Running Away

"Will, get back up to the table right now!"
"Mommy, I say you can't yell at me or I'm gonna run away!" Did my TWO year old just threaten to run away????
"Did you just say you are going to run away?"
"Yes, I am gonna run away!"
"Where are you going to go?"
"I am going to go to the living room so I can hide!"

Okay, phew. At least he isn't packing a bag yet. I remember the time my sister Lisa decided to run away. She was probably 3 or 4. She packed her suitcase, stormed out the front door, and made it to the neighbors yard before she decided to head back home. Short trip. My mom was waiting for her at the door and when she checked to see what Lisa had packed in that little suitcase of hers she found only several pairs of one item....Underwear. Apparently, my sister knew what was most important in life. Clean underwear.

So, Will isn't quite to the point of leaving the house in his frustration at me, but this morning I had a glimpse of what is inevitable. His strong little will is most assuredly going to result in him packing a suitcase one day and leaving me a nasty note to let me know how he feels. I did this to my mom at age 9 and fully intended to leave the house in the dark on my bike until my 2 year old brother stopped me. He called my name right as I headed down the driveway and my mom realized what was going on. Thank God for His intervention. I shudder to think what might have happened.
Today was one of "those" types of mornings. I felt irritable and PMSey and Will was definately pushing my buttons. I hope to never really nag at my children so much that they really do want to run away from me, even if it is just to the other room. It was a little wake-up call and I had to do an attitude adjustment. Needless to say, the rest of the day went great and I had a good laugh over the incident.

Too Much To Do!

My sister asked me last night if I am manic right now or something. It is a legitimate question. Here are all the things I have done and I am trying to tackle simultaneously.

1. We picked 3 large buckets of strawberries yesterday because just 1 or 2 wouldn't have been enough to keep me busy for a week. After we picked the first two I just COULD NOT RESIST picking more of those ripe, large, juicy berries and Will was having so much fun, I paid an extra $6 just to pick another huge bucket. I am cursing at myself now as I have cleaned 2 of the buckets, made 11 16oz. jars of jam, froze a few bags, made smoothies with some, made strawberry shortcake last night and have a bowl full of strawberry puree in the fridge. I still have a LARGE bucket full worth of strawberries sitting on my counter. For Heavens Sake! No wonder my friends asked me yesterday what on earth I was going to do with all those berries.

2. I have an etsy shop ready to open with several handmade items. Just need to sit down and open the shop. First, I need to come up with a name. I am a little stumped on that one. Bratalie Natalie?

3. I have a new idea for another etsy shop that I think will be hotter than hairbows. More to come on that idea. I have not completed all of my handiwork, but the shop will be up soon and I'll be sure to let you all know! I devoted all of Monday to creating this new idea and need to devote a few more afternoons to it.

4. I am trying to mentally redecorate an entire house. Have you ever tried to redecorate an entire home all at once? It is ridiculously unnecessary. I just cannot shut my brain off. I realize we need to take it one room at a time, but I have spent hours perusing magazines for ideas for our new home so I can pick my paint colors. I am addicted. We move in on the 26th of May.

5. I am in the middle of creating a wall hanging for Will's room. It is so cute. I will post a picture as soon as it's done.

6. I found and bought two amazing, matching midcentury modern upholstered armchairs for my new living room. I need to have them reupholstered.

7. I ordered fabric to reupholster my dining room chairs. Online it looked like perfect fabric for my dining room chairs. When it arrived I realized the print is too big for my dining room chairs and the fabric is more perfect for my new living room chairs. What do you think? I think it will look "anthropologie"ish.

This just skims the surface of what has been going on in my life the last two weeks. I am so scattered with all the creative planning that I am exhausting myself. All of this is a reason I have not been writing. I haven't been able to slow my brain long enough to think about my writing.

Testing Mommy

"Will, Ooooh, please don't bash your car into the wall!"
"Natalie, don't push out the screen...you might hurt yourself and the screen..."
"No, don't write on the wall with mommy's eye liner!"
"Where did you find that bubble marker? You can't color the floor with that!"
"What do you mean you were swinging from the curtains? Is that is how you pulled the entire rod, screws and all out of the wall and chunks of plaster with it?"

Ever since we decided to turn in our notice to move out of our rental home it is like our children are on a mission to do irreconcilable damage to it. I am so scared we won't survive the next 30 days without losing ALL of our security deposit. It is kind of funny. It is like they KNOW that we are trying to be extra careful. They have definately become cohorts in crime lately. Their favorite new hiding place is in our empty fireplace. I am a little concerned about this as our new house will actually have a woodburning fireplace. Our current home doesn't even have the logs and it is not connected to a gas line so it never concerned me to much if they played around it. We will have some explainin to do when we move!
Today, Will sat in the fireplace eating his reward for taking his nap and following his sleep rules. I looked over to see him slipping Natalie his m&m's. She was in chocolate heaven. She kept reaching for more. "Will, don't feed Natalie your m&m's. She is too little!"
"Oh, okay mommy" Then he would pretend to drop one within her reach and she would snag it as quickly as she could. I gave up. My 3 year old outwitted me.

A New House?

The last week has been a blur. The biggest decisions are facing us and my stomach is a knot of gurgling anxiety this morning. To be brief, we decided a week ago that all fingers were pointing toward purchasing our first house. In a flurry we met with the mortgage broker, searched the town over with our new realtor and on Friday decided on a house we both loved. Negotiations took place over the weekend and today is the day to sign the papers. We had our moments of cheering and hugging and planning. Then the anxiety hit my husband and I don't know what to do. Is it a sign from God or the normal reaction to being the sole provider in a household and fearing the "what ifs"?
What if:
-his job transfers him in 6 months and we have to resell too soon?
-we can't resell and we're stuck with a mortgage and rent somewhere else?
-the housing market continues to decline and we lose a ton of money?
-we're paying more than we should for the neighborhood it's in?
-we don't buy and continue to rent only to be here for 3 more years and lose out on a huge opportunity?
For some reason, I have had peace and have not felt this anxiety. I am aware these questions loom, but I don't fear them. I don't know if it is because of my personality that LOVES to dive headfirst into things without thinking things through, or if it is God given peace. I hope it is the latter!
Update: We signed the papers this morning so as long as the inspection goes through, the house is ours!

To Create the Hair Bow

Thanks for all of your inquiries about hair bow making! I have just been teaching myself through tutorials online, and yes, I use a hotglue gun! I do use a needle and thread for part of the process as well. I found this great site which taught me about the standard bow and the korker. There seems to be plenty of other ideas on there too! I also used this site to learn how to line my alligator clips. Happy Bow Making!

Easter Chocolate Bliss

Has anyone else eaten too much chocolate today?

I realize chocolate is not the purpose of Easter Sunday but somehow it managed to work its way into our home and there are remnents of it everywhere! My 2 year old finally ate something other than chocolate at dinner tonight. All he could talk about was his Easter Bunny Basket. We did not put candy in his basket. He received a few books and miscellaneous train stuff. He does however have chocolate from the THREE easter egg hunts he has been on in the past 4 days. I am not sure he gets the point of Easter yet. I tried to be all Spiritual with him to try to help him understand but he just said, "Oh" and then asked for more candy. Natalie is catching on as well. She had a Hersey's Kiss crammed in her mouth, aluminum wrapper and all and screamed when I took it away. I am trying to help eat all the stuff up so we can get back to healthy eating again soon. It is a tough job, but somebody has to do it!

Hair Bow Mania

My daughter is modeling the first hair bow I have ever made. I made it yesterday afternoon and have made about 6 other types since . Each one gets a little better than the one before. I am really excited! I think my husband is alarmed that I have a new addiction. At first I think he was excited. Then I noticed him nervously asking, "So, ummm...are you working on hair bows again right now?" My 2 year old insists on sitting on my lap the whole time. That does seem to affect my ability to get it all straight. I have been keeping him busy with clothespins. Hobby Lobby has a new daily visitor. Me. Though I think they all shudder when they see me come in with my troop. They have figured out there is going to be a loud toddler running and a crazed mama chasing.

Ooooh, I also made a Hair Bow Holder on Thursday. I will post a picture of that tomorrow!

The Joys of Shopping in a Small Town

Have you ever spent an hour in TJ MAXX with a 3 year old, a 2 year old, a 1 year old and an 11 month old?

