Can Mom's go on strike?

I don't think Mom's who feel under-appreciated can go on strike completely.  They do too much and the family would probably really suffer, however, I think mom's can go on strike from certain things they do.

For example, I am on strike as our family chef.  Yep.  I hate cooking, and the family hates eating what I cook, so I'm just not going to do it for them anymore.  All they ever do is complain about how much they don't like dinner, and refuse to eat it.  Or they force enormous bites into their mouths, start to gag on it, and spit it into the garbage.  No matter how hard I try to make something they'll enjoy, it's always the same.  Honestly, I don't know how most of them are alive with hardly any nutrition.  I'm pretty sick of dealing with the same fight every single night.  They will just have to start scavenging for food.

I'm going to think about myself for once and just make food that I enjoy and not worry about them.  I hope they can survive on cereal, pop tarts and toast.

I feel better already.

Christmas Letter 2012

So I would assume most of you that read my blog have already received my Christmas letter in the mail, but for those that didn't and for my own record, here is 2012's poem.  Merry Christmas!

Sometimes I regret writing a poem,

Way back in 2003,

Back then it was easy.  How would I have known?

How epic 2012 would be.

This year started out with quite a big shock,

Pregnant again without trying,

That’d be number five, if you’re taking stock,

If I said I wasn’t stressed, I’d be lying!

Corbin is eight now and just got baptized,

He’s growing up far too fast,

He’ll be a teenager before we realize,

I hope his awesomeness lasts!

Dexter is five and surprising us all,

He really grew up this year,

The number of tantrums has hit a freefall,

And he’s turned into such a sweet dear!

Ivy is four now and she’s an amazing girl,

Her heart surgery went great,

She loves to dance, sing and twirl,

And she’s the funniest girl in the state!

Echo is a rowdy eighteen month old,

Always keeping us on our toes,

Continually being crazy and bold,

And making messes wherever she goes!

In September our sweet little Malcolm was born,

And promptly gave us a scare,

After a hospital stay, he emerged from the storm,

Healthy and no worse for wear.

In January Scott decided to go back to school,

He started at WGU in the spring,

He takes online classes and feels really cool,

Taking pride in the challenges it brings.

My life’s been a blur these last several years,

There’s more chaos with each passing day,

But my two surgeries are done and my baby is here,

So the chaos is now welcome to stay!

In 2012 we’ve had no regrets,

But we’re happy to show it the door,

So Merry Christmas to you and please don’t forget,

Just what this holiday is for!

Merry Christmas!

Scott, Rochelle, Corbin, Dexter, Ivy, Echo, and Malcolm Brunson

I put my naked butt on the neighbors driveway....

AND THEY SAW IT!!

But let me start from the beginning.

We were up late last night, wrapping Christmas presents and folding laundry, so its no surprise that when the alarm went off at 7:30 this morning, we hit the snooze and slept in.  Suddenly, I awoke to realize it was 8:22 and we had less than a half hour til we had to be out the door.  We rushed to get Corbin ready for school and fed breakfast.  There was not enough time for me to get ready, so I planned to walk Corbin to school in my sweats.  Now, I've been losing some weight, so these particular sweats have become very big, but it shouldn't be an issue for a five minute walk, right?  Wrong.

So anyway, Corbin and I headed out the door about 5 minutes later than usual and tried to hurry.  Dexter usually waves at us out the window while we walk away, so we were both walking backwards to wave at Dexter.

Suddenly something caught the bottom of my pants.....

I started to lose my balance....

Whatever held onto my pants wasn't letting go....

MY PANTS AND GARMENTS CAME DOWN....

OUTSIDE.....

WHILE I WAS IN FRONT OF MY NEIGHBORS HOUSE....

THEN I FELL...

MY NAKED BUTT HIT THEIR DRIVEWAY...

Yes, you read ALL that right.  I struggled to unhook my pants from the metal property marker that was sticking out of the sidewalk and had caught them so that I could pull them up.  Just then I looked to the left and noticed the neighbors garage was open.  I was horrified, but couldn't see anyone and felt slightly relieved.

Then I looked to the right.....

THEIR CAR WAS IN THE STREET WAITING TO PULL INTO THEIR DRIVEWAY....

BUT THEY COULDN'T....

BECAUSE THEIR WAS A STRUGGLING PANTS-DOWN DORK IN THEIR WAY....

Any other time that this could have happened the neighbors would not have witnessed it.  What are the freaking odds!! You know its going to be a bad day when you accidentally moon the neighbor before 9am.  Lesson learned...I'm never wearing my sweats to school again.

Just some random stuff

Do you ever have stuff you'd like to blog about, but it doesn't seem big enough or important enough to take up a whole post?  Here are some of mine.

Ivy is like Malcolm's second mom.  She loves him!  She is always kissing him, telling him its okay when he's sad, holding him, and making him smile.  Its the sweetest thing ever.  They are going to be good friends!

Recently my sister ordered a bunch of hats with beards from me on etsy.  I never made beards before.  It was fun to figure out how to make them work.  Here are some of the finished ones.  Scott thinks they are so ridiculous and doesn't understand why people would wear them.  I think they are funny!

 Did you know I have a picture of each of our previous babies asleep, being held by a sleeping Scott?  Well, I finally got the last one.  So cute!  Something about holding a sleeping baby makes Daddy so sleepy!

Speaking of Scott, He's been going to WGU for about 9 months now.  He's doing very well.  Just before Thanksgiving he passed the hardest class for his degree.  He got a fantastic score on his final, and got a fancy certification to boot.  Way to go superstar Scott!

Malcolm's Blessing

As I mentioned in the previous post, Malcolm was blessed this last weekend.  He looked adorable in his blessing outfit, and of course was a perfect angel during the blessing.  He's such an awesome baby and we are so glad to have him in our family!  Thanks again to everyone who came to the blessing, especially for getting up so freakin' early to be there.  Thank goodness for the new year and a new time for church!

Being eight is SUPER great!

November is always a crazy month for us.  With my birthday, Ivy's birthday, Corbin's birthday and Thanksgiving, it gets overwhelming at times.  This year was extra overwhelming when you add in the fact that I had surgery, we all had stomach flu, Corbin turned eight years old and was baptized on December 1st and little Malcolm was blessed on the 2nd (I realize that the last two events technically happened in December, but preparing for them happened in November, so it counts!).  I'm kind of glad November is over, and I'm really looking forward to a new year!

Anyway, Corbin's birthday was awesome.  It was a Portal themed birthday (that's a video game, for all you people that haven't heard him talk non-stop about it).  He got a portal gun, which he thought was real at first, with a crocheted potato Glados (or Potados if you are Scott), and had a portal cake.  (I'm thinking that a lot of that probably doesn't make sense unless you are familiar with the game, but just go with it, okay.)  He also got a few non-portal things and we had dinner at the Golden Corral.  That probably wasn't the best idea considering I had surgery two days before and by the end of the night I was wishing for death.  But it was fun to watch Corbin eat more food than everyone else combined (I can't believe he can eat so much without throwing up and still be so dang skinny!).

Then this last weekend Corbin was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by Scott.  It was a proud moment for me watching my first born baby boy making such a good choice and setting a good example for his 4 younger siblings who got to watch him be dunked under the water.  It was such a great day.  We had lots of family come for the occasion (and for Malcolm's blessing the next day, but that's a separate post), and had a great time spending the weekend with so many people.  Thanks to everyone who came, especially those of you who drove from very far away.  You are all awesome.