How to Harry Potter Your Next Birthday Bash

The Little Lady is already creating Pinterest boards around the theme of her next birthday party.

Her birthday is in August.

This year will be her 10th b-day and I think that this might be it for the big, birthday bashes. That is until she turns 13 and 16 and 18 and 21. . .

Here's a look at how we Harry Potter'd her last b-day celebration at home.

Invites

I certainly wasn't going to be delivering invites via owl, although I briefly considered sending snail mail invites with a red wax seal, until I realized that was legit crazy.

The better option was Paperless Post. They have super cute, high-quality designed invites and they just so happen to have a few that are wizard-themed. The best thing about an online invite is that all the info is easy accessible. I have a recurring anxiety dream where I am late for birthday parties or go on the wrong day. This is an easy way to keep all the scheduling and guests in order, plus they are totally on-theme!

Hogwarts Houses Option

We picked this one for the Little Lady

I also love it when we get invites from Paperless Post. I always know that I find the date and time, save to my calendar and never be late for a party! Plus the internet is kind of magical right? You really can't go wrong with either wizard-themed option, not to mention the hundreds of other invite styles and themes.

Decorations

Once we sent out the invites, we hit Pinterest hard for design and decorating ideas and came up with a few good ideas on our own!

I did want the kids to feel like they were entering the Wizarding World and the first stop was Platform 9 3/4. We covered the front door with Brick Backdrop and printed out a Platform 9 3/4 printable that we found online.

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We also think no event is complete without a candy bar. We printed Harry Potter themed candy names from the book onto vellum paper, cut with craft scissors and attached to containers. I found the Ron, Hermione and Harry print outs online and filled them with Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans.

I bought some small glass containers and printed potion names on vellum, glued them to the bottles and let the kids have a potion slime party. It was a good activity and they got to keep the super cute container. 

Slime, slime and more slime.

Last but not least, I ordered each kid a Harry Potter themed pajama. That, along with the candy from Honeydukes ended up being the party favor. I am a firm believer in party favors you can eat or wear! Check out the super cute  Hermione nightgown the Little Lady is sporting. 

via GIPHY

Or are you more of a Harry Potter fan?

via GIPHY

We also set up a photo booth for all the kids. You'll recognize this from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I just cut out the middle of a poster board and downloaded and printed the text. Yes, I am Sirius it was that easy. Sorry had to Harry Potter pun it.

We had a few more details that I will share in another post. Hope you have a few ideas to get your Harry Potter party started.

I Accept This Award on Behalf of All Women

I know award season has come to an end, but for the last 10-15 years I have been perfecting my award acceptance speech. This exercise has kept me sane on the treadmill, on long drives in the car and on those nights when the worry creeps in and the sleep is hard to come by.

I decided that today, on International Women's Day, that I would share that speech with a few modifications.

Oh my goodness! Thank you, thank you so much. First of all I would like to thank the Academy. I want to thank all of my readers who read this book and let me know how much they loved it. I want to thank the amazing cast and crew--Jen, Ben, thank you for believing in this project and thank you for coming together to truly capture the inner lives of these characters.

Oops, should probably start a little later on. . .


I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for an incredible support system of women in my life. I would like to thank my grandmothers, one who is still with us and one who is not. These two women raised 15 children between them, they lived through war, they buried children, they worked full-time jobs, they prayed for me, they let me live with them, they showed up at my 4th grade field trip, and passed down a shirt that read "A Woman's Place is in the House and the Senate" that I wore, sans pants, to a local diner the day my sister fell off the loft bed and split open her chin.

I would like to thank my mother. (This is the part where I envision fanning myself a bit and holding back tears.) Thank you for your sacrifices, your selflessness and your unending support. Thank you for showing up when I needed you and knowing when to let me figure it out on my own. Thank you for continuing to show up whenever and where ever needed, for not only me and my children, but for anyone you can help.

Thank you to my mother-in-law for raising a boy who became a man who became an incredible father.

Thank you to my sisters. One led the way my entire life. Thank you for taking those first steps into the unknown so I didn't have to brave it alone. Thank you for treating my children as your own and stepping in to help me whenever I need it.

