Monday Confessions

If I am honest, it's been a challenging day. Nothing has necessarily been different than a normal Monday but I am challenging my own heart attitudes today. I am really not as nice as I like to think I am (and if you don't even think I am nice, I totally understand!). Life has sort of worn me down lately. I won't bore you with all the details but often the propsect of waking up on Monday morning, facing a week with my 3 kids knowing I am their primary caregiver for most of it...doesn't get me started off in a good mood. It's an honest struggle. I was thinking about not even posting on the blog today for fear of being discouraging, but I am just being real. 

What did I do though? I read some good honest truth both from the Bible and about motherhood. (If you need a good read, Desperate Mom is where it's at!) 

1. What stuck out to me this morning was this, Proverbs 14:1 "The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands."

Striking...I both have the power to build up my home or tear it down. This morning's ugly attitude had potential to tear down so I needed to get it in check! What helped? Obviously the scripture, but also some more thoughts from the book. 

2. Yesterday we had the awesome opportunity to participate in the 10th Annual Buddy walk that is put on my the Down Syndrome Association of DE. Our lives became directly connected with the DS gang last year through many streams of events but mostly a couple of good friends gave birth to babies with DS. It has truly opened my eyes and altered my perspective but I will share those thoughts another time. Here's to team X-Men, for Maddex and Knox, for being the biggest team out there! It was a great first year effort for them and ALL the people involved. I am excited about what the fundraising can do for the furture of all these sweet kiddos!  

Here's the boys and their families! Knox's Daddy isn't pictured because he is deployed and serving the US! I have to say, these are two awesome women in this picture too that I am glad to call friends! 

3. This brings me to another thought, if you know someone who is affected by Down Syndrome and want to read a great book written by a mother of a child with DS, Bloom is the best. The author, Kelle Hampton, is a beautiful writer and is very open and raw with her first encounters with her daughter. This book came to me at a time last year when I needed to read it! It peeled back the curtain on mothers with a special needs child for me and gave me new eyes to see them, to love them. Honestly, I think it's a great read for any mother. She explores motherhood, faith, and all sorts of things that kept me turning the pages. I literally gave up everything and read it in an afternoon last year! Btw (can I text abbreviate on my blog?!), I have fallen in love with following her on instagram and seeing her little Nella in photos!

4. I have been exploring recipes and my kids have not appreciated it. Although, my husband has enjoyed it! I tried to tell my kids the other night "not all mommies like to cook or try to cook new things." Their appreciate was about as excited as I am to take the trash out. I did try this for Sunday night dinner and although mine didn't look pretty, it tasted great! Braided Spaghetti Bread is delish! I found the bread dough right at my local Acme too, fyi!

5. I confess, I am glad the long weekend is ahead for more family time! I have some birthday planning to do for my little man who turns two. We are truly keeping it simple with a very small family party but I am still going to try to do a few cute things! 

Have a great week friends!

Monday Confessions, Mother's Day edition

Whew, what a weekend! We went on a "mini-vacation," as the kids were calling it, for the weekend to Lancaster, PA. We just needed a big dose of family time. We have definitely been burning the candle on both ends for a while. My semester just ended and Mother's Day weekend seemed like a good time to get away! 

1. First a shout out to my mom, not only is she an awesome mom, she helped us get the hotel because she's a traveler extraordinaire. Her generosity definitely touched us!

2. If you have young kids, the Willow Valley Doubletree is where it's at! We had a two bedroom hotel room, which fit us perfectly. The indoor water playground had my kids going nuts. In fact, the woke us up at 5:30am saturday wanting to know if it was time to go back to the pool yet! 

3. I had recently purchased discount tickets to Dutch Wonderland through our preschool and boy am I glad I did! Dutch Wonderland became the other fun part of our weekend that made the kids so happy. 

Here's the hubs and kiddos before our "preview night" (You can go it after 3 to check out the park until closing and come back for the full next day!)

