All You Need is Love

Sickeningly sweet

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:30:00 +0000

I have a 6 year old who thinks he's the king of the world that listens to no one and a 10 year old who is embracing every bit of pre-tweendom there is. I know. You're jealous.

But just because my kids have bratty tendencies doesn't mean they're like that all the time. In fact, they can be sickeningly sweet. Take this past weekend for example.

Friday night GG was invited to sleepover a friend's house. With one child out of the house I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to work on the 100th day of school project with the other. Little Dude, with the help of GG, decided to make a football field for this project. Football fields have 100 yards so this was a perfect idea.

I squirted some green paint on a plate so Little Dude could start to paint his field. When he was done he asked if he cold paint the rest of the plate. Instead of wasting the paint, I told him to have at it. Before it had time to dry, he asked if I could add some glitter to the paint. When all was said and done, he had a green glittered plate with a picture of a girl taped to the side. On the back of the picture was a note to his sister - I love you.

How sweet, right?! But he was not the only one who was sweet over the weekend.

GG had some gift card to a book store burning a hole in her pocket. I told her we could go to the book store and have a mother-daughter afternoon. While we were at the store, GG got lost in the maze of shelves. Being an avid reader, she just couldn't make up her mind. And then she saw it. An illuminating Harry Potter wand! Sadly, the only actual Harry Potter wand we could find was broken. She was about to settle on a Hermione wand when the look in her eyes changed. I tried to explain she could get whatever she wanted with her gift cards. GG told me if she bought the wand and one of the nooks she wanted, she wouldn't have enough money left over to buy me a treat and coffee.

Naturally that explanation broke my heart. I told her to put the wand back and grab her original choice of books. If treating me was that important to her, the husband and I would go online and buy her an actual Harry Potter wand. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. She proudly paid for her books and we walked towards the coffee shop. I must say, that was the best tasting Oreo cheesecake I have ever had.

Have your kids done anything sweet lately?

Until next time...

Hungry toys

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Lately it seems that everything we want or have to do all falls on the same day. It's not quite an issue during the week because I'm still home during the day to get stuff done around the house. But when events fall on the weekend, everything goes to hell. And by everything, I mean the house.

Dishes are piled up. Clean, but not yet put away. The living is clean, but not quite. Big toys have been put away, but little Lego blocks and army men can still be seen throughout the room. By the time the kids go to bed at night, I am just too tired to do much about those things.

And besides, the kids' bedtime equals some me time. I'm willing to sacrifice certain things in my life, but don't anyone dare take away my me time!

Saturday night I finally found the pattern for a vest I had lost when my computer died. I knew right then that I would work on that vest once the kids went to bed. As I worked on that vest with episodes of Big Bang Theory in the background, I glanced around the room. I knew a few things still needed put away, but it finally occurred to me that the toys would take care of themselves.

To be more specific, the dinosaurs would take care of the misplaced toys.

This dinosaur will kindly ~~eat~~ organize all of our Wii and DS games

This one will kindly ~~eat~~ take my new pillow up to the bedroom

This dinosaur, well I'm not sure what his job is.

I think the other, bigger toys have attacked him in protest!

For the record, none of these pictures were staged. This is exactly what I saw when I surveyed the room.

Until next time...

How Pinterest saved my house

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:30:00 +0000

2012 will be the third straight year where my resolution is to be more organized. Actually, I prefer to call it a goal. Not that it really matters because I'm sure you can gather I haven't accomplished any sort or organizing resolution or goal being this is year number 3.

Anyway, this year I might actually accomplish something. Or at least get a little better at this thing called housework. The past 2 years have started off so well. Our house was spic and span. For about a minute. You see, I never had an actual plan. I knew what needed to be done. I knew designating certain chores for each day would help. I just never actually did it.

Enter Pinterest, the problem solver extraordinaire!

Over the kids' Christmas break, I was browsing through the site. I wasn't looking for anything in particular. Usually if a picture grabs my attention, I repin. I had come across other pins about organizing and cleaning your home, but for whatever the reason, this one in particular spoke to me louder than the rest. I clicked away to get to the original site of the pin and scanned the blog post telling me how I should clean my house. By the end I was thinking "Hot damn! I think I can actually do this!"

I've talked about this chart a few times on Facebook and Twitter, which led to others wanting to know more about this chart. Without further adieu, I present

"How to Clean Your House" - or at least make a very good attempt at it.

Monday - Laundry day for the kids. Start in the morning and keep the machines running until all of the kids' stuff is washed and dried. Fold laundry at night while watching TV. Make sure all clothes are put away before you go to bed.

Tidy the house. Go through each room and put everything away. Never leave a room empty handed.

Vacuum the main rooms (not bedrooms or stairs).

Tuesday - Laundry day for adults, towels, sheets, and blankets. Again, keep the machines running until everything is washed and dried. Make sure it is all put away before you go to bed.

Bathrooms. Clean everything: toilet, replace towels/wash cloths, tubs/showers, sink, floor, wipe out drawers/cabinets, mirrors, restock toilet paper. Spray something good in there when you are done for no other reason than it will make you happy.

Wednesday - Surfaces. Anything that can be dusted, mopped, swept, wiped, vacuumed, etc, do it.

Thursday -Organize/clean out something. A closet, a toy box, make-up drawers, the fridge. Pick one thing and don't stop until is is cleaned and organized.

