Bye Bye Binky

We have said goodbye to a very good friend. The green pacifier that made its way into our lives in the early days of Marinn's life and stayed with us through good times and bad, holidays and milestones finally is no more.

If you asked me my thoughts on pacifiers during my first pregnancy I would have boldly sworn them off. No child of mine would have one of those! The mindset maintained through the first child and into the second pregnancy would never be changed. Or so I thought.

When Marinn was born I knew right away she was not going to be anything like her older sister. She was not one to self soothe, she was not one to want to be left alone, she was not one that would allow sleep that I so desperately needed. We quickly found relief from the tears and discontent in a tiny green pacifier. I never even flinched as I stuffed that little thing in her mouth as I knew it was only for a season and would be gone before she would even have a memory of what it was.

Boy would I eat my words. When one year approached we were determined to rid our lives of the green monster that controlled the happiness, not just of Marinn, but of everyone. There was no sleep if it could not be found, there was no quiet moments if it were not in hand. You could forget getting groceries or walking through the store if it were not at the ready. This little green jewel that brought us so much peace was running the show. 

"We can do this! We can be strong! It will only take a few days of tears and we will be done," we encouraged ourselves. 

Then it was ready, set, remove pacifier. 

Halloween Costumes: Rooster and Sunshine

When it came time to talk costumes this year the husband and I had some pretty good ideas as to what we wanted to dress the girls up as. We came up with some pretty elaborate, family coordinated options and presented them to the girls only to have them shot down. Amelia had plans of her own.

If it were Barbie, Disney princess, or any other licensed character I think I would have cried and tried to get her to change her mind but this idea she had was pretty great. I had not heard of nor seen such costumes on anyone in the previous years trick-or-treating so how could I say "no" to such an original, creative idea?

So I set out to create the costumes she so wanted to wear.

A rooster and a sunshine.

Birthday Adventures With Pippi & Amelia

"Life is a breeze

We live it for fun

 

No apologies

To anyone

 

We live on the seas

We do as we please"

 

 

 

Our Week in Pictures

A marathon of a week! New carpet, more painting, costume making, trick or treating, and two birthday parties!

 

Hanging out on the new carpet

Our Week in Pictures

Another busy week here prepping for carpet installation, Halloween, and a birthday party!

We used temporary tattoos to decorate pumpkins

Fall Traditions: Pumpkin Patch

Starting shortly after my nephew was born our family started gathering together for a trip to the pumpkin patch. It was a good excuse for the whole family to get together and really, who doesn't like a pumpkin patch?

We make the long drive every year so we can visit the same pumpkin patch (even though no one lives close anymore) because it's our tradition. Plus who can turn down a hayride/petting zoo/train ride/ show combo? Add in a country store carrying delicious Amish made goods and a turkey leg and you've got the whole package.

I have even become less afraid of Tony the lama as the years have gone by. (My sister probably wouldn't say the same, she got spit on. Those scars will last.)

What started as a few of us has grown into 15. I love looking back at this time each year and watching our family grow.

"Try it" They Said. "You'll Like it" They Said

In the midst of all the home improvement projects we were told by multiple people, "You should get some caulk, you will like it."

So we bought some...and I can't quit caulking. Can't. Quit.

All the little gaps between the door frames and the doors: caulked.

Space between the tile and the door: caulked.

Gaps in all the  ill-fitted trim: caulked.

Any little spaces that I can get to with my caulk will be filled! I'm a little obsessed. It just looks so clean when there aren't any gaps for dust to settle in.

So to all those who told us to try it that we would like it, you were right. So. Right.

Best friends for life!

Our Week in Pictures

 

Our week was full of projects! It started off with priming trim in the basement

 

Watching My Kids Watch Movies

We surprised the girls with a trip the the movie theatre (or movie gator, as Amelia would say) tonight to watch Planes. It isn't often we take them, they're still a little young to expect them to sit quietly and behave for an entire show. Days like today are the best though, it's pretty much guaranteed you will have the theatre to yourselves at 5 p.m. on a Tuesday when you're watching a movie that has been in theatres for a while.

