The accidental haircut...

Due to a miscommunication during haircut time....Miss A now has a bob.  Of course she's still cute as can be, but I was not at all ready for all that sweet baby hair to be gone.  Oh well, I'm glad it wasn't more drastic and was done quite well.

A stomach bug

It started on Friday night with Mr. S, followed quickly by Miss A.  They were sick all night.  It was rough on Mr. S, but Miss A slept through all of it ~she awoke next to me all bright and perky ready to go for the day having passed the bug with a full night's sleep,  I (on the other hand) was exhausted from being up all night caring for her~  That could have been much worse!

Sunday morning came and everyone seemed fine, but I was wondering if it really was wise to go to church.  It was nearly time to go when Miss E said she was feeling a bit sick.  I suggested it may be wise to have everyone stay home.  15 minutes later Miss C got sick.  Then Miss J.  Then Mr. M.  I wasn't feeling so great either.  Blankets, quilts and pillows were collected.  The projector was set up.  This was gonna be a doozy.

Mr. R and Mr. K were the only ones to escape this bug.  I'm thankful that Mr. R and Mr. S were able to help out while the rest of us were so sick.  I'm thankful that we didn't have to deal with two sick little ones while being sick ourselves.  Mr. K and Miss A were quite content to play and eat all the yummy snacks that their big brothers provided while the rest of us were sick.

Miss J has hit especially hard and needed a day more than the rest of us to recover.

I'm super thankful that we got this bug over with before Thanksgiving.

cut finger, stitches....

8 kids and no stitches, that's 14+ years of children and no stitches!  Until yesterday that is....  Mr. K was (supposedly) taking his nap downstairs, I was sitting on the couch feeding Miss A before her nap, the other kids were all in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch when I heard the cry.  It quickly turned into the sort of cry/scream that I knew could not be ignored.  Something was wrong.  He was hurt...

The scene I walked in on was not at all what I expected.  I had thought maybe he had hit his head on the bunk bed or something.  Instead I found a little boy in the middle of the floor surrounded by his big brother's back pack (and everything that had been in the back pack) and blood all over his hands.  Among the contents of the backpack on the floor I spotted a blood covered (open) pocket-knife. I quickly grabbed him and took him to the laundry room and to discover which hand/finger was hurt and applied pressure with a clean rag before taking him upstairs (where first aid supplies are kept) with the intent of cleaning and bandaging.  One quick look (once upstairs) told me that I could not handle this on my own, despite my desire to avoid the ER.

I'm so thankful to all of my kids who flew into action as I cared for their little brother.  One brought me the first aid kit (before we realized it was not needed).  Miss J thought through the situation enough to know that Mr. K would want a toy car and put it in my bag.  She also packed snacks and water bottles.  Mr. R had very willingly taken Miss A from me at my first realization of a problem and continued to care for her and get the two of them (he and her) ready to go to the ER with us.  Mr. M investigated the mess downstairs and recruited Mr. S and Miss J to help with clean up.  He also helped get Mr. K ready to go (pants, shoes, socks etc).  He also helped me get Mr. K situated in his car seat and then took over applying pressure to the wound while I drove to the ER.  Miss E held my phone so that I could listen/talk to the advice nurse while caring for Mr. K and moving around to get myself ready to leave.  She then held down the fort while I was gone so that I did not have to take all 8 kids to the ER.  I think we were out the door in 15 minutes or so.

Once we got to the ER Mr. R continued to care of Miss A (who was asleep by this time).  I'm thankful he thought to bring his mini tablet and got it going in the car and waiting room for Mr. K.  Once Mr. K was comforted by this and the car that Miss J had packed he quickly fell asleep (remember, he was supposed to be napping when all of this started).  A friend who is an ICU nurse at that hospital came by to check on us.

We were finally called back where a PA inspected the wound (which was still slowly bleeding over an hour later).  Yep, stitches were needed.  How would I like to approach this with him?  How would he handle this?  He and I moved over to the bed to cuddle.  Hooray, the hospital had (good) wifi!  I let him pick a netfilx movie to watch on my iPad (which Miss J had packed for us).  While he did react when getting a shot to numb the finger and again for the pressure of getting the stitches he did very well overall.  His reaction was more of the verbal sort, but he did lay very still in my arms.

One nurse offered him a popsicle during the procedure and he was very content to sit and lick it while we finished bandaging it and doing paperwork.

He had a rough evening and has often cried out today that his finger hurts.  When asked if knives are toys or if he should be touching them his eyes get big and he says "NO!".  I'm thankful that this painful lesson was not more painful or damaging.  I'm thankful that my kids all worked together in this small emergency.  No one panicked and we got things taken care of in an orderly manner.

