Made this for a birthday card for my mother-in-law, but had to share the cuteness

"When things settle down..."

• I'll get to the gym on a regular basis
• I'll plan nights out
• I'll re-organize the closets
• I'll make last year's photo album
• I'll get back to cooking great dinners
• I'll have a hobby
• I'll read
• I'll join things
• I'll write over-due thank-you notes
• I'll sleep

Maybe it's time to admit that things might just not ever 'settle down' and if I keep waiting for things to change, I might just be waiting a very long time!

The 'Year of Amy' is not so much all that I dreamed it would be. The girls are wonderful and life is good, but I don't even seem to have a 'Minute of Amy' these days. Brad is working around the clock and I don't really have a second to breathe. Child care has been a major issue lately, and I just don't seem to have any real help. (Erin is still good, but I ended up firing the other girl I hired -via text message- after she canceled on me last minute for the third time, and I've yet to find anyone else.) I end up attempting to juggle work, kids, and house stuff (all at the very same time) much too often these days.

And there's no reprieve. On the days that Brad is working insane hours, which has been most days lately, I am up with both girls (Brad's already gone), I am here all day (whether there's a baby sitter for a bit or not), I do dinners, I do baths, and I do bed. Somewhere in there I squeeze in a work day. And then I start the housework...

"Me time"- that's just funny.

The moral of this story:

• Brad's job sucks (for all of us)
• I am tired
• I need to hire Alice from the Brady Bunch, or perhaps we should just bring on a sister-wife!? (probably cheaper than Alice)
• I need a vacation
• Being a stay-at-home Mom + full time employee doesn't actually work
• Something's gotta give
• I don't know how single moms do it
• I NEED A VACATION (thank god we do have a couple planned. Now to see if Brad is actually able to get away from work for said vacations...)
• Raising kids without your immediate family around is a very very difficult thing to do!
• I miss Connecticut

big pimpin Candlewood Lake style

We head home to CT every year for the 4th of July. And, practically every year, it seems our family is bigger, we bring more stuff, and our needs (3 bedrooms, quietish after 8, dog...) are greater. But, when you go home, you stay with family... right? So every year, all of us cram into Dad and Rebecca's condo, because that's what you do. Or is it?

I had a lightbulb moment last week. As wonderful as it is to stay with Dad (and/or my fabulous Aunts and Uncles), and it really is, maybe it is nicer to all involved if we rented a place for ourselves when we visit. That way we have space, we have bedrooms for the kids, we have a easy place for the dog, and we don't need to worry about bouncing around from spot to spot. There will still be lots of visiting to do, but we'll have a good sized 'home-base' to head back to.

So, I found what very well could be the last possible 'vacation rental' in all of Litchfield or Fairfield counties for the 4th of July holiday weekend. It's a nice house on the lake in New Fairfield with a cute little dock, a little beach, and plenty of room for all of us. We'll still be able to see everyone, often, but we'll also be able to sprawl out and not inconvenience each other too. Although I love staying with family, we won't have to bounce around from house to house which, with 2 kids and all their crap stuff in tow, is not so easy to do these days.

So... the big question now is WHO'S IN FOR A PARTY ON THE LAKE? Saturday night? "Our place?" Plenty of space to crash :)

"



 

"Inch it"

I was reading a magazine last night, and the author was talking about how her Grandma always said "Taken inch by inch, everything's a cinch". The author condensed this to 'Inch it" and said she uses it all the time. And, for some reason, I love this Grandma saying. As we speak I'm trying to convince my self to 'inch' this horrid work project I've been putting off for weeks now...

Another saying I saw was 'Only boring people can be bored".  And, although I guess that makes me boring, I do like the idea behind it. The author said she uses it on her her kids all the time to try and get them to use their imagination and come up with fun things to do on their own. It's maybe a bit too similar to my mom's saying of "you gotta make your own fun" (which she said ALL the time when I was a kid and I incidentally HATED), but still definitely cute... Poor Annie and Violet, I'm starting my stock-up of cheesy Mom sayings already ;)

Who's got another gem I can add to my collection?

Monday. blaaaa

Was feeling pretty rad yesterday post 'Color Me Rad' 5K race in Philly. (Which, given the fact that my training was non-existent, I did pretty OK at- 33 minutes for 3.2 miles. There are worse things...)

Then I woke up this morning feeling very very Monday. I am lacking some serious energy and motivation today, and- as icing on the cake- I stepped on the scale to realize my weekend of running amounted in me GAINING 5 lbs. Awesome. (My 'weekend of running' did include a 'night of drinking' though, so we may have identified the culprit...)

In less blaa news, tomorrow is Annie's 2nd birthday (seriously can't believe it) and we start summer camp. (I say 'we' because I am going as a volunteer.) Should be really cute. I think it will be fun for both of us. (Of course, given my summer camp track record- we will have to see. Talked to Dad and he said if I get kicked out again, he's not coming to pick me up ;) ha.

Farm girl photo shoot

Farm-tastic fiesta

The weather held out (and it actually ended up being a gorgeous day). The decorations were adorable. Annie had a blast. The children were happy. And the adults partied til the wee hours of the morning. All and all, very successful farm fiesta!

I did a terrible job of taking pictures during the party, but did manage to grab some before and after. Here are some of the highlights:

Farm party prep

15 cowboy hats, embroidered by yours truly, for all the cutie kiddies