Hoppy Easter

Well, out of all the blogs that I read/check on a daily basis, I thought I'd be the first to blog about Easter. But I just looked through my blogs and realized that I'm not. (Darn you Katy and Colette.) However, I know I'm going to be busy later and since Josh is gone with Jay watching a movie, I thought now would be the most opportune time for me to try and blog about Easter.

Our Easter started about a week and a half ago when my mother in law asked me if I'd like to host an Easter meal at my house this year. I said fine because I love hosting things at my house and it's more 'convenient' to have things at our house because of all the children, etc. Also because I'm insane. Beginning last Monday, I began the week with a bang in beginning to pre-clean for the big event. I cleaned all day Monday and all day Tuesday. On Wednesday my friend Christine came over to help me lay new floor in my bathroom. So I didn't get much else done on Wednesday, but I did get a new floor in my bathroom. Thursday, I don't really remember what I did, but by Friday the house was a mess again. Thankfully Josh got "Good Friday" off so he was able to help me. I was able to get out of the house and go shopping to prepare for the dinner. Saturday was totally designated to cleaning the house..but before I just glaze over that last sentence, let me elaborate.

Saturday. We woke up on Saturday with high hopes of blazing together (Josh and I) through the house and getting it clean. We must not have been very determined because by about noon we only had 2 rooms done. Now let me back up a bit. Our main toilet in our house clogged on about Thursday? Friday? I don't remember. So it's been unusable. I tried a drain opener type thing with no long term success, so we were trying to figure out what to do with our toilet before company came. While Josh and I sat down for a few minutes to eat lunch, we decided to put the girls in their room to play so they weren't climbing all over us. After about 10-15 minutes, Josh went to go let them out. He immediately came back to where I was and said, "Kristi, come here." So I got up and followed him into the girls' room. Lo and behold there were 3 girls with 2 tubs of vaseline plus a big vat of homemade diaper rash cream. Cream covered their bookshelf, their books, their toys, their table, their window, their floor. Not to mention their heads and coated their hair. Oh. Man. I don't know if any of you have ever tried to clean up vaseline, but it is a very difficult thing to clean up. Especially out of hair. So the girls headed for the bathtub while Josh tried to clean up the room. This took about an hour out of our schedule. After cleaning up the girls as best as we could we put the down for a nap. I realized that it was very wet under our kitchen sink. We knew when we moved in that under our kitchen sink needed some attention, one of the pipes leaked and one of them was held up with a stick. Not the best plumbing job. Well, the sink decided that it had had enough yesterday afternoon and it decided to pour all over. So Josh headed over to home depot to fix the problem. And then to home depot again to get another piece that he needed. Meanwhile this is wasting another 2 hours of our day. But the end result is that now we have a clean, dry under the sink. By this time it's dinner time and I'm trying to make dinner in a very small area of space since the majority of the kitchen is taken over by under the sink contents. I finish making dinner and by the end of that both Josh and I are pretty burnt out of cleaning. However, Josh decides to do some cleaning up of the yard since we were hoping to do the egg hunt outside. So we took all the kids outside. By the time the yard got presentable looking, the girls were covered in dirt and mud so back to the bathtub they went. After the girls go down to bed, I get out the fabric that I bought and begin to make my table runners and napkins for the next day. (Nothing like waiting til the last minute, I know) I would have totally bought these things, but I didn't have time to do a lot of running all over and I couldn't find anything I liked at Wal-Mart. I generally like Wal-Mart, but they get a D- this year for good Easter decorations.

So I spend the remainder of the evening sewing. The next morning we decided to go ahead and "brave" going to church. But we have to get the girls to my mom's house on the way because they wouldn't be able to go the nursery with all the green snot they've been producing this week. Okay, this post is getting long and boring..anyway, we went to church, stopped at the grocery store one last time for forgotten items, got home, finished cleaning the house (with the help of my mother in law), got dinner going and somehow pulled off a successful dinner and family time. And then because I was feeling so brave, I offered to let two of my nieces spend the night..unfortunately Allison had already left with Macy, otherwise I would have asked her too. As I write this, I have given the kids a 20 minute bedtime warning. The are sitting in the living room playing with playdoh..I plan on pancakes in the morning and hopefully the boys will have so much fun and be entertained with their cousins that they won't fight so much. I can't stand the fighting. What is it with boys? Anyway, that was the story of my Easter. But after that whole long story, I didn't even touch on the most important part of Easter. The whole reason for Celebration.. the reason for my life and the romancer of my heart. Jesus. Because of what He did on the cross for me, for you, for all of us, we are able to be rescued from the sin within and the sin without. He gives us comfort and shelter and a place to rest. If not for that, I would be lost. Happy Easter. He Is Risen.

A little Belated...

