Funny Sayings

Here are some funny things my kids have said lately:

~"Mom, can we go to booger king for lunch today ?" (A is a big fan of Burger King)

~"A, don't come near me. If I give you the red eye you'll be sorry!" (J is currently suffering with pink eye)

~"Aunt Franny, do you want to play on the Weed with us, the Weed is really fun!" (No, I'm not raising a house of stoners, A just really likes to play on the Wii)

~While playing the Price is Right with her Aunts, A was asked how much a new car would cost, in a very definitive voice while holding one finger in the air A said,"Forty dollars!"

~As I was getting ready for a night out J was helping me and doing her own make up. She carefully put eye shadow on the applicator, squeezed her eyes shut and smeared eyeshadow all over her face, getting a small amount actually on her eye lid. With her eyes still shut tight she said to me, "Mom, did I get it all?"

I hope these put a smile on your face. I know my children never fail to entertain me.

The Great Mystery....

It seems I have a mysterious toothpaste gremlin at my house. I just found pink bubble gum mint Dora toothpaste on my front hall rug. No one seems to know how it got there. J and A aren't cracking and since all S can say is "more" and "ahh" he is no help. Never mind that the toothpaste belongs in the upstairs bathroom, not the front hall.

I think this is something my children and the gremlin are going to take to the grave. Oh well, what can you do. Does anyone have any advice on how to get pink toothpaste out of Berber?

What Game Was That Again?

Today I created an E-vite for our family's New Year's Eve party. J decided she was going to help me with the invitation and be the babysitter at the party. (A great idea except for the fact that she is only five)

As I was writing out the invite, she was reading over my shoulder. At one point I invited all the guest to spend the night by saying any space in the house was "fair game". After reading this she immediately sat down at the table and started furiously writing on a piece of paper. I didn't think anything of it, but R asked her what she was doing. J looked at R and said."Dad, if I am going to be the babysitter for all the kids, I have to start working on all the fair games for them!"

Winter Wonderland

I found a surprise when my garage door opened up this morning..... It had snowed! A beautiful, branch and grass covering, fluffy winter snow. The first snow of the season.

I am now officially feeling the holiday vibe. I have been faking it for a couple of weeks, for the sake of the kiddos, but now bring on the wreath, trees, and tinsel. I'm ready!

When A woke up and saw the snow she said to me, "I've always wanted it to snow on my window!" Apparently she has forgotten the last three winters it has snowed "on her window", but who is counting. S just stared and pointed yelling, "Ahh, ahh!" I'll translate for those of you who don't speak Sean, "Holy crap! What is that stuff?! It looks like fun!" J just looked at me and in a very serious voice said, "Finally!"

The only person in our household who didn't revel in the beauty of the snow fall was R, he is the one who had to shovel the beauty off our driveway....

Big Boy Bed

As I type this my little baby is upstairs asleep in his big boy bed. I know that this might not seem like a big deal but he is only 18 months and my last child. It makes me so sad to think that he is growing up.

Just recently S has seemed to be taking giant leaps into big boydom. He has started running, is great at communicating his needs and wants, and has in general just started looking like a kid instead of a baby. The big boy bed just seems like the last straw. The logical part of me knows he has to change and develop but the sentimental part of me just wants to keep him a little baby forever. As much as I try to remember what it was like to hold him as a new born, I really can't. Most likely will never hold a newborn child of mine again.

I guess I'm just throwing a pity party for one. I'm not the mom of a baby any more, I'm a mom of two girls and a toddler. My kids are well on their way to becoming people and I just need to catch up.

How Big is Your Crown?

Today A had a play date with a new friend from preschool, T. For first play dates I normally try to put forth some sort of an effort and plan a craft. After the initial play date the kids are generally on their own to create mayhem, but I at least need to put up a good showing as a "fun house" for first impressions.

