Five Finger Discount

The other day Tait had an appointment across town where he gets dropped off and stays for a couple of hours. My choices are to sit in the lobby, sit in the car, or run errands. This particular day I chose to run errands even though this area is a bit shady! OK, OK, it's a lot shady. As a matter of fact when I said I was going to run errands Josh asked if I had brought my bullet proof vest. Anyway, I had to go grocery shopping like you wouldn't believe, and having empty cabinets in this household with these savages is much more risky than shopping in this shady area of town, trust me on that! I also just couldn't sit and stare at the walls knowing I had so much to get done and let's face it not having to lug around the car seat while grocery shopping was an added bonus. So, taking my life into my own hands I decide their is no other logical thing to do than to drop Tait off, hit the grocery store, grab Tait, head home and then put groceries away.



As Kayela and I pull up to the store it really does look pretty nice. It seems to have had a face lift in the past few months and looks just as nice as the store I go to on my side of town. I am on my phone with a friends so I have plenty of time to assess the people going into the store and unfortunately they had not had face lifts recently and they all seem to be a little more rugged than I am used to but I am confident they are all very nice people so it would be crazy for me not to shop here based on surface findings. I realize when I get off my phone that I didn't bring a purse just the diaper bag with my wallet in it. Although it may look a bit funny having a diaper bag and no baby I decide I really don't care and that I don't want my wallet just left out in the cart alone and so I proceed to grab the diaper bag and Kayela and head into the store.



While in the store I meander along at a snails pace because in the back of my head I am thinking that I have about two hours to kill so there is no need to rush. I take notice that shopping on a Monday morning their is really slim pickings or maybe it's just this location, I don't know. Then I notice that their is a benefit about shopping in this location because the prices are much cheaper! Kayela's a trooper and we spend every last second killing time in the store before I head up to the cash register. Once there, several people are ahead of us and I grab a magazine to read (Jon's side of the story of course) when I've skimmed the article and found out how I too can lose all my belly fat in 12 min. I start checking out the gum and candy. I throw 2/$1 candy bars in the cart, a reward for Kayela and I for killing time and saving money, and then it's finally our turn to check out. I walk around the counter with my big old diaper bag and no baby when my obnoxious 5 year old yells " I saw you steal that candy, mommy!" I'm thinking YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT! Now, here's the deal to anyone watching me take just about two hours to fill one cart of groceries and then to have a huge diaper bag and no baby and to top it off that I am in not the classiest of neighborhoods I probably looked like a person who may have a hidden agenda. I pull out my biggest mommy tactic and that is to yank the clarification out of the child so passerbyers don't misjudge me. So, I say to Kayela "I didn't steal the candy what do you mean?" Kayela says "I saw you!" I say "no, stealing is when you take something and you don't pay for it" she says "you did take it and you didn't pay for it" I realize now that the clerk is looking at me with condemning eyes and I have dug myself into a hole with my tactic. I finally jerk Kayela over to me by the arm (vulture death grip) and explain to her that if she opens her mouth before we get to the car again that she will definitely be regretting that decision. I proceed to show the clerk that my child meant she saw me sneak the candy not steal the candy and that I would never steal and how funny kids are that they get all mixed up and see the candy in the cart that's the candy she was talking about and on and on and on! Yes, I knew I looked shady! It was probably one of my more embarrassing moments as a mommy.

By the time we got to the car I was so fuming mad at Kayela! I told her that she should never be announcing things that she doesn't know about and that it could've been very bad had the store people thought I really stole. I told her that if it's IN the cart and I am in line to pay that I have not stolen a darn thing. I also told her that I had gotten a special candy for her and I to keep a secret since she was such a big helper to me. Yes, it was really embarrassing and then I recalled many embarrassing moments I have lived through and the amazing thing is that now, I can laugh at every one of them! (Even the time when Emma was about three and announced to the pastors wife that I wear little diapers because I still poop my pants.....luckily she knew exactly what Emma was talking about, but trust me it wasn't any less embarrassing)

"Toto, I don't think we're in Southlands anymore!"
Crazy, Crazy storm here on Sunday! Seriously, one minute we were gardening on a beautiful day and the next we were rushing to see what damage had been done to our office.

For about a year now we have had our office opened in Southlands. It's energetic and a quick commute for Josh each day. Sunday however, it was hit by a tornado and it was devastating to see how quickly the place was turned upside down. Because we are business owners we were allowed through the police lines to see what damage had been done, if any, to our office. They had cleared everyone out immediately following the tornado because many of the buildings had gas leaks and severe roof damage. It was a very serious process and it was crazy to see how many looky loo's were trying to get in just to see the place. Each entrance and exit was being guarded and while giving our I.D.'s to the stoic policeman he asked the loaded question of "Do you have any kids in the car?" where I replied "yes, sir, seven!" We made him smile and he said "well that's too many for me to write down so just be sure you stay together" He guided us to the "command station" and I felt like I was a secret agent! It was great! I was acting like Emma does when she goes into the office. She once told Josh and I that she feels like the presidents daughter because everyone gives our kids so much attention when they walk through the office doors. When we are hanging out as a family she loves it when the security guards talk to Josh and our family, she feels famous even if just for a moment at Southlands....ha! Little does she know that we are one up on her when she starts to hang out with friends, she will not get away with anything since everyone knows us down there, she will eventually HATE what she now cherishes so much! Anyway, we meet at the command station where we are told to go ahead and enter our building to assess damage done. As we head over it is literally like a Disney simulated back stage tour! It was crazy looking at cars on there sides, HVAC units laying on the street, statues and benches all thrown about like Lincoln logs! To say it was unbelievable is an understatement and I can't imagine seeing a tornado that hit a whole neighborhood. Our kids were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop! One whole store was cleared out, leaving it looking like a wand wash bay. (see below)

