Smartie Pants

I think Hadyn is getting too smart for us. Well, at least when she's a teenager, she'll be too smart for us. Last night Hunter was so excited for Speed Racer - The Next Generation to come on Nicktoons Network. It started and all of a sudden, Missy Bit decided to stop her playing and come stand right in front of the TV. I asked her to move and she did...three steps forward - right towards the TV. Okay, okay, babe, my bad, I meant move away from the TV. Yeah, well, she did that too...three more steps...right back to where she started - still in front of the TV but AWAY from it.

Did I mention she is 20 months old.

Oh, crap. We're in for it aren't we.

Fireworks!

Hunter and I have been talking and reading about why we have an Independence Day on July 4th and why we celebrate with fireworks. We talk about the soldiers that fought for our freedom (and the ones that still are - that one is thanks to Auntie Jo's website www.supportingourheroes.com and the letters from the Marines posted there). But mostly we've been talking about the fireworks.

Hunter is, well, I'm not sure how to describe it other than scared to bloody death of fire and loud noises - and fireworks. So every year for Independence Day and any special occasion where there might be any firework displays, we have either had to leave early or try to talk a panicked, screaming little boy down from his hysteria. For 7 years we've done this.

Last night we went to Scott's mom's house and walked down to the golf course from her house to watch the fireworks display at the country club there. Hunter was ready. He was prepared. He had himself convinced that everything would be fine...until he saw the sparkler.

Panic ensued and he started screaming like - well, like people scream on horror films with a maniacal monster chasing after them. I got down on my knees in front of him and kept calmly telling him to "look at Mommy, look at Mommy, Hunter where is Mommy, look at Mommy." I got him to look at me and the screaming stopped and his breathing started returning to somewhat normal. I explained to him that the sparkler was being held by a little child and it was safe - no damage to Hunter or to the child. Once he calmed down and looked at it again, he was okay with it. Then sparkler kid's dad came over to offer us some sparklers. We hurriedly, but polietly shooshed him away before panic started again.

When the display started, it was much closer to us than in previous years so Scott and I just gave each other an "oh boy" look before looking over at the headphoned Hunter actually enjoying the show. Yup, he was enjoying the show. We talked about the colors and the "pictures" in the sky (an angry sun, Saturn, a star, among other things Hunter saw in them) for around 35 minutes before the show was over and we walked back to Grandma's house. Oh yeah, Hadyn was tired but she was enthralled by the show and kept repeating "booom".

So maybe now we can actually watch displays in the future without the trauma. Yea!!!

Really, THAT Old?

Okay, so I'm one of these weirdo people who (1) thinks everyone I'm around is the same age I am, and (2) I think I'm still pretty young. When I get around people who really are my age and they're all moaning and groaning about getting older and they have kids graduating high school or college, I can't help but think, man, you really are old. But me, nah. I'm not old. I have two small children. God doesn't give those to people who are old, right?

Well, today I found out, I must be REALLY old.

I was at my Stroller Strides class this morning, doing my best to keep up with the instructor and keeping up with all the other moms. When we stopped at our last station to do some ab work, one of the moms made a comment to Hadyn about her little "jellies" shoes. She started to reminisce about her childhood "jelly" shoe collection and then other moms joined in. I was laying on my back thinking, "I just don't remember having any jellies when I was little", when one mom said, "yeah, everything from the 80's are coming back."

So, I opened my big mouth. "80's?" I said, "I was in high school in the 80's." Which explained to me why I didn't have any jellies when I was "little". The other moms, just kinda looked at me and then one announced she was born in 1980. Oh well. So, I told of my "thing" of thinking that everyone is the same age. Big mistake.

The conversation then turned to the "encouraging" - 'oh, but age is just a state of mind', and 'you're only as old as you think you are' and of course, the last nail in the coffin, "at least you are out here doing something."

WHAT?!? Um, okay. I guess I should be glad I'm "out here doing something" as opposed to sitting at home in my lazy boy recliner watching soap operas at my ripe old age of 40.

Man, did I think 40 was that old when I was in my 20's? Yeah, probably so. Oh well. I better go rest my weary bones before they just break on me. Now, where's my walker?

Freakin' Wildlife

I grew up in the country - well, to me it was country. It was in the middle of the Texas Panhandle, very small town, outside the city limits, so, it was country. Anyway, I heard all sorts of animal life around me: dogs, cats, birds, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, coyotes, etc. I appreciate the wild - and not so wild -life. However, it's starting to bug me.

