Royal Wedding Quote

Lollipop: "Mommy, this is the best movie I've ever seen."

Me: "Its not a movie, it really happened this morning."

Lollipop: "Wow! Look at all those people watching. There must be a hundred."

Me:"I bet there is a million. In fact, the whole world is watching."

Lollipop: "Its so nice that they let us watch it here in our village."

Bunnies and a Deer

My Boy made the best deer in the world in his School's adaptation of "The Bear went over the Mountain" last week. We headed to the lake for Easter and met up with some family there. I very much missed church on Easter morning (I also missed seeing my girls in their Easter dresses) but was so glad for the last minute decision of a laid-back get-away. Things aren't slowing down for us anytime soon. We are looking forward to more baseball games, a track meet, a dance recital, and hopefully alot less wind so we can get outside and play!

Oh Deer!!!!

The 8th annual Easter "Bunny Cake" was entirely decorated by the kids this year! I think they did a fantastic job!
Look how happy this little lady is watching the big kids hunt eggs!

Why yes, it is perfectly acceptable to hunt Easter eggs in pjs wearing your big brother's cowboy boots. Didn't you know?
Which do you think tastes better? Bunny ears or a plastic ball? I'm going to have to go with the ears!
Man oh man I love this kid!
Happy belated Easter!

Weekend at the Wolf

During the Christmas break I realized that My Boy had gotten every single "bonus" word correct on his spelling tests all year. So, I came up with the grand scheme to bribe him into continuing the trend! I told him that if he could get them right for the rest of the year we would go to The Great Wolf Lodge for the weekend. As of the beginning of April, he was still perfect. We started looking at the calendar and realized it was now or never because we wanted to go before summer break and the crowds hit. He technically still has three or four weeks of spelling tests left, but I trust him :). It was fast and furious but we had a great time!

The view from our room:

The Wolf Den, our sleeping cave
Yes, she's climbing out the window!
Enjoying his well-deserved trip!
Riding on the not-so-lazy river
He conquered the Lily Pads
And played a little water basketball
Baby Gumdrop Day 1
Baby Gumdrop Day 2

We can't wait to go back sometime!

I don't know what I'm doing......

This is mostly a vent session, feel free to move on to your next blog :)......

I remember (as does most everyone) when the nurse handed me my newborn son to take home after five days in the NICU. I thought.....there are no monitors, no nurses, no ANYONE, I don't know what I'm doing!!!!! Well, seven and a half years later I still feel that way so much of the time. I feel like my maternal instincts are pretty good. I was born to do this. This is all I ever wanted. My daughter asked me the other day why I didn't have a job. I said, "I'm a mommy. That's my job." Lots of questions followed. She ended the conversation with, "Well, I think you need a job. You need some kind of activity to do." I answered with, "Well, that's my mommy volunteers with Junior League and up at school. I also do stuff at church, believe me kiddo, Mommy has plenty of activities." Obviously this child does not know what it takes to be a mom to three kids and a wife. I'll never degrade my choice to stay home but I do feel hollow sometimes. I never got to have a career. Why in the heck did I work so hard to clean, cook, change diapers, and be carpool queen? Have I made the wrong choice? Am I showing my daughters that they can't have a career and be a mom? I read all the studies in my sociology classes. I know that working moms are more likely to have professional daughters. Am I doing the wrong thing?

I just can't believe that my choice to stay home is the wrong one. Like I said, I won't degrade what I do. I work really hard with very little help. No maid, no yardman, no nanny. I am exhausted when I lay my head on my pillow every night. That's why it is so hard when I feel like I am struggling as a parent. My middle child is a fireball. She is the exact opposite of me in so many ways. If I got my name on the board in school I probably cried all day (I don't know, I don't think it ever happened :)). I remember that my favorite teacher in 6th grade took a note up that I had written one day. I wrote her a note to apologize for my behavior (on my own, no parental forcing) and I didn't pass notes again in class. My daughter exclaimed a few months ago, "Mommy, I didn't get time off recess today. That's a big deal for me." It stresses me out. Yet it makes me smile. A small part of me thinks, "You go girl! Don't conform! Don't be a sheep like your momma!" Yet the bigger truth is that I'm mortified. I have no idea what to do with her half of the time. I don't want to break her spirit but I want her to know that there are times you must do things. Its not ok to be mean and its not ok to hurt others with words or otherwise. I'm struggling trying to find the right balance. I'm struggling with learning how to parent each child in the way that is best for them.

