Sappy Mommy Post

Brett and I are constantly asked, "How do you.....???" As in, "How do you deal with four kids?" "How do you homeschool with four kids?" "How do you get any quiet time?" "How do you handle it all????" "How do you keep things organized?" "How do you not forget about things?"

These questions are always interesting to me. Mostly because, like most parents, you don't think about the "how", you just do it. Sure, every once in awhile, when I'm around people who aren't used to kids, or are maybe just used to 1 or 2, I'll think about what it must be like to not be used to our chaos. But for the most part, we just do it. Then we go to sleep, wake up, and do it again.

Brett has a friend with one child- a 3 year old daughter. I've only met her once, but she seems like a pretty normal 3 year old girl. Sweet, not too much trouble. They have a 7 year old nephew staying with them for a couple weeks, and Brett's friend text messaged him last night: "I have a new respect for you and Wendy. I don't know how you do it with four." Brett looked at me and said, "I don't even know how to respond to that."

We've never had the opportunity to settle in to a routine. By the time we feel like things have worked themselves into a groove, we've added a new member of the family. I can already feel our groove being set right now, and it just makes me laugh. What? I'm getting all the schoolwork done I planned and then some? I'm keeping the house (somewhat) clean? We're having time to spend together as a family? Oh yeah, this is all happening because in three months we'll have another child.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want it any other way. I honestly couldn't imagine it any other way. Our life is just that- OUR life. It sometimes amazes me that Brett and I are responsible for bringing these four absolutely amazing people into the world. And we're going to have one more.....

Weirdness Continued...

I haven't forgotten about my youngest child. He is definitely weird, too. Sometimes I think there are too many moments to blog about.

After 4 kids, you wouldn't think too many childish things would be new to us. But, Eli has found a way to be unique (besides his blue eyes). He refers to himsef constantly as "ELI!" Everything he says is "ELI go!" "ELI book!" "ELI shower!" And he emphasizes so much on his name that you think he's going to pop. ELI!!!! He also loves to repeat whatever the kids say, so when I sarcastically asked the kids yesterday if they were ready to go do work, and they all sincerely answered, "YES!" (another weird moment ;) He was right there screaming with them. This does have its benefits. On our way home from our first co-op this week, where I taught all 3 hours- leaving Eli in a separate room, I asked the kids, "Who had fun this afternoon?" All four of them responded with a resounding "ME!!!!" Of course, Eli's was a, "ME! ELI!"

And, on another aspect of our "weirdness", it is a race now in the house to see who can memorize all the songs in "WICKED" first. Yes, the musical is three years old, but it's only a week old to the Hoedl family. Hey, it's a step up from "High School Musical" :)