the MANi-pedi

Hello all!  So I actually got a professional mani-pedi today...it's been a long time since my last one.  To put it in perspective, the last time I got one was for my BFF D's wedding...in 2006.  Needless to say, I don't get them done very frequently.  I actually wouldn't have even gotten my nails done today but a very good friend of mine asked me to go with her and some girlfriends, and I don't get to spend as much time with the girls as I'd like to, so I came along.  It was actually quite nice to be able to go out with the girls kid-free, plus the pedicure was very relaxing.  The only thing I didn't enjoy was that the girl doing my pedicure had to bust out this thing that, I swear to god, looked like a cheese grater to get after the rough skin on my feet.  I would have been a bit embarrased about that, but then I realized that A-I'm probably never going to see any of the customers there again and B-I was sitting in between two dudes.  Yes, you read that right.  Seriously, there was an almost alarmingly large number of men there...and I don't mean like young frou-frou guys, I'm talking older good 'ol boys.  And of the men that were there, at least a good 50% of them weren't there with their significant other, they were by themselves!  I got the impression that the guy to the right of me was a regular, mostly because of how he was speaking to his nail tech...like, standing weekly appointment regular.  Don't get me wrong, I think it's kinda cool that guys around here are open-minded enough to be ok with that type of thing, I was just taken a little aback by it.  I mean, it's not like I live in a large metropolitain area where the men care just as much if not more about how they look as the women do...it's a fairly small town and I guess I just never thought about it that much.  I know I couldn't see my dad, or any of the guys I know really, ever setting foot inside a nail salon unless it was to ask the woman they were waiting for how much longer she was gonna be...and I doubt hubby would even do that.  He'd probably just call me from the food court to find out. 

So I went to the eye doctor the other day...it's been a while since I've been there too.  I've thought about the fact that I need to go several times over the last few years, but it seems like every time I thought about it, I was either pregnant or had just had a baby, which does change your eyes temporarily.  It was cool going though because I've know my doctor since I was very young (about 5 or 6, I think) and even went to high school with his step-son (who actually works for him, which was cool), so it was nice to see them both again.  Actually, I saw them a couple of weeks ago when hubby and our son went to get their eyes checked, but it was cool none the less.  I should be getting my new glasses this week...I'm hoping that will help with the headaches I've been having lately.  If not, I guess I'll have to go the doctor to see what else could be causing them.  I'm sure it's just because my eyes are working harder than they need to to see with the glasses I currently wear.  Anyway, I guess that's about all for now...Until next time!

the cosmetic quandry

Hello all!  So I got some new makeup the other day to celebrate spring...two lipsticks (bright pink and a pale pink), 3 eyeshadows (pearly white, pale pink and a deep gray), purple nail polish and a coverup stick.  Nothing too big, just enough to get me through this recent jonesing for cosmetics.  I'm not really sure why I've been wanting some new makeup lately...I rarely wear it anymore, seeing as I have two small children and a severe lack of time plus I don't really go anywhere that would require makeup.  I'll probably just wear it around the house just because...at least I'll look really pretty when I go to the grocery store lol.  It also gives me some incentive to go through my giant makeup case and get rid of some stuff I've had for far too long anyway...although it probably would have worked better if I'd cleaned out my old makeup first. Oh well, too late now.  I'm hoping to be able to perfect the cosmetic quandry known as "the 5 minute face", seeing as that's really about all the time I would have for it in the mornings before getting the kids up.  I say before getting them up because over the 2 years since I've had children I've discovered that trying to apply it while they're hanging around is pretty much an exercise in futility.  Especially with a very curious 2 year old boy.  Just the other day I came into my room to discover he had opened up my makeup case and was attempting to take the lids off of several of my eyeliner pencils...I stopped him before he got them off (thankfully), but I really couldn't be that upset with him considering that to him, they just look like regular pencils and he knows he's allowed to draw with pencils as long as there's an adult to keep an eye on him.  I just had to explain to him that those were mommy's pencils and that he wasn't allowed to play with them.  I think he got the point because the next time I caugt him in my makeup he hadn't touched the pencils at all, but he was trying to open up my cream eyeshadows (to be fair, they look like his watercolors)...I really need to move my makeup case where he can't get to it, I just don't know where there's room. 

I'm definately sure now that baby girl is teething.  She's been very fussy, drooling everywhere, putting everything in her mouth to chew on and when I felt her gums today I felt two little bumps on her bottom gums.  She's also still getting over her cold, which can't be very fun to be sick and teething at the same time.  Her poor little nose has been running like crazy.  It totally sucks that I can't really do anything to make her feel better except unclog her nose periodicly.  She does seem to be feeling a little better today though, she's been playing more and fussing less (about the cold anyway, still fussy about the teething).  Hopefully those bad boys will pop through the gums soon, I know it's irritating to her...luckily it's not non-stop crying like it is when some babies are teething, but it still hurts me to see her hurting, even if it's only a little bit. Well, I guess that's about all for now...Until next time!

the forgetfullness paradigm

Hello all!  Sorry it's been a while since my last post...I've been sick with a cold, which I tried ever so hard to not pass on to my kiddos, but of course it happened anyway.  As I write this post, I'm listening to little man periodically sniffling over the baby monitor in his room.  Poor little boy...I feel really guilty that I'm the one who got him sick, but kids get sick all the time anyway and to be fair I tried really hard to keep my germs away from him.  Unfortunately, baby girl woke up super stuffy this morning, so this bug is truly making its rounds in our family.  This is the first time she's ever been sick with anything, so it's a little nerve-wracking, but it could be worse...just kinda sucks that I really can't do anything for her except try to keep her as happy and hydrated as possible.  Oh, and use the little bulb thing to suck the snot out of her tiny nose...cause that's just super fun for everyone involved.  I'll just be happy when everyone's back to being healthy and I'm really hoping hubby doesn't catch it too...not that he's too bad to deal with when he's sick, he actually trucks on like nothings wrong with him.  Most times you can't even really tell he's sick except that his voice sounds a little stuffy and he blows his nose more.  I'm actually pretty lucky in that regard...he's not one to fall victim to the "man cold", you know, that thing that happens as soon as a man gets even a hint of the sniffles and suddenly turns into a snivelling man-child who acts like he can't even eat or go to the bathroom by himself.  So glad he's not like that!  Seriously, in the whole time we've been together I've only had to take care of him about 3 times...that averages out to about once every 2.5 years or so, not too bad. 

So Meatless Monday is actually still working out (so far)...this week it was meatless chili with rice.  Since my mom's chili includes beans, it was pretty much just rice and seasoned beans, still pretty good though and a lot more filling than I would have thought.  I served myself what I normally would for chili except with the rice (which I usually wouldn't eat with it), totally forgetting that rice swells up once you eat it...I couldn't finish it all, but it was tasty regardless.  I'm not sure what we'll do for next month's Mondays...I haven't gotten around to making a mealplan for next month.  Normally, I would have already had it done and printed out by now, but with everyone being sick and out of town company stopping by, it just hasn't happened yet.  Maybe this weekend.

I went to a hair coloring party at a friend's house last night...I now have purple chunks in my hair.  It's mostly in my bangs, but there are a few streaks in the back and sides, I just can't see them lol.  I'm really digging it, just wish the purple were a bit more vibrant...even in my red hair, the effect is actually quite subtle ( i know, weird, considering it's purple!).  I may try going back over it in a more vibrant shade of purple in about a week or so, kinda give my hair a chance to relax a bit before re-processing it.  I'm thinking about doing it in a different color once the purple grows out, maybe a green or blue, and keeping that up for a while...kinda using it to help my son with his colors.  He was already in bed last night when I did it, so he didn't see it till I woke him up this morning, but he noticed right away and liked it.  As soon as he saw it, he said "Mommy has purple hair!"...it was super cute!  Anyway, I guess that's about all for now...Until next time!

wrongs against the "mommy sisterhood"

Hello all!  Ok, so as much as I hate to admit it, hubby was right about changing up the kid's schedule...there, I said it!  All other members of the "mommy sisterhood" can feel free to hate me now for admitting that, at least in this situation, sometimes daddy knows best.  In all honesty, the first day went well and I thought it might have been a fluke...till the end of the first week, that is.  Seriously, my son has been a much happier child in the little over a week since we've changed up the routine.  Sure, he's kind of a bear to wake up in the morning (to be fair, I'm kinda like that too, so he comes by it honestly), but once he's had some time to fully wake up he's fine till naptime.  Also, I believe the naptime embargo has finally ended, at least for the time being...maybe it's less like an end to the conflict and more like a temporary (and somewhat shaky) truce.  Either way, I'm happy and so is he.  Baby girl, however, has taken to sleeping for a good stretch and then waking up ready to play about an hour before mommy's bedtime, which makes waking up fairly early in the morning with her brother a bit more difficult.  Like right now, she's sleeping and has been for almost 2 hours now, but I know that as soon as I'm ready to turn in for the night and am about to go lay her down in her bed (she's in my bed right now), she's gonna wake up completely refreshed and not want to go back to sleep for several hours.  Last night she woke up right after her dad got home (he works nights) and I really needed to go to bed, so I had to resort to feeding her a good sized bottle, putting her in her car seat and driving around for about 20 minutes...it worked like a charm (LOVE that!), but I really don't want to have to get in the habit of doing that.  I can remember when I was little, maybe about 5 or 6 (possibly younger), my parents would still have to drive me around for a while so I'd fall asleep in the car (I seriously had a blanket and pillow that stayed in the backseat of the car just for this), and I really don't want to have to do that with my kids.  Luckily, my son is pretty good about going to sleep at night on his own, so I've never really had to do that with him.  Maybe that's part of why I don't want to have to do that with my daughter...my oldest child has spoiled me lol. 

Meatless Monday went a bit better this week...no mild food poisoning to contend with this time, so yay!  I made some bean and cheese enchiladas this time and they turned out SO yummy!  I'm definitely gonna keep that recipe in rotation for a while, even if the "Meatless Monday" thing doesn't work out for us...seriously, they were that good.  Not to toot my own horn here, but they really tasted like I'd ordered take-out from a restaraunt, or at least that's what my mom said (cause she's not biased or anything).  But when family members go back for thirds, you know you must be doing something right.  Still haven't tried any of the recipes with lentils yet, but there's one on my mealplan for next Monday so here's hoping it's relatively tasty otherwise I think I may have a family revolt on my hands.  I know that hubby is hoping the whole thing crashes and burns before I make him eat a lentil, but I'm hoping that maybe if I just don't tell him it's lentils until after he's eaten it things may go a bit better. 

Going back to my last post about craftaholism (also "craft ADD"), I've been decupodgeing a lot lately.  My mom and I found this great empty box at the grocery store...it was used as a display box for corn muffin mix and it's shaped like those magazine boxes they sell at office supply stores.  We got it to hold my son's artwork from nursery school because the folder I'm currently storing it in is getting a lot full.  Well, it was just a plain old cardboard box and of course I couldn't just use it as-is, so I busted out the Modge Podge and my collection of scrapbooking papers and got to work.  Now it's mostly multi-colored polka dots with a shorter band of multi-colored stripes along the bottom.  I still have to cover the inside with paper, but in theory I could use it now as it is, I just actually want to finish it this time.  But still, not bad considering the box was free and I already had the papers and Modge Podge on hand.  My next project is to cover a cardboard soda flat in decorative paper to use as a mail tray on our hutch...not sure which papers I want to use though.  Anyway, I guess that's about all for now...until next time!

waterlogged banana and craft ADD

Hello all!  Lots of changes around our household as of late...we had our first "Meatless Monday" this week, I made Indian-style chickpeas.  They were fairly decent, but I'm not sure if I'll make them again...to be fair though, hubby and I were both fighting off what we know now was a mild case of food poisining (from frozen pizza no less, not even food from a restaraunt!), so I only ate about 5 bites of the dish before my tummy couldn't handle it anymore.  Hopefully next Monday will work out a little better.  Also, the barmops as an alternative to paper towels is working out quite well, even with my mom who previously seemed hopelessly addicted to paper products...she even asked if there were any other ways to go a little greener around the house!  We're still working out what exactly we'd all be willing to do though.  The biggest change this week though is the re-working of my son's daily schedule.  He's now going to bed about an hour later and waking up about 2 hours earlier than he had been, so when it comes time for his afternoon nap he's actually sleeping instead of just playing in his bed.  Today before nap time, he stripped down and asked to play in his little plastic tub that we have set up in our shower (it's an under-bed storage box that we got specifically for him to play with water in)...I think it's amazing that six months ago this same child would have screamed and cried at the mere suggestion of just playing in water, and now it's one of the things he likes to do most.  As I was filling up the pitcher in the kitchen sink to fill his play tub, he grabbed a banana off the kitchen counter and proceeded to peel and eat it, which is cool, I mean at least it's something healthy and not junk food, but I know my kid and I know he almost never eats the whole banana, so I figured I'd find it later, half-eaten and in an unusual place (like I normally do lol).  He ran off to play in the water and I needed to go attend to his sister, so I kinda forgot about the banana until after he was taking his nap later.  I actually had both kids sleeping and was contemplating taking a much needed nap myself when i walked into the bathroom and looked in his playtub...and what do I see, low and behold it's a very waterlogged half-eaten banana!  Who knew that a banana could absorb that much water...I mean seriously, it almost fell apart when I fished it out of the water.  I think that's gonna be a tough one to beat as far as wierd places to find half-eaten food. 

