Chips, Dip & a Mexico Trip

Today's random photo,

an attempt to win a radio contest trip....

I had 7 minutes from hearing the contest announcement to post to the radio show.

I was en route from dropping Mark off at the train.

I didn't win, but Izzy & I had a good time making the "beach scene" together at 7:45 a.m.

The goal?

Post a pic of your bikini somewhere.

The winner was wearing her over her clothes while on the Metra train.

I guess I couldn't top that.

My days are crazy, and I'm sure yours are too.

Adding humor keeps me sane.

Today I proofread a student's dreams & wishes for her artwork.

"I want testes. I want a man."

She meant tests and a mansion.

I had to ask for clarification.

Whoops.

So hard to keep a straight face sometimes.

I have about fourteen days left in the art room.

Every day is a blur of paper, paint, spills, glue, pastels and fun.

I'm going to miss it.

A lot.

I love the planning, the prep, and interacting with the kids.

Today I taught my fifth graders how to enlarge their drawings,

brought the fourth graders to the computer lab for Sketch Up,

taught the third graders how to turn numbers into art,

helped the second graders finish their puppet shows & Chinese dragons,

made "sandwiches" with the first graders after reading The Sandwich Swap,

and taught another third grade class how to make Notans with scissors and paper.

Then I had my reading intervention group.

Between the second and the first grade I ran to Hobby Lobby over lunch for more supplies.

Crazy, busy, busy day.

Home making meat loaf, baked potatoes, and playing with shrinky sinks with my girls.

Homework help, spelling practice, reading time.

I'm loving it all.

Linnea asked me tonight what I've learned from my teaching experiences this year.

I've learned I've missed teaching, a ton.

I've learned I didn't need to be scared to try it again.

I've learned I love having a schedule during the day.

I've learned I want to find a position in the Fall.

We'll see what the next six months bring.

The last six have been an incredible wild ride, and I'm so glad I've taken it.

-Julie

Find Our Home on the Newstand...

We're in the January issue...
They were here in September,

and I was at school!

So not fair.

Mark worked from home...

truck was here with stylists & photographers from 9-3,

so the pics in here are new to me too! ;)

I honestly couldn't find our living room,

or my bedroom,

or my dining room.

Izzy did!

Our rooms are throughout the magazine...

They use products advertisers are selling, and staged them in our rooms...

the living room, kitchen, kid's bath, dining room, library, our master, outside, and my studio.

It's kind of a "Where's Waldo" game we've been playing as a family...

or "What in this picture is really in our home?"

My neighbor walked through our home with magazine in hand and played the game.

It's pretty funny actually.

They were an amazing team.

Everything in our home was put back in order.

They mixed things up a bit, and it was fun to see what they put here and there.

Our home is nowhere near magazine worthy now.

The tree is up.

I'm sitting near it and tingly & itchy from head to toe.

Ears are clogged, and nose too.

I think this may be the last year for a live tree.

I hate allergies.

Anyway...an 8 foot ladder is propped nearby,

Just in case I get the urge to clean the rest of the ceiling.

80% of the ornaments are on the tree,

75% of the decorations are up...

and the irony is I'm not phased by it one bit.

I'll get to it,

sometime before a big party here on Friday.

Four more days of school.

Four more days teaching reading.

Four more days with kids I've come to absolutely adore.

Four more days to tidy up the loose ends on this position,

Four more days to meet with the Art teacher during plan periods,

Five more days until a Nutcracker birthday party for Sofi...

I think I'm the big nut who hopefully won't crack while getting everything done!

Time to lose myself on Pinterest for a bit so I can forget it all....

-Julie

It's A Wonderfully Full Full Life

Mark & Carl asked why I wasn't blogging much these days...

I didn't think they even checked in here.

I've probably used this pic before.

I'm too lazy to get off the couch, take off my snuggy, and plug the cord into my camera.

Just being honest.

I am bone tired.

Full days and a ridiculous cold have zapped the life out of me.

Nine hours at school over the weekend finishing paperwork didn't help.

Nine more days as a substitute reading specialist.

I'm going to miss these kiddos a ton.

I was feeling a little depressed about it ending actually.

Life threw a little curve ball last week, and I jumped up and caught it.

I was asked to cover another leave...from Jan. 3 into March.

I'll have minimal paper work.

I'll get to play with pastels, paint, paper, and pencils.

I'll get to dream again.

