This was one of those slow but busy weekends. Funny because I felt like it was go-go-go but we only left the house once!
Since the hubs was working out of town I kinda took it upon myself to declare this weekend a "jammies til noon if not later" weekend :)
And we did.
I had a LOT that needed to get done this weekend though, and it actually GOT DONE which was AWESOME. Lil Miss needs to have her Valentines ready to take to class on Monday so once I finally decided what to do it was time to get to work!
It was good though because it gave the two of us something to do together.
On the Boy's weekends when the hubs is working I have to make a little extra time for Lil Miss. Since the Boys is almost 13 {omg} he doesn't really have a lot in common with her. She BEGS him to play with her but he would rather be out skateboarding with his friends. Which is totally understandable.
To help her deal with it, I've got to have distractions ready to go at a whiney moments notice.
So I had her help me with her class Valentines.
They came out SO CUTE! These are for the girls ...
And for the boys ...
I posted about them here, I just LOVE how they came out! They were relatively inexpensive and easy and she LOVES them :)
Today we did some baking :) Besides doing her Valentines, I needed to finish up Flower Child's costumes for her play, and I decided to take a break when Lil Miss started complaining about the Boy not playing with her.
We were out of granola bars and had some bananas that were JUST RIGHT for muffins so that kept us busy. And gave me a nice excuse to get away from all the tulle lol
The Banana Cream Cheese Muffins I had pinned were givin me the stink eye so we made em ;) The recipe is for bread but these came out pretty good!
And I FINALLY FINALLY finished Flower Child's costumes :) Since her part is part of a quartet singing part, it was kind of important that costumes matched. And since the GATE program doesn't get much funding, the costumes are up to the kids {read: PARENTS}, I told the girls I would make all of their costumes so they would match :)
This is my sweet girl's costume and I am just SO excited to see her in it tomorrow!!
This is her OTHER costume since my little one isn't content with ONE part ... she wanted two ;) I'm lucky that we were able to come up with a costume that could double though! In fact, all of the costumes were her idea right down to the colors. She was VERY PARTICULAR in what they should look like ... I just made em ;)
Tomorrow should be fun ... busy, as in NON FREAKING STOP, but fun :) Can't wait to see my performer up on the stage!
I swear I couldn't tell you whats been going on around here for the last month if I wanted to. Looking in my photo folders on the computer, there's a serious lack of proof that we did anything beyond lay around the house in our jammies.
I've been going through some stuff. Some things that piss me off, some things that make me sad, some that do both. And I don't always see how things are affecting me until they all come to a head like they have this week.
You know, when all of the stuff you thought you were handling and then a bunch of NEW crap come together and you just feel like you JUST CAN'T TAKE NO MORE. Yeah, like that.
It just sucks all around. To make matters worse, the hubs has been working non stop. I mean, that sounds great, and it IS great that he's working, but unfortunately it's just not that simple.
He's rarely home and when he is, he's stressed out. Despite all the work, there is still issues with getting paid on time, or at all, and that is BEYOND frustrating. Plus, I miss him like crazy.
Anyway, just had to get a few things off the chest without actually saying anything lol.
I have been busy with a few things like making costumes for Flower Child's upcoming play :) Her, and her 3 friends who have a singing part together lol. So that's kept me busy. Plus there's the gym, and all the pinning ... THAT can be an issue!
I have taken a few pictures though :) Teen curled Lil Misses hair one afternoon (I love that my girls have sisters, makes my heart smile :)) it was ADORABLE. It took her an HOUR lol. But it was SO cute that I want to make her do it everyday :) It made it just a little bit harder to be mad at her ... and I'll take all the help I can get ;)
The weekend we had rain here, first and pretty much ONLY this year so far, I pulled out something I picked up at the dollar store! These ADORABLE little cardboard doll houses! They made for HOURS of entertainment :) Although, some of those hours were spent arguing over who owned the Tea House since there was only one and they had to share. To fix the arguing problem, I pulled out my head phones and watched an episode of Alcatraz on my computer :) PROBLEM SOLVED.
*P.S.* SUPER AWESOME SHOW YOU MUST WATCH IT SO IT STAYS. Monday Nights on Fox :)
Last weekend we had an Anti Super Bowl Party. It was Teen's idea. The hubs was going to be working out of town and it was the girls weekend so it was just gonna be us chicks! Since none of us, including the hubs, give a flying crap about football I thought it would be fun to do girly stuff but still have the snacks ... cause we ALL KNOW, it's all bout the snacks :)
So we did some Valentine related decorating and activities, and decorated using Valentinesy colors (contrary to my crappy cameras crappy photos).
