Signs of Spring

Our tulip tree in bloom. It is so beautiful when it blooms each spring.

New spring wreath for our door. The girls liked the butterflies because they are all sparkly. I was happy because it was 50% off and I didn’t have to do anything but hang it up.

The kids’ “store” opens up in the yard – and they are spending every waking moment outside. Soaking up the sunshine, fresh air, and POLLEN!

If it were only so easy…

The school is having a book fair this week. I’m a huge fan of encouraging kids to read… and of fundraisers for the school. But, the book fair just drives me nuts – and here’s why.

It has nothing to do with the books – I love going and picking out some new stories for the girls – and I love how excited they get about the new books.

What I don’t like are the piles and piles of JUNK that they have to sell along with the books. The pens, posters, erasers, and do-dads that they pile on the tables in the book fairs…. they are overpriced and usually won’t last more than a day or two after you purchase them.

But what do the kids fixate on? The JUNK! Not the books! The JUNK!

So, I have a rule. Mommy will pay for BOOKS only. If you want to spend your money on the junk, you have to spend your own money. Not Mommy’s. I figure it will help the girls learn to think about what they are purchasing and decide if something is really worth parting with their cash.

Sounds good in theory, right?

Well, here’s what went down this week…

We went to the book fair with the understanding that Mommy would buy 2-3 books each and that would be all. Big Girl already was talking about some highlighter she wanted and I reminded her that she could spend her own money if she wanted. Ok, off we go.

Get to the book fair – Big Girl has forgotten her wallet and asks me to “loan” her $3 for the highlighter that she simply must have. “Okay,” I say, “but you have to pay me back when we get home.”

Fast forward about six hours and it’s bedtime. All of a sudden Big Girl is fixated on another pen set at school she simply must get the next day. I remind her she can spend her own money but I will not be loaning her any more money to purchase the pen.

Fast forward to morning – no wallet can be found in the disaster area also known as Big Girl’s bedroom and we have major drama because the Bank of Momma is closed for the day. She goes off to school in a huge huff and is very angry with Mommy for not loaning her $5 to purchase the highlighter (I told you the junk is overpriced!)

Fast forward to after school – I am snuggling with Big Girl and telling her how much I hate it when she leaves for school angry with me and how glad I am that she is happy again.

She looks up at me and simply says

“Well, all you had to do was give me the $5 and it would’ve all been OK.”

“Really?” I ask. “It’s just that simple? I give you whatever you want and you’ll never be mad at me again?”

“Yes, Mommy. Don’t you know that?”

Sigh. If it were only so easy, I think…

Cookies, anyone?

Did you do your civic duty and buy Girl Scout cookies this year?

I hope you did. Everyone needs a little Thin Mints in their lives.

This was the first year that we were not just purchasers, but “pushers” of the oh-so-addictive Girl Scout cookies. IMGP2263

Okay, so maybe “pushers” is a little extreme.

It’s not like we had to “push” anyone to buy any, that is for sure. Once word gets out that you are selling them, people seem to beat a path to your door to order some. That part is pretty nice.

The girls are in Brownies/Daisies this year, so I got to experience the whole cookie selling thing for the first time.

IMGP2269 The girls loved it. Me? Not so much. It requires way too much organization and coordination for my taste. There’s money to keep up with, cookies to sort and deliver. My dining room looked like a Girl Scout cookie warehouse for a few weeks, and that was just from the cookies we sold/ordered. I can’t imagine what it was like for the Cookie Mom for our Troop. I’m sure her whole world was Girl Scout cookies for a few weeks.

But, the cookies are so delicious and the girls have such a good time selling them… guess we’ll do it again next year.

Only next year, I will be better prepared. I have my spreadsheet all ready to go.

Take me to the circus!

Some of my all-time favorite memories of my childhood are our trips to see the circus. I just loved, loved, loved going and seeing all of the animals and acrobats. I would imagine that one day I was going to be one of the animal trainers – working with the horses, elephants, or, even better – the tigers. I just loved it!

