Spring Break Day 3

Today was not a good one. 

It took us until noon to get out the door, and we'd only been in the van for 10 minutes when someone got sick snd threw up all over the backseat. Vomit everywhere. Hair, car seats, van upholstery, in the cup holders, you name it. So gross.  We turned around and headed home and the 3 non-sick children protested loudly. 

The upstairs bedroom was decorated in puke while I scrubbed the van upholstery and removed car seat covers (whyyyyy??!) and I spent the afternoon laundering and washing bedding, clothing, carpet, and the bathroom. It was pretty awful. 

I loathe cleaning vomit.

We were supposed to head up to Kansas City agree Aaron gets home from work tonight, and have dinner at Trex then hit the hotel pool. A supercell thunderstorm just covered the sky and with the clouds and Q's stomach pouring down upon us, my much anticipated temple trip has been postponed.  There are tornadoes touching town all over, and there's no way we're going to hit the road tonight. 

I have a pretty bad attitude about this spring break. 

I really need to get over it.  

Being happy in general is a very real challenge for me right now.  It's possible, but it takes a great deal of effort. Most days I just don't feel like myself, and I definitely don't feel like this weak, overtired body with never enough energy is mine. I'm doing everything I can to overcome this challenge, but something simple like throw up (which ordinarily shouldn't be that big of a deal) just pushes me over the edge and makes me feel like my load is too heavy to bear.  I realize this sounds totally ridiculous to even say, because I have a wonderful life and any "problems" I'm facing are relatively small. I have nothing to complain about, but I just don't feel like myself.  I do not recognize the person I am, inside or outside, and I don't really like her. I can't stand pessimists, complainers, or an ungrateful attitude, and I'm filled with a fat dark cloud of all of these emotions right now.  When did I become such a yeller? A pessimist?  A complainer?  A party pooper?  It is a struggle every day to find joy in things that ordinarily make me happy, and on days like today, when I come up short, the efforts I did make are devalued and futile and a new layer of failure adheres itself to the skin on the grouchy mother I see in the mirror. I make a point to celebrate the successes and joyful moments, because on most days, they are real work for me. A good day or moment is a win, and overcoming the struggle makes any win a real win. 

I guess I should edit this post. I don't have a bad attitude about spring break. I have a bad attitude about my bad attitude. I don't like this challenge. Today was horrible and I feel horrible for not being able to fix it and make the horrible go away. I had a pity party instead. 

Tomorrow's a new day. Hopefully one that involves less illnes, more smiles, and weather good enough to get us to Kansas City. 

The hail storm set us back a day, but it was pretty cool. 

Those aren't white rocks...they're giagantic balls of ice! It looked like golf balls were flying off our roof! 

Spring Break Day 2

We were expecting some rain, but woke up to beautiful sunshine and some wind instead. Good day to fly a kite! 

I picked a $5 Little Caesar's pizza and we tagged along with friends for a play date at a new-to-us school playground. I brought a kite and the wind and kids kept it in use for an hour. 

When we got home, the boys and Sloane napped and I taught Reese and Quincy how to make circa 1990's style embroidery floss friendship bracelets. 

 

I was originally a little disappointed when we decided to have a "staycation", this year. I'm really enjoying all the one on one time I've had with each of my children. School, homework, and extra curricular  activities keep us really busy and I've enjoyed the open calendar and time to just be together.  

For dinner, I pulled out some pork from the freezer, thinking it was carnitas, but upon hearing through I realized it was bbq pulled pork, which just didn't sound good for some reason. The reason is that I was too hungry and at that point, nothing sounded good anymore. 

I suggested a spontaneous date and picked up a sitter.  

Through a serious of hilarious circumstances, miscommunication, bad luck, and a dose of indecisiveness, we went into 2 restaurants, drove halfway to Springdale and made 2 U-turns before sitting down for dinner at Outback at 8pm.  This is how I know Aaron and I are perfectly matched. We just rolled with it and had a great night.  I'm so lucky to have him. 

Spring Break 2015 Day 1

Spring Break is here! 

Spring = babies, which I have all the heart eyes for, so I packed up my own spring chickies and we spent the day Ar the wild wilderness drive thru safari in Gentry, hoping to see some baby animals. 

There were kangaroos with little joeys peeking out of pouches, baby goats, baby camels, and many "cow babies" as Corbin used to say, and the cutest baby pigs I've ever seen. I wanted to keep them! 

This pregnant Zebra was awesome because you could see her baby stretching and moving around from the outside and the stripes looked wiggly. 

We were fortunate to run into several friends there and ate our picnic lunch with the Millers, Hatches both Smallwoods, and Loden clans. 

"hey mikemikemikemikemike! Guess what day it is? Hump DAY!"

Reese's favorite was the cougar, who came out of a very tiny cave hole.

It was a beautiful day. We stopped at the Little Debbie's Snack Outlet and loaded up on junk food galore on the way home. 

 

Free Range Parenting

Turns out I don't just have mastitis, I have influenza b as well. Garbage. 

Soren is loving it. 

Good to the Last Drop

When did this kid become so independent?  Lately, he just quietly helps himself to whatever he needs.

The other day, he walked by with a butter knife and said, "Don't worry, Mom, I just fixing.....uh...something. Stay there."

"I just like to smile. Smiling's my favorite."

Mr. Saunchy Gets a Haircut

I gave Aaron a haircut last night and little red was very interested in what was happening, so I put him in a booster and gave him a haircut, too. 

He surprisingly held pretty still for the clippers and I was able to clean up all the long unruly and uneven baby hair that was forming the "party in the back" mullet.  Most of his curls went with the length, but he still looks better than before.  He also looks older, which I expected since that always happens with a first cut, but is heartbreaking nonetheless.