Good Morning!

Good morning all! What a beautiful day in Iowa! Looks like it will be a wonderful extended weekend. I am posting early today because I plan on being outside until I have to go to work. I am, by the way, hating working now. Whenever the weather gets nice, I put my two weeks notice in. This time I have done it twice! But, I have decided to stay working through the summer. I will, however, only work 1-2 nights a week! I really just want to keep my $30/night hotel benefits for the big summer vacation we want to take. I told my boss that, and he laughed! Work is so hard to go to when it is 80 degrees and the kids are telling me they want me to stay home.
Last night I worked, and it wasn't so bad. There is one girl that I work with, Melanie, and if she is not there it is painful and endless! Luckily she feels the same towards me and trys to pick up shifts if she is not scheduled with me. Last night we went out after work and had a few beers. She always brings clothes for me to wear. I laugh out loud at her because she feels I should fit into her clothes! She is a size 8 with cute little pre-baby boobs! I have the hips and boobs of a woman who has given birth and nursed 5 children! Those two body styles are not really conducive to wardrobe sharing! But, somehow she always brings me something that fits, and I love her for it!
Gerrick is coming home early from work today, so I am going to get the kids all ready for a picnic in the park. They love to play and play and play outside. Trying to get Dax to come back in is like trying to get him to eat live cockroaches! He hates it. Hopefully this weekend he wont have to come in too much. I know Gerrick wanted to go to the Res with some friends, and that sounds wonderful to me.
Hope everyone has a great Memorial weekend. I truly believe that it is extremely important to remember those who have died ( and those still alive!!) defending our wonderful country. I know that just in our family alone we have a variety of political opinion and the fact that we can is great! The freedom that we enjoy was not free!

P.S. Love the pic of Gerrick and I in the garden?

For some reason I can not post a picture today. I am really getting sick of this blog site!!! I have literal tried 6 times to put pictures on. It says it is done, but my pictures don't post. I know I am doing it right, but it hates me! OF COURSE! I try one more time before publishing and they show up! Anyway, here is my Mom with Reagan, the boys, and Shaelynn!

Thursday Morning

Good morning!! Last night was nice with Gerrick home. However, how is it that a house that I have kept clean for the last 3 days by myself, can be destroyed in 3 hours!!! Why is it a man can get something out of a cupboard to use it but has no idea HOW to put it back? This morning Gerrick got the children breakfast. That was nice to sleep in, but when I did get up there were 4 different cereals on the counter. His coffee was sitting beside them, and beside that was his filters. Is there an invisible force that repels men from returning things to their proper place? Is this the same force that prevents them from shutting cupboard and closet doors? I need to find the counter force for this. I have, in my 7 years of marriage, figured out how to get a man to get his dirty underwear in the hamper. My wonderful intelligent mother told me a story of a woman who hid all the dirty clothes that didn't make it to the hamper and didn't wash them. Then when her husband was out of underwear she showed him the pile and explained how easy it is to put them in the hamper!! It works!! Gerrick was surprised to see the big heaping pile of dirty underwear. Now he gets his drawers, with 90% accuracy, in the hamper. I am working on the dirty socks in the shoes, that one is hard!!!
Today is Shaelynn's picnic in the park for school. She is really excited, but I am afraid it will be rained out!! I hope the rain comes soon, and is gone, or waits till later. That is one of the big traditions of Monroe School. The kids look forward to it, and really enjoy it. They get to go to Bever Park, which is right by my house, and have a picnic with all the school. Braydon is already looking forward to his picnic.
Well, gotta go! Lots to do and I have to work tonight so I have to get it done early!
Apparently I can not load pictures after I write, so I will do another post with pictures of my wonderful Mother and the boys!

Wednesday Evening

Hello! I am on cloud nine, my husband is home!! It is always great to see him again. Now I know those of you who know him might think that sounds strange, but I do miss the big guy!
We had a great day today! No one tried to burn the house down or choke on their dinner. We had an early dinner for the kids before Gerrick got home and Gerrick is cooking some steaks for us. After the kid's dinner I read them some more out of their Bible that Keghan bought with some of her birthday money from Uncle Sean and Aunt Jodi. They want to start at the beginning and read the whole thing. I am game! The Bible has great pictures and the stories are very understandable. They love it.
Well, Gerrick is coming in the back door with the steaks, so goodbye for now!

Yes, more pictures!

Just some more pictures. I hope you enjoy!

Tuesday Evening

Here are the pictures! See why I might be inclined to loose my mind? They are much louder than they look!!! They look different with their mouths closed, I almost didn't recognize them at first!

Tonight was interesting to say the least. My children must have had a meeting and decided that today was the day to drive Mom crazy! We went to the store after the girls got home from school to buy a cake. Every once and a while we have a Stotser holiday and someone gets to be the person of honor. Today was Shae's day, and we needed a cake. So, after much deliberation she picked out a cake. When we got home she decided that wasn't the cake she really wanted and threw a fit about having to eat it. Then when I went out to start the grill for dinner they decided to get the art bin out. This meant that without my supervision for 3 minutes Dax was covered in "tattoos". Very impressive! Oh, wait, there is more. While I was out getting the chicken off the grill Braydon decided to see how paper burns. He stuck a small sticker under the vegetables on the stove and threw the flaming paper across the room. Luckily my girls are semi-smart and put it out without incident. But you should have heard him scream when they came to tell me what happened!!! I told them to play outside, and normal children would. But today they stayed in and destroyed things. Fun for them, a headache for me. Then to top the night off, Dax went running out of the house after dinner with a mouth still full of chicken and fell in the driveway. He skinned his knee and about choked his fooled self to death. I can not count how many times I have popped something out of that boys trachea!! Up-side to all this is they were worn out and went straight to bed....Except Reagan who played with me and didn't try to drive me crazy. (Give her time, they haven't gotten to her, yet!)

