Tonight we had ribs for dinner. I only do this about twice a year. It’s a messy job (at least when I’m doing it) and Gabi watched attentively while I spread BBQ sauce over them, put them into the oven and finally pulled them out. I cut a piece off to try the finished product and ended up with sauce all over. Gabi looked at me and said, “Can I lick you when you’re done?”.
I just might try to be a little neater in the future!
Good night~
This week I was able to talk with Kristen McGuire of MySecretIsMine.com. She’s another Mommy of Many, a retired miltary spouse, a published author and a good friend of mine. We got the chance to touch on how she is able to juggle her newsletter, being a mother to 8 kiddos and homeschooling. I hope you enjoy her story!
Thank you for visiting MommyofMany.com!
Click HERE to leave a review for Mommy of Many at iTunes.
It’s Saturday and I’m feverishly Doing the Dance! My big plan was to wake up, take JJ to a job and then work around the house (it’s beginning to look like a war zone and not a home). But my plans rarely seem to work out, these days. It’s just after lunch and I’ve already spent 3 days in the van doing drop-offs and pick-ups. Ok, I’m exaggerating (just a bit), but will I EVER get to the laundry, cleaning the carpet in the front room (because a budding artist took marker to the rug. Really….rug art! I hope it doesn’t catch on!), rearranging the furniture in my room in preparation for a new dresser that’s due to arrive soon or cleaning the playroom so that the little ones can actually find toys and not just a pile of stuff? Yes, everyone has their chores, but if you’re a parent you know that housekeeping goes way beyond daily chores. So, here I am, dancing my legs off…..could someone please turn off the music for the Mexican Hat Dance?
Have a great day~
I warned you! Yesterday I had to go back to the store to replenish the milk and a few other items.
Milk-4 gallons
Cereal-6 boxes
Bagels-2 dozen
Peanut Butter-2 jars
Fruit-various
Bounce Dryer Sheets-1 box
And a couple odds and ends. Bottom line-$75 more spent. Why do I bother budgeting?!
Max poured his own cereal this morning! Linebacker?! Seriously, does any 5 yr. old need THIS much cereal and milk?! He sat there until it was gone.
Have a great day~
So…..my favorite vidcaster…Chassy Cat (Wonderwoman AND Technogenius) was asking for videos awhile back and though I thought of obvious things to submit (you know, singing, dancing and the like), what I actually came up with was an idea on how to use her “One Click Server” idea to help deployed service members and their families keep in touch. So, Luke-Xavier and I sat down and made a little video about it and sent it in. Guess what?! It’s up! Go check out Chassy Cat’s Podcast O’ Technogeekery and watch me and Luke-Xavier in our video debut. And hey, while you’re over there, don’t forget to subscribe to her show. She has some seriously great ideas AND she’s too much fun to watch!
Good night~
P.S. if you came here looking for Rod Stewart info and you feel led astray…..never fear! Just click HERE
Sometimes you just have to look around and say-Life is good!
Over the last week, we’ve been able to enjoy some wonderful invitations from friends. As you can see it’s all about the water and the sun. We’re thankful for good friends and great summer fun!
Have a great day~
It’s been a couple of tough weeks around here and I’ve had to face up to the fact that part of the problem is that I wasn’t taking my own advice. When summer began and the kids came home, I stopped writing the Morning Memo, stopped writing a detailed schedule and didn’t do a very good job of enforcing the chores. I, somehow, thought that everything that I had put into place would just keep running itself. WRONG! So, now I’m picking up the pieces and getting back to business. In letting things slide, I’ve realized that some of my kids’ behavior also slid. Geesh! Everything is connected!
Thanks for listening to the show and for visiting the site. Have a show idea? Use the “contact” button to the right.
Good night~
Today was shopping day. I HATE shopping day! The job is so huge and takes up so much time! There’s GOT to be a better method for grocery shopping. Think about how many times we touch our groceries before we actually use them;
1. Take them off the shelf and put them into the basket
2. Take them out of the basket and put them onto the check out
3. Put them into bags
4. Put the bags into the cart
5. Take bags from cart and put them into the car
6. Take bags out of car and load into kitchen
7. Unload each item from the bag and put it where it belongs
It’s not until the 8th time that you touch an item that you actually use it! Insanity! Try doing that with HUNDREDS of items every two weeks.
