Saturday, July 27, 2013

You might have noticed.

You might have noticed a new little widget to the right of my posts. It's a new addition called Top Mommy Blogs. You can click it to help my ranking go up, and promote my blog a little bit. It would be much appreciated, as I am striving to make this blog a little bigger than it was before!
Thanks in advance friends :)

The things that consume us.

Have you ever sat back and thought, "Why don't I ever have any free time?" or "Why can't I just get stuff done??". 
I have these thoughts almost daily. I think to myself, why can't I keep things picked up? Why is my laundry NEVER caught up? Why does it feel like my kids are hungry even though I swear they JUST ATE?
Because I have been consumed. For too long, at that. Consumed by things that should be simple and easy to walk away from. 
Of course, you know friends, I am talking about the internet.
Ah the internet. The ultimate time killer. The thief of time. The black hole of time waste. I could go on and on and on. But I won't because it's not beneficial.
Once upon a time I kept up with my blog because it was something that I loved. I always had some new thought provoking subject to write about. I  could be inspired by things that I talked about with my friends. But lately I have been sucked away from a lot of things, because I am consumed. For the first day in a lot of days, I didn't wake up and check my FB/email/mommyboard. For the first day in a lot of days, I did not have an urgent sense of need to see what everyone was up to. For the first day in A LOT of days, I didn't care if anyone noticed that I wasn't there. 

So after feeling like I was sucked in harder than the dirt in the vacuum, I've decided that instead of mindlessly drifting around the interwebz, I am going to try to break an ingrained habit. I am going to try to not be consumed by mindless time wasting. I am getting serious again about things here at home. 

I'm even taking a break from Pinterest. *GASP*

I know. Don't be sad friends, I'll still be here, hopefully amusing you with my words about my crazy thing called life.

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Like shoveling snow during a blizzard.

Just now, Monster S came up to me and said "Mommy, here's the deal, we need to turn on some music and get to cleaning". Which is a sure-fire sign that we spend a lot of time picking up around here. In reality though, what happens goes a little something like this:

I came across this little toon on my Facebook the other day, and how devastatingly true it is! Cleaning with your children is almost worse than not cleaning at all. 

You Might Need to Clean Your Kids' Room....

A new installment here on my blog is a little something called You Might Need to Clean Your Kids' Room. Inspired by the delightful hit series of jokes, You Might Be a Redneck, here are my list of ways to tell if you need to clean your kids' room. Feel free to add your own in the comment section!



  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you have 3 children, but can only find 2.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if when you walk through your house, you hear faint cries for help coming from down the hall.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if Scholastic calls, and asks to photograph the room for the new edition of ISpy.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you don't need to stand on a ladder to install the new ceiling fan.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if instead, you use rock climbing gear to get to the ceiling.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you could have sworn you once had bunk beds somewhere in there.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if it looks like Ke$ha just left.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you thought there were ten kids over for a sleepover, but only seven leave.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you black lab goes missing, but never left the house.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if YOU are more scared of the walking in the dark than you children are.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you can't explain the injuries to the doctors anymore.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you need a tetanus shot after walking barefoot across the floor.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if your hardwood flooring has become as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you find new decorative houseplants growing in the corner out of your daughter's favorite cup.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if the toys look like they are reaching for help from underneath the bed.
  • You might need to clean your kids' room if you CHILD actually starts cleaning the room by themselves.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

I just don't feel it.

I have been trying really hard to get back into blogging. I keep thinking of ideas, and then I never put them into action. I don't feel as connected with my blog as I used to. I want to spice it up, but I am having a hard time with that. Mostly I think I don't like the name of it anymore.  Crazy Little Thing Called Life was the first thing that popped into my head a year or two ago, without much thought put into it, and this blog was born. But that is a fairly common name with no real heartfelt connection on my behalf. I've been brainstorming today and I have a few names that I like. I'd love to hear what you all think!

Five's A Family.- obviously because there are five of us in this crazy family!

Toppings on the Carpet-SAHMs you know what I'm talking about! (This one is thanks to a friend of mine who thought she was just being silly. I kind of like it a lot....)

The Monster House. Cause my kids, they are monsters.

BahamasandMamas. Cause Mamas need a laugh.

