Has it been almost a year

It has been almost a year since I last posted. CRAZY! I will admit I have thought about posting something..but life gets in the way I guess. So I will just pick up where I left off.

Today was a weird day. We have rain..POURING RAIN..but a high of 66..IN JANUARY! While I love the warmer weather..it is a freaky feeling. I wonder what Chicago will be like in 20 years? We have such warm and dry weather for the last few years. I wonder if Chicago will ever be like the South..warmish all year long when the kids get older.
Since it was raining ..I spent the day taking down the last of my Christmas decorations. I have been taking things down for the last few weeks. Little by little. I am ready to say good bye for another year. Start my Spring cleaning early.
I got some bad news 2 weeks ago. My main income of children I watch the Dad was laid off. So I in turn was laid off too. I am trying to hold out that the Dad gets a new job and the 3 littles will return to me. I figured I would spend the next few days getting the house in order and by Friday put some flyers up for maybe some new kids. I would like to at least just get one child  to tie me over. Just in case it takes a while to get new a new job. I do not want to fill up and not leave room for my 3 to return. I love those babies. I cried when they has their last day last week. I have to keep telling myself it is a vacation.
I have to just keep busy.

Meaghan is dancing again. She is doing 5 group dances and a Solo. Our dance season just started so I don't have too much to report. The girls have competed their dances one time. They did very well. Some cleaning up needs to be done. But I think nerves were part of problems. These girls are so talented. I cant wait to see them preform again in February. I love the costumes this year. More pictures to come as I get more. On a side note Meaghan did get a scholarship for a summer intensive. I am so proud of her.

Jimmy..Oh the last years of high school are so hard sometimes. I can cry at the thought of him leaving me in a few years. We have talked about college and he want to do something with CAD. So we are exploring places for college. He got his drivers license recently and it has made thing so much easier. He can run those little errands that I need done now. YEAH! He is so good about helping me out.

So I am off to get more of the Christmas stuff boxed up. I am in the last run. Then I have to tackle the storage room. That is a mess! How to get it all back in there! I'd say it is half full with just Christmas bin and boxes. CRAZY! Time to clear some of the other things out! Like Jimmys crib bedding...No joke it is down there in a box. I just saw it today. LOL! I also threw away a 24 year old sock. It was a sock that my Grandma gave me the year after I graduated and had a full time job. Lost its mate so it is GONE. But that proves I don't throw good stuff away. I think of myself as living in a World like Mad Max. 

Crazy Days

Things have been busy around here. I finally have ALL my Christmas decorations down and put away. I still want to reorganize my storage room. It has some potential to be de cluttered again.

Meaghan had another competition last weekend. Her team did GREAT! I am so proud of all of them. After so many years you kinda start to think of these girls as an extension of your own daughter. Meaghan did very well. Much improved even since the last competition. She came is second in  her age and type of dance and then 8th over all. That is 8th out of 63 dances. Pretty good odds. She told me right after that she wants to try to do better next time. She is feeling more comfortable each time she dances.
She only has group dances this weekend.  It is also a convention. Which means she gets to take classes . YEAH! I hope they do well.
I am thinking I might join the local gym. I have the time int he evening to workout. I keep thinking about it. I just hate to spend the money I guess. I need to get back on the wagon. LOL! Maybe if it is nice out I will walk around the hotel outside. I think it is going to be nice out.
I am starting to decorate for St Patricks Day. I don't have a lot of decorations so this is my chance to get some made and hold onto  for next year.
This is my only thing so far. LOL! I think it is cute. :)

Big news!

First Meaghan and I went to JUMP dance convention. SO much fun! I really enjoy this convention. Meaghan has told me many times that she learned a lot from the teachers. I get a little happy feeling when she finds  that she can do a turn better or a jump from something that she learned.

The big news is that she came in second place in her age division  for her Solo. I was was no nervous for her. I could not even concentrate on the actual song but I was thinking of her dance in parts. I would think..ok turn combo..don't fall out of it. Then a leap..was she high enough and nice toes etc. I am not really that picky but I know she is hard on herself so I want to give her some encouragement if she does say something negative that happened. But in all she did well  for her first time.  A few pictures.
By the time we left Meaghan was asking can I get those boots at Target? As a reward for 2nd place. We had looked at them before and she was using a gift card that day so I just let her pick. She chose a pair of grey skate shoes instead. But right after she said I should have gotten the boots.
So I could not resist the 20 buck boots. She was so happy to get them. I was just happy to get home. It was getting icy by us and I just wanted to get off the roads. But you can tell from her face she was thrilled with them.

Flu has hit

And I am down...

The clean out

Today I really worked on the basement. IT WAS BAD! The kids had really destroyed it. There was too much down there to pull out and make a huge mess with. I had not been down there really in weeks except to let the dogs out the back door. I was going to tackle it last week but it never happened. Today was a quieter day so I thought it was a better day to do a lot of it without being distracted.I think I threw away 5 black garbage bags of just trash and broken toys and such. It felt good to get rid of them. I am still plugging away. A little each day.
 Last night I put away more Christmas decorations. I am sad to see the tree go down. I really like having my tree up. There has been many years it was still up in JUNE! Pictures of the kids birthdays with the tree up in the background. I love Christmas. I love all the lights and decorations. Even more than the presents.  But I am trying to be a good Mommy and get more organized .  2012 is the year!
DIG out and clear out the stuff.

The problem is TIME!

 I am going to go with a centers theme downstairs. Put the bean bags by the books so kids can read. Kitchen area with babies and play house type stuff. I am paring down A LOT! There is just too much and the kids don't seem to notice that there is less of a certain toy. Plus clean up will be so much simpler. Once that is done it is the office and my craft room. UGH! The craft room is out of control!
Handmade stuff this year for Christmas for everyone! LOL!

My Mom gave me this basket a long time ago. I love this basket for knitting. I think it is a Martha Stewart brand. I love Martha stuff. At least when she had  an on line store.  She had the best items. Anyways I found this basket again and  moved it to the living room so I can pick up my latest project.  The scarf is coming along. :)
My Mom would be proud since I threw away probably 100lbs of magazines. Or should I say she would be mad since she wants to make these . I do like them myself. I just hope she actually makes them for us. Cause I cant do another project. Or add another to my list. LOL! they look so pretty. I can see them in my Dining room table for next year. With lots of glitter. :)

New Year

Yesterday was a pretty easy transition back to work. I ate pretty well and went to bed WAY TOO LATE! Another 6 hours of sleep night\day. I am actually feeling pretty good for only that many hours.
Today is work day of taking more Christmas decorations down. I will leave some of it up that is Snowman related. I only have one table of that in the foyer. I messed up the storage room so I will need to work in there to put all my Christmas boxes and bins back in a organized way for next year. Now that I found more boxes that were buried in the way way back of the storage room I can get those all together for next year.

I found a box of older game systems. I need to check with jim and Jimmy to see what they want to do with them. the box is just full of cords and such so it is a mish mash of stuff. I am sure it would be worth something is it was organized a little.

I found an old jacket of Jimmys that I was going to give away but decided not to and keep it for maybe his kids. It was a favorite of his. So cute! He was into Army and all that back when he was in Kindergarten. I should write something about that in his book tonight.

I am plugging away on my scarf. Little by little. My carpel tunnel gets bad after awhile of knitting. So I took a break from it yesterday. I love the color. I am already on my second ball of yarn so it should go fast . I am not sure what I want to do for my next project. Maybe something for Valentines Day. :)

I'm back

The Christmas holiday is over and I am back to work. It was a nice holiday that was very relaxing. I would post pictures but for some reason I can't get them to load. Christmas Eve we went to dinner with my In laws and had them back to our home for dessert, exchanging gifts and just chatting it up. We dont see them very often. Maybe once every few months or so. So it was nice to catch up. We were WAY late talking into the night..It is fun to hear stories that they tell .

Christmas Day the four of us just stayed home and relaxed. It was a nice change to not go anywhere or have company. Jim made most of the meals that day. I guess he was in the mood to cook. So let him. :) I wasn't going to pass that up. Jim made a nice breakfast of omelets and bacon and juice. We were laughing since we never eat bacon and this time he made 2lbs of it. So there was no you only get 2 slices type morning. Everyone got their fill.

Tuesday Wednesday and today I was back babysitting but it was only for my neice. EASY PEASY! Meaghan and her just play. My plans of getting my whole house cleaned vanished! I still have time to get more work done before ALL the kids get back. Next week we are back to school and full schedule. Maybe this weekend I can make a dent in the basement play area.

Diet wise I am semi back on plan. Lots of veggies and water to drink and lots of veggies. But I have noticed that I am more tired in the morning. The wonders of eating worse than I was. So this tells me that really what you put in matters to your body. Tomorrow I am back on plan full time . No excuses.

Tonight I am knitting. I want to use up some stash yarn I have. I have LOTS! It will give me something to do with my hands in the evening. That is my worst time to break from plan. I need something to combat  night time eating. I think I get tired and just want to snack.

This is a simple scarf so far. Love the color. No one in mind yet for it. Just knitting it up. I'll decide later. the color is a pretty pink. Ill post a picture later...when I can get this blog working right.

I fell

Off the wagon. I ate horrible today. I was running like crazy all day. Breakfast was spinach in a bowl with Salt,pepper and balsamic on it.I  just grabbed a salad from McDonalds for lunch. Then dinner I had salmon with another salad but I had 2 slices of cheese on it. So I am sure the calories are out there. I wanted to stay on track today before the next 2 days. If I need to do reset again I will. I never did my exercise. I slept till 11 am so I missed breakfast and my workout. BOO!

I just cleaned today. Picked up a  few last minute shopping things. It took me almost 40 minutes to get out of our local shopping mall. The traffic was that bad.
I will be doing some last minute wrapping tonight. Just to get it out of the way. We don't have to be out the door too early tomorrow.
Jim agreed to do the grocery shopping tomorrow so I am glad that is one thing less that I have to do with the crowds. I offered to do it today but he said he would.
I ordered compression pants from Old Navy. I want to try them out for working out. I used to wear shorts but it is too cold right now and this will be a little better. My neighbor that I don't know very well has become a runner in the last year. She was heavier earlier in the year then now...she is a TWIG! I see her running a lot. I sometimes think to myself she must be running now to relive stress since she was always a sour apple kind of girl . When you see her she ignores you. So I ignore her now. I think of it as minding my own business. :)
I made Kale chips for the first time...Um they are....Um interesting. Not bad I actually liked the ones that were not all crispy yet. I just drizzled olive oil and salt and pepper on them. I am sure I could add garlic to it too. Not bad..just different. Not a chip to me though. LOL! Just crisped up Kale. LOL!
Time for me to wind down and throw a load of laundry in before I change for bed. I am out of undies so they  have to be washed tonight! My goal is to be in bed at a decent hour. I cant afford to sleep till 11 again! Crazy!

Exercise and BUSY!

Today we went to my parents to help them with some last minute decorating and just stuff. I stuck with my plan and did fine while out there.
Smoothie for Breakfast. I added cinnamon this time and it was GOOD! Just to change it up a little bit.The Kids said that looks so gross. I dont look at the smoothie when I use Hemp. If I dont see it I can drink it. LOL!
Lunch was veggies and Tuna. I still love this Lunch. It is filling with the  cucumbers. I have my Balsamic on a spinach salad.  YUM!
Dinner was Salmon with mixed veggies and a spinach salad. I seem to prefer the spinach to lettuce.

