Sleep...

I didn't sleep well last night, because of V-girl.

For some reason, she had a restless night last night. 

She came in shortly after everyone went to bed and said she wanted to sleep with Rainman and I.

Rainman told her to come sleep beside the bed and he would hold her hand.  (That is her thing for calming down and going to sleep - she likes to have her hand held.)

For those of you who don't know, we keep a mini bed set up beside our bed.  It has pillows and blankets, etc.  So, the kids all know that if they have a bad dream or just want to be near us, they can just come in and lay down.....most times, they don't even wake us up, they just come in and make themselves at home.  We discover them in the morning when we step on them.  (although my "Mom radar" is almost always on, so I usually know somebody has come in). Makes for a much better nights sleep for everyone!

Anyway, V-girl came in last night, laid down next to our bed and Rainman held her hand until she fell asleep.

At some point, she ended up rolling under the bed and then thumped her head and started crying.  So, Rainman got her out and, got her all set up again in her little bed on the floor.

Then a little while later she did the same thing.  I told him to just put her in bed with us so we could all get some sleep.

She is getting pretty big now and she likes to stretch out when she is sleeping.

At one point, I rolled over and must have bumped her or landed on her.  Without waking up, she started having a fit.  She was kicking and yelling (incoherently) that I needed to move and get off.  I guess that is her natural response since she has always shared a bed with someone...(protecting her turf)!

I said, "It's mommy.  Mommy is laying next to you."

As soon as I said the word "mommy" she stopped.

Just stopped.

No kicking.  No yelling.  Nothing.

I smiled to myself about this instant response to me.....

My voice.

My name.

Then it hit me.

That is a lot of responsibility.

To be that person  - that even when she is not even entirely awake -  that she trusts enough to stop fighting....and just be calm and quiet....knowing that I wouldn't do anything to harm her.

Yikes.

It only took me 6 kids to have that epiphany.

School!

Yup!

We started school on Monday.

To those of you up north, or from another country, this may seem strange.

Our local public school started classes on August 6th!

We let the kids have one more week and started on the 13th.

Aren't we nice?

As much as the kids hate to admit it, our whole family does a lot better when we have structure to our day.....like we do when there is school.

Everything is smoother.  Less fighting.  Less mischief.  The house is cleaner because I actually assign chores instead of waiting for someone to notice the pile of garbage that they have been stepping over for days!

We adjusted quite a bit of our schooling for this year.

We moved school to the basement, so everyone can be together.  In past years, especially in our current house, we have been spread all over the house because there wasn't room for us.

Everyone has their own work station/desk....even me.

All of our books, supplies, reference materials, and art stuff is all downstairs with us.  Everything we need is in one place.

We have switched to harder courses for D-man and A-girl....which means school will take longer than last year.

So far, our first 3 days have gone really well.  Monday was hard though.  The kids aren't used to going to bed early....so nobody fell asleep when they were supposed to Sunday night.  D-man even asked if he could have some of my coffee on Monday because he was having a hard time staying awake!  They were all sort of little zombies on Monday.  And, school took forever to be done.

Everyone has adjusted now though...people are sleeping (mostly) when they are supposed to....no one has fallen asleep at their desk.  Homework assignments are being completed on time.  Since I have an actual desk with an in box....we aren't losing the completed homework assignments either.  Not that it happened before or anything....

So, here is a glimpse of everyone on their first day...take note of how sleepy certain people look....

S-girl started Kindergarten this year.  She has been wanting to be in school forever.  She was so happy to be a student.  She worked so diligently on her writing.

I thought this was really cute.  This is a page from her math book.

She was counting to 5.  So, she said, "One airplane.  Two trains.  Three limos.  Four bicycles. Five skates."

Did you catch it?

Not cars.  Not convertibles. 

Limos.

Three limos.

I hope she marries well.

This one was sooooooo very excited for school and she still has 2 years before she officially starts.

 She really had this sort of crazy look all day long! 

She is one of the things I am "fine tuning" this week in my school plans.  I am going to need an actual plan to keep her busy while the rest of us our doing school....not just the usual coloring pages and Sesame Street.

I just realized that I haven't shown you completed after pictures of the basement....so I will try to get that done sometime soon too.  It really is quite a transformation.

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These....

I always get up before my kids.  It is my time of the day to just be alone.  It is when I read e-mails, write blog posts, check Pinterest....and hopefully, when I do my devotions.

I drink coffee.

I make witty remarks on other people's blogs.

I usually check on the kids before I head downstairs and, sometimes what I find just cracks me up.

Especially during the summer, because we don't have too many rules about bedtimes....or even where people sleep.  There are a lot of impromptu sleep overs in other kid's rooms.

Can you see that V-girl has her hand over L-girl's face and her feet on A-girl (one looks like it is ready to shove her off).

This is A-man and S-girl on the floor by my bed.  No room with the other girls and D-man had stayed up late playing MLB 2K12 on the computer....so A-man didn't want to be alone in his room.

I don't know why this next one struck me as so funny....but it did.

The big man sized foot, with knuckle toes, that D-man now possesses with the girly decorations in the background.....

