Let's just say...

...I attempted to try something today that would boost me on my way to super-mom status and it pretty much backfired.


My sweet hubby gave me and our children the assignment of cleaning the car--which is a Tahoe--and the rooftop carrier we borrowed from my brother-in-law, for a trip.  Get all those nasty bugs off, before we return it.
So, I allowed my children to run the hose, first mistake, but not that bad. The BIG mistake was allowing them to fill up the squirt guns to rinse off the scrubbies.  We don't have a water spicket in the front yard, so the kids had to use the backyard hose to fill up their water guns.  Every time they went back to "fill up their gun", it ended up taking 15 minutes and I ended up scrubbing the car by myself.  AND...when they came back, they squirted wherever they wanted.  Which was very frustrating because I had already cleaned and dried some areas.  I hate re-doing the work!!
Moral of the story---If you want your children to help with the washing of your vehicle, just do it the old fashioned way, with no squirt guns.  Or, make sure you have a working water spicket in the front where they can fill their squirter right in front of you.
Lesson learned: If you want the car sparkling clean with no re-doing the wipe down...wash the car by yourself.
Lesson #2 learned: If you wash the car by yourself...you lose out on time with your children, which even if I did get upset with them, it would've been time lost.  Now I can look back and say to myself "Why didn't you just chill out and enjoy being together?"  Pick your battles people...pick your battles.

I love my children dearly.  They are my world.  It is hard to be a mother, but the rewards and blessings do show up..........eventually.

What to do on a rainy day...

One thing I've learned is that to be a good mom, you have to have cool things for the kids to do...even on rainy days.  My 7 year old little girl LOVES to be outside and when it rains, it makes her sad that she can't go out.  So, I got smart and remembered these fun "crayons" I've had for almost a year.  While it rained outside the kids all got to draw on the backyard doors and create their own art.  These are Crayola brand window crayons and they are awesome!  They are super bright, not very messy at all, and they wash off with just water.  My kids had a blast, and I felt like...super-mom.  At least for a moment. :)

Here I am!!

My 2 year old daughter gets the cutest smile on her face when she jumps out and says "Here I am!"  When we are looking for her...and sometimes when we aren't really looking. ha ha!

It has been almost a year, and I am still in pursuit of becoming a super-mom.  Since the last post, I have added another qualification that either makes me semi-super, or crazy.  I am expecting baby #5.  In fact it is scheduled to arrive in 10 days...if not sooner.  I had a Dr appointment this morning and we were talking about how we both grew up on a farm and what a great life it was.  I told her I LOVE taking my kids home to my parents' place, so they can enjoy some of the same things I did being out in the country.  She said "You sound like you really enjoy being a mom."  I took that as a huge compliment and said--"Yep.  I sure do!"  And now that I think about it, I REALLY do enjoy being a mom.  It is soooo hard, but soooooo fun!  I love the fact that I can spend my time with these great and beautiful kids, even tho not every day is a great one.  I love the fact that this week I have been running around my 7-year old daughter delivering Girl Scout Cookies.  I love that I got to spend an hour of time with just my almost 4-year old, helping him improve on his speech. I love that I played chase with my 2 year old while trying to get her dressed. (Her smile--complete with dimples--made it so fun!)  I love that I got to watch my 9 year old play catch with Grandpa.  And I love every single movement this coming baby makes.  It's amazing to think that little person is in there somehow.  My belly makes some crazy shapes.

So, I hope everyone who has the great joy and blessing of being a mother, takes the time to really think about what a gift it is.  Believe me--I have challenges every day...but they are overshadowed by the simplest, but most happy things.  I love being a mom!!

6 kids...and a Mommy Spotlight!