Thank you to my younger sister who taught me what it means to love unconditionally and who to this day continues to do nothing but amaze me.

Thank you to my best friend, who I have known since we were 18 months old. There are really no words to describe your influence on my life. I love you. Thank you. I'm calling you in 10 minutes to talk about all of the celebrities I have seen in the bathroom.  (I am hoping that one day I can use that line.)

Thank you to the mass group of amazing aunts, my sisters-in-law, nieces, and all my cousins--especially my DePeter girls, who make me laugh louder than anyone and let me bitch about anything I want.

To my Loyola Ladies--who would have thought that a random room selection would influence our lives in so many ways? Thank you all for your fierce friendship.

To all my mom group friends, PTO moms and the moms at school. We may not all do it the same way, we may be mothers who work, mothers who don't, mothers who volunteer or just write a check, we may be mothers who are navigating our first kids through school or our third, but we all show up and we all do what we can and I am thankful we aren't doing it alone.

Finally, to my daughters, my smart, funny, creative ladies who made me a mother. Use your voices. Don't be afraid and always dream big.


I think the music is probably playing at this point, the celebrities are wondering who I am, and I am being escorted away by who I hope is Tina Fey and Amy Poehler towards that mysterious back room where the press probably isn't so interested in the "Best Adapted Screenplay" winner. Hoping my makeup is looking good and my feet don't kill me in these heels. . .


*****

Please note: I would be nowhere without plenty of men in my life. Wait, I should rephrase that.

Motherhood in the Sweet Spot

My children are no longer babies. While they will always be my 3 Beans, we have reached what I like to call the sweet spot in parenting.

That's right. It can happen. Everyone can get dressed by themselves, feed themselves, respond to and follow simple demands (although this might take some repetition), and for the most part function normally in society, with the exception of them running through hotel hallways and Target aisles like gazelles being pursued on an African plain.

The transition from newborns to toddlers to tweens did not take long. And while I miss the sweet, smelling newborns against my skin, the inquisitive toddlers exploring their world and the toothless smiles of kindergarten and first grade, I am grateful for this time that I find myself in.

This is the best I got of all 3 of them!

The Lady is 11. While she is a full on tween who is navigating middle school, social media and the expectations and changes associated with her age, she hasn't quite reached the point where she has sequestered herself in her room. She still allows me to hug her, tell her how much I love her, and dance terribly in front of her without too much embarrassment or rolling of her eyes. She is the most introverted yet independent of my children and demands the least attention from me, for now.

The Little Lady is 9 going on 19. She wears her emotions on her sleeve, is quick to lash out, but loves, loves so freely. She is social and funny and wants more than anything to spend time with her family (when she isn't staring at a screen of course!) playing games, watching movies, baking and creating. She does roll her eyes--frequently, but what she wants most is my attention and time, for now.

QT is 7. How did my baby get so old? He asks the most random questions that I can tell he has been thinking about and then just kind of starts to speak as if we all have been part of the conversation going on in his head. He loves video games and hanging out with his friends. He is always coming really close to the proverbial "line" and can still for the most part get away with it by batting his long eyelashes and smiling, for now.

For now, what I want is to recognize this time, take advantage of it before the doors close and the eyes really roll. For now, I want my children to see our family as a safe space, to be themselves wholly and without fear or doubt before the outside influences, the peer pressure, the impact on their self-confidence continues to creep its way in. Life is coming for them but for now, in this sweet spot of time, I want them to know that their terrible dancing, Grateful Dead loving, lapsed runner and blogger of a mom is here and loving each of them for who they are right now.

New Year, Blah, Blah, Blah

Are we done with the "New Year, New You" posts? Are we settling into 2017? Has everyone recommitted to something and are we all pursuing our goals? Yes? No? 

I have only made one resolution and that is to take more showers.

I feel that this is doable and may just be that initial first step towards implementing more change in my life. If I shower, I might wear actual clothes and not just sweatpants and leggings. If I wear actual clothes, I might notice that I they don't fit quite right. If I notice that they don't fit quite right, I might actually motivate to start eating better and fitting in a workout. If I workout then I definitely will need to shower more.

