New School Year's Eve

Here we are.  The last day before school.  I could both cry and jump for joy at the same time.

I will miss my big kids terribly.  Laney and I got to spend a lot of time together this summer.   And even though she and Christian still live at home they won't BE at home once school starts.  And even when they are they won't be so present.  So yeah, I'll miss them.

BlueEyes will start preschool on Tuesday.  We did a trial run Friday and his teacher said he did pretty well.  I'm not going to tell her he got kicked out Sunday School today.


The rest of us will jump right in where we left off and add just a couple of new things.  They kept up pretty well all summer but with a much lighter and more flexible schedule.  Now it's time to tighten up the schedule and hit it hard.

Some things....
Joshua will continue football as well as work his dream job.
Jesse is on the golf team as well as band.  This means we will be in the stands all football season cheering on our Tigers!
Joshua and Jess will have a private teacher for history and writing.
Jess will continue piano lessons and also give piano lessons to his siblings (and me).
Nathan, Mallory, and Zeke will start back up with archery.
Soccer will be starting in a couple weeks.
The babies will have several therapies a week.

It'll be a busy and good school year!

It's Almost Over

15 days.

Only 15 days until school starts around here.  How did this happen??   And can't we just go to Destin one more time before the summer is over?

BlueEyes starts real preschool in 15 days.  Is he ready?  Will he freak out?  Will they threaten to expel him like last time?

Y'all.  I don't even know where to park.  Where to drop off.  What time it starts.  I haven't shopped for school supplies and I don't even know where to find the list.  So you could basically say I'm living in real life that bad dream of going to school unprepared.

There may be a little bit of denial going on here.

Girls trip

My girls and I went to Texas to visit my family.  My aunt and cousin were in from CA and I hardly ever get to see them so it was awesome! 

My grandmother is GORGEOUS!!

This was as fun as it looks. 

5 Generations! 

Just us girls! 

Me and  my cousin Carri.  I love her!  I wish we lived closer.  

It was a great time with my family! 

My Sunday Schedule

I LOVE Sundays.

There's that little bit of extra time in the morning...not like Saturday, but not like Monday either.  We usually have cereal for breakfast.  This morning we also had orange juice.

I don't set out clothes the night before.  But because we usually stay on top of the laundry, most everything is clean and ready.  All but 3 of my kids can dress themselves.

This morning we had a huge HUGE poopy diaper that required a special shower and clean bedding.  My daughter and I usually tag team getting the little 3 dressed.  All the way to the shoes and diaper bag packed.  Then they play in their room (the holding tank) until it's time to go.

My whole family leaves before I do.  Some of them are on the worship team or serving in some aspect and need to be early.  Others go to Sunday School.  I stay home and get dressed ALL BY MYSELF.  All by myself ya'll.

I either put on praise music or a YouTube video while I get dressed.  I also put the finishing touches on lunch (always tacos) or clean up the kitchen a little.

After church and lunch the littles go down for naps and there's usually a soccer game on TV.  Everyone is quietly happy doing their own thing.  Today a couple of kiddo friends are over and there are extra voices outside.   My man is busy hanging various things in the girls' new room and Joshua is off shooting a new video.

Here's my favorite part.  I'm in my room with the door closed and nobody knocks on it.  Nobody knocks on it!!  I don't even know why.   But I usually have Sunday afternoon in quiet.  Sometimes I nap.  Sometimes I read, plan, blog, or clean my room.  It's absolutely awesome and I feel like I'm observing the Sabbath in a modified way that a mom of 12 can do.

Somewhere around 3:30 the littles start to stir and the rest of the house starts coming together.  Snack time for babies and getting them ready for evening church.  Laney and I are usually the only ones that go but we take the littles and that gives the others a tiny break.

Dinner for the kids is simple.  They will either clean out the fridge of the leftovers, make sandwiches, or something simple like mac&cheese.  Honey and I have DATE NIGHT!

When my parents are gone, we have dinner at their house because it's so nice a quiet.  Plus they have Dish and we don't.  So we can watch a movie ....or Family Feud or My 600 Pound Life or something else ridiculous that we can make fun of.  Sometimes we actually go out on a real date to real place.  But not usually.

