Messes be gone!

A few weeks ago I read a blog post where the writer talked about getting rid of 40 garbage bags full of stuff for Lent.  They would finish their goal on Good Friday.  I liked that idea and wanted to follow suit...

And then yesterday, we watched a part of the documentary The Queen of Versailles on Netflix. (I linked to the IMDb page to give you a synopsis.) Basically, it's a riches to rags story.  And it's crazy, b/c the couple starring in the film had so much money and STUFF that it was disgusting.  So many pets too, all over, pooping everywhere, eating food left on the coffee table, over the top parties... it was all SO gross to watch.  I only could stomach watching for about 25-30 minutes.  Aaron had been watching it a little longer than I had.  Anyway, after turning it off, we had that same feeling you have after watching Hoarders (or in my case, an episode preview for Hoarders, I can't bring myself to watching a real episode b/c my stomach is weak).  Aaron and I now have the hankering to go through the house and chuck everything!  In fact last night, we got started on all the random mail and paperwork sitting around the house, filed the important ones, and chucked the rest!  So cathartic.

I found this on pinterest tonight. So funny.

In light of these few experiences, you can see why I lost my patience this afternoon.  Our house has been a total disaster.  In our defense, Aaron was gone a few days last week for his grandma's funeral (more on that later) and ALL three kids have been sick.   Sometimes do you feel like you are living in survival mode?  Why? Cal had mycoplasma pneumonia and both Tillie and Benny caught some cold bug and have needed extra attention, so I've eased up on the whole "cleaning up messes promptly" concept. Also, Cal has a new fascination with cutting up paper into a million pieces, and Tillie likes to dump out ALL of the crayons/pencils/markers when she colors (and if there's not an open spot on the table, she just goes to the floor), we've gone through boxes of tissues, there have been pillows, blankets, and toys everywhere... you get the idea.

So today, I became a crazy mom.  I said, "That's it! I"m grabbing the vacuum.  Anything that is on this floor will be vacuumed.  If you don't want your stuff sucked up, you'd better grab it now!"  Of course they both started panicking and sobbing, but that didn't deter me.  I was over the messes.  Mom fail.

Who knew that such a threat would light such a fire under their rear-ends?!  They cleaned up in RECORD time!  And they did a great job!  

After our little crisis, we took a moment and I hugged and congratulated them on their fast efforts.  I then asked, "Do you like living in a pigsty?  Do you like tripping over your toys and crayons?  Do you like having stickers stick to your feet?  Do you like it when mom is a crazy mama?" 

They said no.  

Then Tillie said, "It's not fun when you are a bad mom."  

I quickly reminded her that actually I was being a GOOD mom by having us clean our house (but probably didn't need to flip out like I had), because if we didn't clean our house then rotten ants and bugs would come into our house, and even rats might come and it would be disgusting, and we'd all cry.

Tillie quickly responded, "But Cinderella has rats..."  

Perfect.

Thank you, Disney.

We were ready for a break and luckily, the weather was PERFECT. 75 degrees in our backyard.  We played in the backyard the rest of the afternoon.  Thank you, Texas Spring.  Here are some pics we took:

This 6 month little stinker is doing such a good job on his tummy these days (which he's previously hated!) and is even being able to lift his stomach off the ground and is able to roll and pivot most anywhere.  His favorite direction to travel these days is backwards.

 Tillie is ALWAYS ready for a photo-op!

 yes, even though she is 4.5 years older, he's catching up! Look at the size ratio!

 Cal couldn't be bothered with posing for me.  He was too busy painting the bricks and filling up his water bucket in his new soccer duds from Nana and Papa.  

Later tonight, Tillie came out of her room and said, "Mom I need to tell you something."

She then whispered in my ear, "Dad said he's going to take away everything that is good in my life."  

hA!!

I burst out laughing and said, "Uhhh, why don't you talk to your dad about that." 

Dad fail.

Aaron quickly explained that he had made a poor decision in his frustration with the messes today. HA! 

Ahhh, in the end, even though we fail quite often as parents, thankfully our kids see us as a happy family.  Maybe, sometimes, we do things right.

Anchor your furniture...

So, two days ago I witnessed one of the most horrific sights I've ever seen in my lifetime.
Dramatic preface, I know.  But, it really was terrible.

Yesterday afternoon, the kids were both in their shared room having "nap time"... which typically involves them playing together, reading books, coming in to find me saying, "Calvin took my blanket," or "Tillie hurt my arm..." and occasionally, sleep happens.  Friday was like most others where I was in and out of consciousness having MY "nap time" (being 38+ weeks pregnant), when a panicked Tillie suddenly ran into my room and said, "Mom! Something is wrong with Calvin! He is stuck!"

