Thoughts on a Wednesday

My post today is a bit scattered so I've just entitled it "Thoughts."

Birthday party update
The birthday party went really well. We had almost 30 people in the house--crazy! Most of those are related too. Miss Rose was classic opening her gifts. Every gift she opened she called out "WOW" in this super excited voice. She got a pair of shoes and gave a "wow" when she took the first one out of the box, and then said "and another one" at the 2nd shoe. As if someone would have given her just one shoe!

I ended up finding a party favor I was pleased with. Target had some cute little kids cups (straw cups for the toddlers, tumblers for the preschoolers and acrylic for the big kids) that were $3 or less. I put some candy in each and that was it! I felt good that it is something useful and not toys that break.

Miss Gracie will be having a family only birthday dinner! She's 1 people...it will be enough!

Smart Girl
Okay, I have to share this story about my smart little 4 yr old. I think she has an almost photographic memory.

We were driving down a local street and passed by a lot with mounds of dirt where they are going to be building a new shopping center.

Her: "Mama, are they building a new Henry's there or something?"
Me: in a surprised voice "Actually yes, they are. How did you know that?"
Her: "Well, I saw a sign."
Me: "How did you know what it said?"
Her: "It was green and white and well, I just know some words."

Oh--like I shouldn't be surprised. She just knows some words?? HA! It's a store we go to often so I guess she's just learned what the sign looks like. It reminded me that probably before she was 2 yrs old, anytime she saw the "Babies R Us" sign (even on the back of the building) she'd say "Elmo" because she always rode in an Elmo car there.

Other thoughts
Why am I stressing over when to plan the 3rd and final child in our family? I realized that I need to focus on the children I have, and not compromise time with them in order to be ready for #3 in my own timing. That baby will come when the time is right.

I love learning! I am a school junkie. I am taking a course this semester and I am just eating it up! When we are getting new info in class, I'm just so excited. I am a nerd. And yes, it's a subject I really enjoy, but I honestly think I would be this way regardless the subject.

Birthday Parties stress me out

So, Miss Rose is turning 4 on Saturday. When I was growing up, I maybe had 4 actual parties with people other than my parents and siblings there. Birthdays usually weren't celebrated with extended families. I never remember going to my cousins' birthdays either.

But, I guess in the last 10 or 15 years things have changed. Birthday parties have moved up a whole notch or 12. So many people I know throw parties for their kids every year with many invited. Sure, it's fun. But it's also a lot of work. And as a parent--and this is just my own thing--I feel pressure to have this perfect party. Not that my 4 year old knows, and probably not that others are judging my party.

I had a draining day at work on Tuesday and found myself at Party City and Target at 8pm that night. I found out that...

1. Toy Story is not a popular birthday theme right now. But Miss Rose loves Buzz Lightyear. I ended up with bright green party gear to match Buzz. It's the best I could do.

2. All party favors are CRAP. We have so many little toys around and I know I don't need more, so I figure others probably feel the same. Not to mention the fact that party guests range from 1 year to 14 years old! I wandered the favors isle for 20min trying to find stuff that wasn't crap and wasn't expensive.

3. Target isn't stocking the art easel I want for Miss Rose. Neither is Toys R Us. What is that all about? Seriously now. Thankfully I found it at a local toy stoy. I guess after Christmas the stores don't have it.

4. Birthday parties give me ANXIETY! I drove home a MESS!

In the end I know that we are going to have fun. I'm thankful that my daughters have a healthy, functional extended family that want to be around and share these special occasions with us. I need to take a lesson from my dear husband and just relax.

Now...what am I going to do for Miss Gracies 1st birthday in 3 months? AHHHH. Breathe Corrina, just breathe. :)

So far so good

So, January is close to being over. Let's see how I'm doing on those resolutions.

-I am eating pretty healthy and exercising. Haven't gotten to the toning part yet though.

-we are breaking the TV addiction and Miss Rose is doing pretty well with it. Her new thing is pbskids.org so I have to be sure to monitor total "screen time."

-I'm doing 50% with planning meals

-doing better with cleaning, organizing etc. I could always do better though.

I've been focusing on speaking more seriously with Miss Rose and not raising my voice. I think I'm seeing some results with it. She is understanding that I mean business and she is expected to obey. Hopefully over time it will result in better behavior and following through the first time!

Here's the rest of 08.

The New Year

It's a new year. It's been a while since I made new year's resolutions. It just seems so trite and trivial most of the time. Everyone makes them, but who really keeps them? But, for some reason, I'm motivated in my life right now to make some positive changes, so I've made some resolutions this year.

My resolutions...

1. Keep getting fit (exercise, healthy eating). I need to tone up majorly!

2. Less TV for my 4 year old. She kind of has a TV addiction at certain times of the day. She freaks if we are out at night and her "shows" are over when we get home and she goes straight to bed. I'm okay with her watching some TV when the time is right...but not okay with a temper tantrum when I say no.

