Sweeter Than Honey

I woke up the other day, the morning after a particularly rough day, around 7:00. Addie came rushing to my room so excited and happy.  

"Mommy, mommy I have a surprise for you!"

She guided me downstairs, down the hall, and into the dining room, where she had breakfast made and served for me.

It was the sweetest thing.

She knows I love fruit & veggie smoothies for breakfast so she made me one (that I was as little terrified to drink because it was warm and extra sludgy). She made me a get well card and she even decorated the plate with grapes and carrots.

She was so excited to show me what she had done. She went on and on about the smoothie and all the vegetables and fruits she put in it, and was so excited to point out that she even remembered to add flax seed, hemp seed, and coconut oil.

What really melted my heart is when I walked to the kitchen to do the dishes and I saw kiwi peels in the sink. I just pictured this cute little kindergartener working so hard in the kitchen, peeling fruit, decorating, and putting away the 15+ ingredients when she was done, all to make me happy.

I feel so blessed to have such a sweet, thoughtful girl to call my own.  I love her with all my heart.

I couldn't be a luckier mama.

Silver Lining

It's Oscar night tonight, and its pretty safe to say that I'm rooting for Silver Linings Playbook in every category they are nominated.

I loved this movie. Like, it's the best movie I've seen in a few years.

If you've seen it, you understand. If you haven't, what's your problem!? ;)

Go. Go now.

Thought provoking, real, funny, so funny, sad, and just such a true human experience. And I loved that Bradley Cooper's character was striving so hard to become an optimist in the face of adversity and to always find the silver lining. He said something that of course I loved because I even wrote about the same thing months ago. He said he was learning that to love was more important than being right. (It's almost like this fictional character and I were meant to be together. Hehe)

The whole cast was loveable. So glad it's getting so much recognition.

What was your favorite movie of the year?

Fret No More My Pet

If you can measure the greatness of a day based on how many times you did or didn't break down and cry, I'd say today was a pretty sucky day.

There are a few things that keep me sane everyday and without them my days spiral out of control. Like, no joke. Vroom, down the shoot they go...

We have all been sick, and then better and then sick and then better, over and over and over again. Wahh, I know. This seems to have been the case for everyone this year so I should shut my mouth about it. (Keyword: should) But I mean come on, flu, colds, strep throat, sinusitis, flu again, ear infections, more ear infections, colds again, sinusitis again, and pityriasis rosea all in the last month and a half. Make it stop!

Obviously I'm dying. I'm on my way out and these are the subtle clues my body is giving me. I hear you body, I hear you. I'm writing up the obituary as we speak. And don't worry you faithful obituary readers, I'll be sure to include the cause of death because what fun is an obituary without a detailed explanation.

And by the way, somebody get me a lounge chair and People magazine STAT, so we can also say I died doing what I love.

So anyway back to my point. Today sucked. We didn't go to the gym, (Ruh rohh, there goes the first drop of sanity) stuck in the house all day again (oh boy, watch out for Laurel, she ain't no homebody. Things could get ugly.), feeling sick, sick kids, crying kids, and kids that were actually pretty good and sweet for being sick (which is the worst of all because then you feel horribly guilty for not being the perfect mother they deserve), and no relief in sight because B Dog is out of town.

But now it's the end of the day. The girls are in bed and the house is peaceful and quiet and suddenly I can't imagine why everything felt so hopeless. Every minute that I enjoy a bit of silence a drop of sanity comes trickling back and I feel a little bit ashamed that I wasn't stronger.

But I will take comfort in the thought of what Addie said to me as I tucked her into bed. The beautiful reassurance only a kindergartner can offer. She said to me..."Uh, why did you kick that cup!? For a second I thought whoa my mom turned into a little baby today!"

And now with those sweet words I shall fret no more. 

Or maybe take a hit of Nyquil and sleep the rest of the day away. Yes, yes, that one.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

It was a typical day in the Bogar house, the other day.

