First Day of School

Drama Queen and Teach

I’m pretty sure I mentioned already that we are almost done with summer vacation. Sadly, my three elementary-aged kids go back to school tomorrow. Well, actually, Scout is starting Kindergarten, so she only has orientation tomorrow and doesn’t officially start school until next week. But Crafty and Scout head back tomorrow.

Gym Rat, Drama Queen, and Bossy

Year-round school has been interesting. Bossy and the Gym Rat started school in a Montessori School, so they were on traditional for a short time…other than that, all of my parenting has been around a ten weeks on, three weeks off schedule. When my oldest kids first started school, we were on C-track, but after we moved to our current home we have always been on A. (Except for the Dog Walker who was always on D-track because that includes the Special Needs kids.)

That means my kids start school the last week in July, but they get out the second week in June instead of the first week in July. So we are one of two tracks that actually gets a little bit of summer vacation rather than just three weeks off in July. It’s hard to cram in all of the summer activities that needs to be done! We have to have swimming lessons, a chance to camp and fish, the July holidays, of course, and a little vacation is always nice. The years we had kids on two different tracks were tricky to plan anything.

Dog Walker

The other downside to year-round school is that the kids have to have two wardrobes for back-to-school. Instead of cute jeans and hoodies, they need shorts and t-shirts when they start. Then, in October, after their first off-track, they think they need a new warmer wardrobe. It’s nice to have a break though. The September off-track usually comes about a month after my older kids have started school. I’m about burned out by then and not having to worry about homework for the little kids is a welcome relief.

Prima Donna and Princess

Their second break comes right after Christmas and they normally stay home most of the month of January. I’m not a big fan of the winter months. I used to get so depressed…trying to lose weight after the holidays, no sunshine, cold and wet, and just to force me to re-evaluate things, my birthday happens to show up about then. Having the younger kids home has been a welcome distraction and the Christmas holidays just continue right on in to January (except that we throw the tree out the day after Christmas…another post for another time).

Crafty and Sport

It’s kind of funny, I was having a bit of writer’s block and I couldn’t seem to settle on a subject, so I asked Teach to just choose some random pics for me and I would write around them. We have this tradition of taking a picture of the kids just before they head out the door on the first day of school. She must have gone through a bunch of baby books or something to find all of these pictures because they are from several different years. Lots of my kids look alike, so make sure you read the captions although the clothing might give away some of the older ones. I hope you all enjoy a nice August off, but for me it’s goodbye summer, hello homework!

My Grandmother

 If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you’ve heard me talk about my grandparents before. I grew up three blocks down the street from them and I spent lots of time there. My grandma was born in a tiny town (Serious! This town is so small the Post Office is a Tough Shed!) in central Utah in 1918 during the flu epidemic. She was in her early teens during the Great Depression and I remember listening to her tell a story about having to cut up a temple dress to make a white blouse for a program at school. 

She met and married her husband and they had my mom. When my grandma was in her early 20s, her husband had a stroke while he was swimming and he drowned. My mom was about 18 months old and my grandma was pregnant with her second child. She buried her husband and then the stress was too much for her and she lost the unborn child as well. It was just before the war and there weren’t many options for her. She started looking for a husband and that’s when she met my grandpa. Grandpa had a 7-year-old daughter and a 9-month-old son. His wife had died from complications of childbirth and he was forced to quit his job with the railroad so that he could take care of his kids. It was a good match for both of them. 

Grandma holding Bossy.

Grandma was always a very strong woman both physically and emotionally. She could out-walk me even in her 80s. She worked hard all of her life, mostly as a sales-clerk in a furniture store. (After she retired she offered to watch baby Bossy while I finished the school year.) Grandma taught me to work! My mom didn’t really like to make us work at home; she wanted to do most of the household chores herself, so I learned to clean a bathroom, wash dishes, and sweep a floor at Grandma’s house. She would pay us for our time, but only when we did the job exactly the way she wanted it done. She insisted that her floors be vacuumed three times in each spot, and very s-l-o-w-ly…

On Wednesday afternoons we had Primary after school. It was so fun to stop at Grandma’s store and visit with her for a few minutes before we headed across the street to the church. Sometimes she would take her break and walk next door with us to get a pop or an ice cream bar from Melba’s grocery store. Grandma always loved soda pop! She would buy it by the case and we were always welcome to help ourselves. 

