Freaking Satan

(photo courtesy of my awesome sister and brother in law on Halloween. Used w/o permission and stolen off FB. he he)

So I'm pretty sure Satan doesn't want me to exercise. Why else could there be so many obstacles to getting my fit on? Like this morning:

I told myself to get up at 7:00 but then I also told myself to sleep just a few more minutes because I was so tired.

I told myself to get up at 7:30 but the I told myself to sleep just a few more minutes again.

I got all my exercise clothes on and started to go downstairs. I even tried to pass Gavin off to Greg so he could start breakfast for the chillins while me and Cindy (Crawford) did some squats together but Gavin refused to have me let go of him. I finally got him to Greg who had to change poor Gavin's clothes because his pee diaper overflowed.

So I load the dvd into the machine but I can't find the dumb remote to get the dvd to play.

Then I start doing some warm up and even start the leg sequence. Then Chloe needs me to help her with her hair.

Then Chloe is crying because I pulled out yesterday's rubber band too hard and I hurt her feelings by brushing her hair too hard.

Then Gavin finishes breakfast and throws up on the couch pillow and all over his hoodie.

Then I have to scrounge some more dirty clothes because a puke pillow and a hoodie aren't enough to make a full load.

Then I have to drive Chloe to school.

Then Tati decides to put a battery in her mouth and she has another time out.

Then Tati decides to get a puzzle out and then Gavin changes all the settings on my dvd player while the cabinet is open.

Then I decide that my exercise attempt is over.

Then I feel sorry for myself because I really want to get in shape.

Then I want to eat some Oreos to make it all better.

Dumb Satan. Just to spite you, I'm going to do that dvd again on Sat. morning and tomorrow I'm going to do my exercise walk around the valley even if it is snowing.

And I didn' t eat any Oreos.

Hide & Seek

Well most of you all know how coo-koo Tati is so you can appreciate this story. She came up to me and told me she hid something for me to find. What you might be asking yourself?

Her: "Mom, I hid a pantiliner and you have to find it."

Me: "Ok."

FOUND IT!

(he he)

She is a real piece of work that one. FYI, we'll do the lesson on the differences between feminine products later in life. I was also reminded of this one. Apparently there is a fascination.

Dear Toy Makers,

Here is a great idea that I'm sure you haven't thought of yet.

You're welcome.

Love, Tati

Sweet Genius

Have you seen this show? It is kind of like Chopped but with dessert items and a hilarious host. I think, sadly, it was a good idea killed by weird and bad ideas thrown in. Mostly I like the host and his voice and the things that he says. I told my little brother that he reminds me of him if Stephan were talking with a gay, foreign accent and saying funny culinary things. So that might be a stretch. Anyway, I had a total sweet genius moment this week.

I bought some strawberries. I bought them mostly because they were from Oxnard and it is hard for me to pass up berries from my home town. I also found out my tomatoes are from Camarillo.


It lifts up my winter spirits to buy produce from California. It is like a gift of love and deliciousness from nature. But I digress. I was also craving some real fruit and thinking maybe it would a good excuse to whip up some heavy cream because I'm always looking for an excuse to do that. ;-)

Instead we made chocolate dipped berries. I was inspired by my friend Rebecca who did chocolate berries as an after school snack and she let her kids dip them in sprinkles. So I did her one better.
Ok, so maybe I would have failed the chocolate round of this show because I clearly have clumpy chocolate and I also didn't use a double boiler, BUT I made the most delicious discovery. Roasted almonds and chocolate not only are delicious on just about anything, but on a strawberry are DIVINE or what one might call GENIUS!

Cleaning House

I've been feeling like such a loser house wife lately. I feel like we're all just in survival mode and at the end of the day we have nothing to show for all of our efforts. All we've accomplished are the basics: we eat, we get dressed, we clean, eat a little more, get ready for bed and start it all over again the next day. I'm sure every mom can understand and feel my pain. Some days more than others. Mostly this doesn't bother me but lately it sure has. Maybe it is because I'm reading about all the projects other moms are doing on their blogs and crafts and sewing projects or decorating their houses, etc. and comparing myself to them, I just feel like a dork. I mean, I know I'm not a dork really, but I sure start to feel like I'm not as good as other moms out there. Not fun enough, not stylish enough, etc. Luckily for me, I married a really good man who is always telling me how great he thinks I am and how important it is for me to stay at home with our kids. I'm not normally a cheesy husband blogger but he sent me a really nice email this week that just kind of put things into perspective for me a little more. He's going to hate me for putting it here, but this is an excerpt:

"So, what are you going to accomplish today? Probably not much. I bet you'll probably only make your daughter smile. I bet you'll probably help your son learn to walk a little more. I bet you'll probably help your oldest daughter feel like she can rely on you no matter what. I bet your children will tell you they love you, at least once today."

