Thursday, March 29, 2012

good stuff

hubby brought this home for me.

mad housewife. haha. funny.

some homemade mac & cheese that the kids devoured. wow mom! so good!

just kidding. they did choke some down, but much prefer the preservative infused beloved kraft kind.
got this in the mail the other day. so excited. ERIN GAUVIN..... you ROCK!

pscrubs got R a foam sword from the dollar store. he loves it. he skips with it and kisses it. he slices, stabs and lunges complete with sound effects.

that was dollar well spent.

we also got Ruby a hula hoop so S can teach her to jump through it.
she really loves that dog. she'll have her doing tricks in no time.
a view looking up from the back yard. i am soaking up this weather!!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

jane withers moments



i must admit. i may have been having a few too many jane withers moments lately.

so what.

i can't help that in my old age my hormones are making me crazy.

i can't help it.

a line from one of my favorite movies... "how hard is it to be in a good mood and just be in it?"

well i guess it's hard sometimes.

all the underwear i have left in my drawers are the ones i hate and that make me feel uncomfortable all day.

i guess i need to do some laundry.

i would like follow my own favorite phrase..... not that i made it up or anything, but it just really stood out when i first heard it many moons ago........

but i find myself rolling my eyes at everything that is usually very dear to me.

i have been letting everyone's little comments get to me, when usually i let things roll right off my back.

it's no big deal really, but a good reminder to try to build people up and not tear them down.

which is oh so hard to do sometimes.

i took out my bad mood on the dead skin on my feet and a new dessert pinterest board.

take that world.

appetizing right?

i am now rebelling and making this.....





i haven't decided if i'm going to have some or not. yes i have, i'm lying.



but tomorrow is a new day.

the birds will be chirping and the orange blossoms will be spreading their heavenly scent all over the neighborhood.

i will go for another bike ride, hopefully with less falls and whining from the cherubs, and hopefully decide to be in a good mood.

and just be in it.







Thursday, March 22, 2012

deep breaths

what a day.

it was a good day, but a long... intense day.

one of those days that i plan to let the little kids watch some educational television while i catch up on things that i have been putting off all week.

it never works out that way.

that's why i am against planning.

it started off pretty good, except that pdubs was leaving for an overnight.

never good.

we got the kids off and then he left.

i got the little kids settled and started in on some work i needed to do.

got a call from the school.

come pick up D. she threw up.

no one saw the "throw up", but nonetheless rules are rules. she must leave school.

ugh.

i pack up the little kids and drive to school.
there is D. sitting with one of her little friends. both with barf buckets placed conveniently next to them.

hmmm.....

i get a call from the friends mom not 10 minutes later.

did i think they could have been in cahoots.

yes, probably.

and did i have her daughters jacket.

yes, probably.


the other children had been wearing it all week. i wondered where it had come from.

my house is a black hole. don't bring anything here that you would miss if it were lost.

drove to costco to get ingredients to make smoothies.
finally got home. put R down for a nap.

printed off D's thank you cards and got her working on writing them. home school for the day.

finished editing some photos.

finished setting up for girl's club this afternoon.

washed the dog.

took a shower. *miracle*

set out boots for a friend that i said i would do the day before.

left for the afternoon marathon.
picked up kids from school.

dropped off carpool.

stopped at sas to pick up some needed craft supplies. listened to a mom yell and threaten to spank her 2 yr. old daughter repeatedly. ridiculous. i hate hearing that stuff. D was with me. she didn't like it either.

made it to girl's club.

ran over time.

did manage to find a *saint* who would volunteer to teach the girls a song.

made adorable felt flower clips.

raced to cello lessons.

finally sat down to help L with her craft and R fell out of a wagon.

split his lip open. blood everywhere.

emergency call to ped. & dentist. his lip was pretty swollen, but he was fine.

head home.

get almost everyone cleaned up, made dinner, get kids working on cleaning kitchen and practicing piano.

big recital coming up.

R is out of control. as i am trying to get everyone else set up, he climbs on top of the table, picks up a candle and throws it. then proceeds to throw the glass dish it was sitting in.

goll. out comes the broom. again.

finally get him bathed and in bed.

halleluiah.

read several chapters of several books to several children.

it is finally quiet.

i take a deep breath.

i think to get the coffee ready for the morning.

we are out of coffee. we are ALWAYS out of coffee when pdubs goes out of town.

why is that?
i can't wait for him to come back.

and make me some coffee.

the end.

the other day, i finally mustered up the interest to fix the new dog eaten easter dress. i found some old lace that my beloved grandmother gave me. sewed it around the body of the dress, covering the pathetic attempts of sewing together the several rips throughout out the skirt, and sewed a matching ruffle across the top.

not perfect, but it will have to do.

one day during spring break, i spent all day curling the girls hair, bribed them with skittles, and took some spring photos.

luckily the place was still open i was hoping to go to.

everyone was pretty good, only a few meltdowns.

they all agreed to be barefoot except little S.

she refused to take off her tights and red boots.

oh well, it worked out alright.

