Friday, November 5, 2010

The First Tooth

"MOMMMM, THE TOOTH FAIRY CAME!!!"
A smile grew across my face as I heard the half asleep child yell from the other side of the house. I dropped my hair brush onto the bathroom counter and quickly tiptoed into my son's room trying not to wake my other son.
"I told you she would come!" I whispered to him
"THE TOOTH FAIRY REALLY CAME!" he said again.
The magic in his eyes was something I will never forget. I had accomplished one of my biggest goals, instilling the wonderful light that creates childhood memories into my child. I almost wanted to cry. The magic of believeing is what a childhood is truly about. The love that comes with Christmas and believing in Santa Clause or the Easter bunny- it is what keeps children pure and hides the real life pain and stress that they will soon have to endure when they get older.
"I love you so much!" I said to him, no longer trying to whisper as I noticed my other child stirring in his warm blankets the cuddled him tight.
"What about me mom?" I heard come from the bottom bunk.
"I love you too, so much" I reached down to kiss my youngest.
I turned to walk back to the bathroom to finish my routine but had to look back once more to check on my children. The grand smile still lingered on my oldest. The magic was contagious. I continued to smile for the rest of the day.

Friday, October 22, 2010

The Mystery Spot

The babysitter stepped into the living room to check on the children once more before she had to leave for the day. She glanced over each child assuring they were okay and quickly noticed an odd shaped brown spot on the side of my youngest face. Panicking she rushed over to his side and demanded "Brent, what's on your face!" A reply came from the other side of the room...
"Oh that's just the booger I wiped on him." Stated my oldest son.
Now this is the part where the adults are not suppose to laugh but want to so bad.
That is truly brotherly love at it's finest.
The booger was removed and they both lived happily ever after!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Practice Bus Ride


We arrived at the elementary school just in time. All of the other children looked just as excited to be starting kindergarten as mine did. Frantically jumping up and down tugging on their parent's hands, wonder filling their little eyes. We walked in and prepared for the practice bus ride all of the kindergartner's got to go on. They finally called my sons bus number and he jumped up and flew out the door before I had a chance to get out of my seat. I hurried to catch up to him pulling my youngest son along beside me. I think I was more nervous than my soon to be kindergartner was. In Fact, he was not nervous at all! As my oldest boarded the bus with his friends he had made in preschool my youngest started to frantically wave stress-fully saying "Bye Jake, Bye...BYE!" After my oldest was out of sight my youngest turned to me burying his head into my stomach and started to cry.
"What's wrong?" I asked him
"I'm gonna miss my brother!" he muffled back through his tears, then proceeded to cry harder.
"Aw sweetheart, it will be okay. Your brother is coming back."
"But I miss him!"
I comforted my youngest as he cried for the entire twenty mintues my oldest was gone on his practice bus ride. When the bus finally arrived back at the school my oldest stepped off the bus with the biggest smile glowing across his face! My youngest ran up to his brother greeting him with a strong brotherly hug as if he hadn't seen him in years. I smiled to myself. I knew then that I must had done something right for them to have so much love for each other.

Monday, August 2, 2010

A Little One's Pocket

"Boy's! Get your stuff together we're getting ready to go!"
It takes about 30minutes to get the kids from my mother's living room to the back seat of the car. As I was walking the children out the front door of my mother's farm house my youngest son walked up to me with his little hand clinching his shorts pocket tightly and stated in an innocent voice... " THERE'S NOTHING IN MY POCKET MOM!" Now every mother of a little boy knows that what he really meant was "MOM - YOU NEED TO CHECK MY POCKET RIGHT AWAY!"
I had a gut feeling this was going to be interesting.
"Let me see what's in your pocket Brent." I replied.
"No!, There's Nothing in my pocket!"
For fear of what it could be he was hiding I changed the tone of my voice..."LET ME SEE NOW!"
He put his head down in shame, reached into his pocket and pulled out a frog! Oh My...
I tried to keep from laughing then quickly realized that this frog looked familiar. It was the same frog I had seen my son playing with in the yard about two hours before that!
Oh No I thought to myself. Could this frog have been in his pocket for the past 2 hours! We had done a lot in that past two hours; went to the store, went on a walk, the boys wrestled outside.
It was clear that the poor frog was dead but I explained to the kids that the frog was tired and sleeping and that we had to take him back to his home. Brent wanted to keep him forever!
When we finally arrived home the boys rushed inside. As usually I lagged behind because of having to carry things in and cleaning up the car. On my way in the house I passed a frog on the sidewalk. "Run little frog." I whispered. "RUN!"

