"Mom"

 (Me with my Mom, Saxon, and Dalton - the day Dalton was born)

A friend of mine posted this quote on facebook:

(you may have seen it going around)

2yrs, "mommy , I love you". 12yrs, " mom, whatever" , 16yrs "mom is so annoying" , 18yrs " I want to leave this place " , 25yrs " mom, you were right" , 30yrs "I want to go to my moms house" , 50yrs "I don't want to lose my mom", 70yrs ,"I would give up everything for my mom to be here with me". A mother is irreplaceable , post this on your wall if you appreciate and love your Mom♥..

It makes me love each "Mommy, I love you" from my boys and remember each "Mom, whatever" that I handed out and dread the day that my kids say the same thing.

I have a friend whose mom died when she was a teenager.  She doesn't ever complain, but says that there are just some moments where you need your mom, and no one else will do.

It makes me appreciate my mom, and appreciate the chance to be a mom.

Do you LAUGH or do you CRY?

(Bridger)

Saturday was Saxon's 5th Birthday.

We decided to have some family over and make dinner, and then all go get ice cream at

Sub-Zero.

It's Saxon's favorite place because they have a loft upstairs with arcade games and air hockey.

Right when we got there, both boys rattled off their orders to me and then jetted upstairs to play.  There was a big line behind us so I started placing all of our orders.  

Then I see Bridger's little face peek around the corner at the top of the stairs and he yells,

"MOM!  I just pooped on the stairs..."

I'm in the middle of ordering (and I don't want the kid who works there to know what happened, or anyone in line for that matter...) so I nudged Nate.

He was totally oblivious.  

"What?"

"Bridger needs you."

"Why?"

"He just does, could you go check on him?"

"What happened?"

(Now I'm getting really frustrated...I wanted to push him in Bridger's direction and say "Go see for yourself!" but I didn't want to make a scene.)

"He needs to go to the bathroom."

Then Bridger yells again:

"MOM!  I POOPED!"

My brother Gregor was with us and bursts out laughing,

"Too late, I think he already did go to the bathroom..."

Nate finally catches on and heads toward the stairs.

Then he comes tearing down the stairs with Bridger in his arms.

He runs into the bathroom, puts Bridger on the potty, then goes running back up the stairs with a HUGE wad of paper towels.

Then Saxon comes running down the stairs:

"MOM!  I have to poop!"

Of course he does...

So I grabbed him and ran into the women's bathroom.

We made it just in time, but I missed whatever else was happening with Nate and Bridger.

Finally, we all made it out of the bathrooms back upstairs.

When we all sat down, I asked Nate,

"Do we need to go get Bridger new shorts."

"No, he's fine."

"Did you just take off the poopy underwear?"

"No, it didn't get in his underwear."

 I can always tell when Nate's hiding something...

"What happened then?"

"Well...when I got him dressed to come here, I let him go commando..."

Our whole group burst out laughing.

That's how he pooped on the stairs.

There were no underwear to catch it.

That's what happens when it's Daddy's turn to get them dressed...

It was one of those moment's when I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

I was embarrassed, grossed out, and yet, somehow, we were all cracking up.

Because at this point, what else can you do?

CSI Project

Hey Everyone!

I'm being featured today on the CSI project.

I'm so excited!

Make sure you head over and enter the giveaway...

CSI PROJECT

Coming Soon...

Here's the newest addition to my shop...

I'm going to try to get this listed this weekend.

My sister-in-law gave me the idea because we both have 3 boys.

I can't tell you how many times a day I have to ask:

"Did you flush?"

"Did you wash your hands?"

"Are you sure?"

"Did you brush your teeth yet?"

"What about flossing?"

Now, we have a constant reminder :)

It comes in:

Robin's Egg Blue

Chocolate Brown

Avocado Green

White with Carnation Pink

White with Black

Turn away for a second...

It's amazing to me the things that kids can do when you turn away for just a second.

Sometimes it's funny...

Sometimes it's naughty...

Sometimes it's dangerous...

