Things to love & things to treat

Know what book I came across when we went to the library on Thursday? A little book about being happy where you are. Share what you Love. Live in what you love.

So with this notion we have made some changes in our household the last two weeks! We needed to live in some updated yet warm/fashionable fall clothing. It was that time of the year when I take a huge gulp and say "ok, so you've grown some" to everyone in our house. Then I look at my account and "shudder" because I know that hasn't grown much either! HA! Well the clothes are living in seem to make everyone happy~ A strange idea to go with the likes of living in the materials we love. Here is our latest loves and attire~ we are prepped, have bags ready and Halloween can make it's debut!

I got me a new hat~ with a pair of jeans; phenomenal fantastic make your butt look good jeans! I think every Mom should have a pair of jeans that make them feel awesome. Period.


And the kids; oh the kids are in their lil glory world. We received the costumes for Halloween as noted and let's say that they have not wanted to come OUT of their costumes since then. After much debate with a 3 1/2 year old girl; we finally came to our final decision after about 6 days. *barf* I MEAN SERIOUSLY!? My first big argument was her 1st choice; but only AFTER I saw the costume online. oooh, the evils of online shopping. I think I have a problem with liking online shopping too much, but this whole experience was just ISH when I came across all the costumes, not only for women; but also little girls and preteen girls. They were just "wrong" from a mom's perspective. I could go on and argue my point about this topic. But I am a Mom and when you are a Mom, you get what I'm sayin~ But I'd also say; Dad's get this topic too. Hey Dad, what kind of attention do you want your daughter getting?? Anyway~
So we had the likes of a princess, a turtle, a bee, bat, Mario, Ariel, Dora, Snow White and many more. After seeing her 2nd pick of Ariel~ I said ok; first pick Mario wins! We will see if she does the "stache" during trick-or-treat time.


Ahhh, now on to the boy! He always makes it easy on me when it comes to choosing the costume each year. He knows what he likes and will tell you straight up to make sure you know what he likes. Keep in mind however; if he does not control what he likes he will push to make sure he can control it. LOL~ My lil controller of the world! BUT~ no debates here, there were two things that put a ding in his ear. We had cockroach & fly. Easy! Easy more for the fly costume however. Cockroaches have lots of legs and apparently when you are in the market for a costume of one; be prepared to pay hefty for those legs. So wings and a mask are more easily attainable! Here is lil man rockin the fly costume.



And, last but not least I have found this mascara that I love now too! Every Mom also needs a good eye opening mascara for those days when you want to close your eyes and sigh.
It's great too when you need to also open them wide enough to know that these damn costume moments fly by too quickly~ Eyes to see that your children; as picky as they may be, teach you so much more about your own control over their future~ let go of some control here and there; they may impress you!

Here is my new fave mascara anyhow <3

Why is it awesome? Well it has the thinnest and longest/lean wand I have ever seen in a mascara, makes them look a mile long and natural to boot. I asked myself the first time, well why do I have to do like 4 coats to see the blast? Don't worry; the thinner the wand~ the longer the lashes with NO clumps. I'll take it! CG if you're wondering brand.
See told ya I have an obsession with makeup~ Here's a cheers to the weekend!

Sugar & Spice

The weekend brought the two of us some time together. Time to grow this thing called the "bond" according to the worlds perception of the perfect mother/daughter relationship. Ahhh yes the winding roads of forming the bond. We somewhat accomplished that bond this weekend! A whole 3 days of simply girl time. There was a particular trend I noticed though about this last weekend. There was a match in powers out there. And I am talking about GIRL POWER.

I knew of at least 7 different parties occurring over the weekend, and I think I was invited to at least 3 of them? Well the boys left our cozy home on Thursday to make a venture North in the state to help with a wonderful remodel the hubby is still working on. I saw several of the said "facebook" updates about in home parties and the friends parties to get together. The first part we attended was on a Thursday eve. Lil lady and I traveled for about and hour and a half! TO end up visiting my cousin who made a trip home from the Middle East. It was so good to see him and his wife happy! We played games in our little group of 10 and then went home LATE that eve.

It was so Nice.

Friday brought another girly type day. Some women I know and speak to often still tend to "go out" for lunch on Friday's generally during their work week. We decided that a local restaurant was perfect, because according to her standard (Lil lady) Any restaurant made with red bricks is a good one. Ooo-K? is all I replied with and she got her burger & fries~ Friday eve= toys, books, coloring, playdoh & a movie.

