At the Front of My Mind

Around these parts, May is living up to all it's hectic glory, and earning the right to be called the "Spring December". The good news about that is when you are super busy, you don't have the time to lament over how long the month is dragging as we try to approach summer. I feel like it was just April 1st yesterday, yet as Friday approaches, we will be at the mid-point of the month. My prayer right now is, once the kids are out of school, for the next ten or so weeks to sweetly drag their feet.

In the last few days these things have stuck in my brain amidst the craziness:

1. The Little Man was invited to a birthday party. This is a pretty rare event since he is still on the younger side. Many of his friends don't have birthday parties for friends yet. That and no one wants to invite him. OH, I KID! Seriously though, he doesn't have a ton of friends yet since he isn't officially in school. So, when the rare invitation gets thrown his way, it's a big deal. He loves going shopping for the gift...or at least he likes any opportunity to peruse the toy aisle. As he was planning which day we would go to Super T, he was making sure I too was putting it on the calendar so we wouldn't miss getting the gift.

p: Mom, we need to go to Target and get my friend a gift because his party is on Saturday, OK?
m: OK, we'll make it over there before the end of the week. Don't worry.
p: We should go now, Mom. We might forget.
m: I don't think I'll for get, Buddy. We'll get a gift in the next few days.
p: But, Mom, if we forget it will be horrible.
m: yea.
p: Yea, you know how you say "Happy Birthday!" to people?
m: Yes.
p: Well we couldn't say that to him because he wouldn't have any present. We would just have to say to him "Regular Birthday to you! Sorry, it can't be happy, but we forgot your present!"

So, in order to avoid a "Regular Birthday" we made time to get over to Super T later that day.

2. I don't know if it was officially my "Mother's Day Gift", but I did get this a few days before Mother's Day this past week. Two words for you peeps with hardwoods or tile floors, IT ROCKS! Super, super easy to use, and to clean AND sanitize all at once? HELLO! I'm in love. It was also nice to not have to lug around water for a mop, or any of that spray stuff I normally use. Nope, I just plug this baby into the wall and BANG, I'm a moppin' fool. Another little tidbit I would like to add, especially for those of you living with the male species: It cleans AND SANITIZES around the toilet without you having to bend down and scrub with your face just mere inches away from the nastiness.

So, to summarize, I love my new mop, it cleans AND sanitizes, I don't have to put my face near any more "misfires" in the bathroom.

And I love it.

Oh, I said that already.

3. Currently, I am trying not to inhale an entire pint of this delicious goodness. I am eating the Island Coconut flavor. Yum and more yum. It tastes so fresh and perfect I really don't have many other words to describe it except fresh and perfect. It reminds me of the Coconut ice cream I recently fell in love with while in Cancun last month. I also love that it has ingredients I can read as opposed to all sorts of crazy wild junk that not only is hard to read, but you wonder what it's doing in ice cream and why. I mean, just give me milk, sugar, eggs, and then whatever flavors I choose. You don't need all that other junk. Just the good stuff is all I require, and that's just what this ice cream is.

As I sit here eating it, I feel like I have been transported to another place and time. A place and time that is warm and sunny.

I am also pretending that I am in a place that is NOT being threatened with a large amount of snow in just a mere 48 hours in MAY.

People, it is past Mother's Day, which means we should be DONE with the white stuff. Also, I feel like I could have officially run out of patience with the cold weather. I have planted my garden for crying out loud!

OK, I will not freak out about something that hasn't happened yet. I will calmly wait and see.

And find the tarp so I can cover all tender vegetation.

Almost Missed {Project Two Times Twelve}

Technically, I did miss April.

By two days.

I could get all anal, freak out, give up, and walk away from the project of two kids in twelve months, but I will instead persevere. This time learning that sometimes fun can happen unexpectedly, and in cooler weather than hoped for.

In April, we had issues. First, at the beginning of the month The Hubs and I went to Mexico. In preparation for this trip, I worked my tail off so I could leave and enjoy myself without feeling guilty about all the work I left behind. Next, we had fun entertaining the stomach flu for a week. Lastly, the weather took a nose dive for the remaining days. Add that to a repeat performance of "Preparation so I could leave and enjoy myself", and we are now in May.

Yesterday, out of no where, I told the kids they were headed outdoors for a little impromptu session. They kept on their clothes from church, and outdoors we went. As you can clearly tell, the setting could have been mapped out a little better. Not the best location, but it was close to home. Plus, I didn't want to ruin the fun of the impromptu-ness of it all by spending all our time traveling somewhere.

