runaway mayo

I'm thankful for hand-me-downs. Not only kid hand-me-downs but pretty much everything in my closet. Pictured below, I'm wearing my sister's sweater, tank top and shoes, Mari's hand-me-down Hudson jeans whaaatt? And a necklace from my friend Karla. That was a gift. Addie wanted to take a pic of me. This is the only one that wasn't blurry and included my head. I love her little feet. 

Last week I forgot to include these award pics. And I promised Mya that I would post them on Facebook. That was our compromise for me not putting a bumper sticker on my Van that says, "My kid achieved academic success at Stanton Elementary" or something like that. 

I really appreciate the girls all getting awards on the same day. It is so nice of their school to do that. Addie received an award that says, "Super student." I think that's code for fun, tiny and cute. And she is the tiniest in her class.

Winter received an award for kindness. KINDNESS. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'd agree that she's come a long way. I remember telling a story a few years ago about Winter trying to drown the neighbor kid for wanting to play with her. We're super proud of her. She is so kind to others and she has a giant heart. And she's that much taller than most of her class =) And of course she loves wearing heels.

Mya received an award for responsibility. She's more responsible than me, so yeah, it fits. And she's probably the tiniest 4th grader =) 

And honor roll! School has been a struggle since last year so I'm super proud of how hard she has worked in all areas. 

I realize that most of the students receive an award each year but it really makes me happy to see them up there. With all the nagging and corrections they receive all the time, it's nice to celebrate the good little people that they really are.

I have another little story for you, whether you like stories or not. It is entitled, "The Case of the Missing Mayo." 

Friday, I went to Vons with Addie after I picked her up from school. I have an hour from when I pick up Addie until I have to get Mya and Winter. I got pickled veggies for Dan, cherry tomatoes for Mya and a big thing of Mayo for... me I guess. I'm the only one who eats it. After Vons, I picked up Winter and Mya and headed home to drop off Addie and Winter with Dan then take Mya to the doctor to have her possibly fractured finger checked out. She injured it trying to play basketball and it had gotten pretty swollen. (Basketball isn't really her thing)

When we arrived home, I grabbed the pickled veggies and tomatoes and could not find the giant thing of mayo. I looked all over, asked the kids if they'd seen it then looked in the car again. It was nowhere. So I told Mya it must have rolled out of the car at school. We'd have to swing by and check. She mater-of-factly commented, "Ummm THAT'S embarrassing." I laughed and replied. "Mya, that Mayo was on sale. That's seven dollars I'll never see again if I don't find it." She didn't really understand but was agreeable the way Mya is. She added, "I'll bet they've never had that happen before, someone losing their Mayo." I agreed. 

So we got to the school and I didn't see the Mayo anywhere. I asked the crossing guard ladies and the office staff if they'd seen it. They hadn't. They were all very sympathetic though. So I gave up my search and took Mya to the doctor. She referred us to an x-ray place and we got a splint for her little middle finger in the meantime. Mya said her friend at school told her not to hold up her middle finger when showing people, like she had been doing all day. Good friend. We had a conversation about the middle finger. My kids are so innocent. 

As we were driving home, I told Mya to check under the front seat to see if it had rolled under it. I didn't think it was a big enough space for my giant Mayo but I couldn't think of where it could have gone to. She put her hand under the seat and smiled a giant smile. "Well, look what I found!" she exclaimed. 

Mystery solved. The crossing guard asked me the next day if I was able to locate the missing Mayo. I happily reported that we found it under the seat, and she shared a similar story that happened to her with tamales. It's a mom thing.

Speaking of grocery stores, I went to Costco Thursday and the checker asked me if I was in charge of snacks. I usually get comments like, "You havin' a party?" or something of the sort on a routine shopping trip. It's pretty much always a party at the Wags. But this is the first time someone thought I was buying snacks for a sports team. 

I resisted the urge to attack hug her because she looked SO snugly. Instead I took a pic. 

Angus still takes a nap most days. I gave up on trying to have him take one on my time. It was too much of a daily battle. So at the beginning of the school year, I decided to just go on with my day and if he falls asleep, cool. If not, he's a wreck in the evening. Either one is fine.

This is totally normal for Winter. Just cleaning up the toys... with a tail on.

Sometimes I hate feeling chained to my phone, feeling the obligation of having to capture every cute moment. But this. I'm so happy to have this picture.

 This is pink bear giving her all to pull her friends up to the top bunk. 

I hate losing the remote. It is the most frustrating panicky feeling. I look like a crazy person trying to find my lost remote. I'm throwing pillows, asking questions to nobody, looking under things that I just looked under and mumbling curse words. Many mornings Angus wakes up around 5:00AM and we go downstairs and I turn on the TV and he watches Paw Patrol while I sleep in a ball next to him. Not sure what I would do if I didn't have a show for him to watch. Thank goodness it turned up in the back of his dump truck.

One of Winter's birthday presents to me was making me breakfast in bed. Saturday was the first day we were home all morning. So she did. All by herself. Angus followed her upstairs and walked over to the bed right next to me and farted. Then he asked, "You sick mommy?" He's been asking me how I'm feeling several times a day since Saturday. 

It was a super lovely breakfast.

And then the kids horsed around while I had my "relaxing breakfast in bed." 

Angus still loves Dan's red "ffruck" more than anything else. He gets to drive it occasionally.

Even though none of my girls played with him, I refused to give Mr. Potato head away. I knew someday someone would appreciate him the way I did. Thanks Angus. You get it.

Gosh they're sweet ❤️ 

Winter caught a lizard. Obviously from the pic below, that made her pretty happy. She was NOT happy when we convinced her to let it go the next day. It looked like it was dying even though she gave it water and gnats and a rock and a battery operated candle for heat. She was so sad all day. Her teacher suggested she make a card for the lizard to cheer herself up. What a nice teacher.

Please don't tell me about the diseases kids can get from kissing lizards. I don't want to know.

When you have a bunch of kids, most of the days are filled with trying to get them to do things they don't want to do, or they are fighting with each other, or they are mad at you for not letting them do or have something they want, or they are being punished for something they did or didn't do. Very rarely are they just all happily eating dinner outside (that the oldest cooked), smiling and laughing together. But these moments do occur from time to time. And when they do, you take a pic, thank Jesus and pray it lasts longer than 2 minutes. 

My TJ's recommendation this week: pecan praline granola. It is crunchy and tasty. Best granola I've ever had, well except for yours Aileen. I love yours the most. But this is the best store bought one I've found. If I need a quick breakfast, yogurt and granola gets the job done.