Real World: Wyoming; Day Two

Breakfast at the hotel, then ...

... driving, driving, driving. And on the way we saw Abraham Lincoln in Wyoming. And he did NOT look happy that there was still snow on the ground.

But Michael loved making a huge snowball, and the kids had a teeny snowball fight with their dad.

Pretty soon after we saw a Budweiser plant and were dying to stop, but you know how it goes. Gotta get to the destination before dark.

Subway for dinner, Smith’s for groceries then 20 minutes south of the main part of Evanston, WY to our place, the Kingfisher Bend Ranch. HIGHLY recommended. We’re in the “lodge” … a 4-bedroom place twice the size of our house. Watch out for cougars (not me!) and bears. 

Our dining and living area. Note the rockin' sunset and the lack of shades so you can always see the gorgeous view, except at night when it's PITCH BLACK.

Looking from the dining area into the kitchen, where I will be spending  much time.

Upstairs ... foosball table, little satellite TV, stuff for the kids to do.

The rest of the upstairs (to the right is the hallway that leads to our rooms; we chose the upstairs for sleeping so Aron could get ready for work at the butt-crack of dawn downstairs). Note the cool Yoda.

Mommy’s happy once the twin beds are pushed together for minimal falling out of bed. Pushed our bed against the wall so we don’t need that worthless bedrail for Sam. 

Ever seen two bunk beds pushed together? Still one bed is unused because Eva and Callie snuggle up together. Eva wants to sleep with us like she does at home but there's no room :-(

Real World: Wyoming; Day One

Driving, driving, driving. 

Kansas City to Denver today

Daddy's driving day started with calls from the job site

Sam likes to dictate with his Skinny James meat stick

The naughty kids crammed in the back.

A stop at Mickey Ds in Hays, Kansas (notice no socks on Eva!). If you  play video games standing up, you won't get fat!

Denver Embassy Suites and Mommy needs a cocktail. For some reason Daddy was given TWO, like his life on the road with all the kids was that much harder. Parental Discrimination, is all I’m saying.

Wendy’s for dinner and some swimming. Mommy’s first time in a sauna. Felt just like Kansas in the summer.

 Bedtime: all snuggly after some time spent jumping on the beds. The girls slept in bed together even though Eva usually sleeps in her twin bed pushed up to our queen at home (there was barely room for Aron and I and Sam in our double bed!). Looks like we might soon just have one kid in bed with us.

Michael wanted to sleep in the chair instead of in the sofabed with his brother.

Will post Day Two as I get sporadic Wyoming internet access!

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Chapter One: Advice to My Daughters

Untitled Love Story

Chapter One: Advice to My Daughters

First high school boyfriend: Head gamey jerk who cheated on me. I went for the first guy who showed an interest in me. Don’t do that, girls! Go for who YOU like, not the first scrawny guy with a car who asks you out!

The Waid's waitress at age 16.

High school boyfriend B: Showed more interest in cars than in me, nothing to talk about. Don’t be oblivious, girls, and value yourselves!

Boyfriend B was my prom date junior year

High school boyfriend C: Let’s try an older guy with his own apartment. Let’s get in a car wreck and total our car on the way to his place while skipping school. But he had a motorcycle! But he cheated on me … AFTER I loaned him money! Don’t go for material stuff, age and power, girls! Oh, and never loan money to a guy.

Me and Debbie ... do you know how long it took to get those rockin' bangs? And how much Aquanet?

Extremely short-live high school boyfriend D: Let’s try a totally sweet guy who is cute AND who likes me. Let’s kiss one of his friends just for fun while completely sober. Girls, I don’t have to tell you that went south fast. I cried and cried at my own stupidity on that one.

A lot of Sun-in and QT (Quick Tan) went into the making of this girl.

Summer after high school: Can’t hurt to meet some random cute guy cruising and go back to his place because his parents are out of town, right? Then put a big ole Long Island Iced Tea in my 110-pound body. This resulted in the next 5 years of my life being a roller coaster of domestic violence and so many other horrible things I don’t want to even tell you about ever. But these things we do to ourselves and let happen to us shape who we are in the future and how we behave later, for good or bad. Some of the things that happened to me during that time certainly made me the kind of mother I am now … an attachment parent who values her babies above all and who likes to keep them close. Girls, you might call that “suffocation” and “a controlling mother” but I call it good parenting!

