We didn’t have a special NYE dinner so we’re doing it tonight. #cowboyribeye #samsclub #NYEredo
I might have ended up burning the dressing just a bit but once I picked off the worst of it, it was still pretty good. Owen LOVED it!!!!
Author Archives: Jen
Our first time seated apart!
I couldn’t get seats together for the movie so the kids got seats directly in front of us. They weren’t sure when we first showed them but then they thought it was awesome!
NEW YEAR NEW YOU: Vision Boards
Do you do vision boards? This was the first one I ever did and truthfully I only did it because it was an assignment for a training class. Little did I know that almost everything on it would come true!! Whoa!!
✅ My eye make up application isn’t amazing but it is miles ahead of where I started. And I don’t feel crazy nervous anymore. Looking forward to advancing in 2019!!
✅ I doubled my team. Most of them are in it for the discount but that’s fine with me—I’m thrilled people are getting their lipstick and skincare at a discount!
✅ I more than doubled my sales. Almost tripled, actually!! Now, I take that with a grain of salt because my first “year” was only nine months plus it was my first year. 😂
✅ We haven’t yet taken our Disney family cruise but I did make enough money for it. (Well, we didn’t actually plot out the whole cruise budget but I’m pretty sure I came damn close.)
❌ I didn’t make my weight loss goal but that started again today. I did it before…I can do it again (and I obviously don’t have as much to lose this time).
I’m now thinking about what to put on my 2019 vision board for another training… I think my word for 2019 is Simplify but I’m not sure how to translate that to a vision board quite yet…
I’m still not used to the hole in her head.
I’m not kidding. It’s happening.
King guest bed being torn down.
The junk under Owen’s bed after I had already pulled out everything I could reach before the mattress was removed.
Owen finally broke me today.
We’re moving him to the guest room (half the size) and he’s losing half of his stuff. He’s had at least three warnings over the past six months yet he was surprised I was serious and he wanted more chances. Sorry, no. Mom doesn’t play. ESPECIALLY after the events of the day.
Background:
His room is always a disaster. I only ask that every so often it gets picked up so I don’t have to pole vault to walk in—laundry in baskets, legos picked up, etc. But his laundry is from one end to the other (under the bed, in the closet, in toy bins, etc.) and I am tired of getting clean clothes in the dirty laundry. Things get shoved every place imaginable and he can never find anything. Yes I know this is mostly typical kid stuff, but he gives us unbelievable attitude when we ask that he do something as simple as gather laundry. I’ve gone in with him multiple times (as has Grannie) to clean and organize and he always whines and moans and complains…but agrees to keep it clean. We told him when we moved in he got the big room so he had room for him and Katie (and friends) to play but with his room always a mess, no one can play in there. And he won’t pick it up. So he’s been warned multiple times that if he can’t keep it REMOTELY picked up, he will be losing stuff and moving to the smaller guest bedroom.
So…I’ve spent the last two hours in his room just going through and throwing shit away and sorting stuff to keep and give away. He will be starting with a very small selection of books and a handful of Legos and Pokémon cards. If he can keep his room (somewhat) clean, he’ll earn back more.
#HappyF’ingNewYear #WorstNYEyet #NowMyBackHurts #TimeForMargaritas
Owen broke the wall.
The kids were being loud playing upstairs then we heard a really loud THUNK and soon Miss Tattletale was running down to us to tell us Owen put a hole in the wall. Okay, whatever, let me go see.
HOLY SHIT.
Yeah…. He was doing gymnastic front rolls in the tiny hallway space upstairs and managed to kick his heel through the wall.
This was after a stressful morning during which both kids were amazingly annoying.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
Nail day!
A polish set from Aunt Dee!!
This cuddle hasn’t happened in awhile.
Katie cut her hair!
I’m crying. Katie brushed her hair on her own after her bath yesterday (something she’s done many times) and this is what I found on the floor by my sink when I went to bed. 😳 She decided to cut out a big knot instead of asking for help. And of course managed to cut way more hair than necessary.
The upsides are that she figured out a solution on her own and that with her crazy mess of curls we can’t even tell and she doesn’t need an emergency haircut.
Gummy tongue!
From Gramma Jean’s trip to Maine!
Christmas lights!
Grannie wanted to see some lights while they were here so we went to the county fairgrounds. It was too hard to take pics but it was neat—the lights were all synchronized to a local radio station. The reindeer and tunnel (pictured) were my favorites.