By the time we come home, the babies are in bed (thank you Lord!!), the house is picked up (by the kids), and people are moving towards bed.

It's an awesome day.

Happy July!!

Is it heating up where you are?  The weather is not still not too terribly hot here but I know it's coming!  Everyday is full of outside time in the baby pool, popsicles, and multiple baths.  I've also instituted my weekly BLT night.  You can never have too many BLT nights and fresh tomatoes are THE BEST!  I'm blessed to have sweet friends that share their garden goodness with me.

I'm setting myself some summer goals.  June was full of wedding overwhelm but now that's over and I'm ready to tackle some summery things.  First off.... blog at least 2x week.  Last month I blogged twice.  All month=twice.  But there was a wedding involved and that's my excuse for everything right now.  So here I am blogging already and it's only the 2nd and I'm feeling pretty happy about it.

We have some celebrations this month.  Tues is the 4th and my whole family is off work until Wednesday!!  We are cooking out and having the family over.
We also have 4 July birthdays and this month will be our first ever MONTHLY celebration instead of every single one done individually. I think it'll work out great.  That's my 2nd goal - 5 celebrations

There's actually another celebration I'm super excited about.  My 29th wedding anniversary is the 22nd.  Last year was our first time to take a weekend trip.  It was so fun that we want to do it again.  I don't know where yet but we are talking about it and trying to figure out the logistics of babysitting, and budgets.  That is goal #6



Goal #7 is not as much fun.  This has been an expensive summer in terms of unplanned expenses.
2 weeks ago we spend $1300 on vet bills and car repairs.  Last week our TV went out because as luck would have it, TVs do not like to play frisbee.  Yesterday it was the air conditioner on the rent house.  Now my dishwasher is broken.  OH. MY. WORD.
So goal #7 is all about saving some money.  As I type, my men are watching YouTube videos on dishwasher repair.  That's a good start.



Goal #8 is school.  We are still schooling with a lighter schedule this summer.  I won't be adding a lot of new things for the new school year but I do need to nail down what we'll be doing.  I'll have at least one toddler home all day, possibly more, so a good schedule is a must.
(Aren't they adorable?  And similar?)



Goal #9 ~ lose 10 pounds.  And when I do I'm buying new tennis shoes.

After Laura's wedding, we moved all the kids' bedrooms around.  Everyone is loving their new space.  But with different kids in different rooms, some things need to be changed/fixed/updated.  And there's a list.  So goal #10 includes plugging away at that (and also a 31 day decluttering challenge).

I'm afraid goals #9 & 10 might not line up with goal #7!

Some Of My Bullet Journal

After wanting something cuter than my old faithful spiral notebook, I tried the Happy Planner.  And while it sure does look happy and bright, it just wasn't a good fit.  Then I stumbled across the Bullet Journal system on YouTube and I KNEW IT!!  

It's perfect for me.  So much freedom.  

I splurged and bought the Leuchtturm 1917.  I don't even pretend to know how to pronounce that.  But it lies flat and has dotted pages.  I love the dotted pages.  It also has 2 ribbon markers but both of those are usually just in my way.  

This weekend I added the monogram.  And my baby added the scribbles.  sigh....

Here's a couple of my favorite trackers...

My kid's color chart for behavior.  They keep careful track of this one!  

My books for my reading challenge.  Still plugging along on that one but kinda slow right now.  Have I mentioned we just had a wedding?  No?  It's coming soon.  Still cleaning up and re-grouping...

This is my absolute favorite because vacation was just about my most absolute favorite thing of all time ever.  I have 3 more pages of it I'm working on.  

And here's my latest spread to organize my Flylady cleaning schedule that I'm not at all keeping up with right now.  But I'm trying and this week I'm working in the bathrooms.  The boys and girls are switching bathrooms so they are both getting complete overhauls.



And lest you think I put that much work into just my daily to-do lists, I'll show you what most of the pages look like.  Super simple.  But still so much freedom to be fancy or not.  No pre-designed squares to fit my life into.  Just blank pages to brainstorm, list, and record.  I'm loving it! 

