I'm Doing Pretty Good. How are you?

So, here I sit. FINALLY writing a blog post again.  We have moved all over the Eastern half of the nation, quite literally, since my last post more than 3 years ago (Ohio to Alabama to Virginia).  I cannot believe I haven't written on here for 3 YEARS!  And, true to my natural propensity, the first thing I do is feel guilty about that.  I tell myself not to, but that really does nothing.  Then I look at the margin of the page where "The Blogs I Follow" are listed.  Ahhh, now I feel better!  My friends, authors of listed blogs, have also found other things to do in time ranging anywhere from a few weeks ago to six years ago, so I feel better about the distraction of life that has kept me from blogging.  The crazy thing is, I really enjoy writing this blog, but for some reason I just haven't done it.  Originally, I began this blog for my kids.  I thought it would be neat to be able to compile posts about them throughout the years and present the written collection to them as some fabulous gift when they each turn 18.  And while that may still happen, although I doubt it, over time, my reasons for blogging became more about me.  I enjoy it.  I like to write.  There is something meaningful and clarifying about it for me.  I like sharing my experiences as a woman, wife and mother during this fun, hectic and sometimes very difficult season of life.  I like finding my voice through writing and enjoy thinking that someone, somewhere "out there" reads it and relates to it. That somehow, something that I have to say makes someone smile, laugh or just feel better about the struggles they are experiencing.  I like sharing my personal interests, battles and obsessions: ranging anywhere from my cute kids to my handsome hubby, to my frustrating dilemmas to my exciting accomplishments, to my really cute outfit to my Stella & Dot jewelry, to my favorite shade of nail polish to a beauty hack I just saw online, to a disconcerting world event or political situation to fun thing I just heard about.  You get the idea; I'm all over the place!  But so is life, right?  I mean one week, I'm a great cook diligently planning meals made from only whole foods; the next, I'm mother of the year, making one-on-one time for each of my kids doing enjoyable, learning activities of their choosing.  In another week, I  have my house completely cleaned and organized without a single stack of clutter. The next week, I am an exercise enthusiast, faithfully wearing my fitbit, actually doing the workouts I eagerly "pinned" however many months ago, posting details of my daily sweat session, complete with a picture, for all of Facebook to read and not care about, and drinking half my body weight in water. And some weeks, I am a fierce fashionista with trendy, well-accessorized outfits, looking perfectly polished for each day's events, wowing my instagram followers with my #ootd.  In another week, I have my political views firmly in place and have appropriately selected our next President through the debate in my brain which was thoughtfully informed by reading a well-balanced compilation of news sources.  But most weeks, I am none of those things, or maybe a small part of each of those things.  And, I am coming to terms with that.  It is OK to be OK at something.  In fact, many would call that being "well-rounded," and that is a very good thing to be.  Sometimes I think we have disengaged with the notion of being a "Jack of all trades; master of none."  We think we need to be the "Master of all trades or have 'jack' to do with it."  I used to let the notion of having to be perfect prevent me from trying a lot of things.  But somewhere along the line I gave myself permission to be "pretty good" rather than attempting to be perfect. Perfection is REALLY hard, unrealistic and unsustainable.  And, in my pursuit of being a recovering perfectionist, I have found, that "pretty good" is pretty awesome!  We can't let the need for perfection prevent us from trying.  Over time, we may find that practice does make perfect, but even if not, at least we are DOING something through the practice.  But we must BEGIN in order to get any practice.  So, to all of you who pressure yourselves with the strive for perfection, I give you permission to stop.  Just be pretty good because that is pretty awesome too!  And, while I would like to be able to say that I will heretofore write in this blog faithfully each week from now until the end of time, I know that won't likely be the case, so I won't even put that pressure on myself. What I do know, is that when I have the time, I will take it and share my thoughts openly and honestly while continuing to strive for "pretty good."

