Otis Sidekicks

Having adopted three of our children, given birth to five and now fostering a baby girl, I love the quote from Judy landers above. I have found motherhood has pain and sweetness in each day. The ability to be a "good mother" has much more to do with doing my best than striving for perfection. I have made mistakes but the best connection with my children seems to be when we heal together after something hard. Expectations for a test that is failed bring out stories of my own failures, the kids open up about why something is difficult. We grow so much more on those days than on the A+ celebrations (those are fun too:) Foster care is a privilege and a journey that is bringing our kids together in laughter and service. Cleaning up the floor in seconds as she crawls along, running a blanket up to mom, being quiet after baby is in bed and making silly faces at each other. It has been sweet and kind, the energy that joined us. There have been hard days, too much laundry, all 9

Thankful Poem Thankful for noise, because it means children are in the house. Thankful for needing to budget, it makes the treats more meaningful. Thankful for cold to remind me of the beauty of all the seasons and the warmth of a roaring fire.  Thankful for too much to eat, when I know how many go without. Thankful for family fights, with out the fights we would not have the humor of our token ice breakers.  Thankful for mess, I de stress cleaning.  Thankful for mess, it means creativity, good food and make believe. Thankful for scratched floors, it means chairs were dragged to make a fort. Thankful for my husband's cracked hands, it means he has been working hard to support us. Thankful for my softer hands in means hours of hands coated in vaseline inside kitchen gloves scrubbing off the nourishment from the night before. Thankful for hours of laundry, I always wanted a big family. Thankful for crazed Sunday mornings dashing five mi

The highlight was Grandma Boo's skeleton made entirely of vegetables, it rocked! We carved pumpkins because wonderful neighbors gave us 9 from their garden. We roasted the seeds and had fun creating shapes, mom and dad can't help anyone so it was time intensive but they were so proud of their cats, minions and monsters.  Banana created a "stick" man with neon glow sticks, J-L was a prison breakout, Big M was captain America and even went to a party with Miss Captain America! Great was a zombie skeleton, don't take his candy! Little M was "Michael Jordan Zombie" and Miss D was a fancy skeleton! Little Lu was brave and had a blast using her costume over the last month.  Annual 8 Captain America x2 The other fun tradition that we made up when the oldest was a toddler is that the Great Pumpkin comes and eats all the candy and leaves a gift for each child. I had never actually seen the Charlie Brown special and totally messed up the idea

https://shop.keysforkids.org Today Lu, Grandma Boo and I, went on a treasure hunt for a used piano. I have wanted for a long time to have music lessons, but with life and sports we have not been able to make it happen. One of my prized memories of the holidays is that my mother could always get us started with "Joy to The World" on the piano. Now with budding singers, and kids who want to learn, it was time to find a piano. In true Otis fashion we decided to find something used but fabulous. We found Keys4Kids on Grand Ave in Saint Paul, thanks to Grandma Boo. The sales person was lovely, so kind and even added on a stool because I was worried not enough kids could sit side by side on the piano bench. There are also pieces of pianos and wonderful wood for sale and they will barter if you buy other items. I found a great piece of wood I am hoping to have Sheff add hooks to, you could also create a headboard with box springs. Now to find a teacher to come to our home!

  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Galatians 5:22 September is a month that is well loved. The images of apples, football cheers, leaves, rosy cheeks and new school supplies. As excited as every parent is to see their children hop on the bus, there is also the anxiety that comes with the new school year.  This week we have tryouts for a new season of sports mixed in with orientations for 7 of the 8, football games and the start of skating lessons! It is a week of juggling and re booting homework systems in the midst of frantic schedules. We are happy, we are full and we are moving...quickly. The pace of September concerns me. I want to grab it by its jersey and tackle the month down to the ground, stop the play! Let us savor this gift of season change and new starts. Along with the happy excitement comes the nagging anxiety. The kids have new friends and old friends coming together on fie

“The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color.” ― Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting Summer has been sweet this year. The bridge between little and big is becoming slightly blurred. Voices changing, individual interests finding shelves and screens to occupy. Amazing vacations and time on the road. Seasoned campers pushing themselves with longer stays and first time campers learning how to be themselves out of the family group.  We are creating gathering space in our yard, piece by piece. A difficult start leading to a really cool creation. Still in progress, stone becoming welcoming. 

