Somewhere That's Green!

I have always loved musicals for a young age. I not only love watching musicals but have performed onstage in several shows as well. But having two very small children I have decided to take a break for theater for a few years so I can be with them in the evenings. 

One musical I loved when I was younger and continue to love today is "Little Shop of Horrors." I was listening to the radio the other day and the song " Somewhere That's Green" came on the Broadway station. The song is sung by a young woman who just wants the perfect house and to be the perfect housewife. The song is her daydream about what life could be like if she can get away fro the slums of skid row. She dreams of a life with Seymour who while he isn't a handsome man, is a good man she could love. The lyrics are as follows:

A matchbox of our own
A fence of real chain link,
A grill out on the patio
Disposal in the sink
A washer and a dryer and an ironing machine
In a tract house that we share
Somewhere that's green.

He rakes and trims the grass
He loves to mow and weed
I cook like Betty Crocker 
And I look like Donna Reed
There's plastic on the furniture 
To keep it neat and clean
In the Pine-Sol scented air 
Somewhere that's green

Between our frozen dinner 
And our bedtime, nine-fifteen
We snuggle watchin' Lucy 
On our big, enormous twelve-inch screen

I'm his December Bride
He's Father, he Knows Best
Our kids watch Howdy Doody 
As the sun sets in the west
A picture out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine

Far from Skid Row
I dream we'll go
somewhere that's green.

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/soundtracks/l/littleshopofhorrorslyrics/somewherethatsgreenlyrics.html

As a little girl growing up I used to dream about what my perfect life would look like someday.... A wonderful husband, two kids, a house, dog, white picket fence, etc. Every little girl dreams about things like this and we have an idea of what our perfect life would look like. My life is going according to plan so far... Wonderful husband, two kids, a dog a house... I actually admire the 50's housewife! But it's not all of the things I used to dream. Life isn't always perfect and we don't live  in the perfect "Better Homes and Gardens" home and life. In today's times it would be a perfect Pinterest world.... Lol! 

This year I had the privilege to attend the No More Perfect Moms Hearts at Home conference. The day was centered around being content with the life we have (flaws and all). We can not live in a Pinterest perfect world. Houses just don't look like that if they are lived in.... Women's bodies all look different..... Moms can't be supermom all of the time....etc. God calls us to be loving and to live in a Christ-like manner and as long as we are living out that life we are living a perfect life for Him. 

What were your dreams growing up? What did your perfect life look like? 

Things do happen that turn out great however..... We had a lot of good things go on last week for the summer schedule!

Make Something Monday: We made Father's Day presents and I thought they turned out adorable. Grandpas and Daddy loved them so it was a complete success!!!!

Take a trip Tuesday: this was actually a wet Tuesday instead - played I the wading pool for the first time!  

Wet and wild Wednesday: we took a trip to the Scovill Zoo with my room mate from college and another friend fro EIU and her little girl. First zoo trip an train ride was a complete success!

Thinking Thursday: didn't happen.... We had my room mate from college visiting today and we got pictures taken at JC Penney instead that day. Pictures to come later....

Fun and fabulous Friday: Friday was a day for finding fabulous deals at garage sale. I found a Mickey Mouse Cubhouse play set for $6 In great condition (retails for $60) Jack loves it!!!

Fabulous Finds!

For as long as I can remember I have loved to shop. Even as a little girl I loved going to the mall. On Saturday mornings I remember riding around our neighborhood on my bicycle to seek out garage sales with a couple of one dollar bills in my pocket. Garage sales and thrift stores have always been so much fun for me because it is like a treasure hunt.... Finding something you can use or need for a great price! 

Recently I have gotten hooked onto the online garage sales through Facebook. Each sale is a group based on location. I have bought and sold several items on there so for me it is like trading! I is amazing the Deals one can find on these sales. For example yesterday I purchased a pair of toddler Toms shoes for Jack. Normally these shoes retail for $40-$50 in the store or online. I got s pair that was worn only once for just $10!!!! Deal!!! 

Today I went to a few garage sales in a neighboring town and found a like new Baby Gap wool winter jacket for Jack...$4!!!! This jacket was $80 last winter! Unreal! Today I was driving jack home from the library when we saw a lady setting up for her garage sale for tomorrow. They had a little tikes first slide in the garage. I stopped and asked her if she would sell it tonight.... and she did! $15..... Retails for $50!!!