Sounds so nice doesn't it?

Saturday brought us more girl time and chance for the lil lady to start working on her people skillz with the other kiddos out there~ We also had a chance to attend an in home SPA party~ Let me tell you, all the women there had a wonderful time indulging in relaxing a bit. Special thanks to the tip of the hand and it's off to giggle land white wine~ Later there was more playing with makeup, chatting & playing live music in the four season room.

Twas a good evening. Despite getting home at the hour of midnight

This Sunday~ ooooh, we have now hit the epitome of girlyness when we finally pulled out the nail polish. I mentioned the idea of doing our toenails to her like seriously, 3 days ago! She brought it up each day the guys were gone. It's like she knew it was the perfect time to do it?
She pulled out her fave color out of the seriously HUGE bucket of colors, and picked; Aquamarine.

This in fact doesn't and shouldn't surprise me; remember this girl likes her TURTLES! She sat in her wood chair quite well actually; the best parts...her giggles when the apricot scrub went on her feet! Hilarious!

This was our end product:


Wanna know what the nice thing was? Here is your kick of positive for the day; the realization that no matter what, she will always be my lil girly~ And it's everything nice I could hope for.

You get it huh?

It seems as I have lately come across and to better terms with my SWC (daughter)
I have also ran into some interesting moments while out and about in stores or places of public encounters. For instance, yesterday I went to my lifeline store and paid my blood toll at the door. You know what store I am talking about, good ole Target Boutique. You walk in and you literally pay a toll every time. $50 or more generally! I like Target. They pretty much have everything I need in those walls.

Well while on this venture with the SWC, I made the mistake of thinking that I could stop and go into Target shortly after she fell asleep in her seat already. You know, the point when you don't want them to fall asleep quite yet, because you want them to make it all the way home to rest their little heads in bed. All mom's reach that point some days by the way. Well I did what you're not supposed to and went ahead to wake her up to go into the store.

Upon entering Target, she requested to walk beside me and follow the rules. Ahhh, the rules. Rules for safety is generally the term I use now with them before we go inside the store. They can rattle the rules out like its ingrained in their soul! HA! She did well for the first five minutes and knew we were going there to get the art supplies for our little crafty day planned. Within 5 minutes of being in the craft aisle; there it was...about 5 feet away the princess coloring book with the matching markers. Yep, every color she needed and HAD 3 of each at HOME. Well it didn't sit too well that she was not going to get her said "way" when Mom said, no we are not getting any new toys today. Meltdown city.

Now I have threatened before that if things got nasty in the store with non-listening issues that we could very well leave. Today was the day. The one day that I finally had enough of the crying and whining fit occurring in the aisle! Took her out to the car and as I was 10 feet from the door. It came from nowhere it seemed. A voice that rung out in a empathetic way that I grasped immediately. The phrase was simple~

It was like she reached out and snagged my hand almost with words?! I keep forgetting that this is all a part of the journey we call motherhood. I keep reminding myself that there are the same struggles with your daily emotions that many others deal with. She reached out~ patted me on the back almost and kept walking. Hang in there~ I like that.

I enjoyed it even more that when later after the lil gal did wake from her very much needed nap upon returning from Target. She hung in there too, she thought about it and then came to hang out on my lap. Apology accepted darlin~ Hang in there.

I love this season...but

I love Autumn. My favorite season of them all!

I love the crisp air, the beautiful colors that blossom from our leaves that begin to fall to the ground. I love waking up to the urge in the morning thinking you need to turn on your heater to warm up the house. (I tend to start baking more instead) The candles and scent warmers in my house tend to be burnt longer and stay on for periods of the day. I make more home cooked meals out of my oven and crockpot too.
I love walking outside and feeling the tip of my nose cold enough that if I put it on someones cheek they would react. But you know what...

Just sayin~

"We're gonna have FUN today"

Today I will be blogging from my "align RIGHT" layout. There is a good reason for it though~ it seems as though everything that was done this weekend with my kiddo's was beyond

PERFECT for FUN as a Mom.