Settled in to the perfect seats we were ready for one of my favorite things:

watching my girls watch a movie

The music heightens, action begins and tiny girls are moved to their feet. There are shrieks of excitement, generous 'ohs' in defeats, chair gripping in the serious parts, and of course, great cheers as the protagonist claims victory over the 'mean guy.' There may have even been some dancing and high-fiving thrown into the mix. 

 

I know how fleeting these moments of genuine, unfiltered reactions are so I plan to savor as many moments like these as I can!

Fall Traditions: Costume Making

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I love watching everything change color and give way to the stillness in preparation for the coming spring. Cool weather brings layers upon layers of warm, cozy clothes and warm drinks to wash away the chill. The air of change is refreshing to me and I love getting caught up in it all.

There are many things I love doing this time of year; trips to the pumpkin patch, photo shoots in the leaves, hayrides, pumpkin drinks..pumpkin foods...pumpkin everything, apple picking and, of course, costume making.

I've never been big on Halloween, it's just not my thing. I find it strange to send your kids door to door asking for candy under the cover of darkness. As much of a scrooge as I can be about the holiday there is one things that I can get into and that is the costumes.

I have made every costume my girls have worn and I hope to continue the tradition until they outgrow the need for them.

Our Week in Pictures

 

Tile flooring started going down

 

Homemade {Whipped} Laundry Soap

Recently I have had friends and family members ask me for the recipe for the laundry soap I use. There are tons of recipes posted online so I never thought to share mine in this format, however maybe I should feel obligated after scaring people off from the idea with the story of my first attempt.

I thought I would share the recipe I use but also tell you why I love it so.
(The recipe can be found here and I only make a small modifications.)

Bulbs!

As if the interior renovations weren't enough work, we decided to tackle a couple projects needing done in the yard.

As soon as we received the results from the home inspection we knew that we would be removing the many, many landscape timbers that framed e-v-e-r-y side of our house. It wasn't until we were plagued by ants that we realized it would be a priority. We spent too much money on this house to feed it to the bugs.

Before we could go to work on those pesky timbers I had to remove the bulbs from in front of some of them. If we didn't they would be buried under all the dirt being held back by the wall and probably never seen again.

I must say, it was a little more of a chore than I anticipated. Who knew that many bulbs could be buried under there?! I can't wait to get all these little bulbs into the ground for easy care around the fence line and some pretty blooms in the spring next year!

 

In addition to the bulbs we found an obscene amount of worms to toss in the compost bin. Marinn and Amelia helped in the worm hunt.

 

 

We also found this little guy who ended up being terrorized by our girls and the neighbors girls before Andy released him.

 

 

And now the real work begins.

Our Week in Pictures

Because sometimes you're too busy having fun to write about it all!

Saints and Sailors

I'm not a hot-head.

I don't feel the need to yell and scream and throw things when I'm upset.

Neither does my husband - football games excluded.

I think we have done a spectacular job keeping our cool during this renovation process, even when things aren't working as planned, tools go missing, fingers smashed, etc. After all, little eyes and ears are constantly around, soaking in all we do and say.

And then it happened.

The girls visited their grandparents twice in as many weeks. Each time when we have gone to pick them up we were greeted by a story in which our sweet, lovely three year old announced that someone or thing, "pissed her out."

I must admit, I found it hard not to laugh at the miswording. but this little face saying those things??

For days now when I look at her I hear Chris Carrabba singing the soundtrack to our day.

Oh, Amelia....

you smile like a saint, but you curse like a sailor... 

Good Distractions

So much has happened since I last posted that I can't wait to share. It has been such an adventure moving into and renovating our first home!

We FINALLY got internet (and cable, but that's a rant for another day) and the first thing my sister sad to me was, "what's your first post going to be about?"
 

I love that she reads, and I think genuinely likes reading my blog, and she's fully aware that we have completed many projects I could share but the reality is I've been too distracted to post.
 

