Guess Who

lost her very first....










TOOTH!!!

Peanut was sooo excited!  She composed a sweet little note for the tooth fairy which she had me type on the computer in the smallest font I could because, "the tooth fairy can't read it unless it's her size Mom"

Once she awoke the next morning and we got through the "wait,  a minute, the tooth fairy didn't leave me any money" crying...which really wasn't the case, it's just that before 7am on a Saturday, one doesn't function all that well and forgets that if one looks on the floor after throwing one's pillow all over the place, one might FIND the money right there!  Which, miraculously enough, was the case!

All is well now though...she's having fun putting a staw in the tooth hole and trying to say her "s"s without it feeling funny:)

More pictures coming tomorrow of our SNOW adventures!

Epidural anyone?

My friend Marla wrote a blog post this week that really struck a nerve with me.  She has such a way with words and it really got me thinking...

The basic premise of her post was, "“Some people you just can’t love without an epidural.” WOW...do you get the meaning of that?  To read her post in it's entirety, click here.

I went au natural on all 3 of our girls' births.  I don't have first hand knowledge of an epidural...It's not that I have anything against them, but I DO NOT like needles...I cry like a baby when they "have" to put that stupid I.V. ...I begged them each and every time..."please, I promise I won't die or dehydrate or even scream, just please don't put that needled into my skin!!"  to no avail...and so, for all 3 births, my left arm hung limp over the side of the bed where I didn't have to acknowledge the fact that there was some contraption connected to my veins.

All this to say, I chose the immense pain of LABOR over an epidural...do you get this people?  I would rather go through physical, time-consuming, mind-bending pain than be stuck with a long needle...Now, I say this because you need that reference point to understand my next statement...

I WOULD take a real, live epidural (if such a literal one existed) in order to deal with certain people in my life.  side note: if you are reading this...then this doesn't apply specifically to you...so don't get nervous or anything:) Okay...so basically what I'm saying is that emotional pain trumps physical pain, trumps fear of needles...

There are times that I can leave a conversation with certain people and feel utterly defeated, beat up, sad, angry, defensive...and sometimes it makes me just want to crawl into bed and cry and swear to never face them again. What I wouldn't do for an epidural to take away the pain of their words, their actions, their pride, the hurt they inflict...

What I often forget to hang onto, is just what Marla said: But it is what it is. And I am called to love. I have no excuse. When I find myself face-to-face (or cyber-face-to-face) with someone I just can’t love naturally, I call for the Anesthesiologist. And unlike the anesthesiologist at the hospital, He’s always there, Big Huge Needle at the ready. All prepped for the God-Epidural to be injected into my poor little back.

I need to call out and depend on a little more often, the ONE who knows what I can and can't handle...the ONE who knows what words and subtle hints cut me to the heart...the ONE who loves me, just as much as He loves the one doing the hurting to me.  Man, that is hard to swallow sometimes...

What's also hard, is to realize that there are people out there that need an "epidural" when dealing with MOI as well...I don't bring out the best in everyone...I'll bet my girls and husband could attest to that every so often...I just pray that in God's timing, He'll let me know those times...I'd much rather be an encourager, a loyal friend, an authentic, real person that people can rely on...but, I know that I allow sin to take over sometimes too...and those poor people...

Let's just pray they aren't as scared of needles as I am!

Things that Make me Smile

1) Dove Chocolate squares
2) getting REAL letters in the mailbox
3) when Pride & Prejudice, Becoming Jane or the Notebook come on TV
4) Hugs from Little Munchkin the morning
5) hummus and pita crackers
6) toenails painted different colors
7) phone calls from Italian Stallion in the middle of the day
8) the library
9) my camera
10) a really good face scrub/wash
11) secret notes left for me to find by my girlies
12) reading Bigmama or pioneerwoman blogs
13) when Italian Stallion finds funny videos for me to watch on the computer
14) phonecalls from friends
15) a sale or good deal found at a store
16) double coupons on Meijer days
17) AWANA worship night
18) hot white chocolate mocha on a bitter cold day
19) gumballs
20) belly laughs from my girls

just some random thoughts:)  have a great day!

Exercise

Some Most of you will have no interest in this post...and that's okay...I'm writing more for my own "journaling" sake than anything else.  I'd like to "hope" that it will keep me accountable and focused and on task...but, knowing me...well, I'll fall/dive/roll/jump off that bandwagon sooner or later...because really, as much as I'd like to think that I have some massive amounts of will power...I don't. 

Plus, I really don't like giving up my fake coffee drink each morning and I gotta have me a fountain drink every once in awhile or I go a little coo-coo in the noggin...if ya know what i mean...

However...in an attempt to make a goal...goal meaning: I would rather NOT have a muffin top hanging over my tankini while trying to pull Little Munchkin out of the pool once we get to Florida in the near future...

You might remember that I tried the 30 Day Shred awhile back...it was great...but my body got used to it..plus, JM got a little bit too annoying for me to handle....and having to wait through her entire explanation of her ONE TWO THREE plan before getting to actual work out had me pulling out my hair...

And so I began running again...why?  because seriously it does nothing for me other than wear me out and hurt my knees...no weight loss, no muscle tone...nada...

Once this realization sunk in...I felt the need to make one last ditch effort...and so a friend from church lent me p90x...have you heard of this?  It's awful and hard and Tony talks more than JM ever did and I think he might like himself a little much if you ask me. 

