The kids are in bed, sound alseep. I’m tired and ready to call it a day. Their clothes are laid out and ready for the next day. Haven’s pants are hemmed and ready. Five loaves of bread have been baked and are cooling on the counter. The kids lunch bags are sitting out and ready to be packed first thing in the morning. I made two sandwich fillings and tossed them in the fridge for  the kids to choose from in the morning when we pack their lunches. The picture above has nothing to do with anything whatsoever, except that I just really liked it. A load of laundry is whirring away in my washing machine. There are five more loads waiting to be done. The garbage needs to be taken out, it’s on the verge of overflowing. The dishwasher needs to be unloaded. My sink is full of dirty dishes. I have no feelings of urgency about any of those kitchen facts. I have to prepare for the class I am teaching for Relief Society on Wednesday, and I am not one bit ready. I am completely out of cereal. My kids had a wonderful first day of school. Gracen told me she is so excited that she gets to go to school “every day!”. Silly girl. Haven and Gracen kept their room clean today with little effort. I made chicken tortellini soup tonight for supper and there were no leftovers, it was gone in a flash. Finn only had a 15 minute nap today but was only nominally grumpy because of it. Ciel had a good first day. The garden is still overflowing with yummy home grown goodness. I have a fun book on my nightstand I am going to pick up and read tonight. And I am off to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a another busy day.

Today was the first day of school. I had spent the day before baking mini cookies and making sandwiches so that I could pack their lunches and have everything ready, which made our morning that much easier. Once breakfast was done, the five little ones each donned their backpacks and we headed out the door. Finn was wearing his backpack only because he wanted to be just like the big kids, but school doesn’t start for him until Thursday. I felt like a mother duck heading up the line and my little ones following right behind me on our short walk to the school. All of them were a bit nervous and wanted me to walk each of them to their classroom. Except Mathes. He didn’t seem to care one bit whether I was there or not, and just walked in and sat at his desk without a single backwards glance at me. Funny boy. Gracen was not so ready for me to go, so I walked her into class, and helped her hang up her coat and bag and get her name tag. Once that was done however, the teacher came over to see what activity she wanted to do, and Gracen was off to play, looking quietly happy and excited to be there. I did manage to sneak in a goodbye hug and kiss beforehand, and then Finn and I set off for home. Yes, the house is very quiet, but I am tired enough that I am ok with it, the last few weeks have been so busy, I am ready for a break. Now to try and keep Finn entertained until the rest of the kidlets get home. Although I should make use of my time and start looking for my camera, since I can’t find it anywhere. Which means that of course I don’t have any pictures of their first day of school. Total stinksville.

These days, it’s not so much the nesting instinct that has kicked in, as much as it is full blown panic and hysteria. My head is filled with everything I want/need to get done, and most of it has nothing to do directly with the new baby. I am in the midst of re-doing the girls room, which means I am taking down the full size bed they currently share to make room for separate beds, and I am trying to clean and re-organize everything in there. Yesterday I painted the twin size headboard for Haven’s bed…

…and then painted this toddler bed for Gracen to match.

the toddler bed is only temporary fix until we get our tax return nest year, then we will buy Gracen a twin size bed as well. Until then, a few cans of paint were a cheap and easy “re-fresher” for the previously red, then black metal framed toddler bed. It’s all about making do with what you have, isn’t it? Now to make their quilts and some curtains for their room and to figure out a good way to help the girls keep their room neat and orderly. Seriously they have the “problem” room in the house. It is the bane of my existence. See this…

…it all came from their room. And it’s all bound for donation at the local thrift store. Even sadder is the fact that the pile of garbage bags from their room number the same. * sigh* There has to be a better way.

My living room is the other “problem” room in my house, but for a different reason. It’s totally blah. In a fit of frustration I re-arranged it one night, and I like the results, but I am currently fighting with my insane desire to paint the walls some bold color to try and give the room some life. Seriously, it’s a huge, boring, cavern with plain white walls, a cream couch, and cream carpet. Blah. And the room is also in dire need of some wall hangings or something. It desperately needs something that makes it look less vanilla/crummy. I am also trying to decide if I should paint the changing table and glider. Not sure if both of those projects are going to turn into a nightmare or not. The potential for that to happen is always there when you are dealing with laminated wood (changing table) and lots of spokes/spindles (glider). Add to that the constant desire I have to deep-six half the toys in our basement playroom, and I am feeling like a crazy woman these days. Not to mention all of the little outfits, diapers, and blankets/quilts I am still (stupidly) hoping to sew before our little one arrives in less than 14 weeks. I am hoping that I will be able to get more done once the kids start school, but I’m worried I will be swamped with too many other distractions to get to all of this and I won’t get anything crossed off of my list. All I can do is try, right?

Yesterday morning was the “Meet n’ Greet” at the elementary school, so we headed over (me, Noah, Haven, Mathes and Gracen) to find their classrooms and to see which of their friends would be in their class. They loved meeting their new teachers, along with getting in a few hugs and hello’s from favorite teachers from years past. I love that they have so many happy and familiar faces greeting them everyday here and that we know almost everyone there. I just love their school. Later that afternoon it was Finn’s turn to meet his preschool teacher where he had his picture taken for his class book, he picked out an “F” shape to go with his name (he chose ‘fish’ over ‘frog’ and ‘flower’), and even told her which color is his favorite. Blue. He seems to really like his teacher, and I think he is going to have a great time with his class. We are feeling much more prepared for school to start now, and almost all of the apprehension my kids were feeling about their new classes and teachers is gone. They are really getting excited for Monday to come, even Mathes. He is my toughest sell on why school is even necessary, so I am glad to see he is ready to go and have fun.

Summer is in it’s final days at our house. The start of school looms but a week away, the garden is at it’s peak and gushing daily baskets that are overflowing with it’s goodness, the days are still hot but the nights are ever cooler, school clothes and supplies have been shopped for and are at the ready, the last bits of travel and camping have all been done, and the first bits of canning and preserving have started to creep in. Fall is just around the corner, I can feel it. And my days are about to drastically change. In a week’s time, things are going to get very quiet around here. Very. Quiet. All of my children will be in school. Gone all day, except for Finn who will be going two mornings a week for preschool. My house has never been this empty before. I intend to put the quiet time to good use and make sure that it is time well spent with Finn and the baby. He is going to need a little extra help getting used to the new situation and upcoming change in his family ranking, so this will be good. Very, very quiet, but good. Now if I could just get myself to my sewing table and some more projects done, I might feel more prepared for this baby as well.

Craig and I cannot decide on a name for this baby. We have settled on the middle names. Kind of. Maybe. But we can’t seem to pick “the” name. We have a list of the few names we agree on and we will most likely be choosing a name from said list once the baby is born, so I am currently looking for inspiration everywhere I can to add to it. Not that it’s a very big list. Adding to my dilemma, one of my kids ran off with, and then lost my best/favorite baby name book, leaving me with a very awful and un-inspirational copy of “Names For the 90’s”. Um yeah, it’s pretty bad. Seriously, really, really bad. So I am looking elsewhere like books, tv, movies, and online. I’ve even gleaned a few gems courtesy of Charles Dickens. Thank you very much classic literature. So wish us luck. We need it. And throw any name suggestions our way if you feel like it. Or not. You might be suffering from the same baby-name-brain-freeze that Craig and I seem to be afflicted with at the moment. Oh well.

These last few weeks have been kind of crazy and it looks like the next few weeks will only be busier as the start of school approaches. But I am pretty much ready for it, with only a few items left to get from my back-to-school shopping list. And yes, I’m still prepping for the baby like a crazy person as my brain works hard to try and keep me from thinking about anything else. So I was more than happy to cross a few more things off of my getting-ready-for-baby list when I found a fantastic changing table and a nice glider rocking chair, all for only $30, and located just blocks from my house.

