Storm Warnings

The storm sirens went off on Friday, the second time they have gone off in the 10 years that we have lived here! So what does every normal person do when the sirens sound? We send the kiddies to the basement, then we go stand outside on the deck and watch the free show! It ended up being nothing, at least nothing in my backyard, I guess some people west of us got golf ball size hail, but no twisters, so we can count ourselves lucky.

Losing My Mind

It has been decided , today is the day I could very well lose my mind. When my kids were little I used to think "I can't wait till they get a little more independent", well, they are alot more independent, and I'm having a hard time keeping up with all of them!! My middle 2 went for a bike ride today, they asked, I said they could, 20 minutes later I get a phone call.... they are calling from our friends house, 3 miles away!! They rode bike/rollerbladed to their house on the bike path!! I used to do the same thing when I was 11-14, but that was a different world back then! I wasn't mad at the girls, I just stressed to them that they have to ask me before they decided to do that type of thing again! I feel like they are all asking me if they can do different things at the same time, and they are in and out of the house all the time, I am having a hard time remembering who came in, who ran out, who asked what , when and WHERE???? Ugh--- definantly losing my mind!!

Oh and as I am sitting here typing I have been hearing this moaning sound, its been driving me nutty, I have not been able to figure out where it is coming from, until I finally figured it out!!! I have antique milk bottles on my kitchen windowsill, and every time a breeze comes thru the window it makes a whistleing sound!! Good grief!!

Yep-- today is the day I could lose my mind, in fact, I think it may be already gone!!

crazy weekend

Well, the sleep over was great!14 kids all together, my 5 and 9 others! Including two 3 year olds! It was a blast. The kids had so much fun, the girls did makeovers on each other, and listened to music and watched movies. The boys... well, they watched movies and spent most of the time upstairs, building with lincoln logs and legos, I think. Boys are so different than the girls! The girls are constantly coming upstairs to show us their faces and being silly and giggly. The boys are happy being left alone and doing their own things.

Dennis ended up making it home Friday night, he made it till 9 pm , than he took Branden and they went to bed, we didn't see or here from them until 8 o'clock Saturday morning. They were both exhausted I guess!

Lights out at 1:00 and then Ethan was up by 6:30! I could not believe it when the boys were up by 7, and already playing upstairs while I got breakfast in the oven! The girls didn't crawl out of bed until 8-830. Wish I could have joined them!

I didn't get to sleep until 2 in the morning, I was up quiet a bit during the night ( morning?!), its hard to sleep with so many little bodies sleeping around you! They were all great, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat!! I hope they had as much fun as I did!

SUN

Finally, the sun has shone its beautiful face in MN!! We have had gorgeous weather all week! So the kids have been outside from sun up till sun down. Which means they come in the house filthy dirty and sweaty every night! Which means bedtime gets pushed off later than usual, with all 5 kids needing baths every night. I love a big hug from my little kids when they're all sweaty and smell like sunshine. But I also love my big hugs from them when they smell all sweet and clean! Aww, yes, its been a beautiful week up in MN!

Counting down...

Well the countdown is on! My schoolroom now looks like a storage room, I have totes along the walls and I am slowly getting everything packed. Trying to decide what we really need with and what can be left in MN. Those bulky winter coats and snow boots are out, and all the swimsuits and flip flops are in!! Turtlenecks and cable-knit sweaters are out and shorts and tanks are in! School materials are in :( and scrapping and cardmaking stuff are in :)

I will be having 14 children under the age of 12 spending the night here Friday! Some may think I'm cracked to even attempt such a heroic feat--- but to tell you the truth, I think I'm as excited as the kiddies! Pizzas movies munchies... what better way for the kids to say goodbye to their friends?! Its the last hoorah for the Andersons in MN, and we plan on making it memorable! And I plan on staying up all night making cards and spending time with MY friend too!! Too bad D is going to miss out on all the fun ;)

We have found a house in FL. And its large enough so when we have friends and family visiting we have plenty of space for everyone!

