Garage Sale, Timeouts and one other matter...

OK so I just have to touch briefly on out garage sale success. The one and only reason for my lack of posting for over a week was this garage sale.

If you have done one then you already know this, but they are very hard work. Well I take that back, they are hard work the way we do them. If you prefer to just throw your things on the driveway and care little about actually getting rid of things...well then they aren't that much work.


This however, is not how we ROLL!!! We take at least a week, if not more, to put everything together. We price everything and it is pretty darn organized. But our main goal is to get rid of SHIT (excuse my language, but that is the only way I can convey how serious I am), so it takes work.


It was a 100% successful garage sale. And I am very happy to report that we made...

BIG GASP...

WAIT FOR IT...

Almost $1700!!

Now before you bombard me with questions on how to make this kind of money at a garage sale and before you start asking me to come run your garage sale I must tell you that we had an entire driveway (over sized might I add) full of stuff.


It brings a little tear to my eye to inform you that my house is 99.9% baby free. Once my little Cookie is potty trained we will officially be a baby free home!!


I have to move on though because I am not quite over it yet.

It is however, a perfect transition into the subject of timeouts. Taylor no longer gets a free pass around here people. She is now getting timeouts just like her brother. Fortunately for me they seem to work better on her...FOR NOW anyway! She sits on the chair without getting up and stays quiet.

My take on timeouts is this...

They really do not do anything to solve problems.

Most kids give them no consideration whatsoever.

BUT...

They separate my kids which is wonderful and they keep them in one spot for as long as I see fit.

So we will keep up with the timeouts. Although it is hilarious how generations do things so differently. There were no such thing as timeouts when I was a kid, but then again I remember taking my parents seriously when they threatened.


Now to my other matter...

My little Taylor turns 2 on Friday!

I can not believe it has been two years already. I know that I say this about everything that happens, but it really does not feel like that much time has passed.

Just like her brother, she makes me smile a 100 times a day. She makes me mad half that much in a day, but when I put her to bed at night and she says "Night, night mommy!!" All is right in my world.

How do you feel about...

Child labor???

Well let me tell you...in my household it is not frowned upon at all.



I just discovered that if I offer Thomas money...he will do quite a bit around here and I am loving it.

Earlier this week he helped me pick up his room and his sister's room and earned himself a whole $1. Two days later he did a little picking up at Nana's house (although when he walked into Nana's house he did comment that her house was already clean) and earned himself another $1. I do not remember him making this comment at his own house. Ok we can visit that later.

So while we were playing outside this afternoon I was scoping my backyard...that needs A LOT of TLC might I add...and I got a very good idea.



I told Thomas I would pay him a $1 if he picked up ALL of the rocks in the grass. Now to be fair this was a great deal for him since he was the one that threw all of the rocks in the yard to begin with. Lets be real, he should have been doing it for FREE.

He never would have though, I know this...

And it would have been fine until my hubby finally decided to mow the lawn and then...

Not so good for Thomas, or me for that matter. It would have started with some choice words from my hubby for me and then a whole lot of rock throwing.

Hubby would have for sure asked me...

"Do you even watch them when they are outside?"

And I would have answered with something like...

"Nope, I just let them do whatever they want while I sit on my butt and ignore them!"

Followed by a very big eye roll!

Anyway, he totally went for my deal and he even enlisted the help of his sister. Who ended up getting paid also (I know you were thinking it) Hey, we are an equal opportunity household people...all children are welcome to work.



I laid on the grass and took it all in. Kids can be quite resourceful. They started off on the sunny side of the yard, did a little complaining to me (their boss) and then found shade on the other side and were quietly working again.



Thomas found that the dump truck was quite useful. He filled it up and pushed it off the grass to dump all of his rocks. Taylor used a sand bucket and walked around gathering rocks.



There was a slight INCIDENT that almost brought everything to a halt. Taylor thought it was hilarious if she dumped the truck back in the grass. This did not go over well with Thomas. Can you tell??

All in all it was a job well done.

The yard is rock free.

Everyone got paid!

And...


Now there is NO excuse for my lawn not to be mowed tomorrow.

Oh...some days being a mom is so rewarding.

Laundry, $3 and other matters

OK so I am going to work backwards and talk other matters first. Not that any of you remember, but a little over a year ago I decided that I needed straight teeth. I mean it isn't as if I didn't have braces when I was 11 years old or anything, but lets not talk about that.

Lets just say that you never would have believed I had had braces as a kid if you looked at my bottom teeth.

Anyway, my dentist talked me into invisalign. Braces without the "BRACES"! After he had convinced me, I convinced my hubby that I really needed to do this. And...about a minute after I got my first set of trays (that's what they are called) I thought that it might have been the dumbest idea I had ever had.

I talked with a lisp for the first month...don't get me started. They hurt like a...well think of something that hurts and multiply it a few times. Oh and I couldn't quit because I put the dumb things on a payment plan.


Well...long story short.

I am done!!

And my teeth look great, if I do say so myself. I really do not remember a time when I had straight teeth (lets be real, I got my original braces off 20 years ago practically), so it feels great. I told my dentist that I really think I was a model patient. I had some pretty jacked up bottom teeth, to be brutally honest. But now...

They are straight!!! Yippee!!

OK so you might be wondering what $3 means... Or maybe you aren't wondering.

I am going to tell you anyway though.

I CAN NOT pass up $3 kids clothes. This might be the reason both of my kids have always had more clothes than they could ever need. My retail therapy is directly related to kids clothes and the great bargains I find.

After my dentist appointment I took full advantage of my babysitter and ran to Target. $3 skirts for Taylor (I bought two) $3 shirts for Taylor (I bought two). A $6 dress for Taylor. Oh and don't think that I forgot my Thomas...because I did not. $5 shorts (I bought two) and $4 shirts (I bought two). So five complete outfits for a little over $36. Now that is what I call a bargain.

Don't get me wrong, the clothes that you find in places like Gymboree are cute, but for what I would spend on one outfit there, I can get this much at Target.

Oh and as an added bonus I found the absolute cutest sandals for Taylor at Ross that match all of the clothes I bought at Target and they were only $7.99.

So this takes me to my last topic LAUNDRY.


I should not wonder why I have so much laundry to do when I buy massive amounts of clothes for my kids. My hatred towards laundry is my own doing and I take full responsibility.

I doesn't make me like it any more, but nevertheless it is my fault.

Practice...Practice...Practice

Well it is no secret that my kids run from me the second I grab my camera. I do get some good shots of my kids don't get me wrong, but these two little girls have become my new subjects.



They LOVE the camera. It is rare that if they see me pointing in their direction that they don't instantly smile.

Their momma wants me to take their family photos and I am scared to death. I see all of the photographers out there and I am completely intimidated. But I will say that this family is great to practice on.

Family {FUN}

One of the greatest things about being a mom (I am pretty sure my hubby would agree as a dad also, but I will just speak for myself here) is getting to see the world through a child's eyes. Old things become new again and small things become larger than life.

We ended our week of vacation with a day at the Ostrich Festival and it was awesome.



Kids have soooo much energy and I know I am not the first parent to wish she could bottle that energy and sell it. It is WAY better than any of the drinks everyone is addicted too.



I think if Thomas had stopped for even a split second he would have fallen asleep standing up. The kid can fight off sleep like nobodies business.



He was totally diggin' all of the rides and not one tear or wimp out!! Although it was laughable the speed of some of these kid rides. I don't want to wish my kids' youth away, but lets get to the adult rides already.



I am not sure what he would say, but I think this might have been his favorite thing all day long. He walked all the way to the top all by himself and well... you can see how it went.

Big Smiles...



So much so that he just turned right around, cut in line and went right back up to the top. After realizing that he was not standing in line each time, I had to tell him that there were other kids waiting. Trying to tell a 4 yr old that he has to wait...

Not easy!

Just so that we are clear...my darling Taylor was with us also, but she is still too little for the rides. She got pushed around in the stroller until she sacked out. My smile was ear to ear last night when I was going through my pics. These kids are the light of my life.

This is how I did 30

So a few months ago I got this idea to do something crazy for my 30Th birthday. I thought that there was no better time than my 30Th birthday to do something completely out of my comfort zone.

I love my life and the little box that it fits in, but I have felt for a little while now that I need to step out.

I went back and forth for a while and just when I had ruled it out I decided to ask my little sis to take this adventure with me. I told myself that if she said yes there would be no going back and if she said no...


WELL she didn't say no, so there is no need to go there.

Yesterday we jumped out of a plane. It was the most exciting thing I have ever done and yes I would do it again. Although my hubby says it is his turn next. I would definitely recommend it to anyone even considering it.


I was on cloud nine the rest of the day!!



Best birthday ever!!!

10,957 days ago...

I was born!!

If you don't feel like doing the math, that is 30 years.

