I am a thirty-something momma to two incredible little girls. I am married to the most wonderful man, H4L (hubbs-4-life) and love my little life. My kids and husband are kind enough to stick around (and do not complain too much)as I take them on all kinds of domestic adventures. Thanks for dropping by to read about our crazy, fun filled life of Pink Hair!
Baby DIVA awoke this morning to a fun game of Leprechaun hunting. Followed by a fabulous breakfast of rainbow cake. Holidays are too much fun when you have a toddler!
H4L is on a mission to purchase me a pressure washer and exterior house paint. WHY??
Because I am a crazy lunatic nesting woman who can not get organized enough. Seriously, as we flew through the 2nd trimester, dropped the barfs off, unloaded the every other day migraines and gained massive amounts of energy as we continued to drop weight, I have become a pregzilla in a new form. I CAN NOT stop "nesting". I am organizing everything. Labeling everything. Putting everything in its rightful spot. Cleaning every crevice in our home that might be lurking a tiny fragment of dust or dirt that could only be seen by a microscope. I am a nut. And, its not enough. nope. I am not being satisfied at all by this clean organizing craving. I have now moved on to updating every aspect of our home. I did not have these intense urges with Baby DIVA. Perhaps the hospital bed rest played a factor in Baby DIVA's nesting period, but I still don't recall this insane desire to fluff my nest.
H4L thinks it is insane. He told me I am going to make him croak with all my Honey do lists and projects. Then he came up with the bright idea of getting me a pressure washer and exterior paint so that i can nest the outside. Nah. Not interested.
I guess you might want to see some of the projects that have been monopolizing my time huh?
Entry Before
Entry During
Entry After
Living area before
Living during
Living after
A little glimpse at my obsession in the closets: this is my crafting closet
Oh and did I mention that the entry and living room make-overs came to a grand total of less than $20 to complete!! Bargains, coupons and sales are amazing, even for an insane nester!! On to my next project...
Still nesting over here. Recall this big nesting weekend?
Well I wanted to re-do Baby DIVA's and Critter2's bathroom. But honestly, I didn't want to drop a lot of cash on a tots potty training castle. So I "screen" shopped several stores looking for a deal or two on new shower curtains and decor. Finally, I decided on a bright and colorful curtain from amazon, that would work well with the already inviting yellow walls in the girls bath. Before hitting "ship to me", I thought a quick run to target should be had in order to seal the deal. I'm kind of an instant gratification girl with these projects, so if I could snag the items in question quicker, I'd be much happier.
Well, am I just lucky or what? I found an even better shower curtain, bright and colorful, exactly what I wanted for $3.47 on my little jaunt to Target. And to top that off I also snagged some super fun wallies to add to pizazz to the potty training kingdom. All we need now are some new bath mat's and bathroom re-do is complete!
Mirror is pretty!
Full wallies grouping
$3.47 shower curtain!!
So in total as of right now, this entire bathroom re-do has put me out right at $5. Doesn't get much better than that.
I managed to get some alone time this last weekend. Seriously! An entire Saturday all by my lonesome. H4L loaded up Baby DIVA and left me to my own devices. I didn't even have to ask for this marvelous happening. Nope, he offered it up all by himself. I'm thinking someone wants to get lucky. Just kidding! :) I just have a wonderful husband who can read me like a book and when he sees the horns growing from my head, he knows he needs to take action. Quickly.
So what did I do? I nested, of course! I kid you not; One kid is off with daddy leaving me alone all day and so the other one ramps up the hormones and sends me into nesting mode. JEEZ!!! One might think that I would opt to lay on the couch, work out my arm muscles by channel surfing and possibly take a big snooze. Well, in my perfect imagination that is exactly what I did. But In reality hormones won and I became a slave to my craving of clean.
