I can hear my mama's voice...

I am a procrastinator.

It's not something I am proud of, but it's true.

When I was younger, my mom would assign me certain chores to do. At the time she was working as an x-ray tech, and it was just she and I in our home. When I arrived home from school, I was supposed to call her at work to check in, and then she'd give me my assignment for the afternoon. Usually it was unloading the dishwasher, or dusting the living room. Something simple, but something that would help her. Of course, I would watch TV and get distracted, and I would lose track of time, and before I knew it, it was almost time for mom to be home. I remember RACING to get the dishes done, or the laundry folded. I actually remember loading the dishwasher as she was pulling in the driveway, rushing to finish, and then RUNNING into the living room to act as if I was just relaxing, like the dishes had been done for hours. I know there were times I got caught, and times I completely forgot. I remember her frustration at my procrastination. I remember the lectures about not waiting until the last minute...

Fast forward to adulthood. I am still a procrastinator at times. Not exactly like when I was a kid, but similar. I am often, okay usually, late for things. I always think I have more time than I do, or I think I can get more done than I really can in five minutes. I have a terrible sense of time, and I'm easily distracted. My poor friends and family have rescued me many a time when I've been running late to pick up Ellie from school! I am trying to be more on time, I feel like I've done an okay job over the last two weeks or so. I am a work in progress!

A few weeks ago I decided to participate in a large consignment sale. I knew what I needed to do...Sort through the kids out-grown clothing, organize and prepare, print and attach tags...I knew I needed to get a head start, as I have LOTS of stuff, but did I do it...

NO.

And now here I am, 2 days before the deadline, just starting the process! AAAGGGHHH! I wonder if I'll ever learn!

I can already smell the Lysol...

We had a visitor yesterday. Her name was Tina, and she is a housekeeper. She was stopping by to do a walk through and give us an estimate. I haven't had a housekeeper in five months, so needless to say, I was just a bit excited. However, I was still questioning the practicality of hiring someone to clean for me. I mean, I don't have a job, I can clean my own house, right?

Well, kinda.

I have been cleaning my own house this past five months. Since I let the Not-that-Great housekeeper go, we've managed to maintain a clean "looking" home. Through Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Through Super Bowl parties and other various get-togethers. We have a lot of fun here, and I love to have people over. But the cleaning? It is killing me! I feel like I've done an okay job, not great, but okay. But I am TIRED people!

So, back to yesterday. I was still wondering if I should really do this, when Tina arrived at 3:05pm. Just before her arrival, Austin had grabbed a drink off the kitchen counter, and poured it all over his pants. I had just removed the wet pants when the doorbell rang.

3:05: I answered the door, holding a pants-less baby, and began the walk-through. I introduced her to the girls, who were happily playing with play-doh in the dining room,(to keep them busy!) and we started talking.

3:08: I excuse myself to quiet the girls who are now arguing over their new play-doh.

3:11: I excuse myself again, this time to Warn the girls.

3:15: I smell something. It's Austin. I put him down.

3:18: I continue the walk-through despite the yelling coming from the dining room.

3:20: I can't take the yelling, and go to separate the girls. When I arrive I realize that that they're yelling because Austin has climbed onto the dining room table, and is emptying the vases of their decorative balls, and throwing them around the room.

3:22: I excuse myself again, due to more yelling. This time I separate the girls.

3:23: The girls un-separate themselves.

3:25: Having been given "one last chance" the girls are again playing quietly, and I return to Tina.

3:30: Tina says she'll call me tomorrow with her estimate.

3:35: I remember the frozen food I was putting away, just before Austin poured water on his pants.

3:40: I finally change Austin's dirty diaper, and put some pants on him.

3:41: Austin reaches the water lever on the door of the fridge, and soaks himself, the floor, and the front of the fridge.

3:45: I change Austin again.

Okay, so at about this point, I decide that I really do want this housekeeper. And I really hope we haven't scared her off.

Thankfully she called back. I am not kidding when I tell you that when I heard my cell phone ring, I RAN to answer it! She's coming on Saturday! She costs quite a bit more than my last lady, but she also plans on being here for AT LEAST four hours, which is double what the last lady was here for. AND her 18 year old daughter works with her.

I've decided that even if I can only have her once a month, I'll be happy. And maybe next year, when Annie's in pre-school some, and Austin is (hopefully!) more manageable, I'll be able to clean my own home again. For now I have peace in the knowledge that even my frugal husband realizes we need this, and that now hopefully I can go back to being slightly less stressed out!

Easter 2008!

Happy Easter 2008! What a fun year with my three kids! It's been fun this year with the girls and getting to do everything with Austin!

