You may now kiss the Bride

I got married! What have you been up to?

What’s Love?

Whats Love got to do with it, Got to do with it?…  What is Love? Baby don’t hurt me, Don’t hurt me no more… As long as you Love me. 

Thank you Tina Turner, Night at the Roxbury and Justin Beiber.. (did I really just THANK the Beibs?!)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about Love. Not because tomorrow is Valentines Day, but it just seems to have been popping up lately.

I LOVE my best friend. I LOVE my morning coffee. I LOVE my car. I LOVE my child. Even though I feel LOVE for all of these, It isn’t all the same Love. Love isn’t simple. Love is expressed in so many ways.

I have been listening to a book on tape (great for my morning and evening commutes!) by Bob Goff. It is titled  Love Does. The story that I heard this morning was about a young man named Ryan who was head over heels in Love with his girlfriend. He was so crazy in Love that he asked a complete stranger if he could use his backyard as the backdrop for his wedding proposal. The stranger recognized this Crazy Love and agreed. Ryan then asked if he and his girlfriend could use their deck for dinner before he proposed. The stranger agreed. In the end, the stranger had let Ryan use his deck for dinner and dancing and took the young couple out on his boat for an evening sail. The Love that Ryan had and the excitement that took over him had taken this stranger by storm. The story ends with Ryan’s proposal on the stranger’s boat on a beautiful starry night.. topped off with water cannons, that the stranger had set up to add to the magic and excitement of the evening. The stranger was Bob Goff. In this story he explains how Ryan’s, almost idiotic, Crazy Love was contagious, and he was so happy to say ‘Yes’ to Ryan’s requests. Yes, I teared up a bit in the car, I am a SUCKER for stories like this! Oh, By the way, Ryan’s girlfriend said ‘Yes’ 🙂

Bob says ‘Love is never stationary’. It isn’t something that just sits there, waiting. It’s an active, mental, emotional, physical thing. You have to do something with it, for it. Saying ‘I love you’ or that you Love something is almost an empty act. Doing something for Love is what proves your point. Doing something every time isn’t always necessary. (I know I don’t need a dozen roses every time I hear “I Love you”)

Love is so strong. It is so powerful. I don’t fully know it. I’m sure lots of people don’t understand it.

As a mother, I have learned to Love deeply. The Love I have for my child is a greater Love than I could ever imagine. As I tuck him in and kiss him goodnight, I tell him “I love you”. And the response I get is “Love you too, mom!” Just hearing that melts my heart. I can’t even explain to him how my heart hurts from all the Love I have for him.  

I enjoying Loving. I enjoy being Loved. I look forwards to learning how to Love more. 

In conclusion, I would LOVE to have another cup of coffee 🙂

“In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does” -Bob Goff

Aaaaand I’m back!

After what seems like a bajillion years, I am finally back! I wish I could say that I have been out of the country traveling and seeing the sights, or feeding baby pandas, or surfing with dolphins or anything remotely exciting or exotic!

I have actually just been lazy 🙂
The weather has finally started to look like summer out here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and we have been enjoying it!
Instead of writing a post about each event or activity we have been getting ourselves into, I’ll share some brief deets here..

A girlfriend and I took the kids bowling! Watching 4 year olds try to roll the 7 pound ball down the lane is hilarious! Although it took the ball a good 2 minutes to get from Dylan’s hands to the pins, he had a great time! And his score was actually better than mine in the end, with bumpers!! Maybe I should take lessons from him..

I got some new ink! ”Amazing” to remind myself that I am amazing and strong and I can do whatever I put my mind to! It’s also a promise to myself to stay amazing!

Someone lost a tooth! Yes he is too young for his teeth to be coming out on their own.. there was an intense wrestling match between Dylan and his uncle, and uncle’s foot and Dylan’s mouth did not get along.

But the tooth fairy came! Shoes On the Wrong Feet gave me a great idea in one of her past posts about the ToothFairy, So I took that concept and made it my own! Dylan got a note from the ToothFairy and we discussed in great length about what the ToothFairy looks like (purple wings, green shoes, and a gold crown) and which cloud in the sky she lives on.

Dylan got a hair cut! And from the picture below.. you can tell it was much-needed!!

