Embracing my stay at home mommy status

First--these pictures are in the wrong order--we ended our day with a bath, but I truly don't feel like re-sequencing them so just start at the bottom I guess!!! 

So for some reason today I decided I was going to embrace my status.  It's been a tough one for me, as I really don't love being home--although, I do LOVE my kids!!  I think mainly it's because I feel like being at home means I have to have a perfectly clean house, and my kids should always look nice, I should always be put together, and there should always be something baking in the oven, and freezing in the freezer.  .  .

I don't clean well, and I really don't bake well.  I can cook--but I don't do it a whole lot b/c there's only 1 or 2 ways to heat up Chef Boyardee.  .  .Truly, I don't know what came over me today, but today I made a reasonable to do list--accomplished everything, and still had time to be Mommy!!  It was great!!

It started out with Evan talking to his feet around 6:30--since I wasn't ready to get up yet I turned the monitor down and hoped he would go back to sleep.  .  .this was a wasted effort--so I went ahead and got up and did the usual bottle, GMA, coffee, facebook/email routine!  We had gotten home rather late last night so I decided I would let Camden sleep until 8:30 (knowing full well he was going to be up by 8:05 at the latest), anyway 8:30 would give us plenty of time to get ready for the gym.  8:35 rolls around and for goodness sakes the child was just out like a light (wednesday must've been a long day for him), after a quick survey on facebook I decided I would let him sleep!!!  Once he did get up I asked him what he wanted for breakfast, to which he responded "BISCUITS" (okay, so he's asked for that every day this week and every day he's gotten the same answer "we don't have any"), when I explained once again that we didn't have biscuits he started crying and saying "but I just want biscuits"!  Okay, I felt bad so I found the bisquick an whipped some up (I know, Betty Crocker better WATCH OUT)!!  I decided while I was making my biscuits that it would be a GREAT day to hit the park, and take a picnic!!  So I made our picnic, bathed the dog (it was on the list), cleaned the bathroom (also on the list), and then cleaned the bathroom in the basement (not on the list, so I scored tv time for myself)!!  Then off to the park.  .  .

WOW--we get settled at our picnic table, Camden runs off to play, I pull out the bottle so I can feed Evan (which, I don't know if you've noticed but he doesn't miss many meals so if you pull the bottle out you better be good and ready to feed him--SERIOUSLY), and here comes Camden "Mommy--I need to find a tree, I have to go potty.  .  ."REALLY??  I explain that we will have to wait until Evan is done eating to walk back up to the bathrooms and in the future it would be good if he could potty before we get to the playground.  .  .

After we potty we come down and Camden wants to eat, so I pull everything out and we eat, I put it all back away and off he goes.  .  .as he's playing Jason calls--I literally get the phone to my ear when Camden says "Mommy (take a wild guess)--I need to go poo-poo" REALLY??  SERIOUSLY??  IN THE PUBLIC RESTROOM?  GREAT.  .   .

So--off we go to the bathroom AGAIN so Camden can do his business.  Shew--that was over--so far we've been at the playground for 50 minutes and Camden has gone down the slide ONCE, gone potty TWICE, and eaten 1/2 of his PB&J.  Seems like a wasted trip really--however, when we got back down to the playground another mommy had shown up with her kids and Camden was just in heaven!  I think we left around 2:30 or so, all in all a good adventure for us!

On to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for sausage balls--I decided since I was going to make them I would make a lot of them and FREEZE some for future use! :)

It is Teacher Appreciation week at school so we were in charge of bringing breakfast food, and I have my family support meeting Sunday so I can take them then as well--PLUS Camden loves sausage balls!!  So I decided while I was cooking (or rolling rather) that it would be good for Camden to play with play-doh (this way we could continue our togetherness).  This actually turned out to be a bit of a mistake b/c sausage hands can't play (or help) with play-doh.  .  .oh well, it kept him from in front of the tv for a while!  After all this was done, we watered flowers (again, very out of character for me), took baths, ate dinner, read stories and off to bed.  .  .I'm pretty sure this is was the kind of day God intended for me to have!!  I think he wants me to have more like this!!  I'm going to try.  .  .

Sharing a tub!  Camden has things that change the water color, so don't worry no one is bleeding!

