Child Labor

I've got to give her credit for trying. Notice what is the most expensive thing on the list. You'd think I was making her pick it up with her bare hands or something.

Week Wrap Up

Here is the finale of the week of crafts. We took painters canvas and wrapped it with cute fabric and then stapled it to the back. Super easy, super cheap. The kids love them. These are for my room/bathroom.



This is Emma's. It matches her room colors almost perfectly.



And then Maggie's. Butterflies of course.


So that's it for this week. Next week we're back in school, and hopefully back to "normal". In the meantime, I'll be vacuuming, dusting, and just generally trying to clean up after myself.

Curious

Poor, poor Maggie.

She and Emma were playing, ie, screwing around, with the seat belt on Wednesday night. Emma threw the seatbelt in the air, and it "inexplicably" hit Maggie in the forehead. You can imagine the blood. It was running into her eyes, and it was all over her hands. Thankfully we were near our destination, Wal-Mart, where else. I rushed a bloodied Maggie inside to swarms of onlookers, and started cleaning her up. In the meantime, Sugar Daddy was on the phone trying to figure out what ER we should take her to for stitches. New insurance, new town, you get it.

Turns out, we don't need no stinkin' stitches. All we needed was this. A waterproof bandage, covered by a Curious George Band-Aid. Because all we needed to cover up was this:



The crying is because some of the patients hair was pulled out during bandage removal. Sorry 'bout that. The said "injury" was only a tiny little spot on her forehead. But I'm tellin' ya, that sucker bled like crazy. I was certain under all that blood was going to be some serious damage.



And whilst all this doctoring was going on this morning, what with the bandage removal and crying and such, Emma slumbered peacefully until 9:50 AM. She is not a sleeper-inner. She's up with the sun. So I guess our crafting this week, and perhaps her penchant for Top Chef and Ultimate Recipe Showdown at 10:00 PM have put her over the edge. Good thing Spring Break is almost over so she can relax.

I'll post pics of our latest craft adventure tomorrow.

Happy Mail

I love getting mail. At least the kind that isn't weighted down with a "please return you check so we can take all your money" envelope inside. This kind of mail is the very best of the best. It comes in a box with a big "Q" on the side. We all know what that means. And it's delivered by a nice man in a brown uniform, that says things like "Ma'am" and "Y'all". I mean really, that is what mail should be all about. It makes me feel like a real grown up, which we all know is a warped sense of self, because I'm certainly not grown up at all. But on to the contents!

Here is the "Q" box, in all its glory. Inside were foam peanuts, which I'm sure I'll be finding for days to come, as they seem to have permanently attached themselves to various parts of my house, and also another box taped to high heaven on all sides. It was like the Fort Knox of mail. Now my interest we really piqued. Is that the correct usage of that word? I think so, but if not, let me know and I'll promptly change it.


And here is the beauty that lay sleeping inside. A cool stained glass bouncing dragonfly. Oh my! I'm pretty sure the kids were entertained by this for a good 5 or 10 minutes, which is some kind of record for something not animated or containing a princess of some sort. It really is cool to pull the little hanging string and then watch it bounce and flap its wings. I think when it warms up enough, I'll hang it outside over the patio. For now it has found a home hanging from the formal dining room chandelier.


And I like this picture, because it shows how intent Gretta is on grabbing that string. I also like that it shows off her newest obsession, Backpack from Dora. All 3 girls have used this backpack, but Gretta is by far the most territorial over it. She wore it all day yesterday.

So, thanks, Momma. You're the best. The kids also enjoyed their color-on T's and Sugar Daddy has gobbled up at least 5 suckers. But honestly, we don't need you to send us gifts for letting you stay here. You can stay for free, anytime. We don't usually expect house guests to leave us treats. We do, however, expect quarters on the counters for bathroom usage. I'm just putting that out there for future reference.

Thanks again. I love you!

Spring Break Crafts

Since we're off school This.Whole.Week, I've decided to be a good little mom and make sure my kids have something to do each day. Yesterday we started off with a bang by making foam board doll houses. They turned out pretty cute, but were way more work than I had anticipated. Cutting the foam board dulled my craft knife in 2 seconds flat, so I was left using my fabric cutter and mostly just sort of bending and ripping it. No biggie, they're just kids. But since we had plenty of cute paper to cover the board, and plenty of cute magazine cut outs for furniture and accessories, it all came out fine.


