I Believe It's My Turn

I know that Meagan is a good writer and that she entertains When she writes her blogs. I thought ya know what, it's MY TURN. So I thought I would talk about all the fun things that happen here are the Taylor Home. The kids have been pretty sick and the Apartment Complex removed our Dish Satellite so now we're here watching Tangled over-and-over again. Meagan is sleeping while I am here writing this Blog Post.

This weekend, Mitch and I trecked out together do go get some breakfast and he of course, had to go completely dressed. He wore a Green Snow Cap, His Shades, a tie, and of course brought his Bear that was dressed up in Cat-in-the-hat attire. We've officially eaten out for every meal this weekend due to everyone being sick.

My kids make life entertaining and without them life would be pretty dull. Mitch has been calling Clara religiously ever since we got back from Christmas. Ever since then, he's taken a liking for Blondes. What can I say? He's got the Taylor Blonde Gene. He now has blondes at church that leave seats for him in Primary. It's pretty funny.

In other News, Ohio State is now officially in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. I don't know how much further we'll make it, but hats off to the Buckeyes. Cougars ended up losing in the second game of the Tournament, but I have to give a hats off. I mean they did beat Iona after being down 25 points. It was the tournaments biggest comeback in the history of March Madness.

How to Raise Best Friends

Actually, I have no idea.

But after an entire week of "Stop spitting!" "Clean your room up, like yesterday, or all your toys are going in the garbage!" "Be nice or no brushing your teeth!" (and a whole lot more empty, empty threats) and, my personal favorite, "Stop drinking the fry sauce!"- I felt like the worst mother ever.  I couldn't pay Mitchell in m&m's to listen to me, and now he's asking to watch "PBS kids" He doesn't even know what PBS kids *is*, but yet he sort of does, because he's asking for it.  That, and we have all the Jake and the Neverland Pirates songs memorized and all the Tangled songs memorized.  Including Mike, who serenades Ali with "And at last I see the light..... and it's like the fog as lifted" beautiful Mike, keep singing and let me find the video camera.... All that plus the times when I'm overwhelmed and Mitchell says, "mom, you have a headache? Go lay down in your bed!"

Anyway, for some reason I've been overly critical of myself as a mom, which sadly, is prettttty normal for me.  I actually have wonderful kids, but then Ali drinks the fry sauce and I wonder.

But today, I picked Mitchell up from preschool.  He had a wonderful day, and the sky was blue and the buses were yellow.  He drew some pictures and built a temple with the blocks.  And he hopped in the car where goo-goo is now forward-facing in our built-in boosters  and he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.  Ali giggled and Mitchell tickled her.  We got all buckled in and Mitchell said, "did you have fun with mom, goo-goo? Did you drink chocolate milk? Did you have a good nap? Do you want to play hot wheels with me?" And she smiled and beamed at him and I almost got in a wreck from watching the whole thing in my rear-view mirror.  (side note: I did not).

And we got home and Mitchell pulled out his cars and gave one to goo-goo.  And when goo-goo's instinct was to throw it across the room, he laughed at her and brought it back.  He showed her how to use the hot wheels ramp which is conveniently mounted to the wall (side note: coolest toy ever).  Ali really didn't want to play with cars and kept walking in circles in the bedroom.  "You want to dance, goo?", said Mitchell, and he turned on "hot hot lava" as loud as he could on his CD player and held her hand and danced with her.

I sit back and realize the whole 9 months+ I was pregnant with Ali, terrified I was ruining his life, was all a waste- clearly Ali is the best thing that has happened to him.  We're trying to move, and splitting them into their own bedrooms makes me a little sad.  I love waking up to Mitchell running in my bedroom "goo goo's awake!" ready for the day to start.  I love seeing Ali's face light up when Mitchell plays with her.   I love walking into the living room realizing that Mitchell climbed on a chair, onto the cupboard, reaching on top of the fridge and grabbed two packages of fruit snacks- and opened one for goo-goo. I love watching Ali purposely kick Mitchell and laughing as they both plunge into hysterics.  I love seeing Ali grab Mitchell's hand and drag him over to nothing. I love hearing Mitchell say "ohhhh , you're so beautiful!" when we do Ali's hair all fancy in pigtails or something.  I love that Mitchell is so sweet, caring, and thoughtful of Ali, and I love that Ali delights in every little thing Mitchell does, and wants him around all the time.  If only time could freeze for just a little while.

Watching them grow together so seamlessly makes me so grateful for my own sister.  And even though we fought terribly, we had a lot of really great times.  I don't think  I could ever forget the countless tea-parties, or the endless gossip as teenagers, or the secrets and surprises we kept for so long, the late night chats, the ridiculous songs we wrote, and the late-night whispers. She just got married and I couldn't even sleep the night before.  Which is totally pathetic because I slept like a baby the night of my wedding.

I hope that Ali and Mitchell's friendship continues for a long, long time and they can be friends as adults, too, because that's the best part! There's nothing like making fun of your parents with your sister (ha, just kidding mom).

And so today, I feel like the luckiest mom in the world.  They'll probably start fighting again tomorrow, so we're going to enjoy today :)