Drinkable Yogurt Creeps Me Out...

Patrick is drinking one of those drinkable yogurts and his thick, yogurty mustache is creeping me out.  Yogurt belongs on a spoon in my world, sorry.  I continue to buy them, though, because the kids like them and I think a little extra calcium can't hurt.  Surely someone reading this will tell me they are loaded with sugar or something, but you know what?  They don't drink twenty a week, so I am okay with that.
In case you are curious, also on my list of things the kids like that creep me out:

Trix Yogurt (NOTHING should be that color)
Peanut Butter Captain Crunch (gag)
Velveeta-as a kid, I thought this was cheese.  For real...imagine my horror as an adult when I realized the label actually says "pasteurized prepared cheese product"..::shudder::  That is so gross.  I can handle this melted in a dip, I guess, but I will never again eat a piece of the stuff.  Even Tim likes the Velveeta mac & cheese, but I think it's yucky.
Kool-aid: What is the redeeming quality of this again?  I can see it spiked with vodka (thank you, college) but that is about it.  

That is all I can think of for now, but I am sure something else will pop into my mind.  I think I'm off to grab a string cheese...you know, the kind made with real cheese...

I Like Blogs!

I have talked to people (like my own sister) who don't read blogs.  They don't understand why someone would blog or why anyone who didn't know them would bother to read it.  This is baffling to me.  I don't know when I started reading them, but I can tell you I have my dailies!  I feel like I know Heather Spohr and Matt Logelin even though they have no idea who I am.  I have to get my fix at Barefoot Foodie because Brittany is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S and real and it makes me happy.  Heather Armstrong makes me laugh out loud at least two times a week, if not three.  All of the MckMama Drama is something I can't stop myself from clicking...and I could go on and on, but for my non-blog-reading (other than mine, of course!) friends, well, this sounds like gibberish.  My point is, once you start, it's impossible to sign online and not see what other people have to say.  It is especially hard if said people have adorable kids or funny dogs.  I started my blog, not too long ago, to keep people updated in a way that was more personal than Facebook.  It's also for me to remember things that my kids say or do because, let's face it, I'm not nearly as good about journaling as I was at seventeen.  I was feeling pretty good about my blog right up until Dan over at Single Dad Laughing informed me (via post, not me directly-I wish!) that I have a NERD BLOG!  Well, that's unfortunate.  I guess I'll be spending some time in the not too distant future transforming this blog into something presentable.  Maybe I can even make it to the popular table at lunch!

Corndogs.

Donovan:  Mom, you know what I think of corndogs?
Me: Nope, what?
Donovan: I think they're like a popsicle.  And the breaded part is a sweet, sweet wrapper that I can eat.
Me: So you like them?
Donovan: Oh yea...they're completely awesome.  Anything you cook is the best!
Me: Thanks, D.  Make sure you talk to your wife like that someday.  She'll appreciate it.

Well, hmm.  I bought frozen corndogs and baked them on a tray in the oven.  I am pretty sure Bobby Flay wouldn't think that constitutes cooking...but if Donovan wants to think so, I'll take it.  Oh, and they also think I'm the best because I gave them cottage cheese for dessert.  I am so not kidding...weird kids. 






And in case you are wondering, Patrick DOES usually wear a shirt.  He had just gotten out of the tub and he wanted to eat in his towel...

