Mother's Day

I had a fantastic day on Sunday. It started with a dog pile of snuggles in my bed with my boys followed by a hand delivered cup of Joe from Carson. We snuck in blueberry muffins before heading to Boog and Ashley's house for brunch with the Ross crew. We invaded Boog's subdivision playground for a good hour of laughing, racing, swinging, sliding and dancing around with Luke, Laura, Abby and the rest of the family. We made a slight detour to McDonald's for some mid-afternoon nuggets and ice cream before heading home for naps. We finished off the day with Jimmy John's (Glamorous, I know, but I haven't had JJ's since college!!!) and candy & wine shopping at Schnucks. (You know you get a 10% discount when you buy six bottles, right?!) My heart, new wine cabinet and sweet tooth were satisfied. I am so blessed to have such loving, ornery, smart, considerate, happy boys in my life. (You're included in that, Mr. Ross!)

What a happy Mother's Day!?!?

Snakes alive!

We came home from a wonderful Mother's Day brunch to find a giant snake in our landscaping. The slithering sicko was over 7 feet long! After a very tense 15 minutes of planning and executing his "defeat," Nate managed to find him a "new home." This is how we explained it to the boys, anyway. Carson said, "I sure hope his new home isn't in Heaven, because he'd scare God, don't you think?"

Love how their little minds work!

Washington Riverfront Excursion

We headed to Washington after Carson's soccer game on Saturday. After lunch outside at The Landing, we watched trains, threw sticks in the river, raced in the grass and ate ice cream. After a few hours in the sun, the boys' tanks were on E. What a great day!

He notices.

I really play up the whole "working from home thing" in that I rarely do my hair or put on make-up when I don't go in to the office. My usual attire is something cotton - t-shirts, tanks, yoga pants, ball cap, North Face pull over, etc. While driving the boys to school last week in my business casual best, hair and make-up (Check!), and accessories appropriately layered on, Carson told me that I looked like "Lauren's mom." I asked him, "What does Lauren's mom look like?" He said, "She has straight hair and necklaces on all the time." So I asked him, "What does normal Mommy look like?" Carson proceeded to tell me that "normal Mommy" wears a hat and glasses when she picks him up; she never wears bracelets or sunglasses or dresses. THE KID NOTICES WHEN I LOOK LIKE CRAP! Needless to say, I have gotten "ready" every day since Carson shared his thoughts with me on the way I "look," regardless of whether or not I am going in to the office.

This morning, the sweet boy told me that I looked "decorated" and that he thought I was pretty. God love you, little man.

We'll see how long I can keep this up! :)

Mitt Rob-i-nee

The boys have these little bubble bath Power-Ranger-looking-guys that they play with in the tub each night. Carson calls one of them "Optimus Prime" and the other "Mitt Robiney." Ringing any bells for ya? You know, Mitt, the almost leader of our country!

Soccer Star

Carson has joined a soccer team! He plays on Saturday mornings with roughly 20 other four year old kiddos. One of his teammates, Nathaniel, is his friend from school. Nathaniel also attends our church and will start kindergarten with Carson in the fall of 2014. Yay, for friends and new experiences!!!

Easter Morning

Carson shouted this to us after a hunt around our house for eggs this morning, "Thank you Easter Bunny, for all our candy. The true meaning of Easter and the bunny who has taken His place were slightly crossed, but Carson's heart was definitely in the right place though. Happy Easter!


Easter morning flowers in my Grandma Faye's bubble vase.

"Too cool for school" bunny!

St. John Eggstravaganza

We attended a wonderful Easter service at St. John on Saturday before their infamous Eggstravaganza. Carson and Brady normally spend their Sunday mornings in Jam Session (Children's Ministries), so being in the sanctuary with all the lights, music, people, production, etc. was really fun for them. Following the service, we had a hot dog, hamburger, Doritos and Famous Amos cookie "picnic" inside. We finally made our way to the Easter Egg Hunt, and the boys loved it. Rain or shine, we had a great night!

Guitar Man

Hunter Hayes in training, maybe?!

Egg Souffle

We dyed eggs for the first time! Brady wanted to eat the dye tablets and Carson wanted to soke his egg for entirely too long, but in the end, they were proud of their finished product.



Carson's Perfection

Bman's Masterpiece

Snow Bunnies

We made the best of yesterday! Nate usually takes the boys outside when we get an enormous amount of snow, though with his back in its current state, the boys joined Team Mommy for some fun in the sun...err, I mean SNOW. Brady lasted an entire 2 minutes outside, though Carson and I pushed threw (Literally!) the constant snow fall, wind and cold. I pushed him up and down our side yard via the snowthunder sled. (That is really its name!)

I may not have busted out the snow mobile (aka our 4-wheeler) or taken the boys sledding down the ridiculously dangerous "new road" in our subdivision, but I held my own and made both boys and Daddy proud.

Hella Snow

And now we're trapped...

Bringin' Sexy Back

This has been one heck of a week. On Wednesday, Nate had back surgery on two ruptured disks. He's been in bed healing ever since. Thankfully, he has no pain other than the soreness associated with the surgery. The tourney has saved him from insanity since he's been flat on his back five days and counting! He'll be back to 100% soon though.

In order to pull off the surgery, Tball practice, swim lessons, Nate's care, Mommy's work, etc., both sets of grandparents were on site. Thank goodness for the extra hands, because Brady was super sick with a stomach bug that peaked on Wednesday afternoon. As soon as Nate and I returned home from the hospital, I threw Brady in the car and headed to Cardinal Glennon. He was listless and dehydrated. (Thank you, Mom, for taking care of and cleaning up after Brady while I was with Nate!) After a few hours at the hospital (My 12th hour at a hospital on 3/20!), Brady, Papa Mo and I returned home.

I'm waiting patiently for this thundersnow to melt so that I can open up the windows and air out this house. (Do I even share that Carson now has the stomach bug?! My mom and Nate's mom do, too! Yuck!) We are in need of fresh air and a little Justin Timberlake in the house..."I'm bringin' sexy back. Ya!"

Skittles Gone Wild

I gave Brady a few Skittles in a shot glass. Why, I don't know. (Actually, I do know why I did this. He hoards the little guys for hours and when he finally gets around to eating them, his hands are a sticky mess!) After eating all the Skittles he pounded the glass on the floor before it shattered. Carson immediate says, "Braaaaaaady. Why did you do that? How are they supposed to drink beer, whiskey and wine now?!" Good question?!?!

"The pool ate Brady's tooth!"

We started the boys in swim lessons. Our intent was to do semi-private lessons for the two, meaning one lesson, once a week with two Ross boys and one swim teacher. Our first attempt went well (or so I thought). Carson loved it and while Brady was slightly tepid during the lesson, he stuck with it.

As we were changing out of our swim gear, Carson said, "Mom, the pool ate Brady's tooth." What?! Sure enough, Brady's right front tooth was chipped. He did cry a bit the last five minutes or so of the lesson, but Nate and I let/made him push through. We did see him bob a bit and scuff his chin on the side of the pool, but he's tough. From the peanut gallery, I yelled, "You're okay, Brady!" He actually chipped his frickin tooth! I pushed him to stay in the water like a "big boy" along side Carson with a chipped tooth!!!

Luckily, the chip is barely noticeable and hasn't caused any problems, though I now swim with Brady in a pre-pike group class while Carson has a private lesson. Geez.