RIP Clean Kitchen

If you read this blog regularly you'll know that it's no secret that I can't keep my kitchen clean. I love when it's clean, but I just can't keep up with it. We've hosted 3 parties in the last 7 days and I've even kept it clean for each party and kept up with the mess. Tomorrow will be the 4th (and last) party and my kitchen and I are more than ready. I'm of course dreading it too since it means that my first born is 6 years old. I can't even believe it myself!

At least I'll be able to distract myself and focus on how freaking old I am now while I clean my kitchen. Again. I've been cleaning it almost like a normal person. I don't think it's at all a coincidence that I've been really tired and keep breaking my nails. I'm pretty sure cleaning the kitchen repeatedly is bad for your health. I'd better stop, you know, just to be safe...

Denial

Has everyone else realized that Christmas is actually happening on Friday?? I was planning on being so prepared this year, of course, but I'm just pretending like I don't know that Christmas is coming and I still have 3 blankets to sew, a million presents to wrap, a giant Barbie house to assemble, plus figure out how to even up the presents since Boo got a little shorted this year. Oh yeah, and did I mention clean my house, take care of 3 crazy kids, 4 turtles with a filter that keeps clogging, plus a dog with an ear infection?? On top of all the regular household duties that I started this blog because I couldn't keep on top of them? Yeah... it sure is a lot easier to pretend it's still late November and just hang out on the internet and watch The Polar Express. And eat fudge.

My goals today (that I'll probably laugh at later):
Wrap everything that doesn't need to be assembled or charged
Empty/Load dishwasher
Wash all the big serving pieces that don't fit in dishwasher
Organize stocking stuff
Vacuum and mop
2 loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and put away

What's a few more things to be in denial over!?

Santa Ain't Coming To Town!

What is it about this time of year that makes kids go nuts!? You would think that since Santa is watching and Mommy reminds them of that fact every two minutes they would be on their best behavior. I'm ready to wrap my kids up in some paper and tape and stick them under the tree until Friday.

Little Man has always been cuddly, but today he decided that I was supposed to be holding him inside Target. And he let EVERYONE know it. HOLD ME!!! MAMA HOLD ME!!! HOOOOOOOLLLLLLDDDDD MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Everyone was looking at me like I was the worst mom on the planet since all he wanted was to be held. First off, I'm not going to reward him for throwing a fit inside Target by giving him what he wants. Second, how the heck am I supposed to steer the giant aisle sized cart with two other whiny kids aboard while holding 40 pounds of cranky 4 year old!? Luckily my sister was there to help steer the S.S. Crankypants and direct me to the things on my list while I dragged my screaming son around beside me.

I pulled the Santa card. It was time. I let him know that if he didn't behave like a normal, non-crazed boy right this minute I was going to let Santa know ASAP and he could watch his sisters open presents on Christmas morning. Yep... he just cried harder. It made me so sad, but I can't give in and just give him whatever he wants whenever he screams loudly enough for it. It sucks to be Mommy sometimes.

We get back to the car and he's still wailing. Then my sister pulls out some gum. Silence. He chews some gum and acts like he didn't just spend the last 30 minutes screaming. Uhm, okay. I sure wish I would have figured that out 30 minutes ago.

All I can think of is that he is just overstimulated with all the parties and excitement of the week. I just can't wait for Christmas so I can see his face as he opens his presents, and then is busy playing with all his new stuff for those glorious 2 days before he's bored again.

I wish I could throw a screaming fit every time I was overstimulated. I'm sure going to be close after we host our 4th party in 8 days on the 27th (Sweetie Pie's 6th birthday!). I know in two weeks the holidays will all be a blur, but for now I'm taking it hour by hour. Right after I stock up on gum...

Sick Sucks

My kids are still not 100% better.
So they're cranky.
And fighting.
And not listening.
My house is trashed.
I can't get the laundry under control.
I have no plan for dinner.
I'm feeling under the weather myself.
I have to take Boo to the doctor and have NO energy.
I'm freaking out about my Christmas gifts not being done/what I want/here on time.
And now my hair is falling out like it did after I had my kids.

I've actually been making great progress on my house in general, but I feel like my getting sick is going to be the setback I've been dreading. For right now I just want to lock myself in my room, curl up with some Grey's Anatomy dvd's and pretend I can't hear the arguing. Sick just sucks.

Dirty Little Secrets

I'm really not feeling the Dirty Little Secrets post this week since I've been up to my ears in dirty stuff all week. My washing machine and I are going to be thrilled when this sickness is over. At least I found a use for all those dusty cleaning supplies... *sigh*.

I bought The Polar Express for my "kids" but I'm the one that wants to watch it all the time.

I forgot about the 6 cups of corn that didn't get eaten on Thanksgiving and it sat in my game room for almost a week. Then I dumped it outside so I wouldn't have to take the garbage out.

I put off the garbage so long that I had to sprint to the end of my long driveway with my can as the truck pulled up. At least I've already brought the can back in!

I went WAY overboard for Christmas after promising myself to keep gifts in check this year.

Mr. Wright told me I belonged on People of Walmart today and I agreed. I really need to wash some of my own stuff instead of constant puke washes.

I'm addicted to Hoarders and am now hoarding episodes of Hoarders.

I bawled at the end of Jon & Kate plus 8. I totally think they should stop the show, but I've been watching since the very beginning and it was sad.

I've had cookie cutters on my Christmas tree as kid safe ornament for the last 5 years, and it makes me a bit sad that I don't need to do that anymore.

What's your dirty little secret? Share in the comments!

Hoarders

So... I was all exhausted from cleaning up puke, decorating the house for Christmas and doing endless puke laundry so I decided to take a break and catch some TV. Not a whole lot is on Sunday night, but I came across a show called Hoarders on A&E. I'd heard a bit about it a few months ago but never saw it at the time. Watching this show is the strangest thing because the filth that these people live in is unbearable to watch, yet I couldn't look away. Except when they found TWO cat skeletons in one woman's house. I had to look away because I was eating. Yes... I learned my lesson to not eat during that show. Maybe I should save some weekly calories for my Biggest Loser pig out anyway.

Back to the show- these people who obviously have mental health disorders just add garbage on top of garbage and literally walk over all their possessions to get where they need to be. It was odd to watch the show because although my house isn't a single percent as messy and cluttered as there's were it still struck a chord with me. On one hand it inspired me to clean off my cluttered countertops, but then the laziness kicked in and I decided that mine are practically shining compared to the hoarders' houses. And then the show ended and I could finish my Doritos. Damn Hoarders diet.

The Week That Wouldn't End

I've been quiet this week due to my laziness, a bunch of stuff out of my control, plus sheer exhaustion. Over last weekend I cut out a billion turkey hats for Sweetie Pie's class and ran errands all day Monday. Tuesday was Mr. Wright's and his grandpa's birthday. We had a party and came home to put the kids to bed. I got an urgent call saying my grandma had called 911 and something was wrong so I threw on my shoes and headed to her house. She's 82 and lives alone and had suffered her second stroke. I was at the hospital until the wee hours of the morning, and then had trouble falling asleep once I got home. I've been in a fog so of course I forgot to bring Sweetie Pie to school early on Wedesday. I visited Grandma on Wednesday and Thursday, and had a great Thanksgiving meal.

Friday my mom and I were up at 3am to do some traditional black friday shopping, and it was a great distraction. Later our friends came over for some MUCH needed grown up time. It was great, but 2 hours after I finally hit the hay The Great Puke-athon '09 began. I slept on the couch in 12 minute increments all night Friday. Mr. Wright was sick too and took yesterday off work. I haven't been able to visit Grandma or head up to my parent's house for the weekend like I had planned. This afternoon my other two started puking alternately. I'm running back and forth between them like a game of Puke Mania that I can't escape. The worst part is that I feel like it's just a matter of time before I fall to the Great Puke-athon.

My house is in such a horrific state that I didn't have an empty sink to rinse puke bowls in. I had to run back and forth between sick kids making a stop every few minutes to throw a couple things in the dishwasher before the next round began. Eventually I had a clean sink... I've been keeping up with the laundry because I have no choice, but some hasn't gotten folded yet, and a lot hasn't been put away. This week I'm hoping for survival more than progress... and maybe a little mercy from the puke gods!

Dirty Little Secrets

The good news is that I've been super sidetracked this week so I have confessions from being such an idiot, but the bad news is that I've been so sidetracked that I forgot half of them. Here's what I remember of mine, and leave your own dirty little secrets in the comments!

I still have a few Halloween decorations up, and I'm not planning to take them down until I put the Christmas stuff up next week.