This morning's craft was princess crowns. I bought plain soft foam hats and glitter foam princess stickers. Let me tell you put three girls at a table with hats and glitter stickers and good times will ensue! A and T made "beautiful" princess crowns covered in glitter and also proceeded to cover their faces in glitter stickers. J has decided that her new dream is to be a tennis player. To help her achieve he goal she made a visor covered in glitter. She now calls this her tennis princess hat and assured me it will help her with her game. She has never played tennis before so at this point any little bit helps. Besides it always pays to look good when you are doing something, especially something that you might not be the best at!

Making the crowns led to a long discussion between A and T about what princess they were going to be. T decided she would be Cinderella and A could be Sleeping Beauty. This did not sit well with A. Apparently she feels Sleeping Beauty does not have a big enough crown. A definitely subscribes to the old adage "Go big or go home". After a while A decided she could be Ariel. I found this interesting because I don't think Ariel even has a crown. When I asked A about the lack of crown she looked at me like I was a complete idiot and said, "Mom, she has a huge crown but she can't wear it when she swims!" Oh right, I can't believe I didn't know that.......

The moral to this little story is either "the bigger the crown the better the princess" or "no swimming with accessories", you can choose.

Election Day

R and I feel very strongly that it is important to vote. We have been talking to the kids about the presidential election to get them involved in the entire process. Our hope is that they will learn the importance of voting at an early age and continue to appreciate the right throughout their lives.

The only hitch in our whole plan comes when we discuss individual candidates. You see R and I are part of a "mixed" marriage, we come from different sides of the aisle and have very different views as to what we want out of our elected officials. This always makes for interesting dinner conversation when the kids ask who we are voting for and why. Being the parents that we are, we told the kids it is important that they make their own decisions and not let anyone sway them. I have definitely tried to not sway them, but I can't say that for R! Here is how the voting shakes down for the under eighteen set at our house. I'm sorry in advance to my family, this will probably hurt them as much as it hurts me!

S - of course S is too young to have a real opinion, but I definitely feel that if he could talk he would say Obama was his man.

A - is for McCain. Her entire reasoning for her pick is that daddy likes McCain and she and daddy have the same hair. Logical, no? Unfortunately I think her system for choosing a candidate might be better then some Americans considering some individuals voted for the last president because they thought he would be a fun guy to have a beer with. That kind of thinking got our country pretty far!

J - being the oldest she is the only child who will actually be participating in a kids vote. From the beginning J has stated her candidate is McCain. I'm not sure of her reasoning, but I told R I would help her vote by making sure she knew McCain was spelled O-B-A-M-A.

All kidding aside, no matter what your stand on politics is, please take a minute to vote today. It is a very important right that not enough Americans exercise. In this day and age it is extremely important that we make sure our voices are heard. If you can, bring your kids to the polls and let them see democracy in action!

I'm Sooo Smart

You know those days when you complete a task and you think, "I'm so smart! I just got that done!" All in all you feel great about yourself because you have just achieved something you have been putting off. I had one of those moments a few months ago when I finally cleaned out some of the junk in our house and brought it to Goodwill. In the mist of all the junk happened to be a dish drainer I had had since college and thought I would never use again. I'm an idiot. A dish drainer would have been the perfect thing to have on the day your dishwasher decides to leak all over your basement ceiling.

Oh yes, that is exactly what I realized was happening when I discovered a sopping wet ceiling tile in the bonus room of our basement. Did I also happen to mention that our home warranty expired about four months ago. Life is good.

Obviously a leaky dishwasher is not something I can use and unfortunately my leaky dishwasher happened to be full of dirty dishes. I had to wash and entire dishwasher full of dishes by hand. Now I know that my complaining will be falling on some deaf ears since there are people who don't have dishwashers. Let me tell you, I now feel your pain. It takes forever to wash the dishes of a family of five! My grandma had eight children and always washed her own dishes. I don't think she ever used the dishwasher in her apartment, including when we had family get together with thirty people! Crazy! I seriously don't know how she did it!