I didn't take many pictures just because we were all in shock at the things we were seeing. We stopped and talked to one of the previous owners of the mall who said the tornado had jumped from building to building, and that was very clear. It was mesmerizing to see how one building looked virtually untouched and the next had windows, signs, awnings and doors just gone! With the rain yesterday, it brought more damage to many people because of the extensive roof damage. We feel very lucky in that our personal office was only affected minorly in comparison to what others have experienced. We were allowed to occupy the building again just a few minutes ago, so back to business as usual for us. Thank you to all who have shared their concern for us in the last couple of days, we appreciate it!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Nanny Diaries

We have found our new nanny! I really wasn't looking for a nanny considering that all of the kids except for Tait will be in school starting in the Fall but this guy kind of just fell in our laps. In the past we have typically had a nanny or AuPair, but I really felt like it was necessary with the amount of kids we have. I have always stayed at home but, again, with the amount of kids it was always nice to have the extra hands. Our family really cherishes our nannies and we feel like they are a part of our family. "Grandma Kathy" we had for several years and she was an amazing asset to our family dynamic. Having raised three children of her own, she really could be a step ahead of me most days. Zona, our AuPair from South Africa, was adorable and sweet and really became "friends" with our kiddos. She taught them to speak in her native tongue (they would make fun of Josh and I, I'm convinced of that although they say they weren't...hmmmm?). It feels a little silly to have found a new nanny now that I am through the toddler years with the majority of the kids but this guy came in and just took over and he works for very cheap which is always a good thing!

Let me tell you about him. He is much different than our previous nannies. Yes, for starters he is a MALE! (I never thought I would have a male nanny and he is VERY adorable) He was born and raised right here in Colorado and likes the outdoors with his family but doesn't prefer to go solo outside. He's somewhat lazy but it doesn't really bother me because Tait is so young he's been sleeping when Tait naps and it saves me from "entertaining" him. I've taken several pictures of him in action...HE'S AMAZING!

supervising tummy time:

To ensure Tait is getting in a full nap he prefers to hold him while he sleeps

He is very particular about prewashing each bottle

Proper head support is a high priority of his

When Tait is content in his swing our new nanny is still very cautious to not leave him unattended

He was thinking Tait felt a little warm and although a male, he still has a "motherly" side don't you think?

So, like I said before, I really wasn't in the market for a new nanny. P.D. clearly thinks that we cannot handle Tait on our own though so he has taken him on as his personal responsibility. He is absolutely sweet to him and very concerned with his well being. When Tait cries P.D. comes racing to us (like we can't hear), when Tait naps P.D. naps right next to him, and when we are holding Tait he "supervises". Hey, for a warm bed and a couple of bowls of food each day...he's the best bargain we've ever gotten!

Reprimanded!

Josh and I have been married for almost 14 years. I have not lived under my parents roof for 15 years, and yet I am still being reprimanded by my dad.

Last weekend my dad took Kaidon fishing with him up in Wyoming. Kaidon is a boy scout at heart and my dad was a boy scout so they have a really unique bond (being that Josh's idea of "outdoors" is a massage on the poolside in Hawaii). They fished until they had enough stories to tell to last a lifetime. We've heard about a hawk flying down and snatching a fish right out of the water, we've heard about them using the wrong bait, they didn't miss the over flowing hobo baths, one fish they caught spit out it's eggs and the fish Kaidon caught gets longer each time he holds his hands out to tell us how long it was. Although I packed Kaidon several clean outfits he wore the same thing each day. They had a GREAT time!

Then, I get this email from my dad on Tuesday, it says:

WENT TO THE BLOG TO SEE A PICTURE OF KAIDON & FISH ? NO KAIDON NO FISH !

I cut and copied the above straight from my dads email. He said nothing more, nothing less. He wrote all in caps to let me know the severity of my crime. I actually didn't even realize my dad read my blog. I truly am wondering if he really does or if he just went to "check on me" to see if I was giving this fishing trip any justice at all. I've always been very compliant so....here are some pictures of Kaidon and his Grampy's fishing trip. ENJOY!

Life's a Comedy!
As I've mentioned before several times and have made it clear for those of you who live life with me on a daily basis, I love to laugh, I mostly laugh at my own jokes and perceptions of things but that is beside the point.

More often than not my sense of humor is really an asset. I can laugh at the same thing for years and years and even lay awake at night sometimes thinking of crazy things I did as a kid. I laugh at so many things that should just really not be that funny anymore! I could go on and on about these goofy stories but trust Josh on this...YOU wont think they are funny! The great thing is that you can call me at any time laughing your head off and I will join you! Before I even know why you're laughing I will be laughing, and be laughing even harder than you are. I may even ask you to hold on for a second before you tell me why you're calling because I'm laughing to hard for me to hear you! Really, some people like my mother, cry when they see other people crying and don't need to even hear why. That is how I am with laughter. It is really contagious. I'm almost tempted to join people in public when they are laughing, just because I want to know why they are laughing...I KNOW I WOULD THINK IT WAS FUNNY!

There are times though when maybe, just maybe my sense of humor and uncontrollable laughter are just not appropriate! Like maybe when I'm trying to help Kaidon with his school project. Yes, he had to come up with a visual aide for his Martin Luther King Jr. speech. All I could come up with was a bunch of slap stick humor stuff that I'm almost positive his teacher would not appreciate. I thought it would be really funny to take a video of Tait all dressed up with the famous speech in the background moving his lips and hands like he was giving the speech. Kaidon is a little more reserved so he didn't go for any of the ideas I had, and now that I am away from the situation I'm glad at least one of us controlled ourselves and decided that maybe this wasn't a chance for Kaidon to have his first gig as a stand up comic.

I better come up with something good though because if we leave it up to Josh it will turn into an enormous project that half the state of Colorado is involved in. Yes, go back and look at my post about the bubble machine and you will know why I am suddenly sweating bullets at my lack of seriousness concerning Kaidon's project. It's just not good that I couldn't pull myself together long enough to focus on the task at hand.

Great Teacher
Well as you may have guessed by my lack of blogging...Tait has arrived. We got him on Friday at about 1 p.m. and it's been absolute bliss ever since. He is so adorable and a great, great baby. Actually, I'm not sure he's really a good baby or the fact that I have six nannies just helps out immensely!