Early twenties: Well, let’s switch gears now and date a psychologist (not mine; I certainly don’t need therapy … ha!) who is about twice my age. That can only end well, right? Nah, he peed in my Cheerios and told me it was raining (caught him with another woman – and her kids! -- at his house; he ended up marrying her briefly; his third wife). In an attempt to keep this guy, I proclaimed that I did not need to have children since he didn’t want more. EEEEEK!

Which brings us to our much happier story. And the lesson that GREAT things come out of CRAP things. And that the highest high you will ever feel (lasting love) often comes from the lowest low (crying yourself to sleep from rejection and a broken heart).

1995, I’m 24. I’m sick to death of men. But I know it’s my fault because I do the ultimate picking. A friend gives me a copy of Dr. Laura’s “10 Stupid Things Women do to Mess Up Their Lives.” She looks like a witch. She looks mean. I also start listening to her radio show. Holy crap, she’s talking to me! Have I really done all 10 of those things? Have I really broken every Commandment in the process? Things can’t get any worse. Guess I’ll start looking for someone decent, or not looking. Maybe I’ll make a good lesbian … I hate cooking and cleaning, after all, and like to negotiate. I might look good with short hair. (oh, the stereotypes)

This could possibly be the reason I'm the way I am: my pregnant mother gettin' her drink on in Germany in 1971. (not really!)

One Man's Quest to Be Penniless

Yes, it's Men Living Simply on the show this week, people. Check out this little gem I found and love. Could you do it? Of course you could do it. But if you have kids and do this, you would get them taken away. As a married person, could you convince your spouse to do it?

The county appraiser's website says my house is less than 1,300 square feet big. Currently that's too big for us ... and if it starts to feel cramped, I just get rid of more stuff. My closet is so sparse I think I might have a penis. Wait, except my husband has like 3 times more clothing than I do, but I bet I can convince him to kill some of that. I think he might have more shoes than I do, too. But he has a regular job, too, and needs to look nice sometimes.

What's my point? My point is that I need to go out and start collecting designer handbags or something to be more like a female. I paint my toenails pretty colors; does that count?

Do you, like me, catch a show every now and then with hoarders in it (or visit an actual hoarder house) and then go home and get rid of 3 trash bags of stuff?

Have a great Cinco de Mayo. We'll be in town still. I get to go to a CDM party that was supposed to be at my house but our plans got changed so often that my good friend is taking it over at her place. I get to hang out with a bunch of fellow hippie-ish homeschoolers and it just might be my first adult party in like 10 years .... taking the kids, of course. I will be calling everyone a hot tamale.

I love this site so much .... check out someecards.com for the funniest stuff you'll ever find online.

A Man Quits His Job

You hafta check out this friend of mine's blog post. He has voluntarily quit his sweet job so he can spend time with his daughter while she is young. You see, he's a stay-at-home mom trapped in a man's body. Click on the words "blog post" above to be escorted there digitally.

This guy and his family live next door to one of my very best friends, who also homeschool. The house next to them is in foreclosure and I'm thinking if we bought it the neighborhood could go to homeschool hell in a Chanel handbag!

By the way, does anybody else know how they get all those lightening bug butts in glo-sticks? I mean, is there a lightening bug farm somewhere?

Animal Tales at Crown Center

The Animal Tales exhibit at Crown Center in Kansas City is going on right now, and it's a blast! Here are some pix I snapped before one or another of my kids had to pee and we had to take a little hike to the bathrooms and then didn't go back because we played in the fountains!

Momma Guilt and Confirmation

I know the other day I said I wouldn't be blogging this week, but I had already written this one and just moved it up in the schedule! Enjoy!

Michael says he doesn't look directly at the camera because the light bothers his eyes, something I never knew.

This is a picture from Jordan's 8th grade Confirmation recently. I have 3 stories to tell, the third being about this photo, but they are all about Confirmations.