At the bottom of a VERY big slide!

See I told you it was a big slide!

Evan can sit up--assisted of course!

Funny story, I was on the phone with mom and Camden was waiting on me in the bathroom, apparently I kept him waiting too long b/c when I came into check on him he was making a toilet paper fort!  He's so creative.  .  .

mmmmm.  .  .sweet potatoes!!

CATCH UP CATCH UP!!

There is nothing sweeter than building sand castles with Aunt Misty

Evan's first taste of chocolate pudding

My little men!

mmmm....that's the biggest "small scoop" I've ever seen!

Sorry I've been a little behind in posting lately! After we had our real spring break from school--we all packed up and headed to the beach! Camden really enjoyed himself this trip! He LOVED the sand (and showering with Aunt Misty "outside"), and seemed a lot less intimidated by the water! I can't wait for Jason to come home so he can enjoy the beach with him! I'm not a big "play in the ocean" person, but I did try to put aside my fears of that salty water for Camden! Evan enjoyed the beach about as much as I figured he would--it's a little cold and windy for an infant, but we had a couple of pretty calm days out there so he could go and enjoy it with us!

When we made it back home we hit the ground running!! School started that Monday and then we had our first T-ball practice, Journey class, and then we our first 2 t-ball games!! Camden enjoys t-ball, but I"m not sure he grasps the concept that he is playing a sport. . .he basically just sort of stand in the field and watches the ball roll by--then he asks when is it time for a snack, and if he already won then why are we still playing? :) I didn't expect much from 3 year old team sports, I just wanted to have him involved in some activities to help his time without daddy pass quicker!! It's actually quite comical to watch them all out there! We have 6 kids on our team, and I'd say about 2 of them are pretty good! We'll just pretend they are the "older" 3 year olds!! HAHA!!  

We will be starting swim lessons soon!! 

PICTURES FROM SPRING BREAK

MAYFIELD DAIRY

JUMPZONE

BOWLING

First Official Spring Break!

So--we are doing things a little backwards with Spring Break this year!!  Camden's Spring Break was actually this past week, but we are headed to the beach tomorrow for the week!!  Leave it to us!!  Anyways, we actually had a very nice week of leisure!  For the first time EVER Camden was sleeping until 9-9:30, and actually kept himself occupied with things and ate all food placed in front of him!  UNTIL TODAY!!  Today was packing day--this whole pack up everyone and drive them to the beach by yourself thing is a little daunting!!  Needless to say, I was very stressed out today about getting it all done, so I called on my trusty babysitter--TV (I know, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!).  You will all be glad to know we are pretty much packed and ready to go--and I (unlike my husband) have already packed the truck!  He likes to wait until the last minute!  The plan is to get up and go, but we'll see how that goes!!

Let's talk about what we did this week--because it was actually a pretty fun-filled week for Camden & myself (except, of course, for today)!!

DAY1--MOMMY IS OFF, CAMDEN IS WITH NANA & MOPA IN PTC

DAY2--BOWLING WITH THE LUMPPS!!

Camden actually did okay--I mean, he can't really throw the ball well and pretty much it got stuck in the middle of the lane or took about 5 minutes to get to the pins--but he really enjoyed himself!  He liked doing it ALL BY HIMSELF!  Afterwards we headed over to Applebee's and had dinner.  All in all a nice way to end a rather cold Spring Break day--Camden had spent much of it in bed because of his allergies!

DAY3--JUMPZONE & TACO NIGHT WITH THE RITTENGERS!!

Family fun for all!!  Ella and Evan played in the VERY dirty floor, but didn't seem to mind!  Camden and Molly bounced until their little legs were just too tired to go on.  .  .okay, maybe Gina and I were just ready to go home, and the big kids were starting to take over!  Do you know I about went psycho mommy on this kid--he was messing with Camden!  He told me that he didn't want to hurt him but Camden made him very ANGRY!  REALLY DUDE--HE'S 3.5?!!!  That was really the only incident and I made it out of there without disciplining someone else's child!  After that we went for haircut and errands and then headed over to the Rittengers house for tacos!  Yum yum!  The day ended when Molly came upstairs crying saying she was ready for bed--poor kiddo, they were really just so tired!  Cracked me up though!!

