I was waiting for this day to come.

This morning I went out to get my haircut, and Brad stayed home with the little lovelies.  When I got home about an hour and a half later, he had a story to share.  I've read about stories like these, but nothing like this has ever been said by our little ones until today.

Apparently, after breakfast and playtime, Brad went up to take a shower.  When he got out and opened up the bathroom door, he found Hannah Bear lying on the floor, patiently waiting for him to be finished.  She had a great big smile on her face, and she popped up, grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Daddy, will you marry me?"

Now later, Brad told me that he'd considered explaining that this wasn't a possibility.  But she was so eager to ask and so happy...he thought it through and decided it was best not to crush her little heart, but to go along.

"Of course, I will, Sweetheart."

Hannah looked up, with an even bigger smile across her tiny face, and happily scampered out of the bedroom and into the hallway.  She apparently had chosen a special piece of her jewelry that she'd wanted to share with Brad, and she picked it up and came back in to present it to him as the bracelet he could wear when they got married.

When I got home, he was wearing it around his wrist.  In fact, he wore it all day, and as I type this post, it's sitting atop his dresser.  I know he'll hold onto it for as long as he lives - or until Hannah asks for it back.  It's no secret that she's Daddy's Girl :)

By Golly, I've Got It!

I'm not sure why this has never occurred to me before, but I think I've found a possible solution in regards to blogging consistently.

Stick with me here because I have to back-track a bit.

I think I have developed adult ADD.  Seriously.

I've noticed that I have a lot of projects and ideas swimming around in my head, but I have a hard time completing them, or following through.  If I'm honest, sometimes I have a hard time even getting started.  I would almost always describe myself as feeling overwhelmed.  I have a hard time completing thoughts aloud.  The list goes on...

In October, I went on a road trip with my mom and my sister, and I brought up the idea that maybe I have ADD, and they both pretty much laughed and said, "You think so?" very sarcastically.  Which started a whole conversation as to how they'd previously never brought this to my attention, but that's another story.

One thing I've noticed about myself, is that I thrive on structure and routine.  When I don't have a set routine for something - it rarely gets done.  For example, every year over summer break - I turn into a sloth.  On the weekends, if I don't have plans, I do a lot of napping.  I really have to push myself to complete tasks.  But - if I have a routine - I usually follow-through.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to blog more frequently and to finally get it caught up so that I can print the last two years of our blog.  I'm so behind that this is an incredibly overwhelming task.  Which is why it hasn't gotten done.

And then it hit me!  I need a blogging routine that is realistic.  I need to be able to jot down post ideas during the week (when I'm exhausted and have school work and shows and reading to do) and then blog those posts on the weekend when I have some more time to really focus and write.

Let's see how I do.

Sticky Fingers and Hungry Tummies

Today was not a great day.  They can't all be, I guess, but whoa.

It's been a really long week, and it's only Wednesday.  It's so hard to get back into the routine after such a long, winter break.  The kiddos are sleepy.  I'm cranky.  We have to get up when it's really dark.  I have to make lunches.  And dinner.  And it's rough.

So keep all of that in mind and then consider this:

As I was unpacking Jack's backpack and getting ready to help him with his homework, I noticed some Lego figures that were definitely not ours.  As I called Jack into the kitchen, he mumbled something about "finding things lately," but also looked incredibly guilty and already knew he was in trouble.  After a long time-out in his room and a longer chat about doing the right thing and considering how he'd feel if someone failed to return something he'd lost, he came downstairs to write an apology to his teacher.

As he was writing, I couldn't help thinking about where Brad and I had gone wrong.  How could Jack, even for an instant, think this was acceptable behavior?  I was proud of the way I handled the situation: I stayed calm.  I didn't yell, and I stressed that everyone makes mistakes and it's what we do when we make those mistakes that matters.  But at the same time my inner-mommy voice was saying that I'm not sure that taking Lego figures counts as a mistake.  It felt like a mommy-fail.

Then after a half hour of listening to Hannah Bear say she was hungry as dinner was cooking, we sat down to eat, and within seconds, I could tell she wasn't going to eat the chicken and noodle casserole I'd served.  She probably ate one spoonful collectively, and I knew she was hungry.  I'd previously told her that after dinner she could eat the fruit snacks she'd asked about earlier, but when she realized she wasn't going to get those after she didn't eat her dinner, she cried.  Oh, did she cry.

So neither little lovely was a happy camper this evening.  And neither am I.

And it's only Wednesday :(

She gets it.

Do you remember how I told you about the mama that wrote her little boy a note to be an amazing friend?  And about how inspired I was by that tiny message?

She did it again.

This morning was a little rough.  The kids are so out of their routine, and were so super-sleepy when I woke them up this morning.  Getting ready and drop-off went smoother than I expected, but I was sad that our extra time together was over, and I was missing my adorable children when I got to work.

And then I got an email from my mama friend.  She'd come across someone else's blog post, and felt like it said exactly what she wanted to say to me - so she forwarded it my way and added that I do amazing work.

See for yourself - click here to read the post.

I read it during indoor recess and before I knew it, I was crying.  Not big splashy tears because my, that would've been embarrassing, but I definitely had to get a tissue and wipe my eyes.  My horrible mommy-moment outside of Hannah's classroom came racing back - the way I'd felt like I'd failed.  Like every day I'm there for other peoples' kids, but I couldn't get to her Christmas sing-along on time.

This mom...she gets it.

I felt so appreciated.  So I sent her a link to the blog post that I'd written about her, and we marveled about how good we can make each other feel if we're willing to be a little vulnerable and tell people what we're really thinking.

Our mommy-hearts are full today.  I hope yours is, too.