A Day In The Wrong

My kids didn't pick up the million crayons they got out.
And they were all over the floor under the table.
So I made them clean up.
And they were "too cold".
So they wrapped themselves in big blankets.
And Little Man was more interested in flinging his blanket around than picking up.
And he knocked a full cup of sticky juice onto the floor.
So I went to get my Shark mop.
And I remembered that it wasn't working and needed to be cleaned.
So I started my computer to find the cleaning tutorial I bookmarked.
But I didn't have internet because the wind was gusting to 80 miles per hour and it knocked my power out for 10 second outages.
So I reset my modem and router.
And I attempted to get online again.
But my computer suddenly wouldn't turn on.
So I did the dishes and waited for it to turn on.
And it didn't.
So I took the battery out and tried again.
And it started.
Then it crashed and flashed me the blue screen of death.
So I panicked and slammed it shut.
And tried again.
Then it started.
So I went to open Firefox and it wouldn't open.
Then I Googled using Internet Explorer.
And system restore seemed like the best option.
So I was thinking I was going to lose all our recent family photos.
So I burned them onto a disc.
And then restored.
But I didn't lose them.
But Firefox still wouldn't work.
And I couldn't find the mop tutorial anywhere else.
And I still had a sticky floor and a broken mop.
And I didn't want to uninstall Firefox and lose all my bookmarks including the freaking mop one.
So I cleaned the floor by hand.
And threw away the sticky crayons.
And washed the wet blankets.
Then the power went out again.
And that made the smoke detector beep at 2am.
And it scared my kids.
And they were crying.
So I stood on a chair.
And I couldn't get the wires out.
So I had to wake up Mr.Wright.
Then we changed the batteries.
And I was grumpy and slept like crap.
So I got up and tried to get on my computer.
But it still wouldn't work.
So I took the plunge.
And I uninstalled.
Then I reinstalled.
And I didn't lose a single bookmark.
So I backed them up just in case.
And I fixed my mop.
And next time, I'll just pick up the freaking crayons myself.

My Favorite Things!

Back by popular errr, no demand!  I just felt like it... okay!?

An adorable little Homemade Felt Pizza setup from Chris, Erin and Jayce!  Have I mentioned that I ♥ felt!?

A great post about getting motivated to organize from Steady Mom.  Not that I need any help in that department or anything.  Yeah... that was a joke.

There is NO way that I could keep up with this fantastic mini bolt fabric storage, but it makes my selective OCD tingle and that's always a good thing in my book!

I have a little tradition of picking out every holiday's shirts that I'm not going to end up making for my kids but that I think I will.  This reindeer applique shirt is the Christmas version of my seasonal failure.

This Bibbee dress from Innocentia looks a little detailed for my mediocre sewing skills, but it sure is adorable!  You could make them in all different colors or alternating colors for more than one little girl without being too matchy-matchy.

I'm also fooling myself into thinking that I'll make some of these handmade paper bows instead of slapping on a 5 cent squashed mismatched bow as we're running out the door... if I remember a bow at all!

Happy Holidays!

Accomplishment... And Other Sicknesses

Yesterday I ran some errands in the morning and then decided to relax on the couch "for a minute or two".  I'm not sure what happened next but my kids were all laying down trying to catch up on some Z's and I had rented season 1 of Reba.  Please don't judge me, that's a good show!  Plus it was only disks 2 and 3...

Anyway, I meant to watch "an episode or two" before cleaning up my pig pen of a house and next thing I know it's 6pm, I finished the whole season, and my kids had trashed my house even more.  CRAP!  I felt so guilty that I had wasted the day so I cranked up the Taylor Swift, popped in a frozen pizza and got cleaning.  The first thing to go was the Halloween decorations.  Technically all I did was take them down and make a pile to put under my house, but progress is progress.  Little Man put all the shoes on the shelves and hung up all the winter gear so my entryway looked great!

I even went above and beyond and vacuumed the real spiderwebs that had accumulated above the fake spiderweb.  While I had the vacuum out I remembered that my ceiling fan really needed a dusting, so I vacuumed that too.  I was already standing on the counter, singing at the top of my lungs like an idiot, so I thought it would be a good time to suck up all that dust on top of my cabinets.  My house was coming along, and the kids and I had fun doing it!

The problem is that today I've been sitting on my butt since I actually did something yesterday.  I slept in and my kids had taken down a box of 8 Pop-Tarts before 8 am and left the wrappers and crumbs everywhere.  8 freaking Pop-Tarts for 3 little kids!  Sitting around would be okay if I had done dishes or laundry yesterday, but I didn't.  We have no clean towels, Little Man has been wearing Sweetie Pie's socks all weekend, and the kids are using my Grandma's breakable plates because we've used all the plastic.  Oh, and since I used the pizza yesterday I have no plan for dinner.

The goal for the rest of the day is to catch up a little so we at least have clean towels, socks and plates for tomorrow.  Bonus points for being able to see the kids' floors before bedtime ;)

Backfired

I woke up this morning with some motivation... I swear I did.  I got up, got in the shower, and started mentally planning my day.  Unfortunately my bubble was popped when 2 minutes into my shower a puking/crying child came running in.  Every time I'd get us both clean she would puke again.  Finally it slowed down and I was able to get us both out and dried off.  She continued to puke all morning virtually zapping any ounce of motivation that I had. 

I guess I WILL accomplish some laundry today, but she's going through it just as fast as I could wash it, so I wouldn't really count that as progress.  And I'm so stressed and emotional that I cried at the end of Toy Story 3.  Sorry for yet another dry downer post, but it seems like there's bad news around every corner.  Yep, one of those days weeks.

