She wouldn't do that, or would she?

I know what you're thinking..
What is that?
Dog hair? No doesn't match the color of our furbabies.

Barbie/Baby doll Hair? No the barbies are packed up still, and babies are bald.

Hmmmm...

I did the same when I saw this pile of mess HIDDEN in the trashcan, (in between the liner and the can)
As you know by this  post, I was feeling a great bit under the weather for a couple days. We were taken out by a sickness, completely taken down by some unknown virus, just cowardly enough to take out both responsible adults at the same time!!

I worried about 7 kids taking care of themselves while I was passed out sweating off fevers, but had full faith that the aliens teens would help watch and care for the younger two.  Our lil Monkey Princess was also sick at home with both Mr. Amazing and me all week. To be honest I wasn't even aware of the fact i had kids on Wednesday I was just that sick.

So imagine my surprise when I finally made it back to planet earth begin to try to clean the house. Everything looked normal, and when the trash was bagged to be taken out, there was a pile of this at the bottom. So nicely hidden, hoping that Mom wouldn’t find it.


Really what is it? And then slowly it dawns on me... NO NOT AGAIN, She wouldn't?!


I really should not have been surprised this has only been attempted by her 5 times now!! By Wednesday afternoon, children's Motrin had kicked in and she was apparently restless.


We have had the "talks" about how she shouldn't cut her own hair. We've hidden scissors,and tried to make it all but impossible for these things to happened. We even took Our Lil Monkey Princess to have her hair cut, when she really wanted it a few months ago, hoping to starve off another one of these moments.  I really thought at the age of 7 this was behinds us, a few moments for the baby book, or even stories to tell the future husband. when he wakes up with a shaved head


So I had to know, why? Why would Our Lil Monkey Princess who has beautiful Dark locks, that are envied by so many others, want to chop them off?? I am guessing you want to know too right?











So i asked, and guess what she said to defend herself? .....


SHE WAS BORED. She cut 9 inches of hair off the top her head about 3 inches wide because she was without self entertainment while I was sick!!!


So nine inches cut off her hair, made for 9 days of grounded from her brand new birthday present.

Next time I feel a little under the weather, I am calling in reinforcements before I'm taken down (and hiding all sharp objects in the house!)

WFMW- Looks like my hand is out of work

With the cold, sinus infections and flu season in full effect right now, it has hit our house yet again. This time  there are  four of us are sick all at once.  To make things even worse this time it's both me and my Mr. Amazing together. It's pretty miserable around my house right now, so for me to even take the time to write a blog, you know it must be a good one :)


 Two of the kids are sick along with us. Usually I can touch their temples and tell you pretty accurately what their temperatures are. The kids dislike this and often feel like they are sicker than my hand tells them. It doesn't matter  to them that every time we go to the doctor for an illness- my hand is reading the same thing the ear thermometers do within just a tenth of a point!!  They often  need more convincing that they are indeed not too sick to go to school, and with no fever(or other symptoms) will not be staying home.

We've owned many thermometers but they are often are misplaced after using them just frustrates the kids with how long they take. Since my hand method works, I've been happy to not fix what was not broken. I've never invested in a pricey at home ear thermometer. Two days ago before I was also one of the sick parents, I broke down and bought a new thermometer. (I think I knew my own hand would be too sick to check little temples)










This is not your average thermometer, I had no idea how much I would like this thing, and for under $14 it is an awesome purchase. First it takes their temps within 8 seconds. It has a comfort flex tip and a larger screen to see the temperature. The BEST part is the fever insight color changing display with backlight read outs!!! When it is done reading it will beep (loudly) and then it will show the temperature in one of three colors. (Green for ok, yellow for mild, and red for high) The kids are LOVING this thing!!


They don’t even argue with me when I tell them that their temperature is normal as they would the traditional thermometers. (being 6 or 7 a number of 98 seems high no matter how many times I tell them what a "normal" temp is) This thermometer beeps, shows the temp in green, yellow or red and I get NO arguments!!


Did I mention it comes with $10 worth of Vick’s coupons and disposable thermometer covers?

Looks like my hand has been outdone (unless I can attach multi-color led lights to blink after I do a temple check?)


You can check out other good ideas check out  http://www.wearethatfamily.com/

Honoring My Soldier & All The Veterans Who Serve And Are serving Our Great Nation!!

I never understood the true meaning of this day as a child.  I knew simply it meant one more day at home from school, to sleep in and play with my friends.  What a lifetime ago that feels today!!  I am so proud to be married to a man who serves in the military.  I now know the real meaning of this day and with a proud heart I write this blog.  Today I want to say THANK YOU to not only my husband but to so many brave soldiers, past and present who fought for our freedoms!! 







