Mothers Day

I intended to post this yesterday, however was trying to stay off of the computer, therefore never got it finished. So, here is my Mother's Day post a day late.

I want to direct you again to the Mothers Day post my good friend Shanna wrote last year. It is beautiful, timely, and a fantastic reminder to me to take a step back and realize how lucky I am to be a mommy, and especially the mommy to my kids. They are pretty awesome.

With that said, my family has spoiled me. They spent a few hours Saturday shopping for gifts, which allowed me to have some rare time alone (well technically with Ben, but he was sleeping part of that time.) That was a gift in itself. I, who used to get antsy in the quiet and never liked being alone, now really appreciate both.

The gifts the boys gave me started on Thursday when we went to Target and they whispered to Kevin "can we get Mommy a gift for Mother's Day while we are here." There thoughtfulness and desire to give me a gift was so touching and sweet, I almost teared up right then and there.

On Friday was the Mother's Day Tea at school. Luckily, I got to sit with both boys and eat a donut hole and have a teenie Dixie cup of tea. At school, they had made frames with puzzle pieces and a picture of them inside holding a sign saying "I love you to pieces." Just too perfect. But the real gift that day was the fact that I was able to attend. Several children had moms who had to work that day and I feel blessed that I am able to stay home and attend these things (which maybe should be held in the evening to accommodate the moms who do work.) I am also blessed to have a good friend who is willing to watch my little guys so I can run up to the school for things like these.

On Mother's Day I got to sleep in. A rare treat and it was so appreciated. I woke up many times and had to force myself back to sleep because I wanted to take advantage as long as I could of my chance to sleep as late as I wanted. I slept until 9. This makes me laugh so hard because seriously, it felt like the equivalent of sleeping until noon. You know, back in the day when I sometimes slept until noon on the weekends.

Kevin made breakfast for me and got the day off to a great start. I got actual presents, but the real gifts were thoughtfulness, time, and love. What more could I even ask for?

Parenting Styles

We all have different styles of parenting and I think it is important to remember that we all do what we do with and for our kids out of love and the child's best interest. There are obvious exceptions but I don't think that is the norm. I recently heard about a book called "Free Range Kids" and the author talks about how she let her 9 year old son ride the subway in NYC home alone. Read what I think about this over at Deep South Moms. And tell me what you think about it, because I'm curious where you all stand.

It's Official

The kids are driving me CRAZY! I am officially ready for Kevin to come home. I held up fine until yesterday afternoon when everyone lost their minds. Suddenly I feel like no one listens, everyone is wild and crazy and LOUD. So, pretty much like usual except I don't have the backup "listen to your Mommy!" around 6 every evening.

It will be okay, but whew, am I ever glad Kevin is coming home today.

Busy!

I made myself quite the to do list today and then proceeded to not be home all.day.long. Fortunately I had thrown dinner in the crock pot this morning and was able to feed & bathe the boys early and sit them in front of a movie. Mommy is TIRED.

Hopefully tonight I'll get the motivation to get some things done. If not, there is always tomorrow. Right?

Monday and Tuesday I got to spend some time with my brother and his wife. It was so awesome to see them and for a couple with no kids they are phenomenal with my crazy little guys! We really couldn't have asked for a better visit.

I've gotten myself into a Moms Club (about time, really) and the activities have been really fun. Today was playgroup plus Eric and Mark ended up having playdates after school (one at a friends house that took just him and one that I don't know the mom as well so we all stayed.

To those of you that have jobs and stuff this sounds so trivial and FUN. Which it totally is. I'm not complaining, I'm just tired. Although that could be because I really have trouble sleeping when Kevin is travelling and this is a travel week.

So, as soon as this movie wraps up I am going to put everyone to bed and try to tackle that to do list. If I have any energy left. I think Diet Coke is in order.

**how's that for a rambling pointless blog post???

Mark is Six (plus a day!)

Dear Mark,

Yesterday, you turned six. We celebrated on Sunday because daddy had to go out of town on business. You took it like a champ and told everyone we saw that you would be turning six. You have such a winning personality that everyone you saw (including the cashier at Target) beamed right back at you and wished you a happy (almost) birthday.

You requested cheesecake instead of actual cake for your special day. You are your own person and know what you like. Even if it is unconventional.

You reacted with equal excitement to all of your gifts, from the spider man pajamas to the magic kit you coveted on our cruise in January. (Yes we bought it for you on the cruise and hid it for five months until your birthday.)

You gladly shared your gifts with your brothers.

On your actual birthday, we were so lucky to have Uncle Jason and Aunt Summer come to see us. You got to eat out and get more presents and have a ton more fun.

The neighbors brought you a homemade birthday cake and water balloons for your special day.

You are a wonderful little boy. You know what you want, and will fight for it. Although this quality tends to make for long days when I have to say "no" I firmly believe that this quality will take you far in life. Hopefully someday (soon!) you will understand that when I do say no it really is because I believe it is in your best interest.

I love you Mr. Markie!

Your Mommy

Hide and Seek

This morning Kevin and the boys and I played hide and seek. It was pretty fun. Kevin was showing them good hiding spots so it would be harder for me to find them. I found Eric and Kevin whispered something to him. A few minutes later Eric said very seriously to me, "Mommy, don't look in the cabinet above the fridge because NO one is in there. Obviously that was the next place I looked and I could not quit laughing. He couldn't understand why I would look there when he said not to. Kid logic is such a fun thing!

Fishy Results

Steps involved in gutting a fish.



1. Watch video on youtube about topic.

2. Try really hard not to throw up.

3. Remove fish from refrigerator.

4. Try hard not to think to hard about the video.

5. Take a deep breath.

6. Try not to throw up.

7. Lay fish across a plastic bag so as not to have grossness on the kitchen counter.

8. Insert hand into a smaller plastic bag so as not to have to touch any grossness.

9. Select knife.

10. Turn fish over and prepare to cut.

11. Breathe a huge sigh of relief upon realizing Mr. Fishy has already been gutted.

12. Laugh hysterically at self for stressing out about this for the last two days.

13. Place Mr. Fishy in a baggy and back into refrigerator until time to prepare dinner.

14. Resume laughing at self.


Mr. Fishy did get cooked, and eaten. However, despite having already had the yuckiest part done for me, I was stressed the entire time I prepared dinner. I guess having him in his "whole" form was just too much for me. However, I pushed through and it was tasty!

Anyway, lessons learned here are:

I'm more of a filet kind of girl!
My kids actually will eat fish! Woot!
I do not wish to cook anything that still looks like an animal. Ick.
I actually hate wasting food enough to push through and do it anyway.
A one pound fish doesn't yield very much actual fish. Should have bought 2.

Not doing this again, but it was an interesting experience.