Can I just say...

Can I just say that I absolutely love being a stay-at-home mom? It is most certainly the life I was meant for.

Last night I was thinking, "Hooray! Tomorrow is Monday!" What kind of freak loves Mondays? Well, I do! I love getting back into routine with my kids. Don't get me wrong--by Thursday I'm usually excited for the weekends. But I love the little groove the kids and I have together.

Today we slept late, until after 8, because it had been a rough last week and weekend, and we all needed it. We had breakfast at 9 and left the house around 10 to run errands. We did some shopping and went to get the van detailed. I packed us a lunch, so we had a little picnic on a blanket on the grass behind the car dealership.

One of our other errands was going to get my car tag, and the kids were cracking up everyone in the office. Aaron was actually READING some words on a coloring sheet I gave him, much to the amazement of another lady standing in line. I was beaming with pride!

I am so thankful I get to have these children with me most of the time. I am thankful for my job as a full-time mommy, and the flexibility it brings.

Thank you Lord for knowing exactly what I need in life, and for providing it! And especially for the van, because I swear it's making the task of running errands with them EASIER!

So thankful for spring!

I have really been enjoying spring. It is so much better this year than last. At this time last year Claire was not walking yet (was that really only a year ago???) so going outside meant carrying a baby on my hip the whole time.

This spring we spent much of our day outside!

Picnic lunches in the backyard or on a blanket on the driveway are the norm on pretty days--anything to minimize how many times a day I have to clean the kitchen table! Our last picnic was on the driveway; it was so cute to watch the kids munch on their PB&J's and watch the ants walk across the cement.

I love the afternoons after naptime when we just go in the backyard and the kids play mostly by themselves. I can even do small jobs in the kitchen with the window open so I can hear them playing. Yesterday they got sooooo dirty and filthy playing in the sand and mud and with the sidewalk chalk that I wiped them up and sent them straight to the bathroom for an early evening bath! That is what childhood is all about--playing with the bugs in the dirt and enjoying yourself!

This evening after dinner we went outside to play, again, and I convinced Aaron to practice riding his new bike. Claire scooted all around on her tricycle having the best time. They are the cutest little pair!

We just love being outdoors!

A day at home...

Some days we just don't go anywhere. That's the great thing about staying at home--you can actually STAY AT HOME if you want to! Monday was such a day...we were having a cold snap and I just didn't have any pressing matters outside the home. So we stayed in pajamas for a while, I did some cleaning, and finally I broke out the paint. The kids love paint! They mostly just like the mess, and as long as it's washable paint, I really don't mind. It cleans up pretty quickly so I try not to stress about it.

They each wear one of Daddy's white shirts as a smock. Aren't they cute?


This is Claire's "cheese" face. I have no idea why she scrunches her eyebrows like that.



Aaron always paints his hand and does handprints on the paper. Have you noticed his hair color? I am in love with his hair. It's a perfect shade of reddish auburn. And those eyelashes! Sigh...



Claire decided to dig in with her fingers...


When I took this picture, I noticed how messy the fridge looked.



And I got stir crazy just watching the kids paint. So I did this:



We have way too many letters but I'm worried about that missing "K" in the second alphabet. Where could it be?

Once the kids made a gigantic mess with the watercolors, we cleaned that up and moved on to stickers and markers. Washable markers, of course.



I love this little guy.


And this sweet girl, too.

Why I am a stay-at-home mommy

So I am a stay-at-home mommy, sort of. I have an AWESOME job with an AWESOME boss who lets me work part-time, from home, and set my own hours. It's the best set-up possible! I work when the kids are sleeping in the afternoon, and I go to the office on days when they are in Mother's Day Out.

On occasion, I have to go to the office for a special meeting, which was the case last Monday. I had to be there at 8 am, which is UNHEARD of for me! I had to get up at 6:00 am to get my shower and get ready, then wake my sleeping angels up at 7:00 am, so we could be out the door by 7:10. They went with no breakfast and still in their jammies to Mammaw's house, where she had breakfast waiting. I did manage to get to the office at 7:59, just in time. As I sat down, I counted my blessings that I don't have to do that every day! My kids don't normally wake up until 7:30 or after, and I cannot imagine having to wake them up every day. And not getting home until 5:30 would mean practically no time with my kiddos. I don't know that I could concentrate on work for wondering what my kids were up to all day! Last Monday I got to pick my kids up after lunch and spend the rest of the day with them.

This morning, I thought again about how blessed I am. I had the alarm set for 6:30, because it's nice to get up before the kids to shower in peace, and have a few minutes to read a devotional. When the alarm went off this morning, though, I decided I was not going to rush my day, and I turned it off. At 7:15, Aaron climbed into my arms and fell back asleep. He woke up sometime after 7:30 and smiled at me and said, "Sleep with me Mommy!" I said, "I am sleeping with you baby." He said, "Sleep with me more, Mommy." And I said, "Okay!" So we closed our eyes and fell back asleep until Claire woke us up at 8:15. Don't take me for a lazy mom--that is not our normal morning--but I am so thankful that I can have moments like that with my children when we need some extra rest time! And snuggling with my little boy is the best way to start a day!