Carson's first fight...

Yes, it has already happened. C got sent to the office because he got in a fight. At first this horrified me, but then I got the whole story from Carson: "Well Mom, we were standing in line to go potty and I wanted to know where he lived. So I asked and he didn't hear me so then I tapped him with my foot on his leg and he turned around and hit me on the head. So I hit him back. Then my teacher took us to the office and gave us a talk. And he had to have an ice pack, but I didn't. (shrug) Guess I'm just tougher." Yes, I nearly drove off the road at this point because I was laughing so hard. After talking it over with J, he agreed with me that we aren't going to punish C for finishing fights, just for starting them. So of course, we had to address the reason it started....he used his FOOT to get someone's attention. His response "ok I'll use my elbow next time, like cowboys do". Ok ok. Let's clarify here..."C use your finger to tap someone. Your FINGER. No one will ever think you are hitting/kicking with your FINGER!" Oh geez.

It's been a good ride

My dear sweet Carson, This time next week we will be preparing to send you to the big Pre-K. Wow. I can hardly believe it. My friends have all been asking me how I am doing with you starting school and I've been like, "Fine. I'm happy about Grove and I think he has great kids in his grade..." all the while not being very sure why they were asking me that question. Then a few days ago, you said to me, "Mom, I'm starting school soon and then I'll turn FIVE!". And then it hit me. Like a ton of bricks. My time with you as my little baby boy is ending. And, sweet sweet boy, what a wonderful ride it has been. You have been a blessing to me since you were a newborn baby who started sleeping through the night at 5 weeks. You knew I needed sleep, and I thank you for that. Espcially since I worked. Speaking of working, you never, ever, made me feel guilty about that because you were always so happy to stay home with your Jessie or to go to Mothers Day Out when you got older. And even though you were so happy to stay, you greeted me with open arms almost tackling me down most days when I got there to pick you up. You have been easy going, sweet, eager to please us, adventurous, absolutly beautiful and have been MORE than I could have ever DREAMED of. It has been an incredible joy to watch you grow into the sweet, tough, funny, little boy you are. I pray that you hold onto your joy and your love as you enter this new world. I pray that you know, really know, how special you are. I pray that you know how LOVED you are. I pray that you STAY who you are despite age. Bottom line sweet boy, I'm oh so proud and excited for you to grow up, but I may just not be that ready to let you go. To let you be more influenced by friends than by your family. To spend more time with your teachers than with me. To not have my special time on Fridays with just you and your sister while dad works. I have LOVED being home with you. You took care of me through a pregnancy, and you could barley talk. You have taught me how to slow down and enjoy the moment. You have been my little buddy. The love of my life. And while I know we are SO far from being done raising you, and that you still need me for SOOO many reasons, this is just an end of a very special time. And I just want you to know that you are the best thing I have every done. And it is an honor to be your mom.

Apples don't fall to far from the tree...

Scene: Me ordering at Sonic with te kids in the backseat... Me: I need a large water with lemon and line and two juice boxes. C (after rolling down his window): And I'll just take a beer!

Just cause everyone else is doing it...

