Old Man Winter needs to Die!

Today was a long day.  Another below zero day and everyone is sick of this weather.  We have had something like 45 days of below zero weather this winter and it is getting depressing.  My kids are going stir crazy from being locked in the house all the time and I am feeling like there is no end in site to this horribly long and cold winter.  I guess if you choose to live in Wisconsin you have to live with the winters but this one makes me want to move! 

Riley was really naughty tonight.  He was extra wild running around the house, jumping from the coffee table to the couch and not listening to a word I had to say.  I told him many times to settle down and instead he started running around the house making it a game for me to catch him.  My blood was boiling and I could feel my angry mom voice bubbling out of every pour in my body.  It is so frustrating not knowing what to do to get your rebellious child to listen to you and I feel like a failure when I can't find a way to get him to listen.  It is always easy for everyone else to tell you what you are supposed to do right but it is never that easy when you are the one obviously doing it wrong. 

I did finally paint my bathroom a greenish blue color this week.  It is different and kind of bright but I love it.  I ordered a really cool shower curtain that has a barn on it that will go perfect with the color I painted the room.  I am excited to decorate with barns in my bathroom. 

Here is the shower curtain I ordered.  I love it!

Do we have to eat supper every day?

Today when we got home Riley saw the cake on the counter and immediately starting begging for a piece.  I told him not until after supper.  He replied, "Mom do we have to eat supper every day!?"  After a laugh I told him yes that is the rules and no cake until after supper!  I made cheeseburgers for the kids and Riley ended up eating 2, along with French fries and 2 glasses of chocolate milk.  I am surprised at how well he eats these days.  For a while it was like pulling teeth to get him to eat but now he is such a good eater.  Austin was always my good eater but the roles have reversed.  Now Austin is becoming a little pickier.  He is always wanting some sort of snack but when he gets it he picks at it and makes a mess out of it.  I think it is the age but it can be frustrating. 

Another thing Austin does that is funny and annoying at the same time is take his shoes and socks off in the car.  Every morning while driving to daycare he simply can't resist taking his shoes and socks off. 

 

   
Tammy took a picture of him today after being in the van.  She said just as she snapped the pic he moved his toes into the snow. 

Happy Birthday to me.

So my birthday turned out to be a really great day.  Austin was able to return to daycare after being sick.  We didn't get 10 inches of snow like the weather report said we were going to get.  My kids made me gifts at the babysitter today and were excited to show them to me.  My husband bought me a rainbow colored cake with rainbow colored candles and a new camera case for me new camera.  Perfect gift!  My family called to wish me Happy Birthday and of course my mom called and sang me her annual birthday song on the phone.  I had a great day and I feel blessed. 

Calm before the winter storm.

Austin has been sick since Sunday night.  I called in sick on Tuesday and had Wednesday off so that gave us some time for him to recuperate.  I always expect the worse when the kids get sick because of last year.  Last year it started in October and didn't end until spring.  Tonight is the first night he seemed better.  Hopefully(knock on wood) we are on the up swing.  Since he was sick we let him stay up and watch his favorite show(Curious George) for the last 3 nights in a row.  He was up until about 10pm/11pm every night and I would just ask him, Are you ready for bed?  He would shake his head but finally he would nod his head yes and walk to bed himself.  So cute.  Only problem is now that he is feeling better he still wants to stay up and watch Curious George until 10 at night.  It is amazing how important schedules are for kids and if you deviate at all it really effects them.  He was so cute tonight, laying on the couch covered in his blanket.  I said ready for bed?  He points next to him gesturing for me to lay down to watch "Jor" as he calls George.  Finally I got him to bed though and I did enjoy the extra cuddle time with him anyway.

Didn't do much the last two days with a sick kid.  It is too bad too because it was finally 40 degrees outside, perfect playing in the snow weather.  I have been waiting for a warm day to play in the snow it seems like all winter.  Jason did get Riley out there to build a little fort in our yard.  He had a ball, Austin and I watched them from the window.  I did take a ride down by Goose Island at the bird watching spot.  We got lucky and saw some deer there too.  Riley told me how he is going to go deer hunting with dad when he is older.  Then he asked me how old dad is.  I told him 38.  He says, "Maybe when I am 38 I can go deer hunting too."  That would be fine by me, wait until your 38 buddy, less worrying on my part!  He did tell me he doesn't want to hunt bears though because he is scared of them, even though dad wants to.

 I figured I might as well enjoy the scenery outside now as we are supposed to get 6-9 inches of snow tomorrow.  Yuck!  Should be a fun commute tomorrow and it is my birthday tomorrow.  Happy winter snow blizzard to me!

 

Dreaming at Menard's

Had a good weekend of thrift store browsing, picture taking and family time together.  Jason had the weekend off.  We went to Menard's together and bought a new light fixture for our kitchen.   It was fun walking around the entire store dreaming about the hard wood floors, brand new sink and vanity, whirlpool tub, backsplash for the kitchen and the list goes on.  We had fun dreaming.  We settled on a light as our gift to ourselves out of our tax return.  Putting up the light was not so easy!  Jason spent a couple hours at least, trying to get the thing in the ceiling.  Finally we, or I mean he, got it up.  We LOVE it!  It is beautiful. 

Austin's new thing is running in all the rooms in our house and shutting the door, then locking it.  We have keys to unlock but sometimes it takes a while to find them so this can be annoying.  We are thinking we need to switch the knobs to no lock ones.  Austin of course finds this to be hilarious and when you finally open the door he is laughing hysterically.  How can you not smile at that. 

Riley's his regular energetic self.  Please give me some of his energy Lord!  One funny thing lately is how he loves Spiderman and during the day wants the decals (stickers for his bedroom wall) put up but at night he is scared to death of Spidey lurking on the walls while he is trying to sleep.  So at night they must be pulled down. 

Took a short drive and got a few pictures tonight.

Here is one of my latest purchases at a thrift store.  I was looking for something to hold my photo books and this works perfect.  I can fit about 24 in it so now I can be encouraged to make some more.  I love making them.

Here is Jason with the kids tonight having a slumber party.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 

Weekend Fun

Had a good weekend.  Seriously sick of this weather.  Can't take much more.  Just dreaming of warmer days and fantasizing about warm vacations I could go on.  Jason and I went out on a date Sunday night.  Our first date in many months and it was very nice.  We ate at Howie's and played a few games of darts. We had a good time.  Talked about the many places we should go on vacation at some point.  The fact that we are both seriously depressed about this winter's weather sparked our conversation of traveling to warmer places!

Other than that our weekend was uneventful.  I took a drive to get out of the house on Monday and found a cool broken down structure of some kind.  I liked the shape of it and how the light came through the open windows.  The kids got there nap in and I got out of the house for a little bit. 

I also made my fist "modge podge" project.  I got the idea off of pinterest.  Never even heard of modge podge before.  anyway I cut out some pictures of the kids and put them on a piece of foam board.  Then I painted the modge podge on and let dry.  After dried I put it in a frame that matched the size.  I like it and now that I know it works I will make some more fun things like that.

Here are some pictures from my week.