Making a Splash

Just another summer day in the splash pool! Ah memories!

Yesterday was Violet's first day back at daycare. We talked about it a lot beforehand and I thought she was all excited to go, but the jig was up the minute we walked into the room and the teacher literally had to peel her off of me, wailing. So hard. As I told my friend Kelly who is taking her son to daycare for the first time and heading back to classroom, this family is a team. And we all have to do what's best for the team. In this case, that means Violet has to suck it up at daycare while I suck it up at school. Still... it sucked.

But when Matt picked her up in the afternoon, she was apparently all smiles, blowing bye-bye kisses to her long-lost BFF Emma. So that makes me feel better.

What else makes me feel better is that my awesome hubs and I made a huge dent in my classroom yesterday! Sure I came home brain dead and exhausted beyond words (and it wasn't even a full day! And there weren't ever students to contend with!) but we got all the furniture arranged, bulletin boards up, posters hung, laminating turned in, desks positioned... it was a very productive day. I took some before pictures, and rest assured they will be posted soon  (with the after photos, of course). It feels good that I finally got in there and got some stuff done, even though there is so much more to do. Getting started is always the hardest part.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know, since I've gotten a couple very sweet, encouraging comments from my previous down in the dumps posts. Thanks guys! Your uplifting words really do help me and are much appreciated.

All Good Things

So I've been blowing up the blog lately, trying to post a little something every day for your entertainment. Partly because I have the time. And partly because I'm really afraid I won't have the time come August.

I'm already freaking out about the start of school, gotta be honest. It's the usual fear of the unknown anxiety that seizes me every time I step out of my comfort zone and have to do something new. I'm fervently hoping I look back on this post in a few weeks or months and laugh at how silly I sound right now, because I obviously have my life (personal, professional, domestic, miscellaneous) fully (and calmly) under control.

There's just so much to do when it comes to a new school year, and I'm doing it all for the first time. But I had that small taste, that sneak peek, last year and it was enough to tell me that everyone gets uber-stressed, and they've been doing it for years. The sheer volume of copies to make, things to laminate, facts to keep straight, has me thinking my measly job last year, lacking though it was in salary, wasn't so bad. Now I have all this responsibility. And I adore my school, but we set the bar high.

And if work itself wasn't enough, there's still everything else. Dinners to plan and make. Books to read. Friends to keep up with. A child to raise. A family to nurture. A house to clean (nevermind, this one's been taken care of). A nest egg to fund. Whales to save.

In one of my last grad school classes, our opening activity was to go around the room and say one word that described ourselves: I am (blank). Back then, I chose stretched. I was feeling stretched thin - working, finishing grad school, dealing with new mommyhood, trying to keep up with my former life...

The word still fits today. There is always so much to do and it seems impossible to do it all well. With me, family will always come first, but I also want (and need) to be good at my job. And remain happily married. In a house that is relatively ordered, if not fantastically organized. I also want to be greener. And recycle more. And donate more money to those in need. And eat more organic food. And be craftier. And thinner. But I know there's no way I can do everything, and it stresses me out to a point that I want to do nothing except hide under a rock somewhere with a good book and a stack of sandwiches.

But (and follow me here) I'm starting to realize that stretched can have another meaning. It can be a good thing, an important thing. It doesn't always mean pulled tight like a rubberband, full of tension and ready to snap. Think about how good it feels to stretch your muscles after a workout, to reach further than you thought you could, to push yourself just a little bit more, forcing yourself past what you thought your limits were, into the unknown, even if it's just by a fingertip or two.

So forgive me if the blog grows dimmer for awhile (I refuse to let it go completely dark, but it certainly won't be the love-fest you've grown accustomed to). I've got to find my feet in these new shoes I'm wearing. But hang in there with me, we're going to see where this ride takes us.

Guilt Trippin'

I just got home from spending two hours in my new classroom. I took Violet along, knowing I wouldn't get much done, but still feeling the pressure to get in there. All the other first grade teachers have been in and of course their rooms are practically done, plus they have all next week to work while I will be busy with new teacher orientations. So I was feeling the need to go in, the peer pressure, as our lovely front office manager called it.

Of course, the minute I walked in a huge burden settled on my shoulders. I ran into one of my friends and just burst into tears when she came to give me a hug.

I feel like I can't live up to the expectations set on me this year. I want to be an awesome teacher. And I know my principal, my students, my students' parents, they all have the bar set for me. Plus, I'd like to keep this job, so I need to succeed this year. But I have seen the sheer volume of hours some of my fellow teachers put into their classes and I know what hard work and dedication it requires. 

And as much as I want to be good at my job, I also want to be an awesome mom. Already I'm despondent about putting Violet back in daycare tomorrow, knowing it's going to be a tough transition. I'm already imagining how little time we'll have together. I'm worried the time we do have, I'll be too stressed over school to truly enjoy or invest in her. I'm worried that with all the stress and pressure, even the time I put into school still won't be enough. Everyone is being short changed and everyone is going to come out a loser.

I need to find the balance. I want to be a great teacher and a great mom, wife, homemaker, friend, human being. But it feels like a lot on my plate right now.

Organized

One of the goals I continually set for myself is being more organized. That and keeping a clean house, but I've solved that problem for the time-being. And having a clean house motivates me that much more when it comes to putting away all the junk that we seem to accumulate daily.

A week ago I came across this insanely organized home, and it inspired me instantly. And very quickly I managed to do some of the things that have been on my list all summer. Check it out!

Creative uses for a pool noodle.

This doesn't really have anything to do with organizing, but it's one of those things that needed to get done and finally happened. This kitchen countertop brace has a really sharp edge, and Violet was bound to slam into it any day now. So Matt and I decided to slide on a pool noodle. Success! Plus cheap and easy, my two favorite words.

No more junk drawer!

 Our junk drawer has been getting out of hand lately. Everything ends up in there, from keys to stamps to rubberbands and tape measures. Now we have an easy-to-see over-the-door organizer (originally made to store shoes) in our pantry. Everything has a place, quick to see, and all I have to do is close the door and the junk is out of sight. Eventually I might even get crafty enough to make cute labels for all the pockets!

Jewelry organizer courtesy of the dollar store.

Finally I went and  bought some suction cup hooks from the dollar store and now have all my long necklaces hanging up on the mirror in my bathroom. Now they won't get tangled and I might actually remember to wear them since they're hanging prettily in view and not jammed in my jewelry box. Plus, my mirror is so huge, it's actually nice to have something on it to break up the space. Again, easy and cheap!

So, they're just small things, but I think they'll make a big difference around here. Of course, one of my biggest hurdles remains untackled - a mail organizer. We tend to just bring it in and put it on the counter. Then when it's my turn to cook dinner, the pile gets shoved in a corner and just grows bigger, more disorganized, and dustier. What I covet is this pretty and simple hanging mail organizer. I even found the right files at Target, but they cost 15 bucks each! There is no way I'm making a 45 dollar mail organizer, no matter how pretty it looks! So this project is on hold for a while until I can come up with something cheaper. Any ideas? How do you stay organized?

Playroom

The sun room got a little more playroom today with our new rug!

Posted via Blogaway from my Droid

All in the Gang

I love that my friends love my daughter. Having Violet has so transformed our lives and I can't always do the things I used to (have an uninterrupted book cub, for example). But my friends have never once complained. They have fit her into their lives seamlessly and I love watching them together. (Now if some of them would just hurry up and have kids of their own!)

Renee and Violet have their own book club!

My pals!

Animal Sounds

Violet knows a ton of animal sounds, but here are the few I finally managed to capture on video. Note the elephant trunk gesture at the beginning. Such a smartie.

Incognito

Kids. They grow up so fast. One minute they're just little boys running around the backyard.

The next, they've sprouted facial hair and intimidating glares. Oh to be young again!

Who, me?

You messed with the wrong dude.

What, there's something on my face?

How you doin'?

There goes the neighborhood!

My neighbor Amy gave me permission to post these pictures under the stipulation that I give her full credit for the invention and creation of facial hair tape. It should be duly stated that the use of hair tape can also be applied to other body parts, including but not limited to arm hair and underarm hair (classy!). Violet even sported some eyebrow tape (but alas, she moved too fast for me to capture it - probably a good thing, girlfriend needed some serious threading).

I know I generally have a policy of not posting pictures of other people's kids, but I figured there was no harm in this case, seeing as the boys are in disguise. (Also, I have their parents' permission. They don't seem nearly as concerned about privacy as I would imagine. And also, their boys are in disguise.)

Happy Friday!

All the Fixin's

Is it just me, or does Cracker Barrel make the cutest clothes?

Of course, the kid's not too shabby either...

Water Park

Well, I'm celebrating my last full week of summer and we're going out with a bang. Check out what we recently discovered:

via City of Cumming

Remember Violet's only other trip to a water park? Yeah, it cost me over 20 bucks and she alternated between sleeping and hating it. Well, the Cumming Aquatic Center was a blast, and it only cost us a grand total of five dollars. We (the neighbors included) played for four hours yesterday and Violet loved every second. There were plenty of shallow places for her to hang out and splash in, we both enjoyed the lazy river (which is actually not so lazy, fair warning!), and short of a few older boys who over-zealously manned the spray guns, we had a fabulous time. I was very impressed. Side note: did you know that Cumming, Ga is the "Gateway to Leisure Living"? I did not.

Juice break!

Clean Me!

The maid comes tomorrow!

I'm so excited. I hate to clean. I'm terrible at it. And finally, finally, someone else gets to do it for me! I knew there was a reason quitting my job, going to grad school, becoming a teacher and going back to work would be awesome! It's finally paying off!

Because look what that poor soul has to contend with:

Slightly appalled that I'm posting this for all to see...

This is our office. Which is right next to the front door for everyone to see. You walk inside and literally can't miss it. And the room doesn't have a door, just a large opening so you can easily view the horror that is inside.

To be fair, it's currently being trashed by all my back-to-school supplies, which will be migrating out of the house and into my classroom sometime next week. (Yes, I head back to school next week. And that's depressing enough for me to stop thinking about it right now.)

But since I've put it on full display, how about my new stash of book boxes (tall, multicolored stack by the windows), courtesy of the Target dollar spot (or rather, the 2.50 spot)? Nice, huh? I can't tell you how many teachers were salivating over these, and how quickly we've bought out the entire stock. These came thanks to my mom, who raided her Target when mine was all out. She had the stock boy go into the back not once but twice to score this haul.Thanks mom!

So I guess I'll be spending this evening pre-cleaning the house so the maid won't be horrified and quit on the spot. And she'll just have to save this room for the next round. And of course, our Hoarders: Buried Alive bonus room will be off limits. And I'll just apologize in advance for the state of the laundry room...

But still, I'm excited. Because one day, I want my house to look like this. Doesn't it make you want to just weep from the sheer beauty of it all? I mean, who is really that organized besides Monica from Friends? And then who actually goes around taking pictures of their organized-ness (again, besides Monica)?

And finally, who can I pay to do this for me?

The Doctor is In

The Doctor is In!

Although her methods are a bit unreliable...

Problems with Comments

Some of you have let me know about the issues you're having trying to post comments... From what I can tell, it's a blogger issue and hopefully they're working on it! (In the meantime, if anyone knows any fixes, feel free and send them my way!) Thanks everyone!

Dinner and a Movie

Make that lunch and Sesame Street.

Ah, the best-laid plans...

The other day I was reading an article from one of my favorite writers about the parenting rules we lay down, only to cave on. Take a look and you'll see why I so quickly related. In it, she speaks (hilariously) about how she and her husband were not going to stoop to the level of using television as a babysitter for their energetic twin boys. And then reality struck. She already put it much better (and wittier) than I'll ever be able to, so suffice to say, ditto.

Obviously, the evidence clearly points to a guilty verdict.

I remember the good old days, when I could watch hours of Say Yes to the Dress while nursing Violet, reasonably confident I wasn't polluting her rapidly forming neurons. We tried a bit of Baby Einstein, but she never seemed that interested, confirming that we could keep watching whatever we pleased without too much of it soaking into her sponge-like brain.

As Violet grew, however, so did her awareness. Now Elmo has struck. She's actually started responding to the show, saying "buh-bye Noo-Null" when Elmo bids farewell to Mr. Noodle (also,  hello two word sentences!). She knows what the remote does, and gets mad if I don't fast-forward through the boring segments to get to her furry red friend. We see a lot of Sesame Street in this house. Perhaps too much.

And then, while staying home with her all summer, teetering on the verge of losing my mind from a combined cocktail of boredom, irritation, and shimmery, heat-induced mirages, I decided it would be a good idea to let her eat lunch in front of the tv.

So sue me.

Actually, it's worked wonders. Ever since her dinnertime meltdown and the ensuing revelation that Violet has decided she is far to grown up and sophisticated to be strapped down in a high chair, all mealtimes have commenced at the kids table. Even when she eats alone. But alone without the boys modeling what to do (at least some of which is putting food into mouth), she is easily distracted. So in a spur of desperation one day, I plopped her in front of Sesame Street while I went to slap my own lunch together.

