Peek Review and Giveaway

Check out this Peek review and giveaway at Seeryus Mama.   I had never heard of a Peek before but I sure could use one.   Apparently it's an email checker/sender.  I've been trying to check my email on my cellphone but it sucks.  You can pay month to month for the service.  No contracts.  j

 

So check it out.  Very easy to get extra entries.  :)

Thrift Shop Mama

I just love a good deal.  Who doesn't?   Do you know what's even better than a good deal? Telling someone about your good deal.  

I spent the morning with a friend and we decided to head out  to the local thrift shop.  Prior to E being in kindergarten I hadn't paid much attention to the good ol local thrift shop.  It's not that we had so much money, it's just that 3 were such a pain to take out by myself.  So now E is in kindergarten and J is in preschool 2 mornings a week so that just leaves O and me.   

So this morning we went, as I said before, to the local thrift store.  I hadn't planned on spending anything, I was going more to hang out with my friend than anything.  However, point me towards a clothes rack and I can just seem to smell out that good deal.  The nice thing about thrift stores is that so many items are in really good quality and not only are you putting money back into charity, but you are also recycling.  

So I spent 16.75 today and here's what I got, 

Two t-shirts - 1 dora, 1 disney princess:  $1.50

One Thomas the Train t-shirt - 99cents, half off .49

One Lightning McQueen Shirt - 50 cents, half off .25

One Fleece pullover top for E -  $.99

One Jacket for O:  $1.99

One Fancy dress J:  $3.99

One top Mommy:   $2.99

One corduroy dress E:  $1.99

one sweater top O:  $.99

one cool sweat suit Jacket O:  .99 half off  $.49

I took some pictures.  Of course, O had to wear his shirt and jacket right away and ended up going down for a nap.  So these are just a few of the pictures. 

J's dress is satin with puff sleeves, it has a lining underneath with a little bit of tulle to make the dress stand out.  Hers was by far the most expensive but for $3.99 this could easily be a dress up dress. 

E was delighted with hers  because she has lots of fancy dresses but no real "play" dresses.  

So I think I managed to do well this morning.  The only drawback to shopping the thrift store is it's much like garage saling, you can often end up spending too much money and buy more than you really need just because it's a good deal. 

There also can be a certain stigma shopping at thrift shops.  My one SIL does not buy second hand at all and only would consider taking cast offs if she knows the people personally.  This from someone who had a tight budget for a long period of time.  

I disagree.  What with the cost of raising three growing kids these days, I need to save money wherever I can and besides, if my daughter wears a 99 cent t-shirt and spills paint all over it or plays in the mud in her new jeans that cost $1.99, who really cares.  That all joins in with my letting kids be kids and get dirty theory.  All that and helping the environment too!  What could be better than that? 

A dirty kid is a happy kid and a thrifty momma has loonies in her pocket. 

Favourite kid quote to date

The set up:  J (3) is straddling my lap, cradling my face in her hands and making faces at me. 

Mommy:  "J, don't poke mommy's eye," as her little finger is jabbing my eye "that hurts mommy."

J:               "Only little bit." poke, poke, poke. 

Some times my kids amaze me.

We had a pretty much average day, get up take E to school, J to preschool, come home, run around cleaning house till it's time to pick J and E up, eat lunch and clean some more etc.. you get the picture. Pretty tame day.

Hubby comes home around 4:15. The kids are usually pretty excited to see him and so am I for that matter. At this point in the day I am trying to finish up making supper and get the food on the table because I have to be at work by 5:00 p.m.

K was not in the greatest mood when he got home today because he had a crappy day. So it didn't take long before his patience wore thin, then my patience wore thin because he was losing his patience and on and on and on... You could just see things spiraling out of control and if we didn't get a hold on it things were just going to get worse. Dinner time is always a tough time of the day but it gets even tougher when K and I are trying to have a quick conversation about the day and the kids are constantly interrupting. It doesn't help that we're transitioning him coming home and me going to work.

To top it off, when I took the stuffed turkey roast out of the oven, it wasn't cooked all the way through. You can get away with that with roast beef but not poultry. Great. I had to stick the darn thing back into the oven to keep on cooking while we ate potatoes and vegetables, cause like I said I have to be at work by 5:00.

So I eat my vegetarian meal and jump up to get ready for work. I can hear K in the background being exasperated with O because he's in this stage of putting food in his mouth, chewing it and then spitting it out, usually into his hand. Well today, he decided to chuck the food he has spewed into his hand around the table so K's getting pretty annoyed.

I come out, get ready to go when I call the girls to come and kiss me bye. I just give O a kiss when I look up to see that my five year old, E has just put all her laundry that was folded up in the laundry basket away and she was standing there trying to sort out the mix matched socks. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

For some strange reason, this brought tears to my eyes. My baby is growing up. I gave her a big high five and a hug and told her how proud I am of her. Part of me wanted to go check and make sure she put it all in the right drawers but then really who cares. It was put away and she did it on her own initiative. When I went to say goodbye to K, he too had tears in his eyes. Her act of thoughtfulness was enough to break him out of his mood and opened our lines of communication up again.

Kids really do amaze me.

Shoes, Shoes and more Shoes

I love my shoes.  It's a woman thing, I know but we just can't seem to get enough  Shoes.  My problem is that where I live, I am limited as to variety.  Oh there are plenty of shoe stores around but they never seem to have what I want at a price that I want to pay. 

After my first pregnancy my feet were really bad and a friend of mine had recommended Skechers. Skechers; however, were very expensive to buy in my area and I was limited as to style and colour.  

So I was glad to stumble upon this website, Women's Shoes in 2004.  Not only did I find the perfect Skecher sneakers, I also managed to get them with pink trim.  To top it off, they were around $40.00 less to purchase online than buying them locally. Even with shipping costs, I still saved lots of money plus had shoes that I loved.  

