09Sep / 2010

Chips and Salsa Talks…how it all started.

I have 6 children. I have very close friends that also have 6 children. Over the years we have become more like family, as well as friends. Over the years our children have become like siblings and I feel like they are my children as well. Their oldest son, Tanner and I have become very close, he is definitely like a son to me.

On his journey of life, I had invited him to coffee to discuss life, and be a sounding board for him. Well, Tanner doesn’t like coffee…

photo courtesy of Anya Elizabeth

He likes chips and salsa.

So I said, “Great, let’s go get chips and salsa.” That was the beginning, that began our “Chips and Salsa talks. I don’t know how many times we got together, but is was cool, it was intentional, it was and is a great thing!

We talked about everything…school, family, friends, girlfriends, future, past, dreams, plans, how to plan, helped him come up with a plan, played devils advocate, challenged him on things, and so much more! I can’t tell you specifics on our conversations, that would be a breach of confidence…

Rule: don’t have to discuss with anyone, ie: said parental unit, unless said party talking, is planning on doing any harm to themselves, or someone else…

I even got him started in blogging! Tanner Pemelton
That was one of the best things I encouraged him to do…He is a wonderful writer and our next generation, of writers have a lot of amazing things to say! (one very important blog roll at the bottom of my blog…) Check ALL of them out!

I have cherished my chips and salsa talks…I gained another member of my family. I grew as a person listening to what this individual had to say. I hope I instilled some insight, wisdom, encouragement, love, and a little laughter in him. He is gone to another state for school…I am sad. But…he is with his 2nd family Jeff and Kim Graves…so it is all good!! I am mom 2/2.

One thing I know, he will be back for holidays…although he will be pulled and stretched to see all of his friends, and of course his family…I know we will sneak in a Chips and salsa talk.

Fortunately, our families are family friends…part of my Nashville Family . We will be in each other’s lives forever… I know one day I will be at his wedding celebrating and crying with his mom and dad…knitting a rockin’ awesome sweater for a baby that one day he and his future bride will have, watching amazing films that he has written, produced, filmed or whatever with his best friend Nathan Graves…

I believe that his parents, Bret and Diana, did and continue to do an amazing job raising Tanner and all 6 of their children! They are all creative, funny, intelligent, silly, loud individuals, just like my 6…

I also believe, like Hillary Clinton said about 14 years ago, taken from an old African proverb, that it does take a village to raise a child… I cherish the people that are speaking life, and encouragement, discipline if needed, God, and love into my children’s lives…

My path continues…as I am now on my journey of “Mentoring Mom” with my amazing daughter Anya, I have booked our 1st Chips and Salsa talk. Tomorrow around 11:30…

Intentional conversations, mixed in with a little laughter…

and of course, chips and salsa.

I can’t wait!

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27Jul / 2010

Where has this summer gone???

Holy smokes! Next week is August! Where did the summer go?? I know mine was not a break. I saw pictures and blogs and FB posts on vacations, vacations and more vacations…

Our family chose to NOT do anything this summer…well, we have done school with a few kids all summer…a class here and there. Then there was the summertime sucking schedule of the musical. It was fun for Kieran, but it was a lot…I am just now beginning to decompress from it! (yet, mentally preparing for the Christmas play that he and who knows who else will want to be in!!)

I have gone back and forth on whether to put the kids in public school this year or not, as a time saving, stress relieving time…and the answer is…

NO!

Public school would not be more time productive for me. My kids would not ride the bus, I am not thrilled with the route…the joys of living in the country. We are 20 plus minutes from the schools…Anya has offered to drive the kids, or should I say pick them up…I am sure the morning driving would be left to me! My sweet, tender children will once again stay home with me.

The play showed me that kids are mean, kids can be cruel, kids are just not nice to each other at times, and they don’t care who they target. To put my kids in that enviroment 5 days a week would be not healthy for them. Plus, just think of all the money I will save not having to buy gas for my church van!

