Oh, the drama.

Never let it be said that life with a three-year-old is free from the fits witnessed during the "terrible twos." To be perfectly honest, my children really didn't go through the typical "terrible twos." Sure, there were the occasional battles over who was in charge, but they resolved quite quickly (okay, not with Ryan, but he's in a category unto himself, and even at two, he wasn't nearly the challenge that he became at three...). At any rate, in my experience, three has been the age of distinction when it comes to throwing tantrums.

Look at the rage and frustration on Katy's little face, as she throws herself to the floor and kicks in my general direction! Just because I turned the TV off! Okay, so maybe her frustration level was heightened by my laughing at her and taking her picture? But seriously, it was just too funny. Just imagine how difficult it must be to have so much emotion running through such a tiny little body--no wonder they throw fits! But the part that I found really funny was that as soon as I suggested going into the playroom to read a book together, the tantrum stopped. Instantly. The tears magically dried up. The grimace turned into a grin. Talk about mood swings. Hope this isn't a window into what I have in front of me in about 10 years...

Exercise is Fun?

Oh, if only I could share my children's enthusiasm for exercise! These pictures were taken on Saturday at Ryan's final flag football game. His team, the Saints, won their final game of the season in a 2-1 shocker by capturing one of the opponent's flags just before he crossed the goal line in the final seconds of the game. The team has not had the best record this year, but the boys all had a great time, and never lost their enthusiasm. In fact, they've really looked good the past 2 weeks, just in time for the season to end...

We spent the entire day outside, soaking in the gorgeous autumn weather. The day started off crisp and cool (almost cold), so my Pumpkin Spice Latte (skim, no whip) really hit the spot. The girls actually started off watching the game sitting on their little chairs snuggled under a down blanket. But as the morning progressed, the temperatures rose, as did the girls' activity level. As you can see from the pictures above, they are thoroughly engrossed by watching the game, and rarely, if ever, divert their eyes from the field. Right! Fortunately they are really good sports about tagging along to Ryan's games, and I will be sure that he tags along to their activities to show his support whenever possible. I don't know what we're going to do if they all decide that they want to do different activities. I guess we'll have to look into cloning Kevin or myself. Hmmm, I wonder if I could make my clone be the one to do all the household chores...

By the afternoon, it was so warm outside that we all shed our sweats in favor of T-shirts at the end of season party at the coach's house (our neighbor). We spent the entire afternoon outside, playing basketball (Ryan & Kevin), running around (Olivia & Katelyn), and taking pictures (me). Topped off with wings, salads and margaritas, and a Virginia Tech football victory, the day was pretty darn good!

A Guinea Pig????

Warning! Do not allow your children to watch "The Wonder Pets" on Nick Jr. I was under the mistaken impression that this sweet show about a little duckling, turtle and guinea pig who go out and help other animals by working together "we're not real big and we're not real tough, but when we work together we've got the right stuff!" was a nice show for my preschoolers to watch. Wrong. I now have a totally adorable little blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl begging me, mercilessly, for a guinea pig of her own. "No, not 1, mommy, 2! No, how 'bout we get, um, 5!" She is convinced that I can pick one up for her the next time I go to the grocery store... And when she got up from her nap this afternoon, the first thing she asked was whether I'd been grocery shopping yet. Silly me, I thought she was hungry and wanted a snack. Nope. She was wondering where her guinea pig was! How am I gonna get out of this one?!? I'm afraid that this is going to be one of those alien invasion situations--resistance is futile...

It's official. I'm addicted to Scrabble...

I always knew that I enjoyed playing Scrabble. It is one of the games that Kevin and I love to play against each other. But now that I have a computer version of the game, I am thoroughly addicted. The best part? Now when I play against Kevin, I beat him more than he beats me! I've learned all kinds of new "words" that are in the official Scrabble dictionary: qi, aa, ka, za, to name a few little ones that have scored me some big points recently. And I've gotten quite adept at making multiple words in a single turn (thanks to those little 2-letter words).

I must say, that I debate whether some of these "words" should actually count, though. Recently, while playing against the computer, the computer played the word "alamode." I'm sorry. That is NOT one word. That is THREE words. And they are French words. But if I try to use "oui" it disallows it. Hmph. Of course, if given the situation, don't doubt that I will also use "alamode" and score a BINGO if possible!

Laundry.

I know that I should be thankful for the fact that I have all of these wonderful clothes for my family to wear. I know that I should also be thankful for my super cool new washer and dryer. Finally, I know that I should be grateful that my laundry room is on the same level as our bedrooms so I don't have to lug the laundry up and down the stairs.

That being said, I am not feeling very thankful for the 6+ loads of laundry that require my attention today. I've been putting off this job for several days now, and those dirty clothes just keep piling up. Merciless piles of clothes that require sorting, washing, drying, folding, hanging and putting away. And if I don't do them soon, they will only continue to multiply. Like tribbles....

Perhaps I shouldn't have procrastinated about putting laundry away last week. Maybe then the job wouldn't feel quite so daunting? Because if you add the 4 loads of folded clothes stacked oh so neatly in the corner of my bedroom to the 6+ loads that have been sorted in my hallway and laundry room, that's like over 10 (TEN!) loads of clothes that need to be put away. Scary!

