Booty!!!

So...

In the midst of sporadic photography opportunities, crazy crafting, cleaning house and eating jelly beans...I've been doing some other stuff...

You see...in order to not embarrass myself nor my husband (NOT that I actually worry about this concept very often, seeing as I tend to draw attention to my idiosyncricies regardless...and really, I don't tend to do much to "enhance" the beautification process of my being in general...) HOWEVER, upcoming special occasions behoove me to at least "consider" the potential of my outward appearance and "upkeep"...

That said...Italian Stallion and I have the opportunity to head south...somewhere...in just a short while...I don't really know where it's located and at this moment (for reasons you will comprehend momentarily) I am too whipped to get up and find it on my girls' globe in the playroom...


Ahhhhh, motivation...

However, it requires me to do this:

and run on this until my behind and legs basically feel like need to be removed from my body...

Don't get me wrong...I'm all for a healthy lifestyle and staying in shape...but, there is a difference between THAT and trying to "Look good"...after this trip, I"m opting for the "feeling good, but still eating my jelly beans and chocolate every once in awhile" RATHER THAN the "attempting to look good and squeezing into jeans when all you really have to do is just purchase the next size up"

Here's to burning calories and sore body parts!!!

"thppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppt"

I am NOT having a temper!!!

ahhhhhhhhh, the joys of parenthood...

No matter how many books or so-called "manuals" I read on parenting...there is no "guidebook" specifically for Sweetpea, Peanut and Little Munchkin...

as, I'm positive there are no guarantees for any other child on the face of the earth either...

I can only read The Book, love them, pray for guidance, expect great things and help them to achieve that heart which then melds into their behavior...

...however, it's moments with Little Munchkin that sometimes put me over the edge...

Her latest thing is whenever I have informed her that she will NOT be getting her own way...she stares at me dumbfounded for a moment as if she can't quite grasp that her queen-ship will not be receiving her request...in the next moment, she stomps her foot and replies,
"I am soooooooo mad at myself"

Which translates to ,"I am sooo incredibly mad at you Mommy that you will not let me have my way!"  Of course, in her little brain, being mad at "herself" is a way of showing emotion (which we allow to a point) but not necessarily getting in trouble for being disrespectful! 

When pointed out that she is stomping her foot with her hands on her hips that she is not allowed to have a temper, she replies quite pointedly, "I am NOT having a temper"...oh, you could've fooled me there sweetie!!

She just woke up (as I'm writing this at nearly midnight) with a bad dream..."Mommy, you were wearing a HAT! and you wouldn't take it off"  I reassured her that Mommy doesn't wear hats so there's really nothing to be nervous about.  Where she gets the trepidation about hats, I'm not sure, but nevertheless, it woke her from a dead sleep. 

Daddy came in as soon as he finished brushing his teeth to calm her down even more...to which she replied, "Daddy, what is that smell in my nose?  did you eat candy?"

I need to write down more of her sayings because I know that sooner or later they will be gone...until then though, we will laugh "behind her back of course" at them...

In other news...Peanut lost something...

The tooth fairy left her 10 dimes in a little sac under her pillow...apparantly dollar bills were difficult to "carry" this time around (that or perhaps the head hauncho fairy didn't have any on hand and had to dig around in the couch cushions and in the washing machine looking for coins)  At least, that's my "guess" as to what happened...

And Sweetpea...well, I love this girl to pieces, however I am discovering that she is more and more like me...and that my friends, isn't necessarily a "good" thing.  I'm having to forfeit over to Daddy on many 'an issue' that have come up lately...it's funny how the things that irritate you about others are sometimes the very things that YOU have in yourself!  I've been eating some major humble pie lately...it's none too tasty either...

those are my parenting woes at present...and if "that's" the worst of it...well, to be honest, I've got it pretty good right now...

I'll be posting soon over at CTPhotoMemories (this week sometime) about my 3 month old photo shoot...I got to cuddle a little baby and remember way back when tempers and loose teeth weren't even on the radar...

have a great week!

If you're stoppin' by...

You may have noticed that I changed things a bit...

I know...I'm a few weeks early for spring, but in my crazy state of "ignoring the obvious" (see yesterday's post) I decided to waste some more time and change things up a bit...

I think I will take this opportunity to share with you a few read aloud books that my girls have LOVED and I have LOVED reading to them...

I have a thing about books...I can't seem to get enough...I go through them like water, but at the same time, once I race through, I find myself going back to just savor a little bit more.  I'm not a huge non-fiction reader...although I have been reading a couple or 4 non-ficiton books lately, just to tide me over until our trip coming up in April...

And speaking of that trip...I have a book bag full of books that I want to take...it's a serious challenge b/c they are "due" back before we leave...so I am hoping to do the whole "renew" or reserve them on a different card scenario to make sure I have them...but, it's literally killing me to have them sitting in the corner of my music room and I won't let myself touch them...

hmmm..perhaps THAT'S the reason I can't seem to sit still...(again, read yesterday's post)

Okay...so here are some good reads for kids (I suppose girls in general...but what do you expect...we've got lots of estrogen around here!)