Anyway, on to a new topic...I've been finding new inspirations for craft projects to try out recently, I think part of it has to do with the scrapbooking show I record daily on my DVR.  Lots of new ideas every time I watch it, which is cool in a way, but you must also keep in mind that I kinda have "craft ADD".  Let me explain...I have a tendency to get an idea for a craft project to do stuck in my head, so I go out and gather all the supplies I'll need to do said project, then I sometimes get a little bored with it about halfway to three-quarters of the way through the project and move on to the next thing that gets stuck in my brain, leaving the first project uncompleted in the bag I'm using for that particular project.  You really have no idea just how many Hobby Lobby bags are sitting around my house with partially done projects in them...it's actually quite sad.  To be fair, I do periodically find a project bag and then finish up that crafty bit, but more times than not it's many months (sometimes years) before that actually happens.  I have discovered that if it's a project for my kids, I'm much more likely to actually finish it in a timely fashion, but if it's something for myself or just something that I was working on to pass the time or try a new technique, it often sits unfinished for a long time.  Example: somewhere in our storage unit I have a bag with a partially made crochet capelet (in white yarn, no less!) just begging to be completed, and I'd love to be able to wear it once it is...I have all the yarn needed to finish the project, the pattern (bought on clearance), the correct size crochet hook and even the perfect button for its closure, yet I have no idea when it'll actually be done.  I don't even remember why that particular item got set aside...I still love the pattern, it wasn't super hard (hard enough to be a challenge, but not so hard that I wanted to throw the blasted thing across the room), I absolutely adore the chosen yarn (super soft with a slight sheen to it and works up like a dream) and it wasn't a lack of free time...this project was started before I was even pregnant with my first child (he's 2 now, to put things in perspective a bit).  I guess what I really should do is to start going through all my old "project bags", either here at the house or in storage, and actually finish my old projects before I start any new ones...but that's something that's really hard for me.  Maybe in my case it's more like craftaholism than craft ADD, I'm always looking for my next "craft fix", going on my latest "craft binge", only to leave past benders behind in my wake, never finished, destined to do a craft walk of shame all the way to the closet or, let's be honest here, nearest available flat surface.  Is there a 12 step program for that?  Hi, my name is Mousie and I'm a craftaholic.  Until next time!

more than "just a housewife"

Hello all!  I don't know if anyone has seen some of the stuff going around lately (mostly on the internet) about housewives, but I have a question for you...at what point in our society did the art of homemaking go from being something that was encouraged, nay, neccissary, to being something to be ashamed of?  Even on TV you see characters in shows that are homemakers yet when another character on the show asks "What do you do for a living?" , they seem ashamed to admit that they stay home all day and care for the household...when did this become the norm?  In past decades, it was simply assumed that if you were a woman of a certain age (meaning in or around their child-bearing years here, don't get offended) that you were married and had children of your own (or were planning on it at some point) and that you took care of the home while your husband was at work from 9-5...but back then no one snubbed their nose at you for it.  I guess perhaps now, in our busy modern times where it practially takes 2 full-time incomes to keep a house humming, other people look down on us as slackers because our job doesn't pay us in money.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing women who need/want to work outside the home...I think that's awesome that women have come far enough in our society that they don't feel like they're trapped at home when they don't want to be, that's just not my cup of tea anymore.  And I also know that there are some situations where it can't be helped, and that's fine too...do whatever it is you need to do to help your family and make it thrive, whether that's working outside the home, working from home or just making the home and family your job, which is what I've chosen to do...there's no right or wrong way here, just what's right for your own life and family. 

