life of a stay at home mom | laborofwonder

Simply Organized

by motherofwonder

Ok, so this isn’t a foodie post (sorry!) and I do promise to do more of those. Especially as summer comes around! But today was grey and rainy. Which left me with kids jumping off furniture and onto each other. So we sat down with puzzles. If you have kids, they have puzzles. Ours have 14 of them.

Maybe that doesn’t sound like a huge number, but when you think of it in terms of how many individual puzzle pieces you’re left with- it’s a lot. And when they all get dumped out all over the place, it can be downright overwhelming.

I once blogged about it, but there were no pictures, and not a lot of description, and since we’ve spent the afternoon doing puzzles, I decided to share with you my puzzling system!

Take a puzzle: the board and the pieces.

Turn them all over and write a coordinating number (or letter) on the back!

Boxes get destroyed quickly, so I put them in zip-locks, marked with the corresponding number!

This is awesome on many fronts! First of all, it’s no longer a huge headache to figure out which puzzle goes with what board, or puzzle pieces. And hello, number recognition!? My kids can (5, 3, and 20 months) can look at the back of the puzzle piece and find the bag with the corresponding marking. Teaching, cleaning, organization all in one? You know I love that!

Family Impressively Simple Life According To Me

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My Daughter Is The Color Pink

by motherofwonder

My daughter just came upstairs in a pair of my shoes (heels). She wanted to tell me that she thinks my shoes are very beautiful. She heads back downstairs, but pauses at the base of the stairs to yell up to me, Mommy, all your shoes are very beautiful. But don’t tell daddy I said that. And don’t tell him I was wearing your shoes. He freaks out when I talk about beautiful shoes.

(photo courtesy of:parent24.com)

Now I like shoes and hangbags as much as the next girl. But if you ask me to choose between shopping and a day spent on the four wheeler in the mud… I’m gonna be covered in mud. Growing up, I attended classic car shows and had car posters on my wall. I ditched my barbies long before I ditched my Ferrari barbie car. And while I appreciate the art of makeup, I only practice it in theory. You know, in theory I would like to be perfectly made up and coiffed. But in reality my daughter ooohs and awwws when I wear my hair down because all she knows is mommy in a pony tail. And I never know where my makeup is when I want to use it, because I use it maybe bi-monthly. And I usually forget it in the car, since it’s normally done while hubbyman drives us to wherever we’re going. I’ve just never been the girl who gets up an hour earlier than necessary to curl (or straighten) my hair and get my makeup on. And at this point, I think it’s safe to say that I’m probably not going to evolve into that either. I’m ok with that.

I have all brothers- three of them. And since mom was a nurse and dad a teacher, most time at home (at least in the summers) were spent with dad, and said brothers. Suffice it say, we didn’t spend time doing a lot of girly things. Scratch that. We didn’t spend any time doing girly things. I’m not complaining. I didn’t really think about it. I enjoyed cars. It served me well while working at a Dodge dealership. I even enjoy helping hubbyman do work on the truck. Seriously. I don’t mind. I love football. (Like loooove.) And not just my team, football in general. I like sports. You won’t find me complaining over a date night spent at any sporting arena. I have spent many a sunny afternoon splashing in the mud, either in boots, or on the 4wheeler. I love to go fishing. My grandpa has a cabin in Canada that’s so remote that the last little bit has to be traveled by plane, the kind that lands on water. And I’ve caught the biggest fish of the trip before. Time well spent. Memories forever remembered. That’s the kind of girl I am.

I didn’t grow up wishing for sisters. I loved my brothers. (I still do.) They are still my best friends. (I do love my sisters-in-law!) So when it came to babies, I really didn’t have any feelings of longing for a daughter. My only longings were for a baby in general. I understood boys, I figured they would come easy as far as parenting. And the birth of Biggest E just reaffirmed that. I mean, I can puddle-stomp with the best of them. So when we found out we had a Miss on the way, I was a little uneasy. As month by month went by after she was born, I found myself enjoying my little girl more and more. And I have to tell you, I am so thankful I have a daughter.

That said, I am also incredibly confused. She is one of the girliest girls you will ever come across. Pink and purple are her favorite colors. She is a strawberry blonde-haired child and she loves that she has “pink” hair. She’s not really fond of anything that’s not pink or purple. And rarely willing to use anything that’s not one of those colors. She loves dolls, having her hair done, and her nails painted. Can you guess what colors?

Upon looking through all her photos, there’s lots of dirt-clad, mud-covered pretty pink dresses and sparkly shoes. I guess she might be like me after all, just a pinker version.

Life According To Me Things Kids Say

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Sunshinier IS A Word…Now

by motherofwonder

This was was supposed to be super warm and I guess I just assumed that also meant nice and sunny. Unfortunately, during the day yesterday it was blah. Gray and dreary. Until closer to evening and then the sun came out. But the sun gives me motivation and I was planning on it. I feel bad for my children some days. Because the sunshinier (whatever, I can make up words) it is, the more motivation it gives me for cleaning. In fact, if hubbyman wanted to come home and play with the kids outside, I would HAPPILY spend the time inside cleaning, alone. I’m weird like that. So my plan was to get all my cleaning done this morning, we’d have lunch, and then we’d spend the rest of the day outside. But littlest and biggest have been unordinarily whiny and clingy. It’s a trade off apparently, because MissE has been extraordinarily helpful. So we’ve been playing trains, talking about all the baking they’d like me to do this weekend (cookies, donuts, and if they have to eat actual food, then they’d prefer chocolate chip pancakes. And maybe daddy could cook some bacon.) . Speaking of bacon… that just reminded me of something. This was a facebook status of mine, from last week (I think):

I made (gf) chicken and dumplings the other day and after eating, Evan asked, “How come Daddy doesn’t know how to cook like a mommy?” I responded with laughter. Then he added, “You should teach him, before he’s 100.” I responded with, Whew, at least I have a few years. It’ll probably take until then to teach him. Evan shakes his head, sighs, and says, “At least he’s a good bacon cooker.”

Oh children. And when recounting this story to hubbyman, Biggest looked at him, and said You really don’t cook like a mommy.

And on that note I am thankful for a sense of humor.

I am thankful for a hubby and children with a sense of humor!

I am thankful that the tree trimming ~~idiots~~ people did not break anything. Other than a couple of shingles on the roof. (Not only did a big branch land on a piece of patio furniture, but one landed on our skylight… talk about that-coulda-been-a-disaster. Especially as I was standing right under it happened.) I will be even more thankful if the roses they trampled, and the lilac bushes they stacked their wood on, survive. I had a dream they ruined my roses (which are admittedly the only plant that I’m apparently capable of/willing to baby), and planned to go out and ask them to be careful around them. But there was no knock on the door, no one saying, Hey we’re here and gonna get to work! No, they just pulled in and went to work… on all corners of the house. I couldn’t exit from anywhere! At least not without having to fear for my life.

I am thankful for a hubbyman who has a backbone made of steel. There is nothing that man is afraid to say. To anyone. Or at least most anyone. If you want something done, or need to call customer service- have him do it. It’s phenomenal.

I am thankful for all this sunshiney weather. It has helped me to sleep better at night, wake up more awake, and just feel better in general. Oh I love sunshine.

I am thankful that all of Biggest’s dental work is done, save one quick visit that is merely cosmetic. (He has lines on his front teeth where enamel never formed. At least those spots hardened, whereas all the work he had done was because the other spots did not harden.) He has been such a brave boy- we’re so proud of him!

I am thankful that for whatever reason, the stars have aligned and my house has remained in some sort of balance for about a month. It’s amazing. I feel much more zen.

I hope you have lots to be thankful for and wish you a house full of organization and good food!

Like · · Share · March 9 at 11:52am

Life According To Me Thankful Fridays Things Kids Say

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You Might Wanna Stand Back

by motherofwonder

Ever wake up and just feel so cranky that people just instinctually move away from you as quickly as possible? I’m pretty sure that happened this morning when hubbyman dared to wake me up. At least, I think that’s what happened, he moved away so quickly that I can’t really be sure. Today is the day of supposed tree trimmers. I had to get up before the sun this morning because they were going to be here early (I don’t understand why so early because they couldn’t start working that early, without my neighbors lining up with pitchforks -I wouldn’t blame them, if it was people in their yard when I was sleeping, I’d do the same.). It’s a half hour past when they said they’d be here and no sign so far. If they don’t show up before too long, they should be more afraid of me than hubbyman was this morning.

So they got here. Right after I posted that they’d better show up (maybe they knew their lives were in danger). And promptly began cutting trees in the front. Even though they said they’d start in the back. (I may be nit picking.) And it also promptly woke up Littlest. Who is not used to the sound of chain saws with his morning snooze. Have I mentioned I’m an absolute delight in the mornings? Or that Littlest woke up at 3 and demanded (and I mean demanded) a bottle. When I came back with a bottle, he had found a pacifier (a new discovery of his. that’s right, new, at 20 months.) and refused the bottle. And then laid there, just looking at me with his wide-awake, wide-open eyes for the next two hours. At least Littlest is enjoying watching the big truck they have parked in our driveway instead of whining.