It is a little bit like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" except I am trying to eat less cookies and have better hygiene.

****

I did take one of those Facebook quizzes that you are supposed to share on your feed, but that I never do. I like to know who would be my consigliere if I was a mafia boss and what is going to happen in the future dependent on a random algorithm and sites that I am pretty sure are just gathering all my personal information. I mean really what is the difference between some computer-generated output vs. something you may read in a magazine or that Oprah told you? If that site says that in 2017 I need to start to Let Go, who am I to say it is wrong?

I am starting with the easy stuff: Clothes, books, toys, etc., and hoping that repeating "Let it go" as a mantra that I don't get sucked into singing Disney songs on a loop for the whole of 2017. First big donation pick up is today. Let's hope the truck gets here before the kids get off the bus and start picking through things they haven't seen or played with in months. Wish me luck. 

Moms who say Meh

Christmas is coming and it is a crazy time of year.

I have been trying to establish some Holiday traditions and give my kids something to look forward to every year. I am also trying to keep them busy and active while all the chaos is unfolding around us.

This is the time I usually look to Pinterest to see what types of things I should be doing. Once that four hours of browsing is wasted, I try to take the easiest, most doable things I find and at least make an attempt to include them in the Holiday season.

Some things turn out better than others. It is just like the "eyes are bigger than your stomach" adage, there are so many amazing things out there to do for the holidays but where do you find the time and energy? Plus, it is kind-of hard to scroll your fb feed and see all the cute, crafty projects that are going on at other peoples' houses without feeling like perhaps you are failing at supermom. 

But let's be honest, there are some people who thrive at those types of things, who really commit to it. Then there are the rest of us, you know the Moms who say Meh. We want to do something, we are willing to try, but we aren't going to totally kill ourselves over it.

It is for you mothers out there, my people, my Moms who say Meh that I bring you three projects that you can accomplish with very little effort and in very little time. 

The Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt

This is an amazingly easy activity for the kids. If you live on the East Coast like I do, you know that darkness descends on us around 4:30 in the afternoon. It is brutal. Not only is it dark, it is cold and you still have to schlep everyone around in giant puffer hoodies while they would rather risk breaking a leg ice skating on the driveway than actually putting on gloves and getting in the car. If any of this sounds familiar, print out a couple of these Christmas Lights Scavenger Hunt lists that I created and you might save yourself a few minutes of your kids screaming in the car or having to listen to Paw Patrol on a loop on the entertainment system. It is also just nice to drive around a little through the neighborhoods and see all the lights.

Christmas Printables

This idea I took directly from Pinterest. We love the movie Elf here, so I just found a free printable online, printed it out and framed it. I set it on the table in the hallway and voila, easy holiday decorations. If you are more crafty than I am you can just create your own using any movie quotes or songs you like. The original pin is here. Easy. Enjoy.

Homemade Snow

The Lady has been asking me for weeks if we have Borax. Shockingly, we do not. Does anyone? Apparently, she has been watching a ton of YouTube videos on how to make your own homemade snow and Borax seems to be the go to ingredient in a lot of these homemade projects. Eventually, she found a recipe that didn't include Borax and had only two ingredients: Shaving Cream (original, not gel) and Baking Soda. 

This is so easy, literally a two step process.

Step 1: Gather the shaving cream and baking soda

Step 2: Throw directly into your garbage can

See! So simple! So easy! So not worth it unless you want your house to smell like all your uncles did in 1985, and have a white, flaky mess to clean up. 

We will see what projects we come up with over the break, or maybe not because, well meh. 

Merry! Merry!

All I Want for Christmas is My Van Detailed

Seriously, a full car clean out is on the top of my list this year. Why? Well, how about I tell you in song. .  .

The Twelve Days of Christmas (A van-themed edition by The Three Bean Salad)

On the first day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

A cracked and scratched DVD

On the second day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Two beach pails, and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the third day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the fourth day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the fifth day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

A few fallen goldfish

On the sixth day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Six lollipops sticking, five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the seventh day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Seven fruit snack wrappers, six lollipops sticking, five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD.