So to all of you out there who have dish pan hands, I salute you! Since I am among your ranks for a short period of time I now understand how a simple thing like washing a few dishes can make life much more complicated.

A half days worth of dishes for a family of five. Notice no dish drainer in sight. I'm sooo smart.....

Update: We just installed our new dishwasher and it is fabulous! Not only is it super quiet (we could hear our old one upstairs) but all the dishes come our beautifully clean and dry. I am in heaven!

My Newest Endeavor

I have recently opened my own Etsy store. (Etsy is a great website where individuals can sell their handcrafted goods) I design and make jewelry. Please take a look!

http://www.lewelsh23.etsy.com/

Manning Up Baking

The weather today, cold and rainy, has inspired me to bake. For some reason weather like this just makes me want to nest, don't worry I'm not pregnant!

In my house baking is definitely not a solitary job. I have little hands who always want to help and, of course, taste. Interestingly enough the girls really like to bake but S absolutely loves it. From the minute I pull out my mixer he has to be right beside me with a measuring cup or spoon. He loves to dump ingredients in and generally make a big mess. I'm hoping his interest will continue and he can support his dad and I in our later years as a famous chef, think Tyler Florence.

As S and I were elbow deep in flour, R happened to call. As I often do when I bake, I had put on some music. Today's selection was the soundtrack to Mama Mia. R heard the show tunes in the background and said to me,"Honey, I think it's great S is baking, but can't you just man up the music a little, at least play something a dude would like?" I started laughing but, in an effort to "man up" the situation, I did change the music to Pearl Jam. Since it is R's favorite band I think he will approve.

S baking and rocking out to Pearl Jam Live, East Troy.











Coincidentally R and I were at this concert. The music was better in person, but still very manly from a CD.

A Good Year

Today the Goodyear blimp was flying around our city. As J and I were waiting for the school bus I pointed it out to her. The sky was pretty cloudy, so the white blimp was hard for her to find. After about five minutes of diligently looking, she finally saw the blimp just as the school bus pulled up. As she quickly kissed me goodbye and ran to the bus she yelled, "Mom, I'm so excited I saw the blimp, now it is going to be a good year!"

I love kids!

Rock On

My children have a dream of starting a family band, think the Partridge Family but in a silver Expedition. J and A think we are going to put on concerts and perform to sold out crowds. This would be great except for a few small details:

1. I am tone deaf, it is horrible, but I have no musical ability what so ever. (I used to try to pretend I could sing but, finally, I had to admit that if I hadn't found any hidden abilities in the last 28 years they are probably not there)

2. The girls make up all of their own songs. Now don't get me wrong, I love the creativity, but I don't think we are going to pack stadiums with songs filled with words that only rhyme with cat.

3. Finally, not one member of our family can play an instrument proficiently, although A can rock out like no other on her Hannah Montana guitar.

Even with all of those reasons stacked against them, the girls will not be deterred from their dreams of rock and roll stardom. Since R and I do like to support our children's dreams, we are always ready to sit and listen to a impromptu performance and cheer them on. Unfortunately the girls seem to think the performances of late have been mediocre. This they attribute to the fact that we don't have enough instruments, the Hannah Montana guitar can only get a girl so far. To remedy this problem they thought of the great idea of asking Santa for instruments for Christmas. Again, trying to be a supportive mother I got out a catalogue to have them circle what they wanted. J has decided she needs an acoustic guitar. After she circled the bright pink guitar, she explained to me that she has been wanting and dreaming about this guitar for her whole life. I'm sure it has been a long five years.

With J's guitar dreams duly noted I turned to A to see what she had circled. I could not believe what it was, she had bypassed the guitars, keyboards and drums and circled an accordion. Apparently, she saw an accordion at preschool and now wants one of her own. That is right my three year old has dreams of learning to play a bright purple accordion.

Watch out world we are going to completely change the music scene with our awesome rhyming songs and mean accordion playing!

Baby Kisses

S has recently realized he can express his emotions. There are pluses and minuses to his new found knowledge. A negative would be he learned he can vent his anger and frustration by throwing a fit. I'm not talking about a little crying, I'm talking about a full on, throw the body on the ground screaming fit. It would be pretty funny to watch if it wasn't my child! The pluse is that he know give kisses and hugs to show his love.

Anyone who has had a big hug from a little kid know there is nothing better. Kids don't hold back, they haven't developed and sense of inhibition yet so their hugs are tight and full of warmth and emotion. Believe me, a hug from a little guy can make any day better.

S' kisses, like his hugs, are full on no holds bar kisses. The only problem is that, like most 18 month olds, he doesn't know how to purse his lips yet. Instead of the traditional closed mouth kiss you get a wide open slober kiss.

A wide open, full mouth kiss with lots of tonuge and teeth was how I woke up this morning. R had brought S into bed with us before the girls were up, S was so excited to have mommy and daddy alone time he went back and forth between the two of us giving kisses and laughing. He was acting as if laying in bed with the two of us was the best thing ever. By the time the kissing fest was over my face was full of slobber but I'll take a wet wake up from S over an alarm any day.

Halloween Drama-Rama

I curse the Halloween catalogues that come to my house! The decision of who is going to be what is a major deal in our family. This year, with the help of the fabulous catalogues, we have had even more drama. The catalogues give my children way too many, way too expensive options for costumes. My poor little kids just can't handle all the options and my poor little brain just can't fathom the cost! Here is how the costumes shake down at our house:

J wants to be a cowgirl. She actually wanted to buy the $100 costume that has the horse attached, but I convinced her the stick horse we have would work. She can just get a cowgirl hat and we'll be great. Whew, crisis averted!

The girls feel S needs to be a rhino. I have no idea why, they just saw a cute $80 costume they think will be perfect for him. Luckily I can defer their idea to R who decided he was in charge of S's costume this year. Apparently the pumpkin I picked out last year was not masculine enough. I wish him luck!

Now comes A, I stupidly thought she would be my easiest. A loves princesses and all things that glitter, so naturally I assumed she wanted to be a princess. In my mind this is a great idea because we have about 25,000 princess outfits. My dreams were soon dashed when, after looking at the numerous catalogues, she declared that she wants to be Wall-E. For those of you who aren't in the Disney movie loop, Wall-E is a big square, dirty, trash compacting robot. She saw the movie when it came out, but fell asleep about five minutes into it. (seven dollars well spent) Since then he has been a topic of conversation off and on.

Now, it's not that I don't think it will be cute because as far as trash compacting robots go he is cute, but seriously this is a girl who always has to put on "lipstick" before we go to preschool. A and robot just don't seem to go together in my mind. Not to mention the costume is $60! I just can't bring myself to spend that much on one costume that will be worn once maybe twice. Too bad A's costume isn't my decision. I guess I have only one option in this situation, bring on the cardboard and glue, it is time for me to get crafty!

I just know I will make the whole Wall-E costume only to have her decide on Halloween that she wants to be Ariel. Next year I'm recycling the stinking costume catalogues before they even get in the house!

Letting Go of a Bit of Control

Those of you who know me might not be surprised when I admit this......I am a control freak....please don't judge me! I am very used to being in control and when it is taken away from me I sometimes don't handle it all that well. As a stay at home parent you control all that you see, you are in charge of meals, naps, books, TV, pretty much everything. Of course you give your children choices, but you chose what those choices are. I am the queen of all I see, I'm very used to my level of control and enjoy it very much!

Now, as always, there will come a time when even a queen has to give up a little of her power. One of the most blatant areas where I have lost control is what J learns or experiences at school. I'm not talking about what she is learning in the classroom, I'm talking about what she is learning at recess or on the bus, what the other children are teaching her that I might not agree with. The other day J came home from school with something weighing heavily on her. Apparently one of her friends, another five year old girl, we'll call her T, told J if she didn't say T was more beautiful and smarter then her J couldn't be in their group. J was very upset at this, she told T what she wanted to hear but knew it wasn't right.