Well, with all the things that have been going on over at my house the past couple weeks, I haven't had time to blog about Jayden's birthday. So before my day gets any busier getting ready for Easter and also while the girls have happily toddled into their room and closed the door, I thought I would blog about my favorite (now) 5 year old in the whole world.

Jayden is one of my great loves in my life. That really should go without saying, I know, but it's true nonetheless. I cannot believe that he has turned 5 years old. Next year he will be starting Kindergarden, which I think he will love and it will be good for him..but I'm so sad about it! I love having Jayden at home with me during the day. He is one of those kids who can entertain themselves without much problem. So he's no trouble during the day. He has an amazing way of contemplating life and it is so fun to hear the things that come out of his mouth, in the last week he has informed us that "Man juice is really blood", enthusiastically announced "Mommy, you make the best cookies in the whole world!", and in response to a facial cream ad on tv, "I already have younger looking skin...cause I'm a kid!"

Jayden is one of those kids with a big imagination. He could literally spend all day swinging around his star wars sword fighting bad guys. The bad news about this is that he forgets where he is at times and things happen like knocking the chandelier off the ceiling in my room. But what boy isn't like that, I wonder?

Jayden is an overflowing ball of energy, but can also sit quietly and have a long attention span too. He is kind, considerate, a brave hero for his baby sisters, loves his baby sisters to no end. He's funny, playful, imaginative, loves to play, loves to run (sometimes Bryce and Jayden spend the evenings racing in circles around the house), and loves to help me with projects. I wish to anything that I could have more time to spend with him during the day..but such is life and he seems fine with his.

Jayden, I want you to know that I love you so much that my heart hurts when I think about it too long. Ever since the day you came into our lives, I have simply adored you. I love being your mommy and I love to be with you and watch you grow. I pray that God will give me and daddy the knowledge and wisdom to help you grow into a faithful man of God. We love you Jayden. Happy late birthday!

For my husband

Due to a conversation that Josh and I had last night, I decided today to journal about my entire day today. Just about all the things I do in a day and all the things that happens. I won't comment any further on this, but I also thought it would be "fun" to later in life and look back at this time and remember it. Probably not fondly, but whatever. =) So to all you others out there who read my blog, feel free to read the post, but I'm warning you, it probably won't be very interesting. Also, it's VERY long...

My day today begins at 6:30am..I have to wake up and take Bryce out to the bus at just after 7am. I come back inside and go upstairs to snuggle up with Jayden and watch OPB for a little while. At about 8am I go downstairs to hear the girls crying and wanting out of their bed. I get them out and get them breakfast. Then I go outside to get some wood to start a fire. The girls are wandering around with their bananas in their hands, smearing bananas on everything they touch. I shoo them back to their blanket on the floor where they have been eating all their meals for the past week or so (I find clean up to be easier this way- but they are supposed to stay there while they eat) I sit down to start the fire and have to stand up about 5 times to shoo the girls back to their blanket (it's a work in progress). I start the fire. Then I unload the dishwasher while fending the girls out of the way of "helping". I put all the dishes away and then reload the dishwasher full of dishes and start it. I then clean up all the girls' "help" of putting away the sippy cups. I also clean off the kitchen counters and put a bunch of things away. I then start my first load of laundry. After I'm done with the laundry I come out to the living room to discover Adelynn on the couch helping herself to a soggy bowl of cereal that was left out by someone in the living room, of course spilling soggy cereal all over. I take care of that mess and then decide to make myself a cup of coffee.

I make the coffee and sit down for the first time all morning and check email, read blogs etc. Then I realize that I've pushed my luck and it has been quite for a while. I have learned over the past few weeks that quiet in my house is never, ever, ever good. I go and find the girls. They are all sitting in my shower. (The have discovered how to open and close the standing shower door and they love playing in there.) The reason that this is bad news is because they were covered head to toe with dirt. I am again rethinking my decision to buy a real plant for corner of the mud room which will soon be our library/sitting area. Not only are the girls covered head to toe with dirt, but the floor all around the plant and the entire way to the shower is also covered. So I haul the girls all to the bathtub in the other bathroom. While they are soaking I try and figure out how to keep this from happening again. I re-plant the plant into a larger heavier pot. Then I cut a couple little pieces of chicken wire to put over the top of the dirt and then cover that with moss and stick the moss down with toothpicks. I also clean up all the dirt around the pot.

By this time, the girls are done in the tub (yes, I know I wasn't in there with them..but they're old enough to be fine I think..also they also are usually happier in the tub when I'm not sitting there) So I get the girls out of the tub and dry each one and get her dressed and fix hair, etc. (I forgot to mention that when I was getting the girls ready for the bathtub, I took Adelynn's diaper off and discovered that she was poopy..so I ran to their room to get a couple wipes and when I returned, her poopy diaper was floating in the tub.) So the girls are all ready for the day and I decide to start something in the crockpot for dinner. I bought a chicken the other day that has been thawing in the fridge so I got that out only to discover that it has been leaking raw chicken juice all over the fridge. I put the chicken in the crockpot and then have to clean and disinfect the inside of the fridge. Meanwhile the girls are all at my legs, pulling all the sippy cups and lids out of the drawer and helping me clean the fridge. I finish that job and then continue putting things in crockpot for dinner. After that is done, I change the laundry.

