Family.. it's a good thing!

I am just typing away this morning enjoying the sunshine and the fact that neither my children or I have school today! I am not saying that I dislike my classes or my teachers, but sometimes you get a break and it is just fun!!! I am really loving this weather!! I took a long hike with my favorite guy yesterday at the Nature Center, then we took my daughter and two of my brothers to the park to explore the caves and take a trek around the park. We finished our visit off with some frisbee which brought a whole lot of laughs! It was so great!! I had a wonderful time. As I sat on the big rock cliff over the caves and just enjoyed the breeze and the sun, I was so excited that Spring is finally here!! I love nice weather and hanging with family!

I am the oldest of 6 children, two girls four boys. I have spent pretty much my whole life sharing a bedroom with someone. Depending on the weather and the night sounds, sometimes I even shared my bed with whatever little boy had a nightmare and was too scared to sleep alone. Being a big sister wasn't always cake though. I had kids in my room constantly, in my make up and messing up my private stuff. I got the opportunity to babysit alot whether I liked it or not, and my mom was always needed help with the littlest ones. The upside was that I was never alone so there was always someone to hang out with. Games were more fun because we always had enough people to play, and holidays were a blast with so many laughing, happy people to celebrate with! As we have grown older and busier it has become harder and harder to keep the family close. I don't see my family nearly as much as I would like to. My sister lives in Florida and I haven't been able to see her for 2 years. The oldest of my brothers is married and is busy with his family, and my 3 youngest brothers are working and studying and busy doing young, single "guy stuff". We usually get together for holidays and everyone's birthday and things like that. But sometimes, like families do.. you pull together for even the littlest things and prove what family is all about.
I took a trip recently and experienced some travelers angst on the trip home. What was supposed to be a whirlwind weekend trip to Vegas became a flying fiascoe! We were on a company trip and were enjoying the sights and nightlife of Las Vegas, we had to leave out early in the day on Sunday to make our flight. I wish that we had known what would happen that evening, I would have just spent one more day in Sin City! We made it all the way to St. Louis.. a mere 3 hrs and change from home. Our flight got pushed back and then cancelled.. we had to stay overnight and catch a flight out the next day because the company didnt want us to rent a car and drive while tired. We were on company time, so we booked a room at the Marriott and tried to get some sleep. the next day we flew from St. Louis to Dallas, so that we could fly from Dallas to Springfield. I know.. seems nutty. So, when we FINALLY got home I expected to find a dirty house, piles of dishes, and stir crazy kids. But like I said, family is awesome! My brothers had been watching the kids while we were gone, and they did laundry, washed dishes and cooked for the kids all weekend. I came home from my trip to a clean house and my brother Micah even brought dinner so we wouldn't have to cook!!!! Fantastic!!! Can't get better than that!! I have the best family ever!

Glad for Sunshine!

What a crazy day it has been!!! But when I look out my window at this moment all I can think of is Sunshine! I woke up sick this morning and had to call in to work because we aren't supposed to work if we are contagious, have a fever, or are vomiting. I will leave it to you to guess which one I had. I felt soo bad!! I sucked it up long enough to drive my children to school because I don't live far away enough from the school to qualify for a bus route. I went straight home after that and crashed!!! I have to say that today sleep never felt sooo good! I bet I was a sight laying there in bed with a towel and a big kitchen bowl for just in case. Yeah, I am sure it was a real Norman Rockwell moment. Oh well, bodies don't always feel good and that is normal. I took my turn and soon I will recuperate and then I will be done and then it can be someone else's turn!! And now.. back to laying down... I am feeling a bit queasy.

St. Patrick's Day

I know that St. Patrick's Day isn't considered a "major" holiday by some, but for me it is noteworthy. As a person of strong Irish-American heritage, St. Pat's Day is a day in celebration of those who came before me. Yes, I know it is a holiday devoted mainly to pub crawls and corned beef. Yes I know that pinching will happen whether I wear green or not, and I also know that most people have no idea what St. Patrick's Day is really about. Here is a bit of Irish History for you!

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship.

Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan

. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.

He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity.

His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick, having adopted that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to Ireland.

Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.

His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.

Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon

from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day.

The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.

Today, people celebrate the day with parades, wearing of the green, and drinking beer. One reason St. Patrick's Day might have become so popular is that it takes place just a few days before the first day of spring. One might say it has become the first green of spring.



