Making it through the summer with a toddler on my hands...

School has been out approximately one week and I'm already exhausted trying to entertain the toddler in our house. May I introduce Hezekiah Isaac...my strong-willed, high spirited, goofy first born who, by the way, cannot play by himself at home. Ever. He has always been like this.

Yes he's sucking on his toe while watching tv. He's special.

When I catch him playing at someone else's house, different story. So over a year or so I've explored Pinterest to find new ideas to keep him occupied so he isn't constantly yanking on my arm to come watch him build blocks. Unfortunately none of the ideas have worked so far and I've tried quite a few! Examples below...

Sidewalk chalk: An inexpensive fun outdoor activity that will entertain your kids for hours!

Problem: The kid walks around the side of the house where you imagine he is coloring up a storm only to find him eating the chalk like candy.

Bubbles: Another inexpensive yet fun activity for little ones!

Problem: Yeah it would be great fun if the kid could get the dang bubbles to work! He blows his heart out with no luck in getting any bubbles to come out and screams in frustration.

Washable paint: Get some sheets of paper and colorful paints so you little artist can have a blast making his mommy beautiful pictures!

Problem: The kid would rather squeeze out all the paint on the ground and once he's satisfied with that, walk away without looking back.

Water balloon fun: Fill up a bunch of water balloons and have a water balloon fight that will leave both of you laughing!

Problem: Immediately throws them on the ground to watch them break which is irritating because it took you 30 minutes to fill 10 of those stupid things up. Now your left with a mess of broken water balloons in your yard to pick up.

You gotta love the sensory pins where a mom suggests "put marbles in a bowl and they'll have hours of fun!" or "have them string a noodle on a piece of yarn!". Really? That's what you came up with? I know you said your a mom but do you really have toddlers or do I need to smack you upside the head?


Tomorrow will be a week of potty training! I hung in there despite a rough day 1 with lots of screaming, tantrums and with me stuffing my face full of his Rolos potty candy. Day 2 went much more smoothly and I just let him do everything like putting the toilet cover on, pulling down his underwear. flushing and all that jazz. His favorite part is mostly definitely his mom making a big production about it like clapping, jumping up and down, and cheering. The candy is just a bonus. But I don't mind looking like an idiot if it means I don't have to change his diapers anymore! There has been lots of incidents though like when I sat on a puddle of pee on the couch, getting my leg peed on while he's on the toilet (the kid's got talent), finding a lake of pee by the washer and dryer (apparently his new favorite place to pee instead of the potty), and many more to come! I do put him in a diaper during naptime, bedtime, and when we go out but I'm pretty proud of him so far. Still more to come!

Only cool people pee their pants!

Alright summer vacation, I got through week 1, bring on week 2!!!

Catching up with cake and color...

Now that winter is finally over, things are starting to pick up a bit!

Well my littlest Asher turned one on April 12th. Tears! Time sure speeds up with your chasing after two little boys. I went with a dinosaur theme for his first birthday which turned out really cute and I was super impressed with my cake decorating skills! The ombre effect on the cake was a happy accident but it looks pretty sweet huh? It was a great party and now I'm left the reality that Asher's time as a baby is ending (cries a little inside). Time to go through the baby clothes, bottles, and toys and pack it all away in storage. It really has been a great year though. I think when I had Hezekiah, there was so many "firsts" and all the stress that comes with being a first time parent, that I don't remember much. After we had Asher I got the chance to really savor each moment and enjoy having a little baby again.

I can look back on the year and laugh a little at how crazy life turned after baby #2. If you think life after your first kid changes, just wait til you have ANOTHER kiddo to look after! I remember one distinct time when Asher was 2 months old and Hez was a year and a half. Asher was still waking up every hour and a half at night and Josh was working kids camp all summer. I was exhausted, overwhelmed and lunch was long overdue. I sat down to eat and pump at the same time, Asher was crying for the millionth time and Hez was pulling on my pants and had been fussing for the past 2 months. My patience was long gone and my brain felt like mush from sleep deprivation. I stood up and screamed "SHUT UP!!!!". I put my head in my hands and shut myself in our bedroom for a few minutes. Not my finest moment. But lets be honest moms, we've all had them...

 I really am so blessed so have two beautiful boys with such special qualities. I can't wait to see what incredible men of God they'll grow up to be.

I'm so happy it's racing season again! It was a loooong cold winter and I was dying to get outside to run. I put on a few pounds and I wasn't feeling good about having to rubber band my jeans. It's a trick commonly used for pregnant woman who don't want to switch to maternity jeans quite yet. In my case, it's because I ate too many pizzas and brownies over the holidays.

