Mean mommy

After almost four years of parenting, I officially earned the title of "the meanest mommy EVER" a couple days ago. Not because I made Lauren do endless chores, or eat every single last bite of her brussel sprouts, or even demand that she not hit her brother for the fiftieth billion time... nope, I told her it was time to get off the swing set and come inside for nap time.

::eyeroll::

And then, the meltdown began because she insisted she was not tired and she "would NOT take a nap". There were tears, LOTS of tears, there was some kicking, some screaming, and even a "you're making bad choices, Mommy!". All because she couldn't slide down the stinkin' slide.

So while she threw herself a little pity party, I relaxed on the sofa and had some pretty hard- core selective hearing :) After about 10 minutes, the tantrum stopped. And there was silence for another good 5 minutes. So I peeked behind the couch and there she was, out COLD:

Clearly, she didn't need that nap ;)

Mission accomplished!

Remember the sad state of our garage? Well, it no longer looks like that. And our backyard is no longer bare. Because we have a swing set! Or, as Lauren would say, a FORT!

Without the help of my mom, dad and stepmom, the kids would have never gotten this awesome swing set. It nearly cost her an arm and a leg, but my mom happily bought it for them (and offered to watch the kids during assembly day). And they nearly froze to death assembling the massive thing, but my dad and Flo happily helped the Hubster build it. So first off, a HUGE thank you for helping put an enormous smile on our kiddos faces :)

Now, onto the pics! Here are some pictures of the guys building the set (Flo was the sorter and tool fetcher):


And here is reaction we got when Lauren and Jake first got their hands on it:


Methinks they like it. Wait, scratch that. Methinks they LOVE it :)

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

There are so many things for which I am thankful. I'm in good health, I have two healthy, beautiful children, and another little blessing on the way. I have a husband who adores me and is willing to work hard so I can stay home with my kiddos and take care of our family. I have a beautiful home, an amazing family and some of the best friends anyone could have.

It is so easy to look and see all we don't have and all the things we want, and to overlook that which we DO have that is wonderful and good. I NEVER want to lose sight of how utterly blessed I am. Thank you, Lord, for ALL my blessings.

She's still here...

The dog, that is. She constantly chews up the kids toys, she barks this annoying yappy bark, she bolts the minute she sees an open door, and she occasionally still has accidents in the house, but the dang dog is still here.

It seems someone is quite attached:


Coco gets more kisses from this girl than the rest of us combined. Lucky stinkin' dog.

Dressing themselves

So perhaps they don't have careers in fashion waiting for them, but these kids think they have some serious style. And this is especially evidenced by Lauren putting her hands on her hips when I took her picture :)


Sassyness anyone?


And that's what they went to the grocery store in on Monday. I'll be honest, it did make me want to stay a good 5 feet away from them in public, but I figured that people would know I had zero part in picking out their attire. And really, it wasn't worth the meltdowns if I would have told them they looked absurd.

Oh and by the way, Jake did wear pants. Although, he picked them so along with his dragon costume, he didn't match one single iota. The poor patrons at Staters got quite an eyeful when we walked in :)

Thanksgiving craft

Since I'm not a fan of cooking (baking is another story), my job every Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas is to decorate the table for our big family get-togethers. It works out well, because I don't have to worry about burning anything and I get to be creative with the centerpieces and table settings. It's a win win!

Last year the kiddos weren't old enough to really participate in the decorating, but this year they had a job to do! While I made the centerpieces, they made Fingerpaint Indian Corn for our table settings and they turned out pretty cute!


Final product:


Cute, easy and cheap. My kind of craft :)

So blessed

So I walk in the door today after taking the littles to the mall, and on the counter I see this:


Along with the roses were a love note and some cash telling me to book a pregnancy massage.

Wow! Just wow. How'd I get so blessed to have a husband who loves me this much? I am one very lucky girl :)

Busy day!

On our final session at bible study a few days ago, the Children's Ministry prepared a little performance for us mom's. Last year Lauren was too young to participate, but this year she got to join. And I use that term verrrry loosely because she didn't join in on the singing or dancing (shocking, eh?). She hid behind the other kids, stared at the big lights overhead, and looked kinda dazed and confused :)

But gosh darnit, she was up on that stage!

It's a bit like finding Waldo, so good luck :)

And when that was over, we headed to Lauren's PreK class to join in on their Thanksgiving brunch. There was turkey sandwiches, fruit, veggies and dip, pumpkin pie and juice. Jake got to join in, and he did SO well. He sat nicely at the table and followed all directions, which is a great thing since he'll be joining Lauren in January.

Oh, and the Hubster came too, which made both kids very happy :)


After their "feast", they got to play and listen to some Thanksgiving stories:

Fun busy day!