I then decide that I need to take a shower (didn't get one yesterday). So I grab a towel and head to my bathroom, forgetting that there is dirt covering every surface in my bathroom and caked in the shower. So I have to clean the bathroom before I can shower which also includes pulling several things out of the toilet (you know, normal things like light bulbs, empty razor holders, things like that..) Kynden and Adelynn had dropped a bunch of stuff in there earlier in the morning and I forgot to mention that. So I clean the toilet, the pile of soggy toilet paper that they unrolled and piled on the floor, swept all the dirt off the floor and then went to work on scrubbing the dirt out of the shower. Finally this is done, so I can shower. I take a quick shower. (I can do this now when the girls are awake..I just leave the bathroom door open and they love playing in there while I can shower and watch them) Unfortunately for the last few minutes of my shower, the girls were not in the bathroom. I get out of the shower to realize that I didn't put away the box of toothpicks when I tried to pin down the moss on the plant. The entire box of toothpicks is now all over the floor and I haven't cleaned it up yet. So I go upstairs and get dressed..the girls follow. I get dressed and come downstairs and see that the big tub of liquid laundry detergent has been shaken off the top of the washing machine and is laying on the floor spilling laundry soap everywhere. So I have take the towel that is residing on the top of my head and clean that up. Finally, I begin to blog. So far, Jayden is upstairs with the girls and things seem pretty good..I've at least gotten to blog for a few minutes and now it is noon and time to fix lunch. More to come later today.

So, lunch time comes around but before I start with that, I change the laundry again. After changing the laundry I start making lunch for everyone. Turkey hot dogs and applesauce for the girls. I know, I'm crazy, but they have to learn to eat with the spoons. So the girls plop down happily on their blanket while I get Jayden's lunch. Today he has requested a grilled cheese sandwich made with the pre-grated cheese. While I am trying to get that ready for him, he proceeds to make a pile of the cheese on the counter that he wants me to make for him, of course spilling the grated cheese all over the floor. I tell him to stop and then I tell him that before he gets to eat his lunch, he needs to get dressed, etc. So he goes to go get dressed and while he is unclothed, I notice that he has had some issues with wiping..as in, he doesn't do it. I decide then and there that I need to give him a bit of a lesson. So I get some baby wipes and tell him to go to the bathroom. He is throwing a fit about wanting me to do what I am trying to do and we argue in the bathroom. I come out of the bathroom frustrated that he is being so difficult. I realize that I'm not hearing or seeing the girls. Assuming of course, that they're in the bathroom again filling up the toilet with random items, I run to the bathroom. They're not there. I run to their room. They're not there. I run upstairs. They're not there. At this moment, I'm about to start panicking. As I run through the house looking for them, I notice that the front door is not shut all the way. I race through the living room and out the door. I see them in their cute little dresses and bare feet, toddling through the front yard. Thankfully, all our gates were closed and there was no way for them to get out of the yard. As I grab them and carry them back in, I see that I could have just followed the trail of applesauce to figure out where they were. Meanwhile in the bathroom, Jayden has decided to wipe himself. Fine. He gets dressed and eats his lunch. While he is eating, I get the girls ready for their nap. I snuggle them up and leave the room. Now it is time for me to eat lunch. So I make myself a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon and sit down to eat and search craigslist. Then I decide to take advantage of the girls in their room and continue my everlasting work on the mudroom. Today, I caulked and sealed up a corner of the room, painted the window frames and door frames and stained the door. Then I painted the corners to hide the caulk. Now all I have to do is to clean the walls really well, let them dry and then I can *finally* hang the wallpaper! Yea!

So now it is 9pm and I'm sitting in bed watching tv with Josh..I don't think that I'm really going to go into too much detail about the rest of the night..this blog is already so long and there wasn't really anything that interesting that happened..just dinner and AWANA, etc. So I will sign off. Whoever has made it all the way through this blog must really love me! Either that or just be plain curious about life with 5 kids...

Just another day....

This morning I decided to finish a project that I had started a couple months ago...finishing texturing the ceiling in the mudroom. So I got all my supplies and got up on ladder and began my work. Jayden was quiet and content in the living room and the girls were content playing under the ladder and around in the mudroom. I was working hard and concentrating on what I was doing so I was not paying too much attention to what the girls were doing. After a while, I looked down from atop the ladder and saw this:

Yes, unbeknownst to me, Adelynn was on the floor playing in some of the drywall mud that had plopped to the floor. I thought it was interesting that she has a moustache. Funny girl.