Sunday, May 30, 2010

A Woo! A Hoo!

After pooping and peeing on the floor numerous times this afternoon, a very necked Eily stood beside me, realized that she needed to go, ran to the little potty and PUT IT ALL IN THE POTTY!!!! I'd love to think this is the end of accidents but I know better. Still, things are looking up!

Cheese!!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Yesterday in the car Elaina asked me, "Mom, are you always hungry?" I replied that I was not and she said, "Well, me, Daddy, Scooby and Shaggy are!"




It's nice to know she considers them family. I guess it's no worse/weird than me having a crush on a Ninja Turtle or a Pound Puppy when I was young.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

I'm so ashamed.

I typically check out at the grocery store with a cart full of healthy food. No candy/sugary items, as organic as I can get and hopefully whole grain bread products.  I have been super duper cranky this morning and I was feeling like I would go crazy if I didn't get out so I told Jason I was going to run to the grocery store to get something different for lunch. The girls usually eat a lunch that consists of something crunchy (crackers, pretzels, etc...), fruit, a vegetable (leftover from supper or carrot sticks or something like that), and a meat.
Today, in my cranky and strange mood, I shopped using my stomach instead of my head. My cart held the following:
Pudding
Nutty Bars
5 boxes of pop tarts (I don't even know if the girls like pop tarts. Not a smooth move.)
Double Chocolate Chip cookie dough
Ice Cream
Hot Dogs
Potato Chips
Cherry Orchard Yogurt (ok. confession. this is a staple for me.)
A VERY LARGE Frappachinno
2 Organic milk cartons (was I kidding myself?)
Cheerios
Frozen real fruit popsicles
Applesauce (that wasn't too bad a decision)
Fruit cups (another one that wasn't too awful)

As I was walking to the checkout counter I called my sister, Rachel, and told her what was in my basket and was laughing at myself and knowing that I would regret filling this cart.

As soon as I got home I put up the groceries, slurped down the last of my frappachinno and got lunch going for the girls. It was chips and hot dogs. So, so very bad. I also got those DCC cookies going in the oven. I sat down to check my email while the cookies were baking and saw that someone had written on my facebook wall. "Rachel J**** sent you a message." clicked on link  "You can do it Rebekah! Stay strong!"

I did not eat a hot dog. I did not eat ice cream. I did not eat a cookie. I did not eat a Nutty Bar. I ate a 200 calorie frozen meal that I had and 3 chips. (the chips were before the message)

Thank you, Rachel.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Mommies, movies and mugginess.

Eily is potty training. She wants to, knows exactly what is going on and has had zero accidents all day. I need to just give in, realize it won't be that big a deal and get it over with.


The days have been lovely. A little muggy at times but still lovely. We have a little creek behind our house and sometimes in the evening after the girls have gone to bed I like to go outside and listen to the trickling of the water. It's so soothing. It takes me back to when I was little and would lay on the bank of Grandpa's creek and doze or daydream.


Today is Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Nanny!!


Elaina went on her date with Daddy. The went out to eat and to the movies. She LOVED it!!

Friday, May 21, 2010

I forgot the best part!

After supper, I baked 46 mini-cupcakes and 39 regular cupcakes.

Happy Smells!!
I did it. I cleaned the whole house except the Living Room. And I did all the laundry. Tomorrow I am going to be gone all day and Jason will have the girls here alone so the joy of having a clean house will be short lived, but I will just have to make sure and enjoy it while it is like this.
I am very sleepy but I am determined to battle on and get the laundry done and at least some of the house cleaned. By tomorrow, I should have 2 estimtes on the fixings. Woo! Hoo! For me, that's a very exciting thing.

For those of you that are familiar with my muffin top...

It's going away. :) Yesterday I rode the bike and my thighs didn't hit my stomach when my knees were peddling. Improvement.

Friday, May 14, 2010

It skips around. A lot.

Somedays I'm just not the mother that I want to be.

Everyday I'm not the mother that I want to be but somedays seem to be worse than others. I finally started yelling tonight. It was the only way that Claire would stop talking and listen to me. I had to get so loud that she couldn't concentrate on what she wanted to say and therefore had to stop talking and was therefore forced to hear what I was saying.