I am not a beer drinker, never having developed a taste for it. I guess I failed my genes in that area. My mother's side also boasts German as well as Irish, so go figure.. you would think I would be a big fan of the brew. I have heard stories my whole life of the Homeland. I am actually descended from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. With relatives from all three being intermarried with the different peoples. I carry a deep family pride for all my heritage. My Great-Grandpa always said that family is a person's most precious possession. That clan comes before anything in the world. I bear the physical traits of my race. My fair skin, freckles and red hair mark me, but I don't mind. I proudly smile through the jokes about my red hair and whether I have a bad temper or a taste for wild things, I laugh at all the Irish jokes and I make my own quips about kissing the blarney stone as a child and my gift of gab. I am proud of who I am. I am grateful to my great great grandparents who made the journey to this strange new land. I am proud of how they tamed the land, fending off Indians and whites alike to stake a claim for the generations that would follow. I have heard the stories of brave men and women who settled in America from my Great-Grandfather, my Grandmother and my Father. I hope to emulate my amazing ancestors and to bring honor to our family name. I take my heritage very seriously, but being who I am and coming from the apple cheeked jolly race of storytellers and horse-traders known for their wit, I must laugh and enjoy a day devoted to fun and celebration! So to all those who are Irish, and all those to wish they were, Happy St. Patty's Day!!!!

3 hours at Chuckie Cheese

Tonight was a long one. I worked all day and then the race began... pick up all the kids from all the different places they were located and figure out what to eat. When I picked my little one up from her dad tonight she immediately began to beg to go to Chuckie Cheese. I know that it must be hard at times to put up with a momma that is always busy or broke, so I decided that maybe it wouldn't be all that over budget to go. Now as you can imagine any restaurant geared toward children on a Friday night is bound to be busy, and this was no exception!! There were little kids everywhere!! I have to say however, that CC has a great way to make a mom feel more secure. They have in place a system where the children and parents from each family are stamped with a number/letter combo that can only be seen under a black light. When you go to leave an attendant will check your stamp to see if the adults and children match up! Once when I went for a family birthday, my children weren't even able to leave with their grandparents because the numbers didn't match! What a great idea! I am not saying that I don't trust my own parents or even that I don't want my children to go anywhere with them. I am saying that I love that even an adult that a child might want to vouch for would not be able to leave the facility with said child if the codes don't match! My middle daughter Miss B even pointed out when we left Chuckie's that she had washed her hands just prior to having her code checked and it hadn't washed off. So, that is one less thing. I still watch my kids like a hawk when they play at Chuckie Cheese, or anywhere else for that matter, but with three children that vigilance can become difficult to keep up. I appreciate that there is a fun place for kids where parents can truly get a break. Food, Fun, and Safety. I don't see how it can get much better than that!! Unless they started serving cocktails and instituted Happy Hour!!! Oh well, as Meatloaf put it... "Two out of Three ain't bad!"

College

So as I mentioned, I am a college student. I love being in school! I am not a great student and my grades right now are just average, but I am loving the experience! I am so grateful to have the opportunity to get an education! I mean to be honest how many people get this chance? Especially when you are 31 years old with kids?? I have to say that I am truly blessed. Once I graduate I will be the first of my parents children to finish school. I look forward to this. I know that it will make my parents very proud. I also really want to do this for myself and my children. I want to be able to provide a better life for my family. I want a nice home with a yard and enough room for all my children to have space to grow. I want something more than our two bedroom two bath apartment. I can't wait to have skills to offer an employer! I have always had to just learn on the fly doing the best that I could and just being a hard worker to impress my bosses. When I get done with school, not only will I still be a hard worker, but I will bring something to the table this time. I will have valuable skills and knowledge to offer an employer.

At times I become so frustrated! Fellow students out there I am sure that you can relate! If I don't do well on an assignment or if I feel that my work won't measure up to my fellow students' then I feel a bit down, but I keep on plugging along. I didn't start this to drop out. As they say I am In it to Win it! I won't quit and I cheer for any other students trying to make this happen. We can do it! We are part of the 20% of the group that actually makes it to an institution of higher learning. So I will hold my head up and throw my shoulders back and do what I must do to get what I want! Good luck to the rest of you as well!!!!

Quick and Healthy Dinners

I am on a mission! I want to find easy healthy meals that I can convince picky children to eat. I am on a very tight schedule and I have so very little time to make dinner when I get home. I am an inexperienced cook, and I go into this adventure with reservations and those aren't dinner reservations! I need to locate meal ideas that my children and I can both agree on. I need those same healthy, yummy cooking masterpieces to take less than 45 minutes to prepare and serve. Not biggie right? Well, It is if you have no idea what you are doing! I am determined to learn! I want more for my family's dinner than merely take-out and Box dinners. There has to be recipes out there that picky children and their equally picky mother can enjoy. I want to incorporate more veggies and whole foods into the mix and maybe just maybe some alternatives to meat? Who knows I might even serve two veggies in one meal! Since I have been in school and working our lifestyle has become much more hectic to say the least. I haven't been working out, the kids haven't adhered to bedtimes, and we have been eating at strange hours and not the most healthy cuisine. In the last year there has been alot of fast food and box dinners. We have begun a schedule of lunchable nights and McDonalds nights, and pizza nights. It is a bit sad that even my youngest child has that schedule memorized! I will pick her up from daycare and she will say "Oh it is McDonalds night!" or whatever meal is designated for that night. So, again I have determined that we are going to get away from this dead end lifestyle and begin a new healthier regimen. I believe that it will not only help me to think and feel better but also aid my children in being more alert in school and having a more productive learning experience. So, anyone who wants to contribute any good tips or recipes to this post... send them! I will be grateful for any and all suggestions!

