I would NEVER... Have you EVER?

When I was young (and dumb :), I had this vision of the kind of mom I would be. I would be THE perfect mom, of course. Stylish, fun, always up on current events and trends, well-read, always on time, bread-baking, kids all clean and lined up nicely, you know the kind of mom I'm talking about (that doesn't actually exist). Well, along came my first child, and reality set in. It's harder than it looks. By the time my second child was a few months old, I had broken almost every rule that I had set for myself. My new rule: NEVER say never! Now when I hear pregnant first-time moms talk about all of the perfect things that they are going to do, I just laugh a little and hope that they aren't too hard on themselves when it doesn't work out exactly as they had planned. We all go into this motherhood thing without a CLUE (regardless of how many books we read, trust me, I read every book and I thought I knew it all until I held my newborn daughter in my arms for the first time!). Here is my list of top 10 things I thought I would never do:

10. Use the TV as a babysitter (it's not often, but laundry HAS to be done sometime!)

9. Allow my child to go in pulic wearing a tutu and oversized princess shoes (or a batman cape :)

8. Be the always-late constantly apologizing mom (yes, I use my kids as excuses)

7. Develop selective hearing - I am apparantly immune to my own name when repeated over and over... mom? mommmm? MOM!? MOMMMMM!

6. Wear my sweats to pick up my child from preschool - at 3 pm

5. Use bribery - especially candy :) (I thought it was always possible to use reason and logic... and it is, but it's sometimes much faster to use bribery)

4. Pretend that I don't know when my kids are in my room coloring on the walls - at least it buys me a few extra minutes of peace and quiet, and it's nothing a Mr. Clean Eraser won't fix ;)

3. Wipe my child's nose with the shirt they are wearing (you know you have done it!)

2. Use the phrase "because I said so"

1. Follow the above phrase with the phrase "because I'm the Mom, that's why!" (I always thought I would be more patient and explain everything to my little children, that was before I had a 2 and 4-year-old who respond to every logical answer with yet another "WHY?" AHHH!)

Okay, so those are my true confessions of a real-life mom, now it's time to spill yours! What do you do that you SWORE you would NEVER do as a mom? Please comment!

Mr. Braveman 2009

My nephew Andrew 'competed' on Friday night in the Bountiful High School Mr. Braveman 2009 Competition. He needed a little princess escort for the event, and McKinley was more than thrilled that he chose her! ;) In case you don't know about the Mr. Braveman (it IS a well-know pageant ;), it is a male beauty pageant of sorts consisting of Bountiful High School seniors representing their group (Mr. Football, Mr. Choir, Mr. Lacrosse, etc.). They performed an awesome opening number to none other than Brittney Spears' Womanizer, then they each competed in the talent portion with talents such as lip syncing, limbo (Andrew's talent, unfortunately the sight of him in a coconut bra and grass skirt had me laughing so hard I forgot to take pictures ;), sock-puppet duets, and a Zoolander-style modeling 'walk-off' (complete with the signature underwear move). Finally, they were each escorted by a little princess (Andrew's was the cutest, and I am NOT biased at all ;), and asked an important random question which they were to answer on-stage. There was of course, the 'like such as the Iraq and like such as...' answer, and a mix of serious and fun responses. Andrew's question was "What bothers you most about the world today," to which he replied "when people stop while exiting the freeway, even when there is a designated exit lane and a sign that says 'do not stop'." That is a very good point, and after the judges voted, it must have been the icing on the cake, because Andrew won and is now the reigning Mr. Braveman!
Andrew is in the red shirt front and center, you gotta admit, the kid has got moves ;)My camera ran out of memory, so I only got about a 15-second video clip of their dance, but it was hilarious!

...more Womanizer moves...Mr. Braveman 2009 with his lovely little escort McKinley, Miss Davis County, and my cute nephew JoshAndrew totally made her week! She loved every minute of it, and to top it off he gave her his flowers, which she made me put in a vase on the kitchen table the minute we got home.

What a fun night!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch... or farm...

