Super Mom?

The other day my 5 year old and I were lying on the bed reading our own books after shower time.

I was reading a wonderful book and Caroline was looking at a Wonder Woman book she had chosen from the library.

I was enjoying our calm moment together when suddenly Caroline said with a sigh, “I guess I’ll never know who my real parents are.”

And then she continued reading as if she had just stated she wanted a glass of water.

I paused for a moment debating my options. After all, I do have a 6 inch scar proving that this kid came from my body. I decided to run with it.

“Who are your real parents?”

“They’re super heroes.”

“What super power do they have?”

“They can fly.”

“I wish Daddy and I had super powers like that.”

“Me too.”

“I love you Caroline.”

“I love you too Mommy.”

My “Mom Cap”

Sometimes I find it’s hard to take off the “Mom” cap.

When I find myself telling my husband that I’m going potty?

Mom cap.

Or what about when we are leaving the house and I ask my husband, “Aren’t you going to bring a jacket? The restaurant could be cold.”

Mom cap.

But don’t worry, I don’t limit these ridiculous moments to just my husband.

Tonight, when the dog was barking outside at 10:00, I brought her in and proceeded to tell her that she had made a poor choice and because of that she needed to come inside. “There are consequences when you make a poor choice.”

Seriously. Those words came out of my mouth. TO A DOG.

Mom cap? Insane cap?

I think it’s a fine line.

 

Summer Fun 2014

Yesterday was officially the first day of Fall and the kids have started their 5th week of school but I still can’t shake the feeling of it being summer.

Maybe it’s because it’s still in the 90’s here or that I still love to spend days with my kids in our pajamas.

But I’m proud to say that I am moving in the direction of fall since in the last week I drove  my kids to school only 50% of the time while sporting my pajama pants.

I thought it was now or never to show you our summer fun list since it’s time to move toward ghosts, goblins, and all things pumpkin.

IMG_7385

We were all quite busy this summer…

IMG_7386

visiting many people and places…

IMG_7388

…and having tons of fun.

IMG_7389

I guess it’s really time to say goodbye summer…

IMG_7382

and hello Fall.

IMG_7384

But maybe we’ll do that tomorrow since we are too busy going to the pool today.

A Simple & Easy Rug

Due to a rather unfortunate stomach bug that hit our family last year I needed to invest in a new bathroom rug.

I did not want to spend a lot of money because inevitably there will be another bug that will cause several of us to lay on the floor unable to muster the strength required to walk to the bed. Instead we will spend hours on the floor with our pillow and blankets moaning and groaning.

Therefore, we needed a new rug. (Plus the tile gets so darn cold and slippery).

My family and I were wandering the Habitat store one day when I stumbled upon carpet squares for $1.99. We searched through piles and piles of squares to find just the right ones with the pattern I wanted and the quality my husband wanted.

We found 8 tiles that were good so we went home, placed them in a corner of our bedroom, and left them there for 8 months.

I kid you not. That’s sort of our MO around here.

Finally one day we dragged them into the bathroom and started the incredibly tedious and time consuming project of taping them together.

I think it took 15 minutes.

IMG_5190 IMG_5191 IMG_5192

We chose to alternate the carpet squares so that the pattern would be a little more interesting than just straight lines.

IMG_5194 IMG_5195 IMG_5196

A new 4 ft x 8 ft carpet in the bathroom.

I still need to add some glue strips, using a glue run, to the bottom to keep the carpet from moving around.

I’m aiming for 2016 to complete that project.

Move Over Mia Hamm

So this happened last weekend…

IMG_7170-002

Caroline played in her first soccer game.

After watching her brothers play in roughly 692,000 games over the last five years, she is so excited to be on a team and play in her own games.

IMG_7201

To mark the occasion, Caroline and I went to buy a new pink mesh bag which holds her new pink soccer ball. We also dusted off her brother’s old cleats and shin guards which she couldn’t be more happy to get to wear – except for the fact that she hates the feeling of the shin guards so she puts her socks on first and then puts the shin guards on top of the socks.

IMG_7232

Now with Caroline, who we like to call “spirited,” there was no telling what the first game would bring – happiness? tears? refusal to play?

Well, I’m happy to report she was so happy (anyone else feel like this post should be sponsored by Pharrell Williams?)! She ran and ran around the field. At times, she was no where near the ball, just playing her own imaginary game, serpentining all around the field.

