Valentine's Round Up

The boy's Valentines this year. 

Kevin was gone for 3 days in Orlando for work over Valentine's Day. Lucky me right???  However with all the chaos I was enduring with painter's and sick children, the boys still made Kevin a Valentine's banner. They were so cute I took A LOT of pictures. Jack and Breck both painted very differently. Jack stayed inside the "I love you", and Brecken just painted everything...even his mouth. It always amazes me how the set up takes longer than the actual process of painting.

We had another year at the cupcake bakery for the kids' valentines party. It was a world of difference from last year. They had crafts, cupcake decorating and they played games that even included a mini dance off party. The kids got in a circle and each one had to do their own dance. Very cute. I had forgotten my camera so I am making due with everyone else's pictures! 

It's true I love crafts. Okay I said it and I admit it. AND fortunate for me my friend Jackie hosted a "crafternoon" party at her house! We each had to bring stuff to make a craft, whatever we wanted within a 1.5 hour time frame, and at the end we did a white elephant game with everyone's crafts. Super fun. However it was very difficult to come up with something and make something that someone else would want! Paul and the girls went to our house to have a little craft party of their own. Craft beer. :) 

 The masterpieces..To the Left is Brecken and Right is Jack

Here we all are! 

 Brecken did a pretty good job eating all the frosting...and OBVIOUSLY so did Landon! 

 Look at these gorgeous women and their families! Very sweet pictures of Natasha and Melissa. Okay it's cracking me up that it looks like Melissa has a lollipop in her hair. 

 My sweet friend Michelle! She is the one who set it all up, and I can't thank her enough! It was a great time. 

Dance Partay!

Here is my lovely craft I made! Very hard to see here but I punched out dictionary "love" like words like beautiful, mother, cute...etc. My friend Leah got stuck with my picture and I got a lovely burlap vase that another girl made. :) 

It's my favorite

I love to talk about the boys. They are cute, funny and drive me crazy so I never run out of things to talk about. All kids grow up fast, and I know many of us say "We need to write this down before we forget about it" so here I am...writing it down.

Brecken is talking a lot and putting sentences together. It's really cute because we never got to see this with Jackson so young because it took him quite sometime to start talking. But he does this little jabber too that is so cute but he is not really saying any words. One of my most recent favorite things he does is when we call him to come eat.
US: "Brecken! Come get your breakfast!"
BRECKEN:  "K! I'm coming!!" And you can hear him running as fast as he can to get to the kitchen.
However also in recent meal times once he arrives at the table he tells us "I don't want this" and pushes his food away and gets down.

Brecken and his "I don't' want it" phase is funny, but it is getting old fast. Today in the car I gave him some pretzels, which he of course wanted. Then he started whining so I gave him more, and he started screaming "I don't want it" and crunched them all up and threw them on the floor. It reminded me of when I was younger, and I threw a fit because I was not done shopping at the drug store with my mom and SHE said it was time to leave. How dare she. I mean the hour and half we were in there was not enough time to spend my hard earned cash.  I ended up tearing a part a $5.00 bill in the middle of the parking lot into tiny pieces while crying. My mom says she picked up the money and took it to the bank and got a new $5 bill and never gave it to me. :)

Today Brecken took his nutella sandwich and pulled it apart. He used one half to rub his belly with it and the other to rip into little pieces on the floor. I guess he didn't want it. I should get the point already.

Brecken is SO into pirates lately. Thank you Trish for giving us all of Kevin's old pirates, castle and ship. Brecken talks about "piedites" all day long, and he pretty much always has a sword in one hand and a handful of "piedites" in the other.

I realize as I'm typing this that what they say and do is more funny when you actually see them do it. It's hard to put their expressions into words. But we all know Jackson loves his food. He tells me all day every day that he is thirsty AND hungry. I got him a Gogurt from the freezer the other day and.....

