I suck at being the easter bunny...

suck at all the make believe that comes with parenting. I don't like the Easter bunny, Santa, tooth fairy or anything that requires me to wake up in the middle of the night or stay up later.
My daughter lost her first tooth and I had no cash. I had to borrow from her piggy bank to give to her. How sad. The tooth fairy also forgot to take the tooth because she's a light sleeper. There has to be a better system for this. I actually have no idea what the going rate for a tooth is these days but couldn't imagine giving more than $1.
The Easter bunny wasn't a big hit this year either. We were on vacation, isn't that the best Easter present ever?! I brought a few plastic eggs in my suitcase, filled them with pennies and hid them around the room when I woke to vomit from drinking too much at pool all day. The kids weren't thrilled; I guess they saw the eggs in my suitcase. Umm... change of subject. Hurry up kids, grab your eggs or we're going to miss our flight.
Christmas is a whole another thing. When they were babies to age 2, I would wrap up boxes of diapers and other necessities. Who cares at least it's something to open. Now they're older and wiser and notice Santa has the same wrapping paper as us. Last year Ava got an iPod. Don't judge me cause my 5 year old got an iPod. That was pretty much it. She got a few stocking stuffers and her other gifts were iPod accessories. Why did Kayla get more? Kayla got paper and markers that were "borrowed" from my office and wrapped individually. It only looked likes more. Learn the value of a dollar, kid.
With that being said, I don't think we will participate in "The Elf on the Shelf" again. My sister got us one and it seemed like a cute thing. Her kids loved and adored it. Mine did too but unless someone mentions it this year, they probably won't care. Either way, I don't think I'll be doing it because it's too much work. You have to move it every night and I'm just too tired for that.

my life lately

I didn't get a chance to write much this summer, mainly because I was too busy doing nothing but I wanted to let you know everything is going smoothly.
Ava started Kindergarten (tear) I can't believe she's that big already. So far things are going great with school and I am happy with the public school system. I am thankful for the teachers and happy they are not on strike like some other schools. Her teacher seems really nice. I mainly communicate with her through notes stating which random stranger is picking up my child because I do not have a set work schedule or steady babysitter.
Another thing we've been busy with is cheer leading. Ava's enjoyed it from the beginning, however, I absolutely hated until recently. Maybe it's because I never made the team as a kid. (Truthfully, Ava probably wouldn't make the team either if there were tryouts at this age.) Or maybe I hated it because they were making my 5 year old do laps and wall sits for scratching her leg, being off a beat, not smiling enough and any other nonsense. Or, maybe it's because practice is 4 days a week for 2 hours and games are sometimes Saturday and Sunday, which equals 6 days of cheer. Are they out of their minds? I'd like to have life too. Then I realized my kids are my life and I'm over it and learned to enjoy cheer and all spirit that comes along with it. "L-I-O-N-S The best!!"
Then there's Kayla... She is in preschool 5 days a week, half days. Same school as last year, which I absolutely love. Since cheer is so damn time consuming that leaves no room for extra circulars for her. She's 4, so really it's not necessary anyway. Oh yes it is, because if you don't start her early she'll suck and have to do laps and wall sits. I found a gymnastics class 1 hour a week for her at the rec center. She loves it. I wish it was longer and more days.
Here's what's new with me... an extra 10 pounds, a gym membership that I never use, and a super clean house until 11:30 when Kayla gets off school. Kayla has definitely been great those few hours. She is so good at entertaining herself and such a joy to be around. Of course, that's not all the time. The other times she is a completely overtired psycho.
Overall, I love my life

that 10 pounds...is now 15.

