Another Niece...or Nephew!

Josh and Trisha are having another baby! Oh Happy Day!!

Vermin Supreme

Posting for Jeremy and Sarah mainly! 
Watch the first video first and the second video second...did I just type that????

http://youtu.be/DFXXAuDK1Ao

Rant With Me

Can someone please tell me the purpose of sending our kids to school to get "socialized"?  Are you freaking kidding me?  That's as good as sending my kids to a bar to get "socialization".  In fact, a bar might actually be better.  People do realize that this is the year 2012 and that homeschooling does not mean that a child will be living like a pioneer or never interact with another human.  How many kids have to get bullied, beat up, made fun of, commit suicide, or countless other things before people will come to their senses??  You don't have to have a teaching degree in order to teach.  As a parent we teach our children everything.....toilet training, how to speak, how to tie shoes, how to act at the dinner table. etc.  How is that different than teaching them how to do math....or history...or any other thing we know?  Do we really not have that much confidence in our own knowledge?  I could sit here all day long and not actually "teach" anything to Tristan...and he would STILL learn more than he would at school, just from interacting with his family.  Only guess what??  A home he is learning all he needs to know and is surrounded by LOVE.  Instead of rudeness, bullying, idiots, etc. etc. etc.  I CAN"T STAND the stigma of being homeschooled. And I have A LOT more to say about it.  At a later date. 

Bread and Such

 One of the things I have been having Tristan do for homeschool is baking and cooking.  When I asked him things that he wanted to learn and that would interest him he told me culinary arts!  Baking and cooking can teach SO much and it's fun doing it!  He learns all about adding and subtracting fractions, what herbs come from where and what a person would typically use them in, how yeast works (he loved watching this process!), and a ton more.  So one day last week we made Italian Herb Bread.  We made two loaves.  He did all of it.  the whole process was fun and we will be doing it more and more and more!  The bread was a HUGE hit! Everyone loved it and ate both loaves in two days!  They even snacked on it!  Awesome! 

 What's great about this picture is that Asher is so dang cute....and what the crap is Liam looking at?!?!!?  Did he receive some divine inspiration amidst our noisy supper table?!!? LOL!  Anyway, I really enjoy having sit down suppers with my family.  We do it every night. 

 

Hey look, Cullen is eating!! LOL!  He's like Liam in the fact that his eating is very limited.  He likes what he likes and that's about it.  And what he likes is yogurt.  Yep, just yogurt.  Some other things he likes to snack on are raisins, pringles stix, and cereal.  This night he ate tilapia!!  woot! woot!  Everyone LOVES fish at our house!

It's Origami Time

Tristan got his blog going!! It's awesome and I think everyone should check it out.  Soon I will put a permanent link to it on my sidebar but for now go here.

Happenings

We have been sick here at the Kelley house.  I love how it makes the rounds through everyone and makes a few days of sickness turn into a week and a half.  Awesome.  Cullen got a rash last night that was strikingly similar to Fifth's Disease.  Fifth's Disease is a viral infection and there is nothing to treat it anyway.

Yesterday was the first day of homeschool for Tristan.  My head was throbbing all day and my ears were wouldn't work due to the massive amounts of pressure in my head.  ugh.  Haven't been sick like this for a while.  And it's all because I have messed my routine up. During the holidays I didn't eat right and didn't do my vitamins like I should have.  And January is just awful and haven't gotten back into the swing of things yet. Stupid holidays.  Let's just skip those next year.  Or just skip winter altogether.  I need a winter home in some tropical destination.  Ah, I digress.

Back to Tristan.  I had him do some of his online studies and showed him a video on how to properly knead dough.  Today I am going to have him make some french bread for supper tonight.  Also he will start his origami blog today.  Everyone will have to pop by his blog and check it out!  Right now he is upstairs on his computer doing a social studies unit on the Hebrew civilization.  I can watch what he is doing from my computer and it tells me his grade as he does it as well.  Love it!