New Endeavors

Our household has been breaking ground for many new endeavors with the kids! Our biggest adventure recently has been the experience of using cloth diapers. Most of my friends that are stay at home mommies use cloth diapers.

At first I thought ther was no way I could keep up with the laundry. I didn't want to deal with pins, folding, etc. However cloth diapers have changed so much I was amazed how easy it now was. My cousin Michelle was the first encounter I had with cloth diapering. She had told me hw they worked it  out in their house so she was a great resrce for me. 

After talking with several of them I decided it was silly for me to not do cloth diapers to save money - especially with TWO in diapers. So I did research, checked out my friends diapers, etc. We decided now was a good time to buy since the brand we went with had buy 1 get one free. 

We started by ordering 6 BumGenius 4.0 one size pocket diapers. After a week trial to see if we liked them-we ordered 12 more. http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php 

I also ordered 1 one size all in one Thirsties diaper. I like the Thirsties better just because they are all in one. However they come in two sizes where the Bum Genius diapers come in one size fits all. So we are still happy with the Bum Genius diapers for now. If I order more in the future I will get the free time All in one BumGenius diapers to save time with stuffing the inserts. But at this point the diapers and the laundry loads aren't that bad. We are also using cloth wipes...on wet diapers only. Poopy diapers  are still being cleaned with disposable wipes. We are also using bamboo flushable liners so we can flush the poop down the toilet. I have figured out we can do laundry every other night and be okay. We are also doing disposable diapers at night because I am just too nervous to use cloth at night. We have also decided when we travel away for the day we will use disposables for convenience. And of course when there is an emergency day (if we are sick etc) then disposables are just fine. Nw i am total clth diaper convert! As I continue his new adventure with cloth diapers I will keep everyone updated on new products and things we try that work for us. Happy diapering everyone!!!!

Starting the Summer Schedule!!!

Like many other moms out there (stay at home and working alike) - I have an obsession with Pinterest. There are just so many great ideas on there and they are all contained in one place. Pinterest has been a huge help to me this year in getting myself organized, many ideas that will be posted in the future on this blog. 

As a new mom I was pleasantly surprised how much schedules have helped me in my day to day staying at home with the kids. We started using the Babywise schedule with Jack when he was 2 months old and it has been immensely helpful in getting him on schedule. Lucy has just gotten the hang of the schedule the past month or so and it works like a charm. Before having kids of my own I used to get annoyed when my other mom friends said they couldn't do something because their little one was on a napping schedule. I used to think "Can't they just nap later? Or skip it today?" Now I understand babies and schedules and am now one of my annoying friends! Lol. 

The Summer Schedule has been one of my favorites so far....a little stressful to start but it gives me a push to do something out of the ordinary each day of the summer! So far it has been fun to figure out what to do each day. Here is what the schedule looks like....

 

We started this schedule yesterday with Make Something Monday. My 16 month son, Jack helped me make Raspberry Sparkle Drop cookies... Yummy!!!! Since he can't really help with baking quite yet I did try to let him stir the flour mixture. He had just woken up from naptime and was still a little groggy so he just held the spoon not really sure of the idea of "baking." But he definitely loved the cookies afterwards!

Today was Take a Trip Tuesday. Last night Lucy was up until somewhere after midnight so we were all tired this morning. I wasn't sure I wanted to brave taking both kids anywhere today but we had to stick with the schedule, after all the point of it was to push us to try new things that were out of the ordinary. So I decided that we would load into the car and go through the car wash..... A fun and new experience for both kiddos! Jack wasn't sure about it at first and Lucy rode through it calmly. All in all it was a great experience. 

Tomorrow is Wet and Wild Wednesday. It is supposed to rain but not until afternoon. I am hoping to get Jack outside to play with the new water table. If it does rain I may have another idea brewing.... Something involving painting with water on a chalkboard! I will tryt o post updates about how this summer schedule is going throughout the summer posts... Along with plenty of pictures!

Should I PAINT my thumb green??

