T Time

March 11, 2014Leave a comment

On a warm Saturday morning, I had one of those fabulous “this is so much fun” parenting moments.

I was standing on a baseball field in the hot sun, watching friends pull into parking spaces. Each of them had the windows down and the Frozen soundtrack turned up. Little hands reached out of windows waving. Little hands waved back from the field. Suddenly the bleacher bench was filled with smiling faces and little legs clad in baseball pants. There were matching pink helmets, pink bat bags, pink and black gloves. Water bottles were compared and shared. Dads shook hands, took roll and divided into groups. And we were off! T-ball season has begun! And I think we’re off on the road of many years of practices, games, heartbreak and fun. Bring it on, we’re ready.

Do you love these guys?!

Thank you Diamondbacks for the great uniforms! Yea White Diamondbacks! (slight issue when you donate the uniforms to the entire league an every team is the same mascot…hopefully there will be enough colors to make it less confusing….)

This guy? Is having the time of his life. And thank goodness, because the other dads are terrified of taking the girls from the team. There was honest panic in their voices when he was in Montana. Herding cats would be far, far easier.

This guy kills me. His only goal during practice is to get on the field. He generally settles for sitting on the bench. I can’t take the cuteness.

~~Yelling at~~ Cheering on his sister

Dog or Step Stool?

March 5, 2014March 5, 20141 Comment

When you’re 17 months, it’ all the same.

February in a Nutshell

March 4, 2014Leave a comment

When we did get out in February, we had a great time. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

We saw the Pony Express ride into town. These gentlemen ride from Prescott to Scottsdale and deliver letters from a school there to a school here. It’s neat to see the tradition live on. And hilarious to see traffic stopped for 40 horses.

Getting out as far as she could without actually being in the street

Pop and Auggie getting very excited

And here they come!

Next was the Waste Management Open. I vowed long ago that I would not go back until I could be up in a sky box and away from the drunken masses. Thankfully for me, one of Peter’s clients got sick so I got to go on Sunday morning!

Auggie got a new tooth. And everyone knows about it because he looked like this for pretty much the entire month. He’s crying in this picture because I wouldn’t let him play with the straightener.

We waited patiently to see Peter in the Parada Del Sol. Sadly, the Scottsdale 20/30 Men were “excused” from the parade. I’ve heard various excuses and explaination. I buy none of them.

Baylor made me an amazing bracelet for Valentine’s Day. She put two B’s – one for her and one for me.

And the absolute most fun part of February – Baylor started t-ball! We have been having such a good time – can’t wait for some actual games. And thanks to the Diamondbacks for the awesome uniforms! The fact that every team in the league are the Diamondbacks is a touch confusing…but making them different colors helps!

Go Red Diamondbacks!

It’s a little tough to know who likes t-ball more – Peter or Bay. And God love him, he’s the only dad brave enough to coach the girls from the team and make them behave!

Aaaannnddd We’re Back!

March 3, 2014Leave a comment

It’s over! February is over! I’ve never been so excited to see a month end.

Why? Because it means we have Peter back both physically AND mentally. My lovely hubby has been studying for the Montana bar exam for the last several months. This past month has been the most brutal. The last time he studied for the Arizona bar, we had no kids and he did not have a job which made the process a slightly less painful. Like a filling with novacaine.

Studying with a full time all consuming job and two kids? Root canal. No painkiller.

I thought it was just me but while driving this weekend, B piped up from the back seat saying “Daddy – it’s so nice to be able to talk to you again!”. She was referencing the fact that for the last 6 weeks, we literally haven’t talked to Peter. He was working, studying, listening to lectures or trying to get a moment to relax so we didn’t talk to him. He was listening to lectures a lot so I got very used to looking to see if his ear buds were in, deciding if what I had to say was important enough to ask him to take them out…and then forgetting what I had to say all together. It was a long month.

To put it in perspective, I was emailing with a former college of PW’s and filling her in on what he was up to. She emailed me the next day saying that she woke up in a cold sweat after having a nightmare that she had to retake the bar exam.

But we did get out a little in February – recap coming tomorrow. For now, we’re just excited to be off of social probation!!

DIY Magnet Board

February 19, 2014February 20, 2014Leave a comment

I think I might be on a roll.

Ok, I’m hoping I’m on a roll. I say this because I’ve just completed a project that I started before Auggie was born.

Yeah, that’d be 2 years for everyone doing the math.