He is a really good teacher too! We've already learned so much from him about:

MATH

• no matter how many hands you have.... it is never enough
• Eight people working to please one baby equals a very happy infant.
• 11p.m.-5 p.m. no matter what happens is still only 6 hours of sleep!
• Q.A size one diaper can hold 6 ounces, if a baby eats four ounces every three hours how soon will it be before you have an explosion oozing out of every side?

A. This is a trick question...you see, even if you just change a babies diaper somehow they can manage to have a blow out that could clear any auditorium a matter of seconds after you get them settled in daddies lap!

• Women holding baby=someone elses problem....Man holding baby=chick magnet

Science

• What goes in must come out!
• Freud was right! We are sexual creatures from the get go, anything that vibrates is soothing!

History

• No matter how many you have, when you space them five years apart it is like having your first all over again!
• When asking the clerk at Babies R Us for an item that was "in" seven years ago, you can and will make yourself look insanely behind the times!

Sociology

• If you want something yell for it. If you don't get it? Keep yelling! Eventually someone will give you what you want, at that time give a big cheesy grin so you guarantee yourself faster results the next time you'd like something!
• If you have gas go ahead and let it out, you'll feel better and it makes people laugh!
• When you first meet someone be sure to give them your best "confused" look. You then have them like a puppet on a string trying to please you and make you smile!
• As long as you are smiling, you will be noticed!

Psychology

• Positive reinforcement is good and all but trust me when I tell you that if you scream your head off when someone does something you don't like, they WILL stop doing it.

Our professor, Tait, will continue to teach us and we will keep passing our knowledge onto you. Consider it "free courses" in life lessons!

Tait Update

Here again, I sit with an update on our precious baby boy. Here again, I wish we were holding him in our arms. Here again, we are not.

Yesterday we had our presentation meeting with the caseworker. Basically she laid out his last two months of life for us and what her projected timeline of events will be for his next ...God only knows how long! Ya know, I think it is such a bunch of crap really. They are seriously in their own little m-f 8-5 work zones while we are trying to bring our babies home 24/7. At one point she said well his foster mom can have him until June 15Th and I'm really busy so I'm not sure when I can get him moved. I am clearly paraphrasing but that was the logistics of her words. Luckily the other caseworker found her to be just as insane as we did so she said she would be pushing for a faster move. We are to be hearing from her at some point today!

After our meeting we went and met him for the first time. He is tiny! He is weighing in at 8 Lbs. 11oz. We passed the poor guy around for over an hour kissing him and loving all over him before handing him back over. Now we wait some more. He was very mellow and didn't even fuss a bit, which will be a good thing because on most every day he will encounter a miracle if no one messes with him. EmmaLeigh kept petting his fuzzball head! At one point she said "I wish I had this stuff for a pillow" referring to his hair. The greatest part is that he has green eyes! He is going to be a knockout! He's full African American so the dark skin with the green eyes...to die for!

After we left my temporarily insane husband says "we need to have another baby" I think "huh? we haven't gotten home with this one yet!" but instead I say "why did you say that? I begged for 3 years to get you to agree on this one!" His response "we've got to end on an even number not only the number of kids, but the boys have almost caught up with the girls here. We can't have three boys and four girls, it will be much better with four and four!" I left it at that because I think he had a temporary laps in judgement and I am choosing not to hold that against him at this time.

Hopefully we will be living life with all seven kids by the weekend. I have to admit, this is slowly killing me and I am sure I've aged 10-15 years since we began the process. I'm pretty sure Josh just wants the baby home for the main reason of shutting me up!

Poop Patrol
A funny thing happened to me today. Let me explain, it's funny 'cuz it's so unbelievable! Not unbelievable like a "Ripley's Believe it or not" show but unbelievable because I can't believe some people are so nutty!

This morning was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, it was a little breezy and yet warm enough for me to be able to leave my front door open. I haven't yet put a screen door on. Their are several reasons for this:
1. How long would a screen last with six kids and three dogs?
2. How many times would I be yelling "shut the door!"
3. If the door actually got shut how many times would I be shouting "STOP slamming the door!"
4. How many times would I be stopping what I was doing to go let in some freak who went out the back door and is now trying to get in the locked front screen door?
5. Probably the biggest reason is... what purpose does a screen door really serve? I mean REALLY? All the reasons I've thought in the past I've really not had much success with. To keep flies out?Nope, that would only work if we never opened the screen door! Keep predators out? Hmmm what burglar couldn't get through a screen? (my dogs could show them a few tricks if they needed training and if that didn't work my kids are masters) keep dirt out? Just an FYI ,a screen is just a whole bunch of little holes in a really thin material, if it would keep dust out Mihya wouldn't have the tri-weekly chore of dusting.

I could continue on about this screen situation but it really is NOT the point of this entry.

I had just gotten the kids out the front, screenless door for school when Kayela was getting out of the shower. I went to her bedroom to set her clothes out for the day and she was looking out her bedroom window. Her bedroom is at the front of our house and we happen to have half the neighborhood out walking on the streets on any given day, and today was no different. Kayela announces "wow that dog is big AND it's going potty in our yard" I am half listening because I am secretly thinking "oh my gosh, maybe that's what a screen door is for...to keep the neighborhood dogs out!" OK so that's not really what I was thinking. I was really thinking about the fact that my dogs would probably not be fine with some other dog peeing on their front lawn and that I had better go be sure everyone played nicely. (Our dogs are other dog friendly and go to the dog park often and they are trained to stay on our land, even horses go by and they stay in their boundaries but this was different because this dog was on our land and to my knowledge that hadn't happened before so I was a little concerned about it) Just as I got to the front door I saw the "big dog" stop peeing and start heading toward my front door. I'm looking directly at the dogs owner , she clearly sees me standing there, she is holding some little rat-like dog and sets him down and tells him to go potty and it proceeds to poop in my yard. Now keep in mind this women is ancient and has probably lived in the neighborhood for many years and I am NOT ancient and have just moved in, so I have to kind of admit that I am intimidated by the crotchety women. A million thoughts run through my head as to what I should say but I don't get a chance to collect my thoughts before the "big dog" walks right up my front step sniffs in my garden and POOPS!! Kid. You. Not. At this point, I think I looked like a contortionist the way I had my head tilted like "nuh uh!". Again, I'm thinking "how do I tell this woman, without starting WW III, to pick up the dog --BEEP?" (censored for small children, this is a family blog). I.DID.NOT. SAY.A.WORD. The funny part is that she walked clear around the back of our land, and back by the front door, with plastic bag in hand mind you, (a good half an hour) and I was still standing in my contorted state trying to peacefully confront the pooping problem. I resort to thinking that I guess maybe they have different "poop protocol" here, but then why did she have the plastic baggy?

