We won!!!

One of my favorite bloggers

http://heartshapedleaves.blogspot.com/

did a giveaway on her blog!

The winner could choose one of 3 Barefoot Books!

Well, I (who have never won anything in my life) won!

We chose "Skip through the Seasons" and are so excited!

I showed the kids the picture of the book and told them

what it was about, so they're looking forward to it arriving.

Thank you, Samantha!

You guys go check out her blog!!

Happy Monday!

Sunday night, Jackson (our newly 2 year old boy) decided to wake me up multiple times. Doesn't make for a restful sleep

I woke up this morning feeling a bit like I'd been hit by a truck, but I took Keelin to preschool (she goes Mon,Wed,Fri from 9-1), then the little guy and I ran to the store for popsicles.

I thought for sure that since Jackson slept almost as terribly as I did last night that surely he would take a great nap late this morning. Nope!!!! The little dude sat in his room yelling for me the whole time he was in there in a sing-song voice-- "Mom-eeeeee! Mommy?! Mom-eeeeee!"

I trudged through the day a bit like a zombie, got Keelin from school, came home, and we all crashed around 3pm.

Jackson fell asleep in his bed, Keelin fell asleep on the couch, and I fell asleep in my bed. I slept so hard I hurt when I woke up... after 5pm. *sigh* My kids normally go to bed at 7:30, so that wasn't great. I jumped up, prepped dinner, woke the kids up, and we ate, played, watched a short kids movie, took a bath, read a Junie B. Jones book (Keelin's new favorite), and both of the kids happily went to sleep just before 9.

I am SO glad that Keelin doesn't have school tomorrow. I desperately need to put laundry away and work on some cloth diapering accessories for a friend due next month.

BUT overall, it was a happy Monday <3

Root Beer Floats and other awesomeness

I have been craving a root beer float (more like root beer awesome), so I bought a 6 pack of Blue Sky certified organic root beer at Earth Fare yesterday and a pint of my favorite organic, fair trade vanilla ice cream.

See? Even your junk food can be kinder to the planet!

I cannot tell you how delicious these things are! I have 3 cans of root beer left and half a pint of ice cream. Running out of ice cream before I run out of root beer would be like running out of carrots when you still have ranch dip in your cup. Just a sad state of affairs.

We ran out to grab dinner (thanks to my Dad for staying home with a sleeping Keelin) since the chicken I had been thawing/marinating all day in the fridge was still half frozen (epic fail) and nothing else sounded good (thanks to my sweet Keelin throwing up all day, I think... poor, sweet girl). We went to Bonnie Kay's and had some salt and pepper shrimp (hit the spot!), then went to check out the yard sale they had going on to benefit a child in our community who needs to travel for medical treatment. I won't rub in ALL of the amazing deals I came across, but I will tell you that my son now has an awesome pair of black Chucks, I found the coolest costume bling, got a $5 Kozy Carrier (Yes, you read that right!!! and in perfect condition), a bazillion hardback kids books, and a huge box full of other goodies. My grand total was $14, but we donated some cash on top of that... Altogether, killer deals for a good cause. Blessings to that family. I cannot imagine having a child with health issues- parents that care for children with special medical needs are my heroes.

On another note, I went onto Amazon to order Jackson a few more prefold diapers, since I have credits on Amazon and a few of his prefolds are getting a little sad looking. NONE of the good brands had Prime shipping. That did not excite me. I decided then to forego the prefolds and buy them elsewhere and started looking for Econobum covers, since we could use a couple more One Size diaper covers around here that aren't bulky and can fit in my purse easily. There were NO Econobum or Flip covers in stock. I take that back, there was 1 Econobum and it was $9 + $7 shipping. How about no?! Nothing economical about that!

So, the story of my night... I had a delicious float, I went to a great indoor yard sale, and I was disappointed in Amazon. I hope our girl feels better tomorrow, but I fear we'll be missing our friend's little boy's pirate birthday party. Can't risk bringing the Outbreak monkey to the party, though.

Inspiration!

Here is a little photo love.

I wouldn't mind waking up here!

Or relaxing here!

Or serving a meal here!

Or living here.

As long as someone else did the dusting!

Discovering http://www.weheartit.com/ absolutely made my evening yesterday. I was really offended last night by someone that should not have gotten under my skin and as much as I hate to say it, I let someone's negativity and unkindness affect how I felt.

As someone that has battled depression for most of her life, some days are harder than others. Winters are usually pretty tough on me, quite so now that we have children. Why? Because even when the sun is shining and I might be happy to go outside or run errands all day, those kiddos will be chilled to the bone regardless of bundling them, and nap times are necessary. This mama is really looking forward to spring temperatures, I tell you what

- but back to business!

If you need a dose of happy, definitely check out that amazing website!

You will find something that brightens the moment and makes you smile- I promise.

To the tune of "O Christmas Tree"

O, W-2's
O, W-2's
Could you possibly be lost en route?

O, W-2's
O, W-2's
My old boss can kiss my pa-toot.

Just because I resigned and moved away-
Doesn't mean I don't deserve to see my pay.

O, W-2's
O, W-2's
Maybe tomorrow's the day!

Negativity (edit number 6)

Today, I let someone's bitterness and negativity affect me. I normally can vent, get it out, and move on, but what this person said to me actually made me angry.

That being said, I'm a very emotional person. I vent to my close friends and my husband, then I feel better. I process out loud. I'm not big on crying, because it usually never gets to that point. I very nearly went off on someone for being disrespectful and hateful regarding something I am very passionate about. But I didn't. I shut my mouth, turned off my computer, and went to bed.

I learned something tonight.

I am the only one who has a hand on my happiness. I choose to be happy. People don't make me happy, my circumstances don't make me happy. I am happy because I choose to be.

Some days, it is hard to remember that I am happy. I let the noise, the pollution, the funk into my head and it's hard to drive it out. That's what happened today. I let someone else's ageism and ignorance get past my filter. I let it in. That was my mistake.

BUT I am a wise 23, almost 24 year old. I know that what this person said had NOTHING to do with me. This person projected their issues onto me, disregarding my education on the subject, ignoring the wisdom of a younger person, refusing to recognize an educated opinion supported by science because it did not mesh with what the media has taught said person.

I did some yoga, controlled my breathing, and recentered myself- sans the funk.

Update: I've since seen this person and didn't even feel uncomfortable around them. People only influence you if you let them, so I encourage you to be firm in what you believe, filter out the noise, and don't ever let anyone undermine your passions and convictions.

Second Day in a row?

Could it be? Am I actually posting more than once in 6 months? ;)

I woke up this morning feeling rested for the first time in weeks, which is a bit strange considering Jackson had a nightmare last night and was up screaming his head off at 3am and it took me until 5am to get him back to sleep in my bed. Good thing Tim was in Fayettenam or someone would have been a super-crank this morning.

Got woken up at 8 by my best friend of 20 years, which I didn't mind <3 had some yogurt, paid all of February's bills, did two loads of laundry (including diaper laundry that has been calling my name for a couple of days), did a load of dishes, and made a game plan of things I'd like to accomplish this month.

Here's my list:
1. finally hang the curtains in Keelin's room
2. paint the living room
3. figure out where we'll go for our 3 year anniversary on the 23rd
4. purge the kidlet's closets of outgrown clothes, pass on to friends
5. get the dogs micro-chipped
6. do our taxes

Not a terrible lot, but our living room is significantly larger than any other room in our house, so painting it will be beyond obnoxious.

In other news, Max will be 1 this month and Jessie will be two! I may have to learn how to make doggy birthday cakes for our furry family members!