I Am A Mom

This Mother's Day I feel so blessed to be called a mom. Without these little ones in my life I would never have known how deep and powerfully I am able to love. Whatever I am, as a mother, I owe to these three wonderful kids.

Lindy is such an amazing girl. She knows what she wants and is determined to get it. It causes a few confrontations now, but I know that her independent nature will help her stick to what she knows is right as she grows up and learns to make her own choices. She is SO smart. Her comprehension of the world around her amazes us every day. She has such a loving heart and loves to make others feel special. When her aunt Jody asked her what she could do for Mother's Day she said she wanted to get a robot to help me out with all the stuff I have to do...how thoughtful is that?

Ellie is our comedian. She makes us laugh all the time. She often avoids getting into trouble (even when she should) by simply being so blasted funny! She loves other people to be happy too. When I get a little miffed she'll come up to me, with a huge smile on her face, and ask, "You happy, mommy?" How can I stay upset when she so obviously wants me to be as carefree as she is? She calls everyone her friend...her friend "dampa" (grandpa), her friend Jody, her friend Paisley. I'm sure that she will grow up to have many friends and will keep them laughing with her antics.

Curtis is the cherry on the top! Even at 5 weeks he has impacted my life so much. (And I'm not just talking about the sleep deprivation.) He has taught me that my own skepticism and cynical outlook on life isn't necessarily the way it needs to be. I never thought I could love a boy like I love my girls. But this little man has a special place in his mother's heart. I can't imagine my life or our family without his sweet little spirit.

Lindy once told me that up in heaven she chose to come to our family. I'm so grateful that she did and that her sister and brother followed her. Thank you Lindy, Ellie, and Curtis for making me a mom. I love you!

Stupid Stupid Stupid

We've suffered a slight tragedy in our home recently. Last week my dryer died while Ian was out of town. Luckily my handy-dandy father-in-law was here for the afternoon and was able to give me an amazing "How To" tutorial on fixing such appliances. I got a new heating coil from Sears and replaced that. Unfortunately as soon as we replaced the heating coil the timing assembly chose to break. (Yes, my bad luck is just that bad.) I had to order the timing assembly online and wait for it to be shipped to my house. 

Finally yesterday the part showed up on my doorstep (I heart UPS). Since I'd had a lesson on replacing dryer parts I decided that I could go ahead and replace the timing assembly without waiting for my husband to get here. Now here's where I make my STUPID mistake...I did NOT unplug the HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL CORD. Oh yes...I ended up scorching my wrist and a finger tip on my left hand and spewing forth some unpleasant words I hope my children never repeat. The feeling has yet to return completely. After that gentle reminder I unplugged the machine, replaced the part, put everything back together and TA-DA fixed the darn appliance.

I am woman. Hear me roar.

Wisdom of Children

We watched "The Waterhorse" earlier today. At one point in the show we found out that Angus' dad was a soldier in WWII but his boat had been sunk and "he wouldn't be coming home". Lindy asked why someone would want to sink the boat and make it so his dad couldn't come back to his family. I tried to give her a brief and simple explanation of what happens during a war. She thought about it for a minute then said, "Maybe we just shouldn't do war." You're right, Lindy, we shouldn't do war.

Give and Take

Each day is full of choices. We all know that. We prioritize and shuffle responsibilities to try and make the most out of the time given us. I realized a long time ago that 24 hours is never going to be enough to take care of even a third of my ever-expanding "To Do" list. So the things I accomplish in any given 24-hour period are usually the evidence of what I considered most important that day.

Today I broke my own well-established pattern. Here is what became priority number one today (taking pictures of my cutest kids):

And here's what took the back burner (and trust me these pictures don't do it justice AT ALL):

Now don't get me wrong...my OCD will kick into high-gear before I'm able to go to bed tonight and I should be able to get the mess to a manageable level. But, for now...I think I'll just spend a little time with my computer looking at all my cute pics. Happy Tuesday everyone!

My Newfound Nemesis

Who knew that a 35-year old, fairly coordinated adult, could be so easily bested by a child's toy? Yet it happened. Publicly. Humiliatingly.

We were out in the neighborhood chatting with friends. The girls had brought along their "wiggle cars" (see exhibit A above) and for some reason I thought an impromptu race against Ian would be a good idea. I hopped aboard the death trap and started down the sidewalk ahead of him. Unfortunately I also thought it would be a good idea to cut him off. I planted myself firmly in front of his oncoming assault and braced myself for impact. Ian might have actually stopped, given enough time, but my split-second strategy didn't allow him time to react. He charged ahead and ran into the back of my car...at which point the cute little pink beast shot out from underneath of me...dumping me fiercely on my ample rear end.

Now, I should mention that I've actually become used to embarrassing myself in front of other people (it happens ridiculously often) so I probably wouldn't have minded the public humiliation if it weren't for one simple fact: MY BUTT HURTS! 17 hours later my tailbone is still throbbing and it hurts to sit, walk, even stand. So if you see me wincing as I go about my life the next couple days just know that I'm reaping the reward of acting like a child when I so obviously need to act my age. Seriously.