Friday- Tidy the house. Never leave a room empty handed.

Vacuum the whole house (main rooms, stairs, hallways, etc).

I tweaked this list to better suit my schedule. If you want to see the original, you can go here.

I won't lie, the first week was really hard. Especially the laundry. I never knew how many dirty clothes could come from only 2 children. And tidying the house on day 1? Cleaning up from a natural disaster was more like it! In the kids' defense, we were coming off of Christmas break.

Now that I am in week 2 of this cleaning plan, things are going so much better. Because the husband does his own laundry and I won't dare disturb that system, I could do all of the laundry in 1 day. But I won't. I know how I am and I have a better shot at putting the clothes away before I go to bed if I split it up.

Once the first week is out of the way, it becomes more of a "stay on top of it" chore instead of deep cleaning every single day. Even with new things I've added to my life recently, like yet another crochet project and a job, I have yet to feel overwhelmed when it comes to cleaning. I hope it stays that way and I hope my sharing of this can help someone else out as well.

Until next time...

Stay out of the kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:50:00 +0000

It never fails. When we want the kids to do something, they can't be found. Or become temporarily deaf. When we need the kids to give us space, they are all over us like white on rice.

The perfect example happened just the other day.

News Year's Eve. GG was at a friend's house so we had to wait for her to come home before making dinner. It was too early to begin any kind of celebrations. I couldn't really go out and stray too far from home. I'm paranoid like that when GG goes to a friend's house.

To kill some time I thought I would try to clean our kitchen counters. Again. Don't get me wrong, it's not that they're not clean. They just don't look the part. We have very limited counter space to begin with so the space we do have gets used. A lot. Over the years, many things have been spilled in these counters, including red Kool-aid. Our counters are cream in color as well as textured. I know anything red has the potential to stain, which it did in regards to our counters, but every so often I try to remove all of the red stain.

I have tried spray cleaners, soap and water, bleach, Mr. Magic erasers - they help, but the red still remains. The other day I decided to make a paste and make it stronger. In other words, OxyClean. I made my paste and I covered the counter top. It now had to sit for an hour. Throughout this whole process, Little Dude was in and out of the kitchen. He wanted a snack. Then a drink. Could I hook up the Wii so he could play a game? When is dinner? What is that white stuff in the kitchen (my paste)? He was so far up my ass he might as well have been in front of me. All I wanted to do was clean, but he was making things rather difficult.

But I think my yelling, and that of the husband who was trying to help me out, finally kicked in. I turn around and in the doorway to the kitchen I see this...

If it gives me some peace to get done what needs done, this sign can stay on the wall forever!

Until next time...

The result of Christmas guilt

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:30:00 +0000

This is the time of year when our mail is more than the typical junk. So far, we have received quite a few Christmas cards. However I think there is more than just a card in those envelopes. I truly do love seeing the beautiful faces of friends and family, but I think they all somehow manage to sneak a little guilt into those little white envelopes.

Guilt, because, yet again, we failed to send out Christmas cards. I mean to send them out every year, but life gets in the way. By the time I remember, it's too late to do anything about it. This year in particular I really failed at Christmas cards. Why, you ask? Because I don't even have Christmas pictures of the kids.

Yes I have a picture of Little Dude with Santa, and one of GG with Santa, but not one of both of them. I have a picture of our tree that I am in love with this year, but not a picture of the tree with the kids around it.

I may have failed with those pictures, but I do have a picture of something cool...

GG is definitely a shop-a-holic! Those boots and gloves were part of her latest purchase.

You see, over the weekend, I brought down my iron fist and demanded the children to help clean the house.

Or maybe what I really did was bribe GG with a shopping trip to use up some gift cards if she cleaned. Bribery works. Sue me.

Until next time...

What the boy really wants

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Alternately titled "The year we became some of those parents" - the crazy, must have this toy and now Christmas shopper kind of parents.

Every Christmas, we buy each kid one big gift and a few smaller, filler gifts. The idea for GG was conceived a few months ago and it is now safely hiding somewhere in the house. Little Dude's big gift? Well, that another story. And an ugly one.

A few months ago LeapFrog announced a new toy, the LeapPad. As cool as it looked, I didn't really think Little Dude needed it. I knew he would love it, but I really didn't want to buy all new games. It would be like switching all of our VHS tapes over to DVDs - a royal pain in the ass! And besides, stores around here weren't carrying them. I wasn't going to turn into one of those moms who goes nuts over a toy for her young child. I did that once with Elmo and it wasn't fun.

As time passed I periodically checked out this LeapPad. Our Target finally got a few in stock and I admit, I did play around with the display model a bit. But I still wasn't sure if his Explorer games would work with it. After more research, I learned that his games would in fact work with this new system. Now I had to get the husband on board with me on this purchase.

The husband was on the fence for quite some time but I finally managed to pull him over to the other side, my side. This feat of mine was finally accomplished the day after Cyber Monday. That night we turned to the LeapFrog website, as well as websites for any and all stores that sold toys. The LeapPad could not be found anywhere. The husband and I decided we would keep looking, but would talk up the dinosaur I had purchased a few days prior in case we couldn't acquire a LeapPad. And then Monday happened.