Anyhow, now that it is all said and done, and my ENTIRE day of ALONE is gone spent scrubbing floors, organizing and labeling anything that I could, and making some space for Critter2 by cleaning out every closet I could get my grubby little hands on, I actually feel grateful. My house is spic and span. It feels awesome to walk into. No stench of poopie pants greets you as you pass the diaper genie because I was just too tired to take the trash out. No mystery piles of paper stacked up in odd places hoping to be sorted someday. All the cabinets and drawers and closets are organized and everything is in its proper place. The shredder has been fed for the month with paperwork that was just about to start growing a nasty fungus called "you better check this pile for anything important, or it might come out to bite you". It feels great. Clean. Organized. Ahhh, until Baby DIVA tap dances on her popcorn snack on my nice clean carpet. The joys of mommahood!
A couple of my prize projects from "Fluffin the Nest" day are my pantry and my stockpile closet. I went through both and cleaned, straightened, tossed out expired and old. I also made myself a running list that can be checked when stockpile ops come about. Also helps me know what I NEED to purchase and what I don't. This is something I have been desperately wanting to do for some time, so I am really glad to have completed this project. Here have a lookey:
Hair stuff stock
Teeth/shave and non Stench stock
My Spice cabinet, organized and each shelf listed for cooking ease
My perfectly organized pantry shelves listed out so I know exactly what we have on hand and where to find it
Pantry view
Maybe I am a big nerd. this might seem crazy to some. But for me it makes me feel great. Gives me structure in the insanity of parenthood and allows me to spend more of my time with my family rather than hunting for items in our home. So yes, that is how I spent my entire free day alone. Giving in to the needs of Critter2 hormones and "Fluffin my nest". Ignoring the fabulous opportunity I had to rest my fluffy pregnant butt on the couch and channel surf Lifetime Television. But I feel good about my choice and will continue to remind H4L how I choose MY friend time for months to come. heehee :)
New Years always bring a fun festive spirit. Not only because it is a fabulous party night celebrated by the entire world, but because it's also my birthday! Yes, folks I am a new years baby. Now before you shout HOW COOL!!! let me tell you it is a hard birthday to have. You have to be a pretty spectacular person to compete with the World for attention on your birthday. Know what I mean. Well I think I pull it off just fine.
This year we hosted a New Years Bash at our home for friends and family. Complete with a balloon drop for the kids and way too much fabulous food. We had a splendid time and look forward to hosting again in years to come. It was wonderful bringing in 2011 with those we love and keep so close to our hearts. It is really wonderful to have such a wonderful group of individuals we can call family.
H4L and me at midnight AKA officially my birthday!!
I found it comical that at 10pm, after a quick watch check, I wasn't shouting to my friends, "hurry up, only 2 more hours to get your drink on!" as I have done in previous years. No, instead I found myself thinking, "Oh crapola, two WHOLE hours before midnight comes. Will I ever get to go to bed!?!" My, My, what parenthood does to a gal. Despite my partying days being far behind me, I still pulled out the "Boots" and wore them for a bit. Swollen feet from Critter2 reminded me pretty quick that stiletto knee high sparkles are beginning to be a part of my past. And perhaps not being able to Zip one boot up all the way might also be a strong indicator. Hmmmm.
Midnight balloons!!!
Baby DIVA falling asleep in aunt Ta's arms while watching fireworks. Who does that?
Me and the boots! 8 years and counting.
I hope your New Years was as blessed as mine. I am year older and definitely much more wise! Here is wishing you a fabulous 2011 as I embark on my 32nd year!!
It is no secret that I have never really been able to master the art of baking cookies. No matter what I have done in the past, my cookies always come out looking distorted or super obese, or all the cookies just "Grow" into one giant cookie. It has become some what a joke around my household, a joke that kind of pisses me off.
This year, Baby DIVA being at an age where Christmas cookies and decorating are a fun activity (well for about a minute and half anyway), I was bound and determined to master the art of baking a cookie and having it come out of the oven looking like the cookie I put in the oven. Thanks to Dr. Google and a friends thought of possibly turning my baked goodies halfway through cooking time, I MASTERED THE SKILL!!! Cookies went in looking one way and came out a little golden brown and looking just the same!
But perhaps I have not quite mastered the decorating aspect of this fun activity. Id like to introduce you to Zombie gingerbread man!!!!
