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What Owen knows about me.

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This has been going around Facebook lately, so I did it with Owen. I have to say his answers surprised me—things I was SURE he would answer a certain way he didn’t. And I have no idea why laundry makes such a big impression!

Without ANY prompting, ask your child these questions and write down EXACTLY what they say. It is a great way to find out what they really think. When you re-post put your child’s age.

Owen, age 6

1. What is something mom always says to you? Make bed.

2. What makes mom happy? Happy kids.

3. What makes mom sad? When we are being grumpy.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? Make jokes.

5. What was your mom like as a child? Playing with your grandma.

6. How old is your mom? 41

7. How tall is your mom? 5 inches I think

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Watch Ellen.

9. What does your mom do when you’re not around? Watch Ellen again.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? A fashion show.

11. What is your mom really good at? (loooots of thinking) I don’t know.

12. What is your mom not very good at? Doing laundry.

13. What does your mom do for a job? Wash clothes.

14.What is your mom’s favorite food? Pizza

15.What makes you proud of your mom? I don’t know.

16. If your mom were a character, who would she be? Marion (From Indiana Jones)

17. What do you and your mom do together? Play games

18. How are you and your mom the same? We both do laundry.

19. How are you and your mom different? You have dark brown hair and I have light brown hair.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because you love me.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? You love him.

22. Where is your mom’s favorite place to go? Shoppers (grocery store)

23. How old was your Mom when you were born? 35 (He guessed and was right!)

Owen’s butterfly 

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Owen was so excited to show me his project from art class—I had to stop him from trying to unroll it as we walked home!

  
Do all moms love their kids’ artwork as much as I do? Or maybe I’m just super excited drew something not video game related. 🙂

Facebook friends saw something else. 

I see a ninja turtle.

If that’s not a ninja turtle fighting a giant spider, I’ll be really disappointed.

So I told Owen people thought it was a ninja turtle—thinking he’d be thrilled because he likes ninja turtles—and he said incredulously “It’s a butterfly!” 🙂

Helloooo HelloFresh!

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I’ve been thinking about trying HelloFresh for months, so when a friend offered a free box ($60 value), I grabbed it!

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I selected the Omnivore box and then selected the meals I wanted, opting against one of the suggested meals because I am not a big artichoke fan:

  1. Rosemary Beef Flatbread with Caramelized Onion & Broccoli
  2. Spicy Shrimp ‘Fra Diavolo’ with Garlic Crostini
  3. Pan-Seared Calamari over Bulgur & Chorizo Hash with Parsley Gremolata

It’s refrigerated and shipped UPS—you pick what day it’s coming so you know for sure. I was very impressed upon opening the box—everything was superbly packaged and labeled (each meals’ ingredients are bagged together, minus the refrigerated proteins) inside an insulated bag. I was surprised they actually used frozen water bottles instead of dry ice (I tweeted them saying it was cool, and they replied that it was to reduce their carbon footprint) so we got four drinkable bottles of water as well! The three days’ worth of meals arrives in one box.

Once I actually started the meal prep, I was even more impressed—shrimp were peeled and deveined, garlic heads were peeled, everything was the exact amount required (except the red pepper flakes!), and the instructions were beautiful and detailed (I see why it’s as expensive as it is!). For us it’s above budget, but as a treat now and again to try new dishes it’s definitely worth it!

I discovered I like fresh oregano:

Spicy Shrimp ‘Fra Diavolo’ with Garlic Crostini (download recipe):

It was quite good. It wasn’t something I’d likely make regularly but it was a nice change of pace. And I had been worried about portion size, but Tom and I had a full meal and even had some leftover!

If anyone is interested, using my personal code AV8W2E will get you $40 off your first box! (I also get a $20 discount on a future box.) I definitely recommend trying at least one box as it’s definitely worth it for $20. There are no minimum purchases, you can postpone up to three months of future deliveries, and you can cancel at any time. They also send you a reminder email on the last day of meal selection to make sure you have either picked the meals you want or paused that week’s delivery. Of course they’re hoping you will get sucked in, and I can easily see how that would happen—I only planned on getting this one box, but I find myself looking ahead at the upcoming recipes to see what’s being offered…and drooling. 🙂

I can’t wait to make the other two meals!!

We have bunk beds!

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We’ve casually thought about getting bunkbeds for Owen’s room (one with steps instead of a more dangerous ladder) but didn’t want to spend a lot of money on them because we didn’t need them. So one night I happened to see on a Facebook yard sale group that someone was selling a set for a decent price. The bonus was that they were shorter overall so the top bunk was not super high. Long story short, we ended up getting them. It was mostly a spur of the moment decision, but Tom and I both agreed on it so there you go.

