Today I...

I baked. All. Day. Long!!

I baked 7 batches of cookies!!

I baked 2 batches of chocolate chip sticks!!

I baked 12 chocolate chip muffins!!


I baked 1 cinnamon coffee cake, and 2 loafs of cinnamon swirl bread. (btw...I'm pretty sure this is the bread Jesus was talking about in John 6!! OK, probably not, but it'da been a whole heck of alot better I bet!!)

I baked until my kitchen table looked like this!!



The house still has the lingering faint smell of cinnamon wafting thru the air. The air outside is chilly and I can hear my kids playing basketball thru the crunching fallen leaves. The sun is lingering in that magical position right before disappearing for the evening. Now dinner is simmering on the stove. I have hot chocolate ready for kids tonight. The "fireplace" is burning.

This is what fall is all about guys!

How could it get any better than this...???




May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
~Psalm 67:1-2

I only dust my clocks twice a year...

...and I'm totally ok with that!!

And truth be told, I'd neva eva do it if we didn't observe Daylight Savings Time!

You see, my clocks are up high. Like 7 1/2 feet high. So unless you're 7 3/4 foot tall, you'd never see the tops of my clocks. And I'm ok knowing that the tops of my clocks are covered in a half inch of dust most of the year. I'm totally ok with it. Actually, like I said, if it weren't for Daylight Savings Time, I'd never even bother to dust the tops of my clocks. Who cares? It's the top of the clock. No one's ever going to see it. ('Cept my madre maybe, she's tall and has a sonic dust radar!!) And usually the clocks don't even get dusted right after the time change. It usually takes about 2 or 3 months for me to change the time. I change the time on the alarm clocks, the stove, and the microwave....and that's about it. The analog clocks? Not so much. That is until Mr. Goose Poop and the gooslings have had enough.

I know what clocks are right in the house. I know what clocks you have to subtract an hour from, or add an hour to, or which ones are 18 minutes fast (face it, we ALL have a clock in the house at least 15 minutes fast, to keep us on time or make us feel like we are tricking the time gods and stealing an extra few minutes of shut-eye!). You see, I know all this. I do it on purpose. But it annoys Mr. Goose Poop. He looks at the clock, and it says 8:00. He tells the kids to run upstairs to get jammies on and brush their teeth. I look at him like "Huh? An hour early?" He says "What was that look for?" Then I have to tell him "Babe, it's only 7:00." He gives me a look like "Why is it 7:00, but our clock says it's 8:00?!?" Cuz I'm too lazy to climb up on the couch, take down the clock, DUST IT, change the time, then climb back on the couch to hang the dang thing back up honey!

For four Sunday's after the time change, he's rushing kids thru cereal, dressing, and teeth brushing. As the last kids comes sliding down the stairs, he's grabbing the keys to go start the van. I ask him why he's starting the van so early. He says we gotta go! No honey, church doesn't start for another hour and a half! It's only 7:45!! He looks at me. Four Sunday's this happens. So finally I get annoyed by the looks! So I climb up on the couch, take down the clock, DUST IT, change the time to the correct time, then climb back on the couch to hang the dang thing back up! Then Sunday comes....and he's taking his sweet time getting ready for church. I'm running around, rushing kids, and he's drinking coffee...in his jammies! What is he doing?!? I ask, more like yell at, him to hurry and start the van. He grins and sarcastically says "Why honey, church doesn't start for another hour and a half!" He thinks I'm playing a trick on him. Trick nothing....we're going to be late!! I tell him, more like yell at him, NO IT DOESN'T!! It's 8:45, c'mon, we gotta go!! He says "But you can't trick me, the clock may say 8:45, but I'm on to your 'weird time keeping antics'. It's really only 7:45, plenty of time to drink my coffee and watch a little Sports Center!" "No, no, no...I changed the clocks to reflect real time. No more adding to this one, subtracting from that one!" He looks at me!


It's weird, I know. But when I actually change the time to normal, it screws me up. Then I become confused. Can't remember if I changed them or not. Can't remember if I have to still add an hour to the time. I like my way. I'm used to it. In fact one year, I didn't even change the clocks at all. All year long, I knew I just had to add an hour to those few clocks I didn't feel like dusting. Then when it was time to change the clocks an hour back, I was ahead of everyone else, already had it done...a year before!

Moral of the story...never trust a clock at my house! If the clock says 8:00...you never know, it could be 9:00, it could be 7:00. Hell, it might even be 8:18. But one thing you can be sure of...if the clock say 8:00...it's not 8:00!!

But I'll still carry on only dusting my clocks twice a year at most, and I'll still be ok with that!

Happiness is 365 days of joy...

It's been 365 days since Mr. Goose Poop and I got married. Tied the knot. Got hitched. When two became one. One year! And we're still in love! Who'da thunk it?!

