They Share!

Apparently my girls coughed in my face one too many times the past few days. I woke up this morning feeling completely rotten. I thought I could ward it off yesterday by chugging Emergen-C and going to bed early. Instead, I bit the dust. Here's to a short sickness. There is never time for a Mom to be sick!

Scott is increasingly uncomfortable due to his back issue. MRI showed a herniated disc, and he figured he would end up in surgery right away as he did 10 years ago. Instead, he's having an epidural steroid injection on Friday. He is pretty bummed at having to miss Kamy's parent teacher conference. He also hates depending on anyone, so having to be driven to the appointment by me, and being picked up later by my Mom, is driving him nuts.

He came home yesterday with an inversion machine. He walked in and said, "Well, if we are embracing non-surgical methods..."

I just hope the epidural works.

A good lesson in parenting.

Have you ever been a part of seeing a parent be incredibly wise and follow through with parenting? It is a really wonderful thing.

Yesterday was so long. I didn't sleep the night before. Kamy coughed all night, Scott has a back issue and he didn't sleep, and I was up early to go to work. When I was literally one house away from mine, a young driver (age 15) slid and hit me head on. Our roads in our subdivision are so slick. Just a small little scratch on our bumper. I felt so bad for him. When I was 15 I had a wreck that was much worse than this. I called his Mom later on and talked with her a while.

She grilled me on what happened. Then she started asking how I wanted to handle it. I answered, "Really, it isn't a big deal. It is so slick and it could have been anyone. It is ok. The damage isn't even worth having it looked at."  She sounded relieved, but was insistent that she wanted to do something for me. She asked if I like pedicures or manicures, or could she get me a gift certificate someplace else. I reassured her that it wasn't a big deal. She talked about the importance of teaching her son about being gracious, and for being thankful when someone is gracious to you. She asked for my address and is going to have her son come over and thank me. Unnecessary, but sweet - and I get what she's doing, from a parenting point of view.

She asked again about the pedicure/manicure/gift certificate. I had a brilliant idea at that moment. I mentioned to her that I am the one running the marathon (an email went through our neighborhood the day before letting people know) and that if she felt like she needed to do something to thank me, she could make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to help me meet my goal. She thought it was a great idea.

I am sure that young man was freaking out all day yesterday. My only bit of advice to him in life is that you should always be kind anytime the opportunity presents itself - even if you don't feel like it (and sometimes even if you think a person doesn't deserve it). Every person we come across is facing a battle. Kindness, especially when you don't feel like it, brings joy in your life and to the life of the other person. It is worth it.

On top of that, I've got three young ones who will - no doubt - need to learn this lesson themselves. I am so thankful I had this opportunity to witness good parenting.

Dare I Blog About This?

I am hesitant to mention this...simply because I do not want to jinx it. However, I am going to because jinxed or not, I am DONE!

Time to celebrate the official end of an era. Goodbye to babyhood forever. K3 has not needed "moo-moo" (to nurse) in days. Today is day five! And don't you love the phrase "moo-moo"? Told you I am Bessie the Cow...though I guess I can remove that from my profile...

No sadness. She has asked for it a few times. I have simply signed "all done" and said the same and she has been a-ok. My "plan" was to be officially done when I leave for the marathon this summer...but I won't complain about an extra five months of freedom!

I am glad I did it. I didn't like it, but I saved a billion dollars and had a nice rack for several months after each child. Lowered my risk of certain cancers. Had a goal and met it successfully. I'm proud! It wasn't easy.

Wish me luck in the world of flat and saggy boobs!

The Cat is out of the Bag

Oh goodness. No! I am not pregnant! If I was pregnant, this blog would self-destruct by way of spontaneous combustion.

My big news is that I am going to run a marathon on June 26th in Seattle. (26.2 miles.) Even more fantastic is that I am doing my training and race as a volunteer with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The program is called Team in Training.  

You can read more about the how and the why on my new blog that will chronicle my experience: More Than a Marathon.  There is a very special little boy named Clayton who is my inspiration. I hope you will go read about him - he is a precious little boy with five brothers and sisters who are equally as amazing.

I will absolutely keep you up to date on family happenings here at the Three Witches of MacBeth. My reasoning for starting the other blog is that I feared the people here to read about the family would be sick of hearing about my training, and the people wanting to hear about my training would be sick of hearing about the family stuff. If you are interested in both, please keep up with me both places.

You will also find a link on this blog to my fundraising page through Team in Training. If you feel moved to make a donation that will benefit patients and families who are dealing with a blood cancer of any type (and that is tax deductible), I would appreciate it greatly. The families and patients who are dealing with blood cancer appreciate the help, too.

We will now return to the regularly scheduled programming. Thank you for your support!

I Have a Good Excuse.

I promise.

It is a wonderful, painful, exciting, emotional, joyful, humbling, intense, incredible and flat out awesome excuse.

Please forgive my lack of regular posts for just a bit. It will be worth the wait. I promise.

