Happy New Year and stuff

I hope everyone has a fantastic New Years celebration. If you have kiddos, put them to bed early and drink. If you have kids and are lucky enough to have sitter and go out...I hope you get a hang over. I kid, I kid!! This leads me to my first New Years Resolution...stop being catty, ok ummm...stop being so catty. Yep, I like that one better. We actually do get to go out for New Years. We are going over to party at my parents friends house. We are bringing the girls and putting them down when we get there. They live two doors down from my parents, so if we drink too much we can just go to their house and sleep it off. I hope that next year is a better one for so many of my friends and family.

Ok, I need to review two more face creams, I will make it short and sweet. Precision Chanel, SPF30. Ladies save your 95.00, unless you want to smell like an old woman. Not only is the smell overwhelming, but the product is very runny. It made my face feel sticky when applied. Once again I can't judge it's SPF effectiveness since the only "outdoor" time I got was walking to my car. The next product is Canyon Ranch SPF 30 moisturizer, 75.00. It smelled like bread dough, very yeasty. Perhaps some people like the smell of fresh baked bread, I however am not a fan if it is slathered on my face. It was sticky and smelly. I was also concerned by the tingling sensation that I felt. I have a sneaky suspicion that this product is the reason why I have a giant zit between my eyes.

Am I really watching this?

the girls are in bed, the house is quite, Jeff isn't working on his computer...time for some QT (quality TV that is)! Have you ever been mortified about a show that you are watching, but you just can't seem to turn it off? Jeff, "Mr.I only watch Discovery channel or sports" and I watched the entire episode of Mamma's Boys on NBC. "Momma's Boys" is a new dating series that centers on three possessive yet loving mothers who must help their complacent sons choose the perfect woman - and ultimately poses the question: "Who is really the most important woman in every man's life?" That is a quote from NBC. The truth of the matter is the show revolves around several "perfectly surgically altered" women vying for three guys attention. Their momma's get to help decide. Go figure, the men are attracted to the porn star, the spokes model, and the cocktail waitress. The mothers like the doctor, the vet, well you get the picture. It was horrible, but deliciously entertaining.

What would you do for a dollar

Sorry I have been unable to post lately. Jeff has been off of work, so we have been doing a ton of family things. Today we went to the gym. I had just finished my hour on the elliptical and was ready for some de-stressing in the eucalyptus steam room. then I heard the dreaded, "Melissa K, please come to the child center". Crap! I was hoping that it was just a poop diaper, I could change Claire and go back. Nope! Claire had decided that she had to go potty. I have mentioned before that although she is not 2 yet, she has been potty training herself. When she has to go she takes everything waist down off and yells, "potty". Apparently, she did that at the gym, but she was unable to attract the attention of any of the staff so she relieved herself on the floor. A portion of her pants got wet. I was a bad mom, and had been delinquent in stocking a fresh change of clothes for the girls in the diaper bag. So, I figured that I would just put a new diaper on Claire and we would all head home. Ella had other plans. She decided that she did not want to go home, and removed her shoes and began climbing into the maze. It took several minutes of threatening, and bribing to get her out. She was sobbing and I tried to explain why we had to go home. She replied,"I don't like it when Claire goes potty!" she then chose to wet her own pants in pure defiance. So, now I had two children with pee pee pants and no change of clothes. It is one thing to leave the gym with a kiddo in a diaper, it is another to leave with a bare bottom. I decided that I had to run to the car and get my secret stash of clothes( the bag of clothes that I have been meaning to bring to Goodwill). I ran like the wind to the car, just to discover that I had left my keys in the child care center. I made another mad dash, dressed the kiddos in a size two small clothes and got the heck out of there. Then I made another screwy decision. Thought that I would tempt fate and run in to Target to return something. To make a long story short, both girl managed on on two separate occasions to fall out of the cart. Those giant two seat, unwieldy, "fun" looking carts with the broken seat belts, suck. We were all three sobbing when I got them back into the car. Why did I HAVE to return an item that was from the Dollar bin? Pure madness!!!

Merry Christmas!

We had a fantastic Christmas. I am so sad it is over. Now I have to go through al of the girls old toys and get rid of a few of them. i should have done that BEFORE Christmas. It was a very pink holiday. Ella received several dance outfits and tap and ballet shoes. She is starting dance in two weeks. She is so excited and has been wearing her leotard and tights the past two days. Luckily it is 80 degrees here, I don't have to worry about her getting cold. Claire raked in the presents too, her favorite is a little tea set. She has spent hours arranging her little set. The one present that I spent the most on was shunned by both girls. I am considering re gifting it next year, it was too expensive to be ignored!

facebook friend?

I have 97 friends on facebook. Deep down it makes me feel good to know that many people. 97 people know who I am! I should know by now, that cocky is not a good emotion for me, I always come crashing down. I must admit there have been a few people requesting to be my friend that I honestly don't know. On the other hand my memory is bad, and as a child we moved every three years. I figure there is always a possibility that I know these people. I should ask them how they know me, but that would just be embarrassing. I received a friend request from someone with my exact same name, first and last. I chose to ignore the request because it is just a little bit creepy, I don't know her and what if she is making my name look bad. Do I want to be associated with a much younger, cuter version of myself with the same name? Then it hit me...she wants to be able to tell me that some of my friends are really her friends. The humiliation! Is it just me or does facebook force you to revert to your JR high self?

FYI

I love getting Christmas cards and reading about other peoples lives. They always make me either realize just how fortunate I am or how lazy I am. I have read sad news from friends and others I am in awe of all that they do. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I am feeling a little melancholy. I LOVE Christmas, the decorations, the feeling, and the closer we get to Christmas the sooner we will need to take everything down.

On another note, I thought that I would review my free skin products on my blog. Let me first remind everyone that I am cheap and only buy cosmetics at the grocery store with a coupon, so take my reviews with a grain of salt.

Zo Oclipse™ Sunscreen + Primer SPF 30...85.00
Compared to my usual SPF skin cream, it is like leaving Walmart and going into Sax...with a gift card. This stuff was great. It was semi thick and went on my skin making it feel velvety smooth. It had a little bit of a tint to it. I was afraid that it would be obvious on my pastey white skin, but nope, it just smoothed everything out. There was very little fragrance, which I like. I can't really judge its effectiveness as far as SPF is concerned. It has been gray and rainy here.