I had no idea what to do with this story. I couldn't believe I was being faced with icky girl junk at such an early age! I was not prepared at all and felt so out of control. Quite frankly I wanted to tell J she is much more beautiful and smarter then T (a fact I most difinitively believe to be true) then go find T and lay into her for manipulating my precious daughter and making her feel less then the wonderful little thing that she is! Now of course this reaction, while it might have made me feel better, was not the best solution to the issue. My problem was I didn't know what the best solution was. I explained to J that T was not being very nice and I would be disappointed if J ever treated her friends in the same way. Beyond that I tried to get across that if J doesn't feel comfortable doing or saying something then she doesn't have to and shouldn't do it. The whole time I was trying to make J feel better, I was thinking, "Who the heck does T think she is and where did she learn to manipulate people and situations like that!"

I never thought I would have to deal with icky, friendship manipulation at the age of five. I know girls can be icky and catty but I didn't expect it until ages hit double digits or at least they were out of kindergarten! I don't want my daughter to think manipulating people is OK. It frustrates me to no end that her experience is completely out of my control.

My grandma, a much wiser woman then I will ever hope to be, once told me the early years of child rearing are the years in which parents instill in their children all the morals and values they will carry with them, after the beginning years all a parent can do is pray. I have to have faith that as parents R and I will instill enough positive values and confidence that our children can go out into the world and face down bullies like T. With that in mind, as much as it pains me to give up control of the situation, I'm trying to "Let go and let God".

I know I haven't lost all my control, I'm still the queen of all I see. I just hope giving up a little control to my princess will just help her become a better ruler when her reign starts.

Humble Pie for One

I'm generally not a vain person, but today as I was getting ready I thought I looked pretty good. I had on a cute shirt and some earrings, all in all, I was almost dressed up for the day. I have a small zit on my forehead, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal until A opened up her mouth.

We were sitting down having a nice dinner when A looked at me strangely.
As she was staring at my forehead she said, "Mama, what is that on your head?"
Completely oblivious I said, "What are you talking about?"
"That big red thing on your head!" At this point I looked over at R, who, of course, was laughing. (Honestly I would have been laughing too if the situations had been reversed.)
Slowly, I realized what she was talking about, but I was so surprised I didn't know what to say. R ended up telling her it was just an owie.
"Oh," said A. "That's a pretty bad owie, you better get a band-aid on it!"

Children, putting me in my place since 2003.

One Liners

I'm not sure if it is the age or the personality, but A is the queen of one liners. Here are a few that have made me laugh recently:

My parents are buying a new miniature schnauzer puppy when A heard this she told me in complete seriousness, "Mama, I'm going to give the puppy water....and dog food.....and teach it how to hunt." A my three year old huntress.

At lunch today we were discussing what the girls learned in Sunday School. J was sharing that her class talked about the story about Jacob and Esau. While J was attempting to explain the story A looked as if she was contemplating something. Finally she said, "Hey! Esau was in my class too!"

Today as I was putting on mascara, something I rarely do, A looked at me and said, "Mama, I love it when you pretty-tize your eyes!"

I'm not sure if these will be funny to anyone but me, I am a slightly biased source!

Falling in Love Again

This week has been a long, slightly difficult one. With R being out of town my duties have doubled, there hasn't been a lot of rest, and everyone is slightly out of sorts. In my attempt to just make it through the day I realize I have been focused more on surviving then loving my children. I haven't been taking time to enjoy and appreciate them for who they are, not the amount of work they are. I think in all relationships sometimes you need to take stock and remember just why you love the other person. So here it is, my top ten list David Letterman style.

The Top Ten Reasons Why I love My Kids

10. They appreciate, and make me remember, all the little things in the world.
9. J is the most tender and sensitive soul I know.
8. S smiles with his entire body
7. A can make me laugh with a single look.
6. They sing, very loudly, the wrong words to songs.
5. Their idea of a great way to wake up is cuddling in bed.
4. Their deep belly laughs.
3. Dancing like a crazy person is their favorite form of exercise.
2. Their innocence.
1. They are a gift God gave to R and I, they are made up of the best parts of both of us.