Well, have I mentioned that I hate bunkbeds because they’re a total PITA to make? But I thought maybe I was misremembering or blowing it out of proportion and even if it was awful, I’d suck it up for my kid…but holy crap it’s just as awful as I thought.

And.

I thought I’d like that they weren’t full height beds…but holy crap are they low. There’s no way Owen can sleep in there (under there) long term because he can’t even sit up—he can barely roll over. And there’s no way adult guests could fit comfortably in there (when we need an extra bed, we’ve put someone there and move Owen to Katie’s room). And of course that makes making the bed even harder.

So at this point I was thinking we’d made a huge mistake.

But.

Thankfully Tom is handy and he can lower the base of the bed so there’s more room.

Worst case, we take it apart after a few weeks of testing and sell it (hopefully getting what we paid). :/ Best case Owen loves it and we get a lot of use out of it. (Mommy guilt sucks. I’m tempted into things I’d otherwise not be.) And for now, the kids loved playing on it while we were assembling it…

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“I can touch the ceiling!”

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Bed time!

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My 2014 year in blogging.

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WordPress keeps stats on just about everything and sends a year-end summary. Here are a few interesting facts:

  • This blog was viewed about 17,000 times in 2014.
  • The busiest day of the year was August 24th with 1,007 views.
  • The most popular post that day was We struck gold twice. (interestingly, a post from 2013).
  • In 2014, there were 1,277 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 5,487 posts.
  • My longest streak of posting was 107 days from 17 February — 3 June.
  • Fridays were my most prolific posting days with 212 total posts.
  • Visitors came from 95 countries.
  • The most prolific commenter? My mom with 108. (My friend Tori was in second place with nine.) 🙂

She LOVES the new tank!

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Long story short, we have a new saltwater tank!

Long story long, we haven’t had a saltwater tank since before we were married and lived in Lansing! We’ve wanted one, of course—and Tom even bought a few tanks along the way—but with moving every few years it just isn’t practical. He had an 80-gallon (I think it was) tank specially made…that we eventually sold after moving a few times. Then he found a used system that we were planning on setting up here…but it got trashed in the move. We were reimbursed for it and Tom wanted to buy the same tank right away, but I told him to wait because we were in no hurry. Fast forward five months and he was perusing Craigslist and saw a really great tank for a really great price—and snapped it up!

It won’t have fish in it for a few months (we have to wait for the water to cycle and get healthy so it doesn’t kill the fish) but in the meantime, the kids LOVE it. Especially Katie. She will just go sit in front of it.

Bye bye Birdie…it’s bittersweet.

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I wasn’t expecting to see this today in my Facebook feed—and it totally caught me off guard. I’m obviously happy, but it’s definitely bittersweet. I hate that we lost all the money we put into it (floors, deck, fence, shed, and stainless appliances), but am glad we were able to short sell fairly easily without losing more.

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It’s no secret to anyone that I didn’t love the house (that damn kitchen!) and it’s obvious it wasn’t going to be our forever home…but we still had six years worth of memories there—pre- and post-kids—and it’s a little sad to think it’s really gone. But then, I am an emotional sap…

We helped save the Rialto!

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We donated to the Restore the Rialto Kickstarter campaign and used our two free tickets today to take Owen to see How to Train Your Dragon 2.

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The first thing Owen said when he sat down is “Where do I set my drink?” Spoiled kid, used to newfangled seats with attached cup holders. 🙂

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Which TV Mom Would You Be Most Like?

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whatmom_cindywalsh

You got Cindy from “Beverly Hills 90210”! You are the main source of stability and guidance for your children. You always keep an open door and a place at your table for whomever might need it. You’re a Down-to-earth mother, who is loving and sympathetic to your children but also to your children’s often-troubled friends. You’re a role model!

I can live with that. 🙂

If you want to take the quiz for yourself, go here.

Snakes. Why does it have to be snakes?

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Bugs? Don’t like ’em but I can deal. Frogs? Okay. Lizards? Fine. But snakes? AHHHHH.

I don’t do snakes.

Guess what Tom just found curled up in the garage…in the very center of our garage sale pile?!

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He poked at it with a stick to get it moving. It travelled around a bit—and was probably 4-5′ long. FEET.

And then, if that wasn’t freaky enough…IT SLITHERED INTO THE MOLDING AROUND THE GARAGE DOOR FRAME.

