T.V. Interviews, Flea Markets, and Used Book Stores

WOW! Seems like, here lately, everything is just so busy! There is almost no time to just sit back and breathe.

This past weekend was definitely a busy one, but was so much fun.

Our excitement actually started Thursday, the mechanic found an ad looking for families to be on a new t.v. show. Of course, we are completely crazy and had to apply. I mean what are the chances of them actually contacting us, right?

Well funny thing, they did! Imagine my shock when the mechanic calls Thursday afternoon to say we have a family interview Friday at 5!

Say WHAT???

Yeah, it was so much fun to do! Honestly, I think we have absolutely no chance of being picked but, it was an amazing experience. I mean who doesn’t want to go to Alaska for 60 days of darkness? The week and a half wait for them to call back, has been like torture! We are still waiting!

So Friday night, we celebrated with pizza!  I wish I could capture her face when she sees the breadstick box.

Saturday morning found us headed to the flea market. It seems like FOREVER since we have been. Traffic, as usual, was awful!

The 4-year-old was so ready for some flea marketing. I do believe she has switched from her pink boots to her wedding boots. She scored a few LPS blind bags.

There was a small Elmo take over! Made me miss my Aunt Cindy like crazy! She is an Elmo freak and a new grandma, the poor baby is gonna have to love Elmo too.

After the flea market, we stopped at one of the half price bookstores. I have to tell you, this is one of my favorite places to go. I just love the happy feeling the lined up and stacks of books give me. Yes, I am extremely weird about books!

The baby LOVES them too!

And since we have recently decided to throw out the curriculum and give unschooling a shot, I was completely excited to find these games and workbooks.

And I picked up several History books at the flea market for almost nothing.

I am not entirely sure how this new way of learning is going to work for us. I am very excited about it though. Really hoping it helps us to free up some time and have a little more fun. I would really like to be able to start working on my Etsy shop again.

On the way home, we stopped at the Mexican meat market down the road to get something to cook for dinner. The mechanic is AWESOME on the grill!

So, why not get a bottle of pop too? This stuff is so good!

Sunday was an at home kind of day. Me and the girls finished up our sun catcher mobile and hung it in the kitchen window. I so forgot all the time it takes to put all those melty beads in these things. It was worth it, because it looks amazing hanging there.

I also got to make something to hold my earrings. Maybe now we can avoid all the tangles in the jewelry box.

And I caught this happening!

WHAT???

Who knew I had a kid who willingly reads? This was most definitely a super proud momma moment!

And my weekend could not be complete without getting several pictures of this girl! She is absolutely beautiful and doing extremely well. Notice there is no more oxygen. That’s right, this girl is breathing on her own. I am currently taking donations for a plane ticket to Montana! Haha

So once again it was a completely busy weekend, full of lots of new memories and adventures and loads of fun! These truly are the weekends I live for!!

Welcome to the World Little Miss Stella!!

So this week has been incredibly insane!

As you all know, after several miscarriages over the last couple of years, my sister finally was pregnant and in her third trimester. We have all waited for this for too long!

Monday night the text came, she was headed to the hospital, pretty sure she was in labor.

WHAT???

NO!! It is not time! You have 10 weeks left and I can’t get there! Maybe it’s a false alarm.

Nope, sure enough labor. At this point I am in total and complete freak out mode!

My thoughts…You need me! You can’t do this without me! I CAN’T get there!!

You should probably know that Sam and I have a very special love/hate sister relationship. She has, is, and always will be one of my absolute favorite people EVER! We always fight! But she always has my back!

So here she was over a thousand miles away, in labor, without me!

Of course they tried to stop the contractions with no luck. She was not going home til she was born.

The past two days have been a lot of sitting, waiting, and have you heard anything new text messages.

I was given the job of informer to all, so that did help with the freak out mode. And I knew all the info first.

And after almost two days of labor, with no pain meds, (she is a trooper) it happened.

At 4:49 p.m. on August 26, 2015, I became an Aunt again, to this absolutely, completely perfect little girl! Weighing in at 3 pounds 6 ounces, 16.14 inches long.

