sick kids

We've had two sick kids for about a week.  Thankfully it seems to be contained and the other 5 still home are reasonable unscathed.  The boys, Christian and Jacob have had it the worst - missing several days of school - a fate worse then death.  After 4 days of a high temp. we took Jacob in and he had a double ear infection - poor baby.  He never complained of ear pain.  He can be a difficult kid to deal with and was pretty compliant while sick - I certainly don't wish him ill health, but the break from trying behaviors was a welcome one - does that make me a bad mommy?  Frankly my dear..........................

Happy Valentine's Day 2009

I am without my spousal valentine, but have my children with me to celebrate.  The sun is out for the first time in a very long time, so it feels cheery.  It's that time of year when the snow is melting exposing the ugly hidden by the clean snow.  We never seem to get all the toys put away before the snow strikes, so there are now pails in the sandbox that are in a million pieces.  It is not, however, warm enough to go out and clean it up yet.  

We're going to have taco bar for out V-day dinner tonight.  Can't go wrong there every person can find some ingredient they like.  I gave the kids Pet Shop toys to Ella, Jacob and Callie - which has kept them very occupied.  It helps that Christian and Shannon are gone for the day.  Especially Christian as he tends to get into Callie's business.  Christian has developmental delays and CP - cerebral palsy.  He tends to be our busybody and tattler.  My rule always has been if there is no household destruction or bodily fluid being spilled I don't need to know about it.  

OK I better take advantage of the peace and get dinner going and probably through in some more laundry - it's a good couple feet deep down there - yikes.

Later -

off school

Another teacher inservice day.  No school for my kids.  The good news is they slept in till 8 - awesome.  The better news is it's 11 and there have been no major fights of any kind.  I have 6 kids in the house - so that's pretty awesome.  

So, now it's 8:40PM - more then a few interruptions.  All in all the kids got along well today.  

Tomorrow night my son Conor and grandson Dominic are joining the 6 at home for dinner.  His wife, Shannan, is a standup comic and couldn't pass up a gig for Valentine's night.  So, lame as it is, he is spending Valentine's day with his mom and siblings.  Dominic just started walking and I haven't seen him on two feet yet, so am super excited.

Hopefully, we can keep Callie in particular from knocking him over.  She has developmental delays and is VERY impulsive.  She has no patience whatsoever for crying kids - fortunately Dom rarely cries, but you never know.  It's hard to take her anyplace where kids are around as you never know when she might be set off.  

I suppose I should get the kids snacked up for bed - 

Later - 

Here I go!

I have the worst memory in the world.  So, before it's past the point of no return I thought I'd try to keep track of our life - my wonderful husband Mark and my incredible kids.  There are 11 of them, so it will take a few weeks of posting to flesh them all out in any kind of detail.

Briefly, they are, Chad 34, Conor 28, his wife Shannan and their son Dominic, Jonathan 25 and his wife Jill, Kelsey 24, Melissa 23, Chris 18, Shannon 11, Christian 10, Callie 8, Ella 7, and Jacob 5.

They have provided more then enough joy, sorrow, excitement, bliss, intrigue etc. etc. for several lifetimes.  I always wanted a big family, but I may have outdone any fantasy I had about how that'd look.

Mark and Chris left for Florida for his last high school trip with dad :=(  Even though we've launched several kids into adulthood, it still sneaks up on me.  I always feel as though there's something more I should have done, taught, lectured, impressed upon - whatever, but at the same time I know we did the best we could and that's all we can do.  

I have an hour to prepare before the kids come home from school, the ones that are in school, or the invasion as I call it.  They have a 4-day weekend off of school - and the weather stinks for outdoor play, so my creative mom side will have to be called into action.  We'll figure it out - as we always do.

Later -