Saturday, January 25, 2014

#6 cousin birthday party!

Only a month late for our first born--sorry, sweets!--but we finally got around to celebrating little miss's SIXTH birthday party with the Sharbaugh clan...she chose Disney's Frozen.  Do you know how difficult it actually is to find birthday party goodies with Anna and Elsa on them?  I thought Disney marketing would be all over this, capitalizing on every little girl's current favorite movie--especially those with winter birthdays!

John tried his hand at fondant....making Olaf's head.



Olaf regarding his nose:  "Oh, it's like a little baby unicorn!"


 Normally, with Sharbaugh cousin birthdays, there are at least two families involved.  Since it was just Emma, I figured we should probably make two boxes worth of birthday cake.  So I was in charge of the cupcakes.



John brought home a rose for his princess... She's smitten.

Presents were opened with help of her friends... 

We had kids do make their own personal size pizzas (not pictured), Olaf arms (not pictured--white choc dipped pretzel rods), Ice cubes (blue jello--leftovers pictured below) and Olaf noses (baby carrots with ranch)


We had a Frozen sing-a-long and played pin the nose on Olaf...

All in all, I think it was a success... 

Monday, January 6, 2014

2/52 imperfection ... and snow day!

we got to the end of our puzzle this afternoon to find two missing pieces ;)



Twelve inches of snow fell at our house on January 5... 
We are now left with horribly negative temperatures!



Sunday, January 5, 2014

1/52 reflection


So 2014 has arrived.  One of my desires is to grow as a photographer.  Many of my memories exist because there is a photo.  After Malachi died, my short term memory seriously took a siesta.  God provided a newborn seven months after Malachi's death which forced me to keep my camera out to capture all of that baby goodness.  I'm so thankful for those photos because the first year of Jackson's life is a blur.  

In order to push and challenge myself in this desire I've joined a group on facebook (and asked a couple other personal friends to join me) in order to provide some type of community and accountability.   



Week 1's theme was reflection.  Here are my two favorite shots!

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Cleaning up after the holidays


It's officially the new year.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years celebrations have come and gone.  January 2 meant hubby was back at work and I'm home with my now 6 and 3-year-olds.  The combination of back-to-back days with family, a four-day trip out of state, and another set of back-to-back family days left my house in a "state of chaos" (to put it lightly)...

Minor sneak peek...


After going from one room to the next only to be reminded of yet another unfinished job, I literally started losing my mind.  In an attempt to prove to my husband just how insane his wife is, I started documenting my morning.  Enjoy!

So I started the water for my shower, no towel.  Open linen closet to get new towel, all dirty, remember to do laundry, grab a beach towel instead.  Shower and get ready for the day.  Need coffee... head to kitchen. 

Once in the kitchen I notice the messy island.  Think to self, "Today might be a good day for before/after pics..." Grab iPad to snag some quick pics.  Kids are whining, better start breakfast.  

Put oatmeal in the microwave, call for kids to come to the kitchen.  They need dressed.  Lead them back upstairs to change clothes.  Dig through baskets of clean laundry because I haven't put anything away for the last three weeks.  Clothes found.  Kids dressed.

Serve breakfast.  Go to take a sip of my coffee... Realize coffee hasn't been started. Start coffee.  While coffee is brewing, might as well start to clear off the island. 
Move all dishes from island to sink, which reminds me I need to put all dishes that were in the sink (thankfully husband rinsed them all) into the dishwasher.  Full dishwasher, close it.  Out of sight out of mind.  Make mental note to deal with it later.

Notice kid's cup on the counter above the dishwasher.  Take straw out of cup on counter and put in the trash.  So I grab an old grocery bag and hunt for trash laying out around the main floor.

While picking up trash, it's decided that I should probably start making piles... there's a pile for stuff that goes upstairs, a pile for kids' stuff, a pile for kitchen stuff. Move kitchen pile onto the island.  Island now messy.

With things now in piles, I can see floor... crumbs. are. everywhere.  Scan the kitchen.  Notice the light is off on the coffee maker.  Coffee done!  Take sip.  Lukewarm, back to microwave.  Get sweeper to make a quick pass on those crumbs I noticed.  Where's the sweeper? Where's the sweeper?  In the entryway, weird, whatever.  Just thankful it's charged.

While grabbing the sweeper, I notice all things outdoor sprawled in entryway.  Mental note to take care of that later.  Sweep, see socks... reminds me that I need to go finish laundry I threw in the dryer last night.  Begin wrinkle release on dryer.  
Towels on laundry room floor, find more towels in kitchen.  While in kitchen, grab coffee out of microwave, notice dirty stove while replacing the lid on my mug.  I should wipe that down.  Where's a paper towel?  No paper towels on the holder.  Where are they?  Where are they?   Find paper towels in living room.  Of course they're in the living room.  Might as well clear off the end table while I'm in here...More trash, more sorting into piles. 

