mom and more

I couldn’t let too much time go by without writing a Mother’s Day post, is it cliché?  Maybe but, I don’t care!  I am proud of being a mom and I will shout it for the world to hear. I can’t remember what it was like before we had kids, not that I would want to but, in all my most cherished moments, our kids were there.  If you read my intro page or you know our family, I am a mom of six children.  Six amazing human beings with their own personalities, ways of doing things, likes and dislikes.

As a mom, It’s easy to get caught up in a routine or schedule. We find ourselves spending minutes or hours of our time planning for the ‘next thing’.  Here’s how it goes….Plan, execute plan, take pictures, post to social media.  I like the idea of planning.  Planning is not entirely terrible except when it consumes us.  Carefully planned outings turn into chores and essentially something else added to the list of things to do.  We have become obsessed with capturing staged moments that, I feel as though we are missing out on the point.

 I am or was a ‘planner-aholic’.  Before quarantine I had all the things, I needed to do on my planner. Every. Single. Day.  The majority of the activities started after the kid’s school day ended but, I spent a lot of time just trying to figure out who I was going to drop off when and which route made it easier to take. Beginning on March 1^st, my calendar was CRAZY looking; I had one in golf, 2 in gymnastics, 2 in baseball, 5 in karate and a deployed hubby. Making sure I got everyone where they needed to go would have meant that, I would have missed every golf practice and at least one of the boy’s baseball practices a week.  On Thursday’s, I could drop off the kids at karate, keep the baby in the car to nap while I picked up the oldest from golf and rush back just in time to catch the kids putting their shoes back on at karate.  This to me was a great plan because the kids would at least get to where they needed to go and get picked up on time.  What I never thought about was how much I would miss.  I would miss the long drive with her favorite club our golfer would hit and those cute babies trying their hardest to do a roundhouse kick at a paddle.  Not only was I missing the moments but, I had forgotten what those activities were like for me when I was a kid.  I remember how it felt to see my mom at the finish line with her big camcorder on her shoulder when I was coming around that turn for my 4×200 race and flying past my dad at the third base line waving me home.  How could I not be there for my kids?  How could I have thought that my plan was a good plan? 

In the middle of March I took white out and crossed off everything on my planner.  We had nowhere to be.  I was instantly anxious, what was I going to do?  What were the kids going to do?  Great news is in an instant I felt a sense of ease.  Our God works in mysterious ways and I knew it was going to be ok. I can come up with a bunch of reasons why I am now ok with being quarantined with my family but, my favorite part has been hanging out with them each day.  I get to see them create things, play pretend and ride their bikes sunup to sundown, all the while not ‘having’ to be anywhere but with them.  

 I am blessed to be able to witness them growing.  We try very hard to make sure that they know how much we love them.  We ensure they know that they are special in their own way.  I also feel it is pretty important that they learn that their talents and voice should be used for good and to hopefully make this world a better place.  We Thank the Lord for our wonderful life often, probably not often enough but, with each morning they wake, precious smile and every tear, We are thankful for them.       

 Mother’s Day started with me opening my eyes and one of them staring at me inches from my face, instructing me not to move.  I was instantly excited, (like I still get on Christmas morning).  My oldest girls were cooking bacon and made coffee, I could smell it!!  I had a few of the littles join me back in bed while I was waiting.  I don’t care what anyone says, snuggles can fix all the problems of the world.

The kids all worked together to make a booklet for me!  A special thanks to my sister for reaching out to the girls to have them print out the pages. 

The kids played our wedding song; “Faithfully” by Journey and I was serenated to the table.  They had made sourdough biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage and Nutella cups with strawberries.  They had even picked me flowers.  That was my favorite Mother’s Day breakfast to date. 

We had a wonderful church sermon via face book live and our son; Robbie helped me with the Children’s message. The rest of the day was filled with outside chores and everyone snuggling on the couch watching movies.

With 6 kids, it is hard to give each one individual attention.  I am sure that even a mom of one finds it hard to split their time between personal, professional and family life.  With 6 I can honestly say, the personal time is limited to almost none.  I am totally ok with it though we are living our best life.  My struggle is making sure each one is heard and that they know they are an individual.  I decided on Mother’s Day that, I would spend time with each one by themselves for ‘Mommy and Me’ time.  It was the best week and I enjoyed every single day of it.  Here’s a little journal of our week!