I'll get to plan mini history lessons.

I'm going to be the art teacher!

I've done a few happy dances this week in between sucking on lozenges.

I'll be in the same school, have a prep, and a room.

The girls can still come to school in the a.m., and leave with me in the afternoon.

I'm still pinching myself.

Two and a half block commute.

Reading, art, kids.

Three of my favorite things.

I'm the calmest I think I've ever been about Christmas.

No tree yet...we'll cut it down on Sat.

No cards...I have it picked, just need to place the order.

No decorations out...the bins are all in the dining room.

Stockings are hung.

Two or three little female elves took care of that.

Anyone else have three girls?

Anyone else make it through the drama?

OH MY GOODNESS.

If it isn't one, it has to be the other, or the other.

Plucking gray hairs,

Julie

It's A Whirlwind

This is how I'm feeling these days....

Happy,

and a bit windblown.
I haven't posted since Aug.19.

Yikes.

I've been working since then.

I love it.

I love the commute- 2 1/2 blocks.

I love the staff.

I love bringing my girls to school.

I love getting to know the kids at school.

I love using my brain again.

I love assessments, and interpreting data.

I love finding ways to motivate kids.

I'll be in this position until 12/16...

and I'm good with that.

My standards at home have had to slide.

Meals are a little simpler these days.

Kids are chipping in to help a bit more.

Laundry piles last a little longer.

Paper stacks are a little higher.

But I love what I'm doing.

I miss zumba.

I miss seeing friends mid-day.

I miss stopping at a garage sale on a Friday morning....all by myself.

I miss getting meals done before the kids home.

I miss having a snack ready on the counter.

Thankfully the kids have all been healthy.

Thankfully Mark's worked from home 1-2 days a week.

Life is good.

I miss my blogging friends,

but have a new little toy which should make blogging a little easier.*

Maybe turning 40 last week wasn't all bad.

It's the new 30, right?

I like it way better than 30.

Life is good.

-julie

*Thank you dear Mark for my eensy weensy laptop...

Procrastinating

Again.

I have another deadline looming.

Pretty sure I have ADD.

Pretty sure I know what branch of the family it came from.

I need to finish up this baby for a fundraiser at Water Street Studios.

To finish this would mean I'd be surrounded by this mess,

And I'd need to pass by this room,

Which is in some serious need of my attention.

I'd also pass by this unfinished project.

I thought it would be easy.

Famous last words.

Meanwhile, the weasel could use some love and care.

She and I have a love hate relationship.

I think she'd do well to live on a farm in Door County....

If I take her outside,

I'd have to see the unfinished house,

We're getting there...

But we have a ways to go.

We've hired the painter.

We need to hang the mailbox.

We need to make a decision on a door,

and spruce up the swing, and clean up the beds,

But it's raining today.

At least the lights are hung.

The garden is in progress,

and we've decided on a wood ceiling...

So here I sit with my cup of coffee, in a very quiet house.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love my Keurig machine?

I've named it Victoria...after my dear friend who suggested countless times I needed one.

It makes a perfect cup every time.

No mess.

Perfect temperature.

Done.

I need to purchase more K-cups. Any favorites??

Off to drink another cup and end the cycle of procrastination.

-julie

Some Days

A soup bowl really isn't...
big enough....

Not talking about flu folks. :)

*on a side, nobody else got it...phew*

Talking about stress management techniques.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Pretend like you're blowing on a soup bowl.

I've been carrying my imaginary one around for a few months now.

I think it's time to lose the stress or get a bigger one.

All is fine.

It's just been a really long Winter.

Right now I have 27 minutes before I have a meeting at church.

I'm part of the design team.

Today we're talking window treatments.

Walls are painted.

Furniture is in.

We still have some major decisions to go.

In the remaining 26 minutes,

I need to finish this post,

clean the counter,

toss a load of laundry in,

deal with the mail,

make some decisions re paperwork,

find masking tape for the fun fair decorating,

figure out what I'm making for the bake sale,

decide on dinner,

straighten the art studio which hasn't been used for art lately...

just tutor,

push a million creative ideas out of my mind,

Clearly my focus needs more focus.

-23 minutes to do the above, including drive time.

Gotta go.

-julie

Escape From Weeds and Dust Bunnies

Why I am so overwhelmed?

The bathroom is still unusable.

The house needs to be powerwashed and painted.

The living room needs some drywall repaired.

