Motor Cop Rodeo

On Saturday, we went to see the Motor Cop Rodeo. This is a competition where motorcycle officers from all over compete to see who is the best obstacle course driver. Some events are individual, some are follow-the-leader, and some are tandem (two bikes tethered together). It was at the North Charleston Coliseum parking lot and it was a lot of fun to watch. Each obstacle course was timed and points were deducted for knocking over a cone or grazing a cone. The individual winner with the best time gets the name Mr. Rodeo.

I got to catch up with two teachers that I use to teach with whose husbands are motor cops. Officer Matt Smoak was nice enough to let the boys sit on his motorcycle and take a picture. He came in 3rd overall - way to go Matt!

Check out all of those motorcycles in the background. It was loud but very interesting to watch. These officers definitely know how to maneuver their bikes.

Botany Bay

During the beginning of March, we went down to the creek house for some R & R. The Steeds joined us one night and the next day we ventured to Botany Bay. It was a beautiful day but very windy. The boys had a great time checking out all of the shells and building their very own shell trees.

It's Good To Have Friends In High Places

Conley & Hughes

Lessons Learned

I celebrated a birthday this past week and now that I am smack-dab in the middle of my 30s, I thought I would share 35 things I've learned about life since becoming a mom:

35. Tantrums at 6pm are often a result of being extremely hungry and/or extreme exhaustion.

34. Tantrums at 6pm often end with child asleep on floor. It's okay to wait it out.

33. Baby/Kid fingernails need to be trimmed once/week.

32. Target diapers are good.

31. Generic formula is great.

30. Hand-me-downs are wonderful. (Thank you Lisa)

29. I'll never be the same size as I was before having children and I'm trying to accept that.

28. It's okay to request a specific toy in the Happy Meals if it means that my boys will be ecstatic.

27. Boys love to play dress-up just as much as girls do.

26. Legos are intense and require a college education to follow the directions.

25. Legos hurt like a son-of-a-gun when stepped on.

24. Moms need nights off, girls' night out, alone time, etc. or we go crazy.

23. It's more fun to shop for my boys than me.

22. I'm happiest when the toys are organized and my floors are clean.

21. Moving from taking a bath to wanting to take a shower is a huge deal and timesaver.

20. Bedtime is something that I am not willing to budge on during the week.

19. Hearing your children ask about God always brings tears to my eyes.

18. Extinction is a hard concept to understand. Would someone explain to Hughes why he can't have a pet dinosaur?

17. Boy toys are more fun than girl toys.

16. Only a bath can get dirt from under the fingernails out.

15. "Sleeping in" means 8:00am.

14. Hearing/Seeing your children use good manners makes a mama proud.

13. Kisses from your children never get old.

12. Baby slobber on your cheek feels just like a kiss.

11. It's painstakingly hard to watch your child struggle with something.

10. Punishments must be tailored to the child. Time-outs work for some whereas pops work for others.

9. I'm a big believer in tubes for children who battle repeated ear infections.

8. When your child's feelings get hurt so do yours.

7. A good coach can make a world of difference on a team.

6. Going grocery shopping by myself is something I look forward to doing weekly.

5. Don't buy any expensive rugs/furniture until all children are grown and out of the house.

4. Leather seats are worth the upgrade when you have kids and juice boxes.

3. DVD Player in the car is a god-send and definitely worth the extra cost.

2. Husbands can make the best superhero noises, battle explosions, wrestling moves, etc. when playing with their little boys.

1. Unsolicited "I love you" and kisses make everything better. Oh yeah, so does a beer on the back porch :)

What lessons have you learned?

Say What?

Here are the latest sayings, mispronunciations, conversations, etc.

On the way to baseball practice:

Hughes: I wetting.

Me: You're what?

Hughes: I wetting.

David: You're sweating?

Hughes: yes, I wetting.

Will we ever get the "s" sound?

Outside of school:

David: Banks, look at those bird houses. Who do you think put them there?

Banks: God.

In the car with Lucius sitting beside Collins.

Lucius: Mimi, the baby shut off.

Me: what?

Lucius: the baby shut off.

Me: oh, he went to sleep.

Lucius: yes, he shut off.

A couple of weeks ago we had Olivia, Reese, & Jacob Daniels over for dinner. Jacob and Hughes were playing in the den when Jacob came into the kitchen. Jacob asked David if Hughes was speaking spanish. Geez Louise! Guess we'll keep trucking along with speech!

Lent Pledge 2011

I pledge during Lent to give up clutter.

I'm tired of my kitchen counter becoming the catch-all for random drawings, mail, small toys, etc. My goal is to get organized and I'm using simplemom.net to help me do this. While this is a weekly thing, I'm also pledging to organize one part of my house per day. This may be a drawer or a bookshelf or a toy bin but something will be organized. By the time Easter rolls around, I will have one insanely organized house!

This may seem like an easy, no-sweat pledge but with three boys, one big, hairy dog and not a lot of storage space things can get out-of-control quite quickly around here. Did I mention that the three little boys aren't the best at keeping their toys organized or that the big, hairy dog has yet to figure out how to sweep up behind himself? So, this will be quite a task for me and I'm ready to take it on.

Bring it on, Clutter. I'm ready.

Weekend Update

It was a beautiful weekend in Charleston. On Saturday, we took the boys to see Auburn play College of Charleston in baseball. Auburn won and the boys were good - the blowpops helped them sit still.

We still have those blowpops wrapped in ziploc bags that I plan to throw away very soon. Talk about teeth rot!

Then, on Sunday we met G-Daddy and Dawa at Hall's Chophouse for Sunday brunch. They were down here living it up at the Charleston Food & Wine Festival. The brunch was fantastic but I have to admit that I got a little nervous taking 3 little boys (2 excitable little boys and 1 baby) into such a fine restaurant but they did pretty well. Banks left his mark on the table cloth - literally - he colored the table cloth with his crayons. Sometimes coloring on the paper can be just as hard as coloring inside the lines.

After-Brunch Picture

Collins - 5 months old

Where has the time gone? 5 months has passed and I feel like Collins has been in our lives forever. The boys continue to adore him and always have lots of questions about him (why can't Collins eat food?, Why doesn't Collins have teeth?, Why does Collins drink special milk?). Collins continues to be a great sleeper & eater. I have not introduced cereal to him yet but plan on doing that this week.

Since his 4 month post he has been introduced to the exersaucer. We are currently building up our endurance and, right now, can last about 15 minutes happily. After that, he's done with it. He's on the verge of rolling over if he could just get his inside arm to move up. He's so close and loves to swing his hips over to the side.

Happy 5 Months Collins!