Exercise regimen

This is how I get my exercise:

1ST CIRCUIT

*Move highchairs 4 ft. apart (not because the boys grab @ each other)

*Start from right to left and spoon in hot cereal into each boys mouth (not because they don't know how to eat by themselves & not because they throw their food all over floor)  REPEAT.

*Every once in a while throw in a kick, shake of the booty, or a twisty turn while listening to Ernie sing "Boom. boom. boom, I go boom in my room"----------or whatever that is that he is singing.  Seriously is this my life?  

2ND CIRCUIT

*Run as fast as you can from what feels like the paper boy from Better Off Dead who wants his 2 DOLLARS but is really just my daughter.

2 dollars...I want my 2 dollars!!!!!

Ever feel that way?  I finally found a hiding spot for 5 minutes of peace.

{Smiley}

Are you even joking....I'll take these boys home anytime...Oh they already are @ my home.

So I have this most radical friend Michelle & she takes really nifty photos & she probably is my best friend right now.  

When we go on our neighborhood walks we always pass this little Morris Minor car & it looks like such a happy car.  We have actually named him Smiley.  When we round the corner & see that little car, he is always there & we know we are on the home stretch.  I think the lady of the house that owns Smiley thought I was crazy when I knocked on her door & ask her if we could snap a few pictures of my boys with her car.  I explained that Smiley has become kind of sentimental to our family as we associate everything with our walks as pure bliss.  After I explained myself to the lady I think she understood & was really nice.  She even said, "Hey I think I saw you @ Home Goods with all of your kids one time".  We are kind of hard to miss.  

I'm kind of like Smiley right now....all smiles...do you blame me?  Now I will never forget what 2 years old looks like with my boys.  If you are interested in others that Michelle makes smile go here.

Want to know what else is making me kind of smile..the above vignette by Thomas Loof.

Twin Headboards Makeover.

I love it when I can find DIY projects that I can actually do & I have wanted to upholster my girls twin beds for a very long time so when I cam across the above  there was some excitement.  Can't wait to share the other DIY project that is the works.

For full instructions go here.

{photos via Country Living}

When the man is away, the girls come out to play.

This photo can represent 2 different scenarios...EITHER........

a) My husband may as well be doing this to me.  You know pushing me over the edge.  Arrest me now because I think I've gone over the legal limit of insanity.

OR

b) My husband is the force behind what makes us move ahead & is missed terribly while he is gone.

c) all of the above.

We've made it through the weekend.

HIGHLIGHTS:

CHICK FOOD
Didn't worry about what husband thought about what food was being served. Pls. observe the tofu/quinoa wrap loaded with stir fried broccoli & yellow squash all wrapped up with fresh spinach, tomatoes & avocado. YUM!

GIRLS MOVIE NIGHT
A few old school movies for all of the big girls in the house. Does anybody remember The Last Unicorn? I kind of felt old because I did. Movies sure have come a long way.

SLEEP OVER IN MY BED
Lot's of kids to fill the empty space in my bed.
2 four year olds= 1 full size dad

MORE TIME FOR GIRL STUFF
The girls love their painted nails. I love fast dry polish.

    

Oh and let's not forget the 10 loads of laundry this weekend that has positioned me well to do a few more loads of really stinky man clothes. We missed the big head honcho.

Thank goodness for parents to help relieve some of my insaneness problems. 

not of the masses......

   

I have a love/hate relationship with places such as Wal-Mart. They are accomplishing everything they have set out to do which is to monopolize the market. I always say I am not going to shop there for that very reason but then I some how just end up there time and time again. Besides the great prices and being a one stop shopping place, they are open later than anywhere else and that is working for me. I've become a late night shopper since I've acquired a full house. Well today @ the Wal-Mart I found some of the best flip flops ever. They were all yellow & $2.50...."perfect" I thought, they'll even match my new lamp that was not produced for the masses (my brain works by associating colors you know).  Well sure enough when I got home they were the same exact color.  My daughter (oldest "M" by 2 minutes) has been begging to click the camera so we seized the moment.  Besides, the two yellow items in the above pictures had invoked some thoughts that made me associate my other little girl so they would work perfect for the picture.  I set the camera up on a little table told her to hold it very still and then push the button.  It really wasn't that simple because we had to keep doing a re-do but she did an awesome job (refer above).

