Another day, another activity for the kids. I always swore I would not put my kids in so many activities but it just happens! I have no idea how moms of more than two can do it all! I'm starting to realize that there really is no such thing as "recreation sports" for kids anymore. By the time they are seven or eight years old they are supposed to know what extracurricular activity they want to do for the rest of their lives! Seems like a very big decision for such young kids.

My almost eight year old loves dance, soccer, gymnastics and would love to try volleyball and softball. She has been on a competition dance team for two years now which has been great fun for both of us but its already getting too intense for me! I have no problems with her dancing during the school year but this year she is dancing twice a week in the summer as well. She is spending over 2 hours a week dancing during summer vacation. Add to that her in house soccer and she is tied up for quite a few evenings!

While I understand that times have changed, I miss the days of my youth when I spent the summer playing with the neighbor kids until the street lights came on. Play time is now a scheduled "date" with a friend and there is no such thing as a "pick up" basketball game. Maybe I am idealistic but if our lives weren't so busy maybe we wouldn;t have to schedule every minute of every day...

Birthday Parties....UGH!

Another year, another birthday party! My daughter will be 8 on Sunday and is on a quest to find the most expensive birthday party possible each year! Being a SAHM, my quest is to find it cheap! This year the American Girl Doll is queen. The new store opened up at MOA and she is hooked. For the low, low price of $450 she can have 7 of her closest and dearest friends to the store for a party. YIKES! Are they insane?? This is more than our car payment!

The good news is that I can be pretty creative when required. Once again we will take the idea of what she wants and recreate it at home. We have everything planned including tea cups for each partygoer to bring home. Now I just have to find time to send out the invites....

Okay...I have been really busy and even with the excitement of creating my own blog, I never followed up. You see, I have what I like to call OVD. Sounds ominous but it really just stands for Obsessive Volunteering Disorder. I feel so guilty about the opportunity to stay home that I feel the need to volunteer every time someone asks. I feel the need to contribute back to society since "I just stay home." Weird, huh?? Drives my husband and kids crazy!

I'm getting better, though! I actually had to say no twice in the last month as we have been busy with weddings, first communions, baptisms and birthday parties. In the midst of all this I had to try to squeeze in a few doctor appointments.

Come to find out that my energizer bunny tendencies are not normal! HUH! Who'd a figured??? My OVD can be directly linked to the condition Ihave that the doctors just discovered. Grave's disease. Sounds rather ominous too but its not too horrible! Apparently all of my symptoms (crabbiness, hand tremors and racing heart) had nothing to do with my kids! They were pretty happy to hear that!

In between the migraines I have been having, I'm trying to get back on track. UGH! Easier said than done. Maybe some day I'll have time to post again!

TTFN!

Background

After hearing about blogs for a while now I finally decided to give it a try. As I sit in my TV room watching Monster Jam, a million things run through my head. There is so much to write!

It all started a little over eight years ago when I discovered I was pregnant with child number 1. After trying to conceive for over six months, it was exciting! While the pregnancy and delivery were not exactly perfect (can we say major surgery after giving birth??), my daughter was.

After two wonderful years with our perfect daughter, we were ready for number 2. Enter miscarraiges, fertility drugs and bedrest! After nine months, our son was born. I fully expected to continue along my path of perfect motherhood. I could even stay home with both children now!

Reality check. My son? NOT perfect! In fact, the title Monster Mom is from him. He is a monster. We are three weeks away from his fourth birthday and he is still a monster. I love him dearly but find it difficult to like him most days!

My daughter? She is seven going on seventeen! Where did my sweet little girl go? Will I ever see her again? Or am I destined to this whining, smart mouthed child forever? I must admit that she does have a thing or two to complain about! She lived the perfect existence of an only child only to have her life rudely interrupted by her brother.

The poor thing. She was so excited to be a big sister and here she gets rewarded with a baby that demnds all of mom's time, cries non stop and as he gets older, lives his life to make hers miserable. Lucky girl, huh?

O, its not all bad! There are plenty of times that the two of them get to giggling and chase each other around the house. I just know they are going to be the best of friends in 15 years! (Please, please let this be true!)

This is my wonderful life as a stay at home mom. The best part is that there is so much more! Cleaning, laundry, cooking, dishes, grocery shopping...The list goes on! Every mother, at home or not, has these chores and I ignorantly thought that I'd have a ton of time to spend with my kids. Not so much....The longer the kids are home, the bigger the mess they make!! I spend more time cleaning up after them than I do playing with them! Why wasn't this listed in the job description???

I suppose I had better not forget my beloved, long suffering husband. What a man! He is currently working two jobs so that I can stay home and continue to be the perfect wife and mother. And cook. And cleaning lady. And finder of lost items. And laundress. The list goes on...

Call me crazy but I absolutely love it all!!