Case of the Mondays

 Hope everyone had a great weekend! We did, and now it's back to the usual. Which as you can see from the above picture, there's not much usual about it. ;)

Full Disclosure

Ok, so originally I had decided to leave this little bit of our life off of the blog. I am sure there is a lot of diversity in the people who read this blog -which is awesome- and I didn't want to make anyone mad or offend. It didn't exactly sit well, because ya know, this is us and this is about what we do, but that's what I decided to do. I mentioned it to my hubby and he said the same thing: "Hey, your blog is about us. Don't change that for fear of someone not liking it."

So, in light of that I decided to go ahead and post about our (as in me and the 3 kids...yes it was insanity) very exciting trip to a nearby Romney Rally. (I am not typically one who likes to be "all political" as people love to say during elections, but I also feel like it's something that we need to be informed about and take an active part in. We live here, we need to be active participants. I don't like complaining about things I have no intention of attempting to make better.  I am an opinionated American girl who likes to exercise my right to vote, wave that starred and striped flag, and get all teary at our national anthem. I'm sure that's something we can all agree on.

Without getting into all the why's and "how can I's" of who I decide to back politically, cuz that would be a long post that I would probably be writing till after the election is over. I think it's necessary (especially as a mom showing my kids how to live) for me to be able to express my opinions and beliefs while respecting the people right next to me. We all think different things for very different reasons. It has to do with everything from how we were raised, to who we love, to who we serve, and to what events in our lives we let form us. I want my kids to grow up, not as clones of me and my beliefs, but as people who think with their heads and their hearts and for themselves. Not swayed by what people tell them they should think. I think this starts with seeing their mom do that very thing.

My kids had a blast. They were excited to see "Mitt Rommey" even though they have no idea who that is. I think they were mostly excited about waving the flags someone handed them. He crouched down at waved at my enthusiastic, American-flag waving kiddos as he was getting on the bus, but after he left Tirzah busted out crying because he didn't shake her hand, and Merrick wanted to know when we were going to his house. Greedy little boogers, but patriotic I guess. ;)

It was kind of a long event, that I didn't hear much of, with three kids alone. But the hubs was working and everyone who ever watches my kids was not around, so I decided to suck it up and go anyway. Midway through the rally when I was sweating from sheer stress and trying to get one of the kid's sucker off my sweater and keep Jericho from yanking off my earrings (SN: This is why I don't wear real clothes.) I did think: this was not worth it. But I am glad I braved it and wasn't arrested as a threat to national security in the meantime. I'm glad the kids had the chance to see a little bit of America and the processes that make it up.

I don't know what next week's election will bring. (I know you can obviously see what I'd like it to bring. Haha.) But regardless of the outcome, life goes on. Whether the candidate I support gets elected or not I think the election will be a success (in the mom-of-three arena) if I've begun to lay a foundation in my kids that will see them grow to be active participants in the world they live in, and to stand respectfully by their beliefs whether it's popular or not. See y'all at the polls! Oh, and turn your clocks back tonight. That's totally extra. ;)

Frisbees are Jerks.

I mentioned the other day that the hooligans had run in their first race, and one of the items they recieved in their race swag was a frisbee. They've carried said frisbees all over the place, from nap to church and everywhere in between.

Merrick is pretty good at throwing the frisbee, but catching the frisbee? Not so much. Billy and I were hanging out in the backyard with them the other day throwing the frisbees and Billy got a little enthusiastic with one of his throws. His aim was perfect...right for Merrick's head. Merrick, bless his heart, caught it...with his ear. Sad guy.

He was kind of over having daddy throw him the frisbee for a bit after that. Tirzah was just grateful it wasn't her I think, and was more than willing to participate in a group hug of which Merrick didn't want much of a part. Sisters are annoying when one is busy suffering from frisbee wounds, ya know. Plus she had bit him recently, and I think he is still not quite ready to trust her teeth in close quarters.

I'm not sure that I blame him. ;)

Holey Socks and All My Love.

I've seen how a lot of people do those cute "birthday interviews" with their kids on their birthdays. I decided I wanted to give it a try with Merrick. It's his 5th birthday today! My sweet, innocent, energetic, curious, ADHD (and a little OCD) first-born. During this interview he was hopping around the room, playing with toys, and climbing the window and the coffee table...just wanted you to get a good visual in your head. ;) (I'm in italics, his answers are in bold.) I was in tears and snorting laughing by the time we were done. I love him so.

1. How old are you? Five.

2. Who is your best friend? Um, I think I have a lot of them. Bernesh, Kareem, Nadjula, Willow, and Brock. And Adair. Toby is not my friend though because he is a dog. So is Baylor.

3. What is your favorite thing to do? Play with cars that talk, that have buttons on their top. And I like to play football.

