Family Monopoly Fued

https://youtu.be/ujvUR1jGcUg

Real Life With 9 Kids

I'M A MOM. Those 3 words by themselves,  not such a big deal, there are lots and lots of moms in this big world of ours.  So, let me add to that. I'M A MOM... WITH 9 KIDS. There. That's the short and simple of my complicated reality. I have 9 awesome children... who might just end up being the death of me. 

9 kids is a lot. I mean, a lot. There's never a moment of quiet in my house... if it's quiet, the kids are either gone or sick or something.  We're always overrun with kids and chaos. There's always something going on and something needing to be done. 

Life with kids is messy. Life with 9 kids, even messier. There are 9 amazing human beings that I'm responsible for raising into responsible, compassionate, productive adults. That's a huge undertaking, and it can be overwhelming at times. .. especially when everything happens all at once. 

9 kids means dishes and laundry are constantly piling up, there's clutter everywhere, no one has enough space and there are lots of arguments and disagreements. My bathroom - especially  with 7 boys and a husband - is in a constant state of disarray, the toilet seat is left up half the time, someone almost always forgets to flush or replace the toilet paper roll.

Milk is a hot commodity around here, along with bread and bananas. We run out frequently and often have to make quick store runs.. feeding 7 to 9 kids at any given time is expensive and requires a lot of planning and energy. 

But, with all the challenges and crisis moments that come with raising 9 kids... we also have a lot of love. We have built in friends and playmates, we have a built in support system,  everyone has each other's backs and we have a strong family. I wouldn't trade this crazy life of mine for anything. My children are amazing and they inspire me daily to keep trying and to do better, for them and myself. 

With 9 kids, we have a challenge to meet. My husband stepped into this already made family of myself and 9 kids and just dived right in and started helping. We are blessed to have each other and all these wonderful kids.  My heart overflows with love and gratitude for my blessings, even when things get hard.

That's real life with 9 kids.

Life,love,home, family, real,life,mom,mommy,momlife,9kids

Money for walking!

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Mommy Guilt

As moms, even when we're doing everything "right," we tend to feel an irrational "guilt" that we're not good enough. It's tragic,  really, that most poor parenting comes from our own insecurities and unreasonable guilt.

 Even when there's truly an issue with our parenting,  that irrational guilt or thinking we're the worst will keep us from seeking outside help. Not just from fear of being judged, but because we're already judging ourselves.

Fairytale Endings

When I was a little girl, I believed in fairy tales and happily ever after. I suppose, most of the time, that little girls are taught from a young age to believe in their knight in shining armor on a white horse coming to sweep them off their feet and then live happily ever after. After all, isn't that the stereotypical fairy tale? 

The problem lies in the fact that fairy tales, at least the Disney version, don't really exist.  So, women grow to become disillusioned, while still searching for their happily ever after.... often in the form of their knight in shining armor. But what happens when they don't show up?

For years, I believed in the fairy tale ending and kept thinking that if I were just with the right man, it would become easy, that I'd find my happily ever after... and my knight would come rescue me.  After 3 failed marriages and a couple of dating relationships gone badly, I'm now a single mom with a lot of stress and a lot of happiness in my life. Don't get me wrong,  I'm not happy to be a single mom. I don't enjoy stress. But I have 8 beautiful children (which I co-parent with their fathers) and another on the way.  Two of those children are girls. The rest are boys. 

Here's the deal... maybe it's not time for me to be in a relationship, maybe it will never be time for that,  maybe I haven't met the right person. .. who knows? What I want my daughters to know is that you have to make your life yourself. Don't wait on or rely on a man to fix it or save you.  Make your happiness for yourself and don't believe that you can't be happy without a man. 

What I want my sons to know is that you don't have to ride in and rescue any woman... that's not your job. All of my children, I want to learn the value of loving themselves, respecting themselves and others, learn the art of communicating and know what you bring to the table in relationships (or life in general) and don't settle or blur your own boundaries just to be with someone. Be a whole you, so you can be a whole equal partner when the time is right.

#life #love #relationships #self #peace

Opinion, Truth and Faith

http://authorjuliemichael.tumblr.com/post/143607903155/faith-vs-truth-vs-opinion

Watch For My Second Book... Coming Soon!

