Jimmy's Got a Crush!

Jimmy is obsessed with our friend's daughter (and Julia's friend), Paige. Out of the blue he'll tell us he wants to go to Paige's house and watch Cars. I figured it was because they have a fancy home theater...now I know that isn't true, I have seen him in action. He's besotted with her.

Paige and her dad, Doug, came over yesterday to watch MSU beat the pants off of Louisville. While the guys were doing guy stuff (and using my facebook account to check out other people's facebook pictures), the kids played together. Jimmy was all about Paige and giving her stuff and just tagging along.

When he woke up from his nap, they were gone and he was so sad. Here is a snippet of our conversation:

Jimmy: Where's Paig-ee?
Kate: She went home with her dad.
Jimmy: (Frown)
Kate: Do you like Paige?
Jimmy: Yes.
Kate: Do you think she's pretty?
Jimmy: Yes! (smiles)
Kate: Do you think Mommy's pretty?
Jimmy: No, mommy's yucky.

If that isn't love...I don't' know what is. I can just see the future now...Jimmy will be hanging out with Julia and Paige and willing to do just about whatever they want to let him hang out with them....just to be near Paige. Never mind that she is an older woman...she can be his Mrs. Robinson.

And I Have My LIfe Back...Sort of...

So, this past weekend was the big Mom2Mom Sale at my church. This sale consumes me for weeks before the sale. But every year it is so worth it while it is going on. You see so many people buying and selling. Happy to have found some deals. Happy to have gotten what they needed. Happy to have unloaded excess stuff and make some money. But it is always the people that I see that NEED these sales. Circumstances have put them in the position where they can't just run up to Target and buy the gadgets and clothes their kids need. They depend on Garage Sales and Mom2Mom Sales to buy what they need. Those are the people that I do it for and make me feel good about all the time that I spend on organizing a sale. I like the deals too, but I can head up to Target and buy what I need too, so I don't need it as much.

This year I had a little table of random baby toys and baby things. Not alot of stuff, nothing that will be missed really. I ended up making a tidy little sum on that bunch of nothing. Makes me excited about the sale to come when i can unload all of these clothes. One day....


I took this sale over 4 years ago and didn't really have that much direction as to how a sale should be run or how it needed to be done. I kind of started from nothing with my friend Christine (Desperate Swisswives). We laid it all out and organized the sale in the way that we'd like to have it as shoppers or sellers. I don't think we do much out of the norm - maybe a few nice things here and there, but for the most part it seems pretty standard stuff to me. Well, according to lot of sellers and buyers, our sale is tops. It's nice to hear and makes me feel good for all of the time and effort I put into it, but it does make me wonder what these other sale organizers are doing and why it is so hard for them to put on an oranized event. This was the first year without Christine, since she's living her fabulous European life now...but we pulled it off and it seemed like the best sale yet. We are lucky to have a core group of volunteers that give of their time every year and I can depend on them to get the job done. Thanks to them!

So glad to have my life back. So glad to not have to make lists, add to lists, contact sellers, organize volunteers. Now, I need to clean my house and take a few breaths.

I Want My Life Back...

This is such a crazy week. I simply cannot wait until it is over. This is the week of the annual Mom2Mom Sale at my church that I organize. It is a massive undertaking and every year I say that I am not going to do it again. But next year I really think I will have to pass on the torch to some other energetic Type A mom. This will be the 4th sale that I have organized and while I have a system in place and a great core set of people that help me...I am just not that into it. It takes so much of my time that I could be doing things that I truly love. This year, I made a resolution to step back and only do stuff that i wanted to do and not feel such obligation to do so much volunteering. I think I have done a great job and cutting out stuff. I have decided to not do co-op preschool next year and step away from alot of my moms group day to day stuff. I am getting good at saying no and it feels a little empowering...for my family. It's not that I don't like giving back, I just have done it so much that I feel a little burned out. Okay...just a few more days and M2M Sale 2009 will be behind me. Then I may have my life back.

Rollin' in my Coupe...