I'm thankful that not only do I keep our "Sunday" bag packed with snacks, activities, diapers, wipes etc that I could have grabbed in a pinch, but that I'd also already packed up our errand day bag for the evening prayer meeting.  All the kids had to do was add a couple of things like the toy car and iPad and we were ready to head to the ER.

*I'm an independent Consultant for Thirty-One gifts.  If you're interested in this or other bags feel free to contact me for more information.

Happy Birthday to me!

This year my birthday took many swings.  I had a planned a fun day for the kids (I love to just enjoy my kids on my birthdays, the best way to do that is to plan a fun activity for them that I will also enjoy).  The busted tooth changed the plans.

Since the kitchen/house was still in disarray from the move I took the kids out for breakfast.  The kind woman at the next table was admiring the kids as we came in.  She heard me say something about "birthday" when we did the picture.  As she left she once again complimented the kids and paid for our breakfast!  What a blessings and encouragement that was to me.

We needed to run some errands; so we had some fun while we were at it.  At least we tried.  Everyone was tired and grumpy.  The move process is not easy on anyone and it turns out that some of us were coming down with colds too.  The mall playground ended up being a bust as well, I think we lasted 5 minutes.

We got some lunch and headed over to see the dentist.  Then on home for naps.  I was wiped out.

Rob had planned to take me out for dinner.  Dinner out with only one child and a glass of bubbly was exactly what I needed.  Ruby earrings didn't hurt any.  I felt much better by the time we got home.

Fixed that tooth!

Remember that chipped tooth?  Oh, did you want to know HOW it happened?  I bet you thought he must have been riding his bike or something like that. Nope, nothing so cool.  He was licking a plate.  Someone else thought it would be funny to smack said plate.  Everyone learned a lesson.

The dentist got him in a couple of days later.  Mr. M is an awesome patient.  The dentist was pleased with him.

Here it is.  A little rebar and putty and it is as good as new.

*Oh, and the repair was done on my birthday.  Not how I had planned to spend my day, but so glad it was done.

never a dull moment

We've been in and out of the eye doctor for over a week now.  Then on to costco for lunch and to pick out glasses.  We still have two more kids to go.

I thought I'd take a breath, work on the house a bit for a week and then start hunting around for a new dentist.  No such luck.  Mr. M's tooth got chipped tonight.  Dentist must be found, and seen, NOW.  I'm thankful to God for reconnecting us with an orthodontist at church (we knew the family last time we were stationed here).  HE knew we would need the numbers we exchanged yesterday.  A phone call tonight got us the name of a family dentist that specializes in these repairs and (most likely) even accepts our insurance!  God is good!

A flat tire

We were all set to head out early and knock out a bunch of errands one morning this past week.  It seems there were other plans in place for us.  As I was headed out the door the kids were running back in to let me know that we were not going anywhere.  We had a VERY flat tire.

Mr. K was quite concerned.

I'm thankful for AAA, and that we were home for this.  We were only delayed (in leaving the driveway) by one hour.

Our first stop was to get the tire repaired.  That was another 1 1/2 hours.  We hung out a bit snacking and playing games.  The tire shop was next to the paint store where I needed to verify paint colors (for the new house), so we were able to get that done while waiting (what a blessing)!  Some of us even napped.

Ouch!

As I walked into the kitchen the other day I saw Mr. M sitting at the school room table.  He was supposed to be working out in the yard.  A closer look revealed the problem, he had a big piece of cactus stuck to his hand.  He had been attempting to remove it on his own but had just come to the realization that some help may be needed when I walked in.

I was able to clip off the big piece so I could work on the spines one at a time.  Poor guy, these were in deep.  He had a great attitude as I pulled them out one at a time.  To distract him we turned on "How its Made" and let him suck on some green tea mints.

 

One or two were in really deep.  I used some essential oils topped with a warm washcloth to help with the pain and to draw them out.

 

A moustache bandage makes it all better!

*If you are interested in using essential oils for your family check out this link or feel free to e-mail me with questions gabe @ largefamilysmallworld . com

knee surgery

Rob had knee surgery this week.  It was an all day affair, and since Mr. K is still nursing he had to spend the day with me.  Mr. M came along to help.  It was great to have both of these guys along with me.  After getting daddy settled in  right away we were off to play the waiting game.

Since the hospital was in an area we were very firmiliar with we took a walk.  Half an hour later we were seated at starbucks enjoying drinks while Mr. K napped in the stroller.

After lunch we headed up to the waiting room.  We wanted to be there early so we would not miss the doctor coming out to let us know how surgery went.  Mr. K enjoyed the little table available in the waiting room.

 

When we were called back Mr. K enjoyed checking out the area while keeping quiet and avoiding pushing buttons or pulling cords.

The kids have been happy to hang out with daddy and get anything he may need too.  He has been listening to some reading lessons and cuddling too!