I jumped out of bed and ran to their room and saw an image that I can't get out of my mind.  I see the tall Ikea dresser (that I had just recently stuffed full of Tillie's clothes too, so they could share it) on TOP of my 2.5 year old son... I could only see his legs sticking out from under that massive dresser.

It was horrible.

I think I yelled as I raced to the dresser and with some unseen force (in that brief moment, I remembered how I'd heard about moms being able to lift up cars) and was able to lift the stuffed-full dresser up high enough with one hand to pull him out with the other hand.

After I pulled him out, he was sobbing.  I was shaking and teary.  Tillie was crying.  I carried him into the family room as I tried to assess the damage.  Luckily, other than his arm and wrist hurting, he looked like he was in pretty good shape, considering. I checked his pupils to see if there was a concussion, but he looked okay and didn't once complain about his head hurting, so that was a relief.

I tried to lift up the dresser again to put it back up, but (obviously) I couldn't do it.  That thing weighed a ton.

Calvin has really mellowed in the last several months, and I've never seen him climb up on things, or really, do anything very dangerous.  When I asked Matilda what had happened, she told me that Cal had just opened up most of the drawers to see what was inside of them (obviously, he was curious, b/c I had taken his dresser and added so many new clothes of Tillie's), and that's when it tipped over and fell on him.  So, he wasn't being a crazy two year old and trying to climb up to the top or anything like that.

Retelling the tale to my husband, I couldn't believe how scary it all actually was.  It could have ended so much worse.  And then when I told again the story to my parents, I started sobbing.  Probably one of the most traumatic things that has happened to us in a long time.

Moral of the story: I will be anchoring down EVERY piece of large furniture in this house.  We have an entertainment center, book shelves, other dressers, etc.  And, my advice to you is to do the same.  You just never know when something like that might happen to you and your family.

As I prayed last night (and in several moments since the experience), I thanked my Heavenly Father that Calvin was safe (the story could have ended so differently), that Tillie was there in the room with him and had the insight to quickly to come find me (I couldn't hear Calvin at all, b/c his voice was so muffled as he was face down), that I was able to have the strength to get him out in my large pregnant state, and that we were all okay (still shaken, but okay).

Anyway, I wanted to tell the tale in hopes that something like this won't happen to you.  Let's all anchor our furniture.

In case you were wondering, you can't have it all.

The longer I live the more I realize this statement is TRUTH:

"You can do anything, but not everything."
- david allen

I've been thinking about this idea for a long time, especially as of late... and then when I saw this pin on my dear friend's pinterest page last night, I was like, "AMEN! TRUTH!"
Why does the media tell us over and over and over that we CAN have it all?

Not to get all philosophical on you, but I recall a favorite scripture in Ecclesiastes (3:1) that says "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." 

The reason this topic is especially relevant because I recently had a mid-life crisis (of sorts).  With the coming and passing of this spring's quilt market and the announcement of a most generous gift bestowed by my sister, Becca, of a brand-spanking-new website (she said we can get started now so it can be ready by my birthday in August), and the upcoming arrival of a new baby----well, I had a legitimate melt down, to be frank.

(a little drawing of Cal I made a few months ago)

In regards to the website, I kept trying to figure out what I'd actually want to put ON the site---mostly cards? random doodles? mostly patterns? (which I have a billion of at this point that have never seen the light of day) prints? etc.?  make it an e-commerce site (one where people can purchase directly from me, rather than thru ETSY)? ---all these ideas were swimming in my brain.  Several times Becca and Aaron kept asking me, "What is the goal of this website? What do you want it to do for you?"

(one of the billion patterns I've made)

That was a good question.  I had no idea.  And, I'm still not completely sure how it will all turn out... but it brought me to another question, "What do I want to do with my creative life right NOW?"

I do have time before this baby comes to use my creative brain (believe it or not, this isn't my first rodeo. In fact, it's my third.  I'm quick to remember that life (as I know it) stops completely for the first 5-6 months of their tiny life, then we slowly return to a NEW normal).

(from my sketch book back when I went on tropical trip with Em to St. John)

Do I want to get crackin' on new listings for my shop?  Finally post all the prints I've been creating?  Create more announcements/invites for people? etc.  Spend more time developing ideas for new patterns?  Work on more fabric lines?  Try to get a booth ready for Surtex (a surface design trade show where big companies see your booth/designs and enlist your skills to design paper/fabric/wrapping paper/bedding/mugs/plates/etc. for them).