Anyhoo...regardless of what i think...the "results" that I googled are phenomenal...so, I started my first workout this week...and when i say started, I mean that out of 60 minutes of working out, I fast-forwarded about 40 minutes of it...but, hey...I did some mean banana rolls and made it through the entire ab ripper without totally cursing Tony out...(although that may have been more due to the fact that i was in so much pain, all i could was lay on my side ina  fetal position and wait for Italian Stallion to help me up)

So my regimen is now as follows:  run for 1 mile daily in 3 minute intervals...every three minutes i stop and do strength training and some ab stuff...this takes about 20 minutes.  Then I have about 20 more minutes before the bus comes and I do whatever p90x video is on deck for the day...for the record, I'm doing the LEAN version rather than classic or doubles...because, in the words of Sweetpea, "Mommy, that man has tooooo many muscles"...yes dear one, you don't want mommy bulging in weird places...so we'll keep it on the down low for now.

Now, I also realize that this means that I can't actually claim that I do p90x...because technically, I'm only doing the parts I like...which means no push ups, pull ups or anything that makes me cry in pain...AND, technically I am only doing about 30% of each video...so, if the statistics are right, I can reach my goal in 270 days rather than 90...yes, well...that doesn't exactly get me to my goal in time for Florida...but maybe, just maybe I'll surprise myself???

And that's about it...in case you ever wondered, "hey, I wonder if she ever works out cuz, MAN...she needs to!"  I'm workin' on it folks...workin' on it!

Into the WILD

My girls can have quite the imagination at times...most of the time they make believe the Boxcar children or anything Narnia..

Recently, they've wanted to watch Magic School Bus a quick 20 minutes before they get on the bus in the morning.  I will say that I get a bit squeamish when Ms. Frizzle takes her children into the decomposing realm of the forest floor..or into the ovaries of a hen...but, we'll just leave that out for this story. 

The girls decided to transform their bedroom into a forest...and I must say, I was a tad impressed.  Thought I'd just share the photos...

And one of Peanut...Literally GOING WILD!

An Event

We decided that this past weekend was the weekend that we were all going to figure out what we're goint to pack for our upcoming vacation...Yes, we're about 3 weeks early...but as you will see, much knowledge is needed with adequate time in order to rectify clothing mishaps...and sooo...3 weeks early, we begin the PACKING...

It was met with mixed emotions:

"awwwwwwww do we HAVE to try stuff on?"

"can I wear my green shorts with my hot pink top?"

"I don't WANT to wear any clothes!"

"Yippee...I'm bringing bathing suits and all my webkins!"

Okay...so we gathered into the guest room where I had assembled all the summer clothing that I could find ranging is ages from 2-4 years 5-6x and 7/8-10/12...It was a regular consignment store.  I want to bless my darling husband who thought we could get much more accomplished if we had everyone do everything all at once. 

For the record, my idea was to take each daughter separately and work one on one with her to figure out the minimum amount that we get by with for our trip...I understood that it would take much longer, but I could concentrate on each child individually...

However, in order to support my husband and his enthusiasm for this trip...we all crammed into the bedroom and went at it...

I should have taken a picture...after Little Munchkin tried on ONE article of clothing, a swimsuit, she refused to try anything else on and just kept pretending to swim around and around the room....simultaneously, Sweetpea was in tears as we told her that NO she couldn't pull her pants up that high, they aren't meant to be up to your armpits and about half your clothes are too small now, so we'll have to figure out something else...AND, at the exact same time as all this and with ME running from the other bedrooms trying to scrounge around for a missing matching top or swimsuit bottoms, Peanut was busy just cruising through all her "tryons" and I have NO idea what fits her or not...

I do know that she chose her neon green skirt with her yellow top as her outfit for Magic Kingdom!  FUN...

I have learned a couple of things though:
1) my girls have my same fashion sense...which is:  NONE
2) we won't loose Peanut at the Magic Kingdom...we'll be able to see her for miles!
3) Kohls runs BIGGGG...Children's Place runs small
4) what fit 6 months ago, will probably NOT fit now...and that includes ME too
5) when it comes to clothing situations and the girls...if Italian Stallion has an idea that veers off from my planned course...smile, thank him profusely for offering to help, and then continue with the original plan!

Thank You Notes

I'm totally stealing this idea not only from Late Nights with Jimmy Falon, but from a fellow blogger and friend...

Thank YOU Blogging in the Ohio 12th for posting this idea.  It seems that my brain has lost the ability to come up with stimulating conversation after days upon days of taking care of 2-8 year olds.  I appreciate the fact that I can steal this post and not feel much guilt over it, as I"m sure it will be forgotten at the first "MOMMMMMMM" that is called out in about the next 10 3 seconds.

Thank you Jillian Michaels for giving me a face to put with the hatred for the belly fat that surrounds my middle.  Thank you for being so doggone annoying that I can now just watch the Today show as I work out and not feel badly one bit.

Thank you gumball bag that sits on my desk in front of my computer.  I love to chomp on your 10 calories of goodness...and then spit you out...and then get another one...and then spit you out again...and so on...

Thank you Washer for refusing to do your spin cycle on your own.  It gives me the opportunity to practice patience and/or kick boxing.

Thank you summer shorts that used to fit.  I didn't really need you to fit in the middle of February for our trip to Florida coming soon, I suppose jeans in Naples will work just fine.

Thank you Pottery Barn Kids catalog for coming to my mailbox each season.  Once again, I have opportunity to practice contentment or green envy.

Thank you Macie for your lovely present on the floor this morning.  I've always wanted to cross off my list of things I've never done:  step in dog poop, bare foot.

Have a great day!