A boy with a marker...

Just yesterday my little man was a baby. Today he is growing like a weed and writing on everything in my house with this marker (see it in his hand)...can you say BUSTED!!

When I asked him why he had that marker in his hand he gave me this sweet little look and managed to stay out of trouble.

Lucky for him Windex removes marker off of a TV screen. Let me trade that marker for this little car. That's better!

Until he realized it wouldn't write on the furniture:)

Then he got distracted and asked me to take a picture of his new flip flops! He is so super proud of them and expects every person he encounters to tell him his shoes are cute! He had been wearing Rylee's pink flip flops around the house so when we went to Academy recently I found these. The only pair of these in the whole store and they were his size! I couldn't believe it. To top it off, they were only $5.

Stay at home mom goods and bads

Its a glorious life. The house is a mess, its 100 degrees outside and my kids are healthy! I get the privilege of staying at home with my kids (EVERY SINGLE DAY)! It hasn't always been this way. I use to work...in fact being a stay at home mom with my second born was never part of the plan, at least not my husband's plan. I went back to work 6 weeks after having Rylee and worked until I was put out of work on bed rest with my pregnancy with Tegan, 4 1/2 years later. I've done the whole mothers guilt thing with working and now I am doing the whole mothers guilt thing with not working.

The good of being a stay at home mom~ You are always with your kids. You don't have to worry about if your kids are being well taken care of b/c you are the primary caregiver. There is a strong bond between you and that child. There are play dates and sleeping in late (my fav)! You get to watch that kid change and really develop.

The bad of being a stay at home mom~ You ARE ALWAYS WITH YOUR KIDS! There is no going to lunch with co-workers and eating without having to feed rowdy kids. The bond is so great that the kid then thinks no one else can do anything for them but their mother. Instead of a day filled with a stressful job and meetings, there is now a day filled with stressful temper tantrums, pee and snot!

I guess it is a trade off. Working has its good points but you miss your kids. Being at home has its good points but you forget who you are. A mother is never off work whether they are a stay at home mom or a working mom. There is mother's guilt for leaving your kids to go to work and then there is mother's guilt when staying at home b/c it isn't a day filled with fun and one on one playtime. As mother's it is our job to make sure our kids are taken good care of no matter what we choose to do or what we HAVE to do. We should also support other mothers and not do the whole "well you get to stay at home" thing. Staying at home with my kids is the hardest job I have ever in my life had. There is no routine b/c you have to take it as it comes which makes me feel headachy and yucky all day every day! There are no breaks, especially when your 2 year old decides that nap time is for babies.

Can you tell I am having an overwhelming, I'm tired and not sure that being a stay at home is right for me kind of day:)

Greenville Zoo in Pictures...

There is another updated blog post under this one!

Rylee with the elephants! Both elephants are turning 40 this year!

That elephant looked so dry that I just wanted to pour water on him!

The reptile house was neat but suddenly my hubby developed a weird feeling about snakes so we didn't stay in there long!

No...we don't put lipstick on Tegan but we do let him have red kool-aid:)

The one in the back is the mom and the one in the front is the baby. That baby was so funny and would stand up and a dragon fly would come near him so he would just fall down and play dead. It was so cute!

My babies!

Awful picture of me with the kids but it is the only one I got.

Daddy and his babies!

Teg was telling me to STOP WITH THE PICTURES AND HELP HIM!

Below are two pics from the really awesome playground right outside the entrance of the Zoo.

I took these next two pictures b/c I wanted you to be able to get a feel for the Zoo. It is not just concrete and concessions. There is so much green space and exotic feeling. It is just awesome and shaded.

This one is the path you walk through the zoo.

Family Fun Day...

