DI props are packed and ready to go.  Mr. 8 is done with field day.  Miss 17 and Mr. 15 are done with school.

Tuesday morning the DI team flies out to the Global finals!  So between now and then, I need to finish the laundy, make a menu, go shopping, pack, go to the bank, teach my primary lesson, clean the house, buy duct tape, charge ipod, camera and cell phone, collect any last minute donations, and about a zillion other things I am too tired think of right now.

Happy Friday!

Jeanette!

Congratulations!  Your fabulous prize is on it’s way.

Although Mother’s Day has once again come and gone, I just have to share this little letter, written by Mr. 8 to Lynn.  Here it is, in all its original glory:

Dear Momamom

Thank you for bringin me into egxistance.  And I love you because (a list right here)  You are Mrs. awesome.  You are kind and you are lovely.  and you don’t give us to many chore’s and you are buetayful.  You are best at Kirby.  I love you to Pluto and back.

Love,

Mr. 8

Isn’t being a mom so funny?  Miss 7 shared her button collection with me.

Buttons stuck to scotch tape is the best present ever. 

This week, I was interviewed by our local news station!

**obviously not Africa, but hey, what is?**

Here are the details, I’m sure you’re all dying to know everything:

Last week, Daycare Mom Jeanette said, “I have a surprise for you on Monday. You’re going to want to look cute.” I admit I was curious, but this mom is a little outside the box, so I didn’t really waste time trying to guess. By Monday, I was vaguely assuming she wanted to take me out to eat, or something like that, so I got up, got dressed, and did my hair and makeup.

At about 8:30am, my daughter said, “Mom, there’s a woman with a microphone and a guy with a camera coming up the sidewalk…I think it’s XYZ news…”

Me: You’re kidding. (I was worried, I mean, you’ll recall my history with local law enforcement…)

The doorbell rang, and I answered it.

“Hi! My name is NewsWoman from XYZ news, and we heard some good things about you. We’re here to give you an XYZ High Five. Have you heard of that?”

Well, I don’t watch TV, I don’t know who this is or what she’s talking about, but  it sounded good!:)

(Turns out, Jeanette had nominated me for this honor, and they picked her entry as one to follow up on.) Wahoo!

I admitted I had not heard of the segment, but was excited. She went on to ask about the daycare, my 7 kids, and the children with disabilities in my life.

I can tell you, after she got done describing my life to me, I was thinking,

Wow.

I rock!

As she interviewed me and the kids and the moms who were in on the surprise (3 in total) I was praying,

Dear God, Let me please look thin and smart.

Here’s a funny story that happened.

One of my moms, M is preggers but has not made any announcements to anyone but me and her hubby. I only know because I babysat for the Dr. appt and asked her directly. She asked me to keep it quiet. She is showing a little, and is at that awkward stage of could be gestation, could be Snicker’s bars…

NewsWoman: So, you’re expecting a baby, and you bring one to Maren’s House?

(NewsWoman just committed the unpardonable sin of assuming a woman has got a bun in the oven based on possible physical evidence. Tell me you’ve never thought someone was and then they weren’t…or been asked yourself if you were, only to have to scrape up some dignity, and admit to Snicker Bar syndrome)

My inner eyebrows were UP UP UP! I mean, this poor mom has not made any announcements, but has just been publicly confronted by a skinny pretty young newsperson. Her only choices are to

a) admit to SBS

b) admit the truth, which is being filmed for public consumption, even tho her OWN mother does not yet know this truth.

All of this was going through my head, and I found out later, hers, as NewsWoman waited for her response.

She of course went with B. What else could she do??

I mean, seriously?!:)

The thing won’t air for about 2 weeks, during which time she can contemplate her announcement options. After speaking with her today, she is thinking of telling her family to watch the news in 2 weeks and let NewsWoman do the honors.

Good call.

Meanwhile…

♫I get to be on the NEWS!!!♫

and in a *good* way…

I’ll let you know when, and probably give the link here:) and you may all brag about knowing a famous sainted mom/daycare/community figure.

You are welcome!

]]> http://www.sahmsisters.com/2012/05/guess-what-again/feed/ 5 http://www.sahmsisters.com/2012/05/planting-with-miss-3/ http://www.sahmsisters.com/2012/05/planting-with-miss-3/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 15:17:26 +0000 Carrie http://www.sahmsisters.com/?p=2320 Continue reading →]]> Yesterday we planted.  (cross fingers it’s really done freezing!)

I planted strawberries, lilies, and sunflowers.

My Dear Husband planted corn, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and onions.

Miss 3 (yes, it’s official, Miss 2 is now Miss 3) planted Fat, Happy Baby.

Seriously.

I got home from taking Miss 8 to ballet and everyone was outside frolicking in the dirt.  Fat, Happy Baby had been absolutely covered by Miss 3.  Her red hair was brown.  Her face was brown.  Her clothes were demolished.