January Blues

Agh, I would have been perfectly content to not see one single snowflake this winter.  Everything was going just fine and dandy until this dumb snow showed up!  Today was supposed to be errand day.  Nope.  Not one errand done.  I haven't left my house since Saturday afternoon.  I might have officially went "stir crazy" today! 
The past two weeks have been full of flinging and de-cluttering.  Thank you FLYlady for teaching me how!  We plan on knocking the wall between our dining room and office out in the next few months and turning it into our living room.  Yes, it should be interesting but we working with what we've got here! lol!  So I have been donating a ton of stuff to the Salvation Army in Macomb!  I'm also going to sell the HUGE Geotrax collection we have!  Pretty sure we have just about every train that ever came out and a bunch of the tracks sets with different destinations.  Sell on Craigslist??? Don't want to end up robbed or murdered....maybe on Facebook? I don't know. 
January is a bad month for losing weight for me.  For one thing January depresses me.  It's cold, gray, lifeless, nothing exciting to look forward to.  My Dad's birthday is this weekend.  That's a big bummer too. 

Our Lovely Dinner

I am about to make a confession......I do not like lasagna.  No, I really don't.  It's getting better actually, I used to hate it completely, now I like my own.  This may come as a shock to some who have seen me eat lasagna.  I'm like being nice and it really isn't that bad but, definitely NOT my favorite meal.  But, my boys will eat it and I must say, I make the bestest lasagna I've EVER had! lol!  Jeremy says it's the best he's ever had too so I have a little backup here, haha!  Anyway, the other night I was making lasagna for supper.  Tristan wanted to make something too so I told him to go for it.  He looked up a recipe and made peach cobbler from scratch all by himself!!  I did nothing! And it was really good!  Just look at it, doesn't it look good?  Yes, it really does. I threw together a ceasar salad and voila!  A perfect meal! Everyone ate a ton!  Tristan was pretty pleased with himself.  I also didn't burn my garlic bread, which I tend to do every.single.time. OY!  Anyway, I liked cooking with Tristan in the kitchen.  We're gonna have to do that more often.  I might start having him make the whole meal!!  What would I do with that extra time?!?!!??

side note: please ignore the catfood and glue stick in the picture!  It was NOT there while cooking.  We had a minor spill and mess and it just ended up there while the pic was being taken....slap my head! doh!

The Football Game

On New Year's Eve we hung out with Jon and Nicky Cote like we do every year.  I LOVE it!  It was very low key this year.  My mom took the four oldest boys for a party at her house and we had Cullen and Eden home with us.  We ordered Los Charros mexican and played games.  Eden almost ruined the night by becoming rather sick and crabby.  She had a few accidents but all in all, the night was good.  We went to bed about 2am and woke up at 5am.  We showered and loaded sleepy babies in the car to take to Grandma Kelley.  Then we drove to St. Louis for the 49ers/Rams game!!!
We got there and made it to our seats, which were freaking awesome!!!  If you've ever been to a stadium you are probably familiar with the horror of the bathrooms and the lines that come along with it.  Well, no such thing on the Club Level!  I would spend more on tickets just for that alone.  But, the food, the waiters, the service!!! OMG!  It was NICE~!   Who would've know that I would have so much FUN at a football game!?!?  (I think Jeremy had a little bit of fun too, lol!)  So, the 49ers won and it came down to a pretty close game as was so exciting!
We stayed at the Renaissance downtown and ordered room service.  The food was AMAZING!  And of course we had to have a St. Louis staple...the ooey gooey butter cake!  We were in heaven and didn't want to come home the next day!  I SO enjoy spending time with Jeremy.  I miss him working from home so much.  I don't care what anyone says about time apart making hearts grow doner....nope.  Time apart pisses me off.  But, we had a GREAT time! Thanks Grandmas and Sarah for helping pull it off!  Of course we forgot the camera and my old phone takes crappy pics so just imagine in your head how we looked sitting in our awesome seats cheering the 49ers on to a victory! ha!

Fizzy Tabs Are The Best!

These Fizz tabs are the most important part of my 30 Day Fit Kit for me.  They make me feel good with a good energy, help me get things done, completely replace my soda intake, and make me healthier overall. One of the best things they do is the appetite control! But, they do so much more than just those things.... Read more about what makes them great!  The last paragraph in bold is the best. 

Energy Fizz Tabs!

