Camping

After almost a year of not posting anything, and practically forgetting I even had a blog, I decided it was time to post something. Mostly because I am really excited. Excited about what????

CAMPING!!!

Yes, camping!!

We used to camp when the kids were little. We would camp with friends from church and sometimes with my family (sisters, nieces, nephews, parents etc.) It was always sooo much fun. But as the years passed, time got away and noone scheduled these camping adventures, so it just stopped happening.

Well, this year with my oldest son graduating from high school and heading off to college in the fall, I wanted to bring back the good ole times of camping.

Sounds like a great idea to me, even if my hubby would disagree (he's not quite the camping guy although he will go along just to make me happy).

So in just a few weeks we are going camping with a bunch of friends, 8 fun families will be joining us!! Woohoo!! We were able to borrow a camper from a friend, so we don't have to rough it completely. However, the older 2 boys will be tenting it outside the camper.

I just can't wait to hang out with friends, get to know them better, create memories with them, roasting the marshmellows, swimming at the water park, fishing, bike riding, walking the trails, and all the other fun things that go along with camping with friends.

It will be the last hoorah before sending my oldest off to college, that will be another post for another time. Right now I'm focusing on the fun time we are getting ready to have. Woohoo!!!

We are going camping!!!

First day of school, take one

Praise the Lord!!!

The younger 2 kids started their first day of 3rd grade and 5th grade today. Where has the time gone? Such a cliche, but so much truth in it.

We have struggled these last few years with stomach pains from anxiety over school. I cannot count the number of times I have heard "My tummy hurts". We have seen GI specialists, neurologists, run countless of tests on both kids. We have prayed, we have tried multiple medications, with no substanial relief...The result hubby & I have concluded is school anxiety. Babygirl has also been diagnosed with abdominal migraines which of course is brought on by stress/anxiety.

So with school approaching I was dreading the start of it, along with the start of hearing "My tummy hurts", everyday for the next 180 days of school. Ugh!!!

The kids were optomistic this morning saying "It's the first day, so it should be an easy day".
"That's right go with it" I am screaming inside, looking for no stress.

Drop off was amazing! Hugs & kisses, and pictures with smiles :) Oh my heart was jumping for joy!

Hubby and I leave, and their first day of school is underway.

At the end of their day, I am waiting for them on the sidewalk to be dismissed from school and what do I see.....smiles on their faces. Praise the Lord! And when I asked how their day was
my son says "It's terrible, absolutely terrible" What???? My heart was in my throat now. He continues to say with a smirk on his face "It's terribly good. I had a great day" That little stinker.
Babygirl says she had a great day too, and her teacher said so too.

So this night I am praising the Lord for our answered  prayers for our first day of school! Now hopefully the rest of the year can follow just like today.

Unusual day

Today is a very unusual day in our house.

My hubby and 2 older sons have gone off to throw caution to the wind and ride all the extreme roller coasters at a theme park several hours away. Ok, that is really not that unusual. What is out of the norm, is this is also a youth group event. I'm always at youth group events, helping out. Feels so strange not to be there.

Babygirl has also been invited to have an all day playdate with one of her best friends. This best friend's mom works full time so playdates at their house has never happened. They always come to our house, which I am very ok with. It will be strange not to have babygirl around.

That leaves my 3rd son and I the day to ourselves. WOW! I don't think this has ever happened in the last 8 years since babygirl has come along. So what to do??? What are we going to get into today???
Babygirl gets picked up in an hour so I have an hour to plan my special day with my special 3rd born son.

I am so blessed to have this time, in this unusual day!

Vacation, Reflections, and salad!

Ever need a vacation from your vacation?

This past week we decided to take a long weekend for a family getaway. I start getting restless to get away every few months or so. I must have gypsy in my blood or something. LOL.

We jam packed 4 days with about a weeks worth of fun, activities, visiting friends, and bonding time with each other. Whew! It was definitely a whirlwind....closing the amusement park (which we haven't done since the kids were born), riding roller coasters (which I haven't done in probably 15 years), staying at our vacation spot until 9:30pm then started home instead of leaving much earlier in the day. We packed no strollers, or back packs with extra clothes or jackets just in case it got cool. We stayed out till 12:30am almost every night. It was definitely a big kid vacation!

