Second half of the week

Mommy "Style":  Thursday, I looked nice, white shorts and a purple(ish) tank top.  Before I could get pictures, marker on my shorts.  GRRRR.  Luckily, the shorts are washable.

Friday: 

Another repeat.  I will be sad when I retire these shorts.  But then again, they do nothing for my butt.  

Accomplishment: I finally finished the laundry.  And it was nice for the twenty minutes that it lasted.  I also almost got the house cleaned.  That was nice while it lasted.  Living with 3 mini tornadoes and a housekeeper who doesn't like to clean means a not very clean house at times.

High/Low: High:  I love picking up the kids from school.  The big hugs are so nice.  Low: I haven't gotten a good night's sleep.  I'm running of coffee most of the time, and that doesn't really make feel like doing anything.  And it gives me the jitters sometimes.  

Activities: Thursday: the younger two kids and I went for a run while Oliver was in school.  And then ate lunch.  After lunch, Phil decided that he'd go for a run too.

 He went complete with head phones, just like Daddy.  

After school, we came home and did nothing.  Oliver liked that.

Friday: During school, Fred and I came home, he napped and I screwed around on my phone.  I also got some of the cleaned, but didn't get finished all the way.  After school, since it has been a good week with minimal complaints about school, we went to the toy store.  Oliver got Angry Birds in Space the game.  He played it for hours, setting  up the different ways to knock everything down, knocking it down.  It was a good toy. Phil got a knight that goes with the Imginex castle.  I don't know if that was as good of a toy. 

Menu: Wednesday: bagel, sausage biscuits from McDonalds's.  (Don't judge too harshly.  I've been craving them and I doubt that I'll eat any again any time soon.) Chili for dinner.  Thursday: bagels, sandwiches, fried chicken with buttermilk biscuits and spinach.  

So, both the fried chicken and the biscuits came from Pinterest.  

Here's the fried chicken

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/buttermilk_fried_chicken/

I didn't like it.  It was greasy, the coating was weird, and honestly with the price of the chicken and buttermilk, I'd rather go to Popeyes and get to me better chicken.

And since I had left over buttermilk and I don't like buttermilk pancakes that much, I had a recipe for biscuits too.

http://www.traceysculinaryadventures.com/2013/03/foolproof-flaky-buttermilk-biscuits.html#.UiHObTakqvH

They weren't as awesome as the blog made them out too be.  Some of it was my fault.  I didn't roll the dough as thick as it needed to be so they came out flat.  But the recipe included, honey and I didn't like the flavor.  It was off or strange and weird to me and I think I'll keep my current recipe.

School has FINALLY started!

Mommy "Style": Sunday: running shorts and tank tops.  

 M0nday  I feel that the proportions are all wrong with this combo.  I've worn the top with shorter shorts and like it that way.  And I've worn the top with real jeans and like it that way  too, but I think this particular match up sucks. 

 Tuesday: I wore the shorts from Monday and the purple and green striped t-shirt that I've worn multiple times in the past few weeks.

Wednesday:

This isn't a great look, but I've been slacking on doing laundry, so all of the shirts that I like to wear aren't clean. :(

High/Low: High: School has finally started for the two older kids and it is awesome! Low: I hate getting the kids ready.  Esp. Phil, he isn't really potty trained enough, but I'm trying to encourage it and get him there, but he still manages pee in his pants 10 minutes after going to the potty.   I suppose this really means that he's not really ready to be trained, but he hates to wear a diaper.  It gets really frustrating sometimes.

Accomplishment: I have managed to get some of the laundry done.  And I went for a run with the kids in the jogging stroller.  I'm not sure if I really like it, but I need to be able to run.

Activities:  

Sunday: We enjoyed the last true Sunday of the summer by swimming at my sister's house.  

Phil jumping off the diving board.  I need to get him swim lessons.

Monday: We met the teachers for the school year.  Phil was super excited.  Oliver was not. Oliver refused to even visit the room or see the teachers.  Phil didn't want to leave.  

Tuesday:  Oliver's first day of school!  I think he's the only kid in the history of the world to have homework on the first day of pre-K!

Wednesday:  Phil's first day of school! He did quite well once he got there.  And the baby and I went to Target and Trader Joe's by ourselves.  That was quite nice.

Pictures:  

From today.  Yesterday was little hectic.  I don't think it will really matter in a few years.

