25 June 2013

day 25: a favorite

Yesterday was my last in-district workday for a couple of weeks. Well, maybe. :)

Regardless, it feels like vacation begins today. To celebrate, rack kid had a favorite friend spend the night last night.

The girls are sleeping in, and the boys are doing one of their favorite things...




...enjoy it while they sleep, boys, the day's waiting!

22 June 2013

day 22: sister

I didn't actually take any cute pics of my favorite siblings today, but I did catch this one of them with the best Daddy ever.





20 June 2013

day 20: upside down

I was going to post this...




...since I figure breakfast for dinner is pretty upside-down for some people.

But as I'm laying here in bed, reflecting on how much I got done while my boys played video games and then after they both fell asleep, I'm grateful that my stuff is no longer upside-down. I had stacks of stuff to file, cards and gifts to mail, Project Life to organize, work stuff...my desk has been a MESS for the past couple of weeks.

This...


...feels pretty good tonight.

I still have a list of errands that's a little longer than I'd like, but I'm grateful for progress.

I say it all the time, but it really is the little things. Maybe this weekend I can get my Project Life stuff up to date!

day 19: groceries

yeah...about that.

we don't actually have any groceries in the house.

a trip to the store is on today's "to-do" list, don't worry.


18 June 2013

day 18: today, I...

...celebrated 10 years of this kid's sweet life.


Yep, I'm blessed!

13 June 2013

day 13: exercise


For the first time in weeks, I actually DID exercise today, so it worked out well for photo-a-day!  (It would have worked out better if I hadn't left my phone in the car, but I'll take it.)  My kids are at Grandma's with cousins, so I actually went to yoga.


After I had a large breakfast with my Boy.  Ugh.  Bad combination.  But, I'm glad I went.  I was amazed by what my body can do, but dismayed by the damage I have done by putting whatever crap I crave into my mouth for the past month.  Ugh.

I heard it.  :)

12 June 2013

Perception & Reality

This was my facebook status update this morning:

Noble *somehow* ended up in a pond the other night while the kids were "watching" him. It could have been a LOT worse, and I hope I scared them all straight with the what-could-have-happeneds. Turns out, he's still THAT KID, who reminds me all too often what can happen in the blink of an eye, and that it could happen to us. But...as is also par for the course in our family, we found a reason to laugh when it was all said and done. Noble's socks were white before the incident, but if you look closely you can see that he's invented a new color: grack. Too black to be gray, too gray to be black.

After I posted it, I realized exactly how horrible it sounded.  Well, it is pretty horrible.  So I tried to explain a little more, because I don't blame the big kids for what happened--and I really don't blame Kayci.  I blame me.

PS-Kayci's not on Facebook or I would have tagged her, too. . It was truly a not-so-funny comedy of errors...obviously I wouldn't have turned a 5 year old loose in a 9 year old's care if I knew there was a pond on the property. Yes, I know I'm Mother of the Year.

Still don't feel any better.  But you know, I feel like it's important to share stuff like this--and not just the stuff that somehow reflects positively on me--because I really believe people need to know that horrible stuff can happen, it can happen in the blink of an eye,  and yes, it can happen to "people like us."

Noble's the kid who's reminded me of that over and over and over...and to think, before he came along I used to pat myself on the back and tell myself I was pretty good at this parenting thing.

No, really--I did.

See, my perception of myself as a parent is that I try pretty hard to get it right.

To have fun with my kids...
...case in point, trip to Blue Bell with bffs and cousins a few hours before said child walked into said pond.

And I also try to teach my kids...


...case in point, photo scavenger hunt kids were working on when Noble ended up in the pond.

See, my perception of the other evening was that I was helping James with a photo shoot and there were 4 kids capable of taking care of themselves walking around in a secure area doing a fun team-building, learning, fun activity.  Again, patting myself on the back.

The reality?  I had not walked all 8 acres of the property to make sure it was completely safe.  I assumed.  I also did not explicitly tell Noble (or any of the kids) not to get into the water (didn't know there was water aside from the fountain, and we've covered that one on previous visits).  I did not explicitly tell the big kids to keep Noble in their line of sight the ENTIRE time...like them, I forget that he's still little because he seems. So. Big.

