You know you’ve waited one day too many to shave your legs when your 3 year old son brushes against you with his bare legs, falls over in COMPLETE and UTTER agony, screeching, “OUCHIE Mommy! Your legs cut my leg!!!!”

Yep, the first day of summer vacation has been a BLAST!  Even with mommy’s capri pants and unshaved legs added to the mix!

(Wait, was this TMI?? So sorry!)

It really has been an awesome day all around. 

I printed out a daily schedule WITH PICTURES (for the non-reading mini folk. . .aka lil Allan), and we got right to work with stickin’ to it.  Or rather, Mommy got right to work.  The boys had to be convinced of the merits of doing CHORE time BEFORE play time.  They eventually managed to carry two loads of laundry to the garage for me. (That’s a reasonable chore for a 3 and 6 year old, right?)  I had to chuckle at all the stray laundry that fell from their arms between the bathroom/hallway and the garage.  And then I had to chuckle when BOTH boys said, “WHAT? We dropped some? WHERE??”

After CHORE time, we had School/Specials time. (Specials are what Samuel’s school calls the fun extra classes they go to each day.  They rotate between things like Music, Computers, PE, Art, and Library).  Today was MUSIC day here in “Mama’s Fun Summer School of Joy, Happiness, and PLEASE Stop Asking to Play the Wii”, so we ate some cookies (cause, OOPS, Mommy forgot to schedule SNACK TIME) and we sang some songs together.

After School/Specials time, we headed outside for RECESS!  The schedule also calls for the possibility of Wii time during recess time, but the weather was GORGEOUS today, so we skipped the wii and played outside.

Lunch followed, and then a tiny bit of wii time (cause Mom is a pushover, and they were all doing SO well!)

Naptime/Restime did not go as well as the rest of the day, but it was successful in that the boys managed to NOT wake up Martha for over two hours!  And that’s all I’m going to say about Naptime/Restime.

We are currently in our FREE PLAY time, which includes the option for TV, so guess what kind of PLAY is happening?  The sitting on the behind, watching Cyberchase kind of play.

And Mama is gonna make dinner soon.

Right after she bandages up the 3 year old’s bleeding, ouchie legs.

Or not.

Happy First Day of Summer Vacation, ya’ll!

My oldest, Samuel, entered Kindergarten yesterday last month last August.  It was a tremendously, tremendously difficult time for this Mama.  He’s my first, so naturally I was anxious, but Samuel is also extra special in a few particular areas, and I was nervous how that was going to play out in a classroom where I wasn’t able to help reign him in or help him adapt. 

I found out two weeks before school started, literally as I stood in the office to register him for school, that he would be going to ALL DAY Kindergarten.  ALL DAY.  Over SIX hours a day, gone from us.  SIX HOURS, every day, where I was NOT in charge of what he did, what was done to him, and what he was learning.

(Ok, why am I not homeschooling??)

(Sorry… small breakdown averted there… back to Gratituesday.) 

After I had a mini (haha) meltdown in the school office, (lucky school secretaries!) I spent the next two weeks praying continuously for Samuel, for his teacher, for the students in his class…. and uh.. yeah.. for myself.

God is SO good, because he heard my prayers (well, He was probably WAY ahead of me), and he gave Samuel a really, really good teacher.  Miss Franklin has worked with him and with us from Day One, and I know she truly cares about him and the rest of his class.  She has spent a LOT of extra time talking with me after school about situations, about Samuel’s progress, about nothing at all.  She has been a friend to me and I can’t tell you how comforting it’s been through this first year of school.

Today, we are all going to watch Samuel’s class (along with about 80 other Kindergartners) perform their “we’re moving on up to 1st grade” program.  I only know it’s about “moving on up” because I’ve heard him practicing the songs they are going to sing.  Oh, it’s going to be PRICELESS, believe me.  I’m already crying, and we’re not even there yet.

Last week, Miss Franklin helped Samuel sing one of the songs for me after school.  She patiently guided him through the words and reminded him as he went.  She didn’t rush him, and was proud of him when he was done.  That was two minutes out of a school year, but it’s exactly the kind of teacher she has been all year long.