Every morning around 6AM, we are awakened not by an alarm clock, children, or even a city rooster, but by a lonely Cardinal that has claimed our cul-de-sac area as home. He gets in our backyard and calls out for a mate. Man, I'm really thinking of trying to buy a lady Cardinal somewhere and putting her back there just to shush him up! Where can I buy one? I don't know, maybe he has a mate somewhere and he's just proclaiming that fact out loud every morning. I think we know some guys like him.

Then there's the freakin' little bunnies. I really like bunny rabbits. They are so cute with their little bitty ears standing up and their little bitty cotton puff tails. Oh, yeah, they are cute. But doggonnit, they are eating my new flowers I just planted. I saw on the internet that you could put mothballs around the flower garden and the bunnies will stay away. Well, I try just about anything right now. My flower bed looks now like a hail storm hit it (moth balls and eaten up flowers). Now, if I can keep MY wildlife (kids) out of the marshmallow looking mothballs and deter the cute little bunnies elsewhere, I guess I'll be doing good.

I don't guess I'll have to worry about moths by the door for a while, either.

Freakin' wildlife.

That Baby

I went to Hunter's school this afternoon to help with a class project. Scott had told me to bring Hunter home with me - rather than him ride the bus later - when I was done and he would take him to see "Speed Racer", which Hunter has been very anxious to see. We finished up the project around 2:40 so I checked him out of school and we left for home. I let him call Dad to tell him we were on our way and to let Daddy tell him about going to the movie.

Scott and I had already decided that it would be too long a movie to take Hadyn with us, so I told Hunter that it would just be Daddy and him going to the movie and I would stay home with Lil' Bit. Hunter was okay with that - he just wanted to go - but he sat quietly for a second and then said, "we used to go places all the time as a family, now we have 'that baby' and it's always just me and Daddy going." I laughed and agreed with him. Yeah, since we got "that baby", we don't always go and do as a family like we had gotten accustomed to doing. I did tell him that it wouldn't be too much longer before she would be old enough and more importantly, well behaved enough to go to the movies and other things like that and then we'd all go as a family again.

Hunter and I laughed together as we talked about "that baby" and what a feisty, ornery, hurricane of a little stinker she is, but wow! do we love her or what?! We couldn't imagine being without her. She is sweet and precious, smart and lively, happy and healthy, big and beautiful! Her big brother loves her so much and she adores him. She may be "that baby", but he's glad she's OUR baby!!!

Mother's Day

It is Mother's Day, 2008. I got some good cuddles this morning from Hunter and then Hadyn woke up so happy and smiley and saying "Mommyyyyy" (she puts the accent on the last syllable - so cute). Yeah, a great start to a wonderful day. But it's the next thing that just made my morning.

I went to the home school book fair on Friday and picked up Hunter's 2nd grade curriculum for next year. One of the books included in this set was a NIrV Bible. I was showing Hunter how to look up scripture in his Bible and he has been reading in it all morning. He said his teacher at church will give him an extra "bible buck" (given to kids for memorizing their verses to spend at the "store") for bringing a bible to class. He sat on the couch just holding his new bible very close to his chest and told me about hearing on the news of a house fire that burned the family bibles. It made him sad to hear that and as he clutched his bible, he told me how much he loved his bible and how he hopes nothing bad ever happens to it.

It just brought tears to this Mommy's eyes. I know we have many more years and more trials ahead of us, but to hear my 6 - almost 7 -year old son express his love for his bible, just warmed me so much.

And not to leave little sister out, she loves her books, one of which is a board book picture bible which we read daily at her insistence -which she now refers to as her "bi-bo".

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me these precious babies to raise for you.

Dross

For most of us, looking back at ourselves in the past probably isn't an entirely pretty picture. If anyone says they were just perfect or behaved just right, then I hope your doctor continues to renew your "fantasy land" prescription, because reality isn't for you. I can say this with impunity because apparently, I've been living a tad in this fantasy land myself.

Now, I most certainly do not think of myself as perfect. I'm nowhere near it and have never tried to achieve it. My mistakes have come in expressing my opinions, mostly when they were not asked for. See, I like to read things and research things that interest me or that I'm just curious about. So, when a topic comes up that I've seen or read about and I hear incorrect or differing information, I have expressed myself in probably not so nice ways. As I look back on some things said or done, I am truly embarrassed and would like to move on, but alas, only Jesus will wash away your sins and forget about them. Friends and family, do not.

