My family

I am a wife to a wonderful man "Hubby" who I will have been married to for 13 years next Monday.  I am the mother of a fluctuating number of children.  I have a 9-year-old daughter "Louie" and a 4-year-old son "Chuckles".  I have also been blessed to be able to be a foster parent to 11 different children over the last five years.  I currently have two amazingly gorgeous foster daughters, 2.5-year-old "Jack" and 18-month-old "Pie." (And those are really our nicknames for them!).

I love being a wife, and I love being a mom.  However, loving it doesn't always make it easy.  Today, for example, was crazy.  My house looks like a tornado went through it.  I was after Louie all day to do her chores (some left over from yesterday).  Chuckles bit Louie.  Chuckles hit Jack and then said that Jack hit him (not that the reason he had hit her was because she had hit him, but that she had been the only one doing the hitting.  He has been blaming the babies quite a bit lately for things he has done.)  Louie informed me (while crying because I told her to work on her chores) about how embarrassed she is that I am "natural, not normal!" (Why can't you be like everyone else's mom?!!!)  Chuckles dumped Jack's sippy cup all over the bathroom floor.  I raised my voice with Louie and our neighbor boys heard. (It's hard when you live in a duplex!)  Jack soaked through at least 5 diapers and pants (She can go from dry to overflowing in less than 1 hour!  She drinks a lot of water.)  Pie kept climbing up on the table.  NO ONE was listening to me!  Everyone was crying for no good reason!  I called my husband (who is currently about 26 hours away) and told him what a hard day I was having.  A lady from my church called and asked how I was doing and I lied through my teeth.  I was having a rotten day.  It was about the closest I've ever been to breaking down and crying right in front of my kids!

Then, the kids got ready for bed.  We read our scriptures (with the kids actually listening and keeping fairly quiet).  The kids took turns saying their prayers and we had our family prayer.  Louie and Chuckles went into their room.  I put Pie down in her bed, and then stood quietly in the dark room swaying and holding Jack while she snuggled into me.  There's nothing better than that.  What a great day.