Mommy of Many®

This week’s show is sponsored by Aveeno Baby!

Now that we are in full swing of summer, it’s time to take a look at the budget and the calendar and make sure we can keep the kiddos busy while not breaking the bank! Summertime means extra kiddos at the house and being brought along to events. It also means providing fun and snacks. I offer up a few ideas on keeping everyone happy, while staying on budget.

Thanks to Pilar for sending in this show idea!

Thanks for visiting MommyofMany.com and for listening to the show! You can leave your comments or email me a question or show idea by using the contact button.

Please take a minute to visit our sponsor, Aveeno Baby!

Standard Podcast [ 11:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (292)

It was only days ago that I was telling us all to be flexible and enjoy the days as they come. Today, I am trying to take my own advice. This has been a challenging week and a few bumps were put in my path. So, I’m trying to take a deep breath and remember that I may be behind, but that it will all come together and work out fine. This also means that the show for this week will be here a little later today. I ran into technical difficulties but didn’t know they existed until yesterday. Ignorance is bliss? NO! Ignorance is making me late!

I hope you each have a happy Sunday and that you check back for the show.

P.S. You know what would make it better? That’s right……Rod Stewart tickets! Heh! I feel better just thinkin’ about it!

Whoo Hoo! Tonight I checked in with the “Mother Channel” and went to MommyCast.comand saw that they had done this show to tell everyone about the great shows on the channel. I thought you might all like hearing what they had to say about Mommy of Many and all the other wonderful shows on the channel. Check it out! I’m so excited about the upcoming changes to their site to include a tab for the MommyCast and Friends Family Channel! If you’re interested in other great podcasts, be sure to click around and check them all out! My personal fave?…..Yeah, it’s Technogeekery with Chassy Cat. I love her! Funny and informative! What more could you want?!

Check it out!

Good night~

P.S. not interested in other great podcasts? Ok, fine! Check out Rod Stewart! (too many places to find the wonderman to even include a link!) Just youtube him!

Wow! Yesterday gave me a swift kick in the pants! I usually like to say that I “hover above reality” not letting it get it’s dirty and time-worn hands on me. But there are those times when it grabs my face and screams at me to look it in the eyes. That would be yesterday!

I have been having issues with one of my teens. They are at an age where it’s hard to make good choices because they believe that they are always right and that nothing can happen to them. This is also an age where kids tend to rely on their friends, heavily. The friends are (of course) at the same age and feeling the same way. So, it’s hard to convince anyone that what they are doing might not be the best thing. Couple that with doing this job on my own (while Clay is deployed) and it makes for some rough days.

Ultimately, after much time and effort, things worked out satisfactory enough that I could go to bed. But I’m still feeling the effects this morning. Wow! Kids can really take it out of you. Let’s hope I can go back to hovering. Otherwise, by the time Clay returns, I will have aged 20 years!

Have a good day~

Here is a good example of this dance I do;

This morning I took Arianna and Tristan to the dentist for extractions and fillings (yuck!). While I was there, my sister called and I could hear Gabi and Luke-Xavier crying in the background. Gabi had gotten her knee stuck in the rungs of one of the dining chairs and my assistance was needed. So…..I leave the kids who are having needles stuck into their mouths and teeth removed from their heads and jump into the van to run home and rescue Gabi’s knee. Maggie had an ice pack on Gabi’s knee because it was swelling and had turned red. After trying to pull the rungs apart to release her and having no luck, I decided there was only one thing to do…..I gave it a swift and hearty slam and VOILA! no more stuck knee. Kisses, hugs and wiping away tears and then I jumped back into the van and continued to attend the children at the dentist.

That, my fellow mommies and faithful readers is the Dance!

Good night~

P.S. I can dance to Rod Stewart’s music pretty, darn well, too!

