stay at home moms

I have been trying to vocalize exactly what it is that separates us from our working mom counterparts.  I have the utmost respect, love and admiration for mothers who juggle work and family.  My working mom friends already know that. 

I was asking my 10 and 7 year old kids to explain how exhausting and demanding  it would be to have to be at school, doing work, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no set time to decompress and relax.  What if they were woken up at night to do some paperwork or read a chapter of their textbook for 20 minutes and then told to go back to bed.  They would still be required to get up at their regular time and do all their regular work, but now they had to do it tired. 

How would it be for Dad to never come home from work?  And even when he is home, he's on the phone, on the computer and unable to focus on anything else.  He got no sick days, no personal days and no vacations.  He would still get paid the same as though he was only working 40 hours, but his job was so demanding and important that he couldn't stop working.  It required ALL his time, attention, energy and passion.

Kids get to be other things than just kids.  They are students part of the day.  If they are in sports they are athletes for a little while.  If they are in scouts, they get to be scouts.  Then there is time they just get to be kids, with no other parameters. 

Dads get to go to work and be something other than a dad.  They get to be the boss, they get to be the employee.  They also get to still be dads, coaches, teachers, lawn care technicians, handymen, pool boys, and lots of  other things.  They aren't just one thing all the time. 

Working moms get to be something other than a mom.  They are bosses, employees, taxi drivers, you get the picture.   And they get a paycheck for that time they take off their mom hats and put on their job hats. 

That's what being a stay at home mom is.  Its one hat, all day, everyday.  No vacation days, cause even when you aren't at home, your responsibilities are still the same, just the location is different.  No sick days, cause even if you know you need to sleep to get better, who's gonna nurse the baby and get dinner made and do the laundry? 

I've come to realize that I have to define time for me to be something else.  I am a bunco player.  At that time I get to wear another hat.  I get time off each week (thanks to an understanding husband who gives me Thursday night off each week to be...someone else.)  I get to be a girl who goes to the movies, or a girl who gets to run errands without 2 kids to juggle.  I get to be a girl who enjoys grocery shopping because it's alone time.  We go on dates so that I can be just a wife. 

Its good for me to be someone other than just mom.  I love being a mom.  It defines me and sets my priorities for me.  It allows me the opportunity to serve others everyday.  It humbles me, it teaches me, it gives me joy.  It also challenges me, keeps me on my toes, makes me cry and wears me out.  Those are the moments I remember its not all I am.  So I take my mom hat off for just a little while, and get to be Tessie. 

Does this make any sense to anyone other than me?

flower power

This picture doesn't do them justice, but the girls are wearing matching outfits.  Homemade, matching outfits.  Go ahead, grin.  (I know, I do the same every time I think about it.) 

Our DEAR friend down the street is a sewing marvel and she made Ell's first.  Then Savannah saw how darling it was and wanted one too.  So she made Savannah one. 

Little does Kandy know, daisies are my absolute favorite flower.  They just make me smile, much like Kandy herself.  She's kind of the neighborhood grandma, but to me she's a friend, a treasure really. 

Thank you Kandy, I appreciate you taking the time to make my girls wearable smiles. 

ALOT OF CANDLES

          36 to be exact.  Happy birthday Ben, we love you.

teeth pulled

Savannah had to have her two bottom eye teeth pulled and a space retainer put in.  We're hoping this will allow her teeth enough room to straighten out on their own, but if not, I'm seeing braces in her future. 

These baby teeth had some seriously long roots.  Wow.  She did not shed a tear.  I however was a nervous wreck!  I've never had any dental work done.  NONE.  No cavaties, nothing so I have no way of telling her it wasnt gonna hurt.  She was a champ. 

She got the rest of the day off to lay around and be pampered.  Lucky girl.

our weekend

My mom and Micah came down for a quick visit.  It had been a while since they'd made the trip and Micah had never come down, so they did. 

Hunter was immediately attached to Micah and stayed that way until they left.  But he gave Nana lots of lovin too.  I think he liked Micah better because we told him Micah has a motorcycle and a 4 wheeler. 

BFF's

This is Savannah and  her BFF, Ava.  They were in the same Kindergarten class when we moved here.   About 2 weeks before school let out last year, they both got invited to a random girls birthday party from school.  They have been inseperable since. 

lil mama

She's a born nurturer.  She loves to be surrounded by her babies.  She takes turns holding each of them and giving them lots of hugs and snuggles. 

birthday girl

Look at me, I'm 1!!

***Thanks Grandma for the cute onesie!*** 

siblings

I was a different kind of mom when I only had two kids.   They were involved in sports every season, had play dates,  had cute clothes all, while I was a perfect size 8. 

Then we decided to add a couple more.  Sure, maybe our kids aren't in any sports, have to play with the neighbor kids, wear hand me down clothes and I'm so far from a size 8 its almost laughable, but I wouldn't trade my family for anything. 

Austin and Savannah LOVE their little siblings.  They adore them, they help me take care of them, they entertain them, they teach them and they wouldn't trade them for all the name brand clothes and sports teams in the world. 

Hunter and Ellorie nearly jump out of their skin when they see Austin and Savannah get off the bus in the afternoon.  Its truly the highlight of their day.  Having a bigger family is definitely worth all the small, relatively inconsequential sacrifices we have had to make. 

Ellorie turns 1

I took about 73 pics trying to get a good one and these were the best I could get.  I will try this week to do a photo session with Ellorie in some of her birthday outfits, but no promises.   We had cupcakes with the neighbors and celebrated her special day. 

Politics

Its discrimination to not vote for someone based on their skin color alone, isn't it also discrimination to not vote for someone  based solely on their choice of  religion? 

Let's call a spade a spade. 

Fine, don't vote for him.  But don't vote for him SOLELY because of his religion. 

And just for good measure, in the primaries, I didn't vote for him.  But not because of his religion,  but because I preferred one of the other candidates and their political agenda. 

Wii swordfighting

biker chicks

The person I treasure is...by Austin Conkey

with honors

After the second nine weeks awards assembly I told Austin that if he made the Honor Roll again, Dad would come to his Honors Assembly.  About two weeks before the end of the third grading period, Austin had 3 A's and 2 very high B's.  He said he wanted to work really hard to get those 2 B's up to A's so he could surprise Ben with the Principals Honor Roll.  He did the work and today was his moment to shine. 

 Its a crappy quality pic, but it shows just how proud he was walking across the gym when his name was announced. 

 His smile was big, but mine and Ben's were bigger.  We're so proud of your extra hard work and dedication.  I think he saw how much more exciting it is to be awarded on your own merit as opposed to a team.  He's had great success with sports, but this he did all on his own. 

This is the moment he had been waiting for.  Way to go Austin!  I knew you could do it!  I have to admit I was choking back tears as I saw him smiling.  I'm so proud of my first born, my good example, my favorite redheaded boy!  I love you Austin, keep up the good work.