me being a cheeseball

i am the type of person who really becomes immersed in the characters and plot of the current book i am reading. i finished firefly lane today and loved it. one part of the story is the strained relationship between kate and her teenage daughter, marah. this led to me thinking about when mikayla will one day be a teenager. i dread the day when she no longer thinks i am "awesome" as she proudly proclaimed at journey this past mother's day. i know the day will come when i will be embarrassing to her and the most unfair person in the world.

today i was cleaning out her bookbag and saw that mikayla's kindergarten teacher, mrs. mcrcary, had sent home a book the class made for thanksgiving. the book listed one thing each child was thankful for. while sitting at the redlight on the square i began to flip through the book. being the sap that i am, i immediately began to cry when i saw mikayla's page. there was a drawing of me and it read "mikayla is thankful for her mom". i decided that i am going to keep that page always. then in about 8 or so years, when mikayla is not as eager to be hugged and kissed by me i can look at it and remember the days when she loved my affection. i am also going to keep the letter she wrote about me and read aloud at journey church on mother's day this year. this is what she wrote:

dear mommy

i love you because you are so awesome. thank you for all you do for us. i love everyone in our family especially you. i love you because you let me put purple and red in my hair. mt says he loves you too. love, mikayla and mt. thank you

i am so blessed by my children.

mt and the past 10 months or so...

i went in to get mt up from his nap, & the first thing i saw was his fave book brown bear torn to shreds all over the floor. he knew immediately he was in trouble. as i was getting onto him he had the saddest, most heartbreaking face (this is prob the first time he has really been in trouble). i was giving him my stern face & all of a sudden he got a huge grin on his face and yelled "mommy rocks!".

i get mt so worked up. he wants to kiss me on my lips so i purposely turn my head at the last sec. so he keeps trying until finally he will grab my face between both his hands and plant one on me. but the really funny part is hearing him saying "momma kiss me" in a really frustrated voice

mt was trying to get a hug from mikayla and she kept pushing him off of her. he told her "i'm going to tell your mommy"

mt told me to pay attention

i was listening to mt play hide and seek with anna and kristen. as they would ask "is he under the table" mt would yell "i not under the table". then when anna hid she sneezed to help him find her. kristen asked what that noise was and he said it was just an eagle!?!?

i went on a girl’s trip to the beach. when i got home mt said to me, "i did not go to the beach with you mommy". then he walked away. uh oh

we were asking mt what he would name a little brother. I asked miles (my choice) or boaz (michaels). he said "I want moaz"

mom brought mt some trix yogurt over. i told him he could eat it after dinner. he kept sneaking off and i would hear a serious slurping sound. then he would come running up to me and give me a suspiciously sweet smelling kiss. a little spying revealed he was literally slurping the yogurt through a tiny hole

mt's latest shenanigans. he will tell me to do something like, get him water. i will ask him if i heard a please. he replies "no you did not" and waits expectantly for his drink.

mt was supposed to be laying down for his nap. instead, i could hear him yelling "rock and roll, rock and roll, rock and roll"

i heard mt obviously down out of his bunkbed playing when he should be napping. as i was walking to his room to get onto him i hear, "sorry mommy, so sorry, i won't do it again". must have heard me coming. lol

as i put mt to bed one night he asked me to sleep in his bed (he NEVER asks this). so i crawl all the way into his bunkbed and am about to lay down thinking i will slip out after some sweet cuddling when mt says "nevermind". he then asks me to leave :(

i told mt i loved him and he said "you say that a million times" with a bit of annoyance in his voice. mind you he just turned 3

mt called me a pothead. so glad jessica clued me in on the fact that mt and adisen's class picked up this name after a visit from johnny appleseed (who was wearing a pot on his head)

mikayla and mt wanted to go on my run with me one morning. mt actually made it half a mile (in his trusty rainboots of course) before he petered out. to encourage him to make it back to the house i told him we could run together holding hands. as we jogged he looked up at me and said "this is awesome" :)

i asked mt if he wanted grilled cheese. he must have heard "girl" cheese because he indignantly replied "i want boy cheese"

mt told me he wants the three wise men to bring him a black spiderman

one night we drove by atl motor speedway and the building was all lit up. mt said, "yeah we are at the beach". poor thing thought it was a condo.