After a long and tiring day, where I was bitten by the “must clean and organize” bug, I decided to unwind and go down to the beach. I hardly EVER do this, which is ridiculous! We live SO close to the beach and I always find a reason not to go. I think I’m afraid that if I go too often that I will give up housekeeping and paperwork and laundry all together and become a beach-bum. It’s really the only reason I can come up with, because the second that I get close enough to smell and feel the change in the air, something comes alive in me! I am completely drawn to the water which might explain why I’m married to a Navy man. I also think it’s in my blood because I am the descendant of Portuguese fishermen. I wish I could bottle the feel I get from seeing the water.

I truly hope that each of you have something in your lives that makes you feel as good as the ocean makes me feel and that you get to enjoy it from time to time!

Good night~

P.S. I must admit that seeing Rod Stewart in concert would SURELY compare to the feeling that the ocean gives me. I just know it!

This week’s show is sponsored by Aveeno Baby!

I learned a valuable lesson this week! I often get so locked into the plan of the day that I can’t enjoy a nice surprise or change of plans. When I realized that I had forgotten to write down plans with one of my sisters I had to decided that visiting with family and enjoying the yard and the kids was more important than well-laid plans. Guess what?…..it all worked out beautifully. With a little flexibility and a big breath, I was able to enjoy my company and still get the things done that had to be done.

Be flexible! It’ll all work out!

Thank you for visiting MommyofMany.com and for listening to the show.

Please take a minute to visit our sponsor, Aveeno Baby!

Standard Podcast [ 8:20 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (449)

A little P.S.-If you HAPPEN to think that dreams are important and that a Mommy of Many and military spouse (of a deployed service member) should have a dream come true AND you can help get Mommy of Many to be able to see Rod Stewart in concert in Irvine, Ca. on August 1st…….for goodness sake!…….use the “contact” link and let’s make it happen!

Wow! Time has really gotten away from me this week! It was the first week of summer and I had set it aside to plow through the paperwork that’s built up over the last couple of months (yes, months!) and to try to catch up on the laundry (“try” being the operative word, here).

Well, the table is still covered in the paperwork that I spread out on Monday. The biggest accomplishment in the paperwork was to fill 2 bags with expired offers and junk mail and to find a stack of odd bills that I need to figure out.

Now, the week’s over and I still feel behind!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday was JJ’s 16th birthday. We had some friends over for water play and cake. His actual present was getting his bike back in working order and joining a gym where he can train Jiu Jitsu and box. Here are a few pics of the fun;

href=’http://www.mommyofmany.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/p6200329.jpg’>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today was beautiful, sunny and hot. So, as we do on most summer days, we took out the water toys and everyone cooled off and enjoyed the yard

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This all leads me to the fact that my show will be posted a little late this week. Check back tomorrow evening or Monday morning (at the latest). I can see that I’m going to need a better schedule for the summer, to ensure I stay on task and on time!

Thank you for visiting and for being forgiving of me falling behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One final note:

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a DEEP love of Rod Stewart’s music. Guess what?…..He’s touring this summer! He’ll be very close to me the 1st of August, sooooooo……let’s all look into the night sky and wish on the first star we see, that Mommy of Many can make it work to go see him!!!!!! And if anyone reading this happens to know how to make dreams come true, don’t hesitate to use the “contact” link on the right of the page (just over there……….). Just think of the good it will do my family to have me SOOOOO happy! The good vibes could easily carry us through until Clay’s deployment is over!

Good night~

(Don’t forget *Mommy of Many LOVES Rod Stewart and wants to go to his Irvine show*)

It’s been a little crazy around here for the last few days. I’ve had some unfinished projects to take care of. I also got to be a part of an interview that I’m SUPER excited about! I’ll tell you more about it when the time draws nearer for it to be heard.

Here are a few pictures of the peaceful things that have kept me sane over the last few days

And some NOT SO peaceful things

Have a great day~

Yesterday was 3 months since Clay left for this deployment. With the kids coming home and the end of the school year, it’s all really flown by. I suppose that it doesn’t hurt that everyone has been healthy and we haven’t had any major issues.

