i get looks. lots of them.

but wait…before you think i am running around scantily clad or driving a pimped out ride, let me explain the real reason i am turning heads.

it's no secret that i have active, spirited, busy, inquisitive (and all those other nice adjectives used to describe at times unruly) children. notice i do say "at times" because there are moments when they really are angelic but 9.99 times out of 10 when i am out in public, it is nothing short of a chaotic circus. and somehow lately it's been kicked up a notch. perhaps it's because i'm obviously large with child and struggle a little more to keep it together.

and that's how i get the looks. you know the kind when your child is screaming uncontrollably, writhing in agony, throwing himself every which way in your arms while holding on firmly to a chunk of your hair (or maybe you don't. but you can imagine this happening to me today just for fun).

and you might also know the kind of looks you get when you are in a doctor's office and one child is rolling on the floor yelling and banging his head against it because he doesn't want to wear shoes while another is holding her crotch and shouting to the world that she has to go pee (or maybe you don't. but you can also imagine this happening to me today just for fun).

i could go on and on with the numerous incidents i've had in the last while where the looks have flowed freely in my direction. and even one time when a kind woman approached me and asked if my inconsolable son would like to see her daughter sitting quietly belted into the shopping cart because that might help him do the same. yeah, that worked like a charm. 😉

normally i find myself seeing every look and conjuring up what that person is thinking about me. usually i imagine something cruel and demeaning like "poor woman can't control her kids and here she is having another." immediately i want to crawl into a corner and suck my thumb. by the time i have made it out of the store i'm physically and emotionally beaten to a pulp.

today, however, marked a turning point for me. it was a fist-pumping moment. i knew the looks would come. i saw them. i acknowledged them with a smile. and instead of letting my mind get the best of me, i walked on and sang a little tune.

victorious!

photos by tara w.

summer is officially here in AZ. school has only been out for two days and i've already found myself singing bananarama's cruel summer! (which then makes me think of karate kid, hah)
so i'm making every attempt to make it through these next few months with a game plan. yesterday, i went to target and raided the dollar section for odds and ends entertainment. and this is what we did…

my sister-in-law also gave me a fabulous idea. for craft loving kids like mine, she suggested getting a bunch of kits from oriental trading to pull out when i feel the "what can we do now, mom?" vibe coming on. i think it's going to be a life saver. nay…i know it is.

p.s. i just bought cruel summer off of itunes. i still love that song anyway. 🙂
oh, and the bedroom makeover post is coming on monday!

2 of the best things in the world: moms & cupcakes.
yesterday, we got to indulge in both.

for months i have been wanting to visit sprinkles cupcakes
in scottsdale. this weekend was the perfect opportunity. a little sweet
and sophisticated treat to jazz up mother's day. yum. and for the
record–red velvet is the bomb. ('the bomb' …that's so '90s isn't it?
oh well.)

as for mothers, words aren't quite enough to say what i feel. but i do love this quote

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.
~Abraham Lincoln

motherhood
and prayer are deeply intertwined. so grateful i have been taught this
by both of my beautiful, faithful, and loving mothers. i love you.