I wish

It's so easy to dwell on or focus on the things we don't have or things we just wish were different.  I would say with certainty that I am extremely happy in my life.  Everything is as I always had hoped it would be.  But still, there are times when I think:

• I wish Chris didn't work so hard
• I wish we had a pool
• I wish Drew listened as well as that girl over there does
• I wish Lauren's room was the same pretty pink as Drew's
• I wish I was contributing financially to our family but staying home is more important to us right now
• I wish leaving kids in the car was safe and legal, I'd get a lot more errands done during the day
• I wish didn't wear the size I'm wearing

and on and on and on.  I saw this and it rang so true for me.  I really don't think I'm a dweller, it's just not in my nature to stress and dwell on things but this still is a good reminder for those times.  Most of us have it so easy if you really think about it.  The things we need most we all have.  And if you can afford bottled water and XM radio on top of it, you need to shut your mouth and just be happy. 

What is the constant 'I wish' statement you have?

Is this ballsy or lame?

Subtitle:  How to exploit your dead father to try and get sympathy for your sorry ass.

Nike aired a new TV commercial Wednesday featuring Tiger Woods and the voice of his late father, an edgy move that calls out his personal problems on the eve of his return to competitive golf.

The ad aired on ESPN and the Golf Channel just one day before the Masters begins.
In the stark, black-and-white ad, a solemn Woods looks directly into the camera without speaking while a recording of his late father is heard, speaking about taking responsibility.

~ msnbc.com




I think what his father should have said was, "Tiger, why did you F it all up?  And going to sex rehab for 45 days doesn't make you an honorable man again."

OMG...

You know how before you had kids you were all, "OMG, I would never let my kid do that" and then you had kids and it's commonplace for 'that' to take place?  Like when I would see a mom bribing a 3 year old with gum or watching a toddler eat McDonald's for dinner.  Those things are daily in this house.  Ok, not daily, but maybe weekly.  And I still declare myself a good mother and my kids are still good kids.  Well, that last part may be debatable but you get my drift.  The other thing I never understood B.C. (before children) was the whole, "Look at these pictures of my kids!" thing.  But now I get it.  I get it all.  There are still some OMGs that I said I'd never do that I have stuck to but for the most part, I get it.

So, here's an OMG I haven't stuck to: 

Look at William!  He's 3 and half and he's riding with no training wheels! 



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

If you're looking at this thinking, "OMG, he doesn't have a helmet on" well, whatever.  I used to OMG that, too.  Don't turn me in.  Next time he'll have it on.  I swear.

Age is a great thing

photo courtesy of Heroin Chic

Sunday funday

What a fabulous day.  Even though I'm with the kids everyday and I would say 80% of those days I just love love love, today was different.  It was Easter.  And daddy's birthday.  And it was exciting.  And it was just them and us. 


We spent the afternoon together yesterday and went to the mall to see the Easter Bunny.  Apparently we weren't the only ones who waited until the day before and so instead of waiting in line with all the other moron procrastinators, we stood at the railing and waved.  The Easter Bunny gave the kids a big wave and that was more than sufficient.  Thank God for that.  We went on to cruise the mall (doesn't that sound fun at 5pm on the Saturday before Easter?), get a pretzel to share, watch the interactive fountain (too cold to get in) and then visit the Apple store to play with the new Ipad.  After that we went to dinner at BJ's and had a great time.  We weren't heading home until 7:00pm and poor little Lauren is always in bed by 6:30pm so she was exhausted.  You know me, I live and die by our schedule so this was very unusual and her body sure knew we were off.  She wasn't grumpy but just look at that face.

As soon as we got home, I left to go get Easter basket stuff while Chris took the kids in to bathe them and put them to bed.  Apparently waiting until 12 hours before kids actually find their Easter baskets to shop for stuff to fill them isn't a good idea.  The shelves were literally bare.  We don't go crazy with baskets so I found some practical fun things that I knew would be loved and that was that.  

I came home to find that the fabulous homemade birthday cake I'd made for Chris for tonight had already been broken into.  The Easter Bunny was blamed but I knew that was a lie because SHE was at Target at the time.  Anyway, can you just taste this?

 

Chris and I went to bed after filling baskets and I was actually really pleased with our efforts.  Especially for having waited until the last minute.  I found this on my pillow, a gift from Drew.  Love moments like this.

