There are times when I think to myself, I need to downsize my purse, just carry less. After a bit of bickering on Joel's part I finally decided to take a look at what was actually in my purse!
Much to my surprise I found many odd things in there! We all need to cart around socks, silly bandz, empty plastic Easter eggs, empty unused ziplock baggie, and of course a camera in there, right?!?
Tell me, what's in your purse!
This week the kids have been attending a Vacation Bible School (VBS) at our local Lutheran church. This is the second year they’ve attended. Last year they did a BBQ afterwards and this year they had a breakfast before!
I’m really not that great at making breakfast foods. It’s just not my cup of tea. I actually quit making cinnamon rolls from scratch because they always tasted like rocks! Joel’s mom makes AMAZING to die for rolls and mine just can’t stand up. So I really was in a situation on what to make for this breakfast.
I hopped on face book and asked my friends what to do. One of them suggested I make this Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread.
*Photo courtesy of : Joy the Baker*
It looked so yummy and so simple. And it was just that. I decided I was going to use my bread maker to make up the dough which worked out perfectly once I realized my machine had a delay function! I threw the ingredients in the machine and set it for 7:30 am. When I got up the dough was ready, and it didn’t take long to get it thrown together in the oven!
Since I didn’t have the pan size called for I improvised and just put it into two loaf pans. Not thinking of blogging about it, this is the only picture I got of the process! I did end up making up a quick cream cheese frosting to drizzle on the top, which really just brought it all together! It tasted so yummy, and was half gone! I’d call it a total success. Not to mention the fact that I’ve been craving it since Sunday!
I had full intentions to make this a longer post, but it seems mother nature has another idea. We’re all doing fine in our neck of the woods, just a few more ball games left in the season! I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s supposed to actually get HOT tomorrow. Like 102 degrees hot! So I’m sure we’ll be spending more time in the pool. So sad the thing has been up for a month now with only about 30 minutes of swim time for the kids. It’s been a chilly start to the summer, and with ball we just haven’t had much time.
Alright, my headache is starting to get the best of me so I’d better get the winner of the Boogie Wipes package posted!
Lucky #3 is :
Wow, as I sit down tonight to write this post I have to admit it’s not one I figured I’d write.
When Joel got offered the chance to switch to 3rd shift I thought it would be great for our family. Amazing in fact. He would be gone while we slept, and there when we all woke up. He can run on little sleep most of the time and so I knew we’d have him in full swing participating with us by lunch.
It’s true that he’s run on little sleep the past 4 days. But I’m totally worried about him. Constantly. Worried that he’ll be to tired to do his work and get hurt. Worried he’ll be too tired to drive home and fall asleep at the wheel. Worried the kids won’t be quiet enough for him to get some sleep. Just plain worried.
He’s been a real trooper. The kids have been not too bad good for the most part.
Me, well I’m doing okay. I feel horrible most of the time because I’m not letting him get enough sleep. And to say this is easy, would be a lie. I’m not used to having my husband home all day. Every day (normally) I look forward to 2:30. I then have a purpose to get stuff done, and have the house in order. The kids and I are used to having our days, and having daddy get home at 2:30. I forget that he’s here. I forget that I need to check with him before we make any plans.
We’ve been fighting quite a bit this week. It’s been tough on our marriage to say the least. This has tested us.
In the last 4 days I’ve realized this is NOT a blessing. This is NOT something I want full time. I want to have something to look forward to every day.
As I was writing up this post Joel text me. After a bit of confusion on my part I called him. I was blessed to find out that starting Monday he’ll be back on regular hours. I’m THANKFUL! Not only for the fact that we’ll have our routine back, but thankful because earlier tonight my dad informed me of his hours for the next few weeks. You see, my dad works at the same factory Joel does. My dad’s last day of work will be the 1st of July until the 14th of July when he returns.
I’m saying extra prayers tonight, and thanking God that he is looking out for us. He realized I couldn’t do this another week but at the same time he realized we couldn’t do this another week. Financially and martially.
It’s 12:10 am as I sit down to write this up. It’s crazy that I’m still up. A few months ago you would’ve found me on my computer every night, but here lately I’ve been in bed and asleep by 9pm! It’s nuts!
The reason I’m awake? Joel starts 3rd shift (10:00pm-6:00am) tomorrow night, and so he’s trying to get used staying up all night. Thankfully this is only a two week shift transfer. My guess is I won’t be sleeping much the next two weeks either so I might as get used to it. The plant he works in makes mufflers for cars, and you see it’s about that time of year when the “new” models come out (2012). When this happens the car manufacturers don’t have very big orders so thus there isn’t much for Joel to do at work. He had the option of staying on 1st shift (6am-2pm) and possibly not having any work for two weeks (which means not getting paid), or go to 3rd shift and have hours to work. Thankfully he choose the obvious thing for our family.
