Anniversary!

It’s our anniversary this Wednesday… 9 years!  That doesn’t sound like a long time, but we’ve been through a lot.  Jerry’s dad had leukemia and BEAT IT!  My dad is working on his leukemia victory as well.  Kick it to the curb, Dad!  We bought a house and filled it with a cat and 3 wonderful children.  Jerry has been a financial planner and a teacher and earned his Masters degree in administration.  I have been a resource teacher, a 2nd grade and kindergarten teacher (not at the same time), a preschool gymnastics instructor, and a parent educator.  Most importantly, we’ve earned the titles “Mom” and “Dad”.  We’ve become “Aunt Cathy” and “Uncle Jerry” to 6 nephews and 1 niece, and we have 1 nephew and 1 niece OR nephew on the way!

Times sure have changed!  When we got married, flip phones, and the fact that you could keep your cell number when switching between providers were all the rage.  Now we have smart phones and have given up our house phone completely.  Our weekends used to consist of meeting some friends out for drinks on the Plaza or going to a wedding.  Now we mostly go to children’s birthday parties or plan baby showers.  When we got married, I colored my hair to cover my hardly-noticeable gray hair at a salon and had fancy highlights just ‘cause.  Now I color my hair so that I don’t look like the evil, aging mom-ish lady on Tangled and scare the crap out of my daughters - and I use a box, because I don’t have time, and it’s cheap.  When we got married, Jerry had hair. ‘Nuf said.  Back in 2002, we didn’t have to worry about home improvement, lawn care, or “resale value” because we lived in an apartment.  Now we have a mortgage, and MUCH more responsibility. We used to go to movies every weekend - sometimes twice.  Now we relax on the couch with some wine (ok, that’s mostly for me) and watch a movie or a show on Netflix (because we got rid of cable, too).

Yes - life is very different for us now.  And I wouldn’t change a thing.  The most important difference?  I’m more in love with Jerry now than I ever could have imagined when we first got married.  Happy 9th anniversary, honey!

SAHM? I think not!

For over 5 years now, on "mommy sites" like Cafe Mom, TheBump.com, and Circle of Moms, I have read numerous comparisons between working moms and stay-at-home moms (SAHM).  There are some pretty heated arguments on there about who's doing the right thing, who works harder, which is better, etc.  All I know is what works best for my family, and the answer is neither! I am a full-time mommy and a part time parent educator.  Add to that my "extra" titles like: Daisy Scout leader, Gym Mom, Dance Mom, Wife, Scrapper, Blogger, Caretaker, PTA member, Kindergarten Picture Wrangler (I made that title up, but it really is my job), Cook, Housekeeper, Taxi driver, Play-Date Organizer, Calendar Keeper, Event Planner (for our family, anyway), Bellaney Babycakes Founder/Creator/President, Baby Sing and Sign Instructor, etc.  I'm sure there are more in there that I'm forgetting.  

My life is crazy hectic with one kiddo in kindergarten 5 days a week, one in preschool  2 days a week, and another in Kids Day Out once a week.  For example, here was my day today:

• 6:30 - wake up, take shower, get ready
• 7:15 - entice the girls out of bed to get ready, eat breakfast, brush teeth, etc
• 7:45 - drag the boy out of bed and dress him - breakfast on the go for this little man!
• 7:55 - obligatory 1st day of preschool/KDO pictures in front of the front door
• 8:00 - on the road
• 8:25 - drop off Bella at Kindergarten
• 8:45 - get gas so our day can continue without a tow truck involved
• 9:00 - 1st day of school drop off for Luke and Laney -no tears, no drama (from the babies or their mama!)
• 9:30 - meeting for me at work
• 11:45 - pick up Bella from Kindergarten
• 12:00 - meet my parents at Chick-Fil-A for a special lunch w/ Bella (followed by Cold Stone - yummy!)
• 1:50 - stop by Marshall's to pick up a much-needed jacket and socks for Bella (who knew fall would come so soon?!)
• 2:30 - pick up the little ones after a successful first day!
• 3:00 - stop by Jerry's school to visit before he has to supervise the stadium for soccer
• 5:00 - write this blog! - and then make dinner
• 7:00 - bed time for the little bugs.
• 8:00 - wine-d down time for mommy!  (I would actually be at a Girl Scout Leader meeting if Jerry wasn't working.  I'm okay with knocking something off the list for today!)
• 10:00 - go to bed, so I can manage the craziness tomorrow!

With all of that on my plate, I figured I needed a new label.  I don't quite fit in as a SAHM, and since I don't work full time out of the house, I'm not really a working mom, either.  Here are my suggestions for moms like me who are in limbo looking for a collective name.  

AOTPM (All Over The Place Mom)

ABHM (Anywhere But Home Mom)

OOTTM (Out On The Town Mom)

Or maybe the winner...

