I Love Lucy is a big hit here.

Didn't want to post a pic of me or the kids, so I chose the kittens! The kittens are quite significant because dh was allergic for the first 16 years or our marriage....or so he thought. dd13 wanted a kitten so bad! Come to find out dh is not allergic anymore! We got them this past June. Our first pets other than fish or hamsters. :)

A window with an ugly air conditioning unit.

Ds6 loves these kits! The quality is not great...projects usually don't last longer than a day, but it's a lot of fun.

A combination of parts of three of my kids nicknames. I think my mom came up with it. Dd13=Munch Ds11=Roasty Dd9=Lolly Put them together and you get MunRoLy!

I've learned the hard way never to put my shirts in the dryer. I've been hanging them for years. I get so frustrated when one accidentally gets thrown in there! It shrinks so much I can't wear it anymore. In looking through my clothes I have found the clothes I continue to enjoy are the nicer quality ones bought at stores like Lands End, Ann Taylor Loft, Nordstrom, or Anthropologie. Can't afford full price at any of those stores, but they have great sales. I just always go through these phases of trying to shop at the discount stores. Doesn't seem to be working for me.

Yes! When I go into make lunch now the kitchen is still a mess because everyone helped themselves at different times. I have a very small kitchen and can't even start lunch until breakfast is all cleaned up. I guess the rule should be that if you make it yourself, you also clean it up.

I've also recently tried Kohls. Love the prices, hate the quality.

I've tried thrift stores and just can't do it. I know some people are great at it, but I'm not one of those people, nor do I have the time.

2 or 3 months later. This seems to be a pattern for me. I'll really enjoy my clothes for a couple months, then wonder why I ever thought they looked good and want them out of my closet! Now in thinking about this it usually doesn't happen with my dressier clothes. I can wear them and feel good in them for a long time. It's my everyday clothes that start off looking great to me, then become old and frumpy in my mind. This especially happens when I buy cheaper clothes because the get stretched out or get those little holes! But it even happens when the clothes still look the same. I think I need a mom uniform that I won't tire of. Okay, here's my plan. I'll go through my closet and find the clothes that have stood the test of time and figure out why. Unfortunately it's going to be a very small list. I'd be happy in jeans and a hoodie most days, so maybe I should just go with that!

This sounds like a very sensible, low stress idea. I like it. We rarely all eat breakfast at the same time, but if all the food is out it doesn't really matter. dd9 can go a long time without eating...if there is nothing around she likes she'll use the excuse that she's not hungry. But then when she asks for food she always asks for something sweet. I should probably pay special attention to what goes into her mouth and she if it might be related to how she acts during the day. She gets very angry sometimes (usually at her brothers) and I'm wondering if these things are related. Some of it is just who she is. Even though we have 4 kids she is the "middle"child.

Funny! As I was typing my last post dd9 said, "Mama will you heat up the cinnamon rolls?". They are leftover from Christmas breakfast. Little Miss Sweettooth is going to get her wish this morning. :tongue_smilie: We'll start fresh tomorrow. Better make my grocery list.

Yes, this just proves that dd9 is the problem...she's the only one who doesn't like cereal! If I can keep cereal and bagels on hand we should be fine.

you are probably right about that. Every morning she asks me to make a sweet breakfast (which we have on special days, but she seems to think they are for everyday...I think we might be dealing with a sugar addiction too) and if I don't make what she wants and we don't have bagels she just won't eat. I do need to be better about keeping bagels on hand and not allowing them to be eaten as snacks. That's why they disappear so fast. I need to tell the kids they are only for breakfast.

I totally agree with the less complaining if I just serve one thing, no choices. There will always be someone who is unhappy. At dinner I don't give choices...eat what you are served. Why don't I have this thinking with breakfast? Probably because I would rather them get their own breakfast thus avoiding the complaints in the morning. I hate days that start off with conflict!

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Yes, this is when the problems start...when I run out of the foods they like and can get on their own... Which brings me to my next problem:Grocery Shopping! I'm no good at it. I mean fine once I'm there with my list. It's actually making the list and getting me to the store that's the hard part.:tongue_smilie:

4 kids, all have different tastes. I tried earlier this year to give them the responsibility to get breakfast for themselves. Works fine for some, not for others. dd9 will end up eating nothing unless I have bagels in the house or if I decide to make pancakes. ds6 I will usually make some eggs for or sometimes he'll eat cereal. The older 2 like grape nuts. Gone are the days that I can just make one thing that everyone will eat. I just don't want breakfast to have to be a big production, but I do want them to get something healthy into their bodies without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Okay, I'm rambling here. Breakfast just leaves me feeling so confused every morning! I like systems and can't seem to find a good system for breakfast! btw, I make myself a super-yummy oatmeal each morning with berries and peanut butter. Wish my kids would just eat that!

Christmas for us isn't over yet. We'll have a few relaxing days, then midweek we'll drive 2 hours to exchange gifts with dh's parents, then the next day my family arrives. Christmas in our family just keeps going!

Made them last night...put in fridge...normally would be baking them now, but we are waiting until after church. ds6 is not happy about this! :)

Yes! That's why I immediately got in the car and drove over there without even calling to see if they were open!

Journaling helps me think. For dh it's talking, for me it's actually writing out my thoughts. For some reason solutions to problems seem to appear as I'm writing about them! So, yes, I journal when I can. When I go a long time without doing it I feel like I have a major lack of clarity in my life. I really enjoy reading my old journals too!

A teacher's card with no fees would be great! Of course I'd probably lose the books if I had them that long. Library B is in a direction I normally don't go... Funny that dh thought that was the one. :tongue_smilie:

Right! Never thought I'd be happy to see a wet bed. Btw, it's 1:50 and now both my dds are awake! It's the never ending night. At least they are in their beds, but we need to sneak the stockings back in. I'm thinking next year we change from stockings on the bed to on the mantle.

Wow, kolamum, I love the idea of a jam-packed Christmas Eve, but I'm exhausted just thinking about it! You must have a lot of energy! I did have dh take the kids away so I could clean the house. He's the one with the energy around here. He took them to a church that had man-made snow, only to find it wasn't open yet! So they went to the beach instead. I practically ran through the house cleaning like crazy. Then took a nap when they got home!