Monday, March 19, 2012

D is 7. wha?????

this little beauty queen turned 7. she wanted a selena gomez party.

so that, by golly, is what we had.



D is smart, thoughtful, aware, clean, orderly, organized, hilarious, compassionate, sensitive & over all amazing.

we are so blessed to have her in our family :)

daddy went all out on his task of building a stage. that thing isn't going anywhere.

we hung stars & lights from the trees, brought out the microphones, pumped up the music...

and the singing with the stars party was launched.

we had a big "sing off".

one team sang i love you like a love song baby, by selena gomez.

the other team... rolling in the deep, by adele.

both were great renditions and the contest ended in a tie :)
D loved her selena gomez cake c/o auntie sarah.

the kids were happily hopped up on soda and golden sugar star cookies when we released them back to their parents.

after the birthday party, we shifted gears and celebrated my mom and brother's birthdays.

still putting the stage to use.

Dscrubs was the last one standing. he really rocked it. for hours.
my bro was sick & couldn't make it to his own party :(

but i think my mom enjoyed the cake. it was homemade chocolate with coffee fudge icing.

so did i. shhhhh. don't tell my lenten promise.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

matryoshka fun

a few months ago, i was talking to my friend, whose husband is from russia, about my obsession with matryoshkas. she said she loves them too and has them all over the house for her two little girls. she mentioned that her husband goes back often and could probably pick one up for me.

ummm... yes please!!!

well, well, well.... i was SO excited when she said she has something in the car for me :) :)

she said her mother-in-law went to the market and picked up three. yeah! i selected the red and blue ones.

they make me so happy. i love the way the fit snugly into each other. i love their colors. i love that they were fresh off the plane from moscow. i love the excitement of discovering how many little dolls will split in half.

both of these have 10 in them! the littlest one is so teeny tiny!



me and my littlest matryoshka :)




we will cherish these forever!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

monkey's and zoo weather

i have caught myself so many times this week, in disbelief, shaking my head and saying that the children are acting like monkeys. it can get pretty crazy around these parts.

this is what i walked into before i even got a sip of my morning coffee....

the scary thing is that it was my baby boy who set this display up so nicely.

who wants me to babysit????

so i decided i had better get these little monkeys to the zoo. the weather is perfect for that right now.

so we packed our lunches and off we went.

we stayed a while by the warthogs. S wanted to eat lunch by them. i didn't know if i could do it. they are really disturbing looking creatures. i mean really really weird. but by the time we finished eating, i was kind of enchanted by them. they were kinda cute. in a horse, hippo, dinosaur kind of way. i kinda want one.

smile ;)

rhino..nocerous. err whatever. those are pretty weird too.


fun. fun. i am really going to miss this little girl when she's off to kindergarten all day next year.

babies

i got to bbsit this little doll baby yesterday. so adorable. it makes my ovaries quiver.
"hi aunt nellie! goo gooo! you're the best! i'm gaga over you!!"

i am super excited to meet the new little girl joining my sister's family very soon.

it's really not fair how cute my sis is while preggo.
i never looked like that. well, maybe at 6 wks., certainly not 9 months!

bad dogs

i was so excited when my matilda jane box arrived at my doorstep.

i got out the new outfits and spread them all out for some admiration.

i folded them back up and (mistakenly) placed them on the counter.

the next morning i looked out the window and saw the dogs joyfully jumping and playing and tugging something between the two of them.

you can imagine my horror.

it was one of the new dresses. grrrrr. i haven't recovered enough to even start to think about salvaging it. it is going to have some seriously randomly placed embellishments.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

my vintage boy

i found this cute outfit in an asian market while waiting for a thai foot massage. i thought it would be cute for Easter on my little lad.

thai foot massages are weird but cool. if you don't mind people all up in your bizzzzness.....
not ALL up in your business, but def. in your personal space. but also cool.


he was listening to me at this point. he was into it.
this is his "smile"

he was kind of over it at this point. "i don't want to look up anymore, i want to play with dad's cool old fire truck."

oh and i cut his hair. cut those beautiful golden curls right off. ok, they weren't golden, or curly. but i was wishing they were. it was more like a sandy mullet. justin bieber hair? not really.

now it's back to cute mohawk.

the end.

march dinner club


mardi gras theme!!



this was the most delicious shrimp and blackened fish i had ever tasted.
our talented hosts....
the boys... we actually took pictures of them this time.
the chicks....

the tablescape...... and pretty K :)
look at those buttons!! i was dying. and the mason jars????? dying.
so grateful for such fun and creative friends to hang around :)