Hollingsworth Hoopla

I'm back (I hope!)

2009-01-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

I am the worst blogger but I have now gotten addicted to Facebook and that always reminds me to get back to blogging. At least blogging is forgiving, right? The blog sure never gripes that I haven't been around.... I digress.

I had a busy day planned. Morgan forgot to take her lunch, so I dropped Brent off at school "early" (10 minutes but that is good for me) and I was going to run to the bluff and take Morgan's lunch, then run back to see Brent's A Honor Roll ceremony during chapel. In between I got a message that I didn't need to go work til noon, so I thought I would drop by the clinic to see if Tom needed any help since his new assistant called in sick and he isn't feeling very good either. I'm sitting in the parkinglot on the phone and Mariah starts coughing a little. I look back at her and she starts spewing oatmeal. I mean spewing! So we headed home, got her bathed, and she's just running around and playing with the dog, happy as a clam. I start laundry and fortunately have 2 carseats so I changed out carseats cause the other one is just nasty. Anyway, she has been down for a nap for about 2 hours now so hopefully that will help get rid of whatever bug grabbed her this morning.

Now, my job. First of all and most importantly, I am MOM. However, I have added to that a "part time job" helping Ridge with his brand new nonprofit HELP. We finally got tax exempt status granted on Dec 30, and our first board meeting is TOMORROW!! HELP is a 501(c)(3) company that puts at-risk students in worksite mentoring situations to show them up close and personal the jobs that are available locally if they will stay in school. We just finished our pilot program in December and we start up again in February. That's what I've been up to the past few months.

So I'm not the best blogger....

2008-08-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry! I got out of the habit of writing and then didn't think I had anything worthwhile to write about (and then forgot about doing it completely....) I have just been trying to keep the kids from killing each other these last few days of summer. Mariah is their favorite toy. They just pick her up and cart her around and she LOVES it, but it scares me, especially when Morgan does it since Mariah is 20 lbs to Morgan's 40.

Mariah really likes the toybox and a basket that I USED to keep books and magazines in. She thinks its just her size!

Mariah and Tom having quality time.

Back from Dallas and Almost Well!

2008-07-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

I have been out of commission and out of town for 2 weeks. I had a sinus infection but had made plans to go to Dallas to see my best friend from college, KK. Wasn't going to give up on that, so Monday June 30 I took off with my 3 to Big D. We spent a fun 3 days before heading back on the 4th of July. There were 7 kids between us, and it was actually more restful than you'd think, since that many kids can always find something to do with themselves. We went to the pool twice while there. They had a great time and Mariah took her first steps, too!

Let's Go Swimming!

2008-06-13T21:29:00.003-07:00

This has been a really busy week. The kids have had such a blast. Tuesday we went with friends to the Aransas Pass pool. There were a dozen kids between us (3 adults) as we first took over a corner of Dairy Queen for lunch and then went on to the pool. Mariah figured out that she could stand up in the water so she started twirling around in the water and wandering away from us.

This was also VBS week at the church where Morgan went to school. It was an evening VBS from 530-830, which made it both nice to have some downtime in the early evening, but also made for late nights by the time we got the kids picked up and cleaned off. Well, that's what summer is for, right? Long days, late nights, and sleeping in in the mornings......wait, no, that NEVER happens in my house. It doesn't matter how late the kids have been out the night before (1100 one night), they will NOT sleep past 7am.

How to begin

2008-06-11T15:42:00.000-07:00

I've never blogged before. I've read a few, and it feels like reading someone else's diary, which is kind of fun in a voyeuristic sort of way. So it's summer now, and I have to be a real parent again: 3 kids home all day long, constantly "I'm bored"-ing, except for the little one who is just fascinated by everything, especially if it reeks of "off-limits" to a 10 month old. (Found a barbie shoe in her mouth yesterday. She spat it out when I offered her cheerios. I didn't know it was even IN her mouth, and I do know when and where she picked it up, and so she chewed on it for at least 20 minutes. Deep breathing.......)

To introduce my family, I am married to Tom and we have 3 kids: Brent-7, Morgan-5, and the aforementioned Mariah aka Trouble, 10 months. That one is in a hurry to do everything in a way my other 2 never were. I like to say she was 3 weeks early to start with and hasn't slowed down yet. I am a stay-at-home mom since I got pregnant with the last one, and I can already tell this summer is SO MUCH DIFFERENT than last summer. To start with, I don't have a bowling ball pressing on my bladder and I can take deep breaths (sometimes not even in panic mode). But the biggest difference is the number of kids in the house. Last summer Morgan stayed in her preschool most of the day, so I only had Brent at home and really, that boy was never home. There are kids galore in this neighborhood and somehow he found a way to stay gone most of the day. Then Mariah was born and I really can't remember the rest of the summer. At that point, I was so glad Morgan was at school and Brent was gone since I never slept at night. It was all a blur of pain and exhaustion, coupled by occasional wondering of how the laundry load could triple AGAIN with one more kid added (and such a little kid at that). So this summer will be a new experience for me in the kid-raising arena, and I'll let you know (whoever you are) how that goes......