A Child's Prayer

Ethan said the prayer tonight and this is what he prayed for...

"Father, bless us with good water on this land." and
"Father, bless us with food that we won't eat candy."

I guess no more Twizzlers for dinner. Darn! Out of the mouth of babes!

Mom, We Love To Drive You Crazy!

This was the title and picture on the front of my Mother's Day card this year. Sums it up quite nicely I think, haha. We headed out to Cabela's one night to pick up some camping gear for a family camp out. Yes, that's right, camping gear.

!!News flash!!

Ryan bought camping gear! I know, I had to pick my jaw up off the ground too! I think he's finally come to terms that father/son campouts will be happening and that his sons might not find sleeping in the van as fun as he does. I'm soooo not a camper either so this will all be new to me. I just hate waking up all sweaty and gross and having bugs all over the place. I guess it's something I'm just going to have to learn to love, right? Welcome to life with boys!

Hi, I'm Brittany...I Used To Blog...

Has it really been 3 months since I've posted something on this blog? Does anyone still read this? If you don't, I don't blame you. I have been a very busy mom around here the past few months and haven't really put my blog on the list of priorities. I may be able to catch up on a few things this week so hopefully there will be a few posts in the making to get all caught up. Not promising much, but maybe there will be a few pictures. Just to give you an idea of why I don't blog, I have a little friend (Max) that grabs my hand off the keyboard or mouse every single time I get on the computer. I'm seriously never on here anymore, it's not worth the whining. We're working on the whining, seriously working hard.

I've started the anti-whining campaign at our house. No more whining. Even the adults in the house are included in this campaign so I'm also not whining anymore. So if you come around here, no whining, or there will be some serious consequences. We're trying to stay positive over here so throw positive vibes this way.

How to Recognize a Coupon Girl

This video made me laugh so I had to share...

"My Thing"

This is an "I'm looking for advice" post. So please leave me some advice. I'm trying to look for "my thing." You know, that little extra something that you love to do. Something that enriches your life, helps your family, brings you joy. Something that you look forward to doing, but doesn't take away too much from what you're supposed to be doing.

Here's the deal...I'm the type of person that does lots of "things" and each of those "things" have a special time in my life, but I move on or they just become a natural part of my life and are not things anymore.

Here are a few examples...School was one of my "things" growing up. I was good at it, I excelled, it enriched my life and brought me joy. Eventually I graduated from nursing school, got a real job and became an L&D nurse. And Nursing became my new "thing". Having a real job brought in great money, I helped people, I loved my co workers, I loved my job.

Then I had E, we moved to Texas, and got settled into our house. Right now in my life I can't go back to nursing because of Ry's crazy schedule and I don't want to put my kids in daycare...yada, yada, yada.

Fast Forward to now and recently I've had a few fun "things" that I've been into lately. The past year I've done couponing and that's been a fun "thing" to do. It saves my family tons of money, I love doing it, it keeps my mind quick, and it teaches my children about the importance of saving and not getting everything you want right now.

Well, now couponing has naturally just been added to my everyday life. I don't really consider it a "thing" anymore, it's just part of the normal routine. So then I tried doing the whole half marathon thing. I had my daily running/exercise routine and enjoyed seeing all the progress. I accomplished my goal and then joined a local gym after the race to keep up the great exercise.

I'll have to be honest, I have been at all this week since Max WILL NOT GO to the play place so the jury is still out about that. Anyway...exercise just seems like part of the normal, everyday life. It just doesn't feel like my "thing" anymore.

Moving on, I'm also part of a book club. I love to read and I have a little bit of time when I'm waiting in the car to pick up E to read a few pages or I'll read a little bit before bed, but I don't really consider it worthy of being called "my thing".
Obviously motherhood is my main "thing" right now, but I'm just looking for that little extra something that adds a little bit of color to ordinary life. I don't want something that takes away from my family or is super time consuming. I just want something that I look forward to doing and do well at it. What are some of your "things"? Any advice?

Sad Boy

Max has been such a sad boy today! He has started throwing tantrums and it's not pretty! I found him like this the other day in E's dresser drawer. He was totally stuck in the drawer and couldn't get out. It was kind of funny to see him try to get out, but he just couldn't do it. He didn't get too upset since blankey was nearby, thank goodness for that!

Hard Work!