RALACWIHCOM (Running Around Like A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off Mom)

Morning Mommy Has Arrived!

She's here! She's here! Let's hope she stays.  She's so nice, energetic and fun! 

Nope, no one is visiting - I became Morning Mommy this morning!  Yeah!!  I woke up at 6:15, and had over an hour to myself before the little'uns got up. In that hour, I was able to shower, check e-mail and Facebook, start drinking my coffee AND do yoga!  What a refreshing start to the day!  By the time the girls tiptoed into my room, I was just rolling up my yoga mat and already had a smile on my face.  That's a switch for them, for sure.  I'm surprised they didn't freak out and wonder what happened to their grumpy "I don't wanna get up" mama.  (seriously - I was that childishly bad) 

Because of my positive attitude this morning, breakfast was made quickly, and I did 2 loads of laundry and a load of dishes before we all walked out the door at 8:45.  Before lunch, we had dropped off dry cleaning and headed to 4 stores to find the perfect backpack/lunch sack combo for Luke for his first time going to KDO. Mission accomplished even if it did mean that we came home and ordered the backpack online to match the adorably cute lunch sack we found at Toys R Us - they didn't have the backpack in the store.  

Seriously - How cute are these?!  And since they're Skip Hop brand, I know they'll last.  I've had a diaper bag from them that has lasted for over 5 years!

I have to add that in all of this running around with three kids, it was pouring down rain! I made it, and I'm still in a good mood.  I'm attributing all of that to getting up before the kids.  I just might have to make this a habit - even if waking is not my biggest strength.  It's worth the end result for sure.  

Now off to finish folding that last load of laundry before I pack all of us up one more time for Bella's Meet the Teacher BBQ.  Kindergarten, here we come!

***On a side note - Toys R Us has a deal right now that if you buy a backpack, you get a free lunch sack (with a price of $9.99 or less).  Lucky Jerry - he gets a lunch sack this year, too! No more plastic Target bags for my honey!

Happy Blogiversary!

I got the bug in me today to go back and read all of my prior posts.  As I was reading my very first blog post, it said something about Jerry just heading back to work after the summer.  I checked the date, and it was August 12 of last year!  A year goes by so fast and so much has happened in the last 12 months... birthdays, wedding anniversaries, milestones reached, preschool graduation, as well as some bad things including my dad's illness.

Here's to another 12 months of craziness (more good than bad, please!) from this mommy of 3 ankle biters!  Thanks for following me this past year, and I hope you continue to share in these moments with me.

-Cathy

Morning Mommy attempt #1: FAIL

So, I've been thinking and worrying about Bella starting kindergarten next week.  Believe it or not, I'm NOT mushy and sad about her growing up so fast and starting school.  It's a big milestone for sure, and I'm super excited for her, but I'm not sad.  She's absolutely ready.

But I'm not ready - to get up early 5 days a week... and getting 3 kids up, dressed, fed, and out the door on time FIVE DAYS A WEEK!

I'm not what you'd call a "morning person".  I really despise getting up early.  I love sleep.  If I could nap every day, I would - and then sleep in every morning until 9.  Funny - my kids won't let me do either!  And now, their school schedules won't.  I've been spoiled all summer long with Jerry home (he's a teacher), but now he's back at work.  So I have to buck up.

I have discussed my lack of morning motivation with a few people, and some feel my pain.  A few others, as it turns out, actually get up BEFORE their children!  This was a new concept to me, so I had to find out more.  One, my sister-in-law (mother of 4), said she sets her alarm and gets up before the kids so she can sip her coffee and have some alone time to think in the morning.  Hmm... sounds nice.  I'm not sure that it's enough motivation to get me out of bed before 7am, though.  My friend Michelle (mother of 2) gave me a different perspective.  She said that when she gets up before her kids, she's a more patient mommy.  When she waits and gets woken up by the kids - she's grumpy.  Now THAT sounds like me.  When I get woken up, I'm a bear!  That explanation actually made so much sense to me, that I'm going to try to do it.  I'm going to set my alarm, and get my shower in and coffee intake started before the kids roll out of bed.

That's the plan, anyway.  But, as with any new lifestyle change, it's going to take some getting used to.  I had good intentions today.  I asked my hubby to wake me up after his shower, so I could be up early.  Problem is, that before Jerry took his shower, there were screams from our daughters' room. The smoke alarm started chirping in their room at about 5:30 this morning.  Thinking their house was going up in flames, they were terrified!  No matter how many times we reassured them that it just needed new batteries, they would not re-enter their room this morning - so into bed with me they came.  For the next hour, they squirmed, kicked, talked, etc to keep any of us from sleeping. 

So, day one of trying to be a "Morning Mommy" instead of a "Moody Mommy" was unsuccessful.  I'll try again tomorrow (yes, a Saturday).  I have to get this down before school starts next Wednesday!  It's all good - I work well under pressure.

