Gone are the days where I carefully plan and schedule posts. Now I simply blog as I feel inspired by life. I have decided there is a time and a place for both.

I know I’m not alone as a mom who finds that the most joy can be brought about by the littlest things that happen each day. It can be a hug, a giggle, a story, a kind gesture or many other almost imperceptable things. But if you look close you’ll catch them.

This was clearly shown recently when CJ our oldest made a completely selfless sacrifice to try and benefit me. It was so kind, so completely loving that it brought me to tears.  I was amazed by this young man once again.  I’m so thankful for him in so many ways.

So today, I’m looking for the little things and praying that I can offer little things to everyone around me as well!

As I tried to login to post yesterday, I discovered that my blog was down.  So I took that as a prompt to move on and let it go for the day.  Not sure what the problem was since everything seems to be just fine today but I’m thankful that it wasn’t anything major because I hadn’t backed up for a while and I’d feel terrible if you all had to re-enter the contests.

Life got put on hold again this week as we have had more creeping crud.

On Friday last week I received a phone call from the boys’ school.  It was the health room gal letting me know that Lion had a nasty little infection going in his left hand.  A half hour later I picked him up from school and dragged him to the doctor.  All the while wondering how on earth a simple cut or splinter could cause that nasty of an infection overnight.

An hour of kicking and screaming at the doctor’s office later (they had to clean it out and such – it was awful), a bandaid was applied, stickers handed out and a prescription ordered.  Two days later I received a call to stop the antibiotic they had prescribed since the infection was Strep not staph as they had presumed.  So on to a new prescription he went…. SIGH.

Yesterday CJ was a mess, his head was so stuffed and painful he could hardly move until I’d loaded him up on meds.  Since none of the other boys were in school that day the Twinkies and Tater went to visit my parents and overall it was a pretty low key day.

That afternoon though CJ still wasn’t feeling as well as I’d like and the presence of a fever in addition to some neck pain had me a little concerned so I decided to take him in.  Something he was determined not to do.  You try convincing a 14 year old who is almost 6 feet tall to go to the doctor when they don’t want to… it isn’t fun!

But as we were getting ready to go, Salesman told me his throat was hurting pretty badly, so last minute I decided to take him as well.  After a small check-in ordeal at one of the local walk-in clinics, the boys were checked out.

Turns out CJ just has a lot of sinus stuff going on and needs to take preventative measures to keep it from turning into a sinus infection.  The cultured Salesman’s throat right away and by the time the doc was done checking CJ the results of the 5 min Strep test were ready… and very positive.

Oh Joy!

I have 6 sons and in the 14 years that I’ve been a parent not one of my children has ever had Strep throat.  Something I was quite happy about since there are so many of them and it is so contagious.  Today I might have one more child to take to the doctor…and tomorrow, well, I don’t want to think about that lol.

So, there you have it, we are officially in the middle of the sickies and I can only hope that you are not doing the same in your house!  Have a GREAT Thursday ladies!

Fall is here, with it are cooler, shorter days that tend to be darker.  Here in Washington, the rains are actually not as bad as normal, we’ve had a lot of sunny fall days…I actually do not remember having so many gorgeous fall days.

So this year, for me the fall gloomies are taking a little longer to set in, but for many the changing of the seasons means a definite change in attitude.

Focus, attitude, perspective and purpose are all ways to maintain…or lose…a great mood.   The choice is, ultimately, up to us.  The problem is that I don’t always feel like “making it work”.

As the weeks progress through fall and winter, I’m likely to offer a variety of suggestions.  Since I often know that a day may be gloomy as soon as I start getting up, today I want to make a few suggestions for starting your day.

Shower!

There’s nothing better than a nice warm shower on a cold gloomy fall morning.  Especially an uninterrupted one.  So many of us moms let this part of our day go a little, but if you have an opportunity to do this, spend a little extra time just letting the hot water wash over you.  Make sure you lock the door too.