1. The first year I was a Confirmation sponsor Sam was only about 6 months old. Aron wasn't in town, so I took the other 4 kids with me and they sat with my friend. Sam was fussy so I put him in the sling and carried him in during the procession of the 8th graders. I was a little embarrassed to be carrying in a baby when the focus was on the older kids, but I didn't want to leave him crying with my friend upstairs while we lined up, processed outside and then into the church. That's just not the kind of mom God made me, and I've learned to not worry too much about what people think about that. When it came time to present my Candidate to the Archbishop, Sam was still fussing and I was going to just take him on up, knowing it's not probably general protocol, but also thinking, "I have 5 children and now God wants me to take care of them, even in front of the entire congregation." My friend took him from me at the last minute before I went up, and I heard him crying all the way out of the church. I know he lived and is fine and won't remember, but I hate that sound!
2. The next year I was able to leave all 5 kids at home with Aron for over 3 hours, which I had never done until that night. There was an after party but it was like 9:30 and I had to say no. I wanted to hang with my Candidate, but I felt called to go home and put my kids to bed.
3. This year Aron was going to have to be gone again and I was scrambling for a helper since Jordan was the Candidate and she's pretty much our only sitter! I left the kids downstairs with a family friend while we processed in. Sam was sleepy and needed a nap and I was worried I would have to carry him up to the Archbishop and all that later, so I prayed about it. Jordan said she was okay with it and would not be embarrassed, but she is such a sweetheart that I knew she would prefer it to be about her, and rightly so! I fretted and worried and prayed until time to present her. Then I handed Sam to Joel in the pew behind me and he was FINE for just those few moments! Jordan got her moment, I got to focus on her, it all worked out. Then Sam crashed on me for the rest of the night, as you can see in the picture above!

Anyway, it chaps my butt when people refer to Catholic Guilt. I don't really have that, but I do seem to eternally have Momma Guilt about something or other!!!

Going to Wyoming ...

Well, after a lot of flip-flopping back on forth on deciding, we decided to go to Wyoming after all. Aron sounds really down out there and needs our kind of craziness in person for sure. You can't work 14-hour days every single day of the week for weeks on end without the lovin' of your family, the hugs of your kids, the adoring glances from your wife, a home-cooked meal every now and then ... and we all know I'm a mediocre cook, so if Aron is missing that, he is really missing US in general.

So here's that blog post from a few weeks ago when Aron sent pictures of the kids' stuffed animal travels. It looks gorgeous where we are going. I have a lot to do before we leave, a road trip to plan with 7 people crammed into the mommyvan. I have lodging rates to negotiate even further down because we don't have a lot of money to work with from the company. By the way, always negotiate on rates during the off season! A place could get ZERO or they could get half their normal rate. Half still means they make money.

Anyway, just wanted to let ya'll know I don't know how much I'll be around here this week. Stop by just in case, or just sign up for the email subscription or get the blog on your feed reader. If you're my Facebook pal, you know knew posts pop up automatically on there for your viewing pleasure.

I'm looking forward to quite an adventure, and can't wait to share pictures with you here!

Vintage Rerun Sunday: No TV Week, Day 2

Originally posted 9/3/08

Holy crap, my kids talk a lot. They have each gone over their word quota for the day, which usually is about 10 million words. I never realized how much I rely on taped cable TV shows from Mom to decompress. Joel is asking about watching Darkwing Duck quite a bit. And they are bugging me nonstop while I try to type, which TV would certainly cure. But I am determined. And brave, according to Tresa! And out of my mind!

The book "Dumbing Us Down" said something about the average kid taking in 55 hours of screen time (TV, video games, Internet) per WEEK. We probably do half that, which still seems like a lot of brain rot.

Today the kids played an actual board game with my mom while Aron and I went to the doctor with the baby. It was cool to act like we only had one kid instead of cramming our family of 6 into a 3' by 3' exam room like we usually do. I'd missed Eva's 6-month visit, and now she's closer to 9 months, so I enjoy confounding the nurse and doc when they try to plot weight and height and such on a graph based on age.

Mom brought over 2 new videotapes. My beloved Madmen and Project Runway will have to wait until Saturday night ... or maybe 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning!

Other fun stuff done in lieu of TV: read about different religions to Joel, read him Harry Potter without him falling asleep, Aron and the kids slept in the tent, the kids microwaved and re-froze ice, went to 2 different swimming pools, played at Daddy's work.

Please send all calm and patient thoughts my way. Thank ya. Reminder: I am doing this drug-free and am out of sweet and sour.