So as I sit here... actually I'm not sitting , I'm on the treadmill writing this! yay me! But unfortunately I am drinking my McDonald's coffee with vanilla, 2 creams and 2 sugars while doing so.  I realized I have become a completely processed and unhealthy mess. I don't know where and when I lost all sense of motivation in my life and became a lazy fatass but here I am. The good part is, I realize I need a change and one I can stick with. I've been down this road so many times before, you know, the one where I throw out all junk and processed everything and buy ridiculously overpriced organics and health food only to realize I can't do this because someone at work brought cookies and I have to have one or I'll die or my husband has candy and it looks so good and one sip of his Coke isn't gonna hurt, right? Why can't I have self control? Oh, that's right, because it was summer and summer is fun, why would I have control when I can have beer, cake and BBQ everything? I manged to get by without showing the noticeable extra 10 pound gain by wearing sundresses and workout clothes but unfortunately the weather is changing and I might need pants with buttons soon...jeans! Truth is; my jeans do not fit and I would like to blame it on that one time my husband did the laundry, obviously he shrunk them, or maybe it's my age; maybe they were right, you get fat as you age unless you keep up with your diet and exorcises. Anyways, I don't know where I'm going with this besides to tell you my fatass need to lose 10-20 pounds.
 

A quick look before it becomes trash.

My kids enjoy drawing, coloring and pretty much every other art and craft stuff. Kayla especially loves this; in fact she even got office paper and supplies wrapped up for her Christmas present. I usually limit them to drawing and coloring with crayons. They are banned from markers, glue and scissors unless under supervision and I don’t have time to supervise my kids. They sit at the table or anywhere and draw all day. I can’t even remember the last time they played with toys.

Here are a few samples:

Kayla couldn’t figure out how to draw a happy person for the longest, and then one day she just got it and completely changed the whole look of her people.

It’s weird how much they’ve changed in just one day. Both are of her and Ava. I like the sad people. They make me laugh. The others are nice too.

She's actually not bad for being 4.

Ava draws a lot of scenery and mostly just writes letters and menus.

This was an old picture but I kept it for some reason.

Ava’s people look like Edward Scissorhands on wheels. She doesn’t draw them anymore because I always say “I really like their roller skates.” And they are clearly not skates.

I wish I could find a better one.

I just wanted to document a few of their drawings because I usually throw them all away when they’re not looking. Sometimes they find their pictures in the recycle and cry. It makes me feel like the worst mom ever but I don’t like paper clutter.

Cute Jar Bank

I thought I was getting good at spray painting things so I decided to make a bank out of a sauce jar. This is perfect because I also made a chore chart (once again) for my kids and they will be getting one nickel for every “X” on their chart. Here’s how their doing so far.

Looks like no one has picked up their toys...ever.

Back to the bank; I tried to spray paint the outside of the jar but it looked like shit so I scrubbed it all off with a brillo pad and poured acrylic paint on the inside instead. I tipped it, swirled, did whatever it took to cover the jar. It wasn’t complete without a tiny chalkboard on it, so I duct taped a box and sprayed it with the chalkboard paint. I also did the lid with chalkboard spray after I cut a coin slot in it. Then I tied a pretty bow. Looks cute.

Notice, I tried to draw Mickey Mouse ears as a reminder we are saving for Disney.

I wish I had an idea for my wine jug

Today I was feeling crafty again. I’ve been drinking a lot of wine lately and was looking for recycled crafts. Unfortunately, there wasn’t too many for empty Carlo Rossi jugs or boxed wine and  I wasn’t creative enough to think of any on my own. It will come to me one day though.

Anyway, I had some leftover (actually unopened) chalkboard spray paint from a project I wanted to try but didn’t. So I spray painted the bottom of a wine glass with it. It was so easy and so awesome. It was also unnecessary, considering I drink wine alone in the afternoon of most weekdays, and because I don’t have a matching set so  nobody is usually confused anyway. Either way, cool project. Thanks again pinterest for another clever idea.

Garden Obsession

I am obsessed with my garden. I used to be obsessed with pulling the weeds in my patio cracks. I have had a garden since we moved here six years ago. It used to be way smaller and I only had a few tomatoes and peppers. I don’t grow peppers at all anymore because we don’t eat them that much.

Here’s what I have this year.

