Happy! Happy! Mamas!

Happy Mother's Day to all my lovely mamas out there. I hope you enjoyed your day.

Perhaps you had breakfast in bed, got to sleep in a little, were able to escape for a spa day or a nice brunch or perhaps you were woken up a full 30-60 minutes earlier than usual by your children, one of whom carried a tea party basket full of homemade cards that she had worked on for over a week and kept hidden under her bed, cards that she signed from each child and my husband ("form, Tory").

They were super sweet and very detailed.

However nice they were it didn't quite erase the fact that my husband was out of town and that I was going to have to get to the grocery store with all three kids in order to pick up a few things for the barbecue we were going to later in the day at my sisters.

First stop, coffee.

Initially, I thought we would all go into Dunkies, sit down for a few minutes, eat a couple of donuts and then make our way to the supermarket.

This idea was quickly squashed. As we pulled into the Dunkies we passed a makeshift flower/balloon tent.

These are the tents with a spray painted "Roses" sign and giant carnival-sized pink stuffed animals hanging in plastic bags from the sides of the tent that pop up on Valentine's Day or Mother's Day as a last ditch stop for those who have zero foresight and are in pure desperation mode.

Guess what tent guys? Moms don't want giant, pink stuffed animals. Do you know who does want a giant pink stuffed animal? Five-year-old girls.

Know who wasn't going to buy her five-year-old girl a giant, pink stuffed animal from the side of the road? Me.

Thanks for ruining Mother's Day. To say the Lady was upset by this, would be an understatement. There were many tears. There was also no way we were all going to go sit inside and enjoy a pink frosted donut together, so I shifted Minnie-Ru into drive and we headed to the store.

There is nothing like having a Mother's Day brunch in the parking lot of a Fairway supermarket while listening to a Team Umizoomi movie. Umi! Zoomi! Umizoomi! Umizoomi!

Once the kids finished off their donuts, we headed in. I put a glazed-covered, still-in-pajamas-wearing QT into the front of the cart and tried to make it clear that the Ladies shouldn't be riding on the side of the cart. That lasted for about two minutes.

The Ladies were very helpful in picking out some hanging plants for my mom and for the Wild One's Omi, but like most trips to the store the need to leap and run and stop in front of moving carts overwhelmed them.

Good thing we only had a few things on the list to get. By the time we made it to the pasta aisle, QT had had enough. I relented, took him out of the cart and allowed him to dance in the aisle with his sisters to Mumford and Sons.

What can I say? The kid likes to move.

I was able to corral them to the check-out line and quickly pay. The Lady insisted on pushing the cart with no help. Just so we are clear, the basket was full of groceries, two hanging plants were hanging off the handle bar, QT was riding in the front and the Little Lady was holding onto the side. The cart was heavy, lopsided and she couldn't see over the top. We might have hit a few walls and doors, but we eventually made it back to the van.

Once there we revisited how unfair it was to not buy giant, pink stuffed animals.

I was eventually able to wrangle QT back into his donut-covered car seat and in an attempt to keep them all in one place for just a bit more time, we took a small detour to find two of the horses from last summer's "Horsin' Around" exhibit that had been bought by a family and were now just hanging out on their lawn.

Things were looking up.

Once home, it took another 20 minutes to get the kids inside. The puddles from the rain on Saturday were much too much of a distraction and I was just as happy to let them run around outside for a while.

In all honesty, it was actually a pretty good morning. It was a true reflection of Mother's Day to me. While it would have been great to have had a nice breakfast or to sleep for just a few minutes longer, I got to spend the day with my kids. That is something that I haven't been able to do for a long time and something I miss more than anything after going back to work full-time.

They may be too energetic in aisles, a little sticky, terribly put-out by stuffed animal injustices, and moved to dance at inconvenient times, but they are mine and I love them and I have become a better person because of them.

Mom Moment of the Day: Love my Lady

Just got back from Mother's Day Tea with the Lady at her school. Can't believe she is "graduating" in a few weeks. Tears to follow.

Mom Moment of the Day

Here are a few things I have done lately that I think define what it means to be a mother.

1. I was at Walmart at 7:15 this morning picking up foam stickers and graham crackers for the Little Lady's snack/craft at school. (Should this have been pre-planned? Yes. But it isn't as easy as you might think to find appropriate crafts for 2-year-olds that aren't incredibly complicated or choking hazards. BTW. . . Michael's in Stamford, it wouldn't kill you to stay open later than 8 p.m., some of us can't craft shop by day)

2. QT has terribly dry skin and once his diaper comes off he goes for his manhood with gusto. In an effort to stop him from scratching himself so badly that he sometimes bleeds (I know, it is terrible) sometimes I scratch him myself (not his balls OK? that would just be weird, but the dry area above his, as the Ladies used to say, "peanut").

3. One of my children, who will remain nameless, recently asked me to remove some leftover toilet paper from her moon. (I know--an image of those god-awful Charmin commercials that make me cringe come to mind for me as well. The whole bear-in-the-woods thing is slightly terrifying to me.) As she was bending over for said removal, her hair fell over the side of the toilet and into the unflushed bowl (it was just pee). For about ten seconds I contemplated not giving her a bath because it was 8:30 at night and I was tired. Personal hygiene eventually won out. Note to self: schedule haircuts.

These are the things that the books don't tell you. They don't say that after being woken up in the middle of the night (again) by one of your children that two hours later you would find yourself dodging puddles in a Walmart parking lot buying glitter foam stickers and Scooby-Doo graham crackers. They don't tell you that you will go through so much "moonie cream" that the smell of A&D will haunt your dreams. They don't say that after a long day at work or at home with the kids that you don't have the option of not doing for your children. Baths at 8:30 p.m. to avoid pee in the hair? Check. Making star-shaped jelly sandwiches at 10 p.m. for Lunch Bunch? Check. Having to listen to some terrible kid show for the 800th time so that you can get dinner on the table? Check. Explaining the art of movie magic to a two-year-old? Check.

And on it goes. . .

Would love to share a few of your most memorable mom moments. Email, fb , tweet them or leave in the comments section and I will post them this month. Always looking for confirmation that I am not alone out there in the crazy that occurs in my house!

May is for Moms

I am sure all of you are gearing up for your Mother's Day celebrations. And celebrate we should. I think that one day isn't really enough to devote to the role of mother. And since a lot of Mother's Days end up being jam-packed with everyone trying to run around and get together, sometimes there isn't enough time to just snuggle in your bed while your husband takes the kids out of the house for a few hours and you watch hours of uninterrupted TV, or read a book, while drinking coffee and not having to cater to anyone else. . . hint, hint.

This year, I will actually be spending my Mother's Day watching my little sister graduate from college, which isn't a bad way to spend a Sunday, plus I am super proud of her.

So because I won't actually be partaking in the "traditional" Mother's Day, I have decided to devote the entire month of May to mommy moments, mommy mind melts, and some mommy memories from this blog.

Each day, I will (try) to post something related to the joy, and crazy of being a mother.

I might post a few pics, a couple links to some "oldie but goodie" blog posts, or just share what is going on in the day.

I invite you all to tweet, fb or email any of your own funny, crazy, unbelievable, poignant, heartwarming or vomit-inducing moments of motherhood and I will share as I go.

Happy Mother's Month (and may a spa day be in your future)!

Mother's Day and More from the Mini-Van

The Lady and I went to get our nails done on Mother's Day. It was nice to do something special with her alone and she was super excited that she got flowers painted on not only some of her nails but her toenails as well.

She is concerned about a recent chip that has formed and keeps telling me she wants to go back to the nail polish store and have them fix it. While I am glad we were able to do something together, I don't want her to get hooked on mani/pedis at three and a half. I think we will keep it to special occassions, but I am reminded that I will now have to go out and get some nailpolish remover and hope the Little Lady doesn't get too jealous that her nails aren't painted pink.

The Lady drying her nails. She also got a lollipop!

More from the Mini-Van

I am easing into the mini-van lifestyle. I will say that I drove our other car over the weekend and was a little freaked out that I was so low to the ground! We are still trying to navigate the DVD player, meaning I don't want it on everytime we get in the car and the Ladies are pretty insistant that it happen.

Here is the view out of my rearview mirror on a daily basis.

The Lady in her headphones.

The Little Lady totally passed out, but still wearing the headphones.

Happy Mother's Day

It has been a very busy weekend for the Three Bean. We have been out and about all over.

Just want to take a minute to wish all my momma readers out there a very Happy Mother's Day. Thanks for reading and thanks for letting me share my stories.

I hope today is filled with flowers, "me" time, uninterrupted showers, homemade cards and kisses. And if it isn't, I hope you get at least five minutes to yourself locked in the bathroom with a magazine.

Have a great day!

Love and kisses,

Bean