i'm not that kind of mom...

yesterday we went to our church halloween alternative party, a wild west theme. they have lots of games and candy and food and the kids love it. since it was a wild west theme, i just threw some cowboy hats and boots on the kids and called it a costume! i'm a complete slacker when it comes to costumes. i take the easiest route possible! i'd like to blame it on having five kids but in reality, i'm just not that kind of mom. i saw many very creative, homemade costumes yesterday. these moms worked hard (or paid alot of money) and it paid off! i have friends who are so talented in these areas but it is just not me. i don't sew. i don't craft. heck, it's a total miracle if i sew a new button on a shirt. and if i do, you can bet it sat on my dresser for six months first! it's just not my thing. sometimes, i'll read a friend's homeschool blog and see some incredible thing she recently sewed or made from scratch and i'll have a pang of guilt. i should be doing that for my kids too. but then i remember that although i'm not that kind of mom, i am a different kind of mom...

i am a mom that blasts 80's music and has a dance party in the living room...

i am a mom who makes up silly nicknames for everyone in the household...

i am a mom who let's you wear your superman cape to church...




i am a mom who won't compete with other moms but instead try to make you feel that we are all in the same boat...

i am a mom who changes the words to all the tv theme songs to be about our family...

i am a mom who is open about her love of twilight even when all the other moms think she is crazy...




i am a mom who thinks it's ok to never let your kids sleep in your room...

i am a mom let's you give your brother a wet willy when he deserves it...

i am a mom who gives you cake for breakfast on your birthday...

i am a mom who will help you make yourself a costume as opposed to me making it...




i am a mom who God decided was the perfect mom for you!

i am not a mom who will operate in guilt and condemnation over what i am not, as opposed to what i am. i will be confident in the kind of mom God made me and be secure in the fact that the Lord wanted you with me!

and that's all for today :) happy fall!


*sidenote: please excuse the poor quality of these photos... we also took my 3 year old nephew with us, it was total chaos! who would've guessed that six kids at a costume party would NOT be conducive to taking photos???

flashback fridays!

happy friday all! this post is from march of 09, when i was newly pregnant with miss esme. let me just state that these universal truths all still apply!!



first of all, a pregnancy update: i am on day three of feeling normal!! yay! i'm trying to catch up on all the laundry, cleaning, etc that i've neglected for the last six weeks. hopefully i am DONE being sick. now i can look forward to getting huge :)

anyway, today i'd like to talk about fashion. i live in an average size city in the midwest. lately, i have been noticing the terrible fashion choices that those around me make, specifically moms. so i'd like to give a few tips because apparently they are needed!

1. PLEASE, for the love of all that is good, DON'T WEAR MOM JEANS! i don't care how old you are, what your post baby body looks like or how busy you are. there is no excuse in 2009 for any woman to be wearing jeans that come up to your rib cage or anything with pleats in it. do you not see that it actually makes your hips, bottom and belly look bigger? i don't know any mom who is hoping to increase the look of her trunk, no matter how much junk you have in there. now for those of us that have this leftover belly, we know we can't do low rise anymore. muffintop anyone? but you can choose a medium rise that is flattering and stylish. oh yeah- and don't forget NOT to tuck in your tshirt. not good. not even on heidi klum.

2. why are so many people wearing socks with their sandals? if it's too cold to leave the socks in the drawer it's too cold for sandals. nuff said.

3. if you are over the age of 25, a mother, or more than 130 lbs you should never be wearing a halter top, a mini skirt or shorts so short we can see where your baby came out. you do not look younger. you look like an old person trying to look young.

4. crocs. i know this one is probably going to get me into some trouble but i have to say it. there is nothing more hideous than an adult wearing brightly colored rubber shoes. i don't care how comfortable they are. the only person who should be wearing these shoes are medical personnel who are forced to work 12 hour shifts on their feet. that's it. no exceptions.

5. lastly, a faux pas that is near to my heart, this trend of big pregnant women wearing tight, skimpy clothes. i'm happy for you that you feel good in your new body. i'm glad that you are proud of your giant, stretch marked stomach. but please, save it for your husband. i don't need to see that when i'm grocery shopping.

i think that's all for today, i don't want to alienate all my readers in one day. if you find yourself falling into one of these categories, don't shoot the messenger. i'm just telling you what others are afraid to!

auntie em! auntie em!

