Mommy Bluebird

I know you have all heard me say that Bluebird is a "Little Mommy". I have never met such a nurturing child. Above is a photo of her putting Buttercup "to bed". Last night I went to her room and there were toys All over her room and she was not in her bed. I found her amongst the toys sleeping on the floor, with a pillow and covered with a blanket. I put her in bed and noticed that what at first seemed a mess of toys, was actually all of her babies, each with their head on a pillow and covered with a blanket. She had carefully placed each of them to bed, and I imagine sang to them and gave them all butterfly kisses, and then she laid beside them and drifted off to dreamland.
What a beautiful child she is!!!

Local Control

The past few days have been the usual chaos of a family of five. Bluebird is so helpful, yesterday she helped me unload the dishwasher (she likes to put away all the silverware), she helped me make our laundry detergent, and she helped me put away all of the Halloween decorations.

What would I do without her?!

So...that is the gist of my evening and it sounds so sweet. And those few moments were. They were moments where we smiled and laughed and thought about how great it was to be a mom and a wife and live the best life on earth.

What is left out is the madness inbetween. Usually, I think we all leave these out of our conversations and blogs. Truly, only people who are mentally ill constantly devulge the ugly details of their lives.

I am not mentally ill (at least I don't think so)...but today, I feel like I must be honest and say that many times, the inbetween moments are complete madness.

My husband would say I bring this on myself. I did not need to take down the Halloween decorations, I do not need to put up Thanksgiving decor, I do not need to make my own laundry detergent (even though homemade is the best)....

So, husband is right...I do take more on than I need to. I try to do everything. I want to make cakes for the kids and get the "volunteer family hours" into the school so my kids can put their handprints on the wall (only to find out that Boy refused to put his hand in paint, ha).

I would love to say I could do more if I didn't work...and I probably could. But the truth is...I have found no one who has a smooth morning. Everyone seems to be chaotically trying to get kids dressed, fed and out the door and even the stay at home mom's seem to be having trouble making sure that breakfast is healthy and protien packed.

I try to make sure I am dressed before the kids get up. But guess what, we are still leaving 10 minutes behind my preferred schedule.

I try to make sure lunches and backpacks are packed the night before. Guess what? Still behind schedule.

I try to make sure clothes are laid out the night before. Including shoes, socks and underwear. Guess what? Still behind schedule.

I love dropping kids off at early stay, but we are never early enough. I love to get to work early and drink coffee before patients arrive, but I am always rushing through the door just in time.

I cannot say we are late, but we are not as early as I would idealize.

I idealize a life where things run smoothly and the house is always clean and I do not have a laundry basket with hundreds of mismatched socks...seriously, where do all these socks come from? Where is the basket of matches hiding?

I idealize a life where kids eat eggs and smoothies for breakfast and that they are grateful and happy to do so.

I idealize a life where the house is always clean and laundry isn't piling up by the mounds.

I idealize a life where I always read my bookclub book and can always have time to sit with friends and wine and discuss it.

I idealize a life where I am never trying to figure out where the next dollar is coming from.

Seriously Moms...why is it that if we decide one night to take a break and leave the house a mess...that it takes another week of hassle to get things back in order? If we don't do a load of laundry each day, how is it possible that we then can hardly breath trying to catch up.

I wake early and I work until the kids are in bed. It does not stop. It never stops. I am exhausted.

I can downsize, I can decrease hours, I can clean out closets...but it just keeps the madness manageable, it doesn't decrease the madness.

In cancer treatments we call it "local control". I feel like in my life, I am always just trying to control the madness.

In cancer treatments, that is considered successful therapy.

But in cancer treatments, death is also an acceptable outcome.

But of course, preferrable is always remission or cure.

I want to ask for advice, and I also want to hear from more mom's like me.

Because, I do not just think this is my life, I think this is life. Life as WE know it.

Humanity.

What is your life like?

If it is a life like mine, how do you keep from being a raging bitch to all of those you love?

Halloween Nights

We had a great Halloween.
We carved our pumpkins Sunday. Boy wanted a scary one, and Bluebird wanted a happy one. They both got to do their own and they turned out cute.
Then we went out for costumes. Boy was set on a blue monster costume (which did not exist). I was set to make him something when he saw the Clifford costume and decided that would do. Thank goodness it was on sale and we quickly purchased. Bluebird was a candy corn witch princess and Buttercup was the cutest pumpkin EVER!
Then on Halloween I made a big pot of chili and we took off for trick or treating with our friends. We ended at our house, and the kids got to spread their loot out on the floor and eat a few pieces.
Buttercup was asleep as soon as her head hit the bed. The other two were too excited to sleep, so they stayed up and watched Charlie Brown (of course, Halloween isn't complete without Charlie Brown).

Fall decor and other things....

We are still so far behind on blogging...and I am trying to catch up today since I only worked til noon, Buttercup is sleeping and Bluebird and Boy are still at school.

I decorated for Halloween this year. Boy wanted our house to be a little spooky...and so I tried to make it that way in the cheapest manner possible.
I did a little more with the Fall decor since it can stay up a little longer.

First, My spooooky decor:







I basically went to Hobby Lobby and got a bunch of the cheapest black fabric I could find and used it to drape over things. I then went to the dollar store and bought some cheap plastic skeleton stuff, spider webbing (which is a big pain), and plastic spiders for the rest.

Other than the Jack-o-lantern, I can use the pumpkin stuff throughout the rest of the season.

