Cutting Up Spaghetti and Thoughts on Motherhood

Am I the only one that hates to come home from grocery shopping just to have to cook? I find it ironic that I go spend all that $ on groceries, then have no desire to cook any of it, so we often eat out or order in on days that I've grocery shopped. I think I get so exhuasted just shopping and keeping control of 2 kids while there that I just can't face the exhaustion of cooking. I don't really like cooking to begin with anyway.

Anyway, it is Friday today and Kris has been gone alot recently because he works like at least 60 hour weeks every week, plus for the past 2 weeks he has been taking dispatcher classes because he wants to become a part time/on call 911 dispatcher. The classes run for like 6 weeks. I swear the past 2 weeks I've really only seen him as he drags himself in at around midnight and then leaves for work again by 8 the next day. I feel bad for him - I know he's exhasuted.

Well tonight I went grocery shopping and finished around 7. Not wanting to come home and cook my kids another crappy dinner, and since I had some cool coupons to TGI Fridays, I decided me and the kids would go out for dinner. It felt odd for me to go into a restaurant like that with just me and my 2 kids, but hey - I'm a paying customer so it doesn't matter, right? We ended up having a blast!!! My kids were angels and it was really good quality bonding time for us. And I had a 'mom moment' that I really don't want to forget so I figured I would record it here.

As I cut up Savanna's spaghetti, a memory from my childhood hit me hard. I could suddenly CLEARLY remember (though I have no clue what age I was, but I think I was around Joey's age) my mother cutting spagetti up for me, and then I wanted to try, but couldn't even begin to do it right, so she finished cutting it up for me. I remember how I marveled at how easily she could cut it when I couldn't do it at all and how just from that, I thought she could do anything. I remember wanting to be able to cut up spaghetti as well as she could. I know it sounds stupid, but the memory was so clear in my head. And I could see Savanna and Joey watching me cut it up and I realized I had become like my mother. I remembered so clearly how I wanted to be just like my mom when I grew up - and now I am. It hit me how my life is exactly like I've always wanted it to be. It's definately not a perfect life by any stretch of the imagination - I would like to be debt free, I would like to be 40 lbs lighter, I would like to have more patience, I would like to have more horses - no, it's not a perfect life. BUT I relized beyond a shadow of a doubt tonight that it IS the perfect life for me. I am so beyond blessed and I know that the Lord has given me what I wanted, as well as what I need. I'm definately a mother now because I can't even get through cutting up my child's spaghetti without crying with joy. :) I do so love my kids and even though I get stressed about being a mom, it's times like this that I know I want nothing more than to be a good mom to my two perfect little ones.

I Made a People!

The pictures didn't show as well as I was hoping, but these are pictures of Joey's "people" that he drew today. I know this will sound lame, but Joey has always been a little behind on his drawing skills. He just has never shown much intrest in putting pen to paper. Don't get me wrong. I don't think he's 'slow' by any means, he's just a little behind what most kids his age are in this department, but still well within 'normal' parameters. Well today, for the first time, he brought me some paper and said "Mom, I made a people!" He was SO proud of himself! And they really looked like people! I love this little guy.

I find it interesting that in all 3 pictures, the people have a head, eyes, mouths, stomachs, and legs, and of all things - a heart. He put a heart in the center of each stomach. Not all of them had arms. Apparently he sees a heart as more important than arms! How neat this little guy is. One of them had another circle next to the heart in the stomach and I asked him what it was - he said it's me with a baby in my belly!! LOL - I most certainly hope he's not right! I am so proud of my little guy. Here are the pictures of his pictures. YOu have to turn your head to the right and maybe if you can make them bigger then you can see them.

Oh the Joys of Having a Girl!!

Hello. My name is Sara and I have a problem. I LOVE braiding hair - I love feeling the hair as I braid it, I love the look of braids, I love to have my own hair braided. And so, when I found out I was having a girl, I was sooooo excited for the day that I could braid her hair!!! :) Well, obviously baby girls don't typically come out with braid-able hair but just about a week ago I decided to give it a whirl. I love it!!!

Here is a back view of it. I know I know they aren't even and they don't look great, but hey - her hair is only about 3 inches long and is still really thin and wispy. The braids stayed in all day!! Is she cute or what??

Spraypaint Pictures

About 5 years ago I taught seminary for church. I only had 1 student - we were studying the new testament. I LOVED it - it was lots of fun to teach seminary. But that was the year I got pregnant for Joey, so I decided not to do it the following year since I was going to have a new baby and didn't really know what to expect. I think someday I would like to teach a larger seminary class - I think it would be fun. Probably shouldn't say that too loud tho... ha ha!