He went on to name more stuff but you get the idea. It was the boost I needed. I'm not saying I now am completely fixed and will never doubt myself again or ever compare myself again but it was nice to know that in our house, we try and measure our success differently. It was also a reminder that I need to be able to be more flexible with my to-do list and just remember that just because something doesn't make it on my list of things to-do, doesn't mean I can't change my priorities for the day. Like today: My goal was to vacuum the whole house. We have the heater on all the time and we've got more dust than a haunted house. Dust bunnies are literally reproducing everywhere. I busted out the vacuum and got every toy and piece of clothing off the floor and started. Just then, my daughter started asking me if she could vacuum. I quickly said no. Then my son started pulling on the cord and climbing on the vacuum. I couldn't really vacuum with him on the vacuum so I had to change my plan. I relented and asked Tati if she would like to vacuum and then picked Gavin up and held him while she vacuumed. It took her forever and when she was done there were a few spots she missed but she had an amazing time. When she was finally done, I let Gavin push the button to retract the cord and he laughed and laughed. So that was my success today.

The carpet on the stairs is still dusty and the upstairs is too but at least for a small moment, I was able to push my to-do list to the side and help them have a fun experience out of a normal chore. Now if only I can recognize opportunities like this more often and more importantly stop thinking about the stairs and upstairs that didn't get vacuumed and enjoy the cute worker who did vacuum the part that did.

Fun at the ER

Well I had my first trip to the ER this week for an actual emergency. I also have never been more mad at Tati. I was proud of myself for putting her into a time out with distance from me because what I really wanted to do was give her some "what for" instead. My mom called right in the thick of it all and told me stuff like, "Oh Julie, she's just a kid." and "She didn't mean to" which seemed to me so funny in my mind at the time because she never would have said stuff like that when I was little. That's what Grandparents are for I guess.

Anyway, Tati was supposedly upstairs cleaning her room so I brought Gavin up and put him in the room with her while I peed. Sorry people, but if I have him with me in the bano, he'll try and drink the water or be reaching to places that he shouldn't be. Anyways, I went into their bedroom to check in on the "cleaning" and this is what I found:

Instead of cleaning like she just told me she was doing, Tati had dissembled this dumb whistle flashlight and had left the tiny batteries sitting out. But that flashlight was supposed to have 2 batteries and I only saw the one. The worst part is that Gavin was right in the middle of all the pieces. I freaked out. But really freaked out. I was scared and mad and worried. All these horrible thoughts filled my mind of stories you've heard of batteries leaking acid in children and killing them, etc. So I put Gavin in his bed, put Tati in a time out in the hallway and between yelling at her and asking her important questions about the events that had transpired while I was away, I looked all over the floor for the other stupid battery. After 20 min, I couldn't find it. I called Greg and told him how mad and scared I was so he called Gavin's doctor. The doctor told us to go to the ER and get an x-ray. So I got an awesome friend to watch Tati (I think the break was especially good for me here.) and Gavin and I headed to the ER.

The good news was the battery was not in his body. The bad news was we didn't know where that dumb battery was. So I put the kids to sleep in my room in weird make shift nap spots (because laundry was stacked on the bed and also they couldn't be able to see each other or Gavin wouldn't nap). It's ok though because I ended up finding it. It was in one of the toy bins that I had already checked twice and emptied out once. The difference the third time though was that I prayed to please help me find the stupid battery. And yes sometimes you have to say the word "stupid" when you're praying. By then the kids were awake and Chloe was home from school helping me look through every inch of that room. So we all participated in the "stupid battery" prayer together and guess what happened afterward? Yup, we found it.

So finding it right after our prayer turned out to be a great faith building experience for all of us. Then we had to do a "thank you" prayer. And in case you're wondering, that prayer didn't have "stupid" in it.

By then it was like 4:00 so I was so dang tired. That's when Daddy called and said we should go out to dinner. Going out to dinner never tasted so good and I never needed it so much.

Photo Class

So I just finished up a photography class. It was pretty intense and overwhelming and yet so much fun and so educational. I forgot how much I really like the classroom setting. My brain is a bit spent and I feel like I definitely have like a LONG ways to go to really understand it all but I'm excited to improve. To help me remember what I learn, I share all the info with Greg too after the class and between commercials of Vampire Diaries (he, he). I'm taking the Part 2 of the class in a few weeks but until then I just need to practice and practice and try to remember all the stuff I learned.

Anyway, here are some from a homework assignment playing around with sepia and black & white.