Tag: Thanksgiving

humor, motherhood

Thankful: Why I Will Never be (C)lonely

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The first time I held Full Speed, I had an out-of-body moment.  A sense of calm filled me and a quiet understanding of love filled my heart.  This fleeting moment of peace buoyed me through those first weeks of motherhood.

As family and friends paraded through our home excited to meet our firstborn, one theme remained constant, his eery physical similarity to Mad Dog.  In fact, my mother would sometimes feel uncomfortable holding him because she had an unsettling feeling that she was actually holding Mad Dog.  While she loved Mad Dog dearly as a son-in-law, she preferred an occasional polite hug to extended snuggling.  Frankly, I was so tired I probably wouldn’t have noticed either way.

With Full Speed’s paternity clearly locked down, as the years passed, I wondered if he would ever resemble me in any capacity.   Other than showing a penchant for writing, he almost is 100% Mad Dog.  The upside of this is, whenever Mad Dog travels, I have an outstanding stand-in to keep me company.  Lately as a bonus, he is even throwing in the exact behavior patterns of Mad Dog’s that sometimes drive me a little crazy.  For instance, he cannot find things that are in plain sight, runs into counters and cabinets oftentimes knocking himself soundly in the head and he insists I did not tell him something when I absolutely did(!).

Thanks to you Full Speed, I will never be (c)lonely.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Happy to look exactly like my dad.
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#twinning

 

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Just to clarify, Full Speed’s the one in glasses.

 

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Cloning is for real.
children, family, gratitude, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

5,000

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ry=400-11 ry=400-12

I’m noticing a trend.  In many ways, life with Full Speed and T.Puzzle is becoming much more pleasant.  Even though they are off school for a whole week for Thanksgiving, I didn’t even bat an eye.  I took them to the store today and I had zero anxiety about it.  If you know me it all, that is a near miraculous statement.  Of course, I still have rather unusual conversations with them before we enter any place that is of public domain.

“Your decisions in the store will determine whether or not you will be spending a large amount of time in your rooms or not once we return home.  I am only going to give you one warning.  Next time I have to speak to you about your behavior, you will have to go to your rooms as soon as we get home.”

“But, Mom,… is that one warning total or is that a warning a piece for each thing we do?  Like, ‘Calm down!’, ‘Be quiet!’, ‘Don’t kick your brother!'”  Full Speed had quite a list.

At this point I was only half-listening as the list went on and on.  “I don’t know, Full Speed.  I just don’t know.”

“Mom, what if T.Puzzle and I came up with 5,000 different ways to get in trouble?  Is that equal to 5,000 warnings?  What would you say to that, Mom?”

“I would say you are very talented.”

He grinned and chuckled.

Thankfully, we didn’t even crack the top ten.

children, family, gratitude, humor, kids, motherhood

Thankfulness is the Game (Happy Thanksgiving!)

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I am thankful for each and every one of you that takes time to follow my little blog.  Whether you are inclined to so because we are related, because you are my friend or because we share a similar experience in life, motherhood or otherwise, I am thankful for you.  I am thankful for a husband who accepts me as I am, on good days and on bad ones, too.  I am thankful for my boys who continue to amaze me.  Sometimes this aforementioned amazement borders on mind-numbing frustration depending on the day you ask me.  Most days are awesome and some days are not and should never be mentioned again (blogging about them is the exception of course!).

I don’t know if this motherhood thing is going to get easier.  I have a sneaking suspicion that in some ways it will and in others, it will only increase in complexity.

I’m game if you are.

What do these guys have in store for me next?
children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

What We Did For Thanksgiving Vacation

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Whew!  Full Speed had a whole week off and T.Puzzle stayed home most of the week, too.

You know some mayhem ensued.

Oh how it did.

We were a busy bunch.

The week started with a ‘date’ for Mom and Full Speed.

The boys saw Santa with their cousin.

We celebrated Thanksgiving and Mad Dog’s birthday.  And yes, as a nation, I do believe in our entirety, we felt extreme gratitude that Mad Dog’s birthday coincided on this special day.   Or something like that.

 

Then, Mad Dog and I celebrated his birthday again as Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Pink graciously hosted our boys.  Upon our return, it is unlikely they will be invited back anytime soon.  Apparently, someone really needs to talk to their parents about their rowdy behavior.  Our apologies.

 

love you, Mad Dog!

Then, if all that wasn’t enough, we decorated our Christmas tree.  I tried oh-so-hard to let the boys do their thing without anxiously hovering about.  They seemed to have fun and I did too, just as long as all our breakable ornaments were hung at the top of the tree (by me!).

By the end of the week, we had two very tired boys on our hands.

 

So glad they have an 'off' switch.

 

When all was said and done, the thing that I am most grateful for is that I was actually sad to send them back to school because we had so much fun together.

Mothering these two strong spirited boys has not been without challenge.  To be able to say that I am honestly going to miss them as they trounce back to school is a turning point.

I am learning that even though there were days during vacation that they drove me to tears with their outlandish and stubborn behavior, I am now beginning to see the emergence of who they really are underneath.

Thankfully, they are two very cool little dudes.

Hope you all had a great holiday!

children, gratitude, mommyhood, Uncategorized

Hey, Gorgeous!

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone (okay, more like Happy Thanksgiving All Twelve of My Loyal Readers!).

T.Puzzle woke up with a little sniffle and a sneeze. In good German form I said, “Gesunheidt!” (That’s a shout out to my Mom’s heritage).

“Thank you, Mommy,” T.Puzzle replies.

Full Speed throws in his two cents. “T.Puzzle, when Mommy blesses you, you should say, ‘Thanks, gorgeous’!”

“What did you say, Full Speed?” I ask.

“Thanks, gorgeous!”

“Where did you hear that from?” I wonder. Inside I’m secretly smiling. I know that in a ponytail and sweats I am far from gorgeous. Tired maybe, gorgeous no. I love that in the eyes of my five year old a Mom looks gorgeous no matter what.

“I don’t know, I guess I just made it up,” is his practical reply.

Today I am thankful for a son who thinks I’m ‘gorgeous’ and am hoping my readers are spending time with people who think the same of them.

Happy Thanksgiving, Gorgeous!