Working Together

The kids all swim in the mornings and after their swim practice they love to let off some steam at the beach.  I have to crack up how sand can be so entertaining to all ages.  Eamon and Liam took turns being buried and although I know every kid has done this...it is still precious when you get a picture of it.  The girls are a couple of good friends and as I said before...It doesn't matter the age..

I have to really give credit to my older 3 so far.  It is very hard to do everything that everyone wants to do and they have been so patient.  I am very particular about their duties around the house but they are really a big help to me throughout the day.  Eamon will you go and get the triplets up, Liam will you please go turn off the hose, Mairin can you take this load of clothes upstairs, kids can you take the triplets outside so I can make dinner, I will make the popcorn can you go downstairs and get the movie started for movie night, I need a basement cleanup.  and the list goes on.

It Is A Hot One

96 degrees and 6 kids....what is a mom to do???  Thursday is Marcia day (thank the lord for dear Marcia) and I had to run some errands so as I was dropping a load of groceries off this is what I drive up to.  This is what having a big family is all about.  10 year olds teaching 3 year olds how to kink the hose, little ones teaching the older ones how to have fun with water and a little mother playing yet being very careful with the young ones.  I love love when we do things that everyone gets involved in....no matter the age difference.  We picked up some neighbor kids during the proces since it is the more the merrier.  Water does amazing things........

The older 3 are busy swimming every morning so it is up to me to entertain the little tots.  We headed up to dollar store for some tools and cleaning supplies.  I let them pick out their tools and went home and spent a good amount of time digging in the dirt, cleaning my car (wheels only please), and sweeping up dirt off the driveway.  Buying them the dollar items saves my brooms, scrubbers and shovels.  They were great helpers and it was a great morning.

Bringing Them Back To Reality

I never believed the stories of when I was young and spent a week with my Nanny that life was tough on my mom when I came home.  I was spoiled rotten and expected that to continue when I returned home.  I am seeing it first hand today. 

My kids were up north with grandma and grandpa for 7 days and today was the first full day back home.  The older three were great with no issues but the little ones were heck on wheels today.  Colin woke up in a sour mood and it just got worse from there.  I had to take the older 3 to swimming so the little ones came along too.  We went down to the pool with minimal issues but while we were down by the pool Finn bit Declan and while I had my back turned, Colin dropped his pants and peed in front of everyone.  I was mortified and could not get out of there fast enough.  Colin was in his mood of not willing to stay with me and not holding my hand so by the time I reached the car I was fit to be tied.  I had previously promised them that I would take them to the dollar store and buy them some tools (rakes and shovels) for their "work" but once we got in the car I quickly informed them that we would not be going to the store but rather going straight home because of their behavior.  Colin threw one of his shoes across the car and the other 2 crossed their arms across their chests and pouted all the way home.  Nap time finally arrived and I thought things would improve after they had a good nap.  They woke up and it wasn't long before we were back into time outs and tears.  Finn wouldn't eat dinner so he ended up going without, Colin threw another fit and got a long time out while Declan was whiny but didn't seem to do anything too bad.  I needed a moment so I commissioned Eamon, Liam and Mairin to take them all outside and burn off some energy.  I am sure that tomorrow will be better and I will never give up a week a grandma's but geez it is tough bringing them back to reality.

A Post From My Mom....I Love It

The kids spent the week at Grandma and Grandpa's house and I insisted that my mom do a blog post of her own.  I am so excited to share this post directly from my mom.

The car with Aunt Heidi and the six grandchildren arrived last Sunday just in time for supper.  The three older kids were going to a day camp at the Community Center in Greenville and the triplets would be Grandma, Grandpa and Heidi’s responsibility.  It promised to be a busy week and we were as eager to have the grand kids for a week as they were to be here.

