A Project in Reflection

As we close out 2008 we are going to take some time together as a family to reflect on our year.... The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. We have had quite a bit of all three. We are going to start a few new traditions this year, one of which will be to make a list of our Top 10. Each person is going to write down their personal Top 10 and then we are going to put them in a family time capsule...basically our 2008 scrapbook...and then next year we can look back on it!

Mine are pretty simple:
The Good: Opening the Shop
The Bad: The Brawn's simple procedure that turned into a medical mistake
The Unbelievable: The boys and I all breaking a bone and being in casts one week apart!

And what holiday is complete around here without a project?? So, in an attempt to have my children remember their lives, I am going to have everyone write in a journal for 10-15 minutes before reading and going to bed at night. I don't care if they write a story, a poem, the weather forecast or really pour their hearts out. The Princess will draw a picture every night. She really loves to draw and color.

I took basic composition books, covered them in Kraft paper and am going to let the kids each personalize them tomorrow.

I will show you pictures of everyone when they are done.

I also picked up some foam hats the other day at Michael's that were left over from their Christmas stuff, I think they were supposed to be Elf hats but we are going to make them our New Years hats. We are a little late on decorating them...hopefully they will be dry!

Then we will pick out our outfits for our traditional New Year's Eve dinner. We stay in on N.Y.E and get dressed our finest threads, set the table super fancy and then eat a totally fun, non fancy dinner. Something like Tacos or Pizza....I am thinking Chinese this year. I have some awesome Chinese decorations I have been hanging on to. The kids and I will stay up and watch the ball drop while the hubby sleeps! He normally has to work on New Year's Eve and Day so he doesn't hang long with us. As with all our family dinners, I am sure that there will be many photo ops!

Wishing your family a Wonderful, SAFE and Healthy New Year!!

Love, Heather

Post Holiday Post..kinda long....

I am so happy to report a Wonderful holiday was had by all in our house!! There was a brief scare on Christmas Eve that the Princess and I would be spending Christmas in the hospital. Ironic that it is usually The Brawn and I in there together, I was soooo worried about him getting the darn stomach bug before Christmas, and who ended up getting it....The Princess!! My poor little Princess lost 4lbs, had two trips to the ER, then two trips to the Doctors, all during her 7 day bought with the stomach bug. After two hours in the Doctors on Christmas Eve, I was literally praying for one p-pee diaper and no throw up before 8 o'clock PM! The stress got to me a little and I had a meltdown that only George Bailey would be proud of and freaked out on my kids a bit.....I regretted it!! They understood.... The day was saved around 6:30 PM. Thank you! See, a Christmas Miracle comes in all forms...lol. After that we could all breath a little easier...she wasn't 100% but we knew we would be coming out of the woods very soon!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner....Cream of Crab Soup, Perogies (homemade...YUM! not by me, but by some cute little Ukrainian women who know what they are doing!) and Salad! All Delicious!

After dinner we had Cocoa, Popcorn and watched Fred Claus before bed.

Santa came....it was Grand....

As part of my "Handmade/Homemade Holiday"...I refused to buy any new wrapping paper, ribbon or tags. I used only things on hand...either new, recycled or re purposed. I was slightly shocked and scared at how much I had on hand! The kids also did the same for all of their wrapping.

Some of my supplies included:

For Inside the boxes: Newspaper, wax paper, paper bags, scrapbooking papers all shredded with my paper shredder. Shredded fabric also a great option...didn't use this one this year...maybe next!

Wrapping & Packaging:

* Lots of the same

* Chinese take-out boxes.

* Comics

* Toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls

Decorating:

* Ribbon

* Yarn Pom-Poms

* Raffia & Twine

* Old Lace...this was especially pretty with a sparkly chipboard letter and some vintage buttons strung on a piece of sheer ribbon. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of it before giving it to my mom!

