DC 2016

Summer 2016 is coming to an end. It was a good one. We made a lot of great memories. The theme of the summer: how much heat can you take?

Michael and I kicked off the summer with a trip to Key West. It was amazing. The heat was overwhelming but almost welcome after a cool spring.

In July we took th kids to DC to visit my family who live nearby and to do the DC thing. DC in July is miserable. We knew this, but had no other option.

Here are some photos to summarize our trip:

We HAD to go to the American Girl store because it makes me feel like a 10 year old again but a 10 year old with a credit card. Morgan (age 7) picked out a doll from the new AG Well Wishers line and Jack (age 4) picked out two Bitty Babies that I carried around until he wasn't looking and stuck them back on the shelf. Not that I don't let my son play with dolls, but we already have a Bitty Baby at home that he ignores.

We rode the metro into the city and the kids were thrilled to walk around in the heat as you can see from this photo. They recovered in each museum, I promise. We visited American History, Natural History, and Air & Space. We were extremely disappointed that the dinosaur exhibit was closed for renovations in the Natural History museum.

We took a tour of Mount Vernon. I hadn't been there since middle school. Somehow it was even hotter there than it was in the city. We waited in line forever because they had to shut part of the house down to deal with a 'protein spill' - somebody barfed in George Washington's house!!!  Once we went inside, then back oitside, then back inside, then back outside during the tour, I started to feel a bit like a protein spill might be in my future as well...but I survived. My kids enjoyed the tour and really enjoyed the air conditioned museum and the fact that Pizza Hut was in the cafeteria. 

That evening we went back into the city because Morgan really wanted to go to the top of the Washington Monument. It was closed for renovations so my kids temporarily died a little from disappointment. 

We walked down to the Lincoln Memorial where it started to rain. One of my kids favorite memories was getting to use umbrellas in the city. 

So Pizza Hut at Mt Vernon, getting to use umbrellas, and learning to use the phrase 'protein spill' are some of the memories my kids have from our wonderful DC trip. 

Organize those drawers!

I'm crazy obsessed about organization. I am getting better as I get older (and more tired). Like I totally don't stack the blocks in the storage bin anymore; I just throw them in. Wild, I know. For me, organization helps me feel like I can somewhat control this chaos called life. It makes my life easier. My mom likes to tell people about my drawers. I've taken photos for you all so you can see the brilliance (and madness) of my methods. Feel free to try this at home!

Morgan will only wear leggings, and I'm addicted to shopping for leggings, so she has a lot of them. In order to see all of her gorgeous legging collection (she's got a nice little section of Lularoe leggings too!) I have her leggings drawer arranged like this:

The old me would have this arranged by color, but like I said, I'm getting better. It really does make life easier when you can open a drawer and see all the pants!

Other drawers:

All of the socks side by side so you can see them all. They used to be organized by color but my kids don't respect my organization skills so whatever.

Folded underwear side by side so she can easily find her favorite pair with donuts on them without having to dig and mess the entire drawer up.

Shorts lined up in drawers for both kids. You open the drawer and see every pair!  

Do my kids mess up my organized drawers? All the time. Do I redo do them?  Yes; it's worth it!  

Beginning of the school year vs the end

The beginning of the school year vs end of the school year:

The beginning of the year we go on a 'school lunch shopping trip,' pick out a brand new lunch box from the Disney Store, and I pack as many food groups into my picky eaters lunch, cut the crust off her bread, tuck in a little note reminding her that I love her. The end of the year I toss in one of those crustable sandwich things and hope it's thawed by lunch, plus whatever else I can dig out of the cabinets (why hello there squished granola bar), fight with the zipper on that stupid lunch box, realize I forgot a napkin, don't want to fight with the zipper again so I figure she can just wipe on her shirt, and pat myself on the back for 100+ days of packed lunches.

