Getting interesting, funny and touching messages and school papers from our children is possibly one of the best parts of motherhood.  Over the years the boys have written or brought home papers that are inspiring, interesting, hilarious or sweet.

Our second son, also known here as the Salesman is in 4th grade this year.  He’s one of those children that picks things up quickly and can complete assignments and tasks with little effort at school.  This is NOT the case with all of our children, but for him it comes easy.  So easy in fact that I often have to warn his teachers that he will only reach as high as they set the bar.

Anyway, the first week of school he wrote a funny little paper that I wanted to share with all of you.  I will type it in here EXACTLY as he wrote it … misspelled words and all .

Why am I here in 4th grade? To learn.

Why do we have to learn? To get smarter.

Why do you have to get smarter? To get a scolership.

Why do you need a scolership? So you woun’t be poar.

Why can’t you be poar? So you can pay for food.

Why do you need food? To live.

And there you have “The Salesman’s view on life and future 101″!

Doesn’t it seem so simple through the eyes of a child.  Obviously he’s only referring to the importance of an education here, not all the other things we need to live a well-rounded life (something that I’m seriously going to be drilling into him).

If you were to meet the Salesman you would almost immediately be struck by one thing in particular.  He’s very confident, he doesn’t question what his future holds.  In his eyes, anything he wants is attainable simply because it is what he has decided will happen.  He hasn’t had his hopes and dreams smashed, crushed or even poked at yet.  Reality isn’t exactly at play with him either, but I have to admit that he is very fun (and amusing) to watch and listen to.

Since I am a little too no-nonsense and all-logic type myself, it is fascinating to watch my son (who, incidentally, is A LOT like my younger sister) as he dreams.  I mostly listen and joke around with him, tempering a few of the more extreme ideas here and there and instilling a little wisdom where I feel led.

Each child is so very different, but I wanted to point out today that I find it amazing that we get to participate in our children’s hopes and dreams.  Do you have a dreamer?

I simply have to ask … I have no choice … I’m just too curious.  I have some questions for all of you moms!  I have been thinking about adding a topic to my list of ones I speak on, but it comes with a lot of questions I’d like to get a concensus on.  So without further ado ……..

How many of you had set pre-determined ideas of parenting and raising children (in other words before you had any children you had it all figured out)???

If you did, I simply must know how those ideas changed as you became a parent?

Were your ideas severely altered or mildly and why?

I know, I’m just so deep today LOL.  But I really am wondering and hope that many of you can help me in my quest for answers .

I know that many of you have children that went back to school several days or even a couple of weeks ago, but tomorrow is the big day around here!  Today was “Meet the Teacher” day from 2pm till 3:30pm (we were out of there by 2:10pm LOL).  Tomorrow is the first day of school! 

This time of year is filled with mixed feelings from the guys!  They are excited to see their friends again but also a bit apprehensive about a new year and a new teacher.  At Meet the Teacher day the boys are able to look around their new classroom, ask any questions they want to and find their desk.  They are also able to drop off some supplies, but we forgot those.

As we enter the classroom, inevitably the first point of business is to find their desk.  This actually works well usually though since the teacher is usually busy talking with another family.  As the teacher finishes with another family they will turn to us and my first words to the son who belongs in that room is “introduce yourself please”.  Tater is cute and funny since he then proceeds to state his full name to the teacher.  The fact that he goes by a nickname almost exclusively isn’t mentioned until the next sentence, which makes the whole thing just a little funnier. 

I usually take it a step further.  Over the next few days it is likely that I will write up a little letter, introducing myself and my child to their respective teachers.  Giving them a little insight into each child, their life, their strengths and weaknesses.  Seems a little odd in a way since they are each only one child out of so many, but I remember when I was in leadership and how nice it was to have information about each of the moms in the group. 

As a parent, it is amazing what I can learn from these letters that are meant to introduce teachers to my children.  It’s almost as if they are giving me deeper insight into the child as well.  So, this is something I highly recommend moms do for their children.  If you don’t have a teacher to give it to, oh well!  Just do it for yourself, or for their memory book.

Here’s some questions to get you going ….