Anyway, the girl that I taught was Tiffany Smith. Recently I've caught up with her on Facebook and I started seeing the AMAZING artwork she was doing! She is soooo talented!! I saw in her spraypaint pictures that she did a horse one, so I asked if she could do one for me. She said she could!!! I even got to go watch - and yes - she uses real spraypaint! The kind you would buy at the store. This is the horse one she made - it's unbelievable!! It only took her like 10 minutes max. I even watched it and it's hard for me to believe she did it.

And she also did this one for me too... turn your head to the L to get the full effect. SO cool!!

Thanks Tiffany!!! I can't wait to frame them and find a place to hang them!!

Another year older! Another year wiser?

The above picture is just a random one I found on the net... thought it was cool! Not sure if I'm breaking copyright though... he he! So last Tuesday, October 13, I turned 27!!! Even after all these years, I still find something magical in my birthday. Of course my kids birthdays are much more fun for me now, but it's still exciting when Oct 13 rolls around every year. It amazes me I'm 27 already.... I swear just yesterday I was turning 16. I can't believe how fast time goes!! And you know what? I like being 27. It still sounds 'old' to me, but that's ok. It's just odd to me that I really am an 'adult' LOL - even though I have been for the past 9 years it still gets me because so often I still feel like a teenager.

But you know, I am very happy with where I am in my life right now. To repeat something my sister Amanda said in her blog on her birthday, I am more comfortable in my skin now than I have ever been. I am coming to know who I really am and am learning how to improve myself every day. I am learning to take things as they come. I think motherhood has taught me soooo much more about who I am than anything else. Anyway - here is a sampling of what I recieved on my birthday. I must say I was feeling very loved this year!!

My sister Amanda got me the flowers on the L and she bought me lunch at Subway (my fav!!) and came to my house and kept me company on my birthday since I had to babysit. My friend from church, Diana, showed up at my door with the flowers on the R and a card and a happy birthday wish. It made me feel so special!! Really put a smile on my face. My friend Laurie got me the book Evermore (which I finished in 2 days), pre-ordered the New Moon soundtrack for me AND took me out to dinner at TGI Fridays. My sister Julie got me a target gift card which will certainly be used on clothes!! My parents gave me money, which is ALWAYS appreciated and I got many cards and happy birthday wishes. :) Kris, as I posted about a couple posts ago, took me to see the So You Think You Can Dance performance and dinner at the beginning of the month.

So what does it feel like to be 27? No different than it did to feel 26. I don't feel older. And really, when I think about it, it feels like the last 27 years has been a long time!! And to think in another 27 years I'll only be 54, which is a strange thought. I wonder what the next 27 years will bring me... :)

Happy birthday to me!

Joey Chatter

At the barn, upon seeing a new pile of fresh sawdust (which he LOVES to play in)

"Look, Mommy!! There's a HUGE mountain dew of sawdust!! I'm gonna climb that mountain dew all the way to the top!!"

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Today while driving:

"When I grow up I'm gonna be a race car driver! And you will be a horse back rider, and Daddy will be a golfer, and Savanna will be a dancer. Ok Mom?"

LOL - I'm glad he has that all figured out! What's funny is Kris enjoys to golf, but I think he's only gone all of two times in the 6 years we've been married!! And I would love to be a horse back rider when I 'grow up'!

What a cute boy.

So You Think You Can Dance

Last night Kris and I went to the 'So You Think You Can Dance' Season 5 tour at Nationwide Arena! Let me tell you what - it was soooooo AWESOME!!! What fun! We both watched season 5 together and so when the tickets went on sale and saw they were coming to Columbus around my birthday, I figured it was worth the ticket $ to get a rare night out together and enjoy some amazing dancing in person!

I didn't know what to expect - I didn't know if they would do new dances, or the ones from the show, or what. I was pleased that they did have a couple of new dances, but over all, it was some of the best dances from season 5. And they were SO good! Over all, the narration, which was also done by the dancers, was a little cheesy and over-rehersed - I mean hey - they're dancers -not actors! But the dancing more than made up for it! It was awesome! And it was so fun to have a night out to relax and enjoy something other than diapers and temper tantrums! A huge thank you to my sister Amanda for watching my kids!!! You rock!

Her are my top 3 dances from Season 5. I took these from You Tube, so not sure if it's legal, but enjoy! They are great! I love a dance that has a story - and all 3 of these have awesome stories behind them!

This first one is about addiction - the woman is an addict and the man is the addiction keeping her 'trapped'. It brings me to tears.




This next one is about breast cancer and the struggle. It speaks for itself.



And this one is just cute - it's about a couple that are mad at eachother and can't sleep because of it - but they make up by the end. :) This one also is done by my 2 favorite dancers and season 5's winner - Jeanine.