I was holding out on the whole "magic kingdom" thing, 5 children (who don't always enjoy the same things) and 1 hubby who cannot stand large crowds, does not sound like "magic" to me! Plus the price tag of $500. doesn't sound very magical either.... but.... my loverly brother in law and his family are thinking about spending Christmas down in FL with us, and Disney World is top on their list of things to do together. And to be quiet honest, watching Belle's eyes light up at Cinderella's castle and seeing the other kids' expressions as they go on different rides, it does hold a certain appeal to me. And scrapping all those pics would be a blast! So I guess we shall have to see what comes of it all, I will keep you posted:)

Oh, but I am still holding out on buying DVD players for the van! I think its a shame that children cannot go a few days without having their minds turned to mush watching TV (movies too!). We made quiet a few trips back and forth from MO to MN last summer, 13-14 hrs in the van,(in a single day), so I think we can make it down to FL without watching TV. But can I make it without my internet?? Now that is the true question that has been plagueing me....maybe a wireless card could be looked at?

I have enjoyed being back in MN for a time, and I have truelly enjoyed spending time with friends and family. We are excited to embark on a new adventure, its true, we don't like the thought of having to say our goodbyes, but we are so excited to be back together as a family.

Being apart from D is very tiresome, I miss my friend, my lover. I miss having somebody to cuddle up with and I miss those hugs that only he can give. I miss those late night talks in the dark. I miss his cooking! I am very much looking forward to seeing him walk thru the front door every night, "Honey, I'm home" ;)

So I am counting down the days until FL, (and counting up the totes and luggage we need to fit in the trailer....)!!

A Lovely Weekend

Okay, the weather was not very loverly, but D surprised us Saturday night by showing up at home, we made the drive to St Cloud, then took the "scenic route" home. It was a very relaxing evening with the fam.

Sunday we made it to church on time ( surprisingly!), after being up late Sat. night! Spent the afternoon visiting with friends and family.

It was a lovely weekend spent with friends and family. I will miss these weekends when we are gone, but it makes me appreciate them more when we're home!

It was hard saying goodbye for the kids. They love seeing their cousins on weekends. I'm trying to plan one last (surprise)hoorah for the kids before we head out. I am going to see if we can have all the cousins spend the night ( except the youngest 2), on May 9.Brooke and Alexis invited another friend too and I'm sure Michelle will want Robin to spend the night also. We'll make homemade pizzas and I'll have to figure out some snacky type things. All on the weekend that we leave!!!! But it's the only weekend left that will work....

our days in lovely, cold MN are numbered! and I am happily counting them down!!!

lifestyle change

OK, now some may find me getting a little bit over the top about some things, but I have come to the conclusion that eating a lot of processed foods, meat, and sugar is just plain old bad for your health. My children were at the docter's office last week, no one is sick , just wanted to get up-to-date on all those pesky shots before we leave for the year, anyway, our dr. was amazed that our children have never had a cavity.... I guess that is almost unheard of in our world of sugar, sweets, sodas and juices. The reason we have never had to deal with cavities is because we rarely have those types of things in the house.

And now I am on a new mission to cut out all refined sugar, most meats,(no, I'm not going vegetarian), try to buy mostly organic fruits and veggies, and what meat we do eat, I try to make sure it is hormone free, antibiotic free. With 4 young girls in the house I think that it is very important for their health to keep all that added stuff out of their bodies. (The reason I say that about the girls is because there has been some studies done on the affect of added hormones and our preadolencent girls.) So far we have been very fortunate because most of the meat we have eaten up to this point has been venison and wild game that we have shot, butchered and cooked ourselves.

I love it when people ask if my children can have suckers, or gum when we go to the supermarket, or Dr.'s office, my answer is always a resounding "no". They may think I am a mean mother, but they don't have to pay our dentist bills now do they! I have found more and more people are getting more reseptive about it. Today at the supermarket, the cashier asked me ,very quietly, if my children can have a sucker. I smiled and thanked her for offering, but I would rather they didn't. She smiled and told me she didn't think I wouldn let them. When I asked her why she thought that, she said, "look in your cart, you don't have any sweets or goodies or anything with sugar in it in the whole thing!"

The kids were very excited about the treat they did get though---- rasberries!!! yum yum, (and very expensive :}) And Joseph was excited about the lemons too :)

We shall have to see how it all turns out--- I will keep you posted!