The love of a tribe!

What a goofy group!

By no means should anyone think that it is all rose petals, sweet nothings and laughter in our house.  The reality is that you can only get the funny pictures with this group…because no one can take a picture when sitting on top of a sibling while wrapping their cold hands around the others neck in an attempt to choke the crap out of them :)

For the most part we laugh a lot, we hold each other when we cry and while we may talk trash about each other…we will pummel you to a bloody pulp if we catch someone else talking about one of our own.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Snow days and lots of extra laundry!

      

We have had lots and lots of snow this year.  While it’s very pretty, gets us a few days off from school and the kids have “big fun” playing in it…I am OVER it.  I am tired of being cold and I am tired of having 100 extra loads of laundry to wash. The great thing about snow in Georgia is it melts fast!

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

It’s all fun and games until someone barfs.

My BFF Pam always says “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye”.

I immediately thought of that saying when the kids told me what happened at the church lock in.  Apparently they had unlimited pizza and snacks all night. Several hours into the lock in the youth leaders had a Mountain Dew chugging contest. What happened next gives new meaning to soda spewing (gross I know but I am giggling as I type it). I have to scratch my head though at who would think this was a good idea?

The boy who won did not hold his soda very well and threw up all over the kids watching.  It made for a very animated story around my breakfast table the next morning, and for extra laundry (of course).

It also will be a story that will be told over and over and housed in the tribe archives.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Besties and Family

   

I always get tickled at the pictures that I find on the kids cameras. Ahhhhh to be so carefree with so much of life left to live!

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Noel was awarded the Superintendants Scholar Award February 23rd. This award is given to Freshman with a 3.8-4.0 grade point average, who have been recommended by their teachers and administrators in recognition of academic success.

I am constantly amazed by this child of ours determination, commitment and poise.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Smile for the camera.

 

 

Cassie was the latest member of the tribe to get braces, bringing the total back up to 4 (I got mine off Thanksgiving). Of course this could not happen with out “Cassie drama”. 

The day that Cassie had her braces put on she would NOT keep her hands out of her mouth.  If I needed to talk to her, I was pretty sure I would find her in the bathroom with her mouth open looking in the mirror.

I tried every way possible to scare her into leaving the blasted things alone…of course nothing I said could take away her need to look, touch, poke and prod at them.

Sometime around 7PM on the night she got them I heard her screaming “Oh Mom, Oh Mom, get them off, get them off”. It seems as if Cassie had released the rubber bands, bent the wire, and had somehow gotten the wire wedged into the gum AND the inside of her cheek.

I quickly ran downstairs, pulled out my jewelry kit and grabbed a flashlight. I do believe if I say so myself I missed my calling.  I should have gone to dental school and not nursing school. It took some “reconnoitering” but I was able to remove all the bands and wires.

Unfortunately I had to call the dentist the next day, explain why she did not have the braces on her teeth….the ones she left their office with less than 24 hours before, and make an appointment for that afternoon to have them replaced.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

You know your children are growing up when they stop asking you where they came from and refuse to tell you where they're going.

  

Several years ago we took the kids picture beside this light post.  We have had 2 occasions  this school year to go back and recreate the picture. This time we did not allow them to hang on the light post (see 1/9/2010).

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Yet another artist in the tribe.

 

Allie had the privilege of  being invited to showcase her art at the Cultural Arts Center. March was National Youth Art Month and her mask was on display all month. The tribe turned out to ohhh and ahhh.

Of course every opportunity is a blog photo op.  I think by the sharp intake of breath by the ladies hosting the event, we were not supposed to pick up her mask to take the pictures.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Yet another reminder…

… as to why we are not the cool parents!

Last night while having a tribe meeting, to refresh memories as to computer expectations, I made a comment I have thought about all day.

It went something like this …“but Mom __(insert any name)__ has a cell phone” “Yes dear but I am not _(insert any name )___ Mom”. AGH did I say that? AGAIN???

Have I truly turned into my parents? And is that such a bad thing?

We have a house full of teenagers that we have not provided cell phones. We just can not think of anywhere that they will go that will not have a phone, a parent with a phone..heck for that matter another child with a phone.  It is not a toy, so there is not a need for one.  It is not a god given right…so again no need for one.  We do have a “family” cell that can be sent with them in an emergency or if we feel we need to get in touch in a hurry…and NOT ONE child has a job to pay the bill…so a cell phone bill, times a tribe, would be insane. Friends who come to spend the night leave cell phones in a basket on the counter.  Their parents have all our numbers should they need to reach them.

We have one house phone mounted on the wall in the kitchen. There is no cordless to hide and talk on.  There should not be conversations in the house that are so private you need to be alone to have them. 

If a friend comes to pick you up, they must come in and say hello to the parents. (and all the tribe members who want to check them out )

We do not have MySpace pages, multiple email accounts, YouTube downloads…all the internet trash that rots your brains.  They only recently got access to Facebook. It is monitored so heavily by the parents that posting something on the FBI website would be easier.

We do not watch TV until after 7 on weeknights, and video games are for the weekend.

They may not spend the night with children we do not know.

They ride their bikes if the destination is within 5 miles. I do not have a taxi license.

Our computers are in local family areas, so that anyone can see what you are looking at, no matter what the time of day or night. 30 minutes maximum is plenty to spend on line…if you need to talk to a friend longer…CALL THEM!

All very very un-cool to the teenagers of our house.

The reality is…my children love to read…as I type this they are playing ping pong with Hondo…they love cards and board games…I know all their friends and truly have fallen in love with the majority of them…all things that may not have happened if they had fermented their brains with Grand Theft Auto.

No one has died from lack of a cell phone (although they might tell you differently).

I am well aware of the dangers of our society and I take very seriously my job to protect them to the best of my ability. With all the “stuff” we put into their hands …all in the name of technology and indulgence…it makes that job even harder.

As I look around the den tonight I am proud of where we are…were we are going…and how delightful my tribe is (even if they are now fighting over who serves better).

So to get back to where I started…I made a “parental” comment.  You know the comment you SWORE to never say when you became a parent. Where are they stored in your head? Is it passed down in our genes? How is it possible to hear something as a 5 year old and regurgitate it word for word when you are 45 years old? And is it so bad? I kinda like to think that I turned out okay…and if I use them on my tribe that they too will turn out just dandy.  Plus some of them just are so fun to say!

These were just the few I could think of as I sit here and giggle. Please feel free to add your own.

Me My parents     "Where are you going?" "Crazy would you like to join me?" "I am hungry…" "Nice to meet you hungry!" "I am thirsty…" "Nice to meet you thirsty." "Kaiya's mom lets her.." "I am not Kaiya's mom." "Everyone's mom lets them…" "I don’t care what your friends do, you are not going. If they all jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?" "Everyone's mom lets them…" "If everyone jumped off a bridge would you?" "Everyone's mom lets them…" "Just because you want to do it doesn't make it right!" "Everyone's mom lets them…" "If I've told you once I've told you a thousand times....." "But Mom, they all wear them…" "If everyone cut a hole in their pants and painted their butt cheeks red would you?" "I wish…" "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." "I wish…" "If wishes were fishes we would all have a bowl full." "I wish…" "Wish in one hand and poop in the other and see which one fills up faster." “But I really want to” “People in hell want ice water too” "I can't…" "Can't never could." "I'll be back later." "And just where do you think you’re going dressed like that?" "I'll be back later." "Wear clean underwear. You never know when you could be in an accident." (anytime I really pushed the envelope) "You are cruising for a bruising." (anytime I really really pushed the envelope) "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!" (anytime I really pushed the envelope in the car) "Don't make me stop this car." (anytime we were wild) "Don't come running to me if you break both your legs" (anytime we were wild) “Behave or I will hit your mother” (anytime we were wild) "Be careful you will poke someone's eye out with that." "But I do NOT like liver." "There are children starving in Europe (Asia, Africa) that would love to have that liver and onions. Now eat it!" Crying child? "Do you want me to give you something to cry about?" "But why?" "It's for your own good." If I left the door open. "Shut the door you did not grow up in a barn." Open fridge door and stand in front?? "Close it please, nothing grew in there since the last time you opened it." "But mom I swear they are not that bad" "You're known by the company you keep" "But mom I swear they are not that bad" “Birds of a feather flock together” “I’m bored..” “If you have nothing to do I will find you something to do!” “Where is Mom?” “Picking her nose and flying a kite” “Where is Mom? “She left to join the circus” “Where is Mom?’ “She changed her name and moved to Spain”     AND THE ALL TIME BESTEST ONE!!! Just you wait. Someday you are going to have children of your own, then you will understand!

