Mommy Dates

Austin playing Uno with me on our most recent Mommy-Austin date.

 

 

. & this was after my mommy-jake date. Look at those snuggles! We were so freezing that we got hot cocoa, but left the coffee shop and hunkered down in the car (heater!) and made rubber band bracelets together. I can't figure out who needs these dates more, them or me! Can't wait for my Andrew date on weds!

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

boy mom problems

Juggling coffee, keys & sword during today's drop-off   :)

  >And then as she posts this, she gets mushy; because that's what she does.<

(I will miss this so much... I love having kid stuff around.  I used to love finding pacifiers & toy cars in my bag at work, the same way that it still makes me happy every time I find kids scribble drawings in my planner or Legos in my purse.  Being a Mommy is the best.  May I remember this next time I am about to freak out on them for being crazy!)

P.S.  I read this today and it made me excited to pick them up from school today just to listen to their little voices calling me mommy.

Hey, that's weird! It's been almost a year since I've posted anything!

Ha!!  {{of course, those first three words are spoken with utmost sarcasm!  the same tone in which my husband says, "That's weird!" every time I tell him I lost my phone.  again.}}

Last night I decided that I have something new to add to my bucket list, but then I realized that I don't have one...    And then I remembered that one time I entered a giveaway by posting a {spur of the moment} bucket-list on my {latent} blog. 

So I came here to add  #16.  See the Northern Lights~*
{{yes!!!!  I must see them!!!}}

There, added.

But then, I moseyed on over to some of my old favorite blogs... Wasted some time while sipping coffee (divine), read some sweet stories & thought-provoking posts, felt distances shorten briefly as I enjoyed photos of friends' memory-making... and then there was the heart-tugging and the longing to pause time as I scrolled over the pictures of all of our children growing too fast.  It reminded me of why I love this little space so much! 

I've always been a memory-capturer, journaler, scrapbooker-- in fact, I was just recently reminiscing about my first scrapbook.  My favorite page is the one with a little hair carefully encapsulated between plastic and labeled with an arrow & 8-year-old script: "bobcat hair". 

I specifically remember walking up to the front of the amphitheater at the Wild Animal Park after the Wild Cat show, and I remember the thrill when I found the long, wiry 'bobcat hair' stuck to the log that the feline perched on just moments earlier.  I protected that specimen for the rest of our entire excursion, and was so excited to put it in my scrapbook! 

((The runner-up is few pages later, where there is a bird seed with a few dried sprouts bursting from it.  Again, carefully labeled: "this was growing in the bird dish".))   I laugh out loud every time I happen to pull out that old album during family visits.

But I don't do much memory capturing, journaling or scrapbooking anymore, even though it's part of what makes me me.  I've always needed to create.  My other titles have kept me busy: full-time Momma to 3 active boys, part-time RN, full-time homemaker, and everything that goes along with that (owie-kisser, tantrum-calmer, but also tantrum-thrower sometimes (ha!), family taxi, tutor, cook, and a million others) ... I just don't journal or scrapbook anymore.  ever.  (And, honestly, I don't even charge my cameras anymore since we have phones with camera/video... I have really missed those crisp images, the zoom, and full-length videos!)

SO...  There is a chance that I will stop letting facebook fulfill my journaling tendencies, and I will reach for my 'real' camera more often than my phone to capture some of these moments.  I'm ready to indulge in some memory-capturing & creating!  There you go, #17 on my bucket list!  Maybe it will be through the blog, or actual scrapbooking, or Shutterfly.  Maybe (hopefully) I will dance again or pick up some yarn & try my hand at that again...  I'm ready to bring that little part of me back to life again!

ETA (edited to add):  I realized that, for me, facebook has been a more accurate "journal" of our last few years... but it can't be made into a book the way a blog can be converted into a hardbound book ("Blurb Book").   ... And that has been a goal of mine for a while now...  So because of all of the *huge* blog-gaps & un-scrapbooked time, I decided to sprinkle the blog with some of my old facebook updates & photos throughout the years.  It may be confusing to read, since all my blog posts seem to be about how I never write on the blog (!) and now it will be full of posts!  But at least I can have (with some regularity) little snapshots of the past few years in my book.  (They are dated & filed chronologically, so the label will be the give-away.  Any of the posts labeled "Facebook Post" is something that actually was copy/pasted.)

We can never get this day back~* yesterday as I carved pumpkins with the boys I called Kevin outside to join us, because it hit me that we only have a small handful of Halloween pumpkin carving sessions before they are grown and I didn't want him (or myself!) to blink & miss it... Each holiday they are a bit older... Savoring this! Parenting is the most challenging and blessed honor on earth.  