I just threw up a little in my mouth....

I was completely grossed out today by S. For some reason my children feel as if bathroom time is family time. They think everyone should just pile on in while someone is doing a number two and have a good old fashion heart to heart! Where my children get this from I have no idea.

Bathrooms are my biggest pet peeve. My loving husband would actually say I'm a little bit of a freak when it comes to this issue. I hate, hate, hate a dirty bathroom and think everything that goes on in there is better left private. That being said I'm at about my limit with our bathrooms. R is out of town on business so I haven't had the full hour I need to devote to cleaning our bathrooms, which means they haven't been cleaned in about a week. (As I am writing this I'm disgusted with myself!)

Now that you have all of the background on my disgusting bathrooms, here is what happened. A was using the facilities and per usual S was in there just hanging out. I, at this point, was just fixated on the fact that in a half and hour a baby sitter was going to come and I was going to get out of the house. Needless to say, I was trying to get ready for the sitter and wasn't paying the best attention to my children. A came out and in that moment two things occurred to me. First, I didn't hear a flush and second, why was I hearing splashing. I literally thought to myself, "Oh my God, I'm going to throw up right now." S was playing in the week dirty, used toilet. It was my worst nightmare come true!

Two very, very sanitized hands later we have some new house rules:
1. Bathroom time is private time
2. S can never, ever be in the bathroom alone
3. You must always, always flush

There is never a dull moment! Please don't judge me for the disgustingness of this post, I'm trying to tell myself it happens to everyone.....

First Embarrassment

Today my heart broke for J. When she came home from school she wasn't her normal happy, bubbly self. I knew that something was up, but knowing her, if I pushed the issue she wouldn't tell me anything. Sure enough a little time went by and she crawled on to my lap to lay her problems on me.

Apparently during class the elastic on her adjustable waist jeans had come unbuttoned. Since I buy my kid's clothes big, this meant her new school jeans were huge in the waist, which of course led to them sliding down and showing her underwear. One little girl in her class told J and she pulled up her pants only to have them immediately fall down again. The double underwear showing was just too much for a group of five year olds and, as J tells it, everyone laughed at her. The teacher told the class to stop and try to forget about it, but the damage had been done, J had experienced her first truely embarrassing moment.

As J was relating the whole sad story to me, her eyes were overflowing with tears. I just didn't know what to do. I wanted to yell at the entire class and tell them to be nice to my little girl! My mother bear instinct was in full force. Obviously my first instinct wasn't an option, so I settled for cuddling J and reminding her this was a lesson on how we don't want to treat people. Maybe the next time she sees someone else facing an embarrassing moment she will remember what it feels like to be the butt of the joke and not laugh. She looked at me earnestly and said she would, but who really knows if the lesson sunk in. Hopefully it did and a negative event will turn into a positive one.

On a completely different note, it makes me think we need to nip my families penchant for showing our underwear in the bud!

One of Those Days...

My friends and I have a running joke where when something bad happens to our children we say "there goes my mother of the year award!" Well today I definitely lost my mother of the year award.

It was one of those mornings where I had to do about ten thousand things in the span of a half an hour. S was apparently feeling neglected because every time I would leave him or even just put him down he would scream and run after me. (That's right, I said run. He finally started walking!) Finally he started playing with his sisters, I decided to take this moment to run upstairs and brush my teeth. Bad mom decision.

Mid brush I hear a blood curdling scream. This wasn't a "someone took my toy" scream, it was a "someone cut off a limb" scream. Of course I run down stairs and find my one and a half year old with blood pouring down his face and all of my children crying! I grab paper towel to try to mop up the blood and find the source, all the while I'm interrogating the girls to find out what happened. No one seemed to have an answer for me, the senarios ranged from S being pushed to it being a spontanious injury (That's what I get for trying to get an explanation out of a three and five year old.) Luckily, the blood was just coming from his nose and there were no cuts, but I felt absolutely horrible. How could I have thought I could just run upstairs and leave the kids playing! My mother of the year award is definitely gone!

