The Glamorous Life of a Mom

When I used to dream of being a mom, I am pretty sure that it didn't include a lot of what happened today. I think I used to dream of sweet-faced, giggling babies or cute, silly, playful toddlers or even smart, witty preschoolers.

I knew it wouldn't all be easy. That there would be challenges. But I still don't think you ever imagine some things.

What you see in the picture above is what happens when a 3 year old needs to go potty so bad but is not quick at taking off shoes and jeans, then he can't decide what potty he wants to use and. . . well, he didn't make it to either one in time.

This all happened about 15 mins before bedtime. And Kyle was at practice. I was sort of stunned for a second. I had to swoop up rhody and put him on the potty (made a huge mess on the potty), threaten Bo with his life if he went near the poop, and figure out what to do with poop on the carpet--oh yeah, and Rhody crying on the potty.

The problem is that Daddy wasn't home--specifically because he pretty much has nasty bodily fluids duty at this house. I figured that since I expelled plenty of those during pregnancy that once the child is out of my body, it is Daddy's job to clean up after them. Practically speaking, I wasn't sure what to use to make sure the poop came out of the carpet. I called Kyle and my sister-in-law hoping for some sound advice. I couldn't get in touch with either one.

I won't bore you (or totally gross you out) with more details. I did the best I could with the tools I had. We will be calling Stanley Steamer tomorrow!

However, it was cute to see Lainey jump into action as my right-hand mommy when it all hit the fan. I put her on Bo duty. She got his pj's on, helped brush his teeth and played with him in a room away from the poop. She even tried to get both boys to help clean up the mess they made while mommy was scrubbing the carpet. She spoke in a stern voice, she gave them warnings, and then came running to me to make sure they got a consequence for not obeying her. She actually helped me out a lot!


The above picture is a spoon from Chick Fil A. We went there for dinner tonight--need I remind you of the title of this blog? We turned in our kid's meal toy for some ice cream. The kids were finished and headed to the play area. I sat down next to Bo and he showed me his spoon. I asked Bo what happened to the spoon. Not much of a response. I asked him where the piece from the spoon is. His response smiling, "In tummy. In tummy."

I am not sure if that is true or not. He has definitely been known to lie before. I am hoping that the piece is not somewhere in his tummy, but rather on the floor of Chick Fil A. Stay tuned for more details.


We went to Toys R Us a few days ago to do some pre-shopping for Christmas. What up with Lainey & Rhody picking the Escalade?

I just wanted you to see the price of this little vehicle. Do you know how much make up and hair products I could get for that? How many GOOD jeans I could get? Not to mention the shoes. And of course what I meant to mention first, how it could help the needy and less fortunate of our city!


While today wasn't really the stuff dreams are made of, I think I have a great life. I almost wrote that I wouldn't trade it for the world, but that's not true. I don't enjoy, nor will I ever enjoy cleaning poop out of carpet.

Oprah and some pics

Yesterday on Oprah, one of Rob's videos was shown. It literally brought Oprah to tears--almost to the ugly cry as she would call it. Please go to Rob and Haley's blog to see a clip from it! I am so proud of you Rob! I am excited that baby Eliot's life could have such a huge impact on so many.

I also took some pics of the kids this weekend. It is time to update the grandkid wall at Nana and Pops house. (Eleven grandkids total!) The pictures are about 1 1/2 years old. Kids change a lot in that amount of time.

Taking pics of kids is not so easy. Rhody is into the fake smile phase. Lainey is in to the over smile phase and Bo is into the no smile phase. Good times. I still think they turned out pretty cute--but who am I to judge? Just their biggest fan.

Lainey Update

I don't think I have written much about Lainey lately. I am with the boys so much more now but there is never a shortage of information and stories about Lainey!

She is really loving kindergarten. She adores her teacher. Lainey writes her notes and we drive by Mrs. Barnes house a lot so the kids can yell, "Hi Mrs. Barnes!!!" I guess it sounds a little like stalking but she's only 5! When I start helping her write notes with letters cut out of a newspaper and park outside of her house for hours --then let's get worried.

They are learning so much in kindergarten. They are writing sentences! I am pretty sure that we did not do that in Mrs. Walker's kindergarten in 1979.

In my previous post, I noted that Lainey looks exactly like her dad. That I am not in the gene pool. But actually, Lainey does have a lot of my mannerisms. I just wanted to tell you a few.

