A trade off.....Your Don'ts for your Do's!

I have a blog that I read called 320 Sycamore. If you guys don't read it, you really should. I love that Melissa is so honest and creative! She had a post about how she trades her do's for her don'ts. I loved the post and thought I would do my version of it!

As a daughter, sister, friend, mom, wife, etc.....there is just too many hats to wear! Do you ever feel like you cross off one thing on your to do list, just to add 3 more things to the list!!!!!!! Yikes, it is never ending and I feel like there is ALWAYS something to do! But, one thing I have started to learn (maybe I am becoming wiser as I get older) is that you have to trade your DONT'S to get your DO'S accomplished! Everyone has a different list of don'ts and do's! There are many many many things I choose not to do in order to get to my do's! Here are some of my trade offs (don't judge by the pictures you are about to see):

• I DON'T sew (not a lick...not even a button...hoping to learn someday), but I DO talk with my friends and family on a regular basis.




• I DON'T (rarely) ever make food from scratch, but I DO have a weekly family game night that we ALL look forward to.




• I DON'T scrub my bathroom or floors as much as I should (sometimes I even stick to my floor..YUCK), but we DO have family picnics often.




• I DON'T iron my clothes (I either don't buy the kind that require ironing or I throw them in the dryer to try to get the wrinkles out), but I DO read to my kids everyday.




• I DON'T have a clean car (I think some of my kids afternoon snacks consist of Cherrios or Goldfish that were found in their carseat), but I DO try to get in a good 5 min cuddle (AT LEAST) with each of my kids a day.




• I DON'T dust often enough (sometimes when you walk by the dust bunnies, they are big enough to actually chase after you), but I DO go to the park or zoo as often as I can.




• I DON'T fix my hair (usually in a pony tail) or wear much makeup, but I DO craft often with my kids.

My children have helped me to realize that my DON'TS just aren't that important. I know that they will be so grown up so soon, that I am trying to be present in EVERYDAY! I might need reminders here and there, but I am really trying to soak it up.

Things get done when they need to, which is usually before guests come over. HA! My Do's out weigh my don'ts by a mile. My Do's are what make me happy and give my kids great memories!

What are your don'ts so you can have your Do's?

Family Pics

Recently I had a friend of mine take pics for our family and LOVE how they turned out! I was feeling like the worst mother EVER because it had been 2 years since our last family portrait! Which doesn't sound that terrible, until you realize that Tucker is 2! HA! He was 3 weeks old in our last family photo. To say he has changed is a huge understatement! Here are a few of my favs! Enjoy!

Yummy and Funny Boys!

These boys are SERIOUSLY so yummy! As everyone mom would agree about their own kids, they totally melt my heart with their voice, smile, laughter, and quirks! They are DELICIOUS!!! Coop got a new Dan costume from Bakugon (we are SO obsessed with this stuff...and I just don't get it). Anywho, he thought he was the S@#T and had to strut his stuff as DAN! Sweet Tuck had to get in on the action too!

While Tuck was eating his breakfast (Lucky Charms) a blue marshmellow got away! Unbeknownst to Tuck, look where it ended up! Perfect Hilter 'Stache!
Last but not least, the boys and I had to venture to Walmart today! Of course, when we got there Coop had to use the potty (for some reason now, every where we go publicly...Coop needs to POOP, ALWAYS). So, all 3 of us went into the big potty (handicap) so we could all fit into it together. While helping Cooper, I turned around and saw Tuck doing this! Guess he just needed a little rest!

He loved this little seat and it took me FOREVER to get him out of the stall! Thankfully, I have remebered my camera for these little moments! To top it off, when Coop was done he used tulip paper (how he says toilet paper....loveit) all by himself! Growing up SO fast!

Til the next blunder,

Amanda

Halloween Fun

We started the day off with some fun! The boys were SO excited you would have thought that they woke up and ate candy for BREAKFAST! We played a little inside and a little outside! Notice the boys have different clothes on? We ususally have about 5 wardrobe changes a day (thanks to poop, pee, boogers, shmutz on our clothes from food, or playing in the hose...no matter what the temp is outside).


Time for our costumes and Trick or Treating couldn't come fast enough! But, finally it had arrived. Our evil Darth Vader and adorable Fireman couldn't wait to Tee Tee Tee (Tuck's version of Trick or Treat....totally melted my heart).




It was another successful fun year at Halloween! My hips are thanking me today for the generous amount of chocolate I gave them yesterday! I hope you had a VERY HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Maskless Vader and Halloween Treats

Coop had his Halloween Party at school yesterday and got to wear his costume! He is Darth Vader this year! A rule that the school has is no masks allowed at school! I totally understand the rule, but super hard for a 4 year old to understand when he is SO excited about Halloween!

