Unexpected Treasure

Sometimes, in the midst of this crazy thing called life, we get a moment that puts everything into perspective for us. We step back and think “Aha! I think I might actually be doing an ok job at this parenting business.”

Yesterday began in a real crappy way, at 2 a.m. with Miss Harper wide awake…..until 6 a.m.!!!

I ended up calling in to work, I knew there was no way she was going to be up and ready to go by 9 a.m. and if she was then she was going to be a beast in Kid Zone.

I sent the kids outside to play mid-morning so that I could get some cleaning done. Through the open window I could hear them fighting over this toy and fighting over that toy……until…….the fighting stopped. I look out the window, certain one of them was either strangling the other (hence the quiet) or they had both run off. What I saw was this:

I snuck out there ever so quietly so I could get this moment on camera, because let’s be honest, this does not happen……..like ever!

They eventually heard me and turned around and Harper smiles at me and says “Hi Mom, Pax my best fwend.”

Heart.stops.

I literally question my parenting on a daily basis. Especially when Pax comes home without a sticker or when Harper STILL can’t name her colors very well even though we work on them all.the.time.

I think:

“What am I doing? Why can’t he behave, why does she think EVERYTHING is pink or green!! Why wasn’t there a class devoted to parenting that I could have taken!!! WHO THE HELL LET ME BE A PARENT?!?!?!”

I look at other parents that seem to have their shiz together, and not only do they have it together, but they look like they are enjoying parenthood, not just surviving it.

Me folks? I’m just surviving right now. I am taking it one day at a time. If I have managed to feed them 3 meals that day, they have brushed their teeth at least once, and everyone is still alive at bedtime, well then I consider that day a success.

But every now and then you have a day like yesterday. When you see your kids playing together, willingly. You see their smiles and hear their giggles over something as insignificant as a leaf. And you know……you know that you must be doing something right. They are best friends, they are active, they don’t need video games to be entertained, they enjoy the small things in life. Those small things now will be the BIG things later in life, and I was responsible for that. One day they can tell their own kids:

“My Mom taught me that your siblings will be your lifetime best friends, fresh air is a daily necessity and the real treasures in life can’t be found in a TV show or a video game. They are the ones you find unexpectedly.”

Like a leaf.

 

 

 

And I found an unexpected treasure in that moment, and you better believe I am tucking it away for when I doubt how I am doing as a parent. When Harper looks at me for the 5th time that day and says that the red apple is “gween” or when Pax doesn’t get a sticker because he didn’t share. I will reassure myself that this too shall pass, and that with each day, there is a new possibility for unexpected treasures.

And those are the moments that matter.

 

 

(Editors Note: During the typing of this blog, children were in the backyard fighting over a straw……A STRAW! Hey they can’t all be good days, right?)

What Makes a Runner?

This post was quite unintentional, however after reading something this morning, it sparked a conversation in my head (that’s a scary place, folks). So I thought I would write it down and share with you……..you’re welcome.

I think one reason I enjoy (sometimes) running so much is because unlike other sports you don’t have to be the best of the best to do it. If you run, you are a runner, right?

Or wrong?

This is the way I have always thought, but maybe others do not agree. If I see a lady out running at 8:00 p.m. I think

“you go runner girl, get on with yo bad self.”

I don’t pay attention to her pace, her outfit, her hair. I don’t know if this is the first time she has ever ran, or if she has ran all her life. All I see is a girl…..running, and to me, she is a runner.

But does pace matter? Does the time of day you choose to run matter? Does the amount of races you have ran or the distances you have ran matter?

I look at my friend Jess, who rocked a 8:40 pace during her 22 mile run last week and I think:
“you’re not even human, but you f-ing rock!”

Do I feel like less of a runner because I couldn’t (read wouldn’t, shouldn’t, I would literally DIE) keep an 8:40 pace for that long? Do I look at her and think “oh I’m a runner but you’re MORE of a runner?”

For ME, the answer is no. Yes Jess is a FASTER runner, she is a longer DISTANCE runner, she is a more EFFECTIVE runner (her form makes her look like a gazelle, mine makes me look like Bambi learning to walk, are you picturing that, yeah it’s pretty bad) but we are both runners because we are out there doin’ our thing, running when we can, and trying to become better at it.

Will I ever be as fast, and effective as Jess? NO! Probably not, but that doesn’t mean I am going to just quit running all together.

Nowhere does it say:

“I am a runner……..unless I don’t run today, in that case YOU are more of a runner, unless you didn’t run yesterday, in that case I am the runner again, unless I can’t run this weekend, in that case Joe Blow is the REAL runner.”

