Swiffer Dusters

Today a package arrived.  It was almost like it was from the heavens but really just from Fed Ex and Swiffer.  I have a couple of blogger friends who get free products to try and I have been wondering how they do it.  Well I think I just got my second free products to try.  Yippeee!!!!

My 3 year old was so excited that there was a delivery for me and he ran and got it.  Inside this box was a Swiffer Duster and Febreeze Allegeren Reducer.  Let me tell you that when this package arrived I was in the middle of dusting with my hubbies holey sock.  We are preparing for our open house this weekend and let me tell you there are more than a few places that have not seen dusting since before I got pregnant over a year ago now.  How sad, I know but playing with my kids is so much more fun than dusting the chandelier.

So I digress…  Z and I opened the package with delight and put the new duster together and gave her a whirl.  Let me tell you I have thought about buying this product before and now after trying it I can see it is money well spent.  I liked using it because it shows how gross and dusty your house is on the duster and it keeps the dust on the duster, unlike my hubbies sock where the dust piles up and falls off.  The bonus is Z thought it was fun to use so I gave him the chore of doing it and he was off and loving it. 

Keep those samples coming…  I love to try new things. 

Macy’s Aint for the Large Chested

So I had this $50 gift card to Macy’s burning a hole in  my pocket.  I received it as a gift from my boss at Christmas but wanted to wait until I was not pregnant to spend it.  I had it in my mind that I would take this card sans pregnant and by myself a new wardrobe, ok maybe just a pair of pants or a new shirt, this is Macy’s after all.  So today I seized the moment.

I have really been wanting some new shirts so I proceeded to check out the merchandise.  I started to feel a blog post coming on as soon as I tried on a sweater and looked in the mirror.  Now that I am nursing I am now having the same problem I had when I was pregnant and could not find a bra to save my life.  Since each boob is now the size of a basketball most shirt or sweater styles look a little ridiculous unless they are long.  But oh no…  those fashion gurus and designers out there have made yet another season of the short jackets and sweaters with only two or three buttons holding it all together at the top.  Even when I am not nursing, pregnant or otherwise these styles make us large boobed women look like we are trying on something out of the toddler section, or make us look like we weigh 500 pounds on top.  And don’t get me started on the long shirt dress you are supposed to wear with spandex leggings.  First of all I love 80’s music but the clothing style did not work then and for me does not work now, unless maybe you are 20ish and a stick. 

Oh well, the Origins make up counter it is then.  See you Macy’s in about 7-9 months when I am done nursing and maybe in the mood to torture myself with a little clothing shopping.  Urghhhh.

Weekend Update

Saturday morning my girlfriend and I thought we would brave the water and start a water aerobic class at 8am.  It was pretty intense and I love the feeling of a good work out, especially the next day.  Water aerobics ain’t for sissy’s!  I was huffing and puffing pretty good in the water.

Saturday hubby and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary.  Can’t believe it has been 8 years.  Three beautiful children, a house to live in, 2 cars, great job I like, money for bills and a little more and a hubby that puts up with and gets me.  I have it all and feel so grateful :)  We actually married on the 29th but hubby was out of town, so grandma to the rescue for babysitting.

We went to movies and dinner, what else do you do when you have been married for 8 years, have three kids and one is a newborn still?  A trip to Europe will be for the 10 year anniversary. :)  But this year a movie and dinner sounded great to me. 

We saw Baby Mama and I loved it!  I laughed my a** off.  It seemed that the audience was made of people born in the late 80’s or early 90’s and since they probably did not have kids they did not laugh near as much as I did.  So if you have had children in the last 7 years I guarantee you will die from laughter.  I highly recommend it.  Can’t wait for it to hit the cheap theater.

Then we went to dinner at Chili’s.  When we are in a recession and people are not going out to eat as often you would think you would get fast excellent service but no.  But the echilada soup was awesome and free because the waitress never brought it out before our dinner was served.

We almost had someone want to see our house so we rushed to clean and then caught up on some outside scrapping and painting since the rain it going to hold for a few days.  If only we actually had someone want to see our house to be impressed with our newly painted deck.  Oh well, maybe soon.  Two weeks until our open house.

