There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with this setup!!

Picture found @http://retrorenovation.com/galleries/1960s-kitchens/

The New and Improved ME

The time is going

SO quickly. You can see from the side bar that I started this blog almost a year and a half ago. I started it out of the need to vent, to relieve stress, to get my voice heard above the high level of stress and insanity in my house.

For those who have joined me recently I am a wife (to a wonderful man, who is though still a man), a mom (to two beautiful, funny and extremely intelligent girlies, who are so strong willed I often want to send them to kiddie boot camp) and a daughter in law to a woman we call GP (grandma Patty lives with us due to her dementia and being unable to care for herself). I love each and everyone of these people, but as you may know I didn't plan on living with all of these people!!

So, now my husband has had some extra training (he learned he will no longer bring a puppy into the house w/o my knowing about it first). My girls have matured a little (not so much that we don't have insane days, but who wants to read a blog about the same arguments about brushing teeth, cleaning their room etc.) and we now have some in-home-help with GP (so I'm not doing all the physical care for her and getting worn down emotionally, physically and mentally... Thank You for the help Miss Kathy and Miss Crystal!!).

All of this is to say this.... I now don't feel like I'm going insane... except about one week out of 4, if you know what I mean! So how do I continue doing something I have really come to love? I so enjoy blogging, writing out things that are floating around in my noggin'. Is the blog name

still relevant? Should I change the format, and make it more about life, and not so much about mommy? Should I make it about vintage and reading, and thrifting.... all of which I truly love to do? Should I make it more of a specific genre blog...? The answer that keeps coming back to me is NO!! This is who I am, wife, mommy, and caregiver (to all of them).

So I will continue on my quest for sanity... it will probably be until the last kiddo is out of the house (of which I keep reminding them 18 years is it, or 21 if you go to college). There is still the potential for the sanity in my life at this moment to fly away!! So I will continue to blog here. For the therapy, for the sanity, for the readers/followers I have (Welcome Seven Cherubs

to the insanity) for those of you out there who have yet to find me, I know you're out there!!

I hope you enjoy the blog as much as I do... keep on reading and leaving me comments (I lurve them).

An International WOW!

I found this video as I was roaming around blogland. I thought it was pretty cool, considering my brain doesn't work this way, that someone came up with the concept and then put it into place!! So for the WOW this Wednesday.... I just say "hats off" and "kudos" to those people in this world who can make dreams reality.

To those that are big dreamers and even bigger achievers; WOW I am truly With Out Words!!

Do you have a picture, video or story about something that has wowed you? Let me know, I'd love to post it for my Wednesday blogposts!!

Enjoy humpday everyone.... yeah you, (you know who you are) get your mind out of the gutter!!!

The WOW factor...

I've been saving some pictures from the vacation the girls and I went on with my family for my WOW Wednesday post. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is really a spectacular place to visit (or live if I had my way). The surroundings up there for the most part are undisturbed, fresh air is plentiful and the natural wonders are numerous. The Hiawatha National Park covers a lot of the land up there... not sure how much but it seems wherever you go there are signs at entrances to the park.

As a family we like to camp (for the most part) but we aren't so much the rustic campers anymore. I do have proof that as small children my parents took us girls to rustic campgrounds for "vacation" (I'm pretty sure it wasn't much of a vacay for my mom). Actually, as the story goes when we were camping the summer I was 2 yrs. we were at a campground and I potty trained in the the outhouses. I thought it was "cool"-- I was TWO! Whatev!! That is another story....

This year we were blessed enough to go to some of the landmarks while we were up there to see some waterfalls, lookouts over the lakes, lighthouses, a place called Kitchitikimee (where there are springs in the bottom of the clearest little lake). So here is pictures are some really awesome WOW's that I've experienced lately.

Note to self, next house needs to be by water. One way or another!

Coming into the U.P., did someone say "swim", the beach, Peninsula Point Lighthouse on Lake Michigan's Little Bay De Noc

Sunset from the lighthouse on Peninsula Point, Lake Superior

Miner's Falls, Munising Falls, walking to the falls

Standing on the docks @ Vagabond Resort, Little Bay De Noc

The glass bottom ferry @ Kitchitikimee, a tree that's fallen into the springs, the springs

The view of Mackinac Bridge on our way home! Five miles long, connects Upper and Lower Peninsula's and it separates Lakes Michigan and Huron.

ENTERTAINMENT

This is the entertainment I had while fixing dinner last night.... Lauryn reading jokes to me! She was actually surprised that I new some of them!!

Thanks Lauryn, you made meal prep fun and entertaining!! Love you, MOM XOXOXO

(photo taken with the Hipstamatic App on my iPhone! Isn't it a fun vintage look?!)

MY REALITY 101

NOTE TO READERS: This entry to my blog seems to be quite a rambling one...it's been in my head and heart for a couple days now. I finally found the time to sit and put it all down "on paper". It's a lot of thoughts, and while I try to keep them in check sometimes my thoughts do follow bunny trails..... hope you really get the meaning and that you too will find some reality in your lives!!

<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>

So, I'm at home almost daily. I work out of the house 2 days a week, helping take care of a young man with cerebral palsy. It isn't a hard job, he is quite independent. No, I actually work this job to get out of my house away from the stress that inhabits therein.

On the days I am home, 3 of those days my sweet hubby is gone for 11 hours each day..... which leaves me with 2 strong willed children, and his mom (who, if you are a new follower --"Hey there Mrs. Woog" --has dementia and needs pretty much total care).

