Mommy of Many®

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks getting everything ready for school and the busy schedule that comes along with the school year. Today’s the big day and all the loose ends are finally tied up. Everyone’s uniforms are in order, new shoes have been purchased, the required school supplies are labeled and packed in bags and backpacks and everyone’s been signed up for sports. Whew! After catching my breath, I realized what a big part many people play in making it all happen for me and the kids.

Being a military spouse and a Mommy of Many means that there are a huge number of variables at play on any given day. With Clay deployed, going to schools or flying crazy hours, making the kids’ schedules happen is my job. Piece by piece it all falls into place. But this couldn’t happen without the many people who step in to fill the gaps.

I really wanted to take a minute and say thank you to the great neighbors, friends, coaches, teachers and fellow moms and dads that make the Lang Clan successful. Without your generosity of time and caring, we wouldn’t be able to make it all happen.

Thank you!

Have a great day~

What a great, full and exhausting weekend! It’s taken me this long to be able to get my bearings enough to even write about it.

I got to start my weekend on Thursday night, by flying up to Washington state to meet up with a good friend, spend the night and then the 2 of us would head to the concert.  I had already had a regular M.O.M. day at home…wake-up @ 4:15, morning routine, took kids to the beach, packed, etc. Now, here I am in another state at 9pm and I’m feeling my second wind!  We started talking, drinking wine and laughing our heads off.  Then we decided a movie was in order.  So…2:30 am rolls around and it’s suddenly time for bed. Yikes!  We spent Friday driving…and driving…and driving some more.  We finally got checked into our hotel and headed to the concert.  We were like giggly school girls! I had forgotten to bring my iPod adapter of the car, so we each had an ear bud and laid the iPod between us (shhhhh…I’m not sure this is the BEST way to drive!). By the time we got to the concert, we had visited many songs that we hoped we’d hear and had decided that Maggie May would, most likely be the encore. We found our seats and settled in.  After the first few songs we realized that we had purchased tickets in the “Please Don’t Act Like You Want To Be Here” section.  Seriously! The whole place was having a great time and we were surrounded by serious-faced, arms-crossed, cotton-in-ears, old fogies! It made us giggle which was REALLY not appreciated.  We were even called “Very rude, young ladies”. Yeah, that made us giggle even more!  But, the concert was GREAT!!!!  Pilar had liked Rod’s music before but I do believe that now she is a bona fide FAN. Yes!!! As for me, well, I was caught swooning…just a little. And we called it correctly, Maggie May was, if fact, the encore.  ~sigh~ I can’t wait until I can go again!

But then it was onto the Dance of the Weekend! We drove back to the hotel, listened to a man across the hall yelling and yelling and yelling and finally fell asleep with the music of the night playing through our heads. A few hours later it was up and out to the airport so I could head to Sacramento and revisit my high school days.  My 20 year reunion had arrived. 20 years!

I gave that reunion a lot of thought. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole thing.  Yes, there were people I wanted to catch up with, but so much time had passed and my life had been so full over those years.  I got married, had 8 more kiddos (I delivered Kateri in April of my graduating year, so everyone knew I had at least one kiddo), lived in 3 states, started Mommy of Many, etc. etc. Who were these people and were we going to have anything to talk about?  When I think back to high school, I really don’t get the warm, fuzzy feelings that I hear a lot of people talk about.  I always felt like I was struggling through each day.  The school work seemed to overwhelm me and the social aspect was a game I didn’t always understand the rules to.  But, something inside me still wanted to go and give it a try.

I must say, I’m glad I did! Yes, a lot of time has passed and a lot of life has been lived, but we were a room full of people who had shared (however loosely) a few years of our lives in the same place. There were many faces that instantly brought back memories. There were people whom I had forgotten had touched my life.  I enjoyed conversation with a couple of people who I am sure I had never had a conversation with before.  All-in-all, it was a really nice night and I’m glad that I carved out the time to go.  I look forward to keeping in touch with some of the people that I was able to reconnect with. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for me to have my kids with me for the family picnic that was the next day.  I needed to get to the airport and head home!

My kiddos had been home and under the guidance and competent supervision of Kateri.  But I think everyone’s patience and tolerance was wearing thin.  It was time for Mom to get home and get things back in order.  I got in, had a cup of coffee with Kateri and braced myself for all the happy bombardment of being home.  Whew!

What a great, whirlwind of a weekend! I now feel a little more connected with my past and the people who were a part of it and am ready for the VERY NEXT Rod Stewart concert that I can manage to get to. Good Stuff!

Have a great day~

Whew! We are back from a wonderful time of visiting family and friends. 

