The Little Things

The calender says it's November 1st today.

Funny.

I'm still stuck in August.

I couldn't really wrap my head around September starting and now it's November? Whew. Time is just not kind to me these days.

Typically I would be celebrating that Halloween is over (Ghosts and gore...*shudder*), but this year I kind of maybe actually really enjoyed it. This year my children were old enough to enjoy trick or treating and not too old to be twerps yet. They all looked so cute in their costumes...even if they wouldn't cooperate with our Goldilocks and the Three Bears idea.

What every three year old girl wants to be for Halloween. Fairy, Princess, Princess Fairy, Fairy Princess...Take your pick.




We always knew she was Super!




"Walt Mario" or "Wario". The boy is obsessed.




At least she's a warm flower.

 

The Eternal Quest: To get one picture with all four looking


This was our first year trick or treating door to door and we had a blast! The weather was perfect, the temperature was cool, but not cold. The kids quickly grasped the idea of how trick or treating works and they really enjoyed themselves.

Trick or Treat!


I was so touched by all the neighbors that prepared ahead of time for my little food sensitive kiddos. Dee is allergic to milk (no chocolate and caramel) and Elle has Celiac Disease (no wheat, barley, or rye). Neighbor after neighbor pulled out special treats for my two little ones.

Surveying the loot! Any Milky Way Midnights in there for Mommy?


Have I ever mentioned how much I love my neighbors and living in this area? I really do! It means so much to me that other people care about my children and family and do something so thoughtful. (It's okay to cry when you're trick or treating, isn't it?)

Seeing as how it is November 1st and all...that means anything Christmas is fair game! The music! The decorations! The GOODIES! Not even you Scrooges out there can deny it! It's the holiday season!

For now I'll stick with the season of gratitude and share a few things I'm grateful for. After such a wonderful Halloween night I can't help gushing a bit with gratitude.

I'm grateful for the little things.

I'm grateful for good neighbors and friends!

I'm grateful to be a mom of four young ones. Watching them soak up the season makes me ever so happy!

I'm grateful to be a stay at home mom. Today I am snuggling with my kids watching the snow and rain fall outside. I love the snow and rain! But I love even more watching it from the comfort of my home.

I'm grateful for cute chubby babies that wake up at 4:45 am and help me get out of bed to exercise.

I'm grateful for a mother-in-law who is a fantastic grandma to my children. Happy Birthday Grandma Rochelle!

More "gratefuls" to come as this festive month whooshes by. Watch out! Before we know it it will be February.

Easy Halloween Decorations: Pass the Popsicle Sticks Please!

Halloween is riiiiight around the corner. So what if I just barely got my Halloween decorations up this week? At least they are up! 

One little treasure I found in the bottom of my Halloween decoration box was these cute little ornaments the kids and I made last year. My children felt that my collection of Halloween decorations was sorely lacking and wanted to supplement with something homemade. I had a ton of Popsicle sticks sitting in my craft drawers. With the help of my trusty glue gun and some paint we had some new Halloween decorations in no time. Very easy, a little messy when the kids got involved, but loads of festive fun for everybody.

We made pumpkins and Frankensteins. The Frankies were my favorite so that's the one I'll show the tutorial for. You could probably figure out how to make these simply from looking at the finished result, but for those who are craft-challenged like me, here's the how-to:













Arrange about 6-8 Popsicle sticks *** in a row. Don't worry too much about everything being nice and neat and even. The fun of Halloween is that "messy accidents" look "spooky" and "intentional".

Hot glue one stick across the row of sticks to secure everything in place. Make sure to leave some of the stick out on both sides of the row of sticks. This will serve as Frankie's bolts.

Flip the whole thing over so that the one glued on stick is in back.

Paint and let dry.

When dry paint the bolts black and paint on hair. Let dry.

Go crazy decorating Frankie however you want. I used my paintbrush to flick black paint over the entire face.

I cut out yellow paper circles for the eyes and glued them on. I also glued on black pony beads. A black sharpie marker worked perfectly for the mouth. My kids used the marker and other beads to add facial features.

A layer of Modge Podge sealed the deal nicely. I also hot glued some string on the back so that Frankie could be easily displayed. Right now all our Frankies and pumpkins are hanging on our dining room curtain rods with the help of some fishing line.

The pumpkins are just as simple to make with a few variations. I used more sticks (11 to be exact) in the row of sticks and glued on two sticks in the back in different spots to make the decoration more secure.

We used black paper and wood triangles for the eyes, nose, and mouth. I had some spare fake greenery that we glued on for the pumpkin stems and leaves.

Simple and cute. Just the way I like all my crafts.

Happy Halloween everybody!

***Unless you happened to save all those sticky Popsicle sticks from summertime you can find Popsicle sticks for sale at any craft store or Walmart's craft area.

Three for Thursday: By Golly!

My apologies but I just can't seem to get myself back into blogging mode. Between busy Mommy schedules and just plain unadulterated apathy towards anything "extra" nary a post has made its way to the beautiful blue skies of my blog page. Even fun, friendly, and frankly pretty darn easy meme Three for Thursday has suffered.

But not today, folks! By golly if I accomplish one thing today it will be this: a real Three for Thursday blog post.

*deep breath*

Three objects to my left:

1. Elle's pillow pet that came unstitched Christmas morning 2010. I've been intending to restitch it ever since. Maybe today I'll shoot to accomplish two things I've been putting off for far too long...
2. A clean and organized office space that I have been meaning to tackle for...hmm...about 8 months now. Sheesh.
3. Procrastination. It used to be on my right, but I moved to the left hoping I could get to it later. *har har har*


Three songs I can’t get out of my head:
1. Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez and The Scene (It's just so darn catchy and it doesn't help that my girls walk around singing it nonstop.)
2. Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5
3. With a Little Help from my Friends by The Beatles (We've been watching The Wonder Years on Netflix lately.)


Three favorite Halloween movies (or songs):
Let me make one thing clear...I hate Halloween. It totally freaks me out and in my opinion is just an excuse for most people to get crazy weird or crazy slutty. I have never really enjoyed it until I had kids and was able to celebrate Halloween with cute "scary" stuff. Therefore my answers for this one are pretty low key when it comes to scare factor. Whatever. At least I can sleep at night.
1. Hocus Pocus
2. Any of the Harry Potter movies
3. Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo


Three things I’ve learned to just let go of:
1. The $200 our very first landlord "forgot" to refund of our deposit.
2. The 50 pounds I lost this summer.
3. Youth. (Weeelll...I'm still hanging on to this one with a few white knuckles.)


Three reasons I could wear the Super Woman costume on Halloween:
1. I got the office area organized...Finally.
2. I can raise four kids on my own...That is, in week long increments of course.
3. Blue makes my eyes "pop".
 
Three pictures:


Me and Sami, my favorite ax murderer in Texas. More blog posts to come...



I can't help but think of Max from Where the Wild Things Are.


And for my final trick...I am cheating. Instead of a third picture here's a little video clip I snuck of my three year old Elle. After an endoscopy and biopsy we have discovered she has Celiac Disease. This is her on the drive home from the hospital procedure. The anesthesia is still wearing off, yet she just can't resist singing one of her favorite songs. Sad, but oh so cute. (It takes a while before she starts singing. She was singing before I pulled out the camera, but you know what happens once you pull the dang thing out.)

Blog Swap: Semi-Single Mom

Cannwin from The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin is back to guest post. The poor girl has been waiting on me for another blog swap. Life has been hectic as it always is and I think she gets that seeing as how she is also a mom with four kids and one perpetually absent husband. Thank you to Cannwin for her patience with me! Read on to see what she has to say about married single motherhood.

I guess this is supposed to be one of those whitty, funny blog posts that makes everyone laugh, but the truth is that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't come up with a funny way to say "I'm a Semi-Single Mom."



I have a husband, but he's gone a lot and I miss him.



I miss having someone around to help when the kids start screaming, or vomitting, or crying for no reason beyond pre-pubescence.


I miss having someone to pawn the fraction homework onto and to delegate cub scouts to.



I miss having a warm body to cuddle up to at night. A body who can lift my eight year old son and carry him back to bed at night, so that I don't have to endure a night with him in mine... because I can't carry him.



Having a husband whose not around is like smelling sweets but not being able to find them.



I think Adele puts it nicely when she says:




Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.

Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?




So that's me. Cannwin the sometimes semi-single mom of four. I'm tired 70% of the time lonely 80% of the time and humorous 99.9% of the time, just not today.

Three for Thursday

Three things I'm up to these days:
1. I finally started P90X. It's not so bad so far. Really.
2. Researching Celiac Disease and Gluten Free diets online.
3. I'm up to my eyeballs in dirty laundry and dishes. *groan*

Three movies I've watched lately:
1. My Name is Khan (I give it 4 out of 5 stars)
2. Lost in Austen (4 out of 5)
3. Red Riding Hood (1.5 out of 5)

Three of my favorite spices:
1. basil
2. cinnamon
3. nutmeg

Three things I'm counting down "sleeps" for:
1. My October trip to Texas to "meet" my friend Sami.
2. Thanksgiving. It's at my house this year!
3. My husband being safely back home.

Three things that get my blood boiling:
1. People who can't seem to find happiness in anything. Ever.
2. Pregnant smokers.
3. Short notice.

Three pictures:

More poisoned apples?

A good daddy is...

I drool every time I look at this picture.

