Life is Just So Daily

Summer vacation begins tomorrow. Tomorrow! In my effort to be more organized this summer, I made a loose daily schedule. I'm hoping this will keep us flowing from one activity to the next and prevent the kids from getting sucked into cartoons (or me getting sucked into Pinterest!) So here is what we will probably be doing...


8:00 AM - Up & eat breakfast
9:00 AM - Morning Chores, get dressed, teeth brushed
10:00 AM - OUTSIDE! (my goal for this summer is to wear the kids out everyday. Being outside will be a big factor in that. Plus it will help me make sure I maintain my garden.)
12:00 PM - Lunch & Clean-up
1:00PM - Rest (Gracie's normal nap time), Quiet Time (Puzzles, books, maybe crafts) 
3:00 PM - Snack 
4:00 PM - Learning (Riley's amazing teacher is sending home packets with the kids to help them avoid losing all that knowledge over the summer. If the kids complete the packets, she takes them on mini-adventures! Since Brenna is starting preschool in the fall, I'd like to make sure she can recognize all of her letters and can write her name before starting.)
5:00 PM - Outside - basically getting rid of them so I can work on dinner
6:00 PM - Dinner and usual nighttime routine!

I'm going to use this and see what works. I'd like to be so organized that I have a breakfast/lunch/dinner menu and crafts already planned out for the week. But I'll save that for another supermom to achieve. :)

Are you going to schedule your days this summer?

Hey! It's Okay Tuesday!

It's Okay to...

"Do you know how fast you were going?" Apparently not fast enough to lose you.

• be looking forward to the back-to-school sales before school officially ends. I love me some school supplies!
• think it's ridiculous that anyone with a fancy camera and access to a brick wall considers themselves a professional photographer.
• not be impressed with 50 Shades of Gray. I just can't get past how terrible the writing is. 
• wonder if it's okay to sign my kids up for two summer reading programs? We frequent two separate libraries...
• be ticked that I got a speeding ticket today. Normally I take it like a champ - I was breaking the law, they caught me. Just doing their job. But I don't think I was speeding this time! Gggrr. (And I was less than a mile from home.) 

Hey! It's Okay Tuesday!

It's Okay to...

• Be confused about artificial sweeteners. Is Splenda okay? Or is it going to make me grow a third arm? Is it a good substitute for sugar or will my body still think of it as sugar and hold on to every fat cell it can? Depends on what you read and who you talk to. Confusing!
• Read the expiration date on the 36 pack of K-Cups my mom bought me (expires in June 2012 - so 9 days!) and accept that as a challenge. 
• Be ready for summer, but not ready for the summer expenses. My kids need new flip-flops and other summer footwear, our pool has a hole and our sprinkler is broken. I guess it will prepare me for the back-to-school shopping I'll do with two kids in school now. 
• Be desperate for the neighborhood garage sales. (See above!) 
• Think it's adorable that Riley got his first "love" letter. She thinks he is the "niseis (nicest) friend evr". 

Head over to Airing Your Dirty Laundry to see what else is okay! 

There's 104 Days of Summer Vacation...

Actually there is only 77 days. 2 months and 16 days. 1,848 hours. Anyway. Riley gets out of school on May 30th and we are all very excited to start our relaxed summer days. But I'm a bit worried that the kids are going to get bored and we'll end up spending way too much time inside in front of the TV. Looking around Pinterest and the blogosphere, I'm not the only one with this concern! So I've decided to come up with a loose weekly and daily schedule to help prevent the summertime blues.

Weekly, I think our days will be broken down like this:
Monday - Home
Tuesday - Library
Wednesday - Home
Thursday - Park
Friday - Something Special

Grace has therapy Mondays and Wednesdays so it's important that we're home on those days. Tuesday and Thursday I plan on being at our destination around 10 and being home by lunch or possibly taking a picnic. Fridays we will try and visit a new park, the local petting zoo and other free or extremely cheap destinations in the area. I plan on getting the kids involved in the summer reading program at the library and I know they always have lots of other activities for the kids throughout the summer.

I hope to share my daily schedule later this week.

What do you have planned for this summer?

Holding Cantaloupes with a Shoestring

I broke my bra the other day. Possibly not a big deal, but just like my single, solitary pair of Jorts, I have a single, solitary bra. I KNOW. (SSHhhh, if you listen closely, you can hear Carmen from The Bra and Panties Challenge quietly weeping over this undergarment injustice.) It's my own fault. I will gladly spend $20 on a new toy for my kids, but buy myself a new, MUCH needed bra? Too expensive!

But my broken bra left me no choice. Well, actually I had one choice - a very small bra with no underwire that was shoved in the back of my drawer. When you are as busty as I am, a small bra with no underwire is much like holding two cantaloupes with a shoestring.

After two unsuccessful attempts at finding a nice bra in my size at local stores (you were no help to me JC Penney and Kohl's!) I started calling around to find somewhere that carried my size. I hadn't purchased a new bra since before Grace was born. Maybe even before I was pregnant with her and she's 20  months old! That's a solid two years of no bra shopping. I was lost.

I found my size at the local Fashion Bug, but was disappointed with their selection. When you have a smaller chest, the bras are cute and colorful. When you are big busted they are white, black or beige. And big. Industrial-looking. Fashion Bug did have pretty colors in my size, but they were padded. Padded! I'm a DDD! What on Earth do I need padded? I tried one for a few days and it felt too much like my boobs were their own planets orbiting my body. So I settled for two plain white bras. Very boring, but I'm happy with them. Someday I will have a cute matching bra and panties set. Until then my girls will be high and dry in their new, plain home.

Hey! It's Okay Tuesday!

It's Okay to...

• stop halfway through cutting your son's waffle to realize he should probably be doing this himself. He's 6. 
• Not be ready for him to be 6. And especially not 7. 
• think nice afternoons are perfect napping weather. Some people love to go outside and play, I like to nap.
• think this is brilliant. 
• be passionate about things that aren't the norm. Like jousting or kite-flying. I love it when people have odd hobbies. What are you passionate about?

Go check out Airing My Dirty Laundry for what else is okay! 

Dancing Queen

The jewelry commercials around holidays always crack me up and make me wonder if anyone actually does those things. Is there a mom out there somewhere napping only to wake up to find her kids have left a diamond bracelet next to her? I highly doubt it. But it's a nice thought.

We are fortunate enough that my husband make enough for me to stay home with the kids, but there certainly isn't room for diamonds in our budget right now. And I'm okay with that. This is a busy, hard, chaotic season of life. There are certainly days I feel like I'm losing my mind. But for the most part it is so much fun. How much longer will I have to color with my daughter or have dance parties with my son? How long will Grace find blowing raspberries hilarious? Not long I'm sure.

Someday I'll have the jewels I deserve.

There's plenty of time for diamonds later in life. For now, we shall dance.

Keep your jewels Zales, but can I take you up on that nap?