The girls were running around the house playing with a couple of our little neighbor friends.  In the midst of doing laundry I got a call from Sienna for help.  Actually it was more of a cry.  She desperately wanted a dress out of Addie's closet.  I got it down for her, and her sobs turned into giggles of delight as I helped her put it on.

The next couple minutes I just sat and watched her sweet little two year old face beam with pride.  She was glowing.  There was no question that Sienna was feeling beautiful, proud, and alive.

The dress was 3 sizes too big for her,  her hair had that "I've spent my afternoon somersaulting around the couch" look about it, she had soap residue wiped across her face (because ya know...she had just stripped down naked and escaped into the bathtub for a "dry" shower wiping soap and shampoo all over her body, and we hadn't washed it off yet.) and to top off the look she was wearing Addie's snow boots.

By most standards the girl looked a hot mess. She didn't care what anyone else in that room thought, she felt alive.  She didn't care that she didn't know any great dance moves, or that there was no music on, she started to dance anyway.  And she danced all over the room giggling and smiling the whole time.  Nothing mattered from the outside because on the inside she was at peace with herself.

The truth is she was SO beautiful, crazy hair and all because her heart is so pure, and joy was exuding from her.  All I could think was "man I love my babies so much".

And to my babies, I hope you always remember how perfect you are, just the way God made you.  

Shine on you crazy diamonds!

Home is Wherever I'm With You

I made this for Brandon two Valentines Day's ago.
Its super amateur and a little cheesy but there is just something about a video montage that just gets to me.  In a good way.  

I really should update this so Sienna came make some more appearances.  But oh well.  I'm too lazy.

Here it is.

The good the bad the ugly...home is still wherever I'm with these people.  

Happy Valentines Day!

Love Bombs

I am such a sucker for holidays.  

Now I'm not the type to decorate and go all out for each one, however I love doing a little something fun to make it a special day.  

We started a tradition last year that I very well intend to do as long as my girls live with us.  I take that back, maybe I'll be "that" crazy mom and keep doing it when they're in college.  I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited about embarrassing them when they're older.  This might be a great place to start.  hehe  

Here's what we did.  So simple but fun.  We snuck into Addie and Sienna's rooms while they were sleeping tonight and filled them up with pink and red balloons.  Inside each balloon is a note from us saying something we love about them.  So when they wake up for Valentines day tomorrow they get to pop the balloons and read their little love notes. 

Addie LOVED this last year.  

   I can't wait to hear their reactions when they wake up and see the balloons.  

 Hopefully they feel the love tomorrow. 

I Got 99 Problems And Poop Is One

Can I just take a moment to vent?

I lost it today.

But lets rewind to yesterday.

I finish showering and I'm getting ready to pick Addie up for school while Sienna plays with toys in my room.  

I have about five minutes before I need to pick Addie up and what does Sienna do!?  

 She comes strolling into my bathroom with a nakey bum and hands me a pull up full of poop.

Noooooo.  

Poop all over her body.  Poop all over her clothes and who knows where else she has walked or sat with that poopy bum of hers.  

I throw her in the bath as fast as I can.  I throw all the clothes into the wash.  I clean up any poop I find around the room.  We hurry out the door just in time to get Addie as she's walking off the bus.  

Phew...

A little bit of poop (or a lot) is not gonna get me down.  

So a couple hours later I took Addie to gymnastics.  Its always a bit of a pain to get Addie there.  Before gymnastics she hates gymnastics and tries every tactic she can think of to get out of it.  

After gymnastics she LOVES gymnastics and is so proud of whatever new trick she has learned.
So I keep sending her.  

I'm rewarded for sending her, with an hour of quiet time in the car while she's at her class.  Sienna usually falls asleep and I just sit there and enjoy the silence.  A rare thing to come by when you have small children.  

And I'm the type that needs quiet time to recharge.  I love being alone with my thoughts.  

