Lasso The Moon

Mother's Day. My Way.

While we spent much of the afternoon at my grandmother's house, honoring the matriarch and other moms of my family by dining on barbecue and deviled eggs, my favorite part of the day was sitting on my couch, in my home, watching my favorite show on Hulu, with my four favorite little people.

I love spending Mother's Day just being a mom.

Some New House Rules, for Mother's Day

Last year, I started a tradition of sharing some of the rules that I've had to make as the momma of these little ones.  Since then I've been keeping a little list, so I'd have some good ones to share with you.  These are all actual rules, stated out loud at least once, in a moment of craziness.  Sometimes the things we moms say are surprising, even to us.

So here they are.

These are the rules.

Do not pretend that fingernail clippings are contact lenses and stick them in your eye.

Do not use potty water for brushing your teeth.

Do not style your hair with potty water.

Do not poke Mommy in the eyes with a pencil.

Do not punch Mommy in the face.

Do not lick the TV.

Do not spit in your hand when you are sitting on the couch.  Even if your tongue is burned and you want the spit to cool it off.

Do not eat food out of the trash.

Do not run on concrete wearing Crocs.

Do not spit your chewed-up food into Daddy's hand.

Do not dig poop out of your diaper.

Do not squish poop between your fingers.

Do not put poop on Mommy's face while she's sleeping.

::

And in case you missed last year's rules, you can find them here.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Hair today...well, you know.

Emma has been wanting to get her hair cut for months.  I've been all for it, but actually making the appointment seemed like an impossible obstacle while I was pregnant.

But there's something about the feat of childbirth that gives you the feeling that you can do anything.  Make an appointment? Nah, I'll cut it myself.  (Seriously, you can learn to do anything on youtube!)

Her hair was long and beautiful, but all the combing and detangling was wearing us both out.

Before:

And after:

Tangles no more!!  We kept the hair, and it's currently braided in a baggie waiting to be sent to Locks of Love as a donation.  I need to do that soon, because having a baggie full of hair lying around is just creepy.

She loves the cut.  The picture taking, not so much.

Thanks to Radona for making such a great video.  You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFqsKMo8JK8

 

Esther Turns 2

 

Esther turned two on Friday.  How on earth has it been a year since her Sunshine Party?  In general, we like to celebrate birthdays on the actual date of the child's birthday.  We also decided years ago that big, fancy, friends parties can wait until the little one is turning four.  They don't really know what's going on before that anyway, so if we have a party, we just invite whichever relatives are in town and available on the right day.

But, poor Esther. This year, not only was her baby brother born just 13 days before, but it seemed every single relative was busy on her birthday.  So we made a batch of pretty cupcakes, stuck two candles in them, and told the family to drop by whenever they could.

Guess what? She didn't know the difference.  And not only that, but she got to blow out her candles again every time someone new came over.

What else could a two-year-old want?

Instead of a gift (can you tell we were really cutting corners this year!) we filled her bedroom with 75 balloons and let her loose in there.

It was hysterical mayhem for more than 30 minutes.

Here's the video we made if the pictures don't say enough.

 

I'm not sure a real party, with friends, clowns, jumpy houses, and ponies could have lived up to a room full of balloons.

Happy Birthday, Essie Bear!