House of Estrogen

Here's Looking At You...

Simple Woman's Daybook, January 23, 2012

For Today...

Outside my window... it is a grey, gloomy day.

I am thinking... that I'm in a rather foul mood today. Cookie sales have barely started, and I've already managed to piss off a cookie mom. I think Addie is catching a cold. I was also woken up at 5 a.m. by Nina wanting me to take curlers out of her hair.

I am thankful for...my crockpot.

From the kitchen... in theory, alphabet vegetable beef soup in the crock pot, except it won't really be alphabet soup because J.C. couldn't find alphabet pasta at the grocery store yesterday. It will be more of a mini-bowtie vegetable beef soup.

I am creating... art auction artwork with fourth graders this week. Shoot me now.

I am going... to take my dad out to lunch today.

I am reading... Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain. This really isn't a great book, but it has chapters here and there that are highly entertaining or interesting, so I keep reading. I think he could have cut it down to about a third of its current length, left out the fluff, kept the good stuff, and it would have been a really good book.

I am hoping... that Elise starts to get better soon. Her cough is a little better than a couple weeks ago, but she still stops everyone around her in their tracks when she does it. I also hope that Nina's sugar crystals for her science fair project start growing soon. I have a bad feeling we didn't get the sugar solution saturated enough.

I am hearing... J.C. typing.

Around the house... a laundry explosion in every room of the house.

One of my favorite things...grilling out in January. It is amazing to me that we are still having grilling weather some days. I grilled sausage last week. It made me smile.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... birthdays - mine and Nina's, bookclub, and Elise has a jump rope performance on Friday, so I'll need to take a half day off work for that.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... Elise's jump rope team at Virginia Tech (she isn't in the picture, but I thought it was a cool pic from VT's website).

 

 
To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Build-a-Bear Birthday Bash

Sometimes when I start to write a birthday party post, I get that nagging feeling that I'm somehow failing as a mommy blogger. I've never done a Royal Ball, an Alice in Wonderland Party, a Barnyard Party, or a Fairy Ballerina Party. There seems to be an unwritten rule in the mommy blogging world that birthday parties are required to be over-the-top at-home celebrations complete with a decadent dessert table, elaborate theming and personalized water bottles or lemonade in mason jars. (Click on those party links to see what I'm talking about.) I'm not sure how this trend started, but clearly there is a need to one-up everyone else in the blogging world when it comes to birthday parties. While I admire the creativity and effort put into these parties, I can't help but think, "You have GOT to be kidding me!!! Who has time for that? Do you have a life? What is the world coming to?" Seriously, when you are spending as much on a 2 year old's birthday party that most people spend on a wedding, there is something very, very wrong.

Or maybe I'm just jealous.

Anyway, when planning a party, I am the anti-mommy-blogger. I'm pretty sure I'm doing it all wrong, but it works for me. These are my rules for a successful non-blog-worthy party.

1. The party must not be in my house. I don't want kids in the house. I don't want parents in the house. I don't want to clean up the house in anticipation of the party. I don't want to clean up the house after the party. That is too much work. The party must be somewhere away from my house where someone else is in charge of decorating, entertainment, and clean up. Mommy bloggers everywhere are cringing as they read this. This goes against every fiber of their soul.
2. The party must be small. I don't need my kids getting birthday presents from 25 kids. We have too much crap in the house as it is.
3. I do not make the cake. I know how to decorate cakes. I used to be good at decorating cakes, but who has time for that?  Cakes will be store bought.
4. I do not give out "bags o' crap" party favors. I know other people suffer from the "too much crap in the house" syndrome as well, and they don't need junky dollar store goodies cluttering up their house any more than I do.

So, in keeping with my party rules, Addison had a Build-a-Bear party for her 4th birthday.

Invitations were sent via Evite. I give it a thumbs up for free, easy, and more likely to get an RSVP. A real mommy blogger would rather give up her dSLR than send an evite, but that's how I roll.

You know what though, Addie had a ball, and her friends did too. That's the goal right? Kids having fun? Or perhaps I missed an email about the goal.

They picked out bears,

and outfits,

and stuffed and groomed them.

J.C. got his baby fix by holding this little guy.

Of course, no House of Estrogen event is complete without an injury. Nina jumped up and bumped her head on a shelf. Poor kid.

It is pretty much impossible to get a picture of a bunch of 3-4 year olds without a lot of forced grins. Lovely.

After Build-a-Bear, we headed over to the food court for pizza and cupcakes. I'm pretty sure "food court at a birthday party" is mommy blogger code for "over my dead body". They are four though. What do they care if they have a juice box or mason jar?

My two nods to mommy blogging cuteness were the cupcakes and Addie's shirt. Of course, I can't take credit for either. Cupcake toppers were from Etsy seller Paper Owl Party Design.