I really consumed too much of my day with what had taken place. Seriously, I told my mom AND every person who walked through my front door.(not to mention all of you) I guess the reality is that no one else would even know that wasn't one of our dogs poop. I just felt it necessary to mention it just in case someone may think our dogs are unsophisticated enough to poop in the garden! Then when Josh and I were heading out the door this evening, I told him about the poop problem. I ended with "I didn't even know what to say, so I just stood at the front door like I was the poop patrol and I was going to stare her down until she used the plastic in her hand" All Josh said is "well you should've just asked her if she needed a bag to clean it up" ....Wonder why I didn't think of THAT!?!?

Tomorrow I will be prepared. I am on poop patrol and nothings landing in this yard without my OK. I'm armed and loaded and that women is going to wish I had a screen door holding me back!

Cliff Hanger
So, now that it is warm and staying light later in the day, we have so much time in the evening to just hang out.

Josh loves the trampoline. We've actually had our trampoline longer than we've had our kids, and even before we bought a dining room table! He always wanted one...so we got one, whether it seems logical or not! (c'mon we were only 19 when we got married so we really didn't even know what a dining room table was for!) Inevitably, when we go to play outside as a family, Josh takes his spot on the trampoline. It's really like most men are with their recliners. He gets on the trampoline and will not even let the kids jump and if he does branch out and let them actually stand, all of the kids know exactly where the imaginary line that they are not allowed to cross, is! So, tonight when Kayela decided she was ready to take her training wheels off her bike guess who had the privilege of running behind the bike?....oh, you think me? oh, no it was Emma, I'm not breaking my back, I could really care less if she can ride her bike without training wheels or not! Actually, Emma DID start the bike training but a little "incident" quickly got her demoted to training Mikael how to turn his bike (it's a little problem when you can get on the bike, you can balance the bike, you can pedal the bike, BUT....YOU. CAN'T.STOP. OR. TURN. THE. BIKE.). Yes, the "incident" is a real cliff hanger, let me tell you!

On our land we have 2 acres. I don't know how much, but a lot of our land consists of two ponds, although they are dry! The neighbors kept telling us "oh, just one good snow storm and the ponds will be filled up"...um...they are dry! No mud even! I don't know if you've heard but we've had some SNOW lately! So, we don't live on the beach, these are ponds, no zero entry just complete drop offs! and one just happens to be about 3 feet off of one of our driveways. Emma thinking "let's get this over with quickly" took Kayela and her little bike, without training wheels, to the very top of the driveway. It isn't a straight slope down but for a kid who's never even attempted riding her bike without training wheels, it would be a bit intimidating. Kayela's the youngest of six kids, just remember, so she's a trooper and she follows her big sister up the driveway with her bike. Emma being so loving and caring puts Kayela on her bike and gives her a great big PUSH!....Seriously, JUST PUSHES HER DOWN THE DRIVEWAY ON HER BIKE! I am at the bottom of the driveway watching Mikael attempt his turning, Josh is on the other side of the yard jumping on the trampoline and throwing the football with Kaidon who is on the ground and both of us see our little girl flying down the driveway! Emma is shouting "don't put your feet down, just keep pedaling!" I yell "Emma!" just in time to see Kayela veering way to far to the left, hit the grass, and fly over her handle bars right off the cliff of the pond, head first! I don't know how he did it, but Josh was first on the "scene" of our wailing Kayela! I laugh at EVERYTHING (unfortunately for hurting kids....but really it was such a hysterical sight!), so I am half pissed at Emma, and half laughing as though I've had just one too many drinks and am watching a comedy show (which may explain why Josh got to her first)! In order to get Kayela out of the shrubs, dirt and weeds Josh pulled her out by a leg! I keep saying (between fits of laughter) "you're OK" as Josh is seriously considering his choice in mother's for his children and saying "how can she be OK? She is NOT OK". What a sight for the neighbors, you know they are thinking what in the hell?!?

All in all, Kayela was fine! So fine that she jumped back up on that two-wheeler and pedaled her heart out for another hour( Under my strict supervision of-course). I left the "turn training" to Emma as I built up Kayelas confidence on a bike...their are just some things that are best left up to a "mommy".

Yard Art

You will NEVER guess what happened to us! No. REALLY. You. Will. Never. Guess. What. Happened. To. Us.

