Random Ramblings

I have a lot on my mind and I just can't focus on one subject right now so random ramblings is how we are going to roll right now...
On January 25 I blogged that I was mad that we haven't had any snow. I so regret that now. We had two feet of snow in February and now in March we are just now getting the last foot we got on Sunday melted. It is cold, it is muddy, it is no fun. Where is Spring? Last year for Easter my girls were wearing sun dresses and sandals. We had everyone over and we sat outside and talked while the kids played and hunted eggs. This year I had to go out and buy tights that match their Easter dresses and I'm hoping that the snow will be melted so eggs can be hidden and at the same time hoping that it isn't too muddy while they are hunting said eggs. Oh, weather, you really can't make up your mind can you.
Development. I think every parents worries that their child has to hit milestones at certain times to feel that the kids are on track. I do and don't do this. My kids haven't been on the growth chart their entire lives so I threw that milestone checker out the door a long time ago. Between being breastfed for two years each and both of them choosing to eat spinach salads over chicken nuggets, well, they are considered "small" in the medical community. I just call them healthy. On the knowledge development side, I've kind of always just gone with my gut. My first was an early talked. I mean EARLY talker. Where some kids were just saying a handful of words at 18 months she was speaking in clear concise sentences. This left me with not much knowledge of where I should be at with number two right now. I was worried, she didn't talk in sentences and had just a few words. I just had to let go of the fear that she was somehow behind. She has blossomed in the last month with her words, sometimes they are hard to understand but they are there. And, when you have a big sister that was an early talker, well, the little sister gets talked over. I know they are both okay and they will both develop at their own pace. And on the same note, my last blog I wrote about how the big girl doesn't draw shapes. That she loves art but she is very abstract. I have never ever ever seen her draw a person. I had seen kids at preschool much younger than her drawing people. When we have been out doing sidewalk chalk I would ask her if she could draw a person. She would just tell me that she didn't want to and continue on her own thing. That's fine with me. So, fast forward to last night she was in the shower and yells at me to come look at something, quick. So I run in there and with her loofa and shower gel clear as day there was a head, body, arms and legs on the shower door. I said "Wow, you drew a person!"  She corrected me and told me she drew an avatar but she just forgot the tail. So, I guess technically I still have never seen her draw a person but an avatar is perfect too.
Gender Biasing. I have girls. They love pink. They love princesses. Sometimes they like bows in their hair and sometimes they don't. Big girl has gone through a dinosaur phase but she has also gone through a pony phase. I don't direct what they like and I make sure that I don't tell them that something is boy versus girl. This brings me to now and Big Girls current obsession - superheroes. I'm not talking Wonder Woman either. This girl is in love with Spider-Man followed closely by Batman. For her fourth party in June she is having a Spider-Man birthday party. I have gotten the looks and questions - "you are really letting her have a spider-man party" or in the famous words of my Teen "spider-man is for boys"...well, no Spider-Man is for people that like Spider-Man. She has Spidey pjs and flip flops. The Easter Bunny is bringing her a new tee and sunglasses. And the outfit that she wants to wear for her birthday party - a Spider-Girl costume. And guess what, she is getting it. So, don't tell me or her or her sisters, that something is for boys. Anything in this world is for anybody. My kids can play soccer, be cheerleaders, go to vocal camp or space camp. What makes them happy makes me happy and in a world where there is far too much hate and not enough understanding, maybe gender stereotypes is just what everyone needs to get rid of.
I have more things on my mind but I think I'll leave it at that for now. Just remember no matter what you are doing make sure that you are DOing IT WITH HEART. - M

Coloring Outside The Lines

My big girl loves art. I don't mean she loves to color in the color books occassionally, I mean if I let her - art would be the only thing she did all day. From color books to paints, watercolors to projects. Art is all encompassing for her. And I let her go and do her own thing. I don't force pictures of stick people or rainbows. My girl paints abstractly. Can she draw a person? Probably if she tried but quite frankly that's not what floats her boat. She can color in the lines of her coloring book but purple faces and orange hair might be what you find instead of a perfectly colored princess. And, I have asked myself, I wonder if she should be drawing actual shapes and people and trees? Them I tell myself I know she has the ability, she points out shapes around the house, in the car, and in the shopping cart at target. It's just not her to draw it. So I continue to let her color her world from her perspective. I truly believe art is where she feels free. No one telling her what it is that she has to do. I'm going to let her too, I'm not going to stifle her imaginings. So color your world big girl however you see fit. I'm sure Picasso and Monet didn't get famous by doing what they were told.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite and No So Favorite Things

These are a few things that I'm loving at the moment:

When my big girl asks to be told a story...

When my big girl tells me a story...

When I get home from work and they come running with their arms in the air yelling "momma"...

The smell of clean house that's not sick...

Teaching my bug new words...

Watching my big girl "read" books while laying in her bed...

Seeing both of my girls laying in their own beds - by themselves - asleep!!!

Not so fun things:

Dishes.

Laundry.

People that say they will do something and don't.

Shadyness.

Bad attitudes.

Muddy, stinky dogs.

