Cutest Google Gadget Ever!

So, It's late at night and I'm winding down. What am I doing? Cooing over the Hamster Gadget. Yes, the turtles are very zen... but AWWW OMG!!! it's a cute hamster that you can feed, it cleans it's little face, and runs in a wheel! ZZZZOOMG!!! *squee!*

Ok, I'm done. Good night!

My Mother told me there would be days like this....

But I wish I  could slide on by…

 

I know in every human relationship there will be bumps, grinds, and general annoyances. But lately there have been some things that worry me about my relationships.

 

I am noticing patterns in myself that I hate to admit to:

 

1.       I am selfish. I am. I want what I want when I want it, and who knows who will help who gets in my way.

2.     I have a temper. I can admit it, I haven’t worked on my temper, and I am easy to flare.

3.      I patched up the black box. Remember the old story about how God gave a girl two boxes, one gold and one black? The Gold was for the praises and the good things in her life, the Black for the bad. After awhile the Gold box was so heavy, but the black box was so light. Because God put a hole in the bottom of the box. I’ve been holding on to things.

4.     I have missed my faith. I’ve recently been discussing faith with my husband who lacks it. I used to have such a strong faith, and I didn’t survive the trials as well as I thought. I’m currently in the process of re-forging my faith. I don’t believe in Religion, but pure God-driven faith.

5.      I want to be the Queen of Sheba. What woman doesn’t? But honestly – Where is she now? For that matter, I just had to live in a society that doesn’t really deal with royalty. So I guess that dream should fall by the wayside?

 

So now, I begin my quest to really live this life I want, I guess everyone else will have to follow along? First step – finding that BIBLE! Where did DH put it?

 

I'm so bloomin' sore...

I feel like someone has beat me with a rubber hose…

 

But so much was accomplished this weekend. I’ve got to finish cleaning the living room mess up, then I can move on to the next challenge. Stupid bag of meat spilled, just the juices mind you, but they kind of stink. Ugh.

 

I made Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies today, YUM! I was so bad, too much chocolate!

 

I also am declaring my love of Baked Potatoes! For those that do not know, I’m a Flexitarian. This means, 80% of the meals you see me eat, will be Vegetarian (the one that eats eggs, and uses dairy products). Baked Potatoes make my tummy super happy, especially when paired with Romaine lettuce! YUM! My brother seemed a little grumpy that I didn’t get any meat, but this is the choice I’ve made, I’m losing weight with it, and learning to make healthier choices.

 

Tori is also doing very well with her potty training! Go Tori! Go Tori! Only one accident today, so that’s good!

So far so good...

It is my weekend after all…

 

I have finished painting the Living Room and re-hung the cord to the Satellite.

 

My list is working down, and it should move quicker now that the biggest problem and hold up is out of the way. The painting was so hard! I am so not doing this for awhile. Seriously! I need to Re-paint Tori and Ian’s Rooms (and do the same thing I did with the hallway by adding a metal plate under the Plaster stuff where the knob hits the door.

 

So I can just be for awhile, because I am happy the paint is on. I’m fixing the Picture frames and putting my babies on display again. It’s starting to feel like a home for me. My home, my family, my life. It’s a beautiful thought.

 

The To-Do List:

-         Finish Painting The Wall

-         Move all laundry into the corner of the kitchen

-         Complete all of the laundry and put it up as it comes out

-         Dishes

-         Clean and Organize Tori and Ian’s Rooms

-         Potty Training

-         Clean and Organize all Cabinets

-         Work on a Menu for the next two weeks

-         Clean our Room

-         Clean our Bathroom

-         Grocery Shopping

-         Bathe Kittens and Momma

-         Mow Lawn

-         Move Items in the Front Yard to Back Yard

Decisions...

Life may be full of them, but let’s face it… I don’t like them.

 

It seems any time you have to make a decision, someone always get’s pissed or hurt. While some realize, hey it’s your call, they also know what they believe should happen and should control the result.

 

At this point in my life, I’m finding that I’m faced with a lot of decisions that I don’t know if I’m really ready for. At some point, I’m going to work on this thought process and say, hey, I’m mom. I can do it.

 

It’s facing the future after the decision. I hate not seeing the whole map, just driving behind the wheel. That uncertainty scares me. You want to know you are making the right decision, but at the same time, you want to move on from here to the next challenge.

 

Here’s to decisions – the bane of my adult life.

It's almost 10 p.m....

And no, I don’t turn into a pumpkin…

 

So today I had an interesting counseling session with our marital counselor. It’s given me a lot of things to think about, and I really need to think on them. At this point all I’m interested in though is chocolate (which I happen to have hidden in my purse), ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, and a little me time.

 

I am thinking about all I am going to accomplish this weekend. So here is my list of the weekend’s activities:

Ø Finish painting the wall

Ø Move all the laundry into the corner of the kitchen

Ø Complete all the laundry and put it up as it comes out of the dryer

Ø Dishes

Ø Clean and organize Tori and Ian’s rooms

Ø Potty Training

Ø Clean and organize all of our cabinets

Ø Work on a menu for the next two weeks

Ø Clean our room

Ø Clean our bathroom

Ø Grocery Shopping – Milk, Eggs, Bread, Dog food, Cat food, Kitty Litter, 2 frames =< 11” x 18”

Ø Bathe the kittens and Momma

Ø Mow lawn, Move things to back yard

 

What a labor day weekend. Three days to just organize and enjoy things. So we’ll see how things go.

It is almost finished...

I swear it will be awhile before I feel the need to do any home improvements for this place after all of this…

 

Well, we each survived our adventures in the world. I got most of the house done, and I’m just finishing up the last bits… it looks so good! Nice and bright and cheerful! Just the way we needed it to be. No more blah beige.

 

I’ll post pictures when the walls are complete. But in the mean time, I am raising a pretty handy little helper. My son is obsessed with the tools. And now, I’m having to deal with all of this one step at a time. I need to work on our room tonight, I probably will between letting the paint dry on our walls.

 

In other news – my father in law has declared that our children are spoiled brats. WOW… the man doesn’t even spend any real time with them and they are brats. Hee hee hee…. This used to piss me off, but now I find it almost comical. I’m also proud of my husband for just sticking to his guns on our parenting style. Maybe he does have some redeeming qualities after all.

Paint the fence, Megan-san

Up and Down, Side to Side… Yes Master Miyagi…

My arms hurt! I’ve been painting and nailing and fixing most of the day. Oy! I just kept hearing that whole Karate Kid quote running and running through my head!

Tori and Ian are in Kansas City with the In-laws tonight. Daddy should be there, and I hope he’s kept his promises to me. I just wish things would calm down in my relationship with my in-laws. I hope it does at some point.

So to deal with the current crisis at hand. I can’t understand the silence, nor the ability to just do what I want it’s like, whoa. Now what do I do with myself? I spend most of the day hanging with my mom. I loved it. We didn’t do much, but we never get time to just hang. It’s always the kids wanting attention, and it was nice to just be.

Anyways – all for now!

Oh Mommy - I'll never do that again...

Or so my little girl says…

 

I’m not so entitled to believe her – not because she is untrustworthy, but because she’s three years old and let’s face it – she’s never going to remember this promise. Let’s say right now, I’m thinking this punishment is more or less a self-punishing one.

 

This evening, for dessert, We had Chocolate Cutie-Pies. Well, Tori and Ian wanted one more, but there was only enough for Tom to take to work, so I told her no. She needed to eat more supper type things than dessert type things anyways. I’m busy cleaning up the mess in the kitchen that is left over from painting, and I look up, no box. Huh? I could have swore I put those up.

 

I looked down the hall just in time to see Ian toddling down the hallway with a bitten open Cutie-pie package. Oh great. So next came Tori, and I know she knew that she was in for it, because the little sneak tried to hide the open pie package behind her back. Naturally this didn’t work. Not because I am just that awesome of a mom – because I was that much of a stinker as a kid. Hey – it takes one to know one, I’ll admit it!

 

So I asked her where the box was – and they’d ate them all! So after a swat on the bottom, they are now sitting in chairs with no TV or music to keep them occupied, waiting for Bathe time… which is in 5 more minutes.

 

I think I was cursed – not because my kids are that misbehaving, but because they are just that smart. They are smart enough that it takes immense boredom to get through their heads about don’t do this. Ian is not enjoying this, but because he’s such a stinker, We are having to do something with his attitude. We’ll get there… It doesn’t help his big sister drags him into things she knows is wrong!

 

Rejoice!

For the time has almost come…

 

I’ve almost conquered the kitchen painting! Granted, I still have to clean, but I will just deal. I’m looking around for plain glass containers. I added some neat tiny spiral noodles to a clear jar I bought awhile back. I think it will add some awesome interest to the counters, and my children won’t be attacking this fragile jar wanting a cookie. Yes. My brilliant mind added cookies to it awhile back. Never. Again.

