Thursday, July 3, 2014
4th of July manicure ideas
I have tried a few different red, white and blue nail designs over the years. Thought I would share them with you all, to give you ideas for a fun 4th of July mani, that is not extremely complicated.
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Kid friendly 4th of July home decor
I know this post is short notice, but these few little crafts can be done pretty cheap and quickly, for those of you who might be last minute people.
Our family did a few of these crafts, to just spruce up a little for the 4th of July. To get our house into the spirit.
1 - Patriotic paper chain - this one is easy enough that we have all done it at least once. However, instead of using thin construction paper, we used scrapbook paper. Total cost was about $4.50.
2 - Star door hanger --another easy one, but its also a fave of mine. I don't know why I love seeing it on the door when I walk up to my house.
Get 3 wooden stars in the size you choose from a craft store. I wanted all different sizes but that wasn't an option, so we got 3 medium size ones. They were like $1 a piece. We grabbed some patriotic ribbon that was on sale for $1.00. Last, the paint. It was on sale 3/$1.00. So this door hanger pretty much costs me about $5.00 to make.
I had my husband drill holes in the wood. He had to do this very carefully because of the thinness of the wood, so beware.
Then we painted each star a different color, attached them all by the ribbon and done.
I am sorry for this being a last minute blog post, right before the holiday. However, if you still haven't done anything decoration wise, and get a rainy day this week, here are a few crafts to do with the kiddos. Have a great holiday!!
Our family did a few of these crafts, to just spruce up a little for the 4th of July. To get our house into the spirit.
1 - Patriotic paper chain - this one is easy enough that we have all done it at least once. However, instead of using thin construction paper, we used scrapbook paper. Total cost was about $4.50.
2 - Star door hanger --another easy one, but its also a fave of mine. I don't know why I love seeing it on the door when I walk up to my house.
Get 3 wooden stars in the size you choose from a craft store. I wanted all different sizes but that wasn't an option, so we got 3 medium size ones. They were like $1 a piece. We grabbed some patriotic ribbon that was on sale for $1.00. Last, the paint. It was on sale 3/$1.00. So this door hanger pretty much costs me about $5.00 to make.
I had my husband drill holes in the wood. He had to do this very carefully because of the thinness of the wood, so beware.
Then we painted each star a different color, attached them all by the ribbon and done.
I am sorry for this being a last minute blog post, right before the holiday. However, if you still haven't done anything decoration wise, and get a rainy day this week, here are a few crafts to do with the kiddos. Have a great holiday!!
Monday, June 30, 2014
Weren't you freaked out when they said TWINS???
I get a lot of questions about my life as the mom of twins. And sometimes its odd to me, because I've been doing it for 7 yrs now, and its really not a big deal to me. Looking back, I don't think it ever really was. It was more of a shock of going from 1 child to 3 overnight. But the fact that 2 were the same age, wasn't as big of a deal as most people might think.
But then again, I am a firm believer, that if you feel like parenting is going to drain you and be horrible, it will be.
I will admit, that first night with this knowledge was surreal. It was just the same afternoon, I was chatting with a friend of mine, and telling her how I am getting big fast this time around. I was only 9 weeks and needed to start wearing maternity clothes. I chalked it up to the fact that I was still carrying weight from my first pregnancy. I took a mirror selfie and sent it to her, and she "jokingly" swore I was having twins. HA HA yeah whatever, OK.
Fast forward to that evening....
My husband and I took our daughter with us for the first ultrasound. (Now that I think about, most ultrasounds are done at 12 weeks and my doc "offered" me to get mine done early - now I know why, 8 yrs later) We were all in the room, Madison was up on Daddy's shoulders so she couldn't get into anything, and the tech begins. "Ok, everything looks good. Let's just move around to this side and......Looonnnnngggggg pause......Hmm, OK. I'm going to go talk to the doctor real quick and when I come back we are going to do an internal ultrasound."
We ask in concern if everything is OK. She says "yes, we just want to get a better look because...do you see this? Looks like 2 lima beans instead of 1??? Looks like its twins, but we need to be sure. I'll be back."
