It's like their 1st Christmas all over again

So yesterday, being the Mean Mom that I am, I MADE the children go outside and play. Not long after, they came inside to tell me how boring it is outside and how there's nothing to do. I reminded them that they have about a half a million footballs, soccer balls and baseballs, not to mention bikes and scooters, and I sent them back outside to go find something to do! Now, in the back of Mom Mind I remembering hearing somewhere that it's good for kids to be "bored" because eventually it makes them have to use their imagination to find something to do.

So, a little while later I head outside to see what they've found to do and this is what I find:
Yes, that's right, they found a box with those air wrap bags which they turned in to the fashion of the day. It's like on their first birthday where they'd rather playing with boxes and the gift wrap than the actual toy that came in it!

Luckily, today they found something more conventional to play with:

One thing's for sure: A Slip & Slide is never a waste of money!

Birthdays and Cheetahs

It was a birthday extravangza in Kindergarten today! We went to two birthday parties for three kids from Ethan's class today! (Two of the kids live down the street from each other and are really good friends.) Anyway, we started the festivities at the roller rink. The kids are loving skating at the moment! Ethan is getting much better, but still insists on holding my hand. He managed to get around the rink twice without falling. He's also skating faster which is nice. He obviously is getting more confident so I hoping that soon he'll venture out on his own.

Our second party of the day was just a great neighborhood party complete with bounce house and face painting! The face painter was awesome! Check out the shading and detail on Ethan! He is calling this his "cheetah" look. I'm not really sure what makes this a "cheetah" but he seems to really like it. It was a fun time and we parents can not believe how fast Kindergarten has gone!

Alas, poor Ethan was quite tired (read: overtired) tonight when I put him to bed. He was in tears as he told me that everyone's better at stuff than he is. It was a lot of "poor me" tonight. I tried to tell him that he can be good at whatever he wants to be good at, but he has to practice. That's how people get good at what they are doing, whether it be art, reading or riding a bike. I know it's a parent platitude that he may or may not get it, but I hope it sinks in at some point! That and "be grateful for what you have instead of sad about what you don't have." (There is a more eloquent quote that expresses that same thing, but you get the idea!) Well, it may not happen for a while, but I hope some day it will.

Happy Mother's Day!

I am one lucky girl! Look at these two beautiful boys that make me proud to be a mama this Mother's Day. They started the day by making me breakfast and bringing it to me in bed! Together they made scrambled eggs and sourdough toast! (Plus, they brought me one of those delicious chocolate covered strawberries! That's a good way to start any day!) They were just so sweet about it all! Chet told me all about how they made them and how he wasn't quite sure what to do, but he tried his best. He added a little bit too much milk to the eggs, but honestly, that's what made the kid-made breakfast so perfect!

For lunch, since Dad couldn't be with us, he sent a gift card to P.F. Chang's! So, the boys took me there! They had never been, so I was a little nervous about whether or not they would like the food. They loved it! Their favorite was the Mongolian Beef! The Northside Spare Ribs that Chet picked out were fantastic! They were perfectly cooked, but I have to say the hit of the day was the shot glass desserts! I highly recommend these to everyone, even if you're on a diet! They had like 8 different choices from strawberry cheesecake to triple chocolate to smores to tiramusu to carrot cake and even an apple pie. They come in little shot glasses are just the right amount of dessert to enjoy and not go overboard!

It was a fantastic day and I thank my family for making it so special!

I also want to wish my mom a very Happy Mother's Day! I could not be the mom that I am or the woman that I am without you, Mom! You've been such an example of generosity, independence, determination, unconditional love, kind-heartedness, acceptance and patience that I could not have asked for or dreamed of a better role for a woman. Thank you for all that you've done for me, all that you've given me and all those things that defy description as so much of motherhood does.

I missed you today. I love you. Thanks for being my Mom.

