Great life

Sometimes I think, woe is me, my life is so hard.  I don't mean it really. I mean, I do but I don't. I know I'm one of the very few people in the world who has most of what I want. I have a great husband, 3 wonderful kids, a beautiful house in a nice neighborhood....I get to take my kids to do fun things and travel and experience the world. My life is pretty A-ok.

But sometimes, I feel tired. I feel unappreciated. I feel used. I feel like a servant who is constantly cleaning the same messes and no one seems to notice. Sometimes, I feel worthless.  I know it is part of having 3 kids who are little and a husband who is at work all day.  He would thank me if I made him breakfast and dinner everyday (which I do, and he does.)  Sometimes I am sick of cleaning the living room and breaking up fights and asking people to flush the potty after they poop so I don't walk into a war zone.  Actually, I'm sick of wiping bottoms but I also don't want them to wipe their own bottoms - so maybe I'm just sick of dirty bottoms.  Maybe we need a bidet.  But I digress.

My schedule this year has alienated me. I pick up and drop off and barely get 90 minutes to run an errand with only one child before I have to pick someone else up again. And then they are home, and hungry, and grumpy and I have to do homework with them which makes me want to pull out my thinning hair. So, I'm lonely a lot. And we're at home, so they're fighting. And making messes.  And while they are making messes and fighting, I am cleaning up messes, doing laundry, doing dishes and making dinner.  No one thanks me for this. You get the point. So woe is me.

But sometimes I stop being super mom. Sometimes I stop doing the dishes and the laundry and cleaning up messes.  Sometimes I stop being the responsible parent who says you can only have fruits or veggies between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm, and I let them pick a candy out of the candy box. Or I sit with them and color. Or, last week, I sat in the playroom and started reading.  Guess what happened? All 3 came in and sat by me while I read to them for about 45 minutes uninterrupted.

This week Hunter is out of school for "ski week." Because I am way too pregnant to travel (or using that excuse so I don't have to go anywhere), we stayed home.  Sadly, Jackson is getting pounded with snow and the kids and Brian would be thrilled to be on skis right now.  Anyhow, I decided to take the kids to do something fun every day this week. Guess what happened?

Yesterday morning I told the boys to do their homework (kumon reading) so that we could go to the dinosaur museum.  Without one word of argument they both sat right down and did it.  Then they got dressed and put on shoes and got into the car.  We went to the museum for 3 hours and had an absolute blast.  My cell phone didn't work well while we were there so I was very much so forced to be in the moment. With my kids. And guess what?! They are SO much fun! They loved exploring and learning. They were curious and smart and engaged with the world. They were well behaved and stayed close, with Hunter holding Aspen's hand when she asked him to do so. We sat at a table for lunch and they all sat on their bottoms and happily ate their food. It was AMAZING. I have incredible kids.

At the end of the day, I thanked the kids for being so well-behaved.  Hunter asked if he gets reward for being on such good behavior. He wanted to stay up for 2 extra minutes, the reward of choice in our house. Instead I replied, "Yes, we can go to another museum tomorrow."

So today I took Landon to a doctor appt and made breakfast at home.  Then I packed my kids in the car at 10:30 and headed for the California Science Center. Hunter is OBSESSED with space and space shuttles and telescopes, etc, etc. They were all very excited.  We spent 4 straight hours there without one argument, one fight, one word of disagreement. We sat and ate our food together, laughing at jokes.  The kids asked me to read them almost every single plaque in the room with the Space shuttle (which made my voice sore but I enjoyed it.) We went into one of the Discovery rooms (for kids aged 2-7) and spent 90 minutes in one small area! I pulled them out and insisted we leave at around 3 pm. we had been there 4 hours and could have easily spent another 8. We didn't cover 1/3 of the museum.

When we came home they worked on their Kumon and then they exploded back into the kids that they sometimes become at home. But I'm holding onto the memories of these past 2 days and the pure joy I have had while being with them. My kids are amazing.  When I stop and enjoy them instead of worrying about the mess they are making, I am a pretty awesome Mom too! I wish I could bottle the feeling I have right now.

Tomorrow we are having breakfast with a friend followed by fun at Adventureplex (an indoor play gym). In the afternoon, Brian and I are taking Landon to lunch and then I am taking him to decorate a cake, just the 2 of us.  We should have another amazing day together.  I was planning on taking them to a museum everyday of this week, but Landon is having surgery on Thursday morning.  Keep him in your prayers, as I am very anxious about it.

I really wanted to write all this down for myself. I need to remember how much I love my life and how great it actually is, especially on days when I feel like a worthless servant.

Aspen and Maisy's room!

It's done. I'm so excited about it. I love it. When I walk into their room, it makes me smile as only a mom who had 2 boys first can understand. Boys. Cars. Sports. It's all fun.

Lavender, gray and white with butterflies? SO super girly. I adore it. Brian spent 3 days painting the chevron pattern on the wall.  The girls have matching dressers. They have matching ribbon boards for their bows. They have gray and white chevron rugs that match the 1 gray and white wall. The other 3 walls are lavender. There are butterfly mirrors and fabric butterflies all over the room.  I <3 are="" ere="" it.="" nbsp="" of="" p="" photos="" room.="" some="" this="">

Landon's party and Jeff/Sarah's visit

I am always so excited when I get to see my big brother.  In the past year, I have seen him for less than 24 hours (up until this trip.) He is so busy and it's hard for me to go visit without all of my tag-alongs.  Going with my tag-alongs is a whole different story.  And then once we got there, who knows if he would have to work! Anyhow, we were SO excited that he and Sarah came to visit for the weekend.  They arrived at 8 pm and none of the kids would go to bed until they saw him. He was a super trooper, after getting up at 4:30 and working all day he played with them a ton. Then we sent everyone to bed.

 Sarah and Aspen were FAST friends.

 On Saturday morning we went for a nice walk to the school where the boys played with remote controlled cars and Sarah, Aspen and I played in the play structure.

 Then Jeff and Sarah took all 3 kids to Toys R Us and let them each pick out whatever toy they wanted. Pretty awesome, huh? We had a nice lunch and went home to relax before the party.

 Landon, Beckett and Rhys at Scooter's Jungle!

 Besties.

 Me and my bro

 Jeff and Sarah - CUTE couple!

 Van and Katie (and Rowan!)

 Superman! He had SO much fun at his party. He ran around like wild and crazy the entire time.

 Rachie and Aspen

 Jasmine and cute Kayla!

 Biggest kids at the party

 Another big kid

 Aspen was in her element. She ran and jumped and played right beside the 4 yr olds. I think that she thinks she is 4. She also asks to go to school every single day. Hilarious little girl.

 Aspen LOVES Rachel!

 Jeff and Sarah with the birthday boy!

 Brian and his high school buddy, Doug.

 Race car cakes

 Daddy, Rachel and Aspen!

 All the crazy kids at the party.  We actually managed to hit capacity!

 Me and my precious boy. 4. He is such an incredible kid. I wish he would stop growing up so fast.

 Rachel and Landon

 Aspen was "so tired" and snuggled up to Sarah.

 Landon sandwich!

 Brian ordered a remote controlled car for Landon. "For Landon". It is totally a car for Brian and my brother thought it was pretty sweet too. How to break the news to the little guy?

 Before Jeff went to the airport on Sunday he played Wii with Hunter.  Hunter beat the pants off of him. He was a good sport about it though.

We had SO much fun visiting with Jeff and Sarah. I love Sarah so much! She is awesome for Jeff and they seem so happy together. I can't wait to see them again.

Landon had an incredible birthday party. It was all he wanted it to be.  Life is good.