And here are a few looks at Baby DIVA's food art. Clearly she has skills momma doesn't!
Do you bake cookies every year with your family? What kind do you bake and with whom?
You may have noticed that I have been absent from the ol' blog quite a bit lately. Why might that be?
This has become my dearest friend...
And this is the reason why...
Perhaps if I had this, then this "special" time might be a bit more fun...
Baby DIVA has graciously accepted her new title as Big Sister DIVA as she patiently awaits the arrival of her little brother or sister come early June!
Pregnancy is not the kindest to me. Bear with me please as we wrap up this first trimester and move on to the 2nd trimester, when I might be able to drag my head out from the toilet bowl and do a little writing!
Halloween is my favorite holiday. Always has been, always will be. AND now it will also always hold a special meaning as it is also my wedding anniversary. The last two Halloweens H4L and I have not decorated much. Two back I was on bedrest in the hospital with Baby DIVA. I do remember sporting some Halloween socks, but that was about the extent of "Decor" that year. Last year we were living it up VEGAS style for our nuptials at the Venetian in Las Vegas. So this year, it was really important to us to get back in the swing of things and express our passion for Halloween. And we have kept it tot friendly, because Baby DIVA does get a bit scared of the decorations; I mean she is not even 2! WE can't expect her to be all vampired out yet , right?
I wanted to add a special touch to our decor, so I busted out my crafting junk and went to work. I carefully cut, what felt like thousands of BATS, from black felt in two different sizes. We then attached magnets to the back and secured them to our garage door. A quick snip snip of the scissors on some yellow felt and we also had a "spooky" moon. Simple, elegant and FUN!!
H4L and I met at work. He worked in the IT department and I in Quality Assurance. I pursued him for months; he wouldn't give me the time of day. Then one Fall day, the weather had taken a plunge from the high 100 degree's to the fabulous 90's here in Houston, Texas, and I came down with the flu, because of the harsh weather change of course. I felt like a giant bag of poo and left work early. Later on that evening a phone call came, a surprise call at that. It was my future H4L, only I had no idea at that time.
Him: "So, you aren't feeling well huh?"
Me: "Not Really"
Him: "Why don't I come by and bring your some soup?"
Me: "That would be nice"
Inside I was jumping with joy. HOT DIGGITY DOG! But outside I looked like a nightmare! I quickly jumped up and tried to fix myself up, to pretend I wasn't sick with the flu. Who was a fooling? I looked and felt like a microwaved bag of poo, but luckily my nose was so stopped up I couldn't smell myself, because I know I stank like yucky flu too. I figured if he lasted 5 minutes we were good. A little while later soon to be H4L arrived at my door with Soup. We warmed it up and slurped on it and talked, to my surprise, throughout the whole entire night. We both stayed home sick the next day and talked and talked all day long, between nose blows that is. From that moment I knew, I knew I would spend all my life with this man. I was smitten.
We celebrate each year on that special September day with soup and Grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Something silly, simple, and comforting to always bring us back to that moment and to remind us how we got our start. Where the roots are planted in our life. How we first got our start. It is a special way to share our love with each other and our daughter without making a huge spectacle of the date, and we really love it. A timeless treat to enjoy together, now, as a family.
Most days I overlook the simple turn of events that brought me to where I am today. Most days it doesn't cross my mind. But this month when I opened up my Martha Stewart magazine I found in there an entire article dedicated to the Grilled Cheese. Gourmet grilled cheese. And it made me smile. It made me think that a simple bowl of soup and a grilled cheese can be enjoyed not only in its simplest form, but it can also be dressed up and served with cherry preserves and white cheddar. A delicacy that can please all tastes and ages. But when it comes right down to it, it is just two greats, cheese and bread, melted together to form the perfect sandwich. Two separates combined into one to make a new and wonderful treat. Very much like H4L and myself. We are two great pieces melted together to form one great relationship.
So from now on each year, I will continue to dine on our simple soup and grilled cheese dinner, smile at the man I love and always know how wonderful we are together! Don't you just love to be reminded of the pure love and happiness in your life in the oddest unexpecting moments and places?