To mark the 3rd month that we’ve made it, my dryer decided to give me trouble! Of course! I realized that a load I had put in the night before was still running! I did a test run and saw that the drum was spinning. Did another test and felt that the clothes were, indeed, getting warm. So, what could be the problem? I pulled the dryer from the wall, took out my lint tool and reached as FAAAARRRRRR into the trap as I could, figuring that there was a lint build up. I did pull out some lint, but not an amount that should have given me trouble. Then I removed the dryer hose and dumped it out and cleaned it with the lint brush. Then I got scared, realizing that the hose goes outside and what if the problem was a mouse that had built a nest inside the hose and was blocking the way!!!??? What if I kept shaking it out, onto the floor and a mouse ran out!!!!???? I squealed and threw the dryer hose. Good strategy, huh?! I gathered my wits, realized that there was, in fact, no living creature in the dryer hose and continued. I was at a loss! I sent JJ outside to check the out-take and handed him the lint brush.

Soon I hear, “Hey Mom! Come here!”

This made me SURE that there MUST be a mouse (getting the picture that I have an extreme rodent fear?). I went out and around and looked at the side of the house.

Hmmm…….could the problem have ANYTHING to do with the fact that the out-take was smashed, flat against the house? Could a certain, bat-loving, banging-on-everything, 5 year-old boy have ANYTHING to do with it? Hmmm……

So, JJ pulled it back into shape and we gave it a test run. Voila! Dry clothes once again. The bonus is that the laundry room got cleaned and the dryer is lint free.

Have a great day!

I’m a planner. I want everything laid out in detail so that I don’t have too many surprises. You can imagine that I have surprises and schedule changes all the time, but I, sort-of, build those in. You know the kind, you’ve sat down to write the budget and the baby gets into something icky and you have to set the budget aside and give him/her a bath. Those, I deal with pretty well. But the other day, I’d planned out the day around work schedules and activities and recording my show. So, I get everyone out the door and get everything set up and my phone rings. The second I looked at my phone I knew I’d made a big mistake. It was one of my sisters and she was at the door. I had TOTALLY forgotten that she had planned to come down to visit! My mind began to race! I was happy that she and my niece were here, but I was frantic about what I was going to do about the show and how my whole plan was blown. I took a big breath and said a little prayer and decided there wasn’t anything I could do. It was my fault for not writing our plans down in my calendar! So, I thought that I better just enjoy this time with family and figure it all out later.

Guess what-It was great! All my fretting and anxiety over my foiled plan-of-the-day were for nothing! I went outside with them and enjoyed the San Diego Saturday. My kids came home and ran around in the yard with their cousin, we made a nice dinner and ultimately, my show still got done.

So Lesson# 7 is; Be Flexible! Don’t get so boxed into your schedule or plans that a nice surprise can’t be enjoyed.

Have a great day~

This week’s show is sponsored by Aveeno Baby!

It was the last week of school which made for a lot of excitement and busy work. I felt challenged when thinking about putting a show together in the midst of all that was going on. We had the added excitement of a family photo shoot for the July issue of Military Spouse magazine. A local photographer and military spouse, Deb Schwedhelm took the pictures and did a fabulous job of getting my kiddos comfortable with the camera! I posted a link to a blog she did about her experience, photographing my family, a couple of days ago. She’s fantastic!

But, even in the middle of a busy week, I knew that we had to find a topic for this week’s show. I thank Jessica for sending in her request for a show on how I handle dinner! If you have a show idea, you can use the contact link on the right side of the page. All ideas are welcome!

Thank you for visiting the site and for listening to the show. Please take a minute to visit our sponsor, Aveeno Baby!

