Confessions Of A Mother

I confess...

That I hide food in the cupboard that I don't want to share with my kids. At any given time you may find chocolate, candy, and other snacks hidden high and safe. I tell myself it's to help keep them healthy.

I'm not as interested as I look when they tell me all about what's happening in their video games or books. I love that they're excited though so I smile and and nod in all the right places so they'll keep talking.

I've gone to the store to buy the kids clean socks because all of there socks are dirty. I've heard I'm not the only mom who's done that.

I don't share my drinks with my kids. I know how much they backwash.

I don't really want any more gifts of candles, picture frames, or lotion. But I keep every little card that they make me in a box by my bed.

I go to bed every night worrying if I'm doing a good job raising them.

I go to bed every night vowing to do even better the next day.

Every time one of my kids has a birthday I feel sad. Sad because I know I'm closer to having to let them go.

There are some days when I dream about getting away for a while. But just driving to the store with out my kids makes me feel incomplete.

It annoys me when people refer to motherhood as a "job". It's a blessing and a gift.

Most of the time I don't like to homeschool but I love having my kids home with me everyday.

I confess that being their mom is my highest honor.

I could never do this without the help of God.

Home Alone

Right now I'm sitting on my couch and I'm all alone.

No husband.

No kids.

I can't remember the last time I was completely alone unless it was while I was driving somewhere. Ever since I had  Ethan 11 years ago, moments like this are rare. I spend all day with my gang and when my husband gets home from work we either all stay home or we all go out. I'm not complaining it's just nice to be alone with your own thoughts sometimes.

When they were all on their way out the door tonight I told my husband that I didn't even know what I should do! Part of me feels like I should go do something productive but the other part says don't get off the couch unless it's to put on pajamas. Some other ideas that come to mind are:

Go use the bathroom. Without the chance of a child knocking on the door. Because when I'm in the bathroom it seems to be the perfect time for one of them to tell me how someone is bothering them, ask for a snack, or, my favorite...ask if I'm IN the bathroom.

Eat something. It could be anything. But I could eat it slow and without the chance of being asked to share.

Ethan caught me hiding in the kitchen eating ice cream a couple of days ago and he said, "Mom. Not again."

Clean.  Yeah. I'm going to go ahead and cross that off my list right now. But! If I were to clean something it could probably stay clean for a good hour.

Watch a movie. And not have to pause it 15 times

Read a book. I may be able to finish an entire chapter.

Lay down on the couch. And not have to share it with 4 other people trying to be as close to me as they possibly can.

There are so many possibilities. I think I'll go take a bath and see if I can hear that ringing in my ears that only happens when everything is totally silent. That's different from the ringing after someone has knocked on the bathroom door for the 5th time to tell me that they need a drink.

*I wrote this a week or so ago. As I was enjoying my bath everyone came home and in minuets I had kids AND husband knocking at the door :)

Sometimes I daydream about getting a hotel room just for me. I would order room service, watch a movie, and sleep until I can't sleep any more. Does that make me a bad mom?

Momma Wants Some Carbs!

It seems like a lot of bloggers are writing about losing weight. I am not one of those bloggers. It's not for lack of trying though. For the past four weeks I've been going to the gym at least 3 times a week. I'm happy to be getting back into the routine again and I feel better...Buuuuut I've lost a total of zero pounds.

I've decided that there just has to be something wrong with me. It can't possibly be something I'm doing wrong...


                                             Like driving all over town hunting for free bagels.

It all started when a friend sent me an email telling me how Bruegger's was giving away three free bagels on Tuesday. Those 2 words - Free and Bagels - were music to my chunky girl ears. In minutes I had located the nearest Bruegger's and figured out if we left just a few minutes early for homeschool bowling, we could make it in time!

Of course when you have kids nothing works out according to plan and we ended up leaving too late to stop  :/

But there's no stopping this girl when it comes to free carbs! Bowling couldn't be finished soon enough for me and as soon as it was, my friend and I (and our combined 9 kids) hopped in our cars and headed to our first Bruegger's. Yes, we went to more than one.

As soon as we walked into the first one the guy working rolled his eyes and gave us a major attitude. Like the fact that we were there just to get free stuff was personally offending him! Whatever...Just give me my bagel and I won't hurt you. Then with only a few minutes left we rushed over to the next location. The guy working there was super nice and gave all of us bagels!

15 bagels and 1 tub of cream cheese later I was pounding down carbs like it was my job! And if the deal didn't end at 3 PM, I would have gone to every stinking Bruegger's In the city! Who cares if it would have cost me more money in gas! Those babies were free.

