Soaking it up...

Lila didn't have
school today so
after we dropped
Lexi off at preschool
we went to Barnes & Noble,
Target, JCPenney and
Chik-fil-A.
We had a great time.
Lila got a Sophia the First
busy book and she picked out
a Dora the Explorer one for Lexi.
 
After we picked Lexi up
from preschool we came
home and Lexi took a nap.
Lila was so excited to
play with her Sophia the First
book and all of the characters.
Then she watched Frozen and
after that we all got ready
and went to riding lessons.

 


When we pulled into
the driveway after
riding lessons the
girls both started
cheering because Daddy's
work car and Sissy's Jeep were
in the driveway.
"Yay!"

They love it when
we are all together.

After dinner Lila and
Lexi wanted to get
down from the table
and dance for a few
minutes before they
had to get ready for bed.

I asked Lila what her
favorite part of the day was.
To which she replied,
"Having fun with you, mama!"

And the tears started flowing.

Some days my life
feels like chaos.
This morning,
as reported on my
Facebook status,
these were the words
that came out of my mouth
as I was getting the girls
ready for the day.

"Lila, I know it's Thursday
but can you please just wear
the Friday socks? I can only
find one of the Thursday socks.
You can't? OK, I will go look again.
Did you wipe before you pulled
your pants up? No? OK let
me go get you another pair of panties.
Oh, I think they are all dirty let me
see those for a minute."

"Lexi,  are you pooping? Please
don't poop we don't have enough
diapers for you to poop right now.
And why are you walking funny? Oh
I guess because I put your shoes
on the wrong feet."

Chaos. 
Not bad chaos,
just chaos. 
Some days the girls
sit at the table reading
books as I get their
backpacks ready
for the school day.
Other days,
Lexi is running around
dumping things out of my purse,
taking her shoes off and
putting Lila's on. 
Lila is locking me out of
the bathroom, telling me she
can go potty by herself and then when
I finally convince her to open the door
she is completely naked after I
had her dressed and ready for the day.

Often times
those are the things that
I remember.
Lila's statement tonight
makes it clear what kids remember.

" Having fun with you, mama!"
That was her favorite part
of the day.
Not the Sophia the
First busy book,
not the chocolate milk,
not riding on the fun carts
in JCPenney and holding up
wild shirts she wanted me
to buy for her to play dress up in.

Just being with me.

Ahhhh,
she gets it.
Sometimes I lose sight of
the very things I
spend so much time
getting across to my kids.

These moments come and go.


Thankfully, these moments last.


 






Don't forget to
soak up the good.


xoxo,

Linda
 



All you need is love... and a little schooling

I start my CNA
classes tonight so I
set out to make this
a perfect, memorable
day with the girls.
You know, the kind
you see represented
in those picture
perfect mommy blogs.
 
Oy. 
Not so much.
  
We never got to
make Christmas cookies
over the break so I got
out the sugar cookie
dough and we cut out
hearts and stars.
 
Only I put them
too close together
on the cookie sheet
so they turned into
one big blob.
 
Then we were
coloring pictures to
include in our
Christmas thank you
cards but that
didn't last long.
Lexi was breaking
the crayons and putting
them in her mouth
and Lila was too
concerned about what
Lexi was doing to
stay interested
in coloring.
 
I ran to the
bathroom and
I swear I wasn't
gone more than 3 minutes
but when I came back
the damage looked
like I had been gone
for a lot longer.
 
The crayons were
all over the floor,
Lila's drink was making
puddles in between
the crayons,
the thank you cards
were all crumpled
the tablecloth had
been pulled until my
computer was teetering
on the edge of the
table and Lexi was
holding my camera.
 
Oh boy.
 
We cleaned
everything up
and played babies.
 
The girls had
a great day.
They don't care
about perfectly
decorated cookies
or pretty pictures.
They're not
comparing me with
other moms
who accomplish picture-perfect
crafts and have pictures
taken from just the
right angle.
To be honest,
I care about those things.
I want those things.
I want
Pinterest pinnable
crafts.
And pictures
taken from
just the right angle.
I care.
They don't.
 
They care
about love.
Just love.
 
They care about
time spent
with them.
Kisses.
Hugs.
Feeding babies
and tea parties.
Dress up hats
and princess dresses.
 
The good stuff.
 
And now I'm off
to Target for
a new notebook,
some highlighters
and some new pens.

Back to school.