This post should have happened awhile back, but I'm just now loading the pictures to the computer so it had to wait. About a month ago we really started working on E getting a handle on having a few "jobs" around the house. We had him decorate a special box for his money and he picked something that he wanted to work towards. He chose going to Build-A-Bear to make his own bear. Let me tell you, he worked really hard. He kept his room clean, made his bed, cleaned his toy room even when his brother messed it up, did laundry, cleaned toilets, and he was even hired out by Nanny to do a few jobs for her. Well, after a few weeks he earned enough money to pay his tithing and head off to Build-A-Bear!
He couldn't exactly get any bear he wanted since he was on a budget and only had a certain amount of to spend. He picked out the perfect bear in his budget and started off the bear making process. He got to stuff him and put a little wishing heart inside and gave him a special air bath.The worker was asking E questions about what accessories he wanted to buy for his bear and E told him he only had a certain amount of money to spend and the worker was nice enough to give him a $5 coupon! Now, E, truly knows the value of a coupon and understands that when you shop with coupons you can get a lot more with your money so he was totally excited. Instead of just getting a bear, he was able to get a bear AND a cool basketball outfit! E ended up naming the bear Ethan...whatever. The sweetest thing happened the next day, E gave Max his old bear to play with so they could both have their own bears. What a great brother!

Minor Crisis

What an afternoon! Oh Boy! Where to begin? Well, I had a fun day with friends at an easter egg hunt for the kids, went to the library and to the grocery store. I came home and Max was already asleep so I brought in all the groceries, put him in his crib, and then started to unload. Well, I was starting to put the frozen stuff in my 2nd freezer when I realized that nothing in there was frozen!!! I was puzzled for a minute and then realized that the controls for the freezer are in the fridge and guess who likes to play in there...MAX!!! He turned off the freezer!!! My 2nd freezer is where I keep all my meat so I had all this meat that I couldn't refreeze. Everything was still cold so I had to end up cooking it all. I was seriously in a panic! There was chicken juice all in the bottom of the freezer and I was neck deep in meat. What do you do? I fired up my grilled, called up my friend, and we went to town. (Seriously, shout out to Chesney!) We ended up cooking 5 lbs of chicken, 2 lbs, of turkey, 1 lb of bacon, 3 lbs of sausage, and cleaning up a huge mess. I also have a 7lb turkey that I will be cooking tomorrow for dinner. I told my friend that she just got a crash course in freezer meal preparation. Thank goodness I knew what to do! So who wants to come for dinner?

Cowtown Half Marathon

So I've been waiting for quite a long time to blog about this half marathon. I didn't want to blog about it and then end up not being able to go through with the race. So I waited up until the day of the marathon to let out my fun news. I've been training for this since the beginning of December and I just followed the training schedule that they published on the Cowtown Website so if you're ever interested in doing one you can check it out. I worked out at boot camp on my cross train days, ran on Tues/Thursday, and then had my long runs on Saturdays. Thankfully Ry got us a treadmill last year so I've been able to run while Max was napping and E got some "quiet time".

So the Cowtwon takes place in downtown Fort Worth and goes around the downtown area and then into some of the beautiful neighborhoods and parks. The weather was a little chilly in the beginning, but it ended up getting to be around 60 when I crossed the finish line. I seriously had a little sunburn on my face after that.

This year they had a record number of runners, 21,000! You could definitely tell because the festivities were buzzing! My dad drove me down there and we had to park out at a baseball field and then take a bus to the starting line. It was seriously a madhouse down there and I basically had to hop the barricade wherever I could find space so I could get in before they let people go.
So I started on my way. The first 1-3 miles are always the hardest for me and I have no idea why. I guess it just takes my mind that long to kind of relax, quiet down, and enjoy what I'm doing. I knew I'd see my dad or the boys around mile 5 or 6 so that really got me motivated and excited to see them. My mom made up a poster before they left and they were all waiting for me at mile 6. E totally had the sign upside down when I saw him and it totally made me laugh and a few other runners around me.

My dad was waiting for me at mile 8 and he jogged with me for a while. It was so hilarious because my dad was running, holding the camera, and then trying to direct my mom on his cell all at the same time. He's such a good sport about it though.

I saw the boys one last time and then they were headed to the finish line to wait for the me there. Ry told me later that when they were in the van they drove past some cheerleaders that were at one of the water stations cheering on the runners. Well, I guess Ethan was in his car seat looking at the window and blowing kisses at the cheerleaders! Later he told us he did it because he thought they were cute! Seriously guys, I'm in trouble!