The other day after school, 4 boys came up to Lainey and said, "Lainey, come chase us!" To my surprise, she actually did go chase them! Later that night, I asked her who some of the boys were. She said, "Daniel, and Jackson--you know the one with the really cute hair." That's my girl. He did have cute hair.

Here is some of her sentences. They are learning to use the words more and less.

It says, "I like to eat more bread. I like to eat less green beans."
For those of you who know me, bread is my favorite food!

This one says, "I like to eat more Mac N Cheese. I like to eat less oranges."
Now who wouldn't prefer Mac N Cheese over oranges--or anything for that matter.

If you look closely, you can see that Lainey has a tooth coming in behind her baby teeth. She is thrilled to lose a tooth! That is the thing in kindergarten to do evidently. Let's pray that the baby teeth come out before that big one comes in. I can't imagine that will be very comfortable!

We love Lainey!

Wednesday fun.

We had a fun day today.

My cousin Will and his wife Allison moved to Dallas this week. They actually moved into Aimee's old house and so is next-door neighbor to Erin! How fun for me! Will and Alli have 4 young children that I am excited to get to know better now that they are in town.

Rhody and Bo and I got to spend the afternoon with the oldest of Will's kids--David and Peter. We had such a good time with our cousins (second cousins, third cousins, cousins once removed?) The conversation in our minivan with 4 young boys was hysterical! Bo kept chiming in with his one word, extremely loud commentaries.

David (5 years old) is full of personality and talked to me a ton! He told me all about the solar system and made all the planets out of playdough! He then named all the planets and included Pluto--then said, "just kidding, Pluto is not a planet anymore."

For those of you who didn't know, he is right. Pluto is no longer considered a planet. I know that because of my addiction to Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann and the Today show. I am betting that is not how David knew it. He could have been reading it in the encyclopedia--his uncle Sam memorized all the state capitols at age 4 by reading the encyclopedia. But I am not sure they have made a set of encyclopedias since Al Gore invented the internet.

This is why we refer to Will and his two brothers as the "smart" cousins.

Rhody and Peter chillin' out!

Today at Lainey's school was Dad's Lunch Invasion! The cafeteria was full of kids and dads! Most Dad's brought in fast food for themselves and their kids. Chris Bone took one for the team and ate the Tetrazini--by Addie's request. Lainey got chick fil a (of course).

I volunteered to take pictures for the yearbook. I just wanted to relive the glory days of the LHHS Fang (I was the editor-n-chief of the high school newspaper--I know, pretty impressive). I grabbed my camera and Rhody and Bo and ran up to the school to get a few pics of kids and dads! Rhody was thrilled because he really wanted to see Lainey's school on the inside.

Cute sister and brother pic at school.

It was also crazy tie day at school. Lainey got this one from Pops. You know he is a great resource for crazy ties, Bill Cosby-like sweaters and bright colored sweatsuits. Way to go Pops!

Do these two look alike or what? Am I even in the gene pool here?

Tomorrow is Thursday. That means school day. I am riding bikes with my team tomorrow (as I type this with ice on my swollen knees). I hate to say it, but I have to give the bike back to the sweet girl who loaned it to me for the triathlon. I will be sad to see it go!

Go Wildcats!

We went to the Lake Highlands Homecoming game tonight. We got together with some friends for a tailgate dinner and then headed on over to the stadium for the homecoming festivities. By the way, we actually did have a tailgate thanks to Christman! One tailgate and a some minivans!

The weather was perfect and we all had a great time. The kids loved it. Plus it was the 10 year reunion of the class of 1998 so I got to see a lot of old YL kids. (amanda lewis' class).

We didn't have any sort of run in with the mascot--so Rhody had a great time. A little boy in Lainey's class found her during the 2nd quarter and wanted to sit with her. It was so cute. He then took her to see their teacher. She is getting so big!

Abby, Lainey and KK eating dinner in Xman's truck. They were all so excited to eat in there.

The other side of the truck! Gracie, Rhody, Sam and Lily.

The little girls: Kylie and Kingsley eating some frosting off the cookies!

Sweet girls eating their cookies.

I promise, Sam had a good time. Not all of his pictures capture it!

Group pic of all the precious kids!

GO WILDCATS!!!!

We had such a good time. We will definitely be making this a tradition. Hope you can join us next year!

Just some pics!