We plan to carve our pumpkins this weekend.

I also did a bit of Fall decor and hopefully will do some more before it is said and done...as I have time.









Do you LOVE my wreath?! It is another pinterest hack. I plan to add even more little fabric flowers, but I haven't had the extra time. Covering that "L" with twine was a pain in my rear end...but I love the results.

I am still in the process of switching out my framed photos to be fall photos. Right as I finish I will probably need to switch to Winter ones. I thought this would be a good way to display all my treasured photos at some point each year without cluttering things up more than they already are.

The candle sticks that the pumpkins are resting on were garage sale finds. Basically just glass and crystal candlesticks. I think I got them all for $3, then I painted them with leftover bronze paint that I bought to paint the knobs on my china cabinet. The paint ran a bit, but not noticeable enough to care. I may store them for next year, or may repaint them silver for Christmas decor.

The garland is my favorite. I just drew a bunch of fall shapes on paper and let the kids go to town with paint and glitter. Once dry I cut them out and strung them up with twine. They are so proud!

What do you think of Buttercup on my chair?

Here are a few more of her:





We have been working on a few other rooms all weekend. Boy got bunk beds and I have been trying to reorganize things in there. I am also almost completely done with Buttercups room. I finally caved and decided to convert the playroom/guest room into her nursery. There are still sleeping areas for when guests stay...but it is sweet and girlie. Here is a sneak peak:







Some other household changes have been made in the past few weeks as well. I finally used twine to string up a kid art display over the kitchen window. We framed a fabulous photo of the kids for Daddy's 39th Birthday and I have it displayed in the kitchen (even though he is planning to take it to his office at some point).






I have been trying to use my Saturday morning sleep-in day as a chance to get up early, drink hot coffee and go garage sale-ing. I love it. It gives me my "shopping fix" on our tight budget. I don't let myself spend more than $20. Here are a few of my favorite finds. $5 each...No kidding!





And last but not least, here is a sneak peak at the apothecary console table "we" built (which you all know basically means Daddy, under my supervision)...however, I did find the plans, helped made cuts and stained the top piece. It was not easy and did not turn out perfect...but I love it. I will do a post on it later and link to the plans. I love this site I found full of wood work plans.

Dinner Dialogues

I try to make a couple of vegetarian meals a week. It saves money and time and makes me feel like I am doing a better job on my diet.
This was dinner tonight. It was delicious!





Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Roasted Veggies

Quinoa
Carrots
Spinach
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt & Pepper
Fresh thyme
1/4 cup Pistachios (shelled and chopped)

Toss Carrots with olive oil and salt and pepper and then roast at 425 for 20 minuites until tender.

Meanwhile, cook Quinoa according to package directions (I use a Quinoa and wild rice blend).

When carrots are tender, toss with a splash of lemon juice and fresh thyme leaves (from the garden best, but dried would work fine).

Arrange a plate with a bed of fresh spinach, roughly chopped. Top with warm quinoa, add carrots and pistachios.

If you have leftovers, throw them in the fridge and eat it chilled for lunch the next day. Yummm.

Enjoy.


-you could also roast crimini mushrooms, but I don't care for them and don't keep them on hand)-

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Happy Birthday to the man I love. The only man for me. He is a wonderful husband who puts up with more than his fair share of my mood swings and goofiness. He is a tender father who nurtures and cares for his children in a way only a mother could =). He is the most talented man I know. He is an artist who I have people begging me for a commissioned painting. He can make any of the silly DIY projects I happen to have on my agenda on any given day. He is a published doc student who I will soon need to start calling Dr. L. hehe
He is basically one of those guys who puts his mind to something and becomes truly excellent at it. I admire his passion and his ability to never give up on anything. I suppose that is why he is still married to me.
I could never ask for a better father for our three monkeys. The monkeys and I are truly blessed beyond belief.
Happy Birthday Lover, Lifer, and Friend.

Musical Beds

I don't know about you...but I take pride in the fact that we somehow manage to put our kids to bed early every night, with a bit of time left over for us to have our "grown up" time...
We talk, watch television, finish up on our blogging, emails, and work.

We try to get into bed by 10 or 1030. We do this because that gives us a bit of time in our own bed before the musical bed game begins.

98% of the time, Boy is in between us by 2am. Bluebird is a little less. This is good because when she comes into bed she is a bed hog and usually has a few blankets and toys and a purse or two that make he journey with her downstairs. Boy usually only brings a mask or boots.

Usually one of us ends up trying to sleep at the end of the bed for more room and cover control. Inevitably, this will prove to be too much and I will pack up Bluebird and all of the blankets and toys that trekked down with her. We will go get into Boy's bed since it is bigger than hers.

Boy will soon wake up and ask Daddy where I am. He will then come get into bed with me and Bluebird (what can I say, he is Mama's Boy).

When they fall back to sleep, I usually creep back to my own bed (I love my bed and the extra space).

(Then Buttercup will start to cry and I will send Daddy her way. He will sleep with her the rest of the night on the spare bed in her room (he loves the cuddling).

Boy will wake again and realize I am gone, so he will end up in my bed again(this is actually my favorite little moment of the night...my bed feels like I have it all to myself, but I can look over and see a little innocent face beside me).

...and then at some point we all gather in our bed and the kids will say "the sun is up" and they will jump around and we try to keep them from hurting us, or themselves...and morning begins...

My Mother-in-law caught this morning action with her camera a few weeks ago: