Pixie Dust

Chocked full of posts today...

Thank goodness my kiddos are being good today.  I'd post a picture that I got of all three kiddos cuddling (melt my heart) but Brian took the camera for his guys weekend.  Yep, it's just me and my three kids.  Wish me luck, I just may need it.  I told him if he got a 911 text, that he needs to speed home :)

Anyway, I started Flylady last night.  The first step is to go shine your sink.  Well, I did.  It's nice, but not as fabulous as I thought it would be.  I agree with Flylady 100% though, if I go to bed with dishes in my sink, I'm just crabby when I see it in the morning.  It's almost the first thing I look at and when it's piled full of dirty dishes, I just am not happy. 

So now I'm on day 2, get dressed to lace up shoes.  Basically, when you wake up, get ready and be sure to put on shoes.  Don't do anything else until you do that.  Well, I know I will fail at this step nearly everyday for 2 reasons: 

1. I don't shower when I wake up.  I cherish that last bit of sleep I get so I sleep until the kids wake.  Then I need to get bfast and other stuff going first. 

2.  I don't like to wear shoes if I don't have to.  I won't be wearing shoes just because Flylady tells me to.  I don't think it will make me feel better.  I do think though she's got a point about being dressed and looking nice.  I definitely feel happier and more energetic if I'm dressed nicely and look good.

Tomorrow, I just have to repeat what I've been doing.  Getting dressed and shining my sink.  Oh, and something about reminding myself to do these things.  Easy enough, right?  Hopefully.  Babysteps I guess.  That's what she calls them anyway. 

Like I said, Brian is out of town for a bachelor party this weekend.  My sister will be staying with me tonight.  It's not that I can't handle the kids, it is just the loneliness factor.  I hate being alone.  Especially with our new ghost friend hanging around.  Knowing Erin, she'll bring another few spirits with her!  Hopefully tonight we'll get some scrappin' done.  I have sooooo many pics and so little time.  The good thing is, I have another scrapbooking retreat coming up in a few weeks.  My goal for that weekend is to get 30 pages done (wishful thinking, I know).  I got 20 done at my last trip. 

Once again I digress.  The weekend is supposed to be beautiful, so I'm hoping that the weather will preoccupy a good portion of our time.  I hope you all have a great weekend! 

Invisible friend or supernatural being?

That is the question. 

So normally I wouldn't even consider the latter as a possibility.  I don't believe in supernatural beings for the sole reason that I have never experienced one.  I'm a seeing is believing type of person.  My dad is the same way.  Now, my sister and mom are complete opposites.  They have claimed to have seen many a dead person, including my mom's late friend and my grandfather who passed when I was in 3rd grade.  I am terrified of this prospect, and both claim that a supernatural being (or ghost) would never present itself to me because I am too terrified.  I just don't like the idea of dead people roaming around amongst us.  It's just creepy. 

So anyway, I digress.  If you read this post, you may be slightly confused as to why I'm questioning Annika's "invisible friend".  Well, here is some of my thoughts as to why it could be a ghost.  We have several toys that like to play all on their own.  This has been going on for some time now.  I had to turn one off just to make it stop.  Last night, another one started in.  Just a little bit later, Annika pointed to that same corner and said, "Look mom, there's a little man over there!".  Freaked me out!  Then she proceeded for at least another half hour about this little man.  Sometimes he was in her hand, other times he was up toward the ceiling.  When I asked her what he looked like, she said daddy. 

So after a while, it starts to sound like an invisible friend, right?  Well, of course my mind kept reeling all night.  I've only experienced weird things in my basement.  It's not a scary basement, it's actually quite nice and comfy.  However, my sister used to live there.  I swear to God, she brings spirits with her everywhere she goes.  She lived with us in our old house too and I experienced strange things there too.  She sees ghosts everywhere, it's creepy as hell. 

So, here is where I need your help.  Am I just being crazy and over thinking things?  Or, could it be quite possible that my sister brings these beings into places and then they think they can just wander freely in and out as they choose?  I'd like to think that these ghosts know they are not welcome in my house.  I just won't have it.  I don't care if you are my beloved grandpa or what.  It's just not ok in my book.  Do you believe in ghosts?  Have you experienced the supernatural?  Please share.  I know my SIL Kristi did a post on this a while back too. 

Thanks everyone!

TFT Retraction...

