So, I went to the dentist yesterday.

It has been, ahem, a while  since I last visited the dentist.

I don’t want to say exactly how long, but if you are thinking double digits – and I’m not talking months here – you are on the right track.

I KNOW! And I’m not even a  hillbilly!

It’s just that I have this policy against allowing people to come at my open mouth with sharpened metal objects. WITH HOOKS ON THE END!

Don’t try to tell me they don’t sharpen those pokers at night after all the victims have gone home. I’ve seen fishing lures in my husband’s tackle box that look similar to what they use.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my dentist. (Hi, Elizabeth!) That is, when I’m not hating her for being tall and thin and knock out gorgeous with a wardrobe to die for.

I just can’t get past those metal pokers. The hooks. The scrapers. They may as well use a jagged lid from a can of tuna. I would be about as relaxed either way.

Call me crazy, but I’m a nervous wreck when someone else has their hands in my mouth. I get all sweaty, and flinch and involuntarily push their hands out of the way while saying in a shrill whisper, “BE CAREFUL! DON’T TOUCH IT! NO!”

And then there’s the ice cold water they try to shoot down your throat while saying “Relax! It’s not so bad!”. I believe the CIA calls this “water boarding”, but I could be wrong.

Needless to say, I take VERY good care of my teeth, so I can justify getting a check up only once a decade. 

When I got home, my husband asked me how it went, and I told him I was okay after they hooked me up with the giggle juice.  (I may or may not have asked for a to-go canister when I left.)

“So you had to get a cavity filled?” he asked.

“No, not a single cavity.  She said my teeth looked great.”

“Then why did you need laughing gas?”

“For the cleaning! Duh!”

If you can believe it, he is sick enough to not even mind getting his teeth cleaned! BY A PERSON HOLDING A SHARP METAL HOOK!

He couldn’t believe that I, a woman who has given birth SIX times without any drugs, would need nitrous oxide for a routine cleaning. I think he mumbled something about me being a crybaby, but I was too busy plotting to stab him in the mouth with a fish hook tonight while he sleeps.

How do you like me now, CRYBABY?!

Welcome to week 2 of the bedroom portion of 4 Moms Open House! Today I am going to show you my kids’ bedrooms.

Remember when I told you that we are living in a rental house waiting for our house to sell in the small town where we previously lived? The town where the chemical plant that employed a great many of the townsfolk shut down just as we were moving, so that the housing market tanked? The town where there is a perfectly good house just waiting for someone to buy it, only time keeps marching on and no one has for going on two years now?

Okay, about that… just keep that in mind when you see these pictures and wonder to yourself, “WHY in the world hasn’t Smockity sewn up some darling curtains and matching bed coverings for those rooms? And WHERE is the decor?” 

Here is our highest occupancy room, which the youngest 4 girls (not including the baby) share. We have 2 sets of bunk beds in here along with not much else, because, well, not much else will fit. Our plan was to use bunk beds with drawers built in, only we didn’t plan on buying pieces of junk that were being passed off on line as actual “furniture”. The drawers, which I won’t be showing you are falling apart and falling out of their places, and we have learned a valuable lesson and will never again purchase furniture online.

Here is one girl’s top bunk.

This is the view from the door of the other girls’ room, which our oldest 2 girls share.

If you are thinking, “This girl looks familiar and didn’t I just see her on the top bunk in the other bedroom?” you are right. She was visiting in the last picture. This is her bed and the polka dots she artfully arranged. I let each child pick out a package of stick on wall decorations to put by their beds. Some chose butterflies or flowers. She chose dots. (The boy chose glow in the dark stars and planets.)

This is the boy’s room, which he has all to himself. I told him to clean it up and then take some pictures and this is what ended up on my camera card. I have no idea what is up with the slanted angle on the right side.

And there you have it. The bedrooms of a family of 10.

See previous 4 Moms Open House posts:

• Master bedroom
• Living room
• Kitchen
• Outside

Upcoming 4 Moms topics will include:

• September 2: Bedrooms, part 2 (Link up!)
• September 9: Laundry (Link up!)
• September 16th: Storage Solutions (Link up!)
• September 23: 4 Moms Answer Questions
• September 30: Dating Spouses Frugally

Remember to visit the rest of my 4 Moms team to see their bedrooms: The Common Room, Life in a Shoe, and Raising Olives.

And be sure to click on the 4 Moms button at the top to view all of the past 4 Moms posts!

If you would like to share pictures of your bedrooms, please link directly to your post, and be sure to include a link back here so your readers can join in the fun!

I love Post-it notes for scheduling my homeschool day!

Since they can easily be removed and re-stuck, I can rearrange and modify my schedule without erasing or starting over as I would have to in a planner.

Because they are bright and good sized, we can all see what we need to be doing at once.

I use 2 poster boards and mark the time on the left side in 30 minute increments. At the top, I put every person’s name on a different color Post-it note.

This system makes it a breeze to schedule my day

Check out this video of  how I schedule chores  to see more.

We are starting our first day of school today. Is it okay to admit that I am already tired just thinking about it?

This year I have students in 1oth grade, 8th grade, 5th grade, 3rd grade, and 1st grade. In addition to those, my 4 year old is chomping at the bit to learn to read. She has been begging me for a while, and is already sounding out some small words on her own, so I absolutely can NOT put her off any longer! I also have a 2 year old and a newborn who will be needing my attention.

Occasionally, I have people tell me, “I don’t know how you do it!” Honestly, I’m not sure how I will do it either!

That’s okay, though. I often tell my children, “Bravery is being afraid, and trying anyway.” I will be brave and plow ahead, and with God guiding my steps, I will do it, hopefully for His glory.

I would surely appreciate your prayers if you think of me.

Remember when I confessed to you about being directionally challenged? Well, I was just recalling some of my memories from as early as first grade of my little disability.

You see, I never went to preschool or Kindergarten, so first grade was my very first experience in a school setting. I remember thinking, “WHY are we always lining up?! And WHY are there so many places to go?!”

It seemed like I would be sitting in my little desk minding my own business and the teacher would randomly call out for us to line up. I don’t know if she didn’t tell us where we were going, or if I just didn’t pay attention, but I NEVER seemed to know where we were headed.

I just followed the line and I’d always be surprised when we ended up at the restrooms or the water fountain or the cafeteria or the playground.

A couple of times I got to the cafeteria and had to ask to go back to the classroom to get my lunchbox. I’m sure my teacher, Mrs. Harris, was thrilled with the prodigy/genius material she had in me.

But I wasn’t through impressing her yet! I decided that since I never knew where we would be going, I would just carry my lunchbox with me wherever we went. That way, I would always be prepared!

If we lined up to go to the restrooms, I had my lunchbox. When it was time for recess, I took my lunchbox. You never know when you’ll end up at the cafeteria, after all!

You would think it would have been easier to just PAY attention to what time it was or LISTEN to what we were doing, but I figured I’d just play it safe and carry that lunchbox with me wherever we went.

That strategy served me well. I never showed up at the cafeteria empty handed after that!

What are your earliest school memories?

This is what happens when kids spit their watermelon seeds in the backyard.

A watermelon grows on the patio.

A watermelon weighing 27 pounds which the children name “Roberta”.

Welcome to the 4 Moms Open House – Bedrooms Part 1!

 This week, we are sharing our bedrooms. Some are sharing master bedrooms and some are sharing kids’ bedrooms and some are sharing ALL bedrooms. Next week will be “Bedrooms – Part 2″, and the following weeks will be

• Laundry
• Storage solutions

Here is where I tell you that we have too much stuff and not enough room, and our bedrooms are where we hide store the things we wish to keep out of the way, so they are mostly the messiest places in our house, and I hope you’ll still like me when I admit that these pictures were taken AFTER I had tidied up.

I would also like to warn you that there are little to no wall hangings, window treatments, and other such decorations because when we moved into this house almost two years ago, it was under the assumption that it would be a temporary rental property that we would be vacating as soon as our previous house sold. I kept thinking that any day we would get the phone call from our realtor that we should start packing up, because we could go ahead with the purchase of our very own home since the previous house was no longer holding us back.

Aaaaaaaand almost two long years later, we are still waiting for that to happen.

So, if you will, just let the bare walls and windows be a symbol of hope. Yeah… that’s what they are. Hope.

And the clutter can be a symbol of… a … creative mind. Yes, that’s a good one. Creative.

Here we have the view from our bedroom door. I keep thinking I’ll buy new bedding, but then something else comes up that needs buying, like bread or milk or gas, so the bedding stays.

Here you can see my dresser, the computer desk, Peyton’s clothes, and the changing table, which is really nothing more than a Rubbermaid computer desk with a changing pad on it.

Here is some ironing that needs doing, Peyton’s cradle, and my husband’s dresser. The 8 year old has decided she should keep her piggy bank collection up there and since no one can think of a better place, there they are.

Here is a closer view of Peyton’s cradle. My Pawpaw made this with his own hands several years before he died, and all eight of my children have begun their lives here. He also made a baby doll cradle that is an exact replica of this, which has held many a baby doll. I absolutely LOVE that I have this remembrance of him!

Thank you for joining the tour of my bedroom! If you would like to link up your own bedroom pictures, please remember to link directly to your post, and INCLUDE A LINK BACK HERE so your readers can browse all the posts.

1. The probability a glass of milk will be spilled rises in direct proportion to the amount of milk in the glass.
2. One or more children will have shoes that have been STOLEN! SOMEONE STOLE MY SHOES! if there is an event in which it is imperative to be on time.
3. If a mother boasts about avoiding the barf bug that has been going around, the likelihood is high that a child will barf in the car on the way home.
4. The probability of a baby having a scatter poop is directly proportional to the number of people who will be grossed out by such an event.
5. When the house is unusually messy, chances are higher that a neat freak friend will drop by.

Do you have any to add?

*Be sure to enter to win a $25 Dressbarn gift card.

Have you wondered what the secret is to choosing ripe cantaloupe melons?

Here are a few guidelines that help us choose the best ones:

• Look for cantaloupes with the orange melon color (NOT green) showing through the skin.



• The veins on the ripe melons are smoother and more worn down than the not yet ripe ones.
• When squeezed, the ripe cantaloupes give just a little under the pressure. Think of the feel of a kickball as opposed to a baseball.

If you happen upon a sale, like we did recently, where you can get these melons for as low as $1 each, you can stock up on them, cube them, and flash freeze for a cool snack later.

This post is linked at Works For Me Wednesday.

I have been given the opportunity to review “Raising Bains”, a new show that will be airing on the A&E network tonight,  Monday evening, August 23, at 10:00pm CST.

It is a documentary about a family with 13 children. 12 of those are adopted, with 8 being a sibling group.

Read my review at Lifetime Moms.