Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

I am so excited to share that I have been nominated for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award by fellow blogger Amy from Confessions of a Ninja Mom!  What an honor it is to be recognized by your peers for something that you are passionate about. Here is a HUGE Thank You to Amy for the nomination!

Rules of the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award:

Thank the blogger(s) that nominated you

Answer a set of questions posted by the blogger(s) that nominated you

Nominate other fellow bloggers

Pass along questions for the bloggers you nominated to answer

I'd Like to Use a Sick Day Today Please!

Do you ever find it difficult to parent when you are sick? 

Yesterday, I woke with the same cold and sore throat that everyone else in our house had over the past few weeks.  Being sick is never any fun. Your children know that you don't feel well, but their demands and needs are unwavering.  I think being sick and parenting is one of the hardest things to do.  It was a day that if I had I job outside the home, I would have called in sick. But, as you all know, kids don't provide their parents with sick days.  Despite my desire to crawl under the covers just until my throat stopped feeling like I had swallowed glass, I carried on as usual.   

Thankfully, yesterday my husband was home and was able to take on the majority of the responsibilities. Today, I am on my own though.  My kids are great, please don't get me wrong. But, when I don't feel well, everything seems like a challenge. Things like making breakfast, lunch & dinner for all 4 of them, putting dishes away and finding activities to keep them occupied.  

They seemed to bicker over everything.  My throat already hurt, but talking made it feel even worse.  The need to constantly correct them grew quite tiresome.  And, to top it off it was raining so sending them outside was not an option. 

But, despite feeling bad and the sibling bickering, we went to see the movie Inside Out, which was absolutely adorable and funny.  I think it is a movie that can actually help children have a better understanding of their thoughts and feelings. Or, at least it makes them believe that each emotion has a personality. 

So, maybe it was a good thing that I didn't take a sick day after all.

   XOXO

Randi

Chalk Another One Up For Mommy Diaries!

I know that most of my Mommy Diary stories involve my youngest daughter.  That would be because she is quite a little stinker. This time, I once again went into her room {after a successful nap this time though} where I found her without pants or a diaper on. And, to top it off her bed was soaked with pee. 

Why does she do this?  

I am not entirely sure how long she had been like this. She was sleeping at the opposite end of her crib, where I could not see her on the baby monitor. She was quite so, I figured she was sleeping and did not want to wake her by walking into her room.

I will have to say though that I am not surprised by my latest discovery because all day today, I would hear my older girls yell "Mom! She's naked again!" And, I would walk in to the room and sure enough, there she was, standing bare butt and all, just laughing.  She was so proud of herself that she had gotten undressed. And, as usual,  I would ask "where are your pants?"{She has done this same thing a time or two. In fact, just a few days ago she was found diaperless and had peed in her play pen and I had to scrub it down} I even found her napping on a different occasion with her hind end up in the air sound asleep again without a diaper on. And, about 3 days ago she was in the trampoline taking off her swimsuit.

So, as I am sure you can imagine, this happened at least 3 or 4 more times during the remainder of the day. And each time, I would find her standing there, bare butt and all, just laughing. Please let me clarify something...she was never left alone for more than a few minutes. {For instance, only long enough for me to use the restroom}.

Is it wrong that I have contemplated wrapping duck tape around her diaper? {I mean just one good wrap so that she couldn't get her diaper off}

Well, that's enough ranting and raving for now about my diaperless daughter .  Let's see if today is a more successful day with her wearing clothes!

Out of Order!

Do you ever have an idea that you think is great, but once you execute it you wonder why you even bothered?  For me, that was yesterday. I thought it would be a good idea to switch my littlest daughter (E) and my oldest daughter's (M) bedrooms. 

You see, my middle daughter (Little M)  is a talker!  And, she shares a room with her older sister.  My middle daughter reminds me of Frozen's Anna.  "The sky's awake, so I'm awake!"  So, as you can imagine the two of them get in trouble for talking quite a bit. I have even caught Little M scaling up the bunk beds because she was trying to wake her sister and not get caught by me.  

So, my brilliant idea was to move E in with Little M and give my older daughter a room to herself. So, I began cleaning their rooms and dragging dressers into the hallways. This all started at 8:30 am.  My hope was to get this all done before the 2 older kids got home from school.  But, as you can imagine...it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. We had to disassemble beds which, I waited for my husband to get home from work to help.  

When the bigger kids arrived home from school and the house was a disaster. I had two bedrooms almost completely empty so furniture and stuffed animals were everywhere! The kids wanted to play in the rooms I was working in so, I was constantly scolding someone. It was raining {of course}, so I couldn't send them outside to play, which would have been ideal. By now, it was 3:30pm.  I think by 5:00pm everyone had an assembled bed they could sleep in.

But, if you think it ended there, you are sadly mistaken.  Because not only did I have stuff still out that I didn't know what to do with, but Big M was so excited about her new room she couldn't sleep and had to come to my room to tell me about it and E {only being 19 mo.}wasn't too keen on her new sleeping arrangements. 

Finally, everyone was alseep, but would wake again at 5:00 am. Big M was so excited about her new room, Little M was awake since E was crying because she woke up and realized she was in her old room.  So, I think it's safe to say....naps for everyone today!

My Little Girl Becomes a BIG Girl!

We have made it a tradition in our house that on my daughter's 5th birthday & before starting Kindergarten, she can get her ears pierced if she so chooses. The tradition all started because I got my ears pierced right before I turned 5 and started Kindergarten.  I have the mindset that they are old enough at that point to decide on their own if that is something that they would be interested in doing as well as giving them a little responsibility {cleaning their ears and turning their earrings}. They are also old enough to have memories of getting it done.

I have been fortunate enough to be able to take 2 out of my 3 daughters to the same store, Claire's, where I got my ears pierced, so long ago.  It is just a fun little experience that we can share just between us.

So, Little M picked out a pair of very pretty Elsa earrings and sat very still on the very high chair. They had to pierce them one ear at a time.  She sat waiting while the girl marked her ears & prepared the earrings. She never flinched, but her eyes looked like she was worried after the first earring was in. She was very brave! And, the store clerk commended her for how great she did.

Since, she had selected the Frozen collection of earrings, she got an Olaf necklace as part of the package. She also got a sucker and a sticker. It was turning out to be well worth a little pain.

As we walked out of the store, she looked at me and said "I can't believe that I just got my ears pierced!" She had the biggest, proudest smile on her face. It made me melt! I was so proud of her and just in awe of how big she was getting.


I will be a mess when she starts kindergarten in the fall!

Happy Anniversary to my Wonderful Husband!

What would a personal blog be if you couldn't brag from time to time about your husband or your kids?!? 

So here goes...

My husband Josh and I celebrated our anniversary a little early this year, by going to Puerto Aventuras in Quintana Roo, Mexico {without the kids}. It was absolutely beautiful!

Now, to my husband...

We've had our share of rainy days and times when we've been hanging by a prayer, but we've always pulled through somehow. Maybe that's why, when I look at you, there's one thing in my life I know for sure...I love you!  Happy Anniversary!

Why?!?

So, it's Saturday...no school that I have to get up and get the kids ready for, no appointments or sporting events or practice that I need to leave for!

But, today...I was wide awake at 5:30 am and ready to go. WHY?!? I am pretty sure I could gotten the whole house cleaned and ran a couple miles on top of it. That's how awake I was. Instead, I made myself lay there because it is literally the only day that I can do that. And, I know that when I  get out of bed there are a million and a half things I need to get done today.

You see, my husband gets up for work at either 4:30 am or 5:30 am depending on when his shift at work is that day. Despite, me not physically getting out of bed while he is getting ready, I am always awake. But, usually have no problem falling back asleep after he has left for work.

It just seems that if I can sleep in, I can't or if I know I have to get up early for some reason I usually can't fall asleep that night. My children complain when I make them lay down and take naps. What I wouldn't give for someone to "make" me take a nap. I know that it is okay for me to nap on occasion, but if I do that then tasks I need to do are not getting done.

So, I will ask again WHY?!? Why couldn't I just sleep when I had the opportunity to do so?

