Wordless Wednesday - Road Trip

We went to visit my parents this past weekend...I leave you to discuss who the sign may be referring to... :)

Real Moms

Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens, and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask "Why me?" and get their answer when a little voice says, "Because I love you best."

Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade...It is marked by the progression from Mommy to Mom to Mother...


The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul...It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows. The beauty of a woman with passing years only grows.

This is for all of the fantastic women and mothers in my life...especially my own mother. Happy Mother's Day!

Wordless Wednesday - Monkey Boy

NOTE: This climbing wall was about 8 feet tall. My little monkey boy just scurried up it without a second thought...

Wordless Wednesday - Swine Flu Safety Bulletin

Please refrain from this behavior to protect yourself from swine flu.

I haven't been posting much lately for several reasons. I don't really have much to say; AJ has been such an awesome kid lately and doing so much that I can't keep track of it all long enough to write a post. Then there's the whole house thing. It's still on the market. We are getting regular showings, but no offers yet. It's getting tiring trying to keep everything "show ready" all the time. And don't even get me started on the drama of office politics that I have recently found myself smack in the middle of...AJ and I were sick for a while also. It seems I have been coughing for about 2 months now. I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired. Know what I mean? I will try to do better. Meanwhile, I can barely even keep up status updates on Facebook...

This weekend is a UH Band Alumni family picnic. Should be lots of fun seeing everyone. Then Sunday is the March for Babies. Team AJ has been able to raise $1,184.00 this year...

Babies, Babies, Everywhere...

The past several months has seen a big influx of new babies into my real and bloggy world. First was Margaret's little cutie pie Connor, then my friend LW from church had a little boy, next was Nikki's princess Sophia, then JM (my church choir director) had little Abigail last week. Now one of Hubby's "work wives" has been induced this morning. After several attempts, Kim is getting the baby she was wanted for as long as I have known her. The gender is going to be a surprise, but I'm very excited for her and her new little monkey! Here's to sending easy labor vibes to Kim...

Satan

Saturday I was trying to clean the house to prepare for another showing, but AJ was in rare form and seemed to be bouncing off the walls. I got tired of cleaning a room, only to have him follow behind me and destroy it again. I finally asked Daddy to keep him out of my way. This conversation followed:

Daddy: "AJ, you're making your mother insane...stop driving her crazy. I need her sane."

AJ: "Daddy, why is Mommy in Satan?"


There are some things you just leave alone...

Waking up

This morning I went to wake AJ up to get ready for school. When I told him it was time to get up, he rolled over, shoved his head under the pillow and mumbled, "Okay...when it's sunny..." and closed his eyes again.

When he finally got up, he decided he wanted to get dressed in the living room instead of his bedroom. When I told him it was still dark in the living room, he looked up at me and declared, "Well...I supPOSE you'll have to turn the light on."

Lots of smart-mouth from a 4-year-old when it's not even 6am yet...

Lions, and Grasshoppers, and Bears...oh my! (UPDATED)

I am having the hardest time keeping that child of mine in pants. He's so scrawny (and has no butt) that ones that are long enough for his mile-long legs...well, those just fall off. So I have to locate pants with an adjustable waist.

Then he comes home with holes in the knees of his jeans. I asked him what happened to his pants. His answer? "A lion bit them off". "Really? And did the lion bite your leg too?" "No. Just my pants."

While getting dressed, he noticed a small "boo boo" on his leg and pointed it out to me. Jokingly, I told him to stop hurting my baby. His answer? "I didn't do it, Mommy. The grasshoppers and mantis did it."

So why is the animal kingdom after my child?!

Seriously, the imagination on this kid...I can't keep up with all of the things he says and does that I tell myself to remember to blog about.

UPDATE - I just found a rip in the left knee of the pants AJ wore to school today. They were perfectly fine when he left home this morning. I'm not even going to bother asking what happened this time...(he's now down to only one pair of khakis and one pair of jeans that do NOT have a hole in the knee.

Crying at my desk

I usually spend my early morning time reading through the blogs I follow regularly. This morning, though, I was brought to tears by Crystal and her post about her little girl. She has such an amazing way of putting motherhood...

"She has changed our lives. All kids do. They're not just here to be little people, they're here to teach you what it means to love someone more than yourself. But there are days when I don't know if I can really do this, when I wonder if I'm going to screw her up and she wouldn't be better off being raised by wolves."

By the end of her post, I found tears in my eyes and remember those days when AJ reminds me just how special he is...and how lucky I am...