• My child excells when …
• He/She is great at …
• He/She needs help with …
• They tend to be (shy, outgoing, talkative, friendly, happy, anxious, etc)
• May need to be held accountable for (talking out of turn, not completing work, going too fast/slow, etc).

These are just a few ideas that will help get you thinking about who they are and how they act.  For Salesman there are two key ingredients that their primary educator needs to be aware of …. One, he talks a lot!  and Two, he will strive for the goals you set for him, if the bar is low he won’t go over it, but if you set the bar high, he’ll jump as far as he needs to (with little problem) to reach it.  This is valuable information for a teacher, but reminds me at home too!

Goodness Gracious!  Where in the world do I begin.  Maybe the best place to start is to simply explain that due to the number of children we have, I don’t really do a lot of running around and a day out of the house with one or all of the children is basically unheard of!  So the fact that I left 5 of my 6 children in the hands of 2 sitters today so that I could spend the day registering CJ (son 1) for Jr. High and running a few errands only to be thrown immediately into sports practices is a big deal! 

I know that sounds like a small hurdle to most people, but it’s huge for me!  So at about 11:30 this morning I left a few last minute instructions with my brother and left him and my mother-in-law (I know, I know kind of an odd combination, but it worked) in charge of the 5 youngest children. 

As far as Jr. High registration is concerned, can I just say oh-holy-cow who knew it was that expensive just to put your child into school!!!  Keep in mind that he’s a public school student and by the time I left the building today I had spent $129 … seriously!  That’s before I pay another $25 next week for him to play 7th grade Football.  Granted, most of the money spent does give him tangible items … eventually.  Here’s the tally $20 for a yearbook, $15 for an ASB card, $14 for the “Life Fitness” (whatever happened to PE by the way???  but we’ll save that for another day) uniform, $20 for a math/science portfolio (this covers much of the school supply list as well), $20 into his lunch account and $40 for a school sweatshirt (ok, this wasn’t mandatory by a long shot, but I figured “oh well”). 

As if it isn’t enough that I had to hand over that much money in just the cafeteria alone, the mayhem fun continued throughout the rest of that floor.  One room housed the area to get the information to access the parent area of the website, another room had everyone’s locker information (oooooh) and yet another room at the other end of the hall was setup to get athletic information from all the kids.  We got the football info and little pep talk there, dropped off his code of conduct and physical information and went on our way.  He starts football practice on Monday - oh boy!

Then of course the locker and combination HAD to be tried!  He has an upper locker, which is actually very nice for his tall self .  All in all an interesting and semi-enlightening day (thankfully I get to wait another 3 years before I have to do it again) … ooooh, but the fun didn’t stop there.

Of course not!  I decided to take CJ out to lunch and grab a few back to school clothes he still needed (yup, you guessed it, even more moula out the door).  By the time we were done with that “short” errand, it was all we could do to get home, grab my brother, Salesman (son2 - football) and Tater (son3 - soccer), make sure that everyone left at home was alright and head out for sports.  Only to arrive at soccer in a downpour and find out that my son and the coach’s family were the only ones that showed up leaving us with an hour and a half ’till football practice … what to do, what to do. 

Obviously the story could just go on and on here, but I’ll cut it short by saying that I finally arrived home at 8:30 pm tonight hugged the kiddos who had been here all day without me and got everyone settled into bed.  The littlest guys had a very hard time going to bed, especially Little Bug, so I spent a while, rubbing his back and singing to him to get him settled in.  Amazingly all is quiet now! 

It will take me a week to recover!!!

And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. (2 Timothy 2:24)

You all know that much of my reality revolved around six boys, primarily though my 2 year old twins. I have been noticing a disturbing trend within myself lately though. A little resentment. I find myself complaining that I can eat, sleep think or breathe withough them needing me to help them in one way or another.

The days of hopping down to the lake in town to watch the boys go fishing with their daddy stopped the minute the twins were born. We can no longer make that last minute decision to go to Costco after church or to the mall or even to get pictures done of the older boys. The process of taking 6 children instead of 4 is nearly insurmountable when the youngest of these children is a set of twins.

I found that when children came one by one, it was no biggie, they eat well, play fairly independently and we all adjust to one more member of our home. But when they came as a pair a zillion new challenges suddenly awaited us. Something that I never anticipated, and obviously something I never got used to.

