wordless wednesday

birthday blast

sunday was our funday. it started out with a surprise for samantha—a huge birthday banner and a [semi] clean house (which she requested!). we went to church and samantha was very excited, to say the least, that her sunday school class sang happy birthday to her—complete with the cha cha chas! after church, we went to lunch and then it was time to come home and open presents! samantha was elated with her new barbies, littlest pet shop stuff, jewelry making kit, and american girl books.

then it was off to the zoo with my favorite gorilla, monkey, kangaroo! we had fun riding the camel, train, and tram...

seeing some of the animals...

and samantha was excited to go on her very first paddle boat ride! she even paddled all by herself to let daddy have a rest! ryan, on the other hand, was eager at first, but then decided he didn't want to "go swimming," hence his crabby attitude. thankfully he stayed in the paddle boat and didn't really go swimming!

then we ate our picnic dinner that we brought along. hoping to surprise samantha, i also brought birthday cupcakes. however, paired with the 90 degree heat, our dessert bit the dust.

we made the best of it though!

our day was not complete until we visited the lions and got proof that samantha's mouth was indeed smaller than a lion's (if you've ever had a conversation with her, you would question that fact!) ryan had a lovely meltdown, samantha ran through the misters in the trees, and then we ate some free ice cream!

we went home tired, worn, and warm, but also having had a successful day. it was so much fun giving samantha "the best birthday EVER!!"

wordless wednesday

father's day fun!

i love you this much

i haven't talked to you for a while. i haven't visited you for probably a longer while, and there's been absolutely no reason to visit me.

you probably think i don't like you anymore... wrong.

or maybe i'm possibly mad at you... absolutely not.

in fact, i love y'all so much. (you can't believe how happy i was when i signed into my blogger account and i hadn't lost any followers. granted, it's 35 of you. but seeing that little number made me so happy!)

now where was i... oh yeah. i love y'all so much—and here's my proof:

this morning my mother-in-law came and picked up samantha, so it's just me and ryan today. and ryan naps. as a matter of fact, he's in bed sleeping right now. and me? i don't have a.n.y.t.h.i.n.g that absolutely needs to get done right now. and i'm tired—i didn't sleep well last night. so i could reeeeaaaallly go for a nap right now. but no, here i am, finally on the other side of the computer screen, saying hi.

hi.

and after i hit the little orange "publish" button? i'm gonna get a post ready for tomorrow. and hopefully upload a funny embarassing video of my husband for friday. yes, it's gonna be blog overload over here.

so while i could be lost in dreamland, or catching up on some missed tv shows, or cleaning the house playing on the computer, i'll be blogging. just for you! see you tomorrow!

how do you like to spend a lazy carefree afternoon?

goodbye guilt!!

in honor of mother's day, i'd like to share how bad of a mother i am: my kids are the ones who have to wake me up in the morning. breakfast usually consists of a pop tart, cereal, or sometimes a frozen waffle if i'm feeling generous. i hardly ever do my daughter's hair. i consider myself lucky that she brushes it before we leave the house. we let the tv entertain us during lunchtime. changing diapers and taking ryan potty are not a top priority. samantha gets into trouble a lot when i'm pmsy. i don't take them to the park enough. i yell at ryan to stop screaming. dinner usually doesn't get thought of until 5pm. i hate bathtime, therefore my children do not get bathed every day. even every other day is rare. and the list could go on...

i'm definitely not my mother, in that aspect. (she rocks. happy mother's day mom! thanks for always being loving, patient, kind, attentive, humble, and self-sacrificing. you are the best mother ever—definitely proverbs 31 in action! i love you!!) ok. back to our regular programming—i'm definitely not my mother...

but you know what? that's okay with me. i recently participated in a women's group at church and we went through the book, "mothering without guilt." until then, i never realized that most of my guilt as a mom comes from comparing myself to other moms. i would see all the good things other mothers do for their children: enroll them in extra-curricular activities, take them on trips and vacations, bring them to the movies, take them to the park, etc. and in light of others' successes as a parent, i found myself a failure.

and then i had my aha! moment one day when my friend spoke up and wisdom poured from her mouth, "A lot of times when we compare ourselves to others, we tend to compare our weaknesses with their strengths."

did you let that sink in? we are so cruel to ourselves when we only see the strengths of others and lay them side by side with our weaknesses. sure, someone else may absolutely love bathtime with their kids, but that doesn't mean i need to feel guilty because i don't enjoy it.

bottom line? God made each and every one of us uniquely for our children, giving us individual strengths. so let's not let guilt get in the way of the joy mothering can bring!

happy mother's day to all you wonderful moms. i hope you enjoyed your day—guilt free!

i was in a coma for a month

that, or april was never here. i remember march 31st—i had just enjoyed an awesome 4 day visit with my sister and her family. i went to bed that night and awoke on may 1st. i had somehow managed to skip a whole month of my life. (now before y'all freak out, i really wasn't in a coma! my health has not been compromised in any way for the making of this blog post!)

april never came for me this year. well, at least not for my blog.

because if there had an april this year, i imagine it would've looked something like this: 

my sister would come for a visit over easter, and we'd stay up till the wee hours of the morning watching episodes of the office.