Over the summer I start shopping for that perfect 'first day outfit' for both of my kids. I coordinate hair bows, shoes, and it's a bonus if the kids match one another. I write out all of their current hobbies and favorites on a chalkboard in different colors of chalk markers. I take lots of pictures. On the last day of school the kids end up in a random t-shirt and gym shorts, bonus if the top matches the bottom, I grab a highlighter and piece of paper for a last minute 'last day of school sign' and shove it in their hands for a quick picture.

The beginning of the school year I grab that book bag as soon as the kids are home so I can dig through all the papers. I get excited that they have to wear purple for anti-bully day and I remember to send money for the book fair.  The end of the school year I give that book bag stink eye, then several hours later dig through all the papers. Oh great, I've got to find a purple shirt for Relay for Life and dig up some quarters to send for the latest whatever is going on.

The beginning of the school year my kids are leaping out of bed, excited to see their friends. The end of the school year I am pulling them out of their beds hissing 'it's 13 years, I did my time and now it's your turn!'

The beginning of the school year my daughter loves riding the bus. The end of the school year she's asking to move to a different house so she can ride a different bus because she's 'over having an assigned seat and seriously mom why can't you just pick me up from school?'

The beginning of the year I'm all like 'oh let me know if you ever need me to come in and help!  I love being a part of the school!'  The end of the year I'm like 'yeah that slip that asked for volunteers...I lost it...I guess I won't be there...'

The beginning of the school year we sit at the table every night to work on everything in the homework folder, go over spelling words, read the library book. The end of the year we sit at the table and cram all the homework for the week into one night, we practice spelling words on the way to school, and the library book stays in the book bag so it can go straight back to school without getting lost.

The beginning of the school year projects we map out a plan, make lists, go shopping, and create. End of the school year projects we forgot about until last minute, run through house on a scavenger hunt, throw something together and pray.

The beginning of the school year the school supplies are purchased and replaced when needed. The end of the school year I'm like 'just because that pencil is an inch long doesn't mean it won't write!'

The beginning of the school year we meet our new teacher and begin new friendships. At the end of the year, we thank our teacher and enjoy the memories.

Here's to wrapping up one more school year!!!

What's inside your purse, mommy?

A while back as I was digging through my purse, or 'mom bag' as I affectionately call the giant tote I lovingly drag around filled with everything from band aids to water bottles, I uncovered rocks, a pair of Mario underpants (not necessarily mine and hopefully clean), and a half eaten peanut butter cracker. As I do with everything, I posted about it on Facebook, where other moms shared the random crazy things they have found in their handbags over the years. I then asked moms if I could share their findings on my blog, so here we go:

Allison:  Hot Wheels, socks
Amber:  house phone
Amy:  potato
Heather:  a suppository
Amber:  a wet diaper
Merritt:  hard boiled egg
Angie:  fork
Beth:  half an Italian sub
Chelsea:  dirty Buzz Lightyear underwear
Wendy:  wooden spoon
Melissa:  athletic cup
Holly:  busted packets of Polynesian sauce
Stacey:  crumpled up Taco Bell napkin with chewed gum inside
Katie:  aluminum foil
Jessica:  house phone, remote control, sock, screwdriver, half eaten Poptart
Sarah:  My Little Ponies, half eaten orange, batteries
Amanda:  Louisville slugger nubs
Holly:  GI Joe named 'Ripper'
Jannell:  fork, house phone
Randa:  Doc McStuffins stethoscope
Jamie:  lava rocks, vending machine plastic ducks
Kellie:  3 week old banana
Whitney:  used bandage
Jennifer:  corn cob pipe, rocks, acorns, leaves
Jessi:  toy wrench
Aimee:  baseball athletic cups
Kathleen:  tape measure, cold pack, Ace Bandage
Pam:  unused doggy poop bag

It's amazing the items that find their way into our bags!