Prior to moving home to AZ, our cute little hood in DC had curbside trash pick up. While out walking the dogs one afternoon, I saw our neighbors had thrown out a HUGE picture frame. Like huge. So I wrangled my hairy beasts and ~~dumpster~~ pile dove and took the frame home. I had visions of turning it into a damask fabric covered cork board that would hold hundreds of pictures in a casual yet totally planned way. It would look expensive and fabulous and I would looove to tell people that I made it for practically nothing!

Sadly because everything on HGTV always looks easier than it, my cork board didn’t come out quite right. It turns out that cork tiles are little pricey. And I needed a ton. And even though I broke down and bought them, they didn’t have enough body to hold their shape on the fabric. And they were thin so when I finally got them to stay in place, the thumb tacks when right through the cork and into the wall. And when the door in the office was open and a breeze blew in, it blew down all my pictures because they weren’t really on the cork securely because the cork wasn’t really secure.

So after putting up with this for fourish years, I took it all apart with the idea that I would get sheet metal instead and use it as a magnet board.

I never learn my lesson.

It turns out that the metal they sell at Lowes and Home Depot is A. not magnetic and B. they won’t custom cut it for you. Then Auggie came and I got tired so my frame has been hanging on the wall of my office totally empty except for a few pictures Baylor taped to the wall because she thought it looked sad.

That is until this week. Well, last month. I decided that it was time to get it done. I had a vision of adding a few more frames to the wall and giving Bay a safe place to store her markers and crayons so that Auggie and Mason can’t get to them. And to be able to hang artwork and pictures that was breeze proof. Auggie and I took off to Hobby Lobby. I found their empty frames were half off. The fabric had a coupon and I found hooks on sale too. It was a sign. I’m not a fan of Hobby Lobby’s politics, but I can get behind a sale. Next I found a sheet metal company that would custom cut metal and it didn’t cost a fortune. And last night I was feeling ambitious so I got everything assembled – even with a few measurements that weren’t perfect, it came out pretty good!

Here’s how I did it –

What you need:

Empty frame(s)

Fabric

Magnetic metal

Glue gun

Iron

Instructions:

1. Measure the inside of the frame (like where the glass would go). Go on the smaller side – you can always add fabric to fill it out but having to have a millimeter cut off would be annoying.

2. Call around to get a price on sheet metal. I used 20 gauge (because that’s what the guy said I should use) but I think it could have been a little thinner and have been just fine. Just make sure it’s magnetic. I also ordered mine unhemmed because it was cheaper and because I didn’t need a fancier edge.

3. Layout the metal on the fabric and line up the edges so the pattern of the fabric is straight. Cut leaving a 2-3 inch border to fold over.

4. Press the cut piece.

5. Laying the fabric pattern side down, line up the metal in the center again. Start folding over the edges and gluing into place in small sections (the metal is cold so the hot glue hardens really fast). Be sure that the metal is staying in place (I stood on mine) so the pattern is straight. Pull tightly so there are no creases.

6. Run a small amount of glue around the edge of the inside of the frame and place fabric and metal inside.

7. Hang on the wall and admire your work!

Other variations…paint the metal in bright color or with stripes. Paint with chalkboard paint (oooh). Create sections with paint and or fabric for each person in the family. Have the metal cut with two holes at the top to loop ribbon through as an alternative to the frame.

So now that my two year old project is done, I’m feeling motivated to tackle the ornament wreath I started making THREE years ago. Those assholes on Pinterest don’t tell you to paint the damn styrofoam ring before you start hot gluing ornaments to it. They also don’t tell you to use a much smaller ring than you think because it requires a ridiculous amount of ornaments and the thing is going to be 4 feet across and weigh 100 pounds if you use a big ring. I’m too far down the road to give up…so I’m going to go back and try to A. paint between the ornaments and B. add greenery where I can’t get paint. Wish me luck! Or wish me to have the guts to give up on the stupid thing. Either one works!

Task Master

January 27, 2014Leave a comment

My lovely little lady is what I would call a dawdler. When given a list of tasks to complete, rather than doing them, she meanders around, get distracted or downright ignores them. It gets a bit frustrating – especially when we’re trying to get out the door.

I went online to find a cute chore chart that I could tailor to our schedule. I found these adorable and really reasonably priced magnets. I made up a little white board with WET Erase (genius. They don’t rub off!) notes and now when I need her to get it together to get to school, get ready to nap, get ready for bed, whatever – I simply ask her to help me find the magnets. We load up the board and she dashes off to finish her tasks and move the magnets. It’s amazing. There’s dramatically less arguing about getting down for a nap and we don’t forget things when we leave because we’re not in a rush.

I know it could use some creative touches…but it’s getting the job done for the moment!

Cute pictures and words

I bought the stars too for a reward. I haven’t decided yet what the stars are for or how many she gets until she gets something…but she is thrilled to get them and gets very serious when they get taken away so I’m sticking with this for now!

