The grass is always greener on the other side....

There are days when this stay at home mom dreams of being a career girl. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, love my life, yada, yada, yada. But after a day of wiping butts, whining kids and spit up stained clothes, a girl starts to fantasize. I think what it would be like to get up in the morning and get ready to go to "the office." It even sounds cool. I'd put on my tailored power suit, pumps, jewelry, the whole bit. I'd drop the kids off, turn off Veggie Tales and put on some jamming tunes as I cruised into Starbucks for a Giant-Grande-Mocha-Frappe-Latte or whatever it is that they charge a pretty penny for. I'd pull up to work in my fancy car and strut into my comfy office building and do....stuff. I don't know what kind of stuff I'd do, but it wouldn't have anything to do with poop, that's a fact jack. I'd eat lunch out at a place that didn't sell Happy Meals and I'd even pick up take out for dinner. Man, that'd be the life! Or would it?

Now you see, for every stay at home mom like me dreaming about "the other side", there's a mom sitting in an office wishing for what I've got. She'd give her right arm to trade in her Italian pumps for Nikes and the power suit for sweats. A Happy Meal with her kid would beat that overpriced gourmet stuff any day. She'd trade in her perfume for the smell of spit up.

I think we all sometimes fall into the trap of thinking the grass is greener on the other side. We stay at home moms can especially get worn down when the other life seems so glam. So what that getting dressed up means waiting for the rare date with my hubby or that the only time I hit a Starbucks is well, never. I'm going to slip out of my imaginary Italian shoes and stick my feet in the grass, on MY side of the fence and realize that it feels pretty good. And you know what? I'll gladly munch on a Happy Meal any day!!!

This side of things...

After an emotionally draining day yesterday with Spencer that included two different ER's and a whole lot of prayer, I posted a Facebook status about how I believe in prayer. At the end of this lengthy status I said, "I'm thankful for a God who hears and although doesn't always answer the way we'd choose, always, always cares...." I included that last bit for those that might feel negatively about prayer. People who don't believe in God or have been turned off from prayer because God didn't answer them the way they wanted or the way they thought he should have.

The thought of God always caring for us really got me to thinking how our relationship with Him is much like our relationship with our own children. Now, maybe you don't have children, but you are, of course, someone's child. As an adult now you can see things more clearer and realize that your parents did things in your best interest. So, I think we can all relate to this analogy. I think how often I do something in the best interest of my children that they don't understand. They think I'm mean or bossy. How many times have I said something and finished it with, "just because I said so!" Children in their tiny, naive minds can't understand why we as parents sometimes do the things we do. Why we say "no" or push them to do something they don't want. We see the big picture that they just can't see right now. We do it because we love them. Isn't God just the same? We can't not even fathom how much He loves us. As much as we love our children, He loves us even more. He wants what's best for us always, but we can't always see how that works out on this side of earth.

My husband uses the best illustration for this. Have you ever seen someone doing needlepoint? To sit across from them it looks horrible, to be honest. You see the messy, seemingly pointless backside. It's not pretty and it certainly doesn't look them it's going to turn out they way you'd want. But the crafter sees the beautiful side, how each seemingly sloppy stitch works together and when you turn it around it's a masterpiece. Our lives are much the same. We see the backside of things. It's messy, it seems it couldn't possibly turn out to be anything good and we question what the "crafter" could possibly be doing. But God in His infinite wisdom sees the beautiful, finished side. How each prayer, answered in His way, works to the good of the finished work. Oftentimes, God allows us to see the finished work, how it all worked out, but sometimes it seems to be a mystery. I guess that's what faith is all about. Trusting in God and that He has a beautiful plan for each of our lives. If we can close our eyes and forget the messy side that we often see, He may just allow us to see a glimpse of the masterpiece He has in store.

Vacationing with us, ain't for sissys

Vacationing with a big family is surely a test of your survival skills. I'm pretty sure it could be included in the Navy SEAL training or possibly a part of Marine combat training. Seriously, this is not for sissys. I must be a tough cookie though, because I survived and lived to tell about it.

The last time we vacationed we only had four kids (yes, I said only four.) We were gone for about 5 days and it was pretty smooth sailing. This time around though we had six kids and had planned a nine day trip. The logistics of a trip like that are almost too many to list.