Buddy Binx Balls Stupid Cat Little Kitty

So last fall a little black kitty literally showed up at our front door. Michael was outside and texted me 'look on the porch.'  I turned in the light and this little black kitten with big yellow eyes was staring at our house like 'Yep; this one will do.'

I yelled for the kids and we tumbled out onto the porch...and apparently the sight of two noisy children in their underwear (my kids never have clothes on at home, fair warning) was overwhelming so kitty ran away.  My kids cried and wailed over the loss so Michael lured the kitty with food from the woods into our cat carrier. He brought the carrier to the porch where the kids squealed and oohed over the little cat. Morgan cried 'please please please I will do anything to keep it!!' 

Ugh. 

The problem is, we already have two black cats. Ironic eh?  And they aren't related. Both are boys. The little kitty actually looked like a combination of both our black cats. I swear a huge pile of their hair somehow made it outside and got struck by lightning, creating little kitty. 

So we started feeding little kitty on our deck and he slowly got used to the kids. The day Morgan got to hold him, she decided he needed a name. 

I was like well it's a boy so give it a boy name. She asked 'how do you know it's a boy?'

Uhhhh how do you explain these things to a six year old?

Oh yeah. Science. 

I told her boys have balls. 

'Okay, well I want to name him Balls since he's a boy.'

Wait...what?!  No!

I tried to talk her out of it. But after seeing me laugh for 20 minutes over her choice of name, she knew it was a keeper. 

What about Sirius?

No. 

Gandalf?

No. 

Darth Vader?

No. 

For a short while (like a day) I talked her into naming him Binx after the cat in the movie Hocus Pocus. It didn't last. 

And unfortunately Jack loved the name too. 'We have a new cat...his name is Balls.'  Both kids had to tell everybody. 

Thank goodness people who know us are used to our weirdness. 

We tried to find a home for Balls but nobody wanted him since he wasn't a small enough kitten. So sad. He eventually found his way into our house where, surprisingly, our adult male black cats just love him. Especially the one Morgan renamed Mean Kitty, because he hates everybody other than Michael. 

Michael was like 'we gotta do something about his name. I think Buddy is a good name for him.'  I agreed. We tried to encourage Buddy, but the kids actually started referring to him as Little Kitty. That nickname works out great because Morgan renamed both cats when she was two; Calvin is 'Happy Kitty' and Shiner is 'Mean Kitty' so Buddy is 'Little Kitty.'  

Well he was until Michael started calling him Stupid Cat...

Sigh. 

Gingerbread Cookie 'Play Doh'

My kids requested gingerbread cookies this year. 

I don't cook. 

So I posted on facebook requesting an easy recipe. Some friends suggested buying the slice and bake cookies. Yes!!  

My Kroger sucks. 

No slice and bake. No packages. Nothing easy. 

So in the baking/sweets/spices/aisle where my kids go crazy section of Kroger, I googled 'easy gingerbread cookie recipe' and found one that didn't require molasses or ground up elf toes. 

I followed the instructions but it turned out to be a very weird texture, like kinetic sand. I assumed it was a fail but I stuck the dough in the fridge anyways. When it was time to use, I covered the kids' table in wax paper and flopped out my sand dough and laughed. I took the roller to it and laughed even more when the dough wadded up on the roller (yes I used flour on it) or stayed in sandy clumps on the wax paper. As I was trying to clean the roller I found that the dough actually felt a bit like play doh. I flopped a wad on the table and smashed it out with my hand, stuck a cookie cutter in it, and it worked! My kids LOVED it. It was like playing with play doh. They were able to squish it with their hands and cut out their shapes (angel, gingerbread person, snowman, neuschwanstein castle, the usual).

The cookies turned out great. So yummy!