Also, I have to admit, I have TOTALLY lost all my outdoor photography mojo. It's been a long winter. I am totally itching for outdoor stuff, but it's been while. Sadly, I am battling the whole "If you don't use it you lose it" scenario. I am in a MAJOR funk about it. And it shows. I hope it isn't too long lived! My kids are going to learn to hate my camera and I because I refuse to let this funk beat me. I have to get over it, and QUICK!

No more excuses....just bear with me for this month.

Even though I was having a hard time, I didn't want the kids to know it. I just let them have fun and run around. We all pretended it was a warm spring day (for 20 minutes) and went for it:

Love the way she leads him and the umbrella leads her:

Running is always fun and it keeps you warm:


The Little Man was working some seriously crazy faces...I just went with it:




The Girl who was working her beauty and an umbrella:

Some crazy sun haze and wild wind:


I hope May turns out a bit better. I am looking for more outdoor fun and to GET OUT OF MY FUNK.

The End.

A Small Glimpse Into the Future?

I had the pleasure of being a chaperon for The Girl's last field trip of first grade.

I think she enjoyed herself.

While some kids squirmed, were grossed out, and/or lost interest, The Girl settled right in. It was like she was finally home. Seeing her in the lab coat, safety goggles, and surrounded by beakers and test tubes, I too felt like she was finally where she has always wanted to be.

In fact, she did claim this as the best part of her whole day.

Welcome New Family Members

Well, she did it. (See #5).

She earned herself some goldfish by proving she was responsible enough to be a pet owner.



This is Midnight:

(Who belongs to The Girl)

And that's Calico, or Cali for short (She/He belongs to The Little Man who incidentally did NOTHING to earn a fish, but rode into the pet store on the coat tails of his older sister. Ah, being the youngest. Must be nice.)




I guess I am OK with The Little Man also having a fish, even though he has yet to prove he can do anything to care for another living creature, because it buys me this:


And a bit of that:

ALL NIGHT LONG...and for just $4.99 to boot!

I'll take two please.





As The Little Man says: "Now we have THREE animals to love!"

Mmm Hm.

Oh Hiya Warm Weatha

Today has felt like one big blessing after another. Let me count the ways:

1. No school. Hello. Need I say more.
2. Uninterrupted email/computer time with a cup of tea this morning (see number 1).
3. Temps in the high sixties/low seventies all day with NO wind. Inhale. Exhale.
4. Picnic in the front yard after playing soccer and collecting bugs (see number 3).
5. Kids outside ALL DAY LONG.
6. Getting a chance to pick up part of the basement "issue" I have been battling for MONTHS now (see number 5).
7. Started our garden for the year (see number 3). No worries, I only started our colder weather veggies.
8. Yoga
9. An after yoga smoothie split three ways.
10. Quiet time. Inhale. Exhale.
11. Signing up for some Summer Camps. Delayed inhale. Delayed exhale.
12. A great chance to catch up with a close friend on the phone.
13. Homemade chicken enchiladas.
14. Homemade chocolate chip cookies.
15. A house still lit up by natural light after 7pm.

All these things make for one happy Momma. It gave me a small glimpse as to what I am hoping our summer will look like: Relaxed, warm, and together.

Only five more weeks of school.

Not Even a Hat Could Hide It

I'm back!

OK, I've been back for almost a whole week, but we were welcomed home with a stomach virus that has had a mean hold on The Girl. She's been miserable, but I think she made some headway today. Unfortunately, my children are unaware that a 24 hour stomach flu actually exists. When one of them gets the bug, they will have it for an average of about four days (Remember The Girl suffering for TWO WEEKS last year!). This one has been no different. I just hope that day five is the last day we have this unwelcomed visitor. On a positive note, this is the first bug she's had since that dreaded virus last year. That makes 15 months stomach virus free which is the longest she's ever gone IN HER LIFE. Strong stomachs are NOT what my kids are known for.

Can I just say one last thing before about this before I talk about Cancun? I just have to say, while dealing with this bump in the road this week, it was made very clear to me just how much healing in this area the Lord has given me. Now, I am not going to say that I was not neurotic about some things, but curled up in a ball, crying, and shaking? Not so much. On my knees a few times? Most definitely. However, being on my knees isn't such a bad place to be. Only the Lord can bring healing like this, and I found such comfort and joy being able to reflect on this "This Far" moment.