Distracted by endless projects needing finished, distracted by the hole in my bedroom floor that small children would love to throw everything they own down, distracted by keeping up on the day-to-day through this process, by infinite blog posts I'm catching up on, by beautiful projects others are creating, but mostly...distracted by life.
 

Distracted by these two sweet little faces, who seem to particularly love their mama as of late.

Light Plate Memories

As our move date gets closer and our house grows emptier I'm starting to feel a little sad to leave this place that has been our home for the past few years. We are ecstatic to move on to our dream of owning our own home and having property, but there are so many memories we have made here that I want to hold on to.

As a way of holding on to those memories and leaving a little history with the house, I decided to write a few of these memories on the back of the light switch covers. Who knows if anyone will come across these memories or feel the importance of them that I do, but perhaps they will. Perhaps they too will make memories in this home worth sharing.


In the entry:

This is the place where we became a family:
April 2009-July 2013

In the living room:

This is the place our children took their first steps,

 many Christmas presents were opened, and where

 we enjoyed the company of our friends and family.

In the kitchen:

This is the place we unpacked our wedding gifts,
enjoyed many meals together,
and celebrated many birthdays.

In the laundry room:

This is the place where our children had their play house,

 many books were read, pretend meals were made

 on tiny stoves, and many of their memories will be.

The bathroom:

This is the place many boo-boos were kissed
and bubble-covered babies splashed in the tub.

 The children's room:

This is the place where babies were rocked

 to sleep to the tune 'You Are My Sunshine,'

 tiny dreams were dreamed,

 and many castles were built.

Master bedroom:

This is the place where I spent much time
during the early days of my pregnancies,
where little ones found refuge after bad dreams,
and where many pillow fights occurred.




Disclaimer: My husband had no part in this. He would feel it was defacing property and over sharing :) Good thing he doesn't read my blog!

How To Tell Your Husband He's Going To Be A Dad

I intended to write this yesterday but we got caught up in the festivities of Father's Day (that or I wrestled children to bed much later than usual and I'm claiming it was festivities)

I was reflecting back on the day I told the husband he was going to be a dad and thought it would be a good story to share for Father's Day.

Shortly after we were married I got baby fever. It was probably a combination of nannying a young girl and watching entirely too much TLC's  A Baby Story, but regardless of the cause I had it bad. The husband was... well lets just say much less enthusiastic about it.

After watching a weeks worth of episodes in which people had difficultly conceiving or couldn't at all I became terrified I wouldn't be able to have children. (I don't know where it stems from, but I have always had this fear that if I wanted something too badly it wouldn't happen. There were many things I wouldn't dare speak aloud our of fear of jinxing it.) I shared this fear with the husband who rolled his eyes and thought nothing more of it.

Being the person I am, I started googling any information on conception, pregnancy, and child birth. I decided that I should start tracking my ovulation, just in case I could convince the husband it was a grand idea we decided we wanted to start what was sure to be a long process of conceiving.

Months went by and many things happened. We help care for an ailing grandparent who passed away, followed shortly by the caring for and passing of another. My husband was very close to his grandparents and it was a very trying time. We spent many hours mourning the lost, fighting seasonal sickness ourselves, and getting things in order with the grandparents estate. Little thought was given to any of our own plans.

One morning in early March I woke in bed next to a sleeping husband in a panic. The events following went a little something like this:

I should have started my period this morning! What to do?? Umm, think... I'm house sitting for the people I nanny for, she has a pregnancy test. Don't use the bathroom yet, everything you read says the most accurate read is first thing in the morning.

Holy crap it's hard to not pee in the morning and then get out in the cold and drive across town to go pee on a stick. That's ok, it's not a long drive, you'll make it.

Shuffling through the drawers I realized I was mistaken. Those were not pregnancy tests, they were ovulation tests. Crap!

Back in the cold car I started towards the closest store. Briskly walking through the isles I found nothing and the cashier looked at me as if I were some scandalous teenager when I asked if they carried them. What kind of store doesn't carry pregnancy tests? No worries though because there is a Family Dollar next door.