I will admit that it was a rocky start.  It took us 6 1/2 hours to make the 4 hour journey to my sister’s house.  At that point I was pretty much ready to spend the night, turn around and come home.  But, after a little sleep, we kept going and it ended up great!  

Here’s a little of what we did

There was a lot of time spent with nature. Whether it was exploring the wooded area around Gramma and Papa’s house….

watching little fish in a duck pond….

splashing in a creek…..

.

is that the proper term for this water? I’m out of practice with any water terms except ocean, beach and bay….

catching bugs….

and even a snake! Thank goodness it was tiny!

We even got chased by geese!

We packed a friend’s car full of kiddos, bikes and scooters….

and headed to the park. 

there was plenty of outdoor fun…

and time with friends.

We all got worn out! But only Luke-Xavier had the luxury of crashing in the middle of the day.

Gabi entertained us on several occasions with impromptu songs. 

It was so nice to let the kids run around.  We stayed with a close friend of mine who was gracious enough to open her house.  It was so nice to have 2 moms working together, overseeing kids, meals, laundry and the day’s plans.  There’s something about doing all the chores together that can’t be beat!

After visiting, Gramma and Papa, old friends, sisters, Aunties, new friends and Uncle Ted, it was time to head home. 

We put the iPod on with plenty of kid songs and rocked to Raffi while enjoying hot chocolate and other junky, travel goodies.  Lex loved it! 

Now, we are back home, the car and bags are unpacked.  The dishes and laundry are going and we’re jumping back into our regular routine.  It feels good to be back where the ocean breeze is blowing through my open windows.  When I go up North, I revel in the mountain air and even toy with the idea that we could relocate and be closer to everyone.  But somewhere around San Clemente, while driving south on the 5, I realize how I just can’t replace the feeling that’s in the air down here.  It’s nice to know I can throw the kiddos in Lil Car and take these little trips and get the best of both worlds!

I hope everyone had a happy 4th and is enjoying their summer so far!

Back to the Dance~

1 dad home before deployment

1 visiting uncle

1 lawnmower

1 weed whacker

One 15-passenger van

14 people

1 birthday

2 trips to the beach

16 hot dogs 

8 grilled chicken breasts

2 salmon steaks

3 bags of asparagus risotto

2 lbs of broccoli

1 ice cream, birthday cake

2 half gallons of ice cream

2 loads of after-dinner dishes

15 teenagers playing soccer in the street after dark

1 movie

1 late-night round of fresh squeezed lemonade

1 queen-sized inflatable mattress

4 extra people, sleeping, scattered throughout my house

This is what yesterday looked like at the Lang house.  This morning I’m moving through a quiet house, full of sleeping people and picking up the remnants of what the girls found to do after I’d already gone to bed.  I turned off the movie that had been playing all night, wiped up the stickiness from the lemonade they’d made and started load 3 of the dishes from last night. 

I love summer!

Have a great day~

As you know, we are preparing for Clay’s next deployment and it’s just around the corner in May.  With the help of some great friends who offered their house and yard and the many great people who came to help say, “See you next year”, we had a great party!  

Thank you to everyone who came to wish Clay well and offered their assistance to our family while he is gone.  Thank you to John and Casey for offering their great house and yard (look at how beautifully it was decorated!) and thank you to Nelson of Dakine’s Hawaiian Catering for helping me out on such short notice!  If you’re in the San Diego area and are in need of some great food and great service, check them out!  

We still have a little time before Clay walks out the door, but it’s so jam-packed with a mile-long to-do list, that taking this one evening to visit with friends and family was a nice distraction.  

This is my favorite picture of the evening! 

Good night~

Here is a picture blog of Lex’s special day at Disneyland

Luke-Xavier arriving at Disneyland for his 3rd bday

Hi!  Would you like an M&M?

Hi there!  I’m Luke-Xavier and it’s my birthday.  I’m at Disneyland!  Would either of you care for an M&M?

Look who’s over there!

Mickey, trying Lex’s ears

Let me help you

For your efforts, you deserve an M&M!

It’s good!  You deserve it!

After the picture would you like an M&M?

If I keep meeting new friends, I’m gonna be out of M&Ms!  Wonder how many are left?

Me and all my Disneyland friends LOVE M&Ms!

It’s really nice to meet you!

Nice to meet you too.  Aren’t you going to offer me an M&M?

This was a very happy birthday!  I LOVE Disneyland (and M&Ms)

Peace all!  I’m outta here!