Tell me friends. What do you think? What name inspires you to want to stick around? Cause right now, I'm feeling blue about my lack of progress with what used to be my sanctuary. :(



UPDATE: Just kidding friends, I've decided to keep the name. Perhaps I'm just in a funk, but I am working towards making this blog better than ever. Is that possible, I'm not sure. I'm already pretty awesome ;)

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

From the front porch looking in.

I've come to the realization that sometimes I just can't keep up with this blog. Summer seems to be one of those times. Not much happens outside of  a lot of adventures at the pool, and outside. Ok, who am I kidding, we stay inside a lot too, cause it's bloody hot out there. Plus, the boy just wants to crawl, and I haven't ventured to put him in the grass yet. I'm kind of nervous that we'll have to add that to his list of allergens. 

I've missed you all, friends. In a roundabout way it's weird not to post and write and talk to all of you, even though I don't even realize when or where you're reading this blog. Half the time I don't even know what all of you think about it. But that's ok, I know you're reading. The proof is in the numbers, and that is good enough for me. 
Have you ever heard the song, My Front Porch Looking In?  That is my life right now friends.  I am so in love with my life right now, and I have so many reasons to feel that way. 

My kids are so big. I realized that this morning, looking at all of them sitting in the boy's room just watching the girls play with baby brother, all of them with Little People in hand. The girls just looked grown to me, sitting next to my little tub of love, who isn't yet at the point of being able to put the People in their houses, or make them talk and sing together. Right now I'm hearing very off key choruses of Happy Bir
thday. Apparently it is Belle's birthday? Learn something new every day.


Monster S made a big change recently. We chopped off all her hair! By we, I mean me, as I did it myself. I'm turning into quite the little beautician around here, which is probably good because I've got little girls who want to dress up all the time!! After many long battles of tangled hair and tear of frustration running down her sweet little cheeks, I caved. Her daddy wasn't too happy, but she was ECSTATIC to have short hair "like her Mommy".  She can do her own hair now, because all it requires is a clippy to the side. Every little girl needs a bob at some point. Just in time for school. 

School supplies have hit stores, causing a joyful emotion that should be radiating from my oldest Monster, but instead is radiating from me. I miss school, and I miss school supply shopping. I actually don't even care that the kindergarten supply lists mostly consist of crayons and boxes of tissue. My big girl is starting Kindergarten this year, in a brand new school that is almost LITERALLY right across the street from us. We are the Carmel Colts!! Takes me back to being a "Colt" myself when I was in middle school. Next week we're going to go out shopping. I cannot stand it, I am so excited. Now, I just need to figure out how I'm going to convince Monster S to pick out the backpack I like, and not the Tinkerbell one I'm sure she will be infatuated with.
I am more than a little nervous about how things will go at home with just two monsters here with me. I don't know if L will know what to do with herself without her big sister. They've always had each other, so to think that they won't be able to play with each other all day long for 5 days out of the week kind of breaks my heart. I'll have to make it extra special here at home for a little while to make sure she isn't too sad. Hell, let's just say it like it is. I'll be busy keeping L entertained to keep myself from crying my eyes out all day long every day. It will be an adjustment not having my oldest Monster here at home with me all the time. She's my biggest companion and helper. I am not going to dwell on it anymore right now. I still have a month left before I have to think about her not being here.

Monster L has officially developed into her own personality. She is a quiet little trickster, prepped and ready with a devilish smile that could make the hardest of men crumble. She plays on her mama's constant state of amusement, and generally gets her way if she smiles just right. What can I do against such a weapon? I find myself hunched over in silent laughter trying not to give way to her, but in the end I almost always fail. She's got me wrapped around her little finger, and she's got her Daddy wrapped around her entire arm.  I am thinking about doing some preschool research, because I feel like she will need something to do. Something separate and all her own. S never did preschool, because situations kept it from being possible. But I think L will need it. But, again, we'll cross that bridge in a month or two. For now I want to keep her right next to me. 
L has braved new things this summer. She has turned into a little fish, following her sister around the water park, and the pools like she was meant to be there. It's a fairly exciting experience for me, because I LOVE to swim, and all I want to do on a hot day is dive on in. 


The girls are done with "t-ball" and next week we get to have an end of season celebration at Chuck-E-Cheese! Who doesn't love that? They both did really good. S is quick as a whip, and by the last game had even reached the point of pausing and letting the OTHER kids get the ball from time to time. Such a sweetheart, because she was so concerned all the time with not making anyone cry. L evolved a lot as well. Instead of remaining the silly little one who played in the dirt instead of playing the game, she worked herself up to be a really good hitter, and even ran for the ball from time to time. My little all-stars!