So, I was so thrilled when we decided that we were going to take the girls to see the circus this year as part of Big Girl’s birthday celebrations. I think I was as excited (or more) than the kids were. I couldn’t wait for the day to arrive and I woke up early anticipating how much fun our day was going to be.

It was all that I imagined and more.

We got awesome seats (purely by accident since I had never ordered seats for our Arena online before) and were 4 rows from the main floor. We were close enough to see all the action and yet far enough away that we didn’t get sore necks from trying to watch everything. Also, we were so lucky to have gotten “club” seats that were part of a “members only” section with private restrooms, etc. That was extra nice when we had to take the girls to the bathroom and wander away from our awesome seats. It felt like we were special, even though I knew we hadn’t planned it that way. The girls will probably think that it is always that way since they have no other frame of reference, and I was really happy that I was able to give them that experience the first time.

Anyway, like I said, our seats were awesome. And with my zoom on the camera, I got some great shots of the action:

The little Princess loved the costumes… especially these. She said they looked like fairies.

I love the elephants. They are so adorable. Those big long eyelashes… just love them.

And the horses – oh my goodness, they were beautiful. Especially that Friesian in the middle.

Big Girl loved the dog acrobatics.

The highwire act was pretty cool, too. I have never seen anyone dance a Rumba on a highwire before.

More elephants! Love it!

My favorites – the tigers. Aren’t they beautiful? Awesomely beautiful.

I want one, Mommy. 🙂

But, the most fun for me? Watching the girls' faces when each new act started. Hearing the gasps and feeling the little one grab my arm in delight as she was thrilled yet again by something.

Great seats? Wonderful.

Private bathrooms? Very nice.

My kids' reactions? Priceless.

How was your weekend?

Oh my goodness! I am so glad this weekend is over! It was another whirlwind weekend. It was so fun, but so exhausting!

We had BigGirl’s birthday sleepover party on Friday night. Five pre-teen girls running around the house. Oh.my.goodness. Remind me next year that is not a good idea. BigGirl even decided that was too much and that next time she wanted a smaller crowd. Too many people to please – and if you have a pre-teen girl, you know they are impossible to please. Poor thing was in a tizzy trying to keep everyone happy.

Saturday (after the party-goers went home) I managed to sneak in a little scrapbooking at a crop that was raising money for children’s charities. It was a large event (100+ scrapbookers) and I enjoyed having a little “me” time after the craziness of the party.

Here are some pages I did while I was there. I tried to use some of the concepts I am learning in the Design Your Life class I’m taking over at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

I’m still not sure if I’m done with those two. I like the green and the blue, but not sure about the swirles and I need to put some journaling in there somewhere. Maybe in that big box on the left-hand page and take out that clear swirlie.

What do you think about the overlays on top of the big pictures? Too much? Distracting? Or just right?

I didn’t get too much done, I was distracted organizing all my digital content on my PC, but I did manage to get a little bit done. And, more importantly, it got me back in the mood to scrap. I have been very distracted lately with a few other major projects in my life and had lost my scrappitude. Now, I’m geared back up and looking forward to doing some more scrapping. I have even decided I want to try some hybrid scrapbooking layouts. Mix up the digital and traditional a little.

Yesterday we went to see the circus. It was the last big part of BigGirl’s birthday celebrations. We hadn’t been since she was 2 and Little Princess had never been. Needless to say we were all so excited to go. I am not sure if the girls were more excited than me or not. I LOVE the circus – and LOVED the fact that I was taking my babies to see something that was such a big part of my happy childhood memories. I couldn’t wait to add those to their own childhood memory banks.

Of course, it was awesome. I don’t think Ringling Brothers ever puts on a bad show. We had a blast. I think I probably took over 100 pictures. Loving my big zoom lens on the camera, too. I was able to get thisclose to the performers without leaving my seat. I’m sure it helped that we had awesome seats, though… 4 rows from the floor! So cool!

I’ll post some circus pictures tomorrow – they’re still in the camera.

Anyway, that is why I haven’t posted all weekend. It was crazy. It was fun. And I’m tired!

I’m back!

Hello to all of you!