April 2012 ... now we try to just watch TV after 7 p.m. at night, but with the sun going down later, they mostly play outside then, too. We also usually try to catch Wild Kratts on PBS in the afternoon, and sometimes I let Eva watch Caillou on PBS also, just so I can get a straight 1/2 hour homeschooling the older kids. And that's why it's called the "TV-sitter" (like babysitter).

Fritz's Restaurant With 5 Great Kids

After the SeaLife Aquarium last week, I was feeling brave and took the kids to Fritz's. They have amazing burgers that are brought to your table by a train on  a track on the wall.

 While I'm trying to find time to work on the new "How I Met Your Father" series about the early years with Aron starting waaaaay back in 1995, I'll dazzle you with some pictures to keep you occupied. These are from when we went to Fritz's at Crown Center in Kansas City. I love these days out with my kids! Have a great weekend!

Sam goes gangsta with his Fritz's conductor hat.

Not how THREE of my kids are doing their new Lego project, courtesy of the SeaLife and LegoLand gift shop. The other two kids got something, too, just not Legos. Daddy and Mommy got Lego keychains that fit together.

You gotta ride the train at the end for 50 cents!!!

And another 50 for the first female conductor.

Just because you're 7 doesn't mean you don't like to have fun!

The Life of a Travel Widow

You've heard of a football widow, right? Those women who are neglected because their man is watching football all season. The woman could stand buck naked in front of the TV, and the guy would move her out of the way. Well, being a travel widow isn't like that because it isn't exactly by choice. But you're still a widow of sorts because you're like a single parent ... only with that all-important paycheck coming in still so you can saunter around the house as a stay-at-home mom, if you choose. Here are some observations about the life of a travel widow:

We do fun stuff to take our minds off Daddy. Then we blog about it so he can see pictures!

1. I love my husband. He loves me. I'm sure there are men who love love love to travel for work because their home life sucks. Their kids are brats, their wife is a nag, and being in the office is boring. When they travel they get to be selfish and do cool stuff like fly on a plane and eat steak every night and watch whatever they want on TV whenever they want. My husband has ALWAYS made it clear he does not like to be away from us. He's either a really good liar or it's true because I've seen him get very sad and upset about leaving us. We hate when he has to leave.
2. Our schedule without him is unpredictable. I am ashamed to admit any sort of schedule goes out the window when he leaves. We eat more sugar, we do more things to keep busy ... play, go places, meet up with friends, stay up later watching TV and reading. Some of this is just to keep me sane, as well, since I'm the only parent.
3. Reintegrating him into our lives isn't always easy. It's easier if he has a nice Monday-Friday travel schedule and we know what's going to happen. But when his schedule is screwy, like now, and we have no clue when he's leaving and coming home, sometimes we look up and he's there and we're like, "Oh, we were headed to so-and-so's house ... did you want to come or stay home for some down time?"
4. The disruption when he get a client who is not clear about the schedule or expectations. You should see my wall calendar ... events scribbled out, rewritten, wite-outed, new plans made with or without the Man of the House.
5. I have to fight myself really hard to not turn into a jaded hardass who tries to run every single aspect of the show all the time, even after he comes home. Many years ago I met women at Aron's company who were HAPPY when their man traveled. THEY got to be selfish and spend the paycheck. I didn't want to be like that. A few of them are divorced now. Travel is hard on a marriage, but ...
6. It might be good for our marriage to be away from each other sometimes.
7. Don't get me started on how travel messes with us using Natural Family Planning! It is frustrating to know that after a long period of abstinence WHEN HE WAS AT HOME, he is leaving town on the day you now have the green light to visit the Boom Boom Room. And he's going to be gone a long time. Grrr.
8. The traveling guy sometimes has to miss things that are important to his family. I try not to kick him when he's down ... he's already missing an important event; he doesn't need me to hop his case about it. So I TRY not to.
9. A travel widow needs extra love ... invite her over for dinner, ask if she needs any sanity time, a coffee, a hug.
10. Don't forget about the military widows! As I gripe about how hard my life is and how much I miss my husband, I think of my friends who have husbands who are gone for a year at a time. That much stink really bad. Is it easier to say goodbye to Daddy and then not have to do that again for a year or to say goodbye to Daddy over and over and over?
11. Don't forget about single parents or real widows! Sometimes I find myself griping about Aron being gone to a woman who has a husband who is a real tool and isn't around anymore. I feel like a jerk and have to apologize!

