Choosing to See

It doesn't come as a surprise to most of you that being a Mommy is not an easy job. Oh sure there are the days, when it's cold and rainy outside, that we get to stay inside all day (in our pj's if we want too) while the rest of the world trudges through the elements to "go to work." There are times when our "job"  is to rock a sweet cuddly baby. And there ARE countless rewards in this job that are worth so much more than any paycheck.

But there are also days (most of them actually) when we are expected to be chief organizer, scheduler, educator, dietitian, nurse, maid service, disciplinarian, transportation coordinator, counselor and judge. And that's just the morning! :) We are on call 24/7. We never walk out the door on Friday with the promise of not having to deal with _______  again until Monday morning. And to top it all off, this "job" comes with a bit of pressure, we are training little people here. We are responsible to equip them for life as an adult in the real world. We are not just accountable for what we tell them, we are also quite likely to find our own actions imitated and repeated, good or bad. Just a LITTLE bit of pressure going on here!

I have to admit that sometimes it would be nice to go to bed at night knowing I could stay there, warm and cozy, until the alarm rings. Sometimes it's frustrating when the house that I spent all day cleaning is in shambles by the next morning. Once in a while it would be nice to go out for lunch with the girls without having to coordinate a mini circus of babysitters and bus stops. And there's nothing like having to cook dinner (for the littles) before you go out for dinner (with that handsome guy they call your husband, but whom you've barely spoken a full sentence to in a week without being interrupted.)

Yes, this Mommy stuff is NOT for the faint of heart but it is truly one of the best gifts ever given to me. And it is just that, a GIFT. I was reminded of this recently as I connected with a sweet friend, whose arms still ache with emptiness. I did nothing to deserve it.  I have not completed special training. I don't have a paper that says I'm qualified to do this. But I have been trusted with the greatest responsibility ever. I know this in my heart, but sometimes my weary  body needs to be reminded.  It's so easy to get caught up in the "this is just how life works" mentality. "Lots of people have kids." "Kids make messes and press limits." "I just need to get my exhausted self through till bedtime."  "That's just how it works." And let me just say here that I'm not here to make you feel guilty if you've had for having those thoughts. We've all been there, but we can't stay there.

I am challenged and inspired to see the blessings in my life through the challenges. Every part of life has good things and bad. Where is MY focus?? Do I CHOOSE to see the good or get lost in the tough?? Some days it's hard to see much of anything  through these sleepy eyes and sticky messes but I have a choice to make!! And sometimes I need a sweet friend who is kind enough to remind me how immeasurably blessed I am!

I asked him out...

...On a date. A real date. Just the two of us. And he's not even my husband! Gasp! I know you're shocked, but he was just so good looking, so charming, so friendly. I couldn't resist. And so non-demanding, such low expectations he had. All he ask for was an ice cream cone. But only  blue ice cream will do. Who can resist a man who is realistic and yet knows what he wants??


He said "yes" and off we went, just the two of us. I offered to drive. I figure if you're brassy enough to ask a guy out you might as well go the whole nine yards. Oh, it may have had a little something to do with him not having a license. Maybe.


He was a little confused by my ideas for this date but he patiently agreed to accompany me to the grocery store too. When the grocery list was checked off (and the wallet drained. Seriously, that place is dangerous!) We headed to my new favorite place. At least when ice cream is in the plan. (I have personally treated a family of 7 to ice cream here for about $10. Some pretty tasty good ice cream at that. And yes, everyone got there own except the baby girl, she helped out wherever she could!)

And good ice cream aside, you even get to step on a cow on your way in. It's a highlight I tell you!

But alas, there was no blue ice cream. Green will have to do! 

Coffee Toffee chip for me, Thanks!

 See, I told you he was handsome and charming! 

We had a lovely time!

But we set the camera on the wrong settings. Grrr. Sorry for the blur! 

But after all that anticipation,  he declared himself "done" after just one bite. Silly boy!

(We brought the rest home to share with Daddy.)

You see, during our grocery run, somebody spotted these...

...and we NEEDED them, BAD!

So we struck a little deal, the boy and I. I  buy the band-aids for you and you wear them on your thumb

To BED.

(I find $2.43 to cure a thumb sucker to be a great bargain!)

And from that moment on, the promised ice cream was no longer important. 

It was all about the "Angwy Burds band-aids."

  And it's working like a charm!! Yippee!!

But it really wasn't about the ice cream in the beginning. It was about spending time, one on one with my little man and we came home with his little "love tank" re-stocked. That's what it's all about! 

Made Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

Made Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}


Confession Time. This whole Made Me Smile Monday project is a bit more difficult than I imagined. I didn't think it'd be hard to find one thing in a whole week that made me smile. But before you go ahead and write me off as Mama Scrooge, I DO smile, sometimes more than once a week. The problem here is that #1, I have to be alert for "smile moments" (okay, that's not really a problem, it's really the purpose of the whole idea, but it can be a hang up along away.) #2, they have to be photographable (apparently that's not a word but...) moments, and #3, when I do have my camera handy and remember to take a picture, it's best if it's not the sort of photograph that's blurry enough to make my children appear to have three heads or some other similar malfunction. Oh yes and  #4, it's a best to post Made Me Smile Monday on (drum roll please!)   MONDAY!