#taggtrip2017

#taggtrip2017 was a BLAST!!

We've been saving money all year for this big trip and all the kids asked for vacation money for Christmas.  We planned and prepped and got respite care for the older foster kiddos.  This was our first big family vacation and everyone was super excited. 

We hit the road for Destin early Saturday morning and drove straight through.  We found our condos and settled in and unpacked and re-united with Daddy since he'd been gone on business for a week and met us there.  

Next morning we hit the beach!!  It was just across the street and easy to go back and forth.  Look how pretty the sand is. 

Sand castle building is kinda hard. 

The waves were crazy the whole time.  But my kids thought it made it more fun. 

It was a week of shell hunting, ocean play, sand building, swimming, shopping, relaxing, and sleeping in.  Our condo had a pool and most of the time we went back and forth between the pool and the ocean. 

As an early anniversary present our kids bought us a deep sea fishing trip.  SOOO FUN!!  I baited my own hook and caught 2 fish at the same time TWICE!  We caught a lot of fish that day and G'ma has them ready to cook up for us soon.  

We had 2 condos that were absolutely perfect.  Clean and spacious with everything we needed. 

We definitely want to go back there next year. 

I can't wait!

Cleaning Up

I'm back!

I've missed you Blog!  I'm happy to dust off the keyboard and record life again.  

Tonight was our ladies' night a church.  I look forward to these so much!  The theme was spring cleaning and we had an awesome devo about cleaning up our hearts.  Afterward we tried our hand at homemade cleaners which is right up my alley.

Here's a small sample of the fun...

Shower cleaner -

Equal parts blue dawn and vinegar

Y'all.  I can't even tell you how much I love this combo.  I've been using this for a couple of years and it is the BEST.  It gets all the grime and scum and crud off the tub and shower.  And it also works wonders on a greasy stove top. 

Disinfectant - 

Equal parts alcohol and water 

This is new for me.  I don't know why I've never used alcohol for cleaning before. 

Glass cleaner - 

Equal parts vinegar and water 

This is also good for kitchen counters.  And I love the smell of vinegar. 

Scouring Powder- 

1 C baking soda, 1/2 C salt, 1/2 C Borax

This is new for me too and I can't wait to try it. 

Tomorrow is cleaning day so this is just in time! 

All The New Books

My library is doing the funnest thing.   There was a whole display set up with a 2017 reading challenge and several books that would fall into the various categories.  

When I first saw the long list I was like AS IF.  Because who has that much reading time??  (I want to be them.)  But then I decided that each book I read might fall into multiple categories and that would make it doable.  So a grabbed a few copies and started planning......

Here's what I've done so far: 

A Series Of Unfortunate Events #1 

Categories:  A Book Recommended By A Librarian and The First Book In a Series You Haven't Read Before 

Our librarian recommended this when I was looking for a new read aloud.  The kids loved this book way more than I did.  It was ok.   Just not something I fell in love with.  

They liked it so much, I read the 2nd one as well. It fit A Book With An Eccentric Character.  Now the kids are reading them again and watching the Netflix episodes.  

Don't judge.  

This fit several categories and my babies loved it.  That means it counts!!  

A Book With A Cat On The Cover, A Book Involving A Mythical Creature, and A Book With Pictures

Cha-Ching!!  

Best book of the year so far!  Totally a freebie since it didn't fit any category and OH so good.  I put this one off because I thought it was mostly about making good decisions.  And not that I couldn't use help in that department but still something I might typically let sit.  Well well.  It's less about making good decisions and more about living your best life now.  I highlighted the whole thing.  

Christian came into my room and looked over my list.  We were discussing the categories that would be more challenging like : A Steampunk Novel (what even?) and An Espionage Thriller 

He promised he had just the book that would fit An Espionage Thriller, A Novel Set During Wartime, and A Book About A Difficult Topic.   The Auschwitz Escape was fantastic!  I finished it in 4 days. 

My baby is almost 10.  I've read this series aloud multiple times in his 10 years but I wanted to do it at least once more before he outgrows it.  It fits A Book You Loved As A Child (so maybe he won't out grow it after all) and A Book Set In The Wilderness 

Every time I read it I learn something new.  I'm pretty sure I was born about 100 years too late.  I would've been a good Ma Ingalls.  

