12-hour crop and 3,000 miles

The girls are spending the night at grandma's.
Brian is spending the evening with Troy.
I am spending the day/evening at Archivers with Gretchen for their 12 hour Mother's Day crop!

My goal was to complete 10 pages during the 11 hours we would be there.  I figured I would at least be able to complete one per hour (or so).
Kari was scrapping with us (in Ecuador) and we decided to send each other messages and pictures during the evening.    That was FUN scrapping with her!!!

It has been so long since I have scrapbooked.  I have had thoughts and ideas about ways that I can change my daily habits to fit it in.  I have tried setting goals of a page a week (4 weeks then FAILED), I have tried a page a month (can't even do that...FAILED), I have tried taking time off of work one day per month to get some scrapbooking done (I would always fill my day with other household things that needed to get done and not have any time left FAILED).  So, I have surrendered to the idea that I just have to create when I can and enjoy it when I do.

I didn't get 10 pages done today but I did get 6 done- 6 more than I had done before we got there.

Page 1:  the warm up page (get the juices flowing)

 

Page 2

 

 



Page 3

Page 4


Page 5

Page 6



A blanket built for 3 and a half

Brian made a fire tonight.

Hannah and Hailey brought their babies out again and were playing park.

The two on the left, haven't been able to catch their names yet, are 'Sally's' (Hailey's daycare mom-name) and the two on the right, Emerson and Abigail, are 'Debbie's' (Hannah's daycare mom-name).  

Kinda sad that Jackie wasn't invited to this park party today (Jackie = me). 

Yet another sign

Yet another sign that spring is here.

The kids are starting to come out of their houses again.

Ally, from across the street, came over to see the girls which means that we didn't see Hannah for most of the night. 

Hannah: "Mom, can Ally sleep over sometime?"

Ally and I giggled.

Does she not see the huge age-gap between them?

Brian and I really should take advantage of the baby sitter that we have across the street. 

It's definitely not anything against Ally, we just don't ever go out.

We like our girls and we like being with them.  If we ever want to go out, we bring them with.

I know there is nothing wrong with that but it wouldn't hurt us to spend time alone every once in a while.

Lurking in the shadows....

Since it has been starting to get nice, most of our evenings consist of being outside.

There is still a chill in the air and I get cold sitting in the shade so tonight I was roaming around the driveway.  The girls had their strollers out and were playing 'park'.

Pause for explanation

Park is where the girls have strollers filled with baby dolls.  They pretend they are the daycare ladies and walk their kids to the park.  They get the babies out of the strollers, get them settled in the lawn, set them up with drinks and snacks and then sit and chat.  When they are done they pack up the kids, say goodbye and then stroll to different areas of the yard.  Within a few minutes they are at it again.

Resume original story

I turned around and saw my shadow. 

I wonder what it would feel like to have that shape?

Tall and thin.

A nice curve to the hips- not too much, just right.

I wonder if women who are tall and thin really appreciate it?  I am sure that like most, if they aren't concerned about their thunder thighs they probably hate their straight hair or big nose. 

One thing about having girls, it is so important to me that they grow up with a sense of self-love and acceptance.  I want to raise them in a house where they don't feel the pressure that society will already put on them to be thin and model-like.  I have tried really hard to assure that I am not walking around the house complaining about how I look or how I feel about the way I look, sure I have those feelings but I don't want them to see that.  Instead of walking around grumbling about it, I want to try to do something about it.  On my own without having to talk about it everyday so they hear it.

I don't really know anything about teaching self-worth to human beings but this is at least a start in the right direction.  I hope...

The apology

She did it!

Today was the day we had planned for all weekend.

I called around lunchtime to check on the kids.

I got a great report!

Jackie informed me that Hannah was really excited to give Jackson his card and when he was reading it all of the other kids gathered around to see what it was all about.

Jackie also said that Hannah was playing with Jackson and including him all day.

