Friends

Friends are one of God's greatest blessings.  They are a gift to be treasured and respected.  We have to tend our gardens of friendship to keep them blooming, but it's well worth it.  The 1st follower I had here on my blog was my oldest friend that I still keep in touch with.  (she's not 'old', it's just my longest friendship....does that sound better?)  Anyway, we met and started hanging out when I was 11 years old.  We did all sorts of crazy things together - one night even spending the night at the other's house without the each other.  (I slept at her house, she slept at mine on the same night!)  We still keep in touch and try to see each other when we can.  On the other hand, I just had the opportunity to have an overnight get-away with one of my newer friends.  We went to Cincinnati to the IKEA store.  (that's a whole other topic....fun, huge, overwhelming, great deals, inspirational)  Anyway, it was so great to get to spend time with her and get to know her better.  I think it's important that we, as women, have friendships.  They are an important part of our lives.  I am encouraging you to call one of your friends that you haven't talked with in a while and just say, "Hey.  I was thinking about you and am so thankful that you are a part of my life!"  I must add, though, to watch yourself that you do not base a friendship on grumbling to each other.  That can be very easy to do - especially when you are frustrated with your husband!  But, I encourage you to ask your friend to hold you accountable to not grumble...there are so many other great things to talk about. 

I was reminded very recently of how much of a blessing friends can be, and that sometimes I take for granted what great friends I have.  We know a family that just recently went through a very serious and hard situation.  They live in a very remote place and do not have many friends near by.  They were trying to face this situation all alone.  I realized that if it had been our family in that situation, we would have had friends swooping in from all directions to help with kids, meals, chores, etc.  God has been so good to bless our family with great friends.  I am thankful for all of you out there!

Now get off the computer and go call a friend...or a few of them!

Random Thoughts

My new favorite quote:

"Never eat more than you can lift."   - Miss Piggy

Also, although I am not an Oprah lover, I saw a tidbit the other day on happiness.  The study had found that money can buy happiness up to a certain extent.  The figure was $75,000/year.  Wonder if that was for a single person or if it included a family of 8??  Hmmm.

A "proud-of-myself" moment on Wednesday:  I saved $62 at the grocery store!  If any of you are Target shoppers, they have a debit (didn't want a credit card) card that saves you 5% every day.  The one thing I wish they did was double coupons. 

And lastly, I was getting ready to go to the gym yesterday morning very early.  When I came out of the bathroom, Matt asked if I was putting makeup on.  Well...I was!  Concealer for my dark circles under my eyes (but that's it - promise).  Have you ever seen the young, totally fit women there???  It's the least I can do.   

Have a great weekend!

"What Kind of Doctor is That?!"

My 10 year old has been dealing with some health issues lately and we have been at the doctor trying to figure out what's going on.  For the past 3 weeks he's been off and on lethargic (more on than off) with headaches and an occasional fever.  He had blood drawn on Monday and we saw the doctor yesterday.  He hasn't done much school in the last 3 weeks and so I have been trying to determine if the lethargy (resulting in laying on the couch) is mental.  As in, Wow!  I don't have to do school.  I can sit around and watch PBS with Charlotte.  (side note:  although I would love to tell you all of the creative and fun "mommy" things I do with my girls, most days I just try to keep them quiet - meaning...PBS is a good friend of ours)  Anyway, Joel tends to have a lazy streak that appears only when asked to work.  Like when asked to clean his room or rake leaves he often feels "horrible" and just isn't sure he can complete the chore, yet if his brothers ask him to play football, he has a miracle recovery.  I had gone so far as to say things like, "Fine.  You don't have to do school, but just so you know, you'll be doing school well into June when everyone else is done"  and "OK, if you are that sick, we are going back to the doctor and they are going to take even more blood, and probably have all sorts of other tests...maybe even surgery."  It didn't change his mind that he still felt yuck.  So,  after all the blood work came back and showed nothing - no mono, nothing - she recommended that he not take any Tylenol for headaches and general discomfort so we could monitor any fevers.  Last night when he felt crummy and asked for a Tylenol, I said, "No, remember Dr. Jacob said you can't take anything."  Then he replied, "What kind of doctor is that...not letting you take medicine when you are sick?"  I tried to tell him that she had his best interest in mind, yadda, yadda, yadda.  It fell on deaf ears.  But that got me thinking...how many times do our kids ask themselves, "What kind of mother is that??"  for all of the crazy things we do for them that they don't appreciate.