I just have to get something off my mind about the whole Magic Mike controversy that seems to be plaguing Facebook and blogs alike.... To begin, I have not yet seen the movie. Will I? Maybe. But probably at home. I don't take a lot of time to go to the theater and when I do, I like to take my kids and NO, I will not take them to see Magic Mike, or Ted... With that being said, I do not know the story line of the movie, but I do know that a ton of people are concerned that Christians are going to see a movie about male strippers while calling themselves Christians. Fine. I get that. That is not my issue here, nor my place to make judgment. My issue with all this is the double standard of the whole thing. If we as Christians are going to get all up in arms about this movie, make judgmental (well meaning or not) comments on peoples Facebook pics of them at the movie with friends, type blog posts about how this movie doesn't depict masculinity, then WHY AREN'T WE FREAKING OUT ABOUT EVERYTHING GUYS GET TO SEE? My husband won't mind if I go see a bunch of hot guys without their shirts on. He knows they will never try to date ME. Heck, in fact, why should he even care? He can stay back and watch Victoria Secret commercials and see more than that. Or he could rent one of a million movies where they get to see the naked bodies of girls they've thought of as hot for years, let’s see, Wedding Crashers (don't remember any fuss about all the boobs in that movie), The Break Up (I KNOW my husband enjoyed seeing Jennifer Aniston's naked backside in that), Monster Ball (I remember thinking that was PORN one day when the guys were watching it at my house in college), The Big Lebowski, TITANIC, naked boobie drawing alert, every scary movie, ever, Basic Instinct, Sex and the City, not that guys really watched that, but the list goes on and on. Men have been looking at hot naked women forever and no one is saying that they shouldn't go to the movies. Not to mention, remember Showgirls??? Jessie Spano from Saved by the Bell all being a STRIPPER. HECK, even Independence Day had strippers. The main characters GIRLFRIEND was a stripper, Fresh Prince SAVED a stripper from the end of the world- no one had issues with that.... Remember when American Pie made women suddenly have the need to be a MILF? I had a friend recently say that they hoped they looked that way... Extra pressure. I bet a ton of mom's go to the gym now because that movie got it in their head that they needed to be a HOT mom... My point is, men see sex and hot naked women EVERY where they look. Billboards, magazines, commercials and most certainly movies. THUNDER GIRLS?!?! People, there are half dressed dancing girls posing with your children and we think it's COOL. Why is it that when a movie is actually made for WOMEN to enjoy, suddenly it is all about religion? If we are going to get upset that women are out looking at hot guys and I guess, wishing their husbands looked like that or fantasizing about them later (is THAT the concern here?) Then why don't we protest the VS Fashion Show? I saw about 100 posts on FB the night that was on. Mostly from girls feeling like they can never eat again. Why don't we discourage guys from going to bachelor parties that involve strippers? Why do we idolize women who walk on runways three weeks after having a baby? Why are we so upset about a MOVIE that may have improved the sex life of a married couple by reminding the wife that it is OK to be sexy for your husband and not about anything else? Maybe I am just bothered because the media makes me feel SO UNhot. I'm not tall, super skinny, half naked or anything. Or maybe it's because I have a daughter now, who I am so afraid will believe that she has to be a half dressed 'easy' girl for boys to like her or to fit in with other girls. Who knows. I just think that if we are gonna get upset about half dressed men with gyrating hips that we should get upset with half dressed women doing the same thing, making all us girls feel fat, short and over dressed...

The things they say

Just trying again to document some of the sweetness. Lyla is suddenly understandable. It's fantastic! And she knows what everything is! But sometimes she gets stumped and she says "think think think ummm think" while tapping her little finger on her mouth. The other night she was trying to get me to sleep in her bed so she said "lay your head down mama. Lay down" she then sand Twinkle Twinkle and something else that I couldnt recognize to me as she patted my face that was of course directly on her face. C got some new blue running shoes yesterday that he LOVES. However, before we could buy them he had to run though the store making sure they made him run as fast as me. If he only knew how slow I am... Ha! Also, between C testing his shoes- I think he has seen me take new shoes for a run too many times at OK Runner- and L playing basketball, they were really ready for us to leave!

Sweet things the kids say...

I should be writing a paper right now, but it is really boring so I thought I'd take a few minutes to wrtie down some of the sweet things my kids say. I really wish I did this more often... J: "Lyla are you being a pain in the butt?" L: "Yeah!" C (without missing a beat): "I told you so!" C: "Mom, now that I'm 4 and a HALF can you still carry me?" K: "Yes, baby I can." C: "But, can DAD?" One of the funniest sounding things L says: "Whach you sha?" (what did you say) Another: "Shit dog shit!" (Sit dog) C: "Mom, do you know EVERYTHING?" K: "HA! No honey, I WISH." C: "I know, only GOD knows EVERYTHING. God and real big people..." C: "I got crabs all by myself!" Either my dad or my brother, I can't remember: "Huh Carson, I don't think you'd be that proud of that if you were grown..." MAN! There are like a million more, but I can't remember. I REALLY need to do this more often!

Family Camp 2012

We returned to Dwight Mission again this Memorial Day for Family Camp 2012. It was a great time as usual. There is just something about being at camp, the place you met those closest to you, including your husband and watching your kids play with their kids. It is really just great. Lyla was up and about this year which was WAY better than her crawling in the dirt like last year, however, it didn't help her stay any cleaner. She looked homeless most of the time, which was fine with me. More dirt = more fun! Carson had a BLAST playing with his buddy John and as many counselors as possible. We of course LOVED catching up with good friends and playing with our babies!