Author: Kelli

I have a lot on my mind and have not been happy that I have not had time to update this more. I first wanted to say that Father’s Day is one of the hardest days for me ever. I felt very blessed this year because I focused on watching others with their dads and taking joy in the fact that there are so many good dad’s in my life. I was also able to be with others that had lost their dad’s who were all great dad’s and it actually gave me comfort in a way I can’t really describe.

I also wanted to say that today I got positive feedback at work and although I can’t share details, I appreciate that there are still good people in the world that will acknowledge when things go right, instead of just focusing on when things go wrong. I am going to try to remember that myself.

Let’s also talk about the house. I love, love, love my new house. It feels a bit strange still because I think I haven’t made “roots” yet. I still feel like a guest or something. I can’t wait for the holidays to come because I think that will make it more real to me, or maybe just when I finally get the boxed unpacked, maybe that has something to do with it, ha ha.

Lastly, I have to share some highlights from my children this week. Dill Pickle loves his day care, he says it’s “cool” and today they went swimming in the baby pool and he told me it was his “best day ever”. I asked Aaron for a progress report on how I was doing as a mom-he responded-“you are doing great mom”. I got a little burst of  confidence, and then he said-I’m being sarcastic mom. Well at least I taught him something, right? As for Lauren, she has actually started to take an interest in cooking and helping out with her brother. She is starting to become more aware of other foods and trying new things. She still doesn’t like most of what she tries, but at least she is trying it.

Now I’ve caught you up on my random thoughts. Any random thoughts you all want to share?

We are moving tomorrow! I have been singing the Annie song in my head all day. I am super excited to be able to have my own home again and be able to hang pictures and make it our own.

I will not lie, I am a little overwhelmed though, I always worry about having enough time to get everything done. I also think I need to get everything done right away. I am grateful for a friend today that helped me realize that it’s going to be fine if everything doesn’t happen. So I have relaxed a bit and realize that if we just get everything to the house that is good enough. It does not have to be perfect.

Speaking of perfect, tonight Aaron told me no one was perfect. I told him that was right, but we can try to be the best we can. He said, well everyone is going to do something wrong. I told him that was right, and then he said. “Mom, I am perfect when I’m asleep”.

And that is why I can never stay mad at that kid! Happy summer everyone, if anyone needs me I will be wading through boxes and settling in so I can actually invite people over to my house!

My youngest, Dylan has been making a lot of new friends lately. I have never had a kid that is so social and friendly and each new person he meets is, “My best friend”. It started with my daughter’s best friend, which he stole and called her his best friend, and it graduated to people he would just meet at the park. We went to the park on Saturday to let the kids run around after a long day of running around and searching for deals on things for the house.

Dylan immediately started playing with another boy, he followed the boy around and called him his best friend. When the other boy had to leave he stopped and said, “Bye Dylan, I have to go to Target now, it was nice playing with you”. Dylan looked very confused, but just said bye and when back to playing in the sand.

That seems like no big deal to most, but it actually taught me something. I realized that my son did not care how long he got to play with this little boy, or if he would ever see him again, he just enjoyed the time he had with him. It reminded me that I need to let people in more. I can’t worry about when someone might leave for whatever reason. I need to enjoy the time we have, whether 10 minutes, or 10 years.

I will relate this to Memorial day by saying, we need to remember those we have lost, and be grateful for the time we had with them no matter how long or short. We have the freedom to make those connections thanks to those that have served and defended our rights in the past. I thank you to those that gave their lives for our country, and those that are currently willing to do so.

If I would go to any employer with a resume that said 10 years experience, I would be considered experienced, knowledgeable, reliable. I have been a mom for 10 years now, and I feel the opposite of  experienced, knowledgeable and reliable in this position. 10 years just means I have survived what is probably the easier years so far.

I have not had a teenager, or a child move to middle school with lockers and class schedules and all. I have not had to teach someone how to drive a car, or talk to them about dating. I have not had to watch them make their own decisions about their future and see them walk out the door as an adult. I have not had a child get married, suffer a great loss, or have a child. All of these things sound a whole lot harder than teaching your child the ABC’s or how to brush their teeth. I got that.

The next ten years do not seem like they are going to be easier. I realize it may be less hands on and therefore I may actually be able to take a shower, wash my hair, brush my teeth, AND, yes AND use mouthwash….all at the same time. However, I do not call that being easier. I think that is going to be harder. I am not going to know exactly what they need from me or how I need to be there for them. I am frankly terrified. I know I will figure it out, I mean if I can figure out potty training, I think I can figure out most anything, right? But for now, I am going to cherish the time I have right now. The time when, the day before Mother’s day at bedtime, my little sweet 3 year old says, “Mama, you stay with me, I hold your hand.” And that’s all he needs.

Kids are hilarious. Dylan has been clinging to me lately. I have not had a kid that is so attached to me. I have always worked with kids in some capacity, so each has had to learn to trust in someone else besides me to take care of their needs. But this little guy, he wants me for

Everything! He will not let anyone else do anything for him. I have not been feeling well the last few days, and this morning when we were taking his brother to the bus, he said, “You still sick mama? I want to go park with you,” How can you resist. I starting making work call right away and taking care of issues that had immediate needs so I could pencil in a long lunch. We didn’t have as long as I had planned, but we took an hour and we went to the park. We walked trails, we played on the swings, and on all the animals. We had a great time. I remembered that it is ok to be spontaneous sometimes. It is ok to just take a break. It is ok to not answer the phone sometimes-personal or work (I have to remind myself of this because I almost answered my work phone at 9pm last night).

I only got out my phone to take some pictures of us. We sang our ABC’s, we throw sticks in the stream, and we learned how to climb the jungle gym-like a big boy. We also learned that we both really like malts!

