The first day of school

I gently kissed each child on the head

and squeezed them tightly into my motherly bosom.
I told them to have a wonderful day,

swatted their little behinds (that's how they know their loved),

and scooted them out the door.
I watched them skip down the side walk to their very first day of school...

and then the choir of angels sang "Hallelujah"

It was a very spiritual moment for me.

. . . . .

Meet the fam

I feel that this post definitely qualifies as a blog worthy re-post.
(I'll try to not make a habit of re-posting)

Evolution of the Family...
originally posted on 7.25.2008



1. See that twinkle in my Mom's eye? Yep, that's me. The family is not yet complete. I imagine I'm in heaven singing, "Who are these children coming down, coming down..."
2. I'm so bummed I missed out on the matching Mother/Daughter outfits. My mom tells me she made all of them by hand. So domestic she is.
3. Awesome glasses. I think my Dad still has them.
4. Despite what it may look, that is not a toupee. At least I'm pretty sure it's not.
5. I'm loving the EXTREME part-age of the hair. It's a like a comb-over except kid style.




1-5. The early 80's were not kind to the hair. Not kind at all.
6. Really? Do they make 'em any cuter than that?
7. Pearl Necklace? Doesn't she know pearls age a person by at least 10 years. Really she's only like 7 years old, add the pearl necklace and BAM! She's 17.





1. Hand in pocket, head tilted slighty, sassy smile. She could have totally been a Jordache model.
2. Blue background. Nothing but the best for my family.
3. My most favoritest red dress ever. My grandma sent it to me when we lived in Chile. Really, we lived in Chile. That explains my extensive knowledge and comprehension of Español ... Yo quiero Taco Bell.
4. Working the pearl necklace again. Will she ever learn?




1. Check out the faded vignetting. It's like we're floating in the clouds, but we're not. I think I can hear angels singing..."who are these children coming down, coming down..." no wait, that's just me.
2. The "claw" makes its first appearance (version #1).
3-4. Go big or go home. So, maybe the 80's altogether weren't kind to the hair.
5-6. This picture would be so much better if they were wearing sweater vests.

1. Something's never go out of style. Take the classic side-spike for example.
2. Version #2 of the "claw". It still achieves the same height as the first version, just minus the ratting and teasing.
3. Turtle necks; a must have for every wardrobe. I prefer the turtle necks with shoulder pads.
4. I went through a phase where I never smiled with teeth... this was the outcome. Did I mention I speak Chinese as well?




1. It doesn't get better than denim on denim. I mean, who didn't own a button-up denim shirt in the early 90's? I still have mine... wear it all the time.
2. I was going to wear my hemp necklace, but opted to wear my leather one with a dolphin emblem attached. Now that I'm looking at it I should have gone with the hemp.
3. True to kiddie kandids fresh and creative style, my Dad's head is gently propped on top of his hand. It really gives this picture that extra little "something".
4. My sister emptied several cans of aerosol hairspray that day... just a friendly contribution to global warming.
5. My bangs have seen better days.

1. Not much to say about this one, except we upgraded from the denim on denim to the khaki, white & denim. We're moving up in the world.

1. Mine and Nate's wedding... so sweet!
My colors were sage green and cream with a little bit of purple thrown into the mix. I don't know why I chose those colors. In fact, I don't know why I chose to do half of the things I did for my wedding. My ultimate goal was more the married part, not so much the part where you actually have to plan it.


My family is getting bigger....

and bigger...

1. Notice Kaleb's hand is down his pants... that's normal, right?

...and finally after 40 some odd years of baby making this is what you get.

One BIG honkin' family.

That's 2 parents + plus 8 kids +plus their spouses

+ 31 35 grandkids

=way too many to count

Usually, when we get together at family functions it's too complicated to try to remember everyone's names so we just usually yell, "hey, you!"

Here is the family run down from oldest to youngest:


1. Stacy
2. Tauna
3. Kristin
4. Daryl
5. Jody
6. Devin
7. Tyson
8. Me

I love my family...

We put the "FUN" in disFUNctional.

(Just ask Nate or any of my in-laws, they'll agree.)

This is what bedtime looks like at our house...

My kids, I think they're funny.
And yes, sometimes I snort when I laugh.

Slightly Inappropriate

Having 4 sisters myself, I fully understand the joys sisters- that's why I'm so grateful to have 3 girls of my own. It's fun as a mom to watch my girls (obviously the two older ones) grow and play together. They've created some sweet moments that I will never forget... for example moments like this,

*I lovingly walk into my girls room to kiss them good night.

Abrie: Mooooooom! Macie told me she wanted me to pretend to be Jesus so that I could give her a wiener!!
Me (trying not to laugh): "A WHAT?! Macie?....."
Macie (looking at me with sincerity): "But Mom, I just really want a wiener."