I admit, I kind of grilled My Dear Husband about what had happened, but he assured me that Fat Happy Baby loved being planted.  She was thrilled.  Joyous.  Giggling.

I get the feeling that pretty soon Miss 3 and Fat Happy Baby are going to gang up and take over this family.  Or maybe just me. . . . .  Calm little Miss 5 will not be here to help- she’ll be at kindergarten and I’ll be here.  Alone.  With Them.  *Gulp*

MAKE THIS BED NOW!

Blair came up with the idea of a list of directions we could print on a poster and hang above the girls beds, next to the very large image of Justin Beiber.

Good Idea honey!

Here are the directions. Feel free to copy them onto your own poster sized paper and hang them in a location that is sure to embarrass the crap out of your kids.

1. Sheets are required. Go get one.

2. The sheet on the mattress is supposed to have elastic. Go Back.

3. Attach the sheet on EVERY corner. There are 4 corners. They should all be covered by the sheet.

4. That lump is NOT supposed to be there. It is meowing. It is the cat. Release a corner and free the cat.

5. Reattach the corner. All 4 corners should be covered by your sheet.

6. Find your pillow. It needs a case. Go get one.

7. Put the pillow ALL THE WAY into the case. Leave it there.

8. Put a flat sheet on.  The bed, not you. These sheets do NOT have elastic corners. They are flat. Hence their name, Flat Sheets.

9. Put your blankets on your bed, in a smooth flat way, matching the rectangle shape of your blankets to the rectangle shape of your bed.

10. The blankets, once on, should have a smooth appearance, and be free of any underpant, shoe, or cat sized lumps.

11. Put the pillow on the bed.

12. Leave all the bedding ON the bed. Do not take it out to the backyard, into the TV room, kitchen or living room. Your bed coverings are not Fort Walls, sleds, or clothing. Do not show up to breakfast wearing anything that was used to make your bed.

13. Make your bed following these instructions daily. Bed making is for EVERY DAY, not just when Grandma is coming.

]]> http://www.sahmsisters.com/2012/05/another-in-our-how-to-series/feed/ 3 http://www.sahmsisters.com/2012/05/mothers-day-giveaway/ http://www.sahmsisters.com/2012/05/mothers-day-giveaway/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 16:08:14 +0000 Carrie http://www.sahmsisters.com/?p=2299 Continue reading →]]> * GIVEAWAY TIME *

We are having a fabulous, Mother’s Day giveaway.

(you didn’t think we were going to let this day go by unheralded, did you?)

Trust me, you’re going to want what we’re giving.

Want a peek?

Here it is:

Leopard shoe.  Dark chocolate.

wow.

So, all you have to do to enter is share some of your Mother’s Day thoughts.

thoughts about your mom. . . .

thoughts about your grandma. . . .

. . . . memories of funny things given or received,

done to you, by you, or for you, on Mother’s Day.

After you share your thoughts, we’ll put your name in a shoe, and have a drawing.

You could be the winner of a big chocolate high heeled shoe!  Yay!

And now, for some of my own Mother’s Day thoughts:

This is our mom.  She’s great.  She crochets fabulous afghans (actually she can crochet anything!) and rocks babies to sleep without even trying.  She used to make us pancakes for breakfast (and dinner if we were lucky).  She likes old Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Elvis Presley movies.  She knows the words to every Christmas song ever written.

She is always, always, always there when we need her.  And we know it.  And we love her for it.

Thanks Mom!  Thanks for being patient when I pretended to sleep whenever it was my turn to do the dishes.  Thanks for not saying anything when I wore super crazy ugly clothes to junior high and wore my hair with the bangs stuck straight up in the air.  Thanks for letting me have all the mental health days I needed in high school.  Thanks for teaching me to keep things simple and not drive myself crazy with unnecessary hoopla.

And thank you Mom, for teaching me the value of a good Snickers Bar.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Pregnant?

Nope.

Moving?

Nope.

Divorce?

Nope.

Job?

Nope.

Blair going to Africa  for a month?

Yuppers.

Ha! You thought I was going say “Nope.” You thought that Blair and Africa in the same sentence sounded silly and unbelievable. But, it’s true.

Blair knows a guy, is friends with this guy. This guy is going to Africa to work on an LDS temple. He said to Blair, “Wanna come to Africa with me, for free?”

Blair said, “Yup.”

There you go.  I am jealous, and very surprised. Blair is going to have a passport, and a trip to another continent. Sheesh! How lucky can a guy get?

But, there are benefits to me, too.

1) I get the whole bed to myself for an entire month!

2) I can buy as many shoes and purses as I want with no one to stop me!

That totally makes it worth it, right?

Now the year is winding down and we are in the last days.  Yesterday was my final turn.  And let me just say, I went out with a *bang*. . . .