This time I skipped looking myself and went straight for the register. Oddly enough that's where they were kept (who  knew stealing pregnancy tests was such a big issue) so I snatched one and headed home.

About 3 minutes later I stared in disbelief at a positive test and ran outside to make a secret phone call to the only person it seemed appropriate to call, my friend Lindsey. After a brief freak out I was convinced it must have been wrong, after all it was a store brand pregnancy test, obviously not to be trusted.

About that time the husband woke up. In shock and disbelief I decided that I wasn't going to say a word to anyone until I knew for certain. We went on about our day, running errands and moving furniture into my sisters house. I tried a couple of times to disappear and sneak off to the drug store to get a legit pregnancy test (you know, from a brand that I recognized.... maybe 2 of them) but I couldn't shake my sister. After a few tries I gave up and took her with me, letting her in on the secret on the way.

Hiding in her bathroom the second test confirmed what the first test had said so I did what anyone would do. I sent my husband home to play his new video game. If I had a hard time accepting the news I could only imagine what the husband would need to do to process the information.

Ready to share the news I went home where I presented the husband with a six pack of beer with one bottle replaced by a baby bottle. Once he noticed it he made the confused guy look.

Husband: "What is this? A bottle?"
Me: "No a baby."
Husband: "A baby bottle?"
Me: "No a baby."
Husband: "A baby?"
Me: "Yep, your baby. (long silence) I'm pregnant."

He sat playing his video game, drinking his beer for about an hour before he even said a word.

I think I must have peed on at least 6 pregnancy test of 3 different brands before we were both thoroughly convinced that we were in fact going to be parents. After the shock wore off we were really excited to start the adventure of parenthood.



Looking back on the story, it feels like lifetime ago. I knew before we were ever married what a great dad he would be, but I couldn't have imagined how much the man who needed to play a couple games and finish a couple beers to swallow the news of becoming a parent would be so consumed by our girls.

He loves and cares for them like no one else ever could. If you tell him the story he laughs and denies it was such a big thing to process, probably because we couldn't imagine our lives any other way.

Happy Father's Day to the best daddy I know! Our girls and I feel very lucky to have you.

Over Worked Under Paid

I'm feeling unappreciated these days.

If my husband comes home from work and promptly leaves to golf one more day this week I may lose it.

Such it the life of a stay at home mom. People get so used to having things done for them they forget that clothes don't clean and fold themselves and that dinner didn't make itself and jump onto the table promptly at 5:30. I would love to know what it felt like to get up in the morning and take a nice long hot shower while someone else made my coffee and my lunch. I would love to sit down to a meal that I didn't make, didn't plan, or do the shopping for. I would LOVE to actually get off of work. You know, an actual end to the work day...at any point before 8:30 after fighting kids to sleep.

Life really isn't all that bad, just one of those days where I'm feeling sorry for myself and how 'rough' I have it. I think I'm going to order this coffee mug to sip wine coffee from on the days I need to wallow in self- pity before pulling it together and getting back to work.

House Hunting: Not for the Faint of Heart

Who would have known how emotionally exhausting house hunting would be? Surely not this girl. I thought to myself; you have no time restraints to work within, no limitations on the place in which you live (so long as it is no more than 40 miles in any direction from Kansas City), and a good sense of what you want in a home. This is going to be so fun and exciting!

Oh was I wrong.

Turns out the husband did not share in my enthusiasm of starting our lives in a new home anywhere our hearts desire, so long as it meant getting exactly what we want.
Turns out we would get a lot less for our money than I thought we would.
Turns out we did not have a good fit with our realtor.
Turns out the house we fell in love with has structural issues and we cannot purchase it.
Turns out breaking up with our realtor was a good choice, as our new realtor is patient in answering our questions and assuring us she understands our wants/needs and and will do everything she can to find us the perfect home.
Turns out I would eat my words on NEVER living in a split level home.

I had no idea how emotionally draining it would be looking at the same small handful of houses day after day as no new listings came up. I made matters worse for myself when I decided to look at a house out of our price range out of frustration.