Don't forget to enter the book giveaway WAY down at the bottom of the blog, or at the bottom of yesterday's post ... it's fickle and moves around!

"We Are All Broken" Says My Husband

*If you are sick of the homeschool group drama posts, just move on with your day. I'm working through this in my own way and trying to come to solutions so I can get on with my life, which is easier said than done! It's like going through grieving stages ... in a weird order. I was sad at first and groveled to the leader about the whole thing. Then I just got mad. I own that I am acting like a 10-year-old and am okay with that right now.


This morning I had a comment from the leader of the homeschool group I wrote about. I'm in the process of addressing her stuff since I don't censor, but for now I wanted to go back to my old messages and post some interesting things. My original comment was this and was what started all the whispering behind my back and the ultimate booting of my buns:


" I'm starting to feel suffocated by all the scripture references that are being put out there ... just like some kids need to be deschooled, maybe some of us need to be de-Bibled and just listen to God for a while and maybe even NOT read His word for a little while and then head back to it with a clear head."


Later I said this:
" i apologize if anyone thought i was being mean and i didn't mean de-church at all. i just meant that those who struggle with their faith many times already know everything the Bible says and yet struggle anyway. that's all."


I think some of the ladies had some great points (and they didn't get kicked out!) that I would like to share:


"Just for the record, I haven't been offended by a comment yet. But just a guess - the Bible isn't what's offensive in some comments, but the way it's thrown at people, as if quoting a verse out of context without any commentary makes a point. No one knows what your point is if all you do is throw down a verse. You'll have to tell us why you think that verse is relevant if you want us to know what you're trying to contribute to the conversation. .... XXX didn't start this discussion because she doesn't believe the Bible. She started it because she wants to try to find out what the Bible means, what it teaches. Telling her she's just not reading it, or just not accepting it is, to say the least, unhelpful."


Another member wrote this:
" Like XXX, I struggle with my faith too, as is perfectly NORMAL. We are intelligent humans and it's natural to question the things we believe/don't believe to try and find out the why's. I have done the same, and I'm sure most of us have too. (And here is where I make people mad...) However, throwing down bible scripture, stating those of us who have these questions or struggles are doomed to hell until we pull our heads out of our behinds doesn't do us any good. This is one of the things that truly turns me off about some christians! Do I think scripture should be used to find the truth? You bet. Do I think posting it on a FB thread, stating we're all going to burn in hell is appropriate? No. I know it's cliche, but what would Jesus do? Would he throw The Book at XXX? No, he would calmly sit by her side and talk with her, referencing the Word in a way that would be respectful and helpful to her, leading her to the truth. So, if we want to throw scripture at each other - Matthew 7 1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged."


My husband put it simply when I told him about all this once. He said, "We are all broken." How do men put up with us? How is it that women aren't the ones starting wars, we are so passionate?!


By the way, I love my faith, loving going to church, love reading Bible stories and praying. I'm not a witch, I promise. I just had an opinion when I saw someone I liked being kinda jumped on. I like to defend people. I knew when I hit the POST button I was sealing my own coffin because I've always had a big mouth, but I would do it again. At least I was being my REAL SELF. I am a person, a wife, a mother. Not just a Facebook profile.

Stuff (aka CRAP)

I don’t remember George Carlin’s homage to stuff (although he used a different word) very well, but I did see the bit when I was a little kid. It must’ve stuck with me because I don’t give a crap about STUFF.

I can't blame it on my only-childness; my mom says even if I was the baby of 10 kids, I probably wouldn’t care about STUFF.

It’s (life) not about the stuff that’s in the room while they make memories or the dish they ate your famous meals off of. I personally think it’s about PEOPLE. Call me crazy. Obviously I’m in the minority because look at the fights over STUFF when people die and look at all the STUFF in storage that overflows from houses and apartments.

My mom had some old quilts stored for many years, waiting for ????? To give to her grandchildren, who would probably trash them within a week? Finally one day she realized they were wasting away when the people who sewed them meant for them to be USEFUL. So she drug them out and started doling them out to people who would care for them and snuggle up with them. With the provision that they NOT hang them on a wall or put them in a cedar chest, but USE THEM to keep warm.

