Mommy of Many®

Lex developed a deep, chesty cough overnight, so I’ve decided to keep him with me for the day. After I dropped the other kids off at school he had this to say;

Lex-”Mom, just so you know, kids who stay home, sick, get lots of candy.”

Me-”Oh really? Who gives these sick kids candy?”

Lex-”The moms and dads do.”

Me-”Why would parents give sick kids candy?”

Lex-”Because they feel so bad for them that they’re sick.”

He’s getting no candy, but he does make me smile!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

This last week has brought a lot to my schedule. You never really know how much you can fit into your life until you start pushing things closer together to make room for more. This week I started working 3-4 mornings a week at a chiropractic office, picked up a weekly blogging gig AND joined the coolest team of people who are banning together to make new media work for small businesses in this area. It seems that juggling the kids’ schedules, running my website, building my Silpada Designs business and cleaning the house just weren’t enough to truly keep me busy. My hatrack is now full! I will not be taking on any new chapeaus for awhile. I’m super excited about all these new ventures! The chiropractic office offers me the chance to learn new skills (office work), the blogging feeds my love of writing and joining the team fills my love of being social. Yea! And not to mention that they all help me make that new car payment! Good Stuff!

Gabriella, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to think I’ve taken on enough. She spent an entire evening of keeping me in stitches while she told me why I need to get married and that it should be before Easter and then detailed exactly how I should go about finding this new husband. Did you know that looking at people’s faces in the grocery store is a sure-fire way to figuring out who a good life-mate would be?! Gabi thinks so! She walked through the grocery store with me making such exclamations as, “Look at him, he looks like Rod Stewart.” Or, “He already has a son, so he’ll know what to do.” Then she pointed out that the guy checking us out had a job and liked talking to me. Nice! I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard, in a long time. I also don’t think I’ll be taking her grocery shopping with me again anytime soon.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Enjoying my Hat Collection~

It’s Tuesday, December 6th and I’ll knee-deep in the realization that Christmas is speeding my way. Today is St. Nicholas’ Feast Day which means treats and goodies are to have been placed in the kiddos waiting shoes. Just one problem-after a little debate, they didn’t put them out last night and made the decision that it should be done ON the feast day. St Nick and I had a lil chat and we’re fixing the issue by his being gracious enough to fill their shoes while they’re at school today. Back on track we go!

This isn’t the only instance of me being a little off this Holiday Season. Check out my Advent Wreath;

Notice anything wrong?

Yep, that’s my, completely backward Advent Wreath. I’m deciding that my intentions are in all the right places but that my Left-Handed Mommy Brain has taken over and is keeping me slightly off balance. Kinda like the fact that Lex went to school this morning in a blue zip up sweatshirt with the words Old Navy in orange. Only problem-HIS Old Navy zip up is ORANGE with the words in blue. I guess my backward brain is catching. His teacher emailed me to let me know that it appears that Lex is in the missing sweater of a classmate and would I please double-check.

Don’t get me wrong, lots of Good Stuff is going on-I made a delicious breakfast sandwich for myself this morning.

Seriously, there’s lots of Good Stuff going on around here. My oldest 3 kiddos will be starting to arrive in less than 2 weeks. I have awesome friends and neighbors who constantly let me know they’re there for me with all sorts of helpful things. I’ve been having a GREAT time building my Silpada Designs business through home parties and craft fairs. I’ve decorated the inside of the house…mostly. And let’s not forget that my kiddos are always ready to add a little giggle to the day. For instance, this last Sunday, during Mass, Lex reaches into his pants’ pocket and pulls out a handful of sliced mushrooms that he’d tucked away for an emergency snack. All we could do was look at him a stifle our giggles at his practical goofiness.

Alright Tuesday, let’s you and me get back to the busyness of this house and try to get back on track.

Happy St. Nicholas’ Day!

Doing the Dance of the Children With a Little Stumble Every Now and Again~

This morning Lex called me into the bathroom and as his lil 5yr old self sat there finishing his business he says,”It should be, ‘Humpty Dumpty wasn’t so comfy…because he fell off that wall’”!

Gotta love lil minds contemplating Mother Goose!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

“Dear God,

Please help me to be a ninja when I grow up. And please help Tristan not be upset if I get to be a pirate/ninja so that I can do ninja-ing on the water.”

I love this kid!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

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 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~

*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~

Dinner’s already been eaten and cleared but Lex decided he was still hungry. He looked in the refrigerator, pointed to the brussel sprouts and asked me to make him one. I tried to explain that the way he likes them takes too long and that I’d make them tomorrow. He insisted that he have a brussel sprout as his evening snack, so I put one in a little water and put it in the microwave. After it was done, I put a little butter, some salt and pepper on it and I went to my room to change for bed.