*Oh, if you are wondering what he did to need knee surgery.  It was an on duty injury.  He had a bad landing (he is in the AirForce you know)....during a game of volley ball.  It was a team building game of volley ball.

 

Locked out!

We were heading out this morning to run errands. Kids were loading up and I had just put Mr K in the car. I was on my way back into the house to get the keys and diaper bag when a certain young man was being very thoughtful and helpful by locking the door behind himself since he was the last one out the door. Oops! Everyone had done such a good job checking to make sure all of the other doors and windows were locked that there was no way in! The kids got to spend some time playing outside while we waited to be rescued.

Our hero (Daddy) arrived to save the day. With only about a 1/2 hour delay we were able to get on our way to running our errands. Lesson learned by all: Check to make sure someone has keys before locking doors, and to stop and make sure that what you are doing truly is helpful.

*I'm not naming names. This young man felt so bad about what he had done. I explained to him that I appreciated what he was trying to do; he was trying to keep our home safe and help his mommy. Despite that he still felt bad that we were all locked out and that daddy had to come home and rescue us.

A fall, broken plate, cut chin, urgent care, and NO stitches!

This morning Miss C was trying to help set the table and tripped while holing a plate. She had a couple of itty bitty cuts, a fat lip and a small deep cut on her chin. The cut on her chin was in need of attention. I stopped the bleeding, cleaned it; and after holding it closed for a while put a butterfly bandage on it. After talking with Rob we decided that it would be best to at least have it seen to make sure we had done our best to prevent scarring. So after being in town for just over 3 weeks we headed over to Urgent care.

The cut was checked to make sure there were no small pieces of the plate still in there, cleaned and steri-strips were put on. This was about what we had expected would be done. We didn't want stitches since that would leave more scarring, but wanted to make sure the cut would stay closed and heal properly. The steri-strips will stick better and keep her from opening it back up. I'm going to be picking some of those up so that we can avoid further trips to urgent care for this sort of thing.

I'm so proud of my big kids. They did exactly the right things in this situation. Though I was in the room some were closer to Miss C and reminded her to stay still until I could get to her so she would not step on broken glass. They also reminded Miss J to stay away from the glass. Mr M quickly got his shoes on and carefully cleaned up the broken plate with some help from Mr. R. They all remained calm and followed my instructions well so that I could care for Miss C. Miss E even helped keep Miss C calm and still while her cut was being cared for in Urgent care. Mr. K had decided that he needed to be fed RIGHT NOW, so I was caring for him. What a blessing to have such helpful big kids, and it was good practice should we have a real emergency in the future.

Shaving? Already?

*Names will not be used in this post to protect the guilty ;)

To start off I must mention that while at camp the kids enjoyed getting to watch Daddy shave....

A few evenings ago one of our children came to us after everyone was in bed stating that he/she needed a bandaid for his/her knee. We were wondering what he/she had done. "Mom's razor fell on my knee and cut it." We thought that was odd, but strange things do happen. Child revealed this....

Yea, I wasn't buying the story at all any more. "Um, it looks like it more than just fell on you. Are you sure that was what happened?" Child answers with "well it got pushed too". We were getting nowhere and had no proof. We let the child go back to bed.

Later I found my razor on the bathroom counter, with hair the color of that child's stuck in the razor and soap bubbles drying in the back of the razor.... Yep, it turns out we had a curious little guy that learned quickly that shaving can hurt!

*Oh, said child fessed up after being confronted with the proof.

of laundry and a sharpie...

One of my kids came in from hanging laundry on the line with a very pretty pink smocked dress in hand.

"Mom, you forgot to take the sharpie out of my shirt," child says while showing me the dime sized DARK green spot as well as several much smaller spots.

This is something we've been working on with the boys for over a year. Things MUST be taken out of pockets before going into the hamper. We don't let them off easy either. If it goes through the wash it may end up either in the trash, mommy's wallet, or up on the freezer (where toys etc go for a "time out"). Obviously this is not working well and at least one child does not see this as something they are responsible for.

"No, _I_ did not forget to take your sharpie out of your pocket. It was not my responsibility; it was yours. I don't think you will be using sharpies again for a long time." Since this was permanent marker I didn't think that the spot would come out but figured it was worth giving it a try. It lightened a bit but not much. I used rubbing alcohol, bleach, and oxyclean (separately).

this is the "after" picture after soaking for hours

This poor child is learning the lesson of responsibility the hard way. He is buying a new dress (on eBay) for his little sister, as well as a new white maternity shirt for his mom (also from eBay). Maybe he will be the only one that needs to go through this? Maybe the others are watching and learning? I can hope.

Oh, and if you are wondering.... yes, my maternity blouse had several spots on it. It is white so I thought it had a better chance of being fixed, but after spot treating with bleach gel and then running it in the machine with more bleach it did not take enough out to give much hope (though I did give the rubbing alcohol a try). There were a few other things that had spots on them; fortunately the rest of the spots were in hidden places so they are not ruined!

this is also an "after" picture

Yummy lotion!