 

So at this point it’s just me waiting for the counters to dry (I cleaned them prior to start painting). Today, Jamie posted a picture of her little scooter figuring out the crawling bit and ‘inspecting’ her curtains. It is so cute! But it also brought to mind that my children are from that stage, and frankly, I’m still playing taps for curtain rods they pull a Tarzan stunt on. I know, it makes me sound like a bad mommy, but you know… They get into things faster than I can think of them.

 

For instance – this morning, I’m sitting in my chair flipping through a ‘wish book’ (for those of you who don’t know – a catalog that I don’t have the money to buy out of, but I can still drool!) and I look up for a bit watching Tori and Ian playing. Tori just about flipped over the swing set, with Ian in it! Oy! So we had to have a discussion about swing sets and pushing. And next summer we were going to upgrade their swing set anyway. I think I’ll set it in concrete. Of course, mind you – the entire time the swing set takes off the ground, Ian thinks he’s getting this great ride and even manages to swing his arm around like a cowboy riding a bucking bronco. I guess it’s a good thing the kid has no fear.

It's a good kind of tired....

Or so this story goes…

 

So today I have been fervently working on painting the kitchen area of my home. This is to allow for more time to be spent cooking at my house while I’m finishing the living area portion of the house with my friends.

 

I feel accomplished and relieved to look at the 75% of my kitchen that is complete and know I did a terrific job painting despite the exhaustion it has caused me. *le sigh*  I’d call it a night but I really want to finish this last bit or at least prep it for the morning.

 

I have three posters coming in at Wal*Mart photography. These will be framed and hung up to help display some thoughts about how family should be in my opinion and how I will raise my children. Each is a photo, with a quote on it:

 

Quote one:

            Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao-Tzu

 

Quote two:

            When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.  ~Joyce Brothers

 

Quote Three:

            There is no cure for laziness but a large family helps.  ~Herbert Prochnov

 

I also have this fourth quote that I must have both in-laws and my family all croweded into a picture with my children smack dab in the middle:

            The family - that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.  ~Dodie Smith

 

My mother fervently declares that this isn’t a suitable quote to hang on my wall. But me, and my extra quirky sense of humor disagree. I think it is both fitting and realistic for my family. Because I believe that no matter how good the intentions are, or how careful you’ll be… any teeneager (which dear god – they are ONLY 9 years short of!) would feel that a family that is as close knit as mine would resemble an octopus…. I know I felt that way from time to time.

 

In this small town there are the little news reels that the news of what your child has done will always beat them home. There will be no shortage of this when my children are growing up. They may hate me for it, but I’d rather be real and face the truth of my children’s behavior and work with it now, than wait until it’s too late to do anything about it.

 

I also hope that that quote will make them chuckle and remember some fondness of me – at least when they turn on my like spitting cobras with their hoods spread. I know that’s what it is going to be like… I just feel it in my bones.

I am so nesting now...

So do you ever wonder why we women and mothers have this irresistible urge to … nest?

 

I’m not talking your pregnancy nesting, either. I’m talking the taking a house and making it a home nesting. Today and yesterday, despite my fever, nausea, and just weakness… I was determined to do something yesterday that I felt was productive towards my own goal of a home I could feel proud of.

 

So I started the painting process for my kitchen. I’ve taken Tuesday and Wednesday off for the purpose of painting, but it dawned on me yesterday that if I waited until then, I wouldn’t be able to bake when the kiddos were in KC with daddy. Yep… that won’t do. So we’re going to do this TODAY.

 

I only got a little 5 foot wall done. But after it was dried I put everything back up with the command strips so no more holes! Except for my wire star, but that’s a different story. I am just enjoying the new color… it’s a soft minty green. Just right for a kitchen in my opinion. I’ll post pictures when I am finished. I’m just trying to do it in the little amount of time the weekend gives me. And then I get to have fun on Wednesday and enjoy my girlfriends. *squee* I’ve so never  felt so free for a bit.

 

I will note to my readers – YES I will miss my husband and my kids terribly. But I’ve spent almost 5 years now without any kind of break to myself, and I have to trust that they will take care of the kids (Tori, Ian, and Pops are going to KC to spend time with my IN-Laws). I have faith in them, but also in someone higher, God. I just have to have the faith that everything will be ok, and my kids and husband will return home with all limbs, digits and sanity intact.

 

 

 

As a Mom – do you ever wonder if you will discover that lost city of Atlantis beneath your couch? I’ve just cleaned under my couch (albeit – it’s been two weeks) and the things that were under there have taken over my entire living room floor! I’m sitting here wondering how two small children and one large child would fit all of this beneath a sectional? I mean really?!

