Another of my Addictions...

9 By Design - Blogs - Cortney Novogratz - Had a Blast | Bravo TV Official Site

I have really enjoyed the 1st season of this new show on Bravo! 9 By Design follows a family of 2 parents and 7 (yes 7!) kids. The parents are Robert and Cortney Novogratz, they are builder/designers. Their company, Sixx Design (obviously named before they had all the kiddoes) does awesome builds (imagine old factories and gun shops) in New York City and then redoes the floor plans and designs. Then for me the fun begins, the interior design and decorating! Of course quite a few of their design pieces are high end "artsy fartsy" stuff and would be totally out of my league. But they do like themselves a great flea market, tag sale, antique store find too, to incorporate with the mega bucks stuff! I think my favorite things have been the antique couches and chairs that they have taken and reupholstered in some very cool materials!!

I'm just addicted.... I record it and watch it on Wednesday night after work while Greg has everyone out of the house for Kingdom Knights/ Kid's Club.... that is done for the summer now so I guess I will be alright with only one more episode for this season!

I you have a chance, or you WANT to.... check out the show, they have full episodes on Bravo's website!

Our Favorite Song for the Summer!

W-O-W

I am a mom officially on summer vacation.... oh wait, that's the alarm and it's time to wake up and get to work huh!

I usually have snippets about the my girlies, who invariably drive me crazy. Today, on my WOW Wednesday report I want to officially state...... My Girls W-O-W me every day.

Whine-Or-Weep... most days BOTH!

No, really, I am often without words when it comes to my girls. They are either making me crazy with the "evil little aliens from another planet" routine -OR- they are making me crazy in love with their "God made me especially for you" bits.

They are both officially done with school for the year. Buhhhhwwaaahhhaaaahhhhaaaaa!!!

Lauryn made us both proud with high honors in English and Spelling, plus getting on "A" honor roll all 4 semesters. It isn't enough that the girlie is only 6.5 years old and finishing the 2nd grade, NO!, she must also excel at her studies. We are sooo proud of her and want her to continue to set fantastic goals and accomplish them. She was very proud of the trophy she received for memorizing 9 months worth of scripture. She was also ecstatic about receiving $10 for her stamp poster for the D.A.R. contest (Daughters of the American Revolution). All in all it was a great school year for her and now we need something to keep her busy throughout the summer (as mommy is already tired of hearing "what can I do now", "there's nothing to do" and the proverbial; "I'm bored")

Then Liyah finished with her first year of pre-school today!! She has been very good about getting up and out in the mornings. She has also spent a whole school year eating breakfast at home, again at school; eating lunch at school and another at home!!! The chickie is a bottomless pit and still weighs 32 lbs (has for the last year). She has learned to sight read half of her alphabet, most of her numbers 1-10 and still loves to play dress-up, tea party and dollies! She's only turned 4 so I'm thinking she's probably going to be keeping pace with her sister in the smarts department.

So I won't continue to bore you with stories and banalities of my girlies (but I am mom, carried them 9 months, birthed them (one w/o pain meds) and have the exclusive bragging rights to them). So here are a few pics that we have taken recently so you can actually see who I'm bragging about!!

The Lauryn-ator, one minute loves you to death, the next will be the death of you!

Liyah-fashionistah! Loves the clothes.... all the outfits she can get on in one day!! And yes this was her idea of an outfit (you can't quite see the Scooby-doo backpack that really set this ensemble off!).

WOW, to think that I get to spend 104 days of summer vacation with them.......more like WHEW!

Have you Ever....

wondered how other mom's do it?

I mean I'm not too much of a slouch, but sometimes things in my life just don't measure up (even to my standards). No, this isn't about the hubby again!

I mean, you see it everywhere.....

The perfect house, on the perfect land, with just the right shade trees and gardens and grass.

The coolest interior designs, with the coolest paint colors, furniture, and art on the walls.

The best looking kids, with the cutest clothes, organized closets and toys (creative little boogers who make cool things to put in the most artfully designed rooms).

The hostess with the mostest, dressed to the nines, with the coolest hair cut and color, youthful skin to die for, and time to do so many entrepreneurial things (can you say extra cash in the bank)

The healthiest mom, with no extra pounds, who feeds herself and her family with local, healthy, organic foods (and the kids LOOOVE it!!) and makes the best dishes for get togethers.