My sweet baby boy coloring eggs! And himself. :-)


Ellie finding an egg in a favorite spot at Grandma Ellie's house!


Grammie helping Austin with his Easter goodies.


Annie finding an egg!


A little four wheeling fun on this gorgeous Easter day!


Sweet Ellie!


Adorable Annie!


I love my sweet family!

Hello again, kind of...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been a bit busy around here, and all that busy has lead to sickness. Turns out, if you don't get much sleep for oh, say six or seven nights in a row, the sickness, it will catch up with you. So, as my allergy eyes water, I come to say, Hello I am still here. And the painting? It is finished. It turns out I was right, by the way, I was crazy. It was quite the job, and I never want to paint again, but it is done. I am happy with it, which is good, considering that if I wasn't it would've stayed that way anyway! So here's a pic for your pleasure. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon, and all the crud will leave my head.

The living room. That must be a glare off of something on that wall with the red picture. Rest assured, there is not some random stripe there!

The kitchen. I tried really hard not to get the counter tops in the pic, since they are covered with stuff. But there they are, in all their cluttered glory. I will say the radio and the roaster are not usually there. I'm still cleaning the roaster, from the Easter dinner. The radio is there because Austin broke the antenna off of it.

Oh, and for those of you who live in b-town, you can come and see the freshly painted walls LIVE and IN PERSON on Sunday at 3:00. I'm having an Uppercase Living party, and I'd love for y'all to come! Bring friends too! I promise all the clutter will be gone.

Okay, okay, maybe not gone, but it will be hidden!

Me and my big ideas...

I just read my last post, and this is what I thought...

HA!

Was that me? Was I so chipper just a few short days ago?

Because now...not so much.

I know, I know, I'm still livin' my dream, it's just been VERY rooted in reality the last few days. And since I'm all about keepin' it real, I thought I'd share.

I'm a fairly positive person. A "glass half full", "lemonade out of lemons" kind of girl. And sometimes I get these crazy, harebrained ideas in my head, and think...Why sure we can do that! Let's paint the living room, the kitchen, the breakfast room, and two hallways! Sure the kids are all here since it's spring break, but we can do it!

And before you know it, we've bought five gallons of yellow paint.

About half way through the first room, Reality came knocking.

And I got cranky.

Really cranky.

And tired.

Really tired.

I have not been a very pleasant person to be around, or so my darling hubby says. I tend to forget how much work it is to paint. I forget about all the prep work, the mess, the cleaning of the brushes. I forget that as soon as the girls realize what we're doing, that we'll here "Can I paint?!" about two thousand times. I forget that I don't do so well when my house gets messy, and during a painting session, it gets really messy. I forget that we have a very active 18 month old, who doesn't understand the concept of Wet Paint. My normally chipper self is replaced with a seriously stressed out, loud, annoying and cranky lady, who no one likes. Especially me.

And so, last night after the kids were asleep, I collapsed on the couch. My hubby was a bit surprised, since the painting wasn't done, but I just couldn't go on. He quickly agreed to a night off though, since he's been working twice as hard as me, and was exhausted too. As we watched Tuesday's episode of American Idol, I felt my mind relax some, and my tenseness fade away. We didn't speak for an hour, which is odd, because normally we're quite into discussing each contestant. I think we were both winding down. I have to say a big Thank You to him, for all his hard work on his two "vacation" days, for all of his calmness with the kids and me, and for putting up with my bad attitude.

Thank you honey, I love you!

And me?

Well, today is a new day. I'm not quite where I was with my last post, but I'm also not nearly as cranky as I was yesterday. We're off to the Zoo today, for some much needed out-of-the-house time. The kids will be thrilled, and so will I, because we're going with this friend and this friend, and that's a sure way to make me feel a whole lot better!

Oh, and no, the painting isn't done, but it'll get there. I'd say we're about half way there. I'll leave you with this pic of a couple of "helpers" that stopped by during a weak moment. They're willing and available for any painting project, just give us a call! Oh, and sorry about my poor photography skills. I was shaking from the stress at this point!

Livin' the Dream

Yesterday morning it came to me.

I'm living my dream.

You may think, WOW! What were you doing that was SO great!

I was cleaning daddy's famous "cheesy eggs" off the dining room floor.

OK, so cleaning cheesy eggs wasn't exactly my dream...or was it?

When I was a teenager I lacked a bit of direction in my life. I thought of all sorts of things I wanted to "be", but none really stuck. All I ever really wanted to do, was be a Mom.