Looking back on the week it seemed to go fast, but I do have to admit that there were some times when time stood still.  Three year olds are not very patient and all want your attention at once.  They played outside much of the time, but watch out if they were not in sight.  They liked to “work” and had a pile of boards, a broom and a plastic hoe.  One day it was very quiet on the other side of the garage so I went to check---all three of them were so proud of themselves because they were digging for worms, in other words they had removed the sod from a three by three foot area of Grandpa’s lawn.  Their hands were black with smudges of dirt on their faces and clothes.  We quickly put the sod back in place and mudded it in before Grandpa came home.  A similar incident happened later in the week and Grandpa gave them a strong warning not to do it again, then just hosed them down---they thought that was great fun.   Every morning we went on an adventure from visiting Great Grandma to swimming in Larry and Sherry’s pool to visiting Anderson’s Orchard, to playing at the local park in Stanton, to hearing a story at the Library about owling from Grandma Kay, the story teller.  They are so easy to take places now that they can follow directions. Every afternoon or early evening Grandpa took them on an adventure ride on the golf cart.  They got so they didn’t want him to leave the house without them.  They also liked to ride on the big John Deere tractor, but Fin was a little afraid of the loud noise it makes.  The little gator got quite a work out with them driving it round and round in the yard loading and unloading it.  The battery wore out before they did.

Now, the three older grand kids were a completely different story.  They were up at 7:00 every morning and off to camp until 5:00 when we picked them up.  They had a busy week of games, swimming, fishing, and crafts.  They were so well-behaved that you hardly knew they were around.  Mairin is the little mother and helper.  She is so good with the triplets and manages her two older brothers pretty well too.  Liam loves to play baseball and he and Eamon watched most of the Tigers’ games this week.  He also wanted to go fishing, which didn’t happen until Saturday, but they did catch a nice mess of fish and had fun teasing a big snapping turtle with a fish on Liam’s line.  Eamon likes the Wii and would play it all day if he could. He also has a great memory for Tiger statistics.  There are certain foods that he likes me to fix and I tried to accommodate him. They all went knee boarding and tubing behind our pontoon boat on Saturday and swimming every night.   All three of the older grand kids are so independent and so easy to have around.

Now I want you to know that we live a pretty quiet life here at the lake, but it did change completely this week.  Having anywhere from nine to 12 for meals, packing lunches, cleaning up owees, wiping noses and tears, counting heads, especially when swimming, getting life jackets on and off, buckling up car seats, making popcorn and s'mores for so many, etc. is far from business as usual.  I guess that is why time flew by as quickly as it did. The two and one half hour naps every day did help to revive us though. We could not have done it without Aunt Heidi, and Heather who came on Wednesday night and stayed the rest of the week.  Sunday truly was a day of rest for Grandpa and Grandma. 

The only reminders that we have of the week are little hand prints on the windows and doors, kernels of popcorn found in the seats of chairs, sticky spots still on the dining room table and chairs, a few crumbs on the floors and a pile of towels that need washing.   We’ll happily remember this week for a long time to come and hopefully the grand kids will as well.

Home Alone

Home alone with nothing that I have to do.  I think this has been better than a vacation.  My anxiety began to kick just a few short hours after everyone left.  What should I do?, What could I do? and of course What do I want to do?  I was able to do a bit of all and made for a happy couple of days. 

I went through all of the closets and took a huge load to salvation army.  I washed every bedspread, mattress pad, blanket and rug in my house.  I had the carpets cleaned, rented a movie, ordered take out, played a round of golf, strolled through Target, cleaned out all of the magazines, paid bills and watched all of my DVR shows.  I hung pictures in the boys room, organized a couple junk drawers, stayed up late and enjoyed a cup of coffee on the couch in the mornings.  Ahhh Life is good but seeing my little nuggets will also be very exciting.  So here's to a couple of days of being home alone but my real energy does come from my 6 blessings and my husband.

Schools Out..I Have To Step It Up

Schools out and the sports are ending and the chaos is beginning.  It is time to line up the summer charts for chores, reading and homework.  Time to purchase enough sunblock to take 6 kids out in the sun everyday.  It is time to stock up on slip n slides, sidewalk chalk and squirt guns.  Time to accept the fact that I will be tired, laundry will pile up and that the kids will not shut the doors when they come in and out. (our air conditioning bill should be a ringer).  Shoes will be lost, towels will be left at various locations, days will go by without showers or baths (lake water and pool water will count right).  No longer is dinner at a set time and snacking will hit an all time high.  Sip cups convert to water outside to help avoid the soured milk that is always found days later.  Bed sheets will have to be changed more often because of dirty little feet and lots of sand.  Bedtime will be later but let us pray that naps are longer.  Play date requests will come daily and I will need to take a deep breath and say "yes" every once in awhile.  It is time to pull out the paint by number, model building and crafts to kill some of the down time.  David will begin leaving the "kid to do" list before he heads off to work.  The list usually consists of pulling weeds in various flower beds around the yard. He always tells them that he will do inspection upon his return and that is enough motivation or fear to make them all go out and do it right. 