A big kid vacation...Whew!!! Now I think I need a senior citizen vacation to recoup from it all. Lol!

When I reflect on it, it causes me to pause... my kids are growing up, we just had probably our first big kid vacation. My oldest will be leaving for college next year this time (God willing). Have I instilled in my kids independence, confidence, a fear of the Lord. Have I,  and am I, helping them to grow closer in their relationship to the Lord? Have I and am I helping them to love each other (their siblings) in a way that is honoring to God? Have I and am I training them up in the ways of the Lord? Have I and am I showing them the love of Christ in my relationship with them? Have I and am I being the Mom that God is calling me to be for my kids? To be the example for my kids to see in my relationship to my husband? I believe it is essential to every now and then to step back and evaluate, so as not to coast and think and assume everything is going ok.

So I ask my kids those same questions in different ways....what do I do right, what do you wish I was more of, what changes would you like to see...Sometimes those answers are hard to swallow and sometimes I get the sweetest blessings. This past year one of my kids answered the question "What would you like to see more of? or what are you disapointed with?" The answer was simply "I wish we had salad more often with dinner." LOL. Ok I can deal with that. But without asking those questions and probing the kids, I may never know their hearts. Even something as simple as having salad for dinner.

Can you guess what we are having with dinner tonight? Yep...SALAD!

How to survive my sons Senior year.

Wow! It has been 7 months since I last posted. I nearly forgot my password and how to sign on. Lol.

Life is moving at break neck speed around here, feeling overwhelmed much of the time. Having 2 teenage boys in the house adds plenty of activity, along with having the other 2 kids and all their stuff. Whew!

So my question is "How do you survive your son's senior year?" AHHH!!!

All the requirements for senior year and college are incredible! Who woulda thunk it? Certainly not me. Besides all the college stuff, I thought senior year was the kick back year! Well I was in for a rude awakening.

We started all the college stuff last year, and had it all pretty much figured out. We visited the colleges, had it narrowed down to 2 of his favorites, he knew his major. It was just a matter of applying and seeing how the financial end would come out.

Senior stuff starts in the month of June....Wait!!!! He just finished his junior year and hasn't even had a summer yet!! OK, here we go senior class trip info meeting, senior portraits, passport applications, and the list goes on and on and on, with deadlines upon deadlines.

Praise God, I can run to Him in my overwhelmed state. He calms my fears, and restores my soul.

Deep breathe in, breathe out...Ok, I got this with my Lord......

Oldest son says to me a little bit ago "Mom, I have been doing alot of praying lately and I think I may be changing my major, and the ***University and **** University do not offer what I am thinking of changing to"

So I calmly explore his thoughts and probe his heart, encouraging him to go where God is leading him, even if it means we start this whole process over...

WHAT???? Did I really just say that???? PANIC!!!! START OVER???

Breathe in, breathe out, call upon the Lord my refuge! Dear God get me through this senior year!

So here we go on this rollerscoaster ride, with our arms lifted up screaming down the hills. Woohoo!!

Getting your grove on

It's the new year, new month, new resolutions, a chance to start fresh and make the year what you want it to be.
Many challenges have been thrown out there. Hmm...what challenge is the one that I will choose?

I have decided it's time to get my grove on! LOL!

