Mommy of Many®

This evening I sat with my webmaster for 2 hours, trying to learn some new things and trying to get my latest recipe video up on the site. After a few glitches and lots of hard work (on his part), I was told what I could do to change things up the way I wanted. He left and I pondered the things I learned (or tried to learn).

After running a couple errands for my kiddos, I got home, changed into some comfy clothes and came to my computer to “Get it Done”. Whoo Hoo! I was SO excited! Yeah…until I actually made the changes and then realized that I had suddenly made my video disappear. All I wanted to do was add a title!

There are SO many things I know and understand and then there’s all the techno stuff that just has no place in my brain. I try! I listen. I hear. But I just don’t understand! None of the code-talk makes sense to me. And because it doesn’t make sense, I can’t make my brain walk through a logical path of how to make it all work. Ultimately, there are things I’ve learned-how to record a podcast, how to edit the podcast and use a specific program to make it show up where I want it (kind of). I can write a blog post like nobody’s business! I can even add pictures…uploaded from all sorts of places…but there is simply so much I can’t do!

So after a ton of work and time, I seem to have undone what I was trying to enhance.

~sigh~

This is where I just need to say Thank You to the people who make the things happen that I can not.

I sure hope that email I sent gets read and that my video magically (or so it seems to me) shows up!

Off to bed with this techno-challenged M.O.M. I wonder if I’ll dream of html code. And I wonder how “easy” it is to click *magic* keys and make it all reappear.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Being Thankful For Those That Play the Music~

Last night I went to my daughters’ water polo banquet. I was so happy to see that the usual pasta and salad weren’t being served. Instead there was a fabulous spread from Phil’s BBQ. There were ribs, pork ribs, chicken, corn on the cob, potato salad, macaroni salad and onion rings. YUM! We were happy to dig in! After the great meal all I could think of was how in the world to get all that delicious food out of my teeth! I headed to the bathroom to dig through my purse for something, ANYTHING, to get all that was stuck, removed. I think I spent about 20 minutes in the bathroom. Once I realized that I didn’t have a hidden toothpick, Colgate Wisp, or dental floss, I started trying random objects-the edge of my key tag, my fingernail, a piece of paper. No luck! Finally I thought about my french wire earrings. That’s right! And let me tell you, I was more than happy they were there!

With clean teeth, a washed off earring and some freshened lipstick I went back to the banquet and had a bottle of water.

You can bet I’ve tucked some dental items into my purse, but I’ll never worry too much, as long as I know I’m wearing jewelry

Hey Phil’s, the food’s awesome and the handy wipes were great, but how ’bout including some toothpicks in future to-go orders?!

This is how my morning started. I’m noticing a frustrating pattern lately of the dish-doer in the house, simply not doing them. It’s actually been going on for some time, but in the last couple of months that Clay was home, he would just roll up his sleeves and do them. Now that he’s away, I’ve been waking up, heading into the kitchen to start making the lunches and put on the coffee and finding that I need to spend a great amount of my morning time, getting enough dishes done so that I can actually work in the kitchen.

This is NOT OK!

Every one of my kids knows what their chores are. They know exactly what’s expected of them and what the consequence for not doing their chores is supposed to be. But lately I’ve run into some snags. The older kids (getting older all the time) have different schedules and responsibilities than they had in the past. Now there are intense sports schedules, jobs and high school homework to consider. It all makes the “cut and dry” rules and consequences void. But unfortunately that leaves me to pick up the slack. I find myself caught in a spiral of trying to get 3 teenage girls to see that we all have to work together or it’s all going to fall apart. When they don’t do what they are supposed to I’m finding it more and more difficult to enforce consequences.

But I can’t do it ALL! I’m spending an hour each morning just picking up the slack that they left. I wake up, switch the laundry, start a new load, wipe down the kitchen counters and stove, sweep the floor, unload and reload the dishes, before I can then start MY work of making the lunches and the coffee and then hoping to grab a shower before the 3 teens jump in.

I need a new system! Something’s gotta change. With a household of this size, it’s simply not feasible for 1 person, even if I am M.O.M. to get this all done. And frankly, I shouldn’t be expected to! I’m out of the house for most of each day, with work/errands/picking up and dropping kiddos off. If these older girls don’t get back into a good routine of helping out I’ll never be able to get the extra things I’m supposed to do, done.

I still have decorating and shopping, wrapping, card writing and lil kiddo cuddling that needs to happen.

