Mommy of Many®

What a full day!

The kids woke up early and were anxious to get on their costumes and get to school for the carnival. I ended up with 4 Sailor Scouts, Superman, a Mad Scientist and Mark Surge-A Lego Hero Factory Character and I was Minnie Mouse.

Everyone had a great and tiring time at the carnival and I want to say THANK YOU to our good friend, Maria for making the girls’ costumes! Over the years, she’s made so many costumes and dresses for my kids that she deserves a public round of applause!

My high schoolers collaborated with friends and they dressed the part of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask, from Sailor Moon.

Everyone was so cute!

When I left the preschool carnival and took Luke-Xavier over to the big carnival at the main school, I started to look around for Gabi. I wondered if she’d be ok, wandering around and checking out all the booths. All the kindergartners were over there, but I was just nervous that she may not find what she wanted to do, or know to go get her drink and snack, etc. After I stood in line with Luke-Xavier for a few games, I finally saw Gabi. She was with Tristan (my 5th grader) and a couple of his friends. Tristan was holding her gloves and goodie bag for her and they were all making sure she had gotten her snack and that she was having fun at all the games. I was so impressed and proud! These 11 yr old boys were kindly helping a 6 yr old girl and when they saw me, they didn’t run over and ask me to please take her, because they’d been taking her and could they please just go around together now and not have her tagging along! It was one of those parenting moments where you know your kids are going to be ok. That somehow all the times you’ve gotten after them for being mean to each other or not helping each other have actually made an impression on how they think. Not once did Gabi come looking for me or did the boys walk away from her! Everyone had a great time.
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After we got back from the carnival and picking up the high schoolers, I asked if I could, please lie down for 1/2 an hour. About 10 minutes into my rest came *knock, knock, knock*. It was Gabi. Very calmly, she said, “Lex is playing with fire”. When I opened the bedroom door, I could smell that something was burning (or had been burnt). Sure enough, there was paper on the floor that was completely blackened and there was a scorch mark on the floor! I told Gabi that this was EXACTLY the right time to tattle!

I had a talk with Lex and this was his 4 year old thinking-”I caught the paper on fire and I tried to blow it out, but it kept coming. So I thought I needed water, but I couldn’t reach it and I knew I needed to yell out for an adult, but I thought I’d get in trouble”. I pointed out that he ended up in trouble anyway and that whenever there’s trouble or something scary that he needs to “yell out” for someone.

Scary!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Feeling Proud of Gabi and Tristan’s Decisions~

Tristan woke, saying his throat, “feels like someone pulled it out, sun-dried it, put it back in and stuffed it with knives”. Wow! Descriptive! But I made him take 2 vitamin C, get dressed and go in to school with the rest of us. Within 10 minutes of getting there, his temp was taken and we were on our way home. I was able to get him a Dr. appt. for this afternoon.

This means I will have a few hours at home, with just a kiddo in bed and am able to jump into some cleaning! Please tell me that you mommies understand the excitement I feel at having this time to try to get things done.

I’ve loaded up the dishwasher, switched the laundry, removed the chairs from the dining room, swept and wet Swifter’d the floor, wiped down the kitchen counters and am prepping tonight’s and tomorrow night’s dinners. I think I’ll have time to wipe down the dining table, get a new tablecloth on it and then go to get Luke-Xavier from preschool. Then I’ll have a little more time to tackle a few things before it’s time to leave for the Dr.

I’m a little giddy!

I’ve loved working in the preschool, but it really diminishes the time I have at home. I was a stay-at-home mom for 16 years and so many little things that I would do around the house in the daytime hours, are now left undone. I’m certainly not happy that Tristan is sick and I hope he can go back to school tomorrow or that Clay can stay home with him, if needed, but I AM happy for this time within the walls of my house!

Doing the Dance of the Children on a Sick Day~

I can’t remember a time when I simply put up a link to another person’s blog as my post, but this one is TOTALLY worth sharing! I think you’ll agree.

Stark. Raving. Mad. Mommy.-Top 10 reasons basic training prepared me for motherhood

Doing the Dance of the Children and Wondering if I Should have Enlisted~

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~

And that’s exactly what we did between 1 and 8am this morning.

JJ’s been in France since the beginning of August and was supposed to get to Portugal for a visit with my sister. But after she had been at the airport for a couple of hours and couldn’t find him and had no way of contacting him, she called here. Oh the ideas we came up with! There were literally hours of coming up with ideas for trying to get in touch with him or finding out if he got on his flight. Finally, at 8 am he showed up on Facebook! Yep! Thank goodness for social networking!

I don’t have the entire story, but he showed up (unknowingly) to the airport a day late for his flight and somehow made his way to an elderly couple who are familiar with boys from Saint Gregory’s Academy, spent an evening with them and then, somehow ended up with a classmate who lives in Paris. Small world?! He was finally able to get onto his computer (again, not sure of the details and timelines) and my sister had left him messages on Facebook and he IM’d her there.

He is safe, has had a remarkably wonderful trip and will be heading to Portugal tomorrow.

Way to follow that ol’ Gypsy Wind!

Honestly, I was more worried about my sister and her nerves than for JJ’s safety. He has a tendency to wander, miss deadlines/flights/buses and, somehow always ends up landing on his feet, quite comfortably.

My lil World Wanderer is enjoying his trip and, hopefully, won’t disappear off the radar again!

Doing the Dance of the Children from a world away~

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~

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~

Gabi asked to run errands and go to an appointment with me this morning. About 1/2 way through the appointment she started telling me she was hungry and thirsty. For the rest of the time that we were out, she must have told me about 20 times. I decided to direct her to put her discomfort to good use.