We spent a week at my grandparents house at Lake Chelan in Eastern Washington. Sun, pool, sun, hot tub, pool, sun, and smiles 🙂 Dylan ‘swam’ by himself! With the assistance of a life jacket, he wiggled his way back and forth across the pool yelling “Watch this!”

4th of July! We BBQ’d at a friend’s house. Lots of kids running up and down the street while the parents lined the sidewalks in their camping chairs. The firework show was fun! The guys all had a blast out doing each other’s fireworks!

My cousin got married! And I had the amazing honor to stand beside her at the altar as one of her bridesmaids! This particular cousin and I are only 2 months apart, and we have grown up together our entire life. It was so wonderful to be able to be a part of her special day!

Dylan and my brothers after the ceremony. Such handsome fellas!

Happy Friday to all! Hope your weekend will be filled with happiness and sunshine!

What I learned from my kid..

There are a few things that I have learned from Dylan in 4 1/2 years..

• If you change their diaper, they will poop as soon as you walk away
• If you clean up the toys, there will be twice as many toys on the floor the next time you come into the room
• As soon as they take a bath, they will want to eat spaghetti
• As soon as they are in bed, they want a snack

My mom is probably laughing right now and chanting “I told you so!

     Here are a few things my mom learned from me.. in 18 years..

• If you buy something new; whether it be a car or a couch, I will puke on it (ha ha)
• Put sunscreen on the kid! 😉
• Lipstick does not come out off couch cushions
• When adult says “NO”, wild teenager hears “YES” (ha ha ha)

In the end, valuable lessons are learned, tears are shed, probably by both mom and child, and hugs are given.

Dylan has taught me some of the most important lessons in my life (He is a pretty smart 4-year-old)

• Love is unconditional I still get hugs and kisses and cuddled after his timeout
• Dinosaurs buried themselves in the dirt
• Love comes in all forms “Mom, I got something for you cause I love you. It was in my nose”
• Sometimes sleeping with a stuffed animal makes you feel better
• Saying sorry takes a lot of effort, but has a huge effect
• No one is going to love you more than your child does

Pretty good so far..  I am looking forwards to the many more years of lessons (or should I be worried?)

 I’d like to end by saying “Sorry for my teenage years, mom! I love you!” 🙂

Children think they know.. but they have noooo idea!

Mommy, I’ll be your boyfriend

Dylan asked me why I was sad

“Cause Rob isn’t my boyfriend anymore”

A few minutes later Dylan peers around the corner

“Mommy? I’ll be your boyfriend”

My heart melted into a big sloppy puddle

And the Versatile Blogger Award goes to….

Momknowsbetter!!

 *and the crowd goes wiiillld! ahhhhhhhhhwhhhhhooooooooo*

I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by the interesting and oh so entertaining Expert of None !

So here’s the dealio, once you are nominated, you have been awarded the award! YIPPEE!

Then, you are supposed to thank the person who gave you this award.

THANK YOU EXPERT OF NONE!

Include a link to their blog.. kinda like this… CLICK ME! <– seriously.. check out her site!

Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.

I think I am following 15 blogs..

Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.

Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Which I will post here…

1. I am super clumsy; I was given the nickname Bambi, apparently I resemble a baby deer taking his first steps at times
2. I am a chocoholic, I seriously think I would die if I didn’t have something chocolate everyday. This runs in my family. Its tragic!
3. I love to roll down the windows in the car and sing country music at the top of my lungs, especially on the freeway, love all the looks I get from passing cars. They are just jealous
4. I’m not a good singer. Not one bit.
5. I secretly want to be a mascot for a sports team.. oops secrets out!
6. I love cartoons, more than adult TV.
7. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and I’m 99.999% sure I won’t be leaving the Seattle area ANY time soon! You can’t make me leave!

That was fun 🙂

Versatile Blogger Award!

TADA!

Now for my 15 victims nominees…. I just did a drumroll on my laptop for the dramatic effect.. Im sorry you were not able to witness it..

1. raisingkidswithlove– for some awesome parenting advice, tidbits, and humor!
2. Bucket List Publications – for giving me ideas for my Bucket list!
3. The J85 – Showing that single mama support!
4. The Ordinary Adventures of Javier Antonio – Im learning lots about Zombies!
5. Raising a Realist -Love seeing parenting through a father’s eyes!
6. Shoes on the Wrong Feet– for sharing your stories.. sons are the best 🙂
7. iGameMom – kids and their electronics these days…
8. Life Simplified – for humor in parenting and project ideas!
9. Who or What Was That? -for giving me something to look forwards to!
10. Looking for the Sweet Spot -for inspiration and humor!
11. suzyplatt – for the cute projects and pictures!
12. celticfamilyfun SD misses you! 🙂
13. Being the Best Dad -love seeing parenting through a father’s eyes!
14. Godly & Crafty – Beautiful projects!
15. Daughter of the Moon – for such great information and interesting topics!