I'm so thankful that I have a husband that backs me up through thick and thin and a God that is bigger than everything. I'm going to go spend time with my family now. And I'm going to be thankful for every mistake I make because God gave these children to me and will also back me up through thick and through thin.

Wordless Wednesday

Take a good look!

Of course I forgot my camera but here are a few pics of us before the Crystal Ball this weekend. Crystal Ball is a fundraiser for High Sky Children's Ranch. We actually dressed up, me with make-up, and hair fixed. I have no obvious baby food, snot, or ketchup anywhere on my body. It's kind of amazing! Isn't my husband so handsome!

8 months!

8 months old! She is so much fun and so ready to catch up with her big brother and sister. She is sitting on her own, sleeping like a champ, eating great, and giving us smiles that make the world brighter. She can say Da Da and Ma Ma and she also says, "Hi!" (or it sure sounds like it) when someone walks into the room. She's a fantastic hair-puller and really LOVES my glasses, thankfully I wear contacts most of the time. She is inching everywhere and is just as destructive inching as a full out crawler! This week I have:

Removed door stops

Saved an aloe vera plant from destruction

Taken two hair bands out of her possession

Kissed boo-boos at least four or five times because she has rolled over onto or scooted into a piece of furniture

Picked trash cans up off of the bathroom floor

Started closing bathroom doors

Outlawed the play room

She is such a sweet, sweet girl!

I remember when she absolutely hated being on her tummy:
Her tummy is now her favorite place to be:
If you read the last post you read about My Boy's spelling test practice, here is the result. Evidently, practice makes perfect ;).

Reason #982

Reason #982 of why my kids make me laugh!

Have you ever seen the cartoon Olivia (or read the books) about the little pig? She always has randomly numbered "rules of life." We quote her all the time around here and 982 popped into my head for some reason!

Anyway, here is the reason for the laughter! Yesterday we came in from school and I needed to feed the baby and put her down for a nap. I told My Boy to grab a snack and we would start homework in a few minutes.

About 10 minutes later he comes into the nursery and says, "Mom, I did my math homework and gave myself my spelling test."

Me: "You did what? How did you know the words?"

Him: "Well, we went over them yesterday at home and today we did a few worksheets at school. I had to go look on the fridge to see which order the bonus words went in but I remembered all the rest. Then when I was done I took it off the fridge and checked it."

Me: " Um, Okay. Let me see it."

This is what I saw:

He really did remember them all and checked it himself. He even gave himself a grade! He actually needed to take 4 points off for the mis-spelled word, but who's counting! Then when he was done he re-wrote the word he missed:

This is why I love my kids. I love that they can surprise the heck out of me every single day!

Busy Spring!

I honestly thought things would slow down for us when we rounded the corner into Spring. My Junior League placement is over which has me home on Tuesday nights but everything else seems to be going full speed ahead. Here is a little of what we are doing:

My Boy:

We are baseball-ing three or so nights a week, working on our homework nightly. He's getting to be such a good reader!!! Lollipop wanted me to read her "How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight" the other day and I needed to change the baby. My Boy said, "I'll read it to her." Its awesome! He also is going to start track at school next week. He's going to be one tired boy!

Lollipop:

She is getting ready for her big dance recital in May, has been bringing home a reading folder every night (big girl!) and keeping up with her weekly swim lesson. She will spend hours at the kitchen table drawing and she loves to help Mommy cook.

Baby Gumdrop:

She is going to be crawling before I can even imagine. She can get anywhere she wants already with what we call "the inchworm move." She loves apples, bananas, and pears. Green beans are tolerable. The poor thing rarely ever gets an entire nap (I have to wake her up DAILY to pick the kids up from school---sometimes I have to wake her up twice--its awful) I think she is just about the sweetest thing on the planet.

I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm happier running around crazy than I would be doing anything else in the whole wide world!