The Heavens Opened...

... and the angels sang:

"Hallelujah, hallelujah,
hallelujah, hallelujah,
the girls' room is clean!"

Pray for me as I'll need divine intervention if I ever hope to find Austin's floor again.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Today has been a fabulous day! I gave myself the best birthday present and forced my lazy butt out of bed to begin my day showered and dressed before the kids woke up. It is amazing how much more smoothly things seem to go if I have my time in the morning before the kids and yet how hard it is do make myself do it every day. Anybody else have that problem?

Anyways, the sun was shining and I had the whole day off! I made a yummy new recipe for birthday brunch- baked pears with granola, cheddar cheese, and brown sugar. It made the whole house smell delicious. Then the kids and I got outside to enjoy the sunshine before heading back in for lunch. Did I mention it was GORGEOUS today!?! I was so excited! I told the kids that God had given me the best birthday present ever- a sunshiny day with my kids (they weren't exactly impressed;p)

I dropped Austin off at school and decided to splurge and take my van through the car wash. I think the last time I did this was, um, never and we've had the van for over a year. So I pulled in and saw a sign for a free platinum car wash on your birthday. Score!!! I definitely would not have paid $12 for the wash I received, but it was free and it did make a noticeable difference.

I took Audrey and Lexi with me to track practice today (my babysitter had color guard tryouts). They had a blast running around in the gym and bouncing on the high jump pit. My track girls surprised me with a card and cake so we had an impromptu birthday celebration after their workout. After having so much fun at practice with me I will be hard pressed convincing my girls that practice is "boring" and they'll have more fun at home with Megan.

We headed over to Finley's for dinner because you get a free dinner on your birthday. We got the bill and discovered that kids also eat free on Tuesdays so we only had to pay for our drinks and Tom's dinner. Double score!!! On the way home, Audrey started to fall asleep so we made a quick pit stop at the park. (Seriously, if this girl sleeps even 5 minutes she will be up ALL nite- trust me!) We let the kids run around for 10 minutes and then headed home.

I was able to stick them all in the tub before my mom showed up to take over kid duties. Before Tom and I headed out for an "adult" evening I peaked in on Lexi who was snuggled in with her boo piggy quietly singing "Happy Birthday"- too cute! So Tom was going to take me out to celebrate the big 2-8. Only problem is, this is Jackson. At 9 pm. On a Tuesday nite. Zero interesting movies playing, and not a whole lot of other options. We ended up at the Bone Island Grill. He got dessert and I got a pina colada. Then we headed over to Target 10 minutes before closing time. I had birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. I really, really wanted a new bag or some new summer shoes, but I really, really needed some new summer shirts. I found a turquoise polo on clearance and decided to save the rest of my stash for better sales.

We returned home and my mom helped me clean up my kitchen before heading off. As an oh-so-mature-28-year-old (hah!) my day was practically perfect. Sunshine, quality time with the kids, great food, new clothes, date nite, and a clean home. Makes me wish every day was my birthday!

I'm So Impressed

I was blog surfing and lurking tonite and when I clicked on Kristin's blog I was greeted by Fergie singing "Clumsy". That is sooo my favorite song right now! So I stole Kristin's idea and made my own playlist. What's so impressive is that moi at 2am has figured out by herself how to upload(?) the playlist to my blog. Enjoy!

Paperwork, Dirty Bathrooms, and Team Dinner

What do all these things have in common? They were my "to do" list today. Ever have a sense of overwhelming dread the moment you wake up because you know what's in store for your day? Well, that was me this morning. In anticipation of my busy day I attempted to get a head start last nite. That all went to pot when Audrey woke up around 12 am. I finally gave up on getting anything accomplished and took us both to bed at 2. Austin woke me at 3:30 to go to the bathroom. Audrey was in my bed before Tom left at 6:30. So goes my nite... every nite. *sigh*

Anyways, I was on major deadlines today. Austin's enrollment paperwork for kindergarten was due today. I completed it online last nite and received an email informing me that our application would not be considered complete until they received blah, blah, blah. I had to fax 20 pages of documents to Colorado and it only took me 2 trips to the school to get it all completed. I swear, only I can make kindergarten enrollment such a complicated process. No, we're not shipping him off to boarding school... yet... but the firm that processes the paperwork is based in Colorado.

