Motherhood

I don't know about you, but sometimes being a mom is hard!  I have days where I am so overwhelmed and exhausted I don't know how I am ever going to get my children raised.  On the other hand, I have days where my children so bless me that I wonder why I don't have three more.  When I had Abby, I had this picture of how a perfect mom and family should be.  Boy did that not work out!  The problem was my fantasies didn't include hours of crying, sleepless nights, a husband finishing law school and piles of dirty laundry.  I wish back then someone had told me that no can be a perfect mom all the time.  Life gets in the way and sometimes it's messy.  It took me years to realize that I wasn't the only one who thought I wasn't doing a good enough job.  So if you have had  a couple weeks like mine (complete with stomach bug and out of town husband), hang in there!  We are all overwhelmed and exhausted at times, and in the midst of all the crying, screaming, piles of laundry, meals to prepare, toys to be picked up and beds to be made we can ALL use a little encouragement!
One of my dear friends from college sent me this today.  It's a devotion from the book "The Power of a Positive Mom" by Karol Ladd, and it happened to be about just what I had on my mind all week. Enjoy

What expectations do you have for yourself as a Mother?? Well mannered children? A spotless house? Dinner on the table by 6:00pm(and I don't mean in a paper sack) No doubt, you, like me, have a picture in your mind of what a "supermom" looks like. Is this vision realistic? Or just a glorified picture of what you think you ought to look like?? Being a positive Mom doesn't mean you have to be a perfect Mom. A positive mom realizes that neither circumstances nor people are ever perfect. A positive mom also realizes that her husband and children have weaknesses as well as strengths. And most importantly, she humbly acknowledges that she has a fair amount of flaws herself.  Psalm 139:14 reminds us that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." God created you. And there is only one YOU! HE uses our abilities and disabilities to help build a loving and well balanced home. Often we are tempted to compare ourselves to other women...we must STOP! It is a lie from Satan that there is such a thing as a "perfect" mom...or a "perfect family". It's a lie! Don't be discouraged by your weaknesses; determine instead to build on your strengths. Rejoice that God is at work in your life. He created you. He is developing you. And He is not finished with you yet! Philippians 1:6..."I am confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

The Tooth Fairy doesn't work on Sundays!

This Easter, Abby came into the kitchen and announced to me that she no longer believed in the Easter bunny.  I knew the day was coming so I waited to hear her say that she knew santa, the tooth fairy ect weren't real either.  While she did try and get me to come clean about the bunny, she didn't seem worried about the rest.  I am not going to lie to her if she comes out and asks me so I just kept switching the conversation which made her laugh.  Eventually she gave up.  I think she knows, but a part of her still wants to pretend it's all real.  There are times when I like pretending too so who can blame her! 

This brings me to the title of my blog, the tooth fairy.  Plain and simple, Bret and I suck at being the tooth fairy!  We have forgotten more than once, or we realize late that night that neither of us has cash so the girls get coins instead.  I don't know about everyone else, but in this house the going rate for a tooth is five bucks.  That's a lot of coins, especially when your talking dimes and nickles!  I have even resorted to dropping cash on the floor after the girls are awake and pretending that the tooth fairy dropped it. My poor girls buy it everytime. One time, Macey lost a tooth and I found a written note in her tooth fairy pocket that asked for bills and no coins please.  Oh how I wish I had saved that letter!  Macey lost another tooth last night (she is about to have more holes than teeth). As she was getting tucked in at bedtime, she asked Bret if the tooth fairy worked on Wednesdays (yes, our kids feel the need to ask these questions).  Abby, without even looking up from the book she had been quietly reading, says very seriously, "She doesn't work on Sunday's."  I am assuming somewhere in there, we told Abby this (another one of those nights we forgot).  Bret and I found this so funny because she busts us on the Easter bunny and then very seriously discusses the tooth fairy's schedule.  I love my girls! 

In case you were wondering, we didn't do any better on our tooth fairy duties last night.  Neither one of us had any cash, and I found Bret counting out dimes for Macey.  I just couldn't do that to her again.  So I did the only logical thing, I took five dollars out of her piggy bank and put it in her tooth fairy pillow.  Don't worry, I paid her back, and she never knew!

It's not the best iPhone picture, but you can see that she has no teeth on top, and two holes on bottom.  I'm not sure how she eats!

Happy Easter

We had a really good Easter Sunday this year.  We went to church, and then had lunch with my family and Bret's mom.  That afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt at my parents house.  It was a great family day! 

Shelby's Easter Party

Shelby had her Easter party at school this week, and she had so much fun!  Since this is her first year in preschool, everything is so exciting for her.  She has spent a lot of her life watching her sisters do things, and I am having a great time watching her experience things for herself. 

It was also Ms.  Charlene's birthday.

Shelby loves her teacher!

These next two pictures are proof that they are still our babies.  :)  Shelby: So Sage, want to play a game?  Sage:  Ok. What do you want to play.  Then both girls spontaneously do the same thing.

Peek-A-Boo!

Praying before snack time.

The part of the party that the kids enjoyed the most, was when the cascarones were brought out.  For those of you who don't know, cascarones are confetti filled eggs that you break over each others heads.  Shelby is in a biligual school, and cascarones are a Mexican tradition.  Having one broken over your head is said to bring good luck.  Shelby had no idea what they were, and the first kid who broke one on her head almost got a fist. (I'm exaggerating a little, but her face was priceless!)  It took her a few minutes, but she finally got the hang of it.  Boy did those kids have fun!  There was confetti everywhere. 

What the heck!  Did someone just hit me?

Look at those kids throwing eggs.  That's funny.

You mean I can throw these on someone?

This is fun!  

Now these are my girls

I love this picture of the girls for one reason, it shows their personalities so well!  First, you have Shelby up in front and yawning because she is sick and tired of taking pictures and doesn't care what anyone else thinks about that!  Second, you have Macey over to the side, still posing, oblivious of the fact that her sisters are not ready for the picture.  Macey loves having her picture taken.  Last, we have Abby, my litte rule follower, who likes everything to be done just the "right" way.  That look she is giving Shelby, the one that says I can't believe you are messing this up for me, is such a typical Abby look.  Every time I look at this picture I smile.  I just love my three, strong-willed, spunky girls.

Happy Tuesday

I can't even tell you how blessed I feel that my girls have such wonderful grandparents in their lives!  They get to live within five minutes of my parents and Bret's mom.  It's so nice to have all of them here so close to us.  Here is a cute picture of Macey and Shelby snuggling with my dad while we were at their house for dinner the other night.  It was taken with my iPhone, but I still love it.

   

 

Moon Pies

On our way to Ruidoso for the weekend, we stopped at a gas station to fill the car up. The girls begged and begged for a snack so Bret told them they could pick out something healthy...crackers, goldfish ect... Basically, he meant no candy. Guess what they ended up getting? Moon Pies! Bret's logic was that they were Moon girls so they should have a Moon Pie. It was the first time they had tasted one, and they loved them!

Abby loves anything chocolate!

Macey is always clowning for the camera.

Shelby loved her Moon Pie.

 

This is Shelby right after she came down from her sugar high.