frogs

so, as some of you know, my husband began graduate school last week. what that means for me is a little alone time with the kids. im not sure how he does it, because i kind of lose my cool with the messes, the in and outs, the snacking, the arguing, changing clothes, mommy can i's, and so on and so forth. so i take them outside. for hours. last nights entertainment was a frog and lots of mud. i think i take pictures and videos so that i can look back and remember that it was fun, not just crazy crabby moments. when i scroll through the blog it all looks so fun and lovey. im here to tell you, im not perfect and i am cranky with these sweet little cherubs lots. last night in fact, they were all coated in mud and i made them get hosed down outside with cold hose water.
they had to go straight upstairs, brush teeth and go to bed at 7:45, because i couldn't take one more snack, fight or mess. i snapped at them to hurry and brush, stop playing with things along the way, to hurry with their pjs, and to hurry into bed. then i kiss them goodnight and of course feel horrid. i will vow to be more patient and kind tomorrow night.

here are the pictures which make it look like lots of peaceful fun.





a toads greatest nightmare.




"toady" which was still in the bowl this morning poor thing.





don't water the trees after having too much to drink!!

the store

i am convinced my children are watching too much tv. yesterday i had to run to the store, and molly wanted to come along. ok great, just the two of us, i enjoy spending one on one time with the kids. i asked her if she preferred price chopper or hy-vee, she said hy-vee because they have better cookies. ok. so we are in the paper products isle and i am getting some paper towels. she says, "mommy, don't you want the quicker picker upper?" no, i would rather get the hy-vee brand two for a dollar, thank you. a few isles later, a nicely dressed lady ever so politely suggests that i could really benefit from some microdermabrasion. are you serious? who are you? she says, "i only suggest it because you have nice skin, but it is clear that you have never had a treatment. " well, its clear to me that you haven't had any children with your cute little body and your fancy accessories. she hands me her card and says how she would be happy to do an in home consultation. puh-lease. dont you approach me at the grocery store when i have been running after four children all morning. i know i look fancy in my ratty black sweats and t-shirt, pony tail and no make-up. anyhow... we finished up and being the sweet (apparently old and wrinkled) mom that i am, i let molly pick out a pack of gum. she pops a piece in her mouth and shares one with me. "here mommy, you will really like the bold new taste and the long lasting flavor." ok, so too much tv. we will work on turning it off a little more

and just for the fun of it, a video of course. with the kids gone during the day, maggie has to entertain me.




and a picture of my cute football player

swimming

we went to the pool for probably the last time before it closes today. just the ones who didn't have school. its a major outing to go swim with little ones, sunscreen, swim diapers, snacks, sippy cups, life jackets, towels, floaties, goggles, toys, etc. then when we get to the pool we usually hop in the water for a good 5 or 6 minutes and then spend the rest of the time watching bugs crawl along the concrete and eating snacks. today was especially exciting due to the discovery of two giant caterpillars who were nearly turned into caterpillar peanut butter after maggie's little chubby fingers got done poking and prodding on them.

here are a couple before the pool and after the pool shots. yes that is ashton sound asleep on the computer desk in his birthday suit.

school bus

i got video of carson coming off the bus after his first day of kindergarten. if you have your sound on, you will notice the frantic yelling of the bus driver. she has done this every day she drops him off, screaming about how her route is messed up and she is going to fix it. she is nice enough, but i hope she can keep herself calm enough to get my little boy home safely from school on a daily basis.
they get out at 11:20, he doesn't make it home until noon, and then you can still see her driving in circles around the neighborhood at 12:30. those poor kids, they must think they live a very far way away from the school which is all of a half mile down the road.
he loved school however and made four new friends, but he can't remember their names. molly also loves her class, but refuses to ride the bus home, "its just too crazy, crayons flying, kids yelling, and the bus driver does nothing about it." carson told me there wasn't a flying crayon to be seen, "just lots of peace and quiet" probably so, after riding a bus in circles for an hour, they were probably all asleep.




then i had to throw this video on of maggie totally lovin her yogurt. so peacefully immersed in her food, crazy noodle.

lions and tigers and bears

the kids start school tomorrow and our schedules will instantly become crazy, so we made one last zoo trip today. it is carson's birthday and we wanted to do something fun for him. i thought i would throw on a little video from the morning. the zoo has a little place where you can buy the food pellets for a quarter and hand feed deer. it is cute and fun, even maggie got into the action. i was recording her and the sun was in my eyes, so i couldn't really see what was happening, just pointing the camera. it wasn't until i watched the video later i realized she wasn't feeding them the little food pellets, but letting them lick her nilla wafer which she promptly finished off after we left the feeding area. nice. im going to research what all diseases deer carry so i know what to look for now that my baby just swapped spit with over sized nasty rodent.



after the zoo, dentist, grocery store, and wal-mart we came home and had a small party for carson. my favorite kind of birthday, celebrating with close friends and family in your own backyard. carson got a new bike which he has been drooling over. the kids then ate pizza and chocolate cake, jumped on the jumper, ran themselves silly and are currently crashed out in their beds. a perfect day. happy sixth birthday car!! we love you.

hot sauce

so we went on vacation this past week. a fun family filled week at a cute little cabin in the ozark hills. i will say this vacation was more fun than work. we are finally getting to that point, where outings are starting to have more fun moments than stressful, more smiles than tears.



my parents met us down there and stayed in a cabin next to ours. since my dad got sick last year, every moment with him is special to me. i truly swallow up the memories we are making together, and try to immerse myself in them. we made a bonfire together, me and my dad, and then he taught my kids how to roast a hot dog over the fire. ashton hugged him and kissed his face each night before bed. molly held onto his hand and thanked him for dinner. he watched carson learn how to swim across the pool. maggie learned to say pa paw. so simple but so treasured. im thankful each day that he still here on this earth, and grateful for every new memory my family can make together with him.