On the eighth day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Eight bottle caps broken, seven fruit snack wrappers, six lollipops sticking, five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the ninth day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Nine Arcade Tokens, eight bottle caps broken, seven fruit snack wrappers, six lollipops sticking, five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the tenth day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Ten little Legos, nine arcade tokens, eight bottle caps broken, seven fruit snack wrappers, six lollipops sticking, five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the eleventh day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Eleven popcorn pieces, ten little Legos, Nine arcade tokens, eight bottle caps broken, seven fruit snack wrappers, six lollipops sticking, five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

On the twelfth day of Christmas my Minivan gave to me

Twelve Dunkies napkins, eleven popcorn pieces, ten little Legos, nine arcade tokens, eight bottle caps broken, seven fruit snack wrappers, six lollipops sticking, five goldfish, four juice box straws, three French fries, two beach pails and a cracked and scratched DVD

********

MiniRu could probably stand an external wash as well

I did clean out MiniRu yesterday, and by clean out I mean removed a ton of crap ranging from Laffy Taffy stuck underneath the Little Lady's booster to a single strand of uncooked spaghetti. Car detailing is definitely on my Christmas List. What is the craziest thing you have found in your car?

On #Throwback Thursday

My father called me a few weeks ago to tell me that he was cleaning out his storage unit and would I want my lacrosse jacket from 1994 and a Pop Warner softball jacket from what I can only imagine was 1986.

I said I would take the lax jacket, but I was all set with the other. The next time my mom came over both jackets were with her. The softball jacket was so faded you could barely read the writing on the back. It promptly went into the donate bag. The lacrosse jacket, I hung in my closet. It was in pretty good shape for being almost 22 years old and I thought even though I haven't seen or worn it in that long, why give it away?

Later, a bin of stuff showed up.

• A scrapbook from senior year full of programs from sports dinners, my college acceptance letter
• A Far Side collection of comics that when I leafed through it contained an envelope with my original birth certificate in it
• Photos from senior year and prom
• Ticket stubs, a lot of pictures from nights that I don't have much recollection of (probably for a myriad of reasons!), but filled with the young, young faces of friends: The first boy I ever loved. The last boy I ever loved. Girls who turned into almost 40-year-old women who I am grateful for everyday.

Say my name, sun shines through the rain, my whole life so lonely then you come and ease the pain. . . I don't want to lose this feeling. . . Do you like the special effects I put on this pic? I thought it was very eternal flamy.

I pulled out a shoebox that contained letters written by my high school friends to me freshman year of college, all tinged with a bit of homesickness, before some of us drifted apart, when we were still trying to maneuver in that new environment, still trying to hold onto the ties of the past. On top of those letters were cassette tapes, and not only were there mix tapes and full albums of music, but there were cassette singles. You know, like you bought it for one song, I am imagining it was more than the $1.09, iTunes charges, but still. I am embarrassed to tell you what they were. Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You" (a classic, really--oh The Bodyguard), The Bangles "Eternal Flame" (totally necessary), Jesus Jones, "Right Here Right Now" (I have no excuse for this one), Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, "What I Am" (a song that till this day reminds me of sophomore year in high school) and finally Bonnie Raitt, "Not the Only One" (I am at a loss here).

A few ticket stubs, I think I can toss these.

But what of all this stuff? Can you donate cassette tapes to Goodwill? Will they even take them? As nostalgic as it was to go back through all this, what can I actually do with it? Put the scrapbooks on the shelf. Toss out a photo or two for #tbt? When do the memories become enough?

My father called me again a couple of days ago. Do I want my writing from college? Yes. Do I want my drawings from kindergarten? I don't even want my own kids' drawings from kindergarten. I have bins full of photos, of artwork from preschool on. I have that constant dialogue in my head will we need it someday? will my kids want these memories of theirs? will my kids want this of mine?

I can't get rid of that thought that if there is no proof then it is forgotten. And isn't that what we all want? Proof of our own lives, a life well lived?