Here are some recent pics of the kids. Have a great weekend! We are headed to LH homecoming tonight. GO WILDCATS (no mascots allowed)!

Here is Rhody posing for the iPhone. This is his new favorite pose. So angelic. You can't hear his whining while starring at his pretty eyes.

Lainey went over to her friend Abby's house for a fall party. Abby invited some church friends that don't get to see each other much during the week. Sarah (abby's mommy) had fun crafts for them to do, cookies to decorate and invited siblings to enjoy the treats after the party. Aren't they cute? Sarah is the hostess with the mostess!

Rhody has his eye on Lilly Claire! They went for a drive together!

My Life with Boys

Since Lainey went to kindergarten, I am officially a boy mom all day long. It is a bit strange since I was a girl mom first and since a lot of our friends have a lot of girls. But I really do love it.

My days do look different. We wrestle a whole lot. They tend to keep on the same clothes all day. Unless they get a fist full of chocolate pudding and rub it on their shirt. They make all sorts of noises--like a car, like a gun, like truck, like a toot--or could be a real toot in which Bo always blames someone else. R calls for me to come look in the potty at his poop--"it's like a rocket ship or it is HUGE or it's like a hot dog." Sorry girls, that is how boys talk. Plus, he is pretty proud of it.

R likes to watch baseball on TV. Bo likes to hit. R likes to play ball with anyone who will let him. Bo also likes to kiss and hug. Bo recently offered me a hug when I asked for a bite of his ice cream. He is a smart little guy, I ended up with no ice cream. They both like playdough. R likes to play "rough" and ends every sentence with the word "right?"

"Tony Romo is big, right?" "He's bigger than me, right?" "He's number 9, right?" "We go get sissy after naps, right?" You get my point. He never stops talking.

We all went to Target today. It is one of my rules that I broke. I don't go to Target with children unless involves at most purchasing two things. I needed a lot more than that today. Like milk, bread, fruit, juice--that is why I had to take them with me.

I am excited to announce that it went surprisingly well! They stayed in the cart the entire time. We got a free cookie first and then halfway thru we opened the granola bars for a mid-shop snack. It worked today! Make sure to make note of today--a successful shopping adventure with children. It is a rarity in this house!

Here are some iPhone pics of us!

Rhody loves the iPhone and specifically taking pictures. Out of focus--don't stare too long or damage may occur to your eyes!!

Bo got a hold of a dry erase marker and I didn't hear from him for about 10 minutes. Never a good sign. I was walking out of the door when I saw this masterpiece of a drawing on our pantry cabinets. Life with kids--I was cleaning the cabinets while they were strapped into the car!

Now this is truly life with boys. As soon as we got to the park, Sam and Rhody said they needed to go potty. Luckily there was a tree nearby that needed watering! Photos retouched to protect their privacy! Still--look at those tan lines!

I love these boys. Even when they might throw their entire lunch on the floor including a piece of pizza that landed face down. I sat right down there with that precious boy and forced him to clean it up. Not fun. But I wouldn't change anything about them. I love these boys!

I'll Be Back

I just wanted to post to say that I would post again soon. I haven't been good about . . . just a side note, while I was typing just the title and the first sentence, I heard the words "mommy, watch me." about 7 times. That could be why I haven't posted in a while. Where was I?

I really haven't been able to think of anything interesting, entertaining or amusing to blog about. Don't get your hopes up, I will still blog about the boring stuff too.

Here is a "coming soon" for We Heart Chick fil a!

--Another mommy makeover is done! I just need some after pics to post! This is another good one! Sunny was a great candidate! She was up for anything.

--More examples of crazy kids and interesting outings.

--Discussions of important issues of our day: the economy, the election and yoga pants. Probably only one of these issues will make it into the blog, you be the judge.

--Pictures of kids with pumpkins. I haven't taken any yet but I am sure we will!

Have a great Monday.

Just Another Manic Monday.

Actually, it wasn't that manic today but anytime I can use an 80's reference--I will. Did anyone notice that in the first season or two of Grey's Anatomy the title of each episode was a phrase from different 80's songs? I think that is right.

Back to me. I just wanted to let all my peeps know that we are doing ok around here after our Thursday last week. (I believe that 'peeps' is a 90's phrase! Getting a little more current!) We even braved the LHHS football game the next night--where that blasted Mascot would definitely be. Rhody did really well. We saw the mascot right off the bat, but he was prepared and knew that we were going up the stairs away from the masked animal! Bo spent most of the 1st quarter waving to the mascot. We were at the very top of the stands. I am sure the mascot saw him.

