A picture summary

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Last night, in pictures:

After dinner this sight nearly killed me.  I looked out the window from the kitchen to see this.  Apparently they were walking in a parade. 

The parade continues, minus William

Lauren was finished with her parade walk and took a break underneath the trampoline

Drew swings by in her jeep and offers Lauren a ride

Lauren notices that she's stepped on something and balances herself very well to inspect

Drew's not waiting for that nonsense so she takes off without her and Lauren gives chase

William lures Lauren into his jeep with promises of not ever driving off and leaving her like Drew did

Lauren is unsure what to do and comes back to homebase for a little reassurance

As soon as she comes, she's gone again, making a decision as to whose jeep she should get into

William is the winner!

Drew tries to lure her back with a wink and a smile

It works!

...and so it ends. 

Lauren came back for some zerberts not long after.  I think that makes ME the real winner in the whole game.

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Things some moms are afraid to say

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I don't think I'm exceptionally brave, but I don't care what people think.  I think because I know I am not the only one who feels this way.  I don't claim to speak for anyone else but myself, but I know I'm not alone in some of these.  Other people think that by saying negative things sometimes about your job as a mom or about your children means that you don't like or job or you don't love your children completely.  That's ridiculous.  So here ya go.  The list of things I'm not afraid to say, truly mean (well, depending on the day sometimes), yet still love my job and adore my children.  I swear.

• I hate the park.  HATE.
• I hate cooking for kids.  My kids don't eat and spending an hour in the kitchen when they don't eat pisses me off.  They like fish sticks and green beans.  What's wrong with that?
• I put too much thought into my Christmas card and the picture I choose.  Especially with facebook and this blog, it's no secret who we are.  If Drew is kicking William, William is crying, and Lauren is sleeping in our Christmas card nobody would be surprised AT ALL however I feel the need to have a picture where everyone is smiling and showing their fake selves.  Well, not that we're not happy, but you know what I mean.
• I hate doing homework with Drew.  And I'm a teacher!  I LOVE to write with her and to listen to her read, etc.  but the sitting and hammering out the homework is painful sometimes.  I put on my fake happy face and make it fun but inside I hate it.  I think I put on a good show, though.
• Somedays I live for the clock to say eight zero zero so I can just sit and be left alone and watch TV or read.
• Sometimes I put the kids in the after school program just so I can have a quiet house for an extra hour and a half.  I spin it by saying it's good for them (which it is) but it actually has absolutely nothing to do with them.  It's all about me.
• I love buying boy clothes but am not all that into buying girl clothes.  I'm very particular about what I want them to wear, however. 
• Sometimes I give the kids granola bars or microwaved frozen pancakes (gasp!) for breakfast because I'm not in the mood to do anything more than that.
• The strict schedule I keep is 20% because it's beneficial for the kids and 80% self-preservation. 

The number of things I love about my job and my kids outnumber this ten-fold but... you feel me.  It feels good to get it out sometimes.  Oh, and this isn't the extent of this list but I'll stop and spare you the rest.    What are some things you hate?

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Passion and pride

When I stopped teaching the month before Drew was born I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.  All I wanted to do was stay home and raise my kids.  Even though I'm smart and capable and have dreams of doing other things someday, I knew it was the best thing for all of us.  I will never demean the job of a stay at home mom but it takes a hell of a lot of patience and not a whole lot of brains.  That's just a fact.  I mean, I've even googled the amount of Motrin I'm supposed to give Lauren based on her weight because I couldn't figure it out.  Hello, brains!  Are you in there?  Haven't used you in a while so you're getting weak.    

I fear that my children think my passion in life is dishes and laundry.  That is not my passion.  What is my passion?  I'm not really sure and I don't like that.  Right now it is about raising them and making sure they don't become brats, really.  That's my passion.  To raise kids that aren't assholes.  *this post is sounding awfully familiar to one I've already written I think.  Isn't it?*
  
Anyway, I started this blog so that someday they'll see that even in the midst of broken glass and stitches and hormonal imbalances and poopy diapers, I had FUN doing what I did.  Raising them was fun.  When their memories of me are all of yelling and telling them what to do and how I don't let them say butt or shut up even though their friends can, I'm going to whip out this book of a blog and show them I had fun.  And so did they.

As I've beaten to death said already, it's been a year since I've blogged nearly everyday about mostly the nonsense that is our life and my thoughts.  I'm adding a link HERE to the really cute free gifts you could win, just for riding along on this journey with me.  If you haven't checked out that post, you must!  I'm proud of the blog.  Aside from birthing children, it's one of the few things I've accomplished over the last 5 years that isn't dishes or laundry.  And I'm honored to join you on your computer screen everyday.  You're awesome. 

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Sunday morning excitement

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Sunday morning, all before 8am...

Whomever put the dishes away last left my big 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup teetering.  I opened the cupboard to get cereal bowls and it came crashing down.