Mile 9 was the worst since it was running on cobblestone/brick and it was so rough on your body. I swear I was going nowhere on that stuff! Once I hit 11 I knew I was home free and things were pretty good from there, but I was definitely getting tired.
I made it through and it was so awesome! I seriously got a little teary at the end. I think I just got a little overwhelmed with all the people and the cheering and the fact that I had finished something that I had worked so hard to accomplish. I just want to thank my family for being so supportive and cheering me on that day. It really meant a lot to me and it was such a great experience. I also have to thank all my friends for all the texts, phone calls, and hugs that I got the next day! I couldn't ask for better people in my life!

I Just Ran My First Half Marathon!

I've been training for the past 12 weeks to run my first half marathon and today was the day! I ran the Cowtown Half Marathon and it was the most amazing experience! This is before...

This is after I crossed the finish line and came to see my family...

More details and pictures to come. I need to take a nap!

I Have An Announcement...

I have waited 12 weeks to post about this on my blog and I think I will this weekend! Can you guess what it is??? No, I'm not pregnant! What were you thinking?!

Quote of the Day

Way back in college my roommate, Erica and I had a quote board. It consisted of all the crazy, random, and hilarious things that we would catch people saying in our room. I can't remember any of them, darn it! Well, the other day I was down at my mom's and I caught myself saying something totally ridiculous and turned to my mom and told her I need a motherhood quote board. There are too many funny things that are said in our house!



Here's the quote:
Brittany: "Ethan, quit massaging your quesadilla!"

Ethan had one of those vibrating massagers that you get at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and he had it at the dinner table. He proceeded to put the massager on his quesadilla and that's when the whole quote came bursting out.
Maybe I should start one up and post it in the playroom. It would probably fill up pretty fast around here!

The Cooking Blog is Back!

For all of you Hey Mom! fans out there, the blog is back in action and we've got some great recipes in store! Our awesome friend whipped up a button for us so grab it if you like from here or on my sidebar. Let me know what kinds of recipes you'd like to see on there or any ideas that sound fun!

<a href="http://twomomsinthekitchen.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv131/mechoate1129/HeyMom200button.jpg" border="0" alt="Hey Mom 200 button" />

Photo Diary of a 4 Year Old

E found my camera in my purse the other day. This is what he captured...and this is the story that he tells through his pictures...

This is my favorite person in the whole world...Dash Incredible! I want to be just like him and I can run REALLY REALLY fast! I have to take a picture of Dash running really fast...click


Ahhhh...Goldfish! Nectar of the preschoolers! Gosh, I love goldfish!...click


Oh, here comes Max. Hey, Max, hold still while I take a picture of you and part of my fingers!...click


One picture you don't see is a picture of my mother. Where is she? Obviously she's no where to be found since she's letting me watch Incredibles, eat endless amounts of goldfish crackers, and take massive amounts of pictures with her camera!

Finding Love at the Library

Yesterday E and I were playing library. He sets up the books, I come in and check them out and then we switch multiple times. At the end of our library time we did "story time" on the magic blanket and E chose "Gym Teacher from the Black Lagoon."

The book is basically about a boy that's scared of the new gym teacher because of all the rumors that he heard from other students. One of the rumors was that the gym teacher made the boys square dance with the girls! Heaven forbid!

Well, after I was done with the book E turned back to the page about the square dancing and I asked him what he was doing. He turned to me and said, "Mom, I LOVE girls!" SAY WHAT?! Then he told me, "I wish that girl would come out of the book and come dance with me." ARE YOU SERIOUS? So then I asked him if he thought girls were cute and he just rolled his eyes and slapped his head and said..."yes (in a tone that's like, duh mom!)"

I'm going to be honest, in this day and age it puts a mom at ease when your son says he loves girls. But now I'm thinking that he's only 4 and saying this! What's going to happen when he's 16??? I can totally picture him being the little boy on the playground trying to kiss all the girls! What should I do? Seriously, any advice?

It's Good To Have Friends

My little E has grown up so much, I can't even believe it! We moved here 3 years ago this week and it's funny to think that Ethan was Max's age when we moved here! E has been friends with Jack for the entire time we've lived here and it's so fun to see their friendship grow up with them. We've added Jaxon to the mix when he moved in a year ago and now we've got the 3 amigos. They have so much fun together!

