Painting

Wyatt came home from school the other day wanting to paint his feet. After all they get to do it there! Ugh I thought. What a mess. Then I remembered how much painting Payton used to do at this age. I have clear memories of her wearing a diaper and some paint, everywhere. So I broke out a table cloth and plopped him down on the kitchen floor to paint to his hearts content. And paint he did.

Daisy

Payton as "Daisy", one of the leads in the school play.
She did fabulous and received rave reviews!

Wyatt.....well he slept through the bulk of the performance.

Our Memorial Day

A morning fort built by Daddy
An ambitious daughter

An impromtu lemonade stand

Some extra help with yard work

An afternoon trip to the pool

Our Memorial Day was filled with normal, pretty ordinary happenings around here. The not so ordinary thing was that I let everything else go - the housework, the laundry and everything else that goes into running a house. Today I purposefully enjoyed my children. Enjoyed my husband. Enjoyed my family.

This Face

Look at that face. That smiling happy silly face. This is the same boy who hit his sister with a bat. The same boy who occasionally (ok more times than I care to mention) throws toys in a fit of anger. The same boy who seems to be spending an excessive amount of time in the naughty chair. (I had to create a naughty chair at church yesterday and at a friends house that afternoon) He is also the boy who offers to "kiss it" when I hurt myself. The same boy who runs to greet me when I pick him up from school. The same boy who says "Wuv you Mommy!" and hugs my neck. The same boy whose giggles I love. So in the midst of all the discipline and frustration that comes with having a 3 year old little boy I have to remember this face. This smiling happy silly face.

One of THOSE days

Long enough in the naughty chair to fall asleep.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my husband. I love you baby!

Happiness

Today was an awesome day. Yesterday was exhausting but today was wonderful. None of us got up before 730, a miracle in this house. Not only did I actually attend church service today (as opposed to helping with the kiddos) but a good friend came to visit. Hearing news that Mike was stuck in Key West was a bummer BUT my kids had the best afternoon in, well, maybe ever. We went to Walmart with little to no drama. Arrived home, had a very late lunch with little drama. Made cookies, all of us. Had a tea party, all of us. My almost all the time bickering children DANCED AND PLAYED TOGETHER FOR AN EXTENDED AMOUNT OF TIME. This is big people! Payton actually requested to shower with her brother. What? They showered, with NO fighting. They ate dinner and watched a movie, with NO fighting. Wyatt fell asleep at 630 on the couch. The rest of the evening was spent cleaning, chatting with my daughter, taking a lovely shower and looking forward to a quiet evening. Thank you God for this day. I have been so very low on patience and so very frustrated with my children as it seems they spend their waking hours fighting with each other that today was just what I needed to be reminded how much I love being a Mom. How blessed I truly am. So no pictures. I just reveled in the happiness of what was the day.

Strawberry Picking

Wyatt and I picked up Payton from school early yesterday to drive to Baker FL for some strawberry picking. I did the majority of the picking but it was so much fun, even in the heat.

Wyatt did most of the eating.

After we picked our 8lbs we feasted on homemade strawberry frozen yogurt. Yum!

And today after school we had strawberries with homemade whipped cream. Yum again!

My Mom

My Mom

by Payton Perkins

What is your mother's name? Staci

How old is she? 37

How tall is she? 5 feet 4 inches

How much does she weigh? 100 pounds

What color is her hair? brown

What does she do around the house? clean

What is her favorite drink? wien (wine)

What is her favorite thing to eat? crad (crab)

What is her favorite TV show? The Cosby Show

What does she cook? chicken

Where does she go? MOPS

What is her favorite hobby? rest

I say someone knows her Mommy pretty well!

Mothers Day Gifts

Handpainted Trivet from Wyatt
Lovely "bouquet" of flowers from Payton

cake decorated by Payton

A clay "Mommy" by Payton

New Start

This morning was a little rough. Wyatt decided he didn't like the shoes Daddy put on him. So he decided he wasn't getting out of the car at preschool. So back home we went to get his brown shoes. Mommy was NOT happy. My silence communicated that. This made Wyatt somewhat apprehensive at drop off - even with the correct shoes. He clung to me as he cried. This from the boy who has never gotten upset at school. So Miss Heather pried him off me and I drove home and climbed back into bed. I figured a new start was in order. Wyatt was fine, he was done crying before I even got to the end of the hall. And at pickup he gave me this. I guess that new start was just what I needed.

No pictures

Tball game number two was tonight. I have no pictures. I went to this game solo, well as a solo parent trying to keep one eye on the game and the other on my wandering 7 year old. And it was one of those afternoons - you know the ones. My ball player refused to nap, my urging "you want to be rested for tball" was answered with "my belly is full, I have energy". As the afternoon wore on though that energy faded and turned into many meltdowns. A meltdown over the too big team shirt, the itchy pants and the just not right hat. I called Daddy for a peptalk - but had to resort to a lollipop bribe instead. That lollipop wasn't even half eaten because the ball player fell asleep 5 minutes into the ride. Of course. But we made it to the game, and he played which is an accomplishment today. So now we are home. The ball player was grumpy and both kids got to sleep later than I had hoped. Tomorrow is another day though and maybe I will bring my camera along.

I like Pink

She is 7, he is 3. He wants to be big like Sissy. She reads outside with her sunglasses, so does he. He says to me "Mommy, I'm not a girl. I like pink but I'm not a girl". Someone send a blue towel!

Tball

Wyatt had his first tball game today. It was hilarious! Our boy was so excited though! He exclaimed from the bench "Momma, we gonna play a REAL game today!". They did. Everyone got a turn to bat, all the players scattered in the outfield, some paid better attention than others but all in all it was so much fun. Can't wait for his next one!