Put It On a High Shelf

     Those words are said in our house, sometimes audibly, sometimes not, for a variety of reasons. As I gaze around at all of the "high shelves" in our home, I see a myriad of things: medication that we don't want the children to have access to; cleaning products that could be dangerous; scissors and Sharpies, both of which could do untold damage.  We say those words to the "big kids" to keep prized drawings and Lego creations safe from destruction, to place small objects out of reach from the "baby girls," and to protect favorite toys from puppy drool.
     I thought about this today as I looked around at the bookcases containing a random assortment of the aforementioned items. Does that belong there? Is that the best place for that? What is THAT doing THERE?!? As I pondered this and attempted to prevent my anal retentive tendencies from kicking into overdrive, I thought about the metaphorical appropriateness of the "high shelf." 
     Our children are growing, day by day, little by little, being exposed to harmful and potentially damaging tantalizing "things." We are trying to shelter Sophia from exclusive "friends" she encounters at school; we are encouraging Asher to be obedient even when it is difficult; we protect Frankie and Eva from influences that they are too young to comprehend. Oh to have a "higher shelf." Life is becoming more complicated than keeping scissors out of our youngsters hands and toxic chemicals beyond their reach, more complex than dealing with the heartache that follows the demolition of a perfect Lego spacecraft or creative drawing of our family.
     Today, and everyday, I am thankful for a supportive family that helps us raise our children "in the way that they should go." (Proverbs 22:6) I am thankful for positive friends that find the honesty,purity, and beauty in life and encourage our children to "think on these things." (Phillippians 4:8)  What a challenge it is, and will become even more, to shield our kids from the hardships, trials and struggles this life will bring, and to equip them with the appropriate skills when they must tackle them head on.I am thankful today, for my Savior, that, through His grace, has redeemed us from it all and promises that He "will not give us more than we can bear." (1 Corinithians  10:13) Thankful today for the "high shelves" in my life and the perseverance to be faithful to the "The Highest Shelf."

Catching up

In the 8-9 months that have passed since I last made a post, I have gotten behind on a variety of things: blogging, housekeeping, sleeping, to name a few.  However, the good news is, that in that same time frame, I have "caught up" on many (more important) things too!  We have seen our family more in the nine months that we have lived in Ohio than we had in the preceding nine years.  Zach and I have had more dates than we have had in a really long time.  We have had more family time playing games with the kids, watching movies, and just hanging out. We get to be together every day!  While this transition was a bit tricky for us to get used to at first,  it has been really wonderful!  I feel like this time with Zach in school is our chance to be like a "normal" family when Daddy isn't gone more days of the year than he is home.  AND, what's more?!? We will have Zach home one more year.  He was selected for an advanced school assignment, so, although that requires a move from Dayton, OH to Montgomery, AL, we are super excited!  As we look forward to this move and next assignment beginning in July, we are also working to enjoy "the moment."  I encourage you to take a minute and "catch up" on what really matters to you; it will refresh your spirit!

Eastbound and Down

I haven't blogged in ages, okay, months, but in social media time, that's like 12 years or something close to it.  As most of you know, we have moved. I guess, technically we are still moving.  We know the general location of our destination, just not the exact mailing address yet.  So, while some might say we are homeless, we like to say we are on an extended summer vacation, which explains in part, the lapse in my posting.