Wrapping is one of my favorite parts anyway so I could go on and on....! I even used a really pretty white milk glass dish that I had picked up at an antique store for Cookies to give to a friend.

This was one of my favorites...they were a set of Basketball tickets for my husband. He was completely surprised...it is a sold out game and he had no idea that I was trying to get them for him. I used the sports section, shredded some with my paper shredder, stuffed them underneath and wrapped them up inside the Sunday Sports section! The tissue paper underneath in this picture and the box I wrapped in....new, but unused as of yet. Apparently I like to save, not use.....

They exchanged their handmade gifts with each other at Christmas Dinner. That was a really special moment, to see them each give to one another truly from their heart. The Brain wrote poems for his brother and sisters, The Beauty made blankets, scarves and ditty bags for each of them, The Brawn made beaded bracelets and necklaces. We also allowed them to buy one thing for each sibling...it was sweet to see them pick something out for one another. I took them each shopping individually for those, so they even got some one on one time with Mom!!

Christmas dinner was excellent! Roast Beef, (or Beast as The Brain called it all day) Steamed Shrimp, Salad, Scalloped potatoes, Green Beans...

And for Dessert....Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Coconut...YUM!!!

Now...I said it was an uneventful Christmas day, HOWEVER....see that lovely wreath with my yummy cake??? Well, it caught ON FIRE!!!! Yes, FLAMES....FLAMES SHOOTING UP FROM THE WREATH!!! I am not kidding. The only thing that saved us from the Fire Dept. was that The Brawn saw it as we were clearing the table. CRAZY!!!! All was fine after we put it out....my vintage table cloth....not so fine!

I woke up today after having a full nights sleep - I qualify a full nights sleep as being over four hours - and had so many ideas and thoughts going through my head that I didn't even need a cup of coffee to get me going today! I can't wait to share with you some of my upcoming projects!! I hope that you had a Wonderful Holiday ~ and that your New Year's is AWESOME!!!

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and receives their very own Christmas Miracle, whatever it may be.

God Bless!

Love, Heather

Try not to Cry...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Stressss Buster!!

With the hours slipping by before Jolly Ole' St. Nick makes his arrival my daily agenda is MAXXED out! Tonight's agenda includes more Crafting, Baking, more wrapping. Hopefully it doesn't include any more trips to the ER, The Princess has had the stomach flu for over 5 days now. We have made two trips to the ER, one to the Dr. and done a LOT of laundry! It has been awful...it has also put a slight damper in my nighttime crafting time! My poor little Princess!! She is so cute!!

This video should relieve you of any stress...it made us laugh so hard that we were all crying!! Please enjoy!!!

Edit....my video didn't show up....how sad because it is so hysterical you'll cry!!! I am going to try again!

Hi Alert People....High Alert!!

We are under siege right now with the Stomach Flu. The Princess spent the entire night puking every 20 minutes...it was horrible!!! The hubby and The Beauty have already had it this week and seem to have some lingering stomach cramps from it. Of course we need to have this happening 6 days before Christmas!!! I knew it was coming yesterday because at the shop she kept having these weird little burps and saying her tummy hurt. Every time I picked her up I was thinking...Please don't throw up on me...I don't want to be thrown up on....
Last night I was bent on getting my mantle done and my Nativity scene up....I got it done and then within the last second of placing the last sheep in the manger....Thar she blows.......

DISGUSTING.....

Man, I was thankful and regretting my wood floors at the same time! My poor husband walked in from basketball practice with the Brawn and I was standing in my panties and a tank top. He was a little confused!!

If The Brawn gets it we are all doomed. We all know the plan, but it is so frustrating to know that we could potentially be in the hospital for Christmas!! I have my papers for the ER and I pulled my tiny little bag of staples from the closet....it is like having your bags packed for having a baby!! Only not as much fun! And, honestly...I am freaking out right now about the whole situation!!!!

