Mama's Cinco de Mayo

Mama's Having Some Fun

Hold Me

I tried watching eye makeup tutorials on You Tube last night. I want to get more involved in my makeup routine of "moisturize-powder-lipstick-done".

After watching 4 middle school girls show me how to correctly apply Urban Decay Primer (what the?!) and then mix 19 different colors from a giant train case with 5 different brushes, I got scared and hid under my comforter with Zero Punctuation videos.

I'm sorry, Erin. I tried.

Mama Says "Hey Sailor!"

Seasons of Change

This post hit me hard this morning. The mother is talking about how all of her life it seems as though she's always waiting for the next stage.

When will I get married?
When will I have a baby?
When will the baby sleep through the night?
When will that kiddo get potty trained?

I read through the post and then stopped and looked at my babies. They're watching Sesame Street. Sophie is playing with her blocks. Milly is toddling around the room and screeching at Cookie Monster. Gideon is busily lining up his figures.

I'm impatient. I want Sophie potty trained. Like yesterday. FULLY. I want Gideon to start talking. I want Milly to stop freaking out when I leave her sight.

What am I missing?

They will never be this little again. Right now I can hold all of them. They want me to hold them. Gideon cuddles against my shoulder and wants me to sing his lullabye. Sophie curls up in my arms each night so I can rock her and sing her lullabye. Milly lurches over to me, climbs up me like I'm Everest, flings herself down on my shoulder and jams her thumb in her mouth. (No singing, please. Just rock.)

They say the cutest things. Gideon just learned how to say "rocket". He has rockets on his pajamas. Sophie can say anything you tell her to. It's really funny to make her say "Oy vey!" and then we both collapse into giggles. She calls pizza "peetzee".

Please don't ask Gideon to say "fork".

Their lives are so simple. A kiddie pool, some cups and a sunny day is the BEST DAY EVER. I'm the BEST MOM EVER for setting it up.

Lord, let me rest in this phase of life. Let me enjoy my children just as they are. They are amazing.

How to Get Cheap

It's time to start cutting costs. It's time to start pinching pennies. It's time to learn how to be a housewife. Not quite Depression-era but no more buying processed frozen chicken nuggets because it's supposedly the only thing the kids will eat and it's easy.

Here's some ideas:

• Breadmaker. Time to start making some simple breads. Limit the sugar and possibly go gluten-free. Can this thing do pizza crusts and tortillas?
• Yogurt and kefir. All three kiddos love yogurt and two of them like the kefir smoothies I got on sale at the store. (Good thing it's the ones with the biggest need for Regulation.)
• Jams and jellies. It's time to learn how to do some easy canning with in-season fruits. Then I can add it to the homemade yogurt and kefir.
• Keep up with the freezer meals and meal planning. No more coddling the kids. They eat what we eat.
• Time to grow some herbs. Probably the basic Scarborough Faire variety with some dill and oregano thrown in there.
• Costco card. It is time to brave the beast.
• Start cutting down on processed foods. I can make nearly all of them myself. It's just a matter of learning how to keep them.
• Get a cow. These kids go through a lot of milk.

OK, so that last one probably isn't in the cards. Although I wouldn't have to pay for lawn care and I'm well-versed in cleaning large deposits of patties.

• We already shop clearance racks and resale shops. I think I've got the clothing bill down.
•  Ben is going to get Apple TV at the beginning of May and we'll start ripping our DVD collection. We're also looking into a Drobo to back everything up.
• Homemade cleaners. My girlfriend gave me her recipes and I'm gathering up the basic ingredients. It's pretty cool how many overlap.
• Potty train The Boy. *shudder*

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Give me your best!

Hair Raising Tales

I'm done with the meltdowns when we have to brush her hair, wash her hair, get peanut butter out of her hair, look at her hair...

So tonight I did something about it.

Ben: "Holy cow, you weren't just ranting about that!"

I put Sophie's hair in a low braid and cut it off. Then I trimmed it as best I could. Now my baby looks like this:

Dear Lord, ignore my messy living room.

Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of the Hair Wars.