What is Arbonne’s Get-Up-and-Go Blend?

A unique proprietary blend, which contains taurine, green tea, panax ginseng, guarana and rhodiola

So what?! What do all those words mean to us and our bodies!? I will go over each one!

Taurine: an amino acid and antioxidant

•    supports neurological development

•    shown to improve athletic performance

Green Tea: has antioxidants that scavenge free radicals that can damage DNA and contribute to CA, blood clots and atherosclerosis. Particularly significant to know about decreasing the incidence of blood clots because they are the leading cause of strokes and heart attacks.

Panax Ginseng: contains complex carbs that have the capacity to:

•    stimulate or soothe the nervous system

•   balance metabolic processes

•   decrease blood sugars

•   improve muscle tone

•   stimulate endocrine system

•   useful in the anti-aging process.

Medical Uses of Panax Ginseng

Stress management: Panax Ginseng has a long history of use in helping the body to deal with stress, particularly chronic stress. 

Alcohol intoxication: Lowers blood alcohol content by reducing absorption from the stomach.

Alzheimer’s disease: Decreases senility and improves memory and behavior.

Type 2 Diabetes: Lowers blood sugar levels.

Heart disease: Decreases harmful LDL cholesterol and increases beneficial HDL cholesterol levels.

Immune system: Helps the body fight off infection and disease.

Sexual vitality: Increases sperm production with a marked decrease in erectile dysfunction.

Mental clarity: Enhances mental alertness, improves concentration and retention especially when combined with Ginkgo Biloba.

Menopause: Helps to relieve symptoms, improves emotional balance, these benefits are enhanced when combined with a multi vitamin and mineral supplement.

Guarana: several uses!

•   treat pain

•   overcome heat fatigue

•   combat premature aging

•    detoxify the blood

•    useful to control intestinal gas, obesity, dyspepsia, fatigue, and arteriosclerosis

•   a stimulant so it boosts metabolism and energy to help burn more calorie thus helping with weight loss. The stimulant part also helps boost mental acuity and focus

•   helps control appetite

Rhodiola: an adaptogen

Adaptogen herbs must conform to these 3 standards:

1.           Must be nontoxic and cause very few, if any, side effects

2.           Produce nonspecific resistance in the body to all types of stressors (physical, chemical and biological)

3.           Produce a normalizing influence on the body.

What do those three standards really mean? An adaptogen herb will be nontoxic and cause few if any side effects. An adaptogen herb must help build resistance to all areas of stress that may effect our body. For example, if an herb helped with physical exhaustion, but did nothing to protect against viruses (biological stressor) it would NOT BE AN ADAPTOGEN. Finally, an adaptogen herb will be able to normalize the body and place the body in proper balance. The key with an adaptogen is being able to adapt to what the body needs and balancing the body. A herb that could increase energy if your body is fatigued and also decrease energy if your body is over stimulated, would be an example of an adaptogen herb.

What is does!

•   Increase energy, endurance and stamina

•   Helps reduce stress and anxiety

•   Can decrease the recovery time needed after strenuous muscular workouts

•   Uplifts moods

•   Promotes mental clarity and mental performance

•   Helps maintain high levels of creatine phosphate (athletes love this one!)

•   Improves sexual performance

•   Promotes healthy sleep

Making Our Very Own Laundry Detergent

Recently I had one of my Arbonne friends post on facebook about making her own laundry soap.  I went to the blog and thought it looked easy enough.  And cheaper!!  For that girl, one batch lasted her eight or nine months!!  What a money saver, I was in!  Now, since I do so much laundry it won't last me that long but, it's till going to save me money. Yay!!   And the real kicker....you only use ONE TABLESPOON PER LOAD!!!!!

  What you will need:

• 1 box Borax (4 lb. 12 oz.)
• 1 Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (4 lb. box) 
• 1 Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (55 oz.)
• 3 bars Fels-Naptha soap or Zote soap
• 2 small containers Oxyclean (about 3.5 lbs. total)
• Container to store in
• Scoop

I was able to find all of this stuff at one end of the Wal-mart laundry aisle and for under $20!!  Because I am a complete doof, I switched the baking soda and the oxyclean amounts, lol!  I bought and used 2 four pound boxes of baking soda and one big box (3 lbs.) of Oxyclean!  It shouldn't make a big difference though and as my jar goes down a bit I will add another container of oxyclean.  Anyway, dump all the boxes of stuff in a five gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag.  Then grate the fels-naptha soap (this will NOT ruin your grater...it is only soap). 

