We wish you a merry Christmas

Since you weren't with us for Christmas, here's a little holiday cheer coming your way! Enjoy

ALERT...ALERT... Phone in the toilet

What do you do when you drop your phone in the toilet?

Obviously, the 5 second rule must apply to more than food on the kitchen floor...

So you get the phone out of the used toilet...and it appears to still be working. I quickly take it apart and lay it on the counter.

Now what? You've waited for it to dry...but now it has tee-tee water dried in all the crevices AND you plan on putting this next to your face all the time.

I have a few choices:

• clean it and risk getting some other part wet
• just go ahead and use it
• throw it away and start over
• trade with Darren

What would you do if your mother ask you? (Dr. Seuss - The Cat in the Hat)

"Can I..."

Yesterday morning, about every 3.5 minutes, Amanda asked, "Can I watch a movie?"

• While I'm making breakfast, "can I watch a movie?"
• After breakfast, "can I watch a movie?"
• Trying to get the sisters out the door, "can I watch a movie?"
• During kitchen clean-up, "can I watch a movie?"
• While I'm making my bed and getting dressed, "can I watch a movie?"
• Getting Claire up and dressed, "can I watch a movie?"
• Trying to brush my teeth, "can I watch a movie?"
• Getting Jacob going with school, "can I watch a movie?"
• Starting a load of laundry, "can I watch a movie?"
• Getting Amanda dressed, "can I watch a movie?"

I said no in as many nice ways as I could:

• no
• not yet
• stop asking
• go play with Jacob
• go do your puzzles
• stop asking for a movie
• ..but the refrain I settled on the most was "when Jacob starts school and I sit down to nurse Claire".

When my nice voice finally ran out, she stopped asking for a movie.

She started asking: "Mom, can you nurse our baby now?"

Claire's 6 months old today!

I just didn't know how much I could love another one. They each have a special part of my heart and they each make me laugh. Claire is currently the one doing it in a 6 month old body...
(You'll need to pause the music on the left.)



And in case you missed how cute she is, here's another one:

A week in pictures...

Well, there was the sleepovers. All 7 in the girls room one night...
then all 7 in the big kids room the next.
One last picture with the threesome here. How long ago did I work at Mervyn's while Amy and Darren went to the movies without me?
Amazingly Jacob's coat does fit me...at least around the neck...
Here are the Clampetts, on their way out of town at 6am on Thursday.
Only 18 more hours to go!
Darth Manda isn't sure what to do with herself without her sisters around.
And Claire is trying really, really hard to make a tooth. The bottom teeth were no match for this top tooth...and it's not even the front one. It's one over - just like the sisters. I think she favors them. So 3 from my side and 3 from Darren's.
Needless to say, she's constantly wet from the drool and wants to be held. So I wear her in the backpack so I can get something else done. And she gnaws and gnaws on the backpack. It's hard work making these things.

Friday night we had a celebratory dinner for such a big week. The girls survived (and thrived) the first week of school, Amanda is in panties 24/7, Claire is making this tooth, mom made it through her sister moving away, and Daddy had a good meeting Thursday night.
There are 5 candles on the table (one for each kid to blow out when we are done), little bottles of Coke or Dr. Pepper for everyone, and no place settings for the parents - we actually went on a date to celebrate our week...can everyone say cheese fries and bloomin' onion. YUM! YUM!

Blue Christmas

We are dedicating this little Christmas song to all the cousins that will be far away this holiday season. Eat lots of goodies, laugh as much as you can and we'll see everyone next year!!!!

90 second video

Here's a neat video that shows who has controlled Israel for the past 5000 years.

Hope you enjoy it as much as Jacob did!

Who's gonna watch you die?

There's a new song on my playlist... What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie.

This must be one of the saddest songs I've ever heard. The music is great and the word choices are unbelievable... who puts the words ICU, piss and 409 together in a love song?

My neighbors (in their late 80's/ early 90's) have just recently been moved into a retirement home. He could still drive (slowly) but I don't think he had been upstairs in years. She has Alzheimer's...so who knows what hasn't been taken care of in those years. They've lived in the house since it was built in back in the 60's.