   My sister-in-law was in town this weekend with her fun family.  She is expecting baby #4 and was not feeling well Sunday morning.  She and her husband decided to sleep in and keep their youngest--sweet J.J., and asked if we could handle the two oldest--2 beautiful girls.  Sure, why not.  So, I got up, got ready and got kids ready.  I did the hair on 4 GIRLS!  We made sure all kids had shoes on, and coats on then loaded up 6 KIDS, 8 YEARS OLD AND YOUNGER in our vehicle. 
   I turned to my husband on the way to church and said, "Whoa!  I did 4 girls hair today...and we are only 10 minutes late!"  He said "Way to go honey.  You are SUPERMOM!"  Oh that felt nice.  So, I earned the title...at least for a moment.  We sat with the 6 kids, me all by myself for about 15 minutes--whew!  We all survived and it wasn't a bad experience.  Luckily tho--we did have fruit snacks and Goldfish to make church a little more calm. (hee hee!)
   So I have to give a shout-out to my friend Jennifer.  She is expecting baby #7 any time now.  I so admire her and her husband for being amazing parents and having such love and patience with 6 kids.  And the kicker is...she has 5 girls!!!  I don't know how you manage to do all that hair.  I guess, luckily some of them probably are able to do their own hair now.  ;)  You are an amazing SUPERMOM--and woman Jen!  Good luck with #7!

Job Description...

...At the moment I am serving 5 clients on a daily basis.  (Four of those are minors.)  My hours are Mon-Sun (yes, that's 7 days a week) from the time my clients wake up, until the time my clients go to sleep each night.  I am also "on call" 24 hours a day. 
   I provide Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for all of my clients.  I transport them to their meetings, obligations and events.  I plan and prepare for their projects and run all of their errands including buying their food and clothes.  I also serve as their laundry services making sure those clothes are clean each day.
   The pay is below what I would call "optimal", but there are other personal rewards that make this job sooo worth it.  The nice thing is the job security...I know there is no way I'll get laid off...they all rely on me too much.  And I think in a way, I rely on them too.  Even tho some days are better than others, I really do love my job.

Success for the first week of the Year!

Here we go moms!  The new year is here and many goals have been set.  I'm going to take this year little by little.  Small success, by small success.  This week I have kept the kitchen sink & counters clean!  Dishwasher has been running...earning it's keep. And dang, I feel really good about myself.  I may have a little bit of house keeper in me yet!

Hope you're finding your little successes!

Happy New Year!

A few mommy thoughts...

When school starts, and Fall begins, that is when my life turns a little crazy.  It didn't used to be that way.  But I guess that's what happens when you now have more than 1 child in elementary school.  Thus, no blogging.  Well, at least not as much as I'd like.  But here are my mommy thoughts for today.

Be a disciplinarian....to yourself.
  Ya, I said it.  For me, I have found that I really have to be tough on myself to get some things accomplished.  You would think that I would've learned this after being a mom for now almost 8 years. (Yep, 8 years next week!)  I have had to tell myself NO to certain things, in order to get the dishes done, or laundry done or floors vacuumed.  And if you want to know, honestly...I need to be harder on me.

Bathing 1 kid at a time...brilliant.
  We have become big fans of bathing multiple children at once, to save time and water.  However, tonight I had an epiphony. While I was bathing my 9 month old ALL BY HERSELF, I actually enjoyed it.  I think I could probably count on one hand how many baths she has had by herself so this is a rarity.  I usually do NOT look forward to bath time, but tonight I almost didn't want it to end.  But, I realized she was getting a little cold, and raisin-y, so it ended.  Maybe I should be a little more relaxed in my bathing rituals, and enjoy bathtime with each child, individually.  Luckily with a up-coming little man of almost 8 years, the number of kids I actually have to bathe is shrinking. :)

I may be a mom, but I'm still...me.
  As I was carrying my sweet baby out of the bathroom all wrapped up in a cute towel, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.  For some reason I just had the thought..."Hey--there's the girl that used to be..."  I realized, I'm me. And I ALWAYS will be.  I'm still that girl who played ball in High School, who sang in the H.S. choir, who dressed in certain clothes because they were "cool", who tried to curl her hair to get the cute boy down yonder to notice her, and so many other things.  I think I get stuck in the mind-set that my name is: MOM, my occupation: MOM, my daily activities include: MOMMY STUFF, at night I: cook dinner, and fold laundry.   Girls---Don't forget who you are.  It's what has helped you get on this road to become SuperMom.