We have only one bathroom, and honestly, I usually leave the door unlocked in case anyone has to use the toilet or sink while I’m showering.  We haven’t had any issues with privacy doing this, but when they open the door all the hot air rushes out and it totally kills the comforting affect of the shower.  So, on gloomy days, warn everyone that the door will be locked so they’d better get their business done before you go in.

Comfort Breakfast

Have a favorite breakfast?  Love cocoa or a great mocha in the morning?  Take time to make and really enjoy it on days when your mood is less than fabulous.  Going through a morning on an empty stomach is bad enough, but when you’re not in a great mood, it becomes even worse.

Forget the House

This may seem like the strangest suggestion of all.  I’m not telling you to get out of the house, though that may be exactly what some of you need.  But, go into the cleanest room (nonexistent in my world, but we’ll ignore that fact for a moment) and take the little ones with you.  Cuddle with them, read them a story, play blocks with them, watch a quiet kid movie.  You get the idea.  Lay low.  If you try to do laundry, dishes, clean house and more while entertaining your little ones, your mood is likely to just keep going downhill.  Save those activities for a little later, when your children are napping or having their quiet time.

Yes, there are a lot more suggestions I could make, but for now, I’ll leave it at that .  I think a surprise recipe for a magnificent mocha/cocoa is in order next week…be sure to come get that!

I’ve heard it said a million times “remember, you can’t get these years back”.   I’ve translated that to myself over and over countless times again…telling myself things like, remember today will never happen again (which could be a good or a bad thing) so make the most of it.

Whenever I’ve had a bad day, I promise myself that “tomorrow will be better” since each day “is fresh with no mistakes in it…yet” (Anne Shirley).

Somehow though, despite the warnings from those who are already past the younger years of children and my own reminders daily, I often simply don’t make the effort or (gasp) I shrug it off and act like it’s no big deal.

Yet somewhere, even in the midst of occasionally saying, “they don’t understand because they aren’t still in the thick of it like me” I know the truth. There really is only a short time I get with my little ones and I’m the one missing out.

I have scheduled myself not with the crazy list of activities that drive most moms out of their minds, but rather with a list of “invisible” things like email, blogging, designing and much more.

None of these things are bad in and of themselves, but they all distract from the here and now, and most of all they can become our focus instead of our children. Maybe most other moms can schedule their e-time more carefully than I, but for me this is probably the biggest challenge on my plate…how do I eliminate what I need to in order to get back to the place where I know I’m supposed to be.

Once again I want to stress that doing these things isn’t really the problem, it’s that I know in my heart that my priorities and time spent isn’t as it should be.

When I ask myself the following question, the answer I come up with is the true testament of where I am at (you’re welcome to take the challenge to ask yourself as well)…

How often in the day do I see my children as a joy not a nuisance?

The answer to this question, if answered honestly is where we will find our true current priorities. If we answered that we honestly see our children as a joy more often than not, then we are totally in the right place in our hearts and lives.

If however, you discovered the answer to that question is that you am forever shooing my children away or trying to “get them out of my hair” so that you can do my own thing, there is a very good likelihood that you probably feel a little sad right now. The truth is setting in and you feel a little awkward.

One of the worst things we can do at that moment though is to write it off and tell yourself that it is just too late, or too hard to change. I encourage you to pray about the situation and if you don’t know what is causing your priorities to go caddywampus, ask for God to show you. If you do know what’s causing it, ask Him to help you make the changes necessary to do the right thing…NOW…not in a year, you don’t want to lose any more time.

You can endeavor to do many things in life, having goals is a great ambition and I highly recommend it. But we have to set reasonable time frames for those goals to be accomplished so that we don’t miss out on NOW.

Ironically, I write this as I sit in the parking lot of one of my sons’ football practices. I feel content and happy here, I am where I know I should be. If I was at home, there is a good chance that I would be busy on my computer, but I wouldn’t have slowed down enough to listen for the inspiration prompting this post.  The worst part is that after a long and harried day when I’m already tired and grumpy, I wouldn’t be spending the time with my little ones that I KNOW I should…time I only have today, for I know not what tomorrow holds.

