#PopinCurrituck

#PopinCurrituck was the trending hashtag from my house this past weekend. My sweet dad drove all the way up from SC to visit with us for the weekend. It really means a lot when people are willing to travel 7 hours to see us! We are used to the drive now, but we do know what a sacrifice it is for our friends & family.

I will let the pictures do most of the talking. Saturday it was just dad, Madi, and myself. Paul had prior obligations to be at the hunt club. He's the Clubhouse Manager so he can't really miss hunts. He shared some fried turkey that he cooked so we forgave him. :)

We hit up Mel's Diner for breakfast. A local fav. Our waitress took a liking to dad right away so breakfast was interesting to say the least! :)

After breakfast we went to the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. It was all of our first time seeing it so that was special. I never really had an interest in going but it was actually really interesting and a great history lesson. I definitely recommend going if you come to OBX. They have  the memorial but also a replica of the plane and replicas of the brothers' living quarters. There is also a great view of KDH from the memorial.

That afternoon we did some shopping at the outlets (yes, my dad is awesome and does not mind following us girls around while we shop!) and then went to The Spot for ice cream. Madi got the last of their chocolate ice cream so I was rather sad. Oh the things we do for our kids!

For dinner we went to Chili's... go ahead, fuss at me. I wanted to take dad to a local place for lunch/dinner but we ate such a late breakfast that we weren't hungry at lunch time and we didn't feel like staying in OBX until dinnertime. Shame on me but dad really enjoyed the steak he got from Chili's. Ha! Next time Paul & I will take him somewhere local and fantastic, probably Kill Devil Grill.

Sunday morning we exchanged Christmas gifts and went back to Mel's Diner. Mel's was dad's request. I wonder why... ;)

We all had a wonderful time with dad and can't wait for him to visit again soon.

Forgot to mention that Madi pulled out her 5th tooth on Sunday!

Brownie sundae for BREAKFAST. (Pop said yes.)

Madi & Me

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Rock-A-By Baby along with back scratches have been part of my nightly routine for 6 years and 11 months. Tonight, Madi scratched MY back and sang ME those songs. That 2 minutes touched my heart in a way I can't really describe.

I post a lot about how difficult it is to raise my strong-willed child. I post a lot about our morning battles and our food drama. What I don't really parade enough is how blessed I am to be Madi's mommy. The truth is - Madi is exactly like I am. I would be surprised if she wasn't. She and I have been together pretty much constantly since she was born. We do everything together. We understand each other. And because of that we do butt heads from time to time. Sometimes more often than I would like and sometimes on days I just don't feel up to handling it; but, at the end of the day I always thank God (or intend to) for blessing me with such an amazing little girl.

And despite many articles read and opinions heard, I'm glad I still sing my little girl to sleep because those are moments I will cherish forever.

Tonight at dinner

And then she was a 1st grader...

I can't believe today has come and gone. I feel like this day has been in the back (middle?) of my mind since Madi was born. I remember saying I didn't want her to start school because there is so much involved - early mornings of actually having to get dressed, lunches to pack, homework, and early bedtimes. But as I saw her grow and challenge herself in kindergarten, I started getting excited for 1st grade. I have never been one of those sappy moms when it comes to a kid growing up. To me, and I don't mean this offensively - we all have our own opinions/mindsets, it is a happy time when a kid turns a year older or goes to the next grade in school. This is something I'm getting to experience alongside my daughter so it is definitely exciting but shockingly, it was nerve-wracking, as well. I REALLY didn't anticipate being so anxious about her first day of "real" school. Last night I was so on edge about it. I was asking Paul if he thought I'd packed enough in her lunch box and asking him if I thought she would be okay after I dropped her off. I double and triple checked two alarm clocks. I prayed that she would wake up on her own this morning. (I really did. She's SO much more pleasant when she wakes up on her own versus when I have to nudge her awake.) I made sure her name was written on everything in her book bag. I made her an adorable binder cover. (She made me take it out when she saw it this morning.)

Well, all that anxiety and all those nerves were just silly. In the words of Madi: "Shouldn't I be the one all stressed out? I'm the one going to school!" Yes, she is right.

Were there zero hiccups this morning? Did I breeze through the first day of school routine without a hitch? No, of course not because life isn't perfect. Did we both make it without a huge disaster? Yes, absolutely. We got to school right before the tardy bell (had some shoe issues...) and I even managed to get a smile.

I snuck this one as we were walking to her class. 

Turns out - she loved first grade. LOVED it. She couldn't stop telling me things. She wanted to keep her cool...that's just how Madi is. But she kept calling me into the room she was in and telling me more things about her day. "Ms. B is 22. And her favorite food is mac & cheese!" "We had 11 minutes to eat lunch. ELEVEN." and "I saw Courtney!" and "Carmen and I were SO close to getting the Hershey kisses." Also, "Math was soooo easy."

These are the moments that make me smile. And the moments that help me remember what God promises - that we don't need to worry or be anxious. It is a wasted emotion.

I'm so happy I was given this lesson in this way -- my girl is happy and that makes me happy.

after school...

bribed with chocolate milk...

and later I realized we were out of chocolate syrup. #momfail

Challenge #2: She's riding the bus tomorrow morning. First time ever. I have no idea how she talked me into this... #cueanxiety #ididntlearnathing

I hate you more than the word.

This morning was a little different, and a little similar, to most mornings in our house. I woke up, got ready, then woke Madi up. She pitched a fit about what she did and did not want to wear. And here is where it gets a little bit different – I wasn’t in the mood this morning. I just was not up for her “these are too tight” and “I don’t like those socks” and the never-ending helpmepickoutmyoutfitsoicansayidontwanttowearthat routine. So, perhaps it was my attitude that escalated things but regardless it escalated.

For 45 minutes I heard how much my sweet, innocent six year old HATES me. I heard how “if there was a trophy, you would win the worst mom in the world award!” I was told she hates me “more than the word” and “if I had something to throw, I would!”

{Had these words come from anyone other than my child or my step-child, I can’t say that the following would have taken place.}

As we got to the carline for drop off, Madi asked me to park so she could wipe her tears. I circled around the parking lot (because parking is just a hassle) and she wiped her tears, but she was still visibly upset. As she was getting ready to get out of the car and walk into school, I said to her “I love you no matter what you say to me. No matter what you do, I love you.” Then it struck me – that is pretty powerful. Someone just told me she hates me, kicked me, screamed at me, and hurt my feelings for 45 minutes and then I respond with “I love you.” The love we have for our children is so incredible. I wish I could say I would respond that way to a “friend” who did the same or a person on the street, but I can’t say I would.

I don’t have a profound conclusion to this except that God loves us a million times more than we love our children…that’s a heck of a lot of love. Madi may give me a run for my money most mornings, but no matter what she does, I will always love her. And no matter what we do, God will always love us.

After I dropped her off I called Paul while ugly crying in my car. Having him to lean on is so so amazing and I wouldn’t trade him, Madi, or Addi for the world.

Next time someone is mean to you, try being nice to them instead of retaliating. I think you will be shocked by the outcome.  

Where you go, I will go.

Wow. A lot has happened since May 7th.

Two days after, I got engaged to the love of my life. Yep - Paul asked me to marry him and I couldn't be happier! Madi is excited as well and we can't wait to tell Addison.

A few days after he proposed, I was offered a job in Norfolk, VA. Talk about good timing!! I accepted and will start this coming Monday. I'm very excited about the new job and about Paul and I no longer having to do this long distance thing. It is not easy!! We will certainly not take our time together for granted after spending a year apart!

Madi is coping well with the move. She is five years old so to her it's about how she will get to spend more time with "the dogs," as she calls them (Jeff & Pam's dogs). I'm thankful that I found a job before she starts school in the fall - this way, she can start school in VA and we won't have to worry about that transition.

Everything is truly falling into place! It's amazing what a little faith and prayer can do.

I will try to blog more now that we will have many new adventures in VA!

Xoxo!

The 'Ol Rivalry

I guess when I say I'm not going to post anymore it's actually code for I'm going to post all the time now.