I have just about had it with everyone out there in the world thinking that because I am a stay at home momma that I do not work. I keep finding my friends and family and acquaintances are under the illusion that when they call me I will always be free to chat. Or if they need something from me, I should be able to hop right up and service whatever need they have because as a SAHM I must just be sitting on the couch fully dressed, ready to jump, after placing the bon bon in mouth, and fulfill whatever wish they have placed up on me!
This is just a simple reminder to those who need to be reminded. Moms have the busiest job on the planet. It is a 24 hour, 7 day a week, 365 day a year gig. It never stops. There is never any downtime. Shits ALONE have to be scheduled days in advance and sometimes require a quick call to the sitter down the street. A simple load of laundry becomes an all day affair as you must tote baskets full of stinky clothes no less, over the heads of toddlers without accidentally smashing them or tripping and falling and breaking your ankle, which only adds an ER run to your daily to do list; Then get the laundry soap safely into the washer without tiny hands helping guide the container or pushing you out of the way thus resulting in you spilling the soap on the floor, which in that case you then also floor clean up aisle laundry room floor to your to do list. After you finally manage to get the laundry started, washed and dried, you then must masterfully fold the clean clothes with the help of a toddler. This ultimately results in refolding the laundry two or three times before you successful sneak it away from tiny tot hands, folded neatly, and are able to place it in its proper location. BUT, if you are incredibly lucky, you just might, maybe, perhaps once a month or so, get to spend your tots nap time performing this wonderfully relaxing task all by yourself. Goodness nothing like doing laundry to really relax a girl.
So do not ever think dropping in a mom and expecting her to be able to drop everything and take care of YOUR needs before her child's is EVER going to happen. Consider she too has a schedule and you are just going to have to wait your freaking turn.
I understand marketing. I even find some marketing to be quite lovely. I do not mind being persuaded to buy this or that by an ad here or there, because I know I am smart enough to not fall for an illusion, I am smart enough to take in the advertising for what it is worth and still use my own mind to make a conscious decision if the product is right for me or not. I enjoy seeing the artistic side of advertising, whether it be the actual art, the writing and all the other skills that go into influencing the mass population. What I do not like one bit is tacky, malicious marketing behavior. Trickery used in trying to make a sale. Acts that are aimed at ultimately causing harm, no matter how slight the harm may be, really leave a bad taste in my mouth.
Enter me, a mom, in a local grocery store. I am a woman who tries to provide her family with the best products out there that nourish the body and mind. I do this by using coupons in order to "nourish" our bank account. I also try and "nourish" public spaces by maintaining a well behaved child through proper discipline techniques and a smattering of love and affection of course. It infuriates me to know end when I happen across a marketing technique in a store that is just preposterous.
This week I slid my buggy down the aisle at Kroger, the aisle mind you that contained the Baby products. You know. Butt Paste, smashed up food, diapers. The necessities. Baby DIVA was casually directing me from her perch in the buggy too. I was horrified to discover that the opposite side of the Baby Product aisle housed nothing other than ALL the candy the store had to offer.
What moron in the marketing or store design team would do this? Sure it might boost candy sales, but the trade off is a significant loss. A screaming child being pushed around in the buggy by a flustered parent because said parent has to navigate an entire grocery store aisle while screeching "no" to a begging child for a piece of candy, can almost certainly result in a pissed off customer, who will not return to your store. Not to mention all the other customers who are then forced to listen to annoying cries of a strangers kid who is whining for candy all because some idiot decided it would be a great sale boosting plan to put candy on an aisle that parents most certainly will have to take kids down. And let us not even touch on the fact that America has an obesity problem and so lets go ahead and start shoving candy influences down their throats from infancy. Way to go team! My "nourishing" nature of my family and those around me were instantly shot to crap.
Lets talk about families for a second. It is no secret that I am the product of a divorced family. My parentals split up many many years ago and both subsequently remarried. These re marriages brought me new siblings. Over the years I have been estranged from my dad and the siblings he brings to the table. Baby DIVA, however, in all her glory, has brought a close to the estrangement and in her nearly two years she is providing a a bridge to reach our lost family.