i will say that it wasn't all stress free. such as trying to go see a country western show after playing hardcore in silver dollar city for seven hours that day with four little ones. we haul all of our kids, the diaper bag, the souvenirs, the popcorn, sippy cups, drinks, ant farm (carson's - dont ask) down into this amphitheater and find a seat way down in front. this is about four flights of stairs down. we get settled, entertain the children for 10 minutes prior to the show starting, and get ready for a relaxing music filled evening. although when the music started, i was having a hard time hearing it over maggie yelling no, no, no, mine, mine, mine at ashton who had grabbed his sucker back out of her grubby little hands. so then she pinched him and he was hollering. and then carson was ancy and hopping around. and then molly spilled the popcorn, and then maggie started eating it off the ground, and then i looked at jeff and nodded. he started grabbing souvenirs, children, suckers, drinks, while i grabbed maggie and made a not very quiet exit. i think the singers and dancers were offended by out exit, and we tried to quickly move our parade up the four flights of stairs and outta there. i was dying laughing the whole time.
it was such wooster fashion.



another funny point was the ride home. almost 200 miles with really super duper tired kids, mom and dad. we made it all the way to springfield (30 miles) before having to stop. we were sort of cranky about this as we were setting the various mcdonalds breakfast items out in front of everyone. i got myself a breakfast burrito and carson wants half. fine, i tear it in half and jeff warns him it has hot sauce on it. carson out of the blue says "hot sauce is my middle name."
and proceeds to take a bite. just like that. we were rolling. kids are dang funny. that reminded us that the important thing is being together, not staying for the whole show.

nature

so while jeff was at football practice tonight (the fourth this week) i thought it would be nice and relaxing to go outside with the little ones and water the trees. just us and the fresh air, flowers blooming and birds singing. it was beautiful and peaceful. ha ha ha ha ha. it was more filth and mud than peace and birds i guess. don't worry, she didn't actually swallow the mud.

dinner

i really wish for once i could cook a delicious, healthy, organic dinner with hormone free milk to be served in non-toxic plastic cups and sit down at our table and enjoy it.



they say that children who eat dinner together at the table four times a week have higher iq's and are more grounded. when i was growing up my dad ate in the recliner while watching tv, my brothers and i sometimes ate together at the counter, and my mom usually waited on us.

i would like to be the kind of family who sits together every night, re-capping our day while slowly enjoying the yummy hot meal in front of us. so i shoot for that.
well, on the nights im not working at least.

i do cook most nights of the week that i am home.
tonight for example we had homemade cheese pizza and salad. i prepared every body's plates, got out glasses of milk, set the table and called my beautiful children to please come eat. well, more like i yelled and drug them inside, off the computer, and out of the cupboard to come to the table. we all sat down and prayed. maggie started screaming and needed to be put down for a nap. ashton took one bite and said "i definitely full mommy, definitely" and then he ran off and tried to get on the "puter" to play some dora. so molly got up to chase him down, which led to an exciting fall in the kitchen. jeff had to then get up to take ashton to time out. he was given the option of time out or the table and he chose time out. fine. by this time, carson wants more pizza. up i go for more pizza. sit down. molly asks for more pizza. up i go again. sit down. carson would like more milk. up i go. sit back down. ashton is ready to eat. help him get his pizza cut up. take a bite. molly would like more milk. up i go. sit back down. maggie's not napping, but crying. up. down. pizza's cold. time to get ready for work anyhow. pack up the pizza and take it with me. the children were fed, and we were together. im sure it could go much smoother and the dinner table could be much quieter. there could be less spilling, less chattering, and many less sticky fingers and cheeks for me to wipe. may i please not be in such a rush to get there, because oh my goodness, what a sad day that will be.

eight years

warning - this post is a little sappy... just letting you know.





it was officially eight years ago today that i said "i do" to my husband. i am at work, my husband is at home with the four little ones. same story tomorrow night. neither of us really mentioned the date to each other. he called his mom and made her drive forty minutes to our house tonight at 11:30 pm tonight to sit with the kids. he then drove all the way to the hospital to bring me a route 44 diet cherry limeade and some trail mix. security called up to our floor and told cassie that "jennifer rooster has a delivery" (i have only worked with these people for nine years) i looked at the clock and knew, it was 12:01, it had to be my husband. he dropped off my treat and left, i didn't even get to see him.

i imagine someday in the future i will look back on these days and wonder how we did it all. how did we survive the craziness that we have right now. we always knew the path we wanted to take, have a big family, close together in age, realizing the compromises it means along the way. there are days that my body is so exhausted that i could fall asleep before my head hits the pillow. i complain and grumble about housework and the basic maintenance of the four often. (feeding, watering, washing) its shameful, but when im at work and he is at home doing it all alone, he never complains when he calls me.
he tells me cute stories about what is going on at home, like how maggie is walking everywhere tonight, how she stands on her little chubby legs and claps for herself. how ashton told the neighbor's dad "i not playing with you anymore, i not like you and its on purpose" then ran in the house crying only to immediatly fall asleep on the living room floor. he knows i miss the kids when im here, so he tries to give me glimpses of home.
i know its ridiculously hard to handle all four at dinner time, bath time, and bed time by yourself, but not once, not one complaint. and to top it off, when he could be sleeping he is driving up a limeade to me. im so grateful for a husband who always takes the time to treat me like his bride and not just his wife.

the princess

well our concerns about delays have been put to rest just 16 days shy of the deadline.
the half naked princess decided to try and take a few steps today. i threw on the video just for proof. apparently she just needed some clothing in her mouth rather than on her body to get moving.