sunshine mommy

Sorry I have been MIA lately. I have been doing the most dreaded thing ever. Spring cleaning. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Mr. Buddy’s eczema is constantly here and we have chalked it up to allergies. So first thing first, we had to say goodbye to the kitties We found them a really nice cat welfare place where people come to adopt the kitties, (http://www.uchspets.org/home.html) so I am hoping that they will find happy homes. It is still such a tough thing to do Next it was time to battle 4 years (in this house) of cat hair! I Dyson’ed my way room by room, scrubbing, sweeping, dusting, washing everything the cats touched, wiping down walls and windows. It was the most exhausting week ever. I have many bruises and injuries to show for it :/ This weekend Hubs joined in the party to help me finish the last of the rooms upstairs. Things are simple now, clean, decorated, they feel fresh. There are two large jobs left to tackle: the basement (oh boy) and the garage. The basement, as many know, is a catch all of the random things that there’s no place for, plus other random things that get shoved down there. My hopes are to organize the stuff into bins and finish all laundry, plus take pictures of the things we don’t want anymore to sell on Craigslist. We are kid free for the next two days, so I am going to take advantage of that time! 

I have always been one that hates to clean. That’s probably why my house piles up quickly. I am lazy about putting things away, just like the rest of us in this house, so it has always been a daily battle to keep on top of everything. I guess we are pack-rats, although not in the sense where our house is filled with junk, just that we have kept hold of a lot of different things from our past that we just don’t need anymore. So by purging all that stuff and bringing in fresh, “new” items (most all have come from the Goodwill store), I feel like our revamped house brings a new start; one that I desperately need. Once I started to clean, I began to feel empowered. Like all this mess and clutter that had controlled me for so long, was no longer out of my reach. I had the ability in my hands to master getting things neat. And I knew I was doing it for Mr. Buddy, so I kept pushing on. Now I feel a sense of relief, a huge weight off my shoulder. It literally has allowed me to open other doors and put this behind me, so I can move forward on to the things I have really been wanting to do lately. Sewing!! Painting!! Reading!!

 I cannot lie, as I cleaned my way through the house, I had a vision. I new what needed to be bought to make the room complete. (And shopping is always a motivator :) In my walk in closet, I found empty space and lots of it. I envisioned a sewing desk there and two days later, as I stumbled into a different Goodwill store, the desk found me! So with lots of fabric I have from here and there, I have started making curtains. Recycling old into new. It feels good to make your house your own. And that’s what I have been doing for the whole family. The boys rooms got rearranged and my bedroom feels like it has never been this comfy ever. We still have good ‘Ol Molly (aka, the dog) who is a Golden Retriever. She is not allowed upstairs and we keep her shaved, so I am hoping Mr. Buddy clears up and we don’t need to rehome our pup too. Only time will tell for sure.

 Sunshine is here and I am excited to move outside and begin the planting and yard prettying And I will be back to work more, which is great for me and the whole family!!

Pictures of the Upstairs (Scroll mouse of each picture for a description):

I pledge allegiance…

Cereal with a tablespoon.

Gotta go potty!!

Applesauce!

Kisses for Mommy!

Mr. Buddy’s corner of Mommy’s room

Don’t forget to take pictures of me!

Coloring

Saying goodbye to Daisy

Sleepy dude

Closeup!

TV time

Oh silly boys!

Playroom

My new haircut! (which I chopped all by myself!)

Tonka man

I just got spit up on!

Mr. Toddler

In the wagon

Hauling that thing up the hill!

Dusty

Smiley boy

Slidin’!

Weee!

“I am a boy”

The playground in our neighborhood

Swinging with Daddy

Bright eyes

Oh what a cutie!

I did it!!

Look at my hat

Working on my quilt.

And I am referring specifically to one person in particular, my hubby. He says he reads my blog, but it may be one of those “Oh babe, I read your blog, of course” sort of deals and really doesn’t. I know he has read a few and has been supportive of my blogging endeavor, but I’m thinking he may not see this one for awhile. And if you are reading this for some crazy reason, here are my qualms with a few things…

Today we got out of the house as a family because I have been itching and scratching to get to another thrift store that is right up the street. There are many thrift stores in my town, which is a lovely thing. We haul the kids out (it was a beautiful day) and hubs starts in on how, “there are no carts, I know there are no carts” and I’m like “Are you kidding me, there are carts.” “Where?!? I don’t see them.” As we enter the store there is the most giant blue cart I have ever seen that makes a toddler look tiny in the top and a car-seat fit comfortably in the back plus all the goodies I picked out (I need this blue cart everywhere I go!) I’m like, “Seeee, there are carts!! Don’t doubt me, I KNOW thrift stores!” I’ve grown up with a granny who loved going. Anyway, I go in on my own little mission, to find the most important things in the place, they pop out at me, and I walk fast and he gets in his grumpy shopping mood where he investigates every purchase and frowns at me cause I am spending money. I’m spending $2 and $.50 and $1 for heaven’s sake. I stumble across the VHS tapes and my mom recently gave Mr. Toddler a T.V with a VCR attached. I put this in his room because we hardly get to play up there and he only gets to use it for his special movies. So it has been my mission to find all the Disney classics on VHS. I guess maybe it’s a throwback thing, it reminds me of my childhood and I want him to experience it too. Hubby doesn’t seem to understand my insight at this point. Why we wouldn’t just get them all in DVDs because VHS tapes are old and bad quality and silly. So I start in on the grandiose explanations and reasonings and he agrees, and we move on. Toys. I let Cade out of the car to run around and started my search. Granted, this can be a bit overwhelming and the messy looking part of thrift stores (uh, among others) but I see beyond all that and start finding the coolest things. I found a small little fire-station that Cade can put his cars through and all kinds of dress up hats. Also a couple cute things Mr. Buddy was interested in. I start shoving them in my cart. Hubby’s looking at me like I’m crazy. I’m trying to explain to him that Easter is right around the corner and this stuff is cheap and cool!!!!! Why buy it new when you can recycle? Finally I just stop what I am doing to converse about his little mini attitude.

Hubs- These things just seem unnecessary to me, I mean why bring more junk into the house?

Me-It’s not junk, these are treasures and important things for our house. I’m going to be getting rid of a lot of stuff so I can refill it with beautiful things.

H- This is stuff my grandma used to own. Why would we want stuff like that in the house?

M- For that exact reason, it’s awesome!!

Ok- so I am obviously not going to convince him that the store is really NOT full of junk and just stop asking him if he likes the things I pick out. I realized he doesn’t have my vision. That’s okay though, I ended up spending $21 on 2 bag full of things. I am done with Easter, I felt good about finding unique things, well loved and cared for with their own stories.

Later when we were in the car, I asked why he hated being in there so much. He admitted that I did find some cool things like the hats for Mr. Toddler and a neat coffee mug but his reasoning came down to this.

Dude, it smelled like poop in there. And  a great grandma’s house… Why would you want to shop at a place that smells like poop and mothballs?

Men just don’t get the vision. I had to laugh at that one. I was so busy finding fun things, I didn’t smell poop. Are you kidding me?

 :)

I have been pacing back and forth in my house, unmotivated to do any super cleaning because it feels stuffy, too pet hairish, cluttered from wintertime and lacking fresh air. Today I went thrift shopping and got vintage goodness to brighten my home, which is waiting for its fresh new look, it’s spring rebirth. Gorgeous 1970s canisters for my kitchen, fabric to make spring quilts, coffee after coffee mug and dainty tea cups. Pillowcases, a cooking apron (oh my so cute!), a skirt. I wandered the aisles and let the items pick me. I didn’t even get to make it back to the books but I found so so many things. It felt like home, a place I will return time and again when I have extra money. I’m allowing myself these items because I am going to work to earn them. I am going to spring clean, organize, rearrange, reposition furniture, dust, make curtains, clean the windows, shampoo carpets, purge old things to bring new ones in. It is a overwhelming task, but one that I plan to tackle. My focus and motivation will be on beautifying, simplifying, giving every little thing a home, having only the most special objects sticking around. I will be giving away many things to anyone who would like goodies for your own home!! I just can’t wait for the end result, a home that finally feels like home because it’s full of very important things that inspire myself and my family. We have been hanging on to everything we have owned for years and years. I think it’s time for a fresh new start!!! Bring it on spring, give me some cleaning sunshine!

OOO ooo. I have been searching for a quilt to bring home and love forever. I haven’t been able to find ANYTHING in my price range and then it sparked me… www.etsy.com!!! For those of you who don’t know about this website and have a love for handmade treasures, check it out right now!!

Lately I have been really fascinated by trees. I am not sure why all of a sudden they spark me, their beauty and stories and how they represent a lot about my life.  Something that has always existed in my world has so much more real meaning now. As a child I remember climbing trees, swinging from their branches, laying underneath the shade on a hot day, picking apples. And now I find peace and thought and reflection when I turn my attention to trees. I have been finding myself with the desire to sit amongst them, take pictures of them, draw them, write stories and journal about them… Tree origami, photograpy, kids books at the library, my favorite book ever is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein and I have been carrying it around with me. Most days it is too cold to be where I want to be, outside in the fresh air amongst living and growing beauty. It is very gray in Ohio and gloomy at times. I long all winter for spring, flowers and life. It’s coming soon, I’m being patient. But in the mean time, I find that by actually paying attention to those bare branches this winter, their shapes, and sizes, and uniqueness, it brings me closer to calmness and peace. To me, trees represent deep roots into our earth, spiritual connectivity.  Each tree is symbolic of something greater to us: life, wisdom, the moon and sun, strength, energy and peace. It reminds me of the cycle of life and changing. It only takes small awareness in my life to bring about hope and happiness. There are many more wonderful things I am learning about right now. Much more to come soon. In the mean time, I leave you with some pretty pictures I found online until I can upload my trees from my own camera lense. Enjoy our earth,

1. I think Sawyer from Lost is the sexiest guy ever. (Well besides my hubby of course). Must be the bad boy thing

2. I had a dream last night that my hubby was going to propose to another girl, and he showed me the ring. We were like Polygamists or something.  (Ever seen the show Big Love, it’s great!) I also frequently have dreams of catching him kiss his ex-girlfriend or other girls. When I told him about it the other day he smiled at me and said I was a super jealous person. hmmm.

3. I am desperate for my 2 year old to learn how to clean up after he plays with his toys. He will have every single toy out and about and within an hour the house will be completely destroyed.

4. My favorite movie of all time is Westside Story. It’s so romantic!

5. My favorite number is 5 (I had to put this one 5th).

6. My hubby’s favorite number is 14. And our oldest was born on December 14th. He thought that was all because of him, of course.

7. I am currently in the process of starting a local mom’s club with my sister-in-law. It’s called the Mama Tree and I am really excited about it!

8. I think my hubby snuck off to play some fighting game on the computer. He does this a lot at night when it’s near bed time and the baby gets fussy. How convenient!

9. I would move to California in one sec if the opportunity presented itself. Either there or Spain!

10. I love every single one of my neighbor’s backyards way more than my own.

11. Someday I want to have a completely “green” home!

12. I am not scared of getting blood taken but terrified of getting shots.

13. I have been contemplating having tubal ligation as permanent birth control. That is until I read details about how the procedure is performed! I’m going to make my husband do that whole snip snip thing soon.

14. Mr. Toddler is the best at whipping up some yummy play food for dinner. If only he was old enough to cook for real!

15. Since we have all been sick, the TV has stayed on for days it seems. I got so sick of cartoons today, I turned off all TVs and feel like the world is at peace again. Mr. Toddler is actually playing with his toys and reading books instead of watching that darn TV!

16. Today I took the kids to the library and it was my first trip out of the house in a looonnng time.  We read lots of books, played with puzzles and I got a bunch of new cookbooks to try. Vegetarian and vegan ones too!

17.  Speaking of vegetarianism…I have wanted to go vegetarian for a really long time now but haven’t because the hubs says he refuses to go without meat. Now everytime I cook dinner lately, I always always overcook whatever meat I am trying to prepare. I think that is a definite sign. I can’t wait for summer and farmer’s markets!!!

18. My internal clock is telling me it’s nap time. I love to sleep. And my insomnia has gotten better the last few nights because I found an awesome remedy.