My sister Brooke is in town this week.  Last night we put Bridger in my bath and we were standing in the doorway of the closet (which is in the bathroom) talking.  We were only about 3 feet away from the bath.  Baby Dalton was crawling around on the floor and we were discussing some clothes options, when we hear Bridger make a sound of distress.

Not really a scream, but a little panic in his voice.

We turn around and Baby Dalton is in the bathtub, looking up at me with a "deer in the headlights" expression.

"Baby Dalton climbed in the bath!" -Bridger

Dalton likes to lean over the edge of the bath and watch the boys.

He is always trying to climb in, but isn't big enough.

Or so I thought...

Because he just slipped right over, there wasn't even a splash to alert us.

I was in the room with him, only feet away from the edge of the tub, and this happened.

I feel like I can never take my eyes off this kid.

He learns so fast and is so busy.

After my moment of panic

"what if he had drowned"

"what if he had hit his head"

"what if the tub was too deep"

My mind instantly starts running through every awful possibility...

After I calmed down and we made sure that everyone was alright, I grabbed the camera :)

Once Dalton regained his bearings, he was actually pretty proud of himself.

Is it even possible to "never take your eyes off of them"?

I feel like I need to have him in my arms at all times.

I'm going to have to find a good balance.

Dr. Seuss Cupcakes

I've been browsing Martha Stewart as I try to put together Saxon's "reptile party".

I came across the "cutest cupcakes winners" from each year and couldn't help but stop and admire.

Here's one of my favorites:

Thing One and Thing Two Cupcakes

This is definitely one I'm going to try (maybe just for fun)...

Find the pictures HERE.

Lizard Cupcakes

My little Saxon is turning 5 and we're having a "reptile party".

I'm trying to find ideas and I LOVE these cute Lizard cupcakes.

I found them HERE and it sounds like she put fondant in a mold to get these cute lizards!

What a cute idea!

Loving Coconut Lately

I have been LOVING coconut this summer!

Did you know that coconut oil has an amazing variety of uses?

I use it on diaper rash and it seems to be the miracle cure.

It soothes and works almost instantly.

My littlest guy is 11 months old.

I'm about ready to be done nursing him, but I don't want to have to go buy a ton of formula.  He's almost old enough for milk, but not quite.  Plus, my kids seem to start off a little sensitive to cow's milk.  We've tried soy, but that seems to upset their stomachs.  We love almond milk, but I'm too afraid to give something made with nuts to my baby before he's one.

So, while I was trying to decide what to do, I came across coconut milk and decided to give it a try.  I actually really love it!  It has a distinct coconut flavor though, so I'm not sure that I would pour it on my cereal, but I love to drink it, and so does Dalton.  I read a suggestion online where someone froze it in a popscicle mold and made coconut pops :)  I can't wait to try.  I want to make all kinds of smoothies with it too.  It just tastes like summertime.  So far, we haven't had any negative reactions.  It seems like Dalton handles it just fine.

Another benefit is that is has less calories than milk, and more added calcium.  It has about 5 grams of fat per serving (and since my sister-in-law is always reminding me) kids need some fat in their diets.

 About a week ago, I was at Costco and they were sampling VitaCoco.

It's coconut water made from green coconuts.

I liked it because it reminded me of Brazil.

In Brazil, they have street vendors that sell coconuts.

They use huge knives to cut the top off the coconut and stick a straw in it.

I might have bought it just because it reminded me of living in Brazil, but the lady giving out samples really sold me on it.  She said it has more potassium than 2 bananas and more electrolytes than gatorade.  She said it's great for when your kids are sick to re-hydrate them.

So, I bought some.

My kids don't love it, but I put a little spoonful of apple juice concentrate in it and then they think it's juice :)

I saw an ad for VitaCoco in flavors.

Mmmm, I'll have to try them out...

I have been thinking lately, that making a birdhouse with my kids would be a fun summer activity.  My kids are fascinated by birds.  In fact, today they found a dead baby bird that they wanted to keep, and a bird egg that they also wanted to keep.  Ummm...no.

So, I googled "birdhouses" and found this cool step-by-step to making a coconut birdhouse.

Check out the instructions here. 

It's so natural and original, I can't wait to let my kids make on and hang it in our neighborhood.

I'll let you know how it goes... :)