In the past couple of days, I was given a reminder about "back then" and it really hurt. I mean, I'm glad that I have hopefully matured in my Christian walk and have gotten past a lot of my "opinion expressing" but it really stings to have things brought back up. I took a "Breaking Free" (Beth Moore) class at a church not too long ago in which we discussed God's refining process of us. One of the things that has stuck with me is the "surfacing of the dross". Dross is all the impurities in the precious metals in the smelting pot. As the metal (gold, silver, etc.) is heated - put to the fire - TRIALS - the impurities will surface, you can see them and do away with them - or rather, ask God to do it. EVERY day is a trial of life and like I said, just having a reminder stung. It stung because I thought "back then" I was doing nothing malicious, anything I did was out of love for my friends and family, and I had the best intentions for all. To hear that someone had problems with me more or less shocked me. But it also made me realize that some of that "dross" must've been overlooked due to pride. You know the, "what? I don't have the problem, you must have it!" type of pride. Ouch.

Scott has told me not to worry about it, but he knows where I'm at, where I've come from, and what's in my heart. But I want to be refined so that others can just see it too, without me having to tell them. So, again, I've had a letting go of pride trial. Man, it is never ending, is it? But this is a fire I am glad to walk through...I am not alone here. Praise God!

Teeth

It's easy to see the logic behind our Divine Design when you are a parent. You can see God's glory being played out in your children and in your own life from time to time. But right now, I'm wondering...what is the purpose for painful "teeth cutting"?

I mean, I nursed my children, so I am very thankful they were not born with a full set of chompers, but this little girl is going to send me over the edge lately. I told Hunter that when they are grown, he'll have the right to tell her that it was her appearance on the Earth that sent Mom completely over the edge into insanity. Oh, yeah, he will have had a good part of it, but it is Hadyn that cinches the deal. For the past few days, she hasn't slept as well, eaten as well, or been as well behaved as usual. And it's driving me crazy. Everything is whining, crying, screaming, fit throwing, food throwing, and then there's what Hadyn has been doing. HA! No, just kidding, my stress level is holding pretty good lately.

I guess this is a patience builder (we didn't have this problem with Hunter - his teeth cut pretty effortlessly) and I'll just keep hold that this too shall pass quickly. God bless these babies. I love 'em.

Changing of the Guard

Hunter is 6 years, Hadyn is 17 months. They love each other. They adore each other. They can't wait to see each other every day. And for right now, Hunter can bug the crud out of his sister. I imagine it won't be long for the changing of the guard and it to be the other way around for a while.

They take their bath together (this will be something else to change in time, too). It is generally easier on me to put them in the tub together and let brother "keep-an-eye" on sis so I can clean up after dinner and get their pj's ready for them for bed. But I do have to leave the bathroom with the command, "keep your hands off of her, keep out of her face, don't dump water over her head, and quit annoying her!"

It's funny to have to tell the older sibling this when, being a younger sibling myself, it's usually what gets heard by us young 'uns. So, that is what tells me that it will be a short time longer before I'll be issuing that command to little sister - quit annoying your brother.

But it is sweet to see them always wanting to love on each other. I do hope that sticks around for a long while.

Broken Hearts

My heart has been broken this week for a church friend and neighbor who suddenly lost her husband. It was such a shock to hear - totally unexpected. I related to a girlfriend that death is never easy to take, but things like this are seem so much harder to come to grips with because of the unexpectedness. I mean, you expect your elderly or sickly parents or grandparents to come to the end of their life - maybe before you are ready, but you expect it. You expect that a person fighting a deadly disease could lose the battle - we pray for that not to happen, but it is not out of the realm of expectations. But you don't expect someone just going to work for the day to never come home. That just isn't right.

Scott and I talked about it at some length the other night. The bottom line...you just never know. Be prepared, love one another, because you just never know. Another friend who just experienced a sudden loss in her family asked if this is satan's work or God's timing. I told her I thought is was both - we live in a fallen world where bad things are allowed to happen, but God has a reason for everything and a time for everything. We don't have to understand, but just to have faith in Him that there is a reason and to keep praising Him in everything. I can't imagine if this happened to me. But I would just have to pray that I would hold on to God and His strength to get me through. I pray this for my friend and for all the families that are being hit by tragedy that I'm hearing about this week.

God knows about broken hearts and he loves us. His strength is sufficient to get us through. Praise!!!

