Top 50 List of Best Prayers

Eric said his first prayer, with no help, a couple of days ago.
He gave thanks for Juice and blessed Daddy's worms (no, David doesn't have worms).
I bet it made the Top 50 List of The Best Prayers of the Day for
Heavenly Father.
A three year old's prayers are probably His comic relief.
I know it made me smile.

Nose Pressed Against the Glass

Today was one of those days. You know the ones where your nose is pressed against the glass,
hoping that if you stare hard enough you'll see your hubby's car pull into the driveway.

It was one of those days where you aren't in a bad mood but if you have to break up one more sibling fight you just might let them duke it out and see what happens. After all, it's a man eat man world out there. May as well teach them young, right?

So when Babe got home it was no surprise that I was still in my workout clothes from this morning. But he still gave a small growl and told me I looked "Saucy". He didn't complain when he found out we were only having Chicken Caesar salad for dinner and told me it was nice eating healthy.

After an awesomely nutritious salad Babe directed us how to make a paper chain (I'm not gifted with the craft gene) so the boys can count for themselves how many more days until Thanksgiving, Spencer's birthday, the cruise, and finally Christmas. Now I no longer have to do the math in my head and answer the repeated question of "how many more days until..."

Then to prove that he really is the best hubby in the world he flicked our children with a hand towel as they ran for their lives and screamed in joy (only a boy would understand that). And as I type this he's currently tucking our boys in and "giving me a break" as I glorify his name in this post.

Now you know why I had my nose pressed against the glass. Wouldn't you?

I have a boy.
A boy that loves to cuddle with me on a lazy Monday afternoon.

We talk about issues facing the world today-
Like which Power Ranger is the best
(the white one, of coarse),

and what he's going to get his friend for his birthday.

Or the exact amount of days until his
birthday, or the cruise, or the Light Parade, or
Christmas.

Did you know, I have a boy?

A Miracle, I say!!! A Miracle!!!!!

Long gone are the glorious, wonderful, tasty days of eating anything and everything I wanted. Name it - Tootsie Rolls, Olive Garden Bread sticks, Sugar Cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And all the while staying a svelte 115 lbs! How I mourn those days.

Now fast forward 10 years and a hubby and two kids later. Up until a week ago I was still eating Tootsie Rolls, Olive Garden Bread sticks, and Sugar Cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But the higher powers have decided to take away the awesome power of never gaining wait. Evil, evil higher powers.

And although I've gotten a little older I still want to be that hot chick (yes you feminists, I said chick) that can make a guy's head turn. That is until they notice my two handsome sons and turn their heads away. Good thing too, I already have a studmuffin at home!

But last week a miracle happened. A miracle by the name of Liz. Liz is this drop dead gorgeous blond with the body of an 18 year old. (But she's way sweet, so we won't hold it against her).

Thanks to Liz I keep a food journal every day. And every night I email it to her. And every night she cheers me on in my efforts to be healthy and guides me to ways I can be even healthier.

Liz is even a miracle in David's life. Because of her, he no longer quakes in fear as my hand reaches for the junk food and he kindly reminds me that I'd told him to not let me have that donut, or chocolate bar, or whatever.
(I vaguely remember chasing him around the house after he'd stolen my Captain Crunch)

Because of Liz I will one day look sexy in my size 6 (but feel like a 4) Buckle Jeans and I have a much more peaceful marriage.

David and I sing Liz's praises each day (just kidding).
Hallelujah!!!

Bad words that start with B

Spencer on his first day of Kindergarten.
Every Tuesday Spencer has homework. Each week a letter is assigned and Spencer has to draw pictures of things that start with the assigned letter and then write the word by the drawing.
Today was the letter B. As in boy ... bike ... ball. You get the idea.

After school Spencer is always filled with such excitement as he tells me about his day. He was filling me in on all the kindergarten gossip (trust me, it exists).
So we sat down and I dug for some information. Anything interesting to sustain me until David gets home. Well, my informer informed me that his friend, Sammy, said a bad word when the teacher asked for things that started with 'B'.