We had a good day. But I am pooped.We put up my Parents Tree and decorated the mantle to the fireplace. .Looks great. Get a little Christmas Cheer going. I wish I took a picture.  I am ready to get my Jammies on and get to bed early. Tomorrow is a cleaning day to get ready for the In laws to come over. Finish wrapping kids presents. I even need to send cards. They will be late but still sent. :)
I also bought my poster board for my inspiration board. Cant hurt right?
I was looking at a magazine and was trying to imagine..what movie star do I look like? Is there one? Then I could put her thin self on the board. Inspire me!
I like Reece Witherspoon. I don't look like her at all. When I get some pictures up I will show you. :)
I like Kate from Runs for Cookies. She lost over 100 lbs just eating right and exercise.

 I want to be a runner. I remember in high school we had track as a sport to play. So we had to run around a track. I remember feeling really good afterwards. In high school I was a swimmer. I was good but not great. I was not fast. But I did try. For a person who taught herself to swim..not bad.
Once I lose a little more weight I will go in to be fitted for running shoes. One of my goals. I found a plan on line to get you to a 5K in 12 weeks. I can do anything for 12 weeks. So starting tomorrow I am going to start the plan and still do my Pink workout DVD's. The starting of the %K training is only 15 minutes of Run\walking. So I am not becoming a marathoner over night. That brings me to March 16th. Do you think I can do it?

Starting with Hemp

Last night after I picked Meaghan up from dance I ran to The Vitamin Shoppe. I bought hemp protein and a detox tea. The Detox tea was kinda yuck but I did drink it down in gulps. It had a cinnamon kinda taste. At 3am I woke up with a tummy ache and Boom..It seemed to work.the only problem was that I really did not need that kind of Detox. I don't think I am eating enough to Detox. LOL! So I will not try that tea for awhile.
The Hemp I tried today. I made my shake as usual and it was OK. I added some vanilla extract for taste to Pink Shake #1. I still have not tried 2 and 3 yet. Maybe over the weekend. The color was gross but it tasted ok. I was envisioning people who eat and drink all this crap before  I started eating this crap. LOL! It is actually good. And good for me. :) The Hemp has kept me full for about 2 hours so far. I am going to eat lunch even if I am not hungry per say. Just to stay on plan. I might just stretch it out a bit. I am starving by 5PM but by 10 PM I am hungry again. Carrots are not going to cut it either. I need to figure this out..
I did stray last night from the diet as far as I stayed up too late so I was hungry. My tummy was empty. I am a person who likes to have a full tummy going to bed. So I ate some hot pepper jack cheese. It was good but I was kinds feeling like..You should have just gone to bed. But this is a life change. I cant not eat anything "bad" forever.
Christmas eve I will be eating off plan and probably Christmas Day partially. It is not realistic to eat every meal of my life on plan. But I will eat as many as I can ON plan.
Weigh in is Friday officially.
Meaghan and I took a drive tonight to drop off some Christmas presents to my Brothers. Then headed to Corner Bakery for dinner. I wish I had eaten at home. I did what I could to keep the calories down. I had a harvest salad. Which when I looked up the nutrition of it. UGH! It is bad! The salt alone. It does not fit in the Reset  calorie wise but I guess I can let it slide. At least it was a salad and not a burger. I am full so to bed earlier tonight so I don't eat anything else!

HARVEST SALAD

Serving Size:

Calories	760
Carbs	71
Net Carbs	N/A

Protein	22
Fiber	10
Fat	45

Trans Fat	0
Sodium	1440

 

Today I had work so I was up early and running. My morning smoothie was a good pick me up to get moving. I am going to buy some hemp powder next. Just the smallest bag to give it a try. After reading a little more about it it sounds like it will keep you fuller longer and just as healthy. I also bought some Greek yogurt to try in my smoothie for a change later too. This all about learning to eat better and in a different way. I forgot my spinach in my drink. Darn! But I bought new straws. Sounds so simple. The straws I had were really small and I did not like them for my smoothie. It took forever to drink from and if there were and chunks of fruit they would get stuck. I cant wait to get them in the mail. Love Amazon for the 2 days shipping.
Lunch was Chicken breast on my Forman grill, Zucchini and onions that were streamed with garlic and a tossed spinach salad with all kinds of veggies. Balsamic S&P for dressing. YUM!
Dinner was lasagna at Bunco. I did well for what was served. I had a healthy salad and a little of the lasagna. The only thing not on plan was the bread. I had bread. I could not resist. :) Ah well. That is life. I only do Bunco once a month and we are on break for two months now since the weather is so bad here in January and February.
Finished my water for the day. I measured it in a pitcher and drank from that all day. I finished it about 2:30pm so anything after was bonus.
Weight stayed the same or actually down 1lb from yesterday. But I think that is due to eating a bigger than normal dinner Saturday night. So it is back to Fridays weight. 11lbs lost. Tomorrow will be the telling of if I am still losing.
Since I cant exercise on this plan I am trying to stay busy. I need to make space for me to walk on the treadmill and workout later. I know I have some weights already downstairs. Just need to round them up. I have less kids this week so  I decided to clean the basement! OH YEAH! NOT! Last week the kids trashed it and I just did not feel up to do a big cleaning each night. My plan for the next 2 weeks was to get it really organised and move some things out of the way . Jim has two TV's that need to be moved. I don't know why I even have them sitting on this table for 2 years! When Jim bought a new TV the old was moved to this spot. New Computer...same thing..moved to this spot. I did not envision this for the play area.
 So I will show before and afters when I make some progress.

Bad Blogger!

That is me! I think about blogging DAILY! but get so wrapped up in other stuff. Anyway lets try again. What is new with me?
I am on a diet. again...But this one seems to be actually working. It is called The Pink Method . It is so WORKING! I have lost 11lbs in 7 days. It is VERY clean eating. Very Healthy! I have no idea why I took so long to catch onto this.

The first week was pretty hard but it did get easier as the week ended. I am doing a 2nd week in what is called a Reset. Get your metabolism going. I know mine was probably at a halt.
I took measurements today. Still need pictures. YUCK! Who wants to see me FAT! A week late but that is fine. Once I get some results I will post losses. Lets just say in the program it is said I need to lose about 117lbs. But I dont think I will EVER get that low. I just want to get under 200 now. Then once I hit that..make another goal.
Today I had a
Protein Shake for Breakfast..YUM
Salmon with fresh spinach and a mix of all kinds of veggies. S&P with balsamic dressing YUMMY

Here I messed up and had some popcorn at the movies. I saw Breaking Dawn(talk about that later)

Tacos for dinner..I wrapped them in leafy lettuce not the iceburg kind. Then filled it with meat and carrots,spinach, Tomato,onion,cilantro. Wrapped that baby up and it was SO GOOD!
I feel really full now.
Then water, water, water all day. I am not even missing my Coke anymore. That was the hard part the 1st week. I am a Coke drinker and would not drink anywater. I did notice once I started to drink water for this plan my skin looks so much better. Clearer.
So I am still excited. I cant wait to start exercise part of the plan. I am feeling that good. :)
Meaghan even liked them. Said they were better than her regular taco. :)
She had a sleep over and was so CRABBY and sensitive. Also has a cough that has appeared in the  last 24 hours. Oh Boy! She needs some rest!

I decorated the house for Christmas and I am happy to have everything done. We are having Jim's parents over Christmas Eve so all I need to do is do some dusting and keeping things cleaned up. It would be great to be down a few more lbs by the end of the week. Even if it is 5 lbs.

I went shopping a little bit for my Bunco group tomorrow. We have our Christmas gathering tomorrow. I bought a table centerpeice for my gift. It is a grab bag. I kind hope I win my own gift! LOL! The snowman is not part of it. :)

Breaking Dawn. I love this series in books . I go to see each movie in the theater just for the big screen effect. I liked this one. This theater was filled with Moms. It was kinda funny. Sure some teens that giggles in the sex parts but othewise a bunch of moms like me. I guess the story of 1st love is timeless. No one ever forgets. The wedding part was beautiful. Bellas dress and hair ,the event was Beautiful. The adoration of Edward for Bella and the same for Bella. Ah LOVE! Makes me want to renew my vows . Well lets wait till after I lose some weight. One thing I hated I was a fluffy bride. I was so stressed about my wedding. I'd love to do it again..just on a smaller scale. :) HHMM maybe a goal? Ill have to write that down to remember it.
My first goal was 5lbs lost..reward I painted my nails the right way. I soaked them. Took my time with polish and top coat. Toes too.
10lb was a magazine that I wanted. It was more expensive at 14.99. The keeper kind.
Cottage Style. Just my style . Makes me want to repaint the whole inside of the house. Inspiration!

15lb loss ..I dont know yet. I need to think of something. Suggestions?
I am going to make a notebook tomorrow to put inspiration things in it. Pictures, quotes. Maybe make a Secret board. LOL! I never actually totally believed in the whole Secret thing. But who know I am willing to try anything to keep me on track.
Till tomorrow..Happy thoughts

Ah Clean..or cleaner

Friday I had some of my carpets cleaned. I had planned on the kids bedroms and the office but it  sis nto happen. I ran out of time to get ready. The kids did not get thier rooms clean enough to let the guys actually get to the whole Room. In a way it was good since I have a budget to keep in mind. So they ended up withthe living room and the hall and stairs. I am happy with that. I will have them back once I get the rooms cleaned out. LOTS OF STUFF!
What is it when you cant donate baby items? I cant get rid of a stroller or exersaucers to save my life. I have way too many rightr now. SO I am goign to pare down. I took a lamp out of the office that was Jim's grandmas. The donation guy came and said they would not want it. I want to laugh since it was in my office for the last 10 years! That tels you how ugly it was. I finally talked Jim into letting me get rid of it.
I guess we can try for this next pick up on Friday.
I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning my master bedroom. WOW!  We have a lot of clothes. Another place that needs to be pared down. It looks so much better. I move an old dining room table upstairs to make a dressing table for me. I am excited to pretty it up. I have plans fo the same for Meaghan. We have an old desk that needs to go. It is broken and neither kid has used it. It was Jims. I dont think we REALLY cares if I get rid of it. I know Meaghan will be happy to see it gone!

I broke down

I broke down and bought the Kindle Fire. I was holding out.I did not want to spend 200 on myself with Christmas around the corner. Dance always needs money.  BUT...I don't have a smart phone. I don't spend a lot of money on myself on clothes and such. I just got texting a year ago. I am not a techie kind of person. But I love my kindle DX I have now. I about 300 books on my Kindle. LOVE! Anyway I did stop in to look at the B& N Nook to see if I liked it which I did. But ...I have this kindle already and I want to use it mostly for reading. Then surfing the net. I do shop with Amazon a lot so it seems like ti would be  the right choice for me. Plus I cannot afford a Ipad. Just too much for what I would use it for. I am not a app person really. I don't carry my pictures everywhere or do face time. Etc.
It should be here 11\30-12\7. I cannot wait!
The second thing is I had my carpets cleaned this AM. WOOT!! WOOT!!My Living room is all open with no furniture. The room looks so much bigger! I am thinking  of pulling my Christmas tree out and put it up at least with lights.  Move some furniture out of the room maybe. It is feeling a little closed in for me. I have to large sofas that take up a lot of the room. I should have stuck with one sofa when we bought our furniture. Now I don't have anywhere else to put a second one in the house.  Something has to go.
My plan is to keep the kids toys and playing to the basement. The upstairs living room is just too messy all the time with toys. Plus the carpet in the basement is berber and beige with a pattern so it hides a lot of dirt and messes kids make. Where the upstairs is cream and hides NOTHING! I would love wood floors throughout the house.
Well time to tackle more cleaning for the holidays. I am thinking about that tree...LOL!

I was thinking...

Yes actually thinking going on. There are many times I am forgetting things or I cant find the info that I need in my brain. Drives me nuts!
I read a book the other day that i thought I did not read before. Sams letters to Jennifer. I liked another book that was like this one and gave it a try. I read it before. In fact I had a copy in my bookcase. So I gave my Mom the other copy. But the main thing I took from the book is the Grandma writing letters to her Granddaughter telling her life stories in letters. I loved that idea. So I am going to start writing my stories for my kids. I have not decided if I am going to do a journal or actual letters in envelopes. I am leaning to the journal. I will not have a theme to it. Just as things come up I will write.
The other day I took Jimmy to get his haircut. It was really out grown and crazy guy hair. Once he came out I thought...what a handsome guy. I bet there is a girl somewhere in that high school that likes him and he does not even know it. I use to be one of those girls. Kinda shy and would crush on a guy secretly. I told him in high school and after I never really liked guys that were really skinny . I want some meat on those bones. Jimmy and Meaghan laughed but understood a little more why I liked thier Daddy. Everyone has a picture of what they like in a mate or not. Sure after marriage people change and you go along for the ride because you love them and have a history now. I think it gave Jimmy and Meaghan another way to look at love and finding your perfect someone.

So starting today  I think I will write about that to Jimmy. Put it in a journal for him to read one day. If I told him that story today I dont know if he would actually be listening to me. I enjoy those little nuggets of time that I can tell things like this to my kids.

6.5 so far

Ok  I have lost 6.5 lbs this week. Well since Monday. I can take that. I am not going to freak out. Just take it lb by lb. A downward number is good. This was just from clean eating.  I am trying to get the kids on board. Jimmy is the only one saying there is nothing to drink! Meaning no Coke in the house. I have Milk, Water, Teas and mixes for the water. So I have stuff.  If I can do it so can he.I think in the long run it will help him too.  I keep telling myself don't drink your calories. I am aiming for 1400-1700 a day. Water is my friend.  Of course the closer to 1400 the better. I can't believe that I would eat 500 in high school on purpose. YIKES! I thought I was so fat then. Fast forward 23 years. YIKES!

SO... The curtains are coming along. I need to hem the large door ones and I need lining fabric for the two small windows in the kitchen. I am thinking of recovering the chairs too with the same fabric.Then paint them a blue color or a GOOD SCRUBBING!  But  I am afraid the kids will ruin the fabric really fast. This is expensive to me fabric at 40.00 a yard. But I have found it 1/2 off a few times. Is covering the fabric on the chairs with that plastic stuff  tacky? Makes me think of 70's Grandmas houses.  LOL! I need to think on it. I need to consult my Mom. Maybe some Scotch guard. The fabric says it is not washable but made of cotton??? what does that mean?
This is the fabric.

I love it. Happy colors. I am going to get a slip cover in yellow for my main sofa and recover a few pillows in this fabric. I hope it is not over load.  I need to look for some fabric in the blue color. I wanted to paint but that is not possible so this is easier to change things up a bit  with fabric. Plus my living room and Kitchen are open to each other so it seems they need to be the same color in the walls. Like it but then I want to lighten it up a bit. Should I paint them or not? You can see the cabinets behind the chair.

So on the hunt I go for a blue twill that will go  with this. I want more blue in my house. I was trying to get away from Red but here I am again! LOL!

I hope to get the kitchen windows done by this weekend. Need one more curtain rod and do I need a valence on top?

Woah there!

I am SUPER CRABBY. I gave up pop as of Saturday. Which I guess would mean less sugar too in my diet. My mind is all over the place with things that need to be done before my In laws arrive before Thanksgiving. This happens every year. I have been busting my butt getting things done. I made curtain yesterday while the kids ate lunch. They are for my patio doors. I still need to make the tie backs. Then get them hung. I am not going to wait for Jim to do it either. Sometime it is just easier to do it myself. '
I am at a high in my weight and I am not happy about it either. Which was the reason to give up Pop. I know it  is empty calories. I joined Sparkpeople to track what I am eating and I think I am ok so far. This is day 3. I am doing a war on my weight. I just need to get the exercise in. I am eating anywhere from 1400-1700 calories. I am finding I need to eat all day. So I space my food out. Not sure on exercise since I am tired once the kids go home. I like to sleep. ZZZZZZZZZZZ
in the getting ready for the In laws I  washed the sheets in the guest room. Remake the bed. Still working my way around the house.I want to paint the room and paint a little chest. I might even get the desk out of there. I never use it.  Little things here and there. I hope that by the time Thanksgiving comes all will be DONE! I have a list that is a mile long.
The kids will be doing their bathroom tonight. YUCK! it is really bad. I refuse to do it. I have my own to do plus the guest bath daily. I even ordered a new toilet seat from Amazon. The guest room one is gross.
I love Amazon Prime. Should be here on Friday. I will install that too.
I have a few other things like towel bars and ring for the bathrooms that I will order next payday. We have been here for 11 years and I dont have any towel rings in any of the bathrooms.  Crazy!
So I am going to eat my last snack before dinner in 30 minutes. I am eating every 2 hours. Anything to keep me from eating the drywall.

