Category: Random

The Elf Diaries

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Sort of by accident, the life of our Elf on the Shelf, M&M, has gotten way more exciting. One night after moving M&M for the night, Baylor got up (big shock) and spotted her. So after we were sure she was really asleep, Peter set up M&M in front of the last of our Sprinkles Cupcakes. For added measure, he took a bite…

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The look of shock and complete delight on Baylor’s face was priceless. I realized we’ve entered the phase where she 100% gets Christmas and everything is real and amazing. It was so fun to see her so excited!

Which means we had to keep it rolling…so last night M&M got into the Advent House and raided it for Hershey Kisses. B was equally shocked, but not nearly as delighted. These are HER Hershey Kisses and sharing them is not high on her list. After explaining that we had plenty to go around, she got a little more excited.

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Googleing “Funny Elf on the Shelf ideas” brings up some hilarious and hilariously inappropriate ideas. Check out these on Pinterest.

Let’s TACO ‘Bout It

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When I first watched this my thought was I have things I need to be doing and this is not one of them. Later that night after some wine, I was reminded about this and could. not. stop. laughing. I showed PW and he too found it wildly amusing (after a few cocktails, of course). It’s a slow burn so give it a minute. And a cocktail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqx5xmNsnvU

NO! I’m NACHO friend!! I’m giggling as I type.

C.I.D.

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I have been carded three times in the last month. Which is a lot considering I can’t remember the last time I was carded…oh no, I do. I was super pregnant with Auggie and was buying wine for OTHER people to drink at a party. Takes all the fun out of being carded when you don’t get to consume what you’re purchasing.

But I digress…

The first person to card me was a woman in her 50s which I decided was not a testament to my new eye cream because she probably thinks anyone under 40 is 21. The second person was a kid and he thought he was annoying me by asking for my ID. Little did he know how much the ladies over thirty like when you think they don’t actually look over thirty. The third person was my age which I decided meant that those five consecutive hours of sleep I had the night before really did make me look better! But as I left the store, a thought occurred to me; perhaps I looked not only like I could use a cocktail, but also like I could really use a compliment.

But I’m going to pretend my new eye cream is really working.

Wake Up Call

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I snuck away for a pedicure and was reading Self Magazine which was all about breast cancer and awareness. I read the statistics and a learned more about the risk groups and realized as I am now in my early thirties, I’m now at a higher risk and that it’s time to start taking those self exams seriously.

The next morning I got an email from a very good friend of mine. It started out apologizing for the mass email – as it began, I thought she was about to write that she and her husband were getting a divorce – I don’t know why I thought that, I love her husband and they have a great marriage, but it seemed to be the only logical piece of bad news she could be sending out. I literally felt my heart stop when I read that she was writing to tell everyone that she had breast cancer. 32 years old. Stage 4 breast cancer. My heart is racing as I write those words.

The good news is that she is crazy tough. And she is married to an amazing guy and they have been battling this awefulness together and she’s going to be ok. The road to recovery is long – she’s already endured several months of chemotherapy and despite it being successful, she is having surgery and then radiation. And all the while she has been open, honest about her feelings and making jokes. I will never look at arm pit hair the same way after she told me how excited she was to see hers growing back!

The part that makes my heart happy is that as I forwarded her email to our massive group of Phis, they all jumped in. They started a Meal Train so for the next several weeks, they will have dinners brought to their house a couple of times a week. There have been gift bags, flowers, emails, cards, texts and love going out to her. I know sororities get a bad wrap most of the time, but I’m proud to know my chapter has an amazing network of women who come from far and wide to help when a sister needs it.

I hate that this had to hit so close to home in order for me to pay more attention to my own health and risk. Take this as your wake up call to get your annual exams, do self exams and contribute to a charity/non profit who is working on a cure for such a miserable disease.

 

3 Day (ok 1) Cleanse

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Jen The Trainer has been trying to get me to try a cleanse for months. That crazy lady will do a 2 week juice cleanse and swears it’s amazing. I finally buckeled when I heard about the Dr. Oz 3 Day Detox. It is three days, 4 smoothies a day. The recipes didn’t look too terrible AND I figured 4 smoothies a day should keep me (relatively) full. Peter signed up to join me so on Monday afternoon, I set out to make the first day and part of the second day’s smoothies.

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My sous chef. No one should like a stalk of kale that much.

photo 2 (15)By the time I got all the smoothies made, Peter was out. He suddenly had lunches and dinners with clients and friends that could not be skipped. Fine. I’ll go it alone. But after the first day, I was hungry. I was hungry for ANYTHING. Stuff I wouldn’t even normally eat I was suddenly craving. Plus no caffeine put me over the edge. I was out after day one. I went to bed that night and promised myself some coffee in the morning – unless I had lost 5 pounds over night. Then I would probably drink the smoothies for the rest of the month.

Sadly, I did not loose 5 pounds over night so as I poured my coffee, I realized that I am the kind of person that would much rather do a Jen beating workout, run a few miles, go to yoga and control my portions rather than totally restrict my food. I did finish off the smoothies I had already made – I drank them for breakfast and for snacks and I liked the way I felt. The detox smoothies will definitely be making a regular appearance in my diet, they just aren’t going to be the solo acts.

