Adventures of the Supersized 6

Wow it is nearly the end of the school year. If you know my kids then they may have told you that that there are only 3 days left. 2 for Madie. The wonderment of every other day kindergarten. With the end of school comes summer, the heat, and tons of activities to keep us busy and remind Aaron and I that we in fact have 4 kids. 4 kids that keep us going in 4 directions.

The weather is heating up. We had some awesome storms around here last evening. And I mean awesome in the way that one stands there in awe that the trees are bending in such a fashion yet not snapping and swirling around Wizard of Oz style. Spring was short lived. It seems that it wasn't more than 8 weeks ago that we had a snow day. It warmed up then got cold again. Last week the nights were frigid. We passed the mid 80's today with some humidity. Oh joy. Mommy is now counting the days till we put a pool up in the back yard. That was the big debate. The kids love to be outside when it is warm, and they should be out and playing. But when it is that hot I want to run the air conditioners to keep it nice somewhere. So then the electric bill becomes these monster I fear. So we are outside in the heat while an empty house is nice and cool and it is costing an arm and a leg. Or is the cost of a little pool? The trend of the blue pools that look like a bowl was big last year. This year there are some new models out that have supports on the sides and the cost is actually cheaper than it would be to cool an empty house. The good thing is that the evenings are pretty tolerable here in the country. So the plan is to lounge around in the pool and enjoy the summer in between boy scout camps and activities, heritage girl camp and activities, VBS programs, summer reading programs, gearing up for fall soccer, yes it starts in August. Oh and I am taking two classes this summer at UC. Well now I am exhausted....
Happy summer!

My relationship with my mother is what it is. I love her, and I will honor her not only because the bible commands it of me, but because I respect her choice to give birth to me in the face of adversity at a time when other women would have chose otherwise. She gave me life, and made sure that I had clothes and shelter. Each woman in my family has paved a very distict and different path in thier parenting journey. Some embraced it, some endured it like it was a painful tour of duty and their soldiers were a burden. But the bottom line is that each woman finished their tour and at the end of 18 years there was another person in society. Now I have my own little people and it is my tour of duty. At times it is painful (very few times), but I think that every mother would agree that there are those moments in their journey. The pain is good, like growing pains, in order for growth there needs to be a stretching from what is comfortable, to what is healthy. But I have embraced my job, my responsibility, my priviledge to be a mom.

At times it is hard to not have mentor's within my own family to learn from. To see the example of thier job well done and desire the same out of my parenting and model my decisions and path after theirs. Instead I use it as a guide of what not to do, which I suppose is the good to come from their mistakes. I rarely share any info on an upcoming decision that needs to be made with them, it usually brings doubt in my abilities and criticism of my faith. Luckily God has my back. He knew that I would need a mentor figure in my life who would be willing to listen, instruct, listen, advise, listen, encourage, oh and listen. I would need someone who has been there, done that, and willing to cheer me on while I try to bring up 4 little people without making huge mistakes along the way. I was lucky enough that God gave me a whole new family of women with faith that is beyond compare. Marsha did not give birth to me, rather she gave birth to my husband. But there are days that I forget that fact. Marsha and her sisters didn't even know me until 1998. But Marsha and I have gone through all the ups and downs that a mother and daughter go through. She would try to give me advise, and I would rebel. And we learned that it is hard to have two women trying to nest in the same house, but I believe that was all part of God's design. Would we know as much about each other had we not gone through that experience? Would we be as comfortable around one another? We had growing pains, and we stretched out of our comfort zones to mature to the now healthy relationship we share. I had the "mother in law" fear. You hear the horror stories, and I knew how the mother's in my family were. Now having been through the good the bad and the sometimes even ugly, ( yes I could be ugly at times) Marsha and I are now not only related by marriage, not only tied with love through our faith, but truly are friends. I was thinking about how I talk to her at least 3 days a week, sometimes more. And I spend a great deal of my weekends with her. She has a very active role with us and our children. I compared that to my other relationships in my life and I realized that next to Aaron she is my best friend. I call her when I am upset, or have something exciting I want to share. When something goes on, good or bad I tell Aaron and then I think " I can't wait to tell Marsha." God provides you with the things in life that you didn't know you were missing, or even know you needed. She is not the only positive mentor in my mothering journey. I also have her amazing 5 sisters and her mother as well. I missed out on having that grandma experience as well. But God made up for it ten fold with Leah. She is the Grandma you read about in books, or see on TV, but didn't believe was really out there. She has something fresh baked and homemade everytime you visit. She is filled with faith, and the love she has for her family. She gives of herself to everyone to meets. She is true inspiration of spirit filled woman. These 5 sister's are anything but oridinary women as well. Each one has amazing talents and integrity. They each have thier unique examples of mothering that inspire you to be a better mother as well. They have all sacrificed of themselves for their children and are amazing cheerleaders for thier kids and neices and nephews as they are now raising their own broods of little ones. They always have encouraging words and I know that each pray for my family. So I guess God does see the needs in our hearts and he provides. In my case he provided me with 7 amazing mentors to look to when I am struggling with my place as a mom. I am thankful, humbled and blessed beyond measure to be a part of a family of amazing women, who are amazing moms. I feel like when I married Aaron I gained a mom, a grandma and 5 aunts.