Eventually things calmed down enough for J to get her thoughts together and explain what happened. It is so far fetched I know she isn't covering up anything. Apparently, S had been playing with a vine I had out on the table for fall decoration. While he was playing, he stuck the stick up his nose so far that he gave himself a bloody nose. It was a completely self inflicted injury. Seriously what are the chances, that is what I get for trying to be festive and have good oral hygene....

Why I'm Never Buying Kool-Aid Again!

I'm fairly picky about what type of food my children eat. I like them to have healthy options that include 100% juice but, as it sometimes happens, I ran out of juice. While the kids were clamoring for juice, I happened to find a canister of Kool-aid in the cupboard. I have no idea who bought it but, thinking it might be a nice treat for the kiddos, I whipped up a gallon of the red stuff. This was my first mistake.

I gave numerous warnings that the Kool-aid must be kept in the kitchen. Of course that instruction was promptly forgotten by A and I now have a large red stain on my family room carpet. Great....

The day progressed after that with relatively no Kool-aid mishaps, red mustaches not included. Then it was time for dinner. It was leftover night, so S and I walked over to the fridge to get everything out. As I was taking a pan out, I knocked over the entire gallon of Kool-aid. That is right, the entire gallon of bright red fruit punch Kool-aid landed on my floor and all over mine and S's jeans. The first thing I did was take off our jeans and throw them into the wash. Then I proceeded to attempt to clean up the mess. Picture this me on my hands and knees, in my underwear, trying to clean up a giant red puddle and stop a one year old from splashing in it all at the same time. This, of course, was the exact moment my girls decided to walk in with two of the neighbors. The girls looked at me strangely for a minute until finally A in all of her three year old wisdom pointed at me and said, "Mommy, we can see your undies!"

Lessons of the day:
1. If you are cleaning up Kool-aid do it with pants on.
2. If lesson one fails, try not to expose your underwear to neighborhood children.
3. Never have Kool-aid in your house again!

Kiddies or Kitties.....

I love how literal kids are. A great example of how kids take everything at face value happened today. To find it funny, you need to have a little background on my daughter, A. A is three years old going on sixteen. She marches to the beat of her own drum and has attitude to spare. As long as the attitude and independence are not directed towards me I definitely think it is a good thing!

This morning as R was saying goodbye he gave everyone a kiss and then said "Goodbye kiddies." A walked right over to him, one hand on her hip and a finger pointed in his direction, and said with the exasperation I have only heard from a teenager, "Dad, we are not cats!" This is why I love kids.

A's attitude pose

Constant Transitions - Part 2

I just had to share this after my post yesterday. Today J finally mastered the art of pumping on a swing. As she was flying through the air she looked at me with pure bliss and said,"I can't believe this was in me all the time! Thank you God for giving me these angles!" Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

The Choice to Walk

With three kids at all different ages our house is always in a constant state of transition. Someone is always learning something new. Take this week for instance, J is perfecting her reading skills, A learned how to make her bed and put on eye shadow (two very good skills to have when you are 3) and S learned to hit a ball off a tee. Now, hitting a ball off a tee might not seem as if it is not a huge deal, but S is 15 months and he doesn't walk. That is right, he doesn't walk! He amazes me, he can stand up pick up a bat and hit a ball, but walking, oh no, why would you want to do something like that. That isn't a life skill or anything!

I love my son, but he drives me crazy. He is choosing not to walk, something that will make his life (and mine) much easier. Did I also mention that he is almost 30lb, not a light thing to be carrying everywhere! I know I sound obsessive, but I just don't get it. Why would hitting a ball be a more important skill then walking? The girls walked at 10 and 11 months, perfectly respectible times to start cruising around. Why the heck isn't he!

