Dirty Little Secrets

Dear Readers, it has been a week since my last confession... probably, but I'm too lazy to check, so here we go!

I've eaten my weight in Reese's today.

I'm such a lightweight that I took off-brand, expired cough syrup last night and could barely peel myself out of bed this morning.

I couldn't wait to get my washer and dryer reconnected after the sheetrocking, but once I had it back I didn't feel like doing laundry anymore.

Someone spilled juice under the dining room table and now it's all sticky. I've been too lazy to clean it up.

I force myself to play Guitar Hero because I spent so much money on it.

I bought everything to plant bulbs with the kids two weeks ago, and it's still sitting on the counter.

I am unnaturally excited about my laundry room being finished and painted.

To celebrate I bought 24 Bounce Dryer Bars on Amazon. They don't even ship to Alaska, so I sent them to a friend to forward to me. They are the BEST things ever, but almost $8 each here. I'm obsessed!

I secretly hope that Bounce sends me some free stuff for linking to them, even though I know they won't :P

I live in Alaska, but I hate snow more than ANYTHING. I wish it would just go away forever!

I haven't left the house in 2 days unless you count walking the garbage can to the end of the driveway.

Sweetie Pie stayed home from school yesterday and today because she is SO sick, cranky and tired that I wouldn't force the teacher to have her.

I upgraded our internet usage limit so I could stream a movie on Netflix.

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

Before & After!

We're all home sick today so my progress has slowed to a... uh, stop. Since I'm not getting anything done today I wanted to share some progress that I made on Tuesday. I have all the kids' clothes in one closet as it makes it easier for me to put clothes away and I pick Boo's outfits anyway so it doesn't really matter where I get them. This leaves an entire closet open for 'overflow' toys. The idea was that I'd lock this closet and put extra toys in there to rotate in and out. Unfortunately it ended up just being a pile of junk that I didn't want to sort through and that we obviously didn't really need.




I picked a morning that Mr. Wright was home to distract Boo and Little Man and started sorting into baskets. I didn't get pictures of the 1 bag of garbage or the 3 bags of donations yet, but I did take the 'afters' of the closet!




I'm linking up this post to Org Junkie's Org Challenge!
1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?
The hardest part was getting rid of stuff that I've been hanging onto forever. I had to overcome the fact the "because I've had it this long" isn't a good reason for keeping something. Another challenge was letting go of a lot of baby toys that I've held on to despite my kids having NO interest in them.

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?
I kept some open spaces for the future, and I have a new view of what I actually "need" to keep. Luckily this closet stays locked from little helpers, so it won't get disorganized unless I let it get that way.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
Some of it was donated, some was given to friends, and some was just plain garbage.

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries?
I had some ancient Yaffa blocks that came out of my laundry room before that happened to be perfect to divide up some of the stuff that I needed to keep in the closet, and even created some free space for the future!

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge?
Because I'm straight awesome, first off, and secondly because I let go of things this time that have made it past multiple purgings. I now have an orderly space that has room to grow, and doesn't make me scared to open the closet doors!

It Pays To Be Good!

I've been waiting a few weeks to post about my new bribery behavioral plan in case it didn't work out. Luckily it has been going well, so I'm ready ready to share our system. This entire project was fueled by my need to obsessively laminate, so keep that in mind if and when you attempt this on your own. I started by being SUPER frustrated with my kids and out of ways to make them behave. Then I decided to do something about it. Crafty, huh!?



I printed out tons of 1's, and some 5's, 10's from here. Then I laminated them like a crazy person and found a home for the 'bank' on top of the fridge where robbers couldn't reach them. I made a large pocket with 3 sections (with the kids' initials) by sewing two laminating pouches together filled with scrapbook paper, and then laminating the whole thing. I stuck it on the fridge where the kids could reach it and I started the brib, uh, encouragement to be good.