 

I’ve also taken a break from the vinegar, just to see what other things accomplish. You know what I’ve learned? My ‘Bleach’ cleaner, doesn’t do nearly as through a job as the vinegar, and if I’m not super careful, will ruin my shirts and pants…. OMG. I’ve also noticed since we’ve taken a break, my ant population has INCREASED. I used to spray down the floor with Vinegar and clean that way, everything was vinegared. Apparently, it has some affect on insects, so double plus!

 

I’m just exhausted and we’re going to continue on this bombardment of my house. It may have won a battle or two – But I WILL win the war!

 

Megan

 

Cake Recipe

A RECIPE EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW     The most dangerous cake recipe 5  MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE   4 tablespoons flour 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) a small splash of vanilla extract 1 large coffee mug   Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high).. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!   Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).   And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?     Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night! You are going to print this out straight away, aren't you?

 

Need to have a plan?

I totally agree! I need a plan for my day so I actually accomplish things! Right now I have a few irons in the fire, and my in-laws coming.

My DH and I are redoing our living room/kitchen/hallway. At the same time we are having a flooring company come in and install linoleum throughout the house, except for tile in the bathrooms. Lots of projects along with my husband and I's schooling and two small children.

So in classic fashion, I'm putting up my list to accomplish and will post notes on how that worked for me during the day. This is my effort to find an order that works for me.

Monday's To-Do List:

• Get up/Take Thyroid
• Shower get ready for work
• Take Blood Pressure Medication
• Get kids up and dressed/possibly bathe if Tom didn't
• Go to work - Tom can take kids this morning
• Work
• In work parking lot install the kids' booster seats in Jeep
• Grocery Shop (list will be ready by end of work)
• Pick up kiddos
• Take Cardboard to Recycling Center
• Get kids inside with Groceries
• Make Supper
• Wake up Tom
• Feed Kids
• Work on mirrored wall of living room: Take down all the extra boards, tape and joint compund where needed
• Paint Base Coat on and around Door
• Confirm Date and Pricing for Flooring with Tom and deal with that.
• Get kids ready for bed, Bathe them
• Do a load of laundry
  
• Class Chat for Economics at 8p
  
• Work on DB

My discovery of RSS Feeds

I realize that I am part of a generation that is heavily into technology. I am slowly lagging in that department thanks to the birth of two kids. But I am having a ball discovering the RSS feed for my favorite blogs, websites, and comics. No need to search the web, it's all at my fingertips!

I currently subscribe to:
- A Mom's Notes (My Blog)
- The White House Blog
- 9 Chickweed Lane (Comic)
- Brevity (Comic)
- Rose is Rose (Comic)
- Pearls before Swine (Comic)
- Speed Bump (Comic)
- Minimal Security (Comic) (For DH)
- Frazz (Comic)
- Get Fuzzy (Comic)
- B.C. (Comic)
- State of the Union (Comic)
- Handprints on the Wall

I'm still looking for things that will apply to my ideas. If there are any ideas you have that you would like to share as to what to subscribe to, let me know! I'm still looking and I'm enjoying this RSS Feed!

My DS... Isn't he cute?

My DS... Isn't he cute?

Seeking that Balance...

I am coming to the conclusion that there is no balance between three things. I am a mother/wife, a worker, and a student. I can't find that balance without letting one slide. So I am exploring other options on how to seek a balance. Unfortunately, there isn't one.

When I google the phrase 'seeking balance' you get an array of items. This list includes Balance in Psychology, Balance in Farming, even a website with one blog on it. But nothing on the first page seems to be something helpful or wanted for my search. So I've kept searching.

My first idea is that my husband (DH) needs to help me work the balance of our lives. It worked the first time I was in school, and he wasn't. Now he is also pursuing his education, and while I support that, I'm beginning to discover there just isn't enough of DH and I to go around.

Our home life is somewhat simple. Our children are eleven months apart. Our Son (DS) is 2, and our Daughter (DD) is 3. They both just celebrated their birthdays. While I can't doubt the craziness of our holiday period (Thanksgiving - The beginning of February), I often wonder why do I do so much in one period. I think I'm going to declare my birthday is now in July. Be it that my birthday is in January, I always wanted a summer birthday. I could actually have people over, wouldn't be worring about snow or the cold. I could turn the kids loose and not worry about them invading a party.

That would be nice, but it still wouldn't provide any type of balance to my home. I am just going to have to work through all of this, along with the activities I accomplish with my kids. I hope things will balance out in the end, at this point I feel much to htin to be doing all of this.