Somehow she went from being born just moments ago to suddenly being five. I have a good chunk of her life documented here on the ol’ blog-er-oo, but it doesn’t seem like five years have passed. “They” weren’t lying about time flying.

Everyday she cracks me up with her goofy faces and her sense of humor. She is cuddly and kind-hearted, feisty, competitive, bossy, and still vocal, sassy, and tiny.

For her birthday today, I’ve played a very odd imaginative play scenario with dinosaurs, a Moxie girl, Spiderman (as the dad-OBVIOUSLY), and some construction trucks. She chose two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and goldfish crackers for lunch and for dinner she’d like to go out for sushi and ice cream. We had her birthday party on Saturday where she and her friends painted butterflies and ate A LOT of sugar. It was perfect.

In the fall, she’ll be a Kindergartener, which is like, WHOA. We had Kindergarten roundup last week. Please allow me a moment of bragging, but she scored a 92 on whatever test it was that they gave her. So I should add “smart” to the list of her traits above. I just can’t imagine that come August, I’ll be sending her to big school everyday, even though I’m a seasoned pro at sending kids off to Kindergarten and surviving.

Five years old is OLD for a baby. She’s still a baby, right? My baby, anyway.

Grade: Preschool

Favorite thing about school: “I have no idea.”

Favorite TV show: SpongeBob

Favorite food: Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches

Favorite toy: horses

Best thing about being five: I’m getting bigger

Favorite book: SpongeBob

Favorite color: Pink

Favorite thing to do: play horses

Favorite song: God’s Not Dead

Favorite sport: soccer

What she wants to be when she grows up:  A mommy

Happy 5th birthday, sweet girl.

(Her party was hosted by a local company, Smock, Paper, Scissors. They did an AWESOME job. Read all about the party right here!

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

I finished my first half marathon according to my Garmin in 2:22. The official time was 2:24, but that time includes all the zigzagging I had to do around 30,000 other runners. By the time I crossed the finish line, I’d run almost 13.6 miles. So 2:22 it is!

The race was…hard. It was way harder than I expected it to be. Having trained and run so many miles (236.4 miles, but who’s counting?), I ASSumed that the race would be a breeze, it would be that “victory lap” that so many people call their races. WELL. I hadn’t planned for it to be so HOT, HILLY, and SUNNY. I mean, I love sunshine, but I don’t love sunshine when it’s beating down on you while running 13.1 miles, making me feel like a turkey roasting in the oven on Thanksgiving morning. And the hills, geez louise, the hills. Knoxville is super hilly, but there are downhill rewards. Nashville was one uphill after another with very few downhills. My quads are still recovering.

But despite HOT, HILLY, and SUNNY it was the best thing I’ve ever done. (Except for having Carson and Ella, obviously.) I did have to walk a lot between miles 11 and 13, but I’m still really, really proud of myself. The second it was over, I was already thinking about the next time, even though I could barely walk and my left toes were covered in blisters thanks to my wet socks.

I did cry when I crossed the finish line, but when I crossed, none of my girls were with me. I cried for having finished and I cried for crossing the finish line without them, but instead with a bunch of stinky, sweaty random people that I didn’t know.

Seriously, are we not cute? You’d cried, too, if you didn’t get to cross the finish line with them.

We followed the race with champagne, chips, salsa, margaritas, guacamole, tacos, shopping, ice, beer, wine, and pizza. And we made plans for our next race together.

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

An artist at work.

Ella is adamant about two things. One, she really dislikes mornings, or being woken up in general. And two, when she grows up she wants to be a mommy.

“I want to be a mommy, like you,” she tells me, sentimental and teary eyed as if being a mom is the most beautiful thing in the world. (It is, by the way.) (Usually.)

Surely she’s not just saying this out of some human biological urge, but because she sees how awesome I’m doing as a mom and wants to emulate me, right? RIGHT?!

I always knew that I wanted to be a mom, too. So many of my childhood memories center around playing “house,” where I lived with my husband (Mark, then Robert) and our endless stream of babies (Melissa, Tracy, Lisa…). Even as I grew older and discovered that there was so much that I could do in life, I still wanted to be a mom, but I also wanted to go to college and study for a career.

