To Paraphrase Dr Suess

Mom is sad.

Very, very sad.

She had a bad day.

What a day mom had.

It ended with me texting Brian, then locking myself in the quietest place I could find (my very small closet) and daydreaming of a one-way plane ticket anywhere. And admitting to myself how insanely jealous I am of my husband's life.

I've reconsidered this mommy thing... is it too late to change career paths?

Blackmail

Beacuse I firmly believe that I'm not fully doing my job as a parent if I'm not collecting plenty of embarassing material to use on my children in 15 or 20 years...

Doesn't Carter make a pretty princess? :)

September

For starters, what happened to September? Out here in NY September seemed to have a bit of an identity crisis (it thought it was July... 85 in September is just unacceptable!), and then it was just over. We did manage to do a few things around here, however.

First, I got my house mostly deep cleaned. I never did manage to tackle a major mop of the floors, and the master bed and beth got generally neglected. But the rest of the house did get a nice clean. And I managed to get Carter's room painted, with Brian's help. I'll take pictures of both kid's rooms when they are (hopefully) completely done later this month. I didn't get my craft room (aka the girls' new shared room) painted, but the color is picked and I think Brian and I might tackle that one this next weekend or on Coloumbus day (which he has off... silliest holiday ever). So, yay for goals mostly getting done!

I took the kids apple-picking again this year, which they thouroughly enjoyed. I can't believe how big they've gotten in a year.

And I potty-trained Carter this month. Yes... I am that crazy mother who decided to potty-train her 2 and half year old. But he was ready, and he took right to it. He is largely accident-free and will tell me when he needs to go... I'd call that venture a success. And now I have a few months of no diapers!

I finished a few sewing projects for Allison: a jumper using Manhatten fabric (pattern is Simplicity 2574 ) and a fleece jacket (McCalls 6430). The jumper is cute, but too big. The little jacket is about perfect, and fills a gap in her fall/winter wardrobe too!

I got inspired about our living room, and how have a whole vision for a make-over. Its involves a different furniture arrangement, new couches, and a new TV, and a new cabinet to hold our DVDs and components. Apparently I don't get inexpensive inspiration, so for now I'll go with a new paint color, slipcovers and maybe a TV on Black Friday. Do you think Black Friday could put me into labor? Becuase that would be kind of awesome.

I love this pallete for the living room, except without the dark greys, and add in cranberry. My carpet is cranberry, I'm going to go a light grey-beige on the walls, chocolate slipcovers on the couches and light blue and green accents. Still hunting for the perfect fabric for window treatments to pull it all together.

What did you do this September? And what are your plans for October?

My October? Paint the girls' room. Finish projects to finish the kids' rooms (roman shades, theme-y painted canvases and bean bag chairs, off the top of my head... I know there are more!). Paint the living room. And halls and stairwell. And I should probably get started on Christmas sewing and crafting projects... hopefully the nesting instinct kicks in hard. :)

Today

Wanna know what we're up to this morning?

Potty training. He's ready... I'm not. So far, so good... Wish me luck!

First day of school

Allison started pre-K yesterday, and she was so excited.

All ready for circle time to start! She might have been one of the first kids to sit down (there was an issue with the school-aged kids using the classroom right before her class and a late bus). That really is a smile of her face, not a grimmace... camera delay...

When did she get so big?

Me? I'm enjoying 2 and a half hours every day of just one kiddo (at least for the next 3 months). And Carter? He wasted no time styling himself out at Target during our first run of preschool-time errands yesterday. What a cute, crazy kid...

Fall Goals

Many, many, many, many, MANY times, I feel like I spend my days accomplishing nothing of merit. Everything I do just has to be redone... clean laundry gets worn and dirty, clean dishes get used and dirtied, meals get eaten and people are still hungry again 4 hours later, clean playroom get played in and cluttered... you get the picture, right?

So, in hopes that maybe this fall, with Allison going to preschool every day (which will bring more structure and schedule to our life), I can accomplish a few big goals. Not many... just a few. So I don't feel so anti-accomplished all the time.

And a goal not written down is merely a wish, right?

So...

September: Deep clean the house (including hiring out upholstery and carpet cleaning) & paint kid's bedrooms, possibly the living room, halls and stairwell too.

October: Move Allison & baby furniture into her new (shared) room (which also means moving my craft stuff out of it) & finish decorating kid's rooms (I've got a few projects I want to try for each room on my Pinterest boards).

November: Stock the freezer with freezer meals, menu plan through January & finish all Christmas shopping and projects by the end of the month.

December: Um... how about survive? :)

What do you do in the summer time...

when your parents are insane enough to plan a 2-week cross-country trip with 2 kids under 5?

You sleep in the car.

You sleep on the plane

(and then avoid sleeping on the next plane when you SHOULD be sleeping because going from East to West is hard like that).

You go to the park... lots of parks.

You ride the ferry...

and the big gold pig at Pike Place.

You go for a hike,

And throw rocks in the ocean.

You "help" grandpa rebuild the deck stairs.

And play with the toys rescued from the attic (even though they've already been sold on Ebay).

You go to the Children's Museum (on the day you thought you were flying home because mommy got the dates mixed up).

And when you finally do get around to flying home you spend a solid 21 hours (!!!) travelling in cars and airplanes to make it all the way home. Which makes your parents vow to pretty much never do that again.

It was great to get to see most of both of our families... But next year, we're staying closer to home for vacation.