Long time, no blog...

Oh my gosh!  I really haven't forgot about this thing at all.  Life has been soooooo crazy!  In six weeks I have dealt with 6 ear infections from 3 different kids, a set of tubes for one, 3 with the nasty stomach flu (including hubby,) and 3 cases of Strep Throat.  I need to buy stock in Lysol, Motrin, and Augmentin!  It seems no matter how hard I try to keep my home germ-free it just doesn't work.  The secretary at the middle school asked me how I have managed to stay well through all of this.  I told her that God is keeping a close eye on me.  He knows that I can't get sick because then who would tend to all the sick kids?

On top of all of that my school work has been consuming so much of my time as well.  And I am a procrastinator.  Two nights ago I wrote two papers from start to finish including research.  I stayed up til 2a.m. but I got them done!  Finals are next week and then a whole month off. Woot!  Woot!

Then to make things more interesting, my mother moved up here the week of Thanksgiving from Florida.  And she is living right up the street from us.  So far it's been great.  I've been Driving Miss Daisy.  Awesome!  But seriously it's been nice having her around.  I have never lived any part of my adult life with either one of my parents in even driving distance, let alone practically next door.  I'm not sure what exactly I am supposed to do.  Do I call her or go over there every day?  Or not?  I guess we'll figure it out eventually.  Trent's been a big help getting her settled in to her new place.  It looks very nice over there.

Also, my baby boy started walking Thanksgiving Day.  Boy, are we in for it now!  He's still only taking steps here and there but I think by Christmas he'll have it down.  He looks like a little bobble head walking around the house.  It's so cute!

So, long story short, things have been super busy in the Shriner home.  I'm ready for a break.  I'm really going to try to keep up better with my blog.  Hopefully things will settle down soon.  Looking forward to a weekend of nothing.  I need it!

What Have I Become????

Today is a no school day for me.  Since my house is in pretty decent shape, and the laundry is rolling (and never-ending anyway) I put Bryson down for a nap and decided to take a shower.  Usually I will use that time to do other much-needed things around the house and shower when Trent or the kids get home to keep an eye on Bryson.  But today was different.  I took a shower, put on some jeans and an old T-Shirt, and actually put on a little bit of make up since I still had time.  There.  Good enough.  I feel better. 

When the girls got home from school, Kristen says to me, "What did you have to do today?  You didn't have school!"  I agreed that I didn't have school and only picked up the house, took care of and played with Bryson, and did some laundry today.  She then said, "Well, I was just wondering because you got dressed.  You never do that unless you have school or something important to do!  Usually we come home and you're still in your pajamas with crazy hair!"  (And, might I add, day-before makeup.)  EPIPHANY!!!!!!!  She's right!!!!!  OMG!!  I have turned into the FRUMPY HOUSEWIFE!!

Now, since I can remember my mother always taught me that you don't leave the house without looking nice no matter what because you never know who you may run into or what may happen while you're out.  And my mother lived by that.  I don't ever remember a day when my mother ever just looked a mess.  And still today, at 62, my mother is always dressed to impress, hair and make up done perfectly, and decked out with lots of bling.  In fact the first time Trent met her he said, "NOW I see where you get it from!"  Well, of course that was when Trent and I were just dating.  Oh, how things have changed.  My husband married his Trophy Wife:

And ended up with a Frumpy Housewife!

Way to reel him in, Priscilla!!  Good Work!

So I have to think to myself, "HOW DID I LET THIS HAPPEN?"  I always thought that I would be the pretty, hip, stylish Mama who's kids and husband were proud to show her off.  I used to be that Mama.  But since getting pregnant with Bryson and staying home I am no longer that Mama.  When I take a shower Trent will jokingly say, "What's the occasion, babe?"  And he calls my baby snot-stained, stretched out pajamas my "uniform."   I knew I had let myself go a little bit, but I guess I just didn't realize how much until a child brought it to my attention.  It was a big wake up call.  Kids are brutally honest.

Of course that raised many questions in my head.  Why have I done this to myself?  How did I let myself get this bad?  When did I decide not to care about myself anymore?  I realize that I have a big job of raising six kids and a husband.  And my mentality is that I need to take care of all of them, and make sure that all of their needs are met.  My needs have just been moved to the back burner.  Not purposely, it just sort of happened.  I'll go a month or two without even shaving my legs just so that I can cut down my time in the shower!  I've got other things to do.  I can wear pants.  But why do I feel this way?  I'm important!  I shouldn't walk around looking like Harry and the Henderson's wife just so everyone else can be taken care of.  That's not fair to me or to my family. 

