I cannot tell a lie . . .

. . . I have turned my children into family fun addicts and I have no one else to blame but myself! 

Today was President’s Day and despite the fact that we were on the road en route to Utah, it was a holiday and so the children asked "What are we doing for family fun today, mommy?”  SH*T! I didn't plan family fun, I barely remembered to pack all of us enough underwear for the trip.  All I have to say is Thank God for cell phones and Wal-Mart Supercenters.  We were in the middle of the Nevada desert and I had to come up with some kind of family fun craft about President’s Day. 

Ok, I didn't HAVE to do anything, I'm the mom and if I say we don't do family fun we don't do family fun.  But, I have this d@mn bet with my friend Natalie, and also, I think I need to admit that "my name is mommy and I'm addicted to family fun too!"

Here’s what I learned about holiday family fun on the road:

What I learned from a little green box of cookies!

Tonight’s post is dedicated to my friend Natalie who also happens to be the girl scout cookie mom for the Id’s (youngest child) girl scout troop. 

Not only is Natalie the cookie mom, she’s also the smart@$& who gave me sh*t yesterday because last summer when I started this blog I said I would do “365 days of family fun”.  She bet me a drink that I couldn’t keep up with that.  Well, for 2011 I was doing great . . . primarily because I wasn’t going to let Natalie be right.  In 2012, I’m now admitting I was smoking crack and there is no way when the children are in school and sports that you can accomplish daily family fun!  So, Natalie, yes, I owe you a drink, and it will be a great excuse to “have” to get away. 

For "family fun" these last three weeks, I, along with more than 30,000 other moms, dads, grandmas, etc, have been the cookie mom for the Ego’s (middle child) brownie troop as well as helping ALL THREE of the girls sell more boxes of cookies than I can count. 

Here’s what I’ve learned from the infamous little green box of chocolate and minty goodness:

Back in the olden days . . .

. . . they didn’t wear shoes like that mommy, so you can’t wear them today either”.  My response . . . “back in the olden days children were seen and not heard and their parents could beat them with sticks for misbehaving; should we go back to the olden days, or can I wear my shoes?!”

Today, the Ego (the second grade middle child) had an Ellis Island re-enactment where the parents served as inspectors and doctors while the kids were immigrants coming through Ellis Island in 1892. 

This was an incredible experience, and I even got teary-eyed watching the kids go through.  This was one of my stay at home mommy highlights and I’m so glad I volunteered to be the baggage room inspector!

But, as with everything in this household, it was not without some lessons learned:

Be careful of that little blue box . . .

As I know is true with all mommies, the last two weeks I have been lost in the vortex of my crazy life, including girl scout cookie hell, and have had absolutely no time to write about it.  I have, however, had time to keep up with the Bachelor (a girl can’t give up all her guilty pleasures).

Today, I found 15 minutes, so in honor of Valentines Day and finding amazing, incredible, true love (only true Bachelor fans will appreciate that reference), I decided to share a few of our family Valentine hits and misses (technically some of these were anniversary gifts, but I thought them fitting to share at this time too).

And, of course, to get in the spirit, I had to pull this 2010 photo out of the family archive. 

Here’s what I’ve learned about best intentions for those holidays that are invented by Hallmark: