These Little Lights of Mine

It was a really amazing week at home.  I have daily guilt about working outside of the home, and even more guilt about the fact that I enjoy working outside of the home.  My number one goal of the week was to love big, smother the kids with ME, and do fun activities with them that we usually don't have the time or energy to do.  I think I succeeded in my goals!

It is amazing watching Nur and TT discover new things, and seeing excitement through their eyes.  I will never tire of that.  I was as excited (if not more) about our week of activities because I couldn't wait for them to experience all of it. 

Day 1 of being at home, the kids woke up to signs at their breakfast spot letting them know that mama was staying home and we were going to the zoo!  I left out the important detail that Grandma and Grandpa would also be joining us at the zoo.  We pulled into the zoo parking lot and TT spotted Grandma and went crazy, yelling and clapping.  It was a really fun day, and I know my parents enjoyed seeing the zoo through the eyes of a 2 and a 3 year old.

Nur and TT loved dragging Grandma and Grandpa around to every animal and proudly showed them everything that they found exciting.  We ate lunch at the zoo, and got home later than we usually nap, and both kids fought naps so I didn't get the "me" time I was craving.  But, TT discovered the movie Annie and it's now her favorite, so we sat and watched the movie.  It was a great time. That night, the kids went to bed excited because mama was going to stay the next day! :)

The next day came around and I didn't tell the kids where we were going, but I did tell them we were going to spend the day with my BFF and her baby girl.  I drove to the Mall of America and we met my friend there.  It was SO much fun.  My friend is a fashionista and helped me buy cool jeans and not jeans that look like "mom jeans."  I came away with two pair and I was happy about that.  We walked the mall, went into stores, and then my beautiful friend took my family out to eat.  TT absolutely loves my friend's baby and helped feed her a bottle, give her a nuke, push her stroller, and was just so sweet.  We spent 4 hours at the mall.  Wow were we tired when we got home!

 A glass of "mama juice" at noon at the Mall of America?  Don't mind if I do!

We got home at 2pm which is about 2 hours after we usually lay down for naps on any given day, but I tried to put the kids down anyway.  They both passed out the minute their heads hit their pillows and slept for 2 straight hours.  I got amazing me time during their naps.  I listened to chick music (aka Indigo girls) and I cleaned and organized while watching the Baby Story in the background.  I had candle lits, my house was clean (albeit temporary) and I just enjoyed the blessings surrounding me. 

They woke up around 4pm, and I knew T would be working late and I didn't feel like just hanging around the house, so I brought the kids on another adventure.  It was so fun this week putting them in the car for an adventure.  They never knew where they were going, but we always ended up somewhere fun and exciting!  This time, it was Chuck E Cheese.  The kids went crazy! We've only been there once, and they were little then, so this time, they really enjoyed all the rides and games.  I gave them both tokens, and they ran around.  They had a blast!

Chuck E himself made an appearance, and the kids thought that was pretty cool.  Another fun day spent with my loves.

And yes, my TT did go to Chuck E Cheese in her Rapunzel dress.  Most days, I choose not to argue about what this child will wear, as long as it's weather appropriate, pretty much anything goes. 

It was a fun and full day, and my feet hurt by the end of it.  The kiddos were exhausted and went to bed with no problems whatsoever.

We got up the next day with more fun in store.  I told them I had a surprise for them, and that's it's somewhere we've never been before.  This got them loaded in the van with no problem.  We arrived at a massive indoor park.  I mean massive.  WOW!  But then the best surprise of the day, COUSINS would be joining us.  TT is VERY close to her cousin C.  They are only 7 months apart (C is the older cousin) and TT talks constantly about her cousin C and that she's her best friend, and that she loves her so much.  The kids were just so cute together.  Nur also loves his cousins and had so much fun at this park.  He's a little dare devil and I had so much fun crawling through tunnels with my little man. 



The kids all had so much fun, but want to hear something?  I live in this hell. . . also called Minnesota.  It is ridiculous! It's the end of April and we are still having winter.  I drove home white-knuckled in sleet and snow.  Gross gross gross!!!

On Friday, we had the "joy" of waking up to 12 inches of snow.  A part of me wanted to just do nothing ALL day, indoors, but well, I braved the snow and took Nur and TT to the Mall of America (MOA) once again.  This time, we focused on hanging out at the amusement park.  Yes, if you have never been to the MOA, it has a large, full-sized amusement park right inside.  Let me tell you, this was so much fun.  I thought the kids would focus on the smaller rides, and we did do plenty of the smaller rides, but we also rode a ride called the Log Chute that was a water ride, where we sat in a log looking boat, and there was a huge hill that had my stomach turning.  The kids insisted, and had the best time. We ended up going on the ride 3 times.  We also went on a 3-story ferris wheel, that again, had me nervous, and the kids thought it was amazing.  Hearing the kids' constantlaughter and seeing their smiles made today that much better.  We seriously had the best time ever. 

Such a fun, fun week with my loves.  We did so many things out of the ordinary of everyday life, and I'm sitting here on a Friday night grateful for every moment.

I learned so many things this week, that I thought I would share.

1.  Doing things on the weekdays makes such a difference in terms of how big of a hassle outings are.  We never had to wait in life for anything, which is not the case on the weekends.

2.  Having a 2-year old that is potty trained is great, but when she has to go, and we are nowhere near a bathroom, can be an issue.  My solution fr this today when she told me she had to go potty, just as we had sat down for lunch was to put one of Nur's diapers on her, and tell her it was okay to go potty in the diaper just this one time.  That seemed to take care of that!

3.  Going on constant outings with the kids is a lot easier than idle time.  My kids are pretty easy when we are out and about.  I struggle more when we are at home trying to figure out what to do and how to keep them entertained. 

4.  2 and 3 year olds haven't quite grasped gratefulness.  (At least mine haven't)  I didn't hear many thank you's, and I didn't hear any "Youre the best mom ever!"  Someday I hope, someday.

5.  Let's face it, all mom's work.  Period.  Whether you work in the home, out of the home, or a combination of both.  Being a mom is HARD.  We all juggle a ton.

6.  Seeing the joy on our kids' faces will never get old.

7.  Nap times rule!  Whether we nap at the same time or watch a chick flick, or do laundry, or whatever we decide to do, the me time is so necessary.

8.  I feel more rested this week even though our days have been full because I'm focusing 100% on parenting and not about that other thing I call my day job. 

9.  If I was a stay at home mom, and if every week was like this week, T would need to have quite the job to afford this lifestyle.  All this stuff adds up!

10.  I need to make it a habit to take more days off just because, and spend this time of time with the kids on a more regular basis.  This week was amazing in every way.

Hope you all had a great week also. :)