(sketch book balloons to computer)

See? lots of questions.

Anyway, I remember Aaron asking me one night, "Melissa, what if you were 'just' a mom? (I want to emphasize in no way was he belittling the concept of motherhood by saying 'just' a mom)  You always talk about wanting to make dolls for Tillie, or do new paintings for the kids' room... why don't you take the time to do all those things?"

Ahh-ha!
What a concept!!

Honestly, I've been completely satisfied doing projects/side jobs for people who email me to design things for them.  And, if I've been busy or travelling, I have been able to easily say, "Sorry, it won't work for me right now."  And, it's been fulfilling and wonderful and great.  Why step it up and go into high gear right now?  What is my rush?

(another bridal party job I did a few months ago)

So, alas... I'm going to do what I've been doing... with the exception of making MORE time for doing fun projects I've had on my mental "to-do list" for the past few years.

Things like:
Finishing that quilt I started (ahem... over four years ago).
Making that maxi skirt I bought fabric for (over a year ago)---p.s. I just made two this past weekend.   Bam!
Finishing huge mantel painting I started for fall/winter season.
Finally start making some home-made dolls with Tillie.
Start making lots of place-mats (I've really been into this idea lately).
Drawing in my sketch book more.

Another resolution?  Sure.  (Let's pretend it's January.)
In light of the concept "I can do anything, but not everything." I've decided that if my house is really clean by the end of the day, that dinner takes the back seat.  And, vice versa.  If we have a really good meal planned/created, the house is going to be a disaster.  It's how we roll.  I'm learning BOTH can't happen these days (well, maybe they could with a live-in Nanny, but that's not happening in this lifetime).

Here's to mid-life crises. Here's to starting and finishing projects. Here's to putting energy into people/things that matter most.  Here's to realizing that we CAN do ANYthing, but not EVERYthing.

Mistletoe Neighbor Gifts for Christmas 2011. FAIL.

Let's talk about the clever neighbor gifts that sister, Becca, and I dreamed up.

Credit is due to our dear neighbors, the Dew family, back in our hometown, who have given a darling little bag of mistletoe for the last few years as a neighbor gift.  We thought it was so original. So fun. So cool!  Because we BOTH live in Texas now, we thought we should jump on the fun gift train and give to those we enjoy.

I called our sweet neighbor and she happily told me the website she ordered from and all the ins and outs of ordering.  Awesome.  They were pretty inexpensive (being less than a dollar per pre-bundled sprig) and we went ahead and ordered the minimum quantity of 50!  Becca and I decided to split the order and I waited by the mailbox.

They came earlier than expected (cool!) and Aaron, Tillie, and I got to work tying on little red bows and inserting the sprigs into mini ziplock bags (that I already had purchased from Hobby Lobby).  The instructions said to keep the mistletoe refrigerated.  I thought since it was so cold outside, that storing the box in the garage would be fine.  Not so.  We live in WARM Texas.  They were fine for a few days as we started delivering a few each night (we wanted to take some to several people from our church---and since the boundaries for our ward are so far reaching, we could only deliver a few each night before we were worn out).

Well, a few days turned into a week, and then another week, and what do you know?  The mistletoe sprigs had dried up.  Like majorly.  And, having them jostled and moved around in the box night after night didn't help.  All the leaves fell off their little branch and there was nothing really salvageable about it.

So, how many did we end up delivering?  I think 8.  Which means 17 just went to waste.  Boo.  And that, my friends, is a neighbor gift FAIL.

Moral of the story?  FOLLOW MANUFACTURER INSTRUCTIONS.  I had put two of the baggies in the fridge right after we had gotten them.  Yep. They were in mint condition weeks later.

You might wonder, well, if you do this again next year, and you already have given the sprig of mistletoe, won't the recipients' dry up and crumble if they don't keep theirs refrigerated?  Well, I wondered that too, but the sprig we hung up when it was fresh, stayed in the same condition b/c it wasn't jostled and shaken around in a box being tampered with.  It just dried up in it's original state.
Does that even make sense?

Anyway, we'll try again next year!

p.s. funny side note: Becca chose to write on her stickers, "Merry Kissmas! from Becca"which I thought was super funny.  She got some strange looks from her MARRIED MALE co-workers. hAAA!!!  I told her she should have said when she delivered them, "Don't read into my gift."  But alas... !!! hA!