Random Updates before Arizona

Just a few random thoughts before I check out for our trip to Sedona... 

First, I really hope Charlotte is potty-trained when we return.  But, what are the chances?  Yes, you should not compare your children and timelines, etc.  But, come on already!  Her latest development is hiding when she poops.  And below is where she goes.  No, she is not grunting.  She is closing her eyes so that I don't "see" her.  I do love that she still thinks that if her eyes are closed she is invisible.  Sure, we've worked with her.  Sure, we try to catch her before she ends up in this spot.  But I have 3 kids and she always seems to have to go during the witching hour...when I'm making dinner.  Often by myself.  While making sure Henry isn't climbing the steps, putting his hands in the toilet or choking himself on some small object.

Over the weekend Stella helped me make some dinners for other people.  We have some friends and acquaintances that could use a prepared meal due to a few different issues...illness, overwhelming times, etc.  So we made my go-to give-away dinner = Penne Pasta Bake.  Yum (we kept 1/4 of one recipe for ourselves!).  And the girls even made some cards for one lady.

Then Monday evening Stella wasn't feeling well.  I could really tell when I couldn't find her.  And then discovered her curled up in our "formal" living room because "I found some warm sun".

So, she got to stay home yesterday and then be my assistant today at work.  She achieved a lot of screen time while in the office, but at least it was educational...Leap Frog videos on math, etc., right?

On the blogging front, I joined Twitter and Stumbled Upon, but feel REALLY lost.  Not sure how that's going to go.

Really, really random, but my content got copied here.  Thankful that Google Alerts caught it (not sure why so late), but have no idea what to do about it since there is ZERO contact information, etc. 

We're about to send the boys to Louisville and grandma will be headed over this evening to get all the notes on the girls' routine, etc.  Tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to one week without these crazy kids...hard to imagine.  My heart will hurt.  Glad that I'll at least be with Andy for the first few days and thank goodness for Skype!

Checking In - Crafts, Messes, and Dresses

We've had a pretty busy week.  I've definitely missed posting every day and have actually had some good topics to post about...so I'm taking notes.  But it's been nice to dedicate some time to other things.  Such as sleep this order for a hair bow holder and a Green Bay korker bow and a Detroit Lions bow.

Now, one of my main goals was to clean out my Dining Room.  But due to above order, it still looks tanked...and, in fact, even worse:

But instead of going insane about the mess, these girls keep me in all smiles.  Dress-ups are a huge hit again lately thanks to a shipment of hand-me-downs that made it to our front porch recently. 

See you soon!  This week will be filled with preparations for our trip to Arizona...can't wait to be on that airplane Thursday morning.  Alone.  For hours.  But I've got to prep the house for Grandma and prepare Henry for his Louisville trip first.  Wish me luck!  Have a great week.

Top 10 Reasons for a Blogging Break

It may be time for a blogging break.   So much is going on right now and I need to give myself permission to not worry about blogging...every day.  It's not like I do this for money!  Whenever I skip a day blogging I feel a bit of angst.  Anyone else experience that?  Like all of you that are reading (so a handful of people and half of you I talk to DAILY) are just waiting to read what I write.  HA! But once a day or two passes, for me, the feeling subsides.  And as I look at the upcoming weeks, I think there will be less and less posting due to other priorities. 

I was thinking about this all weekend and then today Emily posted she was taking a break and then the Top 10 hostess wrote about blogging breaks.  So those were my signs...the writing on the wall. 

And let me just go on the record that I do NOT feel that blogging takes me away from my children.  I hate when non-bloggers assume you are neglecting your family in order to have a fun time online.  I really hope this does not someday turn into blogging moms vs. non-internet moms just like SAHM vs WOHM continues on and on.  But I digress...

So here are my Top 10 Reasons I will most likely be posting (notice I didn't say " be online") less often during the upcoming weeks.

