Girlfriends

What a busy week! I'm well on my way to recovering. When I finally got home tonight with the kiddos, it was bedtime. But one look at this house told me otherwise. I was in severe Kenmore withdrawal. So out came the sweeper, and I got down to business. Lower level straightened up and swept; kids played out; momma satisfied.

And then, after I actually did get them all to bed, I had the rare opportunity to chat with two of my best friends on Facebook. And now, the hubby's robe, my gray fleece slippers and a creamy cup of chai tea.

I was stressed two hours ago? Really? 'Cause I'm totally chill now.

Last weekend we took the big kids (that now includes Colby!) to an indoor waterpark. We traveled with family, and it was a great time! I'll let the photos tell the story...

And then I rolled right into the week. Blog excitement. (Still in the works!) Work. Mothering. Work. Dinner with a dear friend and fellow mother of four. (Yes, we staved off eight children to finally meet!) Work. And then... this.

A beautiful rendition of an awesome song by a stunning friend at a St. Jude benefit named after her daughter on the beautiful campus of my alma mater and workplace. And then this, even more beautiful, awesome and stunning than anything else...

Girlfriends in child form. Little women changing the world. Hope. Faith. Love.

Peace...

The Blessing of a Girlfriend

Today is my best girlfriend's birthday. Happy Birthday, baby girl!

I am thankful that 31 years ago a four-pound preemie made her early entrance into this world. I'm thankful she was a fighter and did well and grew up to play saxophone with me in the band. Saxes are sexy!

I'm so thankful for all the inside jokes. Take the bull by the horns!

I'm happy for so many memories of drinks shared around campfires at Lake Tweet. For that one blessed year that we lived together at 36 Morris Avenue and the funny times we spent on the roof.

I'm so glad to know the blessing of a best girlfriend.

For all the times we've had, the discussions we've shared, the times we've saved each other from ourselves and all that is yet to come: happy birthday, sweetheart. I love you! I am elated your day has been so happy.

January just might be a good month for a birthday after all...

These are My People

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
- Jane Howard

Well, I can't believe it, but I don't have a group photo of my family women this past weekend. I'll have to add one when I get one from my aunt. We had a fabulous getaway. I'll share some of the photos I do have, which prove that we ate well, laughed often and made time for each other. Make no mistake: I love these women, and they have helped to shape me in so many ways.

I am going to take the easy way out and just post some photos of the trip. My bed is calling my name, and it sounds so sweet.


Cousins are like Bras…close to the heart and there for support.
- Anonymous



If you swear at your friends; you get in a fight,
If you swear at your sibling; you get in trouble,
If you swear at your cousin; You guys laugh and get over it.
- Anonymous



Cousins are the sisters God forgot to give us.
- Anonymous

It is difficult to imagine anything more nourishing to the soul than family life.
- Sir Thomas More

Living My Real Life

For starters, I can't believe how much laundry this family makes! I've spent the better part of two days hauling, washing, drying, folding and putting away about 10 loads of laundry. Hmm, another baby into the mix? No problem!

While I fold and carry and trip over random toys, my boys have been playing together well. There are more wheeled vehicles and toys in my house than I can count. Lately, Max has taken to giving Colby what Max calls "field trips." Check it out.




Basically, Max picks a vehicle and rigs up whatever kind of trailer he can think of to pull Colby around the house. Sometimes, it's a bottomless tent and Colby actually crawls behind him, inside the tent, Flintstone-style. Boys are hilarious!

I just can't tell what Max is going to be. He loves Monster Trucks, trailers, tractors and the Power Rangers, but, also, he's a bit of a pastry chef. He adores baking. He's quite the master with the KitchenAid mixer. This morning, at his insistence, we had banana bread out of the oven by 8:30 and a double batch of sugar cookie dough whipped up and in the freezer for later by 9.

I've had a busy couple of days, and I'll soon be off to a Girls' Weekend with my mom, sis, aunts and cousins. I can't wait to relax and reconnect with these amazing women!

So, tonight, a bit of a random post. But I'm living the real life, the one where you want to lock your husband out of the house when he gets home from work in dirty clothes because you have--finally--rid your house of every single dirty piece of laundry and, just for awhile, you want to keep it that way. I'm living the life where one second I'm hearing "Mommy, you're my best friend" and, not five minutes later, from the same kid, "You ruined my life!" after I've refused bubble gum for the 50th time in one day. I'm living the life where I'm looking around the homestead, so proud of the house we've built and missing my husband who has been busy and away a lot this week, but knowing that we'll have the rest of our lives to hang out and that this weekend is for me and the women, the glue, of my family.

So long for now. I've got some living to do. But I'll be back to tell you all about it.

A Lifetime is Not Too Long To Live As Friends

One of the amazing things in my life has been SEARCH for Christian Maturity, a nondenominational, but Christian program for high school youth. I made SEARCH in the fall of 1993, at 15, and last attended a weekend retreat in my area as a college freshman.

Aside from all the knowledge, maturity and faith gained through the program, I made an overflowing handful or two of very good, lifelong women friends.

Now, let's get something straight about a woman and her girlfriends. Girlfriends are essential. There's an email forward I've seen several times about the things girlfriends do for each other: we outlast fads, romantic relationships, vicious rumors and petty fights. We foster one another's children early and often; we make meals when meals are needed but not sought; and we offer that twenty-minute respite from the world, in the form of a conversation, a phone call, a chat. We keep each other sane.

And sane is something all of us mothers hope to remain.

I've had a very productive, but crazy, week at work. I've had several tantrum moments from my children. I've questioned whether or not I'm truly on the path I want to be on financially and professionally and whether or not my soul is singing because of the work I've chosen to do. And, oh, you know, I'm midway through my fourth pregnancy, which can throw every thought and hormone into a tailspin. But I'm OK!

Tonight I had the great pleasure of touching base with one of those lifelong friends I made 17 years ago at SEARCH. Although we now have seven children between us and my one more on the way, we've managed to stay friends all this time. She's one of those friends with whom I have the kind of relationship where we pick right back up where we last left off, whether that be seven days, seven months or more ago.

And our chat was a reminder to me that we really are a tribe, we mother warriors. We're thick and we're plentiful throughout the nation and the world. And none of us are ever alone. Whatever your kid just did, or your husband just said, or whatever thought you just had, someone else has experienced either the same thing or something equally horrible.

I'm fine, you're fine. We're all kicking ass and taking names. For sure, you deserve that coffee cake or bowl of whip cream or whatever your tired, resilient heart desires with your next cup of coffee.

Treat yourself, and, if you can remember her number, call up your girlfriend and treat her too. Give her the gift of a woman who knows her, who loves her and who understands just what life is like in her shoes.