"Mom, stop asking me that..."

"Hey Sam, are you sure you want to go to Preschool already," Mommy says to her baby. "Mom, stop asking me that (rolled eyes and a sigh follows), " says Sam as he get's ready for his first day of "tool" as he calls it.

Friday was his big open house at preschool. I made Rob take the day off and go with me, and we took him in and met his teachers and watched him play. It was so neat to see him interact with other people, although I found myself having to step back and release control a bit. I'd be thinking, "man they are filling his cup up too full... he's going to have milk EVERYWHERE!" or "Why is that teacher not realizing that girl just took Sam's toy from him?!" And then I realized, that's what school is, it's teaching him to be a big boy and it will all be okay... It was the saddest day of my life as a mother... that is until this morning when I dropped him off at the door and had to go get in my car~ alone.

So I've had some time to reflect on it all this morning and I'm going to be okay I think. I'll be honest, I cried the whole way to work, but then I stopped, took a breath and realized that this is why we have kids~ to teach them to be good people that are self sufficient and leaders. I just wasn't ready so soon I guess. Okay, I'm crying again... that's all for now!

Help, my life is spinning out of control!

Okay, this title couldn't sum up the past few weeks of my life any better. It's been an insanely busy few weeks and I don't even know which way is up at times anymore. It all started about 3 weeks ago when my husband said, "hey honey, let's clean up the basement"...

So what he meant by that simple comment was that he wanted me to sort through the baby clothes and get rid of the things we would never want to pass on to anyone else and box up the ones that we would be sending to other little ones so that they could get some use out of them too. I knew I had a lot of clothes for my children because my mother in law, sister, and friends enjoyed buying adorable clothes and my mother goes a little extreme when it comes to dressing her grandchildren~ okay, lets face it, the woman has a serious problem... but hey who am I to stand in the way of a grandmother expressing her love?!?! So anyway, I did a very good job of cleaning out my kids' closets. Every time they outgrew a size it all was washed, folded neatly, and packed in a crate (along with a lot of my tears) with a little lable that said for example "Boy 9-12 month winter", and then stacked in our cellar. So when I went downstairs to begin this simple project, I decided it would be best to pull out all of the crates and divide up all the boy clothes then all the girl clothes. So I started pulling crates out~ and kept pulling them out~ and some more ~ and another ~ seriously there's more? ~ How's this possible? 17 crates later I was up to my head it red and blue rubbermade containers. I have to say I was almost embarressed. My children are 3 and 1 and I already have 17 containers of clothing that don't fit them anymore, that is just wrong.

So I sorted into piles, "things that I can get rid of", such as stained or ripped stuff, the not so cute play clothes and things that even I wouldn't put on another baby if I ever had one (which I won't, THANK YOU ROB...) "things other people should borrow", which were all the cute jeans and outfits and coats and expensive items I just couldn't get rid of. And the last pile I liked to call "things I will never allow anyone to borrow EVER but i can't get rid of them" such as their outfits they came home from the hospital in, the "I'm gonna be a big brother" shirts, and a few other random outfits I couldn't possibly part with. I started this process at about 5:00 one evening... and let me tell you, I don't think I cried so hard when my children were actually born as I did looking through these crates. I would pull out a shirt that Sam wore when he learned to walk and I would sob, and then I'd find the little dress we put on Maicey for her first set of pictures and I would have tears running down my face like a faucet. Then Rob and Sam came down to see how I was doing and I pulled out a little newborn onesie that he wore the first time I brought him to the studio to show him off, and Sam says, "mom is that Maicey's doll's clothes", that did it- I just burst into tears and cried like the baby he wasn't anymore. So Rob thought it would be best to take him back upstairs and leave me to weep over the tiny little clothes. Around 11:30 that night I was finally done. See what happens when you listen to your husband?

So this weekend were keeping a 26 year Munn tradition alive and were in Mt pleasant for the Old thrashers reunion. I'll post pictures as the weekend goes on!

"the beauty of being an artist is the art of sharing beauty"

I heard that quote today and it couldn't be more fitting to my world... I'm blessed to love my job

My baby...

The exciting news of the week... Miss Maicey got her first haircut! I woke up on Wednesday morning and looked at her rats nest of hair and called IMMEDIATELY to make her appointment. So for two days we'd say, "who's gonna go get her haircut on Friday?" and she'd smile really big and say "Mai Mai!" So Friday rolls around and we're getting ready to go to Cookie Cutters where we purchased the WAY overpriced "first haircut package" and Rob asks me "what are you going to have them do to it?" and Sam pipes up from the back seat and says, "I think we should BIC it to look like mine!". I couldn't help it, I laughed at the thought of my little, always in a big huge bow princess with a shaved head! So we arrive at Cookie Cutters still laughing at Sam and the hair cut begins... We learned a few things about Maicey during this twenty minute excursion:

1. She does not like to be sprayed with water~ she would screech every time the poor lady spritzed her hair.
2. She is taking after her Tante T with her OCD tendancies~ she dropped an entire basket full of barretts that the lady gave her to keep her occupied and would not allow the haircut to continue until every last one was picked up and placed back in the basket.
3. She hates hair driers~ I mean it she hates them. She was crying so hard and being the mean mom that I am all that I could think to do was get out the video camera... it was funny, I couldn't help it!

She looks so big and it makes me sad that she's growing up, but it's another milestone that I've passed without too many tears... yet another reminder to stop moving so quickly and just take a breath...

What it means to be a "Dettlaff"

yesterday, my dad's whole side of the family got together to have a little cook out and just spend time being together... it remined me of so many memories as a young girl and reminded me that although I took my husbands last name when I married him almost 4 years ago, I will always be a Dettlaff at heart. So I put together a top ten ways you know you're a Dettlaff...

10. You know the Dettlaff handshake
9. You've played baseball with your cousins outside with a broom and a bouncy ball
8. You love and adore Hummels
7. You're sad on any Sunday night that we don't have "family dinner"
6. Your favorite candy is Green leafs and Orange slices just because they were Oma's favorite
5. Your entire family knows a secret within 18 seconds
4. You leave Sunday dinners with more leftovers then one could possibly eat in a million years
3. You know what the words Oma, Opa, and Tante mean
2. Your sides hurt so bad when you're leaving any family function because you've laughed the entire time.

and the number 1 way you know you're a Dettlaff: You have an extended family of people that love and care for you every minute of every day. I am truly blessed to be part of this family and to raise my kids into this family of WONDERFUL role models. I couldn't ask for more...

Summer break is over... Thank the good Lord!

Okay, so I had every intention of blogging at least 7035 times this month... it just hasn't happened! It's been a crazy month, so I'll recap for you all:

First and most excitingly, my sister got engaged... FINALLY. So we have been crazy busy with planning, and dress shopping, and center piece shopping, and all of that fun stuff that goes on when you're planning the biggest event of your life. We lovingly call it "Our wedding"~ the whole family calls it that... CRACKS ME UP! So the date has been set for June 5th, 2010. My entire immediate family has been asked to be in the wedding (I'll be selling my organs on the black market to pay for all of the attire, but hey, your big sister only gets married once!) I'm super excited for her and can't wait to continue to update you on the excitement of the next 10 months.

Next order of business, I'm going to seriously murder whoever it was that invented FARMTOWN on facebook. It's the single most addicting thing I've ever been a part of... it's the most mindless activity on the planet and I LOVE IT. If you've never experienced it, I strongly suggest you do, but be advised it will suck you in.

Although most people look forward to summer vacation, I for one, do not. When the kids are out of school, it becomes my duty to keep them all busy, ALL summer long. I've been working between 40 and 70 hours per week all summer and it's making me a bit crazy. I've also done about 55 competition pieces this summer and my brain is literally fried. I love that the kids are back in school these next few weeks... it means i can get myself caught up on work, and blogging, and farmtown (damn farmtown).

We also had our first annual Murphy family reunion. My mom's side of the family is great... she is one of 5 children, and I am one of 14 grandchildren on that side. All 5 children are married, and all but 4 of the grandchildren are in committed relationships. Oh, and there's 13 great grandchildren too~ all under the age of 9. It was INSANE. It was super fun to hang out with my family, go on snipe hunts, and play flippy cup with your aunts and uncles... WEIRD, but fun. I will post pictures really soon.

And for the saddest news of the whole summer... my baby boy is starting pre school in less then a month. Correction, the saddest news of the summer is he's EXCITED about going to pre school. How is it possible that he is old enough to leave me for 3 entire mornings every week to go learn and play and grow up without me. I know it sounds super cliche, but it seems like just yesterday he was a tiny baby at home with me and now he's all ready to grow up... SAD!

Okay, so since we're back in a routine, I promise I'll update more often... until then, enjoy the ride and don't forget to stop and breathe in every moment you can!