Those days are gone

It was nice when Cole was bringing his lunch to school everyday because.he said our leftovers we're healthier.  But I forgot how expensive it was when he was getting school lunches and extras for w growing boy before he decided to cut weight to wrestle.  He was so disappointed last week after the hydration test to find out he can no longer lose weight.  I was a little relieved with hie heart and his height and weight.  It didn't make sense to me to cut but since he was just doing it by eating really healthy I was trying to be supportive.  Now he's eating everything in sight again.  He has a new higher goal and he seems happy again.  I know he's already put the few pounds he lost back on again and I think a few more at hie height will really look good on him.  Back to eating us out of house and home again!   :)

Addicting New Hobby and OCD

OCD never helps if you find a hobby you can actually stand.  I mean I know better than to ever start scrapbooking because there's really no end to it unless you stop snapping pictures of your babies.  That is NOT going to happen.  I asked a girl at work if she would make some scarves for the girls for next year's football season.  Instead, she offered to show me how to use a loom.  I started it on Thursday for just a couple of hours and had it almost half way.  Last night I finished the length and found videos on how to take it off the loom and tie the fringe.  Kaelin LOVES her new scarf, so after I finish Chelsi's matching scarf Kaelin wants yarn of her own so she can learn how.

I did really good last night.  I got the scarf knitted, which is actually relaxing and fixed the slow draining sink in my bathroom.  My Lord the girls lose a lot of hair down that sink.  Even got Jaemin's hair trimmed up.  I dusted this morning and had other things in mind, but I just couldn't look at the dust anymore and had to do it myself since the men of my house are youth deer hunting and now I'm paying for it.  Allergy meds or not, nothing keeps me from reacting to dang dust.  I really hate being OCD, but it's true you just obsess over it.  Which means you get things done really fast (aka the scarf), but it's so annoying to yourself and others.

Happy Halloween 2012

The kids made a HAUL!  Since there was a football game tonight people were trying hard to get rid of their candy (us included).  I'm going to stop buying more than 1 bag of candy to give out because we only get enough for about a 1/2 a bag.  But, Jaemin finally got into it and had fun.

Pumpkins....not so scary

We opted for painted pumpkins for the little kids this year since I end up carving anyways.  We still had some fingerpaints, so I figured that's about as good as it gets and they could make as much of a mess as they wanted to since they're washable.  Jaemin didn't really care for the end result of a mess on his hands and wanted them washed as soon as he was done.  Chase didn't do the elaborate bass picture on his pumpkin that he did last year, but he still decided to carve one.  I didn't help at all this time.

Close your eyes and sleep

Jaemin was doing his typical flapping and fidgeting in bed at naptime.  I stopped and told him to close his eyes like I always do.  He put his hands over his eyes like he always does.  But, this time he fell asleep that way.  So cute. 

How do you deal with 5 kids and a fulltime job?

I get comments about working fulltime and having 5 kids all the time.  Trust me I don't love to work, it's a necessity if we want to pay our bills and keep our modest home to live in.  I'm also not a perfect mother, but I do try to do my best. 

One thing we do try to do is make a menu.  It helps tremendously if you have a menu to shop by so nothing goes to waste.  So, we try to make a list of about 5 things for the next several days that consist of a couple of fairly simple to make meals (aka quick) and some more extensive ones.  This keeps us out of the boring rut we sometimes get into leaving no one wanting to eat because dinner is BORING.  Plus, before work we can have something thawing so it's that much easier to start dinner when you walk in the door after work.  Of course, during the week this is Brian's job since he is home the earliest.  I take the menu on the weekends.  This past week we had sausage/broccoli pasta, enchilada casserole, teriyaki chicken, parmesan chicken and a couple of other yummy meals.  We like to load them with miscellaneous veggies and the kids eat them right up.....in the recipe or not.

Another thing I do is my job at work.  While there is something to be said about the stress lack of money can cause, there is also stress in stressful jobs that no matter how much you try not to bring it home you do....just because you may hate your job.  I don't love my job as in I'd rather not work...duh, but I don't hate my job.  I'm appreciated and though because of who my employer is I can't be compensated with monetary rewards my supervisor openly appreciates me, trusts me and gives me job satisfaction with all of this.  There was another job that was possibly going to be coming up soon (hasn't yet) that the person over it has been talking with me about me looking into it.  I really had seriously considered it because it was working with something I currently do and one of my favorite pieces of my job.  I thought that would be perfect; a huge raise and doing more of what I enjoy if I have to be there anyways.  I recently was put on a project with some folks in that area and realized that it's not what I thought.  Because of the way they run things it wouldn't be working with what I thought and I think there would definitely be personality conflicts.  After a remark that was made this week by a potential coworker I realized it's not worth that.  It's not worth hating who I work with, possibly getting belittled on a daily basis when I do know what I'm doing and allowing someone else to possibly take credit for my work.  I may not have money left after paying our bills, but at least I don't have extra headache and stress.  Money's overrated when it brings on extra stress.

So, yeah, moms CAN work and be present for their kids, but if you don't make the best use of your time, organize and prioritize (just like at work) and keep a job that minimizes stress, not maximizes it, you may not enjoy your life too much.  Life has it's ups and downs, but I do enjoy it because I enjoy my kids and I don't know that I would if I had all this stress I was bringing home and flying around by the seat of my pants.

It's all good....even when it's not.  Keep telling yourself on bad kids days...."as long as we have each other and our health".  I remind myself of this a lot.

Anthony Robles on Ellen

I saw that he was a wrestle and had Cole run upstairs to watch.  Anthony seems like such a well-rounded, mature young man with great advice!  He said everything I've said to Cole a million times every time he's been bullied or dismayed because of his heart condition.  When Anthony said he didn't begin wrestling until his freshman year it was perfect for Cole to hear this kid started late too and really exceeded his dreams because he motivated himself, didn't feel sorry for himself and pushed himself daily without letting 'challenges become excuses'.  Perfect advice!  I hope this young mans gets so much in life.

http://anthonyrobles.com/