Time To Fly . . .

We're off to see my sister for Spring Break.  A first for the Hubby and my kids to journey to her home.  A first road trip for my Ollie boy.  And a first for me as I am desperately and uncharacteristicly behind in getting ready.

Will be blogging in a sporadic fashion as I enjoy sibling time and play with my peeps.  Happy Spring to you!

The Hips Don't Lie . . .

For the first time in my life, I am the proud {?} owner of a bathroom scale.  When I was little, my parents had a scale like the doctor's office has - with the little notch that moves from pound to pound until the scale is balanced and you're staring at THE NUMBER.  I'm pretty sure we kids broke that scale.  And I haven't shared a home with a scale ever since.

It should be said that I could have used a scale during my freshman year of college, since I gained upwards of thirty pounds.  What?  I was dealing with a break-up and soft serve ice cream covered with orange soda seemed like a balanced breakfast!  Okay, it's not, but it sure tastes just like a creamcicle. 

I refused to have a scale in the house with each of my pregnancies.  It's enough to step on the scale in front of a nurse every month, then every two weeks, then every week, just watching the poundage add up, hoping that by removing my shoes I might have magically not gain five pounds.

But now, well now I have reached the point where I need to have a scale in my house. I am on the swift downward spiral to Forty.  I had a baby eight months ago and am rounding the corner to reclaiming my body from the nursing infant child. I am ready to be the controlling partner in my ever stormy relationship with food. And I am participating in a program developed by my sis-in-law that is going to help me be a healthier person in general.

These reasons are what brought me face to face with the shelf full of scales at my lovely local Target.  I stared and cowered. I almost turned and ran. The choices were overwhelming.  Do I buy the one that calculates body fat?  Heck no!  I'm just now ready to put a number on my weight - no body fat discussions allowed!  Do I buy the one with the robotic voice that says my weight out loud?  Heck no!  I don't want to HEAR it.  I just want to see it.  So I skip over all the scales priced $50 to $17.99 and go for none other than the scale pictured above at a mere $7.99.

My new scale and I came home together.  I followed the instructions, setting the scale on a level surface and aligning the tick mark with zero pounds when the scale was at rest.  Then I weighed myself - right there, fully clothed in the middle of the day. And I loved what that scale told me!  It said, "All your non-exercising has really paid off.  Way to go!"

When the Hubby came home I told him all about my new friend, the scale.  The Hubby went up to the bathroom, introduced himself, stepped on, and in one quick moment ruined my happy day.  "There is no way this scale is right," he said.  "Oh, yes, it is right," I replied a little too desperately.  But he assured me there was "no way he weighed less now than he did in high school".

The next day he weighed himself in the gym at his office on one of those doctor's scales.  He came home and broke it to me gently that our new scale was a mere ten pounds off.

And this, my friends, is why no one should ever own a scale.

A Simpler Life In 2010 . . .

{image via Google images}

I have spent the day trying to wrap my brain around a way to simplify packing for our five day trip. No matter how I try, I am still face with six people's worth of stuff.  And the crazy part is that the infant child - he who is as tall as my shin bone - has more stuff than all of us combined.  I may or may not be taking as much luggage as you see in this picture.

Add in piano practice, baseball practice, quizzing for three tests, laundry folding, dinner prep, gift making, a dog bite, a school bully, a bulging tooth, a headachy mom and what do you get?

An unorganized 'organizer' blogging late at night and thinking in the back of her brain that it would sure be easier to just leave the kids and run off with the cute Hubby for five days.  Oh wait, we're doing that in October.

I'll get my act together folks.  It just might not be until I get back.

Repurposed . . .

Remember the fun circle garland I sewed up for the baby shower a few weeks ago? I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. I didn't know when I would have a need for it again and was sad at the thought of it tangled up in a drawer somewhere. So I decided to give it a new home.

It now resides over the baby's crib. He loves to sit and stare at it as it sways every so slightly above him. I often find him talking to it after a nap. Even though there are some florals in the patterns and the colors aren't an exact match for the boys room, I am happy I was able to 'upcycle' this project.


For refrence, I taped it directly to the ceiling. If I keep it there longer term, I may attach it to an embroidery hoop somehow for more longevity.

The rest of this room and the rest of my house, for that matter, are a disaster. We are preparing to take a little Spring Break trip {more on that later}. We are preparing to have some construction work done in the house {more on that later}. We are preparing for Easter {more on that later, too}. And I am preparing for a mental breakdown - but what's new?

Join me tomorrow for a trip simplification tip.

Achoo! {scratch, scratch}

Winter is gone

and in its place a welcomed friend named Spring.

Here are the signs:

Birds building nests

A bud breaking through the ground

Children joyfully at play

And my itchy, red, swollen, watery eyes.

Welcomed friend named Spring?

ps.  Allergies are the worst.

Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner . . .

This is not a flattering or cute picture of the infant son.  Unfortunately, this is our current reality.  And that look on his face, well, I'm seeing an awful lot of it.

You see, my boy is trying ever so hard to crawl and for some odd reason, he can only manage to go backwards. It usually goes something like this:
 
Ollie sees desirable item. 
*
Ollie assumes normal baby crawling position.
*
Ollie raises himself into plank position {it's yoga, baby}.
*
Ollie sits back up, only now he's about three inches back from where he started.
*
Ollie continues this torturous system until he looks up to see how close he is to desirable item and realizes it is now a mere speck on the horizon.
*
Ollie makes the face in the picture.
*
Ollie begins crying.

Occasionally Ollie will back himself into some tiny crevice of the family room.  I've found him halfway under the couch, behind the armoir doors, under the coffee table and in the corner pictured.

I continue to put him through baby boot camp, where I move his legs and arms in synch with the proper crawling technique. We do this multiple times a day.  He giggles and smiles.  I think he understands.  I put out a desirable object.  And he's backwards boy all over again.

Usually I am in no rush to have a mobile baby.  It means lots of things, including baby proofing for real and the end of the legos for awhile.  But right now, after three weeks of backwards boy, I am done with that face and the crying. 

Would anybody like to volunteer to come and be Ollie's crawling coach?

Plank You, Plank You Very Much.

DIY Cute Packaging . . .

This is a package of my favorite chewing gum. Remember when gum used to come in flimsy foil packaging that would fall apart in your purse? No more! I love the little box this Orbit gum comes in. I love it so much I decided to deconstruct it and copy it as a box for the Mommy Calling Cards winner. Here's how I did it:

1. Take all the gum out and let all the kids have a piece so they'll leave you alone. Carefully, so no tearing occurs, undo the box's lightly glued construction.

 

2. Trace the outline of the box on sturdy weight, lovely-to-look-at cardstock.

3. Using sharp scissors, cut out along the tracing lines.

4.  Using the scoring blade of a paper cutter {if your not in the know:  a scoring blade has a dull edge that puts a score line in paper, making it perfect for folding} mimic all of the folds from the original wrapper.

5.  Fold all of the score lines

Your box should now resemble the gum box.

7.  Using an exacto knife or razor blade, cut a slit in the box for tucking the tab in.  Rememer to do this on a piece of cardboard or self healing cutting mat, as shown below.

8.  Apply glue {I used regular old glue stick} to the side tabs of the box.

9.  Fold box together, holding glued points in place with paperclips.  It helps if you have cute paperclips that match your cardstock. Kidding.  Let dry.

I put the calling cards in, tucked the tab into its slot and affixed a label and letter 'G' for the winner's last name. I love how this turned out!  I will be keeping my deconstructed gum box in my craft supplies for further use.  And now I'm on the hunt for other commercial product packaging that I can remake or copy.

Of course, it looked even better when I tied it up with spring ribbon, put it in a box with some delicious chocolate and paper flowers and topped the whole thing off with dragonflies! Who wouldn't want to open a spring filled package like this?

And Amber would be proud . . . it was less than 13 ounces {you must check out her flickr gallery!}.

 

A Simpler Life In 2010 . . .

Wanna know something that complicates my life? People ringing the doorbell or banging on the door when my baby is napping. His room is right over the foyer, so he hears it all. My boy needs his sleep. This momma needs the boy to need his sleep so the momma can stay sane.

I can't really blame anyone who comes to the door loudly if they don't know there's a baby napping, so I decided it was time to let them know. I took a picture of sweet Ollie sleeping and whipped it out on the computer with a little "Please Knock Quietly" around it. Then I laminated the whole thing to withstand the weather {more on my love of my laminator in a later post}. Now when Ollie goes down for his nap, I just grab my dragonfly magnet and put his picture on the door. It has made my life, and his naps, so much better!

While I'm at the front door and talking about messages, see that little "No Soliciting" in the window? I ordered some of that peel and stick vinyl lettering and we have not been bothered by solicitors ever since. I'm not mean, just really uncomfortable with being confronted by strangers at my door pressuring me to buy stuff.

Now I need to get to work on freshening up my Spring wreath. I couldn't even show you the whole door today due to its nakedness.

How about you, dear readers, what's happening on your front door?

Giveaway Winners . . .

This is the scene in my front yard. Lovely little blue flowers peeking out to say hello. Spring is definitely rounding the corner!

A big congratulations to Chocolate On My Cranium who better clear off her mantel to make room for the Spring Banner. Her description of the green wheat fields near her home painted a vivid picture in my mind.

And a second congratulations goes to Jami {my Hubby's older sis} who has custom mommy calling cards coming her way! Her description of herself in flip flops with sweats as sexy put a huge grin on my face.

I'll contact you both for mailing information and customization questions. And now I'm off to search for a very large piece of furniture...

ps.  All winners are chosen by Random.org's random number generator.

I Do Have Three Other Children . . .

Reminder: Don't forget to comment on the March giveaway {click HERE} by 5pm EST today for a chance to win the Spring banner or a set of custom mommy calling cards!

I recognize that my infant son is getting prime billing here on the blog.  He and I are together a lot.  And he's changing so fast that I don't want to miss it. And then there's the fact that he's darn cute and pretty much irresistable.

But I do have three other children who are rockstars in my eyes.  Here's what's going on in their lives:

Big C

Life is good for the preteen.  He just finished up a great basketball season.  He's mastering geometry and keyboarding.  He's hanging out with friends. And baseball has begun, so he's in his element.

 

  

Hannie B
My girl has so much spunk I often end up spunked out at the end of the day!  She's knee deep in the Little House on the Prarie books and TV series.  She's loving her new pink basketball.  She's the master of Just Dance. She's out in the backyard with RedDog making little fairy houses with leaves and pinecones. And softball starts in two weeks.

 

RedDog

My boy is growing up, but still has a soft spot for his momma.  I can always count on a spontaneous hug and smooch from him.  He's losing teeth faster than we can keep track.  The last two have fallen out at school which makes him feel really cool.  He's a reading and spelling machine.  And he cut his own hair last week.  It looks like this:

 

Just in time for school pictures this Friday.  Awesome.

And then there's this guy.  Sorry, I had to include it.

Something Special...

I'm blogging a little bit later than normal today because I had a little appointment with a friend this morning.  Oops, I'm sorry, I meant to say I had an appointment with a little friend this morning.

My four and half year-old buddy Ella came to see me, much to Ollie's delight.  We've been planning this for months.  A few weeks ago Ella's mom had a new baby and Ella was dethroned as Queen of the House.  I feel her pain.  I've been dealing with it for 31 years {but really, my baby brother is awesome}.

Ella has me wrapped around her little finger.  She calls me 'Sammy' in her tiny elf voice and I suddenly want to buy her a puppy and balloons and a cone with three scoops of ice cream.  I cannot stand it, it's that cute.

So, in an effort to make her feel extra special while lots of attention is being paid to her new baby sis, I invited her over for a playdate today.  On the agenda:

Crafts.
We made a butterfly picture clip and a crazy mask to hide her identity when her siblings come home from school today.

American Girl Dolls.

We dressed and undressed them all while Ollie screamed happily. He's crazy for the American Girl scene.

Manicures.

We painted her nails a perfect shade of bubblegum pink.  Then I told her we would do Ollie's for laugh, but she reminded me that he's a boy.

Angelina Ballerina.

We watched two short episodes.  Man, I love a mouse with a British accent.

A Tea Party.

We munched on little heart shaped PB&J sandwich flowers with carrot and cucumber stems. 

We enjoyed finger trays of fruit snacks, goldfish and pretzels and drank lemonade.

And we called strawberries, blueberries and a Samoa the grand finale.

She enjoyed it all with this $1 lovely atop her head, making her feel like the Queen of the House once again and I sent her home with a little present for becoming something I have never been:  A Big Sister To A Little Sister.

 

Ollie and I both thought it was so fun to have a little princess in the house!

Don't forget to scroll down to yesterday's post and leave a comment for the March giveaway, which ends Monday at 5 pm EST.  The Spring banner is toying with my emotions.  It's really, really cute.  Cute enough that the Hubby asked, "Are you really going to give that away?"  I might have to make another one this weekend.

Have a Great Weekend

A Happy Little Spring Giveaway . . .

I feel like this long, cold, gray winter is finally drawing to a close, its white snowy blanket slipping off the end of the bed to reveal the lovely sheets that have been hiding underneath.

Do you feel it?  It’s in the increasingly sunny days that warm the usually cold car, or on the arms of the short sleeved shirt wearing kids in lighter weight jackets heading to the bus stop.

Do you see it?  It’s on the ends of tree limbs in the form of tiny buds and blossoms.  It’s pushing up through the earth and unfurling as tulip leaves.

Do you hear it?  It’s in the sound of running water as the last traces of snow melt and make a hasty exit out of the neighborhood.  It’s a part of the conversations between birds tossed through the air from tree to tree.

Do you smell it?  It’s something noticeable in the breeze drafting through an open window.  It covers the children as the come in from running and playing outside in the warmth.

Oh! I can almost taste it, this beautiful thing called Spring.  And I sincerely hope you are able to take a moment and enjoy it as much as I am.  

I’d love to hear what it is in your little world that’s telling you Spring is near.  Leave a comment by Monday at 5pm EST and you will be entered to win the Spring banner  pictured above – a little handmade gift to you from me.

And since I’m feeling especially Springy today, a second winner will be drawn to win a set of 36 custom mommy calling cards like those shown in yesterday’s post. Your info, your choice of background photo.  And you don't need to be a mom to win!

Happy Spring, dear readers!  You are simply the best.

ps.  Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you in the comment!

A Simpler Life In 2010 . . .

Have you ever found yourself in one of these scenarios:

You drop a child off for a playdate at someone's house and the mom asks for your phone number in case there's an emergency. Suddenly you're digging in your purse for a receipt or torn scrap of paper so you can quickly write the digits in illegible chicken scratch.

Or you're at the park and your child becomes instant besties with another child. You and the other mom exchange pleasantries and the hope for a future meeting of the wee ones. She tells you her email address, which you promptly forget.

Or you're volunteering at the school and the teacher asks for your contact information for future reference. You spout various numbers and addresses to her, wishing you already had it all in one place.

Insert me into each of these situations, looking or feeling like that mom who needs to get her act together. I decided that in order to take my job as Chief Operating Officer of my home and family more seriously, I should have a proper business card. Being a mom is my business. It's what I do every day, day in and day out.

So I made myself some mommy calling cards. On each card {over a lovely image of a dragonfly, of course} are the bare essentials for contacting me: my name, my children's names, my email address and home/cell phone numbers.

Now when we make a new friend, I can reach into my wallet and give the mom my card and say, "Give us a call sometime!" It's just a little something that makes me feel together. And it's made my life a little less crazy {aka: simpler}.

I hope you'll join me tomorrow. I've been working on a fun March giveaway that will put some Spring in your step.

Channeling Jackson Pollack . . .

My infant son is a gifted artist.  He channels Jackson Pollack on a daily basis. 

The biggest similarity is the splatter marks.  Lots and lots of splatter marks. The biggest difference is the medium.  Instead of paint, it's baby food.  Instead of a brush, it's a spoon and the pbbbt! of little lips. Instead of canvas, it's his own face.  And my face.  And the kitchen floor.

My little artist creates with pride and passion.

And he loves it when his momma wears his artwork out of the house.

 

So if you see me on the street, baby food caked on my clothes or hair, make me an offer, because this kid of mine, he's gonna be famous.