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE where we live? Our backyard backs up to a barley farm - at least that's what we think they grow there. In the spring and summer my kids LOVE to sit up above our rock wall and watch the huge combines plow the fields. When they park close enough we let them go out and climb on the machinery (supervised, of course). The tires are about as tall as I am, it is so cool! It entertains them for hours, and we love that our view (currently) doesn't included any houses (just a few power lines). I waited a little too long to get my camera, so it was kind-of far away in this photo, but it sometimes comes right up to our property line, which the kids think is SO awesome.Goofy kids :)

3/19/2009

Spring-time Sunshine

Okay, it wasn't really sunny, but it was warm - at least for a day! After Itty Bitty was over we needed a park-day. It was FINALLY warm enough to head down to the park for an afternoon. Unfortunately, it snowed a couple of days later. It's a good thing we didn't waste our one good day!
Mason and Carson loved playing on top of the climbing-wall towerGiddy-up! Carson and McKinley are so silly :)
3/19/2009

Itty Bitty Fun

In my spare time (not even funny, I won't even go there) I coach 3-4 year-old sports at the local rec. center in the mornings. It is really fun, and of course I get to coach with some of my favorite people, so that's an extra bonus. Matt thinks it's really funny that I try to teach preschoolers the rules of the games. I just this year learned what a 'down' was in football *although to be honest, I am still not sure I get that one*. During football season at Itty Bitty Ball I was so proud of myself that I knew what a field goal was, and was able to teach the kids. I came home and told Matt that he would have been so proud of me. He asked me to explain to him what I thought a field goal was, and I very proudly told him that it was the extra kick after a touchdown. Ooops, so football is not so much my thing, but I love having fun with the kids! Matt didn't get any photos of me coaching, but here are some fun pictures of Kinley:

McKinley with coach Jeni and Team Spiderman (they are doing their team cheer)!

Can you name that mascot? You could if you came to Itty Bitty Ball! It's Lenny The Lehi Legacy Center Lion!
Can you guess who's inside? That's right, yours truly! McKinley thought I was the best-est mom ever that day! :) Mason was scared and kept yelling at me to 'get out of Lenny' :)
I'm sure there were are few people with questions about Lenny during this photo ;)

Moral of the story: don't always assume the mascot is a male, it may just be a crossdressing lion ;)

3/19/2009

Kids say the Darndest Things

I was putting the laundry away in McKinley's room at bedtime, our conversation went like this:
McKinley: Mom, when does the wishing star come out?
Me: (absentmindedly) I don't know, go look out the window
McKinley: I see stars, which one is the wishing star?
Me: The first one that came out, it's probably the biggest and brightest one
McKinley: Like Jesus' star?
Me: I think so
McKinley: I am going to make a wish
Me: What are you going to wish for?
McKinley: (in a very excited voice) REAL makeup! The really good kind that I get to wear when I get bigger. What do you wish for mom?
Me: (still putting away laundry after a long day - kids don't catch onto sarcasm) A new car
McKinley: I hope you get an ice-cream truck for your new car, that would be really cool!
Me: (wryly) Yeah, even an ice-cream truck would be an improvement
McKinley: I'll wish for that for you, too. I think you'll get it

Hmmm... doubtful, although it would be cool to drive around the neighborhood and annoy my neighbors with the awesome ice-cream truck music ;). I love the things their little minds think of, though. I had to write it down before it disappears into oblivion as have so many other silly conversations that we have had. I LOVE my kids!

It's in his GENES!

Well, boys will be boys. And, if you know my husband, I am in for a lifetime of 'boy moments' - this is a usual sight around my house. Mason REALLY wanted the gummy bears on top of the fridge, so rather than get a chair like his sister does (women are the practical ones), he decided to just go for it. The first time was much cooler, we made him re-enact it for the camera, so it was a little less natural, but still pretty impressive. Enjoy!

Brotherly Love

The other morning the kids were laying in bed with me. Mason got up and crawled over to cuddle with McKinley.

Mason: Kinley, I love you.

McKinley: ME? McKinley? Your sister? You LOVE me? OH, I love you too, my brother!

It was so funny, they hugged each other and cuddled - of course it lasted only a minute until Mason began to tease his sister again, but it was so cute! They love to tease each other, and of course they bug each other, but they are the best of friends. They really couldn't survive without each other. They play together ALL day every day, with very few little squabbles, and even those are pretty funny to listen to. I LOVE these little ones! I hope to be better at recording their fun cute moments!