I totally forgot to bring Sweetie Pie to school early on Wednesday for her 'challenge' day. Then I tried to make up for it by bringing her to extra computer lab yesterday, but we were so late that we missed half of it.

I washed a load of dishes, but apparently didn't put any forks in there, so now we don't have any clean ones.

I did a little too much online shopping this week.

I've used up all my last minute dinners on my meal plan from just being lazy and now I have 10 days of meals left that need tons of preparation.

We have SO many toys that I'm embarrassed to even say. AND Christmas is coming, AND Sweetie Pie's birthday is right after Christmas. You can't even walk in my kids' rooms.

I have 2% of my Christmas gifts made/purchased. And I get sick every time I think about it.

My dog hasn't had a bath in 3 years. I leave her out in the rain a lot though. (That was a joke animal activists! Kinda... the porch is covered!)

What's your dirty little secret?

Handmade Holidays, Week Five (Decorations)

This week I'm out of energy to pretend that I'm going to accomplish some kind of masterpiece craft for every single person I know, but since I'm cheap and like to go all out for Christmas I wanted to share some links to some seriously fantastic holiday decorating ideas.

If you need to catch up here are the links to the previous editions of Handmade Holidays:

Week One, Kids

Week Two, Women and Teachers

Week Three, Teenagers

Week Four, Men

And away we go...

I'm a sucker for felt, but you would not believe this felt Christmas tree and gifts! Start now for next decade year!

If you can't pull off the whole tree then just make some felt ornaments!

And I have the perfect fabric to procrastinate on this table runner with!

I almost don't want to share this cookie cutter wreath so that everyone will think I'm genius once they see mine (right after I finish the table runner...)

I probably have a better chance of getting this ornament wreath done though, since I have a bagillion unbreakable colored balls from my toddler proofed trees of Christmas pasts.

or I could whip up some cute little scrappy stockings!

And I definitely need to check out this post with a million different advent calendar tutorials!

Whew! Now that I've fake decorated my house for the holidays I think I need a nap! This really Works For Me and check out all the other Works For Me Wednesday submissions HERE!

Back To Basics

Some of my original readers may have noticed that I've been avoiding one subject for.ev.er... The state of my house. At some point it just got old to post every single day that I still did nothing toward my larger goal of seeing my floor, eh, I mean, getting my house under control. It's been a long time since one of my 'bursts of productivity' where I pretend to be a real person for a few days just to hit a bump in the road and land right back in square one.

The bad news is that I have a LOT of mess backed up from months of doing nothing. I mean, it's not worth a call to child services or anything... I halfway did the dishes and kept the laundry going, but usually only once we were totally out of forks or socks or towels.

The good news is that I feel different now. I don't feel like I'm going to scrub every inch of my house and then neglect it for 3 more months like my usually cleaning pattern. I feel like I'm going to slowly clean it, little by little, so hopefully I won't burn out and crash with the slightest little bump in my schedule.

I've been doing my best to pick up after myself and take a few minutes to teach and reinforce to the kids where the laundry/toy/coat actually belongs. It's been a slow process over the last week but I'm hoping that it's a slow and steady climb to my ultimate goal- not panicing when people drop by, and not spending all day cleaning my house to never make any progress.

Way back in the day when I was an 18 year old newlywed I had joined Flylady after reading an article in the paper. I moved straight into the wife role from living with my parents so though my mom had taught me all about laundry, cooking, and all the other wifely crap I was still relaxing from not having a 'boss' telling me what to do when. Flylady was great before I had kids and even when I had a newborn that wouldn't go along behind me and mess up all my progress, but once my life changed I clipped Flylady's wings.

After 6 long years I recently stopped by her site on a whim to see if I could possibly work it into my super busy schedule of stressing about my life while sitting on the couch. I signed myself back up for the e-mails and have been taking it painfully slow. Today I spent 15 minutes cleaning my shower that Mr. Wright has been asking me to do forever, 15 minutes clearing off my sewing table so I have some hope of ever sewing there again, and 15 minutes decluttering my SCARY laundry room. Did it get done and now I have awesome after pictures?? Of course not... but I did start something that I haven't done in a while, and 15 minutes tomorrow sounds a lot more do-able than finishing a whole huge organizational project in one day.

Dirty Little Secrets

Another week has come and gone- here's my dirty little secrets... Remember, you can make me feel not so horrible and add your own dirty little secrets in the comments. Or you can just leave me out here in the cold... alone... bearing my soul. How's that for a guilt trip!?

I ate a whole box of 6 90 calorie Special K bars. It was like a Biggest Loser temptation.

My kids were horrible in town today and I wanted to pretend to be the babysitter.

I gave Boo my car keys inside Sports Authority to shut her up and she promptly lost them. Luckily once I realized they were gone (in the 10 degree parking lot of course) I went back to the first place she had them and they were there.

I rented Up! for the kids to watch, and then stole it out of their room so I could watch it alone at night without them bugging me.

I went to the grocery store to return the movies and get 4 things, and I ended up renting 3 more movies and spending $70. Shhh!

I got home from running errands and found dried kid boogers on my forehead. Awesome.

I still haven't started making my billion Christmas presents, and I haven't sewn in weeks.

Yesterday my whole kitchen smelled like nasty tuna since I never washed the tuna press from Wednesday's dinner. It was all I could do to not gag.

I have a ton of things to do and I'm going to take a nap instead.

Handmade Holidays, Week Four (Men)

This is the week of my crafty linkin' series Handmade Holidays that I've been dreading... hand making something for a man that they'd halfway enjoy is about as easy as getting that smell out of my washing machine. I don't have a ton of ideas this week, so please leave comments if you have an idea for men, or just buy them a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader calendar and move on to hand making something for someone easier!

If you need to catch up:

Week One (Kids)

Week Two (Women and Teachers)

Week Three (Teenagers)

For Men:

Sew a laptop sleeve!

Personalize a tie with his initials!

Make golf club head covers from old sweaters!

What guy doesn't need a t-shirt with a fake tie on it!?

Uhhhhh, that's all I have. Guys are hard. That's why I usually just get Mr. Wright electronic gadgets. Happy Wednesday!!

Hand making instead of buying really works for me!

Dirty Little Secrets

Friday loves to sneak up on me, so of course I'm late posting again. Maybe I'll aim to post on Thursdays so it will actually get posted by Friday! Here we go!

I ate bacon that had been sitting out all day. I love bacon... I know that doesn't make it better, but it makes me feel better.

I was so pissed that I busted my butt to get my Halloween decorations up last Friday to only get one trick-or-treater that I left them up all week. I hoping to get them down today.

I'm avoiding making my menu plan and doing the grocery shopping. I have to run to 4 different stores (I already went to the 5th) to get the best prices and I'm not looking forward to doing that.

I'm so behind with my laundry that Boo had to borrow some panties from her sister yesterday. Even worse, I still didn't wash laundry yesterday and now she's wearing the extra pair I keep in my purse.

I've eaten my weight in carbs and Halloween candy this week. My garbage can is overflowing with candy wrappers.

I cried when President Obama was speaking this morning. I'm not sure why... I was still in bed so maybe I'm more emotional in the morning. What a dork, lol!

I'm making the same thing for dinner that Sweetie Pie will have at school for lunch. I know she'll probably throw her lunch away anyway and just eat the tater tots. Because they're all carbs. And she's my daughter.

What's your dirty little secret?

Handmade Holidays, Week Three (Teenagers)

Welcome to Week Three of my series! Today we're focusing on a tough group- teenagers. I'm always so intimidated and scared that I'll become that person that gives teenagers lame handmade Christmas gifts that they'll always remember for all the wrong reasons. I've always shied away from making things for teens and instead stocked up on iTunes gift cards for anyone from 10-18. This year I'm promising myself not to do that. Maybe.

Here is Week One (Kids) and Week Two (Women and Teachers) if you need to catch up!

An iPod pouch that can be customized with favorite colors or character fabric for girls or boys!

This fleece blanket with sports balls, team logos, or initials on it!

Sew a handmade gift card holder if you do go the iTunes card route!

A handbag from a placemat!

Make a fabric keychain for a driving teen!

A purse notebook for the tween set!

I don't have a specific link, but I'm sure older teens of both genders would appreciate a laptop sleeve!

Once again, I'm hoping I can make the Handmade Holiday Work For Me!

Halloween on Wright Time

Even though all the other bloggers are already churning out adorable Fall decorative ideas and pre-planning their Christmas tablescapes, I, of course, am just getting around to posting my Halloween pictures. And only because I have TWO people harassing me for them. If not I would have posted them sometime before Christmas... maybe.

