It's the Big ONE

I never wanted 5 children.

It was never "my plan" (and I like to plan!)

5 is such an ODD number - literally! (and I'm NOT a fan of odd #'s for families)

4, 6, or 8 - now those are some nice & neat, EVEN numbers. THOSE are the #'s that were always in "my plan" where children were concerned.

But, I always wanted a May baby! And I never had one.

Then along came Brookelle...

in May...one year ago today...

Also known as:
Miss B
Brookie May
Brookelle-y
Brookelle-y, Brookelle-y (said back to back in a sing-song manner)
Lil' Stink
Stinker Poo
Sweetie Pie
Little Missy
Bubba
Brookells
B-Kelle (does that sound too much like a High School drill team?)
Baby
Baby Brookelle-y
Cutie Pie
"B"
{Oh my goodness, is she going to even know her REAL name?!?}

I've had to hear what the naysayers told me...

"5 Kids? That's too many!"

"Having a baby at YOUR age? Oh....."

"How old will you be before you're done raising your last one?"

"Just when you got all your kids potty trained, you're starting over again?"

"You were so close to 'freedom.' Your youngest would've been in Preschool this year, then one year 'til Kindergarten, two years 'til 1st Grade - ALL children in ALL DAY school."

"How can you afford 5 kids?"

Many times it's just the "Are-you-out-of-your-mind?" or "I-feel-so-sorry-for-you!" look.

blah. blah. blah

Their statements MIGHT be true...

But, just LOOK at what I would've missed out on this last year if I'd been so stuck on "my plan."

It's a wonderful thing - discovering Heavenly Father's plan for your life and going with that instead!

{Couldn't you just eat her up with a spoon?!!}

During these 1 through 12 months, if we've said it once, we've said it a hundred times...

"What would we do without Brookelle?"

I don't even want to imagine that.

To think that we almost didn't have her....it's a tragedy! It brings tears to my eyes.

We have thoroughly enjoyed this little baby! Every day, I still get to see Matt just "tickled pink" about her. I catch him just smiling to himself - and sometimes just bursts out into satisfied laughter - as he watches her and holds her. What. A. Stud! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her so much! And that goes for our WHOLE family. With the birth of Brookelle, she became "OUR baby" - not just "Suzanne & Matt's baby" like it was with our others. Everyone seemed to be old enough to participate in this baby experience and make it unique & special. Everyone has showered her with love & attention. I have had so many "baby helpers." We just think she is so cute and sweet and fun and adorable and funny and clever and precious! And Brookelle accepts us all back as "her world."

And she means the world to us!

Again, I say...

"What would we do without Brookelle?"

She has been such a good baby - just the way a 5th child ought to be! ;) I have really been able to cherish her so much [More than when I was a young(er) Mom.] We are so thankful to have been blessed with her in our Family & Home. This alteration to "my plan" couldn't have worked out better - it IS the best for me!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, BROOKELLE!!!

(Yet, I still say "5" is an ODD number!)

Excuse me, now, while I go freak out because MY BABY is ONE!

It's a Miracle

I went to the Dentist today...(what else is new?)

And I don't have to go back again until Dec. 1st!

There may be many of you out there who think this sounds quite normal - surely nothing to "make a Blog post about," right?

WRONG! Many people just go to the Dentist every 6 months for their check up & cleaning...Or maybe just once a year if you think that's too often! ;)

BUT, I pretty much go YEAR-ROUND!! You've heard of "Year Round" School, well, it's the same idea - I go to "Year-round dentist." It's because at my "6-month check up" they find a whole slew of things to work on. And then I'm back in the Dentist office for cavities, root canals, crowns, bridges, pulling teeth, bone graft surgery, etc. for multiple appointments spread apart every couple of weeks. And when they're done with their "To Do" list on me, it's time for my next 6-month appointment. REPEAT. REPEAT. REPEAT.

I, personally, think there are conspiracies that go on in Dentist offices with diagnosing "make-believe problems," but that's another Blog post subject. Let's just say I'm quite the Dental office joke.

Anyway, Imagine my delight (& SHOCK) when they Dentist exclaimed, "Everything looks good!" today at the end of my exam. REALLY? Especially in this economy - a DOUBLE shocker! The Mr. was anxiously waiting for me at home..."So, how was it," he hesitantly asks. Imagine his relief (& SHOCK) when I exclaimed, "Everything looks good!" :) :) :)

So, what's the difference? Well, not much, except I DID get a new little product in my Christmas stocking that I've been using ever since then...

The best way I can describe them is that it's like a miniature baby bottle cleaning brush. They totally get out all the "goodies" lodged in-between my teeth after a meal. Who needs toothpicks? Not I.