Ella is painting her Hallmark Recordable Storybook Canvas.

While she is unwavering in her decision to be a mommy, she told me awhile ago that she was going to be a painter someday and the other day that she wants to be a “computer worker” when she “gets big.” The day after that when I asked her about being a computer worker, she sighed and said, “No Mommy, I’m going to be a ‘money lady.’”

Well, DUH, obviously. I don’t know what it means to be a computer worker or a money lady, but I’ll do whatever I can to help her. Maybe there’s a summer camp I could send her to for future money ladies?

Carson is adamant about A LOT of things. He loves cinnamon apples, he shouldn’t have to share the Wii with Ella, thunder and lightning are some of the worst things ever, and when he grows up, he’s going to drive monster trucks.

Hallmark's Kids Encouragement Greeting Card to Celebrate Another Great Report Card

We recently celebrated his fifth straight all E’s report card from Kindergarten. Learning comes easily for him and I think that he can be anything he wants to be when he grows up. Of course, I am at least 75% certain that he’ll become a engineer like Tate-I swear I can see those analytical wheels spinning in his little brain when he thinks. But like Ella, I will help him to grow up to be whatever he wants to be, whether it’s a monster truck driver, engineer, or even a rodeo clown, though I’m keeping my fingers crossed that being rodeo clown doesn’t turn out to be his life’s passion.

I love their imaginations and certainty about their futures. While they’re little they can dream as big as they want to dream without life’s responsibilities making their career choices for them. It’s fun to imagine who they’ll turn out to be, but for now I just want to give them every opportunity to find out who they want to be.

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I’m honored to be working with Hallmark this year for their Life is a Special Occasion campaign. Hallmark provided me with the Recordable Artwork and Kid’s Encouragement Greeting Cards and as always all opinions are my own. Ella was thrilled that I finally let her paint, it’s something I usually fear(!!), and Carson loved getting real mail!!

Sign up here for Hallmark’s e-newsletter to get special offers and discounts!

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

Since I don’t like to announce to potential stalkers that I’m a prime target and I couldn’t seem to pull thoughts together that didn’t have to do with Tate’s absence, I didn’t say anything at all.

Anyway, he’s home safe and sound and very cultured and filled with weinerschnitzel and apple streudel. I’m in no way jealous that he got to spend two weeks in Europe traveling to Vienna and through London.  Nope. Not jealous at all. Being home alone with the kids, filled with frozen pizza and oreos, was just dandy.

I feel like a lot has happened lately.

Ella started dance class. It is just about the cutest thing I ever saw. I’m over the moon that she chose dance over t-ball this year. I’m all for girls playing t-ball, but I just wanted to see her twirl and dance and do something girly.

My birthday just so happened to fall during Tate’s trip (alone, to Europe), but it really was a great day. Really. The kids surprised me with a new running tank. Ella took me out for sushi. Tate planned ahead (I KNOW!!) and had flowers sent to me. My girlfriends took me out for Mexican food and margaritas after running class. It was one of the best birthdays ever.

My brother and his wife had a baby! Well, actually his wife had the baby. Just want to be clear about that. I’m an aunt! She’s precious and perfect and I can’t wait to meet her.

During the month of March, I ran 93.5 miles.  I can’t even believe it.  It probably explains how I was able to survive two weeks as a suddenly single parent. Running is amazing therapy.

This past weekend, I ran in the Knoxville Marathon as part of a relay team.  I ran the 7.9 mile leg of the race and other than being hilly, hot, and semi-ugly scenery, it was a blast. Tate and the kids came out and cheered me on around mile 3.5, which meant a lot to me. In less than one month, I’ll be running the Country Music Half-Marathon in Nashville.  Woo!

What’s new with you?

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

There was a segment on CBS Sunday Morning recently that featured a museum dedicated to the history and promotion of cleaning. It is called The Museum of Clean. Clever name, right?!? It’s in Pocatello, ID just in case you’re interested in visiting. I’m telling you about this because of the man who was featured on this segment, Don Aslett, spent his entire life savings to build The Museum of Clean.  He must really like cleaning. Mr. Aslett said something that I’ve been thinking a lot about.

