Assistant Mommy

Today I shall wear a sweatshirt but only the hood for the arms will make me wail like a banshee.  This sweatshirt shall forever be my hoodie-only sweatshirt.  Thank you.

Lauren has officially been promoted to Assistant Mommy.  She spends her days bossing her brothers and telling her dad what to do (turn on the tv, answer the phone, move faster).  And she is always looking out for our best interest (Hey you left your cell phone! Isn't it time to let the dogs come in and clean this mess! Let's turn the tv off (or to any Spanish channel.)!).

In the evening she yells at her brothers to hurry up and get in/out of the shower.  She helps me with laundry.  She does regular security patrols in the kitchen to make sure the baby proofing is all set.  She gives us all the look...

Consider yourself admonished.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Despite Patrick's best efforts the Callahans did not catch the leprechaun this year!  The leprechaun did leave a bunch of clues that lead the boys to their treasure. 

He also left some green milk!

I made Green Velvet cupcakes to take to the Jansen's house for our St. Patty dinner.  p.s. I am saving my money to buy all of the Wilton frosting colors.  It is super concentrated and I love it.

Thanks for our St. Patrick's Day outfits Nana!

Maintenance

Distance: 13.02 miles
Time: 2:03:36
Avg Pace Per Mile: 9:13

My weekly running schedule usually goes something like this:
Wednesday Evening run 3-4 miles
Friday run 3 miles (sometimes I run to school to pick Patrick up, sometimes I run after I drop him off in the morning.)
Sunday long run (usually after church)

The two runs during the week are maintenance runs and only take about 30 minutes.  Most weeks I can squeeze in the runs without a problem.  The last few weeks have been tricky.  Overtime, meetings and Junior League have consumed most of our evenings.  This was the first week that the maintenance runs came easy.

The difference is night and day! Two weeks ago I only got one quick run in during the week and I had a horrible long run.  I can't even tell you how bad it was because I paused my GPS and forgot to un-pause it for 3 miles!  I almost cried.

Today I had a great run.  It was muddy, rainy, sunny and strong.  I owe it to my maintenance runs.  My next half-marathon is only 2 weeks away.  I wish I had another couple of weeks to work the hills and make up for the lost weeks.  Oh well, such is life.

High expectations

Keith's birthday is a frequent topic around our house.  He asks if it is his birthday at least once every day.  He also let's everyone who we meet know that he is turning 5 soon (and he's going to kindergarten).

This morning we had this birthday related conversation:
Keith: Mom, can Justin Beiber come to my birthday party?
Me: Sure, we can invite him.  I don't know if he will be able to make it though.
Keith: Why not?
Me: Well, he's probably a pretty busy guy.  I don't know how we would get him there.
Keith: Well, how did you get Darth Vader to my other party?.......
Me: That was an extra special thing.
Keith: Did he come on his ship?

My advice for parents: cupcakes and a pinata.

Patrick's Room

This weekend I came to a conclusion: Patrick's perpetually messy room is my penance and my test.  There is no other explanation for why my son's room is in a constant state of disarray.  The endless papers, stuffed animals, books, dirty clothes, stray socks, and random treasures are only there to test my resolve and mock me.  He is a world-class slob and sometimes I am in such awe of his slovenly ways that my head doesn't explode from anger and frustration (that's only sometimes, usually my head explodes and I get a trash bag a curse under my breath for 45 minutes). 

and for the record, there is only way place in our house that rivals Patrick's mess....

My Office.  This is a good day.

DIY Cleaning Supplies

Oh Pinterest.  You are a full-time job my friend!  You make me cook and clean and mommy ALL day long.

One of my favorite Pinterest discoveries is DIY cleaning supplies.  You know I love buying cleaning supplies but it is so expensive and toxic and all that.  So as my cleaning supply cache has dwindled I have started making my own.  I pin all of these to my home management board, there are lots of others there too.  I just haven't tried all of them yet.

Mama Lou's Top DIY Cleaning Supplies

1. Granite Cleaner from 320 * Sycamore.  I finally have granite!  We love the granite in our new house but I have been SO disappointed with the expensive granite cleaners.  Streaky weaksauce!  This cleaner is cheap and easy to make (rubbing alcohol, dawn and water). I'm on my second bottle.
2. Stain Remover from Modern Day Moms.  I've used this on several different stains (BBQ sauce, Ink, stains of unknown origin) and it has worked like a charm.  I haven't used it on the carpet yet but that's next.  And again super easy (dawn and peroxide).
3.  Spray Starch from Crazy Mom Quilts.  Kevin started wearing shirts and ties to work and ironing, ironing, ironing.  I had store-bought spray starch with a broken non-clog spray valve.  It took a bit of coaxing but I got him to use it.  I added more starch (cause I like it heavy) but it works really well.
4. Shower Cleaner from Simple Organized Living.  I love the way this cleaner works.  And another easy recipe: vinegar and Dawn (notice a theme here?)

A couple of notes, I accidentally bought the  concentrated Dawn.  I've used it all now but I think next time I will use whatever dish soap I have on hand.  Your vinegar should be regular vinegar, Costco has the huge bottles cheap.  Get a big bag of baking soda too while you are there.  I use the combo of the two to clean drains.  Baking soda is a great odor remover for your carpets, towels, etc.

Other dual purposes:
1) Pledge for my stainless steel
2) Dryer sheets to clean baseboards
3)Vinegar for the windows
The list goes on and on.  Happy homemaking.

My Keithy

Here's your moment of KFC for today.

There will be a time when Keith doesn't dress like Tom Cruise on Top Gun or wear his new motorcycle pants for four days straight (including church).  Right now I can't imagine that day.  My best guess is that he will in fact become a police officer (probably a motorcycle cop because he wants those boots) and dress up every day.

The other day we were going to take our taxes to the accountant and he was asking me about taxes.  I explained that any time we make money we have to give some of it to the government.  "Pffft. That's no good."

Keith: Mom, why do you and Dad get the Masterpiece Bedroom?
Me: Because we pay for the house.  When you move out, get a job and buy your own house you can have the Master Bedroom in your house.
Keith: I'm going to have bunkbeds in my Masterpiece Bedroom.
Me: How do you think your wife will feel about that.
Keith: Fine.  I'm getting the top bunk though because I bought the house.

Love him!