Special Mom and M time!

Hello and happy Thursday from over here where maybe the cooler weather will stick around for a bit now. Cue my grin over turning the air conditioning off again! This week has been chalk full of adventures. On Monday while C was at school M and I went to Carter's. The last time I took her I swore I wouldn't again and man I wish I had stuck to that plan. But I didn't. 

You may or may not know that Minnie Mouse has a Bowtique where she sells bows and bow ties too you know? Well our resident Minnie Mouse fan found a Christmas shirt with bows all over it. Except... two things... it' ugly and white. 

Now I am well aware of the fact that a girl's got opinions on what she wears. I get that. But since she's two and not say ten, I still hold the overwhelming vote. And my vote is that the shirt is ugly. And since it's white it would inevitably stain on the first wear. So the girl was vetoed. She wasn't super happy with that choice and we spent a great long time walking around the tiny little section and looking at the same three things. We settled for this dress: 

Which has printed silver bows on the tutu. I will tell you that I thought this wasn't super cute on the hanger but it was better than the white shirt. Anyway, once she got it on at home though it is a lot cuter than I anticipated. So... okay. 

Then on Tuesday M and I went to Walgreens to get C a new toothbrush and we came away with this: 

A Minnie Mouse pumpkin. Of course. I am not super big into "tacky" decorations but her birthday is so close to Halloween and it is going to be a Happy Helpers party. (Minnie and Daisy on the Roadster Racers show) So from my perspective it will double as a birthday decoration too. We did also get the tooth brush in case you were worried we got sidetracked. 

Yesterday was school picture day for C.

We practiced smiling in the car line so hopefully his picture will turn out. Note his nice shirt which was the whole reason for going to Carter's in the first place. After school he had a playdate with his friend. I dropped him off and M was SO sad that she didn't get to go too. So we went to the grocery store for cake mix and we baked a cake. And she got to decorate it! 

I didn't take a picture before we ate some but you'll still get a pretty good idea of what it looked like. 

It was just a pile of pink sprinkles that I was able to distribute out a little bit more than the large pile she dumped on the cake. Luckily it was a very tasty cake. My kids don't tend to love cake for whatever reason but they ate the heck out of their piece last night! They do really like red velvet cake we've learned, which works out because I love it too. 

I don't think there will be much (if any) adventure today but it has been a fun week with my girl and accomplishing tasks. (With a few splurges just because.) 

Best Laid Plans

We have been trying to pack in some family fun but it hasn't been the easiest thing to do. I know I have written about how M wakes up at the crack of dawn. We have an OK to Wake clock and it doesn't make a hill of beans of difference in what time she wakes up. Apparently staying in bed awake isn't boring enough to go back to sleep.

Well because of preschool being in the afternoon she has all but done away with her nap. It's terrible and I cry. Occasionally she will still crash but it's like once a week or so now.

She's over tired my daughter of mine. And it makes doing anything really hard.

Friday night we planned a pizza party while we watched "The new Beauty and the Beast" on Netflix. C was super excited. But Little Miss Overtired was too wired to watch and wound up running around the living room distracting everyone.

Saturday we went to our 4th annual Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was probably the most planned out visit for us which was good. But alas... it was probably the worst of all four we've attended. It was HOT (low 90s) and M was again overtired. So she just wanted to run and run and run. And... they didn't launch any balloons. Which wasn't even for a good reason like weather so I was a little annoyed.

We stayed for a while to watch some of the balloons inflate but then I was over it. So we went home.

In bright news, M seems to have turned a corner on behavior at church. Which Hallelujah! We have found the recipe of what works for her. Which probably isn't the same at all as what works for other kids. I read a lot of blog posts and articles on how to get kids to sit well at Mass. My favorite is "don't let their feet touch the ground" HA! Nope. Also she is the girl who cannot be bribed so donuts never work for us. SAD. (I like donuts!)

What works for M is a Magna Doodle and a bag of crackers for "distraction" items. Nothing more nothing less. If she acts up or gets too loud she has to go to the car. Both of us bring our keys so either parent can execute this threat. The gathering space isn't a big enough threat. It has to be the car. If anyone goes to the car then everyone loses the chance to play on the playground. This has caused C to encourage M to listen and behave since his reward is tied to hers.

But she really has been doing better, so that's good. Light on the horizon and all that.

So that's how our weekend went. :) Two thwarted family fun nights and a decent Mass on Sunday.

Here We Are

Holy Shamoly. It's already Thursday. This week has just flown by. Seriously.

Monday I was able to get a ceiling coat up during the day so we could get the Lily Lavender up in the evening with a second ceiling coat. So we did that but we didn't close the windows and turn the AC on early enough and it was too humid. The walls weren't dry enough to do another purple coat.

