Well, At Least He Didn't Say I Have My Hands Full...

As the mother of five children, I have heard the phrase "You've got your hands full" way too many times in the past few years.  I feel that most of the time, I have things under control...There are days when yes, my hoodlums are a little bit unruly, but it isn't that bad all of the time!

So, today - (Day 4 of Fall Break, no less) I decided to take the kids to lunch at Taco Bell after I worked out at the YMCA.  We really haven't gone anywhere all week, so this was a special treat for them.  I made sure that we went to the Taco Bell where the worker likes us and gives us a few extra drinks sometimes for free ('cause he feels  bad for me, I guess!)

Anyway...they were being good.  Reeeeaaaalllyyyy good.

We were waiting for our food and a nicely dressed older gentleman came up to me.

"Excuse me, ma'am...I just wanted to tell you that your children are the most well behaved children that I have ever seen."

Okay, this is not a compliment that we receive very often - but in this instance, I will admit - we really deserved it...and it was soooo nice not to hear - "You've got your hands full!"  I almost wiped a tear from my eye...


I answered..."Thank you, but that can change at any moment!"

And - just as I said that....Alyssa threw up.

I think I've got my hands full.

Our Trek to Visit Mickey and Co...Part 1

Disclaimer:  This may be boring, but since this blog is basically my sad excuse for a journal, I am documenting what I remember...it will get better, I promise!

At the beginning of 2010, I heard about a special volunteer program that Disney was sponsoring this year.  If anyone over the age of 6 volunteered (for specially approved assignments), they would receive one day ticket to Disneyland or World.  This was until they had one million volunteers.  I was instantly intrigued.  For years, I have been dying to take our kids to visit "The Mouse", but it has always been too expensive.  I signed us up and we were given an assignment to pass out some fliers to some businesses in Franklin, TN.  This enabled us to get 5 tickets - one for each of us that would cost money to get into Disney World.

We were able to use the price that the tickets would have been to upgrade for a few more days in the parks - this was important, because with 5 children (a few with special needs) it would have been impossible to see much in just one day - especially considering when we were actually on the trip, two of our afternoons were spent at urgent care clinics in the area (we will get into that later).  Then, we rented a condo for a week - much more affordable than actually staying in a hotel, and we were so much more comfortable.  It was also a lot cheaper to be able to prepare our own meals.

Everyone told us we were nuts to go over the week of the 4th of July because of the humidity in Florida, the terrible heat, yadda, yadda, yadda....not much we could do about the fact that Clay's vacation was scheduled at the end of 2009, before we even planned the trip and the kids were off of school...so July it was!

After several months of getting tips and tricks from the internet, budgeting, couponing, hoarding anything I could find that was Disney related (to save tons of money on souvies), we set out for our trip at about 10 pm the Friday before the 4th of July.  The plan was to drive as far as possible - we made it past Atlanta, crashed at a hotel for a few hours - then get in the car and drive some more.  It was great - except my kids outlasted my co-pilot!  Poor Clay was so tired from working (he gets up at 2 am) that he slept the whole 5 hours that we drove the first night!  We crammed into a 2 double bed hotel room and slept at about 3 am.  Um...they also might have thought that we only had 3 kids...don't know where they got that idea???

Here are a few pics of us in our 4th of July finery at our condo...

We finally made it to Orlando about 5 pm on Saturday afternoon...Yes folks, we took our time!  Between potty stops and a lot of rain, it slowed us down a bit...We relaxed that evening and also on Sunday (4th of July).  The kids thought the condo was great - we were just happy they had their own rooms!

To be continued...

A Cinderella Birthday

Ever since we went to Disney World this summer, (Yes, I know that I haven't blogged about that yet - it is coming, I promise), Alyssa has been obsessed with Cinderella...actually, anything involving the princesses, fairies, castles...you get the picture. So, when we asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she replied, "A Cinderella Birthday". She also only answers to the name "Cinderella", so that really isn't a stretch of the imagination. We didn't make her birthday all about Cinderella - that would have been boring...for us...but she did get a pretty Cindy doll from her Aunt Kristen. I made her a flower shaped birthday cake (fun to do, but the dang thing fell apart very easily) with Tink and Co. perched on the top...looking quite pleased with themselves, might I add! She got a huge assortment of dress up items from Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Karen and Uncle Adam...who were only too happy to indulge her fantastic dress-up imagination! We decided that we don't have enough noisy toys that need batteries, so we found her a pink keyboard with a carrying handle that is just her size. She was pretty cute about the whole thing - when we gave her the piece of cake, she decided to put all the fairy dolls back on - there is a picture of her cake just covered in fairies! Alyssa is my headstrong child - she has a quick temper and a loud scream...but when you ask her for a kiss or hug, even when she is mad, she will melt and give you the sweetest loves. She loves anything girly, but also will romp and tumble with the boys outside...in her Sunday shoes... We love our Alyssa Claire (AKA Cinderella) very much and are really enjoying watching her grow into a little girl...