The gazebo needs to go up.

The patio needs to be ripped out.

The hot tub died.

The birch tree needs to be removed.

Two trees need trimming.

The front walk and drive need to be sealed.

The front patio bricks are falling apart.

The grass is growing and weeds are filling the beds.

While I tend to things outside, the dust bunnies keep coming.

I'm in the car every afternoon carting kids back and forth from activities and picking Mark up from the train.

I have a few other projects for church and school to finish up.

It's April.

I'm always overwhelmed as we head outside and still have rainy days inside.

The calendar is piling up with end of the year concerts and excursions.

Spring and four kids and two dogs = constant dirt...no matter what I do.

What to do?

Escape on a date with my boy for a bit.

Isn't he cute?

Since he was a toddler, his favorite place to go with me is a library or a bookstore.

We plop down with a drink and explore a stack of books together.

And I feel much better.....

Julie

Grounds in my Coffee

I'm tired...dog-tired.

I could lie down on the floor kind of tired....

and I'd sleep just fine.

Try as I may, today was just another weird day in the life kind of days.

Mondays can be a jolt to the system, and today was no exception.

The plans I had, fell through.

I changed gears, went to the gym, and did spinning.

Not the yarn kind of spinning.

Sweating like I've never sweat before kind of spinning.

On a bike.

In the dark.

With strangers.

With images of Puerto Rico on the screen in front of me, a trainer screaming out commands,

20 sweaty bodies crammed in a room, all pounding and sweating like mad.

Following along like a drill team.

Sweet adrenaline-rushing dance music thundering over the speakers.

What a way to wake up and start the day.

I loved it.

I'll do it again.

At 5:15 tomorrow morning.

An hour later, my body became a pretzel.

Really it did.

I had no idea I could bend and stretch in such bizarre positions.

But I did.

In a room with 20 different sweaty bodies moving up and down into downward dog.

Back to real life.

Kids.

Sick husband.

Laundry.

Cleaning.

Spills.

Bills.

Phone-calls.

Messes.

Emails.

More messes.

By 2 p.m. I craved a cup of coffee.

I can not make a pot of coffee to save my life.

Really, I can't.

If you came over, I'd hand you the bag of coffee beans, the grinder, and the coffee pot,

welcome you into my home, and ask you to make a pot.

Today was no exception.

I had grounds in my coffee.

Grounds bubbling over.

Grounds pouring over my newly painted white cabinets.

Perhaps I should now "antique" them all a bit?

Grounds in the french bread that was rising.

I'm not joking.

All this for 4 cups of de-caf coffee.

30 minutes later,

I tried again.

I did it.

Just one piece of a bean in my coffee.

I'm thinking of starting a coffee delivery service.

I could make the cups look pretty.

I just wouldn't make the coffee.

By 4 p.m. we learned plastic in the oven isn't a good thing when it's heated at 400 degrees.

Why was there plastic in the oven?

Don't ask.

There was.

It smelled.

Smoke everywhere.

More messes to clean.

French bread to bake for dinner...with a few coffee grounds.

Band concert to attend.

Gym floor filled with nine bands.

NINE bands.

One sleeping child sweating on my lap.

A fire alarm at the end of the concert helped clear the building quickly.

Sweat.

Messes.

Fires.

Life of a mom, in three words.

Tomorrow's a new day.

Thank goodness for that.

Don't Try This At Home

My kids love after school snack time,

and I haven't come close to topping this one.

If you've been reading this for awhile,

you've learned that I'm a little quirky...

and I'm sure my children will remember me that way.

Hopefully they'll remember my sense of humor

and that I like to have a little fun....

and the time I let them stand on stools

and roast marshmallows

on a cold yucky day...

...and we didn't even burn the house down.

This chandelier has moved down to the art room,

so now I can paint and create to my heart's content,

and maybe even have a s'more.

Or maybe not, since I'm trying my hardest to stay away from

that white substance resembling crack,

....called sugar.

Still Here

"There are many ways of going forward,

but only one way of standing still."

-Franklin D. Roosevelt

Izzy, April 2009

Photo taken by my dear friend Trish, Izzy's godmother.

Visit Trish's site and be inspired.

I'm moving forward,

plowing through puddles of little things,

and embracing this beautiful thing called life,

even in the rain and the mud.