Soon I heard Lex angrily crying. When I asked him what was wrong he said, “Gabi ate my brussel sprout!”.

Patting myself on the back for having kids who steal each other’s brussel sprouts

Here are 2 examples of how my kiddos keep me chuckling each day.

I was out with Lex today and we were winking at each other. I was showing him that you can try to do one eye and then the other. He was only able to do the one, but would try with the other eye, by using his hand to close his eye. I asked him if he knew what we were doing was called. He says, “Yeah, flashing”.

I promise I wasn’t teaching my son to flash!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gabi had her 1st field trip today. When she got in the car, I asked her all about it. Then I asked who she rode with. She said, “Salvatore’s mom drove me”. Max says, “Who’s this Salvatore you speak of?”.

LOL! These kiddos keep me smiling!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Figure out Where They Come Up With Some of This Stuff~

Luke-Xavier-”Mom there are 2 problems with cauliflower.”

Me-”Oh yeah? What are they?”

Luke-Xavier-”It looks like broccoli, but it’s not broccoli. And, it’s white.”

I’m glad he was pondering his veggies

Sometimes my words don’t come out quite right-

The other day, Maddi set up a “slumber party” in the front room for the little kids. She had them get their pjs on, laid out blankets on the floor, pulled out the pillows, made popcorn and put in a movie. When she went to call them to come in, she was saying, “Come in for the movie” and clapping her hands at the kids, in a “hurry up! Come on!” manner. I said to her, “Don’t clap at them. They’re not dogs!”. Then I turned to the little kids and said, “Go lay down”.

Maddi burst into laughter and I couldn’t help but giggle a little too.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Missing a Step Here and There~

I was getting dinner into the crock pot and it called for a can of Cream of Mushroom soup. No problem! I went to the cupboard and pulled one out, opened it up and discovered Cream of Chicken inside. So I went back to the cupboard took out a can of Cream of Chicken, opened it up and discovered Cream of Chicken inside. I had to open 3 cans before I actually got Cream of Mushroom.

Hey Target-someone needs to check the product/label issue!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Just Trying to get some Dinner Made~

This afternoon Luke-Xavier and I had some “mommy and me” time. We had to stop at the grocery store and after shopping I held his little hand and we walked across the parking lot. He spotted a mom, with a baby in a front-carrier, loading groceries into her car. Here is the conversation that followed-

Luke-Xavier-”That mommy has a baby. She’s carrying her funny.”
Me-”That’s how I used to carry my babies, in a front carrier. I carried a lot of babies that way.”
Luke-Xavier-”You carried me that way because I was your baby.”
Me-”That’s right.”
Luke-Xavier-”…and Tristan and Max and Gabi were all your babies.”
Me-”yep, all of you.”
Luke-Xavier-”But I was the leader of the babies. I cracked first. Then I looked inside and I saw Tristan, Max and Gabi.”
Me-”You ‘cracked first’?”
Luke-Xavier-”Yes, my egg cracked first, so I was the leader.”
Me-”I thought you were each in my tummy on your own and I didn’t know you were inside an egg.”
Luke-Xavier-”Yes, we were in eggs. God put them there.”
Me-”What about Kateri, JJ, Mariah, Anna and Maddi?”
Luke-Xavier-”They’re big kids. Big kids weren’t babies….were they?!”

Gotta love the way kids make sense of it all.

Doing the Dance of the Children, one cracked egg at a time~

My M.O.M. brain is overloaded with end-of-the-school-year obligations and projects and the prep that goes into 8th grade graduation…x2! I’ve written my list and I’m adding to it all the time. Little by little I’m getting things crossed off, which keeps me from freaking out about all that’s on that stinkin’ list.

One of the items that I’m having trouble with is pulling a funny M.O.M. story from out of the depths of my overworked brain. I know I’ve had plenty of laugh-worthy experiences and that I’ve blogged about the things that could only happen because I’m dragging a bunch o’ kiddos behind me somewhere. But if you think I could come up with even one such story…when I’m being asked for it…forget it!

This is where you come in. If you’ve followed the blog and can think of a story that made you chuckle or if you know me and my family and can jog my brain on a funny experience you’ve witnessed, could you share it with me? I’ve been asked to share one of my funny experiences of being a Mommy of Many™ for an interview and well…nothin’!

Alright then, while I have you all picking your brains for something I can share, I’m going to go back to the scanner, printer, photo albums and the memory boards. Anna and Maddi graduate next Friday and I need to pull out the creativity to make these boards something they’re going to be happy with and that represents each of them accurately.

I’ll be happy when this school year is over and I can catch my breath during summer. Though that thought is a bit silly because the minute summer starts, I have to start thinking about getting everyone set up for next year…~sigh~

Doing the Dance of the Children and hoping not to miss a step~