Menu: Sunday: fruit and cheese, hot dogs with fruit, steak, corn, and asparagus for dinner.  Monday: cheese for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and pasta, sausage, broccoli for dinner.

Tuesday: bagels, sandwiches, pork chops, rice, and mixed veg for dinner.

Random cuteness:

Wait, what two days(ish) in row?!

Mommy "Style": Repeat of the pink shorts with a grey top.  And I wore black shoes with it.  IF I was one to accessorize my outfits (which I am totally for, but seem to suck at) I would add a black bead necklace or it was fall either a black scarf tied in a trendy manner or a black sweater.

Accomplishment: I went for a run for the first time a few weeks.  Damn, it felt really good.  I was a little sore afterwards because it's been so long, but the weather was so nice.  Planning on doing it again.

High/Low: High:  No melt downs at the shoe store.  Low: My cold seems to be getting worse.  It has gone from the minor annoyance stage to sore throat and dripping nose. I freaking hate colds.  

Activities:  We ate lunch out as a family, bought Matt fancy new running shoes for his birthday, and then we went to garden store and bought seeds for the fall/winter garden.  

Menu: scrambled eggs, bacon, and a banana.  It was a great breakfast!  I didn't feel hungry after it all day.  Beef and cheddar from Arby's for lunch.  And steak, sauteed zucchini, and mac-n-cheese.  

A week in review

Mommy "Style":  More of the same.  I guess that is why I haven't been updating. No excuses.  I always say that I'll get better and I mean it, but have a hard time following through.  Is it perfectionism? Fear of failure? Lack of something?  I don't know. 

At any rate:  Here is today's outfit:

This look feels very summery.  And summer has come back!  I think I'm happy about that, except I hate the heat! Oh irony!



Accomplishment: I cut the power off at our old house.  I really hope the short sell goes through.  I'm afraid we make too much money, I don't think we make enough to really keep the house and rent it.  But I'm sure according to the mortgage company's math, we make plenty.  I also have successfully avoided doing laundry. Or going for runs.

High/Low: High: I've managed to keep my temper a little better.  I have been having problems feeling overwhelmed and just at the end of my rope.  Nothing is particularly different, but I feel stressed out and ready for a change.  And yet I hate change, usually because change (in the past few years) has been negative or stressful.  Low: I still need to work on my temper.  I resort to yelling quicker than I'd like.  And my children are awful in restaurants. I need to make some awesome busy bags for them.

Activities: Tuesday: We stayed at home all day and played.  It was nice.  Wednesday: The jumping place, because the thought of staying inside all day again was not a happy one.  Unfortunately, Oliver got bitten several times by fire ants.  He's already anxious about insects, this I think is going to send him over the edge into full blown terror.  Thursday: I bought a used jogging stroller.  I hope that once school starts I will be able to go on runs at least three days a week.  After that we went to the park.  And then yesterday evening, I went to the parent teacher night at the school.  I think it is going to an interesting school year.  We'll see if it is going to be interesting good or interesting bad.  Friday: park in the morning as a test run in getting ready for school, and then we drove down to our old city and paid the last utility bill and terminated the service.  

Menu: Tuesday: oatmeal, turkey sandwich, braised short ribs that came out great! 

Wednesday: oatmeal, turkey sandwich, bbq.  We used to live reasonably close to great bbq.  I love it.  The beef is moist and has the right about of fat to keep from being dried out.  But since we've moved, it is too far to drive esp on a week night.  It would be okay on a weekend, but I hate taking the kids out for dinner.  Unfortunately, I thought I had all of the ingredients for dinner, but lacking the ricotta for manicotti. And I didn't realize it until too late to finish making dinner.  So we went out to bbq.  It was okay.  But the restaurant was very loud, and our service felt slow or at least disinterested in our table.  And then Phil went full on two year old crazy.  Ugh.  I hate two year old crazy.  Oliver used to be crazy and he's grown out of it, so I'm sure that it is the age.  I've been trying to eat at home not only because it is cheaper, but also because the kids are so poorly behaved I hate being THAT parent.

Thursday: oatmeal, hot dogs, and the manicotti that we were supposed to have on Wednesday.  

Friday: oatmeal, chicken and fries from Zaxbys, and then chicken enchalitas for dinner.

A Birthday!

Yesterday was my husband's birthday.  In some ways, we celebrated over the weekend doing fun things without the older kids around.  And we're between babysitters right now, so we weren't able to do something alone.  I feel guilty about asking family members to watch all three for long periods of time.  Three small children can be a handful.  It will (hopefully) be easier to ask when the kids are all elementary aged.