4. If you missed this embarassment, enjoy your free laugh! For the record, heights don't scare me but getting soaked on a 60 degree breezy day does apparently strike fear into my heart! We laughed so hard seeing this picture we had to purchase it for posterity. Good times...

5. The kids favorite ride other than the log flume was the "mini-whip" where they got whipped around in a circle. I think it was invented by parents who needed a good laugh. When the boys rode together, they could not stop laughing when the squished into each other around the corners. Loved it!

6. We saw an absolutely gorgeous scene as sun was setting Saturday evening... This is just my phone shot. I took pictures with my 'real' camera too but just haven't had time for them yet. 

7. Today alone we have already gotten an oil change, gone to Safeway for groceries, went to play at the park, went through the car wash and vacuum...then came home to continue the 5 loads of laundry I have been working on. I looked like a troll all morning in sweats with no earrings but it was TOTALLY a trade off. I didn't look good but darn if I didn't kick butt and take names in the productivity department. Kids were cooperative and willing to be good for bribes like mini-donuts and a trip to the park :)

8. My knee is still on the mend..missing my insanity exercises!

9. I shared a quote last night that is on my heart today "There is no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one" - Jillian Churchill. I love that sentiment. It's true, not a one of us can be perfect but we can be good. Motherhood has rocked my world in many ways but it's refining me into an entirely different (and i hope better) person. 

10. SO THANKFUL for all the moms in my life! I already mentioned my lovely mother but I am also blessed with a great Mother in Law too! She is so generous to me and loves on my kids like no other. I am also beyond thankful for my grandmothers that I still have to spend time with and learn from. Ain't nothing like a mama!!!

Have a great Monday friends!

Monday Confessions

Another week is upon us! We have been up for a while already but just got this Monday party started with a little dance party to Mandisa's Good Morning.  It's a really great way to start a day if I am honest! I was laughing with my kids and listening to Mandisa's encouraging words, not to mention Toby Mac's little rap. Dean loves to day "Top 'o the mornin' to ya 'Disa." I really can't believe we are kicking off our second week in May! So here goes confessions...

1. I hurt my knee late last week and it's been killing me. Remember that 3 mile run I was all hyped about? Well it hasn't happened again since. I tried to run friday night and "pushed through the knee pain" like an idiot. I could barely do the steps by Saturday so I need to do a little resting of the knee and low impact exercise this week to get back on track. Getting sidelined isn't fun but sometimes we need rest to bring healing!

2. I caught the Blind Side on TV last night and it gets me every time! I love the story of a family opening up their lives to an unsuspecting soul and how God weaves it all together. I know Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her rendition of Leigh Ann Tuohy but someone had to give the raw material! Who shouldn't love a fiercly loving and protective mama that isn't afraid to stand up for what is right either with her snooty friends or the boys in the projects?!

3. Mother's day is next Sunday and I am totally stumped for gifts! I am usually a planner and not so last minute. I have a couple ideas up my sleeve so we shall see what we come up with!

4. I started reading a really good book towards the end of last week, Prodigal God,  by Timothy Keller. I have to read it in small doses because it's so convicting! He breaks down the story of the Prodigal Son from the perspective of both sons and who Jesus was really talking to when he told this story. I am sure it will be a book I read over and over!

5. My kiddos are done preschool in just two short weeks and I am starting a list of summer fun that we can have. Do you have any great ideas for day trips or fun things to do around the house? I would love to hear them! Anything preschool appropriate we are up for!

6. Even as I am writing this I have been called to the upstairs potty to go wipe a bottom and Dean's voice a few minutes later just yelled down "Mom, Maxwell smells like poo." That's mom life for you :) Keeping it real...

7. Can you believe this guy is 2 later this month? It's crazy to me!! I really don't remember him ever being that small!

8. Tonight is my last class of the semester! Teachers get just as excited as students this time of year. It was a great bunch of students to work with this semester and I will be sad to see them go. I am thankful though that summer is on it's way!

9. Our kids don't know yet but we are going away this upcoming weekend!! Who's excited?!! ME! We are going to Lancaster, Pa for a weekend away as a family. I really cannot wait! Our hotel even has an indoor kids water park area....counting down til Friday....