Four years ago I was skinny, I worked out, I tanned, my hair was awesome, and I always had my nails done and a pedicue.  It was like second nature.  I didn't even think about it.  It was just part of my routine.  I took care of myself.  But NOW...I need to lose 30 lbs, my work out consists of going up and down the stairs to do laundry, I have pasty white skin, frizzy hair if I don't fix it, man hands, and heels you could sand an entire dresser with if you wanted to refinish it.  Yep, that's me.  WOW!  It really sounds even worse than I thought now that I see it in type.

My poor husband used to come home to his sexy wife and now he comes home to a frazzled, dirty, rusty, fat Mama.  That must suck for him.  In fact, I know it does.  He makes jokes all the time.  I know he's only teasing me but the reality is there's some truth in there.

Well, this has to stop.  No, I don't need or want to be a Jersey Housewife.  But I DO want to make myself one of my priorities.  I need to make myself a monthly bill on my long list in my binder.  I need to feel good about myself and not just be an embarrassment to my family.  I'm not me anymore.  Priscilla would have never let herself get to this point.  By taking care of myself I will be a better mother and wife.  And we all know "If Mama Aint Happy, Aint Nobody Happy!"

So I also challenge all of you moms who read this:  Take care of yourself.  Make YOU a priority before you get to the point that I have reached.  Who I have become is actually a little depressing.  We, as mothers, deserve to feel good about ourselves.

My mission is to get out of my slump.  To start working out, and get myself ready everyday.  To fix my hair, dress to impress (in a comfy-house cleaning way,) maybe even get my nails done! To make ME a priority.  Hopefully it'll work out!

How I'm Feeling Today...

I am starting to feel a little guilty for going back to school.  Today I had to leave Bryson with his sitter while he was still not feeling well at all.  My sitter is great, so it's not that I worried about her, but I just felt so bad leaving my sick baby boy with someone other than Mom.  And I also did feel bad for the sitter having to deal with my fussy boy.  I could hardly think straight the whole time I was at school.  I just kept thinking how I would so much rather be rocking my sick baby.  And that he NEEDS me!  And did I make the right decision?  I have never left any of my kids with anyone.  I ran two daycares and my boys went to work with me then, but I have never taken them to daycare or a sitter on their own.  Am I robbing Bryson of his time with Mom?  Am I being unfair?  Should I have waited until he started school before I went back?  I think I'm going a little crazy!

Now I do know that Bryson will be just fine.  (The logical side of me) Millions and millions of kids go to babysitters and daycares every day and they are fine.  It's just such an adjustment.  Mostly for me.  I keep telling myself that going back to school is the best possible decision I could have made right now.  It will be wonderful for my family when I finish school and begin working.  And school has been a nice little "break" for me also.  I never leave my house.  I am with my children pretty much 24/7.  They NEVER leave me alone!  LOL  Even when I am trying to do homework and Trent says he'll "watch" them, they still don't leave me alone.  He "watches" them bugging me every 5 seconds!  I literally have to sneak out of the house if I just want to go to the grocery store by myself.  When I return the kids attack me like Vultures hovering over a dead cat in the road the second they hear the garage door open!  I have to dodge kids just to get into my garage!  This is not an exaggeration, either.  The other day I was going pee with the door open.  Ethan said "Why did you leave the door open?"  I said, "Really?  Does it matter?  If I closed it you would just walk in and talk to me anyway,  And if I locked it you would just stand there and yell through the door to tell me whatever you want to say!"  I get no privacy in this house.  So, I guess school has been good for that, at least.

Isn't it funny how our kids can drive us so insane and we practically have to BEG for a break?  But when we DON'T have them we feel like a piece of us is missing?  Like we just can't function?  People ask me all the time how in the world I can deal with all of the noise in my house.  I'm so used to it.  When it's quiet that's when I don't function very well.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I LOVE getting a break here and there.  In fact many days I fantasize about being somewhere, anywhere, by myself!  I enjoy the days that my kids are in school all day and I make good use of them.  But sometimes I just miss them.

Anyway, I guess I really don't have much of a point here.  Just needed to vent about how I was feeling.  I know I made the right decision by choosing to get an education.  And I know my kids are ALL going to be fine.  I guess it's all just still so new to me.  I need to get used to the whole thing.  I will.  And the whole time my kids are still going to drive me crazy and I'm still going to miss them when I am or they are not at home.  I need to get over my guilt.

I know I've just kind of jumped around here.  It's just what's going through my mind today.  That, and I have a math test on Tuesday that I'm probably going to fail.  Ugh....

When It Rains, It Pours!

