Come one Come all... admission...FREE!

Do you ever wonder how many strangers stories you are in?
Just a few examples I could see others telling about our family:
-I saw this poor mom in the bathroom the other day w/ 2 kids on the potty and changing a diaper while the other one ran circle around her trapping her legs in the leash....
-This sweet little girl was narrating her potty experience to her mom in the bathroom…
- I was caught off guard today when a mom came out of the clothes rack holding a 2 kids...
- Did you see how far that little kid shot that food off her plate? She got a future in baseball....
-Or the one we all dread…. some little girls was coach/praising her mom on the potty today. (You gotta love then the tell you they are going to hold to you so you don't fall in and clap for you when your all done.)

Sometimes I think I need to charge admission for the show my girls put on in public, not always bad entertaining either. They are just so stinkin' entertaining! Karis will be trying to help push the cart and Kaelyn will walk beside her going "Skoot back!" Addy insists on wearing her sunglasses the entire time and is always looking behind her so she is constantly running into things/people or having very near misses. And Amara feels the need to constantly narrate everything, sometime even through song. She is a 1 girl musical show. :) We get so many people that stop us to ask, "Are they all your?!?" that Amara, sometime Addy, have started just telling people who haven't asked. And once they start you can't stop them until they have to preform the whole show, their ages, when their birthday is, how old they will be on their birthday, that they are sisters, and that they have twins, etc.
We are trying to give Amara some since of what a stranger is and that its not always appropriate to walk up to someone and have a conversation with them (Say what mom? If they can see me I must converse with them!) So now when she remembers not to go up to someone she will loudly announce to all those in the area, "Mom that man/lady is a stranger. I don't know them so I didn't talk to them. They might not be nice."
One thing is for sure we never have a dull time when we are out in about. But when your 4 on 1 you just learn to expect the unexpected and go with it. And carrying a few extra snacks and wipes is always a good idea! (You never know when one of the twins will pee out their diaper and it will pour out the cart and pool on the floor, so napkins are a good thing to carry to.)
Txt me for the upcoming show schedule!

The baby that would have been mine- Kari Coolidge Atalla."

This a beautiful song that one of my friends from college wrote and sings on her newly produced CD. She is very talented check her out. Kari Coolidge Atalla. :)

"A Recipe for Failure"

Found this today while doing some homework for school. Thought it was fun and true :)

"A Recipe for Failure"
1. Never get involved in anything. Say to yourself often, "Nothing Matters."
2. Keep you brain from getting tired - don't think about anything important too much.
3. Don't care about anyone or anything. Save all your concern for yourself and work on elevating selfishness to an art form.
4. Be a walking disaster. Leave trails of chaos in your wake where ever you go.
5. Have low expectations for yourself and always live down to them.
6. Waste as much time as possible. Spend your time hanging out, sleeping, playing games, complaining about how unfair life is, and making excuses.
7. Ignore other people and pretend you live alone on some remote island out in the Pacific Ocean. 8. Work on developing rude and obnoxious behaviors and appearances.
9. Never assess yourself, question your own values, or analyze your personal lifestyle.
10. Always keep your consciousness altered enough to keep you from fully grasping what is or is not happening to you.
11. Commit as much of your time, energy, and money as you can towards maintaining at least one major addiction to something everyone says is bad for you.

Copyright 1999, Ric Andrews

Catching up....

So I lost the month of June. I can't believe that we are going to be half way through July this week. I'm really falling behind on this hole blogging thing. Sorry :)
June was a busy month we celebrated our 5th anniversry, had 2 yard sales, got my school room packed up and ready to move to our new school building, did lots of yard work, and celebrated as our 2nd born turned 3. My sister and her family have been in the last 2 weeks. We have had lots of fun playing with my 1 yr old neice and visiting w/ Aunt Annie. 4th of July was a big hit this year, a family BBQ, swiming, and fireworks. Amara and Addy were old enough this year to truly appreicate the fireworks and had a blast watching them and the twins stayed up a little late a watched a few on tv, but didn't seem to impressed. :) Hard to believe that summer is half over! Guess now I really do have to be intentional about getting my checklist completed.

Are you allergic?