She has a long NICU road ahead of her but, she so has this! She is already so sassy it is not even funny.

Welcome to the world Little Miss Stella! Aunt Stephers can NOT wait to get you in my arms! I am totally in LOVE with this little girl and just can’t stop looking at her pic.

A huge THANKS goes out to every single person who said a prayer, thought about, called, and messaged. You guys are AWESOME and have no clue how much it means!

I am a total blogging slacker!!

So I just realized that it has been like two weeks since I last blogged.

Gwah! I am a total blogging slacker!

It has been a crazy two weeks though, getting ready to start back with a new homeschooling year, we took an unplanned beach day, which was wonderful! I completely rearranged the living room and playroom, again. Everything is finally organized!

This weekend was a very relaxing one. Friday night, I finally got another date night with the mechanic. These are very, very rare! I tried very hard to enforce a weekly date night without much luck. The 4-year-old is absolutely against momma going anywhere without her, so it takes a lot of convincing.

Yes, when you are a parent of littles, they kind of control you!

It is ok though, they don’t want you around very long.

We were actually invited by one of the mechanic’s mechanics to go listen to his father in law play at a little bar. If you are a stay at home momma who hardly ever adults, you know how exciting this was for me.

Other adults? Yes, PLEASE!

I do love my babies more than anything and do not want to spend my days doing anything else, but sometimes adulting is a good thing.

You can tell I don’t get out much, I was totally in love with the fact that this little bar had chickens. Yes, this is stuff you can’t make up. I loved meeting new people and eating pancakes at midnight. Call me crazy but chickens and pancakes just make me happy.

We got home way later than we had planned. It was so much fun!

And since the mechanic is so awesome, he entertained the kids Saturday morning so I could sleep in.

I woke up after noon!

This is what I found.

It did not matter to me one bit that this was my clean playroom on Friday night.

Since I slept most of the day, we just chilled out at home.

The baby played pick up sticks with the straws. Shhhh….don’t tell the other kids, I totally put them back in the straw holder.

The 4-year-old helped with giving the baby a bath. This is so her thing to do these days. She does a great job!

Sunday was an adventure. There was a peddler/craft expo we wanted to go to. Funny how our GPS has no clue where we are going half the time, we never actually found the expo. We did find a mall we had never been to. Cookies and a new shirt made me happy!

Two different Wal-Marts and all the kids were happy too!

I should mention, we found that expo on the way home after it was over.

Sunday normally means a big dinner.

The mechanic makes the best meatloaf!

We were totally carbed up this weekend. The next two weeks I am going to have to be so mean to myself to get back on track with the low carbs.

I would have to say though, that this weekend has been one of the best we have had this summer.

And I am going to definitely have to stop being a total blogging slacker!

Rearranging, laundry, and Big Hero 6

When I woke up this morning and decided to pull everything out of my bedroom and rearrange/organize it, I really wish someone would have smacked me and told me NO!

I am a total packrat!

My bedroom is the one place where everything that does not have a home goes to stay. I mean, we have lived in this house for almost two years and I still have unpacked boxes. I know, it is all stuff I can probably live without.

We had a somewhat quick Social Studies lesson about maps and directions. North, south, east, and west, very important things to know. We always do Social Studies together.

Then the older two did some individual Math and Language Arts, while the 9-year-old played kitchen with the baby. As soon as I got the older two started for the day, I got started on the bedroom.

Now let me tell you, this was a big job moving all the furniture (three dressers, my work table, the baby’s bed, a sewing table, two chairs, and a treadmill, that I don’t use nearly as much as I should). I had to move my work table twice to make room for the treadmill that I insist on keeping, because I will start using it again one day soon. I don’t think there is one piece of furniture that ended up where I had originally planned for it to be.

I did get everything moved around a little after lunchtime, all the boxes can wait until tomorrow to start being gone through. This was great for me because then I got to spend most of the afternoon with the 4-year-old and the baby.

We had a giant peeking in the windows of the Barbie house. She has just started to really be confident with the whole walking thing. It is incredibly funny to see those chubby little legs move.

