I have an opening in September.....

I am embarrassed to say that my life has gotten away from me for the moment.

I have been ridiculously busy. Crazy busy. And I love it! But it leaves little time for writing. I have several posts that are in progress, but haven't had a chance to polish any of them for the public yet. (And I'm not posting crap just to *have* something new on here.)

Why am I so busy, you ask? It's summer. And we spend lots of time outside!

I try really hard not to be "couch mommy", I try and be on the floor (or at the table or on the grass) with my kiddos. So instead of doing housework while they are playing, I'm playing too. This means that instead of writing during nap time, I'm cleaning.

And I also started a little online Etsy store. So instead of blogging at night, I'm sewing. And not to diss you guys, but I love sewing. It's very therapeutic and stress relieving. I didn't really need anything new on my plate, but I'm a little bit of an overachiever, and I needed a "me" project.

As a mommy to 4, I do few things that are only for me. I can't even tell you the last time I had a pedicure. But sewing is for me. Only me. It doesn't involve my children, my husband, my job, or anything else. It's all about what I can do, and what I can create.

And it gives me a personal sense of pride.

Plus, I make some pretty cute stuff!

But I do have a lot of things on my plate right now. I need to learn how to say "NO!" more and take on less. Before summer started we had began simplifying our lives for the better, but when that sun shines, it messes with my "NO" gene, and therefore I have a super-duper full calendar.

And I like having time for my children. I will not compromise that. We have parks and picnics on the books, and I try really hard not to cancel (except when our awful Washington weather kicks in). We have squeezed in as much fun stuff as we can before my little girl (gulp!) goes off to kindergarten!

So if you want to get together, you should have called 6 weeks ago when I was booking out through August. I don't have many slots left for coffee, play dates, or grown-up dates. I am booked and full. And I like it that way!

So, I apologize to all who like to read my mindless droning, but being an almost-perfectionist, I just haven't had time to sit and proof read much. My kiddos want to play in the sand box, we have walks to take, picnics need to be done, and fun in the sun is way more important than the computer!



And by the way, I spent one evening looking into graduate school. That ought to fill any gaps in my schedule!

It's all about your image.

I seem to be pretty serious when I write here. But in real life I do have a sense of humor. Or, at least I think I do. So I'm trying a more "light hearted" topic this time. And maybe, just maybe, I can get someone to laugh.

What better way to evoke delight than the topic of fashion? Or better yet, my sons image. And you have to cut him some slack, he is only 2, so his "image" is mostly based on the items he can reach.
Not that I have much fashion sense. And I certainly don't really have an image. I wear clothes that are utilitarian. I live in yoga pants and tee-shirts. Mind you they are a fitted tee-shirt, not baggy. But I do lots of sitting-on-the-floor stuff and I get spit-up on, a lot. So instead of 13 pairs of jeans, 47 tee-shirts, and countless undergarments, I wash yoga pants and tee-shirts.

And that's not to say I don't have any fashion sense. If I get dressed for an outing in public, I stick to the GAP look. Black or white shirt, almost-trashy-tight jeans and sunglasses. Classic. And I only wear the almost-trashy-jeans because I lost a TON of weight and can feel good about my butt.

But I'm not talking about my image. Let's talk about my DS's image.

He walks around with his hand down his pants like Al Bundy. And he's 2.

And it gets better. He prefers doing this while wearing his sisters sparkly shoes. And sunglasses is he can get a hold of some. Maybe some gaudy Mardi Gras necklaces too.

It's like Rocky Horror meets Sesame Street.

I take a lot of pictures, so hopefully when he is a rotten teenager I can humble him into housework and stuff by threatening to post all the pics on his FaceBook. (If Facebook is even around then!)

But mostly I just smile and nod.

This afternoon he comes clumping in the kitchen in a normal rugby tee-shirt. He's got a pair of silver glitter ballet flats on that are 4 sizes too big. He has a pair of those 3-D glasses on that come from the movie theater. He's wearing a long, gaudy plastic necklace. And his hands are down the front of his pants.

*sigh*

He really likes wearing my nightgowns too.

So he may not have that GQ look, but he certainly knows how to keep it um, colorful?

I believe in fairies

Yep, here at our house, fairies are real.

They have to be, they back up all that parenting I do.

So the first fairy to "come into existence" at our house was the binki fairy.

Conjure up a little girl, at the ripe old age of 3 who still has a binki. (gross, I know) But I had a baby, I was pregnant, and I was not about to take away the one thing that helped calm her. And my DD had an ear piercing scream that could make your ears bleed. A binki was almost a necessity.

Let's focus on the good here, not the fact that I had a huge belly, a screaming baby on my hip, and my 3 year old was running around with a binki in her mouth. (And I bet I was probably standing in the kitchen barefoot too!)

In all honesty, she only had the binki in her bed. We had long since weaned her down to bedtime only. (Which was a process in itself.) But, the day had come when the binki fairy would pay us a visit.

Here is my *gold star* advice!

We sent a note to our daughter from the binki fairy. The fairy stated that our DD needed to leave all her binkis for the fairy so she could make them into her castle, and the fairy would leave a WONDERFUL FAIRY GIFT.

DD bought it. Out when the binkis in a bag on the porch. (Mama had prepared for this with a rather expensive trip to Target.) And when she wasn't looking, the binki bag was replaced with a huge fanciful bag full of fairy goodies. There was a crown, a tutu, stickers, a movie, some costume jewelry, a wand, and lord knows what else. I told you I went crazy, how can you not, it's Target?

Anyway, the bag was a huge hit. The fairy has decorated it with glitter and sparkles. It was special and girly. She got a certificate saying our DD was an honorary fairy. And the binkis were long forgotten......

until bedtime.

After brushing her teeth, our smart DD gathered up all the fairy stuff, put it back in the bag and gave it to me saying, "K mommy, I don't want to be a fairy anymore, I want my binkis back."

After 35 minutes of intense crying, she did go to sleep. We sat in the living room and turned the TV up a little louder than normal. It almost killed me. I almost gave in. But my DH made me stay in the living room.

After 2 bedtimes and 1 nap time, she was over it. She quit crying and asking for them. She was officially a big girl.

sigh 

And after all that trouble I still let my baby have one. And when the 3rd came, he got one too. With #4, I still gave him one.

I didn't really learn a lesson, but at least I have a tried and true method to get rid of them.

Hopefully my boys will believe in fairies too.