Vinegar - a woman's best friend

I recently rediscovered the benefits of vinegar. Not to eat - but to use as a cleaner.

First - if your kid gets into it, no big deal. They get a nasty taste and spit for a little bit. Okay, I can deal with that.

Second - if you freeze vinegar ice cubes and then put them into your garbage disposal, they will sharpen the blades (while the blades are chopping them up) and clean out the nasty smells. Fabulous!

Third - Vinegar in a little hot water in your washing machine cleans out all the smells too!!!

I just wanted to say that vinegar, its on sale at Target for 99 cents a bottle right now, beats buying those garbage disposal cleaning packs I used to buy and the washer cleaning packs. Fabulous!

Nicholas' big boy bed

So early in March we went to IKEA and got Nicholas his big boy bed. We had to do it, he was able to easily climb in and out of his crib.We thought taking him to pick out his bed would help with the transition. Little did we know there wouldn't be a problem with the transition (until a few days ago).



The choice was down to 2 different beds. The one with the cat and dog (above) and the blue one (below). He actually wanted the pink bed - but Jon said no. He told Nicholas that a girl can have a pink bed, but that boys have to have blue beds. To which Nicholas asked "Why dada?" And Jon said "Because I said so." Nicholas said "okay." Jon loses all sorts of points for trying to end the argument like that :)



The blue bed is the one we ended up with. I knew we would. It is blue! It is a big bed! It is cool looking. It was a hard choice for Nicholas, but he made the right decision.



We took 2 cars to IKEA - mine and Jon's. Jon and Nicholas rode in his, and we put the bed in mine. Nicholas is waving at the camera now. From his smile, you wouldn't know that in just a few minutes he would be having a fit because he wanted to be in the car with mommy and the bed. Jon had a fun ride home for the first 5 minutes, after which Nicholas fell asleep.



I was forbidden from taking pictures while Jon was putting it together. Nicholas did try to help - but he wasn't helpful. Until Jon figured out that he could hand Nicholas something and then ask for it, and Nicholas would give it to him. That made Jon and Nicholas happy, and I sat and watched my guys working at building a bed.

Nicholas jumped on it and ran up and down it as soon as it was put together. He wouldn't even let me put on the sheets before he wanted to lay down on it!



And here's the finished product: Cars sheets and pillow, Thomas the Tank Engine comforter. We have a true toddler boy!

We are gardening

Our whole family spent some time gardening today. Nicholas, earlier, planted tomatoes - which didn't grow :( But he also helped plant onions, potatoes, and strawberries - which are growing. So he takes special pride in watering them. So here are some pictures from our gardening fun today.



This is my wonderful garden. I noticed the tomato plants were turning yellow, so I gave them some more food. I don't really understand why they have decided to turn yellow. They get enough sunlight. They are in a hole dug, and completely filled, with new, fertilized soil. I mean, I dug a hole that was HUGE for each plant, so that their roots could expand into good soil, rather than the clay we have back there. So they should be growing. Who knows what their problem is. All my onions are coming up (on the right) and some strawberry plants (on the left) and even a few potatoes (in the middle).



Nicholas likes to water the garden. Good thing I already really did the watering and fertilizing of the garden, since just as much water went on the patio as the garden!



After all the gardening was done Nicholas wanted to water the grass. He made Jon fill the watering can up again, and again, and again......and again. It lasted almost 30 minutes. Nicholas had great fun watering the grass and then yelling "grow" are the grass. Our grass is tall enough (it needs a trim), it doesn't need to grow anymore.

And that was our wonderful gardening time on Saturday!

The balancing act of life

I have been having a real hard time lately balancing all my roles, goals, must-do lists, and want-to do lists. Not to mention finding me time in there. So I have created some things for myself, and I wanted to share them with everyone else in case others are having a hard time balancing work, school, family, life, family, kids, school, work, house stuff, kids, and all the rest of the fun stuff that comes with being a working mom. But this doesn't just apply to working moms, all moms - and dads - have to balance a tremendous amount of things.

John Locke said that you are one person, and at different times in your life different aspects of your person will come to the forefront. This is essential to remember: The same person who works is the person who is a mom. Don't try and separate the two, but try to be the person you need to be when you need to be it.

This means it is okay to take time out of your work day - like your lunch break - to call the sitter for Friday night date-night, to pay the bills, to take a walk around the block so you get your exercise in, to listen to music, to research what your child is going to do this summer. Don't feel bad about doing it on "company time" because lunch hour isn't company time. You aren't getting paid for it, do what you need to do.

Kids need exercise too. Sometimes they just need to get outdoors. That can mean tossing them in a stroller and walking outside with them. Not every moment of their day has to be filled with "doing" something. Taking them for a walk, or a bike ride, can be a way to teach them to enjoy the world around them.

Organize yourself. If you are organized, everything else can be organized too. If you don't know where your keys, purse, clothes, etc are, how can you expect your kids to know?

A two-year old does know where his shoes are, where his clothes are, what he is supposed to be doing, and how to clean. No kid is too young to clean. Give them a rag with water, and have fun wiping the floor, kitchen counters, or table down. As they get older, let them strap sponges to their feet. Who cares how it gets cleaned, getting it cleaned is the important part.

Make decisions and let them go. Don't harp on what you should've done. Just accept what you did do, and move on.

Extras in the car are a good idea. This means an extra pair of shoes for you, clothes, food, snacks, and diaper bag. Anything that might get ruined while you are out should have an "extra" in the car. And if you think shoes cannot get ruined, let me tell you that kid poop does weird things. Keep an extra pair in the car.

And finally - use what works. You have to do this to maintain your sanity. If this means your children want yogurt and applesauce four days in a row, well, there are worse things they could eat. If this means that night clothes are actually the favorite Elmo shirt and dinosaur pants, instead of the nifty pajamas, that's fine too.

But devote quality time to what you are doing. Actually focusing for 30-60 minutes on one task can get it done quicker than if you tried to do three things at once.

I multi-task all the time. When I need to get reading done for my comprehensive exams, I read to my son. He likes to read, I need to read. So what if he hears "institutional presidency" and "rent-seeking behavior" and vocabulary words that most college students don't use? Reading is never put to waste.

But enjoy life. Don't forget that life isn't just a series of lists to complete (although I do love my lists) but there is enjoyment in life too.

Our new house

So the first picture is a picture of our new house. I love the stone work in the front - and the colors are pretty awesome. It has a covered porch and some great windows. The windows now all have blinds on them - thanks to Dale and Jon. White blinds.

See the garage? We love having a garage. It means not having to walk in the rain with tons of groceries and Nicholas. It means we can go directly from the car into the house - and Nicholas can do it without his shoes on (which is good because recently he has been taking his shoes off in the car). It also means we have some storage space - the garbage cans and all the boxes we haven't gone through yet are out there. Some of the boxes are Christmas decorations - the rest I am kind of unsure about what they are. But the bikes are inside now too.

I love the simplicity of the yard. The automatic sprinklers do all the hard work and Jon does the mowing and occasional weeding. Although since there is bark, I don't know how much weeding we have to do.


So the next two are that kitchen and pantry. I love having a pantry. And all the drawers and space in the kitchen. We haven't even filled everything up yet. I am sure that will change since I love all gadgets to do with cooking. And the kitchen island is great too. We had the Super Bowl party here and served from the island.

The pantry also extends under the stairs - so it has a Harry Potter cupboard. I promise not to stick any kids under there. Although Nicholas does like to play there.

There are our stairs :) I love them (except when I was on crutches and the cane - then I hated them). They are a "u" shape, so Nicholas can only fall so far. Nicholas has his "time-out" stair (thanks for the idea TJ). It's the bottom one. When I tell him he is on time out he runs there, then lays down on it and starts to hum to himself. I guess he likes time out. He also likes to throw temper tantrums on that stair. He puts his head down on it, and then looks around to see if you are watching him. If you are, he keeps going. If you are not, he stops. He does the stairs all by himself whenever you make him. If you let him, he will ask you "up please" and get you to carry him up and down the stairs. His father and grandmother are particular suckers for that trick.

And just because, I included a shot of the Master Bath. It now has a blind too. Can you imagine taking a shower in the glass shower without blinds? Or a bath? My favorite fixture in the whole house is in this picture: the tub. It is HUGE. I can fill it up, put in some bubble bath, and have it all to myself. There is a door I can close to the rest of the house (and lock) and it is all mine! I love that tub.

Anyways, that is the house for now. More pictures to come.

My tomato plants!

The pictures below are of my tomato plants! I am so excited that we have a yard where I can plant them. No sooner did I stake and put in the supports for the second plant then...well...it started to rain. Hard. It's not like it was particularly dry before (take a look at the mud on my clogs) - but it was really a dirty job. And I loved it. What do I love best - that Jon is going to do all the weeding!!! I get to plant, fertilize, teach Nicholas about gardening, and Jon gets to do the labor of weeding.

Life is good.

Time for a new bed!

So, it is time for a new bed for Nicholas. We have been lucky, thus far, in that he only gets out of his crib during the day. But since he can get out, it is time for a new bed. Luckily, his birthday is on the 12th, so this all works great.

I made a mommy-mistake and asked him what type of big boy bed he wanted. He said a "car" bed. Those are over $300!! Everyone is onto the fact that kids want a car bed. So we are going to ignore that and get him a blue bed from IKEA. He loves that one every time we go.

But we went to Target today to get the comforter and sheets. I pulled all the comforters off the shelf and put them down on the ground. I pulled him out of the cart, and we walked along the line as I told him what each one was. Then I said "pick one." He ran to the Thomas the Tank Engine one and grabbed it in a big bear hug and said "This one mine." So that one is his.

The sheets were a harder sell. I pulled them all out, again (and the Target people were watching me do this and staring at me like I was weird. Evidently, they don't have a very opinionated 2 year old who needs to be involved in EVERY decision about himself or he throws a fit). I said, "Pick one." He had the choice between animals, basketballs/footballs, Cars, Thomas, and dump trucks. He grabbed four of the five and said "Here mommy, mine." I said, " No Nicholas, pick one." He looked at me, put them all down, picked 2, and said "Mine mommy." He had the most adorable look on his face, and I was totally wanting to give in. But I stuck to my guns and made him pick one.

He chose the Cars sheets.

So in the end we have a Thomas the Tank Engine comforter and Cars sheets - and two waterproof mattress covers that are going to come in real handy.

Now we just need the bed (Saturday) and for him to sleep in it. This is going to be a hard sell, maybe. Sometimes I think he's going to be difficult, and he's easy breezy. So we shall see. I am hoping for easy breezy. I am also a little concerned that he's going to play with his sheets and comforter and not really sleep - but we can handle that. Eventually he crashes.