So, today… on the day before my son’s LAST day of Kindergarten… I’m thankful for Miss Franklin.  She helped us get through a really crucial year.  She helped Samuel grow and learn and mature.  She gave him confidence in himself and she made school fun.  I’m pretty sure Miss Franklin is Samuel’s fourth or fifth favorite person in the whole world. 

Thank you, Miss Franklin!

Are you thankful for something today?  Head on over to Laura’s blog at Heavenly Homemakers, and leave a comment or leave a link to your own Gratituesday post!

I know this is going to sound super cheesy, but today… today, I’m thankful for Gratituesday. 

I need this Gratituesday discipline in my life (AND I need a Gratiwednesday and Gratithursday and well, you know…).  There are some weeks, and this is one of them, where if I didn’t have my Gratituesday post to think about, I might just skip being grateful.  Sometimes it seems so much easier to just wallow in frustration, anger, depression, annoyance, sadness, and all the rest.  Satan wants me to think that anyway, and he’s REALLY good at throwing up roadblocks to gratitude.

I woke up angry this morning, and it’s taken several hours to shake it off.  I’ve felt a definite battle going on in my home, in my head, in my heart. 

I turned on a HAPPY movie for my son, and I sat down to read an encouraging book, in my attempt to straighten myself out.  And I did some praying too.  I sat still right after putting the kids down for naps, and let the battle play itself out.  My mind was at war for a short time – knowing the RIGHT thing to do (write a gratituesday post, put on a smile, thank God for all our blessings, and quit acting like life owed me something), but fighting that – wanting to just be selfish and WALLOW in it a little longer.

Obviously, I’m done wallowing, for now.  And I’m thankful that I have a place to share, a God to thank, a family to hold and love, and friends who care.

So, thanks Laura… for Gratituesday.  (Can we do a Gratiwednesday tomorrow if I need to?)

A few months ago, I “met” a gal online, named SueZQue (aka Kim). She and I met through Laura’s Heavenly Homemakers blog, and I really enjoyed reading Kim’s blog and her comments. I could relate to so much of what she had to say, how she said it, and was inspired by her and encouraged by her.

And then I got a chance to help her with a new business venture. She wanted a website, Laura sent her my way, and we began working together to get one started. I began stockpiling a lot of fun notes in my saved email from her, as we wrote back and forth about name ideas and what she wanted in a website and hopefully a future home based business.

She wanted to get this site going, because she was looking forward to being a Mom some day, and she wanted to be able to stay home with those future kids. It was something I COMPLETELY related to, because I had done the same thing a decade ago when I started my business. It was exciting to share in HER excitement, and Laura and I were both enjoying getting email from her about her ideas and plans. (Yes, we talked about her behind her back, but it was all good, I promise!)

And then, Saturday morning, the phone rang and the world spun a little off-kilter. Tragic, tragic news. Laura called to tell me that Kim and her husband Gary were killed in their car… by a tornado. It’s been two days almost, and I still can’t comprehend it, AT ALL. My brain just keeps shutting down when I try to process the information. I find myself sitting on the couch, with my head shaking in disbelief. My kids keep looking at me as I wipe tears from my eyes.

Last night, I spent a couple of hours with google and the news websites, reading story after story (mostly repetitive) about the accident and the tornado. I had to quit once I found an article with a picture of the car.

Tonight, I sat reading the archives of Kim’s blog, and then found another one, and read those archives too. More tears flowed, especially when I read Kim’s “Gratituesday” posts, and her “Thursday Thirteen” posts. One TT post stood out to me… called “Thirteen Promises That God Has Given Me”. I just kept reading those verses and thinking about her and Gary, and praying (for the hundredth time) that God took them quickly. That she and he were praying together, and then gone. To Heaven. For their rewards.

The first promise Kim listed in her blog post is my favorite (although they are ALL good). My prayer is that tonight, and this next week, and month, and year, that Kim and Gary’s families will know and feel and be comforted by God’s Everlasting Love.

Yesterday, my son called after school (he was with my ex-husband), and was telling me about his day.  He had a “purple day” with no warnings (which is a good thing), and his special was blah, blah, blah, and on and on he went.  Oh, and Dale had just taken him for a haircut, so he had to tell me about that too.  And tell me that he would need a bath, because they put goop in his hair.