Disease of Celiac

Tuesday night. 9 pm. I am getting ready to head out the door with my neighbor lady to visit another neighbor lady. Just then my phone rings. I don't recognize the number. I wonder "Who calls at 9 pm on a Tuesday night?"

The woman's voice on the other line asks for "Elle's mom".

That's me. I tell her so.

She in turn tells me this is Dr. So-and-so (the allergy doctor we saw two weeks ago for some mother's intuition food allergy testing) and that she had been trying to reach me personally for a few days so that she could tell me personally that my sweet little three year old Elle has something called Celiac Disease.

I've heard of Celiac Disease. My uncle has it. His daughter, my cousin has it. Her daughter has it.
I've heard of Celiac Disease. But all I know about it is...you can't eat anything with wheat in it.

And all I know about wheat is...it's in E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

If my neighbor had not been standing in my kitchen watching me talk on the phone, I might have broken down a bit with this news. While I know it's not something as serious as Diabetes or Cancer, it feels serious. It feels threatening. It feels hard.

But I can do hard things. I've done hard things before when I found out Elle's older brother, Dee was deathly allergic to milk when he was only a few months old. I did it before and I can do hard things again.

But if she had to be allergic to something if only she could have been allergic to milk just like her older brother... Now I'm going to have to make three different special meals instead of just the normal two. Whine whine whine. This Celiac thing sounds like a lot of work.

I want to Google it. But all at the same time I don't want to Google it. I need to know what our new life is going to be like, but I'm terrified all at the same time. I don't want to know. Then I really might cry.

Ahhh, but the temptation is too great. A'Googlin' I go.

Blog Swap: Welcome Again...The Great and Random Cannwin!

Cannwin of The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin and I are swapping blogs for the next several Tuesdays. She will be gracing Hanging by a Silver Lining and I'll be treading on her chunk of the blogosphere trying my best not to muck it up too much. We've done this before and had so much fun doing it that we figured it was worth another go.

Today...An interview! Here's your chance to get to know the woman behind the greatness and the randomness... (Make sure to head on over and hear what I had to say to the same questions.)



What was the spark that generated the idea that drove you to start your blog?

When my husband and I were discussing places to go to Law School, we talked about moving out to South Dakota (which we eventually did) and I started toying with the idea of creating a blog to keep up with family. I think the idea must have been in my head before then, but that's when it really started to take flight, but I still didn't think that much about it until I came up with the title "The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin." Call it slightly egotistical, but I really liked the title and then I wanted to make something that I could use it for. That's when the itch took over and I probably had the blog up within the next week.


What do you find most challenging about blogging?

Getting readers. Everyone says, 'If you want readers you have to be a reader.' I'm not a reader and my blog doesn't really have a niche. I guess you could call it a 'mommy blog' but, to me, it's so much more than that. It's exactly what it says it is--it's my ramblings, be they great ones (like the essay I did about growing up in an angry house) or totally random stories about strange things my kids do.


I would love to make the 'Blogs of Note' or be nominated for something cool that would get my name out there and make people notice that I've actually got something worth reading! (Well, most days at least).


How do you keep coming up with material for your blog?

I breathe writing. My mind is a constant whir of ideas and opinions and philosophies. 9 days out of 10 I have absolutely no problem with coming up with something to write about. I've also been a pretty big journal keeper since I was a child, so maybe that practice has made blogging easier (I don't write in a journal anymore--I just blog it all).


What piece of literature or media has inspired you throughout your life?

Poetry has been a huge influence in my life. HUGE... it was one of the defining characteristics of my teen years and honestly kept me sane. My most beloved poem is "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes. The first time I heard that I was in Jr. High and it changed my life, literally.


Name some of the bloggers whom you look up to and why?

There's this one blog that Evelyn actually pointed out to me called "The Noisy Plume," I think she's fantastic. She's poetic, she's a great photographer and she's an incredible artist (jewelry). I adore her blog.


The other blog that I really enjoy is called BS5. He's a British guy who writes maybe 2-3 sentences every time he blogs. And it's just day to day stuff, but I really enjoy it for some reason. I've been following his blog since I started blogging myself, which makes his the oldest one on my list.


What is the ultimate goal for your blog?

I think that ultimately what I would like to see is my blogs made in to books that I can have around my house. I imagine my grandchildren and great grandchildren (and hopefully great-great grandchildren) being able to pick up one volume or another (each would be a years worth of blogs) and reading through the posts and comments and really getting to know me. And maybe even laughing! If you ever look at my blog labels there's one that is just three periods (...) that's my note to self on which posts I want to keep for my 'books'.


What skills do you bring to the Super Mom table?

Are you kidding me? I created the Super Mom table!


If you could have lunch with anybody, living or deceased, who would it be?

My husband.