3/8/2009

My independent 2-year-old

Mason took it upon himself to (by some small miracle) potty-train himself. If this had been my idea, NO WAY would it have worked, but since it was his idea, it was amazing! One night (date-night) it was our turn to tend all of the kids (we do a co-op). Mason knew that one of the little girls who was coming was his age and she has been potty-trained for a few months now. I told him the kids were coming over and the first thing that he said was "Bree goes on the potty. I want to go on the potty." I said 'okay,' thinking it would last a half hour until his first accident, but NO! That was IT! He wore his undies all day, all night, and so on with NO accidents for an entire week! He since has only had a couple of small ones, but that was it! I am still amazed by it, we hadn't even worked on the potty thing before that night, I had NO interest in dealing with it. I am so proud of my big independent boy! (PS - I know I shouldn't, but I just HAD to post a photo if him in his big-boy undies, they are so cute!)

2/8/2009

My Space - and other random projects...

If you know me, you know I always have a list of projects that I'm working on. Somehow, my bedroom always manages to stay at the bottom of that list. I finally decided to just go for it and re-do my room. In case you don't know, I am on a mission to abolish white walls forever! No offense, it's just me, I HAVE to have color on my walls, and preferrably lots of it! My bedroom has had white walls for 3 years and has driven me CRAZY, so here it is - nothing fabulous, but it is finally done!

My little painting helpers - thanks to Stonehaven Dental {Eric ;)} for providing the painting shirts!

The end result - ahhhh, yes! No more white walls!I was bored with the kids' bathroom, so I added stripes and pencil molding, as well as trim around the mirror - I can't stand that the mirrors have no frames :) Yes, we all know that I am OCD. AND, last but not least, my closet. It has needed a MAJOR overhauling since we moved in 3 years ago, but it finally made it to the top of the list.

Before - What a MESS!

After - SO much better! Every bin is labeled and EVERYTHING has it's place! It's hard to get good pictures at such weird angles, but you get the idea.2/29/2009

Preschool Day at the Aquarium

During their animals week, McKinley's preschool class went on a field trip to the aquarium. My kids LOVE the aquarium!

'Petting' the starfishI just love those two little ones! They are so much fun!Mason thought the sharks were pretty cool!McKinley trying to take a picture of the sharks with her princess camera - like mother, like daughter ;)McKinley and a few of her preschool pals1/29/2009

Princesses and Fairy Tales

This was on one of my weeks to teach preschool. The theme was Fairy Tales - we all built houses out of straw, sticks, and 'bricks' just like the 3 little pigs, then tried to blow them down. Of course, the brick houses stood strong! Poor Shalee was so tired that she fell asleep while gluing her project - I think she was trying to be sleeping beauty :).McKinley showing off her best princess curtsy

Snow White paid a surprise visit to Shalee's 4th Birthday party!
She made crowns with the girls, sang songs, and read stories. They had SO much fun!

1/15/2009 & 1/20/2009

Kind-of makes you feel like a kid again!

Although sledding is not something I grew up doing (the lack of snow makes sledding not so popular in California ;), there is something about flying down a hill on a cheap piece of foam holding a rope that is the epitomy of childhood. The day after Christmas we headed over to the sledding hill (conveniently located about a block away at the elementary school) for a morning of fast-flying sleddin'! Unfortunately I only had my cell phone, so the photos aren't great, but you get the idea.

Matt and Mason ready to go!
Mason marching back up the hill for another rideMcKinley loved going down backwards laying on her belly - my little daredevil ;)
These two are just the best of friends. McKinley takes such good care of her brother. They both sledded down on separate sleds, but once they got to the bottom Mason would call for McKinley. She would then drag her sled over to him, take his sled, and pull both sleds back to the top while he followed behind. It was so cute to watch her help him. Such a fun day!
12/26/2008

Guess who made a stop at our house...

SANTA! There must have been some good little children here this year! I love how excited kids are on Christmas morning!

Mason loves his new ballcap from Santa - it matches daddy's! Santa must be a Sox fan ;)

The best gift ever!!!The day wouldn't be complete without a visit from Grandma and Grandpa B. on Christmas day!
12/25/2008

And to all a good night!

We all went to Lisa's for the traditional Christmas Eve family party - it is SO much fun, we look forward to it all year round!

Grandma B. and the kiddos!McKinley decided to make snow angels on Lisa's white carpet :)Merry Christmas from the M&M's!The whole family - they are SO much fun! We love you guys!After Lisa's traditional reading of Twas The Night Before Christmas, the grandkids all opened their new Christmas PJ's for the annual PJ photo - so cute!

12/24/2008