The mom's who can get themselves put together in 30 minutes (from shower to shoes) and then make a great breakfast, pack lunches, make sure everyone has everything for their day and then of course has dishes done, kitchen cleaned, a 45 min workout, 2 (minimum) loads of laundry, vacuuming, dusting, lunch, carpooling, homework, refereeing the kids, dinner on the table and kids bathed by the time her hubby gets back home from work.

Uuuurrrggghhhh! I personally don't know any of these so called superwomen. I DO know some great women, great mom's, sisters, aunts, even mom-in-laws. I know that it is easy to buy into the fact that the women/moms you see on t.v., magazines, even fictional ones you read about in novels are perfect and their lives just fall into place. IT DOESN'T HAPPEN THAT WAY!!! So get over it! Enjoy your life, what you have, who you are married to, what your children do (or don't do), the ding-dongs and twinkies, the extra-pounds (but be healthy), the bed-head at 10am, slipping flip-flops on to get the kids, ordering pizza for the 2nd time that week, tucking kids in with dirty piggies kind of mom you are.... after all YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! I know, I've been there.... and most days am still there!

WOW WEDNESDAYS!!!

Once again friends it is Wednesday! I am enjoying a wonderful sunny day today. To prove it I have a few wonderful photos that I took this morning, while I was at work! Yes, I came to work this morning and this is what I had [got] to do [enjoy]........

A 98 degree pool......

beautiful view of the river....

a nice spot to view it from.

I can't complain about a job that allows me to get out in the sun, see some local scenery and get a nice suntan (burn if I must be honest!). I was there for 2 hours helping Pete with his pool workout and enjoying my job!

How's your Wednesday been going? Have you had any WOW moments this week? Maybe some non-WOW moments? I've had a few of those, I'm refusing to be broken! I will survive... I have to, I work again tomorrow and have to "suffer" through the same routine! I'm thinking that I should prob'ly bring the sunscreen tomorrow though or I'll have to tell you about my 'OW Wednesday!!

Invasion of the tent worms....

Uggghhh! I cannot believe how many tent worms we have crawling up our back porch this year. I have tried to convince the dog and cat that they should eat them and get the extra protein in their diets. So far they just look at me and think that I'm losing it! They are so right about that.

I did find out that if you put water and soap/detergent of some sort in a spray bottle and spray them they will DIE!! So Liyah and I have been outside spraying them every time we go outside! Iccckk! It is better than smushing the little boogers, the green goo that they leave behind is more work to scrape off the sidewalk than I want.

Other than that interesting little tidbit, there isn't much else to say today!

I did find out that I signed Lauryn up for the wrong camp last week, so I had to call and beg the people to give me a refund. How embarrassing is it to tell someone that you are sending your child to a different camp! Yikes. It's okay, they are giving us a full refund. Greg and I are going to have to go to a class and learn about better communication skills. I think the man on the phone could tell I was a little on edge.... hmmm this could all work in my favor!

I ain't afraid of no....

help!

Well, it's been a crazy week. Liyah had a fever for 3 days and now is producing a great, mucuosy (sue me I make up words) raspy cough! Eeeew, it's a pretty big cough coming from such a small body! Of course she "toots" louder than any little kid I know too (you go girlie)!

Lauryn has been extra- crabby with everyone and about everything! I mean every day she wakes up and makes it known to all within the house that she is NOT a happy person. Mostly she's not happy because, "that's not FAAAIIIIRRRR". I personally can't think of any other reason why she wouldn't be the happy, smiling, bluebird singing on your shoulder kind of kid!!

Lauryn has one more week of school and then the real stuff hits the fan. I think that she likes working soooo much she is going to have 2 chores to do every morning before any t.v., computer, or DS ensues. I know I'm MEAN mommy!! But hey, how else do I get her to be a responsible, upstanding citizen who contributes?!?

Liyah has atleast 2 more weeks of school, I'm almost thinking that she will be going into June one or two weeks (the pre-school is on the same schedule as public schools here). That will hopefully give me enough time to get Lauryn into a good summer routine!

