Oh, the Choices We Must Make....

Do I starve the children and live in a shining castle or feed the children and live in squallor? I don't seem to have the time for both cleaning and making meals.

It feels like if I make a good meal, it takes all my time in the afternoon, I make a hideous mess, and don't have time to clean up the mess that I made for the meal or the time to regain the cleaning that didn't get done while cooking. If I clean, I barely finish wiping up the last crumb at about bedtime and our kids have existed on cold cereal, toast or nothing (according to them) that day.... Oh, woe is me! And to make myself not feel whiney!!! Distressing!

I can't complain though....exactly why I can't still evades me but I'm sure I can think of something.

***Thinking.................thinking............thinking.............................................THINK, THINK, THINK!!!***

1. I have a darling baby...fussy, but darling!!!
2. Our other kids are becoming more and more helpful...and complain less and less when I ask them to help.
3. My husband spend 1 1/2 mos at home while laid off. I think he gets it how hard it is to keep up with especially so many littles...like shoveling when it's still snowing....and when you add in a very fussy baby....nearly impossible!
4. Ummm.....hard to think with all the chaos here! Our littlest toddler, our little fella, is extremely nice and gentle and loving to his baby sister. He looooves her and kisses her whenever he can....and he only kisses her on the head or forehead or top of cheek...so when he has a booger nose he doesn't infect her at least.
5. I have really been enjoying my big girls....my oldest two are a blast to bring to school every morning and we get some really good gab time in.
6. My two middle girls have really grown up since we started homeschooling. They are really responsible and dependable.
7. Our 1st grader also has shown some considerable changes since she started homeschooling this year. She was really full of outbursts much of last year and most of the summer. When we started the school year, she somehow has just mellowed out and is extremely diligent when it comes to doing her schoolwork. She wants to learn every day and works hard.

There, I really do have a lot to be thankful for! :)

Oh, yeah! AND we have a BLIZZARD coming...similar to the Halloween Blizzard of '91. Remember Kristin and Joni? We had such of a blast being snowed in with lots of friends and family! And when it came time to start shoveling our way out, remember how we could hardly even find the cars in the parking lot...seriously! I can't wait!!! :)

Hmm, Chocolate Toxicity...Is There Such of a Thing?

Those mint M&M's I mentioned the other night? I ate probably too many of them and just as I was tucking in to sleep that night, about 1am, I suddenly had a wretching stomache ache and then eventually diarrhea. I was up for hours, between sitting on the toilet and wondering if I was going to puke. I finally went to bed about 4:20am....next morning I was fine.

I gave those mint M&M's to my 11 y.o. She was thrilled!

P.S. I didn't give my daughter the mint M&M's to poison her, btw. I just knew she wouldn't eat them by the handful after handful after handful like I did. :)