I'll be darned if that girl didn't clean her plate and ask for more without a single murmur of dissent or displeasure.

So now this is our new routine. And you know what? I don't feel too bad about it. I'm filing it under "you do what you have to, " cross-referenced with "oh well" and "it could be worse". Besides, daycare starts up in a few weeks and there's no tv in there!

So, what's on your "oh, I'll never..." list that you caved on?

What Could Have Been

Lament. Woe. Why me. Sigh.

I could have been famous, ya'll.

I've had two recent brushes with fame that I've neglected to tell you about, but I choose now to share so you all can say you knew me when...

First up, you may have read my recent review of Spoiled. Well, I loved it so much, I also tweeted it. And wouldn't you know it, those sweet Fug Girls retweeted me for all to see!

That's the good news. Now here comes the heartbreaker. First some background. I read Real Simple Magazine. I get their updates in my Facebook feed. They post questions for us readers to answer, some of which are published in each edition. Recently, the question dealt with making dinnertime easier. Well, I have a lot to say on that subject which all boils down to basically, find some fabulous neighbors and start cooking dinner for each other!

Well, Real Simple liked my answer so much, they wanted to publish it in the magazine, plus they asked me all sorts of follow up questions!

Tragically, I never got the message. Maybe it went into my spam folder. Maybe it didn't get priority since I'm not actually "friends" with the writer. There was even a follow up email, which I just found tonight, asking (nay, begging) for a response. The girl even included her personal phone number (ya'll, that never happens!) and email. But alas, the deadline was over a week ago.

Alas. This is me hanging my head in shame. Dismay. Oh to think what could have been. My MIL thinks I should write my own story and send it to them, but let's face it, with school starting (for me) in less than two weeks, I just don't think I have the time. Besides, I don't want to turn into the lame, stalker-ish reader who thinks everyone is really going to find my life fascinating. Obviously if that was the case, I'd have to ton more followers (no offense to any of you here - love you!)

Anyway, just had to share my little brush with fame. Back to my regularly scheduled boring life now.

Back in Style

My friend Jeanette finally had her baby! Okay, this is way old news, she actually had sweet Madeline about a week after her shower, just as we were setting off on our roadtrip. But now that they are home and settling into a routine, I decided to dust off Violet's old bouncy seat and bring it over so it could be put to good use again. Violet loved this thing - it was known to travel from room to room with me, even getting some countertop action (I know they say not to use it anywhere but the floor, but at two months she wasn't going anywhere and I don't know why I'm even bothering to defend myself when I don't feel guilty!) while I was cooking. I was hoping Jeanette would find it just as useful, and besides, it was just sitting around gathering dust in our Hoarders-style bonus room.

Don't worry, I washed it. Just in time for Violet to drool all over it again.

Well! Little did I know how fascinating Violet would find it! First she tried to climb in. Then I explained it was a place for babies to sleep, and she promptly brought her dolls over for a try. She's going to be such a good little mommy one day!

Tucking those babies in just right!

Violet got to meet baby Madeline earlier this week and things went pretty well! We had lots of talks about gentle hands first, and she didn't poke the baby's eye out or try to bite her, so I'm chalking this one up as a success. NOT that we are in any way, shape, or form ready to have another one right now. I'm just saying...

Violet demonstrates what we say when a baby is sleeping: "Shh!"

Water Table

Ya'll getting tired of me talking about water? Yeah, well, I'm getting tired of hearing about wah-duh. So suffer with me, my friends!

Violet got a water table finally! When I was too cheap to buy one, the neighbor stepped in with her old one. Heck yes we will take a hand-me-down that costs zero (save the skyrocketing price of H2O). Especially since I wasn't convinced Violet would do such a great job of playing with it.

Faking interest for the camera.

It's weird (or maybe completely normal)... when it's just her, she seems apathetic at best, even though we all know water is her absolute favorite substance on earth, second only to her 'nack. Still, I can't get her to engage for more than five minutes or so. (Still the hottest, most sweltering, nearest to the actual flames of hell five minutes I spend each day.) But the second one of the little boys shows the slightest bit of interest, suddenly the water table is the hottest commodity in town and Violet is all over that thing. I might have to start paying them to come over and play. Think they accept Oreos as a legal form of currency?

Forget the water table, the neighborhood fountains are where it's at!