In an effort to completely complicate things even more so than necessary, we did a full DITY move rather than have the military move (read 'break') our things.  For those of you non-military folks, that is a "Do IT Yourself" move.  I began packing boxes literally months before our departure from Washington, but there was much that didn't get done until the "eleventh hour."  This was mostly unavoidable since Zach was traveling for work until the week before our move and had his "fini-flight" three days before our departure. We ended up leaving about two garage stalls worth of stuff we simply didn't have room for and our move became everything but "Do IT Yourself."  So many wonderful friends stopped by to help us; some for an hour or two, others literally helped me for days. I was blown away by the generosity of our friends!  The very people that were shedding tears over our departure, were there, giving of their time to help us get packed up and on the road.  I would be remiss if I didn't give a public "thank you" to Matt and Lindsey Lare, Ginger Karnes, Corey and Rebekah Henwood, Leslie Medved, and Jesse and Katie Ewell.  From packing our kitchen, to cleaning my closet, loading crap only to turn around and unload it that same hour, running to the store for everything from boxes and tape to pizza and beer, bringing our kids road trip goodies and lunch, listening to me have a total meltdown as I chucked an entire cupboard of plastic water bottles across my kitchen through my dining room and into the wall (Yup, that was a proud moment!), moving furniture, expertly packing our trailers and moving truck (My only complaint was that out of 3 trailers they packed my white upholstered chair right next to our lawn mower. Really?!  They assured me it was fine because the mower was in a garbage bag.  But seriously, really?! I think they were just trying to push my anal retentive buttons and give me the final nudge I needed to completely lose my mind.), vacuuming carpets, packing boxes and basically anything else you can think of, they did it.  With giving hearts, gracious spirits, and smiles on their faces.  We have AWESOME friends!  Thank you!  We love you!  And we miss you all!

We had a surprisingly enjoyable trek across the country, staying one night in each of the following: Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois before arriving at our final destination at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, OH.  Our kids were amazing travelers and my in-laws kept their complaints to a minimum as well. (For the record, we could not have done this trip without them!!)  We took a memorable side trip to Mount Rushmore.  We were thankful for indoor pools at our hotels, and even a water park at one of them (holy sensory overload!).  Our mornings began with continental breakfasts that gave the "big kids" the opportunity to become expert waffle makers and allowed for some experimental cereal concoctions.  The open road, DVD watching, and mingling with truckers filled our afternoons as we caravanned our 26' Penske truck, Zach's F-150 pulling our 7x14 trailer, and my Suburban pulling a 5x8 UHaul 'eastbound and down' across our vast and beautiful nation.  We arrived each evening to a new hotel, ready for dinner, exhausted, and anticipating our family slumber party.  Miraculously, everyone slept through the night each night.  And we were on our way the next morning, exiting our habitation as quietly (or not) as we had entered.

After a solid week on the road, we have traversed approximately 2600 miles through nine states while hauling over 12,000 pounds of "stuff."  Six children and four adults had survived six nights in as many states.  We off-loaded our household goods into a 20x25 storage facility, and thus began our "summer vacation."  One of the three mornings we were at Wright-Patterson AFB, we went "house hunting," to check out the various floor plans available to us, and determine which one would best suit our needs. (Not that any of that actually matters because you end up taking pretty much whatever they can give you when it becomes available.  But, we all play along in this masquerade that is government housing with a smile on our faces, knowing full well that nothing they can provide us will adequately house a family of 6.) Anyway, the kids knew what we were doing and Grandma and Grandad stayed with them while we did so to minimize the distractions and chaos throughout the process. When we returned, we were enthusiastic as we optimistically explained that we had found "the perfect house."  Later that day, we stopped by the storage facility to get some things we needed.  When we returned to the truck, Sophia was crying.  I thought perhaps the reality of the move had finally gotten to her and she was missing her friends, etc.  So I sympathetically asked, "What's the matter, Honey?"  Through her tears she replied, "You were gone all morning, and that was the best you could find?!"  I assured her that the storage facility was not our new home, and the tears subsided.

Four weeks later and we still aren't much closer to having a home, but we are definitely enjoying our travels!  We have seen a lot of family and spent time with many friends in a variety of locations.  And, amongst all the things I have lost track of or misplaced along the way, I am keeping very close tabs on my sense of humor! If I don't laugh; I just might cry and I didn't pack waterproof mascara, so laughter it is.

BFF?!

"Mom!  Asher hit me in the face with his rubber alligator!"

"Yeah, but she crossed me off the list to the pretend tea party."

