Happy Father's Day

Today is the day we celebrate the men in our lives who have been fathers or father figures to us or our children.  I am celebrating this day with my husband or at least we will later when he is up.  I will of course call my father and grandfather to wish them a wonderful day. 

Father's Day is both happy and sad in our family.  On this day I am reminded of my oldest daughter's father who passed away when she was still very little.  It has been 8 years now and it still makes me cry to know that he is not here to watch her grown and change.  He was a wonderful father and  not only loved our daughter but also loved my )our) son.  He came into my life with 4 children of his own and I came in with one.  It was a very complicated situation for most people but not for us.  We found a way to make it work and all 6* of our children loved our large and unusual family.  My late husband made a point to never make my son feel like he was less then.  My oldest son was only 3 when I got married but since that day he was always Louis's son and no one could deny that.  He still claims him as his first Father to this day.  He loved all of our children and it was a sad day when we lost him.  But we can look back on all the wonderful times that we had together as a family and how amazing he was as a father. 

My son and daughter are both very lucky to have had a wonderful father and to also be blessed with another man who was willing to walk into my life and take on the role of father to two that were not his own.  My current husband is younger than I and had no previous children, but came in with his eyes and heart open.  It has not been an easy road but he has stuck with it and it has paid off.  We now have a total of 6* children and 4 are ours but no one could tell that he has not been here the entire time. 

It is not easy to parent someone else's children and any man who is willing to step in and try to be not just a parent but a true father to your child is a special person.  In my life I have been lucky enough to truly fall in love 2 times and both times those men have chosen to be part of my children's life. 

So on a day like today, I celebrate the men in my family who have made my life so wonderful by being amazing fathers.  To all the fathers past, present, and future.

Note:  If you were keeping count, yes that is a total of 10 children that I have had a hand in raising over the last 16 years they don't all live with me, but they all still call me Mom. (4 step and 6 biological)

Where will the day take you?

Today is the day that I have vowed to keep my temper and wits about me for the next 24 hours. I have not been the best parent this week while dealing with a few stressful situations. I admit that I have a lot of short comings and that my temper has always been one of them, mainly because I have very little patients. Its funny to think that I can not go an entire day without yelling, but also sad to think I do yell basically from the time I get up to the time my kids go back to bed. Its been a real struggle this month to handle all of the things going on in our family and trying to get ready for the life altering adjustments we are all going to make this summer. Instead of working on changing my children and making them better, I have decided to start with me, it only seems right. I am not trying to become a "perfect parent", but my goal is to be a better, more patient,parent. So lets see where this day takes us and hope that it last at least 24 hours and that this is the start of a new beginning for me.

Too Many Kids

This was the first week back to school and I learned a few things this week. I am not ready to do mommy and me class with both my 1 year old and my 3 year old its just really a lot of work for my pregnant self. I am the least patient person when I am dealing with my husband and my children on the same level in a 24 hour period. If I don't get out of this house with out them at least once a day for at least a few minutes heads will role. Its a lot of work to keep the house running and not lose my sanity but I miss my husband and what help he did give when he was home from work.
I can concede to the fact that being pregnant and having to run after 2 small children is not going to be easy and I might have to ask for help. My biggest lesson learned is that I am not going to be perfect at this and I will have to let some of the things I hold dear to me go. It will not kill anyone if we have pancakes for dinner once in a while. Its OK if the laundry only gets done on the weekend when I have a few people in the house to help watch the kids. Its no big deal if I clean late at night and early in the morning when I can put on my headphones and just go at it like a crazy women.
I want to enjoy my time home with my kids and realizing that if I don't take care of me I can't take care of them is a lesson that every mommy has to not only learn but actually put into practice.