Streaker

I have been so busy lately and have not had the chance to update my blog. On Friday, I took Ella to see Disney Playhouse live. We had great seats, but it was really disappointing. It was so lame. I couldn't believe this was a Disney production. Ella loved it, but Disney must be hurting if they put their name on this. The sets were so cheap, I have seen high school productions that had better set designs. I'm glad she enjoyed it but I don't think that I will ever spend the 60 dollars on another Disney production.

I have been trying to help my Mom out with her baking, and ladies brunch. we still have some wrapping to get done, but I am not feeling panicked at all. It is so nice. Jeff has the next two weeks off, I am hoping that I will get some time with my girlfriends.

Claire is doing well potty training herself. Yesterday she went poo on the potty. She is great about letting us know when she has to go. She strips off her pants and diaper, grabs her self and yells "potty!" Not bad for a 22 month old, the problem is that she strips not only in the comfort of our house, but in public as well. If she has to go,she has to go! So, if you see a semi nude child running around Target, she is mine. Perhaps I should start shopping at Walmart, it wouldn't be too unusual there. Walmart prices are great, but I have seen some pretty interesting things! Streaker

Tag I'm it

Jeff has been working until 2:00 am the past few days. Poor guy. I almost feel guilty heading to bed at 10:30. I was sleeping soundly last night until I had a strange dream. In my dream my tummy was in extreme pain. I woke up with a start and realized that it was no dream. I can thank Claire for my trips to the porcelain God all night/morning. I got her bug. How nice of her to share. I struggled through the day. The girls were actually really good. I have to thank their Gran and Opa for making the day bearable. We received a large box from them in the mail. It was full of Christmas presents. The girls enjoyed placing the packages under the tree, but what they really loved was the box the items came in. Two hours of box play. Whoo Hoo! My tummy is better, but I am exhausted. I am off to bed. Poor Jeff is once again stuck in his hole(office). I throw food to him now and then. I only hope that Ella doesn't get the bug next, we have a very busy weekend planned!

Score!

I scored again! A few months ago I applied to be a tester for SELF's 10th annual Healthy Beauty Awards. This afternoon a mysterious box arrived on my door step. I could almost hear my husbands thoughts...what did you spend money on now. NOTHING!!! I received 5 SPF skin care products to try. Let me first explain that my skin care regime has been reduced to soap and water and some sort of moisturizer purchased with a coupon at the grocery store. There was a time long, long, ago when I bought my cosmetics and creams at department stores. Sigh... Anyway, I was THRILLED to get five brand name products. These are products that I would never buy...one of them is 154 dollars for a small tube. Yes, I did look all of them up. So basically I got over 300 dollars in SPF moisturizers. I have to try them for two days each and write about them. Thank you Self!

On another note, Ella had her first performance today. Her little preschool class was performing a song. I had to miss it due to my job. Jeff and my mom were able to attend, but it killed me. I sobbed all the way to work. There will never be another "first performance". Guilt and motherhood go hand in hand. I was able to watch the video and sure enough Ella was the loudest. She was also about a beat ahead of the music. I was so proud! Jeff also taped another classes performance. One little girl picked her nose and snacked on her little nasal morsels the entire song. Nice!

Flesh wound

FISHY LIVES!!!! After being tossed from his little bowl by a curious one year old, fishy has made a miraculous recovery. His little fin is a bit torn, merely a flesh wound!

One fish, two fish, red fish, screwed fish

Claire is still sick. She threw up all night last night. She is such a little trooper. She called for us just before she threw up so that we could take her to the potty. She really tried to help out. I went to work today. We thought that Claire would just sleep and lay around since she had been sick all night. I forgot who we were dealing with! I left for work, Jeff dropped Claire off at my parents while he dropped Ella off at school. He picked her back up and came home. He settled her down in front of a movie with blankets, towels and pedialyte and got to work. Claire just didn't feel like moping around, she wanted to play. Jeff did his best to get her occupied with something. He had to run upstairs quick to get the power cord for his computer when he heard a gush of water and a scream. He flew down the stairs and there was our little beta's fish bowl laying on the carpeted floor. Poor Fishy was flopping all around. Jeff did his best to save Fishy and clean up the mess. I came home and got to work on salvaging the carpet. There is nothing like the faint odor of fish in the air, reminds me of Sea World. Poor fishy is not quite sure if he wants to live. One of his little fins looks tattered and he is refusing to eat, but at least he finally has a clean bowl! I have a feeling he won't be with us in the morning. On the bright side, we are one step closer to wood floors because I really am not sure how long we can stand the lovely fishy aroma.

Fishy Update: Hanging out at the bottom of the bowl, hope he is just playing dead...he fluttered his little fins. So far so good,I hope there is not a trip to pet smart in our future. Claire keeps saying, "Fishy sick..oh no", Ella keeps saying, "My poor fishy, naughty Claire, Santa save my fishy!"

Christmas P A R T Y

We finally had a Christmas party to attend. My husband's work does not do parties, so I was thrilled when my new company sent out invites. It was at someones house, there was fantastic food, wine, beer...nice. Jeff and I got fixed up and dropped the kiddos at my parents house. We could only stay at the party for 1 hour 15 minutes. It was better than nothing. I had just poured my second glass of wine when we go the call. Claire had thrown up twice, you need to get her. So much for my party. My nice mellow mood dissipated once I encountered the lovely stench of vomit. We are home now and poor Claire has been sick five times, two of them on my shirt. Happy Holidays!

DONE!

I am done with my shopping, cards, and cookies. Yes!!!!! Today we went to Nordstom's for the annual breakfast with Santa. It was so cute watching the girls this year. Last year Claire was just crawling and now she is running. Ella loved Santa. Claire was not too sure about him. She refused to look at him while sitting in his lap.

Are you happy now?

Today while Ella was in the bathroom going poopy, I asked her if she was done...she replied, "No Mommy, where there is poopy there is tinkle. They are good friends. They play together". I totally cracked up. She is really at such a cute age now. We were at the store this morning picking out a gift for her Daddy. I asked her what she would like to get him she said socks. I asked why, she said because he has stinky socks and needs some good smelly ones. Sure enough, she picked out socks. While at the store, Claire decided that she did not want to be held. I was helping Ella pick out the right size socks and noticed that Claire had strolled off. I found her molesting a mannequin. She is obsessed with snaps and zippers...so there she was playing with the zipper on male mannequin. I pulled her away from the mannequin's crotch and told the girls that I was feeling angry and frustrated that we couldn't go shopping together. Ella began singing in her shrill little voice, "My Mommy is pretty...she is so cute, she is bootiful." Then she glanced over at me and asked, so are you happy now Mommy???

sleepy

I am off to bed. My haircut went great. I was able to avoid my usual mistake of too much wine and scissors before my scheduled appointment. My hair stylist was thrilled that I didn't take my mane into my own hands, she has pointed out that I have no scissor skills. My hair looks great and now I am going to bed. What a waste of a good hair day. I came to the conclusion that I would be a hideous bald woman. My hair was all balled up under the towel at the salon and I had a few minutes to really look at myself. Scary...

I wish

I wish I was one of the girls at the gym that always has matching bra and panties. Tim Gunn would be clicking his tongue at me if he saw the ratty undergarments that wear. I do have a few choice items from before kiddos...but that just takes too much effort. They are hand wash only for goodness sakes!

Random thoughts

1. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a race car not called a racist?
2. Why is the man who invests all your money called a ‘broker’?
3. Do bald men wash their head with soap or shampoo?
4. What hair color do they put on the driver’s licenses of bald men?
5. Why are the obituaries found in the “living” section of the newspaper?
6. Are one handed people offended when police tell them to put their hands up?
7. How can sweet and sour sauce be sweet and sour at the same time?
8. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?
9. If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?
10. What if you’re in hell, and you’re mad at someone, where do you tell them to go?

Parenting rule of thumb..never get cocky

The past few weeks Claire has done a great job of going on the potty. She asks to use it and goes every time. She has no fear of public restrooms or automatic flushing toilets. Yesterday we broke a record, she went potty 5 times! I was telling Jeff that I had visions of diaper free days in our future. After dinner, Jeff went to Home depot and I gave the girls a bath. Claire went potty at her request before she got in the tub. I had drug over the mountains of laundry to be folded out in the hallway so that I could fold and watch them in the tub. The girls were having a blast and I was making a dent in the laundry when I heard..."Oh no Mommy, Oh no Mommy" in a panic stricken voice from little Claire. I scooted over to the tub to see what was wrong. There was a beautifully formed turd floating in the bath. Claire was very upset, but not as upset as Ella who screamed and about getting stinky. I evacuated the tub and threw the girls into our bathtub to de-fecalfy them. Once Jeff got home, I ordered him to finish the baths while I embraced the joy of scooping the floating turd out of the water. Of course, by then it had started to come apart. I spent about 35 minutes cleaning the bath tub and all of the toys. Like I said, never feel too cocky about your parenting skills...there is always another lesson to be learned!

Beware of the Doghouse

Make your husbands watch this one ladies!

Queen of free

Last night my girlfriend and I headed downtown for the Holiday window lighting. All of the boutiques had free wine and champagne as well as yummy appetizers. It was a blast. There was some excellent people watching as well. All I can say is just because you have money doesn't mean you have taste. Once again the sweater dress brigade was in full force. There was even a gold lamae sweater dress and matching gold boots on a 60 year old. My friend and I decided to pretend like we belonged with the wealthy. I added a 1,4890 dollar necklace to my wish list. This wish list will be covertly emailed to my husband via the shop. hehehe! I can imaging the look on Jeff's face. We stayed out until 12:30 am and didn't spend a dime. We actually walked away with money. One of the shops was having a drawing, they were just about to call names when I asked if we could quick fill out the entry form and put our names in as well. The first winner called was...ME, I won a 25 dollar gift card!! I could feel all 35 pairs of eyes in the room glaring at me. The second drawing was for a 50.00 gift card, the name called was a no show. The third name was my friend. I think we left the store with a few more enemies.

Bad santa

Tonight, I let Ella stay up so we could watch Rudolph on TV. It is the same one that we all have seen since childhood. As an adult, I looked at the movie in a whole different light. Santa is such a jerk! Could he be any more insensitive? I would really be concerned if he were really the one making out the good and bad list. Can you imagine, "Johnny is a gimp, it is all his parents fault..no presents for him."
The blatant stereotypes were laughable. "Rudolph went home to take care of the women". It is still a classic and I do love it even though the message is a little bit off. It's OK to be a freak, just be prepared to be laughed at and ridiculed but someday you just may be appreciated.

Jeff is working late again tonight, last night he was on the computer until midnight. He assures me that he has plenty of days off at Christmas. Tomorrow I am going with a few of my girlfriends to go window shopping downtown. There is suppose to be tons of freebies. Drinks, food and prizes...I am hoping to eat and drink for free tomorrow night. I need a girls night out. Yes! Ok, now back to writing my Christmas letter. I am averaging a sentence a day.

Everything but....

Ok, I am still working on my darn Christmas letter. I sat down with the intention to get it done. Well instead I decided that I would save a ton of money signing up for free samples. i spent the last hour signing up for everything from laundry detergent to tampons. I figured that they would be good stocking stuffers. Who am I kidding, like my soon to be sister in law really wants a panty liner and a super plus tampon in her stocking.

Tomorrow , tomorrow I love you tomorrow... your only an excuse away!

What the ???

Ok what is it... when I drink a few, ok three glasses of wine everything comes out. I am sobbing on the floor in the kitchen because I am so tired of begging for compliments. Ok, I admit it I am vain, I need that little pat on the back. I use to have a career where almost every day I was faced with compliments from students, parents, administration... now I try to be super mom and get ... My hubby tries, I am highly emotional, add a glass or two of wine and I am a mess. I really crave acknowledgment, admiration, and down right praise for all that I do. I tell my kiddos, "good job" numerous times a day. Why is it so darn hard?

