It went so fast . . .

Spring break came and went. We had a good one. Nothing exciting, but the down time was nice. I took the kids to the movies one night. I wish I would have waited for Monsters vs. Aliens this weekend, we saw Race to Witch Mountain. Definately a boy movie. John played golf for 3 days at Barclay Lake. Mom and Dad came up and hung out on Saturday afternoon. The pictures are from Wednesday. I told the kids to just play and ignore me. I took close to 200 pictures. I got a really nice assortment of facial expressions. I'm learning to recognize when the light is just right and running to grab my camera. One of the kids said the other day (as I was taking a picture of some bannanas) "why do you keep taking pictures of everything?" I don't know why, I just do. They are all back to school today. My house is quiet, I'm a smidge-bit (Kennedyism) lonely. Only 8 more weeks until summer vacation.

Recycling again

Kennedy has issues with where to put her jackets. She is not tall enough to hang them in her closet, and we don't have anywhere to put a hall tree for her. I have been trying to come up with something for her to easily just "hook and go". I found this hanger at Hobby Lobby this week. It was in the 90% off section. I paid a whole $.50 for it. Not only was it ugly, it was really banged up. I took the pom poms, and the GO off the front. Sanded it smooth, painted it white and scrounged in my crafting supplies for the other things. The "K" letter was from an old monogram thingy I had, the pink ribbon was a scrap from a bag I'm making for my friend right now, and the pink tulle came from an old Halloween costume. I remember Kennedy stepping on the tulle and ripping it off and I just stuck it in a tub. That was probably 5 years ago. Look at it now. . . .

Spring is trying to spring. . .

Everything is stretching and yawning and coming alive. . . .

Only 67 more . . .

Here lately, every time I go to Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's, even Everythings $1, I've been seeing re-usable shopping bags. Yes, I feel the guilt, but at the same time, I'm a cheapskate. I don't want to spend the money on an ugly bag that advertises a store that I spend too much money in anyway. These bags cost around $5 in materials, so I decided to make my own. I went to JoAnn's and bought the pre-cut quilting squares. That made it easy to just cut off my handles and start sewing away. My only raw seam is down inside where I left the opening to pull it all right-side-out. They are lined with contrasting fabric, which you can see on the little ties in the middle. They can roll up onto themselves for easy storage. My only problem (which was pointed out by my old friend Dianna), I now only need 67 more to cover my bi-weekly trip to Wal-Mart/Sams. My intentions were good.

There's nothing to eat . . .

I just want to clarify something. There are things in this house to eat. Since I hear on a daily (hourly) basis, "Maaaawwwwm, there's nothing to eat . . " I felt the need to let anyone, who may be blessed enough to be in the presence of my children, know that I do indeed feed them. There is food in this house. You see, in our house we are dedicated followers of the "O" diet. No it's not low carb, it's not low fat or low cal. It's anything that ends in the letter "o". Burrito, Dorito, Cheeto, you get the point. Now don't get me wrong, I love my "o's", but the madness has to stop. I so badly don't want the kids to fight their weight when they are older. John and I fight, fight, fight! I am emotionally and physically exhausted being a fatty. So when you have my kids for a sleepover, or whatever, please make note, they do get fed, they are nourished, they are not happy!!! Ok I will let them have an "o" for breakfast, Cheerios with a banana-o. Like I said, they are not happy!

Daddy, turn off the sun . . .

I'm reeling a little this week. My first child turned 10. That is a 1 and a 0. That is double digits. That is a decade. That is a pre-teen.

I swore it wouldn't happen, I promised I wouldn't let it, I took steps along the way to prevent it, but it did. I blinked. I can honestly say that when they laid that baby on my stomach and I looked down it was the first time in my life I saw the fingerprints of God. He was a huge baby, he didn't want to come out. He was a week over-due before he made his easy, gleeful journey to the world. We still laugh and say the inside of my uterus says "Wes was here 1999". He was a little pioneer in the adventure that we call parenthood. He survived the first fumbling baths (too hot,too cold?). The creamed spinach baby food (I gagged when I fed it to him). He survived the Hamburger Helper years (ironically that is what he asked for for his birthday meal). He survived always matching, never getting dirty, and a mother who screeched at every teeter and every gonk to his noggin.

God blessed me with easy babies. Wesley never complained about anything, except once when the sun was shining in his eyes as we drove. He yelled "Daddy, turn off the sun!". He may have been 3 at that time. Around that same time when he had asked me 1000 question in about a 5 minute span and I had answered "I don't know" too many times for his liking, he said to me, "Mommy you need to find out a lot more stuff, 'cause there's a lot I want to know!" We'll I've sure learned a lot more stuff. I've learned patience, understanding, unbelievable frustration (we've all locked ourselves in the bathroom to escape for 5 minutes, right?). Mostly, I've learned what true, unconditional, soul-searing, love is. He was the beginning, our beginning, my beginning.

Is he really a 3rd grader?

I wish I had a dime for every time someone asked me how old Wes is. I was always the tallest kid in elementary school and I hated it. I hope it is easier for a boy. With me at 5'8" and his daddy at 6'5" he doesn't stand a chance at being average height. As a matter of fact our pediatrician predicted he may pass his dad, oh my! He already wears a size 9 men's shoe, his dad wears a 15, no that wasn't a typo, 15! When we walked into his basketball tourney last week the people taking money asked how old he was and then exclaimed "we are in trouble!" I feel bad for him sometimes because being so big puts such huge expectations on his young shoulders. He's still only 9 (for one more week, yes prepare yourself for a sappy, birthday post). He's gangly and for lack of a better term heavy. His dad assures us that when he was Wesley's age he was the same way. John says he woke up one day and (thanks to the awful onset of puberty) had coordination and his athletic ability exploded. I so hope that for Wes. I see him being frustrated because he's slower then the little guys, he just doesn't understand. I wish he could see how perfect and adorable he is. But it does stop me in my tracks when I realize we wear the same shoe size and when we hug his head brushes my nose, after all, he's only 9 (for one more week)!

Girlfriends . .

Oh to have a core group of friends. We have now lived here 10 years, wow can you believe it? It took me a long time to meet people and really feel a part of things. Thanks to Lee Ann, mostly, I really feel like that has finally happened. I feel so blessed to be a part of a group of moms who share my values, my love for life and family, and my twisted sense of humor. I love you guys and thank you for weaving me into the fabric of your lives!

Winter Wonderland

Every year the kids and I always get excited for a big snow. Kennedy has dreams of the biggest, most elaborate snowman. Wes is ready for an all out snowball war! You know the old cliche, be careful what you wish for. . . . .

Nothing Like A Snow Day

There is nothing like an unexpected snow day. We went to bed last night with just a little dusting that wasn't supposed to amount to anything. We woke up with just enough snow to play in. Nothing like wet mittens, cold feet, and exhausted kids!