Last night I was single parenting it again while Josh is out of town on another business trip. I had put all the younger kids to bed and was up with Emma and Kaidon in the living room. Emma was making some flip-flops and Kaidon and I were watching all of the Survivor episodes we had tivoed. Our dogs were chewing on some bones just hanging out when they both perked up and started barking. Now, our dogs just don't bark, we can have a whole pack of coyotes in the back yard howling and those dogs act like they don't hear a thing! One of the greatest benefits of having dogs when I am home alone is that they will protect me and the kids, so you'd think I would have taken their "warnings" and done something with it but instead I yell "NO! GET IN HERE!" and keep right on watching Survivor. I'm so glad Tyson is out....they need to get rid of Coach he's so full of *&%$!@ he drives me crazy. I almost want Emma to quit soccer because he irritates me so much...but then I realize maybe that's just not rational! I may hold a grudge against her coach though....oh sorry,off on a tangent, back to the story.... a few minutes later the dogs get up and run to the front door barking again and I call them back in and this time I make them "chill out" (they aren't allowed to move when this command is given) on their beds and we finish up the show. I sent Kaidon to bed and released my dogs from their hostage state but Emma begged for us to watch Biggest Loser because she is right in the middle of another pair of flip-flops (yes, we're reality t.v. junkies, although I don't like table for 12, those kids are so naughty! I don't want to give them positive feedback for bad behaviour...the parents or the kids!) P.D. has a bell at the back door he rings when he wants to go out, because like I mentioned before, he just does not bark so that is his signal that he needs/wants to go out. Knowing that he had already done his pottying I tell him no because after dark we have a slew of coyotes on our land and I don't want him to end up being a meal. Although he is very persistent and I keep telling him no over and over again. When we are finally ready for bed I start turning out lights in the house and that is when I realize that I never had turned on our outside front porch lights I flip the switch and through our glass front door and side lights I see something moving. The glass is tempered so I couldn't really tell what I was seeing I just knew something was out there! I run to the dining room and look out the window in there and that is when I am horrified at the sight:

WE WERE FLAMINGOED!

Yes our good friends, The Hansen's, had gotten away with flamingoing us with two guard dogs barking and having fits! Can you believe it? I think it is absolutely hysterical! Emma is mortified that all of our new neighbors are thinking that we have some new yard art. You should see how slow people are driving by the house and staring and of course the sign is pointing towards our front door so they have no clue what is going on. I figure if people are allowed to have llamas and peacocks, chickens and roosters then I should be able to have flamingos. Maybe the key is to put up a cage around them? I don't know, I suppose the fun in it all is trying to get away with flamingoing someone else. It is a great idea actually. In order to remove my flamingos and pass them on to some other unsuspecting soul I have to give a $25 donation to the high school, for just $15 more I can buy "flamingo insurance" so I never get them back. Fun! Watch out...I may be getting YOU!

Monsters Vs. Aliens
I know, I know you think I am savvy enough to be doing a movie review but I am absolutely not. No, I am just going to explain how sometimes (more often than not) my home is just like monsters vs. aliens.

My kids are great! They are respectful. They use their manners...most of the time. They acknowledge when a person is hurting and in need. They recognize when a peer or an adult needs help (even today I dropped Emma and Kaidon off at a friends house and when we pulled up their mom was outside unloading groceries from the back of her car and they went and helped her finish unloading before chasing after their friends!). They support each other and cheer at games and practices for each other. A lot of the time I find myself saying "it's just part of being in a big family, you just learn to help out and not be as selfish much quicker than if you were part of a small family" and I really believe that! It's definitely not our parenting skills because, quite frankly, these kids are raising us! BUT....they ARE still kids!

Often the kids are getting along and having a blast with each other. If they get sick of one person they regroup and find someone else to bother...er...play with. Mihya has this tactic down pat, yep she will beg from the top down (Emma to Kayela) until she finds some poor victim to manipulate into doing exactly what she wants (hhhmmm...do I squelch that "gift" of persuasion?). Although, we usually have a game of 3v.3 something going on, their are those moments when not everyone is happy and I have to put on my "judge" hat and find out who the victim and who the culprit is! I swear to you, people, no matter what happens those little freaks split 3v.3 EVERY TIME!! My jury tears in half and fights 'til their eyes are popping out of their heads. No backing down, the person they are fighting for is innocent. Monsters vs. Aliens I tell you! They never stick with the same person either, nope it's not like Mikael always sides with Kaidon or Mihya always sides with Emma huh uh, that would make it too predictable for me. Which in turn means that we never get to the bottom of anything. Just today I heard crying from Mikael who was downstairs with Kaidon, Graysie, and Mihya for a little game of air hockey. I go down and ask what was the matter and he says Kaidon hit him and Kaidon says no, he lifted him up to get the puck from the middle (short arms) and he just started crying! I look at the girls who in unison say "Mikaels right" and "Kaidons right". OMG! They are KILLING ME these little monsters vs. Aliens! I just have to laugh.

I guess this is teaching me at least one thing...their is always more than one side to every story! These kids are great at teaching me "life lessons" I hope I am as great at teaching them some along the way too!

Good Belly Laughing!
We've been in "survival mode" Yes, with all six kids home for spring break and still two weeks to go, soccer, Josh out of town all last week on business and leaving Wednesday for another trip, soccer practice,the septic backing up, the snow storm losing us power for 3 whole days which means our well doesn't pump leaving us without electricity or water (you know you're a redneck when....), soccer emails, preparing oodles of paper work for a baby that seems to not be showing up anytime soon, soccer games,and.....well need I go on? We've just not had any good belly laughs lately and today we dodged the bullet of another day passing without a moment of silence due to hysterical laughter by "The Hunt Clan".