Poor little Max tries to keep up, but he's just not up to their speed quite yet. Look at his face in the background!

Since we're coming up on our 3 year anniversary of moving here, I've been thinking about all the people that mean so much to me here. I'm surrounded by some of the greatest friends a girl could ever ask for! It's so nice to know that you're looked after when your husband is out of town or that you can help someone out in their time of need.

I think Mindy said it best on her blog...
"I thank my lucky stars to be here; to have the women here as my friends!
I have been lifted up, counseled, laughed and cried;
I've grown and learned much with and by them.
(and I am MOST grateful for a husband who understands the need and value of sisterhood and encourages me in the pursuit of continuing to cultivate these relationships)."

So thank you to all my friends and for the color and richness that you bring to my life!

Neglected

Dear Blog,

I'm so sorry I have neglected you. I'm seriously going to try harder to post.

Your Author,

Brittany

A Few Favorites...

By request, here are a few of my favorite titles from 2009
-Hunger Games
-Catching Fire
-The Help
-Goose Girl
-Thirteenth Tale
-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Hated Hated Hated
-Poisonwood Bible
-Life of Pi
-Princess Bride

Books Read in 2009

Some of you know that I love to read and always have. The unfortunate thing about being in school is that your "leisure reading" completly is non-existent since you're reading textbooks, notes, tests, papers, etc. You don't want to read ANYTHING extra. Then after school I worked nights so if I started reading anything then I'd just end up falling asleep. So at the beginning of my marriage my husband never saw me read anything at all. Well, the other day he turns to me and made the comment that he can't believe how I can fly through books like I do. Little did he know that there's a reader in the house I guess. I really don't have much free time, but if I ever do I really try to get a few chapters in. I especially love to read when I'm waiting for Ethan to get out of school and Max is asleep in his carseat. Those few precious minutes of me and my book are heavenly! So here are the books that I read this year (in no particular order)

Books Read in 2009
Hunger Games Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire Suzanne Collins
The Help Kathyrn Stockett
The Book Theif Markus Zusak
Goose Girl Shannon Hale
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee
Night Elie Weisel
Princess Bride William Goldman
Along for the Ride Sarah Dessen
Glass Castle Jeanette Walls
The Giver Lois Lowry
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Schaffer
The Pillars of the Earth Ken Follett
Water For Elephants Sara Gruen
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby Marc Weissbluth
Babywise Gary Ezzo
An Ideal Husband Oscar Wilde
The Poisonwood Bible Barbara Kingsolver
Uglies Scott Westerfield
Pretties Scott Westerfield
Specials Scott Westerfield
Peace Like A River Leif Enger
Maniac Magee Jerry Spinelli
Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield
Devil in the White City Erik Larson
The Pact Jodi Piccoult
Thursday’s Child Sonya Hartnett
Life of Pi Yann Martel
Midwives Chris Bohjalian
The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
The Ladies of Missalonghi Colleen McCullough
Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert
The Tales of Beedle the Bard JK Rowling
The Water and the Blood Nancy Turner
The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer Tracy Hogg

Dressing Properly for an Arctic Blast

We're currently in the midst of an "Arctic Blast" here in Texas. That means it gets down to around 15 degrees for the low and around 25 for the high. It's all over our news and we even had school closed today! Are you serious? An Arctic Blast in Ohio that meant it was -30 with an insane wind chill. I remember there were a few times they closed down school because of the temperature, but it was honestly -30 and kids couldn't stand at the bus stop because if they did they'd have little snotsicles coming out of their noses.

Anyway, back to our Arctic Blast in Texas...I told E to go get dressed with some long pants and a long sleeved shirt. The kid would wear shorts and a t-shirt every day if I let him, but with an Arctic Blast you cannot wear shorts. So I'm getting Max ready and in walks this...

He proceeded to tell me that this was the warmest thing he should wear and that he wouldn't even need a coat if he wore his tiger suit. We were headed down to my mom's for the day so I packed some extra clothes for him and let him wear the tiger suit. So we drive on down to my mom's house and he jumps out of the van and surprises her with his outfit. Immediately my mom is totally cracking up and I'm snickering as well. This is when E stops us and says, "Nanny, stop laughing! This is serious! This is a serious outfit!" It was just so funny to see him walking around in his tiger costume to stay warm. You'd think that I'd never bought the kid a sweater before!