Not enough hours in the day....

6 Children (And dreaming of more...)
1 Dog
1 Cat
1 Husband
1 Big House
Laundry
Cooking
Cleaning
Home School
College
Work
Starting a Business
------------------------
Adds up to OH MY GOODNESS!!

Things are nuts around here... There is no pleasant way to put it.

We just got back from Kansas, where we took a much need break to go camping.  Now we are back and we are behind.  There are things to do around here.  I need to go the the grocery store.  We need to start the garden REALLY soon.  There is home school to get caught up on.  The babes need a bath.  The laundry, oh man, the laundry.  The living room needs a coat of paint.  The home school room needs to be re-set up.  And on and on and on...  Where do I begin?

I came to the realization this last week that things I felt were so important to get done are taking precedence over the things that will not always be the way they are now.  My children are growing up.  And because I have so much other stuff to do... I am missing it.  There will never be enough pictures in the world to replace the daily interaction I desire now. 

We are a very privileged family.  By God's grace we have been blessed with the ability to not have a father whom is constantly out of the home.  We have a mother who is able to be here with the family all the time.  We have been beyond blessed with six wonderful children.  Yet we constantly strive to better things.  We have a clean home.  We have food on the table.  We have plenty of everything.  What we are running short on is time.  People often say your kids will grow up the second you take your eyes off them...  If only I knew nine years ago how true this is. 

I miss my kids.   I miss our family time.  Our family does. 

We have had enough of the constant pushing and pulling to get things done.

Time to get back to this...


And this...



And these...




God has blessed me with this ever growing family.  I hope I can at least partially return the favor by raising them the way He desires.  For right now, and hopefully for ever more, this is what matters most.

Nothing stays the same...

So I know I kinda let things go but I have reasons...

First was an absolutely devestating car wreck.  Some young jerky kid rammed the back of our family vehicle at 45 miles an hour while our car was at a complete stop.  Of course said kid didn't have insurance in the slightest.  This to say the least killed us finacially (and hurt Scott's back pretty bad).  Sucky  :o(

A week later, the baby, Preston grew a lump on his rear.  This caused a hospital stay and several doc visits and we still had no explanation.  The lump has returned over and over again.  Each time he is placed on the same medication but given a higher dose (gotta love docs!!).  Unforunatly it has once agin shown its ugly face so we are taking him into see Avalynn's doctor this week.  I am sure he will try something new.

There have also been two addtional car accidents, a wrecked uhaul, a family wide flu, a theft (of some VERY expensive rental car keys from our home no less), SCARY!, and many other smaller things but they all added up to one really big change.

We moved...  Across the state.  To the middle of no where.  Literally.  The population is 200 and we are 8 of them.  We live in Peetz, CO.  Farmville in real life.  Except we are not farmers since the overalls are tacky, and the cows stink.  And poop, everywhere.  Puke.  Not for us.  But it is cheap here and cheap is what we need right now.

Scott and I are both still in school full time.  The semester started several weeks ago.  The babies are doing great (aside from the lump).  Preston is an eating machine.  I swear that is all he does all day minus the 15 minutes he needs to empty the tank.  Avalynn is potty training.  And doing great!!  She is also talking up a storm.  We love her to pieces.  The big kids are all adjusting just fine.  They love the new house.  They love the huge yard.  Mostly they love their new school... not because it is awesome but because it is at home.  And Mommy is there, ALL THE TIME.  We have decided to home school.  Really we are homeschooling 50% of the time and unschooling as well.  (I will post another blog to explain what this really entails as some other time).

We are still unpacking.  I have two rooms out of 13 left to paint... Yeah me!  I am excited to be done.  I am also very excited that we signed a two year lease.  Aww... security.  Something that several events over the last few months tried to pry from my hands.  Not having security can suck it!

The blog is still going to follow my attempt to rid the hoards from the house (though I know I met my goal and then some during the move.)  This blog will now also include what it is like to have six children under the age of nine, homeschool five of them, nurse one of them, attend school full time, and grow a cake business all while trying to become finacially stable again.  I clearly need something else to do...

Holy Crap!! It's offical... I am a hoarder.

Be ready...  This room is ridiculous.

I have no idea where all this stuff came from...  I though it would be a good idea to START the basement (or as we call it... The Dungeon). 

I hate this part of my house.  It is the place things go to die.  Most people have a junk drawer.  I have a junk room.  This is out of control. 

I know I can get some numbers in here.

Holy Crap!

This is suppose to be an office area for Scott to study away from the kids...  He has only been able to use it once.

Oh my!

How about that cooler and shoe box collection...

Baskets....??

More baskets...???

The start of the get rid of pile.

Two STUFFED trash bags of clothing for Aunt Trista's house.

Never used craft items... 

Where did this stuff even come from?

Would you velieve I had FOUR lawn trash bags full of these hangers....?

Children's TP...  Donate it!

Complete dish set... I am sure someone will get more use from this than we are.

After an hour...

Not much change.

Still useless.

Any ideas on where to put the birthday tables....?

I clearly have a long way to go...

What I got rid of...  (through a curb alert... Yeah Craigslist!!)

