Needed

Posted on January 4, 2008 by Momzoo

In October I decided that I needed to get up and cook breakfast for the family. I wanted us to all sit down at a meal together at the start of the day, to pray and read scriptures. Now anyone who knows me well will understand how hard this is for me. I love to sleep in, getting up any time before 9:00 is a struggle. My perfect schedule would be bed time at 2 am and wake up at 10. Too bad the rest of the world doesn’t work that way. Seriously between 9 pm and 2 am I do my best work. So for me to drag my sorry behind out of bed at 6:30 to cook breakfast, smile and actually be nice to people is really hard. Regardless, this is what I did; I got up, cooked breakfast, smiled and was nice to my kids and hubby at 6:30 in the morning. I have really loved it. It seems to center the family; we get to talk to our kids in the morning before they run off into the world. We have a time to pray, and study scripture. It has become something I look forward to instead of dread!

Over the Christmas break I didn’t get up, I was too tired and the thought of sleeping in was too wonderful. My Partner in Crime was fine with that, he didn’t complain. He got up, showered, skipped breakfast and left without a lunch while we were all sleeping. He remarked a few days later that he kept forgetting to take his medicine in the mornings because I wasn’t there to give it to him with breakfast and that he just felt “off”. I laughed and said “you mean your day doesn’t go right when I don’t fix you breakfast and give you a kiss as you walk out the door?” In all seriousness he said “yes”.

Wow

It sure feels great to be needed.

Such a Mom

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Momzoo

I am such a Mom,

one of those moms that can spend hours

upon hours

talking about my kids.

I sure like those little punks.

(most of the time, and the other times I am trying not to sell them to the gypsies)

Here is Punk #1’s school Christmas program.

Wanna play “Where’s Waldo” again?

Those of you that know my punks will be able to spot her.

For those of you that don’t, here is some help.

I love it when they are in front.
Makes taking pictures much easier.

Can you just see me now. Standing up waving yelling “honey…smile for mama!”
(BTW, who in the world is that punk kid next to her, he was messin’ with her the whole time! sheeze, some people’s kids!)

Hey beautiful girl!!

Where’s Katie

Posted on December 31, 2007 by Momzoo

I love going to the punks school programs.

They are always so excited to see me.

My kids go to a very large, very crowded school.

There are about 1200 students

and 7 2nd grade classes.

Punk#2 is in second grade.

Remember the “Where’s Waldo” books?

Well’ we are playing “Where’s Katie”

Can you see her in the sea of 7 year olds?

Here, let me help ya out.

She sees me!

And she is discretely waving at me

Oh, good, they are done, now I can stand up and get a picture.

“Katie! Katie!….SMILE!!”

I love school programs.

My Village

Posted on December 28, 2007 by Momzoo

You hear the saying “it takes a village to raise a child.” I happen to disagree with that statement wholeheartedly! I think it takes a Mother and Father and extended family to raise a child. I see what the “village” is doing, acting, saying, and raising, and frankly I want no part of it. I will say that it takes a “village” of friends and family to support a family. However those people that surround my family are of my choo

sing. I have a wonderful network of support around me. My family is great. I also have found in the past few months wonderful friends who really seem to understand how I tick. We think the same about raising children, being wives, and women. These wonderful women are like sisters to me in every way. I talk to them almost daily, and they are such a tremendous support. I think as women and especially mothers we need to ban together for the good of our families. I have learned so much from these ladies, they have given me the courage to really became the person I always wanted to be, but was afraid of becoming. I would second guess my own thoughts and feelings, worried about what the world would think of me. I don’t worry so much now. I have good women backing me, telling me that what I am, what I am doing and how I am doing them are not just ok, but wonderful. Here is a quote that was post in my comment section yesterday, and it is so good that I want to post it here.

“In our society, we give motherhood plenty of lip service. We pat moms on the head, bring them flowers on Mother’s Day, and honor them before crowds. But at the end of the day, we don’t extend them the same respect we would a professor, a dentist, an accountant, or a judge… ”I know for sure that few callings are more honorable. To play down mothering as small is to crack the very foundation on which greatness stands… ”We should no longer allow a mother to be defined as ‘just a mom.’ It is on her back that great nations are built.” 

-Oprah Winfrey–

(thanks Katie for the quote, love ya!!)

Christmas Day

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Momzoo

I have to say I am a little embarrassed that I don’t have more pictures of Christmas day. We are busy, busy that day, and after the initial rush of opening gifts at home, I forget to snap pictures. We start our day at 6:00, not because the kids wake us up, but because the alarm goes off! We have to be up then so we can do our thing before we are off visiting family. At 8:00 (or as close as possible to that time) we left our house, all dressed up in new clothes that Santa brought, and packed tight with gifts to give to family. It was very slow going this year. We were hit with a big storm on Christmas Eve, and the roads were very icy. We got to my parents house at about 9:30, both my married sisters were there and my two punk brothers. We ate muffins and cinnamon buns (I made those at about 10:00 pm on Christmas Eve) and had orange juice. If you didn’t grow up in my house you wouldn’t understand how very special orange juice is, we NEVER had it growing up. We also opened gifts, and that was a lot of fun. I love going there in the morning when everybody is happy and fresh. The kids are still so excited, showing off what Santa brought (my girls get to pick one thing to take; they all brought their new dolls). We enjoyed each others company, and had a nice time. At about noon we all packed up and headed off to my grandma and grandpa’s house (aka Monga and G-pa), they are off on a mission this year, my sister is living i

n their house, and she graciously let the whole family come over for the traditional brunch. My mom comes from a family of 8, and almost everybody was there, it was a full house! Full, but so wonderful!!! I love seeing my family, my aunts and uncles and all the kids!!! There are 6 babies a year old and under! We had the traditional Christmas brunch: scones, scrambled eggs, sausage, and orange juice. Everything was almost perfect; I missed my G-pa’s annual “speech” and of course Monga’s special touch. All the families got a special gift from Monga and G-pa and the little kids exchanged gifts. The aunts and uncles all pooled their money and gave my punk brother money towards his mission. We had a nice visit and all the kids LOVED their gifts. We left a little after 2:00, my baby was very sleepy, and we needed to find a quiet place. As we were leaving I took a quick look at my brother. He will be leaving for two years on January 2nd, a little over a week. It hit me all the sudden that he really wasn’t goi

ng to be around next Christmas. I hugged him, for a long time, I am going to miss that boy! We headed up to my in-laws, where I put the baby down and punk #4 for naps. I also laid down myself, the night before I came down with the same bug that had been plaguing my zoo for the past week, and I wasn’t feeling so hot. I had a good long nap (thanks Mike and in-laws). We had a wonderful dinner; in mom-in-law’s sort of new dining room then after that we opened gifts. We hung out there until about 8:00, then packed our hyper punks up (waaaaaay too much sugar that day!!!) and headed home. We had a great day. I love seeing all the family. People ask me if I hate all the rushing and visiting and driving. I would say NO!! I LOVE IT!! I love the bustle and hustle, I love seeing everybody, and I love it all. I am so thankful for my abundant family!