Craigslist find

I have been living in my current home for 1 1/2 years now and my dining room has remained empty that entire time.   I have been biding my time, waiting to find a great deal on a table that fits my selective criteria (black, simple, NO glass).  Finally, I enlisted the help of a friend who is notorious for finding amazing deals.  Within a week, she found me the perfect set for a steal of a deal.  Tom was not as thrilled.  He didn't want to spend his limited free time moving a solid wood table, 6 chairs, and a china cabinet.   Luckily for me, I have brothers. I asked the two Daniels and they managed to fit the entire haul in Daniel's van.  I am so happy to finally have furnitire in that space!  And the guy I bought it from even emailed me today to tell me what great guys my brothers are. I know.

Weekend recap

This was one of those crazy busy weekends. Saturday morning I woke up early so I could make sandwiches for 40 people. Then, I went up to the church to set up for a Mother/Daughter Spa Day activity that I was helping put on for the 8-11 year old girls.

After it was over and I had finished cleaning up, I rushed home so I could watch my sister's kids while she celebrated her birthday. The weather was awesome so we spent much of our time outdoors.

Sunday was the normal three hours of church and then the family all got together in the evening to celebrate Dianna's birthday some more. We'd already had a Pickleball Party with some of her friends on Wednesday night to celebrate. In my family, birthdays are a big deal. I think because when you are one of 7 kids, it is one of those very few times where you can be singled out and feel special. That's why, even as adults, we like to drag out our birthdays for as long as possible!

Happy birthday to the coolest girl I know!

V-day Festivities

I love Valentine's Day.  Seriously.  Love it.  I continued on my parents' tradition of  putting heart-shaped boxes of chocolates on my kids' breakfast plates.  I would have made heart-shaped pancakes, too, but ain't nobody got time for that so the kids enjoyed some red velvet Pop Tarts instead.

No chocolates or PopTarts for Sam

Every year I tell Tom that I do not want flowers and every year he insists on buying them. Flowers are pretty, but they are overpriced and die quickly! I don't know why he doesn't believe me when I tell him that all I want is for him to write me a love letter and maybe pick up the house?

I know, they ARE beautiful

 He bought Ellie a flower, too, and she was much more grateful than I was.

Highlight of Ellie's day

 In the evening, Tom and I went to Mark and Rosie's for their annual Valentine's Day party. In the past, they have always done the Newlywed Game, but this year they did a Murder Mystery dinner party. It was so much fun. Tom and I played farmers named Gunner and Honey Dew.

Meet Gunner and Honey Dew, farmers (or are they?)

During the game, I found out that I was really a serial killer who had killed 50 of my farmhands and 30 other people before that. But I wasn't the murderer. Tom's back story was that he was in witness protection program hiding from the mob. Oh, and he had a fondness for poetry. At the end of the game, I accurately guessed who the murderer was. I totally should have been a detective instead of a teacher.

Feeling crafty

Ok, y'all know that I am terrible at all things "crafty."  So, when I heard that Jack needed to make a Valentines box for his preschool, I wasn't exactly thrilled.  Luckily for me, Pinterest was invented and so I could steal ideas from others.  Jack really likes Ninjago (Ninja Legos!) and I found a few cute ideas that I hodpodged together into one of my own.

I am so proud of it!  I even posted it on Facebook and Instagram.  That's how proud I was.  In the interest of full disclosure, I did have one of my students wrap the box for me because I can't wrap to save my life.  Two other students cut out cardboard swords for me.  One of the perks of being a teacher is that you have your own workforce at your disposal.  But, I swear, I totally did the rest on my own!

Sunday Best: Deceptive Pictures edition

Don't my kids look like angels? 

 If only they ACTED like angels during church.

Just Jack

Jack tried to go to bed naked again last night, but all it took was the offer to let him sleep in his day clothes (shorts and t-shirt) and he was fully clothed for bed!  Bonus, I didn't need to get him dressed this morning,  although I will admit is is a little too cold for shorts.  Today isn't a preschool day and my babysitter won't judge.

He did ask me this morning if it was "very cold out or a little cold out." When I said it was very cold out he then asked me "how long until a shooting star."  I explained that shooting stars are unpredictable and only happen at night.  He sighed and said, "I wanted to wish for only a little cold."  I love the way his mind works.

I sometimes worry about my Jack.  He is so sensitive and emotional.  I readily admit that I am not the best at parenting an emotional child.  My family is not very comfortable with emotions. My siblings and I are super close, but we don't hug or kiss or even say I love you that often.  We prefer to show how much we care through actions.  For example, when I moved into my house, my family helped me move.  After a long day of loading and unloading a moving truck in the Texas heat, my brother then proceeded to mow our lawn.  It didn't even really need to be mowed, but I knew it was just his way of showing me how happy he was that we had moved closer and that he loved me.  The rest of my family was busy unpacking all the boxes and putting my house in order.  Personally, I think actions are way better than words.  Especially when moving.

Wow, I totally got off on a tangent. So...Jack.  Yeah, he has a lot of emotions.  And I am trying my best to be more sensitive and patient.  Luckily, he makes it easy on me by being so freaking adorable!