As I look back over the year I see how lucky I am. Although Mr. Goose Poop is the most stubborn person I've ever in my life met. Although sometimes I get so mad at him I could spit nails. Although he's turns into Chatty Cathy when he's tipped back a few. Although I sometimes think he's too hard on the gooslings. I also know he's a giant teddy bear, who loves, respects, and honors me. Always. I feel so blessed to have him.

I never have to question his love for me. Anybody can talk about how much they love you, but showing it is what does it for us girls! And he does. He doesn't just tell me how much he loves me, he shows me. Even when he's spitting mad at me. Even when I'm not in the mood to hear how much he loves me, he still shows me. Back in the day, many moons ago, in my former life, I used to live in fear that every fight would mean the end of my marriage. Because it was true. Fight? One of us would walk out, sometimes not coming home for days. I was always walking on egg shells. Doing what ever I could to not fight. And when the inevitable happened, I'd hold my breath. Who'd walk out first? And in the beginning of Mr. Goose Poop's and my relationship, I'd do the same thing. I thought that was just the way it was. Not with him. I'm not going to sit up here and preach about how our marriage is perfect, cuz girlfriend, it ain't!! Far from it. We've had some doozie fights. No way on earth can two people live together and not fight. But when we do, I'm not scared he's going to walk out on me and the family. He's just not the type. It gives me such a sense of security. Who doesn't like to be secure?

I know I've got it good. Mr. Goose Poop is an excellent husband and a great dad. I thank God every day, before bed, for him. I know I'm lucky. He's taught me so many things. Taught me what a marriage is supposed to be. Taught me what it's like to REALLY be loved. Taught me what a husband is supposed to be like.

I don't need expensive jewelry, exotic vacations, a spiffy mansion, name brand clothes, the latest hair styles, or the biggest savings account to know my husband loves me. He always teases me that he loves me more than I love him, but if he really knew, he'd be singing a different tune.

Sometimes I look back over the year, and on one hand I think to myself, I can't believe it's already been a year. Seems like just yesterday we were walking into that church, hand in hand, smiles from ear to ear. And on the other hand I think to myself IT'S ONLY BEEN A YEAR?!?! Not possible. I feel like we've been doing this for way longer than a year!! But whether it feels like one year or 10, the point is...we're still in love. Maybe even more today than yesterday or even last year. And not only do we still love each other, more importantly, we still like each other. Cuz everyone knows you can love someone, but not like them very much. But we do. We love each other, and like each other even more. Suffice to say, we're pretty fond of each other! Yup, I think we'll give it a go at another year. Let's see what the next 365 days has in store for our marriage.

Love you Mr. Goose Poop! Thank you for being such a wonderful and loving husband. I know how blessed I am! I love you...

My Friday Five...

1. Colors

2. Rain on a week day

3. Friends the kids have

4. No plans on a weekend

5. Teachers at ISJ

1. Today I am thankful for the colors changing around us. The trees are vibrant colors of red, yellow and orange. Fall in Michigan is the best fall around. I love the way the leaves crunch under foot. I love they way they fly up in the air when the kids run through them. If I could stop a moment in time, it'd be a day in fall.

2. I tell Mr. Goose Poop all the time I don't like it when he's here during the day! He messes up my whole operation! Any stay at home mom/wife knows, you have a routine, right? And when he's here, he messes it all up. Not on purpose, and I don't mean that in a bad way, he just does. I never get anything done when he's here! But yesterday, right smack dab in the middle of his day it started raining. I told him I didn't care what he did, but he couldn't come home yet! He did end up getting home a few hours early, and of course, I didn't get anything done the rest of the day. Now today, he just called me again....it's raining! They are out for breakfast, trying to wait it out! Wait it out my ass...they are scamming a free breakfast before they do the inevitable....come home! They all know they'll come home, they we're just hungry first! I told him, just like yesterday, I don't care where he goes, he just can't come home! Secretly (well, not any more...he reads this!!), I really kinda like it when he comes home early. It one of those love-hate relationships if you know what I mean. But today I think I love it! Sounds like a good day to be lazy with my husband!

3. I love that my kids have friends! Sounds silly right?? Most kids do. But today I'm really loving it because there is a really awesome family that we know that has 3 boys. Same ages as some of our boys. And two of their boys are best buds with two of our boys. So those two boys of ours are being picked up right after school today to have a sleep-over at their friend's house. They have been so excited about it, they haven't slept in 2 nights now!

4. Having this big of a family, we usually have plans every weekend. A football game, a basketball tournament, visiting family, something is always going on. But this weekend? Nuttin'! Nodda! Zip! Zero! Zilch! Oh man, it's going to be so nice! We can have a lazy breakfast tomorrow morning, no rushing to get some kid somewhere. We can do yard work at a leisurely pace. I'm making a big ham dinner! It's going to be fantastic!

