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.

Magical Moments

Little Lady had her 3rd birthday party last Saturday and it was MAGICAL. It was My Little Pony themed and thanks to Pinterest, I had been envisioning this party for MONTHS! It was everything I had hoped it would be. I think that I knew in my head that this would be the first year that she actually understood exactly what having a birthday party was all about. When the morning arrived I was ready. I sent Daddy off to the Little Zoo with all 3 girls and got moving. When she got home she had been thoroughly worn out and fed and all the decorations were up. She went up got a quick shower and was in bed for a nap within 15 minutes. It was perfect timing. It gave me a chance to finish up on the few things I had to do, get Bug ready, and give her a power nap to be ready for the surprise of her life. She knew that she was having a My Little Pony party but what she didn't know was that there was going to be actual ponies. The pony people arrived a half hour before the party was to start, I let them start setting up the bunny, the burro, the bounce house, and 2 ponies - one that was even painted to look like Rarity from My Little Pony. I went up at a quarter till - 15 minutes - till party starting - got her dressed and ready. She was a little grumpy because she rarely is ever woken up by us from her naps but I kept promising her that there was a magical surprise in store. She went downstairs, got to the kitchen windows, and that was it. She ran outside, got a little timid at first, and hid behind Sissy but then she was on that pony as quick as could be. We had a great turnout and everyone young to old loved the animals, even Bug went up on the pony. I was a little worried that Little Lady might lose it when it was time for the ponies to go but I timed it so that was when we started opening gifts and it all went smoothly. After gifts, and saying "oh my gosh" as she opened every present, she asked if it was time for everyone to sing to her. As I was holding her on my hip and singing Happy Birthday to my first born I took a look around and got a little choked up. The love, the happiness, the celebration of her got to me. We finished singing and everyone enjoyed some awesome cake pops and soon after left. We spent the evening outside, relaxing, cleaning up, and cooking out on the grill. It truly was a perfect day filled with many magical moments!