Broke back wallet

Sorry I have not posted in awhile. We have been busy! the Christmas decorations are up, our yard is light up, and my Christmas letter is still unfinished. I actually cleaned the shower this weekend over writing the letter. I did not go to any big sales this year. The thought of fighting the crowds was not worth the 10.00 savings...that is until the credit card bill came. Oh my peas...I thought that I was being thrifty. The framing of two pictures was the nail on the coffin. I have these two huge canvas photos of each of the girls, they are beautiful and cost a pretty penny when we bought them. I have been meaning to get them framed for the past two years. I figured that I have a job now, so the money I make this ,month will go to the pictures. Apparently I have been justifying a few purchases with my earnings. My husband was mystified that a wood frame and some glass could cost that much. He did not seem to understand that I saved 65%, OK, he understood but it didn't make the jagged little pill easier to swallow. I am attaching a few photos of this weekend, one of the pictures is a movie. Cute!

Just curious

Why is it that the last two times I have gone to the El Cheapo eyebrow wax place they ask me if I want my upper lip done too? What the heck..am I the bearded woman? I always get so paranoid after they ask me...I rush home to examine my "stash". OK if you look at me through a high powered magnifying glass which is super scary on so many levels, I just may have a bit of peach fuzz, don't we all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

WE had a great one...and the Longhorns won!! Whoo Hoo!!! We always have Thanksgiving at my parents house. I am so thankful that they still host. I think that I would go insane trying to put together such an amazing meal. Thanks Mom!!!

This just cracked me up

One kiddo loves taking pictures, the other not so much!

Oprah's Favorite Things for a Thrifty Holiday

This year Oprah is having a Thrifty Holiday. Can you imagine finding out that you are in the audience for the favorite things episode, you are in near tears imagining all of the free stuff that you will be getting to take home and then learning...ladies and gentleman this is a thrifty Christmas special, all of my favorite things can be made or bought at the dollar store. Anyway, if you go to her website you can download a Christmas Holiday CD for free:
http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081118_tows_holiday/2

Great Date

Jeff and I finally had a great date! We had one little tiff, but for the most part got along. There was no candle and horse drawn carriage, but I'm not complaining!

Girl Fight

Ella and Claire got into it over cleaning up. Ella managed to get a good one in and scratched Claire's face. I will take picture and post it later. I have never been in a fight. My brother was 9 1/2 years younger than me so we never got physical. I am not really sure how to handle this throw down. Speaking of a throw down, I came close this morning...ok it was close in my head. I am basically a chicken. I think like a big shot, but I am a wimp. Well, we had just parked at the gym, we scored a parking spot in front next to the sidewalk. My lucky day. I pull Ella out of her car seat and start to go around to get Claire out of the passenger side when a beautiful, LARGE Audi SUV pulls in the spot next to mine. There was literately 7 inches between the other car and mine. The lady opened up her car door, of course hitting mine. I stare at her she looks at me and says in an English accent.."What?" I informed her that I have a child in the car and it is going to be difficult to get her out. "Oh", she replies while primping herself and slathering on a heavy coat of lip gloss. "Seriously?" I mutter under my breath, as I try to keep Ella out of the street. I watch in disbelief as she shimmies her way out of the car and walks off. I was so close to a throw down. If my kiddos were not there, I would have really laid into her, verbally of course. I did the only thing I could do, open the car and attempt to squeeze little Claire out of the car door. I really wanted to aggressively open the door to teach her a lesson, but Santa is watching so I didn't do it. The car was still there after my class. Once again I had to squeeze my arm and Claire's body into the car. I did utter a curse...may you gain five pounds on your butt and thighs you witch. So if you see an oddly shaped woman struggling to get out of her Audi... I did it!!

Romance

We have a date tonight. Whoo Hoo! It has been quite a while. The sad thing is that usually our date nights end up in a fight. There is something very stressful about creating a perfect evening. Wish us luck. Check out this commercial. Nice...

203

This is my 203rd post. Crazy! I seldom have writers block, that is until the dreaded family Christmas letter. The ultimate year in review. How much do you write about, how little...does anyone really care?? I sat down and listed all of this years milestones. The list was pretty short. The highlight of the year is that Ella is potty trained and loves her princess panties. I think to myself, do my friends and family really care? I want to write something witty and creative, but nothing is coming to mind. My goal is to get this done this weekend. Perhaps if I drink another glass or two of wine I will find my creativity and desire to make my life sound so much better than it really is!

Redheads protest Wendy's

I ran across this and just cracked up!

new look

A few weeks ago I was really in love with my hair. It looked good! Things have now taken a turn for the worse. I can't figure out what happened. I can't do anything with it, it looks like crap. I have this Farrah Fawcett wing thing going on and unless I flat iron it, I look strange. I am so tempted to to just cut off the flippy wing thing, but in my experience this is not something I should attempt. I have a habit of getting irritated with my hair and "fixing" it with scissors. I am also in the habit of doing this after two glasses of wine. I'm sure you can see my problem. My stylist last time shook her head and asked if I was cutting while under the influence. I would like to avoid the humiliation this time around. I have an appointment on December 11th to get a cut, can I wait that long, can I resist the pull of the scissors in the drawer??

On another note, how do you like the new look on my blog. I was getting sick of the other one. If my hair can't look good at least my blog can.

santa diaries

Daddy: "So what did you like about visiting Santa on Tuesday?"
Ella: "He talks a lot. He is sooo cute. He has a furry face. I love him"
Daddy: "Mommy, So how did the trip to mall to see Santa go?"
Me: "I need a drink."