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Rock Out

It's started already! I thought that I had a few more years..."Louder mom!" screams my oldest son from the back of the car. "Turn the music louder!"
"But son it's 7 o'clock in the morning!"
My five year old insisted on blaring the headbanging sound he called music in the car on the way to the babysitters that morning. A trend I knew would not quickly fade. This was a sign of transition from toddler to kid. At least I could tell by the type of music that he liked what kind of kid he was going to be!
As I turned the music louder in the car I realized two things. One; that the music was too loud and became annoying which was a sign of me becoming older (OH NO!). And two; that what you do to your parents really does come back to you. Memories flooded my head of riding with my mother at that age to the babysitter even earlier in the morning and begging my mom to turn up z93!
Did I become my mom? Did my kids become me? And what else is in store for me through the years of my children growing up? ....This might be a bumpy ride.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Let's Go Krogering

This is my endorsement to Kroger's. Not just any Kroger's, the Kroger's Market Place! It's Only The Best Grocery Store In The World!!! It feels odd saying that. I remember being a little girl and hating grocery shopping. "What fun is buying food", I used to think. As I get older and more into cooking I have come to realize that grocery shopping can be fulfilling... if you have the right store! I have had some terrible shopping experiences latley at the local groceries that have lead me to write this post. Over the past month I have bought tons of blueberries and raspberries that all turned out to be MOLDY when I unpacked them at home, and they are not cheap! I have bought bad shrimp, bad meat (that all should not have been bad!), and have had some terrible times even trying to find simple cooking ingredients such as BREAD! Yes I couldn't find the right bread at the store!!! Now my Kroger Market Place has it going on! I have even participated in a wine tasting while grocery shopping at my Kroger. What an absolutely perfect place! They have everything I could ever want! Plus a wine cellar for my wino addiction, a liquor store, and a Starbucks!!! Let's go Krogering Ladies.

Independence

I just wrapped up a very memorable mini vacation with my children. There are so many moments I want to write about! The most touching moment was one of the last ones. Yesterday as I sat in our gravel drive way with the boys carving roads for their hot-wheels my youngest came up, sat on my lap, wrapped his little arms around me and said "Mommy, I'm so glad your done with work!" My bottom lip started to curl marking the beginning of my oncoming tears. I squeezed him so tight and just cherished the moment. I wish I could spend everyday with my children....
I would also like to go into what 'Bad-ass's' my children are! I am so proud of my children everyday and I sure hope I tell them enough. Sunday, the 4th of July, I took my children to a local swimming hole we call Filbrun's Pond. As soon as we got there my boys walked past the beach area, past the children's area and straight up to where all of the adults were standing at the rope swing. One at a time, both of my boys, without a second thought climbed the ladder, rope in hand, and swung out into the pond. After the mini heart attack I had they swam out to a floating diving board in the middle of the pond where both boys attempted back flips off of the diving board! Of course, there were more mini heart attacks by mom! Remember my boys are 5 & 3!!! But even though they scared the crap out of me, they made me so proud. I glanced around the pond after watching my children preform their daredevil acts and noticed all of the fathers trying to cohort their children into doing the same thing. Their children, whom some were even older then mine, just sat there and cried. I could see the frustration and disappointment in the father's faces. It was the same disappointment I saw in one of my child's baseball coach's face as they realized their child didn't want to play baseball. After swimming we finished off the day with ice-cream and fireworks. What more could a child ask for.
I am so grateful to have healthy and happy children. They are the light of my life and they make me proud everyday! I love you boys :)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

