Workin' Hard

Guess what?  I didn't take a nap this weekend.  Kind of a bummer  because I heart naps but kinda great because it was so sunny we decided to do yard work!!!  Now, I don't exactly love yard work.  In fact, I kind of dislike it.  But I do love the sun and I had some pretty good helpers so we actually had a great time.  We don't spend a lot of time working in our yard, and it shows.  Our curb appeal is less than appealing.  The trouble is, that with 2 and a half acres, I really don't know where to start.  And once you start it never ends.  But yesterday, I decided to start at the beginning.  Right by the mailbox.  Because it is like a jungle up there, that's why.  Branches blown down in storms, dead weeds from our major spray last summer, just a big ol' mess.  So I took my rake and got to work.  Of course I brought the best little helper I could find.

 While I raked and pulled things out of the woods, Ben loaded it all into the trailer for me.  At one point, he moved some things around and said, "There you go Momma.  I just organized it for you."  Be still my heart.

 The whole time he worked,  he kept telling me how much he loved helping and what  good worker he was, and did I think we should go in soon?  Because he didn't since it was "such a beautiful day".  And what do you know?  That kid filled up the whole trailer! 

 I did help him with one if the long logs (or rather, he helped me) but he did every last other bit of that himself!  Where was the other half of our family during all this?  Well, Robbie was at work (so I guess that excuses him) and work isn't really Abby's thing.  So she was busy playing in the sprinkler/mud.

 Eventually, she decided to join us.  She helped a little but they spent most of the time playing my very favorite game (hope you are picking up on my sarcasm) "momma baby".  This is played daily at my house and it goes like this:  Abby is the momma (so she can make sure Ben is always doing just what she wants him to), Ben is the baby (so he can talk in his baby voice) and I get to be the gwamma.  All day long it goes like this.

BEN: "Momma?"
ME: "What?"
BEN:  "NO.  You're the gwamma.  I'm talking to my momma."
Oh yeah.  How could I have forgotten?

 But they worked hard, and had a good time so when Daddy came home from work with pizza, they couldn't have been more excited to picnic on the tailgate.  Easiest dinner ever!!

 And this morning?  We were right back out there.  Weeding the one flower bed that we have and finishing up the work on the driveway.

I feel better about how things look, even though we have a long way to go.  But man, I sure could use a nap!!

I have no words

Crazy, right?  It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while I find myself not knowing what to say.  This, my friends, is one such situation. It all started when my mom was cleaning out her house.  Now don't get me wrong.  I'm all for people cleaning things out.  Especially people who might eventually be leaving all of their worldly belongings to me.  The problems begin when they start trying to pawn their stuff off on me and the people I live with.  So there I was, minding my own business, when Mom decided that she should offer my husband this:

 Yep.  My senior picture. Stop laughing.   Not sure why they had a 20x30 framed photo of me but now we have it.  The best part was that since it was Easter, after we left my parents' house, we went to other family gatherings where Robbie (much to my dismay) proudly paraded his new treasure around.  Just wait.  It gets better.  Soooo much better. 

As it turns out, Ben loves me "vewy vewy much".  And sometimes when you love someone you like to have pictures of them nearby.  He asked for the gigantic picture of me to be hung in his room and of course Robbie couldn't comply fast enough.  (Seriously, where is this enthusiasm when I need something hung up??)  I have been meaning to find something to spruce up Ben's walls (beside all of his Lego boxes, of course) and although this wasn't exactly what I was thinking of (and in my opinion, it is hung a bit high) at least it is one thing I can cross off my list.

Ben is happy (he told me he's never taking it down), Robbie can't stop laughing and for once, I have no words.

This Much I Know

After 1,927 days of being a momma, I took my first vacay without kids this weekend.  Sure, I've had time without them (like when my parents kept them for 2 days so we could move) but this was my first real, actual, true vacation.  And it. was. awesome.  Here are a few things I learned about myself and my life in my 96ish hours away:

#1.  I have got to do that more often.

#2. If I lived somewhere sunny, I would never (I mean EVER) do anything.  Seriously.  How can you be expected to work in these conditions?

#3.  Real friends fix your hair when the stylist makes you look like George Washington.  (Thankfully, there is no photo of this mishap available.)

 #4.  My friends are hilarious.  And we aren't afraid to bring a little crazy to a party.  Yes, Alayna dropped a pretty penny on a fluorescent mesh tank top and bedazzled shorts.  And yes, she wore it out at night.  And yes, the manager of the bar sent over a fishbowl full of alcohol for her efforts.  I'll give you a minute to compose yourself.

