My
Vegas Trip!
Bobby, my husband and I went to Vegas over the weekend.  This
was our third time going this year.  We went in January for New Years, we went
in June with four of our seven kids, and then just this labor day weekend.  And
although I had a great time all three times, Vegas has seem the last of me for a
while. 

I was feeling a little discouraged thinking that I might be
too old for Vegas, but realized that I'm just to "grown and sexy" for Vegas,
lol.  I guess that's better than thinking I'm to old.

... We arrived on Thursday, and had dinner a Wolfgang
Puck's restaurant in the Crystals Mall.  Good food, but it was like an
overpriced California Pizza Kitchen.  On Friday, our friends arrived, we had
dinner at Maestros which was wonderful.  If you have never been you have to go. 
They have the best Pomegranite Martinis.  After dinner we went to Crown at the
Rio, that's a night club, and it's also when the realization hit me.  What the
heck am I doing here with these little kids grinding all over each other.  It
was really a funny site, but Bobby and I danced for a good hour, and then I
realized something else, my feet were swollen.  That has never happened to me. 
My feet look like a nine month pregnant woman who ate a container of salt the
night before.  It was really bad.  And a sign of my "grownness" lol.


Saturday was another good day.  We slept in until 10a.m., that's something that
never happens at home, our kids never let that happen.  We had breakfast, did a
little gambling and hung out.  It was a perfect day.  Later that night we went
to Pure, that's another nightclub.  Our friends new someone at Pure, and I felt
like Royalty walking through without waiting in line, while others looked at us
like, "who are they?"  lol  It was packed in there though, another scene of
close to naked girls grinding and dancing.  Bobby and I left after one shot of
yager for me and patron for him.  We gambled some more and then went back to the
room at about 3.  We also got to use that two person tub, but that's a different
post!

The next day was yesterday and time to come home.   We had so
much fun with our friends, it's hard to find other couples who you can really
enjoy spending time with, but we have em'. 

What happens in Vegas, I
guess stays in Vegas, unless you're talking about swollen feet, in which case,
and in my case, you bring those home with you.

Viva Las
Vegas!

 
I don't know about you, but I wish I could win
the lottery so that money would not be an issue for us.  Then all my time could
be dedicated to just serving God and my family.  I would love being home 5 days
a week with my kids instead of just two.  But we do what we have to do.  (I do
have a point.)

Anyway, if you're like me, and you wish you could stay
home with your kids, and you feel bad about the fact that you can't, well my
story will probably make feel worse. 
...
So,
I'm standing in the living room with 3 of my six boys, and the 7 yr. old and the
almost six year old are playing with a ball and Makennan (7) says.  "I wish I
had two moms."  "What?" I respond very confused about why he would want two
moms.  He goes on to say, "one to work, and one to spend time with us." 


My heart sank.  Then Malachi (almost 6) joins in.  "but I want you to be
the mom that spends time with us." 

How do you respond to that?  I
certainly don't know, all I said was, "awh, guys."  I wanted to say "thanks for
making me feel like crap guys,"  but I kept that to myself.

I'll make
sure to spend some extra quality time with them, so that they'll be okay with
just one mom, me.

I went to a Mocha Moms convention, which happened
to be in Vegas, "my favorite place!"  One of the many great speakers was Amy
Chua, the author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.  She spoke about the
differences in parenting styles between the Western Civ. and Eastern Civ. 


Anyway, after her presentation, I made a conscious decision to make some
changes in my own life in regards to parenting my kids. 
...
What I was doing before-
My kids always
would ask permission to do something or go somewhere or if someone could come
over at the last minute.  They would badger me and badger me until I said "ok
fine!"  After I would feel upset and so filled with anxiety because I let them
do something I really didn't want them to do, or I would have to reschedule
plans I already had to get them where they wanted to be.  I would have an
attitude which Bobby would get the grunt of.  Since Amy Chua, I started making
changes.

What I do now-
We now have a new rule when it comes to
making any type of requests.  First, requests have to be made at least 24 hours
in advance, no more calling me from school and asking to go to a friends house
after school.  No more, "can my friend come over today," while the friend is
standing right there.  Second, no request after 7p.m., by that time I'm tired,
and I don't want to be bugged and badgered after a long day. 
So far it's
been working well, and my anxiety level has gone from 100 to about 60. 


Try it, it really works, but know that if you adopt this rule in your
house, you have to be consistent with it or else the change won't happen.  But
if you do stick with it, pretty soon, your kids will start asking days in
advance, events will be planned out and organized, and you will feel a lot
better about letting your kids do the things they want to do.

Good Luck
and Happy Parenting! 
"Roar"

 
I'm an attorney, but more importantly I'm married to
a wonderful man and I am the mother of 7 kids. Many are surprised by that number
as big families are no longer the American norm. The first question I'm always
asked is, "Are they all yours?" Well yeah, I take care of all of them, but I
think the real question people want to ask is "Did you have all those kids." The
answer to that would be no. My eldest child is my 17 year old daughter, and I
got her when I married my husband, but the next six, which are all boys, came
out of my tummy. The ages are 15, 13, 7, almost 6, almost 4, and 16 months. It
gets pretty hectic, and stressful around here, but overall I'm having a great
time living "My Crazy Life...!"


I'm creating this page as a form of therapy I guess. I can vent, and then
be able to laugh at some of the things that are going on, and maybe offer some
advice to those who are going through similar situations as I encounter in my
daily Crazy Life. Others will be able to share the same types of Crazy Life
examples. We'll laugh and possibly cry together, and then hopefully realize that
our lives just aren't that Crazy after all!

Welcome!