How dare I shower?

Last night my husband didn't come home.  He drives truck and lately his hours have been INSANE.  Since he was gone alllllllll (yes when I am alone all day with 6 kids, it does require that many l's) day yesterday, and he just told me he will not be home until tomorrow afternoon, I had to go out and check on the pigs and make sure that the cows got watered.  I got both babies down for their morning naps and headed outside with my two older boys.  It didn't take us long and since they didn't actually go in the barns,  I let them watch a show while I showered.  What the heck was I thinking?  I finished up only to discover both boys upstairs.  They had taken the entire case of paper towels that I had just purchased and unrolled EVERY SINGLE SHEET.

Their little book reading nest.

Not only that but they also took all of their blankets and sheets off of their beds and created a sort of reading area with books under their bunk beds.  They are little.  Their room is almost always a mess.  But come on.  I really thought I was getting ahead today.  My kitchen is clean-something that very rarely happens. I did pig chores!  Which ok, isn't that hard since we only have one barn of pigs at the moment but I still did them. Kids were all preoccupied while I showered and I was feeling pretty darn good. 

The boys are now entrenched in their clean up efforts.  I have instructed them to start rolling the towels back up. 

Sitting amidst his nest and working hard.

 



Wearing sunglasses because it's cool to be bad? Or something like that.....
 

I am fully aware that I am not in fact getting anywhere.  Ever.  But man, it sure would be nice if just once I could pretend.  Never saw this coming for sure.

Locked out

My four year old is going through a phase where he loves to be in charge.  One of the things he loves to do is lock doors.  It has led to quite a few children pounding on the front door trying to get in recently.  We had a discussion about why it wasn't a good idea and it wasn't too big of deal because someone was always on the inside.  Until today that is.

I was busy loading the youngest 4 into the minivan to head to a class my preschoolers take, I buckled in the 1 year old and ran back in to grab the baby. I  reached for the door and it was of course, locked.  There are four doors to get into our house and I ran around to all of them. Every. Single. Stinking.  Door.  LOCKED! I called my husband to see if he had a key in his shop somewhere.  No such luck.

I began really freaking out at this point. I could see the baby through a window and could also tell that the window in our entryway was (Thank you Jesus!) unlocked. Ran to the garage, grabbed a ladder, and pried the screen out of a window.

The way in


 
 
Picked up the amazing lockmaster of a four year old and hoisted him through the window.  Thankfully he is as good at unlocking as locking and was able to let me in. 

Iron Man, slightly blurry villain and superhero of this story





Thankfully baby was as happy as a slightly sleepy clam and we were able to continue on our way just slightly late. 

What's the big deal guys?

 Oh man. I never saw this coming.






Super mom

I am not super mom.  I try really hard but it doesn't seem to work.  I love that my husband works so hard to make sure that we have the things we need.  It is currently Saturday though and the last time I saw him was for a few hours last Wednesday.  With 6 kids, that means I've hit an extreme level of exhaustion roughly on Wednesday evening..... 

On Thursday of this week we had dance.  Now that's not something that's special to us because we also had dance on Monday and Tuesday.  During the day we met up with my husband's aunt and her three little ones at the Children's museum in Saint Paul.  The kids love the museum and I know that they will be completely exhausted by the end of it. Always a bonus when the temperatures start to drop and the kids aren't outside quite as much.  We had a blast up there as usual and on the way back all 4 of the little ones were all passed out. 

My proud little dancers.



We picked up the oldest two girls, grabbed a quick snack, changed for dance and were off again.  Thursday is our 3 class day.  My boys (ages 3 and 4) both adore dance.  The 4 year old has started to feel pressure about being the only boy in his class though and decided he will be quitting next year. However he made this same pronouncement last year and changed his mind at the last second.  We live roughly 30 minutes from the dance studio so it doesn't make a lot of sense for us to head home.  We ran some errands during the boys classes and when I dropped off my oldest, I allowed the kids to watch a movie and eat some pizza.  I hate eating in the Yukon but it was cold and we're not allowed to bring any food into the hallway where we have to wait during classes so I have had to make some choices.  With a large group of hungry children some pizza and movie sounded like the perfect way to pass the hour. After about 15 minutes it was getting very warm and instead of just turning down the heat I turned off the vehicle.  I had planned to turn it back on very shortly but I basked in the sounds of my kids singing along nicely to the movie and enjoyed a slice of my own. Five minutes before it was time for my oldest to come out I turned the key and discovered-you got it- no battery life. 

My lovely husband was on the road and I knew he wasn't anywhere near us, so I started calling friends.  My dear dear friend Maria (mother of 5) responded with jumper cables and we decided we could of course jump my vehicle by ourselves.  We most certainly could not.  It was extremely dark and neither one of us had ever jumped a vehicle before.  We would think we had it and every time we tried, nothing .  It didn't help that both of us were deathly afraid of shocking ourselves and with my luck, there is always a very real chance that I will start myself on fire.  So with 6 kids sitting in a very dark car, we tried again and again.  Finally we had to call in reinforcements.  They came in the form of her brother in law who was working on getting his own children in bed.  He rushed over with a flashlight and hooked us up correctly and after another few minutes, the vehicle was able to start and we were off.  It took us about an hour all in all. 

So often people tell me that they can't believe how much I do and that I'm like supermom.  I think in most ways, I like that view of myself.  I like feeling independent and knowing that for the most part, I am rocking it.  My kids all work together and we can accomplish almost anything.  But that feeling of I can do it all is so often blown apart when I realize how much I need help.  I need a hand from friends and family and I get so sick of always trying to do it on my own. As I struggle with this aspect of my life I see how often I am doing the daily life stuff and not even turning to God like I want to.  I know that it's important that I don't try to do it all, but to just let God do it.  Even in those times that I am completely going bonkers, He's there and if I don't let him in to help, then I'll never feel at ease or at peace with what I'm doing.  My goal this week is to ask for help more but for now, someone is screaming help.  Supermom is off to the rescue.

The why of it all.

I don't know what on earth I'm doing, or exactly why I've decided to do it.  I started reading mommy blogs not too long ago.  I loved seeing women like me, struggling with the same things that I'm struggling with.  I live in the middle of nowhere.  I do not know my "neighbors" and my family is about 1,000 miles away.  Reading other blogs has helped me connect with moms in a weird way.

So to start it off, I'm a mom.  I have 6 kids.  Yes that does mean I'm Catholic and I love my faith.  I live on a pig farm in Minnesota.  I'm originally from Buffalo, New York and whenever I go back "home" to visit my family I always hear the shocked responses from friends and family that knew me back when.  I can honestly say that I never saw my life going this direction.  With each twist and turn and unexpected surprise I say to myself I never saw this coming but I wouldn't have it any other way.

So here we go.