Burnt out and ready to give up on the whole thing, there were couple things that happened to turn it around. We used a program through USAA that; 1)set us up with a realtor who better suited our needs, and 2) gives us cash back at closing. (Seriously, who doesn't love cash back??) We also learned about a Kansas first time buyer down payment assistance program that would make financing a home as a single income family much more manageable. After discussing with the husband our priorities in our first home we determined that property trumped aesthetics of the home and we found a house that suits our needs with a substantial amount of our wish list fulfilled as well.

We have made it through the agonizing wait after submitting our offer and were very lucky to have a great counter so we didn't have to do much haggling to get our needs met. We still have  to go through the inspection process and the loan closing where there may be more unexpected obstacles, but for now I'm feeling relieved to have made it this far in the process.

Looking back to February when we started this process, I would never have thought it would have taken this long or been so difficult. I should have listened to the warning,
"House hunting isn't for the faint of heart."

A Hiatus

It's been so long.

I feel like I have nothing to say and everything to say at the same time.

I took a little hiatus from blogging/social networking/anything of the sorts. Not only did I deactivate my Facebook account but I cleared my phone of recent calls and text messages daily and kept texting and phone talking to a minimum. A detox.

There was no profound moment where I thought to myself, "It's time to get back into the real world and nurture real relationships, not founded on posts and text messages," but, reflecting on it now, I think that is exactly why I did it.

It's been refreshing to not have every one's business in my face everyday courtesy of posts, over-sharing the happenings in one's life. The fact that people would type something, forever engraving statement, that they would never find appropriate to speak still amazes me. I didn't realize how much other people's problems actually stressed me out when I invited them into my world through these means. And I'll be honest, the judgement that poured out of me for every 'drunken selfie' picture I saw was more than I could contain.

Not feeling the need to haul my phone around with me all day and answer every call has been refreshing. Turns out I think I would prefer to have a house phone (gasp!) and when I'm busy, outside, or not home, not feel an obligation to anyone except myself and those whom I'm with. I did carry my phone with me when I left the house (I have small children so for safety reasons felt it appropriate), however, I tried not to answer it unless necessary while I was with other people and never when sitting at a table having a meal with someone.

It's been effortless to be in the moment and leave all of these things to the side. Being a stay at home mom who would constantly be on Facebook as a distraction from the mundane, I found it a little shocking. I was the one wanting to call my mother every time one of my children did some unspeakable thing (which is an everyday occurrence in our home) just because I wanted adult conversation and a break from those rotten girls.

I checked my Facebook account last night for the first time in a month and a half and after about a minute of scrolling I realized I don't miss it. I don't miss wasting countless amounts of time out of my life trying to keep up with the happenings in other's.

This may not be a forever thing, for all I know next week I can be drowning in posts, texts, and countless blogs, but for now this suits my life and I'm embracing it.

"It Was Boinging on My Fingers"

Mornings when daddy is home are always fun. He pretends he is letting me sleep in by retrieving our children when they awake and throwing them into our bed where he promptly buries himself under the covers and attempts to go back to bed.

These morning bed sessions usually have some pretty sweet stories of sisters loving so nicely on each other, mommy or daddy being smothered in kisses, or tales of elaborate dreams of castles and M & M's being told. Occasionally they go a little more like this:

A sleepy face Amelia crawled into our bed and snuggled deep under the covers between daddy and I. She rolled over and grabbed my face and kissed me only to quickly pull away and tell me, "Your breaths is stinky. You need to get them out of there."

Laughing and burying myself deeper beneath the covers I tried to close my eyes again.

"I got rid of my boogers," Amelia announced proudly.

"You did what?! Where did you get rid of them?!" I was wide awake now.

"They were in my nose and they were stuck in there and I couldn't get them out," she continued to tell her tale with the full arm-flailing, hand-talking glory.

"When that happens you get a tissue. You don't use anything else to get them out." I scolded. "When did you get them out?"

"I was just laying in my bed and it was boinging on my fingers," she announced, wide-eyed with her fingers making a pinching motion.

