Day 31: My Day

Tuesdays and Thursdays are sometimes my favorites days. They are definitely the days I can get the most done as for three hours I only have one helper; so they have definitely become our errand days.

Today we hit the dollar store, JoAnn's, Home Depot (big project coming soon!!) and Costco. I think it might have been a little much.
And where was Alex? At preschool- and today on a field trip to a bakery where she made her own bread.And we passed time in the afternoon by playing beauty parlor.It was a great day.

Day 30: Um a Picture?

Okay, well I didn't take any real pictures. It was just a weird day, getting back into the swing of things, then Eric was home early as he was about to take off on a business trip- so yea, but I did take a screen shot of my new todo app- applying so many great things I learned with Power of Moms.

Day 29: Rest and Change

Sunday's are always a great day of rest. We fed the church missionaries dinner. And then we began implementing some of the things I had learned in my conference.

A new family economy system

And that is my in-box--

(pic actually taken day before)

empty, thanks to a great organizational system I learned at the Power of Moms Conference

Day 28: Retreat

Saturday I spent another day at the Power of Mom's Conference. It was another amazing day helping me to refocus on what matters most, learn some great new strategies and tips and just meeting so many amazing women.

And a catered lunch from Panera Bread is always a good thing

Day 27: A Beautiful Start

Friday morning began with this

no editing done on this picture- just straight out of camera

and then I took the time to get all dressed up like this

because I was spending half of the day hereThe Power of Mom's retreat

Amazing amazing day

Day 26: Curls to Stay

Ryder and I ran some errands- while we were checking out the lady saw the back of Ryder- so this view
and she said she and her several times- sorry lady he is a boy, curls and all.

And those curls are going to stay, I love love them!

And some days- cereal for breakfast is really just the perfect thing
And since the weather was beautiful we went outside. Ryder wanted to try and ride his sister's scooter- but he already knows helmets are required

even if it is your sister's princess helmetand if it gets taken away-well you can see the results

Day 25: The Tooth

Have you been wiggling your tooth? It had become a daily question. Tonight when he showed how much it wiggled Eric said we should try and get it out.

From the bathroom I hear wiggling, and crying and shouts of look it's almost out!

And finally success!
A few tears, but the thought of the tooth fairy coming made it all okay.He lost tooth number 5 on Thanksgiving, this tooth- number 6 came on his 100th day of 1st grade.

Day 24: End of the World

See this sort of pinkish object?
Well this once used to be pink, now a bit grayish blankie caused a whole bucket of drama. Monday evening, at bedtime Alex could not find it. Eric promised he would search for it and bring it to her when he found it. But he could not find it anywhere.

We looked in the hiding spots, the usual spots, under furniture, inside the trash (she does have a little brother who likes throwing things away), no where. She went to bed crying.

And she woke up crying when she realized it had never been brought to her in the night. She was crying so much she almost made herself sick.

I sent out post on FB asking if anyone at workout class had seen her blanket. She continued to sob, I asked if she wanted to stay home from preschool today. She said yes. I was just about to call her teacher when I got a message- someone at workout class had found it- someone that also went to her preschool and would bring it to her today! She was suddenly ready to go- her world had been restored.

Day 23: Helpers & Projects

Ryder loves helping me. Sweeping is one of his favorite jobs. He also loves helping me rearrange my spices, even stacking them in nice towers at times. He will get out bowls and stir with me and loves watching the food cook in the oven.

"On" he will say while pointing at the oven standing on his tiptoes trying to see the food cooking inside. So today when he pushed over a chair so he could see what I was cooking on the stove, well he was in heaven. "Ohh" he would say while pointing. "Stir" he replied while I stirred the food.

"No touch, hot" I would remind him. He did good keeping his hands back, he just wanted to be able to see what was going on.

He wants to be big and do everything his siblings do- so when we began making Lucas' 100 day shirt painting our hands to make hand-prints- well Ryder wanted to join in. Pointing at the shirt, but then when it came time to paint his hand, he pulled his hand back towards his body and said "nuh-uh, nuh-uh". We tried to show him how fun it was, but he would look, but always kept his hand safely tucked in.I ended up just painting some handpints for him.

Day 22: Fire

My husband grilled on Sunday

No, we didn't have to call the fire department- that was a fire we could see from our backyard He does a great job grilling, he grills most Sundays
See yummy

Day 21: Rain, Projects and Icecream

Woke up to cold and rain Saturday morning- which meant no running for me. I was really glad I hadn't signed up for the 5K that was that day- that would have been miserable.

Since we were home we got some things done around the house-- I finally got the mirror hung up. We used to have our family picture up, we moved that to a different wall and I redid some of the mantel decor. This mirror- only $10 at the thrift store!
In fact I realized that everything on my mantel I got at the thrift store- except the Home- that was from Ross.

And in about 5 minutes and for about $5 I completed another craftIn the afternoon and evening the sun came out and so we ventured out to the dollar store.
We drew names then bought secret gifts for each other. We stopped at the store to pick up some pizza and took it home for a night of gifts, pizza, pop, drumsticks and a movie.
It was Ryder's first ever drumstick-
he liked it.

It was a good Saturday.

Day 20: Friday Traditions

On Friday's we go out to eat. Usually it is to a quick fast food style place, which really is the best with kids. But this week we stepped it up and went to the Rain Forest Cafe.
It was all smiles from the kidseven Ryder-
though the first time the thunder went he was a little scared
My foodAnd of course we stopped in the Lego store since we were right by it. And we actually found some shoes for Alex! She just turned 5 two months ago and wears a size 13 shoe-- a 13 Wide that is, in fact the tennis shoes we got her were Extra Wide. Poor thing will never be able to wear all of the cute petite girly shoes.

Day 19: Antiques and Junk

I drug Ryder around shopping with me again- poor kid-- but he does get fruit snacks when we shop and he really is a good shopper.

What were we shopping for- I really wanted an old window and I found one!This beauty will soon be part of my living room decor-- so excited.

And yea, I might have had a little snack while reading blogs.
And the day ended wonderfully with a sweet card from my oldestAnd working on and completing projects while watching American Idol

Day 18: Round Two

Tuesday night Eric and I were headed up to bed, I thought I heard Lucas call my name. I went into the hallway and listened but didn't hear anything, but then I heard it. I went in to his room to discover he had gotten sick- all over the place. And he had had some red pop with dinner- yea.. not going to go into more detail but I gagged many times.

Since he missed school today it gave us some extra time to work on his school boat project which was good because it took us

one

(floated until we stuck the sails on-then just tipped to side, oh and paint washes off of plastic)

two

(works but might be a bit too big for dimensions required)

three attempts.

(right size and it floats!)

The final one that worked- was based off a Time For Tots project we did almost two years ago. So glad those days paid off.

Day 17: Back to the Grind

After a four day weekend it was time for Lucas and Alex to head back to school. Ryder ate a great breakfast and seemed to be okay.

So it meant some shopping for Ryder and I- buying supplies for our upcoming Fancy Family Valentines Dinner. So excited about this-going to be even better than last year.
And of course there was homework. A last minute inspiration to have Lucas write his spelling words on flashcards actually made him willing to do it and not fight me. Yea!

Day 16: Maybe it was the jumping?

Jump

Hop

Fly

And Laughter
Alex and Ryder had so much fun playing together.

So much that I wasn't too surprised that his nap was an hour longer than usual. But then he woke up and was very hot and just sat there.

When Eric got home he didn't even run over to greet him. Eric handed him off to me so he could help set the table and I said I was worried Ryder was going to get sick. Not a second after I said that Ryder threw up all down my shoulder and back.

Sometimes I don't like being so right.