Ok, So That Wasn't Good

That post I just poured my heart out in?  The one about me feeling weird about my FB friends reading my blog?  It just posted on Facebook.  Awkward!  I'm trying again, and hopefully now that I've changed my settings again, blocked Networked Blogs AND revoked the publishing rights it shouldn't show up anymore.  BUT since this is my life I'm sure it will post this blog too.  Then I'll feel really weird, shut down my computer, eat some chips and pretend this never happened.  Avoidance is, after all, the best medicine.  Deal?  Good.

The Not Much Up-Date

Soooo, I suck.  We've covered this before.  I have realized in the last few weeks that I want to post stuff on my blog but it was starting to bother me that everything I posted here would show up on my personal Facebook page.  It didn't used to bother me for some reason, but now it does.  I guess I just need to feel like when I bare my soul to the world it is mostly heard by people just like me.  People who understand and don't just judge.  I blog for the women who comment on my posts and say "I could have written that!" or "I feel that same way".  I tell my sad, sad stories about what I found under my couch (crayons, socks, unidentifiable crumbs) or how long it's been since I changed my kids sheets (months!) and people say "Me too!" or just don't say anything at all (thanks for that too :D )

I'll lose some readers, and they can always still find me, but it won't be so easy for some distant acquaintance (whom I only friended because we have 29847 friends in common even though we've hardly spoken) to read all about how much dirty laundry I have on my bathroom floor.  I believe that I've changed the setting correctly so that no longer happens, and now hopefully I'll feel more in the blogging spirit!

Whew, with that out of the way I can move on to my "not much update"! 

I didn't do dishes for 4 days.  Then I did, but they were so behind that I had to hand wash some and now I have a buttload of dishes to put away and haven't.  They're all over my counter just like when they were dirty.

I didn't do laundry for 6 days.  I started a load and then my washing machine stopped working.  And we had NO clean clothes... because I hadn't done laundry in 6 days.  I panicked and unplugged it, then plugged it back in.  Thank goodness that worked, but every few loads it stops in the middle of a cycle and I have to unplug and replug.  Pain in the butt, but better than buying a new washing maching.

I put up Halloween decorations.  BEFORE Halloween.  And they looked awesome.  But now I have to take them down and that's not so awesome. 

Oh!  And my friend Mrs. Awesome helped me cook a bunch of ground beef to make freezer meals with because she rocks!  But I don't really have any other ingredients to make meals so it's slim pickings tonight.

I've been horrible on the craft front, but realistic about how many "hand made" Christmas gifts I'll actually get done in time (none).  I usually spend so much on all the supplies for a gift that I can just buy something cheaper and save myself the stress of not getting it done and shopping last minute. 

So, that's what's up.  I suck, and I'm okay with it I guess.  After over 18 months writing this blog I think I've possibly gotten WORSE than I was before... which isn't good, but what can you do!?

Snail's Pace

The good news:
I cleaned my kitchen for 6 solid hours this weekend.  I took pictures on my phone but it's ALL the way across the room, soooo you won't be seeing them right now.

The bad news:
My selective OCD came out in FULL force so I only got a small section of the kitchen actually clean.  If someone stops by to inspect my baseboards or cereal cupboard I'm going to be in GOOD shape though... as long as they don't need to to fit their purse on my counter. 

You know that game at the fair or arcade where you drop coins into the machine and try to push a bunch off the other side!? 

Yeah, that was the worst description ever, but does anyone know what I'm talking about? 

Anyone!?  Helloooooooooo?

Ok, maybe it's just me- that's how I feel when I put something on my kitchen counter except I'm trying not to push the stuff off the other side.  It's very technical... ahem.

Oh, I also read three books this weekend.  It's hands down my best reading record ever.  And they weren't short little stories or anything either... ok, well, they weren't exactly Pride and Prejudice.  Two were Sophie Kinsella novels and one was a similar novel that was weird but sucked me in.  It was nice to float into the clouds with my books.  I'm not super sure what my kids were doing that whole time, but they're still breathing today so that's good news!  And I've decided that I just want to move into a Sophie Kinsella novel, just in case you were wondering.

Ok, back to earth- today I'm going to keep up with my dishes and do some laundry.  If I'm feeling super crazy then I'll plan out some Christmas presents so I can get started on my handmade gifts that I'll abandon in November.  Yeeeeep.  That's it. :D

Slacker

Ugggg, such a slacker.  I've been so lazy that I haven't had the energy to whine about how lazy I am.  My laundry is behind, I had to hand wash forks just so we could eat dinner, etc.  You get the picture.  Basically I've been in survival mode- the kids have gotten to school, on time, in clean clothes, with lunch.  Anything beyond that is just asking too much these days.

I did manage to get my Halloween decorations up last week, which is WAY better than when I put them up on the 30th last year just to get ONE freaking trick or treater.  I left them up until I got out the Christmas stuff in protest.  Plus I wasn't delusional this year and just bought costumes for my kids instead of pretending to be super mom (like my crazy awesome friend who hand makes ALL her kids costumes every year, and they're themed to all coordinate with each other- see, isn't she awesome!?)  I'm just proud that the costumes are purchased and ready, and that I haven't bought candy that I'll just eat.

Soooo, that's where I'm at.  I've got tons of good posts floating around in my head, I've just been in a fog and haven't typed them out yet.  Typical me :)

Lazy Mopping

I'm the laziest of moppers since I have a Shark Mop now.  I leave it full of water (and sneak cleaner in there too so my floors don't smell like burnt toast!) so all I have to do is plug it in and mop away.  I used to have a better system when I mopped the old school way and now my trash can stinks.  How are those related!?  I'll tell you...

I can't take credit for this since I remember reading it in a magazine, but when I mopped with a mop and bucket I would get SO frustrated that I couldn't fit my rectangular mop head in the round bucket.  Sometimes I would just fill up my kitchen sink with mop water like my mom always did, but that requires that your sink isn't full of dishes like mine ALWAYS is.  So this solution BLEW MY MIND! 



