The Ice Queen

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to see the Ice Castle display.  It is all handmade and purely out of ice.  It was pretty cool.  It was a snowy day!

 Yes, I do exist... (I am never in any pictures).

 There were tons of caves to crawl through and crevasses to walk through.  It was tricky keeping up with the kids.

 There was even a slide made of snow!

It was a neat place and the kids wanted to stay longer, but my tolerance for cold and crowds is diminishing with my age!  

Eric has been taking Ty and Jake skiing lately--they love it and are doing great.  I am left behind with the little ones.  Hopefully next winter we can start making skiing a family activity.  I definitely need  winter activity to do--I get MAJOR winter blahs.

I've been doing some self-reflection lately, thinking about motherhood and family and kids and all that wonderful stuff!  Even though I feel like motherhood has sucked some of the intelligence out of me, I have learned a few things.

1.  Sleepless nights turn into sleepless years.  I'm pretty sure I haven't slept soundly through the night since Tyler was born, and I'm sure teenage year will have me with even more red-eye.

2.  Most things are just a phase.  Not that I ignore the naught or annoying things my kids do--but I don't stress about them as much as I used to.  Things have a way of passing or working themselves out and it turns out ok.

3.  Time speeds up as they get older--the days are long but the years are short.

4.  No matter how many kids you have, you never really figure motherhood out because each one is so different.  

5.  My regrets over the years are not dishes left int he sink or clothes unfolded, it's the times I told my 3-year-old I didn't have time to read a book because I have to do dishes, or fold laundry.

6.  But along with number 5, I've also learned to ease up on myself a little and not be so self-critical.  I'm not perfect, I'm not the perfect mother, but I am trying to be better each day and learn from my mistakes.  Poor Tyler being the oldest gets to deal with the most mistakes!  Joey should turn out fine.

7.  Minivans are the mosts awesome vehicles ever created.

8.  I've learned not to judge other moms when their kids are unkept, messy or dirty.  I've been there.

9.  Baby wipes are a close second to minivans in awesomeness.

10.  The only thing more disgusting than cleaning up your own kids' puke is cleaning ANOTHER kids' puke off your kid.

10.2  The ultimate JOY when your kids can finally make it to the toilet to throw up.

11.  Motherhood isn't like it is on tv, and you're not the only mom who loses her cool every now and then.

12.  It doesn't get easier, it just gets different.

and

13.  I've learned that instead of fighting where I am in life and the responsibilities I currently have and being annoyed by them, to just embrace where I am...accept the fact that I have to change diapers, accept and embrace the fact I won't have "me" time for a while, and just embrace all the joys and hardships that come with having little kids and you will be much happier.  

Oh, and don't buy nice furniture until they are all moved out.