The Sunday Report

Matt isn't feeling well today, so he stayed home from church.

I was subbing in Primary so I went but all of the kids stayed home, too.

My class was fun, but truth be told, mostly we just colored and ate candy.

When I got home Matt was feeling a little bit better so we loaded up Emma, Kate and Jane and went downtown to Temple Square.

So beautiful, but it was too hot, so we came back home and watched Doctor Who....er... I mean something totally church related.

Photo courtesy of  BBC

Okay, it was Doctor Who, but it was a really really good episode.

The Books and the Bees

Tonight as AMEX night at the ballpark, so we loaded up the kids and took in most of a Bee's game.

Okay, four innings, but that was enough.

I finished a pair of socks while there, They need to be blocked because right now the toe looks a little boobie-ish.

You can't tell when they are on a foot, but  I know the truth.

Last night I started reading a  new book to Kate, it's something I did on the car on our vacation to ease the boredom, I pulled out a book and started to read to everyone- only Matt and Kate paid much attention and it turned into something fun that Kate especially anticipated and enjoyed as we goth got into the book. When it was finished I asked if she wanted to do that again with another book and she did, so I loaded up a new novel on the Kindle to read and we started it.

The one we're reading is called Janitors.

So far so good, but it's not as good as the last one was at this point.

But who are we kidding, it's just filler until the Death Cure by James Dashner comes out.

That's the one we are all waiting for.

So, this summer I did do a lot of reading, not everything I had planned to read but some books look better on the cover.

I finished the next 2 Dresden novels in the series (only a billion more to go) by James Butcher

The Beyonders Book 1 by Brandon Mull

All of the 13th Reality series by James Dashner

Leven Thumps, The Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye

Half of The Chicago Way (doubt I'll read much more, bleah)

Almost Done with The Hounds of Rowan by Henry H. Neff (eh)

And I did finally finish Madame Tussuad by Michelle Moran (zzzzzzzzzzzzz)

Next in line is the next Dresden book and Fuzzy nation by John Scalzi- not YA fiction because all of the YA's in this house will be at school and I can read in quiet again.

What did you read over the summer?

Out With a Bang

Do you hear that? It's the sound of the kids, all at school.

All but Parker, he starts Wednesday, but he doesn't get up before noon anyway if he doesn't have to work.

Emma, Kate and Jane are here, too- they start Monday but they don't squabble and sound like a herd of rabid elephants as they run through the house.

So, technically not even half the kids are n school, but the loud ones are, so it feels like more.

Those last days were spent swimming, sunbathing, playing X box and having some big family events.

(Ooooh...Portal 2.....)

Zane started his first day of High School with no fanfare, I had to force him to bring a pen and he wore and old shirt. Whatever- boys.

Grey started 7th grade- eek. His school just seems so big and so loud. I'm probably way more nervous than he is, but it's a big change and you all know how well my kids do with change.....

Roe as up and ready by 7am. School doesn't start until 8:30. This is the first time she hasn't had any siblings at the school with her. She'll do fine, she has the same teacher Grey had in 5th grade and we loved him.

The weekend was full of more activity than we expected, Nathan had a birthday and we went to Lehi to celebrate that. He's such a big boy and says the funniest things.

He walked by Zane and said "What are you lookin' for?"

Zane started to laugh as Nathan strutted away all full of attitude, then he turned back to Zane and ran over and gave him a hug.

Sweet boy.

(Hellooooo? Any tadpoles home?)

Miss Lilly was a riot, I have never seen a cuter toddler walk, that child is more adorable with each passing minute.

(Chips, Yo.)

Abbie was cracking everyone up with her funny things she was noticing and commenting on. When it was time to go she got upset (she was super tired) and said "my dad says I have to go!" to everyone, including her mom.  Oh yeah, we know your dad, he makes people go at the end of parties like that.  The cuteness may not read as well through a blog post, but it was the sweetest thing, she has such a tender heart and her laugh is one of my favorite sounds.

