Are we sure this is Virginia?

Seriously, the weather has been so bizarre this year! We have already had decent snow and they are calling for more before Christmas. Don't worry, I am not complaining, I LOVE snow, but it is still weird. Last year we had a bitter winter but with very little snow, I am hoping that this year is different, so much so that I did the unthinkable, I ordered the older three kids snow pants!

Usually we get one or two decent snows, and I make them suffer with their old too small snow pants or send them out in jeans and hope for the best (and a lot of laundry) but this year I splurged and ordered them the snow pants. I hope they get to use them this weekend!

Surprise....just when you thought it was under control

things go a bit haywire. Truthfully, it is not a big deal, but one of the other FT folks at my school had her baby early (hooray for healthy baby boys!) but that left me with one of her classes to cover! I appreciate the extra cash I will make, especially with Christmas coming, but it was not on my list of things to-do. Needless to say, the list has been adjusted, and we are now on track!

This week is off to a slow start. Brittan, Grayson and Teagan have some kind of cold/virus and they are a bit under the weather. I am getting cookies baked and work done, and that is about it given that I am not sleeping at night due to a crabby, stuffy baby. I figure the housework can wait! I have some grading to complete for PT school, a paper that is due tonight and a 6 more kinds of cookies to make over the next few days.

We also have some fun plans for Friday. We have a new drive through Holiday light show, and I am planning on taking the kids there and maybe to Friendly's after. I do have to admit that there is a selfish aside to the trip, there is a fabric store I want to go to and a grocery store that has the honey ham I need for Christmas Eve on sale, but shhh, don't tell the kids!

So close I can almost taste it

We are almost there, the one time of the year when I am off from EVERYTHING all at once! I have to grade finals from PT school this week, I have a week and a half left of both FT school and my class I am taking and then we are off for a few weeks.

During this time, Ryan is also off a bunch and I am so excited I can hardly stand it! I cannot wait to plan some fun activities for the family. I see a trip to the Botanical Gardens and/or the Museum of American History in our future and I know we have plans to go to the National Harbor for Christmas Eve/Ryan's birthday.

The presents are all purchased, the tree is up, the house is decorated and about half the cookies are baked. We have had our Hanukkah feast and have been lighting our candles each night. Winter Solstice will be a day of creative and natural crafts and a feast...possibly that will be the day we go to the light show nearby.

I am getting excited, and if I could get a decent nights sleep, I would be well on my way to getting the last of those cookies baked!

The chosen path

Today after getting home and celebrating the first night of Hanukkah with the kids, baths, dinner, etc, I settled in to read up on the days events and was saddened to see that Michelle Duggar gave birth yesterday to her 19th baby 3 months early. I felt my heart fall heavy in my chest just as it does every time I hear of a baby born so early and so small.

In reading the article, I saw the comments that were made regarding the story, the family and their chosen path and I was so saddened by just how insensitive and down right mean people can be! Now I in no way shape or form adhere to the Duggar's beliefs or faith. I do not wish to bear as many children as possible, nor do I believe that it is my duty in the eyes of God to be fruitful. I do, however, respect the choices that they have made, and find comfort in seeing that they are raising their children in a faith they believe strongly in and with arms and hearts full of love. Obviously I only know them as they appear on television, but I respect that they have made it a priority for both parents to be active in their children's lives, especially the father in the lives of the daughters. I can understand the criticism that others have for the family, thinking that the older children are raising the younger, but it is only wrong if the older children do not like having that role within the family. I respect the path that they have chosen, that they choose to live debt free which is something most of us are unable to do, that they created a home that looks to be loving and attentive, that they give the majority of their earnings from the television show to charities they believe in and that they have remained true to their chosen faith. Not my chosen path, but respectable all the same

I have to say that there were two comments made that really made me sick. One was that this was what happens when you have too many children and that the parents were selfish for bearing so many children and not being "good Christians" and instead of bearing their own children, they should in turn take care of children who need homes. Hmmm. Why should they be responsible for the babies of others? Why is that their responsibility and why should they not be able to have their own children because other mothers and fathers are unable or unwilling to take care of their own babies? That makes no sense that they should be responsible for babies needing homes, especially when one stops to understand their beliefs and faith.

The other comment that bothered me stated that this was a "sign from God" that they stop having babies and that there is no way that they could love all those children enough. I am sorry, but whoever made that comment must not have more than one child, as I know that when each child was added to my home, I was able to love them with my full heart....that is the amazing thing about love, along with faith, there is an infinite supply.