This lady, whoever she is, would bag up her trash and then fill the trash can with hot water and soap!  She would use it as a mop bucket while simultaneously soaking and deodorizing her trash can.  GENIUS!

Like I said, I don't do it this way anymore, and now my trash can is paying the price.  You wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of nasties that get behind and under the bag!  Disgusting.

So, to recap:
1. Bag up trash and leave it for your husband.
2. Dump out any crumbs over balcony and try not to drop the garbage can 10 feet to the ground.
3. Use the crappiest clogged spray hose ever to fill the garbage can (about 1/4 full) with hot water at snail speed since the sink is full of dishes... again.
4. Add soap and realize that your kids inherited your unnatural love for the smell of Pine-Sol.
5. Blog about how awesome you are for stealing someone else's idea.
6. Dip a rag into the water and wipe down the inside, outside and lid.
7. Mop to your heart's content!
8. Dump out the water into a drain or outside.  If you're really thrifty you could dump a little in each of your toilets and have Pine-Sol fresh toilets too!  Uhhhh, mine's going outside though! :)
9. Enjoy your freshly mopped floors and your clean & deodorized garbage can!

And that's why using your garbage can as a mop bucket... uh.... used to Work For Me!!

Sew In Control

I could feel like my world isn't spinning out of control today for a number of reasons.  The first could be that I actually got up at 6am this morning when my alarm went off, then I actually got my butt in the shower, and then I actually spent some quality time with Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown.  Alright, fine... I just watched it from the couch.  In my opinion it would be dangerous to undergo a new exercise routine without first reviewing it in my jammies AND consulting my doctor, so there you go.

I also did some sewing today.  I don't know what it is about the act of messing up projects, but sewing is SO zen for me.  I'm whipping up a few of those reusable snack & sandwich bags for my friend.  They're so easy that I threw in a few for my own bagless kids too!  AND I'm using up some PUL fabric that I bought back in my cloth diapering days.  AND some other fabric that has been hanging out in the towering stack of "someday I'll use this" items.

The timing couldn't be better since I'm linking up on Friday to the Use Your Crap challenge!  I'm so excited to actually be using something I already own instead of just buying new crap to add to the pile.  Here's a sneak peek of one of the bags!



I'm also doing the "Use Your Crap" challenge across the board and clearing out some of my Canadian chocolate that's been wasting away for almost 6 weeks in my pantry.



This Coffee Crisp must be illegal in the U.S. for being TOO good, that's why they don't have them here.  Mmmm, happy day! :) 

Oh, and I got a comment from Valerie at Frugal Family Fun about her Awesome Remote with a bacon button that made her think of me and it made me smile.  Thanks, Valerie, for letting me live in a bacon remote kind of world today :D
Any awesome things happening to you today?

Doughnut Pass Go

Uggg, slacking again.  In my defense I've been editing photos during every spare second I've had since Saturday.  My dishes are done but my laundry is piling up.  I thought over my life plan with some doughnuts.   After some pondering I realized that all I had figured out was that I wanted a second doughnut.  So I ate it :D  And now I have NO plan for today even though I have a million things to do... How's your week going??

Dirty Little Secrets

It's been a while, and lately I've been so lazy that my whole blog has turned into a dirty little secret!  If you have your own dirty little secret I'd love to hear it in the comments.  As always, you can comment anonymously ;)

I'm so behind on laundry that for the first time in MONTHS Little Man had to search for socks before school.

I haven't made my bed in weeks.

My kids almost missed the bus this morning because I was playing on my phone.

The kids have a locked closet full of toys that I was going to rotate in and out, but I never did.  I can't let go of them either though...

I told myself that I'd volunteer at the kids' school while Boo was at preschool but I didn't.

I talk my kids into hot lunch that sounds gross so I won't have to make cold lunch.

It bothers me that I used "kids" in the last 4 confessions and I feel the need to split them up.  (that's its own confession)

I hate Fall.  In fact, if we could skip straight from Summer to Thanksgiving I'd be happy.

I'm still thinking of starting my photography business.  I have tens of thousands of pictures of my kids.  I have ONE (outdated even) picture on my walls.  ONE.

I still have my carry on bag packed from my trip I took a month ago.  Skymall anyone?

C'Mon... what's your dirty little secret!?

Cleaning FAIL

Ok, so I didn't do a whole heck of a lot yesterday.  I did get my stove elements scrubbed and reassembled, but only because we'd be really hungry if I didn't.  I got one load of laundry washed and dried, but it's all wrinkled up in the dryer still, with the second load mildewing in the washer.  Whoops!  Today isn't looking a whole lot better since Boo has preschool and I'll be totally kidless on Thursday mornings for the first time in over 6 years.  Mr. Wright has the day off, so we're definitely not going to spend the morning at home doing laundry. 

Today I will:
Collect the garbage and take it to the end of the driveway
Fold laundry from the dryer
Dry, then fold the laundry from the washing machine
Put the basket of folded clothes away from yesterday
Ignore the banister crap for now
Keep up with dishes and counters

What A Crock

Captain Jammie Pants log, September 15th.  Way too damn early in the morning.



Yesterday I mostly kept up with the dishes and counters.  This morning I was left with a few things that didn't get hand washed after dinner, but for the most part the dishes are done.  I'm probably the only person on the planet that makes my meal plan to avoid crockpots since I detest washing them so much.  I'm searched high and low for those cool crock liner bags but haven't found them ANYWHERE!  I made a roast yesterday in the crockpot and it's still soaking in water because I like avoiding things.

I didn't get a speck of laundry done yesterday either, but I'm trying not to feel badly about it since I did jackhammer my stove clean and soaked my drip pans and other elements in ammonia overnight.  I also got a little work done on Boo's toy pit and collected at least 2 loads of laundry off Little Man and Sweetie Pie's floor.  I even read a little in my book!

