Mike & Andrea + 5: April 2013

I have struggled with whether or not I think blogging is that great. I always got bugged with the "bragging blogs" or the "look at me I'm so great blogs". Sometimes when reading other peoples blogs I would feel bad that I couldn't do all the things that some women do. I don't have a type A personality that gets so much stuff done everyday and whose house is always immaculate. I have a hard time getting dinner on the table every night. I have an amazing husband who helps so much that sometimes I feel guilty that he is doing so much.

On the other hand, I love blogs that are real and sincere. As a mom I go through many feelings of guilt and inadequacy. I've found strength in reading woman's blogs who are struggling with real challenges and are getting through them. The reason I like these next 3 blogs is that they are real. They have real trials and real feelings. They don't try and sugar coat anything.

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

http://millathenightbaker.blogspot.com/

http://mcdonaldfam.blogspot.com/

The main reason I have started blogging is for myself. I really have wanted to document exciting fun things that have happened in our family like vacations, birthdays, sports etc. I'm not writing these things to brag, but so that I can remember the feelings I had at the time. I guess you could say this blog is my Journal. I am not a great writer at all. My spelling, grammar, and punctuations will most likely be wrong(thank you spell check), but at least I am getting this stuff written down. Some day when my kids are all out of the house and its just Mike and I, I know I will not remember everything. I want to be able to look back at this blog and remember specific feelings and memories that I had.

I also have an amazing extended family! All together, Mike and I have 11 brothers and sisters and 24 nieces and nephews. I admit that I am horrible about keeping up with them. I get so caught up in my family and what going on here, that I forget to check on others. I love reading all of my brothers and sisters blogs, it makes me feel connected to them in some small way. I feel like I get a glimpse into their lives and what's going on. For this reason, I decided that they may want to know whats going on around here. So there is another reason I decided to start blogging. I've heard that you can turn your blog into a book. Maybe someday I will do that for my family to have.

Some of my other favorite blogs are decorating blogs. Here is one of my favorites.

http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/

So now you know my intentions of this blog. I will be going back and documenting some stuff that I have missed over the last couple of years. I am feeling like I don't have much time left with these kids at home. Probably because my oldest will go off to college soon and every 2 years after that another one will leave. I love my little family so much. Being a mom is everything to me and even though its hard sometimes, I would never want to be doing anything else.
Andrea

In the spring of 2012, we went on a trip to Florida with our closest friends, The May family. All of our kids match up perfectly. They have 3 girls and one boy in the same order as us. These are my kids best friends, they are like family to us. All the kids were so excited about this trip.

Clara was a senior(17) and Kayla was a junior(16)

                                                Livi(15)and Kenzie(14) were both freshman

Gillian was in 7th grade(13) and Lexie is in 6th grade(12)

Ben was in 3rd grade(9), Max is in preschool(5), and Calvin is in 4th grade(10)

Jen and Cliff are so much fun, we love hanging out with them. These kids didn't fight or get bugged with each other. Each set of kids had their own room. Mike rented a house that we all fit in.