It sure beat last year when both girls screamed in terror, but it was the after photo melt down that took the cake this year. Claire had a moment that I thought that she was about to lose it, but Santa being the professional he is talked calmly to her. His voice was so soft and melodic that he put both girls into some sort of a trance. Just check out their expressions. After the photo however, the magic wore off and world war 3 broke out over a bag of cheerios. What share? I had to drag Ella to a corner in the mall and put her into timeout. Claire looked over at her with a smug expression on her face while she attempted to eat the whole bag before Ella got out of time out. Ella straightened up her act and then in Macy's Claire lost it. She wanted to walk at a snails pace and drag her new jacket on the ground. I tried everything to get her to either ride in the stroller, or let me put her jacket on. Nope, screaming, throwing herself on the floor. I finally had to strap her into the stroller. She was screaming, kicking, the whole nine yards. Time to o...I was thanking my lucky stars that Ella was at least behaving. Spoke too soon, in Nordstrom's she decided that she wanted to ride in the stroller too. I had to drag her out while pushing Claire who was in totally melt down mode. I was drenched in sweat, on the verge of tears, wanting to die. I loaded them kicking and screaming into the car, shut the door and stood outside my car crying. All I can say is Santa bring me a vacation please!

santa now and then

Self esteem Buster

I had to work today. It went pretty good. Kids at any age react differently to a new teacher, so I had to lay down the law. For a group of four year olds, this entails saying "I like it when you are sitting down, I like the way you are listening, is writing on the table really the best choice..." Yep, I fell back into teacher mode just fine. After working, I went over to my parent's house for lunch. I picked up the girls after school and was chatting with a few other moms with two children. One of them made a comment, "how did you do it with the kiddos so close together?" I responded, "I have no idea, I just lived day by day." I wanted to add a few glasses of wine here and there made all of the difference. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty good about my mothering skills, I was tossing out advice right and left. I was feeling like a very competent mom. I should have known while riding on this high of praise, that I would come crashing down. The other shoe just had to drop at some point.

I was putting Claire into the car. She was throwing a full on fit, I wrestled her into the car seat, threw my keys in the front seat and closed the door. I went to load Ella into the car when I noticed that her car door was locked. I calmly walked around to the other door and it was locked too. I could feel my heart start to race as I checked all of the doors..all locked. I felt like vomiting, I could feel the sweat building up under my pits (Degree prescription strength does not work ladies, save yourself the $$). I ran over to my friends and informed them of the situation. They were such a calming force, I had to borrow a cell phone since mine was in the car. I looked into my car window and there lay my keys mocking me. At least Claire was content, she loved having everyone stare at her in the window. I called 311, they transferred me to 911. Embarrassing...the guy asked if I wanted the firetruck to come with sirens and lights. I muttered no, and tried not to start crying. I felt like such an idiot. As the truck approached I contemplated crawling under my car in embarrassment. I resisted the desire and dealt with the situation at hand. Thank goodness they did not send the "hot" fire guys, it was embarrassing enough trying to hide my pit stains. Claire loved having the firemen work on her door. So I learned my lesson, super mom I am not. WE all try hard but parenting is messy. You aren't trying if you aren't crying here and there! I sadly felt better once I read the article about Jennifer Garner doing the same thing..hey at least I didn't have the paparazzi watching!

STOP IT

I start my job tomorrow. The past two weeks I have been just observing. I have already screwed myself out of my hourly wage. I spent the past few days planning, finding crafts, activities, centers for these kiddos. I think that I have spent a total of 4 to 5 hours planning...so now my hourly wage is not even worth the gas money. I hate that I can't stop myself, this is suppose to be just a little extra money, no stress...easy. I am making it more than I should. I have to let it go, this is not my career, just a part time job. Damn work ethic!!!

Ella went to her first theater performance today with her GG and Papa. She loved it. Claire was so ticked that she had to stay home that she decided to jot her feelings down all over the tile in crayon. Nice...

Wonder this!

The other day I went in search of a new bra. Since Victoria's secret has discontinued my lowly size, I shop at Ross. They actually have a fairly good selection of name brands in my size. I bought a wonder bra. It promised so much. The truth is after purchasing I am "wondering" why it doesn't work for me. I wonder why the promise of a half a cup is lost on me. Oh, well it was only 7>00, so I can't spend too much time wondering.

On an interesting note... my cousin's art work will be displayed in the White house. My cousin Luther Gerlach sold a few of his pictures to Michelle Obama in Chicago a few years back. I have one of his pieces hanging in my house. Check out his website:
http://www.luthergerlach.com. He has made quite a name for himself in LA amongst the Hollywood types. His circle of friends and acquaintances are so out of my league!

 
 
 

Family resemblance??? I'm still looking for signs that my girls look anything lioke my side of the family!

Oh poopy diaper

Check this out. Warning it is 28 min long about the economy, but so worth it!
www.iousathemovie.com

a day

I went to the gym today. My instructor has had a sick kiddo , so she was out. we had a sub who was great, but there wasn't any hip shaking. I totally love to wiggle it just a little bit at the gym. At home I am soooo lame so it is fun to act like I can dance.

Anyway, I attended a "birthday" party for a website. There was rumors of great give aways, food and wine. I got a juice box and goldfish. there was wine, but no one offered it to me and I was not feeling up to being bold. I shyly sucked down two juice boxes..hey I was parched! OK...apparently all of the ultra rich women and their "perfect" children were in attendance. Somehow everyone else got these great gift bags, but me. I was only wearing target brand clothes so I stood out. It was a sweater dress soiree. All of the clothes for kiddos at the shop were 50 and up. You did get a 15% discount...ohhh. I bought something from the clearance rack, a t-shirt for Ella for 15$ thinking that I would still get the 15% off on top of it, nope.

Money doesn't buy you class or sweet kiddos... just a nanny!!! If you have money I'm not bashing you, just a little bit jealous. I would kill for a nanny when my "perfect" child chooses to throw a temper tantrum in the middle of a parking lot!

cheap skate

As a child, I can remember being mortified if my mother went into Kmart. There was one time that I hid under the seat of our station wagon in the Las Vegas summer heat, while my mother went into the store just to make sure no one saw me there. When I was 13 I would have never thought that as an adult I would be a Ross Dress for Less kind of girl and not a Macy's platinum card holder. I thought that I would share a few great money saving websites. You can find out about deals and freebies. I was just enrolled into another diaper study. Free diapers baby! Don't get freaked out when you read some of the forums. I am warning you there are a lot of people with tons of time on their hands.

http://www.mommysavers.com/
http://www.thriftyfloridamama.net/
http://www.cafemom.com/group/2730/boards/index.php?email_id=208798146