I guess "Santa" was very concerned about our dental bills and hoped this would produce a miracle! :) It did! (Or is it just luck?!? Or maybe a blessing because the $$$ really is being diverted to Ryan's Orthodontist!)

Our "White Trash" Kitchen makeover

It's Time.

We have been using our same 4-seater Kitchen table ever since....well, we were a Family of 4.

Over the years as we've ADDED more people to our Family and as we've LOST chairs due to breakage (kids leaning back on them 'til they fall to the ground -still in them, or varied other ways they managed to bust 'em - using the chairs as "weapons" being one way!) it's been neccesary to get more chairs. We currently have of modge-podge of 3 DIFFERENT styles of chairs crowded around our 4-seater, one of which is a card table folding chair. Sound attractive? ;)

My Dad tried to "help" my Kitchen table situation by presenting me with a great deal on chairs a few years back. A restaurant was closing and they were selling off ALL their stuff (including chairs.) My Dad offered to go pick them up for me and deliver them to me if I wanted to buy some. I told him I was only interested in getting enough to replace the broken ones we had at that time. He TRIED & TRIED to get me to buy ALL new chairs, one for every person in my Family, so they were ALL the same. He presented many different arguments to convince me that this was the way I should go. But, to NO avail. I only needed to get rid of the broken chairs! Is this bugging any of you? ;)

Obviously, I wasn't too worried about this situation. Until NOW, that is.

Tax Return Money + Memorial Day Weekend furniture sales + A Family of 7 = A Good Time to buy a new Kitchen Table (finally!) :)

This is what we got....


I was looking for certain things in my search:

• Size - BIG, that is! (I got 78" long)


• Option to add on [matching] chairs to my purchase - most sets only come with 4 chairs - WHY? (I got 8.)


• No fabric seats - we'd STAIN/DESTROY those faster than you could say, "Peanut Butter & Jelly!"


• Pleasing to the eye/Interesting cut (not just square & straight)


• A DIFFERENT look/style than what we had before

I actually found quite a few that met these requirements, but this Customer's Review (Do you ever write these? If you do, Thank You!) is what sold us on this one:

"We purchused this table 8 months ago and truly love it. With a family of all boys it is very durable and I never have to worry about what the boys may do."
"Our children make quite the mess while enjoying their meals but this set is extremely easy to clean up. "

Which is really good because NOT EVEN 2 minutes into our FIRST time eating at our new table, we had a spill!!

Yes, It's Time.

Now I can use one of our old Kitchen Table chairs to replace the folding chair I'd been using at my computer desk! :) Sorry, if I'm causing pain to all you "Interior Design perfectionists" with unlimited financial resources! ;)

Ryan's Still Waiting for Puberty to Hit!

Look at this First Baseman from the team Ryan played last night!It was like a "Freak Show!"

Ryan only goes up to his number (and that's w/ extra help from his helmet!)

We wanted the Ump to check this kid's Driver's License.

But, really, ONLY Ryan's age group (or younger) is allowed to play in this League.

We [lovingly] referred to him as the "Man-child" the whole game.

It did give our pitcher a VERY BIG strike zone to pitch to, though! :)

We wanted Matt to go stand by him, so we could compare their two heights to see how close he is to 6' 3" - but he wouldn't come out of the dugout after the game! I guess he took the LOSS against our 'shrimps' pretty hard! ;)

All You Add is Shampoo

Oh dear.

I discovered a problem this morning.

And this "problem" has been going on for quite a while.

"Quite a while" as in, ever since I let Kyle enter the world of showering-on-your-own vs. having-mommy-bathe-you (or at least supervising the task.) So, approximately 3 years!

This "problem" has gone undetected...Suspected, but undetected until this morning.

I have noticed that Kyle's hair does not always have that clean, shiny look. I often passed it off as too much gel build-up, lots of sweating at recess, wearing baseball hats all the time, not to mention using his head as a "napkin" when eating...BUT, I was also noticing that the level on the shampoo bottles in his shower was not going down. It sure seemed like those same bottles were there for a long time! I've given him a mini-refresher courses on the definition of a "shower" (getting whole body & head wet, washing body w/ soap, washing hair w/ shampoo), I've reminded him about taking showers, I've even confronted him about taking showers when it didn't seem like he was. These instances were followed by me witnessing him "post-shower" with wet hair & his PJ's on - so I considered it done. So, what's with the look of his hair?

This morning after I gave him a haircut, he needed to shower off the hair anyway, PLUS he has a piano recital today, so I decided to MONITOR to see if there was a problem. Poor kid...after all, he is a BOY and I am his Mother (a girl), but I felt it necessary. He came into the bathroom with a towel wrapped around him and did not drop it until he was behind the [closed] shower curtain. He stuck out his hand through a small opening so I could put a sufficient amount of shampoo in his palm.

