Updates 1.0

Life is crazy, and this blog gets updated pretty much when someone asks me if I still have a blog... Opps. I thought I would just share some of the latest pics over the last couple of months.

We got to go to the Michigan/Michigan state game this year.  I have not been back to East Lansing in forever! It was nice revisiting the old stomping grounds.

Unfortunately Annie became an only dog again.  Penny was just getting to much to handle and her and Charlotte are sworn enemies.  Annie is pretty psyched to not get humped every day.

We had a glow in the dark class at Pure Barre.  It was awesome!

Charlotte dressed as a very upset flamingo for Halloween. 

"Kids are coming" still, every night, since the tricker treaters.

Finally! It's a girl!

We love bubbles.  Clearly one of the best pics of all time.  Thank you preschool.

My distraction technique at stores, giving her something to play with and then slipping it back on the shelf, does NOT work any more.  

Our glass table fell over and shattered (thanks Annie) two days before I hosted thanksgiving.

A trip to Ikea and target fixed that.

Potty training is in full force.

Which means we have a nudist in the house.  Usually from waist down bc it's hard to get shirts over that big noggin without adult supervision.

And are now getting ready for Christmas!!!!

There us have it!

Sickness Hits

When you have a toddler attending any kind of place that involves more than one other toddler, getting sick is inevitable.  For both the toddler, and their parents.  For us, my hubs and my daughter might get a little sniffle, while I feel like I'm dying. 

It happened the day before Thanksgiving.  That itch in the back of my throat.  I took some zicam to prevent things.  Welp, that didn't work.  Maybe it was the stress of hosting Thanksgiving, or the huge change or weather, but I got slammed, hard.  By the time Sunday rolled around, I couldn't lift my head for more than 10 minutes at a time.  The other Powie's status; healthy. 

Until last night, C started with a fever earlier in the night, then a little nose drips, then full out sick.  Usually, I can rock her in the chair for a few hours and put her back to bed.  But, still being sick myself, where sitting upright for more than 10 minutes isn't an option, we decided to bring her into.... Our bed. 🙀

This is usually a last ditch effort for most parents. It's basically throwing in the towel and giving into the worst habit ever. 

This is usually how this idea starts. (Drawings done by yours truly)

45 minutes later...

An hour after that...

20 minutes pass...

15 minutes later...

Then you get another hour or so of sleep and the alarm goes off and you want to die.  All day.

You might think the eye patch would make you not want to do it again, but I tell you when that REM sleep is interrupted, you loose all sense of reason. Or you're on vacation, when she can see you from her pack and play and you are SOL. 

Guaranteed this will be the situation tonight.

Poor little lady! Sick babies/toddlers are the WORST! Now go wash your hands after reading this post.

Frozen, An Analogy

Like most parents with children under the age of 8, I've seen my fair share of Frozen.  On repeat, daily.  It's gotten so bad, that we only let Charlotte watch it once a week.  (Judge me all you want for letting my two year old watch TV, but a woman has to shower once and a while.) This movie's plot just leaves me with more unanswered questions EVERY single time I watch it.  Welcome to my soap box. 

First things first, Anna and Elsa both look like they have fetal alcohol syndrome.  I realize this isn't a plot hole, but it just hast to be said.

 Image link

Short, flat nose? check!
Wide set eyes? check!
Small, thin upper lip? Yup
The only thing that's not on par, is her HUGE eyes.  Those eyes, they haunt me in my dreams.

What happened to Kristoff's parents?  Didn't they have some kind of will in place that left him with a relative or something instead of getting ice from god knows where, then living with trolls?  Where are child protection services? The people of Arendale probably should pay closer attention to where their tax money is going. 

Is Elsa's magic genetic? How did she get it? After she hits Anna with it in the head, and they rush her to the trolls, maybe they could have slipped that in. 

Speaking of when they take her to the trolls, why are the parents fully dressed and ready in the middle of the night? Queenie is wearing a tiara!

