No,no this is NOT an announcement of any sort. Although after having 7 kids anytime I call some one and say I have news or that I have been not feeling well they assume it means I am pregnant.

On Sunday we had a single friend over at our house right after Church. We were hurry to change out of our Sunday clothes before heading to a going away Open House for two families that are moving away from The Netherlands. As I was pulling the pork roast apart for the pulled pork we needed to take I was calling out instructions to all my monkeys. You know the usual “someone potty Mark, please”, “grab the little kids a change of clothes and change them please”, hurry please you only have as long as it takes me to finish this pork”. All normal things around our place. In my mind it was the usual hustle and bustle of our family. This cute friend of ours turned to me and said “it’s good to see your kids like this” to which my response was “oh talking?” because somehow I manged to have 6 shy kids and only 1 who will talk to just about anybody. Our friend said “No, calm and quiet” and I was thinking HUH?? Calm?? Then she said to me “have you seen the movie Cheaper by the Dozen? I thought your house would be like that”. This has me thinking.

Do I portray a mom who is frazzled and overwhelmed? Or do I appear calm and under control? Either could probably be applied depending on when you find me on any given day. I don’t really recall too many moments of truly feeling overwhelmed except those typical mom moments we all have no matter how many kids we have been blessed with in our lives. You know the ones I am talking about a kid yelling at you from the toilet to help wipe their bum, dinner on the stove needing to be stirred, a load of laundry beeping at you from the other room, someone asking for help with an algebra problem all during the witching hour after school but before dinner. We all have those moments whether we have two kids or seven.

So let me say this now to those who think my life is Cheaper by the Dozen. It is not for the most part. We have our own version of chaos but it’s ours and we LOVE it. I am blessed with some amazing kids who choose to be helpful I am not sure if it is fear of punishment that motivates them but let’s pretend it’s not and let’s assume it’s because they just love me

We are all busy in our lives. We each choose how busy we want our lives to be and how we want to spend our time. So often I hear oh wow, you must be so busy if you have seven kids. I used to respond with a joke or an explanation of some sort and now my answer is just “no busier than you, I only get 24 hours in a day just like you”. Because at the end of the day that’s what it boils down to how did I fill my day. Am I so busy I can’t take my 2 and 3 year olds to the park and watch them play in the sand for 2 hours? What do I actually have that is so pressing? I had a mom just the other day tell me she doesn’t know how I attend everything at the school for my kids. I think she was looking for some magic answer from me on how to be in two places at the same time. Needless to say she seemed disappointed when I told her I don’t attend everything. I learned a long time ago they will ask me to attend the things that matter to them and the rest is not important. They also have learned that in life we make choices and sometimes it is between two good options so if I choose to attend another siblings activity instead it’s not because I love one of them less than the other it’s just because it was more important to the other sister or brother that I be there.

So here’s to hoping I don’t look frazzled and crazy on all summer and we make our way through our adventures. And if they were really cheaper by the dozen I might be talked into a few more

Here I am almost 4 months after my minor knee surgery that turned into reconstructive knee surgery during the procedure and I am on my way back to me. If I had to venture a guess I would say I feel like I am at 85% of the normal me. I will take it! I still can’t sit criss cross applesauce but really how often does a woman my age sit that way anymore, actually more than you think until you can’t do it but that’s alright. Slowly but surely I am getting there. What a interesting ride it has been both emotionally and physically but to be totally bare my soul honest it was hard, really hard to sit around and watch other people do the things I love to do. I love being a mom to these wonderful people The Lord has trusted me to care for. I am so grateful that I can cook dinner and do laundry and clean my house again! I know call me crazy but those are my jobs that I missed. Still no running and that might be for a year but I am finding new ways to workout. The workout I put myself through yesterday kicked my trash, gotta love that can’t walk or laugh because I worked out feeling.

Now that I am no longer hobbling down these cobble stone streets we are back to do fun family outings. We took our first big trip back to the US for Easter weekend and our Spring Break. I was a little worried about how hard it would be for my kids to see all their friends and family and then leave them again but they did fantastic. A few tears but that was to be expected. We spent the weekend in Kingwood and then flew to Utah to visit more friends and family and attend General Conference. The whole family had a great trip and loved every minute of the trip.

