Philippines travelling with a 6yo and a 4 yo

Jon and I just got back from an amazing 2 weeks vacation in the Philippines.   We saw family for a short period but mostly ... we stayed at some really fun resorts.  It was our children's first memories of the Philippines and it was a "mission accomplished" kind of trip.

I had 2 goals:

Other than having an amazing time with the fambam, I wanted us to return unscathed healthwise.  Especially with the kiddos.

How'd we do it?  1) no street food.  I know its part of the experience, but street food is risky.  Its cheap... that's a huge upside .  But the risk does not exceed the reward.

2) stay only in reputable places.  Marriotts,  Hiltons, Holiday Inns....  when in Manila.  Unless you can find comfortable accommodations with family.

3) resort beach paradises are everywhere in the Philippines.  Research them.  Read the comments.   Then choose accordingly.

4) use bottled water, don't drink any drinks with ice, and even your toothbrushing activity needs to be done with bottled water.  When in the shower, don't open your mouth! Tell your kids ahead of time.

5) peel the fruits.  Dont eat the skin.  If you want to eat an apple with the skin on, rinse it with.... bottled water.

6)  just in case, tell your doctor of your upcoming trip.  Perhaps you can get some cipro or zpak for emergencies.

7) bring kiddo food.  Little bags of their usual type of cereal will go a long way during hours of your airplane flight.

8) bring a sweater or blanket the kiddos can use when not in the plane.   These little dudes get cold. 

The trip was a memorable one.  And one which again, i can't wait to get my younger kids to do too in a few years.

Til next time Philippines!

Me time

There are times when life gets so busy you don't even get to lay down or sit down till way past after midnight. That's just the life of a mom especially one that has for kids 5 years old and under.
You would think that during those times when you're absolutely exhausted and midnight seems to be the time when everything is acceptable e somewhat done in the house that laying down and getting some shut-eye is the priority. However sometimes I just can't let that pass. Taking a moment for myself and getting in one episode of a show that I've been wanting to see, or playing 40 minutes of the video game, or reading a book for an hour, or enjoying a cup of tea in the patio and zoning out for the next 30 minutes or so takes precedence.
It seems to be a terrible cycle though. Those nights when you're most exhausted are those nights when you most need that rejuvenating activity. But if you push off sleep any longer, inevitably the lack of sleep will roll into the next day causing more exhaustion. When do you just give up your me time? I guess when you can't keep your eyes open any longer at all. But until that happens momma's, fight the good fight and get those activities in that make you who you are. The person that you're used to be before being Mom.
My identity is mom is definitely the most rewarding and most important of all my identities. It'll never go away once it happens. But a time will come when Mom's roles in the children's lives will become a back burner as they go off into the world on their own. I still have to know who I am and what do I like to do and what will fill my time when being a mom no longer occupies every moment of my day.
So I have to hang on, even though my eyes are already closed and I'm dictating this story through exhaustion and tired breaths. Writing is a part of me. I have to push to make it happen. Reading, playing video games, tennis, music and the piano, enjoy the Arts, Etc. These are things that I like to do before being Mom and I still very much enjoy this day. I do believe that sometimes when people don't get these activities that make you who you are and make you be a mom. Without them a person might not have the patience anymore or lose its flavor for life.
Time is fleeting and fast and as a commodity that is of the highest value. Will never get it back you can turn back time and you can't jump to the Future. Enjoying today, integrating that with the duties of the day, and loving all those around us will always be the right path. But hang on to the x when you need something for yourself to keep your identity.

Tag team

Bedtime has been cray.  My 6 month old wants a piece of me.. my 2 year old is having a sleep regression, my 4 yo won't goto sleep til 10pm, and my 5.5 yo has a hard time staying in his own bed.

The struggle is real. 

Then there's these dang viruses.  Just when we've had it cleared from the house by 2 weeks, someone gets sick and passes a new one around.

I never realized that showering for 15 min undisturbed was so therapeutic until now.  Between toddlers learning how to climb out of the crib to infants learning how to roll off a bed, the lack of sleep every night, and the "mommy I'm thirsty" comments.... oh yes,  15 min in the shower for some relaxing time is money.

It's definitely the sike Ward up in here!

I've often wondered, how to simplify my life a bit more.  I'm kind of a middle of the road kind of gal.  Not extreme in most things, just fierce in the way I try to Love.  I love my family, I love my faith, I love my friends, and I love what I do professionally.  I've kind of hit the mother lode as they say when people say "living the dream".  I did not however, get here blindly.


It took a lot of sacrifice and faith.  The whole "I do this now so that later... I can...."  That was my mantra in college and the first few years of my nursing career.  Helping my husband get through college was also like "We do this now for our family later" type thing.


It's hard. It's satisfying.  It's tiring.  It's happy.  It's infuriating.  It's living.  But it hardly is ever, ever quiet.


Lately, I've been able to go back to daily mass.  Thank you Lord for the new school schedule.  I love being able to start my day with Him first.  I know it'll be a daily struggle to make it a part of my life with so much going on, but it's actually then the more He needs to be prioritized with so much going on.


