Makes My Heart Smile

My "Mom's" group was recently interviewed for the local newspaper. Reading the article reminds me how lucky I am to have such good friends on my side. To quote Dave Matthews (And make Bridget proud),

"I'll lean on you and you lean on me and we'll be okay."

Read the article here.

One Word Wednesday

VeggieTales

24 Days of Christmas

I didn't make this. But it's super cute. So let's pretend I did...

A few years ago, I tried to do an Advent Calendar. I got as far as making the calendar - then completely forgot about it until about December 19th. This year I'd like to do something special every day for the 24 days before Christmas. I've been thinking a lot about this and have come up with some requirements for this adventure:

1. It has to be free or very cheap.  I'm willing to spend a little money on a few things, but with everything else sucking the money out of our household right now - we really don't need any extra expenses!

2. It has to be Christmas-related.  I started singing "Away in a Manger" to Riley the other day and he had no idea what I was talking about. Yikes. He goes to a Christian preschool and we've started regularly attending a church - but I can't expect other people to teach my kids about the true meaning of Christmas. I'd like to cover the whole gamut...the birth of Jesus, the importance of giving and thinking of others, and all the fun commercialized stuff too.

3. It has to be FUN. For both me and the kids. I adore my kids, but let's face it, they have the attention spans of squirrels on meth. And there are plenty of things I do everyday that are not so fun. So I'm thinking of short, fun things that we'll all enjoy.

I'm hoping some of these activities will really stick and become new traditions for my little family. Watch for the start of the 24 Days of Christmas soon - and join in with us!

Do you have any traditions you love? Any traditions you'd like to start with your family? What do you look forward to the most during this season?

So Close to Crazy

This morning started out well. Coffee with friends, a relatively quiet trip through the grocery store with Grace, Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry for a really low price...and then I came home. And it's been,

"Quit screaming. Quit picking on your sister. Quit picking at your brother. Quit screaming. Don't jump on the furniture. Quit screaming. Don't unfold all the clean laundry. Quit Screaming. Where did all this mail come from? Quit screaming. Why isn't this dish detergent working and FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY IF YOU SCREAM AGAIN I AM GOING TO LOSE IT!"




Shirt (with incorrect grammar!) from zazzle.com


I've yelled. I've put the kids in timeout. A lot. I've spanked (And instantly hated that I did it). I feel like the slightest thing is going to push me over the edge. My nerves are beyond frayed and I'm not sure how to climb down from this.

The kids are in the tub so I'm going to sit, listen to some music and try to breathe. What do you do when you've had one of those days? What's your go-to calming technique?

**For the record, Jeff went to the movies with his sister for a much needed break. His job has been extremely stressful lately. So he didn't just sit like a lump and watch the shenanigans - he wasn't here. :-)**

***And the sucky dish detergent is Gain. Great laundry detergent, terrible dish detergent.***

Delivering Grace: Part Two

The nurses let me know that the doctor had started the surgery and I was thankful that I couldn't feel a thing. Jeff was finally able to come in and they had him sit by my head. We nervously joked around a bit and I tried to imagine the doctors and nurses doing a choreographed number to Bohemian Rhapsody a' la Glee, but all that kept going through my head was a portion of a Veggie Tales song.

While they were pulling Grace out, there was an ENORMOUS amount of pressure on my chest. It got really hard to breathe - the nurses had warned me about this beforehand, otherwise I would have freaked out. It was like trying to get air through a coffee stirrer. It seemed to last forever because she didn't want to come out and was fighting the doctors. Suddenly the pressure stopped and I heard the doctor saying things like, "Suction! Meconium! Meconium!" It cracked me up at first because he essentially was yelling, "POOP! POOP!" and I have the sense of humor of a 13 year old boy. But then the anxiety set in. Why couldn't I hear her? Is it okay that she's pooping already? When can I see her and WHY CAN'T I HEAR HER?

Then I heard the sweetest sound - a high pitched squeal that sounded EXACTLY like the pig from the Geico commercials.



And I knew we were all okay.

One Word Wednesday

Toy Box Love

What the Heck Is Going On?

I had big plans of sitting down tonight and writing out all kinds of awesome blog posts to delight you with over the next few days. The hubster needed oil for his car so I saw a chance to go somewhere childless decided to do him a favor and headed to Wal-Mart. I'm driving down the road, jamming to NeedtoBreathe when BAM! (literally!) I. Hit. A. Deer. I was shaken but completely fine. The deer did not fair as well. And my car? Well, it's drivable, but I'll be adding "car repair" to the never ending list of things I need to do. Because I don't already have enough chaos in my life!




Don't mess with the Mighty B.


Oh, and Brenna swallowed a penny tonight. So for the next few days, changing her diaper will be like playing a slot machine...

I'm going to bed before anything else completely random happens to me! Less tragic posts soon, I promise!