Sadly I wish I could change and rewrite that last line to say that he chose to stay on 1st shift and we decided to take a two week long vacation. Unfortunately I can’t. We’re just not in a position to do that. If I were to take a vacation though, I’ve already decided it would be at least a couple weeks long. It would include a visit to my mom in Canada, as well as a stop in Michigan to visit a long time online friend (we talk almost every day….in fact my husband thinks something is wrong if we haven’t talked in a day!), a visit to Ohio to visit another bloggy friend, and a visit to Wisconsin to visit yet another bloggy friend. Too bad we couldn’t just pick a middle point and all move there! LOL
The reason for my absence here this week? Crazy work schedule. Thankfully Joel has been a champ at figuring out what’s for supper. I think I’ve only had to figure it out and cook once this week! Not to mention we’ve had ball games 4 nights a week for the last couple weeks. Thankfully this week is our last week of ball. Then just tournaments and we’re done for the season!
I realize that last paragraph sounds like I hate ball season. It’s not so much that I hate ball season, it’s that I hate running. I’m not a big fan of being gone 4 nights a week, and trying to figure out what’s for supper. What can we make easily. Joel and I coach Dahrran’s baseball team, it’s been so much fun to watch them “get it” as the season has gone on. MacKenzie has a great coach and has helped her learn. She still has a long way to go, but she’ll get there!
It’s now almost 1am, and I’ve finally decided I’m headed to bed. Joel is up watching some odd movie that I probably have no interest in. :S Oh well!
When you wish there was someone in the room just taking pictures? Or to even be a “fly on the wall?”
I had one of those moments on Saturday. We’d just gotten home from a long day at softball tournaments (well Joel and the kids were at them, I was at work until the last game!) and everyone was cranky. Joel and I laid down on the bed with our legs dangling over the sides. In came the girls, soon MacKenzie had made her way on top of me to cuddle. For no reason whatsoever Kaitlynn started to cry, and all she would say was “mooom-mieeee.” Eventually I got her to crawl up on to our bed and climb on top of me (after some persuasion to MacKenzie to move.)
It was one of those moments when I KNEW everyone was going to crash within moments. I summoned Dahrran into our room and told him to lay down. Within 5 minutes everyone was asleep except myself. Even Joel was snoring. I laid there and thought to myself, it would be so awesome to have this moment on film. To just have us all as a family, and laying here.
I then decided I wasn’t going to let this moment go. I slowly worked my way out of the pile and took a picture. I was laying there underneath Kaitlynn. Such a precious moment!
Since I’m all sorts of behind on blogging I figured why not catch up in order! When Dahrran got into school we decided we weren't going to do big parties for EVERY birthday they had while in school. We set the rule at one big party in Kindergarten, and we would go from there on the rest of the years. Thankfully Dahrran hasn’t asked for anything but sleepovers since!
MacKenzie wanted to take everyone to Chucky Cheese for her birthday, which would’ve been an okay thing except the closest Chucky Cheese is an hour away. Which still isn’t bad except the fact that there are 7 girls in her class and my car only holds 6 passengers (besides myself). So we settled on bowling instead!
She wasn’t quite sure at first how to get started, but with a little help from daddy she was well on her way to being a great bowler!
This is a super blurry picture but it captures most of the moments when each of the girls would get it all the way down the lane!
Since the bowling alley we went to only had one set of bumpers there was a lot of laying around during turns!
I got the idea for MacKenzie’s cake from Family Fun Magazine! We improvised some and I’m glad I did! I’m not sure the kids would’ve eaten the coconut on the cupcakes!
I love that these girls are already friends. There are a total of 24 kids in MacKenzie’s grade, and only 7 girls! (one was sick unfortunately the day of the party) Hopefully they’ll grow even closer as the years go on!
Even Kaitlynn got to come to her “sisters party” and she loved every minute of it!
Aunt Bridget came and help the kids dye eggs this Easter. She loves coming to help them dye eggs but it’s been a while! (go ahead check out that blog post, I’ll wait! You’ll want to see how cute the kids were!) While she came up to dye eggs, she also got the chance to take them to the Easter Egg Hunt. Last year we were so proud of MacKenzie. She wasn’t afraid of the bunny, but this year was another story! Completely afraid. :(
We did lunch at our house again this year, (seems to be my holiday to host!) For Easter my dad got the kids Alpha & Omega, so we all sat around and watched movies and napped afterwards. Such a peaceful day!
We’ve taken the kids to other spring football games in the past, and kind of decided the last couple of years to not go. This year we’d thought about it, but just decided to not go again. That was until a lady Joel works with offered him 5 tickets. We really didn’t have anything planned that day except hanging out at home so we thought why not!
MacKenzie wasn’t really excited at first to go to a football game for her birthday (oh forgot to mention it was scheduled for her birthday!) but when we told her we had decided to go out for supper she was all about it.
