Downtime

How many nights have I been lying in bed watching the Real Housewives, thinking “I’m SO tired. Why don’t I just go to sleep?”

I really don’t watch that much TV - but I spend so much time on my phone and computer that I feel like my brain is on screen overload. I can’t realistically shut down the gadgets because I need them for work, so I’ve made a decision. For the month of March I’m not going to watch TV.

There are some important caveats that I feel need to be documented…

1. Being that I work for a television retailer (and have 2 big-screen plasmas in my office) I have to watch that channel. But it will be for work purposes, not entertainment.
2. If the kids want me to snuggle on the couch while they watch a cartoon, I’ll do it. But my main priority will be the snuggle, not the Spongebob plotline.

Other than that I think I’m going to give my brain a break. Focus on some other things in life. Photography, journaling, organizing, exercise.

I’ll miss you Tamara, Vicki, Top Chef contestants, Kim, Khloe, Kourtney, and all you other reality TV personalities. I hope your lives are able to go on without me for the next month.

Overheard

The other day Cole and I were in the car and the song Lean On Me came on. When it was over Cole said, "Mommy - when I'm a grown up, and we don't live with each other anymore, I'll call you if you ever need a friend.  Actually I'll call you every day if you want me to."

So then my heart melted all over the car.

Cut to this morning - we were walking in a parking lot and I was singing a song that was stuck in my head.  Ryan said, "Can you puh-lease stop singing?  You're embarassing me."

Thanks for keeping me humble Ry.

Why Have A Regular Whoopie Cushion When You Can Have A Mega Whoopie Cushion

There are many things that I find amusing about this post/story.  The good news is that Phil is and always will be a kid at heart, which is one of the reasons I love the crazy guy so much.

1. He took Cole to a party at Oasis and claims to have spent over $20 playing some game because it was "addictive".  Note that Phil played this game, not Cole.

2. Once the $20 was down the drain, he gave his tickets to Cole so he could get a Mega Whoopie Cushion.

3. He basically pushed Cole out of the way in this video so he could be the first to give it a test run.

4. The best part was when the boys fell to the floor in a fit of laughter.  Thank you, Mega Whoopie Cushion, for bringing the family together. 

Sad, but true.  I'll take what I can get.

Do You Know How Much I Love You?

On this Valentine's Day, I wanted to write a note to each of the boys about my love for them.  If for no other reason, it'll be a nice reminder to look at when they're driving me nuts. 

Love you all,
Mom xoxo

Wordle

I've been having so much fun playing around with Wordle.  It creates clouds that display which words appear most frequently on web pages.

I wordled our blog and here's what came up.  Of course my eyes went right to: Intense / Ashamed / Scream / Chaos.

But I'm just happy that mixed in with those words our blog also contains: Idea / Appreciate / Dreams / Laughter.

Also I'm happy that the word "pretty" appeared larger than the word "bite" - for some reason this gives me a feeling of parental peace. Try it for yourself and let me know if you have any wordle epiphanies of your own.



One Picture A Day

When Ryan was born we took a zillion pictures.  First bite of solid food.  First step. First trip in the big boy car seat. It was pretty intense.

By the time we got to our fourth, life (and diapers) were keeping us from the camera a little bit.

So last year I made a commitment to take a picture every day and post them on Facebook.  As I looked back on it, I documented the year plus took a lot of great pics of the kids that could have been otherwise missed.

Since it was such a hit, I've decided to try again in 2012.  With one month down I realize that I still love the concept, but need to take less pics with my phone.  Maybe I can spin this as an excuse to get the DSLR of my dreams? 

The good news is that the themes are still the same.  Craziness, chaos, trouble, and laughter...lots of laughter.

Livin' the dream baby!!



The Hills Are Alive

There’s a right of passage every parent must go through…the glorious children's concerts. At our daycare, they like to fancy it up by calling it the Winter Gala – which I have to say I appreciate because it does make the whole thing feel pretty special.

First up was Dean. I have no pics or video because it was pretty chaotic, plus he kept trying to hit the other kids with his sparkly red top hat. I know this sounds pretty awesome but I felt too ashamed to record it.

So next up came Cha. I only included his grand entrance, which cracked me up because he just lit up when he saw me (it’s not often that I feel this appreciated).

Then the grand finale. Cole channeled his inner Von Trappe child and belted it out for his fans. I’ll spare you the whole song – it feels like it goes on longer than the actual Sound of Music movie - but here’s a little snippet to whet your whistle.

The good news – they all performed much better than years past when we were pretty much boo’d out of the room for our unruly children. And since I didn’t fess up to the crowd that Dean was mine, no one pointed a finger at the mom with the hat-hitting-kid.

Score one for motherhood.