I've been busting my butt to get even the basics checked off my list, but I'm noticing that it leaves me with NO time to catch up on my shows, hang out with the kids, etc.  I'm sure that sounds funny to ladies who do it all every day, but I miss my Teen Mom!!  Although I've always had the urge to clean Amber & Gary's apartment... yikes!

Today I will:
Do 2 loads of laundry since I didn't do any yesterday
Put away the folded clothes that have been in the living room for 2 days
Reassemble the stove
Clean off (or work on) the banister behind my couch which is a catch-all for crap I don't know what to do with

Book Mark

I'm SO tired this morning, and for the first time in 3 weeks I've had trouble peeling myself out of bed at 6am.  I'm sure it's because I never did get around to watching some trashy tv and halfway taking a break last night.  That bookshelf was just taunting me and I had to shut it up.  It still has two baskets of random crap that was just too much to take on at 9pm, but for the most part it is better.  I even got around to making a little homework center with pencils and extra paper!

The messy bookshelf before:


And after:

(More phone pictures, but I'm lazy and bad pictures are better than NO pictures!)

The laundry got folded, but not quite put away since I did it after the kids were already asleep.  The dishes got done and I woke up to a clean kitchen again this morning!  As it gets darker every day in Alaska I'm thankful for knowing there isn't anything to trip on.

Today I will:
Not give myself too many goals since I start teaching preschool with Boo
Keep up with dishes and counters
1 load of laundry- washed, folded and put away
Read some of my book that I abandoned when I started cleaning again!

I'm A Dork, And Other New Developments

Sooooo, I've been trying really hard the last couple days to get my goals reached, and using my blog as motivation to actually finish something. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when no one commented on my last two posts, but I understood that after not blogging for a month I couldn't expect floods of comments on day 1. Day 2 came and went without a single comment. I was getting lots of traffic, but no comments. I don't blog just for the comments, but it really helps when I don't feel like I'm talking to myself.

Aaaaaaand then I realized that I'm a dork. I had gotten comments on both of those posts, but apparently Blogger is still pissed that I broke up with it for a month and never e-mailed me about them. So I thought I was all alone on my messy island when really I have some lovely ladies rallying around me. Thank you Bethany, LaVonne, Shell & Erin for being a little light in my day, and to all my readers who stop by whether I'm up or down! :)

On to the progress report for today... I've stayed on track with my counters and dishes, and even put out a nice bowl of apples since people get all judgy when you fill your fruit bowl with chips. I got the kids clothes washed and dried, and they're waiting to be folded while I catch up on some trashy tv after the kids go to bed. The bookshelf remains untouched, but I'm trying to stay positive and realize that it will still be there tomorrow and isn't worth stressing over. I hate not reaching my goals, but progress is progress, so anything done is better than nothing!

The Proof Is In The Pudding... Mmm, pudding!

I was tired and grumpy, and I didn't want to do it, but I got my goals accomplished last night after my kids went to bed. I got the counters cleared off and cleaned, folded laundry, picked up clutter in the dining room and living room, and did all the dishes.

Excuse the phone pictures- my camera died 5 pictures into a photo shoot with my kids that I've been planning for weeks!

Dining Room before:


After:


Kitchen before:



After:


Living Room before:


After:


We'll see how long this lasts!

Today I will:
Wash, fold, and put away the kids' laundry
Organize the messy bookshelf in the dining room
Keep dishes and counters under control

Babysteps To Productivity

I'm lazy... in case you didn't know. I suck at meal planning, my house is a mess, my kids don't listen and I just can't keep up. My bills are late, my home is undecorated, there's clutter everywhere and my craft stuff is buried. There's books unread, projects unfinished, piles unsorted and traces of stuffy "somedays" thick in the air. My blog hasn't been updated in a month.

And it's MY fault. I have the time, the resources, the knowledge. I just don't have the effort... the motivation to accomplish the things that I want to do. And I get disappointed in myself, then lazy, until I feel like I'm stuck in a dryer from cycling so quickly.

If I knew how to break the cycle I'd be charging for that little secret. Unfortunately I'm just stuck- going around and around and around. I've tried (and failed) more times than I can count, but I have to keep going. I have six little eyes watching my every move, and what I do, say, and teach them will matter for the rest of their lives.



Today is the day. I could spend the next 8 hours cleaning my house from top to bottom, printing charts for organization or making a meal plan for the next 3 months in an effort to reach my goals for myself. OR, I could make little changes that are more likely to stick. It will take me longer to get there, but I'll have a better chance.

Today I will:
Clean off my counters
Fold what I already washed
Empty, then load the dishwasher
Play with my kids

Will my house be spotless by bedtime? Nope. Will I feel better about my handle on life? Probably not. Will I have much accomplished off my never ending 'to-do' list? Not even close. BUT, it's progress, which is a heck of a lot better than my old plan of sitting on my butt and not having any clean bowls for breakfast. And progress is all I can ask for.

Lazy Freezer Meals

I'm obsessed with reading about freezer cooking and make ahead meals. I always convince myself that the next time I buy groceries I'm going to stock up and make a bunch of meals. It NEVER happens... I think it might be the meals that my family likes though. They're not really casserole people. ANYWAY, I like to have something in the freezer for the days when I don't plan dinner (almost every day, shh!)so in the past I've cooked a bunch of ground beef at once for hamburger helper, tacos, etc.

I took it one step further this time with the help of my awesome friend Mrs. Awesome, who is indeed awesome in case you were wondering. I dropped off 15 pounds of raw ground beef at her house and she threw it all in her 22 qt. roaster and a few hours later had her teenager drop the drained, ready to season meat off at my house. See!? Isn't she AWESOME!?



I put the hot meat in the fridge since I had to make dinner, put my kids to bed, & check my e-mail. You know, just the important stuff! Once I got around to packaging the meat it had solidified into a giant hunk of cooked ground beef. I put the whole bowl into super hot water and "folded laundry" (got on Facebook) while I waited about 20 minutes. The hot water melted the fat just enough that I could stir it up a tiny bit and I loaded it into quart sized freezer bags.