Now don't get me wrong I have had some good birthdays, but honestly I have never been a huge fan of getting older. This year though, I decided to take a new approach and embrace my birthday. I feel very blessed to have a husband that adores me and takes care of me, two kids that make being a mommy the Greatest job in the world and a wonderful supportive family.

We started off my birthday week with an adults only trip to Vegas with two other couples. It was definitely one for the record books! No explanation necessary.


Today is my actual birthday and to celebrate the big day my little sis and I are jumping out of a plane.

Along with embracing this big birthday, I thought it was only appropriate that I do something I will never forget. And who better to share it with than my little sis!! I am totally excited, but starting to freak out a little.

To end my post I thought I would share some things from the year I was born...1980

1. Ronald Reagan elected president
2. Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18th
3. US population 226,504,825 then... 308,846,658 now!
4. John Lennon shot to death
5. First camcorders and fax machines available in Japan
6. Release of Pac–Man arcade game
7. Millions of viewers tune in to see “Who shot J.R.?” on the show Dallas
8. Average cost of a house was $68,700
9. Average income $19,500
10. Gallon of gas $1.19
11. Average cost of new car $7,200

What's For Dinner???

OK I know I have touched on this before, but in case you forgot or put it out of your mind because it makes no difference to you whatsoever I will remind you...

My kids are PICKY eaters!!!

I am not sure how this starts and I am even more unsure of how to change it. Now I will tell you that the problem lies mostly with dinner. There are only a handful of things that they will eat for dinner. We tend to rotate through the list. Now it is not from lack of trying that they are so picky...TRUST ME!!

Please let me note that this will seem like a minor thing to most of you. Most of you that have kids that eat lots of healthy, good for you sorts of foods.

Anyway...as I was getting their dinner ready tonight Thomas comes into the kitchen and says to me...

Wait for it....



Wait for it....


"Mommy, can we have some CUCUMBER with our dinner??"

Now if you are at all wondering why this is such a huge deal...well notice the word that looks nothing like the other words.

"Mr. I don't eat vegetables" actually requested something green for dinner. And the best part is...

He ate it all.

And dork am I, I had to take a picture of the his and her dinner plates.




Oh and in case you are laughing at the actual amount of cucumber on their plates...well while I was cutting the cucumber they were eating it so this is what was left to put on their plates.

Its Official

I really do not have a baby anymore. Now it isn't as if the light bulb just went off today, but there are moments while watching your kids grow that it hits you. Kind of like a baseball straight to the eye!!! Oh how funny am I?? Some of you will get the humor in that :)

Anyway, today was the first time I was able to put Taylor's hair in a full-on ponytail. It is the little things that excite me people!!! And why I am admitting this is beyond me, but after doing her hair and checking it in the mirror I was sad that my mom had to go and have a life today therefor being unavailable for me to call and share the good news.

I did the next best thing though and as my readers you can now share in my joy. I fixed the kids lunch and grabbed my camera.


See...getting a 2yr old to stand still for a good picture is virtually impossible, but put some food in front of her and strap her into a booster seat...and... Click away.


So this is just what I did. And except for a few glances that said "Can I just eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich without you capturing it on film?" I was pleased with the photos I got.


Look at that ponytail... Oh I am so proud!!!

This is what a tired baby will get you....

Although I am a few days late with this post (you can blame my totally boring, but completely exhausting weekend) I had to share my story. Now let me say that when things like this happen photos would totally enhance the story, but of course my camera was not in my purse, so just use your imagination.


I made an impromptu doctors appointment for Taylor after leaving my moms on Friday. Thankfully we left the doctors appointment with a prescription, so in the end it was WORTH it.


Oh wait... worth what you might ask??? Oh let me back up a bit and tell you that like any other doctors office in this world when you make an appointment for 11am, you don't ACTUALLY see the doctor until 11:45!!


Now making adults wait is annoying, but making toddlers wait...come on people. This particular time I was THAT MOM and my daughter was THAT CHILD!! You know the one that is throwing the biggest tantrum, filled with tears and snot, topped with hitting and kicking. I am not even going to lie...I was SOOOO embarrassed. Nothing I did helped. Oh and remember where we were...a quiet doctors office. And as luck would have it we had spectators. Two nice ladies and their kids got to witness the entire show from start to finish.


Oh and how did it end might you ask??? My darling daughter found comfort from one of the other moms in the waiting room. Oh yes A COMPLETE STRANGER was what made her calm down. She wanted nothing to do with me whatsoever. In fact...her meltdown returned when the nurse called the lady and her son to see the doctor.


