Fun Weekend

What a fun and exhausting weekend this little family had!!! Saturday we ventured to our local favorite toy store where we played until our hearts were content, and began a Christmas list for the girls.

After playing we ventured to lunch, then home for naps. We all napped except Maya who seemed to be having too much fun to nap at all this weekend! After naps we went to a Halloween party at Elliana's school. 

The girls were thrilled to wear their fancy dress up clothes out of the house and out in public. Once Maya realized that opening a bag and smiling, strangers put candy into her bag... Boy, it was a little like heaven on Earth!

We enjoyed games, lots of candy, popcorn, bounce houses and lots of laughter. Both girls even enjoyed their faces painted and were spinning in delight before the night was over. 

Sunday, well we cleaned. Which wasn't much fun but was more than needed. The girls bonded and argued and even played outside by themselves for a while. TJ and I couldn't help but admire them from afar as they played and giggled without adults. :)

To top off the weekend, we had wonderful friends over last night for dinner and pumpkin carving. It was a wonderful blessed weekend!!

SIght Words!!!

We bought a deck of sight word flash cards this summer. Level A seemed appropriate for our four year old who had just learned to read. She absorbed the words quickly and begged to study them often. 

 I admit, like most good intentions, the sight flash cards kind of fell off our radar. We did them on occassion, but with no real discipline or structure to our learning. What a surprise and delight it was to do flash cards this past week and have Elliana know ALL the words!! FRONT AND BACK!!! She has learned 108 sight words at just 4.5 years old!

And so...to mark this very special achievement I took photos!!! So very proud of this little girl and her very smart skills. Keep up the great work Elliana! 

Happy Girl rejoicing in her words

One side of the completed words!!

One of those weeks...

This past week has been a bit crazy. Okay, in all honesty is has been a bit BEYOND crazy. In one week we've had: a vomiting child during the night, a missed school field trip, sick toddler resulting in six hours at Children's Hospital ER, breathing treatment and steroids (also in the middle of the night), 103+ degree temperature, a fight with my dad, missed play date with cousins, cancelled much looked forward to camping trip due to closed National Park, rescheduled camping trip at a new location, only to be cancelled again by the oldest child then sporting 103+ temperatures and Croup. Cancelled slumber party and more fun  play dates scheduled for the long holiday weekend, a very disappointed little girl,  a fussy toddler who can't always express what she wants/needs, missed dance class, disappointment at not rescheduling the camping trip, two days of missed school, waking every few hours to check temperatures/distribute medicine for each child, another doctor appointment, migraine, Oh and the deep freezer broke and we lost more than $100 worth of food that was stored and had a lot of melted ice cream to clean up.

So...it's been a week! It's easy to  let all of that stuff get you down. And, depending on the moment, it did/does get us down.  BUT... amidst the craziness, we've had lots of good things too. Today, I was reminded of the verse Psalm 107:1, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."

I am choosing the good. I am giving thanks. And I LOVE the abundance of blessings we have been given...especially during one of those weeks.

Pajamas and Playdough

When awoken at 3:00 am by a vomiting child, it's inevitable that the plans for that day will be altered. 

Today, we had plans to attend Elliana's first school field trip. Yeah, I could tell even at 3 am that wasn't going to happen. 

And so, here we are home all day in quarantine. Truthfully, I wish a sick child wasn't the cause for the laziness but we are all enjoying our day thus far. 

We've watched movies, cuddled lots and are now teaching Maya the fine art of Playdoigh and pajamas. 

No Supermom

My friend jokingly refers to me as super mom. I laugh at her face and tell her she's crazy. Without really trying, I tried to be "that mom" today. That super mom that I aspire to, work toward and frequently fall short of attaining.

I had grandiose plans to wake up early, work out and get a shower before the kids awoke. At 6:00 am I am on the ground of my bedroom, crunching my first crunch when Elliana walks in, saying she is unable to sleep.  I tried to swallow my bitterness at my only scheduled "me" time was now foiled, so I strongly encouraged her to return to bed and jumped into the shower to at least get one of my goals met.

My shower was interrupted three times by that same cute child, making requests, and demanding attention. I smiled and tried my best to be "that mom."

I made a hot, fresh and HEALTHY breakfast. French toast, bacon, fresh fruit and orange juice. I spent too much of my morning cleaning, cooking and directing my children. Post breakfast I was greeted with a high five and a "good job Mom on making breakfast!" So...that gave me encouragement to keep it up.

I attempted to hem Maya's dress which I goofed on last week, so that the girls could wear their matching dresses.  That didn't work out too well, so we raided their closets until we found matching outfits (per their requests).

Fast forward, we dropped Elliana off at school. Maya and I ran errands and returned to school an hour later to volunteer for lunch duty. Maya fussed and cried the first two lunch duties, and when Elliana's class had arrived she was onto the "duty" part and tried removing lunch boxes from the table while children were eating, and then eagerly throwing away food when the kids were finished.

After lunch, I realized I managed to pack lunches for the girls and none for me. Hmm...diet pepsi and candy bar for lunch it is! Yep, pretty sure super mom WOULDN'T do that.

Maya threw tantrums in two different stores while we continued to run errands, maximize coupons and wait until pick up time for Elliana. I left both stores with both of us in tears. Awesome.

We came home and the girls played/fought for a while while I locked myself in the bathroom trying to maintain some sanity or at least not lose my cool. In my mind I ran through the list of to-do's and thought maybe checking some items off my list would help.

I went to my happy place and tuned out the girls as I made some zucchini bread. My first attempt and I must admit it smells awesome. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells. I put the girls to nap time and stepped over the Polly Pockets and Barbies to plop on the couch. And I admit, it feels good!

The caffeine and sugar is hitting my blood, the dirty dishes from baking and cooking are piled up in the sink and I am listening to my baby cry (who STILL hasn't napped). I'm not as stressed as I was earlier. I know I'm no supermom. And I feel good knowing I don't have to try to be "that mom." I'm just a mom. I have good days and bad. Good minutes and bad. And that's okay.

One day, there will be no Polly Pockets to climb over or Barbies to dress constantly. One day, there will be an opportunity to take my time in the restroom. One day, there will be an opportunity to watch a 40-minute television show without interruptions or taking 4 days to complete. Those days aren't in my forecast any time soon. What is in my forecast....smiles, hugs, cuddles and laughter. And that...is worth more than gold.