4. What is your favorite color? Blue and red. And also green. And blue. And I love dinosaurs.

5. What is your favorite food? Ummm...I love candy. That's my favorite food.

6. What do you like to do with your family? Clean the kitchen. And I love playing with daddy and riding our bikes, and cutting the grass. And I love picking strawberries, and cooking waffles, and chicken and fries from Chick-Fil-A. And also I'm thinking about those cheez-its that I ate. I LOVE cheez-its.

7. What is your favorite toy? Football guys. I love those toys. They are my favorite. I have them right now. In my hand.

8. What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be Captain America.

9. What makes you happy? Eating pie. *He's never had pie. I really have no idea where this came from. He told me it was because on Word World Pig makes pie.* And I love playing in my costumes. And I also love going "trick-or-cheating".

10. What makes you sad? When I can't go and play outside when it's raining.

11. What is your favorite show to watch? Football. I love football. Football is great. And I love it. Girls can play football sometimes, but sometimes they can't. *Looking lovingly at his football figurines* THESE are football guys. Can I eat something? *It sounds like I don't feed him, keep in mind he's just finished lunch.*

12. What is your favorite book? Um...my favorite book is Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom and the Balloon Book. Can we read it? I'll go get it now. *On the way to get it he got distracted by his new toy guy, picks it up, aims at my head..."I shotted you.")*

13. What do you love to learn about? I love learning about...opening presents. *Had to remind him this questions wasn't about presents.* Oooooh. I love learning about animals and gorillas. I love those to learn about.

14. What was the best part of your birthday? I love eating cake. That's what I'm excited about. Now can I tell you about presents?

15. Where do you like to go? Nanny and Pops house, and to stores that are not cold. And I love drinking milk. Everywhere I can go.

16. Who is your teacher? I don't know. *Told him: you're looking at her.* You're my teacher!

17. What is your favorite treat? Um I love eating candy corns...but they're not treats. I'm going to eat a snack.

18. What do you think about before you fall asleep? Thinking about milk, and chocolate milk. *As he looks at me through his toy binoculars.*

19. If you could meet someone who would it be? Fanchesco, the car. 

20. What was your favorite birthday present? The football guys that are right over there behind you.

He is hilarious, and brings a mixture of crazy and sheer joy to all of us. He simultaneously drives his little sister crazy, and looks out for her saying he will save her from would-be kidnappers with his "good puncher-hands". He is a gift, and I can't believe it's been five years since he made his way into this world. This boy who first made me a mama, who has taught me so much, loved me so sweetly and scraped me so raw (as only kiddos can) at the same time. He's made me realize my selfishness and want to be a better person for his sake, grown like a weed and yet somehow stays a newborn in a fuzzy blue hat in my eyes, asks me questions to which I don't have the answers and teaches me things I never knew, runs through my heart with his holey socks and dirty fingernails, smelling like little boy and all my love. I am so undeserving of the gift of this beautiful boy, and while I have moments of not knowing what to do with him they will never outnumber the not knowing what I'd do without him. I'm so aware, as always, that even though it's his birthday, I'm the one who's received a gift. I love you, Merrick Wilder!

Everyday Bibs

This past weekend the hooligans made me a proud mama. They ran their first race. They both ran the 1 mile course (there was also a half mile and a 2 miler) of the Marathon, Jr. They both literally ran most of the course too...as in no stopping for breaks. What? Awesome.

I think at first their daddy (who granted was planning to carry the ton-o-bricks that is Jericho on his back) was thinking I was a little ambitious with signing them up for the 1 mile course instead of the half mile. (Me? Ambitious with running? Where would he come up with that?) And then I started to think, uh oh...I don't wanna be that mom...the one who gets thrown out of her kid's soccer game. As a person who runs 20 miles at a time, I was guilty of thinking: "1 mile? Pshhhhhh." But we decided if nothing else, we would just enjoy a fast family walk. I didn't want to miss the fun of their first race by expecting them to race, ya know? I wanted them to have fun and hopefully grow to love being active as much as I do.

I'm thrilled to report that all three hooligans really enjoyed their first race, Tizzy (along with Billy and Jericho) ran the mile in about 15 minutes, and Merrick and I ran it in 11 minutes and change. I was pretty proud of both of them. They were pretty proud of themselves, which was even more important to me. Merrick's shining moment was when he passed "Spiderman" (a kid running in costume) and beat him to the finish. He is still telling everyone he is faster than Spiderman. ;) And Tizzy was pretty excited about the purple spray paint used to mark the course. To each his own, right? They all 3 got medals, and the older two are still carrying them around.

Another highlight? The race bibs. They didn't want to take them off, and asked me if they could have bibs everyday. (Be still, my heart.) I did manage to remove them (and those weapons known as safety pins) from their bodies without incident so that I could save them. But only after I showed them their packets they got for running, which included frisbees. It doesn't take much to make them happy.

This was an awesome family activity, one of which I hope there are many more in the future. Not just because I love to run, but because there are few things better than being able to watch and help your kiddos accomplish something they are excited about, whether it's a mile or a marathon.