The Crafts

Quite honestly, any time the girls and I make it out of the house on time feels like a God gifted miracle. This morning was no exception as we frantically brushed hair, argued over shoes and gobbled up peanut butter toast at a choking induced pace. But by golly, we made it out the door on time...barely. Mornings don't really bother me all that much. It's a hassle but most mornings we're fortunate enough to have some down time once we get Dina to school. Friday mornings, however, we travel up to Cedar Falls to attend a mom's group; something I excitedly look forward to all week long. So between Kate announcing I'm driving two miles over the speed limit and CJ fussing over a non-existent cut on her finger, I heard the song, "Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night" by The Black Eyed Peas. The song worked its magic and I was suddenly excited that today is Friday. I remember back in college I would be so excited for Friday night, Heck, even when I was marri

Anyone with kids will tell you that life is a series of phases. CJ is currently in a phase where she continually hops out of bed with pillow, blankets and stuffed Eeyore in hand roughly two minutes after you leave her there. Kate is in a phase where she must know exactly what we will do each moment of the day. Both can be tiresome but I rest assured knowing these phases will end and new will begin.  Dina has become a member of the family over the past 7+ months. She has her own space in the house, we have our fun Netflix shows we watch together, I measure while she stirs during dinner prep... She is a family member and we treat her like one. But then late last week a Kuwaiti family member began a countdown to her return and I held my breath for a moment. Dina isn't our's. She will be leaving. And as her family joyfully announced her departure would take place in 75 short days, I realized that her stay with us is just a phase. Humph, I forgot. This phase with her won't

Where has this month gone? And when am I going to create a new blog header? Goodness gracious, we haven't seen snow... I'll just stop right there. I'm NOT going to jinx the weather. Let me instead say we've been loving an early spring and I should really update the blog header to reflect the new season.  We've celebrated spring with Kate learning to bike ride without training wheels (big news for her!!!), countless trips to the park, jumping in hundreds, if not thousands, of mud puddles (including an unintentional somersault through one, not kidding), and golfing.  Right now we s-q-u-e-e-z-e all of us into one borrowed golf cart (thanks Mike and LeAnn.) It is a tight fit, especially when Dina comes along. And will get even tighter when we add Craft baby #3, and my growing belly for that matter. Speaking of Dina... Why has she been absent from the blog so much? Well, Dina is a busy girl. For awhile she didn't return home from school until 9:15 p.

Do you remember  a post from last week  detailing Kate's letter to Disney World? Well much to Kate's surprise Disney received her drawing and wrote back almost immediately. This is doubly amazing since I forgot to include postage but those Princesses, and the postal service, are pretty exceptional people. To simply say Kate was excited would be the biggest understatement of the year. The girl flipped. She tore that sucker open faster than, well... I don't have a comparison really. But it was dang fast. And she was squeaking and giggling the entire time. She literally squeaked.  Here is what the letter said... And this was Kate's reaction... I'm not sure which of the Princesses penned the letter but his  her handwriting looks very familiar. Thank you "Disney World" for making Kate's week. She is still over the moon!

When I was a girl I assumed March Madness had something to do with people going nuts for the start of spring. And while that may be partially true, I have since learned it's true meaning and I love it. Each year I fill out a bracket and enter said bracket into a family team on ESPN. What makes March Madness even better is that Matt takes off Thursday and Friday afternoon, brings home take-out, we put the girls to nap and we gorge ourselves on greasy, delicious foods and hours of basketball.  Tis true I am a basketball fan but I do not know enough to make educated decisions when filling out my bracket. Matt enjoys my rationale, albeit wrong and inappropriate, and he therefore encouraged me to share my picks on my blog. I have done this for a few years and the tradition continues, starting now... In the south... Kentucky v N. Kentucky : This is a 1 seed against a 16 seed. Now I'm no basketball wizard but even I know the odds of this game. I chose Kentucky. UConn v Io