5. I can't tell you how much I love our school. Shout out.... http://mychristianschool.com/ ! (McKenzie is on the website. On the main page there is a picture show, I believe she's in picture #5) Heather, Patty, Lisa, Steve, Mary-Beth, Rod, and Jason...you guys are the best! I was in the office yesterday morning talking to our Secretary, Heather Hall. I was just chatting about this's and that's, and she truly cared about us. Was actually concerned, and told me everything would be alright. Jacob's teacher, Mary-Beth Bouma, overheard the conversation, and when I went out in the hall...she hugged me. Hugged me! Last night was Father's Night at school. Mr. Goose Poop took the 6 school kids up there for the evening. He came home saying how awesome the teachers are! So today I am also thankful for them. For all the support they give our family without even knowing it!

These are the two boys that are going over to their buddie's tonight for the sleep over. Would it be embarassing if I packed them those matching pj's?!?

Whistle while you work...

So, as you know, Halloween was a couple nights ago. We came up with the perfect costumes this year. It couldn't have been more perfect!!






Snow White and the 7 dorks...dwarfs, I mean dwarfs!! Snow White and the 7 dwarfs! C'mon, could it have been more perfect??! The original plan was Mr. Goose Poop and I were supposed to be Snow White and Prince Charming, and all the kids were supposed to be dwarfs. But, frankly, McKenzie didn't want to be a dwarf and I wasn't really keen on the idea of dressing up. So we switched it up a little bit. McKenzie was, of course, Snow White, Jonah was Bashful, Jacob was Sneezy, Dylan was Grumpy, Carter was Happy, Christian was Dopey, Tyler was Sleepy, and Mr. Goose Poop was Doc!! Aren't they cute?

By the end of the night, Sleepy got, well sleepy! He was tuckered right out and Doc had to carry him the rest of the way home!

It was a great night with the kids. The big kids were such good sports about it. I can imagine being 8 and 10 and having your parents tell you you have to be a dwarf for Halloween, probably isn't the most exciting thing in the world. But they sucked it up, and went with it. Maybe they even enjoyed it a little bit once they saw how much attention they were getting!

Off to go raid the kids' candy...oh wait, I mean...off to go go thru the kids' candy to make sure it's safe. And maybe one little Mounds Bar, or two. I mean, what kid likes Mounds or Almond Joy?!?

Today is one of those days where I feel like life can't get much better than this...

The Goose Poop family has had a teriffic weekend, and it's only Sunday afternoon! There's still more to come this afternoon. It's been one of those weekends that makes you thankful that God has given you this life, the life you're living right now. He hand picked it for you, and only you.

Friday ended with the start of McKenzie's basketball tournament. She's finally getting the hang of it. She no longer stands there looking lost, biting her fingernails, trying to befriend the other team! She's getting into it finally, and I *think* she's understanding the game/rules more.

They lost!! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??

Saturday was busy, busy, busy!! We headed out for the rest of the basketball tournament at 8:30 in the morning.

That's the first time she's gotten to throw the ball in, she was trying to not act siked!! =)

I know she looks like she's cheering, but really she isn't. She's finally remembering to keep her dang hands up to block!!

They lost! Again! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??

Right after the basketball game, we headed over to Jake's last football game for the season. I can't believe he just finished his first season of football!! We sat pretty far from the field, so I didn't really get to get many good shots. Oh yea, and my father in law came from Ithaca too! He made a stop at Jake's football game before heading over to my nephew, Sammy's, soccer game. So we all got to see him for a bit.

It started out raining, but after 15 minutes or so it kinda sorta quite. So it wasn't really raining but it really wasn't *not* raining. So here's the kids watching the game!! Cute, ah??

He didn't win his football game either!! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??

After the football game we had about an hour break. We came home, ate some lunch, then it was back for the last game of McKenzie's basketball tournament at 1:40!!

They didn't win! Again! But, well, I don't know, at least they gave it their all, right??!!?

Then it was back home. Again. To pack up some stuff and change. Then we all headed over to my parent's house for the annual Pumpkin Carving Party. They've been having this party the weekend before Halloween for the past, maybe, 18 years!! Mom puts on a big bash, makes some awesome fall-time food, and we all carve pumpkins in thier foyer!! Dad puts down a line of plastic in the middle, throws out the carving tools, and we all go at it! I think I overheard mom saying there was something like 48 pumpkins carved! Holy crap! The best part?? I get to see my "Corunna Family". We don't get to see them often, so it was a real treat to see them last night.

My dad paid Dylan $1.00 to clean out his and my mom's pumpkin!! He's 6, pretty much he'll do anything for a dollar!!

