This morning I woke up and it was one of those mornings where everything that I needed to do/wanted to do piled up in my head and I exploded with anxiety. I lost my cool and started to stomp around the house throwing toys in bins and tossing shoes in buckets.

I then realized that I was being ridiculous so I went to shower and get ready for the day. While getting ready I was able to sort out the tasks in my head and tried to prioritize them. I then went to apologize to Dan for my bad mood and explained my game plan.

30 minutes later I "fell" again. I started the "stressed out stomp" around the house. I was scrambling to come up with a grocery list and trying to get out of the house before lunch time. I got in the car and heard the words, "We raise our white flag and we surrender all to you." The radio was playing the song "White Flag" sung by Chris Tomlin (written by Matt Maher).

And that was it. The clouds parted and I felt God telling me to calm down. I had to pray and surrender to Him. And isn't that what Lent is all about?   Really, that's what this life is all about. But I was reminded that during this Lent I need to "give up" trying to be Supermom. Kolbe does not have to be potty-trained this week to meet the "before he turns 3" deadline. Emma's birthday party will be planned and it will be fun no matter what.  Joshua will one day stop eating every crumb he finds on the floor. I will get my retreat talk written. The house does not need to always look perfect...I need to daily surrender my imperfections and frustrations. The other sacrifices that I make do not mean anything unless I am pairing them with prayer and love.

So when I got home from the store, I immediately went and apologized again to Dan and told him about my thoughts. I made lunch and we sat down together to eat. After lunch, I waited to clean the kitchen and instead we made a simple crown of thorns. I used the idea from Catholic Icing to make the crown with old play-doh. It definitely looks weird, but it does the job and Emma is very excited to perform little acts of love to help take away the thorns from Jesus's crown.

 Then I prayed a rosary. I took some quiet time while feeding Joshua to pray and mentally prepare for the week. And then, for the moment, all of things piling up in my head didn't seem as overwhelming after all.


Now I know everything I have just written is simple and maybe to most, quite obvious. But it's what I needed today.

I just got back from running some errands and I definitely should be cleaning the kitchen or something, but I really thought it was more important to update the world on our lives...

It has been an interesting week.

Monday- Dan was out of town and had been gone since Friday. I had Sheena and her baby girls over for dinner because her hubby was gone on the same trip with mine. We commiserated by baking and eating chocolate lava cake. We really needed it. Trust me.

Tuesday- Mardi Gras. Dan came home. It rained all day. We ate some King cake and Emma was thrilled to get the baby and add it to her doll collection...

I also thought about doing some sort of craft in honor of Mardi Gras, or Lent beginning, but I didn't get to it. I really want to make a crown of thorns for this lenten season, I am hoping to work on that this weekend. We'll see...

Wednesday- Ash Wednesday...a day of fasting. Except for the children who got to decorate and eat cupcakes that we were bringing to Emma's class the next day. That was extremely tempting! 

We also got to go to an evening Mass with Dan. 

Ashes report:

Kolbe willingly accepted the ashes, but after we sat back down, he looked at my forehead and said very seriously, "I do not want that" and he then rubbed off his ashes. And of course he repeated himself multiple times. 

Emma turned away and did not want ashes. When we got back to the pew and asked her why she didn't want them, she responded, "I do not want to be dirty for Valentine's Day tomorrow."

Joshua was an angel, he had a huge cross on his bald little head and it was so cute. It took everything in me not to pull out my phone during Mass to take a picture. And of course by the end of Mass he had a huge black smear because his siblings wouldn't leave him alone. 

Thursday- Happy St. Valentine's day! Emma was so excited about bringing her Valentine's to school. 

It had been raining for the past few days and finally the sun was out. Emma said, "See I knew God wouldn't let it rain on Valentine's Day!!" She is already quite the romantic. And she had the perfect Valentine:

Speaking of her perfect Valentine, Dan was leaving to go pick Emma up from school, and he decided to pick some flowers to bring her. He had gotten in his car and turned it on and decided to hop out to grab one more flower, not realizing he already had the car in reverse. I happened to be outside with the boys and this is what I saw: Dan jumping out to grab a flower while behind him his car was rolling backwards up the driveway and then Dan turned, saw his car leaving him and darted to the drivers seat and was able to stop the car before it rolled over our neighbor's little tree. It was awesome, well I at least I thought so. Dan, not so much. 

