My Blob of Love

Mother's Day.  I have learned not to set it up as the one day of the year filled with love, adoration and kid free so therefore I find the day always goes well.  I expect it to be just like any other day and I am never disappointed.  The thing about mother's day is that it isn't really for the mom to enjoy but for the kids to feel good by coming up with little things they think their mom would like.   My kids did have fun coming up with stuff.  I told them all I wanted was the house to be clean in the morning so they cleaned it the night before with the babysitter.  And in the morning I could hear them working in the kitchen making more last minutes poems and shushing each other to not wake me.  Well I was already awake so I pretended to still be sleeping until I just didn't want to be sitting there anymore.  

Heidi had made and hid tickets all around the house that were good for a foot massage, a back scratch (I cashed that in at church), a lunch that she will make me on a saturday or sunday, and a surprise.  The surprise turned out to be this art project they made at activity days at church.  It's supposed to be  heart but since she has inherited my lack of craftiness it was dubbed her "blob of love".  

I suggested she color a heart around it so it would look a little more like it was intended to be that way and it turned out cute.  I feel like 'blob of love' is a good way to describe our family.  We are not perfect at all, and when compared to similar families we have it less together.  I'm not overly touchy, feely with my kids but we do love each other even if I show it somewhat unconventionally.  

And speaking of being less cool in comparison I have to show you this.  I've said it before that my brother's life-while we have similar circumstances regarding kids and what not-there life seems way cooler than ours.  There was once that we both blogged for the day and the only picture I had to put up was my kids eating a banana while they had a whole trip to blog about.  It really quite humorous at how lame we seem but we like our boring life so it all works out.  So anyway, this is my sister-in-law and her mother's day magazine cover.

And this is mine.  Once again her's looks a lot better but my magazine cover goes right along with my blob of love.

Kaylee made the magazine for me filled with info about me on the inside.  She actually answered everything pretty accurately.  She was off on my weight by 100 lbs but it was to my advantage so I didn't mind.  She did say that I spend a lot of time doing yard work-true-that I love to eat cookies-can't deny that-and that my favorite color is purple.  She knows me pretty well.  

As Mother's Day progressed I ended up having to get on Kaylee big time for lying and all the kids ended up on their beds by 9:40.  Like I said, if you just plan on it being another regular day things like that won't ruin it for you.  After they had a break we went right on getting ready for church, eating left over pizza for lunch and preparing the veggies for dinner that night.  It was nice.  By the end of the night we had dessert while watching America's Funniest Videos together (a new sunday ritual for us) and Blake fell asleep in my arms.  It was great.  

One of those mornings

It's 8:00 in the morning and I have already sent one kid to school crying and spanked another.  When things like this happen I sit and stew, wondering what I am doing wrong.  Why are my kids so difficult to manage at times?  I don't get it.  I go over things in my mind of what might be the root of the problem.  Did they go to bed late?  No but they do stay up talking.  Were they rushed this morning?  Not really.  She had plenty of time.  She just chose to move like a slug and by the end we were out of time.  Was my demand unreasonable?  Not by my standard.  She didn't like her breakfast so I got her something else and just gave her the spoon from her other bowl.  It wasn't dirty-she hadn't used it.  So why did she throw such a fit over something that was so insignificant?  Should I have just catered to what she wanted?  I could have but NOT if she is crying because then she will think she gets what she wants if she cries.  I just want her to ask in a normal voice instead of crying over every. single. thing.  I see no easy answer.  Then I consider simplifying our life.  Get rid of the excess toys.  Cut off TV altogether and then they won't be sad when I say no because it just won't be an option.  I even thought about selling the wii.  But is that the real problem?  I don't know.  All I know is that it's 8:00 in the morning and I'm already tired, my hair is bugging me and I have to clean the showers/bathrooms, do three loads of laundry and hopefully relocate the bunny cages.  Oh yes.  And fix the vacuum.  Today I wish I had a maid.  Or that Ben had the day off.  Or that my sister was here to help.  If Becca has ever felt unappreciated before she should know that she is the most sought after sibling in our family.  Everyone wants Becca.  She is so helpful; both around the house and with the kids.  I do get her after the baby is born though.  I can't wait.  We are having a boy.  We are naming him Dodge.  Say it a couple of times and it grows on you :).  But that is still 7 weeks away.  49 more sleepless nights.  49 more days of feeling fat.  49 more uncomfortable days.  This has been a long pregnancy.  I guess it's time to go back to work.  I only have 49 more days to get my house exactly as I want it before I take a sabbatical.

Lately...

We haven't had much going on lately.  We've been working in the yard.  My tulips finally bloomed and I LOVED them.  They looked great!  However they are also already gone.  The sun has been so hot lately and all my pretty plants are slowly dying in the heat.  We need to water them more but that brings us to project #2-fixing the sprinkler system.  I'm not sure what needs to be done to fix it but I am trying to figure it out without having to completely replace the valve.

We've also been busy with soccer.  Kaylee and Heidi both play.  I want my kids to score a goal so bad. SO BAD.  I sound like a psycho on the sidelines whenever they get close.  Kaylee has scored two (they have n goalies at her age) and Heidi has been close a few times.  She is hesitant though.  She could probably score if she would just shoot instead of pausing, calculating where to shoot, and then losing the ball.  This is me and the kids watching Heidi's game.

For the rest of our day we are just hanging out.  I've taken a few videos and pictures that I just like.  Nothing great.  Just our normal life but it is the part of life I like the best.  

Daisy and Blake having lunch together.

Running through the sprinklers with our Memphis Buddies.

Kaylee and Ben both doing homework at the table.

Blake riding his bike while at the girls' soccer practice (which is from 4:15-6:45 twice a week.  Yuck)

Daisy and Blake practicing soccer.