Fall 2017: It happened fast

I went looking for a fall of 2017 blog draft so I could work on it... and it doesn't exist!? What!? I thought I wrote some stuff down! (Well, I know I did, so it's lost or deleted.) Well, I tell you what, I had planned on writing a lot more than I did this year regardless. I don't know how the other big family mom bloggers do it. I'm whipped. Not sure they have a two year old like this though:

Madeline's still high impact lol!

I'm literally trying to type right now but everyone keeps standing over my shoulder and talking to me. It's so frustrating! I usually type late at night if I can. I literally fall asleep at the keyboard nearly every time I do though. Eventually I hit save and go to bed. And I do that for months. We started Reading Eggs back up in November. I'm having such a hard time focusing and pulling the day together. Madeline makes it so hard. I have been telling myself for a year that this is only temporary. It's really hard, but it's only temporary! I'm STILL at that point where I'm telling myself that...

and in the meantime:

So, did fall 2017 even happen? These pictures say it did:

I swear my kids wear clothes...sometimes. lol. (Free Range. You know.)

We made this mummy this year! Next year we are planning on making a swamp monster!

Gunnar in the middle of everything

The Trick or Treat haul was SERIOUS. The kids had a blast trading candy for weeks.

Penelope and I were Roller Derby girls! This is at our homeschool Halloween party. We had beautiful fall weather.

Ethan (17) as Joker!

Birthday Season

Birthday season runs from August 1st until October 28th. We celebrate six birthdays in three months. 

Layla's 13th Birthday
Layla turned 13 on August 1st. Sadly, Layla was sick in late July. She soon had pneumonia symptoms right before her August 1st birthday! We thought we'd be headed to the hospital if we didn't act fast. Luckily we knew the signs (uh, she had every one!). Early Sunday morning I called our doctor's after hours number. She talked to me over the phone and we got Layla on antibiotics right away. Layla had just been in to the doctor's office the week before. When Ricky picked up her prescription he proactively bought an oximeter from the drug store to check her blood oxygen levels. Her coughing was getting so bad and she could not breathe at times. I went online and bought cans of Boost oxygen and had it shipped overnight. (Amazon Prime!) It's oxygen made for high altitude day trips/hiking, headaches, strenuous exercise, or just a pick me up because some people are into that sort of thing. I wasn't messing around, I wanted some just in case. We didn't do this in place of a hospital, but to help us avoid the hospital and possibly make Layla more comfortable. Her blood oxygen levels never dropped dangerously low but they did drop. (Especially during and after huge coughing fits, which of course is to be expected). This helped us put our mind at ease though. Most importantly, she liked it and it felt like we were doing something to help. She also took Drocera homeopathic with some probable success. We also had her on near round the clock Mucinex. We really believe if we hadn't acted so quickly we would have been in the hospital. I'm very glad I had her in to the Dr. the prior week so that they knew her situation and could help us act fast on the antibiotics on a Sunday! We have had too many emergency room visits the past few years! So thankful she recovered with home care and no ER $ visit!

What I wrote on her birthday:
It's been scary and hard. She has barely eaten anything in days. The other kids are hit or miss with the illness, but mostly alright. Ricky and I are a force. Sure we are a bit unwell too, but we are taking turns sleeping as needed because some of the kids need care at night, especially Layla. Though things are hard, things are also amazing because we are doing this together. As a mother I felt heartbroken that Layla's much anticipated 13th birthday is being spent so sick. I'm also sick and therefore tired myself. I am doing the best I can, which means presents got done but no decorations or other special thing. We certainly aren't doing sweets today. Then in comes Charlotte (20). She apparently went to the store without us even knowing and bought all this stuff. Outside, so the kids didn't see, she carved out this amazing cake of healthy fruit for her little sister. Candles and all. I cried when she showed me. I'm just so thankful she made Layla's birthday special! Layla was so surprised, grateful and happy. And then thankfully Layla ate for the first time today! I'm so thankful for Charlotte. She really saved the day.

A birthday being memorable or special doesn't always mean it was the most fun or best of times. Memorable can also just be everyone pulling together for you and making you feel loved. I think Layla felt very loved.

August 23 -Sebastian's Birthday 
Sebastian is often easy going and likes to keep close to home. We really haven't ever done anything elaborate or big for his birthdays. He usually wants the same things every year and since we are so busy with birthdays in general he gets a laid back birthday! This year I really wanted to really go all out for him now that he was turning nine. I took him to get his hair cut and to buy a new shirt. When Ricky got off work we all went to a hibachi grill! It's something several of the kids had never done. We just knew Sebastian (and others) would think it was fabulous and fun. We had such a fun night!

Madeline jumped into my arms right after this. Poor kid! I kinda sacrificed her for the photo. I got my punishment though. She made me hold her for 30 minutes! lol! The fire DID NOT jump over the edge as it looks. It's contained in the griddle. The photo caught it like that though.

How funny is this picture of our teen boys: Ethan is catching shrimp. The photo bomber guy we don't know at the other table is making a hysterical expression.Ethan was amazing at catching shrimp! Hidden talent.

Beatrice was SUPER cute going to the restaurant. I told her we were going to a fancy restaurant and to get dressed. In no time flat she was dressed, headband was picked out, and she had her dress boots on. As we were leaving up she adorably exclaimed to me, "Oh I'm so excited to be a real fancy person!" She would not hold still for a picture, but I got one blurry picture at least.

Everett Turned 7! 
Everett wanted a Scooby Doo style monster hunt for his birthday. Read about it here.

 Penelope's turned 11 on October 17!
Penelope had part one of her birthday in Mansfield, Missouri a month before her actual birthday! I wrote all about it here: Mansfield trip

Madeline's Birthday! 
Madeline turned two on October 28th!


Madeline loved this walking, flipping, barking puppy. She had a good day at home with family and we played and just hung out.


While writing this I found a couple things in my email draft folder I had started. 

September 1, 2017

Dialogue between me and Ricky I saved to remember:

Me: I'm so exhausted. There's just so much to do. I don't know what I'm going to do. Everything is just SO hard...

Him: We knew this would be a hard time. It's okay. It's hard and we'll get through it. 

Me: We knew it would be THIS hard? 

Him: Yeah we knew birthday season was coming up, and school, and the boys turning 18 and...

Me: I'm talking more like long term. You know, the having NINE kids thing.

Ricky: Oh that. Yea. We had NO IDEA what we were doing with that.

 (And then we laughed REALLY hard together.)

September 25, 2017

I had a fabulous weekend with my husband. Bring married to him is the absolute joy of my life. I had a great weekend despite juggling really wild kids with him, kids that we literally didn't know what to do with at times. Everyone says we make it look so easy, and at times we sure do. But, raising all the kids is crazy hard. I'll admit, we didn't think easily a few was that hard. That's why we went in for more. Everyone has a different threshold. Not sure why we wanted to actually find ours!? Ha!

The weekend was really nice though. We talked, connected, and even reviewed our life, love, and our future. I once read when you marry someone you marry three people. The person they are, the person you think they are and the person they will become as the result of being married to you. That's pretty heavy handed and something next to nobody even begins to think about. It's true.

Over the weekend we took personality tests and discussed why our marriage works so well and we compared how well we fill each other's lives with happiness. We are vastly different people, but yet so much the same. I began to think about the people we were when we met...and the people we became. Amazing! 

Ricky told me that what we lack we find in each other. That was so incredible to hear. What an amazing couple we have become! By fate. By chance. By love. But also by choice!