Time doesn’t stand still for any of us. As difficult as it is to have 3 year old twins, and as often as I wish they were “just a year older ‘cuz maybe it would be a little easier”, God knows where I’m at.  Although He doesn’t expect me to be perfect (thank goodness, right?), he does wait for me to come to Him and I can imagine that like any other parent, He hopes that my choices and priorities are the ones He has shown me. The question is, am I living up to that or settling for second best?

It’s my choice, and I’m realizing more and more that I honestly need to ask myself if 10 or 20 years from now will all of this seem so important? In my ever present effort to walk by Christ’s side and become more like Him, I have to be honest and say that if it isn’t furthering the kingdom of God, it isn’t going to make a difference in the end.

So, though being “just a mom” can feel like a lowly position to have at times, I am learning more and more that there is no greater gift I could have been given…and no greater difference I can make in the world than to focus on instructing these amazing creations that call me “Mom”.

“Well, no one can ever say that our life is boring.”  This is statement that I hear my hubby say on a regular basis (at least once a week) and it is very true.  I doubt very many families have boring lives, there’s always something to keep you on your toes right?

If you have a toddler or preschooler you are in the thick of some of the craziest parenting years you will ever encounter.  Not to say that you don’t have to call upon some seriously strong parenting tecniques once you get to the tween and teen years, but you don’t feel like you’re running your heels off to keep up (just your brain and your car’s tires LOL).

I’ve heard many moms of (especially boy) preschoolers say that “They just haven’t grown a brain yet.”  That feels so very true!  They do things that absolutely without a doubt should definitely kill them, yet, for some reason (usually because we somehow managed to intervene) they are still alive and healthy.

Parenting doesn’t have a time clock, and rarely do things go according to plan.  That is kind of the name of the game with parenting though I think…to help us grow and change in ways that we could not if we do not experience the power of parenthood for ourselves.

I can easily say that right at this moment as both of my twins are peacefully napping away and all 4 of the older boys are busy doing other things on their own.   It’s a lot harder to see the benefits when my heart is in my stomach as I pull a three year old off of the 6 foot high cubby shelves in the living room, or find him standing precariously on the back of the couch leaning over to try and grab something off a shelf of a cabinet a few feet away. (And how do they get themselves into those predicaments so quickly, less than a minute is not exaggerating a bit!)

Because parenting is a day in and day out event, we definitely change as time goes by, but we rarely take a moment to really look at those changes.  So today I have a challenge for you…I want to encourage you to think back a little, grab your journal and write down at least one way you have changed for the better simply through motherhood.

If you can’t think of anything, I encourage you to pray about it and think about it over the next few days or this entire week even and see what you come up with.  If you have kept a journal over the years, you may have an easier time by looking back through those.

Here’s one of my examples: 

Through motherhood I have learned to respect the differences of my children and try to look at people a lot more objectively realizing that personality has a lot to do with how they perceive the world around them.  Through Motherhood I am still learning to act as the situation dictates instead of reacting to everything that comes my way.

I pray that you are blessed by the answers you find as you look back too!

I’m in love!  Seriously think I have found my new best friend for the laundry.  As you all know, I have tons of laundry to do each week.  With 6 boys to keep up with, even 3 loads of laundry a day doesn’t keep me caught up.  Any little thing that I find useful definitely gets noted and shared with all of you…sooo, try Purex 3-in-1.

Sure, Purex Complete 3-in-1 is a brand new product, so your initial reaction may be quite a lot like that of my 13 year old son…”you mean the ones we saw on the commercial?  Are you really going to fall for what they say and run out to buy it?”   He was a bit astounded to say the least, that after years of mom talking them out of the many horrid commercials for junk during the kid’s shows, I (of all people) would listen to a commercial. I proceeded to tell him that I was sent a box to review and we would make a decision after we had used it for a day or two.

We then proceeded to open up one of the containers and I was immediately impressed with the simplicity of it all…and the amazing smell (LOL).  We popped in a load of laundry, one of the sheets and pushed the button on the machine…voila…nothing else would need to be added to the washer or dryer.  It’s also an “he” product so it works perfectly for my washer and dryer.