Sitting straight up in bed, I was determined to find out the placement of said 'boinging things.' There was no going back to sleep now, only the innate desire to run far from this booger covered child lying beside me on my pillow.

"Where are they now?" I asked.

Proudly Amelia opened her mouth wide and with both hands inserted her pointer fingers deep into her mouth.

"You ate them?!? Amelia Ann, that is disgusting!"

"Ok, sorry mom. I'm hungry, look outside it's morning. Let's get up."



May this story come back to haunt you, Amelia, as it will me when I lay down on my pillow tonight.

Finding Home Sweet Home

We have officially begun house hunting!

The husband and I are soooo excited about purchasing our first home.
We started by browsing real estate websites then thought, "Oh no, what if we get all excited about these houses and then find out we can't get one?!" 
The horror!!

So we got smart and got pre aprroved (no thanks to USAA, I'll save that rant for another day.) and really started stalking houses on the internet. So many things to take into consideration. There are lots of houses out there and each has something you could like about it. (Except split levels. I cannot find anything to like about them . It may be because I refuse to give them my time due to the fact they all look alike and the garage is all you see!)

Where did we want to live?
Where would our kids be going to school?
What would we be doing with our time there?

Of course living close to the husbands work would be convenient, but do we want to live in the burbs? The thought of a quaint house on some acreage to create our own little farm makes my heart beat a little faster, but is the husband up for joining me on this ambitious endeavor?

After driving through neighborhoods and seeing the homes for sale, the shopping areas, the schools and discussing our dreams rather than our expectations we think we are leaning towards our own little homestead. My hopes are high we will find the perfect place to move our family and I hope the process is painless!

Meanwhile my pintrest board is filling up with daydreams...

If Only I Could Live in a Dream

I have stacks of beautiful fabrics to make clothes, quilts, and anything pretty with.
I have soft yarn in bright fun colors for scarves, leg warmers, and lovey friends.
I have books filled with great stories of adventure, tragedy, and delightful recipes.
I have bulbs and seeds enough to fill a yard with life.
I have a husband and two children and a house to tend to.

If only I could live in my daydreams, I would be living on my farm, feeding my family delicious recipes from those books with the foods I had grown, surrounded by all the beautiful handmade things I had created for our home. I would be sitting on the porch seeing getting lost in a good book while the girls ran and played in the yard. If only I could live in a dream.

My Adventure in Making Laundry Soap

Note: This is not a 'how-to', just the story of my adventure. And oh what an adventure it was...

In an attempt to be frugal and prolong staying at home with my first born, I decided to make my own laundry soap. I got a recipe from my sister who had recently made some and off to the store I went with my list in hand. I slaved over my cheese grater, shaving bar after bar of soap, and mixed up an enormous batch of powdered detergent.

So excited to try it out, I dumped a scoop in the washer with my clothes and let it do it's thing. When the wash stopped I switched the clothes over and as I did I could hear the little bits of soap hit the floor. FAIL. It didn't break down at all in the wash! I tend to wash most everything in cold water, as it's cost effective so I figured that was the issue. I washed the next load in warm water, hoping it would be better, but it was only slightly so. I grabbed my trusty store bought soap and commenced laundering as usual.

My lovely jar of soap sat perched on the shelf above the washer (for a the better part of a year), only being used when we would run out of detergent. Finally I decided I could not let all this soap go to waste and I made myself use it. The only way I could was to place a scoop of it in a jar, fill it with hot water and run around the house like a crazy person shaking it until it had somewhat dissolved, and then add it to the wash.

I had thought about trying to make it into liquid soap but hadn't tried. Then I stumbled upon this idea on pintrest. Whipped soap?! Genius! How easy would this break down in the wash?! I glanced at the ingredients and the how to and figured I'd give it a go. I couldn't find the original recipe I used, but I remembered the fels naptha soap, washing soda, and borax (which were the same as in the new recipe) so I went to work sifting the soap shavings out of the rest of the powder. (SUCH A PAIN! But I didn't want to waste all these ingredients!)

