My hat is off to photographers of children everywhere!

When you have children you figure out pretty quickly that in order to get pictures like this:


And this:


You will also be dealing with a lot of this:


You also learn that you will put up with a lot of this:


and this:


and this:


and this:


just to get this:



And by then you will be super grateful for it whether Sis is actually looking at the camera or not.

I just love my babies :-) We had a great Easter!

Easter Morning

Bubba woke up with the most awesome bed head I have ever seen. Happy Easter to me!


Sis couldn't quite understand the egg hunting thing. Her brothers would try to help her out and would put eggs in her basket for her, but it only made her angry that they were messing with her basket and she pitched them back out.


Junior was, is and hopefully always will be Junior forever and ever, amen.


Bubba was just happy with the gum. He willingly gave away his chocolate to me and Sis.


Sis found a quiet spot away from the confusing egg hunting mayhem to eat her jelly beans in peace.


...until she discovered the easter grass in her basket. Then the smile finally came out (she isn't much of a morning person and she gets it from her Mama.)


I made and tried to get the kids to eat this yummy french toast casserole for breakfast but they turned it down in favor of sugar coated marshmallows. More for me (and the neighbors I brought the rest of the pan to.)

The Reason For The Season

Junior brought this picture home from Church today. Yes, that is a toilet and a plunger. Below is what was drawn on the back of the paper.


I'll admit that I might not be the best at making sure my children understand certain Gospel principles but I am almost certain that sharks leaping out of toilets and attacking people has never been part of any church story I've ever taught them.

HAPPY EASTER!

Who needs a spoon?

...or bread...


...or jelly...


...or manners...


That jar of peanut butter? It's hers now. But then, I suspect that was her plan all along.

My Favorite Things: My Car

I'm not a major car person. There are some I like more than others and a few that will never make my short list even if they were only $1. I do love this car though. It's a Honda Pilot and although it is not necessarily a head turner, I love how much easier it makes my life and I love what it represents to me.

I bought it a year ago when it became clear that I might be pushing my luck regarding the mileage and well being of my Explorer. Being neither technically single nor married, or having done any official work (i.e. anything that wasn't in the background in support of J's companies) I was starting to get worried about how I was going to be able to qualify to trade in for a more reliable one. In becoming a single adult/single car family I wanted a little more vehicular security. What do you do when your car is in the shop and you don't have a second car to rely on? How would I ever get to the store to spend the grocery money I didn't have anymore because the car needed a new thingamajig? :-) Because most banks don't count alimony or child support as income I was told by a few dealerships that I would have to ask someone with a job to co-sign for me. I hated that. Not because I don't have awesome family members who would help me (I do) but it just increased my sense of helplessness about my life and feelings of dependence. This alone may not seem like a huge thing, but pride rarely goes all at once. It slips away in pieces and leaves jagged wounds whenever you realize that something that you are now unqualified for something as a single person simply because you spent years in tandem with another person who is no longer there. Trying to find a place that would rent to a single mom with three kids is a very similar story.

Ultimately, I figured I would cross my fingers for awhile and hope that all the Explorer's thingamajigs had some good life left in them. Then I got a marketing letter from a local dealership that promised that all forms of income would be considered. I contacted them with a fairly cynical heart and I got really lucky. The dealership salesmen were awesome (Menlove Toyota if you are interested). It seemed like everyone I worked with had some kind of personal sympathy for the divorce situation I was currently in and made it their extra mission to make sure I got financed and into something that would be good to me for the long run. I know how to car shop and I know what I am looking for on a car contract. In my double checking, researching and price matching, I was relieved to see that the price we haggled down to with very little trouble was incredibly fair. I was so grateful to not have salesmen who were going to mess with me because I was so very tired of being messed with. Driving off that lot with a car that had a good reputation for safety and for durability felt good. But more than that, I felt the first triumph I had had 9 months. Being able to secure a car that was in my name and through my credit gave me back a little of my independence. It was the first thing that was 'mine' and not 'ours' and it was on my terms. I can't even begin to tell you how big that was for me.

I love my car for that and I also love it because I really, really hate to drive. Back during the first year of marriage, I commuted an hour to school and work and the time in the car made me nuts because I wasn't working, wasn't doing homework and wasn't spending with my new husband. I still feel like driving time is wasted time and I get bored and frustrated quickly. However, this car has so many fun extras that I never would have paid to put in but am loving. For instance, the day the DVD system breaks down will be the day I check into the looney bin. There are so many reasons to love that particular feature, especially when you are the only adult in a car of children who have inherited their mother's penchant for hating car time. Or, when you are on hour ten of a road trip and you are glad you have some way to entertain the kids. Since I can count on one hand the number of times that I have been a passenger in a car in the last 6 months, I can now really appreciate the comforts that make being a driver so much better. Who knew heated seats could make me so happy?

My Favorite Things: Scentsy

I have read a few articles lately on the close associations between smell, memory and mood. I'm not a big perfume wearer, but I like for my house to smell good. This is why I am so very fond of my scentsy warmer. I received it as a gift from my in-laws a few years ago and although it has been dropped, tipped and had little fingers dipped into the wax, it has served me well. I have a stash of smells that I either simply love or they remind me of something (i.e. I have one that smells just like my first trip to Mexico and one that smells like the honeysuckle bushes from one of our homes in Tennessee.) Some of them smell like I just cleaned my house or washed my laundry or baked cupcakes. Some of them take me right to Halloween or Christmas or Spring or Summer at the pool. Whatever scent I choose, it instantly does something for my mood level (and satisfies some of my control issues :-)

I do have a few ideas that I wish Scentsy (or the knock off brands) would cooperate with me on:

*Ikea (plywood and cinnamon rolls)
*Jasmine Rice (so I can pretend I am in a Thai Restaurant)
*That One Spring Morning in Ireland When We Had to Leave Early And Walk To The Train Station (self explanatory)
*That Smell In The Air Right Before It Snows (ditto)
*My First Truck (unexplainable :-)
*Just Washed New Baby (because I miss it)
*Disneyland (vanilla and cinnamon churros)
*My Favorite Teenage Job (movie theater. It smelled like popcorn and Windex)
*Elementary School (crayons and unjaded enthusiasm. I have noticed that most Elementary School hallways smell the same.)

Right now, my house smells like Maple Butter in honor of the remaining cool weather although Junior requested that we switch it to coconut tomorrow. I think he thinks it might bring the sun.

**For the record, no I do not sell Scentsy :-) I just really like it.

My Favorite Things: Facebook

I might be officially outing myself as a nerd, but I really love Facebook.

Anything that makes the world a little smaller is good in my book. My first experience with it was a invitation from a friend I had made while living in the Netherlands and had kept up with a few times a year by email. So, I signed up and within days I had people who I never thought I would hear from again find me. Many of them live in other countries so the chance of bumping into them in any other setting were pretty slim, and I had long since lost email contact. Old high school friends! college buddies! blogging friends I have never actually met in person! You are all on there and I love you all :-) I love that I can keep up with baby, wedding and general life announcements in one spot. I can see pictures of my friend's children and families and catch up with relatives that I don't see often. These things are all awesome, but I think what I like most about it is it helps keep me from feeling as isolated.


Here is the thing. I am a stay at home mom for the moment. I am very aware of and grateful for the opportunity as long as it lasts. I adore my children, but there is no denying that it can be lonely, especially when you don't have another adult walking into the house at the end of the work day to remind you that you are more than the maker of food, changer of diapers and warden of the crazy house. All the things I used to be able to text J during the day or save until our evening talks about the funny/sweet/frustrating things the kids did or to discuss something I heard on the news isn't really an option anymore. I like being able to tell my facebook friends about my 6 a.m. conversations with Sam or send out into cyberspace that I have accomplished folding every bit of laundry in the house (that's a big deal! You try it...) It's tiny little things, but it generates feedback and conversations and it makes me feel a little less lonely on a daily basis when I am too busy doing kid things to stop and chat with someone in person.

That being said, like so many things, Facebook is abusable. I do not ignore my kids to be on it but when I have a spare moment, it is nice to take a break or log on in the evenings when the house is too quiet and see what the rest of the world is up to. Being a mom is hard and being a mom without another adult around on a day to day basis is even harder. I can't put a price on the things that help me keep my sanity and help me feel like a person outside of my mom role, so facebook makes the list. Interacting via the Internet isn't a good permanent substitute, but it's a decent temporary one until life shifts again. :-)