He put on his shirt today & his eyes lit up as he held up my red dress & said, "I've been dying to go on a date with you in this dress when I'm wearing this shirt!" He was so excited when I picked him up from school, he saw my dress & yelled, "we're going on a date!!" Happy heart~*

This morning we arrived to school with plenty of time to spare, stood in line with Jake while talking and relaxing, walked him to his class and said goodbye… & then Austin looks up at me and says, "mom? We forgot to go to my line.". (duh!). Aaand... That would be the state of my brain after this first week of school! LOL

It's a Virgo thing...
Ha! (oldest to youngest, of course). :) Wish someone (or I) would do this for my outfits!!

In the last 7 years I've thrown 12 birthday parties, and I have still never gone to bed before 3am the night before. It's just how I roll! Excited for party day!

Today the boys each earned $1 and were talking about what they were going to buy. Then Jake said he decided to buy me a gift instead for my birthday. 

 

Andrew said, "yah! What kind of Girly Lego Sets do you like, Mom?" 

 

Jake corrected him, "mom likes earrings & jewelry... What else?"

 

so I chimed in, "... & cards or nail polish or flip flops or beach towels..."

 

and then Austin said, "what about a glass slipper?" 

 

... And this is why being a mom to boys is the best! I am a fire ninja, rocket blaster, princess & queen!

I woke up with pretty bad neck pain (aka: can't move!) ... And spent the rest of the morning receiving little handmade "get well" gifts from the boys: paper snowflakes, books, pictures, and jewelry made out of paper & dental floss. I love their sweet hearts!

May 29, 2012
Andrew wants to be an alien when he grows up now. 
May 30, 2012
Overheard.  Austin to Andrew: "Don't talk to me like that! I'm a NINJA!"



May 10  My mornings are the best! (until the morning rush begins... But 2day, we r kicking the morning rushes butt!)


May 10, 2012  MacGyver at it again, headlamp under his cowboy hat, always prepared; eyepatch string = "rope" wrapped around a pen




May 16, 2012    We turned our frowns upside down with this delicious Pinterest banana cake recipe! {These kids were majorly crazy & grumpy this morning... at eachother's throats from the moment they woke up... Now look at those smiling little bed-heads!}

Mother's Day 2012  ~
 
May 13, 2012      The boys each chose a flower for me. Kevin made me come, & I'm glad he did because it was SO precious! so precious.



My eclectic collection from my cute boys! Love it so so, so much!




The boys had so much fun scrapbooking last weeks Wild Animal Park trip! 

I feel the same way  ... The last 1 1/2 weeks have worn us out! Powering through the busy schedule just a few more days & can't wait to relax on Monday!

Purely exhausted, but so content. Finally came home to relax at 9pm for the first time since I left at 7:30 am! Gearing up for another full (but great!) day tomorrow- Feeling thankful & praying for renewed energy in the morning! (anyone else with me on that one?)

This was BEFORE I read the sign about the contaminated water... Best mommy award today!


He definitely marches to his own drum!  I love his sock choice!

Mother's Day 2013

Mothers Day Surprise @ Austin's class today.  Feeling so blessed


Mother's Day Brunch May 12, 2013



I love my Momma!!!  {And the boys love their Grandma!}  (Photo taken Jan 2013)

I just told the boys boys that they better clean up their Legos if they want to "be in good standing." (!?!) In good standing? For their annual eval? A promotion? What the heck! Sometimes the weirdest things come out of my mouth! Lol

One of my favorite parts of the day: the belly laughs between the boys & I as I was trying to explain the difference between ajar and a jar. Can you hear it now? When the door is open it's ajar, but it's not a jar, like a jar of jelly but its ajar... Enter jake making all sorts of jokes about the lid to a jar being ajar. Hehe! Never dull!

There's not enough time in the day. And I'm doing too much. Wishing our home were more than just a stopping place during the go-go of our weekdays! This mama needs some serious down time, and baseball *just* started up again! {sigh} We'll adapt... & I'll feel better in the morning! (when I actually have 2 places to be at once). Ha! Anyone else know the feeling?

Love.

Is it weird that I actually feel a super boost of coolness when my kids call me 'fire ninja'?  

{3 boys rock}!!!!!

Happy Halloween! 2012

Orange shirt day     Nov 1, 2102   Why is it so hard to get a picture of all 3 boys!?!



Oct 31, 2012
Can't stop laughing!! I always call Andrew "Boo Boo Bear" ... and I just accidentally said, "Let's go, Poo Poo Pear!" {So hysterical! These boys are totally rubbing off on me! Since when did I laugh so much at poo poo & fart jokes!?!} BTW, feeling so thankful for the friends I have made in SC, I really feel blessed & surrounded by such a wonderful group of girls. God is so good to me! Have a great fun & festive day today!