That phrase came up in a recent game of catch phrase that we played with friends. It was quite hilarious to see our friend (who is a little bit older and can be quite reserved) get up from the table and do what looked like a hula dance. He was trying to demonstrate his clue "Getting your grove on". Needless to say, all 6  of us adults were cracking up in hysterics. All the while he is "getting his grove on" and saying with all seriousness "this is interference with all this laughing", which of course just made us laugh even harder. Everytime I think of that time, I just get te biggest chuckle

So, I claimed this year is the year... I get my grove on...
What does that mean?
Well to me, I am taking it as Carpe Diem, cease the day, take no prisoners and live everyday to its fullest
So when we had friends over for dinner, I used our good china (boy were they surprised it wasn't paper plates. LOL!).
When I go to work, I am working for the Lord not men. Do my coworkers need help? Looking for opportunities to help them, ease their load, and make a difference in the work day.
It means making my days productive, even if that means a productive day of watching HGTV because I need a the mental break.
It means getting my grove on playing the wii with my kids, going to the gym, making those doctor appointments that I absolutly dread, taking care of me.
It means to me, to dream big about what it is that God is asking me to do, to be, and then doing it and being it. Taking the steps that I need to in order to follow Gods plan for me, no matter what.

It means no longer procrastinating, and waiting, and postponing, or doing another day!
No!
I will get my grove on!!! You with me? Go get your grove on!

Getaway

Wow!! It has been almost a year since I posted anything. Life goes by at crazy speeds and then when there is time to take a breathe, it ends up with me collapsing.

This weekend hubby and I planned a spontaneous getaway. Spontaneous in the fact that it took us only a week to plan. Where are we going, who is watching the kids, who is shuttling them from soccer, birthday parties etc.? I must say, only a week to plan is in my book a record!! 4 kids is not easy to plan for time away with all their schedules. But I did it!!! Woohoo!!

We have escaped to the beautiful land of the Pennsylvania. In the romantic, breathe taking nook in the Poconoes. Gods splendor and mighty power is so evidently displayed. We hiked to the majestic Bushkill Falls...The Niagara of Pennsylvania. WOW! With all the rain and flooding this area has experienced in the last few weeks has made the most powerful waterfalls!! The streams and brooks are rushing waters that had you put a water wheel there it would be producing some serious electricity. It amazes me the absolute power that is in nature. It blows me away that is not even close to the power that God has. I am so grateful I am on Gods team!!

Tomorrow we leave, and I will drive hubby to the airport. He is flying out of Philly on the 10th anniversary of the tragic 9/11 events. Please pray for him if you think to. I will then head back home to the hustle and bustle of my busy yet very blessed life.

What a great day!!

A little different than the last post....

But today was a great low key, chill, productive kind of day.

This morning I got up early showered, went to the grocery store, came home and started baking banana breads before the kids even got up. I had 2 out of the oven before hubby even left for work. I was working on the raspberry oatmeal bars as he was going out the door.

After that I began to prepare my potatoes dish for Thanksgiving dinner at my in laws only to find out, that they have too many potato kind of dishes coming. Ugh. My potato dish would just make too much :(
I had already bought the ingredients. Oh well guess what we had for dinner tonight? LOL. You guessed it, the potatoes bacon dish.

Hopefully hubby can go to store for me, so I don't have to go AGAIN...

I was also able to spend some very valuable hang out time with a friend. She job searched on my computer while I fluttered around the kitchen. It was not party time just hang out time. Ahh, so nice not to have an agenda (she did, I didn't).

....oops just found this post, that I called away in the middle of, and now it is a couple days old. Oh well, I will post it anyways.....I will post later about Thanksgiving, since that is Today!!

Happy Thanksgiving! Be thankful even for the smallest of blessings!

Beat Up

Have you ever felt beat up when parenting?

Man on man, that is exactly how I feel right now.

We have set certain standards in our home. What kind of movies are allowed, what video games are acceptable, what kind of language is appropriate, etc. Usually the kids are agreeable to such standards and don't balk at them, but today was an onslaught.

We were getting hit from all angles. The boys wanting to push against those standards, mostly because friends or cousins were pushing them too. Ugh!!!

It's getting harder and harder to maintain those standards as they get older.

I feel beat up.
I feel bad.
Is it worth it?

The kids end up mad. Hubby and I end up frustrated. The friends and cousins don't understand.

 We were once the "cool parents", but have we now been down graded to "oh those parents"?

Ugh! Finding that balance of protection and letting go. Whew! That is a toughie.