Well, after all the tests came back negative - it was time to find some real answers.  I turned on my computer and Googled "child lethargy".  Of course!  I should have done that in the 1st place.  For about 30 minutes I had myself convinced he had been exposed to black mold.  I was trying to figure out where the black mold was growing.  Although I am not the neatest of housekeepers, I haven't seen any black mold growing on the walls or carpets.  Perhaps my fridge....so for the 1st time (oh, true confession) I took everything out of my fridge and cleaned out every drawer and shelf.  I didn't find any black mold.  But, there were some interesting looking pieces of broccoli and one stray carrot that was disgusting.  The cheese drawer was equally unappetizing.  There were a few pieces of shredded cheese that had fallen out of the bag and ended up at the bottom of the drawer continuing to get mushed by the bologna and American cheese.  Gross.  But no black mold.  Well, I figured that since I had gone this far, I might as well clean under and behind the fridge.  If you are one of those that vacuums behind your fridge every Friday -- leave now.  This is not for weak stomachs. You should have seen the crumbs, and magnets, and combs, and hair clips and dust bunnies.  There was an entire family - no, village - living behind my fridge on the various little pipes and contraptions.  Oh, I really disgust myself.  You know, I  think I am keeping things up pretty well until I discover something like that.  That's when I realize I am only hanging on by a thread.  Well, here's to a clean fridge!!  And another 7 years until I have to clean it out again!

I will try to post pictures in the next few days.  Thanks for asking! 

A Favorite Recipe

Today I am going to share one of my family's favorite recipes.  You can be sure that anything I share here is "kid-approved".  While most nights at least one kid grumbles about what's for dinner (like tonight as I was putting ingredients for chili in the crockpot..."eeww, I don't like chili", "can you leave out the beans", "don't put in any tomatoes"," can you make the noodles separate, 'cause that's all I'm eating") there are occasionally nights when whoops of joy erupt as I announce what's for dinner.  This is one of those.  It's often requested for birthdays or special occasions, although it's VERY easy to prepare.  Couple of words of advice:  only buy the pot roast when it's on sale (a good price is $1.99 - $2.50/lb) and the longer it cooks the better.  I make 2 pieces of meat in 2 separate crockpots for the 8 of us and usually have enough left over for 2 -3 lunch size portions. 

THREE PACKETS AND A ROAST
beef chuck pot roast (any roast will work, but these are particularly tender)
1/2 packet of dry ranch dressing mix
1/2 packet of dry Italian dressing mix
1 packet of dry brown gravy mix - mixed with 1/2 c water

spray inside of crock pot with Pam.  add meat.  sprinkle with each of the dry dressing mixes.  pour the gravy/water around sides.  cook on low about 8 hours.  then, remove meat and I prefer to pour the gravy/juices into a fat separator and let the grease settle to the top before serving.  serve with potatoes and your favorite veggie.  Enjoy!

It's Official!

After having a few people ask, my husband suggest and my mom down-right hound me, I have decided to start blogging.  What will I be sharing with you??  Funny moments from my life (although they may not seem funny to me at the time!), what life is really like with 6 kids underfoot, recipes, advice, lessons I have learned, books I am reading.  I hope you will enjoy the journey!  I am NO EXPERT on parenting; that's for sure!  But, I have had lots of experiences while being in the trenches with my kids. 

For those of you that don't know me personally, I am a 38 year old stay at home mom.  I have been married to Matt for 17.5 years.  We have 6 kids...Kyle is a 14 year old 8th grader, Gretta is a 12 year old 6th grader, Joel is a 10 year old 4th grader, Ben is an almost 8 year old 2nd grader, Charlotte is 3 1/2, and Gwen is 2.  Kyle and Gretta are homeschooled for 1st period and then attend the local public middle school the rest of the day.  Joel and Ben are homeschooled full time.   The little girls are home with me all day (except Tuesday when Charlotte goes to Mom's Day Out for a few hours).   I am working on being joyful in my daily life.  I tend to get bogged down and annoyed with the daily stuff - and I let my attitude show.  I am also trying to be more intentional...about having my quiet time with God each day, about spending time with each of my kids individually, about being joyful, about watching what I eat, about exercising more.   Some days I do really well with this.  Other days I am just hanging on for dear life. 

Thanks for checking in....there will be more.  I promise.