I find it awkward at times, but not in a bad way. I feel a great deal of affection for my siblings, but I don't really know who they are. We have spent so many years apart and although I love them very much much I do not really know how to bond with them, talk to them, and it causes some weird and awkward moments. But I have really enjoyed the times I have spent with them and I sure hope that over time we can heal wounds and merge into one anothers life.
In the mean time I will continue to have the fabulous opportunities to share with you the great moments in time we experience. Like this fabulous little story. So Last night was my Dads 60th Surprise Birthday Party. My siblings are there, we smile and say Hello. We know a bit about each other from Facebook and emails, but that is about it. I know one of my brothers has a girlfriend whom i met last Christmas and that I like her really well. So I go up and ask him how she is doing. Well, he responded with "I don't know". In an instant I felt like an ass, like I must have not know they split up or something. BAD Sister. Then he followed it up with "You have to ask Nick". NICE I asked the wrong brother. Nothing says you need to work on your relationships like not knowing which brother is which!
My dad may have turned 60 and had a great surprise party. But I walked away with the winner sporting the Worst Sister in the World award! Go me!
Some might think that since I waltz around town sporting hot pink hair, that I am a divine hair do queen. Those who know me well will tell you that its a great day if I can actually figure out how to get my hair into a ponytail. SERIOUSLY!! I am hair dumb. I remember freaking out while pregnant with Baby DIVA because of this simple ignorance. I panicked wondering how in the world am I, the ponytail failure girl, going to ever manage to teach my DAUGHTER how to fix her own hair?!
Luckily Baby DIVA's hair is coming in at a snails pace and leaving me some time to learn and grasp this crazy skill so that I might, of course, continue to be supermom in the eyes of my daughter. I'm really glad that her hair is coming in slow because I recently failed an attempt of bumpits placement. ARG!!
Well I was due for a snipping of my pink strands recently. H4L and I headed off to our local hair joint to get some grooming done. There is a lovely gal in there named Synda, who has snipped away at my pink locks on multiple occasions. At first it was just coincidence that this wonderful Queen of the scissors was graced with my pink hair, and over time it has grown into destiny. She now is stuck with me, poor soul. Super cool fact about Synda; she never mentions my "OOPS" mistakes that I make while dying my hair on my own at home. Gotta love her!!
Synda is fabulous. She completely understands that despite my loud nature and appearance of Pinkness on top of my head, I am actually quite clueless as what to do with my mop. She is able to get in there and work her scissor magic, transforming my limp hair into a masterpiece that I can wash and run with. This last go round, Synda busted out some cool tools and clipped away at my ends. She really worked my strands over and now I don't even have to toggle with a pony. I just wash, dry and go...and my hair looks great! Great for me now, but not helping in the way of learning new skills to teach Baby DIVA. Oh-well I will get her a box of ponytail holders! HA!
Those of you who are local can also have the privilege of having Synda work magic on your hair. Over off Mason Road here in Katy, in the parking lot with the Black Eyed Pea (you can grab a calorie free lunch after she transforms your locks, LOL), there is a Supercuts. I call it Synda's Supercuts. Run inside and ask for Synda. She will bust out her scissors and work her magic, and for a superb price too! Let her know that Pink Haired Momma sent you, I bet she will give you a giant smile!
And not only is she a magician with my hair, but she poses for fun pics and lets me write about here on my blog too!
I took it upon myself to embark on a vacation that my family and I could totally enjoy and yet not break the bank. A vacation is something that is needed every now and again, even in this terrible economy, in this hard to find an extra penny while raising kids on the one income lifestyle that many of us live in. YES!, a vacation that can still be a fabulous vacation with frugality in mind but FUN at the heart. H4L, Baby DIVA and I spent 5 fantastic days on vacation and spent less than $300 total including gas for our mom ride, and we drove this entire vacation! How did we do it? Easy. Lots of planning and research and patience!