 Disney / Via frozen.wikia.com

We've  all seen the spoof, that the movie should have just ended at the first visit to the trolls.  They tell her parents not to fear the magic, it's her worst enemy.  So, what does her brilliant father do? Locks her up, and tells her, "Conceal it, don't feel it." WHAT! She's the future queen.  Isn't that the exact opposite of what we should be teacher our daughters? Feel it, and let me know about it.  Then we can talk about it.  Also, this is literally the exact opposite advice that the trolls gave her.  Where is their follow up appointment?  Did Queenie drink heavily during her pregnancies? Evidence!  

Since her Dad is a dumb ass, this question maybe preemptively answered, but why is Anna locked in the castle too? Her memory was replaced, she doesn't know Elsa has unexplained magical powers.  She should maybe step out every now and again.  The other thing that blows my mind about Anna in the castle, how the hell did she not know they have 800 salad plates? She spends her life in that place.  800 salad plates is a lot of plates, and I'm assuming they are part of a set.  This can't just be some small storage room.  Even if it is, she's roamed the castle all day, every day, she should have come across said room.

Does Elsa have a bathroom in her bedroom? She must, because the ladies would have crossed paths from time to time.  Does her servants deliver her food through a slot prison style? She's had a lot of time in that bedroom. 10+ years of solitary confinement is a little harsh for hitting her sister.  I mean, that's going to mess a person up.  What did she do in there? Crosswords? Candy Crush? She really should have the whole magic thing under control by now.

Then Anna meets a ginger during coronation day, and gets engaged.  This doesn't surprise me, the girl didn't know about massive quantities of dishware.   But, really, why does Elsa go ape shit on her? Why does she even care? She hasn't seen her in YEARS. 

During let it go, she sings, "I am one with the wind and sky." I hate that line.

When she creates Olaf, why is he suddenly living? Why wouldn't the ice castle be alive too? Or her cape? Olaf is the best character in that movie, so I'm glad he can talk.  But, a talking cape would have been AWESOME.

How are these girls standing the cold? They are walking around in flimsy dresses.  Is an unusually high body temperature also part of her magic?  It's not like they have an extra inch of fat to keep them warm.  One word, hypothermia.

When Anna and Kristoff go on their adventure, how did Anna learn all these crazy life skills? Lighting a log and throwing it at the wolves chasing them.  What. 

Disney/ Via frozen.wikia.com

Does Anna go through too many trust exercises? She seems to blindly trust anyone that gives her a second look. I just googled how long reindeer live, and it's 20 years, so that question has just been answered. You get a pass there Sven.

How does Ginger catch up with Anna and Kristoff so fast? Anna appears to have left days ago, based on Hans giving away all of Arendale's trade-able goods, how did he get there right after them?  He didn't have Olaf to tell him about the ice stair case. 

After, Elsa hits Anna in the heart, why doesn't she immediately collapse like she did when she got hit in the head? The troll says the heart is harder to heal, how does she even get back to the trolls?  Not to mention, run away from a snow creature, jump off a cliff, u know, just the basics.  Really, how did Elsa not realize she hit her?  All that solitary confinement, you would think she's gone over that moment in her head millions of times.   Oh that's right, she's a narcissist. 

I can't even go into the part about the trolls.

When Ginger announces Anna is dead, why did no one check for her body? Just leave her in a separate room by the fire? For how long? You'd think someone would have rushed in.  Nope, Ginger, you're the king now. 

How did Anna's love for Elsa save her?  She doesn't even know her.  She sat outside her room talking into a key hole for years.  You'd think she despise her.  She didn't even know anything about love either, because her parents sucked.  How did they die in a ship wreck anyway? What year was this movie supposed to be set in? Why wouldn't the just take a plane? Was it a fishing trip? Or maybe they were filming an episode of whale watchers. 

When Elsa does come back, why does everyone suddenly embrace her?  They should have some major questions for her.  No, let'st just go ice skating and hold hands.  She should really be evaluated by a medical professional.  If only just to make sure all her limbs are there after all that prancing around in the cold.

That really is just the tip of the ice berg.  I've worked myself up in a frenzy even writing this.  Stupid Frozen, and it's enchantment on my daughter. 

Nail Pollish

There is nothing that I love more than having beautiful nails.  I love the entire process of getting my nails done.  Unfortunately, after many failed attempts I just can't do them myself.  They always get ruined.  Every single time.  The person who invented gel nails, may have had a hidden camera in my house.  It's the only thing I can't ruin. 