Since then I receive email updates now and then letting me know about special sales.  Don’t worry you don’t have to receive the e-mails, you can choose not to be notified of any special offers etc.  I happen to like good shoe deals so I like receive these notices.

I recently had a chance to wander back to their page and must say I spent about an hour drooling over their shoes. They certainly seem to have just about every brand of shoe that I could want in every size, shape and colour that I want.  From Clarks, to Crocs to Dr. Scholls (another pregnancy friendly shoe brand)   I even found those latest Ugg boots.

My favourites are, of course, the summer sandals.  Sandals are my absolute all time favourite style of shoes.  I can’t wait for spring.   Aren’t they gorgeous?

 This webpage is easy to navigate and has a very fast response time.  You can either search by your favourite brand name, by style or by gender. They even have an advanced search feature so you can search by shoe size. This, in my books, is a great feature.  There is nothing like wasting time looking at shoes that don’t come in your size anyways.  You can also sort your viewing page out by how many shoes you’d like to look at and by price so you can stick to your budget. 

There is also a clearance section where you can find fabulous prices on a wide variety of shoes. This is not your typical shoe store clearance section where they have 5 shoes on clearance in size 6.  I found page after page of shoes that comes in my size. (10 in case you were wondering)

Plus there are more than just Women's Shoes.  There's also plenty of styles and selections of Men's Shoes and the shoe love doesn't stop there.. there's boys shoes, girls shoes and even baby shoes and shoe accessories.  Many of the shoes are offered with free shipping so you save even more money.   I have done some price comparison with an online Canadian department store and this page  Shoes is definitely more affordable. 

This is a Canadian company and living in Canada as I do, I find it refreshing to find a company like this.   There are just not enough Canadian companies out there supplying products to us Canadians.  Having said that they do deliver to the U.S. as well  and any order that is under $200.00 US dollars is duty free.  Good to know.

So top reasons to shop at Shoes:

• Free shipping is offered on most items.     
• Easy Returns:  75 day return policy.
• Fast Shipping  This was certainly my personal experience.
• Items are in stock.  They have a 99% fulfillment rate. 
• Great Service.
• This store has been in business since 1990 and online since 1996.

As I said, I have personally shopped online at this store in the past and had a wonderful positive experience.

In the Mommy Trenches

The Foot is Coming Down.

My husband has put his figurative foot down.  No posting pictures of our children on the internet.  

My main plan with this blog was to be fairly anonymous so that I can post my beefs and gripes without fear of repercussions.  I can be, at times, candidly honest on this page with regards to family and friends.  No I know my mom's old adage 'if you can't say something nice, then don't say it at all'.  But really, some times you just need to b#@*h.  Really get it off my chest and suddenly, I feel just a little bit better.  I would; however, feel absolutely mortified if my BIL & SIL knew how I really felt about their germaphobe behaviour.  (see earlier posts). 

I digress.  I have been reading many other blogs online and love to see pictures of people's families etc and have been thinking of posting several of my kids now and then of their more zanier antics etc.  My husband disagrees. 

He was listening to the radio on his way home and heard a report about how bad guys (translation - perverts)  are taking photos of kids off the net and using them for their own purposes, posting them in other places etc.  Because let's face it, most of us don't know how to protect our photos from being "borrowed" like the really smart people do.  

In fact, if you do an image search on google with the words, children, girl, playing, names etc... you actually pull up a photos of kids from various peoples webpages and blogs.  Kind of creepy if you think about it.  So I don't know how to stop that from happening. Maybe it mainly has to do with the description of the photo... I don't know.  Maybe it's just a matter of not doing head shots, again, I don't know. 

If anyone out there has any suggestions I'd love to hear it.   

Valentines, Valentines, Party

We had a lovely Valentines day.  My hubby let me sleep in and only woke me up when breakfast was ready.  When I got to the table these were waiting for me. Notice the kisses nestled inside.  This is a standing joke for my husband and I, when we just "friends" 11 or so years ago, I happened to threw a hershey's chocolate at him and asked him if he wanted a kiss.  Well, you could literally see the five shades of red he went. He thought I meant a real kiss.  He was a little shy in those days).  So 10 years later we have been continually exchanging "kisses" on every special occasion.

These are what we got the kids.  Each girl got a Dora purse.  I just thought they were so pretty. They are metal and have a clasp. We put a few candies and stickers in there for them.  I hate buying those small commercial candies that they do up for the holidays now.  Have you tasted the chocolate in there?  It tastes like crap, not to mention all the chemicals.   So I splurge a little and buy a few better quality chocolates now.   
And of course, O got the cars tin.  He just loves Cars.  

Party Update. 

We had a nice time.  Supper was nice.  We got a little behind.  My sil while being prepared in some areas was completely unprepared in others.  But lets not gripe about that.  I think they all had a nice time and the kids sure loved my chocolate fondue dessert. 

It was funny, My niece and nephew had dove right in before I had gotten back to the table and they were using the little spoons to scoop chocolate all neatly onto their plates.  I took up a fondue fork, speared a creampuff and said to my nephew "This is how you do it." dipped my fork and creampuff into the chocolate, swirled it, pulled out a completely chocolately covered puff out and his eyes just about bugged out and he said "cool" in an aw inspired breath. He thought it was one classy dessert.  I just about laughed at his expression.  Later my husband said to me, you know nephew was really impressed with it when he was done and he was getting up from the table and said "Thank you Aunty." 

My mom liked the memory tree quilt.  It turned out nice.  My mom is not overly gushy about things, but she did say it turned out nice and thank you.  So...  although her next words out of her mouth were... where did you get the panel?   Of course, being an avid sewer herself she's been to all the stores up and down our island and I'm sure she's thinking how come she never come across something like this before.  But I had another source, heh heh... Ebay.  

Zeemaid

It's Done, Yeah! Craft project Update #2

My goodness it's been hard to find the time to post this.

 So I had to trace out all the name labels onto iron on adhesive paper and then cut them out.  It took some time getting all 11 done.  

