If It's Not Going to Snow Properly Then...

I'm ready for this!
Pic circa: 2003 - Jeff and Max

No Girls Allowed

Hello Everyone!
After a couple of emails ah-hem.. "reminding" me about a new post I thought I'd better get at it! Don't worry, my reminders were all in good fun. I think that what holds me up often is pictures. I think posts with pictures are more fun - but then I have to upload the picture, save it at a smaller resolution, etc. etc. So today a story - tomorrow I am posting some recently finished layouts so be sure to check back. Oh, and those "reminder" gals - I expect to hear comments from you!!! ;)

So anyway, my title hints at what changed in my house over the weekend. We finally moved Ethan into the bedroom with Max. Prior to this he was in our room in his crib still. Though he will soon be moving to a toddler bed we kept him in his crib for now to ease the transition. I KNOW Heather will be proud of me! I do miss him being in my room though. And the change is not without problems. There have been, in fact, numerous instances of blood curdling screaming errupting from Max's room. The causes of this include:

- Max turns on light when he wakes at 6am... this abrupt awakening does not thrill Ethan.

- Ethan rips down decoration on Max's wall during his "nap".

- Max shoots "hoops" into the crib - with Ethan sleeping in it.

- Ethan causes an arromatic air change... oh my oh my Max was not happy to have his room smell like "baby droppings!"

Those are the highlights. And so far it is only day 3! I hope it gets easier. If Jeff travels it will be the first time I am alone in my room for the past 2.5 years. Oh my!

On another topic - I have found this great blog that features many quotes. I love quotes, always have. I need to make a book to collect them all in. Here's a good one to end with:

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!” -- Dr. Seuss

Just Some Fluff

Well, I really don't have much time (do any of us?) so I thought I'd leave you with some fun fluff facts and a little quizzy (those words - little quizzy - will make five people I know either groan or laugh).

Fluff:

2 zillion - number of times Ethan's nose needed wiping this past week
2.5 zillion - number of times he used MY pants or shirt as a tissue!
4 - people who were/are sick here over the past week
3 - number of children on ammoxicillin.
1 - strep throat
1 - ear infection
1 - could develop into pnuemonia
8 - number of pages done on a 10 HOUR crop (not so good)
10 - number of fun hours I had on that crop - who needs productivity to have fun!
$2.35 per gallon - cost to fill the tank this week
not enough - hours of sleep
2.5 - hours until... AMERICAN IDOL (can you say obsessive?)

On that A.I. note, have any of you seen "Grease - Your the One that I Want?" on Sunday nights? It is really a cute show. Much less making fun of, which is the part of AI that I don't like as much. I know that Grease is going to make me want tickets to see the show when it comes out... I guess that is their plan really.

So, for the quiz - click here to take the quiz and get your results too. I tried to post my results but had some strange blogger issue. My results were not surprising (it said I would make a good teacher!).

Happy Tuesday. :)

So Proud!

Okay, I have been monkeying around with that Slide show you see on the sidebar for over an hour. Yes, I should have been doing other things... but I love it!

What it is showing today is my calendar book. This past year (2006) I kept a 12x12 monthly calendar of our family activities. Each month was just a one page spread. I rarely got too fancy as you can see, just a quick and simple snapshot of us.

What I used this past year was the Karen Foster line of rub-ons and patterned pages.

While I liked them at the time, I don't think I would use them again both from an expense standpoint and that I got sick of doing all those rub-ons! But the matchy-matcher in me liked the continuity.

More later on this topic... I spent so much time on Slide that I need to run!
Have a happy night!

PS - Glad to hear Scrapbook Bob is okay, but his car is not. For details of Bob vs. the bus see comment section on previous post.

Finally!

Well.... it's finally snowing! Well, by the time I am writing this - it has stopped. We got a whopping 1/2 inch. BUT at least we saw some white stuff!

Let it snow!
Let it snow!
Let it snow!

(hee hee hee)

Updates...

I am over the OO attack. To clarify for all of you interested, I believe (really) that she thought she was being funny. She did not mean to offend me, I am fairly sure. She is just obnoxious. Also she does work, I think full time, but does so in unusual shifts. If memory serves me correctly she is a nurse.

Oh, and to the questions about who is moving... it is Heather. :(

MOST IMPORTANTLY: TSCMobile Deb, please give us an update on Scrapbook Bob and his car. It seemed from your post like he was okay.. is he? I have received many side emails inquiring about him.

Not much else to tell you about - feeling out of sorts and have sick children. Ethan seems to be the worst.

I looked this word up in the dictionary and believe I saw my photo in the illustration!

un·pro·duc·tive (npr-dktv)
adj.
1. Not productive; idle.
2. Economics Adding nothing to exchangeable value.
unpro·ductive·ly adv.
unpro·ductive·ness n.

Yep. A banner day.

THAT"S IT! I am Having a Meltdown and That's FINAL!

