To be 6 again

So, I asked Teagan to clean of her desk. This one..















This is what it usually looks like after a week of school work brought home, stuff collected throughout the house, and outfits that didn't get put away. It is one of the banes of my existence and it drives me CRAZY. I try to keep up with it during the week, but not this one, so this morning I asked her to go through the papers and decide what to keep and what could be thrown. She was quietly working in her room and was expecting to find at least some progress, but this is what I saw instead:




















I said (as calmly as I could, of course) "Teagan, I asked you to clean off your desk." To which she replied, "I am Mom. I thought I would take the stuff off my desk and cut it up to put on my walls." AWESOME. Now, not only do I have to see all that stuff on her desk it is now on the walls. She is cutting it down, which all us moms know means scraps everywhere! And I can't discredit her for being creative, but now I have 2 messes to clean up. Should have just done it myself. Arg!
Some samples of the early work:

And it isn't contained just to her room. All over the house as "decorating". Ah, to be 6 again!!

Rituals

Just thought I would give you a glimpse of the rituals my kids HAVE to do everyday. Seriously,

I think if they didn't do them something bad might happen!

yep - those are the snow boots ON the kitchen table. Not sure exactly why they have to be there, but they HAVE to be taken off by Tate himself. For some reason he feels the need to put them on the table. By now I have already picked up the hats and gloves that the enoys sliding across the table onto the floor. What goes on in their heads?

Asking Teagan to give me any papers I need is also a loaded question. This is what I usually end up with. Look familar to anyone else?

How about this? We used to use a checklist when we got home, but these stickin big coats are about impossible for me to hang up let alone a 6 year old. Again, easier if I just do it. I know, I am enabling, but you know what? It is just easier people!

Then its off to dress up like her favorite teacher of the day. Sometimes it is one of the kindergarten teachers and she has a pile of books and uses a marker as a pointer. Today it was the music teacher, who, obviously wears shoes like these. Lets hope she isn't wearing her fleece jammies, but hey, who am I to judge? Kidz Bop in the CD player and we are rocking and rolling!

Boots off and ready for "Girls Dancing" or "Michael" (otherwise known as Little People - I'll tell that story another time!) Tate is ready for a "'nack" and "my bankies. Bof of dem Mom". This is his chill time and I use it to its fullest because...

see it coming?

yep - here we go!

our future daredevil-pretty sure given the Schaefer genes he won't be a gymnast. He balances on the edge, usually while watching his show.

Hits once on his feet.

Bounces once on his knees and dives face first towards the other end of the couch. And then up laughing to do it all over again. Let it be known - I do not approve of this or allow it if I see it. There's that word - if. I cannot watch this terd every minute and to his credit he is honest. If I ask from another room what he is doing he simply says, "I jumping on da couch Mom!" I'll take honesty over not listening anyday!! We all know the not listening probably won't get any better!

Teagan didn't feel the best today. She has a cold and has been saying she has a headache. Poor thing! You know when they sit still like this for this long that they don't feel well.

This is the latest bedtime "thing". He is loving his blankies more and more each day. Not sure how I should feel about it. They stay in bed unless he is resting or napping - hoping we can leave it at that. And check out the unzipped zipper - watchout ladies!!

The usual suspects

Yep - these guys struck again. They took Tate out on Friday night and Teagan on Saturday. Brad and I usually get lucky and they skip over us, but not this time - Sunday and Monday were our days. And let me tell you this bug made me have flashbacks of last year's food poisoning episode. I will leave it at that with the hope that we are done with these guys for this season!

By Monday night I felt good enough to finish putting together our Valentine's Day banner. I hung it with some clear, tiny hooks from 3M. Those things are awesome. Now, we'll see if the banner can hold its own against the furnace vent right below it that sends it waving!

Cute right? The DVD is cute, but my son asking to "watch girls dancing" is starting to worry me. At least now I know what he is talking about! I was a little concerned for awhile!

I think I mentioned in my last blog that we were struggling with Tate and some of his "words". Well, this guy came out and Tate hates it! He has had it twice, so I guess we'll find out if he learns from it or becomes one of those kids who bites the bullet and pretends to like it just to get back at us - trust me, he is totally capable of it!

He is becoming quite the ham. He talks so much, putting phrases together and using some big boy words - even ones that are OK :) Here he is fake yelling back and forth with Teagan saying "I beat Teagan, I done eating."

Did you really think Teagan wasn't yelling back? If you did then you should come hang out with my kids and find out how they really are!

Had some corn on the cob tonight. The kids both love it and once Tate remembers how to eat it he can't get enough. Makes me think of summer - it cannot get here fast enough!

Teagan (again) needed new shoes for school. I can't keep this girl in shoes or pants. I know she comes by it naturally, but I thought we might have a couple of years until I had to buy new shoes halfway through the year. She still likes what I pick out, so I guess I should be happy with that.

So, thats what has been going on with the kiddos this past week. Now on to some deep thoughts by Darcy Schaefer. Does anyone else miss that skit on SNL? Made me laugh til I cried!!