Here's where I discovered the problem....

With the shampoo in his palm, he asked, "Do I just put it directly on my hair?"

What?!?

As opposed to...? indirectly on his armpit?!!

I think I've got the non-shine mystery figured out.

At this discovery, I insisted on pulling the curtain back to observe - and for his peace of mind, keep my eyes on his hair only. I also found out he was using a "patting" motion with one hand. I, then, introduced him to the two-hand SCRUB! He had been apparently taking showers without shampooing his hair. (Don't tell me he's gone 3 yrs. without a shampoo!! Ewww!) What happened next gave me the answer as to WHY? He doesn't know how to hold his head in the shower so that the shampoo rinses OFF - and NOT straight down into his eyes - which inevitably happened this morning and he got distraught FAST! I kept coaching, "Look up at the ceiling! Look up at the ceiling!" So, why did he keep his face down to take some more shampoo in his eyes? We finally got it done.

I came out and I asked Ryan (mostly joking), "Do YOU use shampoo when you wash YOUR hair?" (Totally expecting him to answer, "yes.") But, instead he answers, "Not lately," as he smiles and rubs his hand through his recent buzz cut, "not much hair up there!"

What?!!

I delivered the "even-babies-with-two-strands-of-fine-hair-get-their-hair-washed-with-shampoo" lecture.

Like I said, Oh dear.

I bought some new capris yesterday -- SAME dang size as what I have been wearing. (And for that reason, I will NOT be posting a photo of me IN the capris!) Come on!! I figured it wasn't going to be anything MIRACULOUS like five sizes smaller, BUT couldn't it have just been one size smaller? It's gotta just be that this brand "runs small," right?!...RIGHT?!?

**On another health note: If I was cooking some brocolli which I fully intended to eat for lunch, but neglected it for a little too long (while being distracted by this blog) and it & the pan really stink now, and so I don't even wanna be around it, let alone eat it, does it still "count" that I DID eat it - do I still get the healthy benefits?!

Mother's Day Scores

I was laughing so hard, I was crying at some of these gifts from my children...

From Haylee:

She drew this picture for me. She says it's Dad giving me flowers and he was CRYING so much (because he was happy) when he did. And then, my hair was sticking up because I was so surprised about the flowers. (Kind of like Linus' hair sticks up whenever the teacher talks to him on Charlie Brown!) She got those Brenchley ears right! :)

From Kyle:

This book of poems contained some good ones! My favorites:

MOM

My dear mom is good at walking

But she never stop's talking

MY SISTER'S ROOM

It's a really, really big mess

They never find their dress

There's everything you can think of on the ground

I think there's even a dog from the pound

From the Ward:

YUUMMM!

The Sunday School President is in charge of the "Mother's Day Gift," but I'm pretty sure his wife had everything to do with this year's gift! ;) Thanks, Steph!

From the Mr:

Looks like the hinting on my Blog paid off! ;)

Thank You Very Much!

"H - E - Double toothpicks" has Frozen Over!

{click to view}

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=vh7Afkczv4hMOXPrkCBczTEwODAxNjYy&referred_by=15464484-xE4Njtx

Happy Mother's Day to all of you (non-award winners), though!

Thanks, Kristen! ;)

Random Question of the Week

"How do you do dinner during Baseball season?"
Fine print: I'm looking for other answers besides fast food.

OR the "Dinner of Champions" (hot dog, chips, & pop) purchased at the Snack Shack.

When games start between 5:00 & 7:30 PM and are a couple of hours long, dinner gets royally messed up.

Last week, we had "dinner" at the Honor Society Induction Ceremony (A glass of punch & an Eclair) since we arrived there immediately from a game.

I can start at 3:00 PM making dinner (there goes my blogging time!) and eat around 4:30 PM, but Matt won't be home for it - and he's practically the only fun one to cook for since he REALLY appreciates the food.

OR, we can eat between 9:00 & 10:00 at night after we're all home together again. That's great on your figure!

I've already packed a picnic a couple of times and I feel like I've exhausted all my food options: Cold Cut sandwiches and fried chicken.

BTW, did you all know about the FREE MEAL at KFC? Go to http://www.unthinkfc.com/ - but, Hurry and print your coupon TODAY because it's the last day to print. (you can use it until 5/19.) There's one of our baseball night dinners solved!! :) One hint, print it during an "non-peak" time because the site's busy - I printed mine around 10 PM.

So, please tell me how to do it. Is bringing dinner to the ball park the best option? Any other ideas besides sandwiches, chicken, & fast food?

Miss B slept for 12 hours last night!!!

(12 hrs. AND 5 min. to be exact.)

We've been working towards this goal for a LONG time!

(11 months AND 4 days to be exact.)

So, WHY am I still tired?