Today I went to Trader Joes, Henry’s and Vons. It went something like this;
Trader Joes-45 minutes of shopping and looking for the stuffed fish named Pokey, so that Luke-Xavier could earn a lollypop. Carts full-1, Items purchases-63, $ spent-$179.13
Henry’s-45 minutes of shopping, tasting and removing items from Luke-Xavier’s hands. Carts full-1, Items purchased-many, $ spent-$104.25
Vons-Over 1 hour of shopping. I left Luke-Xavier at home to nap. Carts full-2, $ spent-$391.91
Normally I would go to the commissary, but I am trying to cut down on driving and figured that with coupons and shopping sales, I could break even and still hit Vons. Costco has also been a staple for me, but am skipping it this time around.
So, to recap- Today I spent nearly 3 hours and over $600 on grocery shopping for the next 2 weeks! Hate It! And, I’ve already started the list of forgotten or still needed items. After reviewing my items and my receipts I thought I’d share some of the fun grocery facts with you.
Loaves of bread purchased-7
Bags of frozen “pasta medley”-3
Diapers-1 case, size 5 (really need to get the potty-training going!)
Goodnights-2 sizes and 2 kinds
Cheeses-5 kinds
Gallons of milk-6 (this will have to be supplemented, but there is only so much storage space)
Cans of soup-15
Rolls of TP-12
Rolls of Paper towels-8
Bottles of wine-0 (DANG! Forgot the wine! Putting it on the “still needed list!”)
Bottles of beer-6 (enough to get me through until I buy the wine 
Boxes of cereal-6
Boxes of hot cereal pkgs-4
Boxes of crackers-6
Cookies-2 kinds
Bagels-3 kinds
Cream cheese-2 kinds
Edemame-6 bags
Steaks-6 (kids can share!)
Cantalope-6
Bananas-3 bunches
Applesauce-2 jars
Tortillas-2 pkgs of 30
Alright, I’ll spare you the entire list, but that’s an idea of what is gone through.
As soon as I figure out a better way to shop, I’ll be sure to share.
I hope you each had a great day and Clay, when you read this do me a favor and DON’T add up the totals!
Good night~
*I wonder who does Rod Stewart’s shopping*
Since summer started and my older kids came home, I’ve been trying REALLY hard to listen to their ideas and put them into play. The other day, Kateri suggested we have a beach day and let the kiddos run wild and enjoy the sand and water. We did it and it was (of course) a lot of fun. Well, two days ago, JJ suggested that we have a family bike ride to a big park on the bay that the kids would really like to play at, but that I NEVER go to. It’s so big that I’m always afraid that I’ll lose someone. But, JJ planned out who would watch which little kiddo and that I would pack a lunch and that it would all be tons of fun. Guess what?…..It was! I’m always looking at the beautiful places around us and wishing that there was more time to enjoy them. Thanks to my older kiddos and their great ideas and desire to share something as a family, we’ve been having a great time.
I’m just so glad that after all the years of taking the older kiddos to do fun stuff, that they are here to help me make sure that the little ones get the same experience! I love that it all trickles down like that!
Good night~
*Only 2 weeks to the goodness of the Rod Stewart show. This permagrin is going to leave some serious lines on my face!*
It was a beautiful and sunny day yesterday and we packed up and took advantage of it. We are thankful to great friends who invite us to share in their fun!
He wore himself out to the point of trying to fall asleep in the floaty!
After fun in the sun and water, we came home and made some crafts.
It was a great jump back into our regular summertime routine! I’m hoping for more of the same today!
Have a great day~
Well, it’s been a couple of crazy weeks, as you know, but I am pulling it together and getting back in the groove. It’s amazing how easily things can fall apart when you walk away from the routine. I’ve stopped writing the morning memo and the daily schedule and have been winging it (you know, trying to be flexible) and now I look around and realize how important that structure is in our lives. So, today the morning memo will be up and our day will be planned out. Luckily, it’s an easy schedule to write because we’ve been invited by friends, to come and enjoy their pool. Hmmm…I think I can write that schedule;
Wake up
Eat Breakfast
Get bathing suit on
Leave for pool
Have a great day, away from the house and chores
Eat dinner
Get ready for bed
Yep! Sounds good to me! I am feeling grateful to the wonderful people that are involved with our family. Thanks to everyone who checked in while JJ was ill. He’s feeling better, but still taking it easy.
I hope you each have a great day~
*Rod Stewart update-Sooooo…….I have tickets to see Rod Stewart’s show on August 1st! Very excited! VERY excited! Come with me!
Well, it’s official, there will be no parenting awards given to me any time soon! I have been increasingly off these last weeks and today took the cake.
Maddi has been at a Girl Scout camp since last Sunday. I have it written in my planner. I knew the name of the camp and what she would be doing there. Tomorrow, I planned on being at the pick-up site at 5pm. One problem….pick-up was TODAY! That’s right, today.
And where was I instead of picking my daughter up? Um…..at Bunko! Luckily Kateri was also on the pick-up list and was able to run over and get her. That’s a fine, “Welcome home” for you!
