Monsters vs...

(my brood minus 1)

I went to a new doctor Monday and the nurse was asking about my medical history. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I had 7 pregnancies (2 miscarriages) and 5 kids. She was absolutely flabbergasted. She said, "How did you go through that many pregnancies? I did two and they were so hard!" I told her mine weren't easy either, but the reward at the end of the pregnancy is worth it! She said, "Well I guess so (with very little conviction)..mine are MONSTERS!" Hmmm...didn't really know what to say to that.

I tried to talk positively to her about being a Mom, but she was pretty negative about it. So I went on my way. Today I went back to have blood drawn. It took a while for her to find my veins so we had a while to talk. She started asking me about how I get my kids to get along, help out around the house and how I can stand to be home all day with them. By the end of our conversation I think I got her thinking about some things. It was a great conversation about motherhood.

I am such an imperfect mother, I am not an expert on ANYTHING when it comes to being a Mom. But I do LOVE being a Mommy to my brood and feel a sense of responsibility to pass my love of being a Mom along. I think too many times the attitude in society is that kids are a burden and inconvenience who are only meant to be endured. I want to pass along the joy my kids bring me, in spite of the fighting, the messes, the lack of sleep etc. They are totally and completely worth every inconvenience that comes along with them! They make me a better person and make me smile each and every day!

Luckiest kids in the world....

Today we went to the park for a picnic and to let the kids play in the water. We had a great time together. At the splash pad there were a bunch of kids playing and the adults were sitting on benches watching.....

But not my husband.....I was playing at another part of the park with my daughter and I looked over and there was my husband right in the middle of the splash pad. He wore his swimsuit so he could play with the kids. He was running and splashing and laughing...my biggest kid. It made me smile....as it did the other adults watching him. My kids are so lucky to have an involved Daddy who genuinely LOVES to be with them and to play with them.

No need for a lengthy Father's Day tribute to him, his actions speak for themselves. He could seriously give lessons on being a great Dad! I am so blessed to have him, it is much easier to be a good Mommy when I have him as my partner in this parenting business!

(Great article on Fathers HERE)

Perfection vs happiness...

We had a nearly perfect weekend together as a family. We didn't do anything major, we cleaned the house together, ran to Costco, husband and I had a date night, two of my kids pooled their $$ and bought a guinea pig (named Rascal) and we went swimming at the local family pool.

At the pool, we chose our spot to plop our gear down and then I noticed "HER" right next to us. A woman with the "perfect" body (obviously EXTREMELY surgically enhanced....if someone chooses to do that it is up to them....but please save the itsy bitsy bikini that covers barely anything for the adult pool thanks!). She was strutting her stuff and obviously quite proud of her body. In fact my 6 year old noticed her right away (in fact I think his jaw dropped) and pointed and asked why her swimsuit wasn't modest and why she wasn't covering those "things".

There I sat with my very squishy baby producing body and I started to feel self-conscious and did the ever so popular game of comparing my weaknesses with her "strengths". I was feeling a bit down on myself.

And then it happened. I had a very profound experience right there at the public pool with hundreds of people surrounding me. I was holding my 1 year old who was done with swimming and was drinking a bottle very sleepily. I looked down at his sweet face and sweaty curls, I then looked out at the kiddie pool where my husband was catching my darling 3 yr old daughter over and over and over again as she jumped off the side and squealed with joy every time she did so. I looked over to my 3 older boys who were playing tag in the pool and having so much fun together. I had such a strong sense of gratitude and knew I am just where I am supposed to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing at this time in my life. And for that knowledge I am so grateful..sometimes I just need that little reminder.

Clean...schmeen

I walked into a neighbor's home the other day. It was perfectly clean, perfectly silent and I reveled in that for about 10 seconds. But then I realized that there was something missing. There was no spirit about it, I looked around and realized there were no family photos on the wall, no artwork, the only thing on the wall was a clock. No children's artwork or achievements displayed...it felt sterile. It was a house, but not a home.

I walked back into my home and absolutely loved the feeling there. It was chaos and messy. It had fingerprints on the door jams, it had crooked family photos, it had lego creations on the table waiting for me to see them. It had love and humor and a definite spirit about it. I LOVED being there and I would take mess over sterile any day of the week!

Yes my home needs to be clean, but I won't sacrifice my relationships or the feeling in my home for sterile!

Burned out....updated

I love being a Mom...it is all I ever wanted to be "when I grew up". I played with dolls till I was 12. Most days I feel like I am living my dream....

However I am burned out. My baby has been sick for over a week...I mean really sick. High fever, not sleeping, totally miserable, cannot console him sick. Double ear infections (viral apparently since the antibiotic isn't doing a darn thing for them), sore throat and a head to toe itchy rash will do it to you I suppose. Now we are quarantined until the rash is gone because they have no idea what it is....a "non-specific" viral rash (is code for we don't know what the heck is wrong with your baby).

I have great sympathy for this darling boy and feel so bad for him.... but I want my happy, busy, charming, baby back (who happens to sleep well when he isn't sick). He just started taking his 1st steps the day or two before he got sick. Since his illness...not a step taken.

I am tired and burned out. And my other kids get out of school this week and are expecting me to entertain them....wonderful.

Okay...I will be back to my normal self who loves being a Mommy soon enough, but for now I just needed a bit of a pity party. Thanks for coming....

Pity Party over....soon you realize that someone else always has a heavier burden than you do. Someone very angelic who is carrying a hard burden brought me some sweet treats tonight just to brighten my day...thank you....you know who you are!

Summertime Fun

I have been reading many blogs with fun ideas for the summer....here are a bunch of links of great ideas!

Saren Loosli's blog

The Girls at eighteen25 this is a really fun blog with easy craft ideas...if I can do them they must be easy!

Families online magazine ideas for teens

Family Fun magazine online one of the few magazines I subscribe to. Such fun and simple ideas!

150 ideas for summer fun

Fun attic.com

From my sis-in-law Heather:

-Make puppets (sock, paper bag, etc) and learn/rehearse a play. Pick their favorite story or something classic like Goldie Locks and the Three Bears. Then perform the play for Dave when he gets home from work.

-If you have a digital camera that the kids can use, send them on a picture scavenger hunt throughout the house. Have a list of things that they need to find and take a picture of that item. For the younger ones the list can be something like this: find something red, something yellow, something long, something tall, something yummy, etc. And for the older kids the list can be more challenging like: find something that reminds you of winter, something yellow & purple, something that stacks, something that moves fast.
Then look at everyone's pictures on the computer together.

-Have a read-a-thon. Make forts, wear pj's, bring out the blankets, pillows and treats.

I have a friend who has some activity planned every day of the week such as:

Monday=stay home and clean

Tuesday=library day

Wednesday=swim day

Thursday=service

Friday=friend play dates

I think we will also do regular field trip days.

Another way to do it is to have a calendar and write something down every day on the calendar from a list generated by the kids/parents

I plan on teaching my kids some new skills this summer such as cooking, laundry and sewing

Here are a few other ideas we came up with:

Make homemade ice cream and have an ice cream party with friends

Snow cone and/or lemonade stand (I plan on buying one of those at home snow cone makers)

Discovery children's museum

Craft Day

Summer Book Club for kids(my friend Cherlynn gave this idea)

Summer reading goal (my older kids is to read 1000 pages this summer....big reward at the end if they reach it)

Bowling

Free movies

Service projects

Make photo albums together

Springs Preserve

Mt Charleston hike

Natural History museum

Railroad museum

Lake Mead

Sew new blankets/pillowcases for them

Visit an old folks home and sing or bring them treats

Any other great ideas?? I am open to them!