Since Momma and Daddy’s room is somewhat organized, it makes for great fun to be an explorer. All that laundry I just folded and put away, she found it.

The clothes in the top drawers were not safe either. It took her forever to get it, I honestly was starting to get worried she was just never going to walk, now she just won’t stop!

This is such a fun age! Seeing their eyes light up over the simplest things, watching them explore and discover.

We finally got to watch Big Hero 6. This made the 4-year-old extremely happy. She loves that the green chair was moved to the bedroom.

We finished up just in time to go watch for Daddy by the front door. One of her all time favorite things to do.

Big props to Momma today, the baby is kind of dressed.

Tomorrow brings lots of boxes to go through but today, today was kind of wonderful!

Crazy day friday

Today has been a little insane for me! One of the longest days EVER!!

What I really wanted to do this morning, was go back to bed. However, this was not an option today.

It was an early morning of trying to finish up the last bit of schoolwork for the past year. Yes, we sometimes are slackers! That is why we home school all year round. We still have two weeks before I have the next school year scheduled to start, but I really thought a month off would be nice. Oh well, a week is good too!

Most of the morning was Math and Language Arts mixed with a couple of get up and move breaks. Nothing really exciting, the metric system and how to give an oral presentation for one kid. Reading comprehension for another. Multiplication for another. We are all over the place these days.

All the excitement can after lunch, which was earlier than normal.

I finally caught the baby walking. She always seems to stop when she sees me with the camera, kinda looks at me, smiles, and giggles, like haha…this is not happening.

I really wish I could figure out how to load the video here. Seems I could be a slight bit technically challenged.

We started a 1000 piece puzzle and watched two episodes of Bill Nye, the Science Guy on Netflix.

I really do love all the documentaries and educational shows they have added.

And a mom life lesson, one I should be fully aware of, a quiet baby is not a good thing.

What two jars of sprinkles? Sprinkles? I don’t know what you are talking about!

That face though, pretty sure Momma’s cake supplies are no longer safe!

We have started having family reading time together. The perfect book for this bunch right now. I really enjoy being able to share books with the kids that I read when I was younger.

And the 4-year-old found her rock collection. These things have been put up for over a year and a half, how she remembered where they were I have no idea. She does love her rocks!

And we are ending the day with crazy hair and a dinosaur invasion in the living room.

It has been an incredibly busy day. I feel a great need for a long nap and am so glad it is Friday.

Here’s to hoping for a relaxing weekend on the couch with the tv, kids, and the mechanic!

Erasing away the monster

One thing I just love about being a momma, is being able to be old but still live in a fantasyland full of monsters, witches, dragons, fairies, kings, queens, princes, and princesses.

My kids have great imaginations! This is something I really love and enjoy. They grow up way too fast.

And this 4-year-old has the biggest imagination of them all.

Painting the pantry door with chalkboard paint was one of the best ideas we ever had. There has been alot of funny pictures drawn here. Today, she is drawing monsters before dinner.

Monsters are hardly ever scary in this house. We like the cute silly ones the best.

So, I was very surprised when she looked at me with those big brown eyes and said “You know I saved your life with this eraser? I wiped that monster right off the door! You’re welcome!”

Yes, these are absolutely the moments when I know without a doubt…I love being a momma!

Growing up, new basil, and biscuits

This weekend was incredibly relaxing! And believe me, after last week, we needed it.

It did start with a sad mommy moment, Friday afternoon when the 4 year-old said “Momma, I want bangs!”

“WHAT???”

“Well I think they will be so cute!”

All the thoughts and feelings going through my head…why? You are a baby! You don’t want to cut your hair! Your curls, we can’t cut your curls! Haircuts mean growing up! NO! You can’t! You just can’t! Momma is not ready!

“You will have to talk to Daddy about that!”

Yes, that’s it, ask Daddy! Daddy will say ‘NO!’

Well, I was wrong, Daddy said ‘YES!’

She was absolutely right! They are totally adorable!