You can argue need for socialization…but have you met me?? I am a freaking taxi driver! All I do is take my kids from one social event to another! It is so nice that Anya is driving as now she is taxi driver number 2 and she is LOVING every second of it!! (so am I!)

So now that summer is almost over…I think we will NOT start school until September…I was hoping for some time off…but that is such a silly thought…I just started looking over the calendar of events…parties, Anya has a mission trip to Wheelright KY, Ladies night out dinner, My birthday Rowan’s birthday, Reba rehearsals, a 10 day run of Reba shows…then I am going to Niagra with Tom for 4 days!!

Yea!! Ummm, that takes us right into September…But I do know that I am going to Florida with some of my friends!! Girls trip!! Woo Hoo!! I can’t wait! Then we have Kieran’s birthday, School, life…It is just zipping by!!

So for me, August will be a month of getting organized, somewhat…making sure I have all my workbooks needed for each small, medium, and large child. Continuing to de-clutter…I have BAGS of clothes to give away… and breathe a little before the year begins.

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18May / 2010

Feeling a little out of the loop…of life. Time to catch up.

Wow!

It is a great Tuesday morning!! I just have to tell me that, as I am tired!!

I was awakened, early, by my 2 1/2 year old. I am exhausted, I am tired. I don’t sleep well anyway, so getting up early never helps! I am sitting in my room, trying to wake up. Rowan is watching “Little Bear” on Nick Jr.

I haven’t posted a blog post in weeks! Every day that I don’t post, I feel more disconnected and decide not to post…too much to catch up on…

What? Too much to catch up on?? I think I am losing my mind! So, I decided to “catch” up…Brief snippets, stream of thought, hope it makes sense!

Kids are great! All are healthy! Went to San Antonio with my Friend Teddy to go see Tom play with Reba at their last concert of the George Straight/Reba/LeeAnn Womack series. Great show, Drunk cowboys fought 2 rows behind us durning the George Straight part of the show…Tree fell on our road that afternoon. Not from wind, but from ALL the rain that day! Anya and Cooper heard the cracking of the tree and grabbed my Lily and Maggie, who were playing right there on the road where the tree fell! My angels here on earth! She sent me a pic of the fallen tree! Flooded in Nashville the next day, Sunday, that Tom was flying home. He made it home, about 45 minutes late. Got directions to the best way to hopefully get home. Made it to Wal Mart in Ashland City to pick up food and candles. Got home! 2 hours later, he and Jen and Blake and lots of kids were stuck in the development, as the flood waters came across River road and up our development. 1st 2 houses were flooded! I was supposed to fly home the next day or so…Got stuck in San Antonio until Thursday. Stayed with Teddy and her amazing friends, Brenda and Joe Murphy. Met several of Teddy’s friends and extended family members. Had a blast. Totally worried about my family that was trapped in the development. My insane husband, Tom, got a boat ride from the neighbor, “down” River Road to Pond Creek Road, which was dry, and got a ride with our friend Spady, to his session. Now that is dedication, with a little insanity mixed in! (or is it the other way??) The roads were dry enough by Thursday afternoon. I flew back and made it home. 2 hours later our electricity went out until Sunday! Not a happy “Welcome Home” present Nashville Electric Service!! Went to Home Depot Sunday afternoon and purchased a 600.00 gas generator, as we were told that our power may be out for up to 2 weeks!!! Not at my house with 6 children!! NOOOOOO! Got home, began to put it together. 15 minutes later 7 Nashville Electric Service trucks showed up in our little development! THANK YOU GOD!! Electricity back on in about an hour…packed up generator, took back to Home Depot, right before they closed. They were wonderful and totally understanding. Life hasn’t been the same since the flood…We have been blessed to be able to help our community gut their houses…It has been devistating to see what neighbors and friends have lost! It has been raining on and off for the weeks following the flood…Many people just 2 miles away still don’t have power, living in their, “gutted houses”. Red Cross brings them breakfast like a “Good Humor” Ice cream truck…That image broke me!! Our church, and many other churches and people are rallying and stepping up and serving the people affected by this flood. Many prayers and tears! Want to be available and remember that these same people will need our help in 4 weeks, and 8 weeks, and beyond. Hoping and believing that we will remember this and be there for these same people. Several of our friends children are graduating from high school! Congratulations to all of them!! Only 2 weeks of school left! I am so ready for this school year to be over! All my kids will do math this summer…seems to be the dreaded subject of the year…We are still going to attempt to put our pool in this summer. My baby sister just turned 25 on Sunday!! Happy Birthday Christy!! Time is flying!! My oldest daughter will be 16 next month!! That overwhelms me on so many levels!! Must have another post on this one!! I am taking a break from our Dysfunctional Small group this summer. Kieran auditioned for “Seussical the Musical”…I ended up auditioning too… we both got a part! New adventures in my life! Lisa and Gerald have put their “wedding” on hold for a while. They were so affected by the flood! Please pray for them. Writing christmas songs, writing songs in general. Trying to finish some songs. Going to finish my cd in the next few months…honed it down: more raw, acoustic “folky” kind of cd…Very excited! I’m such a late bloomer!! (that is the understatement of the year!!) Have some other irons in the fire of creative things I am planning on working on… Love my family both here and all over the country. Really would love for my brother Sam and his wifey Terri, to move to Nashville! I want family near by!! My kids want Sammy and Kylie and Brody here too!! Want a vacation. I need a vacation! A stress free time, where Nashville doesnt’ flood, and my family isn’t stuck in it!! Want Rowan to be over his “terrible twos”. Not looking forward to the threes either! He is a VERY intense child…Hmmm, could he be like his FATHER?? But I adore him!! I adore all of my children! I am blessed beyond all measure to have such a large, beautiful circle of friends in Nashville and beyond! I am searching for motivation to get back to my regular workout program. Got started on Monday, and during our workout, Tom severely pulled something in his lower back! This is a new pain for him. I have done this all my life…stress shows up in my back…so it cut my work out short… I need to get back to the routine. Today will be the day! Realize that I am blessed beyond all measure! I can hardly believe my life. It is GOOD! It is chaotic, and busy, and I over-do, over-commit, run ragged and have a difficult time saying no…but I am learning. I love to laugh!

