Great Lack of Expectations...

My parents always had great expectations for me. If I were capable of making an A on a test, they wanted me to bring home an A+.

I know a woman who has unrealistic expectations of her husband. He can't possibly accomplish all of the things she wants him to do. There are only 24 hours in a day, and some of that time has to be devoted to sleeping.

My own children have crazy expectations of me. They expect me to do everything for them. I constantly remind them that my job isn't to do everything for them but to teach them to do everything for themselves.

Here's where things get a little strange. I have very few expectations of other people. Literally, I expect nothing from anyone I know. What does that say about me?

I've been giving it some thought, and I think I learned not to expect anything from anyone as a way to keep my emotions in control. If my expectations are not met, I tend to get upset. If I remove expectations from the equation all together, then there is never a reason to be upset. I am all about avoiding unpleasant emotions
and confrontation.

Is there anything you do to avoid being upset or disappointed?

Just Cause....

...I love her...

Play on Words...

Ella and Layton love the park. They love to play on all the slides and swings. Here are a couple more pictures from a recent playground trip.

Have you ever seen such cuteness?

Wet Feet...

These are cute wet feet! Care to guess what was going on?

He's Just So Blame Cute...

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The Eyes Have It...

Ready to iWalk?...

Don't forget to come iWALK with me if you can.

04/27/10
12:00 Noon
Meet at Luvici's

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Let's promote a healthy downtown!!

Funny Farm...

We had the best visit to the farm recently! The children had an absolute blast, and the weather was so perfect. We were looking at locations to go camping in another week or two. We have the perfect spot picked out, and we will be taking all three of the children this time! We have never taken Layton camping before, so this should be an adventure!!

Our camp outs usually include popcorn popped over the campfire and breakfast on a cast iron skillet. We have had a ton of fun camping in the past, and I am really looking forward to this first time with Layton.

More to come....

Three Girls And A Wagon...

Three little girls playing in my yard...

Three little girls playing with a wagon...

Three little girls...

Before My Mental Breakdown...

I had an occasion to take Layton and Ella to the park one day. It started out beautifully. There was plenty of sunshine, and the two little dumplings were all smiles.

Here's the evidence:

Things went downhill after this though. If Ella were two or three, I wouldn't have minded the whole situation in the least. She is not two. She is almost seven. She had a toilet accident of epic proportions. AND, I nearly came unglued over it. The only thing to say about it is that I was so thankful for my obsessive need to plan for the worst. In the back of my car, I keep a bag that I refer to as the "Apocalypse bag." Inside this bag there is a change of clothes and underpants for every member of my family. I also have a stash of over the counter medications, a first aide kit, a few bottles of water, and a small amount of snack food. Right this minute, I am picturing my mother lecturing me for putting that tidbit of information on the Internet; it makes me sound like a nut job! Seriously though, I live fairly close to a nuclear power plant, and every year TVA sends out a calendar with instructions for what to do in case of various emergencies including a nuclear meltdown. I realize I am more likely to get hit by a meteor than to experience a nuclear meltdown, but I tend to hope for the best and plan for the worst. This bag has come in handy on more than one occasion. 

In The Woods...

Jay took Layton to the farm recently. Of course Layton wanted to take his gun with them. :)

I asked Jay to take the camera and to get some pictures if he could. I was not feeling well this particular day, so my only hope of cute pictures was the hubs.
Look how sweet my little man looks sitting in the RTV! He thinks he is big stuff!!!

Litter...Not The Papaer Kind...

My house and yard are littered with child stuff.

Exhibit A:

I don't know why, but there was a croc, a single croc, hanging out by my car. Surely, the owner of these crocs will say to me, "Mommy, I only have one shoe." Nope. Didn't happen. I took the croc inside, found the other one, and put the pair in the applicable closet.

Exhibit B:

My driveway is covered in side walk chalk creatures and a language that does not exist in the real world. Some of it resembles hieroglyphics. Plus, scooters and bats.

Exhibit C:

My yard is littered with bikes and scooters too.

At any given moment, there are stuffed animals under ever table in my house. There are fingerprints on my glass doors. There are hairbows thrown on the floor of the bathroom and dirty kleenex on any surface that is not moving. I am unashamed to admit that there are socks and shoes thrown on every floor of every room in my house. Including the kitchen. There are crayons and crayon pieces stuffed under the cushions of my sofa. I think Layton just dumped crackers in the toybox.

BUT....

I think it's worth it.

Little Man on His Bike...Little Neighborhood of Fun...

Our children have so much fun with their neighbors. The family to the West of us has two children, a boy and a girl. The family to the East has one son. Our children are thick as thieves during the summer months. The ride all their bikes and roam from on backyard to another until the sun sets. We are incredibly lucky to have such good neighbors!

Come Walk With Me...

Spirit of Athens is promoting a healthy downtown. I have mentioned before that I am a member of Spirit of Athens and really, really love our downtown area. In an effort to "practice what I preach," I will be walking downtown almost everyday during the lunch hours.

 I would like to invite everyone to come walk with me on Tuesday April 27. We can meet in front of Luvici's at 12:00. Three laps around the courthouse square is one mile, so I was thinking we could walk six laps and then get a heart healthy lunch at one of the downtown restaurants. Weather permitting of course!

