Top 20 Reasons I Love Being a Mom

 

Happy Mother's Day!!!

 

Hope all you mom's had a fabulous Mother's Day....at least I can get away with saying that for another 30 minutes or so since it's pushing midnight.  Whoops.  I intended to do this earlier in the day, but as usual my little old blog got neglected again and I chose to put it off until the last minute:)

 

I have no idea who still looks at this blog or if anyone even remembers it still exists because I have been so bad about updating it in the last oh..... 8 months!!!!  So I may be blogging for the sole purpose of reminding myself what happened in the last several months....and I am okay with that!  I've taken a personal hiatus from both our family blog and my little recipe blog for several months now, and my only excuse is I just haven't had time.  Between me working more, the kids school and after school activities, and normal every day commitments, I've just been tired.  Every time I think about getting around to updating it, I simply choose to do something else.  Like go play with my kids, or make a batch of brownies, or look at pinterest (and wish I had time to try all the things I pin).  And yes, I could of stayed up late at night to blog like I used to do, but I've been trying to actually go to bed earlier these days.  Okay, I won't lie.  Sometimes I do go to bed early, but most of the time I watch my "girl shows" as my husband would call them on TV.  Anyway, I've decided to get back on track and get back to blogging.  Because, as time consuming as it is for me to blog, I truly enjoy doing it.  Not only do I get to reflect on what's going on in our lives for our friends and family to see (if anybody actually reads this)....but it's such a great way for me capture our memories and pictures so that I don't forget about them.  I used to love going back and looking at this blog when I started it, way back when, and seeing how the kids grew and changed....not to mention reading all the funny things we went through.  So, I will pretend like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter never happened this year, and I will start fresh with Mother's Day!

 

I was inspired by another blog I recently read to do a "Top 10" things you love about being a mom.  I loved the idea of this, but quickly had to change mine to "Top 20" because I couldn't fit them all in.  So, if this gets a little long winded I apologize.....it just means that I love my kids a lot:)

 

Top 20 Reasons I Love Being a Mom to Hannah and Hunter

(in no particular order)

 







1.)I love watching them grow and learn.  As I said before, I love looking back at old pictures and seeing how much they have changed.  Part of me is sad because I know they won't stay little for long.  The other part of me is in awe of the kids they have already become. 

 

2008

2013

 2.)I secretly love the fact that Hunter is the messiest eater on the planet.  It doesn't matter what it is, by the time he is done it will be all over his face, his clothes, the floor, etc.  The child truly enjoys eating and doesn't hold back.  It used to drive me nuts, but it's a trait I've come to love about him.  It's just a boy thing I guess, but still somewhat endearing.  Probably because he smiles really big at you when he's finished making his mess:)

3.)I love that Hannah loves to "mother".  Not only is she obsessed with all of my friends who have babies these days, she also has a full swing daycare for her baby dolls in her bedroom upstairs.  She sits in her room and plays "mom" or "teacher" to them and has a ball doing it.  She's just now started getting into playing with her Barbie collection, but her baby dolls are still her top choice.

4.)I love that my kids (and husband) love me unconditionally.  It's comforting to know that you don't have to be perfect all the time, and they still love you no matter what.  If I've had a hard day, or I loose my cool, they simply forgive me and move on.  That kind of love is hard to find.

5.)I love hearing about their days at school.  I never knew Kindergarten was so full of drama!  But I never get tired of hearing them tell me about their classroom adventures.

6.)I love cooking for them.  Well, not always.  Sometimes it's the last thing I want to be doing when I'm really tired.  But, to hear them tell me "Mom, you're the best cooker in the whole world" or "Mom, you're the best snackbuilder in the universe" makes it totally worth it in every way.

7.)I love that Hannah loves to have me paint her nails.  It's kind of turned into our girly time.  You could probably ask her if she would rather go to the zoo or have her nails painted, and I bet she would choose the last option:)

8.)I love that Hunter is obsessed with soccer.  He literally lives and breathes soccer right now.  Everyday when he gets home from school he puts it on the soccer channel and watches the pros play, and he has turned into quite the soccer player on his own team this year.  I've never been into competitive sports, but there's nothing like watching your child score a goal and see the excitement on his face.

9.)I love going upstairs to watch them sleep.  I know that sounds weird, but every now and then (maybe once a week) Kevin and I will sneak upstairs before we go to bed just to look at them.  It's calming for me just to see how peaceful they are when they sleep and it reminds me how deeply we love them every time we do it.

10.)Speaking of, I love how much the kids love their Daddy.  Kevin is an amazing father and they have so much fun with him.  Yes, they can all be pretty mischievous together sometimes, but I am so grateful to have a husband who is so involved and active in their life. 

 

11.)I love getting notes from my kids.  Pretty much everyday I get at least one random note saying "I love you mom" with little stick figures of our family.  I pretty much save all of them.  Sometimes their folded up or taped together with 50 pieces of tape....I love them all.

