Ice, Ice, Baby!

I don't think we've had a full week of school since before Christmas...is that possible? If this is what it feels like to homeschool.....no thanks!

Here's a few shots to show you what's going on in the "Heartland."

YESTERDAY: (frozen fog left beautiful white ice on the landscape, but roads were fine. Doesn't it look like an old-fashioned freezer that severly needs defrosting?) Also - a great big sarcastic THANK YOU to the city for completely plowing the fire hydrant under. Hope there isn't a fire...because it is going to take a fire axe to get through the frozen snow and ice to dig out the hydrant. Ok - I feel better now.



TODAY: (Freezing rain - not so pretty. Schools are closed (AGAIN!) and roads are bad. They are predicting 1/2" of ice when it's all said and done.)


(view from our big front window...like milk glass!)

Thank goodness for this guy today!

Good to the Last Drop

Lauren: "Mommy? Did you know that chickens' eggs come out of their butt?"

Me: (in a pre-coffee, just-woke-up haze)...uh-huh
(If I had been more awake I would have added....we don't say "butt."

Lauren: "And that's called POOPING an egg."

I need help! I know I am home all day (eating bon bons and watching soaps...getting pedicures and searching for things to do), but taking care of the kids and doing laundry are a full-time job! Too bad there are a million other chores to be done to keep our home barely presentable and semi-safe. Too bad there are a ton of things OUTSIDE of the home that have to be done each week too, like shopping for groceries, taking kids to/from school, returning library books, taking kids to/from school activities, etc.

I'm not complaining about being a stay-at-home Mom...I love my job. I feel VERY blessed to have this gift - to be able to be witness the crazy things my kids do each day, to be present for the teachable moments I wouldn't otherwise share with them. HOWEVER, I think it is VERY easy to lose yourself in the necessary tasks of taking care of others PLUS the household....and although I've tried for 5 years now, I am waving my white flag. Trying to do it all has only made me feel sad, mad, frustrated and like a complete failure. It is benefiting NO ONE. So....



I need help. I tried a family chore chart awhile back. Remember this? It was met with much criticism and little to NO cooperation. My message (cry for help) was lost. Well, probably more likely ignored than lost.

Then I tried asking for help...actually verbalizing my need for help. Deaf ears. Maybe I'm not being assertive enough. Maybe I'm feeling too guilty because I don't "work" outside of the home. I don't know. All I know is that what I've been trying to do for five years is not working. At least it isn't working for me.


So here's my new idea. Although I don't eat bon bons or watch soaps...I do have a bit of a distraction called INTERNET...specifically GOOGLE READER!!! But I do gather a lot of useful information from these sites....many pertaining to bargain-hunting, couponing, home organization, sewing, meals/recipes...all "job-related" if you will. Anyway - I'm trying to better manage my time researching these things. Oops...there's guilt again...sorry...back to the idea. While reading one of my crafty blogs awhile back, I stumbled on THIS.

This is kind of fun, right? And maybe they'll buy in? Maybe they'll want to help because this is sort of like a fun game, right? Maybe I'll even put a prize in there...so when the task is complete they get the prize found in the tin? I'm going to make it....and then PRAY it works better than the chore chart did.

Disclaimer....MAJOR disclaimer: My husband works VERY hard...it isn't like he comes home and then just sits on the couch and plays on the computer or watches TV. He is a great husband and father, a good provider for our family and loves us all very much. I'm sure he's more than happy to help - I just haven't found the right way to deliver this message. Same is true of my oldest daughter. She usually is very willing to help...I just have to spell it out. So here it goes...I'm S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G it out, family. Mom needs help...I'm drowning and I'm exhausted. I want to do better...BE better...but to do that I need to rally the troops. We can do this! (Lord, I hope I'm not in the doghouse for this post!)