The first batch of people carving!!

Jake!! He's into art lately. So he decided to do a "cool" pumpkin, using a pattern! Turned out awesome!

Carving fools!!

Another round of people carving!

This was going to by my new header, but when whoever lit it, they broke the "O" out! Now it just looks silly! But it did at one point look really cool!

Here they all at lit up. Some weren't done yet, and some had already left! But isn't it cool? See my "Goose Poop" one? On the step above it is my other one...it's Mr. Goose Poop and I in stick people form!! =)

We had such a great time! Mr. Goose Poop and I were exhausted by the end of the night. But it was worth it!

Now here I am, drinking coffee, still in jammies. No better way to have a Sunday!! In a few hours it off to my sister in law, Angie's. Today is our Goostrey birthday party. We're celebrating the months of August thru November. So I get to see the rest of my family too. My mother in law, my other father in law, and both my sister's in law. Plus all my neice's and nephew's. Can't wait! It was a teriffic weekend.

Tonight, I'm going to top it off by making pumpkin seeds for the kids. The goosling's have never had pumpkin seeds before. Mostly because, it'd take forever to pick out enough seeds for 7 kids to get some!! But, Suzie Homemaker that I am, I spent over an hour digging in everyone elses pumpkin guts to pull out enough seeds so they all can have some! They are soaking now! Can't wait to eat them, I haven't had pumpkin seeds in years and years!

Off to finally get dressed to put an end to this wonderful weekend God has granted us!

Does your husband love you this much too?!?

Mine does!! Isn't he sweet?

I've been in a funk the past few days. Just haven't been myself. Last night McKenzie had a basketball game in Grand Haven, so after school all the kids and I headed east. Mr. Goose Poop got out of work before we got home, so he went to the flower store and this is what I got when we got home last night. Actually, they were wrapped up all pretty. In pink tissue paper, with cute ribbon tied around it. Don't you hate it when the "real" flower shops do that? I mean, they make them look so cute all wrapped up that you almost feel bad unwrapping them to put them in a vase! I think Mr. Goose Poop took the hint seeing the empty vase filled with water sitting on the counter for the past 4 days!! When in reality, the vase was a vase I used for Tracy's wedding, brought home and have been too lazy to take care of yet!! Let's just not tell him that though! But, I may remember this in the future! Empty vase filled with water sitting on the counter for 4 days equals flowers the next day! I'm going to try my theory out in the next few months. I'll report back!

And speaking of Tracy's wedding....well, a few sentences ago anyway....it's all done and over with and she looked spectacular! Better than spectacular, she looked amazing. And so did the flowers! Just kidding! It wasn't about the flowers...ok, maybe it was just a teeny tiny bit. For me anyway. And the centerpieces. And the picture book favors. And the parent's gifts. And the table name cards. And...well, ok, I did alot. But I had more fun than you think, just don't ever ask me to do it for anyone else. Unless there is a cool $10,000 in it for me! Anyway, it all turned out better than any of us had imagined. And the best part? I didn't trip walking down the isle. I did cry during the ceremony, but not enough to make myself look like a fool. I said my speech with only minimal crying, little enough that I think people were still able to understand me. (Oh who am I trying to kid?? I was a blubbering mess starting the day before the wedding! Cried for 2 damn days straight!) And the flowers looked amazing! Oh wait...I mean the best part was Tracy had a great time, it was everything she had ever imagined it would be, and she was gorgeous!! Oh, and the flowers looked amazing!

Here's my beautiful best friend just after stepping into her wedding dress....

And just for fun...Here she is cooling her pits right before we walked out!! I was doing it too!!

And because I am so damn proud of all the flowers, let me just show you how many flowers I was working with here!! Friday morning Tracy's mom met us at my house, Tracy took mom's car and went to run some errands. Mom and I jumped in my car and went to cut all the fresh flowers. (Tracy got all her flowers from this really really cool couple that used to be patients at her work. Growing these flowers is just their hobby!! They have 2 huge gardens FULL of them. Told us to bring some buckets and cut as many as we needed!! And as you can see, we did just that!) Mom and I got back to my house and unloaded. In my living room...(Tilt your head to the left to get the full effect!!)

Yup, that's my E.N.T.I.R.E. living room floor covered in flowers! And I had to leave for the hall at 2:30!! In that time I made 7 wrist corsages, 11 bootiners (I'm so bad at spelling this word, spell check can't even figure out what the hell I'm trying to say! But you get the idea, those flowers that go on the guy's tux coats!! Sorry mom!!), Tracy's bouquet, her "toss" bouquet, 7 vase bouquets, arranged flowers for the cake table, and just a few other random things. I showed up to the hall to decorate looking like a hot mess, but we made it! Did I mention the flowers looked awesome??