we had tornadoes in our area this afternoon. that's not all that unusual for ohio. what made these noteworthy? they hit precisely at the beginning of naptime. on a day when i have five kids under four. chaos? well, yes it was. i was just getting all the diapers changed and bottles fed and potty's taken care of and (counting down the moments) for nap. i begin this countdown at approximately 7:30am everyday. anyway, they suddenly upgraded us from a tornado watch to a warning, with the newscaster coming on suggesting everyone in my particular area head to the basement. do you know what my basement is like? it's a nasty, unfinished, spidery dungeon. the perfect location to hang out with toddlers and babies! so i start to gather supplies before i corral the kids down there. i get bottled water, a flash light, a portable radio and books to entertain the kids. then my imagination starts to get the better of me... what if the house collapses and we're trapped down there until help comes? so i end up with a can of formula, bottle, water, snacks, blankets and my cell phone. i know, i'm crazy. but the only thing that would suck worse about being trapped under your own house would be do so with a four year old, a three year old, a two year old and two babies. so once i gathered all my supplies and brought the bigger kids and the baby in a carseat downstairs. i had to come back up for esme, who had managed to sneak all the way upstairs in that time! i brought her kitchen booster seat down so she wouldn't be crawling around on the gross floor. i read them books and we had a snack and i prayed it would be over soon! the babies both fussed (remember... it's NAPTIME!!) the kids did pretty well. other than the fact that the little guy ate a piece of candy he found on the floor. i'm pretending that just fell there this morning. it's how i sleep at night.

10 things that are hard to come by in this house!

i'm pretty sure i spend at least a third of my life looking for things. common, everyday items that shouldn't be as elusive as bigfoot. yet, they are. sigh. these ten things are only the tip of the iceberg!

10. pens. you can literally never find a pen in this house. seriously. if you are on an important phone call and absolutely have to write down some information, you better grab a crayon and write on the wall because that's the only way you're takin notes around here!

9. ponytail holders. where are they?!? i purchase package after package. yet as soon as it's time to do a little girl's hair (and we have alot of little girl hair around here!) there are none to be found.

8. batteries. another thing we purchase in bulk yet mysteriously disappears. it doesn't matter how many we have. you can guarantee we'll still be switching them from the dvd remote to the tv remote. and that brings me to number 7...

7. the remotes. never where they should be. never having the appropriate number of batteries.

6. the home phone. it's ringing but never found. you can hear the answering machine pick up, you can hear sound coming from somewhere in the deep recesses of the couch, but you never do actually locate it in time!

5. bandaids. do you know why you can never find a bandaid around here? because we have a house full of hypochondriacs that use them all up as soon as i buy them. don't even get me started on how fast they go if i get spiderman ones!

4. nail clippers. this one is confusing to me as we have at least five of them! baby ones, regular ones, toenail ones... where do they disappear to??

3. sleep. now i know this may not be a physical item, but let me tell you it is hard to come by~ says the person who hasn't had a night of uninterrupted sleep in 18 months.

2. sanity. this needs no explanation.

1. boredom. never. a. dull. moment!

flashback fridays!

i gotta be honest, i still think all of this is true! this post was originally written in february of 09!

so i'm watching handy manny today with the little guy and it occurs to me that he would really be the perfect husband! here are the reasons why...

- he not only knows how to fix things, he loves doing. which means you would not have to ask him for three months to get it done.

-according to today's episode, he cooks, plays guitar and sings. 'nuff said.

-when doing a home improvement project, he has tools that help him. which means a. he doesn't expect his wife to help and b. the tools are alive so you won't have him ask you to hand him one and then look at you like you ride the short bus when you don't know what that is.

- he always has rubber cleaning gloves on. that's foreplay in my book.

- he has an accent.

- he is apparently the only handy man in town so he's got to make good money.

- he looks good in a baseball cap.

- he's bilingual. where i live, it would be very helpful to have someone who speaks spanish (which i don't)

- and last, but certainly not least, he has an accent... did i mention that?

oh babies...

i love babies. love them. good thing, huh? i just had to share a few of these photos with you. they make me melt. and want to hold babies. oh dear..

these are all from the so very talented anne geddes.

flashback fridays!

happy friday all! i've decided to start something new! well, i guess technically the new thing i'm starting is kinda old. have i lost you yet? great! so every friday, we'll have flashback friday! i'll share either a really old post (you know, a rerun :) that i would like to revisit OR an old story. just something to switch it up a little. let's be honest, my every day life can get a little stale. nothing like reminiscing to spice things up! i'm totally computer illiterate so i have no clue how to make a button or anything but if you want to do flashback friday on your blog, just leave the URL in the comments and we'll all check it out!

so here was my very first top ten list! i wrote this in may of 08... in honor of mother's day. oh how things have changed since then... but some remain the same! (hey, the tattoo is still there :)


happy mother's day! the pics are of my wonderful mother's day gift! how blessed i am to have a husband that knows i am not a "flowers & candy" kind of mom :) its the hebrew of a verse from song of solomon.."i am my beloved's and my beloved is mine". i have been waiting several years to get this. what a great gift!
i decided to write a list today, my top ten reasons why it's great to be a mom.

