Holy Shoes!

I have been packing for Michigan. We pack everything in a large, canvas, car top carrier because once we put all of our children in the car there isn't much room left for luggage. As I was packing and throwing the shoes into it I stepped back, looked and had to laugh. I guess we are a family that likes shoes! BUT....If you stop to think about it though if each person in the family brought 2 pairs of shoes that would be 28 shoes! It is these little things that stop me in my tracks and hit me...we are a huge family. With that comes lots more laundry, lots more shoes, lots more dishes etc...most importantly lots more hugs and kisses and love!

When It Rains It Pours

We have had SO much rain here. We have gotten more rain in the past six months than we do on an average yearly basis here in Oklahoma. I am not complaining though because it hasn't even reached 100 degrees yet. Usually by now we are in the 90's and 100's everyday. It has been kind of nice not to be consumed by the heat. It has rained for 15 days straight! Needless to say there is some flooding in low lying areas, but nothing to bad...yet!

One on One

It has been almost a week now since Jack and Mallory have been gone in Michigan. Rachel has had her Daddy and I all to herself and she is loving it. We are too! I am pretty sure that Aspen (our dog) has had a harder time with Jack and Mallory being gone than Rachel.

I have really enjoying being able to spend one on one time with Rachel. I am thankful I have had this chance, but it makes me a bit melancholy at times. I realize that sometimes I am missing out on the little things she is doing and the little joys of the day with her because I am so busy with two and sometimes four other children. If anything, instead of being sad about it I can remind myself of this past week and make myself stop and watch her and take her in more when all the kids are at home.

She is growing so fast and getting so smart! She says a new word or tries to say a new word almost every day now. She repeats everything. She is getting super fast too! She can really get her speed going when she doesn't want to get caught...lol. This chick is a boggier too!!! She hears the slightest beat or sound of music and she just starts dancing, moving, and grooving. What's amazing is I think she has more rhythm that I do, and she is only 1!

Going to the Zoo,zoo, zoo...

By saying going to the zoo, I don't mean my house...lol. The Monday after Father's Day my mom got into town with two special surprise visitors. Cousin Sophie (my niece) and Aunt Lisa(my aunt) came to Oklahoma too! They didn't stay for long but we did get a chance to go to the Zoo. Sophie had never been, and was asking Grandma Onie if there really were such things as elephants, bears, and giraffes, so we decided to show her the real thing!
They headed back to Michigan on Wednesday because of the rainy weather here...not much to do but sit around. Plus the kids(and Grandma) were anxious to get to the cottage and play on the lake. My mom took Jack and Mallory up north with her. So I am pretty much kid free, except for Rachel, for a week and a half. The kids and I both enjoy this alone time! We will go pick up the kids in Michigan and take a vacation over the week of 4th of July. I am really looking forward to spending time up there with the family.

Father's Day

Big Daddy Matt got a new grill for Father' Day. He was really surprised and likes his new grill. We made a special steak skewer Father's Day feast and grilled out that evening. They were so yummy! Good job honey!

Matt is such an amazing Father. Our kids adore him. They can't wait for him to get home at night and hate to see him leave. They don't ever want to go to bed without saying goodnight to daddy, if he is not home. He does so many special things with them that they will cherish and remember and pass onto their own kids someday. I am so proud when I see him with our kids. He is an amazing provider for our family and works so hard to make sure we have enough. If that means staying up until 4am five nights in a row working on extra work to pay bills. He is one of the most unselfish people I have met and he shows that to me and our kids everyday.

Happy Father's Day! You're the BEST!

Visiting

Matt's brother Marty, his wife, Jaclyn and their daughter Raya came for a long weekend visit over Father's Day. We had fun visiting with each other and watching the kids play together.

Raya is an only child(not for long!) and is used to having a house to herself and not much commotion. Needless to say when she got here she was in shock for the first day. She quickly adapted the next day and got right into the mix of the "wiggy 5". Avery and Mallory loved playing "mom" to Raya and were by her side the entire time. By the end of the visit Raya had caught on and started following Rachel around and was watching out for her!

After the kids went to bed the adults stayed up and played board games, Pente and Cranium. The boys got a reminder that, girls really are smarter than boys!!! Nice try though gentlemen.

We spent the majority of our time just hanging out at home. We really enjoyed chilling out and letting the kids play together. We didn't have anything on our agenda and played everything by ear. The kids had so much time to play and enjoyed every minute of it. It was so great.

It did stop raining long enough on Father's day for us to go to the pool. The kids all enjoyed that and Raya even went down the water slide. Way to go Raya!!

Beauty Secrets

Rachel has dicovered that Oatmeal baths do wonders for her skin!

Shop 'til you drop

My Grandma Pearl loved shopping. One of her famous sayings was "Shop 'Til You Drop". I even think she had a shirt that said that on it. Jack is a firm beliver that you can really shop 'til you drop.

