Overwhelmed...

   The quads are just two weeks away from turning two!!!  Where has the time gone?  I can't remember the last time I sat down to write.  For those who may being viewing my blog for the first time...welcome, glad your here; however, if you offend easily...go ahead and exit now, as I am not the blog for you!

    I would wager to say that the most common question I am asked is "how do you do it?"...well, that and "are they all yours?" (insert palm of hand against forehead, emoji here).  But to answer the former of the two questions as simply as possible...I don't!  I don't do it...not alone anyhow. If I were to rely solely on my own strength, my own knowledge, or any of my other abilities... I would fail...I would fail daily!  There might very well be a supermom out there that can handle a husband, six kids,  as household, and three business all on her own...but I am not that mom.  There is way too much poop for me to be that mom!!!
    The quads have not only discovered they can take their diapers off...oh no...they have conquered it!   Walker especially loooooves to take his diaper off.  That kid is small but mighty! he has now been dubbed "Tiny Terror".  I have been putting cloth diaper covers on over the disposable diapers because he hadn't been able to get out of those; however, one particular evening, I had fed the quads, taken them upstairs in their room to let them have play time while I finish getting dinner ready for the big boys (one of which was sick with a high fever) and I(Matt tends to get home after we have all eaten...but yes, I do include him in the dinner making.  Not making him for dinner...but you know what I mean!). Afterwards, Campbell(8yr old) asked if he could go play with the babies before they had their bath.  I am cleaning up the kitchen when I hear "moooooommmmmyyyy!  they got poop everywhere!)  I arch my head around the corner and ask if he is just kidding, because before I came up with the cloth diaper cover option, we had an incidence of pooping in a disposable diaper and then taking it off and poo going everywhere!  The moment I saw the look in Campbell's eye and the steady shaking of his head...I knew it was no joke!  I grab my phone(because you have to document this stuff to be able to laugh about it later...much later) and run upstairs.  As I scaled the stair, the hot aroma of poo about knocked me down.  I open the gate, turn the corner and there it was...the Quadnado of poop!  Two naked babies, one shirtless baby, and the only girl with her leggings stuck around her feet, but otherwise still clothed and diapered.  Ashton looked like he used the poop for war paint!  I couldn't tell if he had painted himself or allowed a brother to do it.  I scooped them up as quickly and carefully as possible and loaded them into the tub.  I couldn't even plug the tub because of the amount of poop coming off these babies!  I held the body soap upside down and doused them in it! I heard my brother enter their room followed by a bellowing "Oh my...that is awful(gag sound)...holy cow, they got it all over the wall!"  I popped my head out of the bathroom to see what wall he was referring to, as I had only seen poop on the babies and the floor.  Sure enough, on the opposite side of the room, poop finger painting had taken place on the wall and door. I could only manage to shake my head in rebellion of accepting the reality I was in.  As I turned to grab a wash cloth out of the linen closet I noticed the diapers on the floor, I quickly grabbed them to see who the poop-er-trator was.  But to my surprise...the diapers were spotless!  Uh-oh...that means there is a turd...somewhere in this room.  I yelled to my brother to help me find the origin of the poop, to which he replied "surely there isn't a turd remaining...it got spread everywhere."  But I knew otherwise...I scanned the floor lifting toys and blankets, and then I spotted it or rather them...two giant poops!  one teetering on a rocking elephant and one lying on the floor beside it.

 Without even having to be asked my brother ran downstairs to get the cleaning supplies to work on the poop while I cleaned the babies.  As my brother is scrubbing the floor and I am scrubbing filth out from under the nails of Walker and Ashton I hear Campbell yelling from the bottom of the stairs that Jack(the child with the high fever) is crying and needs me!   On top of it all, I had thrown my back out a few days prior and was still in a great deal of pain doing anything other than lying flat on my back.  You see, this is where God reminds me that my own strength is simply not sufficient!
   No supermom here, just a super tired, underpaid, overworked, overwhelmed mom, that becomes more and more grateful for a Savior who carries my burdens so that I still have joy in my heart and a smile on my face!
   Prior to the quadnado of poop, misfortune, Matt and I had four days away with our big boys celebrating their birthdays in Disney World!  Six months earlier I had signed up to run in the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  The race was early on a Sunday morning and we figured since Campbell and Jack's birthdays are only five days apart, instead of doing birthday parties, we would go down a few days early and celebrate them in one of the happiest places on earth!      In the day to day chaos that is our lives, I had forgotten just how much fun my big boys are when they get some alone time with mommy and daddy.  They didn't fight or argue one single time while we were away!!!!  We all loved every minute of the two days we got to spend in the parks...even the 90minutes spent waiting to ride the Snow White mine train... 90 minutes of waiting for a two minute ride!!!  But totally worth two minutes to see the smiles on their faces and having Jack snuggle up tight against me...seeking protection from impending doom!

   There are certainly times, with the stresses of running three companies and growing the eighteen team members involved, along with all the stresses of my household,  that I desperately want to snuggle up to Jesus...burry my head in his armpit, seek protection from what is surely to be impending doom!  But just as smiled and told Jack "open your eyes...you are safe...enjoy the ride!" I know that is what God is telling me.  I can surrender all my fears and burdens to him...I am safe...I need to open my eyes and enjoy the ride!  Because in no time at all... it will be over!

  Another common question that is asked...more from myself than others, is "are you able to give so much of yourself?  to those at home? and to those in your company?  won't something/someone fall short?"  There are days when I ask myself "what in the world are you doing?! How can you possibly handle it all?"  I know that my kids get the best of me, when I am not with them 24/7!  God called me to open a salon four years ago, so that I could grow people and show them the same love that He has shown me.  To surrender that dream, and all that God has grown it to be, would be a disservice to all involved and frankly a slap in the face to the ONE who made it all possible!  God doesn't source you with a dream without resourcing you on how to achieve it.  My family and my company are two sides of my heart.  My family does take the priority; but giving up on the other...because it seems to hard...would mean I was trusting in me, in what I "feel" and what I "see happening".  Trusting in God to come through...when a goal "seems" unrealistic, is my favorite part about faith.  Like when Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade steps off the cliff...in faith and lands on what appeared to be an invisible walkway.  He didn't turn around and quit, because "it didn't make since how he would reach the other side of canyon without a bridge."  He stepped out in faith...and only then, was the walk way revealed. (I am a huge adventure and super heros fan, kinda gal).
    Having partners in my company who believe in me and my vision for the future and excel in areas I lack, is another huge piece of the "making it work" pie.  I spend the majority of my time investing in growing them so that they may in turn invest to grow others and so on it goes.  If only my bank account matched my faith account...we could inspire the world... one hair dresser at a time!!!
    In sitting down to write today, it was me taking a the time, to open my eyes, reflect upon and enjoy the ride.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next...even if that means potty training!!!

hurt back...trying to mommy through it

This heavy medal represented so much more than finishing a race...but that's another story for another day.