First of all, to have a frugal vacation, you MUST scout out your location. And by this I do not just mean where you plan to stay, but rather the whole location, the city, the amenities, the sights, the sounds and the costs. What shall you do while you are there? What does it cost? When should you go? Is there an off season? Can you still have a blast in the off season? Are there any awesome FREE events happening for the dates you will be around? Do you have any memberships, such as museums, that provide discounts or free admittance in other cities? You know those kinds of questions.
We are lucky enough to have a timeshare in our family. This year we were privileged to be able to use the timeshare week, therefore resulting in a no expense to us directly location to stay. But this does not always happen, therefore proper research, coupons ,deals and the like must always be scouted and applied so you can get a great deal on your vacation "housing", so to speak. Once our location was set, I went to work scoping the Internet for local happenings.
We ended up at the totally fabulous Villages Resort up on Lake Palestine in East Texas. We stayed in the Lodge! It was awesome. We had two bedrooms each with a full bath. A living room and dining room. A full kitchen stocked with every utensil one might need to cook, bake, and serve. We brought all our own food and a quick trip to the grocery upon arrival provided us with the proper milk and juice that cleared Baby DIVA's expectations. We also had a wonderful spacious porch that overlooked the woods, providing a wonderful sanctuary for morning caffeine fixes and evening gulps of wine.
Food from home, helps keep the bank in check!
Mornings on the balcony...
Our building in the LODGE!
Our living space and Baby DIVA's "Sled"!
Baby DIVA's "trampoline"!
As soon as we arrived and Baby DIVA placed her toys in their vacation home, and zoned right in on the bedroom and found her new "trampoline"; which she promptly gave a test. The huge bed became one of her favorite places to play on vacation along side the sled that doubled as a coffee table. Baby DIVA enjoyed "sledding" the living area and jumping in the bedroom. Who knew?!? A cool thing about vacation is she didn't get in trouble. Nope! We let her go right ahead and squeal with enjoyment. I even hopped up and joined her in a bounce or two, I steered clear of living room sledding! Isn't that what vacation is all about? Cutting loose and loving life?
Besides the incredible bedroom bounce pad, The Villages provided us with a multitude of fabulous activities to keep anyone entertained. AND they didn't cost a penny! FRUGAL and FUN!! We found ourselves out on the "golf course" teaching Baby DIVA how to get a hole in one.
Golfing!
One of the many, many, many, playgrounds on the resort property!
Sliding!
We found ourselves submerged in 1 1/2 feet of water in the fantastic pool area as Baby DIVA instructed us on how to properly dunk our heads under water and then freak out only to erupt in laughter over and over and over and over.
My fabulous H4L!
A unique pool with an entire side just for tots!
We ventured inside the Activity Post and quickly ducked away from the Karaoke (This chick breaks glass with her vocals, trust me), and hit the arcade. Once the Karaoke was dissolved we slithered back in to check out all the various board games we could check out and the nifty toy grab machines we could blow money on attempting to win prizes for Baby DIVA.
The Activity Post: where it all goes down!
And that is not all. We also spent many evenings strolling the grounds along the manicured paths and lawns just enjoying our family time.
Strolling...
The grounds are gorgeous!
The Villages Resort also houses an indoor 19,000 square foot water park. Originally this fabulous treat was the reason behind our location choice. However upon arrival, and after watching Baby DIVA try not to drown in the pool we opted out and decided to wait until next year to attempt a water park. But that didn't stop us from checking out its features and taking solid notes on what to expect during our future visits. The Water park features:
A Lazy river with whirlpool for tubers 4 water slides - 2 double tube slides, 2 body slides in bright colors
A fanciful Forest Ranger children's playscape with water activities and life-size resin figures A gentle wave pool
As you can see, we had a marvelous time of vacation. And it was within a frugal budget and allowed us rest, relaxation and tons of fun without breaking the bank. The Villages provided us with so much entertainment that we never had to leave the resort. We had plenty of food, plenty of fun, and didn't spend a dime at the resort. You really can not beat that! The Villages really are family oriented and house so many family friendly, child oriented activities, that you almost forget you are an adult, and a parent! I can not wait to go back!
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