[display podcast]

MOM 34 [ 13:04 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (177)

Every so often a company will have a Military Appreciation event and tonight, it was Chick-fil-A. Dinner was on them, if you showed your military ID. So, I packed up the kiddos and we headed to our local Chick-fil-A location. When we pulled up (3 minutes after the event started) there was a line out the door and around the parking lot. I don’t like lines, so I wasn’t sure if we were going to stay, but they had a great set-up with music and a bouncy house for the kiddos, not to mention their mascot cows working the crowd and employees on the roof throwing cows in parachutes. Who wouldn’t stay?! The line actually went quickly and the kids spent the time in the jumpy while Luke-Xavier and I enjoyed the music ( I wish I could tell you what band was playing because they were great). Employees were walking the line, making sure people were registered and that they knew that there was a tent set up with pre-boxed dinners, if you didn’t mind chips instead of fries. Many people seemed to enjoy getting out of the line and taking advantage of the fast option. My kids wanted fries, so I stayed in line and made it, painlessly, to the front. The guy who took my order did a great job of being kind and patient! This was not easy to do, because my order kept changing. Imagine ordering for 10 people, in the midst of a few hundred, while the kids kept changing their minds! Seriously, Beau….you did great! When the order came out, everything was correct, it was handed to me with a smile AND Chick-fil-A had donated over $50 worth of food!

To all the great people who were working the Sports Arena location tonight, Thank You for showing your support and enthusiasm for our troops and all the families. I appreciated the night off from cooking!

Have a great night~

There’s been a little bit of excitement around here for the last week because we found out about a casting call for military teens/tweens for Military Spouse magazine. So, I sent in pics of my 3 kiddos that fit the qualifications and got word back that they wanted to photograph Mariah. She was so excited! Her photo shoot was this past Saturday and she had a lot of fun with it. We then got word that she was chosen for the cover! We are all so excited for her! BUT……this meant that our WHOLE family (minus Clay because he’s deployed) was to be photographed for the inside of the magazine! This created excitement AND stress for me. I worried about how to dress everyone, how to get them to behave for the photographer and how to keep them all clean and tidy once they were ready. Well, Deb (the photographer) showed up Monday at 6pm to get shots of us outside, in, on and around Clay’s truck. It all went really well. The kids loved the attention and Deb was amazing with them! She’s shared a few shots from that day on her photo blog and I wanted to share the beautiful pics and the kind words that she put up. If you are in the San Diego area and are looking for a great photographer for family pictures or pictures for a special occasion, check out her website and consider having her do your pictures! If she can keep her cool and engage MY family, imagine what she can do with yours!

BTW-the pics and cover are for the July issue of the magazine. Check it out!

Good night~

P.S. sorry about the comments being turned off on the last post. I was finally able to get it fixed. So, go on back and let me know what you were thinking.

I believe that there is an afterlife and that when I die I will be able to have answers to the things that puzzle me while I’m here. So, yesterday in the midst of getting things ready for having some pictures taken, I had to wonder about this;

Why do parents have to use the bathroom? It seems like some sort of flaw in the whole parenting system that we have to, from time-to-time, walk into another room, shut the door and leave the children to their own devices. I know it’s only for a moment sometimes, but whether you’re running in and running out or you’re in there for 3 minutes, what’s going on in the rest of the house is always the same!…….Sheer mayhem!

Let’s take yesterday as an example;
I walked through the kitchen and noticed water, shooting in the air, outside the kitchen window. After a moment of thinking nothing of it, I realized it meant that someone was outside, with the water turned on, shooting it in the air. It ended up being Luke-Xavier. So, I brought him in, turned off the water and shut the door. Then I headed to the bathroom. Mere moments after shutting the door, I could hear Maddi yelling down the hall. So, I ran out of the bathroom to see what the emergency was……..front door thrown open, entry way soaking wet, 4 children outside, 3 of them stripped down to either total nudity or just underwear and the 4th had gone to get the boogie boards!

Seriously! I’m thinking that God overlooked the idea that once you become a parent, you should never again have to use the bathroom.

Have a great day~