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.