It is ALL good!

Pictures to follow…

28Apr / 2010

More than words…it’s the tone we use when we talk to eachother.

I was reading a blog the other evening…it was about our love language, and the way we speak to each other.

it was fascinating. First of all, I am so lost in life, that I don’t know what MY love language is! Do you know what yours is?

I have the book on ‘The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman’. I read the book many years ago. Problem is…I don’t remember what my love language is…I probably never figured it out back then. That speaks volumes! I am feeling convicted. That blog post made me think about the communication and my family.

I believe that this is a very important thing…communication, but not only to communicate, but HOW you communicate to each other. I know with six children, there are many love languages and many ways they communicate and don’t communicate.

I am also honest and realistic enough to know and admit my shortcomings. With so many kids, it gets loud. Yelling for someone down the hall, downstairs, upstairs, outside. I NEED to invest in a intercom system.

We all are loud. All but Tom, he is only loud when he plays the drums!!!

Then there is the power struggle. Voices, tones, they get testy, and venomous. The junior mom, the junior dad. Then child number 3 bosses child number four, child number five, and child number five definitely bosses child number six. Child number six rules the universe!! He’s the baby! At 2 1/2 the tantrums have begun! He is intense…he throws himself on the floor quite a bit!

What is the best way to quiet the noise? What is the best way to realistically calm the tone? I am not sure how…I just keep smiling, yelling, talking and crying from time to time.

I know that once the noise is quieted, they will all be gone. It will go fast…well, not for me. Rowan is only 2!

But I know it will happen…My first is almost 16. I have 2 years left…That makes me very sad! That is another blog post in itself.

When I am overwhelmed with my children I will try to keep it all in perspective…try to step back and enjoy the noise. I am trying to take better care of me, so that I have those little breaks that will keep me “fresh” and happier.