Sweetie Pie, who at the last minute changed from Taylor Swift to "a weddin' girl with Taylor Swift makeup"



Little Man, who lost his inflatable Buzz Lightyear wings due to a tiny hole from last year and Mommy's limited lung capacity



Boo, who went as everyone's favorite breakfast meat (and her IRL nickname) Bacon. This whole costume cost about $.75 in felt!



A group shot right before the angry candy seeking monsters came out of my sweet, adorable children



Happy Hallowe, er, Happy Harvest Fall Time Almost Thanksgiving Time!

Handmade Holidays Corrected Link

I just realized that my link to last week's post wasn't directed to the right place. I'm sure most of you figured it out, but I wanted to correct it anyway.

Week One (Kids)

Week Two (Women and Teachers)

Dirty Little Secrets

Here's my dirty little secrets... Be sure to leave your own dirty little secrets in the comments section. It will make you feel better AND it's cheaper than therapy!

I've hardly decorated for Halloween at all, mostly because I was too scared to go under the house and get the decorations until yesterday.

Earlier this week we used dishes out of the dishwasher all day... then I realized I never ran them the night before. I didn't tell anyone- shh!

I'm embarrassed to open my van door at Sweetie Pie's school because garbage falls out, but not embarrassed enough to clean it out.

I still haven't started on my MILLION handmade Christmas gifts even though I was determined to start on time this year.

I'm addicted to putting things I don't need in my amazon cart just for the high.

I wake up every morning and wish I had my hair from high school. It was stick straight and shiny even though I never blow dried it or used product. Now I look like Carrot Top if I don't slather it in crap and blow dry it for 15 minutes.

Handmade Holidays, Week Two (Women and Teachers)

Welcome to week two of my handmade holidays series focusing on friends and teachers! I love that when I say that it sounds like I'm actually hand making the things I share. Hopefully I'll accomplish a few of them, but mainly this is just a list of things that I would hand make if I found myself alone in my house for 3 weeks with a bottomless Joann Fabrics gift card... until then, I'll have to pick and choose which to attempt. Right after I get out of my pajamas of course.

Here is Week One (Kids) if you missed it!

An easy and quick fleece scarf that an older child could help sew and clip!

An appliqued leaf fleece blanket! Little kids could gather leaves and older kids could help sew.

I can't knit to save my life, but I love this cowl neck scarf!

Or maybe I'll try a No Knit Scarf!

Who do you know that could use some adorable handmade oven mitts?

What about some matching tea towels to use up the oven mitt scraps?

Oh my apron! This would be a great gift for anyone!

I love this ingenious teacher gift that can help me use up all those $.25 boxes of crayons!

Or how about some hand stamped cards?

I hope you found something you like! I'm going to get cracking as soon as Halloween passes... this year I really am going to make Handmade Holidays work for me!

Up-box

You know how organizers always say to use areas and baskets to 'set limits' for the stuff you can keep? Unfortunately they also taught me that when you can't go out, go UP! My 'in-box' is filled with papers from school, bills, drawings, things I need to do, etc. The only problem is that I never even touch the pile because as you can see it could topple down at ANY moment. I hope nothing in there was too important. My mission, if I chose to get off my booty and accept it, is to clear out this in-box so that I only have the most urgent papers in there. I sure does a great job of hiding my dusty chore box though!!

Friend Making Mondays!

This week's question is:

If your life was a movie, what movie would you want to live in?

I would TOTALLY want to live in Mamma Mia! since it's set in Greece overlooking the pure blue sea. It just looks so peaceful and beautiful there. And the singing wouldn't hurt if I could choose when people broke out into song. And my kids would be in HEAVEN since even my 4 year old son knows the words to Dancing Queen. And my two year old walks around singing "Mama ma, ha I go agin!". And I know that someday my son is going to be really pissed that is posted on the internet. Happy Friend Makin' Monday!

To find out what everyone else said head on over to aeFilkins for Friend Makin' Monday!

My Unfavorite Things.

I woke up this morning ALL motivated to do My Favorite Things and took my weekly stroll through my blog reader to see what I wanted to share this week. Unfortunately my desktop (the only working computer we have left) was really full and it asked me to delete some 'unused' files. I okayed it and didn't think twice... until I went to use the calculator function. Deleted. When I went to copy and paste the links into Blogger I was unable to. Apparently I can copy to my heart's content, but if I want to actually paste it anywhere I run into trouble.

Mr. Wright took me laptop browsing on Friday and I fell in LOVE with a tiny purple netbook at a price that doesn't make me choke on my cookies. Too bad we have those darn bills to pay first. Until I get a new laptop I'll just have to focus on my favorite things that I already have.

I got a new sewing machine last weekend! It's gorgeous and even though it took a bit of getting used to (it's a Brother and I've only ever had a Singer) I'm LOVING it! I also got a random call from my mom yesterday while I was late for a Halloween party and dressed like a slutty witch and sewing on my new machine to finish 'Taylor Swift's' felt guitar. Have you ever tried sewing in stilettos? I don't recommend it.

Anyway, my mom called to see if I would take the GORGEOUS armoire sitting in her garage out of her way! Duh! If it would fit in my van with all the carseats and garbage I would have stolen it years ago! Whoo hoo for free furniture that makes all my other furniture look crappy! I can't wait to get her home and fill her with stuff. And cookies of course.

Dirty Little Secrets

Here's my dirty little secrets... Be sure to leave your own dirty little secrets in the comments section. It will make you feel better AND it's cheaper than therapy. Unless you want to make a donation of course. I accept payment in the form of cash, check, and Joann gift cards. See how flexible I am!? Here we go!

I lost my favorite black sweatshirt and looked everywhere for it. It appeared in my entryway again yesterday covered in dried grass and leaves with fruit snacks in the pocket. I wore it anyway. And I may have contemplated buying a second one just so I never have to go without one.

You can't see the bathroom floor in the kids' bathroom since I haven't done laundry in a few days. I also left a load in the washing machine and had to re-wash it with a TON of vinegar to get the smell out.

I bought more vinegar at the store just to be ready for next time.

My kids are having a sleepover at Grandma's tonight and I don't have anything to pack for them since it's all on the bathroom floor.

I've eaten kit kat bars for breakfast more than once this week.

I also ate a HUGE baked potato with tons of butter while judging The Biggest Loser contestants on their lack of self control.

I forgot to put my trash out for collection yesterday, so now my porch has a stack of garbage on it.

We're going to a Halloween party tomorrow and Sweetie Pie is going to be Taylor Swift. Right now all I have for her costume is some cowgirl boots.

I make no-bake cookies because I'm the only one that eats them so I actually get the whole batch to myself.

I consider my kids taking a bubble bath with the jets on to be cleaning the bathtub.

Handmade Holidays, Week One (Kids)

My kids are swimming in games and toys with a million pieces, all which they play with once or twice (just long enough to leave the pieces where I'll step on them) and discard. This year I decided that I was going to have a handmade holiday season, and make everyone's presents this year. I still haven't figured out what everyone is getting, but since I have 23489 kids to make presents for I decided on theirs early. I'm starting a weekly series with my progress on the gifts, and ideas for handmade gifts for everyone! Leave a comment if you have a great link to a handmade gift, and I'll feature it!

This is what I'm making for the 3 and under girls:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32439073

And for the little boys:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32956108

And for the 3-6 crowd:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32612416

I'm in LOVE with this lady's patterns! And I'm LOVING that felt is a whole $2.50 (on sale at Joann's) a yard (that's 72 inches wide!). Cheap material, adorable patterns AND a handmade holiday present!? That really Works For Me!

Who Has 2 Thumbs And Knows How To Party?

As I was unloading my van from my trip to town today I had to laugh at my purchases. Luckily they came from 2 different stores, but that didn't really help too much since I was present at both purchases anyway.

Today I bought:
1 yard each of 11 different colors of felt
Fishnet stockings
A plastic treat bowl
5 bags of Halloween candy
1 lb of sliced ham
100 brown lunch bags

So I ask you, who else can party like Mrs. Wright?

Dirty Little Secrets

I ate a ton of popcorn at the movies on Thursday, then brought my popcorn home and ate a ton more tonight.

Sweetie Pie had 4 days of make-up homework that I forgot about until 30 minutes before we had to leave for school to turn it in. She went to school with unbrushed hair but had her homework done.

Sweetie Pie totally could have gone to school Wednesday, but I kept her home so I could stay in my jammies and just to be safe.

I hate making juice because I have to clear out the sink of dishes or wait 15 minutes for my crappy dishes sprayer to fill up the pitcher.

