Patch it up!

One of the many upsides to have four adorable girls is clothes can be passed down and reused. I usually just buy for our oldest every season and anything little that is lacking for the rest of them. However jeans have been my biggest struggle to keep since they wear out in the knees and always end up with holes in them. But today my friends I have over come this problem! I'm not sure if my idea is genius or...dumb...could go either way. Or maybe people do this and I just don't know about it.

Anyway last week Ashlyn's jeans ripped a hole in the knee and now her favorite pants don't look so nice. So what did I do?? Well I stole one of Maddie's shirts that is getting to small cut it up and patched her jeans with it. It's really cute and she loves it! That's not the genius part people have obviously been doing that for years.

Here's where I got a bright idea. I saw her other pant leg was about it get a hole in it too, the fabric was worn very thin. So I took one of those handy iron on patches you can buy and ironed it on the knee's. Then I took Sydnie's jeans and did the same. So now the knees of their pants are reinforced and hopefully will last a  lot longer! Genius?  I like to think so.

Pretty pink patch!

Clearly I will not be doing this when they are 16...but for now they don't care about an ugly patch on the inside of their jeans!

Coupon Crazy

The weird-o world of couponing...yep that's right I have officially started being a weird coupon lady and in my quest to figure it out I noticed something. If you google "couponing" and watch video's of people who coupon they seem to fall in one of two categories. Skinny women that love pointing to their pink binders full of coupons just so you can see their french manures and they are defiantly using those coupons to buy make-up. The other category is a frumpy looking housewife sitting at her kitchen table in a sweater showing you her over flowing coupon binder. Guess that puts me in the second category since I'm sitting in a sweater writing this and I've been thinking for a few days now that I need to cut my nails. Ah well, it is what it is. 

I have been attempting to use coupons for about a month now and it's the challenge of bringing our families grocery bill down that lures me. I get excited when I see "You saved $5" at the bottom of the receipt. And honestly it's really fun to hand over your coupons and then watch the price go down with every swipe...or maybe my life has just gotten that lame. Either way, it's still fun! 

So for the sake of being organized I bought a 3 ring binder to put them all in and it's very official looking. Never mind the fact that I'm to embarrassed to take it in the store with me. Wouldn't want complete strangers to label me as a "crazy coupon lady" but I'm sure I'll get over that once I save enough to get a french manicure and a pretty pink binder! However the real problem I have run into is I don't think I'm using them very effectively. Pretty sure this is due to being math challenged but I'm hoping there's more to it than that so this Thursday I am meeting a friend of a friend at Olive Garden (I have a coupon for it!) who just happens to be a much crazier coupon lady than I and I'm hoping she can show me how on earth to use my binder full of coupons!

5K

Last Saturday I ran my first 5k. This has been on my bucket list of things to do since last year but as soon as I bought running shoes I managed to get pregnant again so there when that. But this summer I have been running inspired with every step by my flabby, post baby body.

At first Adam and I were going to get in shape and run it together but he dropped out (slacker!) and then a friend ran with me but her knee started to hurt so she stopped. Then another friend joined me but wasn't able to run the 5k with me, she was busy selling popcorn with her son for Boy scouts that Saturday. Clearly she has her prorieties in line. I however abandoned my girls to run free on the open road. Sounds glorious doesn't it? Well rest assured it was not. The race started at 7:30 am so I had to get up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am to make it there in time. When I arrived at 6:55 not many people were there...and when 7:20 rolled around and still few people had showed up I started asking questions. Only to find out that I am a not the fastest mind on the track and the race didn't start until 10:00 am! It was the event that started at 7:30...wow.

Almost three hours later I was hungry, cold and had managed to terrorize some lady by opening the door of a port-a potty while she was using it (why didn't she lock it!?!?). At that point most of the excitement had turned into boredom and I could not longer count on adrenaline carrying me that last mile.
Finally 10:00 am rolled around and we gathered at the starting line. I positioned myself in the back and far away from the Port-a potty lady, figured that would be less awkward for both of us.

Then the buzzer sounded and the race was off! I settled into my slow jog and actually passed a few people! Who knew people actually jogged slower than me? About thirty seconds in I had the overwhelming urge to walk. Sad, huh? But I just kept going and ended up right behind a man pushing a stroller (yes that is correct, I can barely keep up with someone who is pushing a 3 year old kid) and two 8 year old kids who were also running the race. At first I really enjoyed being around the kids because they were having fun talking and being silly and frankly it's just cute that they are so young and running a 5k. But around mile two it got annoying. I some how turned into a "measure" of how well they were doing. They would sprint ahead and I would fall behind and then they would walk so I would catch up and pass them. As soon as I would pass them they would sprint ahead again. It was like driving on the highway with someone who won't go a consistent speed, it starts to drive you crazy and I couldn't shake them. What irritated me even more was how they were not even breathing hard. This was FUN to them, EASY even and here I was trying to convince myself mentally to keep on running. They quickly changed from "oh, what cute kids" to "those stinkin' kids!" and I was determined to beat them.

