A great truth

This afternoon was a difficult one for me.

All I wanted to do was do a little light shopping at a few of my favorite stores. I wanted to quietly enjoy Hobby Lobby, Kohls and Target. Please.

Unfortunately, my kiddos had other plans which did not include either quiet or shopping.

So, while I was in the throes of my anger and frustration, an unfriendly truth slapped me in the face:

My greatest stress and my greatest pride in this world are the same thing-

When my children insist upon doing things their own way.

They say it's your birthday....

Well Happy to you!


And that's to OP, not Adi.

It has happened.

Adi started 1st grade this morning.

Sure, she already did the whole Kindergarten thing and you would think that I would be over the whole separation-anxiety thing.

But she's going full day. 7 HOURS. I hate to sound obvious, but that is ALL DAY!

Adi got up this morning buzzing with excitement. She helped packed her lunch and washed her face without being asked.

She stared at the clock all morning long, given me minute-by-minute updates of how long we have until she HAS to go.

She said that she didn't want me to walk her to where her class lines-up, even though every other parent got to *sniff*.

So I drive up to the appointed drop-off place, watch as my little girl climbs out of the car, slams the door and ventures into a new world.

Unfortunately, the parents behind me did not understand the highly-poignant moment I was experiencing and began honking for me to move on. So I did, wondering why I am always being forced to move past these type of things.

But I drove through the line-up of cars again to catch one last glimpse of my tiny girl. To make sure that she was all right, and not crying for her mommy (she wasn't).

And then I left her to experience her wonderful, grand adventure.

Good Morning Beautiful!

We had strawberry shortcake for dessert on Sunday. Yummy. But since then I've had the left over strawberry glaze, strawberries and whipped cream staring at me everytime I open the fridge.

"How can I use this stuff before it goes bad?" I asked myself.

Well, Adi asked me to make silver-dollar pancakes for breakfast this morning and it came to me: Strawberry Shortcake Pancakes.

*YUM*

Unfortunately, OP polished off the last of the strawberries last night, but I still layered the tiny pancakes, glaze, sprinkles of sugar and whipped cream (and OP added pecans to his).

As Porter would say, "Num."
(that's Porter-talk for yummy)

Dear Whitney,

When you get up here, we are SOO making some of these!

XOXO

Courtney

I am SO making some of these...

for my girlies! The instructions are here... how easy, how simple, how wonderful!

Our poor little Adi has a long torso and long legs (for such a shorty lil' girl) that she can't wear a lot of her clothes. We can put leggings under her shorter skirts, and now these under her shirts. Now, where to find some knit material? Any suggestions?

What else I've been doing lately....

Some more thrift shopping.

I think that I just may be addicted. Awesome prices and so much potential!

Anywho, I found this desk at the D.I. Two spray paint cans later we had this (no before pics, sorry. That would require forethought :)

Last school year we had issues as to where Adi should store her backpack. No problems this year, thanks to my local thrift store, $2, and a can of paint:

And last, but certainly not least, I attacked this old bubble gum machine with some left-over paint and got this:

Just you wait to see what else I've been painting...

I've been trying to plan this....

Even though I told Piper that she isn't getting a friend's party this year.

What can I say? I'm a chump.

Let's play a little game

called "Guess What Happens Next".

a) They laugh and play merrily together for another hour and then come in and take 2 hour long naps.

b) Piper dumps the bike, Adi kicks Porter out of the stroller so Piper can sit there, then Adi rides off, pulling Pipes and leaves P.G. screaming in the middle of the road.

c) They all fall and cry about skinned knees for an hour.



No, there is no prize for getting it right- beyond the satisfaction of knowing my family so well!

Please take a look....

If you have any sense of humor at all, and you *heart* Twilight (as I know many of you do) you will get a kick out of this site.

I spent a good hour looking at back posts...

Let me introduce ya'all to the newest member of the family....

Mater Fishtail

Yes, you read that right.

Mater Fishtail.

We let Piper name the "new" 'Burb. Yep.

Anywho, since OP has the kind of face that makes people just want to give him things, we got this hot rod for free. Yep.

And the kiddos love it.

My favorite game...

I have this little game that I like to play very much. It is called: How Much Can Courtney Get For $20. The rules are simple: Courtney has $20. She must spend that $20 (because that's how I roll). She must get as much possible for that $20.

I am the reining queen of it.

Sure, sure, the game might be a bit biased toward myself, but I can't help it. It's just how it is.

Because I am so secure in my winner-status, I felt that I could share some of my spoils with all my friends...

Let's start with Kohl's. Oh, how I love me a good Kohl's clearance rack. Who doesn't? Today I discovered this gem of a dress that I've had my eye on for about 4 months now, just waiting for the right moment. And that moment came today. $13.80. It was on the 80% off rack, so I don't think that it would go lower.

