Teens and toddlers

Can I be honest? It is hard having teens and toddlers. People see us and see the two teenagers and say things like "oh, you have your hands full but at least you have these helpers." and usually they are good helpers but they are not adults, they are still children. I honestly don't ever want them to feel as though they are "raising" their younger siblings, after all my husband and I are the ones who chose to have all the kids not them. Don't get me wrong I do expect them to help but I never want to overdo it or make them resent the younger kids.

That being said it is a difficult balance.It is hard to find things everyone wants to do. I always feel like someone is missing out, either we are shuttling the big kids places or going to a place the smaller children enjoy and the teens are bored.

I feel stressed some days, especially in the summer trying to keep everyone happy and occupied. I don't want anyone to look back on their child/teen years with anything but fond memories. Some days I really struggle with guilty feelings for having kids so spread out.

I know their are other families like ours but I don't personally know any and I am still trying to figure out how to make this all work.

15 months

This happy little man is 15 months old. He is into everything, making sure to keep up with his brothers. He loves balls, milk, being outside, swimming, phones and he gets great pleasure out of taking his Grandpas glasses off. He counts one, two, three then runs across the room and jumps into your arms, he eats anything offered to him, is known to swat the hand of his older brothers when he feels his space is being invaded, he has an affinity for babies and adores rides on golf carts and tractors. I am pretty sure he holds a special place in everyones heart, i know he does in mine.

Happiness is..

A tractor and Grandpa's lap. This boy LOVES his Grandpa and I am pretty sure his Grandpa feels the same way. Almost nothing makes my heart melt more than seeing my Daddy with my children! He is such an amazing man and I am so glad my children have him in their lives.

Are you an Epic Parent?

My former pastor Chris Spradlin has a new blog about parenting that will blow you away! His insights are amazing! I appreciate how he chooses to be real about his parenting failures and offer insights on how we can all make wiser decisions when it comes to our children. Check it out at http://www.epicparent.tv/ and follow him on twitter as well at Epicparent

Hot and tired

That pretty much sums up my life the last few days. I has been record braking hot here this month with temps over 100 all of July. It makes it hard to do anything with the kids because its just too hot for the things we usually enjoy. To top it off Krews has been battling a nasty ear infection and virus and has not been sleeping, which means I have not been sleeping either.

Last night we made our second ER trip this week and finally got some pain relief for him and he slept from 3 am to 8 am!! He is still feeling under the weather but is hopefully on the road to recovery.

No if it will just cool off so I can get these other rowdy boys out of the house to run and jump!

The one where I try and catch you up on my life lately...

As I eluded to in my last post. We are know a family of 8. We finally got guardianship of M and have spent the last month moving everyone and getting legal things and paperwork out of the way. I don't want to divulge too much information as I don't know what he would want me to share but lets just say this is truly a "God" thing and was not something any of us planned on when we all first met at church. M is a blessing to us all and hopefully we are a blessing to him as well. He has taken to our crazy noisy house and is a perfect big brother to our brood!
And NO we are not going to be adding anymore children to our gaggle. As a matter of fact due to chronic pain from endometrosis and other medical issues ( I'll spare you the gory details) I am having a hysterectomy later this month! It took a while to reach this decision but now that I have I am super excited to have it over with and be pain free and move on with the next phase in life.
So obviously it has been a crazy, hectic summer so far with no signs of slowing down soon. The kids are all doing great!
Speaking of great...This crazy year we have had, full of stress, chaos and mayhem has oddly been wonderful for my marriage. I can honestly say I am more in love with my husband than ever before!! I feel like a teenager again, totally in love and so thankful I get to spend the rest of my life with this man. I guess hard times really do make or break a marriage and I am so glad we have chosen to hold on tight and take this bumpy ride together.

Happy 4th of July from..

OUR FAMILY OF 8!!!