behind the little minds

There are some things that my kids do that I doubt I will ever fully understand.
Like …

At a gas station. I get out to pump the gas. As soon as I place the nozzle into my car’s tank, they think it’s funny to all 3 SCREAM as loud as their little lungs will let them. Why? It’s like … HEY look over here. This crazy lady is kidnapping us. Of course I doubt anyone would ever seriously think I was a kidnapper. Who in their right mind would kidnap 3 kids ages 7 and under all at the same time?

The oldest two do not like chocolate. They’ll eat chocolate cake, but chocolate in candy – they won’t touch it … it’s crazy, I know.

The youngest picks up her food and before it enters her mouth, she devises a plan to eat whatever it is in the messiest manner possible. Example … She loves to lick the flavorings off chips and dip them into her drink. Then she’ll stack like 7 plus Pringles together and chomp through them like a machine. Crumbs fall every where and get stuck to the sides of her mouth.

Why when we say … It’s bed time. Brush your teeth and get ready for bed.
The kids immediately fall over and roll around whining … I’m so tired, do we HAVE to brush our teeth?
Now if I said … Hey guys, come get some candy … I’m sure they’d find enough energy to make it to the candy jar without whining or procrastinating.

Oh, one more thing. Why can my son put together the most complex Lego structures, yet when I ask him to sweep an area and use the vacuum nozzle to suck it all up, he becomes completely domestically challenged?

the fun never ends

ok .. ok .. ok.. I know, get over the mirror image effects, but I can’t help it … I almost peed in my pants laughing at these.

Just imagine all the facial hair I could have added when I had long hair!

say cheese

Photo Booth on our mac … I don’t think we’ll ever get tired of it.

top bunk

Some little princess went “camping” in her top bunk while #1 and #2 were busy with school. Think she packed enough stuff?

She’s pouting b/c she got in trouble. I discovered that she messed up something in her brother’s room. We I called her name to confront her about it .. she didn’t answer. I found the guilty little booger hiding under #1’s bed.

back to normal

ugh. We’re struggling just a bit to adjusting to life after vacation and birthday.

We’ve got some sassiness…

A lot of grumpies….

Competitiveness….

And some occasional moments of pure sweetness.

#3 thinks that now that she has had a birthday, she is the oldest kid in the house. Telling her otherwise results in almost a full meltdown. She refuses to think of herself as younger than #1 & #2.

Tomorrow I hope the adjustment will be over as we resume our school routine. I pray the older ones jump on board without a lot of complaining.

we're back and running

Ahhhhhhhh. Vacation was so so nice. I loved the time away. My man and I were able to have TWO date nights, thanks MeMe and Granddad. We ate some awesome food and we got lots of ice cream, again thanks MeMe and Granddad!

Oh, and I finally chopped my hair off. I’ve had this urge to do it for two years now and on the way to the beach I knew I just had to get it cut. Fortunately I found this great lady at a salon that my mother-in-law (a.k.a MeMe) used to use and she did me right. I love it. I know I know it’s a trendy do, but when you’ve looked the same for years and years and YEARS (long and naturally curly) a trendy change is exhilarating!

So, we’re back now and and I feel completely rejuvenated, which is a good thing b/c we’ve had to hit the ground running. Yesterday my college roommate, Co-Co came into town with her hubby and 3 youngins. Wow, we really needed that time to catch up with one another. Lots of laughs and good quality time.

Well, today my baby, she argues – I not your BABY! I a BIG girl! – turned 4. I truly can’t believe she is 4.

For her little party we set up a sprinkler and two kiddie pools to keep the kids happy and out of our tiny house. She had a precious Hello Kitty cake, made especially for her by Mom-Mi and Grandow, and she was especially cute as she opened each present thanking everyone and giving out hugs.

We ended our day by sharing a round of pancakes with the cousins.

It’s been a busy weekend and I have loved every minute of it!

beach – here we come!

Heading out tomorrow morning to go visit the MeMe and Ganddad at the beach! Catch up with ya in a week!

trend setter

So, me and the kids were at Target the other day sifting through the clearance racks. We were rummaging around the little girls department and us ladies in the house were oo-ing and ah-ing over cute little tops and sweet little p-jays. It’s fun to shop with my girls. Then we hit the boys section next. Normally #1 doesn’t have much of an opinion in his clothing, but I asked him to look at all the shirts and pick out one in a style that he thinks would look “cool” on him. We looked at the skater type clothes, almost but not really him, we looked at the sports themed stuff, he decided that wasn’t for him either, then to the preppy look, he wasn’t too pleased with that either. Then he saw this rugged military style shirt. He just loved it. He tried it on and asked if he could have two, one in each color. Since this was his first time getting into shopping I agreed to both, even though neither was marked down. He went on to pick out a shirt to wear underneath it and some new shorts.

The next day we head out to run some errands. He asked if he could wear his new shirt. I asked him to wait until Sunday for church, but that answer would not do. So, he wore it. The minute we got in the car, he had this cute little grin on his face and said, “I can’t wait to show off my new shirt”. He had his whole little outfit down. Two new shirts layered, new shorts and he even left his flip flops behind and wore his new tennis shoes. Well he has worn that outfit every day for almost a week. Finally yesterday I got a chance to wash it.

Oh, but the highlight of it all was … I get a call yesterday morning from another home schooling mom. Her son and #1 have become good friends. Well the day before we met with our local group and I mentioned to some of the moms that #1 was wearing his new outfit constantly. Well the mom had called to tell me that her son had asked if they could go out to Target. When she asked why, he replied -”#1 has got this cool shirt at Target and he wants one just like it.” I asked #1 about it later and he said that his friend had even asked to try it on. He said he was reluctant to let him, but he decided he would. : )

….

I am realizing …AGAIN… that I suck at trying to make things “perfect” on my own. It just leaves me completely exhausted. Oh, I know, I go through this at least once a year. My brain just gets all tied up in a frizzy tizzy at trying to master every area of my life. In the end it leaves me grumpy and faking things/emotions just to seem “put together”. I hate it. Well, I have been on this little trip for only two days now and I am choosing to make an exit. I am laying it down. Washing my hands of my personal priorities. Me-Keep it simple, make a choice tomorrow morning – to live that day for God. I honestly and truthfully what His plan. I am miserable trying to navigate my own.

Freedom and relief is found in even typing these words.

God- You are an amazing creator. You hand is on me. All I want is you.

zero energy

I have a TON of stuff that needs to be done … all of which seems to be staring me DIRECTLY in the face, but I have zero energy to do any of it. Five loads of laundry that need to be folded. I painted the bathroom this weekend so everything needs to be put back in place. My laundry room is over flowing with crap. Dishes piled in the sink and a dishwasher that needs to be emptied. We haven’t done any school yet today. I need to work on ideas for a new lego club. I could keep on going. Couldn’t we all?

I think our morning trip to Walmart (yucky yuck) combined with the heat from H..E..double hockey stick has sucked me dry. I’m done.