A Week in My Life: Wednesday

Today was light years better than yesterday. 

We started our day by oversleeping but it was kind of a non-issue since Husband is salary and can be late a little every now and then. All told he was probably only like 25 minutes late. 

We had a play date this morning which was all around lovely. The boys played. The girls napped and then played. The moms talked. It was the perfect play date. We need those sometimes. 

Lunch rolled around and I just couldn't face the PBJ train that we've been on so I made banana chocolate chip pancakes for lunch. They were good. 

She liked them. 

So did he. 

We also got excellent mail today. Our advent candle holder. I can't really call it a wreath since it's not but I am so excited. I have been searching for years for a decent one that spoke to me and then I found this one on Etsy. It shipped fast and looks great. I am very excited for Advent to start. 

All told, it was a pretty darn good day. 

Linking up again with Kathryn and the Team Whitaker for her Week In my Life Series.

Week in My Life: Tuesday

Standard art because though there are many positives to be said for the Chromebook, unzipping a file is not one.

There is an episode of Grey's Anatomy, where Derek Shepard, is faced with an impossible tumor. All the other doctors believe, as he did initially, that in order to remove it he would have to clip the cord and paralyze the patient. The patient, Issac, is a well loved hospital employee and he is very wise. (Or well written. Potato potato.) 

He tells Derek to "Go home, sleep on it. We'll talk more tomorrow." 

And that pretty much sums up my day. 

It poured. C went to school and learned about the letter O. M cried for two hours straight. I thought I was losing my mind from the crying.  And that's about how today went. 

After bedtime, when I was supposed to be cleaning the house for our play date tomorrow, I popped online for a few minutes. M's Godmother had posted an article about this artist, Emma Lindström.  She does these marble like paintings and for real if someone has $3000 they want to spend on some art for my house, I'll take Yuga because I love it. 

This painting speaks to my soul today. It's a beach. It's mica. It's happiness. It's heaven. It's fascinating. I cannot stop looking at this and gleaming some other new insight. It feels like how today felt. Full of promise.

"Go home, sleep on it. We'll talk more tomorrow." 

Week In My Life 2015: Monday

Hello all you friends and visitors. It is a Week in My Life 2015 hosted by Kathryn at Team Whitaker. Do you read her blog? Because you should. She is a party planner extraordinaire and she just got back from Chicago in which she did almost every single thing I would do on a Chicago weekend. What I am saying is that you're missing out if you're not reading her posts. 

Anyhoo, she is hosting this link up for a Week in My Life. You post a little bit about your life every day for a week. 

Today was about as normal Monday as it gets. It was raining so outside was not an option. Also M has been still getting over the cold and I think crazy teething so she has been extra snuggly. As is immediately coming out of her high chair after breakfast all she wanted to do was snuggle until morning nap. Which was kinda nice. 

The highlights of today include: 

• C got his National Geographic Kids Magazine. This issue was seemingly written for him. An identify the type of penguins including the Chinstrap penguin, Snow Leopards, Bats and even a Wild Kratts advertising. 
• M said "Hi Mama." She usually only says Dada even though she's perfectly capable of saying "Mama" so when she says hi just to me, I melt just a little. A lot actually. 
• Husband called with the news that he has more vacation time than he thought which means both our Thanksgiving and Christmas can start a day earlier. I am pretty excited!! 

So happy Monday everybody!

7QT

one. This kid. 

Oh how he makes me grow as a person. Everything he does is my learning curve too. I can only worry about so much before I become completely overwhelmed and feel like a failure. Then I step back and remember that: 

1. He is his own person. Comparing him to others steals both of our joy. 
2. Because he is his own person, every emotion and reaction is not a direct reflection on me and my parenting ability. 
3. What he really needs is for me to love him. Even when I am frustrated, love has to come first. 

I just need to remind myself occasionally. (Okay, frequently.) I think I am in the camp of age 3 is harder than age 2. Because 3 is kicking my butt. 

two. We had our quality time art class today. It was good. Until the end. There were tears again but not nearly so dramatic as last week. So I guess, at art class, my kid is just going to be the crying kid. We are a work in progress. 

It was because of this water table he was so upset to leave. It's always a sensory activity. Last week: water beads. This week: popcorn. Next week: I'm not sure but I bet you he's going to love it. 

I am glad he was having fun however. I am very glad for that. 

three. He also needs a haircut this weekend. 

four. M had to wear a hat outside today because it's cold and crazy windy. 

Her hair as a result was making me laugh. 

five. She does not need a haircut. It's going to be a long time before that's a concern of mine. 

six. I got my holiday scents from Scentsy. I know I haven't posted about it at all since last year but I am totally in love with Scentsy. I should probably just sign up just so that I get commission on my own orders. I am only half joking about that too. 

seven. 

Even though this morning did not go the way I wanted it to, I am going to be grateful for it. I am going to smile, make a lasagna for my family and focus on the good stuff. 