No snow:(

Inside Winter

On January 2nd I sent my mom a text with all the things I wanted to accomplish this year, goals that I have, etc. Two things that I have wanted to do are do a "homeschool" activity every Wednesday with my girls and the other I called get out of the house Fridays. I am happy to report that I have been good about doing a weekly activity with the girls. I had originally planned for Wednesdays but in changes of schedules and getting into the workings of the winter semester it quickly became clear that Thursdays were the best day for a fun activity. It usually isn't anything huge, typically something off Pinterest that I can pull together with what I got laying around the house. My other goal of get out of the house Friday we did once and we had a lot of fun that one Friday. We went to the county museum and played in the kids area, we drove thru mcd's, got happy meals, and had an in the car picnic at a local park while looking at the icy lake and talked about where the fish families must be hiding during the cold. It was a really good day. Then we all got sick. An entire week of sick kids and a sick husband and not feeling great myself but having to suck it up because I had a bunch of sickies depending on me. It was bad, Bug ended up in the hospital getting iv fluids, BAD. Then the flu epidemic hit the news and well, I don't feel much like taking my kids out anywhere. We still meet up with friends on Mondays for playgroup but that is typically at one of our houses so not much exposure there but i REALLY just don't want to take them out right now to play with kids I don't know and toys that I don't know when the last time they were cleaned and that's if they have ever been cleaned. So for the time being it's an inside winter and I'm completely ok with that. I may not be hitting one of my goals for the year right now but I would rather have healthy happy kids that only come down with cabin fever rather than kiddos with the flu anyday.

New year, new blogging me.

For the last couple years I have been far from diligent when it's come to my blog. I had let my "business" take over from me writing. And the thing is I have come to need to write. I'm the type of person that holds things in but I'm also the type of person that sugar coats things and makes it seem all peachy keen instead of writing how it really is. I don't do it in real life, in real life I'm blunt. I don't sugar coat, I keep it truthful. With that being said that's what I'm going to do from here on out. If I'm having the internal debate of weaning or parenting issues or weight battles, it's going to be there for everyone to see. So, here's to more writing, less stress, and a new year.

Summer In Review

Labor Day has come and gone and it's starting to feel more like fall than summer. We had a very exciting summer that was full of fun.

June started out with F's 3rd birthday quickly followed by M's 15th birthday. We had a few trips to the pool with our good friends Jodie and Leland and we quickly discovered that L LOVES the water.

We moved right on into July where we spent our time at fun play groups with friends and ended up having a great 4th of July blast with our playgroup friends. We played the day away. The kids all enjoyed the water slide while the Mommys and Daddys got to enjoy adult conversation mixed with nice cold adult beverages. Evening came and the men put on a wicked fireworks display while the kids all oohed and aahed. By the end of the night we had tired kids and good memories in the book. The week after the 4th was quite a busy one for us. We went to TanTarA in the Ozarks with all of the family, including Gimmy and Papa and our Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. The kids all had a great time playing all day out in the sun and the adults spent the evening recovering from wiping out while tubing. Before we could come home we knew that we had to get some good Missouri fishing in. We headed to a state park and we all caught some fish, well everyone but me but that is nothing new. Miss F even caught her own and reeled it in. It was a very proud moment in our outdoor loving family. That next week was M's swim team championships for the summer and we had a great time cheering her on and watching her make it look easy when she doesn't even swim during the year anymore...makes me wonder what kind of swimming talent she could have if she did swim year round still.

July ended and we moved into August with Miss F was enrolled in her first swim lessons. She did really great and will definitely be going back for more next summer. She concluded swim lessons with finally putting her head under the water. This was a great accomplishment for her and I look forward to her progress next summer. Miss L had her very first birthday that was of course LadyBug themed and was quite a fun affair - more on that later. After that it was just about back to school time and we spent the rest of August getting school supplies and heading to meet the teacher nights. Miss M started her sophomore year and the week after that Miss F started 3 year old/2 day a week preschool.

And that brings us to now...Time is just passing by too quickly. With fall approaching we are looking at spending less time on the back porch in the pool and looking onward to pumpkin patches, cooler nights, and of course college football.

The New Generation of the SAHM.

Before I even get started I want to make myself perfectly clear that this has nothing to do with the "mommy wars". I think they are stupid and pointless, the little ecards that you see saying this about the working mom or that about the stay at home mom annoy me. We all parent differently, period. There is no working mom that parents the same as another working mom and there is no stay at home that parents the same as another stay at home mom. For me, that is where the mommy  war ends. When I say the "new generation of stay at home moms" I mean - what it's like to be a stay at home in this economy. I proudly call myself a SAHM and wear the acronym proudly, but how much of a stay at home am I? I get up before dawn, leave my house in the dark, go to work, and get home just when my littles are waking up. And no, I don't make near to what I used to make when I was a working professional but every little bit makes a difference these days. I belong to a playgroup of college friends and we all say that we are SAHM's but each and every single one of us works too. One is a successful photographer, one is the queen of crafting and make the most delicious cake pops you will ever have and she markets these skills. The point to my ramblings is this - does a June Cleaver stay at home exist anymore or has the state of the economy driven home that even SAHM's have a job that pays in money and a job that pays in a priceless benefits package as well.