I've been naming my future children for years. At one time I wanted twin girls, and their names would be Arianna and Adrianna. I always liked the names Nathaniel and Nicholas for boys. Interesting, none of our kids are named those! When Jason and I had been dating for a couple of months, I told him I wanted five kids. Yep, five! It's amazing he didn't run! At some point I decided five might be a bit many, and decided on three. I even had my great-grandmother make three baby quilts for my future children. I figured if I had more than three, that I could make the others! I can tell you right now, if I have any more kids, I won't be making any baby quilts!

I dreamed of a great husband, a nice house, a nice big SUV, and three kids.

I am living my dream.

Granted, the house in my dreams never got dirty, and the SUV didn't guzzle gas. The husband of my dreams never argued with me, and we had three perfect children.

The reality of my dream is a bit different than what I thought it would be, that's for sure! I am happy, blessed, crazed and exhausted. My six year old just opened six packages of fruit snacks, my baby is crying, I'm not sure what my three year old is doing, and my husband is ripping wallpaper off the walls...

Like I said, I'm livin' my dream!

Perspective

Time...

Celeste commented on how amazing it was that I got so much done with having a toddler around, and that she could tell I have three kids because of my perspective. It got me thinking about how much our perspective changes as we go through stages of our lives!

I remember being married with no children, and having trouble keeping up with the laundry.

HA!

It was just me and hubs, and I thought I hated laundry then.

HA!

I remember having a hard time getting much housework done when Ellie was a baby, and my house was half the size it is now.

HA!

Now I have twice the house and three times the kids!

I remember feeling like it was a monumental effort to take both the girls with me to the store.

Now taking two kids feels "normal", and one feels, well...relaxing!

I did get a lot done for having a toddler underfoot. I guess I've learned some tricks since Ellie was a baby. I may have even learned how to manage my time a little better. Having one toddler for 24 hours did feel like a vacation, because it was one!

It makes me understand those sweet little old ladies in the grocery store a little more. You know the ones...

They stop you in the isle, where you have one 26 pound toddler in your arms squirming to get down (he's in your arms because he was screaming at the top of his lungs in the cart), one 3 1/2 year old in the cart eating out of a box of crackers that you haven't paid for yet, and one six year old asking for everything in sight, even though you've told her a thousand times that she's not getting another treat, because she's already added a good $30 worth of "extras" to your cart. They stop you and say something like...

Enjoy this sweetheart, because someday you'll miss it, Yes you will. You enjoy this precious time with these precious babies!"

And you smile, and through your gritted teeth you say...

"Oh I do! Oh I will! Thank you! Have a nice day!"

And you push your cart just a little bit faster, and yell over your shoulder for the six year old to catch up, and No, we're not buying that, PUT IT BACK!

I want to be one of those sweet little old ladies someday!

Time

Today I've had time.

The girls spent the night at Grammie's last night, and we're not picking them up until tonight.

Thank you Grammie. THANK YOU!

Austin and I have spent the day at home. We've had time for lots of fun things...blocks, books, snacks, balls, chase, and counting toes. Most importantly he's had time for a good long NAP!

Time. It's something I don't take for granted anymore. I rarely have enough time in my day for everything I want to do. Today has been different though.

I've had time to relax. To watch a TV show in it's entirety!

I've had time to catch up on laundry, and not get behind on dishes.

I've had time to organize. A little in my clothes closet, but mostly in my scrapbook closet. Actually I moved my scrapbook closet, switching it with a different one that will be more convenient. Hopefully I will actually start using it now!

I've had time for a shower!

I've had time for a couple of uninterrupted phone calls!

I've had time to finish a book. I haven't done that in years. I know you're wondering which book...It was The Explosive Child, by Ross Greene. The title sounds scary, but it's been a fantastic book. Last week with Ellie was rough. This battle was just the beginning. I've been meaning to finish this book for almost a year. When I began it, and began implementing some of it's suggestions, I knew it was good. But time ran short, much like my memory, and soon I forgot what to do. So today I read up on my notes, and then finished the book. It took 2 1/2 hours of my time, but it was worth it. If you struggle with a child that explodes, whether it be with frustration or anger, this book is worth your time.

I've had time to think. To look through my planner and plan for the coming week. These are things I used to take for granted. It's hard to even think amongst the chaos that is often my life.

I've had time to pray. Oh Lord I apologize for almost forgetting this one today! You should have been my first priority! Thank You for my time!

I've even had time to blog. It's been a wonderfully rare day in my world, and I've cherished it.

Now it's time to go get my girls!

And a special thanks to my husband for providing my readers with a good laugh...

Thank you.

Thank you to all my friends and family who called, commented, or spent time with me on my birthday.

