Friday Five: Germs

1) For once, I can blame school for Mellow's potty mouth and not his home life. He came home on Monday - and has persisted all week - with proclaiming everything as doo doo. Joy.

2) To add to our public wariness, Mellow has also taken to being overly concerned with how clean things appear. This can include - but is not limited to - buildings, restaurants, and people. It's hard to stay sober with this because some of the time he is right, but I have had no success in trying to explain politeness. I think B was even taken aback by his statement. We pulled up to a birthday party last week and  once inside Mellow was all ewww. this place is dirty momma. it needs washin. I am less offendable when he recognized, you is dirty momma and you NEED a shower. But it was hard to put him aside when we walked in to pick up Chinese takeout, all this rest-too-runt is very very VERY dirty momma. You gonna help clean it? all in such a genuine and earnest manner that I can do nothing else but hide and blush.

3) We are full of other gems this week, statements like I AM doing this for a reason momma {when asked why he was making such a mess of his toys}. Or like his insistence with his books tell me what this page goes! Momma tell me these words! Momma tell me what's next and no skippin'! No Momma that's a boy to read in a boy voice!  And his infamous yelling about my singing {really, who can blame him?}, all you NOT a boy momma - no singing with the boys! The most obnoxious best came when he trundled down the steps after yelling for me, all don't you hear me callin' momma. I'm THE MAN momma. I get listened too. Nice. Exactly the opposite gender stereotyping that we were going for. Where does he come up with this - all I'm THE MAN momma. Good grief.


4) My week was made better by a donation to my wardrobe - I am so very not above taking hand-me-downs. Especially when it comes to shoes that have never been worn.

 5) Sooooooo...maybe my blogging has gotten out of control? When people start to make the comment (more than once in the last week) about of course, this will be on the blog or comments about oh my god are you going to blog about this?! it makes me a bit self-conscious about my writing. Or maybe I'm just being humble about my stardom? I love blogging and everything about it - and may have even been obsessing about all of these blog conferences people are talking about. Moreover, I'm a nutcase. The end.

A Print for you: Men-U

I have downloaded and printed lots and lots of Household Notebook things, without putting the actual notebook together. That is on my extended list of things to-do before the year is out. Promise.


When it comes to my household budget, the grocery store is where I lose sight of things. Last week, I apparently had a hankering for breakfast when I unpacked groceries with fruit, two boxes of cereal, eggs, bagels, pastries, and bacon. I don't even EAT breakfast at home five days a week!? Some weeks I go to the grocery store thirsty and come home with more juice than week can drink in a month. Yeah, yeah, I make lists - but the things that go on the list are things we have run out of or things that need replacing {toothpaste, chicken nuggets, baggies} that I write down throughout the week. While in the midst of grocery-ing, it is hard to have a discussion with a three year old about donuts and keep calm about what I am eating five days from now, what we already have at home, and what our weekly plans are.

Download menu here

What I really needed to make my weeks most effective was a good menu list. I have an erasable one, but it gets hidden and overlooked on my counter - and, frankly, I can never find an expo marker when I need one. If I can keep a menu on the front of the fridge, I am more likely to stick to it. I also realized that I needed a two-week menu. Often I will purchase things for one week, not quite stick to the plan, and roll them over into the next {including left overs, which I firmly believe have at least a seven day expiration date}. I really like a menu - they give me purpose and demand we eat healthier. Plus, my husband can add accordingly and direct my shopping as needed {since he is the one who eats breakfast at home and packs his lunch}.

Download Here

Please follow me on right {just one click!} and help yourself to the download. Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday: old edition

Have we outgrown the ridiculously cute Halloween costumes!? {Oct 2010}

Carrying on...

I hope that this upcoming week searches and finds my motivation. Ick. This weekend was another {much needed, I might add} accumulation of quasi-productive affairs. I did things like my nails - totally a valid and worthy. All of this was conquered while wearing pajamas, so I am not sure that they truly count as productive but whatever. And, warning, my photography sucks. Maybe my lack of initiative will motivate you:

1) I replaced my empty BathandBodyWords Wallflower with a new and improved version, as seen here: DIY Scented Wallflower Replacement. I honestly didn't care about the VOC crap is relatively important in my decision to not spend $10 to replace the empty bulb. I had a baggie full of essential oils {orange, grapefruit, lavender} from a project earlier this year, so this seemed to be the perfect way to use them up. I popped off the wick, filled the bulb with 1/2 oil and 1/2 water and then returned it to its previous state. It turns out this is GENIUS and PERFECT and I will never by plugin refills again!


2) I did this with the Sally Hansen's new nail stickers. Love.

does houndstooth get any better?!