I'm kind of excited about the possibility of getting some help with Patty. She and I met with representatives from Area Agency on Aging yesterday morning and signed her up for the MI Waiver Program. She may be allowed 1-2 hrs of personal care help on a daily basis, 2-4 hrs of hskpng help on a weekly basis and 4-8 hrs of respite (evening) care on a monthly basis!! That will allow Greg and I with the girls to have more family time without having to make sure Patty is with us too. She enjoys doing certain things with us, but other times she'd rather not have to get out (especially in bad weather). And even though to my ears it may sound selfish, I want some time for myself where I don't have to worry about Patty and whether she is ok, and safe.

AMEN!!

It's going to be quite a lovely summer (at least in my little imagination). The girls are going to play and have fun (even if I have to force them to), I'm going to get my flower garden done up nice (now that the puppy is gone), Greg's going to enjoy drumming, grilling and (according to him) getting into better shape, and Patty, well Patty is going to be there to watch, worry and make sure the girls and the animals are where they are supposed to be!!

How's your summer looking? Plans being made?

MARK YOUR CALENDARS....

It is officially the first "WOW Wednesday" on the "Sane is a Four Letter Word!" blog!! So here goes....

It really isn't hard to find some wow's in my life.

1. God and his Grace toward me

2. Hubby and Kiddos (even tho' they keep me teetering on the brink (yes, you know what I mean people)). I wouldn't be where I am without them (imagine a life of peace, harmony and no wrinkles or grey hair).

3. Coffee in the morning.... and noon.... and decaf after 3 pm. Because I drink the stuff not just for the caffeine but for the flavor, the ritual and the downright "coolness" factor!

So here's what the girlies (ie, Greg and the Master Card) got me for mother's day this past weekend.....

I THINK IT HOLDS 4 WHOLE CUPS OF COFFEE!! IT'S WONDERFUL AND I LOVE THE "WOW" FACTOR IT HAS WHEN YOU HOLD IT AND PEOPLE SEE YOU DRINKING FROM IT. OH, ALRIGHT SO THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT SEE ME DRINKING FROM IT ARE MY FAMILY...... AND THEY COULD CARE LESS HOW BIG MY COFFEE MUG IS!

A New Thang....

I want to let you know that starting next week I will be posting "WOW Wednesdays" here on my blog. I want to share different things in my life besides just the insanity. I don't like to always be in the insane place in my head, so there are times where I take a wider view and realize there are many WOW (With Out Words) moments in my hectic, crazy existence that are valid to share with my readers (all 2-3 of you!)

So let me know what you think. I would love to hear about your WOW's. Who, what, when, where and how you experienced them. How they made your day, hour, minute or even life better. Leave me a comment, send me some pics (@ jlgfrump02@gmail.com ) if you have one or link me to something you've seen on the internet! I'll post it for those Wednesday's that I don't have anything!

Looking forward to this new adventure, please, come and join me in the journey!! Step out of the insanity for a moment!

He's really done it this time....

Well, as you readers know, Greg brought home a puppy couple months ago and I've been doing my whiney momma bit about it ever since (more so to him @ home than on the blog). This "puppy" is now probably about 45 lbs, stands up to my 4 yr olds arm pits, and has feet the size of her hands!! Alex has also been digging huge holes in all my flower beds (no flowers planted yet), chewing up odd things and dragging it all over the yard (added to his pooping out there and that is a major clean up day). Finally, I told Greg last night, the puppy has GOT to go! I don't care where, how or to who, but he's got to go!

So go he did. Greg packed the huge dog into the van this morning and took him to one of the local animal shelters (where I'm pretty sure he will find a loving family, considering he is all ready for lift-off with shots and neutering). The worst part about it.... Alex got into some kind of animal this morning and proceeded to puke fur, guts and bones up! In the van. More than once. Vulgar smell. Greg says someone owes him big time.... don't know who. Need I say more!

Lesson Learned: Don't bring home puppies (that need a lot of training), don't bring home an animal without asking the mom of the house first, don't bring home an animal that will quadruple in size in 3 months, and most of all DON'T TAKE A DOG FOR A RIDE WHEN HE'S JUST EATEN WILDLIFE!!!

I can honestly say I'm relieved. Alex is gone, my family will quite getting on my nerves about him, and I'm not the one who has to clean up the vomit!!! (LOVE YOU GREG!!)