At this point I begin to get nervous in fear of what my husband is thinking and I start to nervously laugh and curse in surprise. "Ohhh shit, what the fuck, how the hell" . He replies with....are you really surprised??? Yes and no.
I have been told my whole life -- twins skip a generation, which means its my generation to have them. Also, all my siblings were way older then me and pretty much done child rearing. I knew from the age of 15 that I was doomed to be the one to have twins. But its still a shock when you see it.
Nurse comes back in and we get set up. Sure enough -- Baby A and Baby B clear as day. 2 sacs clear as day. When asked if twins run in the family, I explain how yes they are AND....my husband is a twin. This is when we found out, the husbands genes really have nothing to do with it. Its rare for a twin to have twins, so in this case, its all MY fault.
I check out and make my next appointment, while hubby takes our daughter into the lobby. I come out, not sure what to say or how to react, and he hands me the phone. He apparently called one of my closest friends and told her. I grab the phone and stopped walking - because for reason I couldn't walk and talk at the same time. He continues on outside with Madison. I put the phone to my ear and hear "Is he freaking joking? Are you really having twins?" At that point, I lost it. I broke down crying so hard, I couldn't even make any noises, I could barely breathe. I hear her on the other end of the call asking if I am there & calling my name. So I started snapping into the phone so she new I was still there. She realized why I wasn't talking and calmed me down enough that I coudl say "WTF am I gonna do????" She asked what my real thoughts were at that time and I went on to explain that I really had no idea. I was scared about money. Freaking out because we live in a 2 BR apartment. Are our cars big enough? Can we afford all that formula and diapers? How is my 3 yr old going to take this? But also along with that was, excitement, pride, anxious. I basically had every emotion possible running through my veins. But I knew that we were the kid of people, who take what is given us and we go with it. We were just like "Well, we are going to have twins." I don't think that past that initial shock, I really freaked out anymore.
NO, I did not have a c-section. I am very proud to say that. Most people automatically assume I did, so when they find out I didn't that brings a lot more questions. Yes I was nervous. I thought for sure I would end up with a c-section. But i didn't have to. Heck, at 38 weeks with twins, when I first got there, they sent me home because I was laughing and talking through the contractions. REALLY??? I carried those babies to 38 weeks and they were ready, and you want to send me home??? Mind you, I was only home for a few hours.
All in all, I have said I would deliver twins again, over a singleton, any day. For some odd reason, my recovery was so much better with the twins too. It was odd.
They were my Christmas babies - brought them home on Christmas Eve 2006.
Yes life was a little odd that first week. I mean we did just go from one child to 3. And the first few days, I think I was running on 6 hrs sleep total. But I kept thinking...I can cry and whine and complain all I want, its not going to change the fact that they still need to be fed and changed every couple hours. A lot of pep talking myself that it won't be like this forever, things will normal out eventually. Its not going to be like this forever, you can get through this first year.
It also helps to have a spouse that loves babies as much as I do and would basically jump into full parent mode the second he walked through that door at night. We switched off duties all the time. He would come home and take over while I went out grocery shopping or ran the errands that needed to get done. The nights he did not have work the next day, I got a full nights sleep while he took over middle of the night baby duties.
The hardest part was trying to get 3 children all dressed in a timely manner while I am in freak out mode ( i still struggle with this 7 yrs later), when I went back to work. AND, we had a pretty bad winter that year, we lived in an apartment complex, so there was a lot of strategic planning on how to get 3 kids to the car, while walking on ice in below freezing temps. But we did it. We made it through that first year.
In their early years, it was hard to figure out who was getting what teeth in. Keeping track of a baby book went out the window. Keeping track of who ate when..forget it. If I didn't know, I tried. If they ate, they ate, if they weren't hungry, they didn't eat. I was also lucky enough that they were never really sick at the same time. They still don't get sick at the same time.
Now, people think we have triplets, so once we correct them that we have twins and an older daughter, they don't seem as shocked about the twin factor, just as how much they all look alike. And on top of it, they all have the same red hair which "you can't buy in a box".
