No. Way.

Sometimes I wonder who in their right mind in the heavenly courts above thought it was a good idea to let me be a mom. Because sometimes, I'm really just not equipped to be one. And right now, I feel like I have lost total and complete control of my kids and my household (but thankfully not my husband ;) ).
But when it comes to motherhood, there are a few things that are very important to me.
1. That my kids know I love them, no matter what.
2. That my kids are allowed to be kids and do things kids do (like make messes, etc.)
3. That I don't destroy my kids personalities by turning them into something they're not. I want them to be who they were meant to be, strong personalities and all.

So when things happen around our house, I try to keep these 3 things (as well as a few others) in mind. I generally don't mind the kids making messes (though I try to make them help me clean them up) and I try to allow them to be curious and discover things on their own.

With that preface, I give you the events of our day yesterday.

It started out earlier than I prefer. Mya didn't get the memo that getting up before 8am isn't allowed. I went in her room to get some clothes and stepped in something wet. Upon inspection I discovered one of the girls had spilled fruit punch (I say "one" of the girls because neither of them ever admits, and according to Jaida, it's always Mya). ALL over the carpet. Nice blood red stains everywhere. Awesome. It's going to be a good day. (And in case anyone is wondering, I can't get it out of the carpet.)
Jaida did her usual crying about going to preschool. I make her go anyway. School is NOT optional. Even if it is preschool.
Afterwards we went to get the girls haircut. Luckily that went fine. But next door was Kid-to-Kid which has those stupid little doors in the front that kids can't resist. So the girls were going in and out of it (which I allowed because they're kids) and then Jaida saw a ring that she HAD to have. I said no. And then came the biggest bratty kid tantrum she's ever pulled. Even better than the one where she screamed "I'm bleeding" in the middle of Target. This time she went on and on about how she HAD to have this ring and that she could do whatever she wanted and that she was going to hit me in the face. By this time I had already scooped her off the sidewalk and tied her down in her car seat where she continued to berate me with insults. I laughed. Which made her more angry.
We came home and the girls wanted to play at the neighbors. So I walked them over, dropped them off and came back home to finish putting away the groceries.
About 15 minutes later, Jaida came in the house. I was surprised because she was supposed to be at the neighbors. She opened the fridge and stood there for a minute.

Me: "What are you doing?"
J: "Nothing. We're just playing outside. But don't come out there."

RED FLAG. So of course I followed her outside and THIS is what I saw in front of the fridge in the garage.

NO. WAY.



No way. No way. I just kept saying it over and over again.



And then I looked out on the driveway where Mya was and then I saw this. Eggs. Everywhere. I had just bought a new pack from Costco. 18 eggs to be exact. Scattered through my garage and all over my driveway. Are. You. Kidding. Me.

And this is where motherhood gets dicey for me. Because every fiber of my being wanted to laugh. Because truely, in perspective, it's pretty funny. And I'm sure they had a lot of fun doing it. But I knew it was going to be a pain to clean up and I don't ever want to have to clean it up again, so I had to put on the angry mom face, and speak in the angry mom voice to make sure they knew I meant business (ha ha).

But seriously. Pretty stinking funny.

Until I was still scrubbing eggs off my driveway 45 minutes later and the girls were still picking up tiny pieces of egg shell that were scattered everywhere.

Fun day at the Ross house.

And these pictures below are from a week or so ago when Mya (of course Jaida had nothing to do with it) discovered the couch cushions unzipped and there was a big snowy surprise inside.

I swear I watch my kids. I do. But somehow, they still pull stuff like this off!

Love them.

Look at Mya's face above. She's in heaven swimming in her "clouds". She's one-0f-a-kind that kid.

Away.