Their grown kids came through one day and took what they wanted. Then two guys (not family) came with a U-haul truck pulling a trailer and worked for 3 days filling it up and taking it to the dump. There apparently wasn't much worth saving...and what was left was old, broken or it all smelled so bad they couldn't salvage it.

It's sad to think that so much of the past 40 yrs of their life was thrown away because they had grown too old to take care of it... but they had each other. And that is worth more than beautiful things to pass on to your kids.

At least they know who's going to watch them die.

I know who's going to watch me.

So here's the words to my beautifully sad song...

What Sarah Said by Death Cab for Cutie

And it came to me then that every plan is a tiny prayer to father time
As I stared at my shoes in the ICU that reeked of piss and 409
And I rationed my breaths as I said to myself that I'd already taken too much today
As each descending peak on the LCD took you a little farther away from me
Away from me

Amongst the vending machines and year-old magazines in a place where we only say goodbye
It stung like a violent wind that our memories depend on a faulty camera in our minds
But I knew that you were a truth I would rather lose than to have never lain beside at all
And I looked around at all the eyes on the ground as the TV entertained itself

'Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news
And then the nurse comes round and everyone will lift their heads
But I'm thinking of what Sarah said "Love is watching someone die"

So who's going to watch you die?..

old and busted ... new hotness

It started with "old and busted". drip. drip. drip.





And ended with shiny "new hotness".




Our crew chief and his assistants having a moment of silence for the old sink.



Thanks Marcus for all your help, time, tools and a new sink. We love you.

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She'll pour herself some.

Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.

She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.

She'll remember she has to do laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.

Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.

She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").

The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.

She will look for her checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.

She'll smell something funny.

She'll change the two-year-old's diaper.

While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.

Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.

She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.

Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.

And chances are... If she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

~author unknown

Sweet Nell

Nell Elizabeth Couch. My grandmother. My mother's mother.
My SweetNell.



When I was a little girl - mid 70's - there was doll at Dairy Queen, called "Sweet Nell". The story goes something like this:

Little Jennifer gets up in grandma's lap. "My doll's name is Sweet Nell."
Grandma says, "Nell, that's my name too."
Little Jennifer says, "You SweetNell?"

Yes, she is. To me, to the other grandkids, to her friends... "Sweet Nell".

Don't be fooled by the name. She's not your average, do whatever you want to grandma. She's the one that taught me to play Scrabble, cut throat style, even at 10. We had an official Scrabble dictionary and "board's play"... meaning, if you let go of it, that's where it stays. Amy's game was Monopoly. I guess we didn't do much but drink Coke and play games at her house. Yahoo! That's what I'd like to spend all my time doing right now.



Hard to believe Amy and I are old enough to have kids old enough to say funny things to SweetNell. All of our kids make a great- grandmother. And that she is - great. And "sweet".

The Sisters

I've never had twins before, but I knew I didn't want to refer to them as "the twins". So instead, we called them "the sisters". And it seems to work so far, although we do have lots of sisters in this family. And if you can't see their face and you aren't sure which one it is, they will answer to "sister". (I am already planning on doing a post for each one - but they are hard to separate.)
Since I've don't have my own personal twin, I don't really know what it's like to have someone my same age, with me, all the time. A built in playmate and another little voice inside my head, except it's on the outside. If I want to do something, we might have to take a vote, or take turns. (Oh wait, I do - it's Darren. Hahaha.)

Emily and Becca really get along well. They spend lots of time together and lots of time with the other kids. But there is a protectiveness to be "equal" all the time. Sometimes it's because I don't want my sister to get more and sometimes it's because I don't want my sister left out.
For example the loosing of the first tooth fiasco! (Wiggly Tooth Post - April 08)

The Sisters have a habit of deciding to play in the mud in their cute little dresses. Which I think makes them all the cuter. If it had walked out to find one of the other kids in the mud, they might have gotten in trouble. But if the sisters are both doing it, I run for the camera.

Other days we wear our pretty dresses with no mud in sight :)

It is wonderful fun to see these two growing up, a little every day.