my nephew would come home for a visit. 

i'd get to see my totally cute auntie alice in wonderland (you made it on the blog, al!)

i would've gone to minnesota for a week to see my parents, sisters, nieces and nephew, and grandma and grandpa.

my husband's car would get broken into.

i'd let the kids pick rocks at lake superior.

i'd labor over doing my taxes at the last minute, then decide to procrastinate on them and play farmville.... 

my nieces would make their acting debut.

my garden would get planted.

samantha would crack her head open right before bedtime and we'd spend the next hour and a half holding a cold washcloth to her head and google "when does my child need stiches."

we'd have a garage sale.

i would have waited in line forever with the kids to meet spiderman.

but none of that happened. you know, because april was awol. not to worry though. i've reported it to the department of Months & Years that Spontaneously Escape, Leave, and Fade into thin air (MYSELF!) and this fiasco should not occur again.... i hope.

so. how was everyone else's month?!

everything i know about God i learned from my children

i grew up in a Bible-believing, God-fearing, church-going, Christian school-attending home. growing up i learned a whole lot about God and Jesus and the Bible, and i thought i knew it all (which obviously i didn't and still don't!).

and then i had kids. i became a parent. instant love beyond all measure for this tiny helpless babe. from that point on, i started to understand God a lot better. i learned more about God than i thought possible through the miracle of being a mother. and while i'm not comparing myself to God, when you become a parent it's so much easier to understand how God sees us—His unfailing love; His ever presence; His mercy and grace; His omniscience; His forgiveness; His patience. i could go on and on... all these attributes of God became much clearer as i felt the same for my own child. and to think how much more God feels for me!

on to my point... yesterday was a bad day. i would almost go as far as saying it was an awful day. ryan is in the crying screaming fit stage, and we battled all day (and the day before, and the day before). my only reprive was his you're-getting-sent-to-bed-with-no-lunch nap. we even got to end the day with a screaming fit before bed time. you know, because going potty before getting into bed is definitely worth fussing over for 30 minutes.

fast forward to this morning. i was apprehensive about even getting out of bed today. what will set off the attitude bomb today, i wondered. it could be anything—from the color of his socks, to the temperature of his pop tart, to the expression on his teddy bear's face. regardless, it was a new day, and he deserved a new start and a second chance. and i don't think either of us would've been too happy if i left him in his crib today!

we made it through breakfast. we made it through going potty and getting dressed. i was amazed! i laid down on my bed relieved that we hadn't had a meltdown yet. and ryan followed. he climbed up on my bed and for the next 45 minutes, we played. we bounced, jumped, i was his jungle gym, we loved, hid under the covers, hugged, and laughed. "i love you ryan," i said. "love you mama too," he replied. i even got a snotty slobbery kiss. it was beautiful.

as he ran off to play, i continued to lie on my bed, pondering God and the new start that he gives me each day. The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. i'm sure there are days that i throw my own tantrums with God, let's say, yesterday for example. i didn't have the greatest attitude about my day. there were times i was upset, mad, angry, impatient, unloving, uncontent, etc. but because of God's love and his mercy, He has given me a new morning. a new day to start over and be a better wife, mom, and child of God. i can even hear him whispering in my ear, I love you, child.

i love you too, God! and here's my big slobbery kiss: muah!!

But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15 NLT

wordless wednesday

would you rather

if you could pick only one,

would you rather have



a maid to clean your house and do your laundry,



a chef to cook your meals,



or a live-in nanny to watch your children?




because my mom is here now so i have all three!!!

i ♥ my mom.

worldess wednesday

not me! monday

good morning and welcome to not me! monday!! hop on over to mckmama's blog for some more hillarious not me! monday confessions (but right after you read mine, of course!)


i did NOT blog about treating our house for fleas, and then blog a few days later about how i don't clean my house. i did NOT realize that this would make us sound like sloppy, messy, white trashy people. and while i can assure you that we're not, i will admit that we're simply NOT a little disorganized! (and our house doesn't look that bad anymore...!)'

samantha did NOT finally start school last tuesday only to have wednesday off because her friend came over. we are only a few weeks behind now and i did NOT just order the rest of her curriculum on saturday...!

while ben and samantha were gone all day saturday, i did NOT decide to go to target with ryan. and when we were walking towards the entrance ryan did NOT start saying "scary, scary." (all because we went to target a couple weeks ago and ryan bawled his head off because he was terrified when we walked past the halloween aisles.) after we made it through the store with only a few tears and $50 spent, i did NOT decide to go to another target for a repeat performance. hello, my name is erin, and i am NOT addicted to target!

i did NOT take a pregnancy test last monday after thinking that there was a slight huge possibility i might be pregnant. it was NOT negative. (although really, it was negative!) and as the week went on and on i did NOT get more and more nervous that the test was wrong. i did NOT resolve that i would take yet another test this morning, until finally last night my aunt flo did NOT show up eight days late! i did NOT breathe a sigh of relief and silently say thank you Jesus! because even though we do NOT want to have more kids, we're not quite ready to pursue that venture right now—sorry auntie di and gramma! (oh, and sorry dad if that was a little too much information!!)

