Wednesday

A bulleted day!

Awesome morning:

• 4 loads of laundry completed
• hallway walls patched, sanded, and cleaned-up
• downstairs dusted
• floors swept
• bathroom SCRUBBED
• bathroom floor hand scrubbed
• kitchen cleaned
• dishes done
• toys cleaned, organized, and cleaned out

Work:
reset ip addresses (not my job)
decorated a cake (not my job)
berated a tard (fun part of my job)
made tard vomit (best part of my day!)
tard asked me to prom-seriously!! (how sad is it that I want to go?!)

Home:
came home waaay to late with ladies well past bed time
dogs locked the old deadbolt (original, pretty, brass handle FAIL)
husband pushes me through window with children dancing on the porch in their pajamas
rip last pair existing pair of work pants
curse dogs
curse dogs more
take hot shower while husbands tends to dogs
curse dogs in shower
shave THREE WEEKS of growth from my legs
enjoy the feeling of freshly shaved legs against the sheets before bed

How was your Wednesday?!

Actionless Sunshine

Thankful this year is a leap year and I get an extra day to try to salvage my February goals. <-- One goal down, I spelled February on  my first try!! I certainly can't blame it on the cold weather, it has been warmer than usual and my gas and electric bill is happily showing it. Work has been going relatively smooth, the hot mess who got her job back after coming to work hammered is back to being a booze and other unmentionables hound and all is right in the world. I've had dates with my husband, a date with the in-laws, and relatively peaceful family time.

So why am I in a rut?

There is food in my house. Money in the bank. And smiles on the faces of my family. I can't say that I'm exceptionally happy though. I also can't say that I've made much of any progress on anything at all in my life. That's a little depressing.

Is anyone else stuck in a winter rut?

However I see some hope. Yesterday was sunny and 60!

We walked.

We kissed best friends through windows.

We played outside and colored.

It was wonderful.

And I can say that I was happy. 

Now where is spring? I have a lot to get done!!

Sleeping Angels

I used to yearn for this. Cute wee-one with bed head afraid to go to sleep.
What I didn't know is that they are vicious, blanket stealing, leg thrashing monsters that generate enough heat to stone bake a pizza in 3.6 seconds. They're impossible to move easily and weight about 7 metric shit-tons when sleeping. AND the big one snores!
Maybe Ricky and Lucy were on to something...
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Virtual Craft Day

So I'm a day late, but yesterday was just too nice to stay inside!

This is a project I've wanted to do for the girl since they were babies. I just never got around to it, and now that they are older and could actually help I think it was much more fun. It was also nice to get away from all the valentine's stuff. I'm over February and ready for spring!

We made photo books!

It was soo simple! Of course I did a lot of prep work but that was more to keep my sanity with three sets of hands grabbing about. 

4.5inx6.5in Cardstock Matstack
Hole Punch
Book Rings
Pictures
Some sort of adhesive
Embellishments

Getting a matstack was so much easier than cutting down paper I already had. I also opted to use photo squares instead of glue. The girls love stickers and I knew peeling the backs off would keep them busy and spare me some time going from chair to chair. I cut the pictures down to size and added backing to some as well as adding the photo squares. When it was time they were able to pick, peel, and slap their photo down. 

Later I when back and added some old letters I had. To be honest they are all the "ugly letters" my mother bought for me a few years ago that I'll never use but couldn't quite throw away. Perfect use! 

This last shot I snuck around the recliner for. I asked them to take their books from the table and go read while I cleaned up lunch. It worked like a charm!!

My dear, sweet Claire, with her fragile heart and sensitive nature, is in love with her book. She sat and read to her lovie for a good 20 minutes this morning. She pleaded to take it to nap but I was able to sneak it away so I could finish up labeling it. She shows it off with such pride, I think we will have to keep adding to our books!

Beach Pictures

Typical Emma face.

I was slightly amazed she knew these were dog tracks. 

You can just barely see the tear on her cheek, it was windy!

My three favorite people. Immediately after this there was a puddle beneath the bench. 

I saw this and immediate thought of Mandy's "rat problem" LOL!

Photo credits for the sunbow go to DH. He saw it. He told me to take pictures. He's pretty useful!

Look at how pretty!

Dampness at the Beach

Traveling with the potty-trained North American toddler is a breeze, or rather I thought it would be. I brought an extra outfit for each child. I made sure the travel potty and extra baggies were in the car. It was strange to leave for a day trip with my camera and wallet taking up the majority of the very small bag we took. I was confident!
I was cocky!
And then I was schooled!!
Some North American toddlers are hyper-sensitive to the industrial waste removal devices. Translation-Claire has inherited my public bathroom phobia. She is terrified of the big, porcelain thrown with its mighty flushing power. And by terrified I mean throw-yourself-on-the-ground-screaming-kicking-your-shoes-off-in-a-panic kind of terrified. This happened on the floor of a public restroom and I just wanted to bathe her bleach! Oh, and did I mention it was in a tiny stall while I'm trying to balance her sister on the pot. HOT MESS!
Needless to say she peed herself the rest of the day.
On a boardwalk bench.
On a kiddie chair at the bookstore.
On her father's lap.
At a restaurant TWICE in ten minutes in new pants I had to buy because she has blown through everything I packed (one pair twice!!!).
Yikes!!
Needless to say, our day at the beach was a little more stressful than I anticipated. I also realized that in addition to her fear of public bathrooms, Claire's utter hatred of the sand will be putting a damper on our summer plans. We love the beach! I'm quitting my job to have more beach time. Looks like I'll have to sell a kid to make that happen now!
But driving home, talking with DH over the sounds of sleeping ladies and Cheap Trick softly playing, I realized that this is family time. It's all I've ever dreamed of and SO MUCH MORE!