Addie's shirt was by Etsy seller Criss Cross Creations. Nice scraped nose and goose-egg on her forehead, eh?

I think the party was a success. It was outside the house. There were only 5 guests. I didn't make the cake, and the party favors were the bears. Check, check, check, and check! Addie had a blast and had no idea that she should have been expecting personalized water bottles and color coordinated m&m's and lollipops. Score!

Happy Birthday Addison! May all your wishes come true.

 

 

 

Simple Woman's Daybook, January 16, 2012

For Today...

Outside my window... J.C. cleaned up all the random pieces of wood and old bike tires in our side yard, so our yard no longer looks embarrassingly trashy. I'm frankly a little surprised we didn't get kicked out of the neighborhood.

   I am thinking... that my ankle hurts.

 I am thankful for... Elise having a great trip to Wilmington, NC, this weekend for a jump rope performance. She had been feeling so down about her cough, and how it has impacted her jump roping. She had a mistake-free performance and a lot of fun though, so it helped lift her spirits.

From the kitchen... very little. I think the kids had canned soup tonight.

 I am creating... some piece of 4th grade classroom artwork for the elementary school art auction. I am completely unenthused and uninspired by this project. I think it is intentional room mom torture.

I am going... to take some Motrin for my ankle.

I am reading...  Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain. I think I read two pages this week? Yeah... not much progress. Elise, on the other hand, read Mrs. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children from start to finish in three days this weekend. My fourth grader is officially a better reader than I am.

I am hoping... that Elise's appointment with the ENT goes well tomorrow. She is so worn out from being sick for so long.

 I am hearing... Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

 Around the house... we did a MAJOR purge this weekend. I am so thrilled about it. JC and I delivered stuff to a big consignment sale tonight. We got rid of four carseats, four pieces of kid-size furniture, a pack n' play, a toy kitchen, a bike, a scooter, and an F-150 full of toys.

One of my favorite things... vacation planning.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... the usual running around.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing... Addie riding her new bigger bike. The one she learned on was so tiny, so we upgraded her this week to the next size... much better.

To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.

 

Tattle by Voice Mail

With three girls, I hear a lot of tattling. I listen to a constant stream of, "Mom, she touched me", "Mom, she took my bracelet", "Mom, she won't get off my bed." Until today though, I had never heard tattling on my answering machine.

<BEEP>

"Hi. This is X. We were building a Lego thing, and I was saying a Lego piece was hard to do. Then Nina said, "Oh, this is hard for YOU", and then she hit me on my bottom." <Z whispering in the background, "her BUTT!">

<BEEP>

"Hi. This is Z. Nina was saying X was telling lies when she wasn't. You should check on the other call. Thanks."

I guess a few years from now I can expect tattling by text message? Can't wait!

Simple Woman's Daybook, January 9, 2012

For Today...

Outside my window... it is dark and cold.

  I am thinking... about what trash TV might be on the DVR for me to watch tonight - perhaps some Kardashians?

I am thankful for... finally getting an appointment scheduled for next month with the pediatric pulmonologist. Elise missed school on Friday and had to drop out of one of the jump rope group routines on Sunday because she couldn't get through it without coughing. She sounds like this much too often.

From the kitchen... spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and some really yummy chocolate chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joe's

 I am creating... a few blog posts. 

I am going... to go eat another cookie.

I am reading...  Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain. I'm not crazy about it so far, but I've only read about a chapter. Hopefully it will get better. I finished Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom and thought it was wonderful. I'm looking forward to discussing it at book club this month.

I am hoping... that a money tree grows in my back yard soon to pay for orthodontia.

 I am hearing... a nice quiet house. Everyone is in bed.

 Around the house... we just recovered from Christmas when Addie's birthday party came along, so it looked like a birthday party exploded everywhere. I'll be glad when the holiday/birthday season is over.

One of my favorite things... sleep.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... not much on the calendar this week, thankfully... just the usual jump rope and Girl Scout commitments.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...my metal head... she got her ears pierced last week and braces today.

To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Jumpin' For the Hokies

Today, I travelled with Elise's jump rope team to Virginia Tech to watch them perform during half-time of a basketball game. We both had fun, and I learned so much on this trip. I learned...

1. I love traveling by bus. Do you think I could just charter a bus next time we want to go on a family vacation?  I was on that thing for 8 hours today and don't feel nearly as worn out as I feel after a three hour car ride. The seats were comfy. There was a movie playing. I could get up and walk around. I could even read without feeling carsick. Charter buses are my friend.

2. Next time Elise has a performance, I won't involve myself in the hair battle to get her hair braided. I'll just send her with brush and elastics in hand and let the moms and team captains take care of her. It looked like one big braiding party in gym before the bus arrived.

3. Basketball coliseums have a whole big practice court down on the same level as the main court, under the stands. Who knew? It makes sense now that I think about it though.

4. The Virginia Tech mascot is a male turkey. I would say that a turkey doesn't sound very tough or menacing, but I come from a high school where the mascot was a Scot (a dude in a kilt) and a college where the mascot was a deacon (dude at a Baptist church who helps out the minister), so I'm really not one to judge mascots... at least not whether or not they are menacing.

5. Last but certainly not least, I learned that I need a better video camera for these sorts of events. Clearly, my little point and shoot is not up to the task. I took some video anyway though, so humor me and watch it. Just try not to make too much fun of my videographer and video editing skills (or lack thereof).

 

6. Elise had a great time on this trip. Although she made some mistakes in her freestyle routine, she came off the court smiling and was happy with her performance. Her traveller routine got cut when they ran out of time, but she took that in stride too. Despite the many hours of travel, that girl was smiling and happy all day long. That makes her mamma smile too.

Four... With Attitude

Christmas Wrap-Up 2011

Christmas was good to us this year. My dining room table made a rare appearance to host Christmas Eve dinner.  If you know anything about my dining room, this photo in itself is nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

This is my parents' first Christmas here since their move from Texas, so they came over for Christmas Eve dinner. My dinner plans involved cooking a pork roast. Unfortunately, I forgot to pull it out of the freezer early enough to thaw it completely. Since I was hesitant about serving up roast ala salmonella, I ran out and bought a Paula Deen ham on Christmas Eve. That sucker was great! Thank you Paula Deen!

My parents were in luck. They got to hear Addie's harmonica concert. It was as lovely as you might imagine from a hyped-up four year old with a new harmonica.

After Christmas jammies were opened and donned, JoJo read stories.

Then, I had a little fun taking bokeh photos of the tree,

and late that night, Santa stopped by. He stuffed the stockings and set out the baskets o' electronics.

I usually prefer still photos to videos, but I do love videotaping the girls coming down the stairs each Christmas morning. This year, I think Nina's reaction was priceless. I'm so glad I caught it on video.

You think she like her iPod?

Elise was pretty happy with her stash as well.

One of the things on Addie's list (along with a roller coaster, a fox, and a giraffe) was "little tiny people that I can push on a little tiny swing."  After puzzling over this request for a while, I finally realized that she was remembering playing with some vintage Little People that my mom's neighbor in Dallas had. As always, Ebay can usually get me out of any jam. Who would have thought that in 2011, a four year old would be asking for 1970's Little People? When she opened the gift though, she exclaimed, "It is just what I asked for!!"

In the afternoon, we spent time with JC's family. All the testosterone bearing family members (they are few and far between) received remote control helicopters. Papa looks like he was having fun!

 Addie continued her streak of good presents.

Maybe she had just opened her Cars Play-doh set. That was a huge hit. Most other toys were neglected the rest of the day while everyone played with Play-doh.

After a couple of science experiments,

 

a few rounds of new video games, too many desserts, and saying thanks that nobody's hair got caught in the remote control helicopter blades, we all settled down for a long winter's nap.

Simple Woman's Daybook, January 2, 2012

For Today...

Outside my window... it is chilly! It is finally beginning to feel like winter, but it is supposed to be back up in the 60's by the end of the week.

I am thinking... about tackling my messy bedroom today.

I am thankful for... everyone being well enough to go back to school today. Addison and Nina both seem like they are on the edge of coming down with colds, and Elise is still recovering from her asthma flare-up. We sent everyone off though. With any luck, I won't get any calls today from schools asking me to pick up my sick kids.

From the kitchen... tacos.

I am creating... nada.

I am going... nowhere today. I need to work on chores around the house.

I am reading... Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. This is such a page turner. I'm about halfway through, and highly recommend it. This week I also read Escape by Carolyn Jessop which was excellent as well. I couldn't put it down for two days until I finished it. It is Jessop's dramatic account of her escape from Warren Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) sect. This book was really captivating, and I'm amazed at the way FLDS members live. Sadly, even though Jeffs is in prison, it sounds like his followers in Texas still believe he is the prophet and continue to be led by him. I also read Shaken, Not Stirred by Tim Gunn which was an interesting little Kindle Single.

I am hoping... that Elise kicks this cough soon. She sounds like she is gasping for breath sometimes.

I am hearing... just the wind. Everyone is back at school and work, and the house is wonderfully peaceful and quiet.

Around the house... we are starting to recover from the Christmas trashing.

One of my favorite things... the Kindle I received for Christmas.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... looks like we're starting 2012 with a busy week... three jump rope practices, one jump rope performance out of state, one Girl Scout meeting, two Girl Scout cookie rallies, the start of Girl Scout cookie sales (anybody want to buy some cookies?), one orthodontist appointment, and Addison's birthday party.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...cousins on Christmas Day

To read more Daybook posts or learn how to participate, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.