(wouldn’t that be a funny t-shirt?)

Apparently EVERYONE and NO ONE is a runner.

I think what we (as runners) need to remember is that it doesn’t matter what time of day a person runs, how often they run, what their pace is, how many miles they’ve ran……..the most important thing is that when they do get out there to run, fast or slow, 1 mile or 20, we look at them and say:

“Good job sister friend (or brother friend), you are an amazing person, keep on keepin’ on.”

And it shouldn’t matter if they ran yesterday, or if today they are taking the day off. Running isn’t a competition to see who can run the most days, or the farthest. If that’s what it is about, then I quit. Right now, literally, I quit.

Because I didn’t start doing this to feel like I am being judged, or looked down on, or beaten up if, for some reason or another, I couldn’t run that day. I did it for ME, I did it so my kids can look back and say:

“ya know what, we drove Mom batshit crazy on a daily basis, and boycotted sleeping, and needed her attention ALL THE TIME, but she still did this one thing for herself. She got up before the sun most Saturday’s and ran. She entered these races and even though she didn’t come close to placing, and sometimes we wondered if she was EVER GOING TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE, she still did them. And that’s pretty awesome.”

Because it is.

Now let’s all hold hands and sing kumbaya.

This and That

I am LOVIN’ the cold and rainy weather we are having today. Don’t you just love the first REAL chilly day of the year? It’s only 65, but to me it feels like 30 degrees and I am ready to bust out the sweater and leggings………ok, GUILTY….I busted out the leggings.

First of all, Facebook gets on my nerves like a million times a day, but it’s like crack…..as much as you hate what it does to you, you keep using it (disclaimer: I have never actually done crack, but I watch a lot of Intervention episodes so I feel like I know what it would be like).

Filter people, FILTER!! As in, put one on your shiznipp. It’s a social community, not a therapist. To me, less is more, repeat after me….LESS.IS.MORE. That is why I have this trusty dusty blog……THAT is where my mind vomit goes and the people who read it choose to. But even on here I don’t get into marriage deets (you’re welcome Josh) or personally attack people, or places. Why? Why would I? It accomplishes nothing and just makes me look stupid.

Ok, stepping off my soapbox now..

Pax is having a rough week in school this week. 2 days he hasn’t come home with a sticker (they get a sticker if they had a good day). Apparently Mister is getting into fights with kids at school. I am not sure if it’s fighting or just boys wrestling, but regardless, it’s not ok!! I just didn’t expect this from him, and I don’t mean that in a “oh my child is sooo good and soooo perfect and he would never do anything wrong” I mean it in a “he has always been rotten for me, but is always pretty well behaved for other people so I am sad that this no longer holds true.”

I absolutely won’t tolerate my child misbehaving in school, I don’t care who started it, who was in the wrong, etc. If his behavior warrants him not getting a sticker, than obviously it’s behavior his teacher does not agree with and I back up the teacher 100%. I talked to him on the phone the first day he didn’t get a sticker (I was working and Josh was home with him), I asked him how he felt about not getting a sticker and if pushing the other boy was worth not getting a sticker and I guess he just started crying because Josh had to take away the phone. At least he is showing remorse though….at least I thought he was until the same thing happened the next day!!

So I made him write a note to his teacher apologizing for misbehaving and when I walked him in today, he gave it to her. She assures me that it’s not just him, but again, it doesn’t matter if it’s just him or the whole class, it’s just not ok with me. The first thing he said this morning when he woke up was:

“Mom, I am going to try my best to be good today and get a sticker.”

Harper is still enjoying school. I took my friends out to the farm to take maternity pics, and on the way back into town Harper is in the back talking Phil’s ear off and I hear her say:

“And Dod (God) said; no eat dat apple!! And den dat neaky nake (sneaky snake) came and said to eat dat apple…and dey did!!! And den dey built a big boat and all da animals came.”

Soooo obviously she is learning stuff, and maybe getting her bible stories mixed up, but that’s neither here nor there. Her speech is getting better (obviously need to work on th’s and s’s), I think being around other kids who are a little more advanced, helps her. It’s still not great, but she is talking a lot more, and really trying.

And oh my goodness, girlfriend is obsessed with Michael Jackson. I am sure you are all aware of my own obsession with MJ that has gone on since I was in 5th grade:

dressed up as him TWICE for Halloween, wallpapered my room in pictures of him, own a Michael Jackson doll, know every song right down to the hee-hee and ow’s, performed to Man in the Mirror AT my wedding reception (not planned but awesome all the same), have been known to perform Man in the Mirror pretty much whenever I have had alcohol (my husband wants to die of embarrassment every time), the day he died my phone was blowing up with texts and calls from family and friends wondering if I was ok, and I tried to take bereavement pay on the day of his funeral but APPARENTLY your life-long idol isn’t considered family and was denied. Whatever.

but I swear I had nothing to do with this! Last November I had dvr’d the movie This Is It (the one that came out right after he….gulp….passed away). About a month ago I was scrolling through the list and she saw it and wanted to watch it…..and the rest is history (ha, history, get it? No? It was one of MJ’s albums….never mind).