The kids are all home for the summer and seem to always have a need or a question for me. As I was brainstorming creative ideas I realized so many of my responses have to do with...water! How lucky we are to have fresh water to drink and to play in. So simple, but so true water is the number one cure all advice that comes from the Otis mom. Feeling sick Go drink a big glass of water! Athletic performance (learned from Sheff) Hydrate! Drink a full pint glass of water before your game, practice or event. Cleaning i.e. Mom I can't get this clean! Soak it! Let it soak, put a little water on it and come back it will scrape right off. Fun in the summer Go run through the hose, go drink from the hose or bike to the pool! Sadness Take a bath and drink some water, a little lavender oil in the bath and hugs afterwards Hosting/being a friend Offer someone a cup of tea or water if they are over Injury Wash it off and keep it clean Faith Always be thirsty, strive to lear

Establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands.  Psalm 90:17 https://achildgrows.com/blog Walking with a friend I mentioned I missed cloth diapers just because of the feeling I had having my rectangles of cotton lined up and pinned up one by one. A row out my window, clothsline with the simple labor of love, soiled to sunshine. She did not laugh, but understood the pleasure in a type of work. With May comes work, but everytime I see clothes on the line I feel a community connection of coming out of our winter blankets and getting to work, seeing the blue sky and pleasure in the first load swinging in the breeze. This May feels like a moving light board under my feet. Fields to get to, concerts to attend, decisions for pre school and highschool while balancing the art of homemaker. We are doing well, happy  in our day to day, but running and flexing our muscles of quick thinking and nightly strategy for our sixteen plus activities each week. As

Today M got stung by a Bee. He made it inside before crying, flanked by Little D being his spokesperson  I quickly did the "Bee sting routine" and thought I would pass it along! ~Remove the stinger with tweezers if you can see it, try not to pinch the stinger ( that can inject more venom) ~Control swelling, ice the area. One ice cube is perfect. ~Apply a mixture of baking soda and water. ~Keep the area clean it can take about 3 days to heal. You can use Arnica gel for swelling. ~ If the child/person has a reaction (swelling, trouble breathing) call 911 After that I had made extra paste from the baking soda and water so I gave the three youngest kids each a cutting board, a dollop of paste and they had at it. Then I poured a little vinegar on each "palate", like a square volcano board! They loved it.   As M declared at the end while we were scrubbing everything clean with the leftover drops from the experiment we turned pain into gain ! More great idea

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed ~ 1 Corinthians 15:51 In talking to friends this week I realize we ALL have those moments of anguish right there mixed in with the normal and with the joy. The small storms of life that can wreck an evening or cause a perfectly decent day to be checked off as on par with  Alexander's terrible, horrible , no good, very bad day. Sometimes it is a half hour, when as a mother we leave the house for a drop off and return to tears and chaos. Or it is a situation at work that seemed fine and suddenly exploded into a huge mess. There can be challenges with children and with personal goals being derailed. These are moments that are small in the scheme of things but feel very BIG when they happen.  When a kid fails a test, are on the outs with a friend or loose a big game it can feel like the world is ending. Praying this week I realized how key it is to imagine some one else's perspective. I w

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in   Matthew 25:35 Today after my grocery run I decided to make chicken drumsticks...for an after school snack. Usually after school is when I do fun, inspired kid snacks. Lucy's friend asked the other day if they could "play playdough in my baking time" as if it were a measurment during the day. It is often true I bake in the afternoon to have things fresh when the kids start coming home from school between three and five, activity dependent. Easter candy IV's have started to turn into emotional meltdowns, so I decided to jump on the Paleo bandwagon and serve some serious protien instead of peeps. It reminded me of how, as a young mom, I really wanted to know how other mother's fed their children! Did they learn from their mother's? Their grandmother's? Their father's? Did they cook in college or with friends for fun? One of

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”  Mark Twain Train buds, so fun to have sleeping cars.  Some waiting was long, but overall the train was a very smooth process. Michagan Ave Bridge & truly good Chi town deep dish Stans is worth a visit Lu was pretty excited about the American Girl Doll store! How wonderful to travel with Grandparents! Bulls game! Such a fun game and entertainment with Benny the Mascot's Birthday! A fabulous trip exploring Chicago. We took the train from Minneapolis/St Paul to Chicago and spent most days walking all over the city. What a wonderful city to explore. It is not always easy to travel with kids, especially a big group but we had so much fun. We only took 2 phones, no other electronics, i pads and i pods stayed home. We