Now, having said all of that I have two things to share …. first, these realities were not apparent until they were about 15 months and second, they are the cutest things you will ever lay eyes on (usually)! There, that’s my disclaimer. Now on with the reality …

As I realized that I was beginning to harbor some resentment toward my little cherubs, I started wondering what I should do. Once again, even though the solution is oh-so-obvious, I find myself struggling with the answer and try to fix it myself. I’m sure you all know that this is not going to work, so why don’t I realize first thing that if I don’t give this to the Lord, I will get nowhere???

So, I am currently in a desperate state of prayer. I have a lot on my plate, I can’t afford NOT to give this heart condition to the Lord. Calling on Him to help me and to bring peace and joy into my heart again especially with my littlest ones. They are not to blame for … well … anything, so I need to grow up and deal with it

Have you found yourself in a position where you resented your life, family, job, responsibilities? It is such a trap isn’t it? If you haven’t already, take it to God in prayer and ask Him to help your heart soften and be filled with His love and joy again.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

I am actually very excited to share a great website with all of you!  I was recently told about www.MommyDocs.com, a site for moms by moms.  Not just any moms either, both of the women behind Mommy Docs are MD’s (one is a pediatrician and the other is an Asthma & Allergy specialist)!! 

I was immediately thrilled to see a focus on car seat safety!  I was the type of first time parent that read everything I could put my hands on, researched anything possible online and went to all the classes.  Not all first timers are able to do this and I totally understand that now …. but back then, maybe not so much!

I was absolutely shocked speechless when I saw a couple driving out of the parking lot of a restaurant we were entering with a baby in an infant carseat FACING FORWARD.  Thankfully it was in the backseat …. in that case.  I have since seen my fair share of carseats in the front seat or otherwise improperly installed.  Needless to say, it is a big issue, so I was thrilled to see it addressed at their site.

Their podcasts are where they offer the most information.  From Car seat safety and Sunscreen to Allergy Shots and Fevers!  Right now they have been focusing on Summer Safety Tips and I highly recommend you take a peek.   Their podcast entitled “Let the Sunshine In” is only 8 minutes and 45 seconds and it focuses on keeping yourself and your kids safe in the sun!

I also enjoyed reading the blog!  It is informative, but totally in reach of a busy mom’s understanding!  In addition to all this they also offer a Health Q&A section where they answer many mom questions as well as a section that tells you all about who they are and more! 

So, hop on over there and check them out! 

If you read the title of this post and thought that you were going to be offered a great recipe or technique for creating a great homemade bubble machine … you were wrong .

I have always loved those little battery powered bubble machine.  They kick out tons of bubbles with little effort and it amuses the children to no end (well, almost)!  Bubbles are messy and when I’m blowing them the little ones want to have the wand … and the bottle … and it just gets messier and messier, you get the idea.

Today was a beautiful day!  I took the twins outside to play in the sand with all the older boys, and suddenly I was amazed to see a steady and heavy stream of bubbles floating by me.  Like a bubble machine!

I looked to my right and there was CJ, our 12 year old, just blowing away like a Bubble Machine!  Yup, I finally got one, a Bubble Machine all my own.  Though I think in reality he’s far more expensive than one of those little battery powered machines, after all he’s powered by food … and lots of it! 

But, I have to say it was a fun treat for the little ones and for me, since I wasn’t the one blowing them and having the littler ones hang all over me begging to do it too.  So, I’ll take the Homemade Bubble Machine I can call my oldest son over a store bought one any day! 

This is not a typical Mommy Reality, but it is a very true one for me!  This is going to be a long post, but a story worth telling … and an ending worth reading.  So without further ado …

Three years ago our oldest son, CJ, had a very rough year at school!  He was in third grade and we had just changed districts.  We knew this would be difficult for him since he didn’t handle change all that well, but we also knew that the district he had been in was NOT one that we were comfortable with them continuing all the way through to Jr. High or High School. 

For quite some time we had been trying to find a way to move back into Hubby’s hometown and raise the boys in the schools there.  So we finally took the leap and registered them in the elementary school we thought they’d be in - in a complete act of faith.

