So Not Ready for This!

This morning I drove Snapper to school. She's in middle school now, and she has to be to school no later than 7:30. We have her at a private college prep school now because she is so incredibly bright. She needs the academic challenge to thrive. And boy, is she thriving!

We've come such a long way from our days of 1st grade homeschool nightmare. Anyway, as we were driving, we passed another family from her school. Their son, who is also in 6th grade, saw us out his window and erupted into the hugest smile. Then he got embarrassed and ducked down out of sight. I looked over at Snapper, and she was grinning too, but was also beet red. There were sparks flying.

I said to her, "Hey! What was all that about?"
She looked at me and grinned again, a huge grin. "Well Mom, there's no denying that Ethan is really cute. He thinks I'm cute, too."

CLUNK!

That's the sound of my heart dropping down into my feet. My baby girl likes a boy, and that boy likes my baby girl. 

"But don't worry, Mom. Ethan isn't the wrong kind of guy. He treats me so well! He carries my backpack for me, he holds the door open, and during 4th and 7th period, he'll even come over and push in my chair."

WHEEZE!

That's the sound of the breath leaving my body. A boy is treating my baby girl like a lady.

"And Mom, you really don't need to worry. Ethan likes me, but he isn't allowed to have a girlfriend until his parents think he's ready, which definitely won't be before he's 16 or 17 at least. So we have to wait at least four more years before we can do anything more than like each other and be friends."

THUD!

That's the sound of me falling over onto the floor in a dead faint. 

Not really. Actually, I took it all in stride. I knew this day would come. I'm glad she has the good sense to like a boy who is a true gentleman, and whose parents are taking a wise, active role in his relationships with girls. I know Ethan and his parents outside of school, and they are exactly the kind of family I will {someday} want my girl getting connected with. She has actually displayed really great taste in her choice of boy, and that encourages me. When I was her age, only one thing mattered to me: IS HE CUTE? It so happens that Ethan is adorable. He is tall and slender, has curly, light brown hair, and big blue eyes. He has big teeth and adorable freckles. And when he smiles, it is like someone has turned on a light inside him. He's precious. Yes, Snapper has great taste. I imagine this crush will be a passing phase, like most middle school crushes.

But still...
I am SO NOT READY FOR THIS!

How did she get so old?

It makes me even more glad that I'm having a baby girl. I get to start all over an enjoy childhood again from the very beginning. Ah yes, I am very glad.

Ready for April

I'll start by saying I'm not complaining here. I'm just stating the facts, because this is life right now and I don't have a pretentious bone in my body. This blog is a pretty accurate representation of the real me. What you see is what you get.

• From what I can tell, the "golden days" of pregnancy are over. I think the morning sickness--or round the clock sickness for me--has returned. I feel awful all the time, and for no apparent reason. And oh man...my gag reflex is so sensitive right now!
• It is much more difficult and painful to throw up at 30 weeks pregnant than it is a 18 weeks pregnant.
• Depends, anyone? Goodbye, normal bladder function.
• The fatigue is unbelievable. It doesn't matter that I slept for 11 hours last night. It's 9:30 in the morning and I'm contemplating going back to bed.
• What I wouldn't give for a single night of uninterrupted sleep!
• Sunny's ODD behaviors are extra exhausting. She's just such a tough kiddo to parent. I pray fervently for her healing, and that God will use her great strength and survivor's spirit for good.
• My home schooled child is tired of being home schooled. She wants to go back to public school, and she balks and drags her feet on everything we do, except for her new remedial reading program and History. She loves those two. 
• Matt's show is this week and next week. It means that between final rehearsals and performances, he will only be home three of the next 14 nights. 
• I foresee a lot of frozen pizza in our near future, because I can't handle food smells with the return of the morning sickness.
• I love that Matt is getting to do this show! I don't begrudge the evenings out in the least. It has been the best, most therapeutic thing in the world for him, and he's a shining star on the stage. I can't wait to go see the show next week!
• Before the kids leave for school in the morning, they must clean up their messes around the house. They do not like to do this, and are often lazy about it. Normally I will just pick up the stuff and throw it on their beds if they don't get it done before they leave. Not anymore! As of this morning, anything left out is going in the trash or to charity. They didn't believe me this morning, but they will when they come home from school. 
• My toes are swollen and my belly hurts and I'm hungry but I can't eat or I get bad acid reflux. 
• I need to go finish my baby registry but I'm totally unmotivated. The thought of driving 25 minutes and walking around the store and making decisions just plain old wears me out. 
• I'm super excited about my baby shower, happening on March 8th. It's for all my church friends. I'm hoping there will be one other shower for my other friends, not because I want the stuff but because it is just so special to have my precious friends all in the same place, and celebrating the coming of a very special little person.
• That little person moves constantly. I wonder if all her activity is contributing to my fatigue.
• This morning I am praying for the strength to make it through today. 

