Organized...and it only took 7 years!

Who better to get advice from than someone who deals with “multiples” on a daily basis,  although a little bit of a different setting.  My friend, Karen Egbert, is a preschool teacher and  was Maverick’s preschool teacher.  She also became one of my clients and I totally miss doing her hair! She taught me some GREAT things about organizing and educating for little ones.  I was one of those mom's, (ha, like its in the "past" tense, I still "am" one of those mom's), who kept every piece of paper your child ever scribbled on.  See,  I always had this "vision" that I would have these perfectly planned, color-coordinated to every detail, journaled scrapbooks of my kids... right?  Well, in a perfect world, I believe I would have, lol, BUT as it seems, my perfect world is perfectly imperfect and I'm okay with that :).  So, now that I have accepted and come down to reality... it was time to quit waiting for the perfect time to get my perfect scrapbooks done and just get down to business!!! I called Karen, because she is one of the most organized people I know and asked her to help me figure out what I should keep and not keep.  That's always my dilemma.  So, I drug out my boxes and boxes, yep, all 7 years of "stuff" of Maverick's to be organized. 

Here were some of her tips: 

3" binders & Box of Page Protectors  

Okay, now before, I continue one, I just want to interject that I know maybe there are a lot of people who have thought to do it like this before, and it is very simple....but, in my defense, I could never get past the whole "perfectly planned pretty little books!!!" So, cut me a little slack when you find out how simple and easy this was and I should or could have done this, yep, about 7 years ago, and maybe if you are one of those mom's like I am, then it can help you too!

So, back to the tips:

First, drag out all of that stuff you've been hiding in all the drawers and closets that takes up valuable space, yep, ALL of it!!!

Next, sort out according to grade level.  And, EDIT!!! (and eat and drink too)

Here is a sort of guide to help you decide what stays vs. what goes: 

Glue & Stick Cut Out:    Throw out

Coloring Pages:             Keep a few from beginning of the year and a few from the end of the year. 

If they Created It, Wrote It, or Made It........KEEP IT!

 Felt sooo good to get rid of some stuff!!! 

Then, Sort and Edit Again...

Put into Page Protectors into Binder, Add Title to Binder, & Put Away!!! All Done!!!

Then, when you are caught up to present, keep that notebook handy and everyday sort through what papers to keep and what to throw out, put in binder... All Done!!!

Can you believe all of that fit into these?  Why did I wait so long???

I put all of the stuff that Maverick made before he started school in the "other stuff" binder, so eventually I may be able to scrapbook, or even finish his baby book,  because I now have everything in one place!!!


Karen did this for all four of her kids, here is a pic of here highly organized, "real" person closet where she stores it for them.

Now, I just have to start one for each of the babies....just when I thought I was getting ahead of the game....Reality sets in.....again x 4 !!!

POOP!!!

Can I just please say, that POOP, is THE "four" letter word that I really would like to wipe out (oh, umm, maybe "wipe" is not the right word...), anyways, as I was saying, to totally erase from our vocabulary.  So, another day of "beautifulness" (completely sarcastic, of course), I had the fine privelege of, for the 2nd time in my mom history, not only STICKING my fingers in the big P (which actually I have done MANY a time), BUT, picking it up off of the floor as it came down through Max's pant leg out of his diaper!!! Now, I have dealt with some pretty gross stuff with all these chillins, but really??? Did it HAVE to actually go down his pants, out of the diaper, into my hands, and onto the floor, reaaallly??? Let me fill you in on a little secret, that only my aunt, who had the privelege of being with me at the time, knows,  that happened with Maverick, when he was little. Here's a run-down of the day...(that I remember like yesterday...i.e., because of the P word, when Mav was about 2),  swim lessons with the 'lil' swimmer's they wear for a diaper in the water, and me forgetting to refill the diaper bag, nice, right? So, I get a call from my aunt, "hey, let's go to lunch", me, "sure, sounds great!".  We go to Red Lobster.  I was thinking, of course, well, I do have another lil' swimmer, that should work fine, I mean, it's just lunch, like maybe an hour or so.  I kind of hate it when I just "figure" something will work out, and find out that I was totally wrong in my "figuring".  So, we sit down, waiting for the bread, of course, because Maverick NEEDS the bread before he can enjoy sitting in his high chair and before, I can enjoy visiting with my aunt. Well, pretty soon, I look at something peculiar in his high chair, then, it "plops" to the floor, kind of in a slow motion way....  Not once, did I think it could be the big P.  I am thinking, weird, what is that??? So, I, lean over to pick it up with a napkin, and as I do that, leaning with my head, near the high chair.... can you picture this??? Of course, I can "smell" now, what it is I have just tried to pick up in a napkin as I am going into complete panic mode,  and ummm, yeah, pick  up this  "beautiful little baby boy, my firstborn, my darling, who would NEVER do such a thing to his mommy when she just wants to get out for a while and enjoy the day.....and he is dripping, yeesss, dripping P out of his lil' swimmer, onto the high chair and onto the floor.... We had to RUN with him to Target, which thank goodness was in the same parking lot as the restaraunt, with P dropping and plopping in the parking lot... yep, I said it, to the ground as we run and I get him in the bathroom, my aunt goes to get diapers and well, rinsing him off in the sink etc., etc., etc., getting him cleaned up, new clothes, ripping the tags off in Target.  He left, sweet smelling and with new duds on. Me??? I left completely, absolutely TRAUMATIZED!!! Like I said, I remember it like it was yesterday!  Let's just say, I have an aversion to such situations, but don't have the luxury of walking away from it unscathed or untraumatized, just now, it will be 4 X the traumatizing!!!  So, I GRIN and BEAR it,  in my fingernails and all, and clean those babies up and love them all the more!!! And... in case you ever thought "not" to wash the high chair that you sit your baby in at a restaraunt....I would seriously think again!!! Wash that baby down!!!! You have NO idea what could have happened in that chair!!!