It was just after lunch and I had put Kayela in her room to take a rest (yes, I acknowledge she is five and starting Kindergarten in the Fall, but give me a break people I need just a couple of hours each day without the word factory following me around). Graysie needed something out of there and so she went in and when she came out she walked to me in the kitchen with a puzzled look on her face. I asked her what was up and she said "Kayela said I have a spider on my hoodie....do I?" and she turned her back to me. I check her out even turning her hood inside out while she tells me "Kayela was smiling so I don't believe her" trying to be sure that my five year old understands that she cannot tease her sister like this I holler "Kayela come here!" as Graysie turns around to face me again when I see this GIANT (giant is a relative word here) white spider crawling up the string of her hoodie!! I think Graysie saw the surprise in my eyes and starts making this obnoxious moaning sound "uuuuaaaauuuuaaaa" while brushing her hand everywhere..... but at the spider. Being the brave soul that I am I say "brush it off Graysie.....brush it off Graysie...brush it off Graysie...brush it off Graysie...brush it off Graysie!" as I am walking, very quickly, away from her. The spider just continues walking up her drawstring towards her neck and kids start quietly piling into the kitchen to see what all the commotion is about. When out of Graysies mouth comes "MOMMY....HELP ME, MOMMY!" Which is the very moment I realize I've been running from my child who is being attacked by a spider, and the same moment the "mama bear" comes out in me (if it were a movie they'd be playing the "Indiana Jones" type hero song at this moment). I race towards her just as the spider is creeping into her sweatshirt and swat it away.....PHEW we are safe.....shrieks of gratefulness comes from Graysie and the kids cheer.....but wait where is the spider? OH GOD! when I yell "HELP ME GRAYSIE, WHERE IS THE SPIDER?" The kids run from me just as I had done to Graysie earlier while I am in panic mode looking for the ugly white beast! Moments later we find him all shriveled up on the floor (guess my swat was powerful), and we all look at each other and fall to the ground in a heap, laughing so hard tears were streaming down our faces. Had anyone walked in they would have turned right around at the sight of us. We sounded like a pack of wild hyenas! The kids all kept doing instant replays of the whole ordeal which made the situation that much funnier!

I love the sound of laughter in our home!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Introducing.....

Tait!

Here are some pictures of our newest little bundle. I think he's adorable, Josh thinks he will get better with age...ha! Hope you enjoy your first glimpse.

Update: Last Thursday we heard from the caseworker who had some really hopeful words about Tait arriving sooner than later. We were given these pictures of him, although still haven't gotten to meet him in person. Today, however, we found out we are looking at a few more weeks to get some of the paperwork and Miscellaneous things processed. Bummer! We are just so anxious for his arrival that even a days delay seems like an eternity. My kids are out of school for spring break so we are going to occupy ourselves and hopefully the time passes quickly! In the meantime, we sure could use all of your thoughts and prayers. We will definitely be having a celebration when this sweet guy eventually shows up, you can bet on that!

This Stinks!
We have a whole new love for a sewer system now that we have "experienced" a septic issue! Yes, the CRAPPY thing backed up. Good thing is that the poop pumper came to pump it out, bad thing is the last lady had poured a sidewalk right over the cover of the septic! I mean seriously, why would that even sound like a logical thing to do? So now we are knee deep in this turdy task. The lady is saying that this is our issue, although we've only lived here 40 days so I am not sure how much she uses the bathroom, but we couldn't have possibly filled the thing up in just 40 short days.

What's a family to do when we can't use the bathroom, sink, shower, dishwasher and worst of all the LAUNDRY ROOM? We must work together to get ourselves out of this stinky situation. Even the smallest members of our household are equipped for the job. See, Kayela was giving me some moral support and much needed weight for sucking up the sewage out of my carpet before the professionals could get here.

The other really nasty thing is that because we are total city slickers we didn't even know what to do. We called in the poop pumper who only really ....well.....pumps the poop. He informed me that he does no excavating. Once he left I called in a plumber to help with our little back-up who took me for $650 just to land me in the same boat I was in before he got here! Yes, at this point we have another poop pumper coming who can hopefully bring us back to actually being able to use the facilities we are desperately needing to use. We've been given a whole new thought to the saying "full of ......POOP" (family blog)!

Easter "Hunt's"

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Where's the Baby?

OK, people...........it's a waiting game! We appreciate every one's anticipation of our new baby and as I think I mentioned in a previous post that I HATE this part of the adoption process. I really, really hate it! I wander around my house in a daze just wondering what is going on. I am sounding crazy to even myself because every excuse I have is centered around the baby coming. Yep, I had a dishwasher to unload yesterday and I couldn't ya know why? "because I want to wait until the baby gets here!" Then, what about planning a vacation? Uh, no, "we need to wait until we get the baby and see what he's like so we know what type of vacation to plan" we have no food in the house but....."I can't go to the grocery store because I don't want to go now and then get the call to pick him up tomorrow and have to go get baby supplies at the store tomorrow!" I am not saying these excuses are rational, as a matter of fact they are most definitely not rational and that is probably why Josh HATES this part of adoption even more!

I am thinking of making a book called Where's the Baby. Yes, this book will be like the "Where's Waldo" books that came out that you search and search through the pictures until you find Waldo. Once you find Waldo you can solve riddles and find other items like his camera or his shirt. My book will just be pictures of our family in a crowded room and you have to find the person asking "where's the baby?". The second series will hopefully be pictures of our family in a crowded room with someone FINALLY holding him and you'll have to find which one of our family members is asking "where's the baby?" I think it may be a hit!

Unfortunately it is our reality right now so it isn't as much fun as it sounds! Yep, hurry up and wait is our new family motto! Trust me, the first thing I will do when we get the call to finally be able to pick him up, is post on the blog. When we do get him I will be posting pictures and videos on the blog....TRUST ME...YOU WILL ALL KNOW WHEN WE GET OUR NEW CHIEF!

Date Night!


No, it is not as "romantic" as it sounds. Last night Josh took the four girls, and I took the two boys on a date. Josh took the girls to an event sponsored by our church and I took my boys to Amazing Jakes. The girls were so excited to receive flowers and tiara's (just what mihya needs, another crown). The boys and I had a great time eating and running out of tokens to end up with tickets that purchase goofy little trinkets no one ever really likes. When the boys and I got home from our adventure the girls were still out so we played some pool until the girls came in and took the spotlight as usual (us women are good at that aren't we?).






Emma had such a good time that she requested the first Sunday of each month to be designated as our parent-child date night! What fun, I thought....and then I had an even better idea! What if we really DID make it a learning experience for each of them? What if I taught the boys how to really treat their dates. What if I showed them how to open doors, and pull out chairs. How to respectfully (without expecting anything) walk their date to their front door at the end of the evening and how to ask questions and then listen to their dates answers. What if Josh showed the girls how he expects for them to be treated and how to demand respect without being a girl the boys run from. How to have boundaries they are comfortable with and to be relaxed at the same time. Obviously, in order for them to love this time with us we will need it to be fun and I think we can manage that. I have a bunch of ideas and I can't wait to have my date next month.


