Dinner at our house...

As we were all sitting down to eat, Maddy had a lovely blog idea. She said I should take pictures of the way we all eat in our house.

Mom...going vegan has mixed veggies and chickpeas in a mild curry sauce with rice, Maddy starting to shy away from meat has a cheesy backed potato and a small taste of mom's, Stella the vegetarian has a bagel with butter and honey (cause that's what she asked for), and Finn the meat eater devours a hotdog. So here is what dinner looks like at our house. 4 different meals to please all tastes. DO YA SEE WHY I LIKE TO EAT OUT?????

Hailey and Nick weren't here but Hailey is a veggie also and Nick fits into the meat eater variety along with Finn. Out our choices, Hailey would have had the cheesy baked potato and Nick would have had 2 hotdogs with an extra cheesy baked potato on the side!

Joint Custody.

Let me just say it, JOINT CUSTODY SUCKS. I am really missing my kids today. I am very emotional and I miss them terribly. I got to see Finn and Maddy at her soccer game (H was at gym of course) and it was so hot at the game that I was really grumpy. I mean really grumpy.

I fussed at Finn for not leaving Stella alone. I kept yelling at Maddy to go after the ball (like one of those crazyass competitive parents) and she was playing in almost 90 degree weather for goodness sakes. She was burning up. I fussed at my Mom for getting Stella poptarts out of the snack machine at the Y and I should have kept my mouth shut cause she kept the little pumkin entertained for a good 3o min.

I got home and tried to think about why my mood was so bad. I still don't know exactly why but I started thinking about the fact that I never really get to see them much on the weekends and then I started to cry. Our school week is soooo hectic. I get them up and dressed and fed each morning and then I fly out the door. At the end of my school day, I fly out of school, pick them all up from school by 4, rush home for snacks, then get back in the car to take H to gym. We get home by about 5:30 and then I remind them (or fuss at them) to do their homework. (For the record, this elementary school teacher HATES homework! Don't understand why parents ask for more. Kills me.) Then I have to fix dinner. Kids have to be in bed by 8:30. I try to fit some "quality time" in there but it's difficult.

Then their Dad swoops in and gets to have them for the weekend. All fun, sleep late, eat-poptarts-and-have-a-coke-for-breakfast Dad. It's not fair. He is going out of town next weekend and I get them all weekend. I can't wait!! Cause joint custody SUCKS.

In the Ex's defense, he has said that I can have them some weekend nights...but the kids are finally in a routine and it's hard to get them...well hard to get Finn...out of the routine. Finn wants his Daddy time soo bad. Not sure how he will do next weekend without him...but I will be soo happy to have my little guy home. Sweet boy. He's growing up too fast too. I will have to write about him next. I have talked about my girls a lot...but he is a little angel from heaven too. So glad I have him. He balances out all the dang hormones around here!

Goodnight little babes. I miss you so much.

Gratitude Wednesday

Well, It is earth day so I supposed I could start there....

I was totally happy with the weather today. Warm and breezy, yet cool with puffy clouds. Very cool day to be outside on Earth Day.

I am coming up on a year of NO MEAT. I never really thought I could do it when I decided to quit eating meat a year (or so) ago, and today, while talking about organic foods and buying locally, I felt quite proud of myself. Some people could care less about whether or not they eat meat, but today I had a cool feeling like....HA! I have done something pretty good for the environment! So THERE. (I'm not the best at reuse and recycle. getting better at reusing. trying to recycle more. But I no longer support animal farms and all of the yuck stuff they do to the environment.)

I started walking two days ago....again. I'm a seasonal walker. Today I am very happy to walk in the great weather. Perfect for walking without getting hot.

I was happy that I was able to stand up for someone I love today. Our office admin. was making comments about a child with "separation issues". She said that these issues happen when MOM keeps children too close and attached. I quickly (and I mean fast people) told her that it was actually a disorder that some children have. A chemical thing that has NOTHING to do with an "attachment" Mom. I told her very quickly that often attachment parenting is the only thing that makes life better for kids who are really scared and worried about life most of the time. Attachment parenting is basically used to build trust that will allow children to be independent...not attached for the rest of their lives. I explained that sometimes children grow out of these fears and other times a child will need medication for it. Gave her a brief history on my daughter. I told her that often children who get called "shy" and "spoiled" often have a disorder. I also told her where she could read up on it. (you know...in case she didn't believe my ranting and raving.)

I also feel happy because I have no remorse for kind of telling our office admin off. I was very nice about it, but if you know my office lady...you know she will probably hold it against me for a while. And I am OK with that. Cause she's wrong...about a lot of stuff...but I still love her.

I am happy that Stell had a short nap and will go to bed a little early. HAHA. Is that terrible gratitude??

I am glad that I am at home. ON my couch. Relaxing. Yay!

