I Knew This Moment Was Coming…

I’ll take you back to the time I realized this moment was coming, then I’ll show you the pictures, because this time I have pictures…

A few years ago, well, 16 years and 9 plus months ago I was sitting in a hospital bed holding my beautiful  newborn daughter.  She was a surprise, well, not the fact that I had a baby, I was well aware of the feisty child growing with in my expanding body.  No, the SHE part was the surprise, we are one of the few people I know who actually wait until the child is wailing away in the room before we find out the gender.  Since SHE was following a HE, we kind of assumed She was a He.  {Do you follow that?  We had no idea if we were expecting a He or a She.  For some reason I can predict with great skill my friends pregnancies and their baby’s gender, I cannot predict my own children.  I just kind of assumed I would have another boy.  Nope out popped this beautiful, crying, full of dark hair and piercing eyes, child.  A SHE child!  Oh boy {see what I did there} I was not expecting that.  After 3 hours of labor and holding her in {No need to get nasty and gross, but when a 2nd time mom says you might want to check, you should probably CHECK.  But no need for me to get after my nurse, the doctor could be heard with our door shut giving that nurse an ear full, He caught O as he was putting on his gown, without gloves…}  So she came into the world with a bang, to be sure she has kept us on our toes from that point.
After she, not he, arrived, I was wheeled to my own room to recover Keith went to collect the boy child and some food for me.  My mom and sister went to shop for that new SHE child.  {Honestly it drives them crazy because they cannot shop, and maybe part of me likes that.}  But as I was saying they wheeled me into my room to “recover” from child-birth.  I sat on my bed next to the window and realized I knew nothing about girly girls, and began to dread things like having to get her own phone in her room, and knowing she would tie up the family line {Obviously SHE came well before cell phones, not even the gigantic ones} I started to fret about attitudes, and clothing, and Homecoming, {hint} and girl drama, and, and, and, and.  My list was growing.  I looked at my sweet girl I was so in love and yet so overwhelmed at the thought of raising a girl.

Well that moment I knew was coming, came tonight.  It was homecoming.  Now at our school homecoming is open to 9-12 graders only.  It is formal or semi-formal to be exact.  While O could go for the last 2 years she finally decided to go tonight with some of her girl friends.  They are headed to the beach tonight after the event and will return home tomorrow sometime.  {No worries, they will be chaperoned by one of O’s friends parents the whole time.}

If you were unaware I have been working on another set for another musical so no blogs for the longest time,{Pictures will come next week we are almost done}  The work crew talks as we work and homecoming came up in conversation, we were discussing places for me to take O shopping, she has a Ralph Lauren style on a Target budget.   One of  the moms asked what size O needed then offered a cocktail dress for O to borrow.  I was skeptical that my extreme picky dresser would like the dress but I took her up on the offer.  The dress fit O like it was made for her!  So classy and timeless, just O’s style.  She looked beautiful in it.  I had O try it on while at her bff’s house, she and her mom both agreed the dress was perfect.  We made plans to meet up for spirit week shopping that evening.  After spirit week shopping we stopped in Payless to take a peek at the bo/go going on.  We found silver sparkle shoes and another pair for fun.  We had a dress, and shoes for a grand total of $15.00  {and the price of dry-cleaning for when I return the dress to my friend} She split couple ticket with her friend so that was another  so that was another $15 and then the split hotel room I was spending less on the entire event then I would have, if I had to buy a dress.

Not to leave R out, he decided to go with his friends, he was pretty cheap too, he needed black pants and a white shirt for 2 costume days for spirit week (a kid from Harry Potter and a pirate) I found 2 nice ties at Target for less than $11 for both (I heart clearance) so with tickets and going out for Yogurt Mountain afterwards, we were making off great for this child-man and the princess.We tried out some hair-do’s.  The right side.The back viewAnd then the left side.
This is hair do #2 because #1 had *gasp* a sparkle headband in it.  The finished do.  {I love her naturally curly hair} A bun, a messy bun where you cannot see the distinct hair swirl pattern.Dad and ODad and R.
Yes R is almost as tall as Keith is.
Although Keith was quick to point out that R was wearing shoes.We dragged R along as we went to a local college to meet up and take pictures of O and her friends before the big event.O was so pretty!
The dress was even more beautiful in real life.All that Sass It was raining but we made the best of it!R was most handsome and patient while 4 moms, an aunt, a dad, and 4 teen girls decided what pictures needed to be taken.O and JC Laughing in the rain.R was even a sport keeping everyone’s hair dry and dresses with out water spots.  That boy is a keeper.