Drama Queen, Sport, Grandma, and Taco, 2008

About once a month Grandma and mom would pull one or two of us out of school and take a trip to Provo for groceries and supplies. We loved going with Grandma because she always took us out for lunch and sometimes she bought us shoes or some other necessary clothing item. She was careful with her money because she was a child of the Depression, but she always had it to share if we had a need. 

Making hot pads.

 She still collects aluminum and she was super excited when the clerk handed her $80.00 last week for her cans. Because she doesn’t have the strength to crush them with her hands or her feet, she throws them on her driveway and runs over them with her car.

Grandpa died in 1989, three weeks after the Drama Queen was born. He spent his last couple of years in a nursing home about 35 miles away. Grandma drove over every day and helped care for him. She was always generous with her time and talents. She made hundreds of quilts and gave them away to those in need and to places like Primary Children’s Medical Center. She has done the same thing with hot pads and dishcloths. She recently celebrated her 93^rd birthday and though she has slowed down some, she can still tell some amazing stories and play a mean game of Pinochle. Happy Mothers’ Day, Grandma…I love you.

Mother's Day "Surprise"

My sweetie works for a defense contractor and since that is government work, he usually works four 10-hour days. (I say usually because for the last month he has been working 6 14-hour days…but the overtime is finished…for now.) On Fridays he hangs around the house, runs the preschool carpool and the middle school carpool. Then just for good measure he takes the rest of the kids to school too. Sometimes he surprises me with breakfast from Carl’s Jr. or by mopping the floor. I almost always get to sleep in. 
 
So this past Friday was even better than usual since it marked the beginning of Mothers’ Day Weekend. Several years ago I proclaimed that rather than celebrate Mothers’ Day, we would celebrate Mothers’ Day Weekend. That is because my sweetie thinks it’s important to take care of his mom too. So on the Saturday before Mothers’ Day he drove the couple of hours to her house and helped her with any needed projects. He pruned trees, mowed her lawn…you get the idea. Anyway, back to Friday. 

After dropping off the preschoolers, my sweetie took Curly shopping at Sam’s Club. Last week when we were in there, I pointed out a cute little picnic set I would love to have for Mothers’ Day. It was just right for Curly and Baby Doll and maybe the grandkids. I know…you’re thinking that’s not really for me, but those are my favorite kind of gifts. So I wasn’t surprised when that’s where they went. About an hour later they returned. I heard the door open and slam closed and Curly’s little feet came running up the stairs. 

Deluxe Patio Set

 I was feeding Baby Doll on the bed and he climbed right up clutching a box of strawberries to his chest. He had a huge grin on his face and he snuggled up next to Baby Doll. "Strawberries, yumm!" I said, "Where have you two been?" As if I didn’t know. "To Sam’s," he said. He patted Baby Doll on the head. "What did you buy?" I smiled at him, already knowing the answer. "A little table and chairs for you and me and Scout and Baby Doll and Taco and Burrito…and it has an umbrella and we can put it on the porch!" he finally stopped to breathe. "That is so cool!" I said, stroking the baby’s head and trying unsuccessfully to put her back to sleep. 

Then my sweetie came through the door carrying a massive carrot cake, my personal favorite, (so much for my diet this week!). "You didn’t tell Mom what we bought, did you?" he asked. Curly glanced at me and the smile returned, "Yes!" he responded. I grinned back at him. My sweetie snorted. "What else did you buy?" I asked, assuming he would say muffins or bread or maybe some cheese. My sweetie jumped right in, "Yeah, what else did we buy?" Sometimes I think he forgets how incredibly bright my little Curly is… That blond head lifted up off the bed and big blue eyes twinkled. Dad had given him permission to tell! 

Sam's Club Carrot Cake

He took a deep breath, "We bought a new camera," he said, then glanced at my sweetie, "for the blog!" he continued. My sweetie started laughing, "You weren’t supposed to tell!" he said. Curly’s lip began to quiver. He didn’t like disappointing Daddy. Then my sweetie began tickling that little tummy and Curly started laughing too. I think my sweetie is the one who got the surprise…never assume that a two-year-old isn’t paying attention to your every move! Happy Mothers’ Day!