But this is  something I really want to do. It is good for me to be on the lookout for "smile moments" throughout my week and I really do smile more on Monday when I think of the good things from my previous week!

And since I've already cheated and rambled on and on about life instead of just posting my one neatly wrapped photo, I'm gonna mess with the whole system and post several from this week.

If I HAD to pick just one, it'd be this one.

"Why of coarse, we should hang the dart board beside the commode. It adds such a nice touch, why didn't I think of it before? Just knock before you come busting in with your weapons please!" (courtesy of small dude's decorating inc.)

But the uncontainable excitement of little people who hear their Daddy coming home after 2 days on the road is hard to beat.

And everyone knows giggles are contagious! Especially if they come from a rather small, sweet pea!

But when a girl is spoiled enough to be sent away for a whole weekend to do something she loves, there is definitely reason to smile!! No worries about looking for babysitters, no worries that little people would not be well cared for. No one to pack for but me. No meals to prepare or clean up. No schedule or interruptions to work around. Just 3 blissful days to preserve one of the most important things I have, MEMORIES. 45 pages in a little over 50 hours. (That makes me smile for a moment, until I start to do the math. 45 = half a year in one book. So does that mean that one book = 100 hours per year? And now we multiply that by 6. Ouch!) I may be digging a hole here that I will never come out of but that's okay. I do it because I enjoy it. I do it for my kids, who love to sit for hours and look back through their own little lives. I do it for my Husband who says, "Sometimes my kids really drive me  crazy but every time I look back at these pictures it makes me love 'em more!" And when it includes a weekend away with the girls, what's not to love!!!

There you have it, my smiles from the week. Come to think of it, I may have needed all four of these to get me through this Monday. 45 pages in 50 hours doesn't leave a lot of hours available for sleeping. It was a "draggin' my tail" sort of day. The second in as many weeks. The first one caused by  a stunt I haven't pulled since high school, best described as "Why yes, we were still sitting on the couch talking when her husband got up to milk. Is that unusual?" The hubs said I would regret that one, I assured him I wouldn't. Pay for it? yes! Regret it? NEVER. You can't put a price on a good heart to heart with a sweet girlfriend!

Hope your week is off to a great start! Don't forget to look for your own "smile moments" this week!

Sweet 3!

(...doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Sweet 16, but we'll be there soon enough.)

A very sweet little boy at our house turned 3 last week.

Found this little motorcycle at a yard sale this spring and it's been "hidden" in the attic waiting for this morning. Except a couple little boys discovered it when we were moving. I found two of them up in the attic one day playing quite happily. I chased them down and figured, they're kids, they'll forget soon.....No such luck. Almost every week they would ask me if they could play with it. But the great thing about little kids is that they don't mind second hand gifts that they've seen before, he was more then delighted with his new treasure!

His birthday kinda got lost in the chaos last year since we went to Florida for Christmas so we had to make sure we partied hard enough for two years this time. It's always more fun when they get old enough to remember what a birthday is and look forward to it ahead of time.  Is there any  better way to celebrate a sweet boy than with  an over the top, sugar loaded  sweet theme??

Candyland

There are lots of Candyland cake ideas online, this is how mine turned out.

It was a fun cake to make but let's just say I've had better tasting cakes.

Of course the kids loved it. I told them they could cut any piece they wanted. 

"Go ahead, take the gumballs outta the middle."

"Sure, you can have the piece with the chocolate tree."

And then, when know one was looking, the remains just "mysteriously" disappeared.

Decorating for this theme is easy-peasy!
Anything in primary colors works great!

dug deep down in my creativity for this game :)

build your own candy house

 Like I said, SUGAR OVERLOAD!

 If you want to use this party idea, I highly recommend a January birthday! It's a great way to use
up all that candy that collects over the holidays. And if you don't happen to collect enough, a good
after Christmas 75% off sale will set you up in a hurry!
One more quick tip: fastest,easiest way to do "Gingerbread" houses.....
use graham crackers and hot glue. At least at my house it's more about the fun of making then about eating them. So if you slap the crackers together with hot glue ahead of time, it will save you the
waiting time till the icing hardens or the frustration of trying to decorate a house that's not dry and
wants to fall apart.

Fun gifts from a fun Aunt.

It's hard to believe it's been 3 years already!

Some days I'm sure I can see him growing taller!

He's sweet. He's funny. He's snugly. He's smart. 

He's determined. He's a stinker!

But he's a keeper!

FYI, motorcycles make little boys a lot more excited and cooperative about photoshoots!

(and I know someone who has one if you ever need to borrow one.)

So we've officially (and almost instantly) gone from the "terrible two's" (not that I really believe in those) to the "Why Mom?" three's. Should be another adventure!

Made Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

little boy's "motorcycle face"

Makes Me Smile Monday

{a snapshot from my week. with or without words. something exciting. something ordinary. something special. something silly. just something. that made me smile this week. a memory to brighten my day. to make me smile again. even though it's MONDAY!}

This Week: The last several boxes of icicle lights on the clearance shelves at Target. I badly wanted these for my wrap around porch this year but couldn't bring myself to pay full price. I was shocked that they still had some by the time I made it there on Wednesday.

What about you? What made you smile recently??

I'd love to hear about it!