10. its a good excuse for not being skinny!
9. no longer have to battle being self absorbed, its not an option anymore!
8. at least four people tell me they love me every day!
7. there's nothing like seeing your own faults mimicked by your kids to drive you to be a better person!
6. their smell after a bath!
5. seeing my husband be a dad, who knew i could love him even more!
4. making someone overwhelmed with excitement over a toy that cost a dollar!
3. seeing the grumpy man who was MY dad be a big pushover as "papaw"
2. knowing that i can make a difference every day in four little lives
1. having the honor of being called mommy

hope your mothers day was a blessing! whether you spend your days covered in spit up, nursing, driving your kids to endless activities, working (and then trying to get it all done at night!), or you've moved to the esteemed title of grandma... you deserve this day. for all the things you do, big and more importantly small, you are Mom. the best job description in the world!

top ten things you should NEVER say to your husband!

10. "do these jeans make my butt look big?" he can't win this one. if he says no, we don't believe him. if he says yes, he dies. lose/lose

9. "do you want to give the kids a bath?" uh, of course he doesn't. same as asking the kids if they want to clean their rooms.

8. "do you have any idea how hard it is to deal with PMS?" he doesn't. trust me.

7. "do you think she's pretty?" again, lose/lose.

6. "what time will you be back from golf?" actually, you can ask this one. just add two hours to whatever he tells you. cause somehow there's always someone really slow ahead of them.

5. "will you still love me when i'm old and fat?" he has to. you have too many children to afford child support.

4. "honey i'm really tired tonight. could we make this quick?" this needs no further explanation.

3. "am i overreacting?"

2. "would you rather take a nap than help me organize the basement?"


and the #1 thing to never say to your husband....

"do you want to have a vasectomy?"

you are my sunshine

week in review...

well, it's been a monumental week!




isaiah's jar of caterpillars became his jar of butterflies!



and they loved him :)



esme had her first haircut and



her first birthday!



first cake...



first presents...







"here esme, let me help you with that!"



we had a lovely party for miss esme at the park

which everyone but her enjoyed~

she was so ready for a nap!

how was your week?

a public service announcement from miss esme..

hey guys! i snuck onto the computer while my mom is busy getting ready for my birthday party! haha! you should see her! running around in her bathrobe trying to make the food and get all the supplies while my dad is sleeping! the big kids are watching a movie (and supposed to be watching me!). but for any of you that want to send me a present, i thought i'd let you know what i like! so here are the top ten things i want for my birthday!

10. i LOVE chocolate, even though my mom doesn't let me have it. but she's pretty busy with these other kids so i'm sure we can slip a brownie or two past her!

9. a roll of toilet paper is always a hit! i adore unrolling and eating it!

8. you can never go wrong with a puppy! my mom will swear that we can't keep it but my dad will say yes!~

7. i could really use a hat of some sort. then i wouldn't have to sit still while mommy does my hair :(

6. did you know they have ice cream that tastes like bubble gum?! my mom doesn't like me to have ice cream cause she thinks i'm probably allergic like my brother but see #10

5. i never tire of playing with pots and pans! my mom's are pretty old so they're not even shiny enough to see myself in!

4. my BFF, kalyssa, told me that she heard they have little tiny cakes for baby's first birthday. i better be getting one of those!

3. a girl can never have too many binkies!

2. i definitely wouldn't turn down a trip to disney if someone wanted to take me! i heard the real mickey mouse lives there! i clap every time that show comes on!

1. i can't think of any more! i'm only one, you know :)

one year ago today...

one year ago today...



i pushed one time and out you came...




i saw your bright blue eyes for the first time...



your dad was wrapped around one more little finger...



i began 365 days of sleep deprivation...



our family became seven pounds bigger...



i fell in love for the sixth time...



you stole my heart...



i had no idea how our lives would change...




we began saving for a third wedding...




we figured out that two carseats and two booster seats in a van still leaves room for one more child...



the bean became a second mother...



the princess became the true "middle" child...



the boys gained one more sister to protect...




you came out fiesty and have only gotten more so with each passing month :)...



you made me realize that the best surprises are the ones we didn't even know we wanted...



we learned that four is not enough...



we learned that a family can never have too many children...



and our hearts could never be too full!

happy first birthday Esme! many, many more to come!