My favorite and most reliable site for black Friday advance notice is http://www.blackfday.com/

comic relief

We went to the movie Madagascar 2 today. It was Ella's first movie, I dropped of Claire at my parents house. Ella did great, however I think her favorite part was the popcorn! Tonight my hubby and I were laying in bed with her. He was asking about the movie. I have read that children at this age cannot jump from topic to topic, when they talk about their day, they REALLY talk about it. Jeff heard how Ella had to go potty after we bought the popcorn. She talked about the fact that she wouldn't go because of the automatic flushing toilet. She talked about how I spilled some of the popcorn in the stall trying to pull up her pants. She was kind enough to mention that I said, "shit" after I spilled the popcorn. She talked about the chair, the screen, the noise, but the only thing that she said about the movie was...."penguins have no nipples."

who knew

I went into Barnes and Noble the other day and the security alarms went off when I walked through the door. No one took notice, so I just went about my business. On my way out the door, after purchasing a book on the discount shelf (that's a shout out to my hubby). I merrily went on my way, and again the security alarms went off. The store had several more customers by now. I looked around for an employee and only got the stink eye from a few of the patrons. I dug through my purchases to prove that I had my receipt. I attempted to leave again and was once again accosted by the ear splitting noise. The manager came rushing down the aisles of books to confront me. I showed him my receipt to prove that I had indeed purchased the books. I attempted again to walk through the doors. Again with the alarms! The manager politely asked me if I bought my jeans at Old Navy. Figuring that he was checking out my butt, I batted my eyes, basking in the flattery and confirmed that indeed, I purchased my jeans from Old Navy. He was easy on the eyes for a 19 year old. I was flattered until he said, "if you forget to cut out the tag from your jeans...you know the one that says removed after purchasing , our alarms sometimes go off." The sad thing is, is that my jeans are over a year old and I never cut out the tag. So, if you plan on going into Barnes and Noble check your jeans, no one really cares about your butt.

spike and spelling

Today we went to the zoo. This zoo is a total redneck zoo. The highlight of the day was a deer named "spike" with a giant rack. Spike befriended us. The girls loved their new friend!

I survived this weekend! Ella's party was a hit. I was afraid that she would become emotional and cry about something, nope! She was as happy as a clam. I only managed to make one mistake and that was misspelling royalty on the sign in front of our house. For those of you who regularly read my blog, I am sure that you have noticed my lack luster ability to spell. I just need to hire an editor!

For Ella's birthday wish, she has asked for "Santa to come because I am good." That is one wish I can make sure happened. What will we do when she wishes for a car or for her one true loves kiss?

Ella's birthday

I will post more commentary after I get a good nights sleep. I am exhausted!

Bitter Sweet

We just got back from a viewing for my friends father that passed away. There were so many people there that loved him. My friend is holding up surprisingly well. I can't imaging how difficult it must be for her. It was nice catching up with old friends and being there for my friends. On the lighter side... I have been running around at warped speed this week. My future sister in law watched the kiddos so we could attend the viewing. I was so proud of myself getting everything on my list checked off. That all was dust in the wind when I realized while walking to the car after chatting with several dozen people that my fly was down the entire time. I was wearing black pants and my panties were Clorox white. Nice... Well at least I may have given some of the mourners a little chuckle.

Truth

I got this from a friend of mine, thought that I would share!
1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."
3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of week!"
4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why"
5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."
6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."
7. My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."
8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"
10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."
11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."?
12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"
13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE .
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father!"
15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."
16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."
17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"
18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."
19. My mother taught me ESP .
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"
20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."
23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"
24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."
25. And my favorite: My mother taught me about JUSTICE.
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you."

The joys of IBS

Yes I am a proud caring member of the IBS community. I am a connoisseur of toilet paper and public restrooms. I am a fan of flushable wipes and magazines in the restroom. Ok, I'm not proud, but that is the card that I have been dealt..deal with it. My trigger is salt lick BBQ (not that it stops me from partaking) and stress. This weeks culprit is stress. Too much going on this week! Well, this morning I was treated to an extended stay in the bano el Kopp. Kids are crying, fights are breaking out, and I am hunkering down for the long haul on the porcelain god. A few hours later I am ready to venture to the library. Yes, voting is going on so I am aware of the potential crowds, but not concerned. That is, until we are about a block away..IBS time. My body screams find a potty NOW. I yell, I moan, I cry out and my kiddos giggle. I literally drag them into the library. Claire is crying, Ella is looking a little bewildered until she is dragged into the front entrance of the library. "My mommy needs to potty now" she states matter a factually to the line of voters. "Go mommy, don't have an accident, listen to your body." I am green with illness and red with embarrassment, all in all a lovely shade of hideous. I shove the girls into the luxurious handicapped stall. Just made it. Then Ella and Claire both clap and cheer, "mommy went poo poo , yeah mommy, you made it!" Then my fantastically observant child noticed the maxi pad that I am wearing and proclaims, "No Claire mommy had an accident, mommy went poo poo in her panties." I attempt to explain but just give up and then I hear giggling from two stalls away. Mortified, yes... I am. After the bathroom incident, we go to check out a few books and I am cautiously looking out for the phantom giggler. We go up to the librarian and hand her our books. The sweet woman asks my daughter the dreaded question, "So how are you today?" Ella replies matter of factually, "Mommy had some problems in the potty, she didn't poo poo in her panties, it just looks like it." Nice.

what a rip

I remember when I looked forward to the time change.. an extra hour of sleep. Score!! That was before kids, now I dread it. Kids don't understand that it is 6:30 NOT 7:30. So much for that extra hour, it is more like one less hour for parents.

Life before kiddos... one of my girlfriends doesn't get the flu shot just because if she gets the flu then she had a good reason to be at home and off of work. Makes sense! As a mom, the LAST thing you want to do is get sick. Being sick just means you still have to do everything, you just feel like crap doing it all. You are lucky if you get a little sympathy. If for some reason you do get an opportunity to rest, the house falls apart which means just more work for you. No mommy sick days available per job description.

Claire still has a fever. I took her to minute clinic last night to rule out strep throat, she had been complaining about her throat. It was negative...a big 100.00 negative! She still has a fever this morning and had difficulty sleeping last night. She needs to kick this today. Secretly I am enjoying her snuggles and desire to lay in bed with me. Usually she is off running the second she opens her eyes.