(Look Grandpa, a whistle! Do you hear that everyone? There are WHISTLES at this party. Yay! Whistles!!)

Nathan got a new bike- he hopped right on with no fear.

Happy Birthday, Mr. One-Man Show.

Finally on Sunday we got word that my sister, Lisa had her baby.

Sweet little Melody Beth arrived into this world face first and nearly killed Mommy being delivered, but everyone is healthy and well. Her whole face is purple from the bruising during delivery, but she's just as perfect as perfect can be.

Congrats to Lisa, Erik and Rori. We are so happy Baby melody is here.

And for you Dr. Who nerds.....yeah they have a Rori and a Melody. They have no idea they have struck nerd baby name gold here, but we noticed. :)

Geek out, folks.

A Contest! (just not for you...)

We've been enjoying the last fleeting moments of summer break.

Fun stuff like Kate having an orthodontist appointment....we have to get those in when we can since she isn't normally here during orthodontist's hours and during the summer, the office is closed on Fridays.

Fun stuff like going over to Russ and Nancy's for a BBQ on Thursday.

The food was so good, Russ- you are a grill-master and Nancy, it was so fun to just talk and relax. The kids had a good time and I think Parker may have eaten a dozen burgers.

We took a picture of all of the adults together, but I closed my eyes in every single one, so I cropped Matt and I out.

Vanity never faileth....

I took the kids to the Nickle Arcade yesterday and had to give some serious stink eye to Jane, who blew all of her money in 15 minutes trying to win a prize.

 I got a few more dollars worth of coins and told the kids that anyone who was finished in less than an hour had to do extra chores- play GAMES not try and win tickets for penny prizes.

I finished the heel on the sock I'm knitting and the kids had a great afternoon. we went and met up with Matt at AMEX afterwards and had lunch.

Just in case you ever find yourself wondering..... Fruit Loop Krispie bar in the cafeteria may look delightful, but it tastes like monkey poo.  Avoid at all costs.

It's been too long since we did something to embrace out inner gluttons in this house, so I spent the rest of the afternoon baking up cakes and we had a cake decorating contest last night.

Okay, maybe it as more of a frosting eating contest, but we need your help.

The winner of the contest gets a reward and I need help voting on which cake is the best.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

None of them look edible, but if you could please vote and leave a comment as to what cake is your favorite, we will announce the winner next weekend.

How did YOU kick off the end of summer?

I truly hope it didn't involve a Fruit Loop Krispie Bar because that would be sad.

Tales From the Basement

Curse you, Nintendo for dropping the price of the 3DS.

I'm glad you are now affordable, but affordable means that my sons all see a relationship with you as something that is within reach.

For Parker and Zane, they had the money to begin this beautiful, time-sucking romance.

For Greyson, the child with whom money burns holes in his pockets instantaneously---it was as far away as a date with the Homecoming Queen.

He wanted it more than anything, and it could happen, but not anytime soon.

So, he asked for chores to do to earn the money for a 3DS.

I'm all for paying the kids to do extra chores, but my kids seem to think sweeping and mopping pays more than performing heart surgery. 

 I love you Son, but I'm not paying you $100 an hour to fold laundry.

We did reach an agreement and Grey owes me his soul for the next few weekends, but we loaned him the money so he could join the 3DS club and now can wonder how he's going to ever pay for games to go with it.

One of the things he had to help with was the basement, that for too long has resembled an episode of Hoarder's.

It's much better now.

It's still a dark and scary basement, but it is clean.

The food storage was moved to a new space and I can now see what I have so I can use it.

We're a long way from having a full year's supply, but I know if we had an emergency, we;d be okay for a couple of months with this and what we have stored upstairs.

Law and Order, Olson Style

(Pictures have nothing to do with the post...they are from our family photos session last week.)

Hello, Little blog.

I've ignored you this summer, I know.

I blame 2 vacations, 7 kids, Netflix and stress.

Yeah, it's been kind of a stressful summer.

We're working on it.