Any suggestions, thoughts?

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21Apr / 2010

Vegas: Saturday night…

Where am I?

I am on a Southwest flight, headed back to Nashville. My trip is coming to a close.

Some details of the last few days…

Saturday was an off day. Tom had no rehearsal, blocking, nothing. Which is exactly what we did…Nothing.

We thought we had slept in…checked at the clock: 8:00 am!

So once we got up, we walked to a Denny’s for breakfast. Anything to save on some money in Vegas, especially breakfast. So walked to breakfast. Tom ordered his usual 3 egg white omelet with veggies, no cheese, and very little oil. Oatmeal with raisins…no raisins, so he had cranberries. Coffee and water. ( He is so disciplined…)

I had my usual, 2 eggs OM, toast. and added a pancake so I could just have a bite. Coffee and water.

After breakfast we drove around and looked for a place to shop. Carolyn, Reba’s tour manager had asked if I wanted to go to the ACM’s and sit in the audience.

Well, yes I did, and no I hadn’t planned on it, so I had NOTHING to wear!

I wasn’t going to spend a ton of money on a dress or any kind of outfit, I just wanted something decent to wear. I asked Carolyn where I was sitting, nosebleed section or floor, so I cold decide what I should wear. Nosebleed section…you can wear jeans, cowboy boots, and a blouse. Floor, at least some kind of black dress. She texted me back and informed me floor!

Ugh! So I went to several discount stores looking…nothing.

Maybe I just wouldn’t go…My knee is hurting me. ( I really hurt it about 5 or 6 weeks ago, slipping on a piece of ice on the floor of my kitchen!! Not very exciting…not very graceful!!)

(It is not like the first time I hurt my knee when a group of girls jumped the fence to the downtown swimming pool to go midnight swimming…Oops, did I say that? I didn’t’ even get in trouble for it, because my parents at first didn’t believe my story, since it sounded so bizarre…and since I told them the truth… It is what kids in Steamboat had been doing for decades!!)

Anyway, back to Vegas…

So, Tom found a shirt and a pair of shorts. I found a pair of shorts and a summer dress. Nothing for Sunday night.

We went back to the hotel, to rest and make our plans for dinner.

Once again we opted to head off the strip. Thank you car!! We went to a Mexican Restaurant that we had been to last year. It was called,

Lindo Michoacanwww.lindomichoacan.com

Amazing food. Where they make fresh guacamole right in front of you.

We had the address, put it in the Iphone GPS thing, and headed out. It wasn’t’ far…

That blasted map thing, took us to a neighborhood! No restaurant in site!

And is wasn’t human error. We checked the address. So we called and after going the wrong way a few more times, we finally pulled in, got a table and enjoyed a fabulous meal!!

On the way home, we found a CVS pharmacy and I picked up a hair brush. Mmmmm, my children had taken MY hairbrush. Now it is nowhere to be found. I thought Tom had one…no his hair is too short…he doesn’t need one. So I picked one up as well as a Toblerone chocolate bar for Tom. His free day…

We got back to the hotel, saw many people from Nashville and hung out and talked with them. We went up stairs, well, Tom took me back to the room. I was exhausted. He opted to go back downstairs and chat with more peeps from Nashville.

I took a shower, because UNLIKE Nashville, where smoking is prohibited almost everywhere! It is NOT in Vegas, so one trip through the casino and you smell like an ashtray!

Took a shower and did a little knitting, until I fell asleep….

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lorrieharden

Tag Archives: friends

Chips and Salsa Talks…how it all started.

Where has this summer gone???

Feeling a little out of the loop…of life. Time to catch up.

More than words…it’s the tone we use when we talk to eachother.

Vegas: Saturday night…

lorrieharden

Tag Archives: friends

Chips and Salsa Talks…how it all started.

Where has this summer gone???

Feeling a little out of the loop…of life. Time to catch up.

More than words…it’s the tone we use when we talk to eachother.

Vegas: Saturday night…

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