DAY4--MAYFIELD DAIRY WITH THE HALLS!!

Kasey had suggested a couple of weeks ago that I take Camden to Mayfield Dairy for something to do over Spring Break!  So I called Tiffany, who lives about 3 seconds from there, and asked if she wanted to join!  Her little girl Emily will be 3 in June.  So off we went to the dairy, and we had absolutely NO idea what to expect--other than some ice cream!  First thing we saw when we got there was this BIG HUGE COW--Camden let us know that he liked the cow from where he was standing (I believe his words were "I like that cow from right here, but I don't like it over there")!  Emily, on the other hand, saw the cow and immediately wanted to run over to it!!!  (not a real cow, just a big statue thingie) Once we let the kids know that whoever wanted to go see the cow would be able to AFTER the tour would be able to we headed on in!  This place was PACKED--I mean PACKED!!  They conveniently have you wait for the tour in a lovely gift shop that sells any number of things--including TSHIRTS, and Ice Cream!  Since we knew the kids would never finish their ice cream before the 2 pm tour we decided to get shirts instead (they were 50% off)!  After we shopped we sat down for the video and to get our hair nets adjusted--a lovely look for everyone!! Even Evan wore one!!  Once the tour was over we got our ice cream and headed out to the cow--which, by now, Camden was no longer afraid of!  The kids had a great time, and it's truly a lovely way to spend an afternoon!  Oh--and it was free (except the tshirts and ice cream!)

That was our Spring Break in a nutshell!!  Now we are off to the beach for Aunt Misty's spring break!  She is student teaching so she had to go when her school goes instead of her university!  That means she will be spending Spring Break with the only person she could get--LUCKY HER! :)  She'll never know what hit her!!

Y'all please remember Jason's birthday is Sunday!!  He is able to call home a good bit and I know he just misses everyone so much!  He sends his love and says thank you for all of the great packages he's been getting!!  WE LOVE YOU BABY!!  Hope you have a good one!

p.s. I promise to post some pics (for those of you who aren't on facebook :) when I get back! it takes a while on here and it's late--bedtime for sure!

More of Camden's Comical Comments!

All night after Camden came back from his grandparents he kept calling me "baby" --like a term of endearment.  .  .I'll be right back, okay baby?  (I guess he hears daddy say it enough)

One night Camden wanted to sit in the dining room for dinner (we have a very casual dining room), so I agreed.  He looked at the picture of Jason in his navy uniform that sits in there and says--"Hey, you get down here and sit with us"--then he looked at me and laughed.  This led into the discussion about where daddy was and who he was doing work for:

"Who is the Navy?"

"A branch of our military (yes, I know it's over his head, but sometimes you don't have a choice) made up of men and women who go out and protect our country"

after some thought--"that is SO nice of them--my daddy is SO nice"

Dinner just the 2 of us at Frontera, we've eaten and I reach down to check for a quarter for the gumball machine--I realize that I have left my wallet at home.  .  .I freaked out, and told Camden 'Oh no--Mommy doesn't have any money'- who else was I going to tell??  He yells--it's okay mommy, I'm sure some of these people have money for us!!  Then the waiter comes by to see if I need a refill and Camden (hands up in the air) says NO--WE DON'T NEED THAT, WE JUST NEED SOME MONEY!  --nice.  .  .

Sees a little boy in the hospital on TV--Mommy, why is he in the hospital?  Is he sick, or is he born?

The other night Camden found a button--he asked what it was and I told him it was trash, we needed to throw it away--he immediately started crying and said "No Mommy--it's a treasure"

bless his heart, he truly comes by it honestly--I collected everything!  I still have a hard time throwing away tags and spare buttons off of my clothes!

The newest thing he's started: What can I have to eat Mommy, talk to me about it, tell me what can I have?

Tonight as I was putting him to bed he told me after I read his story he wanted me to tell him a secret(he whispered the secret party).  .  .Okay--do you know what a secret is?  "NO" it's something you don't want anyone else to know.  So after his story I whispered something in his ear (truly I don't remember what it was), and then I told him I wanted a secret.  He sat up and thought really hard and then whispered (in tune mind you): "It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Come inside it's fun inside" "k-e-y M-o-u-s-e" then laid back down!!  haha!!