All she wants to watch is Michael Dackson, all.the.time. I am one of the biggest fans of him EVER and even I am sick of it!!

My neighbor stopped by the other evening and we were (of course) watching Michael Jackson and I could see her glancing at the t.v. and I am sure she was thinking:

“what…..the…….hell.”

I hope this is a phase, don’t get me wrong, I want my children to appreciate the greatness that was (gulp) the King of Pop. However, I don’t need them to turn into obsessive freaks like I was (am).

Here is a video I took yesterday….just to prove that I am not encouraging this.

http://youtu.be/TdAtvNdytvM

Harper also started dance at a new dance studio last week. She is taking a ballet/tap combo class and the cuteness of it about kills me. They HAVE to wear a leotard and tights to every class, and seeing all these little girls in their adorable outfits lit-er-ally makes my heart stop.

 

 

And to top of my randomness I will leave you with this guy who is my new idol. I mean, I can’t even get over the hilariousness of him. This is just one of his videos, but go to YouTube and watch all of them and be prepared to be amazed. You don’t have to be a K-State fan (asshole) to appreciate the pure talent he has for being funny as hell!!

http://youtu.be/uAgQqTt-dQQ

You’re welcome.

Random Ramblings……

Better known as mind vomit, here it goes:

First (and most importantly), today is gameday bishes!!!! Hells yeah!!

Awwwww!! Could this picture BE any cuter? 2 of my favorite people in the world!!

That stadium is like home to me ……well mainly because it’s IN my hometown, but also because it holds SO MANY wonderful memories!!

Unfortunately I will not be traveling home for the first game of the season, but my sister and bro-in-law came to visit and are going to watch it with me at Willie’s.

Of course we can’t forget about this game tonight too!

Oh Jess, this picture killed me!  It looks like he is dancing. I had to post it, give coach my apologies, ha!

The Butler Grizzlies will be playing their first home game of the season in their BRAND NEW STADIUM!! It’s an amazing facility and much needed and deserved by this great team!

So I will be wearing purple for my Cats and my Grizzlies today!

Speaking of purple; Walmart here in town has about 2 racks of K-State stuff and an entire aisle of KU crap stuff!! What.the.shiz.? Last time I checked there were TWO Kansas teams, and last time I checked, the one that was purple was ranked higher than that other team.  I saw the aisle of red and blue and thought to myself:

“Oh hell no, there better be an aisle of purple stuff on the other side or shits gonna get all sorts of crazy up in here”

Walk around looking for the K-State aisle……..nope, nothin, nada. So then I am stomping around WalMart, shaking my head, mumbling under my breath, rolling my eyes and looking for the nearest manager to chew out. (Can you picture how crazy I probably looked? Yeah that occurred to me later.)

Ok I didn’t chew anyone out, but that’s ONLY because I was running late and had to get home, but I really think I might call them. This is discrimination people and I will not stand for it!!

Harper’s nap:

It’s gone. See ya later sweet, sweet nap. It’s been great knowing you, I will always have very fond memories of you that I will hold close to my heart forever.

First day with no nap, diva slept from 8:30 p.m. and we had to wake her up at 7:45 the next day for school. NO WAKING UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

Second and third day, no nap, slept like a champ.

Fourth day, she fell asleep on the chair in the living room (this may or may not have occurred when I accidently shut my eyes for 2 SECONDS….ok more like 15 minutes) and I could NOT get her to wake up. She slept for an hour. That night? Up at 3 a.m……crying……for donuts.

Yup, naps are gone because I can’t handle the 3 a.m. concerts or cry fests my daughter puts on.

I discovered last night that I have a new follower on here. Up to 42 followers peeps!! Woo hoo!!………..ok, who am I kidding, legit bloggers have THOUSANDS of followers.  I sure do love each and every one of those 42 that follow me right now, though. My new follower sophistafunk left me the sweetest comment. I LOVE NEW FOLLOWERS! So welcome to my neck of the woods sophistafunk, glad to have ya.

Ok that’s enough randomness for now. I have some bubble bread (or monkey bread for some of you) I just took out of the oven and I need to go motorboat it.

Happy weekend everyone!!