So in answer to all the questions -- Yes I was scared, but that's natural. I didn't harp on it though. I had twins for some unknown reason, so I just go with it. I only get them confused from behind, as they are NOT identical. I don't think of myself as a twin mom as much as I do a mom of 3 girls. Having 3 girls I think is more of a task, then having twins.
But then again, I am a firm believer, that if you feel like parenting is going to drain you and be horrible, it will be.
I will admit, that first night with this knowledge was surreal. It was just the same afternoon, I was chatting with a friend of mine, and telling her how I am getting big fast this time around. I was only 9 weeks and needed to start wearing maternity clothes. I chalked it up to the fact that I was still carrying weight from my first pregnancy. I took a mirror selfie and sent it to her, and she "jokingly" swore I was having twins. HA HA yeah whatever, OK.
Fast forward to that evening....
My husband and I took our daughter with us for the first ultrasound. (Now that I think about, most ultrasounds are done at 12 weeks and my doc "offered" me to get mine done early - now I know why, 8 yrs later) We were all in the room, Madison was up on Daddy's shoulders so she couldn't get into anything, and the tech begins. "Ok, everything looks good. Let's just move around to this side and......Looonnnnngggggg pause......Hmm, OK. I'm going to go talk to the doctor real quick and when I come back we are going to do an internal ultrasound."
We ask in concern if everything is OK. She says "yes, we just want to get a better look because...do you see this? Looks like 2 lima beans instead of 1??? Looks like its twins, but we need to be sure. I'll be back."
At this point I begin to get nervous in fear of what my husband is thinking and I start to nervously laugh and curse in surprise. "Ohhh shit, what the fuck, how the hell" . He replies with....are you really surprised??? Yes and no.
I have been told my whole life -- twins skip a generation, which means its my generation to have them. Also, all my siblings were way older then me and pretty much done child rearing. I knew from the age of 15 that I was doomed to be the one to have twins. But its still a shock when you see it.
Nurse comes back in and we get set up. Sure enough -- Baby A and Baby B clear as day. 2 sacs clear as day. When asked if twins run in the family, I explain how yes they are AND....my husband is a twin. This is when we found out, the husbands genes really have nothing to do with it. Its rare for a twin to have twins, so in this case, its all MY fault.
I check out and make my next appointment, while hubby takes our daughter into the lobby. I come out, not sure what to say or how to react, and he hands me the phone. He apparently called one of my closest friends and told her. I grab the phone and stopped walking - because for reason I couldn't walk and talk at the same time. He continues on outside with Madison. I put the phone to my ear and hear "Is he freaking joking? Are you really having twins?" At that point, I lost it. I broke down crying so hard, I couldn't even make any noises, I could barely breathe. I hear her on the other end of the call asking if I am there & calling my name. So I started snapping into the phone so she new I was still there. She realized why I wasn't talking and calmed me down enough that I coudl say "WTF am I gonna do????" She asked what my real thoughts were at that time and I went on to explain that I really had no idea. I was scared about money. Freaking out because we live in a 2 BR apartment. Are our cars big enough? Can we afford all that formula and diapers? How is my 3 yr old going to take this? But also along with that was, excitement, pride, anxious. I basically had every emotion possible running through my veins. But I knew that we were the kid of people, who take what is given us and we go with it. We were just like "Well, we are going to have twins." I don't think that past that initial shock, I really freaked out anymore.
NO, I did not have a c-section. I am very proud to say that. Most people automatically assume I did, so when they find out I didn't that brings a lot more questions. Yes I was nervous. I thought for sure I would end up with a c-section. But i didn't have to. Heck, at 38 weeks with twins, when I first got there, they sent me home because I was laughing and talking through the contractions. REALLY??? I carried those babies to 38 weeks and they were ready, and you want to send me home??? Mind you, I was only home for a few hours.
All in all, I have said I would deliver twins again, over a singleton, any day. For some odd reason, my recovery was so much better with the twins too. It was odd.
