Mommy of Many®

This afternoon I was able to get a little Mommy n Me Time with Lex and after lunch, we went to the park. After he explored the equipment, he started stalking the pigeons. I don’t mean chasing them…I mean stalking them! He was s-lo-w-l-y creeping up on them and got very close to one before they all flew off. He stomped his foot and swung his arm in disappointment. He said he was trying to catch one. I asked him what he would’ve done with it if he HAD caught it. He said, “cook it for dinner”.

Boy am I glad he didn’t catch it!

I have NO desire to look up recipes for “fresh pigeon”.

Doing the Dance of the Children and REALLY enjoying my 4 yr old~

Orange juice! Yum!

The great people at Smile.ly contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in reviewing Florida’s Natural® brand orange juice. Yes!

I received a voucher for the price of a carton of juice and headed to the store. I purchased an extra carton, knowing the kids were going to make short work of the one.

I thought it was great-not too sweet, full of pulp (I chose the juice with pulp, knowing that the kids and I prefer it to the juice without pulp) and a great addition to my breakfast!

I asked the kids to join in the review. My 15 yr old said she really liked the amount of pulp and that it tasted like fresh oranges. Then she asked me to go buy more

My 17 yr old said it was really good and not sugary.

There you have it-Florida’s Natural® orange juice was happily tested and reviewed in the Lang house.

We recommend it!

See?! Good things!

Today the 1st of my recipe videos was posted. Mommy of Many is getting more user friendly and fun. Be on the lookout for more new tabs. I’m excited to share it all with you!

Please check out the video and let me know what you think. I’d love your suggestions and to hear what you’d like. More quick, easy and yummy recipes are coming soon!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Sharing Some Good Stuff~

For the last 3 weeks I’ve been doing my best to trust that everything happens for a reason and that everything always turns out just fine.

This morning I got confirmation of that belief. We are once again, securely, in this house until the end of the school year! I’m pretty sure you all heard my sigh of relief.

Thank you for all the prayers, encouragement and love over these last 3 weeks! Thank you!

Now to get my head back into all that happens each day! I can hear the music again and am looking forward to Doing the Dance of the Children with a Clear Mind.

President’s Day-Whoo Hoo! An extra day off. A day to stay home and tackle some undone tasks. A day to take the lil kiddos on a walk and enjoy some leisurely time with Mom. A day to cook a big breakfast and clean up the kitchen afterward without the rush of the regular routine.

Ha!

I woke to Lex’s sweet lil voice, asking me to come to the kitchen and give him something to eat while I make my coffee. I crawled out of bed and headed into the kitchen with him on my hip, when I remembered I was out of coffee beans. Ok, a perfect chance for he and I to grab some Mommy N Me time and go to Starbucks, get coffee and hot chocolate, buy the beans and make a quick trip through the grocery store and still be back to make that breakfast for the rest of the kiddos.

By 7:30 we were home, groceries unloaded and breakfast cooking. However, I had to threaten the kiddos to stay out of the cereal and to just be patient enough to let the breakfast cook. 3 time outs where given and 3 apologies to siblings distributed. Not the way I was hoping the morning to go! By 9:15 I was in the car and off to deliver some papers that HAD to get where they were needed THIS morning. Oh yeah, then back home to grab the ink cartridges to be refilled at Costco. Geesh! Why hadn’t I remembered to grab them when I was heading out? I delivered the cartridges and then wandered the warehouse for an hour while I waited. Once they were done it was time to dash home, get the printer working so that one of my High Schoolers could get a project done. It was then that we realized it would be better to upload the MANY pics to Costco and let them do the printing.

Now that I’ve sent off that order, I realize that the whole day is spoken for. It’s one more trip to Costco, then off to an appt. for 2 of the older girls, a pick up at the mall of one of the girls and her friend. By then it will be time to make dinner.

So much for my day off. Geesh!

Well, I guess it’s good that I had the day to get all of that done. Sometime I sure would like to take that walk!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

For all those wondering how my Wednesday Morning tactic worked…

We have been out the door, on time the 2 days since.

THAT, my friends, is parenting in action!

Make no mistake, my girls are still not happy with me. However, they take seriously that I WILL be leaving at 7am, no matter how much they complain about it.