Yes, this will be fun!

A Message for Amanda from Graysie

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Obviuosly my kids are as big into the blog as I am when they beg to send "Thank You" cards via the blog! ha! Good kids!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

KW 2009 Gala

Saturday night was the annual Keller Williams awards gala. It is always fun to get all dresssed up and go out. I feel like I am getting ready for prom all over again....except when I was going to prom I didn't come home to six kids asking me "what did you do?".

Have A Good Laugh On Emma!

I think Emma is so hysterical! She is pretty quirky for a girl and has always been that way as long as I can remember (which may not be all that long ago since I can't recall what I ate for breakfast, but you get the point right?). She is passionate about certain things that neither Josh or I put into her brain but that she is certain are "right". For instance, women's rights are huge to her! I've never even given it a thought. (sorry all you activists out there....if I've raised one somehow does that count for something?) Personally, I don't feel like our world is that "lop-sided" or maybe it's just that I haven't taken the time to stop and acknowledge it? I don't know! Clearly, Josh hasn't put the concern for women's rights in her head...let's just stop and laugh at the thought of him doing that right now....baah ha ha! Anyway, that is one of her passions and good for her! (just a warning though...DO NOT GET HER TALKING ABOUT IT! unless you have a good long time to hear all of her concerns) I'm proud of her for believing in and feeling free to express what has been laid on her heart.



Now, you have to understand Emma is my twin but she has all of her dad's personality traits (except she does laugh at EVERYTHING just like I do). So, when she is passionate about something trust me you know about it. What she says she is going to do she does and she makes it look effortless (it's really annoying to watch especially because even the things I am good at, I can make look really hard). Then to top it off she notices things, just like Josh does, about people that I just don't tend to see. Once she points them out it is clear to me but I would never notice some of the things she does on my own. So, now she is on a new kick that I find absolutely hysterical! Keep in mind that Emma is not a "girly-girl" AT ALL! They tend to irritate her! Watch this video:

I hope you all find this as funny as I do! Just to clarify....her new focus lies in people who want you to notice that they have worked REALLY hard at something! For some reason that cracks her up and in turn it cracks me up!



My life is so good...I love laughing!

Mihya Qwencie is Eight!

Well our little princess turned eight on the 25Th. I am a little slow on my whole blogging these days but I guess it is better late than never. The good news is that now I actually had some pictures of her party. Yes, this year Mihya kept it simple for us. All she wanted was to watch Beverly Hills Chihuahua and to make her own clown cone! Uh....ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ALL THESE YEARS OF SUFFERING THROUGH MONKEY BUSINESS AND PAINT YOUR OWN POTTERY AND ALL SHE CARES ABOUT IS CLOWN CONES AND A MOVIE? It just goes to show that maybe sometimes we make things more difficult than we need to.

Enjoy these silly eight year old photos and videos:

The Seven Dwarfs
After many long months of waiting our phone call finally came! I haven't even blogged about this because I am one of those people that hates waiting and even more than waiting I hate talking about the fact that I am waiting. Yes, when I make a decision it means that I am ready....NOW! I've kept this a secret because it is a huge pet peeve of mine when I am pregnant and people ask "how much longer do you have?" and when we adopt I hate the question "have you heard anything yet?" Talk about prolonging the agony people!

I am sure by now you are already pretty informed about what "phone call" we got but for those of you that are sure no one could be that insane...Yes, we have been waiting to adopt again. In the grand scheme of things waiting for 8 months doesn't seem like that big of deal but they told us it would be Halloween time when they thought we'd get the call so now that it is spring, I have to say it was nothing less than brutal.

So, I am assuming you'd like some details huh? It is a little boy. Born on March 4Th. He weighed just 4 pounds when he was born and was in the NICU. He was born addicted (Mikael and Kayela were too so yes we are ready for that....it's been the main question I've received so far). At this point we are not sure when we will be able to take him home and of course it is an adoption so their are no guarantees anyway. We are so excited and cannot wait to meet our new man! Obviously when our new boss comes home I will be posting some photos of him and I look forward to "sharing" him with all of you. What an adventure we are living!

Breathing Again!
Well we are in and settled and loving the new house. The kids are loving all the wide open spaces and Josh and I are loving that they are loving the wide open spaces! They are only coming in for the bathroom and food and actually I am not going to guarantee the boys are coming in for the bathroom 100% of the time....hmmmm! Either that or they are just totally dehydrated!

It is going to take some getting used to living out here on 2 acres, so much is absolutely different than neighborhood living. I am sure most of the neighbors know we are total city slickers!

Things we have found out about "country living" in just two weeks:

• You must always look presentable because it is a definite that someone WILL be stopping by
• Your business is everyone else's business whether you know it or like it or not
• The mayor is serious about his job
• No one knows street names they know your home by it's location (we are the pond house)
• Have your hand accessible at all times while driving it's the law to wave at people while passing them on the road, if you don't they know your an "outsider".
• You can dress up the kids but they inevitably will end up with mud caked shoes, so just start them out in them and save yourself some headache
• Coyotes are loud creatures and if you choose to leave your windows open at night so you can listen to their beautiful sounds you will be woken up every hour on the hour wishing they'd just shut up!
• I now know the true meaning of "mud room" because the kids bring in more unidentifiable things than you can imagine
• When the kids go to see if the neighbors can play I don't need to panic if I don't see them in 5 minutes, I need to worry after about a half hour.
• Survivor may be a harder game for me to play than I thought because I am a spaz about moving objects in the middle of a field

So far, we are just loving our new home and can't wait for summer BBQ's! I'm sure living on the land will give me many adventures to blog about.

Packing AND Packing
Well pretty much all I have been doing lately is packing. Do you realize how much I hate the packing part? I actually LOVE the unpacking but the packing is really not one of the things on my "favorite things to do" list!