OK.

Cancun.

It was wonderful. The End.

Just kidding.

It was wonderful though. It was also surreal to be away from my babes with The Hubs for that long. I am glad I got a chance to have a trial run before the big get away coming soon, in which I will leave them for DOUBLE the time I was in Cancun. Not only did it prepare me for leaving my kids under the care of someone else, but it also prepared me for something else very unexpected.

My hair.

I know. Totally superficial.

Here's the deal: In our climate of approximately 9% humidity, I can deal with my somewhat curly but mostly frizzy hair with a blow dryer and a round brush, a flat iron, and some hair spray. This "do" will last me a good two days (and sometimes I push it three...don't judge). While visiting a more tropical climate, I found that my normal hair styling routine was a total bust.

Remember that "Friends" episode when the gang visited Barbados? Well let's just say, Monica and I had a little something in common. Watch this clip. Our common ground WASN'T her love for ping pong, and it has nothing to do with competitive nature. No, what makes this clip hit close to home is the hair.

That was me.

Everyday, from the time we landed until we left, it got larger and larger. The frizz was totally out of control. I have often wondered why people used frizz serum. It just seems so heavy. Now I know. Thankfully, I did bring along many hair ties, headbands, and bobby pins. I know it didn't solve the problem completely, but it helped a little. For the record, I did consider this option, but only for a mere few seconds.

Now I know, when I take the next trip, which will also be in a tropical climate, that a girl cannot live on just headbands, hair ties, and bobby pins alone. Oh no! I will also be packing a frizz serum of some sorts, and possibly some sort of curl enhancing type product (recommendations from my fellow curly/frizzy haired girl friends are much appreciated). In order to make room in the suite case for this, I will be leaving the flat iron behind. Because, honestly? That thing was totally useless. It's only success was turning my hair into what looked like a piece of lint sitting on my head. Personally, I found the wild curly mane a tiny bit more attractive.

Thankfully, on the next trip, the pressure to look my best will be substantially less as it will be just The Hubs and I, as well as very close family, who have totally seen me way worse than Frizz Girl and they still love me.

I can hardly wait.

Wardrobe Malfunction

I would start this post off by saying that "It's been crazy around here," or "Where did the time go?", but I think at this point, it's just understood. I have a feeling that from here until the second week of June, it's going to be all I have to just keep my head above water. This time, from Spring Break to the end of the school year, is notorious for being overwhelmingly busy. Throw two vacations into the mix and you have down right craziness! It's a good crazy though, right?

That's what I'll tell myself.

In preparing for our first vacation, I've been on a mission to be beach ready. This includes shopping, shopping, returning, and shopping some more. It is totally out of hand, but thankfully, I think it's done.

For now.

Also, I've had to get parts of my body beach ready that are currently in hibernation mode still. It's been a rude wake up, but I think we are there. One part of my body that needed a wake up was my bikini line. I decided this year to take care of this area with more than just a razor, and went in for my first wax. Before my appointment that day, I needed to make yet another stop at a store nearby to see if I could find a "Resort Formal" dress. This particular store is very smart because they have set up a TV/DVD player in the dressing room with movies for children to watch.

With The Little Man safely set up with a movie, I headed into my private dressing room. I was feeling a bit more modest around my youngest because I had on undergarments that were appropriate for my upcoming waxing appointment. This type of underwear is not my normal fare.

Imagine my surprise when out of no where my dressing room door FLIES WIDE OPEN and my son is standing there saying, "Hey mom, the movie's over now!"

There may have been a small yelp.

After ushering him in and explaining to him the whole knocking and privacy thing, he settled in as I tried on the last three dresses. After taking off one of the dresses I was quite surprised to turn around and find my son pulling his own pants down and then looking at his own tush and underwear in the mirror.

me: Hey bud! What are you doing there?
p: Looking in the mirror and checking something
me: What are you trying to look at?
p: My underwear.
me: Why?

And here is where I wish that we were whispering because the next part felt like it was said maybe a bit too loud.

OK, way too loud.

p: I was checking my underwear to make sure they were OK.
me: Why? Did you have an accident?
p No, but the butts on your underwear are all gone!

(And why OH WHY did I say this next part?)

me: What?
p: (Even louder because the "what" I said didn't imply that I didn't understand what he was talking about, but instead that the volume in which he used wasn't loud enough) The butts are missing on your panties, Mommy!

Nice.

Thankfully, there were no surprise intrusions during my waxing appointment.