Best Part of Mommyhood

Sometimes being the mom is not all it's cracked up to be.  Sometimes it is downright crummy.  It is a good thing that there are stellar moments to make up for the long slog through the no-fun ones.

 This child is so much fun.  She keeps telling me that no one else thinks she is funny except for me.  That is so not true.  Granted, I may be the only one who laughs every time at her favorite knock-knock joke.

Knock-knock!

Who's there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Banana Pants!!

No it isn't funny at all, and that is exactly WHY I find it hilarious.  Well, that and the delight it gives her to say something clever.   Delaney really is very funny in a lot of ways and she does crack me up constantly.  Tonight was one of those times.  We were discussing our upcoming plans to see family and get together with all the cousins on my side of the family.  Delaney was enthralled, and could not wait to leave.  She was really hoping to go tomorrow, and was disappointed that she has to wait.

"My heart is breaking into a million pieces and turning into a motorboat!" she exclaimed.

Yes, I do love this charming child!  I am so glad she is mine!

Adrenaline Rushes for Moms

Some people may think that motherhood is boring and that there is no real excitement to it.  To those people I say Ha!  There is nothing to get your heart racing like waking from a dead sleep to the distinctive puke-splatter sound.  Nothing keeps your heart pumping and lying in bed wide awake as you await the next opportunity to leap from the bed to clean up some vile mess.  Oh yes, if you want to get your adrenaline rush on, have some sick kids!

If you Give a Boy an Idea....

Joshua has been very bored lately.  Today he walked in the door from school and stomped up to me and complained, "I'm Bored!"  Apparently he needs a lot more homework.  

A few days ago when he whined about utter boredom and demanded something fun (as opposed to the chores I normally offer), I suggested he find a project.  He has been reading "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and decided he needed to make a go-kart.  The book has a materials list and schematic, I think.  Today I said he could make a list of supplies, and come up with a price quote.  After he sat at the computer for 20 minutes, I booted him off and said it had a $20 limit.

Eventually, he came over to ask if he could use materials in the garage.  I said yes, but he had to clear each item with me first.  30 minutes later, I was called outside to approve a pile of stuff in the yard.  I was impressed.  No, he could not use the tires to my bike trailer, but everything else was a yes.

I was astonished when the children called me out about an hour later.  This is what I saw:

All 5 children were "helping" in the yard.  They had come up with an idea and gone with it.  Joshua's pal Mark had helped a bit as well.   But this was what they had created.  Impressive, hmmmm?!

 Yes, this really is the size of my yard.  It makes me cry too.  Fortunately, I was so pleased with the cooperative creativity of the kids, that today they were tears of joy!

 They needed a little time after dinner to work out the front wheel, and then it was off to try it out!

This is their (currently) finished project.  They used the luggage carrier, duct taped a little kick board onto it for the seat.  They cleverly replaced the luggage carrier's wheels with the wheels from Delaney's old scooter.  Then they duct taped the third scooter wheel to the front.  I'm not sure how long it will be till someone becomes a casualty of the duct taped wheel, but so far, it has been great fun!  Callie is posing as my model here, but it sure is an odd pose!


And this picture is for my mom!

This was Marian's fairly easy, yet impressive looking hair Sunday.

And a Frog

Sorry.  I forgot that Dan downloaded some pictures and really wanted them posted.  We went to the temple on Saturday and it poured rain for the last hour- the last hour when it was my turn to hang out  with the kids waiting for Dan to get done with his session!  No worries, we hung out in the van watching videos, and I with my Kindle.  The girls saw a break in the deluge and ran out to play in the sprinkle.  They had a good time and found an exceedingly large frog. 

They loved all the flowers on the grounds.  Isn't Callie lovely?!  And note Joshua in the background.  He's probably using the Temple wifi to surf the internet! 

Say Hello to their new fiend!

 I do love these girls!  I love that they had so much fun over a frog.  I am also happy that they were content to let the frog go when they were done with it, and I do not think he was harmed... physically!

Wasting Time

I should be balancing the checkbook.  There really are so few times during the day when I can sit down at the computer in peace and quiet and focus on where the money is.   And right now, I am squandering one of those precious times!  Reading blogs is so much more fun than tracking and transferring money.  SO much more fun!  What is truly shocking is that Joshua came home from school and raced off to play at a friend's house.  Normally he just hangs out here whining that he is bored.  All 4 girls are upstairs and I hear actual giggles and shrieks of laughter.  Oh, sure, soon it will be shrieks of anger or hurt, but I love to hear the happy sounds of my girls playing together.

I should be putting groceries away.  I had just enough time to unload them and toss the cold stuff into the fridge before I had to dash off to get girls from preschool.  There are 5 bags of various food items on my floor.  There are veggies piled on my counter, and I'm sitting at the computer.  If I wait long enough, the kids might gobble it up before I even have to put them away!

I should be dealing with the never ending laundry issue. There are 3 loads of laundry sitting on my bed right now.  I figured if I dumped it all there then I would be sure to fold them before I went to bed, right?  Now I'm thinking that odds are much better that I'm going to stuff them back into their baskets and leave it for a few more days.  But again, if I wait long enough, maybe the kids will pick out their clothes as they need them, and I won't ever have to fold the clothes and put them away.

And now, I think it may be time to shove the groceries aside, clear a spot and start dinner.  After that maybe I'll make brownies.  Mmmmmm..... Brownies.  Then it won't matter if the checkbook is unbalanced, or the house is a mess or the laundry is undone.  I'll be the best mom ever because I made brownies!