Yes and no! My inlaws are half a mile across the street and watch the kids when we need it. They sometimes even say 'Hey, y'all wanna go out this weekend?? We'll watch the kids!' Yesterday they actually offered to have them all for a weekend in June so we can do something for our anniversary. :D I *heart* my inlaws!! dh works from home. I leave all 'unnecessary' kids at home when I have an appointment somewhere.

I'll share the baby snuggles! Esp when they are screaming their tiny little cute heads off.... ;)

My pregnancies are super easy. Morning sickness is usually pretty mild. Mild enough to somewhat function mostly.... I'm 21 wks pg right now and I feel great. :) Ask me again come August/September... lol

Mine think we need 12 'so we can be like the family in Cheaper by the Dozen' LOL I don't do that kind of chaos....

a mish mash of stuff that works for ME. lol (ie: no major prep needed)

I have one with Apraxia, set processing and impulse control issues. I also have someone in my life that works in the field that is a long time family friend (over 20 yrs) and has helped me learn to work with him. It's tough and I'd rather pay someone to 'do the not so fun' stuff, but, isn't this what homeschooling is all about?

I get the kids and the animals mixed up all the time. It flusters my 4yo sometimes. Other times he thinks it's funny. "Mom, I'm BLAKE! I'm not Fezzik!" I think my all time favorite is when I yelled at the dog to get out of the trash and I yelled a kids name instead of the dog. Yeah, the kids didn't let me live that one down for a long time...

dh told the kids we were going to eat the first chicken they named. LOL They won't tell him which ones are named... ds calls our pleco the 'allergy fish' instead of algae fish. Everyone else calls one Weird Al and the bigger one is Cthuluhu

Oh yeah.. I talk to 'my girls' (chickens) every day. I tell them to think 'hard shells and happy, healthy yolks!' when we put them up to roost at night. I seem to get more double yolks when I say that to them. Hmmm (got a triple yolk one time!)

I tell my cat almost once a day that the ice god (aka the ice dispenser) is not giving hand outs right now. She just looks at me and meows and keeps looking up at the dispenser. She LOVES to play soccer with ice cubes...until they start to melt. Then she wants another one and I end up stepping in a cold, wet puddle somewhere. I also tell the dog to 'quit looking at me like that.' lol

(((hugs))) Maybe you need more than those 5 pieces of bacon. get dh to make it for ya! cuz, ya know... bacon cures all that ails...

main complaint I hear is a sibling going into their room without permission. They also whine and complain about someone taking their seat on the couch or whereever if they got up to get something, etc. My 4yo likes to complain about what color his cup is that day or that someone looked at him funny or... yeah.. he can be draining sometimes LOL

taco meat and rice with 'the fixings'...corn chips, sour cream, cheese, guac, black beans...

we don't name the fish, but the others are: calico cat: Patch black tuxedo cat: Mittens outside kitty that came with the house: Tess Dog: Australian Shepherd- Fezzik Gerbil: sugar (the recently deceased were named cocoa and ginger) And our chinchilla just died last week. :( His name was Charlie Oh... they named some of the chickens LOL (all Rhode Island Reds..) Matilda, Peckers, Goldie (her feathers are a lighter red/golden color), I think they named a few others, but I can't remember them. lol I'm totally naming a rooster (when we get him....) Colonel Sanders ;) They are discussing goat names for the goats we are getting soon.

I have super easy pregnancies. I actually enjoy it...until about 8...8.5 months along where you are just uncomfortable no matter what. My labors are long...but uneventful and fairly easy. The morning sickness is usually pretty mild, but on rough days my older ones help out and just take charge. edit-- forgot to answer part! I was 19 when I had #1. I'm 33 now. Due with #8 right before my birthday.

We re-use bath towels. We don't have assigned towels. If you are about to hit the shower and the only 'clean' towel left is the one your little sister used to dry off with, ya use it. ;) I probably do a load (..or 2!) every day.

I spent a couple weeks in Houston last summer visiting a friend. The weather was SO HOT and SO MUGGY/HUMID. It was horrible. Plan to just not go outside during August. ;)

We have in the past. But, I'm not paying for lessons, etc if you are not interested. So, that's a big part! Anything else usually comes out of the 'educational budget' when we do the bills/money.

My birthday boy has requested pancakes and bacon for dinner. So, that's what we're having!

This extrovert mama is done at 8:30/9. no questions asked!! You can only hear 'mom!!! MOOOOOOM!!!!' so many times in a day....LOL

dh was out of work for nearly 9 months when I was pg with #3 and we had JUST bought a house. It was rough! Between selling stuff and pinching every penny we had in savings to make it stretch we managed to pull through. Every time we are ever in a major bind or have some huge expense come up, we are provided for in some way. Our fridge got damaged in our recent move and we had to get a new one. 2 or 3 days after we put it on our credit card an anon money order for $600 showed up in my mailbox. I can't really explain it... lol Living simply and frugally and trying to save when you can helps in the tougher times. We aren't pushing our kids to go to college. And, if they decide to go, they are going to have to get a job and pay for their classes.

I'm an extrovert while dh is introvert. It makes things interesting. Funny enough....most of the kids are introverted, as well. Everyone needs their own space/time and we try to make that a priority.

where to begin.....LOL I've gotten anything from 'Is birth control not an option!?!?!' from a cashier at Walgreens to an aunt backing me up against a wall and getting in my face telling me how I should 'give my body a rest. I've had enough kids. 'you need some 'me time' every now and then. Don't you and your husband do anything else??' (yeah, all at once...) I've also had a grandmother offer to pay for my birth control after we announced #2 was on the way.