So, on the outside (a facebook look in), I have a great career in a family business we built from scratch, a loving husband, a beautiful home, and 4 amazing children.  Here's what people don't see:


1) 6 to 6:30am, I'm feeding the 3 month old so he'd go back to sleep and I can attend to breakfast routine with the other kiddos. 
2)  6:45, I finally get up and go to the bathroom.  My husband and I mumble a good morning to each other as he hears me wake up our 5 &1/2 yo for kindergarten.  He gets up cause he feels guilty if he sleeps and I'm running around getting kiddos ready (He works nights and being awake to help me is a huge thing).  He takes over Zach (5 & 1/2yo), I wake up Elise (4 yo) for pre-school while we keep checking the monitor if the 2 yo has heard the commotion and is waiting patiently in her crib to be gathered.
3)  7:00, we get them out to the breakfast nook where thankfully, my aunt has prepared their cereals, milks, etc (she arrives around 7am, if she didn't, it's even crazier at the Sike Ward).  She watches the 3 with Jon while I attempt to get ready for work.  Some days I look readier than others.
4) 7:35, we're loading up children to go to school drop off where Jon and I drop off the 5.5 yo, the 4 yo, and the 2 yo comes along for fun.
5)  8 am, my husband and/or I get back to the house.  I make sure the sitters are set up for the day.
6) 8:15, I head to daily mass with my mom and we finish around 9:15
7) 9:15 am, I'm at the office... which starts off it's own routine.
8)  around 4pm, my husband wakes up (he works nights) to go pick up the school kids.
9) 540 pm, start heading home for me to do dinners, homework.
10) 700pm it's baths, jammies, tooth brush, readings and prayers.  
11) 730p rocking and bedtime for Aidrey til 8pm ish unless Jon can't get Zekey to stop crying for mama.
12) 8pm Zach and Elise in bed with a few min of ipad and by 830, lights out.

Then it's kitchen cleanup, look over all the papers, feed baby Zekey,  etc etc etc.

By 10pm... I'm exhausted and zekey and I are in bed.

It sure is a "sike" ward routine.  Do it all again the next day.  And I don't even wanna think of Sat and Sun.  Haha.

New school year 2017

First day of kids back to school and I'm exhausted.  I was up at 630, hubby and i got kids dressed and fed, off to school by 735, back to house to bring toddler and baby 3mos old to my mom's house (my aunt arrived at 730 to help), off to work by 830, 530 run to grocery store for a rotisserie chicken for home,  630 pm head to choir practice while hubby watched kiddos, home at 830... all kids down and in bed by 915.  Nurse baby til 940... get up and fix lunches, feed dog, ready bkfst prep for am, sweep and mop kitchen.   Done at 1100pm... laying next to my 3mos old.  What a day!

Here's how adorable my schoolagers looked today:  

Here's my two tinies:

Totes adorbs right?  So as crazy as it is up on this sikeWard... I praise God and am thankful for being present and involved in the lives of these amazing gifts of children.  I'm afraid that if I blink, they're off to college!

Shark week... whoooot

Last night, we took the kids to shark week at Odysea aquarium.  Funnnnnnn!!!  It was practically empty as it was a Monday evening so we were able to get through the exhibits relatively fast.  That, and the kids have the attention spans of toddlers and kindergartners.

Between the screams of "fish!!!!"  And "over here over here!"  We thoroughly enjoyed it.   Coraling the children to stay as a group was an adventure in it of itself.  

Although I enjoyed seeing the exhibits, I think I enjoyed watching the kids enjoying the aquarium exhibits more.  Their fascination and excitement brings joy into my heart and I smile now even typing about it.

Afterwards we took them to the Wandering horse buffet at Talking Stick Resort.   Yay for free meals for kids under 5! 

But then... we exceeded bedtime.  Oh the crying.   That was probably the only misstep of the night.   We should have started a good 45 min before what we did.

Making memories in my heart and filling it with joy.

EEEEK, I Made It!

So... I like to write and I love to read.  Not for anyone else but for me really.  It's very - cathartic.  What I should be doing is cleaning, or organizing my shit, which frankly, is going very dangerously into horder mom mode.  (Like who needs leggings with holes in the inside legs where my fat thighs basically rubbed together to create enough friction to cause said holes???  I should've thrown those away at the first sign of holage, but no.... I hung on to those comfortable puppies forever).


For a long time, I just made journalish entries and saved them in my laptop.  Then facebook came along.  YAY.  I love that about social media.  It's basically blogging, without blogging.


I don't know the rules about blogging.  I don't want to be controversial, I don't even want anything to go viral.  I just want to have a place to put things on paper.  I don't even know if I'll ever share this site... ever!


Either way, eeeeek, I made it.  I made a blog site.  And the title theSikeWard is pretty much how my life runs nowadays.  It's a little bit cray, a little bit serious, a little but awkward, and a lot a bit fun.


This'll be a story how this mama tries her hardest to balance kids, family, work, faith, friends, and everything else that comes in between.