A questionable dinner

I took no less than two parenting classes in college (Human Development minor) and totally aced both of them. But last night I was a complete failure as a parent.  Tom had a track meet and wasn't going to be home til late.  I don't know why, but when Tom isn't home I feel like there is no need to make dinner.  Like that one less person makes all the difference.  I was tired. So, so tired.  All I wanted to do was sit in the comfy chair and hold my sleeping baby.  So, I told Ellie to make dinner.  That's right. I told my 7 year old that dinner was on her.  I was fully expecting her to put some Eggos in the toaster or something, but she went with bread and Nutella. What kind of mom lets her kids eat bread and Nutella for dinner (not that Eggos are so much healthier)?  No veggies, no fruit, no protein...wait, I think Nutella has protein. Hence the NUT in Nutella. And the bread was whole wheat.  So, maybe it wasn't ALL bad.

At least I was a good parent to ONE of my children

 

My kids have no fashion sense

All three of my kids are so strong-willed.  Seriously.  For example, Jack hates to wear pants.  He wants to wear shorts and a wife-beater every, single day.  No biggie, right?  Even though it has been pretty cold lately, I will still let him wear whatever he wants to the babysitter's house.  But three days a week he has preschool at Tom's place of employment.  So I really can't look like a bad mother and then we have to have The Pants Battle.  It is hard and takes up a good portion of the limited time I have in the morning to get the kids out the door.  Oh, and last night, Jack decided he was going to sleep naked.  I was at church, but had left pajamas out for him.  Tom told me that Jack got out of the tub and announced that he was going to bed naked and that's that. What is even more strange is that Jack will normally freak out if anyone is watching him while he is trying to change.  He is usually the most modest kid ever!

This morning was twice the battle because Ellie came down in an outfit that really didn't go.  She was wearing maroon A&M sweatpants and a maroon A&M t-shirt.  In her mind, she totally matched because both were solid maroon and both had A&M on them (and I should mention that the two maroons were slightly different shades).  Normally, I am pretty lax about letting her pick her own outfits, but this was overkill.  So, I had to do The Pants Battle with Jack and the entire outfit battle with Ellie.  No wonder I was exhausted by the time I got to work.

Dear Sam at 10 months

Dear Sam,

You are now 10 months.  You've been 10 months for 4 days now, but on Sunday I was still telling people that you were only 9 months old.  I guess I am just not ready to accept that you are getting older.

This past month has been fun except for when you were teething.  Teething changes you from a happy, curious boy to a fussy, clingy baby.  You are now rocking 8 teeth and your grin is all the cuter with them.  You use those teeth to chomp down on anything you can get your hands on.  I have started playing a little game called, "What did I fish out of Sam's mouth today?"  Yesterday, it was a ladybug.  An actual ladybug.  I screamed when I fished it out and realized what it was.  Your mama is super squeamish around bugs no matter how cute and lucky they are.

You are a moving machine these days.  You crawl everywhere, attempt to climb the stairs, and try to pull up on things.  You love doors and cabinets that you can swing open and shut over and over again.  You also really, really love balloons which is funny because your dad really, really hates them.

You usually sleep solidly from 6pm to 5am every night except when teething. This predictability has made our lives so much easier.  Most mornings you wake up and happily talk to yourself until we come get you.  You only know two words, "hi" and "dada," but you like to jabber away in your own baby language.

This past month, you have become more affectionate.  You will give hugs and let us snuggle with you a little longer.  Before, you were always so wiggling and curious as to what was happening around you that you didn't seem to have the patience for snuggles. This month, I noticed that you have started to prefer your dad a little more than me.  I play it up because, as much as I like holding you, you are dang heavy!  You are a little fat stack, my man, but a super cute fat stack.

Sam, I complain about how heavy you are, but, honestly, I love hauling you around.  You are my baby boy and my heart aches when I am away from you.


I love you forever,
Mama

Resolution Check-In

I walked 31 miles in January according to my RunKeeper App. I figured out that I would have to walk about 42 miles a month to meet my goal of 500 miles for the year, but now I need to up my mileage since I fell short in January.  I blame the Snowpacolypse.  I am actually loving walking.  I like to stop in a neighborhood on my way to pick up the kids and walk around the lake for about 45 minutes. No one is ever there and it is just so peaceful.  One day, I tried to take Ellie, Jack, Sam, and the dog for a 2.5 mile walk around my neighborhood.  I was pushing Sam in the stroller with Jack climbing off and on and Ellie was wrangling the dog.  Let's just say it didn't go well and that last half mile was torture.  I learned my lesson.  Walking is much more enjoyable in solitude!

My other resolutions were to be more social and to take better care of my appearance. So shallow, I know, but I have very good reasons behind them. Ahem.  Anyway, I went out twice with friends and I actually did my hair and make-up every day except for the two days when school was cancelled and I stayed in my pajamas all day.  Hair and make-up would just look silly in jammies.

My one non-shallow resolution to be more kind is harder to measure.  I was trying to purposely do an act of kindness each day, but I found myself at the end of the day searching my brain for something nice I did and counting that. I think that resolution will just be put along with my other things that I am constantly working at like being more patient, complaining less, laughing more, serving others, and just trying to be...better.