Side note: Thomas was an angel the whole time, but I fear he was really just distancing himself from us. It seemed he might have been just a little embarrassed also.


It was one of those moments when you are not sure whether to cry or run out the door. A moment when, for me at least, I am cursing my husband under my breathe about why the mom is always the one that deals with these fun experiences.


No worries though...we lived to write about it and all is well on the home front. I may not have it on film, but I don't think it is a story I will soon forget anyway.


Happy Monday!!

Just a Glimpse...

...into our lives on a typical Wednesday. If I haven't told you (I probably have, as I tell everyone) my days start very early because my Thomas DOES NOT sleep in. Now add to that he is a closet eater...OK fine he absolutely does not hide his eating at all...he just prefers to help himself to the pantry, refrigerator and anything that might be on the counter IE: an entire pan of LARGE blueberry muffins. Yes, he once devoured 6 EXTRA large muffins in one sitting. So once he is up, so am I.

Anyway...our days start earlier than most and usually by 9am I have put someone on timeout, cleaned up a mess that I didn't make and asked myself "Is it really only 9am?" at least five times.

My favorite days of the week are Monday, Wednesday and Friday...why you may ask?? Well, Thomas has preschool these days and I admit wholeheartedly that I enjoy this time. We both do, but for two totally different reasons. I still have my darling Taylor who usually isn't very cooperative during this time, but enjoy just the same because one screaming child is always better than two.

Thankfully Taylor still takes one good nap a day and it can pretty much be on my schedule. If she is driving me nuts early...nap time falls around 11am. If she is good...nap time falls right around the time I am taking Thomas to school.

This was when nap time came today, but that was A-OK with me. It really only means if I want to do any shopping I carry her around. Carrying dead weight is way better than fighting her in a cart.

The weather has been beautiful this week, so we have spent lots of time outside. Today I was taking pics for my etsy and turned around to snap some shots of the kids. Apparently Taylor had some shoe issues...

But have no fear her big brother is here!!!

Oh and yes Taylor is wearing skinny jeans.

Today our day ended with a bike ride with daddy. Mommy stayed home to enjoy my sandwich (I think I might be getting sick...oh I hope not) in peace. Tomorrow we get to do it all over again.

Side note...I tried to get an end of day photo, but...big surprise no cooperation.

Adult Conversation

There are moments when I sit in aww of my kids. They are plain and simply...HILARIOUS!


I decided to grab my camera while they were eating their dinner tonight and frankly I am surprised I actually got any shots. My quiet laughter made for a not-so-steady hand.


When they are not fighting with each other they can be quite cute.


Just look at their faces...whatever it is they are chatting about seems to be funny and interesting. I couldn't help but just continue to take pictures. They were so involved in conversation that they didn't even notice me.

Take 2...

So these are the first pair that I got. (Thanks to my wonderful babysitter)

Tom thinks these are more stripper-esk and insisted that I also post a pic of these in his defense. I am not sure what I am defending?? I love these ones just as much.


Although I will say that these ones are the ones that need the PERFECT outfit. White heels are a little further out of my comfort zone. They too will be worn in Vegas.

You decide...

So what do you think??

Hubby asks me... "How many pairs of stripper shoes are you going to buy?"

Me..."First of all they are not stripper shoes and second...as many as I want."

Maybe it is just the fact that 360 days out of the year I am mommy 24/7 and rarely do my days call for a pair of shoes that look like this.

Whatever, I am ready to have a closet full of these shoes.

Sanity For Others

I was a little skeptical of this whole blogging thing when I first started, but the skepticism went away quite a while ago and now I am just plain addicted.

I have absolutely no clue how many people actually read my blog (I hope its LOTS and LOTS), but I really don't care. It is my way of getting all the craziness in my life out. Sort of like purging I guess and I feel horrible when I go a day (or more) without blogging.

So before I turn myself over to the TV for LOST I thought I would post a little quick update.

After my rant about my lack of shoes last week, I have two new pairs of heels. I absolutely LOVE them and cannot wait to wear them. It probably won't be until our trip to Vegas, but that's OK. My hubby thinks they look like stripper shoes, but what does he know. I will take a pic and you can judge.

We had the Harding's over for Superbowl Sunday and it was totally crazy as usual.

I made a new type of hair bow which I am super excited about...I am such a dork I know, but oh well! Anyway, I spent my morning making bows and my afternoon buying more ribbon.




Oh and for a brief moment (OK the last week) I thought I might be pregnant. No this is not my way of telling you all that I am. I am NOT!

OK that about sums it up!! I shall leave you now and check in later.