So, I have the Duggar family in my thoughts tonight. It must be terrible to know that their newest child is on the brink and that the road will be long and frightening and in the public eye. I also know that if that baby girl needs support or love, there are more than enough hands, hearts and arms available to rock, hold, stroke and love her. That should she face life long challenges, that there will always be a loving sibling to help her and support her throughout her life, even when her parents can no longer care for her. That my friends, that is the blessing of a large family and I hope that the newest Duggar grows big and strong and proves all those naysayers wrong.

I may be biased

but this kid is pretty darn cute!

No such thing as lazy Tuesday!

Tuesdays are always an early morning for us since Haven has to be up at school for singing practice at 8 am. Today went pretty smoothly, the little two were still sleeping, so I got the girls up, dressed and fed. By the time I brought Teagan and Gray down, the girls were nearly ready to go and we avoided much of the usual morning craziness.

After dropping Haven off, the other kids and I cam back home and I roasted a batch of coffee for the morning, vacuumed, started the morning fire and began to get ready for the baking today. This morning I need to make the ruggelach and I will also be trying a new lemon poppyseed cookie which is exciting since Ryan and I both LOVE lemon poppy so much, we had it for our wedding cake! I hope the recipe is a good one so that we can celebrate our wedding a little each Christmas :)

Other than that, I promised to make more chocolate chip cookies, I have a paper to write and some work to do...today will be relatively quiet....for a normal busy day!

Crabby babies make for long nights

My sweet Teagan has been replaced by a fussy, crabby, red faced babe. I am not sure of her issue, but fear it is a combination of an off schedule, too much company, weird nursing schedule and teething all rolled into one. Thankfully, after Friday, I am off until the end of January. I will be using this time to work on getting her on a much better sleep schedule including a big afternoon nap since we are always home to get the girls from the bus.

I have begun the holiday fun, but did not get to make the cookies I wanted to today, I am just too sleepy! I did make it to the store to get the brisket for this weekend, and the hubby stopped at Wegman's to get the other stuff I need for baking and cooking...the pantry room looks like a bakery with all the flour, sugar, and butter! This afternoon I will get the ruggelah dough made, it need to chill overnight so I need a jump on that. Otherwise I am calling today a bust for cooking, and I am okay with that!

Been busy in a bad way, going to be busy in a good way

Oh my my it has been crazy around here! Thankfully today marked the first day of the Kelley family holiday season. Yesterday we had our first snow and it was a good amount which is crazy in VA! Then we went with my parents to see my niece in the Nutcracker, she was Clara! The day was terrible, awful and horrible...my niece was wonderful, my son not, so much so that I sat with him in the very cold car while everyone else ate dinner....and my baby was in the restaurant! Anyone have ideas for getting a defiant five year old in line, he is making me crazy!

Today, however, was magic. I had almost no real work to do, and I wasn't planning any major house cleaning beyond washing diapers, regular vacuuming and dishes. Today I was cooking, and nothing makes me happier than spending the day warm and snuggling and cooking up a storm!

I began cooking Christmas cookies making chocolate chip which are the ones I always make first. Then Brittan and I made Challah bread ala this recipe, it is fantastic and wonderful and I appreciate her posting it!

I also made beef and barley soup for dinner and made the baby some strained peas. She has begun trying to face plant in our food, so I decided to try her on some peas and rice cereal today....she was not happy with it. I will give her a few days and try again, but it was pretty darn funny watching her pull faces when I gave her a spoonful!



Tomorrow will also be a baking day, I have twelve kinds of cookies to bake for Christmas and Hannukah. Hannukah starts Friday, but we will not eat our feast until Saturday since I work Friday. Saturday will be brisket, latkes and if I can locate a nut free ruggelah recipe, we will have that, otherwise, jelly donuts. Winter Solstice is December 21st, we will celebrate by making pine cone bird feeders and having the Feast of Favorites...this is a meal where everyone got to choose their favorite thing and we will have it...makes for an interesting meal! The Christmas comes and we have all the goodies associated with Christmas!

As you can tell, we celebrate all the winter holidays. As we are really of no religion, we feel it is important to share in many customs. My kids are not spoiled through the year and don't get many extras, so I enjoy taking the month to really celebrate our family and indulge the kids. They will receive small items for each day of Hannukah plus a big Christmas. No presents for Winter Solstice, although that may change in future years, I have an idea involving the forest fairies :)

Runaway

It was a long day. The children were needy, and trying, and by bathtime, I was just done with it all. Add to that the stack of grading I had to do, dinner clean up, vacuuming, baby baths, and so on, and I was REALLY done. Just then a few kids decided to throw fits, and I knew that I needed out. I got up, grabbed my keys and told the husband I was leaving, and with that, I walked out the door leaving him with the screaming kids and baths.

