Author: Melissa

highly caffeinated ramblings

I like this nanny thing. I’m checking email and catching up on blogs while my MIL is downstairs giving Colin a bottle trying to give Colin a bottle.
He is being a total punk.
He’s making all sorts of faces and gagging dramatically, which is of course doing a number on his grandmother, who met him for the first time on Saturday and is already wrapped tightly around his tiny little finger.
This boy is smarter than he looks.
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I probably won’t be able to post very much this week. Since its the first week off school and I now have THREE children under my care ALL DAY LONG. With NO BREAKS.
help me
I’m trying to get together some sort of schedule, since we need some structure here before we KILL each other. I’m planning to do one of their favorite summer activities: Teacher Mommy. Where Mommy dips her toes in the homeschooling waters. And usually runs away, yelling "Its not warm enough yet!"

One of my goals this summer was to teach Grace to write her name. And what did she do last night – COMPLETELY out of the blue? All by herself? WRITE HER NAME!!
So thus far, I am rocking this Teacher Mommy thang. 😉
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Colin is still waking up EVERY THREE HOURS to eat. Because being about FIFTEEN POUNDS at the age of EIGHT WEEKS is CLEARLY a sign that he really needs to eat. This kid is totally gigantic. Its not like he doesn’t have enough fat stores to burn when he is sleeping longer. His cheeks alone should buy me a couple extra hours sleep.
But no. Every three hours on the nose, he is SCREAMING to be fed. It is getting quite annoying.
I don’t care if he sleeps all the way through the night. But a nice six hour stretch would do WONDERS for Mommy’s sanity.
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Did you know that red dye stains everything? Like the dye in Cherry-flavored water ice? Like the quart of Cherry-flavored water ice that I dropped? Like the quart of Cherry-flavored water ice that I dropped which EXPLODED all over the kitchen and open fridge?
Sigh. Off to scrub! AGAIN!

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i got nothin’

So I stole this from DCRmom.

Favorite person (outside family)?   Oh, dear. Thats tough. I have too many friends to choose just one… probably a tie between two ladies who have the initials J.K. (Well, one has the initials J.K. and the other goes by the initials J.K. only half the time. They know who they are.)

Favorite food?  Pizza. No question. Although I harbor a deep and abiding love for Chex Mix.

Quirks about you? 
I constantly fidget. I twirl my rings. I must have my toenails painted.

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less?  (Ask them) I’m afarid to ask. The words "hormonal" and "seriously sleep-deprived" will probably be included.

Any regrets in life?  Totally. I wish I had tried harded in school. I wish we had bought a house about 3 years earlier, before housing prices practically doubled around here.

Favorite Charity/Cause?   Humm… Thats hard. One I will probably always support is the school I used to work at, when I did fundraising professionally. I LOVE this school.

Favorite Blog recently? Probably Today’s Creative Blog, which deatures a new creative blogger every day. I’m feeling creative lately, so this insipres me!

Something you can’t get enough of?  kissing my baby boy’s chubby cheeks.

Worst job you’ve ever had?  Data entry. Yawn.

What job would you pay NOT to have? Landscaper. I would love having a beautiful yard, but I am not good at it and I hate bugs, worms and other things one finds while digging in dirt.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where?   My kids school. I’d love to see how they act when I’m not around!

Favorite Bible verse right now?  Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Guilty Pleasure?  Pedicures. Frappuchinos. Ice cream cones. Naps.

Got any confessions?  Not really. If we’re staying at home, the kids and I will stay in our pjs all day and I won’t even wash my face! Its wonderful 😉

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it?  A really nice, new sewing machine. And anything left over would go to new clothes.

Favorite thing about your house? The space. The fireplace. Finally having a driveway. (We had only street parking at our old house. And the more stuff I had to carry, the farther away I had to park 😉

Least favorite thing about your house?  The sewer problems that reoccur once or twice a year. Lets just leave it there.

One thing you are bad at?  Singing.

One thing you’re good at?  Functioning on very little sleep.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what?  I would have a baby who sleeps 12 hours a night. (Dream on, right?)

Who would you like to meet someday? Ewan McGregor. Hee hee.

What makes you feel sexy?  Feeling fit.

Who is your real life hero?  My mom.

What is the hardest part of your job?  Being patient with my kids. Coming up with new creative ideas. That goes both with Mothering and designing products for my shop.

When are you most relaxed?  Friday nights. We usually stay in and have "Family Movie Night." We all cuddle up on the couch, eat popcorn, and just enjoy being together.

What stresses you out?  Clutter. Clutter makes me twitch.

What can you not live without?  God. He is my rock, my peace and my hope.

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists?  What article? Um.. I guess kind of. It does feel a little arrogant to think that people actually care about what is going on in my little life.

Why do you blog? Mainly to keep far away family up to date. Also to get all the crazy out, so that it isn’t all dumped on my Husband 😉

Okay – rules:

1. Answer the questions

2. Link back to whoever tagged you

3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category.

• New/newer bloggers — humm….

• Bloggy friends — Working Girl and Misty

• Bloggers you’d like to get to know better — Every Chapter and Mel

• Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will — Puzzling Aloud

Okay. Can’t think of any other bloggers. Play if you want. Just leave a comment and let me know so I can come read it!

