Flower Meltdown

Last week after her dance show, Clover got flowers from her Daddy and from her bestest little friend.  Even with regular watering they didn't make it that long.  We got a good week out of them.  They were sad and limpy by the end of the week.  The mini roses held up very well and I hung them upside down to dry for two days so we still have the lovely bouquet.  The other ones were ready for the trash pile.  I already anticipated that this was going to be a problem.

They were HER flowers.

I thought about waiting until she was asleep but while I was cleaning the kitchen and she was in the office with Daddy I figured that I would be safe trying to dispose of the droopy flowers.  She came in and caught me mid trash.

The following fit lasted for about a half an hour.  Daddy came out just to check on her and make sure that she was okay with all the screaming.  There was crying and borderline hyperventilating.  Then in the saddest littlest voice I heard "but they are my flowers".  She didn't understand that they were dying and weren't going to last.  We talked about it and had a mini biology lesson but she didn't care.  

I put the flowers back on the counter.  Clover: 1 Mommy: 0.

While at the craft store yesterday afternoon we went through the silk flowers and picked out a bunch that was almost an exact replica of what the real flowers looked like before.  We struck a deal that if we bought the silk ones that would last forever that I could throw away the limpy dead ones on the counter.  She agreed.  Lucky for me the silk flowers were on sale.  In the end it was $2.99 well spent since she has hardly put them down since I bought them.  

Super Funtastic Summer 2012

Last year we came up with our Summer list 2011.  I/we started brainstorming our list for our Super Funtastic Summer a couple of weeks ago but never posted it.  We came up with a lot of ideas.  I think some might get left behind but we will try our hardest to get through the list.

Make ice cream

make pickles

make our own water park with pvc pipes

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/h2-ohhh-787451/2/

make our own fort

Scrapbook day

Outdoor movie pool party

bake something

decorate T-shirts

sponge balls

make boats

picnic in the park

beach trip

camping

Host a sleep over

go to the drive in!

Start a chapter book

Start an audio book

build a lego castle

write and illustrate a book together

visit a farmer's market

make play dough

try croquet 

visit the splash park

Visit the library

Hike in the woods

Go bowling

Muppet movies Marathon

Make our own muppets

Taco night

Princess Party

Meet Repunzel

Road trip

Spa Day

Pizza Party

Cotton Candy

Whenever I get a chance to sit down for more than five seconds I'll make a more prettier version.  Maybe I'll make a large version to hang up in the living room.

Words and Villains

There was a point when I first started tinkering with this blog where I thought it might be a good idea to have a place to spew out the negativity in my head.  I came up with a name and everything.  I brainstormed and thought about all the reasons I should do it.  The main being just to have a place where I could vent.  It's not like anyone would know it was me.  Although I am fully aware that the internet is not totally anonymous.  I thought if no one knew it was me what would it matter?  I would have a place to say how hurt I was, or how no matter how hard I tried or how nice I was, I always ended up a villain in someone's story.

Even though I try my hardest to stay focused on the positives, I have those days.  Sometimes those days coincide with days where I feel the need to consume large amounts of chocolate and/or ice cream or sometimes chocolate ice cream.  I don't always do it...Just sayin.    

I was on the verge of starting another chapter, a darker more sinister side of me.  Then one night when I was blog hopping I came across something that completely changed my mind.

In the end all you have left behind is your documents.  Your words.

And with that my mind swirled even more.  Words have power.  Even if we tell ourselves that they don't, they do.  I could justify how I was hurt and how life is indeed unfair.  And just typing that sentence seems juvenile.  I couldn't leave behind that negativity.  To have it sit there forever and dwell on it.  So days later I decided against creating another dark hole in the internet.  It's better that way.  I couldn't write words that could potentially hurt people.  No matter how much I wanted to vent.  That just isn't me.

I just need to feel it, embrace it and move on, or maybe fly over it on my broom.

A Blur of Tulle, Tights, Bows and Teeny Tiny Rhinestones

My baby girl was in her very first dance production.  The youngest class had two dance numbers.  They did a great job.  She lined up with her bestest little friend and the friends she had made throughout  the year.  As soon as the lights came on they danced their little hearts out.

I got to watch from the sidelines.  Hopefully someday my darling will appreciate the fact that I gave up my audience seat to take part in the backstage craziness.  Which wasn't really all that crazy at all.  Everything was very organized and our kids did great.  At one point all eight of our kids were lined up at the craft table in-between numbers.

I can't wait to get the video so I can see how she looked on stage.  Even though I gave up my seat, being backstage was fun.  It was heartwarming to see just how much fun they were having.

At the end of the show Daddy was waiting with flowers which just made her night.  She held on to them all night and midway home fell asleep on them.

She is already asking about next year's dance season and show.  Next year I will be ready with a stack of tulle and ribbon and slightly bigger rhinestones!  

Back To Whatever Normal Is

Last week was crazy.  It was a blur of tulle, tights, bows and teeny tiny rhinestones.