So, If I don't get this wrapping done - like RIGHT NOW - I am doomed!!! Even doing a simple Christmas I LOVE to do special touches on all the packages. It is another one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Some people have fond memories of baking cookies, not me...lots of cursing included in my "baking" memories. I do however love wrapping! I will give you a flashback moment....

When I was little, my grandmother who was the original Martha Stewart, wrapped EVERY present in beautiful paper with real ribbon bows and beautiful name tags! Each and every one was a present in itself. None of this gift bag stuff!! I always had the job of "put your finger right there..." I am surprised that I even have a finger left...lol.

So today I spent some part of the day making little pom-poms for some presents. It wasn't quite as successful as I thought! Who knew that pom-poms could be so difficult!!! Maybe it was the four little helpers I had?? I had this cute little idea of Kraft paper with red yarn pom-poms hanging from it....

Tree Flashback

As promised here is another story about a Tree. I know that you have been waiting so patiently...lol.


First I want to show off a set of adorable Vintage brush trees that I picked up for The Princess's dollhouse. They are adorable if you ask me, but then again I bought them! They were even more adorable with there $2 price tag!! I plan to put them in the living room of her dollhouse. I must admit that I haven't even begun painting her dollhouse!! It might end up being a birthday present at the rate I am going now! I am almost done with the little house we are making for my cousin's son, but not so much for The Princess!



OK, Tree story.....This story is only funny if you think about that Christmas song where the people are all losing their cool. One guy is complaining about a hangover, another guy is losing it over tangled lights, etc. It is very tongue and cheek with plenty of Holiday frustration...I always laugh when I hear it or even think about it!

My parents divorced when I was VERY little so my mom was always trying to make it on her own. She tried really hard! How we ended up with particular tree I couldn't begin to tell you?!? To be honest with you I don't remember even having trees at our house, house, when I was really little because we always went out and got the one at my Grandparents house! So truly, I don't even know why we ended up in this situation?? But anyway...one year we had this tree...I don't know even know where the darn thing came from...? It was a pretty little tree. She had spent way too much money on these really beautiful ornaments and she was really working hard on the whole deal, know what I mean?

Everything started out really cute...a Mommy & Daughter moment if you will...but things quickly went downhill when she tried to get the tree to stand "straight" in that dag-on little tree stand. You know the ones...little red bowl with three green legs. They always seem ridiculously small compared to the overall size of the tree! It just wouldn't stay "straight"....she would get it in there and it would be fine for a few minutes and then when we turned our backs to get the ornaments ready....it would start leaning again. She would get it back in place and then...leaning again...

This went on for a few go-arounds....I could see that my poor mom was on the brink. I thought she might lose it! When everything seemed to be "straight", we set out again to decorate! Thank goodness...we needed a break in the tension that was taking over our little tree moment!

We finished that without the tree leaning to the left or right during the entire decorating process!! Success!!! It was quite beautiful. We had a moment....


Then, in the blink of an eye.....TIMBER!!!!


The entire tree came down with one big Crash!! The crash was followed by a scream, a few choice words, and a few tears! Maybe more than a few tears!!


My poor mother officially lost her cookies.... Now, you might think this isn't such a funny story, but it really is....because at this point my mother disappeared from the living room, glass ornaments crunchy beneath her feet, and set out to find "tools"!! I don't even know how long it took her to find the tools of her choice but before I knew it the tree had been NAILED to the wall. Yep, NAILED to the wall!! It happened so fast I couldn't believe it! I was stunned....I just remember thinking...."Uh-O..."

I remember sitting on our couch watching TV and only looking at the tree out of the corner of my eye, like I was afraid to make "eye contact" with the darn thing! Poor pathetic little tree with its random surviving ornaments....nailed to the wall!

At the time it wasn't so funny, but now....many years later we Laugh and Laugh about it. The most ironic part of it was the only "pretty" ornament that truly survived was a Clown, and we both hate clowns! I don't know why she bought those darn things!! She jinxed the tree....lol!