System Overload


It seems that now a days everyone is in school. No matter your age or how many degrees you have already obtained a continued education is required by our society to keep one updated on their ever-changing job duties or for a simple pay raise. I myself am still in college. I do not feel that dedicated mothers that work a full 40 hours a week, go to school full time and are still able to attend their child's school play or baseball game get enough credit! I am extremely exhausted by the end of the week and I still have cleaning, errands, socializing, activities for clubs and organizations that my children and I belong to, family to visit, yard work and ten million other tasks to complete. Nothing is impossible ladies, you can have your cake and eat it too. So when you are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted do not wait on your husband to lend a hand...because they won't, they simply do not understand. You must take it upon yourself to relax and be happy. Two important things to remember!!! 1) Delegate: if you absolutely can not achieve every task you have set for the day then prioritize your tasks and delegate small ones to friends, your mother, or even your children with chore charts. 2) Take time for yourself. Whether it be a vacation, a massage, or a quiet shopping trip -YOU NEED ME TIME TO SURVIVE! To continue to be the Super Stiletto Mom you know you are you need to do these two things. They may just be your answer to sanity.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Fire Flies

It's an amazing feeling when your child is finally able to out run you. Last night I promised my sons I would take them swimming, and unfortunately plans feel through. Children do not understand that sometimes there is not enough money or that a place may be closed, but I did all I could to make it up to my children. I decided to hook up the garden hose, throw on my swimsuit and dedicate precious time to them. The grass sparkled from the glow of the lightening bugs as I chased my oldest through the yard. Sounds of laughter filled the warm summer air. I can only hope that my love and dedication can enforce self-confidence in my children and overload their minds with divine memories that they will be able to share with their children in the future.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Kentucky


As the whole family sat tightly together in the SUV on our long 3 hour drive to our chalet in Kentucky I noticed another one of those moments. A song came across the radio that had the entire car singing together at the top of their lungs. It was a happy song, and I tried to make the song last forever. It was the exact description of harmony and complete peace. Having my beloved mother, my precious children, my wonderful husband, and my brother the brave soldier who was only home for a short time all together in one place laughing and singing together. It was an absolute flawless moment. And I feel lucky to have been able to identify the moment and cherish it. The smiles, the smells, the songs....perfect.

My Mysterious Necklace

A few days ago I went out with some friends. When it came to the end of the night I realized that my necklace was gone! This was a very special necklace to me. I know your thinking that if it was so special that I shouldn't of worn it out; but I was excited that I had just found my necklace and wanted to show it off. I had lost the necklace some years before and randomly came upon earlier that day. As you can probably guess I was devastated. I knew that this time I wouldn't be seeing my necklace again. Well last night as I walked in the door from my long day at work I did my usual scope of the house to make sure nothing had been tampered with, I noticed a diamond perfectly placed in the center of my wine table. Sure enough it was my necklace! Well the diamond pendent part anyway. I was so happy yet weary of how the necklace ended up on the table because I was not at home when I lost the necklace. I pondered on this situation for a while. Analyzing every aspect of the night and my surroundings. Finally I came to the decision that it was one of two things. Either one: I have a stalker, or two: The law of attraction is real!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Mother's Daily Drive...