 

Swiss Chard

Lettuce

Broccoli

Onions

Tomatoes

Sugar Snap Peas

Zucchini

Cucumber

Corn

Mint

Basil

Dill

So far all are growing nicely and we have eaten everything except the tomatoes, cucumbers and snap peas. They should be ready to harvest soon.  I’ve grown all of these except broccoli and so far it’s been good. We ate one head already.

We eat Swiss chard and zuchinni once or twice a week. I mainly sauté it with garlic oil and parmesan or put in our scrambled eggs. If anyone has any good and easy recipes for chard, let me know!

Let them have dreams

Once again, I am looking for a new job. I am still wondering ‘what I want to be when I grow up.’ I don’t have any dreams, goals or passions in life. Sad, isn’t it? I don’t ever remember having one either. I was never great at anything. I was always average at things but never put forth an effort. I do remember being nice and maybe niceness leads to happiness and happiness should be the ultimate goal for life anyway. So there, my passion and goal is happiness.

Since, my main job is “housewife” I should start putting forth a better effort in raising my kids. Maybe they have dreams, passions and goals. I don’t want to be the one to hold them back form that. That being said, maybe I should just let them do things that make them happy so they can lead a better life from a younger age. Plus, a happy kid will make my life easier. Instead of getting angry and forcing my kid to swim every day, I should let her do sidewalk chalk. Swimming is a much needed skill but there is no reason to rush or force it upon her or she will hate it. Cleaning does not make me happy so I rarely do paint and messy projects with them (we have been a lot more lately). Since they love arts and crafts I should let them do it daily. They love doing cooking projects but it is way more time consuming and messy with little helpers, so I shun them off and tell them to stay out of the kitchen and they can help another time. I think back to when I was a kid and realized that I liked cooking and baking too and my Nonie would always let us help and never got frustrated with an eggshell in bowl. Since my dreams are already shattered and nonexistent, I might as well focus on my kids’ dreams and passions. They are their own people and I have come to realize they don’t have to like the things I did, such as sports and drugs and alcohol. I was really looking forward to them playing softball but they have no interest. I might just have the next Picasso or Rachael Ray if only I would let them be who they are.

Dirty Hippie Hair

I mentioned before that I’ve had a problem with dandruff. I tried a few store bought products and they didn’t work. I tried to cut sugar out of my diet but that didn’t work either, considering I am completely addicted to sugar and it is in everything. I read about this no shampoo method and decided to try it. Dirty hippie hair doesn’t bother me. I’ve probably only had 2 good hair days in life and they weren’t even full days. My hair does not stay good all day; it’s usually a frizzy mess and in a ponytail within an hour.
Anyway, this “no poo” method (that’s what they call it, Google it) has been going ok so far. It’s been over a month and I haven’t used shampoo or conditioner. I’m not going to lie, I only washed two or three times a week before because of my hair type. If you know my hair, I used to use at least ¼ a bottle of conditioner per wash and still had tangles and frizz. With this method, I have been using baking soda as shampoo about once a week or less and only water on the other days. I use a cider vinegar rinse occasionally, (I guess it acts as a conditioner) and sometimes use coconut oil on my ends to control the frizz, which by the way is way better now. It’s weird to think that I use the same products to clean my floor, counters, toilet and hair. Baking soda and vinegar can actually be used to clean just about anything. You’d think my hair would be greasy from not washing it but it is not. It is still dry, as baking soda will do that, but it could be from being in and out of a chemical filled pool and sun all day. My dandruff has gotten way better. My only complaint is that my hair smells sometimes. I thought it would smell like vinegar but it just smells like scalp/dead skin or dirty hippie hair. Other days it smells like nothing. I think it feels a lot smoother and looks healthier. I actually wear it down more often now. I would show you a picture but I don’t have one. I just put one of me on instgram. My user name is monamama. You can check out my hair there along with my other fabulous pictures. I’ll keep you updated on this natural dirty method.

This weeks pinning

Here are a few things I’ve tried from Pinterest this week.