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I will tweet a reminder. Click here to follow me on Twitter!

Big Sister...

Hadley is the best big sister I have ever known. She loves her brother and her sister with such greatness. The other night on our way to dinner she held Layton's hand while walking through the parking lot. I didn't have to ask her. She helped him out of the car and across the parking lot. It was so precious!!

Sleep Over...Without Sleep...

Ella invited her friend Alexis and her cousin Charsy to spend the night with us one night. They stayed up so late!!! They wanted to sleep on sleeping bags on the den floor, so I pulled out blankets and sleeping bags and pillows. They sat and colored for a long time...even letting Layton get in on the fun. :)

I love this picture because Charsy noticed I was spying on them with the camera and held hers up just in time to be captured by my memory card! The other children were still oblivious to me watching them at this point.

I remember having so much fun at sleep overs when I was a little girl. Staying up late playing silly games....getting up early to eat breakfast...feeling sad when my mom came to get me...It's all the same now; it's just that I am the grumpy adult this time.

A Trip to the Carwash...

My children love to go through the carwash. I am not entirely sure why, but they love to sit in the front seat and watch the bubbles and scrubbers.

What Happens In My Bed....

...stays in my bed. Ha! Layton had a busy day recently. He passed completely out!!!

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This Boy Loves To Play...

Layton loves to play. He especially loves a playground. Our community has a large playground called the Kids Dugout. There are tons of swings, slides, bridges, mazes, and other things to play on.

Here he is straddling a wooden tractor. He climbed up on it and demanded I take his picture.

I was totally shocked that he didn't give me a strange pose!!

Layton Got A What?!?!?!?!...

We went to our local Game Stop a while back. Layton loves to watch the girls play on their Nintendos. They had some nice looking used DSs for a reasonable price, and Layton had a gift card from the Easter Bunny he was eager to use. So, we let him get a DS!

He only has one game for it, but he absolutely loves it!!!

Four Leaf Clover...Four Leaf Clover Field...

We have a couple of patches of clover in our yard. One of them is a mutant strain of clover that produces scads of four leaf clovers. I mean TONS!! The children pick them everyday and bring them in as presents for me. :) So Sweet!!

Jay and I have decided that if we move, we will have to dig up some of this clover patch to take with us. I'm not even sure how we'd do it, but we'd have to figure it out for the children. Yes, I would transplant weeds for them.

Those Are Some Cute Toes....

Ella loves to get a pedicure. The place I take her has children's chairs. Ella loves it!!!

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If I Knew...

If I knew the meaning of this pose, I'd gladly tell you, but I have no idea what inspired Layton's latest photo presence.

My Child Reads All The Time...

Even on the way to school, Hadley reads. She loves reading!!!

Did I Mention I Love Mary Kay?....

On more than one occasion, I have mentioned my love for all things Mary Kay. Well, Lianna has some specials and her mother-in-love is hosting an online Mary Kay party with all the proceeds going toward Lianna and David's journey to parenthood.



Limited Time Specials from Lianna:

Satin Hands Pampering Set, $30 (regularly $34)

Lip Nectar in shades passionfruit, coconut, and mango, $11 (regularly $13)

I love these, by the way. I have both the coconut and mango.

Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover, $12 (regularly $14)

Lash Lengthening Mascara, $8 (regularly $10)

If you are looking for an elegantly wrapped gift for your MOM for Mother's Day, look no further. Choose from three different Mary Kay Mother's Day gift sets that include a luxurious eau de parfum, scented shower gel and scented body lotion, wrapped in a frilly gift bag for $55.

Playground Pictures...

These are a few more pictures that Layton asked me to take of him at the Kids Dugout recently. He loves having his picture made.

He also loves to make funny poses for the camera too!

Jesus Camp...

Have you seen this movie? I had never heard of it until recently. Jay told me about it, and he found it on Netflix. (clearly I've been living under a rock...seeing as how this film was nominated for an Academy Award) He dropped it in the "play instantly" cue, so we watched it.

The movie follows Becky Fischer and her Kids On Fire camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota.

I have to be brutally honest. I was shocked by some of it. There was a whole section devoted to abortion...something I consider to be controversial and adult themed. The pro-life advocate gave a room full of children a speech about abortion. Quite frankly, I would be horrified if I learned that my four year old child attended a camp and learned about abortion. I would be horrified if my six year old child asked me to send her to Washington D.C. to stand outside the capitol building with a red tape bearing the word LIFE over her mouth.

I don't know when it is appropriate for my children to learn about abortion (I'm sure I'll cross that bridge at some point), but I know that I should be the one to tell them what it is. I don't want them to learn about it from a stranger at church camp.

Ted Haggard was also featured in this film. I was sad to see the children admiring him...knowing that only a short time later it would come out that he was seeing a male prostitute and buying crystal meth. How awful that must have been for those children who viewed him as a leader and role model.

Overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone. I think it did a good job of documenting the Evangelical churches without bias.

She Doesn't Get in the Picture....

Hadley was long overdue for a spotlight on the old blog. She is not very fond of having her picture made, so a lot of my posts revolve around Ella and Layton. Hadley is still my sweetie though!! She's my oldest baby, and she always will be...