Look what's baking at my house....

Apple Pie's for Mr. Goose Poop and the gooslings tonight after dinner! And while those were baking, I made another batch, two actually, of laundry soap. Yup, just call me Suzie Frickin' Homemaker!

And this Suzie Homemaker is potty training lately....

*scream*screech*yell*

I'm pretty sure we're breaking the noise ordinance law in our yard right now! No kidding. There are, count them, 16 kids in my yard right now! Yes, 16 kids! Our yard is about as big as a postage stamp, so I have no idea why they chose to come to our yard. Oh yea, that's right, I'm a mean mom. I don't let my kids roam around the neighborhood aimlessly, telling them to have a good time and just be home by the time the street lights come on. In fact, I rarely let my kids leave the yard. In fact, I rarely even let them play out in the front yard. I know, I'm a mean 'ol mom, aren't I?!? Bwahaahaahaa! So, since my kids can't go visit the neighborhood, I guess the neighborhood decided to visit them!

It's like a zoo out there. So much so, that I'm almost scared to go out there to wrangle them all inside again! I might get carried off with the crowd! Then who'd be here to be so mean?! So I'll sit in the kitchen window, spying! More like making sure one doesn't get away, and double checking that nice words are still being used even with friends (told ya I was mean!). I don't care how *cool* it is to be the tough talkin' kid in town, my kids won't have nuttin' to do with it!

I'm off to spy...I've gotten pretty good at it!

There goes Mr. Goose Poop's nice relazing weekend

So last night on our way home from Jacob's football practice I hear on the radio that they are issuing a severe thunderstorm warning for some counties just north of us. I think to myself, hmmm that's weird. It was blue skies, sunny, warm, and completely calm outside. Didn't think much of it. We came home, it was hotter than billie blue blazes inside last night, so we had all the windows open. Anyway, get home, get the kids a quick snackie, finish up some last minute homework, and get the kids into bed. Everyone but Jonah. Since he's 10, he gets to stay up until 9:00. So he's in the living room studying memory work, I'm in the kitchen making lunches, and Mr. Goose Poop is laying in bed. (Rare for him I might add. But he worked late last night, and was just tuckered out!) Jonah comes flying in the kitchen, all scared. The wind had picked up a little bit, and I heard and saw a little bit of lighting going on. And when I say little, I do mean little. It wasn't even raining. Jonah was a little scared. I took him outside, showed him there was nothing to be afraid of, just a small thunderstorm coming thru. I mean, it wasn't even raining for heaven's sake. OK, it was a titch windy, but I didn't think it was that bad.

Well, it wasn't raining then, but 30 seconds later it was torrential down-pour. The wind picked up like you wouldn't believe. I sent Jonah to bed, re-assured him he'd be fine, told him Mr. Goose Poop and I wouldn't let him be in danger. So he scoots upstairs, and now it's a windy, blowy, rainy sight outside. I went and closed all the windows because rain is coming down sideways. I look outside, and I admit, it was looking fairly bad. I couldn't see the neighbor's house right across the street. At one point I saw our little froggy sandbox cover take flight. I could hear all out patio chairs skidding across the deck. All the street lights had gone out, lost power I assume. We always always loose power here, so I get the candles out, set them where I'd fine them quickly and get out a lighter.

Next thing I know, it's all done raining. And I mean all done. I walk outside, not a drop. And it's just a light breeze. Whew...looks like it was nothing. I'll find all our belongings in the morning. Go to bed, no biggie.

The kids wake up this morning and look out the window's behind the kitchen table. Guess it wasn't just "nothing". A tree next to our house cracked in half. From where it landed I can only assume that it hit our house. There's no way it couldn't have. I can see no damage, thank goodness. But that nice relaxing weekend Mr. Goose Poop was hoping for? Looks like it's not going to happen. Looks like he'll be doing yard clean up. Thank goodness I got, I mean, the kids got him a nice new chain saw for Father's Day 2 years ago!! Knew he'd need it sometime!!



This was a big, huge, nice full tree yesterday morning!!

Random-ness

Here's some random (and I mean really random) facts for today....

World's largest manufacturer of female apparel?
Mattel (they make Barbie's clothes) Take that Abercrombie!!!

The average American worker receives 201 phone, paper, and email messages per day!

Raindrops fall as fast as 22 mph!

Plants, like humans, run fevers when they're sick! Who knew!!

If there are 10 books on a bookshelf, they can be arranged 3,628,800 different ways! Think I'm wrong?? Prove it!! =)

When the ground temperature is below freezing, it can't hail!

A New Yorker could eat out every night of their life and never eat at the same restaurant twice!

Know why iron isn't added to milk? Iron-fortified milk turns coffee green! (I may have to try this one!)