I just got back from a trip to California for a photography workshop and learned a few things non-photography related while I was gone. This was my first time leaving both my girls AND Mike. And I discovered:

**traveling without your husband no matter what the destination, sucks. Bad. I hope I never have to do it again.

**leaving your kids even for a few days isn't easy. And I didn't particularly enjoy it.

**Talking to your kids over the phone right before they go to bed and they are crying hysterically is not fun.

**Mya is sometimes really hard to understand in person. She's even harder to understand on the phone when she's excited and has a 5 minute story to tell you about running through the sprinklers at her cousins house.

**despite the fact that it is physically easier to travel without kids, it's not nearly as fun. And now I know I'd prefer to take them.

**I have a super, awesome, amazing husband who did such a good job playing Mr. Mom while I was gone that the girls didn't seem nearly excited enough to see me at the airport and when I asked Jaida if she missed me, her reply was "not very much."

A few new phrases that have been expressed after my return:
(both by Jaida)
"What the hell. . ." She's been saying it alot. About everything.
"Mess with me and I'll mess you up."

Anyway, I went to a photography workshop put on by some of the most amazing photographers in the world and my brain still hurts from information overload. It was an awesome experience, I learned a ton, and though I think I do a pretty good job appreciating my husband and kids, I now know with surety I don't want to travel places without them.

Alone time.

When Jaida goes to preschool, Mya and I get a little one-on-one time together. Usually we run errands, but when we don't, we get some quality time in the playroom. And here's what we do.

And I included this one because if Mya is moving, this is what she looks like. She gallops. Everywhere.

Misused lotion.

What kids (more specifically, Mya) do with lotion that's in a reachable spot. I didn't place the lotion there. This is just what I saw when I walked in the bathroom. She forgot to clean up her evidence.

Whatever it takes.

This was how we were able to listen to conference. Put Mya in a basket and let the girls unload the entire bookshelf.

Sleeping habits.

It's no wonder Mya wakes up several times a night crying. She's usually holding one of her limbs saying "it's pokey" because things fall asleep when you sleep in positions like this. She falls alseep like this every night. So bizarre.

And here's J with the puke bucket. It was one of those nights so I just put it on her body hoping she'd wake up and find it before she puked.


And she's not stretching here. She sleeps with her arms sprawled out like that.

Love their dad.

"I'm stupid."

Mya keeps saying this. Over and over and over again.
"I'm stupid."
"I'm stupid."
"I'm stupid."
After ignoring it for a few minutes I finally asked her to stop.
"No. I'm stupid. I'm going to my room. I'm stupid."
And out she walked. Up to her room. Not sure if she was putting herself in time out or what (considering she's never been in timeout before I can't imagine that's what she was doing--although she's seen Jaida exiled to her room before so maybe that's where she got it)
Then she came back and continued: "I'm stupid. I'm stupid. I'm stupid. I go to my room and yock (lock) the door. I'm stupid."
She has no idea what it means, but knows it gets a reaction. So I quit reacting. And on she continues. "I'm stupid."
Just for the record, Mya, you are anything but stupid.

Vegas baby.

We spent a weekend in Vegas with Mike's sister and her family for the baptism of one of their kids. Though we wish they lived closer to us, it's nice to have somewhere to get away to. Mike's brother was able to schedule a work trip at the same time so he let us all enjoy his hotel pool while he pretended to work all day. I included a few pictures of Jaida and Mya's cousins because their parents don't have blogs and I don't want the kids to feel bad. :)

It was cold. Like in the 50's cold. And they claimed the pool was heated, but that's up for debate. The kids didn't seem to mind. Although most of their water time was in the hot tub. I spent the entire day on a lounge chair in my hoodie. And took all the pictures from that same lounge chair. Grateful that day I had a long zoom lens even if it did make me look like a child predator. Whatever.

It wasn't nearly a long enough vacation. Next time we'll stay longer. Get ready Paxtons.

If Mike's in a hoodie, you know it's cold. And then Mya wandered a little too far in the water and he had to jump in. No more hoodie.

I really need a 10 year old around here. Lexie--wanna come?!

These were taken during half-time (lunch break) up in the hotel room.