Just Fine

Well, I had my NovaSure procedure yesterday. Only time will tell if that will help my anemia and do away with the PMS. However, the down side to it is now I have no excuse. You know, the "I can be cranky if I want to because it's my time of the month" excuse, or "I can eat this whole container of chocolate ice cream because it's my time of the month" one, or the "I have to lay in bed all day long because I'm cramping (or have the hormonal headache) and can't cook and clean right now" justification. Yeah, that is gone now. Hmmm. I didn't think of that before.

And, someone really needs to remember to remind me if there is a next time that I don't handle anesthesia well. I can't seem to remember that. Could be that I'm under anesthesia and really don't have that great of a memory while drugged up. I was just fine yesterday when they sat me up in the little waiting room. My nose was still itching and it seemed as if I hadn't stopped talking since I went under. I also apparently talked to my doctor about his website in which I'm working on re-doing for him. I wish I knew what I said. It might have been profound! Anyway, I started having some cramping which is normal, so I was given Advil. Then nausea set in, which is also normal in some, so I was given Phenergan along with animal crackers and gatorade. But the pain was still very strong, so they added Vicodin to the mix. I waited uncomfortably for a long while for relief when my body decided to upchuck everything. Scott reminded me then that I did the same thing while under epidural having a c-section with Hunter (which I remember), and immediately after having my gallbladder removed (which I don't remember). So, yeah, next time, someone needs to remind me that I get sick. Then, I was administered some Zofran which helped.

We came home (longest trip EVER from Plano to McKinney) and Scott gave me 2 Vicodin and then I went to bed until around 3:30. I got up to see my kiddos and get hugs and kisses. Hadyn was so overjoyed to see Mommy that she would hardly let go of me to let me do anything. Hunter brought home an OUTSTANDING report card that I was looking over when missy would let me. I took a couple more pain pills around 4pm and then was good for the rest of the night.

So far today, I've been good. I've had just a little cramping but nothing like yesterday. My nurses told me that my uterus was "angry". Angry? No, I know what angry is. It wasn't angry, it was full blown #$%@ off!!!!! But today, we've made up and I'm just fine.

Again, time will tell, but I'm looking forward to not ever having "that time of month" again, even if it did blow my excuse mix out of the water. Whoo Hoo!!

Suburban Girl

I grew up outside a very small country town in the Texas Panhandle. The closest "big" city to us was Amarillo and going there to shop or eat was a big deal and had to be planned out in advance. I played basketball in other small towns you could smell (cattle stock yards) before you reached them and locals called the smell "money". My Dad told me that the other girls in those towns were big ol' corn fed girls that were up before dawn tending to the ranch before breakfast, which was why they could "womp-up" on my skinny "city girl" butt in our games. City Girl? What? Me? At the time, those were fighting words. Now, well, yeah, he knew. Of course, I'd love to be called skinny again.

Scott would love to live in the country. I wouldn't mind the peace and tranquility of it as long as I either have the resource of an airplane and runway beside my house to take me to town or live within a 30 minute driving distance of the city. Oh, I guess it's not so much "city" as it is the "suburbs". I really love the country hospitality of small towns, but I crave the newness of a growing suburban city. Mmmmmm, that new city smell, don't 'cha love it? Carrie Bradshaw may have her Manolo Blahniks to keep her happy, but watching a Sonic and a Home Depot being built across the street from my house, Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!, tater tots and a paint brush within walking distance - close to Heaven? Yeah.

We are visiting my family in the Texas Panhandle right now for Spring Break and we giggle and chuckle to ourselves about how bad the traffic is around here and that it takes forever to go anywhere (sarcasm dripping in buckets off these statements), but if the job was right, I think Scott might want to stay a while.

I don't know. Tater Tots may be down the street a little bit, but the nearest Home Depot is 45 miles away. Eeek!

Not Crazy After All - A Woman Thing

I had some blood work done a week or so ago during my annual "womanly" exam because I have been feeling so...well, not tired...but drowsy and sleepy all the time. I will have moments where I feel a slight pressure in my upper chest then I will get light headed - not dizzy - and then feel super drowsy. I just want to sleep all the time and it's stressing my family out. My doctor suspected anemia, but wanted to check other things as well. If you are not a woman reading this and feel squeamish about "that time of month" talk, well, maybe you should read elsewhere today. Otherwise...

Results came in and sure enough, I am anemic, along with low iron, nearly non existent vitamin D and D something, and low testosterone. All of which will lead to my sleepiness and no energy. So, my doctor recommended a NovaSure procedure which I am scheduled for at the end of the month. This is a safe uterine ablation procedure which will essentially stop my periods without side effects or having to take hormones and giving me back my blood volume. He thinks I am losing too much blood during my periods and is sure that I will regain my energy level. Another cool thing about this is PMS is reduced or done away, too. Yea! It's only for pre-menopausal women who are not having any more children. Since I had my tubes tied after Hadyn, I think I'm done.