This is my current book written by my great friend, Shannon.  I'm only on chapter 3 but loving every word.  I love reading her stories and getting to know her a little better on each page.  It fits A Book Written By Someone You Admire and how I do admire her! She's one of my favorite people in the world.  

And just look at this awesome bookmark Nathan made for me.  

The back is my favorite! 

The Blessing House

For a long time now we've been discussing different ideas for another stream of income.  

I've been kind of interested in rental houses but never actually looked into it.  UNTIL NOW!!  

This foreclosure became available in my neighborhood and I jumped on it.  I couldn't believe the price.  And when I walked through it, I was in love.  It's in great shape, in a fantastic location, and an incredible price.  It's the perfect first rental.  

We closed last Friday! 

It has 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, a covered carport with storage, a floored attic, and a storage shed. 

And this very fancy toilet with the flusher on the top.  I mean! 

We do have some work to do before it's ready to rent but it's not too much.  Besides I have very awesome crew that works for food. 

First thing was to scrape the damaged popcorn ceiling in the kitchen.   Let me just say this is NOT as easy as YouTube makes it look.  Especially if it's been painted.  And it's old.  We toyed with scraping the whole house.  But no.  

We also have some painting.  And let me just stop here to say that with divorce on the rise, you should be married at least 20 years before attempting a project like this together.  

Just sayin.    

So it's been a few days of scraping, painting, cleaning, and fixing.  We aren't done but getting closer.  And the best news is that I already have a potential tenant! 

I'm calling this our blessing house because my prayer is that it will be a blessing to us and to everyone who lives here.  

Old And New Sports Fun

I have watched countless numbers of Christian's soccer games.  He started playing at four and then traveled competitively at seven.  He retired after moving back from Colorado sometime in his teen years.  And I loved every single game of it!!  

Then he started refereeing games.  And that was fun too.  A different way to use his skills and knowledge.  Now he owns his own soccer league that he runs twice a year and faithfully follows his Colorado Rapids.  

Recently he joined a men's soccer league in town.  It's men of all ages and backgrounds and abilities. I've been skipping my regularly scheduled Sunday afternoon nap to cheer him on.   

Excuse the iPhone pics.

It's still just as much fun to watch him.  

And sometimes he even gets to play with his old childhood team mates.  I love seeing how these boys have grown and changed! 

And because nobody wants to play keeper, he brings his little brother along and I get to watch two sons on the same field.  

He does a pretty good job playing up on a men's league.  

In other sports related news, Nathan made the school archery team!



He got a new bow for Christmas and loves it.



He had his first tournament last weekend.  He was so nervous and excited.  I was too.  It was super fun to watch.



This weekend he has another one.  The last one of the season.  I'm so looking forward to it!! 

What's Up With The Babies?

Tonight I was home alone with 3 toddlers.  It reminded me of my early mommy days, though my bios were not that close in age.  Still.  You basically just read and play and sing until bedtime.  Then you do the dishes.  Back in the day the dishes situation wasn't the deal it is today.

UPS came today and delivered a box that had those air filled plastic pockets that is different from tiny bubble wrap....you know what I'm talking about?  Well that kept Blue Eyes busy in the hallway for a full 20 minutes stomping on it and laughing at the top of his lungs.  He didn't care that his siblings were eating or that there cookies involved because stomping and destroying something will win every time.

Meanwhile, the other two were happy eating the dinner that flopped.  Which is one of the greatest things about babies.  They don't know the difference.  And the rest of the family will be tickled that they won't have so many leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Blue Eyes has finally decided that using the potty is something he can do.  At least during the day and at home.  Nighttime is another issue.  But it seems to be my issue because he couldn't care less.  And school is hit and miss.  Sometimes he comes home in the same clothes.  Sometimes he comes home in the extra clothes from his back pack with a black plastic baggie tied to the handle.  And now and then...well he comes home in somebody else's clothes.  I haven't pushed it much because frankly we fight over just about everything and I'm trying to pick my battles.