My kids won't have much of a box to sort through. Most of their lives have been documented, written about, filtered, posted and shared. There is something to be said about the endlessness of the Internet, where all you have to do is type something in and up it comes, but there is also something to be said about handwritten letters tucked in a Gap shoebox, the photo negatives, a note written on yellow legal pad that wrapped a $20 bill from my dad, the reminder that tucked in all those photos were the people and events who made you who you are.

I am not embarrassed to say that he still slips me $20s every once in a while.

So the cassette tapes will go, the photos I will hold onto for a while, the letters I will read and re-read. Not because I am trying to relive some glory days or hold on too tight to the past, but because those are the faces, the voices of the people who mattered the most to me at that time and that place, and there is something to be said for remembering.

I try to live now for the present, for my babies and to do all those things I said I would then. I try to follow through, in the immortal words of Jesus Jones, right here, right now.

P.S. if you went to high school with me, expect some texts/emails with photos to come your way. I have hundreds.

P.P.S. there was also a Richard Marx, "Right Here Waiting" single cassette tape in there. I said it. Go ahead and judge, but I guarantee you are singing that right now.

Motherhood: A Timeline

Monday, February 1, 2016

8:35 a.m.: I go down into my home office to check some work emails before the final push to get everyone out the door. 

I found this note from the Little Lady on my desk. The photo is one of my grandfather I keep there. He died when I was in third grade. GG is my grandma who died this summer at almost 91. We talk about her a lot in our house.

Had to cut this off for a few reasons: 1. my grandpa is dressed as Baby New Year and while I love this photo the Internet doesn't need to see that. 2. The Little Lady signed her name. 3. The black blob is covering our home address, apparently she felt the need to use our address stamp as part of this.

So, clearly there are tears.

I go upstairs give the Little Lady a huge hug and tell her how much I love her and think "I must be doing something right."

***

8:55 a.m.: I pull the Little Lady off of the bottom bunk into a small package and carry her, yelling about how she doesn't want to brush her hair or go to school, through the hallway, down the stairs and out of the garage before depositing her in the booster seat in Minnie-Ru where her brother and sister are waiting. She isn't wearing any shoes.

I run back inside, grab her boots, a jacket and a hat, throw them at her, throw the car into the reverse and peel out of the driveway. Late to school again and all the while thinking "what am I doing wrong?"

Deck the Halls

Oh dear me, it is December!

Our Elf the Shelf, Lightning McQueen, showed up and on the second night I almost forgot to move him. Might be a long month of this, especially now that the Lady and her girlfriends text each other photos of their elves.

Moms--you are killing me! I am doing the bare minimum of remembering to move this thing at night and now I have to scroll through the Lady's texts to make sure that Lightning is up to par with Chippy or Lulu or Buddy! I am literally putting this elf on a shelf. And really do they need clothes? What a freaking racket!

After the stress ball that was last December with packing and moving and trying to get it all together, I was thinking that come December 1, I would unpack my carefully organized Christmas decorations and deck the halls.

This is what my mantle/fireplace looks like right now.

A few things you may notice:

1. Lightning McQueen in a vase
2. A Halloween pumpkin painted like a black cat that hasn't started rotting yet so I haven't tossed it in the woods.
3. Two gingerbread Turkeys
4. Some fall artwork by the Little Lady
5. Two out of our 5 Advent calendars (I have a really cute wooden one in the attic)
6. QT and the Little Lady's school photos (yes, the Little Lady is wearing a leather jacket)
7. Some Uggliest Pet Shop dogs, which are disgusting but very important to QT
8. The shattered hopes and dreams of a mom with three kids who thought that she would be living with a garland draped mantle and cinnamon-scented air

Oh well, I guess I could get it all out tonight.

Have you started decorating for the Holidays?Fa la la la la. . .

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a busy weekend. We got together with our old neighbors. Luckily, we have both moved on to better living situations, however it is not on the cul de sac we planned and it is unfortunately in two different states. Still, so nice to see everyone and to catch up!

The old gang back together!

After the Little Lady had a meltdown about attending a Daisy meeting, I bribed her with some lipstick from CVS, forced her to come T-back bra shopping with me and finally got her to her first Girl Scouts meeting, an hour before my hubby and I had to go to a wedding.