I have been a horrible blogger lately. I know I have. I think that sometimes, we let life get in the way of living life or of doing those things that we enjoy. I'm also horribly behind on my second book right now. I have been slowly working on it here and there, but just now finally getting truly motivated to get it finished. My second book is called "Finding Your Place in Life," I am hoping to have it completed by the end of the first week of March. 

It's been a long time coming, considering I started working on both of my book manuscripts a long time ago. But, I wanted to make sure that I said what I wanted to say and that I expressed myself appropriately. It takes a lot of time and effort to write, especially when one has to go back and edit and re-edit or delete entire paragraphs, just to get one point across the right way. I'm not so certain that I've managed to do this correctly, but, I'm a work in progress, and so is my writing.

The Importance of Realizing Imperfections

You know, it always amazes me when others deem their lives to be much more important than the lives of others. I'm not talking about literal lives, as in living and breathing,  the functioning of a human being. Not at all. 
I'm talking about the daily act of living  .. one's hopes, dreams,  goals, doing that which you love or want.  I'm talking a LIVING.  But what astounds me the most, is the fact that so many people are preoccupied with their daily routines and their own wants and desires... which makes it difficult for us to actually SEE others and the struggles they go through.

Sure.. I have problems.  Everyone does. But that doesn't mean that anything going on in my life is more important than what is happening with someone else. The truth is... we all struggle along and we all have demons to fight.  Such is being human.

Instead of solely focusing on ourselves and our problems... perhaps it's time to focus on others and what they need to be happy and successful in life. This requires patience, intentionality and the desire to make a difference. Life isn't easy. Be the person who stays with a friend or family through the hard times and express empathy and caring for someone else and the struggles they face.

Live life as if today were your very last day and just keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

Life and Love

     Here's what I've learned about life and relationships. Whether it's a significant other, parents, friends, kids, etc... relationships are unpredictable. You never know for sure what's going to happen, no matter how committed you might be to a person or that relationship. The truth is, you cannot control anything or anyone else... you're wasting your time trying. I don't think the solution to this is to avoid loving to avoid being hurt... I think that all we can do in this life is to love the best we can, even when it results in us being hurt. Through pain comes personal growth... even if it's at the temporary cost of our sanity and our heart. We almost always heal from heartache.
     If you close your mind, heart and spirit to love and the experiences that come with it... you'll never be able to love fully, openly and honestly. But, it scares us to be that vulnerable to another person. Yep. We would rather judge another or express our disappointment in someone else's flaws by turning our backs on them or shutting them out... but why? Because it's "easier." Well, the truth is, it's NOT.
     I don't want to go through life the easy way (obviously, one can tell that about me just by my choices I have made... I didn't pick the easy route. haha), I want to go through my life and live to the fullest, with the most experiences and the most depth possible... even if I get hurt. I'd rather experience both sides of love and loss than to never know love or happiness. And I think the biggest mistake we can make is to reach the END of our lives with REGRET. Love, be honest and live your life on your own terms... take risks, you might be surprised what you gain and learn from even losses. DON'T be afraid!

Rough Beginnings to 2015

As 2015 gets off to a start, it's already shaping up to be a rocky few months... here's my thought process right now.

Men, if you don't want kids or to be a father, wrap up your "toy." You don't earn man points or respect simply because you can impregnate someone or have multiple kids by different women. A real MAN will help support his children financially and will be involved in his children's lives.

I never wanted to be a single parent. It's really difficult to try to be in the role of both mom AND dad. But, I do my best. At the end of the day, my kids will respect that and appreciate it. I will teach my daughters to be self sufficient and to depend on only themselves, don't expect or trust a man to do it for you. I will teach ALL of my children the importance of financial and relationship stability before having children. And I will teach my sons to be decent men, to know the importance of truth and monogamy... and for pete's sake, not to be assholes!

There you have it. I didn't want or ask to be a single Mom... BUT, I have this handled and I will takr care of my kids. I will be Mom and Dad both. So, carry on, everyone... just thought I'd throw that out there! ‪#‎igotthis‬ ‪#‎singlemom‬‪#‎deadbeats‬ ‪#‎lovemykids‬