Now chances are a few of these women will read this. Which I hope they like, and I didn't just say this because it is mother's day weekend, but because it is how I feel every weekend. That and I was thanking God for giving me a wonderful mentor in my life in Marsha, who I hope to continue to learn from. She laughs and cries with me and with every choice I make I know she is praying and cheering me on.

Thanks Momma Marsha!! (Marsha Marsha Marshmallow :)
And to Leah, Rosie, Josie, Vanessa, Rhonda and Brenda. You inspire me.



TLM

I have come to love many things about living in the midwest. There are many contrasts that I love compared to Southern California. I love the seasons. When you live in LA you only get summer. It may be cold in the morning and you may wear a sweat shirt for you morning walk on the beach, but you will always end up in a tank top and shorts, be it 4th of July or Christmas day. My first experience of MidWest was here in Ohio. My in laws were living in New Richmond and we were all about to move to Chicago. It was July and it was humid. More humid than I have ever experienced before. I heard it would be better the more North we were. And it was loud, there are bugs that make the most annoying noise I had ever heard. Again, less likely in the north. by fall we were in Chicago and the colors were amazing. I had never seen nature make colors like that before. It was simple yet amazing beauty. We took a drive to Wisconsin to take it all in. I felt like for 21 years I had missed out on something wonderful year after year. That winter also brought new things, for all in our family. We had moved to Chicago in time for one of the biggest snow storms that they had in years. 23 inches fell in less than 24 hours over New Years Eve. It ushered in an intersting 1999. Spring came and brought green along with it. It was neat to see how the landscape can grow from day to day. Summer was great and Fall came mildly. Madie was born just a few weeks before our first Chicago Halloween. It was warm and we trick or treated in shorts. The following year it snowed and we stayed home. But for the most part I felt great through each passing season. Till now....

Ohio has a vastly different environment than Northern Illinois. There are different tree's, the weather is different, my sinus' tell me that the barometric pressure is different. I went nearly 27 years without a sinus infection. Thanks Southern Ohio. With that pain is allergies. As a kid I would have allergies. They tested me and said it was grass. I would get welts on my legs if I sat in the grass. I was encouraged to stay in doors. Yes I had a boring child hood. I was rarely allowed to play outside. Now I am outdoors with my kids daily and it is very painful. My husband loves to garden and I enjoy all the Iris' (My favorite flower) he had lovingly planted and tending to daily. They are beautiful. But after a short walk about the yard my head starts to fill with pressure and I sneeze a few dozen times and my eyes water and swell. Yesterday Aaron mowed the yard and I was out with the kids amongst the fress cuttings. By evening what was pressure turned into a full blown migraine. I have a feeling that I will have to break down and call Noah's allergist and make an appointment. They will likely test me to see what it is: nature at it's prettiest, and give me a drug to fix it. In the meantime I will enjoy my beatiful yard from the confines of my windows and via the pictures that Aaron takes of my beautiful flowers. As all women know, with beauty comes pain. :)

