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?

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