Non-standard Measurement for How Long Does It Take to Get to Buffalo?

I could just tell you that it took us 3 days, about 30 hours of driving, and about 2000 miles to get to John's parents' house in Buffalo, but I thought it would be fun to use a few non-standard measurements.

How long did it take us to get to Buffalo, NY?

Approximately 18 rest stops/food stops (with 6 kids that feels like forever). Only one of the rest stops was disgusting. It was in Indiana on a toll road--I thought if that is what they're getting for their toll money, they are getting ripped off.

About 28 Fill-in puzzles and 40 Kakuro puzzles. That's what I did while John drove. For some reason, reading tends to make me car sick after awhile, but doing puzzles doesn't seem to have the same effect.

702 songs on the ipod. Prior to the trip I put all of our music on my new ipod and then when we drove out of the driveway of our house I just hit shuffle. We definitely had a wide variety-anything from classical to Led Zeppelin and lots of kids' stuff and church stuff in between. It was fun to see what would be up next. Definitely the way to go for music on a trip.

10000 oz of Dr. Pepper. I didn't actually keep track but between John and I we drank a lot of it!! (Mostly diet). The girls really enjoyed the Crystal Light packets that I got them for their water bottles. They were a big hit!!

2 nights at hotels. This time we booked ahead and got suites so that there was room for the kids. That also was the way to go. Both nights we got there at about 9 or 10 at night and we didn't have to worry about finding a room. The first place we went was all booked up because of a fishing and hunting expo (popular in Nebraska). We were glad we booked ahead. That room had bunkbeds for the kids in their own little room with a tv and table/chair set. They thought that was awesome!!

134 gallons of gas. The gas prices seemed to go up as we went east. John joked that it was going up a penny a mile. But really they weren't that bad, much better than over $4 a gallon like last summer. And our van got about 15 miles a gallon which isn't bad either.

9 states: Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York

And last of all, 1 Police stop. John got pulled over in Illinois for going 4 mph over the speed limit. The cop approached on my side and made John go back to the car with him while he checked his license. He also asked if all the kids were buckled which they were. The policeman was very nice and only gave John a warning. Our theory was that they were looking for someone in a white van because we were almost pulled over again about 5 minutes later. The first policeman must have called the other guy off. John was forced to drive the speed limit the rest of Illinois.

Warrior Mom Activity

One semester when I was in college I read the book "Warrior Woman" and my roommates and I decided we needed to have a "Warrior Woman" experience to toughen us up. We ended up climbing Mt. Timpanogos and it was one of the funnest things I did in college. It was awesome!!! And after we all felt way tough. So I decided I needed a "Warrior Mom" experience. I packed up all the kids and walked to the library. I carried Adam in the carrier, pushed Ruth, Lily and Emma in the stroller and kept Kate and Mary motivated. It actually wasn't too bad. The hardest part was getting out of the house. The library is about 1/2 mile from our house and it is pretty much a straight shot. The girls had a lot of fun and I did too. They were really good and stayed right with me the whole time. Kate and Mary helped carry all our stuff. They were very helpful. And at the end of the day I felt tough. I am a still a warrior woman. YAH!!

One Great Mother's Day

Mary giving me her gifts after her program.
Mary singing in her program

I know this is late but I had a great mother's day. John got me a laptop to take on my trip. That was awesome and I have loved it. The girls also all made me things at school, cards and nice poems and such. Mary had a special mother's day program at her school. It was very cute. They sang a few songs and then took us back to their classroom to have punch and cookies and give us the presents. And John sent me a very nice card in the mail. It was great and I felt very loved. My family is great!!

Boy Meets Pizza

I think this is a milestone in every boy's life. It actually took place about 3 weeks ago but life has been crazy. Adam is a great eater and will tear into just about anything. It's nice. As you can see, the boy won. There wasn't much left of the pizza in the end.

Mary's Ballet Teacher Tutu

Mary had a career day at school. She chose to dress up as a ballet teacher because, apparently that is her dream career. Unfortunately, we have no dress-up clothes for that profession that fit Mary. She informed me of this the night before. Being an ambitious mom, I decided to try and make her a tutu that she could wear with tights and her swimming suit to make up her costume. I had bought some material a while back to make the girls tutus. Unfortunately the pattern I had looked funny, I thought, so I kind of improvised my own. It turned out Ok, but I didn't use enough material so it wouldn't allow her enough movement, so I cut up the sides to free up the legs. Mary liked it and she looked cute. I'm glad I made it. And John will be pleased to know that I used all materials that I had in the house. I didn't have to buy anything. Yea!!!

