The Boss Is IN!

 Many of you know that my mom owns a consignment boutique.  What you may not know, is that every once in awhile if my mom is in a pinch and needs someone to fill in at the boutique I help out.  This doesn't happen often (just a handful of times a year) but I always find it enjoyable.  When Greyson was younger I would find a babysitter for him while I helped (the older two are in school), but lately I have felt like he's getting big enough to join me.  He has come with me the last 2 times and he has been quite the helper...

First of all, I explained to him that he has to dress up.  We are working retail and he must dress the part...ladies like a dapper gentlemen helping them. He decided a tie was his most dashing attire.

 

Next, we had to discuss lunch.  Since we would be working through the lunch hour I told him that we must pack a lunch to eat while we are there.  He was BEYOND excited...and what who doesn't find a Star Wars lunchbox quite fetching?

 

As you can see, he quickly got himself comfortable in the roll of "boss" - greeting everyone with a smile and showing them is amazing chair rolling skills.  Talent I tell you...pure talent.

 

We found lots of ways to make our time enjoyable!  We pulled clothing item after clothing item and talked about what color it was (one of his favorite things to do).  While I helped customers Greyson busied himself hiding the display jewelry in purses that were for sale (this made for an extremely interesting game of hide-and-seek as we had to find all the hidden jewelry)!!  Greyson tried on more shoes than I could count...but apparently the boutique does not carry a toddler size 10.  When no one was watching we danced...and danced...and danced.  Stores are good for that.  Lots of room, great music, and mirrors to watch ourselves!

At the end of his shift he was ready to call it a day.  Naptime was calling.

 "We make a living by what we get...but we make a life by what we give"

--Winston Churchill

Let the SPRING CLEANING begin...

I don't know about you....but I am ready for some warmer weather.  I'm trying my best to embrace this white stuff outside my window, but in my heart of hearts I am longing for the windows to be open and to hear the sound of birds chirping. 

On a side note, birds chirping in the morning is one of my favorite sounds EVER.  How can you not wake up with a smile on your face when you are being serenaded by such sweet music?!!

Anyway, back to spring...

Since it looks like there will be NO spring in our foreseeable forecast (we were just hit with a blizzard last week) I decided to make lemonade out of lemons and get my spring cleaning underway!

Call me nuts, but I honestly enjoy spring cleaning.

There is something refreshing about digging into each room and giving it a total wash down.  So far I have finished our master closet, master bathroom, and master bedroom.  Next up on the agenda is the laundry room.  Basically I just work my way from one end of the house - room by room - to the other end of the house. 

In each room I do the normal dusting, vacuuming, and such that I do when I normally clean but spring cleaning also adds other things to the mix...

I clean out each and every drawer and cabinet (washing them down and organizing them)
I clean all the baseboards
I clean all ceiling fans
I clean all trimwork around doors and windows

I've also found it's a great time to get an idea of what needs to be replaced or repaired in your house.  While scrubbing toilets yesterday I decided our toilets seats were on their last leg (nasty)!!!  I grabbed my phone, pulled up Amazon, and ordered 2 new toilet seats (for a GREAT price) in about 2 minutes total and I was back to cleaning.  Have I mentioned I also love online shopping?  That's another post...

Sometimes I am absolutely FLOORED by how dirty parts of our house get that I don't even realize.  Today I cleaned behind our TV cabinet in our bedroom.  I text my husband afterwards and said I was surprised the dust bunnies didn't unite and eat us in our sleep!!!!

Ugh.

I thrive on cleanliness and organization but, in all honesty, with 3 kids (4 if you include my husband) my house is messy on a daily basis.  Some days it is literally impossible to keep up with it.  Spring cleaning allows me to get my house deeply cleaned in a way that I can't daily (because honestly, some days I'm lucky to get the dishes washed and counters wiped off).

Instead of a quote at the end of this post I am going to share a little trick I am using to get my older two kiddos to help out with the spring cleaning (and they don't even realize it)!!!  Lately those two sweethearts have been leaving things out EVERYWHERE.  I have reminded them that I am not their personal maid....but I'm starting to think they don't believe me.

Nice.

So one day I grabbed a Rubbermaid tub and put a note on the top of it (and yes...for those of you that are giggling right now...the note was all cute with a border and pretty handwriting...that's just how I roll!).  Anyway, the note said...

You left it out, 

Mom picked it up.

She's got your stuff, 

You're out of luck!

To get it back, 

must do a chore.

Again, it's yours

just like BEFORE!

I then started walking through the house and filling my tub up with everything they had left out.  To get it back they must do a chore.  

The chore?

Cleaning out cabinets and organizing them.

Ahhhh.....see how I did that?!   I'm sneaky that way.

Parenting isn't for Sissies.

A friend and I were texting back and forth this morning.  We were discussing some challenges we've been facing as parents.  As the conversation winded down she text me and and thanked me for my encouraging words.  My response....

"Mamas NEED to encourage one another.  This gig isn't for sissies!"

The longer I am a Mama the more I realize how true that statement is.

Parenting my children when they were younger was fairly easy for me.  I knew what kind of mother I wanted to be.  I had thoroughly thought through what paths I was going to take regarding their upbringing at a young age.  Decisions were made quickly and easily as they were presented to me.

I knew I wanted them on a schedule as an infant.
I knew I didn't want them eating sweets until they were 2 years old.
I knew I wanted them to eat healthy in general....not many sweets in the house.
I knew I wanted to be a very "hands on" mom.
I knew I wanted to make special milestones in their lives magical for them.
I knew I only wanted them to have 1 year of Preschool.