I had more, but of course I forgot... what's your dirty little secret??

Pajamavation

Yesterday was the first day in a while that I got to hang out in my jammies all day and get things done around the house. I actually almost finished my whole list of things I wanted to get done! Almost finished because I didn't quite have the motivation to get those dishes done.

I did get my bed made, covered it with tons of laundry, washed more laundry, then folded and put away pretty much every piece of clothing we own. I actually ran out of things to wash which only happens a few times a decade year. I also got my craft table totally cleaned off and even sorted all my new craft stuff from my sister. For some reason I was just really motivated yesterday. It must have been the pajamas. One could say I had 'pajamavation'.

Sweetie Pie is home sick again today, which I think is the key to a productive day. On a usual morning I'm so focused on getting her off to school that by the time I get her there at 11 the rest of the day is just downhill, but when she's sick I can take off running. I've been up for less than 90 minutes and already have 3 kids fed, breakfast cleaned up, all the dishes from yesterday washed and loaded into the dishwasher and my bed made. It may not seem like much but that's more than I do all day on some days!

Today I will:
Move the old surround sound system downstairs and try to get it to work
Get the rest of the craft stuff out of the van, sort it, and put it all away where it goes
Boil chicken breasts for the freezer or dinner
Run my errands
Do something crafty

Maybe I'll actually finish a list today!

Slacktastic

So I've been a bit MIA this week due to the dreaded flu sweeping through my house, and then I was gone all weekend partying in my PJ's for Canadian Thanksgiving. I thought we were getting back to normal but alas, the flu isn't done with us yet. Little Man served his 8 day sentence with the sickness, and now it's Sweetie Pie's turn. This SUCKS. The good news is since she doesn't have to go to school today I get to stay in my jammies all day!

Despite the sickies we did manage to have a fun weekend at my parents house stuffing our faces with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and corn casserole. I missed posting my Dirty Little Secrets on Friday and headed up to my parent's house early to get a jump start on reading all the new People magazines before the family showed up. Oh, and doing a few chores my mom needed help with too... I kept telling myself I would log onto her dial up and type my secrets, but it just didn't happen. Then on Saturday the kids played the wii and ran around crazy while I had my third second helping. I thought I would skip the DLS and just do my favorite things then for Sunday and didn't get around to that either. And then yesterday I said I'd do it when I got home, and obviously didn't do that either. So this is me telling you that once again, I'm lazy, and I'll just be skipping those this week. Don't cry, they'll just be double-y juicy next week... maybe.

Today my mission is to fold the 8 loads of laundry that I washed, dried and abandoned. I was going to throw it all on my bed to fold, but that would require making my bed, so I just decided to do something else.

Today I WILL:
Make my bed
Fold and put away the laundry
Clean off the craft table
Empty the dishwasher
Make something that doesn't suck for dinner

WFMW- 50 Cleaning Tips!

This week's Works For Me Wednesday's theme is cleaning tips! I know the first person that pops into your head when you think of cleaning tips is me! Amazingly I have a small arsenal of cleaning tips that I never quite put into action. It's safe to say that if I ever did get up off the couch I would have the cleanest house in America. Soooo, that's why I stay put. I don't want my kids getting sick everywhere they go since their immune systems would be so fragile from my germ free house. That's my reasoning and I'm sticking to it... mmmmkay!?

Most of these tips came from my 'old lady bible' (Women's Day Magazine) and from this awesome book How To Clean Your Home Fast.

Here we go!

1. Clean your dishwasher by setting a bowl filled with 2 cups of vinegar in the bottom rack and running a complete cycle.
2. Shake some salt on a greasy pan before washing to help absorb the grease.
3. Running a sticky iron over salt on a brown bag will remove the gunk.
4. Make a cheap all purpose cleaner with 1 part vinegar and one part water.
5. A water and baking soda paste will clean anything from stoneware to chrome.

6. 2 parts lemon juice to 1 part olive oil makes a great wood polish!
7. Pet your dog with a rubber glove to remove hair painlessly.
8. 'Pre-wash' dried on or greasy dishes by spraying them with 12 ozs of water and 1/4 of vinegar . Let them sit for a few minutes and the food should slide right off.
9. Clean the gunk out of the trim of cabinets with a toothpick.
10. Scrub your tub or shower with an inside out grocery bag after spraying with a cleaner. The ink can transfer if you use the outside.

11. Filling a sink with pinesol will make your house smell like you've been cleaning for hours.
12. Keep a bottle of oxyclean under the sink for stain pretreating on fabrics, or even on Jello or Koolaid on the countertop.
13. Keep an emergency stain kit in the laundry room stocked with white clothes, pretreater sprays, shaving cream for grease, hydrogen peroxide for ketchup and blood, and rubbing alcohol for pen.
14. Clean stove burners and knobs with an old toothbrush.
15. Clean top to bottom, and left to right.

16. Invest in microfiber towels. They work wet or dry, with little to no cleaner help.
17. Make a 'sparkle kit' with just the essentials. A multipurpose cleaner, a glass cleaner, a toilet bowl cleaner, paper towels, a few cleaning cloths, a magic eraser, small duster and some gloves. I carry mine from room to room and hardly ever need to track down cleaners.
18. Empty the trash from your car while your gas is pumping.
19. Keep baby wipes in the car for spills and sticky kids.
20. Keep sink sponges in a cute dish to hide them.

21. 'Paint' detergent on a stain with a chunky paintbrush and let it sit overnight for a cheap stain remover.
22. Two tennis balls in the dryer can help eliminate static and soften fabrics,
23. Making beds does wonders for a room.
24. Fold laundry or pick up clutter while talking on the phone.
25. Keep an empty decorative basket in every room that can be an emergency clutter collector when company is on their way.

26. Baby wipes clean suede wonderfully and leave no residue.
27. Keep unruly wrapping paper rolls in a tall wastebasket.
28. Keep extra pillows, sheets and blankets inside luggage to keep them out of the way and dust free.
29. Drain bath toys in a lingerie bag hung from the shower head.
30. Rub chrome fixtures with wax paper after cleaning to prevent water spots and smudges.

31. Arm small children with a cloth dipped in warm soapy water. They'll love to help and will find lots of low dirty spots you may have missed.
32. Every few months spray your bathroom ceiling with a 1 to 1 solution of hydrogen peroxide and water. It will keep the mildew away.
33. Use vinegar to remove sticky hooks from painted walls, or price tags from glass.
34. Cover a broom with a cloth to dust walls and ceilings.
35. Fold towels to half their width, then in thirds so they'll be ready to hang on the towel bar.

36. Sprinkle baking soda on pets' bed, wait 15 minutes, then vacuum to remove odors.
37. Make your own spray starch with 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 pint cold water.
38. Toss a wet towel into the dryer a few minutes before the end of the cycle to kill static.
39. Clean an oven with a paste of baking soda, salt and hot water. Scrub with steel wool.
40. Steam clean a microwave with 2 tablespoons baking soda in 1 cup of water. Cook for 5 minutes, then wipe walls clean.

41. Clean furniture with 1/4 cup dish soap or laundry detergent and 1 cup warm water.
42. Sprinkle dry cornstarch on carpet, wait 30 minutes and vacuum to remove smells.
43. Dust bookshelves with a soft shaving brush.
44. Fill nail holes with 3 parts baking soda and 1 part Elmer's glue.
45. Sterilize a day sponge in the microwave for 30 seconds, or a wet sponge for 60 seconds.

46. Clean mirrors lint free with glass spray and a coffee filter.
47. Add a dab of perfume to (cooled!) lightbulbs to spread the aroma.
48. Drop denture cleaning tablets into the toilet overnight.
49. Stick scented dryer sheets in shoes to freshen them
50. Ignore all these tips and hire a maid! :P Since I don't have a maid I just have to make ignoring these tips work for me!

Friend Making Mondays!

This week's FMM question is about hobbies. My favorite hobbies seem to end up being those that involve sitting on the couch, eating, and avoiding responsibilities. If I'm feeling really wild then I'll bust out the craft stuff. My hobbies also change with the seasons.

Last Winter I was really into reading books and knitting, but by Spring it was all about decorating (or more accurately thinking about decorating!) and sewing. This Fall seems to be mostly sewing, thinking about the Holidays, and shopping.

So, to recap, my hobbies are as follows... in a bit of a particular order:
1. Snacking
2. Napping
3. Sewing
4. Knitting crappy things
5. Reading books
6. Decorating
7. Organizing

There are also a few things that I'd love to be able to do but have either tried and miserably failed, or haven't yet gotten around to doing.

1. Cooking/baking (I failed at this one)
2. Crocheting (I also failed this one)
3. Quilting
4. White water rafting (that was a joke... I don't like leaving home, or being outside, or getting cold.)

Find out everyone else's hobbies on Friend Makin' Monday at AEFilkins!

My Favorite Things!

My favorite things from blogland this week...

Sew a gift card holder for the upcoming holidays!

Make these adorable magnets with all that extra scrapbook paper!

Make your own planner with this tutorial! This post made my OCD feel good...

An amazing idea to create your personalized inspiration books!

Some great tips on photographing children!

Sew a toddler dress from an outgrown shirt and an old skirt!

Make your own laundry soap with just three ingredients!

Have a great week!

Dirty Little Secrets!

Boo and Little Man both wore footie jammies to drop off Sweetie Pie at school. Usually I walk her inside but since Little Man may possibly have swine flu I thought it would be the perfect time to be lazy.

I don't 'like' when Little Man is sick, but he sure is easier to be around. He moves a bit slower and it gives him more time to think over his decisions.

Every surface in my kitchen is sticky, and I have no idea why. I didn't clean it up yet either.

I forgot that Sweetie Pie wanted cold lunch today and I forgot to make it. On the way to school I had to break the news that she was going to be eating tuna salad on a bun today. She was thrilled.

I did Sweetie Pie's hair for school on Monday and she wore it like that on Tuesday and Wednesday. I just kept tucking in the fly-aways every day. I'm a good mom so I gave her a bath and a new hairstyle (albeit gray hairstyle) for picture day. We're classy like that.

I wish I could hit the mute button and never hear my dog bark again. She's sweet, but LOUD!

What's your dirty little secret?

My 5 year old is going gray!

I've been getting the urge to paint recently, but my financial situation has put it on the back burner. That's probably why I cruise a million redecorating blogs- I'm living through their fancy paint affording lives. My sister-in-law happened to be giving away a few gallons of gray paint (which happens to be the color I'm currently obsessed with painting everything!) so Mr. Wright and I scooped them up.

He really wanted to repaint our bathroom, and I... didn't. All the tiny crap you have to paint around... cabinets, toilets, tile, fixtures. No thanks. I did manage to get off my butt long enough to get the kids ready for bed while he was painting though, and I sent them down to the bathroom to say goodnight. 2 kids successfully returned to bed, but Sweetie Pie didn't quite make it. Apparently she bumped the paint tray and then backed into a wet wall, somehow covering her feet, front, back and her hair all with gray paint.

She was freaking out since her beloved princess bathrobe was now sporting gray leopard print (as any fashion conscious person would). I was trying to calm her down and was making progress until she asked about her hair. I didn't want to lie since she's old enough to call me on it, so I told her that there may be a ton tiny bit in her hair but that it wasn't the end of the world. It's not like it's picture day tomorr... oh crap. So, I guess it is picture day tomorrow.

I spent the next hour combing the grandma out of her hair while she whimpered. I was hoping since she is so blond the gray would blend in a bit but it didn't really. Just in case I didn't get it all I made sure to put her hair in a bun for the pictures today. Nothing like being the only kindergartner going gray...

A dog bone?!?

It's been a while since I participated in Org Junkie's Monthly Organizing Round Up, but since this month's theme was purses I thought it was about time I swamp out my 'mom bag'. Since I'm SO generous I thought I'd share exactly what I carry with me at all times. I'm sure you recognize a few from your own purses!

Side pocket:
2 turtles
1 dolphin
A target popcorn kernel
2 gum wrappers
A blade of grass
41 cents

Other side pocket:
Cell phone
Keys
Straw wrapper

Back flap/pocket:
Pen
Expired coupons
Old bill stub
Paper from Sweetie Pie's school
Fruit snack wrappers
2 foot long receipt from August
A name and phone number that I don't recognize
A McDonald's receipt
A single sock
2 coupons for pears
A McDonald's toy

Front pocket/flap:
Extra keys
2 pens (though I can NEVER find one in the bank line!)
Checkbook
IHOP coupons
Planner I don't use
Dog bone... how the heck did that get in there!?!?

Middle section:
York peppermint patty You never saw that...
Safety scissors
3 more pens
Mini playdoh
Wallet
Chapstick
*ahem* Lady stuff...
7 pieces of unopened mail and bills... oops!
11 receipts
3 coupons
3 hair ties
2 fruit snack wrappers
78 cents

WHEW! I had high hopes for finding my winter jacket in there, but no go... I can't wait to take big mamma for a ride once I take all the garbage out. Since I'm Mrs. Wright I just did it the Wright way and made a whole new purse because my old was was too full to find anything. Sooo, I spent a week making a whole new purse, from scratch, because I was too lazy to empty the garbage out of my purse. That totally make sense... uh, nevermind.

So here is my 'mini purse' for when I just need my phone, keys and wallet. I made it from a few fat quarters I had and I love it, but have been longing for all my crap that I left in my big purse.


And here's my 'mothership' purse. My sister bought it for me because she thought it was sad that I was taking 15 pictures with my camera phone of it so I could make my own at home.


To see what everyone else is doing to organize their purses head on over to Org Junkie!
This post is also linked up to Works For Me Wednesday since not carrying around 12 pounds of garbage now Works For Me!!

Friend Makin' Monday!

Amber at AE Filkins is hosting Friend Makin' Monday again this week, and this week's question is about those little things in life you just can't live without. I'd choose my family and friends over anything, but let's skip the obvious lovey dovey answers and move straight to the 'stuff' that I can't live without.

1. The Internet. Let's face it. My friends live the computer. I have better and closer friendships with people I've never even met than I do with most people that I know in real life. Some people think that's weird, but I don't think that never being in the same room with someone should really determine how much you've bonded.

2. Pajamas. If you don't know why then you need to get some popcorn and catch up on my blog. Start around Day 1 ;)

3. Snacks. I just love snacks. Salty, sweet, savory. Snacks rock.

4. DVR. What did I do before this amazing invention!? What is this crap?? LIVE tv? I don't think so...

5. My car. I don't really know how anyone could live without a car, but especially in Alaska where you can't get anywhere without a car I would go NUTS being stuck at home.

6. Reality TV. The DVR wouldn't be nearly as fun if it wasn't loaded with juicy drama.

7. Dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves and all modern conveniences. I can't even get my crap together to load and unload a magical machine that does chores for me. I'm sure my ancestors would be pissed that I'm too lazy to empty them.

I'm sure I'm missing a few, but stick me in a tiny world with nothing but my family, friends, and these 7 things, and I'd be just fine.

My Favorite Things!

My favorite things I stumbled upon while I was supposed to be folding laundry, making a meal plan, vacuuming, making calls, sweeping floors, running errands... oh yeah, and taking care of my monkeys kids...

My Sister-in-law got me addicted to Taste of Home magazine, so I was thrilled to see that some of their back issues and a few special editions were free in digital form!

Clearance sheets from Target + this post about DIY blackout curtains = no more classy blankets hanging over our windows!

A cute way to (cheaply!) decorate for Halloween using some themed paper and/or get the kids involved to make their own!

Another cute Halloween decoration is this adorable fabric trick-or-treat banner!

A home made counting book with photos of things kids see everyday!

Three words. Corn. Dog. Muffins. My kids will go nuts

!

Dirty Little Secrets... Slacker Saturday Edition

It's rare when my actual post becomes a dirty little secret, but today I have succeeded in doing just that. I was so lazy yesterday that I couldn't even sit my butt down on the couch and type up my dirty little secrets. I had very important things to do like finish off those cheetos and portion the powdered juice mix into baggies. Those kinds of things just can't wait you know!

Boo threw up about half an hour ago and I just threw her in the bath. She's still playing in there with little man.

I waited too late to start dinner yesterday, and we ended up eating when the kids normally go to bed.

2 of my kids are missing fitted sheets because I pulled them off, washed them, and have been avoiding putting them back on.

I did a load of laundry on Thursday because my parents were coming over and you couldn't see the floor in the bathroom.

My mom called to see if she could come over Thursday, and with 9 HOURS notice she asked if my house was in okay shape for company. (Not that she expects it to be clean for her, but she didn't want me to spend all day cleaning just for them to bring dinner over) My kitchen was actually clean from Mr. Wright's begging on Wednesday.

I've lost every pair of socks I own but one, so I just wear them over and over with Mr. Wright's tube socks substituting a few days a week. I should really buy some socks.

