Got me

Dallas was making this horrible high pitched squeal in the car today. I yelled backward "Dallas---that is the most obnoxious sound I've ever heard" He grinned at me and said "I know, isn't it?" and of course....he did it again.

Every little thing she does is magic....

Addi is killing me slowly. When I was pregnant with her my father promised me that my daughter would look just like me. I fully expected to give birth to a little me with brown hair and eyes...with a little Dora the Explorer haircut. Instead, I got the above...She's absolutely precious, but not what I envisioned. However, when she opens her mouth, I know exactly what my father meant. She IS just like me...she's fiesty, hard-headed and says the first thing that comes to her head. Love this kid...who with every witty that comes out of her mouth kills me just a little bit. Because, I know what's coming......

Needs Instruction Manual

Sorry, I missed Thursday. Not that I didn't have a story, I was simply exhausted. I'm doing a musical and trying to cast that and teach and be a mom, a taxi cab driver, a chef, a good friend, a contributing member of society....well, it was just exhausting. So, I skipped it.
Well, this is a whole new week, let's see what I accomplish.
Frick! Being a mom is the toughest job ever. I love my children and am blessed by them in my life. One aspect I did not expect as a mom was that I would feel the need to protect them from any harm or danger. I don't want ANYONE to hurt my kids and will hurt ANYONE who hurts them. But, lately, I've been finding myself in situations where I just want to bust somebody up. Usually, it's other 5 year olds. There's a whole lot more I'd like to say on the subject, but one day this will be read by my kids and the only theme I want them to take from it is that I love them fiercly.

Sharpie-dressed Man

I learned early on as a mother that if the kid is too quiet, they are up to no good. You wanna know how I learned that? When Dallas was not quite 2 years old, I left him alone in the office while I cleaned up a little bit. (To be fair, we were in a small apartment and the office was the playroom)
I didn't hear him making his regular playing sounds...so I walked in to the office and saw that he had taken a Sharpie permanent marker and colored all over my computer screen! When I said "Who did this?" He quickly raised his hand and said "Me".

Fine, I'll play!

I'm a little behind on my post goal, can you tell? Anyway, yesterday was a sick day at our house and when the Ibuprofen kicked in, the kids were doing just fine. In one of those rare moments, Dallas and Addi decided to make a "store" in their room. They wanted me to come play with them. Of course, I didn't want to. But Dallas tried everything to get me to go in there. "Mommy, everything is zero cents", "Mommy, I have your favorite color marbles", "Mommy, we take credit cards" Bless his heart, he tried everything. Finally, he comes in with a little piece of paper and says "Mommy, I know you can't say no to this....here's a coupon!"

Kiss My Grits

This morning I was on the phone with one of BFF's Michelle Wells Farmer (maybe you've heard of her). I was multitasking by talking on the phone, making my bed and feeding my kids all at the same time. I made 2 cereal bowls and 2 chocolate milks and carried them to the kids when I heard Dallas. What he said made me turn around with a quickness. Very seriously he says to me "Excuse me, but I didn't order this." I laughed at him and said "This isn't a restaurant, sorry buddy." Michelle heard the exchange and while laughing she says that I should tell him to "Kiss my Grits" (A spectacular reference to one of my old favorite shows, Alice) Of course I do. Dallas looks at me very confused and Addi says "I'll kiss your grits!"

Mama Monday: He's got a point

In my home this weekend there was a lot of talk about our trip to New Orleans this summer. You see, this July is our church's youth gathering and I am on the planning committee. I am super excited for my children to experience a youth gathering at a young age and see what they have to look forward to. It isn't often you get to be in a place with over 25,000 youth in attendance, all of whom BELIEVE the same thing. It's pretty awesome and overwhelming. Another reason that I'm really anxious about sharing this with Dallas specifically is that when I was pregnant with him and I walked into a mass event I felt him move for the first time. He was moving in response to the loud music. To this day, my boy loves music and singing and I know that the gathering was were he was first exposed to it. So, I want to see his 5 year old face light up when he walks into the superdome and experiences it again. Oh, I'm just all goose-bumpy thinking about it.

This weekend as we are talking about it; I mention that I'm excited for the kids to experience a new city....New Orleans. One of my goals as a parent is to have my kids visit lots of places as my parents did for me. Dallas hears this and says "New Orleans sounds good, but I want to experience Chicago"

If you're Happy and You Know it.

I don't know if I'm raising a pleaser or what; but lately all my girl can ask me is if I'm happy. She will get really close to my face and say "You happy, Mommy?" and she will repeat it and scream it until I yell "Yes, I'm Happy!!!!" to which she replies "Then I'm happy too!" and goes along her merry way.
I figured out how to use this to my advantage. When she is doing something I don't care for, I look at her and say "I'm not happy" and then she gets very serious and stops the bad behavior.
If that doesn't work I deny her some cake.
Hey! Whatever it takes is my motto.