Now I don't necessarily enjoy running but I do love food. It's kind of a curse actually.  But our family is doing better about being health conscience such as cutting out artificial sweeteners (bye bye diet Coke *sniff*) and preservatives. It mostly started because I started getting headaches, dry mouth, random moments of vertigo, and heart palpitations. I cut out the diet pop and within days, all of the symptoms stopped. I really do think there is something to Americans eating ourselves sick with all of the "food products" we eat. It's not actually food our bodies can digest properly because it's not real food. I'm not a health nut by any means but if I can cut out aspartame, high fructose corn syrup, and other unnatural ingredients than I'm one step closer. Plus these pesky few pounds that stayed on for months disappeared within a week of just eating healthy (without counting calories yay!)

I had 2 races this Spring and the first one was the Diva Dash 5k in April. I looooove races. The excitement and energy from the other runners and the feeling of accomplishment after crossing the finish line is so worth all the hard work of training. The Diva Dash was so much fun to get dressed up for. Darci and I went with a tutu and boa ensemble. I kept asking her why nobody else was wearing boas as we were walking to the starting line. I'll tell you why! Because when you run, feathers get in your mouth and it makes your neck sweat and itch like crazy. Lesson Learned.

This morning was the Run or Dye 5k I did with a bunch of my buddies and it was so fun! I did have to laugh at the place they chose to have it at. It was at the Kansas Coliseum which is basically abandoned surrounded by buildings that are falling apart and if that scenery wasn't lovely enough, half of the race was through the parking lot and the other half was through the pothole infested lawn. That's um...different. I was really excited to include my Smasher in this race and he was a pretty good sport about it. Onward to the next race...The Princess Prance 8k next month! I will be kickin it Little Mermaid style complete with seashell bra woo!

The Saggy-Baggy Elephant

 One of my favorite books to read to my boys is called "The Saggy-Baggy Elephant" which if you haven't read it, it's an adorable book about self-acceptance. The book begins with a parrot laughing at the little elephant by saying "Your ears are too big for you, and your nose is way too big for you. It's baggy and saggy, You should call yourself Saggy-Baggy."

The little elephant's reply is "I'd be glad to improve myself but I don't know how to go about it. What shall I do?".

Throughout the book he tries and tries to smooth out his wrinkled skin with no luck and after a lion threatens to eat him, the little elephant runs off and hides where he is rescued by other elephants.

"Sooki thought they were the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. "I wish I looked just like you," he said. "You do," grinned the big elephants. "You're a perfectly dandy little elephant!"


I have had moments lately where I glance at myself in a mirror and I'm a little shocked at the face staring back at me. This thought automatically pops into my head, "When did I get so old????". Now I know you older ladies are rolling your eyes and you younger girls are saying "what-ever!" but I'm mostly speaking to the ladies who are cresting nearing the big "3-0" year mark. You get me right? Things that I've never even thought about are suddenly starting back at me with honesty. I'm getting older!!! Since when did I start getting ridges in my forehead or between my eyes? And man those laugh lines are getting quite a bit deeper. Now I'm using the terms "ridges" and "lines" but the beauty industry would call them the dreaded word..."wrinkles". EEEEKKK right??? Maybe. Or maybe not....

It's true that I've never really had to think about anything like wrinkles before in my life and it takes me by surprise that I'm even using that word. But as I'm nearing 30 in just a couple of years, I'm finding myself at a crossroads.  I can take the path that is self defeating and give the beauty industry my money for all their anti-aging products. But that's not even the worst part about taking this path. It's the low loathing that arises from telling ourselves that it's not okay to grow old. I mean sheesh when does it ever stop!? When we're younger we're always fighting for the new best product to make us more beautiful and we can't even catch a break when we get older!

I'll say it right now "Ain't nobody got time for that"!  I spent way too many years not liking the way I looked so I'm choosing the path of self acceptance. If I accept right now that I will have wrinkles, my skin will eventually start to drag south, white hairs will peek through my head than I won't have to dwell on them as they keep coming. Sure it may seem premature to talk about getting older but if I can get a head start on aging with grace than all the more better right?

And when I look at pictures of my grandma's that have passed away, not for one second did I think that they weren't beautiful or special. Our age tells a story and I don't want to waste any precious years wishing I could turn back time.

At the very end of the book, not feeling anymore shame, the little elephant was so happy that he began to dance with all of the other elephants behind him. Moral of the story? Let's give each other a break, we're all going to be sharing wrinkles someday.