DISAPPEARED COMPLETELY.

SO IT’S REALLY INSIDE THE GARAGE NOW.

We need to move today. 😐 I’m not sure I can go in the garage again.

Tom looked it up and it’s apparently a rat snake?! Tom says it’s a good snake. Sorry, there’s no such thing as a good snake.

/shudder

Here’s the conversation that happened on Facebook after I posted…

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Being a Good Mom is Making me a Bad Wife

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A blog post on one of my favorite parenting sites, Scary Mommy. It’s like I could have written it almost word for word.

[Basically everything goes to shit 10 minutes before hubby walks in the door from work and the wife is at her limit and loses her shit and unloads on him the second he walks in the door. Read the whole post at the website to get the full effect. It’s worth it.]

My husband never sees me at my best.

At my best, I’m witty, creative, and enthusiastic. At my worst, I’m short-tempered, grouchy, and cold. I can usually be found somewhere between those two, and although my kids often get my best, and my writing sometimes does, my husband just doesn’t.

I worry that this is how marriages fall apart.

I worry that he thinks I’m always stressed out and yelling when I’m home alone with the kids. Because I’m not.

Owen loves ABC Mouse!

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abcmouse

So, we’ve been seeing commercials for ABCmouse.com for quite some time, plus Owen has some apps on the phone that are by ABC Mouse. I thought it would be a good thing, but honestly…Owen has never used a computer, our desktop is too hard to get to easily so we’d have to set up a laptop downstairs, then teach him how to use a mouse, etc., and lastly, pay the monthly fee and hope he’d use it. So it just never got done.

Fast forward a few months, and Tom brought it up again. So I just signed up for emails and quickly realized that they always send out deals. So I waited and waited…and finally there was some deal (I honestly don’t even remember what it was—maybe half off) so I signed up. And then we were getting the house ready for flooring and then we were on vacation and then we were cleaning up after the flooring…and I was getting annoyed because I had paid for it and we weren’t using it! Every time Owen had “free time” he was playing with his Legos or watching TV or on the weekend he’d be playing his video game.

So today after breakfast I declared it was time. I said “Owen, do you want to try ABC Mouse?” And got a resounding happy YES! So Tom set up my laptop at the kitchen table, hooked up his wireless mouse, and we started. (Big whoop, it took all of five minutes!) I was a little concerned that Owen would have issues with the mouse because A) he’s never used one (and he’s very used to the touch screen of the iDevices) and B) sometimes he has issues with fine motor control. But he did pretty good—the only mouse button somewhat tripping him up was the center scroll button so I told him just to avoid that button…but within about 10 minutes or so he was USING the button correctly (the laptop screen isn’t quite big enough so it helps to scroll). Wow. I was floored.

And he flew through the first few lessons and was thrilled to be earning tickets and white stars and prizes for his hamster and aquarium (on the site!). He probably sat there for 20-30 minutes! Then just like that he was done. And he complained that it was too easy. I told him I know it was too easy, but we started him on stuff for younger kids just until he got used to how the mouse worked and how the website worked. I told him when we did it again it would be for older kids and he was cool with that.

So fast forward about an hour and he was ready! I had moved it from age 2 to age 4 and he loved it! I wish I could watch over him as he does everything so I can see what all is involved, but I like that he’s doing it by himself and I don’t HAVE TO watch over him. He did say that one page was too hard so I replayed it so I could see what it was but by then he was already DONE and couldn’t give me a clue why he had thought it was too hard. (He had completed it, though, so it wasn’t too hard to finish.)

So, we’re keeping our fingers crossed that he keeps enjoying it!

40 Bags in 40 Days 2014 Decluttering Challenge

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A friend posted a link to the 40 Bags in 40 Days 2014 Decluttering Challenge on Facebook…and considering we know we are moving soon, I figured it was perfect timing.

What is 40 Bags in 40 Days?

A forty day period in the spring (coinciding with the 40 days of Lent) where you focus on cleaning one area per day. In this one area you challenge yourself to declutter, simplify, decrapify, and get rid of things you don’t need. The goal is one bag a day but you can have more or less.

I want to be held accountable so I am going to be posting my daily results. The goal is one bag per day, but it’s not hard and fast (see site) as the main gist is to just get decluttered—one day might be a piece of furniture, one day might be three bags of clothes for donation, one day might be sorting through 10,000 emails, and one day might be skipped all together.