comments during narnia (voyage of the dawn treader)....kk - "it's the white witch"....mt - "no, it's the green witch" and mt to daddy - "he said poopoo daddy" referring to eustace's language on the dragon island

i love my kids, especially when they are sweet to each other. i told mt to go and clean his room. mikayla jumped up and said i will help you mt. mt replied, "you are beautiful kk"

while home alone with mt. he was in bed shouting "my mommy is so beautiful" and then shortly after, "mommy can i get back up and play with you?"

while having a heart to heart with mt about his punishment for something he had done, mt told me "i wish you would not talk about punching me. it makes me sad." i quickly explained to him the difference between "punishment" and "punching"

mt is very complimentary. he loves to run up to me and put both hands on my face. he tells me i am beautiful and warm.

mikayla and the past 10 months or so

i have been horrible at blogging, so i am catching up all in one fell swoop.

on our fritsche family vacation, i noticed mt had chocolate on his face. he told me kk gave him a cookie. i asked mikayla where she got it and she told me tyler. then she said that if tyler was a father he would know better. oh how my kids take advantage of tyler brown

i always like to put a note in mikayla's lunchbox. one day when i picked her up she told me she loved it even though it made her miss me a little. she said it even made her eyes sweat a little. lol

mikayla saw a gnome at costco. she wanted to buy it for lindsey (who is obsessed with them). mikayla had overheard us teasing a friend that she had better watch out because lindsey might steal her gnomes. mikayla told me she wanted to buy it for lindsey so that she did not get in trouble for stealing. so we did.

mikayla came to me upset that michael had not kissed her goodbye when he left early for work. i told her that he did but that she was so fast asleep she didn't even stir. she thought a second and then asked if he shaved. i told her no and she said "hmm, because his beard always tickles me awake when he kisses me."

i walked in on mikayla laying down with one of our old cell phones pretending to text. i asked her what she was doing. she told she was practicing so that when we go places people will think she is really texting and think she is famous. not sure what to think of this??

notice what mikayla is thankful for :)

mikayla told me she put her fave pink belt on with her robe because it make her robe look prettier. my little fashionista.

i love watching winter wipeout with the kids. love watching their faces and comments. kk is confident her daddy can do it.

mikayla's letter to santa that was in our local paper this week: i have been very good this year. i would please like you to bring me some things. here is the short list: a baby in mommy's tummy, american girl doll with really curly hair, jewelry maker, a batman room for my brother mt3. all my love, mikayla.

kk heard me talking ab getting new glasses so she decided to design me a pair out of colored pencils, a styrofoam cup and pixio creations

we had a fun girl's night out going to dinner at the flying biscuit and to the fox to see beauty and the beast. we went with a group of friends from journey.

when it came time to pray, all the girls wanted to. we let them all pray at the same time. it was hilarious hearing all of the sweet prayers jumbled together.

the kids love to hear stories about when michael and i were little. last night michael was telling about how he won a pet rabbit at the fair and how one day it ran away. mikayla suggested that a rabbit we always see at our house might be his pet rabbit. michael said it was impossible bc the rabbit would not still be alive. mikayla told him maybe his rabbit was good at living a long time like momma bob (elaine's mom).

kk decided to start keeping a journal yesterday. her very first line was "i love my mom and dad" :)

visiting mimi and bubba

 mikayla and mt love their mimi and bubba!

mt becomes an official river rat

well, here i am again. way behind on posting. i cannot believe almost a year has gone by. thank goodness for facebook. i purposely update my status with things i want to remember for my blog. actually i think facebook is an enabler. knowing i can look at my profile to remember the great things mikayla and mt do makes me procrastinate.

but here goes.......

the month of june was pretty low-key. the biggest thing was mt's first trip down the river and camping. we took mt for the first time and he did great. he also floated down the hiawassee and became an official river rat. all this took place on journey's 3rd annual camping trip on the hiawassee river june 10-12. this is a group shot of the majority of us. we had a lot of fun and pretty good weather. it only rained a little. it has become the running joke that if rain is needed, journey will go camping and it will be sure to flood.

