What is it about Wednesdays?

I don't know what it is but Wed. seem exceptionally hard around here. I guess it is the whole middle of the week thing. By the time we make it to church on Wed. nights I am sure that I look as frazzled as I feel. The boys seem to be into everything! I have put so many locks on things that we are about as secure as Fort Knox! Of course, leave it to C to figure out that if he pulls on the refrigerator hard enough he can pop the lock right open. Today I had to add another lock to the list since I can't seem to keep everyone out of the office/ guest room. I guess there are too many interesting things in there. I thought J was doing pretty good on hoarding until I went upstairs to clean up a cutting mess and remove the photo that he had glued to his bedroom wall (I told him we could buy a frame and hang it the proper way!) I thought I would go through his dresser to make sure there were no more scissors or glue when I found all kinds of goodies mingled amongst his clothes. I am telling you that boy is better than a metal detector he is finding things I thought I had lost for good a year ago. Throughout the day he randomly brings me odds and ends.
I almost feel like I am going through some of the things I remember going through as a new mom. One of these things is feeling like I can't get a shower in. I am too afraid someone is going to burn the house down. One of the days last week, I went to shower only to find myself moments later racing down the stairs to see what was all the commotion. J had decided to help me by mopping the floor and H came running around the corner only to find herself floor bound. Today, C decided to pour a bottle of laundry detergent on the floor and ice skate around on the soap. Now I am not talking a 30 min. shower. I may never have the opportunity to shave my legs again! Needless to say, it will take a few more rounds with the mop to get the slick residue off the tile. I am open for suggestions if someone has a good home remedy for that.

Children's Museum

On Monday, after we took Hannah to TAFA (Travis Academy of Fine Arts) I took the younger kids to the Fort Worth Museum. We had a blast exploring all the different rooms. The kids loved sitting in the trolley car. J's favorite part was in the Innovation Center. There was a display set up where you could put wires together to get a battery to charge. I could hardly get him to move away from that station. There was a little boy standing next to him working and talking like crazy to J. I finally told him that he and J didn't speak the same language. He asked what he spoke and I told him Haitian Kreyol and asked if he knew what that was. When he replied no I asked if he had seen about the earthquakes in Haiti- he said he did- and I told him that is where he came from. He looked at me and said "wow, he sure did come a long way just to come to the Fort Worth Museum:)" The girls really enjoyed the shadow box. You stand inside a darkened area and a light flashes leaving an image of your shadow on the wall. We must have posed 50 different ways. I could hardly drag MA out of there. C just liked running from station to station:0 He was just happy to be there with his friend, Jaden!

ZOO Pictures

First trip to the zoo!

On Sat. we decided to make a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. We have season passes so we were able to add MA and J onto the passes. Of course with the Peyton crew, we can't start anything without a little pandemonium:) J got upset about something and decided that he wasn't going to wear his seatbelt. This definitely didn't set well with us and it IS against the law so something had to be done. I told D to head to the house and I would stay with J while everyone else went to the zoo. A little disappointed that things had gone this way, we pulled into the driveway. J refused to get out of the car so D had to climb through the back and help him out. As soon as he saw what was happening he started throwing the biggest tantrum and had to be carried into the house kicking and screaming. I set him on the couch and explained to him once again about the seat belt and that mommy and daddy refuse to let him go without. I went on to tell him that when we disobey we have to deal with the consequences. He told me he would wear it and that he was sorry. When we got to the car precious, little, A was crying and said she was so sad to see J upset and she really wanted ALL of us to go to the zoo. Needless to say we have had NO problems with the seatbelt after all the drama:)
The zoo was of course fantastic- that has to be my favorite zoo. J was talking to MA nonstop and he would inevitably turn to me and continue his excited dialogue as if I knew exactly what he was saying. We ended up seeing about 1/3 of the zoo but managed to get a ride on the carousel and the train before we headed to dinner. The weather wasn't the best but it looks like we got a trip in right before the next cold front came in. D loves to go to the Macaroni Grill since it is right by the zoo. I think it also brings back a little nostalgia to a time when we were in Seminary and I waited tables at that very restaurant. We all ate until we were stuffed and had to waddle out of there but, with the coupon I had and a gift card we got from the shower, we got out of there for only $18 and that included the tip! You know I love a good bargain.
Anyway, I am so glad that MA and J got to see real animals for the very first time. I could see a lot of similarities between that zoo and the zoo I manage everyday at the Peyton house. God is so good!

Pandemonium at it's best!