3. More planned meals for the family. With hubby working a 2nd job and me with the kids 4 nights a week alone...planned meals aren't happening too often. But it's important to me that we eat balanced meals and my girls learn to eat at the table.

4. Stay more organized. Put things away. Less clutter.

5. Don't sit down at night until the house is under control. Too often I sit for a breather once the kids are in bed. But I never get up again! I lose the motivation to do what needs to be done (dishes, clean up, prepare for work next day).

Resolutions I SHOULD make

1. No more Diet Coke. I'm addicted. It's better than it used to be. I drink about 1 can a day. I was drinking 3 a few months ago. All that aspertame cannot be good for me!

2. Make my bed every day. Hubby would LOVE if I did. (I'm last out of bed). But it's just not a priority for me I guess.

3. Less time on the internet. HA HA. I'm here right now!! It's become my nightly unwinding.

4. Read intellectual books. I am addicted to cheesy Christian Romance novels. Especially those set in previous centuries. Give me a romance novel on the prairie, or in Amish country and I'll read all night.

5. Only organic, wholesome food for my family. Honestly--I'd love to do this...if I could afford it and if I had the time. But, I don't on either count. So, I'll do the best I can. I make a lot of my own baby food and I'm buying cage-free organic eggs among other things, but I still buy my daughter Cheez-its because we both love them!!

Hope your new year is all you hope it will be. It probably won't be, but you'll do the best you can with it!

Fried

That's what I am right now. And it's not even 2pm. Running errands with kids just does me in.

You've never done it? Oh please, let me fill you in.

1. She cries because I closed the car door and she wanted to.

2. I have to go to the bathroom--she doesn't--but proceeds to touch everything she can in the bathroom, including the nasty feminine product box.

3. She disappears down isles and asks if she can have EVERYTHING for Christmas.

4. She wants to play the sample video games they have out.

5. Oh wait, we are at the other end of the store but now SHE has to go potty.

6. Now she wants to ride in the cart. Have you ever tried to put an almost 4 yr old who is the size of a 5-6 year old in a cart?

7. Back to the other side of the store.

8. Continues to ask for EVERYTHING. I can't wait until Christmas is over and there is no reason for her to ask.

9. Whew, finally, we are done.

10. Oh wait, even though she usually throws a fit if she doesn't buckle herself in, today she throws a fit when I tell her she needs to do it because I am loading the car.

THAT is why I am fried.

At least I am done with my Christmas shopping now. Don't EVEN get me started on how much I have to wrap in the next 3 days.

It's the Holiday Season

But I don't feel so holiday-ish. I have 5 days to get into the Christmas spirit and enjoy it. I think I can do it. Today was my last day of work for 10 days or so. I'm excited about that. I have some weekend stuff, but no office :)

Let's see...I did downsize a lot of toys. I still have too many though. LOL! I'll just keep cycling through every few months and finding stuff to give away. ER doesn't miss anything I've given away.

Diet Coke...I'm down to 1 a day, max of 2. Most days, just 1. I control it, it's not controlling me!!

I told my daughter that we have a vacation coming up--since I don't have to work and she isn't going to daycare next week. She says "no mama. A vacation is when you go somewhere new, not when you stay home." Ah, little minds.

I'm off for another cupcake. Maybe I am in the holiday spirit after all!

Downsizing

I have a split personality when it comes to my children's toys. 50% of the time I complain about how many toys my 3 yr old has and how I barely had any toys growing up and would never have known. We did have toys...but it was a minimal amount compared to how many kids have these days. We were much more "outside" kids. We collected snails, made wagons out of cardboard boxes, played Little House on the Prairie type of games. I *might* have a photo of myself in a coonskin cap.

But, then when I comes to downsizing and cleaning out my daughters toy box, I have such a hard time donating and selling stuff. If I've seen her play with an item more than 2 times, I can't seem to get rid of it. Plus, she has a steel trap of a memory and I just know the minute I get rid of something, she'll be asking me where it is.

Today I was taking a few strollers I no longer need (it took me a while to part with those too) to the baby resale and I saw a play kitchen that isn't in use. It was given to us a few years ago, and at one time my daughter played with it a ton. But, the last few houses we've lived in haven't had room for it--so it was outside or in storage. I don't forsee a place for it in the near future. So, I went with my whim and sold it. I know she is going to be upset when she realizes it. But it just made so much more sense to downsize now... and at some point when we have room for a larger play item, we'll get her another one. Used of course.

I still have so many toys that need to be downsized. There's the Little Tykes Noah's Ark that of course she played with for the first time in 6 months today. It's on the list of things that need to go. But not just yet I guess.