But I hate yelling. Hate it. What a terrible example of how to handle a situation. I'm feeling a big humdrum tonight. Jason is gone until tomorrow and I did ok until this, the last day. And now I have put my children to bed on a terrible note. It was going so well at first. I read a Bible story and a chapter from Pooh and then I was singing to them which I don't do that often and then the phone rang.  I've been letting the girls think that Jason is just getting home after they fall asleep and that he is gone to work before they get up. I didn't lie, I just didn't tell the truth. It saved quite a bit of drama. If Elaina knows that he is on a trip, EVERY NIGHT we have buckets of tears and drama, drama, drama. Jason talked to each of the girls tonight and he said to Elaina that he would see her tomorrow and oh my goodness. The tears began. And then Claire and Eily started screaming because they didn't want to hear Elaina crying and then Claire needed this and that and it just all fell apart.

And now the kitchen is a mess and there is food out and dirty dishes out BUT I got all the laundry finished today. That makes me feel a little better about myself. But only in the housewife sense, not the mother sense. Am I making sense?

Tomorrow is another day (Said in Scarlett Fashion) and I will do better. And the girls will do better because we are going to sit down and talk about what happened tonight. And we are going to keep working on habit training and finally, the best of all, Jason will be home and we will all be together again.

Oh yeah, and we are going to see the Aristocats play tomorrow night. I'm pretty excited about that. This will be the first play that I have ever taken the girls to see. I did take Elaina to see a ballet last summer but I don't think that's in the same category.  Today she was wearing her pink tutu and her off-white brown and pink striped pantyhose and acting out that "very long ballerina thing we went to last time." I'm curious to see what they do in their playtime after seeing a play.

Claire studied a beetle yesterday and today I found her just sitting on the bench outside the front of the house. When I asked her what she was doing she replied, "I'm just watching the trees." I liked that answer. I'm excited to see her develop in her education. I've been reading all about outdoor time and I feel like Claire is a prime example of how children can observe if you just let them.

This is such a random post. I'm just typing as I think so there is no flow whatsoever to the sentences. Welcome to the way my brain works. It's sad. I know.
A note that we found in our mailbox last Saturday:

"You own your landlord 3000 dolars"

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

I'm sorry my posts are lame.

Monday, May 10, 2010

We found out today that they had gotten the amounts on our accounts mixed up and my account to fix the house only gets $2000. This drastically cuts into what we can get fixed but I'll just be thankful for the changes that do take place. Fence, air conditioner unit, kitchen cabinet and tub wall get first dibs on the money. After that we'll just do as we can. I'm really hoping the floor will still be able to get changed but it's not looking too good as this point.

The older girls started swimming lessons again but this was Eily's first time. She and I are taking a Mom and Tot class and let me tell you, that girl is like a little fish. She has no fear and naturally does the moves. Today she learned how to kick her feet, kick her arms and blow bubbles. Then she learned how to do all three at the same time. It's going to be fun.

Friday, May 07, 2010

Mastering 30 Puggles

I'm so excited that we have Logan, Kathryn and The Funniest Man coming to see us today. Elaina is busy coloring TFM a picture and Claire is busy coloring a picture for..."what's that boy's name again, mommy?" (Logan, that would be you.)

My brother-in-law, David, is graduating with his Master's in the morning. Way to go, David!!  After his graduation they are going to meet a group of us at the local bowling place for a little food, fun and to acquire some sore wrists. Wait. Maybe that only applies to me and Jason.  Dan is also flying in for the day. How's that for some family love?

Mom gave Bella away today. WWAAAHHHH!!!!  I'm sad but she's going to a good family that loves beagles and wants to have puppies from the 15 year old beagle they have had for, well 15 years. But I'm still sad because Bella is the first dog to ever take my heart. We decided that since Elaina is not allergic to the puppies it made more since to keep one of them and find a home for Bella.  The puppies are puggles, half beagle and half pug. Supposedly, that breed of dog is hypoallergenic. I haven't noticed Elaina swelling up around a puppy but she really hasn't spent that much one-on-one with any of them. I guess we'll find out as soon as the fence is built.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

At this point, for me, it's all about

habit training.  What a long, long way I have left to go.  I wish I had read Volume 1 about 4 years ago. At least I am not reading it 4 years into the future, right?  cha

Today:

We have a birthday party to go to today. Happy late Birthday, Eli!

I have to do day 3 of the Body Camp that I decided to be a part of.   P.S. I can't move well at the moment.

I really, really want a Nutty Bar for breakfast. This one act will cancel out so much of what Body Camp is supposed to do for me.

I am still in the bed and it is after 8am. I have to shower and I have to shower all the girls and I have to get dressed and I have to get them dressed. And... we have to be out the door in an hour. It's not looking good.

Jason is 30. He's old and I can tease him about it for one year and 4 months and then I have to quit because then I will be old.

Happy Birthday Jason!

Monday, May 03, 2010

How many of you would like another contest?
Elaina told me today that she had a splendid idea. :)

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Home Repairs

Doesn't that title just reel you in? Doesn't it sound so exciting?  Well it does to me!!  

We have been accepted into an IDA government program that will allow us to make some major changes on our home and hopefully, when we put it back on the market, it will sell quickly.
We put $1333 into the account and once I finish my 5 week classes they will deposit $4000 into the account. Not a bad deal, eh? I have already completed 2 classes and I will be doing another class this Tuesday so we are really close to being finished.

Jason and I have made a list of the things that we want to get done and they are numbered by importance so that if we run out of money before we get to the end of the list it will just be the little things that don't get done.  I am going to share my list with you so that you can rejoice in the changes with us. And, you can anticipate the entire list being crossed off. And... because it's fun!!

1. A privacy fence built.  Once this is complete we get to bring our new puppy home. Bella had babies. Did I not ever mention that? They are adorable little puggles. Half beagle and half pug. I'm so in love.

2. A cabinet built around the dishwasher, a microwave cabinet built above the dishwasher and a small cabinet that had to be removed when the plumber put a new faucet on the bathtub needs to be re-secured. There was the issue of getting the existing cabinet tops to match the new one until I came up with the bright idea to top the dishwasher with a wooden cutting board. I can't think of the name of that material at the moment.  This is driving me crazy! What is that called? I have said it about 4 times today and I cannot even get close to thinking of it right now. That is so frustrating.  Oh! Oh! Butcher's block. Ahhh. My brain feels better now.

3. A new air conditioner unit for Jason's studio.

4. New walls around the bathtub. No more urine-yellow tiles!!! (This also has to be done because the plumber knocked tiles off when he put the new faucet in last week.)

5. Put laminate wood flooring in the living room and the hallway. Now, I always said I would never put laminate wood in my house but I have to remember that we are selling this house so it really doesn't matter that it's not real wood. Not to offend everyone that has laminate wood (I think that includes almost all of you) but I just personally want real wood in my *dream* house.

I think your floors look lovely.


6.  Bathrooms:
- Tile floors
- Pedestal sinks if the plumbing will line up correctly

7. Put new lights in the hallway and the kitchen. The current hallway light is actually an outdoor light (what were they thinking?) and one panel is missing and the kitchen light is outdated and just plain ugly.

8. Paint the front door and the shutters. I think I am going to go with black on this idea. We have some black in our brick and the wrought (sp?) iron is black.  If you have a better idea, please share it.

9. Landscaping
My cousin, Roy, said the first time he ever came to my home, "Man, I would love to landscape this yard!" Guess what Roy!! This is your chance!  (Actually, he already knows about this.) I want the two front flower beds freshened and they need new borders. I would like to have window boxes under the two bedroom windows on the front of the house and I have thought about a little round flower bed between the two trees in the front yard with a birdbath right in the middle. Are birdbaths a thing of the past because I really like them but I never see them anymore.

10. Last but not least, (except in this case it really is the least important so never mind that,
installing an outdoor light in the backyard.


Isn't this all so exciting? I just can't wait. The next step is to get estimates on everything and then in three weeks we can get started. Hooray!!!!