TLM

Wow, it is Monday already? Get out...
Ok so I survived. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that it will somehow always be like this or worse from now on since my kids and Aaron and I are finally getting into the groove of Southern Ohio life. With the blink of an eye I feel like we have friends to spend time with and plenty of activities to keep us more than busy. There were times in Chicago when the kids were still little, not in school and the only thing I left the house for was either church or medically related. Now it seems that I am hardly home. Madie's overniter was a success, Jake had a sleep over with a friend, we went from that straight to a birthday party to visit and a little bit of time over some lamb and steaks with the family. Sunday morning brought a breath of fresh air for many. My father in law started his first week of being a pastor. I was excited for him and for his new congregation. We got there and promptly walked in the wrong door, but we figured it out soon enough. There was plenty of people there, and about a dozen or so kids. (Including my tribe) Which is a good sign. They were very friendly and during the meet and greet time many came over to welcome Don's family to their family. You could feel their excitment and energy of all the new things to come. They had a pot luck dinner which was a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing amazing foods. We got a tour of their building which has a great deal of room and potential for growth. They seem to ready for change and anticipate growth. They have pictures on the wall which showed the history of the congregation and the buildings. The families that have grown in that church were amazing. One gentleman had been a member for 73 years. You really felt that all those there understood what it meant to be a family and community of God. They honored their history and heritage yet welcomed changes and growth to further the kingdom. It reminded me of Plato Center UMC. A small country church that was steeped in heritage, yet when it welcomed change and joining forces with another local church to become Cornerstone UMC, and it grew to be known by some in the Northern Illinois area as the "miracle in the corn" church. I have a feeling that amazing and wonderful blessing will grow from New Harmony UMC as well.

After stuffing our faces we were off to the soccer fields. With the B team short handed Jake stayed to play with them as well. He did an amazing job and hustled during both games. He was a strong forward and had many good shots on goal. He has a strong and straight kick. Even thought he goalies on both the other teams were good he did get 1 goal. I have a feeling that when fall comes and they are practicing more each week he will become a strong and very consistent player. I was proud of how hard he worked especially for a double header.
We grilled with the folks after to reflect on a busy weekend for all. It was fun but it was also nice to just sit with a cup of coffee and breath. As the kids grow so will our schedule and our constant running around. Speaking of....gotta run.


TLM

I found out today that there are alot of things in American heritage girls that Madie needs to get. There is a manual with all the activities she can complete to earn badges. There is the uniform, and fees for the outings and activities that the troop does. Luckily there are fundraising ways to help offset the exense of it all. Madie is selling "world's finest" chocolate bars. Yum! So if you feel like Chocolate see Madie. She can also earn money in her heritage girl account with printer cartridges. The troop works with a company that buys and recycles them. What ever Madie collects from them goes into her own heritage girls account. So if you would like to see your empty printer cartridge put to good use, bag em up and give them to Madie. Any funds in her account goes towards her trips, fee's, and the badges she earns. Thanks for helping out!

TLM

At the start of the school year there was all sorts of papers coming home about all the programs offered in our little village. My kids seemed only interested in their soccer season at the time. I let out a sigh of relief that I avoided all the extra scheduling it would require not to mention all the money it takes to be in all these wonderful programs.
Fast forward 8+ months. Jake was invited to a cub scouts meeting, oh no I thought... well he loved it. He is making new friends and seems comfortable with everyone. He looks forward to Thursday nights. I am learning about dens, packs, wolves and bears... Jake will move on to a bear soon. It is all very confusing but I am sure he knows what is going on. At least I hope. Madie has been proclaiming to me that she has no friends at school. We found out last week that couldn't be further from the truth. We stopped at McDonalds for some ice cream cones and two of the girls from her class were there as well. the mom with them was Madie's room mom. We talked as the kids were all running around like nuts. Madie got invited to a mother/daughter tea and sleep over with the American Heritage Girls troop. The program is much like girl scouts but with a more biblical focus. Their goal is to teach girls integrity and skills with a biblical approach. After our tea and her night of fun I was asked to sign her up. In fact she nearly demanded to be signed up before we left. So I got her all ready to go and she is now an American Heritage Girl. She even earned a badge for her lock-in last night. Next week she has a awards ceremony where she will be promoted from a pathfinder to a tenderfoot with all the rest of the kindergarten girls. Now that they are offical, I get to order all these uniforms to house all the badges, patches, and whatever else they get to stick on said uniforms. They will be busy this summer which will be nice. But oh next year should be interesting. Jake's scout meetings will be the 1st,3rd, and 4th Thursday's, Madie's heritage girl meetings will be the 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesdays, they will most likely do pioneer club on Wednesday nights and there is soccer with practice's yet to be determined. I can only hope that all three of my kids will have practice on the same nights... Oy vey.

TLM