Jack is not real fond of shopping and always asks me how many things we have to get when we go to the store. This helps him gauge how long he will be tourtured. The other day we were going to Walmart and he asked me that question. I replied that we had to get 283 things. He said Oh Man! Thats alot! I told him I was just kidding and we just had to pick up a few things. He turned to Mallory and said "Whew that's good cuz if you really had to get 283 things you would die shopping, cuz that would take forever."

My Baby

Rachel has been off the bottle for about a month and half now. It is always a hard transition. I'm not sure which it's harder for the parents or the child. She always took a bottle to bed with her, and fell asleep. So, of course, when we took it away she would cry for awhile and go to sleep. As a parent it is so hard to "do that" to your child. Knowing what they want and not giving it to them.

In the past two weeks we have found something that helps her go to bed without crying and I am so excited, and I love it. We sing her a few songs while rocking her in our arms then lay her in bed and sing her a song, then we tell her goodnight and she goes right down. It is such a blessing that I get to spend that five minutes of alone time, just Rachel and I, and the end of the day with her.

It constantly amazes me how good God is. He knows us before we were formed in our mothers wombs. He knows what our child's personality is going to be like before we do. I am in love with Rachel's personality. She does have a strong will and will let you know if she doesn't like something. On the other hand, she is our most cuddly baby. I need that, and God knows it and knew it!

Tonight while singing to her she was just hanging onto me and hugging me as tightly as she could while I was signing to her. It was such an amazing feeling. She is such a happy content child, especially when she is being cuddled, or in your lap. I struggle knowing that Rachel is our last baby and soon I will be looking at her with the same amazement I am with my other children. Thinking how can they be this big already. I want it to last, but I don't want to hinder her because of my selfishness of wanting to keep her my baby. Thank you God for giving me just what I needed with Rachel, my baby.

Soccer Camp

Dalton and Jack started soccer camp today. Dalton is going to the all day camp. Jack is in the half day camp. Both have been super excited and looking forward to it. It is run through TU (the University of Tulsa). This is where Matt played soccer and graduated from. Both boys said they had fun after their first day, and are looking forward to another day of soccer tomorrow.

Happy Birthday!

Will Harrison Mullen

9 lbs. 15 oz.
22 inches
7:31 am
June 10th
Congratulations Drew and Lisa!

(Lisa is my cousin)

First Haircut!

Rachel got her first haircut yesterday. She did so good. She sat all by herself and was as still as an 18mo. old can be. She still has all her curls, but her hair looks a little less wild now!

(This picture was taken before her hair was cut)

Summer Nights

This picture was taken two nights ago. This is the view we had from our backyard of the sunset. It was so beautiful. It has been gorgeous here today. Perfect weather. I am savoring it now, knowing in about two weeks all signs of gorgeous, beautiful, nice, will vanish into a heat sweltering vacuum of humidity and with no breaks from the heat in sight. Here in Oklahoma it can be 2 am and it will still be 85 degrees out. That is one thing I miss most about Michigan weather. It got cool at night, but not here.

It was so nice that we grilled out tonight for dinner. I made a Mediterranean Salad, Crunchy Parmesan breadsticks, and Grilled Greek Chicken Kabobs. As many of you know I was the butt of many jokes growing up, about my cooking abilities. How "I couldn't even boil a pot of water" or "...couldn't even make macaroni and cheese". Well to all those people I stick my tongue out to you!!! I have found that one of my favorite things to do to relax is cook. And I must say...I have gotten pretty good at it. I really enjoy trying new recipes and creating yummy meals that are healthy for my family. I find it fun to look up new recipes and create menus for the week. I like that I have been able to keep some of my family favorites as a kids growing up (hot dog soup) going in our family and I have been able to create new family favorites for my kids. Hopefully one day they will pass them onto their children.

My Soap Box

I didn't really have anything to say about what happened in our lives today. I thought I would write about something I have started to do that not everyone knows about.

A couple months ago I took a mediation class. No, not meditating where you sit around cross legged and hum. This is a class where you learn how to help people who are in a dispute come to a resolution without having to go to court. The course I took was for the family side of court. You can also take a class for civil disputes and issues, but I am not interested in that part of the legal system at all. I am now a certified court mediator. Which basically means, the court/judges can appoint me to a case that needs a mediator. I can also go out and get my own business not involving the court system as well. I have been shadowing our lawyer when he does mediation's. I have been trying to go to as many as I can to get a feel for "real life" situations, because every single one is very different.

I have always struggled with what "I want to be when I grow up". I had so many different interests and paths I could choose. I took a spiritual gifts test and even took a class when I attended Central Michigan to try to help me discover what areas and professions I would really enjoy. I was still coming up empty handed with what I truly felt I wanted to do, until now.

I am so thankful (although sometimes I don't feel like it) to God for bringing Matt and I through this custody situation. I feel like this entire thing has taught me what I want to be and where I want to go with a career. I am so passionate about helping other people who are stuck in the same situation. I want to help them try to reach a resolution before having to go through court. Mostly, I am very excited that I can be an advocate for the children during these times. Even when the cases I will mediate won't always get settled at least I will have a chance to talk candidly with the parents about what matters most in these situations and give them resources to make this as easy on the kids as possible.