Hello Good Friend

My In laws will be coming for Thanksgiving. So I told my family that if you see something laying around, Pick it up and put it away. I have tons of things that I want to get done. But it is hard to get a lot of things done due to me working at home. Plus with jim's schedule. So I am just doing what I can. Last night at 7pm I thought I will clean our bedroom since Jim is awake and I can never get in there to get anything done like I want to when he is home. The clothes were piled HIGH! needing to be put away. Clean but just piles in baskets and on a chair etc. Our canopy bed is a hanging bar for us. So ROMANTIC! NOT!
So while I was hanging clothes I came across so many thing that I forgot I even had. Actually two shirts that are the same. So that means I bought two shirts at two different times that were the same. CRAZY!
While I was putting the clothes away I came across an old nightgown  that I was missing lately. About 13-14 years ago my Mom bought me a nightgown and robe that matches. I LOVE THIS NIGHT GOWN. When I bought it I was going through Infertility treatments. We were trying for a second child and I had just gone back to the Dr's for help. I bought it 2 sizes bigger thinking that I would wear it while I would be recovering from IVF or while I was huge with a baby in my belly so happy.  I would nurse my new baby in it. I could have  visitors over while wearing the robe too.
Those things did not happen. I went through 3 IVF cycles and countless other things trying to get pregnant.  I had Miscarriages in between and I wore that nightgown . It was a comfort to me. So years had gone by and we finally had that beautiful baby by adoption .  Now they are older and my night gown is see through. Washed a million times.  I thought earlier this year while on a cleaning spree to throw it away. Get rid of all my old clothes. Make room for new.My closet is jam packed since I never throw anything away.  Then I forgot about it. It was missing. I figurted in a dump site.
I had thought about it this year at many times that I really just wanted to wear it . I would look and look for it. Then think I must have thrown it away. Ill have to look for another when I go shopping again.
 I found the robe. Looking new in my closet. I am not a robe person.
I have two other nightgowns that I bought when I was Pregnant with Jimmy that I still wear but those are sleeveless and I cant walk around in those in the house. I feel too naked.
So while cleaning our room last night I found it at the bottom of a large pile. I felt my heart soar. It was like a hug that I needed. I have been feeling stressed. Trying to do it all. And feeling like I am failing. I needed a hug.

It is see through. It has safety pins holding the top closed since the buttons are long gone. It has holes all over it.  But it is comfort.
I showed Meaghan and she was like Hey! that's your Nightgown!
I went to bed happy. I think I will keep it forever but maybe try to make a pattern to make myself another one in new fabric. I never did find another like it in all these years. I think it is 13-14 years old now. I wonder if I will be wearing it at the 20 year mark?

Where's the camera ?

Today started as any other Monday. I woke up and started the usual breakfast and backpacks etc. The girls were actually pretty much on time today. No yelling to get out the door on time. Till Meaghan fell down the  stairs on our deck.  I at first did not know she fell. She was just stitting on the grass crying and saying she hurt herself. I lifted her up and did not see any damage so I gave her a hug and sent her on her way to school. No calls from the nurse so I guess I am safe to say she recovered. I hate sending the kids to school all upset. I did watch her walk and she was fine.
After it was clean up the breakfast and get the other kids situated to do something. They were palying tag in the living room. Which is a very samll living room. So I had them get thier shoes on and set them outside to play in the yard. That lasted about 30 minutes. But in that 30 minutes I was able to vaccuum all the cereal off the floors and wipe the high chairs down and get the dishwasher loaded and reloaded.
We had a quiet hour or so after that till it was time to make lunch.
I was making spaghetti. Kids love it and it is easy.
I got the water going and I needed to let the dogs out. So I opened the door and took a step back in turn making the baby fall over. So she was crying. At the same time I was trying to not let the dogs step on the baby. So I am yelling for the dogs to go out all the while trying to pick up the baby. But the dogs want to see what was the matter with the baby and were not listening to me. Theny kept trying to get around me to sniff at the baby. Which in turn made the baby cry more.  Dogs OUT!
Fianlly get the baby to stop crying and the water is ready.
I go to get the noodles and at the same time throw some dish towels in the washer. Once I turned around and took a step the baby was under my feet again almost tripping and I knocked her over AGAIN! So down she went on her butt. Crying. Also at that same time when I was turning I did not realize that the box of pasta was already opened so out flew the pasta all over the floor. Flying thru the air.
I pick up the baby and put her in the high chair thinking ..where is the camera? This has to be a joke on me. Too see what can we do to Michelle before she cracks up. Not  FUNNY!
Then my Mom calls.
I sit down talk to her and feed the baby some yogurt telling her the story.  LOL! After thr phone call I clean up the pasta and lunch is done 20 minutes later. Crazy 20 minutes I tell ya! I was actually looking around the kitchen just in case this was taped for You tube .

Another Cool Down

The summer is over and Fall has arrived. The weather was in the upper 80's to the 90's last week. Jim and I were just talking about how much we have been spending on electric thinking it was the AC running all the time. we like it nice and cool. Now we are in the 70's maybe upper 50-60 in the night. Lovely sleeping weather.
I love to sleep in a cool room. The sheets feel all crisp and clean.
Today is the start of dance again. We had a two week break. Life is going to be BUSY! Now that school started and I I have 3 kids in kindergarten and 1 in preschool in my care. All the running I am doing this year. I keep telling myself..just get thru this year. Next year will be so easy!

I found that jimmy ripped my ottoman. He kinda did not say anything to me and I was pretty mad about it when I found it this AM. He texted me from the bus to say He will fix it. Um Yeah...with what? So I need to sew it up and recover the chair and ottoman soon. Add that to my list of stuff to do. Like have a ton of time. Proof is this blog. I never have time to update it. I am going to try. We are sharing internet so I don't get to go on as much as I was before. BUMMER!
I have 1.5 hours to get some laundry done before I pick up the kids from school and the littles wake from a nap. I was also thinking I need to trim the bushes. I need to clean out my craft room too while I am at it. Then recover my chair and ottoman.  Wanna help?

Mail day!