With the iron on "silk" setting, lightly press the label onto the adhesive paper making sure you iron the paper side.  I used a piece of parchment paper between the label and my ironing surface because sometimes the glue can transfer onto your pad.  Make sure the glue has melted, peal off the paper and then place your label in the right spot on the tree, press and voila. 

Just a close up of the embroidered flowers and the family tree sign. 

Once I finished the ironing, I allowed it to set a while to make sure the glue had cooled enough and was firmly attached.  Then I cut out my backing material to the same size, pinned right sides together, straight stichted around the quilt leaving a 3 inch gap at the top.  When done, press, trim edges and pull the quilt right side out.  Handsew the gap closed.  Press again. 

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the complete finished project.  I didn't get it completely finished until Sat a.m. so we were a little rushed.  But you get the general gist. 

Zeemaid

What the World Needs now is Love

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another mountain,
There are mountains and hillsides enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers enough to cross,

Enough to last till the end of time.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

Lord, we don't need another meadow
There are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow
There are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine
Oh listen, lord, if you want to know.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.

No, not just for some, oh, but just for everyone.
lyrics by Burt Bacharat

Happy Valentines Day!

Zeemaid

Eighty MPH Mom: Please Feed the Cat!

<center>Eighty MPH Mom</center>: Please Feed the Cat!

3 Columns, Hooray!

 I now have 3 columns on my blog. I'm looking forward to playing around with it.  I wasn't liking the way everything was piling up on the one side.  

Thanks to Jen at 80MPH for giving me the link to Tips for New Bloggers. Definitely a page to check out and put in your favourites.  I am a complete newbie at editing html and while I didn't get it figured out immediately, I did manage to tweak things and get my columns up in 30 minutes, without losing my gadgets etc.  So I'm pretty impressed.  

Oh and be sure to check out Jen's snazzy new blog makeover.  She usually has several contests and lots of fun Link below to a video on her page. *L*

Oh and yes the Valentine page will be coming down soon.  

Zeemaid

Hopefully I only screw them up a little.

My second post for the day.  I was originally just planning on posting this but then I saw every one's comments on yesterday's post and felt I had to give a little update. 

So on with today's post. 

I, like every mother, want the best for my child.  So it's when I see her struggle socially that my heart breaks a little for her.  You see, I would like it if my child was more popular.  Don't get me wrong, I don't need her to be popular or to be in the "in" crowd.  I just wish she had more friends. 

I've been observing her in her class line up and the other day there were these two girls making fun of her.  Oh it was light fun that kids make and my E didn't have a clue.  It went over her head thank goodness.  It didn't occur to her that they'd make fun of her.   But it did make me a little sad and wonder why she hasn't really made any girl friends.  Sometimes it doesn't go over her head as she tells me that one girl made fun of her drawings because E scribbled or told E that she wasn't inviting her to her party because she was different.  What's different mommy? 

Being socially accepted is not the be all and end all of life, I know.  It's just makes life that much more easier and maybe less painful.  I'm speaking from experience here.  I started off with lots of friends in elementary school but gradually I felt a shift.  I felt it then and I can pinpoint the reasons even more so now.   There began to be subtle differences, I was invited to the birthday party of a "popular" girl.  Her parents lived in a big fancy house and her mother wore a dress.  A mom who wore a dress was idolized in my eyes because I loved wearing dresses.  I have no idea what her father did for a living.  I just know they had money. It was after that party that suddenly there were "cool" kids and non cool kids and gradually I was shifted into the non cool crowd.  No longer welcome to sit by the "princess".  There was this one girl in grade 4, pretty petite.  Loved by all.  Everything about her was dainty, even the way she ate.  I idolized her.  I wanted to be her best friend.  My biggest highlight and let down.. was eating lunch with her at her desk.  She said okay but her heart wasn't in it obviously as she talked to other girls more than me.  

I didn't know it at the time but we were considered poor.  We lived in a small double wide trailer, both my parents worked to make ends meet etc.  I'm not putting them down.  I had a great childhood, loving parents.  I never went without.  We lived, however, in small village where a lot of wealthy people live.  It just pisses me off when I look back and see how I was discarded based on the financial status of my parents.  My one sole personal drawback, I was a bit shy.   My mom told me that there was nothing wrong with me, I was just a little shy. Kids like kids who aren't shy.  So why was it then that the girl who lived the street over, used to walk with me to school in grade 6 decided that I wasn't even cool enough to walk to school with.  Oh she didn't say anything to my face, she just started walking earlier so I'd have to run to catch up with her.  It didn't take me long to clue in that she didn't want to walk with me anymore.  Suddenly, I was almost friendless in this big school.  

I did have this one friend Rene.  She didn't have many friends either.  She was new to the area and she was definitely different.  She had bright red, I mean pippi longstocking red hair, that was curly so she had like this big red fro with ringlets sticking out all over it.  The ringlets were big and fat and completely natural and literally you could pull one and it'd boing back into shape.  I always added the boing sound effect in my head.  She was pale with freckles and about the most vibrant, fun loving, happiest, most accepting person I had ever met.  Unfortunately, she moved away again and I have no idea where she is now or even her last name so we lost touch. 

The best thing that ever happened to me was when my folks decided to move.  We moved ten minutes down the road to a new town, which meant a new school.  Suddenly I had friend and lots of them.  I became part of a crowd.  Because this town was a "working" town.  Most people who lived in this were regular joes.  So then I realized there was nothing wrong with me.  It really was them. 

Amazing how childhood can still affect you.  You think you're in your mid thirties and life should be just a breeze by now.   Things still rise up to bite you in the butt.  Especially when you have children.  

