This week began with Mother’s Day and ended with everybody sick. I hope those two things aren’t related. I thought it would be fun to do a quick recap of all the things that went down this week before I forget them.

Remember the Magnolia tree we planted last year? We were so excited to see it grow alongside the girls. Until a deer destroyed it and ruined my happy ending. THANKS A LOT, DEER! Mike’s dream was always to build a vegetable garden at our summer house and finally began the project this past weekend. It’s pretty serious as far as gardens go (at least from my city folk perspective) and will be gated in so the deers can’t get to it. Harlow suggested making a sign with a deer on it and a big red circle with a line through it. If deer were self-aware, that would be a great idea.

My sister’s family and my family all got together at Grammy and Sammy’s house for a Mother’s Day celebration.

I posted the photo at the top of this post to show my perfect Mother’s Day moment surrounded by my two loving girls, but I feel it is my duty to also present you with the photo below.

Sometimes perfect and not-so-perfect moments are one and the same.

One of the best things about Mother’s Day was watching all the cousins play together. As the kids get older, I love seeing how their relationships become more and more solidified and real. Mazzy is the oldest and relished this opportunity to show everyone who was boss. Not in a bad way. She announced that they were going on an adventure, gave them all tasks and had them march behind her in a straight line.

Since the kids appeared to be following her lead, the adults were free to go inside and relax. Even my sister took off her helicopter hat and realized Mazzy there to watch everyone was just fine. “Mazzy, you’re in charge,” I told her. “Stay in our yard and make sure nobody goes in the street.” “Yep! I know, Mom!” she said and then led the kids into her :hideout,” the very same cluster of bushes I used to play in as a kid.

On Tuesday through Friday, Mike had to travel for work so I was left on my own with the kids. Evenings aren’t a big deal but the commute to school in the morning is a killer because normally Mike and I split responsibility of the kids up.

Without him there. I had to take both Mazzy and Harlow crosstown on the bus, drop Mazzy off at 8:30am, then take Harlow back crosstown to drop her off at 9am. All with three bags and a stroller.

These are the times I wish I drove a car and lived in the ‘burbs.

To make matters more difficult, Mazzy and I both came down with a pretty bad cold on Wednesday. This meant I had to get everybody dressed, take Mazzy to drop Harlow off at school and then come back home for our sick day.

Which I must say, Mazzy enjoyed a little too much.

When I picked up Harlow from school, I saw the picture below hanging on the wall, which made me feel instantly better.

Yesterday, I chaperoned a field trip to the Central Park Zoo, despite feeling a little under the weather. Harlow has been talking about it for weeks so there was no way I could back out.

Harlow was most excited to see the penguins, who she calls her “friends” and the sea lion show. My favorite pic is definitely this sea lion photobomb.

Being the neat freak that she is, Harlow was not interested in feeding the sheep or goats because goat saliva is “EWWWWWW!” She preferred to place them on the ground. She started shimmying when she saw the goats which after some questions, I came to understand was in representation of their floppy ears.

After the zoo, I had to take Harlow to a meeting with me. I gave her crayons and paper to color while I spoke with about five people around a table. I was in the middle of presenting an idea when Harlow looked up and shouted “That’s BOOOORING.”

Thanks for closing the deal, Harlow.

After I posted my Similac video on Tuesday, my YouTube subscribers crossed the 2000 mark! I know that’s small potatoes to most people, but for me, I’m excited to see growth there. Like the rest of the internet, I am trying to put out better and better video content, so your positive reaction to “12 Problems Dining out with Kids” was truly appreciated.

Of course, there were some people who said we are terrible parents and their children would NEVER act like that in a restaurant. To those people, I say— I hope in addition to incredible manners, you taught your kids how to have a sense of humor.

Refinery 29 wrote an interesting article that features me and a few other moms who make money on Instagram. It’s a balanced piece that is mostly positive. Plus it’s got some super cute pics of me with my kids.

It definitely opens me up to some criticism, but I am proud of what I do and I stand by that.

The book is getting in better and better shape and I am happy to say— I can now see the forest for the trees! That’s the correct use of that saying, right? My editor tells me if all goes as planned, the layout will be finalized next week. I’m finding that hard to believe, but nothing would make me happier.

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