The world's largest earthworm, found only in a small corner of Australia, can grow as long as 12 feet and as thick as a soda can! (Gross, remind me NOT to go there!)

Lemon Pledge has more lemons that Country Time Lemonade! (No wonder my eyes water every time I use that stuff!)

Porcupines are good swimmers....their quills are full of air.

Disney World is twice the size of Manhattan!

Football has more rules than any other American sport! (No wonder I can't figure that shit out!)

Amen is the same in more languages than any other word. Taxi is the second.


There you have it. Some random-ness added to your day! They always say you learn something new every day!

I'm in danger of being eaten alive by cotton!!

I do laundry twice a week around here. And you wouldn't believe what it looks like when I'm done! This is a half week's worth of clothes around here!! Everything that you see folded was washed on this "round" of laundry and I just went took care of it all!

If I'm not careful going down there, it would eat me alive. That I'm possitive of! It takes me an entire day to do all that, and I have to do that twice a week!!

I can see now why I don't ever have time to sit down and watch tv!!

Since I'm in the firing mood....

I'm also going to fire the maid. I just swept the kitchen floor in preparation of mopping it. Boy oh boy, was it N-A-S-T-Y!! Gross. Disgusting. Sick. Embarrassing. And everything in between. She hasn't been doing her job, and now she's fired! I had to move the kitchen tables (yes we have two tables) and move the benches because she hasn't done it in so long. Blech....I bet there was a whole spaghetti dinner down there! Yup, she's definitely fired!

And while I'm at it....I'm also firing the cook. She hasn't made me anything to eat today, and I'm starving! She's fired too.

Now that I have no Tooth Fairy, maid or cook I better get my ass off here and go pick up their slack!

I've got to fire that dang Tooth Fairy!

I've made the final decision, I'm firing the Tooth Fairy and that's final!!

My daughter lost her tooth the other night. So she puts it in a little baggie, and sets it on her dresser. She knows not to put it under her pillow, since she has a loft bed, the Tooth Fairy can never find her tooth up there. So we've decided to leave teeth on her dresser. So, she leaves it there, goes to bed, wakes up the next morning....and nothing! The tooth is still there! That damn Tooth Fairy completely forgot about my precious princess last night! Can you believe that? And, it's not the first time this has happened. A few months ago when she lost a tooth, that Tooth Fairy forgot to stop by for 4 nights in a row! 4 nights!!

And not only that, but there is a diary in this month's Scholastic that she reeeeaaaallllllyyyy really wants. It's $10.00. No way, no how am I buying it for her. This girl's got more diaries, notepads, and paper than I've ever seen before in my life. So I tell her absolutely not. She decides when she looses her tooth to write the Tooth Fairy a note. It's something along the lines of "Please, please, please tooth fairy, can I please have $10.00 for my tooth this time. There is a diary I want, and my mom told me she won't buy it for me, please, please, please?? I really really want it. It's so cool. It's got puppies on it. Please can I have $10.00 for my tooth?" And do you know what????!! Not only did the Tooth Fairy forget to come, when she finally decided to show up last night she didn't even leave my precious princess the $10.00 she wanted, she only left her a measly $1.00, and now she can't get that diary she reeeeaaaalllllyyyy really wanted.

What is that? She's late and she doesn't bring what the kids want? I decided when McKenzie woke up this morning to $1.00 and not $10.00 I'm firing that lousy Tooth Fairy.

43!!

43....

That's how many pieces of paper came home from school between all the kids today!! All graded homework, some permission slips, newsletters from the school, ect. Still....it was 43 pieces of mail that I had to go thru! Isn't that something? Who has to go thru that much "school mail" every day? Oh yea, I do, that's right, cuz I have 6 kids in school full-time. How could I have forgot?

Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe

So, as I said last night, I'm going to post my homemade laundry soap recipe. Call me old fashion, or call my country...but I'm telling you this recipe has saved my family unimaginable amounts of money. Doing wash for a family of 9, I usually do at the very least 16-18 loads of wash a week. I was spending probably around $60-$75 a month on laundry soap. With this recipe, I spend about $100 A YEAR!!!! Yup, that's not a type-o, a year!


I use it for all my laundry, and I've been completely happy with it. I even use it to wash Mr. Goose Poop's dirty, smelly, and mud-encrusted work clothes, and all the kids' sports clothes.


It originated from, I believe, the Duggars web-site, but I've changed it a little bit. It's the same ingredients, but I use a different process. It's the liquid version, there is a way to do powder also, just don't add any water. My sister uses the powder, and as far as I know, she's been happy with it.


The best part about this, you can find all the ingredients at your grocery store. I found all of it at my Meijer. It's not something where you have to chase all over town, going into specialty stores, or searching online to find what you need. And, it only takes like 20 minutes to make it.