I’m asking for your suggestions on how to get busy teens to understand that home responsibilities need to be a priority for everything to run smoothly (like it always has in the past). I also need a new set of consequences because frankly, mine aren’t working.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Looking For Some New Steps~

Ugh! Day 1 of the “big” shopping done. 1-2 more trips and I’ll be done for this 2 week period of time. I hate it! It takes up so much of my time! It’s not just the shopping, it’s putting everything away! But…once it’s done, everyone is happy and there are plenty of food choices for the next 2 weeks. The kiddos have already picked out what cereal (hot or cold) they’re having for tomorrow. Just wait till they realize there’s Peppermint Whipped Cream if they choose waffles!

Don’t get me wrong. I DO love having the cupboards all stocked up and all the things I need at my fingertips, but the shopping is so time-consuming! Think about how many times we touch our groceries before they are ready for us to use;

Pick item up from shelf and place into cart
Take item from cart, place onto conveyer belt @ check out
Pack item into bag
Place bag into cart
Take bag from cart and put into car
Take bag from car and place on counter/kitchen floor
Take each item from bag and put into cupboard or fridge

Geesh! By the time we use the food we’ve bought, we’ve moved it 7 times!

I’m exhausted by the whole thing! I tell ya, if there’s a way to streamline the process, I’m going to discover it, patent it and sit back and watch it work!

Doing the Dance of the Children, with a Full Pantry~

This is the motto I’ve had to adopt if I’m going to be any sort of kind, caring, giving mother. I have 3 teenage daughters in the house and a host of little ones with sticky fingers. I’ve had to learn that if something is REALLY important to me  I have to find a safe hiding place for it, carry it with me or let it go. Nothing is safe!

This morning I went to grab my camera off of my desk to snap pictures of my birthday boy opening presents and discovered it was missing, only to be told that it was probably left on the floor of my 16 yr olds friend’s car. Of course it was! I knew I was getting lax by leaving it on my desk instead of keeping it in my purse. This in only 1 example. I’ve spent the last 2 weeks creatively trimming up my eyebrows to keep from looking like Chubaka’s sister because my tweezers “disappeared”. Then there’s the eyeshadow that the girls asked if they could use for Homecoming that’s been sucked into the void of “I don’t know where it is”. Should I tell you about my Clinique products? The eye makeup remover that seems to disappear at a rate that’s 4x faster than it should be? The face lotion that is constantly needing to be refilled? And how ’bout my laptop that was constantly borrowed to “do a paper for school” but was always being found on the floor of my daughters’ rooms? Can you believe there have even been times I’ve taken the cord from my desktop computer and kept it with me so that my computer wasn’t messed with?!  And people wonder why I carry a bag the size of a small apartment!

I’ve had to really think about all these things and decide what’s important to me. I guess I can share my facial products without too much grumbling, but when I’m losing items that I purchase to make my life easier or keep things the way I’d like them, it makes me angry. I want my kids to remember me as a mother who was giving of herself and who taught them to be kind and to share, but where’s the line? Do I REALLY need to put a safe in my bathroom to lock up my extra change, make-up, “beauty” tools and pieces of technology that are important to me?

Unfortunately it looks like we’re moving in that direction!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Feeling Like a Miser~

It really is all in how you look at things~

For a little more than a month now, I’ve been on the quest to get my license renewed. I logged in online, created an account and tried to get it done the quick and easy way. But my computer froze up and I ended up locked out of the account. Then I got off work, packed up my 4 year old, got in the line that was out the building and stood in the sun for more than an hour, only to be told that the DMV’s computers had gone down and they weren’t giving out any numbers. A week later I tried again and (imagine THIS), was AGAIN told that the computers were down and that no numbers would be given out.

I was completely exasperated by the whole ordeal. My license was looming over me and was driving me to an anxious panic! So, once again, I got off work (this time I didn’t have to bring along the 4 yr old) and headed over, with fingers crossed, a prayer whispered and all the positive thoughts I could muster up.

It worked!

When I arrived, the line was, indeed, out-the-door, but it was moving! So I stayed put and about 1/2 hour later I was at the front of the line to get my paperwork, a number and a seat. I was # G210 and they were on #G127. But who cared?! I had a book, my phone and a number! At one point a woman complained about waiting 2 hours, to which I said, “this is my 4th try and I don’t care how long it takes, I’m just happy to have a number!”. A man who was sitting nearby, leaned over and said, “so you’re glass is 1/2 full today?!”. I said that it certainly was!

Isn’t it funny that it’s all about our perception? If this had been my 1st attempt to renew my license and I was sitting there for 3 hours, I would have probably been antsy, anxious and perturbed. But because it was my 4th attempt and I actually made it into the building, I was completely happy to sit there for as long as it took.

