Future Career Options

What do you think Cooper has the best chance of a successful career in?

A. Truck Driver

B.  Florist

C.  Artist

D.  Jailkeeper

No Joke story.  This is Lukey's "time out" spot.  Cooper was getting mad because he was coming out of the shower-->a big no-no!

Next thing I know, I come in and Cooper had rigged my mom's crutch up on the toilet so Luke couldn't get out.  

Who does that?

I laughed so hard, thank goodness Luke thought it was funny also! 

Casting Call

I just applied to be casted on this show.  First time I've ever done something like this.  Since I put that the strangest thing about me is that I'm Mormon-I don't think I'll get a callback.  I feel somewhat emboldened, however.  I also feel annoyed because they asked a lot of ridiculous questions.  For example, How would you rate yourself on being able to tempt the opposite sex?  I put "1-Never Done It".  It made me laugh.  Only because it's true.

For the Funnies

I found this post at Suburban Snapshots Blog and TOTALLY related.  I know most of you can.  So, for your enjoyment...

Why Having a Toddler is
Like Being at a Frat Party*

*I've never been to a frat party but my mind can paint a pretty vivid picture of one!

10. There are half-full, brightly-colored plastic cups on the floor in every room. Three are in the bathtub.

9. There's always that one girl, bawling her eyes out in a corner.

8. It's best not to assume that the person closest to you has any control over their digestive function.

7. You sneak off to the bathroom knowing that as soon as you sit down, someone's going to start banging on the door.

6. Probably 80% of the stains on the furniture contain DNA.

5. You've got someone in your face at 3 a.m. looking for a drink.

4. There's definitely going to be a fight.

3. You're not sure whether anything you're doing is right, you just hope it won't get you arrested.

2. There are crumpled-up underpants everywhere.

1. You wake up wondering exactly how and when the person in bed with you got there.

Check In

Yes, I'm here.  I just find myself increasingly lazy and the more I procrastinate posting the easier it is to keep procrastinating.  Maybe taking this baby step will help me to take a grown-up step.  Maybe.

Do Not Assume

I realize I haven't written a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY post and figure it's about time to post on my life again anyhow.  First of all, I had a wonderful mother's day but I agree with my sister-in-law in that no sane person would ever "schedule" mother's day on Sunday.  No matter how pleasant your husband's try to make it, Sunday's are just crazy HARD!  Jake did his best and I felt very special.  Thank you so much, honey!

On the other hand, it always makes me reflect on my feelings about being a mom.  I had one of those "holding my kids and I realized how much I loved them in that aching way you simply can't put into words" moments recently.  I don't have those very often but when I do it makes me feel like a mother bear protecting my cubs.  It makes me realize how fiercely I defend my role as mother.

We were having a discussion recently in playgroup about having children and how people like to make you feel crazy for wanting to have more than 1 or 2 kids.  This discussion made me realize a few things...thus, my sermon:

I remember when Jake first asked me, "You know what assume means, right?"  Well...just break the word down and you'll figure it out. 

The point is...by assuming something you stand to make a fool of yourself.

I have, in my short life as a stay at home mother, had many people assume some things about me.  I get the craziest stares in grocery stores. 

I found this list of crazy assumptions on another blog.  I adjusted some of them for my life, but for the most part I totally agreed with this lady. 

1) My job as a stay at home mom will not be done when my kids are all in school...so please don't assume that it will be. I have no intention of ever getting a "real" job again.

2) Do not assume that I am a stay at home mom due to any of the following:
being lazy, being uneducated, being weak willed (ie. my husband makes me), not wanting to get a "real" job, being overprotective, being controlling or that I have no other choice.

3) Please don't assume that I am dying for the day that I can get back into the work world and get a "real" job. I am doing my "real" job.

4) Please do not assume that my college education is "going to waste" because I don't have a "real" job. My job is "real" and I use my education on a daily basis.
Imagine that.