Oh good grief and parsnip juice!

Really now, today is not going well.

I know, you (dear readers) most likely do not want to read a blog where the person rants and raves and complains. So this is your warning. STOP READING NOW. If you choose to go forward don't say you haven't been warned.

Let's just say my morning was not pleasant. I will spare you the gory details, but believe it or not my children do not all behave well all the time. Shocking I know.

Okay, so deep cleansing breaths get me through that. Then I speak to a very dear friend about her MOVING. Well, yes, I knew she was moving... but it is still sad to talk about it! Waaaa I am going to miss her. :( But we did make plans to get together, and she isn't leaving for a couple of months, so I'll stay in denial for awhile longer I guess.

More deep cleansing breaths.

Off to do errands and Walmart. Oy.

So, I am in WM and Ethan is pushing the cart and screaming (literally) if I try to help him steer. Lovely. So, of course, I bump into someone that I rarely see. There is a reason I rarely see her which I suppose you will soon glean. Anyway, I listen to her for awhile and try to keep E corralled. Not easy. Then our conversation takes a, um, turn. To properly tell you the story I am attempting to reproduce the dialog (which has been playing over in my head anyway), I'll do my best:

Obnoxious One (hence OO) - Sooooo (said dramatically like it is a pentagon secret) are you "working" yet?

Me - I work every day.

OO - No, I mean "real" work.

Me (with gritted teeth) - I stay home with the children and manage the house.

OO - Oh how nice (I don't believe she meant that either), what do you do with all that spare time?

Me - Well, I don't have much spare time....

OO - (interrupts) - ha, ha, I always laugh when SAHM's say that. As if you have to really be accountable or "do" anything with any kind of timeline.

Me - okay. (by now ethan was going bonkers and I was attempting just to leave)

OO - No really, what are you into now?

Me - well I love to scrapbook and do that when I can, I have a blog I li ...

OO - (interrupts) OH NO you DONT have a "brag" either. Do you? I just laugh at those things, like anyone comments on real things. They just put on perfect pictures and tell perfect stories and brag, brag, brag. Too much time on their hands I guess.

Me - Well then, I have to go get Ethan home for lunch.

OO - yes, he is acting tired isn't he (! bored silly by you you obnoxious wonder). bye

Me - um hum (refused to say bye to her, I was very annoyed)

So, Walmart was an exercise in frustration and annoyance.
I keep replaying my conversation with OO and thinking of all the things I should have said. Do you ever do that?
I apologize if this is like a "brag" - I guess since it is my forum I like to focus on positive stuff. There has been balance I hope.

Uh!
Struggling between feeling annoyed and/or feeling defeated. It's not just OO either - just one of those days. Dangerous also because there are brownies in the house. As of now they are foiled up and in the microwave since I kept walking by and picking at them. I should have just had one - all the picking probably equaled even more then one.
Uh again!
I quit!
Can I quit?
Apparently I am a non working, can't control the children, lazy, brownie eating, bragger. Don't get much better then that!

(see, I warned you to stop reading!)

Happy New Year!

Well, how's that for an original title?
Like it???

Welcome to all of my wonderful friends who just joined in the fun. Hi Wendy! Hi Gina! Hi Kristy! Sorry that I send you a link to the blog and then don't update it. Usually I am better - you know how the holidays are... Oh, and if you (or anyone) want me to be able to know your email address to write you back you need to enter it when you write the comment. :)

So, I am not sure how I feel about New Year's Resolutions since they rarely seem to last longer then the month of January. Yet still I think reflecting on our lives and planning out improvements or enhancements is a good thing. Have any of you ever made a New Year's Resolution that lasted? Tell us about it if you have!!!

Instead of making a resolution this year I have decided to make a mantra. A simple sentence that I can repeat often (and I am sure to the annoyance of those who have to speak to me regularly!) and sums up the changes I want to make. So the mantra is....... drum roll please..... "Clean less - play more". Seem good? Don't get me wrong - it is not meant to be a selfish mantra at all. Playing more means playing with the kids, finding moments for me, and hanging out with Jeff. I don't know if any other SAHMs (or Working moms for that matter) feel this way but it seems like I am always focused on one cleaning project or another. AND i do NOT have an immaculate house. It is just the daily routine maintenance stuff. The repetitive sort of drudgery stuff that makes up a rather large part of my day. That's the stuff that has to give a bit. I am going back to Flylady, that will help. If you haven't been to that site, give it a look using the link. It's a good one.

Okay, so that's my mantra. Playing more means exercising too by the way. Yep, see I sneak all those resolutions into the mantra. So sneaky of me.

So what is your resolution?

I'll leave you with this photo... one of my favorites (taken by DH by the way) from the holidays. It's Ethan holding my one and only niece (for now anyway) Ruthie. Or as Ethan likes to call her, Baby Ruth.

Have a great week!