Oooo, highlight of my day!!! Gotta admit my ears perked up, hoping something really juicy was headed my way. Since I don't swear I ask you to silently think of bad words that start with 'B'. Yes, those were the exact words that went running through my head.

So I asked Spencer what Sammy had said.
Spencer leaned toward me and whispered, "Butt." (ok, he didn't really lean toward me or whisper, but it kinda makes the story more interesting so we'll go with it.)

Oh, the downer. Only, butt. Nothing more colorful.
But now at least I don't have to ban my child from playing with his not vulgar, potty-mouthed, best friend.
Dear Sammy, how we love you.

Beware - Corny Mother Moment coming next.

Magical Moments with Spencer - One of the most wonderful thing about Spencer are his hugs.
Whether he's leaving for school or going to a friends house he always gives me a hug before he leaves. I love those few seconds every day that I get to put my arms around my
growing boy that's now up to my waist. He really is a sweetheart.

Kisses, Kisses, Kisses, and more Kisses
for this man who

Put up the Christmas lights, cleaned the garage, went to Walmart with the children,

fixed the window, prepared dinner, took care of our children,
and

put training wheels on his son's bike. And all this with a smile
on his face.

While I got a mani

and a pedi.

Kisses, Kisses, Kisses, and more Kisses
to this sweet man of mine!

life's blessings come in all sizes.
This post is dedicated to a blessing that came in a
small package.

This particular blessing is full of giggles. It's a true giggle.

If you give this blessing chocolate milk and let him watch curious george then in the morning he'll climb in bed with you, pull his shirt up, and ask for a back scratch. But if you're just not in the mood to give him a back scratch he'll scratch your back as you doze in and out.
You have to move slowly with this blessing if you are wanting to hold him close and cuddle. But if you ever so slowly put your arm around him and discretely pull him next to you, he'll fit perfectly in the crook of your arm.
So what's this blessing called?

Eric!

The Magical Moment of the first snowfall of the season.

In a world that exists between awake and asleep some of our most beautiful thoughts reside. It's a world where a dreamlike quality covers your ideas like a warm blanket, protecting you from any negative thoughts of why you can't do something. The world is open and accepting of all your hopes, goals, & dreams. It's a truly marvelous place.

As I laid in that world last night, a desire that has been slowly forming in my heart, solidified. One of eternal nature. One that I can't accomplish on my own. That of being a mother. The hope of one day reaching my divine potential of being a mother.

I want to be filled with love more than impatience. A mother who laughs with her kids. A mother who forgets the dishes, laundry, or the newest episode of her favorite T.V. show to sit down and play with her child.

I know I can't perfect it in a day. Believe me, I've tried.

But last night, in the extraordinary world between asleep and awake, a way to accomplish my long term desire was born. I'm calling it Magical Moments. I believe it's the day to day, simple moments that give meaning to our life. So my Magical Moments may be painting with my artist prodigy, Eric. Or reading a book with my sweet Spencer. Or it may be something as simple as an idea that occurred to me about motherhood.

It may be funny. It may be serious.

Either way, I want a purpose for this online journal of sorts. So it will become a place to store pictures and writings of Magical Moments. After all, "We write to taste life twice, once in the moment and once in retrospection." So why not taste life's Magical Moments twice each day?


Thanks to c jane for the quote by Anais Nin.

From our Family to Yours,
May your Holiday Season be filled with the greatness of Eggnog!

One of the blessings of the Holidays is Eggnog.
And this year David has been showing the boys the diverse ways
of drinking your Eggnog - straight, diluted, w/ Ovaltine.
Really, the possibilities are endless. Don't believe me?
Well, let my five year old make you a bowl of cereal and you'll
experience Eggnog in all it's glory.

random, profound thoughts


When talking about love you'll hear people say, "My head and my heart are saying two different things."