Several things go through my mind at this point,
1. My child wants a "wiener"?!?!
2. No, you can't have a "wiener".
3. And why in the world are you calling it a "wiener" in the first place? We don't even call it that.
4. Where did I go wrong.
5. Well, at least I know my child is partially paying attention at church.

Lucky for Eden she has two big sisters who love her immensely. And odds are, especially with having Macie as her sister, she'll be able to share in some her own special moments with these girls.

You know what? Now that I think of it, maybe the girl was just really craving a hot dog.

*Nate informed me that this story was borderline inappropriate. I figured since he didn't use the words completely crossing the line it was okay for me to share it.

"Ginnie, how is it having 4 kids?"

I've been asked this question several times
and I think it's time to let you in on a little secret.
I'm not super woman.
I know, shocking... right? I was a little shocked too when I figured that out.

Day #1 as a mother of 4 was great, couldn't have been better. Sure I was in the hospital, but still.

Day #2 as a mother of 4 was a little different. I was on the way home from the hospital when it hit me. I have 4 kids! And there's no nurse to take the baby at night! And there's no one to bring me my breakfast, lunch, & dinner in bed! And I actually have to be a mom doing all of the motherly things that mothers do! I was a little bit of a mess then.

My first week as a mother of 4? I was a complete mess. Period.

Now I've finally reached my first month as a mother of 4. I didn't think I would make it, but I did. Me writing this at this very moment is living proof that I am a survivor (insert my new theme song, "I Will Survive"). I'm happy to report things are going pretty good. This doesn't mean that life is absolutely perfect. Nope, I'm still having my fair share moments where I lose it (probably resembling something from the movie The Exorcist just minus the projectile vomit).

How about a quick snippet from one of my most recent melt downs?

. . . . .

I feel this meltdown is best portrayed through stick figures. It shall be titled...

The MELT DOWN
Drawn by me
Colored by Abrie

1. This is me on the phone with T-mobile.
2. This is my hair that looked no where near that good.
3. This is Kaleb jumping up and down in his super hero underwear yelling as loud as he can, "Mom. Mom. Mooooooom! Look at the wart on my bum. Look at the wart on my bum!"
4. This is his super hero underwear.
5. This is Abrie freaking out because the baby is crying saying,"Mom. Mom. Moooooom! The baby wants you! The baby wants you!"
6. This is the baby crying. And I'm sure, if she could talk she would be screaming, "Mom. Mom. Moooooom!"
7. This is Macie being naughty hitting me, then running away. Hitting me, then running away... repeat over, and over... and over. At the same time she's yelling, "Mom. Mom. Moooooom!"


8. This is me re-drawing Macie because I feel a little guilty about the horn thing.
9. This is Macie's shirt justifying her behavior.
10. This is my shirt justifying my extra healthy/curvy/womanly figure.
11. And this is my healthy/curvy/womanly figure, brought to you by baby #4.
12-14. This is how I accessorize with baby spit up. Again, brought to you by baby #4.
15. This is me about to lose it.... wait for it... wait for it...

16. This is me with my head exploding. Figuratively, of course. The final phase of the melt down is complete.

Please note: My shirt not only justifies the extra poundage, but my excessive hormonal mood swings as well.

. . . . .

Would I change having 4 kids?
Nope, not even for a second.
The only thing I wish I could change
is that the kids had a mute button I could use from time to time,
but I hear duct tape works just fine.
I kid. I kid.

To sum it all up,
life's not perfect, but perfect enough.
The end.

Channeling my inner domestic diva

A couple of people asked about the sweet little quilt that I took the picture of Eden on a couple posts back. It was given to me as a gift by Nate's incredibly talented aunt, who is the quilter of all quilters. She has given each of my kids their own quilt (or blanket) when they were born- she's crafty and thoughtful like that. I have loved all of them and this one is no exception.

But I love the quilt even more when this little peanut is on it.

(Macie, trying to get in on the action)

Speaking of quilts,
do you remember all the fabric I bought to make a quilt the week before Eden was born? Well, here is the end result...

It was a group effort from both Nate & I (he's known to be domestic from time to time as well) and I had someone else to the decorative stitching on it.
Let's go in for a closer look, shall we...


I absolutely love how it turned out. Now the only problem is I think I love it too much to actually let the baby use it.

Open Door Policy

I do it,
my sisters do it,
my mom does it,
I'm pretty sure a couple of my brothers do it,
my father has learned to accept it,
and Nate absolutely can't stand it...

What is "it"?
Peeing with the door open.
It's a trait I've inherited (most likely from my mothers side).

Growing up with 4 sisters it was completely normal to leave the door open when you pee. People would come in and out, carry on everyday normal conversation, but we would of course break eye contact whenever the pee-er needed to wipe (we do have some respect for privacy).

::True story::

When Nate and I were first married we lived in my parents basement. Nate and I were showering together (purely for water conservation and time saving purposes), when all of a sudden the door swings open and in bursts my mother on a frantic mission to use the bathroom. She rushes in, sits down, and with a BIG sigh of relief says, "Oh my, I had to go to the bathroom so bad!" Nate, by instinct, covers up his special parts with one hand while the other hand makes the universal sign for "shhh-ing" which is also code for, "If you tell your mom I'm in here I swear I will kill you". I was trying my hardest not to laugh. I wasn't sure which was funnier; the fact that my mom was carrying on a full conversation with me while she was going to the bathroom or that Nate was standing just a few feet away from my mom butt naked with just a thin shower curtain separating the two of them.

As soon as my Mom finished taking care of business Nate jumped out to lock the door and it wasn't a minute too soon because seconds later we hear the door knob twist and shake followed by a pounding and my sisters voice on the other side yelling, "Ginnie, hurry and open up! I need to go to the bathroom!!". That's when Nate spoke up and said, "Ummm, I'm in here." Shocked and a little bit embarrassed my sister responds, "Oh, ooops! (insert nervous laughter) I didn't know you were in there."

When Nate and I finally got out of the shower and finished getting ready we walked out into the family room to be greeted by my sister and my mom, who was completely mortified. We (meaning me, my mom, & my sister) all thought it was pretty funny...

Nate on the other hand? Not so much.

. . . .

I'm trying to convince Nate that peeing with the door open is completely normal- lots of women do it. I'm normal. Totally normal.

You want strange? I'll give you strange. I once sneezed in a public restroom while going to the bathroom and the lady in the stall next to me said, "God bless you!". I may pee with the door open, but at least I don't talk to strangers when I'm going to the bathroom.

Open Door Policy side note

Now that I'm a mom I pee with the door open for a couple reasons:
1. because I can (I'm a rebel like that)
but mostly,
2. because when the door is shut the kids think it's an open invitation to come join me. For some reason the kids get the uncontrollable urge to congregate in the bathroom and have a heart to heart with me. It's something I don't quite understand and probably never will. Truth is, it doesn't matter if the door is open or shut the.Kids.Are.Always.There. ALWAYS.

If I were to have a bathroom catch phrase it would have to be, "Can I please pee in peace?!"

Just sayin'...

Just in case...

you were wondering if I'm still alive-
I am.

And just in case you were needing a baby Eden fix-
here you go.

You're welcome.

I'm still not with it as of late.
I have yet to make a real dinner for my family
fortunately for them I am very experienced in the ways of take-out.
It takes me about a week to return phone calls,
about two weeks to return emails,
maybe a few days to actually shower,
and I wrote this post three days ago
but I'm just now getting around to posting it.

I will be posting again soon.
I feel the need to have a blogging discussion about peeing with the door open...

Project Skinny

I believe it is time to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. The motivation started the day I had Eden. I was sitting in the hospital bed and the nurse was running through an endless amount of questions, one of those questions happen to be,

"How much do you weigh now?"

I answered.

Then she asked,

"How much did you weigh before you got pregnant?"

Again, I answered.

Then she looked at me and said,

"Wow, you gained a lot of weight!"

My response,

"Why, yes. Yes I did and I enjoyed every fat filled calorie of it."

My goal is to stay motivated for project skinny and to help me accomplish that I will blow up this completely authentic, 100% non-photoshopped picture of myself as a constant reminder that "I must, I must, I must decrease my butt"... and get a tan... and give the sisters a lift and an enhancement... and when the doctor asks me what size I want to be I will asked for the engorged size.

So here's to eating healthy and working out
starting
right
now!
.
.
.
(Two hours, 1 bowl of ice cream, 3 chocolate chip cookies, and a handful of Swedish fish later.)
.
.
.
Okay, so when I said eating healthy, what I really meant was eating an occasional vegetable every now and then.
And when I said working out, what I really meant was walking from my bedroom to the kitchen to scoop myself a bowl of ice cream.
And when I said starting now, what I really meant was starting a week from now.

Oh, and when I said completely authentic, 100% non-photoshopped, what I really meant was completely non-authentic & 100% photoshopped.

We named her Eden

But as of right now Abrie is the only one who calls her that.

She's been called an assortment of names so far like,
edie
(with the E pronounced the same as in eden)
dottie
dort
the edge
E
eve
(technically it's not too far off since eve was there in the garden of eden)
lil' monkey
macie
&
baby

I would say 90% of the time when I try to say her name Macie comes out instead of Eden so I find it easier just to call her baby or lil' monkey.

For some reason it's just not natural for me to call my babies by their names for the first little while. I guess I'm weird like that...
Is it just me?

But slowly, day by day, her sweet little name is starting to fit her.
And really, I think it's the only name for her...
well that and babylicious, but I'll save that name for my next child.

. . .