So Long, 2010

Last photo of 2010!

Time Out

This is a post I wrote on a blog I used to co-author with a friend, Coastal Mommyhood.  The blog is no longer published, but I had to re-post this because it is something I definitely need right now since Christmas, and trying to remodel the house, and all the kids being home from school!

We all know what life is like as a mom...
It doesn't matter if you're a full time working mom, a part time working mom, or a stay at home mom....it doesn't matter if you have 1 kid, or 2, or 3, or more....

It is hard stuff.

Add in all the (outside and inside) pressures to be the Super Mom that gets it all done and holds it all together with a smile on your face, and you're set up for a breakdown (small or not...silently screaming inside or loudly yelling on the outside) at some point.

It's the kind of days when I feel like nothing is going my way....when all I've done is run in circles and nothing is done...the house is a mess and the laundry is everywhere...when I forget to take something out for dinner...when the baby is teething and can't be soothed....when my husband is working late and I'm exhausted...when the kids yell and fight for hours...that I finally stop the empty threats and the time out chairs....
And put MYSELF in Time Out...

Working From Home

I worked for an electrical company for a full four years before having my first son and deciding to be a stay at home mom.  In the past 6 years, between 2 more babies, going stir crazy at home, and needing the money, I have gone back to work there full time three different times.  

The last time I quit I knew it was for good as it was ridiculous to what child care cost and the fact that I did not have enough energy to take care of my home and family during my after work hours. 

Over the years I have done projects from home for that same company.

  

Earlier this year, they contacted me about working consistently from my house and I jumped at the opportunity.  

What a dream come true.  I know so many moms, myself included, who are constantly looking for ways to earn extra income while staying at home to take care of their children.  For a year I opened up my home to care for other children and while that was a great income, it was exhausting and my house was being destroyed.  I cleaned homes for extra money when my oldest son was in Mothers Day Out and my younger son was just a baby.  That worked great until Nate became a toddler and it became more difficult for me to clean and it took much longer since he was getting into everything!

But, THIS I could do!  

Data Entry.  From my own home.  My own computer.  In my PJs.  I thought it was perfect!  

The first week into it, my little bubble popped.  It. Was. So. Hard.  

Not the actual work itself.  But the taking care of three kids all day long and keeping up with my daily household chores and still finding the time to work.  

During the summer, my boys would not take naps, and it took a WHOLE LOT to wear them out enough to sit still so I could work awhile.  

Then I had to make the decision during that quiet time to work or to clean/do laundry/mop/sweep/vacuum/etc.

Once the kids were in bed at night, I was so exhausted and when I just wanted to veg out and watch TV, I either had to work or catch up on the housework.  

I thought it would get easier when school started since Sean is in Kindergarten this year and Nathan attends a pre-k every morning for a few hours.  Once I pick up Nathan, we have lunch and then Lauren goes down for her nap and it's just me and Nathan.

And it's not easier.  

You would think for a mom of three that only having one child at a time would be a piece of cake, but not in my household!  My kids are lost without each other.  They do not know how to be an "only child"!  They demand my attention at all times and if I don't give it they are into everything they should not be into.  

From the time Lauren wakes up from her nap and Sean gets home from school at 3pm until dinner is the WORST time ever.  They are cranky and fighting and wanting to eat everything in the house.  I would think they would be happy to be all back together!  

So I am still having late nights of work and catching up on housework.  

Please don't get me wrong, I am still SO GRATEFUL for this opportunity to help my family's income.  I WILL stick with it and I know that it WILL get easier as the kids grow and I get us all on schedules.  (My biggest mistake is that I have not been consistent with schedules!)  It is just not as easy as I thought it would be!

Plus, you saw what my desk looks like in this post.  It's terrible!  I am not organized at all and I have SO MUCH stuff!  

My husband says that I should not be allowed to have any flat areas in the house because I always find something to stack on top of it.  I think he's right.  My plan is to save up this year for a laptop and get rid of my desk and only have the laptop and printer.  I have this little desk that I used for all my crafts that I think I will use as a laptop station:

Ha-and see I even have stuff stacked on top of that!

Do you work from home?  What do you do?  I could really use any tips and advice for getting the work done while still take care of my children and staying on top of my housework!

Project Life

I have always wanted to be a scrapbooker.  I look at other people's scrapbooks and they are so pretty, such a beautiful way to preserve their families memories.  I have bought so many scrapbooking supplies, I have my own mini Hobby Lobby in my house.  But, much like my decorating, I get so overwhelmed by all the paper and the embellishments and the photos and the stickers and where to put what that I just do nothing.  

But, I want something for my family's memories and I want that something to be pretty.  

Hello, Project Life:

I have heard of Project Life for awhile now and it seems to be such an easy way to chronicle our day-to-day lives.  It comes with everything you need and it all coordinates, so there are no overwhelming decisions that need to be made about papers looking good together.  

You can get the Project Life kit on Amazon.  They have 2 albums this year and I went with the Amber Edition.  I love the colors and the designs.  The Turquoise Edition is a little more modern graphic.  

I am also going to be linking up to The Mom Creative every Tuesday for her Project Life Tuesdays.

  

I can't wait to see how each week turns out and to share it on here!

HOME

I just finished reading this post over at The Nesting Place.  I love it.   

Home wasn't built in a day.

We have lived in our house for 5 years, and it still doesn't feel like a home.  I am one of those people that get to the store and over think and over analyze what I want to buy so much that I don't buy anything.  

I worry so much about color/size/what people will think/how it will look/if it will match that I just do nothing.  

I have a clock in my kitchen that I've had forever and I love, and it took me a year in this house before I ever let my husband hang it on the wall in the kitchen.  

I looked at this entertainment center from Ikea for 3 years before I finally bought it.  

The only reason there is anything on the shelves is because it has no other place.  This is not the look I want.  

(Excuse the blood on the TV, it's not from the kids fighting, hubby was playing a war game!)

I want to turn my house into a HOME for my family.

I want my house to be clean and organized where everything has a place.  I have a lot of stuff.  I mean A LOT.  And it doesn't have a place.  And it's a mess.  And the kids make it messier by pulling it all out.

I can't believe I am about to show you this picture.
It should be rated R for it's graphic MESS.
It is my desk and work area in my master bedroom.

It's terrible.
And I work from home.
How awful is that?

I'm reading the Nester's 31 Days to a Less Messy Nest.
She has some great tips in there.
I don't have 31 days since everything needs to be out for the new floors to be installed, but I will use her tips as I go along.

My Plan:
 Pull everything out.
Go through everything.
Throw stuff away.
Give stuff away.
Take my time.
Bring things back in piece by piece.
Make sure I LOVE it.
Make sure it has a PLACE.
Hang stuff on the walls.
Decorate.
Show off what I love.
Don't care what other people think.
Don't care if it's not perfect.
Make my house a HOME.
And always remember:
"It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful." ~ The Nester


I'll show before and after photos as I go along!

Happy Homemaker Monday

I'm linking up to Diary of A Stay At Home Mom for her Happy Homemaker Monday today!

The weather in my neck of the woods:
48 degrees and cloudy

Things that make me happy: 
My Family

Book I'm reading:
Nothing at the moment

What's on my TV today: 
Nothing!  

On the menu for dinner:
Christmas leftovers!

On my To Do List:
Start cleaning and organizing!  Thanks to the flood, we're getting new floors through out the entire house and that means I've gotta clean!

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I haven't tried anything new lately.  I need to find some new recipes!

In the craft basket:

A clock I want to make.  Can't wait to get it done!

Looking forward to this week:
New Years Eve and fireworks!

Tips and Tricks:
Stay on top of your cleaning and keeping your house organized so that when something happens, like you need new floors, it will be easier on you!
My favorite blog post this week: 
Jesus, Our Emmanuel

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:
To be content and grateful for what I have.  More is not always better.  More is just more mess to clean up!

On my mind:
I really want a nap right now!  How did I ever make it through the day working full time and not having naps?!!!  Raising children is definitely uses more of my energy and is harder than when I worked full time!


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6

Day Spring Sale

Day Spring has started the After Christmas Sale.

I just recently discovered Day Spring  and I did a lot of Christmas shopping from there this year.

I bought this Nativity Hurricane candle set for my house this year and I absolutely love it.  It is now on sale for $39.99.

I really want this table ware set for my dining room.  It is on sale right now as well, but I'm not purchasing it yet since A) I don't have a dining room table yet and B) I have two little boys who break things.

This memo board is not on sale right now, but it was before Christmas and I bought 3 - one for myself, one for Sean's teacher, and one for a gift swap.  I use it every single day and Sean's teacher loved hers and the girls at the gift swap fought over it.  

Use code MSM20 to get an extra 20% off their site!

Peter Thomas Roth

I started using Peter Thomas Roth products a few months ago and I LOVE this product line.  My face has cleared up and feels so smooth.  I ran out of my products a couple of weeks ago and I can really tell a difference from when I used it.

Their products are pricey and with Christmas, I just didn't order anymore.

I went online tonight to order and I noticed that they are having a deal where if you buy a $50 gift card you get this little set for free:

If you become a member (which is free), you also get FREE shipping on $50 or more and 2 free samples with every order and right now a $10 gift card emailed to you with every $50 (usually you have to spend $100 to get the $10 e-gift card so I am not sure how long this $50 deal will last). 

I placed 2 orders for a $50 gift card so I will get two of these sets and then I will have the 2 gifts card + 2 $10 e-gift cards to spend on my usual skin care.  

The trial sizes will last you a good amount too.  I ordered a travel size gift set to make sure I liked the product before I made the big splurge on the full sizes, and it lasted me over a month.  

This trial size age defense kit is $56.

And this trial size acne kit is only $35.

Check it out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through! 

~Mama B

The Smell

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law's house today.  Good food.  Great company.  I love Thanksgiving.

We drove home tired and worn out.

We unlocked the door.

And the smell hit us.

A terrible, dirty, week old dishrag smell.

Then we remembered the flood that happened yesterday.  

And the water in the carpet.

And the fact that I forgot the carpet shampooer.  (Which wouldn't have worked anyway since the water had all ready soaked the carpet and the padding.)

And so we started ripping out carpet...

(Why I took pictures of the carpet being ripped out, but never took pictures of the actual mess to prove why it happened...I have no idea.  But, you tell in the picture, the darker part of the pad was soaking wet!)

The Flood

This morning was going to smooth to be true.

The kids and I all woke up in a great mood.  We had just finished breakfast and the boys were at the table coloring and Lauren was in her high chair coloring as I was cleaning up the kitchen.  There was no yelling or arguing.  The kids were laughing.  The TV was off.  Colors weren't flying all over the kitchen.  It was so peaceful.  

And that should have been my first clue.  

As I was finishing up dishes, I kept hearing the toilet in the kids' bathroom running.  The handle gets stuck sometimes and I kept thinking "in a minute I'll go fix that..in a minute."  

Well, a minute later (or twenty) I went to go fix the handle.  But, as soon as I stepped into the hallway, my feet splashed.  

The toilet overflowed...again.  And this is where I remembered that Sean said Nathan had stuck something down the toilet and we never looked to see if anything was in there.  

But, this time...THIS TIME...I discovered that the whole time I heard it running, it was spilling over water.  

Water in the bathroom.  Water in the hallway.  Water in the closet.  Water soaked into BOTH of the carpet in the kids' rooms.  Water EVERYWHERE.  

I grabbed every towel I could find.  I yelled for Sean to go get every towel from my bathroom.  

That was a mistake to call the kids because as soon as the boys discovered what happened, they decided it was so much fun to start splashing in the water.  

I soaked every towel in the house.  I rung them out and dried them and soaked them again.  And then again.  

I pulled out the wet-vac and started sucking up water.  I dried the towels and soaked them again.  

Using the wet-vac I worked and worked until my arms were so sore and I couldn't get anymore out of the carpet.  

I finally gave up and made plans to get the carpet shampooer from my sister-in-law tomorrow.  

Tomorrow.  Thanksgiving Day.  Oh man, I gotta start cooking!

For Someday

Any time my kids do something that make me want to laugh/cry/scream/pull my hair out/smile/get a full time job and put them in daycare, I am always given the same wonderful words of wisdom from many people in my life: SOMEDAY you will miss this.  SOMEDAY you will laugh about this.  SOMEDAY you will want this back.  


And a few somedays later, I always do.

So, I am writing this post for someday, so that I can read back and laugh about it.

Today was one of those crying/screaming/pulling my hair out days.

My husband and first child share the same birthday.  Since my husband hasn't really celebrated a birthday in the 6 years since our son was born and he is turning 30 this year, I wanted to do a little surprise dinner for him.

So, last night I made sure the house was spotless.  This doesn't happen very often.  Not at all, actually.  My plan was to get up early this morning, finish up some laundry, get me + all the kids ready, and when my hubby came home from work, take him out to a nice dinner...where all our family would be waiting to surprise him.

I opened my eyes this morning to see my two boys sitting on the edge of my bed watching cartoons.  My two boys that were covered head to toe in white powder.  I laid my head back down on the pillow with a sigh.

Then as I thought to myself we don't have any baby powder, I sat straight up in bed.

I asked my oldest what was all over them, which he replied "powder", like duh, mom.

As I was still half asleep I told him to go get the bottle of powder.

Imagine my freak out and great panic when he brings me a bottle of COMET.  Yes, the cleaning, scrubbing kind of powder.

They were COVERED in it.  I jumped out of bed and immediately put them in the shower.  While they were rinsing off, I called poison control.  As he was laughing his head off, the man from the poison control assured me that my boys would be fine.  Just some very dry itchy skin.

After getting them all cleaned off and lotioning them down like crazy, I wrapped them in towels and headed to their room to get them dressed.

I stopped at the edge of my bedroom door.

My ENTIRE house was covered in Comet.  From the front door, all over the dining room, through the living room, and stopping at my bedroom.  The floor was solid white.

This is where I screamed.

I tip toed through the house with the boys and got them dressed and sat them at the kitchen table and threatened them not to move.  Then, I had to get my baby girl up and put her in the high chair with her breakfast.

Then, I swept.  And swept.  And vacuumed.  And mopped.  And mopped.  And mopped.  And mopped.  FOR THREE HOURS.

My mom showed up to save the kids  help me.  She brought a steam cleaner for hardwood floors, so I steam cleaned and then steam cleaned some more.

About 5 minutes after all the floors were finally clean and I had let the kids move from the kitchen, I hear Sean yell "Mama, Nathan put something in the toilet and there's water in here!"

I ran into the bathroom and found myself standing in ankle deep toilet water.

This is where I pulled my hair out.

After cleaning that mess up, my dear husband called to tell me that he will be working late.  As in, probably all night late.

This is where I cried.  And sobbed.  And cried and sobbed some more.

After the day that I had, and all the surprise planning for his birthday, there was no way he could not come home all night long.

I hated ruining the surprise for him, but he must have heard the desperation in my voice and was maybe a little worried about the kids' safety, but he came home...On time.