*Princess Academy:  We loved this book.  I read it myself first and couldn't put it down.  I remember starting it at 10pm and finishing around 2am...it has a very earthy, rugged voice to it...but this underlying hopefulness and in the end you just find yourself smiling...

* Clementine Series:  I completely laugh out loud with this little girl.  She's endearing, the parents are commited and accepting...I just love it to pieces!!! We've read all 4 books, and listend to them on CD at least 10 times each...they are ALWAYS on at our house.

*All of a Kind Family:  I wasn't sure about this one at first...it's an older book and it's about a Jewish family.  It touches on all sorts of traditions and foods and language that I'm unfamiliar with, and yet, it was wholesome and funloving.  My girls loved how the sisters were together and each one of them (even Little Munchkin) chose a sister that she identified with the most.

*The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane: Okay, let me just say it right now...I cried in this book.  It reminded me a lot of the plot from Hitty, her first hundred years...but, at the same time, I completely got caught up in this book as well.  To watch this little rabbit's character just grow was sometimes heart-wrenching, but, sooo worth it in the end!

These are just our most recent reads...my girls are independently reading these books:

Sweetpea LOVES Boxcar Children...can't seem to get enough

I just reserved a bunch of these books from the library in hopes to get her into a different genre here for a little while: It's called the My America series...Sweetpea is not my die-hard reader, therefore books need to be "drunk" not chewed...I'm going to try the My America instead of Dear America...although, I've got a good Titanic Dear America one in my bag...so we'll see what she chooses...

Peanut likes Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series right now

but, she's also been back into the American Girl series with Molly and a few fairy books too...

Little Munchkin is still stuck on the Gruffalo (although, we had to take it back to the library today)

 she's also into anything princess related...so we've been diving into Julie Andrews books, disney princess books (of course) and Fancy Nancy..just to name a few:) 

And WHAT, you ask, am I reading???

Oh my...well, the books that I'm saving for our trip are big ones...especially for the plane...the first is Francine River's sequel to Her Daughter's Dream that I read last fall..

.

I unexpectedly found an author that I'm learning to enjoy...she does "semi-biographies" of past historical authors and such...I read this one a couple of weeks ago..and discovered that she wrote one about Jane Austen and Mozart's sister...

Other than that...I've been doing lots of blog reading and trying to sift my way through Ann Voskamp's book...her's is a difficult read and taking me some time to get through...

Anyway, just a little book sharing post today...enjoy your wednesday!

Someone stop me...it's not like I don't have laundry to do...

I"m seriously starting to question my grip on reality...or my sanity...or, well...let's just say I have NO time management skills whatsoever...

Maybe it's OCD or maybe it's ADD...and I don't mean to poke fun at those diagnosis one bit...

Because really...when the house is quiet and Little Munchkin is taking a nap...wouldn't you suppose that would be the most opportune time to get house cleaning completed or editing finished on the computer...or maybe work on getting dinner started or cleaning the bathroom...

Apparantly, my brain doesn't work that way...instead it says, "Holy cow, I've got this cool idea...let's go down to the basement and see if we have enough "materials" and let's do another PROJECT!!!" 

And then I end up with this:

It's called a Lens Pet...I found a scrunchie that my kids don't use anymore and then got out the button box and some felt from Little Munchkin's felt board...and    WaLa...this is what I got...

I sat here at my desk and sewed this little number up in about 30 minutes...well, that after I had tried to locate materials throughout my house...

People...it is apparant that I need help...somehow I must teach my mind how to focus and stay on task instead of going after every whim that enters my head...good grief!!!

So, now you KNOW what I'm thinking...I've got all sorts of other lens pet ideas in my head and trying to figure if I have enough buttons to last me....I guarantee you'll find me at Joanns tomorrow with a few coupons in hand...

Honey...come home soon...I need some distraction...or rather, someone to help me stay focused:) 

love,
Mamarazzi unleashed and running on adreneline...

YAY...the week got here...

I have that a little backwards...I know...

It wasn't that this weekend wasn't INCREDIBLE...it just turned into the NEVER-ENDING WEEKEND by Sunday night...

It started off with an awesome Worship retreat:  Faith, Footers and Foundation with our new Creative Arts pastor...and I soaked up his passion for Christ...I wrote notes as he shared his heart and then we headed into more of a vocal training session...all this after bacon & eggs and hangin' out with a bunch of creative/artsy people...and it was just a perfect start to the day...

Then...I got to teach at my Snap-shop for the afternoon...you can read about it here  But, it was just soo great to get back into the "classroom" type setting again...so much fun!

About 15 minutes after all the ladies left, I had to quickly reapply some make up and head out the door to church, it was my weekend to sing...I got to sing this song with the band...and I just love it...I could only find this utube video with the song included...

And then I woke up the next morning (Sunday) and had an awesome worship time with them all again for the remaining two services...

