Merry Christmas??

We have now come down to only 12 days before Christmas and I am saying, "Bah Humbug!!" I have no idea what's gotten into me, but I am just not feeling it this year. 


Normally this is my favorite time of year. I have to hold myself back from turning on the Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I can't wait to make Christmas candy and put up all the decorations and advent calendars. (Yes, I have a different one for each child. My parents tradition.)  Christmas shopping and taking drives to look at the lights...all things that make me happy. I redecorate the tree a thousand times because, even though my kids decorate it the first time around, everyone moves things around and lumps like things together. (You must know how nuts that makes me.)


This year, I have been so blessed. I have a 2 1/2 year old that loves all the Christmas 'pretties', a new baby, a wonderful family and great friends. So my questions is, 

"What the heck is wrong with me?!" 

I just can't seem to be able to pull myself out of this funk. I feel like I'm on the verge of tears all the time. I don't want to do anything or go anywhere! Usually giving service is what pulls me out, and you'd think at this time of year there would be no shortage of that, but I feel like I have NOTHING to give. If I could skip it all this year,I would. The realization of this makes me even more sad. I know I owe it my kids to try and make this special, but how can I do that when my heart isn't in it? 

Perhaps Postpartum Depression has taken hold or maybe, I just need to get back on my meds. All I know is that I have to make this better.

So, I did some searching. If the Christmas Spirit can't find me, then I guess I'm just going to have to go and find it. I found a great site that had 12 days of Christmas Family Home Evenings.

 http://12waysofchristmas.blogspot.com/

I think I'm going to give it a go. I want so much to make this right, and I really feel like 12 days of Christmas is exactly what I need. (Ironically, that's all the time we have left!) 

I'm usually the cheerleader for everyone else. I'm always trying to encourage and uplift others. I realize that I'm falling a bit short of the mark with this post, but I really feel that if I'm going to use this as a journal, I should probably just be honest. Not everyday is rainbows and roses. And who knows, maybe next year, I'll look back and chuckle at how poopy I thought life was being. So Merry Christmas!! I hope we all have great New Year!!

My 2010 Facebook Journal

Happy Birthday, Ricky!

How in the world is possible that my loving little boy has turned 11 already?! Life has been quite a roller-coaster ride since he joined our family. Our life in New Mexico seems a lifetime away! Since Ricky had the great distinction of being born in Roswell, he is constantly teased with being told he was brought to us by an alien ship and dropped off at the hospital for us to come and get him. He doesn't appreciate our humor at his expense, but that's just Ricky. He is a great teaser, but he doesn't take it very well. (And SORRY, but that is a prerequisite for being in the McCracken Family! We show we care by teasing.) 


Ricky had a great summer. He played baseball for the first time and had a lot of natural talent. (Go figure, his Grandpa King played semi-pro!) He started out in the Minors and was quickly moved up to play in the Majors as well. He's pretty good at both the pitcher and catcher positions. I can admit to being a bit surprised, but I'm so glad that he found something he really likes! 


He just wrapped up his basketball season for a 4th place win in the tournament. He placed 2nd in team points! He really had a great coach that made him work hard. He wanted nothing more than to please her. It was really great to watch him progress this season. 


Now that he is 11, he is moving from Cub Scouts up to Boy Scouts. He earned his Religious Knot and his Arrow of Light. It was a lot of work, but we are so very proud of him!! He really enjoys scouts and is becoming quite a leader! In fact, I'd like to share a story with you that happened this summer in baseball.

Ricky was at a practice for the Majors, while his Minors team practiced in the field right by them. Rick and I were at a District Scout meeting and so Grandma Hattie had taken the boys to practice that day. 


An assistant coach/parent was becoming increasingly frustrated with the kids. He called them all in for a huddle and proceeded to yell at them using all sorts of profanity and calling the kids names. (Had I been there, I'd have been in that man's face for sure!!) Parents were lined up along the fence visiting, not caring much about what their kids were being subjected to. Grandma was in the car and couldn't hear what was being said. 


Ricky knew the coach was doing the wrong thing. He knew it was not ok to talk to anyone that way, and he also knew that he didn't have to stay there and take it. He waited for a few moments and then asked if he could go to the restroom. (He told me he didn't want to make the coach madder by just leaving.) He promptly walked over to his Grandma's car and told her that he wasn't going to practice with the Majors anymore. He'd play the games if they needed him to, but he was going to just practice with the Minors from now on. Grandma wasn't really sure what to say, so she just agreed and shooed him off to the other field. 


The Minors coach was curious as to why Ricky wanted to practice with them, so Ricky told him what the other coach did to them and said that he would NOT practice with them anymore. Thankfully one ADULT there finally took some action and stopped the other coach. 


Ricky went on to finish the season with no negative ramifications. In fact, he actually had some positive things happen. He gained the respect of the kids as well as several of the parents. His story was mentioned in the newspaper and went all the way to the head of the league.


When he was asked why he walked away, Ricky told us that he had just learned about leadership in Cub Scouts and that sometimes that means that you have to do hard things. But you should always choose to do the right thing even if it's hard. (I am such a proud mama!!) Actually, because of his actions, two of his fellow teammates joined Scouts! 

So, as I think about this last year with Ricky, my heart swells with pride at the lessons learned and the courage that this little 10 year old boy was able to show. 


I love you, Ricky! You are one in a million! (Even if you had to come from another planet to be so!) ;) 

Alone with my thoughts...

Here I am. Sitting on my couch at 6:00 in the morning with a finally sleeping baby in my arms. My poor little guy just got his first cold and his struggles for breath keep waking him up. The only time he seems somewhat content is when I am holding him. 


I haven't slept much in the last two days, but looking at Kallen's beautiful, perfect little self, how could I not be so glad he's here; apart of our family. 


You know, he wasn't apart of my master plan. I was always, for as long as I can remember, going to have a large family and be the Mom of 6 kids. That was my plan. If there is anything that I have learned about myself it is that I am ALWAYS in the process of making a plan and that unevenness or lack of symmetry drives me nuts! I think the professionals call this OCD. I like to think of this as more of an organizational tool for my life.


I grew up being the oldest of 5 children in my family. Whenever we went anywhere, we'd get paired up and assigned a buddy. Inevitably, there would be one child left out and it was usually my brother. He was the only boy in this heavily female populated family. I always felt sorry for him. I don't tell you this in judgement of my parents' choice in the size of their family. It simply was the motivating factor in my quest for evenness. I always wished I'd had another brother so that John wouldn't always have to be a buddy with my parents. (And also so there would be 2 boys in the family...see my unevenness issue strikes again!) 


Years pass by in a whirlwind of youthful naivety, diapers, bottles, and Cheerios (unnoticed) in my crudely pulled back 'Mommy Hair'. I had finally conquered my quest and had been blessed with 3 boys and 3 girls. (No control over that one, but it did make me happy!) 


Fast forward to 2007. No more diapers! No more bottles! And even though I still may have gotten a stray Cheerio chucked into my hair by one of my misbehaving imps, it didn't go unnoticed! I became a working Mom (outside the home...for a paycheck and some badly needed validation). Ashley entered high school and Riley became a kindergartener. I was doing my happy mama dance! The stress of having babies and toddlers in my life had now passed on. I breathed a momentary sigh of relief. 


I went down to Utah to spend an amazing night with my Mom and 2 of my sisters at a Josh Groban concert. (I'd elaborate a little more here, but that's a whole other story!!) When I got back home, I just couldn't get back into the groove at work and I was just so darned tired!! A little voice inside my head reminded me that there was a small possibility. I didn't want to believe it, but it would explain a lot. Then, I saw it. There it was. Two pink lines. Not faint, but bold and clear! My family symmetry was now gone. Our home was being blessed with another baby. 


Hadley was such an easy baby. I got to experience the great joy and awe in seeing my older children discover and develop great nurturing skills. What a miracle! What a blessing! But, Hadley just couldn't be this lone child out there in this great big family. How unfair to her! I knew it. I knew it the moment I found out she was coming... whether I liked it or not, there would be a baby #8! 


Two years later, order has been restored to the universe!! I now have 4 girls and 4 boys. I can stop and be content in the evenness of my family's symmetry. 


Kallen is such a wonderful baby and really reminds me, in the moments of pure frustration with having an incredibly busy 2 year old, what joy I have found in being a Mom!


There are days I wonder what on earth ever possessed me to become a mother at all; especially one with so many children. And then these quiet wonderful moments remind me.  

The McCrackens

As a brand new blogger, I decided that a little introduction is in order. 

The LOVE of my life!!

Rick and I have been together since December 2, 1988. We met in high school, he was a Senior and I was a Freshman. (As a parent, I now get how terrified my parents must have felt!) I knew right then and there that he was 'the one' and through thick and thin, we have been in love ever since!

Rick and Julianne 

Our Beautiful Children

Ashley

Ashley is a Senior this year, and graduating from High School in January 2011. She is also currently attending Flathead Valley Community College. She's grown up so fast and I am just so not ready for this!

Alex

Alex is a Sophomore this year and a Life Scout working on his Eagle. He is finding some hidden talent in woodworking this year and has been nominated twice for Student of the Week. 

Kymberlyn

Kymberlyn is a Freshman and just made the basketball team. She is remaining on the honor roll and is determined to do well in everything.

Brynlee

Brynlee is my budding beauty with such a sensitive heart. She is in the 6th grade this year and just moved up into Young Womens. She is also looking forward to playing basketball this season.

Ricky

Ricky is a 5th grader this year and in just a few short days (10 he informed me of) will be making the move from a Webelos in Cub Scouts to an 11 year old Boy Scout. He has also earned his arrow of light and his religious knot! He did great in baseball (playing up to the Majors) and basketball this year and he's showing a bit of athletic promise!

Riley

Riley is a 3rd grader and a Wolf in Cub Scouts. He is a sledding fool and is really liking all the snow we've gotten so far! He's my little pitcher on the Minors team and he loves baseball!

Hadley

Hadley is my 2 year old. She is the funniest, most dramatic 2 year old I have ever met (aside from my baby sister, Meredith!) She is also the busiest and most curious!! No matter how upset you get at this little imp, her dimpled smile will get you everytime!!

Kallen

Kallen joined our family on August 8th this year. He is the happiest, most wonderful baby!! We all are just so in love with this little man and so grateful to have him apart of our family!

No serious pictures allowed around here!

Our Family Tree

The circle of sibling love.

So there you have it! 

Welcome to the McCracken Family Blog! 

I give!

Hello world! I give! I feel somewhat technology savvy, and yet it has taken me this long to finally take the blogging plunge.

I love blogs. I learn a lot from other people's blogs. I search blogs for answers to my many questions and to find updates on friends and family that I love and miss. Why has it taken me this long to start my own? I have no answer. I suspect it's pure laziness though.

I read on my sister's blog that she was doing this as a sort of journaling. I am hoping to do the same. I am an avid Facebooker (is that even a word?) but I realized that all my daily posts were just seen and forgotten; lost in the world wide web, never to be seen or remembered again. So I thought if I put them here, I might be able to access my random thoughts and perhaps even gain some clarity into this crazy, chaotic life I lead.