First off is packing for our giant crew. I managed to pack the bare minimum, but this still equates to an amount of items that would rival Walmart. Packing our van took a mix of skills that might included a UPS guy, Santa and the Clampetts from the Beverly Hillbillies. The end result made you sympathetic for those poor sardines stuffed in those tiny cans. But we did it. I paid one of the kids a dollar to open the back hatch for the first time. I was fully expecting an avalanche. For once in my life I was happy to be wrong.

The ten hour drive began and in true fashion of our crew it was not uneventful. Don't get me wrong, those six kids travelled great. They kept each other entertained and the giggles were almost non-stop. Well, except through West Virginia. About four hours into our trip, we made our third stop. Yep, three stops in four hours. We have a two year old who is freshly potty trained, what can I say? But here is where West Virginia comes in and it has to do with Dramamine. Yep, we had three carsick kids. And let me say, God bless Dramamine. It knocked them out and we survived the rolling hills of the fine state of West Virginia.

Let's talk food. I think those kids knocked out $30 of snacks in about 45 minutes. I'm a numbers cruncher and my brain never shuts off. This led me to the unfortunate discovery that eight people and three meals a day for nine days would equal 216 meals. Yep, 216 meals. Add snacks in there for six hungry kids and feeding this crew on the road became quite the task. I channeled my ancestors who at one time foraged for food. Thankfully, this meant using the GPS to find the nearest Taco Bell. It also meant that at the beach condo when the kids asked for cereal for dinner, I played "cool mom" and said, "yeah, we're on vacation, WHATEVER you want." Obviously, it was more lazy mom than cool mom, but I've got to play the cool card whenever I can.

Vacationing with a big family means that mom is never really on vacation. I think I did 17 loads of laundry. on. vacation. We stayed in a condo, so I did dishes, swept, even cleaned the bathroom. But if I'm going to scrub the toilet, it might as well be at the beach!

Vacationing with our crew means that 12 tons of sand came home with us. It means that the call to the pediatrician nurse line is almost not even worth mentioning. Because not going to the ER is a small miracle, not even going to Urgent Care is definitely a miracle and the fact that we didn't have to ask anyone if they had a first-aid kit is nothing short of divine intervention.

With our large family the possibilities for disaster are endless, everything we do is a major undertaking and there is never a dull moment. It also means that it's six times the joy, six times the fun and six times the laughs! I never in my wildest dreams imagined my vacations would be this "big", but I wouldn't change it for the world!!!
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Organizing Small Spaces

This is my first ever "link up" post and I'm doing it as part of the "Organizing Small Spaces" series at Hall of Fame Moms. For those who don't know me, I'm Bri, mom to six kids ages five months to eleven years. We are a big family living in a small-ish ranch house, so organization is not optional, it's mandatory for survival! As a stay-at-home mom, I'm on a tight budget, so my ideas are simple and inexpensive. But they can't be tacky either! Hey, I like HGTV as much as the next girl, so it's got to be stylish!

Before we dive in though I have to say, you can't organize clutter!! Seriously, just watch an episode of Hoarders and you will get my point! So, purge whatever you can as you organize an area or an the very least store items that are not frequently used. Also, buy an inexpensive label maker. I label everything possible! My kids are just lucky I haven't labeled them yet.... Alright, the tips are going to come rapid-fire, so hang on!

Let's start with a girl's best friend. No, not diamonds. Shoes! I love over the door shoe bags! Not the tacky plastic kind your grandmother had either. You can find stylish, fabric ones even at Wal-mart. (In fact, they carry the exact same one as the Container Store for half the price.) Now, aside from the obvious of organizing shoes, they are great for organizing craft supplies or storing small toys or even socks and undies in a child's room. Put one on the back of any door for instant added storage and organization! On the subject of kids' rooms, use that space under their beds for great, hidden storage! We had a trundle built to fit under our twins' bunk bed and it stores extra blankets and all those stuffed animals that drive me crazy! (Seriously, stuffed animals give me a nervous twitch.) It could also be used for the obvious of storing an extra mattress for guests, but I love that I can store bulky blankets out of sight! You can also buy bed risers if you have low beds and this will allow for under-the-bed boxes.

