The Mom Who Cried Dog

You are now entering the judgement free zone.  There are no judgey judgertons allowed.   "Why?", you ask??...Oh, you're about to find out!  Remember the last post I mentioned a cake I made?  Do you also remember someone asking if they could have it for breakfast the next day?  Yep, that would be today, this morning, cake was for breakfast.  Now, hear me out on this, before you get all...WHAT? CAKE for breakfast?  They were going for the thin cinnamon raisin bagels with light cream cheese, when they saw the cake and asked for it.  I was about to say no, when I realized, the cake has greek yogurt (protein), ancient grains (must be good for you), bananas (loaded with goodness), all natural cake mix, and I would be the awesome mom.  "Ok, sure", I said.  The kids were happy, the day started off great, that cake rocks. 

Ok, so lets fast forward to school pick up.  I have something to tell the kids, and I am unsure how they are going to react.  Let me fill you in on the back story...A few years ago, I told a small fib, it was actually quite ridiculous, but they believed me....for about a minute.  It was Halloween, and it was the second year their candy came up missing, a few days after trick or treat night.  They asked me what happened to it.  Remember, I had to come up with a super quick explanation so it is not my best work.  I said, "Well Teddy (our yellow lab) can actually walk on two legs like a human after you go to bed at night."  Stunned, they said, "What?, No Way!"  I said, "Yes he does and he knows how bad all that candy is for you and he throws it all away!"  To the best of my memory, I got  "TEDDY",  "That's not true Mommy", and "I know you threw it away".  I have stuck true to this story since I told it a few years ago, for every Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.  I know it's kind of silly, but whatever, it's our thing...Teddy did it! 

Teddy is the one on the left.

Teddy is on the right.

Now we are back at present day.  I dropped the kiddos off at the bus in the morning.   I came home to find our chocolate lab, Cori nose deep in the leftover cake from breakfast!!!! I knew when I picked up the kids and I told them Cori ate the cake, they would not believe me!  Here were their reactions when I broke the news.  David said, "Mommy I know you ate the rest of that cake!" (Nice)  Bella said, "Stinkin' Cori!"(She believed me)  and Ava said, "Mommy it was healthy cake!"(meaning, why would I throw it away?)  I cried dog too many times that when it actually happened only one of my kids believed me.  Would I lie to them again?...Absolutely! 

Cake half eaten by Cori

Cori licking his lips

It is Tuesday so it is swim night!  I want to share a few really exciting milestones that occurred this evening.  Last year Ava tried out for the swim team, she tried her hardest but she needed more practice.  Just to give you an idea of how much this girl wanted to be on the team, the coach, lifeguard, and myself were ready to jump in and save her every time she swam from one end of the pool to the other.  She must have swallowed a gallon of water but she got out of that pool with the biggest smile on her face and said, "Mommy, I did it".  When I told her she didn't make the team,  I promised her I would get her lessons so she could try out again next year.  Well, my girl  swam at least 400 meters tonight doing freestyle all on her own.  Ava is the newest Hempfield Stingray! 

Confession, I had a weak moment!  I let Ava get one of those ice cream cookies after she did her swim lesson.  She asked.  I said yes.  She pinky promised not to tell her brother and sister.  It is like it never happened.  We should definitely move on from this.

I was caught up in the moment.

I did something today I have never done! I swam like a real swimmer.  Not like a seal, ya know with my head above water.  I did freestyle with my head underwater and rolling to the side to breathe.  Remember how I told you I stopped doing the whole facebook thing during Ava's swim practice?  Instead I paid attention to the instructor and bada bing bada boom, I am really swimming!  Oh by the way...goggles are NOT optional...they are necessary...found that out real quick!

Promise, last thing...Remember yesterday I talked about ghosts?  I decided recently that I could not get rid of these guys on my own.  I realized that I was powerless and accepted God's power to get rid of these bad boys once and for all.  I know I need to institute some tools to help me on a daily basis; one is connecting with God's word (the Bible) and the other is prayer.   I always thought I had prayer all figured out but what if I don't?  I think I need to look at some prayer strategies like the book below, really talk to God, make it a conversation not a checklist.  I don't want to get too deep into this but I realized that the peace I am seeking can only be provided by God; not people, things or
distractions. 

Mama Out!