Nice try Mom....you definitely gave us a memory to last a lifetime!!

T.S.O...you ROCK!!

All I can say is WOW!! We just returned from an amazing concert, it was NOT at all what I expected, but it was really cool. An awesome customer gave us 6 tickets to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show tonight. I didn't take the time to fully "read" all about them before we went this afternoon - and let me just tell you - it was very cool!!! VERY LOUD...but very cool!!! The Princess hates, HATES loud noises so it was a bit challenging with her, but hubby found earplugs for her and all was well.....briefly!!

You should look them up, and if they are ever in your area you should definitely go. Especially if you like hard rock. I have to say it isn't my first choice but this was awesome! My brother-in-law would have LOVED it. The orchestra pieces mixed with the lights and these awesome narrative passages - very cool!!! The narrative pieces/passages were really beautiful. There was one singing solo that was so long it was comical....that moment was a little like a bad movie where the "lead singer" wanna-be takes over the stage....but again - very awesome!

Lots of LONG Hair being thrown about!! In fact I thought a gentleman off to the left was going to bust a gut he was so excited during the drum solo!!

I even got a little teary eyed during one of the sets watching how mesmerized my kids were by the entire show. Since The Brawn is playing the violin now, it is really fun to show him how many different ways instruments can be used.

OK, off to bed...I am so stuffed from dinner that I feel a little queasy...but it was SOOO good I will take it....no pain - no gain! LOL!!!

Welcome to Whinerville

Welcome to Whinerville, where the residents all know you by name and frequently shout it out at you throughout the day. It is really lovely here, you can tell by the lack of room at the Inn. Always a warm meal to be had and plenty of activities to be done.

The Mayor of Whinerville has been on a true rampage today!! Please abide by all her two and three-quarter demands! The punishment for not following her directions is rather severe!

The Mayor posed momentarily for a picture before inspecting some fruit that was about to be recalled.

The Center for Disgusting Control has really been cracking down. Reports of Strep and The Stomach Bug abound! We say Bah-Humbug to them...please stay away!!

The towns maintenance crew is falling behind on the Holiday decorating! So much to be done before the Jolly Man's arrival, a bit overwhelming for the skeletal crew!

SEE....NO PICTURE!!!....

The Sassy Suds girl is rather overwhelmed...who needs clean panties to wear??

Amidst all the mess, the construction has not stopped. New Homes are still being built for the Happy Holiday around the corner!

Telecast is over, quick trip to the Tea Pot for an energy boost and a Nighty-Night Nap for The Mayor. We hope that you enjoyed your visit to Whinerville, please stop by for a visit anytime!

Tree Card

As promised, here is a card that I made a few years back and decided to try again. This wasn't an original idea, I picked it up at a card exchange. This makes a really nice touch to a gift. I do not recommend making these for your entire Christmas mailing list...unless of course you have loads of free time on your hands! This picture doesn't really do the card justice.

Simple materials, you probably already have them on hand..

1. Card Stock -You'll need a color for your card base, printed card stock for the front and white for inside the card and plenty of paper or scraps for your leaves.

2. Leaf hole punch. I have two different ones, either works great.

3. Rhinestones

4. Basic crafting tools!

*Cut your card bases.

*Punch your little leaves out until your hand hurts, and then punch a few more!!

*I found it easiest to adhere the printed cardstock to the card base before building my tree. *Then you start from the bottom and glue the leaves in a line. Then build another layer on top of that...all the way to the top.

* When you are done with all the leaves, apply a few rhinestones to the tree and the topper of your choice.

I am going to make a few of these in white and put little birds on the tree. I think that would be pretty cute!

I also purchased the Basic Grey's Wassil Christmas Card kit a couple weeks back. It was so simple! I love not thinking....here is a little peak at one of the cards. Plus a few little trees that I have picked up this Holiday season. I will tell you more about them tomorrow!