It's no secret that in the South we take our football rivalries seriously. I mean as serious as Canadians take their hockey.

Clemson vs Carolina is the rivalry in my state. My dad was a die-hard Carolina fan. My mom is a Carolina fan by default (she went there) and I have never really payed much attention to football.

Since Paul and Morgan went to Clemson, I've been leaning in that direction. Madi has pretty much fallen in that direction. :) So yesterday when I saw a Clemson cheerleader outfit for $4.50, I snatched it up!

She wore it to school today - oh so proudly! (Her teachers are both Clemson fans. And I must point out that it's interesting that I know that. Thinking about Anchorage - I would have had no clue what sports team people liked. Football is just that big of a deal around here.)

Well, I knew there would be some talk - and she did too - about who does and doesn't like her outfit. She told me right away that her friend BJ would love it and that Patrick would not. I told her just to take it with a grain of salt basically. But of course, it's not that easy, especially since she's five years old!

She told me tonight that one of her good friends would not stand next to her all day today (aka wouldn't play with her), because of her Clemson outfit. Madi even said "she finally let me stand behind her in car line." This just made me so sad! I know it's just kids being kids, but to what degree? Some parents put so much emphasis on school teams being better or worse, that their young children pick up on it and relate that to others. 

I am not saying we shouldn't be passionate about sports, but I just want parents to be aware that how we act about that Carolina fan next to us is going to be mocked by our children. Breaking that orange crayon (ahem, Marty! haha, kidding!) or refusing to wear garnet may be a bit overboard … at least in front of your kids.

Just some food for thought when I can't make my mind turn off.

Go Tigers! ;)

Nights like tonight.

Nights like tonight make crying in the bathroom completely worth the pain.

Madi & I were both feeling lethargic and just not all that well this evening. As soon as we got home, I fixed her dinner and let her eat it in my bed while we watched a Barbie Mermaid movie. After she ate, we played Disney Guess Who and then she spent some time alone in her room while I ate dinner. Later, she joined me on the couch to watch Love It or List It (yes, the HGTV show!) and then I cuddled in her bed with her to put her to sleep.

She cried when I didn't let her sleep in my room but it was such an innocent, sweet cry. She just wanted her mama. I held her close and just assured her I'd be here. I told her how much I love her. That is the most important thing, I've found, to do - tell your children you love them all the time. Even if you think they know - say it anyway.

Those moments of feeling her chest go up and down on mine are what motherhood feels like. She makes my life so much more and I thank God for her every night.

No one told me...

When I decided to have children, no one told me there would be times that I would lock myself in the bathroom and cry.

I've done that today. Quite a bit today actually. This whole single parent thing is TOUGH. Any one who has the option to share this task of raising a kid should totally succumb to that. 

I'm used to having my mom around to help me but she's been gone all weekend. I really can't imagine how moms with truly no one else to help handle it. And with more than one kid? Oh my gosh I'd just die. 

Of course there are plenty of good times with M but days like today make me get on my knees and pray. I prayed for patience. I prayed to be a better mother. I mean good moms don't have kids who sass them or pull on their legs and bang on their bedroom door even though mommy said 5 times that MOMMY needs a time out, right?? Right?

So. Today is a struggle. It's a struggle that I don't have someone to pass the parenting off to so that I can cool down. It's a struggle that I don't always know exactly what to do in these situations. It's a struggle that I'm fuming mad but at the same time I'm worried that my child is going to bed with an empty stomach.

First and foremost, I'm her mother. Good days and bad days, I love her to the moon and back and would do ANYTHING on this earth to protect her. But right now, she has to hurt in order to learn a lesson and I have to hurt because I'm teaching her a lesson.

Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow may have tears and it may not. But it will have love because we always forgive each other…after all, I'm the meanest mom in the world remember?

I want to have hair on my bottom!

I’m bringing Toddler Talk Tuesday back!!

I have some good ones today and this time I’m including some from Addi too!

(This was back in December) Madi & I were out to eat with my dad. He had carrots on his plate and told Madi that carrots make you turn orange if you eat a lot of them. He also had rice on his plate. Madi looked at it and asked “Does rice make you be a Chinese person?”