I wasn't too hopeful about it being a fantastic day. When you are an adult, things just don't tend to be "All About You" anymore. Even birthdays. Sad, but true. But as the day went on, and I kept getting messages on my phones wishing me a Happy Birthday, my mood significantly lightened.

Y'all made my day! Seriously! By the afternoon I was positively thrilled with my day! So thrilled that I forgot to pick up my kindergartner!

Oops!

Thank you Michelle, for rescuing me, and Ellie!

I realized yesterday, the importance of a phone call. What a difference it made in my day. From now on, I plan to call my friends on their birthdays. Even if it's just to leave a sweet message. Because that, that is what friends do.

In other news...After my birthday dinner last night (which from now on will NOT include our kids!) we came home and put the kids to bed. Then Jason showed me the new TV he got for the living room. It's nice, it's the right size, and it's digital and HD and all that Jazz. He was as pleased as punch, of course, as TV's are mighty important to men. I was happy that he was happy. He then said, Go check out the computer!

Um, we didn't get a new computer did we? 'Cause that's not really in the budget! No, not a new computer, but this...

THAT, is our old TV, now being used as a COMPUTER MONITOR. I cannot explain to you how huge this thing is. It's like a 27" flat screen TV or something, ON MY DESK. My husband is a little, well, over the top when it comes to some things...This being one of them! He loves anything BIG or INDUSTRIAL, because ya know, if it's INDUSTRIAL, then it must be better!

So, now if you come to my house, you will see the WORLD'S LARGEST COMPUTER MONITOR, sitting on my desk.

And I will apologize for it, because that's what I do.

I need to go smell Annie's hair...

We've enjoyed three beautiful, sun-shiny days. The taste of spring, even summer, was on my lips.

Yesterday was a near perfect day. After church we had a nice, albeit busy, lunch with part of our family. The girls had so much fun sitting at their own table and telling the waitress what they wanted. They're growing up so quickly. I truly hope that they'll always be great friends. They're hilarious to watch. Niece Olivia is almost 8, and she is such a sweet care taker of our Annie, now 3 1/2. These girls share a similar personality that just oozes sweetness. Ellie and our niece Elaina are only six months apart, with Ellie being the older of the two. They share several personality traits as well. They both like to be "in charge", and neither of them likes to back down! Those two have had their battles, but as they've grown up, they seem to be figuring each other out. They sat next to each other at lunch, and even managed to share crayons!

Miracles never cease!

After lunch we headed home, until daddy remembered the frozen custard place we had talked about at lunch. After a debate over "should we?" that lasted, oh, about two seconds, we turned the car around and headed back. As we neared the ice cream place I laughed out loud. There sat our family we'd just left, in the parking lot! Great minds think alike!

Actually, it reminded me of a few trips to Ritters, the frozen custard place in Kentucky where the fam used to live. Every time we'd visit, we'd get frozen custard at least a couple of nights while we were there! We'd go to Ritters, eat our treats, head back to the house and put the kids to bed, then pull out the games. It was a sad, sad day when Ritters closed down.

After we enjoyed delicious frozen custard, we came home and played outside. Daddy got his four-wheeler out, and took his girls for some rides. I actually stayed outside too, instead of rushing inside to clean, or do laundry. During Ellie's rides, Annie and I talked. She is such a darling. I absolutely adore her age right now. She is fun and witty, cute and sweet. She is my breath of fresh air every day. I snapped a few pics of her in her Easter sundress. The first is her sweet face. The second is while she was dancing in the sunshine.

She is MY sunshine.

Speaking of sunshine...it's gone. I knew it was going away. Even though the day was so beautiful yesterday, I could feel the cold front coming.


You can almost see it. The wind was changing, picking up speed. I wanted to put my arms in the air and push the cold front back. I wanted to scream NO at the yucky weather that was headed our way. Futile, of course. Overnight the rains came, and the temperature dropped. Yesterday afternoon it was 75 degrees. Now it's 38, and dropping.

Our forecast today consists of ice, then snow. By tomorrow we'll probably have several inches of something on the ground. I'd be willing to bet that we don't have school tomorrow. Or Wednesday, which just happens to be my birthday. That will make 10 days of school we've missed this year. Heck, we may even dismiss early today.

Yippee.

Will it ever end???

Well, I'm off to face my day. I need to go to the grocery store, with everyone else that's stocking up for the days ahead.

But first I need to go smell Annie's hair before her bath. It still smells like sunshine.

It gives me hope.

Note: It didn't snow. Or ice. Not one inch. Amazing! We were forecasted for 7-12 inches of snow and ...Nada! It seems there was a break in the band of heavy snow, right where my little town is. Wild. Anyway, I was thankful for no more snow days!