eek! I'm so bad at blogging!

I hadn't realized over a week had gone by! I have goals. At some point I would like to put a link to my blog in my signature at the message boards I frequent. However I hate when I click on blog links and the person hasn't posted in a decade. So I swore I wouldn't do it until I could commit to posting regularly. Things are not going well. Sigh.

Another Megan layout. I could add "Really Mom?" to it as well. She ends everything she says in one of the two phrases. Or if she isn't sure how she wants to answer you (ex: she's going to get in trouble) she says "what you say mom?". Clever that one. Today she totally used ninja stealth to drop the pieces of cereal she didn't want to eat in between the couch cushions, while sitting right next to me. It's insane...not only is she naughty but she's quick and quiet too. But then she's so cute when she gets caught she never gets in trouble. I can only hope she grows out of this by the time she's 16 or we are in deep poo.

Running goals? Failed. I am going to be in so much pain come June when I run around Higgins Lake.

It's not helping that Kip has been sick for a week and I've been playing taxi cab all over the county. I had to take both girls to a birthday party on Sat. Two things about that 1. Megan lost her balloons and bless her little heart she went running and jumping after them yelling "I can't reach them mom!". I'm not sure if I was laughing or crying but there were tears. 2. I lost Megan at Curious Kids. I have never ever lost either of my children. That was the absolute most horrible feeling in the world. And nobody was helping me find her. She was only missing for about a minute before I located her but let me tell you it was the longest minute of my life.

Scrapbooking. I started another purple layout. I hate purple. I don't know why I even try to use it. So there it sits, taunting me. Instead I keep going to Studio Calico's site and ordering more stuff. And Kip is no help, he says "well did you get everything you wanted? I don't mind buying you stuff." that doesn't really help the self control at all. http://www.studiocalico.com/ all the goodness awaits!

I need a list that I can't lose in my head. Things that I need to scrap as soon as this purple layout is gone.

1 Robot Megan

2 Bailey and her healed sandals

3 the one that got away (balloons)

4 nighttime routine

5 daytime routine

Those are the ideas that keep popping in and out of my head. Alright, I hope to be back tomorrow or Wed for sure!

Bless her heart. On Friday she was so tuckered out she fell asleep watching her afternoon Dora. (She eats lunch, gets one Dora, then has a nap during the week.) She didn't make it very far and she would not take off her "lifejacket" lol.

We had a beautiful week. Lots of sun and playing outside. Then mother nature thought it would be funny to give us snow on the first day of spring...and it's sticking! Blasphemy I tell you.

I just finished watching Seven Pounds and it kind of disturbed me. It had a mix of sad/happy ending and its probably not what I should have watched tonight. Watching Ghosts of Girlfriends Past now to hopefully put me in a happy mood before bed. Bailey has a birthday party tomorrow, then 2 next weekend. Goodness these kids get expensive! I hope all these parents remember this next year around Sept. 15th!!!

For some depressing news, I have to actually start diet/excersizing. Blah. It appears that eating all the time and not running has taken its toll on my body. I really wish I had made those funnel cakes before the switch! So tomorrow I have to figure out some way to start doing something. The problem is Kip is gone all day on Sundays. Maybe I should go to bed and run in the morning. Hmmm I'm just rambling at this point.

At any rate tomorrow goal: eat healthy. Excersize hard. Fantasize about buying new spring/summer clothes after I get those 10 pounds back off.

I'm going to scrapbook now I think. I finally emailed Studio Calico to subscribe to their kits. I've wanted them forever and I don't know why I haven't joined yet to be honest. I think its the monthly payment thing...but since they sell out immediately each month I'm guessing selling it wouldn't be an issue if there were a kit I did not like. Good night.

they grow up so fast

This past weekend was the big scrapbook retreat. It was so nice. 8 women packed in a church camp house watching movies and scrapbooking...what could be better? I only completed 8 pages hahaha...I won a prize for my lack of accomplishment as well. At least I saw some movies that did not involve a certain Barbie and her 3 Musketeers or a small hispanic girl named Dora.

The layout above is one of the reasons I scrapbook. I tend to reflect alot when I see other people scrapbooking and see why they do it and what it means to them. Some people have a goal of getting pictures on paper. Some people like to try every technique one one page. I personally, like to remember little moments about my girl's childhood. I get crazy every now and then and break out the paints and dyes, but for the most part the pictures and stories are my focus.

A story that will be scrapbooked just as soon as I have a soccer picture...Bailey and I were in Target and I stopped to look at the soccer cleats selection. She took one look at them and said "but Mo-o-o-m, I don't want to wear those they are ugly. Don't they have pink ones?". My little princess, she's something else. She likes to play in the dirt but she prefers to do it while wearing a frilly dress and healed sandals!

Off to get some housework done. We have a new friend coming to play tomorrow, Morgan. I don't want her to run away frightened of our home. Kip did a great job of not letting them totally destroy the place, but it is far from "clean".

Happy Monday!