I will take this little step forward and tuck it away to draw from. Parenting successfully takes persistence, consistency, strength and the knowledge that you WILL be facing much anger and adversity. The light at the end of the tunnel is that they too will become adults and possibly parents and will someday see the method to your madness.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Calling for Back Up~

This Morning…sometimes you have to risk seeming insane to get your point across…especially when dealing with kids (teens in particular). So here’s my story. I hope you find my point.

It’s a school day. This means there’s a very specific routine that’s been set in place to make everyone and everything successful. When the kids refuse to follow the schedule and routine, everything gets mucky and we end up forgetting things and being late. I’m up at 4 to get the lunches packed, laundry going, dinner in to the crock pot, shower, get dressed, check the computer and then get the kids up and going. I wake the older girls at 5:30 and the 4 younger kids at 6am.

Lately it seems that the kids are refusing to get up when I come in to wake them. Over and over I’m going into their rooms and having to demand that they get up and ready so that we can be out the door by 7, drive up to the high school and then back to the kids’ school where I work. Traffic can get tricky if we leave later, throwing the entire morning off.

Today I decided I’d had enough! After doing all I do each morning and even taking the time to make smoothies and pop waffles into the toaster, I NEEDED to get dressed and have a little help with the little kids. I gave a 15 minute warning. Then I gave a 10 minute morning. Finally I gave a 3 minute warning. When 7am rolled around, I grabbed my bags and my keys, said goodbye to the kids and walked out the door. That’s right, I left! Since I didn’t have to drive up to the high school, I went through the Starbucks drive thru. Mariah called and asked me if I knew where the keys to the van were so that their uncle could come use the van to get them to school. I realized that I had all the keys with me. Drat! This meant I had to go back. So, I headed back to drop off the keys. The older girls had gotten the younger ones ready, so I took them in my car to school and left the older girls to get a ride.

There was FURY and disbelief in their voices and their words! They couldn’t believe how crazy I was to do such a thing! They declared that I was the stupidest and worst mother EVER! They shook their heads and muttered.

Lesson learned? I hope so!

I have spent nearly 22 years raising children and running an ever-growing, every-changing household. I’ve got it down pretty good. Now, to convince everyone that I know what the heck I’m doing! The schedule it VITAL! I’m dealing with a lot of people and a lot of demands and so far, I’ve kept it running smoothly. I can’t let the ideas of lagging teens start to unravel all I’ve worked so hard to make happen.

Madness? Maybe.

Doing the Dance of the Children…Dang it!

I was in Costco with my 3 youngest this afternoon. They had all sorts of opinions about what to buy and not buy. They were quite sure we needed Tempura-battered, butterfly shrimp. They also had strong feelings about the huge box of individual chip bags. But the best was when we got to the last frozen foods isle. They spotted the bags of frozen berries. Max, 8yrs, threw open the freezer and grabbed a bag and pleaded, “can we PLEASE buy these and make smoothies in the morning? Oh! And wafffles?! Can we PLEASE be like normal kids and have smoothies and waffles for breakfast?” I couldn’t help but ask…

Me-”normal?”

Max-”Yes! Normal kids. You know, all the kids that don’t have Mommy of Many for their mom.”

Guess what the kiddos of M.O.M. are having for breakfast tomorrow morning. You guessed it! If you’re craving smoothies and waffles, the door’s open.

Doing the Dance of the Children…Normal Children~

My 11 yr old has taken a sudden interest in the Bible. He’s been carrying a Bible around and reading it in all his free moments. The other morning he called me into the kitchen and asked who Noe is in the Bible.

Lex, my 4 year old, was standing near by and piped in before I could say much of anything. He looked at his brother and very firmly said, “It was Noah’s nickname. Noe-Noah!”.

Well there you have it!

Anyone have any questions needing to be answered? Never fear! Just send them over here and I’ll be sure to let Lex get right to the answer.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Loving the Window Into My 4 yr Old’s Mind~

There was tons of prep work to make this day happen, but it was worth it! Everything was so cute! Here’s a little glimpse into Valentines Day in Preschool-

One of the moms sent in these adorable Love Bugs

They were so cute and super yummy!

The same mom sent in this great, Dirt Bowl.

We had LOTS of cute cookies. Most of the kids opted to eat 1 and bring the others home in baggies. There was SO much sugar!

Everyone decorated their bags. These are mine and Ms. Allie’s. One of the things I have the most fun with is joining in the crafts. Ask my own kiddos, I’ve always enjoyed decorating things for the various holidays. Working in preschool feeds that!

All the kids’ bags, waiting for the fun to start. One boy brought a box he’d decorated at home. They were all so cute.

Lex, dressed for Valentine’s Day and enjoying the fun with his class.

Happy Valentine’s Day to All. It was fun and full of sweet things over here.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Enjoying the Fun~

As usual, it was a full day over here.

There was a little housework, a haircut, 2 visits to the bank, 2 visits to Big O tires, cleaning the boy’s room, a visit to the day spa where Mariah and Gabi were getting their nails done-Mariah decided to treat Gabi to some little Sister Time and have her tag along and get her nails done while Mariah had her own done for Formal tonight (I love it when the bigger kids think about ways to make the little ones feel special!), 2 trips to the mall to drop off and then pick up Maddi and Anna who met up with friends for a movie, filling out of Valentines for Tristan, Max, Gabi and Lex and, of course, there was the regular, everyday stuff-like laundry, dishes, cooking and disciplining. Somehow I managed to get 2 boxes packed. 2…I know, doesn’t sound like much, but it’s what I could manage.

Mariah looked beautiful (as always) for her Formal tonight. I hope she has fun! I’ll be reading and keeping an eye on the clock and the door until she gets back.

At the end of this full day I tucked Max into bed. He looked up at me and said-”Mom, no matter how fast or slow you go, you always manage to get the job done”.

Well, there you have it-my gold star for the day!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

I think everyday should be a day that includes chocolate. But, today I kept unwrapping these little Dove Dark Chocolate pieces because every little message of encouragement seemed to be written just for me! How often can you say that your chocolate gives you strength?!

Here are 5 little bits of encouragement that women sent into Dove for reasons of their own, that ended up touching me-

L-”We’re in this together”, R-”Strength comes from within”

Top L-”The blessing is in the journey”, Top R-”The future is yours. Grab it!”, Bottom-”Be strong! The cure is near” (we all need to be cured of our own various ailments!)

Good Stuff~

You will notice some changes on the site and probably a few things that don’t seem right. Mommy of Many® is under construction! Some new things are on their way.

Please excuse any oddities for the time being.

Doing the Dance of the Children With a New Pair of Shoes~

*smiling*

Lex(4) and I were on the way home from work/school and Hit Me With Your Best Shot came on the radio. When we pulled up to the house, he says, “Mom, I know why that cookie’s tough.” After thinking for a second, I realized he was referring to the song.

I said, “oh, the song! Ok, why’s the cookie tough?”

Lex-”They cooked it too long.”

Yes!

Kids-Always ready to put a smile on your face!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Remembering to Always Put the Timer on the Cookies~

P.S. it was brought to my attention that even though Joan Jett covered this song, that it should be billed as a Pat Benatar song. SO, the title of the post has been changed to reflect this. Done~

I’ve recently been going through some personal challenges and it’s caused me to become more quiet on the blog and most certainly in my podcast. Some days I just can’t find the energy to pick apart my day and find something blog-worthy. As for the show, I felt strongly that going through personal challenges, whether I’m talking about them or not, would come out in my voice. So, I find myself going silent from time to time.

It’s time to be a little less silent.

I’m not a big believer in laying out great personal detail in a public forum, so I won’t be doing that. But I am a believer in letting people know what you need. From time to time I’ve spoken up and let people know when I’m stressed over the tight budget or not being able to get 5 kids to 5 different places at the same time and beautiful people have stepped forward and said, “I can help with that”. So, instead of being stressed in silence, it’s time to tell you what’s on my mind and ask for prayers and good thoughts to be sent my way.

Very suddenly I find myself in a position where I need a place to stay for the rest of the school year. The very best situation (of course), would be to have a house that’s somewhat near to where I’m currently living, so that the kids can easily finish out the school year. After the school year is over, decisions on what’s affordable and where, will have to be made. As you can imagine, this has been weighing heavily on me and I think it’s just going to be better to talk about it.

We’ve lived in this neighborhood for over 11 yrs and in this house for the last 9. When Clay retired, we all knew the time here would be coming to an end, but we had an agreement to stay in this house until the kids finished out the school year. Now that agreement has been broken and it’s just become a great provider of stress. I’m trying hard to keep things rolling smoothly, while trying to figure out what to do.

Prayers, good thoughts and ideas are most welcome!

Doing the Dance of the Children~