"You must be busy"

It is Saturday afternoon and Logan and I are out and about with the kids.  We arrive at Wal-mart in style in our light green Toyota Sienna mini-van.  So far this is a pretty normal occurrence at this family friendly store.  Then we walk to the side doors and out stream our sweet kids.  First an infant car seat emerges, followed by one, two, three, oh wait, four young children (with a six year old as the oldest).  We troupe to the front door and the children separate into two carts, each manned by one ready adult.  Let the sweet looks from grandparents, alarmed looks from other parents, sidelong glances, and encouraging sentiments begin!

We have found that these trips can be a sure set up for failure, or they can be a complete success. The outcome is almost fully dependent on if all of the kids are fed and rested. If these simple requirements are satisfied it is pretty smooth sailing.  If one or both are lacking the results can be pretty spectacular...

We have received a wide array of comments.  Some of my favorite include: "This is why God created grandpas" (from a sweet old man who was smiling at Lindsey), "Are you trying to recreate the Brady bunch?" (to which I sweetly responded that this was not the case because all of them were mine), and "You must be an amazing mom!"  The two comments I can count on pretty regularly are "Wow! You must be busy!" and "You must not have any free time!" Providing a response to these comments will do a great job at summing up our lives right now.

"Wow! You must be busy!"

The short answer to this comment is "Yes we are, and I wouldn't have it any other way!" I confess that I have a slight addiction to having a daily schedule.  I know exactly when I have workout time, laundry day, cleaning time, momma day, mommy time, quiet time, afternoon yoga, etc. Logan did a great job of summing up our  busy lives in our last post dated January 17^th.

"You must not have any free time!"

I am a stay at home mom with five kids and by all accounts ‘me time’ seems like it should be an elusive idea.  Surprisingly though, sometimes I feel like I have more than my fair share.

This is due, in part, to my scheduling prowess. My day begins at 6:00 when I wake up to have some time for myself before kids are up.  Lindsey’s overnight feeding schedule has recently adjusted allowing me to do this again (Waking up at 6:00 is difficult when combined with nighttime feeding). Morning time lately has been about catching up with current events, reading my book for book club, facebook, and anything else that sounds enjoyable.  

All of this is generally done while listening to the familiar sounds of Logan practicing the guitar in the background. He is now working on Sweet Child of Mine and he is sounding AMAZING.  Morning time is a time where each of us have our own individual time. Occasionally though, a great topic will come up and we will find ourselves in a good conversation.

During the week I workout 3 times at the Kroc center, have playgroups with the kids and my friends, have ladies night, enjoy a monthly book club, and I work 2 afternoons each week as a video relay interpreter for Sorenson. I feel like my sanity levels are very balanced, and this allows me to enjoy being a mom even more!  I feel like I can be more present and be a better mom when I have time outside of the home and time specifically for me.  I also enjoy momma time most afternoons. Things are just better after a relaxing yoga session and in a clean house (these two definitely don’t always happen, but it is oh so nice when they do!).  Doing things with the kids is not confined to that time, but I know it will happen if I have a specific time for it.

Logan and I are also in a good place.  Every day after 8:00 is time for each other. We fill this time with reading our book together (right now we are reading 1984 and this is something like our 75^th book that we have read out loud together), engage in a good conversation about current events, philosophy, random topics, etc, or watch a movie.  We are also back to our weekly date nights.

The good, the bad and the ugly

So far I feel like I have been standing on a bit of a soap box exclaiming about sunshine and rainbows.  We have plenty of those in our lives, but there is definitely another side.  Let’s rewind the story…

…We troupe into Wal-mart where the kids separate into two carts each manned by a ready adult…

In this story the parents end up frantically hurrying through the isles to the sound of one child sobbing, one child screaming, one child yelling “He HIT me!,” and one child vehemently denying that any wrongdoing occurred.  I left one child out of this scenario as a kind of hopeful idea that one of them was behaving.  This scene honestly would probably include the youngest toddler jumping off of the cart (because this is Walmart, and seat belt is broken) and running in the opposite direction we are walking.  