MRS. GOOSEPOOP'S HOMEMADE LAUNDRY SOAP

1 Bar Fels Naptha Soap (a bar of Dove will also work in a pinch, but I feel the Fels Naptha works better)
1 Cup Washing Soda
1 Cup Borax

Finely grate the bar of Fels Naptha. Put in a large pan. Add 6 cups of water. Heat until the soap has dissolved. Add the Washing Soda and the Borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 6 cups of HOT water into a bucket (I use a 5 gallon bucket). Add the soap mixture to the bucket and mix. Now add 1 gallon + 6 cups (or 22 cups total) of COLD water to the bucket. The mix will now start to gel. Quickly use a funnel to put into old laundry soap containers. If it gels so much that it's hard to get down the funnel, just give it a quick stir. Let the soap completely gel for about 6 hours before using.

This soap isn't going to gel like you're used to. It more "clump gels". Before each use, give the bottle a good shake. When using, use about 1/2 cup per load, add the soap and let the washer fill up a little before adding clothes.

If you'd like to make scented laundry soap, you can buy soap fragrance at any craft store. I get mine from Hobby Lobby or Michael's. I believe they come 1/2 oz bottles. After you pour the laundry soap into containers, and before it completely gels, add all the scent to the soap, and give her a good shake. Then let completely gels for the 6 hours. My favorites lately are orange, lavender, apple, and honey almond.

Does anyone else's kitchen floor look like this after grocery shopping?!?

That's not including the 2 gallons of milk, 5 dozen eggs, and 3 loafs of bread that I had already taken care of!! Oh yea, and of course all my Diet Pepsi isn't in the picture either! That'd be a whole 'nother picture in itself! =D

Isn't that out of control??? And those bags, let me tell ya, are bursting at the seams! You couldn't fit another grain of rice in most of those bags! And please don't yell at me about the plastic bags! I hardly ever use plastic bags. I've got about a million and one re-usable bags, but we use plastic bags around here for garbage liners, and we were running low. So I didn't use my re-usable ones today, so that I could restock our plastic bag supply. It seriously took me at least an hour to take care of all of it!! Usually the first question people ask me when they find out I have 7 kids is "Oh my gosh, how much do you spend at the grocery store?" Let me tell you, it's not as much as you'd expect, because I shop sales and such, but it's still more than I care to think about! This is a week and a half's worth of groceries. And...and...I won't be feeding the kids on Friday night or at all on Saturday and Sunday, since they won't be here! So this is more like about 8 days of groceries!! Plus next Monday I'll have to make a quick run for milk, bread, and more fresh fruit!

But, I'd like you to notice one thing that's missing....can you tell what it is?? Give up? It's probably what we use more than anything in this house! Can't guess? I'll tell you! There is no laundry soap in this picture!! And that's because I make our own. It saves us an unimaginable amount of money. I'd say about $50 a month at the very least. I'd love to share my recipe, and I will. But it'll have to be tomorrow. The Duggars come on in 7 minutes, and I can't miss the Duggars! We big families have to stick together. So tomorrow my goal will be to post my recipe for home made laundry soap. Off to watch the Duggars!!

Am I still a Soccer Mom?

Can I still consider myself a "soccer mom" even though none of my kids play soccer??!

Ever since I decided I wanted to have a billion kids, I could never wait to be a "soccer mom". I wanted to be busy busy busy with my kids. I wanted them to play all the sports under the sun. Which is weird, because unless you consider skipping school a sport, I never played any sports in school. No basketball, no volleyball, not even cheerleading. Now that I'm grown, I look back and wish that I had. I mean, at least had done something. I didn't do any camps in the summer, I wasn't a Girl Scout, nothing. Nodda. Not that I was a bag of lazy bones. My cousin Jenifer and I spent our free time with our Grandparents. They'd take us traveling, in thier motorhome, all over the country. I've probably been to more states than most adults. Ok, I'm getting off track here. Back to the original question....Can you still consider yourself a "soccer mom" if none of your kids play soccer?

You see, with 7 kids it's bound to be at bit crazy, right? I was so excited when the "olders" were able to start getting into sports. Then they did. And now I'm thinking of changing my mind about this whole soccer mom thing. The past two weeks have been so busy around here, I don't know who's coming and who's going.

Monday's from 5:30 to 7:00 Mckenzie has basketball practice. And every other Monday, we have to leave a 1/2 hour early, because from 6:45 to 8:00 we have Girl Scouts. I am one of the leaders, so I have to be there.

Tuesday's Jake has football practice from 5:30 to 7:30.

There are a few sporatic Wednesday's that McKenzie has basketball games.

Thursday's McKenzie has basketball practice from 5:30 to 7:00. And Jacob has football practice from 5:00 to 7:00. (That's right, they both have to be picked up at 7:00 in seperate locations.)