My Soldier, My Love, My Hero!! 
Thank you for all the sacrifices you have made with each time you answered  that call with a brave heart.   Thank you for your love and desire to make this world a better, safer place for your family & so many others you don't even know.  Thank you for fighting for equality and for our freedom.  



There is nothing that you would not do for our family, your commarades and our country. Because of your unselfish givings we live one more day in the land of the free.  

So many people call you amazing but I get to call you mine :)




HAPPY VETERANS DAY!!
   This year I am blessed to have my Soldier home.  I can't help but to still think of those soldiers deployed, especially as the holdiays are coming up.

 You don't have to believe in the war, but we all  should feel proud to support the men and women who are doing their duty as they are called upon to fight  for equality and to defend freedom. Our soldiers,  our men and women,  are so far away from home, and need our support. Wear the ribbons, send the packages, but please don't forget to pray for them daily. Welcome them home and thank them personally when you can! Let them know America is proud of their service. Don't let one soldier feel alone while he is so far from home, let them all know we are thinking of them. http://www.anysoldier.com/ Try here for soldiers who are not getting the support from the homefront while deployed. Stand up America. They need you. 
   I did not make this video but it is such a great one and I wanted to share!!

WWFMW CHAOS (CAN'T HAVE ANYONE OVER SYNDROME)ELIMINATION BEGINS

I am a victim of CHAOS in my own home!! (Can't have anyone over syndrome) It is frantic for me if I receive a phone call that we have guests coming in for the weekend. I am tossing things in places they don't need to be, pushing stuff in hidden corners, not because I am lazy and don't want to clean, but because the clutter is so overwhelming i often don't have enough time to get it done before guests arrive. So you would think that during the weeks, days, months that we have no visitors, I would organize, unpack boxes from our move (5months ago) but alas, I have good intentions but not good follow through. I'm lacking a solid plan that works. I am so completely overwhelmed with getting things organized and putting things in their place. I LOVE organization sections in stores, love the bins, labels, shelves, and I've been known to purchase quite a few of those. Buying them, and bringing them home, with good intentions, and it often starts off well, but again it's that long term commitment to keeping it put up and away that gets me every time.










Now let me clarify my house is not dirty, the dishes are done, the bathrooms cleaned, floors cleaned, furniture dusted weekly (but needs it daily). Beyond that, it starts to be a problem. Mail piles up on the office desk, folded clothes don't always make it out of the laundry room, and the kid’s bedroom-well I just close their doors and pretend they aren't there!! We have two levels of the house, and If I can keep the downstairs maintained, I feel like I am doing good!!

I've given lots of thoughts on what went wrong, and realize that what happened, I let things slide and over time that became my daily normal. I've had the motto that if my house isn't perfect, so what, I'm blessed to be able to spend my day with Mr. Amazing before he goes off to work. I ENJOY that time, but after he leaves in the afternoon, I'm left with NO time to accomplish much outside of helping with homework, dinner with the kids, cleanup of dinner, baths and if I'm lucky I can sit with them to spend "quality" time before bedtime. So I will do one of two extremes, I will clean until my bones hurt, for hours at a time or I will go to bed and forget it all! Of course I have 6(7 now) "helpers" who WERE at one time properly trained at one time to put things away, do the chores on their lists. Now I am lucky to get the get one child (out of 6) to do their chores without grumblings to the point I give in and do it myself.

Now on to fix it.



Like i said I'm OVERWHELMED with where to start and needed help. So what this is is what has worked for me in the past, and I'm super excited to have "remembered" my FlyLady. I can’t tell you enough how well this does work!! I'm even more excited to see in the years since I was once "Flying" with the best of them, there is now a online radio broadcast- COME on that's cool, even for those clean junkies, I'm sure they could learn a thing or two as well. Or Possibly the Clean Angels I envy can even help by contributing to the show, my blog, or post your own ideas to help the rest of us strugglers to come to the point with our homes and as I've learned, a direct connection with our personal life to improve!!

FLY LADY YOUR PERSONAL ONLINE COACH So check it out, and follow the links to the getting started, and take it from my past experience don't get impatient and jump ahead of the lists, do it as it's written. There are lessons there, you will find yourself loving your home, and even more importantly yourself!!

