I {heart} 10 on Tuesday

 I LOVE it.  I {heart} posting every week.  I feel connected.  I feel better when I can "vent" about what's on my mind instead of pretending I'm not thinking about it.  I'M GOING TO STICK WITH IT.  The honesty. It's one of my resolutions.  I don't really like to make resolutions, mostly because I don't want to admit if I break them.  But e got me thinking.  About all of the things I really want to accomplish, but haven't put on paper.  So for now, honesty is one of the things I'm putting on my it's important to follow-through with list :)  

1.. What do you think of the NEW header??  Are my kids growing up too fast, or what?@#!  As much as they bicker over toys, and seem to enjoy driving each other bonkers....they genuinely LOVE one another.  They snuggle all the time.  And Mommy melts :)

 2.. The new exercise regime is KILLING me!  I love P90X because it is VERY effective.  We've completed a week and have stretching today, week 2 starts tomorrow.  Thank goodness Ralph is such a good trainer/motivator/stick-with-it kind of guy......he's keeping me going.  It's not that I'm not motivated.  I really WANT to shed some pounds and tone up so I can lose the giant muffin top and jiggles so I feel better about myself.  There are days I would just rather sit.  still.  I'm fighting a cold that doesn't want to leave so I'm going to sweat it out.  Sleep just isn't an option.

3.. I drove BY the car wash yesterday.  Didn't stop because there were at least 10 people in line.  Math has never been my strong suit.....but I know how long the Co-op Car Wash takes to go through (feels like about 15 minutes per car when you are waiting in the line-up) multiplied by the 10 cars that were already there = TOO LONG A WAIT FOR ME!!  If I'm going to be sitting in the car for 2 hours, I want to be going somewhere!! 

4.. Here are the pics of Olivia's newly painted room:

Thank-you Ralph!!  It was such a nice surprise.....but let's be honest, I'm not really surprised that you couldn't wait to complete this project (xo) .....to come home to a freshly painted room that was exactly how I wanted it!  Now I need purple curtains, a pretty duvet cover and a pretty purple lamp!  And more stars on the wall.  And some cool picture frames and things to adorn the walls.  And paper lanterns!!

5.. I think Olivia may be ready for a big-girl bed.  She napped in Hayden's bed on the weekend (cause Daddy was painting her room!) and her cousins bed too.  She really seems to like it and she stays put till the end of nap time.  I am reluctant to let go of the crib because I don't want to let go of the baby phase.  But, I am SO excited to move on to the little girl phase....and continue decorating her room :)

6.. I had Ginger Beer for the first time in a long time on Sunday.  My dad used to buy it and I haven't seen it around because I haven't really been looking for it, I guess.  I happened to find some so I bought it.  And enjoyed it.  Ralph was less enthusiastic.

7.. Work is cutting into my "social" life.  And my weekends.  Does anyone else feel that way??  Which is strange, and a little bit crass,  because I work no more than 2 days a week.

8..I went to swimming lessons on Saturday morning before I had to work from 12-5 for Estee Lauder.  I wasn't thinking about pool attire, I was thinking about work attire.  Cute little skirt, tights, flat comfy shoes.  Nice.  Ralph got in the pool with Olivia because I didn't want to get wet.  I got to be the spectator this week.  I got Hayden ready and......shit.  I'm wearing tights.  And I can't take them off.  Why,  you ask?  Because I don't wear underwear when I wear tights......and my skirt was very short.  Shit.  As I walked out to the pool deck with Hayden, I caught everyone in their bare feet and rolled up jeans looking at me.  I know they were thinking; "why doesn't she just take off her tights??"  Only I knew the answer.  And I went to work with soggy feet.   

9.. My kids are loving Skype.  Almost every time I'm on the computer, Olivia asks to; "talk to Grandpa?"  It's a great way to chat...for FREE!

10. Hayden told me he wants his scars to go away so he can "be a real boy."  But that's a brutally honest Blog post that's for another day.....

Thoughts for Thursday

1..Swimming lessons have started on Saturday mornings!  I despise the water.....and get nervous in the shallow end while my feet are touching.....but the kids are loving it.  Hayden is in Sea Turtle again because his VRRI instructor wanted him to re-do it to gain confidence.  His Cardel Place instructor was surprised because he has already passed the level on class #2!  Oh well.  Confidence is a good thing.  Olivia continues to be a fishy and loves to sing the songs and jump off the side of the pool into the water even when Mommy isn't fully paying attention!!