I had gone shopping with a friend in the morning. Once home I decided to give finding an available LeapPad a shot. The LeapFrog website wouldn't load and I knew something was up. A quick check of their Facebook page told me they had a few in stock. Everybody and their mother must have seen this status update. Damn them!

The husband and I spent the better part of the next 3 hours trying to obtain this precious toy. Just as one of us managed to add it to our virtual cart, our session would time out and the site would crash. Finally at the end of that 3 hour time span, the husband managed to add one to his cart and enter our shipping information. Just as he was about to enter our billing information, the site crashed once again. Our purchase never went through. When the site was finally brought back up, all but the super expensive bundles were sold out. Not wanting to spend that kind of money, we felt sad, frustrated, and defeated.

Yesterday afternoon the husband and I finally agreed that we would purchase Little Dude a LeapPad after Christmas. Perhaps for Easter. I had lost hope of obtaining one and I think the frustrations from Monday were something the husband didn't want to go through again. Apparently a little birdie, or frog in this case thought otherwise.

As usual, while dinner is cooking, the kids are taking a tv break, the husband is upstairs doing work for the class he's taking, and I'm playing around on the computer . That's when I saw it - our window of opportunity. One little status update with a heads up and off I was racing up the steps to share what I just read with the husband. He quickly jumped on the website and just like that, he bought our boy a LeapPad. I cannot wait to see Little Dude's face come Christmas morning!

Now if only I could have this kind of luck with the lottery!

How is your Christmas shopping going? Hopefully not as stressful as mine!

Until next time...

A Holiday Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:30:00 +0000

I love decorating for Christmas! I have made it a tradition to at least start bringing decorations out of storage on Black Friday. After I'm done shopping, of course!

The first item to go up is always our tree. I love our Christmas tree! It comes in 3 easy to assemble pieces and it's pre-lit. I have a love/hate relationship with strings of lights, and having my kids help me decorate, it's one less thing to stress over. I always make sure to place all breakable ornaments around the top of the tree. My kids might not be toddlers anymore, but that doesn't mean they're not still clumsy!

After the tree, the next bin to come out of the garage is the one which holds the rest of the inside decorations. Most of these decorations are ones that can be placed on top of a bookshelf or table, but some are pictures my kids made that my son likes to tape on any and all walls around the house.

Sorry, no pictures of my crazy, taped up walls!

One of my favorite decorations to finally come out of storage on December 1st is the countdown calendar my aunt made for the kids a few years ago.

I place 2 candy cane Hershey kisses in each pocket, one for each child, and 4 kisses in the Christmas day pocket. The pockets are not in numerical order and my kids love searching for the day's pocket.

Speaking of homemade decorations, I decided to add some of my own to the mix this year. No matter what time of year, I always like to have something hanging on our front door. Our usual snowman was looking a little sad, so I decided to make something to hopefully help spread some joy.

To brighten up our tv stand, I also made a mini table runner.

Which my son lovingly decorated
with some holiday snow globes and candles.

Having two kids (three if you count the husband) and living in a house we are growing out of, keeping things clean and organized is something we struggle with, but I do have some tricks to help during the holidays.

Items, such as candles and pictures frames, that normally sit atop my bookshelves are stored in those plastic bins that normally hold the Christmas decorations. Breakable items are placed up high or in rooms the kids don't frequent as often. Although I learned this past weekend, that doesn't always matter. Things can get broken no matter how hard you try.

The one thing that I cannot figure out how to keep clean are the bottom few steps leading upstairs and the floor around them. What seemed like a good idea at the time is now turning into one, bug shedding mess!

Do you go crazy decorating? What do you do to keep your home clean and organized throughout the holiday season?

"I am sharing my holiday home decor and cleaning tips for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls and Great Cleaners."

Until next time...

Geno

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

That would be his name.

Whose name?

Our Elf on the Shelf's name, of course. It took quite some time to agree upon this name. We had Harold, Jack, and Max the Great in the pot. Trying to help i the decision making process, I threw some names out there as well. Since I was listening to a hockey game, those were the names I mentioned - Sid, Flower, Crosby, Maxime. Hockey names were banned, but somehow the kids agreed on Geno, a hockey player's nickname.

I am glad I brought an elf into this house. For the most part, behavior has improved. If nothing else, the kids enjoy trying to find him every morning. Assuming I remember to move him (so far, so good). It's a good thing I made the decision to buy Geno when I did because right now those elves are about as easy to find as a LeapPad!

Our Geno started off quite innocent. Early on, he was found driving some toy trucks, and another morning he was trying to play the Wii. But Geno has also had his share of trouble. A few days in, Geno discovered a string of beads. I have had this string of beads for years but can never figure out where to put it at Christmas. Geno must have tried to help because one morning he was tangled up in those beads.

After that, I believe Geno got a taste for mischief. Geno also appears to have a taste for sweets, as you can see here...

A few years ago, my aunt made a beautiful Christmas countdown chart for the kids. I place 2 candy cane flavored Hershey Kisses in each pocket,and 4 in the Christmas day pocket. The pockets are not in numerical order. My kids love searching for each number every night after dinner. Apparently Geno doesn't care what the date is. He just wants his candy!

This post is linked up with the I'm Elfing it Up Photo Contest
hosted by KludgyMom

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf?
What are his favorite places to hide?

Until next time...