We made Valentine cupcakes, had Valentine candy, chips and a meat and cheese tray, plus some REALLY awesome stuff I baked with recipes from my Pinterest Appetizer Board :D YAY PINNING! It was fun. We ate, we watched commercials, and the best part was, it was close enough that it doubled as dinner :)
We also went out to dinner! Which might not sound like much, but round here, we just don't get to do that. We rarely EVER go out, and when we do, it's not with the kids. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW THESE PEOPLE EAT!! It's too expensive, so usually we just don't ever go out.
But since I seriously couldn't remember the last time we had, I felt it would be a good time to! Plus the hubs was leaving until Monday night so we thought it would be fun to do before he left.
Not a great picture, but proves we were there ... and not in our jammies ;)
It seems like this week has flown by, what with the procrastinating and all. It's very time consuming.
This week we've dealt with
- mounds of post-vacation laundry
- gathering supplies for a birthday party that could have 10 guests ... or ONE
- disappointing Old Navy excursions
- tear inducing trips through Wal-Mart
- doing absolutely NOTHING because Flower Child had the stomach flu
- Flower Child having the stomach flu about 3.5 days before her birthday party
- a birthday party that I have not received ANY RSVPs for
- a birthday party with up to 10 guests that I have NO phone numbers for
- attempting to design my own cupcake toppers and food cards and wanting to pull my hair out if I forget to add a layer ONE MORE TIME
And now it is today. The day before the party.
- I have to go to the store for the rest of the food because OH YEAH ... the oven STILL isn't working :-/
- clean the downstairs
- COMPLETELY CLEAN AND DISINFECT THE UPSTAIRS
- wash EVERYTHING Flower Child touched
- organize and cute-ify the girls' room
- make pom poms
- print, cut and assemble toppers and food cards
- maybe make a banner
- switch out photos with photos of Flower Child
- make cake plates
- maybe make a ribbon wall
- OH YEAH make a bunch of baby stuff for my cousin's baby shower ON SUNDAY.
- make 3 more pots of coffee or buy more Rockstar
- OH! and my favorite thing about today ... going to see my sweet friends' new baby!
Hope you all are having a good week!
Hmmm. I apologize if reading that title made you think you were about to hear some prophetic words of wisdom on how to properly raise up 3 women. If that post EVER happens, it will be when they are all MUCH older and are productive members of society. And even then, I'm sure it will have little to do with me ;)
Today started out with a mix of tears and a large helping of drama.
I picked up Teen and Flower Child from their dad's house this morning and all seemed to go well in the backseat ... for about 4.5 miles. Then it was nothing but shrill voices, attitude, and "SHE WON'T PLAAAAAY WITH MEEEE". By the time we got home, it was all I could do not to heave myself upon my bed and stay there with the remote for the rest of the day.
But I had much to do so I promised myself a Rockstar and got myself out of bed. I started work on a large and very OVERDUE project that is completely uncrafty and unfun so I won't bore you with the details, but let me tell you - it was a BEAR. I was engulfed in said project when the drama reached a peak I could no longer ignore.
I often struggle with where to draw the line on when to step in. I'm not a helicopter parent. I try not to get involved because I think it's important for kids to leave how to resolve their issues on their own and not come crying to me to fix everything. Because then you have the whole "SHE LOVES HER MORE THAN MEEEE" issue and don't think I haven't already seen THAT.
First I tried the mama guilt trip. That's a time honored tradition so I usually try that early on. When Lil Miss WAILED that they would not play with her and that everything she wanted to do wasn't fun, well it just broke my heart. I called up the stairs to them that they were not really being very fair and that WOULD IT KILL YOU to play SOMETHING she likes?! Told them GOOD BIG SISTERS WOULD. It was all very guilt trippy.
Well that worked for all of about 4.5 minutes. I could tell that they were doing what she wanted to do but that they were just IRRITATING the CRAP out of her. Making their toys be mean to her toys, that kind of thing. She was pretty upset in her little pretend world and that just seemed wrong to me. Then I started in my head on how unfair it is that they always expect her to watch their movies, play their level games, be interested in their stuff, but never really returning the favor.