I wish this was going to be one of those post where I talk about how awesome life is and how every detail of my life goes just as I have it planned out in my mind...sorry to disappoint you:)
We got a slow start this morning but decided to be spontaneous and take the kids to do something a little fun. Let me just start by saying that we are typically homebodies...we just don't stray far from home but every time we do it just makes me love my little old house that much more!
First we didn't leave here until around lunch time. My husband had this bright idea that going to eat at this little BBQ place in the middle of nowhere would be a great idea. Well it wasn't that bad of an idea b/c the food was really good once we finally got there. He drove all over the world to get to a place that should have been a straight shot. Then I spent about 10 minutes in the bathroom with Tegan while he couldn't decide if he needed to pee or poop and then decided he didn't need to do either. Tegan had a clear snotty nose when we woke up this morning....more on that later.
So we ate and then got back on our way but once again we went backwards to get where we needed to go and that landed us right in the middle of a storm. I don't mean a little rain and thunder but a storm that literally came out of nowhere and included strong wind, heavy rain and hail and some bolts of lightening that will make you wet your pants. We had to pull in to a gas station and sit for a while which was just awesome since Rylee and myself are terrified of storms. The fact that the car was literally swaying in the wind was an added bonus. Then it stops...we start driving again. An hour later we get to our destination, the Greenville Zoo! OK this is the part where it is all roses and wonderful unless you count me sweating a gallon and feeling like I had been swimming. If you live anywhere within driving distance to the Greenville Zoo you need to go. It isn't a huge Zoo and you won't see as much as the Atlanta Zoo but it is so worth it. For all four of us to get in it cost us $15.75....which is cheaper than just one kids ticket to the Atl. Zoo. It is beautiful, shaded and NOT CROWDED! Literally besides passing a few people here and there, we had every exhibit (is that the right word) to ourselves. The kids loved it! Two hours later we were back in the car and realized that we had a little boy with a fever. He knocked out and poured snot the whole ride home which entailed dear hubby driving like a lunatic. Seriously, there is something about going 80 mph that makes me fear for my life.
We get home a little after 6:00. My husband decides that going to shop a little in Athens with a feverish child in tow is a good idea (not sure who left him in charge). Rylee screams and cries b/c we have ruined her she doesn't want to go anywhere. She literally cried like a two year old except she's not....she is 7 1/2 years old!!!! Plus she is a girl, somebody needs to teach her to like to shop! So I gave Teg some meds and we headed out. This is the part where there was crying, screaming and power struggles and then there were the kids:) No seriously...I know little man didn't feel great and Ry was tired but for the love of mercy why can't these kids just act normal and be quiet. Teg wants to walk which means he wants to run away from us in busy parking lots. Rylee wants to by lots of stuff but yet nothing that she needs or will even use. There was one point in Academy when I tried these flip flops on Tegan and he screamed when I tried to take them off....I literally had to muffle his screams by placing my hand over his mouth which caused even more stares. Seriously, don't people realize that I am covering his mouth b/c they are looking at him for screaming but yet I get the evil eye for trying to ease the blow. Anyways we went TWO PLACES and didn't get home until 10:00 pm! I'm not even sure we came home with anything we intended to go get.
We get out of the car and the kids are admiring the super full moon that we are having (which explains a lot) but Tegan has something else on his mind and decides that the super full moon is really a white (?) balloon that he let go of outside one day on New Year's Eve!!! It is his balloon, he wants it and expects one of us to fly right up there and get it. What makes it worse some clouds started floating in front of it and it looked broken up so he starts screaming that someone is breaking his balloon. He was dead serious and meant that he wanted that darn balloon and apparently screaming and throwing himself on the ground was the say to get it. So by this point he has snot, tears and drool streaming down his face. Let's just say a bath and bedtime couldn't come fast enough.
So that was our attempt at a wonderful family day which I guess is exactly what we had....we like to keep it real!

I will post the wonderful Zoo pictures tomorrow...I'm tired!

She's wonderful

My little lady is approaching her half birthday. She will soon be 7 1/2 years old and is ever changing. She probably has the most personality of any one human being that you have ever met in your life. But the very very very best things about her are that she loves EVERYONE she meets and she is super resilient.

She loves EVERYONE she meets....she does not judge. Even at her age she still doesn't see color, size or social status. She is full of kindness and ready to please. It has filled my heart this week at bible school to watch her. I have always noticed this quality about her but never so much as I have this week. I have watched children choose not to play with certain kids b/c of their appearance or for other reasons but not my girl! She makes sure that everyone knows they are loved. This is the best quality I think she can ever have and I try to compliment her on it often in hopes that she keeps this.

Being Resilient...If someone chooses not to play with her or is rude to her, she doesn't dwell but just moves on. I know that one day she will lose this b/c that is just the nature of the world. It is a blessing that kids are this way b/c I have watched kids be really mean to each other. I can only pray that Tegan is this way.

I love my little lady with all my heart and I think she is probably the most awesome person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing....I hope one day she can say that about me!

Oh how my baby is growing...

April Rose

Dear April Rose (aka chicmomentscom on etsy),

It was so great to have you take interest in my product that I have in my etsy shop. It was also really awesome of you to teach me to not trust ANYONE on etsy ever again. I mean, it was really smooth how you waited until your item was marked as shipped and then try to say I have made no contact with you and have your funds held through paypal. Oh and paypal is really great too since they let you do that. Since I am the one that doesn't communicate with you, I guess all SIX of the emails I have sent you with no reply are getting lost in cyberspace. Have I told you how awesome you are?? Thanks again for your purchase and since you didn't really pay for your wonderful handmade item, I'm sure you will enjoy it that much more. Hope you, your brand new camera strap and some really huge Karma have a really great life together!

Sincerely,
Polk Dot Pixie