My life

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Matthew 7:12).”

I believe it is human nature to pass judgements on each other. How easy it is to look at a situation from the outside and make your own interpretations. I see mother's in public being really hard on their little ones and it is so easy to think, "Geez, she is probably mean to that kid all the time. Find some patience!" Then I think of my more challenging days with Jack, and it reminds me that this poor mom could be harsh and unloving. Or she could be an amazing, loving mom who is worn out at then end of a long day. Some people put on an appearance that they have it all together, when in reality everything is hanging by a thread. And there are some who seem to have nothing, no money, small house, dirty kids, and in reality are happy and content with their life that is more held together than yours.

The truth is that we all have our own struggles, and our own triumphs. Our lives are our own. We make choices and we handle situations the best way we know how. There is no one who can truly walk in our shoes and know what it feels like to be someone else. We all do the best we can with the life we are living. Life is an amazing experience.  It is unpredictable and sometimes unforgiving. Your path can change direction without warning. As I grow older, I am learning to let go of regret for things I did and some I was not able to do. I am living in the moment here and now. I wake up each morning with the expectation of greatness. I strive to be an example of the kind of person I want my kids to grow into. I am not perfect, and neither are they. But everyday we grow together.

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
Bill Cosby

Super Bowl Sunday!!!

You don't see pictures of Dylan much in my blog. 1. Because he is a hermit. I think the lights in the house burn his eyes or something because he just stays in his room ALL of the time. 2. Because he thinks having his picture made is lame, and knows it will end up on FB or this blog. I say, "Let me take your picture." And this is the face I get, always....

He is holding my newest online recipie creation!! Jalapeno Popper Dip, and let me just say it was AMAZING! I stuffed myself with Super Bowl Party food. The food and the beer are my favorite part of any football game. :)

And I have the Super Bowl to thank for this one too. Did anyone see the "Transformer" commercial that aired multiple times showing the transformers throwing some sort of balls?? Whatever they were throwing must have looked like a baseball piggy bank to Jack. He came out of his room like this crying. He said, "I broke my piggy bank. I was trying to be a transformer and I threw my piggy bank. It broke all over my floor!" All of that was translated by Laiken. I had no clue what he was saying. I didn't even see the commercial. His pain was punishment enough. I told him I was sad about his bank, but proud he came to me and told the truth. Honesty is a big deal with me. Hopefully, it will be with Jack too.

 Brynley, my angel has joined the "your kid is all of a sudden really quiet....WHAT ARE THEY DOING??? club" While I was getting everyone ready to leave the house, Brynley was quietly eating lunch. She was quiet for a really long time, normally she would not sit there without someone in the room. So going to check on her, I find she has stolen the last 2 pieces of Laiken's PB&J. Yes, Brynley was in sammich heaven. After her bath, I was still running around grabbing stuff, and I thought to myself, "Where's Brynley, she is so quiet."  I hear her down the hall. On my way to get her, I find this...

and this...

She was in her room innocently playing with toys when I found her. :)

Quality Time!

 Brynley has been sick for days, and yesterday we went to the doctor to discover she has RSV!! So she was given a few prescriptions for her ear infection and an inhaler for her RSV. And today she is like a new baby! I am so happy she is not suffering like she has been. She feels 100% better.

Laiken has gymnastics on Tuesday evenings, and since Brynley was so sick, I stayed home with her, Jack, and Dylan. Trey took Laiken to gym. He was excited to take her and see her do flips on the beam and bars. He really enjoyed watching her and spending time with her alone. I really enjoyed my time with Jack. We played with his cars for about an hour! He is really funny. And he is really growing up fast, my little man!

Lazy Weekend!

With three out of four kiddos sick this weekend, we were pretty lazy. Our quiet weekend consisted of naps, movie watching, a tiny amount of outside playing, and a little house cleaning.

 I managed to squeeze in time to make this adorable Valentine's shirt for Brynley, Laiken's will be later this week.

We made it to Gracie Bleu's to support Owen's baseball team, and fill up on yummy frozen yogurt.

And I managed to meet my sisters at Brandon's house last night at midnight to wish him a very happy 40th birthday! What's worse than turning 40??? Knowing that all of your neighbor's (and then some) know about it, and having to pull 40+ stakes with attached balloons out of your yard! It's probably a good thing we couldn't locate a spare "old man's" walker to leave by his car!!

BOWS, BOWS, BOWS!! OH MY!!!

I love my job! I really do enjoy what I do, making hairbows. And for anyone who hasn't heard...apparently I am not the only one who loves my bows too. The night of the Hernando Christmas Parade I was contacted by a store wanting to buy mass quantities of my hairbows! These past few weeks I have been a busy bee. This past weekend I fell a little behind (not due to my usual proscrastination) but I was waiting all week on ribbon to come in and only have this weekend to fill a 100+ bow order for the store. I worked until 2 AM last night and woke up and 6 AM to start again. Aside from one small break or two and serving the kids a quick lunch (I practically threw it at them), I decided to stop at 1:30. I text Trey and it went something like this....

Me: I have been working ALL stinkin morning and I am taking a break!
Trey: No breaks babe, got to get it, lol
Me: Oh I'm sorry, what I meant to say was a break from bows, and on to my mommy/slave job. Lunch, laundry, dishes, and picking up.
Trey: lol,lol

Hmmm! I wasn't LOL'ing.  :)

Piglet: How do you spell love?
Pooh: You don't spell it, you feel it.

New Shoes!

I bought Laiken and Jack new shoes today at Hibbett in Hernando. I love the fact that the decision was based off of how fast they could run in the shoe. Not color, style, comfort, or any other logical reason. Just by how fast they could run. And let me be the first to tell you, they are fast. They were fast in Hibbet Sports, fast on the sidewalk leaving the store, fast in AnnOlivia's, fast in the driveway, and finally fast down the hall at home. Is it bedtime yet??

The logic kids have and the way they understand things is unreal sometimes. Most of the times it's funny and sometimes I am just glad they don't understand life. About two weeks ago, Laiken started telling me about her best friend's dad, "is going to work really far away for forever." She said the little girl and her mom are so sad. And she could not come over to play b/c she had to spend time with her dad before he leaves. She also told Laiken that he wants to take her dog with him, but she didn't want him to. I was pretty sure Laiken did not have all of the facts. Today Laiken told me that the girls parents are "versed". I asked her what "versed" means. Laiken said it means your dad has to go work and stay a long time somewhere else for a long time and you have to go, "stay at your dad's" alot. Laiken said, "but I don't even know what that means...go stay at your dad's." I want to explain to her what being "divorced" means, but I am not sure what the little girls knows either. I feel sad for her and her family. I hope it ends differently for them.

Laiken is so sweet and tender hearted. Last night we were watching "Mars Needs Mom's". The martians were stealing Earth's moms and killing them. (It's a kid movie and not bad at all. I loved it!) When they came to the part were the little boy was trying to save his mom, he was seconds away from being too late and it seemed she might not make it. Laiken teared up and sighed. It broke her heart that the little boy may lose his mom. But he saved her and all ended well.

My kids melt my heart daily. Just the other day I was grabbing Jack and holding him really tight saying, "I will NEVER let you go. I want to hold you FOREVER!". Then I would grab Laiken and say the same. They squealed and I tickled them, squeezed them so tight and kept saying I would never let them go. They both kept running off. The last time I let go, Jack jumped back in my arms and said, "squeeze me again mommy, I want you to hold me FOREVER!''