My mom kept talking about this YSL nail polish Gris Deco.  It's pretty much magic nail polish.  In some light it looks like a beautiful grey, some lights white, some lights a powder blue.  How YSL? How? I don't love buying nail polish, because I suck, but this had to happen.  I mean this is Chanel Particuliere good. (Particuliere is very similar to OPI You Don't Know Jacques! which comes in a gel)

I took it to the nail salon and the results were impressive.  It lasted about a week, and I got so may compliments on it. ::brushes off shoulder:: It's real good. 

Charlotte turns TWO!

We've entered into terrible twos.  They are no joke.  I swear, the morning of her birthday, she woke up at 4:15 in the morning, and freaked out over the POWER WHEEL we gave her.  Living vicariously through your kids is not easy.  She continued to be a hot mess for a solid week.   I keep hearing that 3 is worse.  WORSE.  Proving my point that, "mommy brain" is real.  Otherwise, after you experience a week of toddler time, you get your ovaries removed. 

We gave her a birthday party anyway.  Armed with my Silhouette Cameo, a love for planning parties, and three hour naps, game on.  First things, first; invitations.  I discovered you can buy pens, or a pen holder, and put it in the silhouette instead of the ratchet blade.  A little bit more taxing than printing out an invite, but not as taxing as handwriting.  My first non vinyl project.

I made each one in different colors, more for myself, to play with different color combos

Put this on her door while she slept on her birthday eve. Another experiment.

We had the party at a local park, and just invited family and close friends who had kids around Charlotte's age.  To keep the lameness down for our childless friends, and to get all the kiddos together.

I didn't make this, bought it at Paper Source

Made Martha's Antipasti Pasta Salad

 Gift Bags for the kiddos, letters are vinyl. 

I cut brown paper lunch bags in half with a scalloped scissor and then added the presents that were on the invite.

It turned out super fun.  Weather was perfect, everyone had a great time, lots of pizza and adult juice was consumed, bubbles blown, balloons amazed young minds, and, of course, Frozen themed gifts. There was even a little Frisbee throwing with the males at the party.  I know Charlotte probably won't remember it, but we will and it was great.  There is just something so nice about celebrating someone you love, especially your daughter.

Oops...

After we moved into our new house and things settled down a bit, I got to start decorating.  One of the first things I wanted to get was a personalized door mat.  I wanted something that was a bit more modern, but not too stuffy.  I found the perfect one on etsy, and it was $35.  Say what!? The mat was clearly from IKEA, and I know it couldn't cost more than $10, and that's being generous.  So, I pinterested it, (Obvi). Someone had to have a blog post about DIY doormats.  There was a shocking number.  I came across one that talked about a Silhouette Cameo.  What's that, you ask? Well, it's a machine that cuts images out of paper, vinyl, fabric, all sorts of other mediums.  It looks like a printer, and you hook it up to the computer, then design what ever you want with their software.  It cuts the out, leaving a stencil and the design itself.  I was intrigued.  I did some research, and then sat on the thought of buying a $300 automatic Exact-o knife.  Got a coupon in the mail, so clearly, it happened.

This thing is legit.

It's taken my crafting skills to an entirely new level.

Holy. Crap.

A trip to Joann's Fabrics and Bed Bath & Beyond, the first door mat was created.  

This is one of Silhouette's stock images.  How freaking cute.  The mat is not really what I envisioned.  But it was in the clearance section, and I needed to practice on something.  It now lives by the front door.  I used vinyl for the stencil, and leather fabric paint. After a learning curve and some elbow grease, boom.  Done.  Consider this can of worms, opened.

Home Depot plain door mat, $8 

Does work need a doormat? Yup.

House warming gift for my bestie, who just moved back to the Mitten? Absolutely.

Side picture of our spawn doing "cheers".  Teaching them the finer things in life.  

A little foreign flair. 

Really, this could get out of hand.  I mean, they are adorable.  I can put ANYTHING on them I can think of.  Game. Changer.  Any font that you have downloaded on your computer, shows up in the software.

 ::wipes drool off face::

Should I make some t-shirts? Yup.  I have a silk screening kit, which is awesome, but why not use heat transferable vinyl? 