(And my phone.  Don't leave me alone without the Internet and Instagram.) 

So anyway Addie's class was over, we drove home and Sienna was still sleeping so I pulled the car into the garage and left the door open to the kitchen where I was cooking dinner and let her keep sleeping for a few minutes.  

When I heard her wake up I opened the car door to let her out and smelled the most horrific poop smell. 

I carry her inside to change her pull up.  On my way upstairs what do I notice?  Poop all over my arm, all over my shirt, all over her.  

I bathe her.  She's screaming because the waters too hot.  Then she's screaming because the water is too cold.  Then she's tries to escape from the bath before she is clean.  Its like wrestling an angry monkey.  I.  Am.  Exhausted.
But I get fresh clothes for both of us and things are looking good. 

 Now fast forward to this morning.  

Again rushing out the door.  This time to take Addie to school and to go to Sienna's mommy and me gymnastics class.

Nobody is listening to me as I try to get everyone ready so I repeat everything about 15 times each.

"Addie please brush your teeth."
"Addie please brush your teeth."
"Come on, brush your teeth please."
"We have 5 minutes before we need to leave.  Please hurry and brush your teeth."
"Are you kidding me?  Stop doing headstands and BRUSH YOUR TEETH."

You get the point.

Finally we make it downstairs and I get the girls in the car.  As I'm buckling Sienna in I feel something wet on my hands.  I look down in horror and find more freaking poop.

Once again, all over her, all over her car seat, and all over my hands.  Her car seat was covered in poop from the day before.  It didn't even cross my mind that it would've gotten on her seat.  And if it had crossed my mind I never would have thought it would still be WET today.

I brought her inside, took off all of her clothes.  Brought the car seat inside and started taking it apart to wash it.

And I lost it.  I burst into tears.

And more tears.

And then I'm sobbing over poop.

Sometimes it feels like nothing is going my way.  Luckily Brandon works close so he rushed home and took Addie to school and gave me the clean car seat from his car.  But he left and I sat down and cried some more.

I don't have any cute little moral to this story.  I'm not even sure why I'm writing it except that it makes me feel better to put it out there.  And it makes it seem funnier when I think over the details.

But I will say it was Sienna that made me smile in the midst of my tears.  She climbed up onto my lap and in the sweetest little 2 year old voice said:

"Aww, you sad?"
"Aww mama, you don't be sad.  You da cutest girl ever!"

I got 99 problems and sweet girls ain't one.

He's On My List

Ya know, the super bowl was pretty cool.  

We had a little party at my brother in laws house.  Delicious snacks, playing on my phone, BEYONCE (Hello, could she be more talented!? No.), and playing around with my ladies doing things like this:

So yeah, great day.  

Things went south real fast when this commercial popped up on the screen:

Dammit Paul.  

How many of these awful movies do I have to sit through in order to see your handsome face on the big screen?  

I mean really....Fast & Furious 6!?  SIX?

Cars, action, muscles, Vin Deisel, lameness...they're just not my thing.  But for you, Paul Walker, I'll buy that ticket and suffer through it.  (But we're kind of fighting.  Just know that.)

 DIEHARD FAN.

Also this video I just found made me laugh so hard.  I totally remember this kids game show that he was on when he was younger.  I'm sure at one point I hoped I could be on it arguing with one of my sibs.  *faux fighting- fist in the air* 

My favorite part "Big Bites!"  "Big Bites!"

Veggie Packed Chili

One of my favorite things to do when I cook is to adapt the recipe and make it a little healthier.  My kids are becoming pickier and pickier  eaters by the day (should be the opposite right!?) so I do whatever I can to sneak nutritious foods into their diets.     

So I thought I'd share this chili recipe I changed up. 

It was good before, but it's now veggie packed, lean, and delicious.