 

Oh we were rolling. Absolutely crying from laughing so hard. I blame Kai Lan for her connection of rice and Chinese people.

 

I was giving Addi a bath last time she was with us and I stepped out for a second to get a wash cloth. She yelled “I DON’T NEED PRIVACY!!!! Come back!! I don’t need privacy!!!” I thought that was so funny!!

 I don’t remember what I did but Madi said to me, “Mommy, you’re scaring the freaks out of me!”

 And my favorite – Paul asked Addison what she wanted to be when she grows up. Her response: “I want to have hair on my bottom!” HAHAHAHA!! Oh we were laughing so hard!! Still cracks me up!!

 What funny things do your kids say??? 

Expectations

Expectations.

 

What a weighted word.

I have learned a lot about myself lately. One thing being that I have extremely high expectations.

High expectations for myself: I expect myself to weigh a certain amount. I expect myself to act a certain way. I expect myself to have zero negative emotions in public because well, that’s what is expected from society. I expect myself to never yell at my child. I expect myself to keep a perfect “pinterest” house.

I do not achieve these things. I just expect it. And when it’s not met, I’m extremely hard on myself. Really, really hard on myself.

I also have expectations for others. I expect certain reactions from people and when I don’t get what I’m expecting, I’m disappointed or frustrated.

This is a big problem. It’s a problem for Madi. I expected her to jump up and down and squeal with excitement over the Disney show last night but she didn’t. I compared her to the three year old next to us who was doing just that and then I ASSUMED Madi wasn’t enjoying the show.

The kids were asked to stand up and interact with the cast but she just sat in her seat. I said why don’t you get up and dance? She looked at me and matter of factly (is that a word?) said “not that kind of person.” Well. She told me.

I know it's sideways but I can't get it to rotate!

 

At the time I didn’t understand. I wanted her to be as excited as I was. I wanted her to EXPRESS her excitement the exact same way that I was and other kids were. But now, looking back, just because she didn’t jump up and down doesn’t mean she didn’t have fun. She told me herself – she’s just not that kind of person. She DID have a good time. After the show she said she couldn’t wait to tell people about it.

I allowed my preconceived notions of how she would react to alter my mood.

This is just one example of the many, many times I have allowed my expectations to discourage and disappointment me.

Lesson learned. It’s not going to be easy to change my way of thinking. It won’t be an overnight change. But I’m going to work on it. And I’m going to try to remember that she’s not me. Madi has her own personality and so does everyone else I interact with.

I’m the kind of person who waves her hands in the air while riding on a roller coaster.

 

What kind of person are you?

 

 

Meet the newest member of our family...

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter then you have been anxiously awaiting the introduction of this little guy. I apologize if you have lost sleep over this. Truly. 

Please meet Weezy, the newest addition to our family:

Yes, I did say his name was Mr. Flappy (on insta & twitter) but Madi changed it. He reminds her of Weezy from Toy Story and hey, the name fits!

Last Thursday I took Madi to the doctor. She has had a deep, loud! cough for about 3 months now. Don't freak out … I did take her to the doctor two-three times during that three months. Each time the dr said she had a sinus infection. FALSE. I know sinus infections and she did not have one, or three.

This time the dr did not say sinus infection. First thing she said was that Madi sounded like an asthma patient when listening to her breathe. She had her do a breathing treatment while in the office, listened to her again and then said she had walking pneumonia. Personally I was glad we finally had a name to this so it could be treated. Madi has been exhausted lately - going to bed by 7:30 at the latest for the past two weeks and missing gymnastics, which she never wants to miss. Doc gave her steroids, an antibiotic, and Weezy - the nebulizer. We meet with Weezy 3-4 times a day for the next week and then go back to the doc.

Hopefully Madi will be all better by Thursday, when we see her doctor again. She had an allergic reaction to her antibiotic last night so she's on a new one for the next 10 days. I think the breathing treatments are helping though - at least I hope so!

She really doesn't act sick except being tired and a bit grumpy. The cough sounds awful but I know it could be way worse. We really are blessed with our health!