We have a few allergy issues that run in our family, so our oldest has taken an interest in allergies, what that means for the person dealing with it, and the limitations that they can sometimes bring. As of late she will randomly ask, "Mom are you allergic to___?" (fill in the blank with whatever is interesting at the time.) It seems that she thinks that anything we don't have, eat, or participate in means we are allergic to it. :)
We took a little field trip to the butterfly house today and as we are preparing she was asking in concern if Addy is allergic to butterflies. I told her no and she was happy to continue in our preparation. (Of course the way Addy squealed and ran from the butterflies you would have thought she was.) Afterwards we stopped to get some lunch and a family with 2 small boys sat down at the table next to us. They watched us (because seeing my clan out in public is always an exciting parade) and our girls being the social lil ones they are talked to oldest boy a little (he was maybe 3 and a half). After several minutes Amara looks at me as serious as can be and asks, "Mama are you allergic to little boys?" My mom and I just about fell out of the chairs. In her mind because we don't have any little boys in our family (yet) that must mean I am allergic to them. :)
"No Amara I'm not allergic to them God just didn't choose to give mommy any, He gave us you and your sisters."
"Oh well then I better start praying for everyday until he gives us one. 'Cause Bo is a boy and we are going to ride in an airplane to get him and he will be my brother."
"Yes he will. It will be so fun to have a little brother."
"And he won't make you sick because you're not allergic to little boys."
Good reasoning, she can make me laugh so hard. You can't help but love the heart and mind of a child. :)

I'm so embarrassed

Amara is into having to know everything about everything lately, must have something to do with being 4. :) The last week or so has been more focused on defining emotions especially embarrassment. She was playing the other day and I hear, "I'm so embarrassed! I don't know why I just am." Kids repeat a lot of things (especially when they think its a funny word) so I giggled and continued on with my day. Then today in the car she begins again. " I'm so embarrassed. Do you know what that means mama?" "Yes, Rara do you?"(Amaras nickname at home is Rara.) "No, but I'm just embarrassed. I don't know why. What does it mean?" And then before I can answer we hear Addy's little voice "Its like the 'Embarastein Bear' Rara, that what it is." Addy was so proud of her correct answer and wasn't gonna let anyone tell her differently. :) I love these stories that we will one day be able to use to truly embarrassed them with.... if they only know! :)

If You Give a Mom a MOMent....

If you give a mom a moment….

She will sit to rest her sore feet.
And when she puts her feet up she will notice the hole in her sock, which will reminder her of the hubbbys paints that need a button and the kids dresses that need taken in. She will dig out her sowing kit and go to the table for a place to work.

When she gets to the table she will discover some mystery stickyness, probalby left behind at breakfast. She will wash the table, again. As she does a few crumbs will fall to the floor. She will get a broom and sweep up the mess, and as she emptys the dustpan she will be remined of the diapers pail in the bathroom that needs to be emptied.

She will work her way to the bathroom picking up toys and dusting frames along the way. As she gathers the trash she will notice the pile of dirty towels on the bathroom floor which will reminder her of the load of laundry waiting to switched.

When she get to the washroom she will put the towels in the washer, as she loads some kitchen towels she will be reminded that there is meat and veggies to be thawed for dinner. She will go up to the kitchen and remove the food from the freezer.

When the door on the freezer closes she will notice all the wonderful works of “art” that decorate it which will reminder her of the project she has promise to do with the kids after dinner. She will gather paper, crayons, glue, and stickers for art time with the kids.

As she places them all on the table and begins to sit down to return to the mending she will hear the happy voices of rested children who are ready to eat, play, and be entertained.

And at the end of the day when she FINALLY gets a moment to sleep (not always unenterupted) she will pray for many more days to the same, and will give thanks to God for all the blessings, the ones to care for, to clean, things to mend and pick up. This is the blessing of motherhood!

It is true - if you give a mom a moment she will spend it on those she loves. Sometimes the days are long, sometimes draining, but there is joy in showing the love of Christ to our kids in the day to day tasks. We may get little sleep, be the 1st to taste the food but the last to eat, and rarely go in the bathroom by ourselves, but wouldn’t give is up for a life of rest, fine dinning, or privacy.

Happy Mothers Day to all my wonderful friends who are tackling the the ups, downs, ins, and outs of this wonderful motherhood journey!

Thank you mom for giving me a great example and wonderful support. The more I learn about mothering my kids, the more I understand your love for us, and I'm so blessed to have you. I LOVE YOU!