I was going to write 2 reviews today (of some really lovely products- a facial moisturizer and some laundry detergent), but I can’t really think straight with all the whirring, and barking, oh, and the whining. But I’ll probably stop all my whining when the coffee kicks in. Which should be about noon. Crap. Here come Biggest and MissE, and from the sounds of it, they’re as pleased to be awake as I am. We’re off to a great start. Maybe I can convince them to climb back into bed with me and we can rewind this whole scenario. Or at least pretend like we’ve had a fresh start.

*New Addition*: If I was cranky before, I’m pretty livid right now. After hearing a huge thud of a big branch landing directly on my cute, vintage, irreplaceable patio table, I ran to the door and apparently said what I was thinking out loud. I know this, because my daughter ran to the window to say, who did you yell oh, hell-o to? I have found one thing to be thankful for this morning- my daughter’s hearing, or interpretation of my words.

Life According To Me

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The Know-It-All Who Doesn’t Know It ALL

by motherofwonder

I’m a little bit sad… I wrote a post and really loved it, and then MissE walked up, pushed a button, and away it went, never to be found again. Boo. Hiss. Timeout. (Ok, so she didn’t go to time out, but I did.) I will attempt to rewrite it, but you know how that goes (if not, I’ll tell you:), it’s never the same. Because while I was feeling inspired when I wrote it the first time, now I’m just annoyed and cranky.

The last month or two I have gotten e-mails, comments, messages, and even some texts from my dearly beloved friends, both ones I see on a regular basis and ones I haven’t seen in years but stay in touch with via the computer. I have been asked some really hard questions. Which has led to a comment or two, wondering about what claims do I have on the expert title and so I am here to set the record straight. I, in no way, shape, or form, claim to be an expert. On anything. Really. I am just one woman who is also a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and also happens to be a blogger. That is not to say I don’t have opinions on things, in fact, I think that is saying I have opinions on things. Just not the say-all, end-all opinion. I do admit to some level of know-it-all-ness on my part (I do not like not knowing things), but I, by no means, know it all. Got it? Good.

In trying to come up with really great answers to some hard questions, it has caused me to go back and forth in my answers. Because I don’t believe there is a one-size-fits-all answers for most questions. Because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all life for most people. I know that my road (you know, the one that got me from there to here) has had twists, turns, and a few dead ends that I can clearly recall. Along the way I have been told by others that I was on the wrong path; that I’d lost my direction; that I should have taken an exit or two along the way… but through it all, I honestly never believed I was lost. I always knew that it was my path. I knew I was heading down my road, to my destination.

I truly believe in living with intention. In treating people the way we’d intend to if we stopped and thought about our actions, instead of just reacting. And maybe by default, I believe in us each having our own paths in our own lives, and in supporting each other as we go along those paths. Do I have opinions, thoughts, and beliefs that I feel strongly about and believe are the “right” way. Of course. Do I wish I could push a button and pass them on to you, occasionally. Will I judge you and tell you your way is wrong, if it’s not what I would do…no. At least, I strive not to! I have to believe that God made us unique individuals for a reason, and that alone makes it something that should be celebrated (and supported!!) and not condemned.

So go ahead, twist, turn, exit… do what you need to do, on your road, to get you to your destination. And yes, feel free to ask for help along the way. Sometimes, someone has already paved the way and could offer insight into how to make your road a little smoother.

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost. – H. Jackson Browne

It reminded me, of this:

I’m at the checkout, and the lady behind me starts making small talk as we wait. Why do they stick those order separator things so far out of your reach anyways? I smile and agree it’s ridiculous. And then this stranger showed me kindness. She looked at me and said, “You must have small children.” I quickly look myself over trying to find the stamp (or hand print) that screamed, “I’m a mom.” I didn’t see any. Unless the state of my hair, my sweatpants, and the exhaustion in my eyes count. I smiled and said 3 and asked how she could tell.. She just smiled and said she’d recognized the look of exhaustion the can only be caused by 2 types of parenting: the under 3 crowd or the teenage crowd. And since I didn’t look old enough to have teenagers, it must be the former. I smiled and nodded, then asked her, “Teenagers?” She smiled, and I saw the exhaustion in her eyes as well as she nodded. And that was the the long and the short of our “conversation.” But somehow, afterwards I felt a little bit more refreshed. I think that it offered some sense of community. A moment of “I’ve been there before.” combined with “we’ve all got our own struggles,” that made me feel a sense of the bigger picture as well. They’re not little for long, we all have different struggles, each as unique, and as hard, and as scary, and as sad as anyone else’s, because they are our own. But for a brief moment in time, I felt like I wasn’t alone in my struggle after all. So the next time you’re at the grocery store, the gas station, walking down the road… offer a little support to those you meet. Even if it’s only in the form of a smile. You never know how life changing (even if momentarily) it can be.

Life According To Me Things You Should Say

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Days Like These

by motherofwonder

our stairs are in there

the only face he's willing to have photographed, his winkin' face

the only way to get a non-wiggling picture

We went to the outdoor zoo a week ago, how come now we have to stay inside THIS zoo?

Welcome to winter... even though spring is 3 weeks away, winter decided to come last night. In the form of snow, rain, ice, sleet, and hail.

I’m tired, it’s cold, and everything is covered in white icy-ness. So a photo blog day it is! I’ll be staying warm by folding mountains of fresh-outta-the-dryer laundry, staying inside because the idea of spending an hour getting them all dressed and ready to go outside only to come in five minutes later raises my blood pressure, and I will be cuddling up with littlest trying to convince him to take a nap so he’ll stop unfolding all the laundry. Hope your day brings you warmth like a cup of hot chocolate, the joy of staying inside, and someone to cuddle up with!

Life According To Me

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Finding A Sense of Humor

by motherofwonder

With Monday being a holiday I keep thinking I’m a day behind. Well, I probably still am, but the week has continued without me! Which means that even though I keep thinking that today is Thursday… it is actually Friday! I’m not sure what to write today. Partly because I have about a million things that I could write about, partly because I have not been sleeping well lately (and am therefore completely exhausted), and partly because snuggling on the couch with my snugglers sounds a lot more appealing at the moment. So I’ll keep this short and sweet. For your sake as well as mine. (As tired as I am, who knows where these mumblings could lead us?!)

I am thankful for a hubby who put all of the kids to bed last night. Next time, I’d suggest changing baby before sleep so that he doesn’t pee all over his mama in the middle of the night.
I am thankful for a baby/little man who peed in my bed at 4am. I’ve meant to wash the bedding all week. Now I have to.
I am thankful for a little man who now carries anything he can, everywhere, to use as a stool so that he can spend a ridiculous amount of time turning lights on and off. Just because he finally can. This is waaay cheaper than a babysitter. And just as effective. Maybe I’ll have enough time to put those sheets in the wash.
I am thankful for observant children. They noticed right away that daddy had tracked in dirt and snow that melts and turns into a mud puddle all throughout the kitchen.
I am thankful hubbyman remembered his lunch. My observant children have deducted from the footprints, that it happened while daddy was making his lunch.
I am thankful for a dog who chewed up one of biggest’s favorite dinosaurs. Leaving just a body. He needed a reminder of why we always have to pick up our toys. I wish it weren’t such a tearful one, but I’ll take what I can get.
I am thankful the dog choked on and then threw up the dinosaur parts. Maybe not he’ll stop attempting to eat them.
I am thankful that hubbyman surprised us by coming home for a quick lunch. I enjoy practicing patience, and maybe needed the practice. I’ve been given the opportunity, since now everything I say is countered with I want my daddy! Why did you make him go back to work?
I am thankful it’s still morning. It’d be a shame for a day like this to fly by.
I am thankful for a sense of humor.

Happy Friday everyone! Remember- there’s always something to ~~drive you to drinking~~ be thankful for!

*An hour after posting this, I went to put Littlest down for a nap. I came back to find something amazing. So I have two more thankful entries for you:

I’m thankful for children giving each other hair cuts. They needed ones and now I don’t have to do it.
I am thankful I didn’t have to give or attend MissE’s first hair cut. I’d probably be emotional about it. Big E just did me a favor.