Italian Stallion had to get packed up as he's heading out this week...my eldest has school testing this week...Peanut is still workin' on losin' that 2nd front tooth...and Little Munchkin...

Well...I'll leave you with this today...

She told me, "Mommy, I not sleepy...I don't need a rest..."
I replied, "Alright sweetheart, go into the playroom and just have a quiet time and I'll come get you when quiet time is up..."

This is how I found her 20 minutes later:

Yep...this is me, savoring my moments once again!

the post in which i can't make up my mind and you get to read about it:)

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Life is full of them...everyday...seemingly every moment...

brown or black, jeans or sweats, brush your teeth or chew some gum, eat a hershey kiss or scarf down a snickers bar...(Yes, I make THESE types of decisions...please don't judge me based on my dental skills and abilities)

being "decision-making challenged"...I struggle...and I mean STRUGGLE with coming to conclusions about things...

oh sure, I THINK about them...I think and then TALK AND TALK AND TALK about them too...I can list for you pros and cons and more often than not, I can talk myself OUT of anything as well...

In the midst of my "Crafty February" which has now seeped into March, I have yet again come to another crossroads with regards to another "project"...

Now, let us not forget that I'm about to teach a Snap-shop/workshop this Saturday...I still have Cds to burn, a camera strap to make, name tags to print and treats to fix...I'd also like to finish that scarf I started and I probably should keep my CTPhotoMemories blog and facebook pages running...I have to edit the Cranel Longevity Awards Luncheon that I attended and I can't find my jewelry making stuff to fix a pair of my earrings...

And then BAM...another "idea" floats in my head and I'm running around in circles again...

I'm not good at compartmentalizing, and therefore I feel the urge to "get it out on paper a.k.a the computer" as soon as possible...

What is this "idea" you ask?

Yes, well...it was brought to my attention the ability to print, in book form, your personal blog...(this is where the crazy sets in)  You see, we're heading to Nevis (don't ask where it is, b/c I don't know...it's just somewhere VERY warm and I get to purchase some "pretty tops" to wear)...with this knowledge comes the fear that always presents itself with regards to me leaving my children behind for a few days...

THIS is where the whole idea of "printing out the blog" comes in...Now, I COULD just give my password and info to my "peep" and give her instructions that upon any untimely death (on my part) she should find all the necessary information in order to create these "keepsakes" for my children's well-being...

But, THEN...I get all excited about the whole Project life idea and Month at a Glance Family yearbooks...and if you don't know what that is all about, it's basically the whole take a picture a day concept and journal about it...but I can't do it everyday, so I do the "monthly" version....and with my love of photography, I love the idea of keeping up with my scrapbooks in a less time-consuming way. 

What to do?  Money doesn't grow on trees ya know...at least not in our yard and all these "projects" cost something...the incentive is that they have "sales" going on right now until March 9th...so if I "act now" I can take part in the discounts...

I just don't know which route to take...

There are numerous other things on my mind, that probably would have made MUCH better blog posting topics, but in this speck of a minute in this time that I call my life...I snipped out this topic to blog about...not my study of Isaiah, or my heart for my dear little girl in Honduras (whose name is Cindy btw and I'll have MORE about that in the days to come), or my nervousness about entering the "teaching" scene again this weekend...NOPE...

THIS dear friends is my quandry at the moment...

Well...that and whether I should eat the leftover cookie dough that is sitting in the fridge...hmmmmmm????

Notes to Self

Note #1: Self, do not take it personally when your many small children point out the "jiggly" parts of your anatomy as you are exercising.

Note #2: exercise when many small children are in bed and asleep and all the blinds are closed and wear large loose fitting articles of clothing

Note #3:  when you allow Little Munchkin to go potty "all by herself" please be aware that clogging and overflows WILL result due to over usage of toilet paper

Note #4: the purpose of skyping is so that other people can actually SEE you while you are conversing...keep this mind and be sure that you are actually "presentable" before allowing video contact.

Note #5: pouring milk will result in spill-age...expect this...embrace it...

Note #6: quit buying cutesy socks for the girls...the basket of unmatched socks out numbers the socks that are actually in their drawers...purchase all white, all the time, one size fits all...it will solve the sock dilemma (and make mornings much more bearable)

Note #7: staying up too late the night before will result in over-tired and crabby rhetoric by yours truly...attempt going to bed before midnight, at least once a week...your family will thank you.

Note #8: "treasures" in your basement will never be found WHEN you need them...therefore, although it is not wildly accepted by your hubby, it's best to just leave stuff out and spread all over and then you'll be able to find what you are searching for:) 

Note #9: if you actually carry forth with note #8, it will not go well for you in winning your husband over to your "need" for treasures in the basement...learn a new tactic!

Note #10: In case you are prone to forget...on the nights that sleep doesn't come...on the days that whining and arguing seem to plague your household...in the moments of getting everything ready for dinner only to realize that you are out of your key ingredient...THIS is a good life...THIS is a gift...Self, remember to be thankful...even when it hurts to be thankful...be thankful...scoop them up, savor it all and thank Jesus for all he's given you...