I reread my TFT post and felt I was coming off as pretentious.  The whole point of my post was to vent my frustrations amount money and snobby people.  I consider myself to be extremely lucky.  We have a lot to be thankful for, a warm home, 3 beautiful babies, great familes.  I'd rather brag about those things, than the amount of money I may or may not have.  I apologize for the miscommunication.  I hope you all have a great day.

I have a follow up post to my previous one.  Stay tuned as I would love your input.  Thanks!

Hey there little man...

I'm incredibly creeped out right now.  Either Annika has an invisible friend that she can hold in the palm of her hand that she calls "little man", or we have a tiny little ghost.  She's running around talking about this little man that looks like daddy, sometimes she's holding him in her hand, sometimes he's up in the air, and just now she fell on top of him.  I don't know what to think about it.  It's a bit creepy if you ask me.  I know she's at that age where kids create these invisible people, but I am totally not prepared for this.  Please help.  It's weird.

Drunken badminton...

So many years ago, Brian, my sister, her hubby and I invented a great game while trying to pass time at the cabin.  It's no secret that we like to drink while hanging out in the wilderness.  We also like to play many different types of lawn games: croquet (an all time classic fave of mine), bocce ball, hillbilly golf (also known as ladder golf) and of course badminton.  So in the spirit of fun, we developed some "new" rules involving the classic game of volleying a shuttlecock (also known as a birdie) back and forth. 

1.  Choose a partner.  We choose our partners based on marriage.  You could base it on gender, skill or whatever.

2.  Find a drink.  It should be alcoholic (hence drunken badminton), but can be whatever you choose.

3.  Develop boundaries, no need to mark, just agree upon them.

4.  Grab hold of your racket and beverage, start volleying. 

5.  If the birdie drops on your side, you must drink one drink.  If you spill your drink, you must drink 2 drinks.  If you try to serve and whiff it, drink 3 drinks.  The same goes for your opponents. 

6.  There are no points in this game, the winner could be anyone depending on how you look at it.  If your goal is to remain sober, then the winner is he/she who drinks less.  If your goal is to get blitzed, then the winner is the one who sucked more.

Enjoy.  I know we do.

Happy Birthday Sis!

I just have to say Happy Birthday to my little sister Erin.  She turns 24 today!  She's an awesome sister and an even better friend.  I'm lucky to have her in my life.  I hope you have a fantastic day Erin and know that we all love you!

Love,
Michelle, Brian, Annika, Bianca and Bennett

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial people! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Ours was crazy busy. It started out on Friday night with a super yummy dinner at Morton's Steakhouse with our neighbors. We had a good time drinking great wine and eating darn good steak. It was especially nice just being out and having convo with other adults.

We woke up early and left for my parent's cabin on Saturday morning. We spent the whole day drinking, eating and playing outside. At one point in the day, there were 13 people, 4 kids and 7 dogs. Seriously
crazy. Here are some pics from the festivities.
Here's my little Bman wearing his momma's shades. He's just way too cool.

Here is my sister's new pup, Starsky. Isn't she just the cutest thing? She's a good puppy too. Very sweet!

 Here is my sister lounging. It was her birthday celebration. But, it's not her bday until tomorrow. My sister tends to celebrate her birthday for weeks :)

Here are the girls cuddling with Sammy, my mom and dad's new 3 pound pomeranian! They are OBSESSED with this dog. I think they think he's a stuffed animal, he's about that size!

Here is Miss Bianca climbing into the pool. Don't you just love her little booty in her swimsuit?

 And of course there was drinking. I'm not going to lie about that... What else do you do at the cabin anyway. This is my cousing, me, my sister Erin and her hubby Stew doing a shot. Check out my face in the 2nd pic. Priceless. I'm obviously not used to doing shots.

 
The girls played outside all day, so it wasn't a surprise that they got dirty. This picture is priceless.

We left the cabin around naptime on Sunday so that the kids would sleep well before heading to their Uncle Jeff's house for a bbq. We ate some ribs and brats, hung out in the backyard and watched the weather. You can check out pics over at Kristi's blog if you'd like.

While we were there, a devastating tornado ripped through our neighboring town of Hugo. It destroyed over 50 houses, hospitalized 17 people and claimed the life of one little 2 year old boy. As I was watching the news last night, I was in tears over this tragedy.