Someday, Right Now, and What Matters

Someday, my house will be quiet. 
Someday, not too far in the future, really, no one will need me to get them a sippy cup or another snack or a band aid.  I won't look around my house, exasperated at the toys strewn across the room.  I won't think about how I just want to sit down and relax while someone asks for another story.  I won't have an exuberant seven year old chatting mindlessly about his day, where every sentence starts with, "and guess what, mom?"  Someday, I will have all the time in the world to take a shower in a bathroom, alone.  Someday, I won't have to take anyone to baseball practice.  Someday, I won't have to rush to think of a healthy dinner that I can squeeze into the hour between this thing and that thing. Someday, I won't have to juggle a toddler who is reaching for everything at the grocery story checkout and a three year old who doesn't want to stay with me. 
Someday, I will not have to tell anyone to please get back in bed, and no you don't need another drink, or another hug, or another story.
Someday, I hope I will look back on this time in my life and know that I spent it not wishing for someday, but rather living in today.
Yes, my house is a mess right now.  It could use a good dusting, a good vacuuming, and a good decluttering.  We didn't eat a healthy dinner tonight, and I probably snapped at someone for not listening or getting out of bed one too many times.  You know what else?  Right now, there is a little, two year old girl asleep in her crib.  And right now, she is holding a Minnie Mouse, and I read her three stories before she went to bed.  She stayed up later than she was supposed to because she was playing with her brothers.  Right now, she doesn't know what it is like to be hungry, or cold, or unloved.  Right now, there is a three year old boy asleep (maybe) in his bed, clutching a cabbage patch and his glasses case.  He is wearing mismatched pajamas that are spaceships on the bottom and stripes on top because that is what he wanted.  He probably ate too many tortilla chips before bed.  Right now, he knows that he is one of the three centers of his parents' universe.  Right now, there is a seven year old boy sleeping on the top bunk and snuggled with his stuffed barney and a glow-in-the-dark pillowcase.  He went to bed knowing that his mom cared about what he did today, and remembered to ask about his spelling test, and who took him to baseball practice, and made sure he brushed his teeth.  Right now, that little boy knows that he has a big responsibility because he is the oldest brother and a role model, and he revels in that knowledge.  Right now, he knows that his mom and dad love him no matter what.
Right now, I want to remember to be that mom who reads the extra story, and doesn't get mad if someone spills their milk, and takes the extra ten minutes to let someone put on their own shoes.  Right now, I want to remember that it doesn't matter if my house is perfect.  What matters is those three, little people who are right now asleep in their beds.  It matters they are loved and protected.  When they grow up, it matters to me that they remember me as the kind of mom I want to be for them.  I doubt they will remember much about how clean the house was, but I am pretty sure they will remember when I let them help make brownies, and let them crack the eggs even if it meant digging out pieces of shell.  I don't want to get so caught up in what doesn't matter that when someday comes, I wish for right now.  I have talked to many mothers and grandmothers, my own included, and I am pretty sure all of them would give anything to have one more day with their kids as children.

Thursday...Brought to You by Patrick and his Crazy Dance...

Patrick if often calm and shy...get to know him, and you get a whole lot of this...and yes, he DID ask me to photograph it...

How normal is this?  Well...take into account that Donovan is in the background and it totally ignoring what is happening.

Matilda is two!

 Matilda and Mommy, 3/23/2011


So, apparently, I am just terrible at this whole "daily posting" idea.  Sorry about that...I continue to work on it.
This past weekend, Matilda turned two!  TWO!  How is this possible?!  I feel like we just brought her home.  That girl is a shining light in my life.  She is so funny and sweet.  She is everything I hoped having a daughter would be and more.  I thank God every day that we decided to have a "#3."  I simply cannot imagine life without her.

 I love that our kids are growing up and loving their cousins...being close to my own cousins growing up, it is something very special to me!

Kids and cake...what could be better?

 Anyone who knows this little girl knows that she completely adores her Pop-pop.  This weekend was no exception...especially when he was feeding her ice cream!

We had a great birthday weekend filled with family and cake!  Poor Donovan suffered through a terrible earache and eventually ruptured eardrum which landed us in Urgent Care on Sunday morning, but he was a trooper.  
Matilda and her cousin, Eliana, are exactly one year and one day apart.  We celebrated Ellie's birthday, too, and had more cake!


Matilda's last gift arrived today...Tim and I knew this little, pink piano would be a hit...and we were right!  Her face says it all!

Parenting: Who Knows What They Are Doing?

I started the van post, but I keep putting it off.  Now I've pressured myself into MAKING that my next post, and I don't feel like writing it, so I just haven't written.  Since that doesn't seem like a viable solution, I gave myself permission to skip it so I could take about something slightly more important.
As parents, WHAT ARE WE DOING?
Really, the more blogs I read and the more people I talk to in real life, I keep coming to the conclusion that no one knows what they are doing as parents.  As a kid, my parents seemed so adult.  I thought that when I grew up, there was some magic point where I went from feeling like a child to feeling like a grownup.  Guess what?  I'm 30 and it still hasn't happened.  I do lots of grown up things like making sure there is food in the house and the kids bathe regularly, but I still have times were I would like to sit around in my pajamas all day doing online shopping and reading books.  Maybe the line between being a grownup and not is just doing things because you have to and not because you want to...or not doing things you want to because you have other people to consider?  Feel free to weigh in...

A Week in Review!

So if I TAKE a picture every day, but don't actually POST them every day, does it still count?  Yes?  Oh, good!
This week I made these delicious pretzels...for Tim to take to a doctor's office as a thank you-

 Who needs flowers, really??  That is a pretzel bouquet!
And then Matilda strutted her stuff in this lovely tutu....

 And got delightful kisses from her biggest brother...

 And then on Wednesday, we watched this pretty girl...the smile is deceptive as she isn't very happy without her Mommy or Daddy here, but Donovan worked his magic and she was very agreeable for most of the evening!

 And to wish her cousin Bon Voyage to Disney, Matilda was rockin' the Minnie bow and shirt.  Take a goood looong look because I will admit it-I HATE character stuff.  Rarely (unless they pick it!) will you see any of my kids in character-anything other than PJs.

 And MR. HANDSOME Patchy got some new specs!

Next post...the saga of my van!  I bet you can't wait?!