I went yesterday for the procedural uterine biopsy and water sonogram to check for polyps or fibroids, which there were none. And I'll go back at the end of the month for the short procedure and hopefully, prayerfully, after that, I'll feel a return of my energy and my life. I love sleeping. I could consider it a hobby, but when it interferes with my life and my family, it's a problem.

But just knowing that it is something physical, and that I'm not losing my mind, has given me a little burst of life. I was in the yard today pulling weeds. Oh, I'm tired, but there is something about knowing that it's not in my mind that helps out a little bit. And now that I've got the kids asleep, I could go to sleep myself. But I'll stay awake for a little bit to see my hubby.

I'll keep posting to see how well this works when it's done.

Ouch!

Time is something that we all have to guard very carefully. It slips past us so easily if we aren't paying attention to it. And when you try to cram some activity into nearly every minute of your day, then it goes into lightspeed motion and you may end up having nothing but a bad attitude to show for it.

Scott is working through how to balance and set boundaries around his time right now. We should all learn how to do this but usually it takes a critical point to snap us into action. Since we did not home-school Hunter this year, the time that Scott and Hunter spend together has diminished to nearly non-existent. And the time they do have together can be a little rough since Hunter has picked up a little attitude issue this year (someone let me know, is this just a normal 6 year old thing or has my precious boy been body snatched?). Well, one day last week, after a stressful, rushed morning, Scott got very frustrated with a loud, very vocal Hadyn on the way to drop Hunter off at school and he snapped at her to hush. This bothered brother, who is very protective of his baby sister. When Dad was getting him out of the car, he told Hunter that he wouldn't be home until after Hunter was in bed that night. Our little boy responded with an under-the-breath, "who cares." Scott questioned him about that and said, "don't you care that you won't see me tonight?" Hunter turned and looked at him then declared, "No, we have pictures of you."

Ouch!

Yeah, that hurts. But the kid knew where to hit with his verbal punch. And it woke both of us up. Time is so precious. Kids are only kids once. Do we really want to rush them through it? I don't want to coddle him so much that he won't grow up, but he IS a six year old little boy.

School was delayed a couple of hours this morning due to ice on the roads. What did we do? We used our time very wisely. See for yourself:


Enjoy your time - whatever you are doing!

Say What? Pt 2

I've often compared having a baby to having a puppy in the house. Now I think that parents of small children and drunk college students have some of the same phrases. For example, "Is that pee I'm stepping in?", "Huh, I just found a chunk of cheese in the dryer," and "Is that peanut butter in your ear?" As a matter of fact, I may have uttered these statements while in college, but I wouldn't know for sure as I was memory impaired at the time.

Yeah, I love being a mom. I actually enjoy these times and these bizarre phrases that are such a normal part of my day. Of course, I have a vague memory of enjoying those college days, too. And, I wake up every morning now feeling like I just got hit by the same freight train as hit me then. Of course, a beer glass can't give me a big hug and kiss with chubby little arms.

Ooooooh! I just can't wait to get more tomorrow and hear myself say more things that only another parent would understand!

Finding Fun

There are a few things that I can really get lost in the joy of doing - website design is one and video editing is another. Hunter wanted to make a movie. I don't know where that idea came from, but I told him that yeah, we could make a movie, but we'd have to do it right. I had him write out a semi-story board (no pictures) and think out a script (no writing). Then we got our "props" in place and our actors ready. Because of the preparations, we had our movie shot in about 5 minutes. Cool. Try that, Hollywood. Of course I did have some actor issues - all three threatened to walk off the set at some point in the shooting (again, it was only 5 minutes). It was a good family time experience and I'm glad we were able to do it. So, I uploaded the video to my computer, sat down with iMovie and put together the following masterpiece. Enjoy.

Ah, Childhood

I don't remember first grade much. I certainly don't remember much of the drama of first grade but I'm sure it was there. No, actually I do remember an incident, but I'm not sure what grade it was in. There was a bickering over the ownership of a pen found in the back of a car and a vow to not be friends forever and ever. Yeah, I think that lasted a few hours then all was fine.

I got a call from Hunter's teacher this afternoon. Apparently, she had received a call or two from Moms whose children had been on the receiving end of a scathing comment from Hunter. The comment was, to one child, "I'm not inviting you to my birthday party because you're weird," and to another one or two kids, "I don't like you so you can't come to my birthday party."