Anyway, back to the main topic here...why do we sometimes feel ashamed of the choices that we've decided are right for our families?  I know that I personally feel stoked (most of the time lol) that I get to stay at home with my munchkins instead of having to go everyday to a job that I hate just to feel guilty the whole time I'm there because I'm not with my kids...again, that's just my opinion.  And shows like "The real housewives of (fill in practically any major city you want here)" haven't made it any easier on those of us who do stay home.  To clear up a few misconceptions perpetuated by the show: we're not all "day drinkers", we don't all have nannys and housekeepers to do the work for us while we go out and shop all day (and to that point, we also don't all go out and shop all day anyway), we don't all have personal chefs available to cook each meal and we're not all bitches.  Now some of us are lucky enough to have some of those things, but I'd wager that most of us aren't that priveledged and are totally fine with that (I know I am)...it'd be nice at times, but definately not a neccessity.  What we really want (again, just my opinion here) is for people to see that this is a valid life choice that we've made out of love for our families, not just an excuse to slack off.  Anyone who's ever stayed at home taking care of family and hosehold for longer than a week (maybe even a day) can tell you that it's hard work, especially if theres small kids involved.  There's some little things that you sometimes have to learn to let go of, but it's way worth it to have a slightly messy house and seriously happy kids.  So the next time you ask a woman "What do you do for a living?", don't look down upon her if her answer is that she's "just a housewife", cause in all actuallity she is SO much more than that.

Ok, that's enough of that soap box for now.  Until next time!

the woman crazy

Hello all!  So happy that hubby found my other power cord for my laptop!  Actually, he's found quite a few things for me around the house lately, stuff that I've been tearing up the place looking for.  What's really odd (at lest to me anyway) about this new development is that it's usually just the opposite...I'm usually the one finding his stuff that he's misplaced.  I guess it was about time for that shift to happen, I mean I'm chasing after two little ones all day, stuff is bound to fall through the cracks so to speak.  It's also a little humbling...I'm used to being the one who knows where everyone else's things are...kinda lets me know that I'm not supermom and that it's ok cause I'm not expected to be.

In other news, I've made a couple of executive decisions about things around the house.  The first one (and the one everyone's most on-board with) is that I'm instituting "Meatless Mondays" at home.  I read a little blurb about the movement in a magazine that I subscribe to, so I decided to check it out online.  The site is fairly user-friendly, so that was a big plus, especially considering I was researching this durring naptime (update: my son is actually starting to nap more durring naptime, which is just awesome for me, considering that his sister is starting to sleep for a good stretch at around the same time).  Read a little more about the whole deal and checked out some of the recipes on the website...most sound very delicious, and this is coming from someone who doesn't like a whole lot of vegetables.  So I decided that since I make the monthly menu for the household and do a good majority of the cooking around here, we'd try it out for a couple months, just to see how it goes.  If you're interested in seeing what this movement is all about, check out the website:  http://www.meatlessmonday.com/ .  The second executive decision, and the one that's gonna be the hardest for everyone around here (especially my mom) is that I'm trying to lessen our reliance on paper towels.  I know, I know...it seems crazy that I'm trying to do this, with a house full of people and two kids under 3, but I really think we can make it happen.  I've already been trying to use towels and dishrags to clean up spills and do general cleaning around the house instead of paper towels for a while now, so for me I don't think the transition will be too terribly hard...it's the rest of the household I'm concerned about.  My cousin who lives here is totally on board with this too, so at least I have one person in my corner...I think that's what they did a lot at her mom's house when she was living there, so it shouldn't be a difficult transition for her either.  And the kiddos, well, they're kids...they'll pick up the new habit faster than anyone else I'm sure (my son anyway, my daughter can't even sit up on her own yet lol).  We bought a pack of barmops at the store last night (we were picking up a couple other things anyway), and they're pretty good size to try and replace paper towels with, 12x12, plus they were pretty inexpensive...about $4 for an 8 pack, averages out to about 50 cents per towel, not including sales tax of course.  I figure that if we pick up at least one package every time we go to the store (which is a LOT) or even every other time we're there, we'll have a stockpile of them in no time flat and then we can pretty much just stop buying paper towels altogether.  Sure, I'll probably keep a roll or two hanging around for really grody cleaning jobs and the rare occasions that we fry something or cook bacon to absorb the grease, but barmops can handle everthing else quite well.  I even used one earlier to soak up my soda that little man spilled in my room...worked famously!  And after I was done soaking up the spill, I just rinsed it out in the kitchen sink, wrung the water out and hung it on the dishwasher handle to dry so it'll be ready for the next spill or to dry freshly washed hands.  Simple!