If YOU have found a method that engages your family, please leave me a comment and tell me how you're doing it! Or if you think I should be able to do all of this on my own, tell me how YOU do it....and what medication does it involve? (cuz I'm gonna need me summa that!).


Love my husband, love my kids, love my home....just trying to do all of those things better.


--The Mom of 'Em

Take THAT! Shouldn't be having a shortage of normal-sized coffee filters anytime soon. 700...SEVEN-HUNDRED!!! Thanks, Costco!

Why do you hate me, Joe?

The first thing I do every morning (after changing a diaper, handing out sippy cups and letting the dog out), is make a pot of coffee. Confession: sometimes I even start the coffee before I change diapers and dole out breakfast drinks...what's another couple minutes in a wet diaper, right?). Every morning I wonder why I don't use the auto-brew feature so my lovely would be waiting for me when I rise. But instead I do it in the morning and then wait, wait, wait for the pot to brew. It takes FOREVER to brew when you are desperate for a cup, doesn't it? Especially on MONDAYS!!!

I just bought new coffee filters last night, because we had one...ONE left. That's dangerous! cutting it close! I added the coffee to the filter, poured the water and hit BREW and went about the business of distracting myself from how long it takes by pouring bowls of cereal and feeding the dog. Soon I started to smell the aroma of my Joe...my lovely, wonderful hero, Joe. I raced over to grab my mug and to my HORROR, found water and coffee grounds all over the counter! ALL. OVER. THE. COUNTER!!! AAAAAGH! I cleaned it up and realized I forgot to put the filter BASKET in...just the filter in the big open guts of the coffee-maker.

So I cleaned it all up and set out to brew another pot. Since I had used up our last filter, I had to crack into the new package...only to discover I had purchased filters for machines that brew 1-4 cups. ONE to FOUR CUPS?! Who makes 1-4 cups of coffee? These people shouldn't even be allowed to own a coffee machine. And now I like them even less because their stupid filters ruined my 2nd attempt at coffee this morning. I bet they are brewing de-caf to boot. ugh.

I tried to brew the coffee anyway - careful to make sure I had the filter basket in this time and that my coffee grounds were within the boundaries of the mini filters. I poured in 12 cups of water and hit brew....and walked away. When I returned....water everywhere!!!! WHAT?! WHY DO YOU HATE ME, JOE! I LOVE YOU!!!! TAKE ME BACK!!!!

apparently I didn't wait for the pot to empty before I cleaned up the first mess and poured in my new pot of water. This created MORE than 12 cups of water and it didn't have anywhere to go...but on my counter and floor...and down my cabinets...and inbetween my cabinets and the stove. (Can I go back to bed now???). So I cleaned up THIS mess, unplugged the coffee pot, turned it upside down to dump all the water and tried again...AGAIN! This pot seemed to be brewing okay, but there are a few grounds in my cup because of the dumb teeny-weeny filters.

But I don't care!!!! I'm finally drinking my coffee!!! I have my Joe wrapped in my loving hands once again!!! Now here's hoping the rest of the day goes better.

december 09 023.avi

december 09 017.avi

Lauren, pre-ballet

My tiny ballerina

FIVE!

Happy Anniversary to my husband today! FIVE years!!! We've grown to a family of five in five years. We've had two dogs, survivied the "floods of '08," put our house on the market twice, found our dream home and moved. We've been blessed. I don't know what the next five years hold for us, but I'm excited to face them together because with you by my side and God in the middle - it's going to be good. I love you and I thank you for being my husband.

Jodi

I ran across this blog post featuring fun Halloween-themed meal ideas. Pretty cool....but I think my regular cooking is scary enough.

I love candles. Love them, love them, love them. But with two small children in the house and a husband who complains that most of my candles stink, I rarely get the enjoyment and relaxation of burning candles in the house. This Fall I bought a new scent for our house - and guess what? Mark didn't complain about the smell! He actually liked it! So since that rarely happens, I deemed it blog-worthy. My new favorite Fall candle scent?