Which means that half of you just sniffled and dried your eyes, and the other half said that doesn't count... but I haven't seen him since August 1, 2011 and I only get to talk to him for about 10 minutes every night (in which he's typically half asleep during). I would really like to just be near him for a bit... like a refill on the mommy gas gauge.


Ever been to another country or state that you liked better then where you currently live?

I loved South Dakota. I really miss it. Like, super miss it. When we moved there I thought I was heading into the wilderness, but now my opinion is that it's this countries best kept secret.


What are you doing with yourself if you’re not blogging or actively mothering?

Currently? Nothing. I probably wouldn't even qualify under the 'active mothering' status at the moment. I'm sort of just surviving until March. Sounds depressing, but that's what flux stages in life do to a person. :)

For the Love of All that is Holy

I have mentioned before on my blog that I am a Mormon.


In the Mormon religion we partake of the Sacrament (pieces of bread and cups of water that symbolize the sacrifice made by the Savior for all of mankind to pay for our sins both on the cross and in the Garden of Gethsemane) every Sunday. This is the primary purpose for our main Sabbath Day meeting rather appropriately named “Sacrament Meeting”.

In a typical Sacrament Meeting this is how the Sacrament ordinance would go:

The young men line up near the Sacrament table. One young man sitting at the table blesses the bread with an established blessing. Then the lined up young men take the bread trays and disperse amongst the congregation passing the trays down the aisles in a reverent and organized manner.

The members of the congregation upon being passed the tray take a piece of bread, eat it, and pass the tray down to the next person, all the while pondering upon the Savior and taking the opportunity to renew baptismal covenants with humble hearts and clear minds. This process is repeated for the water.

It is a special opportunity to think of our Heavenly Father and Savior and to partake in the power of the Atonement. It SHOULD be a sacred, quiet, peaceful time where hearts and minds are focused and open to the whisperings of the Spirit.

And then there’s how the Sacrament goes for our family:

As the Sacrament prayers are being given Jeigh is turned around almost standing on the pew to look at the people behind us. Elle is yelling, asking where her elephant has gone. Dee is whining that he’s ready to go home. Never mind that we have been at church a whole of ten minutes. The baby is probably the best behaved out of all four children…

Until…the trays come by. Then she is squirming, twisting, and reaching to grab a hold of the trays as they come down our pew. As I wrestle her back with one arm and hold the tray steady with the other I feel as if I know what it must be like to be a calf wrangler.

She’s simply a curious baby and this wouldn’t be so bad if Dee wasn’t taking his sweet time figuring out exactly which tiny hunk of bread is destined for his tummy and eternal salvation. He likes to study the tray, wiggling the fingers on both hands in the air with the anticipation. Obviously it is crucial to get the RIGHT piece of bread as sometimes he grabs one and tosses it back after a moment of examination. If I weren’t holding a near screeching baby back I would grab one for him and shove it in his mouth, but this is wholly impossible. Instead I choose to cast him a dirty glance, dripping with maternal meaning. Finally he chooses the one piece of bread that is farthest from him requiring him to reach over and around the tray, nearly knocking the entire thing to the ground.

The three year old is much faster at picking her bread. But in her haste and hunger she usually grabs a good handful of bread instead of the one piece and crams it into her mouth before I can stop her. Maybe she’s hoping to be forgiven of extra sins.

As I pass the tray back and try to bow my head and close my eyes hoping to salvage some of the opportunity to commune with my Heavenly Father, a finger pokes my side. I look over at Dee who has chewed up his bread and spread it all over his teeth like a set of those cheap Halloween hillbilly teeth. I just stare at him unsure if I should puke or punish.

After the water tray comes and goes Jeigh is loudly swishing her reserved water through her teeth. The baby is happily kicking the hymn books against the pew in front of us. Elle is still in a dire and vocal search for her toy elephant. Dee is slumped over and sulking after being pinched with church appropriate chastisement. My husband Joe is rolling his eyes and muttering threats under his breath. I have broken out in to a sweat from embarrassment and effort at “helping” my children to learn how to behave appropriately during this sacred ordinance.

As the Bishop stands up to announce that the Sacrament is over I am feeling anything but Christ-like. Quite the opposite actually. Every Sunday I find myself wondering if the Sacrament still counts when you have visions of knocking a few heads together in the middle of it. Surely there is some kind of addendum to the Atonement for mothers of young children…

P.S. Of course I say this all very tongue-in-cheek. In my heart of hearts I KNOW it is important for my children to be at this meeting and learning about the Atonement and the Savior. I KNOW it is important for me to be there as well, knocking heads together or not (I kid, I kid. Kind of...) One day we will get this right. And in the meantime, we have been given the wonderful opportunity to repent, partake of the Sacrament, and try, try again.

Love knows no bounds. But it should.

We have a five year old girl in our family.

Thusly, our house has been swept up in a fit of amorous passion.

Everything in our house is kissing these days.

I walked in on Iron Man in a fervent lip lock with Princess Jasmine the other day. (Shhh! Don’t tell Aladdin!)

Barbies. Stuffed animals. Balls. Cars. Rocks. Shoes. Pillow Pets. Fruit snacks. Bikes. Lego blocks. Sticks. Broccoli and cauliflower chunks.

Love knows no bounds.

But this has just gone too far.

Eww.

Get a room you two.

Three for Thursday: Thursday? Is that what that was?

Today's Three for Thursday is brought to you by the three blessed minutes I finally found to sit down and write. What a hairy crazy day. Much grocery shopping, laundry washing, kid losing, taxi driving, phone talking, homework supervising, bill paying, and various other -ings were done attempted to be done today.

A frustrating, but full day.

Three funny things I saw or heard today:

1. A woman in a convertible following me around the grocery store parking lot beeping her car horn at my two girls who were sitting in the toy car front of the grocery cart beeping back at her. The first time it was funny and cute. The second and third time...it was just kind of creepy.

2. The Smith's clerk stopping me to tell me how beautiful my children were and that she fully believed that Utah made the best looking babies. I didn't have the heart to tell her we're from Idaho.

3. The Costco clerk asking if Elle's dad was the milkman. Yep. He's from Idaho too.


Three things on my Christmas wish list:

1. A gym membership. Why don't you throw in a personal trainer while you're at it, Santa?

2. An Amazon gift card for a million dollars. That's not greedy. Not one little bit.

3. The gift of Time. Oh and world peace.


Three things that I love about my neighborhood:

1. My wonderful neighbors! I love when they drop by just to see how we're doing. I love the power fists jammed in the air as I jog by each night. I love the free delicious tomatoes growing through my fence. By far the best neighbors we have ever had.

2. The proximity of stuff. The school, the dance studio, the church, the Costco...

3. The great hills that "enrich" my running routine. I really really love them. So so much. :P


Three things that make me happy and sad all at the same time:

1. Chocolate. A moment on the lips. A lifetime on the hips.

2. Watching my babies grow up.

3. Weight loss. "Wow! It's amazing that I can do this! Wow. Why did I wait until I was 30 to realize this?! I've wasted so much time."


Three movies I like that have Elephants in them:

1. Jungle Book the cartoon

2. Jungle Book the not cartoon

3. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom


Three pictures:

Mommy and Jeigh disagreed about what does and does not make a "cute" school outfit. Guess who won this morning?

Race Day with my sister. I did the 10K, she did the Half Marathon. So happy we could share the experience! Next year we're running the Half together.

This child will be responsible for 99% of my gray hair.

The Silver Lining is This

I had a rather clever little post for the day, but I'm afraid it's just going to have to wait. I can't let this day go by without expressing gratitude for all the comments on my post yesterday, the texts of "Hey! You okay?", and the messages of love and support.

Ya'll made me cry again, but with tears of gratitude and love.

Thank you.

Ever feel like the English language just doesn't have the right words to express how you feel? Me too. And that's how I'm feeling today.

So all I can say is...Thank you.

One of my greatest hopes for myself is that someday I can be the kind of friend and family member to others as they are to me. I may be going through a rough spot, but I am truly blessed with family and friendships such as these.

Thank you.

There's a Silver Lining Here Somewhere...I Think.

When I woke up this morning I did so with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. I was happy. Truly happy. I got busy with the hustle and bustle of the morning routine, but added "Put 'I love my little life!' on Facebook status" to my mental TO DO list.

Before I could get to it, I checked my email.

I should have gone to Facebook first.

My email contained some truly rotten news that rocked my world today. While I can't discuss it publicly, it's hard to leave the hurt alone. In true Evelyn-fashion I cried. A lot. As I cried I tried to figure out how to approach this new trial in our lives. Do I lay down and die? Do I run for the nearest chocolate store? Do I get angry? Do I burn a few bridges? Do I give up?

Yes...

No...

Maybe a little...

I can't quite decide. It's been a roller coaster day. A humbling day. I keep flitting between "MY LIFE IS OVER!" to "Maybe this could be a good thing" and back again. I can't quite decide how to feel about it.

A few things are certain though.

Life is going to be a little rocky for our family over the next several months.

And life will go on.

Back in April 2003 I recall a memory where I felt the same. I had just broken up with Joe (for the dozenth time and what I thought was "for good"). I had recently dropped out of college as I had been doing terribly in my classes. I had resigned myself to taking a break and working for a bit to save money. The next day I was fired from my job, a job I had had for a year and a half and one that I actually kind of enjoyed.