Once all appropriate time-out allotments had been served, and "Alligatory" had been confiscated, we sat down, yet again, to discuss how we should and should not treat one another and how to express ourselves appropriately.

Winter 2009

This is just a recent example, and yes, unfortunately, it is real, of the many (ridiculous) disagreements that Sophia and Asher participate in with one another on a daily (read hourly) basis.  They are 14 months apart, Soph now 5 and Asher 4.  They fight on a (very) consistent basis, but they absolutely LOVE each other.  However, they fall in and out of love multiple times on any given day. ;)  But, at the end of the day, they are best buds.  I love it!  I can't stand the bickering, the whining, and the subsequent consequences, but it does make for good blog-fodder.  Some days I can't believe that I am a Master's degree-holding referee explaining the importance of not pushing someone while they are attempting to use the toilet, or devising an impartial and equitable way to determine who should be allowed to eat the last Dino the Dinosaur Flintstone Gummie vitamin this time.  Although, one thing that they can agree on is that they are pals.   They have a secret handshake (that also includes a "belly-bump" and a "butt-boom"- don't ask me!), code words (I can't wait to see what they'll call me in a few years), and games like "Noodle and Carrot" that, trust me, only they understand.  Most of the time they play and share well together.  They regularly think of the other when one gets a special treat and will ask if they can take one home for the other.  They teach, entertain, and encourage one another and truly enjoy spending time together.

Winter 2012

I know that a certain amount of sibling rivalry and disagreements are nothing but normal, and will probably get worse in the years to come before it gets better.  But, in those moments, when I am tempted to just let them "go at it" and see who wins because I am so sick and tired of keeping the peace and seizing teachable moments for social and behavioral skills, I remind myself to continue "fighting the good fight."  It does pay off.  It's annoying, stressful, and irksome sometimes, but in the end, I want my kiddos to love and respect one another.  And, after a day full of disagreements, "hands and feet to yourself" lectures, timeouts, and loss of privileges, it's nice to know that they will still beg to have a "sleepover" together and fall asleep telling each other bedtime stories.  Sometimes we even agree to it. ;)


Sophia and Asher through the years: Can't wait for the many more Kodak moments to come!

Asher's first day home from the hospital

Thanksgiving 2007

Cinco de Mayo 2008

Christmas 2008

Hamming it up! Fall 2009

PIN! 2009

Valentine's Day 2010

Winter 2010

Pilots! Fall 2010

Playing school. Summer 2011

Pirate Party! Summer 2011

First day of school 2011

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

A coincidence that the newest Yankee Candle fragrance which is,"a merry symphony of cedar, bergamot, fir needles, and musk," is called Deck the Halls?  I think not!  Last year we didn't do much decorating for Christmas.  I was pregnant and Zach was deploying the day after Christmas and I didn't want to have to ask people for help to put Christmas decorations away, so we opted to keep it simple and basic.  Well, not this year!  This year we decided to cut our own tree.  We also decided we wanted to take advantage of the high ceilings in our house for our last Christmas here and get a really tall tree.  We wanted to have a Christmas feast and share it with family and friends.  Done, done, and on it's way to being done!

Pleased with our tree selection, and Asher with
the tree he chose for his stuffed lion