So yeah. Maybe I need to go see a doctor or something because I don't understand why I'm not losing any weight.

You Belong With Me

My little girl has her first crush! His name...is Spencer *sigh* What a dreamy name ;)

When I picked Evelyn up from child watch after working out on Friday she went on and on about her new friend Spencer.

"First, I played tag with Spencer!"

"Spencer played catch with me for a long time!"

"Spencer is really good at catch!"

Spencer! Spencer! Spencer!

Then while I was signing her in on Monday she got all excited and said, "Mom! Spencer is here today!" So I asked one of the employees which boy was Spencer...

Ah, turns out that Spencer is actually a teenage boy who works in the child watch area.

I guess my girl likes the older guys with minimum wage jobs.

Later, when I went back to pick her up she was all frazzled because she couldn't find Spencer!

"I think he's hiding from me!"

I told her I was about to pass out tired and she would probably see him next time and we walked out. The only problem was that because she was so worried about Spencer, that she forgot she wasn't wearing any shoes! So back inside we went and... gasp! Spencer was back!

Evelyn yelled, "Spencer!"

"Where were you?!"

"I was looking for you!"

"Were you hiding from me?"

A slightly red faced Spencer answered, "Evelyn...I was using the bathroom."

At this point I told her it was time to leave the poor guy alone and pretty much had to drag her out the door as she yelled over and over again...

"Bye, Spencer!"

"I'm leaving now"

"Goodbye"

Right now it's kind of cute. In a few years it will be sort of creepy. Thankfully she has a while to figure it all out :)

Heart Shaped Valentine's Day Sushi

Are you looking for a romantic dinner to make for your valentine? If you're anything like my husband and I you may not have the funds to go out and pay big bucks for dinner on Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong, Jonathan will be taking me out to a nice dinner. Soon! But we usually wait until the prices go back down to normal first. I still like to try and make the day as special as possible. So here's what I came up with :)

                                                               Valentine's Day Sushi

Remember when I wrote about making homemade sushi? Have you tried it yet? If not, now is the time!

Next time I'd add a little more veggies.

You do everything the same way except instead of rolling in from only one direction, you roll both ends towards the middle. Finish it off by pinching the ends and...BAM! Let the romance roll. Get it? Romance ROLL ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

This Place Is Falling Apart!...And Our Family Night Out

Last night we took our gang to see Disney On Ice. We've gone in years past but we agreed that this year's show was our favorite! The performers were outstanding! They did flips, spins, and lifts all while staying in character. Definitely not amateurs.

I loved the part of the show with Aladdin and the Genie. The Genie had some serious moves!

The kids couldn't decide what their favorite part was but The Incredibles and Pinocchio were both big hits. And the princesses. Evelyn LOVED the princesses! She kept trying to stand up and get Snow White's attention so she could show the skater her matching dress :)

I may have even gotten a little teary eyed while Belle and the beast were dancing to "Beauty and the Beast"

We all had a great time and it was really nice to be able to see a clean family show that we all could enjoy.

-----------------------------------------

This place is falling apart! It started with our van not starting up if it was sitting for more than a few hours. So we took it in and paid to have the problem fixed. Except, a day or 2 later we're back to having to jump it again.

The 2 things in this house that we can't live without are the washing machine and the dishwasher. In one day neither of them was working. The dishwasher has been giving us trouble for a few days now. My husband is trying hard to get it fixed. It may have something to do with me telling him that he has 3 choices:

#1. Fix it
#2. Buy a new one
#3. Use plastic silverware and paper plates for the rest of our lives.

The boys are already complaining about drinking out of purple cups leftover from Evelyn's princess party but with a family our size we fill up our dishwasher twice a day. So you can see, doing the dishes by hand is not one of the options. I tried it...once. It took a very long time. While I was in the middle of washing Evelyn walked in and said, "Are you washing those?" How do you even DO that!?"

I asked myself the same question.

This may not look bad but there are piles like this everywhere.

Then yesterday the washing machine stopped spinning. At that point I was almost in tears. Thankfully, after sending my a husband a slightly nasty message he was able (or maybe forced ) to come home and fix it.

We are living in Crazyville! I'm looking forward to tomorrow when my mom is taking the kids overnight. This momma could use a break!

*After I wrote this blog the windshield wipers on our van stopped working...In the middle of a blizzard. No lie.

Disney On Ice Winners

Congratulations to Momma Will School You for winning the Disney on ice tickets!

My kids are counting down the days until we go see the show. They've all been saving their allowance to spend and they have about $4 each saved up. That will get them...maybe a soda :) Maybe I'll see some of you there!