Wheelchair Incident

Yesterday morning, Emma had a cough and didn't want to go to school. Mean ol' Mom sent her anyway (we can't afford to lose any excused absences without a fever or vomit because she is sick so much). Anyway, I sent her and told her that if she was really sick, the school would call me and I would pick her up.

Fast forward to 9:15 am...

The phone rang. I look at the caller ID (because I always look) and see the school's phone number...Great...Guess I'd better get ready to go and get Emma...

"Mrs. Turner? This is the school nurse." I replied, "You must be calling about Emma."

"Well, no - actually, I am calling about Reagan. You see, he was run over by a wheelchair in his classroom this morning."

"What? Is he okay?"

She said, "Yes, he is walking on it and not complaining - I don't think it is broken, just red. The teacher just wanted you to know."

By far, probably one of the weirdest phone calls from the school (and there have been a few weird ones, believe me)...

Last night, I made up a song to send back to Reagan's teacher. For your viewing pleasure...

"Reagan's Song"
To the tune of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"

Reagan got run over by a wheelchair.
It was just too fast for him, you see.
You may think it was no Manic Monday.
As for me and Mrs. Chesnutt, we believe.

It was just another morning.
Class was quiet, the pledge was done.
Then there was a flash of lightning,
And our poor little Reagan couldn't run.

Reagan got run over by a wheelchair.
It was just too fast for him, you see.
You may think it was no Manic Monday.
As for me and Mrs. Chesnutt, we believe.

He went down to see the school nurse.
Shoe was off and ice applied.
He got on the school computer.
Pain was all forgotten, tears were dried.

Reagan got run over by a wheelchair.
It was just too fast for him, you see.
You may think it was no Manic Monday.
As for me and Mrs. Chesnutt, we believe.

Now, if you have this tune stuck in your head all day - you have me to thank for your early Christmas spirit!

1st Day of School...AKA Independence Day!

The kiddos started school yesterday. The summer has actually gone by pretty quickly, but they (and we) were ready for them to return. Is it just me, or don't they look cute all ready to go on the first day? There is an extra bit of excitement in the air that disappears after the first week or so.

I had my day all planned out - 4 days in advance.

I worked out at the YMCA first thing in the morning. Then, I took Ashleigh to her follow up ear appt. The annual "celebratory lunch" (this year at Chuy's) followed. After that, I ran a few errands, leisurely (yeah, right - still had 2 little ones with me - but still better than five!).

All in all, it was a good day - they raced in the door and clamored to tell us all about their days.

It feels like it is going to be a good year!

Sir, Yes Sir!

Soooo....what happens when your mom (now known as the drill sergeant) is cutting your hair the night before school starts and you cover your eyes with your hands and shake your head back and forth while the clippers are very close to your scalp???

Do you know???

You end up with a number 2 on the top, a number 1 on the sides and instead of 1st grade, you will now be starting boot camp in the morning....Yup. That is what happens.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to how I know this information???

Oh well...it's only hair - it'll grow back, right?

Sergeant Mom, Over and Out.

Little Miss Ashleigh Turns One...

July 15th was our sweet Ashleigh's first birthday...we went light on it this year - in anticipation of a big family party (to be shared with a few cousins in a few weeks)...

We went blueberry picking on the morning of her birthday - it was very hot and humid...but we managed to have a great time and pick 5 lbs in less than an hour. Pizza and brownies made the night festive, even if it was a Thursday!

Ashleigh has absolutely no teeth - and not one in sight either, but she downed that pizza! And was totally in heaven with her brownie...

A fisher price farm finished her birthday off with a bang!

Today (July 21st) Ashleigh had her biggest birthday present from the ENT...a brand new set of tubes. This is a good thing for many reasons -- no more co-pays and prescriptions for neverending ear infections...she will not shake her head all the time because of the fluid in her ears...she will hear better and hopefully be talking like crazy soon!

Ashleigh is the sweetest baby ever - and I am so excited to hear what she has to say in a few months! We love her very much and cannot believe that a whole year has passed since she was born.

She is a little short (who in our family isn't?) and weighs about 18 1/2 pounds right now...not big enough yet for a forward facing carseat - but that will happen soon, I'm sure! I am also pretty sure that she wishes she was forward facing - it gets boring looking at the back of the seat when your siblings are all watching a movie!

Happy Birthday Ashleigh Kate! You bring so much sunshine into our lives!!!