Friday Freebies: JCP Clearance

If you stopped by my blog last week, you know I had a fantastic mail day. I don’t want to brag or anything, but Bossy, Teach, Baby Doll and I took a bunch of those coupons and headed over to JC Penney. Ok, maybe I do want to brag…we took my $25.00 worth of coupons, plus the coupons in the ad, and I headed out the door with two huge bags full of clothes! Here are the final results:

Baby Doll – yellow t-shirt, green jacket, flowered stretch pants, yellow/pink sleeper
Curly – blue printed t-shirt
Scout – four pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pink leggings, 1 pair of pink yoga pants, 2 printed t-shirts
Sport – 5 printed t-shirts
Crafty – 2 black pairs of yoga pants, a pair of jeans, a pair of stretch pants
Prima Donna – 4 printed t-shirts, black ruffled skirt
Princess – 1 pair of pink sweats, 1 pair of blue yoga pants and 1 pair of black yoga pants
I also bought Taco 2 printed t-shirts for his birthday.

I walked out the door with all of this stuff for about $65.00. I love shopping clearance deals and we pick up things now for back-to-school in the fall. I know we might be a bit behind the trends this way, but most styles don’t change that much and we just look for basic things like tees and jeans that are always classics. Most stores are clearancing right now; preparing for the summer looks. That means you can buy coats and jackets, long-sleeved shirts, and warmer things for practically nothing (at JCP they are 80% off).

A couple of weeks ago we bought a half dozen beautiful Dockers sweaters for my sweetie at 90% off. They cost me less than $4.00 each. I even bought my Baby Doll a swimsuit at Target for $5.00. It was last season’s style, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t care. Maybe I should ask her…

Good Deed

One thing I’ve definitely learned after having all these kids is that it’s much easier to go to the grocery store by myself. It’s not that the kids beg for things…they learn early on that if they ask there is NO WAY I will buy that particular item. It’s simply that trying to get everyone inside the store and then into a cart, and then contained while I figure out what I need to buy can be incredibly difficult. 

Cars from '08 Sport is asleep and I can't find one to show.  Bailed out by this fun blog.

Unfortunately, sometimes I have to take my entourage with me. Today was one of those days. Smith’s had an amazing deal on Cheerios and I had 23 coupons! (Not that it’s important to the story, but I got 4 boxes of 14 oz Cheerios for $3.30! That’s less than a dollar a box and each box also had a free pull-back racer in it…you can’t go wrong with a free car.) So I drag Scout, Curly, and Baby Doll all to the store. 

 The minute we enter the doors they are both running for the Car Cart. That suits me fine since I can at least keep them somewhat contained inside the car without a leash. I snap Baby Doll’s car seat in and we head to the huge cereal display. I proceed to load 36 boxes of Cheerios into my cart. Car Carts are great except that they have smaller baskets so I can’t get as much in there as I’d like, but I manage. 

Soon we are rolling slowly toward the bakery for our free cookies. (After all the Easter candy, I managed to shake my head when the bakery girl offered me one.) I toss in 4 loaves of bread, a couple of bags of bagels and some rolls for supper. We bypass the produce since we are already stopping every few feet to pick up a box of cereal or loaf of bread that kamikazed to the floor. Somehow I squeeze in a couple of gallons of milk and we head to the checkout.

I open my purse to pull out my coupons and necessaries. That’s when I realize my sweetie has the Fresh Values card in his wallet. I know, you are thinking, "No problem, just type in your phone number." But it’s not that easy. Teach works at Smiths so I have an amazing employee card that gives me an extra 10% off the Kroger products. That’s when I remember that Teach is out in the Fuel Center. I fire off a text, hoping that she has left her wallet in the Customer Service area and I can get her card and use it. 

Somebody pulls into the lane behind me and I look up to suggest that they move ahead since I’m not really ready yet. I’m pleasantly surprised to see Sterling, a friend of Teach’s who worked with her until only recently when he transferred to another store. I smile, "Hey, how are you doing?" I notice he is buying cereal and since I’m not using all my coupons I offer him some. He gladly takes them and I move aside my overstuffed cart to let him go first. We chat for a minute and then a new text comes in from Teach. Yes, she has her purse, but it is with her across the parking lot in the Fuel Center. That means I have to park my cart and drag all three kids across the parking lot to get her card before I can check out, and Curly has fallen asleep. 