Me-”Gabi I know you’re hungry and thirsty, but we’re going to wait till we’re home to eat and drink, so I suggest you take a minute to offer it up to God for something or someone. You could say, ‘God, I’m hungry right now and I have to wait to eat, so I offer my hunger to You so that Arianna does well at volleyball.’ Or, ‘God, I’m really hungry right now and I don’t get to eat until we’re home, so I offer it up to You so that we have a safe and fun trip to see our friends and family, later this week.’ See, you can focus your discomfort on something else and we’ll be home soon and then we’ll eat.”

Gabi-”But I’m hungry NOW!”

~sigh~ I tried!

Doing the Dance of the Children and hoping they get it~

My girls love to cook. At least one of them is usually asking if she can plan and make dinner. This isn’t to say that my boys don’t like to get into the kitchen, they do. But the girls seem to always be planning something to bake or asking if they can create a meal. I chalk up their love of the kitchen to the fact that I’ve always been open to letting them help. Kids need to learn the basics of the kitchen to build confidence and know how to be safe while enjoying creating their meals and snacks. A few days ago I was peeling and cutting carrots to store for easy snacking and cooking and Gabi asked if she could help. I showed her how to hold the carrot and peeler and she ended up peeling all of the carrots while I did the cutting.

This morning when I asked the little kids what they wanted for breakfast, Gabi said, “squished up eggs”, meaning-scrambled eggs. She asked if she could help me and off we went to the kitchen. I told her she could crack the first egg. I figured if she got shell into the measuring cup, it would be easier to remove it if there was only 1 egg. She successfully cracked the first 2.

This egg exploded. I think she got nervous. We had to take a few moments to clean everything up. I was careful not to get upset or make the clean-up look difficult because those things would discourage her from trying in the future. Accidents happen. All of us have spilled at one point or another. Clean up and move on!

After the clean-up she was helpful with the mixing.

She was proud of her accomplishment and will be more likely to ask to help in the future, which means she’ll be learning valuable skills about how to be in the kitchen and be a “big girl”.

Don’t be afraid to allow your kids to help with household tasks. I know it can be easy to want to just do it for them and get it done quicker and without the mistakes that inevitably happen. But they can’t learn to be successful if they aren’t allowed to make mistakes. If we guide and encourage we will end up with successful kiddos!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

Yesterday evening the rest of the family arrived back from their trip out to Nevada. I had gotten all the laundry done and some other household tasks completed, knowing that once they walked through the door, there would be a whole bunch of new work to be done. I was right.

The laundry’s been going since 4:30 this morning. There are plenty of bags to be unpacked. Gramma and Papa sent lots of snacks that needed to be put away.

The kids had a great trip! They haven’t visited with Clay’s family in a few years and it sounds like Gramma and Papa did it up right. These San Diego kiddos went for a hike and ate snow. SNOW! in July! Definitely not something you can do here.

So, it’s back to the full-time Dance of being M.O.M. It’s good to wake up to Gabi’s curly head in my bed again and to hear the constant hum that is the sound of the kids talking throughout the house.

But I will admit that the quiet was a really nice thing to have. I moved through the house, doing chores, with only my thoughts. A really nice thing to have every once in awhile.

Doing the Dance of the Children~

It’s been 2 weeks since JJ graduated from High School and only a few days afterward, he and his class, along with a few chaperones, got on a plane headed for Spain. Each person was outfitted with a new bike and a few essentials for the long road ahead of them. They are heading out for a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

This journey takes them through Spain and into France. I have to admit that, even though I’d heard about the trip for a whole year, I hadn’t given it much thought. Sure, I took him to the post office to get his passport and I sent money for the new bike, but I hadn’t looked into the route or researched the journey. I knew that the Senior classes before JJ’s had done this trip and that it was a wonderful experience.

Yesterday I finally sat down at the computer and typed “Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela” into my Google search box. I was fascinated with what I read and saw! An excerpt from the book,
Pilgrimage to the End of the World states-”A satellite image of the pilgrimage routes provides a little reality check to the bland abstractions of a traditional map. But even this isn’t enough to convey the toughness of the trail. The daunting mountain ranges of the Pyrenees and the Cantabrians speak clearly enough of the great challenges the pilgrim must overcome.” I’m in awe of these boys, on bikes and with little in their pockets, taking on this trek!

There’s been no word from the boys, so I’m going with the phrase, “No news is good news” and trusting that all is going well. I can’t wait for JJ’s return home so that we can hear all about this adventure, both spiritually and physically. I’m just more proud and pleased than I can convey that the boys are having this experience!

I truly hope that each of my children gets to embark on experiences like this one!

Doing the Dance of the Children and hoping to foster their dreams and nurture their souls~

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~

I was very proud of one of my kiddos this evening because I caught them getting ahead of the game, by putting all their clothes together for tomorrow.

Me-”good job!”
Kiddo-”yeah, I’m putting it all together before I even have to.”
Me-”I think it’s great that you’re getting organized.”
Kiddo-”I’m going to wear clean underwear tomorrow.”
Me-”huh?!”
Kiddo-”I don’t change it EVERY day.”
Me-”uh…you HAVE to wear clean underwear EVERY day. EVERY day!”
Kiddo-”Oh. Well sometimes I can’t find a clean pair when I’m putting my stuff together for the next day.”
Me-”Then that’s when you drag your laundry basket to the laundry room and say,’Mom, I need clean underwear for tomorrow.’”
Kiddo-”Oh. Ok. Sorry.”

Just another day of Doing the Dance of the Children~