1. Calm Jar

This didn’t work. Kayla hated and threw it across the room. I ended up getting rid of it because the thought of glitter and water and broken glass all over my house nauseated me.
I used only glitter and water inside a washed out pasta sauce jar.

2. Teacher’s end of school gift.


http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/04/21/fun-in-the-sun-summer-relaxtion-kit-teacher-appreciation/

Here’s how mine turned out.

I love them. I wish the picture was bigger. I didn’t add the sunglasses or aloe but I did put a box of crystal light packets and a few water bottles in.



3. Leg pyramid

Ok, I didn’t do all of them but I did print it out and hung it up at work. Wall sits suck.



4. Egg in a pepper

I don’t know how I screwed this up but I did. Mine didn't look as pretty. I like my eggs well done, maybe that's why.



5. Sugar scrub

This is one I always use and I'm not actually sure I saw it on Pinterest.
Here's how I make mine:
equal parts brown sugar and white sugar. Pour olive oil in until it's the right consistancy for you.

It might look gross but skin feels so soft and lickable. Plus, pretty jars with ribbon and paper are not practical for the shower.

That’s it for this week. I’m sure there’s probably more pins that I’ve tried this week since clearly Pinterest is taking over the lives of wanna be crafty, chef, fashionista women everywhere. P.S. I tried to properly link these pages but it did not work. I guess I should google that before people accuse my of plagiarism.

Painting plastic and glass patio furniture

You cancheck outthe updated version of this post on averagemomlife.com my new website!!

 Like my dining room set, my patio set is filthy, disgusting and gross but it gets the job done. It was also left here by the previous homeowners. We planned on throwing it in the alley and buying a new set the first year. Instead we kept it and I found another one that was equally awful in the alley, along with more plastic chairs. Great! We now have two junky sets. Summer comes and goes again and I decided; why spend all that money when (just like cute party decorations) no one really cares as long as we are all having fun eating, drinking and hanging out by the pool. At least, that’s what I like to tell myself, even though I dream owning really expensive and fancy patio furniture. Also, I think of money in terms of vacations and an extra $500 plus is almost enough for a weekend trip.

Here is what it looks like. The round one was worse but I don't have a before.

I planned on only painting the rusted metal trim around the table and stand to spruce it up but while I’m at Home Depot I notice there is spray for plastic and it comes in all different colors. Who knew? I buy multiple bright colors to give it a summery feel because I like tacky and lots of color. Rustoleum was the brand I used.
Before spraying make sure you wipe down the table and chairs. The alley chairs are really gross and the more I scrub the worse they get. They’re actually turning gray and feels like they’ve been sanded. I decided not to sand or prime them because that would require way too much effort.

Tip 1: Don’t use spray paint in the wind. Tip 2: Use a well-ventilated space. Tip 3: Use a drop cloth. Tip 4: Wear junky clothes. I did not follow tip 1 or 2. I was eager to get started and I like getting high off fumes.
The yellow looked a little dingy and could use an extra coat but I ran out of paint. The rest of the colors looked great. For the table, I sprayed the underside of the glass because I figured it would hold up better that way.
Here it is!

And the other set!

It does look a bit cartoonish but I it’s better than the boring beige and white. I'll let you know how it holds up in the sun and rain.