When the kids are good in general, when they do nice things for each other or when they help with a special chore they get a dollar. When they make bad choices they have to pay me a dollar and/or get a time out depending on the offense. You'd be surprised how much the hitting stops when Little Man has to pay me or his sister for his punishment. I still give time outs too because I don't want them to think that they can do anything they want as long as they can fund it.

Every Thursday the kids get to visit the "Mommy Shop" and buy little crap from the dollar aisle *ahem* trinkets for $10 each. I know that's a steep price, but I don't want a ton of crap floating around the house because they were too good that week, lol! I keep the Mommy Shop in a little bin on top of the fridge to keep it close and interesting to the kids.

All week the kids beg to go to the Mommy Shop, and the threatening of taking a dollar sure gets their butts moving where they need to be!! That's why our reward system Works For Me!!

40 Bags in 40 Days Check In

How is everyone participating doing with their 40 bags in 40 days decluttering? Leave a comment with how many bags (and of what) you've gotten rid of and how you feel about the process!

I have to admit that I put it off until the weekend, so on Saturday morning I had 4 bags to do already. Luckily I had so much crap in my laundry room that I could throw away that I filled two bags just with garbage, and another with garbage in the playroom.



I've already given a bag's worth of scrapbook stuff and a bag's worth of baby stuff to a friend.




I've been swamping out my Hoarders-like laundry room so the sheet rock can go up today and I couldn't be more excited! Here's the before and after of the clearing out. Most of it is moved somewhere else, but I did get rid of a lot of stuff too!





I can't wait to organize my newly purged scrapbook stash on my planned built-in shelves in my new laundry room. Once I can shuffle some of my stuff back into the laundry room I'll be able to start on the elephant in the house- under my stairs. I'd love to take a before picture of that, but I can't even get in there to do it. Scary! I'm excited to get rid of all this STUFF that's been weighing me down for SO long!

What The!?

I was checking out Etsy yesterday looking to steal ideas for stuff I'll never make, and came upon these gems:

Have you ever really needed pants for your kid but all you can find is a men's shirt you don't need anymore? Whip up these sleeve pants (pants sleeves?)and problem solved!



Don't forget the family dog! Do you need something cozy for your pup that took entirely too long to make and makes your dog look like he's begging to get his butt kicked? You're in luck- Etsy has this for you:



Poor thing! I can see the screams for help in his eyes. Don't have a dog? Etsy psychos have something for the feline inclined too! I know I spend my Saturday nights dressing my animals up like other animals- what isn't hilariously fun about that!? Here's a 'cat hat' in the bear version:



Are bears too ordinary for you? Need a bit more spice in your and your cat's relationship? I think the monster (that looks like a frog) cat hat is more your style!



Poor little guys! I could spend hours on Etsy and just jump from one ridiculous item to another. At least it cuts down on the time I spend eating :P

Scout Shoutout!

I happen to know an awesome young man (I feel SO old for saying that, but he’s not a kid anymore!) named Jameson. He is the son of my Super Mom friend so it’s no wonder that he turned out so perfect. He’s trying to raise money to get to the Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia this July, and trust me, he deserves to go! He needs $3000 to cover his airfare and all his expenses. He is selling sticker coupon cards to Subway, Papa Murphy’s, and Dairy Queen. If you get BOGO subs at Subway then you can justify getting a FREE Blizzard from DQ, right?! They are $10 each and have fantastic deals on them worth WAY more than $10!! If you’re local he can shovel the, uh… slush out of your driveway or bake you cookies. I’ve had the cookies and I’d pay $3000 for those alone. Mmmm, cookies!

You can purchase the coupon cards by emailing helpjameson@gmail.com and/or donate directly through Paypal on his blog http://excitedscout.blogspot.com/. PLEASE help me is supporting this great ‘kid’ so he can have the experience of a lifetime!

