EPIC FAIL

The day started bad, then got worse, then peaked with a few tantrums and then rounded out with an actually pretty awesome evening.
7:40 am - I slept in. Not in a good way though, it's a school day and now I'm 40 min behind getting all kids fed, dressed and in the car by 9:15.

7:50 - Layla FREAKS out because Kday zipped up her cowgirl boots and SHE wanted to.

7:51 - Layla heads to her room for a little "Uh-Oh" time (Love and Logic technique) The next 25 minutes are filled by trying to get the boys fed and cared for, all the while listening to the ranting and raving of their sister in her room.

8:30 - Layla comes to her senses and decides she'd like to "be sweet" and be around us for what's left of breakfast time.

8:40 - Layla FREAKS out again because she was asked to complete her daily chore of making her bed. Normally she does this with a sing song voice and no problems. Not today. Back to her room for a little more "Uh-Oh" time.

9:00 - we're all functioning and ready to throw the extra car seat in the car so we can pick up a little boy on our way to Layla's school.

9:01 - I realized the car seat isn't here.

9:02 - Realize said car seat is in my mom's trunk a few miles away. We can make it on time if we hurry.

9:17 - Kids finally loaded and we're 10 min behind schedule now.

9:27 - Car seat finally installed and heading to pick up darling little James.
(Layla's supposed to be at school in 3 minutes - mind you)

9:33 - James is in the car after a bit of a long story fiasco and we're headed up HWY 89 to school.

9:34 - Car runs out of gas. SUPER.

9:45 - My darling Dad rescues me with a gas can.

9:50 - Layla's dropped off and we're headed back down the street to fill-r-up at Smith's Gas Station.

9:55 - After waiting to pre-pay cash at the pump (we use the Dave Ramsey Cash System) I realize the attendant has left a "BE BACK IN 5" sign. 7 minutes later I storm outta the place cursing the store and the attendant and tell them I'm taking my business elsewhere.

9:57 - I enter Maverick to pre-pay and I SLIP ON THE FLOOR AND ALMOST BREAK MY NECK except for the AWKWARDLY NICE MAN WHO HAPPENS TO CATCH ME. How monumentally embarassing. I quickly pay for my gas, repeatedly assure all the on lookers that I'm perfectly fine - just humiliated and I get back in my car and come home as fast as possible before something else goes catastrophically wrong.

The rest of the day was pretty much history - a few more melt down's by Layla. (typical three year old kind of stuff and thanks to Love and Logic I'm a MUCH MORE patient mom) A few snuggles on the couch with the boys, a long nap for Layla and then we headed to my dear MIL's house for some crafting and great hospitality. And a certain three year old was so awesome after her nap. She was using manners, talking sweet, and even sharing her cookie with her brothers! Double awesome.

So the day ended well but boy was it a rough go until about 10 am. Yikes.
Cheers to a less "eventful" day tomorrow.

OH MAC!

I'm prepping three little Halloween costumes today. Here's a few hints. Can you guess what the kids will be this year?

Rider

Layla

Owen

Have a good MANIC MONDAY

ROCKTOBERFEST = BIRTHDAYFEST

I'm a little selfish and I love celebrating my own birthday. I know, annoying right? I just love any reason to celebrate life and friends and food. So a birthday seems like a pretty ideal time to fit all three into one big chocolate piece of cake.
My birthday has been a fantastic one. Again. Last year was hard to top. I was welcomed into my 31st year with dinner and crazy cake with friends, a fancy feast that Rita made, thoughtful gifts galore, facebo0k shout outs, family fun, a day of shopping, and a surprise pizza dinner. Could a girl ask for more? Nope.

This year even included a hand picked gift from my Buca - and I loved it. And My Mr spoiled me as usual.

As for the rest of the month - our plans include:

Free J&J pumpkin patch and hay ride

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Halloween costume preparations

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The kids party at Station Park

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Trick 'or treating at Great Grandma Marge's 

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Planning out our pumpkin carving ideas - to top last year

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More trick or treating and halloween parties than a girl could imagine. 

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Is there anything we're missing? Leave a comment and let me know if there's some fantastic Halloween tradition or party you'd love to share! 

OLD LADY BONES

Oh, I'm so sorry I haven't written. 