I recently ordered a bar of yummy smelling Au Chocolate hard lotion. It smells just like dark chocolate, and feels so good on my hands (that tend to be very dry from all the hand washing I do all day long). Well, it seems that Miss C got her hands on the tin, and got it open. Miss C is a great eater, she tends to go for the more complex "adult" flavors, but is very good about not putting other things in her mouth....

She took several bites out of my lotion bar! It seems that it must not only smell just like dark chocolate, but taste like it too! (There was an adult on duty, I'll let you guess who.) I love that though these lotion bars are not intended for oral consumption they are safe and natural! No worries of the poor baby being poisoned! Every time she sees the tin now she says "num, num" and tries to get it!

New clothes, and fall back

This Sunday I pulled out some new outfits (Thanks to Mom/Nana, and a way-too-much-fun trip to the Hanna Andersson outlet). The kids all looked so cute we just had to snap a few pictures before we headed out to church.

Then we got to church...

Oh right, daylight savings time. Fall back... we're an hour early! Off to Starbucks!

We had a fun time enjoying a nice snack before heading back to church.

Rob noticed that my outfit matched the kids', but it wasn't a Hanna Andersson outfit too, was it? Yep, I'm in Hanna's too. Right down to the shoes! Thanks mom/Nana!

Mr. S and silly putty...

....do not mix well together!

He has had problems with the stuff before, but never to this extent. It was only a matter of time before it was stuck in his hair. That time came, and he did a good job of working it in!

He thought it was funny until he realized it would have to be cut out. Then the crying started. He recovered, and his hair will look just fine once I give him a real haircut.

Stuck!

Miss J got this stuck on her head this week, lovely!

She has developed a fascination with the upstairs bathroom and using this seat, and has been scolded more than once for putting it on her head. Hmmm.... How do they come up with these things? During nap time she got into this scrape while I was getting snack ready. I think she has learned her lesson, and we all got a good laugh out of it too!

My Hero

My washing machine has been broken for over a month.

I have six kids, including two that WERE in cloth diapers.

Rob brought the parts home to fix the washer today.

He fixed it!

I Cried.

Did I mention it had been broken for a month?

Now for the whole story----

As soon as the machine broke Rob got to work figuring out what was wrong and how to fix it. He even talked to a repair guy to verify his findings and then he ordered the part. Just a couple of days later the part arrived! We were so excited, it was supposed to take two weeks to get the part! It didn't work.

Rob got right back to work figuring out what to try next-- it was going to be expensive-- in the mean time I wrote an e-mail to the manufacturer. They responded with a request for more information on the washer and the problem. Rob took over from there and did some quick negotiating to get them to pay for the parts!

The parts arrived today! Then came the bad news, my heart sank as the woman told me that labor (including taking my machine to their shop) would be $300-$400! I nearly cried as I told her I would talk to my husband and get back to her. Once again Rob negotiated and came home with the parts to do the repair himself. In about 15 minutes my machine was working. That was when I really did cry!

I'm so happy to have a working washing machine again! Thanks Rob!

Sisters

It is nice to have big sisters....

...when your two year old sister notices that Mommy and Daddy have neglected to give you the yummy treats everyone else has, she will take care of you!

Yep, we keep catching Miss J trying to feed Miss C. First it was just pretend with the empty baby doll spoon, or a binky that we don't use but is still around. Then she moved up to pepperoni pizza. Twice we've found her trying to slip a red vine into Miss C's mouth. At least once she was able to get a good taste too, she was licking and smacking her lips for quite a while.

*the bright pink smudges at the left side of her mouth are from the second red vine.

washer woes

My washing machine broke this week. It is only 2 1/2 half years old, but the computer in it died. It is going to be 2 1/2 weeks until it is fixed. :( In the mean time we'll be making a couple of changes around here to make situation work. Here is my plan so far....

Normally everyone around here wears their clothes/PJs at least two days/nights. This will change to wearing them until they really are dirty (so some of the nice and tidy kids around here may wear one outfit for nearly a week, other then errand day and Sunday). Have no fear, socks and underwear will be changed daily!

The big kids will help with hand washing clothes in the bathtub. So far they think this is a fun idea, and are happy to help out.

At first I thought that cloth diapering would be taking a break, but washing those newborn diapers is not so bad, so I'll keep that up for a few days at least and see how it goes. Miss J, however, will be in disposables. *I had just done a load of diapers the day before, so the only ones that were dirty when the washer broke were Miss C's. That is how I learned they were going to be easy to clean.*

Potty training may be taking a break. I just don't want to deal with that many messes while hand washing everything. I do plan to pick up some pull-ups though, so maybe it will continue to some extent.