Dear Santa

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Not too long ago, Little Dude wrote a letter to Santa at school. He didn't write the whole letter. It was more a fill in the blank kind of thing. Almost like a Mad Lib.

This letter was sent to the schools by a local letter shop. In their store, they had a special bright red mailbox. Letters for Santa were deposited in this mailbox and shipped to the North Pole. Given that there was a space at the bottom of the letters for one's address, I am assuming that Little Dude will get a letter in return. After reading what my boy wrote, I am quite anxious to see how the big man responds.

In case you can't see or figure out what my boy is trying to say with his lovely spelling skills, let me point out the crucial parts.

For the most part, Little Dude has been good. But apparently the husband and I have been busy. If you look close, it appears our son thinks he has 22 sisters and 1 brother. It would also appear we are quite neglectful as parents because I have no idea where these siblings are!

"Please" is often a word my kids forget, but Little Dude is correct in pointing out he always says "Thank you". That does make him plite (polite), so I guess he does deserve gifts.

But just because my boy thinks he deserves lots of gifts doesn't mean he doesn't think others should get jipped!

For me, Little Dude would like Santa to bring muge (mug). His daddy needs a new computer. I beg to differ on that one! For GG, he wold like Santa to bring mackup (make-up). She's only 10 so Santa and I might have some words if he really does bring her make-up, but I have to give Little Dude credit. He does know what his sister likes!

For our cat, a lidul cot (little cot). Last time I checked, our cat died over the summer. Perhaps this cat is hiding with the missing siblings? And finally, for his cousins, some bons (bones). Because they have dogs. Yes, I had to ask for an explanation with the bones.

In closing, Little Dude would like more Digrs (diggers). Santa and I might have more words because another digger is the last thing this boy of mine needs! And that big long "K" word under diggers - I do believe that is how my son spells a construction work site. Because a sandbox and his own designated digging spot in the yard aren't sufficient? Forget words with friends, it's words with Santa should he follow through!

Although with the luck Santa's helper (aka me) is having with finding the toy I really want to get, I might have to resort to more diggers.

What are your kids asking for Christmas because obviously I need more ideas other than diggers?

Until next time...

Free gas

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Well, almost free anyway!

Our grocery store are a card. This card is awesome. When scanned at the register, you get discounts on some of the items in your purchase. Also for every $50 you spend, you earn 10 cents off gas at their station. Feeding a family of four, that 10 cents can add very fast. Especially when their are extra deals every so often. Buy 4 boxes of this brand of cereal and you can earn an extra 10 cents. Um... yes please. We like cereal.

Last month I noticed that I had $2 off a tank of gas. I got online to find out when this amount expires (your earnings are only good for a 3 month period). I had until the end of November before some of what I had earned would expire. So I began to hoard my gas discounts (aka feulperks).

Four boxes of fruit snacks? Ok
don't judge

Five boxes of GoGurts? My kids will eat them until they turn into yogurt!

I was turning into the gas discount version of an extreme couponer. But it was well worth it.

Monday the gauge wasn't as close to "E" as I would have liked, but we needed gas. We wouldn't have made it to the husband's work if we didn't fill up. I made sure to remind the husband to scan our grocery card at the pump to we could cash in our earnings.

I must say I'm a little disappointed that there weren't bells, whistles, and confetti when we were done pumping because neither of us have ever paid so little for so much gas.

Gas here is $3.39
With our discounts we paid
9.9 cents per gallon!!!

Which put our total for 8.8 gallons at...

87 cents

I know.
We're awesome!

Sorry about the crappy pictures! I didn't feel like getting out of the car to take a picture in the rain. My computer is also being dumb and won't let me crop the pictures.

Until next time...

Sanity Saver

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

My Thanksgiving was spent with my family. The holiday was full of good food, lots of laugh, and of course, pouring over the Black Friday ads.

My mom and I are Black Friday shoppers, but we're not the crazy ones. We could care less about the big deals and have no desire to stand in line with hundreds for hours over a tv when the store only has 8 in stock. But that doesn't mean we don't hit the mall early - early enough for the good sales, but late enough to miss the crazies.

This year while we were shopping I picked up a hitch hiker - our very own Elf on the Shelf. I have thought about bringing one home for quite some time now. Like every other kid out there, mine go nuts this time of year. I had hoped by bringing this guy home, the kids' behavior would improve, thus saving my sanity.

Friday night we welcomed the elf into our home. I explained to GG and Little Dude that his job wouldn't start until we read his story and gave him a proper name. We read the story, learned the rules, and after much debate, they finally decided to name our elf Geno.

We have had a few bumps in the road, but behavior seems to be improving. I just hope the mischief Geno causes doesn't influence the kids in how they decide to act!

Geno wasted no time getting into things. The very next morning he was found wrapped in a string of beads, surrounded by pieces of red garland from the railing above.

Little Dude, who wanted to play with the toys in the box Geno was on, decided to move him to another part of the room. Touching Geno is against one of the rules. Warning Little Dude, I told him I hoped Geno's magic wasn't gone and he could still report to Santa every night.

Luckily that warning was enough, because Geno moved onto playing with Little Dude's toys the next morning. It took the kids quite some time to find him. I guess Geno had picked an ideal spot to play without being disturbed.