So I need to get back to my chore so that tomorrow I can feel thankful again for clothes, washer, dryer and upstairs laundry rooms, and most especially for all the clothes that are clean and finally put away! And as for the clothes that will start to accumulate again as soon as the kids change for bed, well, I don't need to think about them for at least a week...

Kid Parties

So my life seems to revolve around kid's parties of late. We're either taking Ryan to a friend's birthday party, or planning Ryan's upcoming party (Pirate theme--complete with treasure hunt, swashbuckling attire, pirates grog and a movie), or helping to plan the Halloween party for Ryan's first grade class (I'm one of the room moms), or helping new friends with getting ready for their kids' parties... And then there are the kids parties that we're unable to attend this year thanks to our new geographic location, but we still want to send a fun gift. I'm ready for a grown up soiree! Today's kid party (for Liam, pictured above with Ryan) is also a costume party, so we will be getting the kiddos dressed up pretty soon. They are all quite excited to be wearing their Halloween costumes.

It is a perfect fall day today--started off in the low 40's for Ryan's football game. We actually had to turn the heat on this morning to take the chill off. By this afternoon it is in the low 60's -- nice and crisp with an amazing blue sky--not a single cloud. The leaves are starting to change down here, but since there are so many pine trees, the effect isn't as dramatic as I've grown used to seeing. It's still quite pretty though, lots of brilliant red trees interspersed through the pines right out my window as I sit here typing. It's so strange to look out windows and see so much natural stuff around me. I'd grown so accustomed to having houses on top of us over the past 10-15 years (19 if you count college dorms and apartments). This is the first place I've lived in some time where it feels like home, and not a temporary resting place...

New habits don't always come easy

Hmmmm, so it's been over a week since my first ever blog post, and here I finally am with another one... but I will not give up just because I'm slow off the blog, I mean block! As I emptied the dishwasher this morning, I couldn't stop thinking how thankful I am for a dishwasher that works so well. It wasn't long ago that this chore included picking baked-on food off of my dishes and wiping all sorts of spots off my glasses. Now it's just a straight shot from the dishwasher to the cabinets. Nice.

Stephanie and the kids are coming to visit this weekend. I'm really looking forward to seeing them! I'm especially looking forward to having someone to scrapbook with. I just can't seem to get as much accomplished when I'm scrappin' by myself. There are always so many distractions (like the computer...). In fact, I'm supposed to be working on finishing up journaling on pages now so that the pages can go live in an album instead of in my drawers. So perhaps a blog is a new way to procrastinate?! Hmmm, I'll have to be sure to use this on a page some day, then my journaling will already be done! Bought the new Memory Makers precision rotary trimmer today--it is amazing. Hands down the best paper trimmer I've ever had the pleasure of using. So all my Fiskars trimmers are now relegated to the kid craft area.

So Katy was walking past me today on the way upstairs and the following conversation took place:

Me: Come over here and give me a kiss!
Katy: Why?
M: Because I love you!
K: Why?
M: Because you are my Katy and I love every little bit of you!
K: Yeah. But not inside my butt, right?

That girl just cracks me up! Seriously, though, she gives the best, sweetest, smooshiest kisses I've ever gotten. What a sweet girl she can be, when she isn't being a stinker.

Ryan continues to push Kevin and I to our limits. The boy really has a way of pushing our buttons. I'm chalking it up to his "fall funk," a pattern which I finally noticed last year after several challenging autumns with him. It usually clears up some time soon after his birthday, and then he's such a sweet kid for the next 9 months. But if I have to hear that snarky little voice one more time today, I can not be held responsible for what I might do... Good thing he's been asleep for over an hour now!

Hello!

I've resisted blogging for some time now, but was inspired by my sister to jump into the world of blogs with one of my own. I suppose it's a natural extension of my scrapbooking hobby, so we'll just see how this goes... Hopefully I will do better at maintaining a blog than I was at keeping any type of written journal or diary! After all, it is much easier (or at least faster) to type than to write.

So, what does "ROK'z mom" mean? Well, I'm mommy to three kiddos - Ryan who is almost 7, and twins Olivia and Katelyn who are 3 1/2. The initial for my last name is a Z, so I have been using the screen name "rokzmom" for some time now. In my head, I hear it as "rock's mom" but my sister always calls me "roxy mom" which I kind of like too! I've wavered a bit about using a screen name that defines me as being someone's mom--it somehow seems limiting? But at the same time, that is so much of who and what I am nowadays. My life revolves around my kids to a large extent, however I also have plenty of "me" time.

I am an avid scrapbooker, and I'm becoming a better photographer as a result. I really enjoy photography, and as a digital photographer, I'm also dabbling in digital scrapbooking. Hoping this blog will help stretch me in my journaling on my pages. Perhaps it will motivate me to write down those funny little conversations with my kids more often?

My husband, Kevin, is now a work-at-home dad, and we are all loving having him around the house and as much more a part of our day-to-day lives. To enjoy this working arrangement, we have recently had to relocate to Mooresville, NC, which is a great community north of Charlotte. I really miss my friends and family, but also love our new home and am starting to make some friends down here.

So, who knows what this blog will contain?! I'm being optimistic about this whole new venture...