This was Coop's face when I walked into his class! I got so choked up, because we all thought I would have to miss. The party was the same time as Tuck's therapy! Thankfully a great friend of mine sat at therapy for an hour while I had some TREATS with Coop!

We have had a great time making some Halloween crafts/goodies! I will say that I don't have any original creativity! I am really good at attempting to copy other people's craftiness!

These are homemade pumkin playdoh that we made for the kid's TREATS for their friends at school! I got this idea and the kitchen print out idea from my friend Ashley! She is one of the most creative people...I have NEVER met! Ha! Just a friend I know through blogging that was introduced to me thru my dear friend Kim. You should check out her blog! She has

creativity billowing out of her ears! http://www.lifewiththeparks.blogspot.com/.

Another one of my favorite places to get my creativity is from http://www.howdoesshe.com/ This site is AMAZING and bursting with ideas about crafts, love, cleaning, etc! These ladies are awesome! The kind you want to be friends with! HA! They made these cute little mummy cookies, so we thought they looked yummy and fun to make! I think they turned out great!

Last but not least, I am all about a cheap way to decorate for the holidays! I got a dinged up frame from Hobby Lobby at 66% off (I try to find one with a little hiccup to get the extra discount...he he he). I think I payed a total of $2.80 for the frame. Then I got this FREE downloadable from http://www.servingpinklemonade.blogspot.com/ and VOILA! An inexpensive Halloween decoration! Super cute!

What fun crafts/goodies did you make this Halloween?

Family Fun

Chris' parents recently came into town and we had such a great time! The boys get SO excited to stay in a hotel with their grandparents.....they think it is living the HIGH LIFE! Here are a few pics from their visit.

While Grammy and Pops were here, they bought Tuck this school bus on steroids! Monster Truck style. It didn't take Tuck very long to figure out that the back door actually opened. Take a close look at the pic.....what do you see?

Did you have a guess? FRENCH FRIES!!!! He thought it was the funniest thing and so did we! Always a fun time!

Fall Fun and Super Heros!

We had the privilege to watch some of our friend's kids the other day! The kids of course had a fabulous time!

Fall has become my most FAVORITE season since we moved to TN! I love the colors, smells and sounds! Here are some of my favs (I wished I could say that I took these...but I actually got them off the internet..LOL):



Cooper loves to play dress up about 100 times a day! His most favorite is any kind of superhero! Here are Coop and his buddy Zach saving the day!

Oh to be a Superhero! I often wonder if I did have a Superhero's powers, what would I want for power? I think I would pick 2.....if possible. I would want to be able to fly, so that I could easily see all of my amazing family and friends that live far away! Or...to slow time down! I especially want this power many times during the day with my kids (some days I would like to speed up time when they are having a rough day, and want daddy to hurry home from work...LOL). But in all honesty, they are doing such fun things, have such an innocence, enjoy the littelest things in life, and are just SO darn cute! To capture that moment for just a LITTLE bit longer would be an awesome power as a parent!

What would you pick for your Superhero power?

Welcome to the zoo....Tuck is turning 2!

This past weekend we had Tuck's 2nd birthday party! It was such a beautiful day and fantastic. We decided to have a Diego (Di Di) and animal party! I think it was a hit! Here are some pics of our great day!

We decided to keep the food kid friendly and along with the animal theme.

Tuck had a REALLY hard time waiting.....so he had a few handfuls of icing beforehand....yum!

I couldn't get Cooper to stand still long enough to get a good pic of him! Just a blur in most! Here was our little favor bag we gave to all our friends! Thanks to everyone for making it such a special event!

Tuck...our little man

Oh....who am I kidding, he won't EVER play the name game! But he is so darn cute! Growing fast and doing funny things all the time. Here are a few pics and video to view for your pleasure! In the first video, watch at the end when Coop falls off his bed...we thought it was so funny!

Here is Tuck's new trick of climbing out of his crib! Scared me to death. He fell out of his crib and so now is in a big boy bed. Below is Coop taking a video of Tuck the monkey! There is also a cute pic of his new little bed....such a BIG boy!

One of my most favorite sounds it the boys laughing. Once they both get started....it is so hard for them to start. Here is one of my favs of daddy making Tuck laugh

A little of this and a little of that

We all ventured to Winchester, TN with Chris this past weekend! He had to work and we decided to go with him...to check out the town. They were having their annual Dogwood Festival. We had a grea time!



We had a great time at the festival! Once we were done with our funnel cakes and petting zoo...we got a little silly! We had a great time making silly faces and the boys became "TP Ninjas"!





Last but not least, our sweet Tucker is starting to try to talk/sing more! This video just melts my heart.