After hours of prepping and fussing children to get my kitchen kid-free and ready, I began to melt the soap. Hello progress! I mixed the first batch (I had to do three because I made soap for a year the first time. Hindsight, I probably should have started small and decided if I even liked it!) and poured it into my jars. (Something to keep in mind: heat your jars in hot water before you try to fill them with your hot soap!) Three batches and an eternity later, my jars sat cooling on the counter.

I cleaned up the first mess and allowed the jars to cool as directed. Once they were cooled I got out the trusty blender. (The best thing I learned from the whipped soap post was a mason jar fits onto the blender. This is going to come in so handy sometime!) I whipped the soap as directed but my jars still weren't full so I decided to combine them. I tightened the lids on, cleaned up the mess and sent out the all important picture message to my sister showing off my hard work.

Later that night, after the babies were in bed and my husband and I had just finished eating dinner, I decided to show off my days labor. As I went to pick up a jar my husband noted that the lid was bulging. As I went to pick it up there was a loud "POP" followed by soap flying everywhere. I was on the floor, laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face. It scared me so much I was doing the nervous laughter thing that he never seems to know how to handle.

Being the good husband that he is, we went jar by jar releasing the lids and scooping out some of the soap, leaving the 1 1/2" space at the top that was initially there. Then clean up began, and oh what a mess there was. I would wipe the counter clean and go rinse the wash cloth in the sink only to turn around and see the counter top a chalky white again. Once everything was fianlly free of soap I neatly lined my jars up along the counter and labeled each jar. Success.

The next morning I fixed breakfast and sat down to eat. As I did I noticed there was one of the jars that appeared to be leaking down the side. I went to pick it up and look at it and as I touched it, the lid shot off and the entire kitchen wall was covered in soap. As I began to look at the jars many of the lids were bugling. REALLY?? Once again I started the process of releasing each lid and scooping out the soap, this time leaving 2 1/2" space at the top. Once again I cleaned and re cleaned the kitchen.

Determined to figure out why this was happening I googled the issue. Surprisingly nothing came up. (Further proof that people are merely pinning and not trying things...geez people, where were you on this one?) The only thing even mentioned was that if you added oxy clean it could happen. I know I didn't use oxy clean, but what did I use? I looked again for the original recipe to no avail. I did find this one which was similar. Then I remembered.... I put baking soda in it. Oops! So now I'm left with exploding laundry soap. An entire years worth. Stored in jars in a tightly sealed Rubbermaid tote. Hope it cleans well!

If I ever do have to make this again I'm defiantly going with the Whipped Laundry Soap recipe. I love that it's super concentrated so it can take up little space and it's very cost effective! Plus, apparently if I make it correctly and don't just wing it, it won't explode!

Hallway Play House

We live in a rather small house so when it comes to places to play and for toys our options are limited. Most of the girls toys are in the laundry room which is also the pantry. It make things interesting. (I find many random items stashed away with the canned goods.)

I knew the girls would love a play house and I spent many hours drooling over some pretty amazing ones courtesy of pintrest, but none would be affordable/practical/fit anywhere inside or outside of our home. I started to think of ideas that would be more tent-like that ended up paring down to this:

A hallway play house. An easily put up and taken down, single panel curtain, held in place with tension rods. When put in place, it closes off the laundry room and transforms it into a playhouse.

We surprised the girls with it on Christmas and they love it!

Birthday Week 2013

Today officially ended birthday week 2013.

As I'm getting older I figure the only way to make tacking on another year acceptable is to have a week long celebration. I don't celebrate half birthdays (ahem...Tracey) and I won't continue to turn 29 from every birthday from now until I'm 40, unlike my mother (seriously, do you know how hard it got to remember how old she was really turning?!) I will however use my birthday week as an excuse to spend time with my family and friends, eat good food, and do fun things!

I knew it would be sad to see it end, no longer can I use the excuse "It's still your turn to change the diaper because it's my birthday week." (My husband plays along so nicely with my silly antics.)

