Mommy Time

So today is the start of the Olympics one of my favorite things to watch on TV ( besides CNN of course). I have said since the boys were born that I wanted one of them to go to the Olympics and when a gold medal and say I did it for you Mom!! So I started thinking about how I have so many hopes and dreams for my boys, but not much in the way of dreams for myself. Everyday revolves around what I am going to do for the boys and there is no time for what I want to do for myself. I guess I have been in the mindset that being this way makes me a better mother a selfless person who gives her all to her family. I had a breakthrough this morning reading a book I got in the mail from MOPs called the Mommy Diaries. I do need time for myself, and I need to have goals and interests outside of family. This does not make a selfish Mom but a Mom that is happy and fulfilled in all areas of life! So if by chance one or both of my boys wins a gold medal in the Olympics I hope they say "I did for myself"!

It has been awhile!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't blogged since May! Well, we have been busy around here. The boys are working on the potty still, but are coming along :) I guess I have the oldest kids around still in pull ups!!! Anyway, we finally booked our vacation, which I am excited about, we are going to Panama City Beach at the end of the month. This weekend has been nice, we went to the Discovery Center this weekend on a free family pass. Matt and I had a good time seeing the boys so excited over everything. Today we went to the mall, and out to eat. The boys are getting so much better about going out to eat here lately, I really hope it doesn't end while we are on vacation!! Also the boys will be starting school once we get back from FL so I need to get their lunchboxes bought, and their nap mats. I can't believe they are starting school so soon, but I am hoping to get some stuff done around the house those two days, and start my e-bay business up again. There seems to be so much I want to do right now but I am kinda on hold until we get though August. Well, I need to go get my CNN fix before bed!

Visiting VA

We are still visting my Mom and Dad and Northern Virginia, and the boys are having a blast. So far we have been playing outside a lot, gone to my brothers house in Richmond, visited a park that has a train that you can ride around on, and gone to the movies to see Horton sees a Who. Needless to say, the boys are really tired. Today they have been cranky, they just need some sleep I supose. It stays light outside until after 9 O'clock here, back home I thought it was getting dark around 8 or so. So I have had some difficulty getting them to go to sleep at night. Hopefully they will take a good nap today and sleep well tonight, because tomorrow we are going to the National Zoo in DC. I have never been so I am excited too! I will post pictures from the zoo later this week!

Happy Mama's Day!!

Happy Mama's day to all of you hard working moms out there! I don't think I really understood the idea of Mother's day until I had my boys. I know better now all the hard work my Mom did for me and my brother all those years and still to this day. Thanks Ma for being the the best mom anyone could ask for! And thank you to my Husband for giving me a very special, restful Mother's day weekend! I hope everyone else had a great Mother's day as well. This Mama is going to go get in bed and get ready for my week ahead!

Big Boys!

Well, I finally broke down and moved the boys in to big boy beds this last weekend. It went as well as I could have hoped for. I was about in tears though, taking down the cribs. I remember when we put the cribs up in anticipation of our babies. We haven't actually gotten the toddler beds yet, they are on order. Jack informed me that this was not a bed, "it is just a sheet and a pillow!" Their mattresses are on the floor for the time being, their beds should be in next week. In other news, Matthew is getting more interested in the potty, and has used it at least six times in the past few days. This is exciting, but Jack still has little interest. I guess I will focus my attention on Matthew right now and how the sibling competition that Jack certainly feels will come into play soon. Well, I need to go get ready for the day, hopefully I can get some stuff done today.

High Flyin Fun!

Today my husband, the boys, and I went to the air show that was in a town close to ours. The boys had so much fun! They loved watching the airplanes flying and looking at the ones that were parked around for everyone to see. Matthew did get a tad bit upset the first time he heard the fighter jets but it was nothing a little funnel cake couldn't cure:) If you know Matthew, you know he loves his food! The boys actually got to sit in a little two seater airplane, and we all got to go up in an Army cargo plane. I had a great time too, it was my first trip to an air show, and the Blue Angels were unbelievable. I feel completely worn out tonight though, I am ready for bed!