I did, however win $40 at Bunko. Does that make it better?
Good night~
The last few days have been an adventure in mommying. So I thought I’d tell a story.
Saturday morning I packed up my little ones and JJ and went to our church to help get boys who had come into town for a retreat, to their destination. Even though my van is a pain to park sometimes, it sure comes in handy when you want to haul a bunch of people somewhere. So, we got it loaded with boys and gear and drove up and out of San Diego. It was about an hour and 1/2 drive into the countryish, mountainish terrain. Luke-Xavier and Gabi chattered and made noise the whole way. Luke-Xavier has been going through this phase where he says, “poop” after everything. Example; “More pasta. Poop”. We’re long past the stage of telling him to stop or that it’s not nice and now I’m just trying to ignore it. So, we’re on our way to this retreat and I thought it would be a good idea to offer a prayer for a safe journey. So, we quiet the noise in the van down and take a minute to ask for a safe trip and a fun time for the boys. Everyone said, “Amen” and then we hear, “Poop”. Imagine the burst of laughter from a van full of boys at a 2 year old ending his prayer with “poop”! Luke-Xavier was very proud of himself and you could just see on his face that he felt like one of the boys. I think that little charmer is going to give me a run for my money when he’s a little older.
So, we made it up to the camp and I was really thankful for having offered to drive because it was so beautiful. I haven’t really taken any drives in the last couple years. I’m constantly in the car and never really going anywhere!
I drove back up on Tuesday to do the pick-up and get boys back to the church where they would make their way to their planes. When I got to the camp, I was told that JJ had been in pain for the last couple of days and that I should take him to the Dr. to make sure it wasn’t his appendix. You could see by how he was walking that he was in pain. So, we got the boys to the church and I dropped my family off at home (I had loaded up a few more of the kids for the return trip because I wanted them to see how beautiful and peaceful it was) and headed to the ER. 5 hours later…….finally a bed! 2 Drs. came and examined him and felt that it was his appendix and put an order in for a CT scan. Another 5 hours……finally the CT scan. It ended up being inconclusive and still we waited while several more people came by to poke at JJ’s stomach. May I just take a moment to offer a thank you to cell phone makers and Apple for creating the iPod? Seriously, I would have gone mad if not for being able to text people what was going on and being able to listen to some music. I listened to ER Drs. argue with the surgeons about what to do with him. It was an interesting exchange. Finally, after the change of shift, it was agreed that he should be admitted for observation. Sometime around 11:30 we made our way up to pediatrics to a room. All I could do was hope that there was somewhere to lie down. Whew! I was beat! So, JJ endured many more stomach poking episodes. I left him around 1pm to come home to shower and check in. My sister had been with the kids and miraculously, didn’t have to work until 7pm. How the puzzle of my life fits together is always a wonder to behold!
After a shower, I decided to bring the kids over to see JJ. We got there to find out that they were going to feed him and then watch how he dealt with the food and possibly send him home. So, I shuttled the kiddos back to the house and made a quick dinner. In the time I was home, I had 3 friends and neighbors come by to see if there was anything they could do. I swear that I can never leave San Diego! The community of fabulous people that have been put into my life would be impossible to replace. Thank you to everyone who checked on us and offered up assistance!
I went back and agreed to bring JJ home and watch him here. He tolerated the food and has slept well. So, now we just keep our eyes open for any signs of fever, increased pain or nausea.
That’s the adventure of the last couple of days. Whew!
Again, thank you to everyone for your words of encouragement and love. Really, you are all truly appreciated!
Have a great day~
We are just past mid-deployment and I can feel the kids getting antsy. Everyone misses Dad and they are tired of Mom’s rules. I’m a bit tired and worn-down myself. So, nerves are exposed and we are trying hard to work together toward a peaceful and productive household. ~Sigh~ We are not always successful. But, still we try!
I had the privilege of talking with Paige and Gretchen of MommyCast.com for their 4th of July show and wanted to put a link to the show. So, after you’ve listened to this week’s short show, click on over to listen as the MommyCasters ask me about being a military spouse and also interview a single mother with a military career.
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! Thank you for visiting MommyofMany.com and for listening to the show!
The title says it all! It’s been icky around here! I have no umph, energy or drive. Luke-Xavier has a fever that won’t break and my “difficult” teen has been telling me how awful I am. I’ve had it! My gypsy blood is begging me to run with the wind and find somewhere wonderful to be. My “Mommy” soul is telling me that I have to stay here and stick it out. So, here I stay.
The show will be here tonight or tomorrow. Really, you don’t want to hear me right now. Why drag everyone down with me?!
Good vibes appreciated~