Yup, and I made those cute little gift tags.

Chalkboard sign STENCIL, Holy Moly, just got hours of my life back.

Really, why don't people talk about this thing? I mean I guess I don't have many friends who are crafters, but, still! It's so, so good. 

At the end of the day, I guess you could say it was kind of an expensive doormat.  Probably should have just bought the one from Etsy.  BUT, it's been such a great creative outlet for me. 

Can't stop, won't stop. 

Your Thirties

This past week one of the moms in my Mom's group turned 30.  She invited us to a night at the MGM Grand.  Massages, sushi, dancing, and no babies was promised.  I immediately enrolled Nini (my mom) to babysit.  I really couldn't wait. 

Like most people turning 30, she was freaking out.  Ending your twenties just sucks. Especially as a woman.  If you're single, you're thinking, welp, there are younger hotter girls out there.  Better start robbing that cradle.  If you're not married yet, you're thinking, put a ring on it so I can pop some kids out before I'm the old mom.  If you're married and have children you're thinking, welp, my husband is getting hotter while I scoop my lady lumps into a bra and pull my leggings up to that bra.  I only know the married with kids part... so this list is based on that.

So here it is, a list why 30 is kind of awesome.

1. You go to a restaurant with some girlfriends, where you used to order a salad to avoid being that girl.  Now you go ahead and order the fried things and/or burgers, whatever you want.  Let's face it, it's not that hard to make a salad at home, and it's very hard to deep fry things at home (who has time for that anyway).  Also, you just scooped your boobs into your bra, eat those fries.

2.  Speaking of saggy boobs, you earned those saggy boobs and "soft" tummy.  You created a human.  Like, you made a human, while you're husband/partner rolled over and went to sleep.  You carried that human for 9 months, pushed it out of a small hole, and then feed her with your own body.  And that little human just said, she loves you.  Boom.

3. At this point, you know what you're body looks like and your comfortable with it.  Or at least made peace with it.  What you didn't realize is, how strong you are.  You can carry a car seat, maybe another 25+ child and a car full of groceries in the house while you're biceps ripple down.  Not only physically strong, but you're mentally strong.  You can listen to Frozen on repeat, non stop crying and manage to tune it out, make a schedule, pay bills, maybe hold down a part time job, while on little to no sleep.

4.  You know who your friends are and how to make good ones, and keep them.  You know that it takes two to tango, so if you're putting all the effort into a friendship, bye bye.

5. Your husband is your best friend.  He's seen you do some weird shit (refer to 2) and then even weirder shit.  The other day, after a friend got engaged she said to her fiance, "you've seen me drink cheese."  That's right, he's seen you drink cheese, or whatever your equivalent is, and he loves you for that. You've also seen him do some weird shit too, probably not as weird as you, and that's even better.

6.  You look at your husband, and just think HOT DAMN, you are so sexy.  And you're mine.  We're married.  And that is awesome.

7. Speaking of that stud muffin that is in your bed every night, you can kill it between the sheets.  You know what to do, and you know how to say no to the things you don't want to do. You've don't even have to fake it.

8.  You know how to put makeup on yourself, and dress your body.  You can go into a store and pick things you know will work.  You can stop trying to be trendy, and just pick things that will work for you.

9. Your mom turns into a woman of wonder and mystery.  How did she manage to raise someone so awesome? Share your secrets with me on a Friday night, over a bottle of wine.  Then we'll both be in bed before 9. 

10. You also realize, that family is everything.  Weather it's the family you already have, or the family you've created. 

11.  Being in your thirties is really similar to being in your twenties.  But, you've got money. Don't get me wrong, you still love a happy hour, but you don't have to have the bud light on special.  You can treat yourself to a Sauvignon Blanc.  Or you go to a nice dinner, order a steak and a nice bottle of wine.  Then go to bed at a reasonable hour and not wake up with a hangover.  Hangovers when you're in your thirties, are almost like getting 72 hour stomach flu.  That last that long, there is lots of throwing up, but you can't sleep in, and have to care for other people and show up to work on time.  Not worth it.