There’s a long story involved in why they were in a different elementary school for that first year in the new district, but it turned out to be an agonizing and long year for us. 

CJ is not a kid that just jumps into action the first month of school, things don’t really click with him until sometime in November … ever!  I’m used to it now, but with a new school, everything was a little odd.  When they tested him in the fall he was on the upper end for scores, but by the first conferences, they were concerned about his “lack of attentiveness” and “need for help”  and they wanted him tested. 

This was the beginning of a long, grueling and heart wrenching school year.  One where teachers felt like there was something “wrong” with my child and they didn’t know how to fix it or make him better.  By the end of the year I was ready to quit.  They met with us again and still wanted him tested.  We made it very clear that although we would allow them to do some academic testing there was going to be a limit. 

Right before the end of the school year he did receive the testing and basically we found out that he is dyslexic.  Although I don’t think that’s all there was to it, it was enough to get him into some reading help with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) to try and get him back on track.

The following year we switched to the elementary school we are still in and LOVE!!!!  We have met some great teachers along the way.  The first year in this elementary for CJ was a bit shaky too though.  I can’t tell you how many times I said “here we go again” that year!  I met with the principal of the school at the first sign of issues and since it was our first year there she was hesitant to do much to help us. 

The teacher of the reading education he was now receiving was AWESOME … seriously!!!  He has worked with her through 4th, 5th & 6th Grade and WOW!  But I’ll get back to that.  The same CANNOT be said of his 4th grade teacher.  It was her first year teaching full time (she’d been a sub until that time) and she treated him like he was a pain.  I won’t get into it much more, suffice it to say that she wasn’t asked to return the following year. 

The principal “got it” by the end of his 4th grade year.  I think she finally realized that I wasn’t one of those parents that found any little thing to complain about … in fact, she hasn’t heard from me again since!!!  She met with me before final placement for CJ’s 5th grade year and the subsequent results changed our lives!

When CJ started 5th grade he hated school and thought he was stupid.  His teacher that year had worked in the corporate world for many years and when she decided to start a family she also chose to become a teacher.  She was a ray of sunshine who entered the classroom believing that her students were each magnificent individuals with amazing abilities and futures.  I cried the first time we met with her as she perfectly described our child’s strengths and weaknesses and what she was doing to encourage him in both. 

He wasn’t a pain to her, he was an individual and in her opinion he was brilliant and she told him so!  She knew, as we did, what he was capable of and instead of letting him slide by with complacency and lackluster work, she required him to live up to his abilities … and he DID!  By the end of the year he had more confidence than I had ever seen in him before and was doing fantastic.  I could go on and on and on about her and the blessing she was to our son, but I must move on!

Here we are now with him in 6th grade.  Still barely meeting his goals for reading and still in the program.  I had desperately hoped that somewhere along the way the IEP would become unnecessary and would be dropped for the following year, but it never happened.  More than that though I desperately prayed that above all else the IEP would disappear by the time he enters Jr. High in 7th grade.

The test that was given to CJ three years ago has to be given every three years until the child is determined to no longer qualify for an IEP (at which time the IEP disappears as though it never existed).  Time to retest arrived a few weeks ago.  The school counselor set it up with me, conducted the test and scheduled a meeting for Hubby and I to go in and discuss the results.

We arrived at the school understandably nervous.  But when we sat down for the meeting we were immediately told “Well, this won’t take long, we have nothing but good news to report.”  Could it be?  Did I hear her correctly?  What exactly does that mean???? 

The bottom line …. he doesn’t qualify for ANY services.  The IEP is no longer valid and will be dropped immediately.  He will have no special services setup for him as of the first day of Jr. High. 

AN ANSWER TO PRAYER.  Not to be taken lightly in my book!

We couldn’t have been more thrilled with this information, but the good news went a little further for us.  You see in giving the test, the counselor had to work one on one with our son for a fairly long time a couple of days in a row and she said that it was a delight to work with him.  I think we must have looked at her rather blankly (are you talking about my son?) so she told us that she usually has to work with children who are disrespectful and very unpleasant.  “He was so polite and kind and did just what I asked him with a great attitude.  You have a very nice young man there.”  Wow!  So, can I see that a little more at home?