on friday, i did NOT whack my head on the washing machine whilst bending over to pick up ryan. it still does NOT hurt. yesterday ben did NOT throw out his neck while he was clearing his throat. and this morning, i did NOT wake up to a thud when samantha fell off of her ladder. i am NOT wondering when and how ryan will hurt himself. might as well make this a family affair, right?!


happy monday, y'all. have a blessed day!

not me! monday

happy not me! monday!! while my last post gave you a quick run-down of last week, here's a look at what did NOT happen!



on wednesday evening samantha and our 6-year-old neighbor boy were outside playing together, when all of a sudden samantha ran inside and did NOT say "MOM!!! MAURICIO JUST WENT POTTY ON OUR STEPS!!!" i figured he wet his pants, but when i went outside he already ran into his house. so i got the story from samantha...

this summer we've had slugs on our sidewalk and steps at night, and apparently mauricio thought he'd try to kill a couple. with urine. so he did NOT drop his pants in front of samantha and pee all over our steps. she told him not to do it, and she wanted to come inside but it was too late. so she did NOT cover her eyes so she wouldn't see anything! good girl!

and it was NOT my daughter who didn't give into peer pressure when he said "don't tell your mom! don't tell your mom!" according to samantha, she did NOT have the strength to tell me!

*********************

one morning while eating my breakfast of lucky charms, i did NOT decide to multi task and read my email at the same time on my brand new 3-week-old laptop. i did NOT think of all the things that could go wrong with holding a bowl full of cereal over a new laptop, so i made sure to be extra careful.

and then my cell phone rang.

in my haste to get up, i did NOT quickly close my laptop, which somehow hit the spoon in my bowl, and did NOT send milk and lucky charms flying... all over ME!

note: no laptops were harmed in the making of this post!

*********************

remember the coupon party i went to? well, i decided to make lemon bars to bring. and since i'm such an expert in the kitchen, i decided to use the betty crocker mix that i just happened to have. i read the directions: press the ready made crust in the bottom of pan... pour filling on top and bake for 25 minutes. easy peasy. i mixed the filling, poured it on top, and stuck it in the oven.

while i was cleaning up the counter, i did NOT glance at the back of the box. *gulp* i did NOT fail to read the directions entirely. press the ready made crust in the bottom of pan... bake for 10 minutes... pour filling on top and bake for 25 minutes. i did NOT think that since the crust was ready made i wouldn't have to do anything else with it, like bake it!!

in the end the lemon bars did NOT turn out okay, with just a bit of a crumbly crust, and they did NOT still taste good!

*********************

last night after the kids were in bed, we did NOT have a runaway fish. ben was going to put samantha's new fish, swimmy, into the fish tank. and before adding her to the tank he had her in a small temporary container on top of the tank. about a half hour later, when he was ready to introduce swimmy to her new home, he did NOT say "OH NO.... WHERE IS SHE?"

we did NOT search all around on the floor until finally we found her. she had NOT jumped out of the container, flopped across the top of the tank, and fallen 4 feet to the very dusty carpet behind the fish tank. we thought for sure she was a gonner. and then she flopped! ben did NOT scoop her up, dust and all, and stick her in the fish tank. there are NOT dust bunnies floating around in the water...!

and swimmy is thankfully NOT still swimming today!!

*********************

last week while cleaning out the kids' closet, i did NOT find about 10 princess pull-ups that never got used when samantha was potty training.

ryan is NOT potty training right now.

i'm sure y'all are smart enough to put two and two together, right?

yes, my little man is NOT sporting a cinderella pull-up today. goodness, after this incident ryan is going to be scarred for life!

*********************


happy monday!

proud to be loud!

happy 4th of july!

wordless wednesday

saturday sunday cell phone mosaic

first of all, happy father's day daddy! and happy father's day ben! y'all are the best dads anyone could ever ask for. i love you both so much!

today was a great day! here's a quick run down:

sleep in/wake up at 8:30

nursery duty at church-2 year old boys

lunch at mr. goodcents

sherwin williams

home

father's day present

cut the grass

pull weeds

admire our one ripe raspberry :-)

grill dinner

simon & simon

quick run to home depot

more yardwork

kids' bath and bedtime

shower

look at our baby fish

late night snack

netflix

ahhhh... yes, it was a good day! and now, goodnight!

thankful thursday

today i'm thankful for the amazingly wonderful picnic the kids and i went to earlier this week. because of spring break we didn't have ladies' life groups at the church on tuesday morning. so instead we met at the park for a picnic playdate. it turned out to be more of a potluck, as everyone brought food to share. from subway sandwiches, brownies, chips, grapes, goldfish, and apples, to cookies, PB&Js, juice boxes, crackers, bananas, twinkies, and cheese singles, we had a FANTASTIC lunch! and one super smart mom even brought wet wipes for the whole crew!

it was a gorgeous 82 degree day. all the kids had a blast on the playground, and i'm sure they all had equally as good naps!

being the wonderful mom that i am, i totally forgot to take pictures of my own kids. but for those of you who want to look at pictures of people you may not even know, click here!


what are you thankful for today?