You see, when I pack my house up I feel like I need to have everything totally clean as I put them in the box. This means I either need to wipe them down with hot water and Lysol or I need a duster with Pledge on it. Needless to say this is a very time consuming process, but in order for me to feel like I am getting a "fresh start" in the new house I have to do this or I am absolutely crazed by it. Even worse if I pack a box and tape it shut and put it in the pile with the other boxes and then minutes or even days down the line I realize I left out a piece or part (typically with the kids toys or games) I search forever trying to find the exact box to put it in. Drives me crazy! So, I hate packing!

I have also been dreading the packing for the trip, but am going to have to start here soon since we leave in 2 days. The part of packing for trips that I hate is the laundry! Oh, what a pain. I want to have everything clean and put away before I start the packing process. That way I can pack faster and I am not frustrated when I need something and can't find it. Plus I want everything put away and perfect when we get home because you have no idea how much dirty laundry we can accumulate when gone for days on end. That also means a day full of doing laundry and swearing under my breath when someone puts an article of clothing on that I wanted to have with us on the trip. Drives me crazy! So, I hate packing!

OR maybe, just maybe (hate to admit this) it may just be the way I pack that DRIVES ME CRAZY?!?

Who's The Fairest Of Them All?
Loni has finally reached a whole 2 Lbs. It has taken her about a year but she finally succeeded although it is not as if she was lacking power in our household.

Loni is Princess Mihya's dog and is a teacup chihuahua. Although Josh and I had always had Great Danes Mihya desperately loved small pets. She begged us for every creepy crawly thing that she saw and knowing her personality we just kept saying "you can have one when you have your own house" and the hysterical thing about it, is that she would get all excited planning what pet she would get the day she closed on her first home. Worked until...Kaidon brought home a hamster. I hated that thing I am confident it was out to get me! It's name was Teddy and Teddy was a little Houdini! Yes, I duct taped his stupid cage and yet he'd still escape and always ended up at my feet! I'd get up in the middle of the night to turn someones light off for the umpteenth time and who would crawl across my feet? Yep that psychotic monster, Teddy. Kaidon wouldn't even pick the thing up so I found myself having to ask our neighbor to come hold it while I could clean the cage. When it got out at 2 am I'd sit up on watch until I could call the neighbor boy to put it back in it's cage. We had a HATE HATE HATE relationship that Teddy and I...until...one day Mihya came down holding Teddy and loving all over him/her/it. Yes, she fell in love with that thing and carried it everywhere with her. Then Teddy wasn't so bad to me, I could clean it's cage, had an in house search and rescuer, and I even got to stop feeding the thing because Mihya was a great caregiver. It really surprised us all! Mihya is drama and girly through and through so I didn't think she would ever touch a creepy crawly thing. Well, (there's always drama in a love story) when we were moving into this house from our last house we had a full load going over and the last thing in the house was Teddy. I told Mihya we'd come back for Teddy but that it wasn't safe to have him/her/it crammed into the car it could get hurt (really I was thinking "what if that thing gets out and is crawling all over the car while I am driving?"). She agreed and once we unloaded the car we all got preoccupied with dinner and bedtime. At about 10 p.m. Mihya remembered Teddy and wanted to go right then to get it. I talked her out of it and told her "I PROMISE (very bad key word here. Mommy lesson I can pass on to you all "don't ever promise something you can't control")Teddy will be OK and we can get it in the morning" The next day we went over and Teddy was moving a little slow and Mihya reached in his/her/it's cage picked Teddy up and it died right in her hands! UGGGHHH! Mihya was crying hysterically and of course yelling "you promised!" and I was looking at Josh yelling " I PROMISED!" It was a very tough life lesson for us both! From there Mihya's luck went from bad to worse she got a guinea pig that died once she bonded to it and we got her a chihuahua thinking it was heartier and she had begged for one for such a long time anyway so we gave in only to have it die after a couple of months of a neurological disorder! What trauma for a princess who is emotionally unstable anyway! When the chihuahua died the breeder told us to bring her back in a box and we could trade it out (ouch...tough business!) and in our house came princess Loni!

They say personality traits of a Chihuahua owner is that they are selfish, princess like, etc. Which is very fitting for Princess Mihya... that is what she has told us to call her since she uttered her first words! Seriously, she wore a tiara to her first and second birthday parties and she had no hair! When we go to Disney World she insists on sitting in the front row for all the parades so the characters can see her! Loni is definitely that way too, at just 2 LBS. this is what it looks like at the food bowl.
The good thing is that Mihya and Loni are absolutely in love with each other. Otherwise, we'd have these two little princesses fighting for the power!

Neglected!
Yes, I have officially been neglecting my blog and my blog stalking lately. As I mentioned in passing, we did find a house and now getting everything packed and ready to move has been quite a chore to say the least. Our schedule is jam packed as it is and then to throw this on top of it has left me little time to slow down and laugh at my life (and write about it so you can laugh with me).

Our timeline of events coming up is so darn stressful that I find it really amusing because if I can't laugh about it maybe I will cry???? OK probably not, but I think most people who are not made of rock (like my friend Kathy would say about me, in the most loving way of course) would be crying. So, coming up in the Hunt household is this....

• Feb 9th play set gets moved to the new house
• Feb 10th-Feb 18th finalize Disney plans, pack for trip and complete majority of house packing, make meals for my mom to feed kids while we are out of town, make mom a schedule for kids so they make it to their scheduled events, complete all projects we started at the new house
• Feb 19th fly to Orlando and kids start back to school
• Feb 25th we are back from Orlando
• Feb 26th and 27th totally finish packing house
• Feb 27th My parents leave for Pueblo with Emma for a weekend soccer tournament (the first time Josh and I will miss seeing her play...so sad!)
• Feb 28th movers come to move us to the new house
• March 1st Emma gets home from tournament
• March 2nd-March 5th finish unpacking and putting house together
• March 6th our good friends and their 24 kids get together at our house!

Phew! not to mention all kids activities, homework, laundry, meals, and life are still going on around us. BUT...we LOVE chaos, obviously or we wouldn't have 6 kids!