I don't really know why I've been all about changing things around the house lately...I guess the woman crazy has just been leaking out a little more lol.  I know when I was pregnant with my daughter I went a LOT woman crazy about things around here (mostly just nesting though lol), I even swore off all commercial cleaners except for laundry soap (hubby, the kids and I all have very sensative skin when it comes to laundry soap...seriously, we have to use one that's hypoallergenic and free of dyes and fragrances otherwise we all get super itchy)  But I found some recipes for natural cleaning products on what is now one of my favorite blogs, so I mostly use those...there's one on the site for laundry soap too, but I'd hate to make a batch of it only to find out that one or all of us are allergic to it.  So my cleanig supplies consist mainly of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), warm water, vinegar and a good helping of elbow grease.  The baking soda also acts as a mild abrassive, so it's really good for scrubbing off dried on gunk (highly technical term there, right?), but it's still gentle enough for me to use on our ceramic cooktop (it's one of the early ones, from back when they were the newest, greatest thing and the technology was still really new...you're not supposed to use any kind of soap on it at all).  I still use pretty much just that to do the cleaning around here and it gets everything very clean, plus there's no dangerous chemicals with two small children around the house.  So I guess on a small level, I'm subconciously trying to go a little bit greener...maybe that's part of it.  I've actually been thinking about the paper towel thing for quite a while now, just had to approach it in a way that the rest of the family wouldn't run me off lol.  Well, I guess that's about all for now...naptime is almost over and I've got a bit of cleaning to do.  Until next time!

holy schnikes batman!

Hello all!  Sorry about the brief hiatus in blogging, been a bit busy around here lately...also, my son broke the power cord to my laptop, which is just irritating (not really his fault though, he's just being a two year old and exploring the world around him, that was mommy's fault for leaving it out where he could get it).  I'm just irritated with myself for that though, but hey, lesson learned for next time...now I just have to find my other power cord that's floating around the house somewhere, still in its original packaging lol.  So I'm writing this on the desktop computer, which I'm finding out has a couple of serious downsides...the main one being that at some point, something was spilled on the keyboard and now some of the keys stick a bit.  Also, can't exactly pick it up and take it anywhere in the house with me...you never realize how much you really do that until you can't anymore. 

So, I kinda came to a random decision today...I've decided I'm going to write a book.  It just kinda came to me earlier today in one of those "Huh, don't think anyone's done that yet" moments.  That's when I decided to just do it myself...I won't go into specifics of what the book will be about, at least not yet...I'm gonna do a little research and write up a manuscript, then send it to some publishers and try to get a bite.  Don't know how well it'll do, if it even goes anywhere at all, but hopefully something will happen with it and I can get it all written out and then maybe sell a few copies. 

Onward to new topics...What's up with people who feel the need to vocalize their internal monologue?  I'm not talking about people who randomly voice the thought that's in the forefront at that particular moment, I mean the people who literally can't have a thought in their heads without saying it out loud.  I actually live with someone who's like that, so you can see where that can get a little annoying day after day.  Don't get me wrong, I love her to death, but I just really don't care if you can't decide between the blue shirt or the pink shirt...I realize that may sound a little hypocritical coming from me, considering I have a blog and all, but it's different in a way.  It's like, with a blog, someone can choose whether or not they want to read the ramblings from my brain whereas with vocalizing it, there's really not a whole lot of choice involved...I pretty much have to listen to it.  I think that may be part of why I hide out in my room with the kids a lot...that way I don't have to deal with it constantly.  That, and I have little to no interest in the shows she watches on TV...seriously, it's all teeny bopper crap and she's not even a teenager, which I could overlook if the TV weren't constantly on these shows along with her running commentary of them.  Anyway, that's another topic for another blog post.