 MMMM, looks like cheese!  

 Mix it all up and stick it in a container.  I bought this huge glass jar for $9.99 at Walmart.  

Then I used regular stickers for the front.  It looks pretty cute I think!

I will have to update this blog later and let you know how long this lasts me!  I'm really excited!

Resistance Is Futile

 When I get the camera out, this is the face Eden gives me until I snap the first shot.....

 then she cheeses right up and won't stop!!

 Cullen and Eden are both Froot Loop Happy as of late.  

 I LOVE this face!!

 Lately Cullen has been saying "picture me!" 

He smiles so cute and wants me to take 42 pictures of him, at least!

 Picture me, Mom!

 "I no want to!"

I told him to show me what he was building.

Tired of all this picture nonsense.

Yes, It's True, I am Always Right

I have a million things to talk about today.  My new years, the 49ers game, new years resolutions, arbonne, goals, why you cannot stick a newborn baby in a crib all by itself (co-sleeping benefits), why stay at home moms know their children better and have a harder job than working moms, why I'm going to have an empty house in one week flat, why most people suck, why a very few people do not suck, arizona, losing weight, gaining weight, why lying is bad, why I like my husband being around, things I hear about people and then laugh hysterically, trips to Vegas (with Arbonne), trips to Niagra Falls, why January sucks, scrubbing walls and floors, organizing, de-cluttering, homeschooling, government schooling, why breastfeeding is so frowned upon by the idiots of the world, why you are doing your baby a severe dis-service if you do NOT breastfeed, new blogs, laundry soap, why eden is an emotional basketcase at the age of one, why I am an emotional basketcase at the age of 32, why I am always right.....the list just goes on and on!! No time now though....must wait until later.  Too much to do!  You just wait though, it's gonna be epic!

Random Goodies

 Lego time with Dad!!!!  Our kids LIVE, EAT, and BREATH LEGOS!!!! 

I love catching one on one time with the kids! 

Just hanging out!

Origami Bob

 Tristan is an origami-head!  He is really really good at it.  Later this afternoon or maybe tomorrow I will post some of the really intricate things he has done.  He has a sign that he made hanging on his bedroom door that says:  Stay Out!  This is an Origami Sanctuary.  For Christmas he got some origami paper and and origami book.  The book had some paper in it that was printed with animal stuff and he made them all!  He was very proud and so was I!

 On a side note:  all of these pictures were taken in the future.  My mom and dad's 69th wedding anniversary to be exact......and Nick's birthday.  I don't know where that date came from.....

Christmas Morning....Part Deux

 This year for Christmas I decided to be EXTRA SPECIAL and take a bunch of craptastic pictures.  But, regardless of the picture quality and the general lack of pictures at all (with 6 kids this amount is NOT enough....for me, maybe for you the reader, but not for me, the mom) we still have some to tell a a story.

Santa Claus brought Eden Rose her very first Cabbage Patch Baby.  She has curly strawberry blonde hair just like Froo and her birthday is August 29th, just two days after Froo's.  Santa also couldn't resist the name....Ireland Gisele.  Eden really likes that her baby's eyes open and shut!

 Asher opening one of his two Gundam that he got from Santa.   We had to import it in from Japan but it worked!! 

 Cullen LOVES Toy story

The boys got a big cardboard rocket ship to color.  And when they are done with it, I'm sending them to the moon!!

New Pads....AND Firefly

We got two new pads for the boys/us for Christmas.  They are like I-pads only not, they are some other brand.  I think those could replace every device that I have!  I love em!! And so do the kids.  They can watch movies, surf the net, school work, play games....just about anything!!  Tristan is going to use his with his schooling.  He is also planning on making an origami blog and he is really anxious to get it started.  He has big ideas and I am going to let him run with them!