What a fabulous day! My baby boy turned two-years-old today! He is such a sweetheart - and I absolutely can't believe he's two! When you ask him how old he is now, he still sometimes says "1" but he holds both index fingers forward, pointing them at you while he says it. Adorable. He had so much fun opening his gifts this morning...and again tonight when Grandma & Grandpa came over for dinner/cake. He LOVED the rubber "nake" his sister Lauren picked out for him, adored the Hot Wheels and the Tonka garbage truck from Grandma & Grandpa. He also received a bike/helmet and a cool ESPN baseball bat/ball toy. Oh - and a small dino. All of his favorite things!

I also decided to make his cake this year..and I'm happy to report it turned out ok. Grant really liked that it was a train - so I was so happy I made the extra effort. He is such a funny little boy. SO active, SO loving and SO tender - I just love him so much!

THEN...this afternoon while the kids napped, Mark ran an errand. He returned with THIS! Can you believe how sweet he is?! I had been trying to learn to applique with the machine my Mom gave me...but it wasn't working. I thought it was my lack of skill (a good bet) but it turns out it had several problems, including the timing, a broken doo-hickey and something else..anyway - not worth fixing. Now maybe I can get back on-track chasing my dream of opening my own Etsy store and making a little extra money!

I'm anxious to get through volunteering at preschool tomorrow and dr. appointments for everyone on Tuesday so I can sit down and figure out my new machine! So excited!

Oh, and Saturday night was Bailey's first Homecoming dance, which I am not allowed to talk about. She looked BEAUTIFUL! I am not supposed to post any pictures.. Oops.

Who ARE these mothers?! And can I please get the name of the perscription they are taking? Wow. These are SANDWICHES, people! SANDWICHES!

I was going to order a birthday cake for Grant today while I was birthday-shopping....but then I stumbled on this at Wal-Mart and I was hooked.

I have little faith in my ability to pull it off, but it never stops me from trying. I THINK if I fail horribly I'll still have time to order a cake. Cross your fingers!

But as excited as I am to make Grant's "choo-choo" cake for his 2nd birthday, I am bummed that I didn't see this idea before now. Have you ever seen anything so cute in your whole life?! It makes me want to be that person that throws a party for no particular reason...just so I can make this stuff! What do you think? Play date extraordinaire? Maybe this winter when I'm going stir-crazy in the house. We'll see. Thanks to Hostess With The Mostess for sharing such cute ideas on her blog!

Hola! It's the weekend and there's LOTS to do! Mark & Bailey are headed off to the Latino Festival where Spongebob is making an appearance. Or is that Spongeroberto? I guess Dora and Diego were used in the past and that pretty much takes care of Latino cartoon characters I guess. I'm not sure if it is required for Bailey's Spanish class or extra credit - but either way, they're going.

Meanwhile, on the homefront, I will be taking the kids with me to run errands (on a Saturday - yuck!). I'll be stopping HERE to see what Cricut cartridges they still have left (all on sale for $39.99 - that's half-off folks!) Then off to THIS STORE for some fabric. Holy cow! I sound like I am actually domestic or something! I'm not...but I'm determined to find something I can make that doesn't require sewing, knitting or anything else involving skill. I want to open my own shop on HERE and make some money! It's a long-shot....but I'm going to try. Then it's off to the dreaded Wal-Mart for a few groceries and new pillows. I am having heart palpitations just thinking about that place on a Saturday! God be with me! And finally I have a couple returns to make HERE and HERE.

Then it will be time to come home and clean. I can't avoid it any longer this week. Vacuuming, counter-cleaning (I know they are under there somewhere), bathrooms (ugh - Wal-Mart AND Bathrooms in the same day?!) and the kitchen floor....and of course, laundry.

I also HAVE to spend some time thinking through G's 2nd birthday too. It is in 8 days! My baby will be TWO! So, how to combine choo-choos, dinos, sharks and snakes (all of his favorite things) into a party theme. Hmmm.
It's a big agenda with 2 kids....wish me luck!