The glider is in excellent shape, but in need of a serious make over as it looks pretty dated. And the cushion covers are blue. Nothing a few cans of paint and some new fabric can’t fix.

And the changing table is exactly what I wanted, with lots of storage and only in need of a nice soft changing pad and some storage baskets for the shelves. I am toying with the idea of painting it and changing out the knobs, but I’m just not sure yet. So the only big thing left on my baby shopping list now is an infant car seat, since the one we had for Gracen and Finn expired last November. Other than that, I am feeling so much better about being prepared. Now if I can just get my sewing table cleared off enough to get to the rest of my baby projects.

I had a diagnostic ultrasound this morning and it was nothing but good news, with the baby cooperating just enough to get the measurements needed and a second confirmation that she is indeed a little girl. The tech was not only lovely, but so chatty and fun, we had a great time. Haven begged me to let her come, so I did, and she loved being able to see the baby on the screen. The tech was so kind and explained so many things to her, just to make sure she not only understood, but really knew just what she was looking at or what was going on. So very kind. Definitely getting a gold star. We got home in time for day two of cousin mania, since Korby had been out to visit for the day on Wednesday, and now my Mom and Heidi came for the day today with all of the cousins for even more fun. I don’t think I saw Noah and Adler apart the entire two days, they were either drawing or battling with lightsaber arms. The universe is safe for tonight. And the girls were so funny, either off being girly-girls, or right in the middle of all of the boys games, with Haven ready to boss anyone that looked like they just might need some bossing. The kids, played until they were ready to pass out, in fact Isobel did just that within minutes of being strapped into her carseat once they were loading up and getting ready to leave later that night. It was a grand two days, and my kids didn’t complain once about going to bed. They were played out. And frankly so am I. I’m calling it a night and heading to bed, good night!

My daughter Ciel thought it would be a great idea to bring a tiny little kitten home from her friends house.

She was able to sneak it into her room without me knowing, until she finally caved and spilled the beans about 2 hours later.

Look at this little face.

So sweet. So cute. So full of dander and deathly allergies.

I made her take the kitten back. I think a new baby arriving this Winter is enough, don’t you?

We had a wonderful time with family yesterday, with so much delicious food, and so much laughing and goofing off. My brother Scott, once again, had another bunch of incredible games/quizzes, which were my favorite part of our evening. I know I was on the funnest team, no matter that we came in with the lowest score, we laughed louder and harder than everyone else. (And I still think we should have gotten “Aerosmith”, if for nothing else than just pure creativity. Seriously, that was a total “Pappy” question, he was the only one that knew the answer!) And while the fireworks were totally fun, the kids were entranced with the glow stick necklaces Pappy brought, and most of them were torn over watching the fireworks or playing with the glow sticks. I think the glow sticks won out for most of them. I will be posting the recipes on the nine-plates blog for the shredded beef sandwiches as well as the desserts I made since several of you were asking for them. Ok, so it was only the Kit Kat bar recipe you wanted, but I’m putting the others up since they were good too. But yes, that Kit Kat bar was my favorite, it was a definite winner. I mean, how could it be bad with all of that yummy goodness in there? And I know I should have been taking pictures of the fun, but I got so busy I forgot. Thankfully Heidi, Amy, Melly, and Korby were more than prepared to capture all of the fun at various times with their own cameras, so I know they will have some great pics to share of the fun that was had (I’m positive there are some very awesome shots of a few certain adults that were throwing themselves down the slip n’ slide with just as much abandon as the little kids). And I really enjoyed watching all of the kids play their little hearts out with each other. They were in cousin heaven, and had the best time ever. My kids were asleep in less than five minutes once their heads hit their pillows after everyone had left. They were played out from all of the fun, it was such a great day.