Here's Emma and her friends Shivvani and Mary Kate. Partners in crime.


And here's the finished product. It was funny to see how the girls reacted to not having any "rules" for what they could put in their houses. They kept asking if they could use this or that, and I just kept reiterating the fact that when it comes to crafts, you just do what you like. No rules. Towards the end of the project, they really got the gist of this, and just started cutting and pasting whatever they wanted. It was fun to see what they picked out.

Thanks to NieNie and Cookie Magazine for the inspiration.

Easter Day Recap

We were successfully visited by the Bunny. He delivered many a sweet treat for the children.

Mom may have snuck some, too. He also delivered cute matchy matchy dresses for the girls.


Here are the girls opening their baskets. Do you love Gretta's 'do?


And here's Miss Gigi showing me an extreme close up of her new bunny. She says "Ooh ooh, Aah aah", like it's a monkey. Whatever. It's soft and fluffy, what does she care that it's not her toy monkey?

We were treated to a special choir program at church, for which we were 20 minutes late due to dad ironing his new shirt and pants. After church we had linner (lunch/dinner, get it?) at our friends house. Ribs with Au Gratin potatoes and rolls. Very Eastery. I made a yummy cool whip and pineapple angel food cake recipe that was featured in this months Kraft Foods magazine/mailer. Very delish.

Pretty much a regular Easter Sunday, except this was the first "real" Holiday spent away from our families. It's definitely a strange feeling being away from "home". It's not like homesickness like in college or girls' camp, it's more than that and less than that all at the same time. I enjoy having my little family traditions started, but I miss the chaos that is "Grandma's house". I guess it just makes the memories that much sweeter. Sniff sniff.

*I seem to have used an exceptional amount of "" , (), and / in this post. Feel free to report punctuation overuse to the appropriate authorities.

First day of Spring

Yesterday was the first day of Spring. To celebrate, we headed to the newly thawed neighborhood park. We loaded up the trusty red wagon, and headed on over. It was a perfect park day. Sunny, breezy, and cool. The kids played and played and played. Maggie even got brave enough to go down the biggest slide! I was very proud. Gretta enjoyed the slides, too.

But she especially loved the swing. She kept putting her arms out the leg holes and laughing her butt off. She's such a silly kid.

Maggie getting her slide on.

Emma showing how "brave" she is. Such a dork.

Afterwards, we headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for the District 41 fund raiser night. It was packed, and the food was eh. We then celebrated this first day of Spring further by sending the kids to bed early, and retiring early ourselves. Ah, sleep.

Gretta obviously didn't get the whole sleep memo thing, because for some reason she was awake from 12:45 until 4:00, when Sean finally put her in the Pack N' Play that still resides in my closet. She slept for a couple of hours, but then woke back up at 6:30. WHY!!!

Honestly, I think she's getting the two top teeth, and I'm pretty sure she's miserable. But Sean's home from work today due to Good Friday, so we thought we'd head to the City for some Planetarium action. But apparently Mother Nature didn't get the first day of Spring memo either, since it snowed 6" last night. Hopefully we can salvage some of our Holiday.

Happy Easter!

Tales

Ah, Wal-Mart.

You may remember my post yesterday about not getting my kids dressed to go to Wal-Mart. Well, I went. And I did. Get them dressed, that is. But that doesn't mean that we didn't enjoy our Wally World experience any less.

First, let me tell you that our WM is in Antioch, Il. Which is a teeny tiny border town full of lakes, and fishermen, of both water and ice, and one big honkin' high school. It's a weird town. And since it's a good 15 minutes away, their weirdness obviously has no influence on my cute little town.

So I make my way from the very back of the parking lot, because we all know that when you go to WM, there is never anywhere to park but in the way back. And as I'm walking, I realize Gretta has lost yet another binky. Now for a little history. Meg and Gretta are a horrible binky tracking team. Gretta loses them, and Meg doesn't notice. We lost 2 on Friday. So the one that wanted to stay put in the WM parking lot was our last. No matter, I'll just buy 2 more while inside. So I stop at Dunkin' Donuts to buy donut holes and a Diet Pepsi, (because I'm back on the hooch), reciprocate the Greeter's friendly smile, and head to the baby isle. I find the cutest double pack of Mam's with pink and brown spots, and I can't believe it, they're the last ones! Heaven! I open the package and insert binky bliss into Gretta's open mouth. Now we can shop til we drop. Which is nothing compared to Meg and Jill, but I have my own shopping standards.

