Three Words

I've been on a huge trip lately. A trip down memory lane, that is. I spent a good amount of time tonight looking at my elementary school and junior high yearbooks.

While reading all of the autographs, I came across this entry and it stopped me in my tracks and really made me start thinking.

This was my 7th grade yearbook. I can very clearly remember standing in a line to get Mr. Rogers to sign my yearbook. He was taking a lot of time and writing very nice things for all of my friends. It got to be my turn and he wrote three words. Three words? Three whole words. My feelings were hurt. I know he was writing more than that for my friends. What a bummer.

A few days after he wrote these three words, I found the courage to ask him why he didn't write more for me. After all, I was a good student. Never really in trouble. Paid attention. Practiced my clarinet. Why in the world would he only write three words?

When I asked him why, he simply told me something to the affect of less is more and that it isn't about the number of words but the meaning behind them. Blah, blah, blah. I was going into 8th grade. I didn't get it. Dumb ol' three words.

I found those three words tonight. I looked at them. And looked at them. And then it was all clear to me. He didn't need to say something like 'stay sweet', 'enjoy next year', '2 cute 2 b 4gotten'. He was writing to me and for me.

I think I might get it now.

And it means even more to me today.
Thank you Mr. Rogers.

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And now that I've written this post, I'm coming back to add that I am SO laughing at myself, because you all know that I AM THE WINNER!!! ha ha ha. (Thanks drunk ladies.) Bwaaaa ha ha ha!

Here I Am!

Whew. I've been gone from the blogging world for what seems like forever. I am DYING because we only have a few more weeks before school starts, and you all know I hate hate hate it when that day rolls around!

So what has been going on over here? Well...

I finished reading two books this week. The first is called Life's So Good. (I know I should underline the title, but can't figure out how.) It is the story of George Dawson learning to read at the age of 98. I saw the book on the shelf at the library and checked it out because I too believe that life is good. I had no idea how captivated I'd be by this man's story. I also had no idea that it was an Oprah Book Club book until tonight and I was sad to learn tonight that Mr. Dawson died at the age of 103 in 2001. If you have time, you should read this book. It is a great story about a real person and I LOVED it.

The second book I finished was suggested to me by #1. He LOVES to read. A few weeks ago, I had a dream that a big wave came (tsunami style) and took me and some of my friends away. In my dream I was screaming for my kids, my JC and my mom. I was in the wave with HB, Jena (friend) and Nor (friend) and I couldn't swim to my family. I woke up feeling so so so sad about it. #1 happened to be in the bedroom right as I was opening my eyes. I told him the dream the best I could remember it. That afternoon, he brought me a book from our bookshelf called Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret. This is a fiction book that is written for kids in the age group of 8-12years old. I LOVED it! It took me a couple of nights to read it, but it was very very exciting. I'd highly recommend it to any of you guys that have kids. I know I am going to encourage E and J to read it, if they haven't already. And I think it is pretty darn cool that I actually like the books that #1 recommends. :)

My parents came into town last weekend to tend to the kids so that JC and I could go on our annual camping trip. I was thrilled to come home and find that my mom had bought the kids Del Monte Fruit Chillers. I fell in love with them last summer when I was pregnant for SBW and my mom brought a WHOLE CASE to our house. They aren't something that gets priority on our grocery list, so you know I was doing a jig to find them. I am sad to say that I ate the last one tonight. Is it bad that the kids might have had one a piece? I mean, why should it be a problem, I saved them the Oreo's and popciscles that she brought.

And speaking of being pregnant last summer. Our SBW is going to be ONE in less than a month. ONE. One. one. ONE!!!! I just can't even believe it. He is taking some steps. It is so exciting. Oh how I love that sweet baby. And oh how I love watching his brothers and sisters care for him. #2 changed her first diaper last week. She is the only kid in the family that has changed one and she begged me to let her do it. I promised myself that the big kids would never feel like they had to do all of the work with the sweet baby. They love being with him and he loves them so much. Now that we've got the love all good, maybe I'll start making them all change the diapers. ha ha ha!

We don't have a lot planned for the rest of the summer. The kids earned free tickets to Fiesta Texas for reading during the school year. We'll take them there and it should be a truckload of fun. I am super excited to go to my school reunion at the end of July. That should be a hoot. We will probably spend a few days here and there with my parents, my brother's family, my cousin Codi and our fuzzins in Dallas (friends that are like cousins) before school starts. I hope the kids sleep late lots of days. I hope we swim a ton. I hope we read some. I hope we make it to the beach at least once. And watch movies. And look at pictures. And laugh all of the time. And lay low inside the house at least a handful of day. And do puzzles. We need to do more puzzles.

Oh how I LOVE the summer. I am holding on to every.single.minute for the next month.

Really? I won.

So tonight I was invited to a friend's house where she was having a gathering of moms from the neighborhood to eat, drink and visit. She invited between 15-20 moms who mostly have kids that go to our neighborhood school.