Theme Thursday: Close Up

Hey guess what? It's Thursday. 

Since apparently the sub-theme this week is throwback I am going to go with a throwback close-up picture. Because, gosh darn it, I just didn't take any pictures this week. 

Well, okay, technically I took a picture on Tuesday but it was of an X-ray craft for our sick day. That is boring and does not count. So while we are all getting over this cold that has slowly made it's way through the ranks, (I think we're on the happier side of things now but cross your fingers because I went ahead and typed that in.) no pictures were taken because sad, red eyes and runny noses are real life but not exactly close-up photo worthy. 

So anyway. Back to Theme Thursday. Picture it: 90 degrees, hazy and humid day in June. Father's Day. And I decided that we are going to go do a photo shoot at a new to us park. Good thing I did because I love the results of those pictures. 

Okay. Happy Thursday! Link up your close-ups with Micaela because I love having pictures to look at on Thursday. I have high hopes that I can get a decent group picture for next week. 

In The News

It's time for another "new stories Madeline wants to comment on" post. Okay. 

• Starbucks Cups. Besides the media and Donald Trump, have you actually encountered anyone even remotely upset that the cup is red? Asking for a friend. 

• This Target OCD Christmas shirt. Let's go back to the Starbucks cup thing. Why are we all making up these "offenses?" I still haven't heard anyone but the media decide they're outraged. I mean really, let's get outraged about something that matters. 

• Adult Coloring Books. I am pro-adult coloring books. I colored a coloring sheet every day in grad school so I totally buy the "stress relief" thing. I want one. 

• Everyone is all like Star Wars! I'm over here like, "The trailer for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 has been released!" I'm pretty excited. And I've still never *cough* seen the Star Wars movies in entirety. I saw a part where the one guy is getting smushed in a garbage compacter and then there's those creepy Teddy Bears. That's my knowledge of those movies. 

• We only got the Packers/North Carolina game on Sunday. I am decidedly anti-Packers. But I will try and push aside my feelings for a minute. While they did have a pretty bad game, especially from a team that by all accounts is pretty darn good, that does not excuse their sideline behavior. Get it together boys. And Mr. Rodgers, I am sure that you didn't mean to break the Surface, and I actually would have been just as frustrated, but remember that the cameras go where ever you go. Pro tip for you. 

• In Politics... what the heck? The caucus is in 81 days and I don't see a front runner in either party. I will say there's something intriguing about the idea that a person wouldn't need to take money from anyone to run for President and then to be President. But I am pretty sure that doesn't make Donald a reasonable option.

• I am decidedly pro Veterans! Happy Veterans Day to those who have served and are currently serving! 

Have a lovely Wednesday friends. 

Ramblings

The past few days have kept me on my toes. We (C mostly, M now and me just a smidgen.) got a cold. Nothing major, just runny noses that turns into a cough. Fluids and rest have been quite sufficient, but you know kids and illness aren't always a recipe for fun. But the snuggles have been awesome!

I kept C home from school today because my mom said to me last night "Would you want them to send their kids to your house if they were like him?" He is right on the fence of well but I figured play it safe. So we did letter X just the two of us while M napped. I got a run down on what they did at school today so we could follow suit a little.

It really shouldn't have surprised me but M is struggling in the transition to a sippy cup. This is the same girl who all but refused a bottle until she was 7 months old. Then only one specific brand. So really, this anti cup thing isn't so much a shock as it is a pain. Of course the brands of cups we had in the house weren't to her liking so I got two other brands and one may possibly be a contender. I would have her go cold turkey off the bottle and just have to use the cups but she's sick and I just want her to have plenty of fluids.

It's hilarious to me though that when I google this, there are a lot of princesses out there who have likes and dislikes when it comes to sippy cups and there isn't a magic cup that works for everyone. At least I feel secure in the knowledge that I am trying to get rid of the bottle and my cupboard isn't the only one that looks like an aisle at Babies R Us.

In some sort of psychic moment, on Saturday when I manufactured the grocery list with Husband I asked for everything to be something I could prep the night before or something for the crockpot. It's been a huge relief to not be worried about dinner every night and yet we are still eating extremely well. I am not a "share all the meal plan" kind of girl but this week we have had and are anticipating:

Saturday: Rotisserie Chicken* 

Sunday: Crock pot roast and potatoes

Monday: Chili

Tuesday: Chicken Tacos

Wednesday: Egg Bake

Thursday: Lasagna

Friday: Homemade Pizza

(*Also made into soup and chicken noodle casserole that we froze for next week.)

Snazzy! This past weekend we also bagged up a solid portion of our leaves. The mature trees in our neighborhood are gorgeous but man does bagging leaves suck. We put out 9 bags this week, which isn't so bad. Hopefully the rest of the leaves left on our tree will drop this week so next weekend we can be done! I also told Husband that we are going to build our next house and plant only coniferous trees. 

He thinks I'm kidding. 

Have a great Tuesday!