After a whirlwind weekend, I'm back at home, back at work, and back to blogging.

Big Girl is now "officially" nine and we celebrated in style with a low-country boil at her grandparents’ house. It was freezing cold, raining, wet and miserable, but we had a marvelous time. Her birthday was capped off by a light dusting of snow on Friday night (after we all went to bed, of course). That, in and of itself, was pretty special – I can’t remember it snowing in south Georgia since I was in college (which is longer ago that I am going to tell you!)

In case you were wondering, a low country boil is sausage (usually polska), corn, potatoes, and shrimp all boiled together (in stages so you don’t overcook the shrimp) with some crab boil seasoning and Old Bay. We love it and usually find any excuse we can to fix it while we are visiting Mom’s. SuperMan and PopPop love the leftovers as shrimp salad, potato salad and fried up with eggs for breakfast. I usually have enough on the first go-round that I don’t have any leftovers. I’m also finding that the Old Bay seasoning doesn’t do well with my allergies and it’s not worth having swollen lips and a sore mouth just to get some seafood. But I usually suffer long enough to get at least one helping!

Saturday and Sunday were beautiful but cold days and we spent most of the day hanging out with the grandparents.

I love this picture of Mom and the girls together.

I managed to sneak a visit to a local yarn shop – Unwind Yarn & Gifts. The ladies were so welcoming and helpful. I just reveled in walking around and touching everything! They had some really nice yarns.

I bought a beautiful blue alpaca and bamboo blend that I am planning to make into a scarf

I also couldn’t help but indulge in some gorgeous, iridescent bamboo yarn. I am not sure when I will knit with it – it was a little pricey and now I am a little afraid to mess it up with my amateur knitting skills! I’d love to do a lacey scarf with it. Hmmm… maybe in a few months.

Sunday night we treated ourselves to a dinner at Spanky’s Saloon. It’s an institution that we have been frequenting since our high school days and a must-visit when we head home. We enjoyed the fried shrimp, chicken fingers and spuds and SuperMan had some fried veggies. It was more fried food than I have had in forever but it was so good!

Monday I spent the afternoon with Mom and SuperMan and the girls went to spend the day with his family. One of our nephews' birthday was on Tuesday so they had a combined birthday celebration/cookout for the birthday kids. Mom and I enjoyed hanging out and did a little shopping after we split a scrumptious quesadilla at the local Mexican joint.

After our shopping we went back home and she finished some sewing projects that I needed help with (I can do most anything, but I cannot sew!!) and just relaxed while we waited for the girlies and SuperMan to come home.

Tuesday was a quick trip to the hairdresser’s for the girls and me and a very long ride home. Yes, I still drive hours and hours to the hair salon I used to frequent when I lived down south. I can’t find anyone in the big city that I like as well and trusting your hairdresser enough to just walk in, sit down, and know that when you leave an hour or so later you are going to look fabulous is just priceless!

Little Princess did not like my haircut! She kept asking Ms.Scissors when she was going to be finished and informed her that she did not like what she had done with my hair! (hee hee) I now have BANGS! and apparently, Little Princess does not think Mommy is the bang-y type. I am still getting used to them – I see a stranger every time I look in the mirror – but I like them. I wanted something different and perkier and I got it!

I had some help with my Project Life photo taking this weekend, so after I round up all the pictures from the various cameras, I’ll post them here.

Lots going on in the next week – I hope to share some of it with you soon.

Super Bowl Sunday

Today is Super Bowl Sunday here in the US. Thankfully, neither SuperMan nor I care anything about sports, football in particular.

We are, however, getting together with some friends for an afternoon of fun together – so I guess someone will be watching the game. All we usually watch are the commercials!

We are planning a Nacho-themed buffet. Everyone is bringing toppings to go on nachos. Should be an interesting spread.

Super Bowl Sunday

I'm exhausted today – we had a kids-only event yesterday with our church. 750 kids, 350 volunteers packed into a super-sized bowling alley/theme park place. It was loud, noisy, crowded and way fun. However, my over-40 body is not used to that kind of activity and I'm paying the price today. I chuckled at the 20-somethings last night as they moaned about how tired they were. Really? Poor babies! 🙂

Hope to have my groove back tomorrow.