 

In the morning, William got up first, about 7:15am.  Like freakin' clockwork.  He came down to find this:

He said the leprechaun from St. Patrick's Day must have done it because the Easter Bunny is not that messy. 

The kids' Easter baskets were on the hearth, too, but he had to wait for Drew before he could dig into his.  At 7:45am she came down and it was basket time! 

What does Michelle Duggar do?  I mean, really.  We only had to do three baskets but the thought of doing 16 more in addition to these?  Oh, Lord.  Anyway, each got a bunny doll.  Lauren got two bath toys and some Gerber yogurt melts.  That's it.  And she was THRILLED.  See?

The big kids got some gum, sour candy, paint, and just a few other things I know they'd use.  We didn't buy any knick knacky crap this year and I'm soooo thankful.  I saved money, they loved everything, and they found purpose and fun in all the things they got.  We hid the eggs they'd colored with Nana in the livingroom since it was raining outside and they found them all.  After that, Chris took them to the donut shop for breakfast while Lauren and I stayed home to clean up a bit and for her to take a nap.  Since then we've gone grocery shopping, gone to the park to fly kites, ate lunch by the fire, and painted.  Honestly, it's been the best day we've had in a long time. 

We'll have a nice dinner tonight for Chris's birthday and we'll top it off with that yummy cake.  Here are just a few more pics of the day.  Hope your day was equally as enjoyable.

A Spiderman toothbrush that lights up

A Strawberry Shortcake painting book

Counting eggs

Chris's birthday present

Happy Easter to you!

Happy Easter, Happy Birthday

Sunday is Easter.  The Easter Bunny hasn't even shopped for Easter basket stuff but she will!  Our Easter Bunny doesn't deliver like it's Christmas, for reasons I've explained here.  The kids have their own baskets and in them will arrive a few fun practical goodies, always a new toothbrush and fun toothpaste, and some candy they don't often get.  We colored eggs with Nana yesterday so the Easter Bunny will hide those and they will be found later in the morning. I fully anticipate an argument about who got which ones and you found that but I colored that one, etc.  You know, expressing love on a nice holiday. 

Not only is Sunday Easter but it's also Chris's birthday.  We'll celebrate by getting dressed in our Easter best and go have a nice lunch.  As far as gifts go, Chris isn't just hard to shop for, he's a pain in the ass to shop for because he needs nothing, wants nothing, and doesn't want to keep anything he won't use often.  I decided to contact some of our close friends and family and ask them to contribute one memory of Chris for a book I wanted to put together for his birthday.  They did and I did and I think it turned out pretty awesome.  Thanks to all who contributed.

The kids are excited about Easter but not overly so.  I'm unsure if I'll do bunny prints or bunny poop to prove she was here but I'll figure it out.  And this is the very first holiday since having kids that we're spending it as just us.  We had Nana visit yesterday and we'll have grandma and grandpa visit later in the week.  Sunday is for us.  A quiet, special day for us.  For the kids.  For the birthday boy!

We hope you have a lovely Easter.    

  

picture courtesy of Brown Button

Words

Words are funny things.  I'm kind of a word nerd.  More of a grammar nerd, actually, but I love words.  The way words are used and the subtle differences in meaning are so interesting to me.  William actually got me thinking about this topic.  For the age of three, he's very perceptive.  The other day he asked me what the difference is between the floor and the ground.  He then said, "Sometimes you say ground and sometimes you say floor but it's the same thing."  Then just tonight, Chris drank the rest of the good orange juice.  I say good orange juice because I buy two kinds.  I buy the Costco frozen for everyone else and I buy the Simply Orange for me.  I'm an orange juice snob (among other things) and I've never said no one else can drink the good orange juice but no one does usually.  Anyway, William asked if he could have some of my orange juice and when I went to get some for him it was gone.  I said, "It's gone.  Your dad drank the last bit of it."  William said, "How come you say 'your dad' if it's bad but you say 'daddy' if it's good?" 

It's like when you say gesundheit instead of bless you .  There are such subtleties in the English language.  I love that my three year old is picking up on them.  His perception will keep me on my toes and he'll make me conscious of my choice of words always. 

Future word nerd

*Sidenote:  Remember the movie Singles?  Back in 1992, I think?  There was a whole gesundheit vs. bless you conversation.  Here's part of it: