I explained to eppie last night that the reason why Lizzie said “Dora backpack” to him was because I promised the kiddos to take them hiking on the trails behind the Hotel Hershey. I decided to bring my camera along so I could take a picture of Lizzie with her/Daniel’s backpack…and it’s not even a Dora backpack. It’s Diego. I think Lizzie thinks it’s Dora dressed in boys clothes. Then again, I don’t even know how she knows about Dora. We never watch it. So anyway, two pictures from the “fit-trail”…and boy did we get fit! Can’t you tell…

Then we decided to go into the Hotel to reward ourselves with free Hershey Kisses, when we ran into this little guy…

Apparently, Lizzie doesn’t quite yet know that there is absolutely nothing frightening about a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Yum, yum.

I read a magazine article titled “63 Things to Do With Your Kids Before They Grow Up”

First Thing: “Run a marathon. But not all at once. Set a goal with your kids to run a full 26.2 miles over the course of a year….”

Great idea! But not with my kids - That would be not so fun.

So my goal: Run a marathon (104 times around the track) by Labor Day weekend.

I started today and, pathetically, I could only run one time around the track. (Granted, I did just finish up an hour of playing tennis, so I was already feeling it in the legs).

I’m so excited about this! Sometimes you just need a good push!

It’s been a while. 

The reason:  Utter Exhaustion!!! 

I am mentally and physically exhausted…all the time.

When Ep got the job in Philly, I thought, “No problem.  I’m a tough cookie.  I can handle being a ’single mom’ for a while.” 

Well…I’m beat.  And I’m not embarrassed to admit it.  We all have “our moments” and these past few weeks have been just that.  It’s at the point where if you were to genuinely ask how I was doing, I’d probably burst out in tears.  (But no one really actually asks that question sincerely, so I don’t have to worry).

BUT….there is hope!  The dance show will be over next weekend so that means I get my husband back on the weekends!  Horray!!!  AND…Ep is allowed to work at home once or twice a week now (until we sell our house…which I took off the market today.  I’m in no mood to keep a house tidy right now).

Don’t get me wrong.  My life isn’t that bad.  In fact, it’s great.  But every mom knows that if you don’t get a break once in a while, you literally start going crazy.  Very, very normal. (At least that’s what everyone tells me.  I hope it’s normal.)

But it’s never a good thing when you get out of bed in morning and already feel like you’re going crazy!  Nope, not normal at all.  And that’s where I’m at right now.

Today in particular was a tough one. 

But you know what?  I’m in good spirits now: 

Elizabeth went to bed without a fight…and didn’t even attempt to climb out of her crib.  Victory!!!

David Cook just won American Idol and I couldn’t be happier. 

I watched AI while eating my new favorite snack ever…Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits with sharp chedder cheese spread.  Divine!

My husband called me three times in the middle of the show to make fun of Jordin Spark’s golden mu mu and the horrendous song George Micheal sang…and I just thought to myself, “I’m so lucky to have a guy who, although I never see him much anymore, thinks to call me everytime he wants to put someone down.” Ah, true love.

Yup, I’m happy.  Still exhausted.  But very happy. 

We’ll see what tomorrow morning brings. 

Dan was over again today (He’s over here all the time lately to work on video stuff with eppie). 

I was having a particularly rough day with the kids, and Dan watched as elizabeth threw a book off the counter.

“Elizabeth!” he jokingly scolded, “Don’t throw your mother’s ‘The Joy of Motherhood’ book off the counter.”

“That is definitely not a ‘Joy of Mothering’ book,” I replied.  “But thinking about it, isn’t it interesting just how many kinds of joy-of-mothering books there are out there….and how many of them I have read!  It’s like we mothers need a book to read every now and then to convince us that being a mom really is not miserable, but rather…joyful.”

“Yeah,” said Dan.  “Like, you’ll never see a ‘The Joy of Eating Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream’ book, will you?  Of course not, because everyone knows that eating Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is very joyful.”

So true, Dan.  So true.

Want to know what I spend half of my time doing while I’m driving?

Well, I’ll tell you anyway.

So, my family’s names go as follows:

Holly Elizabeth Vojt (HEV)

Daniel Eppie Vojt (DEV)

Daniel Eppie Vojt, Jr (DEV)

Elizabeth Diane Vojt (EDV)

(If ep and I have a third child, we’re going to actually have to spend more than three minutes discussing what to name our kid!)

Now, I’ve always been weird about license plates - Not the numbers, but the letters.  Like, I try to make words and sentences out of the three letters on the plate.

For example, when I was in high school, my three letters were XSY.  I told everyone it stood for sexy.

My plate now is GMC.  It stands for ‘Great Mom’s Car.’

So, where’s this going?

Around the time Daniel was born, everyone in PA had to get a new license plate.  I began to notice after a month or so, that every new plate had our family’s initials!  It was crazy! 

I swear to you, every plate that came out three to four years ago either has a D or an E or a V or an H.  Or two of the those letters.  Or all three!!!!  It must have been the state’s way of keeping track, or they must love our family - either one.  (By the way, I’ve noticed that all trucks and business vehicles begin with a Y, and all the newer cars now start with a G -  in case you were wondering and I know you were.)

So, I’ve been having a ball these last few years -  and driving eppie crazy all at the same time (killing two birds with the same stone). 

“Hey Ep!  Look at that plate.  It’s ELH.  It stands for ‘Eppie loves Holly.’  Isn’t that cute?”

It’s a very strange quirk that I have.  And I just thought I’d share.

Daniel got a hold of my camera this morning and took this picture of me and Elizabeth reading. It reminded me of a set of favorite pictures that I have of me reading with Daniel when he was the same age as Elizabeth here.

I Love these two pictures!  I realize they’re nothing special, but to me, these pictures make me so happy.  Reading to my children is the highlight of my day!

(If you haven’t seen “The Producers,” disregard the title)

Probably my all-time favorite thing about life in general: The Four Seasons.

Love, love, love the seasons! 

Love, love, love even more the changes in seasons.

Five reasons why this weekend was great:

1.Daniel and Eppie flew their first kite together.

2. Daniel, Lizzie and I laid down in “the grassy knoll” for a whole hour watching butterflys.

3. Daniel ‘planted one’ on some random girl while at Cocoa Castle.

4. Annie’s ice cream opened!

5. Eppie and I sat on our rocking chairs for the first time since fall…and watched the kids play in the rain.

Ah, the simple things in life… 

For all of two people who read this blog, I’m just letting you know that I just deleted the post titled “thanks for leaving me” because eppie just informed me that it’s very “bratty.” 

That was kind of the point…but I just don’t want people to think that I actually was soooo sad that my parents left and that my life will stand still until they get back…and I really do have great friends.

I love my parents and I love hanging out with them - Is that a crime?

I was outside playing with my kids this morning, when some people walked out of my neighbor’s house, who just put her house up for sale a week ago. 

Since they were standing only a mere three feet from my “For Sale by Owner” sign, I was able to hear their conversation.

“We’d love to make an offer on this place.”

“Great” replied the real estate agent.

I discreetly ran into the house and e-mailed eppie, “Someone just made an offer on Amy’s place!  What is wrong with us?”

Well, I do know what’s wrong with us.  We’d rather have an extra $9,000 in the bank than in some random real estate agent’s wallet.

Tonight I thought out-loud, “I wonder what we should do about this house.”

Daniel thought it would be a good idea to write on our Flyers:

Free Sherbert if you buy this house!!!

That comment reminded me of the time when we drove past a car dealership and Daniel exclaimed, “Hey look!  You get a free car if you buy a balloon!”

Alright house, let’s sell!  Not because I want to move, but I’m tired of trying to keep the house looking like no kids live here.  Hard to do without a basement!

Anyone who knows of someone who wants a rockledge, have them look at our website: www.hersheytownhouse.com

If they don’t like it, hey, there’s 16 more for sale!

Today I went shopping at Carters for spring and summer clothes for my kids. 

While checking out the 3.99 rack, I was excited to see in the size ‘24 months’ section a cute top and pants combo…and there were several of them.  “Huh,” I thought.  “I wonder why people don’t want to buy these.”

I picked one of them up and saw that the shirt said, “Baby’s First Easter.“