Food Revolution

Tonight I was patiently waiting (okay I am not a very patient person) for Brothers and Sisters to come on. I love that show, it is part of my Sunday night routine.

Instead of my regularly scheduled programming I got, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.  The show is about Jamie Oliver (a fairly cute British chef) going to America's fattest town and trying to help them change their food habits, starting with school lunches. 

A couple of weeks ago I bought the movie Food Inc. and was left with a very unsettled feeling about what we eat as a family and even more so about what my kids eat.  That said I have yet to implement any crazy drastic changes to our food repetoire.  It is not that I don't want to (okay that is a lie, I love food and usually food that has little to no nutritional value) but it is hard.  It takes more work to be healthy.  It takes planning, it takes preparation, it takes me getting off my booty and doing something besides ordering pizza or stopping at the drive thru. 

I would like to think that I can begin to make changes to increase the health of my family and myself.  So my 1st plan of action is going to be to begin serving salad every day at my house.  For some in the house this won't be a big deal and they will actually be happy about it (Matt and Mike) for others (Zach and me) this will be a harder change to fully embrace.  Now Joey may be hit or miss you just never know.  So that is my pledge this week.  We are going to have our own Revolution.  One thing at a time we are going to change, some may stick some may not, but the family will hopefully in the end come out of this project healthier.

Hopefully Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution will help to inspire me and others to make the changes to increase the health of our children and even ourselves.

Will my house ever be clean again?

It is cleaning time in the Scott house and I think the only one who is actually accomplishing anything is Mike. He is tackling the never ending pile of laundry. The boys are supposed to be picking up the toy room right now but I pretty sure they are once again holding a hardcore wrestling match.
I have never been a neat freak, but I do love when things are picked up. I don't mind if the floor isn't sparkling but I would like to see my counter tops. With a house of 5 plus our sweet hairy Bella I seem to fighting a losing battle. The second we get one area clean the boys move in like a swarm of locusts and all the hardwork is gone.
I have tried taking one room at a time and I have tried establishing a day to clean each room but it just doesn't work. Our unscheduled family life does not lend itself to scheduled clean. : )
So another day of fighting a never ending battle of little boy clutter and messiness. Wish me luck over the next few hours as we prepare to invite company over, hopefully they will be able to see the top of the table to eat off of it.

Mom Guilt.....

So I have experience momo guilt since the moment my first son was born. Wether it was guilt about not breastfeeding long enough or guilt over going back to work so soon. My life as a mother has been filled by guilt. The majority of guilt is self imposed, couldn't I be doing something (everything) better, couldn't I be doing more.

So I digress, that is not really where this post was headed. The current incarnation of my guilt manifests itself in my volunteering. I seem to volunteer for everything, even things I don't want to volunteer for. But somewhere I feel like if I am volunteering I making up for all of the wrongs (or preceived wrongs) of my motherhood. And please don't misinterpret this post as thinking that I think I am a bad mom, because frankly I kick ass. I don't do it all well but I do the best I can.

Not back to the overabundance of my volunteering. It doesn't matter if it is room mom, team mom, classroom volunteering, PTA volunteering, the football board, lacrosse, t-ball you name it and I can't keep from raising my hand. I think some of this (okay a lot of it) is for me and not even for my kids. I feel better about myself if I feel like I am doing more. If I am a martyr. How jacked up is that? I do enjoy it though. I love being team mom. I love working in Joey's classroom. Now I could deal with not being room mom, PTA just isn't doing it for me and well lacrosse never even really got started luckily.

But it all stems from guilt. Guilt that I am not doing enough for the boys. That they deserve more than I have given them. I want them to have and be anything that they want, so since I know I cannot give them everything I do everything that I can. And it frankly just gets to be to much sometimes. So I am trying to cut back. Find the things that I love and if they benefit the kids activities even better. It is time to let go of the guilt and appreciate what we have done for our kids not what we haven't.

Snow Days

So after a week of beautiful Colorado weather we were hit this morning with snow. Now snow in and of itself isn't bad.
Getting out of the house to go to work with three boys in tow, in the snow, is bad. There is just so much ridiculousness that has to be done when you throw in three kids. Jackets, hats, mittens, boots, and then lets not forget everything else required for a normal school day. I am not sure what it is about the beautiful white blanket of snow that makes everything seem to go in slow motion. We all just move a little bit slower, I think we are all secretly wishing that we were still in bed snuggled under the covers instead of bundled out heading out into the blistering cold.

