New Header

Well, I changed my title for the website. I thought "Calaway family life" was totally dull. I don't know if this title is right either but I figure I can change it according to how I'm feeling at the moment. So at the moment I'm looking around my office/craft room/ kids art/homework area and seeing a huge mess and lots of unfinished projects. I'm trying to do it all but am falling short. I'm not sure my kids feel that way. I think they are all healthy, hapy children but I know there is always more I could/should do. Mia is still sick and life is at a stand still. My desk and the kids are piled with papers, some that should be scrapbooked or saved, many that are in need of filing or bill paying. Yuck. But this week I have tried to just sit with my kids and do what they want. Although occasionally they've had to pull me away from this computer. What was life without the internet? I know I first used it in college. Where is this post going? Got to get back to life.

Sick!

Well, I guess Mia was kicked out for good reason. Last night she was exhausted during dinner. We did go back to the club to go swimming and she was shivering when we got out. Anyways, I put her to bed just after 7 which is 2 hours early for her. Then she woke up again just after 8pm with a fever of 101.5 and a nice cough. So I guess we won't be going back to the club to workout or swim this weekend and I'm stuck home today. No fun but that is what life is like with 4 kids. Things don't always go as planned out in my head. Hopefully she is better by Sunday so I don't have to figure out the whole staying home from church thing/finding a sub.

Kicked Out!

I finally joined a fitness club after living in Tri cities for 4 1/2 years. I've always wanted to join one but have always thought with all my kids it would be too hard to go or too expensive to pay for the babysitting. But I finally just did it. I will have to be paying too much for babysitting but I am sick of my out of shape body. Hopefully it will be worth it. I signed up for a family membership yesterday so the kids could swim and Collin is old enough to work out in the kids/teen workout room. So today I went to my first aerobic class (a cardio step/sculpt class) since college after checking Mia and Chelsea into babysitting. 30 minutes into class I was really getting a workout and enjoying myself when the babysitter comes to get me. I'm hoping it is about a stinky diaper but no!!! She said I had to come and take Mia out of the playroom because she was too sick to be there. She has a runny nose but so does every other kid her age this time of year. So I had to skip out on the end of my class and take the girls home. I was KICKED OUT! or I guess Mia was. Oh well, I guess I'm going to have to get up and go to the 5:15am class until Mia is better. I hope I make it. I plan to take the kids swimming this afternoon though. I need to do some excercise now since I came home and made m&m cookies for no good reason. At least I can say I haven't had a piece of my kids halloween candy today!

Baby

Rebecca (my twin) finally had her new baby girl yesterday! I can't even imagine going over 5 days but she made it. They named her Taylor Rebecca Gealta. Now she is tied with me with 4 kids each. I think that it will be that way for a while. I have no desire at the moment to have another baby. Cameron is ready but I am definetly not. I want to give all of my kids the same love and attention and I feel like if I had any more right now someone would get neglected. I really want to help out regularly at school but this year it doesn't seem possible. I don't have anyone I'd feel comfortable asking to watch Mia on a weekly basis and I can't take her with me. I've managed to help 2x at Chelsea school on special occasions and I took the little girls to the Farmers Market to meet Morgan's class there. But I'd like to do more and I can't yet. I think for now 4 kids is working. But if I have another one right now I'd never be able to be a room Mom. I want to be involved in my kids life more than I am at school. Well, we'll see what happens.

Pictures!

Here are a few pictures from October. 2 at the pumpkin patch, one from Cameron's bday, one of the kids looking at Gpa and Gmas africa pictures and the one of the 3 kids watching conference.

More

Well, I seem to be officially horrible at this blogging thing. Once a month is not good. I am on the internet everyday so I should sit and do this for a minute. That is my routine most mornings. . . get up, make breakfast, maybe watch a few minutes of the Today show before turning it to cartoons for Mia and Chelsea (after Collin and Morgan head for the bus) and then sit down to check emails etc.

Mom and Dad came to visit us for a week. We went over to Kent, Wa to visit Rebecca and family. We got to go to Christians baptism and see their new home. Then we came back here and waited together (with Mom and Dad) for Rebecca to have her baby. She still hasn't but they headed back again Sunday night to stay with her again and help her get her house put together before that baby (who is late) to finally come. It was nice hanging out with my mom and having her entertain my kids. She read to them and played games and helped with dinner and babysitting.