Recipe:

Ingredients 

1 six oz package of butterscotch pudding mix (or 2 smaller boxes; that's all I could find, 3.75 oz boxes, I just didn't use entire package to keep it at 6 oz)

3/4 cup butter (about one and half sticks)

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

2 & 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

Instructions

1.  Cream pudding dry mix with butter and sugar, add egg, blend well. 

2.  Combine flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; blend into pudding/butter/egg mixture. 

3.  Chill dough for one hour in refrigerator or until firm. 

4.  Sprinkle table with floor or use wax paper to spread dough out on, pat out dough with hands, cut or form into shapes. 

5.  Bake at 350 degrees 10-12 minutes. 

6.  Cool and decorate. 

Enjoy!  

Holiday Hexes

*warning:  I do not proofread so read with caution hahaha

With the approaching holidays I hold my breath in anticipation of what plague will rear its ugly head. My kids aren't sick very often, unless it's a holiday and then they are dying. 

Last year was insane. 

Like it's not bad enough having to plan holidays around the husband's crazy work schedule (he works a lot of holidays because people apparently need electricity year round), having to travel 3.5 hours to my family and 2.5 to his, and scheduling around the life we've got going on where we currently live (dance, gymnastics, church, sleep); let's add sickness!!  

The Christmas Contamination:

Christmas last year was crazy. One of my brothers got married a few days before Christmas so we had to travel early. The husband was able to come to the wedding but then we had to get him back north to work Chrismas week.

The wedding was on Sunday. Morgan was running a low fever, but I didn't think anything of it because she randomly runs low fevers for no reason. Monday morning she woke up extra emotional and grouchy and her fever was higher, so I decided to try to find a doctor. I assumed her ears needed checked. I was 4 hours from our family physician so I had to find a local urgent care place. The first place was a two hour wait. Ummmm, bye Felicia. 

The next place had a much shorter wait. The doctor checked Morgan's ears and sinuses but they were clear.  Then she did a flu swab (I had to buy something special later for Morgan to help her get over her trauma of a giant Q-tip jaed up her nose). The doctor burst back into the room with 'congratulations you're the proud host of flu A (or H or some letter). At first Morgan was like 'yay I won!' but I explained that meant she was sick and she burst into tears with 'Santa won't come if I'm sick and Jesus will be so mad!'  (Because Jesus IS the reason for the season after all). 

Sooooo yeah. That changed everything. I had to contact all of the family and warn them that Mimi's House was now under quarantine and left it up to them if they wanted to be exposed or not. I have two brothers. The one that had just gotten married, he and his wife and their almost 11 month old daughter decided it was no big deal (a week later they posted on facebook 'We are so sick. Stay away from anybody with the flu' and I felt pretty bad about it) and my other brother and his wife weren't even sure if they wanted our contaminated gifts because they had a 4 month old son they didn't want sick. So we finally decided to leave our contaminated gifts for them to open a few weeks later, and they brought our gifts and stuck them in the front door and watched us open through the glass door. It was sad and hilarious. 

My 'brave but later sick' brother with my kids opening gifts like this lovely Christmas opposum (because a dead animal wearing overalls is the gift that keeps on giving), and my sister-in-law watching through the door.  My daughter is dressed as Izzy the pirate by the way. 

On Christmas Day I took the kids to my inlaws. We skipped going to both grandmas' big family Christmas get togethers but my inlaws insisted it was okay for us to come to their house. So we took our germs to a different house. The day after Christmas, Jack was burning up with fever and crying like he was dying. Same flu as Morgan, but way worse for him because, well, he's a guy. My mother-in-law rode back to our house with us, very upset over listening to sick boy cry almost the entire trip (I guess I'm used to it). 

Finally. Home. With our germs. There's just no place like home when you're sick or have sick kids. 

By the way, my mother-in-law ended up sick the next week. 

Morgan shared the gift of Christmas flu. 