My dream is to someday be busy enough to open up my own office. As the years go on and I get more experience and more knowledge of the court system (than I already do...argh!), I would really like to start doing something to make changes in the legal system regarding the divorce process. I really want to make it better for everyone involved, but especially for the children. I feel that there are many things the court system could do differently in those aspects. I also would like to start looking into and becoming an advocate/spokesperson for equal rights to both parents.

Momma's Girl

Last night after Matt got home he had to take a business phone call. To get some peace and quiet he went outside and sat on the front porch. I was making dinner and the kids were playing outside. Mallory came in and informed me that Rachel was "stinky". I said okay I'll come get her in a minute to change her. She said I'll tell daddy. I said "No he is on the phone". So she went back outside. So a few minutes later I still hadn't come out to get Rachel and Mallory took matters into her own hands. I heard the front door opening and I said "Mallory do not go out to daddy" and she said "but I have to tell him he needs to change Rachel". I said "I can do it". She started crying saying "no I want to tell him" I said Mallory...."I mean I can change Rachels diaper, daddy doesn't have to do it". She turns to me and puts her hands on her hips and stomps her foot at me and says "No, you change her enough, daddy needs to do it!"

That a girl!!!

Recipe Rescue

Over Seasoning Savvy

If you've been a bit heavy handed with the spice, sugar or salt, here are a few hints for saving your dishes

Too Salty? Don't reach for a raw potato- it's a kitchen myth that it calms dishes that are too salty. Instead use a bit of sugar or maple syrup.

Too Sweet? Acidic items, such as lemon or vinegar, tend to cut down on both too-salty and too-sweet dishes. Also, for savory dishes, adding a dash of cayenne helps cut down the sugar.

Too Spicy? Add something with a little fat such as butter, or something sweet such as peanut butter or honey.

Little Miss Sunshine

Every time Mallory wears her hot pink cowgirl boots it makes me laugh. It reminds me of Little Miss Sunshine.

She is our Little Miss Sunshine!

Fresh Lobster and ATV's

Matt got tickets through work to the ATV championships out in Stillwater, Oklahoma. We took the kids, Kimmer, and a couple of the kids' friends out yesterday to the races. It was so cool. SO much different than on T.V.

We packed up early in the morning and got out of town about 8:30. We packed a picnic lunch in the cooler with sandwiches and snacks. We also decided to pack the pack 'n play and wagon which turned out to be a great idea. As you can see in the picture above we were able to shade her for most of the day from the sun. She did much better than we thought she was going to do being "stuck" in there. We let Mallory and Avery climb in to give her some company once in a while.

We were out in the sun from 11-3. Peek sun times and it was hot. It was Kim's first day off this summer to spend out in the sun. She was determined to get a tan. Well she got a little more than she wanted. She was as red as a LOBSTER last night. I'm sure she is hurting this morning at work. When she got up to walk she would hold her arms up, out in front of her and walk stiff legged. She couldn't be away from a fan blowing on her for more than 30 seconds or her skin would start burning. She had a fun time at the races though!

Since Matt's company was doing all the video and production for the event we got to go into the video audio truck and watch how it's all done. That was pretty cool. It will be on T.V. July 7th on ESPN 2.

Swimming

Our kids are like fish. They all love the water and could spend the entire summer at the pool. We have been blessed by our friends Jeff and Jennifer Bauman with a membership to a community pool. It has a diving board, two water slides, a kiddie pool, grills, picnic tables, and a snack bar. I have a feeling that is where most of our summer is going to be spent.

We decided to go out there to swim this evening, after torturing the kids all day with errands. They did such a good job of helping us out with all of our weekend chores and running around that we decided to take the evening off and go swim. We left the house about 4:30 with bathing suits, towels and a cooler packed with dinner. Matt grilled hot dogs for us with out any grilling utensils...oops won't forget those again! The kids swam while he cooked then we all sat and ate dinner and went back in the pool for about another hour. It was so much fun!

God has blessed us with some really great friends. We are so thankful to the Baumans for donating the pool pass to our family this summer. We are meeting new people from our church and around the neighborhood every time we go and the kids are making new friends too.

Needless to say the kids went to bed tonight so easy. We didn't hear a peep out of any of them!

Nudist Colony???

After the last two weeks of laundry I am seriously thinking about signing the family up to join a nudist colony. I think it would really help on the amount of laundry that goes through our house. In the past two weeks I have counted each week how many loads of laundry we are doing. An experiment I wanted to try so that I could figure out why doing a load of laundry a day was still adding up to, being behind on laundry...ALL the time. So this is what my experiment yielded. You ready for this....

18 loads of laundry a week.
36 loads of laundry in 14 days!!!

So I am pretty much convinced that it's either a nudist colony or each person in the house hold only gets seven outfits total. One for each day of the week.

Oh and while we are on the subject of laundry. My genius husband who got so fed up with sorting socks...there are a lot of feet in this house...decided to start this new pinning system. Before anyone puts their socks in the dirty laundry they have to safety pin them together. This way they go through the wash as a pair and come out as a pair..no sorting socks. It has actually worked out great and saved a lot of time.