In between trips to school, I took Austin across town to preschool and handed off his booster to one of my bff's Angie. Her little guy goes to preschool with Austin and they're the best of friends. She has been a complete lifesaver since track started 6 weeks ago. Austin gets out of school at 3, the same time practice starts on the opposite side of town, of course. Fortunately for me, Angie has agreed to take Austin home on preschool days to play until Tom can swing by and pick him up on his way home from work.

Back at home, I put Lexi down for nap attempt #1 and recruited Audrey to "help" me clean the bathroom. Once the floor was mopped and it was obvious that Lexi was NOT going to nap, I broke out the snacks and bought myself enough time to register my team for the track invitational we're participating in on Saturday. The deadline to enter my girls was, of course, today at 4pm. I didn't even break a sweat as I submitted my roster well before 2:51ish. Okay, time for nap attempt #2. This time it stuck.

By 3:15 my living room had been transformed into Hosmerville Spa for my track team. Today was the day before our first meet and every year I reward the girls for their practice efforts with a foot soak and scrub. Audrey had been anxiously awaiting this moment all day and with Austin away and Lexi sleeping she got the 5 star treatment. I wish I would have been able to get a picture of her patiently waiting behind the other girls in the bathroom to fill her foot tub. Too cute.

The guys team joined the girls after their practice for a team dinner. With tomorrow being our first track meet, all of the coaches thought this was a great way to officially kick off the season. I made the spaghetti (carbs) and garlic bread and the guys' coaches combined to bring the salad and desserts. This is the one instance that I am thankful for our small teams this year. I have never been single-handedly responsible for providing a meal for 25 people. Granted, it was only spaghetti and bread, but I had no idea how much was going to be enough, and let me tell you, these kids can eat!

In the end, it was a great day! I finally realized that I was so stressed from the beginning not because of what had to be done but because it meant that I wouldn't be able to focus much quality time on my kids all day. What's so amazing is that I just took things one task at a time and allowed myself little breaks with the kids in between (not usually the case, most of the time I stress out and find myself telling the kids "I can't right now, you're just going to have to wait," or "in a minute", and then that "minute" never comes). Let this be a lesson to me, when I rely on God's strength I am alot less stressed, I can still accomplish alot and I can feel like I was a pretty "good" mommy, too.

So, the sweetest part of my day came while I was busy preparing the 4th batch of garlic bread. It was so noisy in the house that I hadn't heard Tom arrive home with Austin until I heard a "hi, mommy!" I turned around to see Austin standing behind me with a beautiful stem of purple hyacinth in his hands. "I picked this for you," he said as he offered his gift. Tonite, Angie's garden has 1 less bloom; but it sure looks beautiful on my windowsill.

Me

1. What is your occupation? SAHM wanna-be, cheer and track coach, Meijer produce dept.

2. What color are your socks right now? bare feet, light pink toenails

3. What are you listening to right now? the tv- watching "My House Is Worth What?"

4. What was the last thing that you ate? garlic Parmesan potato wedges

5. Can you drive a stick shift? yes

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? turquoise

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Tom- telling him to fill up before gas goes up- $3.49/gal.~yikes!

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes, I don't know LeeAnn very well in real life, but I read her blog all the time;)

9. How old are you today? 27

10.Favorite drink? coffee in the morning, wild cherry Pepsi, anything with Malibu

11.What is your favorite sport to watch? definitely NOT Nascar!!!

12.Have you ever dyed your hair? yeah~ right now I have 3 inch roots~ think I'm in need of a touch-up?

13.Pets? Eddy our Jack Russell now shares his turf with Chauncy Billups, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Audrey the fishes

14.Favorite food? Anything~ I love to eat (especially dessert=)

15.Last movie you watched? I don't even remember~ no doubt something with the kids

16.What do you do to vent anger? Stress out and scream

17.Favorite Day of the year? Christmas

18.What was your favorite toy as a child? my Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls

19.What is your favorite, fall or spring? I like spring better but I love to decorate for fall

20.Hugs or kisses? hugs

21.Cherry or Blueberry? blueberry

22.Do you want your friends to email you back? definitely

23.Who is most likely to respond? ???? I would've guessed Beth, but now she has kids~ ha ha=)

24.Who is least likely to respond? ????