This upcoming week is a big one. My big girl turns 9 on Friday.

Have a great day today!

Valentine’s Day Fun

I was reading Ali Edwards’ blog (I think it was Thursday’s post) and she linked over to a website that had the most awesome graphic.

I loved it. What a cool idea!

I thought that it would make a great Valentine’s gift. But, of course, I wanted to put my own spin on it.

I think I am going to put it in SuperMan’s valentine this year.

What do you think?

The fine art of cleaning a room (or not)

Let me start off by saying, I am not much of a housekeeper. Now, this is not to say I don’t like a clean house. I love having a clean house. As a matter of fact, I love it even more when someone else cleans my house for me! However, lately that has not been the situation. Or rather, I have not chosen to spend my disposable income on having my house cleaned. It seems kind of a waste to me – after all, it’s just going to get dirty again, right?

But, that is exactly the logic I have been using for years and it hasn’t really helped me much.

I begin this post in this way so that you will understand that my poor pre-teen daughter comes by her non-cleaning-genes honestly. Very honestly.

So, let’s get to the story, shall we?

Months and months ago (maybe a year, even) I got tired of cleaning my daughter’s room – well, let me rephrase that. I got tired of repeatedly cleaning the disaster my daughter called her bedroom only to have it destroyed in 8.29 seconds after she arrived home from school. I would spend hours (days, months, even!) in there wading through the dirty (or are they clean?) clothes on the floor, piles of notes and post-its tossed around the room, stuffed animals who had been lost under the bed (and were probably scarred for life, it’s scary down there) and tossed into the closet or corner of the room. I would have the room looking as if it was ready for a Martha Stewart magazine layout (well, sort of) and all fresh and clean smelling. Heck, I’d even dust!!

Then, she would come home. And she was happy, thrilled, even, that I had cleaned her room. She would disappear up there for hours on end, only to come down for dinner or a play date. And things were nice. For a while. A day, two, maybe. Then, the chaos would take over again.

Clothes would be everywhere – why put them away if you are just going to wear them again, right?
Bed unmade – again, why bother?

Animals running amok (as most stuffed animals do when no one is looking – how else do they get where they seem to end up?)

Papers, craft projects, science experiments, everything (and I mean everything) scattered everywhere.

Finally, I decided I was done. If she wanted to live that way, that was fine. I wasn’t going to clean it for her anymore. After all, how was she going to learn to appreciate the clean if it was always done for her?

So, I went on strike.

I told her I was not cleaning her room ever again and if she wanted it clean she would have to do it.

So, from that point on, I would walk by the room (cringing) and just “ignore” the mess. I would tiptoe in to drop off clean clothes on her dresser (hoping not to step on anything that would break a toe) and run back out quickly.

Life was good. We worked it out. No fighting about cleaning, no ultimatums. She appreciated that I was treating her like a big kid and letting her do her own thing.

Occasionally, she’d get all crazy and decide to clean a portion of her room. So, one-fourth of her room would look nice and I would praise her (heartily) for the hard work I knew she had put into it, hoping that she would continue.

Alas. She also suffers from the same gnat-sized attention span her mother has. (poor dear) She was off to other more exciting things.

And I was OK with that. Let her sort out what was good for her – and learn what cleanliness meant in the process.

However… (da da da dum)

Her daddy had other ideas.

He hated the mess.

He couldn’t stand it.

And so, I told him, “If it bothers you so much, YOU clean it.” I reminded him that I was on strike and that I would not be cleaning her room.

Poor man.

He cleaned her room.

And I mean CLEANED her room. It was gorgeous. Made my cleaning job look amateurish (which it was, I assure you. He is by far the better cleaner in our marriage)

She was thrilled (of course)

and spent the next 3.25 days in her room.

And guess what?

It was trashed again.

Now, dear reader, what do you think he did?

(yes, you are right)

He cleaned it again.

Sigh.

So much for my lesson in teaching her to clean her room.