I added packets of taco seasoning and hot water to a few, poured cans of sloppy joe sauce in some, and left the rest plain for hamburger helper and casseroles. It went pretty quickly considering the time it's going to save me, and I know that I'm no more than 5 minutes from dinner as long as I have bread!





I stacked them all up flat in my freezer to save space and for quick thawing... hey, quit counting the ice creams! Don't judge me! There's broccoli right there too! It all evens out I'm sure... Anywhoo, I can open the zip top, throw one of these babies in the microwave for 5 minutes on defrost and I've got cooked seasoned meat. Now that is lazy freezer cooking!

The Un- Post

Every day I think that THIS will be the day that I finally blog. It hasn't worked out yet. Well, I guess this kinda counts, but it's not really what I should be blogging about. I swear I've written at least 5 posts in my head and even taken photos to accompany my imaginary posts, but just haven't sat down and typed them all out.

I've been sewing, making freezer meals, cleaning and organizing, not cleaning and organizing, giving my vacuum a haircut, and writing invisible posts about all of it! Hopefully tomorrow I'll wake up refreshed, not busy, and ready to publish to the world... or maybe I'll sit in my jammies all day again.

Dirty Little Secrets

Whew! It's been a while... I wish my secrets were juicier. I've been pretty lame lately and it's hard to pull shenanigans when you're feeling lazy!

I'm typing this post while on hold with the phone company.

The laundry pile in the kids' bathroom is taller than my tallest kid.

I spent $15 on iTunes to catch up on Glee... and ignored my kids while doing so.

I signed up for a 2 week trial of Blockbuster At Home knowing I was going to keep it after the 2 weeks, but told Mr. Wright it was just a trial. Shhh!

I had a weird dream that I delivered my friend's baby the other night... from the sink drain. I'd love to see what experts say about that creepy stuff.

I've been sending my kids outside to play in the rain because they are SO getting on my nerves. What do I have to do to get a sunny day!?

I'm both excited and nervous to have 2 kids in school, and excited and nervous to have one at home all day to entertain.

Boo spilled an entire carton of chocolate milk on the floor of my van and I haven't cleaned it up yet :X

I've been sleeping in and I'm dreading not being able to do that anymore.

My craft table looks like a tornado went through it. I have no energy to even BEGIN to tackle it.

I'm still on hold... 32 minutes and counting >:( Bleeping Phone Company!

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

My New Little Buddies

BREAKING NEWS!!



I've given up the cookies and got hooked on these- Frosted Mini Wheat Little Bites. They taste like little bits of chocolate heaven but pack a secret punch of fiber and whole grain (which is how I justify eating half the box at once). I've been eating bowls of just the dry cereal as breakfast, lunch & dinner a snack and my kids think I'm the coolest mom in the world for letting them eat it for breakfast. Seriously, try them. And I wish I was getting free stuff to say that. Make sure you click the link and let them know to send me a lifetime supply. Back to your regular programming...

P.S. Eating Little Bites 24/7 Works For Me!

Picking Up The Pieces

It's been a week since Grandma passed. A long, sad, hard week. I'm trying to be cheerful and just fake it until I make it but I constantly want to cry. Today I did some laundry- something my family was excited to see. Plus I finally ventured out last night to get some much needed groceries. When I fed my kids a Cup O' Noodles for dinner I knew it was time. I'm slowly trying to get back into my "routine" with the help of cookies and reality tv.

I've been given the opportunity to go to the burial in Michigan which will be while Sweetie Pie starts the school year. It's hard to let go of that control freak part of myself, but Mr. Wright will do a great job filling in... right after I teach him how to do her hair. Little Man starts school a week later, so I'll be back in time for his first day of kindergarten at least.

Today I'm going to curl up, watch a movie in my jammies, and eat 10 days worth of groceries...

Hazy

I've gone to write this post I don't know how many times and just couldn't. The last ten days have just been a blur for me. I started off doing really well- my laundry was caught up, the dishes were done, the playroom was FINALLY clean. It was easy to maintain and my mood was improved. On Thursday my sister and I took a guilt free trip to Anchorage to see and movie and visit my sick Grandma. I knew she was going downhill, but she has been for months. I'm SO glad that she got to see Sweetie Pie and Little Man and that I told her I loved her. Friday and Saturday were horrible- I sat around moping just waiting for "the call". By Sunday she was gone... reunited with my Grandpa in Heaven.

I'm so relieved that she is no longer suffering, but sad that my kids will hardly remember her, much less know her lively spirit. I've been trying to keep up with the chores as well as I can, but it's hard when I just want to curl up and cry. I literally think of her every minute, of every day. I think of how she loved sparkly red shoes, college football, and potato chips for dinner... hmmm, I never connected that, but I'm sure she's the key to my snack cravings! It just seems weird to be here on Earth without her.

Tip Me Tuesday

Between pools, swimming holes and lakes we've been spending TONS of time in the water this summer. In Alaska you can't waste a single nice day since you never know when (or if!) you'll get another one. Sometimes that means that we need our swimsuits ready to go 2 days in a row, or we haven't seen them for months. I've come up with a hot tip to help me deal with all the summer fun!


You know you're jealous of my MAD Photoshop skills! ;)

I made up a swim bag! The bag itself is a wetbag left over from our cloth diaper days, but I've seen some adorable ones made out of shower curtains and vinyl tablecloths. It stays in the laundry room so no little ballerinas can sneak their swimsuit out and lose them, and the bag is ready to go at a moment's notice. It has swimsuits for all three kids, extra sunscreen, and three 'b-list' towels since we're not fancy enough to have swim towels. It has saved me HOURS of searching for wherever the kids left their suit last after playing 'the kitchen floor is a super fun swimming pool ONLY when mom's cooking dinner in there'. Sooooo, there's my tip!