So if you see a sweaty lady running the canal with a red double jogger, it’s me.

If you want to check out the cleanse, check out the recipes and shopping lists here. And if you decide to do it, be sure to give yourself a lot of time to make the smoothies. There are a lot of ingredients and it takes awhile to make each one. Also, make a few at a time so you can grab and go. Also, get your spouse to join. There’s nothing worse than the smell of quesadillas while you’re enjoying a mouthful of avocado, blueberries and cayanne pepper. Plus, it’s more fun when you’re both cranky from hunger.

Thanks Mommas

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I thought about writing a post that called out some of my friends for the amazing things that they do and that I admire them for. After starting a draft, I found myself worrying that I might accidently insult someone. Like if someone wrote about me “she works hard and keeps her house and family pulled together!” my first thought would be that’s so nice! I love when my friends lie to me and my second would be wait, but I am a good mom to my kids too, right?! People think that part too, right?? So I decided I would write out the things that I’ve learned from my momma friends sans names. Because at the end of the day, the lesson is the important part so here goes:

~Laugh. Make simple things funny. Instead of responding with an honest answer all the time, give a funny answer once in awhile. Your kids have their whole lives to be serious. Make them laugh now while they still think you’re funny.

~Work it. Work hard at your job and then work hard at giving your kids your full attention.

~Be cautious. They’re little and sometimes delicate  While it’s good for them to learn cause and effect (jumping off of the couch will hurt), it’s equally important to not let them learn the effect of their cause all the time.

~Give in. It’s ok to lose the battle BUT, lose graciously.

~Listen.

~Shut up. Don’t be quick to give the answer to their question. Let their imagination wander and ask them what they think the answer is and then be gentle when giving the real reason.

~Save the drama. You are not always going to win every day. Some days you’re just going to survive. Don’t dwell on the negative, look at the positive that happened in the day and then get ready to make the next day better.

~Rest. You are not a robot. It would be cooler if you were but since you’re not, let the laundry sit and you do the same.

~Be kind. Teach your kids that not everyone is as lucky as you are and that it is our duty to care for those around us.

~Don’t judge others. Mostly because we’ve all been that mom that is walking the SCREAMING kiddo into preschool while the baby is still in his jammies with a dirty diaper and blueberries on his face.

~Don’t judge yourself. Some days you’re the mom who got a shower AND both kids out the door. Some days you’re not. Both are ok.

~Laugh. A lot. Enjoy the simple things. Smile.

 

So thank you to all the lovely moms I get to call my friends. You are all an inspiration, whether you know it or not.

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Chef Wand

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What do you do when you don’t have enough time to get everything done in a day? That’s right! You agree to host the Dad’s Pancake Breakfast at Baylor’s preschool! I’m nuts, I know. But in my defense, I love being involved with her school and I was not sleeping a lot when I volunteered and therefore was a bit out of it.

Thankfully, I am on the co-chair for the event and the other co-chair is one Mrs. Stephanie D. Also known as Wonder Woman. She makes working and traveling for work and raising an awesome little girl look like child’s play. We are both crazy list makers, planners and multi-taskers. Yin to my yang. Ethel to her Lucy. Abbot to my Costello. Peanut butter to her jelly.  I’ve tackled the donations and food, she’s done the signage, marketing and invitations. We have viewed this event as a game, and we’re in it to win it. Bring it on 300+ parents and preschoolers. We’ve got enough pancakes, toppings, games, crafts and raffle to keep you all happy and full.

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If you see two women drunk at a bar on Saturday night mumbling about pancakes and laughing hysterically, it’s probably us.

Spring Breaking

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This past week was spring break for Bay (why preschoolers need a break, I’ll never know) and it happen to coincide with one of the busiest weeks I’ve ever had with the water company. To say that I am exhausted is an understatment. The good news is that with a little sleep training, the big guy has been sleeping amazingly. So while mentally falling apart, at least I’m getting more consecutive hours of sleep than I’ve seen in almost six months.

I recap our week in pictures:

Train Park fun – could someone tell me where those legs came from??!

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Not totally sure about the sand

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90 degree heat never looked so cute

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Perfection.

 

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Fun with the sprinklers in the backyard. Please disregard the dead plants – I’ve decided if it’s going to be 94 degrees today, it’s probably not going to freeze again – so I’m trimming this weekend. Fingers crossed. Focus on how lovely the grass looks! Oh and the cute kids!

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This is what happens when you’re too small to fight off your sister…

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It’s really too bad that we don’t have enough Little People to make AN ENTIRE CITY WITH TWO SCHOOL BUSES AND SAFARI CARS

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Auggie patiently listening to his singer songwriter sister

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The Truth About Girls – Number 1

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The truth about living with little girls is that no matter what is in the dryer, it will come out with glitter on it. When you have a girl, glitter just seems to come out of their pores. It’s on their clothes, their dress up clothes, hair clips, shoes, stickers…you name it, it has glitter on it. And in turn, so does everything in your house.

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