Tuesday at the crack of dawn 7:30 8:00 when the guy showed up (How can one be running late on the first appointment of the day? And why is it so common with this guy that the guy last week warned us that the 7:30 appointment was more like 7:45ish?) we got ourselves a new water heater.

And GREAT-GOOGLY-MOOGLY I had no idea how horrible our water heater really was until we got ourselves a new one. I have taken two showers so far since the installation and they have blown me away. It's the birthday present I didn't know I wanted. But I am loving it.

Also Tuesday while C was at school and M was "resting" I got the second coat of paint up in M's room. After a trip to "The Orange Store" aka Home Depot to buy a new broom. Because I wanted to get a new broom a few weeks ago but Husband cleaned it out. Which was good. But then he went and cleaned up plaster dust with it and brooms are like $8 so... we got a new broom.

Which meant Tuesday night we started cleaning the room back up. Cleaning the floor (hers are original hardwood) and moving the first few items back in. Yesterday morning Husband put her bed back in. Still her little crib/toddler bed for now until we get a twin. So last night was her first night sleeping in her phase 1 big girl room!

We realized after some measuring that literally every single bed frame I like is too big for the space... so she is probably going to get a twin bed and box spring to sit on the floor for now. Mattresses are the correct length almost exactly! Her bed has to go in this space otherwise it would cover the floor vent. Poor second child and her tiny little closet of a room. I wish I was kidding, but when we dog sit, the master closet in that house is in fact bigger than M's room.


We are having a post Irma heat wave. I don't know if it's actually Irma related but it seems funny to me that the leaves are changing everywhere because it was so cool out for so long, and suddenly 90s! Anyway, after school yesterday we met our friends at the local Botanical Center for some splashing in the kid river. Because 91 on September 20 pretty much demands that right?! Meteorological summer is straight up not going out without a fight!

It was almost criminal, because for about 25 minutes it was just my kids and two other kids. As it was, when "everyone" who was coming was there (our friends and the other group) it was 5 families and 12 kids total. So still just about as empty as could be. It should have been packed but again, who was really expecting for the weather to be so hot and that the river was still open? But seriously it was great.

Anyway, here we are today, it thunderstormed last night which is excellent because September has been crazy dry. Just nuts. It's still a little gloomy this morning which is kind of nice since it's still going to be md 90s today. Happy last day of summer friends! I think we may get some ice cream to celebrate.

Weekend Report: Home Improvements

This weekend was spent doing home improvements. Yay. Well... it will be yay. It's currently at the slightly annoying phase but you get that right? 

We finally had the plaster repaired in M's room this past week and this weekend it was finally dry enough to prime. So  we did that. Tomorrow we will be able to start painting. We never did anything to her room before her arrival. We left it the same yellow color it already was and just bought some grey crib sheets and whatever. 

Not quite as bad as this but the poor kid needed some updates. The color I've had picked out for a long time now is Benjamin Moore's Lily Lavender. 

I am excited. With this big room makeover we are going to get her a big girl bed too. As soon as I find one I like. But the bedding? Well I can find bedding I like for days. 

This Minnie Mouse quilt and sheets from Ethan Allen? Swoon swoon swoon. Those little indents in the quilt are little tiny tasteful Minnies. Seriously I love it so much. It may be hard to top it! 

Pottery Barn kids also has some adorable options. But first... find a bed. Which has been surprisingly more difficult than I imagined. 

We also started stripping our banister and baluster. The previous homeowners slapped a coat of the cheapest white paint on them and it was dirty and gummy and gross. Plus the kids had chipped some pieces off. Underneath the white was a lovely olive green. Yuck! 

But tell me your thoughts on what I am told is a very on trend design of white spindles and natural wood toned banisters? The thing is our baluster is the cool and ornate piece. Maybe original to our 97 year old house, maybe? I don't really know but it's very pretty. And the wood grain is beautiful, which we just found out yesterday. 

But do you like the wood baluster and banister look? 

Our baluster looks the most like this one.

Or do you like the wood banister and white baluster look better? 

Or should we just paint it all white again which was the original plan before I found out the wood was pretty and that this two toned step thing is in fact a thing? 

Otherwise the weekend was pretty unremarkable. My Vikings and their poor backup quarterback were trounced...but the Packers lost too so I can handle it. 

Fri-Yay (Yeah, I went there.)

It's Friday! Which is my most favorite kind of day. It especially sweet after a full week. I mean, first but certainly not last in "the good things" about Friday is that there is a new Mickey and the Roadster Racers today. Important stuff for the people in this house.

Picture lovingly borrowed from Disney Jr's Insta

Today was our first art class of the season. Because C has school in the afternoon he gets to take the class too. So we have certainly gone about as full circle as we can get. For the first time, I think ever, we actually did every single craft. I even let them paint. (Who am I?!)