Don't be jealous of my fancy kitchen flooring.  I'm just waiting for it to come back into style.  Which it will.  This was ALL OVER THE KITCHEN. ALL. OVER.

One of six piles I swept up like this.  Completely disregard the bits of dirt in there. 

Did I mention I'm the one who put the dishes away? 

Apparently my vacuuming and sweeping and mopping disturbed a pincher bug from his slumber.  Lauren LOVES bugs so once the kids were allowed back into the kitchen and it was shard-free (I think!), she enjoyed watching him make his way across the floor.

...because I mean really, why should they be served from a bag when they can be served just as easily from the carpet? 

Hope the day chills out a bit.  I can't keep up this pace all day.

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For you, my readers, with much love! xoxo

In honor of Party of 5's one year anniversary, I'd like to thank my valued readers with a special gift!  All you have to do is become a follower of this blog and leave a comment on this post!  *off to the right there you'll see a white bar that says follow - click it! *  On Tuesday (the actual one year anniversary) I will choose one person who does those two things.  The fabulous reader who becomes a follower and leaves a comment will get her (his?) name put into a bowl and my lovely assistant, Drew, will draw a name randomly.  The drawing will be held before bathtime on Tuesday, probably around 7pm PST.  

What's the gift, you ask?  Oh, my.  You're in for a treat.  Two of them, actually.  And don't think I'm not going to become my own follower and comment so I can legitimately be eligible for this.  My friend, Jillian, makes the cutest things and these two items from her etsy store could be yours!  

Super cute Halloween flag banner kit

* bundle of twine for stringing

* pre-stamped letters B-O-O on hymnal page
* 5 pages from a vintage hymnal
* 1 silver glitter spider
* 2 black spiders
* 1 glitter pumpkin
* orange and white bakers twine
* metallic orange ribbon

-please note: due to vintage items, kit may vary *ever-so* slightly, the last listing photo is an example of how your kit will arrive, it may or may not include the items pictured, BUT I always.always include a fun array of extra goodies... you will surely be delighted!!

and...

Sugar Skull Beanie

These almost.good.to.eat. Sugar Skull designs on a cozy beanie are certain to garner the attention and compliments of perfect strangers on any wee cutie! With a whimsical 'nod' to Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), how sweet it is to honor an ancient Aztec tradition that is still celebrated today!

(Plus, how can you resist the fun?!?)

All sugar skull designs are original, made with high quality-100% wool felt, hand sewn and secured to the felt skull shape, then again stitched on to the beanie. Beanies are listed as one size fits most.

I'm excited to see how this, my first giveaway, goes!  Thank you to Jillian for allowing me to pimp out your stuff and a HUGE thanks to my fantastic readers.  I'm hoping to hear from many of you.  Send this to your friends, pass the word! 

*Remember, to enter - become a follower of this blog and comment on this post!  xoxo 

You can view Jillian's etsy store by clicking here:  Paisley Couture

You can view Jillian's amazing photography by clicking here:  Jillian Paddack Photography

With much love...

YOU could win!

This Tuesday marks the one year anniversary of my blog!  In honor of this special day I am hosting a giveaway.  I know!  Giveaway, you ask?  What the hell?  I know!  If you read other blogs you know it's not all that uncommon.  I've never done it but figured this was the perfect occasion.  There will be a few stipulations, all easy and fun.  Be sure to check back for more details!!

worthless post

It's Friday, I have a few minutes to kill before Lauren wakes up, and there are only a couple things that to chat about.

I'm down to one Prednisone a day on my 20-day taper and it does absolutely nothing.  I'm back to feeling crappy and achey and headachey and crappy.  I wrote a week ago or so about feeling really well but not sleeping and I'm not sure which I'd prefer?  Yeah.  I'd rather be awake doing the Can-Can at 2am.  This sucks.

William and his buddy at school were playing behind a tree.  William would peek out, then Antonio would peek out, and so on and so on.  William's depth perception apparently is a bit off because he smacked right into the tree on one of his turns.  I asked him why the tree attacked him and he told me that was a better story than his story of how it happened so if you see him and you ask what happened, he'll tell you a tree attacked him. 

Drew is on her very first school field trip right now and she chose for Chris to go with her instead of me.  I'm a bit sad about that but thrilled for the great time they'll have together.  While they were gone and while William was at school this morning, I decided to go upstairs and shake things up a bit in their rooms.  It's time for a change, don't you think?  I moved some furniture around just enough in William's room to make it different and added some words above his favorite poster.  In Drew's room I added a glider so she'll have a little reading spot (other than her bed) now that she's a real reader.  I think they'll both love it when they get home. 

...and right on cue Lauren is awake.  Off to get milk, refill William's gumball machine, and drop off the drycleaning before picking William up from school.  Chris will take Drew out to lunch after their field trip so I've only got 3 lunches to make today instead of 5.  If for nothing else today, for that I am grateful.

Have a lovely Friday.