I refed Morgan's soccer game on Saturday. That was kind of fun but I wouldn't have been able to do it with Mia and Chelsea on the sidelines. Maybe Chelsea but not Mia. She has been clingy recently and hates nursery. Not good. She is talking more and more each week and it is fun to hear her. She loves playing with her babies and pushes them around the house in the strollers alot. She loves shoes though mostly Morg and Chelseas flip flops. I took all four kids and myself to the dentist (Sam) this week and we all are looking great. Minus Morgan (my only kid with any teeth problems). She has another cavity (she had 3 when she was 4) and she got 2 new molars that need sealants. She had sealants on her other teeth but the cavity is inbetween the teeth where you can put sealants. Now I've got to floss her daily. So next week will be an expensive trip to the dentist (self-employed farmers don't get dental insurance). Oh Sam also sanded off Morgan's ugly stain she's had on her tooth since she was 1 yr old (I think it was from her iron meds).

Collin has had to do a report (5 paragraphs on a person, place or animal) every week. He's done great. Better when he is really interested in what he picked to do it on. This week was the Letter G so he chose Grand Coulee Dam. They have been studying dams in school so he really liked this one. Plus I think it goes right along with his love of farming since many of our farms wouldn't have water without the GC dam. Collin is missing his cousins (Corbin and Conner) and doesn't really have any friends around here he likes to play with. He's been a good kid though, going with Cam and discovering that reading for fun isn't so bad. He's read a lot of books since school started. Maybe I should have kept track. But I"m really proud of him.

Chelsea is loving preschool. She goes 4 days a week and it is a lot like what Morg learned in Kindergarten. She has followed in Morgan's footsteps (and mine too) and draws alot. But she is also trying to write alot. Everyday she fills paper with letter all strung out and pretends they are words and sentences. Sometimes she asks me to read her what she wrote. Most of the time their are very few real words hidden in it but it is a start.

Cameron has been busy and stressed. We miss him around here. We have enjoyed the Sundays and snipits of times when he makes it home before the kids go to bed to spend time together.

Mia came in to hug me. Time to get on with being a mom.

Fun Facts

My sister Michelle sent me her blog that has 57 facts about herself. Between that and an email I recieved from Debbie I thought I should fill you in on some perhaps unknown or dumb facts about myself.

1. I have an identical twin sister. We think we look very different now after living apart for over 11 years but people still get very confused looks on their faces when they see us together. I think our voices sound different but some people think they sound the same.
2. I love to take pictures but over the past 4 years since I've had a digital camera I have printed very few. They are lost in cyber world waiting for the day I decide to catch up on my scrapbooking. It will cost me a small fortune when I finally print them all.
3. My parents names are Robert (Bob) and Marilynn and all of my siblings name are R or M also. . . Russell, Melisa, Robynn, Michelle, Ryan, Megan, and Rebecca.
4. Cameron and I also did a pattern with our kids . . . Cameron, Megan, Collin, Morgan, Chelsea and Mia.
5. I love to watch reality TV shows and am very thankful for DVR so that I can get through the silly parts or recaps very quickly.
6. I listen to all kinds of music but since I now have Satalite radio in my car my favorite station is Sirius Hits one which plays the most popular, latest hits at the moment.
7. I love clothes/fashion but stick to the basics. I wear mostly solid T-shirts and jeans.
8. My closet is organized my color, type and all hanging the same direction, everything on my shelf is neatly folded the same way and organized. Since having my 4th child I think my closet hasn't been quite as neat but nothing has been since then.
9. I love hot chocolate and drink it year round. Although since trying to cut back on my treats to loose weight I don't drink that everyday anymore. This summer I hardly had any.
10. I loved going to girls camp and on the trek but we have never taken our kids camping.
11. I have only shared a room with 2 people, Rebecca and Cameron other than 1 semester at Ricks and I can't say I was much of a roommate since I was gone alot (it was while I was engaged to Cameron).
12. I love to decorate but am too cheap or poor to buy the things to make my house look like I really want it to look.
13. Morgan once said when asked what do moms and dads do; "Dads - work and Moms - Shop" I think that is very true in our case. I love to shop. I am lucky I have so many little girls who love to shop also and usually aren't too bad to take along.
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