Any stay at home mom's out there? I am a SAHM, I love being here every day with the boys. Some days can be extremely trying, though. Yesterday was one of those days. Actually, it was only from 2:00 on that was frustrating. Aiden has a summer journal he's supposed to fill out and return to his Kindergarten teacher once school starts. My understanding was at the end of the year his class was expected to write their sentences on their own, to work on sounding out the words and writing down what it sounded like to them. It didn't matter if the words were all spelled correctly. So that's what approach I've been using with Aiden. But every time he works on his journal it's an epic battle. He gets so darn frustrated and just gives up and, basically, detonates. I've never seen anything like it. I've thought about taping him doing it to show him later, see if it helps him see how ridiculous he acts while throwing these major tantrums and maybe it'll help him stop doing it.
Anyway, from that point on I felt fried emotionally. I just couldn't handle being here anymore. As soon as my husband got home from work I walked (er, RAN) out the door, hopped in my car and drove to the park to sit by myself and read a magazine. 40 minutes later I felt completely refreshed and calm and came home to get supper ready. It was so nice to decompress away from it all. I felt like a new mom the rest of the night. Thank goodness I have an amazing husband who lets me run off and hide. It's the first time I've ever done it, but man did I need it.
Have you ever felt like you needed to get away from your kids after a stressful day?
Erin
Happy To Be Back!
I finally got my computer!!! I am so happy and feel like I have regained my freedom. I am not addicted to the computer (I think) but it is so handy to have around and it is my guilty pleasure in the afternoons when my little guys are snoozing/resting. It feels like things are back to normal for me.
How was your weekend? We had a busy, productive weekend. Friday my husband took the day off so we could take the boys back to school shopping. It was a great day! Brennan, who will be in 3 yr old preschool, was so excited to pick out a lunchbox. His preschool is all day long, 2 days/week. We live in such a tiny town that very few people actually work in this town, so to drive 20 miles to pick up your kid over your lunch hour, then back to work again doesn't work for most, thus the long days. They do take naps daily, tho, which my 3 yr old needs. After shopping we took the boys to a place called The PlayStation. It's an indoor jungle gym. They had so much fun chasing each other, climbing, going down slides and being loud! Friday was such a great day.
Saturday we finally finished our deck. We basically had it done but needed to tack up firring strips to cover the staples used to hang the screen. Just as we were finishing up it started to rain -- FINALLY!!! If we knew all we had to do to get rain here was work on that deck we would have done it long ago! I also pulled my green bean plants and took down the fence we had around them to keep the rabbits out. Our little pumpkin and ornamental gourd vines are going crazy and needed that space to stretch out in. (BTW-- my tomatoes are doing awesome! I canned 7 qts of cocktail juice for chili last week and will can plain juice tomorrow.)
Sunday we went to a farm supply store in a town about 45 minutes away. Every year in October they bring in a ton of toys to sell for Christmas and we go there with my in-laws to get a start on Christmas shopping. But during the rest of the year they sell Carter's kids clothes and adult clothes, and always have a clearance rack. I was able to pick up a snazzy pair of Levi 4T slim jeans for Brennan for $10! Jammies for each boy and a shirt for my husband. I got a garden flag. :) They were selling out their nursery/plant stock so I picked up 2 variegated leave Sweet Potato Vine for 99cents each to redo a planter I hung on our fence (the other stuff died in the last bought of 95+ degree temps). Then we went and picked a bunch of sweet corn with my parent's and sister (and 4 kids!) and had a pizza supper afterward with the family. It was a GREAT weekend. Nice and long and we accomplished a lot.
Today I froze that sweet corn. Ended up with 21 pint. Add the 10 pint I did a couple weeks ago and I think we'll be good for most of the winter. I love canning and freezing my own produce. It makes it exciting to use later on, knowing I did it for our family.
What would you like to accomplish during a long weekend?
Have a great one,
Erin
How was your weekend? We had a busy, productive weekend. Friday my husband took the day off so we could take the boys back to school shopping. It was a great day! Brennan, who will be in 3 yr old preschool, was so excited to pick out a lunchbox. His preschool is all day long, 2 days/week. We live in such a tiny town that very few people actually work in this town, so to drive 20 miles to pick up your kid over your lunch hour, then back to work again doesn't work for most, thus the long days. They do take naps daily, tho, which my 3 yr old needs. After shopping we took the boys to a place called The PlayStation. It's an indoor jungle gym. They had so much fun chasing each other, climbing, going down slides and being loud! Friday was such a great day.
Saturday we finally finished our deck. We basically had it done but needed to tack up firring strips to cover the staples used to hang the screen. Just as we were finishing up it started to rain -- FINALLY!!! If we knew all we had to do to get rain here was work on that deck we would have done it long ago! I also pulled my green bean plants and took down the fence we had around them to keep the rabbits out. Our little pumpkin and ornamental gourd vines are going crazy and needed that space to stretch out in. (BTW-- my tomatoes are doing awesome! I canned 7 qts of cocktail juice for chili last week and will can plain juice tomorrow.)
Sunday we went to a farm supply store in a town about 45 minutes away. Every year in October they bring in a ton of toys to sell for Christmas and we go there with my in-laws to get a start on Christmas shopping. But during the rest of the year they sell Carter's kids clothes and adult clothes, and always have a clearance rack. I was able to pick up a snazzy pair of Levi 4T slim jeans for Brennan for $10! Jammies for each boy and a shirt for my husband. I got a garden flag. :) They were selling out their nursery/plant stock so I picked up 2 variegated leave Sweet Potato Vine for 99cents each to redo a planter I hung on our fence (the other stuff died in the last bought of 95+ degree temps). Then we went and picked a bunch of sweet corn with my parent's and sister (and 4 kids!) and had a pizza supper afterward with the family. It was a GREAT weekend. Nice and long and we accomplished a lot.
Today I froze that sweet corn. Ended up with 21 pint. Add the 10 pint I did a couple weeks ago and I think we'll be good for most of the winter. I love canning and freezing my own produce. It makes it exciting to use later on, knowing I did it for our family.
What would you like to accomplish during a long weekend?
Have a great one,
Erin
County Fair Time!
This week is our county's fair. I love fair time! I was in 4-H from 4th grade all the way through 12th. My sister and I weren't allowed to show livestock so I stuck to Photography, Home Ec, Gardening and Clothing. Things are a little different at our fairgrounds these days, but it still feels like the fair to me.
My niece joined 4-H this year (a 6th grader) and took Photography and is showing their pet dog, Lucy. We went to see her run the agility course last night, and in her class she took Reserve Grand Champion! We are so proud of her and excited that she did so well her first year. It was HOT out there and those dogs didn't want to run and perform. The kids took their time, tried out their patience and gave a good show. Then we had my favorite for supper: Sloppy Joe Dinner at the Y's Men booth! Mmm! After supper we walked through the exhibits then headed over to the grandstand for the tractor pull. I told Andy how nuts people in, say, California would think we are for sitting watching a tractor pull a weight, but man was it fun! I love it, I get so excited when they have a full pull!
Unlike when I was a kid we won't be going every night this week. We are going back Friday night for the Demo Derby. Kind of trashy but those sure are fun to watch, too!
And in true fair week form, it's hotter than heck! You get either the heat or the rain, and we couldn't be lucky enough to get the rain we so desperately need this week so the heat it is!
Do you attend your county fair?
Erin
My niece joined 4-H this year (a 6th grader) and took Photography and is showing their pet dog, Lucy. We went to see her run the agility course last night, and in her class she took Reserve Grand Champion! We are so proud of her and excited that she did so well her first year. It was HOT out there and those dogs didn't want to run and perform. The kids took their time, tried out their patience and gave a good show. Then we had my favorite for supper: Sloppy Joe Dinner at the Y's Men booth! Mmm! After supper we walked through the exhibits then headed over to the grandstand for the tractor pull. I told Andy how nuts people in, say, California would think we are for sitting watching a tractor pull a weight, but man was it fun! I love it, I get so excited when they have a full pull!
Unlike when I was a kid we won't be going every night this week. We are going back Friday night for the Demo Derby. Kind of trashy but those sure are fun to watch, too!
And in true fair week form, it's hotter than heck! You get either the heat or the rain, and we couldn't be lucky enough to get the rain we so desperately need this week so the heat it is!
Do you attend your county fair?