1. I've gotten a few hair bow orders that I need/want to fulfill.  I haven't been pushing that hobby lately so I haven't needed any extra time for it.  BUT, now I have some new bows to make including one that requires Honolulu blue...seriously???  Team colors drive me crazy...but it's a nice challenge to make a fan happy.
2. Speaking of bows...I'm partnering with a friend again for the Lakota West Craft Show the first weekend of October.  And by partnering I mean...basically she'll have 90% of the inventory, but I still need to finish my 10%!  Ha! 
3. I'm continuing to purge at home.  I'm still overwhelmed with STUFF.  And knowing that Christmas is right around the corner...and that we are blessed to have friends/family to exchange gifts with (in other words my kids will get even more toys they do not need), then I must keep getting rid of stuff to keep my sanity.
4. I really need to finish start on that photo calendar I owe my dad.  Now it will be a 2012 calendar!  I know I could just buy and send him a calendar...that's not the point.
5. We just switched churches and the Young Family group at the new church has a book club and they are reading Queen Bees and Wannabees (the book that inspired the Mean Girls movie) .  Having heard the author speak once, I want to go to the discussion at the end of the month.  So I gotta read the book.
6. I actually want to take some time to focus on learning more about blog networks and such...things like Blogher, Bloggy Moms, SITS Girls, and I have no idea how StumbleUpon works or how I should use it.
7. Something I do know about and still love is Pinterest!  There are definitely a few things I pinned that I have to get done this fall.
8. I'm headed to Arizona for work at the end of next week.  Thrilled to be going to a very important leadership conference focusing on employee development.
9. Even more thrilled that we've farmed out the kiddos and added 4 days before my conference as a belated 10th Anniversary trip to Sedona.  So that's definitely going to take some prep over the next week to prepare family for the babysitting.  I have to make this as easy as possible on them all so that we can travel again without them!
10. I've got to take some time to get my good thoughts on paper.  And until then, I don't want to post just for the sake of posting.

Those of you that are super nosy or just generally wondering how you will survive without checking in on me each day if I don't post...no worries, I'll at least give you a FB status update.  So if you "like" Take 10 With Tricia on FB, I promise an update here and there.  (But I will keep my promise to NEVER flood your newsfeed.  Not my goal.  I'm not that interesting.) 

Otherwise, I'll be back soon!

 

The Third Kid Never Gets Treated the Same as the First

So I know y'all are expecting a great post about my baby boy turning ONE today.  Um, not ready for that yet.  But here's a sneak peek photo of him absolutely LOVING the cake we had tonight.  Things are just so different for us with baby #3 turning one.  So low-key.  I even had to send Andy out last night with the girls right before bedtime for them to pick out a gift for him...with a $20 limit.  And (true confession) only because Stella had asked me what we got him...and I couldn't answer!  Poor kid.  He has so much already, but we love for the other kids to have to go to the store, walk down the toy aisles and pick something out for someone else.  They each found a $10 item and were so proud to give it to him this morning.  My biggest gift to him was a nap.  He stayed home with me today and slept for 3 hours this afternoon!  Below is how I filled my time...

My neighbor has two boys and just had a baby girl not too long ago.  She is just precious.  The neighbor is planning on getting professional photos of all 3 this fall.  However, she was still in need of a quick, basic photo for a birth announcement.  Now we all know, had this been child #1, she may have been more apt to get a professional birth announcement.  But since it was baby #3, she (crazily) asked me if I'd like to snap a few photos.  Although I have no desire to turn photography into a business, she did know I have a backdrop, nice camera, etc. since I hate paying someone else for photos.

And so we borrowed a few props from another photography-loving friend and spent the afternoon getting the little one all dolled up for photos and bribing her brother to be good (which he was).  Once we got her to sleep, the photos got a lot easier.  However, I definitely will be investing in a photography light next.  You can see that the garage lamp I had rigged didn't provide the best lighting option.  All in all, I still think she looks precious.

3 lbs of Egocentricity aka Dear Restoration Hardware

Dear Restoration Hardware,

When I opened my mailbox today, I was shocked.  What monstrosity did I find inside?  Your catalog.  Oh wait, even you aren't calling it just that.  It's a "source book/magalog/catalog".  Even you aren't sure what exactly to call it at 516 pages.  Yep, FIVE HUNDRED sixteen pages.

I thought Penney's ended that era?  And for good reason.  I've tried more and more to get off of mailing lists.  I HATE junk mail.  And there are only a few catalogs I actually physically go through and order from and I'm trying to break the habit of those as well and switch to completely online viewing.  I am really trying to cut down on paper mail.  

So, yes, I'm guilty of receiving other catalogs.  And yes, those catalogs could equal 516 pages over a year. 

Here's what I don't like about receiving yours.  First, I'm not sure I've been in your store in the last decade or ever received mail from you before.  Why me?  Why now?  Why 3 lbs of it?  Why so wasteful?  But wait, you recognize this in your opening letter..."we ask that you hang on to it, as we do our part to support conservation and won't be sending you another one until spring"...I DON'T want another one in the spring.  I never asked for this one.  That will go straight to my recycle bin.

As this other post states, it seemed so egocentric of you.  Just kind of slapped me in the face when I opened that mailbox.  Left a bad taste in my mouth for your store and catalogs in general.

Risky move...I'll be curious to see how it goes for you. 

Best of luck and remove me from future mailings.  Immediately.