Family Life According To Me Thankful Fridays Things Kids Say

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There Are No (Appropriate) Words

by motherofwonder

Today I’ve been feeling a little sub par, and it seemed like no matter how I tried to pretend I was feeling good and could be productive (we’ll have around 13 adults and 6 children under 5 in a week and a half in our home to celebrate Christmas!), every time I turned around, I’d run smack into something to remind me of how crappy I was feeling, along with unproductive. Like how I heard Littlest scamper down the stairs to join his siblings in play, and thought it would be a good time to throw some things in the laundry. By the time I’d switched out clothes from the dryer and the washer and reloaded the washer… I came upstairs to this pleasant surprise. We had girl cheese (as my MissE pronounces it) with tomato soup for lunch only minutes earlier, and the table had yet to be cleared. Littlest found a spoon and was feeding himself a slurp from every cup… unfortunately most of it ran down his front and onto the table, where he discovered he liked the feeling of it squishing between his toes. Needless to say, a bath ensued as he had tomato soup from head to toe and a plethora of places in between. And as this is just one example for the day (he also pulled over the Christmas tree…), these are all the words I care to say out loud. I hope you can understand, and maybe even sympathize. If you can babysit, that would even be better

Just in case you couldn't clearly see the mess

Family Life According To Me Things Kids Say

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Is Today Over Yet?

by motherofwonder

So this morning has been a little chaotic…and it’s not quite 9am. I rolled over in the nighttime to find that Big E had climbed into bed with us, which normally I actually don’t mind, but it was the 3rd night in a row. Once a month I’m totally ok with, once a week I could probably ignore, but three nights in a row is it for this mommy. Which, unfortunately for his daddy, means the next few nights if he gets up, his daddy is taking him back to bed. I should mention, Littlest E was already in there with us. So now there were 2 wiggley boys…one who likes the blankets on, and one who likes them off, and two that don’t sleep if anyone else is touching them. At least they got some sleep. So now you know how I slept, would you like to know how I woke up? No? Too bad, I’m telling you anyways! I woke up to Littlest E pulling my laptop down off the ledge (right above my bed) and onto my face. I still have the headache to prove it.

And I only had enough of my coffee to make one cup… which pretty much ensures that this will be a day where I ~~want~~ need more than one cup. I thought of mixing it with hubbyman’s dark french roast…but decided that would be wasting the one perfectly good cup. So I went ahead and made what I had. Only to have Littlest E pick up my freshly-poured cup and dump it. I was able to whisk the laptop out from under his wrath, but his sister did not fare so well. And was much more vocal. In frustration, and defeat, I bargained for some quiet by offering to turn on Strawberry Shortcake for her. Which is perhaps the best bargaining tool for my little girl. Only to not be able to get the wii going (to play netflix on). Next I moved onto our new logitech revue (basically a fancy-schmancy remote within a keyboard that turns your tv into a “smart tv”… which doesn’t seem to have any of the actual features I’d been duped with in order to purchase it). I’d beg to differ about the “smart” part because for the life of me I could not figure out how to get the remote to actually work to run. After trying to figure it out for over 30 minutes. I gave up. There goes my bargaining tool. The next 30 minutes were spent trying to convince my little red-head that Cat in The Hat was just as good as Strawberry Shortcake. She finally relented, or moved on to silent loathing, you can never be too sure which. Just in time for Big E to wake up, and request watching a certain show, that of course is also through Netflix. He was fairly certain that it would work and that I just didn’t want to stop cleaning the coffee out of the carpet. Now, I’m not big on cartoons, but I’m pretty sure that even I would rather watch his kids’ animation than to clean my one-cup-of-good-coffee stain out of the carpet.

And then I sat down, decided to write a brilliant, funny post and wouldn’t you know, as I wrote the last sentence. All but the first two sentences deleted. And while it normally saves every couple of minutes or however often it does that… this time, it of course saved after the deletion. Ok, I can’t promise that it was brilliant, or that there were more than a few moments of laughter-inducing words…but the rest of it is true. Good thing it’s Friday! I’m going to focus on the fact that we have a rather plan-free weekend ahead of us, instead of panicking over the plan-filled-holicraze that begins next week.

And in light of me trying to change my outlook on this day, here are some things that I actually am thankful for:

children. As crazy as they can make me feel, never a day goes by where I’m not struck by how blessed I am to have each one of them.
hubbyman cleaned out the dryer vent and it not dries waaaaay more efficiently. Like half the time, at least! It’s amazing.
That it’s boot season. I know that’s not life-changing, but I love my boots. And if that’s what gets me through how long winters here are, I’m ok with that.
That my children play so well with one another for so much of the day.
That I have not let the house get out of hand this week (it happens so fast sometimes!).
That this weeks meals were met with rave reviews (Big E requested that we have my meatloaf and “smashed ‘tatoes” every night.)
That we may have measurable snow this weekend! (Yes, I just complained about the length of winter, only to say I’m thankful for snow. I get the irony. Color me Minnesotan.)