Liebster Love

I was so surprised and honored to see that I had been nominated for a Liebster Award!! I can't believe it!  It has been quite the journey to this point and its still going. I was asked to answer a few questions  about myself...so here goes  

How did you decide on the name of your blog and what did it come from?
I don't actually remember the thought process. It was by accident.  I remember thinking that I pretty much run the day-to-day operations of our household, while the kids and my husband assist just like a company.  So, Mrs. Sheets & Co. was born.

Where does your blogging inspiration come from?

I am inspired by everyday life (the good, the bad and the crazy). I am passionate about my family and giving them the best that I can weather that is organic lotions that I have made, cleaning up after the everyday messes or a home cooked meal. I want to share my passion with the world.

What is it that you love most about blogging?

I love being able to share my experiences with so many people from all across the world. 

What is your favorite food?

Granny Smith apples, brie & roasted garlic on a baguette...Yummy!!

What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?

That's easy ...margaritas

What is an item you cannot live without?

Chapstick.

I am constantly putting it on.  I think I might be obsessed with it. 

{My latest blog was a DIY Blistex chapstick}

What are eleven random facts about yourself?

•  I'm the oldest of 4 girls
•  I have a bachelors degree in Criminal Justice
•  I have known my husband for 13 years
•  I took gymnastics from the age of 3 until I was 21 years old
•  I hate bananas
• My favorite color is pink
• I love shoes & purses, but what girl doesn't
• I want to live on a farm and have chickens, goats and a pig
• I'm obsessed with my DIY body butter
• I enjoy running {I really like the alone time I get when doing it}
• I would have 6 or 7 children if I won the lotto

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Tahiti --it looks absolutely beautiful

If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?

Allan Pinkerton. 
With my criminal justice background I love how his agency still exists today. It was in 1850 when Allan Pinkerton founded Pinkerton's National Detective Agency. Throughout history, Pinkerton created the forerunner to the U.S. Secret Service, hired America's first woman detective, and has remained the industry leader in developing innovative security and risk management solutions for national and international corporations.  

What is your favorite outdoor activity?

Going on walks

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I'm not sure where 5 years will take me. I know that my littlest will be in school, so the options are endless. I'm just going to enjoy the ride!

Now to spread the love and nominate a few other blogs out there...

WE 3 MASON JAR MAMAS

Working Mom Dish

The Life of a Logger's Wife

Mumma Plus Three

The DADventurer

Scoops of Joy

Keeping Strong and Moving Forward

Budding Smiles

Iowa Working Mom

Mrs Mommy Johnson

No Time For DIY

For the nominees:

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to do the following:

• Write a post about the fact that you’ve been nominated.
• In said post, link back to and show some love to the people who nominated you as well as nominate 11 other new blogs that you enjoy.
• Answer the below questions about yourself.
• Go on social media and let all of those other blogs know that you’ve nominated them.

Here are your questions:

1. How did you decide on the name of your blog and what did it come from?
2. Where does your blogging inspiration come from?
3. What is it that you love most about blogging?
4. What is your favorite food?
5. What is your favorite thing to drink (alcoholic or not)?
6. What is an item you cannot live without?
7. What are eleven random facts about yourself?
8. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
9. If you could meet anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be?
10. What is your favorite outdoor activity?
11. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

A HUGE Thank you so much to All My Kids In A Row for nominating me! Please check out her blog. 

Lots of Love

Randi

Art Appreciation Leads to Mom's Appreciation

 You know the feeling when you open up your child's book bag and see a note "To the parents of..."  Usually, that either means your child did something naughty, that help is needed or something needs donated.  This time it was help that was needed at the school to set up for the annual Art Show for 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders . Despite being busy and not an ideal day to help out, I knew I would regret it if I didn't.

Boy, am I glad I went!   Not only did we transform the plain brick walls of the hallways into a more colorful interesting place to walk, but the art was beautiful.  The art teacher put a great deal of thought into the lessons she teaches.  They created their impressions of a Starry Night, impressionism, cubism, portraits, paper mach`e masks of characters such as Hello Kitty, Donald Duck, and Batman, just to name a few.  For as young as they are, there were some very awesome pieces!

I love being able to be a stay-at-home mom! It allows me to be able to participate in many things that I might not otherwise experience.


Tell me about your proud mommy moment!

The Easter Eggs Saga

I always get so excited when I think about coloring Easter eggs with the kids!    Each year, I set up the table and lay out the eggs for each of the kids, so they won't argue.  I put the cups with the dye, glitter, stickers and wax crayons in the middle so everyone can reach them.  Each child has their own egg dipper so that they don't have to share.  The table is organized and thought out.

I call the kids over...it's finally time to dye the Easter eggs.  It never goes as I imagine it.  A child shouts " My egg isn't bright enough!"   A few eggs later, another child asks "Do have have to color ALL of these eggs, I'm bored?"  Then I hear a slight disagreement that one child is copying off of another.  By the end, the table looks like an Easter basket exploded. The kids are stained with dye and by that point I am just hoping that all the eggs have at least some color on them.

But, I know next year just like the years before, I will be excited to color Easter eggs with the kids.  I will again set up the table and lay out the eggs for each of the kids, so they won't argue.  I will put the cups with the dye, glitter, stickers and wax crayons in the middle so everyone can reach them.  Each child will get their own egg dipper so that they don't have to share.  The table will organized and thought out. And then, chaos will erupt just as it has done before.

Did "THAT" Really Happen?!?

She's cute, right?  Just Wait....

Has your child every done something that just completely surprised you (and not in a good way)?
Well, it happened to me yesterday.  My 17 month old was in her room trying to nap...or at least she was suppose to be trying to nap.  I heard her talking to herself and then I'd her her laugh. It was adorable to listen to because she was carrying on quite the conversation.  So, I didn't think much of it. I decided after some time had passed and she was still talking that I would just get her up because it was pointless to keep her in her room since she wasn't sleeping.

I opened the door to find her naked in her crib!  I looked at her and asked "Where are your clothes?" She looked at me with her sweet little face and threw "something" and then laughed. It wasn't until I looked at what she threw when I realized it was poo.  Upon further inspection, she had it on her hands, shoulder, her sheet was covered and there were little "bombs" on the floor.

How could someone so cute and sweet be so incredibly disgusting?  I left her naked in her crib so she wouldn't contaminate anything else while I drew her a bath.  After that was done, I carried her with my arms fully extended and plopped her into the bath. I scrubbed the obvious spots and left her in the tub with her older sister ...she could use a soaking while I tended to her room. Everything in her room was scrubbed or thrown in the wash.  It was everywhere! So, needless to say she didn't get  a nap in yesterday, but went to bed fairly early.

I called my mom to tell her what happened and she just laughed hysterically ...of course she thought it was funny she didn't have to clean up the mess!

Did I really not do anything today?

Do you ever have days when it feels like you get nothing done except tend to children? I am pretty sure I stopped every task I started today at least 10 times. I either refilled a drink for someone, got the baby off of the back of the couch, got a snack for someone, got the baby of the back of the recliner, made lunch for everyone, got the baby off of the ottoman, refilled drinks again along with countless other things. I swear I was busy all day today or at least my body and my mind feel like it.


Being a mom is a total mental game. It tests our ability to cope with a wide range of issues and our mental endurance sometimes without giving us a break. We are truly stronger than we think. Weather we acknowledge it or not we deal with a lot on a daily basis, some of us more than others. We have lives therefore we can have spouses, houses, work, kids, bills; along with a million other things going on. Please don’t think that I don’t know that our spouses also usually have a great deal on their plate to manage as well. My “stay-at-home mom” worries are often different than my husband’s worries, but nevertheless they are still MY worries that need dealt with. My sanity depends on it.


 Please let me add to my credibility a little, so that you don't think I am "just whining" and inexperienced. Let me say that my husband and I have four children. A boy who is 9 years old and three girls aged 7, 4 and 17 months. So, when I say I understand the craziness of everyday life, I am not just blowing smoke. We can juggle at any one time both boys and girls baseball/softball games and their practices, soccer games, and school activities such as plays and projects. And, those activities are on top of the everyday school homework of reading, spelling words and math, which can sometimes be harder than some of my college courses were. I’m sure if you have school-aged children you’ve already realized that mathematics is no longer straight forward or the way that you learned it. It’s all about drawing pictures and using tens groups just to arrive to the answer of 12. When I was in school, I would have simply just written the numbers down and then solved the problem. However, that is just not the way it is done these days. Therefore, I am learning basic addition and subtraction in my thirties. I'm sorry I digress.


But,  as I look around...I can see folded piles of clean laundry, the dishes are put away, dinner is ready to be prepared and everyone is content. So, I guess I accomplished more today than I first realized.

 

Is Being a Stay at Home Mom a Luxury or Work?

I know this is a never ending topic, but each time I hear it...I just want to vent. An article was published in the New York Post just a few days ago about this very topic.

Just as the article states, I too know that many households rely on two incomes and working outside the home may not necessarily be a parents ultimate desire.

I do feel a sense of privilege that I am able to be a SAHM. I did work outside the home when my older kids were little and have only been a SAHM for about 17 months. I will admit I have a stronger bond and closeness with my littlest. For that, I will be forever grateful!  But, that in no way means that  being a SAHM isn't real work.  In fact, I work harder at home than I ever did when I worked outside the home. At least with an outside employer, I could get weekends off,  two 15 minutes, lunch daily and on occasion my hard work would be acknowledged and appreciated.

The way it is now, a bathroom break is a luxury. My daughter is now to the age, that if she is not put in her playpen or crib when I go to the bathroom, she has either scaled the couch to play with the light switch or she has managed to reprogram the remote and I'm stuck watching my shows in Spanish until I can figure out to fix it.

Laundry and housework is never ending.  And, there is no office or cubical for me to hide in to get it out of sight. Six people wear a lot of clothes and use a bunch of dishes. I at least have paper plates to relieve the dish issue but I can't let the kids run around naked.

So, with that being said parenting is hard work whether you work outside the home or have the privilege  of being a stay a home parent.  I just like being able to go to work in my pajamas.

Get Back in Bed!

So as all parents know kids will do the darnedest things!  Well, my now 17 month old managed to climb out of her crib yesterday for the 1st of 3 times. She is like a baby ninja. I mean, I was sitting near her room and never heard her get out of her crib or her get into either of her dressers. It was only when she started throwing things out of her toy box that I heard her and went to check on her.

This is what I found...

Why, yes she does have 3 shirts on over her pajamas

It's just what a mom does!

So, tomorrow is my daughter's 101st day of school. To celebrate the 2nd graders have been asked to dress up like they are 101 years old. My daughter thought it was imperative to carry a cane tomorrow to enhance her outfit. But, as I explained to her...most people don't have canes just lying around their houses. So...to remedy the situation...I made her a cane!

My wonderful husband saw my creation and said "someone has a lot of free time." To that I replied..."yeah, I wish! I made it while entertaining our 15 month old, hanging out with our 4 year old, making lunch, making blueberry cream cheese muffins, and doing laundry just to name a few."

But, mom's isn't that just what we do? Our lists are never ending, but some how we manage. At the end of the day all I hope for, is that I help my daughter create a wonderful memory and story about her 101st day of 2nd grade.

XOXO

Randi

Half Day for Everyone

For stay at home mom's ...you know the feeling after you get all of your school aged children off to school for the day...I mean the feeling that you have a bit of time to get some of the housework done before having a house full of kids again who each need something at some point in time.

Well today is a half day of school. While the kids are super pumped about a half day... I'm kind of bummed because for me it means that I need to stop cleaning to make lunch and then never really gain momentum again..lol.  So, a half day of school means a half day for me.  I guess super cleaning will have to wait until Tuesday since Monday is a holiday and no school.

A Crazy Few Days!

So let me start by giving a big shout out to Aidan who celebrated his 9th birthday day on Monday!!!

With that being said,  I ran around like a crazy person all day on Monday because of course we had a bit of an ice storm on Sunday so everything I had planned had to get pushed to Monday. Then, I'm not going to lie ...I did do my best to relax a bit on Tuesday.  In a Mom's world "relax" is a relative term... by relax I mean that I didn't go crazy trying to get a ton of my to do list finished.  Then I went to blog on Wednesday and realized that our computer has decided to stop working. So I am blogging using my kindle. If not one thing it's another...lol...but that's just life.

Just One of "Those" Days

I'm sure as a parent we've all had one of "those" days.  Mine was today!  Let me start by saying, if I could have avoided the grocery store today I would have, but I was out of everything important. So I had to go. I had a feeling when getting ready to leave that the trip just wasn't going to go as smoothly as I would like.

So here are the highlights otherwise I could rant and rave for days

• The 15 month old was crabby before leaving and I had to take both her and the 4 year old.
• It was bitterly cold...almost too cold to go out with a 15 month old & 4 year old, but like I said I needed some necessities.
• My cart rattled and pulled to one side
• The 4 yo decided to dance in the aisles which were full of employees stocking shelves and for as cold as it was outside the store was crowded.
• The 15 mo old kept unzipping my purse and rummaging through it.
• Again the 4 yo continued to dance in the middle off the aisles all while the 15 mo old  tried to climb out of the shopping cart.
• In a desperate attempt to speed up the shopping trip, I would mistakenly skip items on the list and then need to back track to get them.
• In the checkout line the 15 mo old continued to attempt to climb out of the cart.
• I was asked for my drivers license by the cashier to purchase wine (which was very necessary by this point) but it wasn't where I usually kept it because the littlest one rummaged through my purse at the beginning of the trip. I was ready to dump my purse out on the check out line floor...Just as I said that I must not have it I found it in my make-up bag of all places. So don't worry I got my wine!
• After that near disaster we headed to the car...in the bitter cold...and the littlest one AGAIN tried climbing out of the cart and managed to turn herself sideways all while flinging her body backwards and nearly falling out of the cart while I'm trying to push it, not get hit by dumb drivers not paying attention, hold on to the 4 yo so she doesn't get hit by cars and not miss where I parked the van.
• I get everyone & everything loaded into the van and start to pull out of the parking lot and the low tire pressure light comes on. REALLY!!!
• After pulling over and checking all of the tires..none of which are flat... I proceeded to drive home, but not without one more thing...
• As I am in the middle of an intersection an older gentleman failed to look up and see my pretty silver van in his way and decided to pull out anyway nearly hitting me and then thought it was acceptable to give me a dirty look as if I had done something to him.

 I made it home safely and so did my wine...together we are dealing with today's events just fine.

XOXO

Randi

This Mama was Down for the Count!

1...2....3....You're Down for the Count!

I got hit the horrible nasty stomach bug! It has devastated my household!  It hit me at 3 a.m. yesterday and didn't leave until this morning.  My poor husband got it shortly thereafter.  It was so bad yesterday,  that our one year old ran the house.  Toys were everywhere and we watched the movie Frozen probably at least 3 times.  At one point she took her shirt off ran past me yelling (Like she was in the movie Braveheart)...I think I put her shirt on her probably a half a dozen times, but she continued taking it off.  Finally, I was too sick to care she spent the remainder of the afternoon shirtless.

Today, we are on the road to recovery.   It has now hit everyone successfully in my house.  So, Little Bug please do not return! Godspeed to anyone who gets this nasty little thing.


XOXO
Randi

Wrappin' Mama and I Don't Mean the Musical Kind!

'Tis the season for wrapping paper, ribbons, & bows.  For me this is worst part of holiday preparation. Maybe, it's just knowing that once people get their hands on the pretty packages, all of my hard work ends up torn to shreds and on the floor. I usually love the wrapping paper I buy and seeing all of the presents under the tree, but I just dislike the physical act of wrapping.  I was a good girl though and wrapped all of the gifts that I had here. Now, i'm just waiting for more to be delivered.  Maybe, on my next round of wrapping I'll use more gift bags ...LOL!

Happy Wrapping

XOXO
Randi

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