New Generation

Wow--I just realized that I'm getting old. Getting ready to run to school and I've got on some saggy sweatpants-I just looked down and realized I've got my high-tops on and they're showing. Here's the major "old lady" factor:

Teenager: High-tops = footwear
Me: High-tops = granny panties

Yes, I'm wearing my grannies today--go ahead and make fun of me now but someday I'm going to take full advantage the moment you bend over to tie your kid's coat and I'll be snapping your thong!

Elmo's Father makes his big Debut...

Singing the POTTY SONG!! Sesame Street has taken out relationship to a whole new level with this video... and I'm not sure I'm ready to take that step. (Christine will know what I'm talking about if I said, "That's right--I want to borrow your lawn mower!! Ladies and Gentlemen--I want to borrow this man's lawn mower!!!") Anyhow, yeah, whole new level of intimacy has been achieved with the SS crew.

My honey

I was looking for an attachment in my Gmail a little bit ago and found this picture of my middle daughter that was taken... gosh--almost 2 years ago! Which would put her just over 3 years old. She's my little cutie!

The Little One

Boy is she ever a handful!! Today she was as spunky as could be at the laundrymat... but really, what is there to do in a place full of old people and appliances?
This week she's dubbed my ipod hers: it is now the "mePod". Unless of course she's wanting me to turn on a Sesame Street podcast for her to watch, then she waves it at me and says, "MommyPod? Elmo? MommyPod?" Uhhh... cute!
She's been working on her letters ever since her older sister brought home nightly flashcards for homework and now she can regularly identify W, O and X. A few more, like T, S and B are sketchy and the rest are all learned fresh each day. But we're having fun with her--that's the most important part!
More later, but for now I have laundry to put away.

I think this means I'm in trouble:

Do you feel lucky?

If so, you may want to head over to Stitches and Roses and try to snag this cute little number!!

Setting Things to Order... or not?

Tomorrow afternoon we leave for our mini-vacation. Traveling to the in-laws, visiting dear friends and then back home. We'll be gone just long enough that we'll need to recuperate when we get back to our snug little nook of the world. I'm looking forward to it, but for some reason I just can't seem to get the house in order for us to leave. I feel like I'm walking around in circles, accomplishing nothing. I've still got laundry to put away, I've got to pack, do all the menial tasks like cleaning the toilets, mopping the floors, etc., and I don't know why but for the past few days--as much as I try--I just can't bring myself to make the beds! I know, making the beds, right? I kinda throw the corners of the covers at the four corners of the bed and call it good. I feel like I'm walking around my home LOST.
I will be taking the kids to a sitter for a couple of hours this afternoon though, and I hope to get much accomplished. Maybe I'll even have time to get this weekend's laundry over to the laundrymat tonight so I can get it done before we leave. Then again, maybe not.

A HUGE Leap!

Yesterday morning I made a decision, largely born out of sheer frustration, that was reckless and irresponsible. It was something that I had been meaning to do but I certainly went about doing it in the WRONG way. And I don't regret it.

I cut my hair. Myself. No big deal right? Seriously though, I bushwhacked 18" off of my ponytail. I had just reached my frustration threshold so I put my hair in a ponytail and snipped off the bottom... it's crooked and needs some tweaking but I can't tell you how much easier my life was this morning. My hair is still long--now it's to my waist--but I feel like I can enjoy my hair now, rather than loathing the time I have to spend brushing out the tangles.

Here's to my sanity--cheers!

The Thrifty Fifty!

Yay! I made it onto Team Lorie for the holiday team challenge over on YouCanMakeThis! I'm very excited and already have lots of ideas but I do need to edit myself and my blog posting as some of the people I'll be crafting for may be following along on my blog.

I'll soon post again about my participation in the challenge but right now, the clean laundry awaits my folding fingers!

Cheers!!

P.S. This week I'm thankful for my warm home, the sound of laughter filling my kitchen as the children do their homework while eating pomegranate seeds and homemade marshmallows, lavender scented bedsheets and "puppy kisses" from my very cute Little One!

The holidays are upon us!

I have officially gone into panic mode. This weekend our middle daughter had her birthday party and the presents had to come home. Wow--that kid brought home quite a haul for such a small party! Trying to make room for her loot lead me to start chucking old toys while she was at school yesterday. Which led me to think of the upcoming holidays. There's no way on earth these kids are going to be able to stuff all the stuff they get this year into their room in it's current configuration. So I decided to clean out the place and re-arrange.
When I first got serious about weeding through their belongings I was rewarded with a potato. Yes, a potato. I'd found a red potato that had long been forgotten and had started to sprout in the bottom of their toybox. Undeterred, I pressed onward. And emerged somewhat victorious: I got rid of a garbage bag full of random junk: old, used up notebooks, art "projects", broken toys, etc. I was also able to fill a garbage bag with old toys to be donated to a local charity AND a modest sized bag of clothing that they no longer need. Today is PART 2 of cleaning out their room.

I'm motivated by the sheer terror of the idea that the holidays are really only a week away for us. We leave to see my in-laws next week and we'll be "doing Christmas" with them on Black Friday. Good thing we got a van this fall, last year we weren't able to fit all of the presents in the car on the way home. My BIL brought most of the kids bounty back to our place on his way back up into VT.

Now we have school parties, little craft-a-longs and various activities that will be sure to send the kids home with goodie bags filled with *treasures*. Treasures that you have to wait for the kids to fall asleep before you can chuck them safely. By safely, I mean you either have to hie your tail on out to the garbage can in the dead cold of a winter night so the kids don't find it in the trash bin in the morning or you have to take my clever approach and cover their belongings with the baby's diapers--who really wants to see what's under that, right?

I've got a couple of venues available to me in the next few weeks to help pimp out my wares and maybe earn a little extra holiday cash (always welcome this time of year) AND I've got to get on board and start thinking about my folks. The each celebrate a birthday in December. My brother approached me two days ago and asked if I wanted to chip in to get my dad a TV for his December 2nd birthday. Sure, I'd LOVE to kick in for a new TV--I'm just not sure that I can! Ahhh, well, we'll just have to see what is in the cards I guess. :)