Sometimes I am not quite as stealthy as I think I am and little people wake up and think they are ready for the day.  So, they come downstairs with me....ready to hit the ground running....

....and, go right back to sleep!

What I Am Thankful For....

I am thankful for many things this year.  The "usual" suspects....Rainman, D-man, A-girl, L-girl, A-man, S-girl and V-girl.  My extended family.  Our new life in Georgia that I am getting more and more used to....and even starting to embrace.

But, there is one sort of odd thing that made it on my thankful list this year.  It is even something I shared when we went around the table sharing what we were thankful for.

It is this.....

Seen one before?  It is something called a Crib Tent.

We had one when A-man was little, but by the time he outgrew it...it was pretty ripped up and the zipper wasn't working, so we got rid of it thinking, "We won't ever have another kid that will need one of these!"

Oh how the foolish parent generalizes!

Remember when V-girl would do this....

(Basement stairs)

And this....

(Bedroom staircase upstairs)

And this....

(Couch at Grandma's)

Because of this?

Enter:

With its features:

See the little phrase right above the mom tossing her baby into the air?  Peace of mind.....from Tots in mind.

That is exactly what this has given me.....Peace of Mind....That and a full night of sleep!

V-girl, as you can see above would get out of her crib....so she wouldn't take real naps.  She also started climbing out of her crib in the middle of the night to go "visiting".  She would walk around in the dark...sometimes visiting the boys rooms, sometimes climbing into bed with her sisters....but more often than not, I would hear her little feet pit-patting their way into my bedroom.  She would just climb on up....wiggle her way in between Rainman and I....demand a bit of pillow and roll over and fall asleep.

Now that is sort of cute and wonderful...in theory.....but, she was making me nervous with her walking around.  Our bedroom is right at the top of the stairs and I had visions of her not being quite awake and tumbling down....plus, as a light sleeper, I was starting to wake up to every little noise in the house because I kept thinking it was her walking around.  Not the way to a good night's rest for a mother of six who is supposed to be giving her children a great education!

Here she is the first day we set up her Crib Tent....

It was great fun....until we zipped it up and she realized that she could not get out.

She still does not like taking naps and the bargaining begins as soon as we start walking down the hall with her...."I be good mom"....."I be nice mom"...."No nap mom, kay?"...."I stay on couch"

She cries when we lay her down, and that is okay....she does nap....not too long....but at least I know where she is and that she is safe.  Oh, and she doesn't do this anymore....

...which was always good for a few laughs....but the poor thing just needed to sleep!

Bedtime, for some reason is much better....I suspect it is because her sisters are in there with her....but she will usually just say, "nigh....nigh" and lay down.

Ahhhh.....I cannot tell you how great it feels to really and truly get a full night of sleep.....this is the first I have had in over 2 years....other than the few nights she teased me with along the way!

So, yes, I am extremely thankful to Tots in Mind for creating the Crib Tent II.

Oh and the Tots in Mind people have no idea who this well rested mother is.  I, sadly, did not get the Crib Tent for free in exchange for an honest review.  I got my latest Crib Tent from Amazon.com after one last night of desperation....when Rainman had finally had enough ( I think she decided she deserved his pillow) and told me to order that "tent thingie" the next day.

Whatever the reason....I am feeling human again....and thankful for my blessed life!

Finally.....Some Zzzzzzzs!

At last!

This little one is sleeping through the night!

It all started about a week and a half ago.  I didn't want to say anything too soon, just in case it was only a trick!  And, quite honestly, I just started sleeping through the night  a little less than a week ago. 

You know how when your kids first start sleeping through the night?   You don't sleep through the night.  You still wake up expecting them to want to be fed......you wake up because it is a habit and you are used to waking up at 2:33 a.m. every night.....you wake up and stay awake because you start to wonder....are they okay?  Did something happen?  So you then have to sneak in and take a peek at them, adrenaline pumping, just to make sure you can see their chest rising and falling.  They are.  But, now your system is full of adrenaline....so you can't go back to sleep.  You proceed to lay in bed.... to pray..... planning you day....and making all those necessary lists that we moms make....

But we passed all those little hurdles, so I am making the official announcement.

This is the first time in over 2 years that I have slept through the night.....and it feels good. 

Really good. 

I was so used to making do without good sleep, I forgot how it felt to be rested and have a bit of energy.  To wake up in the morning because your body is signaling it is time to get up ...not someone else's little teeny, tiny body doing the signaling for you!

The funny thing is....little V-girl has gotten more energy too.  She seems to have turned a corner in a way.  For those of you that "know us", she is starting to remind us of a female A-man.  Yup, she seems to have that kind of energy....and dangerous ideas.

Like when D-man was giving her a piggy back ride last night....she just scrambled up until....



Once she had done it once, she wanted to do it all night long....laughing the whole time!

Then there is this.....

And this....

And this...



And this...

(That is cheese, by the way...)

And this....

And this....



My baby girl is growing up.

I know there are people who either feel sorry for me that I have 6 kids or think I am crazy.

I won't address the crazy comment on the grounds that it may incriminate me.  But, I will say, people should not feel sorry for me....look how much free entertainment I get out of just one of my kids!