Skip ahead an hour or so. I'm at the checkout line. Of course, the only one that is open, and I'm 3rd in line. Figures. I start unloading my full-to-the-brim cart onto the moving belt, and realize, again, Gretta has no binky. I search my surrounding area. Nope. I search through the remaining goods in the cart. Nope. Pockets. Nope. DOH! Gone. So I have a dilemma. I'm half unloaded, and there are people behind me. Do I just nix the whole binky thing altogether, or just buy the one remaining one and call it a day? Of course I just buy the one, I need at least one binky to get her through the night. So all the way home, I'm just mad. Not at anyone or really even about the binky in particular, just mad at WM and parking, and Antioch, and the car in front of me and yadda yadda yadda.

So I arrive home, unload all the groceries, and go to lay Gretta down for her afternoon "nap". Nap meaning 15 minutes of her yelling from her crib that she is NOT taking a nap. After unloading groceries, I start picking up the toy room. Toys, garbage, shoes, socks, dollar bills(?), and, what is this? 2 binkies! Hallelujah! Suddenly I'm a happy woman. I'm easy to please, apparently.

Moral of the story: Don't blame Antioch for crappy Wal-Mart parking and don't blame WM for lost binkies when all along they've been hiding right under your nose.

Is that even a moral? Probably not, but next time I'm up thataway, I'll try my best not to be so nasty about it. I really do love the WM.

Have you seen it?

It would seem I have successfully hacked up a lung. I'm thinking I may need that later in life.

I love being sick. I held this cold off for as long as I could, but after Team Keli left, and I entered my post family funk, it hit me full force. Last night I slumbered peacefully in my NyQuil coma, but as soon as my alarm went off this morning, the coughing began again. I've started to make a kind of game out of it. I like to see what color the phlegm will be. Hey, I always look on the bright side, you know that.

Now my house has gone to hell, and my kids look like orphans, and I have no energy to care about any of that. I'm out of Diet Pepsi, and chocolate, and I need to go to the store. What's a girl to do? I guess I'll throw on the same clothes I've been wearing since Monday, stained shirt and all, and head to Wal-Mart. I may not even have to get the baby dressed. It is only Wal-Mart after all, she'll fit right in in her diaper and unsnapped onesie. On top of all that, I have to think about what's for dinner tonight. That alone causes a coughing fit, almost as if in attempt to bypass the dinner making all together. I guess I can always pick up a whole roasted chicken for dinner. That's always a crowd pleaser. Peel up some taters, and cook some frozen corn, and that there's a meal. I feel better already.

I hope you have a coughing fit free day. And just in case you don't, check out the phlegm and think of me.

Wicked Weekend

Well, it's come and gone. Team Keli visited this weekend, and we had a total blast. The entire weekend was packed with excitement, as it always is when 5 girls get together. But first things first. I got new furniture! Yay! It arrived a mere hours before TK, so it was close, but it made it. I'm glad, since we needed the extra space for the kiddies to play. Here it is, the blue suede sofa and the circle chair. I never thought I would own anything blue. I thought I was too traumatized from Mommas house all those years with blue carpet, furniture, drapes, you name it. But I guess not. I love it.

Now, on to the weekend. Of course, many, many fun things were had, said, and seen, but there were a few highlights for each of us. This weekend included:

• Gracie taking a few steps.
• Meg stuffing her face with a huge waffle.
• Jill asking "What are those honking birds?" Emphasis on honking.
• Kelli needing an angry local to translate her popcorn order for her.
• The Wicked theater bringing me to tears. Literally. ;)
• And Momma, well, what can I say about her? She's the best. I think she only beat up the baby once in an attempt to pick up the check, and she hails cabs even when they're full. I'm pretty sure I embarrassed her more than once, but she secretly loves it. My girls miss her already, and are asking when she's coming back. Of course, I'm doing the same.
  

Here's Team Keli, sans Keli. Jill with Gracie, Momma, Kelli, and Meg. It was tough letting them leave. And I'm not sure when I'll get to the point where I don't cry all day after they do, but it's worth it to have them here. So thanks for everything, gals. I love you guys!