They were my Christmas babies - brought them home on Christmas Eve 2006.
Yes life was a little odd that first week. I mean we did just go from one child to 3. And the first few days, I think I was running on 6 hrs sleep total. But I kept thinking...I can cry and whine and complain all I want, its not going to change the fact that they still need to be fed and changed every couple hours. A lot of pep talking myself that it won't be like this forever, things will normal out eventually. Its not going to be like this forever, you can get through this first year.
It also helps to have a spouse that loves babies as much as I do and would basically jump into full parent mode the second he walked through that door at night. We switched off duties all the time. He would come home and take over while I went out grocery shopping or ran the errands that needed to get done. The nights he did not have work the next day, I got a full nights sleep while he took over middle of the night baby duties.
The hardest part was trying to get 3 children all dressed in a timely manner while I am in freak out mode ( i still struggle with this 7 yrs later), when I went back to work. AND, we had a pretty bad winter that year, we lived in an apartment complex, so there was a lot of strategic planning on how to get 3 kids to the car, while walking on ice in below freezing temps. But we did it. We made it through that first year.
In their early years, it was hard to figure out who was getting what teeth in. Keeping track of a baby book went out the window. Keeping track of who ate when..forget it. If I didn't know, I tried. If they ate, they ate, if they weren't hungry, they didn't eat. I was also lucky enough that they were never really sick at the same time. They still don't get sick at the same time.
Now, people think we have triplets, so once we correct them that we have twins and an older daughter, they don't seem as shocked about the twin factor, just as how much they all look alike. And on top of it, they all have the same red hair which "you can't buy in a box".
So in answer to all the questions -- Yes I was scared, but that's natural. I didn't harp on it though. I had twins for some unknown reason, so I just go with it. I only get them confused from behind, as they are NOT identical. I don't think of myself as a twin mom as much as I do a mom of 3 girls. Having 3 girls I think is more of a task, then having twins.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Dollar Tree haul
Hey all! So I headed out to Dollar Tree today for a few items that I have been wanting to get. One of which being some 4th of July decor. That was a bust......they didn't have anything but banners left. So that was a disappointment.
But I did find a bunch of other things that I went in for.
Now I know a dollar store haul is not all that exciting, but it might be interesting to some people to see what you can get at dollar stores these days for really cheap. So here we go...
I did go in there specific to find a bin or something to put in the kitchen to hold our bags of snacks. The packages we get from Naturebox are a strange shape and then we get half eaten bigger bags of chips that are clipped. I wanted to have place to put those, that is not all over the place.
But I did find a bunch of other things that I went in for.
Now I know a dollar store haul is not all that exciting, but it might be interesting to some people to see what you can get at dollar stores these days for really cheap. So here we go...
I did go in there specific to find a bin or something to put in the kitchen to hold our bags of snacks. The packages we get from Naturebox are a strange shape and then we get half eaten bigger bags of chips that are clipped. I wanted to have place to put those, that is not all over the place.
I heard that there were going to be snow crab legs around at our 4th of July BBQ. Then I saw a Dollar Tree haul on YouTube and the woman found these crackers. I had to have them.
I have a lot of those plastic to go cups but i always seem to lose the straws. And I have been in the habit lately of using straws all the time. But I don't like the throw out kind because my kids go through them like crazy. I saw these and again....had to have them. Typically lately you can only find the big fat ones for the plastic mason jar mugs.
Below are just a few essential for around the house - cleaning wipes, trash bags for the bathroom, floss and floss pics, and tissues (yes those are FROZEN tissues, OMG!!!)
And last, I picked up a scrubber for a friend. I have the ladybug one and she really needed the piggy. Its so cute!!
Friday, June 27, 2014
Friday Funnies - June 27, 2014
Isabel comes running down the stairs after someone (my back is turned): "IF YOU RIP A PAGE OUT OF MY PERSONAL JOURNAL AGAIN, I WILL DISMISS YOU AS MY SISTER!!!!!!!"