Mommy "style"  

Another repeat.  Weather has returned to something approaching summer like weather.  However, I don't think that we'll be seeing anything remotely like hot and humid that I'm used to in August and early September. 

Accomplishment: I cleaned up the downstairs before my mother-in-laws showed up with the kids for dinner.  The house looked good to me.

High/Low: High: Having the kids home again.  I really do love them and miss them.  I like the breaks because it reminds how much I love them.  Low: Neither of the older kids wanted to go to sleep.  And it makes very annoyed with myself that I get annoyed that the kids won't sleep.  It is really hard to get them asleep sometimes.

Activities: I went to the big box sporting goods store to buy new running shoes for Matt.  I left annoyed because one: there was nobody working in the shoe department.  I think I waited for about 5 minutes and nobody checked on me or even walked by so I could flag them down.  I left without the shoes and I'll be going to the specialty running store from now on even though they cost more but I get much better service. I then went to a couple of other store and figured out that denim shirts are going to be a hot trend for fall.  I guess I need to figure out how to wear something like that.  I didn't inherit any stylish genes from my parents. And the kids came home, and my mother in law stayed for dinner.  It was nice.

Menu: scrambled eggs, a Reuben, and tacos for dinner.

WTF weather!

 The weather is freakishly cool right now.  We're having temps that are more like early October than mid-August!  All I want are soups and stews to eat but won't

Mommy "style":  Friday I wore jeans and a t-shirt and didn't take a picture of it. :(

Saturday, I wore one of my favorite fallish outfits.  I don't really know why I feel on trend when I wear this outfit, but I like it a lot.

Sunday, normal wear stuff for me.  Again, I like the combo of pink and grey probably a little too much.

Accomplishment: I went out of the house for a few hours by myself!!!! And it was glorious!

High/Low: High: I got to spend time with my favorite piece of artwork at our art museum.  I really like the picture. Low: Because of the weather and poor planning, I was unable to go for any runs this weekend.  I feel fat and flabby.

Activities: Friday, the kids an I went to their MaMoo and  Wita's house.  And the older two stayed the weekend.  They come home today to celebrate Matt's birthday and we're having tacos for dinner.  Saturday, Fred and I went to the farmer's market (yes, that kind) and bought lots of yummy produce and bacon.  And all of the farmers are also having the same problems in their fields as in my garden with all of the rain.   And Sunday, Fred, Matt and I went to art museum, and then dinner.  It was a nice weekend.

Menu: Friday: oatmeal, pizza, and tapas.  Saturday: muffin, BLT with avocado, chicken potpie.  Sunday: muffin, quesdillas, burgers.

Other:  I know that am now an "experienced" mom.  One, I feel the urge on commenting to other people about siblings and how to cope.  And when I have ONLY the baby, I feel very free!  It is very liberating.

Fall(ish) Weather

Today has a hint of fall weather in the air.  It's cool and the humidity is rather low.  It is AWESOME!  Fall is my favorite time of the year.

Mommy "Style":   Tuesday I wore a repeated outfit of jean shorts and a t-shirt.  Once this season is over, I'll have to retire that pair of shorts.  They're finally starting to show their age.  It makes me sad because I love those shorts.  Sigh.

Today:

I'm sure I'll be wearing this into the fall.  And probably winter with a sweater.

Accomplishment: Yesterday, Matt and I went over our budget.  It's still a work in progress, but I think he's on board to watch our spending.  Today, I went to the mall and only bought ONE thing: shoes.

High/Low: High:  We've had a lot of luck with Phillip's potty training.  I think that we're mostly there at least at home.  Low: Last night, Baby Fred was very cranky and didn't want to sleep.  I had to leave him in his crib for a little bit because he wouldn't settle which only made him more hysterical. I really hope this tooth pops through soon so it will stop bugging him (and me!).

Activities: Out of the house: yesterday: grocery store.  Today: the mall: shoe store, lunch, carousel, and soft play space.  Fun stuff at home: Yesterday: I've been experimenting with homemade laundry detergent. I'm not sold on the idea: it doesn't work particularly well on children's stains or workout funk. I thought maybe I should add in some more soap to the mix of baking soda, borax, and washing soda so I used the blender to cut up the soap.  And then instead of running the blender through the washing machine I just added water to the soap residue.  It made the best foam and the kids and I played with it.  Here are the younger two enjoying sensory experience.

