i am the earring queen.

hi friends!

these are my favorite earrings- bought at a walmart in topeka, kansas for $5.99.

And then! two weeks back I saw the same earrings in GOLD! at target! not ugly gold but funky-bollywood-gold and I loved them! but I had already spent too much money on earrings that week, and at that very moment had 2 pairs in hand to take to the register!

so i put them back. the minute i left the store, i knew i made a grave earring mistake.

so, the next day, i went back. and they were GONE! My earrings! oh, i mourned those earrings!!

i guess it wasn't meant to be.

{but there are two more Targets in the area. how silly would it be to check out those stores?
 don't answer that.}

Have you ever made a grave earring/shopping mistake?

and in other news, yesterday's post was the most I have ever blogged in one month!!

up and down and round and round

Thumbs Up: I have been taking a new medication for my bi-polar depression!

Thumbs Down: This medication makes me as tired as a first trimester pregnant woman, while I get used to it. I fell asleep on the couch Tuesday for 20 minutes when all the kids were up! Yikes!

Thumbs Up: It's the weekend! which means I am currently spending two straight days with my love, and all our little people! Woot woot!

Thumbs Down: I counted over 40 mosquito bites between Will & Theo this week after they got out of bed. I think a mosquito {or two} made its way into their room. My poor babes.

Thumbs Up: Today we are having a birthday party at the park for Jack {whose bday was last week} and Theo {whose birthday is next week}. I am super excited to celebrate our boys and visit with friends and family!

{and because I would rather end on a good note}

Thumbs Up: I have heard from so many wonderful, new readers this week! Thank you so much everyone for all the comment love!

Tell me....what has you up & down today?

ha. hahaha. ha.

If I am not perfect as a spouse, then I am definitely not perfect as a mother. I have been rocking this gig for 7 years and by rocking, I mean: trying, trying, trying and failing often. 

It's trial and error, friends. And laughing at yourself a LOT! And if you are a parent, you already know that. If I had to think of one piece of best parenting advice, it would be this: 

Have fun and enjoy your children. 

I struggle with this often- in fact, I am struggling with this today. 9 year old girls are no joke. Neither are boys- of all ages. And there do have to be rules and consequences for breaking them, and all that. But life is short. SUPER DUPER SHORT! I surely do not want to wake up tomorrow and wish I would have done more fun outings, smiled more, laughed with my kids more, hugged them more.

I try sooo hard to remember that for kids, playing and being silly is their job. That's how they learn and grow and their sweet innocence about it all is meant to teach us {the boring adults} as much as we need to teach them.

Mas'o'bass rocking it out!

So, while I can never get it just right {bc hey I am still human} I say, HAVE FUN! 

and THAT is my best parenting advice!

Kelly's Korner is hosting a link up with your best parenting tips. Feel free to add your 2¢!

proudly sporting my nerd card

i should be embarassed to show you this video. 

but...i'm not.

i am a nerd and i embrace it fully. 

plus, i had a blast on this bachelorette weekend camping trip with my besties!

without further ado, here i am {along with some great girls} in all my nerd glory: 

Songfest 2011 from Nicole Drysdale-Rickman on Vimeo.

life keeps on rolling

and i want to share all of it with her! i am growing, changing, loving this life. I want to thank her for giving me this life to love. i want her to know how well she mothered me, how well she gave me the tools to be a spectacular mother to my own crew, how she rocked her time here.

if i only had 17 years with her, i should be sad. and lots of times, i am! but then, i think: i had 17 years with this amazing blessing of a mother, and some people don't have a mother at all. or a family. and she laid down a fantastic example for me and it was a gift.

words could never express how thankful i am for this gift.

and this is how i end up hiding in the bathroom at 730am.

It starts out smoothly.

I open the door to the babes' room. {Hurray for doorknob covers that lock the crazies in!}
We go downstairs.
I change diapers.
I throw away diapers.
I wash my hands.
They ask for bananas.
I give them bananas.
Will asks for water, Theo asks for soy milk.
I give Will water, and Theo soy milk.
I grab a banana myself.
But, see?
Their bananas are already eaten.
They see my banana.
And each want a piece.
Which ends up being over half my damn banana.
So, instead I grab my banana.
Head to the bathroom
and lock myself in.
Hey, we do what we have to do.

he is as crazy and wonderful as the faces he makes.

Oh how I love him!