My Age

I am still a young woman. I have five children, so I am not exactly a spring chicken, but am young none-the-less. Inspite of that fact, I am constantly obsessing about how old I am getting. I didn't realize that the kids were paying attention to it till a conversation I had with my son. During his Bible lesson (we homeschool) he learned that people in Bible days lived much longer than they do now. People lived to be in the hundreds back then. So after much reflection, he called me over to the computer and said, "Mama, its too bad that we don't still live to be 900 years old. If we did then Grammy (my 70 year old Grandmother) would be considered a young woman. I would still be a baby. And you really would be considered 29." Out of the mouths of babes.

Shoot or be shot?

My husband is deployed to Iraq and has been gone for several months now. The kids and I have all had mixed feelings about the deployment and have had to deal with various issues. One of the first and still major issues we deal with is how safe is Daddy? I must push past my own fears and reassure my kids that their Dad is fine and is doing his job well and will be home soon. Unfortunately, we have had to cover topics that no Mom wants to deal with. Early on in the deployment, my oldest who is 10 wanted to know if Daddy would shoot the bad guys if the bad guys came near him. What a terrible thought for children. Will Daddy shoot or be shot? So, I told him what I felt would be the best thing for him to hear. I told him,"Yes, your Daddy will shoot any bad guy before he can shoot him first." That story has a funny ending in that my older girls (ages 2, 4 and 6) jumped on the concept and prayed each night that Daddy would shoot the bad guys. I am sure God was not displeased with their prayer, but I decided to guide their thoughts and prayers in a different direction. That is when we began talking about arresting the bad guys instead of shooting them. Now we pray that Daddy has success at putting the bad guys in jail. It has made for much better dinner conversation since then.

A Beautiful Day

My sister, Shannon, has four children. So when we are together there are nine children talking, singing, hopping, and in general, just moving. We have fun. We checked the weather report for the week and found today was the only day this week that was going to be nice enough for the kids to get outside and play in the sprinkler. So the plan was made. Shannon brought her kids by around 9 am and went to a meeting. The nine children and I sat outside and literally waited for the temperature to rise enough to turn the water on. They took turns each asking what degrees it was starting around 9:01 and continuing every minute on the minute for the next two hours. Finally, I brought them all in for a quick lunch. I made three boxes of macaroni and cheese, kielbasa sausages, and spinach quiche. Guess which part was for me? Shannon arrived during lunch and helped us all finish up. The kids then cleaned up the kitchen (about seven of them pitched in)and headed out to play in the water. What a beautiful day! What joy! What mud! What little pieces of grass stuck all over their little feet and legs! What fun! Shannon has since gone home for the day and I have two down for a nap. Better take this time to rest, myself. M-

Hi. I have finally decided to listen to my Grandmother and write down all the funny things that happen in my life. As lives go, mine can be a real hoot. I have five children under the age of 10 and none of them are twins. You do the math. Yes, they were all on purpose. I get asked the craziest questions when I go places. Things like, "Are they all yours?" Well, yes. Most people are not gluttons for punishment enough to take five small children into a restaurant or anywhere for that matter if they are not all theirs. I have been asked if I run a daycare. The answer to that is also yes. Only, all the children are...Mine! It seems to spill into night care and weekend care and on and on. Anyway, I digress. My kids keep me in stitches with the funny things they say. I am always calling my Grandmother and updating her on the latest thing. If she has said once, she has said a hundred times that I should write it down. Well, Grandma, here it goes. This is for you. My husband is in the US Army and currently deployed to Iraq, which leaves me with five beautiful babies all by my lonesome. If that sounds terribly crazy and scary, it is. We homeschool our kids and keeping the house running, school running, and myself somewhat sane while Rick is deployed is a full-time job. That is why I named this site My Favorite Thing in the World. My favorite thing in the world is ...drum roll, please.... Five Clean Babies. I have been saying this for years (adding to the number as the number grew). Why, you might ask? Because five clean babies are all taken care of. They are bathed, dressed, usually fed and on the way to bed. Nothing is more rewarding as the mother of five than bedtime. Don't misunderstand, I love my babies more than anything. But to function from day to day, I need my down time. Five clean babies is the signal that down time is on the way. I don't want to make this first blog a hundred pages long, so I will stop for now. I will update on the happenings and goings on in the household. I will keep you posted on the beautiful things that my five beautiful babies come up with. And I will keep you posted on life as an Army wife living without hubby. Lots to come.