5) Please do not assume that because I am a stay at home mom, that my schedule is any more open than yours. No, I cannot run your errands, etc, because I don't have a "real" job and therefore must be overflowing with free time that I am desperate for you to fill.

6) Please don't assume that part of my reasoning for being a stay at home mom is because I believe that no one else can raise my children as well as I can.

Actually...this one is true.

7) Do not assume that I watch Oprah.

8) Do not assume that your job is more important than mine just because you get a paycheck.
My treasure is in Heaven.

9) Do not assume that I am "so lucky" that I get to stay home.
Luck has nothing to do with it.
We make sacrifices every day to make sure that I am able
to stay home with my kids.

10) And lastly, don't assume that I want your pity because I "have to" stay at home with my kids. It is my choice and I LOVE it. I love it. I love it. I feel as though I am fulfilling God's greatest purpose for a woman...being a mom and caring for my family.

I fully love my job of staying at home.  I love the up's and the down's of being a mom.  I love the things that I learn about myself every day.  I love the tears of frustration and ache that I shed much too often.  I love it because I am learning things about myself that I didn't know.  I am growing in ways I did not know were possible or were in me.  I am becoming someone different through the little ones in my life.  I am grateful for that.  I am grateful for being a mother.

I am grateful for the mother who trusted me to raise her son.  I hope I am making her proud.  I am trying, I am failing on occasion, but I am trying.  I love my babies and in the end, that's all that really matters. 

Gym Envy

SIGH...

As I drive past almost any gym, I find myself coveting a membership and green with envy of all those people who have said membership. If the gym wasn't so far away I would actually seriously consider joining one.

For an hour plus a day, six days a week, I work out at home. It feels like I've been doing this FOREVER, and most days it feels like I always will because a gym membership is such an easy budget cut.

Every morning as I start which ever home routine I am doing for the day, I again find myself dreaming of a gym membership. As I crane my neck while running on my treadmill (a very dangerous venture) to make sure no little hands are getting too close, I yearn for a membership with a daycare.  As I pick various debris off  my back after laying down to do chest flys, I dream of kid-less bench pressing.

As...

the phone rings

my downward dog pose has become a tunnel

middle little man is performing ear-ringing screeches

tiny one uses my plank pose to pull up to standing

jumping jacks ensure me I need to wear a diaper

4-5 poopy diapers need to be changed

I need to break up a fight

I pull tiny one away from DVD plug

I nearly catapult off of said treadmill

middle little man sneaks another cracker

tiny one invades the candy drawer and bites through all candy (wrappers and all)

I push pause for some kind of catastrophe prevention

all 3 kiddies sneak outside one door or another

big one tries to lift weights and drops them on his toes

...I sigh, keep going, and look forward to the day that I can work out at a gym.  And, 3 hours later, I am done and feel great for "enduring to the end".

Louisville Top 5 Moments

We recently took a VERY random last-minute trip with Jake to Louisville, KY.  He was going there for work so it was all expense paid--except for the extras.  Here's our highlights:
1.  Buzz Lightyear driving past Dinosaur World.

2. Holding Mickey Mantle's bat at the Louisville Slugger Museum.

3.  Finally having time with just my boys!

4.  Seeing the MASSIVE Churchill Downs Stadium.  ( That one's for you mom!)

5.  Adventuring through the amazing underground Diamond caves with Cooper insisting that he leads the way in the pitch black!

Thank you Louisville!  You were awesome!

Yes, We're Still Here

What we've been up to these last few weeks:

Easter

Making Fun Easter Favors

Pigging Out

Learning How to Eat With a Spoon

Whirly Ball!!

St. Simon's Island

Fertilizer

Today I changed NINE poopy bums on 2 little boys...and they aren't even sick.  What is wrong with my children?

Faith VS. Knowledge

Some of you may have FAITH that your husbands are awesome....

I have the KNOWLEDGE that mine is awesome.

Now you do too--

That's right, Handcrafted by Jake Hutchings.  Amazing, huh?  Ya'll can come take a flight anytime you want!