Our goal is to move the kids from riding mom and dad's coat tails and what we believe to believing for themselves. We want their faith to be theirs, not because mom and dad said so. We want to teach them how to be decerning, and wise in their choices. We want them to be able to say no to disagreeable things because they believe it to be wrong.
Because my parents said so only goes so far, and doesn't exactly work when you are in college and beyond.

So today has been a rough day. The standards being pushed, holding to those standards, and letting them go to decide if they believe those standards are valuable.

God give me wisdom!

When you don't know what else to do.... just chuckle.

As you know I have 3 boys and a girl. So you would think that the 2nd and 3rd boys would be able to wear hand me downs from the oldest boy. They are not babies and toddlers so I don't have to worry with the season and size anymore.

I think God likes to show me His humor sometimes, cause yes I have 3 boys and a girl. I should only technically have to get 2 sets of clothes, boys (starting with my oldest, then passing them down to the younger brothers) and a girl. However, I have 3 different size boys, one wears regular, another wears slims, and the other one wears husky. I mean really? Not one boy the same? NOPE.

So there is no way I can get away with only one set of boys clothes. I will have size 14 regular, 14 slims, and 14 Husky. If I kept them (which I don't, I pass them on to someone else), I could open my own 2nd hand store for boys of ANY size. LOL.

For now we range in size from 18 regulars, to 10 slims (boy), to 8 husky, to a 6-7 slim (girl) Not a single size alike. I find that absolutely comical, cause if I didn't, I would find it really irritating. LOL.

Differences

I had a little chuckle tonight as the differnces in ages, and sons vs. daughters were revealed after saying a simple statement.

I just said "Babygirl?"
She replied "Yes, Mom?"
I said "I love you"
She promptly got up and came and sat next to me and started to snuggle with me.
My snuggle bug for sure.

I called to third son sitting on couch next to the chair babygirl and I were in, and he said
"huh?"
I said " I love you"
His reply " Uh -huh" with a little muttering
I said "Sweetie did you hear me? I said I love you."
He said "Yeah, I said I love you too didn't you hear me. Or maybe I just thought it? Hmm"
I explain to him "I didn't tell you so you would say it to me, I just wanted to make sure you heard me."
"Oh.... well...I did and I do love you, just in case I didnt tell you, and just thought it."
Such a sweetie.

I then call over to second son who is sitting at the table on the computer
He says "Yeah Mom"
I say "I love you"
He responded with a little chuckle and then said "I love you too"
I question the little chuckle "What was the chuckle for?"
He tells me "You already told me that today."
So I say "Well then I must really mean it huh?"
He replies with another chuckle "Yeah, I know."
Oh, he is growing up.

Oldest son was upstairs doing homework, so didn't get a chance at that time to tell him, though I know I have already told him that I love him. I never want to take for granted the chance to tell my kids I love them. You never know what tomorrow brings.

I just found it interesting how they each responded.

Ahhh!!! I am sooo behind on my holiday baking...
Usually by now I have many frozen dozens of cookies and breads, and right now... I have zilch, zippo, nada, nil, nothing, zero.
I did have several different kinds of muffins, breads, oatmeal cookies, choc. chip cookies, all ready to go for the holidays.
But as events have rolled by, and kids need homebaked items for parties at school, or soccer game snacks, or ladies events, or whatever has come along. So have the baked items come out of the freezer and onto someone elses plate.
Don't get me wrong....I was ever so grateful at the time to have a quick fix for an unplanned visit from friends or whatever, but now my holiday baking is so pathetic looking.

Bliss

Ahhhh!!!

Yesterday was great, amazing, fantabulous.....

I had an amazing breakfast and morning with hubby after the kids were at school and before he needed to be at work....

What a great time to actually talk without being interrupted, or have to share our food, or whatever seems to always happen when hubby and I try to talk. Okay, it is not that bad but still it was nice to know it wouldn't happen no matter what.

After hubby went off to work,  I had the house to myself... Well mostly.
I did have to share it with the dog and HGTV. I am so addicted to that channel. My favorite is house hunters or house hunters international. What a fantastic show!! Anyways, I had HGTV on all day without it getting changed to a kid show or ESPN (which I do enjoy periodically).