One of the most frequent questions we are asked when people find out we have seven kids is “how do you manage?” I will be honest for me it’s not that hard. Don’t get me wrong we have our bad days but for the most part we do all right. I know for a fact that I would be lost without my right hand man, literally James is one of the most competent and capable fathers I have ever known. He is amazing and completely hands on with our kids. Take right now for instance 3 weeks ago I went in for what we thought was a simple outpatient surgery for a torn meniscus on my right knee. Only I woke up from anesthesia to find my right leg in a full cast from just below my hip all the way to the ankle. Panic started to set in as my doctor and nurses informed me the damage was worse than they thought so they ended up using reabsorbable pins to fuse my bones back together. Keep in mind this information is coming at me by people speaking Dutch and English at the same time all around me and I was sedated. It did not go over well. They wheel me into my recovery room and I find my sweet husband waiting for me after a 2 1/2 hour surgery instead of the 45 minutes we were prepared for and he gets the information and says “we’ll figure it out”. As if it is no big deal for a mom of 7 to be 100% non weight bearing for 6 weeks and then to do 6 more weeks of physical therapy. Fast forward 3 weeks and we are halfway through this ordeal tomorrow.

I am not the most patient of people when it comes to laying low per the doctors orders. I hate doing nothing all day everyday. Don’t get me wrong I love my occasional lounge day where I stay in my pajamas and ignore all but the most basic needs of my children but enough is enough. How many Netflix and Hulu shows can one person watch? I feel like certain characters are my only friends these days and I wonder why they haven’t even called to check on me. I look forward to about 4:30 every afternoon because that is about the time people in the States are updating their statuses on Facebook. Every third day when I have the gusto to haul my 20 lb cast up the stairs and spend the 45 minutes it takes to shower I get so excited. Ignore the fact that I have to sit on a rented nursing home shower stool with a giant tube of plastic covering my cast so it won’t get wet. Saturday I was able to stand on one leg long enough to buzz the boys heads and cut James hair I thought I was fancy so tonight I stood one one leg again and gave 3 of the girls haircuts. I am almost positive they are even but if not just stand on one leg to look at them and you will be alright.

My friends were awesome bringing in meals and taking kids where they needed to be for the first week till my mother in law flew in so that James can try to get as much work done as possible. She is here for 3 weeks and then my little sister in coming in to help for the rest of the time till the cast comes off. My husband is a smart man who understands what it takes to keep us running. He hired a cleaning lady who is AWESOME and may or may not stay on after I have healed, I am hoping we keep her then I wouldn’t have anything to do anymore except maybe laundry and then I can voluntarily lounge on the couch all day.

This really cramped our vacation plans for February break. I was really hoping to escape from the winter weather but to quote my doctor ” any lady who has 7 kids is going to overdo it as soon as her cast comes off so I am telling you NO traveling” What does he know? So instead we will hang around here and maybe I will be let out of the compound for a day or two because of good behavior. So my advice to all you other moms out there who want some time off–find another way besides reconstructive knee surgery! Take a day or two off when you feel like it because it is not any fun when it is forced.

We started our Christmas season with a planned weekend to Cologne,Germany for a visit to the “must see” Christmas markets. First off our departure was delayed a day because James- the lucky dog-was returning from a 10day business trip to Houston. Apparently these Texans were unaware how cold -9*C actually feels so after about 2 hours in Cologne with kids who had snot freezing to their faces we decided to throw in the towel and head home. Sometimes mom’s know everything without knowing we know everything. About 10 minutes from the house Mark started throwing up repeatedly which continued all night until the morning when Lainey started feeling sick too. Lesson learned snow boots, snow pants and THICK wool socks are a must have for next year.

For the kids for Christmas we gave them a trip to the French Alps in the South of France. My first mistake was letting them have a vote. James and I talked and I wanted a beach holiday and he wanted snow so we took it to the kids. I thought I had more kids on my side than I did so when votes were counted it was 8 to 1, snow won. We rented a chalet at a ski resort but didn’t book any lift passes or ski school or anything. We were put in a place right by some great little hills and it was perfect. I didn’t have to cook breakfast or dinner for a week and if we didn’t want to go down to the restaurant for dinner they would bring it to us. Gourmet food in my pjs was AWESOME! My kids tried some great local foods and LOVED every minute in the cold white snow. I will admit the snow is not too bad if you get all geared up for it but this half Cuban Texan would still prefer a white sandy beach over white frosty snow. Best moment of the trip was when Caitlyn got going so fast down a hill on the sled that she hit a tree and kept going with a 2ft long branch stuck in her hair. I am not even joking it was pretty cool she wasn’t even phased by it at all. I may not love the snow but I do think my kids are pretty stinking cute in their snow gear. Maybe next time we will try to ski or snowboard and by we I mean my husband and the kids.