On a completely different subject....why the heck did Fox EVER cancel Firefly.  Jeremy and I have been watching it on netflix and we saw the movie and all......but SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FREAK WERE THEY THINKING?!!?!?!?!?  And why didn't some other network pick it up after it was canceled??? One season is not enough!  And why can't they see the error of their ways after ten flipping years and rehire the same actors and do it again!?!?!?  Sorry, I just had to get that out.  We watched three episodes last night and it is fresh on my brain!

A Post of Stuff

Last night I made a local dish for supper.  The "horseshoe" originated in Springfield, Illinois.  The kids were kind of iffy about it.  Asher about puked because there is a cheese sauce on it.  He was gagging.  Cedric ate two helpings.  Liam actually ATE!  Cullen stared at his and said Thank you.  Eden chowed down.  Tristan had a headache that apparently his new glasses didn't fix! 
Anyway, the "horseshoe" is a piece of toasted bread (I used the fresh baked bread I made the other day, yummy!) and a hamburger patty I concocted, topped with french fries, and a homemade cheese sauce!  It's very filling!  Pretty good if you are in the mood for something heavy and naughty.  I was doing a regional food because all day I had been looking up unit studies for Tristan.  We are going to homeschool him again.  His last day at school will be tomorrow.  We think this is best for all involved and we're really excited!!!
I have a million and one projects to do!  I'm really excited! I'm going to start posting about them or maybe even make separate blogs....I don't know.  Anyway, yeah.
Jeremy got me a laminator for Christmas!  I was thrilled!  And a small sewing machine.  It's not a wand but, it's small. lol!  He got me some great things!  And some weird stuff....but it's okay I got him a couple of weird stocking stuffers.  One thing he expected me to be really excited about....and then I opened it and didn't know what it was! lol!  Anyway, back to lamintor....I will now be laminating everything I own! I CAN"T WAIT!

Oh, The Fun Things We Do!

 When we went Christmas shopping Trisha and I found these hilarious gift boxes at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  We were literally sitting on the floor right at the register laughing so hard!  Trisha got this one for Jeremy and put his real gift inside.  If you can't read it then click on the picture and it should be big enough for you to read.  It was especially funny because there are 8 people in our family!  I forgot about it when Jeremy started opening his gift until I saw the box.  He so thought that it was his real present and was trying to be excited about it! LMAO!!!  It was classic!!

 Covers and entire SUV!!!!!

One sleeve on each end!!

BAhahahahahaha!!!!

 Oh my goodness!  What a great thing!!  I love, love, love things like that!

Super duper Christmas memory!

Avoid Me At All Costs

Captain Crazy Pants

If Eden climbs on top of the table one more time, I just might lose my mind completely!!  And the stairs, oh the stairs!!!  She loves to go all the way to the top then walk on the 12 inch ledge along the side of the steps that has no rails or anything!!  The barricades don't work! She climbs over furniture too! She will not stop!!! AGH!!!  She climbs on everything!!!  And is so curious about everything!!I can't get her to stop.  She doesn't stay in her high chair at all....I think it's more hazardous to put her in it that not.  There is no stopping this girl!  Does that mean that she will accomplish anything she sets her mind to?  That's a plus!! Agh, on the table AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Postive Thought For The Day

Christmas Morning...Er, Night???? Part One...I Think

 Asher found a bell from Santa's sleigh in his stocking just like on the Polar Express!!  Despite the look on his face in the pic he was THRILLED!  All he had asked from Santa was a bell from his sleigh and a Gundam which come from Japan.  He got both :)
  All my kids LOVE the polar Express movie! Even Eden this year was standing transfixed in front of the television whenever it was on.  It is a pretty cool show.  We also have the Polar Express soundtrack that the kids love singing along to in the car!  I love it when they sing!!!

 The kids were up bright dark and early.  They were up about 4 in the morning and slowly started waking each other up...then it was Jeremy and I's turn.  I think the actual present opening may have started around 5ish.  Anyway, with my camera being a pain in the butt, I didn't get many good pics.  There are more on my other camera....so hopefully there will be a part 2 to this post when I get the other camera loaded.  So as you can see above, Tristan got a Kindle and loves it!!