here is our family pic moments before loading the truck to take us to the put-in spot on the hiawassee. mikayla is an old pro at this. this year was her 3rd trip down the hiawassee. she has also gone down the flint with me on my kayak. i am proud of her for willingly getting back in a boat with me because on that trip we flipped. i realized we were going to flip before it happened so i immediately latched onto mikayla's vest. i was not going to let go for the life of me. mikayla came up out of the water immediately yelling for her daddy and pawpaw to save her. she even rode the best rapid on the hiawassee with me on my kayak. we call it the whoopdeedoo.

this picture does not show how much fun mt really had. i think he was upset because he had to move away from the box of granola bars so i could take his picture with asher. notice tyler, our trusty guide in the background. he was especially brave because it rained pretty hard several times during the float trip.

mikayla decided she wanted to jump in the water. it was freezing cold. luckily michael was nearby to quickly pull her onto his kayak.

both of them love to camp. it is hard to see but there is a caterpillar on the leaf mikayla is holding. it is amazing how many bugs she catches with absolutely no fear. she def did not get that from me. this is probably the last time mt willingly wore shoes that were not boots.

i bought these rainboots for him just before this trip and he absolutely loves them. here is a picture of him and asher wearing their matching boots while playing in the mud. i don't think i have seen mt this dirty before.

mikayla and i huddled up trying to escape the rain.

here is a picture of a waterfall we like to hike to for a picnic. mt was amazed at the water (and a little scared). i remember he had a deathgrip on me.

after the hike michael and many others went down the ocoee river. we would meet them at certain points and take pictures. mt wanted to swap "hats" with michael.

i love this picture of mikayla. she is so beautiful.

must not forgets 6/5

i am way behind on posting because life has been so hectic. we have had end of year parties/celebrations, mikayla's 3rd dance recital and lindsey has been in the hospital. but it is now officially summer and i am looking forward to spending more time with family and relaxing.

my must not forgets for almost the last month include:

-mikayla caught an enormous grasshopper and was pretending to eat it. really gross. i think she caught about 4 throughout the game and tortured people from journey with it.

-one afternoon i went in to get mt up from his nap & the first thing i saw was his fave book, brown bear, torn to shreds all over the floor. he knew immediately he was in trouble. as i was getting onto him he had the saddest, most heartbreaking face (this is prob the first time he has really been in trouble for outright disobedience). i was giving him my stern face as i got onto him & all of a sudden he got a huge grin on his face and yelled "mommy rocks!".

-mt and emory making muscles

-i get mt so worked up. he wants to kiss me on my lips so i purposely turn my head at the last sec. so he keeps trying until finally he will grab my face between both his hands and plant one on me. but the really funny part is hearing him saying "momma kiss me" in a really frustrated voice

-we took the kids to leaping lizards

- i walked in on mikayla laying down with one of our old cell phones pretending to text. i asked her what she was doing. she told she was practicing so that when we go places people will think she is really texting and think she is famous. not sure what to think of this??

-mt was trying to get a hug from mikayla and she kept pushing him off of her. he told her "i'm going to tell your mommy". then he began yelling "hug me or i'm going to tell michael moody"

-mikayla had her 3rd dance recital and did an awesome job. her smile lit up the entire stage. my favorite part was during her tap routine (candyman) when she "stirred" the candy. she got her whole body into it. very cute.

-our entire family (minus linds, mom, and dad - hospital) went to the braves game. on sundays they allow the kids to run the bases. it was really fun to watch them have such fun doing it.

-mikayla feeding millworms to nanoo's birds. she has no problem picking them up

i'll be the prettiest girl in heaven

a few months ago michael told mikayla that she was the prettiest girl in the world. mikayla replied that mommy (meaning me) was the prettiest mommy in the world. pretty sweet, huh. she went on to inform me that when she was a mommy she would then be the prettiest mommy and i would be the prettiest grandmother. still sweet. she elaborated further that when she was a grandmother she would be the prettiest and i would be the prettiest girl in heaven. still thinking it's sweet. but then she tells me that once she is in heaven she will be the prettiest girl in heaven and i no longer will be. ouch!