So without further ado, my day one:

Day 1—Pantry

One huge box of snacks to Tom’s office and one box of way outdated stuff tossed; the box to donate will come closer to moving day.

New mamas get nothing done (and other untruths)

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>>> New mamas get nothing done (and other untruths)

A blog post definitely worth reading at big city moms. Here’s a snippet:

Mamas, I want to tell you the truth. And here it is: You will not get anything done when you are home with a baby. And anyone who told you otherwise is not being very forthcoming (or perhaps they just have a lousy memory). You might get yourself fed. You might get yourself dressed (then again, you might not). You might take a walk (it makes baby happy). You might have a short phone conversation or start a load of laundry, neither of which you will finish. This is your new mom normal.

So what are you doing all day? Not much that can be measured, really. You’re simply responding appropriately and with patience (through fatigue), to smiles, to tears, to hunger cues, and to drowsiness, teaching your baby how to navigate this complex and (to a baby) highly emotional and raw world. You are keeping your baby clean, which on some days involves more costume changes (for both of you) than any non-mother can begin to fathom. You are teaching a tiny, helpless person all about the world—at least the important parts, like how we treat each other and what it means to be connected to a family. You are creating a foundation of love and trust between you and your baby, one that will help you set your parenting compass, inform your future interactions, and provide a basis for the way your child relates to the larger world.

But that’s about it, really. That’s your day.

There is no greater task than the nothing you did yesterday, the nothing you are doing today, and the nothing you will do tomorrow.

Working on Valentines

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These are the valentines we’re doing for Owen’s class:

http://www.iheartnaptime.net/

Except I’m not being quite as cute with the cellophane bags and tie—we’re doing ziplock sandwich bags. 🙂

Here’s Owen writing his name on them. He only has the patience for about 4-5 at a time so we’re working on it all week.

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He’s pretty good writing his name, though the W could use some separation and the N is often backwards. And we’re working on keeping the size consistent.

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So. How big does a hole in your hand have to be before you should consider getting stitches?

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I was washing knives this morning—being careful!—yet I still stuck myself. Right in the middle of my right palm right down a major line. Ugh. I kept pressure on it and didn’t think it was all that serious, so I posted the above question on Facebook. These were my favorite responses:

Can you see thru it? 🙂

A little duct tape will take care of that!

If you have to ask, you probably need stitches.

In all seriousness…between all the responses, a quick Google, and talking to David (my ex-PA stepdad), I decided to go to the ER. However, there was one problem—all the roads were still completely covered in ice. I had a brief thought that maybe the main roads would be better (like at home, Roberts Road can be horrible, but once you cross North Down it’s clear) but DUH, this is North Carolina. I felt okay going slow (25 in a 45) but as I got closer to town, I saw a line of cars slowing down, some stopped, and some turning around. I wasn’t even halfway to town by that point, so I just turned around and went home. (Come to find out later, it was at least a tractor-trailer accident and someone caught another accident on their phone while stopped for the previous accident.) And the police were telling people to stay off the roads. So I made the right call. If my hand had been lots worse, I may have pressed on—but it wasn’t.

However. The more I waited and watched, the more paranoid I got. It hurt—but it was most likely just normal bruising and not (my paranoid side) that I cut a muscle or nerve. It had stopped bleeding—but started again when I opened my hand too much. By this time it was after dinner and dark and there was no way I was going out on the roads…which meant even if I decided to go to the ER in the morning, it would be past the general 12-hour cutoff for suturing a cut. Ugh.

So I popped some more pain pills (a naproxen at first this morning, then a hydrocodone this afternoon, now Tylenol tonight), slapped some Neosporin and a bandaid on, and called it good for the night. If it’s still oogy in the morning, Tom will take me to the ER. He wouldn’t have to take me, but he has to report to work tomorrow at 11…unless, of course, he’s dealing with me. 🙂

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P.S. I just realized the pic makes it look like one big hole. Trust me, it’s not a gaping hole…it’s just blood making it look that way.

TiVo friend + Etsy + Fate

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A TiVo friend of mine throws pottery and has an Etsy store. I’ve been looking at this large vase for over a year but couldn’t bring myself to buy it because I just didn’t need a vase. But I happened to be on Etsy recently looking at something else and thought if it was still there, it was meant to be mine. Amazingly it was, so I ordered it! 🙂 He threw in the small vase as an unexpected bonus! (As a side note, he’s the same guy I did the smoothie in a bread bowl for and the same one Tom and I got our gnomes from. Which reminds me I haven’t told you about the gnomes yet. That will be another day.)

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