I’m hoping to let this be a lesson to my impatient self!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Remembering That There’s Always a Reason to See the Glass as 1/2 Full~

I know you can imagine the laundry that piles up in my laundry room. It’s a constant battle to keep it under control. If I do 4 loads a day, every day, I can pretty well keep it managed. BUT, for the last few weeks my washer has decided to have emotional problems. It’s constantly telling me it’s “unbalanced” or UL. I’ll put a load in before I leave for work, just to come home and find that it’s been sitting there UL all day. I then have to open the lid, move everything around and try again. But usually that doesn’t fix the issue and I have to start removing the heavier items (ie; towels, sweatshirts…), one at a time and keep trying until the load finally spins out. Then I get to play with spinning out the heavier items. It’s driving me crazy. I’m about to take the washer in for a Prozac prescription. Unbalanced, are you?!

I took this picture before I left for work today and that’s what I’m up against AFTER successfully getting 5 loads done yesterday.

I was home yesterday and able to play the washer’s game.

Well, there’s no time for the Washer Games, this afternoon, but if there’s a Dr. in the house, you can send that prescription and I’ll see if I can get things back in balance!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Keep Everyone in Clean Clothes~

Most weekends around here are packed with cleaning up, some sort of shopping (grocery, bday party gifts, kid stuff that’s a last minute need…), a bday party or 2, kids running around, church, planning for the week to come and the like. This weekend has been all kinds of crazy!

Mariah passed out at work and was later admitted to the hospital. Clay and I have taken turns going back and forth. She’s still there. I anticipate she will be coming home today, but I really haven’t received any news.

Last night I started to feel sick and went to bed at 7pm. I woke up with some sort of stomach thing that’s still holding on. It’s NEVER a good time for me to get sick, but this weekend is probably especially bad timing. So, Clay and the kiddos are at church and I’m getting ready to take a hot shower and see if I can shake this ick.

I will post an update on Mariah when there’s something to tell.

I’m just hoping that by this evening everything is back to normal and we can focus on the upcoming week.

Doing the Dance of the Children with a Dr’s Note~

2 weeks ago my second session of Kraze Boot Camps ended. In that time, my 3 high school age girls started back to school and my morning schedule no longer allowed for me to make it to the classes. The days have been filled with running back and forth to the school, entertaining the 4 younger kiddos, (who are still on summer break) getting all the school shopping done for those 4 and trying to get this house in order in preparation for me to start back to work on Tuesday. This means I’ve worked out exactly twice in those 2 weeks. Ugh! Have I ever felt the difference! My energy is down and my fuse is short.

Being able to see the drastic difference in how I feel has made me commit to getting to the gym, each day when I get off work and before I have to pick all the kiddos up from school. I’m honestly shocked at the difference those daily work outs were making in my attitude and my energy. But tomorrow I don’t have to go to the gym and put any sort of work out together for myself because Boot Camp is not taking the day off and no school means I can get myself over to the 6 am class and start the day and week off right!

I’m ridiculously excited!

Let’s see how taking 2 weeks off actually feels once I’m there. Yikes!

Here’s to starting Monday off right!

I don’t know who fed my kiddos naughty pills but the 3 youngest have been on fire the last few days. I guess it means that summer is over and they’re ready for the structure of school, but I’m not sure they’ll make it to next Tuesday at this rate. By 9am they had each stood in the corner and by 2pm I was so done that I put the 7yr old, 5yr old and 4yr old down for naps, closed and locked my bedroom door and told my 11yr old that I was NOT TO BE DISTURBED until I came out. I tell ya, I was ready to hunt scalps!

Whew!

If this keeps up I just may disappear for the long weekend and leave them in the care of their father. That’ll teach ‘em!

But now the house is quiet. The older girls are doing their “big kid” stuff for the evening and the lils are all in bed. I’ve had a glass o’ vino and am ready to get some of my own things done. I think I’ll make it till tomorrow. But watch out all you naughty lil kiddos! M.O.M’s patience is wearing thin!

Doing the Dance of the Children and I’m on the look out for the Naughty Ones~

The only mistake I made was turning my back. I thought I’d covered my bases and set everyone up to be occupied while I tried to pack us up to enjoy an outting. How could I have been so silly?

Lex used his unsupervised time to “draw the way  the AppleTV so that everyone could watch Bugs Bunny”. Thanks for the clearly marked pathway. Geesh!

