Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there!!! I hope you all had a great day! And I hope all of you moms, wives, daughters had a great day with the special men in your lives!

And a special Happy Father's Day to my dad. I couldn't dream up a better dad than you. And I couldn't imagine my life without you. I am so grateful for everything you've ever done for me and for everything that you continue to do. You have helped make me the strong, caring, independent woman that I am today. Thanks, dad!! You truly are the best dad (and Grandpa) EVER!!!!

Search for the MIssing Phone

I've been known to be pretty absent minded sometimes, and today was no exception.

Tonight, the boys and I took my hubby our for dinner to celebrate Father's Day. After dinner my hubby took the boys home and I went shopping to get Father's Day gifts for all the daddy's in my life.....

I got fed up and decided to head home, after not being able to find anything I was looking for. About 10 minutes into my almost 30 minute drive I reached for my cell phone......
And it wasn't there!!! Uh OH!!

Where the heck did it go?!?!?! I SWEAR I didn't leave it anywhere! Great! Now what? I began searching frantically as I drove down the road. I emptied my purse, several times. And my wallet, several times. I triple checked the seats and my pockets. I even checked the center console, which I knew I hadn't opened.

I couldn't find it. Great. I must have left it at the last store I was at. I was checking the time when I was in there. Sigh.... Guess I'll just have to turn around and go get it....

So I turned around went back to the store I had just come from. And 15 minutes later, I arrived. Upon arrival I jumped out of the car to head into the store....

And low and behold, when I got out of the car there sat my cell phone on the seat of the car....

I had been sitting on it the whole time!!! Geez!! I really wish someone would have called me so I'd have heard it ring!! :) Oh well.... at least I found it!! Next time I'll check the seat before I turn the car around!

The Simple Ways they Melt My Heart

I've always believed the saying, "It's the simple things in life that matter most."



But lately I've been trying really hard to pay more attention to those simple things in life.

Today I noticed the little things that my boys do that bring a smile to my face, even if I'm not in a good mood......



How'd my little loves make me smile today???



Every day when I get home and go pick up the boys I always greet each of them with a big hug and kisses. Today, I gave my 5 year old a hug and he pulled back and just looked at me. Then he said, "Mommy, let me smell your hair." So leaned in and let him smell my hair. He gave me a big sniff and then looked at me and said, "Hmmm, it smells really nice!" LOL!! Thanks, honey!!

Later, I was standing in the kitchen at my mother's house and my 14 month old started yelling "BOO!!" He cracked up when I would pretend I was scared of him, it was so cute! I scooped him up and he kept yelling "BOO", so I started yelling back at him. He started laughing so hard that he would get confused and sometimes his "BOO" would be a combo laugh/boo. Then he'd shake his head, look at me and yell "BOO" again.

On the way home tonight, my 3 year old says to me, "Mommy, can you do this??" I looked in the mirror and he was making the 'I love you' sign. I said, "Yep, I love you." And he got this huge smile on his face and said, still making his sign, "I love you too, Mommy!"

My boys melt my heart each and every day!!

Today's Life Lesson: Get Up and Go!

We've all heard the say, "You learn something new every day." And I will admit, I use it quite often. I, however, never really put much thought to the saying or whether or not it was true. But when I stop to think about it, you really do learn something new every day. Sometimes it's a new fact that you never knew, sometimes it's a bit of insight and other times it may be something that you already knew, but hadn't thought about lately, or now look at in a different way.

My life lesson today??

JUST GET UP AND GO!

About 3 weeks ago I started jogging in the mornings. Ok, so I started speed walking/ slowly jogging. I run about 2 miles every morning around my neighborhood. And I'm happy to report, I've been doing pretty well. I never thought I'd like running, but I LOVE it! I have a ton more energy and I just feel better about myself.

But some mornings it's hard to get up and get motivated to start running. This morning was one of those mornings. I kept pushing the snooze button. And to make it worse, I knew that I could sleep in today and it was a groggy, humid morning. But alas, I got up and headed out.

When I returned everyone in my house was still asleep, so I got in the shower and got ready. I had energy to keep up and play with my boys all day. It was great.

Now I just need to keep this motivation up and keep going!!!

Pushing our kids too much?

Why do we push kids to be mini athletes? It's a fact that less than 1% of all high school athletes will be professional athletes one day. And we all know that many of the little 5 year olds playing sports will not even play high school sports. So why do we push out little ones to play so perfectly??

Our 5 year old is playing t-ball in for our local little league this year. At a recent game a father repeatedly yelled directions at his young son. Every time the boy was in the field we would hear "Jacob stand up! Jacob look at the ball! Jacob pay attention!" And on and on. When he was up to bat the father was yelling over the fence how to stand. Now I'm not saying that a parent should never give directions, I yell directions occasionally. But this was excessive. Every few seconds this father way yelling.

I can't help but wonder what will happen to the self-esteem of children treated like this as they grow. How will a child like this boy handle failure? He is going to have such big shoes to fill. What if he just simply can't do it?

It's a fact that kids want to please their parents. Even though they won't say it and some times it won't seem as though they want to please their parents, in their hearts they do. As parents we need to teach our children to do their best. Don't set expectations too high. Allow room for failure and teach them how to cope with failure.

Teach your children that it's ok to miss the ball. It's ok to strike out. Even if there are 2 outs and the bases are loaded. It's ok to strike out. It's ok. What's important is that they try their best. It's important that they get up the next inning and try again.

Foster resilience, push for growth and allow for failure. Don't strive for perfection, they will only let you down if do.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Soldiers

Because there's so much more to our soldiers than mysterious uniforms and big guns.

Support Our Troops! If we don't, who will?

For more amazing Army photos and details of the pictures posted here check out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/

There Should be a Warning Label!!

There should be a warning label on Bath and Body Work's Stress Relief lotion. What would such a warning label say???

"WARNING - This product will not always provide stress relief. In fact, at times it may cause a rapid increase in stress."

Why would you need such a warning?

Because while you're getting ready, your 5 year old will take the bottle and empty it into your 3 year old's hair. The two of them will then begin to rub the lotion all over the 3 year old's head and arms. By the time you peak your head out of the bathroom to check on them, approximately 2 minutes later, said 3 year old will be such a mess you will have stop what you're doing and go give him another bath.

And if you're really lucky, while you're bathing the 3 year old, your hair (which you were in the middle of blow drying) will become frizzy and you'll have to double the amount of time you spent fixing it. At the same time your 5 year old will go down to the kitchen and spill a bowl of cereal and your 1 year old will attempt to help you give the 3 year old a bath and will get so wet, he'll require a new outfit.

Morale of the story? Keep your stress relieving lotion up out of reach of your little ones.