While the rest of us were sweating in the 101 degree heat, she was running around with such joy.

Apparently she runs better when sticking out her tongue because she did that the entire game – from here on out I’m calling her the Michael Jordan of soccer.

IMG_7212-001

Of course when she wasn’t sticking her tongue out while running she was squeezing her lips while she watched everyone else go for the ball. Everyone else is cheering ,”Run,” while my husband and I are cheering, “Get your hands out of your mouth.”

 

IMG_7222

And then the ball came her way!

And she ran with it!

Kicking it down the field!

 

IMG_7224

And she scored!

The smile that came from her was amazing.

(I would have loved to show you that smile but my 9 year old had the camera at the time and stopped taking pictures right before she scored. I think he was as excited as the rest of us for Caroline and was cheering).

IMG_7236

Goal or no goal, game 692,001 was a success!

Move over Mia, here comes Caroline!

A Little “Old Lady”

My 5 year old and I went shoe shopping for me the other day.

I was in need of a new pair of heels and since the boys had already started school Caroline went with me.

At  the first store the saleslady handed me the tan nylon socks to try some shoes on with. While I couldn’t have cared less about them, Caroline was enamored with them. She grabbed herself a pair to try on and then “tried on” many pairs of shoes. I didn’t find anything I liked so we went on with our search.

In and out of stores we went, desperately looking for a pair that were comfy, cheap, and most importantly, came in a size 10.

Sidenote: For all of you people with average feet I am deeply envious. To be able to walk up to a shoe display and actually place your entire foot into the shoe to see how it looks is something I can only dream of. I place my size 10 feet into the display shoes and get to see how three of my crunched up toes look.

Anyway, Caroline and I were searching for a pair of simple gold heels for my brother’s wedding. Well, at least that’s what I was searching for. Apparently Caroline was searching for shoes for me to go walk the streets of Louisville and pick up a few extra bucks while on our trip.

She pulled heels with three inch soles, heels with bows, heels with bows and buckles, heels with clear soles, pink patent leather heels, and her personal favorite, heels completely decorated in varying blue and green sequins which resulted in a peacock feathers design.

She was able to pull these shoes because they were all in the clearance section.

I can’t imagine why.

For some of the shoes I humored her and put them on when she asked me too. I mean, how else would I have known that five inch heels are not my thing – although the blue sequin ones did give me a moments pause.

After several stores we decided we needed to eat some lunch. While standing in line waiting for our lunch, I realized Caroline had added to her shorts and t-shirt combo from this morning.

On her feet were the nylon socks she had tried on in the first store.

Sandals and nylons. It’s like I was shopping with an 85 year old woman.

IMG_7050

Caroline knew she had the “socks” on and was completely content with her look. After a brief moment of weighing my options, I decided I was going to be content too so I said nothing.

We finished our shopping, eventually finding a pair of shoes which worked for me – spoiler alert: they were not the blue sequined peacock shoes.

As we left the store walking hand and hand I looked down at Caroline and just smiled.

Shoe shopping with my little “old lady” was definitely a good day.

Tomorrow we have to go shoe shopping for her – I kind of want to stop by the lady’s department first  : )

Hello, Is Anyone Out There?

Hello.

Is anyone out there?

It’s been so long since I posted and yet it seems like just yesterday.

I’m not sure I even remember how to post anymore.

Since March I’ve sat down at the computer many times to write but it just didn’t happen. Maybe next week I’ll write. Maybe next month I’ll write because my heart won’t hurt so much. Well before you know its six months later and your heart still hurts.

Now please don’t call the authorities on me or send out the counselors.

I’ve got plenty to be happy and thankful for. My children and my husband make me laugh and smile every single day. Really its every single hour.

I’m here to say that its possible to move on but still have a tiny place in your heart that will always be sad. I think that’s the way it is for anyone who’s experienced a death. And for me it was the death of a dream, of a family member I had already placed deep into my heart.

Who knows what the future holds for us but I do want you to know that I’m here and experiencing life and its joys and I think I’m just about ready to start sharing with you again.

After all, how else am I going to remember that my daughter called my tummy squishy and my personal favorite lately…

Mom, take off your sunglasses.

OK. Why?

I want to see all those crinkles by your eyes.

(Sigh) Do you want to know who put a lot of those crinkles there?

Yes.

You.

Me?

Yes you. With the help of your brothers.

Maybe you should put your sunglasses back on so we don’t see the crinkles.

Sounds like a plan.