Braids for Muffins

No, I'm not talking about braids on muffins.  I'm talking about a braid trade for muffins.  Put simply...slow day at work means idle hands willing to braid my hair in return for baked goods.  Capitalism at its finest.

I'm linkin' it up in a crazy way today with both Kayla and Hallie

Which brings me to the Freckles in April Style Challenge.  Time to fashion an end-of-summer up do.  

This is the magic that was worked on my hair this morning.  I could never do this myself.  It would be a mess of tangles ending with a not-so-pretty do and achy fingers.

(Please ignore the post-partum bald spot I'm sporting these days.   I think I need some spray-on hair)

 (also ignore the decor.  I took this at work.  Shhhhh, don't tell.  I mean, it was taken over lunch)

(weird light effect is not from a sky light or divine intervention but rather my broken phone with a huge crack over the selfie lens)

 (this pose because I know everyone is wondering exactly what the top view is like)

Aaaaaand now onto my five favs of the moment as seen on Moxie Wife.

1)  This jumper chair 

because it looks to be entertaining all of my boys at the same time.  I grant you this blissful moment was ephemeral and the chaos resumed in short order, but it was paradise no matter how brief.  I am so happy I had a moment to dig this treasure out of the baby gear pile in the basement.

2)  This guy

zimbio source/credit here



Thank you , thank you, thank you for saying that we need to treat everyone with respect and no judgment, including homosexuals.  You are a much needed breath of the freshest kind of air.

3)  Soft ice.  It's the kind of ice that comes out of hospital ice machines on the wards.  And I love it.  Unabashedly.  I chew it all day long when I'm at work and I think I have a problem.  And a chipped tooth.

4)  Up and Up Target brand breast milk bags.  I have used Lansinoh, Gerber, and Medela and nothing beats these little gems.  I switched to them a while back because they were the cheapest and now I realize they are also the best for freezing breast milk.  I used to get leakers with the other brands pretty regularly and waste precious droplets of my hard earned milk.  Now, leakers no more.  Bless you Tar-zhay!

5)  McDonald's french fries.  Mostly because someone just brought me some and they are out of this world delicious and hitting the spot.  Hot, salt, and fat.  Done.  They're not lyin' - I really am lovin' it.

Bad Ending

End game of fifteen minutes spent rolling around on the floor farting instead of sleeping....

We really should have guessed that this was then only possible way this scenario could've ended. But he fooled us with his smiles and charm into thinking that he was just playin' around when really he was conducting some serious baby business.  I guess better out than in before bed!

Ta-ta and sweet dreams to all (or really no one since its just me and the spam-bots that patrol my site)!

Stan's Dance

Stan has this awesome dance that he's doing now and it gets me every damn time he does it.  If that kid had any smarts he'd realize that he could probably get out of whatever trouble he finds himself in (4,506 times a day for that toddler) if he busted out this dance. 

Broken, Brokener, Brokenest

This has been a tough week on some of my possessions...

Broken - the skirt that I wore to work today. Nothing makes a girl feel prettier and more svelte than busting the hook and eye holding her skirt together.  Not to mention that I'm still carrying around some pesky baby weight so I may be a weeeee bit sensitive if things don't fit perfectly these days. 

At least the zipper on the skirt was no quitter and both literally and figuratively helped me hold it together today. 

Brokener - the bag that I carried to work today.  This bag is pretty much a crappy pleather (not even a good imitation of leather) bag that I have carried to work for two years. It looked good for about the first month and then quickly showed its wear. This bag only got saved from a long walk to the trash can because I got comfortable with where everything fit in it.  So my laziness won out and I never got around to changing it out even though I hated the way it looked every stinking day after day I carried it. 

The purse gods have had enough and have saved me from myself by ripping one of the shoulder straps apart. Hallelujah. Now I just have to figure out where my dental floss and 836 tampons I found hidden in my old bag will go (I'm only slightly exaggerating about the tampons and I really don't understand how and why I have so many squirreled away.  I have only had my period about twice in the last seven years because of pregnancies and breastfeeding but apparently I'm super anxious about when it will strike again and if I'll have enough in my bag to be away from a tampon source until menopause).

Brokenest - and this one really hurts...I shattered my iPhone.

Oh the pain upon watching the impact was exquisite. I swear I drop that phone 56 times a day and this was an obvious outcome at some point, but it is still so annoying.  I'm trying to decide if I will try to stick it out for another couple months with tiny shards of glass flaking off on my thumbs as I text as I wait for the new iPhone, punish myself for breaking it by using Jerry's old phone that has a broken center button, or if I'll go for the immediate fix. 

I'm hoping the rest of my goods can hold it together for a few days.  I have duct tape holding the back window of my VW hatchback together, so I'm not really holding my breath.  Unless I'm around the back window of my VW, then I do hold my breath because I think a deep breath or an angry butterfly could take that thing off.

The Royal George

Just to be clear I am not talking about the new little English sproutlet born on the other side of the pond.  I'm talking about my George!  I'm a little bitter that Kate and William decided to name their bebe George after we had firmly claimed the name for ours in February.  I'm guessing there will be an uptick of Georges now and his kindergarten class in 2018 will have four of them.

Here are a few ways we'll be able to tell our George from theirs...

5 Favorite Things Link-up

Thanks to Grace

 for doing a link-up.  I'm a link-up virgin so this could get interesting...


1.  Back to school shopping!!  The second half of every summer I reminisce about heading to Target to pick up all my new school supplies.  It was one of my favorite shopping trips of the year.  I could seriously barely contain my anticipation of what Trapper Keeper I would get (the Lisa Frank psychidelic panda and unicorn design vs kittens in a basket),

Parenting Changes

When one has four children, even when they are V*E*R*Y close together, a few changes take place in how one parents the first child in comparison to how one parents the fourth.  Let's take a quick look at a couple examples to make this concept clear.

Augument #1 - Dreft
Dreft is the super soft, baby-sweet smelling laundry detergent with the pink cap.  Just smelling the stuff makes me swoon for baby days. 

Frankism

"We made finger jello for you!  We made it with two oranges and two greenges."

Meaning they made finger jello out of two packets of orange flavored jello and two packets of lime flavored jello separated into layers. Very fancy. Not one of my specialties though - this one is all my MIL's.

Guilty Snacking Pleasure

I have kids that want sweets, treats, and snacks ALL THE TIME.  They are totally weird and strange, and no one else's kids are like that, I know.  Aaaaaanywho - they come by it naturally.  I am a snacking freak.  However, I try to set a good example and emulate good eating behaviors by eating wholesome meals filled with veggies, whole grains, lean protein and sensible portion sizes.  They see me doing this and think to themselves, "Wow, my mom eats super healthy.  I'm so lucky that she makes me these super healthy meals every stinking night of the week."

El Numero Uno

First off, I don't speak Spanish - so I'm not even sure if that title is legit.  If I had any followers or readers (hello?  is any out there?) they would tell me, I could correct it and all would be well.  Since I'm writing this one solo, we'll just have to ignore my ignorance and laziness (I just don't feel like google translating this) and call it a day.  Initail disclaimer done.

Practically every stinkin' day someone tells me that I need to write down whatever crazy thing my sons have done.