Yes.  This happens.  I can normally predict the trips that will be horrible because the kids are tired, hungry, or just done being out and about.  Admittedly they are all becoming much better to take places and are getting better at being polite and well behaved.  However, just the sheer number of them makes things difficult and a decibel louder than a normal level. This just comes with the territory of a large young family.

Now let us go back to our home which is always clean and relaxing.  Okay, I admit that the house I am referring to is actually someone else’s house.  The house we return to is wild and crazy!  I have my cleaning time set aside in the afternoon right before kid time.  There is a reason for this. I think the kids can happily mess up a house in a matter of minutes, and if the house is messy there is some kind of switch inside of my body that makes me grumpy and reduces my fuse by a few inches. As an aside, another time this switch rears its ugly head is after our kids are read to, teeth brushed, sung to, and tucked sweetly in bed… And one or more of them do not stay there or become very needy.  

The bottom line is that life is very good right now.  Logan and I both feel very balanced, and we are both enjoying the ride. We love the way our lives are shaping up and we are enjoying the intentional process of creating the family traditions that we want to shape our family.

Sometimes the house gets messy and very loud. Sometimes children fight. On the other hand, Logan and I are best friends, our children are best friends, we are constantly developing personal relationships with each child, the kids imaginations are amazing, we have a LOT of family time together, we love to be together, and we all love each other deeply.  

I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Logan took this picture of us doing Cosmic Kids Yoga together.  Check it out on youtube.

Busy. Balanced. Fulfilling. Fun.

These are the words I would use to describe our lives right now.

Busy

Our lives are crazy- and we like it that way. Here is a little bit of what we have been up to:

Last Weekend: I was in Kentucky for a work conference on Thurs-Sat. This was a great conference that was mostly just fun and games. Lots of live entertainment (music and comedy). Lots of good food. Lots of new friends. Very little work.

Last Sun: Church- Rachel went early to prep and then interpreted the service. Later, we brought out our projector and watched the CFP championship game between Oregon and Ohio. It was a disappointing game, even though the right team won. We topped the night off with our family dance and dessert night.
Mon: Addy and Jack Preschool. Rachel worked. Family Night.
Tues: Rachel had a 'Momma morning' with the kids. Rachel and I worked. Potluck party at our house with friends that night. Lots of people and good conversation.
Wednesday: I worked. Addy and Jack had preschool. Play-date day for Maren/Lindsey. That evening we went to a party at Rachel's work and met her co-workers/friends there. Rachel got to reconnect with her first interpreting teacher from Utah. Date night afterwords at my favorite Mexican restaurant.
Thursday: I worked. Thursdays are Kroc Center nights where I meet up with a group of climbers to set/work on new routes while Rachel works out. Kids have fun at the play place.
Friday: I worked (I placed an implant that day. I like doing implants). As soon as we got home, Rachel and I went on a double date with some new friends and had a great 3-hour conversation that we would have continued if we hadn't had to get back for the babysitter. We are definitely getting together with them again.
Saturday: In the morning we went to the "Family Fun Fair" at the high school- but it wasn't very fun so we went to the play place at the mall instead. When we got back we babysat our friend's 3 kids for the rest of the day so that they could spend time together for her birthday.
Sunday: Church- Rachel went early to prep, and then interpreted the service. Rachel was asked if she would be an interpreting mentor for her colleague. That afternoon we went out to watch the Seahawks game. Definitely one of the best football games I have ever watched. We are already looking forward to the super-bowl party. We finished up the evening with hide and seek in the dark and family dessert night.

Balance
I think that Rachel is going to do a blog post about this in more depth. Suffice it to say that we not only have a lot going on, but we have a lot of diversity.