Erin
Wedding Re-Do, Magic Mike & Everything Else
I love weddings, and I loved having a wedding. I wish I could have a wedding every year on our anniversary. I am reading Nora Robert's Bride Quartet (4 books about 4 women who own a bridal business and fall in love themselves) and boy is it making me antsy about weddings! I always wanted to be a bridal planner but live in a small town where those don't exist. I don't think anyone would pay for someone to plan a wedding for them around here when so many brides and mother's plan their own. But I would really love to do, so if anyone wants any help let me know! :)
Went to see 'Magic Mike' last night with 7 other gals. I giggled through most of it. Matthew McConaughy is one of my favorite heart throbs! The way he talks, with his Texas accent, just makes me swoon. Yummy! And the movie was fine, I didn't go for the story, if you catch my drift!
We went to a local park this morning to meet a new friend for Brennan, my 3 yr old. He is starting preschool this fall so we thought it'd be nice for him to make a new friend that will be in his class. Little Will, Bren and Aiden played and had a great time. Will is outgoing, just the type of friend our introvert needs. We made plans to meet up once more before school starts. (Oh, and Will's mom is really nice and I made a new friend today, too.)
Our computer needs a new hard drive. Translation: We're getting a new computer. We decided spending $300 on a hard drive (and whatever else they do to the computer) was not that smart when we were planning on getting a new laptop in the next year anyway. So our plans for that got moved up. Now to get a new laptop.
If you could have another wedding what would you do differently?
Erin
Went to see 'Magic Mike' last night with 7 other gals. I giggled through most of it. Matthew McConaughy is one of my favorite heart throbs! The way he talks, with his Texas accent, just makes me swoon. Yummy! And the movie was fine, I didn't go for the story, if you catch my drift!
We went to a local park this morning to meet a new friend for Brennan, my 3 yr old. He is starting preschool this fall so we thought it'd be nice for him to make a new friend that will be in his class. Little Will, Bren and Aiden played and had a great time. Will is outgoing, just the type of friend our introvert needs. We made plans to meet up once more before school starts. (Oh, and Will's mom is really nice and I made a new friend today, too.)
Our computer needs a new hard drive. Translation: We're getting a new computer. We decided spending $300 on a hard drive (and whatever else they do to the computer) was not that smart when we were planning on getting a new laptop in the next year anyway. So our plans for that got moved up. Now to get a new laptop.
If you could have another wedding what would you do differently?
Erin
Going Insane!
I. Am. Going. INSANE!!! This 'not having a computer' thing stinks! I miss Pinterest. I miss reading my blogs. I miss writing this blog. I miss being able to look something up on a whim. I miss, I miss, I miss. Tomorrow I am taking my laptop in to the computer whisperer to hopefully get it fixed. My husband is pretty sure he is going to tell me we need a new hard drive and that it would make more sense to buy a new laptop. Problem is I don't want to spend that money for a new laptop! Keep your fingers crossed it's not that bad!
What would you do without a computer? Would you go nuts? Would you rejoice?
Erin
What would you do without a computer? Would you go nuts? Would you rejoice?
Erin
Computer Woes
My computer is acting up, something to do with the hard drive or drive C or something. I'm not a techie-type so I have no idea what is wrong or how to fix it. My husband diagnosed the problem for me. Because it's not working properly I am borrowing my husband's work laptop to get on the Internet which really stinks because he doesn't have any of the blogs I follow in his favorites list. :( < ----- This is me pouting. Not having my computer is like not having my car keys -- I can't go anywhere, do anything and I'm bored. :( Pouting again.
When will it get fixed? I have no idea. My husband is sick (a tummy ache) so not in the mood to discuss my computer issues and how I will get the darn thing back up and running again. So if I am absent a lot in the next couple weeks that is why. Hopefully my husband will be kind enough to bring this beast of a machine home with him nightly so I can keep in touch. The good thing is that I can check my email, Facebook and Twitter on my phone. Pinterest isn't as much fun on my phone so will be taking a break from that for a while. :( Yes, I am pouting again!
Sorry for the short, boring post. Just wanted to let you know Homemade Happenings will be quiet. Now if my house could be quiet for awhile...
What would you do if you didn't have your computer for a week or two?
