Getting spoiled

So you might be thinking, "Aw cute, look at Ben so wide-eyed and curious what a little sweetheart", but what you don't know is what he's thinking....So here we go...Ben's thought Bubble { " I'm gonna scream my head off mommy if you even dare put me down. Yes I will and I will scream and scream and scream. I will even make my face so red and pretend I'm having trouble breathing so you will rush right over and pick me up. I will act like I am hurt and something is terribly wrong because I know how you worry about me. I will take full advantage of your feelings for me. How you think I'm so cute and you just want to love on me all day. I know you have chores to do, but darn it momma I want to be held. No one else will do but you so don't even think about sending Sarah to pick me up or even daddy. I WANT YOU! You can't sit down when you hold me either, you must be standing up. Walking around would be even better. I wanna see stuff so sometimes I prefer facing outward when you hold me. I will make sure and let you know when I want to turn around. And don't try to lay me down when you think I am sleeping because that is just me testing you and you will surely fail. Don't even try to make me laugh while I'm in my bouncy chair either because it won't work unless you're holding me. It only makes me mad when you do that. You can't trick me! If I start laughing through my cry it's because I'm pulling a fast one on you because I know you will think it's so cute and you may even feel sorry for teasing me so you will pick me up for a squeeze and then I will know I have won!" }

He's a smart one I tell ya! Still think he looks cute? I do..hehehe!

Mood: Irritated

I hate it when....I walk into a room and try turning on the light only to miss the switch. Then using the millisecond that I have before completely passing the switch and making it into the middle of the room I make several more attempts to turn on the dang light, all of which fail. Finally, I make a quick decision whether I really need the light on and if I do decide I can't see without it I stop, back up, find the light switch and turn it on only to discover that I can't remember why I came into the room in the first place.

Another New Blog

This time it's Sarah's Blog, aka Sister Marie.

Find her writings here:
www.bluediamondprincess.blogspot.com

Bullets

• Everyone is coughing now
• Jack's eye is pink, not sure if it's more red today because last night I accidently stabbed him in the eye with the eye dropper. He wouldn't sit still.
• The school just called me because they accidently marked Adam absent even though he is there. This is the second time that has happened. I've learned not to panic because once they check they actually see he is indeed at school.
• My right ear is plugged; probably due to the cold I have. I can't hear from it at all. Very annoying. I can only hear the sound of silence in my right ear and it's very loud.
• It snowed alittle last night and the sun is not shinning.
• Does anyone know of a home remedy to unplug a clogged ear?
• Ben is crying, gotta go!

Another Blog

http://clarkfamphotography.blogspot.com/

This is another blog I started so I can post pictures I take. I just started it today. I really like taking pictures but I'm no pro. When I have spare time I love messing with photo editors. It will probably be a boring blog, but hey this one is too. LOL

Randomness

We're sick again! Jack, Grace, Ben and I are sick, again. Ben and Grace started it out and even gave me a "pink eye" scare. We missed church on Sunday because Grace and Ben both had pasted shut eyes. Good thing I still had some eye drops. It seemed to clear up rather quickly so I think it must have just been the cold in their eyes. Now all four of us are coughing, sneezing, and I feel my throat swelling and my chest is congested. Sarah, Adam and Dan are all fine. I keep wondering why Sarah and Adam haven't really gotten sick over and over like this, I mean afterall they go to school everyday. I would think they would be bringing home all the yuck! But then I remembered they go outside and play everyday for quite awhile and us, well we stay inside all day, everyday. That must be it, we are stuck in here breathing all the yucky germs that are trapped and obviously breeding in our house. LOL We are not getting the fresh air that our bodies need. Instead we are breathing in thick germ filled air. So, I can't wait for real spring weather, the kind you can open all the windows in your house and let the fresh air in. Too bad it will most likely be past spring up here before the weather is warm enough to open all the windows.

On another note, I think Ben may be trying to cut a tooth. It might not come in right way, but he is drooling like mad, and chewing on anything that goes into his mouth. Yeah, that means me too. He is not even four months old yet. My little guy is growing up way too fast. *sniff*

And on another note, I found an online math drill by Math-U-See. Which is a math program that many homeschoolers use for math. This program rocks! Sarah and Adam had fun doing the drills. For one it was on the computer which is totally cool for them and for another they are increasing their math skills by doing these timed drills.

