Within these booger-stain walls our humble home, we embrace life and suck the nectar out of it, which may explain all the teeth marks on the furniture.
But all those bite marks, scratches and hammered dents in the furniture add character. Some would pay good money for a weathered look whereas my children offer their handiwork for free.
The walls may be lacking color or needing another coat of paint, but the fingerprints and artworks on the walls display signs of real masterpieces: my beautiful, creative and spirited children.
What appears as piles of clutter to guests are my pride possessions and cherished memories.
Our yard may not be the most manicured, but it looks well traveled.
My home is an honest reflection of my life.
It may not be perfect.
Occasionally it looks tired and shows signs of wear, but I do my best to maintain it.
At breakfast this morning, my girls accused me of doing “secretive things” while they are at school. Yep, that’s me. I’m so secretive. I like to keep things on the down low. I suppose this means I should start sweeping up the confetti before they get home.
Today, we spent the afternoon at the Glazer Children’s Museum with our cousins. What a fun place! I’m going to write a full review tomorrow for Not-So-Wednesday, so stay tuned for that. While we were there today with the kids, I purchased an annual family pass as a belated birthday present for Emmalynn and Liam. I’ll be using that pass o’plenty while the girls are in school. Hmm…I guess it would appear that I do secretive things while the girls are in school. Guilty as charged!
Last week, I registered for the All Out Running 5K and now I’m nervous about that race because of the heat. When it’s not raining, it has been absolutely scorching during my morning runs. To combat the heat, I’m planning my training route through my neighbors’ sprinklers. I need to cool off somehow because it’s been hotter than hell. In fact, it’s so hot (How hot is it?)…It’s so hot that I think I passed Satan spritzing himself with a misting fan during my run this morning.
Also during my morning run, I passed another runner who had stopped to do some elevated pushups. His enthusiasm in the heat impressed me and I thought to myself, “You go, Boy!” I was just trying to stay on my feet to finish my 4 miles. If I hit the ground, I probably wouldn’t be able to get back up to finish the run. But kudos to him for going the extra mile!
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Rocky passed me and said, “You go, girl!” That just made me smile and put an extra pep in my step as I paced for the next mile behind him. The sprinklers and my running partner, Rocky, made the heat a bit more bearable.
4 Miles
Time 42:37
Ave Pace 10:40
Max Pace 8:23
*Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*
Tomorrow is Emmalynn’s 6th birthday. It seems overnight my little baby became a little lady. Every day is an adventure with our little Emmalynn and there’s never a dull moment around here because of her.
If a picture is worth 1000 words, then a video would surely tell the tale of our Emmalynn, our Tiny Cool.
When Allana found an old frame in our messy garage, she had a clever idea for a Father’s Day gift for Dad. She pulled all the dried up glue sticks from our craft box and asked me to help her hot glue them to the frame for her.
Then, she wrote on the back and asked us all to sign it.
Daddy loved his gift, but I loved Allana’s creativity and thoughtfulness.
Emmalynn began taking ballet last fall, but we took a break during the holidays. Once we recovered from the holidays, we resumed classes at a new studio, but missed registration for the recital. Even though she wouldn’t perform in the recital, she still learned the steps for her class’s number.
One evening, Emmalynn asked me, “Mommy, do you know the Airplane song that goes I could use a wish right now. Wish right now. Wish right now?” Then, she began spinning and flying around the room demonstrating what she claimed to be her recital routine. Her interpretative dance included several spins, a landing and chopping some vegetables for a soup she prepared in her home. I thought this seemed like a very bizarre ballet performance, but so be it.
Later, I learned that her class was not dancing to Airplanes, but rather Fly Me to the Moon. That’s my Emma, my free spirit. She dances to the beat of a different drum.
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”- Henry David Thoreau
And speaking of airplanes, Little Lion Man loves to feed himself. Typically he’s double-fisted with a spoon in each hand, but he’ll drop those boring ol’ baby spoons for his big boy airplane spoon. Vroom!
I stumbled upon some tickets for a prescreening of Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer, but the girls and I arrived late to the AMC Theater at Westshore Plaza (which seems to be the story of my life these days) and no more seats were available. For Allana and Emmalynn, it was becoming the NOT, NOT bummer summer.
Of course, my girls were heartbroken, but like any good parent slacker mom, I bribed my children with ice cream to help heal their pain. However, it’s been a while since we’ve eaten ice cream at Westshore Plaza because the Tanya and Matt’s Ice Creamiest stand that once stood in the food court is now a cell phone kiosk. Fantastic.