Yesterday, as I was driving home from the gym, I realized I don't have a problem with my head and heart. Rather it's my mouth and my flabby butt.
Seriously.

Take the plate of simply divine chocolate chip cookies that are sitting on my kitchen counter this very moment.

If I listen to my mouth I hear, "Holy crap I want one of those cookies. And I deserve it! After washing all those dishes I am entitled to something."

But my untoned butt will argue back, "Are you kidding me? Remember all those painful squats you did this morning? Do you know how bad I hurt right now? Don't you dare touch those cookies! You're making me fat!"


So which do you choose?
Your mouth or your butt?


I'm proud to say, at that moment, I chose my mouth, but that was because my butt has lost three pounds in the last week - and I do not want an overly scrawny butt! What would David pinch as he walks by?

I voted today
In Honor of My Parents -

The Obama Supporters.

Three year olds in all their wonderfulness.

Scene - Eric and I at Skiba Auto Repair getting a picture for the paper

Norm (Skiba owner) - Hey little guy. How old are ya' ?
Eric - I Eric.
Me - You're three.
Eric - Three.
Norm - Do you go to preschool?
Eric - No. I poop in toilet first.

Can you tell we're still going through potty training? Poor Norm, he got way too much information.

What? Sabbath days are supposed to be reverent?

Not when you have three boys (if you count David, which I most lovingly do).
There's wrestling, yelling, tackling, and overall chaos. It's
survival of the fittest at it's finest.
But hey, I wouldn't trade it for anything. No, not for all
the high heels in the world.

Halloween Part 3

The Kindergarten Halloween Parade

Spencer was so cute as he walked by, with his quick wave and small smile.
Parades are serious affairs when you're five and are walking in them.
How I love my sweet Spencer.

Halloween Part 2 -

Beware-

this is a despairing tale of two children and the
hardships they endured.




with scrawny legs, weary from quaking in the cold,
two down hearted children waited in a far-reaching line.

for promised to each child were a dozen Krispy Kream donuts.
Now, these donuts were so glorious to they eye that the down hearted children's
mouths instantly watered.

but no matter how they yearned for a single morsel of
donut they didn't get a bite, nay not even a lick. For at the
down hearted children's home
awaited their cruel, morbidly obese father.

now this was a truly heartless father. Each night the eldest
child had to give him a deep tissue massage by pounding
on his massive belly.

and the youngest child had to pretend
laughter at all the heartless father's boring jokes.

but the children, although down hearted, were clever.
"What if we made our cruel, morbidly obese father exercise?" they
said to themselves. "Then maybe he'd loose weight
and we'd no longer have to give him our Krispy
Kream donuts."
so the clever children took their father for a walk.

and it worked! the cruel, morbidly obese
father began to loose weight. The lost
pounds scattered the lane.

but the creul, morbidly obese father soon caught on to his
clever children's plan. And, having no qualms,
he sent his clever children begging door to door
for his sugar fix.

the neighbors took great pity for the down hearted, clever
children and gave them all the candy in their cupboards.
It's needless to say the kids didn't get a bite, nay not
even a lick, of that candy. No, every piece now resides in the
large tummy of their cruel, morbidly obese
father.

to end this despairing tale, the children's kind and beautiful mother read them a story.
And although the story was a little scary, it was definitely more
entertaining than the one just told.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Halloween Part One

Tell me, what is this man's costume?

Is he a cigarette? Or an ice cream cone?

How about a "man with a biiiig tummy"?

Nah.

It's just a man that loves to Riverdance while wearing bubblewrap.

But come on... who doesn't?

The Knowlege of a Kindergartener

I hear some great conversations during carpool.

The Scene - Spencer and Sammy walk out of the school into the bright sun

Sammy - Oh, the sun is so bright.
Spencer - That's not the sun.
Sammy - What is it then?
Spencer - Nobody knows.