Now before anyone jumps all over me, I have kids 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the exception of the two days I leave to go to campus to teach my SECOND job. All day while wrangling the four kids, I also do a full time job and take classes for my doctorate, plus cook, clean, do the doctor's appointments, shopping, laundry, and so on and so forth. When I stood up and walked out, was Ryan mad? Put out? Even annoyed? Nope. He knows by now that when I get to that point, let me go, get things back under control and all is well. He understands the pressure I am under daily, and that I can almost never walk away from the reality of the chaos, so when I need a break and it is available, I go for it.

So what did I do? I got in my car and drove to Starbucks and ordered a peppermint mocha and a peppermint brownie. Did I sit there, enjoying the blissful quiet? Nope. I got my stuff, got back in the car and headed towards home. On my way, Ryan called and told me three of the four were in bed, that he loved me, and that he was happy I got a treat. Why did I not sit at Starbucks and take full advantage of being out and about....well because I DO have four kids, two jobs and a doctoral program, and I am needed at home. That little break, that treat just for me, that was all I needed, and the support I got from Ryan made it so much better for me. Knowing I can walk away when needed and that he understands and will hold things together is priceless, especially given our crazy life!

My apologies to the UPS man

Seriously, he will be here every day for the next week, maybe even more than once a day

At present (haha), I am waiting on shipments from:
1. Old Navy
2. Lands End
3. Best Buy
4. Wal-mart
5. Amazon
6. another Amazon shipment (wait there will be more coming)
7. Etsy
8. Diaper Junction (this is just dipes for the baby-she is outgrowing some of hers)
9. My school store (free sweatshirt, small perk)

Seriously, that is a lot of shipments!

I still need to go to Justice, order a few more things from Amazon and some things from eToys plus pick up some Site to Store at Wal-mart. Such is holiday shopping with many kids, if all goes well, I will only purchase gifts at Justice and a few stocking stuffers actually IN a store.

O Christmas Tree

We scrapped the plan to go to the museum today and instead loaded the kids up, went to lunch and then went and cut down our Christmas tree. We love that there is a tree farm nearby, and while it was muddy, windy and cold, we think the tree is very pretty. I also did a lot of shopping for Christmas, from the couch, and we ordered a new camera since something happened to ours last weekend when we had company and the LCD screen is smashed Thank goodness for Black Friday deals, old gift cards and store pick ups.

Thanks for giving

Ah, today is the day we are all to sit and reflect on what we are thankful for this year. I find I do that at least once a week as it keeps me humble and makes it easier to get through the tough days, but here is just a partial list of some of the many, many things I am so lucky to have.

1. My glorious husband and children
2. A comfortable home
3. Stable jobs
4. Good health for myself, Ryan, the children and our parents
5. Loving and supportive friends
6. The ability to afford everything we need and much of what we want
7. Time together as a family
8. Freedom and free choice

Hold your loves close today and every day, and enjoy taking an extra moment to share your favorite things to be thankful for.

Powerless

Today was trying to say the least. Our power went off last night at around 10 pm, after calming the screaming masses, I ventured downstairs by the light of my laptop to locate the flashlight. Then I began the search for the plug in phone, which was not where it should have been, so after quite a while of frantic searching, I finally located it. Used the phone to call my husband who had my car and my cell phone, and asked him to call the power company. They informed us that the power would be on by 2 am...needless to say, it was 2 PM that it came back.

After the long day of bored kids and the inability to get anything I needed to get done, I made up for lost time. As of right now, the mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes are made, as is the stuffing. I have a beautiful pair of cinnamon raisin Challah bread loaves rising by the fire and the house is not completely trashed. Tomorrow morning I will finish the dinner and hopefully even get to chill with the family while watching the parade.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve :)

Slow down!

Today is going slowly and I am not complaining! I have a few tasks on deck, but nothing too major, so I am enjoying a little quiet time with Teagan and Grayson. This morning we baked some turkey and pumpkin cookie cut outs for Thanksgiving. I also made a huge batch of bread since we need it for dinner tonight and for Thanksgiving. I have a few loads of laundry to wash, some vacuuming to do and I need to load the dishes, but other than that and dinner, we are really just snuggled inside on this chilly day!