Don't know what the next year holds, but I love the sisters . They are double the fun and apparently double the trouble!

Claire Belles

Since some of you haven't seen the littlest one lately.
Here's a fun video of her and cousin Gabriel.



Of course there is more to life than sticking everything in your mouth - but she hasn't figured that out yet. Other things going on in her life right now :

• new tooth (front bottom left)
• rolling over from back to front
• found her hands
  
• about 16 lbs
• big talker/ screecher
• full of beautiful smiles
• slobbering on everything... mom's watch, dad's wrist, Katy's neck
• laying (or sitting) next to Gabriel

Her 5th month looks to be a busy one. Things to look forward to:

• first Thanksgiving
• getting to be the baby Jesus in our living nativity
• more teeth
• more drool

Good times!

Tabernacles

Jesus was Jewish, which means he celebrated the Jewish feasts. I am not Jewish, but I want to know about the feasts and celebrations that the Lord told the Israelites to do...forever.

During the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) the people build succas (or tabernacles or booths) to remember when they were in the wilderness for 40 years and the Lord said make me a booth so I can tabernacle with you.

We did our best to tabernacle with God at the end of September.

We ate lunch in the booth (tent).

We ate marshmellows ...

...roasted over an open flame.

We slept in the booth. Our booth has two rooms (thanks Aunt Mel and Audrey). So the littles slept perpendicular in their "room" on 2 crib mattresses and some couch cushions.
And the big ones slept parallel with our longer legs stretched out on a twin mattress thing and more couch cushions.

While the littlest one was warm and cozy inside the house. She was in the pack-n-play in the big room and I took the monitor outside with me.


It was fun and we only did it one night. Next year we'll go for two.

turtles and the 45 minute hour

So you may be wondering how I get anything done with six kids. Most days I get to the end of my day and can see all the stuff I HAVEN'T done... without giving myself credit for the myriad of things I do get done.

It is a wonderful season in my life, even if I can't remember if I've brushed my teeth or not.

In the midst of trying to balance the big kids with a new curriculum (that we are really enjoying), the sisters who want to "do school", a potty training toddler who wants a movie (which bring everything to a stop because they all want to watch whatever movie the 2 yr old picks) and a nursing baby that wants to be held - much less the regular cooking and cleaning... I had an idea.

I know, I know, it's not very often that I have a complete thought these days. This one popped into my head in the 27 seconds I was in the bathroom...

The 45 minute hour. Stay with me here. What if we do school for 45 minutes? Then I let them play for 15 minutes...while I do some kind of mommy thing?

The big kids get a break, the little sisters get to play with the big kids, and I get to finish cleaning up breakfast, start a load of laundry, check my email, regroup for the next chunk of school or brush my teeth...

The other brilliant part of my plan involves the Kindergarten class. I have figured out that I cannot do school with both at the same time... just doesn't work. So while I am with one sister, the other sister has a job - play with Amanda. Then they switch. So far so good. This idea is a keeper!!!

And here we are making the life cycle of turtles with clay
- part of Jacob's science for the day.

This one doesn't work...

Many of my kids have gone through a stage where they line everything up: hot wheels, plastic frogs, shoes, crayons, blocks, pans, silverware, bath toys - you get the picture.

Amanda is no different. She likes to color and Jacob's new box of 48 colors give her lots of crayons to lay out in a neat little row. She colors with one crayon then puts it in the box and picks up the next one.

But the other day she told me "this one doesn't work". I just smiled and kept going. On another day, she told me the same thing. The third time she said it, I laughed inside.

Today, she did it again. She took out all the crayons, lined them up on the little brown table, colored with each crayon before sticking it in the box and moving on to the next one.

Then I saw it on the couch. All alone and probably never to make it back to see her friends again or the box she once called home. There on the couch was "the crayon that doesn't work".

The white one.

Daddy's new car

2009 Sapphire Blue Nissan Versa Hatchback



The state of Texas is trying to get all the older cars off the roads...

