Category: happiness

gratitude, happiness

Vacation (All I Ever Wanted)

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Vacation, have to get away! Hello dear readers. Mad Dog and I are leaving on a kid-free (yes, you read that right, kid-free) vacation. Writesforallmommies is going to give the blog a break while I am away. We are going on our now annual cruise (third year running) and I can’t wait. We are leaving the boys in very capable hands.

Mad Dog and me on our cruise in \’09

Please feel free to read (and re-read) any of my posts. I would love to hear if there have been any that have resonated with you and why? One of my favorites is Full Hands, Full Heart. Plug it in my blog search engine and it should pop-up. It pretty much is the mantra of my life.

Be well, keep reading and tell your friends to read, too. I will be returning to daily posts on March 2nd. See you then!

happiness, humor, mommyhood

The Best Kind

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Every day our morning routine is the same. I walk in the boys’ room, open the shutters and hope that I have two, smiling faces staring back at me. Luckily, most of the time I do. Some days, not so much.

“I not go to school, today,” little T.Puzzle says every single morning. Even on the weekends he adamantly informs me he ‘stays home’.

Full Speed usually starts his day with an aggressive burst of energy. All I can say is ‘look out little T.Puzzle!’.

Today was no different. The usual arguments and demands descended on our morning.

By the time we were in the truck headed to school I gave my usual pep talk. 90% percent of the time I get a positive response so I expected only enthusiasm.

“Who’s ready to have a great day?” I asked with gusto.

Usually I get two, loud boys shouting “ME!”

Instead, all I got was silence. You could have heard a pin drop.

For some reason, that tickled my funny bone. Before I knew it we were all cracking up. That’s a great thing about motherhood (see, it’s not all stress and headaches), it can entertain you in unexpected ways. A laughing start to a day is the best kind there is.

children, gratitude, happiness

My Friend, My Brother

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The boys have been sleeping in the same room. When we upgraded little T.Puzzle’s bed from a crib, we purchased a trundle bed with this intent in mind. Usually, T.Puzzle goes to bed in the ‘super secret spy’ pull-out part, and then Full Speed slips in quietly (sort of) a few minutes later to the upper ‘big boy’ portion. They know the rules. If Mom so much as hears a peep out of either one, Full Speed will be immediately relocated to his own room with no warning and no questions asked. So far, I haven’t had to follow through on that threat. They must actually want to be in the same room. After all the smack-downs I have witnessed I find this shocking.

They decided to mix it up over the weekend. They decided to sleep in the same bed for fun.

Little T.Puzzle thought this was remarkable. When I was helping him get dressed the next morning he said, “Mommy! Full Speed slept with me on my Thomas sheeps!”

Looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

gratitude, happiness, life in pictures

Piece of Cake

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This happened a couple of days ago and was bumped because of all of little T.Puzzle’s exciting allergy news. As you know, Mad Dog was out of town for a training. To help me get through the week, our babysitter came to help one evening. She stayed home with T.Puzzle and I took Full Speed to karate with the older and higher ranking kids. After that, we went on a ‘date’.

He was so excited to go out with just me. We went to Ruby Tuesday’s and he handled himself fairly well. There was a point that he spastically kicked the table (you know he can’t sit still, ever) and it almost flipped over. And then there was the inappropriate comment he made about a smelly, body function. I had to sternly tell him I expected more from him and to not talk silly at the table. Other than that, it was quite enjoyable. We discussed what he is learning at school (which according to him is a lot because apparently he knows EVERYTHING) and we named the shapes of all the light fixtures (some were big and round and reminded Full Speed of cake).

When our meal was over I told him we could get dessert. His face lit up with joy. I read off the choices and he immediately chose the double chocolate cake. I told him that on a date, a gentlemen, if in agreement with his lady friend, should order when the waiter comes to the table. He was very serious about ordering the cake and was delighted to know we would get ice cream with it.

The manager came out to ask us how our meal was. He had heard that we were on a date. He asked Full Speed if he was going to pay. “I can’t pay. I’m not even an adult!” he said.

“Maybe you could go to the back and wash dishes instead,” said the manager.

“Okay,” said Full Speed. It surprised me that he was so easily compliant. He was very cute (Full Speed, not the manager, just to be clear).

When the cake arrived, Full Speed immediately dove in. He was stabbing the cake with glee and managing to get enormous chunks on his fork and somehow ably shoving these entire pieces into his little mouth. Cake was everywhere.

If the amount of mess Full Speed left on the table was any indicator of how much fun we had, then I can safely say, it was a complete success.

children, gratitude, happiness, health

Pancakes and Cookies

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My day with T.Puzzle has been very exciting. First of all, Mad Dog came home late last night (a nice surprise) and was able to make pancakes for breakfast. I couldn’t believe that little T.Puzzle ate his pancakes without one allergy symptom. He even said, “Pancakes are good, Daddy.”

I then took him to Publix and he got his first ever cookie there. I was so excited I wanted to cry. Up to this point he has been a good sport as Full Speed chomped away on his Publix cookie and waited until we reached the deli for his sample. Somehow a turkey slice isn’t nearly as interesting as a cookie with sprinkles.

It was surreal to wander the isles and realize that nothing is going to be off limits. I still can’t believe he didn’t have one hive or any indicator of his previous egg allergy. He is free and clear. I even bought a bag of frozen corn dogs, not because they are healthy, but because I could.

Another great day, indeed!