A successful birthday week it was, though! I'm pretty sure I packed on a few pounds due to excessive eating. (I think I may have eaten something chocolate every day along the way.)  I got to celebrate with some of my favorite people and I happened to rake in some pretty sweet gifts too.

I found these amazing books at a local antique mall. (Happy birthday to me!)

And I plan on making this amazing swim suit with the pattern, circa 1947.

My husband got me this box I was swooning over at Hobby Lobby to put all my buttons in.

My mother-in-law surprised me with this mirror that I saw and fell in love with (also from the antique mall.) I want to paint it but I'm not sure what color. I need my farm house already so I can pick out a color pallet!

And today I got to rummage through my aunt's old things and bring home these treasures that used to belong to my grandmother.

A quilt she had made.

Vintage Vera Neumann napkins.

And this Cranberry Delaware Early American Patterned Glass berry serving set. I kind of love it!

I think I may have gotten spoiled!

One is the Magic Number

Some may say that one is the loneliest number, I am convinced it is a magic number. It seems so anyway. Marinn has always been a lot little needier than her big sister ever was. It made for quite a first year with her in our lives. However, since turning one Marinn has become a much more independent child.

It's magical.

I feel as though she was visited by a fairy godmother who waved her wand and dusted some magical thing over her.

I can wear pants without a belt because there are no little hands tearing them off because I am no longer dragging her behind me as I do each task. There are no snot marks on my knees, as I am no longer the human Kleenex. There are no late night screams beckoning me into the the girls' room late at night. There are no sad faces smashed against the glass of the front door if I take the trash to the curb.

It only took a year, but I have gotten a full nights sleep for weeks straight!

It's so exciting, I don't really know what to do with myself.

I have had time to clean my house, play with the girls, fold laundry (not just pile in back into a laundry basket) AND do something leisurely like read or sew. I even took a bath the other night and it wasn't just to hide from screaming children refusing to go to bed.

Clearly this is going to be a good year. Much needed after the "fun" of last year. I feel so accomplished when I realize we all survived, no worse for the wear.

 

Look! They're playing together with no adults having to be in there with them!!

Playground Etiquette

We had an unseasonably warm day today so I decided to venture out with the girl in tow to do a little shopping. On the way home I looked in the back seat and saw I had two sleeping babies. As exciting as that was, I cannot under any circumstances allow Amelia to nap or I will have to endure the 3 hour bedtime battle from hell. I got the crazy notion that if I took them to the park and let them run around for a bit it would undo the brief napping so off to the park we went.

I love having the playground to ourselves, but we weren't so lucky today. I dread seeing other kids and their parents because I feel as though people lack basic etiquette. Most trips to the park reinforce this feeling. Today was no different.

Amelia barreled out of the car and made a bee line for the swings. I carried Marinn and place her in the swing (the one the only other kid on the playground had just exited) and picked Amelia up and put her in the other. Oh the giggles that come from my girls when they swing...

Next on the agenda was a game of tag with the 'new friend' Amelia made. I ran and played with them while Marinn sat content in the swing.

Onto the slides we went. Up the stairs, down the slide. Again and again. Little kid heaven. All the while Marinn was swinging.

Then the parent of the child on the playground decided to stand a little to close to my kid in the swing so I decided to get her to join us. As I lifted her out of the swing (much to her protest) my hand felt something cold. She was wet. Really wet. Weird because although the ground was soggy the playground was dry. As I held this wet baby on my hip I looked up to see the 'new friend' being hoisted onto a swing-with pee soaked pants.

No! It couldn't be! Surely it mist have been her own diaper leaking! Quick check and... nope, bone dry. Resisting to urge to toss the pee soaked baby to the ground I rounded up Amelia and headed for the car. No amount of hand sanitizer will make that go away. My kids cried when I made them leave the park to take a bath.

I feel as though it should go without saying, but since it doesn't I think I'll petition the city for a sign listing park etiquette. Top of the list will be:

If your child urinates or defecates on playground clean it up. (Or at least say something when a mother with their hands full goes to sit their child in it!)