Erin
When will it get fixed? I have no idea. My husband is sick (a tummy ache) so not in the mood to discuss my computer issues and how I will get the darn thing back up and running again. So if I am absent a lot in the next couple weeks that is why. Hopefully my husband will be kind enough to bring this beast of a machine home with him nightly so I can keep in touch. The good thing is that I can check my email, Facebook and Twitter on my phone. Pinterest isn't as much fun on my phone so will be taking a break from that for a while. :( Yes, I am pouting again!
Sorry for the short, boring post. Just wanted to let you know Homemade Happenings will be quiet. Now if my house could be quiet for awhile...
What would you do if you didn't have your computer for a week or two?
Erin
6 Years Old!
Saturday my oldes turned 6 years old. He had a great weekend. Saturday he had 3 friends over to celebrate. They are such fun boys, I'm happy he has good kids to be best buddies with. They played on the slip-n-slide, the sprinkler, with buckets of water and water balloons. It was 95+degrees outside, so the water party worked out great. We played a couple of relay games, but mostly they just ran around playing in the water. It was a lot of fun.
Sunday evening we had family over to celebrate. My niece (3) and nephew (7) came in their swim suits so more water fun. Because Aiden is a June-bug we always have nice weather to grill out, which is a pretty easy meal to throw together. But this year he told me he wanted hot wings for supper. I knew over half of our guests wouldn't want those so in addition to the hot wings I made walking tacos. I crunched up a bag of Doritos and put them in a bowl and let people build their own bowl. It was so darn easy and good, everyone loved the idea. And it was a lot less work for us because I had the meat cooked and in a crock pot keeping warm before everyone arrived. Genius!
I made 2 robot cakes (found the idea here), one for each party. They were so darn easy to put together. Betty Crocker has some awesome, easy cake ideas. Check out their website.
We decided, after much consideration, to buy Aiden a Nintendo 3DS. I still think 6 is too young to be given that much responsibility (come on, folks, those things aren't cheap!) but that is all he wanted for his big day. I am a stickler for limits on vidoe games, but on his birthday I let him play that thing as much as he wanted. I bet he was on it for a total of 5 hrs that day. Isn't that sick? Makes me grossed out thinking about it. But he said thank you over and over that day, so I am happy that we made him happy by getting it for him. It came with Mario Kart and Andy's brother got him a Spiderman game, so he'll be set for a little while. Guess I know what we're getting him for Christmas -- more games.
We had an amazing weekend, I wasn't ready for it to be over at all. So glad this is a short week with the 4th. I'm ready to continue celebrating!
How was your weekend? Do anything noteworthy? Leave me a comment with you answer!
Erin
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| Aiden's on the right |
Sunday evening we had family over to celebrate. My niece (3) and nephew (7) came in their swim suits so more water fun. Because Aiden is a June-bug we always have nice weather to grill out, which is a pretty easy meal to throw together. But this year he told me he wanted hot wings for supper. I knew over half of our guests wouldn't want those so in addition to the hot wings I made walking tacos. I crunched up a bag of Doritos and put them in a bowl and let people build their own bowl. It was so darn easy and good, everyone loved the idea. And it was a lot less work for us because I had the meat cooked and in a crock pot keeping warm before everyone arrived. Genius!
I made 2 robot cakes (found the idea here), one for each party. They were so darn easy to put together. Betty Crocker has some awesome, easy cake ideas. Check out their website.
We decided, after much consideration, to buy Aiden a Nintendo 3DS. I still think 6 is too young to be given that much responsibility (come on, folks, those things aren't cheap!) but that is all he wanted for his big day. I am a stickler for limits on vidoe games, but on his birthday I let him play that thing as much as he wanted. I bet he was on it for a total of 5 hrs that day. Isn't that sick? Makes me grossed out thinking about it. But he said thank you over and over that day, so I am happy that we made him happy by getting it for him. It came with Mario Kart and Andy's brother got him a Spiderman game, so he'll be set for a little while. Guess I know what we're getting him for Christmas -- more games.
We had an amazing weekend, I wasn't ready for it to be over at all. So glad this is a short week with the 4th. I'm ready to continue celebrating!
How was your weekend? Do anything noteworthy? Leave me a comment with you answer!
Erin