 When E first started kindergarten I would say things like don't do this or that because the kids won't like you.  I'm not talking big things but etiquette things like picking noses, sticking hands down your pants, wiping properly so you don't smell etc.   Things that needed to be worked on.  But then she started getting agitated and would freak out about some minor thing saying that people were going to laugh at her.   I was floored at where she was getting this from.  Then I realized that I was putting MY anxieties on her and making her insecure.  Shoot.  So I stopped and became more careful at how I worded things and she doesn't worry about people laughing at her anymore.  Phew.  

So now I try to say more encouraging things to her about making friends, trying to be helpful and kind etc.  I don't worry about her hair or what she wears (within reason) but there is still that part of me that wants to because I would like to pave the way for her... just a little.  Take some of the rocks out of the path.  But that would be wrong.  

Who I am today is because of all that I went through. Maybe I wouldn't have been so empathetic for those kids on the fringe in High School if it hadn't been for my childhood.  Maybe I would have shunned the girl who became my best friend because everyone thought she was a B&#@H. She was just shy.  

Have you seen the movie:  Jane Austen Book Club?  There is this scene where this woman is mad at her husband because he thinks one of the girls she went to school with was nice and spent some time chatting with this blond, attractive woman.  He said to her "High School is over."  Her response... "High school is never over."   How true for some of us.  

So how do we navigate through this social map known as their school days.  How do I protect my child's self esteem while encouraging herself to put herself out there, to be bold and to love her own way.  

I don't know but I'm sure I'm going to screw it up along the line.  Hopefully, just a little. 

Zeemaid

   

Low Day Update

You all were right.  Sometimes it is just a matter of feeling like you've been heard.  

We talked it out last night.  You could have blown my husband away.  He felt that because he had talked at me that it was the same as discussing it with me and agreed that no, he hadn't actually asked me.  It wasn't like I really was going to put my foot down and just say no because nothing is ever cut and dried that way.  The decisions we are making are not as simple as what's for dinner tonight.  

So while I don't really feel we've totally resolved some of the decisions we need to make, he at least heard what I said.  He must have been feeling bad because he was very helpful the rest of the evening and even was more helpful this a.m.  So hopefully something has clicked.  

Thanks for your comments.  It's nice to know that I'm not the only one out there who feels she caves a lot.  

Zeemaid

So do they like it... or not?

Well we got the home feedback through the homefeedback site and yes they like the house... but after all the gushing the realtor did to my MIL their feedback was a let down.

"considering the costs of making changes for in home business.  may consider building ???"

bleep bleep bleep.  :)   So they like it but not enough?  Or they like it but it's too expensive? 

How frustrating is that.  Do you think there still remains some hope that they may decide to buy from us?  

Our house is perfect for their idea.  Plus we're on a corner lot with parking at the side so it's a perfect set up for customers.   They would be hard pressed to find such an ideal set up like this.    

Oh I am so ready to be done with this house for sale thing.   I have realized from being on the selling end of things that I will have way more respect for the viewing other people's home process.  I won't be looking at anything unless we're very serious about it. 

Zeemaid

P.S.  That house picture up there.. not my actual house but my dream home one day. :)

House Update

Apparently they liked our house.  They spent a good 45 minutes going through it.  They are thinking of putting a hair salon downstairs (our part of the house) and I think it's a great idea.  The location etc is perfect.  

Hopefully, they make us an offer.   Hope hope hope hope hope hope. 

What I really want.... is a Maid!

Can you guess what I am up to? I mean before I began typing this post.  :)   That's right, cleaning.  AGAIN.  We're showing our house again today to the same people that saw the house on Tuesday.  The husband saw it first and now he wants his wife to see it.  Cross your fingers and send up a prayer for us.  We are more than ready to get out of this dumb, I mean lovely, of course, house. 

Fortunately our house has remained relatively tidy since our last showing on Wed.  Still there are dishes to be done, toys to be  picked up, laundry to be hidden.  This is when I start dreaming about having a maid.  She doesn't have to come every day just once a week.  Someone to do the "heavy" stuff.  Remember when, well we don't actually remember when, but we've been told about those days when even poor families had a woman in once a week to "do the heavy stuff" and often had a girl to help during the week.  

Just how did we progress to this point where we have to do it all on our own?  Course, I have the luxury of a dishwasher and washing machine.  I don't have to go beat my laundry against a rock, thank you Lord.   

Reality is I just can't really picture being comfortable having a maid come in.  Can you see me now, rushing around tidying up a little because I don't want her to think we live like pigs.  I wouldn't want her to do my laundry because who wants a stranger to go through my underthings.  (it's bad enough when my MIL decides to "help".  It's always seems to be a day when those period panties happen to be in the wash).  I'd have to clean before the cleaning lady gets here.      

So we tidy up ourselves and try to keep the children from playing with their toys too much and making a mess.  Poor things.  We are, however, in silent mode.  No our kids haven't suddenly grown wings and halos.  My hubby and I are in disagreement this morning. 

We all like our sleep and I think my husband likes his more than most because he gets right growly when the kids keep coming in the room in the a.m.  I get annoyed too and have even been known to yell at them to get out.  I'm not going to embarrass my husband by saying exactly how he lost his temper, it's enough to say he lost it. 

The problem is, I think he should apologize to E and when I told him that he "tchh" me and proceeded to ignore me after that.  Fine.  That's how you hold a discussion, so be it.  I know, we sound like immature 4 year olds.  And that's where it stands. 

We'll eventually go back to talking at some point this day when one of us forgets we're annoyed with the other.  

Zeemaid

Mommy or... super spy?

You know you're a bored, stay at home mom when you have nothing better to do than torture the children. Here's O having his nap. It was time for him to wake up from the said nap or he won't go to bed tonight. I just love sleeping babies. It's not often I get to sneak in on him though cause usually once he's down, it is not worth the risk of waking him up to peak at him.

Poor O!.

He looks so peaceful.. so unsuspecting. 

This was actually the first picture I took.  look at that big lip.  I bet there's drool on the pillow.

  

Oooh.. playing with my nightshot feature.  Black and white is just as sweet.