I needed to conquer the laundry beast again. Somehow that beast always seems to have the upper hand. UGH!!
So with house hunters on, I become a laundry beast fighting machine. ( I pause it during the commercials, run around putting the folded clothes in their proper rooms, reboot the laundry if it is time then head back to the tv. I fast forward through the commericials and begin watching the show again and folding laundry till next commercial.) . What a delightful productive almost relaxing kind of day!!!

I have to say it was BLISS!!!

How things change

I noticed the last post I was confessing some Empty nest feelings.....

Whew!! I have off tomorrow, and all the kids will be in school.....

I am sooooo ready for tomorrow, and NO there will not be any feelings of empty nest.

It's been stressful, hubby traveling, kids school work, oldest son ankle injury, second son dentist issue and chiro issues, third son struggling with school work, and baby girl well.... lets just say she always has drama.

I am wiped out and ready for SILENCE tomorrow.

So goodbye feelings of loneliness and hello sanity....

Empty nest already?

I had just the smallest, iddy-biddy, tiniest little experience with empty nest syndrome.

What?????

Yes, empty nest....well, sort of.

You see, last week, hubby was in Chicago all week and my oldest was in DC all week and weekend, plus my second child spent the night at a friends' house (even though it was a school night, I let him. They really wanted to help with hubby & oldest gone. That way I didn't need to get the younger 2 up extra early to get second son to bus stop. How wonderful it is to have thoughtful friends- love you).

That meant it was only me and the 2 younger kids in the house. Woah!!! Freaky!!!

Thankfully all is well again. My hubby is home and so are all 4 of my kids. AHHHHH!!!!

I am so blessed to enjoy my family and love more than anything to have us all together.

God is so GOOD.

A realization

As the days are quiet, with the kids at school and hubby at work, and I am at home (when I am off from work)....

As I go about my days at home during these times (granted I have had only 3 of these days since the kids have been back to school.).....

I noticed something the last quiet day....

The queitness of the house.....freaked me out a bit.....it made me.....

LONELY.

I am actually stunned to find myself looking for errands to run while the kids are at school, instead of savoring the quietness of the house.

I am looking to get out, be out, and stay out of the house.

But I need to stay IN the house to get Mount Laundry under control, dinner made, dishes done, vaccuming, cleaning those gross bathrooms, etc.....

Now that I am avoiding the house when the kids are gone,  I am literally falling farther behind...And I have more time to get it done too...UGH!!

I am in a complete state of shock that this is a reality to me. I cannot tell you how I was looking forward to that quiet house, and now it freaks me out.

It's the reverse culture shock I experienced when I was working full time, then had my first baby and then went home full time. That did not go over very well in the beginning. It took me 3 months to start to enjoy my baby.

I guess I need to give it time, 3 months maybe???

Yikes, I don't think the house will survive 3 months of me avoiding it!!!

Home Alone

Yesterday, started something I thought I was looking forward to for the last 15 years.....
All the kids in full day school, and the house to myself. WOW!!! Not what I thought it would be like.

Funny thing was the closer the time came for it to be reality, the more reluctant I was about it.

I worked yesterday morning and had the afternoon off. I came home and did the normal things I would. Laundry, dishes, making dinner, etc. The entire time I was looking at the clock like every 10 minutes wondering if it was time to go get the kids. It was a strange feeling of times past, when I would have quiet afternoons when the kids were napping. I kept feeling like the kids were sleeping and I needed to hurry up and get as much done as I possibly could before they woke up. Yet I knew they were not sleeping and I had a designated time to be done in order to leave to get the kids at school. Again... strange feeling.

Today was another strange feeling. After dropping the kids off at school, I went grocery shopping and came home and immediately started dinner in the crock pot ( a new recipe...which I am sad to say I don't like). Now that was nothing unusual yet, that happened last year with Babygirl in 1/2 day Kindergarten. The strange feeling came when I decided to go to the gym... I did not need to make sure the daycare was open. I did not need to hurry, or tell anyone how long I would be.....I just....went.....Now that was strange!!