Yes, that's right, somewhere during mile two I became a insane person and projected my annoyance with running and being awake since 5:30 onto these two kids. As we neared the finish line I was ahead of them and thought I had it in the bag, I would cream them for sure! But then people had to start cheering those little  kids on, yelling to them; "Turn on the jets!" "Almost there!" "Go for it!". And that's when I heard their little feet coming up behind me, so I turned on my jets and started to sprint for the finish line. The race was on!!
I then realized two things...that I must look like a crazy lady trying to beat two eight year old's to the finish line and more importantly that I couldn't beat them even if I tried. So I decided to do the only respectable thing left. I slowed back down and gave my best "oh what cute kids" smile as they passed me and crossed the finish line six seconds ahead of me.

I ended up running my first 5k in 32 minutes and 6 seconds, I feel like that is a respectable first time. Next time (if there is a next time) I will be in better shape so I can beat pesky children who want to steal my glory.

What are you cheating?

I'm not sure what happened but somehow having a fourth child has maxed me out. I used to go into other peoples homes (or cars) that had kids and think "good heavens, ever heard of a vacuum!?" Now I walk into my own home and wonder the same thing. Why are there always toys every where? Why is there always a pile of laundry to be folded? Crumbs on the counter? Bathrooms that need cleaning? Who's running this place?! And I'm embarrassed to say it's me and I can no longer "do it all". My dear little Maddie slowed me down and now that I'm homeschooling Ashlyn...well not a lot gets done before noon. 

My husband heard this sermon talking about how there is just not enough time in the day to do everything we want and need to do. Loving our kids well, our husband, spending time with God, cleaning the house, cooking, taking walks in the crunchy fall leaves, etc. So we have to "cheat" something, so this week I've been looking around seeing what I'm "cheating". And frankly I feel like I'm cheating everything! God, kids, husband, house! In fact I should be making lasagna for supper but instead I'm writing this so I even cheat cooking! 

When I first had kids I used to wish for a "kid free" day to catch up on life. Now I feel like there's no point because I would need a kid free month. Part of me wants to embrace the mess and just admit to the world I cannot do it all...but the other part of me wants to conquer! So here's my plan...(until I get tired of it, give up and live the rest of my days in squallier) I shall make a calendar with a cleaning schedule and one thing to focus on everyday. Like "clean the bathroom and remember to love your hubby". I feel like that will break it down into more bite sized pieces. I am not be able to do it all in a day...but maybe in a week!

Now I must make that lasagna! 

"Watch Mama"

Two weeks into potty training and my dear Miss. Payden is doing awesome! After my last post on potty training I decided to take a very relaxed approach to the whole thing....aka I pretty much stopped trying. Payden however decided to go ahead and train herself. 

The first time she peed in the potty she started crying, I think she was scared that she wasn't suppose to! But once she was rewarded with candy she figured things out real fast. Now she wears underwear all the time around the house and tells me when she has to go. Not only that but she picks up her potty seat, carry's it to where I am, sit downs on it and says "Watch Mama". Then she promptly pee's in it, claps her hands and asks for candy. Amazing. 

I can't believe she is doing so well and with very little effort on my part. I'm so proud of her! Perhaps she is a potty training genius after all! 

Homeschooling...again

I have been a complete slacker at homeschooling Ashlyn since I had Maddie. Not that it really matters since she wouldn't even be in kindergarten yet but now I am ready to start up again!

I know it's the wrong time of year and everyone is finishing school not starting. But Ashlyn doesn't know the difference nor would she care because she loves learning and getting to do school. Might as well take advantage of that while I can! Also, I am largely incapable of being disciplined enough to do the same thing everyday. So I figure if we do school a few days a week all year long she will learn and I won't go crazy. 

This time I am going to use some books to help so I don't have to make it all up. I bought her a math workbook that is really good, so many of them just teach number learning instead of math. I also bought "Get Set for The Code" which teaches letters and letter sounds. I think she will fly through this book since she knows most of them already but it will be good to get them cemented into her brain. And my final purchase was "Five in a Row" which I am very excited about. It's basically reading the same book to her five days in a row and learning a different subject through it everyday. I think it will be perfect for us because Ashlyn LOVES me reading to her and would sit all day long listening to books. So I am excited and think she will love it!! 

That is all...I'm just excited. ;) 

Potty Training...again.

This week I have been attempting to potty train dear Miss. Payden. Last week I bought her new panties and those awesome plastic covers that crinkle every time she moves and a cute pink potty seat. I was ready...however it's day four of her "training" and I have nothing to show for it but a lot of laundry and a very clean potty seat.

She is not a fan of her cute pink potty seat and would much prefer to spend her time on a real toliet dropping shreds of toilet paper in. Today I was determined to get her to go at least once in the potty but she just sat there...and sat there. So I refused to put her panties back on thinking letting her go comando would do the trick...but no, she just held it. I never got her to go at all and had to put a diaper on her for nap time.

 I do not enjoy potty training (not sure who does) but I keep hoping that one of my children will be a potty genius and just "get it". Some people hope for their kids to become presidents, I just hope they stop peeing in their pants. You've got to set high standards for your children. ;)