Silence

For the first time since March 1, 2010 I was ALONE in my own house. It was only for a half hour, but as the song says “Silence is golden!” There is a difference too with no kids in the house rather than when they are napping or down for the night. When they are napping or down for the night I have some time to myself, by we have to still be quiet in fear of waking someone up or having to help someone to the bathroom, or whatever else five little children may need. Today I walked into the house with a basket of clean laundry waiting to be folded, a load ready in the dryer, a load in the washer, and a pile waiting for the washer, there were clean dishes in the dish washer, all our breakfast dishes were needing to be cleaned up, our bed needed to be made, and every room in the house could use some cleaning. Did I do any of it? NOPE! I grabbed a cup of coffee and just sat in the living room. (I only had 30 minutes, I wasn’t going to get that list accomplished in that amount of time, so why even start?) While I was enjoying my coffee WITHOUT INTERUPTION, I heard two clocks ticking. I forgot we even had two clocks that tick. There were no lullabies playing in the back ground. I also noticed a loud ringing sound in my ears. Is that normal? I have been waiting for 5 minutes peace for a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

30 minutes went by too quickly, but I was happy to go get the kids and hear their playful voices in our house again. I love our family of 7 plus a crazy dog. Every once in a while though, that 30 minutes of silence is just enough to refresh and renew me for another week in the life of the Daucsavage Family. I WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!

Halloween 2013

We started celebrating Halloween on Sunday with a birthday party for our friend. It was a busy party with kids and adults all dressed in costumes. (Might as well get a little more use out of our costumes).

Mario, Mickey Mouse, Alligator, Minnie Mouse, Super Mommy, and a Skunk

Delicious Minion Cupcakes

Super Mommy and Wonder Woman

Pumpkin Carving Time!

Oliver really loves his pumpkin.

We read a book this past week that said pumpkins have about 500 seeds in them. Really????? Does that mean I roasted 2500 pumpkin seeds? That seems like a lot!

Trick-or-Treat

Five little monsters in Halloween shirts!

Ready to trick or treat with our friends!

We live in a great neighborhood for trick or treating. Not only is it just the right size for us to go around the loop and we get plenty of candy, but a few houses can just set their candy outside the door and kids help themselves to the treats. We did that this year and it was a wonderful way for us to get rid of all or our summer parade candy that we didn’t want/need anymore. And….I didn’t care if it was all gone when we got back. Actually I was hoping it would be gone when we got home and it was! Trick or treat?

Fridays

In our house we love Fridays, but not for some of the reasons you may think. Don’t get me wrong, we love the last day of the school/work week, pizza night, and movie night, but here we also love it because it is garbage day! Ever since I can remember Taylor has loved watching the garbage man come on Friday mornings and the garbage man always waves at the Taylor. Check out this link to read about Taylor’s love of the garbage man from last year.  http://thedaucs.blogspot.com/2012_08_01_archive.html 

Of course, being ASOM has grown up watching Taylor do this, they too love watching the garbage man come and wave to him every time. I too have come to secretly (maybe not so secretly anymore) love when the garbage man comes. Again, for a different reason than you may think…Living in a three bedroom house with seven people our house seems to be bursting at the seams with toys, clothes, and whatever else that our family acquires. So on garbage day, I LOVE watching the garbage man take away just a little bit of our clutter or junk. For that moment I feel like our house has become a little cleaner and less cluttered, but it doesn’t last long…there is always a corner/closet/room/floor to clean and declutter somewhere. Anyone else feel the same way I do?????

The kids got to check out the garbage truck when we went to the ECFE open house in August. We are now the proud owners of five West Central Sanitation hats which the kids wear to play garbage truck on a weekly basis.

Thank you West Central Sanitation for making Fridays so enjoyable for EVERYONE in our home.

Happy Friday Friends!

School

It’s hard to believe school has been in session for two months now. Taylor is off to a great start. He loves first grade. I think because I taught first grade for 11 years before staying home with the kids, it seems so strange to me that Taylor is now a first grader. He isn’t supposed to be that old yet! After the first week of school Taylor told me, “I think I like first grade a little more than Kindergarten.” Taylor had an awesome year in Kindergarten and LOVED his teacher last year, so I am thinking he was feeling like he was being a little disloyal to his kindergarten teacher by admitting to liking first grade too.

At open house and meeting his new teacher.

Waiting for the bus on the first day of school. I absolutely LOVE the group hug. I have this picture in our kitchen to remind me every day that they really do love each other despite the daily arguments I need to referee.

The day Taylor started school, I started a preschool program with ASOM as well. They are really enjoying their school too. I came across the preschool program on a blog I follow www.motherhoodonadime.com The program is a bible based program called God’s Little Explorers and I am having a blast teaching them. I bought the entire curriculum for $14 (a little cheaper than enrolling the kids in a preschool) and the proceeds go to an orphanage for girls in India. We do school 3-4 days a week for about 30-45 minutes. A bible story and bible song, letter of the week, shape or number, and life skills are just a few of the things we focus on each day. Our sun room is quickly turning into a little classroom with letters, numbers, shapes, calendar, and projects popping up every where.

One of their favorite activities so far, mixing primary colors to make secondary colors.

We hope all of you are enjoying your fall too! I will keep you posted.

Our Adventure to Michigan and Auntie’s Wedding!

On Thursday, August 22 we loaded our suburban with 5 kids, 4 pack-n-plays, suitcases, a cooler, and enough snacks and activities to keep a family of 7 busy for a loooong time. We were headed to Holland, MI to celebrate my sisters marriage to Chad Vanden Bosch. It was our first family of seven road trip other than to the grandparents homes and we were quite unsure of what to expect. At least we were traveling to the wedding with my parents, so we were able to split up the kids. That made a huge difference and Trevor and I agreed that our trip went so well that we would even take a long road trip again. I wonder where we will go on our next big road trip?

Our first picnic in Wisconsin at a rest stop.

The kids were soooooo excited to have their first stay in a hotel. We even had enough room to put all four pack-n-plays up. A bit crowded, but we were able to rest.

Day 2 we stopped at a park on Lake Michigan to have a picnic and check out the lake. The kids thought it was the ocean (a little bit bigger than the lakes around here).

Rehearsal dinner

AUGUST 24 – WEDDING DAY!

Mr. and Mrs. Vanden Bosch

Before we left Holland, MI we checked out the Big Red Lighthouse. Micah kept asking if there was a light keeper in the Lighthouse.

On the way home we were brave enough to take a detour to downtown Chicago. Visited Millennium Park and enjoyed some AWESOME Chicago style pizza. Definitely worth the stop!

We did it! We survived four nights in hotels, five days away, and over 1400 miles. A wonderful memory for our entire family.

We love you Vanden Bosch family! We were so happy to share this day with you!