My fat

So, let’s talk about my weight again. I gained some and I'm not happy about it. I read a quote that said something like "my life is a constant struggle between my love of food and not wanting to be fat." This is so true. It sucks. I don't want to not eat or pass up a big old piece of pie or not be able to dip my crab legs in butter because I'm dieting but I don't want to be overweight. I tried moderation but that is less than satisfying for me. I need motivation. I tried putting skinny quotes in my home, such as "Don't eat the cake you fat pig." That didn't help. What I need is a personal shopper, chef and trainer. That's not going to happen, so I made a food list instead. Be ready, it's long. I felt the need to add 2 bites of this and 1 spoonful of that because that's where I'm feeling I screw up. This is day one.
1. 3 bites of cereal
2. Coffee with cream
3. Banana
4. Rice cake
5. Chuck of cheddar cheese
6. 10 pita chips
7. Slice of Muenster cheese
8. Salad with lettuce and peppercorn dressing
9. 1 bite of turkey sandwich
10. 1/2 slice of turkey
11. 3 pieces salt water taffy
12. 4 chips
13. 1/2 cup yogurt
14. 1 crystal lite tea
15. 1/2 Bagel with cream cheese
16. Cutie (baby orange)
17. 2 bites of bagel
18. 3 marshmallows
19. 3 green beans
20. Bite of chicken
21. Green tea with honey
22. Tootsie roll pop
23. 1 cup taffy apple salad
24. 2 big potato wedges
25. 1/2 cup pasta salad
26. Brownie
27. Mini cupcake
28. 2 handfuls goldfish
29. Mini cupcake
30. 2 bite size Twix
31. 1 air head

I had at least a gallon of water and more low or zero calorie teas. I'm sure I had a few more bites here and there too. I think it only looks like a lot. I was going to enter it into calorie counter but I know the brownie was probably over half of my daily calories.
I noticed my problem is sugar and it's probably the reason my skin is disgusting right now and why I have dandruff.
Maybe I will try to do better tomorrow. On the plus side, I walked for 50 minutes today.

I really don't travel that much

For the record, I am not rich. People think I am because we go on quite a few vacations. People also think I’m lucky. I didn’t win these trips, so no, I am not lucky. We work our asses off. Ok, he works his ass off but I work hard on finding great travel deals and budgeting. I don’t say you’re so lucky you went to the mall and bought some shoes. People do what they want with their money and time. We chose to travel. Sure, my house can use some work, my car is not paid off and I could use some new shoes too. You may like saving, I like going. If something major broke down, we’re pretty much screwed. We should have a ton more money saved but we don’t and I’m not even worried about as long we are doing what we want to do. So, yes, it is fair that I go on trips and you don’t. I’m sure you have a bigger savings than me and I truthfully don’t care. What good is your savings when you’re dead?
Also, these are weekend trips. That’s all I need or can really afford. I am not going on fabulous 7-14 days Caribbean, European or anywhere out of the country vacations. Weekends trips in my homeland are perfectly fine and fabulous for me right now. I still want to travel to New York and San Francisco and then I think I will venture outside of the country. I actually think I could use a staycation and check out the touristy sights in Chicago and Illinois. There’s no reason I need to justify my reasons or spending habits but I feel the need to because everyone always asks me.
Here is a brief view of my travels since last March:

March 2011- Florida

June 2011- Myrtle Beach

Oct 2011- Niagara falls

(Isn't this amazing?!)
January 2012- Kauai

April 2012-San Diego

May 2012-Boston

May 2012-

See, that’s really not that much. Most of them are Thurs to Sunday. The Hawaii vacation was a little longer. So who cares, stop being jealous and just go somewhere, people!

