By Nicole

WHAT IS THE "BEHIND THE SCENES" LINK UP?  "Behind the Scenes" is a fun link up where we show those photos - but tell the real story behind them.  The sneak peek behind the scenes, a look past the edges of the photo to the real life behind it.   Read more   here ! Want to  link up ?  Click on over and join the fun.  This is my first link up with Crystal, and I am really excited about it! My youngest (and only) girl at just over two years old.  Cute huh? That day, we were running errands in town and I had promised the kids that I would take them to the "castle" park.  Of course, it happened to be a day when there were too many kids around, and I was alone with all three of my own.   This park is my dreaded nightmare park.   One, there are too many places to lose sight of your kid.  I like parks with swings, maybe a slide, maybe some monkey bars.  I don't like parks with houses and towers and ...

When we were young, my mom had a notebook that she used to record all of the cute and funny things we said.  Of course, she was a single mom of four kids under the age of 6, so there were very few things that actually got recorded.  We cherished that book... each of us had a few written memories, and we would read and reread them to one another.  So, when my kids were born, I got each of them a book.  My intentions were just as good as my mother's... but their books are mostly empty.  I've ended up using Facebook and blog posts more often than pen and paper.  I even got desperate in the car one day and voice recorded a few priceless events.  Here are a few that happened over the last month: We all rush in to the awards night for our Olympic Weight Loss Challenge.  The room is packed, auditorium style.  I have Leilee on my lap.  Jason has the boys on his.  They call up each contestant, say the percentage of weight they los...

On our way to our dentist and eye doctor appointments earlier this week, the kids and I got on the topic of school and sports.  Connor asked me if he could play football this year, and I said, "Not until 3rd grade, bud."  Well, this proceeded to break his heart, just like it does most of the time right around the different sports sign-up times.  And we had a long, drawn-out conversation where he cried and I apologized and tried to help him understand my point of view.  Every season, we seem to have the same conversation, and it gets longer and more dramatic the older he gets.  At the beginning of preschool, I set up a "rule" (like I think most parents do with their kids, especially their first-born kids). The rule is: No sports until 3rd grade, and then only one (or a max of two if Dad undermines me). The first-born rule I remember my mom had for me was about ear piercing.  She said not until I was 16.  Well, through man...

Ahhh, life. Doesn't it move quickly? Who are we to think that we have any control? Why do we try to cram so much in? Wouldn't it make more sense to travel through life one major life event/crisis/phase at a time? Wouldn't it make even more sense to slow down, enjoy what matters and quit letting the stupid stuff stress us out? Just the other night Jason and I had a teary (postpartum - back off) conversation about how quickly our kids are growing up and how at the end of the day, when they are tucked in and drifting off to sleep... it is just that, another day. Another day gone, a day older, a day that we can't make up or redo. What were we like that day? Did we feel like we had been good parents or bad parents? Had we gotten too frustrated or angry over something just plain stupid? How did we make their life better? Or did we make it worse? We have a lot going on and a lot of pressure on both of us to take care of all the junk we think is important. I keep ta...