Anyway, because it was a Monday and he had hot lunch, I asked, as I usually do, “What’d you have for lunch today?”

Him: “Scorpion tails!”

Me: “Whaaaat?”

Him: “Scorpion tales.  They chopped off the scorpion part and gave us the tails for lunch, mom.”

(He is telling me this with complete serious-ness, btw)

Me: “Whaaat?”

Silence…. a couple of beats go by…. I sit wondering what in the world…shaking my head a little.

Him: “No, mom… I’m just kidding… I had chicken….  bahahahahahahaha”

Me: Spontaneous Laugh Out Loud Laughter

He got me.  Flat out got me.  It’s not nearly as funny in type as it was in person, but my son?  He is growing up.  And this was so much better than his knock knock jokes and silly crazy statements that are for some reason supposed to be funny.  This… this was a real, tease my mom and make her laugh because I’m actually saying something funny, funny.

I guess this is what 10-days-away-from-being-in-1st-grade looks like?

Whenever I sit to write a Gratituesday post, I immediately have plenty of ideas come to mind.  There is just a LOT to be thankful for around here.  My kids are adorable and sweet and loving (except when they are frustrating and fussing with each other), and my husband treats me like a queen.  But, it would get old fast if I wrote about them each week, wouldn’t it?

This week, I sat for a minute and pondered the events of the last few days.  The first thing I thought of was how much fun it was to spend time on the phone with my best friend yesterday.

She and I are separated by four states (give or take), but through modern technology, we can stay super connected in each others’ lives.  It has helped TREMENDOUSLY that she now has email and we send each other little notes every day, but we still need to touch bases on the phone.  Mostly it’s because we can cover about 100 times more ground in an hour than we can in 10 email all day. (We both talk fast and listen fast).  But there’s just something about getting instant feedback on your thoughts and being able to hear the nuances of a discussion, rather than getting the information in black and white text.  And thanks to my husband, I can stay on the phone getting that feedback and hearing those nuances for as long as my children and life will allow!

When Allan kidnapped transplanted me here to Las Vegas to marry him, there was no doubt in his mind that we would set up unlimited long distance on our phone plan.  He knew how important that plan was going to be, since I was leaving behind all my friends and family in Nebraska, and the rest of my family (my MOM!) was in yet another state.  Yeah, unlimited was the only way to go.  And it has honestly saved my sanity, at least a few times, in the last four years.

So, today I’m thankful for phones, for unlimited long distance plans, AND for my best friend who is always there on the other end of the line to listen and encourage and laugh (and sometimes cry) with!

What are YOU thankful for?  Head on over to Laura’s blog and tell her (and us) all about it!

It’s Gotcha Day, and Gratituesday!

You can read about it over at DigiScrapChat.

Last night, the kids wanted to have “movie night” (which we often do on Friday nights), and since the household (i.e DADDY!) is gearing up for the new Indiana Jones movie (coming in two weeks!), Allan decided to put on Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I was a little hesitant about whether the kids should watch it.  I was worried they would get scared.  I started thinking about nightmares and sleepless nights because of all the SCARY SCARY parts in the movie.  I thought about the snakes and the tomb (or vault or whatever) with all the bodies, and I especially thought about the END.  Even though I’ve probably watched the movie a dozen or more times, I still haven’t watched the end in it’s entirety.  I always cover my eyes or leave the room for a minute, because I just don’t want to see people dissolve.  It’s too scary… for ME.

And this is why God is so smart, insisting that having a Mommy AND a Daddy is a good thing.  Because Daddy thought the kids could handle it.  And he was right.  It helps that he knows the movie backwards and forwards and could prep them whenever something a little more intense was coming up. 

I actually decided to let them have a “Boys Movie Night”, and I went to read a book – but they came a couple of times to find me and tell me how it was going.  Apparently Samuel REALLY loved it, and was completely into the action of it all – jumping and bouncing and reacting to the scenes.  (In a good way).  And lil Allan is just braver than I gave him credit for, as he came to show me a silly face (he was re-enacting a face that he’d seen in the vault/tomb scene) and tell me all about the SNAKES!  With a very serious face, “And there were lots and lots of SNAKES, Mommy”. 

Yep, it’s just Mama that’s the chicken.