ME:  Is this what you want to eat Jack?
Jack NO! I don't want to eat it!
ME: Well what you do you want.
He points to the Gogurt.
ME: So you want to eat this.
Jack: NO!
Me: Okay well then what do you want.
Jack: THAT! I do not want to eat it mama. I want to lick it.

We got a lollipop from the bank yesterday, and while we were in the car driving away and we went through the whole Gogurt scene again but he also added..."Mom I want to lick it. It's delicious!" He over exaggerates the way he licks stuff, and the way he says delicious is so freaking cute.  I would give a lollipop every time just to hear him say it. He is rolling his L's with his tongue. His enunciation is very good.

Lately he has been walking over to me and "play" slapping my leg and saying "That's what eww get!" Okay I realize I just said he has good enunciation but definitely not on his Y's. But seriously, "That's what you get??".  Where did he get that?  I don't go around slapping him telling him that. It's cracking me up. I see him saying it to Brecken ALL THE TIME.

Right now Jack is SO into superheros, guns and legos! I never thought I would love boy toys as much as I do. I am LOVING that both of them are such boys, however the potty humor has already come out. Lucky us!

Jackson just keeps us laughing with what he says. Some days you get lucky and you are his best friend, but some days you are NOT. Mostly daddy. And apparently you only get to eat what is your favorite in Jackson's world. I want to live in Jack's world.

Playdate with Carter! 

Okay this picture makes me laugh because 

#1. Jackson's underwear is on backwards. Compliments of himself.

#2. They are always playing swords. Brecken loves that little sword I got at the dollar store. He takes it everywhere. 

I ADORE my little pirate. 

Lanny and Brecken are actually sharing here! They are like cousins they see each other so much. 

Dress up

I'm beginning to think something is seriously wrong with me. I can not stop buying toys for my children. Nor can I throw any out. So in consequence we have way too many toys and have run out of places to put them.

I recently went to our little consignment shop in the middle of town, which has always been a complete disaster every time I have been in there. But I don't mind. I rummage through so much junk and therefore I find many treasures that most people don't take the time to look for. This time I got Jack and Breck a big tub of dress up clothes. There was so much in that tub and it had two of everything. PERFECT! It was as steal at $20! Not that my husband agrees on anything I buy, but the boys are obsessed with dressing up, therefore I am obsessed with taking pictures of them in their outfits. I also picked up a play-dough dinosaur set, a BIG talking Star Wars space ship, a walking, talking and SHOOTING Iron Man AND a TON of adventure men with vehicles. I got all this and Jacks new favorite movie "Veggie Tales" for $40!!

They both were upstairs the other day with nothing but undies and train conductor hats. Jackson had a handful of pirate coins and he was taking Brecken shopping. I love walking into their conversations. Cute Cute CUTE!

Mr. Knight

My little Firemen!

 Hello Matey's! 

Bath Time

Bath time is Brecken's favorite time of the day. Once he hears the water running he is running to it. Kevin always gives the boys a bath. It's nice because I get a 10 minute break and clean up the kitchen and living room. Did I say that was nice? Obviously I'm losing my head OR I'm a mother who thinks things like cleaning without children is a break. But atlas I was lucky enough to bathe the boys a few times this week. They crack me up as they are always antagonizing each other one second and the next second they both are antagonizing me. They sure think they are funny.  What was not so funny is the flood we have in the bathroom afterwards.

Hello Handsome!

He was getting the biggest kick out of drinking from the faucet. Unfortunately they do this in my bathroom sink too. 

Brecken

Of course Jackson wanted the basket on his head the second Brecken did it. And his fishing pole is his gun. Everything is a gun. 

I love this boy. 

