"Rock n' roll all night"

I'm a super Halloween freak. No, I don't really decorate. Yes, I do really dress up.

Two years ago, I tried sooo hard to get the man to costume-it with me. He finally obliged and guess what we were?

We were EMO! He loved it. His fav part was wearing my jeans—weirdo. So, this year, we had to step it up. After much deliberation, here's what we came up with:

Momouflage

Cue Mission Impossible theme song: dun, dun, dun-dun...

SNEAK ATTACK!

Rude awakening

Yesterday, I was dragging from 8:30 am until I went to sleep at night. Nothing got done all day. The man asked me to wash the whites and his brown slacks. He ended up doing it when he got home. Poor guy. And what did I have to say for myself? Nothing. I felt pretty bad.

Curse my big mouth

Some guy lies to your face. You stare in disbelief, frozen, unable to speak.

A lady cuts you off with her shopping cart and snaps at your "out-of-control" kids. You're shocked, at a complete loss for words.

Moments later, you're fuming, knowing exactly what you should've said to stick it to 'em. You kick yourself and wish you could go back. But, do you actually know what would happen if you'd stood up for yourself in that moment? Did you consider the consequences?

Moms, will you help?

Call for all moms to share their true postpartum stories!

I want to gather women's experiences about their emotional journey after the births of their babies. I know I'm not the only one out there with a story. How have you truly felt since the birth of your little one? What have you done to help? What has worked? What hasn't?

Postpartum silence

I'm blessed with relatively easy pregnancies. For my second pregnancy, I practiced hypnosis throughout and found complete comfort, even up until I delivered eight days overdue. I thought, "I can do this. It's not so bad. I CAN have more babies."

And then he was born.

Moment of joy

I stumbled across a blog post that invited readers to share their joy—a photo, moment or experience that basically gave us the warm-fuzzies.

The other day when I went to get my little guy, Gus, out of the car, he was snoozing. When I saw his sweet, relaxed little face, life stopped for a moment. He actually took my breath away. And then I realized why.

Classy, huh?

Went to check on little Suz during nap time. Found a new decal on her wall. Love this kid.

Stop cleaning!

The bar for cleanliness in my home has been set very high.

No more than ten toy items on the living room floor at one time. All dishes should be rinsed and placed directly in the dishwasher after use. Pots and pans must be washed immediately after cooking. The table and counter must be cleared and wiped after every meal. The floors should be swept, mopped and/or vacuumed once a week. The dirty laundry baskets should be kept below half full. All clean laundry must be folded and put away within a day of drying. Beds need to be made every morning. Bedrooms should be tidy at all times. All family members must bathe at least every other day. Each child must be read to and played with individually for fifteen minutes at least once per day.

These have been my real expectations. I fail every day.

Are you a bored mom?

Six months ago, a new friend asked, "So, what do you do for fun?" "Hmmm...I uh, well I...umm." Nothing, I thought to myself. I actually do nothing for fun. I have no interests. I just mom all day.

And do you know what? That realization kinda freaked me out! What happened to ME?

EEEEvil miiiiildew! I will KIIIILL YOU!

Fo' real - I. Hate. Mildew. Part of the hate is that I'm still a K9 with a super-human sense of smell because I'm a nursing mama. The other part of the hate revolves around the grossness of something growing, actually growing, on a structure meant for human contact. Sure, we're not snuggling the tent to go to sleep. But, we are supposed to breath the air that filters through it's growth-stank walls. Gross!

Fall yarn wreath

And for all you ladies out there, especially those with Pinterest, I KNOW you've seen this little beaut of a wreath.

I followed the tutorial from the cutest blog, called Take Heart. The tutorial recommended using a straw wreath with the plastic still on. We wrapped forever and then made some simple felt flowers. Afterwards, we glued plastic pearls to the inside of each flower to add some contrast in texture.

You can't tell from this pic, but the roses are actually red, burnt orangeish-maroon and cream. The pearls and criss-crossed yarn are also cream.

Send me your wreath ideas so we can share them with everyone: cinderelladuty@gmail.com. Thanks!

Fall leaf calendar

A year ago, my little girlie was old enough to learn about the seasons. Since fall is such an obvious and beautiful change, with rainbow-colored leaves falling all around, I decided to use it as an opportunity to teach her about seasons.

I'm not sure what's up with fall this year. Maybe it's because winter lingered well into early summer. But, it's October and there aren't any leaves on the ground! Last year, during the first week of October, the girl and I went on a scavenger hunt to collect leaves. It was really fun for both of us. When we got home, we used our findings to make a craft project: a leaf calendar. We used it like an advent calendar to count down to Halloween, pulling one leaf off every day. However, it's probably going to end up being a countdown to Thanksgiving this year.

How do you teach your kids about fall? Share your fall kid craft ideas here so we can all get some new ideas and inspiration! If you have an image, email it to me at cinderelladuty@gmail.com.

Canning for dummies

So, my in-laws gave us 3 tomato plants in the spring. We've never had a home or yard, let alone a garden. We gave it our best shot, though, clearing a small plot in our "field," as the girl calls it. I swore for weeks the plants were dying, all the while my pops-in-law reassured me the leaves were just sunburnt and would flourish soon enough. And boy did they flourish!

The problem with tomatoes, or blessing, is that as the summer progresses, our three little plants ripped out the stakes that held them so surely in June and produced 2.5 times more tomatoes every time I picked them. My most recent haul was photo-worthy: 144 tomatoes! What on earth do you do with 144 tomatoes all at once?

Have a day!

You know those conversations where you and a friend try to find common ground by admitting how you both have bad days? Your friend is all, "Yeah, I didn't shower until noon two days ago. I was so lazy! I spent all morning cleaning out and organizing my hall closet after I laundered and pressed my curtains." And then you reply, "Jeez, don't I know it! Today, I didn't get cleaned up until two o'clock because I was doing housework..." Look down and away and feel bad about yourself because you just LIED!

Mildew, whites & campfires

A few years ago, I stayed at my older sis's house in Virginia. We had 3 weeks of fun with our kids, each of us having one at the time. However, when I was packing to go home, I couldn't seem to find my girl's little striped shirt. We looked all over and finally found it in the bottom of the hamper under some damp towels. I have no clue how long it was there. But, it was long enough for it to become covered in black spots - mildew!! Yuck! It smelled so bad!

Grass-stained shoes

So, Steve Jobs just passed away. Glad I could announce that. Though I wasn't surprised, I felt like someone punched me in the gut. I was seriously so sad. I felt like I'd lost a close uncle, which is strange because we've never met. But, I really look up to the guy!

I didn't know how to express why I liked him so much. But, then my husband read me this article written so eloquently by a guy named John Gruber. Regarding Jobs and his surprisingly stained New Balances, he writes, "Why wear this grass-stained pair for the keynote, a rare and immeasurably high-profile public appearance? My guess: he didn’t notice, didn’t care." This was an ah-ha moment for me. Take a moment to read the full article here.

Image source: http://www.gadgetteaser.com/2010/02/27/amazon-tries-to-stay-competitive-with-apple-will-need-a-new-device/

No shame here

This morning around 10am, my doorbell rang.

My first thought: "Crap."
My second thought: "Who could it be?"
My third thought: "Good thing I got dressed today."
My fourth thought as I open the door: "Oops! I forgot she was coming over...to make salsa...in my messing kitchen."
My fifth thought: "Oh well. Rock the mess."