Then these two packs of socks that came with six pair each. 12 pairs of super-cute socks for a mere $4.40? Awesome.

And these cutsie panties (which I am sure one day my girls will die in embarrassment when they find that I posted these for the blogging world to oggle at). Mudd brand- which usually go for 4 for $9.

There was a 15% off coupon used also... so cha-ching!

Then I went to the D.I. and found these wonderful Old Navy distressed jeans with flowers on the back pocket and leather detailing. For $3. And yes, I can see my lil' sis cringing while she reads this. But, Whit my dear, they are being washed as I type.

OK, I might have *stretched* the rules a bit and had to scrounge for quarters to make up the $1.67 difference, but still. A gorgeous dress, 12 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of underwear, and Old Navy Jeans for $21.67?

I still rein supreme.

****Post Edit*****

After I got home from Kohly's, I discovered a lovely $10 gift certificate there in my Inbox.

WAHOO!! So back to Kohls I went ('cause I had to go while my 15% off coupon was still good).

So, I ended up spending $2.71 and got the following awesome stuff:

*A pair of Tony Hawk shoes for Porter-Pot
*12 pair of sockies for the girlies

Thank you, thank you.

And this is why Piper is the bomb-diggety

Who else could wear this totally fabulous ensemble with such confidence?

You should have seen her earlier when the shirt was tucked in...

A letter to my son in 14 years...

Tonight we fought a tough battle, you and I. Earlier we had a Big Boy Party for you where everyone applauded while you threw away all of your Baby Bottles. We chanted loudly about your newly achieved Big-Boy-status. You grinned and drank Sprite, and thought we were all crazy.

And then came bed time. At first you were confused that Dad and I were tucking you into bed, doing our nightly ritual, while excluding that most-important step: giving you your lovely bottle full of your lovely water. Then you got sad. Very sad.

And then you got mad. Very, very mad.

After thirty minutes of sweetly putting you back into your cowboy bed and explaining why your wonderful bottles were suddenly unavailable to you, you gave up on Daddy called my name.

"Momma..." you've always known that I was the softie.

I ended up snuggled in your teeny-weeny twin sized bed, with my tires fingers working their way through your baby-soft hair. I sang you your favorite song, "Beautiful Boy" (thank you John Lennon).

This song is special for us, me and you. I have been singing this song to you since I found out that the tiny squirming being inside me was a boy. It got us through ear infections, long car rides, sleepless nights, and now it helped us through your first night as a true Big Boy.

I don't know how much longer you will allow me to play in your tiny curls while croaking to you our song, but

Thank you for tonight.

For reminding how magical the small moments of togetherness truly are. Oh, how I love you my little Porter Pot.

Love,

Mommy

P.S. I am so showing this post to your girlfriend. Hey- what are moms for?

Thrifty Me

Lately I've had an itch to go peruse my local thrift store in search of some mega deals (this itchy-ness is due to reading Blaire's blog-she finds some awesome stuff). Here was my big find/project yesterday:

5 bucks (yeah, didn't look like much to me either)


But, some batting, fabric and staples later, it morphed it into this:


A much-needed headboard for my Baby Boy's room (I just threw the pillows on this morning for the picture- please don't judge my bed-making capabilities).

I'm almost finished with Porter Pot's room now, so I'll be posting pics soon...

How did we spend the 4th?

Our holiday was spent doing all of the following (and much more):

sword fighting,

total bubble-popping,

playing catch,

jousting (the girls could barely lift the sticks, not to mention swing them at each other)

swan rides (you can see how much Porter-Pot enjoyed that)

swing rides

A jail break...

'mallow roasting over an open BBQ (fancy, I know)

the eating of s'mores


firework watching (yes, we did it while there was still sunshine. But these three kids needed sleep badly!)

and, of course, sparklers.

How did your day go?

Red, White and Blue, Baby!

Oh, it's home again and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea
To the blessed land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.

~Henry Van Dyke

Happy Birthday, America!

Sew Crazy

My amiga Harmony came over yesterday, and after a healthy lunch of Wendy's hamburgers, we released all of our crazy kids outside to play and get wild with water while us ladies got wild with the fabric.

We sewed for about 4 hours straight.... oh my. By the end I was ready to throw my sew machine in the garbage and just walk away. Luckily, Harmony was the voice of reason and kept me focused on the end results, which were:

Porter's 4th of July shirt

Holiday dresses for the girlies with matching hair clips

And a couple of other fun little summer dresses.

Once again, we ventured into the land of no-patterns. Harmony had bought some really cute dresses like these at a boutique, and we figured we could do the same for a fraction of the price (and we did).

I have a few other dresses to finish, but I'm not sure when I will work up the courage to pull out the sewing beast again...