It seems like I had more to say, but I can't remember. I guess I will leave that to another post.

Cheese Blog Trivia...

I thought this random generator was funny! Nothing else to blog about so why not? Well, I did get my drivers license renewed today and can I say, yuck, that was the worst picture I have ever taken. The drug induced coma look was not what I was going for. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to smile. LOL

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Cheese Blog!

1. According to the story, Pinocchio was made of Cheese Blog.
2. White chocolate isn't technically chocolate, because it doesn't contain Cheese Blog.
3. If your ear itches, this means that someone is talking about Cheese Blog.
4. Cheese Blog can use only about ten percent of its brain!
5. Banging your head against Cheese Blog uses 150 calories an hour.
6. If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn into Cheese Blog!
7. An average beaver can cut down Cheese Blog every year!
8. South Australia was the first place to allow Cheese Blog to stand for parliament.
9. Cheese Blog is the last letter of the Greek alphabet!
10. A sixteenth century mathematician lost his nose in a duel over his love for Cheese Blog, and wore a silver replacement for the rest of his life.

Number 4 is evident in my post contents! LOL

I guess I just don't really care anymore

It used to be that I wouldn't dare leave the house without makeup on. It's not that I really cared what people thought of me, I just wanted to look half way decent for me and just incase I ran into someone I knew, they wouldn't think, gross is that really her? I don't know if it's because I am getting older or because I have five children, but I just don't seem to care anymore. Nowadays I just get up, brush my hair and go. Seriously, no shower, no makeup, still wearing my sweat pants and shirt from the day before. I don't even bother putting my contacts in. Is that so bad? Anyone else out there mistaken for a homeless person while grocery shopping? LOL Just kidding, although I wonder what people think of me with my baby blue sweat pants! Ha! It's hard enough to leave the house on time with five kids. It seems like one of them always has to poop as we're trying to walk out the door. LOL

And before you start thinking yuck, just so you know I don't let four days go by before I shower like I do when I sweep the floor.

Dirt Roads

I got this in an email from my uncle and thought it was neat.

What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved.

There's not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.

People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride.

That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home...a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog.

We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along.

There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.

Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.

And there were no drive by shootings.

Our values were better when our roads were worse!

People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn't tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks.

Dirt Roads taught patience.

Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn't hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.

For your mail, you walked to the mail box.

What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.

At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.

Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.

At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn't some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.

At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out.

Usually you got a dollar...always you got a new friend...at the end of a Dirt Road!

~by Paul Harvey~




And because they look country I added this picture. Hats courtesy of Grandpa C.

Talk about lazy

My good friends Amie and Rachel came over on Monday afternoon so we could visit and the kids could play and we had snacks and drinks provided by Amie and Rachel, thanks guys. Anyway, during dinner tonight I looked at the floor and noticed crumbs from the snacks we had from Monday. You know what that means? It is Thursday today and the floor is now covered in crumbs from Mon, Tues, Wed and now Thurs. Which means that I haven't swept in four days. So guess what I did? Nope. I sat down at the 'ole computer to blog about it! LOL Am I thinking about sweeping tonight? Nope. LOL Maybe I'll get to it tomorrow, tonight I'm lazy! Which really isn't too different from any other night. I keep trying to convince the hubs to let me get a small dog to clean up my floors for me. I'm gonna blame this laziness on the wintry weather we're experiencing. I have no energy without the sun. Although, the sun did shine today so I opened the curtains and starting cleaning, not really, I actually sat back down. Tomorrow will be a better day and I will clean, maybe! Good thing my kids help out around the house. I did give all five kids a bath today and clipped all their nails and I made dinner so the whole day wasn't a waste.

Why?

Can anyone tell me why is it when you put a cute outfit on your kids it never fails that less then 30 minutes later something spills on, explodes over or stains that cute outfit? There is this cute outfit I keep trying to have Ben wear and every single time and I literally mean every single time I put it on him he ends up with an explosive diaper that requires a full body wash down and a new outfit. I guess I'll have to take his picture in it so I can remember how cute it is on him since he can't wear it all day without an explosion and since he is growing so fast these days he'll probably end up outgrowing it before I get it washed again.