Kate has developed an immense fascination with Disney World. She's always loved princesses but where the obsession with Disney World came from is beyond me. The other morning, after dressing herself as Snow White, she announced her plans to send a letter to Disney. She drew her version of Aerial, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, pulled out an envelope and insisted I find the mailing address for Princess Aurora.  Her efforts also required photos of herself and the letter, including a picture of her picture alongside various Disney characters. "From: Kate. I am 5." Side note: I taught Kate how to label her class Valentine's using a colon after the words 'to' and 'from.' She now adds a colon between each and every word. We're working on correcting it. After several pictures, Kate's letter was securely sealed in an envelope and plastered with princess stickers. I addressed it properly and Kate proudly dropped it into the p

Oh hi there. Excuse me for a minute while I climb up here. Okay, now that I'm safely positioned on my high horse on my own blog I want to get something off my chest. I'm asking for all mothers to stop calling yourself fat in front of your children, especially your girls. When you say these things in front of your daughter, she WILL look in the mirror and think the same thing about herself. And then that little girl will go to school or the playground, she may get in a disagreement with some other little girl and accuse her of being fat. Girls beat themselves up about this stuff. We are all so careful about not cussing in front of our kids, or making sure they don't watch too many cartoons or that we read to them everyday, but when it comes to our body image we just let the most ridiculous thoughts fly out of our mouth. If you truly think you need to lose weight then go do it. Don't talk about to your innocent children, be an adult and take care of it. Find a way t

Today has been all that a Friday should be... at least a Friday in the life of a stay-at-home mom. Today I loved sleeping in until the late morning hour of 7 a.m. Seriously, that is sleeping in. I loved a little time with friends while my girls played with other kids. They were supervised and therefore any cries for mommy weren't heard by my ears. (Kids call out for their 'mommy' a lot. Lately it feels like my girls are working on a Guinness Book world record. I'm guessing the word mommy is uttered 578 times an hour. Multiply that by 12 hours of awake time with mom and I hear that word 6,936 times a day.) ...but back to more positive thoughts...  I also loved hearing our baby's heartbeat for the first time. Yep, this is really happening. We're having a third. I'm sweating a little right now. The week began with snow on the ground, followed by a melt, followed by 60+ temps, followed by the return of winter coats. You never know with Iow

With today's gorgeous, spring weather, thousands will be set free from the shackles of Seasonal Affected Disorder or S.A.D. But did you know that a new kind of 'illness' has popped up. TOMTOSAED or Tired-of-My-Two-Year-Old-Screaming-About-Everything Disorder has hit the Craft household. Cases of TOTTOSAE have been know to subsequently cause PLTMAYAEIRTTTYOD or Parents-Losing-Their-Minds-And-Yelling-About-Everything-In-Response-To-Their-Two-Year-Old Disorder. I've got a case of both and it is severe. Ever since the local weatherman announced highs of 60+ degrees for Tuesday, March 6th, I've been counting down the days with thoughts of outdoor playtime dancing in my head. The magical day finally arrived and two short hours in I knew that today is the day I will eat a whole block of cheese....because I'm feeling stressed, or pregnant. But it's probably actually just stress. Either way that whole block of cheese is mine. My two little

It's no secret. I am not a fan of musicals. This is the point in a conversation where I'm usually cussed out because of my distaste. I try to like them, really I do. I've watched several, in large part thanks to Matt and his intense love for musical theater. But it's just not for me. I'm lame. Fine. Whatever. (Side note: I somehow really like the show Smash and that show is all about musicals. Explain that one.) So musicals and I are like cats and dogs, oil and water, anchovies and hot fudge. (I was running out of analogies.) I do, however, enjoy a good dance party. And in this house we dance party like the best of them.  There is usually tricks involved too. As well as costumes. Here CJ demonstrates her favorite dance party ensemble; pajamas, Cinderella dress, a Batgirl belt, sparkly shoes and a girl can't forget her liptsick. When you cannot find your dance party ribbons, a kitchen hand towel substitutes nicely. Kate was real