mama [never] said there'll be days like this

let's just get right to the point—today is all about pre-menstrual syndrome. [if you're an uncomfortable male reading this, you have my permission to leave—i won't judge. however, if you're a woman and leave? i WILL be mad!]

anyway, i'm currently doing a beth moore Bible study, and one thing she said a couple weeks ago hit me (in my own words, of course. i'm a mom—my memory is shot.): women have a week of pre-menstrual syndrome, a week of menstrual syndrome, and a week of post-menstrual syndrome. that leaves ONE good week out of the month. and if you have daughters? you can kiss that one week goodbye.

now my mom never told me there'd be days like this. especially the days when i could wring my daughter's neck. and she certainly never displayed days like this. i mean really—my mom had THREE girls, and i only have one. and i don't think she ever got nearly as peeved with me and my sisters like i can get with samantha.

forget all other symptoms, it's my MOOD that wacks me out. it creeps up slowly. day one i start getting a little annoyed with the kids. the next day i start losing a little more patience. day three i start getting snippy. and the morning of day four? i warn samantha that "today it will be really easy for you to get in trouble." and she heeds my warning. it's like she knows exactly what i'm talking about.

i don't know what it is, but ryan could be horrible. he could throw a fit, color on the walls, etc., and i probably wouldn't be as mad at him as i would be with samantha if she gave me a funny look.

now if she's only 6 years old and can get under my skin this much, what's it gonna be like when she's 16?! maybe this is why my freezer is plumb full of ice cream. thankfully i—no wait—my kids only suffer two days of this mood and not a week.

help me out here, ladies. surely i'm not the only one with this problem—how do you cope with your children (and hubby) when you're pmsy? moms of teenagers, is there hope for me?! now for that ice cream...

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!

it's all in the day of a mom

today, i was...

a wedding coordinator—and helped samantha get barbie ready for her big day.

an architect—and made a blanket house for ryan.

a mechanic—and fixed ry's car.

a talent scout—and listened to a never ending concert performed by samantha montantha.

a short order cook—and made an assortment of foods for lunch.

a money launderer—and found some clean coins in the washer!

an interpreter—and figured out that 'wait a minute!' can mean something entirely different to a 2-year-old.

a heartbreaker—and didn't let ry have a cookie before lunch.

an explorer—and won a game of hide and seek.

a seamstress—and altered ryry's jammies with a safety pin.

a supervisor—and oversaw (overseed?) samantha wash the dishes.

a mediator—and stopped a sibling spat seconds before it started.


today, i was... a mom!

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.

where's waldo?

tonight my mom (happy mother's day, mom!) sent me a picture of her kitchen.

i was quite appalled by the *huge* stack of dishes beside her sink. i couldn't believe that she would send me a picture with such a messy counter.

so i though you all should see what *real* housekeeping looks like!

please feel free to click on the picture to zoom in.

yes, that is a carnation in a pink plastic drinking cup on the table. along with my headlight (i was checking sam's ears last night. lol), and two kinds of shredded wheat, smencils, vacuum sealer bags, towels, whey protein, a purse, fruit bowl, and a bat weight (the red donut thing). oh, and a dirty kleenex.

hey... this could be like an i spy game or where's waldo!

let's move on to the counter(s). i spy with my little eye........ a paintbrush! clorox wipes. mrs dash seasoning. ice cube bucket/container. green-lidded freezer jars. sunscreen. rolling pin. a big container of fiber powder. a wok. my water bottle. recipe box. honey nut cheerios. cupcake pan. my sunglasses. cds. a clear storage container with a white lid.

and last but not least.... the dryer. i think everyone should have a turkey roaster pan (that's been sitting there since thanksgiving) on their dryer with a cardboard box sitting on top of it. in said box there should definitely be lucky charms. an easter dress. a bra. nature's grains cereal. a bib. chocolate teddy grahams. also on top of the dryer, the latest decorating trends are to have a roll of electrical tape and a package of new socks, not to mention the basket of cleaning supplies, which actually does belong there!

MEGA MEGA bonus points for anyone who can find the upside down air freshener. it looks like this, only upside down.


so... who's up for the living room next week? i'm going to take a picture right now!

i am a lifetime joy...

or at least my mom thinks so. you see, she sent me the same card for my birthday two years in a row. when i opened the card i knew it looked familiar so i looked through my basket of cards and found the same one from the year before. i took a picture of the cards and emailed it to my mom and we had a good laugh about it. apparently when she was shopping for my card and picked that one out she had a feeling that she had gotten it before. but she thought she sent it to my sister instead of me.

then a week after my birthday was ben's birthday. he got his card from my mom and dad in the mail and i jokingly asked, "have you gotten that one before hun?" he said it look a little familiar, so i went back to the basket to see if she sent him a duplicate also. as i was flipping through all the cards i stopped and asked, "ben??? are the two cards from my mom over there on the table?"

to which he replied "yeah. why?"

i started laughing and pulled out another of the same card and grabbed my camera again!

my mom may have gotten me the same card three times, but at least she thinks i'm a lifetime joy!

love you, mom! :-)