This is not the outfit in question, however it is a cute one. I thought I would share this picture since it looks like he's thinking, "I'm making another poopy mommy and there's about to be an explosion in T-3,2,1...."

Is it homemade or made from scratch?

That is my question to all who read my blog.

I had been rather proud of myself lately for making more food at home, you know the meal that has three of your four burners going, because maybe you're following a recipe and not just throwing a store bought casserole in the oven. Anyway, I was spending alot of time in the kitchen trying to use all the ingredients I had on hand before going shopping again, so I was proud. That is until I heard how some women make everything from scratch. Notice the emphasis on the word everything. That got me thinking, what in the heck have I been doing and how on earth do they have the time to cook meals from scratch? I thought that was what I was doing and just considering it homemade, but still what is the difference really? See to me "homemade" is just that, it's home-made. So last time I made "homemade" lasagna I boiled the noodles which I bought at the store, cooked the meat, stirred in the sauce, again store bought, then layered with different cheeses and then baked. So if there is a difference between homemade and scratch and I like to call it homemade then made from scratch would mean you mix up some dough and roll it out in your handy dandy pasta cutter, let it dry, then proceed to make the rest of the meal from scratch, mash your own tomatoes for the sauce, you see where I am going. So tell me fellow bloggers, what exactly does "made from scratch" mean, and is that I have been doing this whole time and calling it homemade? Are they one in the same, because frankly I feel kinda overwhelmed thinking I should be grinding my own wheat to make bread.

Check out my Slide Show!

Just wanted to share...

Ben laughed! I just finished changing his diaper and I made a comment on how fast his nails grow, so I told him in a silly voice, "Mama needs to cut your nails." And he laughed! It was way too cute. I continued to make him laugh as I repeated the phrase. My face hurts from smiling so big for so long. I LOVE baby's firsts.

Mi Papa' es Macho

This cute shirt came from Grandpa C.

Daddy was proud! LOL

*gracias por la camiseta abuelo*

Love, Ben

First hair cut

I had to get rid of the mullet she was sporting. This way her hair will grown out even. I think she looks rather cute with her new hairdo. What do you think?

By the way...I did the cutting, so if it looks blunt or uneven, that would be the reason. I just don't see the point in spending money to cut her hair if I can do it myself. However, if I were to want a styled cut I would most definetly take her to a stylist. I'm no pro! LOL

2 month stats

Ben turned 2 months on Jan. 23rd and weighed in at 13 pounds 2 oz. He also had his first ear infection and second hair cut. He loves tummy time (for a few minutes anyway), and he holds his head up really well. Our little guy is growing quite fast. The doctor said his head size was on the small size compared to his body weight and length but he isn't too worried about it. His head is definetly smaller compared to his brothers at this age. We'll see how his head grows in the next few months here. If he is like the rest of them he will be top heavy in no time. LOL

Stuff

This is Adam's second tooth to loose, only he hasn't lost any on his own, instead he's had to have them pulled. For some reason his grown-up teeth are coming in behind the baby ones before they're even really loose. After they get pulled the new tooth quickly moves into place. I hope we don't have to do this with every tooth.
Not sure if you can tell or not but I can now put Grace's hair in braids :D Yay!

Me and my mohawk man, a snow fort, plus me and all five

Everyone at church thought we cut Ben's hair to look like a mohawk, but we didn't. We shaved his head on Christmas Eve not even one month ago and his hair is growing back fast, only it's growing back as a mohawk. LOL The strip of hair down the middle of his head is growing faster then the rest. I'm not sure if you can tell that well in this picture, but here's my little mohawk man!

Dan and his brother helped Sarah and Adam build this cool snow fort today while Jack, Grace, Ben and I stayed inside by the fire. :D Jack and Grace later joined Sarah and Adam outside to play when the building was complete. Ben and I stayed inside by the fire again, but I briefly went out to take this picture. It's much nicer by the fire. LOL

Well, atleast the rest of us are smiling. :D

My attempts...