I realized it really bothered me because Teen and Flower Child were not like this when they were 10 & 5. Teen didn't act like Flower Child does with Lil Miss. There a lot of factors that go into why but the fact remains that it's not fair to Lil Miss. I feel they have a responsibility as big sisters to enjoy her at her level sometimes, not always expect her to rise to theirs.
So I called them all down. We had a pow-wow. I went on and on about all of that and how unfair they were being and how would YOU have liked it if Teen always told you that she didn't like playing with you, etc. I reminded them that this summer we would be together and apart for week long blocks and that that time could either go really well ... or REALLY REALLY BADLY. I asked them to think about what it will be like for Lil Miss to be without her sisters for a WEEK since they are never without each other.
I THINK I might have made some progress FINGERS CROSSED. But they go back to their dad's until Wednesday so I guess we'll see if it holds up :-/
But at least the rest of the day went well! We had some errands to run and that included a visit to Dollar Tree. Since those usually end with me leaving in a zombie like state at looks of pity from other shoppers, I was cautious with my optimism. It actually went well. We were looking for party supplies for Flower Child and I did have to tell them at least once to "PLEASE stop talking, Mommy's trying to count" (I can only multitask SO much), but overall it went well and we celebrated with ice cream and a trip to the park :)
My good friend and her 3 sweet boys met up with us there and they ran and ran and RAN.
and ran some more ...
:)
While they ran and played red light/green light and duck duck goose I got to talk and hang out with my friend while we finished off their ice creams ;)
Oh and also fall into a holycrapwhatisthatHUGEballoflightinthesky?!OHYEAHit'stheSUN! induced coma on the table. It felt SO good though! It's been some oddly cold and cloudy and dreary here for what seems like a sweet forever so the sun actually feeling WARM on my skin was just AWESOME :)
And so far so good with the sister drama. It is now Friday morning, almost a full 24 hours since the lecture and we've not had TOO many flare ups ;) We'll see how the day goes!
Now I've got to get to the gym, clean up the house and get packing, we're taking Lil Miss and the Boy to Magic Mountain for a long weekend and I need to mentally prepare what that is going to do my soul. See you in a few days ... if I survive :D LOL
This week was an emotional one. Teen graduated 8th grade and made up with her best friends (she was so mature and so sweet I almost cried when she told me the store), Flower Child got her report cards and got STRAIGHT A's in class AND IN HER GATE CLASS, the kids all got out of school and we said goodbye to some great teachers.
It was a great week, but a tiring one!
Hubs took most of the day off of work and since the older kids were all off with their other parents it was just us and Lil Miss. So we went to a new place for breakfast :) You wouldn't think that in a town this small you could find a place you haven't tried in 4 years but you would be surprised ;)
Their food was AWESOME. I mean WOW. The french toast and home fried potatoes were CRAZY GOOD!
After breakfast, hubs went off to work and we went to a playdate and my good friend's house :) I got to see some friends and their kids that I haven't seen in ages! They're all so BIG now! It was just a nice way to start off the summer. I felt so relaxed!
To be honest, I've been a little nervous about this summer. I'm worried that I'll be quick to loose my temper with all the kids at home all the time and I'll turn into MEAN MOMMY ... and NOBODY likes HER!
Hopefully, we'll keep busy and that will help all of us to work together to keep this summer a great one!
It's been awhile I know.
Or 6 months.
But in my defense, BIG THINGS have been afoot. Here's a quick list to catch up:
- I spent approximately 110% of my time at the gym
- I lost 60 POUNDS and wear a smaller size than I have in 10 YEARS.
- I started educating myself on whole foods and have instituted a MUCH healthier lifestyle for my family.
- That takes a LOT of work and a LOT of time.
- It's worth every minute.
- Lil Miss started Kindergarden ... :) and oh yes, it is GOOD.
- My average day was - going to the gym, getting Lil Miss to school, then running errands (CAUSE I AIN'T GOT NO KIDS BABY!) then RUSHING back to get them all from school, then homework/making dinner/whatnot - it's a FULL DAY letmetellyou.
- And then I started crafting ...
- I took up sewing!
- and crafting beyond my scrapping!
- I LOVE to craft!
- I made all 3 of the girls' costumes for Halloween this year and they were AWESOME.
- I visited Rebecca (aka BEST BESTIE EVER!) in Kennessee and met her BEAUTIFUL new baby :)
- I took some super cute awesome pictures I MUST share!
- Especially since she isn't blogging any more ;-)
- The holidays were crazy.
- It didn't feel like fall (*I* didn't feel fall) until the week of Thanksgiving and that TOTALLY threw me off.