Physical: We both work out at a gym 3-4 days/week. Besides this, I have my climbing night which moves outdoors as soon as weather permits, and Rachel does afternoon yoga during the kid's quiet time.
Mental/Personal Development: I practice the guitar an hour each morning before anyone wakes up and this is my "creative time" for myself. Rachel is part of a book club. We also both read and listen to A LOT of material (current events, fiction, and non-fiction) and have A LOT of great in-depth conversations about a broad range of topics. Those who know us won't be surprised to find recurring themes in politics and philosophy.
Social: The above list of events should demonstrate this better than anything. Rarely a week goes by that we don't have a very full social calendar. Rachel is part of a moms group that has a variety of weekly playdates, mom's nights, and date nights with the husbands.  She is making a lot of friends there.
Professional: We are both thriving and at the top of our games in our different career tracks. We both work for great companies that we could stay with for a long time. We are both highly credentialed in our skill-sets and doing specialized work in our fields. We both feel like we are doing things that challenge us and that we absolutely love, and it is easy for us to enjoy our jobs.
Financial: This pretty much follows from the things mentioned above. We are very comfortable.
Family: I love our family traditions! From daily "morning message" and story time to weekly family nights, scheduled activities, dessert nights, mama days, and papa days- we do a lot together and I feel like we are all growing very close. Rachel has time set aside each afternoon to be specifically with the kids and nothing else, and this has been fun for everyone. The kids just seem to get awesomer and awesomer as they grow up.
Spiritual: This one is pretty personal, so I won't go too into depth. I think it's adequate to say though that in our own ways we both feel more at peace with ourselves and with the universe than we have for a very long time.

Fulfilling
It seems to me that a lot of people talk about being happy. And I am that. I am very happy. But more important to me, I feel that life is very fulfilling for us right now. Personal integrity means a lot to me, and I feel like we are both able to live very authentically right now. What's more, is that the authentic "us" is doing really well. I don't really want to dwell on this too much because it seems somewhat self-aggrandizing, but we are both very pleased with the things we have chosen to be involved with, the decisions we are making, and the direction things seem to be headed. Life really is pretty spectacular.

Fun
Like I said before- our lives are crazy and we like it that way! Sometimes, when we are all together I am afraid that we can give the impression that things are totally out of control. The truth is that this only happens about half of the time :). The other half though is full of good times and I treasure that. I realize that the big family lifestyle doesn't fit everyone, but it sure seems to suit us well. I genuinely look forward to doing things and having conversations with my kids. If I had to choose anyone to spend forever with then it would be Rachel and my family without any second thoughts whatsoever. I think Rachel and I are both glad that we have so much else to help round us out, but in the end our family is what it's all about.

Anyway- I could get all sappy and write a lot. I already feel like this whole post is too full of sunshine and rainbows (I chose those symbols on purpose), and it's not my intent to imply that things are absolutely perfect. Of course we have a lot of fighting and crying, and things that break and bills to pay and other struggles as well. We are, after all, just a normal big family living a pretty normal big-family life. Right now though, things honestly just seem really, really good. I'm lovin' it.

This is the only picture I have to share. This morning, Evelyn got up early and made these stick puppets for everyone as a morning surprise (all totally her own idea). Each person has a White person and a Black person on a stick, and they are all smiling. She explained to us that they were all playing together. I think she has been learning about MLK in her class :)

This week...

We went sledding...

 ...and broke a sled.

The kids decided to make a band after watching "That Thing You Do." I really hope this comes to fruition in their later years :).

I especially liked Jackson's drum set. He worked hard on this and has been practicing with it all week.

Evelyn recognizes the need for every good rock and roll guitarist to have a signature style. Personally, I like her choice.

The kids discovered that we have an intercom system in our house. Bed times have become much more difficult as a result.

Rachel's family night lesson on goal setting. I thought this was a cute idea. And yes, I just used the word "cute." You should be proud of me.

I came home from work and Jack had hung signs all over our house. It turns out they were warning signs. Some of my favorites are found below:

Don't be sad on Christmas

Don't cry during family night

Don't walk under exploding volcanos

Evelyn decided to make a sign too.