Girls! Girls! Girls!

they're coming! the sisters are coming! this weekend is our bi-annual family reunion! once again, only the girls can make it, but hey at least they can! i'm way excited to see them and all their kids! my kids know that their cousins are coming, but they keep getting confused as to which cousins they are. oh, well, maybe they will remember them better now.

Who Wants a Clean House?!

have you seen this show on the style network called "clean house"? niecy nash hosts and she helps people get rid of their foolishness so they can enjoy their homes better. not that my house is anywhere near as cluttered as the houses on the show, but my bedroom was getting pretty close. i've been watching the show a lot lately and it's really helped me get into the mood to clear out so much stuff. mostly clothes, but i also got rid of some of the kids' toys and books. we had a yard sale and whatever didn't sell went to a local thrift store. my closet was filled with clothes that needed to be washed and i had boxes of baby girl clothes that i was gonna use for mary, but of course didn't get used. a lot of those went to my new niece taygan. anyway, i went through all the clothes and anything that didn't fit anymore or that we didn't wear anymore, even if they still fit, went to the thrift store. i'm still putting away all the stuff that we kept, but it's really not that bad. it'll be so nice to have more organization. now, if only i could just keep it this way...

Really? I Never Knew That!

last night derek wanted to have a game night. we had people over for dinner and then some of us played trivial pursuit. that was fun. then more people left and the truly diehard gamers played taboo. oh, yes. it was great. my sister and my sister in law and one niece were on a team and they were called "the winners". i was on a team with a niece and nephew and we were called "the chocolate frogs". the winners won with 54 points while we had only 46. the best part of the game was my 11 yr old niece who taught us that a stagger is a weapon used in the board game clue, that owls are furry, and that jukeboxes have been around since the 1700's. oh, yes, it was a good time for all.

Awesome!

last night i was at my mom's house. me and her and my sister and her daughter were playing boggle. let's rephrase that: mom, my sister, her daughter, and i were playing boggle. we had the dictionary out for challenges. emmy was sitting on my lap and she was flipping through the pages and looking at the pictures. she would ask me what the pictures were of and get excited if she recognized them without asking. she's already reading the dictionary! i'm so proud!

The Children

so i was reading another woman's blog and she talked about how she changed into THAT mom. you know the one. she hovers over her children at the playground and yells at all the kids. anyway, it got me thinking. how have i changed? when i'm at home with my children and it's just the three of us i'm a lot different than when i'm with people. my children get yelled at and spanked at my house. no, i'm not abusing them, but i do lose my temper with them more if no one is around. yelling happens a lot, but i try to not spank them. at least i only do it maybe once a day and only use my open hand. my kids know when i've hit my limit. andrew will smile at me and tell me that he still loves me. that almost always melts my heart. emmy, who is not quite as articulate in these situations, just gives me a hug. that also gets me. i never thought that i would be an angry mom. why? because i knew absolutely everything about raising children. i was going to be the perfect mom whose children were darling little angels because i was prepared. i couldn't understand why some parents couldn't control their kids. well, for being so cocky i was awared my son andrew. he's so full of energy and he can be very naughty. at my house he has limits in what he can get into. i have locks on door and things like that. when we are in public i really just have to let him loose. otherwise i will lose it. now i don't wonder why people don't controll their children. they can't. at least to a certain point. children have their own personalities. they aren't just what we make them. i wonder what my kids will be like when they are older. can you believe that i'm actually looking forward to when they are older? i just know that someday i'll look back and laugh at how delusional i once was.