Dirty Little Secrets

My kids have been drinking out of plastic Miller Light cups that I keep rewashing from the Super Bowl party. I always dreamed of having 50 cups so we could get through a WHOLE DAY without me having to wash more cups!

I was being a rock star wife and washed all of Mr. Wright’s work clothes on his day off. Unfortunately I forgot to put them in the dryer and he had to wear weird clothes the next day.

I love getting a paycheck (no matter how tiny it is!) but I hate going to work. And I only work 7 hours a week.

I can’t wait until Summer when I don’t have to leave my house every day. Plus I can throw the kids outside to play without 30 minutes of snow gear application.

Checking the mail brings some serious excitement to my boring life. It’s like Christmas every day!

I have an Amazon addiction. I LOVE Amazon and check the daily deals every day even though I don’t need anything. I am pretty good about not buying stuff on there all the time, but if I get some windfall money I blow it on all the crap that I’ve had in my cart since the last time I had fun money.

I love to drink Koolaid. Probably more than my kids.

Sweetie Pie got invited to 2 birthday parties at the same time on Saturday. We don’t know either birthday girl very well so I think that’s an excuse to not go to either one.

We lost our surround sound remote and I’ve looked EVERYWHERE. I even ripped some fabric on the bottom of our couch thinking it was in there. It sucks having to get up to turn it up or down… what is this? The stone age?

I’m getting my laundry room sheetrocked on Monday and I haven’t even started swamping it out. I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend… besides skipping birthday parties.

My laundry room is FILLED with scrapbooking stuff and I haven’t done a scrapbook page in over a year.

I’ve eaten at least 50 gummy bears while typing this post.

Do you have any dirty laundry? Literal or metaphorical? Leave a comment and make the rest of us feel a whole lot better!

A Little Color

I’ve been waiting for WEEKS to get my hair cut and highlighted and today the day finally came! I was going to surprise Mr. Wright and go blonde, but unfortunately that didn’t quite work out. Apparently my hair shares my DNA, so it decided to be a pain in the butt and turn orangish yellow instead. My friend (the stylist) tried to tone down the carrot/lemon top but that just made it dark. Sooo, no blonde for me. It ended up being more light brownish, blondish than blonde, but I’ll roll with it. My sister in law went with me to get her hair done too, and between the two of us (me obviously being the troublemaker) we were there from 10:30 to 3:30. And it’s an hour away. And I had some errands to run afterward. Mr. Wright had the day off so he stayed with Boo and Little Man from 9-5 while I was gone. Here's the best pic I could get of my hair- I should really stop taking such unflattering pics of my nose... crap, now everyone's going to look at my giant nose!

I finally get home and Mr. Wright informs me that I wasn’t the only one who got colored today…

Apparently they had already scrubbed the walls by the time I got home. Judging by the amount of marker on Little Man’s back versus Boo’s back I’m going to say that she was the ringleader, but Little Man definitely had a part in it. Apparently they took a nap together with a smuggled bag of markers. Mr. Wright should have known better when they didn't make a peep for a whole nap. After dinner I stripped them down to soak in the bath and found even more fancy pictures hidden by their underwear. They soaked for close to half an hour before I drained the blue water and put them to bed. Hopefully we’ll all experience a little less color tomorrow…

WFMW: My Sanity Saver

Soooo... I don't really think it's any kind of secret that I'm not the most orderly person in the world. I have what I like to call "selective OCD" where the days of dishes in the sink don't bother me, but the pens and pencils in the drawer HAVE to be in their respective baskets. Anyway, I only have one child that has a life (aka 'leaves the house') and I work two days a week, but it quickly can spiral out of control if I'm not careful. Before my day went something like this:

Wednesday
7:00 am- why do you NEVER sleep in!?
8:00 am- why is there SO much oatmeal on the dog?
9:00 am- stop hitting your brother with that golf club, I don't care if he hit you with the Guitar Hero guitar first
10:00 am- school in 30 mins, start getting dressed!
10:15 am- snowpants, hat, gloves, homework, snack, boots, coat, brush your hair!!
10:20 am- GET IN THE CAR!!!
10:30 am- *shoves Sweetie Pie into school*
10:32 am- I wouldn't NEED a tardy pass for my kid if you didn't stop me at 10:30 and make me wait in line for a tardy pass
10:35 am- hang up your stuff and sit down! What? You were supposed to be here at 9 on Wednesdays!? And you don't have your show and tell!? Why didn't you tell me you needed 86 buttons, an empty peanut butter jar and a red sock for your project today!?!? AND you were cold lunch!?

Yeah, so not exactly in the running for 'most put together mom of the class'. Luckily a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this little baby:

http://organizedhome.com/sites/default/files/printable/notebook_calendar_to_do_weekly.pdf

and my life has been MUCH better since then. I printed it out, laminated it with a borrowed laminator, and stuck it to my fridge. Every Sunday I fill it out for the week with the MOST important info with a dry erase marker. It only holds important plans, hot or cold lunch reminders, school times and activities and that sort of thing. No birthdays, holidays or anything that isn't urgent at 8 am. It's SO nice to only have 5 school days to worry about in front of my face at one time. And that's why this awesome (FREE!) printable calendar works for me. Now, does anyone have 86 buttons, a peanut butter jar and a red sock I can borrow!?

Let There Be Lent!!

I've been thinking for the past week or so about Lent, and what I should "give up". I'm not a super religious Catholic (and kinda a wannabe Mormon) but I've always liked the idea of Lent since I like testing my willpower. Plus I love a good challenge but I've never been into team sports, so Lent it is. I'm sure 'real' Catholics are thrilled with my stance on Lent, but I had to be honest.

Through another blog I stumbled upon the 40 bags in 40 days challenge. Basically you give up 'crap' for Lent! Mr. Wright will be THRILLED. No, seriously. I bet I hear once a week about how we have too much crap. It will be good for my sanity (after it's done of course!), good for my marriage, and good for me since I don't have to give up soda or fast food like I was originally going to. Whoo hoo for that!

Luckily Ash Wednesday isn't until tomorrow, so I get to spend one last day with all my crap. And then the bagging starts on Wednesday. Who wants to join me in the 40 bags in 40 days challenge!?

Why I'm A Cheap Date

I think from time to time all wives feel the need to junk punch their husband. Mine probably more than most, but he's always been that way and I love him. We decided many Valentine's Days ago that we're not "fancy dinner" people and we're not "romantic getaway" people and apparently HE decided that we're not gorgeous bouquets of flower people.

In the past our crazy Valentine's adventures have led us to such romantic destinations such as IHOP, Target and Home Depot. And don't forget Blockbuster. The truth is that we would MUCH rather stay home in our jammies, put the kids to bed and watch a movie (luckily I have 60 hours on my DVR :D) than spend our grocery money on overpriced shellfish and drop another $50 watching teenagers make out at the movie theater. And since we sit around together every night it's like every night is Valentine's... kinda. Unless he said something stupid. But that's beside the point...

The point is that when you have a great relationship to begin with you don't need smoke and mirrors to spice up Valentine's Day. Take us for example... normally I we watch romantic comedies so for some Valentine excitement we switch it up and get a thriller... see!? Cheap and gets you out of the same old rut! Of course I'm joking but it should be about what you do, it should be about who you're with. It seems that Valentine's day has become more of a show than reflecting the relationship between two people. I've never been one of those Anti-Valentine people but I think it's gotten a bit out of hand... and don't even get me started on gifts!