*Also linking up to Works For Me Wednesday so I can pimp more traffic out of my swim bag! Bwahahaha!

Just Keep Cleaning, Just Keep Cleaning!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week- I've been busy hanging out with the family and, get this- cleaning! Yeah, baby! You read that right! I'm on a cleaning hot streak and loving every minute! I always forget how much free time I have when I clean more often. Unfortunately I've always gone back to the dark side in the past.

I'm trying to stay positive but I know that it's easier to keep up in the summer when I have a bit of motivation. It's a long, dark, cold Winter, and it would suck the life out of anyone! I'm hoping to establish a good routine and make it stick before I add school, work, and the weather back into the mix.

We had a wonderful day yesterday and took our first official family 'hike'. There was a sign in the parking lot about making lots of noise to scare off the bears, which immediately scared the crap out of Sweetie Pie. Little did we know that bears wouldn't come within miles of us thanks to all the screaming Boo did.

I don't know what was up with her, but she didn't want to walk, she didn't want to be carried, she didn't want her shoes on, she didn't want to be barefoot, she just wanted to scream. I was the lucky one that got to hike with a tensed up, screaming 3 year old on my shoulders. Needless to say it was great family togetherness time... uh, kinda. I did manage to dangle my $1000 camera precariously from a piece of plywood over a rushing river and snap this rare family photo though, so at least I can pretend that we had the time of our lives.



*I just found this one, so I had to add it! Make sure you click to make it bigger so you can truly see how thrilled little Boo is to be hiking!



Please don't judge my white legs- it's been a LONG time since they've seen the sun. Speaking of that, right after our hiking adventure we headed out to my in-laws dug out lake and I wasted the afternoon away floating around on an inflatable raft. I didn't know until I got home that we stayed 4 hours too long... I'm going to miss that layer of skin! My sunburn is slowly healing, but I'm still sending keeping my bottle of aloe within reach at ALL times. Nothing feels as good as aloe on a sunburn!

So... yup, that's it. Clean. Apply aloe. Repeat.

When You're Up, You're Up

My kids did chores today... and asked for more! In the past I have underestimated what my kids can really do, and I'm guilty of giving them something stupid to do just so they feel like they're helping. It's hard to give up control since I'm such a control freak (when I actually get around to doing said chores)but they loved to help!

Sweetie Pie (6 1/2) helped me by putting away the folded laundry, making all the kids' beds and putting a few things in the play room. Little Man (5) swept off the front porch, brought all the dirty laundry from the hampers to the laundry room, and helped in the playroom. Boo (3) put all the shoes in the entryway on shelves, helped me vacuum the stairs, and wandered around the playroom pretending to be picking up.

I paid them a fake dollar for each chore and Sweetie Pie was begging for extra chores. MY KID. Asking to do more CLEANING. It was miraculous!

After we had our chores done we went outside and I mowed the lawn. It's been really rainy here so it was nice to get it done and let the kids run around for a bit. I was even motivated enough to tackle a tiny portion of our backyard that has NEVER been mowed. Literally never. I don't think I've sweat that hard in years... it was like pushing a stubborn rhinoceros through a corn field, or at least what I think that would be like.

It will take at least 4 more 'sessions' to get it mowed (by then I'll have to start over!) but I'm looking forward to the day when we can move our million white trash kids' toys back there and class up the neighborhood a bit.

If I was like this every day then I would be SO happy. My house is clean, my kids are happy, they didn't watch cartoons until quiet time, we played a board game, got some yard work done and I'm even fitting some craft time in. I hope this doesn't fade like the millions times before...

Being motivated really Works For Me!!

WTF!?

It's 10:30 am. My bed is made, my laundry is CAUGHT UP, the dishwasher only has breakfast dishes in it. My living room is vacuumed, and the carpets are STEAM CLEANED. The bathroom is bleached, the toothbrush cups are washed and put back. The mirrors are sparkling, the floors are mopped.

I made a huge decision over the weekend, and I can't tell if I'm cleaning because I feel better and am out of my 'funk' or if I feel worse and am cleaning as my natural response to stress. Either way, I kinda like it! Shh, don't tell anyone!!

Happy Birthday America!

Ahhh, the Fourth of July! The only time that I can buy nothing but junk food all at once and not be judged for my shopping since everyone just assumes all that crap MUST be for a BBQ or camping trip. I can (AND WILL) also eat pounds of potato salad just to celebrate, whether it decides to keep dumping rain or not. NOTHING gets between ME and my POTATO SALAD!

What are your plans for the 4th? What? Everyone's too cool doing fun things for the holiday and I'm the only person on the internet anymore!? Eh, maybe I'll make plans next year... maybe.

Dirty Little Secrets

Welcome to another rousing edition of my Dirty Little Secrets! Please share your own dirty little secrets in the comments either publicly or anonymously. I promise I won't tell anyone ;)

I've forgotten to take my garbage to the curb 2 weeks in a row.

I've been planning dinner at 5:30 every night.

My kids haven't had a bath or shower in 5 days.

I can't remember the last time I washed my sheets, but I DID get them in the wash this morning.

I not only left out ALL the dishes from dinner last night, but I left the milk out on the counter all night too. Luckily we had a new one in the fridge or else the cereal would have been awfully dry this morning!

My kids ate fast food A LOT this week.

I've been meaning to take new photos of the kids for some frames on the walls but I haven't because the kids need baths, and hair brushing, and clean clothes, and to not be fighting. So... I'll get that done right around never.

I've been avoiding cleaning off the same counter for weeks.

My playroom is still so trashed that my kids refuse to play in there so they're driving me FREAKING nuts!

What's your dirty little secret?