Oh, oh, somebody's waking up.  Think the flash might have done it?  *L*

Still nightshot mode.   Moooom!

He looks kinda scary... like extra terrestial or something...

Who turned on the lights?

Me feigning innocence:  "Who, what, huh?  Wasn't me sweetie." 

Yeah, it's sad.  That's our best form of entertainment right now.  Mwah ha ha ha ha ha.

Zeemaid

A Craft Project... Remember This

Well, since hubby had to work tonight and I am off I actually had a chance to work on my project for my parent's 40th anniversary coming up on February 14th.  See post. 

I had done some embroidering of the names on a different night but had to wait until I had a chance to wash the backing material so I could actually start sewing it together.   Super Ninja Mommy has been posting her craft projects lately along with pictures so I thought maybe you might be interested in seeing mine. 

              

These are the circles that I am embroidering the family names on. I will have to cut them out and applique them on to the final project. Normally you're supposed to do it before you start sewing but I plan on doing some extra embroidering of the tree.

First I had to cut four even strips (and cut straight I might add) and then sew them on to the panel which in essence are going to "frame" the tree. I picked this lovely brown material with darker swirls on it. I think it stands out quite nice.

Pressing seams. I just love pressing seams. Don't you?

One mitered corner.  In order to make the seams nice and neat, I could either postage stamp the corners with separate material or fold one corner at a 45 degree angle. The catch, I had to hand sew the those corners. Can I just say, I hate hand sewing. It's a real pain trying to sew not only neatly but also so it's hard to see the stitches.  One down, 3 to go. 

Then I laid my panel onto fleece backing and cut it out to size.  I then quilted all around the inside of the square with a zig zag stitch.  It's my mom's trick. It's a lot harder to detect a crooked seam when you zig zag than when you sew straight.  I used a tight zig zag setting on my machine and so it actually looks really nice, almost like serging.  You can't really see that on the back.  

This is as far as I 've gotten tonight and crazy as it is, I was anxious to share my success.  I'm normally what you call a lazy sewer.  I hate fiddling, I hate prep and I hate long projects.  I tend to cut corners so for me to actually have made it this far without any major screw up is a high five, dance around the table kind of victory. 

The plan is now to hand quilt the tree and some flowers around the bases of the tree.  

Whew..my shoulders are aching and my back is tired.  I'm off to have my tea and head for bed. 

Cheers, 

Zeemaid

P.S.  I couldn't figure out how to get the pictures and the typing to line up.. would you believe I actually strayed into the Edit Html and actually figured out how to stop the photos from lumping up.  wtgZeemaid. *L*

Quick House Update

We had another showing today at noon.  It was different people from the last ones.  So far no feedback and no new appointment for the other couple.  So who knows. 

Zeemaid

Correct me if I am wrong...

but when you've got an entire house to clean and only 4 hours to do it (with the picking up and dropping off of children at school and feeding them lunch all in there) you do not:

• start re-0rganizing the storage room.
• suddenly decide to haul all those decorations that have been hanging around since Christmas to the storage locker 10 minutes up the road. Which requires driving to my store (10 minutes the other direction) to drop off boxes so we can drive back home, fill the van up and then drive to the storage locker. 
  
• suddenly decide to finally take apart that large, broken plastic toy and try to jam it back into it's box because we're gonna take it back ($100.00 and it took 2 days for O to break it.  I want my money back!).
• Oh and in the aforesaid reorganization of the storage room, shift the carpet cleaner which decided to pour out dirty water (filled with vomit from J's latest puke fest on Friday) all over the carpet.  So it stinks in there.  3 hours to showing and my house stinks like PUKE!!! For some reason, water stayed in the hose after K thought it was already cleaned out.  Plus he got a big sliver in his hand because of his madcap reorganization. 
• clean the walls behind all the furniture.  I'm sorry but no one is going to be pulling the chair out and looking back there!
• take all the stuff that you're clearing from room and come and pile it into the other room that I had JUST FINISHED cleaning.  Every time I had the kitchen cleared, I turn and find more crap piled up on the stove.  For ME to sort through.  ARGHHH!!  This happened in the living room, the bathroom and our bedroom.  Shazbut. 

Now, I love my husband.  Bless him for taking the day off and helping me out but men just don't think like we women do.  I'm a little more concerned with covering the basics, like de-cluttering, cleaning bathrooms, the kitchen etc.  Then IF I have the time, I'll reorganize. 

I have; however, learned.  You see we've gone through this a time or two before.  And that's to just let him go and do it because after all it's all things that need to be done... eventually.  I keep my mouth shut and just do my thing.  Sure I may be grumbling inside but at least I'm not grumbling with him. 

Of course, he's gonna have the last laugh on me today because I always tell him that we're going to go to all this effort and it's gonna be some kind of looky loo people, not serious lookers.  Well, the feedback has already come in and it sounds like we might get a second showing out of it.  I guess just the husband looked at it today and he wants his wife to look through it.  It's hard not to get excited because he came sometime between 2:30 and 3:15 and we got our feedback response by 4:18 saying that showing realtor already had a call from him and that he wants his wife to come see the house.  On the other hand, if she doesn't like it.... and we all know who carries the most clout when it comes to buying homes etc, we're back to square one. 

Whatever happens, my house is so clean that it positively glows.  Remember that pretty house post I wrote a day or so ago?  My house is almost like that today sans the knicknacks.  I'm almost tempted to keep the children outside, it's so nice and shiny inside. 

Let's just hope I can keep it up because we are entering upon the house hunting season. 

Zeemaid

Free Clipart or Photos

Murphy's Law or just my dumb luck?

Do you all know about Murphy's Law?  The old adage that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.   

Today wasn't totally one of those days.  It wasn't a bad day, just a busy day.  I had to get the E off to school and Nana kindly offered to sit the other two while I went grocery shopping.  I looked at my messy house (we had a busy weekend) and almost said  no but I knew that if I didn't take her up on it then I'd be doing a late night shop this evening after we put the kids to bed.  Now I don't like to do late night shops.  I'm tired, besides they start to clean out the deli counter and produce and bread bins at night so the selection is much less.  I digress. 

