Friday, May 31, 2013

SWEEP!

Reasons why today is totally awesome

  • The Mister and I were able to get all of our grocery shopping done BEFORE the crazy thunderstorms hit AND before Clara had any type of meltdown!
  • Buehrle and I were able to squeeze in a 3 mile run before the storms hit as well!
  • On of my favorite bloggers "liked" one of my pictures on facebook!  

(I might of acted like a school girl with a crush after I saw this.  The Mister might of also made a ton of jokes at my expense.  It was worth it.)

  • I found out that costco sells beets that are precooked and just beets!  No preservatives or chemicals! 





Wednesday, May 29, 2013

New Order: Crystal


Tomorrow is our home inspection.  

Wish us luck! 


I still feel like this is to good to be true and the deal will fall apart. 

That's normal, right?

Pretty in Pink with her birthday cake


Happy Humpday!


New Order - Crystal by scootaway

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Teen

Last night, while the girls and I were driving, Rhiannon commented on how fast this year has went by.  

I told her to hang on.  

Once you start feeling the years go by faster, they never slow down!

Well..... 
Today my sweet little girl has officially turned 13.

I have a teenager.

What. The. Hell.  

Where did all of the years go? 
How is this even possible?

(Please make it slow down!)




3 Months Old
6 Months Old 


One Year



I don't know about you, but I remember being 13. 


(It was painful.)

(Probably not as painful as trying to make this holiday card, though!)
December, 2005


2003, dancing at Grandma's

2002, Halloween 
3 1/2, Being goofy on the worlds scariest staircase.





Rhiannon, I hate to tell you this, but the next eight years are going to be the most confusing times of your life.



Lucky for you, your mom knows all the answers.

2010
Seriously, I may not be the typical "Mom knows best," but I have screwed up enough in this life for the both of us.

From friends to jobs to school to feelings...if you are confused by any of it.....ask me.

I may not always know what the right thing for you to do is, but I can ALWAYS tell you if you are doing the wrong thing.
(Because I always did the wrong thing!) 

Here are a few suggestions to get you on your way during the teenage years.

1.  Never-ever lose your sass.
(But always know when it is time to put it on a shelf.)

Having sass is good.  But never use it to hurt someone. 

Stay humble and stay sweet, but never lose your sass.
As long as you have that you can never be treated like a doormat.  

Age 5

2.  Don't be afraid to feel things.

For some reason, most people think becoming a teenager means you should turn into a stone pillar.  Life is to short and goes by to fast for you not to feel the emotions in every situation.

It is okay to feel sad about things.  It is okay to be overly ecstatic.  It is okay to fall head over heals in love.  It's okay to feel anger.  Don't try to suppress your feelings, from crying to laughing to everything in between!

  Remember, you will never get today back.  You will never get those feelings back.

Emotions are good.  They are meant to be felt.  
It means you are alive!
Christmas at Grandma's, 2006.

3.  Make new friends.

Every single encounter you have will shape your life, but none will shape you more then the experiences and memories you will have with your friends. 

And this is very important to remember - you will have some friends for two weeks, some for two years and a select few for two+ decades.  

Every single person you meet is meant to be in your life for a reason, but not every single person you meet is supposed to be in your life forever.  

The quicker you learn this, the happier you will be.

Rhiannon and her best friend, first day of 3d grade.

4.  Have good, clean, wholesome fun.

You have your whole life ahead of you to act like an adult.  
Don't try and act like one in your teen years.  

Once you lose your innocence, you can never ever get it back.  And that is a big deal 

Treasure it.

After the color run, Age 12

5.  Give plenty of time for yourself.

One of the hardest parts of being a teen is how spread thin you will become.  
It is important for you to make time for school, extracurricular, friends, family etc.  

However, the most important person you need to make time for, is you.  
If you don't have a clear head you will be of no use to anyone.  

You are the most important person in your life.  
This is not selfish, it is essential!  
Try and give yourself some extra time each day!
(Even if it is just for ten minutes!)

The day before 7th grade

6.  When in doubt, always dress it up.

(It's always better to look well put together then to look like a slob.)

Always.


December, 2012

7.  Always dance to the beat of your own drum.

Dancing makes you happy. Dancing keeps you young.
Why would you ever want to stop either of those things?

Wherever you go and whatever you do in life, never stop dancing to your own rhythm and beat!  

It is what makes you, you!

Summer of 2010

8.  Never forget your #1 fan.  
(I'll give you a hint, it's me!)

  • There will never be anyone in your life who will be rooting for you more then me.  
  • No one will hold their breath as they watch you try new things.
  • No one will cringe as hard as they watch you fail.
  • No one will cry as much when they see you hurt.
  • No one will be more proud as they watch you succeed and see all of your wildest dreams come true.

Even when you hate me.
Even when I want to shake you.

I will always be there for you.
I will always be proud of you.
I will always love you.
2011

Happy Birthday, Rhiannon!  
Welcome to your teenage years!


May 28, 2013




Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Mountain Sound

Tonight the Mister and I are going to see these guys.  

I'm super duper excited!
  
It's the last part of our first anniversary fun-time celebration.


(The Mister told me how when he went to the record store to buy me this album, so he would have a place to hide the tickets, the uber cool dude that was working literally rolled his eyed and treated the Mister like he was an idiot for asking about this band.)

Oh, to be super cool again.



Happy Humpday!

Monday, May 20, 2013

Hyenas

This weekend the girls and I made another short and sweet trip to Long Hared Grandma's house for my little sister's bridal shower.  It was fantastic to see everyone and I do believe she made out like a bandit at that shower!

Clara and Rhiannon were so happy to see their aunts and cousins.  The entire weekend was go go go go, play play play play!  Clara even slept most of the way home.  However, when she woke up she told me about a dream she had where the two of us went into the forest to visit the hyenas.

(Hyena's are Clara's new favorite animals.  Probably not the animal you want your 3 yr old to root for in the Lion King, but.....)  

Then for the rest of the trip (a little over two hours) Clara screamed and fussed about how we 

"HAD to go to the FOREST to see all her friend HYENAS!"


I promised her, if she would please please for the love of god stop screaming, we would ride our bikes to see the hyena's in the morning. 

It worked. 

Clara enjoyed the rest of the car ride and Rhiannon and I enjoyed the non screaming three year old. 

Without fail, about 6:45 this morning, Clara crawled into my bed and asked if the Hyena's were awake yet?  

So even though my house is a complete disaster area, I have laundry coming out the wazoo and I have house guests coming tomorrow morning, we suited up and rode across town to see ourselves some Hyena's!

Taking a "rest"

I made her wait ten minutes so Mama could get some coffee from the field house before we walked to the Hyena enclosure.  As you can see from above, it was a bit tortuous for her.

Luckily, the zoo offers Hyena carousel rides, too!


Still, ain't nothing like the real thing and once the carousel stopped she was ready to go!

When we finally got to the Hyena enclosure, they proved to hold true to their mannerisms by not wanting to have anything to do with us human folk.

Thankfully, this very shy but also very curious guy, briefly came out of his cave to say hello a few times.


It seemed to appease the wee one, and that is good enough for me!

Happy Monday!



Friday, May 17, 2013

Homemade Slides

Do you know what the hardest part of buying a house has been?

WAITING FOR THE SELLER'S REPLY!

The Mister and I are both feeling the same way.  

It's like when you were in middle school waiting for an answer on if your latest crush wants to "go out".  

I can't remember when I've had this many butterflies floating around in my stomach!

In other news.....Check out this awesome picture Rhiannon took while watching Clara for one of the Mister and I's date nights awhile back.


Yeah, that would definitely not happen if we were home.

(This home made slide goes right to the giant old metal vents we have coming out of our wall.)

But, in their defense, they were getting along!

Have a fantastic weekend!


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Drunken Lullaby

Yesterday was the Mister's birthday.
I didn't forget it was his birthday.

I know the day he was born.  
It happens to be the same day we officially started dating. 
Those are both pretty big days in the life of me.

 In my defense, I am terrible with keeping up days during the month.......

so........
Last week I had scheduled for us to look at (5!) different properties last night.

 Like a total jerk of a wife.

However....while looking we found a house that the owners have turned the basement into an Irish style pub.  And it looks exactly like the Irish  pub I was working in when the Mister and I met.


We actually decided to start dating at that pub.....on his birthday.....five years prior to the day.....

To say we freaked out a little bit is an understatement.  
Our Realtor kept using hand gestures to me to tone it down a notch....

(oops!  Sorry Marie!)

The guy who owns the house did the entire renovation himself.  He was very nice and he kind of reminded me of my dad, in the sense that he know what the hell he was doing and talking about when it came to  the whole house and every wire in it.  Besides the basement being really cool (half pub and half kids room - meaning we could drink in our bar alone because none of our friends will be there - unless we can convince you to move out there.....) the rest of the house was completely redone and turnkey as well.

It was definitely NOT in the style we would ever chose, (it was pretty terrible, actually) but bad design choices are things I enjoy fixing.

There are two definite pluses for us where this house is concerned:

It's on 2 acres
It backs to the forest preserve


HOWEVER

I am going to be completely honest.  
The forest preserves kind of freak me out.  

I feel completely safe living in the city of Chicago.  


I know what neighborhoods to stick to.  
I know how to use public transportation.  
I know how to avoid dangerous situations and how to keep people from lurking up on me.  


These are all skills I can teach my girls to use as well.  

I can teach them to protect themselves against potential predators  (of the human variety) whilst living in urban areas.  

Do you know what I can't do?  

Teach them to protect themselves from:
-snakes 
-bears 
-cougars 
-wild raging deer 
-flesh eating birds
and potential human predators hanging out in the forest preserves.  




And that scares the bejesus out of me.  

(Not sure if you've caught on but I'm not really the "outdoorsy" type of gal.)

{Also, if we DO decide to buy this house and we are friends and you come to visit and you have a small dog, don't ever bring it over.  There is an endangered red hawk that decided to nest in one of the tree's and it likes to eat small dogs as a snack.  I'm not making this part up either.  The owner told me some pretty terrible and sad stories.} 

I wonder if it eats chickens as snacks too?


{I've failed (musically) as a parent when it comes to my oldest.  She listens to really bad country and thinks Nickelback is the best artist around. }

{Clara thinks Flogging Molly is the best "Pirate Music" ever.  She asked for it today and has been running around, dancing and crashing into walls like a drunk small person all day.  It makes me happy so I am giving it to you, too.}



Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullaby by hphil_

Happy Humpday!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Instagram

Okay, so I know that I am REALLY late to the Instagram party, but I have good reason for that.

I've never had an iPhone  nor have I wanted one.  Instagram finally has let their services be passed on to Samsung users.  

(Yay!)

So follow me if you want, and please pass on some info on how you like it/it works.  All I know is it immediately "friend-ed" all of my Facebook contacts (and that is about it.)


The Mister went all out on flowers for Mothers day again this year.  
We then went to what should have been a very lovely brunch.

Unfortunately, Clara didn't get the memo that she was supposed to be nice to us.  

Therefore throughout the whole brunch she whined.....and cried..... and sang loudly..... and spilled orange juice everywhere....... and then whined some more...... did a little crying..... tried to push her sister out of the booth....... cried..... whined......etc.etc.

I forget when the whining phase ends.  
Please tell me it is soon!

The Mister and I were both happy to escape to this........


(Even if I did get scared of a line drive coming towards my head.  Sorry I acted like Daria and shied away from what should have been an easy out, teammates....I'm not used to playing 2nd base!) 

Whether you celebrated Mother's day or not, I hope you enjoyed your gorgeous Sunday!


Happy Monday!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Call Your Mutha

This year I told the Mister what I wanted for mothers day.

To be far away from my children.



Don't judge.  Everyone needs a break sometime.  



And Sunday, it is my turn.

Happy Mom's day, Mama!  
I love you!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Alive

My little sister is here for a short and sweet visit.  This morning I took her with me to spin class.  This was her first time.  About twenty minutes in, she looked at me and said 

"I don't like this woman.  I feel like I am going to die."

After the class the instructor came up to us and said, "You two must be sisters."  with a smile.  We said yes and then the instructor pointed to me while looking at my sister and said "She brought you here didn't she?"  We answered yes.  The instructor laughed and said, "I could tell by the looks you were giving her."

So, since I tortured my little sister this morning, this week's song is for her.

It's her favorite.

Sorry, Michaela.

Can we still be friends?




Monday, May 6, 2013

Fears

Did you work on your fears this weekend?

She did!


We did as well.  

We went and looked at an old farmhouse this weekend.  

It needs work.  

And by work I mean I would want to tear down at least 5 different walls, it needs a complete kitchen rehab and two bathroom rehabs.  Since I grew up with this guy who can build/make/fix pretty much everything under the sun I see it as a fun challenge.  The Mister, however, just see's it as scary.  Right now we need to see if the foundation is okay, as there were a few scary looking spots.  Lets hope it is something a little tuck-pointing can fix and not something more serious.....

Have you ever been a part of a major house renovation?  
How did that work out for you?  
What were your biggest concerns?
(ex What did you and your partner disagree most on?)


Happy Monday, Folks!

Friday, May 3, 2013

A Scary Ghost Story

By:  Clara

Once upon a time there was a scary ghost named Rhiannon.  And she would always scare her puppy and she was very mean.  Then, one day, a dragon came and ate the Rhiannon ghost all up!  And he flew away.

The end!


Clara is constantly asking me to tell her ridiculous little stories throughout the day.  This is the story she came up with while "napping" with Buehrle.  I do believe, if I were to keep a baby book, this would be something I would put in it.  Because I don't want to forget this moment.  Ever.  

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Bicycle Race

Happy May Day, friends!  




Don't forget to surprise one of your neighbors with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  When I was a kid, we used to cut lilac sprigs off my mom's bush and leave them on my grandmothers step.  It was one of my favorite ways to celebrate spring!

Today I did something I told myself I would never ever ever ever do.  

Like EVER EVER do.

(Do you want to know how to instantly suck the cool factor out of your awesome vintage Schwinn bike?)



Put one of those on the back.



Want to know how to instantly suck all of the fun out of bike riding?

Put an overly cautious three year old in the seat.

I really wish she would have inherited just a little of my carefree spirit.  Instead she kept telling me over and over....

"This isn't safe, Mama!  Please stop going so fast!  I want to go home now!  There are to many bumps! I want to take a nap!  Please stop riding! I want Daddy!"

She is definitely her fathers daughter.

When we got home I assured her that this was very safe.  
I also let her know we are going to ride every day.  

I'll let you know how this ends up for me.




Happy Humpday!