Motherhood Lessons

I am a mom, not just a title that I wear, I am a mother. I need some fine tuning for sure.. but I am working on that. One thing that I have learned about motherhood is that God is good enough to give you life lessons just when you didn't know that you needed them. Last night we followed our usual routine, rush home, eat whatever I can throw together, sit down and try to muddle through elementary school homework, baths and bed... ah... deep breath. Then we start the long line of times that my youngest Aidan will get out of bed and ask for water, or come into the living room just to tell me that she got up to go potty or that she can't sleep. With all the stresses of the day I usually am feeling pretty uptight and tired and fried at this time, which leads to some unpleasant sniping on my part whenever Aidan pulls this stuff. I am usually in a dark mood by the time I actually attempt to study for my own homework. I am tired and cranky and muddled and wondering "what was I thinking when I thought I could do this?". Mercifully last night was different.
The evening started the same, but somewhere in the middle something changed. I was dealing with putting the kids to bed, which is usually like pulling teeth without Novocaine, when I had an AH moment. I kissed each child and hugged them too, fielded questions on whether they could watch TV for "just a little bit" before bed and asked if they had brushed their teeth. I got to Aidan's bed and hugged her and kissed her, when I went to pull away she held me close and said "Mommy, I miss you". I stopped.. dead in my tracks. I realized that there was so much in those four little words. A little 5 year old girl lost in the shuffle. Always trying to stay out of the way, but fighting not to be forgotten. I felt ashamed of how I always ask her in my exasperated tone to "PLEASE play in your room" or "Aidan can you play magic fairy princess somewhere else?" or the one that cut the most, "Mommy, I made this beautiful picture just for YOU! Do you like it?" to which I gave a distracted "uh-huh" while trying to read for a test. I realized in that moment that my little crazy bundle of energy wasn't a nuisance, she was a wonderful addition to my family, maybe I didn't want her to hurry up and grow out of this stage maybe she was perfect where she was.
Instead of prying her little arms off my neck and begging her to please go to sleep so that I could actually get something done, I asked her if she thought that her stuffed animal friends would mind one more in the bed. It warmed my heart the way she silently asked them and then told me it was "cool with them". I crawled into the tiny space she made just for me. We covered up in her pink blankets and snuggled close. She stroked my face and said, "Mommy, I love you, You are my very best friend!" There it was, the perfect phrase to unlock tear ducts. I whispered in a voice thick with tears, "Aidan you are my best friend too", and I meant it. "Thank you God" I thought as I held her close and listened to her breathe. "Thank you for this child, thank you for letting me be her mother". I felt her small body in my arms and tried to memorize how it felt for times when she wouldn't feel the same. In that moment, homework and my job and bills and anything else seemed so insignificant. I prayed that God would help me remember that she was not to be put in the background of my life. It hit me like bricks that someday she would be grown and I would wish for more memories of times like this and so I must change before it was too late. I was so thankful for that precious moment with my baby, my little girl. Her breathing was slow so I knew she had fallen asleep, peacefully, no fight needed. I was in no hurry to let her go, so I lay there with tears rolling down my cheeks into her soft golden hair. I listened to the chorus of my three beautiful children breathing in their sleep, and again thanked God for motherhood lessons. I could study later, blessings come first.

Life... and McDonalds

Its Tuesday night and once again I am heading home from a long day of whatever I have going.. work .. school.. and life. I envy those mothers who have figured it all out. The Betty Crocker lifestyle, organized home, clean kitchen and clean well-behaved children. I however, do not yet have that one down pat! I am the frazzled stressed frizzy-haired mom with kids all talking at once with my SUV full of school papers and stuffed animals, trying to make my grocery list in my head while I drive. I wait each day for the dreaded question... "Hey Mom? What's for dinner??" Of course, dinner. That meal that families eat at the end of the day at their cute little tables and chat about their day. Hmm.. what IS for dinner??? And then an epiphany! It's Tuesday! It's $1.99 Happy Meal Night at McDonalds! Hamburger, fries, drink and a toy? My kids are screaming like we just won the lottery. The vote is unanimous. Am I thinking about future clogged arteries? Do I calculate fat grams and sodium? Not tonight. I am imagining my 3 lovely children happily chowing down on fried potato goodness, playing with their cheap plastic toys. Ah, I can get a head start on bedtime, start my homework early and still get the laundry done! Eat your heart out Betty Crocker, Hamburger Helper Glove Guy even you can't make dinner fast enough this time. In the time it takes to whip out my debit card and pull to the second drive-thru window.. dinner is served!