2.. Saturday night out with the girls was super fun, and the service at DaGuido was..... interesting.  It's a long story :)  Regardless of the hour and a half wait to get our table....we certainly had some great laughs and some good eats.  Thanks ladies!  Looking forward to next time! 

 3..Toast.  My kids eat it every day, but their habits are completely different.  Olivia will eat one slice.  If we're lucky and the wind is blowing right.  Hayden is a bottomless pit.  He was STILL eating when I left for work on Sunday morning.....he was on his FOURTH slice!!  I'm thinking it's a growth spurt.  He also ate his teachers Nutri-Grain bar at school the other day because the snack I gave him wasn't big enough?!  Huh??  Sorry, Mrs.K :)

4..I wanted Hayden to stay home from school the other day because it was like -40 with the wind chill.  NO WAY Mommy.  What?@#!  I know one day I will be begging him to go to school.  Forcing him to get up and go.  But for now, it's me he needs to motivate when it's cold and miserable and I want to stay home and watch movies.  I thought PJ and movie day was every kid's dream day?!  Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy he loves school.  I love that he wants to go and play with his friends and learn a thing or two.  I hope to keep that feeling as long as possible.  Mommy just needs to suck it up.  And bundle up :)

5.. NOOD is the wickedest gadget-y store.  I bought some really cool magnets and pens and recycled paper note pads.  They had cool kitchen stuff too.  So I bought some trivets and silicone baking pans.  I could have bought A LOT more.  Next time :) 

6..Why have I had such a hard time finding a GOOD pencil sharpener??  I keep buying awful ones that end up chewing the pencils.   I remember that my dad used to have an electric sharpener on his desk and we used to love playing with it.  And it make wicked points on pencil crayons.  (Did anyone else love getting a new package of Laurentians, freshly sharpening them, and putting your initials on the little white space of each one??)  I almost paid $10 for a similar one at WalMart.  But I settled on the one for $4.97.  It works pretty good.  But it's not quite as much fun :)   I wonder if Dad still has that thing.....

7.. I think I may have been a teacher in a former life.  I stock-pile papers and pencils and markers and stickers and all of that jazz.

8.. I need to have an Olivia-cam.  She is saying so much and being so cute these days.  I think it would be fun to have the camera on her for a day just to capture the essence of "her." However, she may not allow it.  She's also developing the 2 year old 'tude.

9.. Hayden and I went tobogganing yesterday with his class.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon at "school."  We had a RIOT!!  It was sunny and we were toasty warm in our 17 layers of clothing.  Hayden looked like a goober, because they insisted the kids wear helmets, but we had some good runs and some GREAT wipe-outs.  Hayden even went down the hill without me a few times.....he wanted to go with his friends instead.  Oh God, that's not starting already, is it??  But he sure did his best to tire me out first.....

10.I made the most delicious blueberry scones last night.  (We had creme fraiche left over from another recipe so I told Ralph to Google "recipes with creme fraiche" and find something delicious for me to make.)  The only thing that would have made them better....white chocolate and some raw sugar on the top.  Like my favorite ones Starbucks used to have.  Do you see why I would utterly fail the Wild Rose cleanse?@#!

10 on Tuesday

1..My new favorite tool is the OXO Good Grips cherry (and olive) pitter that I got for Christmas!  It perfectly pops out a pit with no mess and no squishy fruit!  Next up, Greek salad with delicious and pit-free Kalamata olives....yum!

 2.. We have had lots of pictures of the kids in cardboard boxes lately, and the newest box came from the new coffee table.  The kids were thrilled with such a giant box and were happy to play in it while we oohed and aahed over our new table.  Leave it at that?  No way!  Not with my creative genius and MacGyver of a husband :) The pretend "car" is now a pimped out bus, complete with fabric seat belts, headlights and a steering wheel!!

3.. And here is the new-and-improved living room!  We got a cool new coffee table, an end table, and Ralph refinished the arms on our chairs to make them dark wood too...love it!!

 4.. I finally had my hair colored on Friday!! My hairdresser is an educator for Redken and they launched some new colors......my gray is gone and I LOVE my new look.

5.. Ralph's Winter Celebration was on Saturday night.  An after-Christmas party on a blizzardy night....I almost wanted to stay home in my jammies.  But we drove to the Coast Plaza hotel and had a really nice night (thanks Scott and Tessa for watching the kids!)