Shapes and sizes

I constantly worry and fear that I’m doing all the wrong things as a mother. Every parent has embarrassing moments when their kid makes an inappropriate comment such as “look at that fat person.” Mine have done that. They also have asked if a person was a man or women, asked about a scar on someone’s face, wondered why two boys were kissing, why is her skin darker then mine, why is he in a wheel chair or they simply stare at the person who looks different. Kids are curious and some situations are new to them. These are all great teaching opportunities. I didn’t see these situations as opportunities at first; I saw it as my kid being rude and me being embarrassed. We have now had several conversations about different types of people. I grew up in a small town and never had any conversations with my parents about gay, black, or disabled people because there was none in town at the time. There were a few times when my kids saw two men or two women kissing. They stared but they would’ve stared at a heterosexual couple making out too. “Why are two boys kissing?” I would normally say, “I don’t know but stop watching them.” I finally realized maybe we should talk about gays and lesbians. They were ok with it. They liked the idea, to the point that when playing house they would play “two moms” instead of “mom and dad” or “mom and baby.” Had I taught my kids about lesbians earlier, we could’ve avoided many fights about who was going to be the mom. I once asked my daughter if she wanted to invite a girl to her birthday party. She answered “No, I don’t like her she’s black.” Normally, I would’ve snapped but I was too shocked to, considering we hang out with a lot of black people. I mentioned our friends and relatives that were coming to the party that are black. She said “I know but they are different.” We proceeded to talk about the girl’s personality and behaviors and realized she didn’t want to invite her because she simply didn’t like her. I told her it is ok to not like a person if there is a reason and she doesn’t have to be friends with everyone. We discussed many different races and skin tones as well as people’s accents after that. In fact, most of the children they hang out with are African American, Hispanic or Asian. Either way the comment shouldn't have been made. Of course, since I have weight issues and call myself fat, my children think just about everyone is fat. I guess if you are only about 30 pounds most people would seem rather large. Once, the kids were in a phase where they were obsessed with babies and asked just about everyone if they had a baby in their belly. It was so embarrassing. “People come in different shapes and sizes and don’t you ever call anyone fat again.” That’s my standard response. I still have a problem addressing the fat issue with my kids because I’m not exactly sure if I am completely ok with telling them that it is ok to be fat (by that I mean morbidly obese) since there are so many health risks involved. These are just a few examples of my curious kids and trying to find a response. I think it’s important to talk to kids in detail about things. I’m not sure if I’m giving to many details to my 4 and 5 year olds but either way I think it’s better than the standard “people come in all shapes and sizes.” Plus it’s best to fill them in know before they have a chance to think otherwise. I pray my kids never bully or judge others.

Green Noodles (almost)

Growing up, we spent a lot of time at my Nonie’s house. She was the most old fashioned person I have ever known. She had an old wash machine that I believe had a crank for the rinse cycle and you had to run each item through. I would never do laundry if I had that washer, what a hassle. She also had the oldest lawn mower which was pretty much a metal wheel with blades. We spent a lot of time in her kitchen which had your basic old and sturdy items, like this pasta maker and rolling pin.

I’ve been thinking of making my own pasta for some odd reason and was happy to hear that my mom had the trusty, old “Altea Noodle Machine” complete with recipes and instructions that were of course in Italian first, English second.

I went with the Green Noodle. (wheat flour, spinach, eggs and oil)

(I do not know why these pictures are so small and can't figure out how to change it)
The best part of the recipe is it says “is specially good with just fried butter and a heaping serving of grated cheese.” What isn’t good with butter and cheese? Apparently, Europeans measure by weight instead of cups and I do not own a scale. I googled that approximately 3.5 cups was a pound but should’ve used more because Italians are generous when it comes to food.
Here's Kayla mixing the dough.

It looks doable so I put it through the machine but was wrong; it turned out to be a big pile of nasty green shit.

I should’ve started with the basic recipe. I was determined so I tried again and the end result was another green mess. I added flour and used a rolling pin to thin out the dough but eventually figured out how to get the right texture though the machine.

Run it though. Switch the handle to the fat noodle. Run it through again. Switch the handle back to flat. Make another batch. Switching the handle was the most frustrating part. Ava did a great job cranking the machine.

The recipe says serves four. This is how many noodles we had left even after cooking a batch for four.

I guess a serving size was bigger back then.
Eating with heaping amounts of butter and cheese. Yum.

Overall, this was not a major success and nothing like Nonie's. I will definately try this again with the basic dough and follow the directions exactly. I'm not sure if it was worth the effort since my end result was not as great as I hoped. They tasted great but looked awful. I blame the spinach for everything. I froze the rest after they hardened.