It is so easy to stick to this, (Ps there is even really efficient chore list, broken down by hot zones, etc)
















FLY LADY YOUR PERSONAL ONLINE COACH
"My prayer for all my fellow SHEs is that each finds happiness and pride in ourselves and our accomplishments. That we raise our children to be good, productive, and happy people. And that we light up a room with our smile." - FlyLady



Looking for for more great ideas?  HEAD ON OVER TO That family the host of WWFMW . FOR MORE GREAT IDEASON WHAT WORKS FOR ME WEDNESDAYS

what works for me during the holidays

This is my first post for Wednesday what works for me & lucky me the theme is  holdiays!!

Christmas is my FAVORITE time of the year!! I love just about everything about the season, from celebrating the Christ child's birthday, to spending the holidays with family, the baking, cookie swaps, big family dinners, desserts, and the smells of all things christmas. :) (I'm a scent kind of girl) I even enjoy my birthday being  just 5 days after Christmas.  I have found that being a blended family we do have a few more challenges to make the season memorable for the right reason and not for the stress of trying to do it all. With the mine, ours (and now after so many years,  we're blessed to have his too) we will be rearranging some of the Christmas outings. The busyness, and hustling from house to house, can definitely take away from the Christmas pleasures.  Here are just a few things that works for us.

1. Big families MUST plan, plan, and plan
We plan ahead as much as possible. Since I come from a large family (youngest grandchild of 23 and my oldest is the youngest great grand of 24!!) there are far too many parties to even try to attend them all!!

We usually rotate holidays, one year we try to spend thanksgiving with his family, and next with mine. Because I also alternate holidays with my ex, we do not always get to spend the actual holiday on the day with all of our kids since their winter break is divided- it's odd year through Christmas day at noon with me, even years with their dad.

Years ago we stopped traveling at ALL on Christmas Day!! We lounge around and take the day in. (the only travel is with the older three's dad)

2: Decorating in our own personal Style
Christmas decorations start the day after thanksgiving (unless I can convince Mr. Amazing to let me deck the house out earlier!!) We usually try to travel to Cashiers NC to the tree farms for our tree. There is no better smell than a fresh cut Frasier fir tree!! If it is a year where we can't travel, we will drag out the fake Christmas tree, and fluff it up a little. If this is the option, it is usually not decorated until very close to Christmas when all hopes of a real tree hunt is out.

There are multiple trees in our home. One boy's tree, one girl's tree, and this year Blondie will get her own tree in her room! The kids are allowed to decorate it any way they choose as long as it's not a fire hazard!! There have been years where they have put nothing but lights, or matchbox cars hanging from hooks, favorite dolls around the bottom, and pictures of friends, Barbie shoes, or even candy trees. It's fun to see how creative the kids can be with their tree.

I've found over the years that I was rearranging the ornaments on our family tree far more often than I wanted to. Of course like many others, the kids (all 5 mind you!!) would hang the ornaments in bunches on one branch. I could not help but to rearrange them. It became apparent the year our tree fell over, that allowing the ornaments to stay bunched up was not an option! So, I bought Christmas trees for each child's room and one for the upstairs hallway at home (at the time). We have 6 trees decorated during the holidays!!

3: All new Ornaments must have meaning
I love Christmas ornaments!! Some people have perfectly beautiful color coordinated trees. One day I hope to have a Mall tree for our formal living room (l which will be in that dream house I want) . For us, it’s a very personal Christmas tree.
Every year we try to add a special ornament to the tree that symbolizes something important in the lives of our family or in the children's lives. We have such a beautiful eclectic collection of ornaments. Some of my favorites are a small angel holding a birthday cake saying “happy birthday Jesus”, Santa with a Hawaiian shirt, (trip to Hawaii of course), Ballet girls (memorable for recitals). We collect ornaments through the year to symbolize trips, births of kids, pet additions, and even some in memory of those family members who are not with us anymore. (When Mr. Amazing was deployed, we decked a tree in complete red/white/blue and yellow ribbons.) This year we will probably add a squirrel to symbolize our move for Mr. Amazing's job as a "Secret Squirrel" and a two new glass stars to remember that this was the year we finally found the two missing links in Mr. Amazing's life. (His oldest 2 kids)
We have ornaments that the kids made when they were very young and some you have to look twice to even tell what they were meant to be. I love to visit my mom and see every year she still puts the little drum I made in elementary school. One day when our kids are adults they will have that same memory, of how important their creations were to us.

Since Christmas is my favorite time of the whole year, i could go on and on about it, but will save some for future posts!!
 looking for more ideas & tips for the holdidays?  please visit http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ to read more tips on what works for others