Glad we got Weezy out of this too. He's super cute and fun to look at!

How was y'alls weekend? Did you hear we may get S N O W again!?!! ECKKKK! I hope so!!

Happies & Crappies!

I have been wanting to link up for Happies & Crappies for a while now. I'm off today and happened to see it on Amber's blog so here we are!

HAPPIES:

1. I'm heading to Virginia Beach in 3 hours!!! I'm so excited. Madi is going with me too and we are meeting Paul & Addison on the way up so we can all ride together. I love anytime we can get the girls together and taking them to VA is even better. Can't wait!!

2. I was in a funk last weekend. A pretty bad funk. I have since snapped out of it and I have had a great week. I'm really giving work everything I have and putting aside time to spend with Madi as well. I'm feeling pretty good lately - minus a crappy (see below).

3. The Band Perry. I've been listening to them all morning and it just makes me smile. Love Kimberly's voice!

4. This makes me happy because it makes me laugh…and when you laugh that means you're happy…

CRAPPIES:

1. Okay here's the "see below" one - I think I've mentioned it on here before but I'm gaining weight rapidly since I quit drinking diet coke. I drink water and sweet tea now, BUT I always do half water, half sweet tea. I don't see how that could be that many calories?! Idk. I just ordered the Zumba for Wii game because my cousin said that's how she lost a bunch of weight. Hopefully it works!

2. I have been going to bed super late this week and last night was no exception. I think I got 6 hours of it. I stayed up until 12:30am working so that I wouldn't have to get online this morning.

It's good when I have more happies than crappies!

I like candy.

Just some random thoughts going through my mind at the moment...

• I keep socks under my pillow. You see, my feet are always cold at night but in the middle of the night they get hot. I take them off but they aren't really dirty so I just keep them under my pillow to put on the next night. Don't worry - I only do this 3 nights tops and then I get a new pair. 
• Drinking tap water grosses me out a bit. I recently threw away a filter from my Brita pitcher but the new filters I bought don't fit. Now I have a pitcher but no filter. I still run the tap water through the filterless pitcher before I drink it. It some how makes me feel better.
• I have candy around me almost constantly. I keep it in my nightstand and on my desk at work. I keep it in my car too. If I don't have candy or chapstick around I'm not a very pleasant person. Confession: I'm eating candy as I type this.
• Winter sucks. I gain weight (no, it's not due to the candy. I eat it in the summertime too), the clothes are frumpy, can't wear flip flops, and it rains a lot. Bring on summer.
• My neck itches like a bia. I've had this bump on my throat for like 2 weeks now. It's almost gone, healing I assume, and that's why it itches. Grrrrr.
• Madi was flipping hilarious the other night. She thinks she's Mulan. (I've posted the video below for your amusement.) I really love how active her imagination has been lately. She plays mermaid teacher in the tub, Mulan recently, gave me a "bedtime ticket" to get into her room to put her to bed, and had pet mice the other day. 
• My fan makes this obnoxious sound. I think it's about to break. I should have taken the sound machine from Carrie's house. Darnit. … (I just threw something at it to see if that would help, it didn't.)

I guess that's enough. I could keep going but I've gotta save some randomness for twitter.

Apples in the trashcan.

Something very monumental in Madi's timeline of life happened yesterday.

She lied.

Yep, it was the first time. At least the first time that I know of and the first time she looked me directly in my face and told me a lie.

I had a hard time not laughing actually.

I told her she had to eat her apples before getting something else to eat. She told me they tasted better if she walked around while eating them. Ummm okay Madi. So every time she grabbed an apple she walked down the hall, where I could not see her. I knew she was lying right away but gave her the benefit of the doubt. I played into a bit too. What mom wouldn't?

I told her I was proud of her for eating them. I was really surprised when she just said okay and smiled.

Since I'm new at all of this, I called Paul for some advice before addressing it with her. He gave me some good suggestions on how to handle it. First things first - I had to find the proof. Sure enough, when I checked the bathroom trash can there were the apples. That's just how innocent she is and kids in general are. She didn't try to hide them in the trash. She just put them in there and didn't think I would notice.