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach

1 cup bell peppers

1/2 cup carrots

1/2 cup broccoli 

1 cup white corn

1 yellow onion

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1/8 cup olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. basil leaves

salt & pepper to taste

Optional toppings:

plain greek yogurt

cheddar cheese

1.  In a large saucepan brown ground turkey.

2.  Add chopped onion and saute.  (Or just use dry onions if you're a baby like me and refuse to chop fresh onions.)

3.  Next I combine spinach, bell peppers, carrots, and broccoli and puree them all together in my blender.  This hides the veggies in the chili (or else my kids wouldn't eat it!) and creates a yummy veggie base.

4.  Throw all of the ingredients (yep, the turkey, the puree and everything else) into a crock pot or a large saucepan and stir it up.

5.  Simmer that tastiness for 3-5 hours on low.  This is key.  The colors and flavors get all acquainted and after simmering you can't even see the green of the spinach or anything anymore.

6.  Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt (tastes just like sour cream but much healthier) and a sprinkle of cheese.

7.  While looking at your precious picky eaters yell (in your head) FOOLED YA SUCKAS.  Because they just got a delicious meal packed with nutrients and they didn't even know it.



*This method also works really well when I make spaghetti sauce.  I puree whatever vegetables are in my fridge or freezer and throw it into the mix.  Can't even taste a difference after it has simmered for a while.  Victory!

T.G.I.F.

Ya'll need stop whatever you're doing, put on your dancing pants, and 

bust. a. move.  

because its FRIDAYYY!

Actually its Monday but who says you can't act like its not!?

This video is from like a year ago but its my fav!  

It's the perfect little peak into a typical day at our silly, dancey, dorky home.  

Love these fools!!!

Enough Is Enough. Or Is It?

Does anyone else ever feel like what you do is just not enough? 

 I seem to have a constant battle in my mind.  A battle between loving myself the way I am, and feeling like I'll never live up to my full potential. 

This state of mind has gotten harder to navigate since I became a mom.  There is no way to measure success.  I don't get a paycheck.  I don't get raises.  I don't have stimulating goals to accomplish.  Days are so full of busyness, never ending busyness, and yet there isn't a lot I can say I've achieved when the day is over.  

I know I'm a great mom.  That I don't doubt.  I do my best and love my babies with all my heart.  Taking them on adventures, and helping them discover what makes them happy, and hearing the funny things they say are what I live for.  

Well that and diet coke, and spontaneous vacations with my family.  

I'm not even sure what I'm getting at exactly.
But there is so much celebration for a mom who "does it all".  The mom who balances work, and motherhood, and being tiny skinny, and having super cute clothes and being an amazing cook to top it all off.  

There is so much pressure to be EVERYTHING that I often feel like I am NOTHING.  

Maybe it's okay to not own a cool business. 

Maybe it's okay to not have thousands of fans on Instagram admiring my
 outfit of the day.

Maybe it's okay to to not be going back to school to earn a masters degree.  

OR...

MAYBE IT'S NOT OKAY.

Ugghhh....you see what I'm dealing with here?  haha  

I don't know the answer.  

Push myself harder to be more successful as an individual while raising my girls or keep dedicating my days to my sweet little ladies and accept that that is good enough?  

How do you find balance?  How do you measure success?  

Sienna Bo Benna

Little Miss Sienna has become quite the little dramatic toddler. 

 She will do something so over the top that Addie and I will give each other a little questioning look and then fall over laughing.  

One second she's giggling and the next second (literally) she's calling somebody "tupid" (stupid) or "menace" and collapsing into tears.  

But what makes her most happy is putting on a little costume, calling the family upstairs to the loft, assigning us seats and letting us know "I do show now!". 

This here is one of her more dramatic pieces.  I have no idea where she got the idea for this number, but its her go-to.  

Cracks me up every time.  

It is title "My Whole Life" because, uh, well, because that's all she says over and over again.

I guess when you get to the ripe old age of 2 you start thinking about the times of past, and reevaluating  your priorities and such.