 
3) I also made a version of these boxes for my kitchen. We haven't had diaper boxes in our house in nearly a year {o how I lament those useful boxes} but I found a school salvaged box with similar dimensions. It turns out, this size box was/is PERFECT for that empty space between the top of my kitchen cabinets and the ceiling. I used pretty wrapping paper because I didn't have the fabric, but I was still pumped about the result. It is now the convenient home to all our our picnic and party goods. Lovely.

pumpkin pie cookies

4) Little Miss Momma shares my love of pumpkin and definatley inspired my to make her Pumpkin Cookies Recipe. They were also wonderfully easy to make and tasted delicious, even though I went for the store bought cream cheese icing instead. I also saved the chocolate chips for the project captured below.

They best thing about fall is all things pumpkin - I had to promise a pumpkin pie by the end of the week. Won't that be torture?!





5) The Crisco I bought for the above recipe came with a peanut butter cookie recipe. It has been my experience that recipes on packages are usually mediocre and to not depend entirely on them. The recipes on the Crisco packages - fab. Maybe because one is cooking with a cup of FAT, but whatever. Anyways, I make the peanut butter recipe according to the package and added a bag of chocolate chips. Cookie dough heaven.

Later my husband naively asked, that's all the cookies you made? And the answer was yes. because I ate all the dough - honestly did but it was also worthwhile to see him freak out about my upcoming salmonella poisoning and such from eating cookie dough. Nice.

6) Please note that I am not getting all see what I can do about my weekend. Exactly the opposite. I put together my fall wreath - but it might be a flop. The jury is still out on that. I cooked Friday night - but not again all weekend. Nor did I launder, scrub, or shower {yup. you read that right}. The epitome of laziness right here. My goals for this week are much loftier: go to the gym at least three times, work Saturday, and possibly do laundry. I'm an overachiever.

Hey! I'm really THREE now...Part Two

Birthday party thoughts are still swirling through my head, so I am already beginning my list for next year. It's only 360 days until the next party!! So, dearest me, don't forget:

1) Hire an armed guard for the birthday cake. Because I prepped ours early, it sat in its box on the stove {the only clean space in the kitchen}. The danger didn't bother Mellow - because it he had 3 unattended seconds, he was standing at the cake. Or on the counter next to the cake. Or gently lifting the box and licking at the cake. Or, or, or. Saturday morning was like a cartoon. Mellow clammored out of bed to play and I closed my eyes - until B and I heard a rustle. And Brad was all THE CAKE. HE'S IN THE CAKE. and I jumped up and ran out of the room at lightening speed to find Mellow, of course, with his fingers in the cake. Only by the grace of God did it make it to birthday time.

2) We didn't really plan any games {the kids who came were: 4,5,7,9}; instead, we threw all of our outdoor toys and balls into the yard to play with. What was really, accidentally successful was a table full of Play-doh - supplied to the birthday boy by Mimi. The kids blissfully played for over an hour before they were ready to move on.

3) It is neither sophisticated nor polite to pull your husband out of conversation to take out the trash from the kitchen. Do something about that, huh!?

4) The best way to secure a tablecloth during a perfect breeze is to do the following: decide your tables look boring, grab some ribbon to create a centerpiece, get the genius idea to just tie the ribbon around the table instead of looking for table to secure the bows, be amazed at how smart you are because now the tablecloths aren't blowing around!

Friday Five: Three

1) Three years ago I was insisting on doing heavy duty yard work in an effort to have a six-day-late little boy. Later, I sat rocking and crocheting a newborn hat - counting out the contractions. Later still, I was waking up a sleepily anxious husband to take me to the hospital to endure 10 hours of labor. It was worth it.

2) Mellow woke up this morning all, is this the LAST day of my birthday!? and was totally inconsolable - even though we took cupcakes and party hats to school. I guess I need to take down his decorations so he doesn't get a big head about this thing. We are getting him a Go Diego Go bicycle - which I am totally looking forward to.

3) After a week like last, I have purposely planned nothing. And then some more nothing. With a bit of nothingness on the side. And, tomorrow? I plan to pick up with the nothing that I left off with today.

4) Mellow made my day last night. He sleepily rolled over, nudged his head under my chin, and whispered you're awesome, Momma.

5) I've been dead set determined to be a better parent this week {yeah, yeah, how long will THAT last?!} and have done two things to ensure this: printed off a ton of preschool worksheets to do one a night {sizes, shapes, colors, letter ID, fine motor skills} and gotten to bed - lights out - before 9pm. Both of these things have caused me to rearrange priorities but have made our life a little easier. The worksheets give us some designated not-tv-watching-time. The bed time makes our morning flow much nicer than before; so much so that this is what I woke up to the other morning. My little innovator.