Have a great week friends!!

Monday Confessions, Welcome Spring

Well hello 73 degrees and sunny! I cracked up at myself earlier thinking "my weather finally matches my iphone's weather app icon - which always says 73 & sunny!" Loving it...so what do I need to confess on this Monday?

1. It was the last day of the spring Free Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee and I tried the new butter pecan flavor, enjoyed it!

2. I did a 20 min Turbo Jam workout this morning to get the blood flowing. I haven't tried any of the rest of that set but it was a good 20 mins! I will count the rest of the kid chasing today as a workout. 

3. I teach tonight and the lesson is one of my favorites to teach but it's so hard to do...food photography! Have any of you ever tried it? It falls into the category of "WAY harder than it looks." I love the Pioneer Woman's blog about food and life. Any other fabulous food blogs I should know about?

4. Those of you that are local will remember that our local Friendly's burned down last summer. It was super sad for our kids especially because they loved to go there! It was sad for us because it was one of our fav family friendly options. The good news is the grand re-opening is next week, just in time for ice cream season! (I think it being closed saved me some calories though). 

5. I currently have dualing crock pots going for tonights dinner. On teaching nights it can be especially hard to get dinner on the table basically when my husband walks in the dorr and I leave for class. It's a simple meal though with meatball sandwiches and Paula Deen's crock pot mac-n-cheese (a recipe I literally now know by heart :)

6. We spent the morning at the park already with friends. It was lovely to get out but do playgrounds give other mothers anxiety?! Trying to watch 3 kids that go in 3 different directions makes me sweat. Thankfully with friends we can play more of a zone defense and keep kids covered. I learned a little lesson in trust today though, allowing Dean to play a little farther away from me with a new friend that he made. It was hard but I am glad he was allowed a little freedom and handled it well. The other mom he was near said he listened well and was respectful to her son while they played. Maybe something is sticking after all?!

Macy and her new shades from Mimi! (don't mind the hair, it had a head band until the sunglasses. sometimes a girl has to choose :)

7. Last week was kiddos' spring break so we had many adventures to fill our days. One of them was to the Herr's Snack Factory where the kiddos saw all their favorite snacks being made! We had a blast, including hot chips right off the production line. (not the best picture, it happens to photographer moms too....don't worry friends :)

 

Alright friends, I have a MOUNTAIN of editing to get to between weddings and mini sessions. I will just feel the breeze from my windo while kids nap! Enjoy your week!

 Update: Proof that I am indeed in front of my computer working on this gorgeous day :)

A sneak peek from this weekend's mini sessions!
 

Tuesday Confessions

If you wonder how on earth I missed yesterday's confessions let me tell you! We had a jam packed weekend including me photographing a wedding on Saturday, our truck breaking down with Matt and all 3 kids in it, a full Easter morning with church, egg hunt, family and then an Easter dinner, towing broken truck....among other things! (Sorry for the stream of bad grammar). Anyhow, just keeping it real.

The craziness continued into yesterday morning while piling all 3 kids in the van at 7am in jammies to take Matt to work. You know the old, "if i don't want to be stuck without a car today, we need to go drop him off." It just went from one thing to the next yesterday and although most of it was just daily life, it did include some fun with friends. I think sometimes the daily life stuff is what can overwhelm us the fastest.

Here's a snapshot of us on Easter all dressed for church, thanks to our kind neighbor!

(I was freezing, not sure what happened to that sunny & 60 degree forecast!)

This is more realistic....

Love these crazy kids that made me a mom.... (for the record, Max was busy running around the yard and didn't want any pictures!)

So my real confession is that when life gets crazy, take some deep breaths and try to enjoy the people around you. There was a lot going on yesterday, I thankfully had some good friends to support me and remind me what's important. Things will be busy, cars will break, things will go wrong, but your family and good friends are the treasures of life!

Hope you had a great Easter and are enjoying a fun spring break week!