Feeling like I had failed my children twice in one evening, I had to devise another plan to redeem myself. As we exited the mall, Allana spotted a sort of ice cream looking shop. This frozen yogurt Evos looking, trendy wannabe TCBY would do the trick.
The bright and fresh appearance of Pinkberry was mirrored by the assortment of fresh fruit toppings.
Although, there were only a few flavors of frozen yogurts to choose from, each flavor was more flavorful than the one before it. Allana loved the mango frozen yogurt and topped hers with Fruity Pebbles, which was like a small serving of an oxymoron.
Emmalynn ordered organic gummi bears with her mango yogurt. I chose the salted caramel with chocolate chips, which made my treat taste like a chocolate covered pretzel.
As far as portion sizes, Pinkberry offered a mini size (3 oz serving) which I was tickled pink over it because it’s the perfect and appropriate serving size. Many frozen treat shops offer this portion as a kid’s size, which is only available to children 12 and under. Therefore, I truly appreciated the opportunity to select the smallest size and I also appreciated the caloric content listed on the menu, which reminded me not to overindulge. But even if I did, this low calorie real non-fat, hormone-free milk made with live and active cultures yogurt would help make me feel less guilty about it.
With a quick pop into Pinkberry, I had redeemed myself in my girls’ eyes. For me, this healthy recovery was a sweet deal. Unfortunately, ever since our visit, the girls and I’ve been dreaming of a different dessert. Sorry, ice cream. W’re on our way to P-I-N-K-B-E-R-R-Y.
And thanks to the Pinkberry website, I have this song stuck in my head too. But that’s all right. It’s almost as sweet as the frozen yogurt.
Time for another edition of Slacker Mom Confessions: I bribe my children.
I have never professed to be perfect. Lord knows I am far from it. For me, motherhood is all about survival. In fact my motto as I roll into my 40s is “I’m not seeking approval. I’m just trying to survive.”
And for about $1, these icy, sweet, nothing natural, saturated with food coloring slushees from Target help me do just that.
When I shop at Target with my girls, especially during the hot summer months, I willingly buy my girls a slushee. If they are good while we shop, they can refill their cups before we leave the store.
Works like a charm every time. Whatever it takes, my friends and in this case, it’s a little Blue #1 and Yellow #5.
When Liam was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, his orthopedic pediatrician assured us that he would reach his developmental milestones on time. However, his sisters were early crawlers and so you can imagine my concern when Liam wasn’t showing any signs of crawling at 6 months old. Even though I knew babies crawl anywhere from 6 months to a year, I still worried.
Within a week, Liam went from a wounded soldier crawl to crawling on all fours to pulling himself up to climbing the stairs all at the tender late young age of 8 months old.
Now, I have a whole new set of worries and none of them are whether he will be a late bloomer any more.
When my girls are due for a trim, Allana always begs me to take her to Sweet & Sassy for her haircut. I adore the whole Sweet & Sassy glittery pampering experience as much as my girls, but on a tight SAHMom-on-the-run race budget, princess haircuts at Sweet & Sassy simply are not financially feasible for two girls even with discounts or specials.
But when I got wind of Sweet & Sassy’s Tangled haircut promotion for the release of the Tangled DVD, I rushed the girls right into the salon. Any girl who donated 10” of hair to Locks of Love would receive a free haircut and style. BUT, would my girls be willing to donate 10” of their beautiful curls for a good cause and a free haircut?
Even if my girls weren’t willing to donate their hair, I decided to still bring them into the salon to take advantage of the “buy one haircut, get a second haircut 50% off” deal and all the Tangled fun Sweet & Sassy was offering.
So when I picked them up from school and informed the girls about Sweet & Sassy’s Tangled event, Allana agreed to do it. Her exact words were, “Sure. I’ll do it. Wait. How short will my hair be?” Emmalynn wasn’t quite so willing at first.
Using a tape measure, I showed the girls the length of 10”of hair and approximately how much hair would be left after the cut. Allana still agreed to do it. Once Emmalynn saw the length in the mirror, she was ready to do it. Her exact words were, “Oh! That will look so cute!”
And boy did those girls ever look so cute with their new dos! Later that evening, Allana told me she donated her hair in memory of Aunt June. Her unexpected, unprompted gesture caught me off guard and really choked me up.
I am so proud of my beautiful girls and their generosity.
I stumbled upon some tickets for a prescreening of 