Absence makes the heart grow...something

I actually met someone that does NOT have internet service. Nothing. Not at home. Not at work, nothing. I didn't think they made those kind of people any more.

I started thinking about what I would do without internet access.

• I would have more time to clean my house
• I would read more books
• I would do more laundry
• I would probably spend more money being out and about all day

But then I got thinking about what NOT having internet access would really mean.

• I wouldn't be able to keep up with family and friends on blogs
• I wouldn't be able to look up on Wikipedia words I don't know
  
• I wouldn't feel like I knew anything fun to do in my new town
• I would certainly feel isolated
• I wouldn't be able to research and shop for the best deal on products I love (That's an entirely different post)
• But most importantly, I wouldn't feel like I had an outlet each day for all the crazy thoughts that go through my head

But all this being said, I think I'm taking a blog break. I have FAMILY coming this weekend, and in preparation for that, I'm taking some time off. I'll be back on Tuesday, hopefully with all sorts of fun stories and pictures, and maybe even video. So I'll see you then.

Funny girls

Here is my baby girl. She likes to hide anywhere, these days. But one of her favorite spots is under the computer desk. And apparently she likes to chew on pencils, too.

Today she learned to say "uh oh". She thinks she's pretty smart.

And here is Emma. Do you love the hat? I bought that for me in Halifax, (read, humidity and naturally curly hair cut into a short A-line not a good mix), but she has usurped it.

Oh, and the dress, you ask? Why yes, I did in fact make that dress. Okay, I made the skirt and attached it to the shirt which is from K-Mart fall apart. It even has a lining! I think there is definite progress being made on the sewing front.

Happy Mail

Today I got this:First, I laughed my butt off, then I cried a little.

I lovey my Meg. She rules. Kayaking just won't be the same with anyone else.

Very Cap'n Crunch

I had a weird dream last night. I dreamed about blogging. And Cap'n Crunch was in there somewhere too. How random is that?

I had some saying going on in my head about Cap'n Crunch Blog Berries.

Really, it's a good thing. My two favorite things in one. I love Cap'n Crunch, except it makes the roof of my mouth hurt. But it's worth it.

That's all I have for today.

Tagged, a la Meg

Things I'm thankful for:

• Eliza for helping me change my blog to look all cutesy.
  
• On Demand free movies from Comcast.
• Good kids.
• A funny hubby who stays out late for Bulls box seats.
• A comfy bed.
• Cold medicine.
• K-Mart fall apart.
• Internet.
• Fridays!
• And Saturdays.
• And Sundays, too, I guess.
• Counting down 6 days until I see my Meg!
  

Everyone who reads this must blog about their Thankfuls. That means YOU!

I give you

Maggie.

She is my creative one. Obviously. Every day when she gets dressed, she comes up with these beautiful outfits. I like the idea of her dressing herself, and I don't want to squelch her creativity, so yes, I do let her go out in public like this. I'm such a good mom.

The always popular "polywog" look.


T

Again with the layering. You'd think it was -27 here, or something.

And here the striped shirt returns. Note the flood pants with "matching" socks.

And one more flood pants shot with "matching" socks.

We just love Maggie and her creative spirit. She says the funniest things, and always has some silly story about her and her friend Sally, who died. Sally is an imaginary friend who has met her demise in various ways. A bear attack, hit by a car on her birthday, a fire, but she always comes back to life. What a kid.

Question

Sugar Daddy and I have an ongoing "discussion" about something.

Who is responsible for changing the empty toilet paper roll?

Is it the person who uses the last bit, or the next person to sit down? I say if you use the last of it, you should be courteous to the next person and replace it. He says if you sit down and there's no TP, you're SOL, so it's your responsibility to look before sitting.

Who's right?


*Photo courtesy of JupiterImages

I'm prepared

Next week I get a special visit.

Not that kind of visit, what kind of blog do you think this is? Besides, I don't have those anymore, thanks to my IUD. TMI? Cool.

I get a visit from my cool momma and my awesome sisters! I'm very excited for this. Last time my momma was here, my house was in shambles, still being unpacked. I don't think we ate at home once during her visit here. This time will be different. I have everything(ish) unpacked, and I know where everything(ish) is. We can cook, and sew, and watch TV, and go for hikes, (or walks, since there are no hills here), and just enjoy life together. But one thing I'm the very mostest excited about is seeing WICKED! in the city. And I'm prepared for this. I just finished the book, so I won't be completely lost.