Full disclosure, I got a little drunk. Perhaps too much wine was imbibed, but it was a beautiful day, a beautiful location, and I have the luxury of knowing that my hubs will drive me home safe.

Me and my hubby, probably only one glass of wine in, maybe two!

The 6:30 a.m. alarm that went off the next morning so he could fly out to Dallas came way too quick and my only saving grace was that my sister had the kids. We met up with her and my aunt at hotel the next town over where my aunt was staying after going to a different wedding.

What is it with my kids and hotel lobbies? It is like they have never seen furniture before. They jump from couch to couch, feel the need to touch everything and runaround like it is some sort of playscape. The Lady told me she wanted the lobby to be our house.

We took advantage of that space for a while and then moved on. It was mid-day, I needed coffee and couldn't quite fathom what I was going to do with the Beans for the rest of the afternoon. My ideal version of events for the rest of the day would be me sitting on the couch not getting anything for anyone and catching up on the DVR, while the kids prepped meals and put themselves to bed at 7:30.

But I know a body in motion tends to stay in motion and we needed to keep moving for at least a few more hours before I could sink into a DVR-induced coma on my couch.

It was a beautiful day so we headed to the pumpkin patch. The kids ran the maze, we took a hayride, I finally got some mums for our porch, which I will also admit I was entirely too excited about. Mums! Fall! Yay!

The Little Lady and QT

Mazing it

Is that Bieber's penis pic on the right? No, just pumpkins for our porch!

We loaded everything into the car and when we got home, my kids actually went outside and painted their pumpkins. The hour or so of quiet I had was glorious. Yes, I was left to clean the brushes and spot clean the couch after QT sat down with a still slightly wet mini-gourd covered in blue paint, but I also got to search out my go-to shows on weekends, which are anything about Alaska (seriously, there are at least 100 shows out there about Alaska) and anything related to Little People and their families. I am just waiting for TLC to come out with "Little People in the Last Frontier" it will be television gold.

Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

Hot Cross Hell and Other Happenings

We are well into the swing of the school year here and to say that we have been busy would be an understatement.

Of course, these are The Three Beans we are talking about here so no new activity starts with smiles and skips, it is more like screams and storming off into other rooms.

We started Religion, which consisted of the Lady standing outside her classroom facing the wall telling the Director of Religion Ed “But I have been coming here for two years!” before she was bribed with some candy and the escorted into the classroom by the very sweet assistant from her Communion class last year. 

You would think the Little Lady might be more open to things, this being her first year of Religion and having nothing to compare it to, you could imagine that instead of standing at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed saying simply. “No. No.” and then after finally seeing her sister go into her classroom having to be carried in by me, placed next to the teacher on the floor where they were gathered before immediately popping up and running out of the classroom.

Pick up went much better, the Little Lady came out with a new friend and everyone got candy from the Director. The Lady now doesn’t give me a hard time about Religion at all, partially because of the candy and partially because she has moved all her angst onto going to dance class.

Seriously Lady, this was you just a few short months ago, full of confidence before your big recital and now you are giving me a hard time about dance?

The Little Lady loves dance, swim not so much, but we are adjusting.

Where is QT in all of this? Happily getting up and going to school, going to swim, you know going with the flow.

********

Hot Cross Hell

The Lady turned 8 this week. 8! I can’t believe it, not only have I now been blogging for 7 years, but the Lady is two years away from 10. Third grade is a big year and she has a good group of friends and another good class this year. Know what else she got this year? A recorder.

I like to think there is a special place in Hell for the lowest of the low, criminals who are reprehensible, child abusers and molesters, rapists, murderers, you get the picture. And these awful people are subject to the constant loop of third graders blowing into their recorders the first day they get them.

The Lady took hers into the car (on the way to dance) and just blew into it along to the beat of the music playing on the radio. At least I think that is what she was doing, it could have just been mimicking the sound of a dying animal, can’t be 100% on that one.

Now I am a staunch supporter of music and art in schools. I think it is necessary and I think that kids should be exposed to more of it, but at this point I think I would rather the Lady have brought home a set of drums covered in glitter.