12. You now know why people told you to stay out of the sun.  Sun makes you look old and can do some bad shit to your skin.  Now that you stay in the shade in the summer you have way more time on your hands.   You can also afford retin-a which is more like a fountain of youth in a tube. 

13.  It's so much harder to go on a vacation, so when you do, you appreciate it for all it's worth.  Weather it's a European vacation, a weekend get away, a night off with the girls, or hell, a 90 min workout.  It feels so much better than it did in your twenties. 

14.  You get to be a kid again with your kids.  You get to watch them do stuff for the first time and see their minds blown almost daily.  And that, my friends, is what it's all about.

In my two years of my thirties, I've also learned not to sweat the small stuff.  I broke my car key in half in the ignition of my car in an Ikea parking lot the other day.  After waiting for a lock smith, not being able to get it out but getting the car to start, leaving to go to the dealership just to get pulled over and ticketed.  I made lemonade from a sack of lemons

Hello new ride!

Then things heated up

Renovations, you last FOREVER. Last Thursday, the contractors left the building and their part of the laundry list of items was complete.  I still had things to get done, but all the big work was done. The beige walls were slowly dying. Relief.  Let's start with some before and afters.

I'm sitting in this room and I just screeched looking at this.  

Beauties

I did this myself, AND installed the door knob and key-less entry pad

This turned into my favorite room.  I love the colors, the new light fixture everything.

C's bedroom with furniture.

Outside of the front door, was white before.

About two hours after the contractor left, I decided to complete my final project for the family room.  Getting rid of the brassy fireplace screen.  I read a ton of post on pinterest on how to spray paint the screen.  I took all the precautions.  Papering up around the fireplace, and making myself a little plastic cocoon so the spray paint wouldn't get everywhere.  

I was almost done, when a huge burst of flame spit out lighting my whole cocoon on fire.  I jumped back and threw my can of spray paint and ran for the fire extinguisher.  When I came back about 30 seconds later, the fire had gotten big.  The paper around the fire place was a great kindle.  I pulled the seal on the extinguisher and a tiny little spray came out.  I knew I had to do something, or I'd sit back and watch our new house go up in flames.  I grabbed my water bottle and started dumping.  6 trips later, waist high black smoke, I couldn't see any flames.  I started beating the fire area out with a towel.  After the fire was out, I ran upstairs and turned on the attic fan, opened all the windows, and turned the fans then ran downstairs and opened ever window and door we had.  That's when the tears started.  I checked my face for my eyebrows, phew still there, went up to my hair, a little crispy, but still there.  My next instinct was to call the fire department, but I had watch my phone burst into flames and we didn't have a land line, and I was completely alone.  (Thank god, hubs, baby and dogs were at my Mom's house)  This is when I started to panic, I went door to door to my neighbors house covered in soot trying to use someones phone.  Not a single person was home.  The only thing I could think to do is set up our computer and Facetime Andy.  As I set it up, my hands were shaking so hard.  What was I going to tell him? Our beautiful house.  When I saw his face pop up, and I started going over the events, I just kept thinking I gotta get this cleaned up.  It can't look like this.  He was on his way, I took a knife and ripped up all the carpet and started cleaning the walls.  It was terrible.  Nothing was working it was just spreading.  Once he got there, we went over the damage, and just got into the car and went to my parents house.

We came back the next day and tried to start cleaning, not realizing how extensive the damage was.  Half way into trying to clean the family room walls, we gave up and just decided to call a professional.  I didn't think it was as bad as it was, and thought there was no way we'd hit our insurance deductible.  Wow, was I wrong.  The first and second floor had to be cleaned, the whole first floor repainted, the hallway of the second floor and a few rooms.  The soot got into the carpet and the couch, and unfortunately was mixed with spray paint, so it wasn't coming out anytime soon.  It's been a little over a week now, and I finally am realizing how lucky I am that I wasn't really hurt.  Or that I didn't panic and got the fire out as quickly as I did.  Things could have been WAY worse.  We're back to the mid point of the renovations.  The good part about it is I don't have to shell out more money to get it fixed, and we found some beautiful oak floors under the carpet in the dining room.  We also are getting our ducts cleaned and sanitized.  I mean who doesn't love that.  Lesson learned, never, ever spray paint the fireplace, ever.