So much for my "Perfect Attendance" award!  Today I had to miss my first day of school.  I'm so bummed.  Not to mention that I had two tests today that now I will have to make up.  I swear, I can't get a break!  It's always something, or SOMEONE!  Bryson has been sick off and on for over a month!  I'm beginning to wonder if he inherited the wonderful genes of mine that created ALLERGIES!  I thought that maybe, just MAYBE, I could get one kid who didn't have them.  But I'm convinced he does.  I don't know how soooooooo much snot can come out of such a little body!  Trent and I are having to change our shiny, snot stained shirts several times a day lately.  The poor kid freaks out the second he sees that blue snot sucker now!  And let's talk about strength!  It takes both of us to hold him down to even be able to use the dang thing!

Then this morning Ethan wakes up and almost immediately starts having a pretty scary asthma attack.  I swear, I jinxed myself.  I was just telling a friend how his asthma hasn't been acting up for quite a while.  Thought I was getting lucky.  NOT!!!  (Do people still say that?)  And to make it worse, of course, it made him panick.  So trying to get his rescue inhaler in him was quite the chore.  After all was said and done, we got him taken care of.  Keeping him with me today to monitor him.  I'm a freak.  I don't trust anyone else.  Especially when it comes to my kid's airways closing up!

So, I'm missing school. :-(

And The Mother of the Year Award goes to...

Well I'm sure we've all done some stupid things, as parents, that either have embarrassed us or just made us feel like total idiots.  Like the time when Ethan was about a week old and while picking Mason up from a friend's house I completely forgot that I had my newborn in the back seat and just left him there while I went into his friend's house for a good 15 minutes!  I didn't even realize that I had forgot all about him until I walked back out to my van to leave.  I guess I just thought I was still pregnant or something.  Or the time when I took little Mason through a McDonald's drive thru and there was a rather large guy at the window and Mason screams out to him "Why are you so fat?!"  Um, yes, I felt like the worst mother in the world who has never taught my kids about being polite.  How embarrassing!  Well, yesterday I believe that I officially earned the "Mother of the Year" award.  I CANNOT believe this happened!

I had Bunco last night and because it was in my neighborhood this month I had decided to walk there.  Trent took the big kids out to the land so I was just going to take Bryson with me.  So I got ready, got Bryson ready and went down to the garage and loaded him up in his stroller.  As I was walking off I realized that I didn't have the garage door opener so I was going to have to run back in the garage, push the button, and strategically step over the sensor while running out.  I'm sure you know the drill.  So, I parked Bryson in his stroller just outside of the garage door, put the brake on, and walked in to shut the garage door.  After pushing the button I turn around to see my baby in his stroller rolling, no, FLYING, into the street!!  OMG!!  Of course at that point strategically stepping over the sensor was out of the question as I hauled it, in flip flops, after my baby!  I seriously saw both of our lives flash before my eyes!  When I got to him, that baby was cracking up!  He thought he had just been on the ride of his life!  Of course, I thanked God like 9 million times for there not being any cars coming down the street.  And, of course there were several neighbors outside who witnessed the incident.  (I'm sure they're all telling my story to others today!)  However, can we all say EMBARRASING???  and STUPID???  Not to mention, scary as hell!!! 

So, the next time you have one of those "Stupid Mom" moments, just think of me.  I have had several.  Some want to blame it on the blonde hair.  I, on the other hand, just contribute it to being a mom.  Also don't ever trust the brake on a stroller!!  Double check that it has actually LATCHED before leaving your baby on a downhill driveway.  Don't earn that "Mother of the Year" award on accident!!

Introductions

Well I figured I would introduce each of our children to you.  Firstly, let me explain our situation.  We are a blended family.  Trent had three kids, Kaylee, Kristen, and May May from his first marriage.  I had two, Mason and Ethan, from my first marriage.  We got married, and by complete surprise had an "ours," Bryson.  I guess the Good Lord just didn't think our family was complete without him and now we know he was right!  I'm going to go from oldest to youngest. 

 First, we have Kaylee...

Kaylee is your typical, hormonal TWEEN.  She'll be 13 in October.  She's a very smart, laid back girl, with teenage moodiness from time to time.  She's the oldest, so she often tries to "mother" the other kids and we often have to remind her that it is our job and not hers.  She does not like to play sports, as she is more interested in things like reading and drawing.  I have to say, like her daddy, she's a pretty good little artist.  She takes school seriously and does pretty well.

Next, there's Kristen...

Kristen is an 11 year old fiery red head!  Total SWEETHEART!  She has to be reminded to slow down quite a bit, both in her actions and her talking, but we tease her about that.  She is very active and loves to play softball and soccer.  School work is definitely not first on her list, but we're working on that.  She loves the socialization there, though.  Kristen is my little helper around the house.  She loves to clean, organize, and do laundry.  I know, crazy, right?  She's also a little fashion diva, always wanting the latest and greatest clothes.  I really get to have fun with that!

After her comes "Big" Mason, a name he's adopted since we have two Masons...

Mason is 9.  His hobbies include Bushidokahn, video games, video games, and video games.  And did I mention he loves video games?  We often make jokes that we would have to ground him FROM his room instead of TO his room because he spends about 80% of his time in there.  We have to force the boy to go play outside! He's been a straight A student since he started school, and would be devastated to get a B.  He watches The History Channel!!  This kid can give you the date, time, and place of any American historical event, and probably most foreign events as well.  He also thinks he's a comedian.  He's a big jokester!

Next on the list is "Little" Mason, or May May...

May May is 6.  GOOFY, SILLY, and HILARIOUS!  This kid can come up with the most off the wall stuff to say sometimes!  And usually it's completely out of context.  He has recently joined Big Mason on the video game wagon.  He plays soccer but complains about every second of it.  He's pretty good, too!  Lately he's turned in to a little sassy mouth, so we're trying to nip that ASAP.  But overall he's a pretty easy going kid who doesn't give us any real problems.

Then we have Ethan....

Oh, Ethan!!  This is our challenge of the house.  He's 6 going on 26.  He's got the mind of a lawyer, or a used car salesman.  He'll argue his way through anything and always has to have the last word.  People tell us all the time, "Oh, he's so cute!" or "Oh, he's so smart!"  Yes. Smart.  Evil genius to be exact.  This kid is going to be the one building bombs in the basement closet at 10 years old.  And they'll work!  On the other hand, he is a total Mama's boy and quite the little athlete.  He's a busy body.  He wears me out.

We call the two little ones, Ethan and May May, The Twirps.  We've also compared them to Pinky and the Brain, and Phineas and Ferb.  They are quite the duo!

Last, but certainly not least, there's Bryson...

Bryson is 7 1/2 months old.  And man oh man, is he ever loved in this house!  I can honestly say he's the best baby I've had.  He's so laid back and happy.  He eats well and sleeps well.  He's recently learned to crawl and has found his way in to everything.  He's a big boy at almost 24lbs.  He was 9lbs 10oz at birth.  He was a big surprise, but a pleasant one for sure.  He's become such a daddy's boy lately.  I've never had one of those so its taking me some time to get used to that.  I guess it's a good thing.  He just adores all of his brothers and sisters, too.  It's awesome!

So, if you made it this far, there it is.  Our family.  The Brady Bunch.  Yours, Mine, and Ours.  It's a little crazy here at times, but this is our life.  We're proud to be living it!

So let me explain...

I knew I had to pick a name for this thing and that was not easy.  I came up with all kinds of things from The 8 Pack Diaries to My Crazy Life.  Nothing seemed right.  I am a huge fan of The Real Housewives of New Jersey.  I'm always making jokes to all my neighbors and friends about us being The Real Housewives of Tonganoxie.  Let's get REAL here!  Do us REAL housewives live in 5 million dollar homes and spend $2,000 at a time when we buy clothes for our kids?  I think not.  We shop clearance racks, live paycheck to paycheck, and tell our kids that they aren't getting a new video game until Christmas or their birthday.  We don't shower and get dressed all fancy first thing in the morning.  We don't wear Gucci shoes and Versaci purses.  Hell, I drove my kids to school this morning in yesterday's makeup, crazy hair, no bra, and barefoot!  That's how I roll! 

So WE, who clean our own houses, do our own laundry, clip coupons, bargain shop, write checks on Thursdays, and actually yell at our children are the REAL housewives!  Sometimes we feel like crazy, mad women, and sometimes we need Prozac.  But THAT is our reality!

Here I go...

OK.  I did it.  I said I was gonna do it, and I did it!  I started a blog!  Really not sure exactly what I'm doing here, but I assume I'll learn as I go.  So hang in here with me as I change things up while I'm getting used to the whole thing.  Any pointers would be awesome!

I basically decided to start this thing after watching the movie Julie and Julia.  I didn't exactly like the movie, but I did like the idea that Julie had with the whole blog thing.  For those of you who haven't seen the movie it's about a girl (Julie) who decided to cook every recipe in Julia Child's cook book in one year and write a blog about it.

I am constantly thinking about how nuts my life is.  Then, this semester, I decided to take on college full time...even crazier!  After watching that movie, I thought..."You know, (to self,) you should start a blog about being a mom of six and trying to balance your demanding family and college at the same time!"  So.....here I am! 

HELLO BLOGOSPHERE!!!!

~Me and Hubby~