So I left a very messy house behind, went grocery shopping.  That was just fine.  Got home had to race to put groceries away with J helping me the entire time.  You should see the inside of my pantry cupboard.  Decided to wash my hair because Mommy never got a chance to shower this a.m.  Ugh.  I hate having to go out with greasy hair.  You know how it doesn't really look greasy but you're worried someone else will notice a shiny spot and realize you didn't wash your hair today?

So I do all that and am trying to quickly pick up toys before Nana comes down so I can go pick up E, when O comes up to me saying in his baby voice..."ook" and holding up a brown looking hand in my face.  OMG.   It's pooh.  His hand is covered in POOP.  What's more, his blanky is covered in poop.  Where did this poop come from?  Well, apparently he stuck his hand down his poopy diaper and had a good feel around down there.  So he's got poop up his back as well and on his clothes.   

So I quickly grab his wrist to make sure he doesn't touch anything, get him all cleaned up, then have to proceed to sanitize the sink and the floor.  Oh did I mention we got poop on the floor when changing because it was so far up his back it just smeared out of his diaper everywhere?   Where's Nana when you need her.  

Then I had to race back to school pick up E, bring her home, feed them all lunch, pack snacks, dress them and get them all inside the van and drive an hour to meet up with my friend.  We were spending the afternoon at her house and having dinner.  

In the meantime, I have left an entirely messy house behind and I mean messy.  Laundry is overflowing the baskets, the playroom is littered with toys, our living room has blankies, toys, cups, bowls and books from one end to the other and our kitchen has all the left over clutter from colouring, painting, craft making, food clutter that could be possible.  The sink was full of dishes.  Are you getting the picture?    

I tried, I really did try to tidy up before we left, I did get the table cleaned and the lunch dishes cleared.  They just all didn't make it to the dishwasher.  

So we're having a lovely evening at KCs, (the pot roast, potatoes and yorkshire puddings were delicious by the way) when we get a phone call.  (Darn cellphones).  They'd like to show our house tomorrow afternoon. 

Oh no.   The one day when I am completely behind in all things housholdish, they call.  They haven't called for three months.  Oh there was this near miss last weekend, they called us on short notice and then never called back again.. so we cleaned anyways just in case they did call and set up a time. 

So here we are madly cleaning (I'm taking a break obviously) and organizing.  I am going to be totally stressed tomorrow trying to get everything cleaned.   Thank goodness, both E and J are off to school tomorrow for the morning. 

So.... everyone out there, put your prayers into effect that this is it, these are finally the ones that are going to buy this house.  

I'll keep you posted. 

Zeemaid  

Gee, My House Used to be Pretty

You know my house used to be pretty.  I used to have lovely family photos in lovely picture frames gracing every available surface with knickknacks and doilies on shelves (yes I still use doilies and I'm not 100) and I'm not talking cluttered.  Just nicely arranged.   I used to have nice furniture that I didn't have to worry about vomit and milk spills.  I used to have coffee tables and side tables and all sorts of things that had dangerous corners.   My funniest compliment I had was from my sister-in-law. At some family do we were hosting I noticed her scoping out my decor and she said..."gee your house is so grown up."   Gee, I'm in my 30's so shouldn't it be?

Now my house has replaced pretty with functional.  My nice furniture is now the old furniture that will go in the family room(If our house ever sells and we can afford to buy a new one) and we'll buy new "nice" furniture one day. And that's okay.  It's for a short time.  

I had to laugh though when I was first starting out with my E.  My mom told me that I shouldn't put everything away that I should be able to "teach" E not to touch.  So I left one Angel statue decoration thingy out.  It was lovely... It's one of those Angels standing over a rocking baby cradle, had a music box inside.   Beautiful.  Anyways, so I was working with E about leaving it alone.  Sure enough I wasn't looking and E knocked it down and the wings broke off.  I told my mother and she said to me... "Well, you should have had that put away."  What ?!?!?!.     Fortunately, the wings can be glued back on.  4 years later they still aren't, they just kind of hover precariously on the angel's back. *L*

I still like my house, I just miss my decorations.  Can you imagine how exciting it will be when I can actually unpack those boxes.  It'll be like Christmas all over again, rediscovering favourite things.  Course, some of my stuff is packed cause we're selling our house.  But otherwise we're still looking at a good 4 years of being baby proofed.   When E was a baby I had thought we would have been passed this by age five, so I would have been thinking right now.. O is almost two, one more year and we should be good right?  No.  E still touches everything.  She thinks it's her right to take anything of mine and play with it.  We sure learned that with the Xmas ornaments. The tree did not stay pretty for even a day.  We had J, E and O all in there.  We tried time outs, yelling, threats.. none of it worked.  We'd still find xmas ornaments all over.  They even stuck one of those beaded candy canes in their heat register.  YUM.  Now that was a toxic smell.  It took days to get the smell out of the house and the melted beads out of the register.  Was that the last time they took them off the tree? No. 

So my dream is... when we finally move and get our new house that hubby and I will have a decent size bedroom and it can become kind a like a mini oasis.  That's what I would love to have. However, that's where fantasy and reality sort of clash.  While I may dream about that dream room set out in the home decorating magazine, reality is that normal people(as in people who can't afford maids) don't live like that.  I'm not lazy (okay so I am) but it's impossible to stay that organized, neat and tidy unless you invest 150% into it all of the time.   I don't want to live my life like that.  I really like my novels er I mean my kids.  I don't want to have to train them like dogs to stay off or out.  Kids are kids. They will still sneak in and land a dirty face print right onto that $500.00 designer duvet cover you just bought.   I want my kids to be comfortable in their own home.  It's their house too.

Refinance your mortgage and save some money for home decorations. 