Great mail day today. Stampin up came. My new Ikea catalog that I have been waiting for come. I have been thinking about so many things with decorating . My In laws are coming for Thanksgiving and I want the guest room painted and done before they get here. Jim assures me that it will be done by then. He has a vacation week in Oct that he will use to paint the room. It was not a big job. the most troubling is the moving of the furniture out of the room.
I realized last night that we have been sleeping on the same mattress for 18 years! That is why it seem uncomfortable to me now. Are mattresses suppose to be lasting that long! Ours is shot! There is a dent where Jim sleeps. No matter any flipping that could be done..it is SHOT! I remember I had a Grandparent or Aunt who slept on the same mattress for like 30 years or something. I need to talk to Jim about shopping for a new bed. A nice soft fluffy one. Like a Weston hotel one. I love sleeping in hotels.
After the roof is fixed
After my Car is fixed....Sigh.
I will dream with my Ikea catalog for a bit instead. Find some new bedding. Maybe I will have time to paint a dresser. Top of my list..get that room done.
Today I need to get going on the design of my Stamp club cards. Maybe sit and watch Son of Anarchy while I cut. LOL! Why I like this show I don't know. I am so NOT a biker chick.  I did get some sleep last night but I feel tired. maybe make some coffee. I have a lot of hours to go and laundry to fold. ( Another room to clean out before the In laws come. ) Sigh!

Cool Down

Today it really cooled down. Over the weekend I had a super busy Saturday. Dance, then shopping for birthday gift for a party Meaghan was going to. I had to take her to said party and thankfully the birthday girls's mom offered to bring her home. SO I had abut 2 hours to pick up the house and get ready for my big night out. Yes, I went out. I went to have dinner and a movie with my 2 cousins. I had such a great time. We also went to see Bridesmaids movie. OMG! Loved that movie ! It was so funny. I am thinking of taking Jim to see it. I wonder if would like it as much as I do. Our Anniversary is Sunday. We need a day out together.
Got home at around midnight and finally asleep by 1AM. So late for me.
Then next day I had to be at my Moms to help her pack stuff up for putting her house on the market. It was hot and slow going. Sigh...it is going to take forever at this pace of packing. Now we are doing Spring\deep cleaning at the same time. At mom's insistence. I want to clear the clutter so it is presentable and get it on the market and just keep working on it as we go. Not like we are going to get a flood of offers the first week or something.

Now we are in  a new week. Hooray! Meaghan was able to skip dance since after work I had to take Gracie to the doggie psychologist. In a nut shell...She is fine. What I am doing is fine. Just be careful with her around others and work on her having a "gentle" mouth. The trainer gave me some exercises to do with her which are super simple and I am happy. We can go back in a month for a follow up. I might stretch that to 2 months or so. I will not be taking her to Petsmart..which is fine with me.
Today is a bunch of phone calls and getting the main floor cleaned up again. Maybe take the girls for a walk later. :) I can use some sunshine.

Nextstar and my weekend

 Blogger was down last part of the week last week. By Friday I was so ready for the weekend. I was really looking forward to meaghans next to last dance competiton of this season. It is usually hard to get pictures of her since she is running back n forth and usually the competitons do not let you take pictures. But Nextstar did. YEAH! So I was able to get some pictures from my seat. Not the best but still they are keepers.:)

I am really proud of her. She works so hard dancing. She is turning out to be a sweet young lady.

On the other side of the family. Jim and Jimmy went to see two movies over the weekend! No pictures of them since they both shy away from the camera! The weekend went by fast and slow at the same time. I read the whole Twilight book over the two days . I started another book. The Game of Thrones. I started watching this show on HBO and I am LOVING IT! So I started the book to kinda keep up with the storyline of the show. It gives a little more detail of the story in the book. So far I am loving it. I am not as far into the book as I am into the show. But I will catch up soon. I have not read this much for fun in a long while. The weather is cool again so the kiddies are inside more than they have in the last week.
New week...I need a new plan. I am thinking of a picnic with the kids at the park and making cookies one of the days. :) Keep them busy. Plus starting to paint the cabinet that is in my garage. What color???

Catch up

It has been a bit since my last update.
Mothers Day..I went to my Mom's for Mother's Day on Saturday. Lots of kids and food! My Mom ordered PF Changs for dinner and it was pretty good. It was not the best I ever had but that may be because I it was catered and my step dad had to pick it up from about 30-45 min's away. But the day went off without a hitch.
My Mother's Day was nice. Jim made breakfast. French toast, hash browns, bacon, bagels with cream cheese. YUM!
The kids bought me a DVD player , a necklace\earring set, and a frying pan. :) I needed the frying pan since Jim ruined my old one. Always using PAM in it. The DVD player I was confused since I really did not need one. I wanted an Ipod player for the kitchen. But I was tired of waiting so since Christmas that I bought one myself. Well..it is now sitting in Jimmy's bedroom.  Stinker! I need to get that back!
The necklace set is pretty. I need to get a longer chain. This fluffy body cannot use a 12 in necklace. :)
Add that to my Amazon list.

We had a huge storm out here last night. Lots of rain which we so needed. It was DRY. Meaghans allergies were going NUTS! She is allergic to everything but trees are a big thing. Poor girl. Her eyes were all swollen and red the other day that I ended up going to get her from school. She told me she felt like sand was in her eyes. So I am making sure we get all her meds done everyday! Clockwork!

