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.