Phillip is blowing into the container to see what happens.

Today we've been running outside to fight the monsters as Transformers.  

Menu: Yesterday: oatmeal, hot dogs, and then beef stroganoff.  Today: oatmeal. gyro, and pancakes with fruit for dinner.

Trying to regain

Some momentum on posting.

I'm just going to start with Tuesday for Mommy "style" because that is the easiest, and I only have pictures for Tuesday.


Mommy "style" 

Added bonus of preschooler style!

Normal look.  It actually is one of the better ones recently, as in I didn't mind meeting people I know because hey, I look pretty acceptable.  

Accomplishment: Cleaned up the master bedroom.  And managed not to scream at the kids.  And I did an inventory of the kids fall clothes.

High/Low: High:  Overall, I'm feeling really good.  I've had a couple of weeks of feeling down and right now, I'm feeling really good.  It is nice.   Low: Way too many kids falling on their heads. Some of is that Fred is learning to walk and is still uncertain on his feet.  Oliver and Phil, I don't know.  I guess kid clumsiness.  

Activities: Sunday: Swimming with my sister. Monday: Home Depot, kids consignment, Target, Moes for lunch, and then Whole Foods. Tuesday: It's a good thing that I looked decent today because we went to mommy group today.  And it was nice to people.  It has been awhile since I've seen people from this group.

Menu: Sunday: Breakfast: bagels. Lunch: hot dogs, fruit, and chips. Dinner: Meatloaf, mac -n cheese, and spinach.  Monday: Breakfast: bagel. Lunch: burrito from Moe's.  And since it was $5 Mondays, it was crazy busy! Dinner: Salmon, rice, and okra. Tuesday: Breakfast: oatmeal. Lunch: quesadillas.  Dinner: grilled chicken, broccoli, and tomatoes with basil and balsamic vinegar.  

Other: The veggies for dinner Monday and Tuesday came from the garden!!!! That was pretty awesome!  The garden is a lot of fun to work in, but at the same time I wish it was producing a bit more.  

A week in one

After this I hope to return to regular postings.

Mommy "style": Repeats of stuff I've worn before.  I plan taking pictures again, because hey it was fun to see the patterns in what I wore.

Accomplishment: We haven't really done much, but I have posted about my trip and keeping up with this blog.  I'm pretty proud of it, I usually lose interest much sooner.

High/Low: High: The kids have been sleeping really well at night, so Matt and I have had some really nice quality time.  Low:  I deleted Angry Birds in a fit of frustration because the kids want to continually be on my phone rather than playing or being active.  I don't mind that they play games.  I play games, I probably spend too much time on my phone.  But seriously, all Oliver has wanted to do was play Angry Birds.  It isn't good, so I deleted it. I'll put it back on my phone in a bit, but the kids need a break.  

Activities:  On Wednesday, we went to Costco.  They already had out their Halloween costumes and the start of some Christmas stuff.  Christmas! It's freaking August 11!  I will buy the kids their Halloween costumes there, but not yet because I know they'll want to wear them for dress-up and I'd the costumes to be nice enough to wear on Halloween.  Thursday we went to the park.  Friday, we stayed home.  And Saturday, we stayed home and played with moon sand.  That was both fun and messy.  

Menu:  Nothing new.  I can't remember what we've eaten so it must have been regular food.

Trip Back Home

We stayed in Pittsburgh for only two actual days.  We left on Monday and drove back.

I don't plan on ever making that long of a trip with small children ever again.  It was very, very long.  It got long because Oliver kept asking about a Dino-bot over and over again.  Baby Fred didn't like being in the car and started crying a lot.  And Phillip was just bored and wanted to get out too.  And my dad was there too. Oh, hey, my dad is transgendered... so, I'll be saying she.  She was helpful and a good travel companion most of the time...except she kept telling me how to drive.  I realize that she was a long-haul truck drive all of my life and knew the roads that I was travelling.  But seriously, I know how to drive.  I've never been in a major accident and I've driven on mountain(ish) roads before this trip.  And I'm driving a car, not a huge truck with a full load behind it, so it handles differently.  It got very annoying and by the end of the trip on Monday I was over it!  We actually had a fight about a stop sign.  Of course I was going to stop I was pulling up the 4 laned main road.  However, most the time, the companionship was nice and helpful.


Mommy "Style":  Shorts and t-shirts.  Luckily, this time in Virginia I was better dressed. Not nearly as trashy.  