At capturing a smile

We'll try again later...LOL

Happy Birthday!

Our little "Gawk" (Jack) man, as pronounced by his older siblings when he was born, turned 5 today! I can't believe he's already five. It seems like yesterday I was posting about his 4th birthday and now here we are 1 year later. Happy Birthday Dude!

My Boys

My Girls

Best Buddies!

This is Ben and his buddy, Coby. Ben was born weighing 9 lbs 9 oz and Coby was born exactly two weeks later weighing 6 lbs 6 oz. As you can see Ben is HUGE next to Coby! LOL

Christmas PJ's

I had to put these pictures of Ben in just to show you that he actually does look cute, even without all that hair. LOL

The New Ben

BEFORE



AFTER


That's what happens when all the men in the house want the same hair style. I can't exactly say Ben wanted it, but I know his dad sure did!

Payback

Last night while Sarah was wrapping the gift for her class gift exchange for school the next day, I told her about the time I was in 3rd grade and had a gift exchange too. I told her and Dan how in my class we could either choose an unwrapped gift or choose a gift that someone already opened. Meaning we could just take a gift away from someone. I know it sounds mean. So anyway, this one girl in my class opened a package of different colored mechanical pencils, which was something I had been wanting, so....instead of taking a new gift I took hers away from her. I felt terrible, but I did it anyway. Later that night I felt so bad about doing that and I think I even cried about it, so my mom and dad bought some new mechanical pencils and I gave them to her the next day. Both Dan and Sarah told me how mean that was of me and so unlike my character to do that, but that it was nice of me to buy her some new pencils. Anyway, when Sarah got home from school today she told me how her gift exchange went and can you guess what happened by my post title? So she tells how she opened a gift of....that's right...colored mechanical pencils, and a girl (this girl actually brought the pencils in) took them from her. Right out of her hands. Sarah wasn't bothered by it because the girl offered her a trade. She took what that girl had, which was little toy puppies (similar to littlest petshop) and a bracelet. So how's that for payback? What would make this story even more bizarre would be if this little girl was the daughter of the girl I took the pencils from way back when, and it actually was a payback.

Brag Post

This just came in the mail:

To the Parents of Miss Sarah C...

Announcement of Sarah's nomination:

Dear Parent:

Your daughter, Sarah, has been nominated to attend the National Young Scholars Program (NYSP) ... Sarah was personally nominated by her teacher from among all other students.

Sarah's teacher recognized her as a student with the scholastic merit and leadership potential to attend this unique program for the nation's most exceptional 2nd and 3rd graders. Sarah will join other high-achieving students at this very special program......

I have enclosed a press release that you may distribute to your local media in order to share with your community the exciting announcement of Sarah's plans to attend the Program.

We expect to enroll an outstanding group of young high-achievers with a wide variety of backgrounds from all across the country. Sarah will benefit beyond measure from being recognized among this magnificent group of our nation's future leaders.

This comes from the National Center for Early Academic Excellence. We are very proud of Sarah. She had no idea about this nomination. I don't know how many other students from her class or school have been nominated, but she is flattered none the less. It is being held in DeKalb, IL in the summer time and they are inviting her to stay in the University dorms for the week during the program. The only downside to this is the expense, $1,870! Yep, that's right, almost two grand for this trip. The expense does not cover travel or anything extra she may need while there. It's just for the room, food and the 24-hour supervision as parents are not allowed to accompany their children. So I think she will not be attending. She is fine with that and totally understands. This is a great achievement for her and we are keeping the nomination papers in the hope chest so she can look back on this later in life, plus we are going to brag her up to the grandparents and of course on my blog! LOL Proud doesn't even begin to describe how we feel about her. WAY TO GO SARAH!