32 craft projects

4 bags of poly fill

4 couch pillows

4 trash bags full of kids hangers

17 pieces of Christmas decor

2 sheets sets

2 office chairs

79 pieces of clothing

37 baskets and misc. home decor

16 dishes

9 VHS movies

1 Time out stool

1 Beach towel Bag

1 backpack

209 Items total!!

Only 690 Items left to go!!

I miss him so much...

My grandfather passed away in early June of this year in my mother’s home. He lived to be 80 years old.  His name was Russell, but I had the privilege of calling him Grandpa. 

My grandfather had the sweetest smile.  His lips curled just right around the wisdom lines he wore so proudly.  He had the purest, most gentle ice blue eyes that literally took you into his soul.  His hair was grey and thinning but combed to absolute perfection with the same ten cent comb he carried in his pocket since the early eighties.  His skin was soft and freckled with sun spots and smelled of sweet country musk.  His hands were rugged from years of “good ole boy” work but still just as gentle as could be when cradling one of my sweet babies.  His body was skinny and frail as age and cancer often do to a person.  He was so handsome.  He carried himself with such pride.  I remember the stories he would tell and the way he lit up with joy when my grandmother’s name was whispered from his soft lips.  I learned so much from him about family, pride and most importantly God. 

My last day with him was spent making soup and slicing soft, sweet peaches into the perfect size for a man who had no energy to chew.  We talked about life carrying on without him and we talked about death.  I saw him cry for the first time on that day as he begged me to not let our family’s story fade away with him.  I remember him telling me this would be my last day with him and to remember him as he really was and not as a man with lung cancer. 

The day he passed I woke with a knot in my stomach.  I knew this was the day.  We all knew it.  At three twenty three in the afternoon on June 8^th I felt a subtle breeze as my grandpa took his last breath and left this place.  He will forever be the most amazing man I ever knew.

I miss him now more than I could ever put into words...  Sleep well Grandpa.  And give Grammy a kiss for me.

I need a little elbow room too!

So the day after I went through Scott's clothing I decided it was time to go through mine.  It really didn't do much from first looks but it made a large dent in my 1000 things group...

Before:

So much clothing... Where did it all come from?

Christmas gifts and other random crap I can't fit in the hanging area.

So much crap...

90% of this is shorts...  When is the last time I wore shorts you might ask...  2006.  Go me.

Nothing but shirts...

After:

You can barely tell a difference from the picture but it really is so much lighter.

Mmmmm... cat food in the closet.  We have to hide it from Ava in there.  She likes to eat it.

Holy hangers...

The donate pile.

71 Items donated... 

899 Things still to go!

How much clothing does a man need??

When Scott and I met he had little to no clothing... 

He liked it that way. 

One load of laundry.  Seven shirts, three pairs of pants, socks and mabey 5 pairs of undies...  You know exactly when you need to do laundry.  Problem is there is not a lot of room for error. 

Scott is a Daddy now.  This means being puked on, colored on, pissed on, or any other random thing being spilled across your lap or chest is the new norm.  Hense we bought more clothing.  You would think this means he wears it...  he doesn't.  So now we have this big walk in closet and he gets the top half of one rack.  It is full.  Full of clothing he won't wear. 

So another purge begins... I know our closet is going to need a lot more help than just going through Scott's clothes but I need time to let go of my "before I had six kids" clothing.  So we begin with his...

Before:

You can totally see there is not room for even one more hanger up there...

Notice how fairly we share the closet?  His is the top rack on the back wall... The rest is mine.

After:

I am sure he is still going to complain about how much clothing is left but I got rid of at least 1/3. 

Washed out black denim...  Where did he even find these pants?  1984 is calling... They want their pants back.

24 Items of clothing donated to the Homeless shelter...

970 Items Still to go

The Laundry Room...

     One of the main topics of this blog will be a MAJOR purge.  I am not hoarder (though many people might argue that), but my house is out of control.  It is by no means dirty but is in every sense of the work unorganized.  Nothing is ever found in the same place it was left, if it is ever found again.  We have so much stuff.  It is time to downsize.  The goal is to rid this house of 1000 "things" by then end of March 2011.  By things I do not mean 1000 pieces of trash or little piddly things... I mean stuff, furniture, clothing, just whatever.  I will either sell, donate or chuck these things.  I am beginning with the laundry room.

Before:

Does everybody buy in bulk like this??

Notice all the white hangers...?  I have such an issue with colored hangers.  They can't come in this home.  Only white hangers.  Does that make me weird?... lol.

Seriously... Who threw the damn hangers on the floor?  At least they are in the right room...  Sigh.



What is this?... Treasures from Madelyn's pocket.  A bolt from her brothers bed (probably planning their demise) and a squishy teddy bear. It's the little things in life right?



15 Minutes later...

Still too many hangers...  I have six kids.  We need them, lol.

I give it three days... mabey four.

Day 1 didn't yield much.  I got rid of six things... 4 bottles of cleaners that were beyond aged a dog coat (who even uses these things) and a blood red boys tie that has fit either one of the older boys in at least three years.

994 Things left to go.