The struggle of sibling fights

When you have multiple children, you know this struggle all to well. And if you have all girls like I do.......

My mind has been consumed lately with how to deal with this. I have 3 strong personalities in this house, and 2 of them are twins, who sometimes choose to gang up on the pre-teen - the pre-teen who can't explain anything she is going through right now.

For most of it, we notice that the 11yr old instigates things. She will push someone out of her way as she walks by for NO reason at all, or yell at them to stop doing something that is not affecting her at all.  Everything her sisters do annoy her or "embarrass" her.

And then the little devil child comes out of the youngest and she attacks. She will NOT be pushed around and taken advantage of and she will let you know. But then she doesn't know when to stop and tends to takes things too far. UGH

Lastly is the middle child. She is sweet, and willing to help at the drop of a hat. But she has minimal feelings. She will throw out a stone and not care about your reaction and just go about her day.

I have realized that it takes a lot of attention on my part, to be able to properly punish the correct child. For instance, I could be in the bathroom when it all starts downstairs, by the time I get down there, its a free for all, so I punish them ALL.   But then I don't keep the punishment last b/c its not fair to the ones who really ARE innocent. How do I handle this when I have no clue who did what to whom when and why??? AAAHHHHH

I know the oldest can be too much, like ALL the time, so she gets in trouble the most. But once she is done being punished, she does it again.

Lately, its been 2 out of the 3 at each other, so I punished them both last night and sent them to their room. What did they do? They decided to play together when I wasn't paying attention. REALLY????????

I know most people who multiple children like to think they have it all under control, well...we don't. We are just as clueless as new moms sometimes. Don't fool yourself. It's all trial and error.
And a little drink once in a while helps too ;)

Italian Pasta Salad

 Hey all!

With summertime here and BBQs happening all the time, I thought I would share another of my go to sides. Each time I make this, I have no complaints and I rarely go home with left overs. (although if I do, my family has no problems eating what's left).

Ingredients:

*Suddenly Salad - Classic flavor
*Italian salad dressing
*cheddar cheese (block style so it can be cubed)

*pepperoni (not pictured)
*black olives (not pictured)
*Any other ingredients you choose to add. I know some people will add tomatoes, peppers, and/or onions, etc.

Directions:
*Cook the pasta as directed
*cut up cheese, pepperoni, olives,etc into bite size pieces

*Add about 1/4 of the bottle of Italian dressing, MIX (you can always add more later on to taste)
*Gradually add in the seasoning packet from the Suddenly Salad. If you add it all at once, the flavor tends to be very strong, so just add a little at a time, until you reach your liking.

**Note:  I will typically buy 2 boxes of the Suddenly salad, cook both boxes of pasta, but only use one packet of seasoning. 
Then next time I need to make it, I can use whatever pasta I have in the house, and I still have a packet of the seasoning around, instead of having to buy the "Suddenly Salad" again. So I buy 2 boxes, but use parts of it for 2 occasions.

Serves about 15-25 people. When I have a get together of only about 10 people,  I will make just one box of pasta and use about 1/2 the packet of seasoning.

Enjoy!!

Father's Day Gift idea in process

Hey all!

This year for Father's Day, I decided to do a photo shoot with the girls.
I ordered t-shirts for them, of his favorite football team the NE Patriots.
Then we simply went to a local park and just started taking pictures in random places.

The plan is to get a multi photo frame, and decorate it.

Below are some of the shots we got and they were all edited with the phone app Photo Editor.

 Once we find the frame and get it all done I will post for  you all. In the meantime, I wanted to post the pics and the idea, so it might help you all with some fathers day ideas of your own.

Have a great week!!!

Seashell PIcture Frame

Hey all!

Below is the latest creation. I made this for my cousin for her beach wedding this past weekend.

All orders are made to order, and start at $12 for the 5x7 frame, but you can request different sizes.

Price depends on size requested.

Seashell Frame
Etsy Shop - 3LadyBugCrafts

Taco Dip starter

Hey all!

My daughter made a treat in her after-school program today, and it got my juices flowing.

They made a simple taco dip. Its really easy, and you can add any extra ingredients to it, to suit your own taste.

*1 package of cream cheese
*1 container of sour cream
*1 packet of taco seasoning
*shredded cheese to top the dip

Just mix all the ingredients together, and serve with tortilla chips.

Below I have listed a few add-ins that I thought might go well with the basic dip. Enjoy!!

Add-In suggestions:
ground beef
peppers
beans
black olives
shredded chicken

Please, we need your help and support!!

So I had this big long post on here about how I have been MIA and how life has been crazy and stressful and why...and it just got too long.

So here it is in a nutshell.

I work a full time job.

I have a husband who has a lifelong disease that we are still new to and trying to figure out, so pretty much everything is up to me. So when I am not working, I am running errands and cleaning my house. YES, its THAT messy ALL the time. I know people think I exaggerate.


I have 3 daughters ages 8-11 who are all going through different stages of early girl attitudes and its really hard trying to deal with that while being a good mom, without guilt.

I have elderly parents who need my assistance and company more often lately. So along with visits, I help with their laundry as well. So I do laundry for 7 people. Its not as bad as it sounds, but it can be time consuming.

June is a busy time with dance and end of school because of recitals.

And well....money has been super tight and I just haven't been able to get supplies for art or cupcakes and recipes, or go on little shopping hauls for no reason, just to blog about my finds. 

So that is why I have been MIA. However, my crafting ideas for my Etsy shop are picking back up - I just need to get supplies and get them done. I am determined to make our back porch an arts & crafts room, so I can do a post or 2 about that.

At this point, I really would just like to ask for support from you all. I have opened this Etsy shop to support my daughters activities. They have been in dance for 3 yrs and I sadly cannot afford to let them continue anymore. It really breaks my heart at just the thought of it.  This new Etsy shop is all for THEM!! So I ask you please, share my posts of the art we do, and share the love. We would all greatly appreciate it!

I know, we could do a GoFund me, but I would feel odd asking people for money without giving anything back. Please help us and pass along our Etsy shop posts and information. Thank you!

3LadybugCrafts on Etsy

Monogram gifts

Hey all!

Just wanted to share with you all a gift I made for my cousin, for her bridal shower. I was  a little nervous, as this is the first time I attempted anything like that, but she squealed when she opened it. I was so ecstatic.

So I went ahead and posted it on my Etsy page, pretty much as an example. Orders can be customized for weddings, baby showers, or any other occasion you can think of. Just inbox me.

Like what you see, please pass it around. I've got a few more ideas floating around that will be done soon and posted as well.   This Etsy shop is mainly to help support my daughter extracurricular activities they love so much.  Thank you for your support!!

Etsy Shop: 3LadybugCrafts
Istagram:  HJPMOONS