Items Needed for an Eerily Fun Halloween-

1. Candid Pictures

2. Dinner in a Pumpkin, Superhero Muscles, & Halloween Goblets

3. A Hawiian Clad Hottie Instructing You How to Carve a Pumpkin

4. Mounds of Pumpkin Seeds Waiting to be Baked

5. Freezing Your Face in the Dry Ice Smoke

6. Scary (or not so much) Carved Pumpkins

And Of coarse, Conclude the Night with Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin While Eating Pumpkin Seeds. Happy Halloween!

The Wonderful Smell of Boys

Spencer and Eric after sweetly bringing the outside into the inside.

It was 7:00 tonight and I still hadn't fed my boys. I'd decided to take advantage of the nice weather and clean the inside of my mom-mobile before it gets freezing cold. It wasn't until my boys started complaining of starvation that I realized it was way past dinner time.
I told them the plan was to get them in the bath and while they played I'd fix them dinner.

Spencer - "Why do we need to get in the bath?"
Me - "Because you both smell like boys."
Spencer - "What do boys smell like?"
Me - "Outside and dirt."
Spencer takes a big whiff of his hand - "Oh, you're right. I do smell like dirt."

Later Eric was eating a apple. He went up to David and said "Smell my hands."
David did. He told Eric he smelled like apple. Eric corrected him, "No. Dirt."

Poor kids. I hope I didn't give them a complex. But it's true. A boy is not being a boy unless he smells wonderfully of the outdoors and dirt. How I love my boy smelling boys.

Go Go Power Rangers

First I want to say- Thanks Mom. All those years growing up I can think of a few times my mom would get totally overloaded with all she had to do for seven kids between the ages of 18 and a month old. She'd end up getting in a total bad mood, and you didn't know whether to hide, run, or stay in her vision but act totally invisible. At those times, I'd think to myself, "You had us. You're the mom. Be a mom and deal with it!" (But I'd wisely keep my mouth shut).
But now I can say I am beginning to understand what was going on in her head. Somewhere between balancing my checkbook that I haven't balanced for three months, bathing my boy-smelling boys, giving haircuts, laundry, dishes, grocery shopping, writing my articles, vacuuming, kindergarten, library story time, and trying to get myself showered before I start smelling like my boys I begin to loose it.
So today when Eric asked me to watch Power Rangers with him I quickly responded, "I can't. I need to finish getting things clean so we can go bye-bye." He said ok and let me go. When I went back downstairs to put another load in the washer Eric looked at me and simply said, "Mom, come cuddle with me." You know those moments that drive guilt deep into your heart? Yup, that was one of those. I promptly sat down, put my arms around him, and watched Power Rangers.

Seven Years Down, Baby! Eternity To Go!

For our seventh anniversary David and I headed for Vegas. It was so romantic. See, I have a list of things I want to do in my life and two of those things are to go to Italy and see Phantom of the Opera. Well, since Italy is way out of our budget the next best thing, of coarse, is to stay at a hotel themed all around Italy. And the room was amazing. But the bathroom...ummmm...there are no words to describe the magnificence of that bathroom. Seriously. When we build our dream home I'm going to make a special trip to the Venetian just so I can make sure I get all the colors right. My heart broke as I left that bathroom. Complete agony. Mourn with me.

And what can I say for Phantom? David had seen it before and said the Vegas version was better. They built the theater just for Phantom. And you feel like you are in an old opera house. And forget drugs and alcohol, the rush you get from those opening notes and the broken chandelier swinging together over your head gives you an amazing adrenaline rush. To say it was our best "honeymoon" is an understatement.

Love ya Babe- xxxxxooooXXXXooOXOXOxxxxxO! (For all those Nacho Libre fans!)

The Beginning

Welcome to the world of the Harwards. This is the third blog I've started, but since I can never remember the blog name I chose I can never find it again. Oops. So finger's crossed, I can remember this one.