Zeemaid

Insights I've learned through Blogging (An Introspective)

When I first started blogging, I thought Hey I've got an opinion why not share it with the world. Pretty egotistical, huh? I'm sure I'm not the only one out here that wanted to get up on that soap box.  I wasn't really interested in reading other people's blogs.   However, I quickly realized that no one would actually even see my blog unless I got out there and started crawling around some networks and started to read other people's posts etc and comment.   

It's not that I'm completely narcissistic (not completely I said), it's just I didn't figure I really had the time.  After all I'm caring for three little children and it's a big stretch to even just get on and post something which was usually whining about how tough my life is.  Then something happened, I started to "meet" people and enjoyed reading their blogs.  I even found some of them to be inspiring and made me want to shed off my negativity and try to be more positive in my own outlook. 

So here's what I've learned.  

That there are moms/wives out there doing all this by themselves because their husbands have to be away. 

That there are wives out there struggling to run a family and take care of their sick husbands. 

That there are families out there with sick and possibly dying children. 

That there are families out there that are seriously afraid of losing their jobs. 

That are families out there that are raising more than 3 children and doing it to all appearances, really, really well. 

That connections with people even people you may never meet and live in a different city and possibly even a different country all join in to create the feeling of a global community in which we receive help, encouragement and support from one another. 

That no matter what, no matter when, there is always someone else out there that has it just a little bit tougher than I do. 

So a little reminder to me of what I do have.  

I  have a wonderfully, loving and supportive husband who comes home to me every night. 

I have 3 very healthy children and thank God for them. 

I have a roof over my head and a job which may not pay much but it's mine and it gives me the flexibility to work the hours I want and need to best suit my children. 

I have extended family who can help when I need them. 

I have my own health. 

I have at least one close friend whom I can share most everything with. 

I have the internet and the ability to reach and be inspired by the journeys of others. 

Of course, I have God. 

There are so many other things I have to be thankful for but I need to go and tend to my children at the moment.  Their needs must come first. 

Zeemaid

I just Love it When a Man Has a Plan

Well, I love it when my man has a plan that is.  Lately he's been asking me if I want to get his parents to sit so we can go out.  Me... I've been a bit of a bump on the log er couch lately.  I just want to stay home and watch a flick.  Okay so that's my job but sometimes I'm just in a stay at home mood, put your feet, grab a cup of tea and relax.  So the answer lately has been "nah let's just stay in and watch LOTR."  

My poor put upon hubby decided that was it. He's been working extra shifts and we've had the bedtime battles with O every night so I guess he felt he really needed a break.  He announced to me on Tuesday that he had made arrangements with his mom to babysit Wed so we could go out for dinner.  How nice was that?  I guess he figured I couldn't say no when the plans were already made.  Just makes me think how much of a stick in the mud I must have been lately that actually made my husband take initiative and arrange babysitting. 

Do you know what I mean?  How many men out there really make the plans in your house? I try to get my man to put his 2 cents in but it often is like pulling teeth.  He's content to go out and everything, it's just up to me to usually actually make the plans, set the time etc.  (Mind you I still had to confirm with his mom and set the time and outline the plan for the evening with the kids to his mom etc)  But hey, he wanted to go out and so he set the plan in motion. 

So we went out to Moxies.  We had a very lovely dinner.  Made even lovelier by the fact that we had a gift card from friends so we were able to splurge a little and I supersized my Bellini. Normally, we're not drinkers but occasionally I like a sip or two and I do like my girly drinks.  (I just had one)

So it was nice.  Then we went to.... (big dramatic pause)  Wal-Mart.  Yup.  You know you're married with kids when you're big night out means that you end up at Wal-Mart afterwards because hey you get to go shopping without the kids and how often do you get to do that. 

Zeemaid

P.S.  Sorry for all the background changes... but this last pink one is too bismally as in pepto.  I'm just trying to find one that'll stick. *L*

Panties or Underwear?

Okay, this has got to come under the most weirdest post ever and no I'm not being pervy or x-rated.... or at least I don't think I am.

This was a late night conversation with hubby (he loves to bring up these strange conversations right as I'm falling asleep). He starts with... "what would you think if I said you had sexy panties?" I'm like... what? At first I'm thinking okay he wants to know if I'd think he was a perv and thing he wanted to get into my panties (literally) if I heard him say that. So I'm all like cautious and say "well it depends on the context of the situation at the time." and I'm thinking who has he been talking to and what has he been saying now.

Apparently, he was listening to the local radio station (you can imagine my relief) well as local as we can get to the next big City near us, and apparently they started discussing the terminology of Panties vs. Underwear. APPARENTLY, saying panties is a big NO NO. APPARENTLY, women get all freaked out if men say the word panties and instantly assume that the man is a pervert or worse a pedophile.

Ummmm.... am I living on a different planet or even possibly a different country? Since when is the word panties offensive or perverted and how did it come to be termed so. I was somewhat kerflummoxed and my husband swears up and down that not only the female radio host was ranting on the male host to stop saying panties but also their female listeners were calling in furious with him and that they wanted to punch him in the mouth every time they heard him say panties.

So if that is truly the case.... I have a wee confession to make. We use the word panties all the time. Most of often it refers to my girls' underwear because my big ol mom underwear just doesn't seem panty like anymore. I don't think it's offensive or perverted. I have probably made about one billion panty references in my life. It's always been men have underwear (or ginch) and girls have panties. Panties just sound more feminine don't they? Why else to they call it panti-liners. They don't call it underwear or ginch liners. Heck, even on Sears' webpage when you look up women's underwear it's under... intimates then panties. Can a big corporate company be so wrong? (a little facetiousness there.)

Am I living in a bubble? Or is it just the "big city folk" who freak all over things like this. What's next... pajamas instead of nighties?

Zeemaid

Here we go Again, again

I thought we were all done with the sleep deprived thing.  Before Christmas we had a bad time with O for a couple of months where he wouldn't go to bed without us having to sit in his room, getting up multiple times a night etc.  What made it worse is that if he cries he throws up.  