 #5.  I hope when I travel with my family that I am more like the dad in front of me on the plane who was traveling by himself with three young, well-behaved kids (who he spoke kindly too) than the family across from me.  At first, it was funny when the kid screamed everything because he was wearing head phones, but halfway over the good ol' US of A, I was kind of over it.  And the way his mom snapped at him every time he said something and his dad couldn't be bothered to take off his own headphones to answer a question every once in awhile.  I know that traveling with kids is hard, believe me, but when I finally get the chance to travel without them, a bickering family is about the last thing I'm interested in.

#6.  My friends are THE BEST.  We have known each other for almost 14 years and I truly couldn't ask for anything better.  We don't talk daily and we sometimes go way too long without seeing each other but when we are together there is nothing better.  We get each other's jokes, we laugh til we cry (or in my case, snort), we love each other's kids and husbands and parents.  We've been together for A LOT of weddings and we have special memories of each one.  From Kristal's and my weddings a decade ago to Kristin's last weekend, everything is right with the world when we are all belting out the lyrics to Jagged Edge.

Kristin, you were beautiful and girls, I love you more than you could know.  Thank you all for an unforgettable weekend.

Spring Break is Over?!????

How did it go so fast??  I guess we were too busy having fun.  What did we do?  Well I thought you'd never ask.

We hung out with our cousins:

 Practiced skateboard tricks:

 Reorganized the pantry:

 Yes, again.  I have a sickness, I tell ya.

Colored Easter Eggs (with Kool Aid...thank you very much, Pintrest):

Honed our chicken herding skills:

 Hunted for eggs:

Played our first T-ball game:

 Hunted  for more eggs:

 Participated in the obligatory special day front porch photo shoot...with typical results:

 And hunted for MORE eggs:

 In between all that we did some swimming and playing and zooing and snuggling and shopping and reading and sunning.  And oh yeah....we have a bike rider!!

 Yesterday Ben rode by himself for the first time!!  Both of them have been so close for a long time but are always so nervous that we will let go that they turn around to see if we are holding on and fall over.  Of course, that could have something to do with our unconventional method of teaching.  Training wheels, who needs 'em?  Not us!  We just run the half mile loop around our neighborhood hunched over holding onto the seat of the bike, scraping the kids off the pavement every time we cramp up and let go for half a second. Small bikes?  Naw.  Grandma got these bikes at yard sales for $10 bucks apiece.  Great deal!  Except for the fact that the kids can't actually touch the ground.  Minor detail.  And don't forget the added bonus of having two kids the same age is that you get to do everything times two!!  Add to that that by the time we drag the bikes to the end of the driveway so that we can ride (a term I'll use quite loosely) on the pavement at least one kids is usually whining about how hard it is.  Gee, wonder why this hasn't always gone so well.

  Thankfully my friend from work let us borrow the little bar to help hold the bike at a comfortable height.  And yesterday, Abby stayed inside to color with Robbie while Ben and I headed out to ride.  It is amazing what you can accomplish with just one kid! He was wobbly and whiny at first but by the time we got back to the house he was going on his own!!!  He was proud.  We were proud.  And Abby was jealous.  Because, as you know, the life of a twin must always be fair.

So on the bike she hopped and for the first time in her life, she actually tried to ride it.  She didn't scream and turn around to grab onto my arm every time she thought I was letting go.  She rode straight.  She pedaled fast.  And when she fell over and scraped her ankle (or as she refers to it, got "road rash") she got back up, changed her shoes (cause maybe Mom was right when she suggested that Crocs, however stylish they may be, were NOT the best for riding bikes) and tried again.  I made the mistake of telling her that she was getting close and with just a couple more days of practice she would be able to ride like her brother.  Today, as we were practicing at my mom's house, she looked up at me from the bike that she cannot yet balance on and said, "I can't believe that tomorrow I will be as good as Ben!"  Ooops.  Probably not.  But getting closer everyday. 

 Truth be told, the two of them together would be one awesome bike rider.  He can balance, but often finds himself in the ditch because he can't steer or stop.  She is usually at a 70 degree angle but can stop on a dime and steer straight.  They have a goal of being able to ride their bikes to the big boulder we usually walk to when we visit our lake cabin on Memorial Day weekend.  A couple more sunny days on the cul de sac and they just might be ready!

Spring Break, as always, was just what I needed.  Time to relax with my family and gear up for the last few months of school.  While that seems a little overwhelming, I do think that I can make it for three days this week.  Which is all I have to do since I leave for Miami on Wednesday.  (More details on that to come).  For now, it is time for me to get some sleep because tomorrow morning is coming soon and it's going to hit like a ton of bricks.  Nighty night!

The Best Day of the Week

 This week?  It was today.  T-ball day.  Folks, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't get much funnier than T-ball.  Take 30 5-year-olds who don't have a clue about what they are doing, and let them loose.  Wait.  That sounds like my life on a daily basis.  Except in T-ball, you have the added entertainment of the 10 or so "coaches" (dads) out on the field trying to manage the chaos.  And you have bats.  Metal bats.  And all the kids are dressed the same and the helmets are way too big for them so you can't see their eyes so (and maybe this was just me) I couldn't even tell which kids were mine.  Hilarious, I tell ya. 

By the time we got to the field I was already pretty giddy because of how cute they looked in their uniforms:

And then, warm ups began.  That's when things started getting good.

First up, Abby playing catch with her BFF Rylee.  Here she is hurling the ball back.  What you can't see is that Rylee is not looking even remotely in Abby's direction so she has no clue that a ball is coming straight for her.  Luckily for Rylee, Abby's throwing distance is not her strongest T-ball skill so there was no need to panic.  (Wondering what IS her strongest T-ball skill?  Without a doubt, looking cute.)

 Here's Ben.  This is called an action shot, I believe.

 Here's Ab.  Notice her hustling to get the ball.

 And Ben explaining to someone what it is they are supposed to be doing...

 Finally, it was time for the game to start.  Ben was on third....

 And Abby started out as the first base girl...

 The kids all get a chance to hit and they all get to run one base at a time.  Which is probably for the best, considering that otherwise every hit would be a home run due to the ball managing abilities of 5-year-olds.  Poor Abby was a bit confused at first, but the good news is that Ben was always there to back her up.  (Third base doesn't get a lot of action so he just kept running over to make sure she was doing her job.) 

And then, it was finally their turn to hit.  Here's my little lefty on her way to first base!

 For the second inning, Ben got to be the catcher!!  So they strapped him up in about 40 pounds of gear and set him behind the plate...

 And Abby just kept doing what she does best...

 The third (and final) inning Ben played short stop and I'm not sure whether he didn't think that he could throw that far or didn't trust the catching capabilities of the catcher, but every ball that he got his hands on he just ran into home plate.  A strategy that worked quite well for him because by the time the kid on third realized he was supposed to be running and not staring at the sun, Ben was halfway to home plate with the ball in his mitt.

The kids had a blast today and so did I.  Here's hoping that the sun makes an appearance for some of our  other games because it sure was nice.  If you're looking for some entertainment on a Saturday afternoon between here and June, let me know because a T-ball game might just hit the spot.  Today was definitely the best day of the week!

The Real Housewife of GH

Yup.  That's me.  At least for this week.  It's Spring Break and I am spending the week being a SAHM.  This is the life, I tell ya.  Taking the kids to school and picking them up? Check.  Dinner eaten and cleaned up by 5:30? Check.  House picked up before dark?  Check.  Naps? Check and double check!  This housefrau thing is awesome!  How do I get all this done when I work?

 And we've been having so much fun!  In just 2 days, we have been very busy.  My sweet nephew stayed with us Sunday night and yesterday we had the best time playing with him.  I LOVE two year olds.  In fact, if I could just start with a two year old, I could totally do 3 kids.  Hardly any extra trouble at all!  Today, we spent the morning swimming at the Y.  My little fishies could swim all day.  Annnnnd, they took their first trip down the water slide!  Their first 30 or so trips, actually.  We knew they would love it, but they've always been too scared to try.  Luckily, Robbie was with us and he isn't afraid to bribe them.  When Ben resurfaced at the bottom of the slide he looked at me with a big smile and said, "Daddy said we could get ice cream if we went down the slide."  So we did.  Just so happens that today was free cone day at Ben & Jerry's.  Yummmm!  They were so nice and as soon as we finished our cones, they offered us another. As much as I wanted to take them up on it, I politely declined and we headed home for lunch.  Yeah, we ate dessert first.  We really know how to party it up for Spring Break. 

Tonight, we are watching movies that we checked out from the library and who knows what other wild and crazy things we have planned for this week.  Hanging out with friends?  Hopefully.  A trip to The Container Store and IKEA?  In the works.  More naps?  You bet your britches.

When this week is over, I will hopefully feel ready for 58 more days of my working mom life.  That's how long I have until my long awaited summer, when life gets really good.  I feel lucky that I really love my job and that it allows me so much time to be home with my kids.  This week, I am especially loving it.  Cause I love to take naps.