Monday-5/11/2020. Robbie and Mommy day.  He asked if we could go look for sharks’ teeth. He chatted the entire time in the car about fishing and things he wants to do with daddy when he gets home.  He made comments about being strong and how he loves his little brother.  He bet he could find more sharks teeth than me.  He was right and often found them in an area I was walking over (making sure to let me know how many I missed). Robert Franklin (Robbie) is 7 and right now would like to be a Marine and then a dentist.  He is caring and is a very good big brother.  I can count on him to make me smile and help me with chores that involve heavy lifting. 

Tuesday-5/12/2020.  Carson and Mommy day.  He also asked if we could look for sharks’ teeth.  We headed to the same place as the day before.  Carson also is quite the talker like his brother.  I asked him what he would like to be when he grows up and his response was “a robot”.  I rephrased the question and asked “What job?” and he said, “Car salesman”.  I knew this already because for school he asked to be a car salesman for career day. He went into detail about how much people would pay him for the cars and how many he would have on his lot.  He also explained that some of his cars would have fire coming from them when they were going super-fast.  We got to the shark’s teeth place and he ran around enjoying his freedom away from his siblings.  He found more shark’s teeth than me, shocker…..  Carson Wallace is 5 and has an infectious laugh.  He is genuine and cares about his whole family.  He is my most strong-willed child and I am sure could be President one day.

Wednesday-5/13/2020. Dixie and Mommy day.  Dixie donned her queen Elsa dress and requested to find sharks teeth and treasure.  I was exhausted of the 22 minute drive one way to the place I had been two days prior that we opted to check out some others.  Dixie was somewhat quiet during our drive and spent the ride rolling the window up and down.  When she did speak, it was when we saw or heard a plane and she would yell, “That’s my daddy”.  (She thinks that every plane we see is her dad coming home), it brings me to tears.  We went to three different places and found; shells, rocks, money and flowers.  Dixie Elizabeth is 3 and is growing into her voice.  She loves to be snuggled and would rather play with all of her siblings than by herself.  She would like to be Elsa and marry her daddy.  She is smart beyond her age and is the cutest 3-year-old I have ever seen.

Thursday-5/14/2020.  Natalie and Mommy day.  Natalie is my workout buddy.  I trained for the Marine Corps marathon last year and Nat was there with me, riding her bike for most of my runs.  She loves being outside so, she requested we walk around the close little fishing town and coffee shop.  Natalie is a people watcher so, during the car ride she was silent.  We chatted and laughed our entire 2.5 mile walk.  I donned my mask and got us coffee and bagels and we sat by the water and talked about her daddy coming home.  Natalie Rayne is 10 and has wanted to be a teacher since she could talk.  She helps me anytime I ask, no matter the task.  She adores her siblings and is filled with such a love for life, its incredible. 

Friday-5/15/2020.  Ocean and Mommy day.  Ocean wanted to do some walking and asked if we could see something different.  We don’t venture into downtown very often so I figured we could certainly check out the water, walk down town and go to a local coffee shop during our walk.  Ocean sang along to the radio station during the ride.  We talked about life and teenage things during our 3.5 mile walk.  She took pictures of the birds and any animal she could get a good shot of.  Ocean Rose is 12 and is introducing us to the ‘teenage life’.  She loves all animals and is the smartest kid I know.  She reminds me of her dad when it comes to her knowledge base in that, she knows a little bit about everything.  Right now she wants to follow in her daddy’s footsteps and become a Marine.  She also would like to be an exotic vet.

Tyler Joseph is the youngest and isn’t quite two.  I didn’t have a separate day with him because he is just happy being able to be naked, running around the yard with his siblings.  He is bubbly and happy most of the time.  He is a decent sleeper and loves to be snuggled.  I enjoy watching him running around with everyone else just happy to be alive.

That week was one of my favorite weeks of my life.  I got to talk and laugh with each kid by themselves.  I got to hug and hold them as individuals.  I enjoyed every second of our semi planned week.  If there is one thing that I know now, when life goes back to normal, I will plan to never go back to what I did before.  I will plan to spend as much time with my family as I can.  I will plan to be the best Mom, Wife and Friend that I can be.  I will plan to love each moment. Those are all plans that I can get used to.

Love,

Ce