Purex® Complete 3-in-1™ Laundry Sheets are a load’s worth of detergent, softener and anti-static all in one powerful sheet. Simply drop laundry sheet into washer, the detergent is released during the wash cycle. Once wash is complete, transfer the laundry sheet with clothes to dryer. The stripe is heat activated by the dryer to soften and remove static. It’s that simple.

Don’t believe me, well, pick up a box for yourself and give it a try!  Seriously, I checked the price at my local grocery store and they were under $5 (wow).  I love the way they make our clothes smell and the different scents are great if you have a preference.   Buy the starter kit first (container plus 20 laundry sheets) then you can buy refills later (24 sheets in each refill pack).

For most families, these packs will last a while and you’re eliminating the need to purchase the three different products that this one laundry sheet has built in!  When space is as much of a commodity as money it is huge to have one little container sitting on the shelf instead of 3 or 4 bottles of detergent and a box of dryer sheets!   Yay!

One lucky commenter will win a starter box of Purex Complete 3-in-1 laundry detergent (Spring Oasis).  To enter, be sure to check out their website, then come back here and leave a comment telling me why your laundry routine needs to be simplified.

Want extra entries?  Here you go (just remember to leave a new comment for each one)…

• Tweet It: Just tweet this giveaway with a link to this post and make sure your comment has your twitter handle in it.
• Blog It: Write a post about this giveaway (with a link to this post of course) on your own blog, make sure your comment has a link to your post.
• Stumble It, Kirtsy It, Digg It, Submit to Mommy Blips: Submit this giveaway to any of these sites and earn an extra entry for each one…and make sure your comment has your Username.

This giveaway is open to US addresses only.  Entry deadline is July 22nd.  It is void where prohibited, be sure to read my giveaway policies here.

Disclosure:  I always give honest and forthright reviews and will not present something that poses a conflict of interest &/or that I do not like.  Mom Select sent me this product to try for myself and one to giveaway to my readers.  You can read my full disclosure policy here.

Froggy Frugal Tip: Spread out your family’s clothing, shoes and household expenses.

It’s funny how you sometimes don’t realize that you have a great tip because it happens to be every day life for you…well, this is one of those times.  This time we’re looking at ways to budget in and spread out shopping for these expenses to help you save money and even time!  Keeping in mind of course that every once in a while there will be a sudden need (for instance if your sons decide to use your measuring cups in the sandbox then throw them in the creek when they are done with them – no, I’m so not speaking from experience *sigh*).

For those of you who want to move to the meat and potatoes of this tip and avoid all the fluffy stories and ramblings of Me, here they are:

• If you don’t already have it factored in, set an amount for clothing into your budget on a regular basis.
• Keep a running list of the items needed around the house.  Particularly kids clothes and shoes and kitchen tools (these seem to be the main things that need to be purchased most frequently).
• Check regularly for these items.  Either plan a trip to your favorite store (online or in your town) or peek at that list before you make a trip to a store like Costco or Fred Meyer and spend a few moments going through the clearance sections of that store.  I like the latter option only because it isn’t out of the way and doesn’t require any extra trips or time out of my schedule.
• Stick to the basics – what do your children really need?  Make a list of the basics that they need to have on hand and stick to that list.  It may seem simplistic, but for those of us who cannot afford (or for heavens’ sake, even have the room) for each of our children to have 5 pairs of shoes and 6 pairs of designer jeans, this is definitely the most frugal and sensible way to go.

A couple years ago I began purchasing clothing and shoes year round.  Now, for some families this is not a problem and they do this type of thing simply to keep their 2.2 children in the latest fashions, that is NOT what I’m talking about.  No, I’m talking about the fact that even though money is tight, we cannot completely rely on birthday and Christmas gifts to get them through the year (or a month for that matter), especially the children that are growing fast, or who happen to have a need.

For example:  a need when the child that has one pair of tennis shoes and decided to wear them outside to play one day and “happened” to stumble down to the creek…thus making said pair of shoes completely worthless as something that can be worn to go anywhere (well, they could wear them out, but everyone they pass would pass out from the stench).

Another example: our oldest son has been grown 8 1/2 inches in the last 2 years (5 inches from August ‘07-Sept ‘08 alone and he does most of his growing in Feb./March & July/August ).   Yup, AAAAAAH!  Trying to keep up with that human weed has been nearly impossible.  Add to that the fact that he is now a teenager and starting to have some definite ideas about what he’s comfortable in and what he likes to wear (style-wise).  So, if I were to try and purchase him an entire wardrobe, I’d be spending hundreds of dollars every 3 months…on only ONE of my SIX sons!

Every family is so different…in size and financial status…so it is impossible to give one set solution that will work for all of you.  I’m not saying that there aren’t a couple times per year that I do a little more focused clothes purchasing, but for the most part it will be completely spread out.

We do have a fair amount of hand-me-downs to go around, but depending on how many boys they have gone through (some of the clothes start as far up as my 18 year old brother and just work their way through the group) and how rough one particular boy may be on their clothes, there will always be someone that needs something.

Back to school is a great opportunity to get some basics and we have a pretty set list of things that we purchase for the boys at that time … but ONLY if they need it!  Otherwise, I’ll spread out the purchasing based on how often my hubby gets paid.

I shop at Fred Meyer almost once per week.  They always have some clearance on hand (actually, I think there is ONE week per year that they do not), sometimes their clearance is as much as 60% off.  I know that there are other stores that run great deals, like Kohls, but personally I have ONLY found good deals on clothing for my husband and oldest son.  I do not pay more than $20 to $25 on a pair of Sketchers (not that I buy name brands often, but it’s a good example of the savings when these shoes usually cost about $50)…but typically I don’t spend more than $10 to $15 on a pair of shoes period!  Know your store, they will almost always have the clearance clothing and shoes in the same areas of each department, so don’t even bother going to the other parts, just the clearance.  You can go through these sections every time you are at the store and pick up only the things your family needs and would love.

This is just one recommendation though.  Many people live very close to some great secondhand stores.  I do not, but my sister can almost always find brand new or like new clothes for her children at these stores!

I once was known simply as Shera.  The oldest of 3 girls (and later 2 brothers).  The girl with the unique laugh and who smiles a lot.  For the last 13 1/2 years though, my role has been defined more and more as a mom and less and less as Shera.

It isn’t uncommon for moms to lose a bit (or a lot) of  themselves along the way.  To suddenly find one day that most people know them as the mom of so-and-so, not knowing who we were before children or who we are when the children aren’t around.

As you reach this realization, you may feel many different ways, but many of us end up feeling a little lost.   It is also very common for moms who have suddenly “lost” themselves to begin the search…the search for “me”.

I’d like to suggest something potentially unique today…you can find yourself through motherhood, you just need to know where to look.  It really isn’t about going back and trying to reclaim who you were once upon a time, it’s about realizing that we all become different people through the years and we just need to redefine what it means to be the woman we are today (which may very well be defined primarily by my status as a mom) and understand that although this moment is fleeting it will define who we continue to become.

Your life isn’t over, you don’t have to achieve everything you dream of right now.  It’s ok to wait until your children are a little older to pursue those things that suddenly seem very important for you to do!  Being right here, but wishing I was over there is the angst of many moms…whether they are willing to admit it or not.  Just when that feeling becomes almost unbearable is the moment when we need to take a step back and re-evaluate why we feel that way.

I was shocked recently when I felt like I was trapped in my own motherhood.  Shocked!  All I ever wanted to do was be a mom…I chose to be a stay-at-home mom to completely raise them and instruct them…yet here I was, suddenly dissatisfied with “just” being a mom when I saw all that the other women were doing around me.