Now lest you think I am awful I never had those thoughts with the other girls, simply because O has been such a joy to parent I am foolishly hopeful that the other girls will be just as easy.

What did you wear to Homecoming?  I wore a cream flowered dress, we had a magician, not that all magicians were bad, but this one sure was a disappointment to us.
Afterwards a group of us went to my friend  house we watched movies most of the night laughing and eating.

GO hug your kids and tell someone about your homecoming night.
jen

Not to be left out…

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New Paint

We have been busy here in the land of overholt8.  We finally, sort-of, sold C’s bed last week.  The boys are finally not sharing a room, they are thrilled, not that there is anything wrong with sharing, but we have an empty room so we are spreading out.  After we started boxing up the things C left behind I took the boys shopping for new room paint.  It took another week before we could start with J’s room.  We are doing his first because he is getting C’s room, it was empty first.  C had the smaller room, which is why he was alone, we let R choose and J got the smaller room.  Now that the boys will be in separate places I am interested in seeing who made their room such a disaster.R was more than happy to help paint, knowing that the sooner the room was ready the sooner he could have his own space.I just love the dark gray color. Nice and fresh coat of paint, new high gloss white on all the trim.  I love the contrast and I love high gloss white!J has 4 windows in his room, 1 faces south the rest face west, his room is nice and bright most of the day, so gray was not going to be a problem color.
{See that brown thing on the window sill?  It is termite fras and the termite guy was just here last month.}Like I said the room is small.  It is the smallest room in the house, but perfect for 1 person.  (actually years ago we tore apart our bedroom and moved into this room during the 6 month fixing process, we had a queen bed and 3 people sleeping in here, it was not huge but there was space for 2 dressers, a bed, a mom and a dad and a very fussy little boy.  I guess you could say J is returning to the bedroom he had when he was a baby.)Right now we only have his furniture in the room, but we are free on Friday night so we will move everything else over so we can start in on R’s room.  I’ll post pictures of the finished project when we are done.  R is patiently waiting for his new look in his room.  He “sold” us 2 of his bookshelves for J’s room so he can get 2 bigger bookshelves since the 3 short ones he had did not hold all his books.While cleaning out C’s things we found a missing sock, I will be sending it up in this week’s care package.

Set work for Alice is humming along nicely I’ll post pictures when we finish that too.  We should be completely done with all our things by Oct 3, which is dress rehearsal day.  We have a schedule and seem to do a pretty good job sticking to it.  And I have had quite a group of helpers.  Willing parents who come for hours at a time and work hard.  I was talking to one of them yesterday, her child is not even in the play, but she has given up 3 full days so far, and told me it is addicting to work on the set, I agreed with her.  The director asked if I would be willing to do it again next year.  I told her I would have to see how the next year shapes up.  But If I could start working in the summer instead of a month before the musical it would be easier.  As a bonus I could harness the help of students who have nothing to do all summer.My adorable set painting helper.  If you will notice she has no paint on her clothes, we keep our painting clothes on stage and just change to paint then put on our clean clothes again to go home, saves ruining clothes and we always know where our painting clothes are.

This sweet thing gets stuck standing all the time.  No matter how many times I help her sit down she gets back up again.  She was doing this before she could sit, and still gets stuck.  Yes she is almost asleep, she was tired and stuck.

Here is something to make you laugh or not, it made me laugh at the large family.  No it is not my van although we do drive the same kind, we large families stick together in our lack of vehicle choice.  For the record dad is not crossed out, he is colored in, it is a bi-racial family.

I’ll get you all filled in on our boring but busy life in a few more weeks when we are finished working on the set.

What about you did you change things around at home recently?  Did you paint a room?  I ran into a friend while shopping for paint and things for Alice, and he asked if Keith was out-of-town…  Ha-Ha  he knows me too well, a cart full in the home improvement store, no Keith, must mean I’m working on a project!  {I do have one in the works and he will be gone in October…}

Go hug your kids, and tell someone you love them, life is just too short to wait!
jen

A Little Sneak Peak

Want a peak at what I have been up too this last week?Can you guess?Any idea?Do you have an idea?