The kids took butt sitting to a higher level and finally, I broke under the pressure. I had myself a couple of good crying sessions, whined to my Mother -In- Law, and asked Matt to fix it and then I did the smartest thing- I called in reinforcements. I asked the knitters what to do with kids who feel like they should not have to lift a finger unless you beg, bribe or threatened them- and then they do a dishonest job anyway.

I'm not some cleaning Nazi who even has high standards, I just get upset when dirty dishes are hidden in the pantry, and wet laundry is hidden under beds or when the kids decide that if it doesn't fit in the dishwasher, they don't have to wash it.

And God bless the Knitters. They had great ideas.

Matt got out his handy Excel Spreadsheet and made a chore chart.

No more days off if you have to work at a paying job, you can do a chore here, too.

No more begging and bribing. I'll ask them to do the chore once, show them how to do it and they need to do it.

But wait--you say-- I have met your kids. If it were that simple you'd live in a palace!

I know.

The key is when they don't do it- because they don't- they don't have to do it. they don't even have to get in trouble.

Instead they have to sit in a chair and watch Mom or Dad do their chore.

To Mom and Dad's standards.

At Mom and Dad's pace.

While Mom and Dad have to stop and take breaks, or get drinks, or complain about Mom's aching back as she does the child's chore.

And the kid is to watch.

Just crazy enough to work.

We had a family meeting, we gave them the chart and told them how things would change. They giggled and rolled their eyes. We started off with a group cleaning blitz to start the new program off right. The kids laughed at the stupid idea and talked about who would be the first to get away with not doing chores.

Our first test came a few days later- Zane had been asked to hang up his shirts, they were on his dresser. I called him to his room and asked him to sit on his bed, he had no idea what I wanted. I said "I guess you needed me to hang up your shirts today."

He stood up and rolled his eyes and said he'd do it. I said "No, no sit down. You chose for me to have to do your job and I have to be a person of my word. it was obviously too hard for you to do it, but not too hard for me to do it, so I am going to do it. We all agreed to this." (I won the Mommy Martyr Oscar there.)

It took me an hour to hang up 6 shirts.

As I hung them. I'd notice things out of place in his closet, asked him about every shirt in there, f she still wore it and we went through it piece by piece as he had to sit there while I slowly- but with a smile on my face--did his job.

When I was done he said "Okay, I get it- you win, Mom." and smirked and left.

He's been totally picking up after himself and doing his chore without a reminder ever since.

The next one was Kate.

She left for her mother's and had plopped her wet towel, bathing suit and clothes all in the middle of the closet floor and left them there. Instead of getting mad and picking them up, I left them there, too. When Matt brought the girls home on Thursday, Kate was called to her room and got to watch as Dad and I cleaned her closet- to our standard. it was actually quite a mess to begin with. There were some truly gross things in there that Dad got to clean and Kate got to watch. Things that made her realize how gross it is to make others clean it up.

We stayed happy and calm and two hours later, the closet was totally clean.

She was upset enough that the other kids noticed and as we cleaned her closet, they started to clean their own closets without us saying a word.

That was 2 weeks ago.

The kitchen has been clean for 2 weeks, all the dishes done and the floor and counters done as well.

All I need to say is "I'm sure you didn't leave this for me to clean, did you?" and the kid who left a mess literally jumps up to clean their mess.

I've had time to work on other things- like the basement and sewing new skirts for the girls.

We were able to get a new used  leather couch from Doreen for the family room that I'd been putting off bringing in because the kids ruined everything. It looks great in the clean family room.

And I'm not so tired and stressed out.

One more week of summer break and we finally figured out a routine that works for our family.

I may be neglecting the blog a little longer while we enjoy the rest of the summer knowing all is well and in order at home.

Thank you to my sweet friends who offered unconventional advice that worked for this unconventional family. Thank you to my husband and MIL for listening to me unload about how stressed I was. Thank you to my kids, for showing me that although you are lazy as sloths, you do love me and you do care about how I feel- and you CAN use the washing machine.