The week leading up to the game was cold, rainy and even threatened snow in April!!! But thankfully come game day it wasn’t too bad. By the time the game started we were sitting on our coats! I’d made these super cute dresses for the game, and they did get to sport them for a while! (even though I don’t really have decent pictures of them, hopefully it’s a post for another day!)
We also decided to just get a motel in Lincoln with a pool for MacKenzie’s Birthday…….but of course by the time we got to the motel BOTH my camera’s were dead! :(
Happy Birthday miss MacKenzie!!
Kaitlynn’s program was held on a different night than the big kids programs. They did cookies and a gathering afterwards and it was kind of nice! We LOVE LOVE LOVE Mrs. Rockenbach. She’s so sweet, and she’s amazing as the kids teacher. We even got to meet her before school started last fall when she came to the house for her “home visit.” I love that they did that, Kaitlynn wasn’t quite as shy to go into her classroom on the first day of school.
And of course I couldn’t leave you without a video. I love videos these days. They let you in on a little bit of our life. There is a part where we all bust out laughing, you can hear MacKenzie, as well as the camera shakes some! Enjoy!
I was recently contacted to review Boogie Wipes and graciously accepted. Kaitlynn has a runny nose 10 months out of the year. It’s not uncommon for me to be wiping her nose constantly. Even though we no longer cloth diaper, I’ve always got a stash of cloth wipes in my purse so I can catch a runny nose at any given moment. We were sent a 30 count package of Great Grape Scented wipes along with 3 individual packages in each great scent, Great Grape, Minty Menthol and Fresh Scent.
Anyone who has ever had to wipe a child’s runny nose knows the battle. There are usually tears involved at my house! Boogie Wipes is an amazing product that can help you battle! We love Boogie Wipes because they’re moist, and can get any of the crusties left behind by regular tissues. I’m a picker mom. You know the type. The one that picks their child’s nose until you get every last crust off of their poor little face. Kaitlynn now doesn’t mind getting her nose wiped because she knows that I’m using Boogie Wipes!
What makes Boogie Wipes different? Their website says,
Boogie Wipes are made with natural saline to dissolve boogies (mucus) caused by the common cold, allergies or otherwise booger-filled kid moments.
Extra soft, alcohol, phthalate and paraben free, Boogie Wipes are available in Great Grape, Fresh Scent, Magic Menthol and Simply Unscented. Recommended by pediatricians as a gentle, effective alternative to a dry tissue.
How do they differ from a baby wipe?
My favorite part other than the fact that their moist is that they can handle the job. The wipes are sturdy and do not fall apart at all, and one wipe handles most jobs! I also love the fact that they come individually wrapped so they’re easy to throw in my purse! Another great thing, they were invented by moms! So not only are you going to love them, you’re going to LOVE them!
Since Kaitlynn is in preschool all day I’m not able to be there with her to constantly get the crusties off her face. She usually comes home with boogers stuck all in her nose, and the battle ensues. The moms behind Boogie Wipes have come up with a great solution to this. The came up with the teacher/daycare provider kit!
The Teacher kit includes : a poster with Save the Sleeve pledge guidelines,
50 Boogie Wipes samples, 50¢ OFF coupons and 2 classroom canisters.
After using these wipes I’ve become a firm believe in them. I’m planning on buying at least one teacher kit for Kaitlynn’s classroom this fall. More than likely I’ll get two!
Buy it:
Head over to the Boogie Wipes website to buy any of their products. Also, be sure to check out Achooz, the adult saline nose wipes.
Win it:
The generous ladies at Boogie Wipes want to give one of my readers something! Winner will receive : 2 30-count packs of Boogie Wipes, 2 $0.50 off coupons, 9 sachets (3 of each scent – Great Grape, Fresh Scent and Magic Menthol), 2 Achooz sachets (fragrance free and Cool Mint)
Be sure and leave your email in the email address field so I can contact you if you win!
Mandatory Entry
Visit Boogie Wipes and leave a comment below with one thing you learned from their site.
The above entry is mandatory. If you would like additional entries, you may do any or all of the following (and leave me a separate comment for each telling me you’ve done so):
Contest Details: Contest ends on 6/15/2011. Valid email address is required. All entries without a valid email address will be disqualified. Winning email notification must be responded to within 48 hours or that winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Winner will be selected with Random.org. Winner will be notified via email.
Disclosure: The product mentioned above have been given free of charge from the company in exchange for being featured at Among the Mess. The views and opinions expressed were 100% my own and not influenced by the company.
Dahrran and MacKenzie had their spring programs on the same night this year and it was so nice to be able to head in for one night! For MacKenzie’s part of the program they just sang a few songs, sadly I didn’t get any video of her program! Dahrran’s program was called The Bear Went Over the Mountain.