Accomplishments:  I said no to the dino-bot the entire time.  And I'm still saying no to it.  It will probably be a Christmas toy, if he still wants one when Christmas comes around.

High/Low:   High: Coming home. It is very nice to be home.  Low: That stupid argument   And listening to the kids whine in the car.

Activities: On the way home, we stopped at the New River Gorge.  That was neat, the kids didn't really see it.  They looked, but they didn't see it.  Oh, well.  Keep trying I guess.

Menu: We stayed in Hillsville VA on the way home, and I had really good Chinese.  And the Holiday Inn Express had a really good breakfast buffet.  I was very impressed.  

The bridge across the gorge.  We didn't hike to the bottom.

Looking at butterflies

Running off some energy.

Part 2: Actually in Pittsburgh!

Mommy "style":  Mostly repeats.  I'll start taking pictures again.  Here is what I wore to the Memorial Service.

It isn't the greatest outfit in the world.  I look at people who know how to dress and find clothes that fit them, and I wonder where they buy their clothes or what their secret is to make Target clothes look great.  This blog really has helped me think about my clothes and want to look better.  I don't want to look like crap, but don't want to invest the money/TIME to find things that fit.  And it's hard to find things that fit when you have little kids that don't want to go shopping! Maybe when school starts back, I'll be able to do some shopping and find better things.  I slowly want to replace my wardrobe.  

High/Low:  High: Spending time with my family and a friend who lives in Pittsburgh.  Low: My aunt's memorial service.  She was a remarkable person, every stranger was a friend she hadn't met yet.  And organized and soo neat.  I wish I had known her better.  And the kids were very poorly behaved during the service.

Accomplishment: Does keeping my cool with my kids count?  It was a long a trip.  If it doesn't, then I managed to get back to the trolley/train system in Pittsburgh after the Pirates game by myself.

Activities:  Saturday: the Memorial Service, lunch, Pirates game.  Sunday: riding the Duquesne Incline, lunch with my friend, nap at the hotel, and then dinner over at a relatives house.  Lots of late nights.  

Menu: not the greatest, all restaurant food. Some of it was good, the weird sandwich with the fries on it.  Most of it was okay.  Oh, and my cousin made this amazing drink of vodka, grapes and basil muddled, and club soda.  It tasted like summer in a glass.

Pictures after the jump

Part the First Wednesday thru Friday

I'm going to break with the normal format for my trip up north. Sorta


Mommy Style: jean shorts and t-shirts.  Actually Friday I wore a tank top and looked particularly trashy.  It was not one of my better looks.  I feel bad for anybody who saw me at the rest stops in Virginia  West Virginia  and at the pizza resturarnt in suburban Pittsburgh.

Accomplishment:   Keeping my cool during epic whinefests during the end of the drive.

High/Low:  High: Seeing family.  Low: See epic whinefests

Food:  Breakfast: oatmeal.  Lunch: roast beef with horseradish sandwiches. dinner: hamburgers on  Thursday and Pizza on Friday.

Activities:  Wednesday was spent doing laundry and packing.  Thursday we left for PA staying at my aunt's in North Carolina. The we in this trip consists of me, my father, and my three kids. The first part of the drive up there wasn't too bad, but Oliver realized that we weren't going to be home at night and started screaming about how he wanted to go home and didn't want to visit family and was generally a miserable kid.  It was beyond awful.   Then Fredrick decided that he had enough of being in the car and the last hour was filled with Oliver and Fredrick screaming at the top of their lungs.  Phillip was upset, but he wasn't doing much crying.  We got to my aunts and after settling down (which took awhile) we went to stream on their property and threw in rocks.  We also spent time talking with family.  The next day, we leave to finish the trip to Pennsylvania.  I remember the trip taking not as long, but then again I didn't do with three very young children.  It was very long.  Not only did I have to make several stops that I might not have but there was the whining on top of the stops and it made the hours seem very long.  When we FINALLY got to Pittsburgh, I
 was so relieved because then I didn't have to drive anymore.  

Pictures:  From North Carolina and on the road

North Carolina

Running away from the camera

Rest Stop

Enjoying lunch

It feels good to get out of the car!

There is a reason for the lack of updates

We've been in PA for my wonderful aunt's funeral.  It has been great celebrating her life with family and friends.  Hopefully tonight after the kids go to bed I'll feel like doing a proper update.  I've been mostly wearing the same things that I have been for the past month.  However the activities have been pretty different.