Keep it up and your face will freeze like that!

Mom to many, master of none!

Being a mom brings a lot of challenges, trials, heartache and joy. Being the mom to adult kids and toddlers at the same time brings a whole new realm of reality! Sometimes I feel so inadequate to successfully deal with it all. Helping one son write college papers in the midst of dirty diapers is daunting! Discussing the paths of life with another child and explaining why it isn't polite to fart in someone's face to another is confusing. This much can be said, however. Each day dawns bright and new with endless possibilities.

This morning, after a night of little sleep, I woke with the Monday morning blues. All I could think of was the wish that I could go back to sleep. So, little man and I snuggled in my bed till the inevitable happened and I passed out again only to wake a few moments later with a dusting of dry pudding mix sprinkled in my face. I dragged my sleepy self out of bed and began my morning. The house was already destroyed and I decided it could wait to be cleaned up. After changing the dreaded poopy diaper, dressing two bodies and answering a few text messages, the bed kept calling my name. This time I waited till it was nap time for little man, settled him down with me once again in my bed and waited for him to fall asleep before closing my own eyes. He snuggled in tight with a leg thrown over my stomach and a fistfull of hair clenched in his hand. Finally! I could safely close my own eyes to slumber! An hour later, I wake to trampoline-like actions on my belly as he attempts a summersault to wake me up. I peel myself once again from the comforts of my bed only to find that my backside is stuck to the sheets with melted Sugar Babies that had mysteriously found their way under the sheets. Now, if this was all I had to deal with, I could handle it gracefully. Unfortunately, it's only the beginning to the day! Once the other children come home from school, a whole new set of adventures begin. Homework, chores, reading, dinner, and then the big kids step in with their requests for assistence with the bigger issues of college papers, bounced checking accounts, work challenges, emotional demands, etc. Somewhere in there is the house responsibilities, along with work, church jobs, and the extended family tasks. I'm exhausted just thinking about it all!

So how do I do it all and be successful? I don't really have the answers to that. Some days are better than others and I can hold my head up high knowing I did all I could do. Other days I just say "to heck with it" and laze around, accomplishing nothing more than snuggling my babies, big and small.

I really shouldn't complain. After all, I asked for it when we began the adventure of adoption. I know that I never really considered what it would mean to be closer to 50 than I care to admit while still raising little ones, but there is never a dull moment in my life. Sometimes I long for dull moments, but I know that day will eventually come and then I'll be looking back, wishing for the chaos. Until then, all I can really focus on is how to get the fingernail polish off the piano keys and how to correctly type a term paper on ancestoral history.

Ok, so I'm still here, for the time being! I can't promise timely posts, but I'll do my best to pop in now and then.

I'm finding that my life is running away with me! The weeks scream by and it's the weekend before I know it. This past week is no exception. I landed a nasty cold at the beginning of the week and thought yesterday was Wednesday. Much to my surprise I realized I'd spent the whole week in bed! Not good, not good at all. Now that my nose is starting to work again, I can smell the week's worth of mess waiting for me to clean up. Why is it that after a head cold, the house smells seem stronger and nastier? I swear the mold monster must be hiding somewhere 'cause I can smell him! And I think he's rooming with the garbage monster too. GAG!!!!! Time to get cleaning, I guess.

We had an eventful Halloween. Our little punkin, Maleia, celebrated her 9th birthday on Saturday and since that was designated as trick or treat day, we had a big bash for her on Friday night. Costumes, games, and fun ensued and we even had time to make bracelets! It was great and I think the little miss had just as much fun as I did.


I can't believe my Maleia is actually 9 years old now! It seems like just yesterday that I was bringing home my little Marshallese butterball. She's been such a sweet blessing in our family. Maleia came with a tender heart, a gentle laugh and the best smile in the world! She's mature for her age and has become Janzyn's second mama. He's the first thing she looks for when she comes home from school and he literally jumps into her arms the moment she walks through the door. She's artistic and loves anything creative. She has the sweetest voice and memorizes songs easily and quickly and is always serenading us. When I think of Maleia, the word Joy comes to mind. She is pure joy and I'm the lucky mom who gets to claim her as mine! Happy Birthday, Mina!