Rhody loved that actual game. His favorite part was when the cats scored a touchdown. Well the score was 40 something to zero when we left so he got to see a lot of touchdowns!

All the kids had a great time at the game. I started attending LHHS games in 1978 to see Deni perform as a Highlandette! We have been going to games for 30 years in this family.

I thought I would include some pics of the kids. See here, they are smiling and laughing and having fun! I remember these times in the midst of the crazy times.

Abby and Lainey eating some ice cream after school!

Love that mint chocolate chip! No mascots around here!

I need to see this picture of Bo after his little temper flared up a lot today.
He even called his grandfather to tell him he was in time-out today.

Here is to tomorrow!

Wow, that was fun.

How was your day today? I hope good.

Mine started crazy. Got good in the middle. Crazy and not fun toward the end. Good again at the very end. (the very end being right now and kids are asleep)

Thursdays are such interesting days around here. It is my only day to get all three to school. We have sort of a routine so the morning isn't so bad. Then I have about 5 hours to myself. That part is good. I did a few things around the house and then had lunch with a good friend. A two hour lunch of visiting with a friend with no kid menus, no spilled drinks, no potty breaks, and I actually ate my whole meal. School is worth it for that!

Anyway, I often "pay" for school days. Thursday afternoons aren't always so great. I have a house full of tired, hungry, cranky kids. Sounds fun, huh?

Tonight we had the back to school picnic at our elementary. The high school band, cheerleaders, wranglers, bounce houses, Popsicles, dunking booth--it was all there. A lot of the neighborhood was there with blankets and dinner having a good time.

Everyone but me.

Seriously, and I don't think that I am exaggerating, I had the worst kids there.

Plus, Kyle was at practice tonight so I was flying solo! To be honest, I actually had a little bit of apprehension about going tonight. I knew it would be a large crowd and a lot going on which makes it crazy to keep up with 3 little ones. But it sounded like fun so we went anyway!

This is a very important detail that all of you should know about Rhody, he is scared--terrified--of masks or anything resembling masks (including detailed face-painting). I am talking trembling, shaking asking to go home, clinging to my leg type of fear. This phobia showed up last Halloween when his sweet cousin Sam put on a Spiderman mask and sent Rhody into an oblivion. Let me tell you, Halloween was really fun last year.

Did I mention that we walked to the picnic?

As we walked up the kids were so excited. We saw the cheerleaders including Lainey's teacher's daughter--Lainey was star struck! We heard the band. Bo was a little scared of the noise but said "hi" to the band anyway. We laid out our blanket and lainey went to play with friends. (she is such a big girl!) All was going well.

Then that darn Wildcat mascot appeared. Soon Rhody was crying and in my arms and Bo was crying. I haven't seen the fear of masks in Bo until today. That is a lovely attribute that Rhody could pass to Bo! I think Bo was just overwhelmed and just plain cranky tonight. (hoping so!)

I hadn't eaten a bite of the food that Lacey brought me. Bubba's! It was just waiting there for me. I haven't had it in forever! But that is part of being a mom, comforting your terrified child and not eating mashed potatoes and a roll when it is still warm.

Thank God that Blair and the boys showed up right about then! Blair held one of my boys while I held the other. His boys were just fine--unfazed by the hysterics seen in my boys. Thank you Blair!

Rhody is quoted as saying (crying hysterically) tonight, "When is that mascot going home? Why is that Mascot even here? Where does that mascot live?" I am not sure why he wanted to know where the mascot lived. Maybe so we could go pray over that house or so he could cry every time we pass that house.

The boys finally calmed down. Praise God that the mascot left the premises. We ate some chick-fil-a with the Bone girls. We had fun for about 15 more mins. Then Lainey lost sight of me for about 10 seconds and she totally freaked out because she didn't know where I was.

They all cried at some point tonight. Usually two at a time. I was totally the mom that everyone looked at and thought, "poor Mommy." I was thinking the same thing!

We then had to walk up the mountain called Forestridge! Good times in flip flops!

Good news is that Bo won a door prize. A stuffed animal. Later during teeth-brushing Lainey cried because Bo won something and she did not. That about wraps up my day.

Here is to tomorrow!