When Emma got home from school, she dumped all of her valentine's out on the floor to show us. I later found Joshua munching on a jellybean and a piece of milk chocolate. It was a good day for him. 

My kids are very creative, well I guess you could call it that. I found them playing the air pump. Kolbe was blowing air into Emma's bellybutton. ?????

Dan did get a babysitter so we could go out to dinner. Because he has been out of town a lot recently, spending that time with him was a gift. 

Friday- Today is my nephew and godson's birthday. Happy 2nd Birthday to Joseph!

This morning Dan had to leave really early so he could be on Archangel radio for the Live Hour. 

So I tried to listen to him while getting the kids fed and dressed. Kolbe got a hold of a blue marker and decided to look like the Joker, while wearing his homemade Peter Pan costume.

 Emma was already late for school at this point so he stayed looking that way. While attempting to clean Kolbe up, Emma said to me, "Ummm, your son is eating paper." Thank you Emma for letting me know that Joshua, also your brother, was eating a paper valentine that you left on the floor.

After taking Emma to school I had to go to Target and on the way home I remembered that I desperately needed stamps. So I stopped by the UPS store because it was on my way home. I walked in the store with the boys and Kolbe decided to pitch a fit and sit on the floor by the door and looked out the window like a sad little puppy. And yes he still had marker on him and was still wearing his costume. So I waited in line and dealt with all of the comments from the customers about my crying son. I got to the front of the line and guess what...they were out of stamps. I tried very hard to remember that it was Lent and this was a perfect little moment that I could sacrifice....which is very hard to do. I guess the bills will have to wait for another day. 

And to top it off, Emma decided to go give herself some bangs all by herself. I am still getting over this and Emma is still in time-out.

Happy Lent! Happy Friday! Cheers!

So I can't say that I have 27 bridesmaid dresses but I do have 7. I have many happy memories wearing those dresses. The first two I wore when I was pregnant with Emma. And I knew while wearing them that I would one day give them to Emma for her to play dress-up in. I thought about this because that's what my mom did. Growing up, my sis and I dressed up in all of my mom's old formal and bridesmaid dresses. We loved them to pieces, literally.

Of course I got to be the bride, but I am personally loving that green hat on Jenn.

Now that Emma is almost 5 (crazy!) I thought it would be fun to FINALLY pull them out (because it has been SO LONG since I wore them) and show them to her. She was thrilled...she tried each one on, but of course they were huge on her (and I didn't get any pictures)

Moving on...I was beyond excited when my college bud decided to host the Valentine's Day! Cabin! Fever! Creativity! Link-Up!+ Giveaway! It is my FIRST time to link up with another blog and I got inspired to alter the dresses

Let me just say that I do not really know how to sew. I was not interested in it when I was growing up, so I never asked my mom to teach me. Now I am interested but having a hard time finding the time and patience. Dan even got me a sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago and I still haven't figured it out.  Anyway, I am sharing this because I don't want you to judge my mad stitching skills.

Dress: "Ana"
(And I promise I am not showing her dress first so I can win that little giveaway...wink. wink)

I started with this one because it was knee-length on me and already had straps- meaning I didn't have to cut off any of the dress and all we needed to do was to tighten the straps.

So we just snipped the thread other strap from the back of the dresses and stitched them back on a little tighter. And voila:

It's still a little big, but that's what I want. The purpose is for fun imaginative play and she also needs room to grow in them.

"Jenn"

 

This dress already had straps but I had the idea to cut off the hook and eye that was at the top of the back of dress and move it to the other side to help make the dress a little tighter.

This way we can zip up the dress, and then with this added hook, it stays up better.  I also shortened the straps and cut off the bottom of the dress some. The pic below shows how I just brought in the strap a little.

    

 "Janell"

     

       

This dress required a lot of changes because I was 8 months pregnant with Emma when I wore it. I used some pinking shears to cut off the bottom. (I decided not to worry about hemming the dress bottoms because it is just for play.) Emma was a good little helper.

Once again, I also took off the hook and eye from the inside of the dress and stitched on the outside.

 "Emmie"

This dress didn't need to be cut at the bottom, but we needed to add straps. So my mom took the shawl and used that to add the straps.

And then there are dresses 5, 6, and 7:

"Sarah"

"Catherine"

And "Vickie"

       

I am afraid we will have to wait for another day to finish up these and maybe there will be a follow-up post.

But here are the first 4:

Joshua wanted to be in the pic too.