I think we are too damn sentimental. It’s hard to detach from our stuff. It’s a process. Just ask Candy Spelling, who has a something-thousand-foot attic storing STUFF from many years with her family. Every Halloween costume, for God’s sake. Geez, auction those off and give the money to a homeless shelter. Better yet, don’t sell your mansion and make IT a spectacular homeless shelter!!!!

Who’s with me because I think I hear crickets out here alone in the wilderness?

(I had this post laying around for like 2 years and feel just scrappy enough today to post it. I have to say there's a downside to not caring about stuff = not taking CARE of the stuff and so it seems like you don't care about the person who gave you the stuff. What do you think?)

Also, do you think CRAP is a cuss word because I don't.

Homeschool Art: Making Paper Pokemon

Last year Michael started making paper replicas of  Pokemon characters. Then Joel got into the act. Then they got their friends into it. Some are teeny weeny and some are huge. Some are flat and some are 3-dimensional. They store them in Ziploc baggies so they can be protected from their naughty little siblings. Then I just pin the baggies to a bulletin board and -- voila! -- they are kept away from the littles. Then the boys get them out and play around together with their paper Pokemon. Michael would like to point out that usually he prefers to play with his Pokemon characters alone :-)

Lapras

Wailmer

Excavalier (sp?) ... no idea why it's going sideways; I didn't take the picture that wayy!

VINTAGE RERUN: Kids and Sports and Sunday (Early) Games

WARNING: INFLAMMATORY BLOG POST (originally posted 6/30/09 when I had passionate pregnant brain)

Today is VINTAGE RERUN SUNDAY! I'm kicking back today with my family so I have dug up an old episode of The (Mommy)Kerrie Show for your reading pleasure. Enjoy, and see you next week!

WHY would you have a soccer game at 6 a.m. on a Sunday? My friend with 7 kids has to get up and schlep all her kids ALONE to a 6 a.m. soccer game on a SUNDAY. She is a flippin’ saint in my book.

Here on The Kerrie Show, we’ve only gotten about HALF our total sleep intake by 6 a.m. (not really, but we certainly wake after the kids across the street at the school are all seated for their first class). If a coach told me my kid had a 6 a.m. game, I would honestly laugh out loud in his or her face. If the game was important to my kid, I guess I would have to show up or else send my poor husband since Eva wakes up whenever I leave the darn bed still. But if I had to show up that early, I would have to make it clear that it’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. (Darn my mother for passing on her mouthy nature to me).

Kids are overworked enough as it is (school, too much homework, music lessons, dance lessons, soccer, baseball, tutoring, Cub Scouts, CCD class, 4-H, etc.) … can’t they catch a little sleep on the weekend? [Edited to add: Same for their parents!]

First of all, Aron is adamant about the kids not playing any sports on Sunday. I’m on the fence. I mean, once they get older and have a game to play, I think they should be able to make the choice. But then I also wonder what would happen to the American family if we were all forced to hang out on Sundays and not be running our butts off to sports and activities.

What if we just had to BE with each other and (novel idea coming up here) TALK to each other and PLAY in the backyard or go to the park or the FREE nature trail, packing a lunch for the hike?

I kind of would like to watch that soccer game, though. I wonder how fast the kids are moving down the field and how many of those 10-year-olds downed a pot of coffee pre-game!

Speaking of soccer, my dad recently told me about his step-grandkid in Michigan, who is TWO YEARS OLD. She plays soccer. I begged him to videotape it and put it on YouTube. Wouldn’t that be entertaining?! [Edited to add: Now of course since I made fun of it I have myself a 2-year-old Sam who is a wiz at every freaking sport under the sun and you might even catch me at a Sunday game, but that remains to be seen.]

Use your nice words in the comments section, please. I know some of you are quite attached you your kids playing sports, and I realize this could be me someday (go, baseball … my Joel (DiMaggio) can hit and throw like a crazy man!).

Mama Bear Goes on Two Road Trips

Aron left for a fishing trip yesterday with his twin brother, Michael, Joel and two of his brother's kids. Sometimes in the afternoon, I noticed they hadn't taken any blankets and that my niece's sleeping bag was still here. I normally would not worry about something like that, except the weather forecast said it was going to be around 38 degrees overnight. My first thought?

MY POOR BABIES (and, by extension, my poor chilly niece and nephew)!

I had to call my brother-in-law because Aron's TRACPHONE is crapping out AGAIN (not a recommended buy), and of course the two of them are all like men get: "It'll be alright. We'll be fine. The tent will be warm enough. We'll cram two kids in one sleeping bag." And so on.

So what do you think my overprotective butt did?

I'm headed down today with my other 3 kiddles, but of course you know me and I HAD to make the drive last night, as well. I can't stand the thought of shivering children. And Michael forgot his flip flops, and it should be warmer by Sunday, so I took them also.

It took longer than we expected to get down there ... about 2 hours each way. I called it "Practice for Wyoming" ... except times 4!!! We got down just as it was getting dark, and it was beautiful there. I love camping out and haven't gotten to for so long (babies + camping = not always such a great outcome). They are camping right by the lake! We had some hot dogs roasted over a campfire, then we had to leave about 9.

My 3 little peeps eventually crashed on the way home, and I was left to admire the stars and sing 70s classic songs loudly and play my leg guitar like my dad used to do.

Sometimes I'm a Planner and sometimes I just Jump. Life is an adventure! Looking forward to what today brings out in nature!

Need Your Advice: Microwaved Food

I need your help, readers! I have a dilemma about where to stay if we get to travel with my husband. He's been going to Wyoming for work a lot and we miss him! If he's not physically there, he's here in town working until midnight, which pretty much sucks. So we are hoping to convince his boss that it's a great idea for his family to be with him for 3 weeks. You know, for moral support and all that. Because he's getting burnt out, people.

So here's where you come in. The "ranches" out there are too expensive, but they have kitchens. There's a cabin for $225/night that will barely sleep all of us and has NO TV or WIFI! I love the homey feel and can live without TV, but come on!

Then there's the Holiday Inn Express ... with a pool, so that would kill some time. And a nice deluxe suite for only $125/night. The catch is that it only has a microwave and a mini fridge for food.

I'm thinking hot dogs, PB&J, Ramen noodles, shopping often since I only have a teeny fridge. I'll have to bring my own bowls and Tupperware and utensils.

I'm looking for more creative ideas for eating microwaved and refrigerated foods. Please help!

Hiding Babies in Pantries

Step One: Find a great hiding place for said toddler, like in the pantry. Hide him behind boxes of cereal.

Have him stay quiet so his siblings won't find him. He jumps out and scares the crap out of said siblings. He wins!

SeaLife Aquarium Kansas City Field Trip

Head here to find out about Homeschool Week at Crown Center and how SeaLife fits into that!

Dang, this post contains just about all the categories I have for my blog posts. It's about EVERYTHING. That's what happens when you spend over 5 hours at Kansas City's Crown Center with 5 children (division problem; the answer is one hour per kid)!

Okay, FOCUS, Kerrie. I have to focus JUST on the SeaLife Aquarium for you today. Get ready for lots of pictures (no flash allowed, so they aren't all fabulous, but you'll get the idea).

We went on a field trip with other homeschoolers on a Monday and were supposed to get in at 11:00. I had Googled the place before we went so I could get a little map and find out what to expect. Tickets are normally $19/adults and $15/kids if you just walk in the door, cheaper with a pass (only like $200 for a family of four ... holy crap!). With our homeschool group we paid less than $7 per person. I got me and my peeps in for $38.50 to be exact.

My Nasty Carpet

Sometimes I have to use this blog for good and not evil and give props to good companies in my area. One of those places is The Carpet Guy, Inc., a Kansas City carpet cleaner! Mark is the guy who runs it and you can grab his info at his Facebook site here. The price is right, he's fast and the carpet doesn't take days to dry. You know my carpet is looking like crap most of the time with all these kids (and their pals) running around, so if I think someone rocks, they certainly do. Here are some before and after shots of my lovely carpet for your exciting viewing pleasure:

We Are Not Paying For College for Our Five Kids and Here is Why

Or money. Or are a genius. Or have an outstanding idea to turn into reality and sell. Or amazing business acumen.

Okay, I'm kinda just kidding here. I think college is fine. I have nothing against it. I just think it's overrated (unless you need it to be something you really want to be, like a doctor or lawyer or engineer or architect or some other profession where you must have that degree). Please read on.