At one point the kids were going to play in the play-house and Hannah yelled out to Jackson to join them.  Things went well.

I am so proud of her!  I was nervous this morning, wondering if I had overdone it.  Maybe I talked about it too much?   Happy to see that it wasn't too much.  She took it in, she adjusted, and she made Jackson feel included.

Thata girl!  So proud of you Bean Machine!

Here it comes...slowly but surely

Little by little there are more and more signs that spring may actually be on it's way.

The hostas along the driveway are starting to come up and the trees are starting to bud.

Day One

See this?!  Brian is actually washing dishes and NO ONE is still eating!

Tonight was a good supper night.

There was no fighting.

Hannah ate good and we didn't spend the whole night reminding her to get food in her mouth or there would be no treat after dinner.

She actually ate everything on her plate, didn't once try to get out of having to finish it all and even finished before I did!

When she was done cleaning her spot at the table (throwing garbage in the garbage and carrying dirty dishes to the sink) she belted out "Daddy, that was much more fun to be done the same time then to be sitting at the table crying to finish!"

She is right!  That was much more fun!

We made a deal tonight that if she can keep it up for 10 days in a row we can do something special to celebrate.

Off to make our first sticker chart!  See ya!

Not bad for a 3 year old

Today Hannah made Jackson his apology card.

She asked me how to spell 'I'm Sorry' so I wrote it out on a piece of paper and handed it to her. 

This was her doing it all by herself!

I shouldn't be so shocked, after all she is 3 1/2, but then again could most 3 1/2 yr olds do this?

Maybe not most but I am sure a lot of them probably could.

The other side of the card says Love,Hannah and on the front she drew two kids playing in the mountains.

I hope this week goes better than Friday did.

Making amends in 2011

Today when I picked the girls up at daycare, Jackie asked Hannah to tell me what happened today.

Hannah immediately clamed up so I knew that I wasn't going to hear something I was going to be proud of.

Apparently when one of the little boys got to daycare today Hannah stood at the top of the stairs, pointed at him and said "Go away!  We don't like you and we don't want you hear! (then started giggling and got the other kids to join in)"

This little guy started to cry and his mom was not happy either.  Then his mom starting telling Jackie about how he talks at home about how mean Hannah is to him and how she is always leaving him out. 

Jackie was disappointed which didn't help things since I was disappointed too.

Hannah and I have talked a lot about how we should treat people and how this behavior is unacceptable.

She didn't get a treat when we got home and we cancelled movie night tonight.

We also talked about how we are going to make this right.

She will be making him a card this weekend and including stickers in the card because 'he likes stickers'.  Each day until Tuesday (the next day he comes to Jackie's) we are going to think of 2 things that we can do with him next week to be extra specially nice and go out of our way to make him feel special and be his friend.  Today's ideas were play Legos with him.  'He likes legos'

"I know what else, mom, I can read him a story- he would like that."

So, I guess this is a test of my parenting skills.  I feel sick.

On one hand, they are kids.  This isn't the first time she will say hurtful things to someone and she will get her fair share of kids saying hurtful things to her too.  Doesn't make me feel better- where is that baby that everyone just smiles at and pats on the head?   The one that doesn't hurt peoples feelings...

On the other hand it sort of bothers me.

When this boy started at daycare, Hannah would come home and tell stories about how he was mean to her,  he would push her, or call her names.  For a few months, off and on, she would talk about how she didn't want to go to Jackie's because he would be there.  I chalked these times up to kids being kids and figured it would work itself out. 

The feelings that I have today are

a) I should have done something a year ago when she was upset about him and the way he was treating her.  Maybe then Jackie could have dealt with them and worked it out before this much resentment built up.

-According to Jackie he was a little mean and misbehaved when he first started there at Jackie's but he is not that way anymore. 

b)  I feel like because I didn't pay too much attention to it, I wasn't protecting my daughter like I should be.  I am haivng those 'what an awful mom' thoughts of she was trying to tell me something and I didn't help her get through it.