Summer Reading: Spoiled

Here is the latest book is gobbled up on my Kindle. Spoiled is written by two of my favorites, the bloggers behind the hilariously snarky Go Fug Yourself. It is the perfect summer read, just begging to be taken poolside. Amazon describes the book as follows:  Sixteen-year-old Molly Dix has just discovered that her biological father is Brick Berlin, world-famous movie star and red-carpet regular. Intrigued (and a little terrified) by her Hollywood lineage, Molly moves to Los Angeles and plunges headfirst into the deep of Beverly Hills celebrity life. Just as Molly thinks her life couldn't get any stranger, she meets Brooke Berlin, her gorgeous, spoiled half sister, who welcomes Molly to la-la land with a smothering dose "sisterly love"...but in this town, nothing is ever what it seems. I say: Good characters, snappy plotlines, wit and sarcasm galore, and a drool-worthy cover. Sigh. I'm actually a little jealous. These girls are living my dream.

And speaking of, the more I read about the Fug Girls, the more I love them. In this article, they talk about their book and how it fits in the rise of YA popularity. And in this adorable interview, they get real about their jobs, families and each other. Heather, one half of the Girls, is a mom AND has curly hair just like me (we are obviously meant to be soul mates) and has a side gig writing insightful pieces on parenting her two twin toddlers, and I have been going a little stalker on her lately. I'll try to rein it in so you guys don't get concerned for my health or her safety.

Anyway, go get the book and judge for yourself.

Watermelon

Anyone want some wah-duh-melon?

DIY Kitchen

So I was stumbling around on my pal Natalie's blog, Natty Michelle, and came across the most adorable DIY kid's kitchen!

Tossed television unit recycled into a play kitchen via Design*Sponge

Can't you just picture Violet standing here, working away? Now I just need to find an old entertainment center, a workshop, and someone handy enough for this transformation! Any takers? Oh Hubby?!

Our Fourth

Ah, Fourth of July in Ohio. We looked so patriotic in our red, white and blues that I decided to attempt a family photo. Now, do you know how hard it is to snap three people all smiling at the camera at once when one said person is a squirmy 16-month-old? Yeah, here are our best takes.

Oh well, at least we all look happy! And Violet's dress earned many a compliment. Which is nice, because I rarely buy her clothes myself. We've gotten so many hand-me-downs, and the grandmas rarely show up without something cute for her, so I normally bypass the kids' clothing section. The few times I have picked something out, I haven't loved the results as much as I thought I would. Everyone else seems to have better taste than I do. But I got a winner with this one, if I do say so myself.

My little firecracker.

On the Farm

So Matt's dad's cousins (did you follow that?) fixed up the old family farmhouse and that's where the whole fam-damily gathered for the reunion. This crowd tries to get together every two years, in various locations across the country. We've gathered in Colorado, in Georgia, in Montana, and now here in Ohio. It's always a lot of fun, a non-stop laugh-food-beverage fest that everyone enjoys. The family farm is beautiful, on a picturesque plot of land with a small lake.

The farm. Loving the rustic flag made of painted tree branches.

Grandpa taking Violet for a walk... or is it the other way around? Besides wah-duh, Violet's other favorite word this trip was "papap" for Grandpa.

Violet made the family tree!

There was one point in the day when I got super frustrated that here I was, trying to reunite with some family (or let's face it, get to know them for the first time) and yet the only person I was interacting with was my wild child. After seeing about 87 new faces at once, Violet got super clingy and wouldn't let me out of her sight. And of course, everyone else was off having a merry ol' time, not worried about poor me (I had myself quite the bitter pity party - I even considered asking God to help me make an attitude adjustment, but I was feeling too martyred and whiny to even go there). But all that changed after the pig roast, when Matt's brother Greg and Lauren came to hang out with Violet and me as we ate watermelon in the grass. Violet was much more comfortable with a smaller group and eventually warmed up to Uncle Greg enough to give him a high-five. And I felt my spirits lift, just having someone take the time to seek me out for a visit, rather than forcing me to watch from the sidelines. Eventually I felt a little silly for being so irritated earlier in the day. What can I say? It's amazing what a little sunshine, some roasted pig, and your family can do for you.

Violet was so covered in drool and watermelon, we eventually just stripped her down and let her have the run of the place. Check out that belly!

Giggles with cousin Brooke.

Beautiful.

Sittin' on the dock of the bay...

Daddy gave into her plea for wah-duh.

Splish splash!

Ending the evening with family frisbee and long shadows.

Dusk at the farm.

Yeah, I'd say we had a pretty good time!