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My girls have decided to quit napping.  I made a deal with them & said that they at least had to do quiet time.  Right away little "M" asked if I would get her down some books.  I came back to check on her & this is what I found.  She looked so beautiful in the soft light pouring in on her little body.  I thought to myself, "This girl was not produced for the masses, there is only one of her & she is all mine."  I've had to become fine with not having a monopoly on her because I realize that was not part of the "original Plan". After all she is not really all mine because she was just a gift from above that has been loaned out like a book from the library & I signed my name to check her out for our earthly experience.  I am just in charge of helping her write part of her book.  My biggest hope is when I sign my name to check her book back into the library that it will be in the best shape ever & even better.  I also hope I can teach her as much as she has already taught me.  She sure has learned me a lesson a time or two:-)

I'm looking forward to see how her story goes.

P.S. - Little "M" asked for a purple pencil to show me a surprise.  When she brought what she had been working on I couldn't believe my eyes.  There written very clearly was her name.  She still has another year of preschool and she can write her name...I am AMAZED.

I Love yellow today!

Inspiration photos

A little inspiration for one of my next projects.

{via ffffound}

{found here}

{bottom 2 photos found here via Jordan Ferney}

Yep I still love those colors.  Can you believe the above photo is just foam balls that are spray painted?  I love spray paint.

Ch*ch*ch*change

Let me present the picture that sealed the deal.......

A friend came into town and cut my hair and this is what happened...big bangs. 

This was a big deal because I conquered my chickenish ways....now imagine all of the possibilities that could follow.

You know what else is a big deal I found out my computer had a camera in it:-).  Technology I tell you.  Wait does that mean I can do that live chat thing with a sister across the ocean?

The camera even worked in the dark with a little girl who had a hammer sticker on her chin.

I'm a fan or rainbows...real ones

If there ever was something that was so perfect, well then it happened tonight. I took the girls after dinner to pick out a snack to bring to preschool. When we walked out of the store we beheld one of natures biggest miracles...a rainbow...a full rainbow at that. I don't think my evening could have been anymore full itself after experiencing this sight through my daughter's eyes. She was so excited to see a real live rainbow that she started jumping up and down while saying, "This is my very first rainbow I've ever seen...Mommy, it's a real rainbow!" 

There were many questions that followed about them, like how many rainbows are there per year, what makes the rainbows & does everybody see them. 

I was excited to tell her the story of Noah's Ark among other things the rainbow symbolizes.

How did I get so lucky tonight?

Oh the beauty! 

Perfection

I've come back to this saying quite a bit lately. Sometimes as woman and mothers I think we feel we need to be perfect (I know I do). It can be down right overwhelming and exhausting at times to try and do everything.  It is easier said than done to just let go of certain things & just do the best that I can.  Just when I think I've mastered that concept I really haven't. To give myself credit though, I am doing better but it still can be a fight @ times.

Ok so perhaps this is not a good comparison but look @ the below perfection in the color coordinated books and closets.  I do have to admit it is a pretty sight & makes me want to go straight to all of my shelves & closets but......why would I want to color coordinate my books right now? That is the last thing I need to strive for @ this time in my life (heaven knows) but I saw this post and it made me think of how I love it when things are perfectly color coordinated.  It must be that perfectionist thing going off in my head again.  Today I will just blog about perfection and then just let it go....AGAIN.

{above image found here via here}

{image via Serena & Lily}

So back to finding part of the million ways to be a good Mom without being perfect.  Wish me luck!  I think I'm going to run with a new motto:

Not being perfect is the new perfection.....{sort of}

Actually something I think about often is how the Savior often makes up the difference & it is only by & through Him that we can become perfect.  In which I can't even begin to express my feelings of deep gratitude & love.