J is riding like the wind on his bike, we took the training wheels off a month ago now.  He still falls every now and again but unless there is blood he gets right back up and rides again.  Z is spending most of his time by foot chasing after his big brother.  He is amazing in his own right.  I think we are going to do swim lessons in the summer.  Miss K is laughing and cooing like crazy.  Life is good!

Cheesy Fun

“Cheese makes everything better!”

Hubby is gone on his first out of town work trip.  So it is my first time with the 3 kids alone for the next couple of days.  On top of that I decided that the kids spent way to much time on the Wii this weekend so I banned all video games for the night making for much complaining at first and leaving me to give entertainment suggestions.

Since this is only my second week back to work, day 3 for those of you counting, I am still trying to get the hang of things with work.  Miss K is still adjusting to spending days with grandma.  And for added fun I signed Jman up for tee ball with practices twice a week, albiet entertaining to watch 6 years olds play baseball it also makes for a busy last part of the week.

So in an effort to have a little fun this evening we had a little self portrait photo shoot.  Have you ever tried to take a self portrait with 3 kids?  Here are the results:

Exhausted

I am pretty tired so I am only going to be writing this one post for the week.  I am having a hard time even getting on the computer.  Here’s why:

Hubby and I spent the weekend doing outside home repairs as our house is on the market.  I scrapped and painted our back deck.  It is looking pretty good but needs another coat of paint but I am dodging possible rain and now pollen as the trees go through their spring stages. 

Next came Sunday night with my stupid cat bringing home two baby bunnies on my back deck.  One was dead and the other died in my hands.  I am really starting to not like my one eye cat.  I don’t care if it is nature this cat likes to sleep with my little Z and I just wonder what parasites run through her body.  I don’t know what to do with her.  She is 10 years old, has one eye and hunts like Ted Nugent.

Then I went back to work this week after being on maternity leave.  Even though it was only 2 days Miss K seems to have taken offense to it and refused to sleep good the last two nights and not nap by herself today.  She seemed to only be satisfied if I was holding her and then she was still a little annoyed.  Oh Miss K, if I don’t work who will pay for our manicures and pedicures

As if this new change in our life is not enough I decided to sign up J for tee ball.  I thought J man would like to play a new sport this spring.  Since I was new to the whole baseball thing I did not realize you had to sign them up for it in utero.  Even though I was late with registration I still got the call yesterday he was on a tee ball team.  His dad was so proud that he made the team, I guess I won’t burst his bubble that there are not try outs and it costs $75 :) 

My hubby played little league but that was the end of his sports career minus a videogame version here or there.  When I met hubby his lack of interest in sports was one of his most enduring qualities.  Unlike my childhood, I would not have to spend married life on Sunday afternoons or Monday nights having to watch football.  Well let me tell you after I ended up working for the local hockey team in our town for 5 years hubby seemed to get interested in sports.  Now he pretty much will watch anything but golf.  The point is I think now he may be come one of “those dads”.  You know the ones…  They want their kid to be the best on the field, yell and scream from the sidelines, and maybe become a little overly disappointed if their kid does not score the winning goal? 

I saw a little glimpse of this when I signed little J man up for Tiny Tot soccer at age 3 and hubby could not believe our 3 year old was so distracted.  I think most 3 year olds are distracted by the wind so I did not think it would hurt his soccer career.

So after I got the call about tee ball I reminded hubby that he is not to be “that father”.  He looked at me blankly but I know he knows what I am talking about.  Today when we went to my favorite store, Target, to pick up some supplies hubby bought a bat, balls, 2 gloves, and a tee.  No pressure little J.

When J came home I told him we had gotten some items for tee ball.  I sat quietly in the house listening through the open screen door to the banter between father and son over tee ball practice.  I let them do their thing but then I had to give daddy a time out and just let J have fun.  I mean at this age isn’t that the point?

Little K is currently sleeping, hubby is watch the Tigers and I am going to bed.