6..You gotta love Payless shoes.  Where else can you get a fun pair of red heels (that toally match the new highlights in my hair!) and a wicked pair of purple flats for only $45.00??  And I went in for plain 'ol black heels :) My feet were frozen but they sure looked cute!

7..I registered Hayden in Kindy on Monday morning.  Wow.  My baby is going to school Monday to Friday.  I decided to register him at Tuscany School and we'll see how well it fits Mr. Hayden.  My hope is that he will excel in his new environment, and I'll have worried for nothing.  On second thought, I worry about everything so why would this be any different?!

8.. I have started Olivia's birthday party planning.  I'm thinking polka dots!!  And Ralph keeps warning me to NOT get carried away :)  I know she's only turning 2 and she doesn't care what the theme is, but it's so easy to be ridiculous!!

9.. I have a cold.  I feel yucky.  (It's either from my kids or the fact I went out half-dressed on Saturday night.  Or maybe a combo of both.)  I'm ABSOLUTELY NOT not giving up my New Years resolution to exercise more, but if I'm not feeling well, the last thing I want to do is work out. I'm on a brief hiatus until I'm healthy again.

10. Santa brought the kids these fun little plants for Christmas.  And they have already had their first haircut!

10 on Tuesday......plus one for Wednesday

1.. Christmas was quiet but good.  We had so much fun playing Santa for the kids, and their reactions were worth all the preparations!  The aftermath was shocking:

We hosted Christmas this year so the kids had lots of time to play while Mommy and Daddy cleaned up the mess and prepared dinner.  (We had non-traditional, but very delicious, Raclette.)

This is the only photo of the kids dressed up.....and standing still!

2.. Santa has a sick sense of humor.  Here's one of the little gems from my stocking:

We decided to try them.  I thought maybe they were being silly and just trying to make you think you were eating gross flavors. BIG mistake. I got a pencil shavings (ew!) followed by a juicy pear (...ok) and then a baby wipes (gross!)  I flat out refuse to eat any more. I'm not lucky enough to keep getting good flavors :)

3.. I asked for a watch for Christmas.  I got a watch for Christmas. It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for and I felt awful telling Ralph that I didn't love it.  He tried really hard to pick out something he thought I would like.  But what's worse??  Telling him I like it but never wearing it, or telling him I would like to exchange his gift for something else?? We did go and exchange it for a watch that I love.  And he said he'll never try to buy me a watch again.  I've come to the conclusion that a watch is a pretty personal piece of jewelery, and you're better off with a gift card to go and pick out one for yourself :)

4.. If Clairns makeup remover can take a Sharpie mustache off of a Cabbage Patch kid, imagine what it can do for your mascara!!

5.. Our New Year's Eve was pretty fun....until I had to work the next day at 9am :)  There was a big party at Tessa & Scott's, and though I'm not the biggest fan of the holiday, I sure had enough booze to make for a great time! You'll have to check Facebook for the rest of the debauchery.....

6.. Happy 34th Birthday Ralphie!!  Our Holiday celebrations are always brought to a close with Ralph's birthday (on January 2nd.)  I always feel bad for him that everyone is tired and done with the partying and going out.  I had to work this year so the poor guy even made his own dinner! (And Olivia blew out the candles on his cake.) But I got him some cool presents to make up for it :)

7.. Ralph went back to work today.  BOO!  Co-parenting this last week has been awesome and I miss having my hubby around.  Olivia has become quite the Daddy's Girl so she is also missing Daddy BIG TIME! 

8.. Fabric softener.  Where have you been all my life?  For someone who hates the animal fat crap in dryer sheets and refuses to use them, but struggles with static because the Method sheets she loves are not so great for the static cling....how have I NOT used fabric softener.  It really is glorious.

9.. December was a wash for working out.  And to be honest, so was November :)  As a result, I have gained.... 8 POUNDS!!! What?@#!  I almost fell over when I saw that ugly little number.  The weight-loss goal is actually 13 pounds. Minimum.  I had 5 extra pounds that shouldn't have been there in the first place, and it is glaringly obvious the eggnog lattes and holiday snacking took their toll.  Crap.

10. Time to knuckle down and work.  No more snacking.  Working out 5 days a week.  Hello New Year....and Bye Bye FATSO!! 

And one more for Wednesday:

This is my FAVORITE photo from the holidays.....my two handsome boys on Christmas day!