Jessica Tag Quilt

I decided to try out making a tag quilt. Adam loves tags. It doesn't matter what stuffed or soft toy you give him. He'll search around until he finds the tag and then chew on that. I'd seen blankets and soft books in the store with tags around them and thought they were a really good idea because I knew that Adam would love them. So one day I thought I'd go buy one for a friend for a baby shower, but then I found out that the blankets were about $30 each. I decided that I could definitely make my own cheaper than that. I don't know if it was cheaper but I enjoyed making it. This one is for my new niece Jessica. I plan to make 3 more almost identical ones. I really like it because I feel like it is both a blanket and a fun toy. The fabric is flannel on one side and soft, furry fleece on the other. The tags are made of different types of ribbon, straps, and fleece scraps. It was really fun to make. I like the challenge of creating something new and this turned out great.

New Ipod

John bought me a new ipod yesterday (for his birthday). It has 120 gig memory. That's a lot. Other than that it is not fancy, but it looks cool. It is black. I loaded all my music on to it and John said that I could put all my pictures on too. Something to do for another day. I'm excited about having it on the trip to Buffalo. That's my favorite part about roadtrips--listening to music as you cruise along and now I will have all the music I own, all contained in my one little ipod. I love it. Thanks John. You are the best husband ever.

Found Money (my writing club entry for the month)

One day, not long after John and I got married, John put on a coat that he hadn’t worn for a while. He stuck his hand in the pocket and pulled out a $20 bill. When I asked him whether he had missed the money when he originally lost it, he said that he hadn’t lost the money. He then explained to me that he often purposely seeded his clothes with money because it was so much fun to find it later. I didn’t really understand this, but I agreed that it was fun to find. I think we ended up going out for dinner. I could understand the beauty of found money. I’d experience it before.

When I was in junior high and high school, I (or really my parents) was forced to pay large sums of money to be able to participate in free public education. However, at the end of the year, if I hadn’t lost any books or incurred any fines, they would give me back a refund. The refund wasn’t much. But by that time, I couldn’t even remember how much I’d originally paid. I was just happy with the found money that my dad would let me keep and use for whatever I wanted.

And then in college I was introduced to book buyback. Again, I’d originally spent quite a bit of money for those textbooks. But at the end of the semester, when I was thoroughly sick of the subject and its books, I was happy to accept a paltry amount for those same books. It was money that wasn’t already dedicated to rent or food—something a little extra to do with as I pleased. You see I had already been schooled in the fine art of found money.

And that brings me to the biggest type of found money: taxes. Now, deep down, I know it was originally my money. But I can’t help being happy when I find out how much I’m getting back each year. Admittedly, I’m in a pretty good place for taxes. I’m not self-employed; in fact, I’m not employed at all. But John’s not self-employed either. We are married, have lots of dependents, and are on the front end of a mortgage. John doesn’t make too much or too little. His employer courteously takes out the taxes each month and I never see the money. I don’t even see the stub because John has direct deposit and is emailed his pay stub. I never miss the money. And, frankly, if I got it every month I’d probably fritter it away on frivolous things like diapers or milk.

But, in January, when the government tells me that I’m entitled to $3000 of my own money back, I can’t help getting excited. I plan big projects like a new play set for my backyard or a new sewing machine. I plan vacations and pay off credit cards. I know I could accomplish the same things with some dedicated saving, but that would take work and discipline, things I’m a little short on. So, call me crazy, but I like taxes, or at least the refunds. And I say, “Hurray for April 15 and all kinds of found money.”

Bed

For some reason lately I've had a hard time going to bed at night. It's not that I'm not tired, all I can think about some days is sleeping. And it's not that I can't get to sleep, because as soon as I lay down, I am usually asleep. It's just that I don't want to go to bed. I think if I could stay up all night and still feel good in the morning, I would. Maybe it is that my house is so quiet and the kids are all in bed. I feel like I finally have all the time to do the thousand things that I can't do all day long. I don't know. Take tonight for instance. At least an hour ago I was ready to go to bed. But instead of going to bed, I sat down to read blogs and update mine. And now it is 12:30 and I know I'll never be able to get up and get the kids to school on time in the morning, and I don't even care. I am going to bed though. But I don't want to.

"Trapped by Girls"

A week or so ago Emma told us that she was "trapped by girls." At the time she was sitting in between Ruth and Lily at the dinner table.

I replied, "That is how daddy feels his whole life."

John said, "At least now I have an escape clause: Adam."

The girls had no idea what he was talking about but I thought it was pretty funny.

The day before I took all of the girls to my parents' house while I went shopping. Adam stayed with John. The bishop saw them leaving for the store and asked what they were doing. John's response was, "Having a little male bonding." Good for John! He deserves it.