I have never been what many would call a "green thumb." It seems like plants come to my house to die. Luckily I have a stepmother that is a florist and an expert gardener! My in laws are also farmers so my mother in law gardens a lot - which helps! This year I am determined to get my yard looking up to par which has almost become an obsession! So far things are going great. It's been raining like cats and dogs this summer so my yard is bursting with beauty and life! However there are a few troubled plants that need my stepmom to come over to do emergency surgery!

This year I decided to grow pumpkins, tomatoes, cannas, sunflowers, and of course my perennial flowering   plants! So far this year things are looking great and I may actually have a beautiful yard after all!

Here is a rose bush that my husband and I planted during the first summer at this house.... it was the summer we got married! Look at how it has blossemed ... just like our marriage! BEAUTIFUL!

Last summer my Dad and stepmom brought some daisy and hydranga transplants - look at how they are growing! Really filled in!

These are my four clumps of pumpkins coming up. Last year I got pumpkin plants to grow and even had huge orange pumpkin blossems. The pumpkins never grew however because of the extreme heat and lack of rain last year. Maybe this year we will get some carving pumpkins for Halloween!

I planted these wildflowers under the evergreen tree last year but weeds were the only thing that grew last year. This year I have several flowers of different varieties growing! 

Out in the garden area I have a rose bush we transplanted from last year. We cut it way back and it is starting to climb the trellis. I even see some pink blooms coming out! Our Japenese grasses are also growing in full this year - lots of transplanting last year paid off this year!

I also have decided to take some of the yard burden off of my husband so I have taken to mowing the yard in the evenings when he can entertain the kids inside. I love mowing! We have a John Deere riding lawn mower and it is quite fun! Even on hot days I can typically get the yard done within 45 minutes. But the trimmer and I have had our share of issues so Chad is in charge of trimming! I just can't seem to get the hang of it.

Throughout the summer I will keep you posted on the yard and post pictures of what accumulates out there God willing! :)

Just a little about me...

Hello fellow mommies (or soon to be mommies - maybe even fathers as well).... I just wanted to let you know a little about me before we begin our journey together. 

I graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 2005 with my bachelor's degree in Special Education and taught for 7 consecutive years after graduating. My students were my "kiddos" and I always treated them like they were my own. I began teaching K-4 grades in Washington, IL and LOVED my job. I met my husband in 2007 and we married in 2009, moving me to another town and another school district. This time I taught junior high students, even coaching the dance team for one year! 

Life was going great but my husband and I wanted to have children, especially since we were the last of our friends to have children. We knew it was time to start trying after our first year of marriage. After having no success on our own, we tried infertility medication but still no baby. We filled out paperwork for the adoption process and began waiting on a birth mother to choose us. After a short 6 months of waiting we got a phone call that a baby boy had been born in Tennessee and the parents had chosen us to be his parents! We left quickly and met our son who we immediately fell in love with! 

I knew that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom for at least the first few years of my kids lives until they started in school, but now this decision was harder than I expected! It was only the middle of the school year and I was hesitant to leave my students so quickly. But my son was more important to me so I decided to stay at home instead. I was still determined to finish my master's degree in Educational Administration which was over half completed. It seemed very doable with just one baby at home and supportive family who would watch him. 

The day after my first Mother's Day I was surprised to learn that I was pregnant with a baby due the following January! I remember looking at my 4 month old son thinking how am I going to be able to handle two babies only 11 months apart!!! But either way this baby was coming! The pregnancy was a rough one (lots of nausea and dizziness) then a lot of back pain during the last trimester. But we survived it and my daughter arrived on my 30th birthday via c-section! 

Even with two babies at home I walked through graduation in May 2013 and am in the process of finishing my last two classes this summer! After healing from my c-section I decided I was going to treat my stay-at-home job as a full time profession. I did some research just to see what my new new career was worth... Here is what I found!

Knowing I was worth that much I decided I needed to treat this as I would my other job! As a full time profession! My goal was to perfect things at home - organizing our house so we were efficient, going to playgroups, cooking delicious and nutritious meals, etc! I had the 1950s housewife in mind with a little modernizing! This is where the journey begins..... I wanted to share some of my organizing tips and tricks as well as mommy ideas that are working well with my children! Enjoy the journey with me! See you in the blogworld!