However, there are a few hoops to jump through:

1. Your vehicle has to be at least 10 yrs old - no problem, we have a 92 and 98.

2. You have to buy a newer car - within the past 3 yrs - 06,07,08 or 09.

3. At a dealership...which means you are paying more for a car, than buying from an individual. But how are the poor dealerships to make money if you go with an individual.

4. You can only get one $3000 voucher every 12 months - so are they trying to get older cars off the road or not? Which means we couldn't put our two old cars together and get $6000 off a newer car.

5. The interest rate on the new cars vs. the interest rate on used cars only changed the price of the car by $1000 over the life of the loan. So why wouldn't you go new with the longer warranty and your choice of color.

6. Plus, Katy will be learning to drive in a few years... 15 passenger van or smaller commuter car.

Daddy (and some day Katy)'s new car - 2009 Sapphire Blue Nissan Versa Hatchback

Guess who?

Who is this beautiful girl? All grown up and coming home in just a few more days!

When nematodes are NOT beneficial...

Since the girls and I have been working on cleaning up all the tree debris from the pruning of the last weeks - my feet are sooooo itchy from bug bites.

I was thought it was mosquitoes (which makes me nervous since some mosquitoes in the Denton area have tested positive for steroids and West Nile Virus). But as I realize how many bites Rebekah, Emily and I have... well, the conclusion must be chiggers!

In our quest to rid the homestead of chiggers back in the spring (or summer?), we used beneficial nematodes. And while Darren sprayed water and microscopic worms (that were hibernating in a yellow sponge) all over our back yard - we never saw them. He might have been spraying dead nematodes or nothing at all, how would we know?

I can't see chiggers and I can't see nematodes. What if nematodes are baby chiggers? So instead of lowering our chigger population, we've actually increased it.

Wonderful. If you'll excuse me, I have to scratch myself.

I'm voting for Tina Fey - I mean Palin

Do you want to know my main reason - she's given birth. Natural, epidural, c-section - I don't care - I just know she's given birth to what looks like 5 kids.

I'm not sure what all the hoopla is about her not having any experience. She is just running for vice-president, right?

And haven't most kings and queens, dictators and presidents had advisers to point them in the right direction? So I'd be as equally concerned about who McCain or Obama appoint to be their advisers. But I'm not.

Because in reality, I'm voting for her because she's pro-life. And not just pro-life because that's the parties platform, but because she's given birth. She knows what it's like to be pregnant - so when she says that precious life inside you is worth keeping - no matter how it started - I agree.

And although my golden Saturday Night Live days have passed - Don't miss the latest SNL of Palin and Clinton. Tina Fey does an awesome job (just don't let the kids watch).

You could sell your children

While sitting with my "little" family at a local restaurant, Emily says, "You could sell your children and make some money."

What? Darren and I were talking about something else and Emily just enlightened us with her stream of consciousness. Sell your children (of which she's one of many).

"Who would we sell first? You?" NO!

"How about Claire?" No!

"Becca?" No! "Katy?" No. "Jacob?" No.

"Well, I'm running out of kids to sell. How about Amanda?" sigh. OK.

In the meantime we look over at Becca with tears in her eyes. "You aren't going to sell us, are you?" Um, No.

Sometime's it's hard to know when to joke with one 5 yr old, while not traumatizing the other.

On the first day of tree cutting...

(sung to the tune of 12 days of Christmas)

On the first day of tree cutting, Gary brought to me
one Telescoping Pole Pruner with Saw Blade

On the second day of tree cutting, Marcus brought to me
two chainsaws and a Telescoping Pole Pruner with Saw Blade


On the third day of tree cutting, Darren showed me
three big dead branches on the ground, two chainsaws and a Telescoping Pole Pruner with Saw Blade

On the fourth day of tree cutting... hopefully we'll get it all cleaned up and out to the curb!

What do you do in your pink leotard?

While I was watching my nieces one day - I ended up with 5 girls in pink leotards.

And since we've done all that ballerina stuff... let's try something different.

How about beating the bushes in the back yard? And sometimes each other (on accident of course)



Maybe climbing the basketball goal? Must have been a great day!