uneventfully great day

Some days I feel like I am rushing around like an idiot and can’t get anything accomplished. The simplest tasks are the hugest deal and going to the DMV seems damn near impossible. Other days I feel like a real go getter, almost as if I have been given at least 26 hours in a day and have time to accomplish everything. Most of my days are average and uneventful.
I start by waking up between 6:30 and 7:30, tip toe down stairs, hoping I don’t wake my kids up because I am not ready to deal with life yet, check my phone, start laundry, think about showering but don’t. Kids wake up, Kayla cries for no reason; they beg for breakfast within the first 15 minutes, I pour cereal, only to realize we are out of milk. I tell them to eat dry cereal and if their lucky we’ll go to Dunkin Donuts because by this point I’m already tired. Kids go back upstairs to get dressed; Kayla cries because she’s too tired to put clothes on and doesn’t want to wear what I picked out. Her tantrum lasts for what seems like hours and she finally gets dressed in the original outfit all by herself after being bribed with Dunkin Donuts. I grab my winning sip and scratch coupon and to my surprise someone has scratched all of the other answers and I’m pissed. Now we’ll never get our free hash browns and my is day ruined. We go anyway after warning the kids not to touch my stuff. Luckily, they girls are cute and they end up getting free donuts after all. I whine to the lady at the register that I really did know the right answer for the free hash browns and she gives them to me anyway. My coffee tastes like shit and I ‘m annoyed because it tastes different every time I go there. I drop the kids off at school and am ready to enjoy the day.

I think about working out but decide to do it later, clean the house, switch loads of laundry and get annoyed at all of the stains, too lazy to scrub so I throw them out. This gets me thinking about throwing more stuff out, so I head to my closet and want to get rid of everything in there and get a whole new wardrobe. I finally decide to get dressed for the day only to realize the same thing I do every day, nothing fits me except leggings and sweatpants. This reminds me I wanted to work out, so I stay in the same sweatpants and get on the treadmill. I am already thinking about lunch and dinner by this point and head to the store. I get distracted by a phone call; forget my grocery list and I’m pissed. I tell the bagger at the store to please use my reusable bags and fill them as much as possible. Out of spite, he wraps everything in a plastic bag and puts them in the reusable, then puts two items per bag in every bag after that. He talks to me about the economy and how his hours are being cut. I think they’re probably being cut because of improper bagging. I put the groceries away while eating every snack item I just bought, make dinner, think about taking a shower again but get distracted my phone and now the kids are home from school.
We eat lunch, talk about school, clean the house and paint nails. They play outside, I check on them from the window periodically. I find them on top of the air conditioner and in a rose bush. Scratches are up and down both of their legs. They cry and act like they can’t walk. They are fine so we go for a walk, all the way to the high school where we get a work permit. Ava rides her bike (without training wheels) the whole way. She does great. Kayla is walking and gets distracted by everything and whines that she needs to be carried. On the way back Ava takes a major fall and is screaming and crying but we are about a block behind her. A young man sitting on the porch helps her and her bike up, while I scoop up Kayla who is sitting on the ground behind me crying for no reason. The man offers us a ride home and I say no. The whole way home I think about how anyone can kidnap Ava since I am letting her ride ahead of us. I also think about how I wish I would have taken the ride from a stranger. I smile and say hi to everyone we pass in hopes they will offer us a ride too. Nobody does. We eventually make it home.

I put on the TV, finally take a shower and get ready for work and as usual I am rushing around feeling like I am running late.
This is a sample of how my days are uneventfully great and I’m sure yours will be too now that you know a little more about mine.

You can call me Flower

We just got back from San Diego and here I am dreaming of another vacation. Perhaps, Disney. We have been watching the classic Disney films lately. I completely forgot about Bambi until my daughter got it for her birthday. Always cute.

A big fancy wedding

I never had a big fancy wedding and I really don’t care, except sometimes. Sometimes I wish I had a beautiful dress with fancy hair and make-up and hundreds of people watching me walk down the aisle. Sometimes I wish I had a dance with my dad or a first dance with my husband. Then the reality hits me that there is way too many details involved with planning a wedding and I was better off with the one week notice Vegas wedding. Here’s how the proposal went down, him: “I miss going to Vegas every Easter weekend. Do you want to go next weekend?” Me: “ok, sure.” Him: “Ok, do you want to just get married then?” Me: “ok, sure.” That’s pretty much it. It turned out fine as far as I can remember. All the stress, planning and finances would probably cause my marriage to fail before it even started. The marriage isn’t about the wedding anyway. I don’t remember ever planning or dreaming about my wedding as a child, teen or an adult. Girly stuff really wasn’t my thing back then. My kids, however, are super girly and are planning thiers already. I better start saving now.

