About Christina
I am a mom to 6, wife, and registered nurse recently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called Polymyositis. I am unable to work now, so now I guess you could call me a SAHM. My oldest son is a U.S. Marine, my next is a junior in high school, then another
son who is a freshman in high school, my daughter who is in 4th grade, my step-daughter in 3rd grade, and my youngest son is in 1st grade. I am married to my high school sweetheart, after years of being apart, we got back together and have been married for 8 years. We have a blended family – my oldest and 2 youngest are “ours”, the two middle boys are “mine”, and the youngest girl is “his”. All of them, with the exception of my U.S. Marine, live with us. When I’m not shuffling kids from soccer, baseball, swimming, dance, tumbling, or girl scouts, I like to read, make candles, crochet, knit, and design blogs.
son who is a freshman in high school, my daughter who is in 4th grade, my step-daughter in 3rd grade, and my youngest son is in 1st grade. I am married to my high school sweetheart, after years of being apart, we got back together and have been married for 8 years. We have a blended family – my oldest and 2 youngest are “ours”, the two middle boys are “mine”, and the youngest girl is “his”. All of them, with the exception of my U.S. Marine, live with us. When I’m not shuffling kids from soccer, baseball, swimming, dance, tumbling, or girl scouts, I like to read, make candles, crochet, knit, and design blogs.
About my blog
My blog started as a place for me to write about my disease and the limitations it placed on my life. I felt very isolated in the beginning and needed to “talk” about what I was going through, so I began to blog about it. As I met other bloggers and became involved with various blogging communities, my blog became about other things- mostly my kids or just life. I write a weekly Thankful Thursday post, which is my favorite, because it’s really helped me to begin to focus on the positive instead of dwelling on the negative – sounds silly, but it’s been very therapeutic for me. In the future, I’d like to focus on recipes and home organization – two areas I really need to focus on in my life.
1. I know you have some experience with teenagers. What one tip would you give to parents of teens? One tip I would give is to always, always, always keep the lines of communication open. My kids can talk to me about anything and they do. Conversations about sex, drinking, or drugs may be difficult to have, but your teens need to talk to someone and if they can’t come to you for advice, who will they go to? My kids know that I will listen without judging and help them however I can. I’ve even become the go-to person for some of my children’s friends. I always try to remember what it was like to be a teenager and truly care about what they are going through.
2. What is your favorite way to spend some quality “me” time? To be honest, I don’t get much “me” time. I always have a million and one things to do, even when the kids are gone all day at school. But if I had to pick, I would say just stretching out on my bed with the curtains drawn, the fan blowing, a favorite moving playing on the TV – and just quiet. I love that, all snuggled up with my comforter and most likely a cat and a dog – very peaceful and relaxing.
3. Have you read any good books lately? I read LOTS of books; it’s one of my favorite pastimes. A couple of the best books I’ve read this year are The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Duma Key by Stephen King. The Help is just an awesome story and anyone would love it. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I plan to. Duma Key is a ghost story, typical Stephen King, but I love, love, love the main characters. I’ve actually read it four times now.
4. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Chocolate, plain and simple. Especially a Frosty from Wendy’s. I’m quite addicted to them and have one most every day. As you can tell from the name of my blog – milkshakes are my favorite.
5. What is go-to-meal for a busy week night? I’m not sure how healthy this meal is, but it’s been a family staple for as long as I can remember. My children are all able to cook it themselves if I’m running to soccer or dance or tumbling or swim team. Drum roll please….Spaghetti. Just hamburger fried up, 2 jars of sauce, and some boiled spaghetti noodles. My family loves spaghetti and it’s so easy to make. We usually end up eating it late in the week when mom’s had enough running, cleaning, cooking, homework-checking, etc.I started reading Christina’s blog over the summer and found that I really enjoy it. I am a very frequent visitor and Christina is becoming a good friend. Please stop over at Spilled Milkshake and tell Christina hello!