Mama Drama

Mama drama and a little video to make you giggle. After today I need a giggle!

I never thought of myself as the dramatic one. OK, my husband and mother would I am sure beg to differ. I do talk a lot of smack behind closed doors but I really don't like to be in the midst of conflict. I am the type that shy away from confrontation and sticks my head in the sand. I appear to blow things off and go home and complain about it after the fact. We are having some mamma drama in my daughter's class over birthdays. I won't get into the details because it really is a little silly. Bottom line is I am planning to bring Ella's class a treat in honor of her birthday in the morning and the other mother is bringing something in the afternoon for her child. I think this is a perfectly logical compromise. We will see... I just may have a voodoo doll floating around somewhere. Ella's poor teacher is having to deal with the drama.

I had my first day of work today. Claire came down with a fever on Saturday night and has yet to be fever free for 24 hours, so I had to madly attempt to find someone to watch her while I was at work. The job will be just that ...a job to make a few extra bucks. I will have to get use to the nose picking, the burps, and the whining from other peoples children. I will have to refer back to my teacher voice and positive statements. I am so use to saying, "Get your finger out of your nose, that is nasty." That so wouldn't fly in the classroom. I will politely have to say, "Please get a tissue if you are having an issue." I will have to remember that sarcasm is not appropriate. "So how's that working for ya" would be totally lost on a preschooler.

One more thing, my best friend's father passed away last night. Even though you don't know her, I am sure that good thoughts and/or prayers would be greatly appreciated during this difficult time.

Texas Book fest

This was our first year attending the Book Fest. It was great. Afterwords, we went to the mattress store to buy Ella a mattress for her big girl bed. We are moving her out of her toddler bed. It was about an hour after their nap time. In retrospect, not a great idea. The girls were attempting to "try out" every bed. I was secretly hoping that they would give us a killer deal just to get us out of the store. We gave up, and took them home for their nap. Jeff went out later and got a really good deal. My hero! We went to a birthday party in the evening and then set up her new bed. She is in her room now "sleeping" we will see how it goes!
Gotta run and guzzle down a beer, our Texas Longhorns are playing Tech and are having a little trouble pulling their head out of their.... anyway I'm sure if I drink a beer it will help them out. Cheers!

Trick or treat smell my feet

We had a great time. Ella and Claire both blew out their tights due to all of the festivities this week. They got so much candy this evening. I suppose one of the perks of having little ones is that they don't know what "the good candy" is. Jeff and I just sorted their loot. A pile of candy I like, and a pile that he likes. Wash down a few, well 8 reeses peanut butter cups with some red wine and you are golden.

Ella loved Halloween, esp. getting to ring the "ding bell". Claire loved dragging around her loot filled pumpkin. Happy Halloween...now on to Thanksgiving!

What's that smell

I am sitting here trying to rev myself up for trick or treating tonight. We went to a party this morning and I am beat. The kiddos had a ball and were high as a kite before nap time. Anyway, I don't know about you but if you are a parent sometimes you get a whiff of poo and your kiddos are no where near. We call it the phantom poo. The phantom poo has made it's appearance just in time for Halloween. I am about to get crazy with the febreeze. I have checked everywhere and can't locate its origins. Don't you hate that, with little ones you never know if they may have been diaper surfing and hid a present.

Gotta love Texas!

Time for some wine

Today was another busy day. I went to the gym in my 80's gear. See pictures above. the sad thing was no one noticed that I was wearing anything unusual. Pretty scary! We also went to All Things Made in China, aka Target's dollar bin so the girls could pick out something to buy with their Halloween money from their grandparents. Ella picked out a paint by number thing and Claire picked out a necklace. Their choices were perfect for them, Ella the artist and Claire the accessory girl. Claire may be missing a few brain cells now that I caught her sucking on her necklace. Nice!

We also went to the costume parade at Nordstrom. I was disappointed, they gave out the crap candy. The mints, Laffy taffy, I guess the economy must be bad when even Nordstrom can't fork out a little extra cash for some decent candy. FYI if you are planning to come to my house for trick or treating,..you too will find the Nordstrom cast offs. I ate the good stuff after Ella's last tantrum. Now for a glass of wine....

Wassup

Ok regardless of where you are on the political spectrum this is funny. Wasss up before and after.

Ahhhh..LOVE

My brother's girlfriend has been asking for some info on the vendors that we used for our wedding. I can't believe that it was almost 7 years ago! She asked about our videographer. i was able to find one of our highlight videos. Go to this site:
http://www.jeffandmelissa.net/Wedding/pictures/Videos/song1_hi.wmv

Planning a wedding is so exciting. Both girls will be in the wedding. I am a bridesmaid and Jeff is a groomsmen. My brother's girlfriend has great taste so I am not worried about the dress. I know that strapless is in at the moment and I could perhaps pull it off with a nice big padded bra and some double sided tape. Seriously, if you wear an A cup the dress has to be fitted or plumped up with padding. Designers have this notion that if you have an A cup you would have had a boob job. They don't even carry 32 A at Victoria's secret. Not worth Victoria's time to make bras for the less fortunate I guess.

The great Pumpkin

We had a busy day with class Halloween parties at school and pumpkin carving at night. Tomorrow we are going in costume to Nordstrom for a Halloween parade. I am seriously hoping that they give away the good stuff, none of this laughy taffy and tootsie roll business. If they can charge 250 dollars for a pair of shoes, I am expecting a full sized candy bar baby!

Tomorrow is also my dance class at the gym. we have been urged to wear 80's style clothing. I went over to my parents house and was able to locate my yellow Esprit sweater adorned with colorful triangles, squares, and circles. Ahhhh, memories. I wore it for my first school dance in 6th grade. I thought that I was hot stuff in my sweater and purple stirrup pants and purple flats. I put it on today to make sure that it fit...how could I forget in the 80's we wore everything LARGE. It still fit! Perhaps in middle school I really did look good in urine yellow, now it makes my skin look a tad bit jaundiced. It will be fun to see what everyone else is wearing. My face decided to join in on the fun and look like it did in middle school. How can I be 33 and still break out like I just slathered my face in pizza grease?