I thought my life was over. No job. No school. No boyfriend. No future.

Anyone care for a second serving of Humble Pie?

A week later (the future) I had a new dream job at the local Emergency Department and I was engaged to Joe. The opportunity to go back to school came later. Despite what I had thought a week before life did indeed go on and even get better. Better than what it had been only a mere week before.

You know that whole saying about "God closing doors and opening windows"? I'm hoping that still holds true like it did in April 2003. 

So yes, I'm crying a lot today, but I'm also holding on to a shred of hope. My blog name is "Hanging by a Silver Lining" after all.

You Can't Judge a Mom by Her Wardrobe

My wall clock tells me that it is currently 1:28 pm.

My wardrobe tends to disagree.

You see, I'm still wearing my pajamas. Purple ones with pine trees of white, grey, and varying shades of pink in case you wanted a visual.

Before you have the chance to make any assumptions about how my Monday has been going let me tell you this. Just because I'm still wearing my pajamas at 1:28 in the afternoon does not mean I am lazy.

wake up at 6:30 am
read scriptures and say prayers
wash dishes
feed kids
dress kids
clean kids
shove kids out door
drive kids to school
shove kids out door
clean house
gather laundry
begin washing mountain of laundry whilst channeling inner Reverend Mother (♪♫ Climb every mountain... ♪♫)
check bank account
take garbage out
check mail box
freelance writing work
switch laundry (♫♪ Ford every stream...)
feed baby
put baby down for nap
change bedding
pick up kindergartner
chase 3 year old out of bathroom, out of cupboards, out of laundry room, out of bathroom AGAIN
make lunch
eat lunch
feed lunch to children
clean up lunch
homework
sight words practice
more laundry (♪♫ Follow every rainbow... ♫♪)
feed baby again

Lazy? Not even close.

You may have caught on by now that I'm a mom. And as a mom sporting pajamas of whatever shade or pattern means I have been doing anything BUT watching soaps and eating bon bons.

I have simply been so busy that I have not had the time to get dressed. So neener neener Monday.

And yes I totally wore my pajamas as I dropped children off at school this morning. And seeing as how I still have them on at 1:28 pm and my kindergartner's pick up time is at 11:15 am...Well, you do the math. Maybe my first grader will be lucky enough to see me in a pair of jeans before 3 pm.

And don't worry about the kids. The kids are too young to be scarred for life by their half dressed mother.

I hope.

Maybe I ought to start adding "GET DRESSED" on to my to do list. Then it would get done like everything else I've been doing around here.

Oh! Looks like it's time to add another load to the washer.

♪♫ 'TIL...YOU...FIND...YOUR...DREAM! ♫♪

Happy Monday ya'll!

P.S. Make sure to come back tomorrow! The Great and Random Cannwin and I are swapping blogs for the day. You don't want to miss this!

Three for Thursday: Staving Off the Nerves

My first 10K race is only two sleeps away (That’s how we track time in our house. Doesn’t everyone?) and I can’t help but be more than a little nervous. I know I can do it. I know I will do it. And I know how awesome I will feel after accomplishing that goal. It’s just the getting there part that is so darn nerve wracking. Wish me luck as I try to knock another physical fitness goal off my list and join me in another Three for Thursday as I try to distract myself from the gut wrenching nerves.

By the way, I'm simplifying things with 3 for TH a bit.
"Tis a gift to be simple! Tis a gift to be free!"

I cut the prompts down to five plus three pictures.
No prizes but the prize of having fun.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but my tight schedule, husband, and bank account send their gratitude.



Three accomplishments that I have under my belt:

1. I ran my first and only 5K back in September 2009. It was just a measly 3 miles, but it made me feel like a super hero.

2. As of today, 50 pounds lost over the last almost 4 months!

3. Successfully keeping four beautiful children alive…so far.


Three things that my grandma and I have in common:

1. Names that start with E.

2. Bad hearing. I already know hearing aids are in my future.

3. A love of swimming, travel, and adventure.


Three plans for Labor Day:

1. Run my first 10K race.

2. Bathe in chocolate and Dr. Pepper afterwards. (Maybe…I don’t really want to screw up that 50 pound mark.)

3. Celebrate the birthday of my little brother who was coincidentally born on Labor Day. Labor and delivery on Labor Day. How ironic.


Three ridiculous things I have spent money on:

1. Cowboy hats that Joe and I wore one time.

2. Food. I HATE when you spend money on food and it just doesn’t taste all that fantastic. That puts me in such a foul mood.

3. Dumb boys in high school.


Three things that only time will fix:

1. My hair. When will I ever learn that cutting it short is not a good idea?! UGH!

2. The hazard zone my office is. I feel certain that if I simply wait long enough, it WILL clean it self up, right?

3. My biological clock tick tick ticking away in spite of being “done”. I hear the day that last baby is potty trained is a glorious day of freedom. I’m waiting to see.


Three pictures:



Good grief! She looks so grown up, doesn't she?




We saw this guy ahead of us and could not stop giggling.




Did I mention I FINALLY got my picture frames up? Umm...I never said anything about getting pictures in those picture frames...



When I said "I'm back" what I really meant was...

I'm really bad at this whole returning to the blogosphere thing, huh?

Ho hum.

This is where I spill out some side splitting tale about motherhood or some incredibly insightful truth about life or at least something clever or cute.

Maybe some cute baby pics???

Yeah. I got those. But you can only get so far with cute baby pics.

Been there. Done that.

And then did it again.

Enough with the baby.

Or the three year old sister who is upstairs in her bed bawling her eyes out as I write this because her mother had the audacity to put her to bed at 8 pm. Poor thing.

Let me be honest. This post is...pointless.

But you know what. I'm posting it anyway. Because tonight I got nothin'. Not a stitch left of funny, clever, or cute to give you.

Such is life of "Mommy".

Oh don't you worry your pretty little head. I'm just warming up. Someday I'll find my bojo again (that's mojo for blogging. Clever, no? Maybe I still got a little bit of something left in me.)

Until then...Let me direct you to this because it's just darn tootin' funny. And heaven knows we all need a laugh at the end of a day like this. Enjoy.

The Prodigal Blogger Returns...Again

With Cee being 7 months old now and two children starting school this year (Dee's in first grade and Jeigh's in half day kindergarten) I figured my impending return to the blogosphere was in the bag.

And then about three minutes after I dropped them off at the school today, I realized (with no small amount of fear and panic) that I had just left my daily entertainment for my trouble making three year old and newly mobile baby behind.

Dangit.

Oh well. I'm going to give this a shot anyway. My clean house, sanity, and "No more than one two hours of TV" rule may lose in the end, but at least I got my silly little blog up and running again.

Now...Just to figure out something interesting to say...

*Ahem* Funny how one gets a little rusty during a break.

I guess we'll ease into this.

Until then, here's a couple of pictures of my school going kids. Huzzah for a new school year!



My first born begins his first day of first grade.



Kindergarten awaits!



Are they going to school or the prom?



Think they will pose like this when I take their picture on the first day of high school? (I kind of hope they do.)



Three for Thursday: It's Only Goodbye for a Little While

3 for TH was going to be over at Sarah's this week, but the poor girl has had a seriously traumatic week. Her grandmother passed away and her brother in law is experiencing some major medical misfortunes. Keep her and her family in your prayers, would you?

Katy is busy celebrating her hunka hunka burnin' love on his birthday today. Happy Birthday Eric!

And me... Well I am just plain burned out. My husband is out of town...AGAIN and I am hanging on for dear life much less than hanging by any silver linings. Being out of town for six weeks out of a seven week time period is NOT okay.

Methinks I am going to take some pressure off myself and take a break from 3 for TH until the fall. Sarah? Katy? You with me on this one?

Until then...here's one last parting 3 for TH for any of you die-hards out there. No prize this week, but the prize of joining in. I apologize for being such a pathetic and fickle blogger these days. It's the nature of the married single parenting game.

Three excuses:
1. My husband is out of town...AGAIN.
2. It's the nature of the married single parenting game.
3. The fridge was empty and the sink was full. Out to dinner we go.

Three favorite children’s books:
1. Stuart Little
2. Anything by Sandra Boynton
3. The Indian and the Cupboard

Three decorating styles I like:
1. Shabby chic. It's so doable. If I mess up on a project, I just distress it some more and call it "messy on purpose".
2. Taking inspiration from nature: neutral tones, blue tones, wood and rock accents
3. My decorating style: eclectic, antiquated, recycled.

Three things I do differently than my mother did:
1. Make a meat dish at almost every meal.
2. Do not keep my house meticulously clean.
3. Had four children instead of five.

Three things I’m waiting for:
1. A paycheck in the mail
2. Our big family camp out
3. Joe's long awaited return

Three things I want to be when I grow up:
1. A waitress at a mom and pop diner.
2. A better and sought after writer.
3. Skinny.

Three things I do because they’re good for me and NOT because I like doing them:
1. Not drink pop.
2. Go to bed before midnight.
3. Pay bills.

Three things I appreciate about my middle child or middle sibling: (My middle sibling Dan is having a birthday today so I'll go with middle sibling. Plus I have two middle children...Too confusing.)
1. Works for the government protecting our country from bad guys.
2. Married a nice girl and gave my kids four cousins to play with.
3. If I ever need a place to stay in Puerto Rico, he'll gladly let me use his floor for my air mattress.