Well, I got a little behind blogging because I was without a computer for a week. Let me tell you ALOT can happen around the Peyton household. I will try to remember all the big highlights:) On Thursday a week ago we washed MA's hair for the first time. For 2 and 1/2 hours I took out the braids, washed, conditioned, dried and straitened her hair. I am still working on the styling part:) I have french braided part of it, sectioned it into 4 parts and put in clips and MA has even put braids in her own hair which was very impressive. Today I did the weekly shampooing and then took her to have it "pressed" and curled. I think she really liked it! On Friday, MA ran a fever and was in bed all day. It was really difficult to figure out what was going on since she couldn't tell me what was wrong. Thankfully she got over it within a day and was back to herself. I was getting a complex cause at first I thought she just didn't like her hair:) The next day, H started running fever and was in bed all day. I was beginning to see a pattern that I didn't want to continue with the rest of the family! It was twice as bad because that was our (D and my) Valentine's date night. The church had arranged for childcare which cost us a mere $10- you cannot beat that with a stick! Oh well, we certainly look forward to the next one. It ended up being a pretty nice night. I picked up take-out from D's favorite bbq place and brought it home. The kids actually stayed upstairs watching a movie while we ate our yummy dinner and had our first real conversation in days. I see a lot of these kinds of dates in our future. H did end up with a double ear infection and pink eye.
MA and J sure must think that life is just a party with all the celebrating we have been doing... H's birthday, Valentine's Day and next week- Abigail's birthday. I am sure that they had NO idea why there were hearts, and flowers and chocolates but I know they didn't seem to mind decorating cupcakes and making Valentines.
With 5 kids it seems like there is always a time in which someone is always out of sorts. J had quite a few problems with discipline but has really turned things around. He would completely shut down the minute you disciplined him in the least bit. Now he will actually respond when you are correcting him and has managed a few "yes sir, no sirs" I think that they really crave the structure and discipline but they have never had it and don't really know what to do with it. One day this past week, J refused to make his bed. He would just stand in front of it and look around. The girls made their beds and went off to start their school work and J started to follow. I took him back into his room 2 or 3 times. On about the 4th time he came out I went in and his bed was made with stuffed animals and all:) Now every morning he gets up and makes his bed.
Tuesday night things got pretty interesting when C decided to drink a bottle of Delsym cough syrup. After making a quick call to poison control they instructed us to head right away to the ER. D was out the door within seconds and broke all kinds of traffic laws getting to the hospital. Once there the ER doctor informed D that there was nothing in the cough syrup that could be fatal but it could cause hallucinations. After a few hours of observation they were sent home. C only bumped into the walls twice and boy did he sleep well that night. Of course, he was nestled in between mommy and daddy the whole night so I didn't have to keep getting up 100 times to go check on him:)
Thursday we had the opportunity to share our adoption story with some precious friends who are starting the adoption process for a child from Ethiopia. Can't wait to share this journey with them! I hope and pray that this adoption thing is catching on:)
Tonight we had a great time with our sweet, sweet friends who welcomed MA and J with a Meet the Haitian Sensations gift card shower. It was a fun time of fellowship while the kids played. We so appreciated everyone who participated in welcoming the new additions to our family. Of course the gift cards will certainly go to good use!
SO that is our week of Peyton Pandemonium...God's blessings continue to flow.

Texas Snow

Well this has truly been a surprise we were not expecting...snow. There are a lot of firsts that I knew we were going to encounter over the next few weeks but never expected this one:) This is one of those times when I wish we spoke the same language so I could really understand what MA and J were saying when they woke up to snow on the ground. It took us a while to gather enough mittens and scarves to dress the crew but once we were finally dressed appropriately we headed outdoors. I think J was trying to imitate the snowball scene from the ELF movie we had seen recently. He does this thing where he thinks I understand what he is saying and he will talk and laugh and carry on. Of course I never let on that I don't I just nod my head, smile and try to guess what conversation we are having. MA enjoyed herself as well laughing and running around the yard. Only small amounts of the cold was all they could handle. Once the snow became wet on their clothes they had had enough. Throughout the day we would venture outside for a few more moments of building memories. In the evening we built a fire and roasted marshmallows for smores. What a perfect snow day. We actually have a sled that I had picked up in Colorado a few years back on one of our ski trips. I wonder if we can find a small hill for day 2 of snow fun!

Shoes? Who needs them anyway.

So we are still trying to work out all the kinks of having a household of 7. I have been organizing and reorganizing trying to make things more efficient. It can take some time just trying to get everyone out the door. This morning was H's morning to go to TAFA for her drama and choir classes. For some reason I thought it started at 10 but in actuality it started at 1o:30. We were rushing around and I asked H to start getting the kids loaded in the car. It is pouring down rain so that was going to slow us down a bit. We finally get on the road and are about 2 miles from the house when C announces that he doesn't have shoes. Seriously? How could he get from the house to the car with no shoes? Apparently H carried him but forgot to tell me I needed to grab him shoes. I am just glad we figured it out before we got to the school:)

This must be the day for shoe stories because the funniest thing happened at Wal-Mart this afternoon. I had the 4 younger kids with me to do some grocery shopping (that is another story in itself). We had finished up the shopping and headed to the check-out. I noticed while we were unloading the cart that C had taken off his socks and shoes. He managed to put his socks on but was struggling to get the shoes put back on. I looked at MA and in the broken Kreyol- fragmented English- hand gesturing thing that we have been doing I asked her if she would help C put his shoes on . Guess I still need to work on it because the next thing I know I turn back around and MA is taking off her shoes and telling J to do the same thing. They are both standing at the check-out in sock feet bewildered as to why I would ask them to do such a thing. I am sure they are thinking that about A LOT of things that we do!