Jimmy loves his Cozy Coupe...it actually was purchased for Julia when she was 2, but she really never got into it as much as he does. I took these photos on Monday and he was quite perplexed as to why he needed to stay on the driveway and sidewalk and couldn't drive the car in the road like the other cars. I caught him tooling down the road a few times. Time to install the invisible fence and give him a fancy necklace.

Interview with Julia - Age 4

On facebook, there are always all of these cute little surveys to post on your "wall." This particular one was so cute, especially with the answers the kids give their moms. I thought it was worth reposting on here for those of you who don't use facebook...

1.What is something Mom always says to you? Turn off the movie.

2. What makes Mom happy? Surprises

3. What makes Mom sad? Using the word “Shut Up”

4. How does your Mom make you laugh? Tickles

5. What was your Mom like as a child? She was into Barbies

6.How old is your Mom?40

7.How tall is your Mom? 30 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Clean up the House

9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? Clean the clothes.

10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Nothing, you’re not famous.

11. What is your Mom really good at? Making beds.

12. What is your Mom not very good at? Knitting

13. What does your Mom do for her job? She cleans up the garage

14. What is your Mom's favorite food? Chicken and Rice

15. Wha makes you proud of your Mom? When she cleans up my room.

16. If your Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? A slipper maker.

17. What do you and your Mom do together? Do puzzles

18. How are you and your Mom the same? I like laundry. You like Laundry.

19. How are you and your Mom different? Our hair is different.

20. How do you know your Mom loves you? Because I am cute.

21. What does your Mom like most about your Dad? His work.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?Bates (Hamburgers)

Very interesting answers...apparently all i do is clean :-).

34 is old?

Another year older, no biggie, right? Well according to Julia, it is a big deal. Last night as I was tucking her in, this is our conversation:

Kate: Wow! We sure had a fun day today, huh?
Julia (Drama Queeen): Mom! I don't want you to get old! You're getting old!
K: I am not old honey.
DQ: You're not 33 now, you're 34! I don't want your face to get all....(places hands on face and makes it all scrunched...fake crying no tears commence).
K: Don't worry, I won't get old like that for a while.
DQ: Mom, what are we doing tomorrow (fake crying stopped and on to next method of stalling bedtime).

Captain Underpants...

I was alerted by the web administrator in our home (Kurt) that there was a picture of Julia in her underwear on the blog. Super cute picture of my girl in action...but her underwear were showing. So innocent. I am sure that it was not offensive to people, but unfortunately it may be misconstrued or misused by some. What is this world coming to? What is wrong with people when I have to worry about a cute picture of my kid being herself? So sad.

Our World Is Safe!

With all the doom and gloom lately in our world, my kids are single handedly protecting us all....rather Wonder Woman and Batman are. It is no secret that Julia is totally into Superheroes. Jimmy will do whatever, as long as he is included, so naturally he is also into Superheroes. Julia's fascination with the Justice League probably started with our old neighbor Will and his personal obsession. I actually think it is a good thing for her. It gets her seeing that girls are strong and that girls can do what boys do. Recently when we were at the library, she spotted a the original Wonder Woman TV Series (with Linda Carter). She LOVES it! It is actually funny to watch, she calls it the "Real Live Wonder Woman." My favorite thing about her love of superheros is that she runs around in this costume and "acts" out saving the world. She has a makeshift lasso and puts her arms up to use her power bracelets to block "guns" - it is just so flippin cute.

So rest soundly, the kids are keeping us safe

I LOVE my Job!

Being a parent is like riding a roller coaster, there are great highs and great lows. Today has been a great high. We have just had a great day so far, the kids have been behaving, we ran an errand and they listened, my house is somewhat clean, Jimmy is napping and I know what I am making for dinner. Not everyday is like this....most days are not. It is days like today when I am just so thankful to be a stay at home mom and be able to spend time with my kids. I will takes these days as I can get them...because I know there will be a few doozies that will test my patience and make me want to go back to work.

To top it all off, I got a great deal on some Lands End coats today...2 coats for $40....which I desperately needed for next fall/winter. Gotta love this crappy economy and over-stocked department stores.