Clean up?

I changed Spunky's wardrobe over! And then did some "editing" of Sparky's.

Spunky was outgrowing everything in the old size, so I packed it all away and unpacked the next size up. It was a bit crazy to unpack the things that Sparky as wearing when Spunky was born. A bit eerie I guess too. I'm well aware of exactly how long it's been and don't feel like time has been flying, but it's weird to thing that when Sparky was Spunky's current age, Spunky was on the way. Just... a little weird.

I knew that I'd be changing the closet soon so instead of putting things away like we normally would, we've been folding it out of the dryer and then putting it "in" the canvas bins in the closet. The closet was a huge mess which, admittedly, was part of why I decided to change the closet this weekend. Now, it's beautiful. Everything is folded and stacked neatly. The items that are hung up are hung by season since it's the same stuff that will be worn at least part of the summer. It's just a nice and peaceful sight to see.

When Sparky woke up this morning, the first thing I said was "you've grown!" as though there was room for that. I ended up pulling out some of the clothes that I expected to last at least into spring. Nope, away they went today. I just don't feel like it's right to make my kids wear high water pants when it's snowing. Call me crazy. No, don't. It's not very nice. It does make me glad that I have a tendancy to buy clothes a least a size up. More than once in the past 6 months it's paid off that I do that!

There's something about changing over the closet that just resonates with me. Yes, everything gets orderly and tidy again. Yes, it's fun to see what I forgot I bought. Yes, it's mildly exciting to just have different clothes for the kidlets. Most of all, it's heartwarming to remember things that Sparky did while wearing particular outfits and look ahead to what Spunky will be doing wearing them. I also make sure that Spunky has some things in each size that Sparky never wore. The possibilities are endless.

And I mean my kids, not their clothes. The possibilities are endless.

Cut the crap?

I walked away from something I've been invested in for over three years.

I've been an organizer of a moms group since autumn of 2007. I decided about a year ago that I was done letting some of the other organizers walk all over me. So when one particular person kept trying to push me around, I respectfully but firmly pushed back. That's been happening for about a year.

Today, I got sick of the insults, disrespect, name calling and general BS (or baloney sandwich according to Sparky) that I've been dealing with. I took the creative stuff I did for the group and walked away. Probably pissed some people off in the process too. Not a whole lot I can do about that now.

Hopefully the friends I've made through that group will remain friends. If this is what ends it, then um.... yeah, not friends in the first place.

I'm not ashamed, embarrassed or any of that about how things have gone. I'm very comfortable with how it's all gone. I've been respectful (until today when I pointed out that a grown woman was being a bully and I was agreed with by one of her "friends") and maintained my integrity. I don't have any real reason to tell Sparky or Spunky about any of this, but I'm comfortable with what I've done and could tell them.

I'm proud of the example I've set for them. Stand up to bullies, be respectful, maintain your integrity. Hold your head up high and don't let others knock you down. Rise above the crap. Or, better yet, cut the crap to start with.

Have mediocre lunch?

I had some coupons for $1 off a  Morningstar Farms entree.

Lunch has been a challenge lately so I decided to use my coupons and give them a try. I generally like Morningstar Farm products and was optimistic about their entrees.

Eh.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so optimistic. They're convenient for sure, but they're not amazingly awesome.

I have sweet and sour sauce in the fridge that would have been better with one of their chick'n patties and then some leftover veggies from the day prior. That would have been better than their frozen entree and not any more difficult I don't think. Maybe an extra 2 minutes.

Today was sesame chick'n. It did the job of being lunch, but wasn't amazing either. Just okay.

I should be clear that I know better than to expect amazing from a frozen meal. But with that in mind, these entrees are really mediocre. I got three when I got them and probably won't get them again. Just my take on it.

Musical chairs?

Spunky decided that a "big chair" was needed at the dining table younger than expected. Okay kid, no problem. Now that it's there, the trick is staying in 1 chair for the entire meal.

Spunky doesn't eat much solid food. Some, but not much. She has much more of a tendency to have a couple bites, wander, sit in a different chair or on me, a couple bites, wander, repeat, repeat, repeat. Really she just doesn't eat much, but she seems to enjoy the experience of being at the table.

She ended up sitting at the table for our tea party today and seemed more resigned to using one same seat, but that might have been because there were bums on every other chair. It was pretty cute and a lot of fun.

Then came dinner. Spunky used every possible chair at the table and two different laps over the course of the meal. And might have eaten .25 cup of food. It's just her style and we go with it for now.

As annoying as it can be that we play musical chairs at every meal, it's also kinda cute.

Have an awesome day?

I spent it doing fun things with fun people!

For Christmas, I'd given my mom tickets to the local children's theater. Today, we got to enjoy an awesome show! Sparky, Spunky, Grandma, me and 4 of our friends went together and had a great time. After the super fun show, we then went and had lunch together and I had a chance to just hang out with a couple friends outside of any formal get together. Fun time with fun people.

Then, lo an behold, on the way home..... SNOW!!!! I love snow and was super excited!! Yippee!! Then home for naps and me watching more snow while snuggling with a sleeping cuddly little one. Hubs made an awesome dinner of eggplant Parmesan for us and noodles with sauce for the girls before Sparky and I got a little time together. We so rarely have time just the two of us and with Spunky being sick lately, it seemed like Sparky wanted some time with just me.

We went to Trader Joe's for some simple groceries, nothing more exciting than that. We're having a tea party, so we spent a fair bit of our time there picking out just the right flowers to put on our table. Sparky really wanted the alstromeria with tea roses and regular roses. The one she really wanted looked pretty old and grungy so I had to do a bit of digging to find the same kind, but fresh. When I did, she lit up and was so happy. It was just a nice moment. She loves to buy flowers for our house and asked me on the way there if daddy was going to clean the kitchen counter of so we could get flowers. Um.... yeah kid, one of us will clean the kitchen when you ask like that! So sweet and thoughtful!

As I was trying to find the right bouquet, an employee came over and offered a balloon which she polite declined. He was stunned and asked me if she had really said no to a balloon. He said he's never had a kid say no before. He went over and got a basket of candy and offered that to her. I politely told him no and Sparky didn't even bat an eye about it.

As we were checking out, the employee came back and told another co-worker that she'd struck out twice with Sparky. Then he offered her a sticker and he smiled just as big as she did. She was really pleased to spend the time one on one with me and pick out just the things we wanted and then stickers to boot!

The trip to TJ's might have been the best part of this tea party for Sparky. She'll like the tea party I think, but she just really enjoyed the trip to the store too. Yeah, my little kid is awesome.