We also went to a personal residence that had an amazing display (also set to music). It gave me some good ideas for when we finally plant roots… 🙂
Loving my lap!
Papa and Grannie are the beasts!!
Papa and Grannie arrived about 6 and of course the kids had to show them the masks right away. Then this happened!
Purple nails, take 2.
After my recent bad experience with the press on nails, friends suggested I try a powder dip manicure. It is more expensive, but is stronger and lasts longer plus doesn’t hurt your nails… So on our way home I called and made the appointment.
Even though I went in with somewhat of an idea the color I wanted, choosing one was overwhelming.
This was a disconcerting part—most of my nails were too short (and in such bad condition) that they had to add tips first.
It was a very interesting process to watch and I had a ton of questions but the language barrier was for real. Less than an hour later, I had these! I love them!
Merry Christmas from the little beasts!
Yes, these masks might have freaked them out just a bit hiding in their big Santa bags. 😂
Tom and I were up before 7…but the kids weren’t—their phones were still outside their bedroom doors!! Well, if I was up they were going to be up [dammit!] so just as I was about to get Owen up he walked out, and then we had him wake Katie up!
Santa screwed up a little by using the same paper for our gifts, too, and not making sure ours all had name tags… The kids were too excited to see their paper on other gifts that weren’t in their Santa bags so ended up opening a few of ours. Oh well. Maybe next year Santa won’t start wrapping quite so late.
Both kids were excited to see a programmable robot that they’d previously asked for and forgot about… Plus Santa did bring some things they specifically asked for (ballet shoes and Pokémon cards) so they were happy. All gifts were open by 8am. 🙂
Christmas Eve matching PJs
Christmas Eve Day
We spent the day with Uncle Rob and Aunt Dee at their new house! The kids played with Daisy, played in the snow, Owen shot his new bow (and lost an arrow in the snow!), made snowballs with Aunt Dee, and played games with Aunt Dee while is other three adults might have been napping. 🙂
Margarita buddies!
Santa Daisy
She was a big cuddle bug.
Schwalms and Hudsons
The cousins had so much fun together and we really enjoyed visiting with the adults!!We really need to do this more often!!
Katie Rudolph
Another day, another new Katie face. Again by Gabby.
These woods are for the birds!!
Uncle Doug and Aunt Marie took all the kids to Hartwick Pines and the kids got to hand-feed the birds! Katie got too freaked out but Owen did it!!
WHAT U TALKIN BOUT
The cousins were all having a ball playing together and I thought they’d have a blast playing “WHAT U TALKIN BOUT?” (the game where you try to say phrases while wearing dental mouthpieces—there are many versions of this game). Katie had bought it for Owen for Christmas and we weren’t set to open it for days but I am glad we did…we haven’t laughed so hard in a long time! It was definitely worth the $2.50 sale price at the dollar store.
Katie tiger!
Can you tell the face paints were a HUGE success?! This one was painted by cousin Gabby!
Pysanky Katie & Hatty Owen
Katie wanted Gramma Jean to do Pysanky on her face and Katie REALLY wanted to paint Owen’s face so he reluctantly let her paint Hatty Hattington on him (hilariously yet steadfastly refusing both glitter and sparkles).
And since I had no idea what Hatty Hattington looked like, either… I guess she did okay. 🙂
Advice for the new year.
Relaxed Maggie
Maggie spends most of vacation sleeping…either on my lap or a blanket on a chair. (She’s a really good dog and knows to only lay on a blanket on the leather furniture. If the blanket slides off, she will usually lay on it on the floor!)
Butterfly Katie
I brought face paint for Grauntie Marge to give to the kids…she’s much more of an artist then I am!
Gramma snuggles!
A Pinterest half-fail.
As soon as I saw these on Pinterest I knew I wanted to make them—we have a bunch of branches in various sizes so it was perfect. I thought it would be a quick 20-minute project.
Ha. Haha.
Tom brought in a Rubbermaid bin full of rounds and I could tell within minutes it wasn’t going to be as easy as I had imagined. It was really difficult to get just the right widths to layer so they looked right. And of course they weren’t all round so you had to try and match shapes. And even though we had like three big branches, it didn’t correlate to the right size pieces. I think I worked for over an hour trying to get a few decent trees (these were going to be gifts).
In the end they aren’t Pinterest Perfect, but they’re still cute, so it’s only a half fail. 🙂
Holiday taste test!
Tom went to Glen’s (it will ALWAYS be Glen’s) and came home with a bunch of new $1 bottles for me to try. It’s not bad but it’s not a margarita.