Ahhhh that was hard!! Not really, I just like to complain.

So I can’t help but do a little happy hand clapping dance. Today was a good day for Momknowsbetter! 10 followers 😛 I got my 50th LIKE, aaaaaand I was nominated for this award!

Does anyone else’s brain start singing songs as background music for happy moments?? My brain just started singing “I can see clearly now the rain is gone.. Its gonna be a bright, bright, bright, bright sun shiney day!” Im thinking this is a good sign.

 

CONGRATULATIONS!

I would just like to start my day by giving myself a large hug and a firm pat on the back. I have 10 followers!!!

I know its not ALOT.. But im pretty excited that I have strangers who are interested.. or at least bored enough, to read what I have to say.

So, Thank you. And if you are reading this and are NOT one of my 10 strangers who I feel sooooo close to, please, click Follow and become a friendly stranger who I think is super interested in what I have to say. If you are one of my 10 strangers, thumbs up to you!

Tell me more

A few things that Dylan has said lately that make me smile:

Mom, did you know, I was born to be wild?

I need more time. So many minutes that you can’t even point it out!

Mom? Have you ever been eaten by a shark?

Does Mom really know better?

Dylan’s bedtime story last night was a very large book called ‘Dinosaurs’. However he changed the name to ‘Prehistoric Times’. It is most likely meant  for kids at a 2nd or 3rd grade reading level, even though most of the dinosaur names are SUPER hard to pronounce!

• Adeopapposaurus
• Bothriospondylus                                        AHH SERIOUSLY?!?  
• Pycnonemosaurus
• Micropachycephalosaurus

Since Dylan can’t read yet, he didn’t know that I was COMPLETELY butchering the names. I think I even made up a few of them because I was too lazy to sound them out.

So this book had a few ‘chapters’ like.. The Mesozoic Period, Carnivores, The Jurassic Period, Fossils..  Each chapter has a brief 1-3 paragraph explanation of that topic, and then pictures of examples; types of dinosaur eggs, predators, which animal today is most like a dinosaur, with little captions under each one.

Dylan took it upon himself, being the super intelligent Paleontologist that he is (and I really only know what a Paleontologist is because of Ross from FRIENDS!), to correct me when I was reading. Who cares if I butchered the names of the dinosaurs, it was WAY more important that I know the TRUTH about how fossils are made. “The dinosaur stands really still and his friends bury him in the sand or in the dirt walls, and then humans dig up his bones hundreds of years later” Interesting… Or what baby dinosaurs are called. “That one is called a leopard dinosaur because when it comes out of the egg it has spots like a leopard.” Makes sense..

After a few pages of being corrected, I just asked Dylan about everything instead. He did recognize the Little Foot, Petre, Ducky, and Sara dinosaurs 🙂

This is another example of the wild and crazy imagination of the mysterious child. I don’t mind hearing him tell me “You’re wrong mooooom.” And yes he draws out the moooooooooom for dramatic emphasis.

Conclusion: Mom knows nothing about dinosaurs 😉

 

Best Mother’s Day gift?

Just alittle over 2 weeks away.. Mother’s Day is THE most important holiday. Right moms?! 😉

I always try to out-do my siblings with gifts for mom.. afterall, I am her favorite and give the best gifts, Right mom!?

I started my Mother’s Day shopping alittle early, gotta make sure I also out-do my last year’s gift. Cause Mom deserves better each year, cause just like wine, she gets better with time. (Im your favorite, right??)

I think I did a pretty dang good job this year. We shall see come May 13th! Im very excited for my ‘made in preschool’ gift from Dylan! He is soo proud of his projects and I love seeing his proud little smirk!

If your reading this, Id LOVE to hear from you! 🙂

Would you rather be pampered and waited on or have precious ME time?

What was your Best/Worst Mother’s Day gift? 

For the men- What have you given your mom/wife that she won’t let you forget? Good or bad.