It was only an hour, but in that hour I was able to realize 2 things. 1.  Kids grow up so fast, and I need to find this time to just be in the moment with them more often, 2. For us busy parents out there, whether stay at home, working, homeschool, regular school, whatever the case-just take a break. It goes by way to fast, and an hour lunch break once in a while will be worth it-I promise.

Especially when they say as you are leaving, ” I love you mama, I give you hugs, you my best mama”.

In 28 days I will have a house again, a HOUSE! Before you all go being super jealous, just know that we will be eating peanut butter and ramen for the next…well just forever. I am excited though to start getting things for the house and planning, because of course I love to plan. However, I am really having a hard time trying to figure out what is the best technique to employ with the kids to help them understand that things have a place, and to just learn that lesson of respect and responsibility.  I mean look at them:

They are a little on the crazy side. I am going to have to pull out every parenting trick I have every learned to deal with these guys. And I am pretty sure I will not be able to afford chocolate! Anyway, I have thought of a few charts or incentives to try to help, but if any awesome parents out there have ideas or tips for worked for you when moving to a new place, I’m all ears!

Ok, so a lot has happened it just a short week and a half. I feel like I have gone non stop at 100 miles an hour. I have to admit, at times I think to myself, Self, you really could handle another child. Then a week like this week happens and I realize, if I had another kid I would have even MORE to do.

In the past two weeks I can count on one hand the number of evenings we had free. We have had activities every single day of the week, and although I’m so glad the kids have activities that they like and that give them incentives to keep their things picked up and their homework done, I long for a quiet evening at home. We have to divide and conquer all the time. We have that down to a science and know what combination of kids and adults works the best. I kind of miss the days when we could all go to the same event at the same time.

So I’m sure there are awesome parents out there that can juggle it all and fit it all in, but I am not one of them. I am grateful for technology that allows me to video a child’s speech so a parent that is at soccer can still see it. And for pictures to capture new adventures that the other parent misses. What do you do with 3? I am still freaking out about how to put Dylan’s future activities in the mix as I am already having chest tightening over my current schedule! Deep breath, deep breath…….

Here’s some pics of what has gone on these past couple weeks:

I am pretty sure that some people will not like this post, but that’s ok, I’m also pretty sure that maybe only 5 people read it anyway, haha. Ok, so it’s probably true, but don’t burst my bubble. Ok, here it goes. I have heard a lot about people being judged lately. I have also realized that since I have been a mom for 10 years now, I think I can safely say, being judged as a parent frankly stinks. We try our best and sometimes we listen to others instead of ourselves or our children and try to do what outsiders feel is best.

So what if your kids wants to go to the store in a pink tutu or a Buzz Lighyear PJ set? If it lets you get the groceries in order to feed them a healthy meal, so what? So what if they are screaming because you would not give in to their demand of candy at the checkout, don’t leave and come back, let those people starring and judging come back if it bothers them so much. Trust your own judgement and make sure you are doing what you feel is best. It can be easier said then done, but I feel that if we could all just stop judging and just help each other that would go a whole lot farther.

I recently had an experience where I was having a difficult time with my child-in public, and a woman came up and told me how cute my child was, smiled, and said she thinks I deserve a nap. No judgement, at least not too my face, and it helped me to calm down myself and finish the task at hand, which was to get my kids safely out the door to the car. I wish everyone could follow this example and think first to help, instead of to judge.

Ok, rant over, I promise to keep these to a minimum…. my 5 readers out there!

My baby is 3 today. When I was pregnant for the 3rd time I was not scared or nervous. I had done this before. I knew the drill. I knew that he may be like his sister and sleep through the night at 8 weeks, or he could be like his brother and always eat and never sleep, and cry most of the time. I knew that I would not sleep either way, and I already didn’t, so it didn’t matter. I loved being a mom, and I already loved him.

What I didn’t know was that he would actually look like me for once and people would believe he was mine. I didn’t know just how kind and gentle he would actually be. I did not know how completely in love I would be all over again. I didn’t know it would seem like he had always been a part of our family.

Happy Birthday my Dill Pickle, happy birthday to you!

We traveled to Chicago this past weekend. I love being able to take short trips with the kids because they are good travelers but also because the short trips do not take as long or cost as much and we still can see new places and things. We started out by going to the Willis Tower-or if you are older than 10 you may still call it the Sears Tower-sorry kids. The kids and Ellis loved it, but I can’t really tell you much about it because I’m a big chicken and would not even go up.

We traveled to Legoland on Saturday. Our original plan was Legoland, but we had thought about the aquarium, but after seeing that Legoland would only be $30 versus the $150 the aquarium would be, we stuck with our original plan. It was wonderful. All of our kids enjoyed it, and with the gender and age difference of my children this is no easy feat. We saw lego sculptures of the city. We rode a laser ride, saw a couple 3d movies, learned how they make legos, built a car and raced them. They say it takes about 2 hours, we spend about 5. We skipped lunch and the kids didn’t even say they were hungry once.

It had been pretty cold on Friday and Saturday, so we were doubtful we would be able to go to the zoo, so we thought we would end up heading home early Sunday, but alas, Sunday morning it was warmer and we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was totally free and it had a great setting right by Lake Michigan. We spent about 6 hours there and could have spent more-but they were closing for the day.

We stopped at XXX restaurant on the way and were finally able to check off: Ate at restaurant from Diners, Drive In’s and Dives. We had good food, including deep dish pizza and creme brulee. Aaron had brought a dollar with him, he used it to get his sister cheese sun chips from the vending machine. That girl better realize that was the ultimate gesture for him. I also caught Aaron and Dylan holding hands. This is why we go on vacation. You have time to see the little things, the things that melt our heart, and you have time to remember them. Here are some of my favorite parts of the trip.