Ah, the book.

I would be worried about the play based on the book. But thankfully many of my friends have seen the play, so they say not to stress. The book is good, don't get me wrong, but it goes into wwaaaayy too much detail for my taste.

Unless you're into Munchkin sex and adultery and drug use and that sort of thing.

Most of this detail I just skipped over, seeing as how it wasn't really relevant to the plot. But without giving anything away, I'll just say, it gives me great pleasure to know that I will be seeing the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view, along with some apparently stellar music, on the stage, with the women I love.

Joy.

Auf Wiedersen

I have to admit, I'm a Project Runway junkie. Although I haven't yet watched to see who goes to Fashion Week, so don't ruin it for me, please. But until I started watching that show, I had no idea people actually sewed. Like, to make stuff, like their clothes. I guess I thought it was just for the, and excuse the stereotype, fat home ec chicks in High School. I'm so sorry. I honestly had no idea that sewing could actually turn into something. Who knew? I'm a little slow, so forgive me.
I have, however, been privileged enough to know, and know of, several people that sew. And they do it beautifully. You may remember Gretta's sweater, hand knitted by Laura's mom. (insert link to past blog here, but I'm too lazy to do so). And then there's all the quilting going on over at Kalli's.

So, all that being said, and linked, I give you this little ditty. Or is it diddy? As in Sean P Diddy? Whatever. Now, remember, this is a first for me. And I didn't really follow the pattern, since it required a zipper, and let's face it, I'm just not up to that yet. I added the humongous ruffle sleeves, which may be scaled down. And I also added a second ruffle above the first. I had now clue how to do the ribbon, so I just winged it.
Isn't she lovely? It's a little clownish, but remember what I said about this being a first for me? I guess I need to work on my fabric picking skills. I found a cute pattern for T-shirt dresses, all you do is add a skirt. I'll probably attempt those for the older girls' Easter dresses.

Family home moment

I returned in one piece from my Time Out. But just barely. Let's just say I've earned a testimony of my GPS. Or have I said that already? No matter, I have one, a testimony that is, and it got me through the hell that is Chicago Friday afternoon traffic.

Friday night started off well. A yummy meal at the Hotel Restaurant Francaise, which is code for "over priced ham and cheese", and then it was off to hear 3 speakers and 2 singers. We were enriched, really. I do have an opinion, and it may offend, but what do I care, it's my blog, so deal. Was that too many comma's? I digress. Brother McLean, please don't sing anymore. Just speak. It gets the point across just fine, and we don't have to suffer through what I can only describe as crappy cruise ship Karaoke. There, I said it. He's hilarious. And his life sounds wonderful. We also heard from Sister Okazaki, and I just want to bring her home to be my grandma. She was sure to tell us that now that she's single, and loving it, she takes Jesus wherever she goes. And she doesn't make him wear his seat belt. How cute is she?

Saturday we also got to hear two wonderful singers along with 4 or 5 speakers. I forget how many. Although for some reason I couldn't shake the feeling that I was at a Christian revival concert of some sort. It just seemed weird to me. I guess it's being away from Utah, and having the Gospel spoken of more matter of factly or something. Either way, Hilary Weeks of Lehi fame, and Cheri Call of somewhere in Utah fame both sang and spoke. Good times. There were other speakers of course, and they all lifted us up, made us cry, and best of all made us laugh. That's what it's all about for me, is laughing at life.

Things I learned this weekend:

Insert bullets here, but they don't show up, sorry. I'll try numbers instead.

1. We didn't come to earth searching for self worth. We brought it with us.
2. There are languages of love. We all speak something different, and we need to discover which one our partner speaks.
3. Sometimes "FHE" should be "FHM" Family Home Moment. I know it is at our house.
   
4. Self-talk can make or break our goals.
   

And last but not least, I learned that posting a picture of a coat on my blog, and then wearing said coat will allow me to be spotted by random readers. Yes, I was recognized by a reader at TOFW in Chicago. There's more to the story, and we "know" each other through our sisters, although we've never met. It's a small world, this Gospel we live. And I guess the internet is too.