And then the world seemed to end...

When the call came in the middle of the night...

Your daddy passed away...

It is never something you are prepared for.  It is not something that I was expecting to hear so very soon.

Life shattering.

Having to break the hearts of your children.

Overwhelming sadness.  Unbearable grief.

But then the reminder comes.

In the midst of the waves that keep knocking you back.

There is hope. 

There is an easing in the ache.

Because...Jesus.

When I thought I would never look at the month of April the same again.

Jesus.

In every sunset. Every cardinal perched on my butterfly bush. Every single dragonfly.

Light, love, hope. 

Because I know I will see him again.

My daddy, waiting for me with Jesus.

Until then, I will be here.

Watching for those reminders.

Sharing memories of my daddy.

Sharing the love of my Jesus.

Always wanting that hippopotamus for Christmas.

Me

Remodeling should be a dirty word!

The constant projects.  The endless trips to Home Depot. The choices that have to be made. 


UGH!


But it will all look amazing when it is all done. Right? Hopefully.  It will get done. Eventually...


The kids' bathroom is finally making progress.  The floor joists are in and the plywood is next.

Almost half of the living room is painted.

I have rough framing in my office doorway and one more piece of sheetrock to go up. 

Now, if we could get all that done and get everything where it needs to go, we would have really accomplished something.

And then only 7 more rooms to paint.  Having a house full of kids is hard work!

I am so excited about these changes happening.  I feel like I am actually on top of the laundry monster! The termites have realized that I am determined to make them keep their rooms clean.  And finally they are doing things without complaint because they see how serious I am.  They are each old enough to pick up their space. Responsibility makes for good work ethic and I am going to instill this in them no matter what.

 (there, I said it out loud, sort of, and now I can stick to it without caving or anyone potentially not surviving til they go away to college. Namely me!!  Lol!)

This round of remodeling is why he and I will never be able to build a house together.  We don't have time to work on his "he'll do it when he gets to it schedule" and I don't have the patience for him to tell me to pick out what I went and then  proceed to tell me why I can't have what I picked.  If we ever have another house, it will have to be done and perfect when we pick it.  And someone else will have already built it!

So for now, we work on what we have and we survive. 

Just me, him and a bunch of them.

What a wonderful Labor Day!

College kid came home.  Dude was home for the whole weekend.

We grilled out at a picnic table by the lake.

We fished.

We laughed.

We skipped rocks.

It is my favorite way to spend a day.  All the kids.  The Dude.  The Lake.

So peaceful.  Instant relaxation.

If I ever could choose somewhere to live, it would be at the lake.  Sun glinting off the waves. Fish jumping.  Dragonflies flying by.

To live where peace is just outside my door.

One day...

I told y'all that I had nothing witty to say.  I've been gone from here for 3 years.  Life has been at a dead run.  I haven't even had a chance to clear my head.  The reason that I write.  So, you can imagine how crazy I am, right?  Lol!

An update is long overdue.

Him:  Still traveling.  Home 5 or 6 days a month.  I occasionally get to run away on a trip with him.  Those are the best days.

Ernestine:  A 20 yr old college freshman.  She took a year off after she graduated to work and figure out who she was.  It enabled her to be a super confident, completely dedicated college kid who enjoys the course work and who is a double major in Anthropology and Criminology. Hoping to work for the FBI.

Nellie:  High School Senior.  Assistant Editor for the Yearbook.  Graphic Design teacher as part of her internship.  Ballet Instructor.  Resident house cook.  This girl has all the jobs.  Hardworking, still extremely sarcastic and witty, but has become very reserved in public.  You only get a chance to know the real her if you matter.  And still trying to perfect french-braiding.  She's almost got it.

Oliver: Still Daddy's shadow.  Only now he is a man-sized 8th grader.  Boots, camo pants, all things outdoors. Wants to be a botanist when he grows up. Adorable and loving.

Herman: The middle child.  Mr. Dimples.  Intense.  Busy always. This boy can drive the others crazy or be their best friend.  Best laugh ever.

Alfred: My baby boy.  Now in the double digits.  Witty and funny and happy.  Loves more than anything to make people laugh.  Darling Boy!

Gertrude: Still royalty.  Ultra-bossy.  A born leader.  The delight of her biggest brother.  A girl who loves her snuggles, no matter how big she is.

