thoughts, but why is it that we tend to ignore them most of the time? I got out of the shower and found Spencer just sitting there looking cutter than ever covered in the stuff. It wasn't until I put the camera away and went to clean him up that I really got a good look at him. You couldn't even see the picture on his shirt because it was all white. I started to clean him up and decided this was a job for the tub. Aren't kids just so cute!!!