Linking this post to:

My Own Medicine

I can't count how many times I've cleaned our playroom in the last month. At least 4- and not just 'quick pick ups'. We're talking HOURS long cleaning sessions with all three kids that include crying, frustration and throwing fits. The kids don't like them much either!

EVERY TIME I make the kids help so that they know how much work it is to clean up. EVERY TIME they promise me that this time they'll put their toys and games away before choosing another. EVERY TIME I believe them, and they don't come through.

This week I got fed up with it, stuck the three fighting, outdoor-starved kids in the playroom and shut the the door. When it was clean (cleaner) they could come out. They argued for the first three hours, then banded together to defeat me in the easiest way possible, without actually cleaning of course. What can I say... they are MY kids after all.

They sent Boo out since she's the baby. At just barely 3 she expressed the message (from her brother and sister) that they shouldn't have to clean their mess if I don't clean my mess. Damn, I knew that was going to catch up to me somehow! Fortunately she cited my messy bedroom instead of any other dreaded area. I calmly told her that I made that mess, so I will clean it. I won't clean HER mess in the playroom any longer.

Today I made good. I went down to the dungeon my bedroom and paced around confused about where to even start. I eventually decided to collect all the laundry since it's the biggest problem in there. I collected garbage, brought up dishes, kept the wash going, sorted clothes to donate, FINALLY put extra less used clothes in our new dressers, made the bed and vacuumed. It took me ALL morning, but I am SO glad that I did it. I never realized how much I avoided hanging out in there until it was clean again.

My bed was calling me to lie down with a good book and enjoy my work. Unfortunately I still had the three (arguing) amigos and a thrashed playroom to deal with. Every part of me wants to go in the playroom and just clean it myself. It would take an hour- tops. Then I won't have to stress about it anymore. But then they win. And I lose. And that sucks.

Do you think Maury Povich has a boot camp for unruly preschoolers who aren't smoking and drinking but could use a kick in the booty? Like a Bootcamp Lite? I'm SO checking into it...

A Thick Blue Line

File this under CRAP THAT COULD ONLY POSSIBLY HAPPEN TO ME.

It's been super rainy here for a while and the rainy weather causes my kids to fight and causes me to be extra lazy. Yesterday I got a whoosh of motivation and decided to rearrange the furniture in my living room. Who knows, maybe it will send me on a wild cleaning spree around my whole house! I even got the vacuum out which is impressive since we broke up two weeks ago...

Ok, step one. Move the recliner across the room to put the couch in its spot. Easy enough. Here we go... PULL!!! I drag the recliner ten feet across the room to it's new home. I stand up and see THIS... (make sure you click to blow up the photo so you can see it in all its glory!)



WTF!? The line was so perfect that at first I thought a marker must have been uncapped, upside-down, in the perfect position to draw a freaking line on my floor. Then I saw it. A blue crayon.

I dare you to go right now and draw a line that thick on your carpet with a crayon. Try it, go ahead. I'll wait.

*taps foot*

Are you back? It's next to impossible, right?! Unless you're really strong, and in that case I'm not responsible for damages. Sorry!

Apparently there was a crayon in the perfect spot under the foot of the chair, and as I dragged it across the living room it was caught in a perfect storm of crappy. A whole lot of scientific stuff went down with molecules and friction and equations and dog hair and the crayon MELTED into that nice blue line on my living room floor.

I freaked out and started running around like a crazy lady (not so unusual I suppose) trying to find ANYTHING that will erase this from my life. When all else fails pour water on it... or something like that. I sucked up the water with my carpet cleaner (it doesn't work well enough to use it like it's intended) and panicked. The blue color had just spread a few inches on either side and now I had a wider (but less blue) line on the floor. SHIZNIT!!

Ok, take 2... I came up with a cocktail of really hot water mixed with vinegar and doused the blue beast. I let it sit for a few minutes, and sucked up the water. Success!! Kinda...

I'm still not sure if there is blue residue left over on the teal carpet, or if the rest of the teal carpet is so dirty that the clean spot looks really bright, but I'm choosing to ignore either situation. I never thought I'd want to thank my 19 year old self for picking TEAL carpet, but I guess this is the one situation where teal seems like a good idea. Maybe I'll just put a couch over the spot and forget about it. Everyone loves a couch 2 feet from the tv, right!?

Another One Ignores The Dust

I woke up this morning, got the laundry going, and made my bed. I came upstairs, made breakfast, rinsed the dishes, started cleaning the counters, and cuddled my babies. I got out my chore box, made a new list of the stuff that needs to get done and washed the table.

I'm not sure what happened after that since I must have blacked out, but 5 hours later I'm sitting on my couch with an empty Pringles can watching TV in my jammies.

Shiznit. Better luck tomorrow I guess!

Do's and Don'ts of Dishes

I just read this article that was on the Yahoo home page about how 'pre-rinsing' dishes before running them through the dishwasher was a waste of water and time.

You have NO idea how much I wish that to be true, but I just don't buy it. I've tried all the time occasionally to stick yucky dishes in the dishwasher in the hope that my life would be changed by my magically clean dishes, and I could shout from the rooftops "Kenmore CHANGED MY LIFE!!". It hasn't happened yet. Instead I open the dishwasher to newly cemented crusties where last night's dinner was before. Then I get the extra special chore of jackhammering the crap off with a butter knife just to pre-rinse, then wash again. How much water does THAT waste "experts"??

The whole thing makes me want to take some nasty dishes to Lowes and make them run me a sample load before I buy a new dishwasher. Or maybe I want an excuse to make someone else wash my dishes... you decide! Why should I need a new dishwasher anyway!? Our dishwasher is a mere 6 years old, and again, according to the "experts" it shouldn't matter if my dishwasher is run by a hand crank- I still shouldn't have to pre-rinse.