Fit for a Princess

Linnea's bed...one of my favorite corners of our home. A former closet was repurposed with drawers and a platform for the mattress. When Sofi and Izzy arrived we knew we needed a quick, inexpensive, special solution...and this is what my sister helped us come up with. I added the curtains, teacups, and part of our old dining room chandelier. Once inside, it is a little nook, with a bookshelf on the left, and a window on the right. Mark added decorative molding, and it is truly a special spot fit for a princess. It is also a wonderful escape from her two little sisters!

Years ago, Dad took down a wall to reconfigure the bedrooms and add a masterbath. Our home went from 4 bedrooms to 3. This left a flooring issue that was covered with wall to wall carpet. I ripped the carpet out, and Mark refinished the floors a year ago. The girls and I had fun making a little patchwork across the room. They added their names on the paper, and Mark sealed the floors right over it. It's quirky and fun, and I love it.

A little Window makeover for the walls....

Happy Friday!

-Julie

Pushing Myself

I did it. I drove three miles down the road, and walked into a new place. I took a tour. I signed on the dotted line. I answered a page of questions. I paid a fee. I signed up for a health assessment. I walked into a room of strangers....and it was ok. I pushed myself harder than I have in years. After two classes, I know it was the right decision. I feel fantastic.

I joined the local gym. When I was fifteen I took classes at a local gym...and I loved it. I've wanted to try it again....but it was never the right time. Babies, bottles, naptimes, tantrums, preschool, storytimes, playdates, routines all got in the way. For whatever reason, yesterday was the right time. With two girls in 1/2 day kindergarten, it works a little better now with life.

I have a shelf full of workout dvds, a treadmill, and a Wii....but it's always been tough for me to work out at home. I can see the laundry. I know there are dishes to be done. I know there is a bathroom to be cleaned, or something else I should be doing. In the Summer or Fall, I can escape responsibility and go for a run. In the Winter, it's too cold or icy. In the Spring, there is rain and mud. There is always an excuse.

So, for two months, I'll be at the gym. Taking classes. Pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Yesterday I even took a shower there. In a locker room....feeling like I was back in junior high (that's what they called it in the olden days). It was clean. It was quiet. Nobody needed me. In a strange way I felt like I had made a great escape to a different world. I made a trip back today in the darkness of the morning...and I loved every minute. I came home to my sleeping household, and nobody even missed me.

The laundry was still there. There were some dishes to do. The bathroom still needed to be cleaned. But my workout for the day is done, and that is a good thing.

Carl pushing himself, All-City Track Meet 2008

Moving Forward

I'd like to scream right now.

Breaking the sugar habit is tough.

Really tough when your children win JUMBO cookies

and bags of goodies at their school Germ Fest, I mean, Fun Fair.

I could sit and stare at it.

Maybe even sneak a little piece.

but instead I'm going to crank up the tunes....

Walk away.

and get this body moving.....

Stop back Monday for some pics of the Art Room.

It's getting there.

I can see the floor and the countertops now.

Just don't ask to see our playroom.

Because I moved most of it in there.

-Julie

My Soffits Are Bare

And I need your advice....

Do they look too bare?

No wallpaper...I've torn miles of that off these walls. (Sorry Dad)

I have barn wood (Thanks Dad)...that I could paint a word or phrase on...

I could stencil again...last time it was Swedish words for baking ingredients.

But I've done that already.

I could hang some white plates.....

Advice?

I'm thinking the wood Swedish calendar from Grandma Izzy

is looking lost under the stove hood.

Thought of a mirror there or an old platter.

Advice?

Loving the Anthro spice jars.

This side looks like it needs something.

"EAT" is under the cabinets....the word that is.

This is a rambly choppy post.

Kind of like my week.

The dentist's office called this morning and the hygenist is sick.

I jumped up and down.

Not because she's sick....

but because I have the gift of a morning.

The girls had storybook character day at school.

Meet Daisy-Head Mayzie, Linnea (original huh?), and Snow White.

God Bless Snow White.

Her costume was easy.

Daisy-Head Mayzie was a dot of glue with the glue gun.

Linnea, well, that took some work.

Thank goodness for America Idol.

My sewing machine broke.

My mom's not around anymore to help me with sewing problems...

or any other problems...

and I miss that.

I could have used some serious advice on the smock.

We sewed it by hand from a sheet.

You can't see much of it here...and that's a good thing.

I'm praying the smocking doesn't unravel while she plays at recess....

Off to tutor.

-Julie