Admittedly for stamping and painting I did utilize the paint shirts that Miss Erin brings every time. She is awesome and we love her. Her son is in C's class and she teaches at the big school in the afternoons. She also does Children's Liturgy of the Word once a month. Miss Erin rocks. Look at these cute crafts she comes up with!

Note my guy and his sorcerer Mickey, Donald and Goofy. My kid likes what he likes. It's going to make Friday mornings fun for us at least!

Which makes up for yesterday I guess. We had a plumber coming to fix the water heater because it is leaking from the top. Easy peasy right? Nope. Guess what we get on Tuesday? A water heater! Since we've lived here... almost five years we have gotten:

• Washer and Dryer (this one we knew about since they weren't coming with the house) 
• New Range
• New Fridge
• New Dishwasher
• New Roof
• And almost a New Water Heater

If you could all say a prayer for my furnace since it's pretty much the last appliance we haven't replaced. Though we have had to have a guy out twice to fix it so, seriously, we'd love a prayer for the furnace! 

The thing about yesterday is I was kind of whatever about the whole thing. Like, sure, I can think of a whole lotta other things I'd rather spend a bunch of money on. Couldn't everyone? But I love clean laundry and hot showers so it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I didn't even care that Husband was running late and couldn't take C to school like he was supposed to. Really. I was rolling with it. 

But when I got a Diet Coke instead of a regular I just about broke down in tears. Why cruel world?! I mean, I know that is a first world problem at it's finest but expectations you know? And bleh, Diet Coke is not tasty to me so it was a rude awakening. 

But today certainly evens it all out. Except it's hot. And will be in 90s all weekend. Meh. I'll be here just going with it because there's no accounting for Mother Nature and her finicky behavior. Have a good one friends!

Fall Food

So it's practically Fall here. I mean it isn't meteorological Fall until next week. But the nights are cool and some of the days are even cool. Which means we are in the best time of year where we don't use the heat or the air conditioning!

Also it brings us to the most delicious time of year. Fall food is excellent because you can start using your oven again and not even worrying about it.

Last night we made the Honey Mustard Sheet Pan dinner Beth suggested. I did just use store bought Honey Mustard dressing, no shame in my game, but it was delicious. C ate all his chicken and asked for more, which almost never happens with meat. M loved the potatoes but that isn't the most ringing endorsement as she just loves potatoes. (Funny enough, C won't touch them!)

I took no pictures of the food so here is an unrelated picture of Sorcerer Mickey doing magic and taking Ortensia's flower hat away.

This morning I made Billie Jo's recommended Pumpkin Chip Muffins. I have made these before and I was SO excited to make them. I bought pumpkin at the grocery store especially for these muffins. What I forgot was muffin cups. But I figured I could just spray the pan and all would be well. Not so my friends. While they were baking it just smelled off, like they were scorching. But they looked fine. That's because the sides and bottoms were in fact scorching. *whomp whomp whomp* 

A few turned out okay and they taste wonderful as I knew they would. But I will have to get some muffin cups and try this over again because this batch was not as fabulous as I anticipated. But still, pumpkin muffins surely announce that Fall is here too. I could go in and take a picture of them all charred up on the bottom, but you don't really need to see that. 

Do you have any other great Fall recipes I shouldn't miss out on? Would you like a recipe? I posted a link to this last week but as it's the only fairly new-to-me recipe I've made lately I can go ahead and post it again. 

Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes and Apples. I have made this both as a make ahead freezer meal and a just put all the raw ingredients in the crock pot meal. And it's really good. It's the only pork chops I've ever liked. (Though I haven't tried the ones Billie Jo just recommended the other day yet.) And I'll admit, I got a little nervous putting 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar in... but I was not disappointed at all. 

I made this for my SIL as a make ahead meal and they said they liked it. And we like it. And the lady who wrote the recipe likes it. So we can't all be crazy. Just make sure some of the sweet potatoes and apples are on top of the pork chops and you'll be golden! 

Okay, have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Really Just Rambling

Good morning! I am feeling pretty on top of life today which is kind of a nice change so I am just embracing that! I actually feel rested this morning on top of the fact that I immediately got to work to get dinner into the crock pot. I made this but without the freezing it ahead part. 

And it you can be the most impressed because it was supposed to be our dinner yesterday and I didn't remember until about 2:45 that it was supposed to be in the crock pot... whomp whomp. So yesterday we had our shrimp poppers dinner and we're all just going to go with best intentions on that whole meat on Friday thing. 

Did you read the NY Times article about the adorably cute married for 75 years couple named Harvey and Irma?  Well you should if you haven't because they're wonderful. All these hurricanes make me sad and I just hope that somehow Irma is not as horrible as predicted because my poor little heart can't take it. And with the wild fires out west it's just a lot of rather harsh perspective. 