Okay, so there were 2 mommies. I was one of them. Brandy was the other. My 2 year old went so haywire in that store that I felt like I had all 4 or maye even 50 children I was handling.
"Will?? Where are you?" I called. No answer.
"Will! Come back!" hoping he would have a change of heart and quit hiding in the racks of clothes.
"Will!!!!! I CANNOT SEE YOU!!! WHERE ARE YOU???" nothing.
I started running through the store unable to see or hear him anywhere. Panic was setting in and i felt like I might hyperventilate. What if someone were to snatch him? Finally, Brandy called me back that he had returned to our cart.
This scenario was on repeat. I tried putting him in the cart. He climbed out.
I tried holding him. He squirmed away. I let him walk with me and then he would suddenly lunge military style under the racks and crawl away as quickly as he could. I caught him by one limb. I took him to the toys. There is only one thing for me to look at by the toys. Okay, so two things. Toys, which I am not going to buy, or children's clothes, and inevetibley once again I bought HIM a new shirt. That's because the childrens clothes are right by the toys, and I felt like shopping. I think I have discovered why my children have so many new clothes and I do not. It is because stores that sell childrens clothes cater to children. Both my children do great when I am shopping for them. It is like they know, "Hey, I better behave if I want something new!"
If I ever even spend 10 minutes shopping for myself all holy mahem lets loose. Needless to say, I bought a dress for myself too, but didn't even try it on. I saw it as I left the store, hanging on clearance for $20 and thought, "hey, I can try it on at home in the peace of my own bedroom without my child crawling under the dressing room walls to 'see the lady next door'."
Needless to say, I was sweating, out of breath, frazzled and more than distracted when I got them out to the parking lot. Thinking, and maybe even muttering out loud, "Why do I do this to myself?"
"Will sit down in the cart while I put Natalie in the car!"
"Will, SIT DOWN!" as I buckle Natalie.
"WILL, SIT DOWN! YES, MAAM MOMMY???"
I hear a male voice in the distance, "Looks like you've got your hands full!"
Oh, gosh. Did he hear me yelling? "Yes, I do!" I responded as I looked up into the face of my husand's boss and his wife. Does the pavement open up and swallow me in it?
I smile, try to quit breathing heavily, and put on the best face possible in light of my current embarressment.
"He sure is adorable!" he says of my 2 year old. He is? I feel confused about who he is talking about. Oh yes, that's right. He IS adorable. They just didn't see how he was acting for the last hour.
"Oh, can we see Natalie?" They rush to peak in at Natalie. All I can think about is my FILTHY car and I want to apologize but feel frozen in place. I have been meaning to take it to have it detailed for weeks, but that too feels like too much work to get the carseats out with both kids at the carwash.
It was great to see them, but I did let my embarressment sort of get in the way of my sociability. They probably were wondering what was wrong. Nothing is wrong. I am just a disorganized and frazzled mom who does her best to put on a good face at all times.

Back to Reality

Reality bites. Or so they say! I would say the last two days have been my first readmission into normalcy after 2 1/2 weeks of play. Cleaning my house and buying groceries is not my number one idea of a good time and that is how I have been spending this week.

Our trip to California was immediately followed up by a 9 day visit from my mama. I meant to blog, but she would have probably been the topic every day so I decided to wait. I mean, we had a great time, so I do not mean that to insult her. She is just such a prime target for me to tease. Something about her constant analysis of my life. I love her so much, but she always gives me a good amount of material to write about. Sorry mom! She was absolutely wonderful with my children and so much fun to have at our house. The perfect guest! We took a few day trips and just tried to soak up the time together.
One of our activities on a rainy day involved me teaching her her how to use Facebook. I could writie for a week on the process of teaching her how to use it, but in the end she became a TOTAL addict. I could hardly pry her away from the computer the last few days she was here. Another reason I did not blog.
Cackle, cackle, giggle, giggle. "That is sooo funny!" she exclaimed.
"What is funny, mom?"
"Oh, Rebecca said she is cleaning her oven and it smells really bad!"
I read that a few days back and didn't find it that humurous, but whatever floats her boat.
"The funny thing is, she was cleaning it at 10 pm!"
I smile, but am thinking I don't see the humor in that either as that is exactly when I would probably find time to clean my oven.
Anyway, it was fun, and I am totally to blame for her new addiction.
She called me when she got home. "I don't know. Your dad has already given me all the warnings about how some people find it 'very addicting' and 'there have been young people giving it up for lent'! I just hope no stalker finds me by hacking into my profile and tracking me down in my hometown!" She has been very concerned about the security of facebook.

Okay....so enough about that. I have to clear the cobwebs out of my brain from all this fun and get my writing brain back on. Until tomorrow.....