A childhood and college friend of mine posted this Youtube video of herself painting. It's kinda fun knowing someone so talented! Here it is....Laurie Maves Art...

Happy Labor Day! We enjoyed our long weekend at home this year. Lots of relaxation, playing with the kids, selecting a new chair/ottoman from the furniture store (I chose a stripe...and I'm worried to death that I'm not going to like it when I see it on an actual chair instead of just the sample fabric. Crossing my fingers though!)

I enjoyed a lunch alone with my husband, several trips to Menards...where I did NOT save big money, painted the mud room "smoky purple," avoided laundry and other much-needed cleaning, worked my last scheduled shift in the nursery (moving to the sub list - yea!) and then took the kiddles on an impromptu photo shoot. I'm definitely NOT a professional, but I don't think I did too bad with my little digital camera. I'm now really wanting a bigger/better one though because there were a lot of good shots I missed. I want a camera that lets you hold down the button and it will click, click, click away without a delay in-between shots.

Here's a slideshow of all the pics I took...they aren't all good...but all-in-all...not too bad I think.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I really hope Grant's phase of throwing things away ends soon. I looked in there today and found a couple crayons and dog toys. I wonder how many things have been thrown away without us even noticing? Of course he never throws actual GARBAGE in there...always things like toys, remotes, phones, pens....ugh. Now...where did I put those keys....

Big to-do list this weekend! The weather is supposed to be nice again, so I want to take advantage and get out there and get to work! I have plants to move and plants to throw away (oops..guess watering them daily helps). I also want to paint the mud room (that little B**** Maggie...she's chewed the wall TWICE now! The second time JUST as my drywall mud was almost dry). I want to repair driveway/sidewalk cracks, fix the holes I made yesterday in Lauren's wall while I was installing her curtain rod. It is NOT a job for one person, people. I should have waited for help...but a girl can only wait so many days for help before she goes crazy and tries to do it herself! I also need to clean out the van, catch up on laundry, clean up the basement, get a shade/blind/something hung over the kitchen window...that afternoon sun drives me NUTS while I"m trying to make dinner.

I also hope to do something fun with the fam...but not sure what or where or when.

Hope all of you (yep - all 3 of you) have a great Labor Day weekend!!!

Me: Lauren? Do you remember what you call a person that writes a book?

Lauren: An Arfur!

Me: How about the person that draws the pictures in a book?

Lauren: An Elevator!

(close!)

Lauren starts Preschool:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Lauren's 4th Birthday - August 30, 2009

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Here's what Bailey's Grandpa made for us with his free 8x10 collage from Walgreens coupon. Hopefully it will allow you to click on it so you can view it larger. This made me all verklempt. =-(

Would you just look at that red dress picture with the cute little girl bob haircut....that's Kindergarten...and it was also her 5th birthday that very day. And yes, I DID follow the school bus to school, bawling the whole way. No one will let me live that one down - but I had the birthday treats with me - I HAD to drive behind the bus!

And the one to the left of it...in a yellow shirt...NO FRONT TEETH! Oh, Lord...it just all goes too fast. Help me to remember and appreciate these teen years too - cuz I want to enjoy them NOW...not just look back on them fondly.

Lauren's First Day of Preschool!

(First she said she wanted to be a butterfly, but then changed her mind and said Doctor).

Lauren was sooo excited for her first day of Preschool! She's been imagining what school would be like for days - weeks...and judging from the yawns this morning, I'd say her excitement kept her up a lot last night. So finally, today was the day. It was orientation day for kids only....which to me means the 1st day of Preschool. It was a half-hour shorter than her regular days will be - but it was the first time she wore her backpack with her name written in permanent marker on the top.