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blogroll

blogs i read


a box of chocolates…
adventures in babywearing
a long way from the theta house
as many as we’re given
audrey’s blog @ mom generations
big mama
blackbelt oma
boomama
callapidder days
chased by children
classy chaos
dandelion dayz
desperately seeking sanity
every chapter
forty b4 forty
four silly sisters
fried okra
god’s grace in practice
i should be folding laundry
it’s almost naptime
jakezilla
journey to the prize
just another day in paradise
la vida dulce
lots of scotts
mamarazzi
may the beauty
metropolian mama
mom to the screaming masses
mommie blogs
mommie daze
mommin’ it up
mommy esquire
notes from the trenches
ohamanda
rainy day in may
rocks in my dryer
scribbit
sources of joy
standing at the crossroads
the diaper diaries
the fritz facts
these are a few of my favorite things
three ladies and a dad
total mom haircut
want not
well-mannered frivolity
you ott 2 know


friends and family
busy girl
carrie planet
chalkdust in my coffee
cleveland at heart
fried chicken and cheesesteaks
genesis moments
life after lemons
lilmisbusy
living for today
musings of a housewife
our family in phoenixville
puzzling aloud
sunny side of life
the raudenbush family
tica in boston

inspirations

a year of crockpotting
cookie madness
cupcake bakeshop
designHER mama
eggs on sunday
eliza grace design
hellomynameisheather
hooked on houses
inspireco
m.writes
portabellopixie
simply recipes
the pioneer woman cooks!
today’s creative blog

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learn from my mistakes. please.

When you get a kid’s activity book out of the library in an effort to find some fun summer activities, please note the following suggestions:

1. Age suggestions for crafts are put there for a reason. Please follow them, as the author of the activity book is probably smarter than you.

2. Painting is best done outside. So a large painting project is NOT the best idea for a rainy day.

3. Children will use approximately 4 times the amount of paint they really need to, so plan drying times accordingly. We will be completing this particular project sometime in the fall.

4. Do not turn your back for a SINGLE SECOND because they will start painting the INSIDE of the animal costumes they are making. Again, see number 3 as to estimated date of drying.

5. Plan to spend the ENTIRE REST OF THE DAY cleaning up said painting project. Because no matter how much newspaper you put on the floor, you will still need to clean the floor. And the refrigerator, dishwasher, wall, entire bathroom including the shower curtain, all of the clothes you and the artists are wearing, your hair and the children themselves.

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preschool graduation

Yesterday I arrived at the girls’ preschool early and parked, waiting for dismissal time. I could see Ellie’s class on the playground and I watched her.

She looks so old.

I remember the first time we came to this school. She was 3. She was so, so excited to go to school. But as we walked up to the doors, she grabbed my hand. We walked in and went to hang up her school bag. She was afraid to go into the classroom. She hid her face in my legs as her teacher greeted her. I had to pry her off and left her in tears, crying for "Mommy."

Now she jumps out of the car, grabs her teacher’s hand and – if I’m lucky – she’ll call "Bye, Mom!" over her shoulder as she charges into school, ready to take on the world.

And today, we’re walking into this school for her last time. Its her last day as a preschooler. She’s grown so much in her time here. She’s grown into a little girl. She is growing into her own person. Now, she will be a kindergartner. I cannot believe I will have a child in elementary school. It feels like she was just Colin’s size a few weeks ago. Now she is five and reading and writing and losing teeth and all sorts of big kid stuff.

Time is flying. And I desperately want to put it on ‘pause.’
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meme: a rose by any other name

I was tagged by Every Chapter to share what I call my "little roses."

Colin:
The Boy
Little man
The Baby
Bruiser
Little Buddy (by Grace)
Stinky Face (by Ellie. Its from a book. Really.)
Cutie Pie
Cranky McCrank
Squirmy Wormy
Baby Boy
Baby Girl (old habits die hard….)

Grace:
Gracie
Gracie Girl
Peanut
GRACE SANA GETINHERERIGHTNOW!
Sweetie
Princess
McWhiny (Not that she EVER whines….)
Chickadee

Ellie:
Elizabeth
Ellie Belly
Baby Girl
Babe
Little Lady
Sweetie
Chickadee
Princess Ellie (appropriate…)
ELIZABETH JAYNA STOPTHATIMMEDIATELY!!

How about you? What do you call your kiddos?

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as i drag myself off the couch

Well, its been cra-zazzy here this week. No joke. But loads has been accomplished.

Well, I finally cleaned. Then collapsed on the couch and fell FAST ASLEEP.
Can anyone tell me how our house can get so dirty?
I don’t mean cluttered. I know why its cluttered and messy. (Exhibit A: children. Exhibit B: Husband)
I mean DIRTY. I mean looking in the bucket of water you’re using to clean the floors and going "EWWW!" I mean the bathrooms. OH MY WORD, the bathrooms.
I’m exhausted. That took WAY too long.

BUT – I figured out what to get the girls teachers for gifts. I got them all these reuseable cotton grocery bags. Very green of me. And I’m helping women in need at the same time. Now I just need to write four touching and meaningful thank you notes and I can go sneak in another nap before Colin wakes up…

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spring is in the air….

I got inspired by spring this week. So I designed and made this:
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Have I mentioned how much I love ric rak? 🙂 I haven’t decided how I’m going to quilt it… but its just so cute! It’s so fun to be sewing again!

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