And this is just a Miscellaneous mess of other projects I am working on!!

A True Tree Story....

This is one of those stories that has become a family legend....it is really funny...so if you can make it through the sap (no pun intended) in the beginning I promise that you will get a chuckle!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I am going to share some of my favorite Tree stories. Plus, later I am going to post a really cute Tree Christmas card that you can make. It takes a little bit of work but it is really cute!!

Tree story - legend - started in 1980, it was the first Christmas after my Grandfather died. He was the nucleus of our family....literally the glue that kept everyone together. He died in September, very suddenly and my Grandmother did not handle it well at all....who does??....So that Christmas it was even more important to my Mom and Uncles to continue with the family tradition of going out into the woods to cut it down the right tree as a family and bring it back to my Grandmother. Christmas was a spectacular time of year in our family....it was always the greatest!! Beautiful decorations everywhere...wreath making parties with our extended family, Christmas parties...it was just wonderful!

We bundled up, it was snowing, we all got on the trailer and my Uncle Breen drove the tractor into the far corner of one of the front fields where we always found the most "beautiful" trees. It was truly a BEAUTIFUL moment....at least in my little 7 year old mind....

We found a tree, a tree that was literally a tree within a tree. The part of the tree that we wanted was at the top of this one particular tree...does that make any sense?? I loved it, it looked like it was the "perfect" tree. A BIG, FULL bushy Christmas Tree!

Here is where the fun begins....

My uncles set out at this point to cut down the top portion of the tree without cutting down the entire tree. Why they did it this way I don't know??? Maybe they didn't want to be wasteful??? I just don't know, but it sure was funny.....There was a lot of cursing, a teeny bit of name calling (I never said we were the Waltons), but in the end a lot of laughing!

They get the tree down, get it on the trailer and then we head back to the house. It was really one of those picture perfect moments....bringing the tree back to The Big House for my Grandmothers approval....what we were to do with it if she didn't approve? I don't know? But anyway...it was picturesque!

Now, I am not sure if this has ever happened to you, but those darn trees never seem to look so big out there in the fields! (Mistake #1)

I was only 7 at the time so I was doing a lot of "over seeing" of the following events. Soaking it all in....
Once we got the tree off the trailer my Uncles thought it was too tall, so they cut a chunk off the bottom (Mistake #2).... Up to the house we go only to realize that it wouldn't fit through the door. Now, we didn't have "small" doors, we had big huge 200 year old plantation doors....that tree wouldn't fit for anything! So, they decided to cut off some of the branches...from the inside of the tree of course! (Mistake #3). A few branches come off....back for a second attempt through the door....no luck....a few more branches, more cursing....some whispering, etc. Do you see where I am going with this??? (These become the mistakes where I start to lose count....) It just got worse from there....

Once the tree is finally in the house, they put it in the stand which sat in between the double doors of the living room and dining room, only to realize that the tree is "too short"!! So, out of the stand it comes and my Uncles NAIL a piece of the chunk back onto the bottom of the tree!!!

We now switch from mistakes to secrets - secrets that I am supposed to keep FOR-EV-ER at the risk of upsetting my Grandmother! LOL!

The tree goes back into the stand and of course it doesn't stand straight, how can it? We have to tie the tree between the doors to stabilize it. This just about puts my Grandmother right on her ear...if she only knew what else was going on while she was in the kitchen! After the tree is up and stabilized, some rather bare spots in the tree become very apparent.

The stress of said bare spots became very intense....never fear...there are still plenty of branches laying on the ground outside!!! So, you guessed it....my Uncles, who are literally like Frick and Frack at this point, retrieved the branches and started putting that tree back together like a puzzle. You know, a puzzle that requires hammer and nails! More whispering, more cursing...I can remember thinking...this is not good, this is not good at all!!! They mightaswell have just busted out the duct tape!