I'm sure I will forget to have everyone brush their teeth every night and will probably get short around bedtime.  I'm sure the neighbors will tire of late evening screaming outside and toys scattered everywhere in the yard.  I'm sure my down time will decrease significantly and my endurance will be tested.  I'm sure we will hit every park and splash pad within a 30 mile radius this summer.

Summer will be tough and I am sure I will enjoy it..heck what else would I be doing. Cheers!

Doing A Head Count...Who Does This?????

This was a whirlwind of a weekend and there is always a first for everything...we experienced a first this weekend.

Friday night started with a bang as we ended our baseball season with a party at the beach.  We dragged the kids out of there too late but fun was had by all.  Saturday was hot and after a long night before we chilled for the afternoon.  Our niece Maeve graduated from the 8th grade so all wanted to be there for her.  I got everyone ready in their "nice" clothes, hair combed and I even got myself together in time. 

When we go somewhere together I usually send all the kids out to load up.  I expect the older ones to buckle in the little ones and then I can gather all of the last minute items, turn things off and lock up.  David and I got in the car, closed the garage door and I started up the car.  It was that moment when a voice from the back says, "Mom..Dad...we forgot Colin".  David and I look at each other..kind of embarrassed and off David goes back into the house to search for #6.  Colin was playing in the basement and didn't notice that the house had emptied without him.  He came out and jumped in the car.  David says to me, " don't know why they wait so long to tell us that we are missing one". (hummm didn't know it was their job to make sure we have all six of our little ones).  We laughed about it and were glad that the little mother in the back was watching out for everyone.  I guess I will be doing a head count from now on.  I guess you just assume that everyone is always there...why wouldn't they be in the car...right......

The party was fun and it was another late night for everyone.  Sunday was another hot one and we spent the day at our Church for an outdoor party and cooled down at Aunt Myrna's house in the pool.  All six kids were in bed at 7:30pm and I was not too far behind.  This is just the beginning of a busy summer...I can just feel it.

3 Year Old Male Human..Times 3

I would still call it a good night even with all that happened. 

David decided to take the older ones to swim practice, out to dinner and then they were going to catch one of the tournament baseball games.  I knew they wouldn't return until after 9pm so I had the evening with just the triplets.  I was able to completely clean out the garage and the shed while they played nicely outside.  We came in for dinner and they asked if they could play upstairs so I said yes.  I called them down when dinner was ready and Finn came quickly.  I got Finn all situated and still no Colin or Declan.  (oh well I guess they will come when they are ready)  I sat down at the table with my dinner and Finn was eating away.  It was nearly 15min when I asked Finn where his brothers were.  He responded with, "In Eamon's room....I locked them in there" and he proceeded to shove another spoonful of food into his mouth.  (No wonder they didn't come down).  I went up there and sure enough Finn had locked the door from the outside.  Colin and Declan were just laying in Eamon and Liam's beds chatting.  What a little stinker.  Colin and Declan hurried down to have some dinner and when they walked into the kitchen Finn smiled at them, pointed to them and said, "I lock you in". 

Dinner was all cleaned up and I had the sprinkler on in the front yard so I heard 3 little boys outside laughing.  They were dancing around the sprinkler getting just a sprinkle or two on their clothes.  The weather was nice and it was 7:30pm so I asked them if they wanted to play in the sprinkler in their underwear.  Well they thought that was the coolest thing ever and stripped immediately.  This was their bath for the day and they loved it.  They quickly got cold so they wandered to the backyard where they were all sitting in the sandbox with their wet under ware.  I was working in the kitchen when I glanced out the kitchen window to see a disturbing site.  We have a two story play structure with the sandbox on the bottom and on the top is the little fort.  Finn had climbed up to the fort with his bucket of sand and had dropped his pants and was peeing on the floor of the fort.  Colin and Declan were below in the sand looking up as the drops of what appeared to be water were dropping down on them.  Little did they realize Finn was peeing on them.  Ewww Ewwww Ewwww.......I crank open my kitchen window and yell out to Finn, "Fintan...no no no..You do not pee outside..no no no" Needless to say he just looked up at me and continued to pee until his bladder was empty.  I stopped what I was doing and ran down there and sprayed them all off with the hose.  They thought it was a hoot and but I personally thought it was gross.  I'm not sure if any of them really realized what really happened.  Finn thought it was fun while Colin and Declan just thought it was raining...I guess. 