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Snow days!!!!

 

   

I am worse than the kids...I yelled louder, jumped higher, and celebrated more than my children when we found out that we had a snow day this Friday. I know that logically it makes no sense, with all the rain we have no available days in our calendar.  We WILL have to make it up....but its SNOWING.

It was the first snowfall of the season...I was able to take my first snow day as a school employee ...and I got to watch my children revert back to toddlers as they rushed out the door to dance in the snow.

Dallas and Deacon enjoyed it as much as we did.  This was the first snow for Deacon since he has come to live here...and I think I got as much joy watching the two of them play as I did when I was watching the kids.

It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.

Babs

Merry Christmas

Somehow we made it…although I did not finish my shopping till the Friday before…although the Christmas spirit did not hit the tribe until the 21st of December we MADE IT!
The women in my family decided that we spend so much time in the kitchen during Thanksgiving that we would try something different this year.  Each family would bring their favorite deserts and appetizers and we would just snack and graze all day.  To wash it all down we made 2 huge pitchers of Sangria…a little bit of Christmas cheer!
We continued with the tradition of one for the heart (one that means a lot to you), one for the head (You have to think when you use it) and one for the hand (a basketball goal where you play with your hands).
By all accounts it was the perfect day. Everyone was tickled with their presents, we played lots and lots of cards, there was plenty of family time, my other son Rod came to share the day…it was exactly as we all hoped it would be. Restful and relaxing with lots of laughter.



Who gets out of bed with hair that good?
Funny how some things never change!

The perfect Christmas tree? All Christmas trees are perfect!

Thank you, thank you. thank you Ben and Noel.
As I blogged earlier we all were under the weather this December.  I was pretty darn sick, staying in bed for several days while Hondo was out of town….very unlike me and not real easy on a family this size.
Noel stepped up to the plate yet again and put all her natural mothering skills to the test. She did a GREAT job running and maintaining the house.  No one went with out a meal, clean clothes and I even heard she tucked in a child or two at night. She will make an amazing mother one day.
Ben was invaluable…it was the 18th of December and the tribe STILL had no tree or decorations up.  Thanks to Mr. Ben that too was taken care of. Ben lugged all the decorations out, put them up…to include putting up our tree. he truly was the child who saved Christmas this year. He will make an amazing father and husband.
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it.
Babs

Giving thanks

What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets.  I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?
This year has FLOWN by.  Thanksgiving was on us before we knew it.
As always my Hondo out did himself.  His turkey only gets better and better every year.  Let me re-state that…I do not like turkey…his stuffing gets better and better every year. Boy do I like stuffing!
We had a houseful again this year. That is the way I like Thanksgiving.  My mother taught me long ago that no one…no one…should spend Thanksgiving alone. The end result is that every time I hear that someone has no family in Georgia they get an invitation to share my family on this holiday …this holiday that makes me stop, take a breath, and look around me with dismay….is this really all mine? Yes I am thankful!!
It may never be easy but it will always be worth it….and for that I am thankful.
(I am also thankful that Sir gave Maam that camera last year, because now we all get the best pictures ever!)
Babs