Hello!  My name is Amanda.  I have been married to my husband Paul for six years, and we have been blessed with three spunk-filled and amazing kids- Mary (4), Augie (3) and Veronica (1).  My husband works as a Creative Director for a commercial real estate firm, and I stay at home with our kids, as well as teach fifth grade for our home school co-op.
From the time I was young, I wanted to be a mom.  My mom would fill out this “School Years” booklet each year at the beginning of the school year, and the answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was without fail “A mom.”  (Other than that brief stint around second grade when the answer was “A mom and a model…to work with clay.”)  I went on to get a teaching degree and taught fourth and fifth grade for three years before our first daughter was born.  As much as I loved teaching and found fulfillment in it, I knew my true vocation was to be a mother and couldn’t wait until I could be home raising kids.
I first learned of the Guiding Star Project through Leah’s husband, with whom I went to high school.  I was immediately intrigued.  Though there are many reasons I decided to get involved with the project, the main one is that I have many times been disheartened by remarks from total strangers while out and about with my kids.  People are shocked that I have three kids (three!  Not twelve!), and while some people cheerfully note, “Boy, you sure have your hands full!” I have definitely heard less tactful remarks.  My oldest is getting to an age where she now picks up on a lot of what is being said, and I cringe to think of when she fully understands what is being said about her and her siblings.  It is my hope that the Guiding Star Project will help to bring about a societal-wide change, where being “just a mom” is viewed as the incredible gift it is.
Even with a strong support system and the blessing of like-minded friends, there have been so many times I have felt overwhelmed in my vocation as a wife and mother.  I am AMAZED at the amount of work raising kids requires!  We are blessed to have my parents close by, and they frequently take a kid or two for an overnight on a weekend.  This support is invaluable and enabling my husband and I to be better parents.  I know that not all moms are blessed with such a support system, and I love the idea of Guiding Star Centers as a way of supporting mothers and families with much of what they need to raise successful kids who will change the world.  I want to help other moms realize the value in their work and to support them along the way, especially in “the trenches” of baby and toddler-hood.  I am blessed to be a part of the Guiding Star Project!