Tuesday blahs

I think I have a harder time with Tuesdays than Monday. On Monday I can say "well I can just clean tomorrow." On Tuesday if I don't actually do something I feel really behind. I need to get the house cleaned, at least one meal ready, grocery shopping done, and pack all my stuff up for this weekend. This way they just have to keep it semi-cleaned and I will be happy when I come home.

Good news, Pages in Time re-opens this week!!! I'm so excited to have another lss again. I love the one in Niles but she doesn't really carry the products I use so I tend to shop online. It's much more fun to go shop in person. I'm definately an instant gratification kind of girl.

I guess that's it for today. Off to try and figure out this new grocery/coupon thing. I'm making a big attempt to save us some money. It makes no sense to spend what we have been spending grocery wise.

On another side note after trying the Oil Cleansing Method on my face for 3 days I am pretty sure it's not for me. I'm terrified it's making my face worse instead of better so I'm off to get new facewash instead!

The children are WILD today. Of course its the day that Kip leaves me alone with them. They are both taking naps right now, even after listening to how "not tired" Bailey was for an hour, she fell asleep first. I might bribe them to go to the scrapbook store with me today. It's a bit of a drive but it would do some good to get them out of the house for a while and the parks are just too muddy for me yet.

I ran today. After being sick all week and only getting 3 hours of sleep last night I managed 3.7 miles outside. It felt so good. I can't wait until it stays light enough at night for me to go after dinner again. It was the perfect relaxation time for me last spring.

I did some reflecting of kindness today while out running. There is this house by Bailey's school that is always decorated for every single holiday. They currently have a St. Patrick's Day flag outside. There was a man working on the yard today when I ran by. After thinking for a moment I decided to turn around and thank him for always decorating his home and told him that my girls love it. He thanked me and said that was why he kept doing it. He said his children were older now but he kept it up for the little ones that he knows sees it. Good people. It's little things like this that I think are important. I think we forget to compliment and thank people daily. I can't tell you how many people Bailey makes smile when we go out because she will compliment something about them. She will say that she likes their shirt, or their shoes, or earrings...you name it. It's so her, and it's genuinley kind. I didn't teach her to do it, she just does it because she likes people. I think I am going to take her advice and do more things like this from now on. Last fall I stopped and told an older woman how much we love her home. It's the most quaint house you can imagine. It reminds me of a little cabin type home in England. All I did was stop to tell her how charming we thought her home was and she told me that her grandfather had built it for her grandmother. She had found a home pattern in Better Homes and Gardens that she liked, so he built it. So sweet and all the more meaningful that the lady still has that house in her family.

I will never forget when Kip's friend told him that our house always looked really nice. He said he was amazed that I work full time and have two little kids and still any time he has ever been to our house it has been clean. He will never know how much that compliment he gave my husband means to me. I work very hard to keep our house clean, not spotless, but clean and healthy. It's not a mansion or one of the fancy beachfront homes you see popping up all over, but it is ours and I am grateful for the fact that we have a place to call home. So thank you Dave, your words will probably stay with me forever.

I guess the message today is stop and thank someone for something you would never think to. I'm going to make it my goal to thank or compliment someone twice a week from now on. (I mean beyond telling a cashier thank you at the checkout...something more meaningful. I always tell people thank you.)

Lazy Saturday

(The above picture is from the ice festival a couple weeks ago. My camera is upstairs and I dont have the energy to go get new pictures off of it!)

So far it's been a lovely Saturday. Not a whole lot of cleaning this morning, a trip to Lowe's to get a new faucet, a stop a Target to find that they did not have black jelly beans (the horror!), and soon we will be going bowling with the children. The sun is out and its actually not bad out there considering the snow.

Last night we had new friends over for dinner. I met Tracie at Bailey's school this year and we actually have quite a few common interests. Her daughter is in B's class. It was a nice evening. Megan is still hitting though. She's going to find herself in a heap of trouble if she doesn't cut it out. I don't know where she is getting it from but it is NOT ok, I just don't know how to stop her. At dinner when she doesn't want to eat she looks at me and says "Megan go in time out" and punishes herself instead of having dinner. I've tried positive reinforcement. I would take something away but I don't know what to take since she doesn't really have a fav toy.

Tomorrow I am starting my running training. I pushed it off a week because I decided to run the Higgins Lake 1/2 marathon instead of the Sunburst. It will be more low key and easier for me as a first race I think. I still am consider the Chicago Marathon but I don't know. That's alot of people all packed together on the road. We will see if I even like the 1/2. Running may be something that I just keep to myself instead of running in large clumps of people.

Next weekend I'm going on my scrapbooking retreat. Very excited to enjoy some relaxing time with mom and friends. The hardest part is that my mom is coming down and the girls want to see her. I don't think Bailey realizes that she's coming or she prob would be throwing a temper tantrum about it by now. Speaking of Bailey that girl is reading! It's amazing. She has to bring these little books home and read them on mon, wed, and fri and she does an amazing job. I'm so proud of her.