So after a slower than normal drive to work and school I found myself sitting in my office dreaming of being at home snuggled under the covers. It is so funny to me that an office full of grown ups sound much like a third grade classroom when it snows, with a few exceptions. Instead of wishing we weren't in class but outside playing, my office sat wishing aloud for the office to be closed so we could go home and snuggle under the covers. (You may have picked up on a reoccurring wish of mine, and frankly that wish isn't reserved for snow days but for any day that I would rather ditch my office and stay at home.).

But today I got my wish. Not as early as I would have like it, but they called a snow day this afternoon. At two o'clock we were released from the chains on our desk and sent home to face that part of our lives. For me it was a welcome escape. The kids were still in school for 45 minutes and I did just what I wanted. Snuggled under the covers and waited for 3 sweet boys to come and join me. And as soon as they did I was reminded why in my wish I am alone. My bed quickly became the latest location for Wrestlmania, and the snuggling was turned into body slams.

So what is a working mommy of 3 to do on a Friday afternoon. I opened the bottle of wine and moved myself from my bed to a comfy living chair. Not quite the snuggling I had in mind but an early start to happy hour is never a bad thing.

Background

I am a mom of three beautiful boys. Okay now that I have given you the "perfect mom" statement I will tell you the truth.
I am the mom of three crazy, sometimes out of control beautiful boys. They are a wild bunch. Certainly not what I thought I would have when I dreamed of being a mom years ago.
My feisty and fiery Zach is 9 years old. He is an athletic, snotty (yes he is my kid so I can say that) kid who just can't seem to take no for an answer. He struggles with ADHD and we struggle with him. It isn't easy but we are making our way through it one day, and one minute at a time.
Sweet, sweet Joey is my darling middle child. He is currently going through an emotional phase. He gets his little feelers hurt fairly regularly but he is fiesty and fierce when he needs to be, but will usually crawl into a corner afterwards to let his true feelings out.
Matthew. Matthew is my sweet and amazing baby. He will tell you he loves you every chance he gets but will also tell you "I know that" anytime you correct him or try to tell him anything he wants you to know that at 3 he already knows it. He knows everything.
I love them all. I love them the same and yet differently. They amaze me everyday and frustrate me at the same time.
OK, get ready for the cheese.
They are the light of my life. They are the reason I get up everyday (okay, some days are later than others). They are my heart.

Surgery went great!!!

Yeah!!!! Surgery went great today. We had to be at the surgery center at 7:00 this morning to sign in for Joey's frenulumectmy (they clipped the little connector under his tongue). I was a nervous wreck and Joey was just as sweet as can be.

There of course were candy machines in the waiting room so all Joey could think about was getting candy when he was done. : ) Finally a little before 8 they called us back to the pre-op area. They gave him the cutest little hospital gown to wear, he thought they were kidding when they told him he had to change clothes. Our pre-op room was very cute with a great mural of wild safari animals, Joey's favorite, and a TV with video games. They were definitely prepared for children. The nurses were wonderful, the doctors were great. But every second was horrible for this mommy. The anticipation was the worst, or almost the worst.

We thought we would be able to go back while they put him under but that didn't happen. When it was time for him to go back he tried to crawl out of the bed and started crying for me. That was the hardest. It was heartbreaking to see someone take your child away and not be able to do anything to stop it.

But within what seemed like only minutes they called us back and he was sitting up picking out a popcicle (red of course!). They monitored him for a while, and he was pretty wobbly when it was time to go, but he is just as perfect as ever.

We hope that within a couple of weeks his speech will begin to improve, and for me this memory can fade to the background to make way for much happier things. Like, the circus party!!!

Surgery day is tomorrow

Tomorrow Joey is going to be going in to have his tongue clipped. We haven't told him yet because at 4 the concept of surgery seems to be a little overwhelming. It certainly is overwhelming to me.
I know that there is much worse that could be wrong with the booger, but the idea of anesthesia scares the poop out of me! The surgery itself is only going to be about 15 minutes so nothing major, but still, poop buddy.

I am also kind of sad, because I think the way he talks is so sweet. It is what makes him uniquely Joey. I know in the long run it would be a hinderance, but it is just one of the many things I find so special about him.

Zach gets that look in his eye as soon as he discovers something new. It is an amazing thing to watch his face light up.

Matt curls up his little lip to pout and just melts your heart.

And when Joey gets excited he talks so fast you can't understand a word of anything he is saying.

They all have such wonderfully unique qualities, only one of which I listed for each, but the idea of Joey losing one of them that I associate as being uniquely his, is in a way a sad day for this mom.

I know, I know he has to have it done to improve his speech, and it is very exciting to think of all of the words he will now be able to say! So a big day for all of us tomorrow!