And last the update is I AM BLONDE AGAIN! I broke down and had my hair high lighted. I had dyed it dark, then some kind of orange , then a blond that someone else did that was too blonde. Then back to darkish. I was seeing so much gray that it bothered me. So I got it done last night and I LOVE IT! I feel like me again. So I will keep it up for sure. Maybe not go in at the first time looking a little growing out. I like to wait to give it time to really grow and get longer in length. :)

So that is me for now. Busy weekend ahead. I am so glad it is THURSDAY! 1.5 days of work and two days off. Hooray!
Meaghan has a competition this weekend which I am looking forward to. I have no idea why but I am . Listening to LOUD music all day and into the night . Maybe just to get out of the house.:)

It is a Storybook Wedding

I watched. I admit I love a wedding. No matter who's it is. Kate looked beautiful and Will looked very dashing.
I Tivo'd the wedding coverage on 4 channels. I was not taking any chances to miss it. I did not get up to watch though. I had kids in the AM and there was NO WAY I could get up that early. So I was able to catch the wedding highlights on the news while I drank my Tea.
I just took home my own wedding dress from my Mother's. I was there helping my Mom and she suggested i take it home. I remember her not letting me take it home after my wedding. LOL! She does not remember it though. I think it is funny. I opened the box last night to show Jimmy. He was wondering what was in the huge box. He thought it was cool to have it still. It made my heart do a little beat when he said that. My sweet boy.
It is a new week it will be busy for sure.
Vet appointments,Kids school, dance, working, Doggie classes. Sigh!

It's Bling Bling Baby!

I ordered some  crystals for a costume for Meaghan. I can say I am in LOVE! I glued 140ish last night to the top.I am not done yet. Lots of little polka dots to go.  I am so in LOVE with it. Yes I will admit I am living thru my daughter !

When I was about 5-6 I remember going to a tap class at a my local school I think and tapping my heart out.  I also remember that my Mom did not take me back for some reason. My childhood was ruined. I always wanted to be a dancer. I wanted to wear the bling and be all fancy and fun.
Now my boobs are too big for tap dancing. I have seen some big girls tap and it ain't pretty. No matter what nobody will tell you. Even with a sports bra and the uniboob look. Nope..not a good look.
Today will be a busy day. I have an extra 3 kids more  than usual. But they are only here for 4 hours later today so I will survive. HOPEFULLY everyone will be gone by 5PM. s

Later I have meaghan's open house and then my 1st class for training Miss Gracie. I am nervous! I am PRAYING she will not attack any other dogs. She will behave. PULEEEZE! Be good.
So far there are 5 other dogs in the class.

I acquired a side board last weekend to paint in warmer days. It is in the low 50's MAYBE upper 40's today. I have SO MUCH STUFF TO PAINT! I NEED WARM WEATHER! Some sun would be great.

The eater decorations are put away. I will tell you that I hate Easter grass. It is messy and you are vacuumming it up just like pine needles at Christmas. I have figured out that I do not have a lot of Easter decorations. That is ok. I have too much Christmas stuff to make up for it.

Happy Easter!!

I ate an  enchilada at 12 midnight. Aldi had them on special and I really like them. I am pay for it  tonight or this am. It is 3:40 in the morning.  My stomach is MESSED UP!

I saw this  picture on another blog and I have to agree it is the BEST Easter picture ever. What do you think? RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!

Club stuff

These are the cards we made over the weekend. I made the picture large so you can see them better. Everything is Stamp in Up brand.  I started selling it when my demo needed to take time off and then she ended up having a surprise new baby.
It felt really good to have time to "play".  I want to try and get my craft room under control so I can run down there an hour or so each day to make something.
But then I thought I want to join the local gym so I can workout an hour each day. LOL! I have not done that yet. By the end of my day I am pooped!

Hey save a little money

I had this bright idea about making my own cleaning wipes. I love baby wipes since they are so easy to use and then throw away. Don't get me wrong I use regular cloth wipes from flannel that I cut up and just wash.
I noticed that one of the babies that I watch,  her one eye is more sensitive I think so I went to plain water and a flannel wipe for faces.
During the day I am CONSTANTLY wiping up counters,  floors, toilets, potty chairs and plain old messes. So I just finished a tub of clorox off brand wipes. I thought hey make my own! I saw on the internet for less.

So I took my paper towels and cut in half. (What a mess!)

Then poured hot water and Mr Clean over them and let it all soak up

Then I figured out that the wipes do not pull in a box like this very well and they are THIN. Thinner than regular wipes . They are hard to pull apart.

SMART MICHELLE!

So I cut them in half and took a tiny stack of them to wipe the counters. They look like crap.

I dont think this was a great idea. Too messy, dont fit well and just plain  not worth my time.  I'll spend the 2 bucks next time. The mind of a crazy working stay at home mom.

We had a nice weekend . It went by so darn fast! I had stamp club on Saturday and we went to brunch for my MIL birthday on Sunday.
Today the kids do not have school so I have way too many kids here. I am working really close with my schedule today so I dont lose my mind. They have been good so far.

1 child has not pooped since Thursday so I am PRAYING that he poops at home tonight and  NOT HERE!
2  child is sick with a cough. Hacking away on all the other kids

3 is kinda whiny. he's in my spot!  Even though it is the sofa and it seats at least 6 kids. I also figured out that she is the one who has thrown away my silverware. I caught her throwing my spoon away with her yogurt cup. I think I need to get plastic for these kiddos.

4-5 are just fine. Playing happily! :)

Ill post the pics of what we made for tomorrow. :)
So as friendly advise...dont try to make your own wipes. They suck!

Sewing Day

I woke up this morning thinking I want to sew. My craft room is a dismal mess but I can make some room or just move upstairs to actually sew. Once the kids were off to school and I was home with just two little ones I started thinking what to make.
My niece Madison's birthday is Sunday. So I can make her something  . She loves dresses. Something that Meaghan does not seem to like too much. So I am going to scour my patterns and books for ideas for Madison.  I have fabric! Lots of it!
So my plan for the day is to clean up my HUGELY messy kitchen and start tracing a pattern. I am super excited to make this. Once I have pictures I will share.
On another note. It is so cold here. Another wintery snap of cold and rain\sleet tonight. I am not looking forward to that at all. I hate this part of living in IL.

Did anyone see Donald trump today on "The View" Um..Donald...I have to tell you this because you are a good friend.  Your Orange. Like an OOmpa Loompa. I saw saw him and said get off the spray tan! Lose the make up!   BAA!!! HAA!! What a nerd.