Sometime last year I became a dance mom!  Clover has been taking dance with her bestest little friend (her words).  She has a big best friend and a little best friend so she has to be specific.  Everything they have learned through out the season had come together last week.  Their very first show.  We were right in the middle of a professional production.  It was the dance studio's 33rd show so as the newbies we did our best to soak it all in while staying out of the way.

Last week was full of introductions and rehearsals.  Lots of busy afternoons.  We aren't really used to having busy afternoons and there was some poor planning on my part which led to a lot of eating out.  Too much for my comfort zone.  To the point where I am embarrassed to admit just how many unhealthy meals we had last week.  But it was just one week so I am cutting myself some slack.

It mostly set in while I was reading my friend's blog about eating better and treating her body right.  How she noticed that she didn't eat right her body let her know.  It probably didn't help that while I was reading about how she was learning how to treat her body right, I was sucking down a chocolate milk while munching on the pretzel ritz munchables.

So then I got up and made some summer porridge to sit in the refrigerator for breakfast.  I make a variation of the blueberry one.  I don't do chia seeds though because I have texture issues, so I subbed in a tablespoon of wheat germ because it's what I had.  I have also had it with flax seed which is also pretty yummy.

I am feeling better about getting back to our version of normal.  Whatever that is.        

Juju vs the Dryer Vent #427

Actually I have lost count on how many times I have battled the dryer or the dryer vent.  I am very close to drilling a whole in wall and running the dryer vent out into the garage or out the front of the house.  Every year I clean out the ducts.  It used to be something I never thought about until one of our dryers caught on fire.  So since then it gets cleaned.

We have had it professionally cleaned and they jammed a bunch of lint up in the top of the duct in which I had to fish out one morning.  That post follows...

Posted on Jan 9, 2010

"What did you do today Juju?"

I stood on a ladder with a long a** pole and poked the dryer vent because i thought a dead bird got stuck in it.

Whoa…k lets rewind. 

As you all know i have a love for the dryer that will stand the test of time! Last year we RIP'ed two dryers. One after it caught on fire. well after it caught on fire we had to have someone come out and clean out the dryer vent. They wouldn't clean out the top because we have clay tile roof and they don't want to be responsible for breaking tiles. 

So Fast forward to today. I'm out in the front yard playing with Clover. She's happy that we are out early. we are out because our gardener was fixing the fence which was just another chapter of the our drama (available in paperback). I look up and notice that the dryer vent isn't really blowing anything out. Then i look some more and notice that there is something stuck in it. So after consulting Hubby, he grabbed his camera to try and zoom in and get a better view. and the verdict…yes there is something stuck in the vent, and its white. 

Fast forward a little bit more to me procrastinating and then finally getting motivated. I decided to try and snake it out from the bottom. because if it was something dead i didn't want to touch it, so i was going to poke it out from the bottom. i took the pool vacuum line hoses that we had extra of and shoved them up into the vent….with no luck. 

And about a half an hour later i am up on the ladder. This really had to be a hilarious site because Lissa wouldn't stop laughing. i rigged a brush onto the telescoping pool pole. it took me a couple of tries to get it but finally poked the brush in….followed by several "EWWWWWWWW"s. I had no idea what i was poking and in my mind i had already figured out that whatever it was was dead.

There was about five minutes of "Ewwww thats so grooooooooos!"

So there is me up on the bright yellow ladder with my gerry rigged pool pole trying to poke a vent about twenty feet away from me. I didn't feel like a total oakie because there was an absence of duct tape. i used it all two weeks ago.

I finally poke it all out and….it was all dryer lint. no dead things. a lot of dryer lint. but just to be on the safe side i left it on the roof for the rain to take care of…just in case. Then it took me another half an hour to get the stupid vent back on the back of the dryer which led to me then having to climb over the dryer to get out of the laundry closet. 

So i had a witness today so that you know that i don't make this stuff up! although by now i could probably write a book. 


So as you can tell the dryer and I get a long oh so well.  Today was another clean it out day since it is once again making noise.  My brother came over and helped me out since I'm not supposed to lift.  I worked on it for about two hours and there was a lot of lint in the duct.  I shopvaced it out to the best of my ability but I am so sick of working on it.  My knuckles are all banged up and my fingers hurt from trying to clean it all out.  I am done for the day!

From the Bottom of My Cute Little Heart

Somehow along the way I found myself with some pretty amazing people in my life.  I'm not sure how but that doesn't stop me from being thankful for them.  I'm in a spot where I'm not sure how to show just how thankful I am.  Sometimes saying the words "Thank You" just doesn't seem to portray it fully. Sometimes people say "Thank You" to be polite but it just isn't the case with me.  So if it seems like I say it a lot it's because I mean it and I'm not sure if it comes across that I really mean it.  I don't ever want to be in a position where it appears like I am taking that for granted.  I've been on that other end of that scenario more than once and I don't want anyone in my life to feel that.

So really from the bottom of my cute little <3

Thank You for being you.  Because you are awesome.