Not all the parts I experience from day to day are all under the umbrella of "typical mom-isms". Oooh, I like that word now. Anyway, the hubby ended up leaving town to head NORTH~ Yep, Northern hemisphere of our cold State of MN. It was where I was raised, where my children go often to be free of all the "isms" in our household and just be. Grandpa's House~ Remodeling is what my husband is quite talented with in his craft. I feel blessed, because I don't have to worry in our household with him knowing what he does with carpentry and more.

So Friday came and the little girl and I went to have our Mom & DD time at a local farm.
We experienced the great wind of the Fall season during the 2+ hours we were there.
It was even more though. We experienced that FUN we needed. That is what my mindset was for any plans over the weekend. I think that if you sincerely think about the FUN of something, your days can be good to ya.
This first adventure to the farm was a good one despite the windy weather. I'd say the highlight was a beautiful mare (horse) saying hello to my DD. You can tell that it is a great moment. She even received a friendly lick on her hand. Twice.





















You could say that everything aligned Right. After the wind, cold and losing shoes. I also came to the realization when on our lil adventure; that my DD is quite possibly an SWC~ There is a trend here with the abbreviated meanings? STRONG WILLED CHILD!!
The day was all around good just the two of us.

Saturday brought new adventures to our clan of 3. We ventured out to an amazing corn maze which is semi local. Me being the gas conserve lady lately, I am always sketchy about making a 35 minute drive somewhere to have FUN. But we did it! Arrival in early afternoon meant that we still have not hit the warmest parts of the sun for the day, so planning; I did make their lunches. Kept it simple. Who can deny PB&J when they are under the age of 6 years old?

Well lo and behold first off arriving; I was a bit frightened. Pulling up and seeing the 100's of pumpkins ready to be knocked over by my kids (or kids tripping over em) was a bit unnerving. That's just me though! We walked in the entrance and were surprised to find what may be a carnival despite having corn maze in their name! Breakdown. Corn Pit, giant slide, hayrides, exotic petting zoo, hay bale maze, camel/pony rides, live music and of course; FOOD! We did all of it; all 5 hours spent was well worth it. In ways it was nostalgic for me being so OLD. I need to remember that I can still have fun too!

Not all Mommies are mean! Right?!


Sunday brought more goodies; waking up was tough though. I could feel my allergies attacking each part of my face slowly. Thank goodness for over the counter allergy medicine. I snagged my Advil C&S and was packing more lunches for the day! Off to the zoo we went. Today not PB&J though~ no today, we did protein. Turkey sandwiches were gobbled up quickly. We were at the zoo on a Sunday? Yep, zoos are generally open on Sunday's and there are quite a few people there getting their animal learn on with kids! I would have to say the higlight was saying hello to these guys:





















And the topper; well there is always the Just Right topper to a FUN weekend. It was having my hubby come home. Not often a wifey will say "love you" in a blog. But today it's well deserved. I love my man and feel proud that he is helping my family move forward with lifetime in their home.

It all turned out alRIGHT! On with the week!

How bout a nice cuppa hot sleep?

I have read lately that lack of sleep can be a serious problem.
Ahhh, problems.
Did sleep ever consider that problems may be causing the lack thereof?
Listen to me talking to sleep like it is gonna hear me out, ha!

Sleep seems to have been an ongoing "problem" for me for who knows how long.
Yeah, my kids do it on schedule every eve so it has to work. Every night around the time of 7:30 I start to glance at the clock and start to lead the conversations of "OK in 10 minutes you will have to clean up and get ready to take a shower/bath" and then from there I get the whiny
"BUT Mom...Not right now!"

Well guess what; Mom generally responds with this after their heads hit the pillow.

Used to be that Mommy responded this way to that time


Now it is along the lines of, what to do; watch t.v. which I rarely do to begin with? Be on the computer in attempts to catch up on the world, try to read a book, download some music, sit on the couch with my hubby and chillax? Ooooh, good word; chillax.

And the side effects listed are as follows?? I am in for some trouble then, because these are just general side effects of lack of sleep. I don't even want to know what the severe side effects are!

1. Headaches and pains in different areas of your head. You may also experience your eyes getting tired easier and having trouble staring at a TV or computer.

I certainly don't have troubles staring at my computer right now, but what I do have troubles with is any flashes of light, sunlight or bright lights- hmmmm, part vampire?

2. Sore muscles and joints are also very common since your body isn’t getting enough time to perform regular maintenance and body repairs. The majority of your muscle growth takes place at night while you sleep.