Because it was my last day and I wanted it to be really easy, I decided I would just drive all the preschoolers over to the library for an all ages storytime.  Great idea right?  The only teeny tiny little snag was that storytime was not being held at the library I am familiar with, so I planned to go to a different library.  I just looked up the address on Google Maps, filled my van with preschoolers, and I was ready to go.  I told the mom who also kindly volunteered to drive that I would just meet her there.  I didn’t want to be late and I could see from Google Maps that it was going to be a bit of a drive.

All the preschoolers and I headed off down the road.   We drove and we drove.  Preschooler girl #1 commented:  This is far away.  I think my mommy is going to miss me!

Other nervous preschoolers decided to join her in this lament, but I calmly nipped it in the bud, telling them we would be back at the regular preschool time and no mommy or daddy would be worried or in tears when we arrived.  Their mommies knew where I was taking them.

I continued to drive and drive, pointing out llamas, horses, and other livestock along the way.

I started to get a little nervous that we were going to be late and started watching more diligently for our turn off on Library Street.

After quite awhile,  I realized that Library Street was not appearing, and storybook time was going to be starting without us.  I turned around and headed back, still looking for the ever elusive Library Street.  Then I got a call from the mom I was supposed to meet.  “What library did you go to?” she asked.  “I don’t see you.  I am at the library on Right Place and Library Street.”

When I heard her mention the address, I knew there would be no story time for these preschoolers.  By now, the van of kiddos and I, were in the literal middle of nowhere, surrounded by empty  fields and heading into mountains.  I turned around again.

The preschoolers smelled trouble.  They knew we were circling and lost. ( Mostly because Miss 5 kept yelling, “Mommy, are we lost again????”)  I told them about the little problem we were having but tried to put a good spin on it.  “It’s an adventure,” I said.  “Look at those llamas.  And mountains!  Wow!  This is so fun.  I’ll read you a book myself when we get to the library!”

That’s the good thing about preschoolers.  They totally got excited and started cheering about our adventure.  Preschooler Boy #1 started chanting:  “I love adventure, I love adventure!”

We finally got to the library.  Exactly on the corner of Right Place and Library Street. (Turns out I had looked up West Library Street on Google Maps.)    It was after story time.  The preschoolers had ridden around in my van for. . . . well, I don’t want to say for how long.

I started unloading kids.  Preschool Boy #1 was frantically yelling something, but I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say because I was too busy unpacking preschoolers.  When I finally had them all unbuckled, I reached back to grab my purse.  That’s when I realized what Preschool Boy #1 had been trying to tell me.

There was a bee on my purse.  *BEE STING*  ouch!

So to sum it all up, we totally missed story time.  I got stung by a bee.  We were late getting back to my house and all the moms were on the street out front waiting for us.

When one of the moms asked her little boy if he was okay and if he had a good time he said, “Yeah, I had fun ’cause I didn’t get stung by the bee.”

I believe that when the time comes to send Miss 2 to preschool, I will pass on the co-op, thank you very much!

During this game, it appeared everyone was focused on the adventure at hand. Girls and boys had divided themselves into opposing teams. The boys called over 6 yr old girl, which I was thinking was a tactical mistake, given Blair and I call her The Bullet. I suppose the boys were thinking how tough they felt and how she would be a welcome addition to their young team, given she is the one of the oldest daycare kids. Anyway, over she came, and somehow the boy’s line held! Unbelieveable! The girls were reeling from the loss. They called over Nick, who did not break through their defenses and was now on the girls team.

So, the boys go for an easy one now. They call over New Boy’s sister, a known pansy (she dissolved into tears more than once in a previous game).  What they don’t know is that Pansy has a plan. She is tired of being the weak link. Tired of being the ‘easy win’. She begins her run over, giving no indication of her plan. She runs like a girl. Arms flailing, panting loudly, in a sort of prance-skip-hop run. Certainly, we were all thinking, the boys have got this one in the bag. She reaches the line and launches herself unexpectedly into the air and onto the boys clasped hands. The line breaks! The boys are aghast! What happened? Pansy is beaming, basking in her victory. I remind her she needs to pick a team mate to take back with her, and her brother and I are both thinking it’s him. He even starts back to the other line, taking a few steps, when, in an unexpected turn of events, Pansy grabs the hand of 6 yr old girl and races toward her team. Brother is open-mouthed.

Mid-yard, Pansy turns her head back toward the boy’s line and yells:

Suckers!

oh my:)

No, this isn’t Maren talking about her garage/shed project, this is me, Carrie, talking about our new roof and new paint job.  We’re still working on gutters- cross fingers for getting our sled/homemade flood control system out of the front yard later this week….

Anyway, I think we managed to get the orangeyness out of our house.  (and how’d you like that word, orangeyness, haha!)

Here’s the before picture:

Here’s the after picture:

Now for the Miss 2 story.  Of course there’s got to be a Miss 2 story, right?  So, the painter power washed before painting and it looks really great.  I was standing in the backyard, enjoying the new paint job and noticing how clean the patio area looks. . . . . when I noticed this:

Naughty little thing, isn’t she!