What it's like having like a lot of kids...

Hey there,

One famous question is what it's like having so many kid's.. Honestly it's really not that bad. For the most part they have their little group's and they entertain each other. I went from just having my oldest as my only child for 5 year's to having five kid's. I had three under age 2 at one time. If I could survive that.. I'm pretty sure I can have like twenty kids and be just fine. Not that I am having twenty kids now. But honestly it wasn't as bad as so many made it seem. They looked overwhelmed for me. When really I was calm. Remaining calm, sticking to a schedule, and teaching them rules is key. I know that seems impossible at time's, I still feel that way 8 years later. I keep a set bedtime for them during school and even during summer.  I have taught them all the do's and don'ts. We have so many system's in place. Like in public we do the buddy system. Each older girl gets a little girl as their partner. (Mom and Dad keep eye on them all plus the babies.) But they stick together everywhere we go while out and about. All I have to say is "partner up" and they are normally calling out the name of who they want to partner up with. The older girl's know that their partner is always supposed to be next to them. Thing's move more smoothly when they know what is going on and who their partner is. It help's me to have extra eyes and hands helping out. It also teaches the older girl's responsibility. I have also taught them a system where say we are at the park and there are kids running everywhere it's hard to constantly keep track of who's running where. So I'll say loudly.. "All eye's on (insert name)" and every single one of my kid's will stop and look for whoever I shouted for. They will all respond back once they have spotted "all eye's on". It helps amazing when they all know what to do and how to do it in a rapid manner.  People may look at me crazy but at same time it's really helpful and my kids have known how to do it their whole life. Once while chaperoning a field trip another student wondered off. My husband and I each took one of our girl's (two were on trip) and we went seprate ways to do a "All eye's on" and we found her quickly. It was team work and very helpful at time.  It's the little thing's that really make a big difference. We have house rules and we have rules in place for in public. I always have a talk with kids before going to do anything in public or at someone else's house. So they know how thing's will be going. Kid's need rules to follow so they can learn how to act proper for safety purposes and just being a decent person. I know most of the time my kids hate the rules.  But like I tell them, your not supposed to like every single one. They are there for your safety and well being.  You'll thank us one day. But I have teens and they let me know how much they "like" the rules.. NOT. At the end of the day I know all my choices are for them. To protect them and shape them into decent human beings who will one day be parent's themselves.. Start some system's of your own or try out the couple I shared. It work's and consistently doing them will make it a habit for everyone! Enjoy your day! Until next time...

Crystal 

Let's talk dirty.. dirty house that is..

Hey there,

Let's talk about how I keep this house from looking like a fraternity has taken over. I was cleaning everyday all day long and I still felt like the house wasn't close to being clean. To be honest I still have those day's.  So I started doing some research and watching some cleaning video's to find more motivation to keep on top of the mess. Because come on kids are messy.. I eventually came across a cleaning group on Facebook and learned about the Simply clean method by Becky Rapinchuk. I bought the audio book Simply Clean by Becky Rapinchuk and started to listen. That book changed my cleaning life. The book teaches you a new way to clean. How to break things up into certain day's of the week. Monday is bathroom cleaning day. Tuesday is dusting day.  Wednesday is vacuuming day. Thursday is floor washing.  Friday is your catch all day. Saturday you wash all your sheets and towels. Sunday is your free day and you just complete your daily task. Everyday you complete your daily tasks plus that day's task. When you break thing's down into day's it doesn't feel so overwhelming. The book had so much information. There is a 7 day kick start, a 28 day challenge and monthly/quarterly cleaning task. It came with a download pdf file that gave you all the check list for everything in the book. I strongly suggest if you haven't read it or listened to it on audio you invest in the book and give it a shot. Maybe I'll even start a 28 day challenge on my facebook page and you can do it with me. The biggest thing I took away from the book was decluttering and downsizing thing's you don't need. Clutter has so much visual noise that when you see it you feel overwhelmed with it. I declutter everyday. I now throw away or donate thing's that we just don't need. Before I always kept ahold of the nonsense items for whatever reason. It's freeing when you get the hang of decluttering.  I'll attach a photo of the holy cleaning bible of a book because that's how I see it.. it's like my cleaning bible! I am sure I'll have more blogs soon on cleaning but here's my kickstart blog.. So go grab a empty laundry basket take a walk around your house and throw all the thing's that don't belong in that room in the basket.  Take that basket put everything inside where it belongs and if there are thing's you just don't need either toss it or stick it in a donate pile. Do that every single day and you'll start to see a difference in no time. Start decluttering today even if it's just one spot that feels overwhelming. I promise after you'll feel so much better! Happy decluttering my friends! 

Crystal 

Let's get started..

   Hey there,

 I am a stay-at-home-mom of seven amazing children.  I have six beautiful daughter's and one handsome son. I am always being asked the same question.  How do you do it? Well there are so many different answers I could give to that question. It depends on what your actually asking me. How do I handle seven kids? How do I keep track of the chaotic schedules? How do I show them all equal amounts of love? How do I keep the house from looking like a frat party took place? How did I handle being a teen mom? How do I handle being a blended family?  (Yes we are a blended family...  BUT they are all my babies no matter what) The list could honestly go on and on. I decided that I am going to start a blog. My main goal is to share about how I do it. I'll share tricks, crafts, stories, schedules I follow, the ups, the downs,  maybe even a recipe or two and so much more. Who know's where this little adventure will take me. But I feel like I'm being called to share a little piece of this beautiful chaos. I will apologize now  for any spelling or grammar errors that may occur. I am far from a professional writer. I'm just a mom doing the best I can! So please buckle up and enjoy this wild ride! 

Love always

Crystal!