Demo land and our week in Novel form

Sooo....these are sure turning into an exciting couple of weeks.

Yesterday we started completely gutting the bathroom. Went to Lowes and Home Depot 3 times with kids (first time with 2 kids, second time with 3, third time with all dang five! but it was actually hardest with the earlier ones) and swiped my credit card quite a bit. Had a bit of a breakdown by the end of the nite, went to Baskin Robbins and then got a big old pep talk full of advice from my friend Becky.
Thankfully my sister Courtney has redone many bathrooms (themselves!) and has given great tips and been my second opinion with what to choose. Lots of money and feels like a bunch of pressure, but it can only improve the McCoy party of seven's case.

My kids are glued to Adam our tattooed 'contractor' who demo-ed the room today and unearthed 3 layers of linoleum and a whole lot of rot and stink due to the leaking shower and toilet (which has been leaking for like a year). So basically it had to be done, and might as well leave 1967 while we are at it.
So there's that. Now you are in the know. So we will be dining in and renting movies until to shock how much this is going to cost has been tamed a bit. Its good for me any way, to clamp down money wise about since after babies I'm basically about survival and convenience.

THEN....my great friend Amber and I volunteer way many months ago to organize and pull off Teacher Appreciation week at the school the next week. Much still to think about that. But teachers are the best people to spoil and show thanks.

And THEN we are having a church party that I volunteered to spearhead..., but it will be totally fun and makes for a busy week.

Oh ya, and in another moment of true empathy for a mom who recently moved here and had a baby (her fourth and thats when I moved too...and with the 3rd too, moving and babies is a rough combo), I'm bringing her dinner this week...but she is vegetarian and after a week of mulling around if I even know how to cook without meat, I finally figured out what the heck to bring her besides a big fat steak (thats probably like short jokes, they get old).

Discovered that I love to Index. Love it. Soooo....ya know how Mormons (LDS) love families. And then family history? Well, so there are records that are hand written that the church is helping to put into digital format, typed up for better access and its like a service to the world. For everyone to use. We don't do anything with them just recording history and updating it with the new technology. Sooooo...for the past two weeks when I get a spare minute, instead of checking Pinterest, I download a page from the 1840 (1840 people!) census, any state I want (which means I usually do Alabama or Mississippi or something southern) and then I type out what I see and then submit it. It was super intimidating at first, but like most things is easily tackled and sooo interested. Like I just recorded the Coston family, with their 12 kids. And I love reading the names and seeing who is married to whom. What names are still in style. Even seeing them handwritten makes me realize these are real people who raised families and made a living just like we are doing. Really cool stuff. (yes Lindsey, you were right all these years, whats new?)

Ate a delicious quinoa salad today, a first for me.

The kids loved waving to each other through the open hole in the bathroom floor while the others waved back from the garage below them.

Piano lessons today.

Moody cool May day.

We won't talk about that Darby got her second pink slip in a week at school which is not good and hasn't happened to her brother which I'm only writing on here for Darby's future children as leverage one day. Maybe I should take this out actually.

Paisley keeps stealing Ivy's pacifier....But has been peeing and pooing like a champ. She is also obsessed with going back to Chuck E Cheese and asks for it like four times a day and no-duh! just realized I should use Chuck E Cheese as a bribe to stop stealing the dang pacifier. She is really cute and loves purple lately.

Had a forced epiphany yesterday that I needed to change some things around here, about
'moving the cookies'  instead of trying to endlessly correct their age appropriate behavior... little course correction over here.

I love being a mom. I love being at home with them. I really just love them. Each one. I'm so happy they are mine and we were brave and brought them to our family. My sister in law Cori talked about staying up talking with them in their beds at nite and this year has been full of nite chats and its new territory and I love it. Life ebbs and flows with nuttiness and right now we are watching the swell form.

May I survive the month of May with a smile pretty please. Don't want to miss all the good stuff.

No comment on me talking on too many please or being wonder woman (wait, you weren't going to say that? oh....hehehe) I also have an ebb and flow of how much I can handle and sometimes its disconnected with reality, I'm praying this is not one of those times.

ONE MONTH TIL I GET TO WITNESS MY BROTHER AND AVI GET MARRIED. Can't wait.

Did I mention that Luke is doing a play at school where he is going to sing in front of everyone in a trio? I'm hoping that if I just act (act...ahahhaha, hey its late) like its no big deal he will actually go through with it and I will witness this wonderfulness.

Baylie's good too. My reincarnated self I tell ya. Today she didn't wear a headband (now that she has a thousand). I couldn't believe it and when I asked her what she thought about it she said it was ok. Mother stunned.

Ivy wants to walk, she told me. I said ok.  I can't believe she is almost 11 months.

It really stinks up stairs... I don't suggest rot and wetness.

CHRIS RANSON I'M TOTALLY NOT KIDDING, YOU BETTER CALL US AND COME VISIT. I PROMISE I WON'T HAVE YOU WORK ON MY BATHROOM. I'M SERIOUS.