Clear books off of the foot rest, move Bible and notebook to the coffee table in the front room...  While in the front room, sort stuff into piles, mental note to organize books on shelf... clutter and chaos.  Library books sprawled all over the floor... make a mental note to renew materials, pray nothing was lost or thrown away in my sorting and trash pick-up.

Renewing materials convinces me to take a quick break to check my iPad to see if sick husband is surviving at work.  Sip lukewarm coffee, stick it back in microwave.
See dirty towel .. Laundry!   Switch laundry, start new load, almost out of detergent- mental note to add ingredients to grocery list. 

Notice crumbs again...find sweeper.  See  pile of games previously made, put them up on shelf.  See crumbs again, find the sweeper... Avoid sweeping iPad cord...need to sync it.  Look for computer keyboard, wonder where iPad is. Realize in my hands.  Really??

Plug iPad in, see crumbs and lots of dust on tv stand, mental note to sweep AND dust.  iTunes: "Want to update?" Realized I didn't last time, click yes... 10 minute wait.  Better work while I wait.  Find sweeper. Ignore dust.

Sweep front room... Hopefully the clanking was something not important (like a stray lego)  Sweep living room... Find all sorts of things under rug. Recruit three year old to take more socks to laundry room.  Tidy up couches and blankets. Swish couch crumbs to floor. Resweep. Notice crumbs behind couch... Refrain from rearranging the entire room. 

Notice more trash on end table. See empty medicine box, pray for sick husband who clearly I don't have enough cold medicine for...  Try to sync iPad...it fails...three times. Realize I just wasted lots of time. Kids are hungry, better feed them.

Head to kitchen.  See the new mess on the island and all the crumbs under chairs... Take deep breaths. Make lunch, resolving to clean kitchen later.

iTunes is up, might as well listen to something. While I'm in here, I might as well sweep the rest of living room quick, going around heaping box of upstairs stuff, basket of clean/unfolded laundry, and empty hamper. Phew.

Turn up music louder to tune out the kitchen floor crumbs still calling my name.  Move the leftover  breakfast dishes from island to counter by sink... Not rinsing them due to already full sink which hasn't been put into the dishwasher because it still hasn't been emptied.  Because the dishwasher is still full. 

See command hooks on island that need to go up by the front door, mental note that the entryway still needs work.  See daughters birthday check, mental note that I need to deposit other checks to account.  See candle, find lighter, hopefully "cinnamon swirl" will help current kitchen aroma...

Wipe crumbs off island into hand, most falling on the floor with their siblings.  Look for counter cleaner and paper towels... Cleaner hidden among counter piles, paper towels, where did I last see them? Oh living room.  Counter cleared...need to sweep kitchen.   Sweeping crumbs, mental note to actually mop main floor.

Lunch.  Need to feed kids now.... Get to work on quesadillas... Learn I really need to clean microwave. Give children food. Get to work on dishes.  Step 1: empty dishwasher. Scratch that, step 1: move overflowing trash away from dishwasher in order out even open door... Start unloading, dryer buzzes. Check on towels. 

The towels are dry, but I need a basket...all are used (two in daughters room full of clean clothes-remind myself better clean than two baskets of dirty laundry).  Gently dump basket of clean clothes on to bed, first strip bed so there is room, need to remember to throw sheets in wash anyway.

Move to put second load of towels into dryer...not done because I forgot to shut the lid of the washer... Back to dishwasher.  Emptied, reloaded, ready to tackle the stack of pots/pans.  Start hot, soapy water in the sink.  Start a movie for kids. Back to scrubbing dishes.

Notice laundry room is silent...switch loads.  Start load of dirty rags, hopefully I remember to clean washer after that load before putting in our bed sheets.  Now back to pots and pans. Dishwater is getting pretty gross. Drain sink and check Facebook/email.

Oops got distracted. Need to refill sink. Check on kids....remember water is still running... Close call. Finish hand wash only dishes. Pray stack of drying pans doesn't topple down onto the kitchen floor before they dry.

Sit to watch rest of movie with kids. Realize I never ate lunch... Make lunch, dreading that I'm dirtying more dishes... All the while, really just wanting another HOT cup of coffee...

So that sums up my post-New Year's Thursday 2014.  Well at least the first five hours ;)

As I took the time to turn my original draft into a post, I realize I forgot the after pics.  I'd take them now, but I'm pretty sure the house is already back to square one.