Taking Time to Breathe

Ah. Yes. Balance. Mommy time vs. Hannah time vs. Couple time vs. Friend time. And so on and so on.

Wednesday was one of those days where everything worked out just right.

I got out of bed after a long but restless night of sleep, and felt rotten. It took me a while to rally. When I checked my cell phone, I had a text message from a friend asking me to dinner with she and two other friends. The part of me that woke up feeling ho-hum wanted to cuddle up and stay home. Instead, the me who relishes these times with girlfriends texted her back to say that I was thrilled to go.

After breakfast, Kenzy begged for a movie. I explained that we were going to exercise instead. We turned on Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and got after it. Krosby thought it was fun. Kenzy pouted the entire time and said it was too hard. In response I turned on the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Boot Camp. She loved it, and decided it was "Barbie and the Three Musketeers". Whatever works.

We rested on my bed reading books and snuggling, then had lunch. Afterward, I showered, did my hair (actually curled it!) and put makeup on. Got dressed in real clothes. (Shocking!) Even put my wedding ring and a necklace on. Kenzy asked me multiple times who was coming over...Paige or Krystal. (Both babysitters she loves.) She knows that I don't put this much effort in except on date night. At this point I worried they wouldn't recognize me at Kamy's school and wouldn't release Kamy to me. (It worked out okay.)

Afternoons are always a busy time - a balancing act all of their own. But on this day, everything fell into place. Dinner for Scott and the girls was ready and cleaned up before I needed to leave the house. Scott even came home a few minutes early so I could leave on time. The second he walked in the door he also told me I looked nice. Score!

Dinner out was so peaceful and enjoyable. Catching up with friends who came before marriage and children is always a joy. It is comforting to know that despite life and the changes we have all experienced, they are still around. We talked and laughed and swapped stories, despite all being at different stages in life. It felt good to breathe.

All of this on a busy day that also included cleaning up countless messes, changing diapers, preparing snacks, more cleaning, breaking up fights, organizing, snapping a few pictures, planning my next projects, loving a teething baby, and the day-to-day craziness. It can seem so difficult some days. The daily craziness takes over and without having a bit of downtime to go out with my husband, work out, have dinner with friends or to even take a shower the days can end in a funk. To have multiple moments in a day to breathe and reset was amazing. I always want to be thankful for these days because it makes the rough ones easier. My goal is to have as many "reset" moments as I can so that even the rough moments in a day are easier. It makes for a happier day, happier children, happier Mom, and happier family.

This entire week was full of moments like the ones today. It is worth the effort. What they tell you on an airplane rings true in life - putting on your mask before helping others put on theirs is the safest way to do things. Otherwise Mommy might run away. (Kidding.)

Balance: What a beautiful thing.

"You're not my Mommy..."

K2 is the biggest drama queen.

This morning we were scheduled to run errands. We had a very important trip to Hobby Lobby on tap. While she was excited to go, when it came down to it, she decided she would rather stay home and watch t.v. I explained that that wasn't an option, to which she replied, "Well then. You're not my best friend."

This was not a big deal to me because I am not around in her life to be her best friend. I'm her Mom! I told her this. This time her response was well thought out and a bit humorous: "Fine. You're not my Mommy. Daddy is my Mommy!"

I tried to be kind and understanding, but I couldn't help but laugh. I suppose if I have to give up my "Mommy" status to anyone, I can handle it going to Scott. Such a manly Mommy he is!

Seriously. Drama. Queen.

(Oh, and we made it to Hobby Lobby and back. All without incident. Score!)

Bathtime: Cabin Edition

While in Colorado, in a cabin with no bathtub...

...your Grandma might teach you how to wash your hair. In the sink.

And one might accuse the Grandma of purposely not wanting a bathtub for this very reason...

Extreme Cuteness.

She absolutely loves her Grandma.

Little does she know, this was likely her last go-round in the sink. Krosby had her first shower while at the cabin a week later. Hated every minute of it. Scowled and gave me the stink-eye. I blame Grandma.

Rock Mountain Ski Bunny

This is our family of three on our first trip to Colorado. My sweet Kamy was just six months old.

Look at her now! She's a 5-year-old Ski Bunny!

Thank goodness she had Daddy to teach her. I have never tried to ski. Ever.

The "magic carpet" area wasn't cool enough for her - she decided she was ready for a lift. She didn't even fall - well, not off the lift, anyway.

My husband is completely iPhone illiterate. Even though I walked him through the steps of taking pictures and video on his fancy phone, he pushed the wrong button every time. He was so proud of himself for taking "about 15 pictures of her". Turns out there were zero. I almost cried. The only thing that kept me from crying was when my step-dad saved the day and showed me the previous three pictures of Kamy on his camera. Thank goodness.

One of my favorite things...

Is figuring out just how to make pretty twinkly, sparkly, starry lights on my camera.

I don't know what it is about these pictures, but I just love the look of those lights.

It is the simple things in life. Right?