We are limited in our closet space here and so I have to get the most out of every inch. We have a craft and game closet in the dining room and it has to be perfectly organized for everything to fit. I have hooks on the inside of the door for backpacks and the kids coats. (Let me take a moment to shout the praises of hooks. Again, put them anywhere you can and definitely have some on your child's level, so there are no excuses for not hanging up towels, coats, etc.) I have various medium sized plastic containers (all labeled, of course) to hold craft supplies, puzzles, coloring books, etc. I've also used baby wipe containers for small items like beads, glue sticks and bottles, etc. Just use the same brand container for easy stacking. I also have one unconventional tip. We have lots and lots (and lots and lots) of board games. We literally ran out of room to store all those boxes! So, any game that was just a flat board with game pieces (ex. Monopoly, Sorry, etc.; not a bulky game like Operation or Trouble) I ditched the box and put all the game pieces into individual baggies. The boards stack neatly and take up a lot less space than all those boxes and I store the game piece baggies in one small container. This saved an immense amount of room!

A few tips for small items: shoe boxes work great inside big dresser drawers to divide small items. In one drawer I have several boxes to separate my youngest's socks, hairbows, bibs and onesies. Now more digging through a drawer in search of something and no expensive organizer to buy! Always have a couple of decorative baskets or crates by entrance ways as catchalls. Hats, gloves, keys, cell phones, etc., always look better thrown in a basket than just thrown on the table or counter. I use a dish pan to store all the lids to my food storage containers (i.e. Rubbermaid or Tupperware.) It's easy to just pull out that dishpan and find the lid I need for any container. Use flat containers where ever possible to store items. You'll be amazed at how much you can stack and store this way. When I'm tackling a new project, I just buy a couple of containers every time I go to Wal-mart, so as not to break the bank! I've found rectangular Rubbermaid containers that I LOVE for storing all our snack items in the snack cupboard. Everything fits so much better now and food stays fresh longer. Plus, it's easy to grab a container or two as I walk out the door and the kids (or mama!) need a snack.

Paper clutter is a constant challenge here. I think the kids kill their own section of the rainforest with all the papers they bring home from school! And the mailman does his part, too! I have baskets in the kitchen in my buffet (you could use a cupboard or drawers too) and I tackle it immediately. I recycle what I can and then file papers accordingly. School papers get tossed in the school basket (surprise-lol) and bills in the bill basket. It's not super organized immediately, but we (read-kids and hubby, too) always, always know where things are! I also have a bulletin board in the kitchen right beside the calendar. So, when I stumble bleary-eyed to the kitchen in the morning I can easily see what's important that day. All permission slips or important informational sheets go on the bulletin board. No digging through any basket to find those important items!!!

Again, I cannot stress the fact that clutter and just plain "too much stuff" cannot be organized. So, pare down, buy less and organize as you go. I promise you it will decrease your stress! I hope some of these tips have been helpful to you and bless your family! (P.S. I'm glad I'm getting a mansion in heaven, because some days I get tired of organizing this stuff!)

When He was on the cross, I was on His mind

Easter. Whoa, wait a minute. Didn't we just have Christmas? Easter falls late this year, but it seems to have crept up on me yet again. We are literally reminded the day after Halloween that Christmas is coming. Commercials, e-mails, flyers, you name it, we are bombarded with the fact that Christmas is coming, but Easter is a quieter holiday. I've always found it ironic that Christmas gets so much more attention than Easter. Sure they are both important Christian holidays and don't get me wrong the birth of Christ was amazing. I mean I get it, we wouldn't have Easter if there hadn't been a "Christmas." But Easter truly is the pivitol holiday for Christians. Seriously, Easter changed the entire course of the world!

When I take the time to think about the intimate details of the Easter story, I'm amazed. I'm talking have to sit down amazed. Christ died for me. Christ died for me? Yes, a statement always followed by a question. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around someone dying for me. There are only a few people I'd lay my life down for, yet Christ did it for the world. Yep, the world. People who loved him, people who hated him. People who followed him, people who ran from him. Even those who nailed him to the cross. Even me. When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.

He was humilated. He was beaten, whipped, tortured. His hands were nailed to a cross and his feet, too. They made him a crown of thorns and they mocked him. And Christ took it all willingly, because when He was on the cross, I was on His mind. He could have, at anytime, called a legion of angels and stopped it all. But on that cross beaten and bruised, I was on the his mind. My sin put him on that cross, but his love for me kept him there.

So this Easter season take some time and think about the story. The intimate, personal story. The one that involves just you and Christ. If you or I had been the only one to die for, he still would have. That's how much he loves us. A line from one of my favorite songs says, "The nails in your hands, the nails in your feet, they tell me how much you love me." That day on the cross, long before you were born, you were on his mind. Today as you think about Easter, let Him be on your mind, too.

