The best gifts don't come in boxes.

This is my dad.

He gave me the greatest birthday gift I could ever hope for by showing up at my front door unannounced on Friday.  He and hubby were in on it together...I had absolutely no idea.  In fact when the doorbell rang I looked out of the peephole and thought "That looks kind of like my dad" but it still didn't register until I opened the door!

 We went out to dinner in Washington, NC and just drank in the beauty.  Look at those chubs!  I love her.

             

As we walked by the water we heard a band playing at a nearby restaurant and the girls just had to dance.

                

This moment in time, captured forever, is probably the best birthday gift I'll ever get.

 Gramps with his four grand babies.

We even got a decent family pic, which is hard to do with this crew!  

I had the best birthday ever, thanks Daddy and hubby for surprising me!  I love you!

Are YOU Mom Enough?

I feel as though I've gotten pretty controversial lately, and I swear it was completely accidental. Whether it's standing up against North Carolina's deplorable Amendment One or sticking up for Jamie Grumet, the mom on the now infamous cover of this week's Time Magazine, I seem to be pissing people off right and left. I think what all of this conflict comes down to is judgement. And judgement is what I want to write about today. No other group is as judgmental, or as JUDGED, as mothers. I think a lot of it stems from an innate yearning to be the best mother possible. If another mother does something differently than I do that must mean one of two things, either she's a better mother than I am or she's wrong. Isn't that the internal dialogue? We don't mean to feel this way, and it's not really our fault. We are made that way, and the media surely doesn't help the situation. I know I get judged all the time. And it hurts. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I really don't give a crap that this Jamie Grumet still breastfeeds her preschooler. That is her choice. She is obviously an intelligent, well-spoken woman who has her child's best interest at heart. Whether or not I agree with what is is doing is immaterial. I refuse to slam her for her choices. And guess what? I bet that 20 years from now her son and my daughter (who are the same age) will both be well-rounded adults. So in light of Mothers day I have a question. Are you mom enough? Are you mom enough to stop judging other mothers's decisions? Are you mom enough to know in your heart that what other mothers do has NO BEARING on how good of a mother YOU are? Are you mom enough to stop seeking validation in other mom's perceived faults? Can we all give the Mom Wars a rest and move on to more important issues? I could write about this all day, as it has been on my heart for a while now, but my 3-year-old is painting herself, the table, and the wall with chocolate pudding. Until next time my friends, Happy Mothers Day!

For What It's Worth Wednesday

Well Crap.

Did you ever have one of those days that started out awesome and then all went to heck in a hand basket?  That was yesterday.  


We were at a family gathering, about to sit down to eat, when I hear a horrible noise from outside.  It sounded like a cat fight.  Then I heard a very high pitched "go get my MOM!" and I knew it was bad.


I found Gabe flat on his stomach, screaming that his arm hurt, and this is what I saw:

It was an, "oh yeah, that's broken" moment.  He explained that he had been trying to jump from the picnic table to a chin-up bar and it was wet so his hands slipped off, and he landed on a root that was sticking up from the ground.  Yikes.

Mr Med School splinted it and off to the hospital we went.

He was in so much pain, but he was so brave.

After the X ray the orthopedic surgeon determined that he had broken both the ulna and the radius.  One was broken clean and displaced and the other had a spiral fracture.  Man kid, you really know how to break 'em!  He went to the OR for general anesthesia so they could do a closed reduction to put the bones back in place.  I'm so thankful they didn't have to open up his arm.

Today was Gabe's day, I tried so hard to make him feel better.  The girls were with their grandparents, so it was just Gabe and me all day.  We ate junk, snuggled on the couch and watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.  PHEW that's a LONG TRILOGY!  

Mr. Tough Guy didn't stay awake for all of it.  

When his arm stops swelling he will get a real cast, blue of course (like Sonic the Hedgehog.)  He won't admit it, but he's psyched about girls signing his cast!  

How to Draw Sonic the Hedgehog (My son's Youtube debut!!)

As you may or may not know, my son Gabe is quite the artist.  When he likes something he draws it over and over (and over and over and over and over) again until he gets it perfect.  Do your kids do that?  


Right now he's totally obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog thanks to Netflix.  I've tried to explain to him that Sonic is something we used to watch when I was a kid and it's not even on TV anymore, and that the kid that played Urkle did the voice for Sonic.  Talk about mind-blown!  (And making me feel old...)


Anyway, he knows how I make tutorials here on the blog and wanted to make one too, just in case any of you are interested to know how to draw Sonic :-)  After much discussion and trepidation I finally agreed to put his video on Youtube so that kids around the world could learn how to draw Sonic.  


Here is the video:

It would be super awesome if y'all could leave him some kind comments on there!  Thanks!

Why are you crying NOW?!

Boys are so easy.  I don't know what it's like to have more than one boy, but having one boy is cake.  He's so...uncomplicated.

 Girls, on the other hand, are hard.  They are sensitive.  Their feelings get hurt a lot.  Their relationships are complex.  

 They cry.  A LOT.  All day long.

 Sometimes when we're having an awful, tearful, pulling our hair out kind of day I just let them outside and get my camera out.  

It totally reminds me why I love having three girls.

Even though I spend half my life saying things like, "why are you crying?  Why are YOU crying?  WHY ARE YOU CRYING NOW???!!!" it is totally worth it. 

 This one is so funny.  The other day she very dramatically said, "My belly's getting fat, I think I'm 'bout to turn into Santa Claus!"  Any time she hurts herself she says "I think I might be dead!"

 She is a lover of play doh and frogs.

This one is totally spoiled but she's so adorable it's hard to be mad at her.  Her favorite new phrase?  "I don't WANT to!"  She has been known to do something naughty and say "no ma'am!' while doing it.    If she tries to kiss you and you don't kiss her back she gets her feelings hurt and throws the mother of all tantrums.  And that white blonde hair...I'm a big fan.

And this one.  Oh this one.  She is wonderfully weird.  She is so smart, so expressive, such a toothless wonder.  Every time we are apart and are reunited, this is what I see from her.  What's not to love?