Wordless Wednesday: daddy edition

the boys whom I love

Hey! I'm REALLY three now... Part One

Even though his birthday isn't until Friday, we celebrated this past weekend. In the spectrum of birthdays {you know, like, the three parties we have had}, this one was the absolute best. Hubs and I are dead-set again the whole oh my gosh guests are here and we aren't ready thing, so a lot of planning took place to make sure that didn't happen on Sunday.

Plus, did I mention the Thursday-Saturday leading up to the party included: a late night out-of-town field trip, a friend's party, an fabulously impromptu wedding, a broken down car, and a sick mommy.

Overall, though, we did a few things to make it work really well - and totally reserve our sanity:

1) We started decorating on Monday. Because we really wanted to go all out, we knew that just having a few hours before the party to decorate would not be enough. We hung a few balloons here, streamers there, and never had to think twice about it the morning of the party.

2) I also did all of my shopping on Wednesday - sans kid. This made the thought process a lot easier, so when I had to send B out for last minute things on Sunday..it was just a handful of extra-in-case-we-run-out things.

3) We served tacos. This is probably the second easiest thing next to pizza. Our menu was Diego-appropriate: tacos cheese/lettuce/sour cream, chips & salsa, chips & cheesy dip, PB Pretzels {more on that later}, animal crackers and trail mix, and rabbit food {carrots, cukes, etc. and dip}. Everything was ready in advance except for the taco meat - which I cooked and seasoned with my recipe x6 and stuck in the crockpot until lunch.

4) We birthday caked and ice creamed on Friday. I softened the ice cream a bit and then dipped scoops into Diego cupcake liners and stuck them on trays in the freezer. These were perfect and ready when birthday cake time came Sunday! I also made a caterpillar cake {found in Parents magazine}. It was ridiculously easy, even if it looked a bit like a three year old helped with every step :)

 

mama wasn't quite so happy about play-doh

yummy

Friday Five: Moonbear

1. What I really need to do with my closet, I realized after my new purchases, is not clean it out by seasons. I need to clean it out by weight. I have about 4-5 storage containers in the attic - I know one is full of truly winter stuff. The others are jumbled by pregger clothes, post-pregger clothes, post-post pregger clothes, clothes from college that I think I could wear again, and who knows whats. This fall, I have decided to pull everything out and categorize it by size/weight. I can never decide if the clothes that I continuously allow to hang in my closet {that don't fit} are motivating or depressing. Regardless, I only need what fits - right?! Do you have a bunch of drawers/hangers that range over three sizes? Would this work to keep me focused?

2. On the same clothes rant that I have been, I needed something green to wear this week. A bright, kelly green is my absolutely favorite color. I have to stop myself from instantly grabbing this everywhere I look; I always feel like I own everything in this color. Yet, when I needed something this morning - I own a sleeveless shirt and a cardigan. That's it?! You have got to be kidding me!? In the scan of things, I also realized that I totally don't own a red shirt? How did that happen?

3. We have an imaginary antagonist in the house by the name of Moonbear. Per Mellow's description, he is kinda nice and sometimes mean. He creates a crap-ton of trouble. I'm sure you will be hearing more about this. The end.

4. As I tripped through the house in the dark last night, I realized that having a kid does have its perks. For example, those thirty Matchbox cars strewn across the living room floor? Totally burglar-proofing. That cup of milk that has been fermenting in my car? Totally limits my appetite. Bonuses, people, bonuses.

5. I went with a slew of students to see Wicked last night - this meant a late night but totally worth it. Like, whoa.

Nothing wordless about this week

Have I complained discussed our homework with you, yet? Don't take me wrong right off - I am all for doing work at home. We practice our alphabet and numbers on a daily basis. I just learned that he knows the months and days of the week, so we have added that to our roster. It's been a while since we've had homework from school. Last year, in his two-year-old rooms, the projects were daddy-son events {for fear that I was too much of a perfectionist? whaaa?} which included decorating a heart, apple, pilgrim, and stocking. B wanted to projects to look like Mellow had completed them {honestly, unlike most of the other projects - it did}. This year, right off, the ante has been upped.

Our job this week - blatantly explained to us on the worksheet - was for parents to complete the "All About Me" project. I spent an hour yesterday afternoon pulling and clipping out things from magazines: legos, Lightening McQueen, blueberries, soccer, Diego, ice cream. I mean - what could I pull together from Parenting, Food Network, Rachel Ray, and Paula Deen? I was more worried that our life was going to end up looking all about food or namebrands than anything else. Maybe our life is just TV and eating? Would we be any different than anyone else?