I didn’t actually realize the enormity of this until later that day as I drove CJ to Youth Group.  Suddenly it hit me like a ten ton brick … I prayed for this, exactly this, that all of education plan would be dropped by the time he entered Jr. High …. and it happened!  I was stunned, overwhelmed, and I cried!  Explaining the feelings and the miracle of those results to my son was a blessing for me … and him! 

So, if you’ve stayed with me through this entire book-of-a-post I just want to say … Lean on Him and trust your cares to Him.  Be amazed at His awesome gifts along the way.  He hears the heart of a Mother and Father and wants nothing more than to see His children be blessed.  He loves your children even more than you and sometimes all we have to do is ask and trust and let him take care of the rest.

Be blessed this week!

Do you ever find yourself making a To-Do list that never ends?  I was an avid list maker all through my teen years and even into adulthood.  My mom was always commenting on my lists and my family all knew I kept them.  To this day if I sound like I’m out of sorts or confused my mom tells me to “make a list” LOL!

I still have many of the lists I made when planning my wedding.  Amazingly there are even small shopping lists from before the wedding that my sister and I were laughing about when we stumbled upon them as we were cleaning one day. 

Let me share one with you:

To Do

*Get marriage license stuff from apartment and take to church.
*Go to bank & deposit money.
*Go to drug store for eyeliner.
*Purchase shoes.
*Fix wedding program at work.
*Be at work for a meeting at noon.

We seriously laugh at that list now.  Oh, to be that organized again … that would be amazing and miraculous.  The details I kept as I made the list - I’m surprised I didn’t schedule in potty breaks as well LOL.  And for Heaven’s sake WHO ON EARTH ONLY GOES TO THE DRUG STORE FOR EYELINER?????????????

Good grief!  This was my life.  Even after we were married I kept lists, the house was always tidy, there was fresh baked bread in my hubby’s lunch every single day!  Seriously! Wow!  To be in that place again!  But the craziest part of all is that the list above is so super short even though it was made DAYS before my wedding day!!!!!

Now my To Do list would look a bit like this:

To Do AM

*Make Granola, Get kids up, rush them through showers, make their lunches, get them out the door for school.
*Find something to entertain the twins so they don’t kill themselves, all morning long.
*Do 3 loads of laundry.
*Feed little three lunch
*Get little three down for naps

To Do PM

*Clean kitchen, fill and run dishwasher, wipe down table, chairs, windows and sweep floor.
*Do three loads of laundry
*wipe down bathroom (boys miss … need I say more?)
*Get little three up from naps to cuddle for a bit.
*Big boys get home, start dinner.
*Prepare dinner, while filling the dishwasher again and folding another load of laundry.
*Create menu for following week and shopping list.
*Serve dinner to family and make sure no one has an event that evening
*Check all homework, clean up dinner, run dishwasher again, do another load of laundry
*Get kids to bed, work, blog and answer 50 emails.
*11:30pm - get to bed!

Sadly that doesn’t completely cover everything I really do.  Throw in there that I check email in the morning and work on design and blogging projects during naptime while I do several loads of laundry and then you’re getting a little closer to the reality of ONE DAY in the life of this mom.  Each day that list could change, but instead of getting shorter I forever seem to be adding more and more tasks to it. 

I am in the process of getting a more organized cleaning schedule under control.  I have it printed out, just haven’t posted it yet, and as we all know if it isn’t posted somewhere very visible … it doesn’t exist!  So onward I trod, not looking back … except for today when all of you hopefully got a good laugh at the carefree To-Do list of a young woman.

Happy wordless wednesday everyone, or in my case, not so wordless!  Many of you are aware that my “baby” is growing up.  I have very mixed emotions about that these days and I’ve held my piece as the moodiness began, even when he grew 2 inches since Christmas (and outgrew all of his clothes - grrr), but reality is setting in a little more each day.  I have been noticing over the last couple weeks that his voice is beginning to change (I’m just noticing it now, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been going on for a while) and tonight we took him to Jr. High orientation (they don’t start here until 7th grade thank goodness). 

This is my boy (not a great picture):

I have to show this next photo since it includes all three of the oldest boys: CJ is 12, Salesman is 9 and Tater is 8 and yes, there IS that much of a height difference (for the moment anyway):