The Easter Plague:

Easter is another holiday we spent on the road, trying to see everybody and make family memories. The week before last Easter, both kids and I ended up at our doctor with sinus and ear infections because allergy season clogs us up and makes us funky. We drove to my parents house on Thursday I think (these details blur together). Have I mentioned they live in a log home up a holler?  That's were I grew up, up a holler with mud, farm animals, and brothers. A friend actually had a shirt made for me that says 'I was raised up a holler with brothers' because apparently when I have to much to drink I always end up saying that phrase at some point. Well there's a river that runs along the 'main road' that the holler road branches off from. And it floods a LOT. Like seriously, if somebody spills a drink up river, we would end up flooded in for days. Thursday night it monsooned and sure enough, Friday morning the road was flooded. Or maybe it was Saturday. These details blur...

Saturday evening we have a tradition of going to one of the brother's houses for family dinner. In order to get around the flood, we had to use one of these to ride along a swampy road around a hill:

View from the hill. The entire valley filled with water. 

 

The end of the holler road. The stop sign is where the main road should be. 

Husband checking flood levels. Yes I yelled at him to not die. 

So we got around the flood and made it to dinner and egg hunt, then back around the hill to my parents' house. It was time for the evening dose of antibiotics for me and the kids. 

About an hour later, Morgan climbed into bed saying she felt terrible. I took her temperature and it was 106. I panicked.

So I did what I always do when one of my kids is sick, has a rash, eats dirt, et; I posted about it on facebook asking for advice. I wasn't sure if she needed to be taken to the ER. The two main hospitals in that area are so busy that sometimes it takes hours (even all night) to be seen. And it was after dark. And we were flooded in. 

Flooded in up a holler with a very sick child. Doesn't this stuff happen to anybody else?

Well facebook never disappoints. I had one friend message me saying her husband, who works for a local EMT  squad, could get to her by raft and get her to the ER. She basically had him on standby, waiting for my call. Another friend who is an ER doctor messaged me with advice on what they would do for her in the ER; to rotate tylenol and ibuprofen every so many hours, told me to try that and if THAT didn't help then she obviously needed to get to a hospital. So my mom and I sat in my old bedroom, wiping Morgan down with cool washcloths, administering medication, keeping track of the numbers on the forehead thermometer (seriously the best invention ever), one of us at the bed and the other in a rocking chair like two country wise women. 

Her fever broke. 

There is no worse feeling than when your child is sick or hurt and you have no idea what to do. 

The river was down by the next morning and Morgan was back to bouncing around the house. We skipped church (for like the first Easter ever. Sorry Jesus) and drove to the inlaws for a full day of grandmothers' family get togethers. It was warm, perfect weather for the egg hunt, my kids were happy and having fun, everything seemed fine. 

That night, Morgan had a fever of 105 and threw up. 

Seriously child?!

So I did the same as the night before, this time with my mother-in-law as my fellow wise woman. Her fever broke. 

Next morning I told my husband we had to get home. I was so over taking care of a sick kid in somebody else's house. Morgan was fine all day. 

Guess what happened again that night?? 

Yep. High fever. 

She stayed home from school that Tuesday even though she felt perfectly fine.  During her bath that night I noticed she looked really blotchy all over her body, but she went to bed WITH NO FEVER!!! so I assumed it was some virus she was fighting and she was getting over it. 

Nope. 

The next morning she looked like this:

I immediately called her doctor who was getting ready to leave for the day. Morgan had slept in, and the doctor was leaving at 11, but he told us to come in immediately. I rushed her there, he looked her over and said 'she's got a penicillin allergy.'

What?!?  

She was in her 7th day of a high dose of penicillin. I had been poisoning my poor baby and had no idea. 

Of course we stopped the medication immediately and she was better by the next day. I posted about it on Facebook and all of my husband's family commented that they were basically all allergic to penicillin, including Michael's dad. My grandpa also had the allergy. I don't down if it's something that is genetic or not, but I made sure both of my sister-in-laws were aware of a possible allergy. 

So next week is Thanksgiving....please no plagues or rashes or floods or flus or arms falling off, okay?  

Have a blessed holiday!