Well, we're back to square one again.  Even bribing him with a bottle (I know it's  wrong but hey I need sleep) doesn't work.  The last several nights I have been getting up 3 or 4 x a night and sitting in his room until he falls asleep and longer because I fall asleep in the rocker.  If I had a bed in his room, I tell you I'd just bunk there.  

When we had taken him to the dr. a couple of weeks ago, the doctor said there was a lot a mucus in his throat like he had allergies.  So we've been giving him allergy medicine to see if it helped.  The mucus is what makes him gag then throw up.  We also put an air purifier in his room because lo and behold he is now sleeping in the same room his Nana used to sleep in and she developed very severe allergies while when we moved into this home.  It all seemed to help, at first.  

K doesn't want to keep giving him medicine every night because the bottle says max 2 weeks at a time.  Well, he's on it a couple of days then we stop for several then start again.  I don't know.  It can't still be his teeth can it?  We've been giving him advil before bed.  Again, you don't want to drug them up every day.  Plus he was normally a voracious bottle drinker suddenly he's cut his milk consumption down by at least half.  I'm all for it because my kids were all baba babies and it was the only hard habit we had to break so if he does it on his own.  YEAH.  Specially cause doctors and the health nurses are all dead against using bottles still.  It's such a comfort thing for my kids and normally it's not an issue.  J (who's 3) still has one a day at bedtime and she religiously asks for it because she loves it so much.  So even though I don't think it's a big deal, I am a little embarrased to admit that he still has them.  

Anyways... so any ideas on how to get him to sleep through the night?  I should mention that he doesn't make me sit in his room when he goes down for naps (crossing my fingers) cause so far I've had no problems with nap times.  

And we're talking about kid who was the easiester kid to put to bed in all time.  He goes down with his blankie and his lala (gloworm), lights out, door shut, done deal.  Why would he suddenly develop separation anxiety?

I'm at a loss. 

Zeemaid

9 Reasons Why My Life is Like a Romance Novel

I thought it'd be fun and appropriate for the "love holiday" that's around the corner. We're always comparing what's lacking right? So just what defines a Romance Novel? I wiki'd it.

Definition: "...the main plot of a romance novel must revolve around the two people as they develop romantic love for each other and work to build a relationship together. Both the conflict and the climax of the novel should be directly related to that core theme of developing a romantic relationship, although the novel can also contain subplots that do not specifically relate to the main characters' romantic love. Furthermore, a romance novel must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending."

So here goes:

1. When we first met, I was dating someone else but I was instantly attracted to him. I couldn't get rid of my current boyfriend fast enough.
2. There were opposing forces trying to keep us from getting together. Too many people had opinions about it and were sticking their noses in. It's a long story. :( Despite it all, we persevered and after 5 years of on and off dating we finally got serious and got married.
3. My husband loves me and me alone. His love is unconditional, it doesn't matter what I look like, what I'm wearing or even how much I weigh. I'm his dream woman.
4. Ditto for me. He's my Mr.Darcy. Do I need to dream for tall, dark and handsome to show up? Uh uh. I've already got it in this hunky 6'5" package.
5. There is always something going on. Life is never really dull. There's always drama, drama, drama. Losing a job, finding a new one. Will our house sell? Are we moving? Am I making fish sticks for dinner?
6. There's always passion. No more needs to be said *wink*
7. We are continually working together to build a better relationship and develop our love into something deeper and more meaningful.
8. Romance is in the small things, from candlelit dinner to having tea ready when I come home from work to sharing secret smiles over the heads of our children.

and #9. Just how much more emotionally satisfying and optimistic can you get knowing that the two of you are both striving towards the same thing.... retirement and the day when the kids have flown the coop.

Zeemaid

Check it Out

First I just want to ask... how on earth do people design such cool blog graphics? Are they stealing it or do these people have some kind of design abilities that I need to learn? All my graphis are stolen er borrowed. (I do always make sure I check before I borrow) =) I'd love to have a cool title blog across the screen.

Anyways, I'm bumping along browsing through some blogs and I came across the Parenting Pink Blog. Pretty neat blog, cool blog graphics but what I liked most is this one particular blog about how a messy house is actually a good thing. Read it here.

Turns out I shouldn't stress about cleaning so much after all. A cluttered house actually stimulates the creative flow. No wonder my E is so creative. Because my house continues to remain cluttered despite my best efforts.

Zeemaid

Death to Self

Death to Self.  I've been turning this phrase over in my mind today. 

That's what it takes to raise good kids these days. We have to lay aside all our own wants needs and desires and put them first.   Which, of course, we all do to some extent.  I would hope that all of us would put our kids first when it comes to making sure they are fed well and cared for properly.  But it's so much more than that. 

It means getting down on the floor and barking like a dog when what I really want to do is finish off the last chapter of my novel.  

It means, giving up that last bite of cookie because I have three eager faces drooling over it.  It means getting up for the fify millioneth time to get someone a drink.  

It means packing them all up and taking them to the swimming pool where I will have to wear a bathing suit (EGAD) and get wet and cold and shiver while I get THEM changed first and then have them impatiently pull on me while I try to change when I'd rather be at the mall looking for good bargains.  (I absolutely hate standing in a wet suit in a cold changing room trying to dress and undress kids). 

It means letting them do crafts and not getting uptight about the mess.  

It means stopping yourself and taking a big breath before you start to discipline when your first instinct is to yell. 

It means worrying about their emotional wellbeing and not just their physical being. 

There is no doubt about it that lately I've been struggling with this.  It's easy to put off the kids when you are tired and grumpy. I keep thinking if only O would let me get a decent night sleep or if only my mood was better or I didn't have that headache.  

All I can say is that Thank God tomorrow is a new day because then I get to try again and hopefully with His Grace, do better. 

Zeemaid