This past weekend, we hosted the family birthday party for all of the children who were born in August. My aunt was here as were my brother’s family and my mom (from Oklahoma City!).  Saturday afternoon was fun as the children chased each other from room to room, up and down the stairs, and played non-stop with balloons. (I could save a fortune on toys if I just gave them balloons.) It was halfway through my mother’s visit that I... Read more

“This is my neighbor, Rebecca,” my neighbor S introduced me the other day. “She has 6 children and one more on the way.” I flashed what I hoped was a friendly smile to the group of moms at the neighborhood pool as my hand unconsciously found its way to the top of the lump that is my middle.   On the way?  I contemplated again at this socially acceptable description of my daughter.  As her heel thrust up determinedly against the... Read more

I’ve recently been taking a trip backwards through time; I’ve been researching my family history. It’s weird what you know about your family, what you think you know and what you’re totally wrong about….like my family. I thought my mom’s family was German.  That’s what I’ve been told for as long as I can remember, and I never thought to question it.  Her maiden name wasn’t particularly Germanic, but lots of names got changed at Ellis Island.  Since her people... Read more

This morning at the pool, I was reclining on the steps with #6 on my lap facing me.  He kept smiling every time that he caught my eye.  Finally, he placed one small hand on either side of my face, smiled hugely, sighed and said “love, love…love, love love” in the sweetest sing song voice. He crooned his love song and I felt like the luckiest mom on the planet.  I couldn’t stop smiling.  After a while of gazing deeply... Read more

I have recently come to the inevitable conclusion that I attract crazy.  I send out a signal like a homing beacon and draw it to me. A few weeks ago when I was couch shopping, this woman sat down next to me on the sofa I eventually purchased.  I was just waiting for the saleslady to bring me the total bill including delivery when this voice next to me said “Do you see the guy I’m with?  I know everybody... Read more

**Stream of consciousness writing from a person with ADD who’s off her meds.  It meanders a bit all over the place.  But I needed it out of my head and on “paper”.  If you can’t follow my thought process, it isn’t you, it really is me. ** For years now, I have hoped and prayed for my family of origin to be re-united.  I never wished for my parents to be remarried, my father has a new wife and has... Read more

It’s been a rough 48 hours.  The kind that make you want to go and rethink your life, so I am rethinking it….I’m trying to find the good in all of it. It’s not always so easy. Yesterday morning, we awoke to find that the dog had gotten out of her crate in the laundry room and must have eaten something that didn’t agree with her.  The floor looked as if it had been painted with poop.  It was all... Read more

We’ve now been in Texas for close to two months.  It isn’t as lonely as I feared it would be, and I haven’t found my people yet.*  (It’s the one thing I miss about Oklahoma….my people.)  What I have discovered is a wonderfully non-judgmental attitude from the people we meet. In Oklahoma City, I got used to the little comments on our family’s size. Some of the comments were innocuous, “You’ve got your hands full there”, while others were shockingly... Read more

This past weekend, my sweet husband and I took our brood down to the peace and quiet that is my in-laws’ house.  They are preparing to move in a few weeks and we jumped at the opportunity to spend a weekend in the aura of my mother in law’s calm.  We also realized that it might be our last chance to spend time in the house we both have come to think of as home. There is so much history... Read more

What is it about weddings that they seem to breed drama?  Is it the pageantry?  The emotions involved? Something more? Do weddings manufacture their own turmoil? We have spent the last week trying to stay afloat in the rising tide of chaos that is a family wedding.  There have been tears, recriminations, hurt feelings, and anger.  It just seems so unnecessary. Marriage is an institution created by God for the good of mankind.  Weddings are an institution created mostly by... Read more