I remember getting my own recorder in elementary school. Our music teacher, Mr. Potter actually carved our names into the back of them and we wore it around our necks on a string. I remember learning Hot Cross Buns. I can still play Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. Know what the Lady came home playing on Monday? You guessed it. And my did she practice. I will say it got better. However, not only did I get a turn playing it, but so did QT and the Little Lady. And then there is that stick thing they clean it with. My gag reflex is going into overdrive just typing this. Ugh. Recorder spit.

*******

On Organization

 

I have been a bit more organized this year. I know it is a combination of being in a bigger space, having some flexibility to work from home some days and the fact that all three kids are in the same school. Part of me really wants this to be a lifestyle blog along the lines of Preserve or GOOP or Martha Stewart, where everything is pretty and organized. And some days I am a very, very cheap knockoff of that, I have bins that hold all their snacks for lunch! I created a homework station that keeps everything in one place! I have a giant expandable folder that has a few folders for each kid and all the good stuff goes in and all the rest gets shredded! But lets be honest here, some mornings are still pure chaos. And if you are looking for a lifestyle blog that revels in that type of chaos, doesn’t post anything for months, and sometimes uses swear words, I think you have found the right place.

Hope everyone’s having a good start to the school year!

Back to School

It is September! That means back to school, pumpkin donuts at Dunkies, me trying to once again gain control of my life and get organized!

All three beans are in the same school on the same schedule. At least until dance and religion and possibly soccer and maybe swimming start.

But right now it is 97 degrees out and the kids are getting released early from school because of the heat.

Deep breaths!

Summer was crazy busy and a ton of fun.

The Lady is a fish in the water, she tackled the water slide at the pool, rode the waves at the beach house, the Jersey shore and OBX.

 The Little Lady got on roller coasters and rides that made my feet tingle by just looking at them, she turned 6 and went to camp with her cousins.

QT and I spent A LOT of time together this summer, but he got out and about. He turned 4, went to camp, spent time with his feet in actual sand and took a few bike rides in his Ninja Turtle helmet.

I got pretty tan, started training for my second 1/2 marathon this year and experienced all the highs and lows of working from home 4 days a week in the summer!

My husband tore his Achilles tendon the last week of school, got surgery, spent some time in a boot and is finally able to carry sleeping kids out of the car and drive a few balls off the range.

All things considered we had a pretty good summer.

Back to blogging!

Snow Day

How is everyone holding up out there?

This is a picture of our mailbox from the other day. I know a lot of you have had it a lot worse, but I am just about done here.

Two hour delay on Monday, two hour delay on Wednesday, no school today.

I am still working. The only drawback of working from home is that it doesn't matter what the weather is.

What is going on here? Oh, I woke up to a freezing cold house, we are out of oil. Thankfully, my hubby started a fire and the oil guys are on their way.

The Lady is engrossed in the iPad, the Little Lady is perusing Pinterest for St. Patrick's Day craft ideas and QT is involved in a combination of somersaults and Angry Birds.

I will say it is pretty out there, but then again, I didn't have to shovel this morning!

Out of Hibernation

In October I took some time off.

I took some time off from work, from blogging, from social media (well, I silently stalked, but didn't do much posting!).

I tried to refocus on myself, my family and my friends. I tried to step back and be more present, rather than rush through each day high on anxiety.

And I think it worked.

Granted, we moved two weeks before Christmas while my husband was on the West Coast and I had to deal with crazies on our old Condo Board and the uncertainty of whether or not we could find a place to move into in the 30-day turnaround time we had.

But I did it. The kids did it. My husband came home to a new house and we segued pretty fluently.

We cut down a Christmas tree. I hosted Christmas. (We have so much more space, that for the first few weeks we were here, I flew into a panic more than once thinking that one of my kids were missing. Turns out they were just in another room.)

All these things that had been in motion for so long, gradually fell into place and I didn't for one minute take it for granted.

I am back at work now and working some days from home. Trying to find the balance in a new situation. Happy for the space outside, the space inside, an office with a closed door. Two extra hours a day with my kids, lots and lots of QT time. I am looking forward to getting back to blogging, back to chronicling my life, and my life with my family.

