Ring Around A Rosie

The smell of Friday...gotta love it! Friday evening seems like the perfect time to reflect on my favorite memories of the week. Maybe I'll make this a new weekly post. I don't want to commit though. It's too much pressure!

A few weeks ago, I taught Matty Ring Around a Rosie and he loved it. We do it daily, and just this week, he decided he wanted his "friends" to participate. Him and I were ringing around a rosie right before bedtime. We got halfway through and he stopped, dropped my hands and ran over to his rocking chair. He proceeded to pick up a stuffed animal that was on the chair and he brought him into the circle! It was too precious. I wanted to laugh and cry! We began again, with the little red and white doggie that we gave Matty for V-day, and yet again, we get halfway through and Matty stops. He runs back over to the rocking chair and grabs Curious George {this was my Curious George as a child..aw!}. And don't ya know it, Matty brings George into the circle and now that everyone is included, we can finish the song :)

Then, last night, Matty, Matt and I were in the playroom and Matty motioned to me that he wanted to do Ring Around a Rosie. We started, got a few seconds in, and Matty stopped, said dada, and ran over to Matt to pull him up off the couch. The three of us did Ring Around a Rosie a few times...it was my favorite memory this week!

What else? Well, this week, those apples I was bragging about turned into a not so cool game...Matty decided that once he gets bored with the apple, it is fun to spit out the pieces and stomp on them. 

Also this week, we bought concert tickets for The Avett Brothers on NYE in Asheville, NC!  Take some time to check them out and watch this video; it's one of my favs.
We'll be meeting friends that we adore and are so so excited!   It will be a nice little getaway and a fun start to the New Year, but we'll surely miss our lil monkey.

Today, I had the day off which meant extra Matty and Mama time! After breakfast, which included apples of course, we decided to venture outside to play with the dogs, despite the chilly temp.  Mama was cold, but Matty and the pups didn't seem to notice.

In the afternoon, we went to the park with Nana, Papa and Juliana. Besides snack time, Matty's favorite part was the swings:

Matty and his Papa

It was a great week, if you don't count the Miami Dolphins loss last night...boy oh boy, did I have an unhappy hubby on my hands.

Next week will be fun.  On Sunday, our KC family invades {and I mean that in the most loving way possible} for the holiday and it is always a blast.  Speaking of the holiday, if anyone has any fab Thanksgiving dishes, I'd love if you would share them!

Happy weekending all!

My Version of Christmas in July

The weekend is finally here. In my eyes, every Friday night is like Christmas Eve. Endless possibilities await us, wrapped in shiny paper, too pretty to open.

Have you ever received a gift that you wished you hadn't unwrapped? One that was much more lovely with its tucked corners and perfectly placed bow?

Sometimes I feel like that about the weekend. Don't get me wrong; I am in love with the weekend, but I have this vision of what the weekend will be and when I tear open the paper, I am disappointed. Not because the gift itself is a let down, but because it doesn't completely belong to me. I always have to give it back on Monday.

My intention is always to balance family fun, household chores and some "me" time. On Saturday morning, I am very positive and energetic with many goals in mind. I think to myself, "I can totally clean the entire house top to bottom, spend quality time with Matty and hubby, read a book while working on my tan, write a poem and maybe even work on one of hundreds of artsy project ideas that I have running through my head."

By Saturday at noon though, my plan has already unraveled, which is completely fine and understandable. Having a 16-month-old and a 31-year-old (love ya honey ;) means expect the unexpected and adapt to it. But when Saturday evening arrives, the sadness sets in as I think to myself, "only one more day until this WBSAHM's fairy tale is over." And I still have toilets to clean, floors to scrub, laundry, etc. Apparently, the fairy tale is Cinderella and my glass slipper is lost somewhere under the piles of clothes that need to be folded. I get upset with myself because I can't live up to the ideal of keeping a spotless home, being a perfect mother, wife, and being ready to face the corporate world come 7 a.m. Monday, all with a smile.

"The art of living a pleasant life is constantly adjusting to circumstances."

This weekend, I will try hard not to let the little things eat me up. If I do, when I am spending time with Matty and hubby, I won't truly be enjoying myself because I will be thinking about all of the things I didn't accomplish instead of realizing that I am accomplishing the most important thing: making memories with my two favorite guys.