Good enough

The question was recently posed in an online group that I'm apart of, "how do you balance it all?" You know, the cooking the cleaning, the "me" time. Well, motherhood is a little bit like walking a balance beam, except you have one leg, and you're blindfolded, and your arms are tied behind your back. Oh yeah, and this is the OLYMPICS, so all eyes are on you and the pressure is on to do it right.

Seriously though, isn't that what motherhood feels like? Trying to do it right with lots of things going against you? You feel like you are in the spotlight and you're expect to do it all.

But maybe this is where we go wrong. The pressure, that is. You know that feeling when you are trying to do something just perfect and you're nervous? Hands shaking. Butterflies in your tummy. And you mess up. Why? Because you were trying too hard! You have put so much pressure on yourself that you're a nervous wreck. And you fail....

We pressure ourselves as moms (and wives) to do it all. The house must be spotless, each child must have had an equal amount of personal attention, cookies must be in the oven, dinner on the table and then we still have to have time to volunteer at the school and go to the spa with "the girls."

Really? I could clone myself and still not get my to-do list done everyday. And guess what? That's okay! Somedays I come pretty close to "having it all." But most days if I feel accomplished in one area, it's because I've let another one go. Sure I've played board games with the kids all day, but my house is such a wreck you probably need a tetanus shot just to walk through the front door.

So repeat after me, "good enough." Yep, it's that simple. No, I didn't get the bathroom Martha Stewart clean today, but I scraped the toothpaste off the mirror and rinsed the ring out of the bathtub. "Good enough." I didn't have time to make a gourmet dinner, but that simple chicken and rice really hit the spot. "Good enough." I didn't get to the spa today, but I caught up with an old friend on the telephone. "Good enough." Oh, and helping out at the school consisted of sending in a bag of Oreos, instead of staying up all night making perfectly decorated cupcakes. "Good enough." Seriously, Martha Stewart tried that whole perfect homemaker thing and look where it got HER!

And tonight as my head hits the pillow, I don't feel as guilty as when I was trying to walk that balance beam and just couldn't do it. My kids are tucked in bed and they are happy. My hubby doesn't have a stressed out wife. I don't feel like a frazzled, train wreck of a person. No, tonight as I lay my head down, on my pillowcase (that I forgot to wash), I say to myself "good enough."

Mommy's day at the spa

What woman doesn't enjoy a day at the spa, right? Massages, facials, hair treatments, I could go on and on. But after kids those days can be a thing of the past or at least a rare treat. I'm an optismist though and realize that most days I have my own version of the spa right here at home. I have five kids and throughout the day they seem to give me plenty of "spa time" whether I want it or not.

Take for instance that pricey hot stone foot massage. I have a cheap version of that everytime my toddler takes off and I chase him across the gravel driveway in my bare feet. A mud mask is another option with said toddler. Showing off his new found throwing skills, he reaches the end of the muddy drive and chucks a handful my way. Nice shot buddy! A nice, steamy facial? As I slave over yet another sink full of dish, my makeup drips off and my pores open up. Optimism, remember? Who needs that professional manicure? As I sit nervously at my son's spelling bee or anxiously await a phone call from the doctor, I can bite my nails into perfect shape. Seriously, I could put a manicurist to shame.

A good hair mask from the spa leaves your hair shiny and vibrant. At my house I get the occasional unplanned hair mask. Daddy thinks it's funny to play rough with the baby right after a feeding and hands him to mommy. Well, I think you know where this is headed. I have to say that though baby vomit may not smell as good as the spa stuff, it definitely adds some shine!

What about those salt scrubs? Now those are a treat! The closest I come these days is running out in my sleep shorts to get the trash to the curb before the garbage truck comes, slipping on the ice and sliding down the sidewalk that was just freshly salted. Ah, just like the spa......well, almost.

But my favorite is always a good back massage. I mean really nothing beats a good massage. When my six year old wakes up in the car after her nap was cut short, here comes the back massage. As she angrily kicks the back of my carseat, I grip the steering wheel a little tighter and pretend I'm enjoying a professional massage, as she rages on.

I love being a mom more than anything, but sometimes I miss those pre-kid luxuries. Why let motherhood take away those little pleasures like a day at the spa? Just slip on your rose-colored glasses and you can have a spa day, too!