Geraldine: The littlest princess. Forever adored by all.  Her entire life is a musical and she sings everything...all the time.

Me: Well, I am still trying to spin all the plates without enough sleep or enough quiet or time alone.  But I can blog and maybe, just maybe, I can clear my head as I do so.

Nellie is learning to french braid.  She is into all things hair and fashion.  Tonight I asked her to braid my hair.  Now my hair is long.  Like to my waistband in the back, long.  And she is learning.  I don't mind being her Barbie head.  But when I looked in the mirror, I had to giggle.  I look like Winnie on the movie Hocus Pocus.  You know the one.  Played by Bette Midler.  The hair with the 2 humps, one on either side.  So funny.  Needless to say, she was not amused at my delight and giggles over how I looked.

I am sure that I will now become sarcasctic fodder for her Pinterest account.  That girl has over 300 followers!  She is the Queen of all fangirls and she does her thing on there.  Top that with the fact that she is a graphic design whiz kid in training and she even photoshops pics and makes new things to pin.

Which is EXACTLY why I cannot take a picture of me and my "witch" hair.  I do not want to end up as a pin on Pinterest! Or to have to read any of her sarcasm and wit (she got it from her uncle) on the joys of being my child. (Just remember...best mom you got kiddo!)

So for now, you will just have to enjoy coming up with your own mental pic of a harried mom with auburn hair turning white done up like a witch who wants to suck the life out of children!

Oh my life!

Me

UGH...

So, mommy bloggers are a dime a dozen.  They are absolutely EVERYWHERE on the interwebz.  So, why bother, right?  What do I have to say that is so much more insightful, comedic, or emotion-grabbing than any other mommy?

 Well, I can answer the first question... The reason I bother is for my sanity.  Plain, simple and straight-forward.  I blog to help clear my own head and make the day less stressful. 
As for the second question... I do not even have a clue in how to answer that.  I am sure I am not full of wisdom.  Nor witty quips that will make you laugh yourself to tears.  As for clutching at your heart-strings, yeah I got nothing.   (come a long way the other direction since my first sassy post on here, huh?)

The only thing I have to offer are the ramblings of a mommy with an overflowing plate and plenty of stress.  Such is the life of a mom of 7 who homeschools and has a hubby who works out of town 3-4 weeks at a time.

For instance, take today.  The day started with a major meltdown.  Tears, yelling, gnashing of teeth.  And it wasn't one of the children. 

(yes, you read that correctly.  meltdown was all mine.)

Then followed being late to our classes that we take on Thursdays and the fact that I caught the edge of The Beast (my 15 passenger van) on my friend's car bumper as I was maneuvering in the parking lot.  Did not hurt her car.  Put an ugly black mark with a 15 inch long crease in my precious van. 

The day ended with me forgetting to pay the house payment, tons more tears and a large Coke.  

So there you have it.  In a nutshell.  A day in the life.  If you need to slough off some stress or get a giggle, there are probably better bloggers out there.  But I will still be here. 

For my sanity.  And if you like, you can hang out with me awhile. 

Coming to you from the fetal position.

Signed,

Just another mommy blogger

I thought it had been a long time...

Good grief!  It has been forever!!

Life has been full of joy and fun and 7 sick kids and time just flies.  But all are well and here we go.

Homeschooling 7 is quite a challenge, but something that I love very much.  Hard to believe that I will have a senior next year.  KrAzEe!!!

Right now our biggest thing is that it has finally gotten warm.  Recess has been a prominent part of our day after being cooped up for so long and having 2 freak winter storms here in our Sunny South location.

Ernestine has already planned out her senior year.  Nellie is looking forward to high school and the promise of homeschool formal dances.

Oliver is wishing he was grown enough to work with his daddy.  Herman has finally figured out who he is as the middle child of this crazy bunch.  Alfred is working hard at learning, but sometimes his developmental delays frustrate even our best efforts to get stuff to stick.  His love of humor and laughter keep us going!

Gertrude is becoming such a little lady, but she still loves wearing camouflage and keeping up with her big brothers!  Geraldine is growing up way, way too fast.  She is talking in almost full sentences and, well...she is quite a handful!  It takes all of us to keep up with that girl!

My dude is fantastic as usual.  Right now he is out of town and we miss him.  But he won't be gone long and we will be back to normal around here.

How has your year been?

Me