Mothers and Sons

I am now in love with this post about Mothers and Sons.

I remember being pregnant and imagining my future with Tucker.  I imagined rocking him to sleep every night. And then I imagined sitting in the stands at his football games in my North Montgomery sweatshirt with “Tucker’s Mom” on the back and my cowbell in my hand, cheering through the whole game and being hoarse the next day.

And then Tuck was born and I indeed rocked him to sleep every night, often holding him well after he had fallen asleep.

Then the reality of mobility hit me.  I never once imagined that one little toddler boy could move so fast and get into so much trouble.

And I never imagined the conversations I would have with him at age 4, and wonder where he comes up with these ideas.  One day we were on the way to Missy’s and from the backseat Tucker tells me: “Mommy, you need to drive really slow on my way to school and then really FAST when you are at work.”  I asked: “Is that so that I can spend more time with you and less time at work?” “Yup” he answered.  “You are such a smart boy, Tucker.” “Yea… I know”

And yes, I did slow down.

Christmas 2010, Age 3

Mother’s Day 2011

Tuck’s 4th Birthday

Mother’s Day 2012, Age 4

And now you are 5.  You have now finished swimming lessons, your first season of basketball and are starting your first season of baseball. You are full of questions, like: Hippos and people and dogs are mammals; what are zombies?

5th birthday

You are riding your bicycle with just one training wheel and only use it randomly.  You are about to graduate from NMHS’ Early Learning Academy where you have done so well, getting “green lights” for weeks on end.  You are such a good big brother and, for the most part, get along well with your sister.

I am so proud of you and I can only look forward to what comes next and continue to search for that cowbell.

Easter 2013

This was the first time I have braved coloring Easter eggs with the kids.  We used Kool-Aid and food coloring because I had those on hand. 

The kids enjoyed it.

And our final products ended up ok.  The brown ones were actually grape Kool-aid.  We won’t use that flavor again; they looked bad and they tasted like grape boiled eggs.  Not good.

Then we went to Papaw’s for dinner and the annual Easter Egg Hunt. 

The Easter Bunny hid all of Kora’s under sticks.

She almost didn’t have a big enough basket.

And then she enjoyed the fruits of her labor in the Gazebo.

Tuck’s were hidden a little bit more challengingly.

I know he circled around a couple of them multiple times.

But he loved racing around the front yard looking for them.

He finally found the one in the mailbox.

And settled in to inventory the booty.

It was a cool day but the kids had fun and we ate like kings, of course. 

Its My Birthday

Its the BIG one. The big 4-0. No i am not depressed. I am owning this baby!!! Im in a great spot. I have a great job that i love. I have a great home. And most importantly i have a great family that is all safe and healthy. What more does a girl need?

TJ took me to Indy for the weekend. We stayed in a corner suite at the Canterbury Hotel with valet parking. I could get used to that! But it turns out I am content with cookies and milk or beer and chips; neither of us were too keen on the champagne although i enjoyed the strawberries. We had dinner at the Palomino and went to Crackers for a good ab workout. It was a fun night.

And the kids enjoyed themselves spending the night at Grandma Connie and Grandpa Jakes. They swam in the bathtub and camped under the pool table.

On my birthday, the folks at the office took me out for Mexican for lunch. They even brought out the Monster Sombrero. TJ made me tacos for dinner and an angel food cake which resembled Crater Lake but was delicious with strawberries and whipped cream.

And i got about a million well wishes on Facebook plus emails, texts and cards. It was a good day.

Halloween 2012

This was a big year for Halloween.  The kids are old enough to do some pumpkin decorating on their own.  I still could not come to terms of Tuck and a knife so he still had to resort to painting his pumpkin. 

These two look a lot alike right?  It’s hard to tell the talking head from the pumpkin.  And they are both just so darn cute.

And this was one of my big holidays for successful Pinterest inspiration.  These mummy juice boxes were a big hit and the Frankenstein green pudding cups went over well too.  But somehow I failed to get a picture of those.  And don’t you love Kora’s dismembered leg.  I think it adds to the Halloween gore.

We went with a Star Wars theme for Missy’s annual backyard party.  Last year TJ told me he would grow out his beard and dress up as Chewbacca so I held him to it.  But somehow I missed getting a picture of him.  2 days before the party Tuck started dragging his heels about dressing up so we had to go rent the movie then he was totally on board with being part of the theme.