Friday also brought our weekly grocery trip. That is really supposed to be every other week but with 6 kids, every week is almost a must. We also ALWAYS go over budget, which results in a small, we like to call it ‘I don’t know how we went over budget again?’ mental breakdown from the mechanic.

These two…they LOVE the grocery adventures!

And since our basil died while we were away last week, we decided to pick up another plant.

Saturday morning came with big flea market plans, until the 4-year-old came in the bedroom wanting biscuits.

With her sweet little face “Daddy, I want biscuits.”

The mechanic “We have a can in the fridge.”

“Uh…but I need to roll them in the flour!”

You have to know, that until recently, the 11-year-old had no clue you could even buy biscuits in a can.

So, of course, we made biscuits!

A future baker? Could be!

That face though, makes getting to the flea market after most people had packed up for the day, completely worth it.

The rest of the weekend, was pretty much spent on the couch watching movies together.

Home, such a cute little alien movie!

Disney’s The Descendants, I just love that the villains have kids! I did wonder why they chose Jafar and Cruella De Vil, then I started thinking about Disney villains, most of them are animals. I will add that this movie has been played at least 5 more times since Saturday night.

That’s ok though, because I think these are the moments that make being a parent, amazing!

The most BEAUTIFUL bride EVER!

It has been a crazy, busy couple of weeks. The day finally came, this past weekend, my baby sister said ‘I do!’

For those of you who truly know me, you know I am completely in love with my sisters. This trip with them had its ups and its down, that’s for sure. From the two day wedding cake adventure, beads falling off a dress, lost necklaces, me bringing the bride the wrong earrings, the bride and groom still getting ready 15 minutes after starting time, a flower girl who wouldn’t flower, a ring bearer who disappeared for a minute during the ceremony, arguments, lots of agruments…hey, we are human, not perfect and I never said we always get along.

I knew there would be issues. No wedding goes absolutely according to plan. All of these things, I was prepared for. What I wasn’t prepared for however, was how absolutely beautiful she would be! Don’t get me wrong, I knew she would be beautiful. I was just not prepared for it.

I wasn’t prepared for how proud I would be watching my son walk her down the aisle because only he could give her away. He is her first true love after all.

I wasn’t prepared for her gorgeous smile and all the thoughts I had about everything I wanted to say to her about life. Most of which I’m sure she already knows.

And I wasn’t prepared for what should have been her Father/Daughter dance but instead was her Nephew/Aunt dance. I can’t imagine a more perfect moment then this one. And how Daddy must have been looking down, thinking how perfectly amazing this moment was.

The day was full of great memories. Every single person who had a part in making it happen, did an amazing job. A beautiful outdoor wedding in the middle of July in Missouri, is a hard thing to pull off. But, through all the issues that popped up and went wrong, there couldn’t have been a more beautiful bride EVER!

Sleeping in and flowerbeds

I have found myself sleeping in quite a bit lately. For most this would be a great thing and yes, I enjoy it on occasion. But honestly, sleeping til 9 ruins my whole day. I always feel so rushed and like I am just not on schedule. That’s a crazy thought, me being a schedule kinda girl!

So, this week I have made myself stay up once the mechanic leaves for work. Let me tell you, it has been hard! I just want to lay back down and cuddle up under the covers.

One thing I do enjoy is the quietness the house has first thing in the mornings, when all the kids are still asleep. I sit in the kitchen, at the table with my laptop and all I hear is the very low humming of the fridge and the birds out the window. I should really put a feeder by it or something.

And the flowerbeds in the morning are awesome! Everything is all perked up and awake. This morning while I was watering the front beds, I was so glad to see that just about everything was in bloom. I did not let all of the plants we planted this year die.

These are actually in the backyard! They are so pretty though, I had to share.

Even though I don’t want to admit it, I am in LOVE with early mornings!

Doctor in the house

A big part of our day is just playing. And it happens all over the house.

Apparently our house doctor makes bathroom calls! Or does all her checkups there, I haven’t decided yet!

What can I say, you should be healthy everywhere!

If you’re a mom, you know the bathroom is the one place you are never alone!