New Hair Cut

Well, we finally got the boys' hair cut for the spring. They certainly were glad, poor Matthew his hair falls right in his eyes :( We took this picture this weekend, after our fun filled day. We got their hair cut, then went to have Who cakes at IHOP. They are celebrating Dr. Seuss with some really fun food for the little ones. Then once the boys got up from their nap we went and got Dippin Dots ice cream! The boys have never had that and neither had I. Jack kept saying I like these rocks can I try your rocks:) Well so far this week seems to be going well for us. Everyone is feeling better and the weather has been some what decent. A friend of ours had us over today to play and the boys had a great time playing with all of their friends. Hopefully we will get to the park this week for some outdoor fun. I've gotta run, more laundry is calling me!

EVIL EMPIRE

Let me start by saying that I am not a protester by nature, in fact I have never been involved in one at all. These stories have changed all of that, and I felt compelled to share them with the people who come upon my blog. I am not asking anyone to join me but to just read and think about this Evil Empire that almost all of us are supporting each month.

The first horrifying story
My Husband came home last night and told me this horrifying thing that had just happened to a co-worker of his. His Co-worker calls on Wal-mart's Corporate office in Bentonsville Arkansas. while he was down there this week, he pulls into the parking lot and sees a two year old child wandering around clutching his blanket. All the child can say is Mama. When he goes inside to see if anyone knows the child or can help he hears this response, "We don't care, you can call the police if you want to but leave us out of it."He proceeds to ask FOUR different Wal-Mart Corp. employees in Multipul buildings in there office complex and gets the same response. So he goes back outside with the child and someone from across the street comes over and says that child has been wondering around Wal-mart Corporates parking lot for 2 hours! So my husband's co-worker proceeds to call the police and the child was taken by DHS. Just think about the amount of people that must have walked by this child all alone in a parking lot and did NOTHING! I know the first response is to say well this is probably just just a few bad people who works inside wal-mart's headquarters, however read story number two and decide if this is characteristic of Wal-Mart as a whole.

Story number 2
A women who is an employee of Walmart is hit by a 18 wheeler and has sever brain damage and has to live in a nursing facility. The family wins a law suit against the trucking company that in the end amounts to $400,000. Wal-Mart sues the woman for $400,000 because they had in fine print that if their insurance paid for something that was later won in a law suit they could come back and collect. So what they did was legal, but was is ethical? The woman is not wealthy, she was using this money to pay for the nursing care. Her son was killed in Iraq shortly after her accident. Wal-mart paid $300,000 in legal fees to win the $400,000 suit! Wal-mart makes BILLIONS of dollars each year and is worried about what amounted to $100,000?! Since this story made the news this week Wal-Mart decided to let the woman keep her money but doesn't this demonstrate to all of us what kind of a company this is?

I say all of this because I could only think, what if this had been my child in story number one and no one would help him? How could a company pride it self on helping the community and then encourage its people to have no compassion? Wal-mart will probably still make billions of dollars of profit this year, but it won't be with any help from me.

Everybody wants to rule the world

Driving the other day I heard that song by Tears for Fears, Everybody Wants to Rule the World. This song took me back to the first few months with the boys, what a crazy time. I am sure everyone knows the first line to that song but in case you don't remember it, it goes "Welcome to your life, there's no turning back". That pretty much sums up how I was feeling during that point in mine and the boys life. I am so happy to say that both the boys and I have come a long way since then. Sure we have our ups and downs, but nothing compared to those days. So anyway, I was really thinking about this because potty training was a bust this weekend, and I was feeling like a failure of a mother and feeling uneasy in this uncharted territory, much like I did in those first months. I am happy to say that my husband talked me off the ledge and really was a great support to me. Also I am just not going to listen to any of the people to have been putting pressure on me to potty train and just let the boys lead the way. I have to say Matthew did pee pee on the potty tonight without pressure from me. I am excited about that but I am not holding my breath. I am hopeful that this next stage in the boys lives will be a learning experience for the three of us that is full of love and patience not pressure and stress.