P.S. I'm willing to trade a blue-eyed beauty for some beach front property! LOL!

Valentine's Week

We took the day of love, in all it's Hallmark goodness, and made it last!

"Unca Tim" surprised us with a fruit basket on Monday. We were all quite thrilled! I have always wanted one so it definitely made my day!

These little ladies LOVE pineapple, which they referred to by the shape only. 

On Tuesday we had a visit from Auntie Hobbles. We hauled out some of our Valentine's and enjoyed a play date with her.

Aunties never come empty handed. People's generosity, especially Auntie Hobbles, never ceases to amaze me. She took the time to put together these goodie bags, finding things the girls would love and that were appropriate. Who else would think to buy glow sticks in February? The girls were all over their new goodies, especially the fruit snacks and necklaces! 

Poor Hobbles got suckered into reading book after book. I'm sure she enjoyed it, but I was happy to not be the one cornered!

I tried to keep things fun for the girls and made a heart-filled lunch. Heart sandwiches, heart shaped fruit, heart shaped boxes filled with cheese and puffs, and their new favorite-yogurt with "sparkles."

That afternoon MIL called and asked us to stop by on our way home. FIL likes to go big, but I wasn't expecting this. We had a bag full of goodies for the girls and I! I received a box of chocolates (pecan caramels in case you're curious) and the ladies received new shirts. He also got us a heart shaped cake with chocolate icing which we all loved. The next day when we called to thank them, my MIL was so upset that FIL had gotten a shirt we already had in a larger size. I told her not to worry because Em loves the shirt and it will be put to good use. I can't believe she would worry herself so much over that! 

Since we were running late we grabbed some dinner out and came home for our fondue.  

Fondue at 2.5 years. At 7:30 in the evening. 

We skipped bath for chocolate before bed- MOTHER OF THE YEAR!

Pro!

You can't really tell, but Claire refused to get her dippers "dirty" with chocolate. It was too funny and totally Claire. She was happy just to eat her graham crackers and marshmallows. We had to pull Em away from the "choc-ate" because I'm convinced she would have licked the bowl clean.

Then we opened gifts from the GP and Daddy. DH stepped up his game this year. Each of the ladies received a rose when he came home from work Tuesday. Then, after our fondue, he gave the ladies the baskets he prepared. While they have yet to partake of the chocolate, they love their new bears and have slept with them every night since. They are currently named Pink Bear and Purple Bear, I think we need to step up our game in the naming department. 

Lastly, I made DH a card. Oh the things I can do during nap! LOL! I'll spare you the sappy inside, but it goes on to stay "...when you're shoes get here!"

Yes, my gifts are almost exclusively ordered online and are usually late. Shoes, how romantic right?

So he came back on Thursday with his Valentine gift. I had a nice dinner. A kid-free dinner. I had a delicious meal, while it was hot, and didn't have to ask anyone to sit down or keep their drink on the table! BLISS! Did I mention there was wine?! And adult conversation???? Pure craziness! It was fantastic! A big thank you to my cousin for taking the ladies. 

Then he followed up with a homemade gift certificate. 

A concert of my choosing.

A good meal.

AND

A day of "me time" without worrying about real life or the ladies. 

 Yeah. It was a good week for us. 

A very good week!

Hope you have a fantastic Valentine's! 

P.S.

I'm going to the beach tomorrow. Not related to Valentine's but totally worth mentioning!

On Hold

I'm on hold, again, for the forth time! I'm trying to pay off an account, you'd think they'd want to take my money! I tried the automated system and it rejected my payment. I waited and finally got a representative who just wants to inform me that they started offering FREE ONLINE BILL PAY THIS MONTH! Really? I've only been waiting years for you to do this.

We joke. She says I could take out another loan... not so funny.

Her computer has issues. We wait. We go through all the numbers and accounts, and she starts to process my final payment. I getting giddy inside. Then *beep beep beep*. Calls still drop?! This is 2012! Aren't the cell towers on the moon now?!

So I call back, not knowing if my payment was processed or not. "Hi, I just dropped a call and I'm not sure if my payment was processed." I'm sure I sounded like a wack-job trying to get her debt forgiven. Then he tells me he needs to put me on hold, he has to check, computer issues. Blah, blah, blah. HOLD FOR 7 YEARS! The finally comes back, I have your confirmation number ma'am, would you like it.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!

And this children, is the story of how Mandy used nap-time in a semi-effective manner. It feels so good to knock one thing off debt list. Yes, it is a long list. Yes, that is depressing. Yes, seeing thousands of dollars leave my account will be even more depressing. And YES I will treat myself to dinner to celebrate!

Valentine's Day Fun

I'm not sure why I'm excited to do Valentine's Day with the ladies but I'm sure it has plenty to do with the chocolate. Here's what we've started on!

 Don't you just love the love bug?! I do!

I unfortunately had my hopes set too high for the ladies love of stamping. But the stamps were fun anyhow!

What are you doing for V-Day?!

Marcos and Me

This is what Marcos and I have been up to for the last week or so. 

There is no point to this post. 

Sorry to disappoint!

Enjoy the photo dump!

I hope you approve Marcia!