We were just discussing the year that he got me bacon for my birthday and how great it was. That's a pretty bold move for a guy because he was brave enough to buy me meat and call it a gift because he knew I'd love it. Mmmm, bacon. Oh, sorry... I'm not going to lie and say that I'd be perfectly okay with Mr. Wright not getting me a gift for Valentine's Day, but it's not about the cost for me. Like for my birthday this year he got me an electric blanket. It seems like a lame gift and I would even question a friend if her husband got that for her, but to me it was priceless. He knows that I hate getting into a cold bed, so we put it on the bed and it 'pre-heats' every night. THAT is the perfect gift... along with the man of my dreams and the father of my children sleeping next to me in my toasty bed. Happily ever after... until he needs to be junk punched again. :P

Happy Valentine's Day!

Questions Of Motherhood

Why will my kids eat the rice out of the sensory bucket but not the cooked, warm rice I serve for dinner?

Why do we NEED a "No playing the DS on the toilet rule"?

Why don't my kids hear me ask them 15 times to do something but come running from a mile away when I open a piece of candy?

Why do my kids beg for a bath ALL day and then sit there for 3 minutes and scream to get out?

Why do they always want to wear the ONE thing I haven't washed yet?

What is the appeal of wearing someone else's shoes that are 4 sizes too big besides making me look like a jackass at Walmart?

Why does my 2 year old ALWAYS have a chocolate mustache and beard even though she doesn't get a treat until after lunch? It's not like she can sneak to the gas station and pick up a candy bar.

Why does ONE dish in the sink attract 50?

Where the heck did all those sock matches go?

Why doesn't Sesame Street quit wasting my time and just play an hour of Elmo?

Why can my kids sort a billion blocks by color but not sort toys to put them away in the right spot?

Why do all my kids throw a fit over the green plate? How come no one throws a fit over the blue plate? And why does it even freaking matter?

Why do they eat french fries but not tater tots?

Has it EVER been okay to stand on the table? Why would it be okay today?

Why don't people like their kids to tattle? If someone's breaking the rules then I want to know. Follow the rules but don't tell me if someone else isn't following the rules? What sense does that make!?

Have you ever had a question of motherhood? Add it in the comments to share!

Dirty Little Secrets

Now nobody freak out, but it's Friday and I'm actually getting off my butt (well, not technically) and sharing my dirty little secrets. I know, I know. Usually when my blog gets quiet it's because I'm way too busy cleaning and organizing to whine about my life. Unfortunately this time is just sheer laziness... plus it's WAY more productive to sit on Facebook for 3 hours a day. Just don't tell my husband!

Here they are, my dirty little secrets:

We decided that Mr. Wright and I would each get $100 as fun money from our tax return. I spent mine... three times.

Sweetie Pie learned how to whistle this week and while I am very proud I also wish she would never do it again for the rest of her life- or at least buy me some Excedrin.

I opened the van door at Sweetie Pie's school today to let her out and some Wendy's garbage jumped out as well. I pretended I didn't see it because I thought that was a better option than picking it up and chucking it back into my mom-mobile.

Even after the previous confession I still didn't clean up the garbage even though I sat in a parking lot waiting for 30 minutes for my sister.

I had a rough morning so I spent $30 on Etsy for patterns that I'll never make.

I still have paper plates and cups (clean at least!) from our Super Bowl party on my counter.

I spent 6 hours this week organizing the playroom and it's still not done. Plus once it is done there is NO WAY I'm letting those monsters destroy it.

Last spring I threw all our cleaners away (except for my beloved Windex) and bought all environmentally friendly green cleaners. Last month I got my sanity back and bleached the heck out of everything we own. I love me some bleach.

I have 60 HOURS of stuff on the DVR that I can't delete. I probably won't ever watch it, but I just can't delete it.

I got some razor burn on my leg last week and then used it as an excuse not to shave my legs. No wonder guys can shower so fast- not shaving knocked a good 5 minutes off my competitive time!

Someone dropped off a huge bag of tiny little crap toys for my kids and I hid them and made them buy the toys with their fake dollars they get for being good. It's a win-win in my book.

What's your dirty little secret!? Please share publicly or anonymously in the comments!