Redneck Woman

Written 5/12/08

I’m back from my much needed break with my girl Kelly. I will share the highlight of my trip:

We were staying in this little town called Cayce SC, outside of Columbia. We ended up at this country nightclub in a BARN. They had a live band, and line-danced to every song. I was having a great time with the girls, talking and laughing at everybody else, when I looked at the dance floor and saw a girl in a full-length satin pink dress. I immediately turned to the girl next to me and said that she must think that she is at a hillbilly prom. We had a nice little chuckle, and when I turned my head back to the dance floor, there were 4 or 5 girls in the same pink prom dress. I was confused, because everyone knows that you don’t wear the same dress as someone else to your hillbilly prom. When I looked again, there she was. The Bride. She was in her beautiful white dress, her hair in a lovely updo with cascading curls. She was line-dancing with the well-dressed groom. Oh my Gosh! They actually had their reception in this public Barn dance hall! Is this shocking me because I am thinking about my own wedding? Am I just incredibly narrow-minded? Am I a yankee snob? I am suddenly feeling SO much better about the red-neck town that I live in, because I have never seen a wedding reception at our hillbilly dance club.

When I got home, my wonderful kids had decorated the house with lovely mother’s day streamers and hand-made cards. There was some kind of strange song playing from the computer about making them eat their veggies, and I was greeted with enough hugs and kisses to remind me why I love having such a big family. I was presented with a beautiful watch, which I desperately needed to remind me when to do the laundry. Rick made a lovely meal of frozen TV dinners, so that I didn’t have to cook. I spent some time with my own wonderful mother, and went to bed early. All in All, a very special mother’s day weekend.

Mother's Day!!!

Written 5/8/08

I am taking a little break this weekend. Rick has graciously offered to watch the kidlets, and I will be going to see my best friend. She lives in Kentucky, but will be in SC this weekend, so I will be meeting her there.

Talk to you when I get home,
Heidi

Shorty got Low

Written 5/5/08

Well, it turns out that Rainia does have to have the adnoids removed. So it will be a little bit more complicated than the tubes in the ears, but they will do both in the same surgery, and it shouldn’t be too bad. Maybe a sore throat for a couple of days.

My job will be letting out for the summer on June 6th. I am very excited because I desperately need a couple of minutes to breath. I am hoping to get everything organized at the shop, get my house clean, and get caught up with laundry all in the first couple of weeks and then relax. Usually the summers get to be pretty hectic with having the kids all home and trying to take at least one good two-week vacation, but I cannot wait!

You are not going to believe this, but I have lost a bin of summer clothes. Well, those who know me can believe it.

I have a Jakeism, but you are going to question my parenting skills after this one. Honestly people, I am doing the best I can. For a very, very, very long time, we didn’t allow the kids to listen to the popular radio stations because of the lyrics involved in all of today’s top 40 songs. We did very well with this, getting our kids to enjoy country, Christian, jazz, classic rock, and even classical. Somehow though, pop culture has invaded our home. The kids listen to the radio stations, and yes, I do too. So this explanation has all led up to today’s Jakeism. Should I write this? Too late now.

Jake: “Mommy, can I give that big booty a slap?”

I am so sorry people. I have long been an advocate for a required parenting class for every birthday that your child has. Obviously, I would fail that class. Miserably. With a big fat F.

Also, his glue spot:

Teach Them 2 B Themselves

Written 5/2/08

Kyley received a lovely digital camera from e-bay for her award for winning battle of the books. The camera also has video capability. Note: the following video may scare young children and small animals.

PARENTING 101 Lesson 1: Teach Them To Be Themselves

Quality Time

Written 5/2/08

I have not updated in quite some time, but that is because of all the insanity raising 7 kids requires. I was about to say that nothing too interesting has happened around here but then I remembered that our lives are interesting simply because there are SO MANY of us.

Andrew went back up to Duke for a vision exam. They had told us in Charlotte that there was nothing that they could do about his vision, but after finding so many differences between Duke and Charlotte we decided to get a second opinion on that. Unfortunately they said the exact same thing. There is nothing that they can do about the vision issues. His eye has nerve damage, and the nerve is actually a different color in his “bad” eye. So no vision out of that one. His “good” eye is still not going to be affected by using glasses, they said that his is not a near or far sighted problem, but a focus issue.

I kept the boys home from daycare last Fri. because I didn’t have to work, and wanted to spend some quality time with them. During our quality time, I was in my bedroom watching Dr. Phil and they were in the living room watching Dora. Joshua threw a toy at Jacob, hitting him square in the middle of the eyebrows causing an intense amount of blood, tears, and guilt. I found Josh hiding under Brooke’s bed, I wanted to hide under my own bed, and even Dr. Phil felt bad. I rushed him to the ER, where they glued his gaping hole into a tiny scratch.

Unfortunately, the other boys at daycare can’t seem to resist reaching out to touch the purple circle in the middle of his eyebrows, but it should fall off on its own in a couple of days.

Rainia does have to have the tubes put in her ears, and she was x-rayed today to see if she also needs to have her adnoids removed at the same time. She seems to be very excited at the prospect of having surgery, and I for one, can’t wait to be her caretaker during the recovery process, because I love how she needs me EVERY 2 SECONDS when she has a cold.

Selective Hearing

Written 4/21/08

Conversation with Brooke and her soccer coach today after the game:

Coach: "You have a natural kick, and a good dribble. But when you get in the game you act like you don't know what's going on. You act confused, like you don't know which way to go."

Coach walks away.

Brooke: "Did you hear that? He said I was good."

Me: "Uummmmm. Yeah."

There's no place like home

written 4/20/08

Kyley and Andrew arrived home safe and sound at 9:oo last night. Right on time. We spent the next couple of hours looking at their pictures and talking about their trip. We are all very glad to have them home all of the kids missed them very much.