Many, many walls in several houses have been decorated by these 9 children of mine. Yet, I still wonder why they do it. Have I not provided enough drawing paper? Color books? Writing pads? The walls? Really?! Do they think I won’t notice? That they won’t get in trouble?

~sigh~

The mind of a child can be a mystery, no matter how many times you’ve walked the path.

Well, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and I have been good friends for a long time. I guess it’s time for a date. But guess who’s not going to find convenient parking at Balboa Park today.

Doing the Dance of the Children, with Plenty of Elbow Grease~

Today’s lesson-
Sometimes life gets in the way of your best intentions and well-laid plans.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make this morning’s 6am Kraze Boot Camps class, so I had let Aaron know I’d be trying out the evening class. By 1pm, everything had changed. Mariah got called into work and Arianna needed a ride home from tryouts. So, M.O.M. had to put my plans on hold and make sure that everyone got to and from where they needed.

But the lesson in it is to not get discouraged and to start right back into it again tomorrow. Starting this program meant breaking old habits and starting new/healthier ones and in the past, if I got out of a routine, it was always hard for me to jump back into it. I’d feel like I might as well expect for things to come up and just not plan time for myself. So, in keeping with my better/healthier attitude, I need to wake up tomorrow morning and jump right back in.

Tomorrow, I do believe it’s abs/core & cardio. Gettin’ ready!

Remember last week, when I asked about anyone who had a child with a friend that blames your child for the bad behavior that the other child is actually responsible for? Well THIS week I ask you to share your experiences of YOUR child allowing their friend to take the blame for the bad behavior that your child is actually responsible for. And how was it handled when you found out?

Doing the Dance of the Children, one day at a time~

Over the last couple of days I’ve had 2 questions on my mind. I’m hoping to hear what your experiences have been (if any) with either or both of these-

1) has a child of yours ever had a friend who repeatedly blamed them for things they didn’t do?

2) Have you ever been at a playground (or in a shared playing experience) and had and unpleasant parent ruin the experience to the point that you felt that it was time to leave?

I can’t wait to hear how you’ve dealt with these things.

Doing the Dance of the Children and always looking for the best Dance steps~

Abs and Core

That was the theme of today’s Kraze Boot Camp workout. Though my rear end and legs are still demanding attention from yesterday’s class! OUCH!

I’m finding it difficult to write about today’s class because I’m preoccupied with my itchy eyes, throat, back and arms. Aaron had us run over to a grassy area, form a large circle, get down on the grass and do all the abs and core exercises right on the grass. Uh…I’m allergic! I’ve taken meds to combat the effects of the grass on my eyes and throat since I was a small child. But who am I to say anything?! One of the top rules of Boot Camp is, “no complaining”. So there you go! I hope I can show up for tomorrow’s 6am class Claritin Clear!

After an abs workout, I always feel cheated. I worked hard, got all sweaty, breathed hard and can feel all those muscles feeling nice and tight…UNDER THE FLAB. It just seems unfair that to the everyday, naked eye, my stomach just looks like any ol’ stomach, because underneath it feels so good!

Notebook update-As I’ve mentioned, we’ve been asked to keep track of our daily foods by writing down all that we consume. This has been a good thing…really! But it’s a chore and a lot of head work;

Me-”Sure, I’ll make Mexican Lasagna for all of you guys! Yep, invite everyone you’d like, over to eat.”
My Brain-”GREAT! What am I supposed to do?! I feed so many people each night and I have to make meals that are inexpensive, good and go far enough that whomever walks through the door can be fed. Mexican Lasagna definitely fits all that criteria but I need to serve it with tortilla chips and guac if it’s going to fill everyone. There ARE black beans, fresh tomatoes, fresh onions, avocados and cheese involved, but there’s also, flour tortillas, refried beans (but the vegetarian kind, so there’s no animal fats involved) and corn. I feel stuck between cooking a certain way that fits my budget and feeds the masses and eating in a way that I don’t wince when I write it down!”

So there you have it. Yep, I’ve been writing everything down and I’ve gotten lots of helpful tips without being chastised, but I still feel very sensitive about the whole thing.

Tomorrow is the end of this week. 2 more weeks to go in this session. I know I’m stronger. I know I have better endurance and I know I need to be conscience about what I eat. Joining Boot Camp and taking on the challenge of going daily and working the best I can each day IS paying off in better habits, a better attitude and a leaner, healthier me. I just have to find a good balance for the whole meal issue.

It’s never too late to come out and give a class a try! I’d love to see you! Message Aaron and let him know you’d like to see what all the hype is about. Be a part of the Fastest Growing Outdoor Boot Camp in San Diego!