It was the first time the minivan got in line behind all the other Moms to drop-off. It was the first time I've been alone with Grant for more than a couple hours - ever.
I really should have worn makeup and - I don't know...SHOWERED? before this milestone photo was taken. oh well...keepin' it real.

I checked the calendar and previous mailings to make sure I had everything packed in her backpack. I double checked the drop-off and pick-up times. I checked it all again. When Mrs. Sue opened the van door to retrieve Lauren for her first day, she said..."Did you remember your name tag?" SCHEIST! I forgot the name tag! The blue rectangle with her name on it - the one that should be around her neck so all of the teachers know which group is hers. AAAGH! Well, I thought it would take longer than a DAY for the teachers to learn that I am unorganized, but within 30 seconds the truth is revealed.

Grant & I made a Costco run during preschool and then it was pick-up time. Lauren had an awesome time! She learned about owls, worked on at least two owl crafts,

made some new friends, ("Hailey is my new friend - and she is beautiful" and enjoyed her new-found independence. She also brought home a book order form! BOOK ORDERS! Now doesn't THAT bring back a big warm fuzzy memory! I LOVE BOOK ORDERS!

I'm not really ready for her to go off without me...but the time has come. I know it is only a few hours a few days a week...but that's how it starts. Next she'll be going off to all-day school and then she'll be driving and then moving out! I know - settle down...but honestly - it DOES go that fast.

I shared an awesome FREEBIE with Grandpa the other day and he decided to take advantage of it. To create his free 8x10 collage from Walgreens, he needed 1st day of school pictures for Bailey for 2007 and 2008. And you know what? I have RUINED it! And I've RUINED a future scrapbook page hilighting her 1st day of 8th grade last year. You know why? Apparently I didn't take one!!! What kind of Mom forgets to take a 1st day of school picture?! We WERE selling a house and picking out flooring, countertops, etc. for our new house this time last year, but STILL!

To make myself feel a LITTLE bit better, here's this year's 1st day of school picture. Bailey's first day of high school. HIGH SCHOOL! Mid-life crisis...here I come.

On June 27, 2009, Bailey & I attended the Taylor Swift/Keith Urban concert at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. This was an AWESOME Valentine's Day gift from Mark. We were in the 20-something row on the floor and at times had up-close and personal views of Keith Urban.

He shot this video at the concert (cool!). When the camera pans around behind him...that was our view of the video segment of the concert. (Not a bad view when we're talking about Keith Urban - ha). Enjoy!

I'm looking for ideas on how to decorate this house! We've lived here for 8 months and I still don't have things anywhere close to where I want them. I haven't painted Grant's room, I haven't painted our master bedroom, I haven't painted our master bath, the mud room, the living room or the laundry room. So I look through catalogs and I've been spending more time on HERE again, which gets me sidetracked and in trouble. =-) Suddenly I don't care about the inside of the house anymore, because I found THIS! Mark can make this in a weekend, right? And it would be cheaper than a swingset/playset, right? I mean it's just some wood and screws, right? And this would be so much fun to play in, right?

Today is much like any other day. I wake up, get the kids their breakfast and then sit down to write down the things I want to accomplish today. Usually this involves some sort of organization. I'm ALWAYS on a quest to be a more organized person. I'm convinced it will never happen - you're either born with it or you're not...and I was not. I've purchased the storage containers, I've purged unwanted items, I've even purchased the label maker and I'm sure it's around here somewhere.

But I still enjoy reading and watching TV shows about being organized, perusing products that claim to help you get you organized, etc. Today I stumbled upon THIS Web site. Isn't it great?

Let's see - on today's agenda: cleaning, reading more about being organized, listing a few more things on Craiglist (back-to-school fund now at $198 thanks to Craigslist!) and then later going to lunch with a friend and a bunch of her friends. She recently lost her husband to cancer and today would have been their 20th wedding anniversary. Please pray today is full of warm memories and that God's peace be with her and her children.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Make a Smilebox scrapbook