Anywho, we sat and finished our his project at 9:30pm on Sunday night - just like good parents. The end.

Perspective

I love to question Mellow about his day. I know that his response only holds kernels of truthfulness - as in what did you do all day at school and he replies with nothing like he is sixteen. Then, over dinner, he begins to recite the months of the year IN ORDER, PEOPLE and I am all like this is the nothing that you do at school?!

The kid loves to talk - and he will go on and on about things. Upon leaving Mimi's house last weekend, I was curious to see what he retain. Among the three hundred conversations and five hundred rounds of Wheels on the Bus, I inquired about his weekend. Knowing that it was jam packed full of pets and outsideness and family and playing - I had no idea what he might come up with...He succinctly summarized his weekend like this: I fed the kitties, momma. I played trains. I watched the mouse movie. And that was that.

For all of these moments, I wish I kept a voice recorder on me. He's taken to saying oh MY GOSH with vivid excitement at everything - a big bug! a huge chunk of peanut butter! a fast truck! And declaring things are just  pre-fect or fine when he is being stubborn, as in Mama, I TOLD you I am just PRE-fect. I not need a bath! I know I can't remember everything but I do know that I feel like I should be submitting stuff to They Say the Darndest Things. Until he mimics my voice and intonation, all what the HELL is this?!

Perspective.

Fall and a Birthday Wreath

Aside from the jillion and a half crazy crafty ladies floating around blog world dying to celebrate Halloween already, I can tell its fall.

I have a wild urge to work in the yard.

We have been outside from home arrival until dusk - just to play.

We are attending football games in this delicious weather.

My MIL has already asked for Christmas lists.

I haven't sweated in three days. Absolutely a milestone...since February.

Most of all, I am already marking off Mellow's birthday to do list. This was first:

This was one of those it would have been easier had I not been so dumb projects. I was truly unaware how many balloons I would use! In the end, I think I used between 200-300 balloons. The wreath I was using was pretty big with a flat top surface - I think it would have been better had I used a round pipe-like wreath.

The other problem was that I had to continuously fight my husband over poking holes in all of the balloons. I started the wreath using florist pins - which form a "u" shape and staple down the balloon. They stuck securely but there were two intertwined things wrong: the pins left big, shiny, obvious staples that made it hard to overlap the balloons. So, halfway through, I switched to using straight pins. These did not hold the balloons as securely - and POKED HOLES in every balloon - but made the wreath look more polished. And o'my gosh did I just waste hundred of balloons on a wreath because they now all have holes in them?!

I can't wait to show this off during our upcoming party!

p.s. "holy" or "unholy" pins...get it?! pun it up!?

Friday Five: No Eggs

1. I have this weird obsession with fashion. I love it - it hates me. I am OCD about many things I wear: right material (NEVER wear that polyspandex crap), right length (well below the waist), right fit in pants. I rarely deviate from these requirements - feeling like I know what does look good on me and what hides all the trouble spots. When it comes to accessories I am the same way: watch and earrings or necklace and bracelet. I'm sure I've never worn all four things together. I KNOW I've never worn matching pieces (like an earring and necklace set). I like simple and understated. I like bold patterns and colors. I like the thought of black - but in all honesty only own one pair of black pants and three black shirts.

2. Shopping with my mother has a tendency to pull me out of my comfort zone. She is a firm believer that you just have to try it on and all clothes look ugly on the hanger. With all intent, I started the weekend simply looking for black tops to wear to work; I have a host of blue/burnt orange/khaki/white pants to wear them with. I ended up with the craziest stuff that I never would have picked out for my self. Tank tops with sparkles? Sweaters with buttons and gaps down the arms? Trouser jeans? {God love Gap Outlet}. My super find of the weekend came from Tar-jey. All summer I have been searching for a nude chemise/slip that I can layer under my light weight H&M dresses - and I found one for $3! This meant that I felt no guilt when I had to chop off the bottom six inches to make it wearable.

3. You thought I had my hands full last week grocery shopping!? My serious-as-a-heart-attack husband came home this week with two HUGE storage containers full of shot gun shells and various rescued bullets. Why? I naively asked as we cleaned out the garage. Because we might need them at some point to trade for food...(pause)...you know...when the whole world comes falling apart. And reason number 309 why I love my husband? Because he's earnest - and a little bit paranoid.

4. To eat my words, Mellow has gone through an entire box of band-aids this week. Apparently, per my earlier rant, we just hadn't hit our stride yet.

