3am rambles, and well.. snow!

It's 3am, and I'm wondering why on earth I am still awake. I haven't stayed up this late in a VERY long time (as I say yawning!). We are having our first winter storm here and Chelcey and I decided to venture out in it. Yes, the two daring souls that we are. Actually, I needed to get to the post office (had ebay stuff to mail that kept stareing at me every day, so I had no choice). And, well, I needed to grab a few things from the store "just in case" the roads go back. I mean really, I'm a Missouri gal, I'm *use* to driving in snow, but I'm telling ya, these Kentucky drivers sure aren't. Chelcey and I ended up getting stuck in traffic for (are you ready for this?) 2.5hrs. It was insane. We of course, made the best of it. We took pictures, you know, doing the dork out thing that we are both really good at (hey, she learns from the best, what can I say?). We talked quite a bit (well, she did most the talking, I mean really, the girl is almost 15, ya know). It was nice to catch up. She's at that wonderful stage of wanting to spend the majority of her time either with her friends, or in her room. So, since the chick is grounded right now, her room is where you will ususally find her. So, it was nice to have some one on one time with her. She and I have been batting heads a little bit lately, which is really un-common for the two of us, but... she's almost 15. You can't expect to go through life with a teenager without "butting heads" every once in awhile, I guess. It's new with us though. Hopefully it's just a phase.... here's a few pictures! :)

Here's Chelc and I in the snow...


Chelc


Here's a shot of us in the post office (don't ask!) :)


The stupid windsheild wipers kept freezing, so what's a Mom to do? Send the kid out in the 20 degree weather to fix 'em. Hey, she offered..... :)


Then she was really cold....



Anyways, so school is canceled tommorow. That *never* happens around here, either. An offical snow day- wooo-hooo.. can you hear my excitement already? :) Actually, it will be fun to play in the snow tommorow with the kids. My children, being raised in kentucky and all (as I say in my most southern slang ever), have only witnessed snow a few times in their life. How very sad is that? Now that I think about, we've never offically had the oppourinity to build a fatty snowman. I mean, we've built tiny little guys (with the little amount of snow that we've had), but that's it. SO, since we have about 4 inches out there, if not more,... let's hope we can give life to some snowman dude. Should be fun!

I'm SO behind on this house. I mean, really.... if ONE measly little day passes me by without cleaning, it becomes a pig sty. I've been researching resources online for large families in hopes to find some resolution to the madness of this house. I mean seriously, just because one HAS a large family, doesn't mean they know how to run a smooth household. I'm not Betty Crocker. I'm not Martha Stewart. I'm def. not Mrs. Brady. I'm just Chrystal, the crazy thirty something Mom to 5 daughters who is searching for answers on how to simplify things. My new years resolution (oh boy, here we go.....), was to get organized. I'm a mess. I'm the first one to admit it. I have good "ideas" to get organized. Sometimes I even implement them. But well, considering there are 6 other creatures.. errrr, I mean PEOPLE that live in this house with me, well.. sometimes it helps if we're all on the same page. At this point of my life, having my children clean their rooms or even pick up after themselves is a daily struggle. They are spoiled. Things have never really been inforced, and now.... I'm paying for it. SO, I'm taking back control (God help me!), and I'm hoping a new plan of action will help us all get on a better system. That way, we're not late for school in the morning, we're not running into Church every Sunday at least 10-15min. into Worship, and we're not stressing out just to get our wild butts out the door if we need to be somewhere. Momma is breakin' out the whip (cha-pow!), so after I learn what works for other large familes, I'll then, by trial and error, find what works for ours. ((this could be a long ride, so I hope you're in for the long haul!).

