No energy for a catchy title, folks

Alright. Today was good and bad and exhausting. I have no clever way to start or finish this, so I'm just going to spew. Buckle up... here we go!

First, the tiny little humans who live with me accompanied me for a hike this morning with some other moms. It was GREAT! Some people out there *coughKATHYcough* thought it might make for a funny blog story, but the truth is, it was just a great morning. I took my camera out of the car and then put it back in right before we started our hike, because I wanted to just enjoy it and not be preoccupied by taking pictures. Sometimes I get so worried about getting that memorable shot that I forget to just have fun. On one hand, I'm glad I didn't bring it because I enjoyed the hike like I intended, but on the other hand, it was gorgeous out that I regret not snapping a few pictures!

Can't win 'em all, I guess.

But it was just so breathtakingly beautiful up there today. We hiked the Mesa Trail (I think) and everything was so green and lush. It was foggy this morning, so there was a thin veil covering the Flatirons and mountains. It looked very magical. As we were eating our picnic lunch, a nice lady let us pet her horse and ask her questions. That pretty much made my day!

Then we went to Target to get a few things.

Birthday present for Emma's friend? Check!
Raisins for oatmeal cookies? Check!
Two new shirts because the ones the girls wore to the hike got so muddy I was too embarassed to take them elsewhere? Check!

Because then we had to go to the doctor, and they already looked like little ragamuffins with their ripped jeans and disheveled hair, I wasn't about to take them in with muddy shirts. I threw perfectionism out the window years ago, but I do have my standards!

Before heading to the doctor (since we had some time to kill), I treated us to Peach Milkshakes at Chick-fil-a. I think they might be my love language. YUM.

We sat in the car and drank our milkshakes and had some interesting conversations. One was about what we're doing tomorrow. Emma said, "You mean, tomorrowtoday?" The next 20 minutes were spent discussing if tomorrow is called "tomorrow" or "tomorrowtoday". Emma was getting frustrated, I was too, and I still have no idea what she was talking about. But Addie did, so I guess they win.

So... the doctor. I called the nurse on the way to the hike this morning to see if there is any sort of relief for a baby with allergies. Brody's been rubbing his red, puffy eyes and sneezing like no other this week. The nurse said no, and that I should bring him in. Rats! I didn't want to go in, I just wanted a quick answer over the phone! Oh well. So the doctor confirmed that it's probably allergies and told me what to do. It took 3 minutes. They could've told me over the phone. But that's okay. The girls got stickers out of the deal, so who's complaining? Certainly not me. Okay, maybe just a little.

The rest of the late afternoon and evening spiraled out of control. No one napped. Everyone whined. Mommy counted down the minutes til bedtime.

Brody showed me his new trick of throwing food off his tray. Gary calls him my "golden child" because he can do no wrong in my eyes (reality check - obviously I know he can!), but my little golden child was reprimanded tonight and pouted the biggest pout and cried the biggest tears I've ever seen. Even Emma looked at me wide-eyed and said, "It's sad... but it's kind of funny!" And it was!

But seriously, the girls went to bed and I had to sit on the porch to cool down. I was so frustrated. Then I went upstairs and scanned my shelves for a parenting book because obviously I have no clue what I'm doing. Does anyone have a tip for first-time obedience? For good listening? For sisters getting along... and then for sisters who are getting along TOO well to not gang up on their mom?

The worst part was that after I put the girls to bed I realized that I had totally forgotten about a baby shower I was supposed to attend tonight! I could kick myself. I'm so mad that I missed the celebration. My friend was showing off the precious baby she and her husband adopted a few weeks ago when he was born. I was excited to go and see sweet Ashton and hear Lynn's stories. I guess the only positive thing is that I was going to be bringing my kids with me to the shower since Gary's gone tonight... and it might've been more frustrating to have them there seeing the moods they were in tonight.

And now, there's a mosquito on the loose and he keeps buzzing my ear.

Okay, I'm off to study parenting books, find my fly swatter and wait for Gary to get home.

Whew.

I'm thankful tomorrowtoday's a new day! Aren't you?