I did a pretty terrible job taking pictures this week and only have this to offer you. 

My parents sent us a package of things they got at the State Fair and then included this Vikings cheerleader outfit for M and C got a shirt. C is saving his shirt for Monday but M didn't last four minutes before it was put on. You can't see but I put a yellow bow in her hair too. Because her hair has that bit of curl to it, she has a very cute cheerleader ponytail. 

It seems crazy that football season is already here again. My fantasy football team Down By the Schoolyard is playing my dad this week. And he had a guy yesterday who got 39 points! That's kind of unreal. 

Tonight my bestie is coming over to play Settlers of Catan: Seafarers expansion. I got both the regular game and the expansion for my birthday. I really enjoy playing and have played with my family before. But my brother took the copy of the game with him to Virginia and I figured that he wouldn't fly it home every holiday. 

Also this weekend marks the best Greek Orthodox church's Greek Fest. With a drive through to get the Baklava. Oh my yum. I just love fresh Baklava. Which also probably means I need to watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding... 

Oh! And Hollywood remembered that people like romantic comedies and they actually made one! Of course it will be reviewed terribly but this is my not caring face. Haters gonna hate and all that. I cannot wait to go see it! 

Hopefully this week some time. I will say that I find it highly suspect that every time an actual movie I want to go see comes out (rare) the concession coupon of the week is terrible. But when it's Spiderman 27 and War Movie: It's Epic they have free popcorn with a pop kind of coupons. I'm on to you movie theater... 

Thanks for reading my ramblings if you made it this far. Happy weekend!! 

Planning Ahead

Life is just keeping on keeping on in these parts. Which is the weirdest thing about death isn't it? For loved ones, everything changes in an instant. But the world as a whole moves forward in a typical fashion.

I have not found my groove yet to the school year. The first week was one day long. The second week was interrupted by the funeral. This week obviously is shorter too. Maybe next week I'll figure it out. The past two years with morning school I had to get it together. I am NOT a morning person. But 2 or 4 mornings a week I had no choice but to be. Afternoon TK is another story and I need to figure out a routine that helps me get it together in the mornings. And feel a little more like this:

Today is the first real "feels like Fall day" here. Everyone is wearing jeans. Which is kind of nice actually. I love jeans! But it got me a little panicked about the "w" word which I am not going to type here because I am not going to will it into existence.

Anyway, I bought M her "w" coat today. Last year somehow magically all the gear fit and I just had to buy a pair of boots. This year I knew she was going to need a coat. There is a very long story that did not impress my mom or Husband so just know I bought the exact coat I wanted for less than I thought I would spend. Winning.

So even though I haven't found my groove just yet, I am trying to get ahead of the game a little. Halloween costumes are done(ish). The kids know what they want to be. I have C's costume. I ordered M's and it comes on Friday. The only thing I need to do is to buy the base layer items. C needs a shirt and M needs leggings.

I have made M's birthday list and started some Christmas lists for both kids. It seems crazy to be thinking about Christmas already but golly if Fall doesn't always get away from me if I don't. Luckily Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that takes care of itself!!

Anyway happy Wednesday! Can you believe we're already this much closer to weekend? Yay!

Friday. I love Fridays.

Hello Lovelies!

So yesterday was my birthday. My golden birthday. And now I am 31. So that's pretty exciting to me. Honestly.

It was not a particularly good birthday however because it was also Ann's funeral. Yeah, not in anyone's top 10 list of how to spend a birthday that's for sure. But, there it was. It was actually surprising how many of Husband's relatives remembered that it was my birthday, which was very sweet.

The funeral itself was well attended and healing. Well I gather that it was for those able to attend anyhow. It was a 1:00 funeral which is a wonderful time a day for farmers. (The bulk of people in attendance.) It was not a great time of day for M. Since it is her nap time. And she didn't fall asleep the night before until at least 10:00. And it literally doesn't matter what time she goes to bed, she wakes up at 6:00.

So I spent the bulk of the funeral in a room with a couch with a SCREAMING SOBBING two-year-old. It's not her fault. It's no one's fault obviously. But I do feel a little cheated out of the time to mourn. I didn't really get a chance to be sad yesterday and that frankly kind of sucks.

But we are home again. And we are going to heal. C my sensitive boy, did not take the news of his newest cousin well. And he had a lot of feelings to work out and the funeral definitely helped with that. For sure. And my mama heart is very grateful for that. Our kids also got to play with their cousins (Ann's sisters) and that was good for all of them I think.

Today we are going to celebrate my birthday and it's going to be good. And we are going into this long weekend ready to buckle down and potty train. (Wish us luck!! We need it!)