- I tried to do too much (MAKE too much) for Christmas and THAT totally threw me off.
- I really didn't get that "into" the holidays this year since DH has been working apx 110% of the time and we didn't get to do much as a family.
- Yes, it IS great that he's working ... but we miss him a LOT.
- And most recently ...
It started when I noticed that my computer's virtual memory was getting filled up with the eleventy hundred tutorials I had bookmarked. I kept spamming Rebecca's facebook page with links to share my tutorial awesomeness and finally I just thought "Ya know, maybe I could put them on a blog and share with EVERYONE! And that smoke coming from my computer CAN'T be good."
So the new blog was born :) I'm using it to share my craftings and recipes and sweet tutorials I find so I don't have to worry about the smoking computer any more :) Check it out! It's coming together nicely. I'll still be posting here, stories, photos, more stories, hopefully more often!
Til then ... hope you all had a great 6-ish months!
Seriously ... the weather has been CRAZY around here!
The usual temp for these parts is 83* ... yesterday it was 65*. And it rained. It's BEEN raining at least once a week for MONTHS now.
Yesterday was super pretty in the early part of the day and the girl and I did our normal routine of dropping the girls off at school and then heading to the gym/kids club. I'd hoped to walk to the park after ward but the clouds quickly rolled in.
Later that afternoon, after the big girls went to their dad's house, DH & I took Lil Miss out into the depressing rain to run some errands. While DH did some things, I planned on wandering around Target with Lil Miss but I just didn't have the energy for it. I think all this crappy gray weather is sapping my energy levels. 
So instead, she fell asleep in the back seat and I sat and enjoyed the QUIET :) I just listened to the rain and enjoyed every second of it. 
After the errands were run we thought maybe a stop at Buffalo Wings N Rings might cheer us up :) And I had my camera this time! lol
Ahhhhh ... that's better ;-)
Lil Miss insisted I take a picture of her Kitty ... Roxy lol
But THIS was the star of the show ... it was 49 cent wing night! WOOOHOOO!
This morning I woke up early to go get the girls from their dad's house (45 minutes away from me, if you don't know) and I got to drive in THIS. Seriously? Did I wake up in February?! The fog followed me for the majority of the drive but it was nice{ish} once we got back home.
After the gym/kids club we went to the library for some books and storytime :) She LOVES her some puzzles! The Storytime has been SO good for her! She sings all the songs and does all the movements. She is learning to sit and be quiet and listen, and I think it will really help get her prepped for Kindergarden.
It's also a half hour of time that *I* don't have to entertain her ;-) Thank God for the public library! lol
After the girls got home from school it was time to work on their Teacher Gifts! Tomorrow is the last day of school {AAAHHH!!!} and I wanted to make something cute, inexpensive and clever for the 2 older girls to take to their teachers.
I totally copied THIS POST about St. Patrick's Day Teacher Gifts and just adjusted it to my needs. I got the little containers and the candies at Dollar Tree. I already had the ribbon and hot glue gun so I basically only spent $10 for 8 teacher gifts! {Tween is in Middle School so she has 6 - Flower Child has 2}
Next I had to come up with a cute little saying for the tags and start assembling! It took a little bit of time and effort, but Tween helped me and that was fun, so the time flew by.
The little ones ditched me though, they wanted to play outside before it started to rain and when they were SUPER quiet I went out to see why ...
They started giggling and squirming and I found out why ...
They'd found a new friend :) His name is Brayden LOL
I let the girls choose which ribbon they wanted to use on their different teachers and I'm SUPER pleased with how they came out :)
See, the candy is Sour Patch Kids ... so I said "Thank you for helping grow this PATCH of KIDS" ... get it?! ... cause they're sour PATCH KIDs ... yeah ... you get it ;-)
We ended up needing more candy so we ran out to Dollar Tree on the way out to celebrate Flower Child's perfect report card. I just HAD to take a picture of their "Sale of the Week" ...
LOL!
We ended up having dinner at Applebees since they have 'Kids Eat {Almost} Free Night' and ...
Mango Martini's :) My heart belongs to Applebees :D
It's been a LOOOONG day and tomorrow promises to be even LOOOOONGER lol ... and that is just the beginning of the LOOOOONGEST SUMMER ... EVER. LOL
But I WILL survive because in 76 more days begins ... the BEST YEAR EVER {aka - Lil Miss goes to Kindergarden LOL} ... pray I ... and they ... make it that long ;-)