After the tree was all nailed back together and the lights were on and I was SWORN to secrecy, the decorating process started. That was always so much fun, beautiful BIG ornaments and tinsel! I was (so were my Uncles and Mother) sweating bullets the entire time worrying that my Grandmother would notice the branches that were NAILED back into the tree! Luckily the tree was such a puff ball that decorating went off without a hitch...shhheeew! I am sure that my eyes were as big as saucers through this whole thing. I have NO POKER FACE!!!

As the Christmas season progressed, that poor tree tried to stay green, but as you can imagine some "parts" of the tree just didn't seem to drink as much water as others! There were dead branches in the middle and top of the tree mixed in with the beautiful green ones that were drinking water to their little hearts contentment!! It was a rough site by the time New Years came. It was a site, truly a site...just not quite as picturesque!!!

Every time I would see my Grandmother coming in with a pitcher of water for the tree I had to leave the room. I was worried that I would crack under pressure....I think the most commonly used and heard phrase that year was "....that damn tree......" I wish we had video of the event, that would have been worth some money. We all kept the "secret" for YEARS....and I mean YEARS!!! It wasn't until I was an adult that we finally told my Grandmother what had happened to that tree. She was a little angry at first...I think because of the amount of effort she put into the "watering process"...but then she laughed right along with the rest of us.

That was the most memorable Tree story of my entire childhood. Now there are other memories in there....but that one is to never be topped!

Tree's, Tree's more Tree's

"You call that a Christmas Tree??? "

A few days ago I was looking through old pictures..still working on the "handmade" Christmas gifts....I was trying to be creative with old photos. I came across quite a few pictures that had our trees in them....and I always thought the trees we had growing up were quite "perfect". However....looking back on them they were a little bit less than perfect. In fact, in the words of The Brain..."why would anyone cut that down...that looks like a bush, not a tree!! What were you guys thinking? Where do you find a tree like that??" But, I loved them. The Bigger the better....it is one of the best parts of my childhood. Going out and getting a tree. HUGE memories associated with that!! Last night I read this post over at C jane and I started laughing so hard thinking about all of our tree stories, that I had tears running down my face!

The Christmas tree has so many memories associated with it. There is ALWAYS a "tree story" in the recall list of holiday moments/memories. I know we have had our fair share!! Growing up, we lived on a big huge farm that was COVERED in trees so we never needed a "tree lot". We would all load ourselves onto the back of my Uncles tractor flat bed and go out into the woods to look for the "perfect" Christmas tree. I have wonderful Norman Rockwell memories of such events. I am not going to lie...there were some "moments" between my uncles over what was really the perfect tree and how was "that" going to be cut down...that wouldn't make it into a Hallmark Movie! Lots of cursing ...anyway...as you can see from the following pictures my idea of "perfect" might have been askew! We always wanted a very Full tree....I believe full is just the cover word for bush! Because truly, does that look like a Christmas tree to you?? A few examples of our "perfect tree".... and you know they always look smaller out there in the woods than in the house.

My mother in front of one of said "trees", she is in red

My grandfather being swallowed by the tree while he decorates...


My mother looking a little "tired" on Christmas morning. I think she is pregnant with me in this picture.

The Beauties first Christmas. Base housing....yuck!

UPDATE: As I am writing this The Brain just walked in and said "are you really going to post that picture?? That is a shrub, not a tree...that is a shrub from the wild!!"...He is mortified!

I loved those BIG FULL Trees!! That post last night coupled with the pictures of long ago reminded me of just how much. I am going to post some of my favorite Tree memories this week. Some of them are hysterical...stay tuned! I am off to look for the picture of our "first" tree as a married couple. I will never forget that one!! My poor husband had NO idea what he was really in store for all those years ago!

Just a thought...

