A Test Already?!

So it's only a few days into my project to change my life and I'm already being tested-- the kids are on spring break. Today this meant I dragged all three of them to school with me and tried to keep them happy in the small video room, while I attempted to pay attention to the class on the monitor. Everything considered, it went better than expected. Most days doing this with just Bug stretches me to my limit, but today I didn't get quite so overwhelmed. This was in part because some generous soul recently filled the video room with kids' books and puzzles which kept everyone fairly occupied. But there was something else to it.

Which brings me to my next thought. I think my homeopathic remedy is playing a part in this recent life change. I don't know if anyone else can notice from the outside, but I feel profoundly different than I have in years. Not as uptight, not as oversensitive to everything, not as overwhelmed,not as stressed. I don't feel the same need to accomplish things either, although I am accomplishing a lot! I mean, I cleaned the house this weekend, almost completely organized 2 kid rooms, had friends over for dinner (didn't cook it though), went to my clinic shift, AND squeezed in a few rounds of COD! I am also finding that because I am not so worried about completing things, it's less stressful to me to hang with the kids, relax with Myron, take a bath, or read a book.

So if this is because of my last remedy, I am ecstatic! But part of the reason I am blogging it here is so that I can remember how good I feel if I start slipping back into my old mindset. Which, again, there is a decent chance of considering this whole spring break thing. But I am instating mandatory "Leave Mama Alone Time" each day. This allows me to blog, keep my nails pretty, eat without stress, and hopefully stay sane.

No pic today, but if I finish the kids rooms this week, I will post pics!

A Slow Process

A tiny step today toward a cleaner house and happier me-- "put away totes" for the kids. Thanks to a suggestion from our nanny, we now have a tote for each kid in our family room. I simply throw things that go in each of their rooms in the tote, and they have to empty it by putting everything in the correct place in their room. This latter part is most likely wishful thinking, but for the moment I am thinking positively. If nothing else, it gives them a concrete idea of exactly what needs to be put away.

The coolest thing about these puppies is they have pull handles and wheels! And I couldn't help crafting a tiny embellishment-- their initials on each. It satisfies my craft quota for the day, so extra bonus!

Back In The Saddle

So it has definitely been a while since my last post....
Yesterday I came to the realization that I need to start doing things that I like again. I know this isn't rocket science, but for some reason I never really got it before. I kept thinking I would do something fun as soon as I finished the laundry, or the dishes, or some other project, but guess what? My chores are endless! And I never get to the fun-- or at least if I do there is guilt associated with it. So in order to prevent myself becoming a bitter, resentful old woman (or at least the bitter, resentful part), I am focusing on myself. Little things.

Today I began with small steps: I painted my nails, wore jewelry, used skin care products, sat down with a coffee (the sitting part here is what is new) and started a fiction book-- a pretty mindless fiction book-- win! These little things didn't take much time and I feel better so much better!!

So we will see how this pans out...because I also started blogging again... maybe for longer than 4 posts this time???

Bring It!

"You think you can dance better than me? I INVENTED dancing!"

Sunshine at last!!

We have had some BEAUTIFUL days here this past week, and we took full advantage of them!!

Jeeves draw a huge ice cream truck in chalk.

(note the detail of drawing no less than 30 individual ice cream cones in the truck...and how Roxy is waiting patiently in line)

I broke out the kiddie pool, filled it with balls, and sat Bug in the middle.


She started taste-testing each one immediately.


Jeeves and I tried to decide which flavor each one was while Bug looked at us like we'd gone mad. :)


Perhaps we have.

Roxy basked in the sun.

(I like how she's pretending she doesn't see me taking the picture)

And I shot this pic of Max rolling around delightedly on the warm cement like a pig in mud.


It totally captured how I felt right then-- so happy with the sunshine that I just wanted to soak in every last drop of it....until I realized there was some bird poop on the patio that he was trying to rub his scent on....

I couldn't relate to that desire so much....

Midwestern Decadence

Wedinator.com is one of my guilty pleasures. It's a site I can always count on to delight me in some way. For example, this recent feature:


Yes, that is absolutely a ranch dressing fountain.

Who thought of this?! And how much does he or she weigh?

Hands down the best part of this photo, however, is my brother's response when I emailed him the link:

"OMG disgusting! I bet it stank too!"

I love you Jeffrey!

Mother's Day Done Right

This Mother's Day I did what I should've done for years now- milked it. In no uncertain terms, I was as lazy as possible. You see, in years past I always felt bad for my husband trying to do everything solo, but I did not fall into that trap this year! No way!

I began my day of decadence by sleeping in (of course) then received 2 vegan cinnamon rolls and some hot cocoa in bed. I spent a good hour or more reading blogs and Mr. Man and Jeeves brought me some excellent presents!



From Jeeves: a "box" of chocolates (and by chocolates I mean chocolate scratch and sniff stickers) and a "Boston lounging in the grass".




From Mr. Man, a drawing and a "circle book". If you can't make out the best part of this circle book, the MOM acronym says "Magic Obedient Magical"... Magic? Yes. Magical? Absolutely. Obedient? Not the first word I would think of to describe myself.... perhaps a vocabulary lesson is warranted.

My kids always make me the best stuff.

Next on the laze agenda, a 15 min shower, and then off to Value Village for some casual thrifting. I came home with a snow cone maker (surprise for the kids at a later date), a few kids' books, a travel lap desk/chalkboard (that I plan to craft a version of), a vintage girls' dress pattern, a nice picnic blanket (this will make a cameo later in the day), and major score-- New Kids On The Block flat sheet! I plan to make the sheet into something awesome for a friend's bridal shower. I was thinking apron, but the print may be too big....I will figure something out.

Quick stop at Starbucks on the way home (this was more for my husband than me), then we grabbed a pizza at Pizza Pi (they had 4 new pizzas!) and headed to the beach of Lake Washington for dinner (insert aforementioned picnic blanket here). It was a beautiful day and so nice to just sit and listen to the waves. It's been so long since Seattle's weather has been worthy of a park visit! At the beach, Bug discovered grass for the first time ever, and decided that sunglasses are for eating, not wearing. The kids had fun hunting for rocks and shells, and then throwing them in the water.





After our dinner at the beach, we made a quick stop at Healeo for vegan hemp softserve ice cream (I'm not sure why I thought this was a good idea since I don't like hemp milk or ice cream) and then home.

Today is definitely a candidate for "Fantastic Mother's Day", but we will see if dishes and laundry get done. Currently, Goose is playing Call of Duty, so it's not looking good, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt!

Tomorrow is coffee with a friend-- hooray for time with grown ups! And then the rest of the week I am hoping to be motivated to get some crafts off my "To Do" list.... fingers crossed!