It's the Law!

I was watching the news the other night because there was a story being done on the benefit dinner that we're having for a young mother from our parish who is battling leukemia. While waiting for the story to air there was another story about a new law being passed in Wisconsin. This new law would prohibit minors from drinking with their parents in a restaurant or a bar. Yes, that's right. Up until this law is passed it is perfectly legal for us to bring a child of any age into a bar or restaurant and have a drink with them, and we're not talking chocolate milk here. I find great humor in this, and am tempted to indulge. Of course I never would, but I can just see Brett buying rounds for all the kids.

India Study

Any guesses on what this could be?

If you guessed the Taj Mahal you were right!

Older Kids

I remember being the mom with "just" two kids. One who was 21 mos. old and one who was a newborn. As my oldest two grew I was open to having more, but to be honest, not exactly looking forward to the chaos that would ensue with adding to the bunch. Moms of little ones are busy. Period. There's just no way around that fact. Toddlers and infants are a lot of work. I remember clearing a whole day to just get to the grocery store when I had one baby, or a baby and toddler to tote a long.
Enter number 3! When Gianna was born I was more than surprised to find that I had ample time of bonding with her and resting when I needed to. My previously attention-starved (or so they thought) oldest children were playing with each other. Packing the baby along to whatever we were doing seemed like nothing. Whenever I took just the baby anywhere it seemed like I was missing something. One kid? That's it?
Enter the newest baby. People always comment on how busy I am, how full my hands are, how they don't know how I do it. Truth be told? I've never felt so lazy in my life. My almost-not-toddler toddler and baby still keep me busy, but I have older kids. Wow! What a difference. The almost 8-year-old can help and be helpful. The 6 year-old does a pretty good job too.
A couple examples in case I still have some skeptics out there that don't believe me that having four children is easier than having two.
-someone always has someone else to play with
-if a couple of the kids are just not getting along, they can be separated, and still have a choice of a sibling to be around
-while I held the sick baby who was feeling rather needy my 8-year-old cut up olives, and grated cheese for the tacos we were having (he makes the oatmeal in the morning, and can make a mean breakfast of scrambled eggs, all by himself)
If you are still unmoved, the following will win you to "my side".
The whole house has been sick (cough, stuffy/runny nose, sore throat, etc). I haven't slept well for the past few nights because my baby can't sleep. This morning my oldest three children played, by themselves, while I napped with the baby for 2 1/2 hours! Oh glorious children! If you are a parent of young toddler or baby, I highly recommend getting yourself an older kid.

Fail!

Pot, with chicken burned and stuck to the bottom of it. It was going to be chicken soup. Fail!

Pancakes, stuck to pan. Second attempt at making pancakes in two days. Fail!

Pumpkin spice cake, which is a result of a failed attempt to make pumpkin-spice pancakes. I didn't want to waste the batter so I tossed it into the pan. After baking it for 3 hours I gave up. The middle was still liquid. Fail!

After these consecutive attemps at cooking for my family I sent the following email to Brett, "We're having Burger King tonight. Don't ask."

I seriously felt like a brand new wife who had never been in a kitchen. I'm not sure what was wrong with me, but everything I touched ended up in the garbage. I'm happy to announce that I'm back to my normal cooking-things-that-my-family-can-eat self again.

Disclaimer: The pancakes were made with gluten-free flour which has a tendency to be very dense.

Two-wheeled wonder

Our bike-riding season is extremely short around here. Last summer/fall I was pregnant-enough and not really in any position to be running alongside a cute little girl riding on a bike. We almost missed the opportunity this year to get her out there without training wheels, but luckily we had a very warm September and Brett had the chance to get the newly-turned 6-year-old out for a bike-riding lesson. Go Emma, Go!!!

Learning Experience

Last night I learned a lot.

We hosted a speaker who came to our Newman Center and spoke about abortion. She is intelligent, articulate, gentle. We had hoped that the advertisement for this event would bring a handful of proclaimed "pro-choicers", but as it was she was preachin' to the choir.

At the last minute we decided to switch the "point" of the speech and instead we had a "answers to the top 10 pro-choice 'questions' seminar". It was so helpful and so empowering. My pro-life stance has developed overtime and I know that my experience last night has solidified it even further. However, I learned to brush away the anger at the "other side" and to be confident in the pro-life cause without needing to harp on the "other side". People who are pro-choice are not horrible, awful, evil people. No, they are concerned for the same women that I am concerned for.

An "a-hah" moment that I wanted to share from last night:

"In America, one of the most developed, richest, and compassionate nations in the world, are we really offering these broken women (the ones who are seeking abortions) our best? Is our best really paying for them to kill their babies? Are we not strong enough, wealthy enough, and caring enough to do better for these women?"

We were up late last night, and I did tell the kids that we were doing school today so I think I should leave on that note. I'm pondering a lot today. On the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary I know what my prayer will be. How about you?

Declaration!

I have officially declared today "Pajama Day!". We will still "do school", but we will be in our warm, soft, and comfy pjs. It's rainy, windy, and cold outside and we're not going anywhere. We spent all day yesterday (pay day!) running around and I don't want to step foot outside of this house today. Veronica doesn't want to see the inside of our car today, and I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that the other kids don't want to see the inside of a bank or any store today. Yay for "Pajama Day!".