Go hug your kids, they need your love.
jen

p.s. see a post with no tears, no crying and no sad…

Burned Banana Bread

Things are settling into our new normal.  I am not sure I like it yet, the learning curve is bound to take some time, after all I did not suddenly have 7 kids, it was a slow build up, and cooking seems to be something I need to re-learn.  For example, did you know it is possible to make too much bacon?  Until last week I did not know it was possible.I usually cook up 3 pounds at a time.  Usually we have a few pieces left over, I take and freeze the cooked bacon, pulling it out when I need a few pieces for baked potato topping, or some such thing.  I say usually…and I say few pieces…  On Sunday when I made it, my in-laws stopped in, my mother in law asked if we always eat that much bacon.  I said, not all of it but close,  {I should add that we eat bacon about once a month, IF I remember to buy it when I am at Sam’s Cub.}  I would rather make the big bacon greasy mess once and have it done, then trying to cook up a piece or two at a time.  On a completely related side note, next time i buy bacon I plan on trying to cook it in the oven, I’ve pinned it on Pinterest, and a friend mentioned it on Facebook, so I’m going to give it a go, and I hope the mess is less.  As I was saying, bacon, dinner, too much.  We had dinner, bacon, eggs and french toast.  I was shocked at the amount of left over eggs and bacon.  Seriously, we had left over bacon.

Anyone have any idea what that flowering bush is?  I love it!  It was on campus of that great university that is taking my child and turning him into a man.Here is a nice close shot.
Any guesses?This girl does not want to drive, nope, not one bit.  She is completely content riding as we chauffeur her around town.  However she had a sore mouth from her orthodontist visit, she wanted spaghetti o’s and pudding, she willingly drove to the grocery store.

Yesterday evening O had a pre-season girls basketball league game, she also had a college fair to attend.  I am still not “over” C leaving us, I most definitely am not ready for her to leave.  They came home  back from a college fair with a huge pile of college information.  As she was showing the stuff to me I burst into tears.  I am not ready.  I miss C, and now I only have 2 years with the princess before she leaves us too.  I think time is racing faster.

Ok, I promise, tomorrow no posts about C being gone, no posts about my crying, no sad, only fun or happy.

What about the burned banana bread you ask?  I’m surprised you held on this long to see what it was all about.  I decided last night that I wanted to make banana bread, I was cooking dinner, bathing A, holding PS, setting the table, and emptying the dishwasher when I saw the very ripe bananas on the counter.  I thought I could whip up some banana bread for our dinner, and take in a loaf to my set workers.  {You read that right, the set, of the school musical. Again} So I put the banana bread in the oven, put the carrots on to cook, went to wash A’s hair, and passed PS off to E who took her upstairs to play.  I knew the bread would not be done until dinner was almost over we could enjoy a slice or loaf when we were done.  We ate dinner, sharing what happened with our day.  It was an evening of miracles, first on one spilled their milk.  Then A managed to chew and swallow 1 slice (crinkle cut) cooked carrot.  She managed to eat it without throwing up, crying, or pitching a fit.  She did gag so hard on the first bite that it fell out of her mouth, but the second piece she chewed, gagged, chewed, had tears running down her face but she was able to swallow it down.  She jumped out of her chair and cheered.  She was so proud of herself.  I was honestly shocked.  Also during that time J ate 3 slices of carrot.  A few years back, we could not even pass carrots, or most anything else, over J’s plate or he would just throw up, his gag reflex was super sensitive.  So we were busy experiencing our own miracles when I forgot about that banana bread.  By the time I remembered it, the edges were not crispy, they were charred, the burning sweet smell is still; hours later burning my nose and throat.  I am hopeful that it will go away in the next day or so, it is giving me a headache.

What about you, do cooked carrots make you gag?  Ever have a kid puke when you passed food near them?  I cannot eat mashed potatoes, I gag when I think about them, I cannot chew, swallow or even put them in my mouth, so why would I force my kid to eat a cooked carrot slice?  Simply because she has never eaten a slice before, she has always gagged so badly that I have given up.  I tell them “you can’t have an opinion if you never tasted it before.”  SO a taste is what I ask for from them, I have tasted mashed potatoes, I have gagged down more than I’d ever thought possible, I no longer eat mashed potatoes, but I have an opinion because I have tried, they can have an opinion once they try.  I also, would rather not clean puke off the table at dinner time.  I did it “all” right, when they were babies, offering them fruits and veggies in the appropriate order, I don’t give them too much to drink before meals, I don’t let them eat snacks before meal time I just have picky easy to gag kids.  And I’ve learned to live with it.  They are pretty good sports about trying new things, but somethings are harder to swallow for them.

Go hug your kids, time is racing.  And please tell someone how important they are to you, time is just too short.
jen