Babysitter Woes

Jackson is almost 4 years old, and we have never paid for a babysitter. I signed up for Sittercity and paid the monthly fee to interview potential babysitters. Its like a online dating for parents and sitters.  I had so many responses, and it was a bit overwhelming. I met with four of the fifty that had emailed me wanting the "job", and I liked three of them. That was back in August. It is now January, and I have never used any of them. I have tried multiple times, and they were unavailable every time. I'm very frustrated. A friend of mine recommended  a college girl, 19, who happens to be her daughters best friend. She babysits for two other people that are acquaintances of mine, and they LOVE her. I met with her, and I instantly loved her too. She was so sweet and the boys really did like her. Last Friday night we used her, and I was super excited about it and about the idea of having a great babysitter on hand finally. Jackson was a little under the weather, but I really wanted to make it work for the first time and in the end he seemed okay enough for us to go. We paid her $12 an hour, and we were gone from 6:30-11 PM so we essentially paid her $60. I looked up the average pay for a babysitter in our area for two kids, and this is the norm.

Before I left the house I had typed an entire page of instructions for her. Where we were at, phone numbers, etc. I had made dinner (penne pesto pasta) before we left, and it was sitting on the stove with the lid on. I set out plates, forks and filled their cups up with water. I showed her that Brecken's bottle was in the fridge and showed her the towels on the back of the door for after baths among other things.

I sent her a text at 8:30, and she had said the kids were already in bed and they were great.

When we came home this is what I saw...

1.  The house was clearly a disaster. I am a very tidy person and I don't expect her to clean my house, however I am making a point to say that it was indeed a disaster.

2.  The pot on the stove was still there empty and crusted over with residual pesto and cheese. The boys' plates were completely overflowing with pasta. I made a 1/2 a pound of pasta, which is half of a regular pasta box. Common sense would be that my boys are 1 and 3, and they don't eat like a 200 pound man. But she halved the entire pot of pasta on both plates. Didn't bother to put leftovers in the container I left out for her maybe because there was none since she filled the plates up. All of which were still sitting on the counter.

3.  I told her to give Jack veggie straws while he watched Team Umizoomi before bed. I showed her where the kids plates and bowls were. In that same cabinet we also have tupperware dishes. She got the biggest tupperware dish we have, and I have NO idea how many veggie straws she gave him. I found it in Brecken's room with veggie straws still in it, and I found veggie straws ALL. OVER. THE. HOUSE!

4.  Brecken's bottle was still left in the fridge, unused. :(

5.  The TV room upstairs looked like someone ransacked our house. The cushions, not the throw pillows, the cushions were all cock eyed and some were on the floor and the ottoman was pushed up against the wall where we have our TV hanging AND there were little hand prints completely covering the half the TV. The playroom was untouched with the vacuum lines still visible.

6.  When I went to get Brecken the next morning, his door was locked. Which isn't a huge deal because I had taken off all the door stoppers long ago because the kids put them in their mouths. So if the door hits the wall it usually pushes in the lock. But I am making a point to say it was locked. I got him up, and he was SOAKED. Also, not a big deal  because he pees a lot. BUT when I changed him, his diaper was on backwards. That is actually a difficult thing to do because its awkward while you are doing it. I'm not being unreasonable here. She is a babysitter not a first time dad or grandfather.

7.  Not a big deal, but she didn't use the towels I physically pointed out. She used the towels that I use as decor in the bathroom after baths.

So while some of these are not a big deal and others are and I am completely dumbfounded. I can't help but feel irresponsible for leaving my kids in her care. I met this girl. Kevin met this girl. My good friend recommended her and loves her like her own daughter, AND I had two other people vouch she was a great sitter because she babysits for them. What the heck did I miss, and how can I be more thorough the next time we have someone?

I don't think I'm being unreasonable here. I don't expect someone to even pick up toys, but I do expect someone to follow directions especially when you have hired them. Diaper backwards...BIG DEAL. No bottle....BIG DEAL. Letting the kids bang on the flat screen TV...BIG FREAKING DEAL!!!!! All the other things, while odd, are not a big deal, but altogether I can't handle it. I just wonder what the heck happened in my house! I paid $60.00 for all of that and to feel like I'm a worse mother than 5 hours before. I'm sick about it. What did she do from 8:30, when the kids went to bed, until 11 when we got there? Sit on that disheveled couch? I should have taken a picture of it because its unbelievable anyone could sit and watch TV. But she was upstairs watching TV when we came home and I'm baffled.

I'm sure you can gather that we will not be using her again. So we are at square one again. Yvonne please move down soon!!!

Patience

A few days ago we were knee deep in poop. Not just once. Not twice. But 5 different times. I washed poopy undies 5 different times and washed Jack up 5 different times... You want to talk about trying your patience? Two of the poop disasters became even more trying because while Jack was sitting on the toilet he dropped a Lego-sized gun in the toilet AND an arm of a Imaginext figurine in there. We HAD to fish them out because they are his "favorite". All I can think of is "patience".

I have started up again in our neighborhood bible study. We met for the first time a week ago Tuesday. It was really nice to get together again as I haven't seen some of these women since the Christmas festivities. We each had to think of a word to focus on for the entire year, and I had no idea what to use. To me it was like naming your child. I have way to many "motivational" words to focus on. So my first word was enjoyment. I want to enjoy every single second of life because its too short not to. But as I was cooking dinner and had Jackson screaming at me to change the TV because its not his "favorite" and Brecken hanging off my pant leg whining for whatever reason and I decided right there that enjoyment was just not going to do it for me. I need patience before I can enjoy even the simplest of tasks so I changed my word right before I walked out the door.

Someone once told me that anyone can be a parent but it takes someone special to become a mother and a father. I never really fully understood this until I became a parent and am having those very trying moments daily.  I only know of having children 3 and younger, but I know that right now that my life is very demanding. As they get older I know that my job will be different. It will be so much harder to the say the right thing and teach them the right way because, lets be honest, we don't always follow the same rules we want for our children.

My friend Jennifer has a daughter who is about 14. She had a talent show at her school a few weeks back, and when she was finished singing she was able to sit down next to her mother and watch the rest of the show. After seeing several talents, a set of girls went up to sing and  unfortunately they did not sing very well at all. The 14-year-old daughter turned to her mom and said "What was that?" with a disgusted tone. Now think about what you would say to your daughter or son in this situation. Would you smile and agree, or would you say the right thing? I really admire Jennifer for how she handled it. She took her daughter aside after the talent show and told her "It took a lot of courage for those girls to go out there and sing especially because one girl was much heavier than most of the girls. How would you feel if someone in the audience said the exact same thing you just said?" I know there was much more to this conversation but Jennifer did the right thing. I wonder how I would have handled it. I know I definitely have told Jackson not to do something because it would make him sad if it happened to him. But I also can see myself  saying "Yeah...what was that???!!" and having a funny moment with my son. This is just one small story that really got to me because I don't always do the right thing now, and I know the older you get the more important lessons are.  I have noticed things about myself that I must change if I want to challenge and teach my own children what is right from wrong. I have quite the task ahead of me.

They are having so much fun together. Always. 

I love this picture. Brecken is laying down the law and Jack is being sweet.

 Last night when Brecken finished his bottle Jackson say "Good Job Brecki! I Love you." and then he proceeded to give him a kiss. Brecken didn't even notice. :)

My Top Moments of the Week

My top 5 of this week

#1.  Play dough will never be one color. I MUST get over this!!
#2.  Lego's. Why are they so small? Why does Jack know every 285 piece by heart? Why does he always want the one that is some how missing? Oh I know...it's his "favorite".
#3.  Goldfish are not for eating. They are apparently the newest in-nose apparel.
#4.  We have reached the embarrassing moment of your child calling someone big or "fat" and not pretty, and after a run-in with a heavier woman Kevin had "the talk" with Jack. Now everyone of every race, size, gender and AGE is SOOO PRETTY. "And mama I not say someone is big. okay momma..okay!"
#5.  Last week when Kevin got to sleep in until about 6:50 AM and he comes downs stairs a little groggy while Jackson and myself are eating eggs at the island, Jack says to Kevin....
Jack: Why are you so mad?
Kevin: I'm not mad Jack. I just woke up.
Jack:  Confused, yet honest and innocent..."Yes you are. Look at your face."