Now, the reason I even bring this subjct up is, yep, all four kiddos have the Big P in a big way right now. Let's hope it clears up fast, I can't hold my breath that many times during the day and, oh wait, I actually need to say, "we", because Ruth, (oh, Ruth, Ruth, Ruth, thank goodness for her) because she has to deal with it too, but we might lose more brain cells than we have to lose trying to not breathe for most of the day.  So, of course with that, I want to let you know, I will NOT be posting any pictures of the Big P, but I will post a pic of each of the kids, their recent ones, as I just realized, I haven't put one pic on my new blog yet! 

There will be a lot of going back and forth on this blog as I am able to go through more of my pics and stories of the kids, so some may come from the past and some may be present, it all depends on the day!  (I'm sure someday my kids will think, "wow, mom, what a nice way to introduce us to the world, with the headline being "poop"! They'll understand.....someday... :)

Next post will be "proper" intros to the kiddos and then one on organizing all that "paper' stuff that we never know what to do with! I had an "osum" (that's how Mav's spelled it) resource and I will share her with you soon,  but for now, here is our family pic!
 

Finally!!! My first blog post!

Wow, that took a long time!!! Been working on getting this done for months! Now, that it's here, I have to say, I am a bit nervous as to how I am going to begin....but here goes~ Welcome to our CRAZY life, which I have decided to EMBRACE the craziness, as the most Beautiful part of my life, and why I settled on "Beautiful Chaos" for a title...

I have been married for 13 years to my very best friend. We have FIVE kids....(still can't believe it myself!)

From 1 to 5 in 29.2 weeks:   We have our small, dark, and handsome, Maverick, who is 7 years old. So much love for that boy!!! Then....(hear the drum roll???...) We have QUADS, not the four-wheeler kind either... Quadruplet babes, born December 30, 2009 at 29.2 weeks.  Three boys and One Sassy girl! They just turned 1 year from their estimated due date (corrected age) on March 14, 2011. Mia, Racer, Ryder & Max.

We have been through some MAJOR changes in the last couple of years, as you can imagine,  which is why I say my "new"life. I can't say exactly why I'm compelled to share this part of our lives on such a public level, but its a journey I have been on for a while now, especially since with the Q's, now, things are a little more "out there" for people to see, and I think it's a good way to organize my thoughts and remember what goes on in our day to day life, since I can't seem to remember what happened 5 minutes ago sometimes! It's good therapy I think too!

My husband, Patrick, is my greatest support and he's on board with the whole "blog" thing, as long as it, for the most part, stays away from him as a topic. Sooo, okay babe, I will try...

So, the little stuff is, I am, or was but sometimes still am, a hairdresser before the news of the Q's came along. I totally miss seeing my clients and doin' their do's!!! And, I do medical transcription, (20 years now) which allows me to work from home...TOTAL BLESSING!!!

And, to run the everyday chaos in our lives, I have HELP!!! Thanks, BEYOND MEASURE, to my husband's company, Perfect Blend,  John & Rebecca, Dan & Karen, and the whole team...We could NEVER give you enough thanks for allowing us to have daytime help with these chillin's!!! I don't think anyone would ever be able to uncover us from the laundry pile if I had to keep up with it on my own! Yep, we would definitely be counted MISSING at some point! Ruth, is our livesaver during the day! She is awesome and NO, no-one else can have her!!! So, after you know how good she is, don't be looking to tempt her away from us, we will NOT let her go! ( Might sound like I'm joking, but I'm pretty much not! )

Things I LOVE: You know the "givens", of course,  but then...

I love to SNUGGLE my kiddos and watch movies with my "'main squeeze"...I LOVE date-night with the babe even if its at home after 8:00, when all the kiddos are down. I love hanging out with the girls, getting pedis, coffee, & "doing lunch".  I love for EVERYONE to get along and have a GREAT time together.  I love people who are "real" and stick around for the good times and the bad.  I  am a total "fancy nancy" at heart. I believe that almost EVERYTHING can be prettier and fancier, even very simple things can have a little sparkle.  I love love love to take a bath, have a glass of wine, and read.  I am a closet Party Planner, Singer, Traveler, Interior Designer, Author, Counselor, Teacher,  Marathon Runner (for those of you who know me, don't laugh), would love to be fluent in Spanish & French, and be a photographer, although, sadly, I seriously lack any talent in that area, bummer. And I would LOVE to travel to another country from 1-6 months out of a year and help people learn about the Bible and for the experience with and for my children. 

I have probably 10,000 ideas going on in my head almost at all times!!! I hope to use this blog as an outlet for all the ideas and things I would like to share with people and a place to learn from other people too.

So, yes, I am a DREAMER!!! My lists could go on and on,  REALITY, though,  is that I can't do it ALL, but I CAN do SOME of it and THAT makes me happy!  I TRY to be content and feel blessed every day, EVEN, amidst 4 screaming babies (good thing they're so darn cute), and a 7-year-old who is too smart for his own good! I've learned to look at things differently and laugh at things I didn't think I could...I hope to always grow and change and learn from my experiences and from other people....so this is my take on a modern day family, MY modern day family, with all of the Beautiful Chaos that goes along with it!