The party started at 7:30pm. Naturally, I got there around midnight. You know, JC got home from work around 8ish, then I had to feed the baby, find a movie, pop the popcorn, lay down sleeping bags for the guests, discipline the 6 year old, check facebook, read some email, nurse the baby....

Anyhow, midnight...

So when I got there, it was apparent that a handful of the neighborhood mom ladies had a bit to drink. Which you know, I am so okay with. I've been there and done that. So I just kinda chit chatted with a few ladies that I am friends with. And then in my attempt to not stand there obviously staring and listening, I started to pick up some of the bottles and help to get the kitchen cleaned up. (Go figure - our house is a mess.)

The drinks kept flowing. The ladies kept chatting. I walked around the kitchen island to clean up the bar and one of the ladies who I don't really know kinda touched my shoulder and said 'you have four kids?' - I didn't really respond, but one of the friends said 'no, five.'

Well from that point on, drunk neighbor lady and other drunk neighbor lady made a point to say very loudly "YOU WON". "OH MY GOD - FIVE KIDS. YOU ARE THE WINNER." When I would walk by, they'd laugh and put their hands on my shoulders in a drunk girl way and say "YOU WON". "YOU BEAT US. YOU WON." (Read the caps in your best drunk lady loud voice please.)

Wow.

Now there is no question that people have lots of opinions about the size of our family. And many people feel like it is okay to share their opinion. We don't ever mind large family comments. As a matter of fact, our older kids have gotten into the habit of saying how much they'd love more siblings when a negative Nelly crosses our path.

You know, someone is always with the 'did you plan to have that many kids?' Uh, hello...no we didn't plan it. But I can almost guarantee that all of our kids are more loved and wanted than some of the planned kids you dumbass. (oops, I'll step down from my soap box now.)

So tonight was a first. I've never been told that I won. I was so confused. What does that mean? I wasn't participating in a contest. There was no race. We didn't have these children because we were trying to beat someone.

I love these kids. We love these kids. We wanted every single one of them. All I wanted in my life was to be someone's mom. That's it. I hasn't been a contest for me.

I am sure that drunk neighbor ladies didn't mean anything ugly by the comment. And I am sure that my awake-in-the-middle-of-the-night-brain is making WAY too much outta it.

But geez - I wasn't trying to win.

Although, I guess if I take a minute to stop and think about it. They were right. I did win.

My heart is so full.

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Oh and on a side note, I would like to say that I realized tonight that I am growing up. Let me share with you how I know...

1. I wasn't the drunk loud lady.
2. I helped clean up the kitchen.
3. I drove a drunk friend home and had a fun time doing it. Paybacks are hell and I'll be puking in her front yard very soon!

I realize how lucky I am that I have a safe group of ladies to get my drink on with. I am so glad that I now know better than to venture outta the safe circle. It took me a long time to learn that lesson, but I am sure glad a did. (Thank God for my HB, AJ, Manvel Girls, Becky, Steph, Ruth, Sarah, and Liz. The friends that will kindly pull my feet outta my mouth and hold my hair back so that I can puke!) Oh, life is good.

Follow Me

So we have a couple of friends that have new blogs. I mean really new blogs. They both have very young families and I enjoy seeing the pictures of the babies and reading the little ditties.

And then last night, I noticed that they both have over 20 followers. What! Huh? I've been doing this gig for over two years and I have TWO followers. TWO! How can it be?

And then after thinking about it all day long, I finally figured it out.

Duh. I don't have the follower gadget on my blog. What a goofball. How can I have any followers with the place to click!

So, here it is! Follow me.

Or I might cry.

Home

We are home.

We are happy.

The sights the sounds, I've got so MUCH to say.

The sights the sounds, I'm glad for the quiet.

I am glad that our kids are growing up knowing that it is a great big world.

I am glad to be home.

While we were gone, lots happened in the world.

While we were gone, the world stayed the same.

Man-o-man, we took a ton of pictures.

Man-o-man, I've got lots to do.

I'll be back o blog o mine.

I'll be back.

Talent Show Kids

Our school has a talent show every year on the day before school gets out. Our kids were once again pumped up to participate. Hope you'll enjoy the videos.

#1 and his buddies.


#3 and her girlfriend.

Tuesday Behind

So now it is Tuesday. And it is almost the middle of the night again. I need to sleep. I want to sleep. My mind is just going and going and going.

I have been daydreaming about a bender with my friend IRL Becky. I need a good nite of being sloppy. We were hoping to do it last weekend, but then my kidney boulder got in the way. Go figure. Had to go to the ER Friday am because I thought I was dying. Picture this: me in the ER waiting room on all fours puking because I was in so much pain that I was sure that I was dying. I have given birth F.I.V.E. times and I thought that a 3-4mm (or is it cm) kidney stone was going to kill me. Anyhow, nice visual imagine huh? I was sure glad that I got to tell the kids it wasn't just cause I eat crap. The doctor said that it is more common in women with multiple pregnancies. And we are all pretty sure that I fall into that category now with the number of pregnancies at 7. Yeah, sometimes I just throw that number out there because of it's shock value! And it always strikes me as weird when I am in a medical situation and they seem shocked when I say it out loud. It is hard for me to comprehend that some people wouldn't be able to see the love. And then when they ask me if there is a chance that I could be pregnant again and I respond with 'well, there is always a chance' - boy-o-boy, you should see their faces. hee hee.