I've been busy turning a year older. 

It's quite a bit of work. 

Tomorrow I shall tell you all about it. 

For now... happy 15 days till Halloween!

TRICKER TREATS

I thought I'd share with your a few of the tricks I've found to keeping life a little less scattered and a little more organized with my "situation." Nothing fancy you know, just small swaps that help a sister out when trying to make dinner and clean and entertain children during the "witching hours" of the evening. Usually after PM naps and before dinner is on the table. And by dinner, I mean spaghetti-O's or something else super lame :)

This is my cupboard under the island countertop - near the kitchen table. It's full of "activities" such as play-doh, crayons, stickers, markers, paints and all the paper you can imagine. I usually try to have Layla and Rider doing something at the table before dinner because most likely I FINALLY got the house clean while they napped and I don't want them leaving a new path of destruction.

Have a laundry basket in the kitchen. We live in a split - multi level home and the laundry room is in the basement. The kids dirty clothes baskets are upstairs in their rooms. So where do I put all the millions of bibs, burp clothes and wash rags we go through each day? I chuck them in the laundry basket to be later emptied in the basement at the end of the day. Viola. No more trips up and down the stairs every 15 seconds. Lazy. I know.

Same reason I don't want to go up and down the stairs 579 times a day to change Rider's diaper... seriously! The kid poops at least 8 times a day. And that's just during his waking hours. So I have a diaper and a toy station on each level of the house. Again, lazy. I also rotate toys from the play room, to their room to the family room. Keeps em guessing.

Binki's. Oh the binki's we go through. Owen likes to chuck everything. It's a family trait. Super. And Rider likes to steal every binki I give to Owen. So, despite having two drawers filled with binki's around the house, plus a few spare in the car... we lose track of them too quickly. And when I have my hands full with two boys and they're screaming - I can just say "Hey Layla, go grab a binki out of the drawer." She knows right where to go. Next to the fridge or in the boys dresser. 

Wear protection. Not that I have some fantastically expensive designer table... but just because I don't want it to look totally trashed before it needs to. Each of the kids have their own place mat and it also makes for quick clean up.

And this chair is fantastic. It catches almost all the millions of little crumbies that fall out of one's hand as he likes to crinkle up his food and apply direct pressure to each cracker before placing into his mouth. Rider. And when all else fails and I've already vacuumed and mopped the floors for the day... I call in the dog to re-clean them. He's fantastic at it.

LEAVE A COMMENT AND SHARE YOUR TRICKS OR TREATS WITH ME!

HALLOWEEN IN THE HIZHOUSE

It all started with a single orange wicker basket shaped like a pumpkin. I received it for my 20th birthday from my sister-in-law Sidney. My first Halloween decoration for my first house. If you could call it a house. It was eleven years ago, our basement apartment, with carpet that simulated something like a thin sheet of fabric laid over cement. The kitchen had a drain in the center of the floor that the linoleum sloped down into. The bathtub, a baby blue - the toilet also. Awesome. We've long since upgraded to much better living quarters... and each year, another decoration item is added to the pile. I love decorating the house for Halloween. I love it more than Christmas decor. 

never mind the fact that if you look close enough in the mirror... it looks like the witch is riding on top of Kday's head. 

Wait, what does spaghetti O-s with meatballs have to do with Halloween?
Nothing, but I served it to the kids for dinner the other night (don't judge) and it reminded me that I totally craved it as a weird pregnancy craving last year. Gross right? I know, but I was just reminiscing this time of my pregnancy during autumn last year.
Now stop being grossed out by my weirdness and go buy yourself a Halloween decoration already!

ROCKTOBERFEST...

I planned to write yesterday.

But then we did this instead.

We checked out the baby giraffe at the zoo.

With this awesome family.

I planned to write today.

But then I realized my taxes are due in a few days.

I thought I could just file another extension...

Nope.

And filing taxes with a small business.

And two children who remain birth-certificate-less and SSN-less... 

Well, it's a pain.

Here's what's coming down the pipe:

TRICKER TREATS 

HALLOWEEN IN THE HIZHOUSE

SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

AND PUMPKIN FEST 2012

ROCKTOBERFEST PLANS

I'll be posting all weekend. 

So while you're sitting around watching THIS...

Tune in here at intermission

:)