Great. Well, there were two things to deal with to start. One, everyone is weird, kid, some just a little more than others, so just deal with it because someone else out there thinks you are weird...I mean look who you have for parents. And two, your birthday isn't until June. I can't even plan a week out right now, not to mention another four months out. When he finally came clean with who he had said what to, my heart just broke for the precious little one that he called weird. I volunteer in Hunter's class and this kid is highly imaginative and a creative thinker. I like him. He is always so sweet to me and loves to talk. I can imagine he would test his teacher at times (find me a 1st grader who wouldn't), but he is just so cute...much like my sweet boy...when he is being sweet.

So, we made Hunter write apology notes to all the kids that he said ugly things to. He HATES writing, so it was an appropriate punishment on a few different levels.

He and Dad are watching Spongebob together right now, so I think Hunter is over the trauma of the day. Hopefully, by the time the other kids get their "sorry" notes, they will be wondering why they are getting them.

Love those kiddos!

Everywhere I Step...

Scott and I have decided we could write a song: "Everywhere I step, I step in puke (or tinkle or poop)". Yeah, I know, gross. But for the parents reading this, you know, you've been there, done that and if you haven't, give it time.

Hunter has a virus and started throwing up at 8pm on Tuesday night and was still going into early this morning. He was doing good yesterday afternoon, so it was a set back this morning. His teacher said there were 6 kids out of his class yesterday. I've been doing continuous laundry since Tuesday (I started my usual laundry on Tuesday morning and thanks to this - it hasn't stopped). We've scrubbed our hands so much I'm surprised we still have skin. Hadyn just doesn't get why brother is here and why she can't hug and love on him. I try to keep the house picked up and clean for the most part anyway, but when an illness starts, I disinfect everything! But it still doesn't shake the fact that we could be walking in it! Yuk.

Add to that, Hadyn, at 16 months yesterday, has decided she wants to sit on the potty and likes wearing panties. Cool! Except she has no control and really doesn't mind wearing wet or otherwise yukky panties so she doesn't let us know when she "needs" to sit on the potty, just when she "wants" to sit. And if she gets her way in her true nirvana - total freedom from clothing - her "no different from a dog" ways come out and I'm picking up little piles all the way down the hallway.

Ha! Anyone want to come for a barefoot visit? Yeah, I thought not. Actually my neighbor is renting a carpet cleaner and has offered to share it with us. We'll be clean for a little while anyway. But until then, I'll guess we'll keep working on our hit song.

"I stepped in puke, I stepppppped in puke,
Don't let nobody walk there,
'cause I stepped in puke."

Jr High Home Ec

Whoo Hoo! I am just so pleased with myself right now. I just had to share with whomever might read this. Hadyn has a lot of shoes - A LOT of shoes. They had been lined up under the futon in her room, but I thought a hanging shoe rack would be nice, but I didn't want to spend the money on one, so I went back to my Jr High Home Ec sewing education and got out the sewing machine and scrap material and made one this afternoon! Here's a shot of it and Missy Bit re-arranging her shoes already! I'll probably have to rethink how to hang it, but for now...

Shots Pt2 (Differences)

More differences from my kids. Last night, Hadyn came toddling into the kitchen with not one, but two baby dolls in her arms and with the "babies" milk bottle in hand. I snapped a picture of her and she looked like the tired, worn out little mother with two small kiddos to care for. Yeah, sister, we all feel your pain. She sat down on the floor and started trying to give the babies their bottle. But once she saw her own milk bottle, all bets were off for the "babies". They were casually tossed aside for a more important purpose. So, I picked up the babies and the plastic bottle and set them down in the living room. Then Missy Bit's attention went back to the babies. She strapped on a purse that was close by, picked up one baby, the plastic baby bottle, was working on trying to pick up the other baby all the while with Hadyn's own bottle gripped tightly in her mouth.

Yeah, I recognize this move. I load up like a pack mule to get out of the house or the car and can do it, too! Scott, on the other hand will get out of the car and hand everything to me and tell me he'll get Hadyn out if I can carry all of this for him. Sweetheart, I, and nearly every other woman on the face of this planet, can not only carry all of "this" but we can get the baby out of the car, and fumble to find the right key and open the door all without dropping a thing.

But I see where it starts. I will ask Hunter to pick up his toys scattered through the living room and he will pick up one thing at a time and complain about how much he has to pick up.

It's a good thing God made us women so different or we might not ever get anything done around here.