I'm sure normal people have 'dressy' pants, and 'casual' pants. I have levels of yoga and jammie pants. I have my 'fancy' yoga pants all the way through the pants spectrum to the 'trashy' black pants with the big hole in the thigh. The waist is too big and they like to jump ship when I'm least expecting it. If I'm feeling really fancy then I'll wear my 'dressy' yoga pants with a clean shirt. I know, don't be jealous. And do you think I could have squeezed one more 'quoted' word in there??

I should be doing a million other things right now (dishes, figuring out something for dinner, cleaning, laundry, one of the projects I want to do 'someday, etc) but I'm sitting on the couch listening to Spongebob and blogging away.

Leave your own dirty little secrets in the comments! I promise you'll feel better afterward!

I'm going to finish up my powdered drink baggies. Heaven forbid I have something more exciting to do on a Saturday...

Sock It To Me

Ok, I originally typed up this post yesterday in preparation of "Works For Me Wednesday". Today I went to link up and her original post that everyone adds their links to was also about socks, with the same catchy title. What are the chances!? I thought about changing my title, but let's be honest, there aren't that many plays on words involving socks. I threw around such amazing post titles such as "Socks In Translation" which I decided didn't make sense, and "A Stinky Sock Problem" which didn't make sense AND was lame. You see my dilemma? So Sock It To Me it is...

I don't know if my kids are just weird, or if every parent has a problem with this, but my kids (especially Little Man) have a problem with leaving their socks and shoes on in the car. It seems like by the time I have the third kid buckled in the first is already barefoot. We get where we're going, put socks and shoes on, do our stuff, get back in the car, get home, put socks and shoes back on... it's an endless cycle of me putting shoes and socks on over and over and over. Since I'm lazy and usually hauling things that approximate weight of a small elephant up two flights of stairs to my kitchen I usually skip the whole "putting the socks back on" routine. So.... they sit in my car. Until they fall out in the school parking lot of course. Nothing makes people think you live in your minivan more than having a load of laundry fall out when you open the door.

Anyway, the kids never have socks because they're always in the car, by the trampoline, at friends' houses, the produce section at our favorite store, etc. So I buy a lot of socks. Nothing drives me crazy more than to have 18 clean socks that all belong to one kid, but none of them match. So I came up with a system. Every few months, around the point where Boo is wearing my socks to town due to her own lack of socks, I buy new socks for everyone. I take any remaining sock pairs from the last 'batch' and put them into a special basket in the laundry room.

All the new socks go in the kids' rooms with all their other clothes, so I only have one kind of sock per kid to match. Then, on those inevitable days when we're running 20 minutes late somewhere that would notice if my son wore mismatched mermaid socks I'll have a secret stash of matched socks. I know, I'm a sock genius. That's why my sock 'method' Works For Me!

Right at this point when you're wondering why you just wasted all that time reading the world's most boring post on socks, remind yourself that this is the most interesting thing that I had to blog about today. How sad is that? Come visit again to see what kind of exhilarating post I can come up with for sponges*! Oh just you wait!!

*I hope as much as you do that this was a joke ;)

My Favorite Things!

I love jumping from themed day to themed day strategically avoiding talking about the lack of housework being done. I didn't think it was that bad until my mom stopped by and took one look at my kitchen and asked if I was out of clean dishes yet. Ouch. That almost hurt my feelings. In fact, I took a break from any kind of cleaning to recover. That's it... I was recovering. That's why I didn't fold that laundry...

I digress...
My Favorite Things!

I thought these cupcake collars from Chica and Jo were really cute, although I'm a bit serious about non-edibles getting in the way of me devouring a cupcake. I'm all for the 'cupcake in a muffin tin to eliminate the paper' movement.

I also found an adorable, handmade wooden memory game made from cheap wooden pieces, scrapbook paper (if only I had 800 unused pieces of scrapbook paper anywhere *ahem!*) and good ole' mod podge. I swear if they quit make Mod Podge I'm pretty sure the whole planet will stop spinning.

This idea was one of those "why didn't I think of that!?" things. Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog shares a great tip for anyone who uses homeschool workbooks or even mazes and tic tac toe! This simple tip will save me a TON on copies, and I bet I can even snag some cheap clearance page protectors this time of year!

These tips from Digital Photography School are meant to be for taking better wedding photos, but I thought the ideas would really help anywhere!

I would never, ever get off my butt and do this festive wreath from Tatertots and Jello, but I highly commend her for doing it. Plus even if I did get around to doing it I would leave it there until Spring and the spray paint the whole thing baby blue for Easter. That's just how I roll.

Have a great week! Hopefully I'll get around to those dishes and laundry someday... maybe.

Dirty Little Secrets

It's Friday again, so that means it's time to share your dirty little secrets! Oh yeah, and I'll share mine too :P

I washed my one pair of jeans that I like last night, and forgot to put them in the dryer until 30 minutes before I had to leave. I threw them into the dryer until I had to leave, but they were still pretty damp when I put them on. I wore them anyway.

When I was trying to plan a backup outfit while the pants were drying I thought I could wear yoga pants with a nice shirt since they look EXACTLY like my black dress pants and no one would notice... unless they checked closely for boogers of course.

I almost parked in a handicapped spot because it was an 'off' time that I drop Sweetie Pie at school, and they're can't possibly be 5 handicapped parents dropping kids off at the same time. I didn't though... I'm sure later in the winter when it's -20 degrees I'll consider it more.

I went to Target because I heard their back to school stuff was super clearanced and I ended up spending $75. The good news is no one will ever need to buy loose leaf paper or spiral notebooks until the kids are in college!

I wanted something chocolately last night, but instead of finding a tiny candy I made a huge pan of smores brownies. Basically they're brownies with marshmallows and chocolate chips melted on top, and the graham cracker crumbs on top. One is enough to kill you.

I have a new person that I want to run over with my recently vacuumed van, and a few that I'd just like to chase around to scare. This really isn't normal. With my luck I'll probably accidentally run someone over with my car and then go to jail forever since this blog may prove it was premeditated. Or maybe I just watch too much Law & Order. Jury's still out! BWAHAHAHA! Get it? Jury? Law & Order? I crack myself up!

What's your dirty little secret?? Please share!

Jammies Gone Wrong

Yesterday I actually accomplished something! Shocking, I know... Little Man has a tiny obsession with his jammies and I have a crystal clear NO idea where he gets it from. He is 4 years old, so I stuff his little self into 4t pajamas even though he really needs 5t- I'm mean like that. His feet are so big that they don't fit into the foot of the footie jammies, but he loves them so much that he continues to wear them. I haven't been able to find 5t footie jammies for him, and I'm WAY too scared to make some, so I thought I'd try my hand at some cozy (and much easier to make!) jammie pants.

We went to Joann's and I gently guided him to 3 different fabrics that weren't too bad since for some reason he was automatically drawn to the fabric that would even make my Grandma hurl and watched him beam with excitement as the woman at the cutting table handed over his treasure. We got them home and I measured around a pair of jammie pants that fit him now, plus seam allowance. OF COURSE, since it's me, I didn't buy enough of any of the fabric so I just abandoned the project.

After a few more days of him sleeping in his underwear due to lack of cool jammies I tried again. I had some Toy Story fabric from a while ago so I cut around the jammies that fit him once more, and whipped up some jammie pants for him. I also made some progress on some jammie shorts with the original fabric that he had picked out while I was on a rare streak of productivity. Don't tell anyone- I have a reputation to uphold! The pants were finished and adorable... then he tried them on.

Apparently I was too busy being SO excited that I actually finished a project that I never had him try them on. I forgot that the pants that I measured from were really tight at the ankles and made from stretchy fabric. My fabric was far from stretchy, and now my poor boy has the first ever Preschooler Skinny PJ's. They're all the rage in Europe I hear... I'd love to share a picture but my Little Man is snoozing away in them blissfully unaware that he looks like a miniature version of a trendy emo teenager that loves bright Toy Story prints. I should really finish up those shorts I guess... *sigh*

Once I get the three pairs of shorts done I'll have gotten 4 pairs of jammie bottoms (all he usually wears anyway) for less than $12. Even though it's a bit of a pain making instead of buying really does work for me!

Friend Makin' Monday!

It's already time again for Friend Makin' Monday hosted by the newly pregnant Amber at AEFilkins. She rocks and makes cute babies :D I couldn't be happier for her! Anyway, her question rocks today because it deals with my favorite part of Fall (I can't believe it wasn't on my list last week!!). It's no secret that I'm less than enthusiastic about housework, and that I like to sit on the couch a lot, so OF COURSE I love the new Fall shows! I'm entirely too lazy to go find logos for all of them like all the cool girls, so just think of it as a logo test and try to picture them in your mind, deal??

1. Grey's Anatomy! I watched the first 5 minutes online as a teaser and I'm DYING for more! I love this show!

2. Private Practice! I go back and forth with this one but the finale was SO good that I've been wondering what was going to happen all summer.

3. The Biggest Loser! (no, I'm not purposely copying Amber's list) Even Mr. Wright likes this show and we never miss an episode... plus I cry through 75% of the episodes.

4. Community! I have only seen one little clip of this but I love Joel McHale from the soup, so hopefully it doesn't disappoint!

5. The Ultimate Fighter! I actually really like this show when I watch it from the beginning and get to know the fighters so I'm excited for it to start again.

I'm sure there's more but my brain is shot :P

My Favorite Things!

I've totally slacked on the blogging front this week due to sheer laziness. Don't panic, I didn't do my dishes or laundry either... I know everyone was sure that I ditched the blog to take control of my life. Yeah... didn't happen. I spent the week avoiding housework, eating too much, reading blogs and running errands. Exciting, isn't it?

Anyway, here are some cool things that I found online this week while I was supposed to be doing everything else...

Craft rooms to drool over!
http://www.oneprettything.com/?p=6876

A great use for flashcards from the dollar spot!
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/09/flashcard-garland.html

A fun way to decorate pumpkins... with a power drill!
http://bedifferentactnormal.blogspot.com/2009/09/twinkle-twinkle-little-pumpkins.html

I picked up some clearance sidewalk chalk the other day just to do this!
http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2009/09/rainy-day-fun-reusable-art-mat.html

A great idea for catching stained clothes before they set in the dryer... if I ever did laundry of course!
http://www.chicaandjo.com/2009/09/11/tip-for-washing-stained-clothes/

I hope you found something new this week!

Friend Makin' Monday!

My sister from another mister, Amber Filkins, has been taking over hosting duties for Friend Makin' Monday. Did I mention that we have daughters who were born hours apart with names one letter off? How strange is that!? Anyway, today's question is:

What's are some of your favorite things about Fall?

Of course she has a nice list of all this fun Autumnal things because she lives in California where Fall is just a label put on the 'cooler' weather. Unfortunately I have different feelings about Fall since it is more a sign of the impending winter. Stupid winter. All snowy and cold. Sooo, let's pretend that I'm moving somewhere warm for the winter and I just have to stay here through the Fall. Mmm, this seems to be working. Ok, I'm ready.

1. Apples... I had been traumatized from those horrible baked apples in the lunches from elementary school that I never ate cooked apples, even in pie. A few years ago I made this apple cobbler thing (in the microwave even!) for a Pampered Chef show and I've looked forward to it every Fall ever since.

2. Leaves... we suck at keeping our grass mowed and raked anyway, so I like seeing the leaves change and fall everywhere, and then blow around in the wind.

3. Soup and crockpot dinners... I'm sure people use their crockpot the same all year, but I just think it's weird to slow cook something in the summer. I have issues, I know. Fall just makes me want to wear some jammies, bake some brownies (NOT restricted to just Fall!), and slow cook some soup.

4. School supplies... I'm a dork, and I love school supplies. I'm not sure why, but I just do. This year was the first year that I actually needed to get some, but I've been stocking up in the Fall for years. Something about brand new pens and notebooks is just awesome.

5. The Alaska State Fair... NOTHING happens up here, seriously. We get maybe 2-3 concerts up here a year of people that you've actually heard of, so people go even if they just know the song. The state fair is the ONE thing that happens every year that's worth driving from wherever you are. The concerts are decent and there's rides, but since that doesn't happen any other time people flock to Palmer to get in on the action. Luckily it's 15 minutes from me so I don't have to pack up the family and drive for hours just to spend $100 on 5 rides and a turkey leg.

I think that's it... don't even get me started on the winter. That won't be a pleasant post :P

My Favorite Things!

These are a few of my favorite things from the web this week! I hope you find something new!

Painting with shaving cream!
http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2009/09/marbled-sunset-painting.html

Getting kids excited about chores with fun cleaning buckets!
http://orgjunkie.com/2009/09/kids-chores-create-a-cleaning-bucket.html

Placemat project of the week!
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2009/09/cute-placemat-handbag/

A great idea for old makeup containers!
http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/2009/09/pretend-makeup-for-girls-sooo-cool.html

Make your own foaming soap!
http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2009/09/make-your-own-foaming-hand-soap.html

Brownie Security

I know that identity theft is at an all time high, and that lives can be crushed by mounting debt that doesn't even belong to them. I understand that banking sites and credit card numbers need to be kept safe. I understand that I'll have to scream my mother's maiden name into the phone so Bajeep can hear me all the way in India just to make a payment. You know, to protect my account from all those crazy people that go around paying other people's Visa bills...

It just hit me this morning while I was on kraft.com trying to sign up for a recipe newsletter. They won't add me to their e-mail list until I make an account. AN ACCOUNT... on kraft.com. "No honey, don't get the Tillamook cheese. Get the Kraft... I have an account with them." Oh, sorry. I got carried away there. So I fill in the endless blanks to start my account, then it asks for a password. 'For security reasons we require passwords 6-10 characters with at least one number' Seriously? To protect my online recipe box? God forbid someone hack into my kraft.com account and steal that free recipe for butterscotch brownies. THE HORROR! Gone are the days when a passWORD was just a word and not a complex code that I'll never remember and have to write down completely defeating the purpose of it being secretive. Much like my front door.

I got locked outside with 4 kids under 5 inside (2 years ago) and luckily was able to slip in the side door. To avoid this horrible situation we got one of those keypad levers. It is always locked, and you simply punch in the code to unlock the door. It makes me feel quite secure to know that my front door is always locked without have to double check it. The problem is that my 5 year old knows the code, and likes to shout it out as she punches it in. I'd like to say my husband is better, but he makes a habit of yelling it out the window to his friends instead of actually answering the door. Occasionally I change the code and watch people slam into the door expecting it to open, but that should really be on the dirty little secrets post.

I just don't understand how in the world that we live I need to enter my library card number and pin just to search the library website for a book, yet people write checks with their routing number, bank account number, name, address, and sometimes driver's license number to strangers on Craigslist. Secure... really secure.

Dirty Little Secrets

I no longer want to run a certain person over with my smelly van since she was fired from her job. That's good enough I guess since she was fired for her incompetency to do her job.

I miss Sweetie Pie more every day. I'm okay with her being at school (finally!) but I still feel lost without my three little ducklings.

I really need to do laundry since I'm running low on jammie pants. (NOOOOOOOOO!)

I have a ton on my mind and I just can't blog it out. It's getting frustrating to sit at the computer with a blank stare all the time.

I have a few Christmas gifts planned but no plan for dinner in 2 hours.

I set the alarm on my phone so that I don't forget my daughter at the bus stop... even though I check the clock every 5 minutes to see if it's time yet.

Sorry for the lame 'secrets'... I've been too busy this week to get into much trouble ;)
Show me up in the comments with YOUR dirty little secret!!

Friend Making Mondays!

Oh how I missed you FMM! My sad little blog is nothing without new people to come and read about how pathetic my domestic skills are! To see how all my new friends answered this week's "20 questions" head on over to Friend Makin' Mondays at AE Filkins!


1. Do you cook every night?
Not even close. I'm horrible at planning and making dinner despite some random effort I throw in every now and again.

2. What kind of laundry detergent do you use & why?
All small and mighty. Mostly because I like how small the bottle is and our local store always has a good sale on them so I can stock up.

3. Do you do laundry every day or loads at a time?
I'd love to do it every day, but I seem to always forget about it and leave the wash in the washing machine. Soooo, usually I end up washing it all day, then folding a mammoth pile of wrinkly clothes. Good plan, huh??

4. How often do you eat out per week?
WAY too often, see #1.

5. Where do you usually eat out?
Where don't we eat out. My favorites are Carl's Jr., Arby's and KFC.

6. What is your favorite retail store?
Target

7. What's your favorite thing to drink?
Pink lemonade with pulp

8. Do you take vitamins? What kind?
I have some vitamin D supplements that I'm supposed to take but I fell off the wagon. Shh!

9. What percentage of the household chores to you do?
This one will get me in trouble with Mr. Wright, but I'm going to say 90%. I don't do anything with cars at all. He's lucky I pump my own gas.

10. Do your children do chores? {Or will they, did they, etc}
They have responsibilities but not actual chores. They have a 'chore chart' with eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, find coat and shoes, Little Man wipes the table and Sweetie Pie washes her hands and brings me her papers after school, then they both have brush teeth and put on jammies at nighttime.

11. Do you go to church?
Not really. I was raised Catholic and recently started going to the Mormon church. I haven't gone in a month though and I'm deciding whether I should go back or not.