I am probably thinking too much about this.  I consulted with my mom's group (a.k.a. Stacey) and she made me feel better but I still haven't been able to stop thinking about it all night.

My kid was a bully today and that does not sit well with me.

This is not who she is.  It is not who she has EVER been (except for one day when she was calling the kids meanies and poopy heads).  She plays with others well and usually is making sure everyone is included. 

This was not my child today.

She hung her head most of the evening and then I caught her 'texting'.

Me:  "Who ya writing to?"

Hannah:  "Jackson, to tell him I am sorry and I won't do that again."

I guess it's another sign of the times.

Road Closed

If it's not a toddler, dog, cart, or stroller.....

Reason #7 why I would love a bigger house.

This makes me jealous

Brian is leaving tomorrow to go to Detroit for work. 

This is a picture of the backpack that he has packed for his 3 day/2 night stay. 

Do you notice that there is still about 5-6 inches of room left?  

 If I were going  When I go out of town for an overnight (1) I have more than that.  Going out of town for 3 days/2 nights?  I would for sure have at least a full suitcase!  Maybe the small one but no doubt it would be jam packed.   After all, I have gotten my fair share of heavy stickers.   

REAL jealous that he can

a) know ahead of time what he will be 'in the mood' to where to only pack what he will need

b) have no worries or concern about 'what if it's cold?' or 'what if it's hot?' 

 c) do I even have to mention the shoe situation?

d) no need for a straightner, make up bag, 4-7 bottles of hair products

e)  no purse = no need for a 'back-up' purse

f)  obviously doesn't plan on changing outfits mid-day....(how do they get away with that?)

P.S. we are going to miss him

Actually left me speechless...giggling, but speechless

So here I am blogging about how sweet and caring Hannah is.  I talk about it almost every week.
About how she helps around the house, how she treats her sister, how great her manners are, etc.

Tonight we were watching Blues Clues.
The original host is Steve.

Then something happened and all of a sudden there is a new host, Joe.

We don't usually watch this show and it is just a new recent interest of Hannah's so we don't have the history of who, how, and why.  That part isn't important for this story anyways.

So tonight we are watching an episode and it was an older one so the host was Steve. 

Half way through the show Hannah looked at me and said "Mommy, you like Steve or Joe better?"

I reply with "I think Steve."

Hannah replies with "Joe is an ass."

Me:  "WHAT?!  Excuse me, what did you say? (said very calmly the second time- I am sure that I misheard her)

Hannah replies with "Joe is an ass, mom.  You know, like he is mean to his friends and stuff."

"Ummm, Hannah, please don't say that about anyone, that is not a nice thing to say."

(OMG!)

Yep- outta that sweet, adorable mouth

It says so right here

Hannah:  "Mommy, see on that box it says that your sweetie can help you.  That means I can help you, right?"

Another little sign that I must be doing something right. 

Many nights Hannah will want to play house or 'picnic' (that is another blog entry comin' up).  She usually starts with "Mom, how 'bout we play ___insert game here____ .  I will be the mom and you be the sweetie."

Happy Easter!

Brian and I hosted Easter this year.
I appreciate our family trucking out to Champlin so that we could have the kids at home and not have to run around today.  It is so much easier for us at our house- thanks guys for makin' the trip!

We started our morning with a basket hunt.  Hailey's was hidden in the glass cabinet of the entertainment center.  Hannah went looking for hers and after about 3 minutes, she was stumped.  "I wonder where he could have put it?"  I started to sense that she was ready to give up.  She appeared as though she was just going to start playing and if she stumbled across it, well-ok.
Me:  "Hannah, how about we clean up a litttle bit and then we can keep looking for it."
Hannah:  "Ok, what should we do?"
Me:  "Can you get some toliet paper for us and replace the roll in the bathroom for our company?"
Hannah:  "Sure"
She opened the cabinet and there it was!
Five minutes later she found baby Emerson's basket hidden in her room behind her laundry basket- no candy for Emerson but she did get animal crackers and some new outfits.