I bought these cuties from Cucumber Lime on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/transaction/155939903?). They were a great price, nice quality and came super fast!

Just A Reminder

January 23, 2014Leave a comment

I had to chuckle when I opened a package from Amazon today. As if I didn’t remember I was on the slippery slope to 32…the contents of my order were a good reminder:

A second knee band because I’m now unable to run a 5k without pain in both knees…an elbow ice pack for the tennis elbow I’ve developed from lugging around a chunky 15 month old and sinus rinse. Holy. Moly. Add some Bengay and an AARP membership and I’ll meet you at Denny’s for the early bird discount.

Think It. Say It. Do It.

January 20, 2014Leave a comment

Think it. Say it. Do it. This is my plan for this year. These are the words I need to remember. To live by. To DO this year.

For years there has been something bubbling, churning and working in my brain and in my heart. I’m not 100% sure what it is. It’s a drive, a need, a passion but it’s fuzzy. There’s no definition. It’s like a magic eye picture and I can’t cross my eyes enough to get the full view. But it’s there and it’s stirring me into action. My problem is I don’t know what action to take, what to do or how to do it.

What I do know is that I’m on the right path. While the map doesn’t make sense, I somehow instinctively know I’m headed in the right direction. I know because in a conversation I had with a good friend a few weeks ago, the words that came out of my mouth made perfect sense despite the fact I hadn’t really thought them. The words came from somewhere other than my brain – somewhere that knows the answer but can’t clearly communicate it. My heart? My gut? I don’t know. All I know is that when I said this, the picture became a little clearer:

“I need to have more confidence in my writing. I have ideas all the time, but I don’t commit them to paper because I can’t quite make it all come together. And then I will read it somewhere written by someone else. Exactly what I was thinking about! They were able to put into a cleverly written prose what I didn’t. It’s not that I couldn’t, it’s that I didn’t. I need to let others be the judge and get out of my own head”.

So I’m in. I’m going to put one foot in front of the other no matter how many things are on my plate. No matter how tired I am. No matter who has what going on that is more important, pressing or time consuming. I’m going to start finding the answers I need to get to where I want to be. Where is that? I’m not totally sure. But I’m going to find out and I’m going to enjoy the ride getting there.

Seemed Like a Good Idea

January 15, 2014Leave a comment

A walk in shower seemed like such a good idea…until this guy.

“Oh heeeey! I didn’t know you were showering. That’s cool. I love water. Like really love water. In any form. Like the water on the glass. Or by the drain. Or on your leg. Do you want me to lick that off for you? Cause I’d be happy to. With or without your permission is fine with me. I also love soap so if you have any of that, I can take it off your hands for you. Just say the word. I’ll be right here”.

Enough Already

January 14, 2014Leave a comment

If I read one more post, article or link about how to slow down, cut back on the to do list and or enjoy life, I’m going to punch someone.

No really.

Telling me to forget those dishes, stop running errands and don’t sign my kids up for activities is not only pointless, it’s down right mean. So my kids are going to be deprived of swim lessons, play dates and visits to the museum because it’s a lot of work? I should let the dishes, laundry and other housework pile up in the name of bonding time? How can I work more “efficiently” at my job in order to avoid having to multitask?

Also, these people clearly do not have a “spirited” four year old whom they stay home with who has ideas of her own and she. will. get. her. way. No matter how severe the consequences. So yes, while sitting down and spending time together is a good thing, there are days where if she doesn’t go to swim lessons, I might run out the door an never come back.

I get it. I do. I see the point these articles and posts are trying to make and in general, I agree. I do think there are limits on the day and what can get done – but while the message is clear, the call to action (or non action) is ridiculous. Show me a mom who is not stressed, worried or overwhelmed in some form and I’ll show you a mom who is not paying enough attention to her life. I’m not saying it’s healthy, I’m just saying it’s part of the gig. Learning how to not just survive but thrive is essential to make the most of your life and your kid’s lives. Quite time, unstructured time and alone time are all great, but they are only part of a fulfilling life. Getting kids dressed and out the door to church is annoying, but essential. Loading up for tennis lessons, t-ball games and riding lessons is difficult, but it provides the enrichment we all need. And let’s not forget our jobs. Fun as they are, they are necessary not only to provide for our families, pay for college and groceries.

So unless you’ve got a technique that will teach me how to thrive on 4 hours of sleep (how does Martha do it?!), spare me your warm and fuzzies. I’ve got work to do, children to raise and laundry to be folded.

The Goon Room

A little of everything and nothing, all in one blog

Tag: blog