I could go on and on...

Like I said, most things were very black and white for me.  I was still very much in control of their lives and what was going on around them.

As my children have gotten older it's not quite so easy and it's DEFINITELY not quite so black and white.  The questions are so much harder and they seem to come at me faster.  They are no longer immersed in the world I have cocooned around them....they are now immersed in the REAL world.  People other than Matt and I are influencing them and peer pressure is hitting them right on the forehead.

Just a few examples....

This past week Eva was invited to a skating party.  I agreed to let her go (even though I did not know the parents well).  The party was cancelled due to a snow storm.  The dad emailed me and said that they are now planning a "mega-sleepover".  My heart sank.  I looked at Eva and told her that she is welcome to go to the party....but I would not be letting her sleepover.  I do not know this little girls family at all.  I don't know what kinds of things they allow in their home or don't allow.  I have not built a level of trust with them that would make me feel comfortable with Eva spending the night.  Luckily, Eva was understanding about the whole thing.

Jaden loves to play Minecraft on the Xbox.  He has been asking me for MONTHS to play "Live" on it because you are able to do so much more.  My initial gut instinct was "no" because of safety reasons.  However, in an attempt to be fair I agreed to look into it since I don't know much about video games.  After just a small amount of research I realized there was NO WAY I was allowing him to go "Live" for a LOT of reasons.  So I had to break the news to him.....even though "all of his friends" get to play "Live".

Eva has been asking for a TV in her room.  At first I giggled and told her we have about 10 TV's scattered all over this house in various areas.  She doesn't NEED a TV.  If she wants to watch something there is always a TV available somewhere!  Then she explained it's because so many of her friends have TV's in their rooms.  They get to watch whatever they want whenever they want.  It was then that I had to sit down and explain to her my real reason for not wanting her to have a TV in her room at age 10.....I simply love to be around her too much!!  I have seen children that eat dinner and then retreat to their rooms for the night to watch TV.  Being a preteen, Eva does retreat to her room (and I try my best to make sure she has the space she needs) but she is often reading or writing or playing her guitar.  It's something creative.  When she's not doing those things she is with US....and well....I love it when she is with us.  I am just not willing to give that up yet at age 10.

Last example...as a preteen, Eva has decided that when she is mad at me she simply stops talking to me.  COMPLETELY stops talking to me.  I can occasionally get a shrug out of her,  but not much more.  While this drives me absolutely BONKERS (and my instinct is to come down hard) I have decided to pick my battles.  As long as she is not being rude and is not disrespecting others (brothers, guests, etc) I simply let it go.   Like all things, this too shall pass.

These, my friends, are just a small glimpse at a few of the issues we've tackled THIS WEEK.   That being said, I know it's also just going to get harder.  The teenage years are coming!!!

My hope - and prayer - is that I have put in the time and the effort each day that my children know that decisions we make are made out of love.  I want them to know we care, but that we aren't perfect.  This whole parenting thing is new for us too....and every day is another adventure.

"Children are not casual guests in our home.  They have been loaned to us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and instilling a foundation of values on which their future lives will be built"

--James Dobson

Cold Weather? No problem.

I love running.  It's become a passion.  I haven't let this cold weather stop me.  If anything it has CHALLENGED me!!! 

A foot of snow??  No problem.

Temperatures below zero?  Bring it.

I've learned that you often think the weather looks bad for running when you look through the window....but when you step outside in it and actually RUN....it's MAGICAL.   If you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never get anything done. 

So I wake at 5:30 in the morning....and I run.

Here are a few pics (from my phone so they are a bit blurry) from some of my cold weather runs this winter...

 This was the first deep snow run I did.  The snow was so deep that in some places it was well over my ankle, and up onto my calf.  It was one of the hardest runs I've ever had (at times it was like running through deep sand)...but also one of my favorites.

 The temperature for this run was NEGATIVE 4!!  It was COOOOOLD!!!!  My eyes always water when it's cold out and I'm running.  This time it created icicles on my eyelashes!!

 

"In the end it's your run...and yours alone.  Others can run it with you, but not for you.  Embrace it.  Be strong.  Keep moving forward"

--slowisthenewfast.com

Snow Day Fun...

This girl loves a good snow. 

The kind of snow that keeps you from traveling anywhere.

The kind of snow that keeps the kiddos home from school (and occasionally the hubby home from work).

The kind of snow that causes the weatherman on TV to go into an absolute frenzy as you just sit and giggle.

The kind of snow that has the ticker of snow closings at the bottom of the TV screen going crazy.

The kind of snow that creates memories that last forever.

This weekend we got that kind of snow in our neck of the woods.  It was AMAZING.  We couldn't wait to get outside to play in it.

The kiddos were out in the snow most of the day, and Matt and I spent a good chunk of the morning out with them.  After Greyson was in bed (and Eva and Jaden were STILL playing outside) Matt and I whipped up some margaritas and homemade guacamole with chips!  Who says winter weather necessarily means eating winter food?!

That night we enjoyed the Superbowl in our favorite way....a big blanket spread out on the living room floor and dinner picnic style!! 

Honestly, it was one of my favorite snow days to date.  Lots of time with my family relaxing and enjoying the wonder and beauty around us!

"We often hear of bad weather, but in reality, no weather is bad.  It is all delightful, though in different ways.  Some may be bad for farmers or crops, but for man ALL weather is good.  Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, and snow is exhilarating"

--John Lubbock