The kids, Little Dude in particular, wonder aloud every night as to where Geno will end up in the morning. I can't wait to discover the places he can hide.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Geno returned carrying a note from Santa about the things that were reported, good and bad. I hope Geno can hear my wish for a note because that would be a huge boost to my sanity!

Do you have your own Elf on the Shelf? What kind of crazy places does he hide?

Until next time...

Thankful

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful. Thankful is something you should be all year, but this time of year it is stressed. I have many things to be thankful for.

Even if they are a pain in my ass.

I am thankful for...

Mount Laundry

Not a day goes by where I don't have one pile or another of clothes to wash. But every time I trip over one of those piles or leave a trail of socks behind me as I walk down to the laundry room, I am reminded of how thankful I am we are able to all have clothes on our backs. Or the floor.

Skyscrapers of dishes in the sink

Or on the counter. GG and I share the responsibility of washing said dishes. If I'm not complaining about the lasagna that burned to the pan and won't come off, then I'm bribing her to actually wash them at a reasonable hour. No matter how much whining and crying I do over those dishes, I am reminded of thankful I am we are able to fill plates with food each and every night.

Children

Whether they are fighting or laughing, I know that they always have and always will love one another. I can't imagine my life without them. It is truly a miracle that the husband and I ~~let them live this long~~ created such beautiful creatures.

Creaky floors and leaky pipes

It is no secret that I hate this house. So many memories have been made here, but most days, it still doesn't feel like a home. Just a house. But no matter how I feel about this house of ours, I am always thankful that we have a roof over our heads.

Alarm clocks

Not a day goes by when I don't want to chuck them into the wall. Yes I said them. This chic loves her sleep! But since one of those alarms is on my phone, which I also love, I resist the urge to throw things at the butt crack of ~~noon~~ dawn. Instead of throwing, I remind myself that hearing my alarms every morning remind me that I am alive. And I am very thankful for that.

Coffee

Do I really need to explain this one?!

***********************

I am taking the remainder of this week off to enjoy a day of good food, followed by a long day of shopping. I hope everyone out there has a happy turkey day. May you gobble til you wobble!

Until next time...

Reruns

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

I have a confession to make...

I share clothes with my 10 year old daughter. Not a lot. Mostly shirts.

GG seems to know what she's doing when it comes to clothes. She loves colors and it apparently doesn't matte if things don't match. That seems to be the 'in" thing. I guess, by default, that kind of makes me cool, too. It's about damn time!

However, I must draw the line somewhere. I am doing my best to improve my wardrobe to avoid being the typical sweat and tee kind of mom, but I refuse to wear clothes from my childhood. In regards to an outfit GG put together over the weekend, the husband said she looked like she could be on a popular 80's tv show.

What do you think?

First off, can we classify those skinny jeans as acid wash?
Probably.

Second, her bracelets...

Technically, those are Silly Bandz,
but aren't those the updated version
of jelly bracelets?

And this one?

A slap bracelet.
Do you know how many of those things
I had at her age?!

Just because I want to look and act young does NOT mean I want to relive my youth. Especially the clothes! I'll leave that to my daughter. As long as she doesn't give herself bangs and tease them to high heaven, I think we're safe. That trend better not come back. Ever!!

Until next time...

Blue blur

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

I am so proud of my boy!

Last week the Boy Scouts held their annual Space Derby. Each boy was given a kit to build their space ship. The husband glued the two blocks of wood together. Once they dried, he began to sand out the square into the shape of a rocket. The husband did the bulk o the sanding, but Little Dude definitely had a hand in it.

Once the husband deemed the shape of the space ship acceptable, it was handed over to me. My job was to then apply a base coat of paint. Sky blue was the color Little Dude picked. Once that was dry, Little Dude took over with a handful of brushes and a full palette of paint.

Last Friday, the husband added the propeller and the fins. Saturday afternoon we were off to the race. We were all worried as this was Little Dude's first time with this race. It was the husband's first time since this was an event his Boy Scout troop opted out of.

My boy's ship would be
the blue blur in the lead :)

By the end of the race, Little Dude's space ship had won 6 races before it was eliminated. Had he won just one more race, my boy would have placed third and that would have given him a trophy. The husband and I were a little disappointed that, for the second Boy Scout race, Little Dude was just one race shy of a trophy. But I don't think Little Dude cared. The race by itself was enough for him.

But a blue ribbon didn't hurt either!

Until next time...

Sweet

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Over the weekend, GG celebrated her 10th birthday. I still don't think it's hit me that my child is a decade old. How the hell did that happen?! I had considered dedicating a blog post to this milestone birthday of hers, but time got away from me. Between birthdays and holidays, this time of year is nothing short of hectic and out of control.

But I don't really think GG will hold it against me that I didn't write some sweet post for her. Her cupcakes alone made up for the lack of sweetness on this blog.

Cute, right?!

Along with not writing a post for her, I also fell short on supplying a kick ass party. In my defense, I blame all the other parents in the area who also had their children around the same time as mine.

I told GG I would take her and a few friends for a few rounds of bowling and some pizza. Little did I know the bowling alley we planned to go was having 10-15 parties on the exact same day. A lane for the 5 of us would not be a guarantee. I have to give one of the employees some credit because she did try and secure us a lane, but it was a no go.

Again, I really don't think GG will hold it against me due to her awesome presents. Harry Potter Legos, board games, video games, a ton of clothes for her American Girl dolls, and this rockin' lamp...