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that kids choose what they want to learn to do not parents. We read to our children, but J decided it was time for her to learn to read, so she did it. A likes anything that is fancy and glittery, so learning to put on eyeshadow was a must. S loves to see balls go as far as they can, hence hitting one off a tee is a great thing. I would not have chosen that skill for S but it was important to him. I just pray that walking becomes important soon, it might be a little embarrassing to have a 15 year old crawling around but I'm guessing he could hit a ball like no other!

The First Day of School

So, today is the first day of school. J is going off to 5k and A will be starting preschool on Thursday. This is not quite as an emotional day for me as it could be. Our district has half day 4 and 5K, something that I love. I love having my daughter with me for a little bit longer. I think kids are so young and they don't need to be thrown into full day school so soon. Of course it is very easy for me to say this since we don't pay for daycare and don't have that huge bill looming over our heads.

J getting on the bus this afternoon and A going to school with out me just reminds me how fleeting their childhood is. I'm always wondering if I'm doing enough and spending enough time with them. By the way, I blame my feelings of inadequacy on parenting magazines and books. No one can be that perfect!

I know I'm home with my kids 90% of the time, but there are time when...how should I put this...not exactly present. Sometimes I just need to sit for awhile and regroup or tune them out when I'm trying to get something done. I know that this isn't the best parenting idea, but I do think it is a survival skill. There are times when R will look at me in amazement and say "can't you hear that?!" The point is that yes, I do hear it, but I also know that they are safe and just screaming and yell to scream and yell. My ignoring isn't doing anyone any harm and it is keeping my sanity intact for another five minutes.

I will always question whether or not have spent enough time doing productive educational things that will stimulate their brains and make them into instant geniuses. But the fact is my kids know I love them when we are stimulating their brains and when I'm sitting while they play by themselves. Honestly, what more can I hope then children who know they are loved. As J gets on the bus today I know she will be doing it with the confidence that no matter what happens while she is away she will come back home to a safe and loving place, even if I have to tune her and her siblings out every once in awhile.

The First Time

This is my first time ever writing a blog. You will have to bare with me because I'm not savvy in the ways of technology. Sure, I could handle my own when I was working (four years ago) but since then my skills have become a little rusty.

My basic reason for starting this blog is purely selfish. Life with three children, 5, 3, and 1, is not quite a mental Olympics for my brain. I find that my intelligence can get lost somewhere between Sesame Street and the third attempt to build the perfect play dough dog. I just need some sort of outlet for all of the ideas, thoughts, and general junk that is bouncing around in my head, if someone out there can identify with me or even just have a laugh, I say great!

With all that being said let me explain some things. In my past life I was the Director of Student Activities at a local technical college. I loved, loved, loved my job, but unfortunately my job was not conducive to my family life. I worked events at all hours and never saw my daughter (J) or husband (R). Surprisingly during this time we found out I was pregnant with number two, a miracle when you consider the amount of time R and I spent together. With the onset of child #2 (A), I knew a change had to be made. R and I talked long and hard about it and decided the best thing for our family would be if I stayed home.

Being a stay at home mom was something I never envisioned for myself. In fact, it was something I fought against. I thought by being at home with my kids I would be falling into a trap of becoming a 1950 's subservient house wife. I have always been a feminist and never ever wanted to become any less then an equal in the eyes of my husband or, unfortunately, society. I realize now that my worries were completely stupid. Staying at home with my children is the most difficult and rewarding job I have ever had. I might be in a conventional role, but I will never be a conventional person. I thought I would take on the world and become a high powered career driven individual. I have always wanted to make the world a better place, originally thought I would do it through my career, but now I realize I'm making the world a better place through my children. It has taken me awhile, but now I love, love, love my job. I'm paid in kisses and hugs, don't have a six month review, and sometimes feel as if I have landed in Elmo hell, but I wouldn't change it for the world.