Emma was excited but she would not try them on for me for pictures. She was too busy sewing herself. A little homemaker in the making.

Now I really need to keep up and learn how to sew...

And sweet little Joshua was so proud of us that he learned how to clap! 

Our Mission: To build a float for Emma's pre-k parade.

Growing up, my siblings and I always always always got A's on our projects because my dad loved the projects more than we did. Needless to say, I had many paper mache tutorials. So naturally, like father, like daughter, I was excited to build this float. And then pair my excitement with Dan's skills and fun determination, we set out to create a masterpiece. Oh and Emma said she would help too.

Emma loves the new Disney JR. show, Sofia the First. Dan thought it would be fun for Emma to be Sofia and we could build her flying horse Minimus.

Here we go:

we got some chicken wire and Dan molded the pieces of the horse around the wagon.

And then Emma and I used paper mache to cover the molded pieces. We used a mixture of flour and water to create the paste and then dipped newspaper strips in it.

The next day we painted all of the pieces. I already own a bunch of acrylic paint, which would have worked great, but instead we spent $4 on washable paint so that the kids could help and I wouldn't worry about the mess.

And then Thursday night we pieced it all together. And by we, I really mean Dan, he was awesome.

He attached all of the pieces, tied it all together, and used the purple duck tape to secure it. And yes, he even figured out how to make the wings flap!! Through all of this I continued to cheer him on and then I pulled out my handy dandy glue gun and attached the purple feather boa.

The next morning Emma woke up and was thrilled! So were we. My sweet friend Jess dropped off two bags filled with beads and other throws for Emma to use at her parade (thank you!) and then we headed up to school.

She had a wonderful time...she did get nervous when all of the big kids were shouting at her for her throws. But all in all in was a fun time!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all!

A little mid-week update. Well its not quite mid-week, but almost. Emma and Kolbe are on the mend, but now the babe has RSV. I am ready for all of this sickness to be over. Good news is that all three kids slept so well last night. Which of course is good for them...and for me.

A few words on sick babies. Joshua's red eyes make my heart break. I took Joshua to the doctor yesterday and it is so frustrating to be told that all I can do to help him is to make sure he keeps eating/drinking well and to keep his nose clear with the bulb syringe...I dislike that thing so much. I feel like every time I go to use it, it makes him cry more which then makes his stuffy nose worse. On the positive and selfish side of things, I am getting my exercise today as I carry all 22 lbs of him in my moby wrap.

A few words on Kolbe. He is still not potty trained.

Also, he is a wonderful waver. Every morning he has to stand outside on the front porch and wave to Emma. He waves that arm in the air so well- he puts all of his love and energy in to it. It melts my heart.

He also says the cutest things. He is getting better at speaking every day- but I will miss his little toddler talk. For example when he says "Banks, mommy" (Thanks, mommy) or "I wud you." Yesterday after Joshua woke up from his nap he came running in the room and said, "You fake, bud!?!" (translation: you awake, bud?!)
He is also in that stage where he says the same thing over and over just to make sure you got it.
"That's a blue truck...that's a blue truck...thats a blue truck...I saw a blue truck"
"Kolbe, you saw a blue truck?!"
"Yeah, saw a blue truck."

And then there are the moments where he is repeating the same thing over and over and I am grateful because it takes me that many times to figure out what he is saying:

"My car a pear."
"What?"
"My car a pear. A pear. ... It a pear. My car right here and then it a pear."
"Ohhh disappeared?!"

Or:

While in the car listening to music:

"Can't hear it."
"Ok, I will turn it up."
"cant HEAR IT"
"I just turned it up, Emma said she can hear it."
"cant HEAR IT!"
I then proceed to worry about his ears and if I need to take him to the doctor. Then Emma who is my Kolbe translator speaks up in her professional voice,
"Mommy, he is saying Are we here yet?!"
oh....right... no Kolbe, we are not HERE YET.

Now time for a few words on Emma. First, her 4K mardi gras parade is on Friday. We spent most of the weekend working on her float and we are ALL so excited about her parade! A blog post on this fun project is coming.
Emma rarely tells me stories from school when I pick her up. They usually come at random moments later in the day. Like when we are out running erands and she says, "Mommy, all of the boys were fighting over me at school today."
How do you respond to that one? So of course I asked her why, she responded that she didnt know. Ok. I know. And I know we are headed for trouble. Dan is already preparing himself.

Now, lastly, a few words on coffee. It is time for more. The end.