How come no one ever told me?

That motherhood would be sooooo exhausting. Mentally, physically, spiritually, utterly exhausting. Sure, they tell you about the sleepless nights, and the worrying.

But they somehow forget to mention, the minute by minute, nonstop going all day. From the repeated wake ups,
"Yes you have to wake up today. Yes, you have to get out of bed. Yes you have to get up right NOW," to the arguing over clothes,
"No you can't wear shorts, its 21 degrees outside, no you can't wear brown dress shoes with black running pants, just because I bought the sweatshirt from the boys department does NOT mean it's a boy's shirt....just put it on NOW!"

Then the lunch box arguments, "oreos are not a fruit, pick a fruit!"
and the "I brushed my hair yesterday, I hate this toothpaste, why is he looking at me in the mirror like that" whining.

And that is just the first 30 minutes of the day.

From there we argue about who's turn it is to sit in the blue booster, and who has to shut the car door. Until we get to the drivethru (yes, we hit the drive thru), and when asked what they want, they respond, "I already told you." SERIOUSLY????? Obviously if I heard you, I would NOT be asking! AAAGGGGHHHH!

Only to pull up at the bus stop and hear, "Mom...where's my backpack?"
Ummm.....it's not mine. I have my bags. He has his bag. Where is yours???
"I thought you would get it, mom"
HAVE I EVER?

Fast forward to seven hours later, and the drama starts right where it left off.

"I forgot my homework"
"I don't want to sit there while she dances"
"I hate his soccer practices"
"I don't like rice, can't I just eat bologna"
"I'm not hungry, I only want a snack"
" My seatbelt is stuck"
"I can't walk"
"my foot is stuck in the door"
"I'm not tired"


STOP! STOP! STOP!!


"Why are you yelling, mom?"

How come no one ever tells you this stuff?

Because there are some moments that make you love these little monsters. Handfuls of dandelions, presented like a priceless bouquet. Fingerprints and poems, telling you how "speshal" you are. Magnetic necklaces, that when placed just so, make a beautiful heart proclaiming for the world that you are mother and daughter. There are dance competitions and soccer games, where they work so hard and are so proud of themselves, you can't help but be proud of them as well!

And so, in those moments, you forget about the craziness, the whining. You forget just how tired you are, and remember,

"I'm their mom."

And that's the most rewarding job there could ever be!
And makes you appreciate your own mom that much more!

After the rain....

It's been rainging FOREVER and after the extremely long winter and all the snow....we are all getting a little antsy to get out of the house and into the sunshine.


So after a much needed after school nap, the rain let up for a few minutes and we went out to play some basketball.

And were greeted with this.......

So I attempted to take some pictures of the kids AND the rainbow.....

And this is what I got!

5 dinners 1 hour??? Can it be done?

After some seriously unhealthy food choices for months and some major unmotivation to fix that, I stumbled upon a blog called 5dinners1hour.blogspot.com . The claim is that I can spend one hour each week prepping 5 dinners and have them ready and waiting each night. Sounds too good to be true? I agree!

BUT....I'm willing to try anything to get out of this rut. So I shopped and I spent $65.00 (more than I'd prefer to spend, but less than my fast food budget!). I came home, unloaded the bags on the table and got to work.

I started with a sink full of soapy water. I put chicken in a pot on the stove to cook (probably not the "right" way, but hey, it got the job done). And I followed the plan. 45 minutes later, I was done. Dishes washed (although not put away....baby steps, people!), food stocked in the fridge, and I even called the sitter to see if she would pop the meals in the oven for us (yes, we are THAT busy!) so we can eat before dance and soccer and church. She agreed and tomorrow we'll find out if the kids will be on board.

As for the meals....here's what on the menu:

Monday- Mini Honey Mustard Meat Loaves with mashed potatoes and green beans(The kids really liked these and I did as well....so these will definitely be made again!)

Tuesday: Crispy Pork Chops w/ steamed veggies and applesauce (These were amazing and we had steamed cauliflour/broccoli/carrots and applesauce! They were a hit!)

Wednesday- Chicken and Broccoli bake served w/ rice and a salad (This was eaten, but Delaney picked out the stems and Braden wouldn't touch the rice. Next time I'll cut the rice smaller and mix the rice in better!)

Thursday- Chicken Caesar Salad Pitas w/ carrots and ranch dip (easy, fast and well received...another keeper!)

Friday- Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Tacos (YUM!!!! I should have made them Thursday for Cinco de Mayo, but everyone enjoyed making their own tacos!)

I'll update and let you know how it goes!
So...five dinners, prepped in an hour, can be done and will be done again! I'll let you know when we prep next weeks menu!

Flood Warning = Water Fun

Our entire area was under a flood warning, and now that we live so close to the water, we had to check things out.

We walked the hundred yards from the front door to the "sea"wall. The waves were crashing crazily against the wall, sounding more like a drum, than water.

Delaney couldn't resist leaning over and while Braden ran back and forth "whooping." I'm not sure why he felt the need to whoop....maybe he just needed to be louder than the water...he's a boy, I haven't figured him out yet!

After dodging the waves, they finally gave in and just let the water win! I'm pretty sure it was a win-win all the way around!

Back to the Blog

well, it's been awhile but I really want to get back into this blogging business. We've done a TON of amazing activities in the past 10 months and with each one I say, ooooohh, that would have made a great blog post and sooo....I am going to start. There may be some random posts with old activities thrown in for good measure (just because they are too good to leave out!), but I will try to stay current!!! Bear with me..it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Simple, Sane Saturday.......Right!

Simple, Sane Saturday.......Right!

9am came awfully early and with it, the start of a BUSY day. Nationals Bootcamp commenced this morning and Delaney had dance class from 10-12. She enjoyed it and I enjoyed chatting with all my dance mom (and dad) friends! It's nice to have adult conversations every now and then and even more nice good, juicy dirt is shared!!! OOOHHHH....it's gonna be a interesting school year , that 2010-2011 is!!!

Bootcamp ran over a little, but we still forged ahead with the next plan on our Saturday to-do list. Van loaded, friends filled in and off to Imagination Station we went! They had a beautiful sidewalk chalk in progress and they even let our kids participate on a section of sidewalk....wwwwwaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy over there! Apparently, our artistic abilities did not mesh with their envisioned final project....and neither did our coloring outside the lines (or given boundaries!). Eventually our chalk was confiscated and our fun was relocated! We headed inside to the BIG DIG! The kids have been asking to do this for quite some time, and today we did. They began by fighting over the brooms in the bone dig, and ended by fighting over the hammer in the fossil dig...in between, they built a swimming dinosaur, did fossil rubs, and molded missing bones out of silly putty! Today's adventure in the BIG DIG was a success!

From there we traveled North (through a path not often traveled, but scenic!) and delivered our friends safely to their waiting vehicle. The next stop on our action packed day? Bekkah's graduation party! Great food, family, friends, and laughs.....the party was enjoyable, but HOT. So sweaty and tired, we headed home to SWIM!

We let the dog we are sitting out, fought some more over seats and music and places in the shower and finally...the kids are in bed. I'd say it was a fairly successful day!

Some Free things to do this summer!!!







June 26-27



Detroit Children's Museum Grand reopening



**Entertainment, hands on crafts, planetarium and more!







June 26



Build and Grow at Lowes 10 am



Monster Truck


Saturday June 26
Imagination Station has a big Sidewalk Chalk presentation with hands on activities as well!





July 3



Kid's Build Workshop at Home Depot 9am-12 pm



Periscope









July 10



Build and Grow at Lowes 10 am



Ball and cup game








August 7



Kid's Build Workshop at Home Depot 9am-12pm



Bus shaped pencil organizer

The library also has their Make a Splash~Read with Magic Fish, Dive into the ocean and explore, It's a luau, and Bubble fun with the Bubble Lady!

For those of you with a membership to Imagination Station, Little Kidspace has story/craft time every weekday at 11:00 and Sunday's at 1:00.