Teach Me How to Mommy

A few generations of wonderful men all in one picture.  I guess it was a great weekend. I am fresh off a fantastically exhausting weekend.  Family parties, dinner parties, trampolining, nap rebellions - phew.  Whenever I wanted to complain about running on empty, I tried to remind myself that I am so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life - people who have welcomed my kids as if they are their own.  It is a beautiful thing. But I will still be running on fumes this morning.  As usual I will journey through - don't we all? I usually celebrate a particular mom every Monday, but after perusing Facebook this weekend I realized just how many new birth and pregnancy announcements are filling my page.  What a great time of year!  We are so happy for you all.  We love new members of this club!  We hope for smooth sailing, some extra hours of sleep and lots and lots of snuggles. It's February, and it feels like sprin...

Well. I came home Wednesday and made the playdough with Colin.   It came out awesome! I used the recipe from the link in my previous post... and as I was starting I realized it was going to make A LOT soooo I 1/4 it.  My math must have worked because we ended up with three pretty decent sized "dough balls" Colin was unsure of it at first, but when we played with it again on Thursday, he really like squishing it in his hands and ripping it into little pieces I made a video of the while process... and it's super lame.   Here is the best minute of the activity..... I think you'll enjoy it! :) The Verdict:    Mom Vote:   So fun!   Super Easy!   Minutes of Fun!    Toddler Vote:   Fun & Interesting! Tastes Weird... Made my Mommy laugh out loud when I licked it...  super fun to rip up and throw on the ground! 

Sometimes you hit it just right. On a whim Amy and I met at the local trampoline park for a play date.  We brought our husbands (ok, they brought us).  All kids felt well and even though the line was hella long, we got in and had a blast.  The only reason I am even typing this right now is because my kids are knocked out (jumping, running, balancing, falling, sliding, and free-falling = an awesome nap). Even though it took Colin a few minutes to love it (which he did) and Jerry and I got "talked" to for numerous rule infractions, it was a great time.  There were no injuries (parents included) and the kids left red-faced and smiley. I only had to hold back once from knocking a kid out.  That's a record...

Amy's post reminded me that I have a book that I purchased in preparation for a long, cold winter.  Knock on wood we have been lucky.  The kids and I were outside throughout much of December and only now (Februaryish) do we actually have snow on the ground.  I will take this weather any day.  Flashbacks of last year make me shudder. Anyways, I bought this book "The Toddler's Busy Book."  I breezed through it when I didn't quite need it (fall) and then I forgot about it.  It's hard to remember all those good things you do.  Like when I went on a rampage hiding Christmas toys for days in hopes of retrieving them on days that the kids got bored.  I still can't freaking find them all.  When I was pregnant I definitely walked around with my brain not connected to my body.  I thought it was hormonal.  I do similar things now but can't blame it biology..now it's just "mom brain." I just looked through it again and I am bit relieved b...

TEASER:   FRIENDSSSSSS!  We have a mini milestone approaching and we are getting excited! -------------------------------------------------------------------- Since I talked about Toddler distractions Activity ideas in my my previous posts, I thought maybe I would share a one fun idea we've been doing a lot of lately!  :o)   Stickers: Actually, this one goes along with my previous post perfectly... I definitely thought Colin was was to young to handle stickers... He puts EV-er-Y-THING in his mouth... I miss Lisa Frank! I need these stickers! But when got a little sticker book from Colin's bff at daycare, as a Christmas "present", I thought, why not just try!  Also, let's be honest..  I think this present was more of a peace offering... These two boy are the same size, and they can handle the rough and tough side of being boys.. :o) The Verdict: COLIN LOVED IT.  He used every single sticker...

A proud moment.  I FINALLY finished an ENTIRE  coloring page in Colin's super hard coloring book!  Don't be fooled.. Colin helped.. you can see his scribble.   This was what I did when I was on Colin duty!  Brian was wayyyyy jealous!  :o)  #momlife  How do you decide how to "move on" or "move up" with you child's activities??  I always question that... When something works with Colin, Brian and I get kind of obsessed with it too.  Sometimes we forget that he's still growing, and he's constantly changing. One thing Colin really loves.. for real... is the laundry room and "helping" to fold the laundry.   He mostly unfolds the laundry for us.. but it's the thought that counts right? So this weekend, thanks to all the snow, Brian and I FINALLY got caught up on all of the laundry.   Mostly Brian (I put myself on Colin duty:  see picture), and mostly because we actually had nothing to wear... like nothing at all. Even ...

Saturday night I came across that 80s movie Mr. Mom .  You know with Michael Keeton?  His wife gets a job and he can't so he takes over mom duties.  I am not ruining anything when I say that things don't go well (until eventually he gets the swing of things).  I've seen it before, but now that I am mom I think I really "got it."   I made a joke to Jerry like, "looks a lot like how it would go for you if I had long hours and left you home to be mom."  He got a bit defensive and said no it wouldn't.  I agreed easily.  He probably wouldn't sit around watching soap operas, he likely wouldn't feed my kids cans of chili, and I also don't think he would lose my kids in a grocery store. But then this happened: I had a bridal shower to go to on Sunday and I was gone for a couple hours (mind you I made all the food before I left and had deep cleaned everything).  This is what I walked into.  My kids were hiding in the "fort...