I got to talk to Gerrick on the phone tonight. The first time I called he was swimming. ( It does kinda chap my hyde to think he is enjoying a leisurely swim while I narrowly escape burning the house down.) The guy who answered told me that Gerrick had showed him the picture that I e-mailed him today. I was a little upset to say the least!!! I had sent a "bedroom eyes" picture to my husband, and he showed some other guys! Granted, it was ONLY my face, but still. One guy asked where I lived, how RUDE!!! But, it was nice to talk to Gerrick and know that he is getting enough to eat and not drinking too much. He knows that I work in a hotel rest./bar and know what the food-service guys do when they are in town. They eat crap and drink their weight, which is a lot, in alcohol! I know he is behaving though, because he has no money. There is always an up-side to being poor=).

Well, time to start some laundry before bed. I have trouble thinking of a good time to do laundry. I can not do it in the morning because we run out of hot water. In the middle of the day we are usually gone, and at night I am busy getting the super dishes cleaned and the kids off to bed. I find staying up late to do it my only solution! So, off I go. Have a great night. I hope it thunderstorms!

Tuesday Afternoon

Hello everyone. Isn't it a wonderful day in Iowa? We rarely get one day without rain, humidity, snow, wind...you name it and it will ruin a beautiful Iowa day.
I have already spent most of the day out back with the boys and Reagan. She is still not sure about the grass thing. She can sit in it, but refuses to crawl across it. The boys have discovered that it is a lot of fun to "fight" the fence. I am not sure why this is the game of choice when there are countless balls, bikes, bats, gloves, and chalk! They prefer to hit the fence with the toys instead of play with them.
I have tried several times to add pictures, but the blog page is having problems. I have some of the kids at the day care, and me freaking out. I can handle my kids fine, but some of the other kids drive me crazy! I used to feel bad when I couldn't give my kids something the wanted, now I am glad my kids have learned that "NO" means NO!!! Everywhere I go I see kids throwing fits at their parents because they know if they keep it up long enough they will get what they want. Now, I am by no means saying my kids don't throw fits, but not often, and not long. My boys are still figuring it out, but the girls have the language down. Gerrick has a little problem with this because he finds it easier to give in. I have tried to tell him that is worse in the end, and he is figuring that out now. I really think and believe that kids NEED to be told "NO"! Without boundaries they never know what is right and wrong. I feel my kids are really getting a sense of that, and that makes me feel good as a parent. Watching them grow and navigate through lives tough times is sometimes hard, but always rewarding.
Well, have a great afternoon. Get out and enjoy the weather if you can! Love to all, Megan.

p.s. I tried again, and still

cannot attach the

pictures!

Manic Monday

Hello, another crazy Monday. Gerrick left early this morning for.....a....wherever he is. Dax somehow ended up in bed with me after Gerrick left, and without a diaper. This became an important part of the story when he peed on the bed and then stole my spot while I was in the bathroom. So, I just got up! The girls were tired from a long weekend and gave me a lot of grief getting them in the shower. They hate Mondays as much as I do!
I went over to the day care again and watched her kids + some. I took some pictures, but the blog is not loading right now. I will try again before I publish and hopefully I can get those on! The kids have fun, but the room is REALLY small. I tend to loose my mind about 1/2 hour into it. I take dinner with me, and only my kids eat it. I don't understand kids who only eat food out of a bag or a box! What happened to eating meat, vegetables, starch and fruit? The other kids look at me like I am crazy to think that they are going to eat spinach! My kids ate 3 cans alone, no one else ate a bite!! I love getting wired looks in the supermarket when my kids fight about asparagus vs. brussle sprouts. Those are the fights a mother is proud to hear!!!
Well, it is late, and my sheets are still in the dryer! So, time to make the bed, clean up the living room, finish the dishes, lay out clothes, pick up the bathroom, and finally go to bed!!!

Oops

Not sure why they didn't show up on the first post, but here they are. And remember, no comments about the legs!

Lazy Sunday

Today was one of those days that I wish could last forever! We got up and out the door for church without fighting, and didn't have any major issues on the way to church! Gerrick was helping in children's church so the kids went without a fight. After church we came home and had a quick lunch. Then it was out to the yard to FINALLY get the garden in. Last year we really enjoyed having the shared activity of tending to the garden. This year we changed a few things-hopeful for the best! Last year we planted too early, and I hope we didn't wait too long this time! We got the last plants in as it started to rain and ended the night with steaks on the grill. I could live forever in a Sunday, but Monday will come. Mondays are especially bad when it means Gerrick will be gone for 3 days again! I really don't look forward to that!
I will post pictures of us doing the garden under one condition.......NO, absolutely NO comments on my white legs. It was, after all, their debut!
Tonight the girls and I sat down at the computer and made them business cards. I had got the idea from some t.v. show or something, and thought it was a great idea. I made them each their own and they can give them to their friends at school so they have their number, our name, and address. I wish all the kids had them so we could contact them. We always loose the little pieces of paper we write the names and numbers on and then we can't call them. I thought it was cute, and the girls agreed. We put their pictures on them and they picked the font and the colors. I also made some with the entire family for the boys and me. It is nice to have at the park and church. Hopefully it will help to increase our play-date options!
We also went in to Z's this weekend and had dinner with Joe, Abby, Lauren and PaPa. It was a blast! However, driving 1+hours for dinner with 5 kids is loosing it's charm. My children are well behaved, but that is stretching the limits! We will do it again, but maybe stop at a park first to unload the energy!!!
Hope to see all real soon.