Yep, I feel the muscles and joints but isn't that from just being a Mom and getting older too? Wait a second, I haven't touched on not drinking enough water~ Water is the source of life so I am told. It might have to be holy water if I am part vampire.

3. Memory loss and having trouble concentrating are commonly linked to loss of sleep. You will probably not be able to remember what happened yesterday or if you are experiencing severe lack of sleep, what happened earlier that day.

Pssshtt...
I know earlier today. 4 a.m.= up with massive headache. 6:30 a.m.= up with children making breakfasts, lunch for school, going over routines of the morning etc.
Up! Always UP!

4. The color of your skin, especially the area around your eyes can take a bit of a hit. If you look in the mirror you will notice bags that form when you do not get enough sleep. If you want to look your best you better start catching more zzz’s at night.

Hi, my name is Melissa, I have always had a slight addiction to learning how to apply makeup. Meet my two very best friends from that world. Their names are yellow golden sun for my eyes and gorgeous green for my reds/purples. Then conceal. FOR REAL THEY WORK!


So tonight..without any make up to wash off before attempting to go to bed
I shall warm up to a cup of this:


But what, then, do we make of all the anecdotal evidence that says a glass of warm milk with special additives can do to help you fall asleep?
Well, here's the real kicker:

It may just be that the routine of drinking a glass of warm milk is like an old teddy bear that reminds you of home when your mom tucked you into bed at night.
How comforting is that?

Look at the Magic World!

Didn't think I would be highlighting my first post with that title, but those were the exact words out of my little girls mouth today. She said that exact phrase while throwing her arms straight up to the sky like she was shouting from a mountain top. These leaves were presents from her in the moments of play in our just rain soaked yard.

In every magical way she arranged them perfectly for Mommy on the steps next to me just as she would if she were bringing me all the damn beautiful yellow dandelions in the summertime. Well as you can see fall has arrived and our leaves are changing. Change is good in our lives, especially if it means it is within our household for the better. It means less allergies and stuffy noses, less itchy eyes and I actually can breathe a bit easier with the cold weather!
I like breathing. It is supposed to be a common thing we humans do, but as time has passed my breathing has come and gone not just by a freaking lifelong struggle with asthma (which is now controlled mostly) but with other events throughout life.
There was magic in some of these events of course.

Say for instance marriage; there I was 7 years ago standing at the alter with my husband. I breathed easy that day and continue to catch breathes of continuing love, understanding and arguments from hell some days. BUT this doesn't mean my marriage isn't magical. I see magic when we can continually work together for the greater good in our family. He loves me unconditionally. On a side note; 5 months after that day of alter vows I was breathing through labor of my first born son.

A lot has happened in the course of the 7 years.
I've seen many seasons pass, many opportunities come and also many of them go without blinking an eye. Well lo and behold I took up an opportunity some time ago that turned into something much more than I expected. Today I let it go~ And I let those who let all their nasty colors show when it came to someone else having a success in the opportunity know EXACTLY how I feel. Talk about breathing...It feels validating when you take the time to finally let it out. Granted it may have been in an email, but hey; it's how I've been communicated to for months?!

Know what pushed me to do it?
All the beautiful colors I saw being brought to my feet. Not by those who think they hold all the power over you because of their "title" but by tiny little minds who appreciate you for what you give and don't; no matter what. She encouraged me.
The storms came today finally, we needed them as it was so dry for too long. My eyes were opened, I breathed easier after releasing the nasty colors to the wind.


Look At The Magic World!

And so it begins

A blog...cue the violins and immediate thoughts of one who "blogs" right?!

I mentioned it today in a chat conversation with my gal pal. I simply stated; I should start blogging~ she said "me too, I used to" She asked me a simple question of "what else are you thinking about" it forced me to chat more with her about things. I love a good girlfriend.

Truth is though; there are not always gal pals there to force the thoughts and emotions out. So here is a spot where I can get em out. Look it's like an online girlfriend!

After all; it's not like I can't say what I want here. It's like a written journal which I have no time to write in, (my wpm on a keyboard is much quicker). I can whine while wining, get excited about what I feel/like, complain, bitch, moan, share a picture and be completely ME in my own little space without a word count. Funny part about it all is, I am going to be speaking whatever it is to an empty room. I don't need to sell, smile and be uppity here~ I can just BE. That peppery positively odd little self. And...cello.