So I sat her down and told her I saw the apples in the trash. I didn't really have to do much after that. She immediately started crying. It was very sad!! I wasn't too hard on her because well, we all did that as kids. It's just part of growing up. But I did pull out the whole "you really disappointed me" thing. I also said "didn't you learn it's not okay to lie from church?" She said "no, we haven't learned that yet." Haha! Well darn!

I don't think she'll be doing that again. It was a shock to me though that she's already old enough to do stuff like that!

Had to document for her to read later and laugh. :)

Mom Lesson #4375

A year ago I posted this post.

I have come to say, I highly regret agreeing to tell Madi the truth about Santa Clause at such a young age.

I did read an article or two about how mature children may associate the lies of Santa Clause to Jesus not being real. But, I wasn't completely comfortable robbing my daughter of her childhood. I agreed to it though and she knew the truth about Santa at three years old.

Today she told me "I wish I didn't know Santa wasn't real so that we could do Elf on the Shelf." I've never talked to her about Elf on the Shelf because frankly that thing drives me nuts, but when she said that my heart ached a little.

I told her we can believe in anything we want. I said I still believed in Santa. She said "maybe if we don't talk about it for a while, I'll forget." Another heart pain.

She loves Jesus and loves telling others about Him. I should have thought about that and realized her faith could uphold the truth about Santa, in a few years down the road.

I've learned a lesson though and hopefully she'll believe in the tooth fairy for a while longer.

Divorce 411.

If there is one thing I've learned about being divorced it's that you have to be flexible. Does it suck? Absolutely.

I don't want to give Madi her birthday presents a day early. I don't want to celebrate two days early. I don't want to miss out on spending the whole day with her on her actual birthday. BUT is it best for her if I do all those things? Yes. So I do it.

For Christmas - it's the same thing. I have to spend half the day without her while celebrating Christmas with others who would love to see Madi. But again, that's not what's best for her. Spending time with her dad is equally important in her growth as a child. It's a fact actually. And even more so for girls.

Studies and statistics have shown just how important fathers are to all children in general, but this is especially true for little girls.

· Toddlers securely attached to fathers are better at solving problems.

· Six-month old babies score higher on tests of mental development if their dads are involved in their lives.

· Girls whose fathers provide warmth and control achieve higher academic success.

· Girls who are close to their fathers exhibit less anxiety and withdrawn behaviors. 

Source found here

And that's just a snippet of the vast amount of statistics on the importance of a father's role in his daughters life.

And let me just say, just because Madi doesn't live with her dad and her mom in the same house (because, we all know that was a disaster) doesn't mean she can't get the needed contact with both parents. That's where that term flexibility comes into play and my feelings go out the window. And I'm okay with that.

So, even though I would love to hog all the time in the world with my daughter, what I want more than anything is for her to grow up to be the best she can be. And that entails her seeing her father as much as possible. 

I guess the reason I'm writing all this is to let other mothers who are dreading the holidays without their kids to know that 1) you're not alone 2) you're doing the right thing by putting your child ahead of your own desires and 3) she (or he) will thank you for it one day. That I can promise you.

I lived with my step-father and mom from the age of 5 and although my step-father played a huge role in my growth, I appreciated the times I had with my dad. I resented the times that time was taken away and don't want that for my daughter.

Her birthday will be special regardless of where she spends it because she's a healthy, happy almost-5 year old. Same for Christmas. 

I'm off to wrap birthday presents now. :)

Xoxo.

Weekend Snapshots

This past weekend was really great. I'm sad it's over but glad it's already almost Wednesday!

Friday night Madi and I picked up a pizza, made a pallet on the floor, and watched The Wizard of Oz. This was the first time Madi's ever seen it. She said she liked it but I don't really think she paid much attention to it after the first few minutes. I personally, cannot believe I ever used to love that movie. I find it very boring now! It was fun having a girl's night with my mini-me. We definitely need to do it more often! 

Saturday morning we stopped by my friend's house to visit for a bit. Madi, Baker, and Preston had a great time playing and it was nice to catch up with Jessica!