This morning's fight was brushing his teeth.  He pursed his lips as tight as he could and shook his head no.  But he forgot that he had new toothpaste until his little siblings all "got" to brush their teeth.  He changed his mind...but it was too late.  Tonight he brushed his teeth happily.

My husband and I were discussing dreams this week.  Two years ago I was counting down the days until our home could be opened for foster care.  Blue Eyes is my dream come true.  He is also one of my greatest challenges.

His case is dragging on forever.  March is the next court hearing.  Anything could happen.  Or not.

Little Pumba turned two right before Christmas.  He is just a big hunk of love.  He is sweet and cuddly and so very mild mannered.  As an only baby, he'd be a dream child.  He rarely ever throws a fit and when he does it is pouting and whining.  No tantrums from him.  He is the king of unnecessary noise and knows every animal sound plus all the ones he's made up.  Unlike the other two, he has a lot of family that loves him.  But, and this is a big but...they won't do what is necessary to get him home.  So he has visits every week.  He has to get into a car with a different DHS transporter every time and drive an hour to visit different family members.  He always wakes up crying in the night after a visit.  He is certainly a resilient little boy,

Babyest had the big court hearing this week.  His mom didn't come and there was no defense.  It was over quickly and as of now he is not legally related to anybody.  Today I got a call that we have been assigned an adoption specialist.  I had no idea it would happen so soon....so HAPPY DAY for us.  We've been discussing new names for him.  We want to honor his first family by including some of his original name in his new name.

This guy is such a rascal.  He's playful and an adorable trouble maker.  I never thought I'd be starting over as someone's mommy at the same time I have a grand baby.  But I also can't imagine living the rest of our lives without him.   His pictures are coming up all over my Time Hop from last year when he was visiting.  That was such an uncertain time and we were so happy for any time we could spend with him.  I'm thankful that's over and I'll be even more thankful when he finally shares our last name.

I wish I could post pictures.  They are all beautiful.  They are all so loved.  And tonight I'm glad they are all in bed!

My Happy Planner

Did y'all make grand organizational plans for 2017?

I didn't.  But I love all the calendars and markers and fancy charts and lovelies all over the store.  And the containers!!  Be still my heart.  All the storage containers to contain all the stuff?  Yes please.

A few months into the fall I started getting bored with my spiral notebook and starting looking into what all the planner hype was about.  There are so many!  And they can be pretty pricey.  So my spiral started looking a little cuter that day.

But then Meg started talking about it too and my librarian.  And OH THE PEER PRESSURE ALREADY.

So I looked again.
And found a coupon.

I must say I heart my Happy Planner.

I love the bright colors.  It pairs so nicely with all pens and markers. 

These divider pages are adorable.  So artsy. 

Here's a peek.  The monthly spread is my favorite feature (which comes with pretty much every planner in the store).  It keeps me from having to check the kitchen calendar for everything.  And it's something that my spiral doesn't have.  

The tabbed pages are nice and thick.   I used one of the older month's tabs to make a new one for charts.  Now my kids can quickly check what chores they have this week, what color they are on, and what school is next.  This is also something that works better here than in my spiral.  

I

And here's the part I wasn't sure about.  The daily pages.  I need a whole sheet for everything daily.  Not just a morning/afternoon/evening square.  So a lot of those pages are pretty much useless to me.  But I figured out a way to use some of them by penciling in a grid and using it to keep track of my kids colors (behavior system), school, and chores.



Still trying to figure it out and decide what is worth the trouble or not.  Maybe there's another way to use the daily pages that'll work better.  Or maybe I should just toss them?  In any case, they don't work well as real daily pages for me because I like the freedom of a whole page of lined nothingness for that business.

These Currently pages are so much fun! 

It's one of my favorite features and the only thing I save from month to month.  

I also love how sturdy this planner is with the heavier weight paper.  And everything in it is interchangeable.  You can buy refill pages on Amazon or in the craft stores as well as other custom kits like cleaning/menuing/school pages.  

I still use my spiral for my daily planning/menuing/sermon notes/phone numbers...anything everyday.  But my Happy Planner is just so Happy!