25.Current living arrangements? our home for 4 years: 3 beds, 2 baths, the basics~ this is the longest we've ever lived in one place and I'm getting a little stir crazy

26.When was the last time you cried? when we wasted $66 dollars in bank fees because of insufficient funds

27.What is on the floor of your closet? shoes and piles of Tom's crap

28.Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? since I'm posting this on my blog Julie is my longest "friend" on my blog roll.

29.The friend you have had the shortest time that you are sending this to? again... from the blog roll, Erica

30.Favorite smell? vanilla and my babies fresh from the tub

31.What inspires you? my kids and my friends

32.What are you afraid of? not being able to see my kids grow old

33.Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? cheeseburgers

34.Favorite car? I would so buy another VW Beetle if I could figure out how to get 3 kids and all their stuff into it

35.Favorite cat breed? shhh! I don't like cats

36.Number or keys on your key ring? 5 maybe

37.How many years at your current job? 5 as a mommy and coach, 2 months as produce person

38.Favorite day of the week? Friday~ I have the whole weekend!

39.How many states have you lived in? just Michigan

40.Today's date and time: April 7th, 11:46 pm.

The Stork Club

Two posts in one nite, whew, I am hot!!! I have a ton of friends and family expecting new additions to their families so I made up a new area to announce the arrivals of these precious little ones. Check it out over to the side on my sidebar(?) *notice- I am so blog literate that I use sophisticated words like "area" and "sidebar". Are these words even legit when talking about a blog?

Spring Has Sprung... FINALLY!

We had 2 absolutely gorgeous days this past week. Sunny and in the 50's. My cuz-in-law Leslie called me up Wednesday for a playdate in the park. We met at Betsy Butterfield and the kids ran around absolutely giddy for an hour enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. It is hilarious to watch Lexi roam. She wasn't walking last fall and we've always just carried her through the snow while out and about; so she's just now finally getting a taste for independence in the big wide world. She thinks she's pretty hot stuff and she was fearless on the playground. Took right to the slides and the bouncy bridge and deep belly laughed on the swings. Austin and Audrey are finally old enough where I don't have to constantly be their "shadow" on the playground. Yes, I am one of those moms... completely over-paranoid. I figure by next year Lexi will be old enough to conquer the playground on her own and then I can finally relax a bit... maybe.

I was so inspired by spring's appearance, I went home and cleaned my kitchen. I even mopped the floor (for the first time in almost 2 months~yikes!)

The next day was even warmer and I called up one of my bff's for a park playdate. Her son Cap goes to school with Austin and since it's spring break, they hadn't seen each other all week. Her daughter Livvy and Audrey have a mutual admiration of each other. They're still a little too young to be playmates but they love being around each other. We finally packed up when I noticed Lexi walking around like a zombie. It was lunchtime and nap time when we got home. Lexi fell asleep almost immediately and then I took Austin and Audrey out to help me clean out the van. While they "washed" windows I unloaded a winter's worth of crap and vacuumed. Two almost empty Windex bottles and a whole roll of soggy paper towels later our van looks halfway decent again (and may even smell a bit better, too).

Today was rainy and soggy again, dark and cloudy and chilly so we stayed inside. I worked every. single. nite. this week and today was my only day off. I woke up super excited to have the whole day with my kids. No track practice, no work, no preschool- just me being a mom. I've almost got the laundry all washed- folding it and putting it away is a completely different story. I even started on getting organized for our upcoming garage sale. When Tom got home from work we headed to Bob Heavens for dinner. Yes, our kids actually call it Bob Heavens. If I remember right, our niece Anna pronounced Evans as Heavens and the name kinda stuck in our family. She was also very disappointed when they arrived to eat there one nite and she didn't see God. Anyways, I digress. After dinner we played a mean game of basketball in Austin's room. He takes the game very seriously. Everyone that plays has to wear a uniform and be on teams. It was the Cavaliers vs. the Bulls tonite with Cavs winning 63-40.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!