That afternoon I took Madi to her good friend Rylee's birthday party at the YMCA. She had a really good time at the party and didn't want to leave! Saturday evening we went to dinner with Pop. We were majorly overdue for some Pop time! 

These pictures just warm my heart. I love seeing them together.

We ended our very busy Saturday by Paul coming in to town! Paul took off a few days from work so he could spend some time with us. So sweet!

We did a lot of eating at great restaurants (Zoe's Kitchen, Lizard's Thicket, BWW, Cook Out, and of course, Zaxby's). Yes, those are our definitions of great restaurants. Leave the small portions, high prices, and fru-fru names for someone else. 

We took some naps and played some board games (Clifford & Candy Land, of course), watched some football and did some shopping too! Paul left this morning so he could get back to work tomorrow. Super sad! And I just realized we didn't take any pictures this weekend at all. What the heck! Not acceptable! I'll make up for that next week. :) 

Happy weekend. 8 days until Madi turns FIVE and 8 days until I get to see BPC again! :) 

My butt hurts.

This is going to be a super brief post because I am worn out. I've been sitting on the couch for so long that my butt hurts. Like bad. In my defense - I've been working. I wasn't just eating and watching TV. (I was doing that too…but add working in there and that sounds so much more acceptable.)

Anywho, I'm going to join in on the Friday 5 because that just looks like fun. Now maybe I'm blind but I can't find the code for the link-up button so here's the link and below is the pretty little picture.

1. Saturday we are celebrating Madi's 5th birthday! Her party is going to be at a local park. The theme is butterflies/nature so we will be doing a scavenger hunt and of course playing on the playground. Her actual birthday isn't until the end of the month but November seems to be THE month for birthdays so I had to claim the date early!

2. Paul and Addison are coming tomorrow!!! Madi and I are so excited! It's only been two weeks since I've seen them but it feels like forever. We don't have any plans except for Madi's party so I'm thinking the girls will get in a lot of play time and Paul and I will get in a lot of relaxing. Here's to hoping!

3. Crap, I didn't think this through. I had two topics ready to go but I suppose I need 5. Tomorrow is Friday. That deserves a # all it's own. Longest week ever.

4. I do not feel like making 48 cupcakes tomorrow. I wish I was rich. $30 for cupcakes wouldn't seem like a lot if I was rich. Instead, I must spend my "relaxing" Friday night making $9 cupcakes. 

5. I'm hungry. Not just right now. All the time. Like constantly. I drink lots of water these days so scratch that comment you were about to write. I am going to be the size of a whale by the end of the week if something doesn't change.

911 Follow-Up

Thank you to those who gave me their advice both here, on FB, and via text. I got some good advice and will definitely try what y'all suggested!

After mulling things over, I decided to take the shoes away and take away the iPad & sweets for a week. I did still go to the concert at the fair - for multiple reasons. #1 - I paid $30 for my ticket and feel like mom needed some fun. #2 - Madi stayed the night at her gma's. Gma can punish better than me ;) and I filled her in on Madi's restrictions. #3 - I felt like the above was enough.

Some may think children should always, no matter what behave 100%. I disagree. I wrote the post last night when I was still very much upset by the nights events. Although I do not think being tired, dealing with stresses of her parents divorcing, or changes of routine are an excuse, I do think they should be considered.

I guess this post is somewhat justifying my decision. I don't want to do that. I feel good with my decision! I really am going to try y'alls suggestions to get M to fall asleep on her own. I will let y'all know how it turns out!

I'll post a concert/fair recap eventually. It was a blast!

To the Olympics...

we are not going!

I am 100% guilty of bragging on my daughter. I think it's just an unavoidable mom trait. She is very smart and extremely witty. She can draw way better than I can. She is a great ballet dancer and she has an excellent memory.

One thing I will not brag on is her gymnastics abilities. My poor child. Gymnastics is just not her thing. Now, she's only had 3 classes but I don't lessons will help. ;) At least it is good exercise!

I'm joking. Slightly. Just watch this video. You will laugh. I can promise you that!