Ready or Not!

The race is on.

Last weekend I was in nesting mode.  

But not for a baby, thank the Lord.  

It was my 'last chance workout' before the craziness of fall semester.  

This always involves massive amounts of food prep to get us through the week.  

Ross started football and Maisie has joined the school choir.

My freezer was stocked for about a week- yet sadly, it only lasts about a week.

It was also prep-time for my college classes.  I'm on an 18 month program to earn my masters degree in FCS through Eastern Illinois University.

With my current class schedules, I'm preparing my mind to live in a filthy house, sit on toilet seats with sticky urine drops, step on dried spaghetti and wrinkly grapes on the kitchen floor and eat scraps off kids plates for the next year.  But it's what I signed up for, therefore on 

Saturday I wrote a paper which included the words, 'pubic, gonads, breast buds and ejaculation'.  

In other news, class has started at I-35.

I'm fairly confident Fort Night, Minecraft, Musically and Audrey and Jordans YouTube channel are at a loss without us.

It's a positive.

Trust me.

God's Plan

When I worked full time in the newborn stage...

what am I talking about, I didn't.

The knowledge of having a newborn baby and sending him to daycare made me want to puke.  

I kept my job, but went to 'regular-time' at work. 

I pumped at my desk and clocked out as soon as humanly possible.

Suddenly we lost our daycare provider and I was pregnant.  I was numb at the thought of leaving 2 babies at an unfamiliar daycare provider, yet had no choice.

I convinced myself I was a better mother because I worked.

Many working mothers say the stress of housework, their marriage, getting dinner on the table take so much energy.

For me, the hardest part of motherhood was the constant nagging guilt of not being home with my babies.

In 2010 we had a preschooler, a toddler and an infant, I wanted to scream with frustration that daycare was or only option.  I ran the numbers over and over and with desperate pleas to Mike and God, realized I HAD to continue working.  We NEEDED insurance.

Again, the thought made me want to puke.

But God has a way.

In fact, when the timing was perfect, AND I had the patience to be home with my babes, it all worked out like it was supposed to.

And somehow, 8 years later, God has slowly worked me back into the workforce.

I'm realizing now I really AM a better mom because I work. 

I find it fascinating.

The End of My Rope

We've reached the point in the summer where I actually fed Molly lunch like a baby bird.
It was to prevent a complete meltdown and I was at the end of my rope.  

 I did my best to made realistic regurgitating sounds and facial motions to mimic a mother bird.  There were a few 'tweets' thrown in for effect too.

Maisie took photos to capture my new low point of motherhood.

I can'r help but imagine what must go through Mack's mind during the days around here.

Since school starts next week and the girls both had dirty toe nails, weapon-like fingernails and waxy ears, I decided to turn the bathroom into a salon.
You can see the classiness of this salon by the fancy neck rest and foot bath.  Aka: Ross' baby bath from Mercy Hospital 13 years ago.

Tomorrow morning at 7:45 my summer break officially ends.  

Cheers to me!  

I made it.

Molly's birthday!

Apparently, Molly is 8 now?

Seems like just yesterday I was dialated to 4 and Mike took me for an evening jeep ride up Clarks Tower road to 'bounce her out' the night before she was born.  

8 years later, we celebrated with a trip to Adventureland.

I still don't understand the lure of the Raging River.  Stand in line 45 minutes to spin around in a boat and maybe get splashed.  The railing next to the exit is filled with tiny green spiders and the workers at this ride are cranky. 

But we did it regardless.

I sort of worried Jay was gonna pass out on the Starfall ride.  He loved it until the first full circle which makes your body feel like your organs are in the wrong spot.  Like if I had balls, they'd no longer be in position.  This was probably Jay's first experience with this dropping feeling.

Molly and I tackled The Monster Roller Coaster for the first time, as did Mike, Maisie and Yashoda. Definitely the scariest ride I've ever been on.

The girls weren't ready to leave when we were, so Yashoda and cousin John invited the girls to stay the night at their house.  I'm confident I couldn't have planned a better ending to her birthday if I'd tried.

And then there's Ross who's become a part-time resident around here.  He spent half the week camping, boating and tubing at Lake Red Rock with friends.

He's a little confident on a tube.

Until his shorts fall off.

He and a buddy are also working on fixing up a Go Cart. 

They've got a pretty good coach to help them out.

The Days of My Life

People keep asking if I'm ready to go back to school.  

I want to look them straight in the eye and ask if they're kidding me.  I don't say that, only because it'd make me look like a bad mom.

HOWEVER today I stepped on a snake, accidentally turned the mixer on full speed after adding flour, fed the dog leftover fish sticks, half eaten ham sandwiches and chicken grizzle.  I ran out of sugar, spent an hour on the phone with James form Dicks Sporting Goods, razor bladed the dead skin off my heals, meal prepped for fun, looked into the suggestion to re-adopt my China boys in the US, rehashed the robbery we witnessed at the Jordan Creek Target yesterday (which traumatized my Moo),  ran out of toilet paper and asked Mike to bring home 2 oranges and packing tape.  

His response: What are we doing tonight?

We've reached the point of all-day pajamas and 'Holiday Crafts'.

The sun will come up tomorrow!

Camping and Updates!

Man, have I gotten behind?!  

First things first, the littles completed swimming lessons for the year.  Maisie learned to dive.  She was hesitant on the diving board (the deep water makes it look so high!), but got her courage under control and did it once!

Molly was just beginning to learn the technique for diving off the side of the pool.  However, she hopped on the board when it was her turn, got into position and dived off without a care in the world. 

How did I get such different girly girls?

Once again, Jay turned into a fish when he hit water.  

Meanwhile, blueberries are in full swing with the littles and I can't keep up.  Thinking of getting a bush next year?   

Not really.  I suck at plants.

And apparently cinnamon rolls aren't my claim to fame either?  I've been on a cooking kick this week and unfortunately, Ross told me my homemade cinnamon rolls tasted like 'precipitation'.  

God, I love him.

We camped for our second weekend of the summer at Lake Red Rock last weekend.

Ross was down the path at another campsite with a friend. 

So, here's the rest of us.

Man, I wish that camper in the background was ours.

Maisie loves to mix scrambled eggs with fresh fruit and cool whip.  

Of course she does.

We still struggle with getting Mack into the water. 

So while the others jet skied, boated (we actually found friends), Mack spent a couple hours on the beach making this 'sand cup'.

He went back to the fire to "kiln?' it.

Molly had a hard time staying seated.

And that's a wrap, until next time!