The MOTHER of all messes

So my Saturday starts off quite normal...I decide to make my menu plan and grocery list for the week.  I start by getting out all of the flyers, my trusty iPad and my favourite menu planning app.  Then I'm off to the pantry to see what I have, and it all goes down hill from there.  I open the pantry doors and realise that I have 5 half boxes of spaghetti, 3 open boxes of rice and some soup that has been outdated since 2011... it's soooo time to CLEAN.  I empty the entire pantry onto the island and start the purging process.  It feels good to declutter, and I've been meaning to do it for a LONG time but can never seem to make it a priority.  Well today, I made time.  After a little over an hour I had a relatively clean Pantry...so much so that I made room for all of the stuff I had to store in my laundry room.  So I'm off to the laundry room to retrieve the blender and food processor to bring it back to it's new home.  As I am emptying the shelf in the laundry room I decide that I no longer need it in there so I take it out and see a dust bunny the size of my dog...so, I start cleaning that room.  I'm reorganising, and purging and feeling good....I finish in the laundry room and head back into the kitchen where my island is still full of food and my pantry is still not quite finished.  (Keep in mind that this entire time my 3 kids are home and playing in the house because it is pouring rain)  So off to finish the job that I started, and now that I'm exhausted, it takes my twice as long and it runs into bedtime for the kiddies.  I get them settled and in bed and come out to face the mother of all messes....the "mom's been busy doing things other then her NORMAL routine" mess...picking up crayons, and Lego's, toys and clothes...not to mention the mess of the bathroom...you kind of look around thinking that someone is playing a joke on you because you've been in the house all day and swear it didn't look like that 5 minutes ago (I guess selective sight is the only thing that allows a mom to get anything else done) So cleaning it is....and after all of that...I sit on the couch and think about how my day went...and it hits me....I still don't know what's for supper tomorrow night :(

Old dog...new tricks

So little miss AR decided that she wanted to take fiddle lessons. I am all for that. I'm so happy that she wants to learn to play an instrument and the fiddle of all things. Then she drops the bomb on me..."But I want you to learn with me". Oh my...How can you say no to that? We want our kids to try new things and to feel like they that can do anything they put their minds too, and what better way to show them then to try and learn the fiddle at 34years old...So, fiddle lessons it is and let me tell you, this old dog ain't gonna be easy to teach. Wish me luck :)

Sorry you missed it

Supper time...why do we stress so much about it. Why do we feel so guilty when we decide to take the easy route every now and then. Yes, I am a stay at home mom so I am home all day (yeah right) and I have no excuse to not have a giant 5 course meal ready every night...but sometimes you just don't feel like cooking. Sometimes you just don't feel like cleaning all those dishes...again. So, I've taken it upon myself to implement a Pancake and Smoothie night 4 times a month ( sounds better than once a week...lol). And I don't mean mean homemade pancakes...I mean the open the box and add eggs and milk kind( and throw in a little flax meal for good measure).

So next to the sign that says " my house was clean yesterday, sorry you missed it" I will need to have one that says " I cooked a huge healthy supper yesterday, sorry you missed it".

So, pass the syrup, cause this momma ain't cooking tonight :)

It's Potty Time...

Well my ten day potty training marathon has come to an end.  My third time around I figured this would be a piece of cake.  I was armed with candies, stickers, a 30minute timer, new underwear, a full bottle of tide and a couple cases of Clorox wipes....I would say that I was READY...

It was a long, frustrating 10 days.  My washing machine never worked so hard and my floors were never cleaner, but I was not giving up.  I was determined to have LD potty trained before his 3rd birthday if it killed me. So we pushed on.  I had all three kids involved, dancing our own version of the potty dance when we were successful and giving him "the talk" when we weren't...

Well, I am very excited to say that I will be buying another pack of DIAPERS tomorrow...

It's about the little things...

Well March break is almost over and although we didn't plan anything big this year with the hubby away, I decided to do some "little" things with the kids.  It was all about making MEMORIES...

It was about staying at a hotel, even if that hotel was only an hour from home, because it had the BIGGEST water slide...

It was about staying up WAY past bedtime to watch movies snuggled in bed...

It was about eating all of our meals together, even if some of them were fast food, or PB and J

It was about watching my baby jump into the pool for the first time without someone holding his hand...

It was about having desert BEFORE supper...

It was about falling asleep from EXHAUSTION...

It was about leaving the dinner dishes on the table and taking the dog for a walk...

It was about my 5 year old getting stuck on the elevator BY HERSELF, because her little brother peed on the floor and mommy had to run to get him...

It wasn't about how much money it cost, or how far from home we went, it was about being PRESENT for the "little" things, because what we consider to be "little" will have the biggest impact on who they will become...

(it was also, a "little" , about using the POTTY...)

Slowing down time

It happened...that moment you dread from the moment your little boy is born...the moment you know is gonna happen but hope it never does....the moment he GROWS UP

It happened last night right before my eyes.  He was getting ready to have a shower and came over to me and said those dreadful words "Mom, can you buy me some deodorant?"

I looked at him like I saw a ghost...I had visions of him going off to college and walking down the isle.  I didn't know what to say, my mouth was so dry I couldn't speak if I wanted too...I grabbed on to the wall to hold myself up and looked at my handsome little man and just nodded.  He smiled and skipped off into the bathroom oblivious to what I was screaming in my head.

How did this happen.  How did he grow up so fast without me even realising it.  It's like you see them through baby coloured glasses and then little things happen and it's like a punch in the face.  So of course I did what every mother would do in my situation...I started to look through his baby pictures.  I needed to see when it all happened and how I missed it.

 There it is...there is no denying that my little boy isn't so little anymore.  So I guess I will have to suck it up and buy him some deodorant, start packing his stuff for university and order his tux.

 And then I hear this voice from the bathroom, this sweet little voice saying "Mom, can you help me turn on the shower?"  and I realise that I still have time :)

The Phantom Cleaner

About a year ago, I decided to hire someone to clean my house.  It was AWESOME.. it was so nice to have someone do all of the things you hate doing and never seem to have time to do.  However, I've come to realise that the fact that she was here to clean was only a small part of the overall experience...Because it was then that I was introduced to, what I've aptly named...the Phantom Cleaner...you know the one that only shows up the night before the cleaning lady arrives...

The one who sweeps the floor just enough so it doesn't look like you live in a pig pen when she arrives but not so much that she knew you did it.

The one who would pick up 90% of the toys in the kids rooms and leave just a few scattered throughout and strategically placed behind doors and under the beds...

The one who would clean the counters in the kitchen and then make a toast so as to create the perfect crumb pile that made it looked like it was only there from breakfast instead of the pile that was actually 4 times that size a few hours ago.

And the one who would pledge just enough so you couldn't write your name in the dust on the end tables but not enough that you could see  your reflexion...

Yup...the Phantom Cleaner.

 So it dawned on me that I actually didn't really need the cleaner to come after all...I just needed to think she was coming...so I am posting this as a job opportunity for someone who will threaten to come and clean my house so that the phantom cleaner will appear and get the ball rolling....

Anyone???

Amanda