I love these days, when I don't feel rushed or frantic. I am excited about my sister coming on Thursday and I am not stressed at all. I am looking forward to family time Friday and Saturday, and happy that we will be together. Next weekend my parents come and we will go see my niece in The Nutcracker, she is playing Clara, so the kids are super excited about that as well.

The semester is winding down, I am feeling relaxed, the kids are happy and the house is relatively clean and organized. Ah, this is the peace and joy in all those songs :)

Nearing perfection

Today was a good day, even with minimal sleep last night, it was a calm day all around.

After getting the older three to school, I came home and cleaned up, did some laundry, showered and organized. Headed out to grab Gray and stopped to get some tortilla soup on the way since it was kind of rainy and nasty out. Gray had a great day at school and was happy on the way home, fed him lunch and then he was off to play. I worked a bunch, made some sugar cookie dough for tomorrow, played with the baby and made tacos for dinner. Everyone ate, and we are cleaned up and are ready for tomorrow with lunches and clothes prepped for the morning.

Now the kids are off to bed, the baby and I will hang out a bit longer, and then we will turn in as well. Nearly perfect.

It went well, and now it is quiet

The visit with Ryan's dad and brothers went well, much less stress than when his mom is here which was nice. The one thing was, they eat SO much! I seriously thought I had prepared this time and bought enough food, but we still didn't have enough. Three people devoured a really big roast chicken one day and the other day they ate 3 lbs of sandwich meat, and Haven, Ryan, his Dad and I hadn't had any! It is crazy how much they eat, but I am happy they came and that the kids, Ryan and I all had a nice visit. They were enamored with Teagan and played with Gray and the girls, and everyone visited and enjoyed.

Now they are gone and the house is mine again for a few days. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving, the turkey is defrosting and I am all ready to start the cooking on Wednesday. I love the holiday season!

They made it

The in laws are here, it is going fine, but I am exhausted and just want to nap.

Thankfully i get to escape to my room a few times a day to feed the baby, sweet, quiet, relief.

So tired, so excited, and so thankful

I am dead tired tonight and really need to hit the hay. The father in law and crew will be in late tonight, so tomorrow I must play happy hostess. I also have a ton of work to due this weekend, so I am not sure how it will balance out.

I am also excited that this week I have no PT school so I can hang around the house and enjoy the calmer existence. My sister and her family come for Thanksgiving, and I am looking forward to cooking the feast.

OK, too tired to think anymore...

Clean dshes abound

It happened. The new dishwasher came today and it is a glorious sight. After over 4 months of hand washing, I am happy to report that I have a dishwasher running right now in my house. It amazed me to take the sink full of dishes, put them in, and hit start. No more washing four times a day and no more giant dish drain taking up residence on my limited counter space. It was a long day full of mishaps, but the dishwasher is now running and there is a sense of calm in my house,

That being said, my father in law and the rest of them are due tomorrow around midnight, so I really need to clean the rest of the house. Tonight we will steam clean the living room and playroom, and I already dusted and cleaned the downstairs bathroom. Tomorrow while I am at work, Ryan will clean the upstairs bathroom and steam clean up stairs. I will stop at the store on my way home and then will come home, and mop the house after the kids go to bed. Then after this crazy weekend, I am hoping the weather will hold up so my husband can powerwash the house for me. Then bring on Turkey Day!!!

Will they, won't they

My inlaws make me crazy, seriously. When other people complain about their inlaws I am actually jealous since the relationship is so much better than the one we have with Ryan's parents. No joke, they are the WORST parents and grandparents ever, how Ryan turned out the way he did, and is such an amazing father, is beyond me.

Here is the situation. His father is supposed to come visit this weekend, to see Teagan, you know, the FOUR month old! He hasn't see the other kids in a year and a half and only saw them for a few hours that time. He hasn't been to our house in nearly three years. Did we have a falling our? Do we not get along? One would think so, but no, he is just a selfish ass. You may think he lives overseas or at the very least, across the country. Nope, he is in NY, a mere 7 hour drive or 45 minute flight.

Anyway, he has been telling us he is coming since the baby was born. In fact, he was supposed to come two weeks after she was born. Didn't happen. Supposed to come in September, didn't come. Now they were supposed to come this weekend, and now they are not sure they are coming because Ryan's nearly 30 year old brother may not be able to get off work...seriously!

I am so tired of the way they treat my husband. He is such a great guy and they are losing out on a relationship with him and our fantastic kids...not to mention the wonderful wife :)