Things I must accomplish today:

• Math, reading, and grammar with Bubbles (history and writing can bump to tomorrow)
• Follow up with the child psychiatrist for Sunny (still waiting on a call back from the scheduling lady)
• Follow up with the endocrinologist for Bubbles (waiting for insurance approval on a very important, time-sensitive battery of tests)
• Follow up with the neurologist for Pepper (to reschedule the appointment I made in October that they called me to cancel and reschedule)
• Do Matt's and my laundry. I'm out of undies. Depends, anyone? Remember?
• Sleep. Must have sleep. 
• Prepare myself mentally and spiritually to deal with Sunny's behaviors this week without Matt.
• If it didn't give me heartburn, I'd add "eat chocolate" to this list.

I'm ready for it to be April. I know having a new baby will add a whole different set of responsibilities to my life. But at least the physical struggles will go away, and I'll be able to put the baby down in her bed when I need to. 

How We Do Laundry

I have five kids. That means I do laundry for five kids. Pretty soon I'll be doing laundry for six kids. Yikes! That's a lot of laundry. It would be very easy for the laundry to control our home, and there are times when it does. For the most part, though, I am in control of the laundry, and here's how we do it.

Every child has his/her own laundry basket. It lives in the child's bedroom. They are much better at putting their laundry on the floor than they are at putting it in the baskets. I do not understand this. On laundry day, if there is laundry all over the bedrooms, I require the kids to sort it into their own baskets. They bring their baskets to the laundry room.

I wash all the kid clothes, sheets, and towels on Saturday morning, first thing. I do Matt's and my laundry on Monday mornings. I also wash karate uniforms on Mondays.

I can usually fit two kids' laundry into one load. I wash Snapper and Piper's clothes together because they share a room. I wash Sunny and Bubbles' clothes together because they share a room. Pepper's load is usually almost a full load on its own because his clothes are bulkier. I do two loads of towels each week and two loads of sheets every other week.

I make my own laundry soap. It's a simple recipe that I got from my mother-in-law. It works really well, but I don't love how it smells. That is easy to remedy! I love the scent of Arm&H@mmer's Fresh Burst liquid laundry soap. I have a huge jug of it, and I put in two cups with the laundry soap I make so I can still enjoy that smell. I used to separate my laundry into different loads based on color, but I no longer have time or energy for that. I wash new things in a cold vinegar wash to set the colors. From there on out, everything gets washed together. Except for the karate uniforms, which get their own bleach load.

When each load comes out, I call the owners of the load to come help me. I sort the load into two baskets, one for each child. Snapper and Bubbles take their own laundry from there. They follow the same process that I follow for Pepper, Piper, and Sunny's laundry. I fold it, match it into outfits, and bag it in gallon ziploc bags. This gives me ultimate control over the outfits. I can make sure things coordinate and are weather appropriate. Then the littles come and put their bags away in their drawers. They can choose whichever bag they want on any day.

My kids do the folding and putting away of towels and sheets. I have taught them exactly how I want it done, and if they get lazy about it, I make them do it over. They usually do a great job.

So that's laundry at our house. I hope my process gives you some ideas. It works great for us!