My hump

I was feeling like hot stuff because my test questions were approved. I got a contract and no negative feedback. I was feeling great. My brain still works, whoo hoo. Just got an email saying that they had not gotten around to looking at the questions due to some deadline issues with another contract. The bottom line is that my questions probably do stink. I am waiting for the next email, subject: REDO

I start my job at Oxford learning on Monday. I have mixed feelings. I was really loving my two "free" days. I was feeling sane again, accomplishing things. The in laws and Ella's party are just a little over a week away. I bought a bottle of wine to help me cope with crunch time. On another note, I had another "body age" test at the gym. They are free every three months. The last one I did, was when Claire was 5 months old and the girl told me that I really need to exercise. That was true I had not done a thing at that time. I had the same girl a year and a half later. I am in worse shape??, underweight, and at serious risk of osteoporosis. Yeah, she figured this out from an exercise bike and a scale. I was given the riot act about my bones and told I needed to get into a doctor soon. ? I am exercising, I am healthy, and the weight thing...I was .5 lbs under the cutoff. Now I am just plain ticked. I pay for this gym, I take a class that I love and I am in worse shape now than I was before joining. My only thought is that my super maxi pad was slowing me down on that darn bike. I am so paranoid now that I keep asking Jeff to feel for a hump on my back. My hump, my hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps.

Cheese!

I was really thinking that our family pictures were going to be really bad. Claire refused, and I mean refused to sit still. Our photographer Lesleigh Kelly from
Kellywood Photography did an amazing job. I have to give a shout out to her. Here is the website with our pictures.
http://web.mac.com/lesleigh/KellywoodPhotography/MOPS/Pages/Kopp.html
A few of them really crack me up. Long gone are the times when you checked out a picture to see how you looked. Now all I care about is that both kiddos are looking somewhere in the vicinity of the camera! Decisions , decisions!

Gotta love it

Today was a busy day. Ella went to three Halloween events and had no nap. She was surprisingly good! She had a ball dancing at the Candy Carnival, if you watch the slide show above a few of the shots have a little icon that says movie. You can click on them and see a short clip. Ella's thing is to swing her skirt and show off her panties. Someone asked her where Mickey Mouse was and she said here on my panties and lifted up her dress to prove it. Sure enough there was Mickey grinning on her bum!

Lady Bug Claire

My baby bro

He did it! My little brother who is 9 1/2 years younger than me finally asked his girlfriend of 7 years to marry him! Whoo Hoo. I was honored that he asked me to help out. I am PMSing so I cried at the hallmark store picking out a card. I cried while I watched him from a distance get down on one knee. We were hiding in the bushes so his girlfriend wouldn't see us. We were trying to snap a few covert pictures and get some video footage. I ruined the video by dropping the F bomb because I couldn't get my mother;s darn camera to work. WE will need to dub some music over my foul mouth. I swear I hate her camera. Anyway I am thrilled that things went so well. I am about to load up on benadryl, turns out hiding in a bush isn't exactly the smartest thing to do. I have bites everywhere...and I mean everywhere. So if you see my being unladylike and scratching like a guy on the sofa watching a football game don't stare.

Spooktacular

Isn't it great that little ones really have no concept of LAME. We went to Spooktacular at a local museum this evening. Should have been called Lametacular. Ella loved it because it was just a mother and daughter evening, no sister. I loved watching her bask in the attention. She was so cute. I am attaching a few pictures and one of her wearing Minnie her first Halloween.

Last Halloween

On a wing and a prayer

I have made it through the week. Whoo Hoo and I have a new job starting mid November with Oxford learning. This is just in time to get some extra Christmas money. We are thinking of buying a play scape for the girls. Darn those things are pricey. What happened to the all metal ones?

This weekend will be a busy one, we have a family picture session tomorrow. Hopefully Ella will like the camera instead of insisting that it is evil. I am just hoping that both of the girls look at the camera and no fingers are poking their noses. The UT game is in the afternoon. Hook'em Horns!! On Sunday we will be having a family brunch and in the evening we will be going to a candy carnival. It will be our first outing in the Halloween costumes. We shall see if I am still sane after getting the girls ready. Have a great weekend and yes that is me skydiving 4 years ago.

quote

Just watched The Woman 1938 movie....I just love this quote:
Joan Crawford: "There's a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society...outside of a kennel."

getting schooled

Here is a list of lessons that I learned the past two weeks.
1) There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, example Pomegranate martinis.
2) There is a closet New Kids fan in all of us. I couldn't believe how many people smiled and giggled at my new kids shirt. OK, perhaps they were laughing at me, not with me.
3) An almost three year old can have a huge heart. Ella saw a unshaven homeless man on the corner, I explained to her why he was there. She told me to give him a "nola"(granola) bar. I rolled down the window and did as she requested. Afterwords she said, "That lion man didn't say thank you..no manners."
4.) An obscure nail salon is NOT the place for a eyebrow wax. Go ahead and pay the extra 10.00. If you see me, no I am not surprised... my eyebrows just convey that emotion.
5.) Never shower when you have too many things on your mind. It is possible to use conditioner twice and forget to wash it out.

old school playgrounds

And this is why the playgrounds of our youth are no more!

Yessssss!

Ella is now back to her sweet caring self. I can't tell you what a relief it is. She is no longer on a pantie strike and is wearing her princess panties like a champ. She is counting down the days until her birthday. It was my goal to once again have a backyard party for her. I have been shocked at the prices at all of the party places around town, telling myself that I would never spend that much for a party. Never say never! This backyard Princess and Prince charming bash is costing more than I expected and I have to be the one cleaning it up. I made the invites to save money, but after buying the paper, envelopes, glitter,... i would have been better buying the darn things. I purchased all of the items for the games, crafts and favor bags. When will I learn??? Now I still have to find some prince crowns for the three boys coming to the party. Who knew how tough that would be! I still have to worry about the food, drinks and cake.

I do have the favor bags for the parents handled. I applied to houseparty.com to host an arm and hammer going green party. I was picked and got my cool freebies in the mail. I plan to incorporate them into Ella's party. I am all about getting free stuff!