5. My fairly healthy child has one villainous weakness - eggs. We call it "eggs straight up" because he only seems to get hives when he touches raw eggs (like, accidentally, y'all, when we are cooking) or when he eats eggs plain (scrambled, with cheese, in a biscuit). Eggs in things doesn't seem to bother him.

Anyway, school knows this and is reminded of this periodically on their "about me" sheets that they make us fill out every couple of months. Yesterday evening, I noticed Mellow looked a little rashy around his collar. Sure enough, his chest and back were bumpy - he was broken out in hives. After an intense interrogation (me: did you eat eggs today? Mellow: yes. at school.) I realized that his teachers failed to remember his allergy. B definitely had to talk me off of the ledge on this one. I raved through the whole list of whatifs: whatif we ended up at the doctor? whatif we had to pay for steroids? whatif he ended up in the hospital and i left my phone at home and didn't know (yes, I am just as paranoid as B)? I know that I will need to take a deep breath when I step into his classroom tomorrow to gently, diplomatically remind them NOT TO FEED THE KID EGGS.

Wordless Wednesday

coffee filter lampshade fail? the jury is still out.

On Pets

Dinah Cat is our lone family pet. Mellow, still yet to learn the magic of gentleness, is rough with her, loves to scare her, and loves to coerce her to jump off our loft onto the sofa. This cat deserves some type of Purple Heart. Honestly, I think any other cat with a few brain cells would have abandoned us sooner rather than later. Dinah is just a big, sweet furball and as long as she can convince herself that Mellow's tackle is a type of affection - she is just fine.

We try to model good behavior, showing Mellow how to properly pet her and brush her. He knows how to fill her bowl with food and we let him give Dinah treats on occasion. Still, I found him trying to put a shirt on her the other day. Bless her heart.

Friday Five: Differences

1) After an adventurous weekend away from home, I have been struggling to get things straighten in my life. This means work work, laundry, groceries, and planning a birthday party just around the corner. I missed my usual grocerying adventure (I love hitting the store early Sunday morning) and sent my husband there instead, via phone, with the orders to prep for the week. His shopping trip is just another example of how differently we think. Each week, I plan a menu and shop according to the menu (and lunches and a few snacks). By the following Sunday, there is nothing in the house if we ate according to the menu. My husband, on the other hand, is a stasher. When he looked through the cupboards and hit the grocery story on Sunday - the only thing he noticed was our astonishing lack of can goods. So, he came home with soup, beans, tuna, corn, etc. Last night, when I asked his what he bought for dinner this week, he was all nothing. I had to use my budget buying canned goods. We didn't have any. and I was all what the hell?! what are we supposed to eat?! and it didn't matter to him because now if we get hit by a hurricane we won't go hungry.

2. Speaking of husband/wife differences, does anyone else's husband hit the roof when lights are left on in the house?! I know, I know - being efficient is super important to one's power bill.  But, in trying to get out of the house each morning, I could care less if the closet light upstairs is on...really. Just call me Wasteful Wanda.

3. We know Mellow watches a lot of TV - possibly too much, really. This didn't come to light, though, until yesterday morning. Mellow was jumping on the bed singing The WonderPets theme song when B. began to quiz his musical knowledge. All of the sudden we were hit with Sesame Street and Blue's and Diego and Dora and Bachyardigans and the hundred other shows he watches too much. Granted, some of these songs he did not know all of the words for - but he has the pitch and tune down to a science. Maybe we need to rethink free time at home a bit...

4. After two nights of restless sleeping, Mellow woke up claiming my mouth hurt and it was straight to the doctor we went. We are looking forward to seeing Mimi this weekend and wanted a pre-emptive strike against this yuckiness he was developing. Sure enough, he marched right in to the doctor's office and said  Doctor 'hours my mouths hurts and there was the strep staring us in the face. Three cheers for ten days of antibiotics!

5. If I've already had peanut butter popcorn once this week, can I have it twice three times?

Peanut Butter Popcorn

I worked my way through college scrounging up extra cash by babysitting. One snack that I had in my arsenal of "babysitting things-to-do" involved the easiest and most crave-worth snack ever: Peanut Butter Popcorn.

This is now a staple in our house - an probably one of the thousand reasons why we go through gallons of peanut butter every month (we use Jiffy Natural, but I'm sure this could be adjusted for anything).

To make:
1) Pop popcorn. Whether microwaved or air popped, you will need about four-six cups of popcorn. This is the best way to bring a low calorie, healthy snack into the cravings zone.

2) Melt together (about 30 seconds): 1/4 cup peanut butter, 3 tablespoons syrup. This should create some kind of caramel colored goodness.

3) Mix and enjoy. Best when eaten warm with a cold glass of milk!