It’s been much too long since I was able to TALK about what’s happening around here!  Recovery has taken more of a toll on me than I thought it would, but I’ve been listening to the cues my body has sent me and I’m feeling more “normal” and able to jump back into the routine of this, busy life, everyday.  

Thank you for all the kind words and well-wishes I’ve received!  It’s good to be back!

Thank you for visiting the site and for listening to the show.  Your comments and show ideas are always welcome and until next time, I’ll be here, Doing the Dance of the Children.

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Well, yesterday was a test of what I could do.   It was my first time back to church with the family and then we had a baptism and luncheon afterward.  I hadn’t done hair and make-up in 3 weeks!  Getting back to our parish with my family was great!  It’s a small parish and we’ve been parishioners there for almost 11 years.  I was the recipient of many a warm “welcome back”.  These people have become like family.

I had the privilege of becoming a Godmother (for the 4th time) yesterday.  Sweet, little Lauren Marie was baptized at the parish that’s attached to my children’s school.  We hadn’t been to a Roman Rite baptism in quiet some time.  Everything was beautiful and I’m happy I got to be a part of it.  Afterward we headed to the family’s house for a luncheon.  My little ones are friends with the other children in the family and my older girls have babysat for them, so it was a nice, quiet, comfortable afternoon of visiting.  

I love this pic of the little ones gathered around the sleeping baby.  So sweet!

Even so, it tested my ability to be up all day.  We got home around 3 and I headed to bed.  I was able to stay there for a couple of hours and then get up to take care of serving dinner.  I’m wondering when the afternoon napping will come to an end.

This morning I’m back to my regular alarm schedule of 4:15 am and can’t help but wonder how soon I’m gonna want Gabi and Lex to lay down with me.  I suppose the day will tell!

Have a great day~

I’m sitting here trying to figure out how I can feel tired after almost 2 weeks in bed.  I feel like a terrible blogger and an even worse podcaster.  I always have these big expectations for what “should” happen and hate it when I fall short!  

Over the weekend I had a very close and long-time friend visiting to help get things back in order before I had to crawl out of bed this week and try to take over.  She did a remarkable job!  Things that I’ve let go over time are now back in tip-top shape.  But most amazingly, she managed to get ALL the laundry in the house washed, dried, folded and put away!  This alone is worthy of sainthood!  I crawled out of bed for short bits of time to help with what I could, but it always, ultimately sent me back to bed.  But in her wisdom, she brought the work to me.  I folded socks like I haven’t folded socks in years.  Whoo Hoo!  This house looks great!  

Yesterday was my first attempt at “normal” life.  I got up and helped get the kids going for school.  Clay’s back to work but has adjusted his workday so that he can drop the kids at school and then be back in time to pick them up.  I’ve yet to try driving again.  I made it from 5am-12pm before I really had to call it quits and lay on the couch.  How in the world did 2 weeks away from the routine make me forget how much energy my 2 yr. old has?!  Luckily, Mariah had a 1/2 day so I was able to climb in bed for a nap when she showed up.  I was able to help out with serving dinner but was in bed for the night by 6:30.  Crazy times for this M.O.M!  

Today I did the same with the morning and then a friend (might I add “GOOD” in front of friend?) came to pick up Gabi and Lex for the late morning and lunchtime.  I folded some laundry and headed to bed for a lil nap.  I guess the big lesson here is that it’s been 2 weeks since surgery and I have to face the fact that I truly am no Wonderwoman!  I MUST listen to the cues my body is sending me and obey.  I just, really did NOT expect to be laid out like this!  I see the Dr. this Friday and will be happy to hear if it’s all normal and that I’m on track for a full recovery by a month’s time.  

On the bright side, I’ve caught up on some movie watching.  I hadn’t watched an entire movie, start to finish in one sitting, in years (minus the ONE movie I’ve seen in a theater in the last year)!  

Here’s some of what I’ve watched-

Legends of the Fall (an event, not a movie!)

Hello Dolly (I love musicals)

Secondhand Lions (great story!)

Blood Diamond (Happy I’m not in the market for a new diamond!)

Chocolat (for the 75th time.  Johnny Depp as a gypsy.  Uh huh!)

Secret Life of Bees (loved the book. loved the movie)

The Changeling (Fabulous example of motherhood’s persistence)

The Duchess (a true story of inconvenient love)

Brigadoon (an old favorite)

Jeremiah Johnson (if you haven’t seen it……do!)

Last of the Dogmen (again, an oldy, but a must-see)

That’s about it, but it’s been a good run!  Any suggestions for these early nights in bed?  I’m sure there are a million movies I haven’t seen! Share your favorites!

Ok, one step closer to normal……I’ve blogged!

Have a great day~