Thursday, March 13, 2008

Five children + No husband = Not as bad as you would think

It's no surprise that I'm a tad busy this week. Brandon is working in Utah, I'm watching my 2 year old nephew for the week, I'm still teaching piano lessons, and I blog and email like I have nothing else going on in my life. For sure, that adds up to some pretty stressful chaos. But whatever, right? A woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do, and this week I gotta just do one thing: Survive.

So, I have. Survived, I mean. Brandon comes home tonight (Hallelujah!), and all will be well in the world. We'll start to pack this weekend and I will carry through on the project during the following two weeks. I'll be busy for a while, it seems, but hey? Isn't this life? I might as well stay busy; I'm gonna be busy for eternity!

Here are some highlights, for your entertainment pleasure, from my exciting week. OH! But first, I have exciting, exciting news!

Brandon reached goal weight! GOAL WEIGHT! He had lost a total of 46.2 pounds! Hooray for Brandon!! Hooray!
Me? Well...ahem...I have not had a very good week. To top it off, I forgot to weigh in. But don't you worry, dear reader. I'm not gonna stop trying, nor will I let a little bit of sliding deter my resolve to reach goal weight. Before I turn 30. Which shouldn't be too hard, seeing as I'm only 3 pounds away from goal weight, and all...I hope...

Okay, now here are the highlights:
  • #4 is sick and has a nice little cough.
  • Nephew doesn't sleep all night. Ever.
  • #4 and #3 can sleep through Nephew waking up. Nephew cannot sleep through anyone waking up.
  • Teaching a piano lesson, #1's baseball game (where I learned to score keep and it was so much fun! I really enjoyed the game. They are just too cute out there. However, learning to score keep kept me from taking pictures of her first game. Doh! Just know she was adorable and I'm starting to dig this whole little league thing), and RS Enrichment. Thank goodness for an amazing YW in my ward who watched the kids for hours while I accomplished said stuff (on Tuesday).
  • Nephew and #3 finding the baby powder and dusting themselves and the room with it.
  • 5 piano lessons yesterday, and only three tantrums from kiddies. Once again, I love YW who babysit!!
  • Emailing and blogging so much that I had to watch AI on tivo both nights and didn't get to be before 11PM.
  • Going to the park against my better judgement and seeing the results were surprisingly positive.
  • Driving, driving, driving with all 5 kids in the car; dropping off at school, picking up carpool, etc.
  • Going to Costco with #2, #3, #4 and Nephew, and having a really good time watching people's reactions at my unabashedly positive attitude. Luckily, I only encountered one "You must be so busy!"
  • Being so grateful to my VT for making me dinner, which I have enjoyed very, very much for two days, since my kids are too picky to appreciate her simple culinary genius.
  • Loving the tight bond that exists between #3, #4 and Nephew --grateful they were all born within 2 1/2 years of each other and knowing that they and my other nephews (ages 2 1/2 and 7 months) will be best buddies for eternity.
  • Kissing Nephew's owchies and snuggling with him as I would my own children, knowing that although he has rocked my routine, he's just a sweet 2 year old boy who deserves all the love in the world.
  • Not caring that I was in my pajamas at 10AM this morning when the vinyl upholster-fixer lady came to do an estimate on the chairs my children have destroyed, which, of course don't belong to us; they belong to our landlord. ~sigh~
  • Putting #3 in so many time-outs for screaming and fighting that I forget he was a perfect angel for the last 3 days.
  • Finding out my Sister and her hubby are moving to the SLC valley!!! WHOO-HOO! Not only was I terrified she would move across the country (they were thinking GA, can you believe that?), but I would have missed her by days if they had. Now we'll see each other more often. Huzzah!
  • Not feeling guilty for making all 5 kiddos watch waaaaaaay too much TV. I'm survivin' here, remember?

13 comments:

Amanda D said...

Love, love, love your positive additude! You're amazing!

Congrats to Brandon on his goal. That is awesome.

Good luck getting everything packed while you are doing everything else!

Jocelyn said...

What a great week! I love the chaotic yet somehow fulfilling times. I'm glad Brandon's home tonight. And congratulations to him for reaching his goal weight! That's just awesome.

Love you!

Lizzie said...

Last June when we moved, I did 95% of the packing because Wayne was so busy with summer sales going on, and I lost 7 pounds in two weeks, putting me past my 40 pound weight loss goal. Never underestimate the cardio benefits of packing and lifting boxes. So who cares if you slipped a bit, by the time you get to Utah you'll be way past that weight goal. Keep up the good work!

Cristy said...

Wow! Way to keep it together you busy mom you!

Anonymous said...

I just love taking multiple children shopping. One time I took my two youngest to Target and when the lady behind me overheard me mention to the cashier that I had two more, she said, "But you look so together. How do you keep it together?" I wasn't exactly sure what she meant, but I took it as a total compliment.

Just a few hours of single mom-dom to go!

FluffyChicky said...

You rock! I would have abandoned the children if my husband had been gone for more than 2 nights in a row.

Unknown said...

I followed the link to your blog from the Allens, and now I'm addicted. I have to tell you that in your list of highlights, I can relate to a lot of them. We've seen a baby powdered room (although ours was not dusted, it was 2 inches thick). I often get the "You must be busy" or "You sure have your hands full" (with only two kids--Nebraskans have two kids and space them 4 years apart). Anyways, I just wanted to say, I have been lurking on your board for a while, and I really enjoy it!

rick and cheryl said...

K, you are an inspiration! I am impressed with how together you are and how you just take it one thing at a time. Good luck with the packing. I hope it goes well!

vinestreet said...

Hi Cheryl--this is Kristen, who posted at Segullah today. Thanks for the humor and energy you added---I laughed out loud while reading your comments. :) So then I jumped over here to your blog and decided to say hello. Your family is beautiful---we wish we lived in Happy Valley. (We're in Nebraska right now.)

Anyway, thanks again.

Kristen

Cheryl said...

jill-
Welcome!
I hope you come back often! Comment away, comment away. Lurkers turned commenters are my favorites. :)

Cheryl said...

Kristen-
WOW! Thank you! Wasn't expecting that, but thank you. :)

flip flop mama said...

Glad you had fun and made the best of it!

Jocelyn said...

Hey Cheryl & Jill, you should know each other! You went to high school together, although Cheryl was music and Jill was debate and you are 2 years apart! Yay for me bridging the gap between two fellow Blackfootians! :)