Dahrran had the part of a fox! His friend Dawson was a raccoon! Dahrran’s awesome teacher Mrs. Fowler!
MacKenzie with her great teacher Mrs. Wiemer!
There is at least one of them in any given picture that is upset over something!
And just a little video for you of Dahrran’s speaking parts!
Dahrran has been one child who could care less if he had a bike to ride or not. He was almost 4 before he even learned to pedal the thing! He learned just last year how to ride without training wheels, even though the whole summer before one was broken and he was getting by with just one. It was something about the security of having them on that made him feel safe.
MacKenzie on the other hand is a little dare devil. She would ride super fast with her training wheels on and stand up. Dahrran was starting to get to big for his bike and so we decided yesterday to pick him up a new one. MacKenzie declared this afternoon that she was going to try riding Dahrran’s bike today, even though yesterday we offered to take her training wheels off. I knew she’d be a natural at it, and after only holding on to her for about 5 feet she was on her way. (Dahrran would FREAK if we even said we were going to let go!)
Here’s a little video I got of her second time riding without training wheels! :) She now has graduated to Dahrran’s old bike and has passed hers on to Kaitlynn! It was a win win, because Kaitlynn was going to need a new bike this summer too! Now if I could only break down and buy myself a bike!!!
I got a wild hair last week to redecorate/paint my craft room. We were set to do a whole makeover with cabinetry and all. Have you priced cupboards and countertops lately??? OH MY! For the space we were wanting to put in cupboards, I figured we’d spend around $500.00, but hopefully less. Little did I know! We chose the cheapest cabinets and by far the cheapest countertop and still ended up with a bill of $750.00 for a 54” space. CRAZY! It consisted of 4 total cabinets.
After a humbling trip to Menards we decided to just forget the cabinets. Instead I decided to paint and just buy a white table to put up. I also decided to do a chalkboard wall, which Joel wasn’t exactly pleased with the idea of. As much as I said it wouldn’t happen, my children have managed to write on almost EVERY single wall in my house. No matter how many coloring books they have (believe me there are probably 10 for each kid!), they’ve managed to get a wall. I decided why not let them have a wall in the house they can color on and NOT get in trouble?! Plus I figured if I inform them this is the ONLY wall they can color on, and if I catch them writing on any other walls they’ll be in trouble. It could work……
So I spent most of the day painting on Saturday. I’m pleased overall so far. We left one wall white after getting three of the walls painted. Of course it’s going to need a fresh coat of white paint because it’s a wall the kids have managed to mark up. Watch for pictures to come soon. That is if I ever make it back upstairs to blog again. Someone want to come organize for me?
I’m a little behind on the blogging bandwagon, but that seems to always be the case around these parts! In an effort to be a better blogger, I’m going to sit down a few nights a week and just blog.
We celebrated Dahrran’s birthday by having a sleep over again this year. They seem to have a little more fun when they’re in their own surroundings. We did take them out to the farm again like last year, thankfully this year we didn’t come home covered in Mud like last year!
These boys will be friends for life! Dahrran had three of the four over last year, and has since added the fourth. They’re all great friends. Dahrran has had sleepovers with two of the boys as well. I love that he has a great group of friends already!
The kids have been asking for Nintendo DS’s for about a year now. They really started asking for them around Christmas. At the time we decided it was best if we didn’t have to buy 3 of them at one time. We decided birthdays would be best since they’re all spaced out. Poor Kaitlynn though will not get her’s until August!
And just a little walk down memory lane if you want! Birthday’s past.
MacKenzie’s teacher has this project every year where they have students bring in milk jugs (empty and rinsed of course!) to school so they can build an igloo. It’s such a great activity for the kids to get to learn about recycling. As the igloo starts to fall apart they take them to be recycled. The kids love having something they can play in, and they get to learn too.
This project is something great, and would take quite a while if you tried to do it alone, but it’s a great teacher resource! Total cost of project is hot glue sticks to put it all together! :)
Joel and I don’t usually do “date” nights. I mean we’ll go out for supper, and then come home. To me that’s not really a date. It’s supper, which I would’ve had to fix anyways. I love going out doing “something” instead of just sitting down for a meal. So a moth or so ago when we were trying to work on things we decided to go Cosmic Bowling, basically the lights are off except the fun, funky black lights. Everything glows and it’s really fun!
There are pink balls, green balls, all these funky colors and they all pretty much glow in the dark. Unless you find a regular ball instead (like Joel did!) He has to be the difficult one! :P
Most of the games ended up like this one. You wouldn’t know it but I was beating him by almost 40 at one point! He always comes back to kick my rear!
While we were out I tried to get cute pictures of each of us. His all turned out good, most of the pictures he took of me turned out like this. Not ONE of them was a good shot of my face, most of them were blurry. Oh well. At least my butt looked good in those jeans!
In the end we had a great night, and even ended up with a decent picture of us together!