In this world of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle..." I am AMAZED by the amount of catalogs that come in the mail! Thursday my husband thought the Library had been delivered right to our mailbox....it was ridiculous. One of the catalogs was the infamous Victoria's Secret catalog. I started flipping through it to see if there was anything cute....after a few minutes it became EXTREMELY clear that this catalog is designed and shot by Men!! One picture in particular stands out to me.....the model with her long flowing hair is standing there with her chest thrust out, shirt unbuttoned down to her navel looking super sultry. Now...REALLY???

I am sure that there are oodles of women without children who buy VS clothes and pretties - and even though I have four kids I still like pretty panties. But....as a woman with four children all I can think is that maybe they should have some pictures that are a little more Mom Friendly. ...realistic if you will.....

For instance...if they want me to buy that shirt, the woman should have at least one kid hanging off of her hip while trying to balance one of those trendy new bags on the other side. Hair slightly disheveled, maybe even with some smudge in her hair - and if her shirt is going to be unbuttoned it should at least have a small child's hand inside of it, we all know that that is really what it looks like when our shirt is unbuttoned - if we even realize that it is unbuttoned! They should actually be trying to promote how well the shirt will STAY buttoned!! And all bra's should be tested by woman bending over - from the waist - to make sure that your boobies are NOT going to pop out! Because that is just the worst..you bend over to tie a shoe and your bust has busted out of the bra!!! You stand up and things are facing the wrong direction and all askew! They should all be road tested.....I'd buy those!

OK, I just made my own self chuckle....Stupid catalog....

I had to throw it away before my husband got any crazy ideas!

Merry Christmas!

Spell check is NOT working right now, so if there is anything spelled incorrectly....ooops!

You...are a Silly Girl!

Sometimes my kids do things that make me laugh so hard that I have to wonder where they came from!!

Seriously...what do you do with a child like this???

Turkey Day & Such

Hope everyone had a GREAT Turkey Day, we had a full house and a full weekend. Just a few pic's to recap!

The Turkey....isn't it pretty!
The Kids table, I somehow forgot that there were going to be 6 kids?? This table was great for four, a little tight with five....forget the sixth!



One of my favorite views of Downtown Annapolis...

The first of many failed attempts to get all 6 kids to look at the camera, smile and look normal all at the same time!!

I would love to have a PINK house! The hubby and I..

One of my favorites....

Potty....

MOUTH!!! It's official, Mommy has a Potty Mouth!! I admit it....

Even on my best day I don't claim to be a perfect Mom. I do try to be the best mom I can, but...sometimes the "S" word comes out....OK, maybe more than sometimes!

I know this because twice in the past week my darling has used the "S" word - very clearly - and very much in the right context!

The child won't use the potty...but she sure does know when to use the potty word!

Today on our way to Philadelphia there were Cops EVERYWHERE and as we passed one that had pulled someone over she exclaimed:

"SH*T....Some-pin Happn'd"

As I sat there in shock, the silence was broken by the rest of the kids BUSTING out laughing. I tried NOT to giggle....I KNOW that it isn't funny...but really it was....sorry....So I giggled, I did....

From now on I will be much more conscious about using the "S" word!

I am definitely going to work on this.....

But really, it was funny.....

It wasn't a proud Mommy moment, but it was a little funny....

What they see...

I have NO Poker face - at all. I wear my emotions, both good and bad on my face. I have been accused of the "evil eye", the "death glare", and many more - more than one time... My eyes get REALLY BIG when someone says something that I am either shocked by, or don't agree with, when I am excited, etc.

And sometimes when I am downright TIRED, it shows....This is what I would call One Tired Mama!!

My kids LOVE the camera, they all want to take pictures all the time. In fact The Princess had gotten hold of the camera the other day and was right there snapping away when I got out of the shower!! Can you say....DELETE - DELETE - DELETE!!!!!! These are the pictures that The Brawn captured the other night on the way home from the shop. It is sometimes shocking to see what the camera really captures. I hate that my kids see that exhaustion in my face. But lets face it...life is exhausting!