We had to cut the Christmas tree on Friday, December 2, get it up and the lights on that night/early morning since Zach was leaving for a trip on December 3 at 6 in the morning.  All six of us ventured out (in two vehicles: one for tree hauling-Zach's truck and one for kid hauling: my Suburban) to cut our 13 foot tree, that is so large it required a worker at the Christmas tree farm to use a chainsaw to cut it down.  What an adventure!  The kids enjoyed every second of it and I taught Frankie the song "O Christmas Tree," which she still sings in her "Frankie babble" while standing in front of the tree swaying back and forth, as we waited for them to return with the chainsaw.  Once cut, they hauled it to the barn where they shook out the loose needles and wrapped it with netting for "easier" transport.  Once home, Zach began the process of putting it in the stand and then carrying it (without any help) on his back into the house where we cut off the netting and set to putting the lights on it.  Amid dinner, bath time and getting four kiddos in bed, it was late when he and I finally got the lights on it.  Zach, always the over-achiever, handmade a gigantic wreath with the boughs he had cut off to fit it in the stand.  Our living room floor was covered in branches and pine needles as he fashioned our (approximately 5 foot in diameter) wreath.  Once it was finished, it was about 1 in the morning.  But we still needed to hang the wreath.  Not having an extension ladder and at the early hour it was, we didn't think our neighbor would mind if we quickly "borrowed" his ladder (which conveniently hangs on the back of his shed) without asking.  As I held the ladder to prevent it from slipping, Zach hauled the wreath 2 stories up to hang it from the front of our entrance.  This all sounds much easier and less stressful than it was.  It was late, therefore very cold and the ladder (circa 1970) has no rubber "feet" to help hold it in place.  Suffice it to say I pretty much held my breath and prayed while leaning with all of my might on the ladder (metal on frost-covered slate = not an ideal combination) as Zach proceeded up and down a few times to get it "just right." We finished the wreath handing about 3 a.m.  Zach packed and the car arrived at 6 to take him to the airport.  He spent the next two weeks in Hawaii, where I joined him for the last 10 days.  We had a delightfully relaxing time together in celebration of our wedding anniversary.

Whoa!  That's a tree!

Ensuring the tree of choice had a straight trunk, and
realizing the bow saw wasn't going to cut it, literally

Making the infamous wreath

We arrived home on December 18 and had one week to finalize all things Christmas.  The kids and I had finished decorating the tree and the house the first few days of Zach's trip, so that was completed.  Our Christmas cards arrived while I was gone, so I had to address those and get them in the mail.  I also had to wrap and ship gifts to our many friends and family that live so many miles away.  It is now Christmas Eve, Zach and my actual anniversary.  The turkey is roasting, desserts are made, and we are preparing to partake in a Christmas Eve feast with Grandma and Grandad who are still here from Michigan (having come to watch the children during our Hawaiian vacation and stay on through Christmas) and our friends, the Lares, who have recently moved to our area.  Tonight we will be busy elves as we put together and wrap Santa's gifts for the kids.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

I simply LOVE this time of year!  Yes, it is busy with all of the activities, gatherings, and parties.  Yes, it can be stressful with all of the preparations that "need" to be done.  But it is such a joyous, magical time!  The kids are great ages, truly in awe of the magic of Christmas, and their enthusiasm is contagious! Each year Christmas is a little different depending on our location and situation at the time,  sometimes we cut a tree; sometimes we don't.  Sometimes we host family; sometimes we don't.  Sometimes Zach is here; sometimes he isn't.  But we are also beginning to build a repertoire of our own family traditions, and that is really fun: red velvet pancakes on Christmas morning, making a wreath whenever we do cut a real tree, sending Christmas cards, and many more to come I'm sure. Amongst our personal ebb and flow there is one constant: Jesus is the "Reason for the Season!" He is loving and faithful! It is easy to get distracted with all of the commercial emphasis, but we make our best effort to stress the true meaning of Christmas to our kids.  It is a time of giving and love: God to us and us to others.  

This time of year, I always find myself with a reflective mind and thankful heart.  Our family is awesome, in my humble opinion :), and just seems to get better as the number of our kids increases. Although it has been exciting to build a family, it is also exciting to know that "Team Hall" is complete and we can work to develop relationships amongst all of the existing team members. :)  Zach and I become closer and understand more each year how vitally important it is for us to provide a firm foundation for these amazing kids of ours.  Our "old" friends continue to be cherished and close to our hearts, and as "new" friends are gained, we are thrilled and thankful to know that they will become "old" friends over the years to come!  We are so blessed to know the amazing people that we are honored to call friends and truly lucky to have the families that we do!
From our home to yours, wherever that may be, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!