Three truths about me:
1. I am the oldest of five children.
2. I am 5'10" and the shortest out of those five children.
3. I may be the oldest, but I'm also the biggest baby out of all those five children.

Three pictures:

Elle's birthday cake. She turned three on the 7th. It's not a cruel implication. She really does like rocks.

The birthday girl as the rest of us ate dinner and got ready to cut up cake. We could NOT wake her up. All partied out.

Joe and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on Monday. I love you Joe!

3 for TH Prompt {13 July 2011}

Three excuses:

Three favorite children’s books:

Three decorating styles I like:

Three things I do differently than my mother:

Three things I’m waiting for:

Three things I want to be when I grow up:

Three things I do because they’re good for me and NOT because I like doing them:

Three things I appreciate about my middle child or middle sibling:

Three truths about me:

Three pictures:

Three for Thursday

Three confessions:

1. I hate most church music.

2. I have a fatty liver.

3. Sometimes I like when Joe is out of town because then I don’t have to listen to him snore.


Three things I do to beat the heat:

1. Think about how much I hated Arizona’s heat and that it really truly could be worse.

2. Try to ignore that annoying yet tempting little chunk of my brain that incessantly demands that I ignore my healthy eating goals and forge forth to obtain an icy cold cherry flavored Icee.

3. Ever since the 4th of July weekend I’m hooked on the awesomeness that is the kiddie pool of the local swimming pool.


Three life lessons, super skills, or new tricks I have learned this past month:

1. That the Ark of the Covenant was more than just a golden box full of scary face melting demons on Indiana Jones. It was a container or an ARK (DUH!!) that carried the Ten Commandments. I almost slapped myself for being so dumb.

2. I could welcome and love a fifth baby.

3. How to make a vinaigrette dressing from scratch.



Three things that motivate me to be a better person:

1. Fear.

2. My family.

3. My fatty liver.



Three things I would do if I wasn’t “Mommy”, married, and burdened with cares:

1. Travel anywhere and everywhere. Alone. Carefree. And naked. Just kidding…about the alone part.

2. Maybe actually like the Twilight series.

3. Wish I was “Mommy”, married, and burdened with cares.


Three people I call first:

1. My sisters

2. My mom

3. My trio of bests. (You know who you are)


Three things I changed about my parenting after testing them out on my guinea pig child (first child):

1. I no longer take toys to church.

2. I no longer feed my babies solids before 6 months thanks to experience with allergies and thanks to pure laziness.

3. I no longer apologize for every sound or movement my children make.


Three things that make me cry:

1. Dead buffaloes.
2. Marching bands in parades

3. Disabled people who beat the odds.


Three things I’m going to accomplish before the summer is over:

1. Lose 30 more pounds

2. Organize a few scary areas of my house

3. FINALLY get my picture frames up on the walls


Three pictures:

Elle was terrified of the fireworks this year. Poor kiddo.



Happy 4th of July from all my Red, White, and Silver Linings!



Tee ball season just started. It's going over better than soccer. Jeigh yelled from the field on the first day: "Hey Mom! I actually like this!"

 
Make sure to write up a 3 for TH of your own and leave your link in the comments below to be eligible for the weekly prize!!

3 for TH Prompt {07 July 2011}

I had every good intention of being here every day since I posted last week.

Umm. About that...

I think I was having too much fun hanging out with the family for a fantastic Fourth of July celebration. (Why did it have to end??) Now I seem too busy playing catch up from that fantastic weekend to be here.

Meh. Oh well. I bet you are all busy being busy too.

If you feel so inclined, here is the prompt for tomorrow's Three for Thursday.

See you tomorrow! Probably most likely maybe so.


Three confessions:

Three things I do to beat the heat:


Three lessons, skills, or new tricks I have learned this past month:


Three things that motivate me to be a better person:


Three things I would do if I wasn’t “Mommy”, married, and burdened with cares:


Three people I call first:


Three things I changed about my parenting after testing them out on my guinea pig child (first child):


Three things that make me cry:


Three things I’m going to accomplish before the summer is over:


Three pictures:

 
P.S. The winner of last week's 3 for TH threesome prize is...Leah at The Dog's a Boy Too!
 
Double P.S. A few people pointed out to me that a threesome prize could imply something other than the totally awesome package of three things that Leah is going to be receiving in the mail...
 
Thanks for ruining my catch phrase for me, ya pervs. ;)
 
Triple P.S. The ever gracious Sarah at Creating Sarah and the ever ambitious Katy at The House of Estrogen have consented to play co-hostesses with me for the 3 for TH. Each week we are going to take a turn hosting and sending out the--ahem--three-ish (darnit! It just doesn't have the same ring!) prize to the lucky follower/participant/winner. Three times the hostess! Three times the fun!
 
Sarah? You want to take a stab at this next week???