Super Matthew to the rescue....and The dreaded POTTY!

Well, my super hero Matthew found my KEYS today!!! YEAH!!! I was so happy and Matthew was thrilled that he made Mama so excited. So I know you are wondering where they were, well they were in my oriental bar in the kitchen behind the door that is supposed to hold wine glasses. The absolute ONLY place I did not look! So all is well that ends well, and I am definitely going to get something to hang my keys on this week:)



On to the potty. Well, I just decided last night that I was going to start today with potty training again. I am not really sure why I decided this other than I don't have much going on right now, and they have been showing interest in keeping their Pull-ups dry. So we had no success today, only accidents but I am holding on to the idea that it will just click with them in a few days. At least this time I have the real training pants and they are not leaking quite as bad on my floors. I really hope this is going to work this time. I know the boys are capable of understanding this and it is just a matter of getting used to the idea and taking a break from playing to use the potty. I will post more this next week on our progress. Wish me luck!

The Interagator

What a day!! So I lost my keys today, which is not an uncommon occurrence, but this time I REALLY lost my keys. They are in the house some where but where I don't know. So I look in all the places that I would normally leave them and guess what they are not there! So I take my husbands extra key and drag the boys to Kroger and the dollar store because I am board and because I said I would bring a spinach pie to my MOPs group tomorrow. So I go and what do I do??? I loose my husbands key!! I am about to reach the uncontrollable crying point when I decide to go back to Kroger and the dollar store and retrace my steps. Guess what they are not there! So finally I find them buried in bottom of my stroller. Go home, and start looking for my set of Keys, look for two hours and still can not find them! The boys get up and then the real fun begins. I ask them did you take my keys? First I get the usual no but then I say Mama won't be mad if you tell me where they are. So I get about 25 different locations and none of them hold my precious keys:( I really feel for the Interrogators in Guantanamo Bay because I know what they feel like now. "Sure Mama I know where your keys are" "Where are they?" "I don't know." "But you just said you did." "oh" "Maybe they are in my bicycle, or the window." This went on for about an hour until I gave up. So the moral to the story is my husband is right and I need a place to put my stuff so I don't loose it. I still haven't found the keys yet. Oh and I realized that the lady at Kroger forgot to give me the spinach I bought...I am ready for bed now!

The Easter Aftermath, Allergies, and a Tired Mom

Well, the Easter Bunny was a hit with the boys this year. They loved their baskets and all the goodies inside! We had a great time at Matt's Aunt's house visiting all of our relatives. I have to say the egg hunt was quite cold, it even started snowing on the drive home! I loved the Easter baskets so much I am putting a picture of them on my blog:)

So the boys have had a lingering cough for about two weeks now, and so I decided to take them to the Dr. today and check on it. Turns out that they both have allergies and need claritin every night for a while. I really hate that for them, allergies are so bad to have. I guess living in Nashville you really can't escape allergies though.

Well, this mama is tired, and I need to go think about dinner and put ANOTHER load of clothes in the wash. It seems laundry is all I do these days!

Easter Bunny :)

So I finally got the boys Easter Bunny picture scanned in to the computer tonight! It came out better than I ever thought, especially since we didn't even sit on Santa's lap for fear of two screaming boys!! As you can see, they really like the Easter Bunny. I have got their baskets all finished, and ready for them in the morning. Matt has been laughing at me all day because I had to buy special cellophane wrapping bags for their Easter baskets. You know when you have certain memories of holidays as a child you want to recreate them for your own kids. Well, obviously mine was a cellophane wrapped basket:) I was so proud though, because I found one with a green bow (Jack's favorite color) and one with a blue bow (Matthew's favorite color). We have got Easter all day tomorrow at Matt's aunts house, and of course every one is bringing eggs to hunt and some goody bags. By the way, I am really getting into to this goody bag thing, I worked on the Easter goody bags all afternoon. They looked so good though, I can't wait for the kids to see them tomorrow. Well, this bunny better get to bed before all of our stuff tomorrow. Happy Easter!