Orbeez mood lamp
It's pretty awesome!

But the best present of all is one I don't think has taken off, other than to sleep, since Saturday night.

My fashionista!

Happy 10th birthday, GG!!!

Until next time...

Rhyme Time

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

I am so incredibly proud of my kids. They brought home their report cards last week. All A's and B's!! I am especially proud of Little Dude because honestly, I was a little worried.

Every day I ask what they did in school. GG will give me examples of math problems or a science project. Little Dude will tell me what he ate for lunch or what he played at recess. However, when we least expect it, or at night when he's supposed to be in bed trying to sleep, he will tell us all about a lesson from the day.

Over the past few days, Little Dude has been learning that you can change the beginning or end sound of a word to create another word. Sometimes the words rhyme while other times they make a whole new word. For example, "man" can be changed into "map". At the end of last week, he was learning what can happen when the end sound of a word is changed. This week they are working on changing the beginning sound. How do I know this? Well, let me explain...

The other night I took the kids with me to Target, which could be an entire post in itself as I left with much more than I originally planned for. As usual! During the short car ride home, GG was talking about her upcoming birthday. Little Dude began to ramble on about words that can be changed. I was nodding and "uh-huh"-ing so he knew I was paying attention, even though I was more worried about driving down a dark, twisty hill in the rain. And then I heard it.... Duck. Oh, this can't end well.

Luck

Puck

Muck

Buck

And finally he came to the mother of all curse words.

Thank goodness we were in the car away from the general public and thankfully he had no idea what he had just said.

Proud Mommy Moment
hosted by Kmama and Emmy Mom
Do you have a proud (or "proud") moment
from the week?

Until next time...

I need a mystery machine

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:30:00 +0000

I seem to have a bit of a mystery.

It is no surprise that things are constantly going missing in this house. We may not have a lot of room, but things seem to magically find their way into the deep, dark abyss. Never to be seen again.

Occasionally a Lego guy or that one, long Lincoln Log will turn up under the couch. But to this day, there are still puzzle pieces that have been missing since GG was a toddler, almost 8 years ago.

Most of those little toys, especially the Legos, I don't mind when they go missing. One less little toy to put away at the end of the day. But one thing that is guaranteed to go missing in this house is a glue stick. I have learned over the years to buy multiple packs at a time. I give the kids 2 each and stash the rest away for future use. Despite my valiant efforts, glue sticks continue to disappear left and right.

As annoying, and as costly, as missing glue sticks can be, they are like those little toys. A loss I can deal with. But this latest mystery really has me worried. I am missing a bottle of Elmer's Glue. A full bottle none the less. My lovely son taught me a few years ago that Elmer's Glue spilled on a carpet does not come up, no matter how much or how long you scrub.

I worry the day will come when we can finally move out of this house. On my last sweep through the house to make sure we didn't miss anything, I will find that bottle of Elmer's lying in a corner somewhere surrounded by a stiff, dry puddle of clear glue.

This is a mystery I really need to solve. Our landlord is pretty easy going, but I don't think even he would appreciate dried glue on the carpets.

So, if you were a bottle of glue, where would you hide?

Until next time...

Happy Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Looking at the outside of our house, you would never know that I am a Halloween junkie. Except for my Boo door hanger, there is not an ounce of Halloween in our yard. First of all, it has been cold and I hate decorating in the cold. Second, very few, if any kids trick-or-treat on our street.

But that doesn't mean I am lacking on the decorations on the inside of our house.

Witch and monster sign, courtesy of my MIL.
Boo ghosts that I just finished making.
A pumpkin whose batteries might actually survive
through Halloween this year.

As much as I hate spiders, I have to put this guy out every year.
Last year, I actually forgot to put him away.
Yes, it freaked me out on more than one occasion.

web made by me

Not only do I enjoy watching my kids enjoy this holiday, but I also enjoy being someone else for a change. Can you guess what I was this year?

The husband was NOT a fan of my all to real black eye!

And by the way, why does my hair never cooperate
until I actually want it to be messy?! So frustrating!

In case you're still not sure of my costume,
would dirty, beat up wings give you a clue?

Because I have been so busy making Halloween decorations and starting on Christmas stuff, I decided to forgo making homemade costumes for the kids. The first costume GG chose was not available in a size that would fit her. Big is good as we have to work a costume over layers of clothes in this city, but 4 sizes too big is pushing it. She instantly fell in love once she saw a picture of something else.

I bought Little Dude's costume at a consignment shop back in July and up until October, he was so psyched to wear it. Then he decided to be a werewolf. Having already purchased a costume, I said no. Once I explained I could paint his face, his original costume was a go.

Without further adu, I introduce my Polar Princess and a soldier to protect her.

Or maybe a soldier to chase the polar princess with the gun I caved a bought him.

I wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween full of good candy ~~for moms and dads to dip into~~!

PS. In case you're still not sure of what my costume was, I was a Fallen Angel.

Until next time...

Red Ribbon

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000

This week at the kids' school, along with many others I think, they are participating in Red Ribbon week. The point of Red Ribbon week is to teach kids about saying no to drugs. In our school, the kids wear something different each day.

Forgive me as I seemed to have thrown the actual paper from the school away. I don't remember what each day symbolizes.