What is this guy doing judging American Idol? I love Doogie as much as the next girl (or boy!), but did I miss something? Does he sing or dance? I think he might have hosted some awards show one time - just curious.

I have mixed feelings about Jillian. I don't watch Biggest Loser religiously, but when I do watch it is usually only for the weigh-in. Does anyone else think that she is way too dramatic, like all the time? And how does her hair always look so awesome after she puts her hands in it so many times? Just jealous, I guess!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Searching

In honor of The Bachelor and American Idol, who are starting new searches - whether it is true love or the next big thing- I decided to share with you some of the things I am searching for:

















My husband's clippers. This dude needs a haircut. The expression says it all!
















































The next Raider cheerleader - much to her dad's dismay!











Not to be lucky #7. Tomorrow is d-day for possible jury duty. Send thoughts my way that I am not one of the 7 picked to serve. I love being an American citizen and doing my civic duty, but just not for this long!















A personal assistant. This guy is working out, but he can get kindof moody!










Sunshine: Please come back to us! We miss you!!















A phone number for M.C. Hammer. These kids totally get "hammer time".















Peace and quiet: They really do love each other! But after a snow day at home you wouldn't know it!

I am also trying to decorate a little for Valentine's Day. This is a project Teagan and I have been working on. It was one of my project goals I blogged about earlier.


















We started by cutting out Valentine's paper and then cardstock that was a little bigger. We Mod-Podged them.


















I had my wonderful hubby print out the letters and then cut them out.























Mod-Podge (again). All thats left is punching the holes, finding ribbon I like to tie it all together, and hanging it about my patio door. I will let you know how it turns out. Have a great Friday everyone!

Actually...

this is Tate's new favorite word to use and it is adorable. He even uses it in the right context. He has a couple other words that he is frequently using to like stupid and mean. Yep - we are officially in the "I hear, I repeat it" stage. I think the first one came from daycare and I KNOW the second came from his one and only sister. Thank you Teagan!! Oh well, we knew this time would come - guess I better buy stock in a vinegar company!!

On to Mommy's favorite word: deals!



















Found this Leapster game for Teagan at Walmart. On sale for $10, had a coupon for $5 off, so grand total for the game 5 bucks!! Not bad if I may say so myself.





















This shirt was not a good deal, but too stinking cute to pass up. Osh Kosh - getting cuter.



















These are a mix of a couple different stores: Target & Carters (plus more not in the pic from Old Navy) They were all having huge sales last week. Didn't pay more than $4 for anything in this picture.


















OK, make fun of me if you need to, but this is Tate's Christmas outfit for next year. I have done this every year since he was born and have guessed right on the size so far. I think it is adorable and for $5.74 we will make it work.












I know Christmas is way past, but I love packing stuff like this up and finding it when I decorate. I forget I have them and get excited when I find them. I know somebody out there feels the same way!!

Last, but not least: my meal planning goal. I did it!! I planned 4 weeks of meals, with side dishes for our family. It took awhile to get a start, but once I did it was pretty painless. I sat down with some of my favorite recipes and some that I want to try and just planted them on the calendar. I went through my cupboards and freezers to see what I had and then made my list for the first week. I also made a word document with the 1st weeks menu and recipes. That way all I have to do is open it up on my computer and I have the recipe right there. I got the groceries this afternoon and spent about $30 for what I should need this week. I know some weeks will be more, but hopefully this will keep down my















This was our meal tonight: Mexican Torilla Skillet (super good by the way), Spanish rice, corn and cottage cheese.
The plan for the rest of the week?

Tuesday: English Muffin Pizza

Wednesday: Tuna Noodle Casserole

Thursday: Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Out of town

Sunday: Taco soup

If anyone is interested in the recipes let me know. I will keep you updated on how the go.

I'm a lucky lady!

I was going to blog about some amazing deals I found on clothes for the kids today, but I realized that we had a really great afternoon and evening. No fighting - ok, some, but no crying or timeouts!

A great supper at McDonalds with all 4 of us - might sound simple, but with a 2 year old you never know what to expect in public. While we were there we talked to a man who payed us the ultimate compliment and said we had a great family.

I helped my "baby" with homework while my "baby-baby" played and checked in on us. Baths went well - less water on my floor than usual. Tate told me he loved his room with basketballs and it is his "special" room - what a sweet boy! We all got to rock and they both went to bed with lots of kisses and I love you's. (and stayed there).

Sometimes it is nice to blog about what I am doing and have plans for, but the real reason is to make me reflect on my days and how great they really are. Count your blessings - even the simplest of them!

Organization Heaven!!

While checking out some blogs I saw this and HAD to share it. It has downloads for every possible list, calendar, schedule, etc you could ever need. Some of these are totally going in my binder.

Check it out if you have an organization goal that you are working on.

http://www.howdoesshe.com/2010/01/list-of-lists-7-free-downloadable-lists/