The Romance Isn't Dead, It Just Looks a Lot Different

On our first Valentine’s Day together, Phil and I danced our first dance on a balcony in Austria, to the song “Amazed” by Lonestar.  

Kinda hard to top that, right?

Yet, on our second Valentine’s Day together, Phil hung a whole bunch of hearts from the ceiling of my bedroom, each with a hand-written reason why he loved me, for me to find upon arrival home from work.  

On our third Valentine's Day together, now being engaged and almost married, we went out for a wonderful date.  You know the kind of dates you can have when you’re young and aren’t worrying about the kids and the babysitter.  It lasted hours, had many different courses of food, and lots of wedding planning conversation.

On our fourth Valentine’s Day, I was 8 months pregnant and Phil cooked me a gourmet dinner at home.  He decorated the table and lit candles and made it as beautiful and special as could be.

Oh we were so in love and wasn’t it obvious?  Anybody seeing Phil’s big romantic gestures could tell how devoted he was to me and just how much he cared.  I always felt like a princess on Valentine’s Day and he was my handsome prince, swooping me off my feet.

Questions I Get Asked Over and Over

Are They All Yours?

This is the most popular one, asked whenever we go out in public all together.  I used to have to bring all the kids everywhere when they were all younger, but now that I can leave a big kid in charge, I can take just a few to run errands and I don't get asked this question.  When we are all together, we laugh when we get asked, and just say "Yup!" and keep moving.  Of course they're all mine if I'm grocery shopping - who in their right mind would pick up extra kids to take to the grocery store?

Are You Going to Try for More (or Another Girl)?

Considering we only *tried* for one (Eamon) and the rest were little happy surprises, I never know how to answer this question.  If you're trying to use NFP for most of your marriage to postpone the next pregnancy...and then you end up with seven kids...I think it proves how very little control we have over this area of our lives.  And thank God for that!  If we had been NFP rockstars since the beginning, we wouldn't have the family we have!  We always wanted a large family, but thought we knew the best spacing, and it turns out we were completely wrong.  I wish I had just leaned into it more instead of white-knuckling through it.  So no, we're not going to try for another baby in the foreseeable future.  But that never means we won't have another baby.  And you get what you get, and you don't get upset in the gender game.  I honestly looooove raising boys, but Maggie will want a sister until she's old and gray.  

My Kids Go To Bed Early and Other Things That Make Me a Mean Mom

Sometimes I can be a mean mom, which I know because my kids will often tell me how UNFAIR a rule of mine is, and that EVERYBODY IN THEIR CLASS doesn't have to follow said rule.  It obviously phases me a lot.

{Not}

Guess what, children?  My job is to raise you to the best of my ability into healthy, happy, holy adults.  Those mean rules I put into place, and then into practice?  Yeah, that's because I love you.

{Gasp}

I love you enough to say "no" to your unhealthy appetite for junk food, screens, and staying up late.  

I love you enough to say "yes" to timeouts when you're a naughty toddler, loss of dessert when you're a naughty kid, and loss of screen privileges when you're a naughty teenager.

Let Them Be Big: My Hardworking Boys

When I think back over my childhood into becoming a young adult, I think the biggest lesson I learned was to work hard.  My parents didn't necessarily preach this all the time, but they were always working hard and we had a family ice cream shop, so we all had to work hard too.  I was only a 1st grader when I would wipe tables in the shop, fill spoon and napkin containers, wash buckets.  My "pay" was an ice cream cone at the end of my time there.  But I didn't do it for that.  It was just understood, expected, and necessary.  All of my older siblings were there scooping, and me and my little sister would help out however we could.  I *couldn't wait* until I could serve customers, which I was allowed at the age of twelve, and my pay turned from ice cream into cold hard cash.  I loved making my own money, and when I eventually managed the store at 16, would schedule myself in to work six days a week.  Working hard at the shop translated into working hard at school, and in our future careers, and it is really the one thing I wish my kids could experience.

But, since we don't have a family business, we are doing the next best thing, and making sure our kids understand the value of a dollar, learn how to talk to people, and equate hard work with success in life.  How do we do this?  We let them get jobs as soon as possible.

No!  Not that young! :)

Superbowl Prediction

From the book of Daniel, Chapter 8:

"This is what I observed: a he-goat from the west, encroaching over the entire surface of the world though never touching the ground, and between its eyes the goat had one majestic horn. It advanced on the two-horned ram, which I had seen standing in front of the gate, and charged at it in the full force of its fury. I saw it reach the ram; it was enraged with the ram and struck it, breaking both its horns, so that the ram was not strong enough to hold its ground; it threw it to the ground and trampled it underfoot; no one was there to rescue the ram."

Go Patriots!

People are Nice

I've seen some sweet gestures lately that remind me that most people are nice.  If you're looking for encouragement about the state of our world, read on....

When Andrew was in 2nd grade (6 years ago) he made a valentine for one of the young ladies who worked in his after-school program.  We left that school a couple of years later, and wouldn't you know that the same young lady ended up becoming the preschool teacher at his new school?  Now Andrew is in 8th grade, and this week she sent me this message:

"Mrs. X and I were just talking about how wonderful Andrew is, and I remembered this sweet Valentine from him way back in the day!"

This isn't a tale of Andrew's sweetness (though he sure was!) but rather of somebody thinking a kind thought about one of my children and actually reaching out to tell me.  So many times I think about how wonderful somebody is but don't go the next step to let them know.  Gotta change that!