I still am not sure if I'm driving to a specific location or simply driving myself crazy. This is a short rant about my daily drive; rather that be a drive in the car or what drive's me in life. In the morning I get up and get my self ready for work. I then get the kids up and get them ready for the day. After the long struggle to get everyone awake and going I give the kids a breakfast snack to keep them occupied while I let out the dog, feed and water the dog, switch the laundry, do a quick pick-up of the house, turn out the lights and prepare any papers needed for the day. I then get the kids in the car and head on my first drive to the baby sitter. It takes longer than expected to get to the baby sitters due to being stuck behind a tractor, school bus or trash man. I arrive at the babysitters, say farewell to the kids and then head to the gas station. After the gas station I can start my second drive. This is my hour long drive to work! I listen to my favorite radio station to make the drive seem shorter. On my lunch break at work I run errands for both the company and myself, this takes up another hour of driving. After work I start on my hour drive home. This particular day the kids were being watched at my mother's house. I was running late to my mothers due to being stuck behind another slow vehicle, and by this time the road rage had set in! I got to my mother's in time to say farewell to my brother who was home from Iraq and returning to his base in Washington State in an hour. I made the good bye regretfully quick and packed the kids in the car because our night was far from over. I was running late for all of the evening activities. I drove home from my mothers and only stopped long enough to grab the baseball uniforms, fill up the water bottles, grab the address for the babysitter interview & unplug the battery charger from my husbands truck. Oh, and I forgot I also let the dog out and refilled her water, all in less than 5 minutes. I drove to the babysitter interview for the kids, then had to make an unexpected detore and head 15 mins in the opposite direction of the ballpark to pick up my husband who was farming in a field. It was 6:20pm and the baseball game was at 6:30! I had to wait on my husband to change into his uniform because he coaches our youngest sons baseball team. I then rushed to the ball park and was surprisingly only 10 minutes late. I dropped off the husband and kids and proceeded to the bank that closed at 8:00pm. The bank was 35 mins away, it was 6:45 and I had to be back to pick up the kids and husband by 7:30pm. I made it to the bank and back by 7:31! ...and this includes a stop due to almost hitting a deer and 20 phone calls scheduling more interviews for the kids.. I gathered everyone in the car and headed for the gas station. After the gas station we had to go to the grocery store. At this point I am extremely tired of being in the car. I let the boys ride the mechanical pony and was home by 9:00pm. When I got home I had to carry the groceries into the house, feed the dog, pick up the yard, and again switched the laundry. Now it was finally time to start dinner. I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen while the food cooked. At 10:00pm the family finally ate dinner. I prefer not to eat that late but we have to do what we have to do right! after dinner I cleaned up the mess and got the kids into the bath. While they took a bath I did my nightly ritual of face masks and teeth bleaching. After bath time I could finally put the kids to bed! Slowly I walked down the stairs to the couch to try to get in a little bit of TV. But I couldn't focus. All I could think about was....was everything! I kept getting up and trying to clean knowing that I should be relaxing. I sat there pondering the day and looked towards the floor... a smile grew across my face. My stilettos! I did all of that in stilettos! I could then go to sleep :)

Friday, May 21, 2010

A Field Trip

I decided to take a day off of work and accompany my oldest son on his first field trip. It was the best decision I had ever made! The smile on his face as he said " I am so happy you are here with me mom, this is the best day ever!" was enough to let me die happy. The weather was great, the attitudes were great, it couldn't of been a better day. I quickly realized that this was one of those special moments and tried my hardest to walk slowly and take in ever sight and smell.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A Child's Understanding

The other day while driving my children to the babysitter before work my oldest son told me that he wished that I didn't have to go to work and that he wanted me to stay home with him everyday. It made me sad, and I pondered on that statement for a moment. Then I tried to explain that if mommy didn't go to work that he could not have all of the nice things he has. There would be no sports or ice cream stops in the evening. No vacations or circus or amusement parks. As I struggled to explain and justify my feelings I knew that he couldn't possibly understand being 5. Then I thought back to when I was that age and remembered asking my mother the same question. It wasn't until now that I understood and I am grateful to my mother for trying to provide the very best for me. I only hope that in the future my children will also understand my sacrifices for them to have the very best of everything.