Friday Jacob has football practice from 5:30 to 6:30.

And Saturday's are Jacob's football games.

And that's only 2 kids' schedule! In November, Jonah will be starting basketball also.

I've also signed up to be at the kids' school every Monday from 11:00 to 12:30 to help with lunch and recess.

The principal caught me in the hallway last week, reminding me that I should start thinking about this year's Christmas Shop. I'm the coordinater of our school's Christmas Shop every year.

I've also heard thru the grapevine, that they are looking for a President for our PTL. I've actually been thinking about it. Am I crazy?? I'm scared to look the principal in the eye, knowing if I do, I'll crumble, and blurt out that I'll do it before the sain side of my brain tells me not to.

Oh yea, and I signed up to be a room mom for one of the kids' classrooms! And to be honest, I can't for the life of me remember what class!! I really think it's Jabob's class, but trust me on this, I could be wrong. I'll just wait for one of the teachers to approach me. Maybe they forgot anyway!!

I don't even want to think about what next year will be like when it'll be Jonah, McKenzie, Jacob, and probably Dylan and Carter in sports.

My house is a wreck, I feel like we haven't eaten a normal dinner as a family in ages, I don't know if I'm coming or going, I think I sleep standing up, and I can't even remember the last time I got a shower!! No joke....

So you tell me....can I consider myself a "soccer mom" even though none of my kids play soccer??

New school year organization...

If you've ever been in my house, you know it looks like a classroom.

~Each kid has their own chore chart.

~I make a big home made calender each month for the back hallway, so when the kids ask "Mom, when are we ______?" I tell them, go look at the calendar.

~I have a big poster board right next to it, called the "Square Chart". Every time the kids go above and beyond normal duty or are extra nice to a sibling, the earn a "square" of their color. Once the chart is filled with 60 squares, we get to go do a fun family activity. And the child who has the most squares filled with their color gets a week off from chores.

~We have "I can play" and "I can not play" sticks/cups. Each morning the sticks are put in the "I can not play" cup. Each child has 3 sticks. They must earn those sticks before they can play. They do so by doing their chores without being asked, helping a sibling do a chore, getting dresses and brushing their teeth without being asked, anything along those lines. Each time they earn a stick, it goes in the "I can play" cup, once they have all 3 they are allowed to play for the day. But watch out....if mom or dad catches them doing something they aren't supposed to, being mean, having an attitude, not doing what you're told, a stick gets taken away and you must earn it back.

~We have reading marbles. For every 30 minutes that the kids read, they earn a marble in their jar. One marble equals 15 minutes of video game time.

~I get the kids' clothes out before bed each night. I went and bought one of those shoe organizers that is supposed to hang in a closet. It's perfect, it has 6 slots, and I have 6 boys in one room. So I hung it in their bedroom from a shelf, and each morning the kids just get their clothes out of their box, and put their jammies back in it for bedtime. Wall-ah, no more clothes thrown all over the place.

~We have a chore jar. Did something extra bad? Did your chore half way? Pull a chore from the chore jar.

~We have a swear jar. Called your brother/sister a name? Did you say "stupid" or "idiot" or some other not nice word? You owe a dollar to the swear jar. That money will go to sponsor a family at Christmas time. I'm ashamed to say, I've put alot of money in that jar....

~Every school year, I buy a 3-ring binder for each kid to keep in my room. All paperwork goes in it. Newsletters, art work, report cards, and the like. Once the school year is done, I just put the binder in their plastic tub in the basement.

~My kitchen is plastered with hanging folders, color coded calendars for the kids, ect.

Anyway....with the new school year, it's time to get new folders in the kitchen. I did that tonight! I think they turned out nice, what do you think?

You like that? Don't you just have "crap" (by the way "crap" is a swear word for the kids in our house, but not for mom and dad) laying around that you just don't know what to do with it? I have lots of it. At least now all my crap is organized and in one place! The kids thought it was hilarious!! Mr. Goose Poop got a kick out of it too.

One more thing, Christian has taken to helping me make dinner every night lately. He hops himself up on the counter and helps out. Tonight's dinner called for onions. So I ask him to go get me an onion, I get the cutting board out and start chopping the onion. Christian hops off the counter, goes and does something, and hops back up on the counter. I pay him no attention. But then I turn, and I see this.....

He said he can't stand the smell of the onions being cut. That they always make his nose snot and his eyes water!! That kid is so hilarious sometimes!

I know I still have to get to the kids' first day of school still. I'm trying, I really am. It's been a busy week. I'm actually really not sure how I got through it. Oh yea, the grace of God, that's right.

(Insert some appropriate bible verse, that I'm too tired to look up right now, here! Thanks!)