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I got home today.

Everyone survived but the pantry is empty.

I have much to do but will post about my experience in Guatemala soon.

Leaving Tomorrow

Tomorrow I leave for my mission trip to Guatemala. I have been very busy getting ready to go. Well, not packing myself but preparing the family and house for my 1 week absence. I leave the packing for the night before I leave. Always have and I imagine I always will.  I think that it is genetic, Tasha does the same thing.

One thing that my husband asked for before I left was matching clothing for the girls.  That may seem like an odd thing to want but if you were to see my laundry room you might understand.....

It was a tad chaotic.  I know, the southerners would say "Bless her heart!" Clothing got washed but not put away.  Good thing I have a big laundry area!

So, the day after finals I set out to tackle the laundry room and to match girls clothing.  I took me 8 days to get to this point....

I am not even finished.  I need to paint and organize the sewing area.

Below are matched outfits for the girls.  On the bottom is Dimples, the middle is Michelle and top is Larissa.  On the very top is unmatched clothing.  To the right is all their dresses.

I do not leave the girls clothing in their bedroom.  They used to have their clothing in their bedroom but due to the newness of choices the girls decided to change clothing hourly.  I can barely keep up with laundry as it is, I sure don't need constant clothing changes.  Frequently I will give them enough clothing to last a week and they can choose what they want to wear each day.  It has kept the piles on the floor to a minimum.  I do store all pj's and underwear in their bedroom.

Actually matching the clothing took the longest.  Three girls, all different sizes.  Larissa is tall and lanky.  She wear size 10 jeans but when it comes to shorts or skorts she needs a 6 or 6X, actually she could fit into some 5's and if it is a big 6X it will fall off of her non-existent hips.  Tops she can wear some 6X if it is long enough but also 7/8 if it is that long, skinny style.  Michelle needs 7/8 unless it is sized big.  She cannot wear the long, skinny style.  Dimples is a 6X, not quite as thin as Larissa and quite a bit shorter.  If you have girls you understand, if not, well lets just say it is complicated and my husband wasn't going to go there.

Of course, after matching all that clothing I then realized how much the girls had! 

I am now packed and ready to go. (Multitasking, blogging and packing).  I have hired someone to come to the house and take care of my mom.  She will come over a couple of times a day. I really hope that this works out well since I will need to do it again when I go get Sarah in August.

No internet after the first day so I will see blogland again in a week. 

Have a great week!

Lessons Learned

Yesterday was a very busy day. Lots of lessons were learned in our house!

Not necessarily in any order......

1. Do not put two pairs of flip flops together under your desk; if you do, look at your feet before heading out to take the kids to their doctor appointment. (I didn't even realize I had done this until after I got home)

2. The old cell phones sitting around the house....it is quite possible that if you give them to the kids to play with a certain child may charge it, call 911 and call for help.  The response time for the police is pretty quick in our little town.

On a side note:  The police will visit when your house is the messiest and most chaotic.

Extra side note:  My son does not like scooping poop.


3.  Keep Dimples away from all feminine products....unless you want an emergency stash on your doors.

4.  If you decide to go to the military base to get your typhoid shot, you may come away with an hour long lecture about everything you can catch down there as well as two extra shots.

On a side note:  So that you don't have to get the first Heb shot three separate times it is best to figure out where you got that series done at so that the military doesn't start you on it again.  Hey, but at least the A and B shots are now combined.

Extra side note:  Diphtheria is on the rise in the US.  The military is serious about vaccinating against it and the newer tetanus shot has it within it.

From the CDC........

On October 27, 2010, the ACIP voted to recommend:

1. use of Tdap regardless of interval since the last tetanus or diphtheria containing vaccine,
2. use of Tdap in certain adults ages 65 and older, and
3. use of Tdap in under-vaccinated children ages 7 through 10 years.

5.  It is strange to hear your words being repeated by your children.  Not just talking about swear words here.  More on that one later.


I wonder what is in store for today!  Have a great one.

Dimple

Dimples, show my readers your dimples......

OK, one dimple....

and the other dimple.

How to Surprise your Teen

Give her a cell phone that she isn't expecting at all the day after her birthday....

With a 2 year commitment.

That shows your commitment.

The sweetest part, now we will know where she is all the time!

Our Teen is 17

We celebrated as a family.



We ate too much.



We lit candles.



We sang.

 Our teen made a wish,

and ate a big hunk of that cake by herself!



(I only post this picture because she falsely accuses me of taking lots of pictures while she is eating.)



Happy Birthday teen.  Maybe one day I will be able to add a name to this post!

Our teen hasn't had many opportunities for birthdays.  She spend many of them in tears.  The things that many kids take for granted she never had.  But she has many more birthdays and now a family to celebrate them with. 

Never in a million years did we think that we would consider adopting a teen.  Sometimes life is funny that way.  You know the saying, never say never.

Love you teen, Happy Birthday!

The Tooth Discussion

I have a loose tooth.

Does it hurt?

No, but it makes it hard to eat some foods.

Let me see.

These are the foods you can't eat with a loose tooth.

Kids are such fun to watch!