Spoiled Rotten

Last year, my husband instituted a new family tradition: The Daddy Trip. His itch to see the whole world, or at least the Western United States part, combined with his love of our children, and the dynamics of our family (it's not easy doing some types of trips with infants and toddlers), led us to my favorite part of the year.

Last summer, I was given eleven peaceful, wonderful days with just two children to care for while DH took the rest on a whirlwind trip through California via the Extraterrestrial Highway.

They slept one night in a ratty motel in Rachel, Nevada, where the population believes wholeheartedly in aliens, and the "motel room" was actually a trailer with a shared bathroom whose door didn't close all the way. Not to worry, though, it came with generous amenities, such as the microwave and fridge sitting next to the toilet.

Several of the next few nights were spent camping out in various locations near the Sierra Nevadas. (Don't look too closely at the picture below, or you might embarrass Sarah).


They spent their days hiking, climbing mountains, traveling around, and being grand adventurers.


Are you starting to understand why a pregnant mom just six weeks from her due date was thrilled to stay home?

This year, DH took five kids (ages 5 to 10), my van, an old 1980s tent trailer, and headed in the opposite direction.

While he was gone, I went to two family reunions where I answered questions like, "So WHERE is he again?" "He took HOW MANY KIDS with him?" and "You didn't want to go along?" (No one with more than two kids asked that last question!). I think one of my cousins might hate me now because his wife immediately said, "Wow, WE should do daddy trips!"

My main project while DH was gone was to finish up our 2008 Book.


Every year, I pull together my weekly emails, my blogs, our photos, and any scrapbook pages I manage to crank out and create hardbound books from Blurb.com. There are fewer and fewer of the scrapbook pages as the years pass and the demands on my time increase, but didn't the ones below turn out cute?

This past week has given me such a positive lift. For eight days, I had just two sweet little girls to take care of instead of the whole crew.



We took long naps, ate at Subway, read The Very Hungry Caterpillar several times a day, walked to the duck pond three times, and thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet. I kept wondering why I didn't fully appreciate the freedom of having "just" two kids back when that's all I had?

I read several books. I ran the dishwasher twice. We gorged ourselves on strawberries from our garden. I hosted a bridal shower.
I bought two honeysuckle vines and planted them in the front yard. One day, I got really creative and made french bread pizza for lunch.

I had time to think in full paragraphs -- without being interrupted. Working on our book from last year gave me lots of time to reflect on the work I do every day and the memories my children will have. As I read through all my blog posts and weekly emails, I started to see that I'm doing a lot more than I give myself credit for.

I'm doing enough.

Last night, my six adventurers returned. They fought over who got to hold Harmony and for how long, they twirled Eliza around in circles, and they climbed all over me. All five of them talked over each other as they rushed to tell me about their trip. I've gotten more hugs in the last 24 hours than I have in the past month. They all missed me terribly, but I still had to hound them -- a lot -- to clean their rooms this morning, so I guess we're back to normal life.

I'll post more about their trip later as I get the pictures uploaded and sorted.

I'll leave you with a glimpse of some of the pages of our 2008 Book:

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Reasons I love my husband

1. He has never, in all ten years of my being a stay-at-home mom, come home and said, "What did you do all day?"

2. He gets mad when people suggest he's "babysitting" the kids when I'm not around. "I'm their FATHER -- it's called being a dad."

3. His favorite hobby is traveling with his kids. Last year, he started the "Daddy Trip" tradition, taking four of our oldest children on a trip to see the Oldest Trees in the World, the Biggest Trees, Area 51, and a dozen things in between. This year, he's at Mount Rushmore with five kids, camping out, hiking, preparing meals, and having the time of his life. Me? I get to stay home with the youngest kids and enjoy some peace, quiet, and time to catch up on some much-needed projects.

4. He likes to cook and does it every weekend and on days when I'm particularly stressed.

5. He doesn't hound me about my faults.

6. He meets with me almost every night (a new tradition started this year) to discuss things going on, what our kids need, and to pray together.

7. He pays the bills. Seriously, he takes care of all the bills and our finances. I did it for the first six years of our marriage, so I know it's a pain, but he takes care of it.

8. He works hard to support our family financially. He's done so ever since Lillian was born. He has allowed me to stay home with our children, even when that meant giving up a more secure financial situation. He worked several jobs even during graduate school so our children could have a full-time mother.

9. He takes our kids to the doctor when they're sick.

10. He is great during a crisis. I'll never forget the day Sarah cut her head open at a mall playground. After the paramedics cleared her and said I should rush her in for stitches, I called him. Five minutes later, he met me at the doctor's office, took her in his arms, and stayed with her while I went home with the other children. He gave her a blessing and held her hand during the stitches.

11. He loves children, both our own and the others he meets. He is willing to be fully a dad to our large and growing family. He's always reacted with joy and excitement when I tell him I'm expecting, even when the timing isn't always convenient.

Happy Father's Day!

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The Wonders of Chicago

I've never been to Chicago. Unless you count sweating it out in the oppressive O'Hare airport for four hours waiting for a connecting flight (I don't). So I'm more than a little bit jealous that DH took his other favorite girl with him when he flew there for a conference last week.

Then again, I'm a wimp when it comes to heights, so perhaps I wouldn't have fully appreciated the view from the Hancock and Sears towers:

They've been planning this trip for ages, and Lillian paid for half of her flight and GoCard. She's been carefully saving her money since last June and by last month, she'd saved over $200, from her $9 a month for allowance ($1 per year of age), and money earned helping with extra jobs like babysitting and stacking wood.

I was so excited for her. Lillian and her dad left early Tuesday morning and had plenty of time between conference meetings to enjoy the sights of the city. They spent many hours in the Field Museum, enjoyed the Art Institute, took a bus tour of the North Shore and a boat tour on the river, enjoyed several rides at the Navy Pier, and had a fabulous time.

If anyone deserves such a trip, it is Lillian. She's responsible, helpful, and mature beyond her years. She can easily entertain herself for hours with a good book, so DH could attend all his conference meetings without worrying about her, and she really appreciated the culture, arts, and opportunities the city afforded. Besides the chance to eat at yummy restuarants for every meal, her favorite part of the city was the Art Institute.


And best of all, unbeknownst to them, they arrived just in time Saturday morning to watch World Pillow Fight Day!. They were on their way to the Art Institute for the second time on Saturday when there was a commotion up ahead of them:
Now THAT I wish I'd seen!

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