I'm still VERY grateful to even have a dishwasher since it decided to take a vacation a few months ago, but for Yahoo to get me all excited with a "Dishes Habit To Avoid" headline is just mean... or maybe my head read it as "Dishes IS A Habit To Avoid". In that case I would have printed it out for Mr. Wright when he wondered why the house smelled like dinner from Tuesday!

What's your dishes policy? Pre-rinse? No pre-rinse? Come to my house and pre-rinse?

Let me know!

Dirty Little Secrets

My first dirty little secret is that I JUST realized it's Friday- whoops! Mr. Wright has his days off during the week so I never know what day it is during the summer.

I've gained 3 pounds this week from eating mass amounts of broccoli and rice... smothered in cheese... prepackaged... and swimming in sodium. What? They're REALLY good!

I filled up half of my new DVR with movies from Starz that I recorded just to watch over and over.

There are 10 loads of unfolded laundry on Mr. Wright's poker table. I should probably be folding them right now... hmmm, maybe later.

Our 50 inch plasma TV exploded this morning and I'm PRAYING that it wasn't all the dust all over it that did it in. And I'm scared that Mr. Wright is never going to be complete again without his baby.

I still don't have any desire to dust anything else as a precautionary measure.

We're spending the night at my parent's house in 2 hours and I haven't packed anything. And I can't pack because I haven't folded the laundry. And I haven't folded the laundry because I'm watching the movies on my DVR. See how I just spiral myself into laziness!?

What's your dirty little secret? I promise I won't tell!

Procrastination

I should be doing dishes, calling Dish Network, folding laundry, washing more laundry, clearing off the table, bringing in the trash can, putting my kids down for a nap, de-cluttering, blogging about something useful, cleaning off the counters, brushing the dog, mowing the lawn and a few other things.

Instead I'm sitting on the couch, in my jammies, watching the US Open. (Also known as Annual Bor-Fest 2010) I did get 250 pieces of a 300 piece Hannah Montana puzzle done with Sweetie Pie this morning, so that's something. That thing was harder than it looked!

Before & After!

I'm so lame today that I'm posting an OLD before and after... maybe it will inspire me to clean something. Doubt it, but it could happen! I was really inspired to clean today when it was sunny- I even made my bed today! Now the clouds have rolled in and my motivation has packed up its crap with the sun.

These photos are from the end of May right after this post. Sorry, no exciting photos of the garbage collection or phone calls!

Here's my entryway a few weeks ago before cleaning:
(It's like an I spy! I spy a clorox mop, backpack, 239843 shoes...)


And here's my entryway a few weeks ago after cleaning:
(Ahhh! The same amount of light is coming in, but it just looks lighter and brighter!)


The entryway currently is in between the two, but thankfully closer to the second than the first.

Wait... maybe I'm starting to feel a little inspired. Maybe? Yes!...uh...maybe?...nope. It's gone now- Whew! That was close!

Paint Party

Ok, so I have another Dirty Little Secret... I hate paint. My poor kids rarely get to paint, and when they do we stick to watercolors. Even that takes DAYS to totally clean off every single surface that they touched. Sooooo.... I don't allow paint in the house. You know, because it's always spotless anyway! Uh, yeah. Moving on!

I saw this great idea at Little Hands, Big Work to put some paint in a sealed ziplock bag and 'draw' letters in it. I really wanted to try it, but due to my selective OCD I don't own any paint.

Luckily my mom and I has some free time to hit some yard sales on Saturday and while they were super disappointing in general I did come across this ONE thing- 6 big bottles of paint for a whole dollar.



They were so excited to see the paint, and even more excited when I started filling gallon bags with their favorite colors. I'm still me so I skipped the colored paper beneath it that she had on the blog, but they still thought it was really fun!

Little Man loves green, so he practiced his letters with the green bag.



Boo wanted blue and yellow and was more into feeling the paint squish between her hands than drawing letters.



And Sweetie Pie wanted to make purple, but took her time marbling the colors together slowly.



They played with them for 20-ish minutes this morning when we made them, but have picked them up and played for a few minutes at least 10 times already today. And the best part? NO clean up!!

Dirty Little Secrets

Welcome to this week's edition of my Dirty Little Secrets! Don't tell anyone... mmmkay!?

I've been letting my kids stay up WAY too late just because I haven't had the energy to do the bedtime routine.

I bought those crappy cheesy peanut butter sandwich crackers for my kids and ate most of them.

I'm addicted to entertainment headlines. I check People.com at least twice a day like a stalker.

We've eaten macaroni and cheese from a box two nights this week.

I haven't cleaned the kids' bathtub in months.

I watched Hannah Montana: The Movie this morning and cried at one part. I'm such a freaking baby!

I had 200 photos printed in the hopes that I would feel like scrapbooking, but I still don't.

Uhhh, I think that's it. I don't have as many when I keep up with the dishes & laundry! :D

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

A Whole Lot Of Random

I've been SOOOOO busy and I have so much going on at once that I just haven't had time to even play Facebook games! I'm not sure if it's related or not but I did see this when I logged onto Yahoo today:



Coincidence!?

It's good to know that Farm Town, Social City and Restaurant City are missing me as much as I miss them! I have gotten a few things done off my never ending to do list though. I finally got the play room TOTALLY clean, and have checked it every hour since then to make sure it stays clean. I got 8 2-liter soda bottles cleaned out and filled with emergency water. I almost kept up with the laundry and I have been relatively keeping up with the dishes. Oh, and I threw a tiny party for Boo's 3rd birthday.

Now that I type it out it seems pretty pathetic for a whole week's worth of stuff, but I felt like I've been trying hard. I'm going to link this post up to a whole bunch of stuff to hopefully get some new readers and re-inspire me to get off my butt and get blogging again. I have easily 15 posts in my head that I need to get written but just haven't had the motivation. Soooo, welcome if you haven't been here before, and look forward to some new posts if you're a regular reader!

I'm going for a record of participating in the most blog carnivals in one day EVER, lol!









Thanks for stopping by!