Monday - Black and white day. Students are encouraged to wear these colors. Possibly because it's a black and white decision to either do drugs or don't and we strongly encourage you to say no.

Tuesday - Wear your favorite boots so together we can stomp out drugs.

Wednesday - Hat day. I don't know why, but the kids were happy to wear hats, which are usually a no-no. There were some funky hats!

Thursday - Wear your team colors. As a team we can stand up against drugs. Boy am I glad I bought those school shirts a few weeks ago

Friday - Wear your Halloween costume to scare drugs away.

GG and Little Dude have been quite excited to pick out the special item before bedtime for the following day. GG was over the moon when she found out it was boot day. I will post pictures next week of her too cute boots when I do a Halloween post.

All day Tuesday Little Dude was thinking about which hat he would wear for Wednesday. Tuesday night he finally found a bright yellow Steeler hat (that's my boy!). He came downstairs to show me his find and I told him to put it in a safe place so we didn't forget it in the morning. As he carefully laid his hat by his jacket and book bag, he asked me a question.....

"Mom, what are drugs?"

Red Ribbon week fail!

I am so proud of my boy for happily participating in Red Ribbon week without knowing why. Of course this is only true if proud is the new word for disappointed.

Do you have a proud, or not so proud, parenting moment? Link up with Kmama and Emmy Mom.

Until next time...

Love

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000

My kids love me.

I don't think it's because I'm the fun mom.

I don't think it's because I pass out hugs and kisses every night before bed.

I don't think it's because I allowed GG to play the flute this year.

I don't think it's because I let Little Dude spread Legos all over the floor to build one tiny car.

I'm pretty sure it's because of this....

Vanilla bean ice cream
(the bean is essential!)

Chocolate syrup
Massive amount of sprinkles
Mini brownie
topped with orange and black icing
and ghost sprinkles

Until next time...

They will remember

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000

If nothing else, I've learned that kids have a knack for remembering things. But only the things they deem important.

I have been known to have a momentary loss of judgement. This usually happens while I am driving and both of the kids are in the back of the car. We are usually on our way home from somewhere, thus we are all tired and cranky.

In a moment of desperation, I start spewing out threats. I threaten to take toys, bump up bedtimes, force them to sit on their hands, and the ever so famous

"Don't make me pull this car over!!"

One of those threats usually works. But only for a few minutes. This is where the bribes come into play. Ice cream with sprinkles. Milkshakes. One of my beloved chocolate chip cookies.

Instant silence. I can continue the drive home in peace.

But somehow, every time, without fail, those bribes are forgotten about. Until 2.3 minutes before bedtime. I have decided the kids are conspiring against me to gain a few extra minutes before being sent to their beds for the night. Damn them! I promised, which means I have to deliver.

Another important piece of information that is rarely forgotten? Pay day. Especially with Little Dude. He knows which weeks pay day falls in. For days before the money actually enters the bank, the husband and I (usually me) are barraged with please for this toy or that.

"Mom, come see this commercial for the new Hot Wheel track! Can we go out on pay day and buy it?"

"Look! New pillow pets! Can we have one? Pleasepleaseplease?!"

How do I make this madness stop?

Better yet, how can I make sure my son remembers how to spell "could" and "there" on his spelling test instead of how some new truck he has to have works?

Until next time...

Paint and Blow

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:00:00 +0000

This past weekend Little Dude has his first big Boy Scout event. I said from the beginning that I wanted nothing to do with Boy Scouts because it seems a little more disorganized than Girl Scouts can be. But that didn't stop me from attending this event with my boy.

The big scouting event of the weekend was the Rain Gutter Regatta.

Like we tend to do with many things, we waited until the last minute to purchase the supplies. I'll spare you the hell I went through to get said supplies. But I will say that Pat Catan employees are idiots! I finally purchased the paints Wednesday evening and began painting Thursday afternoon. The plan was for my to paint the boy's boat with a base coat of brown. He would do the details. The paint I bought was definitely not easy to work with (or clean up), but by Friday evening, that part of the process was complete.

Saturday morning the husband gave the boat one final sanding job before he applied the acrylic sealer to waterproof the boat. I'm not sure if the paint or the sealer caused the problem. Perhaps both. The paint looked smudged after a coat of the sealer was applied. Luckily, Little Dude wasn't upset. He said the cannons he painted on the side could still shoot. I guess that was the important part of the boat!

After lunch, the four of us headed to the library where the race would take place. Two rain gutters were set up on poles. Two boys at a time would race and it a double elimination. Each boy had to use a straw to blow air on the boat's sail to move it from one end of the gutter to the other.

Just knowing that Little Dude's boat floated made us all very proud. Watching my boy come so close to winning made us even prouder. He ended up coming in a close second. If his boat had not tipped over at the end, he would have had it.

All week, Little Dude was telling us that racing is not about winning, it's about having fun. The smile on his face, and the blue ribbon in his hand, definitely shows how much fun he had.

Boys were allowed to wear Halloween costumes.
Which worked out since we have yet
to buy his actual uniform. Oops!

We now need to prepare for the Space ship race. I think we'll need some luck for that since neither the husband nor I have any experience with this race. He never did it in scouts and my brother never did either. I have a feeling a blog post or 2 may come out of this race!

Until next time...