Kelli

Here's what I did today

These are the cards I made today for my Glimmer Mist class on Thursday. (Nothing like waiting until the last minute!) I've had kind of a "designer's block" with this class. I'm not sure why, but I've had a hard time coming up with "class-worthy" ideas. I don't think I'm that great of a card maker, so I guess I put a lot of pressure on myself to get these right for my students. I used a lot of embossing with the glimmer mist this time. I love the fuchsia embossing powder on the tree because I think it looks like the redbud trees all around Oklahoma! Anyway, I was happy with the way these came out. There are a few things to add to finish them up but it's nice that they are pretty much complete and that pressure is off!

Now to start on the rest of the scrapbooking projects on my list!

Early Mother's Day

I had an early Mother's Day of sorts today! My mom sent me these AMAZING chocolate covered strawberries! They are the most beautiful and largest strawberries I've ever seen! I mean check out how big these things are:

What a great (and yummy) surprise! They are from Sharrie's Berries at berries.com. (Who knew?) Here's what the box says:



No doubt! I did actually receive two boxes, so I've been sharing with the boys! Speaking of, their gift arrived today as well:

Isn't that a beautiful card? What's inside is pretty cool, too! They are taking me to P.F. Chang's! More yumminess for me!

Then, the most precious part of the day, Ethan brought this book home for me:

He drew pictures and filled in the blanks with sentences like these:
"If I had $100, I would buy my mom a bunny!"
"My mom looks so pretty when she goes on a date!"

"I love it when my mom and I eat pizza together!"

Then he answered questions about me:

How old is she? 29 ;)

How tall is she? 300 feet tall (And you thought all those 50's B movies were fiction!)

How much does she weigh? 55 pounds (I love this kid!)

What does she do around the house? Clean (See, I have an eyewitness!)

What is her favorite T.V. show? American Idol

Where does she like to go? Scrapbook store :)

What do you like to do with your mom? Play games

My mother is special to me because....She is very cute!

Isn't he sweet?

So, I'm off to a great start for my Mother's Day Weekend! Hope you are, too!

A break in the grey....

At 7pm tonight, we saw something we haven't seen in probably over a week...the sun! So, this was, appropriately enough, my picture of the day....
Until............
my friend, Tracey, called me to tell to look outside and find this:


An honest to goodness rainbow! And it was big, too! She actually had a double rainbow, but this is what we saw from here. Mentally, I needed this sign of hope, because the grey days were all running together. Of course, it's suppose to rain again tomorrow, but the sun and the rainbow remind me that there is blue sky out there somewhere just beyond the storm and the clouds. Sometimes I just need that reminder.

Student of the Week

My little man is all jazzed this weekend! His teacher picked him to be Student of the Week next week! He brought home this poster to tell "All About Ethan Panique". Here are the highlights: His favorite place to go is Texas. (Can I get a "yee-haw!", Amy?) (also, I will admit once again to being a bad mom here, because his original answer was "Pizza Hut" and I wouldn't let him write that one down!) He wants to be a Jedi when he grows up (or a Star Wars Actor). His favorite thing to do is to spend time with family. His favorite food is pizza. His favorite animal is a leopard and his favorite color is blue.

Man, I can't believe what a big boy he is. He'll only be a kindergartner for a few more weeks and I just find that to be unbelievable. He's not my little baby anymore. *Sigh* That's the life of a mom, I suppose.

And now, on to a completely different topic: my long road home today. (If I don't get up here today I never will...)

Now, this picture was taken a couple days ago, but it is representative all the rain we are getting this week. I took the kids to school this morning with no problems and not even any rain coming down. I had a few errands to run and then I was picking up Karsyn from school for Steph at 11:30am. Well, between 8:30 and 11:30am, the rain poured on and off. Apparently "on" enough to flood most of the roads out where I live. It took me an hour and 10 minutes to go the 6.3 miles from school to my house!!!!! Yes, 70 minutes, because I had to keep turning around on all the little country roads that were now rivers in my big ol' Surburan. (Sorry, Dad, still no periscope option on my car. You'd think I would've learned that lesson by now..) I'm not big on driving in the rain anyway, so this was a very frustrating drive for me. After finding the most circuitous route possible (and turning the car around at least 5 times), I got Karsyn home in one piece. The rain has stopped for now, but I'm not going anywhere if it starts raining again this weekend! Being a homebody has it's advantages!