That's What Little Boys Do...

So whenever AJ gets to my parents' house, he turns very "little boy" and likes to play with sticks and dirt. Saturday afternoon I asked him why he was playing in the dirt.

Response: "That's what little boys do, mommy."

Then he began to sing a little song...

"That's what little boys do...look out...they'll steal your heart..."




Indeed they do..

Mystery Cameraman

While perusing the camera's memory card at the end of the weekend, we discovered some random pictures that no one would claim...

Then we had the "a ha" moment!


Someone should teach the 4-year old how to stay out of the shot!

Funny Monday

I just stumbled across this guy and am having a hard time deciding which clips are funnier.

On Parenting


On Marriage


Playground Fun


Enjoy!

Please Excuse Cindy's Absence...

This seems to sum it up quite nicely.

Starving Cannibals: Feverish times

Add that to a new rebranding effort at work, and you just about have it all...

Wordless Wednesday - Home with a sickie

Case of the "Lazies" and Mindless Ramblings

My inner lazy couch potato is in turmoil. We have our house on the market, which means it has to be "show ready" basically at all times. With 2 adults, a shedding cat and a 4 year old in the house that becomes a full time job. Instead of relaxing at the end of a long work day (which lately has been full of new creative projects and marketing projects)to watch a little TV and play with AJ, I am constantly cleaning. I feel like I'm just cleaning the same things OVER and OVER and OVER.

At work we are re branding the company, and as the marketing manager, that means a lot of new tasks to keep up with. The creative juices are running kind of dry. I INTEND to write regular blog posts; and often remark that I will write about something the AJ has done. But I just can't seem to get motivated to actually TYPE anything.

I've started a Facebook account. I manage to "somewhat" keep on top of that, but it doesn't require any extended amount of time. Just a sentence or two between projects.

We have gotten to spend a lot of fun family time lately that at least the hubby has been posting about. And I'm kind of geeked about watching AJ at his first Tae Kwon Do testing this Saturday...he's getting so grown up...I can't seem to keep the child in pants that actually cover his ankles. I can't wait for Spring and Summer so he can wear shorts every day.

And on top of that, it's only about two months until the March for Babies. Team AJ has signed up again to participate, but I haven't gotten around to any serious fundraising. I'm torn on whether to do it all this year, but we have always made it a family priority to remember the struggles AJ had.

I just can't think about that right now. I'll think about that tomorrow. Fiddle dee dee.

Tired

I'm just tired...
I have several new projects at work because we are completely re-branding the company. We put our house back on the market last Wednesday, so everything has to be "show-ready" before we leave the house at 6am every morning. I have about 4 different travel clients who are waiting for more research and pricing. AJ has a little virus that has him in coughing fits several times during the night. That, of course, wakes me up each time. We decided to take him to the clinic after school yesterday, but the NP said she heard some wheezing and referred us to the urgent care center. So we went to get some dinner first. (We couldn't go home, because the house was being shown some time between 5:45pm and 7:45pm). Get to the restaurant to find out that it's "Spirit Night" for one of the elementary schools. The place was jam packed with people. We took AJ to the urgent care center after dinner and had to wait inside the examination room for an hour before anyone came in to see us. So, the NP comes in, examines AJ, listens to his lungs, has AJ cough, listens to his lungs again, and declares that "the wheezing goes away when he coughs...just have him cough...he's just got a little viral thing going on." Which I interpreted to mean "there's nothing wrong with your kid, dimwit. He's just got a cold."

Given everything going on, I didn't get to eat anything all day yesterday until about 6:00 last night. So my blood sugar is probably out of whack. THAT always improves my mood...

Wordless Wednesday - Who Made Spiderman Mad?

Wordless Wednesday - WIPE OUT!

Jesus has an office

So last week on the way home, Hubby and AJ were having a discussion about his grandparents. AJ followed really well, until he asked about Grandma (Hubby's mother).

Hubby: "Well, she's gone home to be with Jesus."
AJ: "In Heaven?"
Hubby: "That's right."
AJ: "Why?" (because every statement ends with that question when you're 4...)
Me: "Well, she got really sick."
AJ: "Why didn't she go to the doctor?"
Hubby: "Well, she DID go to lots of doctors. But sometimes the doctor can only do so much."
AJ: "And Jesus helps the doctors?"
Hubby: "He sure does."
AJ: "And maybe the doctors got tired..."
(Pause to put car back on the road after veering off from laughing so hard)
Me: "Could be..."
AJ: "So Jesus has an office in Heaven?"