Merry Christmas

These were the best 3 pictures out of all 26 I took trying to get them all looking forward and smiling. I am grateful to have a digital camera, otherwise I would have wasted a whole roll of film. LOL

Candid moments

Birth Story

Well, so much for my dream of a 3 hour labor cause this was my longest labor...13 hours. I count from the time I start contracting at home not the time I check in the hospital. It started around 8 am Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving and we ended up checking into the hospital at 12:30 in the afternoon that day, and I was 3 cm dilated. We waited a few hours for the epidural so I could move around, but a few hours later I was only 4cm so they gave me the epidural hoping it would relax me enough so that I would dilate more, but a few hours after that I was only at 5cm so they decided to give me some pictocin to get things moving. He was in a face up position so I had back labor and that is the reason for the longer labor time. I tried walking around to get him to move but he would only move alittle so with the pictocin they thought he would get more uncomfortable with those stronger contractions and want to move into position. Well, at 8:20 pm they started the pictocin and around 8:30 I got up to go pee. It took several minutes to sit up and get to the bathroom and then several more minutes to get control of my bladder long enough to pee. The epidural had my bladder all numb. LOL Anyway, so around 8:40 pm I was trying to walk back to my bed from the bathroom and had the strong urge to push, the nurse freaked out and rushed me back to the bed afraid I was going to drop the baby right there. Dan helped me back into bed while the nurse called for help and I started involunterly pushing. I had muconium (sp?) when they broke my water so they needed all the peds and everyone there at the birth which was looking like it wasn't going to happen. The nurse was freaking but she managed to get everyone there except the ped. When the midwife checked me I was fully dilated so I really started to push and 15 minutes later he was born at 8:56 pm. I went from 5 cm to 10 cm and pushing in less then half an hour. If he wasn't face up for so long I probably would have had that 3 hour labor I was dreaming about. The midwife thinks when I got up to go pee that the baby turned into position so it went fast from there. I think I used the term, "that was intense" several times after he was born. LOL So there ya have it, my birth story.

He's here...

Ben Samuel Clark
Born: November 23, 2007 at 8:56 pm
Weight: 9 lbz 9 oz
Height: 21 1/2 inches

Birth story to follow...

Nope...

Not yet...that's all I am gonna say! LOL

Still here!

Well I am two days away from my due date and nothing new to report. I've had a few contractions here and there, but nothing to let me know "it's go time"! My last appt was two days ago on Wednesday were I found out I am still 1cm dilated, which I already expected to hear. I have another appt this coming Wednesday morning and then a NST at the hospital at noon. I have a scheduled induction date for the following Monday, Nov. 26th at 1pm. So if he doesn't come the day before or on Thanksgiving I'll be eating turkey at home, which I would much prefer anyway. Dana asked me how my other labors went so here are my stats...
Sarah's labor was 12 hours total: 1 hour pushing time. She was 7 lbs 14 oz.
Adam's labor was 10 hours total: 45 minutes pushing time. He was 8 lbs 2 oz.
Jack's labor was 7 hours total: 10 minutes pushing time. He was 9 lbs 13 oz.
Grace's labor was 5 hours total: 27 minutes pushing time. She was 8 lbs 8 oz.

So if I continue shaving of two hours each time then I should have a 3 hour labor, right?
Ha! I hope it's only 3 hours and 7 minutes pushing time, and I hope he doesn't weight too much over 8 lbs. I know I know wishful thinking! Oh well, what else do I have to think about while I wait for him to come!

Photo Faces

Grace 2yr
Sarah 8yr
Jack 4yr
Adam 6yr

One week and counting...

Hopefully I will have this baby sometime this week. With schedules and such, this week would be perfect, but we all know that babies never come when we want them too. Next Sunday is my offical due date according to the ultrasound, but according to other facts it wouldn't be until November 23rd. We choose to go with the ultrasound due date, not just because it was sooner, but because it is most accurate. It would be nice to be home for Thanksgiving instead of eating turkey in the hospital. We shall see what happens!

Look who's two!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our darling Grace or ChooCha as nicknamed by Jack. We love you Beauty!!

Friends and Family

My sister came to visit last weekend so we got all the kids together for a picture. The two blonde boys are not related to the rest of them, but us parents go way back so they're pretty much family anyway. From Left to Right: Grace and Jenna, Luke and Adam, Jack, Kaylyn and Lauren, Sarah and Nicolas.
Grace and her cousin Lauren.
Aww, hugging cousins!