The things that come out of my mouth...

I hear myself saying things, which taken out of context might make you question my sanity and everyday living.

Example: 5 minutes ago....

"No Johnny.  We don't eat grapes out of the trash.  Did you already eat some grapes from the trash?  No, we don't eat food from the trash."

What do you see?

What do you see when you look at this photo?  

At first, I see a piece of chocolate cake with a happy boy in the background.  And then my mind starts to wander... I think about the special recipe Gamma used to make this delicious egg-free cake for my sweet boy of allergies.  I remember how she showed me the recipe to review ingredients, no doubt that this recipe had been around for a long time.  And that makes me think of how Gamma is SO good at keeping things and remembering where they are.  I promise you folks, she can whip out archives of years and years of memories and keepsakes faster than you can locate your can opener in the kitchen.  I wish I had about half of her wits when it comes to remembering details.  And then I wander off in my mind to thinking about how she made me a cake when I first come to visit them in Nashville 10 years ago.  A chocolate cake was on the counter.... for me!  Yum, the sweet taste of chocolate cake with chocolate icing.  That spells L.O.V.E.  Which takes me back to the picture.  

Can you see L.O.V.E. on that boy's face?  

I can.

Happy 5th Birthday Howie!

Pin-the-Car-on-the-Road

Corinne anticipates Howie pulling her gift from the bag.

Red Light!  Green Light!

$25 Budget on a Birthday Party? No way.

I set out to make a 5th Birthday Party without breaking the bank. After several years of spending more money than I'd like to admit, I was determined to fight consumption with some creativity. So when I told my friends, "Yah, my goal is to keep Howie's party under $25," they were like, "Wait, what?!" Some thought I was crazy for even making this a goal (these people are super good about not overspending and don't even see the challenge) and the others thought I was crazy because, really, how was I going to do that?!

Well, we almost made it in under $25.  I missed the mark by $1.  And here is how...

Howie wanted a CAR party.  Thanks goodness since we already have like a million car toys and that would be an easy enough theme to pull stuff for.  Setting up a few areas of the house with cars, cars, cars, the stage was set.

The cost cutting went like this:
1. Resisted buying personalized invitations and instead used my new friend, Evite.
2. Kept the party to 5 friends (a really wise person informed me of the birthday party rule years ago: invite the number of kids equivalent to the age of the child- genius)
3. Party time was 3:00-4:30 pm, thus avoiding any type of real meal purchase and we got away with just serving cake.
4. We used stuff from home to make decorations and games.  See pictures below...the racing flag was created with a clothe napkin and Sharpies, the Pin-the-Car-on-the-Road game was made with construction paper and we did a roll the dice (tissue box) and race to the end game (foam blocks).

So, what did we spend money on?  The list please.

1. Homemade Cake of cake mix, 1 coke (for my egg-free recipe) and frosting ($7)
2. Party Favors of restaurant car and crayon kits (see pix above) which I made from scrap fabric, but bought new cars and crayons to go in them ($7.50)
3. Car themed paper plates for the cake ($3)
4. Small bottled waters ($3)
5. PDF file of car pictures from Etsy, which provided decorations for party favor bags, cake, etc. ($4)
6. Balloons ($1.50)

And was it a success?  Was Howie just as excited as last year when I spent gobs of money on a gymnastics party at the gym?  Let's see, measurable outcomes... hmmm...  

• Jumping up and down was about the same.
• Rapid heart rate beating from his chest at the guests arrived was about the same.
• Mom: "Howie, did you like your car party?"  Howie: "Yah."  Mom: "Did you like it as much as your gymnastics party?"  Howie: "I likeded both."

Case closed.

Things I Don't Want to Forget

Motherhood is a blur. Jen Hatmaker (super good author) describes motherhood as such, "I meant to savor every single moment, but life was harder than I envisioned and time went faster than I planned; my kids’ early years were like five minutes…underwater. These beautiful chaotic years of raising children are infinitely slow, but viciously fleeting. It’s the darndest thing..."

 She's right.

 Everyday, something happens that makes me think, "Remember that Becky. You have to remember that. It was so silly that I think there is no way I'll forget it." And then I forget like 10 minutes later what the funny thing was.

 So I thought I would make a list here as documentation of my kids at this crazy, but fleeting stage of life. So... things I don't want to forget at this moment when Johnny is 22 months and Howie just turned 5 years:

• Johnny calls a zebra a "see yah" and the iPad a "pi pad". 
• Howie just started sleeping with his light off after years of needing it on. He's getting brave. 
• The boys LOVE to turn on music and do the "Paw Paw" which is a dorky dance that involves pointing your fingers to the sky as you pump your arms and shaking your behind. 
• Howie recognized the word "zoo" on his calendar and he is starting to notice more written words in his world. 
• Johnny does the cutest and klutziest jumps.

Congrats Uncle Jason!

Uncle Jason just got word that he passed his Physical Therapist Board Exams. We are so excited! The boys do a celebration dance in his honor. Great Job Uncle Jason!

Happy Fool's Day!

Today we celebrated April Fool's Day with some pranks on Howie. I put blue dye in his morning cup of milk... April Fools!!! Then we put tissues in his shoes so that he couldn't get his feet all the way in... April Fools!!!

Well, then Howie wanted to pull some pranks on others. With my help, he filled those plastic Easter eggs with cherry tomatoes and gave them out to the extended family. He was so tickled (and a little nervous) to be pulling a "fast one" over on them. The best part was when he pointed and yelled, "Happy Fool's Day!" to everyone.

Girl Friends

Johnny continues to enjoy riding around in his jeep. His girl friend (Georgia) gets her car out to go cruising the lawn with him. Unfortunately, neither of them know how to steer so Megan and I spend most of our time keeping them from harm.

Johnny Drives

Sprinkler? In March? In Ohio?

It has been a mild winter, which has turned into a HOT spring. Everyone around here keeps talking about how the pools need to open in April. Our temps have been unseasonably warm in the upper 70's and mid-80's. We bust out the sprinkler for Johnny as Auntie Sarah takes Howie to the Whipty Do. Is it summer? Sure feels like it.

Cardboard Fun

We get a big box on our front porch. It's Johnny's diapers from diapers.com! The diapers are exciting, but more exciting is the box that we can now decorate and make into a house. Daddy cuts out a door and the boys work very hard at coloring the inside and outside. Howie labels it Howie and Johnny so the owners are properly identified.

Aging

Howie just asked me, "Mommy, why some people have cracks in their eyes? Like you have some cracks."
Asking some clarifying questions, I realize he is talking about my wrinkles.
I reply, "It's because I am getting old, I'm not as young as you."
He responds, "Yah, cause you almost a grandma."