Wake up call:  What better thing in this world can I do?  As far as eternal value is concerned, I could not do anything better than to invest my time and energy into the 6 young men that I will someday send out into the world.  It’s what I’ve been called to do!  I have been given these children merely for a short season in life…though it may seem long to me now…and I must rise to the challenge!

If you are feeling particularly lowly in your role as a mom I hope you will feel encouraged by what I’m sharing here today!  I’m not perfect, I have huge gaping character flaws that I take before God  daily (when I remember…see flawed).

If you have stopped seeing motherhood as the greatest gift in your life and have started wishing you could be doing other things instead, it might be time for a reality check!  Here’s the bottom line…I can wait until next year or even 5 or 10 years from now to write that book, start that business or go on that trip!

Since God has given me this moment to be a mom, I guarantee that if I stop focusing on all I’m “missing out on” and start focusing on being the best woman I can be right now for my family, I’ll be able to do all the things in life that I could dream of ….and more!

I have been looking back at some of the old-old A Frog In My Soup posts because I have been considering re-sharing some of them with you…there are some really cute, funny and thoughtful ones that I think are worth looking at again.  Anyway, it’s been almost therapeutic for me to look at all of them, nostalgic even .

I definitely found some very fun old posts that I’m sure to share with all of you soon, but what caught my eye in particular today is one post written on Monday June 4th, 2007…here it is, then I’ll tell you why it is so significant:

Well, here we are another Monday has come and is almost gone! I am wishing for time to slow down! Does it? No! There are days that I simply have far more to get done than there are hours in the day. I know I’m not the only one though and I’m looking forward to summer – not that I get more time, just that I seem to give myself more allowances, go figure.

I have some super fun ideas planned for all the boys and hope that it will be a fun and productive summer for us all! Of course with the ages of the little people we have around here I am a little limited unless I come up with an amazing and yet un-thought-of bright idea.

I always have the boys do some workbooks through the summer, and this summer I am planning to mainly have them do scrapbooks – with lots of journaling. This is a great way for them to capture the memories of what they are doing from their point of view. I hope to take photos of various things that they do throughout the summer for them to use in their books and then they can write about the photo and event. Some of the entries into their books will include their own drawings of the events too. This should be fun for them (and me) to do and I am looking forward to the end result. I think they will be surprised and thrilled when school starts again next fall and they have a super fun book to show for it!

We will be investigating nature, hopefully go to the Zoo one month and maybe the Aquarium another month. I don’t have it all figured out yet obviously, but I’m getting a good idea. They don’t get out of school for a few weeks yet, so I still have time to finalize my ideas.

We have a couple of birthdays thrown in too, so I have to plan a family party for two and a friend party for one. Should be interesting since most of my creativity seems to still not have returned after the twins’ birth.

Now, I will once again reiterate that this was written almost exactly TWO YEARS AGO. The scary thing is…this post could have been written by me still today as I think of the summer before me. In fact, many of these same thoughts have been running amuck in my mind and was sure to become a future blog post.

Granted, the boys are all each two years older too, but the age difference from 13 down to 3 can still be very daunting when planning…the twins think there are no boundaries in life and make any outing a challenge.

Either way though, it was a little bit shocking for me (obviously) when I realized that in the last two years, though it seems like so many things have changed…some things really haven’t changed at all.  Apparently this is one of them!

Ok, and I’ll admit, re-reading the scrapbooking-the-summer idea, has me really thinking again!!!  Not a bad idea!  On the other hand, the statement that my “creativity seems to still not have returned after the twins’ birth”…yeah, that seems to still be the case *sigh*.

Do you have things or events in your life that seem to stay consistent even though you’re sure time will change them???

Ok, so guess what’s super duper hot on the internet this weekend? I am definitely lovin’ it!

Yup, you guessed it, this is Kris Allen – our new American Idol – leading worship at his church in Arkansas. The song is God of This City. This video is also on You Tube and people are featuring it all over Facebook and more. Very fun!

Have I mentioned that our 10 year old (known as the Salesman around here, but a very lucky little boy by nature) picked him right off the bat to win? Well, he did and we had to laugh when his prediction came very true.