Wii Bowling

Hubby and I had the parents over for dinner tonight.  The kids adore their grandparents as much as any two kids could.  So having them over to dinner is an adventure because the whole time we hear, Grandma sit by me, no Grandma sit by me, Grandma watch me, Grandma lets play bear (I am not sure what this new game is.. maybe a cross between hide and seek and hunting), Grandma push me on the swing, Grandma come in my bedroom to play, Grandma, Grandma, Grandma.  Poor Grandma does not get much time to have a conversation with hubby and I until kids go to bed.

So tonight after we washed their dirty feet, hands, and knees, had a bed time snack, played a board game, and Grandma read stories we had a chance to do what all adults do when kids go to bed…  Wii bowl!

Grandma and Grandpa have not played Wii before and it was fun to teach them and play a game of bowling with them.  Now next time when Grandma comes over it will be, Grandma… Wii bowl with us.  Have fun Grandma! 

House for Sale… Again

Today we ventured into the world of real estate.  Meaning we put our quickly shrinking house up for sale.  In Michigan it is a gamble because there is a lot for sale and not a lot moving.  We signed a 6 month contract but I am hoping that it will sell at least by the end of summer.  I will post a link when it hits the website just in case you are in the market to by a fabulous house like ours ;) 

Those that know us in real life know that we actually put our house up for sale last year and sold it but backed out during the inspections based on our then current life situation.  So when we got pregnant a few months after unselling our house we regretted it a little and now that little K is here I regret it a ton but what can you do.  You make decisions with the cards you are currently dealt and not the unknown. 

My hope is that we sell the house soon as we put it on the market at a really fair price, not much more than what we bought it for 7 years ago, sad but that is the market right now.  I hope that this gamble works and we get something outstanding at a steal.  Wish us luck!

Works for Me Wednesday - Recycling Made Easy

I love to recycle and the easiest things to recycle are from the food packaging and vast amounts of junk mail we receive everyday.  So in my pantry where I keep my trash I have a plastic bag, the kind you get from the grocery store or pretty much any store now days.  In this bag I put all plastic packaging and glass. 

Then in the same closet I keep a paper bag where all paper and cardboard items are placed into it.  In this bag I put all junk mail after I rip it up, break down all kinds of boxes, newspapers and magazines (if I have not passed them on) and all random papers that end up in the house.

The kids know what items we recycle and what items go where based on may plastic bag versus paper bag system. 

That is what works for me Wednesday.  For other great ideas check out Rocks in My Dryer.

Camping

I love camping and I married someone who only tolerates it to keep me from b*tching at him to go.  On top of that I am lucky enough to have two children so far that love camping too.  So in an effort to keep hubby and I from fighting while on these camping trips I drag him too we purchased a pop up with electric capabilities to be able to bring along a DVD player and TV to keep him occupied. Can’t you tell how much of a nature lover he is?  So while I sit around the fire and chat with friends or family, depending on who we are camping with, he sits in the camper watching reruns of M.A.S.H.

For the last two years we have talked about getting a bigger and newer one that would be even easier to take up and put down than the one we have.  This year thanks to my dad and his wife they found a buyer for our camper.  I settled on a little bit of a lower price than I wanted because my frugal and camping hater hubby is holding tight the pop up camper budget.  But in the end I am planning on spending this money plus a little more on another one.  Each day I search Craig’s List hoping to find the pop-up of my dreams but so far no luck.  Hubby is trying to talk me out of getting one all together but I really like camping and refuse to give up on it.  With the baby we might only be able to camp once or twice this year but I will only go if we have another pop up so I hope we find something.  But if not once the baby is walking next summer camping will be even more fun. 

Look out Michigan campgrounds the D family will be coming soon!

Last Week as SAHM

So I am going back to work next week Monday and trying to spend this last week home playing with baby and the kiddos, organizing the house and getting all the things done to make life easier once I go back to work, plus we are putting our house on the market too.

I think I am ready to go back to work but it will be hard to leave little K when she is now getting into a nice little schedule and smiling and cooing right now.  Plus Z needs a lot of attention right now but I know Grandma will be able to help out with that.