(Isabel is 7yrs old)
Sorry, that's all I have for now. Have a great weekend!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2014
It's CHORE time!!!
I admit, I am bad with keeping on top of my kids with a chore schedule. Typically what happens is that we will be on path for a week, then they start to whine and I start to forget to be consistent (I HATE that word in parenting), and I end up doing it myself along with just barking orders at who to clean up what.
However, in summertime, the kids are home more, while I am working. And the last thing I want to do when I am done working is clean up. NO, I want to get these whiny kids outside!!!
I realized the only way to keep this house not looking like a tornado is to force them to help. So we compiled the chore chart below. Now this is just for normal everyday clean up that needs to be done and not any large cleaning hauls. We take care of that in our own time.
Below is the chore chart that we use.
Each person has a different chore to do each day with day off a week.
We have Mommy & Daddy chores listed too, for the reason that, my children are very known to pull the old "How come you aren't doing anything and I am doing it all". Oh really kid???
I found that this way, each daily chore got done pretty much each day.
Also, for each daily chore the girls do WITHOUT any complaint and WITHOUT me having to tell them to do it 5 times, they get a tally mark. A money amount is applied to each tally mark. Then when the chart fills up, we take their tally marks and cash them in, and go on a mini shopping, at a location of their choice.
This way, not only am I getting them to help me clean up THEIR mess, but I am coning them into not complaining about it. He He But really, they are able to see who has more tally marks, and it sometimes helps them try to do better.
Teachers get them to work off of charts and lists at school, and it seems to work at home too.
However, in summertime, the kids are home more, while I am working. And the last thing I want to do when I am done working is clean up. NO, I want to get these whiny kids outside!!!
I realized the only way to keep this house not looking like a tornado is to force them to help. So we compiled the chore chart below. Now this is just for normal everyday clean up that needs to be done and not any large cleaning hauls. We take care of that in our own time.
Below is the chore chart that we use.
Each person has a different chore to do each day with day off a week.
We have Mommy & Daddy chores listed too, for the reason that, my children are very known to pull the old "How come you aren't doing anything and I am doing it all". Oh really kid???
I found that this way, each daily chore got done pretty much each day.
Also, for each daily chore the girls do WITHOUT any complaint and WITHOUT me having to tell them to do it 5 times, they get a tally mark. A money amount is applied to each tally mark. Then when the chart fills up, we take their tally marks and cash them in, and go on a mini shopping, at a location of their choice.
This way, not only am I getting them to help me clean up THEIR mess, but I am coning them into not complaining about it. He He But really, they are able to see who has more tally marks, and it sometimes helps them try to do better.
Teachers get them to work off of charts and lists at school, and it seems to work at home too.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Fireworks must haves
Now if you have children, its not as easy as it used to be, when you could just find a place to park last minute, meet your friends, throw a blanket down and be done.
There are kids involved now. Which means there will be complaining on hunger, thirst, potty breaks, and tiredness.
So here are a few tips I like to keep in mind, for those 4th of July fireworks.
(Note: Yes there are fireworks other times of the year, but come on...are they as crowded and stressful? NO)
1 - Go early to park close & convenient.
The kids will be whining and cranky by the time they are over, so you want to ensure you can get out of there fast and preferably with ease.
2 - Bring things to do.
Yes, you are there to see fireworks, why should you have to entertain the kids with more then that? Well if you need to go early, there WILL be a good amount of time sitting and waiting around. things to do could mean bringing food and drink, glow up sticks/toys, or even other kids. best thing is to park your butt as close to a playground as possible, IF possible.
3 - Speaking of glow sticks....buy your own.
Trust me, if you are frugal, you will want to buy your own. You would rather your child have something that lights up, just like all the other kids, then have to tell them NO b/c you won't pay $10 for a light up stick.
4 - Bug spray.
This is a Summer staple of mine. My kids always get eaten alive. And if they are eaten alive, they tend to be even more miserable.
5 - Blanket/chair
This should go without explanation.
Here is to a Happy & Healthy and & stress-less 4th of July!!
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