I was going to do a big rant about how everyone thinks college is mandatory these days and that parents think they have to pay for it and how even if I had the cash of Trump I would not pay for my kids' college 100% (don't worry, Aron's with me on this one). I'm not going to bore you with the dropout stats and rates or the soaring cost of something your kid might not complete anyway and might not even enjoy.

Disclaimer: if your kid loves writing and drama, for instance, and you can swing paying for it, by all means send your kid to the appropriate college ... you won't see me tsk-ing you. But if your kid is 18 and CLUELESS about a career path and might even just want to get away from you and PARTAY til the break of dawn, you might want to think carefully before funding that action.

Because, AGAIN, I won't bore you with the stats, but a college education does not guarantee that your kid will graduate from a 4-year or even 6-year college stint and be able to get a job (1) in their field or (2) that will pay enough to pay back their student loans.

Disclaimer #2: My man went to school for engineering when he was in his late 20s and took out loans and worked a J.O.B. while he went and lived on his own even. He got an okay job, then a rockin' job he's had since 1999 and together we paid back his loans no problem. I realize not everyone has a sugar mama like me, though (hahahaha!)

Disclaimer #3: I don't know everything and the older I get realize I know less than I thought I knew (thank God for Google!). So before you get all mad at me, read on.

Disclaimer #4: I have an amazing example of someone who is successful who did not finish college: my own dad. He was too ornery for college, for sure. But he worked hard at the post office and was able to go on nice vacations and support his family and then retire at the ripe old age of ... 55. You know he and his wife are doing okay if they can buy Christmas and birthday presents for 8 grandchildren!

Our plan for our kiddos is to see if they can't go to junior college up the street for 2 years while living at home to save a ton of money. They should have enough saved in their savings accounts we started at birth for that. Also, they will be saving money from babysitting and mowing lawns and selling lemonade or whatever while they are teens. After that depends on the individual child and their needs and wants. Like if I have a kid going to MIT, well, let's see about grants and scholarships, then I suppose we'll discuss paying half and the other half will have to be on student loans. MIT kid should be able to pay those back within the first WEEK of working a job out of college :-) If I have a kid who wants to start a business and has a great idea, we'll talk. A kid who wants to wander through life a little ("all who wander are not lost") will be told "go for it, as long as you have a job!" So we support going to college and support not going. So we are not those parents who push college, and we are not those parents who say, "We can't afford it, don't go."

Just for fun, though, check out this link to the bio of an inventor of a very popular toy: Legos! And College Dropouts Hall of Fame. And 10 Famous People Who Didn't Go to College.

**I don't want my husband to work 80  hours a week and I don't want to personally work 40 hours a week from home to save money for my kids to go to college because WE WOULD BE MISSING THEIR CHILDHOOD AND WHAT IS THE POINT? Also, don't you think it's good for kids to take some responsibility in their education, their EXPENSIVE education? To learn how to make good financial choices early? We preach at them to not get into debt and to save and give to charity and LOOK AT WHAT WE ARE DOING! We are going into debt to send them to college, something they may not EVEN WANT TO DO!

Now, hit the Comment section and let's fight because I think I have it all figured out right now, but God is laughing at me while I write this post!

The Injustice of Payday Loan Places

I had to pop on here really fast because I'm listening to something that makes me feel really smart. I'm listening to talk radio and a woman is talking on and on and on about the "injustice" of payday loan places and how we need to regulate them in Missouri. And how they "target" the consumer. And this chick is organizing churches to be against payday loan places and the scandalous interest rates they charge.

And me and the talk show hosts are like, "Everyone has a choice and can get a payday loan or not. And they know the crazy interest rate when they sign up and if they need to float the loan longer, that's their problem!" 

YES, I have gotten a payday loan, way back in the day, like the 90s. We paid like $60 to borrow $50 for a week. I thought it was stoopid even then, but I was married to someone who liked to have stuff but not work very much. I've never gotten one since. 

What do you think about thousands of people wasting their time (I know, it's THEIR time to waste) on trying to regulate these places? Just leave 'em alone. I'm thinking this chick could have spent her time better starting a CHARITY for people who are in dire straits and need to go to these places as a last resort.

This is going on the ballot in Missouri in November. How will you vote?