Notice The Princess in the backseat who thinks this is all HYSTERICAL!!!! And why, when your two the more tired you are, the more energy you have???? Why doesn't that happen to the rest of us?? And The Brains, he is just so sweet.

And my Photographer....

And his feet...

OK...now I am off to delete these not-so-glamorous photos of myself! And dear God if those pictures that The Princess took pop back up when I plug my memory card into the printer at the Photo Shop I might just....just....well I don't know what I would do, but I am pretty sure that my eyes would pop right out of my head!!!

PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO "BUY A HAND" FROM McDonalds!! Really, you don't know what that dollar, your dollar, will mean to someone!

Eat a Cheeseburger, Please!

I would personally like to encourage EVERYONE to go out and buy a hand for World Children's Day. November 10-20th - $1.00. I will be buying several...

We have used the services of The Ronald McDonald House in Camden, NJ. during one of our trips to C.H.O.P. (Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia). They were wonderful to my husband and kids while The Brawn and I were in the hospital. We have never been able to use the actual Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia - they are ALWAYS over-booked. We can never get a room at this location. Literally, for the past 2 1/2 years they have never had room availability!!

That tells you how much this house is being used!

The Ronald McDonald House is an amazing resource for families who have children in the hospital. The services that they provide, for the price that they charge the family is again, amazing.

Please support this charity - even if you don't want to eat a "chee-buger" as The Princess would say. Give a hand. It is only a $1.

You can read more about this program and find out exactly where your money is going....here

Construction has begun...

On The Princesses doll house. We have been gathering our supplies, and have even gathered some supplies for the Boy House for her little cousin. I even bought him a set adorable little "boys" to go with it from this little shop.







All these little pieces that I found here are going to be turned into furniture and other household accessories.






I had done plenty of shopping around before I decided to paint and make our own furniture. Everything was "imported" and I just didn't want to deal with all of the issues that have come along with imported items recently. So I (and the crazy little voice in my head that tells me all of these ideas are fantastic!!) decided to do this. I did find this unfinished furniture at the little doll house shop in Annapolis, I snapped it up, it was the only set!!

We are trying to make (or buy handmade) as many of our gifts as possible. I have found SO MANY great things on Etsy that it is almost too easy. I would show you some of my other finds, but you never know who is reading!!!

I will show you more as I make progress....think, Pink....Green and Girly!! Would it be wrong to add sparkles to it??

We share everything...

...including our GERMS!! But not our toys! Being an only child for my entire childhood....my brother wasn't born until I was 13....I don't get the concept of drinking out of someone Else's glass, eating someone elses food, and the nastiest offence....using somebody Else's toothbrush...YUCK!!!

Since the ick seems to be spreading, The Brain is home with tonsils the size of ping-pong balls and The Brawn is doing his best to fend off the germs - he made it without getting the stomach ick that the Princess became possessed with on Monday - I took a moment to soak our toothbrushes. Seems that everyones is fair game?? I actually hide my toothbrush in the cabinet!You'll notice that there are like 9 toothbrushes in there...there are only 6 of us? What's up with that?? Door knobs, walls, car seats and any other flat surfaces got a good scrub on Monday.

This week seemed to be taking on the feeling of a perpetual Monday. I was feeling the tension building from ongoing events of the week, when I heard a song from a one of my favorite people...and decided to change it with my own two hands..... there are so many things that we can't control, but we can control our emotions and reactions to situations. Being pro-active not reactive!


So....

I wrote a letter to someone who is no longer a friend....let her know that I was thinking of her

Wrote a letter to my husband...let him know that I love him even though we don't get 5 minutes together

Let go....can't hold onto situations that I can't control

Said a prayer for a stranger that I have grown to love and admire...

Got a haircut

Did a little window (catalog and Internet) shopping..

....this would sure make my days a little brighter...and I really need these! Pretty Please!!! Every girl needs a pair of silver shoes!!

And then I felt better!!!

And then....Homework and Dinner reared their ugly head!