Kora made a convincing Yoda.  Her coat is an old bath towel and her hood started out as a polo shirt.  The ears turned out a bit droopy but I was still proud of my attempts.  And she won “Cutest Costume”.

Can you even tell my attempt at Princess Leia?  I think I totally nailed the braids.

And here is Luke Skywalker.  His favorite part was the pool noodle sword. 

And what would a good fight be without a sword wielding Yoda?

Missy had her party on Saturday since Halloween falls mid-week.  So we got to dress up again on Halloween day.  It was going to be a fight to get them back into their Star Wars costumes so they both decided they could be Cowboys.  Doesn’t he look like a real bad guy?

These are the kids new authentic Texas cowboy hats that Grandma Deb brought back from El Paso.  Aren’t they just the cutest?

Kora was mad that I made her put her boots on the right feet before we left.  It was pretty chilly that night so we made a pretty short night of it and walked two blocks of Main Street.  The kids still ended up with a pretty good stash of candy.  Kora was pretty scared of the Stay-Puff Marshmallow family and wouldn’t you know that we would run into them at least three times. 

I think this may have been my final year of getting to choose the kids costumes.  I am sure next year Tuck will have plenty of opinions of his own.  I guess I had a good run.

My Upholstery Project

 

I bought these legs as part of a whole bedroom suite set at a yard sale 2 summers ago.  I had and idea for what I wanted to do with it but it took a while before it all came together.  Thanks to Pinterest, my inspiration was combined to become a finished product.

 

I sanded the legs down and spray painted them bright blue.  The blue was a bit too intense so I added some black and then sealed it.

Then I bought a canvas drop cloth.  $6 for a 6x9 piece.  Can’t beat that bargain for fabric.  Again this was inspired by Pinterest. And another Pin gave me the inspiration for my painting pattern using a water bottle lid, another lid, a toilet paper roll and a Qtip.

The wooden base for the cushion was some leftover pieces from an old desk. I added some padding, some batting and stapled the whole thing together. I think it turned out perfect.

So did Tuck.  He helped with the drill to attach the cushion to the legs.  He’s quite handy.

And it’s all done in the nick of time.  I will put it in the basement bedroom.  Jenny, Mandy, Rock and the boys come in 2 weeks and this will be the perfect place to put a suitcase or sit down for a bit.  I’m so excited it’s done.  And so excited that I am accomplishing some of my projects inspired by my Pinterest obsession.

One Hot Momma, If I do say so myself

TJ, upon my strong suggestion, got me a makeover and photo shoot for Mother’s Day.  This, to make up for the IOU that I got last year for the mother’s ring which conveniently arrived under the Christmas tree.  But I digress.

This Mother’s Day package was with our Photographer: Photographed by Ed and the lovely ladies at the Main Street Hair Company. I gave Kyri carte blanche with my hair; my only criteria was that I had to be able to blow dry and go once I was released on my own.  They talked me into highlights and I am so glad that they did. They turned out so nice. I’d forgotten that blondes do have more fun.

There ended up one other lady that was doing the same gift package at the same time. We ended up tag teaming in front of the camera and we had great fun “helping” each other with poses. I was on the receiving end of more support, I must admit. Ed told me I was his only client who had ever asked for a cleavage shot (which I think is good since he does mainly families and seniors) but  I figure that one will be TJ’s next gift.  And I must admit it was more of a challenge to get said shot than I imagined.  Thus all the previous mentioned “help”.

This is a sneak peek that I was given. 

I asked Ed later how much Photoshopping he had to do and he claims it was all done with lighting and makeup.  But I know there should be chubbier cheeks and multiple chins.  I don’t know what kind of magic he pulled to make them disappear!! 

This was such a great experience and one of the best afternoons of “me time” that I’ve ever had.

Many thanks to Ed, Missy and Kyri for making me one Hot Momma.

Christmas Decorating: Me vs. Tucker

I love this little sled.  It’s got a metal base and a little Longaberger basket that sits on top.  I usually add some pinecones and add it to some little ensemble.

I just love it.

But Tucker got ahold of it and gave it a whole new decorating spin. 

He was so proud.  And I was so proud of his creativity and context.  He was giving all of his “guys” a carriage ride. He has about a million horses but he picked all of the ones that were the same size.

Is this not funny or what?

Living Room: Before and After

How can two children turn this…

Into this…

And how is it that it takes 3 times as long to return it to this?

It’s a never ending fight.