Our spring continued with a trip to Palm Springs for me and my bestie. Megan Dickson is the greatest. Seriously I couldn't be luckier to have a friend like her. Let me tell you all a little of our friendship...not that you care, but I sure do. Maybe you've had a friend like this.
Our friendship sprouted when we lived in DC. We randomly met at a church playgroup and realized that i was assigned to her as what's known as a visiting teacher. It's a program in our church where as women we get to have the opportunity to be paired up with other women to visit monthly, take care of each other, lend a hand, and just be a friend. This started our genuine friendship. She moved away to Utah, and we have remained friends since.
More on our friendship...Megan and I have kids the same age. I don't know about you, but this always makes a friendship easy and doable. It seems like when kids are the same age, your life coincides. We joke that we live parallel lives even though we live 3000 miles away. We were pregnant with our second child at the same time, so that bonded us as well, and we co-parented together. That's what we like to call it. It really is true when they say it takes a village to raise a child. In this case it took two moms. In later years I have found that this friendship and co-parenting has shaped the way that I like to do things. It has given me a foundation to find support in other moms, bounce ideas off of each other, figure out how to handle difficult situations or even just boredom.
I have also found that in later years, moms that I was around when my kids were little little have reached out to me, and I to them for advice. I know you can find things off the internet and pinterest to figure out the "10 best ways to communicate with your child," or "100 summer activities", or "how to sleep train, potty train, have good manners" etc etc etc, but the fact is we as humans like to learn from practical application, from experience whether it be our own or from a friend. It has sparked fun relationships with other mothers. Even after three years of living in DC, I have received random texts from a variety of friends asking me what I did for potty training, or how I got my kids to say "yes mom", or what to do with a 1st grader. The list goes on. I like it...actually I love it. I love helping fellow moms.
To me, being a mom is THE hardest job. Granted i've never been a Dentist, an architect, or lawyer..., and I didn't get a degree in "Motherhood" but that's the hard part about being a mom. There is no formal education, there isn't a course, or degree on how to comfort a crying baby, to juggle a 7 yr, 5 yr and 3 yr old, or curb whining. I have a friend who only has one child and she says that she constantly hears from moms with multiple children "well, you don't know because you only have one" What I say to that is we all don't know. I'm a new mom every year, every day. I don't know what it's like to be a mom of a new born, a 2 yr old, and a 4 yr old, or a 7 yr, 5 yr and 3 yr...and in 5 years, it will be my first time being a mom of a 12yr, 10 yr, and 8 yr old. It's ever changing, it's a job that requires active thinking, daily awareness, mind control, patience, creativity, constant encouragement, continual paradigm shifts. I love it for all of these factors. I have friends who work and say they need to get out of the house. I've even had friends say they feel like they are getting dumber being home. While I may take offense to that statement, I do understand what they are trying to say. I LOVE being home. It's my happy place. Like I said, while I may not have an education in motherhood, it's a continuing education field, I'm learning everyday and I think that's the trick of being a good mom. Learning and seeking out education in "alternative" ways. There aren't any CE credit courses or masters' programs in this field. It takes drive, dedication to seek out further knowledge on day to day topics. Understanding development, nutrition, psychology, behavior modification, concealing, teacher, and so much more.
I look to my fellow friends and mothers for this inspiration and I am so grateful for a founding friendship like mine and Megan's that has stood the tests of time...so far haha...Love this girl. Every year we re-connect with a girls trip, get a little sunshine, sanity, mental recovery, and just plain ole fun. It rejuvenates us as women, moms, sisters, wives...etc. It's one of my favorite things that I do in a years time! (I wasn't planning on writing so lengthy about being a mom, but it truly is some tin i'm so passionate about). Let me also say I support moms who work outside the home! My mother worked, she had to work, and I have sitters, sisters in laws, cousins, friends, etc that work so i would be remiss if I didn't throw that in there. I know some would rather stay home and that's the luck of life.
I myself have ALWAYS wanted to be a stay at home mom, I received an college education and am grateful for that and encourage all to have an education, but for me, having a kids was a job I wanted. Maybe later in life I will pursue furthering my collegiate education, or find a job in the workforce, but for the time being, a mom to little kids is so short lived I am having a blast doing it, being part of it, and honored that I have these little creatures in my life.
Color Run came to Fairbanks for the second year in a row, Shannon and I took the kids this year. It was such a fun thing to do. The kids had a blast, and wanted to do it again and again. I love doing these things with my kids. My parents never did any physical activity with me when I was growing up. I played sports but I never remember my parents working out. Creating opportunities for physical activity in our children is such a huge thing to me.
Last Day of Kindergarten for this super Roman. Can't believe he graduated kindergarten. Can I just take a quick second on this elementary school graduations...SILLY is what I say. Do we really have to have a formal graduation for our kids EVERY year?? Don't get me wrong, I love celebrating the success of a fun school year but we don't need to get dressed up in cap and gown and do graduation after graduation. Let's as parents celebrate on an intimate scale and let our kids know we appreciate and are proud of them.
The spring was warm and we took advantage of it. Camping at Chena lakes started us off just right. These two little littles are the cutest friends. LOVE them.
More kayaking, brig and little brother bonding. It warms my heart to see Roman take care of his younger siblings. Such a great big brother!!
Shooting guns, and fishing were on the docket for spring fun! Cici's little squishy face was the cutest one on the shooting range.
Ok, let's talk about this little adventure for a minute...Daddies took the older boys fishing in Willow and they not only caught fish...they also got to pet a baby moose. THIS IS ALASKA!!! What??
(don't worry, it was perfectly safe), no animals were harmed in this adventure. But seriously how cool it was for these boys!!
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