I looked forward to this time for so long. Especially during the times when I just wanted to go to the bathroom, or the store or the doctors office without a fuss. And as the cliche goes you won't miss it until its gone.

It's not that I miss it (it's only been the start of it though) but it is just so different. It just is a constant reminder to me that my kids are growing up and we can never go back. Unless God has other plans than mine (which could certainly be) we will never have babies, or toddlers at home that are too young to go to school, and occupy most of my time. (I am not talking about future grandchildren that maybe this would happen for). It is just a little sobering for me.

 I am not looking to change it either. This is just the next chapter in our family story. I am looking forward to hubby taking a day off, and we can have a date day without having to find sitters and it being an ordeal. Now that will be nice.

Celebrate...How???

Yesterday, we came upon a curious problem.

Hubby was promoted to Executive Vice President and I wanted to celebrate this achievement, but how???

How do you celebrate an accomplishment or achievement that does not involve food??

Going out to dinner would have been an easy option. But hubby is doing really well on a diet, and the kids all had things they needed to be to, so that was ruled out right away.

Going away is not an option with school starting.

 A nice present??? Hmmm... the company gave him a new name plate.

Seems like there should be something out there that we could do to celebrate.

Something on our limited budget, something special, something meaningful, something memorable..

Hmmmm.....any ideas...?????

Well, no matter what, I am so proud of who he is and all he does for our family!!

Getting the itch

I'm in trouble!!!!

Why???

Well, I am definitely getting the itch to go away. I know we just went on vacation 2 months ago, but I feeling the need to escape..

Escape what, you may be thinking, It's summertime after all.

Here is why I may be in trouble.....

School is just about to start, we are in the last week of summer vacation, and I still have to work and we are not going anywhere before school starts.

Then we are thrust into the school year and soccer practices/games for all four kids. The opportunity to go away greatly diminishes.

But, I am one who needs to get away every so often. If I don't get away, I feel sufficated, closterphobic if you wish, or just plain and simple....cabin fever.

I feel the need to explore, spread my wings, and just go where the wind may take me.

I know some people (like my mom) cannot relate to me. They are perfectly fine to stay home, not travel, content to stay in their world where they are.

NOT ME...... I want to know what else is out there that I may be missing out on. Take me to the action. Even if that action is a beautiful waterfall, a mountain to hike, or rollercoaster to ride.

LETS GO!!!!!

The mom debate

Oh what a night

You see, Babygirl fell asleep at 5:30 last night. You moms are already seeing the problem.

We have been keeping her busy and staying up late. Most days she has been taking a nap (which she gave up last year) but yesterday she crashed before dinner. She went upstairs to play in her room and at some point curled up onto her bed and drifted off into la la land. I only noticed this when she had been very quiet for too long. How precious, and peaceful she looked.

That, starts the mom debate....to wake her up or leave her sleep (and for how long)

*Will she stay asleep through the night?
*Will she wake up hungry (she had no dinner)?
*If I wake her up will it be midnight before she goes back to sleep?
*Which is worse for me????
       -Possibly being woke up in the middle of the night with a starving girl or possibly having a little girl who wont go back to sleep??

I chose to leave her sleep.....

As I had predicted, Babygirl woke up as I was heading up the stairs to go to bed (at least it wasn't when I had just fallen asleep).....

"MOM???"
"Yes, sweetie."
"I'm starving. Why is everything so dark? and where is everyone?"
"Let's get you a snack. You fell asleep at dinner time and now it is the middle of the night and everyone is asleep"
With an absolutely priceless face of confusion she says "Huh??"

And so it went.. Trying to explain it was the middle of the night, getting her some food to fill her belly, trying to convince her she needed togo back to sleep when she was not tired at all. I did finally manage to get her back to sleep after what seemed like an eternity to me. However, she was restless the rest of the night. Coming into our room several times and eventually sleeping with us.

Hmmmm.....not sure I won the debate on that one. Maybe I should have woke her up....