This is what he said, “How you clean will be how you live. That’s just the way it is.”

Hmm.

The truth is, I’m just not a very good housekeeper. My home is not filthy, I just wouldn’t recommend eating dinner off my floors. The toilets are as clean as toilets can be, I change the sheets on the beds…sometimes, the microwave is clean, and we don’t have roaches or any other bug problem for that matter.  For me, there are far more important things in life than having dust-free bookshelves and perfectly vacuumed “vees” in my carpet-like watching Mad Men on Netflix for six hours straight or taking the kids and a picnic lunch to the park on beautiful days.

Cleaning isn’t something that I overly stress with my kids, either. I’m more concerned about them playing and using their imaginations as much as possible, doing well in school, and learning to be kind to others than I am with their ability to make their beds so perfectly that a quarter bounces. We do have simple rules about putting their dirty clothes in the hamper and clearing their plates from the table after meal time. They are expected to help out around the house and not be complete slobs, but unmade beds and their messy playroom do not bother me. This is why doors were invented! Messy bedroom?  Shut the door and voila! Instantly cleaned!

There are times, though, when the clutter and toys get to be too much.  Piles, piles everywhere!! I’ll get a sudden urge that the house must be cleaned RIGHT AT THIS VERY MOMENT. This is usually right after I’ve stubbed my toe on a monster truck or misplaced one flip flop, only to find it and twenty other missing items under the couch.

When these bursts of cleaning energy hit, I get the kids involved as much as possible in the endeavor so that when they are grown up and married, their spouses won’t think that I never taught them about cleaning. That, and the fact that the vast majority of messes in the house were created by them. We do have a rule-more of a guideline, really- that in our house, as a family, it doesn’t matter WHO made the mess, but EVERYONE will help to clean up.

Seeing the entire playroom floor covered with toys and saying, “Clean it all!  Clean it all, right now!,” typically results in a two-way meltdown between Carson and Ella. Instead, I’ll tell Carson to find all the monster trucks and put them back in their bin and I’ll tell Ella to find all the dress-up costumes and put them away. Giving the kids specific instructions helps make cleaning a little less horrible.

I also set a timer for 30 minutes and tell them that all the cleaning has to be finished before it rings. Not only do I get a hearty chuckle from watching the kids run around cleaning while trying to beat the clock,  it gives us an actual ending time so that we won’t feel like we spent HOURS cleaning.

I haven’t always been this laid back about cleaning, but the older I get, the further down my priority list cleaning falls. There’s just SO much more to life than a perfectly cleaned house.

So thank you Mr. Aslett of The Museum of Clean. You are exactly right.  How I clean is exactly how I live: If it’s important, it deserves my attention.

This post is sponsored by Hallmark for their Life is a Special Occasion campaign. While Hallmark is compensating me for participation in this campaign, all opinions expressed are my own. Have I mentioned how honored I am to be a part of this campaign?  THIS is way better than cleaning a toilet, that’s for sure!

Sign up here for Hallmark’s e-newsletter to get special offers and discounts!

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

Having known him for a long as I have, I usually can just ride out these whims of his. If I just ignore him when he goes on and on about horsepower and Craigslist deals, he’ll typically just drop the idea. This time, though, he just kept wearing me down.  Every night after the kids went to bed, he’d show me thousands of boats online.  On weekends he would drag us all over looking at used boats, having us climb up on them and show us all of the features.

“Look!  There’s a changing room with a mirror and a place to put a potty.”

“This boat could fit all of our friends.”

“Just think of us going out fishing as a family.”

“We will have so much fun together on the boat.”

I could tell that getting a boat was inevitable. Either I could spend the rest of my life hearing about and looking at boats or we could just get a boat and get it over with.

We’ve had the boat just a few weeks now.  Spring has made an early arrival, making it warm enough to take the boat out for rides on the lake.  And as much as it feels like swallowing glass to admit, the boat is pretty awesome.

I concede that it appears that the children find the boat to be enjoyable.  Smiling and whatnot.

I guess, JUST THIS ONE TIME, Tate was right.