Go Patriots!!!

I am so excited that my Alma Mater, George Mason University has made it to the NCAA playoffs! They are playing tonight against #5 Notre Dame. Go Patriots!!!!!

Hunting Eggs and a New Hair style

Here are some pictures from our playgroups Easter egg hunt this week. The boys were all into getting eggs! At first Jack wanted to eat the candy as he went along, but he soon got the hang of it. The day was so beautiful too, 75 degrees, and it is early March too!! We have pictures with the Easter bunny next week, and then of course Easter next Sunday. I will be sure to post pictures from all of that too.

This morning I went to get my hair cut, and cut off about 6 inches or so give or take a little! I am so excited to have that hair off my back:) I haven't had this short of hair since I was in high school, and my husband has never seen it this short! I think he might have been a little caught off guard by it at first. My next thing will be to go back blonde. I will definitely be doing that in May before my cousins wedding. Come to think of it I need to loose a few pounds before then too:)

Well we are off to the boys cousins 1st birthday tomorrow, busy week ahead. I will post more pictures when I can.

MAD MONDAY

This has to be one of the worst Mondays I have had in a long time. Matthew woke up this morning and fell to the ground unable to walk. Yes, he could not walk. So he was crying and limping around, and I tried to feel on his leg to see if it was hurt. I call the Dr. and had to bring him in late in the morning, but by the time we got there he was walking again with just a slight limp, and I still have no idea what caused him to limp!

Then Jack has been awful all day. He didn't get much sleep last night, and I think they might be ready to give up their naps. Matt got home late, when I thought for some crazy reason that he would be home early. So my head hurts, and I feel like just crying. I think I am going to go to sleep and see if tomorrow will bring a better day!

Blizzard of 2008!!!

So we had a first real snow of this year, a whole 3 inches!! Which by the way in Nashville is a HUGE snow. The boys had so much fun playing in it today. They had their first sledding experience, snowball fight, and they made snow angels! We tried to make a snowman, but the snow was so dry it wouldn't stick together :( I guess this will probably be our last snow of the season too. I am now officially ready for spring!

Happy Birthday Boys!!!

Well, this is a little late (the boys birthday was last Friday) but I wanted to post a picture of them on their birthday. Matthew and Jack are three years old now, I can hardly belive it. They had a great time at their party. All their little friends came, and I think they all enjoyed it as well. My mom came down for it and that was really nice, I always get a good break when she comes down. Well, I am really tired tonight so this is going to be a short post. !

Little law breakers!

The boys and I met some friends today at a mall that is going to be closing soon, but has a great play area. I took this picture of the boys playing on the stage and the sign that says "Do not stand on stage". It was too funny! This picture pretty much descibes their attitude the past two weeks, "Whatever you tell me to do, I will do the exact opposite!" I shouldn't complain to much because at the moment I am typing and they are playing very well with each other, and this is not the norm around here.

Good Start, Bad Ending.

Well, today started off really well. I took to boys to see some of our friends at the mall and they got to play and have fun. Apperently this was not enough to get them to nap well, because they woke up very early. Well, now this is where the fun begins. Both the boys threw their spagetti in the floor. Then I told them to go up stairs and play while I cleaned it up. This is where they proceded to take every book off the shelf and throw it in the floor. Then I brought them back down stairs for a bath, and wouldn't you know while I was getting things setup, the boys took soap and squirted it all over each other. At this point I am really ready for them to go to bed and it is only 6:30!! I am really hoping this weekend is going to be better, I am not sure how much more of this I can take. I think I am in some serious need of a break. Hawaii anyone?