12. Do you have a housework schedule?
I have a very intricate system with certain chores for each day of the week, week of the month, and month of the year printed on cards. I stand them up when they need to be done and put them down once I do them. Do I actually get off my cheeto covered couch and use it? Nope.
(See my chore box here)

13. Do you keep a working budget?
Nope. I can hear Suzy Orman screaming "GIRLFRIEND!?". I have those nightmares sometimes.

14. What do you do at night as a family?
Just hang out as a family and watch tv.

15. How do you prepare yourself for a new week?
I don't really prepare a week ahead, but I pull something out for Sweetie Pie's lunch on Sunday, and every night before school I pull out an outfit for all 3 kids and put them on a special shelf.

16. What do your mornings look like?
Our mornings are really relaxed since Sweetie Pie only needs to be at school at 10:30, so usually Mr. Wright gets the kids cereal and a drink when they get up between 7:30-8 and I make my way up there around 8:15. The kids watch cartoons and start the destruction of the house and we start getting ready around 9 or 9:30, then play some more until we walk out the door.

17. What time do you get up in the mornings?
I wake up around 7:30, but I like to lay in bed forever before I get the courage to stand.

18. What time do you go to bed at night?
Last night I was in bed by 9:45, but some nights I like to get some stuff done without my 'helpers' so I'll stay up until 1 or 2 am. Usually around 11pm.

19. How do you manage all of the paperwork that floods into your household? {bills, school work, magazines, ads, etc}
I have a system for this too, but of course I don't use it. I have a bin for Sweetie Pie's school stuff, and everything from the mail goes into a pile on the counter. Occasionally I go through it and throw away the envelopes and junk to just keep the bills and magazines, and if I'm feeling really wild I'll sort them into my hand bill notebook. (see my bill notebook here too)

20. How do you keep your household organized? {calendars, charts, etc}
We have a dry erase calendar that I try to put everything on, but I'm bad about remembering to update it. I carry a planner in my purse that has everything from what chores I need to do today to appointments and birthdays.

My Favorite Things

Late Summer/early Fall is the best time to catch adorable (cheap!) summery placemats at a fraction of the original cost. Stock up since I'm fairly sure that there are at least a thousand things you can do with a placemat. Seriously. I only have two projects today, but maybe I should start a new blog with a placemat project of the day... I'll fit that in right between sitting on my butt and avoiding the dishes!

A clutch/diaper changing station from a placemat!
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2009/08/diaper-clutch/

A library tote from placemats!
http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2009/08/placemat-library-tote/

Make your own sanitizing spray!
http://blissfullydomestic.com/blissful-home/easy-diy-sanitizing-spray/

Adorable clothespin magnets!
http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/2009/08/clothespin-magnets.html

I am SO doing this adorable chair makeover!
http://kari-youcanmakeit.blogspot.com/2009/07/office-chair-makeover.html

ABC pancakes! What a fun way to learn!
http://bedifferentactnormal.blogspot.com/2009/08/abc-pancakes.html

Freezer ham and cheese crepes! This is on my 'fill the freezer' list!
http://www.fabulesslyfrugal.com/2009/08/fabuless-freezer-cooking-ham-and-cheese.html

I hope you find some new favorites!!

Dirty Little Secrets

Here we go...

I really don't feel like blogging on my desktop, but my laptop is moving at the speed of my mop.

I borrowed books on tape from the library so I could (possibly!) illegally copy them for the kids to listen to at night. Maybe.

Boo's potty training is out of control. I tried to put her back in diapers at night so I could quit washing the sheets everyday and she took it off to pee on the floor.

I promised that I would never become that mom that used dvd's in the car for short trips and errands. Today I broke the promise.

I plan dinner at around 5:45 when it needs to be ready at 6:15.

Just because I don't cry when I drop my kindergartner off does NOT mean that I'm okay yet. I miss her every second that she's gone, and I check the clock every 2 minutes to see if it's time to get her from the bus.

I feel badly doing fun things at home without her, even though I know she's doing fun things at school without Little Man and Boo.

I'm pretty sure this is the first week in Sweetie Pie's life that she's been dressed and presentable for 5 days in a row.

I always think I'm such a reader while browsing at the library, but not as much when I have to return all my unread books 8 weeks later.

What's your dirty little secret? Mine are getting kind of lame so you should really share... please??

Number Crunching

Times I've cried today: 0 (whoo hoo!!)
Times I've cried this week: 3
Photos I took of Sweetie Pie on the first day of school: 114
To DIE for purses my sister bought me to cheer me up: 1
Coughs today: 845,659 (estimated)
Times I've felt like barfing: 6
Dishes done: 0
Cookies eaten: 3
Homeschool activities done: 3
Minutes on Farmtown: 2
Pairs of shoes in my van: 6
Hannah Montana songs stuck in my head: 2
Current count of people that I want to run over with my smelly van: 1
Minutes I spent waiting at the 'no wait' pizza place last night: 28
Dollars I owed the library in late fees: 15
Inches I cut off my hair: 8
Puddings I'll eat before bed tonight: 3 (ish) Don't tell anyone!

Today Sucks

Today Sucks. That about sums it up. I'm sick, Boo is sick and can't sleep, Sweetie Pie is getting sick, I'm going to cry when I drop her off at kindergarten, I didn't plan anything for homeschool, I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, my laptop is out of commission, my home movie DVD's are taking days to burn and I HAVE to wear jeans today. Today sucks.

I've actually been dreading this day since I was pregnant with Sweetie Pie. I had her right before I turned 19, and I knew that I wasn't the 'average' age of a first time mother. I wondered what it would be like dropping my kindergartner off at the ripe old age of 24. Would the thirty-something super mommies be sneering at me? Would they think they were better parents just because I was younger?

I had good experiences with the preschool parents not judging me since my hair 'do' and attire suggested that I was just as aged and burnt out as they were, but there is something a lot more intimidating about any place that has a PTO.

I'd been meaning to get a new haircut anyway, but the short 'mom cut' that I got myself on Saturday really drives the 'I may be young but my mom haircut can drive my minivan safer than your mom haircut can' message home in case anyone wants to challenge me. Plus it's easier to brush when the occasion arises. You know, if I'm feeling fancy.

I'm running out the door to my new normal, but my mind is racing. Is she ready? Am I ready? Will she know the right bus stop? Will she know how to behave on the bus? Is it okay for me to eat the pudding I bought for her lunches if I'm really upset? It is going to be the most fun thing she's ever done and I'll feel dumb for being so worried? All I know for sure is... today sucks.

Dirty Little Secrets

I've been having technical difficulties with my laptop so I've been uninspired to blog since it required windexing the chair at the kids' computer. Hopefully my laptop will recover soon so I don't have to make this cleaning business a habit!

Remember you can (and SHOULD!) share your own dirty little secrets in the comments. Post anonymously if you need to...

I didn't realize how much time I spend on the computer until it crashed.

Boo has been peeing the bed almost every single night this week and it makes me want to cry thinking about going back to night time diapers. And I'm TIRED of washing sheets over and over.

I committed the ultimate sin and let brownies go bad on my counter.

I was supposed to start homeschool this week and didn't... simply because I didn't feel like it.

I really want to take a bath but am too lazy to clean the tub first even though my kids take baths in there all the time.

I haven't sewn anything fun all week and I miss it.

I'm terrified of Sweetie Pie walking home alone from the bus stop even though it's not very far. I'm also worried that she won't know it's her time to get off.

I cried yesterday just reading about the kindergarten drop off procedures.

I'm dreading having to brush Sweetie Pie's (and probably my own) hair every.single.day. I've decided it's overrated.

What's your dirty little secret?? You'll feel better- I promise!

Make Yo Play Dough

That was a sad attempt at a rhyming title by the way... Yesterday I bribed the kids with a secret project all day long but really I was the one that was so excited to try it out. I've had the recipe forever but never got around to actually making it until last night. The kids were SO thrilled to measure, stir, and pick their color that they didn't even realize what we were making until they were done. And then the real fun (and SILENCE) began.

They played with it for over an hour, and then we just sealed it up in ziplocks for next time. I loved that it wiped right off the table, and didn't smell like crap 'real' play doh. I'm dumping all our commercial 'doh' and only making this from now on!

{I halved the recipe and gave that amount to each kid}
Combine 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 2 tbsp. vegetable oil. Then add a packet of Koolaid or 1-2 drops of food coloring and water until it reaches a good consistency. I added too much water of course, so I just dumped another scoop of flour in to dry it up. It worked perfectly and the kids had a blast.