All this happened and I thought it was a good night.....Ha..just another Wednesday evening in the life of a Mott.

Feeding Twins, Triplets and A Single

Food is a big deal at our house.  When you have six kids and three of them being young you don't tend to eat out very much.  I end up cooking almost every meal that my family eats.  Our grocery bill is growing and some days I am blown away by the amount of food we go thru and how often I am at the grocery store.  We are a 12 gallon of milk a week family.  We are no longer a one package of hot dog family either.  In the morning I serve at least 4 bagels, toast and several bowls of cereal.  I pack lunches for the older 3 and David so after the morning toast and the sandwiches for lunches I am down to several slices of bread.  My mom is constantly making me strawberry and raspberry jam but she cannot keep up with our consumption.   Peanut Butter disappears and the lunch meat needs to have several back up packages in the freezer.  Waffles are a treat because we went thru 20 of them the other morning for breakfast along with 8 eggs.  I am constantly watching for the sales at the grocery store and there is nothing better than chicken breasts on sale for $1.77lb.  I buy popcorn by the tub and it is a regular evening treat.  On pasta nights we go thru two boxes of noodles and at least one large loaf of garlic bread.  When I make cookies I usually make a triple batch and freeze them.  Lasagna is a family favorite and I make several pans of it and then freeze it.  Taco night is a family favorite and finding taco shells on sale is also a great day for me.  I am at the store regularly because I just don't have the room to store enough gallons of milk, loaves of bread, bagels or eggs.  I really enjoy cooking for my family and it gives me joy when I serve something that everyone (including the triplets) likes. 

I buy burger in bulk and I make my own patties and I put 11 or 12 in a package.  Eamon and Liam have been known to kick down 2 each and a couple leftover can be a snack for later.  Some nights we have leftover night where I get out all of the odds and ends and make plates for everyone.  Everyone gets a dab of this and a bit of that.  They enjoy those nights too.  I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen and my dishwasher is constantly full.  I often feel like someone is always hungry no matter what time it is.  I know my bills will continue to grow as my boys continue to grow but hopefully I will continue to have kids that will eat what I make for them. 

This picture is an example of the plates for just the kids at dinner.  I didn't even plate up the adults.  Cheers.

Locked Up

We sent all 6 kids downstairs the other night for a movie while David and I took over the family room to relax for a minute in peace.  It was a nice couple moments when suddenly Mairin appears.  "Mom..Dad..Declan locked himself in the basement bathroom and the light is off"?  I initially laugh and tell Mairin "Declan can turn the light on"? Mairin is convinced that this is a big deal and Declan may have to live out his life in the bathroom.   David heads downstairs to check it out and on his way back up the stairs he is sputtering.  "That kid locked himself in the bathroom and the screws on the door handle are stripped....We will be lucky if a locksmith can get him out of there". (other words were used in this exchange but I am keeping it clean) David has hit his limit.  He is angry and on his way to the garage to look for tools to get the little nugget out of there.  I hear David in the garage talking to himself, "why do they destroy everything, why can't they leave the locks alone".  I feel like I need to help out in some way so I head downstairs.  I get to the bathroom door and ask Declan to unlock the door.  He responds "mom I can't".  I try the knob and it does turn so I gently bump the door with my hip and it pops open.  Declan looks at me with a big grin and the other 5 kids come running and cheering.  Declan gets hugs and kisses by all and it is almost like he is new found hero.  I go back upstairs and catch David with tools in both hands and tell him that the door is open.  I start to laugh (hoping to break the mood) and tell him that the door swells with the humidity and that it was never locked.  David finally cracks a smile and I remind him, "these are the little moments you are going to remember".  I also say, "David you constantly want to freeze them and keep them the same age...sure you don't want to rethink that".  It was just another moment in our life.