overdue update

four eleven-year-olds hit the town for some yummy steaks at o'charley's and the movie soul surfer. the most "girl" time i've had in months! :)

family outings to the zoo! thanks grandma and grandpa for the family passes! the kids love the kick ass playground and mark and i love the gibbons :)

with four in soccer and one in flag football, we've logged a LOT of time at drakes creek park. because of all the rain outs, there were SEVEN games last saturday. luckily, we're at the end of the season. 2 practices a week and 5 games on saturdays is getting exhausting! colorful group, aren't they?!

socks for seven anyone? we don't feel bad about having the girls do this, seeing as how their chore list is almost non-existent. this will soon change. :)

 i sent the boys upstairs to each pick out two toys to take outside to the playground...aidan and jake picked nerf guns and transfomers...oliver comes downstairs like this. he said, 'i'm a fireman in sunglasses mommy!' well alright then. oov is a special, special boy. :)

i made these invitations to my friends' daughter's first birthday party! it was a fun task. i haven't done much creative-wise since i've moved here (see above activities that keep me distracted...) and so i loved getting to have fun and be creative with these! :)

 

my painting above our bed :) 

 

storms, lots of rain, and beautiful flowers. mark and i are learning how to garden....we have no idea what we're doing. but it seems to be working! the yard is beautiful!

and last but not least...my favorite part! mark and i just spending time together and enjoying the porch, and of COURSE, our new favorite mexican restaurant, rio bravo. mexican and margaritas?! any day!! :) these days are sponsored by grandma and grandpa who occupy the hoodlums so we can relax which is much needed after our busy busy days!

 

we've cleared the lice and given pillows and comforters back. what a pain in the ass that was!! so so so glad it's over. we're nearing the end of the school year (nooooo) and the days are getting hotter. the pool will open soon, so i've started hammering it out with p90x. i've GOT to get my body back...i kind of let it go this winter. yuck. we've also got a family vacation to a south carolina beach in july...can't wait! i really hope my boys will be able to come with us. i'll also be going back to school either this summer or fall (depending on whether or not i get granted tennessee residency for the summer). i'm really looking forward to it. i've been wanting to go back for a long time but it was just never possible. i'll be going for my emt basic this fall, then on to paramedic after that! the whole program is 2 years. hopefully mark will be joining me for the emt basic. he's in his last week of officer school right now so that he can test for captain next time it comes around. the emt certification will only help his promotional points and earn him a little extra money. i'm so ready to be going back to school and do something besides waiting tables. plus, because i'm a single mom with 2 kids, i'm actually getting paid to go back to school. it's a pretty good deal. :) thank you, mark, for pushing me to do this and do everything possible to make it happen!

 

so that's what's going on in our little crazy world...can't help but just sit back and watch it all fly by. 

life

ahhh sweet life. you suck me dry sometimes.

i'm starting to think we're almost over the lice issue! we still have 7 bags of pillows, stuffed animals, and comforters in the garage. but for the past 2 days we have found zero nits on either girl!!! just to update you on what we've done in this entire horrific process...2 pesticide "lice" treatments (nix and rid), one mayonnaise treatment, and hair dye. yes, we dyed an 8 and 10 year old's hair. but we matched it as close as we could. this was after 2 weeks of no luck with anything else...we were at our wits end. not to mention twice daily section by section nit checking. plus every other day of washing, rewashing, and washing some more of bed sheets and blankets. boiling of brushes. boiling of combs. ahhhhh we were so done. i think we may have beaten it. i promise if it comes back i'll just throw up my hands and give up right then and there. this whole process is insane!!! i've done nothing but itch and scratch for the past month!!! thankfully nobody else got lice, though. which is pretty impressive for a household of 7.

sweet ashlee's birthday was yesterday, she turned 11. i couldn't imagine the feeling mark felt...i just can't imagine my BABY being 11. crazy. she got a wii game (just dance 2) and it was absolutely hilarious to watch her and kait rock it! i'll be taking her and 3 of her girlfriends out for dinner and a movie on saturday night...figured for turning 11 she could have her first "girls' night" :) poor girl deserves it with how much she has to deal with 4 younger siblings!! i'll post pics of that...we'll get all dolled up and have a grand ol' time :)

the bathroom issue hasn't been resolved. all 7 of us are sharing one bathroom. bleh. but we're working on it!!! mark has to go to officer school next week...i'm dreading it...that means 4 full days (2 of which have soccer practice...) of kids, homework, refereeing, bathing, and lunch making. not to mention the 6:15am alarm that comes with all that. oh but i love them. so it's ok. :)

sweet mark took all 5 to soccer practice tonight so i could have some time to chill out and breathe. jake isn't playing, but is playing football. so he took him to practice some things. his first game last sunday went so great! we were very proud of him! aidan and oliver are doing well with soccer, too. i'm so thankful for this new life i've found. i'm so happy. :))

insanity

whoa what's wrong with me?! i used to blog at least twice a week. i guess i have 5 kids, a boyfriend who i can't be next to enough 4 days a week, and this new-found life of mine to distract me. my blogs call to me more often than not...i just struggle with what to post about and what not to post about. guess that's a post for unhinged hope. so. i've made a few cards...and by the request of the lovely patty, i'm working on birthday invites for her daughter's first birthday...such an honor :)) loving every minute of it! i'll post pictures soon. nice to have a project again! here's something i did the other day just trying to warm back up to it all...

i love the triangle banner going across the top...color is a little off because i took the picture with my phone (that has undoubtedly been though some rough times)...but still. a start. thanks, patty :)

so other than that it's just kids. and more kids. and what...wait. why do i have so many kids? kids. kids. kids. eff. but i can't help but love them. which is what it's all about, right? :)

we make 4 lunches at a time, hand out hugs and kisses every 10 minutes...times 5...get 3 on the bus by 8, drive one to school by 9, pick up one at 2:30, another at 3, be home by 4 for the other 2, sit down and work through homework times 4 for an hour, take turns yelling upstairs at the others on the wii, work on approximately 2 major school projects a week, cook dinner for 7 every night, and pancakes every saturday morning. you can feel free to go ahead and call us badasses. i could take a whole 'nother post and talk about rules, orders, and lifestyles here as a household of 7. i grew up in a conservative and quiet household with only my brother who was 3 years younger than me. mark has an older sister about the same...big families sure are different and more challenging than what we were used to. but we are just holding on for the ride and loving every minute of it.

call us insane...but we signed up all 5...yes all FIVE up for sports this year. yeah...i'll let you know how that works out. jake was the lone wolf and wanted flag football...the other 4 chose soccer. 5 kids. 1-2 practices a week per kid, plus games on saturday. 5 games. saturday. wait..what?! yeah maybe i'm insane. but such is life. i'm not bored, that's for sure.

more to come soon.

i promise.

and here.we.go.