Teach Me How to Mommy

Having my husband home this week has been useful and exciting in many ways.  Little nit-picky arguments aside, we managed to have a lot of wonderful family time and actually get some stuff done around the house. Rather, I should say we got a lot of different projects started and nothing actually finished.  Like, my husband gutted our upstairs bathroom (you know the only one up there) so that's a start.  Then we arranged the family room for a new couch and went shopping, but came home empty-handed.  We are making progress. More importantly my husband and I both when through our closest and dressers and purged (donated) all our old/ugly/ill-fitting/stained clothes.  We had three black industrialized bags full and it felt so good to drop them at Savers. I am not positive what I'll be wearing over the next couple months, but everything is so much cleaner and lighter.  It's worth having to go naked to the grocery store. While I was playing with the anti-na...

Christmas was magical in every way.  The cookies, late night bedtimes, parties, Santa and presents (oh my the presents).  The last four days have been a whirlwind.  We (gladly) lost any sense of schedule and we bop from one new toy to the next (and back again and then to something new and then back to the beginning - or the ever popular "let's open something new").  As soon as Jerry and I get the house "cleaned" it's back to a tornado, yet we haven't given up. We will never give up. It does get more fun every year, so (as we all know) it's worth the extra work it takes to make it right.  Yet, when I came up on this saying on my Insta, I thought yes, yes, yes.  Christmas is over so now what ?  Like, what day is it?  And how many days do I have left on this vacation? Am I supposed to be somewhere right now? A couple months ago I had planned to paint Lucy's room and the bathroom over vacation.  Seeing as though I haven't gotten th...

The first weekend of December is officially in the books.  My kids were in bed at 7:15 and Jerry and I are too exhausted to do much, well, much of anything. Over this weekend my kids met Santa twice and will see him twice more this week.  Before you judge me and think that the season has gotten just that much out of control, hear me out... It's a lot of work to organize some of these things (Polar Express and Fire Truck Santa), but some just fall into our laps.  We went to a pasta dinner at my school this week where Santa showed up.  Score.  This upcoming weekend my mother in-law actually has a Santa come down a chimney for her grandkids (and nieces and nephews).  Pure magic. Yes, it's likely that my kids won't remember this particular year of Santa activities, but I am sure you can agree that passing on them is silly. And so although it is unlikely I'll survive this holiday season completely unscathed, I am choosing to move forward.  I wil...

Cute kids- not so cute sleep avoidance I know last week was a long week for you.  It was a long week for me too.  I know this because I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow and also, I didn't really have time to reflect on anything that occurred last week until now (and even this is a squeeze).  What's even more exciting and nerve-wracking is that after tomorrow the Christmas spirit will fill the air we breathe.  I can't wait for it all and I'm on pins and needles all the same.  I am wondering how I'll juggle it all -  I know I am bound to screw up somewhere along the way.  I think that's why I got to thinking about what happened to me last week... I am trying to do a special bulletin board/project in my classroom.  If I ever actually get it done I'll post it - it has potential, but right now it is just under construction (like permanently under construction).  It required a laminator which I don't have and to my knowledge my school...

With the help of two troops of wonderful family Jerry and I left for the weekend to celebrate my beautiful friend's wedding day.  Off to Cape Cod we went while our children were showered with love, gifts, sleepover treats, adventures and cousin time.  After checking in with them a few dozen times, I made some time to have fun.  A lot of it. If you put twelve of your closest high school friends in one house for a weekend there are a couple things that are guaranteed: 1.  You'll get no sleep.  I mean that.  One night I did not sleep.  The last time I did that was, well it was last year when John refused to sleep.  Let's just say it took me the whole week to recover. 2.  You end up reminiscing about the same memories you reminisce every time you see each other.  You also make a lot of promises about getting together again soon (let's make it actually happen). 3.  It's a good thing that snap chats disappear after 24 hours. ...

There's something just so cute about a little girl making a potion of dead leaves, grass and rose petals - isn't there? You know when people say "it goes by so fast" and you want to say "I know" but you really don't.  You're in the thick of it and it doesn't feel like it goes by too fast. Sometimes it feels like I am waiting, waiting, waiting for bedtime just to get a few minutes of quiet. But then there are pictures like this -------> .  My daughter has pink in her hair, she plays pretend games for hours and just today I heard her explaining to her brother why standing while you're eating is dangerous.  Of course things go by fast since just two years ago she was in diapers and just learning to string along a sentence.  She barely had hair - now we go to the salon. Then there's this guy.  We are spending our time finding new ways to get bumps and bruises (or bloody noses).  Not every dance party is safe - at least not in our...

A holiday must be coming up, or maybe report cards are due.  Oh wait, it's both.  Amy and I have been quite quiet recently and it's killing me. Like every other Facebook family on the planet we too have been spending our weekends doing amazing fall/autumn/harvest activities.  I know Christmas is fun because of Santa and the magic and all, but really is there anything better than being outside in the sun collecting leaves, make scare crows and picking pumpkins? Enjoy it now - winter.is.coming. In the weeks between posts I have also become an aunt again which really truly does feel magical.  If you thought pumpkin picking feels good, try holding a sleeping infant for a couple hours.  Right, there is no comparison.  Thanks for going through the whole pregnancy and labor thing sissy - it really worked out for me and everyone else who loves you. And if ever I am so exhausted at the end of the day (ok every day) I can always count on my daughter to leave h...