Humble Abode

So one of my favorite childhood memories is making Lego houses with my brothers and sisters. We would gather every piece of Lego that we had and create a mansion! We would have surveillance cameras, big screen tv's in every room, swivel chairs, gourmet kitchens, etc. They were pretty awesome!

Well today I made my first Lego house with my boys! We didn't have near as many pieces, and they were the larger Legos, but I think we did pretty good with what we had...A cute little house that any little Lego guy would be proud to have!

Come, take a tour!

This is Luigi (because my kids are obsessed with Super Mario Bros right now), standing at the threshold of his new home.

Over all view of the house...

Luigi enjoying each room.

Enjoying the finished project!
The boys added a staircase up to their elephant!

I hope this creates the lifelong memories of Lego building that I have...I'm sure this is the first of many houses we will build together, and they will only get better with time! (And more Legos!)

Toothless Wonders

My boys are getting too big!! They are now both losing their baby teeth!

Teeth are funny things...they kind of bench mark stages in our lives. When our babies cut their first teeth you know they are making their way out of infancy into toddler-hood. Losing baby teeth, even more knowing your little ones are slowly moving towards adulthood. Getting the teeth they will continue to have for the rest of their lives. You hope, that like good values and teachings, you have instilled good oral hygiene habits in their lives so that they can take care of them and keep them forever! And then there's the reality also that someday down the road I could be losing my own teeth again setting in being 'elderly' and the knowing that someday I will have to trust myself to completely let go and believe that they can make all of life's decisions on their own.

But for now...I will enjoy them still having baby teeth left to lose, and trusting that the tooth fairy is taking good care of the ones they have lost! Here is Jonah's tooth story in his own words.


New post at Analynn's blog too!

Pots and Pans

So anyone that knows us knows how much Shane and I love to cook! But that doing the dishes...not one of our strong points! Well yesterday I was not feeling well at all, and being the wonderful husband that he is, Shane let me lay in bed all day and watch Bravo while he wrangled the 3 kids and cleaned the entire kitchen for me! Such a sweetheart I know, I'm a lucky girl! Then today when I went to get a pan out of the cupboard for grilled cheese sandwiches I was met with this:
My heart just melted and filled with so much love for my guy. There was a time that I would get so frustrated, cause that is not how the cupboard should look. But after the way he took care of me, the kids, and our home yesterday, how could I even be a little upset? Of course, I couldn't keep it that way though, and after a few seconds it was up to my standards again. But I did it all with a smile and a giggle. And what a better way to clean?

Tired....

How do they do it? How do mothers survive? When all of their own resources are tapped and every child's needs still have to be fulfilled? How do I hold on when all I want to do is crawl back into bed and close my eyes and ears to the chaos around me? When every stomp down the hall and every whining request grinds at my brain!
Movie time! That was my answer, but the first few moments of excitement and anticipation are quickly pushed aside to 'He's kicking me!' 'He won't let me be on the couch too!' And a little one that won't rest...she allows her eyes to almost close before bouncing up needing something new. I need the nap more then her! Mommy is cranky! Mommy is tired! Who will fill my empty cup?
I need to! As hard as it is to let it go...I need at this moment to let it go. I have to put my oxygen mask on first or I won't have the energy and capacity to put on theirs. I need to regenerate my batteries to keep theirs going. I have to take time for me, and that is one of the hardest things for me to do!