 Until next time, hope you enjoyed some randomness

Since Saturday I have been plagued with what I am now pretty sure is the flu. And of course, I never get the dang flu-shot because I never get the flu. Never say never. Hubby and I both agreed we’ll be getting ours right along with the boys next year for sure!! Hubs was home Friday-Tuesday just as sick, although he was about one day ahead of me. Today he went back to work, feeling about 75%. I am still at about 25% full operating speed right now. I’m hoping by tomorrow I will start feeling like myself again. The kids have been sick too, but it’s funny with little ones, they can have fevers, coughs and head colds and still want to run and play and coo like it’s nothing. I wish I had that ambition Nevertheless, today the boys slept in until about 11am (wow!!) and I made a bunch of food and snacks and tea and we camped out in mama’s big bed watching Oswald and Sesame Street until nap time. Then when hubby got home, he took the kids downstairs and I slept until 7:00 pm!! I was so exhausted, more than anything, from not sleeping the last few nights. I tried to take some Nyquil last night because I’ve heard how good it is for knocking you out cold, but stupid me, I cannot take things like that because my body adversly reacts to cold medicines and sleeping pills. After I drank the recommended dose (yuck!!) I started to feel really sleepy and went to lay down. I was exhausted and lay in bed for hours, eyes closed praying for sleep to come. No such luck. My brain would not shut down and I started feeling really anxious from the effects of the Nyquil. Needless to say, I finally fell asleep at around 4 this morning. Boo for insomnia!

 Thankfully the babes are in bed early tonight (they need their rest too, the poor little fellas) and I’m going to take a nice hot bath and go back to sleep. I hope I can relax tonight and drift off into dreamland peacefully for once this week!!!

I have officially learned to make the best out of not so great situations ;). This weekend hubby and I were babe-free and decided to go out and celebrate old school style (aka, go to the bars and do some drinking). Instead of worrying about going to a fancy restaurant for a valentine’s dinner, we dined at one of my favorite pubs and ate bar food. I drank a couple draft beers and then we moved on to our hold stomping grounds, the bar we met at and spent many a night drinking at. It was completely dead at 7:00 pm when we got there, but hubs and I had fun playing darts and air hockey until I started feeling reallllly dizzy. We both were battling head colds which got the best of me after a not so healthy meal and drinks and more activity than I have managed in awhile. The rest of the plans flew out the window as I begged my hubby to take me home to bed. On the ride home (3o minutes approximately) I had to keep my head in between my knees or else I was going to throw up or pass out. I felt utterly miserable and I knew my babe did too because he was sneezing, eyes watering, nose dripping and we both wanted nothing more than to get home to our cave. Needless to say I was sound asleep by 10pm and spent all of today feeling pretty crappy. Now it’s way way past my bed time and I still feel horrible. I can’t sleep because I am all stuffed up and the cold has moved into my chest. I also am having periods of dizziness and nausea to top it all off. I KNOW I need to be sleeping right now because I’m pretty sure hubby is going back to work tomorrow (in spite of this horrible cold he has) and I am going to be on my own with the little guys.

Even though my Valentine’s day turned out a little sickly (haha) I was happy to be with my husband. After almost 6 years together, it feels nice to cuddle up on the couch with tea and tissues and be sickfaces together. It’s not true love without spending an anniversary/valentines day spreading some sick germ cuddles and kisses!!

So today Hubby and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. And by celebrate I mean I saw him for about  two minutes before I left for work and about 10 minutes after I got home before he was in bed at 9:15. We had a rough night last night with Mr. Buddy. He refuses to sleep, his poor cheeks are not really getting much better in spite of everything I have tried and he wakes up about 15 times a night just rubbing his cheeks raw. This weekend my in-laws are taking the boys so Hubs and I can go celebrate for real. I am excited about that but not putting too much emphasis on doing anything special because it is Valentines day, places are really crowded and I don’t want to plan a bunch of things because frankly I am reallllly tired. To the point of sleepwalking most every day. Oh and my phone broke last night and will not turn on. Now I am forced to be out of touch with people even more than I already am. It’s so frustrating some times how difficult it is to make phone calls or respond to emails the way I used to. I get sick of only having a couple minutes to myself each day away from the kids. I wish I had more time in the day to get things done that are important. But right now, I can only focus on my family and the rest of those precious moments I must take for myself or else I will lose it and wind up in the mental hospital again. ha! All joking aside, I am thankful for the moments I do have for myself and the time I get to spend with my husband, but I am a little bummed right now that this day went by as every other day does. He even had to remind me this morning that it was our anniversary because I didn’t know the date or the day of the week practically. I can only hope that this weekend we can make up for lost time. And by that I mean probably sitting on the couch watching TV and getting a good night’s sleep because that’s what us old folks do when the kids go away. :)(P.S. Did I mention in 3 years we have acquired a home, 2 cars, 2 kids, a dog and a chaotic life very UNREMINISENT to our life 3 years before all this? Even tho I miss our “us” time sometimes, I would never change the way things have turned out for us. We are both very lucky to be where we are).