Keeping it Real

So, this is very unpolished, but it's late and I've already spent too much time uploading pictures so here we go.

Mother's Day. Hmmmm. Well, let's just say I ended up having a little breakdown by the end of the day. Just ask my mom. Because let's face it -- being a mom is just about the most thankless job there is. And this year Mother's Day came at the end of a very long week in which I was basically burnt out on being a mother. Sometimes I feel like I've been taking care of children my whole entire life and every now and then I would just like to have a break! And unfortunately that break did not come on Mother's Day.

First of all, I'm always tired these days and with 9 o'clock church it's not like I could exactly sleep in and get breakfast brought to me in bed. Then there was the little problem of Scott being basically incapacitated by allergies that day. As much as he wanted to make the day special for me he just was completely unable to do anything. And then there were the kids who, let's face it, aren't exactly old enough to do anything major on their own. They had grand plans to "surprise" me and clean the whole house for me -- but that never happened. What DID happen was that we were late for church, the kids became our typical 3-ring circus during sacrament meeting, Scott could hardly breathe, I was attacked by a coughing fit which combined with a pregnant belly and full bladder spelled disaster (and I'll leave it at that), and to top it all off every talk made me feel more and more like a failure as a mom. Fun times! (As a light-hearted side-note, the one thing that did make me laugh during sacrament meeting was when Grace contemptuously called me a Pumpkin Head and Ethan quickly -- and loudly -- reprimanded her that she couldn't call me a a pumpkin head because it was Mother's Day!)

In the end, we left after Sacrament meeting due to Scott's incapacitation, Sophie's fussiness, and my aforementioned disaster. I wish I could say the rest of the day was better, but it really wasn't. It wasn't until the end of the day, when I finally called my mom to wish her Happy Mother's Day and immediately broke down crying, that I started to feel much better. All's well that end's well, right? Right?

I'm pretty sure if we would have stuck around for the rest of church, Sophie's card from nursery would have put a smile on face. And if Ethan could have finished his school project in time to bring it home for Mother's Day THAT would have been nice as well, but better late than never. Apparently I'm special because I make Macaroni and Cheese for them and read them books. That's good to know.

How hilarious is this "reject" picture they included with Sophie's card?

In other news, I'm pretty sure part of the reason why I'm so burnt out on mothering these days is that the kids have been taking WAY too long to go to sleep at bedtime these days. I knew the day would come when I would no longer be "off-duty" by 6:30 or 7:00 every night, but I didn't want it to be this soon!!!! The ONLY plus side of them not falling asleep till 9 or 10 o'clock every night is that every now and then they will sleep in till 7 or 7:30 and on the very rare occasion (such as this morning) they will sleep until 8. However, I'm not sure the trade-off is worth it. I'm pretty sure I'd rather have a few hours of down time in the evening without having to break up fights and constantly tell children to just get in bed and go to sleep. Especially since Grace gets especially "creative" not to mention destructive during the night hours. For example:

No matter how many times I take crayons and markers out of her room and forbid her from using them, they always find their way back. (The door is only the latest in her artistic outputs -- she frequently draws on walls, junks, clothes, bedspreads, and herself).

She's been practicing her artwork.

She's been working on costume design. In case you can't tell, she is dressed in two other layers of outfits UNDERNEATH her jammies.

And she's been hoarding candy. I found all of these unwrapped and soggy lying on her dresser one night as I went to tuck her in at night.




Other than that, not much else has been going on. My back (blast that sciatic nerve!) has been bothering me lately so I've spent a lot of time lying on the couch and Sophie has taken to copying off of me. Here she is in the exact pose she's seen me in oh-so-often during the last few weeks.

Incidentally, she's all about getting her picture taken these days.

On a creative note, I finally got around to making some crayon rolls for the kids. I had seen them on a friend's blog and thought they looked really cute and something that my kids would like, so on the eve of Stake Conference a few weeks ago, I decided that perhaps THAT would be enough to keep them occupied and quiet for the 2 hours we would be there (silly me and my optimistic thinking).

Here was my set-up in the Dining Room...


And the loot that was purchased at Wal-Mart.

I ended up making a crayon roll for each of them as well as a colored pencil roll. I think they turned out really cute, and it was nice to hear Ethan the next morning raving over how "awesome" they were, but unfortunately the kids only made it about half-way through conference before we were out in the hall with all of them anyway. Oh well. They DO still use them, so it wasn't a total waste of my time.

All ready to be sewn.


Grace's crayon roll.


Ethan's colored pencil roll.

And finally, I was playing around with my camera the other day and made the children do a photo shoot for me. They were not exactly cooperative. Except for Ethan that is. Poor little left out first born. He probably isn't getting enough positive attention from me! Hahaha. Here are some of the results:

I don't know why, but I love how the weed in the foreground is what the camera focused on. Hahahaha. It just makes me laugh. That and the children's wardrobe choices for the day.

And since Grace wouldn't cooperate for the solo pictures above, I thought I'd stick a recent shot in just for lagniappe. Hahahahaha.

Grace enjoying a dessert of Brownie Pudding. Recipe courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa.

Until next time my friends...