We had great food, great company, and spent about an hour on Skype with Kari, Andy, Kas, and Tin.

I really wanted to get a family picture today but Hailey was not real interested in pictures today.

This was the best we could do.

It was so nice today we were able to spend a good chunk of time outside.

Could spring finally be here?

Grammy's Easter Day

Today Grammy Judy had the kids over to color eggs, go on an egg hunt, and have lunch at Culvers.

We weren't going to see each other on the actual holiday so this was next best.

The kids had fun coloring their eggs although a few of them didn't quite make it...

After the eggs were colored they were off to find their eggs that were hidden in the living room.

Not so fast....not without a picture first!

Hailey didn't make it today.

We were up past midnight with the Busta's last night and she needed a nap today.  

We were going to try and bring her anyways since I feel so bad leaving her home but then she took a bite out of Hannah's arm and at that moment the decision was easy. 

Tags, hangers, and safety pins, Oh My!

Tuesday is drop off day.

The sale begins on Wednesday and lasts through Saturday.

I am NO WHERE NEAR being ready.  Surprised aren't you?!  (quiet!)

I have a habit of biting off more than I can chew and then getting so overwhelmed with my plan to work on 'projects' little by little and then never finding the time (or motivation). 

So, here I sit, 4 days before drop off trying to start getting things ready.

Stacey and family came over tonight to help me.

THANK YOU STACEY!

She was such a great help.  After all, she worked at Stuarts at the mall in high school- you know :-)  She was an expert tagger.  I love working on projects with Stacey- we balance each other out perfectly.

As I am freaking out about never-in-a-million-years being able to get this done she is don't-worry-we-will-get-it-done.  She was so helpful getting me organized and helping me figure out a place to start.  Figuring out prices and hanging items on hangers......all. night. long...

We didn't get everything done but we tagged and priced over $600 worth of items (130 total).

Instead of working like a dog until the wee hours of the nights the next few days, I decided to enroll in the Blaine/Andover sale as well.  Bought myself another weekend to get more things ready.

And the BEST part about that is that I spoke to the lady who runs the Blaine sale and she had made my consignor number the same so whatever I don't sell at Elk River I can bring to Blaine and won't need to re-tag ANYTHING! 

T.G.I.T.

Today is only Thursday but it is 'Friday' for all of us.

No daycare tomorrow, no work for mom or dad.

We celebrated by going to Chicken Wild for dinner.

While we were waiting for our dinner, Hannah wanted to practice writing our names.

She wrote her name all by herself and then needed me to spell the others for her.

There were a few letters that she needed me to write first (on a napkin- of course) and then she was able to write them herself.

Pretty good, eh?

Enough already...

April 20th and we woke up to snow on the ground.
It melted by the early afternoon but that didn't help things....I think we get it....we live in Minnesota, it snows here...blah, blah, blah.

Now get it out of your system and bring on the sun!

Diabetes in a bowl

It's Tuesday!

You know what that means?!

Yep- The Grandpa Dan Show and ice cream!!!

Tonight's choice= Wendy's Frosty with mini-chocolate chips.

Something's missing...

Both kids were taking a nap yesterday afternoon so I decided to sneak out and run to Target (for the 1st time for this week and the first time in 24 hours).
It started off amazing!  I could take as long as I wanted.  I didn't have to talk to anyone.  I didn't have to keep reminding the kids in the cart to 'keep it down' or 'use their inside voices'.
Going down the aisle, realize it's the wrong one? No problem, turn around and go down the right one.  No need to explain myself. Just do it.

Then about half way through my trip it made me a little sad.

Where were my little friends?
Who was going to keep track of my list, what we bought and what we still have left to get?
Who was going to be the tie breaker when I had choices to make?!

Note to self:  next time kids are sleeping, use the time to get something done in the house- the kids are actually very helpful shopping buddies