 

12.)I love hearing my kids sing.  Hunter is pretty vocal all the time and he's not too shy about singing upon request.  He can actually carry a tune too (maybe he will be like his Daddy)!  Hannah, on the other hand, will usually only sing when she thinks no one is paying attention....pretty much like me I guess.  I love when she's upstairs playing with her dolls singing her heart out when she thinks no one is listening.  I guess they forget that we have a monitor in our bedroom and we can hear whatever they do upstairs.  Yes, we still have a baby monitor.....it's so old it only works on two channels!

 

13.)Speaking of Hannah, I love that she reminds me so much of myself.  I guess that could be frightening at the same time!  Little things she says and the expressions that she makes, along with her personality is a dead ringer for how I am sometimes.  Kevin reminds me that all the time.  Like mother, like daughter I guess.  Except for her ability to hula hoop.....I have no idea where she got that from:)

 



14.)I love going on a date with my husband.  While this doesn't happen as often as it probably should, I'm a firm believer in "a little time away, makes you a better mom".  We all need a break every now and then, and I enjoy when we get one....even though all we usually do is talk about our kids:)

15.)I love that my kids have made our house into a home.  That may sound corny, but Kevin and I (with an emphasis on Kevin) are pretty intense when it comes to the way our house looks.  The less clutter, the better.  With kids though, that's just impossible, and we have come to realize that.  It's comforting to see soccer balls and backpacks in our house, even the million little ponytail holders I find (that drive Kevin crazy) reminds me that our house is lived in now and that's a really good thing.

16.)I love watching America's Funniest Home Video's with my family.  I know it's totally old school, and most of the episodes we watch, I've probably seen 100 times, but it's still become one of my favorite things we do as a family after/during dinner.  There's not a lot of TV shows you can watch with kids, and for some reason we all get a kick out of seeing people make fools of themselves!

17.)I love that our kids make me laugh.  Like, all the time.  Whether it's an impromptu break dance from Hunter in the middle of the floor, or one of the many knock-knock jokes that they make up together, they always have a way of cracking me up at just the right time.

18.)I love watching the way our kids love each other.  They definitly share a special bond with each other.  And while there are some days they fight and annoy each other (like brother and sisters do), those days are outnumbered by the amount of joy and fun they have with each other.  I love watching them play and seeing how connected they are to one another.  I pray that they continue to stay close as they get older and older.

 

 

19.)I love the fact that I still have a lot to learn about motherhood.  That's the interesting thing about parenting for me....you kind of learn as you go.  I knew nothing about kids before I had them.  Now, I know a lot more than I did, but still have so many things to learn and improve upon.  I have a feeling that will always be the case, but I consider that a good thing!

 

20.)I love that the Lord has blessed me beyond measure with the ability to be a mother to these two children, and I am beyond grateful that He has allowed me the opportunity to raise my family with a loving husband.



 

So, now that I have finally finished this incredibly long post.....it is no longer technically Mother's Day!  Looks like I stayed up way past my bedtime tonight....so happy LATE Mother's Day!

5th Birthday and Kindergarten

So we've had some big changes the last few weeks in our house!  The kids turned 5 and started kindergarten...on the same day!!  I'm not sure why, but I had a hard time accepting the fact that they are already 5.  I guess I just wanted to keep them little as long as I could....it seems like it was literally just yesterday when we were taking them home from the hospital and frantically trying to figure out how to take care of two newborn babies.  It is so true when people tell you that time flies by when you have kids.  It does.  And I'm trying to savor and appreciate every single minute of it.  That's one reason why I haven't been able to keep up with my blogs lately.  We've been busy making memories and having fun, and I've been enjoying every minute of it!
We had the kids party the Saturday before their birthday at Pump it Up, which by the way is (in my opinion) the BEST place in the world to have a birthday party!  The people there literally do everything for you and are so helpful!  Besides doing the cupcakes and decorations, I didn't have to lift a finger!  The kids were so excited to have their party there, it's pretty much been there favorite place to go for the last few years.  I decided to do separate themes for the party this year and let them each pick out what they wanted.  Hannah wanted a princess party, and Hunter wanted an Angry Bird party (he is a little obsessed right now with these).  The kids had a ton of fun and were all worn out after bouncing their little hearts out.  I think the adults had just as much fun bouncing too:)  Of course I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to of the kids, mostly because I couldn't get them to stop moving!  But, I did get a few pics in the party room....

 

 

Princess table

Angry bird table

 

 

Then, the following Monday the kids started kindergarten. After much debate, we decided to put them in separate classes. I'm so glad that we did, because I can already see them starting to develop their own individual personalities. Kevin and I both took off the first day of school so we could take them and pick them up. I had envisioned one or both of them having major meltdowns when we separated them and had to leave, but nothing happened. NOTHING. To our surprise each of them waltzed into the classroom like they owned the place and gave us a quick hug and kiss, and that was it. I started tearing up when we got out to the parking lot. I'm not really sure why, because I knew they were perfectly fine....I think it was more because they acted like they didn't even need us!! Holy cow....they are all of the sudden little grown ups! So far, school has been great. They seem to love their teachers and have been making a lot of new friends. We are getting used to our new school routine, and I'm sure I will have lots of fun things to post about in the future. Here are a few pics of their first day. We got them bikes for their birthday and had them waiting in the garage for them when they returned home from school.

 

We are still here, I promise....

I've been putting this little blog on the back burner for about three months now, partly because we've been nonstop busy with "life" in general, and partly because every time I think about trying to catch up on it, the idea of it just overwhelms me and I'm too lazy.  So, I decided instead of trying to re-hash all of the details of our life the last three months, I would just post a few of the highlights, along with some cute random pictures (in no particular order.....because again, I'm feeling lazy). 

Part of the reason we've been a little busier than usual is because I started a new job in March.  I had been a little unhappy/unfulfilled at my previous job and had been praying for a long time for a new opportunity to arise.  For once in my life I was actually patient and let God do his work.  Sure enough, a full time position was offered to me at a fabulous office and I accepted, knowing that it was definitely in God's plan for me.  It's been a transition for all of us, and sometimes it seems like there's not enough hours in the day, but overall it's been awesome, and I'm very happy. 

Let see, what else?  We had a fun weekend watching Kaitlyn last month.  I don't think I've ever seen three kids play as hard as they did that weekend, and they were all very well behaved.  The kids ask at least once a day when she can come stay again....so I'm pretty sure I can envision many cousin sleepovers in our future! 

 In May Hannah and Hunter graduated from Pre-K!!!  I have to admit that I held back a few tears when I saw them walk out in their cap and gowns.  Wow, I can't believe they will be in kindergarten next month!  Speaking of kindergarten, the first day of school will be ON THEIR 5TH BIRTHDAY!!  And....we recently decided that they will be split up in different classes.  I've had a hard time with the thought of splitting them up, but after speaking to several others and the school counselor, I feel like it is going to be really good for them.  I just wish we had a few more months of the summer....can you tell I'm nervous about it more than they are???

And, our most recent highlight, was Hunter's surgery last Friday.  Our brave little boy had his tonsils and adenoids taken out, and tubes put in his ears.  The surgery went great, and minus a few icky feeling days afterward, he's pretty much back to his old self....minus the gigantic tonsils!  If I could figure out how to download video from my phone I could post the HILARIOUS footage of Hunter after he drank the happy juice at the hospital.  It was seriously one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  Kevin and I could not stop laughing, mostly because Hunter was laughing uncontrollably the whole time.  All kidding aside, I was so darn happy for the "happy juice", because it made the whole process stress free for him and us.....and even happier that everything went so well!

Here are some pictures from the last few months:

                                                                                        

         Hunter before his surgery

 last day of school party and Miss Cissy, their PreK teacher

 Hunter and one of his besties Joshua

 Graduation night

 cousin's sleepover

 random photos of the kids watching shrinky dinks shrink....their new obsession

Now, time to update my recipe blog!!  I've got a whopping 34 recipes that I've tried out and need to share, so get ready!

Crawfish Sunday and Baby Birds

Yesterday we discovered a birds nest above the storage shelves in our garage. We've noticed birds flying in and out of the garage when we open the door to go to work in the mornings, so I'm guessing that was the "Momma" bird. This morning Kevin discovered this.....

Isn't this just the cutest and weirdest thing you've ever seen. And it looks like there's a ton of eggs in there, so I'm sure there will be more babies in the morning. We were careful not to disturb the nest at all, but I'm anxious to see how things will turn out...inside our garage:)
Later on today we had a crawfish boil with Kevin's family. This was the first time we've boiled crawfish this year, and they were really yummy. Kevin stuffed himself silly with the little critters, and the kids discovered they liked them too.....as long as they didn't have to peel them. It was such a beautiful day to sit outside and relax, and watch the kids play. I wish the weather would stay like this forever.....

I made a oreo layer pudding dessert that I'll be posting to the recipe blog right now. It was really good, and I'm about to polish off what little that was leftover right now!

Spring is in the air...

Here's a few pics of my silly kids enjoying this beautiful weather we've had lately. We've definitely been taking advantage of it by strolling around the neighborhood picking up flowers, pine cones, and whatever else they find interesting. I love this time of year!

Valentine's Day

The kids celebrated Valentine's this year with a fun party at school. They were so excited because this was their first time to make and exchange Valentine's with their friends...the last few years their party has fallen on a day they were not a school. I took off a few hours from work to help out with the party...I was totally impressed at how well behaved their class was. I expected a ton of chaos with all the extra "party" energy the kids had, but their teacher had a great handle on them. Each of the kids got a chance to pass out all of their Valentine's to each other...it was so sweet to watch. I have a great video of them singing Jesus Loves Me, if only I could figure out how to download videos! I had to sneak out right when they were starting to eat their desserts, so I'm not sure what happened after they consumed massive doses of sugar, but I'm assuming they were perfect little angels:)

Be sure to check out the recipe blog...I'll be trying to post some of the Valentine's treats I made!