I do, not boo

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:30:00 +0000

The husband and I are coming up on a pretty big anniversary this week. I'm not quite sure how it happened. So much has happened, and yet it feels like yesterday we were saying our I do's. I can't believe we're coming up on our 10 year anniversary!

We had talked about doing something big, like going out of town for a weekend. I am a little disappointed. I know someday we'll get there. But that certainly didn't stop us from having a great night celebrating this past weekend.

The husband and I went to one of my favorite Asian restaurants. We shared a plate of tune sashimi, and I followed that up with my favorite dish - Dragon and Phoenix. Chicken, shrimp, and veggies n a spicy sauce.

Sitting in our own corner of the room, the husband and I talked about new things as well as reminiscing about the past. At that moment I didn't care where we were. I was happy just being together in our own world.

After dinner, we decided to use the 2 tickets I had in my wallet for a local haunted house. Those RIP tickets allowed us to bypass the line and walk right up to the entrance. At that moment we really were in another world. We jumped. We laughed. I may or may not have screamed a few times. It also took everything I had to not torture the kids in front of us.

I sometimes feel old when I think about being with the same person for half of my life, married for 10 of those years, but that doesn't mean I can't act like act like a kid!

Until next time...

Whose children are these?

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:30:00 +0000

I am happy to say that I love clothes. This was not something I could always say.

Through elementary school, I wore sweat pants. Jeans were my enemy. In sixth grade, I became a little more daring. Neon socks, layered and slouched. Jelly bracelets, stretching from my wrist to my elbow. Hyper-color shirts, mood rings, and good grief, I even got my ears pierced!

I entered junior high, wearing any color sweat pants that I happened to grab that morning. That trend didn't last long, thanks to those mean boys. I finally forced myself to get used to the feeling of denim against my scrawny legs. The shirts I wore were any color related to black.

It took me well into my late 20s to experiment with colors such as pinks and purples. I discovered that there are shoes out there, plenty of them in fact, that are even more awesome than the boots I used to wear from the boy's department.

I didn't realize when GG came along that I was in for a shock. It seems she was born with something that took me years to figure out - a sense of fashion. She loves boots that are meant for girls. She loves experimenting with color and jewelry. She got her ears pierced much younger than I. She already wants them done again.

As her mother, it is my job to guide her and give her advice. When it comes to clothing, I am turning to her, my 9 year old. According to my girl, I look good in purple. After shopping with her last week, I think she might be on to something.

Being somewhat of a tomboy as a child, it can be tricky having the complete opposite for my child. And if that isn't bad enough, I am slowly realizing that I actually have 2 children who care what they look like more than I ever did.

Little Dude can only wear certain jeans with certain shirts. He loves to fix his hair. He either spikes it up or brushes it flat. He can usually pull ff either look, but he is in dire need of a haircut. Right now, it's either the shaggy dog look or the bed head look. But the point being, he cares.

I've also noticed that he loves to cuff his jeans. Every. Single. Morning.

Can someone direct me to the Chicken Soup for the Soul- Parenting trendy kids book? I think I need it because I have no idea whose children those kids are!

Until next time...

Bumps and Berries

noreply@blogger.com (Evonne) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:00:00 +0000

No one told me that 9 year old girls can be moodier than a woman 9 months pregnant and ready to pop. In retrospect, perhaps I should have picked up one of those Chicken Noodle Soup parenting books.

The past few days have been particularly trying. GG has been walking around with a holier than thou attitude, then reverts to a pouting 2 year old when she is told to do something for the 50th time, ie. putting her shoes on the shoe rack instead of in the middle of the floor.

Sunday night was a very rough night for both of us. It was one of those nights where I could hear the words loudly leaving my mouth and I knew in my head I did not like how I sounded. I vowed Monday would be a better day. We hit a few road bumps Monday, but overall things were smooth like butter. Until.....

GG has a strawberry plant. Her seeds we planted earlier in the summer didn't seem to take, so Little Dude and I bought her a new plant. We transferred it to a new pot and hoped for the best. Us girls kept a watchful eye on the strawberry plant. We'd smile at every berry as it began to turn red, only to be disappointed as each one would rot. A friend suggested the plant was not getting enough water, so we became vigilant about watering every night.

Soon the leaves doubled in size. Yet no flowers were t be seen. Until last week. We spotted 2 flowers with a tiny berry in the middle. I noticed one berry disappeared within a few days. I chalked t up to yet another berry rotting. But the second berry began to grow. As it grew, it also began to turn red.

Last night, GG wanted to finally pick her first berry. I told her to give the berry one more day to make sure it was fully red and ready to eat. Not even an hour later, Little Dude and I walked past her beloved strawberry plant as we were taking the garbage to the curb. The one and only berry was gone. It was not in the pot. It was not in the grass. It was not in the cracks of the sidewalk. Gone.

I can only assume a chipmunk, squirrel, or rabbit found itself a nice red snack. GG, who was finally emerging from her foul mood, was pushed back into her funk.

The good mom that I am, I turned to the Google for help. What I learned was the vines growing from her plant are called runners. On each runner are baby plants. These can be placed in pots so next year we have more than one plant. I also learned how to care for strawberry plants during the winter months, which can be brutal here.

I shared my findings with GG and I watched a smile finally cross her face. We were able to end the night on a good note, and that makes me very happy.

Now we just all need to pray that my thumb stays green long enough to yield some fresh strawberries in the Spring.

Until next time...