Then stuff like this happens.  And I have to face the what ifs...what if the screaming that I heard wasn't him screaming, but one of the big kids screaming?  What if his biggest problem wasn't fear that he'd get into trouble, but something unthinkable?  What if we couldn't laugh at his grack socks for crying over our lost boy?


The reality is, we're damn lucky THAT KID walked into that pond...and back out.  Because the big kids had no clue he was even thinking of getting in the water, they didn't hear any splashes or anything until he started screaming (because he thought he was going to get in trouble).  This story could have a very, very different ending, and I'd be one of those stupid parents everyone judges...I didn't know there was a pond...I wasn't actually supervising my child...I didn't think...

We're all THAT PARENT, potentially, and we all need to give each other grace in this journey.  Go ahead and judge me and find me wanting, as I have done the same.  But when you see another parent struggling?  Remember that it could be any of us.

Even the "good parents."  I wonder if there really is any such animal...or if I've just been lucky so far.

09 June 2013

day 8: new

Needed rope for our new children's ministry curriculum.


Thought that would make you wonder...

07 June 2013

day 7: reading




I've got lots of stuff I COULD be reading...but I'm vegging on the couch with my Bubby. He had a rough night (which required a 3 am trip to Grandma's to pick him up), which translated to a rough night for all of us. I'm glad I'm off today!



06 June 2013

day 6: lawn


Today I worked from home, with a couple of hours of Mommy time mixed in.  I didn't get any actual lawn pictures, but the kids did play with the sprinkler when we had some friends over to take care of some PTO business...


...and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon for swimming.  The clouds were just amazing to watch!



05 June 2013

day 5: road

Ironically, I don't have a photo for today as I was on the road...so here's one of the things I did while I was on the road today:



Here's a shout out to Tiff--I'm so proud of you, Teacher of the Year!!

04 June 2013

day 4: play

Speaks for itself. :)




Thanks, Heather!

day 3: color

For the first time in...3? weeks, I went to the store yesterday and bought real food.

Here's to color on our plates!





02 June 2013

Day 2: in my hood

This evening the whole family went with Daddy on a bridal portrait shoot.  It was a lot of fun; the bride is actually an old friend's little sister.  They're a fun, fun family--I can't wait for the wedding!

We took a gamble and planned on taking the knuckleheads with us, and they didn't let us down.  They were awesome!  It probably didn't hurt that we promised to pay them up to $10 if they worked hard, even if their work was waiting or being quiet.  Whatever, they were so good!  I'm not proud, y'all--I bribe my kids.  The not-so-secret is out!

Well, I remembered the photo-a-day prompt at the last minute and snapped this before Daddyboy got Noble out of the car.  He fell asleep, you guessed it, right as we pulled into our 'hood.

Sweet boy.  He must have been crazy tired to fall asleep so fast and so completely!  


Off to bed, early work day tomorrow.  The kids will get to tag along with me since my summer hasn't started, yet, but they're excited.  We'll see how excited they are tomorrow!

Sweet dreams!

01 June 2013

Day 1: breakfast

Yep, I'm going to give photo-a-day another shot in an effort to get back in the blogging habit.

But...I'm out of practice, and I forgot to take a pic of our breakfasts. So, here's a shot of after breakfast dishes.




It must say something horrible about me that I'd rather hand wash all of that than stop and unload the dishwasher. But I just can't care. :)

Happy summer, y'all. While work goes on for Daddy and me, both kiddos are out of school and today's the first official day of summer. Around here, that means friends & swimming and right now, a rigged-up sprinkler on the trampoline.

I'm sitting in a dry spot listening to the sounds of some seriously happy kids. I promised my kids I wouldn't work this weekend-I think it's kinda sad that it even has to be said, but things have been wild and wooly the past several weeks. Quite frankly, I'm glad to take a break.

I'm hoping my summer will include some time to work on Project Life-things are stacking up!