There were a few things you may have missed though:

• QT is not allowed to use the child cart at Trader Joe's ever again.
• I may have signed up to be class mom for the Little Lady.
• The Lady is taking contemporary dance. The Little Lady? Hip-Hop. Can't wait for the recital.
• I am now making crock pot yogurt and homemade granola.
• I have turned into someone who wears "house shoes" because the floors are freezing here.
• I am training for a half marathon.
• I have a new niece. Pseudonym to come!

 Stay tuned for more of the Three Beans. . .

Write On

I just got back from my graduate fiction workshop class.

I am always so energized when I leave there and think I will come home and just write and write. But then I look at the clock and see that it is after 10, and I remember that I am old and tired, and there is laundry and backpacks to fill. There is an envelope of Box Tops that came in the mail that I have to tape to paper now or it will totally throw off our already pretty shaky morning routine. There is some packing to do for a quick trip to Boston this weekend, the dishwasher has to be run, a few emails need to be checked.

So, I will blog here instead. A few words that make the statement "I am writing everyday" actually true.

Blog a day baby, blog a day.

 

Nada

I got nothing. 

Well, I might have a few things but it is late and I got sucked into the TV show Stalker, except that I have to turn the channel anytime something remotely scary or any potential pop out comes out, so I have missed half the show. 

So I think I might just turn off the TV, try not to have anxiety field dreams about stalkers and hope that I get blogging a bit earlier tomorrow. 

Guest Blog: Dear Dad at the Lego Store

Here is another guest post from another dad. 

Enjoy!

**********************

Dear Dad at the Lego store with a 6 year old and 3 year old daughter in tow....

My friend, when I saw you steering your 6 year old away from her desire to purchase a $90 Lego Cruise ship, I thought, what a salesman! 
Your enthusiasm and expertise espousing the virtues of a $24 Lego set aimed at the fairer sex was nothing short of brilliant. Mad Men have nothing over you. Hell, I was getting ready to buy the same set you were so expertly selling to your oldest little princess! With your littlest (and clueless) beauty in tow, you strode toward the check-out counter and handed the set to the clerk. You were beaming with supreme confidence, a man who stuck to his guns and got the job done...........until........ ......."IT" happened. 

You were SO close.

I am not sure if it was the tears, the screaming and frantic pointing to the upper shelves, or the dramatic, Oscar worthy performance replete with a drop to the knees, that triggered your next utterance. Whatever it was, it made this old man and parent of similar aged kids cringe, when you said, "ok-is that what you want?" You looked beaten. Little Princess stopped crying, and found a smile to melt your heart. A resounding "YES!" sealed your fate.

Awww buddy. You were SO close. I hope you enjoy the 6-8 hours it will take you to put the Cruise Ship together, not to mention the next 5 years or so of stepping on the remnants of the Showdown @ the Lego store in the middle of the night as you tuck in your Little Princess. And, of course, the next performance, which is sure to come to a Toy Store near you.

Sunday

I don't even have a photo for today. 

Sometimes the weekends just get crazy.

There are religion classes and birthday parties, Fall Festivals and impromptu play dates, and that was only today. There are baths, instead of bed, at 8:00 and three kids eating carrots and watching Ninja Turtles at 8:30, the only point in the day where they were both quiet and still.

There is a week coming up with class trips and class photos (fingers crossed those come out ok), more birthday parties and hopefully a few blog-worthy situations that I can share here. 

Saturday

There is nothing like hanging out with some friends who knew you when. Nothing like 15 kids running in a backyard, kickball and glow sticks. 

There is nothing like remembering the old times but allowing for the last 15 or 20 years to define you instead of the the four you spent together in a high school classroom. 

There are fall evenings and the the smoke of fire pits in your hair, old friends and good times. 

Happy Saturday. Happy! Happy! 

Pics of the Week

It's Friday, I slacked off for two days with guest blogs and see no reason why I shouldn't do it again tonight. Here are a couple of pics from the week just to show you what goes on around here sometimes. 

The Little Lady in full on leopard print. I suggested black leggings and was told no. 

The Lady gets a few extra Box Tops!!!

How QT lunches.