Our house suffered some cosmetic damage. We have holes in our siding; lights got knocked out; our screen door is busted; our fireplace is dented, as are our gutters; the paint on the front porch is chipped and all my plants got beaten down pretty badly. The storm produced some very large hail and was still there on Monday. Crazy. Here are some pics.

 
  
 

  There were contractors our just minutes after the storm hit, soliciting their business. It was pretty crazy watching them duke it out in the streets for our business. Luckily, I contacted a company last week to have our roof fixed from the storm last August, so nobody bugged us because we already had a sign in our yard.

Now it's Tuesday and things are definitely settling down. Bennett slept pretty terribly last night. He was up from about 2:50 to 4:30. He went through 2 5 oz bottles because he puked up the whole first one, ALL OVER ME. I showered at about 4 am and our room smells like pure stomach acid. He obviously didn't feel well and fussed for what seemed like forever. Not fun. Poor kid and his terrible reflux. I really hope he's over it soon.

We don't have much planned for the week. Just chilling around the house. I just have to say that I am NOT LOVING the new typepad. I've tried to post this post a total of 3 times, starting from scratch 2 times. It is seriously annoying. I know some of you are having issues too. I can see how the changes are meant to be good, but don't go live without making sure things work!

Alrighty, have a good day everyone!

HOLY SH!T

Seriously, follow this link and be prepared to crap your pants. 

Besides being a freakin' crazy story, check out her site, she's got lots of great ideas! 

Nighty night all!

Wordless Wednesday...

NOT! 

So, it's been a mere 5 days since this post.  Sad huh?  I guess it's pretty hard to stay away.  I find myself at many times during the day thinking of things I could post here.  SAD! 

Our past week has been so busy.  I decided on Wednesday of last week that I wanted to make a new garden, so I spent Thursday through Sunday digging and planting, and digging and planting some more.  But it's done now, so that makes me happy.  Here is my little helper:


 






Then later Sunday, we headed to Jeff's house for his birthday dinner.  This is what I have been doing since I took my blogging hiatus:

Since then, we've just been chillin' around the house, playing outside, doing some art projects and being with our friends.  Friday we are hoping to have dinner with our neighbors (if we can find a sitter) and then heading up to the cabin on Sat. morning for the night.  Should be fun!

Here is a picture of my little man, fast asleep during tummy time.  Naughty, naughty.

Here is Bianca digging for gold.  Man there must be some good gold up there.  She's going at it with 2 fingers!  That's my girl!

Annika loves FROZEN blueberries.  Weird kid.  It was EVERYWHERE!

 And last, but definitely not least, some pics of my smiley boy.  He usually smiles much bigger, but I didn't get the camera in time.  Man, he's so darn cute!
Are you all proud of me for posting?  I'm pretty proud.  Well, it's easy when 2 out of my 3 kids are napping.  I'm hoping to get to the park after naps and play outside ALL day.  It's gorgeous here today.  Can't wait.  Have a great Wednesday all. 

Hi

Hey all, I'm still here.  I just wanted to mention an awesome site that my dear friend Nicole mentioned (Nicole and I have never met, but she is still someone I consider to be an awesome friend).  I checked out this site thoroughly last night and I think I'm going to give it a try.  As you may know, I have been trying to juggle a lot lately and this might just help me feel more at ease with all I need to do.  I suggest you check it out, if not just for ideas.  This fly lady is a smart cookie. 

I may be back tomorrow with pics, we'll see.  I finally caught a smile from Mr. Bennett on film.  It was awesome.  I sure would love to share with all of you. 

Lastly, I have a question I could use some advice on.  My dear little Bianca has become quite the terror lately.  She is LITERALLY into EVERYTHING.  Just a few examples.  She is really into standing on the table, ALL THE TIME.  She sits on Bennett, in his chair.  She throws all of her food, and sippy on the floor during meal times.  Hits everyone in the face and smirks.  I know it is mostly her age, but I am at my wits-end and can't take it anymore.  She needs to understand this is not ok.  I'm so tired of yelling at her, she just doesn't care.  She is dying for my attention, but honestly, I just can't give her my undivided attention for 2 very obvious reasons.  Does anyone have any discipline, and non-discipline tactics that have worked for a "spirited" child?  I'll try anything at this point for all of us to be happier.  I do my best to give her lovin'.  We cuddled tonight in her room for a while before bed, but somehow I doubt that will make a difference in the morning. 

Alright, it's past my bedtime so I'm out.  Have a nice evening all!