This is Ava watching a wedding on from the beach in San Diego. It was the cutest thing. I’m sure she is dreaming of being the bride. The bride at this wedding was so nice and gave the girls some flowers later that evening.

This is her as a flower girl right before she turned 2.

This is her as a flower girl again. I wish both of my girls get to be flower girls together one day. They play wedding all time. Ava likes fancy dresses, fancy cakes and details. She will have a big fancy wedding one day. I hope my princesses both have thier dream wedding. I will help plan it and live through it like it was my own fancy wedding. I can’t wait! I guess I do love a big fancy wedding after all.

No Baby

At least once a week, whether it be family, friends or strangers, someone asks “when are you are going to have another?” or “Don’t you want to try for a boy?” NO, I do not want another child. I am perfectly happy with the two I have. Do you know how much baby would screw up my life right now? Do you know how much I could screw up a baby’s life? Raising a child is a huge deal and more of a responsibility then I ever wanted. I don’t know why nobody mentioned this to me before I decided to have kids. Now that I know, I do not want more, ever.

Holding a newborn baby does not make me get that feeling people talk about. It makes me want to go to the gynecologist and get reassured that my birth control is working. I love being able to leave the house with little supplies and no diaper bag and not having to drag the car seat carrier around anywhere. I like not lugging things around. I like knowing why someone is crying. I like people to answer my questions and have a two sided conversations. Babies cannot do any of that, they really can’t do much of anything. Life with a baby is plain hard. That being said, I do not hate babies, I just do not want another one of my own. I do not mind watching someone else’s baby.
My point is a kid is a huge responsibility for your entire life and two is enough for me, thanks for asking. I truly love my kids and wouldn't trade them for anything.

Is Palm Sunday a Holiday?

Palm Sunday was one of my favorite traditions/holidays growing up. We went to church and grabbed as many palms as we could. We went back to my Nonie's and put them in the bathtub filled with water. All of us gathered around the table to eat and make crosses and baskets out of the palms. I don't know why we called them baskets, they look more like a cornucopia or pyramid type thing to me.

As an adult, I don't remember doing anything for Palm Sunday. I've only considered myself an adult for the last few years so this is probably why. We haven't had a gathering for this holiday (is it a holiday?)since Nonie died. This year my aunt had the party. Nobody remembered how to "start" the palms but her and I and nobody really wanted to do any except me. Thankfully, we didn't have a whole tub full.
Sadly, Palm Sunday has no religious value to me. I still consider myself a Catholic but… one day I will tell you my feelings on Catholicism.

It was a nice day to eat and weave. I still like Palm Sunday.

Quotes in my home

Here are a few quotes I like and have hanging in my house.
I obviously did not make these up, I just like them. If you want to find out the origin of these fine words; use Google.

1. In a world where you can be anything, be yourself.

I love this. In today’s society it’s really hard to be yourself. I think this is a good message and even though they can’t read yet, I still have it on my daughters’ wall.


2. Do more of what makes you happy.

So true. Why wouldn’t you? This is hung in my head not in my house.


3. We may not have it all together but together we have it all.

This is in my dining room and has been for a while. It makes sense to me and my life

4. Always kiss me goodnight.

Ok, this really isn’t my favorite but I do have it my bedroom which I guess means something. I don’t like going to bed angry at anyone because most things aren’t that serious. Which brings me to…

5. Life goes on.

6. Do not disturb. I am already disturbed enough.

This one is on my calender this month. Maybe I'll hang it on my front door when the month is over.

The other ones are vinyl stickers for walls, which I love. They are fairly simple to put up. I got the ones in the photos through Ebay.