Blog Envy

Envy.
I have only been about halfway around the blog block at this point. So tell me, is there such a thing as "blog envy"? I'm sure I cannot be the first. There are many blogs that I adore and frequent quite often but only one that I am kind of in awe of. It's called Curious Girl. The woman who posts there is a photo enthusiast and her photos are great...but that's not even where the envy comes in...it's her ability to remain positive and creative all at the same time! You feel nothing but peace and serenity when you view her blog. She posts the coolest pictures and asks the greatest questions. She was featured in Artful Blogger last month and that is where I learned about her. My latest fav was a picture of a beautiful chandelier with lots of rich sparkly colors. The photo was simply this lovely chandelier and a plain white background. It was titled her "Curious Room" and the question was, "What would you put in this room if you could put anything in it? What would you add?" HOW FLIPPIN COOL IS THAT? Makes me wanna sit around and daydream. Makes me want to draw and paint and love and laugh. I LOVE THAT BLOG!!!!!!!!!

You can check it out at curiousgirl-lisa.blogspot.com

Gratitude Wednesday

Here are some things that made me happy today....

We went on a field trip today....the show was bizarre...but the kids had a great time.

I found a new french bakery that's open 24hrs! It's sooo yummy and I got to go there with a really good friend.

The weather was beautiful today!

Everyone in my house seems to be feeling good today...no illness right now. (knock wood somebody..quick!!!)

Didn't have to do the gym drive today...Hailey had too much homework to go so she stayed home today. (I hate for her to miss it but I must admit, I love having her home.)

I feel good about the workshop I am teaching tomorrow...Conflict Resolution and Personal Development. I think we are ready!!

Maddy

Well here is what I have been working on for the last few days. I don't know if I'm finished or not...but maybe. Maddy wanted me to do a painting of her...mixed media style. I don't think I was quite ready for that. I am happy with my girl...the background was really hard for me. I had to put the moon because her nickname was "mooney" when she was little. I also used paper with musical notes for the tree. She is the one child of mine that LOVES music and needs to play an instrument. The owls on the branch represent Mama and her four babes of course. The Dandelions represent signs of change in the air...my little girl is transforming before my very eyes. The spring of her life...for sure! I had to have butterflies too, because they completely reinvent themselves once in their lives. I am sure Maddy will reinvent more than once! Anyway, here she is....Oh and the most important thing is...Maddy loves it. Yay!!!

fd's Flickr Toys: Do fun stuff with your photos

fd's Flickr Toys: Do fun stuff with your photos

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New Project

When in doubt...paint. When your down...paint. When your happy...paint!!!!

Today was a great day! It was our first official day of Spring Break. It rained a little this morning but turned out to be a beautiful day. I managed to get a lot of cleaning done this morning........and then..........when children complained of boredom.........out came the paints. Maddy and Anna were the first to dive in. They both painted pictures for me. Yay!


When Nick got home, he was in a bad mood, so I made him paint.

When the neighbors came over, they were tired from school and needed a paint break.

See...everybody needs to paint once in a while.

I am finally done with my first girl!! I wasn't happy with the flowers she was holding because they didn't really work with the flowers in the background...so I decided to have her hold a snail instead. I think I'm happy with her. Not sure. I am happy to have finished her though.




"If you hear a voice inside you say, 'You are not a painter', then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
Vincent Van Gogh

Sunday Brunch

Here is one of the reasons I love eating at Charley's. When I get there, as soon as Cacee sees me, she brings me little plates of goodies. Whatever they have that she knows I like. One of my favorite things is the salad with blue cheese dressing. She also brings me a coke...full of ice... in a "to go" cup. Another thing I love. Can't stand coke in a glass....gross. Has to be in a plastic cup...or...hate to say it...styrofoam cup. I don't BUY styrofoam cups....it's horrible for the environment...but if the restaurant has them...I will drink out of them. Then I reuse, reuse, and reuse it. So it's ok. (that's what i'm telling myself anyway)

Here is the view from the nice little table where I camped out for an hour....




And here's Cacee!!!

A day out!

Today I got to go out by myself for a while! I was so excited to get some time to myself, but Stella didn't want me to leave! She looked so pitiful standing at the door that I had to pull out the camera. She was ok minutes after I left. And so was I!

I went to school to feed the tadpoles (had to take care of business first) and then I went to the book store. I had a gift card to Barnes and Noble so I went there to look at some books and magazines. I ended up finding a great book on Photoshop so I bought it!

I am finally going to learn how to use Photoshop! YAY!

I then went to meet my best friend for lunch. She works at a restaurant in town and we were able to eat together because her shift was ending. She is crazy. Seriously crazy. I will post pix of her next.

Here is my "sad don't leave me mama" Stella shot.

BEADS!!!

I just found an old jar of beads that my Mom gave me a long time ago. I was making jewelry a while back, and I loved it, but I sort of ran out of time and money at the same time. I think they are LOVELY. Now I need to decide what to do with them!

TEE TAH!!!

Stella had the best time outside this evening. She played with all of the flowers in our neighbor's yard. She really wanted to find some pink flowers so when she spotted the pink azaleas she HAD to have one for her hair. She was completely delighted as she fluttered around like a little flower fairy. As we were walking home, she planted herself on one of our stepping stones and exclaimed, "TEE TAH!" ( her version of ta da)

Today was a really good day!

new website to play around with...you can make your own little mini collages...with all sorts of stuff. fun!!

Gratitude Wednesday

Here are a few of the things I am thankful for....faces and feelings that I get to see everyday. Here are a few little pieces of sunshine for my cloudy Wednesday....I took them outside in the rain, and the sun followed them....Who could resist????