Oh and speaking of the faces on medical personnel, I almost jumped through the little glass window at the pedi's office today and gave the gal who works there a whole new look. Boy, I am klassy.

The little girl with the fixed hair and ugly smirk made me angry because she INSISTED that our co-pay was $25. Ok you dumb cow, I only brought in $20 (cash) cause I KNOW OUR CO-PAY IS $20. Not to mention that we have been in that office 11 times in the last three months and we didn't have to pay for the last four visits because we had a credit. And then when I go to the car (with five kids in tow) to get the card and bring it back in, she has the nerve to tell me that she is unable to update our account because that is done at check-in so I'll need to do it next time. I wanted to say 'look you lazy ding-dong, log into your screen and do it now so that I don't have to strangle you later.' But I didn't.

Gosh, it seems I must have a few things pent up tonight.

This morning I was at swim team watching the older four. I ran into another sports mom that I really enjoy. Although our kids are not in the same school, our paths have crossed a few times in the world of sports. She told me today that she reads my blog. I can only hope she will still speak to me after she reads this entry! :)

I got my feelings hurt a JC's softball game Monday night. You might remember that a few years ago I had the chance to sub on his team. It was a great great night for me. Well, I have never been asked to sub since, although, in all fairness, I was pregnant for nine of those months. Last night the team was short a girl. There I sat on the bleachers with our five kids. There was another Cupcakes and Blood female fan sitting on the other bleachers. The other lady was asked to be the sub. Now the reason that this hurt my feelings is because I wanted to be asked. Plus, she was quite a bit larger than me (not being ugly) and she couldn't run (at all) cause he had a hurt ankle. Boy, doesn't this just take us all back to school days and being the last to be picked - after the blind girl with no arms and no legs. I was telling JC last night that I just couldn't understand why they wouldn't even ask me. He said very clearly that it had nothing to do with me or my ability to play, but that he was sure they didn't ask me because of the baby. Well, that made me feel even worse.

You all know that I LOVE our kids. Really really waited my whole life for this family and love them so much it hurts. But geez Louise, I am still here too. It is okay for me to do a thing or two without them. And go figure, it might be good for them to actually see me getting to do something that I want to do that is fun. Oh well.

I guess that is more proof that I need to slip off into the night with Becky and walk into some dive where no one knows me a let it all melt away. Mmmmm...cold beer.

I let #1 get a facebook page today. Before you know it they will all have cell phones too. I told him the rule with the fb page was that he had to always keep me as his friend. ALWAYS. (I got that rule from a very very smart mom friend.) He was so proud of himself tonight sending flair to people and writing on walls. I probably should have doubled my pain medication tonight because I was getting a little stressed by the whole scene. This is what was going through my mind: 'don't be friends with that girl, she is loose', 'you just sent flair to my friends that has the word sucks on it, geez', 'why are you chatting with that person? I bet their parents don't even know they have a fb page'. He is growing. I have to accept it. I love some of the teenage things that #1 and #2 do, but it makes me want to hold on to them even tighter because the days are getting shorter and shorter.

SBW is really starting to get the hang of standing on his own. I've been thinking that it might be time to get him to start sleeping in his own bed. But then I get afraid that I'll miss him and change my mind. Plus, sometimes he wakes us up in the middle of the night because he is laughing and smiling. And I don't wanna miss that.

#4 is crazy swimmer these days. I can't believe that my sweet boy can swim 25 meters without stopping. Who told him that he could grow up? And I can't even think about him being in first grade. Gosh I really like that kid.

#3 is having a hard time today. Her good friend is moving to another country on Thursday. She is sad. This friend isn't someone that is our house everyday, but she is someone that #3 has had constant friendship with since Kindergarten. She was the very first sleepover. #3 likes life to be normal. Tonight she was crying and she told me that she was just sad about it. I feel sad about it too. Although I know that they will still be friends. It is totally gonna be weird. #3 is my steady eddie. She is a rock and she doesn't even know it.

#2 has had a non-stop summer so far. Movies, Schlitterbaun, Volente Beach, swim team, choir, sleepovers. This is one busy and happy kid and I am so glad that she has such a nice group of girlfriends. She makes me laugh a lot. I like being goofy with her.

Ok - gonna try to shower to relax. Maybe the sleep with come.

I have zillions of pictures of the last month. Maybe I'll post some soon.

For now, I'll leave you with this. I love raising our family in Austin.