My sweet Monster man is...well. A mama's boy. This kid can just grin at me with those chubby dimpled cheeks and gorgeous baby blues, and I am caught, hook, line, and sinker. I don't know if it is because he is my last baby, or if it's just because he's the only boy, or if it's just because I feel like he needs me more, but this handsome little man has stolen my heart. He is getting HUGE, despite all the fear and anxiety surrounding what he can and cannot eat. We have had our first official allergen induced hospital trip, and it was a learning experience. Father's day was spent sitting in an exam room waiting to see if he was going to continue to be lethargic, or if he was going to keep vomiting. No parent wants to see their sweet baby in that situation, but I'm grateful for how it played out. We are now armed with a plethora of information, as well as a plan of attack for the next time. Not to mention, it has given me a reason to be a control freak psycho. Never in my life have I said the words "Wash your hands!!!" so often. Soap and water, and lots of food label analyzing have become vital parts of each day. 
Monster Man is sitting up, crawling, and freaking everywhere, friends. This kid started crawling just last week and now, I cannot contain him! While he still love his exersaucer, he only likes it to JUMP. He sings the song of his people while jumping in this thing, slamming plastic against plastic and the sound of little balls crashing inside the spinning wheel are the backup singers to his loud "screaming" and "shouting". I quote this, because it's literally screaming and shouting. Not crying, but shouting, trying to be heard over the noise and chaos both his toy and his sisters cause. I think he's going to be done with the exersaucer soon, so I am taking advantage of it for as long as possible. For now, I am content to let him sit there and shout and babble, especially when he uses his two favorite words, "mamamama" and "dadada". It doesn't get sweeter than that!


As for me, I have been so...crazy....these days that I can barely find time to sit down and write. It has been on my mind, and at least twice a week I pull up my blog and try to find inspiration. But then a child cries, or laundry needs to be done, or even just a simple diaper change, and I'm pulled away from myself again to fix something for someone else. It is a never ending cycle and it is causing a lot of dust to collect on my keyboard AND on my camera. I have turned into one of those moms who uses her smart phone to get pictures of the kids. Which is, to be honest, a little depressing. Having lost all sense of "me time" I've decided that, in the very least, I can change my look around a little bit. I've become quite attached to the "rockabilly" bandanna look for my hair, and can I just say it? I look pretty cute with dark lipstick, something I NEVER was brave enough to wear before. I think this also calls for a

new hair color, but Husband probably won't be too thrilled at that, so we shall see. 

I did make a big dive into the world of more natural living. Monster Man is in cloth diapers full time, which has been an absolutely CRAZY learning process, but all in all way better for everyone involved. I have a bit more laundry to do, but the boy is accessorized in the cutest way a boy can be, and I am saving a ton of money on diapers. In fact, it has been almost three weeks since I purchased disposable diapers at all! Good thing Monster L became completely potty trained in that time frame, and is no longer having accidents in her bed at night! (knock on wood of course, because you know now that I've said it, peeing in the bed is inevitable. For her, not me. I'm pretty good at nighttime bladder control now that I'm not pregnant)


I have also decided that this is the year. Or if not this year, next year. But it is coming. I have decided that Husband and I are going to renew our vows (but not really) and have a big party for all of our friends and family. I haven't decided yet if it will be mandatory for EVERYONE to dress up formal, but my goal is to get some kickass pictures of just him and I. But, it is also going to be smashed together with the Harry Potter Party I've been dying to have for, oh you know, forever. So prepare yourself, friends, for the Not-A-Renewal-Harry-Potter-Party-with-Wedding-Pics-Extravaganza!  I'm also considering a 1940's/1950's (time era dress code mandatory) Halloween party, what with my new found obsession with that style. Who knows, first I have to get Husband on board. That shouldn't be hard, considering I can talk him into just about anything! What can I say, the man loves me. :)
To put it simply, now that this post has dragged out over a couple of hours, (for me at least) things here are going great. We're all doing great (except maybe Husband who works waaaay to hard in my opinion) and I couldn't be happier. Sitting here staring out the window, I am feeling oh so content. Even with the crying boy in the background, woken up just now by his terrorizing big sisters, I am happy. What more is there?

I'm sure I'll write more again soon, friends. I never can just do one post.
Be happy friends, and live simple. That's all you need when you have a crazy little life.