Now that in itself is stress inducing, but for some reason I like to take it to another level and actually try and teach my two strong willed girlies some sort of life skills. Like honesty, cleanliness, responsibility, love and patience. Heaven help me if I ever find a day where they actually want to learn! Most days at home I work at keeping GP (Grandma Patty) comfy, with a good tv show or coffee or snacks (and sweaters even tho our house is 75 degrees F). I keep the house in some semblance of sanity and cleanliness (the hubs is a GREAT helper there) and keeping the kiddoes busy and OUT OF TROUBLE!! Thankfully they are at an age where they can play alone or together without constant supervision, although if it's too quiet for too long I get out the waders and go looking for them.

No, my reality has set in recently due to two different happenings this past week. You see I can be a bit of a complainer (hence the blog peoples), and an all around stressor of epic proportions. I don't care for the strong wills of my kiddoes, I don't quite know how to deal some days with the constant " I know more than my parents do" mindset of them! There are times I have even thought about boot camp, boarding school or heaven help her "grandma's house" (you really have to know my mom to understand the strictness of that option) for my 6 year old. Just so I could get some sort of a break from the mind games.

The reality is, she is strong willed. Also, I'm determined to love her through it and help her become a better person because of her strong will and determination. I Love her! I do, I Do, I DO!!! I should be VERY thankful for her, she is strong (both mentally and physically), she is beautiful (so much on the outside, we are really working on her inside) and she is talented! Yet there are days where I want to do the above, IN THE WORST WAY!!!!

Then I meet people like Daniel. He's a 26 year old young man that goes to our church. He has cancer. Not "just" cancer, but a very large cancerous tumor on his face. A very handsome face, if you see pics from when he was in high school. A face that you cannot see anymore because it is almost all hidden by this tumor. The doctors have treated it for 5 years now with some good results. They were able one time to shrink it down and remove the tumor (along with the eye, jawbone, cheek bone and most of his nose). It came back, and the radiation/chemo treatments are not doing anything to it. You know what? He isn't sitting at home complaining about his pain, his lack of good looks, his wanting an easier life to live. NO! He goes around talking about what God has done for him, about the people he has been able to encourage and help. No boohoos for him (I'm sure he has his days like all of us).

Or, I meet someone like Mason. I had the chance to take the girlies into McD's this past week for a quick lunch before going to the library.... we were waiting for our food to come up and this little boy comes over and starts talking to us. One of his first statements to me was, "You look like a really nice person, I don't have any friends." He said that more than once, and I was pretty shocked. One that he would come up and talk to total strangers, two that he would be so open and honest, and three that he was alone in the McD's (his stepdad was out having a smoke). We got our things and went to sit down. He was a few tables away.... he said, "I'd really like to keep talking to you, do you mind if I sit here?" and he pointed to a table next to ours. He got himself situated and I began to hear his story. He's 7, lives in three different places (sometimes with his mom, sometimes with dad and sometimes on the road with his stepdad), he is repeating the 1st grade ("cause my teacher likes me so much") and he doesn't have any friends any more. What an earful, and an eyeful.... he was dirt from head to toe (he'd been camping for the past 2 wks), and his front teeth were rotten and worn down. Yet, his eyes were bright and he was very articulate for a 7 yr old.

As we were leaving (he wanted to walk out with us, I think he would have come home with us) he climbed into the van where his stepdad was waiting and said "good bye" over and over to us. I left there thinking what a juxtaposition of lives.

jux·ta·po·si·tion   [juhk-stuh-puh-zish-uhn]

–noun
1.an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast.

Here I am with two willful girls, yet they are healthy, they are not in pain, they are clean, well fed, have a stable home with a mom and dad, they have friends, they are smart, they are what the world would call beautiful (I'd rather have that on the inside than out), they don't have need for anything and they are loved!!

So the reality is.... I need to just get a grip and live a more thankful life, and realize the blessings in my life could be taken away at any moment so I'd better cherish them while I CAN!!

Thanks Daniel, for the testimony and the sharing. Thanks Mason, for the reminder that not all children have it as good as my kiddoes and that I should love 'em as they are, everyday.

Have you had any reminders lately that spoke to your weaknesses? How do you deal with them? Oh, and any help with the girly "training" is always appreciated, as long as it is constructive and not judgmental.....I'm always looking and reading in search of the "holy grail" of child psychology!!

Connie Francis - Vacation

Give me a....

V. A. C. A. T. I. O. N. What's that spell.... you guessed it vacation! But due to the fact that the hubby stayed home to work this week, it is just me and the girls (or should I say Vacation Spoilers). Nah, not really!! Although they are quite the handful, grouchy (not enough sleep), demanding (not enough sleep) and did I say grouchy (DUE TO LACK OF SLEEP)... OH, that goes for me too!!



I'm trying my darndest to get these girls to bed at a decent time, that is kinda hard to do when all the other kids get to stay up as late as the adults... they are 10- 18 yrs. old!! Then with the "promise" of sleeping in the next morning (DOESN'T HAPPEN) I let the kiddoes stay awake until 9 or 9:30. Then the dreaded grouchies hit at the breakfast table, because we don't have what they want (forget about the 11 other people we are feeding). Oh, that sucks!



We are having some fun times tho'. We are going swimming each day (they LOVE it) and we get to roast hotdogs and marshmallow (they YUM it) and they get to run around with thier cousins and a few other kids at the resort (the ENJOY that).



So what have your vacations been like lately? Fun times? Draining?



I will say this about the girls.... even tho' they are getting eaten up by mosquitoes and other biting bugs up here in the north country they don't complain about that too much!!