Pink Parisian Poodle Party

An Eiffel Tower greets the guests as they arrive.

I like alliterations, can you tell?  Pink Parisian Poodle Party.  Has a nice ring to it. :)  My now 3 year old, Delaney loves dogs.  She asked to have a dog party for her birthday.  As we went through the pre-made party supplies online, we came across the pink poodles in Paris line.  So, we rolled with it and added our own flair (of course!).

Using a projector and my laptop, I made the
"Pin the Puff on the Poodle" game.  "Genevive",
as Bella named her is about 2 feet tall.

Lanterns - I love me some LANTERNS!

The cupcakes were INCREDIBLY yummy.  Made by Darby's Delights (Angela Rolf). We had raspberry and cookies and cream.  All I had to do was add the toppers which I made from some fun paper punches.  It was nice to give my scrapbooking tools a workout.  If you're from the KC area and want Angela's information, just send me a message, and I'll get you in contact with her (or click on "Darby's Delights" and you'll find her FB page).

Laney got a giant cupcake all to herself! Lucky girl!

Jerry looks tres chic decked out in Parisian style! Notice the sweet applique on his shirt - yep - I'm awfully crafty with an iron!
 We gave out these berets from Oriental Trading as one of the party favors.

Some pics of the food spread.  Please pardon my French.  I used Google translate to help me, and for some reason couldn't find the French word for "fruit".

Bella got to wear a fancy "French" feather bow in
 her hair and I ironed on a fleur de lis and the word "Paris" on her shirt.
And yes, that's me in the background holding the blindfold for the game. 
I ironed a bling-tastic fleur de lis on the back of my black shirt. 
Didn't get a good pic, though.

Luke sporting an adorable Eiffel Tower iron-on.  He walked around most of
the party stealing cookies from people's abandoned plates.

I tacked a poodle applique onto Laney's tutu that I scored from the toy dress-up section at Walmart.  It came with the matching headband.  It's hard to see in this pic, but she got an iron-on, too - a white poodle on her black leotard.

It was a fabulous party.  We played Pin the Puff on the Poodle, and the kids made foam frames to take home.  The favor bags included a beret, poodle bubbles, a poodle tattoo, a paw print stamp, and a personalized swirly sucker that said "Happy Birthday Delaney."  The cupcakes were delicious, the company was wonderful, and the birthday girl was happy.  What more can you ask for?

*Again, I didn't post any pics of our party guests in case they didn't want their children's faces on my blog.  We did take plenty of pics, and SOMEDAY I'll get around to adding them into a scrapbook.  You know - when I find some spare time!

Room 5: The BIG one!

Jerry and I were most excited about this room re-do.  It's the first room you see as you walk in the door, and it was lacking something.

Before, the living room was functional, but lacked style and coziness.  Plus the carpet had seen much better days. We really didn't spend much time in this room. 

The toy chest in the lower left corner usually purged its contents all over the room.  Pay no attention to the lanterns randomly on the piano.  Those were put together and waiting for the next party.

From this angle, you can really see what we wanted to change.  The two black and white drawings on the walls have been up in our home since we were married.  They were drawn by Jerry's sister, so they mean something to us, however LL Cool J and Ozzy Osbourne don't really have a place in our family room now that we have a true family.

Our engagement picture looks great, but it is not really the focus of our family.
 It's being moved up to our bedroom so we can reminisce about the times
 when I was skinny and Jerry had hair. :)

The color we chose was "pumpkin butter" by Behr.

Everything off the walls - Let's go!

A much warmer look - along with some new decorations, but a few things were missing...

Out with the old carpet that was worn from many a playdate, party and indoor picnic.  The padding is made from recycled Nike tennis shoe soles.  Yay for being green!

Ooh - I can feel the warmth already!  The color of the carpet is "truffle".  Yummy!

New religious art reflecting the true center of our home and our family. We picked up all these gems at Hobby Lobby for 50-80% off!  Praise the Lord for that, indeed!

All done!  ...or so we thought at the time... 

Surprise!  Jerry had been shopping for good deals on baby grand pianos for a while, and the right one finally popped up!  It's a Young Chang, and sounds beautiful.  He certainly has been playing more than he ever has before.  It's music to my ears! Literally.

Everything has it's place, including the keys to the piano.

Ahh - so warm and inviting!

Now Jerry and I have our cozy, more adult-friendly living room.  The majority of the toys are in the playroom in the basement. 

 We are already spending a lot more time in this room individually and as a family, and since the toys are elsewhere, the kids are more apt to pick up a book!  The toys that do make their way here can be quickly hidden away in the brown bins in the bookshelf.  So refreshing!  Please, Lord, let us always remember keep it looking so nice.