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

My kids went to school today with store bought SpongeBob Valentines and EVERYONE SURVIVED.

You’re welcome.

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

We cleaned out the attic a few weeks ago and I found a Collector’s Tin of Crayola crayons that I’d kept from when I was a kid. It was something I’d forgotten all about, having received the tin as a gift when I was just a little too old to care about crayons anymore and so it was put away in a box and moved from apartment to apartment and house to house.

When I found it, I was sure that they’d all be melted since they’d been in a box in the attic for over a decade. Surprisingly when I opened the tin, the crayons were fine.

As a kid, one of my favorite things in the ENTIRE WORLD was a brand new box of crayons. Their smell!  Their newness! All in tact, their paper unripped. We’ve survived on remnants of restaurant crayons for all these years, with the exception of the box of 16 crayons that was on Carson’s Kindergarten school supply list.  My poor, deprived children.

Since Carson has recently started to be interested in drawing and coloring, I showed him what I found in the attic.

This box of 64 crayons, complete with built-in sharpener, and this kid! MAN! His mind was BLOWN!  He couldn’t get over 64 CRAYONS! In ONE box!  With a sharpener! He studied each and every crayon for a good half hour.

“Look, Mom!  This one says, ‘sky blue,’ and this one says, ‘salmon!’ Have you ever even HEARD of that?!”

He doesn’t want his sister to even look in the direction of the crayons, with her bull-in-a-china-shop ways.  He wants to avoid any risk of the 64 perfect crayons getting broken.

And when I was at the grocery store yesterday, I saw that they now sell boxes of 96 crayons.  I guess they’ve been selling these boxes for awhile, but I just discovered their existence.

Guess what he’s getting for Valentine’s Day? He is going to FLIP OUT!

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

I know that watching too much TV is bad, but I also know that movies and shows have inspired their love for not only reenacting the stories, but extending the stories with their own imaginations into epic adventures.

Our Saturday mornings are usually devoted to pajamas, waffle consumption, and cartoons. I somehow slept through the waffle portion of the morning and awoke to find Carson and Ella absorbed in the pages of a Tintin comic book instead of staring at the TV screen. While Ella and I enjoyed a girls weekend away several weeks ago, Carson and Tate had a boys weekend complete with pizza and a trip to the movie theater to see The Adventures of Tintin-where Carson has found new source of inspiration.

After school last week, I could hear them in the other room playing, caught up in an elaborate scheme to find the clues while getting away from the bad guys.

“Come on,” Carson yelled to Ella, “we can hide in here.”

“Tintin!” Ella called to Carson, “the bad guy has me!  Save me, Tintin!”

They went on like this, replaying scenes over and over, changing the details to include sword fights and capes. Running and hiding, they laughed and yelled and pretended to be in great distress.  I stealthily peeked in on them and they immediately froze when they spotted me, too shy to continue their acting.  I begged them to go on, to show me what it’s like to be the good guys.

But it’s not the same with someone watching, so I left them and listened around the corner as they picked up right where they left off in their Tintin adventure, defeating the bad guys with great gusto.

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I’m so excited to be partnering with Hallmark for their Life is a Special Occasion campaign this year.  I will finally be forced to learn that there is only one “s” in “occasion!”  Of course, I am also so excited for the chance to share the stories from our life.

Hallmark is compensating me for participation in this campaign. As always-all opinions expressed are my own.

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.

“There’s not really enough snow for playing. It’s just a dusting. You can see most of the grass, for goodness sakes!”

“No, Mommy, see?” Carson pointed out the window. “There’s snow all over the driveway!”

Well, they did cancel school.  I guess it wouldn’t have been a real snow day if we hadn’t:

1. Taken 45 minutes to find all the hats, mittens, and boots.

2. Taken another 45 minutes to get dressed in double layers.

3. Made a snow angel in what little snow there was

4. Played for two minutes outside before:
a. Someone needed to pee
b. Someone complained of being freezing cold

5. Came inside and undressed, leaving a pile of wet clothes in a heap on the floor

6. Had hot chocolate:
a. With marshmallows

Truth? I love these days as much as they do.

©2012 Playgroups are No Place For Children. All Rights Reserved.