As I’m contemplating my fate, I notice that Sterling is nearly finished with his transaction. He thanks me again for the coupons then he turns to leave. My desperation made me bold, "Hey Sterling," I call. He turns back to me, all smiles. "Could you do me a favor?" I beg. "Sure," he responds. "Could you run over to fuel and get Teach’s Fresh Values card for me?" He pushes his cart to the side. "No problem," he says and sprints out of the store. I barely had time to send Teach a text before she responded with one saying that he had the card and was on his way back. It only took him about 3 minutes tops, but Sterling, I just want you to know that you saved my day! Thanks for being such a great guy! You can have my coupons anytime.

Attack of the Clothes

People ask me all the time how I stay on top of the laundry…it’s easy, the piles never get so high that you would actually get hurt if you fell off. Badaboom! Seriously though, laundry is an issue. 

Baby Doll was born 4 ½ weeks early and we had absolutely nothing that would fit her. She weighed in at a hefty 6 lbs 8 ozs for a preemie, but all the newborn clothes we had were way too big. So while I was still in the hospital, Teach took off for my favorite store (Kohl’s again) and picked up some little preemie things. 

These tiny clothes had a tendency to get lost in the laundry pile. I think she only wore a couple of the shirts once before they were too small. I was sorting through her stuff earlier this week and pulled out a pair of pink flowered stretch pants. It was hard to believe they ever fit over her chubby little thighs. Dance outfits and soccer shirts also tend to get lost in the pile. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten a bit smarter and I pull them out and keep them safely stashed until game day. Then we aren’t madly throwing clean and dirty clothes all over the place 15 minutes before kickoff. 

I also have one laundry basket that is constantly devoted to socks only. About once a month we take the whole basket into the family room, put in a movie and have a sock-folding party. The kids remember this activity fondly because usually it ends up with them matching a pair or two and then getting lost in the movie while Mom folds the rest of the basket. At least they think they are helping… part 2 here.

Gratitude

My little two-year-old Curly is the sweetest thing! This morning I was pulling some bargains out of yet another Kohl’s bag. This time they were pretty much all for 5-year-old Scout; some Princess jammies, a fuzzy pink jacket with fuzzy pink gloves, black and gray leggings. She was happy but not nearly as grateful as I wanted to see her be. 

Meanwhile, Curly stood by my leg and bouncing up and down shouted, "Is there anything for me? Is there anything for me?" I had to keep telling him, "No, this time they are all for Sissy." He was sad, but hung around anyway. Just as he was about ready to head dejectedly down the stairs, I spotted a small navy blue pair of unremarkable sweats that I had pulled out of a bag yesterday and left laying on the tub for him. 

"Hey, Curly, I do have something for you!" He raced back to my bedroom. I felt almost guilty as I held up this one little pair of $2.00 JC Penney sweats. He ran to me, "Are those for me?" he breathed. "Yup! As soon as you go to the potty we’ll put them on." I took his little hand in mine as he half-skipped to the potty. I lifted him up and his small face turned upward to mine. "I’m so excited!" he said. I smiled above his blonde curls. In my heart I promised, "Next time the whole bag will be for you."

Screamin' Deals

I just got back from Kohl’s. It’s my favorite place to look for bargains. With all these kids I have to be a careful shopper, so I am constantly on the lookout. Last week Big Daddy and I spent a couple of hundred dollars on all the clearance toys. That will keep us stocked up for birthdays and even some of Christmas for the next year. But then they had to give me $30.00 in Kohl’s Kash which of course means I had to go back to the store this week. 

I took Bossy with me because she can smell out a bargain anywhere and if she can’t find one, she will ask for one. We left all the kids home but Baby Doll who became extremely heavy somewhere between the 20^th and 25^th clearance racks! Bossy can’t carry the baby because she has to look at every item on every rack. It was about then that I remembered how much I hate shopping with her. 

To her credit she found a nice pair of jeans for Gamer for $2.60. She also rounded up 3 pairs of boys cargo pants for Sport at $5.40 each, and a couple of pairs of earrings for less than a dollar! I found an XXL shirt for the Gym Rat’s birthday for $1.60 and because of a tiny rip in the Levi's I found for him, Bossy talked the cashier into $7.00 instead of $10.00. 

The Prima Donna’s new gym shorts for school cost $1.40. I also snagged a pair of jeans for Dog-Walker and a blue sweater dress for Princess. Two little pairs of stretch pants for Baby Doll and a necklace later we walked out the door for about $35.00. It was a good shopping day.