I Want My Weekend Back!

I want it back, I want it, I want it, I want it!
Here's a short hi-light list from my weekend:

FRIDAY
Took a nap
Babysitter
Cafe Rio burrito (shared)
About 70% success rate at the driving range (ie, connecting with the ball - a personal best)
Red Mango
So many laughs

SATURDAY
Cafe Rio salad (NOT shared) sans children
Long nap time (for the kids AND me)
Pizza Bender (also sans children) with just the girls
Red Mango (yes, again)
More laughs
Some AWESOME news (too excited for words)
And this is where it started to turn.....

SUNDAY
Stake Conference (we stayed home because we were up all night with a sick Lo)
BBQ for my mom's bday
Reminiscing with the fam
And up all night again with Lo (she's weird - when she gets a cold, she's fine all day, no runny nose, no coughing, but can't sleep at night for more than 45 minutes at a time)
What little sleep I did try to get was ruined with a splitting headache

MONDAY
B has it in for me today
I fully believe she's taking advantage of a very sleep deprived mother
I've been the screaming mom today
You know, the part of you that comes out and is hoping none of the neighbors are outside and all of the windows are closed
Lunch consisted of refusing a sippy cup
Spilling apple juice all over the counter
Continuing to play in it while I yelled and cleaned it up
Then immediately threw rest of lunch as far as it would go
Resulting in me screaming some more and crying
What?  SO NOT FAIR!
I want my weekend back, with my behaved children and my naps and my Red Mango!
Can someone please arrange that for me?
Pretty please, with a cherry on top?

Working the System

Moms like to teach their kids to throw their trash away.  It's just something everyone needs to learn, right?

Yesterday Mya finished up some fruit snacks (aka Toddler Crack) and ran into my bathroom where I was getting ready and handed me the empty bag.  I told her to go throw it away.  She ran off, and I didn't think anything more of it.  Later, in the kitchen, I used a tissue to wipe her runny nose.  Once again, I handed her the tissue and asked her to throw it away.

Instead of taking 2 steps to the right to throw it in the kitchen garbage, she ran down the hall.  I then hear Lo say "Oh, thank you" and then LAUREN ran into the kitchen and threw the dirty tissue away.

I gave Mya another tissue later and the same thing happened.

Mya has somehow worked it so that Lo is throwing away her trash.

She will run, garbage in hand, all around the house until she finds her.  And Lauren does it with a smile on her face and a "thank you".

Incredible.

This kid is way too smart for her own good.

How'd she figure that one out?  And why is Lo going along with it?  This goes against everything I've known about the sibling heirarchy.  The younger serves the elder.  That's just the way it is!

The funniest thing is that Lo is more than happy to do it for her.  Oh well, the trash gets thrown away, what do I care?

p.s.  how cute is this kid?

And here's a little sneak peak of Bryan's latest project.

He.  Is.  Amazing.

This was taken the first day - it's almost done now.  I just want the reveal to be super dramatic.

Bring in Da Funk

So I'm going through a blogging funk.
I'm going through a mom funk.
A life funk.
Not really sure why.
Just feeling like I don't have a whole lot to say.
My life is a bit overwhelming right now.
Been throwing a lot of white flags lately.
I feel defeated.
The kids are winning.
My job is winning.
Lack of sleep is winning.
The scale is winning.
And, though I'm getting a lot accomplished,
I feel like I am losing every battle.
I feel inadequate.
Tired.
Drained.
I know this won't last too long.
I need to get outside more.
I need to call my friends more.
I need to ask my amazing husband on a date.
I need to go to the temple.
I just need to stop.
Stop thinking about all of the bad I see.
Stop worrying about things I can't control.
Stop comparing myself to others.
And remember that I love myself.
I am a good mom.
I am a good wife.
My family loves me.
My friends love me.
I am a daughter of God.
I am enough.

Welcome Summer

In celebration of the beautiful weekend and the beginning of summer, we decided to take the girls on their first hike, to Donut Falls.

Weeeeelllll, we should've waited a few more weeks, because the entire trail was extremely muddy and snowy.

I have no pictures of us on the trail, because Lo had a death grip on my hand the entire time.  The poor kid kept slipping on the hard packed, muddy snow, and splashing mud all over herself.  From the way she reacted to the whole thing, I fear she may need therapy later on down the road.

Every time she slipped she would yell "YIKES!!".  I was dying, it was hilarious.  And when she wasn't yelling yikes, she was telling me how she wanted to go back and she did NOT want to be the king of the mountain.

But we went the whole way, only to see a little tidbit of the actual waterfall.

And after we got back to the car and Lo got changed into some clean pants, she did say she had fun and wanted to go again. 

I think we may.....maybe towards the end of summer when we won't come back looking like we've been in a mud pit.

B was just along for the ride, as long as Bryan kept moving.

This was the expression on her face basically the whole time :)

After a very long nap (for all of us), we broke out the swimsuits and sprinklers for the first time.

This is how Lo enjoyed the sprinklers:

And this is how B enjoyed them:

From far, far away. 

This is a total surprise to me, since Mya is the one who loves to stick her face under the running bath water and Lauren shrieks at the thought of it.

It was a gorgeous day, and we especially loved spending it together as a family.  We put aside all things work (well, almost - I helped Bryan paint a hopscotch for a work friend in the morning) to spend the day together and I'm so glad we did. 

I never feel bad about coming home to loads of dirty laundry and a sink full of dishes when we have days like this!

A Little Catching Up, Perhaps?

Lo finished up her first year of preschool!

They put on the most adorable little program, which was interrupted numerous times by my daughter complaining that she was hungry and wanted muffins.

It was still so cute - they sang little songs, and after it was over served all of the parents muffins.

I've been so happy with the decision to put her in school a year early.  She has learned so much!

She recognizes every letter of the alphabet and all of her numbers, can write her name (almost legibly), and has learned so many cute little songs and poems.

After the program was over I took her for an ice cream cone at Arctic Circle - just Mom and Lo.

As you can tell, she enjoyed it tremendously :)

It was our nephew, Will's birthday and he celebrated it at Chuck-E-Cheese.  The kids ran around like crazy and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Us parents.......ummm.....not so much.  I don't think I'll feel the need to be going back there any time soon.

Here's B on the little carousel, sucker in hand, having the time of her little, chubby life.

And I just thought I'd mention that I feel as if it officially became summer today.  Which is a good thing, because all of these clouds, cold, and gloom has done a number on my attitude.  I haven't wanted to do anything, go anywhere, or get out of my givin' up pants in the morning.

But tonight just finally felt like summer.  Bryan mowed the lawn, we BBQ'd, the adorable neighbor girls and Lo colored our driveway with sidewalk chalk hearts and flowers. 

Then I dragged in (kicking and screaming) my quickly tanning girls - who smelled like sweat, fresh cut grass, and sun - and gave them a bath.

They are worn out, went to sleep amazingly fast, and I feel so relaxed and content for the first time in weeks.

This is going to be an awesome summer - I can feel it!