We've started making progress with the girls rooms, so.. that's a start. We had the whole house painted in December, along with new hardwood floors put in, so I was hoping with "new room colors", they would take more pride in keeping their things put up and into place. Um, wrong answer! We just bought them all new bedroom furniture, thinking this would be the golden ticket. Yeah right! Happy thinking, right? My goal this week, when they are in school mind you, is to go through their toy boxes and start weeding out all the "stuff" they no longer need. I mean, the babies (as we call our 5, 6, 7 year olds), have more toys then they know what to do with. They don't even PLAY with anything other than their barbies, everything else just sits there.... collecting dust.... making their way on the floor, SOMEHOW- simply because when you're a child, it's the "right thing to do". They each have attachment issues (must have been from the co-sleeping- lol), and they absoutely have a major break down if they even think for a second one of their toys will be finding a new home. Even after the MILLIONS of conversations with these kids, explaining to them how some boys and girls aren't as fortunate as them and how there are some children that do not have any toys. They are still not getting it. So, a Mom's gotta do, what a Mom's gotta do... and well, that's just get in there while their gone and take care of business. Man, it ain't gunna be pretty! PIctures to follow, I promise. I mean seriously, someone in this world needs to have a good laugh with my life.. it may as well be you, right? :)

I've been reading up on alot of woman cooking for the week and just freezing it. This sounds interesting. Something that this chick is def. going to explore. Not sure how good the stuff will TASTE after being frozen, but hey... can't hurt to try, right?

Yeah, so... this whole winter hybernation thing for me isn't working out to well. You see, I tend to be a pretty active gal. In the spring, summer, and fall- you can't keep me inside. Our family is always out doing something. It's great fun. But the winter, awh... the winter. I am typically what you would call a "somewhat" high matience girl. Okay, I am high matience. Ask anyone around me. It's no wonder my soon to be 15 year old daughter is the same way. But ya see, in the winter time.. I'm SO low maitence it's almost, well, scarey. It takes me about 15min. to throw myself together before I go to the school to pick up the kidlets. Whereas any other time, when it's nice outside, I need at least an hour to 1.5hr. A girls gotta look good, ya know. Well, winter time is my "off" time, I guess you could say. I LIVE in sweatshirts. When I'm inside, I live in my oh so comfy sweatpants (I'm sure D loves that!). My hair stays pretty much flat to my head unless we have somewhere to go. My nails are short and not adorned with acrylic or nail polish. My bode is only somewhat of a shade over the lovely "pale" color. Which mind you, I am one of those girls that just "has to" be bronzed any other time. But the winter time? Good luck in getting me outdoors. My hair needs to be colored, I've been without a curling iron for crying out loud, for a good 2 months and I haven't even really missed it. (Ok, confession: I *have* missed it. Every Sunday morining, it is NOT pretty in this house. I've been gripeing about this hair of mine for months, so I need to just shut-up already and go in and have the thing DONE!). Anyways, moral of the story is: I've been an appearance slacker. I've been eating ALL the wrong foods (when those fatso sugar cookies from kroger become the staple of your diet, well.. I think it's time for an intervention). So, I'm making a pack with myself. Beginning on Monday, Feb 18th- this girl is bringin' sexy back (and, no needed help from 'ole Justin Timberlake either). I'm going to start eating better, doing SOME form of work-out (and sitting on my butt in front of the computer does NOT count as exercise, no matter how fast these fingers can type), and I'm going to start getting ready for Spring. Let the countdown begin. ((may the force be with me)).

So, between managing a better ran household, teaching my children to pick up after themselves and learn to do regular chores, to decluttering this house (just wait until I snap a picture of my garage, ooooh, the humilation), to just being a better *Mom*, *Partner*, and well.... PERSON.. I thought it would be fun (and well, quite entertaining) to blog the progress and process. So if you're ready to straddle on the pony and go on a wild ride with me (ok, erase that... that *so* did not come out right), then meet me back here a few times a week to see how things are going. My goal is to share photo's with every blog entry to keep it visual- I thought it would be more fun that way. :)

Ok, I'm signing off... it's like REALLY 3:47am. What on earth was I thinking? When my children are pecking on my head at 7:30am (mark my word), saying "Mommmmmmmy--- get up! We're huuuuuungry", I'm going to be regretting sitting here, typing away. So, off to bed I go. Motherhood awaits me in the morning.... nighty-night!