Introducing Mommy!

    I am a thirty-something woman living in New England. I am a mother to five beautifully annoying little humans, well, ok, a couple of them aren't so little these days. My eldest daughter is already twenty-two years old! Yes, I see you doing the math over there, the cat is out of the bag! My youngest is five-years-old, and boy does he know he is the BABY! He still climbs into bed with my husband and I most nights, which I secretly love, because I know he is my last baby, and I know that he won't stay young forever. I have three boys and two girls. My girls are twenty-two, and fifteen. My boys are thirteen, eight, and five. My fifteen-year-old is ADHD and struggles with depression and anxiety. My eight-year-old is also ADHD and ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) as well as SPD/ASD (sensory processing disorder, and autism spectrum disorder) - yeah, I know so many dang labels! A little back story, my sweet boy came to us when he was two-years-old, he didn't have the best start to life and lived through severe neglect, and unfortunately witnessed some trauma. He is fully adopted by my husband and I, and he is as much our child as all of them. He knows he is adopted, and he knows that means we chose him, which means he is special, because he is special. My amazing husband is the legal father of our eight, and five-year olds. He is step parent to the other three, but you wouldn't know that if you met us. All five of our brats are our brats, a couple of them we have to share. haha. 

    Ok, so now you're caught up on my funtastic family dynamics. Now why the hell would I want to start a blog? Well, why the hell not?! I am a mom first, but that isn't the only person I am, I am also a business owner, a college student, and now - a teacher. (so, hubs is on his own with the business owner portion, because I can juggle with the best of them, but somethings gotta go) I graduate from college this spring (better late than never) remember that math you did up there? Yeah, I am a very old college student, and I have never been more proud of my accomplishments, because honestly, everyone has asked me over the past four years "how do you do it?", and my answer is this - "I just do." I remember my first semester, I was so excited and oh so scared. My books came in, and I sat at my front desk of our little computer repair shop with my one-year-old bouncing on my knee. 'I'm going to be a teacher - I am really doing this!' I thought to myself. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl. This was something that I knew I would eventually accomplish, and I almost went back to school many times over the years but always convinced myself it was not the right time, usually using the kids or whatever financial struggle I could use as an excuse. 

    So if you're reading this, STOP making excuses! Go back to school! You're going to be FINE - and if I can get that degree - GIRL (or guy) YOU CAN TOO!!!

    My husband and I are in no way "rich", hell, we're not even upper-middle class... technically I think we fit into that category that makes too much money for food stamps, but too little money for "eat whatever you want" haha. We rarely eat out, we do try to keep summers busy with a season pass to one of our local amusement parks, we also have a season pass to our local aquarium. We try to keep our kids busy, and not feeling so left out because our family is so big. It's sometimes tough though, for sure. 

    Friends... this is the part that I've sacrificed the most. I do not have many friends, for sure. I sometimes miss going out with my friends, but the truth is, even if I would be able to, I honestly dont have the energy these days. Most nights I am up until midnight doing school work, and on the rare nights I can crash early - I 100% crash, no way I would give up my sleeping time to go out haha. 

WELL---- that's good for the first blog post. Now you know me... you're welcome.